For a moment, the Spirit looked like it wanted to say more. Then it got a good look at his face, and thought better of it.
πΈππ£ππππ₯ it said. β¦π ππ π‘π πͺπ π¦ π£πππππ«π π¨πππ₯ πͺπ π¦'π£π ππ ππ π£, πππ.
And it unleashed the Thunder Demon on him.
But this time Zane already felt stronger going in. And he was ready this timeβhe felt shocked awake, felt his heart pumping strong now, warmed up, tingling hot all over. A new vigor coursed through him. Rushed out in every ragged breath.
The Demon unhinged its maw. And out poured a blistering torrent.
Lighting crashed against Zane's Shield. Beams of flickering, arcing, spasming yellow ramming a defiant crescent moon.
But this time Zane clenched his teeth and dug in his feet. He held firm. Already he was putting up a better fight.
πππππ π¦π‘!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π π -> ππ
His Moon Skill was three-quarters full now, and growing. It was so much stimulusβtoo much stimulusβand his shield responded in kind, growing to match it, rising to the challenge. He felt it slowly coming together, felt he could draw more and more from the Pagoda, the worse that lightning lashing gotβwave after wave crashed down on himβ
And then it began to overwhelm him again.
Nascent Soul was nothing to be messed with. It was like fighting an iron-age army with stone-age tools. His soul couldn't wield Skills the same way. He wasn't equipped to deal with this. He should never have been here. All he had to compensate was his sizeβand as his Shield began to shake, cracks rupturing all over itβas his whole body began to tremble with the effortβ
It wouldn't be enough.
But Zane clung on. Even as his armor started falling apart before his eyes, splitting at the lines, rucking up chunk by chunk like shattering ice floes.
He let out a guttural roar. He willed his shield to hold. It flared brighter and brighter, a furious redβ
πππππ π¦π‘!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π ππ -> πππ
But still it wasn't enough.
He felt the moment it shattered. His soul had been grasping at that weakening connection, making a death grip. Then it all slipped from him at once, and he was left clawing at nothing. Falling away.
And lightning blitzed him. Dragged him under.
This time, thoughβeven as it wrecked himβhe tried his best to wrestle back control of his soul-body. Even as it locked out his arms and legs, even as it sent him jittering and spasmingβhe clenched his jaw, planted his feet. And took it. He hated going down. It rankled his pride, and he was finding, more and more, he had quite a bit of it.
It left him smoking. There was a raw burning feeling in the middle of his head, like it bored out a chunk of his soul. He was hurt, wobbly, seeing hazy doubles⦠but he was on his feet.
He was getting better. He could feel it.
"Again," breathed Zane.
He was starting to smile. Just a little.
ππ ππ π π βπππ§πππ€, breathed the spirit. But Zane just gave it a look. And it scrambled to obey.
The next time the Thunder Demon came at him, it poured on bolt after bolt. Rained a monsoon's worth right over his head. Sent forks of cracks rippling down his shield, all the way through. But it held.
πππππ π¦π‘!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π πππ -> ππππ
He grinned even more. It was a feral kind of joy.
The more he Leveled, though, the more he felt an unusual resistance. It wasn't just that the levels got harder, which was normal. It almost felt like the universe didn't wanna give this to himβlike he shouldn't have this powerβit was too early.
He was running up against some kind of wall.
If he wanted this⦠he sensed he would have to seize it.
"One more time," he croaked.
This time he took the shot head-on, baring all his teeth, throwing out the full force of his shieldβnow magnificent, so big it was nearly full, making a beautiful bloody splotch right in the middle of the worldβ
πππππ π¦π‘!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π ππππ -> ππ
It swamped the thunderclouds. It swallowed the lightning. It crushed everything. Until it was the only thing left, hung bright in a dusky skyβ
πππππ π¦π‘!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π ππ -> π
πππππ ππ§π ππ§ππ!
ππππππ π π π₯ππ πΉππ π π ππ π π [ πΌππ£π₯π β ππͺπ₯πππ -> πππͺ β βπ πππ π]
And behind Zane, shining full, completeβa perfect bloody disc.
Zane was pretty sure he had never seen a Sky-grade Skill before. At least in person.
The moment it evolved, that lightning lost all meaning. It was like tossing a stone down a wellβand not even hearing it hit the bottom. It whited out. Instantly. The demon was left hackingβand then it, too, flickered out.
