Drake lowered himself to the ground, entering the large chasm his spell had created, his hair already turned to a deep majestic blue to recover. His skills moved leaps and bounds beyond what he could ever imagine, the recovery speed proving such.
He eventually made it to the impact at the bottom, the light of day not reaching the end of the chasm where he finally found a small crystal stone lying next to the scattered remains of the monster that had nearly killed him and his party.
Drake scoffed.
"Why does it feel like such an empty win… I feel… It feels like it isn't enough. This must be one of the changes the stone made. I hope there aren't too many side effects. I'll have to give that Dragon bitch a piece of my mind next time I see her," Drake said, grinding his teeth as he bent down to grip the stone.
[Subtree Skill Stone: Massive Regeneration] [Rare]
[Unlocks Massive Regeneration Subtree]
[Requirement: Have one or more empty Subtrees. Have Warrior-based Main Class-tree unlocked]
Drake stowed the stone and jumped to climb out of the deep chasm traveling the distance to the top quickly. Once he got to the top he saw his party gathering.
"Hey," Drake said awkwardly, "Well, we won!" he announced.
"Are you serious? What was that? You disappeared for a moment after I saw you thrown! I thought you died!" Claire screamed, tears still in her eyes.
Drake raised his hands in defeat.
"Ok! Ok! I obviously have some explaining to do, but first. Is everyone alright?" Drake admitted looking to the side and seeing Bjorn move to help Jacqueline carry Chelsea over.
"I got to say idjit, that was some entrance. Didn't even recognize ya, what's with the long hair and tan?" Hudson asked, crossing his arms and raising a brow.
"L-long story…." Drake sighed.
"Look around pup, we ain't got nothin' but time," Hudson pressed.
"Indeed my Lord! Thou hast changed a great deal externally! This one would also like to be enlightened on your formal change," Theodore added.
"Fine, but first everyone gets treated. Let's get back to the fortress at least."
Before they moved, Drake addressed Amir, "Amir, you got the E-Grade Monster core right? Give it here."
"Of course Sir," Amir said, pulling the stone from his inventory, "Here it is. I am surprised it is still so small."
Drake pursed his lips picking up the stone, "It is a little weird it didn't get bigger, but I can sense that the mana inside is far more dense. I'll have to give it to Natto as thanks."
"Sir, might I ask something?" Amir said after handing over the stone.
"Of course," Drake replied.
"Are all E-Ranks going to be this strong…? I fear we will stand no chance outside the tutorial if this is the standard we are to meet," Amir said warily.
Drake chuckled, "No, no. Natto already told me that the Prince is a little different, well, a lot different. Obiteron and his brothers were named high-tier F-Rank monsters, so when Obiteron evolved he made a larger leap than what a regular E-Rank would be. Sure E-Ranks are going to be strong, but he was closer to mid or high grade because of his status already."
"That is comforting… I think," Amir laughed nervously, turning to walk to the fortress.
"I'm glad you didn't die," Julia offered, clasping him on the shoulder.
She paused a moment then began gripping him more strongly, "Jesus, are these made out of steel, marble, titanium!?"
Drake looked at her, his eyes thinning, "You do realize the double standard here right..?" he scoffed, "And yeah, I'm glad I didn't die either."
Julia let go, giving Drake a wave and a smile before walking away as well.
Theodore and Harley were happy to be reunited after everything and took off without waiting. Sherry mumbled about food as always even after the whole ordeal as she followed the forming crowd.
Megan looked pensively at Drake, her hands rubbing together around her staff.
"Out with it. I may not look it, but I am tired," Drake said, addressing her.
"U-um I'm just happy that you kept your promise in protecting us. Seeing you get hurt, and giving it your all really… Really showed me how different than Chris you are," Megan explained her cheeks reddening slightly.
"Right… Thank you? I guess, but I could have told you I'm not like that guy right from the start. I'm pretty sure I did too…." Drake answered, scratching his head.
Megan looked more embarrassed than she probably should have been, and scurried off to where Bjorn and Chelsea were, looking over her shoulder as she went.
"That is going to definitely be trouble later," Drake sighed.
"I'm going to get going too… Ya know before it gets awkward again, because you forgot about me for the fourth time… Glad you didn't die too. Cool hair," Tom said, as he sprinted off after the rest of the party.
Drake raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Even after a race change to a Primordial, he still has such an absence of presence that I don't notice him… That has to be a special skill or something."
Drake shook his head.
Finally, he was left alone with Claire, he turned to her, her head slightly dipped, looking down.
He scratched his cheek not sure how to go about consoling her. She did just see him die and come back to life in the last few minutes. And when he returned he was an entirely different person. It would confuse and traumatize anyone.
Drake lifted her chin, seeing her blue eyes reddened by tears, and her face a mess from crying. He looked her in the eyes, as she tried to turn away and smiled.
"I'm back. And I won, just like I promised."
"That isn't the point! I was worried about you. I thought you died! I don't want to see you get hurt like that ag-" Claire was stopped from her angry and concerned tirade.
Drake had stolen her lips, pressing his against hers. She hit him with her free hand that wasn't carrying Natto, but didn't pull away, and after a few moments leaned into him.
"Wow," Drake smirked, "If I knew shutting you up was that easy, I would have done that a long time ago," he laughed.
Claire growled and pushed him away.
"I'm still angry! Don't ever do something like that again!"
"Yeah but if you're so angry, why are you smiling?"
