After that he had the rest of the afternoon off.
By then he got the news that Avery had broken through to Elemental Light; she tried announcing it to him by wrapping herself in a light mirage and sneaking up on him.
This did not work.
Partly because he could sense her coming with Sage Mind. Partly because Evan blew her cover by coming up to him and saying, “Hi! Avery wants me to distract you! Could you please not look behind you for a bit?”
Zane turned around and said, “Boo.”
There was a shriek.
Then the shimmer of light behind him unraveled and there was Avery looking grumpy.
She quickly recovered.
“I broke through too!” she said, grinning. She tossed a ball of light around as proof.
***
Afterwards they went for a nice afternoon walk. Well—Zane was walking. Evan scampered right behind.
“Chaaaarge!!” cried Avery, waving her arm like a general pointing at a battlefield. She tugged on Zane’s hair.
Zane kept going forward.
She tugged more insistently.
Zane sighed and turned left.
Avery peered over at him. Which meant she had to lean over and look at him upside down, squinting. “You’re gonna have to be faster about it when we actually ride into battle,” she said.
“That will never happen,” grumbled Zane.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
They kept going, taking in the place—neatly-kept dirt roads spiraling off in random directions, the manicured lines of trees, the glittering vastness of the San Francisco Bay, dappled orange-gold by the mid-afternoon sun.
“So!” said Avery, pattering his head like a bongo. “Did Evan tell you yet?”
“What?”
“We’re making a rescue team!” said Evan excitedly.
“What’s that?”
“You know how lots of dungeons are reverting now? And it’s getting faster and faster?” said Avery. “Well people are getting stuck in them! Especially the high-ranking ones. Sometimes whole Factions get caught in ’em! After VGI, we’re gonna go around and save them.”
“That’s right!” said Evan.
“Wanna come?” said Avery.
“Ooh! Please?” said Evan. He blinked up at Zane with his big sky-blue eyes.
“Hm.” Zane frowned. He had other plans, though. With Reina. “I don’t think so.”
“Aww...” said Evan, drooping.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Avery, nodding as though she’d expected it. “He’ll come around to it. The big fella’s very tsundere about saving people.”
“...What,” said Zane.
“Ohhhh,” said Evan. He nodded. “That makes sense.”
Zane frowned. “What?”
“Nothing,” said Avery.
“... It’s because Reina and I are going to clear A-rank dungeons,” Zane rumbled.
“Ahh. Hm.” Avery paused. “Hey, how about this? You two can go do that, and we’ll go around doing rescue team stuff! And once it’s time to tackle the S-ranks, we can meet up again.”
“Sure. That works.”
***
Nowadays once he’d been out in public for a prolonged period, people began to notice. A crowd started gathering along the side of the street, watching him getting piggyback-ridden. They watched from a distance, ooh-ing like they were tourists seeing a lion on the savannah or something. He even spotted those reporters with the crystal microphones pulling up.
…He wasn’t even doing anything.
Avery, meanwhile, was eating it up. She waved cheerfully. “Hello!” she called to the crowd. “You may be wondering what’s going on here. Let me fill you in! I, the great and mighty Avery Lively, have defeated Zane Walker in battle! I thereafter claimed him as my loyal mount. From now on—eeeee!”
Zane grabbed her by the leg and was now dangling her upside down in front of him. He gave her a dry look.
“Don’t push it.”
She nodded slowly. “Point taken—hey why’re you putting me back down? The ride’s not over yet!”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“You have lost your piggyback riding privileges.”
“…Drat.”
***
They ambled out onto a ridge overlooking the bay. Sunshine washed the whole place gold. Evan gasped, stun-locked.
There was a behemoth of a ship docked on the distant sandy shores. Big white sails puffed out despite the lack of wind. The hull was patterned with the biggest runes Zane had ever seen. It was all wood but still very impressive—like something straight out of a 15th-century armada. A strong aura of Law swirled around it.
He saw a yawning teenager in a paint-splattered T-shirt walking up the gangway—Yuki Urabe, the Japanese top Wold Ranker. Then there was Somsak, the fierce-looking guy with the headband right behind him. A bunch of other Signed followed behind him, getting on board too.
“That’s the Asia team!” said Avery. “They’re out to clear a bunch of A-rank dungeons. There’s this big stretch of ocean—it’s this super long strip going right down the Pacific. There’s this kraken there screwing up all the trade routes, they’re gonna go smack it first. Then take on Mount Fuji, and circle down South Korea and China right after.”
Zane grunted.
Things were getting underway. The World Clear Percentage had risen near 90% lately, but it’d slowed a lot. For a few days there it even slipped back a few percentage points. Avery was right—lots of C- and B-rank dungeons were reverting; the damage was spilling into other Safe Zones too...
“A bunch of Scandinavians are doing a mission up to the North Pole,” said Avery. “The South American team’s going for the South Pole too. I wonder what’s down there... giant evil penguins?”
Evan had zoned out up until then; he was too busy staring at the cool boat. Then he heard the word’ penguin,’ gasped, and instantly snapped back. “I love penguins!”
After VGI, Eze planned on going back to Africa and leading the effort to clear the A-ranks there. There were hardly any major Faction wars going on anymore, which was something you couldn’t say a few months ago. The whole world was kind of coming together.
