Serenity mowed his way through the ants that had gotten past him, then turned back to the front. Lancaster had kept them back, but there were a lot of ants there now.

He glanced up at the moth. If it weren’t there, this would be easier. If Moira were just able to see the way he could she could take out the ants before they got to the front -

“Augh! What the heck? That’s dark but - ack!” Moira had stopped attacking.

“Keep attacking! Kill the close ones first!” He couldn’t stop to check what was wrong with Moira. They had ants to kill.

The sixth wave didn’t arrive until the fifth was nearly dead. It was a mix of elements, but really the element didn’t seem to matter. Serenity had been burnt, shocked, frozen, stabbed, sliced, and he was pretty sure one ant had even tried to dissolve his arm. Nothing had been as nasty as the water bug attack.

[Shock resistance unlocked]

[Light resistance unlocked]

They’d finally cleared out all of the ants, beetles, and grasshoppers … but the moth was still up there, and Echo’s attacks didn’t seem to be doing much. Serenity was watching it in frustration when he saw a levin bolt zip by and hit its wing. It seemed to do a lot more damage than Echo’s attacks.

The moth chirped again and moved.

Another levin bolt went by. It missed, but only barely.

“A little more to the left!” Serenity turned to look at Moira.

“Ack! Don’t look at me, look at the moth! That’s the only way I can see it!” Moira yelled at Serenity.

“What?” Serenity stared at Moira for a moment, then turned back to look at the moth. If it helped, he’d look at the moth.

Another levin bolt zipped out. It missed worse, but then he felt Moira move up behind him and put her head on his shoulder, pressing her cheek against his. It wasn’t very comfortable, but she was only an inch shorter than him, so it wasn’t too bad.

The next levin bolt hit squarely on the midsection of the moth.

“That’s better. Much easier to aim, now.”

She had to literally be using his eyes.

After the moth tumbled to the ground, Moira stepped back from Serenity. “Can you turn that off? Double vision is a bit confusing.”

He wasn’t sure how he’d turned it on.

It took Serenity a few minutes, but eventually he tried just wanting her to not be able to see through his eyes. When she said that had worked, he felt slow. His only excuse was that he’d never let anyone see through his eyes before, and when he’d looked through the eyes of his undead it had been with the help of a Path skill. He’d assumed that whatever this was, it would be harder, not easier.

There wasn’t much to scavenge off the battlefield. The moth had a core - the sixth core they’d picked up from the insect level - but that and a few more beetle carapaces were all that seemed worthwhile.

Past the spot where the moth had been hidden was an alcove which held a pedestal, a crystal, and a sign. Serenity froze when he saw the floating crystal and closed his eyes. The more he could control himself, the better.

“Crystal for Serenity?” Lancaster asked when the others walked up. Serenity couldn’t see, but they must have agreed because only a moment later, Lancaster said “It’s yours.”

Serenity opened his eyes and stepped forward. This time, he didn’t have to hide. Echo and Lancaster already knew, Moira could guess and couldn’t betray him anyway … and if he couldn’t trust Rissa, what was the point anyway?

He reached out, took the crystal, and swallowed it. It was much faster than absorbing it through his skin.

[Tutorial Great Dungeon Level 1 Complete]

[100 XP awarded]

[100 Ev awarded]

[Ev diverted to Core progression]

[Exit Dungeon]

[Proceed to Level 2]

[Wait]

[Compatible Crystal Core material detected]

[Reinforce Core?]

Yes.

[Pleasure resistance increased]

Serenity swayed on his feet and tried to stay upright. He only realized he hadn’t succeeded when the wave of pleasure passed. That had been much more intense than a monster core.

It had been refreshing. He felt calmer, and more at peace with the world … until he opened his eyes to see everyone standing over him, looking concerned. “I guess I’d better sit down first, next time.”

He’d hoped that would make someone laugh, but it didn’t. At least no one told him there wouldn’t be a next time.

How much he was looking forward to the next time worried him a bit. Maybe he should use the slow way, even if it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Did it help?” Lancaster offered his hand to help Serenity stand.

Serenity pulled up his Status. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Good enough. Let’s check the chests.”

There were chests?

Serenity looked below the pedestal and saw that there were indeed two chests. He hadn’t even noticed them.

The chests held a metal-reinforced wooden shield and a breastplate reinforced with plates that looked like the beetles’ chitin. The chests didn’t look large enough to hold their contents, but Serenity knew that happened sometimes. The treasure was easy to split - the shield went to Serenity since he was the only person who could use it and the breastplate went to Lancaster.

They’d have to get Nightwitch to identify the items, but that should be easy.

Iron-Banded Oak Shield

Crafted from ordinary materials, this shield has been enchanted to bring it a small step above its origin.

Enchantments: Minor Durability (+5% damage capacity), Minor Self-Repair (Absorbs ambient mana to slowly repair damage)

Chitin Breastplate

Well-crafted from mana-enhanced materials, this breastplate will protect the wearer nearly as well as the chitin protected the monster it was grown by.

Enchantments: None

It was only midafteroon when they emerged from the dungeon. Serenity - and his armor - were still covered in whatever had been on the cave floor. He ought to go clean his armor and weapon and take a shower. He needed one.

