21 Rise

I shifted sideways, my feet dragging on the ground. Where I stood, Althea clashed her upper limbs into the ground. Cracks ebbed from the dirt, her arms broken. I snapped a few potshots into her side before she swung an arm at me. I braced for the impact, and it slammed into my blocking arm.

A ringing, skin ripping impact raced through me. My vision flipped while I spiralled through the air. I flopped sideways, rolling on the ground. Pushing myself up, I spit out some blood from my mouth. The transmogrified Althea whipped her arms, straightening the bones out. She gurgled out in pain as her bones healed,

“I hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.”

I shook my head, “Ok, well it’s obvious you’re not all there just yet.”

Black veins crawled up the sides of her face, "This is no game."

Her head twitched, and she charged again. She slammed another hand at me from overhead. I leaned sideways, her arm scraping my shoulder spikes. Blood dripped down my shoulder as I hit her stomach. The flesh caved in, but she slung her other arm into my exposed side. I dragged on my feet, ribs breaking out like a chorus of screaming in my chest.

Blood spilled out from between my teeth. I grimaced as she came at me again. Instead of waiting, I charged at her. My fist clashed against her face, snapping bones and hurling her sideways. She growled out while trying to hit me again. I dipped under her attack, snapping two quick hooks into her side.

Blood sprayed over me, raining from her monstrous form. She howled out, “It hurts. Hurts. Pain.”

I glared up, “Good. Snap the hell out of it.”

She took a step back, her form rippling like waves in an ocean. I gave her some breathing room before her jaw opened wide. It kept sliding open, her neck exposing veins and shifting lungs. My eyes twitched as fear raced up my spine. My knees wobbled as she spread her arms towards me, viens springing to life in her exposed chest.

I activated Oppression, Torix well out of the aura’s range. Althea bellowed out in torment, her eyes bleeding, her form quivering. She slurred her speech, “So much pain. So much.”

I walked up, “You can stop it. Pull yourself together.”

Her jaw reattached to her head, so I stopped Oppression. Her open chest healed. She held up her arms before her eyes widened. She whipped her gargantuan limbs at me. Well out of range, the air whirled around her arms. Shaking my head, I put my hands on my hips. The animalistic, instinctual attack didn’t even account for range.

Tearing my nonchalance apart, a vibrant pain ripped through my chest. Several small spines slid through my armor. I took a step back, finding lances of bone having torn through my armored skin. I grabbed each lance, jerking them out before seething, “So you’re still in there, unless your monstrous half is where you get your good ideas.”

Althea heaved, “I...It’s over me.”

I narrowed my eyes, “For now.”

I got close, Oppression coming back on. She winced, exposing herself. I snapped a hook into her side then head, her body tearing at each hit. She stumbled back before I dashed forward. I slung my fist at her head, ripping and gouging out chunks of bone and skin. My next few strikes, she dodged by weaving her head.

A realization popped in my head at that. So far, each time she experienced pain, her sentient side avoided it. While I didn’t enjoy tearing her down like this, no other alternative presented itself. I kept the pressure high, bolting forward and hitting her anytime she exposed herself. As I hoped, she reacted and learned how to handle my basic punches.

The gorefest turned into a more tactical combat as I forced her to adapt. Each adaptation resulted in her mind coming back, piece by piece. In time, minutes of fighting turned to many minutes and then eventually hours. We created a meta of combat, each of us gaining different rotations for varying styles of strikes.

By the time she got her body back in order, I gaver he a begrudging grin, “You like fighting, huh?”

She sweat while dipping under one of my jabs, “I-I guess so.”

I parried one of her punches before giving her chest a kick. She followed the inertia of the attack, sliding back. She stared down at herself, her form reconstituted, “Hah...I did it. I can’t believe it.”

I stood back up, letting my hands fall to my sides, “See? You got this.”

She rubbed the sides of her face, “You know, I never had this happen before. The scientists told me I’d never have a chance at controlling myself without the sedatives.” She frowned at me, “Though the medicine was never this painful.”

I shrugged, “If I had a different way of doing this, I would, alright?”

She narrowed her eyes, “Hm...If you say so.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, “Look, here’s the thing, I need to get answers from you. I want to find some of my friends, and to make that happen, I have to satisfy that lich’s curiosity about this ritual and my armor.”

I turned a palm to her, “So start talking. Where did you come from?”

She leaned back, “I don’t know. I’ve always been in a lab until something happened to me. After that, I was, uhm, experimented on...I think.” She shivered, “So it’s like I was living a haze, a dream of some kind. This is one of the first times I’ve been fully awake since before the change.”

I rolled my hands, “You keep mentioning a change of some kind. Any idea what it was?”

Her eyes went distant, “I don’t know what it was, but I know that after it happened, things changed. After that, I started...turning. I had no problems before, but now...I can’t control myself.”

She peered off, grabbing her elbow. I raised my hand, “No, you’re wrong. You couldn’t control yourself. Look. You’re talking to me just fine right now.”

