Reina got the new Beacon up and running a day later. A giant crystal floating over a steel plinth, beaming a line of prism-splintered light deep into the sky.

***

Zane and Reina’s vacation island wasn't so far offshore—you could see that stark bright line going up and up, vanishing into the dimming blue. It was evening, and they were cuddling on a hammock, and Zane was looking at the sky. Wondering where it was going.

Reina felt like a goldfish in a glass bowl at times, she murmured to him. Waiting for the hammer to come and crack it open and for her to be swept into the great big ocean.

Zane wasn’t sure that was how he felt. He had trouble thinking of himself as a goldfish.

“Then what?” said Reina. She perked up, looking amused. “What kind of fish would you be?”

“…Do I have to be a fish,” said Zane, a bit perplexed.

“Yes.”

She was still looking at him, expecting an answer.

He thought about it.

“Salmon,” he said.

She made a soft noise. Then she was quiet. Then she told him three interesting salmon facts.

For a while they listened to the waves lapping on the sands.

“I wish we could stay here forever,” Reina sighed into his chest.

Part of Zane did too—but he knew as he looked out that there were huge forces stewing in the dark. Forces that would come to Earth just like the dungeons had, sooner or later.

It felt like the Integration was teaching them that there were always stronger, bigger, badder things to come. He and Reina both felt it. He felt at times like these, holding her close, that it was dangerous staying small in a very big world. The Monsters never seemed to stop coming. And they only seemed to get stronger….

It wouldn’t be long until the grace period was over.

But they could stay here a bit longer at least for now. Just enjoying things. He could feel Reina’s warm soft body pressed against his, and with Sage Mind he could feel a puddle of warm feelings in her too. She felt quite safe, comfortable next to him.

After a while though, swaying there, he could also feel a little unease creeping up in her.

She spoke up after a bit, chewing on a lip—“This System mentioned something about… Monster Waves. And Named Monsters—what do you think it means?”

Zane thought about it.

He supposed the Named Monsters could be like that Minotaur. Monsters with special Titles of some kind, or legendary ones. Monster Waves… the Citadel had that. Maybe it would be like that, but for the galaxy?

He didn’t say these things. He didn’t really know for sure. And it wasn’t really what she needed from him, he felt.

“We’ve fought off everything they’ve thrown at us,” he told her firmly. “We’ll do it again.”

Maybe it was the way he said it, or just the feeling of him. But he felt her worry ebbing. She snuggled back in, a little smile on her face.

“I’ll never get,” she murmured. “How you can be so sure of yourself all the time. The rest of us just pretend, you know?”

A pause. She looked up at him again.

“What,” said Zane.

“Don’t you ever get worried? Deep-down, I mean?”

He blinked.

He really thought about it—went deep into these past few months…

“I worry about you,” he told her honestly, brow furrowed. When she got too stressed, or was about to get hurt. He could remember feeling quite a few spikes of worry.

She laughed. “I mean about what’s coming. About whether you’ll be up to it—or whether it might be too much to handle.”

Zane thought about it some more. Scratched his head. He thought he was supposed to say yes, but the honest answer was—

“…Not really.”

She looked a little amused.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Oh, Zane…” she sighed, and smiled, and settled back into him.

As she slowly fell asleep, Zane looked at the stars.

He did notice that for most folk, thoughts and feelings seemed to go about in spirals. It wasn’t just with Reina—though Reina had it worse than most. He didn’t have any tips or tricks for it. It simply never occurred to him to worry about the things she got so worked up about.

He wondered if something was up with him. He wondered if he should worry more. He frowned.

…Eh.

He shrugged. He figured there was no use worrying about it.

He closed his eyes, and was snoring within the minute.

***

It wasn't long before their little vacation had to end.

They had just a few more days of the grace period left. There was lots of work left to do.

Zane and his friends had all stacked up heaps of stray treasures from the Superdungeon. They also had a fair few upgrades left to make now they weren’t so weary.

They all took up their own little training rooms in their own dojos—Reina and Avery in theirs across the river, just outside headquarters proper, Evan in his little cozy wood one next to Zane’s skyscraper—and got to work.

For Zane, the first order of business was taking in all the Weapon Souls he had stacked up. Quite a few from all the Nascent Souls he had smashed these past few days. He’d lost count of them all. He dumped out a Bag of Holding, heaped giant cloudy marbles all over the plush mats.

He took them in one by one over the course of a very pleasant morning. Until—

Level up!

Weapon Soul 7 -> 8

At this Level the Prometheus Chains’ durability and strength is equivalent to Mythic+ Sky-grade Spirit Steel.

This weapon has reached the limit of Sky-grade Spirit Steel. Achieve class sub-evolution to evolve further.

