๐ป๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐คโฆ
Three balls of white light floated out in front of Reina and Avery and Evan, and faded like presents unwrapping.
In front of Averyโ
๐ผ๐ช๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฉ (๐๐๐ช [๐ฝ])
๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ'๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ ๐, ๐ค๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐. ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ'๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฉ.
She nabbed it and squinted at it. The eye squinted back at her.
"Nice," said Avery.
Reina got what looked like a green pinky sculpted of dark-green vines, pulsing with earthly energies.
๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ โ๐ช๐๐ก๐ (๐๐๐ช [๐ฝ])
๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ'๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ โ๐ช๐๐ก๐.
She turned it over, examining it from all angles, then nodded satisfied.
For Evanโ
๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ (๐๐๐ช [๐ฝ])
๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ฃ๐ก ๐๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ค๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ.
"Ooh!" gasped Evan.
Evan loved it. Though you could probably have given him a cookie and he would have liked it equally as much. Zane noticed Evan was a liker of many things.
Soon Zane's arrived too. One big ball of white light dropping out of the sky, Landing at his feet, quickly dispellingโฆ
Two silver strips. Shot through with Titan Rhino bloodline, glowing, aura exuding that signature unyielding character. It looked to be the same material roughly as the Titan Rhino Heartstringโbut softer, more sinewy, and longer tooโฆ
They looked like smaller versions of the parts that had made that elf's bowstring. Zane had seen in that vision so long agoโฆ
๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค (๐๐๐ช [๐ฝ])
๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค'๐ค ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ช๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ. ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค.
They all took some time then to take in their new treasures.
Zane was trying to figure out how Evan would get that Fang in his mouth. It was half the size of Evan's head; high-tier Lightning crackled around it.
As it turned out though, as Reina figured out pretty fastโyou could just close your eyes and reach out to it. And it would absorb, merge into you.
He blinked at her.
This was earth-shattering knowledge.
They sat down and started absorbing.
He closed his eyes and saw in the Astral Plane two stark bright outlinesโthe strips of tendon hovering before him. He reached out to them. Andโฆ simply willed them in.
For a second he was dubious it would really work for him. Then he felt them responding; felt the Bloodline in them lighting up, striking a chord with his own... they started shivering down their lengths.
They glowed brighter for an instant. Then vanished.
His heelโaround his calfโstarted burning.
And Zane felt something new merging into his own tendons.
He sat there cross-legged. Just waited patiently as the pain flared up. It was a pleasant kind of pain, a scalding soreness. The pain of healing, an intense growing pain radiating up his leg. Every sharp hot pinprick was another bit of him being remade. Remodeled at the tiniest of levelsโฆ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ก -> ๐๐๐
The tendon came with new Bloodline too. A flood of it.
๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐!
๐๐ -> ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ค
And a notification popped up.
๐ฝ๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ ๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐ ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ก๐๐ค๐ค๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ก๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก.
The Levelsโthe Bloodlineโkept flowing in as more of those tendons merged into himโฆ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ก -> ๐๐๐
And his Bloodline shot up tooโ
๐น๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐!
๐๐ -> ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ค
So did the rest of his body. Soaking in all that new strength.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
๐น๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐๐๐๐ค [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ (๐ผ) ๐๐ -> ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐+ (๐ผ) ๐]
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐ [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ (๐ผ) ๐๐ -> ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐+ (๐ผ) ๐]
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
โ๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ (๐ผ) ๐๐ > ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐+ (๐ผ) ๐]
The growing-pains feeling spread down his whole body. Flooding his muscles. His skin. Until he was steaming red. Then it faded, leaving him feeling tender, raw. Like fresh steel, emerging from the forge.
He feltโฆ strong. Like he had been tempered many times over. This body could take, and give, much more than a few hours ago.
He opened his eyes. There was one last notification.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐!
โ๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐ [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐+ (๐ผ) ๐] -> ๐ป๐๐ง๐๐๐ โ๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ [๐๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐+ (๐ผ)]
When it had all finished, he felt no difference between his own tendons and the tendons he had been gifted. The auras were the same.
His body had absorbed that brightness. It was peaking down the backs of his legs. That power had been made his own.
๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐น๐ ๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐.
โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ค.
Zane stood cautiously. He still felt tingly, tender where the merge had taken place. A burning feeling lingered.
Even at rest, his tendons were dense with Stormfire essence. The most essence-dense parts of his body outside of his heartโlit up with it, scorching even at restโฆ
He tried testing it with a casual stomp.
He felt his tendons flare white-hot. And erupt.
There was a pop. The sound barrier shattering almost as soon as his foot struck the ground. A blastโa crater punched deep into the frozen earthโฆ
He blinked.
His head was skying near the clouds.
He touched down a few seconds later. Dusted himself off.
Hm.
