Daz had a difficult choice to make. Either bite the bullet and hope that ignoring the Truthian threat for a whole extra month would go unpunished so he could give a Star of Eternity to Survivor's Instinct.

Or, he had to choose a skill that could be critical against Mother Danielle and her followers to give the star. Then he'd make immediate plans for war.

'Reports say their influence is spreading quickly... They already have control over more land and citizens than I do... Can I really let them get closer and closer to my borders while I bide my time just to retain my instincts?' Daz asked himself.

'I've thought on this a lot and in reality, they haven't antagonised me. They haven't sent spies to my kingdom - at least as far as I'm aware. They have reportedly only attacked when first provoked which is what happened in New York thanks to Rose's USB that Emma used...' Daz rubbed his chin as he pondered over the matter.

'Perhaps I should try to open a dialogue of some sort with their leader, Mother Danielle? I could make it clear that I can resist their power to seal off the system and esper abilities. Perhaps I can negotiate for peace or if nothing else, buy more months to make my foundation more solid,' Daz considered.

'If Survivor's Instinct is off of the table for at least another month, then I should go with a skill that will keep me alive if I do set up a meeting and things go belly-up,' he thought before nodding slowly.

"I've made my choice," Daz said. "However, I need to discuss things with the system for a moment."

"Ah, buying a new skill, are we?" Sir Albert asked joyously.

"Yeah," Daz answered.

If the system wasn't getting in his way so much with this whole Truthian business then things would be easy.

Firstly, it had confirmed to him through a set of questions a couple of months ago that its Interference Immunity skill which it had forced upon him after his conversation with whoever or whatever was also inhabiting Lyle, was useless.

The system offered no information beyond the fact that it could and would not prevent the Truthians from stripping him bare of the boons it had granted him. That was not its purpose, supposedly.

Secondly, the system was very picky about what needed to be permanent and what didn't for other things to also gain Stars of Eternity.

Like how class skills didn't first need the class to be permanent but Rimmy needed dozens of Stars of Eternity before his current form would be wholly immune to any stripping effects.

Granted, Daz knew some of those issues were related to the ritual of the Muisca temple itself, but regardless, he wasn't pleased by it.

Lastly, the system was less than helpful in regards to fixing the three other broken shrines possessing Altars of Permanence.

He sighed lightly before thinking, 'System, does a skill exist that does what I want? You already know my requirements.'

It may not be actively helping him but he'd sure as hell use his store rank's privileges to filter out billions of skills to find at least one that was perfect for his needs.

He had 25 remaining open skill slots of his total 55 and he'd certainly be using one of them today.

Confirmed. 17 such skills which match the criteria of [Performable By Humans], [Requires No Additional Skills], [Requires No Energy], [Makes The Host Resistant To Being Turned To Ash], [Makes The Host's Body More Resistant To All Damage] exist. All of these skills are Grade 2 skills and require 5 skill slots.

That was another new thing about the system which Daz had learned recently; skills had grades.

A skill's grade didn't really affect if it was stronger or not than the ones of lower or higher grades. This was evidenced by the fact that all of Daz's current skills were grade one despite many of them being extremely powerful.

What a skill's grade did represent, however, was how complex it was and how much of a burden it was on the body. The more difficult to attach to a person a skill was, the higher its tier.

For all Daz knew there could be a skill out there at grade five - the highest tier he knew of which required a whopping 50 skill slots - that allowed the host to bend spoons.

'Show me all of them, please,' Daz asked. "You can go for an hour or so if you'd like. I have options to sift through."

Sir Albert shook his head. "It's fine. I find it relaxing all the way up here. Just give a shout when you're done."

"Okay," Daz answered plainly.

'Yeah... Yeah it's gotta be this,' Daz decided after over 80-minutes of contemplation spent on comparing the 17 skills against one another.

He looked over the details of the skill he'd chosen one more time before committing to the purchase.

Ashborne [S-Rank (Higher Tier)] [Growth Skill] Description

A skill created by the long-dead Fire Deity Mithran of Mount Velcor. Mithran was born a human but died a legend.

Mithran lived by the flame and almost died numerous times by the flame, this resulted in a body more resilient to the flame than normal.

