89. Titansteel Beetle King

He might not have spotted the treasure chest if it wasn't marked on the mini-map. It was made of Titansteel, the same stuff as the root wall it was buried in. Silver vines snaked over its surface, strapping it in. Thick Spirit Steel straps buffed its frame, latching it tight.

Zane studied it for a second. Then he grabbed the sides of it and heaved.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then the whole root wall began to shake. Inch by inch the chest came free. Vines snapped off of it like rubber bands. Then he had it all the way clear and dropped it thudding to the ground. He grabbed the latches and tore them off one by one. He ripped open the lid with his bare hands—a little too hard. The whole thing went flying over the root wall. Oops.

He felt a prickling of feeling to the left and looked over. "What?"

Evan had been staring at him quite a lot this past hour. The boy flinched. "Nothing!"

Granting, he turned his attention to the chest's insides. There he found a single vial on a bed of lustrous straw. It was stoppered with light-green wood and tied with a vine for a ribbon. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small thing. Its glass was stamped with a crest showing a stylized tree.

A turquoise liquid shot through with gold flecks sloshed inside.

𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕗'𝕤 𝔼𝕝𝕚𝕩𝕚𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 (𝔹)

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕤 𝕓𝕪 𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕗, 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔸𝕝𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕖, 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕥. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕪𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕦𝕟𝕦𝕤𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕗 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖. ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕤. ℂ𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℝ𝕒𝕚𝕟. ℂ𝕠𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖: 𝟚 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕤

Temple of the World Tree? That rang a bell… wasn't that where Reina's Signature Title came from? Either this was a funky coincidence, or they were a pretty big deal.

And Minor grades? Leveling talent?

There was talent in Leveling?

Now that Zane thought about it, it did seem some people just Leveled slower than others. Even if they took in the same essence. It was clear you didn't get all the essence from Monsters you killed, just a fraction of it. Maybe talent just meant a bigger fraction?

Zane wondered how high his talent was. Was there some way to check?

Hmm.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement. It was Evan, tugging on one of the root vines. It didn't budge. He planted a foot on the root wall and tugged harder. Nothing happened.

"Dang," the boy whispered, wide-eyed.

"You ready?" Said Zane.

"Huh? Oh! Yup—be right there!"

They kept on down the winding path.

***

They met another Titansteel Beetle. It chomped on Zane for a little and he got a little closer to that last Minor Law he needed for Echoing Clangor. But it wasn't quite enough. Its Clangor Bite Skill might use the Major Law of Echoing Clangor, but it used some parts much more than others. The third Minor Law he needed was so subtle it escaped him. For now.

Zane sighed and squished the Monster. He'd probably just find some time to sit down and grind it out himself later. Maybe with some Steel treasure to help.

***

They were getting close to the tree trunk now. They could sense it looming over them—they were lost in its shade. You couldn't even see the topmost canopy from down here—just its shadow, a giant umbrella drawing a deep dark circle over the clouds.

But the sunlight wasn't all blocked. Zane guessed the giant canopy up there was like the boughs he could see down here—made of the same shiny metallic leaves. They were pretty darn reflective.

Shafts of sunlight streaked through the clouds, drawing shifting gold patterns on the ground. Zane guessed from all the leaves up there, catching the light of the sun, pinging it down. Pretty weird-looking stuff. Not often you saw sunlight through almost-black clouds.

He heard a gasp next to him. There was Evan, stood still, staring mouth wide open.

Zane stared too—not at the clouds but at Evan. Zane frowned a little. Wonder and joy just poured out of the boy; his heart swelled with it.

Zane looked at the clouds again, wondering what he was missing. Then back at Evan.

Evan noticed him looking, glanced over curiously.

"Why are you so…" Zane wasn't even sure how to phrase it. "Happy?"

The boy didn't seem to understand. He just pointed at the sky, all excited. "Isn't it pretty?"

He went back to staring.

Huh.

How could you feel like that, just looking at sunlight coming through clouds? Evan felt as happy right now as Zane did in his fiercest fights.

Zane scratched his head. Sometimes he wished he could be the kind of person who could be happy looking at sunlight through clouds. He figured life would be nicer that way. He could feel how Evan felt—it was like seeing the world in color, where Zane's was monochrome.

Just being next to him let Zane feel as he felt. Not as strongly. Just an impression, but it was still nice.

He sat there, staring for a bit, and after a while, he started to see it. …It really was nice to look at.

After a while, they moved on.

***

A few bends later, they came across a swath of X's on the mini-map. And Evan gasped there too. He went sad suddenly, sobered up.

