Mindset

Chapter 76

Dane grabbed hold of the rough, un even wall and climbed up with raw physical strength, his heart pounding with adrenaline as he focused on reaching the top and, at the same time, adjusted the way he thought. A tactical mindset was embedded in his mind, as his late father was a retired military assault tactician. It's about assessing situations, identifying potential challenges, and formulating effective responses, often in high-pressure or unpredictable environments. This mindset is not just for military or law enforcement; it can be applied to various aspects of life

Even as a young child, he heard stories of his father's exploits as Commander Edward Lazarus wanted to unconsciously condition his only son to gain a tactical mindset. Until they found out he has savant syndrome, this made him more susceptible to learning this trait faster. Nobody knew he had this condition, as his parents wanted him to have a normal life and be treated by the rest as the same.

Gaining an assessment skill by completing all five skill slots, he was eager to continuously test these skills to their limits and break through. If Dane didn't focus on being a game developer and lived in a more chaotic or war-torn life, he would have become a great warrior, surpassing even his parents.

Dane loved the thrill of the hunt and challenge, but he was always cautious and thinking beyond what was needed. At times he would get too focused on one thing, maybe because of his condition, but now he had already broken free from that behavior, as his savant syndrome was slowly fading and no longer eating his thoughts.

Dane's physical form was in its best condition. Who would know training mentally and physically at home when he was still Damon, the game developer savant, would pay off? Gaining a new body at the peak of his prime age would be given to him again.

He climbed the 500-meter wall without hesitation and saw this task to be something that he needed to accomplish. These traits were still in his body. He now knows how to distribute and delegate his focus in a more efficient manner. Dane's determination and discipline were evident as he pushed himself to new limits, proving that his hard work and dedication were paying off in more ways than one.

Creatures that made nests and homes at the vertical wall soon noticed him. His stamina was high enough so he could last longer, and with the help of his healing skill, he could heal his hands from the cuts and wounds he would gain from grabbing hold of the jagged and rough rock formation.

Meanwhile, Melgil was already awake and was a little hungry. This feeling was new to her; she could think clearly and no longer succumb to the intense feeling of hunger. The 12 hunting ogres knew who she was. Nukra entered the female tent while being accompanied by two guards under the order of the chief, as Nukra explained that their chief would like to invite their guest to join them at the main hall.

Nukra saw that Melgil was calm and reacted in a way that was surprisingly elegant. He saw what kind of a monster she was a few days ago, as her offspring would attack an entire colony of wild kobolds on the opposite side. The gorge wall—they were lucky when they awakened; they were already inside the cave they are now living in.

Those that awakened at the pen area were easy prey for the demon spiders attack as they nested above the gorge under the fog. Dane was already a few meters away as the serpent lodged itself into the wall and secured his foothold. Falling 30 meters won't be that fatal, but he will lose precious time going back up.

He can just use the formless armor to easily climb the wall, but Dane thought it would defeat his main purpose to test the limits of his body.

The creatures that made the wall their home were mostly insect types, but they burrowed inside the thick, hard wall to avoid getting killed and eaten by larger predators in the gorge. Many edible creatures and plant life thrive on the gorge floor, but these creatures are really hard to hunt as they are really overly defensive and strong, like the armored boar and the fast, elusive Critiborian deer. These creatures are herbivores, so these creatures thrive on the gorge floor as they are immune to the spores that mutate non-mana-user creatures.

The insects that dominated the gorge wall have created their own intricate network of tunnels and chambers, making it nearly impossible for predators to reach them. The symbiotic relationship between the creatures on the gorge floor and those in the wall has created a delicate balance in this unique ecosystem.

These various insects living on the wall were big enough to hunt and kill an Earth-sized goat, but sadly two of the biggest predators that feed on their kind were the demon spiders and the Wyrm worms. These two dominated the upper and lower gorge. These characteristics are opposite of each other, as the Wyrm worms are picky eaters, as they slowly dissolve their food and absorb the nutrients, while the demon spiders are aggressive hunters that consume their prey quickly as they are consumed with eternal hunger.

Despite their differences, both species play a crucial role in maintaining the delicate balance of the gorge's unique ecosystem.

But change had occurred, as Melgil was no longer the queen of her domain, so the remaining spiders that detached from the collective mind to Melgil were no longer there. The tower system addresses this issue by creating a new female spider mother to breed their kind, but the system could not provide any additional information, so the female spider that hatched was non-sentient and was a normal spider monster.

These spiders are still under the authority of Melgil; if she wishes to do so, she can command them to do her bidding without restriction, and they will obey her commands without question. However, without the collective mind connection, their actions may not be as coordinated or efficient as before. Eating the chaos energy orb that came from Dane's body made the demon spider queen this way.

A few domesticated Critiborian deer that the grey ogre captured and bred inside their hidden village felt her mana and lowered their heads, showing primal fear. She wasn't emanating any killing intent, but these animals still knew she was royalty and above the food chain.

