Navigation was tricky. With [Animate Critter] being their only reasonable defence in the darkness, Riza was hesitant to use it merely for the ability to somewhat see where they were going.

So, as it were, the two of them were fumbling along the wall, holding each other's hand so as to not get lost.

They were wandering for a couple of hours, not encountering any packs of roving demons, and Riza was starting to get worried. She had little sleep and the combination of blindness, sleep deprivation, and the inevitable attacks were taking a toll on her.

Even so, they carried on travelling through the tunnels, not even making conversation to keep the noise quiet. Every now and then, Lefie would state that she was hungry or thirsty but that constituted most of what was said.

Eventually, when their legs were tired and a break was well in order, Riza’s previously padded and subdued footsteps suddenly rang out, the sound like walking on a metal floor.

The noise caused both of them to stop abruptly, Riza’s grip tightening as she pulled Lefie closer towards her.

Immediately, Riza used [Animate Critter], feeling the spider slowly squirm in her arms before dropping to the floor, the world opening up for her.

The details she received were limited, but better than nothing. The small, circular tunnels appeared to open out to a rectangular cross section, with what seemed to be a large, flat wall before them but with a circular hole in it.

The rough, rocky ground changed to a smooth, unblemished floor beginning about where they were.

She took a few steps towards the wall, giving it a few experimental knocks. The distinctive sound of metal rang out, echoing uncomfortably loud in this apparent caven.

“What’s happening?” Lefie asked quietly, her hand a bit sweaty in her sensory deprived state.

“I don’t know. The tunnel changes to metal,” Riza informed her.

Underground and claimed by the fog. The metal sounds refined so it’s been worked and placed there by civilisation. Demon civilisation? Probably not; they’ve displayed no signs of industry.

What else could this be? I know the empire doesn’t use metal in their structures. Is this related to the geodesic dome on top of this plateau? It looked largely destroyed, though there were clearly metallic tunnels throughout.

Seems more likely. Abandoned? From a destroyed civilisation? Maybe that’s where the mechanical machines I’ve encountered came from.

If so, that technology is centuries advanced compared to what the Empire has, though maybe magic changes that somewhat.

Underground space encased in metal. Sounds like a bunker or a vault to me.

“We’re going in,” Riza decided, wanting to learn more about whatever created this place.

After a few steps however, the sound was too much to bear--Riza took off her shoes and felt the coldness of the metallic floor seep into her feet. It was chill but much quieter, and she advised Lefie to do the same.

Their steps were slow and tentative, Spidey scouting ahead and sending a sense of the floorplan to Riza.

There wasn’t much there but one thing was clear; this place was massive.

The ceiling was a good fifteen or so metres in the air, and the walls were twenty metres apart. The ambient whistling of wind that had permeated every waking moment so far was reduced to a mere whisper, dispersed throughout the room.

A sharp drop followed the opening, forcing the two onto a narrow walkway leading to descending, suspended stairs at the end. The grated floor felt uncomfortable on Riza’s bare feet but apart from the quiet creaking of the walkway beneath them, the quiet was reassuring.

In the centre of the room was a torus shaped protrusion with a cylinder in the middle, a good two metres tall. Numerous circular holes penetrated the room, cleanly cut and likely corridors, each sitting at varying heights throughout, indicating a multitude of levels to this complex.

Walkways floated in mid air, some intact whilst others were partially destroyed. Riza could even feel lumps of debris underneath hanging walkways, presumably destroyed and fallen to the ground from one of the earthquakes.

The walls were smooth but they weren’t flat; pipes, and panels jutted from them like an industrial warehouse.

Overall, something Riza was very much not expecting to find underground.

Their first steps on the floating walkway had Lefie shivering in fear, the gentle swaying under their feet making both of them clearly nervous. Riza, however, chose to trust in the structure, or at least [Heal] to restore any damage from falling they would take.

Thankfully, they made it onto solid ground safely, the soft taps of their bare feet echoing throughout the spacious hall.

“Where are we?” Lefie asked, unable to ignore the obvious difference in the soundscape around them.

“I think it’s a bunker. A house underground. It’s probably older than the Empire,” Riza explained, cognizant of keeping her voice a whisper.

