The silence was eerie. Their footsteps echoed down the tunnels, their breathing a rhythmic ambient noise as the trio explored already known tunnels.

The labyrinthian network of tunnels was hard to navigate, but the intersection where the unnervingly still wall of fog resided acted like a nexus of sorts.

All of them were disturbed after last night. None felt comfortable just waiting around for Lefie to continue digging, even if that’s what she believed to be the best course of action, so they packed up as best they could after burying their two companions and began to retrace their steps.

As sure they were that they were safe from demons for the time being, they proceeded with caution. There was no running nor jogging--partly in an effort to conserve stamina--and any talking was conducted in hushed whispers.

“Did you level up at all?” Riza asked Lefie as they were walking. Although not walking that close to them as each other was, Artiv could still hear their conversation with good clarity given the near silence of their surroundings.

An echo was inevitable.

“Yup.Twice from that fight and once before as well. I did what you told me to; bought [Knowable Essence] and am keeping the remaining two skill points in reserve,” Lefie explained quietly.

“Do you know what you are going to take next?”

“I was actually going to talk to you about that. I don’t really know what I want. Like, up to level 5, I knew what skills I wanted and what stats I wanted but I don’t have that direction anymore.

“There’s just so many options,” Lefie said.

By now, Artiv had noticed Riza watching out of the corner of his eye. He was only giving minimal effort to hiding his interest in their conversation; this Riza person was interesting and clearly a higher level than him. Whatever advice she’d give could be worth at least considering.

“What are your options? What tier one skill trees have you unlocked?” She asked after a brief pause to think.

“I’ve unlocked… Water, metamagic, and primordial magic skills.”

“What skills are there for water?”

“Only two. The first one lets me adjust the temperature of water while the second one lets me sense nearby water. However that works.”

Doesn’t sound that strong, Artiv thought. Sensing water doesn’t seem that useful compared to the other detection skills available and you could change the temperature of water by fire or ice skills whilst also being more versatile.

Although, she probably doesn’t have a choice in the matter.

From what he knew, no one willingly became a water neophyte without receiving explicit orders to do so. The skills were frankly terrible in combat and situations where they’d be most useful were rather limited.

Although, his opinion on the matter was beginning to change. He was by no means an expert on matters of essence but his previous rather dismissive views on a ‘useless’ branch of magic were changing since he began travelling with the pair of them.

It all leads back to Riza. She was a complete enigma to him--by far, the most interesting person he had met in a long time. Her accent was strange, her grasp of the language weak, and her knowledge seemed discomfitingly alien.

Whether it was the strange, unknown numerals she used or her expert advice on Lefie’s skills, there was more to her than it seemed.

Secretly, he concluded she must’ve been a scholar of some sorts and was punished for some reason (likely use of forbidden skills--they were a curious sort, scholars), although he would be the first to admit there were holes to that theory.

“Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” Riza asked, a slight smirk on her face.

Lefie rolled her eyes before answering:

“I’m probably going to stick with water skills. I’ve already got a boon for it, after all.”

“That makes sense. Sit on it. You may unlock some hidden skills. Wait until a new skill is needed.” Riza gave her advice.

“You could always follow the Dominion’s advice.” He decided to add in his own opinion. Not that he thought Riza was trying to steer Lefie away from what the Dominion would want purposefully, he naturally doubted the true intentions of someone who dabbled with forbidden skills.

No matter how useful those skills turned out to be.

Riza looked perplexed whilst Lefie seemed to seriously regard that suggestion.

“There are official paths you take with your skills. I’m a spearman. That means all the skills I have are what the Dominion recommends,” Artiv elucidated, happy to push her back onto the right path.

“We left before I could learn about that,” Lefie continued. “But I’ll think about it. Once we get back, I’ll ask… somebody about that.”

Silence descended once more, Artiv glad that Riza didn’t immediately dispute him. A disgraced scholar was unlikely to have kind words for the Dominion, after all.

