267. Emperor's Might (I)

Zane hadn't thought much about the Red Moon Pagoda. It was always in the background propping him up. But his soul held up just fine most of the time. It wasn't much of a concern, he felt.

Only lately had it been tested. Only lately had it shown signs of cracking at all—when that False Ascendant had gotten its teeth deep into him, sank Corruption deep into his flesh and soul—it had cracked at the edges. Just a little.

It still wasn't like he felt a serious threat there. But he supposed he could do with a tune-up.

He figured the Red Moon Pagoda must have new stuff too, now that he was Nascent—not just his Shield. It was good to check things out while he had time.

He sat down and closed his eyes.

***

The pagoda appeared in his mind like one of those ancient temples some emperor might have lived in. Lacquered red and gold, carefully and intricately crafted. It showed no signs of use or age. It hummed in resonance with Zane's soul.

He made his way into the lobby. The closer he got, the more the place seemed to light up, change color; the red was bleeding more and more to purple, washing over the walls of the seven-sided lobby, painting over each of those seven gilded doors…

A glowing red wraith shambled over. A man in plain robes, yawning like he'd just woken from a long nap, he rubbed his eyes.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟, said the Red Moon Spirit, sounding a little groggy, a little grumbly. Then he squinted, put his hands up to his face—𝔸𝕔𝕜! 𝕋𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕒, 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦?! ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤!

Zane blinked. Looked down. And only then did he realize that all that purple light seemed to be washing out from himself. He was rather blinding in here—in the Astral Plane. Like a star brought low to earth.

Well this was new.

He wasn't even sure how to turn it down. He frowned, sussed it out with his senses, tried focusing more closely—there. Waves of power poured out from him, as natural as body heat.

It took a little finagling, but he managed to rein all of it in. Until they hovered just over skin. The Spirit blinked at him.

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝. ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟, ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟—𝕒 𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕪? 𝕋𝕨𝕠? 𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝔸𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕥.

"I did?" said Zane.

ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕟, said the Red Moon Spirit. It frowned at him. It frowned deeper. ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕟.

Zane waited.

𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝, said the Red Moon Spirit.

"Yeah," said Zane.

One of its eyes started to twitch.

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥—𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕒𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥?! it cried. ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕚𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕥𝕠—

It cut itself short. Put its hands up. 𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪, 𝕀 𝕕𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. It sighed, pinched the bridge of its nose, muttered something under its breath. Zane stood there blinking.

The Red Moon Spirit finally crossed its arms. 𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝! 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕀 𝕕𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕞𝕪… 𝕒𝕓𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝-𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 … 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕?

Zane scratched his head.

Usually, he was quite happy about his size. But it had become something of a sore point for the past few hours—he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it at the moment. For a man whose basic life philosophy was, "there is no such thing as too big," today was quite a confusing experience.

Anyway.

He figured he could deal with this little existential crisis later.

First things first—

"I want to upgrade my shield," said Zane.

𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕖, said the Spirit. 𝕐𝕖𝕤—𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕦𝕡𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕊𝕜𝕪 - 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝔸𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕠 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥.

It paused. 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝! 𝕀𝕗 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘. 𝔻𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕖.

It turned, strolled to the second door of the seven set deep into the walls. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦? It said without turning back.

"You throw some trials at me. It tempers my shield. I Level it up."

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕦𝕡. The Spirit waved a hand. The runes on the door began to spin like gears cranking, and it rumbled open. The Spirit rubbed its palms together.

ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥! 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟?

Zane ambled in after. Up a staircase, into a misty miasma realm; gray mists tickling his ankles, spreading horizon to horizon, fuzzing out the distance, the ceiling. It was impossible to tell how big the place was. It seemed some sandbox realm—much like the first floor of the pagoda, in his memory.

It was just that the mists here were endowed with thicker essence. The very realm was; the fabric of reality here was firmer, harder to tear. This was a higher grade space.

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕣! said the Spirit, waving a stern finger. ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗. 𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕣—𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕪-ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕞 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕—𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟!

It turned out the Spirit was just about right.

This time around went much like the first time.

The Pagoda conjured up a bunch of ghostly monsters. Hydras to blast him with flickering blue fireballs that seared in the astral plane. A swarm of ice-phoenixes that set upon him, showering soul-piercing icicles. A crowd of earth ogres whose clubs bashed the soul as much as the body...

Zane took out his Shield of the Blood Moon—bolstered now by his Primordial Nascent Soul. And took them head-on, one by one.

