Savage Awakening 83. Miss Maker (I) (Patreon)

She sat there, mouth slightly open, in silence.

It was getting awkward. She looked so stunned he wasn't sure she was still in there.

Then she started to tremble. He r face was reddening fast.

"Did—did you think I was trying to kiss you?!" She spluttered. She choked out a laugh. "Idiot. You wish!"

She was very red as she crossed her arms. "Hmph!"

"…Sure?"

"Now, if you'll excuse me," she said haughtily. Then, head held high, she turned on her heel and strutted out of the room.

She went beyond the arch, made a turn, and vanished from sight.

She hardly took ten steps before she just collapsed. Zane could see her dot go still on the mini-map. He could also see her through the translucent walls. She seemed to be holding her head in her hands.

Then she slid slowly down the wall she was leaning on, buried her face in her dress, and screamed into it.

The dress muffled the sound a little. But less than she probably thought it did. He could hear it pretty clearly from where he stood now, which… he didn't think she meant to happen.

“…”

She was standing now. He couldn't really see what she was up to. Then he felt little flashes of pain radiating and frowned.

When he went to check up on her, he found her banging her head on the tunnel wall. "You idiot!" She cried. "You stupid dumb idiot! Stupid stupid stupid—" she punctuated each word with a bash of her head. With Sage Mind, he could sense the pure humiliation flowing off her.

"Uh," said Zane, wincing. "Are you alright?"

She froze. Then slowly turned to look up at him.

He got a very specific feeling from her, just as strong. It went beyond humiliation. She just wanted to dissolve into a puddle on the floor and evaporate.

He winced. He felt kind of bad for her, honestly. He wasn't sure what to say.

They just stared at each other. Then—

"You… saw all of that, didn't you," she said hoarsely.

He nodded.

"I see," she said. "Would you do me a favor?"

He sensed no deceit from her. Just that same shattered feeling. It felt like she really needed this, so he said, "What is it?"

"Turn around, close your eyes, and count to ten." Her voice cracked on the last word.

He did.

Then he heard the pitter-pattering of sudden footsteps. Fading fast into the distance. Had she just…? He finished counting and opened his eyes.

Sure enough. He saw her dot speeding up the mini-map. She'd made a break for it—she was gone.

Then he thought—wait.

Where was she going?

…She couldn't be headed to claim the Beacon or the dungeon chest, right? Somehow he doubted it. But he went after her just in case. Soon he saw her winding up the last of the steps—out onto the surface. Then—

No. She wasn't headed for the Beacon at all. She just kept running. And didn't stop. By the time he saw daylight she was most of the way up the crater rim.

She'd just run all the way out of the dungeon.

"… Bye?"

Well, that was weird.

Anyway.

***

He went back down to the Boss Lair and found something lying on the empty throne. A gemstone the color of glacier ice, big as his fist and craggy all over.

Ice Essence Monster Core (B)

The remains of the lesser ice giant, rich in ice aspect essence. Monster Cores are rare drops. They are highly prized for alchemy and often sell for great sums in Merchant Guild Auctions. Their essence can also be absorbed for direct cultivation.

Huh.

Alchemy? Zane didn't know you could do that. As far as he could tell the System only gave out combat classes. Maybe you could learn some other Skills on the side?

He scratched his chin. He vaguely remembered reading something about one of the higher-tier Beacon unlocks to do with access to some Merchant Guild. He'd have to ask Reina about it.

***

When he went out onto the ice to claim the Abyssal Crater's Beacon, he found a bunch of Factions huddled around already. None of them had broken the lock on the dungeon chest there. They were all just waiting for him. A big cheer went up when he arrived; he felt a huge cloud of relief pouring off them. There was lots of hugging and sobbing going around. Some of them even insisted on hugging him, which got a little awkward.

"You son of a bitch," said Clayton, the burly Faction leader he'd met earlier. He was grinning ear to ear as he clapped his hand on the back. "You actually went and did it!"

"I'm never going out of the Safe Zone again, swear to God," he heard someone moan, which seemed to be the mood for most of them.

A fair few of these folk came from the Southern Portland region. They pretty much unanimously wanted to Sub-Faction, so once he claimed the Beacon, he put them in touch with Reina.

Or rather—one of Reina's many assistants in charge of manning the Beacon and compiling all messages for her to review at her office at the start of each day. She'd gotten much too important to be manning it herself.

Around then, a bunch of 'Quest Completed!' notifications popped up, and the System granted him his rewards. He was 20 C-grade Essence Vials richer.

***

The dungeon chest had less than he was used to. Just 6 Essence Stones. But what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality—they were all high-grade, set in soft velvet.

And they circled the central treasure.

A piece of paper.

A fancy piece of paper, to be sure, thick and yellow—not in an aged crumbly way; it was smooth and warm. Its neatly inked letters weren't translating in his head. On closer inspection, they seemed to be runes.

