As the ramtusk Malequint blew out its last breath, the ball of white light in its chest started to waver, before it suddenly shattered into a loose collection of hundreds of little wisps.

For a moment, the wisps just languished there, slowly drifting apart, but then dots of blue light came flying over from all around them. Each dot hit a different wisp, causing it to turn blue.

Rylan's eyes widened at the familiar scene of the wisps of blue energy streaming out of the beast's chest, where they started to coalesce. Glowing blue Cubes took form and dropped onto the glittering green stone, one after the other. A lot of them, though one stood out in particular, as it was roughly the size of Rylan's fist. A Decacube.

Rylan had been aware that it was Ethereon who rewarded the killing of Malequints with Cubes, he just hadn't realised they were actually made from the remnants of a Malequint's spirit.

It actually explained a lot.

However, for every question answered by Rylan's new vision, it seemed like ten new ones emerged because of it.

For example, why were the spirits of Quinthar neatly colour-coded based on what they were capable of, but was the colour of a Sapphire—or possibly even nascent Ruby—Grade Malequint's spirit white? Moreover, why was Arphin's yellow?

And then there were the religious implications. Did all beings' spirits fall apart like that upon their death? That would have some serious implications for the existence of Zenithia, the Spirit Vale where Soren expected to go after he died.

Then again, as far as Rylan knew, only Malequints produced Cubes upon their death...

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

《Congratulations on your successful completion of Champion's Dungeon AW. Please choose the Affinity you would like to—》

The hairs on the back of Rylan's neck rose as Ethereon cut off mid-sentence. Not again!

《External spirit modification detected on user. Adjusting initial projections. Calculating, please stand by.》

Rylan frowned. It didn't sound like anything was interfering this time, but rather, like Ethereon itself was thrown for a loop by something different about him. An external spirit modification? Is it... is it talking about the Blessing from Maris?

《External spirit modification deemed incompatible, user unfit to receive Champion Dungeon's reward. Apologies for the inconvenience. Please exit the Dungeon through the portal.》

As Ethereon spoke in a mildly apologetic tone, green stone shifted aside to allow a metal ring to glide up from below, violet light shimmering inside.

"What?" Rylan exclaimed as he took a step back from the portal. "No, I need that reward!"

《Request denied. User unfit to receive reward. Please exit the Dungeon through the—》

"Look, It's a matter of life and death, all right?" Rylan argued, lifting a snoring Arphin to point at the air in front of him, his heart beating in his throat. "I'm not leaving here without my reward!"

It was quiet for a moment.

《Administrator authority detected,》Ethereon finally said in its customary cool voice.《Request to override Affinity affixation safety measures registered. Potential risks include spiritual instability leading to a catatonic state, or death. Do you wish to proceed?》

Rylan swallowed, taken aback. "Ehm... how big are the odds of those side effects?"

《Insufficient data available. Calculation not possible. Do you wish to proceed?》

Damn it, Maris, what did you do to me?!

"Is it..." Rylan clenched his hands into fists, fighting an internal battle to spit out a question he kind of didn't want an answer to. "Is it an option to get just the canister of gasified Aetherium instead?"

《Query not understood. Do you wish to proceed?》

Rylan rubbed his temple. He got the distinct impression that if he were using the console right now, Ethereon would understand what he meant and might even be able to accommodate him. However, hearing how dispassionate and cold Ethereon's voice sounded right now, how much less like a person, it seemed unlikely that what he wanted would get through.

Rylan gritted his teeth, sheathing Arphin as he started to pace back and forth at a safe distance from the portal. "Ethereon, if I do die, or otherwise become unable to leave the Dungeon, will my body and all my possessions be returned to the basement, canister included?"

《In the event of death or incapacitation, all that remains of the challenger and their possessions will be deposited outside the Dungeon portal for processing, including any unused rewards,》Ethereon replied, seeming able to understand that query just fine.《Do you wish to proceed?》

Rylan stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. It sounded like he could either walk away empty-handed, or risk 'spiritual instability.'

If I do the former, we'll be running from Dreadmaw soon, and I'll probably have to witness several of my friends die as we try to make our way through the cloudsea, and possibly die myself. If I choose the latter, either I come out of here with an Affinity and the solution to all our problems... or I die, in order for Soren, Tammi, and the rest to live.

Rylan opened his eyes, feeling a calm wash over him. Really, when he thought about it like that, it wasn't much of a choice.

"Yes, I wish to proceed. Give me the Aetherium Affinity."

《Affirmative. Initiating Affinity affixation in three, two, one...》

Rylan flinched as he saw a flood of tiny pinpricks of blue light come streaming at him from all sides. At the same time, he felt the familiar sensation of a warm breeze coming at him.

