Li Mei stood in a vast white room, similar to the Training Room. An exact copy of herself stood with arms crossed, body wreathed in black mist.

The pressure she felt from the copy's mauve eyes made her back sweat. It was like being face-to-face with an enormous predator, yet... It was herself. "Am I really that scary?"

"You could be." The copy grinned, showing sharp white eyeteeth with a crooked yet charming smile. "If you understood what you were capable of."

"I'm just a kid right now."

"You're not, though." The copy wagged a finger. "Your soul is mature enough, and your new body... Is far from normal. Perhaps modified human would be closer to the truth? Mm, that's not right either. But it is, still... Agh, it's complicated and I can't explain it to you yet." The copy sighed, materializing two comfortable chairs with a wave of her hand. She took a seat herself, uncaring of the suspicious glance Li Mei threw her way.

"Aren't you going to attack me?"

"Relax, let's chat a bit before we fight. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help. I'm a copy of you, a crafted reflection, but I'm also your Interface. Hm... Perhaps, call me Lina?" The copy, Lina, nodded as Li Mei reluctantly sank into the empty comfortable chair. "I'm the Interface. This body is a reflection of you, but my personality is different because I'm not you. And a bit of an explanation about certain aspects is long overdue."

"So you're the one who's been helping me?" Li Mei's expression softened, subconsciously easing the tension in her body.

Lina smiled. "Yes. My purpose is to help you survive and achieve whatever goals you set for yourself. I had to forcibly tap into your potential to save your life early on, and I apologize for the difficulties that caused."

Li Mei waved her hand dismissively. "It turned out for the better, and those generous Quest rewards helped me cover the gap pretty fast." She was clever, after all, and picked up on patterns. Without the special Quests from the Interface, earning the EXP spent forcibly upgrading herself when she first entered the forest would have taken a long, long time judging by how small the gains were from getting kills. Not to mention the forced upgrade saved her life in the first place!

As did the hostility detection notifications, awarded stat upgrades, convenient Quests or the usage of her storage in general. Without the Interface, she would have died several times over! A thought occurred, and Li Mei frowned. "Unless tapping into my potential will hurt me in the long run?"

"It won't. I siphoned excess power from... Well. I can't go into details, but suffice to say you saved your own life in a sense. You'll know the truth when it becomes relevant."

Li Mei's eyes narrowed into slits. "Is this some weird nonsense to do with the flow of time?" Lina remained silent, but the smile on her face widened as though to confirm Li Mei's suspicions without breaking whatever rules kept her from spilling all the beans. "Ugh, great. Future time loop shenanigans confirmed, I guess. Awesome."

Leaning forward, Lina clasped her hands on her lap. "So, Li Mei. Your stats are all at 10 now. Do you know what that means?"

"I'm a well-rounded and capable individual."

"Aside from that."

"Not really?" Li Mei shrugged. "I've never been able to see the stats of other creatures even with Scan at Lv.5 so I don't have any comparison for what that means."

Lina nodded. "You'll need to purchase an upgrade module for Scan from the Shop in order to see stats in the future. On Elysium, special tools or equipment are usually used to measure stats, and the ones displayed on your Interface are based on their metric. I can explain more, but first you need to experience the difference between us. Let us exchange blows."

She waited for Li Mei to stand and limber up before sliding the comfortable chairs aside with a wave of her hand. Once Li Mei sank into a fighting stance, Lina made her move.

In the time it took to blink, Lina crossed the distance between them and landed a calm slap on Li Mei's shoulder, sending the latter flying across the room to crash into a wall several meters away.

"What the hell!?" Li Mei wheezed, staggering to her feet. "I can't move like that!"

"You can. Now hit me."

Lina waited calmly for Li Mei to approach, swinging her clenched fists. A strong punch landed on Lina's jaw, but the copy's head barely even moved. Li Mei swallowed uncomfortably, feeling a sharp ache in her knuckles. "What..."

Stroking her jaw, Lina slid the chairs back into their previous position and sat herself back down. "I see what the problem is. Li Mei, your assessment of yourself and your ability is based on the limitations of humans in your previous life. But those humans were incapable of utilizing mana, so you're subconsciously shackling your own strength."