“Could it have been made by the Ancients?” Lefie asked, unable to mask the hint of excitement in her voice.

Riza shrugged before realising Lefie couldn’t see her response.

“Maybe.”

Neither had much more to say after that.

There was no clear direction of where to go. Only some of the corridors were accessible from ground level but still enough to make navigation difficult.

The torus in the centre of the room grabbed attention like nothing else. Riza certainly would’ve kicked it if she hadn’t known it was there beforehand.

The surface was angled towards her and, trying to sweep her hand along it, had a bunch of gadgets and stuff sticking up out of it.

Out of her element, Riza made sure to be gentle but she did manage to confirm there were buttons, levers, sliders, and practically everything you’d need to monitor and control something remotely. The blank spaces must’ve been screens as well, she concluded.

It was all cold to the touch and at a comfortable height for Riza to use if she so wished, a fact that made her sigh once she realised the stools that were either sitting at the panels or laying on the ground before it.

A control system of some kind. Underground bunker. Must’ve been ventilation as well, to pump oxygen in. Must also have something to pump noxious fumes out, like carbon dioxide from whatever generators they were running down here.

Maybe that could clear this place of the fog? I don’t even know if they exist in the first place, let alone where to find them in this complex.

Progress was slow going as the duo subconsciously moved at a snail's pace, wary of not only sound but their new surroundings as well.

They walked through empty corridors and empty corridors as Riza tried her best to remember their path. Keeping one hand on the wall at all times as her fingers slid over the cracks and crevices, one part of her mind absently trying to identify all the different things she was feeling.

Throughout all their wanderings, Riza couldn’t help but acknowledge a generally increasing feeling of… unease. They weren’t being attacked by demons, nor were there any signs of them, but the wind was still there. They were still underground.

Not to mention the ‘familiarity’ Riza felt with her surroundings. The medieval-esque village and underground outpost was alien to her, foreign, but metallic walls? Pipework, metal walkways, refined and industrially advanced structures? Even though she had never been in a place quite like this, she felt far more at home here than anywhere else so far.

Even with her blindness.

Every now and then, Riza’s mind would flare up, telling her of the presence of some demons, but always, as soon as they appeared, the sensation faded in strength, the demons apparently running away.

With every open doorway, intersection, and anything else that deviated from the standard corridor, Riza gently placed the corpse of Spidey onto the ground and breathed life into it, granting an expansive understanding of their surroundings in only a few seconds before ordering it to kill itself, conserving essence.

Eventually, the duo fell upon a canteen. Half-broken tables and benches and what seemed to be a serving bar which opened to a kitchen of some kind--an alcove in a wall.

However, that was not all. Riza’s mind, even subsumed within the dense fog, could sense the presence of some demons nearby. The closer they got, the more the signals diverged.

There were some regular demons, as well as a greater demon, but there was someone else as well. Something stronger, from what Riza could sense. There was little complexity to the sensations, but how strong the feelings felt were indicative of both distance and power.

“I think we’re in a canteen,” Riza whispered right into Lefie’s ear, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. Not once had she let go of Lefie’s hand so far.

Riza felt the girl squeeze her hand in lieu of any verbal acknowledgement.

Spidey was still up and alive, Riza cautious to dismiss it with demons so near by. It was scouting out the perimeter, quickly dashing along the walls and checking the exits as Riza and Lefie walked inside.

And then something found Spidey. The demon carried on its job, Riza not having given any commands, but a figure strode out, feet striking softly against the ground. Spidey gave her a full scope of its form; humanoid, about a foot taller than her, and unnervingly slim. The flesh stuck to bones like an animated skeleton, but it’s head lacked all contours except a slim, smooth crease for a mouth.

Not even eyes.

Hand was human, along with the bare feet. No genitals nor clothing of any kind.

It walked out of the alcove where the presumable kitchen was located, confident in it’s step but slow and measured, like it was assessing what it was seeing. Or sensing.

Riza gripped Lefie’s hand painfully tight, staring straight at the creature she couldn’t even see with her own eyes, mind overrun with confusion.

What...What is that?

