88. Titansteel Beetle

Two unusually large dots were coming around the bend. They sounded like tanks—the earth groaned under them as they moved.

They moved like tanks too—slowly, steadily. Then they came into view.

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕖 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟠

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔻𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕠𝕣 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔸 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝, 𝕨𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕤, 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕪, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜.

ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕠𝕣 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕖 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔸 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕥 𝕒 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪, 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔 𝕧𝕚𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕤𝕔𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕠𝕨-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝.

They even looked like tanks. It was like their body—from that shiny oval shell to their scythes for pincers to their spiky pillars for legs—was one huge suit of gunmetal-gray armor. Metal spines ran down their shells. Their eyes flared deep red.

Those eyes were the only weak points that came up in Sage Mind. Their defense was nearly flawless. They made a ringing click-click-clicking as they came for him. Their pincers gnashed together, screeching steel.

Three Major Laws, huh. And he hadn't even gotten to the Tree yet. This dungeon was something else.

He mulled what to do. He could probably bust out his Axes and give these things a hiding.

But Zane looked at those Major Laws again. Steel Density. Echoing Clangor. He didn't have either of those. And he'd need them to make the Elemental Law of Steel…

"Hey Zane, what are you thinking?" said Evan, swallowing.

Zane could feel the boy's nervousness, but it was hard to tell if he was actually scared or if it was just his usual.

Zane cracked his knuckles.

"Um. Zane?" A little higher pitched now.

Zane smiled. "Don't interfere. No matter what happens. Got it?"

"Um—"

He marched toward the monsters. Let's go. He set his fists on fire. Stormfire.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 ℙ𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙 [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

Oh. Nice.

The Beetles opened their maws and ungodly sounds came out, like glass shattering mixed with nails on a chalkboard.

They charged him like rhinos. And he gave that same energy right back. He leaped in, fist flying, and brought it smashing down right in the middle of a thick, shiny head.

It blasted a crater in its skull a foot deep. A crater that burst into crackling flame.

It did less than he thought, actually. That Titansteel shell was pretty darn thick. And he felt its Laws fighting his Stormfire. He felt Undying Might in there but also something else—was that Steel Density? It clumped everything together at the tiniest level, made the Titansteel stupidly heavy, hard to chew through… his Stormfire was still making a nice little puddle in the middle of its head, but slower than usual.

Zane squinted at it. Up this close, he could almost pick the Laws apart…

The Beetle bucked, turned, tried throwing him off. But it really was like a tank—it didn't have much liftoff. He could just about hold on.

Until a shadow loomed over him. Or rather, two shadows stretching all the way around him. The silhouette of a pincer. Zane frowned.

He could feel the second Beetle right behind him. Feel its seething hatred. It badly wanted to crush him, to rip him in half. The pincers yawned wide, dropping to snap him up—

Was this that 'Clangor Bite' Skill? With that Law of Echoing Clangor? This could be interesting, actually.

They closed in on him like guillotines—and chomped into his skin. It only got half an inch or so in. Enough to draw blood. But not enough to fold him.

Then its real power poured into him, and he choked a little. It felt like his whole body was a big gong, and something just struck him. Hard. His head felt like it was about to explode. His teeth were chattering out of his skull—damn. His vision was a jittering blur; he felt the jarring buzzing trembling down in his bones. Everything shook.

He heard Evan scream somewhere in the background.

Now, the pincers were pouring quite a lot of force into him. But with Zane's body, a lot was not enough. Yet… they were still making steady progress. Cutting into him bit by bit, digging deep into the muscle. Pain flared up on either side. Huh.

It was the vibrations. They were destabilizing him, physically, structurally. His Health was actually starting to take a real hit. This was really interesting. It felt like the kind of Minor Law that could apply to a lot of stuff, not just steel—

Zane blinked. There was Evan right there in front of him, flying through the air, sword held high. The boy's mouth was open in a valiant cry. His body was a little sun of anger and determination; the feelings just shone out of him, blinding. He glowed a golden light. His eyes were literally shining.

"Let go of my friend!" He cried, and the sword flashed down.

And in that slash, there was an immense surge of essence—far more than Zane would've thought the boy could muster. This was the kind of blow even Zane would have to take very seriously.

An arc of light split the air, sliced right through the Beetle's neck—and beheaded the beast in a stroke.

It kept going, crashed into the roots behind, and sank a shining scar into the wood-steel.

The pincers came loose and dissolved.

There stood Evan, trembling a little, heaving in huge gulps of air. The shot seemed to take a lot out of him. Worry poured out of him. "Are you okay?!"

Zane frowned. "Why did you do that?"

"….huh?"

Zane started to explain. But the other Beetle was charging him, so he sighed. "One moment."

The pincers flashed down. And he grabbed them.

Then in one big heave, he picked the Monster up. Its long chunky legs thrashed about, trying to shake itself free, but he held firm. It was surprisingly hard to hold—even for Zane. Must be those Density Laws. If Zane found it heavy, it was pretty darn heavy.