“Your level cap has increased, hasn’t it?” Riza asked him.

“It has. Why ya askin’?”

“Is it now 15?” He nodded.

A brief pause.

“Are there people higher than level 15?”

Strange thing to ask. To get to where she is, surely she knows someone higher level than that?

“Yeah? Of course,” Artiv answered, surprise evident in his tone. “Level 15 is nowhere near the limit.”

“There’s a level limit?” Riza asked, eyes wide.

“Well, er...” He stuttered, recalling conversations he had often had with Skerry and Thorin. “Sort of. The limit is the strongest monster you can defeat so it’s not a hard limit.”

“What’s the highest level then?”

“The highest I know is the Dreaven. Rumour put them around level 60. Obviously, the Regent is far beyond that but no one knows how strong they are.” He felt guilty for using ‘Regent’ so freely but no one else was around.

“Regent? And ‘Dreaven’? Who are are they?” Riza asked, voice quick, failing to hide her curiosity. Typical, but very odd.

“You don’t know who the Regent or the Dreaven are?” Artiv asked, voice dripping with suspicion and eyes narrow.

“I don’t know the words in your language,” She replied tentatively.

“Oh. Well, the Regent is the leader of the Empire and the Dominion and the Dreaven is like the executor of the Regent’s will in Skaldur’s Chosen.

“Skaldur’s Chosen is essentially the army,” Artiv quickly added when he saw that she was still confused.

“And the difference between Skaldur’s Chosen and the Dominion of Skaldur is…?”

Just how ignorant is she? Scholar or not, even a farmhand knows of the Skaldur’s Chosen.

“Essence. Those who use essence fall under the responsibility of the Dominion.” Riza nodded in comprehension.

“Who’s Skaldur?” For a second or two, Artiv’s mind completely stood still, struggling to comprehend what she had just said.

Who is Skaldur? Who is fucking Skaldur?

“Who’s Skaldur?” He said incredulously and with a hint of sarcasm and a roll of his eyes.

And then, inspiration seemed to dawn on him as he looked at Riza.

“You’re serious? You’re really not from around here, are you?” He asked, voice hesitant and hushed.

“I didn’t know who Skaldur was until recently!” Lefie energetically chimed in but without a smile on her face, still showing restraint with her volume. She was looking to the side, down the tunnel.

“The first person, from a time before time. They created the world, life, the system. Everything. The Regent’s powers are granted by Skaldur, and that’s what gives them authority,” Artiv explained with a slight hint of reverence to his tone, remembering the stories his mama used to tell him.

The woman paused to take that all in, digesting everything as her face contorted in rumination.

“How long has the Skaldur’s Chosen and Dominion of Skaldur been around for? As long as the Regent?” Riza inquired.

“What do you mean? They always existed.”

“Hmm,” She seemed to sink into thought once more.

Awful lot of thinking for something so simple. Perhaps she is a scholar after all, Artiv thought with a chuckle.

However, before they even had the option of continuing the conversation, a low scuttling sound drifted down the tunnel towards, setting her hair on end as she turned her head in its direction.

The trio fell simultaneously silent as they each picked out the noise.

They saw nothing at first, the tunnel gradually succumbing to the abyss of darkness, but the reflective, pale, white bodies soon emerged.

The sight of the squirming legs, quickly skittering and almost appearing to interlock with each other, made Lefie visibly squirm as Artiv released a large, tired sigh.

Again. They’re picking up the frequency. Can’t be a good thing. Just gotta hope they clear the blockage soon.

“Shit,” Artiv spoke for all of them.

“Lefie, keep back. Stay behind me at all times.” Artiv heard Riza tell her friend.

“What? No. You stay in the back; you’re too valuable,” Lefie quickly replied, walking in front of them.

A petty squabble? At a time like this?

A confused ‘huh?’ was all Riza said before Artiv interrupted them.

“Both of you, quiet!” A strangled shout escaped his mouth, clearly irritated. “You can both fight at range. Handle the beast demons while I distract the greater one.

