Reina looked up and considered Zane—just considered him. She had a curious look on her face.

  “…What?” He blinked.

  “Nothing.” She settled back in with a little smile. But he knew that look. She was making plans.

  She put a hand on his chest. “Go out there and show them what you can do.”

  ***

  Planet Unknown 18

  Planet Unknown 18 lay in the outer reaches of the Guild of Endless Shadows. Its continents were full of towering trees clustered tightly. The days were short, the nights long, and barely a sliver of sunlight was ever permitted to hit the ground. Moonlight ruled here—moonlight cut up in long, crescent slashes between swathes of smothering velvet dark.

  Folks carrying torches slipped between shadowy, high-up treehouses.

  A gruff voice echoed from the watchtowers. “That’s far enough! State your business.”

  “Tickets! Just tickets!” The courier waved a golden reel overhead. “Tickets from Ventor Entertainment International!”

  “Tickets for what?”

  “Zane Walker’s Ragnos run,” called the courier. “They’re billing it ‘the Return of the Prince!’”

  The guards looked at each other.

  “Everyone knows he’s #1 on the Rising Dragon Rankings. But he’s been gone for six years, and with how monstrous fast that man grows, who knows how strong he’s got? It’s history in the making. Six hundred sections have already been sold out—your men won’t want to miss this!”

  The guards lowered their bows. “Come on through.”

  Soon the treehouses were buzzing.

  ***

  Steelheart Conclave

  “Get your tickets here! Support your lad!”

  The Ventor ticket sellers were getting mobbed at the Plaza of Titans; they went around pumping fistfuls of tickets. Folks all over were clamoring for a ticket. By then, if you were in the Conclave, you were a fan of Zane.

  “Get front-row seats to see the champ do his work! Zane’s come back with all sorts of new-fangled skills! Plus—free popcorn!”

  The lines wound all the way up the mountains.

  Two long-mustached Eclipse Stadium officials looked at each other in mild alarm.

  “…We might need more seats.”

  ***

  On Mount Thundercrest, dragon-riding couriers flew all over, dropping giant sheafs of pamphlets. On one side was Zane, looking stoic, swinging a blazing hammer. On the other—an open grave where ghastly, rotting, red-eyed horrors crawled out.

  The headline: ‘Zane vs. The Chambers of the Wrathful Damned!’

  By that afternoon, the whole east wing—some two hundred million tickets—had sold out.

  ***

  Somewhere in the far west of the Dragonspyre Galaxy, a few thousand li from the Western Wilderness, the Titan Rhinos had set up camp. They were making steady progress on their migration. They were just passing through a massive belt of ice floes and floating oceans; they planned on stopping here to do a bit of fishing and stock up.

  All over the ice floes, Rhinos could be seen holding fishing poles in their mouths, standing still. Rhinos made for surprisingly great fishers—something about the patience of it.

  There was another reason they made a rest stop here. This belt was just a few li away from a Scryer’s tower. They’d get excellent essence transmission here. Guri was already setting up the bonfire.

  “Go, Zane!” said Mook. He gave a little hop.

  ***

  Taverns all over the Galaxy were buzzing with the same kind of talk.

  At just one—a rim mining colony of the Deep Earth Hall—

  “Those Ragnos Chambers’ve only ever got beat by True Gods.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Zane’s got this,” said a scruffy-haired youth who’d been a Zane fan since he was twelve. “He’s beat the odds before.”

  “You’re not thinking, boy,” scowled an older miner. “Odds are one thing. That there are two clear power levels. It’s Raenor Dragonblessed all over again. You’ll see.”

  “You don’t know Zane!” protested the youth. “He’s no Raenor.”

  “You’ll see,” repeated the older miner, taking a swig. From there he ignored the youth, who reddened.

  “I don’t know…” chuckled another. “The kid’s got a point. Remember how he took down that dragon prince? The man just won’t go down!”

  Another miner chimed in. “He’s still a man,” he said, stifling a burp. “True Gods won’t care how stubborn he is. When he feels that True God power, he’ll get ragdolled. It’s just how it works.”

  “You guys can stuff it,” said the youth, who’d gotten a little heated at the thought of Zane being ragdolled. He took a big swig. “Go, Zane, go!”

  Plenty of Foundation and Core Zane fans thought he could pull it off.

  But the ‘smart money’ bettors—the Ascendants and the Elders—knew just what a gulf existed between half-step and True God. They knew the reality of the Reality Distortion Field. But most of all, they knew just what Bosses lurked in the Chambers of the Wrathful Damned.

  If Zane went in thinking a True God was all he’d have to overcome… he’d get a lot more than he bargained for.

  The betting line was settling at 60/40—60 against.

  ***

  Avery was rather pissed about this state of affairs. She wanted to bet it all on Zane again—but after her last run-in with the bettors, she’d been banned for life from every venue. She then tried registering Chomper to bet on her behalf, but this tactic was quickly discovered.

  Evan sent Zane a good luck video. He and Avery were hoping to make it back in time—they were rushing back. At the rate they were going, they might just barely make it in time.

  In the background, there was a peaceful little village floating on water lilies. Zane caught a glimpse of Avery running after a giant shadow, shaking her fists.