The figure came to a stop a good ten metres before Riza, facing her. It didn’t make a single move, it’s inhuman stillness sending shivers down Riza’s spine.

For a whole minute, not a thing in the room moved. Lefie could sense Riza’s fear and apprehension, both their bodies tense.

“Come back, Spidey,” Riza called softly, preferring to have her spider nearby. Faster than any other spider, Spidey came scuttling right back, sitting at her feet as she told it to die, shrinking Riza’s perception.

At least I can still vaguely sense it. Hmmm, no reaction. It didn’t even move.

Is it human? Something else? It’s in the fog so that leads me to believe it’s a demon but it hasn’t attacked us. And, besides, we’re also in the fog and we’re not demons.

No hostility. Is there a way to communicate with it?

As scary a situation it was, the novelty of it was enticing. Intriguing. Riza wanted to learn more--the temptation was nearly irresistible.

And so, she took a step forward. No reaction. Another step forward. Still nothing.

“Hello?” Riza asked, feeling a bit weird talking to nothing but she knew the figure remained right in front of her. “Can you talk?”

Silence.

So that’s a no.

Riza didn’t advance but neither did she retreat, too interested in whatever this thing was. Instead, she reached down, making sure to remain staring forwards, and gently picked up the corpse of Spidey, cradling it in her arms.

Riza felt her hand tugged on.

“What’s happening?” Lefie whispered, a hint of fear in her voice.

“There’s-There’s a strange demon in front of us. It looks hu-Skaldian, I mean. It’s not attacking us, though,” Riza swiftly explained.

“Not attacking?”

“It’s standing still. I sense some more demons further away but they’re not moving either.”

“We should go,” Lefie said, pulling on Riza’s hand.

Riza didn’t move. Some part of her wanted to take Lefie’s advice and run--it was likely a safer alternative--but she felt rooted to the ground by her curiosity. That, and the slight possibility such sudden movement could elicit hostility in the creature.

Figure. Humanoid. Whatever it was.

It began to move. It drew closer at a measured pace and instinctually, Riza took a step back, almost bewildered by the sudden locomotion but she forced herself to stand still, tightening her grip on Lefie.

“Get behind me.”

Riza could feel the pull on her arm, twisting in such a way the teenager was standing behind her, protected by her, as she and the creature was now face-to-face. As face-to-face as they could get without seeing each other, of course.

The precious few seconds that followed were hair-raising. Riza’s whole body was shaking, the epitome of nervousness.

An alien sound rang out, like incoherent gurgling under water. It was so abrupt, so sudden, the startled Riza nearly took another step back in surprise.

Nothing for a few seconds and then she felt the creature move towards her, forcing her to push Lefie as they took a step back. The feeling pulled back a little as sweat trickled down Riza’s arm.

Impossibly fast, an arm strikes out at her, grabbing her by the throat, lifting Riza off the ground with ease. Riza wrapped her hand around this limb, trying to wrench apart the vice-like grip but it felt like trying to manipulate steel.

Her gurgling, choking sounds could clearly be heard as she began to suffocate, her mind dizzy and incoherent as panicked adrenaline fueled her. The disturbingly human fingers clasped around her throat grew cold.

Even in the chaos of her mind, she managed to activate a skill as she felt Spidey shake to life within her one arm, jumping from her torso to the figure’s.

Without wasting any time, Riza reached for her dagger, pulled it out, and began stabbing and trying to pry the hand away from her throat with as much strength as she could muster.

A cold wave of water suddenly washed over her, drenching her hair as it travelled forwards.

She tightened her grip on her dagger and decided to just ‘fuck it’ and stab as hard and fast as she could, hoping the pain would overwhelm it.

Riza felt like she was on fire, tiny icicles of frost appearing on the arm and her throat.

Spidey went dead but the familiar sound of high-pressure water erupted right past her followed by another and another. A cacophony of noise and then the arm grew just the littlest bit slack, the littlest bit weaker, before it let go entirely, Riza falling a foot to the ground suddenly.

Almost scrabbling on the ground, Riza made it to her feet and grabbed Lefie, half pulling, half running out of the room. Her feet slapped against the metallic flooring loudly but she couldn’t care, too engrossed in running away.

