“Fissy?” a gentle voice called out. “Where are you? I know you’re in here…”

The girl giggled, trying not to make sound as she hid under the table. A pair of legs made its way into the room, pausing by the window.

“Are you… here?”

Fissyah suppressed her laughter as the woman peered out the windowsill. The woman hummed to herself, tapping her finger on her chin as she faced the rest of the room.

“Or are you— there!”

She pulled over a cauldron, once again, to no avail.

“Hmm, I wonder where she could be..”

The footsteps drew closer. Fissyah covered her mouth, trying to cover her smile as though it’d reveal her hiding spot. The woman came to a halt right by the table.

“Maybe you’re hiding somewhere down… here!”

Fissyah came face-to-face with the woman. Her face was covered in ritualistic paint marks, and she reached for the girl. Laughing, Fissyah flailed her arms weakly as she was tackled by tickles.

“How’d you find me, Mama?”

The woman picked her up into a hug, winking. “Your Mama always knows where you are. It’s what makes me your Mama.” She winked at the girl.

“I’m not a little girl anymore.” Fissyah pouted. “I know you used your magic to find me. Can you teach me, please?”

There was a slight pause. Mama glanced out of the window for a moment— then she sighed softly.

“You’re still young, Fissy. You’re only three years old. I only started thinking about learning magic when I was twice your age. And it took me another six years to become Korukh’s Shaman. Shouldn’t you be thinking about playing with Dyrx and the others?”

“Dyrx is a big bully. Just because everyone says he can become a Hob, he thinks he can do whatever he wants.” The girl crossed her arms, huffing. “And I know it took you six years to learn magic. That’s why I want to start early! So I can become the next Shaman before I’m even ten!”

The woman placed a hand over her mouth. “My, are you already looking to replace me so soon? I quite enjoy being the village’s Shaman.”

Fissyah flushed. “O-oh. Sorry… I didn’t mean it that—”

“There’s no need to apologize, Fissy. I know you only have the best intentions in what you said.” Mama smiled, digging into her pockets. “How about this— I’ll teach you magic when you turn four. During the Day of Yige. Until then…”

She produced a handful of dirt and breathed into it. It reformed into the shape of a doll. She showed it to the girl.

“You can play with this.”

“What is this?” Fissyah blinked.

“This is Nikole,” Mama said, raising a finger. “She is a Dirt Golem. Keep her safe with you— make sure you don’t play with her too roughly. And if you keep her safe until next year, I’ll teach you how to do this.”

The Dirt Golem sat up abruptly, looking around. It waved as the girl gasped. Then it hopped off the woman’s hand and clambered onto Fissyah.

“Really?” Fissyah held up the Dirt Golem as it went inert. The magic ran out. “Will you really teach me magic?”

The woman hugged the girl, whispering.

“It’s a promise—”

* * *

And Fissyah jolted back. She abruptly sat up on the chair, looking around the room. A loud bang had suddenly woken her.

“...Mama?” she called out, but no response came.

This wasn’t her home. This wasn’t the past. This was the present. The girl was no longer in Korukh. No longer in the Dark Empire. Her Mama wasn’t here.

Her Mama was dead.

Fissyah closed her eyes, lips quivering and eyes welling up. She sniffled and fought back against the urge to cry. But the memory of the promise came flooding back. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sat there, remembering everything. Even things she didn’t notice then.

Like the way Mama made Fissyah hide as a ‘game’ whenever the Dark Elf soldiers visited Korukh. Or like the way Mama hid the bruises on her face with paint marks. Or like the way Mama always pushed off teaching Fissyah magic because she didn’t want the girl to become the village Shaman.

The girl didn’t know why these memories resurfaced now of all times. But there she sat, crying as she recalled a time long gone. And she wouldn’t have moved even a single inch if the door hadn’t swung open a moment later.

She quickly wiped away her tears as a pair of familiar figures entered the room.

“There, there…? Uhm, I didn’t mean to learn [Arc Blast] so quickly. It kinda just happened?”

* * *

“Stop it. You’re not making me feel any better. I want my Lire—”

I paused as Oblec continued into the room. I looked over at Fissyah, who was now awake. She looked like she’d been crying just moments ago. But the moment her eyes locked onto me, she gasped.

“Violet, you’re ok!” She leapt forward, hugging me tight. “I thought you were… I didn’t think you would…”

“F-Fissyah… I can’t breathe—” I sputtered

“Oh, I didn’t mean to—” Fissyah immediately let go of me, gently placing me on the ground. I made a sighing sound, relieved. Then her brows snapped together. “Wait, you don’t need to breathe.

“Crap, she found me out.” I bounced back. “I don’t need to breathe, but I like my personal space!”

The girl deflated. She shuffled her feet and hung her head. “I didn’t… I’m sorry…”

I stared at Fissyah as she stood there, shoulders sagging. Something was wrong. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I saw the way she’d been crying earlier. I had to make her feel better. So, I hopped over to her and patted her with a long appendage.

“There’s no need to apologize, Fissyah. I know you were worried about me. But I’m fine, see?” I made myself large, then small. “I’m back to a hundred and ten percent!”

(It wasn’t just a figure of speech. Now that I was Level 31, I felt like I could grow even larger and smaller than before!)

Fissyah’s eyes grew wide as I spoke. She raised her head, nodding slowly.