All that was left was Zane, and his Moon. Shining over the all.
πΎπ π π βπππ§πππ€Β choked the Spirit. ππ π¦βπͺπ π¦ πππ€π ππ¦π₯πβ
It was struggling to find words. ππ π¦ πππ₯π¦ππππͺ πππ ππ₯β¦ πͺπ π¦ π‘ππ€π€ππ π₯ππ π₯πππ£π ππ£πππ. ππππ₯'π€ π πππͺ-ππ£πππ ππ π¦π πππππβππ₯ βπ π£π! π»π πͺπ π¦ πππ π¨ π¨πππ₯ π₯πππ₯ πππππ€?!
Zane blinked. Shook his head.
It gagged. β¦ππ ππ π¦π£π€π πͺπ π¦ ππ π'π₯.
Then it just stared at him. ππ π¦π£ π€π π¦π ππππππ€πβπΎπ π π βπππ§πππ€βπππ₯'π€ ππ¦π€π₯ π€ππͺ πͺπ π¦ π¨π π'π₯ ππππ π₯π π€π ππ¦ππ ππ€ π₯ππππ πππ π¦π₯ ππ₯ π¦ππ₯ππ ππ₯ ππππ€π₯ πππ§ππ πππ. ππππππͺ πππͺπ ππ! ππππ€ ππ€ ππ¦π€π₯β¦ π₯πππ€ ππ€ πππ€π¦π£π.
It shook its head again. βπππ§ππ ππππ‘ πππͺπ ππ π¨ππ π₯ππ€π₯π€ πͺπ π¦.
Zane liked the look of his new Moon. He liked the feel of it too.
But it was not maxed out. His new Sky Skill was nice. But it was also Level one.
He turned back to the Spirit. "Do you have any more of those Trials I can do?"
At first, it was as though it didn't hear him right. Then it just goggled at him.
π»ππ πͺπ π¦ ππ¦π€π₯β It spluttered. ππ π¦ πππ'π₯ ππ π€ππ£ππ π¦π€.
"I want more," said Zane. "I can take it."
He actually wasn't totally sure he could take it if he thought about it logically. He was pretty wobbly right now. But in his heart, he definitely felt like he could take it. He was feeling pretty pumped up.
ππππ£π'π€ ππ π£π, π₯ππππππππππͺβππ¦π₯ π πππͺ π‘ππ€π₯ π₯ππ π€πππ ππ πππ π π£! It added hastily. πΈππ ππππ π£π πͺπ π¦ ππ€π, π₯πππ₯ π¨π π'π₯ π¦πππ ππ π¦ππ₯ππ πͺπ π¦ πππ₯ ππ₯ ππππ€π₯ βππ€ππππ₯. πΎππ₯ π₯π πππ§ππ πππ πππ£π€π₯. ππππ£π'π€ ππ π₯ππππ πππ£π ππ π£ πͺπ π¦ πππͺππ π£π, πͺπ π¦β!
It let out a tight breath, pinched the bridge of its nose. ...βπππππ¦ππ π¦π€.
"Hmm," said Zane. He was a little disappointed.
Then again. Maybe this was one of those chances to be smart. He could choose his battles. He would conquer this in time.
The Spirit muttered something under its breath. It kept shaking its head.
Then it noticed Zane still standing there, looking at it. ππππ₯? πΎπ π πβππ ! ππ'π£π ππ ππ πππ£π. βπ ππ ππππ π¨πππ πͺπ π¦'π§π πππ₯ βππ€ππππ₯. ππππ π¨π'ππ π₯πππ. π ππ π'π₯ ππ©π‘πππ₯ π₯π π€ππ πͺπ π¦ ππ π£ ππ₯ ππππ€π₯ π ππππππ!
That was how his little foray into the Red Moon Pagoda ended.
Zane knew it would not be nearly that long before he returned, though.
This soul stuff turned out to be pretty interesting. The stuff about 'killing enemies from a distance' was not super interesting to him. He preferred to wreck things head-on, face-to-face. He liked feeling his fists sink through flesh, crack bone, that kind of thing. He was old-fashioned that way. But making an impenetrable suit of soul-armor around himself, so he could wrecking-ball everything in his way even better... that did appeal to him.