“Riza, join the party,” He ordered.

“What? No; that’ll weaken me,” She protested like an entitled teenager.

“The stronger I get, the better. You’re already capped so you don’t need the experience.” We’ve got no chance of surviving if I can’t take down even one greater demon. Not if shit goes south.

Riza didn’t respond immediately, her eyes shifting as she clearly considered something.

“I’m not capped. I’m only level 13.”

Oh. Only level 13? I clearly don’t know enough about life magic, then.

But forget that. That doesn’t change what’s best; she’s still far stronger than me.

“Even if we’re in a party, you’ll still be able to level up,” Artiv said, trying to placate her.

She threw her head to look at Lefie, eyes urging the teenager to give her own opinion.

“I’ll get stronger if we’re all in a party as well,” She said somewhat meekly.

Visibly conflicted, Riza eventually came to a decision, albeit a reluctant one.

“How do I join your party?”

Surprise briefly rippled across Artiv’s face before he realised that she had a strong reason to not join parties so far, what with her [Lone Wolf] boon.

“Just accept my invitation.”

“Done,” Riza said the same time as a deep voice reverberated in his skull:

[Riza has joined Skerry’s Party]

“How do I send invites?” The woman asked, staring at nothing in particular.

“Just think ‘Invite Skerry to my party’ and you’ll be asked for confirmation,” He infirmed her.

A blank look was on her face for a few seconds before a quick, subtle nod.

“I’m weaker. Lefie, you’re in charge of protecting me,” Riza stated, her tone the familiar dull and dryness he was used to but with a hint of sadness to it. It lacked her objective, matter-of-factness tone she so reliably used.

Now that he thought about, he hadn’t registered how strange her voice was. She seemed… detached, in a few. Lacking the emotional impact he’d expect, especially from someone of her assumed position.

More and more questions.

“Don’t worry; I won’t let any demon near you,” Lefie reassured her friend, not that displeased with how everything turned out apparently.

“I feel so safe.”

The situation was shit. The quietness was shit. The lingering tension in the air was shit.

Riza hadn’t felt so weak in a long, long time. Her strength was more than halved due to the multiplicative effect of skills and she even had to endure a blow to her ego by letting Lefie protect her?

Her two companions gave the same argument of growing stronger instead of her. When Artiv said it, she knew having a powerful close combat companion would be great at increasing their survivability, especially considering her newly appointed role as the healer, but she couldn’t trust Artiv. That was the problem.

Experience was zero-sum; people take a long time to level up because they’re always in parties where experience from a monster is split five-fold. It was a choice between her levels or theirs. They couldn’t keep her out of the fight either considering her strength.

So, she had to be handicapped. Short-term pain for long-term gain. But she didn’t even know if the gain was long term. At least, with her, the level up would be a tangible and concrete benefit; the points would go straight into spirit, consequently increasing her essence as well and overall increasing her survivability and lethality.

Level ups were holistic for Riza. They were strong.

What was Artiv going to do with his level ups? What about Lefie? Neither had the skills to efficiently increase their overall battle potential--they were too low level for that.

What won her over in the end was Lefie’s potential advancement. The girl trusted her, would go to her for what skills to take. Riza could mold Lefie’s pathway.

As much as she disliked how much it sounded like she was using her friend, she had to acknowledge it.

But now wasn’t the time for lamenting.

The ghostly echo of footsteps finally drifted towards them, an omen of incoming danger. The spiders had ran past them or down the fork somewhere else, easily taken out by being stepped on by Artiv or drained dry by Riza.

It was just the beast demons left.

[Heal] (10/10)+ -Learned

Restore 95 points of health to a living entity.

Cost: 10 es/sec

I have to be conservative. I can’t waste essence on killing demons when it’s twice as expensive, now. Only when necessary.

Gotta keep a little left in the tank for healing, as well.

No more time to think. The flurry of white bodies appeared, vague shapes solidifying from the darkness as numerous beast demons emerged, muscles trembling as they pushed themselves onwards towards the trio.

