Zane could tell a lot of things were clicking into place at once in her head. She blinked, blinked again.
Then she started telling him all wide-eyed. She said she was meant to be the heir apparent of some very powerful Faction—the Temple of the World Tree. The same one that made all their elixirs. It was the privilege her Signature Title granted her. Once she 'Ascended'—that was, hit Level 500—she was meant to inherit the whole thing. She would be like their Matriarch.
She looked pretty stunned.
"Huh," said Zane. He scratched his head. "…Nice. Congrats."
He was kind of surprised. But it also kind of made sense. When he looked at Reina, he definitely thought she should be running important things.
Now it made sense why they wanted to give her an A+-rank treasure, Reina thought. She felt she was probably pretty high-ranked as a recruit, but she didn't think she was any better than Evan and Avery.
It had to be from the World Tree Faction—whoever was running it in her stead. They wanted to be seen to be supporting her, she supposed. Which was a strange way to put it, Zane thought.
She nibbled her lip, brow scrunched.
"Kinda weird treasure choices, though," said Avery. "Wouldn't it be more useful to get like S-rank essence elixirs or something? Maybe Law stuff?"
"It would, wouldn't it?" said Reina softly. Zane could almost hear the whirring going on in her head—she had realized something. She was cooking something up.
"I'll need to think on this," she said absently, tucking a strand of hair behind an ear.
Zane left her to it. He ambled off to take in some essence treasures, Level for a bit. She would take care of it.
****
A little while later, Reina seemed to have figured things out. She had her game face on.
In the meantime, she showed him what other upgrades her Fourth Evolution had brought. First, a new Soul Weapon—a staff, a length of polished warm wood braided over itself. It gave the impression that it wasn't crafted by hands but by nature. It ended in a gorgeous emerald gemstone. A Weapon Soul. It granted her a 40% boost to all her Signature Skills. She already had the most potent regeneration Spells of anyone Zane knew. Now he figured she could contend with Nascent Soul healers.
She also got a new Signature Skill called 'Beloved of Nature.' He could feel her aura flaring when she activated it, a warmth washing over all there. Where she stepped the ground grew lush, flowered, sprouting out of even ashes and ruin. Everyone got a strong buff to their Regeneration.
She also got a new Summoning Skill—'Call of the Wild'. She could now call on nature spirits, spirits of Earth and Wood, to come aid her—they would ruck up the earth as they moved, causing little earthquakes and spiking forests of thorns into the enemy.
It was an impressive haul, Zane thought. Her Signature Title really had 'Awakened'—whatever she had, she seemed to be coming into her own. He was proud of her.
***
Evan worked hard at his Concepts. Avery was on the verge of her Fourth Evolution, chugging as many elixirs as she could. So did Zane. Reina worked on testing her new Skills.
It wasn't long before the day had passed.
The next drop was coming.
Reina suddenly came up to him, whispered some things in his ear. Just a few lines she wanted him to say.
He didn't think much of it. Just nodded.
"Zane?" said Reina all of a sudden. A little louder than necessary.
"What," said Zane.
She picked out the Great Sage Seed, looking puzzled. "I was wondering about the treasure I got from the World Tree Faction."
She started reading the description. The bit where it said it would bloom in thirty days.
"But thirty days… we might be out of this dungeon by then, won't we?" She shook her head. "Why would they do that?"
Reina was acting clueless, which was a very un-Reina thing to be. She seemed to be doing a thing.
He said his line. "Maybe they don't want you to get something useful."
"Of course not!" said Reina. She looked stunned just at the thought of it. "That can't be it… can it? Unless…"
She paused. Let it really hang there. Then—
"No—it can't be," she shook her head. "It must be that it's just the first of many—I'm sure they've got much more useful treasure coming my way!" She nodded confidently.
***
ᴇᴠᴇʀɢʀᴇᴇɴ ɢʀᴏᴠᴇ
ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴛʀᴇᴇ
Lan Arandor's face was slowly turning white as he watched on. "What does she think she's doing?" he breathed.
The new Mistress kept talking.
"I'm sure they'll send me something very useful next time," she said, nodding. "Something that could power me up right now."
Lan stiffened.
"The nerve!" sneered Val Arandor. The boy had taken a break from his seclusion to come watch again—he had been hoping to see Zane crushed by that Monster army. …And promptly gone beet-red when Zane beat then down with two big bloody fists. He nearly been about to cry.
"Oh! Zane?" said the Mistress, perking up.
"Yes?" said Zane.
"I forgot! They can see us and hear us, can't they?"
"Yes," said the giant.
She turned to the sky—to no-one in particular. "Dear World Tree Faction—I truly appreciate your last few gifts!" She said, smiling, the picture of innocent sweetness. "I can tell you're trying to support me. But they're not what'll help me most right now! What I could really do with is… oh—an S-ranked Vial of Nymph of the World Tree Bloodline? You must have some of that, being the World Tree Faction and all…"
"As if!" laughed Val. "Father, you ought to send her nothing—or better yet—"
"Silence!" snarled Lan, drawing a yelp from the boy. "She's doing it on purpose, fool!"
"Do you really think they will do that," said Zane.
"I'm sure they will," said Reina brightly. "I'm sure it was just an honest mistake last time. They just didn't know what'd help me the most! But they really care about keeping me safe—they keep sending me such high-ranked treasures, after all. So now that they know what I need, I'm sure they'll do everything they can to help out."
"Oh," said Zane. "Then I am sure they will too." The big man was painfully bad at acting.
"Mhm! I mean—if they didn't even now I've made things so clear, then that must mean…" she blinked. Shook her head again. "No—I can't even imagine it!"
Lan gritted his teeth.
"Damn it all," he snarled. "She knows she has us!"
***
Evan got more Leveling treats. Avery, a bottle of White Fox Bloodline.
When Reina's next treasure came, it was on a comet as bright as any Zane had gotten. A vial stoppered in wood.
ℕ𝕪𝕞𝕡𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 [𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙 (𝕊)]
"That's what I thought," said Reina, head held high.
When she took it, on top of ten extra Bloodline drops, she Leveled four more times.
The Bloodline would let her refine her body, granting her a World Tree Nymph's powers—super-fast healing, immunity to all poisons, and the ability to cure nearly all poisons and afflictions at a touch. It made her flexible and resilient too, like a willow; she could take a lot of damage without breaking. It gave Zane some nice peace of mind.
Zane's treasure, meanwhile, turned out to be an Earth S-ranked Talent Elixir, courtesy of the Azure Flame Faction—they seemed to know he was exhausted Law-wise. He pocketed it. It would come in useful when they set off tomorrow.
***
To close out the day, Reina and Zane had a Leveling session deep into the night.
𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟞𝟟 -> 𝟚𝟞𝟠
Afterwards they just lay there, her curled up happily against him, head on his heaving chest. Zane lay there a little sweaty, breathing heavy. She murmured to him, wondered what would happen when they got out.
Zane hadn't given it much thought. Reina wasn't sure either—she still hadn't seemed to have fully wrapped her mind around the idea that she stood to inherit a whole Great Faction. She wasn't sure what they'd ask of her.
She did know, though—if they tried to take him from her, they would regret it. She growled that last bit with narrowed eyes. He blinked at her. It was a little scary.
Then she closed her eyes, sighed, snuggled into him, and went to sleep.
***
ɪɴɴᴇʀ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇꜱ
ᴀᴢᴜʀᴇ ꜰʟᴀᴍᴇ ꜰᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ
"Remarkable," said Burnwater, shaking his head. Two of the most sought-after candidates in the whole Integration somehow ended up together.
It was rather awkward from the Azure Flame Faction's perspective.
Most of the Nine Great Factions were quite cordial with each other. There was lots of crossover and exchange between their disciples. For instance—the Azure Flame Faction and Deep Earth Hall had always been quite friendly; disciples of the Path of Volcanoes would come to Azure Flame for a season to study shared Fire-Earth Concepts. And the same was true for the Azure Flame's Core Magma Paths the other way around.
Only—the paths of Fire and Wood had almost no crossover. They also tended not to get along in general—it was a matter of personality. Azure Flame folk tended to be passionate. Intense. World Tree Temple, gentle yet firm.
In recent years it had grown more than that, though. Precisely because of the Title Reina held now.
"Are the Arandors still throwing a tantrum?" mused Sage Noughtfire.
Burnwater nodded. That Great House had been quick to point fingers. As soon as their last Mistress vanished, they claimed it was the Azure Flame Faction's doing.
No one could quite be sure what happened for sure, though. All they knew was that the Mistress had gotten trapped on a B-Ranked Planet and perished there. Lan Arandor, the new High Priest, claimed she'd been chased there by an Azure Flame Faction Grand Elder. The two Factions had been on icy terms since.
"I know how those Arandors operate," said Noughtfire. "Eldrin's as cold-blooded as they come. You'd think he was an Eternal Winter Ancestor."
The old man snorted. "It's as likely he had a hand in it as anyone else."
Sage Burnwater winced. It was quite an accusation to make. Yet it wasn't like things between their Factions could get much worse.
***
Avery got her Fourth Evolution too—and with it came an umbrella for an upgraded Soul Weapon. This was quite baffling to all of them, including Avery, until she figured out what it did. It let her bounce Skills off easier. It could also unfold far bigger than you'd think, making a screen over them that could cloak them even in the Astral Plane. It also had the ability to keep off rain.
The next morning, Zane and his friends all set off for what Reina believed was the final section. They were nearing the end of the floor.
Soon they came upon it.
A single tower leaning high into the sky. Black stormclouds swirled around it, converging at the peak; lightning shattered down its length. It looked vaguely gothic, made of some mottled-black steel. You could see the vague impressions of faces swirling against it, souls pressing up against the surface before fading back into the gloom…
𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕:
ℂ𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕟𝕖𝕕