"Yes!" I jumped and cheered, adding my voice to the joyful chorus echoing from every side, so loud they pierced the insulating effects of the fog.

Then I just looked up into the slowly billowing fog and sighed, throwing my arms wide and laughing as I just enjoyed the feeling of living. It seemed impossible that the battles were over, that we'd cleared the second stage of both the bosses and their factions.

I'd faced one insane boss battle after another all night and the toll crashed down over me like another giant ship landing on my head. With a groan, I lay down on the cool planks of the crow's nest and let myself rest. I resisted the urge to just go to sleep by focusing on how much more comfortable it would be when I returned to my castle and my giant bed.

The glowing green light of Noctarus's sleep spell had disappeared with the waters of the lake and the sounds of voices grew steadily from the direction of Lake Town. I checked my messages and smiled when I saw the most recent one.

Ruby: "Lucas, are you okay? We're all safe."

I sent a group reply to her and the entire team.

Lucas: "Well done, everyone! We did it! Noctarus is gone with what's left of his army. Just a few zombie stragglers north of the lake."

As if to confirm my words, Cyrus's voice boomed over the lake.

"Congratulations, contestants from Earth! A brilliant fight with a surprise finish. Stage 2 is now clear, and with a couple days to spare. You plucky humans are proving wonderfully entertaining and you're about to unlock a whole lot more fun rewards. Stay tuned for details."

"That's a bit vague."

Cyrus answered at his normal volume. "Something to worry about tomorrow. Tonight you have enough to celebrate." His voice changed to sound like John Candy and he added, "You had to win. You see, you've made winning your whole life, and when you make winning your whole life, you have to keep on winning or you die a loser."

I chuckled. "Cool Runnings. Great movie. That was a pretty good adaptation until that last line."

"Winning in sports is one thing, even in that insane bobsledding race, which I approve of 100%, by the way. Winning in this game means living and thriving and growing strong enough to save an entire world."

"I'm glad we won," I agreed, although the reminder of how high the stakes were resting on us made me feel tired again. When was the last time I'd slept?

"You won, and you won with style. You refuse to do anything the easy way."

"Don't want you to get bored."

"Indeed not, and I appreciate it. Enjoy your loot."

That made me smile even wider. I scanned my achievements. The tons of zombie kill notices made me happy. Just 10 days ago, the sight of a single zombie filled me with terror. Now I'd mowed them down like undead weeds.

They might still be around a dozen levels higher than me, but I'd gained so much power, I no longer feared them. It also looked like I got no experience from zombies any more. Still annoying. So I focused on the more interesting achievements, and I got quite a few.

"Congratulations, Lucas! For for immersing your mind into a tier-2 intergalactic rune matrix and escaping without melting your brain, you receive a platinum Xavier loot box."

That hadn't been the smartest thing I'd ever done. I was just glad I'd escaped before suffering long-term damage.

"I figured that had to be at least tier-1 script."

Cyrus chuckled. "It started as an even higher-tiered matrix, actually, but was downgraded to work on this planet. You're very very lucky to have survived that little glimpse."

I'd come even closer to dying than I'd realized. Of all of the dangers I'd faced that night, I hadn't expected a rune script to pose the gravest threat. The loot box contained 2 scrolls and a familiar leather tome. Sweet!

"Upgrade scroll. Plus 3 levels in Runesmithing. Plus 1 level in Meditation."

"Varrik's Beginner Runes Part Three. Common. The third installment in Eldira Varrik's popular rune course, this tome introduces the budding runesmith to intermediate concepts that open new horizons in accessing power beyond your limits."

As soon as I focused on the leather tome that was identical to the other two I'd already consumed, another flood of information stabbed into my eyes from golden beams formed from the letters pouring off every page. I clutched the railing next to me as pure knowledge poured into my mind, linking pieces of the complex runes I'd seen in ways that made them far more accessible.

I was still a long way from attempting any of the rune scripts that Noctarus had used, but I was making huge strides. Runes made sense, and those rune course books were like inhaling a 3-month intensive coding workshop in about 10 seconds. Such a rush!

