Chapter 110: 110. Big Deal
"I want three A-ranked Law treasures," said Zane.
Elias gagged. "You want what."
"One Electricity, one Fire, One Wood."
"Wood?!"
"It's for Reina."
Elias goggled at him. Then he took a deep breath, in and out, and plastered on a wobbly little smile. "Let's take a step back here. That A-rank Vial of Essence—that may have given you the wrong impression. That was a very rare, very generous gift I gave you! It was a one-time thing. Look, I have less than twenty A-rank treasures left. And I've got the biggest treasure stockpile in the world!"
Zane shrugged. "Then no deal."
He kept walking; he heard Elias wheeze behind him. "Wait, wait!" he gasped, scrambling to catch up. "Okay! How about this—one A-rank Fire treasure, a B+-rank Electricity treasure, and a B-rank Wood treasure. That's as far as I can go!"
"No."
Elias winced. He smiled a little wider. "Look. Zane. Buddy. That's not how this works—you're supposed to make a counteroffer! Say—' I want two A-rank treasures instead.' We've got to compromise here!"
"I'm not like Reina," Zane informed him. "I am very bad at negotiating. I don't get it. I want three A-rank treasures. I'm not changing my mind."
Elias looked flabbergasted. "But—that's—"
Zane started to walk away again.
"Can't we be reasonable, civil men?" shouted Elias from somewhere behind.
"No."
There was a silence. Then he heard Elias running after him again.
"Alright, alright!" Elias said hastily. "Two A-ranked treasures, one Electricity, one Fire. You're killing me here, but fine! As for the Wood treasure—B's the highest I can go."
"If I don't get three A-ranked treasures, no deal."
"Are you serious?" cried Elias. "There's two A-ranked treasures on the table, and you're walking away 'cause of this?!"
"Yes." Reina deserved an A-rank too. She deserved the best Elias had, but Zane doubted he had an S-rank. So Zane settled for A.
"Fine! Y'know what?" snapped Elias. "I'll go ask Eze. Or Yuki! You're not the only top ranker here, you know. I'm sure they'd be a lot more agreeable!"
Zane shrugged. "Okay."
"That's it?!"
"Please get out of my way. I have training to do."
Elias let out a series of choking noises. Then—"Fine! Have it your way!" He massaged his jaw like Zane had punched him. "Jesus Christ, man."
Zane blinked. "So we have a deal?"
Elias glared at him. "We do."
"Then I'll take care of your man."
Elias wiped the sweat off his face and sighed. He tried putting on a friendly smile again, but it didn't quite make it to his lips this time. He just looked to be in pain. "Alrighty then… You know, it's a little more than I would have usually agreed to, but for a friend, alright. Three A-rank Treasures to take out the king and all his marquises. Done!"
Then Zane had a thought. "Wait. I want one more treasure."
"Oh, come on!" Elias let out a string of colorful curses. Then he wagged a finger at Zane. "You understand this is already a fifth of my wealth?! You think A-ranked treasures grow on trees, do you?! If you're asking for another, we're done. And this time I mean it! I'd rather pack my bags and sail to Hawaii! You're taking me for all I'm worth here!"
He was so dramatic, huffing and puffing. It was kind of funny to watch.
"This should be easy to spare," Zane assured him. "I just need one of those…"
He wasn't sure how to describe it actually. It was the invigorating elixir he'd gotten in the crater, the one that worked like an energy drink for the soul—that let him ignore his soul fatigue for a bit so he could do some light comprehension work. Elias seemed to know what he was talking about though.
"Alright. Fine—and this is the last thing!" said Elias. He glared at Zane as though daring Zane to challenge him.
Zane nodded.
"And you should know, by the way," Elias continued. "If you use this you'll take longer to recover. It's not a miracle potion."
"I know."
Zane didn't care. He had plans—he wanted to take something into battle. Make use of this new Elemental Law. If he upgraded his Spirit Steel Body and paired it with that new damage-soaking Skill… could be interesting.
