The next morning he awoke filled with vim, vigor, and vivacity after a excellent nights rest. Rising to his feet, he quickly completed his morning routine then removed all traces of his occupancy. Making a final cursory check of the area, he walked up to the Archway and then gently placed his hand upon its oddly warm metallic surface.
In a slightly incredulous tone he hesitantly said, "I hope I'm not going crazy, but my instincts have never lead me astray. Although it may sound nuts, I feel certain that I owe you. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks for keeping me company during the long cold nights. Well, here's looking at you kid. Ciao per adesso!"
Without turning back, he departed the Archway unsure if he would ever see it again. Over the next few hours he proceeded to race thru the remainder of the Valley as he hunted the Valleys last remaining monsters. Although he didn't discover any new types he did manage to harvest a sizable amount of raw materials and sparks which he quickly assimilated as he continued to hunt.
Finally after several hours of rough work the only monster remaining was the powerful BOSS monster who guarded the Valleys exit. Following his senses, he quickly arrived outside the den of the strongest monster in the Valley, a Tangerine Tiger King who was a level 30 BOSS. Apparently the Valleys exit was located inside his den, making the BOSS monster an unpaid, and extremely ill tempered security guard.
After a few moments the Tangerine Tiger King detected his scent and rushed out of his den with a mighty roar. Ignoring the BOSS monsters pointless display of male bravado, Salvatore instantly appeared next to the massive monster and with a single fluid move sliced his head clean off. With a second swing of his blade he removed the monsters blood from his crimson blade then returned it to his [Spatial Storage].
Pausing only to assimilate the Tangerine Tiger Kings Spark and then break his corpse down into crafting materials, he casually tossed them into his [Spatial Storage] then headed into the murky depths of its musky den.
Entering the recently deceased BOSS monster's den, he detected a strange mixture of the aroma of rotting corpses and citrus fruit, a truly unique odor. After slowly walking for a few hundred feet he discovered a white glowing barrier sealing off a large golden doorway inset into the back of the caves rocky wall.
Approaching the glowing white barrier, he calmly extended a hand and placed it against the magical wall. Holding it firmly against the barrier, after a few moments his hand abruptly slipped thru and he proceeded beyond. Now that he was past the barrier, he began to closely examine the two large golden doors and discovered they were covered with detailed engravings of all the different types of monsters he had discovered in the Valley.
On one of the doors, at approximately waist height was what looked like a large drawer, while above it protruded half of a softball sized smooth dark orb. As he neared the giant golden doorway it began to glow with a warm golden light as though it had detected his presence. When he was less than 2 ft away from the doorway the dark orb began to glow and suddenly projected a large golden screen.
[Please Place All Items Acquired In The Valley Into The Draw!]
As he finished reading the short message the large drawer abruptly opened, extending several feet out from the massive door. Looking into the drawer, Salvatore discovered a strange dark whirlpool of lights within.
Without hesitation he quickly began to place all the items he acquired into the drawers spiraling vortex, emptying his [Spatial Storage] of all the meat and fruits as well as all of the strange fruit shaped crystal's he had acquired and all of the crafting materials, weapons, and apparel including the nice Wolf Kings Boots he was wearing. The only thing he kept was his black Italian silk pajamas and the Spatial Bracelet he had removed from Jace's body which he had securely placed inside his [Spatial Storage] earlier.
As each item fell into the whirlpool it burst into a glitters of lights and caused a series of jingling sounds like a slot machine. As the last item was placed into the whirlpool the drawer silently closed.
Now stripped of his warm boots, he wiggled his toes as he stood completely naked inside of the smelly den and patiently waited excitedly for whatever may come next.
After a few moments the screen went dark before suddenly displaying some new information.
[Congratulations, You Have Completed The Starverse Tutorial!]
Calculating Tutorial Score....
Total Monsters Killed...27,896
Total Items Acquired...157
Total Monster Auxiliary Spark's Acquired...27,896
Hidden Bonus: Secret zone "Rabbit Kingdom" discovered!
Total Score: 9,999,999
[Congratulations, You Have Achieved A New High Score!]
Score Rank: 1
[Congratulations, You Have Achieved And Astonishing Achievement!]
[Congratulations, For Achieving An Astonishing Achievement You Are Awarded A New Title And Will Receive A Random Prize!]
As this message appeared the strange draw opened again and suddenly spat out a small glowing orb which gently floated toward him. Grasping it firmly, he silently placed it into his [Spatial Storage] while he continued to observe the glowing screen. Finally the screen displayed one last message before disappearing.
[Your Adventure Begins Now!]
[Welcome to the Starverse!]
As the dark orb grew completely dark the golden doors suddenly rang out with a series of thunderous "CLINKS" and "CLANKS" as they began to unlock. Then with a long ominous "CREAK" they began to open swinging inwardly, leaking an immense amount of blinding golden light around the edges which flooded the entire den, swallowing Salvatore whole and whisking him away before quickly swinging shut with a resounding "BOOM!"
As Salvatore's was swallowed by the light his final thought was a small prayer for those he would meet in the future, "Now it truly begins. May GOD bless those who bless me, and grant mercy to those who choose to oppose me."
........
EPILOGUE
........
A few minutes after Salvatore had been transported out of the Valley the strange drawer upon the massive golden doorway suddenly slid open and began to spew out an endless river of small glowing orbs which shot thru the white barrier, out of the musky monster den and into the Valleys sky.
Once they finished spreading to every part of the Valley they suddenly stopped and began to hover in midair exactly where a monster Salvatore had hunted had died.
As the golden light shrouding the many tiny orbs faded away the many strange fruit shaped crystals Salvatore had harvested from the monsters he has slain appeared and began to glow.
Slowly growing brighter they suddenly blazed intensely then quickly faded revealing a resurrected monster. Every monster Salvatore had slayed, save Daguel had been resurrected completely intact except for the memory of Salvatore and their death.
The resurrected monsters paused momentarily before with a shake of their heads they dismissed the vague feeling of déjà vu and continued on with their usual daily routines. One particular monster however,
The Watermelon Wolf King could faintly sense something horrible had happened to it subconsciously and suddenly felt deeply concerned about his anus.
Oddly enough, from this day forward he never had a peaceful rest again, for every night he was plagued by the same nightmare, involving a pale furless creature who would ruthlessly terrorize its posterior.