Li Mei looked at her hands, then looked at the dent she left in the wall. The walls were solid like metal, yet her body dented them... And she didn't even bruise, or feel more than a bit uncomfortable from being flung aside like a rag doll. "Am I really... As strong as you?"

"You are. You watched the Olympics sometimes? And sports? The feats they were capable of. I can assume their relevant stats, AGI for sprinters, DEX for gymnasts, STR for bodybuilders... At most, those athletes would have a score of 4 in the relevant stat to their profession, 5 if they were a world-record holder. A Nobel Prize-winner would have INT or WIS of 5. You yourself had INT 4 and WIS 5 due to your background and life circumstances, and that itself was very unusual.

"The average person in your old world would have maximum stats of 2, maybe 3 in any area here on Elysium. The standards are raised exponentially compared to what you're used to believing possible. Those numbers compared to Elysium's standard, however, are still too low. Your potential now exceeds those from Earth by a wide margin, but it is only potential if it is not utilized. You lack the ability to properly harness your strength."

Li Mei sank into the empty chair, her body going limp. She was... Twice as strong as an Olympic athlete in any field? With her tiny little body? Li Mei glanced at her hands again, mauve eyes sparkling with delight and ambition. "The average stat for a human child of 12 in this world is apparently three, right? As much as a human adult from my world?"

"Yes. The passive absorption of mana makes beings in this universe much tougher than their counterparts in yours."

"Then, the average stats of adults in this world?"

"Five. Even the weakest peasants would be considered a world-record holder on Earth."

"Then, my stats..."

"Are the natural peak your body is capable of. There is no longer a way to raise your stats without the use of special treasures. Even I cannot gift you stats anymore! And for your information, a single point increase represents a multiplicative increase, not an additive one. STR 3 is more than three times stronger than STR 1. Having your stats be 10 in each category isn't just double the average of an adult.

"You have not even scratched the surface of your true capability, much less your potential. This is also why your Rank is low despite your stats being so high. Rank is an overall measure of combat ability. It takes into account your experience, tactics, techniques, and utilization of your own strengths and specialties.

"Most humans who strive for strength barely achieve the peak in a single stat unless they're lucky or well-connected. For surpassing the peak, they can only physically bear a cumulative extra stat increase of 10. This is their natural limit.

"As an example, if a man has two stats at the peak he can either reach 15 in each of them, or 20 in one while the other will never increase no matter how many treasures he consumes. In fact, trying to increase past the limit may have disasterous consequences. Permanently losing capability is one consequence. Gruesome painful death is another.

"Humans being well-rounded is also incredible and horrifying in its own way. Most creatures specialize in one or two stats specifically while other stats languish as a result. Meanwhile, humans can potentially reach a peak of 10 in all stats without experiencing any consequences in their development. Comparatively speaking, that's quite scary!

"It's almost a good thing for the rest of the world that increasing stats is so difficult. Don't think your own experience is the norm, you have me supporting you and helping you cheat. If anyone knew how strong you truly were they'd be terrified! Ah, other than that Faust fellow. He already knows something.

"The peak and limit of each creature is different, but no mortal being can ever increase a stat beyond 20 and most peaks are around 8 or 10. Limits also hover around 8 or 10. You, however, are capable of reaching 20 in all your stats, which means your natural limit is 50. On this world that is unheard of - even in the entire universe across countless inhabited planets, it's very rare!"

Her long lecture over, Lina materialized a cup of hot cocoa for each of them and took a sip from her own mug. Li Mei barely tasted the scalding hot liquid as she chugged the entire drink in one go. Her hands shook slightly as the weight of Lina's words sank in. "I'm really so incredible?"

"More than you know. If you put your mind to it, Li Mei, you could do anything you wanted. And that's not even hyperbole, it's literal! My whole purpose is to help you achieve whatever that may be. Whether it's to conquer the world, or just living comfortably somewhere out of the way. No matter what you end up doing, I am your ally. We're connected, after all! As long as you exist, I do too, so please keep existing."