The final scroll was fancier, with gilded edges and gold writing. It looked familiar, and I willed it open with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Ability Evolution scroll. Despite beginning your study of mana and runes only recently, you have progressed at an epic rate. For pushing your abilities to at least level 20 and exposing your mind to such advanced runes that you stretched your tier-1 mind to its limits, you have unlocked another ability evolution. Plus 20% efficiency to all stats."

"Tier-0 Mana Sense, Mana Manipulation, and Mana Fusion combine to evolve to the Tier-1 ability Mana Control."

"Mana Control. Ability. Tier-1, Level 2. Uncommon. Gain an innate sense of all mana at or below your tier within visual range along with vastly improved abilities to manipulate that mana. Improvements include:"

"Mana efficiency. Tier-0 spells and abilities cost minimal mana to cast and result in double their previous power. Tier-1 spells and abilities cost 10% less per level with 10% more power and 10% reduced cooldown. Casting multiple spells simultaneously costs 15% less effort per level."

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"Mana domination. Control all tier-0 mana within a 3 yard radius per level, affecting all tier-0 spells or abilities in that sphere. Suppress available mana from enemies, amplify mana for allies, or convert to mana types of your choosing."

"Tier-0 Meditation evolves to Tier-1 Meditation, level 2."

"Meditation. Ability. Tier-1, Level 2. Uncommon. Plus 40 to Wisdom. Plus 10% to Wisdom, plus 5% to Intelligence per level."

"Merlin title upgraded to include: All new tier-1 mana abilities start at level 3. Mana Control and Meditation upgraded to level 3."

A rush of heat poured through me with a groundswell of new power as most of my tier-1 efficiencies rose by 20%. That meant most jumped from 40% to 60%. Intelligence jumped to 75%, but my stats that were already at 100% did not improve, like Life Points, Mana, or my resistances.

Yes! My second tier-1 ability evolution, with the upgrade to my efficiencies. That single upgrade unlocked nearly 50% more available tier-1 power. It might prove to be the biggest upgrade in raw power I'd seen so far. Finally! Those lower efficiencies had really hamstrung the extra power of my evolved tier.

I leaped back to my feet and vaulted out of the crow's nest. Laughing with pure delight, I descended to the deck on an acrobatic course of vaulting from yard arms, swinging from ropes, and somersaulting in between just because I could. Such a huge influx of energy left me giddy with strength.

I leaped off the ship to the dry lake bed, grasped the ship's keel in the center, and heaved the ship into the air. The huge vessel groaned in protest as rotted timbers creaked under the pressure. I barely felt the weight and set the ship down before it cracked in two. My handholds were bad, but with better ones, I could not only lift that ship, but throw it.

The ability upgrades settled over my mind like a warm weight and the world suddenly lit up with light as all the mana around me flared. I sensed it all, became one with all of it. The experience was wild, like I'd grown a ton of tiny feelers extending from my mind to all the mana within 18 feet of me. The mana farther out glowed clearly in my sight, but I couldn't feel it as well.

A heartbeat later, my vision returned to normal, but I could still sense the nearby mana. When I focused my intent, it all flared into view again. I also noticed that despite the huge one-time boost to Wisdom, I didn't feel much different. Then I realized what happened.

That boost was like locking in the bonuses I'd gotten from pushing my Meditation ability up to level 20 at tier-0. Every level of Meditation had given me 5% more Wisdom. Not those gains were made permanent before the new tier-1 ability reset at level 2. Huh. That was super cool.

I needed to test my new Mana Control ability. With that much control over nearby mana, how would it affect close-up fights? Of course, even if I could control the mana around me and any nearby opponents, it might not affect them until they used up their initial mana pool. Long fights might give me a decisive advantage as I denied them more mana to replenish their pools.

There had to be ways to leverage it, and so many questions buzzed through my mind. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and forced them aside. It could wait. I was too tired. I needed to think and process it all. I did have to ask another related question, though.

"Why didn't Noctarus use any of these new mana effects I just unlocked? He must have even more advanced mana abilities than me."

"He was limited to tier-0, remember?"

"So, if he had requested unlocking to tier-1 like Velexis had . . .?"

