346. Lessons Learned

Evan seemed a little woozy when he arrived. He'd come from a long way out and had to take three long-distance teleporters to get here. He'd also drunk a great deal of apple cider, Zane gathered, which left him quite buzzy. But he still lit up when he saw Zane.

First, he ran over and buried his face in Zane's belly with a hug. Then—

"I did it!" cried Evan. "I finished my Signature Quest!"

Since they last spoke, he'd used the answer Reina had given him to pass the sphinx's challenge. Then, on the way to his next challenge, he met a new friend: a cynical, drunken paladin-woman who he won over to his side.

Together they beat the Ghoul King's strongest minion, Boron the Venom Cyclops, a creature widely despised by the local villagers. But after Evan decided to spare the fellow, it turned out he had a heart of gold all along. He just needed a friend.

All of this came out in a rush. Evan's face was turning red. He took a moment to catch his breath, and went on.

The ragtag party went to confront Thorgon and his minions. Thorgon was a Level 530 Monster Prince who wielded the forces of lightning. It made for an epic battle that shook up the whole star system.

At first, Thorgon was winning. But then Evan thought about all the friends he'd made along the way and fought back even harder. It ended up being a close fight—just about deadlocked.

At the critical moment, Thorgon revealed a trap for Evan.

He wheeled out two cages on either side of the battlefield—cages with a bunch of Evan's friends in them. Both were about to drop straight into a lava lake.

Evan had to make a choice. It seemed so stressful for Evan, he trembled even as he told the story. It was the ultimate moral dilemma.

"Then what happened?" said Reina, eyes wide. She took his hand, which seemed to calm him down a bit. He sniffled and brightened.

In the end, Evan simply didn't accept it.

He tried his very hardest, dug deep, and found an extra burst of strength. He managed to slash open both cages in one swoop—cutting through bars of F-rank Heaven-grade Spirit Steel and letting all his friends free.

When faced with an impossible question, he broke it.

"Nice job," said Zane, patting him on the head. He quite approved. Evan beamed. That was the turning point.

Then Evan and friends came together to defeat the Dark Lord. Which was how Evan used the power of friendship to defeat moral conundrums and save the day once and for all.

Evan learned a valuable lesson that day.

After that, the people of the Littleleaf Star System threw him a parade, which was why Evan drank a little too much apple cider. It was why he was as wobbly as he was. He sped over right after.

Now he'd completed his quest—and earned the reward, the 'Hero's Blessing.' He was eager to show it off to Zane. It buffed his light-element attacks to up to double their power and speed, depending on the light of day.

Reina summoned a bunch of wooden targets for him to snipe, and Evan put them down with shots that looked like fat pillars of pure sunlight. They'd gotten so fast now they went at the speed of light, it seemed to Zane. Even he'd have trouble getting out of the way.

Evan had also had time to learn one more Concept and get his Level into the high 470s.

That was the end of Evan's great adventure.

He was so happy to be back that Reina had to take him to sit down for a bit.

***

It wasn't long before Avery came back too.

She proclaimed to the group that she had come back wiser than before.

"I have discovered the key to true happiness," she declared.

After losing that Sacred Bone to that rich young master of Mount Thundercrest, Avery had gone through a training arc phase where she chugged her Draught of Eternal Spring. After that, she managed to break through to Tier 5. It sounded a good deal more straightforward than Zane's breakthrough.

Then she went back and challenged that young master to a duel for the Bone. She beat the guy up and won it off of him.

This was fun for about a day or two. Then she got bored again pretty quickly.

"I have discovered that revenge for its own sake is not fulfilling," she declared.

This did not resonate with Zane. In his experience, beating up annoying people was quite satisfying.

Also, it turned out that Young Master wasn't a bad guy. Just rich and spoiled. He cried and gave up pretty quick. It turned out owning a Selkie Bone had been his dream since he was a boy, and he'd been saving up for years.

"I felt kinda bad," said Avery, scratching her hoodie. "That's when I knew I was on the wrong path."

"Well," said Reina. "That's very mature of you."

"I know, right?" said Avery, nodding. "I've become very wise and enlightened."

"What happened to the Bone?" said Evan.

"I kept that thing," said Avery. She took out a little spike and wiggled it about, grinning. "It comes from True Selkie! Helps with illusion magic. Neat, huh?"

Evan seemed a bit confused. "I thought you said you felt bad…"

"Not that bad," said Avery a bit defensively. "…What? He's rich! He can just get another one."

From now on, Avery decided she was just going to go back to doing whatever struck her in that moment. True happiness, she decided, came from messing with bad guys and seeing them get all mad. She'd known it all along, really.

"Oh," said Reina, blinking. "That… works too."

"Anyway! I'm gonna take this thing in as soon as I get to Minor God. The Matriarch says only a few Ascendants in history can take in a Bone as an Ascendant. You'd have to have a body like this lunk."

She poked Zane in the belly with it and yawned.

"Hey, what's for dinner?"