  “Arghhhhhhh!” cried Avery.

  Chomper gave a happy bark.

  ***

  The Barbarian Sage had just hauled up another goat under his arm, ready to toss at Fluffy, when a crow dropped him a scroll.

  “Eh?”

  He unwound it and grinned. He showed it to Fluffy. “Look who it is!”

  Fluffy gave a happy shriek. In the background, the goat ran off into the mists, forgotten.

  “The lad’s going to war!” laughed the Sage. “We’re damned sure not missing this.”

  He took a bite out of a giant leg of lamb, wiped the juices off his mouth, and grinned. “This oughta be something else.”

  ***

  Half a galaxy away, Eze unfurled a scroll and tapped his chin. Another half-galaxy away, Jason Walker gave a knowing smirk.

  Earth-folk all over the Dragonspyre Galaxy took note—but some of the most ardent Zane fans were those left on Earth itself. Kids from towns in the heartlands who’d grown up under the bright blue of Safe Zone wards Zane established. Older folks wounded in the old Earth Faction Wars who’d since retired to peaceful lives in the countryside, knowing Zane was somewhere out there, working to keep them safe.

  All over the continents and the seas, folks had seen Zane unify the West Coast, bring down the tyrant Factions, and take down Asterion the Minotaur just when all seemed lost. They’d all seen him crush his way through the Superdungeon and liberate Earth for good.

  To Earth, more than anyone else, that man meant hope.

  ***

  But just as some hoped for a great showing, others wished for Zane’s swift demise.

  Some huddled in the backs of World Tree taverns—mostly young elf nobles—who felt Zane was far too lucky. Their greatest hopes were that Zane would get crushed in humiliating fashion and that Reina would lose interest in him soon after.

  Then there were the beings with twisted souls, hiding on the edges of the Galaxy, looking in—looking for cracks in mankind.

  ***

  Planet Tarsus

  First Prince Haxorax heard the news from an old bushy-browed courier as he bathed in a vat of pure dragon’s blood.

  He was stock-still, quivering, dark veins standing out against pale flesh, and there you could see the beating of a heavy heart.

  Ritual circles crisscrossed around him. The Blood Rites were an excruciating ceremony—one that took the sanity of many a pure-blooded dragon heir. Most screamed for days on end—up until they lost their voices; then they thrashed in silence. Haxorax bore it all without a sound, without even a grimace.

  Rumors swirled in the Azure Flame Faction that deep in the heart of Tarsus, Haxorax, like Zane, was undergoing his own transformation. Some said that soon only true powerhouses—those of the caliber of Noughtfire or the Patriarch—could claim to be a clear cut above.

  He’d put distance between himself and everyone else.

  Still, it didn’t seem to be enough for the First Prince.

  He heard the news of Zane’s Ragnos run sitting there motionless, jaw clenched—whether from the pain or something else, the courier couldn’t tell.

  “The betting line is sixty-forty,” said the courier.

  Haxorax’s eyes slowly opened. He rose; rivers of blood sloshed off a physique sculpted of marble, as though by a vengeful god.

  “Fools,” said Haxorax.

  He stalked away; the courier watched him go, brows drawn.

  It seemed the Prince was off to clear his mind. Only... who did he mean?

  ***

  It felt as though a question lingered over all the Dragonspyre Galaxy.

  Six years had gone by since they’d last seen him.

  Just what had Zane become?

  ***

  Even Zane didn’t know the full extent of it.

  He spent his days shoring up his new powers, testing out his new Skills, and slowly working through his reserves of dreamsteel.

  As the Galaxy stirred around him, he stayed about as calm as ever.

  ***

  One day before Ragnos…

  Zane stood in a nearby asteroid belt—a training ground Reina made sure was reinforced to withstand his powers. Here he could break as much as he liked, without reservations. It was his favorite kind of training ground.

  He began to stack his powers.

  His domain roared out of him—a field of searing gold.

  The Concept of Radiation cracked the air, shivering the Astral Plane.

  Magnetic Hotspot made an angry sea of his domain—and Solar Winds made a howling fury, scouring the skies, scouring down to the horizon.

  And then—Stellar Infusion.

  He brought the full force of his flames to bear.

  Skill evolved!

  Skill evolved!

  Solar Flare [Uncommon (P) -> Rare (P)]

  Solar Flare [Rare (P) -> Legendary (P)]

  One by one, he worked out his moves.

  Skill evolved!

  Solar Flare Punch [Rare (P) -> Legendary (P)]

  A burst of Flare torched into deep space, vaporizing all debris in its path. Auroras trailed the outburst.

  He nodded in satisfaction.

  Then he brought out his axe.

  Skill evolved!

  Solar Flare Slash [Rare (P) -> Legendary (P)]

  The arc split a moon in two—then the asteroid belt behind it.

  He only did two cycles of Solar Storm, just to test it out. But with Solar Wind, the range was still world-spanning. He could melt nearly any asteroid within eyesight—even asteroids thousands of miles off…

  It seemed clear to him he’d reached a new level of power.

  The question was if it’d be enough.

  He put away his Chains and made his way back to the World Tree.

  Tomorrow, they’d see.