Sensations piled after her, a conflux of both big and small following them.

Shit shit shit. We’re being chased, I’m out of essence, and there’s no fucking way we can kill that thing. Fuck!

They continued to run as Riza retraced their route, hoping to dear god she wasn’t getting them lost somehow.

Her palm tore along jagged, rusted metal as she traced her hand along the walls, running too quickly to care.

Corner after corner, room after room, they ran until the ground beneath their feet turned to dirt and stone and they still ran.

They made it. Bursting out of the fog like a firefighter from a burning building, Riza tumbled and rolled, gasping for breath as her lungs were on fire. Lefie collapsed on top of her, quickly shoving herself off as she too was dying from the exertion.

Fuck. They’re still there. Catching up. Fewer? Fuck.

With shaky limbs, Riza struggled to her knees, hunched over and taking deep breaths.

“Still-Still being ch-chased. Fight,” Riza gasped between breaths, pointing towards the wall of fog before them.

Name Riza Level 14 Health 93/100 Stamina 47/100 Essence

731/1800 Power 5 (5) Constitution 5 (5) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 6 (6) Essence

5 (90) Spirit

65 (330) Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

96/min

“You can...You can fight?” Riza asked, looking at her friend. Hair was ruffled, eyes closed, as the teenager didn’t even move.

I hope the answer is yes.

Riza watched her essence tick up by the second as the back of her mind kept tabs on whatever demons were out there.

Far away, she got the faintest traces sometimes, transient and elusive. Maybe she was just imagining things--her mind stuck in concentration desperate for any stimuli to appear. Every now and then, a group came close.

One group finally decided to follow their path, it seemed. The sensation became stronger and stronger, more defined, and actually allowed Riza to tell the composition of the group.

A handful of regular demons and one greater demon. Fuck me.

Crawling over to Lefie, Riza knelt behind her and gently pulled her up against her body, running a quick flash of [Heal] through both of them. She knew it would do nothing for stamina--not without upgrading the skill--but it’d hopefully help return Lefie to lucidity.

The demons were encroaching on their position but Lefie thankfully came to, tired but with plenty of essence to spare.

Throughout the running and the short period of waiting, Riza assessed that she barely had enough essence to take out all of the minor demons and would rely on Lefie to kill the greater one, something she quickly agreed to.

The demons soon arrived but Riza and Lefie had shaken off the recent encounter and easily swept through them. [Leech]’s power meant within seconds of bursting through the fog, the demons were cut down, leaving only the greater demon for Lefie, and even that didn’t prove to be much of a challenge.

[Level up]

You have gained 10 stat points and 1 skill point

Level 15. I’m there. No more levels, no more improvement.

Name Riza Level 15+ Health 100/100 Stamina 22/100 Essence

32/1800 Power 5 (5) Constitution 5 (5) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 6 (6) Essence

5 (90) Spirit

65 (330) Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

96/min

“I’ve levelled,” Riza said to Lefie almost casually.

“What level are you now?” The girl asked.

“15,” Riza said simply, appreciating the growing smile and excitement coming off her friend.

“You get a boon!” Lefie exclaimed.

“Lets...Let’s move somewhere else,” Riza said, eyeing the fog. “Back to the blockage.” Lefie nodded in agreement.

You have reached level 15 and can now choose a Consolidation Boon

[Boon of Labour]

Effect: Non-combat skills level up twice as fast

[Boon of Body]

Effect: Physical skills level up twice as fast

[Boon of Mind]

Effect: Non-physical skills level up twice as fast

Hidden Boon

[Source of Spirit]

Requirements: Spirit is 2 times greater than any other stat

Effect: Spirit is multiplied by 3

Hidden Boon

[Lone Wolf] -Consolidated

Requirements: Have never been in a party

Effect: Intensity of all skills is multiplied by 2 when not in a party

Hidden Boon

[Way of Life]

Requirement: Two Life skills (10/10)

Effect: All Life skills are 2 times as effective

Hidden Boon

[Way of Primordial Magic]

Requirement: Two Primordial Magic skills (10/10)

Effect: All Primordial Magic skills are 2 times as effective

Hidden Boon

[Touched by Essence]

Requirements: Spend 24 hours submerged in pure essence

Effect: Essence regeneration is 1.5 times as effective. Ability to see and sense essence is enhanced

Only three new boons since last time.