The more he wielded his Soul the more he felt the difference. There was always some leak, some essence lost, when other Nascent Souls tried powering their Skills. It came seamless with him. No weakness in its structure. Which made quite a bit of difference in the raw power he could put through it.

The Shield he got going—a massive scarlet circle, a bloody background—was a proud and powerful thing.

Even so, the first time he went up against that hydra, it got a pretty big crack going. The thing was the ghost of some Ascendant beast, it seemed. He felt that first blast rattling down his shield, felt the vibrations rattling through him, trembling his very soul. Almost knocking him over where he stood. Then the next blast came, and the next…

It took some jaw-clenching and brow-furrowing on Zane's part to stick it through. But all the while—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕀 -> 𝕏𝕀

Zane's shield had got a good deal brighter—had started to exude some of that purple light going around him. And the hydra's blasts had trouble making so much as a dent….

Until—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝕊) -> 𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝕊)]

And the ghost-hydra sputtered out.

The old Spirit was staring at him.

ℍ𝕞𝕞, it said.

"What," said Zane. He was still breathing a bit heavy.

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨, it said slowly. 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕀'𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕨.

Zane blinked at it.

…ℕ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝, 𝕀 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕖?

Before Zane could even respond—

𝕆𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖. ℍ𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦!

Pretty much the same thing happened with those ice-birds.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

Until—

𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (𝕊) -> ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖 (𝕊)]

And those ogres too, swarming him bashing and slobbering—cracking his new Sky-Rare Shield so much it started to shake, so much Zane had to fight, groaning under the onslaught, just to stick it through…

But by the end, it was much the same.

…

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕡—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 [ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖 (𝕊) -> 𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔 (𝕊)]

It threw a field of giant flowers at Zane that spewed some kind of hypnosis powder. They made him yawn, but that was about it. Some half-naked sirens on rocks, singing to him, who for some reason looked exactly like Reina. They did not have much of an effect on him either. The psychic attacks, anyway.

Eventually—

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔 (𝕊) -> 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪 (𝕊)]

Zane's Blood Moon's bloody aura had grown as blinding as his Primordial one by then. New features began showing up on it—little craters and false oceans, as though on a true moon. It had gained some sort of life-ness; the quality of its aura had changed at the most basic level.

ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟! said the Spirit, and the last of the illusions vanished, leaving the two of them blinking at each other. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕. 𝕀𝕗 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝔸𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕒 𝕡𝕤𝕪𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕔 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦… 𝕀 𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜! 𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕-𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕣 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞—𝕚𝕥'𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗.

Zane nodded. This was pretty much the shield tune-up he had been hoping for.

"So," he said. "What now?"

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤, said the Spirit, frowning at him. 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥? 𝕆𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟘𝟘—𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕥—𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕕𝕤… 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥'𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕤𝕠 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕥! 𝕀'𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒 𝕣𝕦𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪.

"But that won't be until after Ascendant," said Zane.

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝔸𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕨— It stroked its chin. 𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕦𝕡 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦—𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕕 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒.

Zane nodded. That didn't take too much of his energy—he figured he had capacity to get at least one more Skill here.

𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕒 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟𝕖, said the Spirit. 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕪-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕍𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝. 𝕀𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤… 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕒 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤. 𝕋𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥-𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝!

That did sound interesting to Zane. Not so much because he wanted to shoot at folk from a distance—that did not interest him much. He preferred face-to-face—really fist-to-face—ways of conflict resolution, most of the time.

But maybe there was some carry-over to his Concept problem. Making his soul into an attacking shape was his main issue, after all…

𝕀 𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟,said the Spirit. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕝, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕖.

It had a thought. 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤, 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕕𝕚𝕕.

It seemed quite relieved at this thought for some reason.

"Hmm," said Zane. This sounded something like his problem with his Stormfire Concept.

He followed the Spirit up a murky staircase which opened out of nowhere, going into seemingly nowhere. Until it vanished behind him, and Zane found himself on the third floor.

The third floor's mists were tinged red. The sky was the shade of dried blood, the grounds some uniform blackened wood. But otherwise it wasn't so different from the second floor—just a different shade of purgatory, it seemed to Zane. Another kind of sandbox floor.

𝕀𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕤—𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕄𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥, declared the Spirit. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝! 𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪?

"Yup," said Zane.

𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝.

It summoned a Monster, plopped it right in front of Zane. About the size of a barn, looming over him. Six wings, four eyes, a forked tongue—a sleek body rippling with dark scales, smoking with shadow…

𝕄𝕦𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕜𝕖 (𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟚𝟝)

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕠, said the Spirit. 𝕀𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕙. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝—𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤.