She sat there, mouth slightly open, in silence.
It was getting awkward. She looked so stunned he wasn't sure she was still in there.
Then she started to tremble. He r face was reddening fast.
"Did—did you think I was trying to kiss you?!" She spluttered. She choked out a laugh. "Idiot. You wish!"
She was very red as she crossed her arms. "Hmph!"
"…Sure?"
"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said haughtily. Then, head held high, she turned on her heel and strutted out of the room.
She went beyond the arch, made a turn, and vanished from sight.
She hardly took ten steps before she just collapsed. Zane could see her dot go still on the mini-map. He could also see her through the translucent walls. She seemed to be holding her head in her hands.
Then she slid slowly down the wall she was leaning on, buried her face in her dress, and screamed into it.
The dress muffled the sound a little. But less than she probably thought it did. He could hear it pretty clearly from where he stood now, which… he didn't think she meant to happen.
"…"
She was standing now. He couldn't really see what she was up to. Then he felt little flashes of pain radiating and frowned.
When he went to check up on her, he found her banging her head on the tunnel wall. "You idiot!" She cried. "You stupid dumb idiot! Stupid stupid stupid—" she punctuated each word with a bash of her head. With Sage Mind, he could sense the pure humiliation flowing off her.
"Uh," said Zane, wincing. "Are you alright?"
She froze. Then slowly turned to look up at him.
He got a very specific feeling from her, just as strong. It went beyond humiliation. She just wanted to dissolve into a puddle on the floor and evaporate.
He winced. He felt kind of bad for her, honestly. He wasn't sure what to say.
They just stared at each other. Then—
"You… saw all of that, didn't you," she said hoarsely.
He nodded.
"I see," she said. "Would you do me a favor?"
He sensed no deceit from her. Just that same shattered feeling. It felt like she really needed this, so he said, "What is it?"
"Turn around, close your eyes, and count to ten." Her voice cracked on the last word.
He did.
Then he heard the pitter-pattering of sudden footsteps. Fading fast into the distance. Had she just…? He finished counting and opened his eyes.
Sure enough. He saw her dot speeding up the mini-map. She'd made a break for it—she was gone.
Then he thought—wait.
Where was she going?
…She couldn't be headed to claim the Beacon or the dungeon chest, right? Somehow he doubted it. But he went after her just in case. Soon he saw her winding up the last of the steps—out onto the surface. Then—
No. She wasn't headed for the Beacon at all. She just kept running. And didn't stop. By the time he saw daylight she was most of the way up the crater rim.
She'd just run all the way out of the dungeon.
"… Bye?"
Well, that was weird.
Anyway.
***
He went back down to the Boss Lair and found something lying on the empty throne. A gemstone the color of glacier ice, big as his fist and craggy all over.
𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖 (𝔹)
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥, 𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖. 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕝𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕓𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.
Huh.
Alchemy? Zane didn't know you could do that. As far as he could tell the System only gave out combat classes. Maybe you could learn some other Skills on the side?
He scratched his chin. He vaguely remembered reading something about one of the higher-tier Beacon unlocks to do with access to some Merchant Guild. He'd have to ask Reina about it.
***
When he went out onto the ice to claim the Abyssal Crater's Beacon, he found a bunch of Factions huddled around already. None of them had broken the lock on the dungeon chest there. They were all just waiting for him. A big cheer went up when he arrived; he felt a huge cloud of relief pouring off them. There was lots of hugging and sobbing going around. Some of them even insisted on hugging him, which got a little awkward.
"You son of a bitch," said Clayton, the burly Faction leader he'd met earlier. He was grinning ear to ear as he clapped his hand on the back. "You actually went and did it!"
"I'm never going out of the Safe Zone again, swear to God," he heard someone moan, which seemed to be the mood for most of them.
A fair few of these folk came from the Southern Portland region. They pretty much unanimously wanted to Sub-Faction, so once he claimed the Beacon, he put them in touch with Reina.
Or rather—one of Reina's many assistants in charge of manning the Beacon and compiling all messages for her to review at her office at the start of each day. She'd gotten much too important to be manning it herself.
Around then, a bunch of 'Quest Completed!' notifications popped up, and the System granted him his rewards. He was 20 C-grade Essence Vials richer.
***
The dungeon chest had less than he was used to. Just 6 Essence Stones. But what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality—they were all high-grade, set in soft velvet.
And they circled the central treasure.
A piece of paper.
A fancy piece of paper, to be sure, thick and yellow—not in an aged crumbly way; it was smooth and warm. Its neatly inked letters weren't translating in his head. On closer inspection, they seemed to be runes.