The last sentence sounded flippant and might have seemed rude or selfish in another context, but it soothed Li Mei's suspicions and helped her relax a bit further. She felt more comfortable knowing Lina's motivation was, at least in part, for her own sake.

Undying, unconditional devotion was just creepy. Especially from something as powerful as the Interface! Considering Lina a dependable ally rather than a mere tool or servant suited Li Mei's preferences more.

Li Mei set the empty cocoa mug on the floor and leveled a serious gaze at Lina's face. "Alright. How exactly can learn to use what I'm capable of, then?"

Lina's face split into a grin, her eyes sparkling. The mugs disappeared, while a staff appeared on the lap of each girl. It had a similar heft and length as the metal staff Li Mei used for so long. She waited for Li Mei to stand again before sweeping the chairs into oblivion with an absent wave of her hand, twirling the staff around her shoulders.

"If you wanna know what you can really do, then we fight until you figure it out."

Li Mei spun the staff in her hand then lunged forward, swinging the weapon in a sharp arc. When Lina blocked the swing with her own staff, Li Mei struck her exposed side with a forceful kick.

Lina didn't react, but Li Mei felt like she'd just kicked a metal pole! She swore colorfully, dropping her guard long enough for Lina to land a hit of her own. The copy's staff smashed into her ribs, sending Li Mei flying once more into the nearest wall. Before she could get up Lina closed the distance between them and aimed a flurry of blows down on her body, a repetitive yet unpredictable rhythmic pattern of ferocity like rain during a thunderstorm.

As a perfect copy, Lina's abilities weren't any better or worse than Li Mei's. Her blows occasionally missed just as Li Mei's did, and the staff left dents in the metallic floor as evidence of inaccuracy.

Snarling, Li Mei kicked out against Lina's ankles again and again, each blow a bit stronger than the last. Lina was a copy, but she was able to utilize strength Li Mei didn't even know she had!

Lina spun on her heel, sweeping the staff against the ground before slamming it into Li Mei's body and flinging her into the wall once again.

No matter how Li Mei tried to escape, Lina would just appear in front of her again, raining down blows before flinging her against the wall.

Again, and again, and again.

Li Mei tasted pennies in her mouth. She spat a mouthful of blood and saliva, blocking her face as she watched Lina's movements. Every gesture, every flex of muscle, every breath. All observed with perfect clarity.

Li Mei was infuriated. Lina really was a perfect copy!

It was her body, her skill, her ability! How could a copy be so much stronger than herself using the same set of moves?

Unforgivable!

Where was the difference? Where!?

Was it really something so simple as her past life's biases locking her down?

Was she truly limiting herself subconsciously?

Li Mei grit her teeth.

Someone as clever as herself... Hadn't noticed she'd been holding herself back?

Something as lousy as personal bias keeping her from further improvement?

Really unforgivable!

Through sheer force of will, fueled by spite, the invisible chains wrapped around Li Mei's body gave a sharp crack. The next kick she landed on Lina's leg was enough to make the copy crumple in surprise and pain, giving Li Mei enough room to jump up and bury her elbow in the other girl's face.

CRUNCH!

Lina's nose shattered from the blow, and the copy touched the blood flowing down her upper lip with her tongue. Then she smiled and backed away out of Li Mei's range. "There we go. Not quite there yet, but better. Look." She gestured toward the floor around the room, dented from missed strikes, and the damaged walls still bearing suspiciously Li Mei-shaped damage. "You bore that much force with your bare body. How do you feel?"

"Pissed off!" Li Mei snarled, but still looked down at her hands gripping the staff. Not even a bruise on her bare arms. She ached, but nothing that wouldn't go away with a hot bath.

Blows strong enough to dent metal weren't enough to damage her body. Li Mei's mauve eyes flickered as a new emotion sparked in the deepest, darkest depths of her heart.

Satisfaction.

Li Mei was already a proud person. She was proud of herself and her accomplishments, even if she sometimes had to do things that she found distasteful. But satisfaction was a little different.

One could maintain their pride yet lose their satisfaction. Likewise, one can be satisfied with themselves while having not a scrap of pride to speak of.

