Reid used the wall of the mountain to scrape lizard guts mostly off his arms. The corpse of Crinoptera was a mess of partially frozen, partially steaming remains. Its head was largely untouched, but the rest of it was haphazardly butchered down to ribs, spine, and tailbones. He'd left some potential meat there, but the majority was safely in his storage. Queens Vault was a massive storage space, and Reid was going to need even more of it once he started properly processing and cooking things. But there hand't been time for that, now. Heck, there wouldn't be enough time for Crinoptera's corpse to be picked at by scavengers, or for it to go to rot.

The timer for the tutorial's end was down to twenty-five minutes.

He pulled a basin full of lower-grade water from storage, and worked on getting the rest of the gunk off himself. His brain added to the list of amenities he took for granted as he worked. Brushes. Reid could really - REALLY - use a brush for what he was doing. As soon as he was mostly okay, Reid used a few remaining scraps of clean, undersized clothing as a towel before pulling back on a thin layer to keep out the bit of chill his weather resistance didn't dull for him. Then he started on his kit.

His storage ring was a near constant on his ring finger - just like the wedding band he emulated with it. Reid turned it between two fingers. The price for that bit of metal was the arduous task to put down every mole in the challenge dungeon, including that old, tired king. He hadn't known what to expect upon the quest's completion, but it gave him even more than he'd hoped for in the ring. That, and the King's Fang dagger, were the two first pieces of equipment he'd ever gotten from a quest or a challenge. Heck, Lycra and Win had gotten their own versions. He could vividly picture Lycra's wide, excited eyes showing off his rapid experimentation and understanding about how the thing worked, and what it could do. He remembered his own wonder at the shining silver band, and what it meant for his ability to survive. But Reid's ring had been with him now through the pitched battle to defend against the Vicipods, and his near-massacre of Belar's goons the moment he stepped into the tutorial, and some of the most demanding fights he'd ever undertaken. Each had earned its way into the dents and scratches on the simple silver band.

Marrow was... not in a state to be cleaned. Reid instead stowed what he could find from the armor, and hoped he might be able to salvage it. Another relic of his time in the warrens, Marrow had been with him for a long time, and kept him safe and live through his struggles. He hoped the Eggshell and Augestin's Scales - Lycra's and Win's armor - had protected them just as well. Or, honestly, he hoped they hadn't needed it. Win was suited to combat, and Lycra didn't seem intimidated by it - but that didn't mean he wanted either of them in harm's way. Or Hugo - but his royal friend was going to continue to get use out of the osteal armor, and that was unavoidable.

Reid's bone rock didn't need washing - mostly because he had to resummon one, and the new version of it was clean. Both that, and the mana compressor Nyx had guided him to, had come to Reid in the long fight against the Guinea Pigs. That fight also included a glider, of course, but its crash, and the loss of his bed, and his unfortunate landing spot were all better left squarely in the rearview mirror. What he would carry forward was how making the projectile and the aperture - and Battery Band, and Little Nap - had given Reid different perspectives on his skill. His crafting had truly grown, and seemed to only be continuing to improve as time and his experience progressed.

He brought forth one of his most recent creations next. Bonewall's outer portion was easy to clean because he could cause the shield to shed its outer layers. The inside was slightly more complicated. The shield was yet another example of necessity motivating Reid to push himself and generate new things. Heck, he should have had to create some sort of defensive object for himself far earlier in his journey - except he was too naive or sturdy to have the idea pop into his mind. Bonewall didn't come clean, but he got enough viscera off to move on to his final piece of kit.

Requiem's flanges dunked into the water, and the liquid sloshed as Reid spun the head of his mace. The weapon had been a near-constant companion ever since he'd made the thing. Lost and resummoned, it wasn't really the same mace he'd crafted back in Sanctuary, but at the same time it was. The head, and the shaft, and the grip had all slightly changed over time, but it was still Requiem - still his weapon. It had seen the salamanders defeated, and was only apart from Reid during his less-than-lucky encounter with Thad, and the subsequent time in captivity before the challenge dungeon. It was, without a doubt, core to what he had been able to do - everything he'd been able to do. So were the names on the handle. Reid's fingers swept over Toby, Walt, Danny, Lowell, Mark, Louis, Marlene, James, Hugo, Win, and Lycra. Sara and Susan. The reminder of the people he'd lost, and ones that might no longer be around. The ones he had to see again, and the family he was pushing himself for.