Then he turned it upside down and dropped it. It cratered into the dirt. There it spasmed, kicking wildly at the air, pincers angrily snapping at nothing. But it couldn't seem to right itself—its shell, armor, whatever, was just too heavy. It kept rolling side to side like a big angry rocking horse. It was kind of funny to watch.

Evan just stared.

"I let it bite me," Zane explained. "It has Steel Laws I want to learn. I'm trying to feel them."

"…Ohhhh." Evan flushed. "Oh! Um. I'm—I'm so sorry! I just thought—"

"It's fine," said Zane, waving a casual hand. "There's Beetles to spare. It's not easy to hurt me. Unless I ask for help, assume I'm fine."

"Okay. Got it." Evan nodded seriously. "It won't happen again, I swear!"

He had this determined look on his face like he was committing it to heart. Zane thought about emphasizing again that it really wasn't that big a deal. He gave up.

"How did you do that anyway? The slash."

Evan blinked. Then he looked at the root-wall, which was still simmering with his essence, a little baffled. Like he was thinking—that was me?

"Well …I can't do it," he said sheepishly. "I mean I can—just not with that much, um, power. I have this Skill where if I'm defending a friend, I get a power boost." He mumbled that last bit. For some reason, he felt a little embarrassed.

...They were friends?

Hmm. Zane supposed he didn't mind. Evan was alright.

He turned back to the flailing Beetle. It was losing its mind a little. He could feel its growing panic. "Don't interfere."

"Mhm!"

He took this chance to take a C-grade Law fruit. Then he grabbed hold of those steely pincers and flipped the thing back over.

It came at him even angrier this time. Which worked out well, actually. It clamped its pincers around him, trying furiously to shred him. And he just focused on the feeling. This really was useful—for this particular Law he could literally feel it, and deeply, too. He just lay there and soaked it in.

The Beetle was like a dog gnawing on a bone—it just wouldn't let go. It was actually kind of impressive. After half a minute or so of scant progress, most beasts would have tried something new. But this thing was just raw, dumb hate.

Zane closed his eyes. He started slipping away, finding his Law trance. The more he did it, the easier it was to slip into it. He relaxed his body. He let his mind drift off. He forgot the screeching of steel on steel, the hateful beady eyes glaring at him, the screeching gnawing sounds, the sharp burning feelings of his muscles starting to shred… A bit of the thing's acid slobber got in his face, which took him out of it for a moment. But that was all.

Soon he was deep in. He felt the Law rippling through him—felt the way steel vibrated, the way those waves sought out points of weakness, made little disruptions at the tiniest of levels, where everything held together—made things weak and brittle…

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%!

Then—

𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕! 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕍𝕚𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤

Hey, nice.

The thing was still coming at him pretty hard. Its jaws were nearing bone, which would have been a little inconvenient. Zane was pretty good about not letting stuff affect him. But even for him it'd be hard keeping his mind still, a clear pond without ripples, once his bones started breaking.

So he pushed back a little. He shimmied up so the pincers clamped a little lower on him—on fresh unbroken meat. The deep wounds on his upper arms, meanwhile, burned up with Fiery Renewal. Healing.

Satisfied, he sank back into his trance.

It seemed the Beetle was getting frustrated—it started ramming him into the root wall too. But he didn't care. He had a very thick skull.

With this vibration came a sound, he noticed. The vibrations and the sounds were intertwined at a very deep level. They added a new layer to the cutting. They started from the pincers and poured into him… He felt the way they shifted a little, bent, slowed, as they moved from the steel of the pincer to the steel of his body. And then from him out into open air… He felt the way sound moved through steel, and soon he knew it.

𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕!

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

Those were the most prominent Minor Laws in this attack, at least. He could sense there were more Echoing Clangor Minor Laws in there—hidden undertones—but it would take some digging to sieve out. One of them also had to do with steel and sound, he sensed, but it was a little murkier…

He frowned.

The pressure was easing up. What?

The Beetle let go of him and put its head down. Its huge shell rose and fell, like it was breathing heavy. It'd stopped clicking.

Zane reached out, baffled. Then he felt the reason.

…Was this thing for real?

Its jaw got tired.

What kind of Monster was this? That was it?

"Pathetic," he sighed.

He brought out his Axe, licked its edge with Stormfire, and caved its head in with a stroke. He'd just find another one. There were probably plenty around.

He found Evan staring at him, eyes shining. Not literally this time. "Woahh…"

"What?"

"Zane, you're really cool!" he said earnestly.

"…Thanks?"

Evan kind of reminded him of Avery, weirdly. Except… the opposite? At this point she'd be making fun of him. But they were both… he wasn't sure how to describe it.

Anyway.

They moved on. Soon they stumbled across a treasure chest buried in the root wall.