Zane liked the Chain Warlord a lot. The idea of using a harpoon and dragging them in… You couldn't grapple much with axes, so he'd let that part of his style rust a little. But he had a soft spot for it.
The main problem with Axes was also why he liked grappling. Lots of his enemies nowadays were birds. Or almost-birds, like that Javier. They wouldn't hold still. He liked it when he could just hold an enemy down and crush them. Maybe this could let him do that.
He also liked the Tempest one. Then again, he already had Stormfire Cyclone. With this he could enhance it, make it even stronger in crowds. But it seemed a bit too specialized. He wanted to be strong everywhere.
Then there was Dread Bastion, which he really liked too. Cutting was fun, as he'd done with Axes. But his favorite way to fight had always been smashing. There was something pure about it. Just plain smash. The thought gave him a simple pleasure.
He stood there for a few moments, eyes closed, smiling a little just thinking about it.
It was between Dread Bastion and Chain Warlord for him. The main thing stopping him from going Bastion right away was the grappling bit. He liked having anti-bird measures.
But… could he do that with Bastion too? The meteor sounded pretty fast. Maybe not as fast as those Harpoons, but still—he figured they'd go faster than his Axes had. Maybe for birds, he could use one of these meteors like an anchor—it said it was heavy, right? He just had to get one hit in. Then he'd wrap them up, weigh them down with a meteor. And then he could close in and crush them. Ground and pound.
Hm… Okay. He smiled and picked it.
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕! 𝔻𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝔹𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟!
𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝-𝕦𝕡 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕦𝕤: 𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: +𝟙.𝟝, ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: +𝟘.𝟠, 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙: +𝟙.𝟚, 𝔻𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪: +𝟘.𝟟, 𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕: +𝟘.𝟠
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕!
𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕌𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕒 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕄𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔]
𝔸 𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕓𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖-𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣. 𝕆𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕕, 𝔾𝕚𝕧𝕖-𝕒𝕟𝕕-𝕋𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒 𝕙𝕦𝕘𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣'𝕤 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣, 𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝔸𝕜𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣. ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖: 𝟙 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕣.
𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕌𝕡𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕!
ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕦𝕤 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕀𝕀𝕀
𝔸 𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕕𝕠𝕞 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖, 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖. ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖.
𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕀 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖, 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕘𝕖'𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝.
𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕀𝕀 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕓𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝, 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕘𝕖𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝.
𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕀𝕀𝕀 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤: 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤, 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕔𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤.
ℕ𝕖𝕨 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞:
𝕄𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤' 𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕪 𝕞𝕠𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕣𝕤, 𝕗𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕗𝕝𝕪, 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕥, 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘.
***
Sadly, he was a little too burned out to weave in his Steel Laws to anything right now. He might've been the most burned out he'd ever been. Not in the ways he'd been before, which had been painful. Right now he felt a good kind of exhaustion, like a marathon runner might feel after crossing the finish line.
It still meant he wasn't going anytime soon. Maybe if he got a few hours rest, he could weave Stormfire into Skills that already used Fire—that was very simple, essentially effortless. But anything strenuous… give it a week, maybe. He wasn't sure.
***
Unbeknownst to Zane, while he was tinkering with his new Class like a kid the morning after Christmas, news of his breakthrough spread faster than he would've believed.
In the time it took from sunset to sunrise, mostly everyone on the planet knew. There was a monstrous genius who'd broken through Foundation in half a day. Every World Ranker took note. Especially those at the top.
For some—that elite handful—the news just inflamed their fighting spirits. But that was because they had supreme confidence in his powers and talents. They took notice, but that was all.
Mostly everyone else treated the news with fear, or suspicion, or awe. Sometimes all three. No one else existed with Zane's combinations of talents. To them, that made him uniquely dangerous.
One top ranker, though, had a rather different reaction.
***
ɴᴇᴡ ʏᴏʀᴋ ᴄɪᴛʏ
The skies were choked with smog. Rolling waves of smog so thick you had no hope of seeing the sun. They came from the stacks of smoke drifting up from below. And so many fires burning across the devastated, soot-blackened dungeon it looked like a mockery of a night sky.
