101. Show and Tell

They lay there for who knew how long. Zane was happy just being Reina's pillow, listening as best he could, and being curious. He could tell she was a little pent-up. He wanted to help her vent a little.

She started telling him about it. Things were going better actually. The Harbormasters were her main headache—that was squished now. She had no big sudden threats. The Faction was getting to be a well-oiled machine. She had all these measures in place to take care of dungeon breaks, or wars, or petty intra-Faction disputes. She was even training up trusted underlings who could take over for her if need be.

"Maybe then I can go with you on one of your adventures," she murmured, looking up at him. She smiled softly. Zane was a little hesitant. He stroked her hair silently. He didn't want to put her in danger. He also didn't think she would approve of the kinds of things he got up to. Like how that last dungeon ended… he'd gloss over some things when he told her the story. For her blood pressure's sake.

In the end though, if she wanted to come and they were together, he didn't think it was right to stop her. One of these days, he promised her. And she felt satisfied.

She kept updating him about the Faction. Now that things had settled some, not everyone had to be an active duty dungeoneer. Most folk still trained for battle, but a few just weren't cut out for it; some became diplomats or messengers or council members. Some tried picking up crafts.

Crafts like smithing. Or alchemy. It was possible—those elixirs had to be made some way. But they'd had scant success. They were still better off buying from the Beacon. The System made it a lot harder to level craft Skills than combat Skills. And you didn't get essence from crafting.

"Why do you think that is?" he said.

Reina bit her lip. She was frowning a little; he could almost hear the gears in her head start to whir. "It's clearly by design. I don't know, but if I had to guess, the System gives you problems. Dungeons. It wants to incentivize learning Skills that solve those problems. That is, Skills that kill Monsters. I've heard theories that the System is an apocalypse—it's sent to end mankind. I don't buy that… I don't think it's about us. I think it's about Monsters."

"Huh." Zane thought about it. "What do you mean?"

"Well—" She sat up. She held up a finger. She was getting into lecture mode now.

"Monsters don't need dungeons. Monsters want to break out of dungeons. So what does that tell you?"

"…Monsters don't like dungeons?"

"Exactly." She smiled. "Dungeons and Monsters act in opposition to each other. Dungeons hold Monsters."

"Hm."

"If you look at it that way, dungeons keep us safe. I first heard Avery say this, and I think she's right. Dungeons are really a prison."

She was getting into it. Making hand gestures and everything. She was so pretty when she was being smart.

"You said you could feel Monsters souls—they've been corrupted. I think dungeons are a place to hold corrupted souls. We know souls aren't destroyed, only bodies. If you think of it that way, Monster spawning is just another kind of reincarnation."

"Huh."

She would make a good professor. Zane had never been one for school, but he could've sat there forever just having her teach him things.

Her mini-lecture ended, and she slumped back into him.

Zane had no clue what to make of all that. "So there'll always be dungeons and Monsters?"

"It's not so bad," she murmured, snuggling up to him. Now she was whirring down. She was back in cuddle mode.

"Think of it this way," she said sleepily. "If corrupted souls recycle, pure souls do too. So long as there are Monsters, there will be people there to fight them. People like you." And she nuzzled him in the head. Then she paused. "But… that's just a theory."

He figured she was probably right. She was usually right about pretty much everything. He just liked hearing her talk.

She'd finished rehabilitating most of their Safe Zones now. There wasn't a Legion to go to war with or anything. But somehow she still kept herself busy dawn till dusk—there was always some problem to take care of. She was such a perfectionist.

The flipside of that was she always seemed to find some way to stress herself out. Things seemed great around here to Zane, but all she saw were things to fix. She still wanted to revamp their warrior training protocols, recruit more scouts, build up a deep Skill knowledge reservoir, put a fully staffed healing ward in every Safe Zone…

Zane wondered if there was a way to make her not-stressed. But Reina was just the kind of person who had to throw herself at big, hard problems, he'd realized. Kind of like how he threw himself at fights. She was born to help people, to lead people out of the dark. She wasn't happy if she didn't do things that made her stressed all the time. It was a bit of a paradox.

Zane told her she was brilliant and she was already doing great, and she kind of looked at him side-on. But it was true. He was her number-one fan. He just didn't know how to express it without sounding corny.

