Chapter 75: Quest Complete: Legendary Build 2/7

The Tablehold materialized around them in the familiar white surge of medallion travel, the sanctum’s dark water and starless void giving way to warm stone corridors and the low amber glow of wall-mounted torches.

After the Sanctum of Veils, the Tablehold felt almost ordinary in comparison, solid ground, visible ceiling. Vi released his shoulder and stepped forward, orienting herself in the main hall.

King was already moving toward Zauron’s corridor.

They crossed the hall together and followed the familiar route to the chamber at the end of the side passage. King pushed the door open without knocking.

The sight inside had not changed. Zauron sat in the same hunched position, the seven iron rods still embedded through his back.

He lifted his head as King and Vi entered. The effort it cost him was visible.

"You returned," Zauron said.

"Yes, I have" King replied.

He crossed the chamber and extended his right forearm, the seven rings sat coiled there. King worked them off his forearm one by one and held them out toward Zauron.

Zauron reached for them.

And a cutscene activated.

The moment the first ring touched Zauron’s fingers, the chamber responded. The chains connecting the iron rods to the great black ring snapped tight and then shuddered, the tension in them reversing direction as the ring’s drain stuttered and stalled.

Zauron received the first ring, what wrapped kings whole forearm was just the size of a normal ring to him. And then, the transfer began, power flowing back the way it had been flowing out, the channel reversing, the ring reconnecting to the source it had been stolen from.

Zauron pushed himself upright.

The second ring. The third. Each one he received fed directly into the reversal, the iron rods loosening their grip in his flesh as the rings restored the equilibrium the great ring required to function as an amplifier rather than a parasite.

By the fourth ring, Zauron was standing. By the sixth,he had recovered completely, the wounds sealing behind them with a faint glow.

He took the seventh ring and flexed his fingers.

Then he straightened to his full height.

Fifteen feet. The armor that had hung loose and broken across a withered frame now sat correctly, the cracked plates filling out as mass returned to the body beneath them. His eyes, dull and unfocused when they’d entered, burned again with the fierce clarity King remembered from the Second Woe. He rolled his neck and flexed both hands slowly, testing the restored connection.

He looked down at King.

"You have my gratitude," Zauron said. His voice had returned to the commanding register that made the air feel smaller. "Words are insufficient. So instead."

He extended his left hand, where two rings fixed on his fingers and held one toward King and one toward Vi.

The rings floated out of his fingers, hovering before both of them.

"One ring each," Zauron said. "Wear them well."

King accepted his ring. Vi stepped forward and took hers.

The cutscene released.

DING.

[QUEST COMPLETE: THE SEVEN RINGS OF POWER]

[REWARDS: +5,000 RUNES / +1 RING OF POWER (EPIC GRADE)]

Then the secondary prompt appeared immediately beneath.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

King selected the runes first.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[MODIFIER SELECTED: QUANTITY]

[CONFIRM?]

King selected yes.

[ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL]

[5,000 RUNES HAVE BEEN MULTIPLIED x100]

[ YOU HAVE RECEIVED 500,000 RUNES]

The number settled into his balance and King moved to the ring without pause. He selected quality.

[ACTIVATE GOD’S HAND: 100x REWARD SKILL. Y/N]

[MODIFIER SELECTED: QUALITY]

[RING OF POWER — EPIC GRADE → LEGENDARY GRADE]

DING.

[RING OF POWER UPGRADED: LEGENDARY GRADE]

King equipped the ring and closed the interface, his legendary build edging one step closer to completion. Vi was already examining hers, turning it over before sliding it onto her hand. She looked at King and he gave her a short nod toward the exit.

Zauron was already moving away from them, turning his attention inward, reacquainting himself with his own power after weeks of deprivation. He didn’t need an audience for it.

They left the chamber.

The main hall of the Tablehold was quiet as they re-entered it, the long corridor ahead empty except for the ambient torchlight and the faint echo of their footsteps. Vi was checking her interface, reviewing the ring’s stats as they walked.

Then King registered movement ahead.

A figure was crossing the far end of the hall, moving at a casual pace, hands in his pockets, head turning left and right as he took in the architecture with open curiosity. He was young, dark skin, a full afro with a natural shape, a goatee trimmed close to his jaw.

He wore loose fitted pants and a shirt that hung open at the collar, and a pair of goggles pushed up onto his forehead that had no obvious immediate utility. His entire bearing projected a man who had arrived somewhere interesting and was very pleased about it.

He noticed King the same moment King noticed him.

His entire face changed.

"Yo." He pointed, then pulled his hand back, visibly restraining himself from making it a bigger reaction than it already was. He walked toward them instead, closing the distance with a wide grin. "You’re King right?, the rank one."

"I am," King said.

"Man." The young man shook his head with genuine appreciation. "When your info dropped on that bounty list, I was heated. I was in the world chat telling people not to touch you. Like, let the man work." He laughed once. "I’m the Table Turner, by the way. TTT."

King recognized the name. He’d registered it in the world chat during the early days, the same username who had called him the GOAT in the stream chat the night he took down Voriel. And he’d also made it to the top 10.

"I remember," King said. "Thanks for that."

TTT waved it off. "Nah, nah. Real recognizes real." He glanced around the hall, taking in the Tablehold’s architecture with fresh appreciation. "But for real though, you being here could only mean one thing. You’re linked up with the Arcbearers." He looked back at King.

"Which means you probably watched the Omniscient Player back in the day. Because the only players who even know how valuable the arcbearers are, and how to get here are the ones who studied that guy’s streams front to back."

Vi turned slightly toward King. King turned slightly toward Vi. Their eyes met for exactly two seconds — the same thought moving between them without either of them speaking it — and Vi pressed her lips together against a smile she didn’t quite suppress.

King returned his attention to TTT without confirming or denying anything.

TTT caught the look between them and grinned wider. "Okay, okay. I see. None of my business." He raised both hands. "I respect it." He took a step back, already pivoting toward wherever he’d been heading before he spotted them. "Aye, I’ll catch you out there. Stay alive, rank one."

"You too," King said.

TTT turned and walked, disappearing down the far passage with the same easy stride he’d arrived with. King watched the corridor until the sound of his footsteps faded entirely.

Then he turned to Vi.

"Head back without me. I have one more stop."

Vi studied him for a moment. "Really?"

"Yeah."

She didn’t push for details. She produced her medallion, held it, and looked at him once more before activating it. White light consumed her and she was gone, leaving King alone in the hall.

He turned away from the main corridor and moved toward the side passage, the narrow one set at an angle between two larger doorways. The walls pressed close as he entered it, the torchlight thinning with each step deeper in.

The door at the end waited.

King reached for it.