Limitless, John Gold [best novels of all time .TXT] 📗

they’re too small for me to jab anything through.

I have less than twenty seconds left when I finally see a narrow gap in the plates covering her throat. It’s barely a centimeter wide, but it opens up when Miridia throws her head back after yet another miss.

Breathe in, breathe out. My bone blade slips into the crack, a force blade is released, and my weakened opponent’s head topples to the ground. There’s no such thing as absolute protection; I know that better than anyone.

I set off from the scene of the kill calm and raring to go. The feeling of emotional exhaustion is completely gone, having given way to emptiness in my consciousness. Even though I won the battle, I still head over to the rest area to review how I’m feeling. The lack of emotion has me operating purely on reflexes. When things are dire, the emptiness inside helps me find the path to safety, though it’s a mode I’m better off only using when there’s a specific reason to.

From what I can tell, I’m now able to keep going. The space distortion is apparently no more.

It takes me three days to find a good compromise between my robot and normal person modes. But I decide to keep going, finding clear boundaries in the way I feel that delineate the halfway line, then the third marks, and then the quarters. That’s as fine a point as I can put on the control I have over my emotions.

After two days in my handmade sensory deprivation chamber, my consciousness starts to switch back and forth on its own, going from robot mode to normal adolescent mode. Perception is just as much a burden as a gift.

I come across nine more opponents following Miridia, four of which are natural gods. There are the three mermen who almost killed Femida and me on the River of Life, and Gabmi, the divinity who refused to help my parents when they were being kidnapped. I make sure to kill all of them twice, as those kills count toward my godkiller achievement.

Achievement received: Godkiller. Fourth rank.

Kill fourteen divinities. Killed: 14.

Reward: +400 to all attributes

 

The third kill, just like in the other trials, doesn’t do anything for me. I have no desire to go back for Bernard and Miridia, however. My opponents all learn from their battles with me, and each round is harder. I won’t be able to pull it off if they correct their mistakes. It just isn’t worth the risk.

Half an hour ago, I killed a Level-19511 opponent, but I just stopped short after sprinting for fifteen minutes. No, I’m not tired nor do I need a break from the game. I can feel through the fog up ahead the power, hatred, and disgust I felt ten years ago by Airis Castle. LJ pops up in my consciousness to soothe me. Since my meeting with Bernard, I’ve been absolutely certain who my final enemy would be: the being who killed my parents and laughed at the grief of a child.

Undead, Talamei, ???, Small Pantheon God

 

It would be hard to forget that fifty-meter body with its semitransparent skin and bulging vertebrae even if I tried. The disdain he has for the weak, the way he loves to demonstrate his strength and status… All of it is revolting. As I creep closer to him, I switch off all my emotions and focus entirely on his presence. That enables me to notice him before he notices me.

The fallen god has been waiting for me to show up, and he’s apparently learned how to conceal some of his strength. I can’t see him, from where I’m standing, though his silhouette is as clear as day. One more step, and I’m a goner. He’s stronger and more experienced than Miridia; the magic field around him is distorted; I can hear a light hum that tells me how powerful his magic is.

Nope. I don’t have a chance at winning. I need to adjust the balance of power—that’s the only way I can buy myself any chance at all.

A message pops up after my last opponent.

Achievement received: Titanbane. Three hundred and thirty-third rank.

Kill an opponent 16600 levels higher than you.

Reward: +1 660 to all attributes

After returning to the rest area, I run back along the border, almost to the very beginning. Crazyman’s Forest has grown a bit since I’ve been gone. Only the area around the filled-in mine is just as lifeless as before.

“Attribute window.”

Name: Sagie (Almark)

Level: 2911

Experience: 889660/30015620 (28192060 left until the next level)

Race: Human (demigod [unavailable])

Class: Mage

Basic attributes

Strength: 3812

Agility: 3812

Stamina: 13224

Intellect: 26787

Available attribute points: 0

Additional attributes

Speed: 500

Survivability: 2845

 

Derivative attributes

Physical damage: 1906 (strength/2, but no less than 1)

Carrying capacity: 9530 kg (strength*10/4)

Overall strength: 147490 (stamina*10+15250 from tattoos)

Mana: 110618 (overall strength*0.75)

Health: 36873 (overall strength*0.25)

Health and mana restoration: 28450/minute (mana*2)

Running speed: 184 km/h (1+speed/10)

My battle skills are a time and a half better than they were. I’ve boosted my skills, unlocked access to supreme spells, and used potions to give my fighting power a boost, but it’s still not enough. Talamei is an impassable barrier, even if I have access to my astral source of strength. I need to weaken him, and that means going back to Crazyman’s Forest. It’s time to get serious about curses.

Logout

 

∞ ∞ ∞

Femida has visited me twice in real life. Today, she’s back, and starts telling me over tea what’s going on in the outside world.

“That bastard Leon was able to make his own guy the archmage. You know, the kid you tried to turn against him.”

“Kirk?”

“Oh, no, he’s now Kirk the Light-Faced, envoy of the gods on earth. Leon turned his defeat into yet another victory.” Fem’s eyes lose focus as she scrolls through the news on a site. “The Golden Hand clan is going through a complete reorganization, with key figures removed from positions as head of fortress defense, battle group training, and team oversight. Rachel’s personal squad was disbanded. Efforts to find the Mystery turned up nothing. The Good Morning, Vietnam headhunter guild set up