Once Soze highlighted the {Burning Rage} and {Tough Hide} Skill Crystals a new window popped up.

[YOU HAVE SELECTED...]

[1x {Burning Rage} SKILL CRYSTAL]

[3x {Tough Hide} SKILL CRYSTAL]

[1x {Monsterous Helm} ITEM]

[ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT THESE REWARDS?]

[YES] / [NO]

Soze confirmed his selection and the various menus collapsed into a small glowing light. After a moment the light moved to his chest before disappearing in a flash. Opening his inventory showed three slots were now being occupied.

"Okay, let's see what this thing looks like," he said as he pulled out the helm.

The Monsterous Helm was shaped like a bear skull. The jawbone was split at the chin and protected the sides of the wearer's face while a stretch of pelt hung from the back to cover the neck. Most notably, the bone had these strange engravings in it. There was no distinct pattern or symbols, just seemingly random lines and sharpened points that caused the skull to give off a menacing air; as if the inanimate bone was snarling at them.

Turning it over in his hands, Soze put it on. A leather lining made it surprisingly comfortable, and even though the helm was a bit on the heavy side it wasn't unbearable.

'Seems like the passive doesn't affect allies,' Soze said as the players around him continue to stare in mild awe at the new piece of headgear. Skills like [TAUNT] could affect players, so he had been concerned that the Helm's passive, which sounded indiscriminate from the description, would cause problems for groups of players. 'It's probably safe to assume that Burning Rage won't be an issue either. Speaking of which...'

Soze returned to his inventory and pulled out the Skill Crystals.

The Crystals were these smooth oval stones, each one glimmering as an uncountable number of facets reflected an ethereal light that came from within. The three {Tough Hide} Crystals were a pale blue and about two inches long, while the {Burning Rage} Crystal was almost twice that size and a deep purple.

Turning them over in his hands, a menu popped up.

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN {Tough Hide}?]

[TOUGH HIDE] Lv.1

(Passive) Increase Armor by 5% of END.

[LEARNING THIS SKILL WILL COST (3) ABILITY POINTS]

[YES] / [NO]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN {Burning Rage}?]

[BURNING RAGE] Lv.1

(Active Cost: 50 SP) The Unique Skill of The Monster. Letting out a mighty roar, any weaker creatures who hear it are stunned with [FEAR]. This Skill becomes more potent based on the amount of HP lost.

[LEARNING THIS SKILL WILL COST (5) ABILITY POINTS]

[YES] / [NO]

"That's a little disappointing."

"What?" Yang asked, still staring mesmerized by the Crystals.

"Learning Tough Hide costs 3 AP and Burning Rage costs 5."

Yang suddenly looked up at him, a look of shock and mild disgust on her face. "What!?"

"I know the Skills are good but that's expensive as hell!"

Yang's feelings and expression were shared by several other players. Although they knew that certain Skills had higher EXP costs and Ability Points to Master, no Skill had required more than a single AP to learn before now. Although there weren't that many alternatives at the moment, anyone who wanted these Skills had to consider the possibility of having three or five other Skills instead.

That isn't to say that none of the players around Soze didn't want them, but it certainly made the Crystals in Soze's hands seem far less enticing.

"Well, not like we can do anything about that." Soze turned to look at Yang. "You still want them?"

"Which one?"

"Both."

"WHAT?!"

Several players, including Yang, were stunned by Soze's offer.

Soze simply shrugged. "You, Alexx, and Zed did the most work taking that thing down. Zed let the damn thing escape so I'm probably not going to bother with him, and while I'll definitely give one of the Tough Hide Crystals to Alexx I don't think he'll be that interested in Burning Rage. Seems more like a Tank Skill than anything." Soze held out his hand, holding the blue and purple crystals. "So?"

At first, Yang didn't move, but after a moment she reached out and took the crystals from Soze. Although she was surprised by his offer, she wasn't about to turn down such generosity. Truth be told she was deeply interested in the [BURNING RAGE] Skill. Not only would it provide her with a new way to limit a target's movement, but it could also affect multiple targets with a single use which she currently couldn't do. She was also curious about how it would interact with [TAUNT].

If the debuffs from both of these Skills could be applied at the same time, then theoretically it would leave a target completely stationary. [ENRAGE] would force them to focus on and attack her, while [FEAR] would leave them unable to approach.

The high AP cost made her head ache, but between the Iron Ant siege and killing The Monster, Yang had over 150,000 EXP. She had been holding back on leveling up, and now was a perfect time to start spending.

"Okay, well if no one else needs me for anything, I'm going to go take a nap before tonight's meeting." Looking toward the sky, Soze could tell there were still a few hours left before sundown, before tonight's Pit Meeting. There would certainly be a lot to discuss, or at the very least a lot of people wanting to ask him questions, so he wanted to make sure he was as rested as possible before then.

Soze slowly climbed to his feet, grunting with pain and exertion. Even avoiding using his freshly healed arm, the rest of his body was stiff and sore to an extent that he hadn't felt in over a decade. He stumbled past one of the storage sheds as he made his way toward his shelter.

