172. The S-Rank Dungeon (IV)

Lightning and Water played off the roof of that cave-like mouth, lighting up thick root-like pulsing veins. They came together in a crackling tide—some kind of near Fusion.

Zane stood there and let it come.

The beast rushed up to him, jaw widening, angling to swallow him whole. An ungodly sound rolled out from the base of its throat, washed over him like a riptide.

This thing wasn't like its minions. It was a lot higher Level—and its Laws were too. Those teeth were riddled with the closest thing to true Fusion. It'd do a lot more to him when it cut him.

But something told Zane it'd choke trying to get him to go down. And then Zane would show it his power.

Two rows of teeth loomed so close they blotted out the world, swallowed him in flickering dark… and clamped.

They pierced straight into him on both sides. It was like one of those medieval torture devices filled with spikes, the ones where you put a live person inside and slammed the spike-laden door and saw the blood drip-dripping out onto the floor.

Zane took it straight on.

He felt a shock of pain tear into him. Too many little points to count, spiking to make one big burning sensation ripping into him all over…

His whole body spasmed with the pain of it.

But it only made him want to smile wider. It wasn't that he liked pain. But it woke him up. Punching was nice, but it didn't feel like a fight. He needed something stronger, something deadlier, to wake that feeling inside him.

And he was burning up with it now.

He smiled through the hurt.

And he flexed with all he had.

He felt the Dragonfish Queen straining furiously all around him—its bite was like an alligator's. The strongest part of its massive body; half its muscles worked down that massive jaw. The thing's bite force was incredible.

But Zane knew his body. When he wanted something to move, it moved.

Sure enough—

That clamp of a jaw started wrenching open. Inches at first, then feet; he felt shock rock through the Dragonfish Queen. It tried straining to its limit. Zane did too, jaw clenching, arms bulging with the force of it. He let out a deep roar.

For a moment everything was still. The sheer force of it sank teeth deeper and deeper into Zane's skin; he felt it an inch in his neck on either side. Ripping through his chest and back—

And then it all gave way.

He felt a roof-sized slab of jaw muscle tear clean in two. The Dragonfish Queen felt a dizzying pain wrench up its face—it let out a howl. Those jaws exploded straight out.

And Zane punched.

Four times. Four explosions. Each blasted a hole so big you could see water pouring in from the other side. His last fist caught the roof of its mouth, tore through the top of its head—and Stormfire erupted out its ruptured skull like a volcanic explosion, exploding those squishy, blind eyes, burning through an ashfall of Monstrous brain matter...

The whole thing sagged. Burned up.

And Zane stepped out of the fire, cut a thousand different ways. Panting, bleeding, still smiling. Stormfire was already playing across his wounds—in seconds, he was whole again.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕀𝕍 -> 𝕍

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟞𝟠 -> 𝟙𝟞𝟡

And just like that...

𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝔹𝕠𝕤𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝟙 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!

And in the Boss's place floated five glowing treasures.

They were called 'Dragonfish Tails.' Each of them was an S-rank treasure chock-full of essence—like those kelp stalks had been.

Then—

𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!

ℂ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕: 𝟙 𝕊+-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞.

Huh.

ℝ𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥!

𝟙 𝕍𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕪𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕠 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 (𝕊+)

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕪𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕠 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟 ℝ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕠. 𝕀𝕥𝕤 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕍𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝟜 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕤.

Zane blinked. Then pocketed it with a little smile. He was quite pleased.

His Indomitable Hide had gotten up to Level 12 now—Titan Rhino blood had been bottlenecking him this whole time. He'd drink this as soon as he could.

Reina was even happier about the Blood treasure than Zane was. She got excited whenever he got something protective. She decided it was time to take a little break so they could all consume and consolidate, so they did.

He took his Vial. Reina and Evan and Avery each took a fin. They settled down in the little kelp grotto and got to eating.

The Blood was gray like stone. It didn't look like anything remarkable, but there was an unmistakable aura of power to it, a pressure, a grandeur. Like the presence some ancient stones had.

Zane felt it hum in tune with something deep within him.

It went down slowly for him, like thick cool honey. He had to hold the vial to his mouth a while—then drop it abruptly when the first drop of Blood hit the middle of him. And started exploding.

A torrid wave of gushed through him, spreading hot through his core, down his arms, his legs—

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟞𝟡 -> 𝟙𝟟𝟘

At the same time the Blood droplet dropped through him, sinking to the core of him—and burned up there, shivering. He felt a powerful Bloodline at work. It came out in a fury; he could hear the distant echo of a hippo's growls. But it quieted quick.

Zane's own blood began to burn too, coming to the fore. And his shone bright silver in the eye of his mind, dominating the dull grays of the Typhoon Hippo…there came a louder, deeper, reverberating growl. A growl that left earthquakes in its wake.

