“What do you think it is?” Zeke asked, looking ahead at the item floating above the pedestal.

“I think that’s obvious,” said Eveline, who’d manifested beside him.

“Should I get Eta, maybe?” was his next question. He glanced toward the mind spirit, then past her to where Pudge stood. They were the only three who could step into the room without adverse reactions. “It seems kind of like her territory.”

“If you let her near that thing, she’ll never let it leave her sight,” Eveline stated.

“I agree,” Pudge said. His fur was still bloody from battle, and he bore a few shallow injuries. However, he healed a little more with each passing moment, likely due to his constant usage of his watered-down version of [Cambion’s Awakening]. As far as Zeke could tell, it was only about ten percent as powerful as the real thing, but even that was incredibly valuable. Still, Zeke wished his companion would head back to the tower and soak in the Crimson Spring for a few hours, though Pudge had adamantly refused to leave his side.

Zeke pulled his attention from his study of Pudge and focused on the item in the distance. At first glance, it was obviously a leaf, and judging by its shape, it came from something akin to a sycamore tree, though it had to have been the largest tree to have existed, because the leaf was at least three feet across. And yet, even from so far away, he could tell that it was far from a normal leaf.

Indeed, the moment he’d entered the room – which contained many other items, each pulsing with various flavors of mana – he’d known it was a powerful natural treasure. Where it had come from, he had no idea, but he was absolutely positive that the thing was far and away the most powerful item in the Berghem treasure vault.

“Do you think it’s powerful enough?” he asked. The moment he’d seen it, he’d thought of his quest. So far, he had already gathered an appropriate ice attuned natural treasure, and Eveline had insisted that she could take care of the demonic one. So, he still needed Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Arcane, Nature, Arcane, Poison and Disease. And Holy, of course, though that one, like the Demonic attuned treasure, wasn’t explicitly part of the quest.

“Definitely,” Eveline said. “I’d say it’s at least C-Grade. Maybe B-Grade.”

“That strong? It doesn’t feel like it,” Zeke stated.

“That’s because you’ve got a fifty-foot buffer,” Eveline said. “I guarantee that as you get closer, you’re going to feel it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I once skirted around a nature attuned land – it was mixed with corruption, but it was still predominantly natural – and anything that went in there was grossly mutated. Extra arms. Extra legs. And the native plants constantly evolved, fought, died, and were reborn.”

“The plants fought?”

“Oh, yeah. Quite sight. This won’t be quite that bad, but anyone who underestimates the power of nature is an idiot.”

“Fair enough,” Zeke said. “But how do I combat it?”

“You have to use your Will,” she answered. “Mixed with your attunements.”

“If I use either of my techniques, this whole place is going to come down.”

“That is not what I meant,” she said, her hands on her hips. “Just let it suffuse you. Don’t try to use it. Just mire yourself in those powers. Don’t do anything with it, though.”

“That will rip me to pieces,” Zeke responded dubiously. Indeed, if his two paths had still been separate, that might have been possible. Certainly, using his old Runecrafting path hadn’t been dangerous at all. But now that he was on the Path of Arcane Destruction, his Will had grown quite a bit more powerful. And appropriately, destructive. Using it in any way would inevitably damage his body.

“I don’t know, then. You should be able to figure it out, though. You’re smart. Sometimes. Kind of. In a very specific way.”

“So helpful.”

“I believe in you?”

“Is that a question?”

“I don’t know?”

“Quit doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Phrasing everything like it’s a question. That little lilt at the end of every sentence – it’s annoying.”

She rolled her eyes, then let the projection of her visible form dissipate into motes of mana. She’d never really been there in the first place; rather, she was more like a hologram. Once she was gone, she said in his mind, “I really do believe in you. You’ve got this.”