Riza winced as she counted how many there were.

“There’s no greater demon,” Lefie said.

“There could be. I won’t hold out hope.” Artiv replied beforely firmly shutting his mouth, stepping forwards and planting the butt of his spear against the ground, ready to meet the oncoming wave.

The battle, thankfully, was quick, though not as quick as Riza knew it could’ve been. There weren’t that many of them--not that more than ten. Nominally, she could take down fourteen of them before needing to regenerate any essence, but that would’ve meant neither Artiv or Lefie would benefit from the fight.

So she stayed back, darting up to Artiv and slapping him on the back whenever he retreated, sending a quick pulse of restorative energy through him whenever she could.

It was little and incremental but, by the end of it, no one looked all that injured or harried. There was heavy breathing, large mouthfuls of air, but nothing much more than that.

“Did you-did either of you level up?” Riza asked both of them.

“No,” Both of them echoed.

Handicapped and it wasn’t even worth it.

“Can I leave the party now?” Riza asked with exasperation and quickly did so when both of them agreed to it (though she was only waiting for Lefie to answer).

They didn’t get back to walking right away. They waited around a bit, taking a breather and--importantly for Riza--regenerated what essence they had lost.

Riza also used [Heal] on herself and Lefie to cure any lingering cravings for water and sustenance.

She offered the same to Artiv but he quite firmly rejected such an offer, a scowl on his face.

Afterwards, they walked and with a bit more walking, they finally reached the wall of fog.

Riza knew they were close tens of metres away, the presence in her mind growing stronger the closer she got to this monolithic collection of essence. It was impossible to ignore.

Now, right in front of her, her eyes were drawn to it almost magnetically so.Something in her brain was telling her to look at the fog. To keep an eye on it. To notice it.

It was a similar feeling to how she sensed demons but stronger.

She hoped it wasn’t a sign for how many demons laid hidden inside the fog.

“Stop looking at it and let’s get moving!” Artiv called for her, his voice not that loud but firm and carried well towards her.

“I have a thought,” Riza stated simply, sitting before the wall on the ground.. “Does anyone know what’s behind the fog?” She asked, turning to look at Artiv.

“Behind the fog?” The soldier asked, a tinge of confusion to his tone. “More fog and demons.”

“Has anyone ever been in the fog?”

“Sure. All the time. They just never leave. It poisons you, ya know. Ain’t no one surviving that.”

“You’re not-you’re not thinking of going in there, are you?” Lefie asked, voice wavering with a worried look on her face.

Riza didn’t respond instantly.

It can work. It should work. The question is ‘is it worth it?’

Let’s be smart about this; lay out the pros and cons.

Pros: It could lead to the way out quicker. It cleanly cuts me off from the Dominion, leaving me presumed dead. I can learn more about the demons potentially. I can find more demons and get stronger faster. I might be able to increase my level cap. Other potential benefits.

Cons: I could be ripped apart by demons as soon as I step in. I’ll be presumed dead and will no longer have the support of the Dominion. Artiv wouldn’t be able to come with me. I’ll need to spend a skill point on it.

There are two major reasons to do it; cut ties with the Dominion and get stronger.

“Lefie,” Riza said, drawing the girl into a crouch beside her. “Do you trust me?”

The girl nodded eagerly, her eyes uncertain as to where this was leading.

“Do you want to remain a member of the Dominion for many years? Dictating where you live, where you work, and how you level up?” Riza was extrapolating a little here but she doubted she was far off reality.

Lefie didn’t answer right away, carefully considering what she said.

“No,” She answered, though her tone wasn’t that firm or certain.

“What are you suggesting?” Artiv asked forcefully, walking up behind them, but with a hint of nerves.

“Are you happy with the Dominion? With the Skaldur’s Chosen? Forced to do things with no input, told where to live, and even your skills are dictated to you? Where’s your choice? Your freedom?” Riza enunciated carefully and powerfully, her voice growing stronger with every word as her resolve strengthened.

