They picked up a hefty bounty. More wealth than anyone on Earth had laid eyes on. Dungeons tended to be weighted towards their element, Reina saidโwhich was why Avery made out quite big this time around. After the armor, she got a Fishbone that granted big boosts to Water Concepts.
The essence treasures mostly went to Zane. Everyone agreed it was very important to feed him, which felt kind of weird to hear. He kind of felt like he was a prize cow being fattened up or something. But he took it.
The S-Rank Vials of Essence were more than twice as dense as the A-ranked ones.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
They picked up things they couldn't do a lot with right now. But they'd fetch huge purses in tradingโat the Beacon or with other Factions. For instance, Alchemy ingredients like 'Jade Seahorse Hoof Shavings,' an S-rank treasure was apparently very useful for certain longevity brews.
They got a vial filled with liquid so pure it was almost invisible. 'Essence of Pure Glacier'โit opened the mind to Ice concepts.
They got other treasures too, treasures that seemed like they didn't belong in an ocean dungeon at all. Dungeon chests were weird. They felt like mystery boxes to Zane. Reina explained once he brought it upโshe had a theory they were weighted toward two things.
First, the nature of the dungeon. Which was why there were more Water and Ice treasures here than usual. But also the nature of the person opening it.
For instance, she opened a chest and got an S-rank Wood Buff spell called the 'Evergrow Spell.' It would sharply boost the regeneration and vitality of anyone she cast it on. It looked incredibly strong, but it also required the comprehension of a Growth concept.
Each of these things were the equivalent of the highest-grade treasures at the Auction. And they were only on the first floor of this thingโฆ
By the end of this, Zane's Faction would be the richest Faction in the world by a longshot. Only the Faction that cleared the other S-rank, at Everest, could compare.
One treasure chest was a fat yellow blob on the mini-map. It stuck straight out of the wall, clean and warmly colored and polished to a shine. It even opened up on its own once they got close, revealing a cookie.
๐๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ช โ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ (๐+)
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐๐ค. ๐๐ฆ๐ก๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฆ๐ก๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ช!
Zane frowned at it. It gave off a weird feeling to him. The air was bending slightly around it like something was photoshopping reality.
Evan gasped. He was just running over to nab it when Avery grabbed him by the back of the shirt. "Woah there!" she said. "Not so fast."
"Heh?" said Evan.
She put her hands on her hips. "What's rule number one?"
"Ummmm." He frowned, trying hard to remember. Then he gasped. "When we see something that's too good to be true, we have to make sure it's not a trick," said Evan. "That's so we don't get fooled!"
He looked to her hopefully. He wasn't totally sure.
"Correct!" said Avery, nodding sagely.
Evan beamed.
"Don't get too happy yet, ya lil goofball. We're not done." She pointed to the cookie. "So."
"Ummmmm," said Evan.
He blinked at the cookie. Then he back at her. Then back at the cookie.
He concentrated really hard.
After a whileโ"โฆI don't get itโฆ" he said sheepishly.
"Hmm." Avery frowned at him. "Doesn't anything over there seem weird? Anything at all?"
"โฆUmmmm," said Evan. After a whileโ"โฆcan I have a hint?"
"Okay fine. Look around the cookie."
"Can I maybe eat the cookie first?" he said all hopeful. "It'll help me think!"
"Nope."
"Awwโฆ"
A few more seconds passed. Evan was working as hard as he could. Thenโ"Ohhhhhh!" he gasped. "The water's all bendy there!"
He pointed at the shimmering bit and looked at Avery hopefully again. He was kind of just guessing.
"Correct!" said Avery. She rewarded him with a pat on the head. Evan was beaming again.
"I'm learning!" he said to Zane. He was very proud of himself.
Zane also gave him a pat on the head. This was turning out to be a very good day for Evan.
It was a warding Skill, a kind of stealth technique. If some Monsters stayed perfectly still and activated it, they could hide themselves on the mini-map. Though it'd be more and more obvious the stronger your soul was.
Sure enough, the whole thing was a mirage. It was meant to lure the nearest victim in by showing them their deepest darkest desires. There was a camouflaged Drake-eater Eel right behind the chest. Zane stepped up and pounded it with one fist.
When the shimmer faded, there was just a normal S-rank Vial of Essence left. The cookie was not real. Evan was quite bummed for about three minutes, then saw a pretty piece of coral and forgot about it.
Meanwhile, Zane drank the Vial.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
He gave some to Reina too, which got her up to the high 150s.
They'd cleared out the full circle by then. Nabbed a little more than a dozen treasures. Then it was time to tackle the Monster swarm in the middle.
***
There were so many Monsters bunched together it looked like a fat red donut on the mini-map. But in the middle of it all there was an unusual treasure area. It was bigger than anything they'd seen so far. It had a question mark on top.
Zane swore he'd seen something like that before. It was kind of like the thing that appeared in that Monster House way back in the Abyssal Crater dungeon, wasn't it?
Reina speculated that, like the Monster House, it'd yield a special-grade treasure tailored to the user.
Interesting.
"Ready?" she said.
They all nodded. They swam their way in.
The light from Evan's sword was like a big lantern. And when they got close, its glow lit up the far edges of the swarm. Gold glinting off a cascading waterfall of pale ghostly flesh.
They looked like a raging tornado slicing down the middle of the trench. A tornado made of Monsters. Shrill sounds echoed out as it spun, heaving, circling endlessly like bees around a hiveโฆ the whole thing must've stretched half a mile wide. Out of range of Evan's light.