Eventually, Mithran lost his sense of self as his humanity dwindled to ash, but his body forever remains, immune to the same fate.

How poetic. To summarise for you since you're a bit slow, ol' Mithy-mith here was a pyromaniac who loved fire so much he basically became it. Yay. Now, if only you'd burst into flames like a turkey left in the over for too long...

Special Notes This skill is grade 2 and thus requires 5 skill slots to be learned.

If this skill is forcefully deactivated, the host will endure an extreme backlash. The host can only learn a single body refinement skill at any one time so learn this skill with caution. Abilities Forcefully refines the host's body into that of an Ashborne. After refinement, makes the host immune to the effects of any heat below 1,000°C. After refinement, makes the host immune to being turned into ash. After refinement, makes all damage dealt to the host be reduced by 5%. Cost 10 Merit Stars

The skill did everything he needed though it came with a few problems. Namely, its price. Ten merit stars was no small sum.

That was equal to a billion merit points. Ironically enough, this was actually the third-cheapest skill out of the 17 options.

Also, it would be his only body refinement skill since after giving it a Star of Eternity he'd be unable to swap it out ever again. This also made those five skill slots gone forever.

Daz wasn't too concerned by the first point since, from his research, all body refinement skills seemed to share the same potential for growth, but the skill slots worried him.

'It is a heavy price to pay, forsaking four more potentially powerful skills for one grade two skill that makes the Truthian's primary weapon inert against me,' Daz thought before adding, 'But sacrifices must be made to win wars.'

He also had some slight worries about the whole 'losing humanity' issue the skill's creator had run into but he felt confident he could handle that if and when it became an issue. 'I've made my choice. System, buy the skill. Convert my merit points to merit stars and if that isn't possible, withdraw the funds from my current account.'

Confirmed. The total balance of the host is now: 376,000,456 [-1,000,000,000] merit points.

That stung. Not only did it send alarm bells off in his head due to his Survivor's Instinct but it had also been a very long time since Daz had spent such a massive chunk of his total wealth on any one thing. 'Paying for complexity over raw strength or utility sure does hurt.'

The next thing he knew his skin felt like it was boiling. "Here we go. You may want to back away, Sir Albert. I'm about to become a mini-sun, I believe... Actually, nevermind. I'll move. I don't want to damage the altar."

Daz summoned Hamson and flew up as he stood on it with one foot hooked in the handle.

Sir Albert watched this with interest. "What a peculiar skill he's purchased. Hmm... This should be worth documenting."

Daz was thankful for having fully finished forming his Shovel Arts' first Quintessential Shovel Art, and, as he had hoped, it had come out perfect in regards to telekinetically controlling Hamson.

Shovel Arts [A-Rank (Lower Tier)] [Growth Skill] Description

A skill created by the sole Shovel Knight, Daz.

This skill required little to no practice to be created due to how simplistic it is.

This is a very common battle skill created with the purpose of allowing a more fluid and better usage of the combined skills when using a shovel as the primary weapon.

Cheeky fucker. Think I've forgotten about how many times over the last couple of months you've omitted this skill's description? Gardener Joe and I are very upset. He's in jail but he's more pissed at you than at his circumstances. I'm running out of room. Make sure to read this description again next time or there will be consequences.

Level 4 Abilities Quintessential Shovel Art: [New!] [Telekinetic Control]. Quintessential Shovel Art: [Telekinetic Control] Allows the host to control shovels with their thoughts so perfectly it is as if all shovels are an extension of the host's own body.

He shook his head as he ascended to the sky. 'Of course whoever is writing that shit is invested in their stupid little story. Why they chose to show their messages to me, I will never understand.'

Ignoring the threat in the skill's description, Daz had gained two levels in the skill over the past three months and he'd lost the four other abilities entirely since he didn't focus on them even for a moment when training the quintessential art.

That had paid off, thankfully, because now Hamson was keeping him afloat in the air effortlessly as he felt the force of a volcano bubble and brew beneath his skin.

Before, he had to focus to not fall off of the shovel but now it truly felt like Hamson was simple another limb like an arm, leg, or even a head.

Daz frowned but he didn't cry out in pain even as his skin melted off and regrew rapidly and repeatedly.