Meanwhile, Artiv just… scoffed, like he found what Riza was saying amusing.

“‘Forced to do things’? I joined the Chosen of my own choice. I sleep with a roof over my head. There’s never a day without food. There are so many interesting people I would never meet otherwise.

“Not to mention, I’m fighting to help my family. To help the Empire. I never imagined having a level, let alone being level 8.

“If I had a choice between joining the Chosen or living a sad, little life at a farm, with life never changing and the only excitement being the unimaginable terror a storm brings, powerless to do anything about it, I’d gladly join the Chosen again.”

The soldier was talking loudly, animatedly, his face screwed up in a frown.

Riza processed all that, wides open.

He...He actually likes it here?

“...You don’t want freedom?” Her voice was comparatively weak.

“I am free!” Artiv replied with conviction. “I can kill a demon. Compared to a farmer, who has no choice but die to an assault of bites and claws, I am far freer than he could ever imagine.

“Who are you to say these things? You, you who take the forbidden skills. Who kills not through being stronger but by sucking the life out of your enemies. Who’s perverse life is an affront to Skaldur; you [Heal] yourself when you should die and no longer even need to eat or drink. I bet you don’t even need to sleep.

“You’re not even Skaldian anymore.”

His rant had turned into a crescendo, anger boiling over as he practically shouted about Riza’s numerous affronts to his god.

It became clear to her now that, as amiable as he may have seen, this was a long time coming.

Riza stayed still and silent, her fear spiking as he grew more energetic and boisterous. She wanted to run away, to escape the problem, but she knew she couldn’t; not with the tightening grip on her arm.

Deep breathes.

She forced herself to stare at him but no words left her mouth. Breathing rapid, heart pounding, her mind was a whirl with tumultuous thoughts but none of them escaping.

The ambient whistling from the fog grew quiet.

“You’ve got nothing to say?” Artiv asked, not mockingly but in genuine surprise.

It was like some form of paralysis took over her mouth; a vengeful part of her brain wishing her the supreme discomfort and embarrassment that it could manage.

“Riza,” Lefie said gently, slightly shaking her arm, worried over her absolute stillness.

A sudden presence in her mind finally prompted Riza to move.

She turned around.

Even with the fog so clear and present, she felt something within it.

And it was coming towards them.

“A demon.”

“You say something?”

Riza turned around suddenly, startling Lefie as she did. Whatever it was, it was definitely coming closer.

“There’s a demon,” She said more forcefully this time, standing up and withdrawing her knife.

“How many?” Artiv’s voice returned to its usual timbre; calm and serious. It was almost reassuring. Almost.

“Just one.”

“A greater demon?” Riza wasn’t sure.

“Maybe.”

“Well, get back; I’ll handle this if it’s only one,” Artiv said, taking a confident stance and planting his spear on the ground again.

The demon sped up, running faster and faster as it neared them.

Must’ve been drawn by the shouting.

A tense few seconds passed as no one but Riza knew where it was. But then it’s footsteps echoed into the room, and Artiv visibly tensed up, his grip firming on his spear.

With thundering feet, the beast burst out of the fog, wisps of white tendrils dragging along its smooth skin as the monstrously huge jaw emerged.

It was seven or eight feet tall and mostly head. Running on four feet, the jaw unhinged, opening to a gaping three feet wide as it tumbled on in, almost consuming Artiv whole as he sidestepped out of the way, thrusting with his spear incredibly quickly and piercing the skin of the greater demon.

Frustration and anger ebbed away at Riza as she watched this. She felt so powerless while Artiv was shouting.

She clenched her fist and without even double-checking her essence, she reached out with her mind, feeling the power within the creature as she began to suck at it’s life force, the essence draining out of her.

Artiv continued to attack the demon for the next few seconds, not noticing any difference, but as the greater demon grew sluggish, slow, and sloppy, he took a step back, wary of this sudden difference.