𝕊𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 (𝔹)
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝔹-𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝔾𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕪'𝕤 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝟡 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝔾𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕩𝕪. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕'𝕤 𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣-𝔼𝕟𝕕 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟.
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝔽 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕊.
Hmm.
Yeah, he'd give this to Reina and see what came out of it. The System had all the necessities, but its selection of Skill tomes and treasures was pretty lacking—those were almost always better gotten through dungeons, and there you couldn't really choose what you got there.
They didn't really have the spare money to upgrade to B-rank just yet. But once they did, it could be useful.
***
He binged all his new Essence Vials. It put him over the top.
𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟠𝟡 -> 𝟡𝟘
Nice round number.
Before he went back, he spent an hour just going around the dungeon, trying to pick out some memento Reina might like. It was his goal now—every dungeon he visited, he'd get something for her. The Sutra was a kind of gift, he supposed, but it was a little… it wasn't really what he meant.
He ended up with something called a 'Frost Fractal Flower'—a C-grade essence treasure that looked like a very big snowflake. He chose it because it was very symmetrical and intricate. It seemed well designed, the kind of thing she would appreciate.
He did feel kind of bad leaving her so often. He wanted to take care of her.
If they upgraded the Beacon to B-rank, it'd give a lot of rewards, sure—but also teleportation from any Faction Safe Zone back to headquarters. That way, he could go about dungeon clearing in the day and be back for her a lot more nights if he wanted to…
It was an interesting thought.
Maybe with these new essence stones, they'd have enough to upgrade? He'd have to ask her when he got back.
***
He had a tendency to overshoot with Volt Blitz. He used it somewhat sparingly coming this way—he got lost pretty easily in the mountains. But going back, the route was much clearer. He just dashed for it. He was just a streak of lightning crossing the grassy plains, streaking through the forests, leaping easily across whole rivers. And in just about an hour, maybe less, he was back near Luminous Faction headquarters.
Not much has changed since he last visited. Which made sense, he supposed. Not much time had passed. He saw the floating watchtower first, tied down by that thick anchor; it reminded him a little of the house from Up. A giant telescope hung off the end of it—that was new. It swept over him, and he could feel the person inspecting him—he could feel their soul.
As he drew closer, the Emerald Forest came into view. There were a lot more yellow dots in it—set in rows, too. Like an orchard. Had Reina…?
"Sir!"
He blinked. He was coming up to the outer walls now. A host of warriors jogged up to him dressed in white, purple, and dark green—the Luminous Faction colors.
𝕁𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝔼𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟠
He saluted. They all did; they had that stars-in-their-eyes look. "It's great to have you back, sir! We let the Mistress know as soon as our scouts saw you coming, sir!"
"Thanks…?"
Then he saw a dot coming up on his mini-map—a dot with an S on it.
A Signature? He wasn't aware they'd recruited any recently. Had Avery come back?
Then he saw Reina coming out from under the arched wooden gates and blinked.
"Zane!" She cried, rushing up to him. She leaped into his arms and kissed him fiercely. "Welcome back," she breathed. "I missed you." She was all flushed and smiling at him. They were both gasping.
He was feeling a little lightheaded then—for a number of reasons. One of them stared him in the face.
ℝ𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕋𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕤
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟚
𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣
"You're Signed now?"
"Oh!" A strange look came across Reina's face. "It's complicated."
She looked around, then took his hand and led him along. "Not here. I'll tell you inside."
***
They settled down inside Zane's cabin. Reina said she hadn't changed much—she'd just noise-proofed the walls. They settled down on a plain wool couch, side by side.
If Zane was honest, he'd always been a little surprised Reina didn't have a Signature Title. They are supposed to be given out to rare psychologies, right? Reina was one in a million, as far as Zane was concerned. Actually, that was underselling it. He was sure there was no one like her.
Now when he inspected her, he saw two new Skills:
ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕪 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖]
𝔼𝕟𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕔𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤'𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕪 𝟙𝟝%.
𝔸𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕟𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤'𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤. 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕤, 𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤.
𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕗 ℝ𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖]
ℝ𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕣 𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖. ℍ𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤, 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕓𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕪. ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝. ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣: 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕝 ℂ-𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖
"This is great," he said. "It's perfect for you." And he meant it. He was excited for her.
He was wondering, though—"But… why now?"
As far as he knew, there wasn't really a time limit for when these things manifested. But most of the time, they seemed to come on pretty fast. She was over Level 50.
"That's the complicated part," said Reina. She hesitated. "Signature Titles are unique. They can only be held by one person at a time. And… the one who held mine just died."
Zane blinked. "How do you know?"
"They left me a message." She bit her lip. "Here—I'll write it out for you."