A few players tried to pester him as he left the Kitchen, but were stopped by Yang shouting at them. On his way back to his shelter he was greeted by almost everyone he passed. Some congratulated him for killing The Monster, others expressed concern after having seen him being carried into the village, and a few even stared at him jealously for the rewards they were certain he had received for his victory.

"How's your arm?"

Soze looked up to see Zed approaching from a different path, seemingly in a much better mood than earlier.

"In one piece, no thanks to you," he said with paper-thin spite. If Zed had just killed The Monster when he had the chance, before it had been named, today would be far less stressful for him.

Still, as annoyed as he was with Zed for having created such a dangerous situation, he couldn't be completely mad. No one had died, and it allowed them to get their first glimpse at Named Monster Rewards, which certainly benefited the village overall.

"Sorry about that, I just..." his voice trailed off as he failed to find the words to describe his behavior.

Soze paused as Zed spoke. He had never been able to understand the crazed fighter before, but even without [GOAT WHISPERER] he could tell that Zed was unusually bothered by the situation.

"...Why did you let it escape?"

"...I'd rather not talk about it. Not here at least."

"How about over a drink at my place?" Soze reached into his inventory and pulled out a clay jug, containing about a half-gallon of Apple Cider. "It's not as hard as I prefer, but it's better than water or juice."

"...Okay."

The two soon made it to Soze's shelter. The structure had started out as the most simplistic setup in the village, with one side not even having a wall. Soze had been used to worse sleeping conditions and wanted to make sure others had a decent place to sleep before he did, but once the village was more complete he made some improvements. Ironically, this gave him one of the nicer shelters available. It was a little shaky at times, but was taller and wider, with enough space for two people to sit in comfortably.

Soze crawled in first, settling down and grabbing a pair of wooden cups from his inventory. As Zed sat down Soze passed him some cider as he poured for himself.

"So what's going on with you?"

Zed took a long sip before letting out a sigh. "How old are you Soze?" he asked while staring into his cup.

Soze paused at the question. "About thirty. Why?" He sipped some cider, the tangy sweetness stung a cut on the inside of his mouth that the healers had missed, but it wouldn't stop him from drinking more.

"I was eighty-nine."

Soze lurched forward, coughing heavily as he processed what Zed had just told him.

Zed chuckled at his reaction. "Surprised?"

"Just a bit," Soze said once he caught his breath.

With Zed being such an oddity around the village, many players had speculated what he was like in reality, but him being three times older than Soze wasn't something he ever even considered, let alone expected.

"When you get that old, dying becomes something you just have to think about. The advancements in medicine over the last decade have done wonders, so I could function independently, but there are limits to the human body."

Soze nodded, having heard a lot of this when he was in the hospital. In Zed's case, while there were medicine and treatments that could slow or stop the decay that came with extreme age, the advancements brought about since the creation of the AetherGear had happened too quickly to help those who were already in the later stages of life. The human lifespan would probably grow for the coming generations, but for those living in the present, living past one hundred was still a somewhat rare occurrence.

"I always felt like I wasted my youth, but playing games with the AetherGear..." Soze leaned back and closed his eyes. "It gave me those years back, let me do unimaginable things. As long as I'm in here, I can do whatever I want, and I refuse to hold myself back for anything, or anyone."

"And this whole thing with the bear?" Soze asked quietly.

Zed opened his eyes and sighed. He sipped from his cup before realizing he had emptied too quickly. He held out the cup to Soze. "When it was about to die, it just...gave up. No, that's not right, it stood up. Not really trying to be intimidating, just not wanting to die in the dirt."

"Makes sense." Soze said as he topped off Zed's cup and started refilling his own. "The monsters we've seen with names have all been smarter than usual. It wouldn't be strange for this one to have a sense of pride."

"But it just accepted it. It was willing to let itself die...It just fucked with my head I guess."

"You're still worried about dying?" This surprised Soze. He understood the mentality from hearing about Zed's age, but his reckless and violent behavior in New Eden Online didn't match with that. "I thought you were treating this whole death game situation as a chance to die with some dignity."

Zed chuckled. "I don't really believe that. This place is still a game. Death won't be the end in here."

"What makes you so sure?"

He shrugged. "Call it a hunch."

Soze could see and feel the confidence Zed was giving off, but he didn't believe it. With nothing better than a hunch backing him up, Zed's belief seemed almost pitiful. Soze's understanding of his teammate shifted. He wasn't some battle-crazed adrenaline junkie, he was an old man worried about his mortality, who had probably gone slightly mad when what few plans he had in reality crumbled after he became trapped in NEO.

"So what about you?" Zed asked suddenly.

"What?"

"I might not be some social butterfly, but I can tell you've also got something on your mind. Tell me a story, kiddo," Zed said, putting emphasis on Soze's nickname for the younger players.

"Shut the hell up," Soze said while giving Zed a light kick. The two laughed for a moment before Soze started staring into his cup. He sighed. "Alright, I guess I'll talk."