In about half a minute, the creature collapse to the ground.

Artiv was briefly confused before turning to look at Riza. She met his eyes but didn’t say anything.

He didn’t say anything but the contempt on his face spoke volumes.

“Lefie. You still have the two skill points free?” Riza asked, ignoring the fuming soldier in front of her.

“Yes.”

“How much essence do you regenerate?”

The teenager paused, looking at the air for a second.

“About one in three per day,” She answered.

“One in three?”

“Of my total essence.”

No clear number but with her level, that should be plenty. No more than a day or two.

Wanting to confirm it first before pushing Lefie into making an irreplaceable decision, she opened up her own skill tree.

Life

0th Tier

[Heal] (10/10)+ -Learned

Restore 190 points of health to a living entity

Cost: 10 es/sec

[Leech] (10/10)+ -Learned

Drain 110 points of health from a living entity

40m range

Cost: 10 es/sec

[Cleanse] (10/10)+ -Learned

Cleanse an entity from any toxin, disease, or contamination

Casting Time: 10 sec

Cost: 10 es

1st Tier

[Sapping Curse] (1/10)

Prevent a living entity from recovering health for 2 hours

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 5 es

[Animate Critter] (1/10)

Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 0 zombie

Casting Time: 5 sec

Cost: 5 es/sec

[Life Sense] (1/10)

Scan for either a general or specific form of life

2m radius

Casting Time: 1 m/sec

Cost: 1 es

[Last Words] (1/10)

Extract thoughts from an entity that died within 2 hours

Casting Time: 1 min

Cost: 5 es

Hidden Skill

Requirements: [Heal] (10/10)

[Rejuvenate] (1/10)

Restore 100 points of health and regenerate any wounds to a living entity

Cost: 15 es

A hidden skill? [Rejuvenate]... I think I've heard of this skill before. Anyway, it's just a distraction right now.

She tapped cleanse,

[Cleanse] has reached levelled 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Cleanse+]

Cleanse an entity from any toxin, disease, contamination, or curse

Casting Time: 10 sec

Cost: 20 es

[Cleanse] (passive)

You have immunity towards any toxin, disease, or contamination

And purchased the passive.

Abruptly, she stood up, walked to the fog while under scrutiny from both Lefie and Artiv, and plunged her hand into the fog, much like she did before.

Eyes closed, she braced for the incoming pain. Nothing.

Pulling her hand out, it was fine. No grey motling, no rot, no marks. Even her health hadn’t decreased after she checked.

Heart racing, she placed one foot inside. Still nothing.

She disappeared into the fog.

And a second later, she stepped out, completely and utterly unharmed.

It works. It actually works. Quickly, Riza tried activating [Cleanse] as she had many times before.

Nothing happened.

Shit. I guess I should've expected that. I can make a skill passive but I loose the option to use the original skill. Thank god I tested that with [Cleanse] and not something more important like [Leech].

Artiv’s eyes were wide, mouth slack, as he stared at her.

“What...What are you?” He asked, voice wavering with a hint of fear.

“Lefie, purchase the [Cleanse] skill,” Riza told her friend, ignoring the soldier.

“You’re planning on going in there?” A nod. “Why?”

“Freedom. To get stronger. To get away from this…” Riza gestured towards Artiv, “From everything.

“Come with me. Don’t be a slave.” Her voice was as firm as she dared, not wanting to scare off Lefie.

The teenager didn’t answer immediately, giving the choice the respect it deserved.

“What’s your goal? What do you want to achieve with your freedom?”

It felt like she was at a job interview.

“I-I don’t know. I just want to live. I just want to… Be myself.” To get away from it all. Is that really what I want? To eschew civilisation once more?

Ashley would say no; this is the exact opposition of progress. I shouldn’t isolate myself just because it’s easier.

If only it was that easy, Ashley. Riza sighed.

“I’ll do. I’ll go with you.”

Riza almost didn’t hear her. She looked up, slightly shocked that Lefie had actually agreed to it.

