SSSSS-Rank: Negative Leveling-Chapter 69: The Next Step

Two months after the fight with Kane, Luthra stood in the center of the training ground at dawn, his body moving through forms with the heavy chain, the movements had become second nature after years of practice, the weapon was an extension of his arm.

The chain whistled through the air as he executed a complex sequence, wrap, strike, redirect, pull, each motion flowing into the next without pause, the weight that had once felt impossible to control now felt natural, almost comfortable.

Rebecca was running laps around the perimeter, her breathing controlled now, no longer gasping after the first mile, she’d grown stronger in the weeks of training, her body adapting to the brutal regimen he’d set for her.

When she’d first started, she could barely complete two laps before collapsing, now she was on her eighth and still maintaining pace, sweat soaked her training clothes but her form remained solid, no wasted energy in her stride.

’She’s got potential, real potential, if she can learn to combine her fire abilities with proper combat technique, she could become dangerous.’

Luthra finished his chain work and transitioned to hand-to-hand forms, practicing the same strikes he’d drilled ten thousand times, muscle memory so deep he could execute them in his sleep.

Lilith’s screen materialized beside him.

[Luthra, we need to discuss the positive core situation, it’s becoming critical.]

He finished his current form before responding, driving an elbow into an imaginary opponent’s ribs, then pivoting to sweep their legs. ’How critical?’

[The instability has increased significantly, the positive energy from the absorbed entity is beginning to resonate with your negative core in dangerous ways, you have approximately three weeks before the interaction becomes volatile enough to cause internal damage.]

’Three weeks, that’s not much time, what exactly happens if the cores clash?’

[Best case scenario, your mana system shuts down temporarily and you lose access to all abilities for several months, worst case scenario, the conflicting energies tear your soul apart from the inside and you die in extreme agony.]

’Well, when you put it that way.’

He stopped his training and sat down on a nearby bench, wiping sweat from his face with a towel that had seen better days. ’You said we need a high-rank gate to convert the positive core, what exactly are we looking for?’

[A C-Rank gate minimum, ideally a B-Rank or higher, the gate needs to be stable and have been open for at least several days to build up sufficient ambient mana, the conversion process will take approximately six hours and require you to be completely vulnerable during the ritual.]

’Six hours of being defenseless while my cores try to merge, and this needs to happen inside an active gate full of monsters.’

[Correct, which is why you’ll need a capable team to defend you during the process.]

Rebecca finished her laps and collapsed dramatically next to him, her face flushed and her hair plastered to her forehead. "I’m dying, this is what dying feels like, tell my future self I hated every moment of this."

"You’re not dying, you’re getting stronger, how do you feel?"

"Tired, sweaty, and hungry, but also, I don’t know, kind of good, like my body actually works now instead of just being a thing I live in."

He handed her a water canteen. "That’s progress, when I started training seriously I spent the first month thinking I was going to die, the second month wishing I would die, and after that it just became normal."

She drank deeply, then looked at him. "Were you really training alone for five years?"

"Every day, no days off, no excuses, just me and the routine."

"That sounds incredibly lonely."

"It was, but lonely was better than weak, at least that’s what I told myself back then."

’She’s learning.’

Khorvash approached from the direction of the main building, her expression serious, her tail swishing behind her in that way it did when she had news she knew Luthra wouldn’t like. "Luthra, we’ve got news from the Association contact, there’s a B-Rank gate that opened three days ago about fifty miles northeast of here, it’s in neutral territory so no major guild has claimed it yet."

’Convenient timing, almost too convenient.’

Luthra stood up, already calculating travel time and risk factors. "What kind of gate?"

"Ice and stone type according to the reports, estimated to have frozen tundra environment with crystalline monsters, difficulty rated at B-3, which means the monsters inside are around B-Rank equivalent in strength."

Lilith’s screen updated with information.

[A B-3 gate would be ideal for the conversion, the environmental mana density in ice-type gates tends to be very high due to the frozen preservation of ambient energy, and B-Rank monsters, while dangerous, are within your current combat capability with proper preparation.]

"When do we leave?" Rebecca asked, sitting up with excitement in her eyes. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"You’re not coming, this is too dangerous."

The excitement died immediately, replaced by hurt and frustration. "But you said you’d train me to fight with you."

"I said I’d train you, not that I’d take you into a B-Rank gate after two months of basic conditioning, you’re not ready."

"How am I supposed to get ready if you never let me actually fight?"

"By continuing to train until you can handle threats at your level, then gradually working up to harder challenges, taking you into a B-Rank gate now would be suicide, you’d be overwhelmed in the first five minutes."

Her face fell, and Luthra felt an uncomfortable pang of guilt, he wasn’t used to having to consider other people’s feelings when making tactical decisions, but he was starting to realize that leadership meant dealing with emotions whether he wanted to or not.

Khorvash sat down next to Rebecca, her voice gentler than usual. "He’s right, B-Rank gates are incredibly dangerous, even experienced hunters die in them regularly, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help prepare."