A bird called through the now-sunny, still cold skies. It flapped its wings, then dove down to the other side of the mountain. Reid watched it go, then looked back down at his mace, still spinning slowly in the water. He donned a lopsided grin.

His mace had six flanges, and at this angle, it looked quite a bit like the diagram of his metaspaces. Reid moved his hand down the grip, until he was next to Sara and Susan again - and he added another name.

NYX

Where would he be without her? Besides probably dead or half-useless because he messed up his growth and evolution - he would never have made it this far. His understanding of his skills, and his metaspaces, his internal self and so many more things were only possible because of her. Today, Crinoptera, was possible because she was here, helping Reid along. Every step of the way, she selflessly gave her knowledge and her very energy to better him.

She was family. The older sister he never had. And she was swelling with emotion.

"Reid - I, thank you. To be right next to Sara and Susan, I... I know how much that means."

Reid took a breath through his nose and lifted his head to the sky. "And you know I mean it. Nyx, I appreciate you, and you're the only reason I've gotten this far, and you're family to me. And - I was just thinking about where I would be without you, and the truth is - I'd be dead. Not 'I wouldn't have won this fight or that fight against a beast', but I would be a stone corpse sitting back on Earth. No growth, no change, just me and the big red lizard stuck there for eternity. So, yeah. I've said it before. I'm going to say it again. Thank you."

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"You have that wrong, Reid. You're the reason we've gotten this far. Without you, I would've been stuck, no sense of myself, trapped and completely unable to get out. I'm here - I'm ME again - because somehow, I ended up tied to you. You petrifying yourself? That let me break free. I was only able to wake you up because you didn't give up, and I came back after that because you killed the mole king. We both made it to now, because you were tough enough and skilled enough to take on the absolutely ludicrous challenge of making it through F grade in the shortened time after I failed you on your first evolution. I have hands again, and I can think clearer, because you are relentless. And I've enjoyed nearly every minute of it, because you're a good person."

Reid let out a contemplative 'huh', and they both sat in silence for a minute. Bloodstained water dripped off Requiem and down onto the mountain stone. He'd always considered their relationship to be quite lopsided when it came to benefit, but it seemed like Nyx thought of things in the opposite direction. She was wrong, of course, but he didn't have the right words to tell her that in a way that wouldn't sound curt. Without something to add, he decided to poke at her statement.

"What do you mean, 'nearly' every minute?"

He felt the warmth coming from Nyx change as she took his lead. "Oh, well, there's the times your ears don't work, and you haul off on some half-cocked idea or completely ignore my sage wisdom. Plus, your cooking is not great. I can taste what you taste, Reid, and I do not understand how you suffer through such bland meals." Reid let out a mock gasp. "Norton's food is the exception, of course, but really. And - AND - there's the complete lack of respect for good, proper, and scientific names. I mean, really - Mana Turbo Charger? BRock? Sure, Requiem was a great name, but the rest-"

Reid donned a lopsided smile, and made a change.

You have renamed [Brock] to [Marrowbomb].

"Woah, hey, don't do that - I was messing around."

Reid's smile turned into a chuckle, and he spoke while he summoned a rag and dried the last bits of moisture off his recently cleaned kit. "I know you are. That name kinda felt right when I first did it. Now, not so much. Marrowbomb is a pretty cool name itself." His hand moved in spiraling circles around bonewall's inner face. "Nyx, what happens now? What comes after tutorials? Am I going to see Hugo and everyone again? Am I going to see Lycra?"