Claire pressed her hand to her face checking herself only to turn her grin into a scowl.
Pushing Natto to Drake, she huffed and stormed off.
"That went well," Drake scoffed, looking down at the still-sleeping construct.
Drake took the E-Rank Stone he had gotten from Amir and waved it in front of Natto.
"Wakey Wakey, I have a nice treat for you…." Drake said in a light tone, wafting the stone in front of Natto's nose.
Natto's nose began to twitch as her ears tilted back and forth following Drake's hand.
"Come on, it's a really nice treat," Drake said, waving the stone closer.
Suddenly Natto lunged forward, her mouth opening at a near 180 degrees to clamp on the stone, but took some of Drake's fingers in the process.
"W-whash ish dish..?" she said her eyes fluttering open as she chewed mechanically on Drake's fingers and the stone, drool spilling everywhere.
"Those," Drake said, wrenching his hand from her mouth, "Are my fingers. And good morning sunshine."
"W-we are alive? Wait, who the fuck are you!" Natto yelled, suddenly spitting, "Uhh… I had a stranger's hand in my mouth.. What vile joke is this?!"
"Hey, I'm still me," Drake said hurt, "And I'm not sure what the Dragon Bitch did to you but I'm glad you're safe."
"D-Drake…?" Natto stammered, making sure to hold the E-Rank stone tightly in her hands as she looked him up and down, "W-what happened to you?"
"Come on," Drake chuckled, "I'm going to go over the story with everyone else. Don't drop that stone, it took a lot of effort to get it."
Natto looked from Drake's face down to the stone in her hand, her eyebrows scrunched in a thoughtful expression.
Drake left her to her thoughts as he walked over to Bjorn, Chelsea, Jacqueline, and Megan.
"Need a hand?"
"Who the hell," Chelsea asked before coughing, "Are you?"
Megan nudged Chelsea, explaining to her in a soft whisper, "That's Shot…"
"What?! The bloody hell happened to you? Change teams?" Jaqueline shouted.
Drake raised his arms and looked at his body, "Oh now that you mention it for the 100th time. I am lightly toasted, aren't I? See a snack, do you, Jacqueline?" Drake chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Hell I do, you knob. You can turn into whatever right, Bronze-looking God you'd well like. I ain't turnin' up anywhere near your mad self."
"That's just hurtful," Drake frowned then turned to Chelsea, "You alright?"
Chelsea nodded and looked to Bjorn leaning on him for support, "Yeah I got smacked around… But Thanks to Jacky I'll live. What happened to you and Natto?" she asked.
"Long story, I'll explain later. Let's get everyone to the dinky fortress before anything," Drake instructed as they began walking along.
"I'm guessing you beat the bug?" Chelsea asked during the silence as the group walked.
"You didn't see it?" Drake asked.
"I was knocked out cold by the thing asshole…"
"Didn't do much to fix your mouth though did it…" Drake scoffed, "Yeah I killed it…."
Bjorn noticed the lament and slight regret Drake had on his face.
"You don't seem happy about it bro. Doesn't look like you leveled up either."
"Not from the kill yeah. I'm expecting or at least hoping the Quest will give me a level up. I want to reach E-Rank as fast as possible, but I don't think I'll have time for it…"
Drake looked at a screen in front of him, seeing the current leaderboards and the remaining time as well as participants.
[Top Level Leaderboard]
[Rank 1: Bear Level 27]
[Rank 2: Shigure Kenzo Level 24]
[Rank 3: Shot Level 23]
[Rank 4: Super Megan Level 19]
[Rank 5: Theodore Rotwood Level 18]
[Rank 6: Jimina Seinen Level 17]
….
[Tutorial Point Ladder]
[Rank 1: Shot 51,246,505 TP]
[Rank 2: Bear 11,735,355 TP]
[Rank 3: Shigure Kenzo 3,283,945 TP]
[Current Time Remaining in Tutorial: 35 days 16 hours 57 minutes 21 seconds]
[Remaining Participants: 1,889]
The Level Rankings hadn't changed very much. Which was understandable considering the lack of monsters outside of the Ants, but Drake had again made leaps forward on the Tutorial Point Ladder.
He had a lot to do before they left for the world ahead of them. New skills, new limits to test, and most of all, relaxation and hopefully a fun time with his girlfriend now that he made it past first base.
"Or is that second base? I can't remember how that analogy works…" Drake mused aloud.
"What?" Bjorn asked.
"Oh, nothing. Anyway, I should mention. I'm beyond impressed you didn't change with your stones Bear."
"What do you mean? Is that what happened to you? Thought you were ganna wait bro?"
"I'll go over the story later, but right now I'm more concerned and frankly suspicious of why you haven't changed yourself. I was force-fed six legendary stones so it makes sense I was forced to change, but even one of those stones… I can't believe you endured it…" Drake said, his face turning deadpan.
"I don't know what to tell you or how to answer that Shot. I used the stones because they were there and powerful. It isn't like I didn't struggle with them when I consumed them. I had my own demons for a while, and you know I still do."
"I know Bear," Drake said, his face softening.
Drake and the group continued to walk this time in silence after the small conversation. Drake caught up in his own mind.
I know he has his own problems, and now that I'm… I'm not human, I know I can deal with them when the time comes. But… What is this anticipation? It's almost as if I want him to change. Like I'm looking for the next fight.
Drake clenched his hand unsure if it was the stones talking or just him anymore. The future Drake had been aiming for felt further away than ever.