Satisfaction was fulfillment of one's wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived thereof. Pride was confidence and self-respect, consciousness of one's own dignity. They often went hand in hand, but it wasn't necessary.

Li Mei was proud, but she never felt satisfied with herself before that moment.

She liked it.

She was strong. Really strong. Stronger than she even realized!

And it felt amazing!

"You worked hard," Lina said with a smile. "Good job."

Good job.

Words she'd never heard from anyone else before. Li Mei's eyes felt hot. Her body trembled, and she clenched her fists tightly around the staff and sank back into her fighting position. "Let's keep going."

"Oh?"

"You said I was better, but not there yet. So let's keep going."

Lina grinned and snapped her fingers.

The room melted away, changing in an instant from a confined metallic space to an alien outdoors vista. Pillars of bright purple rock stood as far as the eye could see, jutting up from a neon green sea. Each pillar was a different height and thickness - the thinnest were like young bamboo, while the thickest were barely big enough to hold both girls if they were hugging each other close. Some were very close together, while others had a respectable gap between themselves and the other pillars.

While Li Mei was stupefied by the sudden change in surroundings, Lina closed the distance between them by hopping from pillar to pillar until she was close enough to hit Li Mei in the shoulder with the staff. Startled, Li Mei flailed her limbs to regain her balance.

Whack!

Lina prevented her attempts at rebalancing by striking again and again at different parts of Li Mei's body in rapid succession. Even the Acrobatic trait couldn't save her from eventually losing her footing. Li Mei felt her stomach float into her throat as she fell toward the neon green sea, cool wind whistling past her ears.

Her body was enveloped in viscous acid that burned through to the bones. She was still screaming in pain when Lina transported her back on top of the rock pillars, mercifully choosing one large enough for Li Mei to collapse on. Only after she realized her body was entirely undamaged and even her clothes were untouched did the girl calm down and take deep breaths.

"What the hell was that?!" Li Mei snapped, leveling an accusatory glare on the innocently whistling copy.

"So you'd learn not to fall."

"You couldn't have just told me?"

"Experience is the best teacher."

Li Mei snarled and jumped toward Lina, flailing her arms a little as she landed on a more narrow pillar.

She practiced all sorts of acrobatics in the forest, but a forest environment was very different compared to where she found herself now. Trees, roots, vines, even sometimes large boulders or jutting cliff faces. Finding safe landing points was easy, and even if she missed there was always a way to catch herself, or at least Bao would save her at the last second.

Bao wasn't around though, and there were no dangling vines or thick clumps of moss to grab if she landed poorly. Only a long plummet into a sea of acid was awaiting her failure.

That knowledge made her moves hesitant. Lina rolled her eyes and hopped over, smacking Li Mei back down into the sea.

"Damn you!" Li Mei swore as she appeared once more on another pillar some distance away, gasping for breath.

"Aren't you supposed to be clever? You have so many tools at your disposal yet you're afraid of failing here?" Lina's voice turned mocking as she shook her head and sighed. "What have you been doing with your life until this point, knitting sweaters?"

As though to prove her point, Lina made several barriers in the gaps between the pillars. Then she ran forward across them, once more knocking a furious Li Mei into the sea.

When Li Mei appeared again, she didn't waste time reorienting herself. Lina's words cleared the fog of confusion that arose when suddenly faced with an entirely new environment.

The surroundings were unfamiliar, and her friends weren't around to act as support, but Li Mei's most vital and important tool was still around.

Herself!

Regardless of whatever situations she found herself in, Li Mei could always rely on herself. Getting rattled by the unexpected and forgetting her own ability, no wonder Lina mocked her!

Li Mei hopped across the pillars with no more hesitation, summoning barriers when her feet slipped or she missed her initial target. Cyan light flickered across her eyes as she periodically activated her new ability, Parkour. Certain pillars shone in her field of view - the brighter the glow the easier it would be to land on.

Though her movements were slow and clumsy compared to the copy, there was huge improvement in both speed and confidence with each leap she made. Li Mei steadily closed the distance between herself and her copy, clenching the staff tight in her hands.

Lina smiled, twirling her staff around her shoulders with a lazy shrugging movement. The girl really was a fast learner. This was going to be fun!