She looked up, blinking in surprise. I raised a fist, “Don’t sell yourself short. People will do that for you already.”

Her brow furrowed, “Huh. I guess you’re right. I, hm...If I keep myself together like this all the time, there’s all kinds of stuff I could go and do.” She smiled, staring at her hands, “I wouldn’t have to go back.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Wait a minute...You don’t want to go back?”

She took a step back, her body shivering again. She lifted her neck, and she rumbled, “I...It’s happening again.” She fought the energies in her head, the palpating, pulsing mana coursing through her, deforming her, muting her. She gawked into the distance, her eyes glazing over. Terror leaked into those eyes, tears welling in them.

She growled, “Do you think I can control this?”

Wanting her sane so I could find Michael and Kelsey, I stated with a voice like stone, “I know you can. You will.” I clanked my gauntlets together as she let out a low rumble. I growled back, “Alright then. Round two.”

She charged at me, her body swelling in size once more. I met her in the middle, and we collided like two bullets. As I pushed her shoulders, I forced her back. Though larger, she weighed less than me. I tried smothering her into the ground, but she strained while pushing me back, my feet dragging on the stone. She gripped on my shoulders so hard that my armor bent.

The metal squealed, and a deformed voice lurched, "Is this all the strength you have, weakling?"

I bent down while pulling her up, forcing her off her feet. I grunted while grabbing her shoulders. I slammed her into the ground, and the echo exploded outwards across the cavern. Before she could recover, I picked her up once more and slammed her into the other side of the ground. When I lifted her again, she pushed her feet against me.

Her heels pressed against my neck, prying her from my grip. She shot off me before rolling back onto her feet. I stepped towards her, my feet firm like pillars. Her eyes narrowed before she sprinted away towards a back wall. I smiled at that. She regained some control faster this time.

She ran into the wall but bounced off a barrier of mana. Torix waved a finger at her while staring at the runes, “You won’t break what remains of my son’s work. Stay in your playground, child.”

Althea’s monster half screamed at Torix, scrounging at him. I clomped my foot into the ground, throwing a chip of stone at her. It snapped into her face, grabbing her attention again. She peered at my feet, then a low clicking ebbed from her chest. She pounded a fist into the ground, grabbing rock chips and tossing them towards me.

When the rocks smashed into me, they crushed into powder, like bombs of dust. Unlike her bone spears, these left no mark on me, aside from a thick, brown cloud. Smothering me, the dense fog blinded me before she darted forward, fast as a speeding car.

She tackled me. My feet left the ground, and my vision blurred. Her flesh tore as she shapeshifted, and she got over me. Pinning me down, she clawed at my armor with long talons. Flashes of light brimmed from the cloud of dust as the claws scraped across my skin. Like fighting in a thunder soaked cloud, sparks rained from her gouging at my chest with sweeping strikes.

Desperation and panic flooded me. My helm ripped open with jagged teeth of armor. They clamped onto her thigh before I stabbed my hand into the stone. The tips of my gauntlets bent, but they dug several inches into the rock. With my fingernails peeled back in pain, I pulled myself sideways while jerking with my neck. I turned her off of me before scrambling on top of her once more.

I reared back my fist before hammering her face with my fist. Panic gushing in me, I clapped Althea’s head against the stone floor with savage, brutal blows. Her legs bent backwards, the tendons within them snapping. Like a human made of gelatin, her lower limbs coiled around my head before she pulled me down.

My head whiplashed against the ground, a hunk of her thigh within my helmet's teeth. Her spine broke backwards as she contorted, eerie and disgusting. Her eyes flashed black now as she grinned with long, sharp canines. She slithered her arms into the slit of my helmet as a deformed voice laughed.

Her arms squeezed into my helmet before covering my face. All of a sudden, I couldn't breath. The panic doubled as the flow of flesh reached my nose. I squirmed and writhed, pulling her off me, but she kept forcing more and more of her arms into my helmet. Pressure built on my nose and mouth. My lungs screamed for air as my struggling turned to a frenzy.

The slit of my armor chomped onto her limbs. She fell backwards, her arms severed. Needles formed inside my armor, mincing the goopy arm she forced into my helmet and nose. My armor indulged itself on the blood, soaking it in. Air rushed into my lungs as I breathed with blood smothering my face. My jaw slackened, and I gazed at the roof.

That terrified me.

Swallowing that fear, I turned towards Althea. She laid with her head against the stone floor, her arms gone. She hissed and gasped as blood retracted back into her wounds, regenerating her with a pace even I couldn't match. Within thirty seconds, her arms returned and she stood once more. She lay there heaving for a few minutes, her monstrous form retracting. She murmured,

“I’m sorry.”

My face turned cold, my helmet covering the stony expression. Not trusting her anymore, I stayed silent. She turned herself over, and a frigid silence passed over us. She raised a shaking hand,

"Uhm...What is that armor of yours?"

I stood, pushing my fear and pain down. I spoke with nonchalance,

"It eats monsters. That’s probably why it eats you."