Ah. So this is what causes that feeling.

He scrambled to lie down, just in case he lost consciousness during the process. His Mana Shell was rather empty, after all. With his back on the surprisingly warm stone, he took a shuddering breath and braced himself for the rapidly approaching blue pinpricks.

Of course, the tension in his muscles didn't matter in the slightest, and they flowed into him unimpeded. Glancing down, he saw them merge into his green spirit, where they dissolved into a strange heat.

At first, it felt quite nice, but the heat soon grew uncomfortable. He arched his back, letting out a hoarse cry as the sensation built into a searing pain.

《Critical error in Affinity affixation. Calculating. Spirit stabilisation will be attempted. Initiating blackout for pain management, in three, two, one...》

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The world went blissfully, blissfully dark.

Rylan came to feeling rather cosy. Something soft and warm was wrapped around him. His eyes fluttered open slowly, blinking in an attempt to dispel the darkness in his vision. However, it didn't really disappear; instead, the darkness resolved into a dim, foggy basement lit only by glowing portals.

[Boss, you're up!] Arphin sent enthusiastically. [Honestly, Boss, you take the strangest naps...]

'Don't worry about it,' Rylan replied groggily, still orienting himself. He tried to sit up, but found himself rather stuck, snugly wrapped in... a massive bloody hide?!

"Well well," Tamina said, causing him to turn his head and find her smiling, standing next to what looked to Rylan like a giant lump of raw meat. "The conquering hero finally wakes, huh? How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right... How long was I out?" he asked raspily.

"About five hours," Tamina replied. "I didn't want to risk moving you through the fog."

"I see... and is there a reason I'm wrapped in blood-soaked fur?"

She shrugged. "You were getting cold. Don't worry, I wrapped you in the outside of it. There shouldn't be too much blood on your clothes."

"Oh, good... Can you help me get out, please?"

Tamina snorted, but came over to help unwrap him.

As he tried to get to his feet, however, the world started to spin.

Tamina reached out to steady him as he swayed on his feet. "Woah there! You sure you're all right?"

"I think so? Wait, is that... is that the ramtusk Malequint I fought?!"

Tamina's smile widened. "Yeah, of course it is. What did you think it was?"

"I just hadn't gotten there yet," he replied, shaking his head. "Right, I won... and I got an Affinity! Didn't I? I don't feel any different..."

Glancing down at his own spirit, Rylan found it to still shine with an emerald hue.

"Well, yeah, you haven't absorbed any Aetherium yet," Tamina replied amusedly.

Right. He was getting way ahead of himself. Soren had said his bones would need to absorb a lot of the Affinity's associated Divine Metal before his Affinity was 'complete.' And even then, just having an Affinity wouldn't make him a Ruby-Grade Quinthar. That wouldn't happen until he learned how to make tinted mana and gained a Ruby-Grade Skill, which was supposed to be even harder than producing textured mana and gaining a Sapphire-Grade Skill.

"Ethereon really did a number on you, huh?" Tamina continued, studying him with a slight smile. "I guess that's what happens when you get an Affinity while you're just a little greenhorn, mister future-Ruby-Grade Quinthar."

She punched his shoulder, but so lightly that it was more like a tap.

Her good mood was infectious, and Rylan found himself smiling back, his eyes flicking down briefly to her lips. She kissed me before I entered... but that was in the heat of the moment, when it wasn't sure whether I would come back. Then again, there's a lot to celebrate now; I'm alive and... I did it! I saved—

His eyes widened as he whipped his head around, the little hoppers fluttering around in his stomach drowned out by a sudden surge of worry. "Wait, where are my things, where's the—"

"Don't worry," Tamina interrupted, gently turning him around and pointing at his backpack. "It's all right there; I wasn't about to let your canister float off."

[Don't worry, Boss, I kept an eye on her with your things!] Arphin said. [She didn't absorb any Cubes or anything!]

'Good job, Arphin,' Rylan praised, even though the thought of Tamina stealing from him had never even crossed his mind. He knelt down next to his backpack, and opened it up to find a hexagonal steel canister inside, along with a large collection of Cubes and a single, beautiful Decacube.

"It's smaller than I thought it would be," he mused as he reverently lifted the forearm-sized metal container holding their salvation. "The professor seemed to think it would work, though..."

Tamina's comment about it floating off began to make sense as he realised it was entirely weightless, just like Arphin. The concentrated Aetherium inside had to be making it so, because the outside didn't look like anything special.

