Chapter 79: Returning

The remaining days of their stay in the Thousand Boughs passed very differently from the beginning of the expedition.

Jet and Frey no longer moved through the forest like two newcomers carefully testing every unfamiliar monster they encountered.

Their week in the Beyond had given them experience that couldn’t be replicated inside training rooms, and the abilities they had recently unlocked pushed their hunting efficiency even further.

They traveled farther from the maintained routes each day, selected hunting grounds according to the tracks and territorial markings they found, and returned toward the safer regions only when their accumulated harvest made continuing unnecessarily risky.

Asura Arms quickly became one of Jet’s most useful tools, although he still had a long way to go before controlling them felt natural.

He stopped trying to force four separate attacks into every exchange and instead incorporated the additional limbs wherever they solved an immediate problem.

Against fast monsters, one manifested hand could restrain a limb while the Vorpal Blade finished the kill. Against larger creatures, the extra arms allowed him to maintain balance while attacking from angles that would normally require him to reposition.

Weapon Master continued helping in quieter ways.

The same mistake rarely survived many repetitions because Jet recognized inefficient grips, awkward transitions and wasted movements increasingly quickly, then corrected them through practice rather than receiving knowledge he hadn’t earned.

Frey’s improvement was just as noticeable. Vritra’s Coil had become more dangerous now that blocking an attack could serve another purpose besides defense.

He learned which monster attacks were worth attempting to capture and which were too powerful or awkward to risk containing merely for additional Calamity Mana.

Smaller portions of the Reservoir went toward explosive movement, sudden changes in direction or strengthening a sword strike, while larger discharges were reserved for situations where ending a fight quickly mattered more than preserving energy.

Total Discharge remained something he treated carefully after seeing what a full Reservoir had done to the forest, and Jet had absolutely no interest in standing anywhere near its path simply because Frey wanted another experiment.

Their hunts consequently became shorter.

A pack that might previously have required a prolonged battle could be broken apart once Vritra restrained the leading monsters and Jet entered the formation from another direction.

Creatures that relied on speed found themselves dealing with Frey’s sudden Calamity-assisted acceleration, while monsters whose durability allowed them to survive ordinary weapon strikes became opportunities for Jet to experiment with better applications of the Vorpal Blade and Asura Arms.

They didn’t emerge from every encounter untouched, but the number of situations in which they were forced into desperate improvisation steadily decreased.

Their growing confidence didn’t make them careless about the Thousand Boughs itself. The forest was too large, and the expedition with Adesewa’s Raid Team had already shown them how quickly the danger could change when stronger monsters entered an area.

Whenever they discovered tracks that didn’t match anything they recognized, unusually large territorial markings or stretches of forest that had become suspiciously empty, they changed direction rather than investigating for curiosity’s sake.

There was no reward in finding something capable of killing them simply to satisfy themselves that it existed.

They also stopped being complete strangers to the people operating in that portion of the Beyond.

Some encounters lasted only long enough to exchange information about monster movement or dangerous routes.

Others developed into temporary hunting arrangements when several Walkers were pursuing prey that was inconvenient for one group to handle alone. Jet and Frey fought beside a few small parties, shared campfires twice and exchanged contact information with several people they thought were worth remembering.

None of those relationships became deep enough to call genuine friendships yet, but familiarity accumulated quickly among people who repeatedly returned from the same dangerous forest.

By the end of the week, their faces had become recognizable around several of the routes feeding back toward Zenith Citadel. A few Walkers knew them as the two young 1-Stars who had joined Adesewa Afolayan’s temporary Raid Team, while others knew them simply from seeing Vritra’s enormous spectral Coils twisting between the trees during hunts.

Jet attracted less attention whenever he kept Asura Arms hidden, which he deliberately did around larger groups, but enough people had watched the pair fight that a modest reputation began forming around them.

It wasn’t fame, and neither of them treated it as such.

They were simply no longer anonymous newcomers.

On the final day of their expedition, the massive walls of Zenith Citadel eventually appeared through the trees ahead of them.

The familiar sight felt different after spending nearly a week moving between monster territories, temporary camps and hunting grounds. They passed through the entrance procedures without difficulty and joined the steady traffic moving through the Citadel, carrying the last physical materials they intended to sell.

