Chương 103: 103. Arrival
First Zane and Evan teleported to Titansteel. From there they went on foot.
Before they set off Zane gave Evan the Titansteel Breastplate. He slid it right over Evan's tunic—it was a little big at first, but it shrank to fit him. Evan was delighted; he kept staring at it, rapping it, listening to the little clink-clink sounds it made. He almost ran into a tree.
Neither of them wore status blockers now. With how strong they were, there was nothing to be concerned about. And with how strong the Luminous Faction was, it didn't matter if people knew Zane wasn't home. Nobody was threatening them anyway. It was Reina's idea—showing their strength might make the going easier.
The trees around these parts were still huge. They passed through a few forest dungeons full of giant, needle-leafed trees. Nothing quite as big as Titansteel. Or anywhere close to as time-consuming. They split up to wipe the Bosses. Evan came in very useful; he was so fast he could run through a D-rank dungeon in half an hour.
Soon they were getting out of the wilderness and into conquered territory. Most of the way to San Francisco was split up between a few regional powers.
They ran into their first as they neared the Northern Californian coast.
A blanket of soft mist curled around their ankles, stretching into the distance, shrouding the line where the baby-blue sky met the turquoise sea. The waters around here were pure and shockingly vivid; they glistened with sunlight, a brilliant expanse stretching as far as the eye could see, lapping at stretches of pastel yellow beach. They heard the soft crashing of those foaming waves, felt the salty tang of ocean spray drifting on cool air. Dramatic cliffs watched over it all, cloaked in low-hanging mists.
In those fighting games Zane used to play to unwind after work, your character could get paralyzed by a spell. You just stood there unable to move. The moment Evan caught sight of the place his mouth hung open. He was stun-locked.
He stood there for a full minute just staring. Zane had to drag him away.
They went down to the beach and walked along the sandy strip; they sank down almost to their ankles with each step. This Safe Zone belonged to the 'Lost Coast Faction,' apparently. He could see watchtowers poking out of the cliff face. The mini-map showed hidden coves scattered here and there.
Then there was a mass of white—a small army marching out to meet them. They brandished staffs and swords—all pointed quite menacingly at Zane and Evan. Rangers poked out of those watchtowers, bows nocked and drawn.
A rugged-looking warrior came out to greet them. "Identify yourselves! State your names and purpose!" he hollered.
He was a bit too far out to identify directly with the implicit Skill. But he was marching closer.
Zane cleared his throat. "I am Zane Walker. This is Evan Armstrong. We're just passing through."
This drew a wave of disbelief.
"Yeah right," snorted the warrior. "And I'm Irina Volkova!"
Then he got close enough to Identify them properly. And frowned, and squinted, and then went quite pale.
Then there was a lot of apologizing. He got very polite all of a sudden. They ended up putting all their weapons away and letting them pass without a fuss.
Turned out Reina was right.
Zane and Evan kept going, and it was like they were celebrities passing through. Zane kept being surprised how everyone knew who he was, even down here. They knew who Evan was too. It kind of made sense. The World Rankings were visible to every Faction; and since everyone had to be a fighter now, they kept tabs on the field. They knew who the elites were.
There was lots of gossip being passed, Zane knew. He didn't participate much, but even he heard occasional chatterings about Jian Shi Ming solo-clearing a B-rank dungeon, or Cain Hastings losing a duel to Irina Volkova. That kind of thing.
Soon they passed out from under the beaches and the cliffs. The next Faction they came across was called 'Giant's Grotto.' It and its sub-Factions covered a huge swath of land, stretching almost to Sacramento. Most of it was underground, interestingly, though it seemed at first like just another forest dungeon. A vast tunnel system linked the Faction, winding through the tree roots.
As they passed, Rangers and Warriors, mostly wood- and earth- specialists, poked out to watch. They were less aggressive than that other Faction. Moreso wary and awed, like they were seeing mythical beasts migrating through their forest. Their leader rushed out to greet them—a wiry old man with a wispy beard that went down to his waist. Stammering, smiling and sweating, he invited them to dinner. Evan almost accepted out of politeness, but Zane cut him off. They still had a lot of ways to go.
As they went, the trees started to shrink. They passed a Faction that looked like the Luminous Forest. Except the trees were spread out over a mountain range; glowing wisps lit the air. There was a witchy, mystical energy to the place. It was mostly Rogues and Mages here. Light- and wood- specialists, and they were also pretty chill. Evan was a big fan of their cloak designs—they were light and loose and looked spun out of moonlight.
By then half the day had passed, and they stopped for food.
Reina had packed Zane the newly upgraded Moon Fruit. He recalled mentioning off-handedly during one of their long walks a few weeks ago about wanting to try some of the fresh crop once it came ripe. Of course she remembered.
Evan, meanwhile, got more Dungeness crab, which just about made his day. Reina was becoming one of his favorite people.
They moved on.
The last Faction they came across used to be Napa Valley, Zane guessed. By then, the terrain had leveled out mostly. The big trees were gone. It was just lush valleys and rolling bright green hills. Lots of fat juicy fruit growing everywhere. The Faction guarding it called themselves the Vintner Knights. The Knights' leader was a ruddy-cheeked, potbellied guy, bald and friendly. Zane wasn't sure if it was just the Northern California spirit or something. But they were having pretty good luck with nice Factions, and this one was no different.