She recoiled at my words, each of them landing like the strike of a whip. She frowned, “I wouldn’t have done, uhm, whatever that was if I could help it."

I glared at her, “You tried to strangle me with your arms.”

She pointed a finger at me, “And you bit them off.”

I closed my eyes, remembering the goal of this entire process. Taking a breath, I raised a hand, “Alright, I’ll let it go. Back to questioning. Where are you from?”

She stood herself up, “You tell me first.”

I raised my brow, “Huh...I’m from this planet.”

Althea peered around, “Is this a cave on the planet?”

“No. It’s a dungeon. I killed the monsters and boss here.”

She blinked at the runes on the walls, “It looks like it was busy.”

“Yeah, a little. Now answer my question.”

Althea met my eye, “This looks like an old dungeon. I thought this planet was a newly systemized world. It shouldn’t have had time for something like this to develop.”

I put my hands on my hips, “Every other dungeon wasn’t like this. They’re like what you’re describing. This, well, it’s a unique rift. I spawned here.”

She raised an eyebrow, her own curiosity peaked, “Oh, really? That must have been hard.”

Flashes of Baldag-Ruhl’s insects smothering me stormed in my mind. I shut them out while crossing my arms, “Yeah, a little. What about you?”

"I can’t remember anything before the lab, like I told you. I’ve never been to a world this young and green. Normally, even the most tame of forests hold creatures that move like walking mountains. Without a guild behind you, most cities are swallowed whole by those colossi."

My eyes widened, “So you’re telling me the monsters...They just keep growing?”

“I think so. The culling is hard, yeah, but being born in an aged world is like being born in a war zone. Education, training, all of that is necessary to even be independent."

“I’m guessing you came from one of these guilds, right?”

Althea’s face shook. She nodded, “I...Yeah. I think so. I don’t know what else could support...A lab-” A large canine expanded out of the side of her face. She retched out before I closed my eyes. This again. I opened them, and Althea grabbed the sides of her head. She squeezed while straining her face. She murmured,

“Ah...Stop. Not again.”

She wrestled with the demons under her skin, the internal struggle like a war waging. A few minutes passed, and the monsters within overwhelmed her. As they did, she growled out,

“Sorry.”

I cracked my neck, steeling myself, “No problem. It’s good if I Iet out some steam anyway.”

*****************************************************

We fought for several hours before our minds were so exhausted that we just ran into each other. Althea needed rest at some point, and she collapsed midway through one of our bouts. I carried her over towards Torix’s table, setting her down there. With nothing else to do, I walked over towards Torix.

The lich turned to me, crossing a robed leg over another, “Ah, I see you’ve finally exhausted her. I’ll assume you’re looking for somewhere to rest, perhaps? Such are the limits of a blood and flesh body, after all.”

I shook my head, “I want to read some books about mana. I want something basic, if you have it.”

Torix leaned back in his mana chair, his eyes flaring green. Shifting back to blue, he gave me a slow nod, “You know, you’re not normal.”

I furrowed my brow, “What? You’re telling me other people aren’t interested in magic?”

“Certainly they are, but I’m more specifically referring to the pace you set yourself at. You move from one activity to the next, on and on and on. Admirable, yes, but also destructive. It’s almost as if you’re running to escape something, perhaps time to think? It could be more productive than you’d first imagine.”

I put my fingertips against my temples, “Look, do you have the books or not?”

“Testy, aren’t you? That’s the lack of rest I’ll assume. I have many books on hand, including several classics on the matter. I’ll give you several for safekeeping, though do keep them undamaged. I’ll take any deterioration on the books as a personal slight.” Torix leaned closer, “And I’m certain you understand what that entails, correct?”

His glare piercing, I leaned back, “I do.”

“Good.” Torix whipped some books from his portal, “Here’s a few choice selections you may peruse from. I’d recommend brushing up on your fundamentals before attempting more advanced magic. Many magicians believe they may skip the elementary basics via practicing advanced methods.”

Torix scoffed, “It’s like trying to sprint before you can stand.”

I took a book, the runic glyphs in a different language. Melting in my eyes, the language molded into a visual of English. I pushed the book back, gaping at it, “What the hell? It changed shape?”

“Ah, your first book in a different language then? Schema has quite an advanced language algorithm at its disposal. Rely on it, and it shall save you more than a mere inkling of time.”

I turned to Torix, glad he kept giving me advice, “Thanks for the tips. And sorry for being snappy earlier. I’m just a bit on edge after the fights with Althea. Do you have any other tidbits on how to follow magic?”

“Certainly. Be prepared for advanced incantations and grafted series of thoughts. Coordinating those attempts will be the primary driver for converting your mind's power into actual sorcery. That, and reading.”

He waved me off. A bit confused yet excited nonetheless, I waved goodbye while stepping away. Peering at the ancient tome, its title read The Makings of Mastery. I opened the pages, beginning my journey into magical wonder. Turns out, magical reading was dry. Like, real dry. Within a few minutes of peering at its contents, my eyes glazed over.