"How?"

"Someone needs to organize supplies, plan the route, and coordinate with the settlement’s defenses while we’re gone, that’s a crucial job, if something goes wrong here while we’re in the gate, we need someone capable managing the response."

Rebecca looked between them, clearly wanting to argue, her hands clenched into fists and her jaw tight, but eventually she nodded, the fight going out of her. "Fine, but next time, I’m coming with you."

"We’ll see."

Luthra stood up, brushing dust from his training clothes. "Khorvash, you’re coming with me, we’ll need your combat ability and your dragon resilience, anyone else?"

"Misha offered to come, she’s a competent mage and she knows how to handle gate environments, Borris wants to stay and run security here, and Jako is too valuable as a tracker to risk in a direct assault."

"Alright, three person team, me, you, and Misha, we leave tomorrow morning, that gives us today to prepare and gather supplies."

He walked toward the main building, his mind already shifting into mission planning mode, this was familiar territory, assess the threat, prepare for contingencies, execute the plan.

But now there was an additional factor, if he died in this gate, five hundred people who depended on this settlement would be left vulnerable, Rebecca would lose her teacher, Khorvash would have to decide whether to stay or leave, and everything he’d built in the last few months would collapse or fall under someone else’s control.

’No pressure.’

The settlement had grown significantly in the two months since the Kane fight, what had started as a mining operation with freed slaves was now a functioning community, people had built homes, established businesses, and created lives that didn’t revolve around just survival.

He passed a bakery that hadn’t existed a month ago, the smell of fresh bread making his stomach remind him he hadn’t eaten breakfast, farther down the main street a blacksmith was working on repairs, the sound of hammer on metal ringing through the morning air.

Children ran past him, actually playing instead of working or training, one of them bumped into his leg and looked up terrified before realizing who it was.

"Sorry, Mr. Luthra," the kid said, before running off to catch up with his friends.

’Mr. Luthra, when did that start?’

In his office, which was really just a repurposed storage room with a desk that wobbled if you put too much weight on one corner, he spread out maps of the northern region, the gate location was marked on the Association’s intelligence report, a valley between two mountain ranges that had been empty wasteland before the gate appeared.

The journey would take about a day if they pushed hard, less if they could arrange Association transport, but that would mean owing them a favor and Luthra preferred to minimize political debts when possible.

Misha entered without knocking, carrying her own set of notes and a steaming cup of something that smelled like burnt coffee mixed with herbs. "I’ve been researching B-Rank ice gates, they tend to have three distinct zones, an outer perimeter with weaker monsters for resource gathering, a middle zone with environmental hazards and moderate threats, and a core area where the gate boss resides."

"How long does it usually take to clear one?"

"For a full team of B-Rank hunters equipped with proper gear and support, maybe three to four days for a complete subjugation, but we’re not trying to clear it, we’re just going in, finding a suitable location for your ritual, and defending you while you do whatever weird system thing you need to do."

’She doesn’t know about the core conversion, better to keep it vague, fewer questions that way.’

"The ritual will take six hours, I need to find a place with high mana density but relatively defensible, ideally somewhere the monsters won’t naturally patrol."

"That’s going to be tricky, high mana areas attract monsters because they feed on the energy, we might have to clear out a space and defend it actively."

Luthra studied the map, noting the terrain features around the gate location. "Then that’s what we do, how’s your combat capability?"

She grinned and pulled out a wand from her belt, the wood was dark and inscribed with flowing runes that pulsed with blue light, the craftsmanship was excellent, clearly expensive. "I’m a B-7 combat mage specializing in barrier magic and area denial, my Path is called Sovereign Space, basically I can create zones where I control the fundamental rules of physics, nothing crazy like changing gravity or stopping time, but I can make areas where movement is restricted, where magic is amplified or suppressed, things like that."

’That’s actually perfect for defense, if she can create a restricted zone around me during the ritual, it’ll force monsters to fight through her barriers to reach me, buying time for Khorvash to intercept threats.’

"Can you maintain a barrier for six hours?"

"With breaks and mana potions, yes, but it’ll drain me completely, I won’t have much combat ability afterward, maybe enough for basic shields but definitely no offensive capability."

"That’s fine, Khorvash and I can handle the fighting, your job is just to keep things from interrupting the ritual, if I get disrupted mid-process the feedback could kill me or permanently damage my mana system."

She nodded seriously. "Understood, maximum defensive priority on you, everything else is secondary."

They spent the next several hours planning, Misha drew up defensive formations using her knowledge of optimal barrier placement, Luthra calculated supply requirements down to the exact number of rations and water purification tablets they’d need, and they both reviewed the Association’s intelligence on ice-type monsters.

The reports detailed creatures made from frozen elements, things with high physical resistance but vulnerability to sustained heat or crushing damage, regeneration was common, ambush tactics were frequent, and the environmental hazards alone could kill unprepared hunters.

