I go back to Mystix and, once the dings reside, return to the cave to relax with Francis. He’s really getting good at wood carvings lately. Today he’s finished a whole big self-portrait of sorts, only it’s just his face, and it’s also six feet tall.

A little unnerving, yet a great artistic expression.

“I wish I could save this thing,” he says. “Oh well, I guess it is the ephemeral nature of art to be slowly lost to time.”

“I have [Inventory Slots] open. We can take it to the future.”

He looks at me. “Oh well,” he repeats. “Ephemeral nature.”

“Anyway, I’m back. I’m ready.”

Francis’s calm demeanor vanishes instantly. That is to say, he is intensely excited now.

“You’re going to do it,” he says.

“Indeed.”

“...Oh my God.”

“Yes.”

We’re both giddy to the point of extreme emotional excess, and bothy trying to do our best to hide that fact openly despite the fact we can feel each other’s emotions near-perfectly.

That’s just the way couples act sometimes.

“I’m level 200,” I say. “And the icon started flashing as soon as I leveled-up.”

“No special stipulations or last-second wrenches thrown your way?” he asks.

“Well, actually, yes,” I explain. “Ranking up has three special requirements: First, I must have drawn at least 10,000 Destiny Cards. I passed that long ago. Second, I must have defeated at least one Apex Creature. And third, my [Adventurer] final requirement, I must have explored at least 1,000 different new locations.”

“Those are extremely tough, dang.”

“They appear to be blocks to make sure that someone cannot simply level up to the maximum by nefarious cheap means.”

“You mean like playing Minecraft.”

“Exactly. They are steep requirement. But I passed them an extremely long time ago.”

“Thanks to being totally awesome!”

“Indeed, indeed. I am totally awesome. And now I will become the first S-Rank Hero in--” I was about to say a millennium, like I always do. But that seems to no longer be the case here in prehistoric Mystix. “I guess, actually, I will become the first S-Rank Hero. Ever.”

It takes a while for the gravity of such a title to sink in.

The weight of honor and responsibility baring down on me.

It almost makes me want to hold off, to admit that this foolish quest for power and prominence was pretty foolish.

But that in itself is a highly foolish idea.

I will not abide it.

Here in this cave, having defeated the North Titan and given Mystix the magical energies it will need to evolve intelligent life, having traveled to Earth and given it the cataclysm it needs to evolve intelligent life, having survived and thrived against every challenge thrown at me from San Francisco to the Tomb of Eryk Solbourne to Mount Osore, having the willpower and gusto to achieve it, I am about to rank up to the ultimate power in all of Destiny’s reach.

10,000 Destiny Points I had to spend along this journey to level up from Rank F to Rank S, not even counting the Destiny Points I spent on Destiny Card draws. An entire lifetime of action, really.

All worth it for this moment now.

Here it goes.

Rank-Up activate.

Bright sparkles swirl around me. A cosmic galaxy of colors greet me--

And then it’s over.

It’s basically the exact same thing as all the other times I have leveled up over the years.

Underwhelming, to say the least.

That is, until I see the rewards I have gained as a result.

First off, I now have THIRTY Destiny Cards I can have on hand at any time.

This takes away almost all need for strategy. I can simply stock up on everything I need. And now, suddenly, Joe Biden’s immense power in our fight in Central Spire makes so much more sense.

And to go along with these Destiny cards, I am given 100,000 Life Points. No more ability to level up or increase my stats, but really, who cares?

And I am given four special abilities I will list to you now:

Choose Your Own Adventure: Select any card from your Destiny Deck and draw it. Full Inventory: Gain 5 permanent inventory slots. Genesis Power: [ERROR DETECTED, DESCRIPTION MISSING] No Drain: Your Life Points no longer drain except from combat damage and skills.

These are absolutely fantastic, phenomenal powers. With the ability to choose my own Destiny Cards, I have no need to level-up for healing anymore. I can simply draw [Major Heal] cards over and over whenever I need.

No Drain means I could retire to a long, healthy, nearly immortal life in the mountains and never have to worry about anything else. While the Full Inventory means I can maximize my Destiny Card slots to their full potential.

I have no clue what Genesis Power might be, and it seems that the Destiny Deck System itself is unclear. But for all intents and purposes, this does not appear to be anything for me to worry about, not for this current adventure. Maybe the next one.

My stats receive one final boost, never to change again:

Strength

612

Speed

117

Agility

99

Wisdom

720

Defense

350

Charm

157

Viscosity

77

Deftness

128

Charisma

413

Manners

37

Power

1025

Sturdiness

315

I’m more powerful than I could have possibly imagined.

“Y’know, I’m starting to think the postgame for the Destiny Deck System is a little poorly balanced,” Francis says.

“If I knew what you meant by those words, I would likely agree. But instead, I will merely say that Joe Biden is going to be absolutely devestated. Perhaps he too is an S-Rank Hero, but he doesn’t have the one thing I do--Time.”

Francis nods enthusiastically.

Oh, yes. I’m going to have hells of a lot of fun with this.