The exciting pieces of magic stayed dormant, lying under a grim, expository surface. Taking the forefront, the canonical knowledge and philosophical preamble rambled on for over a hundred pages. Torix scribbled dozens of notes and thoughts on the margins too, the wizard having parsed the contents of this book long ago.

Finding no end to his notes, the lich’s mind relished in details where mine did not. Still, I kept my head down and trudged through. The book mentioned bits about mana and its nature. The primary focus dwelled on the conversion of mental energy into the physical. I took time here or there to exercise what the book explained, but the contents never worked out.

I met a wall when trying the book’s methods on myself. Esoteric and enigmatic, the book’s explanation of magic reminded me of using rocket science on a slingshot. Sure, you could calculate and analyze the trajectory of it all, but what was the point? Summoning a stream of red from my palm, it burned my hand. Closing my eyes, I felt out how mana flowed.

It was a sacrifice for me, one where I did the opposite of what the book described. It mentioned thoughts converting into mana, but I converted my actual body and blood into energy. Blood Magic explained all that. Torix lacked any books for Blood Magic, so I was on my own there. Despite the impracticalities, the book nested interesting tidbits in its haze of drudgery.

It examined the eldritchian mana, for instance. Ambient mana infected and contorted the will of the user, more like a hungry parasite than a fuel source. It carried an amalgamation of different minds, a primordial thought soup. This thought soup held chaotic properties, ones that few could master.

Peering at Althea sleeping on the table, that explained her lack of control. She struggled with dozens of different voices and motivations pulling her mind apart all the time. Her transformations stemmed from the eldritch energies’ untempered effects as well. They gave cause for her reformations.

Even with several hours of reading, the text never gave a source for Althea’s piercing, however. It was a mystery for another day, and the book detailed several historical mages that advanced the field of eldritch magic. They faced heretical accusations from Schema, and each one of them ended up isolated and alone.

And in time, none of them survived the effects of the magic.

They all died horrific deaths at the hands of their own experiments, oftentimes fates worse than death. A few even evolved into advanced level bosses. As I read these books and applied the knowledge to my own stream spell, I collected a few other skills. Mana Theory, Reading Comprehension, and Blood Magic Manipulation.

Finishing my reading, I found Althea stirring from her rest. She pulled herself up, and once cognizant, she panicked about her lack of armor once more. Memories of yesterday surfaced before she peered forward. Her head twitched, but she kept herself together. A claw expanded from one of her hands, but she willed it back under her skin.

Her face turned like steel, and she resolved herself. In that mindset, she stayed in control for ten full minutes, a new record. She succumbed once more, and I handled the situation by literally beating sense into her. The fights still dragged on, and I got used to her monstrous form and abilities.

At this point, I considered the bouts as spars, and I practiced against her. My fighting style honed down as minutes of fighting dragged on into hours. Althea’s focus unfolded, and she turned into a motivated machine. She wanted her monstrous half tamed, and she kept hammering away at it each time she regained control. It made our fights less terrifying as a whole.

Althea and I repeated this cycle of battle several times until she fell asleep against a mana barrier. Placing her back on the runic table, I stopped myself from staring at her before walking up to Torix. I turned a hand to him,

"Mind talking for a minute? I'm sure a break from staring at the wall would help."

Torix stared up at the ceiling, “Schema forbid it, I can only hope that is the case. What is it you wish to discuss?"

"Uhm, I just wanted to know more about the system and Schema. So like, why are dungeon cores so valuable? I mean, there's only so many perks that you can get. I don't understand why they’re so heavily sought after."

Torix spread his arms, "It's all a matter of circumstance and context. You’ve likely not hit this point already, but there are perks for every time you hit level one hundred with an attribute. Obviously, by the time most people reach that cusp of power, they've filled out their leveling perks. They won’t need the core's perk points because of that."

Torix put his fingertips together, "This is where the second utility of dungeon hearts comes into play. You see, perk points can be exchanged for attribute points. Dungeon cores grant perk points, and that gives attribute points when you have no more perks to allocate. Now, there are limits to this conversion. You may only absorb 1/4th your total level regarding core points.”

I raised a palm to Torix, “Ok...So let me just, uhm...Can I get an example?”

Torix created a visual example with magic, tiny streaks of dark mana serving as guides, “After you’ve unlocked all your perks, every ten levels will give you twelve attribute points. 20% more, in other words. Dungeon cores give another flat 25% more core points, for a total of 45% more total attribute points.”

I stared up, doing some mental math. I waved my hands, “So, if I wanted to know someone’s total attributes, I just take one and a half of their level total?”

Torix shrugged, “That is a suitable estimate. Remember that trees influence one’s attributes immensely. Regardless, this conversion makes dungeon cores hold innate value. This is further inflated due to the presence of fringe worlds."

A haunting suspicion leaked into my mind. I remembered Althea mentioning how the eldritch never stopped growing. Torix’s fire eyes narrowed while saying,

"Fringe worlds are planets at the very cusp of being overwhelmed by the eldritch. These worlds are often kept afloat by battle hungry heathens in need of a challenge. The natives of planets like this have no way of killing the creatures on their planets. They are born into a world with a hopelessly low level. So low, in fact, that they can't even leave the planet. They face extinction."

Torix whirled a hand around, "Anyone offering lower level creatures are a high value commodity in those places. Of course, you've seen that it takes well over level one hundred to fill out your perks. Even necromancers such as I cannot maintain summons of that level on a consistent basis. The cost benefit analysis simply doesn’t add up."

Torix gestured a hand to me, "And as you've seen, being level one hundred doesn't make you strong by any galactic metric. Leaving your new planet is an easy way of getting yourself slaughtered by roaming eldritch or criminals."

I grimaced, "Yeah. It sounds like a lose-lose situation."

Torix nodded, "Aptly put. Now, imagine a normal person who’s below the leveling curve. They'd be even worse off than you. They’ll see a stockpile of perks, but they lack the perk points to obtain them. Cores come into play for those individuals."

I nodded, "The orbs are pretty much 5 levels for people on those worlds. That’s harsh."

"Precisely. As you've no doubt noticed, Schema's way of doing things can be unforgiving. Speaking of unforgiving, how much energy have you gained from your conduit with Althea?"

I glanced at my menu screen, finding around a hundred thousand ambient mana absorbed. Notable, but by no means a ridiculous amount. I showed Torix that particular menu. After reading it, the ancient lich turned towards the wall once more,

"It shall take a few weeks before your armor transforms once more. That is an attainable goal as I parse through these runes."

“I’ll get it done.” Staring down, I remembered my friends and the chaos outside this cavern. I reached out a hand, “Torix, do you have any idea when you’ll be satisfied with this ritual? I need to find my people, and it doesn’t look like you’re going to be finished anytime soon.”

Torix turned in his dark chair, steepling his fingers, “Hm, that’s something that’s rather trying. I’ve gained no ground on the runes, and the actual ritual itself, from what you’ve described, is immensely dangerous. A split in dimensions? I’ve no means of controlling the releasing energies. It will destroy this dungeon and everything within it.”

Torix’s eyes flared, “It’s rather unfortunate, but I don’t know any method of controlling those volatile forces.”

I leaned down, biting my lip. At this rate, it’d be months before I found Michael or Kelsey, and with every passing moment, their chance of dying increased. Staying BloodHollow that long while the world devolved didn’t exactly suit me either. I dragged my hands down my face,

“Dammit.”

Torix stood upright, interlocking his hands behind himself, “I’m sorry, child, but I’m doing what I can. There are limits to even my magic. I can’t control that energy.”

Remembering my armor and how it absorbed Althea’s mana, I stood upright. I pointed at my chest, “But, maybe I can.”

Torix’s eyes flared a bright white, “You? Seriously?”

I frowned, “I mean, it’s just energy, right?”

“Well, that is certainly the crux of the issue, but I’ve no idea how you’d manage it.”

I gestured at myself, “I’ll just let my armor handle it.”

Torix leaned over me, “You...Containing interdimensional forces? Hah, what grounds do you have for that ability? A hunch, perhaps?”

Pointing behind me, I gestured a thumb back, “Althea and my armor eating the eldritch. If you think about it, my armor has taken in any energy we’ve thrown at it. I don’t see why this energy will be any different. Besides that, this armor is made of that same energy. It’s what Baldag-Ruhl used in the ritual.”

Torix tilted his head, considering my idea. He weighed some pros and cons before shaking his head, “It isn’t a particularly absurd proposition. Your demise shall be guaranteed, but I will simply die before being placed back into my phylactery...Gather more proof of your armor’s absorption abilities, and we shall see about this idea of yours.”

I grinned, “Thanks. I’ll go see what I can do.”

Torix sighed, “Bagh, perhaps I’ve gone senile over the years. It’s an insane proposition.” He sat back down on a forming blot of mana. He whirled back towards the wall, “Good luck with gathering your proof, should it even be possible.”

After leaving him to his study, I sat down and considered my armor for a while. It saved me a few times, being a reliable backup for sticky situations. It moved and shifted without my thought, but it even generated needles for mincing when I struggled breathing. Overall, it held many mysteries and abilities I couldn’t control.

Yet.

With that idea in mind, I attempted reforming my armor. I sat on the edge of a staggered step of the colosseum, taking a few breaths. After calming myself, I reached out towards my skin, the edge of the metal shell surrounding me. In a liquid moment, my armor smiled back at me, eerie yet inviting. I stilled a tiny wave of anxiety and fear, reaching out for more control.

My armor relinquished even more. Wielding it, I evoked one of its haunting smiles, a crimson aura leaking from the maw of my helm. Other forms of morphing proved impossible. Creating spikes on my knuckles, swords from the metal, or even just changing my shoulder spines took unfathomable amounts of willpower and attention.

The armor snapped right back onto me the moment I diverted my attention from it. I kept at it, however. I watched Althea struggle with her own mana and body, so I followed in those footsteps. From what I could tell, my armor couldn’t be removed. It was a part of me now, and like any other piece of myself, I wanted mastery over it.

Willing myself into a trance of effort and exhaustion, I pursued that goal in a relentless fashion. A few hours of this resulted in a skill.

Skill Unlocked! Dominion of the Mind | Level 1 - By conquering your mind, you better enact your will onto the world. This is the first step to mastery of magic, a path you’ll tread without fear. Dominion over thoughts increased by 1%.

I peered at the skill with confusion spread over my face. How molding my armor gave me mastery of my mind, well, it made no sense. Dwelling on that fact, I connected a few disparate points in my head. These connections gave me an explanation. They also explained why I felt magic rather than thought it.

Blood Magic. The simple perk meant that fully mastering my body extended my magical skill as well. In this case, my armor correlated well with my mana, so this served dual purposes: I gained armor abilities and magical ones too. After a few more hours of determined practice, cold sweat and an iron cloak of exhaustion weighed on me.

The armor manipulation spread me thin, the only easy part being peeling back my helmet off my face. Everything else proved arduous, but I kept tackling it. It made morphing my armor easier. I still couldn't manipulate the armor in combat, but this was the first step to making it really mine. In the end, manipulating my armor could and would evolve my fighting style from fierce to overwhelming.

Taking chewable bits at a time, I molded a bit of the armor on my back while I read. I combined that with keeping my helmet off my head. This well over doubled the required effort for either reading or morphing the armor, but I adjusted. Strengthening myself required moments like this, each second a slow crawl. I found motivation in those times, as they allowed me to prove myself.

I reminded myself of a simple fact - anyone could be strong when the going was easy; only a champion persevered when the going was hard. And it was hard. It fatigued me more than fighting. I practiced boxing before, but studying remained untrodden ground. I found a way to step onto that path, one step at a time.

The motivation and difficulty resulted in faster skill gains. With my focus fine tuned, time flowed like syrup as I studied. Seconds turned to minutes then eventually to hours. I took a break here or there to stretch or walk around, even down the rations Torix gave me. The vast majority of my time burned up in front of Torix’s books, however.

I marveled at the trance I found myself in. Focus, as a skill, leveled. My willpower gave me a reservoir to pull from. My desire for finding my friends helped me too. There even existed a piece of me wanting strength and standing over my situation. I abused every facet of those factors as I fell into the task with a fiery intent.

Giving me that valuable time, Althea needed sleep far more than I did. Controlling her body required everything she had, and she lacked my perk that halved sleep requirements. Not needing as much sleep, I worked throughout the night with Torix by my side. He never slept, being a lich and all.

When Althea awakened, I finished my first book on magic. Of course, I only comprehended some of the text’s contents. It gave me a few ideas for my next training session with Althea. She woke up, her eyes sharper than before. Lucidity stormed into her gaze, her control of her body becoming better.

Furthering that goal, I turned towards Torix, “Yo, Torix.”

He kept jotting notes down in an old journal as he said, “Yes?”

“Can you give Althea her weapons back?”

The necromancer shook his head and scoffed, “Why in Schema’s name would you want that?”

Althea pointed at me, “I get it. You want me to remember myself better?”

I gave her a thumbs up, “Bingo.”

She frowned, “What’s bingo?”

I peered back and forth, “Uh, a game of chance. When you win, you shout bingo.”

Her eyes lit up a little, “It sounds fun. Can I play it?”

I waved a hand, “Uh...Yeah, sure. I’ll play a round or two with you sometime, but only after you get a grip on your situation. The thing is, we’ve been fighting with our bare hands. You trained to fight with your weaponry. I think using it will help you keep yourself more ‘there’ during our fights.”

Torix raised his hand without glancing towards us. A portal appeared and dropped the harpoon gun and several traps at Althea’s feet. Torix shrugged, "Do avoid killing him if you’re able.”

Althea lifted the harpoon cannon, the kinetic bouncer heavy and hard. She frowned at it, “Uhm...I’ll try, sir.”

Torix cackled before peering at us, “Eh...He’d make a good corpse anyway."

I rolled my eyes, “Oh wow, thanks. It's good to know I'm useful."

Torix turned back to the runes, “That’s why you’re here.”

Althea picked up her harpoon cannon, optimizing the setup. I did the same, but by smashing some rocks under my foot. She grimaced at me, “The rocks. Blegh.”

I tossed one up, catching it with the swing of my hand, “Eh, if it works it works.”

She aimed the cannon at the ground, refamiliarizing herself with the process. This time she lacked an ambush for landing free shots. Of course, she wouldn't be aiming to immobilize me either. While polymorphed, she'd probably try to punch a hole through my forehead. Standing there, it was only a matter of time before she used those weapons against me.

Before we even fought, my plan showed gains. Twenty minutes passed while Althea toiled against her worse half. It got a hold of her arms first, but she fell onto the ground, rolling around in circles. Writhing there, she poured sweat and groaned while claws pierced out of her face and hands. In one way, it disgusted me. In another, it was inspiring.

In time, she turned, and so, our sparring began again. I moved with the jittery, shaking movements that threw her aim off. At the same time, I tossed rocks at her between my sliding steps. This left her frustrated and missing her shots. That combined with her transformed mind having a bit worse aim anyways.

She pinned harpoons into the wall a few times before howling out, "Stop moving and die."

I shot out another rock, the brittle stone breaking against the side of her cannon. The powder masked my approach as I shouted, “How about you actually aim?”

She narrowed her eyes along with the others across her skin. She fired another harpoon, ebbing another thunderous boom. The harpoon blasted into the ground in front of me, spraying rocks against my helm. I closed my eyes off reflex before another harpoon slammed straight through my throat.

The weight of the spear slung me backwards, knocking me onto the ground. Before another spear flew through my skull, I crossed my arms over my face. A spear lodged through my blocking arms and pinned them down beside me. Before I pulled the spears out, Althea threw the gun down and sprinted towards me.

I pulled my arms from the ground, the steel scraping against stone as I uprooted it. Sitting up, I pulled the spear from my arms with my feet. The flesh in my arms sloshed as I ripped the spear from me. Glancing up, Althea dashed towards me like a lion leaping towards her prey. Before she reached me, I stood up and pulled the spear from my neck.

I sidestepped her charge, sliding towards her right side. She lashed out her right arm, her fingers jutting long, white claws. I ducked under the limb while pushing the spear towards her chin. The metal slid straight through the bottom of her jaw. I angled it to prevent it from goring her head.

Losing control, Althea’s feet flew off the ground. Mine crushed into the floor. She flew backwards before flopping on the ground. I lifted my foot over her head, and she glared up with her engorged eyes. I stomped down, and she closed them. The spear on her chin tore deep into the ground, pinning her there.

I flopped backwards, sitting cross legged while peering at her. She stared at me, even her monster half stunned by the mercy. It soothed her enough that she arrested control of her body before pulling her chin out of the spear. She wiped blood off her mouth while murmuring,

“Uh...Thanks.”

I gave her a single nod, “No harm done.”

Althea peered around, “That, uhm, was a good fight. Sorry about the spears.”

I leaned back, supporting myself on my stiff arms, “It’s better than dealing with your body’s weaponry.” I shivered, “That’s the stuff of nightmares.”

She peered away, her face burning with embarrassment and shame. I lifted a brow, “Yo. What’s wrong?”

She swallowed, “It’s...It’s nothing. I just hate this, er, body I guess. It’s disgusting.”

I stared at the armored skin over my legs, “Hah, tell me about it. I’m not the biggest fan of this armor either, but I can’t pull it off.”

She frowned, “Really? It’s not exactly stylish or anything, but it's, you know...Practical.”

“Just say it.” I raised my hands, pretending I was menacing, “It’s oh so scary.”

She smiled, “It’s got nothing on me.”

I sighed, “Yeah, you got me there. The thing is, you’ve got all kinds of stuff you can do with that ability of yours. I mean, if you could control it, you may be able to transform into whatever you want. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Her brow furrowed, “Yeah. So far, this control thing has involved a lot of pain and hardship. I don’t think I’ll ever fully master-” She gestured to herself, “This.”

I stood myself up, “Eh, you never know.”

She frowned, “Where are you going?”

I waved a hand, “To go study. Let me know when you need me to knock some sense back into you.”

Her face gnarled up, “Uh...Let’s hope never.”

Jumping up the colosseum’s staggered steps, I pulled out one of Torix’s books while resting in a side cavern. I laid there, trying to understand more about sorcery as Torix's grumbling petered in. After a few minutes, Althea walked up to the ancient Lich. I listened to her echoes.

"Uhm, you’re Torix, right?"

"Indeed I am. You’re our captured scout whom Daniel is supposed to be interrogating, yet now you’ve taken the initiative to speak with me.” Torix spoke with an edge in his words, “Now why, exactly, would you do that?”

I peered out from my side cavern, finding her trying to be as small as possible, “I, uhm, just wanted to say hi. You know, make sure you’re doing alright.”

Torix deadpanned, “You’re bored, aren’t you?”

She blinked, “You could tell?”

Torix sighed before turning to her, “I’m immortal. I have dealt with boredom so often that even the smallest trace of it cannot escape my grasp. That’s partly why I’m here; it’s an interesting case study. Now, as for solving boredom, is there anything you’d like to do? Perhaps form a goal around?”

She frowned, “I guess I could beat Daniel?”

Torix turned a hand to her, “A worthy goal. You waited until he left, I'm assuming?"

"Not really. He went off to read or something."

"Hm, well then, let’s assess your starting position. Tell me, what kind of formal training have you had for battle, and what is your experience?"

She messed with her hands, "I went through simulations using someone’s obelisk a lot. That helped. I was sent here to get experience, so I don’t really have any, I guess."

"What did you do during those simulations? Gunning, I’d assume?"

"Yes."

"Use more of your marksman skills instead of your physical ones then. After all, no one may best all of their enemies in any manner. You must devise situations where your strengths may shine. For example, I would never fight that brute with my fists. Instead, I’d wield my magic, and Daniel would evaporate before he could so much as touch me."

I shivered for a second at the thought of fighting Torix, but I kept listening. Whether for me or not, Torix’s advice rang true. Althea shrugged, "I’d like too, but I run out of ammo before I can kill him. He’s too tough."

Torix raised a hand, "Ah, but that is where you work around your limitations. If I find myself fighting a berserker, I use my summons to buy me time for my rituals. It is a solution to one of my weaknesses as a mage. You must find a way of using ammo without having to use only metal rods.”

Torix spoke with zeal, “It is this process of eliminating one’s weaknesses that you may become a balanced fighter or even a balanced person in general. This isn’t to say you should neglect sharpening your strengths; it’s the opposite. Our strengths act as reflections of your weaknesses, so by balancing one, we may improve the other.”

Althea kept her gaze on the lich, “Thank you for letting me know."

Torix waved his hands, “Well, you are most certainly welcome. I for one enjoy expressing my knowledge to those that will listen to it. All of this being said, I do believe that my attention has diverted from the runes long enough. I’m on a timed schedule, you see.”

Althea smiled at the lich, “Yeah. I get it.” She turned around, taking a few steps towards the center of the cavern. She sat down and stayed motionless for a while. Before I went back to reading, she reached up her hands. She grimaced as the skin in the middle of her palms swelled up. An ivory spike gouged out of her palms, each of them a ruthless and effective tool for murder.

I grinned at the sight, this being the first time she controlled her reformations. Going back towards my own studies, I scrolled through a list of skills gained while fighting Althea. Prediction and Wrestling stuck out. If we kept fighting, I could obtain another unique skill. If I fused several low level skills into a single ability, then free tree points would rush in for Obliterator. Breakthroughs helped that process along too.

With that in mind, I stood and headed over towards Torix. I interrupted his studying, "Are there any common breakthroughs I could use for gaining my skills faster?"

Torix turned to me, his demeanor conveying gratitude at the interruption along with a measure of annoyance. Torix grappled with those contrasting emotions before siding with the former rather than the latter. He crossed his robed arms,

"Hmmmm. I suppose there are a few I know of. Is there any subject you're interested in?"

Taking a second, I looked through my skill list before mouthing, "I’m thinking...Dominion of the Mind."

Torix’s fire eyes narrowed, “Dominion of the Mind? Are you sure about that?”

I flipped the skill’s screen to him. Torix scoffed, “I can’t believe it. And here I have taken you for a talking brick. Who’d have guessed you were more cerebral than I first anticipated.”

I crossed my arms, “Wow, thanks a lot.”

Torix waved a hand, “My point is that this learning speed is much faster than I imagined. I thought you'd need to work your way through the texts I lent you then practice for weeks before you could gain this skill. I suppose your armor allows for an intrinsic learning of sorts.”

I pointed at my chest, “I think it’s Blood Magic, but that could be it too.”

Torix waved his hands, “Regardless of the cause, Dominion of the Mind is the first step for learning your mana type."

"Mana type?"

"Yes, there are three basic types of mana. Augmentation, dominion, and origin. Those types correspond to different personalities and skill sets. In your situation, I believe you’ll have a natural affinity for augmentation. Unfortunately, you’ll never become a lich if that is the case. It’s a shame, truly."

"Eh, for now I'd rather keep myself human."

Torix tilted his head, “If you could call yourself such.”

I bit my tongue, narrowing my eyes at Torix. The necromancer leaned onto one of his hands, “I suppose you’d rather keep your humanity then? I mean no offense when I refer to you as something other or different. I myself am not tethered to a body of my own race, yet I consider myself a shining example of my kind.”

Torix pressed two fingertips together, “In that manner, it is the actions you take that decide your worth, not the flesh sack that covers your soul.”

Not knowing whether to be peeved or appreciative, my words came out in a neutral tone, “My point is, I don’t want to be a lich...Personally speaking.”

Torix grabbed the air in front of him, his hand forming a fist, "Ah, but once you've tasted immortality, you can never return to something as fleeting as a body that dies."

I shrugged, "Eh, I mean half of what makes a meteor shower beautiful is how it lasts only a few minutes. I think life's the same way. It passes by fast, so each moment counts. In eternity, life no longer matters."

Torix stared at me for a moment, "Hmm. Perhaps...Those topics aside, your continued progression shall require the use of mana, and much of it.”

“Ah man, that sounds painful.”

With a sadistic flare, Torix cackled before steepling his fingers,

“Oh, it will be.”