He didn’t.

Serenity walked over to a nearby tree and sat down with his back against it.

Nothing made sense. This wasn’t at all what he’d expected when he’d decided to come back in time. Rissa was alive, yes, but she wasn’t with him anymore. He was somehow important to the Tutorial instead. He had a follower who could see through his eyes. He was apparently not only a chimera, but some sort of strange chimera that ate dungeon crystals.

On top of that, his memories of the Final Reaper didn’t seem as clear as they had been. Details were fading. He could remember the overall structure, but bits and pieces just weren’t there when he looked. It was all small stuff so far, as far as he knew, but he didn’t know why it was happening. He still remembered Thomas’s past as well as he ever had. At least, he thought he did. Maybe it was normal memory loss? Memories don’t last forever.

Serenity closed his eyes and leaned back. He needed to relax, so he turned his thoughts to the dungeon crystal. All he could compare it to was the best massage he’d ever gotten. All of his tense muscles had felt looser, just for a moment, and he’d been at peace with the world. He took a deep breath and tried to recapture the feeling.

“Serenity?”

Serenity opened his eyes to see Rissa sitting, facing him.

“I feel like - I feel like I should apologize. I was - I struck out at you when you needed me, because I was scared.”

Serenity stared at Rissa. A few weeks before, he’d have given a lot to hear her say that. He deliberately decided not to alter his voice for her. “Are you going to do it again?”

Rissa flinched.

Serenity wanted to hug her, suddenly. He’d always found hugging to be comforting to women, and she looked sad. He couldn’t let that get to him, though. Even if he did want to hug her for other reasons, as well. She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met.

“I’ll try not to. At the least I won’t accuse you of killing Thomas.” Rissa pulled up a blade of grass and started twisting it. “That wasn’t fair. It was - I was the one who made you make that choice. I never gave you the chance for another option. I thought I was doing the right thing. I shouldn’t have told you what was going to happen. That never ends well.”

“It did. Macho was hurt and you weren’t.” Serenity couldn’t let that stand.

“And Thomas - no, I’m not accusing you. You’re a man much more suited to this new world than Thomas was, aren’t you?” The first blade of grass was an unrecognizable mess, and Rissa pulled up another.

“I’m not sure that’s true. I’m more powerful today, probably. But Thomas - Vengeance did very well for himself. He was more ruthless than I think I am, and that can be an asset. He wasn’t happy, but he was successful. I don’t know if I’ll be his equal, a couple decades from now. Maybe even a couple years. It depends.”

It was true. Vengeance had done very well; he’d been one of the top people from Earth. It was the only reason he’d survived Earth’s destruction.

Serenity had to somehow do better than that if he wanted to prevent Earth’s destruction. He didn’t know if he could, but he had to try.

“Vengeance?”

“The name I took, the first time through. After you died.” Serenity couldn’t remember if he’d told Rissa that or not. He was pretty sure he’d told the rest of the group, other than Moira. He couldn’t remember what he’d told Moira.

He was glad he wasn’t trying to tell lies. He was having enough trouble keeping the truth straight.

Rissa got up into a crouch, then launched herself at him. Serenity recognized what she was doing as something she called a “jump-hug”. She’d knocked Thomas over more than once.

Serenity caught her easily.

Rissa wrapped her arms around Serenity and squeezed. Her mouth was next to his ear, and he could clearly hear her. “I’m so sorry. I was afraid so I pushed you away. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Then or now. Please, please let me come back?”

There was only one thing Serenity could say to that. “I love you, Rissa.”

It was what Thomas would have said, but Serenity found that he meant it just as much as Thomas would have.

“I love you too, T-” Rissa stopped, then tried again. “I love you too, Serenity.”

Serenity hoped he hadn’t just made a big mistake, but for now, he could only be happy.

Name: Serenity

Species: Human Chimera (Altered Template)

Core: Connecting

(Unique when connected)

Progression: 87.3%

Features: 2/10

True

Crystal

Path: Paths Available

Level: 97 (460/980)

Tier: 0, 0/97 Spent

Path History: None

Condition: Healthy

Healing Available: Full

Mana: 830/830

Stamina: 850/850

Might: 75

Agility: 75

Phys: 75

Understanding: 73

Will: 77

Mind: 73

Perception: 75

Luck: 71 - 168%

Ev: 23

Resistances

Chemical: 137

Cold: 553 (53 active)

Curse: 263

Darkness: 277 (27 active)

Heat: 532

Light: 298

Pain: 1034 (34 active)

Pleasure: 23

Shock: 334

Sleep: 1

Unknown

Affinities

Death: 101.83%

Life: 14%

Mind: 30%

Arcane: 50%

Plasma: 42%

Liquid: 6%

Vapor: 14%

Solid: 17%

Energy: 40%

Void: 60%

Time: 15%

Space: 5%

Essence: 87.3%

Concepts

Death

Mind: 15%

Arcane: 78%

Plasma: 26%

Energy: 52%

Void: 25%

Time: 5%

Space: 20%

Essence: 2%

Aspects

Essence: Initiated

Unknown

Titles

Previous Supreme Existence

Altered Template

Named

Ghost in the System

Aspect Pathfinder

Coin

1 Etherium