Zeke gave her a mental nod of thanks, then concentrated on the task at hand. Letting his Will suffuse him was the easy part. Sometimes, he felt like he had to consciously hold it back, especially in battle. However, there was a reason he did so, and that was because his Path of Arcane Destruction was so powerful that it could – and would – literally rip him apart. He experienced it every time he used either of his techniques, and he knew it would be even worse if just let his raw, uncontained Will do what it wanted to do.

Which was destroy everything.

“And that’s bad,” reminded Eveline.

“Unhelpful.”

“Unless you want to destroy everything, in which case, it’s good.”

“Again, super helpful. Thank you.”

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“That’s me. Here to help.”

Zeke sighed, then tuned her out. The solution was easy enough, though he didn’t know if he could handle it. More, there was every chance that he wouldn’t have enough fuel for his plan. Still, as he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with anything better. So, he turned to Pudge and said, “I’m about to do something that’s probably stupid.”

Pudge cocked his head to the side and asked, “Why?”

It was a simple question, but one Zeke had difficulty answering in the same manner it was asked. So, he explained everything to Pudge, not holding anything back. Finally, he finished by saying, “I need that leaf over there. And I think this is the only way I’m getting it without killing myself. I just don’t know if I’ll make it before the attuned mana runes out.”

“Take mine.”

“Huh?”

“I have hellfire in me,” he stated. “I’m half demon, too.”

“Will that work?” Zeke asked silently, directing his question to Eveline.

“I have no idea. Your bond is odd.”

“But potentially?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Zeke shook his head and let out an audible sigh, which seemed to confuse Pudge. To cut off any questions, he said, “Give me a minute to see if I can make the connection.”

Indeed, ever since he’d bonded Pudge, the former dire bear had been able to use diluted versions of some of his skills. Normally, he only used [Cambion’s Awakening], but he could also access weak versions of all of Zeke’s less powerful skills. He just didn’t because they would be mostly useless for him.

But did the bond go both ways?

That was the question Zeke needed to answer, and to do so, he focused his attention inward. By that point, he was an old hand at achieving a meditative state, but instead of concentrating on the inner workings of his path, he focused on the skill that had originally bonded Pudge’s life to his. On the surface, [Mark of Companionship] was a very weak skill, and it really only allowed his companions to share in his experience.

“Kill energy,” reminded Eveline.

“Whatever. Shut up.”

However, it had always felt deeper than that. In fact, it had even given Talia and Abby access to even weaker versions of his skills. He’d guessed that it was due to the relationships he’d developed with his friends, but now, it felt like it was more based on the low bar for entry for those lesser skills. If either of them were to try to use [Shifting Sands], for instance, they would have exploded from the sheer strain it would put on their bodies. The skills they’d been able to use were, for lack of a better term, much gentler.

In any case, the bond with Pudge had always been different. More powerful. Versatile. At one point, he’d even been capable of reading the dire bear’s emotions. So, it stood to reason that it was more complex than he’d ever really supposed. Regardless, it had all started with [Mark of Companionship], so he dove into that skill, examining it with the perception granted by his path.

At first, he saw nothing but what he expected – just a complex rune that had been formed as perfectly as any other Framework-granted skill. However, after a few minutes of examination, he found the thread of mana connecting him to Pudge. He followed it, and soon enough, he saw a vast ocean of roiling fire.

It wasn’t there. Not really. But it also was.

“It’s his mana pool,” Eveline said.

“I’m aware,” Zeke stated.

Then, he took a deep breath before dipping his awareness into that ocean of fire, and the moment he did, he felt the familiar corrosion eating away at his soul. He could take it, though, and he drank deep before pulling back.

When he did, the corrupted mana came with him, blazing a trail in his wake that he hoped would allow him to tap into Pudge’s mana. Then, he opened his eyes and said, “I think it worked.”

Pudge just nodded. He was a beastkin of few words, after all.

“Are you alright, buddy?” Zeke asked. “You’ve been a little distant lately.”

Pudge shrugged. “This…world is confusing.”

“How so?”