A few primordial creatures that were given full names were document on the first floor. These were Melgil Veara, the White Demon Spider Queen; the six primordial dragons; and Fernur Neberus, the Black, a massive wolf with pitch-black fur that was known to be the god of shadows.

These few known beings are feared and respected by many different races living on the first and a few upper floors. And the most notorious among them was feeling lightheaded and felt her emotions were expanding too fast and beyond her control.

Nukra sat near her just in case she reverted back to her original state and personality. The grimoire book gave Nukra a few pieces of information about what was happening to her and the 12 ogre hunters, including Nukra, as they were gradually feeling the change too.

As if another page in their somewhat unreal and incomplete life cycle, they are actually back-up characters , that were created in case a certain scenario gets derailed off the main narrative, and because the entire tower was based on a virtual game that was designed to adjust based on the accumulated choices of players, the main data based for all scenarios will react based on these outcome.

That is why the virtual Arcane Crusade Game was a huge success, because it was so unpresictable and kept players engaged with its ever-changing storylines and consequences. The creators of the game were constantly monitoring player feedback and adjusting the scenarios accordingly to keep the experience fresh and exciting.

The 11 game developers spent all their time making sure the game lived up to the Damon Lazarus idea to have absolute freedom within the game's main storyline.

So the grey Orge story line was activated even if they were insufficient, and the tower administrator hopes the main system will gradually fill in the blanks and have their narrative connect to the main story plot.

Nukra's eyes were open as soon as he touched the grimoire book that came into his possession. Their confusing timeline and sudden appearance from within the gorge cave made all 150 of them lose control and nearly go primal, but Nukra used the codex to mentally calm all their tribe members until, on the fifth day, Thurak took power and became chieftain.

The timeline was short, but they all felt their memories were manipulated by the fact it just happened. The codex helped the Ogre tribe to gain some sense, but many saw the book's power to be both a blessing and a curse, as it held the key to their past but also had the potential to disrupt their future. Despite the uncertainty, Nukra knew that the grimoire book was their only hope for understanding their origins and unlocking their true reason.

But as of now, he was more concerned about what the rest of the elders and the chief would do. The elders and his own son, Thurak, were known to really hate humans, and they saw Melgil as one of them because of her current appearance.

Like Netherborn, who could perfectly hide his powers, the demon queen was currently displaying the same control as she ate the food given to her by one of the female hunters.

Thurak and his followers wanted Nukra and Bralthor's hunting team to permanently leave the village, but because they were contributing toward hunting and gathering food for the village, many members of their community still saw them as a major asset. Despite Thurak's personal feelings towards Nukra and Bralthor, he knew that their skills were essential for the survival of the village.

As tensions continued to rise, Thurak realized that a compromise would need to be reached in order to maintain his rule and control over the place, seeing a human eating within their ranks was seen to be rude and disrespectful. Thurak decided to call a meeting with the village elders to discuss a solution that would satisfy both parties and ensure the continued prosperity of the community. Ultimately, a decision was made to allow Nukra and Bralthor to stay in the village under certain conditions in order to preserve peace and unity among the villagers.

All of the elders who still hated Nukra were present in the gathering hall where the female was asked to eat. The grimoire only activated when he held it, suggesting that they wished to access it. Therefore, only people they believed Nukra would like benefited from the knowledge and power that the books bestowed. Because just within a few days they all saw how the book protected them and helped forge the village with spells that defy common sense and logic.

These Ogre elders knew how to use magic spells, but seeing what the grimoire could do made them lust over it, but it chose Nukra. the only ogre in their clan that never hungered to use that power for war and destruction. Nukra's intentions with the grimoire remained pure, focused on using its power for the betterment of their village and community. The other ogres respected Nukra's selflessness and dedication to protecting their home.

Nukra's first wife was a human. After giving birth to Bralthor's mother, she died, and he had to remarry an ogre from his own tribe. Who was Thurak's mother? Thus Bralthor inherited his human looks from his grandmother and mother's side while still gaining his ogre battle skills and strength from his late ogre father.

Everybody that was gathered around the large and long table was fixed on the female guest.

One elder ogre asked the chief about the female and pointed out that her presence at their dining table was a foolish act. Even if the chief father was the one who requested it. Bralthor stood up and requested the remaining elders to remain calm, as his grandfather had reasons for doing so.

They all wanted to know the reason. But Bralthor could not openly answer their question, as they would never believe them. Openly saying the grimoire book told them about the coming of a being related to their creator and supposedly related to the nameless and forgoten god. The silent chamber hall soon echoed with many questions. The large structure that was made from wood, metal, and stone was filled with grunts and murmurs as the elders tried to make sense of Bralthor's cryptic words. The tension in the room was palpable as they awaited further explanation from their young hunting party leader.

Melgil was just eating at the table while the ogre started the argument and wanted to gain a proper and reasonable response from Nukra. Melgil was talking to Nukra, and the two were more interested in their conversation than the noise coming from the other ogres around them. Many noticed the way the two were ignoring them. One of the elders could not hold his patience anymore as he saw the female human eating at their table and interrupted loudly, demanding to know why Nukra had brought outsiders into their territory. The tension in the room only grew as the elder stood up to address the human by throwing a dagger in front of her; his expression was filled with hate and annoyance.