She answered after a moment's hesitation. "You won't come back out in the same spot, Reid. Not the same as them, and not the same one you entered from. If you're lucky, we'll come out close to their beacon. Lycra isn't on the same timeframe - tutorials are supposed to take longer than this. As for what comes after tutorials - it's more beasts, and fighting people. They call them domain quests. Normally, that's people fresh out of tutorials fighting beasts that have leveled up to be a serious challenge in their absence, and had time to take over the local landscape. You take the land back - hence domain quest. I'm not certain what things are going to look like with Belar on planet, though. We're just going to have to find out for ourselves."

"But, what about after that? How do I get off Vuxarina? How do I get back to Earth?"

"That'll come, I promise. There's more than one way, home, Reid. We just have to find the right one, at the right time, and I'll make sure you get it. But right now, savor the moment. You're here. You made it. That's worth everything, and you deserve to just rest for a minute."

Reid put a hand loosely around Bonewall, and held Requiem upside down in the other. He sat in his thin layer of clothing, and took a minute to breathe the cool air. His anxiety settled, replaced by surety. Whatever came next, it was just another challenge. He would see it done. He was going to keep pushing forward on his unique path home. He was going to take Lycra to Earth, and see his wife and daughter again.

As the timer ticked low towards the tutorial's end, Reid did something he hadn't done in a long while.

STATUS

Name: Local Lord Ser Reid Oliver Calderwall [Serroc] Affiliation: "The Osteal Empire" [Hidden] Race: Human [Vuxarinan] Grade: E Level: 70 [Hidden] Health: 5601 / 6300 Experience: 57,220,000 / 104,428,800

STATS: Constitution: 630 Dexterity: 630 Intelligence: 630 Perception: 630 Power: 630 Control: 1260 Stat Upgrade Points: ERROR

SKILLS: Strengthening [basic] Identify [basic] Weather Resistance [basic] Hardening [common] Darkvision [common] Warband [common] Calcification [uncommon] Gills [epic] Arcane Craftsman [rare] Arcane Wings [legendary] Accelerated Growth [Undefined] (.85) Skill Upgrade Points: ERROR

ENHANCEMENTS: Osteal Smithing Journeyman (Calcification) Mana Compressor

RESISTANCES: Substances - Sedatives Active Skill Effects - (Targeted) Identify - (Partial + Falsification)

ACCOLADES:

Titles: [Local Lord, Honorary Knight] Achievements: [Pesticide II, Regicide II, Mercy Kill II, Challenger III, Lone Agent II, Magnanimous Leader II, Grade Jumper II, Early Founder, Venator X, Invulnerable V, True Balance II, True Arcana II, True Prowess II, Perfect Evolution II, Swamp Fiend, Equipment Specialist, Osteal Smithing Master, Traitsmith, Young Master, Meta-Mana Architect, Raptor, Arsenal, Sacrificial Srike II, Woodcutter, Sound Mind, Skill Manipulator, Disbelief, Marksman, Covert Combatant, Domineer, Undaunted, Heroic, Magehunter, Apex Slayer, Decapitation, Young Grand Master, Grand Osteal Smith, Bulwark, Arcane Irony, Desolate Warrior II, The Best Defense, True Alignment, Metaspace Savant, Delegator, Total Victory, Merciless, Goliath Breaker, Dangerous Pause, Full Boost, Extraordinary Velocity, Apex Predator, Beast Lord Butcher, Tutorial Completionist, Wandering Warrior, Solitary]

RESTRICTED:

???: UNAVAILABLE

03S.... 02S... 01S... 00S

Reid's vision lurched for a fraction of a second. He blinked away a blinding white, and laid eyes on his unfamiliar surroundings.

NOTICE: Questline Assigned: Domain Wars

WARNING: PLANETARY CASCADE COMMENCING

Directly above Reid, impossibly grey clouds seemed to appear in a ball, then shot out at incredible speeds beyond where his eye could follow. A series of cracking strikes boomed out in all directions, followed by a downpour of heavy, empowered water.

"Well, that could be a problem."

Reid watched the familiar signs of a difficulty increase materialize around him on a planet-wide scale, and rolled his neck.

"Nah. We got this."

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