"Then I'm sure it will work," Tamina said firmly. "I put your knives back in your belt as well, so if you're feeling well enough, I suggest you absorb those Cubes so we can get back and deliver the good news. People will have noticed we're missing by now." She hesitated. "Though the Decacube would be kind of a waste to absorb, so maybe you should keep that one. I know how badly you want to pay off your debt."

Shaking his head, Rylan put the canister back inside and stood up. "We need all of the Cubes. The mana emitter has to be powered."

Tamina pursed her lips, placing her hands on her hips. "Right, I forgot about that. I guess we'll just have to move quickly, and rely on Arphin to warn us if anything is attracted to them."

"Also," Rylan added, pulling out his cleaver and smacking his lips. "There's no way we're leaving without some of this meat. Tell me, have you ever had braised pork ribs?"

Tamina smiled before exaggeratedly rolling her eyes. "Fiiine. I guess they can wait a bit longer."

Hacking through the ramtusk's ribs turned out to be impossible, due to the large amount of deepmetal they were infused with, so Rylan settled for carving out a nice cut of loin instead. Though he may have gone a bit overboard with the size of it.

He then used the small fog condenser from his backpack to carefully wash the sand and dirt off the thick hide Tamina had previously liberated from the beast, and proceeded to use it to wrap the massive slab of meat into a bulky package.

Then they set off. Arphin soon started rattling on about the awesome fight they'd had, and how amazing Rylan's plan to weaponise Recall had been, until Rylan gently reminded him to pay attention.

It only happened a few more times after that.

Rylan half expected some Malequint to come running or swimming at them through the fog, attracted by the Cubes or the meat, but to his relief, none came, and they made it back to camp unscathed.

They caught the crew at breakfast, where Yuel was the first to spot them, jumping up from his seat to point dramatically. "They're back!" he cried with his mouth half full.

Soren was on his feet even before Yuel finished spitting rice congee over Nazyr's lap. Relief warred with anger on his face as he rushed over. "Ryles, Tammi! Where were you guys?!"

The rest of the crew was not long behind him, their expressions ranging from stern to exuberant.

Rylan held up his hands placatingly. "We, ehm, we visited the Dungeons. There was something I needed to do. I did leave a letter beneath my pillow, actually... didn't you find it?"

"Beneath... why would I look there?" Soren sputtered.

Isai worked his way to the front, pushing the much larger Halloth aside with a bony elbow to the gut. "You... you didn't actually do it, did you?"

"He did," Tamina confirmed, putting down the hide full of meat she was carrying with a grunt. "Rylan conquered the Champion's Dungeon... and brought back a prize."

Rylan swung his backpack around to the ground, excited fingers fumbling with the cord as he opened it up, and pulled out the canister.

The captain sucked in a breath, seeming to recognise the item.

Rylan lifted it in front of him as he got back up. "I wanted to make up for what I did. What I caused. So... here."

He held it out in front of him. After a moment, Isai hesitantly accepted it. "Rylan, my boy... If I had known you were planning to go yourself..."

"I know. That's why I didn't tell you. Is it going to be enough though, professor? I had honestly expected the canister to be bigger..."

"Isai," Captain Hammermore broke in. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably! Unless young Rylan is playing an awful prank on me, this should be a canister of gasified Aetherium, created by the Hermeans. I've got work to do, but with this... we can leave!"

"Seriously?" Soren asked, his eyes wide. "So we can stop looking for Aetherium?"

"Well, you're free to keep going," Isai said with a shrug. "Just make sure you get back to the ship before we leave without you!"

"That's not..." Soren started, giving up with a shake of his head and glaring at Yuel and Nazyr for snickering at him.

"I've brought these as well," Rylan added, lifting his bag to show the professor its glowing contents. "For the mana emitter. I hope with this... I've made up for the trouble I caused." The last part, he directed straight at the captain.

A brief silence fell over the gathered people. The captain maintained her stern expression for a moment longer. Then her mouth blossomed into a shark-like grin.

"Three cheers for Thar Rylan!" Yuel exclaimed. "Hip hip!"

Rylan felt the blood rush to his cheeks, awfully self-conscious under the attention of the cheering former pirates. Still, he'd be hard-pressed to stop smiling, as hands reached out to pat him on the shoulder and ruffle his hair.

Ezra even gave him a firm handshake with his temporary prosthetic, which might've been painful if not for his refilled Mana Shell.

"All right, all right!" Captain Hammermore finally called over the hubbub. "Settle down, you sodding louts. Now, Thar Rylan here has done a very noble thing, and performed a feat that's definitely worth celebrating. But right now, there is still much to do, many preparations to make for our departure. So let's get to work to leave this spirits-forsaken place behind, for good!"

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