Melgil senses the dagger and grabs it using only her two fingers, and with just a simple flick of her wrist, she sends it flying back towards the elder with incredible precision. The room falls silent as the dagger embeds itself in the wall next to him, a clear message that she was not to be underestimated. The remaining ogre saw this as a threat and attack on their kind, but Melgil stood up, the illuminating crystal that lit the large gathering hall cascaded all around, and many saw what shadow reflected behind the female. What they saw made them all close their mouths and fall into dead silence.

As a towering shadow figure casting over the gathering hall wall, I was so massive it reached up toward the high ceiling. The place was crafted and created with physical labor and magic spells. To accommodate all the villagers inside the massive cavern, but the dark shadow covered the entire wall where the woman was seated.

"Soon I will be asked to stand by my beloved master's side. Until that moment comes, please bear with my presence here.,"

The elder ogre that threw the dagger and had it returned back to him was sweating in fear and panic. He just lowered his head and never uttered a single word anymore; what he saw was the shadow of the world eater coming to eat him from where he was sitting. All the elders and Thurak followers saw this and could not believe the creature that Nukra had befriended while they were out hunting. The few elders assumed it was because of the grimoire book he was holding.

Even with fear looming around, greed for power was still that strong. They wish to obtain the book, knowing it holds great power, and the reason is the signature energy that the woman slightly gave out was similar to what the book has.

"Did you sense it?"

"Yes, even with just a small amount, it was still potent and raw, the only energy that can rival divine mana."

"Maybe the rambling of that old man must be true,"

"Who would believe such things before?"

"Those few days after waking up from this dreadful place are already a problem."

"Hearing his constant ramblings about ancient beings, chaos energies, and divine mana seemed far-fetched at first, but now it's hard to ignore the strange occurrences happening around us."

"We may need to delve deeper into this mystery to find a way out of this dreadful place."

"Time here is relatively twisted and lacks any sense of normalcy, making it difficult to distinguish our own reality from what we perceive to be in."

"That lingering feeling that everything about race is just a spontaneous narrative to fit a black space keeps me awake,"

I can't even recall my ancestral background; we all just came to be."

"The knowledge, the skills, and our personalities are ours, but... something is missing?"

"Among all the elders here, Nurka looks undisturbed by what happened, as if he knows something that we all don't. After gaining that book,"

"And that book can give us the answers we are searching for, if only we can get that book away from Nukra's hand and activate it."

"How are the preparations going?"

"The high-tier potion is nearly complete. We can use it to control the spirit of the book and finally unlock its secrets."

"Once we have the book in our possession, we will finally be able to uncover the truth about our origins and put an end to Nukra's control over it."

"That's the only reason we haven't killed that old fool."

The grimoire needed to bypass the main system and access the data related to the Grey Ogre, but doing this will surely alert the tower administrator and consider this an anomaly. So the only way to save the Grey Ogre tribe was to reset everything and create a new storyline that the tower administrator would agree upon. Nukra knew all about this; the codex could only grant protection from those who had accepted its blessing. That is why he designated 6 female and 6 male ogres with the highest level of intelligence to carry out the plan. The fate of the Grey Ogre tribe depended on their success in executing their tribe purge without raising suspicion from the rest. It was a hard and dreadful task, but Nukra was confident in the abilities of the chosen individuals. The future of the Grey Ogre tribe hung in the balance as they prepared to carry out their mission.

Melgil was indicated in the plan. Nukra thought he could save his entire clan, but it seems the tower administrator has no plans to continue their support in the deployment of the grey ogre character patch, and to fix the bug in the main system.

Dane knew this, he was a the main person that program the main system, and those who worked with him also new about this, these patches were temporary and hold a small significance in the scenario just to fill in , while the story line get organize and the players finalize their choice.

as the codex informed him, and the reason why he left Melgil, is because she is one of the main bosses in the virtual game; putting her in the center of the patch will create a major disruption in the towers balance. hopefully forcing the system to acknowledge a few chosen patch characters as new additions to her own story line and integrate their code into what is already existing,

it was a complicated outcome and is considerably focus in maintaining the towers control as Dane action triggered this domino effect, obtaining the mana engine was the first bug, and resetting his status as a player was the result of this , but fusing 6 skills and synthesize the creation of the formless armor that supposed to be one of items connected with the main story.

The grey ogre anomaly has already started, as the gatekeeper that investigated the area sends its report to the tower administrator. Confirmation of the mutation will be seen as an anomaly in the gorge's original design; spores were a product of accumulated miasma that wasn't supposed to accrue in the gorge. This miasma was originally created to form at the swampland in the territory of Karion near the boundary of the Empire of Graves.

This will potentially lead to unforeseen consequences on the first floor, and must be corrected to prevent further disruptions and maintain the integrity of the main system.