“Really?” A firm nod of the head.

“Okay, okay. Well, purchase [Cleanse] from the life tree.”

“Done,” Lefie said quickly. “What next?”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this…” Artiv sighed into his hands, his voice tired. Lefie glared at him before looking back at Riza.

“Next, you spend all your essence on cleanse. Don’t do anything else. You want to level it to level 10 and then purchase its passive. It’s going to take a day or two.”

Lefie nodded, looking at her arm as she placed her hand on it. A brief, green glow appeared as weak, snakey tendrils drifted from her fingertips and into the porous skin beneath.

I guess we’re both committed, now.

Not long after Lefie took cleanse, Artiv broke away from the group. He was appalled by Lefie’s decision and wanted nothing to do with them.

He quickly headed down a tunnel containing a blockage they had discovered the day prior, seeing if it had been unblocked. That was what he wanted to do in the first place and now, without Lefie, it was his only option to escape.

No matter how much she didn’t want to, Riza felt guilty about that. They had effectively abandoned him, even if he had left on his own accord.

She doubted they’d unblock the tunnels before he’d starve to death or die of thirst.

Meanwhile, the two of them camped out in the room with the wall of fog. They hadn’t much reason at all to move; if there were demons, they’d go anywhere. Given how this seemed to be where they were coming from, that meant all the other tunnels should be quiet safe to ignore.

Riza could also sense the demons long before they’d be visible, giving her time to [Meditate] and make sure she was topped up.

There was one attack later that day but it was a small one. Once it was clear there was only a handful of demons, Riza joined a party with Lefie, actually gaining a level for her friend.

It still felt terrible to be so weak and vulnerable when in that state but they were a pair, now. A team. Both of them needed to be strong, and that meant helping Lefie level faster.

This did prompt a question from Riza about levelling, however.

“Is there anything that stops power levelling?” She asked, back against the wall as Lefie half-concentrated on cleanse.

“What’s that?”

“Like, say there’s someone that’s level 40. They’re in a part with someone who’s level 5 and they kill a demon that’s level 40. Does that mean the level 5 gains a tons of experience and levels to like level 20 in one go?”

“Finding a level 40 demon, for a start,” Lefie chuckled. “Cities would be destroyed if they existed.” Riza thought about the apparent worm that struck earlier.

“But there is a limit to it. Experience can only be gained if you’re within 15 levels of the strongest member of a party.”

“15 levels, huh. Still, that’s a pretty wide difference. I guess that means Adewyn couldn’t have been more than level 20 at the time.”

She was so strong, physically. As strong as a greater demon, it seemed. Riza stared at her own hands.

“What level are you at now?”

“It’s only at level 3.”

“It feels excruciatingly slow. If only there was a skill that let me give people essence, like [Heal] does with health. Do you know one?” Riza asked, staring at the ceiling. Many hours had passed by now, and she felt weeks away from her goal.

“I don’t.”

“Well, we’ve got time. Hopefully. It depends on the demons.”

Silence followed after, boredom becoming so prevalent Riza forgot what other emotions felt like.

So, she pursued a thought.

There should be a skill like [Heal] but for essence. Same with stamina. I don’t see why now; after all, [Heal] is about transferring essence.

There’s only three reasons why the skills would not appear to me: they don’t exist, they’re locked behind higher tiers, or they’re hidden skills.

Based on [Heal], they seem like they’d be too fundamental and basic to either be hidden or higher tier, which would mean they simply don’t exist.

Which is odd. Skills are fairly symmetric; the basic offensive skills are often the same regardless of tree.

[Firebolt] (1/10)

Launch a bolt of fire that deals 20 fire damage

4m range

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 1 es

Take firebolt, for instance. Change the name to icicle and change the damage to cold damage and it’s now a real skill. Same format.

[Icicle] (1/10)

Launch a shard of ice that deals 20 cold damage

4m range

Casting Time: 1 sec

Cost: 1 es

Lefie said that with her water skills, the essence has an intent. Of sorts. I guess that’s how essence is aspected? Firebolt works with fire essence?