Or maybe they were just scared, hard to tell.
Then they were getting into the outskirts of San Francisco. They arrived at the first Silicon Coven Safe Zone around mid-afternoon. The design here was totally different from the other Factions. No wood or dirt or stone anymore; it was all steel and glass buildings, very sleek, very minimal. But they weren't like skyscrapers. They seemed more like wizards' towers. They cropped up all over the place. They were just blanketed in glowing runes, more complex than any Zane had ever seen.
There were weird steel totems poking out of the ground too—they also shimmered with runes. And a few weird circles of steel lay about like summoning-circles. He and Evan faced no standing army, no resistance, no walls, not even guards—they just walked on in. Folk stared as they passed.
The folk here were even dressed oddly. They wore twinkling silver robes embroidered with the sun and moon insignia. They looked sleek and streamlined, a cross between a business suit and something Gandalf might wear.
Then a thin, slick-haired man soon came out to greet them. He wore the same robes, as well as glasses with no lenses—just rims.
𝕁𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕪 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟝𝟛
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤: 𝕃𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖
𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕊𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕟.
The man smiled brightly. "Hey there! You guys here for VGI?"
"VGI?" said Evan.
"That's short for Ventor Global Initiative."
"We're going there. Yes," said Zane.
"Great! I'm Jimmy. I'm one of the VIP ushers—I got an alert as soon as you guys came. See that?"
He pointed out into the distance. This Safe Zone ended on a beach—across that beach, across what Zane guessed used to be the San Francisco Bay, was a sprawling shining city of steel and glass, with tufts of greenery poking out in between. It looked a lot like this Safe Zone, except the spires went a lot higher.
"That's main Campus! That's what we call our Headquarters, by the way—where everything's going down. You can't miss it. Cross the Golden Gate and our staff will meet you on the other side. As top World Rankers and thus VIPs, you guys get free entry to everything except for the Asura Hell Array. Welcome, and enjoy your stay!"
"Thank you!" said Evan.
They kept going. "That guy was really nice," said Evan. Evan liked the place already. Though he tended to like most things he came across.
"Be careful," said Zane.
"What do you mean?"
"If someone offers you a deal or a contract, do not take it. If someone offers you anything, do not go with them. Come to me. I will handle it."
"Oh!" Evan blinked. "Okay."
They came to the Golden Gate Bridge, and Evan got stun-locked again.
It was cast out of pure gold now, an absolute behemoth of precious metal. Massive, complex runes ran over its many cables, stretching up to its many skyscraper towers. It was like a bridge built for giants. A light fog shrouded the ground.
Zane supposed it looked pretty cool, but Evan's brain was struggling to unscramble itself. This boy's experience of the world was really something.
They saw sparks like fireworks flashing in the sky above the headquarters as they passed over it.
There were tables set up on the other side. A smartly dressed woman greeted them with a perfect smile. She was also a Mage class. Almost everyone in this Coven seemed to be.
"Welcome! May I have your—ohh! Zane Walker! One moment please."
She got out a crystal, whispered into it, and nodded.
"What?" said Zane warily.
"Our Grand Warlock has requested we let him know as soon as you came—he wants—"
Then a map of black opened up in front of them. An outstretched Elias Ventor, a too-white smile on his face. He flashed shark-like teeth. "Zane Walker, my favorite berserker! It's been far, far too long. How are we?"
Zane shrugged.
"Your girlfriend's not with you?"
"She's too busy."
He noted how relieved Elias felt at that. "Ah! How unfortunate. In any case—this is a funny coincidence. I was just talking about you with some of the other top Rankers! I'm holding a gala tonight, see. It'll have essence wine tasting. We've got a bottle of some B-plus ranked wine, vintage alien stuff. You've got to come—"
"No," said Zane. "I'm not doing any of these… whatever. I will use your things. That's it."
"Of course, of course." Elias nodded along. "Straight to the point, I see! I can respect that. And who's this little guy? Ah, yes! Evan Armstrong." Elias's smile widened. "World Rank #14! It's an honor, truly. My name is Elias, Elias Ventor. Owner and proprietor of this humble Faction. Say, how'd you like—"
"He's with me," said Zane. "He's off limits."
"Yup!" said Evan, nodding enthusiastically. "I'm off limits!" He had no clue what was going on.
"Very well, very well…" Elias sighed. He smiled sardonically. "I get the message. You'll forgive me for trying. Well, I just dropped by to say hello. Megan here will take care of your housing, and food, let you know where all the best attractions are—the works. You'll want to check out the Stellar Steel Crater. And the Martial Hell Asura, of course! But yes, yes. You can take care of yourself. I'll get out of your hair. It was nice seeing you again, Zane! And I mean that sincerely. You're getting to be one of my star investments—and how you've grown! You may… well, let's be honest, eh? You may despise me, and trust me—I get it. But just know I am rooting for you. Out of self-interest, perhaps. But I am."
He winked. Then paused. "Before I go, though…"
Like a magic trick, two treasures appeared in his hands. One was a crystal. The other was a stone tablet engraved with mysterious symbols.
"How'd you like to know how your talent stacks up against the best in the world?"
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