They found the Monster down a cave dug deep into the canyon walls.
It was a bigger, badder version of the Giant Crabs they'd seen on the floor above. Its limbs were far too long and sharpโthey just looked wrong, blown out of proportion. They held up a boulderlike clad in a stark-white bone shell.
๐๐๐๐ โ๐ฃ๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ)
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก๐
The Crab's beady black eyes were tiny, but only compared to the rest of it. It looked like a living statue.
But what caught Zane's eyes first were the claws. Ribbed with spikes honed to gleaming fine points, boiling over with Steel Law, with some Concept that went above Absolute Sharpness. You did not want to get caught in that.
Zane clenched his fists, hunkered down, and rose to meet it. He got to work.
Things got bloody fast.
He got to Smashing, sent shining cracks rippling down that huge shell, sent flaming chunks of it cratering into the walls, caved in a good chunk of that bony middle, heard the satisfying CRUNCH of shell-plate giving way before brute forceโ
Then, in the mess of battle, he got caught. It happened. He crushed it with a Smashโbut at the same time it managed to close a meaty pincer around his torso. His Smash nearly caved its head in. It shriekedโit held firm. It was a tenacious thing; it refused to let go.
Its black holes for eyes gleamed, like it knew it had him. Its claws flared with burning Bloodline, with reams of scalding essenceโand it began to crush.
Zane had seen this when he'd taken a look with Sage Mind.
โ๐ ๐ช๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ (๐ธ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐) [โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ)]
๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐ฃ๐๐. ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐๐จ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ-๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐, ๐ก๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ช ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ โ๐ ๐ฃ๐.
The move lived up to its description. A monstrous force sliced down to either side of himโlike two hydraulic presses closing in either side. But it wasn't a flat crusher going into his arms. Instead those razor-sharp points ripped into him. It felt like he was caught in massive jaws, jaws working furiously to crush him to bits.
They bore down on him heavier, heavier still, started tearing bloody gashes into him, widening fast, spurting bloodโit only seemed to encourage the beastโฆ
Reina was gasping, throwing healing on himโAvery and Evan were busy pelting it with essence. None of it seemed to bother the Crab at all.
It wouldn't stop until it had him wrecked.
But Zane wasn't worried. He'd hoped this would happen.
He did not care what it was he was facing. He did not care if it had this Bloodline or that Skill.
This Monster was trying to wrestle with him. It was trying to match the power of its body to his own.
And in that domain, Zane knew he was king.
He grunted and wrenched. Hard. His arms bulged, rippled, flexed, muscles straining all up and down and there was a sharp burst of movement; he'd ripped huge bloody jagged lines down his biceps, his forearmsโbut he'd gotten them free. Gotten his hands on those serrated claw-edges. And he started shoving with all his might, straining, groaning, forcing every last shred of raw power down his arms.
The Crab's eyes twitched, incredulousโwatched as its claws got forced wider and widerโฆ
Then its Bloodline burned faster. Brighter. And a second wave of fresh power rushed down those clawsโand then it was just Zane's brute force, the sheer force of his body, against the Monster's strongest attack. As it was burning all its essence, willing all its marshaling everything it had to keep him downโฆ.
In hindsight this was not the smartest move.
But he still believed. He didn't even consider that he might lose. It was a battle of raw power. He had never lost this. He was fully confident, and for good reason, he knew.
It was a surprise, then, when he ran into a wall of sheer force. And found himself crashing to a halt.
They held there. Flesh against claw. And it began sinking in deeper and deeper, shredding into thick bands of straining muscleโa little more and it'd carve bone. Pools of his own blood bloomed in his hands, staining them bright redโฆ
For a moment, Zane frowned, teeth gritted, trembling, veins standing out purple on his neck, his biceps, his forearms. A violent standstill. It was the strangest thingโit looked like nothing was happening. But that was because two ungodly forces had run headlong into one anotherโand canceled each other out totally
He felt it starting to force him back into himself. Inch by inch. Started to feel the bones in his hands fracturing under the stress, one by one; it felt like molten railroad spikes being driven through his palms, one by oneโ
๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐!
โ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐%
Zane snarled, let out a roar. A strangled, furious, indignant roar, a roar that felt like all his effort, all his immense strain, all the tension bearing down every muscle in his body rushing out into the world. All at once. A battle cry.
And a fresh new power flared through his arms. Forcing the crush to a stuttering halt.
Then there came a jarring creaking sound like rusted hinges forced slowly open. Forced the other way as Zane, heaving and grunting, exerted his will on the beast.
And it was the Crab's turn to stare. As Zane shoved, and shoved, and shoved, and all its mighty powers came apart before its very eyesโฆ.
He simply refused to believe this thing was stronger than him. He willed it to be true. And it was.
With one last hard shove he forced the grip openโand it snapped all the way back. There was a CRACK!; something shattered at the hinges; both sides of that giant claw snapped all the way open, snapped far last their breaking points. The Crab felt a jolt of searing pain as they shattered, dangled there loosely, muscles torn from the sheer force coming back, tendons twisted to breakingโฆ.
And Zane was free.
