34. Mount Saint Helens (IX)

They stared at the bubbling lava pool.

"So…" said Avery, puffing out a cheek. "Same strat? I bait, you whack?"

"I'll need some time to set up the Cyclone. Once they're sucked in it should line them up. Then…" He made a slashing gesture.

"Sounds good to me." Avery squinted at him. "Hmm…"

"What are you doing?"

"Memorizing you," she said.

She snapped her fingers, and another him burst into being right next to her. It looked just like him. Eerily so—down to the lines of the face.

…Was his face really so dour all the time?

"Neat, right?" said Avery. "Here, look!"

Fake Zane started walking around. Rather, lumbering around.

"I don't walk like that," said Zane. He paused. "… Do I?"

Then fake Zane bent over and leapt into a handstand. He started walking around on his hands. Avery giggled.

"…"

Fake Zane got to his feet and made a goofy grin. He struck a bodybuilder pose. "Aww," said Avery, "Isn't he cute? Who's my good boy?" She ruffled fake Zane's hair.

Then, still grinning, she looked at Zane's very unamused face. "Uh… right." She cleared her throat. "Sorry. Let's get started?"

"Let's," said Zane dryly.

She snapped again.

And fake Zane went sprinting toward the lake, screaming and hollering and flapping his arms like a man on fire. Which he might very well be soon. The Flame Wraiths instantly took notice. The edges of the lake started bubbling. When he got close, a horde of them leapt out and lunged for him, spewing sparks. He sprinted along the lava fall's perimeter, and wherever he went, Flame Wraiths shot out at him, grabbing for his ankles, his legs, but he always found some little acrobatic trick to get out of the way. He stuck out his tongue. He made stupid faces. It seemed to enrage them.

He kept running, and the whole lake started to tremble. Zane started twirling his Axe. By the time his wind was picking up, it looked like the whole lake was erupting at once. There were so many Wraiths pouring out it was shifting the balance of the magma. Magma sloshed, spilling over the banks.

Fake Zane kept running. He was three-quarters of the way round the lake, and the stampede behind him was getting monstrous. Zane couldn't even count how many there were—just a thick press of tiny flaming people.

"Here it comes!" said Avery.

His winds were so loud by now he almost didn't hear her. The Wraiths flowed in, and the winds snatched them up one by one. They were thrown up in clumps, spinning higher and higher, and so many were pouring in now it actually grew unwieldy, hard to keep straight. Zane was flailing a little. He could hardly distinguish the Wraiths from his own fires. He had to start cutting them down, and fast, or it'd all fall apart.

The winds drew in close, lining them up, and the Axes started their nasty work. They raked one clean line straight up and down the rows, cleaving 20 or 30 at once, then doubled back and ripped through another clump, then another. It was shocking how many there were, even more, more than he could've imagined, all screeching bloody murder at him. Two more rakes, and he'd slashed most of them down to size.

The problem was in that time, a huge clump had managed to claw their way to him. He couldn't dodge. He could only grit his teeth as the first few came through and dive-bombed him.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%!

Then another, then another, and his front side lit up in pain.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%!

Shit. There were too many more, maybe a half dozen, and they were too close to stop. He couldn't hold them like this. He had to—

Avery walked in front of him. She flowed right through the scything Cyclone currents, slipped between the edges of his Axes, so easily it was like she was walking through a still photograph. Everything just slipped off her. Her face was scrunched tight in concentration. And as the Wraiths came for him, she took them all, one by one, and flung them back deep into the raging winds.

His Axes took care of the rest.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟚 -> 𝟝𝟛

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠 ℂ𝕪𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀

He came out sweating and panting. He felt a little dizzy. Avery was in pretty much the same shape—her arms were bright red, the flesh had been burned off.

"You alright?" he said.

"I'm good! Just… a little tender."

He looked out at the lava falls pouring over a now-empty lake. "Want to try it first?"

"Hell no." She grabbed her bag of holding and plopped herself down by the side of the pool. "I'm done getting burnt. Mind if I..?" She plucked out a handful of mid-grade essence stones. He shrugged, "Suit yourself."

She closed her eyes and started healing, absorbing.

Which left him to try the lava-fall. He walked up the path, down the middle, came real close. It wasn't as loud as a heavy waterfall would've been. The flow was slower, but its sounds were much lower, reverberating, like they came from deep in the earth.

𝔸 𝕝𝕒𝕧𝕒-𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠, 𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥, 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝔹𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖: 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕨 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕪𝕡𝕖𝕣-𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗.

Normal fires didn't burn him anymore. But the Laws running through this fire were higher than his own, at least major. Hmm.

He stuck out a hand, shoved it under the flow.

It scalded his flesh instantly. He felt a strong instinct to jerk away, like he just put his hand on a hot stove. When he removed it, he saw it hadn't been burned much at all. The skin was still there.