There were no blemishes on Zane’s Chains now. They were colored solid vivid-purple and deep-black, like smoldering obsidian.

He couldn’t be sure just how strong they were now. There was nothing strong enough to test them. They were more dense than any steel Zane had ever felt; he wondered how they would fare against Ascendant firepower. Those half-Ascendants he’d fought would not even scratch them. He quite liked the weight of them in his fists.

Then there was the matter of his Godbeast Bloodline. His Vital Organs.

After taking in those Titan Rhino tendons, his physique was on the verge of being a Sky-grade treasure. Forty drops of Titan Rhino coursed through him. Giving a steely fortitude to ever fiber of him.

His soul fatigue had recovered enough. It was time to take the next step.

Something had been irking him lately. When he got badly poisoned, or laced with corruption, or certain sonic attacks—which was a lot of his fights lately, come to think of it—his Health dropped quite fast. There was still some softness under all his skin and muscle and bone. Some parts of him that burst and bled a little too much for his taste.

He sat down. Pulled out that chunker of a Titan Rhino tome. Flipped open the worn yellow pages, and got to reading.

It wasn't long before he sank into the vision.

***

“So!” boomed the Barbarian Sage. Brown-bearded and bulky, eyes flashing fiercely. “Back again, are you? Then you've mastered Bastion Bone…Very good. There’s not much left in the foundations. The final step is to refine the Vital Organs.”

He cleared his throat. “The Vital Organs come in many parts! The liver and kidneys. The lungs. The brain. The first two go together. Those last two are the most difficult, yet rewarding, to complete—they’re the flashy ones. But do not overlook the humble liver and kidneys!”

He crossed his meaty arms. “They are critical to the Rhino’s vitality.”

The Sage started pacing back and forth, stabbing at the air with a finger.

“They're what makes the Titan Rhino immune to the poisons of even Arch-Basilisks! What makes it so hard to get any foreign essence, any corruption to take root in its body. They grant the Titan Rhino its immense powers of immunity, detoxification, and expulsion! Master them, and you’ll never worry about your Health again!”

The Sage paused. Thought about it a bit more.

“Well—that’s not right. You can still be smashed very hard. Or sliced very hard. But being struck down by status effects—never again! Are you ready, disciple?”

Zane nodded.

“Good.” The Barbarian Sage rubbed his hands. “Now. With the other body parts, visions were the best way to show them. But this one’s better felt.”

Zane blinked.

The Barbarian Sage strode straight up to Zane. Zane had thought it was just a vision—a projection. But he was realizing now up close that there was a sliver of something solid there. It didn’t feel quite like a soul. The shadow of one. The Barbarian Sage had left some shadow of himself in this tome.

“You might feel a little pinch,” said the Sage, grinning.

Then he jabbed Zane in the belly. His spectral fingers passed right through the surface, got at some stuff underneath. Zane blinked at it, a little dumbfounded.

Then—

“Hrngggg,” groaned Zane, and keeled over.

“Bad news!” said the Barbarian Sage cheerfully. “The next few hours could be a bit unpleasant… but the good news is—you'll never feel this awful again after that! Chin up, eh?”

The Barbarian Sage waved, and vanished.

Zane’s whole body had gone quite red. A few seconds in and he was sweating everywhere it was possible to sweat. It felt like he was slowly being stabbed in the belly by two hot pokers. Pokers that kept getting hotter. The heat did not seem to have a limit.

Zane groaned. Rolled around for a bit.

But then he felt his bloodline heating up, alerting to the threat. Rushing over, gathering at those blistering hot points. It felt like his organs were shriveling up, contracting—then his blood flowed in, saturating them, renewed them even as the weak old chunks flaked away. Revived his organs with new bloodline, remade them, burning away the last of the old…

Making new tissue. Sinewy yet tough. Slowly being reforged of the same living steel as the rest of him. Gaining new powers as his Blood sank through.

A few hours later—

Skill learned!

Vigorous Liver [Mythic (E)]

Vigorous Kidneys [Mythic (E)]

Zane breathed out. A cloud of noxious air left his mouth, as though from a factory chimney. Drifting away, striking the wall—melting through the plush white padding, then the defensive arrays beneath. Hissing through at a solid foot of Spirit Steel before breaking through, drifting away… Zane blinked at his new window.

That was one over with, he supposed.

The nice thing about that one was you didn't need to comprehend too much—mostly just flop around for a bit. He would take it. It didn't tire him out so much. He was still up for another comprehension.

What was next up? There were a few ways he could take it… he started thinking about those half-Ascendants he had fought.

He wondered what it would take to get Full Fusion. He wondered what that last Stormfire Concept was about…