This was the A-ranked Dungeon called 'The Sixth Gate of Hell.' It had been chock full of demons. Just this morning, there had been no smoke. No fires. Then a party of two came in.
The first of them did most of the damage.
He stood amid the hellscape; fires tainted black licked the air all around him. He was a very handsome man, muscular yet lean, with wind-swept black hair. He looked very much like Zane Walker. He had slightly sharper features, crueler eyes, a smaller build. But put them side by side and it'd be clear they were brothers.
Jason Walker breathed heavily, slicked with black blood. He stood in a chaotic, steaming, broken-up mess; it looked like a bomb had detonated where he stood and he was knee-deep in the aftermath. It'd take you a few seconds to piece together what you were looking at.
A giant demon. Shredded so badly it was unrecognizable; those shredded meat-strips were wings. That blown-out meat paste, its torso. It lay splayed out like a taxidermied animal. Its slitted yellow cat-like eyes bulged; it was going through its death throes; black blood dribbled out of pale lips. This thing was the Level 115 Boss Sariel, Lord of Wraiths.
Around its neck hung a grisly noose. A trail led down to its wide-open stomach; its guts had been ripped out of its body and forced around its throat. It'd been strangled in its own entrails.
Its blood was still drying on Jason Walker's hands. He stood there, breathing heavy. Next to him, World Rank #2 D'Angelo Hall shook his head. "You're a sick son of a bitch."
But Jason just grinned and licked the Monster blood off his lips. Then he frowned. He reached into his silk pocket and brought his speaking crystal to his ear. He listened for a while. Then his grin widened into a feral smile, baring all his white teeth; he began to laugh.
"What now?"
"You know that little brother I told you about?"
"Yeah?"
"He just broke through to Foundation." Jason sighed. "He's finally grown up! About fucking time."
"Christ," snorted Hall. "Now there's two of you? Don't tell me he's like you."
Jason cocked his head. There was mirth in his eyes. "In the important things… oh, yes. He's very much like me."
***
Knock-knock.
Zane went to open the door. The moment he did—
"Congrats!"
There were Evan and Avery; Evan beamed, Avery grinned. There was one of those birthday streamer thingies in Evan's mouth. He was blowing on it all excited. Then he took it out. "You did it!" He exclaimed.
Then he bent over, put down the streamer, and picked up something fluffy at his feet. "Look! I made it for you."
It was a cake. It looked surprisingly well put together too—it had tiers and everything, white with gold lettering. The lettering said, "Congratulations on getting to Foundation!! I knew you could do it! You inspire me every day! —your friend Evan."
From someone else it might've sounded corny, but Zane knew Evan meant every word of it. So he just smiled and felt kind of warm. "Thanks. I'll enjoy this."
"Mhm!"
Avery wrinkled her nose at Evan. "See, now you're making me look bad. All I brought was a hearty high-five."
And suddenly Evan was worried. "Wait!" He cried. "I—I didn't mean—"
"Pshhhh!" Grinning, she ruffled his hair. "I'm just ragging on you."
"Oh…"
"Anyway! So, Zane. How are you going to spend your breakthrough day?"
Zane thought about it for a bit. Then he shrugged. "I'm gonna train, probably."
"Yeah, thought so. Welp. You have fun! Maybe go check out that Asura Hell thing and see how many fake-demons you can bonk. We're going to the Thousand Ray Desert. That's the Light Law area, by the way. I'm trying to get the Elemental Law of Light next, maybe try putting it together with Water. I think I might make like Mirage or Illusion or something? It'll take a while though… at least another five or six months just to get the dang thing. And then there's putting it together. Who knows if that's even what you're supposed to do! Anyway. Turns out Evan's trying to get the same Elemental Law, so this works out."
"Yup!" said Evan.
"Don't worry about him," said Avery, nodding sagely. "You can do your own thing. I'll keep him out of trouble. I'm very responsible."