The droplet began burning away, evaporating. Until all that was left was another little droplet of silver, about a quarter the size of the first. It poured into Zane's own silver Blood—and that little drop within him grew bigger.

He kept sipping...

Another drop came through. Then another. And his Blood got thicker and thicker...

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟟𝟘 -> 𝟙𝟟𝟙

Soon the last droplet dropped down his throat. He let out a little burp as the grayness burned away and the silver joined his own...

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕!

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 ℝ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕠 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 (𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥): 𝟙 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡 -> 𝟚 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕤

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕞𝕖𝕥!

𝕀𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕕𝕖 [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼) 𝕏𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼) 𝕍𝕀]

He opened his eyes and found his whole body glowing a soft silver. He looked at his skin. His Bloodline was active, cycling through him, and its effects were showing in full right now. His body was a suit of armor.

The roughnesses were smoothing out a little. It wasn't quite polished like steel, but it gave a sense of subtle strength, of incredible density. A dark, pure material. Strong stuff.

He sensed now his Blood was ready to seep deeper too. Now it was concentrated in the skin, but it wanted to get at the muscles, to give them the power and durability of the Titan Rhino—then the bones beyond...

He still hadn't recovered fully from learning the Concept of Plasma. Once he got out of here and had some time, he resolved to take a look at the second layer.

For now, though, he didn't even need it. He hardly took a flesh wound from these Monsters. This Godbeast stuff was in a different league to what any of them could muster.

If the rest of the floors were anything like this one, Zane would barrel his way through with ease.

With how the A-rank dungeon floors went, though, he had a feeling it wouldn't be anything close to easy.

There was a lingering hotness in him still, a burning want to fight. He clenched his fists.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

***

They did a little checkup before moving onto the second floor.

Evan was in the high 160s in Level—almost caught up to Zane. He was going super fast. Reina was 162, Avery a hair under that—158.

Evan and Reina were wearing A-rank armor, and they'd stay behind most of the action. Avery led at the front with him, but he wasn't worried about her. She was the closest to a Concept of them, and her Signature Skills came in handy. He saw her throwing up mirrors and deflections, rolling and bouncing Lightning and Water straight off her. She couldn't do much offensively, but it wasn't easy to hurt her. Plus she had the Dragonscale set snug over her hoodie.

"Is everyone ready?" said Zane. They nodded.

"Alright, let's roll!" said Avery.

***

The second "floor" was a long way down. They were lost in the darkness for a while there—no light above, no light beneath, no sense of direction. Like they were walking in empty space. The only sign they were going the right way was the pressure.

It really started to build. All of them, except Zane, had to cycle some defensive Skills to stay up. Their armor helped offset it too.

Zane just took it. His body was his armor. He didn't like wearing armor anyway—he'd rather upgrade his body. He liked the feeling of his raw skin on the air and the water. It felt better. He wanted to feel things bare as they tore into him, just as he tore into them.

He knew it was kind of silly. But it made some deep-down part of his brain happy.

Soon the walls started lighting up—at first, they thought it was a mirage, but the light only got brighter. Warm red like a dying hearth. Bubbling issued from down below. Soon they saw the source.

Huge deep-sea steam vents were streaming out of the walls, letting out big streams of faint red essence bubbles. Magma-red veins ran through the walls here, glowing softly. A scattering of yellow treasure-area dots were interspersed between…

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕:

𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝟚, ℍ𝕠𝕥 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℤ𝕠𝕟𝕖

𝕋𝕠 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤:

𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘

(𝟘/𝟙)

They were in for some harder stuff, though. That became clear from the first Minion they came across.

It looked like a boulder made out of flabby pale flesh. Its face was blown all out of proportion like a Dali painting. It looked like something taken straight from a child's nightmare.

𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕓 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠𝟠

It charged them out of nowhere, making a gurgling hacking sound. Its whole body came ramming at them, a wrecking ball of pure Water.

Zane greeted it with a typical Stormfire Fist.

Then something interesting happened.

His fist connected—and exploded. But his Stormfire met a wall of incredibly dense skin, skin steeped deep in Water Law. And there he felt something greater than mere Law—a Concept.

Stormfire tore a good foot in, clearing the skin—but that was all.

With these punches his punch force and his Stormfire went hand in hand. But his force had even less success than his Stormfire.

The moment his fist landed its whole body shone with a Passive Skill. He saw his force rippling past its ugly face, shuddering its body; the thing compressed like a bouncy ball. The shockwave shuddered through it, passed through it—it would've shattered anything hard it touched. But it was like this thing was made of the highest-grade rubber.

He still stopped its charged, sent it screaming and flailing back a good dozen feet. But it was very much still alive.

He frowned at it.

Then at his fist.

This one might need a more specialized tool.

Luckily, he had just the one in mind.