“Right. I’m so glad…” Her lips curled up as she smiled. And a voice spoke over her.

“Well, not everyone here is fine!”

I glanced over at Oblec. The bearded Gremlin was scowling in a corner, arms crossed over his chest. I just gave him a flat stare.

“Are you still on about that?”

“It matters a lot to me!”

* * *

“You did that?” Fissyah gaped at the small crater left behind by my [Arc Blast]. She held me in her arms, while I held Lire in my appendages.

I was fine with the girl hugging me as she was right now, unlike the tight, squeezing hug of earlier. She was quite physically strong, after all. I didn’t think she even realized how strong she’d become over the time we’d been spending in the Karhid Caves.

Oblec wasn’t with us. He was busy sulking back in his little hut. I wasn’t sure if he was genuinely upset, or if he was just faking it for fun. Or… faking it because he was too socially awkward to not fake it.

Either way, I was giving him some space for now. And while I left him alone, I was showing Fissyah my new Skills.

“[Arc Blast] costs a bit of Arcane Essence, but thanks to the combined effects of [Arcane Efficiency] and [Rapid Arcane Restoration], it really isn’t that much of a problem to use!”

Honestly, it could possibly even replace [Arc Shot] as my main offensive Skill. The only minor problem was that it was quite… explosive. If I wasn’t careful with it, others— like Fissyah or Lire— could be hurt if they were within the blast radius.

“Woah…” Fissyah just stared in wonder. “You’re as strong as Oblec now!”

“I wouldn’t say that…” Especially not when he was around. I didn’t want him to spiral even further into his depression. “Oblec has like… decades of experience over me. And his magic is stronger since he’s higher-leveled with more Combat Power. Even though our Skills are the same, his ones are still stronger.”

At least, I was pretty sure that was the case. I wasn’t actually well-versed in this subject. I was going off basic inference. But that was probably why the Arctic Wand was far less effective in Fissyah’s hands than it was in Bob's.

The girl’s gaze was fixed on the crater. She slowly lowered me to the ground and looked down into the palm of her hand.

“I need to grow stronger, too.” She balled her hand into a fist.

“What do you mean? You’re plenty strong! I’m sure there aren’t that many girls your age at your level!” I tried to assure her, but she was indignant.

“I couldn’t help you at all against the Ravinecrawler,” Fissyah said, shaking her head. “And I was barely able to help you against the Centese. I can’t just be useful to you with [Arc Symbiosis], Violet.”

I was about to argue against her. I wanted to say that that didn’t matter to me. But I met her gaze— I held it. And I knew that I couldn’t deny her resolve.

“Are you really willing to do anything that’s necessary to grow stronger?” I asked her, and she nodded.

“Yes.”

“No matter what it takes?”

“Yes.”

“No matter the cost?”

“Yes,” she spoke without the slightest iota of fear in her voice.

I started past her. “Good. Then follow me.”

* * *

Fissyah stared at the task she’d been given. It was one that seemed nearly insurmountable. One that was even harsher and more arduous than anything the girl she could think of. Her confidence from earlier wavered. Her determination was gone. Just like that.

She shifted her feet slightly as Violet bounced in front of her.

“I expect you to be done with this by next week—”

“Uh…” Fissyah raised a hand, interrupting the Slime. “Are you really sure about this?”

Violet paused. “Didn’t you say you were willing to do anything it took? Anything that’s necessary? No matter what it takes? No matter the cost?”

“I did say that.” The girl’s lips pressed thinly together. “I just didn’t expect… this.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Because this is all that and more!” Violet insisted and waved her appendages at the stack of books. The very same ones they’d been given by Bob. “It’s education. You’ve gotta know stuff to do stuff.”

Fissyah shrugged. “I just… expected us to fight more monsters, you know?”

“Look, just be grateful that you’re not paying fifty thousand dollars a year in tuition fees for college, alright?” Violet said.

“What?”

“What?”

The pair stared at each other for a moment. Neither one moved or said a word. Finally, with a sigh— or rather, with a sighing sound— the Arcslime hopped over to the girl.

“Look, I’ll study with you. I need to brush up my knowledge of… uhm, everything, after all.” Violet pointed insistently at the mountain of books. “But this is necessary. We want you to learn as many Skills as possible before you reach the next threshold and hit your Level 30 advancement.”

“Right.” Fissyah took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. This is needed.”

Violet beamed. “Good, now let’s get to studying.”

Name: Fissyah [Level 25]

Species: Gremlin

Combat Power: 710

Arcane Essence: 250/250

Physical Essence:

- Physical Essence Points: 0

- Power: 70

- Will: 90

- Dexterity: 85

- Body: 95

- Worldliness: 120

Skills:

- [Lesser Appraisal - 10 Arcane Essence]

- [Arcane Flameshot - 40 Arcane Essence]

Passive Skills:

- [Arcane Restoration - You restore 10 Arcane Essence for every ten minutes of rest.]

- [Basic Fire Magic - You can conjure and manipulate fire at a basic level.]

- [Basic Ice Magic - You can conjure and manipulate ice at a basic level.]

- [Basic Wind Magic - You can conjure and manipulate wind at a basic level.]

- [Lesser Fire Resistance - You are more durable to fire damage.]

Special Skills:

[Arc Symbiosis: Violet]