Cyrus chuckled. "Interesting question. Lucky for you that you killed his previous body. Unlocking his ultimate leviathan evolution gave him access to enormous physical attributes and regeneration as fast as werewolves, but at the cost of most of his necromantic powers and his potential. Otherwise, he might very well have requested the adjustment."

I hadn't realized he was regenerating that fast. That really was scary, but another thing Cyrus said caught my attention even more. "Potential. You mean he sacrificed his future growth as a necromancer?"

"Indeed I do. We discussed potential before, potential in treasures and in people. Noctarus is returning to his home world with perhaps enough power to turn the tied of their apocalypse and give his people hope, but at the cost of his future advancement."

"Huh. I hadn't realized it's possible to burn through Potential . . ."

I trailed off as the conversation we had after I survived Ashkaroth and unlocked my shadow mana channels with my Mephistoles title came to mind. Cyrus had said that drawing on power like my mana channels came with a price, including burning away future potential. Now I understood more of what that word meant, and my blood chilled with the potential consequences.

"Cyrus, have I damaged my own leveling when shadow mana channels activates?"

He hesitated before answering, as if sensing how nervous I felt. Finally he said, "Your title limits the use for a purpose, and both times it's triggered, you've suppressed it quickly. You haven't done any lasting harm to yourself, but use it with caution."

I breathed a sigh of relief, conflicted as I considered the situation. The title with those shadow mana channels drawing from my unlocked CHA stat had saved my life two or three times. Without it, I'd be dead, so future potential wouldn't matter. And yet, did I want to keep it, despite the danger it might pose to my own future? I wasn't sure it was possible to get rid of a title, had never imagined I might want to.

"So, why not just give me a scroll to unlock full Charisma. Then I won't have to worry about an unlocked stat."

"All in good time," Cyrus said.

I breathed in deep. I wouldn't let Cyrus annoy me now, not after surviving another death battle, and with loot boxes to open. The longer time went on, the more it seemed he never planned to unlock Charisma. Cyrus and his games!

I was alive, though. I could celebrate that. Noctarus had been insanely tough, and that was while still limited to tier-0. It was a sobering thought that despite how much stronger I'd grown, I still had such a long way to go. I'd evolved 2 abilities, though, and unlocked more efficiency, which equated to much more power. I needed to evolve more, and hopefully evolve some spells. Once I got my efficiency to 100%, I would crush Marisara and get us all a one-way trip back to Earth.

Still muddling it all over, I returned to my loot boxes. The platinum Lich King loot box for freeing Noctarus from his feeble old human form came next. It contained a single coin-shaped token with an old-fashioned clothes iron stamped on the front.

"Refresh token. Restore all weapons and gear currently equipped or in your inventory to pristine condition, removing all damage and cleansing back to their original states."

"Note: This item is fleeting. It must be used within 60 seconds, or will expire."

Huh. That was a really good piece of loot, but I'd never seen a fleeting item before. If only I got a dozen of those tokens. Could I buy more in the system store? Something to ask Jeeves.

I activated it, and the large silver coin flashed. A pulse of pure health coursed through me, like a Laundry Day potion on steroids. My clothing and armor quivered and just like that, all the zombie gore and blood disappeared.

My armor returned to perfect condition, and when I glanced in my inventory, everything looked totally repaired. Even monster weapons and gear I'd looted had repaired. With a grin, I re-equipped my Crash Test Dummy jacket, and the armored leather garment felt better than ever.

I noticed another cool thing in my inventory. My Treads of the Luscaan Explorers boots had evolved again, and the new addition to their defense made me grin.

"Absorbs kinetic energy from movement into a power boost charge available for use in combat."

"I'm really liking all these power boost options I've been getting. They've saved my bacon a few times."

"The greatest victories are not won by those expected to succeed but by those who defy their limits when the world is watching for them to fall," Cyrus said in a slightly accented voice, but I couldn't quite place it.

I frowned. "Huh. I don't recognize that quote."

"Of course you don't," Cyrus laughed. "It was said by Elarion Valebreaker, a famous gladiator and inspiring rebel tactician from the world of Thalrion. Kind of like Spartacus from your world, but 100 times more successful."

"He sounds like a beast. What tier is that world?"

Cyrus didn't respond, of course, so I returned to my achievements.

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