Elias stared at him twitching. Then he gave a sigh and a forlorn chuckle. "You're either going to make me a very rich man," he said. "Or you'll bankrupt me."
He shook his head, smiling ruefully. "Well! Let's hope I've bet right for both our sakes, eh?"
He patted Zane on the back and left. "I'll give you the pepper-up treasure now. You'll get the rest when the task is done. I'll draw up a contract—"
"Give me your Essence Beacon. I'll send it to Reina first. I'll only sign if she approves it."
"Yeah, yeah," Elias waved a hand like he'd expected it. He gave Zane a pat on the back, one last full-body sigh, and shuffled off.
There was a time Elias had been menacing. Zane wasn't sure how. Right now he just seemed like a goofy little guy.
***
After they got the contract taken care of—Reina took less than an hour to come back with the OK. They signed, and Zane got his 'pepper-up elixir'—
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔻𝕖𝕨 (𝔹)
ℝ𝕖𝕛𝕦𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝, 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕗𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪.
He took them back at the hotel. Not much, just a few drops. Enough to wipe out that dragging tiredness in his soul. Suddenly he was buzzing again.
He turned his mind to his Man of Steel Skill. It had almost every Major Steel Law already. But Elemental Steel wasn't just a bunch of Major Laws—it was something greater than all of them combined.
He had to weave in the whole Elemental Law all over again. It took another dew-drop to bear him through. About an hour later—
𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!
𝕄𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 -> 𝔽𝕝𝕒𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪
𝕀𝕞𝕓𝕦𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝. ℝ𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕣 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕕𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖.
***
So that was everything. He was ready to test it all out.
The first time he tried his new Class and Skills and Law probably shouldn't be against a top World Ranker in a battle to the death. He could do with some warm-up. Iron out the kinks.
He thought about how to go about it as he strolled through the crowd. There was a weird magnetic effect to him now. It was fascinating to see; people's eyes were drawn to him, but they cleared out the way of his aura. Attracting but also repelling. Anyway.
He could go to the Warrior Dojo here. Supposedly it was impressive. He could rent out one of their training rooms and test his Skills on some dummies. But he had a better idea. He was headed to the Asura Hell Array. This thing simulated Monsters, right?
When he got to it—that giant thick ring of runed steel with swirling, eerily glowing purplish insides—Even the Silicon Coven guards gave way for him. They did little more than bow and nod and scramble out of the way. There was an operator lady there. Her bobbed blonde hair was stuffed in a silver cap.
"For you, Mr. Walker, Mister Ventor has ordered that each run is done at cost," she said, smiling. "The discounted charge is five high-grade essence stones. Due to the nature of the simulation, the cost increases by two essence stones per Level cleared."
"How long does a run take?" he said.
"It varies. For the top performers, between three and five hours."
Zane didn't have that long. He'd be fighting at sundown and it was around noon already—and he still had to travel a ways South…
"Can I cut a run short?"
The operator blinked, surprised. Zane got the sense people normally didn't ask. "Err—yes, sir. I…"
She tapped an essence crystal on her wrist, frowned, and nodded. "Yes. I must warn you—doing so leaves Skill gains on the table."
"That's fine," said Zane nodding. He just wanted to get some good combat practice in, and this was a quick easy way to do it. He'd come back to do a real run later. Even the discounted cost wasn't nothing, but he figured it was worth it. He'd make it back many, many times over from the Tomb Kings' Bags of Holding.
"Very well, sir," said the operator. "Did you have a time limit in mind?"
"Pull me out after half an hour passes." Should be enough to get warmed up. He just wanted to get a feel for everything.
"Understood. I'll fire up the array now…"
A staff appeared in her gloved hands. She closed her eyes and held it out. And the crystal at its tip started shining emerald green. So did the runes lining the steel. Then the portal itself started glowing too; he felt a glut of essence streaming out, so thick it felt like humidity on his skin—like he'd just cracked a window on the hottest day of summer.