He looked to the distant mounds of ashes, making small frozen hills. Stomped againโthen he was plastered in soot and ice. He wiped himself off, looked back.
It was as though he had teleported a thousand feet. Blasted straight through that hill, left a Zane-sized hole right through the center of it.
He charged again, stomped harder this time. And the whole thing exploded on impact.
He stomped around for a bit, testing his new explosiveness, feeling like a charging bull. It was kind of fun.
***
He nabbed Evan to do a little race, as a test. He did not expect to win. Evan was a good bird. But before this latest upgrade, it would have been silly to even consider it.
He burned his Bloodline. Flared all the Stormfire in his tendon, primed it to explodeโฆ
"Ready, set, go!" cried Avery.
It turned out that in a straight-line brute charge, if Zane burned his blood and his essence, he could almost keep up with Evan. Which said quite a bit considering how much weight he was lugging along. Each step he made sounded like a meteor crashing.
It was only close in those bull-charges, though. Evan could still make like a bolt of lightning, switch up directions in a blink. Zoom all around him. Zane had to grind to a halt to make himself turn.
Stillโthis was a huge improvement. He was quite pleased.
He took out his Chains too for some field-testing. Dragged them along with him as he stomped about. He could rush in, smashing and strangling, force close-combat blitzes. Hound his foe relentlessly.
If he came across a bird now, he was pretty certain he could hit back. He wasn't sure if he could grab hold of them. But there would be a price to pay for bothering himโthat was for sure.
He ambled happily back to his friends.
***
They soon finished taking in their treasures too. For Avery, one of her eyes changed color when she used that White Fox eye's special powers. It went back to normal right after.
"Neat, right?" she said.
She ended up on the cusp of Nascent after absorbing it. She drank a whole vial of elixir, flopped around for a bit, and ended up getting the breakthrough. She achieved peak-Profound grade.
"Awesome!" said Evan. They fist-bumped.
Reina finished absorbing her treasure too. When she tapped the ground, she could summon all sorts of greeneryโwhole forests would sprout at a touch. When she tapped Zane, he felt a massive surge of healing at the spot. If she had had this earlier it wouldn't have only held off that Frostbiteโwith Zane's powers, they would have overpowered it.
It didn't take long before she managed her Nascent breakthrough too.
He felt the fabric of the realm shivering around her as she sat there cross-legged, sweating a little, fragments of Earth- and Wood-Law swirling around her like autumn leaves. Finishing her breakthrough.
Her aura blew out of her, strong, flush with essence. He could tell it was significant just by how it shone in the Astral Plane.
It turned out to be a Heaven-Grade Nascent Soul.
She let out a relieved breath. Smiled a little, satisfied. He was happy for her.
Zane knew Reina felt she had to try to keep up with him. She had quite high standards for herself; she put lots of pressure on herself. He didn't think it was necessary, but she brushed him off. She had her own pride about it.
Neither she nor Avery quite had enough energy left to manage their Mid-Grade Concepts. But they all felt strong enoughโthey'd all made good leaps.
***
They moved on to the last floor.
The mood was cautiously optimistic. Now the Monster that had been meddling with their run was gone. They felt they ought to have enough to take out what confronted them.
They were also looking forward to getting out. It didn't seem so far off now. They couldn't have been in here longer than a week, but it felt a lot longer than that. Evan was really starting to miss seeing the sun.
Reina was already thinking about their plans afterwards. How she would handle her new Factionโwhat Zane's offers might look like. She was in as good a mood as she had been in a while. She leaned into him, as they went along, all relaxed.
The final staircase started off in earthy tones. All stone and hard-packed dirt. But soon it started giving way to something soggier, boglike, all purples and blacks. Hissing acids, smelling of sulfur, started pooling on the ground. The walls had an almost flesh-like consistency, Reina thought.
๐๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐: ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค
Reina blinked at the name.
Soon the tunnel opened up, depositing them in a dank cavern.
The floor itself was surprisingly smallโjust the cavern, it looked like, if the mini-map was anything to go by.
The ground was cracked and barren, mostly, though that same vile acid still pooled here and there. Clouds of sickly green gasses hissed up from vents littering the walls. Lots of bones littered here and thereโskulls of dragons, bears, what looked to be humans.
The most distinctive features were the rows of white bonelike pillars arching over their heads. Curving high, following the curves of the ceilingโฆ
Reina was frowning at all of it. The more she saw, the deeper her frown got. Something didn't seem right about this place to her, she murmured.
Zane was on guard too. He tended to trust her instincts.
Thenโ
๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐!
๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ค๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ: ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฃ. ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ.
๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ค, ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค, ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐ธ๐ค๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐.
๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐.
๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ โ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐. ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐ค ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐. ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ค, ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ธ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ. ๐ผ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ, ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โฆ
โ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐:
๐๐๐๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ธ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ:
๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐-๐๐๐๐