Zane would use his last few days here well. See if he could finish off Elemental Electricity.
Then he and Reina would join in too.
First stop, that L.A. Dungeon.
He clenched a fist.
A-rank, S-rank—and beyond… they were pushing up near the edge of something big. Something looming just over the horizon… they could all feel it coming. When it struck, he’d be ready.
***
After that they all went their separate ways. Then Zane was on his way back to the Warrior Dojo to do another stint in the sauna. On the way, though—“Hey there! Zane! Zane Walker! Wait up!”
Zane recognized that voice. He kept walking.
The voice kept shouting. He still kept walking.
It wasn’t until Elias skidded to a halt right in front of him that he stopped. And even then Zane briefly thought about running the guy over.
“Do you know,” said Elias, gasping a little, “How much you’ve cost me these past few days? That—That stunt with Eze, breaking the King of the Ring—that was a hundred high-grade essence stones, I’ll have you know! And the Asura Hell Array, good grief—you weren’t supposed to make it that high! Do you have any clue how expensive simulating the Ninth Layer is?! We don’t even have the technical expertise to keep the dang thing running!”
“Okay,” said Zane.
Elias studied him. “You don’t care, do you?” he sighed. “How heartless! You’re my crown jewel, you know—my first draft pick! I’ve given you so much. Not an ounce of appreciation! Though that’s the lot of us investors, I suppose…the most generous of people! But always slighted, under-appreciated, maligned…”
“Are you done?” said Zane dryly.
Elias cleared his throat. “…Just about. Seriously, though—the Hell Array’s been run a few too many times. And no-one here’s got the rune Skills to fix it! Right now runs are limited to Top 30 World Rankers. After today, we’re only letting two people give it a shot. Eze, and you! At least you lot bring in viewers.”
He shook his head, grumbling. “Even so. Two more runs for you, tops! Then we’ll have to shut it down for a bit. The thing’s got some self-repairing capabilities—but not if you two maniacs push it to its limits every day!”
“Fine.”
“You’ve got no clue how expensive this thing’s been to run,” said Elias, tapping a foot. “You know that Soul Sauna you’re using every day? The ‘Yellow Spring Mists’—the stuff we use to power it? It costs an arm and a leg! You can’t even imagine how much I should be charging you for that! That contract of yours… your girl’s a piece of work, I tell you!” He wagged a finger at Zane.
“I know,” said Zane proudly.
Elias suddenly froze, paled, looked over his shoulder. “… She’s not here, is she?”
“No.”
Elias let out a relieved breath. It was kind of funny to Zane how he treated Reina like the boogeyman.
Then Elias rubbed his temples. “Well. I will say this! We’ve made a killing off those streaming licensing deals. And after that bout you had, you won’t believe how many World Rankers have been in contact to come do a stint here. Can’t be too upset about it, I suppose. Can’t be too upset...”
Now he was talking to himself. “Yes, yes. At the end of the day, it’s just another investment, isn’t it?”
He inspected Zane and nodded, like a horse racer inspecting his best purebred stallion.
“...”
“Yes,” said Elias, satisfied. “In the end it should all pay off... happy Leveling! And please, dear god, be a little gentler with my treasures!”
***
That evening Zane and Reina did their usual activities and he went to sleep.
He started to dream. He dreamed he was holding his favorite pillow. It was squishy and soft and quite round in places. He liked holding this pillow.
The pillow began to wriggle.
He frowned. It was getting away. He hugged tighter. It was still getting out.
Then he flopped over it, squishing it with his whole body. The pillow let out a wheeze and went still.
He smiled and kept sleeping.
He woke up some time later to find Reina squished flat underneath him. She just lay there, spread-eagled. She had accepted her fate.
Wincing, he got off her.
“...Sorry.”
“’s fine,” she gasped.
***
One final stint in the Soul Sauna and he was ready.
Electricity Law time.
The Silicon Coven’s Electricity Law area was called Storm’s Birth. It stood on the highest peak on campus, a little removed from the main causeway. The peak stood bright and sharp, shrouded in a purple-black cloud crackling white lightning. From afar it looked like a lightning rod stuck in a stormcloud.
A bunch of steel monoliths made the outer edge, shooting streams of power up. Up into the low circle of clouds hugging the peak, swirling with heavy howling winds.
The air felt tingly as Zane neared, vibrating on his skin. The place was fenced off, but Zane just walked on through, past the line. No-one stopped him. They mostly gawked—the line, and the guards.
He barely registered the crowd quickly forming behind him. He did notice, though, a crew with a giant glass pointed at them—it was that film crew, the same good-looking man and woman. It used to take them an hour or so to get here. Today he couldn’t have been out for fifteen minutes. They’d gotten their recording crystals set up. They were dressed up and everything too. They noticed him looking and blushed.
…At least they kept a respectful distance.
He downed his usual Law Fruit. Got out that A-rank Lightning treasure—
Lightning Lotus Seed (A)
Lightning Lotuses bloom in the Peak Gardens of Mount Thundercrest during the Everstorm—a once-in-a-millennium celestial event in which tribulation lightning strikes for ninety-nine days straight. At the end of it, each Lotus Seed is deeply saturated with pure Electricity Law. When consumed they grant massive boons in essence and Electricity Law.
And waded up the gravelly mountain path.
He’d run through these Laws as fast as he could.