Zane cocked a brow. He was more concerned about Avery getting him in trouble than the other way around.
Then again, Evan was a little too trusting for his own good. Which… maybe not the best thing in a place like this. Having Avery around was a good idea.
Evan gave a happy little wave, Avery a salute. They were just about to head off when she halted—
"Oh wait! I almost forgot." She turned around and held up a hand, grinning. "I owe you a high five!"
"…Thanks." He high-fived her, since it seemed like she wasn't going to put it down until he did.
"In case you're inclined to be thoughtful like Evan here and give me a breakthrough present—I'd like to say that I've always wanted to ride on your head and make you go places by pulling your hair, like the guy from Ratatouille." She grinned. "Just putting that out there."
"No."
"Aww… please? What if—hear me out—just a few hours, we don't even have to go very far. Ooh, maybe we can do a dungeon raid and I could ride you into battle! Wait! Don't you—"
He closed the door in her face.
He was itching to go test out his new powers, maybe at that Hell Array thing. But first, he took the cake, sat down at the table, and got a spoon, and slowly savored it until he was done.
It was a very good cake. He made sure he'd let Evan know next time they met.
***
The next time he walked outside, there was a crowd outside the hotel. He wondered what it was for until they all started shouting when they saw him.
"Savage Sage! Savage Sage!"
"Mr. Walker! How did you get those Laws so fast? Is it just your mindset, or a treasure, or—"
"I'm from Portland, I've been a fan since you destroyed the Cult of Black Flame! I'm your #1 fan!"
"Do you have beef with the other top rankers?"
They were shouting about so many things he couldn't keep them straight.
"World Number 7 Cristina dos Santos said you used a trick—she says you had to burn your lifespan to do it so fast! Do you have anything to say?"
"Can I have one of your treasures?"
"Why are you so big? Does it help you absorb more Laws?"
The headache was getting a little too much. Zane wasn't a people person. He really wasn't a crowds person.
He flared his aura. Law boiled out of him and the rest of them went stumbling back; now they watched from a respectful distance as he moved through. He kept the pressure on as he walked, and they didn't bother him directly anymore. This was what Eze had done the first time they'd met, he realized. Now it made sense.
He had a fine time walking for all of a few hundred feet before he got accosted again. This time by just one person.
"Hey there!" Elias sidled up next to him. "Buddy! It's your favorite Venture Capitalist again—just wanted to say congratulations, man. That's crazy. I knew your soul talent was off the charts, literally, but still—wait up!"
He had to run to catch up; Zane certainly wasn't slowing for him. He gave a thin little smile. "Alright, I didn't just come to congratulate you," he said. "You see, I have a bit of a… situation?"
"Don't care."
"I'll give you an A-rank treasure! Hell—An A-rank Fire Law treasure! The only one I've got!"
Zane stopped, looked at him sideways. "You have thirty seconds."
"Excellent! So—you know I've got this feud with the Tomb Kings, right? Turns out the head honcho, Mike Masters—World Rank #8 by the way, one below you—turns out he broke through to Foundation a few weeks ago! And he's decided he doesn't care about this little gathering of World Rankers I've got going on. He's coming for my throat anyway. Now this is a little inconvenient for me, as you may imagine." Elias swallowed. "His wants to conquer the rest of my Faction, lay siege to my headquarters, wait 'till the event's over— all the World Rankers leave—and then… well…"
He licked his lips. "Long story short, he's coming. Not great! And he's bringing six of the top thirty in the world, including him. He'll reach the warzone by… oh… end of the day? So I'd be just delighted if you could take care of him for me, and fast. Again. A-rank Law treasure, up for grabs! What do you say?"
Now this was interesting. … Honestly, he might have accepted even if there was no reward. Fighting six of the world's best sounded pretty fun.
An A-rank Fire Law Treasure… that also sounded pretty good. He would've taken it a few months ago.
But Elias was looking ready to tear his hair out. And Zane had spent a lot of time around Reina, and some of it rubbed off. He knew it was a good time to negotiate.