If there was one thing Daz was used to, it was suffering. After Madison and Rose, the thing he was closest to was pain, tragically enough.

His emotionless base also helped him keep his cool. 'It's doubtful I can't handle the transformation considering my powerful Archreaper body and good stats. I suppose this is meant to be a test of endurance of some sort? I can feel pressure building up against my will.'

He ignored that pressure and simply remained sitting atop Hamson's blade. About an hour passed before Daz felt his skin cool down a bit.

Another hour saw him burn brightly once more. Two more hours passed before the mini-sun known as Daz stopped shining to reveal a black and charred husk.

A few seconds passed before his body shook and the layers and layers of ash upon his frame floated down to the city of El Dorado.

His skin seemed a bit paler than before but other than that he looked unchanged. He stretched his muscles a bit and then read a notification that had just appeared in his vision.

Congratulations! The host has successfully completed the first refinement phase of the [Ashborne] body refinement skill.

Daz nodded as he controlled Hamson to head back down to the shrine Sir Albert was waiting for him at. "With this, I should be safe to meet the Truthians and try to negotiate more time or maybe even peace."

He had previously promised many people and even himself that he would wipe out the Truthians no matter what but his grandfather's advice a month ago still weighed on his mind. Perhaps the Truthians could yet be reasoned with.

Once he landed at the altar of permanence, Sir Albert asked, "All ready now?"

Daz answered, "Yes. Make Ashborne permanent, please."

Daz swiftly returned to Fort Skip after successfully adding a Star of Eternity to his new Ashborne skill.

Once he entered his throne room he was met by a somewhat worried Lyle. "Ah, Your Majesty. I'm so thankful you've returned. We have a bit of a... situation on our hands, I'm afraid. A situation requiring your immediate attention."

Daz raised an eyebrow in both worry and curiosity. "Explain."

Lyle nodded promptly and said, "A priest from the Church of Truth - as they call themselves - arrived shortly after you left asking to speak with you."

"A Truthian priest?" Daz frowned. "Any casualties?"

Crosius got up from his desk and answered in Lyle's place. "No. The man claims to come in peace but I still used the power you have afforded me to evacuate everyone near him. Not a single soul can be found within 200-metres of his current location."

Daz sighed in relief. "Good work. Where is he and what is his attitude?"

Lyle replied, "He asked if he could wait in our own place of worship, which was perfect since it's a large building making evacuation measures easier to pull off. He's in the cathedral by himself. Rose is monitoring him from a distance and Shen Mu is on standby if things go sour. As for his attitude... he seems friendly but appearances can be deceiving."

"And Crusher? She's got Embers too," Daz stated.

"Unfortunately, she's in United Korea right now. Contacting her is difficult and Shen Mu assured us that he could handle a single priest if things stopped being so cordial," Lyle explained.

Daz exhaled deeply and then stroked his chin. "What's she doing in United Korea anyway? Last I heard from her she was searching for intelligent monsters in Oregon."

"Apparently, she got an offer to be on a T.V. show and she jumped at the chance," Lyle said with a wry smile.

"Ha-ah, of course she did. Well, thanks for handling things so well during my absence. I'll go meet our guest and see what he wants," Daz said as he thought, 'Just when I consider having a discussion with the Truthians, one come knocking on the door of my home? Is this just a coincidence?'

"Is that wise, Your Majesty?" Crosius asked. "I understand that you, like everyone else, are vulnerable to their special methods of attack."

"Against one priest? I think I'll be fine, but thank you for the concern," Daz said before he immediately left the two men in the throne room.

Crosius reluctantly looked at Lyle and asked, "Do you think he'll be fine?"

Lyle gave the old man a bit of side-eye. "This is why you and I don't get along. Have faith in our high king, would you?"

"Faith won't save a man from certain doom. I've served enough players and hosts who think praying to the gods will help them to know that it's not the wisest of courses to take," Crosius countered.

Lyle shook his head. "I said have faith in our high king, not the gods. See? For us to ever share a point of view we must first be looking in the same direction."

He left the old head advisor by himself after that. Lyle had business to take care of now that Daz had returned, after all. The kingdom wouldn't run itself.