Free and angry. And rushing with so much hot blood he could see it pouring out of him, painting him all over in a stark bright red, a war paint of his own body. And the King Crab was retreating, wounded, making shrieking hissing sounds, black eyes bulging in terror, its greatest weapon broken down the middleโฆ.
The rest was a savaging.
Zane chased after it. Grabbed hold of by a limb, yanked with all his power, smashed it shell-first into the craggy grounds, firmed his broken fists. And began ramming in Stormfire Smash after Stormfire Smash, straight into that pale white shell of an underbelly. Five fists later and it didn't have an organ that hadn't rupturedโbut it was still kicking and flailing wild and shrieking like any dying beast.
Ten fists, and it wasn't even doing that anymore.
By the end of itโ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ -> ๐๐ ๐
And Zane sank to his knees. Head swimming, blood pounding hard as he could remember it pounding; it was a deep booming drumbeat going off in his ears. Groaning, panting as his friends rushed to check up on him.
His skin sure came in handy there. It was quite high-Leveled nowโit did tear sometimes, but it took so much force before it did that what got through didn't hurt him that much, usually.
After looking him over, even Reina wasn't concerned. And she shouldn't be. He was fine. That was by his standards a fairly normal fight. To them it looked like he'd taken some flesh wounds, powered through and dominated the enemy. Just as they expected from him.
But he sat there frowning for a bit. That fight gave him something to think about.
He looked to his palms.
Then at the spot where the King Crab had been.
For a second thereโฆ hmm.
He'd just taken it for granted that nothing could match him strength for strength. And he still thought that. That crab had only troubled him briefly, surprised him. That was all. But stillโ
His Titan Rhino Bloodline covered strength too. Only he hadn't gotten deep enough to claim its powers. 'Titan Muscles,' it was called, the next layer of the Inheritance. His Bloodline was only concentrated in his skin right now. But if he let it soak into his muscles and remake themโฆ he knew he would be a different kind of strong entirely. It would be something like the Rhino in his vision. A strength of Godbeastsโฆ
Once he got the first chance, he told himself, he'd sit down and upgrade himself.
Somehow the thought of a Monsterโeven a mini-Boss of an S-rank dungeon, being able to compete with him like that in strength, of all thingsโฆ Somewhere deep-down it stoked a burning feeling in him.
When it came to raw power Zane wanted to stand alone. That was how it should be, he felt.
Soon.
***
Once the Boss was taken care of, they found what it'd been protecting. There was a nest dug into the ground stuffed full of Monster eggs. They were tiny translucent things like marbles. Their cores were pinpricks of pure essence, light blues and reds and greens.
๐ป๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ก ๐ผ๐๐ (๐)
They tasted sweet, kind of like gummies. Each chew brought a warm explosion of flavor and essence in Zane's mouth, twining together on his tongue, rushing down his throat. He swallowed, popped another one in. Avery and Evan and Reina did the same.
Soonโ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ -> ๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ -> ๐๐ ๐
After that they kept going.
It was the same deal as the second floorโthey made a circle, cracking treasures and smashing Monsters. There weren't many chests here, but the few they found were at least twice the size of any chest they'd found on the other floors, and they had the treasures to match. The next one they found looked like a pirate's bounty worth of max-grade spirit stones. They got a 'Core Magma' Fire Inheritance, which was a Fire and Earth fusion, as well as a 'Flash Lightning' Light inheritance, which was Electricity plus Light. Evan was excited about that one.
They found a tangle of tunnels digging deeper into the walls and followed them. There they discovered blind tube-worm Monsters so wide they rubbed loose the stones on the walls as they rumbled toward him. Their maws were so big took up their whole face. The worms came at Zane mouths wide open, trying to swallow him.
It was easy to feed Stormfire Smashes down their throats. The way they popped reminded Zane of those tube balloons clowns make at parties, except much messier and much, much bloodier.
Reina, Avery, and Evan happened to be standing right behind Zane, who took up quite a bit of surface area. He hadn't even meant to block for themโhe was just standing there, and got splattered. They were fine though.
"Nice work!" said Avery. She gave him a pat, then turned to give a word of advice to Evan. "See this is why you should always keep a Zane around when going on raids. He's very useful in many unexpected ways."
"โฆ"
Deeper in they discovered an entire ore deposit full of a metal the color of a lion's mane called 'Mantlesteel,' an S-rank treasure that made up the armors of the imperial guard of some alien Empire.
Zane had his second snack of the day. He melted the lot of it with Stormfire and started to chug.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ (๐ผ) ๐๐ -> ๐๐๐
Then there was just one last treasure to nab. It was set deep into the walls; they had to wind through a maze of canyon to get there.
It was the brightest yellow dot they'd seen yet. And the biggest tooโso big it was almost the size of a Boss Lair. Just one treasure. Zane didn't know treasure areas could get that size.
And it was guarded by two giant dots, dots big as that King Crab had been.
They looked to each other, deliberated a little. But Zane felt he could take them. Reina hesitated but agreed. She felt it was risky, but she told him she believed in him.
These A- and S-rank dungeons usually had just one final Boss Lair as the last floor. Which meant this could be their last major treasureโtheir last chance to power up before then. They had to take it.
They went for it.