Zeke could feel the demonic mana roiling through him, but he’d sooner let it dissipate than deny Pudge his friendship.

“Sasha. She is…she is insistent.”

“Do you like her?”

Pudge nodded. “I do, but it’s complicated.”

“No it isn’t. If you want some advice, don’t let yourself overthink it. If you like her, and she likes you, just run with it. Maybe you regret it sometime in the future, but I guarantee you’ll regret it more if you don’t give it a shot.”

“You telling someone not to think,” Eveline mused, a quiet chuckle clinging to her words. “Appropriate.”

Zeke didn’t favor her with a proper response, instead focusing on Pudge. For his part, the bearkin nodded in acknowledgement of Zeke’s advice. He didn’t know whether or not Pudge was going to follow it, but that didn’t matter. The only thing Zeke really cared about was that Pudge knew that he’d be there if he needed him.

But once that was established, Zeke took a deep breath, then wrapped his mind around his Will, letting it suffuse his body. Despite the fact that he’d been working on his control, it immediately started breaking him down. Body, mind, and soul were ripped further apart with every passing second.

For a brief moment, Zeke forgot his plan. His mind went blank as his Will tore his thoughts apart. But after everything he’d been through, he’d long since mastered the ability to act regardless of the situation. So, he pushed the borrowed mana into [Cambion’s Awakening], and it responded with rapid, unmatched regeneration. Of course, fueling it with demonic mana also sent fury coursing through his mind, but strangely enough, that helped him stave off the madness that came with embracing the full extent of his Will.

He stepped forward.

Then took another.

Gradually, he crossed the treasure hall until he felt the weight of the natural treasure bearing down on him. The potent swirl of mana that came with it tried to take hold, but with his powerful Will coursing through his body – not to mention the corruption-fueled skill – it could find no purchase. Still, Zeke knew it wouldn’t last forever, so he pushed forward.

The closer he drew, the more difficult each step became until, when he’d progressed to within ten feet, he felt like he was moving through gelatin. Even so, he refused to be denied, and he continued on, one arduous step after another until, at last, he reached his destination.

The leaf looked almost benign. Just an overlarge sycamore leaf. But the closer he looked, the more Zeke saw the subtle differences. The glittering veins. The slightly golden color. The thick cloud of mana surrounding it.

No – it was clearly a powerful natural treasure, and that surety served to firm Zeke’s plans. He would use it to satisfy the terms of his ongoing quest. So, without further hesitation, he reached out, grabbed the thing, and looted it.

But it didn’t disappear into his storage space.

Instead, the mana swirled into something akin to a magical tornado, trying to rip his hand loose. And yet, Zeke held firm. He refused to give in. Even as his body was ripped apart by both his Will and the mana tempest, he rebuilt it with the demon-fueled [Cambion’s Awakening].

He couldn’t go on forever, though. Already, he could feel Pudge’s store of mana running dry. Even as Zeke shifted to using his own tiny pool of corrupted mana – the bulk of his personal store was unattuned – he knew he was on the clock. There wasn’t enough ambient demonic mana to fuel the skill for more than a second or two.

And once he ran dry, his Will would tear him to pieces. If he loosed his grip on his path, then he would be vulnerable to whatever the natural treasure was trying to do to him. And given the horrors Eveline had described, he wanted no part of that.

Yet he could do nothing to affect the outcome. His ability to loot various things and store them away wasn’t a skill he could influence. So, he simply held on and hoped the looting ability that had come with his bond to the tower won out over the natural treasure.

Then, just before he’d exhausted his entire store of demonic mana, the leaf disappeared.

Zeke collapsed to his knees as the ambient mana returned to a normal state. Exhausted, he let go of his Will, then the corruption-fueled skill. His body felt better than expected, but he knew he’d need a few days in the Crimson Spring to return to normal. Maybe as much as a week.

But as he looked at the quest notification and confirmed that he’d gotten credit for the natural treasure, he couldn’t help but think it had been worth it.