185. Homecoming

The notifications poured in in a rush.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕟 ℕ𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀𝕀

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀𝕀

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠𝟞 -> 𝟙𝟠𝟟

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠𝟟 -> 𝟙𝟠𝟠

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝔹𝕠𝕤𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕

𝕊-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕓𝕪𝕤𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!

Zane was a little too woozy to clock all of them. It took a few seconds for his mind to get that it was all over. A few more seconds and his body got it too.

He did not faint this time. He made sure not to—he held on even as a dragging cloying weariness washed over him, made him sway on his feet…

He felt heavy all over. A lot of it was the poison. They felt like weights sagging inside him, making every limb a lead pipe.

But then Reina rushed over, fussing over him, pouring in healing, and staying up came easier.

He let out a heavy sigh. Let his tensed muscles unwind themselves in her embrace. Let his Bloodline burn out….

He let out a grin.

That was the S-rank dungeon cleared.

It still hadn't really set in. It felt like they'd been in here a very long time. And his Levels, his Bloodline, even his Soul—so much had changed since they'd started the long swim down… he could barely even remember what sunlight felt like.

He was suddenly eager to feel it again. He was done with this place.

Avery and Evan paddled over looking relieved. Avery gave him a hearty slap on the back. "Nice!"

Evan tackled him in a hug. "We did it!"

He seemed excited to get out too.

Together they made for the dungeon bottom.

The Beacon lay there. An island of light on a bedrock floor banishing the dense dark. And right beside it lay the Dungeon Chest.

It looked like a pirate's sunken bounty. So many barnacles and mosses ran over it you could have mistaken it for any other boulder—just unusually big. When they cracked it open though they found plush velvet insides. Charmed to be bigger than it looked from the outside.

Inside they found an astronomical wealth of treasure.

A heap of max-grade essence stones shored up the base. Which was more riches than they knew what to do with already.

But Zane's eyes were instantly drawn to another treasure, a little crimson tower at the center of it all. Something about it called to him—called to his soul…

He picked it up. It glinted in the soft light. It looked like one of those ancient Japanese pagodas, intricately carved, down to the tiny lines of the rooftop tiles, the features of its dragon-mouth statues…

ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒 [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼)]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟, 𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕊𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕖 ℙ𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝔼𝕣𝕒 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖. 𝕎𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒, 𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕤𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞.

𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕘𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖—𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕞 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝. ℍ𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕤𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤, 𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒.

𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕔𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕟𝕚𝕢𝕦𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕀𝕟𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕃𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕦𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤.

𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣𝕤.

𝔸𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 – 𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟. 𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕤𝕦𝕓𝕤𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝟙𝟘% 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝.

ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕦𝕤𝕖: 𝔸𝟝 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕋𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝: 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝

Zane got a mysterious feeling looking at the thing. Almost like a premonition, a certain feeling of suspense, a gut feeling, like something awesome or terrible was looming on the horizon…

He still wasn't really sure what it did. Something to do with souls? There was lots on its last owner, not a lot on its powers. It seemed to be partly an inheritance, partly some kind of tool.

As he turned it over it grazed a bloody patch of finger. It flashed bright silver. Vanished.

He blinked.

It wasn't here—it was there. In the astral plane. Placed right at the center of his soul, where his heart should be.

…Huh.

Then—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼)] -> 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖 (𝔼)]

Interesting.

He tried applying his new Emperor's Soul, and felt that Pagoda light up within—it felt like he'd been wielding a blunt club for a limb this whole time. Now he'd finally grown fingers. He could move his essence around with a precision he could scarcely wrap his mind around.

He was pretty sure this thing was the rarest drop they'd gotten in a long, long time. He struggled to believe you'd find this kind of thing in every S-Rank dungeon. Reina certainly seemed to think so. She was stunned after reading the description. It had to be because he'd unlocked that Emperor's Soul Skill earlier.

There was something roulette-like about these dungeon chests sometimes. They seemed biased to help the adventurer.

He still wasn't sure what he could apply this stuff to. He supposed he'd see once he cracked the Inheritance inside.

The next most interesting treasure—an ordinary-seeming clay pot. With quite an extraordinary essence aura. It held no laws, yet its mere presence, its mere density, was stretching the air around it…

𝕊𝕒𝕡 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕖 [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝔼)]

ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔸𝕝𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕍𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕊𝕒𝕡 𝕥𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗. ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕠 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝔼-ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕕 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕥. 𝔸𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙, 𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕚𝕒𝕝.

𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕒𝕝. 𝔻𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕦𝕥.

This would be good to take once they got home. It sounded like it'd grant quite a lot of Levels. And Zane was pretty darn close to Level 200.

Next—"Oooh!" Avery gasped. She pulled out what looked like a floppy sealskin notebook, bound together with copper wire. But it turned out to be a partial Water Inheritance from the Thousand Seas Tribe. It was just what she needed to complete her Law of Mirage.

Evan found a pair of S-ranked Sandals. They had little wings on the sides that crackled as he moved them about—an electric affinity. They'd let him move even faster once he started channeling lightning essence.

And Reina got a partial Wood Inheritance too from the Temple of the World Tree. Which meant she could also break through to full Fusion. Everyone found something they liked in that chest.

There were seven or eight other S-rank treasures. Law treasures, a few essence vials, some other random Inheritances for other Elements…

It was more treasure than they knew what to do with.

They had waded through four floors of Level 190+ Monsters for this.

It was a haul at least proportionate to the danger, he felt.

As they all sorted out their winnings, Zane thought over the raid. No one had gotten too hurt—except him, but he didn't really count that. Their first S-Rank Dungeon came to a resounding success. He was proud of everyone. He told them so.