He looked to the stone tablet leaderboard right next to it. The numbers hadn't moved since yesterday—
ℂ𝔸𝕀ℕ ℍ𝔸𝕊𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾𝕊, 𝟜𝟝𝟛 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃𝕊
𝕐𝕌𝕀 𝕌ℝ𝔸𝔹𝔼, 𝟝𝟝𝟘 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃𝕊
𝔼𝕄𝔼𝕂𝔸 𝔼ℤ𝔼, 𝟞𝟠𝟝 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃𝕊
Right. He still owed Eze a fight, didn't he?
He wondered how he'd do once he gave this thing a real try…
First things first.
"It's ready, sir," said the operator. "The Asura Hell Array creates a semi-real simulation of the Nine Layers of Hell; your soul utilizes real essence, but there is no damage to the physical body. Each Layer has one hundred Monsters. The array grants essence gains via the spirit stones powering it. The main benefit is that Skill Leveling is drastically accelerated. It only grows the further you get in the Array. Good luck, sir."
Zane nodded and stepped on through.
He felt something click in his soul. Or rather—it was like when he was very tired, and he fell asleep on his feet, then jerked out of it. A little static shock to the soul. He was here, everything paused. Then started. And he was somewhere else.
The sky was a heady swirl of brilliant orange and vibrant red—sunset in a world on fire. The blackened ground was cracked all over; those cracks were lit up by something gurgling deep below. In the distance, he saw tornados of swirling flame raging across the ragged landscape; he heard their low crackling echoing down the plains. The air dragged to breathe; it was flaky with volcanic ash—it tasted like tar in his mouth.
He knew it was a simulation, but it certainly felt realistic.
Then fires popped up in front of him. All across the landscape. One after another. So thick and overbearing he knew they had to be Elemental Fire. Craggy stone legs stepped out; lava poured down from their joints. The things that emerged were as big as houses, with eyes the same color as the sky. When they opened their mouth and groaned at him, he found that color burning there too. Coming from dozens of mouths, it sounded like thunder rolling across the desolate plains.
𝔾𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕞𝕒 𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕞
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟡𝟘
Right then! Feeling giddy, he summoned his new toy.
The moment he did, he felt it in his soul—these two shining globes of sheer mass. For a second he lost all sense of balance; it felt like his soul was tilting sideways. Something like vertigo but stronger. He was used to throwing around his Chains like they weighed nothing, even his Axe. It was all made lighter by his Chain's powers.
Even with that helping, the meteors still slipped out of his mental grip.
They hit the ground to either side of him.
Then the world whited out. He heard nothing. His skin was wrapped in fire—his own fire, borne of his own essence. He tried blinking all the everything out of his eyes, unhinged his jaw a little, tried working out the ringing.
He was standing on thin air, staring down at the distant grounds. Huh.
It seemed the explosion shot him so high into the sky he almost hit the cloud layer. It would've been a lot higher if he wasn't anchored by his Chains. As he fell, singed all over, ears ringing, eyes tearing up a little, he made a mental note to be very careful about dropping these meteors.
On his way down he got a good look at them. They lay in new craters that ran surprisingly wide—thirty feet across or so, overlapping in a smoldering Venn diagram. They did look like wrecking balls—these perfectly smooth spheres so dark they seemed like voids cut out in the world, so dark they seemed two-dimensional. They were wreathed in flames burning so hot they were nearly white; black holes cut out in a white blaze—it was an odd sight. Zane liked it. Flames that showed no signs of dying down. The description did say they were ever-burning. Neat.
He wondered if he could add Stormfire to these things. Maybe with a little more of that pepper-up elixir…
Wait. Where had all the Monsters gone? He couldn't have sworn there was a few dozen right in front of him a second ago. Then he noticed there were a lot more smoldering molten rocks scattered about than before. They looked like they could be legs, torsos, the husks of fingers… he saw one that could've been half a head, maybe—the other half had been reduced to slag.
It was almost comical. Like he'd dropped a Lego army and all the pieces were scattered around.
He hadn't even touched them. They just got hit by the splash damage. Weren't these things like Level 90? He scratched his head. Was the Array calibrated wrong, or…
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕!
𝔼𝕩𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕙 [𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕪]
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕠𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕕𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕓𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone