The other Stormtalons fled, squawking loudly.
Zane licked his lips and bounded after them.
The neat thing was, he was kind of a tank. And not just because his body was woven with steel—which meant it was pretty useful when he hit stuff at high speed.
He was also a tank because he had a huge amount of essence. Enough essence for every single bird here.
He picked out his next target. It saw him coming, started up in shock. He leapt for it. It flickered away before he could get there, and he splattered into the wall. But he didn't care. He just grinned, turned, leaped again, and this time he went straight through it.
He didn't even see it clearly, just a yellow blur. Then he was wiping blood out of his eyes. Blood matted his whole body. He'd hit it so fast it just… exploded.
Awesome.
He lunged again and again. He blitzed up a wall, kicked off and mowed down half a 'V' of them. A couple more leaps, and he smashed through the other half. Most of them splattered against his chest. He headbutted few too. One he thought he'd missed, until he felt warm wetness on his shin bone and saw he decapitated the thing entirely by accident.
It was neat being this big. It was harder for them to get out of the way. And he didn't need to hit them with much. Any bone going that fast had them splattering.
He felt like one of those dogs that had been let loose at the park, chasing after its favorite ball. He was in bliss. He figured this was what life was about—these pure simple joys.
Soon, he'd splattered most of them. The rest decided they were better off hiding in little nooks and crannies, shooting lightning at him from behind when he wasn't looking. They were back at it again. Little pricks.
He didn't feel like digging them out one by one. So he got out his Axes and started setting up a Cyclone. A few of them still zing'd him as he went, but there were so few of them left he shrugged it off easily.
Once the Cyclone got up to the seventh revolution, harsh fingers of wind started sneaking between the crags. By the eighth, ninth, tenth revolution, the birds were dragged squealing out, and they roasted too.
He ran down the length of the gorge, and his Cyclone followed him, mopping up monsters the whole way down.
He ran straight into the Thunder Roc's lair.
Similar thing to the other two Boss lairs. Just a craggy chamber, judging by the mini-map—though Zane couldn't see much through all that fire. Red dots were scattered throughout. They quickly started vanishing. The Cyclone's fires just licked them up and spit out ash. Ash that turned to essence, and flowed straight into him.
Not enough for a Level yet. But he was getting kind of close.
Then—
A shock tore into the edge of a Cyclone, puncturing it instantly. A beam of dazzling, sparking light slashed over him. It cut down and split the Cyclone in two, tossing the whole thing sideways, making it teeter. Lightning rippled through fire.
Zane lost control of it. The Cyclone sputtered out. And he saw who'd done it.
𝕋𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕔
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟘
𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:
𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔 ℝ𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟
𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖
𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:
𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝔽𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]: 𝔼𝕟𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕪, 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪. 𝔸𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕠𝕝𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕜𝕖.
𝔹𝕠𝕝𝕥 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕞 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖]: 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕗𝕠𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕔𝕦𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕒 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖, 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕨𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕥.
The Roc glared down at him from its rocky perch, head held high like an emperor looking at some unruly peasant.
Then it blasted him.
If those Stormtalon shots were static shocks, this felt like being hit by a taser. It had Zane jerking, almost flopping over before he chucked out a Rising Sun Slash to cut it off. He grinned, Chains at the ready, as it opened its mighty wings and lifted off. It screeched a challenge.
Excited, he ran after it. It looked mad. It looked ready to tussle.
…he should've known the thing would run.
It somehow managed to run angrily. He leapt after it, and it zip-zip-zipped down its lair, where it could chuck a bolt at him from a nice safe distance. And when he got close—zip-zip, and it was gone. On the other side now, ready to potshot at him.
Zane was starting to think all birds were assholes.
Grumbling, he dropped his Chains. By now, his Health was dipping near 75%. And the annoying thing about electricity was there was nothing for Rebirth in Flame to heal. He wasn't wounded, just… shocked?
That Boss could probably keep blasting him until he hit zero. And he wouldn't get a swipe on it.
Zane had no respect for this style of fighting.
But now, at least, he had something for it.
He dropped his Chains and made himself as light as he possibly could.
Then, with a Volt Blitz, he streaked straight for the Roc.
He missed. He face-planted into a wall. The bird was on the other side of the cavern, sneering at him—its eyes widened. He was lunging at it again. This time, it hardly got out of the way; he crashed through another wall. A plume of dust rose up from the crater…
And he burst right out of it, straight into that oversized chicken. He saw the shock on its face.
It even squawked like a chicken as it went down with him. He didn't expect to explode it, but getting hold of it was enough. The instant he did, he latched a Chain around its wing.
Then he felt like he'd gone on the world's most violent roller coaster ride. It went up, down, left, right. It threw him into a wall, then another wall, tried to scrape him off with a rock column, bashed his head into the ceiling, and the floor, and the ceiling again, then wiped the wall with his face, and the second time for good measure.
The problem was, Zane had a very thick skull.
The thing started tasing him, but he just kept clinging on. Every time it did that blink-zig-zag, his whole body shuddered. Soon,
𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%
Zane grinned a checkered grin. His front teeth had been knocked out. He was very happy about it. That's how he knew he was in a real fight. Finally!
He dropped his other Chain like an anchor. He set it as long as it would go—which was also as heavy as it would go.
And the Roc went down flailing, spiraling, squawking in panic. It tried to burst back up, but he got another loop of his Chain around its wing, and it started listing heavily sideways. Together they crashed.
It tried to get up, but Zane got a loop over the other wing too, then another, and dragged its screeching to the ground. When it fought back up to its talons, it was so hopelessly tangled it could hardly move.
It pecked at him, drawing blood on his chest, but it hardly got past the skin. He laughed.
Then it seemed to realize there was only one thing it could do.
It opened its mouth, and a beam of ruthless white light shot out. The same brilliant white that'd slashed his Cyclone in two.
He took the blast at point-blank range.
He couldn't move. He couldn't see. Every muscle in his body locked up hard; his jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt. All he could do was spasm.
But he could still spasm his arm right about up to the Roc's neck—and spasm a Chain around it.
There, he pulled out an old Skill. Old but reliable.
Promethean Noose!
The Roc's eyes bulged, it started to gag. The black Chains lit up red-white like a molten collar; its flesh began to roast.
Zane would grin, but his face was already stuck in a grin against his will.
𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%
𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕
𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%
𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%
𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%
Which helped—he strangled with his new strength. His Chains were an expression of his power; it helped him tighten faster. They were in a race to the death. Could the Roc electrocute him first? Or would he strangle it?
It poured all it had into Zane. And Zane poured all he had too. He dragged the boss down to his level. He felt oddly proud, even as he was slowly dying—he was teaching the thing what a real fight felt like. The passion of it—the fun, the joy, giving it your all in body and spirit! Yes! This was what it meant to be alive!
The Roc did not seem to be enjoying itself as much as he was. It seemed furious. And increasingly scared as the Chains got tighter and tighter, and the heat got into its veins, started seeping up its throat.
It tried squawking. It choked. It threw one last stab at him, everything it had, a sudden burst of power—
𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟝%
Then it thrashed one last time and lay still.
𝕋𝕙𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕔 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟!
𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟚 -> 𝟠𝟛
ℂ-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝔻𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟 𝔾𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕!
It turned out the Roc also had a nest, and there Zane found a few more Lightning Law Fruits along with some Essence Vials. There was also a Wind movement Skill, which was mildly intriguing—it let the wielder ride on a gale, so long as they kept up a certain dance pattern of steps—but he had little use for it.
The most interesting things there were the Thunder Roc eggs, and he took great pleasure in draining them.
That done, he headed up to the first floor and checked out the Dungeon Chest that had spawned. There he found the best treasure yet, lying on top of a giant mound of mid-grade essence stones.
Gentle Snow Dew (C)
The eyes are clearest at dawn. Collected with permission on Planet Gentle Snow, the property of Master Thai'le, the Plum Blossom Sword. Each droplet clears the mind, providing a roughly equivalent boost to a C-grade Law Fruit. This vial has six droplets.
A simple vial tied at the top with a plain white ribbon. The liquid sparkled faintly within, winking at him.
***
By the time he climbed out of the Gorge, the setting sun painted the sky golden red. Reina met him at the palace.
"So? How was it?"
"I have destroyed the birds," he proudly informed her.
"…What?"
He went off to check his World Ranking. The Beacon was right outside the palace, in the middle of a courtyard—he found he was up to World Rank 35—which was what, a ten or twenty spot jump? All in all, he was pretty pleased.
***
That night, he got out the Dreamweaver Veil and his Snow Dew droplets. He was trying to find a quiet place in the palace when Reina caught up to him, wearing a nightgown that looked uncomfortably tight, especially around the chest. It accentuated her figure well, and she wasn't someone whose figure needed any accentuating to begin with.
She said she knew he'd leave soon. She made it clear she was very eager to take advantage of their time together.
He tried to explain he couldn't. He explained how he meant to take the night off and grind through his backlog of Fire and Steel Laws. Maybe even pick up an Electricity Major Law, too. The whole time she stared at him dumbstruck. He got the feeling she wasn't used to being turned down for this kind of thing.
He got the sense she was a little miffed. He felt helpless.
Anyway. He found a spare room, settled down, drank the Dew droplets, and put on the Veil. Then he clasped hold of the Orb of Azeroth, the Stormheart, and the The Sermon on the Law of Iron. And he drifted off.