Seal of the Merchants Guild (B)

This seal may be used at B-ranked Beacons to access the Dragonspiral Galaxy's Merchant Guild, which governs all trade between the 9 Great Factions of the Dragonspiral Galaxy. Grants access to the Mortal-Grade section of the Guild's Year-End Auction.

This seal is valid for all Mortal-Grade items F through S.

Hmm.

Yeah, he'd give this to Reina and see what came out of it. The System had all the necessities, but its selection of Skill tomes and treasures was pretty lacking—those were almost always better gotten through dungeons, and there you couldn't really choose what you got there.

They didn't really have the spare money to upgrade to B-rank just yet. But once they did, it could be useful.

***

He binged all his new Essence Vials. It put him over the top.

Level up!

Essence Level 89 -> 90

Nice round number.

Before he went back, he spent an hour just going around the dungeon, trying to pick out some memento Reina might like. It was his goal now—every dungeon he visited, he'd get something for her. The Sutra was a kind of gift, he supposed, but it was a little… it wasn't really what he meant.

He ended up with something called a 'Frost Fractal Flower'—a C-grade essence treasure that looked like a very big snowflake. He chose it because it was very symmetrical and intricate. It seemed well designed, the kind of thing she would appreciate.

He did feel kind of bad leaving her so often. He wanted to take care of her.

If they upgraded the Beacon to B-rank, it'd give a lot of rewards, sure—but also teleportation from any Faction Safe Zone back to headquarters. That way, he could go about dungeon clearing in the day and be back for her a lot more nights if he wanted to…

It was an interesting thought.

Maybe with these new essence stones, they'd have enough to upgrade? He'd have to ask her when he got back.

***

He had a tendency to overshoot with Volt Blitz. He used it somewhat sparingly coming this way—he got lost pretty easily in the mountains. But going back, the route was much clearer. He just dashed for it. He was just a streak of lightning crossing the grassy plains, streaking through the forests, leaping easily across whole rivers. And in just about an hour, maybe less, he was back near Luminous Faction headquarters.

Not much has changed since he last visited. Which made sense, he supposed. Not much time had passed. He saw the floating watchtower first, tied down by that thick anchor; it reminded him a little of the house from Up. A giant telescope hung off the end of it—that was new. It swept over him, and he could feel the person inspecting him—he could feel their soul.

As he drew closer, the Emerald Forest came into view. There were a lot more yellow dots in it—set in rows, too. Like an orchard. Had Reina…?

"Sir!"

He blinked. He was coming up to the outer walls now. A host of warriors jogged up to him dressed in white, purple, and dark green—the Luminous Faction colors.

Jerry Eames

Essence Level 38

He saluted. They all did; they had that stars-in-their-eyes look. "It's great to have you back, sir! We let the Mistress know as soon as our scouts saw you coming, sir!"

"Thanks…?"

Then he saw a dot coming up on his mini-map—a dot with an S on it.

A Signature? He wasn't aware they'd recruited any recently. Had Avery come back?

Then he saw Reina coming out from under the arched wooden gates and blinked.

"Zane!" She cried, rushing up to him. She leaped into his arms and kissed him fiercely. "Welcome back," she breathed. “I missed you.” She was all flushed and smiling at him. They were both gasping.

He was feeling a little lightheaded then—for a number of reasons. One of them stared him in the face.

Reina Torres

Essence Level 52

Signature Title: Mistress Maker

"You're Signed now?"

"Oh!" A strange look came across Reina's face. "It's complicated."

She looked around, then took his hand and led him along. "Not here. I'll tell you inside."

***

They settled down inside Zane's cabin. Reina said she hadn't changed much—she'd just noise-proofed the walls. They settled down on a plain wool couch, side by side.

If Zane was honest, he'd always been a little surprised Reina didn't have a Signature Title. They are supposed to be given out to rare psychologies, right? Reina was one in a million, as far as Zane was concerned. Actually, that was underselling it. He was sure there was no one like her.

Now when he inspected her, he saw two new Skills:

Resonance of Harmony (Passive) [Signature]

Enhances the efficacy of all Skills cast the Mistress's allies by 15%.

Also passively enhances the Mistress's ability to perceive the harmonies of her surroundings. Grants her an instinctive awareness of the needs and strengths of her allies, letting her strategize with superhuman effectiveness.

Architect of Restoration (Active) [Signature]

Repairs anything, animate or inanimate. Has the power to restore damaged structures, heal injuries, or even temporarily create objects or shelters from the ambient energy. Healing powers scale with Level. Current Power: Mortal C-Grade

"This is great," he said. "It's perfect for you." And he meant it. He was excited for her.

He was wondering, though—"But… why now?"

As far as he knew, there wasn't really a time limit for when these things manifested. But most of the time, they seemed to come on pretty fast. She was over Level 50.

“That’s the complicated part,” said Reina. She hesitated. "Signature Titles are unique. They can only be held by one person at a time. And… the one who held mine just died."

Zane blinked. "How do you know?"

"They left me a message." She bit her lip. "Here—I'll write it out for you."

//

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