They were all Blind Dragonfish. Lots of Level 170s. There must be fifty or sixty of them in there.
It wasn't safe for the whole party to go in as a clump, Zane decided. There were just too many, it'd be too messy.
"Stay here and support me," he told them. "Strike from the outside. Run if they come for you."
Though they shouldn't have to if Zane did his job right.
"You're taking on all of them?" said Reina.
Zane nodded. Reina hesitated; worry tumbled through her. There was something beyond that wall of Monstrous flesh too, something even bigger, something the whole swarm revolved around, something they couldn't seeโฆ but Reina nodded. She just gave him a touch on the arm and said softly, "Good luck."
"You've got this!" cried Evan. "Go Zane!"
Zane took a deep breath, turned to face the mess. And lit himself on Stormfire.
At the same time, his Chains unfurled to either side of him.
He waded into the breach.
He kicked off with a Stormfire step, launched straight into that swirling mass. And fired the opening salvo.
Stormfire Smash!
Two blazing meteors banished the dark. Streaked toward that shifting whirlpool, that mass drenched in crackling waterfalls of pure Elemental Electricity, seething with the densest Water Laws Zane had ever seenโฆ a true colossus of the sea.
But Zane's Stormfire was a Fusion Law. The only one in this whole placeโand it outranked everything. And it was Zane himself throwing it with all his might.
He meant to shatter it.
BOOM-BOOM!
In a single moment, dozens of Dragonfish exploded at once. A funnel of blood erupted in the darkness. There came shrill shrieks, click-clicking sounds, and all descended to chaos. An immense heat blossomed through the dark, a light so bright it lit up the whole floor. And for a second it was like day had come to this realm of perpetual night. A stark blue sun rising in the center of the trench.
The shockwaves raged wideโso wide they slammed against the dungeon's rim, sending chunks of silt and stone crumbling from the edgesโฆ
And then Zane was in the midst of them. Right in the eye of the storm.
The surviving Monsters were knocked off-kilterโfor a moment.
Then they fell on him in a mad fury.
By then there was no time to swing more Smashes, no space eitherโhe was getting swamped, bitten, stung, slashed every which way. The screeches of Monsters, the screeches of teeth on steel, the screeches of lightning, of sparks flying off himโ
Zane just lit his fists on fire. And started pounding. Wherever he struck he found flesh.
Each Stormfire Fist swallowed a Dragonfish whole.
At the same time, he was getting gnawed at, ripped at every which way. Sparks flew down his whole body as they tore into him, thrashing and yanking. A few of them, the higher-Leveled ones, managed to draw little pinpricks of blood. It sent them into even more of a frenzy.
But they were just skin wounds to Zane, nothing much. Prickling up his chest, his biceps, his torso, his thighsโjust dots. He hardly even felt them.
Meanwhile, each fist of his swallowed a beast whole. He struck once they were lost in a ball of pure shining Stormfire. Usually, it took more than just one Monster down tooโa whole swathes of them burst to bits. With each fist he blasted huge chunks out of the tornado, sent it teetering on its edges, teetering on the verge of collapse. He was putting his whole body into it. His essence raged out in each bomb of a punch.
And he was heating up everything around him. The water started bubbling and burning despite all that Law trying to hold it down. Soon, he felt like he was punching in the middle of an erupting geyser. Dazzling explosion after dazzling explosion rocked the worldโฆ
Zane grinned.
He had this.
Over the last few weeks, Master of Unarmed Striking had leveled up a bunch in the background. He'd used his Fists a great deal. Now he was up to Level 9.
He was reminded of it after he threw a hook so strong it shattered the tip of the Monster tornado.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ -> ๐
๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐:
๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ [๐ผ๐ก๐๐]
๐๐
๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ค?
Just then Zane's face got splattered with Monster blood. He closed his eyes, grunted, but the notification still showed up in the darkness of his eyelids, conveniently.
He chose yes.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐! ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ [๐ผ๐ก๐๐] ๐ -> ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ค [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐]
โ๐ ๐ฅ๐: ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ. ๐น๐ ๐๐ช ๐๐๐ค ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ช๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ช.
He felt the difference instantly. It was like every joint in his body had been oiled, every tendon made supple and flexibleโit made his old self feel like a lumbering clumsy mess, tripping over himself. He marveled as he punched againโfrom his toes to his calves to his knees, his torso, his arms, all launching in one unbroken chain of pure force. Harnessing every muscle fiber in his body.
For Zane that was a lot of muscle.
He felt he could move like a dancer if he wanted to; he blinked. At first it was a little strange being in a body this smooth yet this big. He was moving almost weirdly well. He cocked back, twisted, corkscrewed a punch that drove a brilliant blue spike straight through the heart of the tornado. He unleashed brutally fluid smashes, one after anotherโit was a surprisingly big boost.
And that was it for the swarm.
Zane devastated the rest of them with three quick fists.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
Which left just one Monster left. The big red dot at the center of it all, which had worn the swarm like a cloak of armor and wielded it like a weapon too. The center of the hive mind. The biggest, ugliest Dragonfish of them all.
It loomed out of the gloom slobbering dirty purple lightning. Each milky eye was bigger than Zane's whole body. And it was angry. Its jaw unhinged, and it was like staring down some vast cavern burrowing deep in the bowels of the earthโฆ
๐ป๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ โ๐ฆ๐๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ)
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