By the time evening came, they had a workable plan, enter the gate, move quickly through the outer zone without engaging unnecessary fights, advance to the middle zone where mana density would be higher, find a defensible location preferably with natural cover, set up Misha’s barriers in overlapping defensive layers, and defend for six hours while Luthra completed the core conversion.

Simple in theory, probably horrible in execution.

Rebecca brought them dinner, still clearly unhappy about being left behind, she set down three plates of food that looked like some kind of stew with bread. "I packed your supplies, three days of food with extra portions in case you’re there longer, water purification tablets rated for ice melt, medical kits with cold-weather specific treatments, mana potions from the Association shipment, and emergency flares in case you need immediate extraction, also I added extra socks because Misha said wet socks in ice environments can cause frostbite."

"Good thinking, thorough preparation saves lives."

"I also want you to promise you’ll come back."

Luthra looked at her serious expression and felt that uncomfortable emotion again, the one he didn’t have a name for, it wasn’t quite parental affection but it was definitely something more than just instructor-student relationship. "I promise I’ll do everything I can to come back."

"That’s not the same as promising you’ll come back."

"It’s the only promise I can honestly make, I can’t control everything that happens inside a gate, but I can promise I’ll fight with everything I have, I’ll use every trick I know, and I won’t take unnecessary risks."

She hugged him suddenly, catching him completely off guard, he awkwardly patted her head, still not used to physical affection after years of living alone.

"Okay, I believe you, just don’t die because that would really suck."

"Noted, I’ll add it to my tactical considerations."

After she left, Misha looked at him with amusement while eating her stew. "You’re terrible at this whole parental figure thing."

"I’m not her parent, I’m her combat instructor."

"Keep telling yourself that, but everyone in the settlement sees you two as family, she follows you around, you train her personally instead of delegating to someone else, and you get that look on your face when she’s in danger."

"What look?"

"The look that says you’d burn down half the continent if someone hurt her."

Luthra didn’t respond, he just ate his food and tried to ignore the uncomfortable truth in Misha’s words.

That night, Luthra did his usual routine, fifty thousand push-ups wasn’t possible yet with his still-healing injuries from recent fights, but forty thousand were doable, and he needed the physical exertion to quiet his mind and process his thoughts.

The settlement was quiet at this hour, most people asleep, only the night watch patrolling the perimeter and a few late workers finishing tasks by lamplight.

As he worked through the sets, Lilith’s screen appeared again, her presence had become a constant companion, almost comforting in its familiarity.

[You’re worried about the ritual.]

’Obviously, six hours of being completely defenseless while two volatile energy sources try to merge inside my soul, what’s not to worry about?’

[The process is dangerous, but it’s also necessary, without converting the positive core, you’ll never reach your full potential, you’ll always have this unstable element holding you back, limiting your growth and threatening your life.]

’I know, doesn’t make it less terrifying, the idea of my soul being torn apart from the inside is not exactly comforting.’

[For what it’s worth, I’ll be with you through the entire process, this is as much a test for me as it is for you, I’ve never guided someone through core conversion before, we’re making history together, pioneering something that’s never been done.]

’Great, experimental soul surgery, my favorite.’

[Your sarcasm is noted, however, I should mention that if the conversion succeeds, the resulting hybrid core will give you abilities that no hunter in this world has ever possessed, the combination of negative and corrupted positive energy could allow you to not only absorb and nullify attacks, but also to corrupt and redirect them with enhanced power.]

’So instead of just being a void that eats energy, I could become something that takes energy, twists it, and throws it back.’

[Precisely, imagine facing a fire mage, absorbing his flames, corrupting them with negative energy, and sending them back as black fire that burns with cold instead of heat, that’s the kind of power we’re talking about, or facing a healing spell and corrupting it into a decay effect, the possibilities are extensive.]

Luthra finished his last set and stood up, his body aching in the familiar way that meant he’d pushed himself hard enough, sweat dripped from his face and his muscles burned, but the pain was grounding, real, something he could understand.

’Alright, if we’re doing this, we’re doing it right, tomorrow we go into a B-Rank gate, survive whatever monsters are inside, and I either come out with a hybrid core or I don’t come out at all.’

[Those are indeed the options.]

’Not helping, Lilith.’

[Apologies, I’m experiencing what I believe you would call nervousness, apparently having a personality comes with emotional responses, it’s inconvenient.]

He actually laughed at that, the sound echoing in the empty training yard. ’Welcome to being alive, it’s all inconvenient emotions and bad decisions.’

[I’m beginning to understand why you’re so pragmatic, emotion without action is useless, so you skip straight to action and deal with emotions later if at all.]

’Something like that, emotions are just noise unless they drive you to do something productive.’

He looked out the window at the settlement below, lights burning in windows, people living their lives, trusting that he’d keep them safe, trusting that the settlement he’d built would continue to exist.

Six hundred people now, all of them depending on this community, all of them vulnerable if he died tomorrow.

’Alright, no more second-guessing, tomorrow we move forward, one step at a time, just like always.’