***

Then they had a bit of a show and tell. After Reina got her Signature Title, her comprehension speed more than tripled. Her big problem was still that she had no time. But she had been working at it the past couple of weeks, and she had two Major Laws to show for it—the Major Law of Living Harmony and the Major Law of Resilient Vitality. Both Wood Laws.

She'd only woven one of them into her Signature Skill—the one that let her heal anything, animate or inanimate. But it still made Zane happy to see. She could repair plant-based buildings faster now, which was quite useful given that was most of the Luminous Faction.

He gave her his haul—the Vital Bark Pinecone to help with her Law, and the Tome of Deeproot Healing too. With boosted regeneration and super healing powers, she'd be a force to be reckoned with.

When she saw them, she let out a little, "Oh, Zane…" And she was kissing him again. She was still up to her neck in work—a little too busy to put all her focus on it. But she said she'd have it learned by the time they went adventuring.

***

Afterward, they went for a walk down the beach, just watching the waves. There were a few other couples there, a family or two even. It felt strangely like before the change, except for all the weird clothes they all wore. The others stared a little but gave them space.

They didn't even need to talk. Just spending time together walking quietly was enough. For Reina, it was more than enough; she hugged his arm and leaned on him as they walked, and she was in bliss.

It was kind of surprising—he wasn't even doing anything. But that was precisely it, he'd learned.

Reina was usually always 'on'; her mind was always firing. It was what got her all exhausted and stressed all the time. But now she could just turn off and lean on him and take a nice afternoon stroll down the beach. Just turn off and relax. For a while, he'd been baffled why she liked him—she was so smart and used to dealing with all kinds of complex things. He thought she'd get bored of him quickly. But it turned out she actually liked him because she filled the rest of her life with so much complexity. He was like her breath of fresh air.

He didn't mind being the simple one. He was just happy he could make her happy.

***

When they got back, Reina checked the Beacon for messages. It was like checking her e-mail before the change—even on 'off' days she still couldn't go too long without it. She was just too important.

She wrinkled her nose when she saw it. Then she turned to him. "It's for you."

The message read—

𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯. 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘬 13 𝘵𝘰𝘰! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 99 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘍. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳. 𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘱 100 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥.

𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧—𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦,' 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘚𝘧-𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 '𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴,' 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴! 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘰𝘫𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 '𝘈𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘺.' 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 9 𝘓𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 '𝘥𝘪𝘦' 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭! 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵-𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳: 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵! 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 9?

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘻𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴…𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘶𝘣-30𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥… 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺!... 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦.

𝘗.𝘚. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘉-𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨…

𝘗.𝘗.𝘚. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘱 10 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘨𝘶𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.

"He's really trying to sell you on going," said Reina.

"Do you think I should?" Zane couldn't lie. It was a pretty sleazy pitch. But still enticing. He liked the sound of that array.

She paused. "You're dropping by the area anyway, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

She looked hesitant. "Elias is a rat," she said. "… but as long as you're not signing anything… as long as you're careful what you agree to—"

"Of course."

She was quiet for a while, mulling it over. Then—"It could help to stop by. We have a non-aggression pact. And he's right. If it's part of the terms, then you have unrestricted access to whatever resources the Coven has. We should be taking advantage of it. Just… be smart, okay?"

Zane nodded.

***

Zane gave most of the rest of his dungeon haul to her. When they came across those Merchant's Guild credits, the topic of the Merchant's Guild token came up.

It was still a bit of a mystery, but Reina did note that one of these Merchant's Guild auctions was coming up next month. You could convert essence stones to auction credits in the Merchant's Guild section of the Beacon. If they saved up essence stones, maybe they could nab something useful for him. Though neither of them was sure how exactly it worked.

Finally, Zane gave her the forty high-grade essence stones he'd gotten from the Quest. She gave it some thought.

"I was thinking of saving up to buy an A-rank consumable treasure for you," she told him. "With this…" she frowned like she was crunching imaginary numbers. "We could barely afford it. I think it's better we save up for now. Let's see what that Auction has in store."

He also wondered if she'd heard anything about those Tomb Kings. They'd just lost one of their strongest fighters—in a dungeon he was in. And if they heard he was in Abyssal Crater when their other top World Ranker died, too… could be some trouble.

But Reina said they were quiet. Almost strangely so. The rumor was that Mike Masters, World Rank #8, was in seclusion right now. Trying to break through the bottleneck like the rest of the top World Rankers.

***

It was getting late. They were going to go back to their headquarters home, but Zane called for a pit stop by the healing wards. "There's someone I want you to meet."