“What boons can you get?” Lefie asked as soon as they settled down, almost bouncing with excitement. She was far more giddy at this development than Riza was, though her joy was very sweet.

“The three normal ones as well as [Source of Spirit], [Way of Life], [Way of Primordial Magic], and [Touched by Essence].”

“I know about the first three but what’s the last one?” Lefie asked, confusion on her face, prompting Riza to relay the details.

“Will that be available to me when I’m level 15?” She asked.

“Probably,” Riza said, hesitant to be more certain.

“So, what boon are you going to get?” Lefie asked, waiting little time between questions.

“Calm down. I haven’t decided yet,” Riza said light-heartedly, patting the ground besides her. Lefie complied, taking a seat but fidgeting as she did.

Let’s think about this. From what I’ve heard, the ‘way’ skills are pretty commonly taken. A flat doubling of skills without any downside when you specialise in a specific aspect is pretty invaluable.

However, how would it affect me? Doubles the power of [Heal] but that’s not important since both Lefie and I have pretty small health pools.

Doubling the power of [Leech] would be nice--10 essence for 220 damage, or 50 essence for 1100 damage when maximised--but damage isn’t exactly what I’m lacking right now and it’d be useless in the fog, anyway. A boon is too strong to not use to get as strong as possible right now.

What else would it affect? [Animate Critter] and [Remnant Memories]. Would it work additively or multiplicatively with [Lone Wolf], however? Would [Way of Life] double the base skill or double the skill with [Lone Wolf] already applied?

Assume it’s additive. Skills are multiplied by 3 from their base form. At level 10, [Animate Critter] goes from a level 9 zombie to a level 27 zombie. [Remnant Memories] goes from 50% increase to 150% increase. That’s a level 67.5 zombie all for the measly cost of 14 essence per second.

What.The. Fuck.

Outside of this mysterious Regent, the strongest person is the Dreaven and they’re level 60.

That’s absurd. That’s insane. How is this possible?

“Are you okay?” Lefie asked, resting her hand on Riza’s as she looked her friend in the eyes.

Only know did Riza notice the tension in her shoulders and how sweaty her palms were.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about a boon.”

“Is it bad?”

“No. Just hard to realise how strong it is,” Riza said, fully intending to leave it there but after seeing the perplexion on Lefie’s face, decided to continue.

“You know I have [Lone Wolf]. That doubles the intensity of a skill. [Way of Life] would also do that. Even assuming it’s an additive combination, that triples skills.

“[Animate Critter] normally gives a level 9 zombie when the skill is at level 10 but with two boons and no extra cost, that’s level 27. [Remnant Memories] would make that level 67,” Riza said, heavy emphasis on the last number.

Lefie’s eyes went wide at that.

“That’s… woah. That’s real?” A nod. “The strongest person I ever met was the Chief and he was only level 31.”

There must be something up. There’s gotta be. I simply refuse to believe if I take [Way of Life], I can create a zombie as strong as the strongest person. I also refuse to believe the skills would combine multiplicatively instead.

Just then, something came to Riza. Something she saw but didn’t think about.

“Lefie. How many stat points do you get per level?” Riza asked.

“Five. Why? Oh, do you have ten now?”

“Yes. Why is that?”

“Every time you get a boon, you get five more points per level. I think. I only really know that it’s true for level 15 and 25,” Lefie explained.

That’s… That’s something. Unless I’m misremembering, even at level 16, I still only have 5 points per level I could apply to Spidey.

No skills, boons, nor additional stat points. I need to do some maths to put this into perspective.

Releasing Lefie’s hand, Riza crawled forward as she began to list out numbers.

5 per level. At level 60, that’s 300 stat points.

5 for 15 levels, 10 for 10 levels, 15 for 10 levels, and so on until level 60. That’s… 925 stat points total. Over triple Spidey.

In terms of Spidey, then, when he’s level 60, the Dreaven is more like level 180. That’s not even including all the skills. [Well of Power] and what-not would easily mean double the effective level, so level 360.