That burning feeling was in his mind. This lava scalded him twice at once, in flesh and in soul. He shoved his hand under the flow again and let it sit there, blinking at it. There it was again, that spike of heat, but the pain wasn't physical. All mental.

He observed the pain with an almost detached curiosity. After that first spike, it grew slowly, like it was bringing his mind to a boil, and held him there. It wasn't very comfortable. But it wasn't all that bad.

He took off his shirt, laid it out on the ground, and turned to sit down under the lava fall. He found Avery staring at him, wide-eyed.

"What?"

She blinked and jerked up. "Sorry! It's just… y'know…" she flapped a hand at him. "Abs."

"…"

"What?" she said, blushing. "Stop judging me! What am I supposed to do, not look? How about I take off my shirt, and you try not staring?"

"…Let's not."

He sighed, turned, closed his eyes, and sat down into the rush. Instantly he felt it hammer him into the ground; he had to force his spine upright. All that dense molten steel pouring over him… He gritted his teeth. It did hurt a lot. His body and his soul. And yet…

He felt apart from it somehow. The pain was a feeling floating in his mind, just kind of… there. It grew steadily worse and then leveled off. It wasn't so bad. He kept sitting there, letting it wash over him. Even as it burned him, he felt its essence, dense as the flow itself, pouring all over his back, seeping through the skin.

Soon it was more interesting than it was painful. He'd reached a level of acute pain he'd never felt before. He lost himself to the sensation.

Soon,

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟛 -> 𝟝𝟜

… That easy? He blinked. What had that been, like... three hours?

This was… broken. Far too broken.

He stood and waved to Avery. He had to share this. "Try it," he said. "It's free Levels."

"Really?"

"It won't damage you. Roll the fire off with your Laws. It'll burn the soul, which hurts. But it's not so bad. It gave me a Level in three hours."

"Oh, wow."

She came over and frowned skeptically at it. "I don't know…"

"Just try it."

So she did. The instant she sat down—"Fuck, fuck!"

"It's in your mind," he told her. "Yeah," she said through gritted teeth. "I know. FUCK!"

Ten minutes in, she shot to her feet. "Nope, I'm done."

He was just saying it's not so bad if you stick to it—when she pitched over on her face and vomited.

"…"

"I can feel when I'm about to black out, you big dummy. That sucked."

He was a little baffled. 'Can't you push through it?'

"It's not even a willpower thing, it feels different," she said. "Like a … soul power thing? Look, it doesn't work for me. It works for you because you're like a big hunk of rock! You don't feel things."

He frowned. He did feel things. But he didn't bother correcting her.

"Anyway—I'm happy sticking to my essence stones. Thanks, though."

He watched her go. Then—eh. He turned back and started sitting again.

A few hours later,

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟜 -> 𝟝𝟝

And a few more...

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟝 -> 𝟝𝟞

He didn't sleep. He grew obsessed with feeling himself fill up with that wonderfully dense essence. He was starting to like the pain. He was gaining Levels so fast it was dizzying.

In the end, he'd stayed there a full day. And in that time—

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕌𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟠 -> 𝟝𝟡

Avery was content to wait for him. She didn't rush him. When he opened his eyes, she was still asleep. At least he thought it was her. She'd curled up into a ball and yanked the cords of her hoodie, so it was hard to tell.

Each time he Leveled up, the essence he needed ratcheted up a lot. That was five easy Levels, but he could sense it'd take maybe another week of sitting here to pour in another five.

Still… no wonder there'd been powerhouses in the 60s or 70s weeks ago. These higher-level dungeons were different.

He would have gladly kept sitting here, except somewhere midway through his fifth level, it dried up.

He blinked. Then he checked with identify.

ℂ𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕦𝕥

ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖: 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙.

Aww.

…Somehow he got the feeling that wasn't supposed to happen. The description made it sound like you were supposed to quit before the Volcano did.

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟡

𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: 𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖

ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤: 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕒𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕣

𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕤:

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝟝𝟚.𝟛

ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝟙𝟡.𝟛

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙: 𝟞𝟚.𝟛

𝔻𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝟚𝟝.𝟠

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕: 𝟙𝟡.𝟛

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤:

𝔾𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕀 (ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟)

𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕀 (ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟)

𝔸𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕀 (𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟)

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖 (𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖)

𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖)

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖)

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕀

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕀

𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕀

𝕌𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀𝕀

𝕌𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀𝕀

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕀𝕀𝕀

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟'𝕤 𝔽𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕀𝕀

𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝔹𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕀

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕟 ℕ𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕀𝕀

𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕀

𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠 ℂ𝕪𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕀𝕀

He felt pumped up as he got to his feet, raring to go. Then he had a sudden thought, a thought that froze him still.

Avery was waking up, stretching, yawning. She blinked at him. "Jesus! Level 59?!"

"Was it too much?"

She stared on blankly.

"I think I did this in the wrong order," he explained. "I should've slain the bosses first."

"Why?"

"What if it's too easy now?"

"… I'm going to punch you."