Maybe not but assuming that’s true, then between firebolt and icicle, the manipulation of essence is identical, it’s just the type of essence that changes.

Riza ran through the process of using [Heal] on herself, imagining her essence shifting and flowing inside her as it changed colour from blue to green.

Cleanse, [Leech], heal; they all release a green glow when I use them. Lefie’s water skills have a blue glow to them. Is that indicative of different types of essence?

If so, then I guess with [Heal], essence...essence turns into [Heal] essence? Is [Heal] even essence?

All this talk of essence is confusing. Let’s put it a different way.

With [Heal], essence energy gets converted into health energy. Blue to green. With [Leech], it’s a bit different; my essence is what allows me to directly consume the health energy of an enemy--no converting of essence there.

Wait. Converting? That’s another word for transforming. Quickly, Riza activated [Essence Transformer], carefully inspecting what she imagined to make the skill activate.

Yes! That’s basically the inverse of heal; health energy gets converted into essence energy. Same colours and everything.

Crawling forwards on her knees, Riza began to write in what little dirt coated the floor.

Simple equation to begin with.

Essence = health, health = λ essence

Health = essence, essence = μ health

Health = λ μ health

In theory, if one is the inverse of the other, lambda and mu should be reciprocals of each other.

However, I know that’s not true; the ratios aren’t the same and that’s why I can use the combination to generate infinite essence.

So, [Essence Transformer] isn’t the inverse of [Heal]. There’s something more complex under the hood which results in different efficiencies for the two skills.

Kinda weird.

Why is that the case? Is the way I envision essence when using both skills fundamentally flawed? It’s different to what Lefie does but I doubt she could give much input here.

Riza then tried using both [Heal] and [Essence Transformer], imagining different strengths of whirlpools, colours of essence, and any other variable she could think of.

There was some leniency, she discovered. She could think of the health energy [Heal] gave as being greater or lesser and it still seemed to work just fine, not altering the actual amount of health restored.

Similar case with [Essence Transformer]; there were different ways of activating the skills but the effects never ultimately changed.

“Can I [Heal] you?” Riza asked, turning her head around to stare at Lefie.

“Sure you can,” She responded with a tired smile on her face.

Riza used [Heal], imagining the blue, cascading essence energy inside of her and then the green health energy inside of Lefie.

A tunnel connected them, the essence flowing out of her and turning from blue to green as it reached Lefie. Sure enough, Riza was now down 10 essence.

Pausing briefly, Riza remembered everything about what had just happened. Similar with [Leech], whenever she used a skill, whenever there was that mental click, that was her intent being cemented. With [Leech], that was the combination of wanting health and thinking of the way health would be applied to her body--repairing muscles, regenerating blood, and so on.

Intent was always necessary for a skill to work.

Taking a deep breath, Riza placed her hand back onto Lefie’s arm, as she had done when she healed her.

Riza imagined the essence inside her once more, blue and energetic. However, within Lefie this time, she imagined blue particles circling inside of her. Essence energy as well.

Give her essence, Riza thought, urging the particles forwards and into her friend.

Nothing. The particles didn’t budge at all.

Shit. Of course it was never going to be that easy.

She tried a few more times with differently worded intentions, or just different intentions all together. Nothing worked.

She experimented again but with the same intention as [Heal]. The particles actually left her this time, draining her of essence, and flowed into Lefie.

“Did your essence go up just now?” Riza asked, optimism simmering.

“No. Should it have?”

A bit deflated, Riza responded in the negative. As expected. Intent matters more than whatever I colour the particles. Makes sense; the colours were certainly incorrect when I started using [Leech].

“There doesn’t seem to be a way to give you my essence,” Riza said in lieu of an explanation for what she was doing.

“Oh well. Thanks for trying, anyway,” Lefie smiled. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide. “It reached level four!”