Okay. I guess a level 67 Spidey isn’t as strong as I thought it was.

Actually, how much health would it have if I put all the points into power? 300 points means 6000 health. That’s less health than a greater demon. That’s so little health I could kill it with [Leech].

Levels aren’t everything, then. I guess that’s where [Reanimate] comes into it. [Reanimate] a greater demon and get 10 points per level instead of 5. Would mean I’d need stronger and stronger demons to use, though.

“What’s this?” Lefie asked, Riza’s use of Arabic numerals precluding the girl’s ability to understand what was written.

“Maths. It turns out Spidey won’t be as terrifying as I thought. From just stat points alone, a level 60 person would have 925 whilst Spidey would only have 300,” Riza explained.

“Ah. Spidey doesn’t get skills and boons, either?”

“Correct.” At least, that’s what I think. If it is getting skills, I certainly can’t see them.

“That’s a shame.”

Back to the boons. [Way of Life] gives a large increase in power but not as much as it may appear at first glance.

[Source of Spirit] has been available to me from the start, and the only reason I didn’t take it was the versatility that [Lone Wolf] gave.

My greatest problem right now is not enough essence to sustain [Animate Critter] for more than a handful of minutes and too little regeneration to offset the cost. [Source of Spirit] helps with both of those problems immensely.

[Way of Primordial Magic] has the same function as [Source of Spirit]: increasing my essence regeneration. However, it's flat-out worse; an 100% increase compared to a 200% increase. Riza quickly double checked her maths. Yeah; it's lower. The only benefit is increased essence but [Source of Spirit] already does that if [Knowable Essence] works with it how I think it will.

Lastly, there’s [Touched by Essence]. A small boost in regeneration.

The increase in perception sounds interesting but I’m a little wary of it. What if it doesn’t allow me to see in fog? Does this have any relation to my ability to sense demons? So many questions.

If this was a skill, maybe I’d take it but probably not. As a boon, that many questions makes it unappealing.

I have to be honest with myself; [Source of Spirit] was always the one I was going to take. I’ve been complaining about my essence regeneration, not that I’m too weak. Even if Spidey won’t get as strong as I thought he could, level 36 is a high enough level to offset that weakness.

Still, let’s consider all my options first; I’ve still got a skill to take.

“You’ve taken a boon?” Lefie asked as Riza wrapped an arm around her to warm both of them up in the darkness.

“No. Still thinking.”

“I wonder what boon I’ll take,” Lefie yawned, her body exuding lethargy as she wrapped her arms around Riza’s waist, ready for sleep.

It’s been a long day, Riza thought, looking down at Lefie. Found a vault. Found a monstrously strong humanoid demon. Levelled up.

She sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against the the stone wall.

You were right, Lefie. I should’ve listened to you and ran away instead of staying.

It was so strong. The frost on its skin, the piercing cold of its grasp. Ice skills?

And how strong is it, even? Stronger than greater demons. And it seemed intelligent, even. Like it was observing us.

It even spoke. Trying to communicate with us or giving orders to the demons I couldn’t see?

It’s hostile now, that’s for sure.

As strong as it is, though, that’s a reason to kill it. To increase my level cap. Riza gently stroked Lefie’s back, the teenager not stirring.

I’ve still got a skill point left. Let’s see what tier 3 offers us.

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 (Passive)] -Learned

You have immunity towards any toxin, disease, or contamination

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] (7/10) -Learned

Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 12 zombie

Casting Time: 11 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

2nd Tier

[Reanimate] (1/10)

Raise a corpse into a level 0 zombie

Casting Time: 1 min

Cost: 10 es/sec

Requirements: [Animate Critter] (5/10)

[Inanimate Life] (1/10)

Bestow the gift of simple life to an inanimate object

Cost: 100 es

[Remnant Memories] (6/10) -Learned

Summoned entities are created with a 60% higher level

Cost: 30 es

Hidden skill

[Leech](10/10)

Animation skill (1/10)

[Parasite] (1/10)

Implant up to 2 parasites in summoned entities. When your health drops to 0, automatically drain all the health from a summoned entity regardless of distance

Cost: 100 es per implanted [Parasite]