"Awww," said Avery, scratching her head.

"Awwwww!" cried Evan.

"But… eh. Let's be real," said Avery. "You did like 99% of the work there, big fella." She looked a little sheepish. She puffed out her cheeks. "I mean—I wouldn't say I was useless, but… I definitely coulda done better distracting 'em. I've gotta work on that when I get back."

"Yea!" said Evan, nodding. "I'll work harder too. When the Superdungeon comes I'm gonna pull more of my weight, promise! I won't let you down!"

Zane said it was alright but they were quite determined about it. Reina was too, saying the first thing she did when she got back would be to learn that Evergrow buff spell they'd picked up.

It had been a good learning experience—they all saw where they were weak. They all wanted to support him better.

Everyone was in fairly good spirits as they made their way back.

***

It was late afternoon when they finally resurfaced. It was a shock feeling air—feeling salty sea spray, feeling the wind tickling his face. Seeing the sun scattering glittering gold across the waters.

They were back.

Almost as soon as they got out—even before their ship came to pick them up—they saw wyverns swooping down from the clouds.

It was the reporters. Of all people.

"...Coming out now!" said the guy. His voice drifted over. Zane could barely make it out. "We'll see if we can… catching up—passing it off to you, Becca!"

The blond lady was flying over. She looked quite nervous. A little pink-faced, flushed.

Zane looked to Reina confused. Even Reina took a moment to clock it—"They're here for the post-dungeon interview," she explained. "It's in the contract. Just answer a few questions, alright?"

Zane shrugged.

Soon the wyvern splashed down, paddled over, and the panting reporter started stammering at him.

"Savage Sage, sir! So glad we could catch up with you—are you free for a quick interview?"

"Sure."

"Perfect! I want to take you back to that pivotal fight on the third floor, right when you were cornered by those three Level 190 Minions. How'd you stay so calm in such a high-pressure situation?"

Zane got this kind of question a lot. His usual answer was he didn't know how he was calm. He just was. But in this specific case, now that he thought about it…

"I wasn't calm," he explained. "I was worried they were going to hurt my friends. So I had to destroy them faster than usual."

"Ah!" She didn't seem to expect that answer. "I… see. Uh—you make it sound so straightforward." She gave a little laugh.

Zane shrugged. It was.

"Err—did you have any doubts down there, stranded so far in such hostile terrain, in all that extreme pressure and darkness—surrounded by Monsters like none of us have ever seen? Any moments that tested your faith in yourself—were you frightened at all?"

"No."

He found that question baffling. It did not even cross his mind to be scared of those things. And it was not a matter of faith for him. Winning or losing was almost irrelevant—he would give it his all anyways.

And his all, Zane found, was always enough.

"That's, uh, pretty remarkable!" said the reporter lady. She seemed to be scrambling for words. "Some of those moments got pretty tense—even we were getting nervous on the broadcast! I know our viewers at home were too."

Zane wasn't sure what to say to that either. "Don't be."

Thankfully, Reina jumped in just then and saved them both. "That's what's so special about him," she said fondly. She was on his arm, stroking him gently. "It's his mind, not his body. Of course it's his willpower and his bravery, but everyone can see that. What you don't see is that he's got such a big heart too…"

She gave him a pat.

Sometimes when he heard Reina talking about him, he was also baffled. He was pretty certain it was his body that made the difference.

But it saved him from having to flounder, so he let her do her thing. The reporter was as relieved as he was.

***

They boarded the S.S. Styx again, got a round of applause from the crew—then made landfall and got another. The folk of the Pearl Throne Faction there greeted them like heroes returning from a long journey. Leaked Monsters from the trenches had been plaguing them for months now, terrorizing their coastlines—they'd lost a few World Rankers fending them off. Finally the menace was gone.

It almost felt like a parade walking all the way up the Main St. Between seashell-sheened skyscrapers, between roads lined with fan-shaped leaves. Back to the teleportation Beacon.

Zane was a little zoned out though. He was thinking of what was coming next.

The training.

There was so much to do. Figuring out that Pagoda treasure. Leveling to Core—and figuring out what that even meant, how to get better Core grades. Working on his Titan Rhino Inheritance. Getting another Concept to add to his Stormfire, and bringing that to the next level too…

There was a lot of room to grow. For him and for his friends too.

He knew halfway across the world the Europe Team, led by World Rank #1 Irina Volkova, would soon start working on the Everest dungeon.

Zane was World Rank #2 by pure Level after all that—but Irina still held onto her #1 spot. He wondered how high she must've gotten. In the 190s, at least, which was pretty remarkable considering she hadn't even raided an S-rank yet. Her talent must be off the charts there.

Reina started briefing him on the S-Rank as they made their way back home, teleporting Beacon to Beacon. Popping between a dozen different climes and times of day.

The other S-Rank Dungeon was called Heaven's Peak. It seemed like their trench S-Rank in terms of power—the Monsters leaking out were also in the 190s. But it seemed somehow more unstable too. Its description notifications often flickered and fuzzed out, scrambling. Other strange reports issued out, none verified. There were claims of auras soaring out of it that sent other leaked Level 190s from nearby A+-rank dungeons running in a panicked stampede…

Nobody really knew what it all meant. But the raid—which was happening in just a few days—would be televised for all to see, like Zane's raid. Then they'd know.

In the meantime a growing number of World Rankers were hunting for the entrance to the Superdungeon. You'd think it'd be pretty obvious, with how big the dungeon was meant to be. No luck so far.

Some thought it would pop up out of nowhere once the S-rank cleared. Others thought it was hiding in plain sight…