There was a hidden sub-category of bird, Zane was realizing. Those tricksters who struck at you in weird ways, at the soul. Coming from a distance. They would do anything to avoid fighting him head-on. He had seen a fair few in those montages.
Usually they were sickly and spindly, with poor weak bodies. Old gnarly wizards and witches. Or weird spirits and ghosts. It would be very embarrassing for Zane if he ever got bested by one of those, he thought. Now they had nothing for him. Them, and anyone who wanted to come at him in the astral planeβhis greatest strength now had a shield to match.
He shuffled off back home satisfied.
***
It turned out what felt like a few hours inside there was a solid week outside.
That Pagoda was the last big thing he had to check off his list of upgrades. His soul was pretty exhaustedβit would take another few weeks to recover. Just in time for the Superdungeon.
Time flew by. Soon there was only one week until the deadline.
He and Reina spent a lot of that last week relaxing. Their lands stretched all over North America now. They went down to the transformed version of Yosemite, which Reina designed a protected 'national park' of sortsβthe creatures there were special. They'd reverted to their ancient states, as dinosaurs. But with special powers. He and Reina found steel-Element Pterodactyls and wood-element Brontosauruses. They took some long walksβshe would geek out over them and tell him all kinds of interesting factsβtheir histories and habits, make observations of how the Change changed them, and he would amble along quietly listening. Sometimes he would just watch her face light up as she spoke about how to tell apart Stegosaurus eggs from boulders or something, and feel a simple contentment. A warmth in his chest. He could never get enough of how her mind worked.
Evan and Avery, meanwhile, both had good handles on their new Inheritances. But they, like Zane, had kind of run out of things to Levelβthey needed better treasures to get further. They got bored and started doing other things too.
That Superbara they got from South America was still around somehow, to Zane's consternation. He still was not sure what it did. Avery was trying to get it to do tricksβroll over, desperately waving a carrot in front of it. It was paying her zero attentionβit was kind of just there. At first, she tried to harness it so she could ride it into battle, but then she realized it moved about one mile an hour.
Also, when she tried sitting on it, it dumped her squealing on her head. She declared it an enemy of the state.
Evan, though, had a much better relationship with itβhe was constantly hugging it and baking it treats. He was also building a big doghouseβbara-house?βfor it out of straw and scavenged leaves. Zane was pretty sure it had moved three feet that whole week, and two of those was to dump Avery off its back.
Anyway, it kept them busy.
***
Zane did have one last idea for something to upgrade. His Stormfire could still use another Concept. But he still wasn't fully recoveredβ¦ and even if he wanted to push it, the Stormfire Tome said the next Concept was harder, and more complex, and would need more worldly resourcesβit called the Concepts he'd gotten so far, 'Plasma' and 'Chain Combustion', the 'Foundation Concepts.'
He could get away with using the pittance of Stormfire on Earth for that. But the little bit atop Searing Sky Peak in Italy wouldn't be nearly enough to get much further. It was hardly enough for Chain Combustion. He and Reina both felt it would be smarter to save it for the Superdungeon.
***
Meanwhile, around the world, the other eight Gates were opening. One by one. All of them transformed A or A+-ranked dungeons. There was at least one for every major continent. Two were directly on the North and South Poles.
That made nine chances in total for Earth. As long as just one party made it through, their planet would be integrated.
If not, it would be overrun by Monsters.
Each of the partiesβthe one led by Vanessa, or by Eze, or by Yukiβwere all preparing very seriously. Each of them had the eyes of the world on them. But they all knew who this would all come down to.
There were crowds of reporters at the Luminous Faction now, though Reina made sure they were kept a fair ways away so they wouldn't disturb him. He would see them yammering and speculating as he made his way between the dojo and his mansion with Reina.
It was a relaxing time, but it was also a tense time. For everyone. Once more the fate of their world hung in the balance. If they failed here, Reina thought they would become just another one of those lost realms in that Graveyard, the superdungeon.
Zane would not let that happen.
He knew what he was up against. It wasn't just people on Earth watching him. He felt the eyes of the broader Universe on himβthe Minotaur had made that clear. Some powerful creatures wanted him dead. The moment he stepped foot in that dungeon, he would be going down a hard path.
But he had strengthened his bodyβhis skin, his muscles, his tendons. Strengthened his soul to be practically unbreakable. Strengthened his Law, too, with Chain Combustion. And boosted his Level lots.
He was as ready as he could be.