3rd Tier

[Resuscitate] (1/10)

Bring an entity that has died within the past 2 minutes back to life

Casting Time: 1 minute

Cost: 1000 es

Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (10/10)

[Amalgam] (1/10)

Combine 3 summoned entities into one entity

Casting Time: 5 min

Cost: 500 es/entity

Requirements: [Heal] (1/10)

[Senescence] (1/10)

Alter the age of something by 2 minutes per second

Cost: 50 es/sec

Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (1/10)

[Raise Dead] (1/10)

Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2

Casting Time: 5 min

Cost: 1 es/sec/level

Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)

Hidden Skill

Animation skill (5/10)

[Essence Monarch] (1/10)

Gain 2% of each summoned entity's essence regeneration

Wow. Those… Those are strong.

[Resuscitate]. That’s actual resurrection. Not just last-second healing but true bringing something back from death.

How does it improve on level up? Longer frame of time to resurrect? There might be a tier 4 skill that allows resurrection but on the span of days.

Then, there’s [Amalgam]. Little detail. I don’t really know what it does. I could combine two Spideys into one big Spidey. Would it combine the levels? Keep the levels? Act as a consolidation of power like a boon? So many questions there.

[Senescence] should’ve been expected. A form of immortality although fucking expensive at that. Say it’s 10 minutes at level 10. Assume 150 essence per second. Maximise makes that basically an hour for 800 essence. That’s 19,200 to deage something by a day.

More than my maximum but well within what I can regenerate per day. Huh.

I can make it so I won’t die of old-age in just one level. That...That feels weird.

[Raise Dead], I suppose, is the logical continuation of the animation skills. Retains levels. That implies skills and boons as well, doesn’t it? It’s not a zombie either. That must be it otherwise I don’t see the difference between it and [Reanimate]. Stupidly expensive, though.

However, none of that is what interests me the most.

[Essence Monarch]. 2% isn’t much--it’s hardly anything--but I haven’t done the maths on it yet.

Say it increases by 2% each level. 20% at max level. A 0th level Spidey would give 20 per day. A pittance.

However, let’s look at Spidey at max level. Level 36. 180 skill points. Spend 4 to bring it up to a spirit of 5. 176 multiplied by 20 is 3,520 per day. About 1 essence per minute. Damn; still not enough.

How high a level would it need to be?

14 per second. 840 per minute. 50,400 per hour. 1,209,600 essence per day. Holy shit. I didn’t consider how high that would be.

Back to it. Divide it by 20 and that’s… 60,480 spirit.

Level 12,000. Even if it went through multiple consolidations and began with 100 stat points at level 1, that’s still level 120.

Impossible without skills and boons. Let’s look at me. [Well of Spirit] multiplies by 5, [Meditate] and [Maximise Mastery] multiplies by 21, so that’s 105 total. I’m not including [Well of Essence] as that’s complicated.

Name Riza Level 15+ Health 100/100 Stamina 17/100 Essence

2000/2000 Power 5 (5) Constitution 5 (5) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 6 (6) Essence

5 (100) Spirit

75 (380) Health Regeneration

100/day Stamina Regeneration

120/day Essence Regeneration

110/min

A base spirit of 75 becomes effectively 7,875 through 5 skill points and a boon. [Source of Spirit] would triple that to 23,625.

That’s equivalent to a level 4,725 Spidey.

Shit; all of this isn’t even accounting for the fact Spidey would need to be 5 times the level because of [Essence Monarch] only taking 20%.

These numbers are insane. It’s clear that even with [Essence Monarch], I’d need a minion with skills and boons to even be able to come close to breaking even on the cost.

No point taking anything yet. I’m tired, my brain’s barely working. I just want to sleep.

Riza’s grip around Lefie tightened as she navigated back to her boons.

She took [Source of Spirit].

A sudden surge of energy shot from her heart and coursed outwards, ending at her toes and fingers and leaving her whole body tingling and with an ephemeral energy. She felt alive, awake, and like she could do anything, but only for a moment.

As quick as it appeared, the feeling was gone, leaving her cold and tired with only the warmth of Lefie beside her as she sank against the wall, eyes drooping close as the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with her.