Their previous transaction with Greyvault Exchange had already taught them which materials were worth hauling back and which weren’t worth occupying space, so this visit was considerably faster.

By the time their business was finished, the numbers were enough to leave both of them satisfied.

They had earned additional credits from the materials harvested during the remaining hunts, adding to the substantial amount already made from the Palladium expedition.

More importantly to Jet, their System Inventories contained a healthy collection of Monster Cores they had deliberately refused to sell. Some would eventually be absorbed, while others could be retained until they had a better understanding of what their Divine Runes needed.

After watching Asura advance from the Cores gathered during their first serious expedition, Jet had no intention of treating them as ordinary merchandise merely because they could be converted into money.

Frey leaned back in his chair after checking his own inventory again, looking considerably more pleased with the collection of Cores than he had been with the Citadel credits. "Considering we originally came here expecting three days of ordinary hunting, I’d say this trip got completely out of hand in the best possible way. We found an Origin Treasure, joined a Raid Team, nearly got flattened by monsters we had no business fighting alone, made enough money to justify the entire expedition and both came away with new Rune abilities."

Jet sat across from him and glanced through his own inventory one final time before dismissing the panel. "You left out signing a System contract protecting a hidden Palladium Tree and destroying part of the forest because you wanted to know what happened when you emptied a full Reservoir."

Frey considered that accusation for a moment before giving a completely unapologetic shrug. "The forest survived, and now we know what Total Discharge does. I consider that responsible experimentation."

Jet looked at him long enough to make his opinion clear without arguing further. Their expedition had stretched to a full week, and regardless of how profitable the Thousand Boughs had become, they had responsibilities on Earth and another half of their progression cycle waiting for them.

Their original routine had never been to remain in the Beyond indefinitely. Time here was supposed to develop their Divine Runes and provide Monster Cores, while Earth Dungeons supplied the Mana Crystals needed for their Star progression.

"We’ve already spent the week here, so we’re done for now," Jet said as he rested his forearms on the table. "We’ll return to Earth today, take three days to recover properly, and meet again after that. No Beyond hunts and no Dungeon raids during those three days. We need actual recovery before we start pushing our Star Saturation again."

Frey didn’t argue, which told Jet how tired he actually was beneath the usual attitude. "Three days sounds reasonable. I need sleep, food that didn’t come from a Citadel kitchen, and enough time for my body to stop reminding me about everything you hit me with during that spar. After that, we go back to Dungeons."

Their decision made, there was little reason to remain inside Zenith.

They collected the equipment they had stored, checked that nothing important had been left behind and eventually passed through the Citadel gates once more. Neither headed toward another hunting ground.

Instead, they followed one of the established routes into the Thousand Boughs before gradually moving away from regular traffic, searching for somewhere isolated enough to leave without attracting unnecessary attention.

It took time before Jet found a suitable location between several enormous trees whose interlocking roots created a natural hollow hidden from the nearest trail.

Frey checked the surrounding area while Jet examined the ground for recent tracks, and only after both were satisfied that no Walkers or monsters were nearby did they finally stop.

For a moment, Jet looked through the trees at the forest they had spent the past week exploring.

Their first serious Beyond expedition had begun as a simple three-day hunt.

They were leaving with Citadel credits, Monster Cores, Palladium Fruits, new contacts, practical experience, a Red Seal protecting one of the most valuable discoveries they had encountered and significant developments to both of their Divine Runes.

It was far more than either of them had expected when they entered the Thousand Boughs.

Frey adjusted the straps on his equipment and looked toward Jet. "Three days. After that, I’m picking the first Dungeon because your definition of a reasonable hunting trip has officially lost all credibility."

Jet gave him a flat look while reaching for the connection that had remained quietly present since they established their return point. "You were the one who agreed to join twenty-seven strangers chasing an Origin Treasure, so you’re not getting control of the story now."

Frey laughed as both of them activated their Beyond Anchors.

The response came immediately.

The connection to Earth strengthened around them, and the forest began losing definition as the return process took hold. Their bodies gradually became translucent beneath the enormous trees, fading from the Thousand Boughs while the sounds of the forest grew increasingly distant.

A few seconds later, both figures disappeared completely.