***

They all teleported back to Earth, where they spent the rest of a pleasant weekend. They ate fresh trout served by Reina's best master chefs, and shaved ice, and played some poker—earth-games felt quaint and homey these days. Reina did well, which was not surprising to anyone, but Zane did nearly as well, surprising himself. He had quite a good poker face, apparently.

Reginald the Superbara was still around in his own personal manor on the premises, being pampered by a host of servants. Reginald looked neither pleased nor displeased to see them.

To give him a friend, Avery brought a new pet.

"Tada!" said Avery. "His name's Archibald."

As far as Zane could tell, it was just a turtle. The turtle blinked at Zane. Zane blinked at the turtle.

Evan and Avery went drag-racing Archibald and Reginald.

"Chaaaarge!" cried Avery.

It was the world's slowest drag-race. Reina and Zane went into their home theater to watch a few hours of classic scrying glass films from the World Tree Faction, depicting some of the World Tree's greatest heroes.

It was still going by the time they emerged. It had to be adjourned.

***

Evan and Avery set their sights on new goals.

Evan was eager to try breaking through to Tier 5 soon, while Avery planned on buying a massive amount of essence sweets and binging until she got to Minor God or maybe succumbed.

Reina, on top of her day job, had also somehow found time to finish up three of her four Concepts. She was a good way through making the Great Circle. Soon she'd be joining them in Minor God.

Their paths were a good deal more straightforward than Zane's. In theory, he could already be in Minor God, if that was his sole focus. But he liked working his body and cultivation in equal measure. It felt right—it fit him somehow.

***

Zane spent another pleasant night Leveling with Reina.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝕄𝕖𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠'𝕤 ℙ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕥𝕣𝕒 [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔 (𝕄) -> 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪 (𝕄)]

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟟𝟜 -> 𝟜𝟟𝟝

The next morning, she checked the Rising Dragon rankings with him.

Apparently, the powerhouses of Earth were planning a summit two years before the First Wave broke. But Reina liked keeping track of them by watching the Galactic Scryer's Guild's lists.

She showed Zane the latest edition, updated just yesterday. A few notable names popped up.

#𝟜𝟜. 𝔼𝕞𝕖𝕜𝕒 𝔼𝕫𝕖 — ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕟, 𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕝

...

#𝟜𝟡. 𝕁𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣 — ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕟, 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕤

...

#𝟝𝟛. 𝕍𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒 𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕜𝕠𝕧𝕒 — ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕟, ℂ𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕀𝕔𝕖

...

#𝟞𝟘 𝕐𝕦𝕜𝕚 𝕌𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕖 — ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕟, 𝕄𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥 𝕋𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥.

Evan and Avery were also in the 60s, while Cristina Dos Santos was #98.

It seemed lots of Earth-folk were doing well out there. It was nice to see.

Reina set the scrying glass down on their nightstand and settled back into him with a happy sigh.

"It's a reflection on you, you know," she said, looking up at him.

Zane blinked. "How so?"

"It's what I hear every time I talk to a promising Earthling."

She said he showed them what a man of Earth could do. Every time he broke through, it made galactic news. And it spurred them on.

Zane was pretty sure Reina was making a bigger deal of it than it really was. She had something of a skewed view of him; by the way she looked at him sometimes, he got the sense she felt he carried all of Earth's successes on his back single-handedly.

Still—he supposed it made sense he was inspiring some Earth-folk.

He was surprised to feel rather proud.

***

That afternoon, he went back to the Azure Flame Faction feeling content and refreshed. In a good mood to tackle what lay ahead.

There were a few last orders of business before he finished up this stint. Collecting that Corpse of the Fallen Star from Noughtfire, and weaving Radiation into his Solar Flare. Upgrading his Red Moon Pagoda.

He stepped into the teleporters with purpose.

***

Goloog the Living Bog oozed through deep space. Its massive, sludgy body seeped slowly through the cracks of the world, making steady progress on its long journey. Its dozens of eyes swirled and stared in all directions, probing carefully.

Its aura was carefully controlled. It was a Monster King—moreover, at Level 699, a half-step Empyrean. And though it was nearly encroaching within enemy territory, when most of its kin would've been long-discovered, it knew many secret Skills long-lost; Skills only known to the true ancients, creatures that festered in the dark unseen corners of the galaxy for aeons.

At its side were two of its offspring—each a half-step True God. Each at Level 599. Each had its aura suppressed too.

It was excessive given the strength of their target. But something about the Savage Sage put a strange worry into Goloog's Master. It would take no chances.

Goloog froze.

A great arm of silver light swept the horizon, speeding for them fast. The gaze of the Scryer's Guild's All-Seeing Eye—their most powerful detection device, meant to monitor entire galactic sectors.

It was the treasure that detected dungeon breaks and reported the presence of high-threat Monsters to the Great Factions.

Goloog's eyes narrowed; it made an acid hiss. Then it seemed to seep into the pores of reality, vanishing into space itself.

The silver passed through without pausing.

Goloog let out a gurgle and moved on.

Slouching toward its mark, eyes glistening.