"You okay?" Said Zane.

Evan nodded slowly. "Mhm."

Zane was actually curious. He was still a little confused about how Evan was even a thing. You'd have thought the Apocalypse would've chewed him up and spat him out all jaded by now.

But the boy just shook his head and swallowed, and when he looked back up, his eyes were fierce.

"We have to keep going," he said. "So their lives won't be in vain!" And he was full of determination again.

Huh.

They kept moving.

***

Soon, they were nearing the end of the root-path. Coming up to the trunk. And there, they found a fat red dot waiting for them, guarding the tunnel going in.

It was like the Titansteel Beetles grew up. You'd never see a tank like this before the change—just too big, too unwieldy. Its pincers could've snapped a house in two. And that shell was smoking with Steel Laws.

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘 (𝔹𝕠𝕤𝕤 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟡𝟝

𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕡𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕠𝕣

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔸 𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜, 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝. 𝕋𝕨𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕝 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝.

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 ℂ𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔸 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕡𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 𝕤𝕔𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕥𝕪𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕠𝕣 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕚𝕕-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝.

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕊𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞 ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝-𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕕-𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘.

So pretty similar to the normal Beetles. Just bigger and stronger.

It regarded Zane silently. Its eyes were one flat shade of deep red. Like dried blood.

This one had a few Levels on him, too, and four Major Laws. Its Crush seemed a little different, a little better than the others'… he wondered if it'd help him get that last Minor Law.

He wondered if it was such a good idea to screw around with something this big.

Then he looked at Evan, shuffling nervously side by side.

Yeah. Worst case, he'd still be fine.

"Wait here," said Zane. Then he marched up to the thing. And it pounced.

It moved shockingly quickly for something that big; it launched off six giant legs, kicking up geysers of dirt. It'd snatched him up in a blink like he weighed nothing, seized him between pincers big as cruise-ship anchors. Then it started to crush.

Zane felt Echoing Clangor rev up again, felt that world-shaking rattling—but much worse than before. It felt like an earthquake was going off in his body. At the same time, those great blades ripped into him. He tried to go into his Zen state, tried losing himself to his trance.

This thing was squeezing pretty darn hard.

Then he heard something crack. It seemed to be his arm.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%

Ah, shit. Alright. Time to bail.

Zane flexed, putting brute strength against brute strength, trying to force open its jaws. It put up some good resistance. He had to really grunt and grind his way through, little by little. The thing was damned strong. It took all his strength—at last with a furious roar he broke free, wrenched its pincers wide. He leaped out and tumbled to a sorry gasping halt. He was bleeding quite a bit, but Fiery Renewal was already licking up the wounds.

The Beetle King didn't follow. Instead it raised its head. And its pincers began to tremble.

This sound came out of it—the steely buzzing, sweeping the air… and dots started pouring in at the edges of his mini-map. It was using that swarm caller Skill. But Zane just stared.

He'd been searching in the wrong place this whole time. There it was! He let his mind fade out a little, reach out to it at the level of the soul, tried taking it into him… that Law Fruit he'd eaten was quickly running out. But he managed to squeeze out what he needed.

He heard the way it buzzed… and the way its buzzing brought out new buzzing all around him, until the world was alive with it—he felt it in himself, even…

𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕!

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕤 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

He had everything now for the Major Law of Echoing Clangor. He just needed to put them together. Soon—not now. Now the ground was trembling as dozens of hulking bodies closed in on him, climbing over those root walls, crawling up from behind.

"Evan," said Zane calmly. "I need you to run. Go as far as you can."

"No!" cried the boy. He shook his head vigorously. "I won't leave you! If you're staying, I'm staying too—ow…"

Zane had flicked him in the head.

"This isn't some heroic last stand or something," Zane sighed. "I just plan on using some messy Skills. I don't want to hit you on accident."

"Oh." Evan blinked. "When should I come back?"

The beetle king had ended its call; its head was snapping back down, like a bull preparing to charge.

"When they're all dead."

"Oh. Um. Okay." He hesitated for a bit. He felt concerned. In the end he decided to trust Zane. "I'm rooting for you!" he said.

"Thanks."

Evan sped off.

Then Zane took out that Talent Elixir and downed it in two heavy gulps. His whole body felt warm with it, suddenly electric-tingly. Four minor grades, huh.

He raised his hands and his Axes crashed to earth, shivering with Stormfire.

Stormfire Cyclone was Level 2 after the evolution. He hadn't really gotten a chance to test it out yet. He wondered how strong it was now.

He took a quick breath.

Then he raised his hands. And his Axes began to spin.