Jude, Krinn, and the others returned to Heroic Retribution. After a period of rest Jude went through the loot. Most of it was money which went into the coffers of Heroic Retribution. The rest was more suitable for warriors or rogues. The best of it went to Krinn and Wen.

By this point, all the recruits were level 10. It had only been 3 weeks and if the other organizations realized that Heroic Retribution was leveling and ranking up so quickly they would be astonished.

Level 10 was considered the graduation level for the newbie town of Longdale. However, Jude couldn’t leave just yet. Ellie was still here and he was still working with Theodwin. Plus, whatever trouble with the that was brewing was centered here in Longdale.

Besides, Levels weren’t the only thing that was important. If he could advance more skills beyond Rank III, it would be just as good. After all, it was not only because Abaud was already weakened that lead to his defeat. Jude’s several skills that past Rank III also helped to closed the gap.

Jude now had a twofold plan for advancing skills. First, the convening of Wizards. Heroic Retribution now had 5 Wizards including himself. Krinn had early on asked for Jude to raise another and he had agreed. With the help of all the Wizards combined, he was certain that they could help each other break past the Rank III thresholds.

The second part was the world nodes with Theodwin. They were a source of magic that bound the rules of the world together. Like the natural laws of his old universe, understanding them better would allow one to accurately predict an outcome. With a better understanding of the very makeup of this universe, Jude believed that he would find new ways to unlock his ranks.

After all, the idea of placing himself in danger to inspire him to grow beyond the Rank III barrier didn’t seem to work. At least not with his last adventure gains Abaud and the bandits. It helped him reach Rank III in but that was not really amazing. He would have gotten that eventually with some hard work.

Passing Rank III was truly hard. But if he followed his plan, perhaps he would have a better chance.

***

Lord Merek’s preparations were complete. He had done everything that the Shadow had told him to do but he was surprised when Guudnash showed up in the secret location.

Guudnash laughed, “I didn’t expect that it would be you! Who knew that you would be--”

“Enough,” Merek cut him off. “Some things shouldn’t be said just yet.”

“I’m just truly surprised, why would someone like you join our side? You always seemed to be a man of honor.” Guudnash asked.

“Does it really matter?” Merek asked, but Guudnash gave him a look that would not give up. “Fine, I will tell you: I’m bored.”

“You want to become the because you're bored!?”

Lord Merek yelled, “Shut the cosh up! Those words will not be said again until I rise. If you must know more than fine, I will tell you. Yes, I’m bored. Life has lost meaning to me. Is it comfortable? Yes, but there is no purpose for me. I can’t rise any higher in the nobility and as a lord of a newbie town, I can’t even raise my level.

“You should know that the people, who are truly capable of becoming one of us, are not people, who are in a desperate situation like you were. No, most people who turn to our cause will be people who are fed up with their life as it is. Not because it is a bad life, but because they desire an escape. They want something to change and that is the very thing we offer.”

“Very eloquent,” said Guudnash. “I may not entirely agree, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is the ascension ritual. I heard that you couldn’t get your hands on the Town Stone, so we will have to do it the hard way.”

“Yes, I’m not sure how the Town Stone got protection. But there seems to be a barrier around it. If we can’t find a way around the barrier, then we will have to do it the hard way. How are your preparations going?”

“Good, we are taking advantage of the holes you had opened up. The inscriptions will be done in a few more days. So if we can’t find a way around the barrier by then…”

“I understand.” Lord Merek left it at that.

***

Jude convened a meeting with the Wizards.

Jude said, “You are all here because time is of the essence. It is most likely that have already infiltrated the city. I’m not sure what their plans are, but they can’t be good. To combat them we will need to be stronger and we Wizards are the strongest offensive component of Heroic Retribution.

“We don’t have time to go out and gain a bunch of levels, so our only options are to advance our current skills to the utmost level. That is why we have all gathered here. To find a way to overcome the Rank III barrier on our skills. I have shared my methods with you all already, but my methods aren’t the only way. After all, it can only help so much and most of that is still under Rank III. So I want us all to discuss ideas on how to advance further.”

Cairfray was the first to speak up, “When you connected to your weapon, you created a connection from the magical to the physical. So we need to somehow do the same with .”

“But how or what is physical in relation to ?” Another asked.

“Combining with your eyes seems pretty obvious. I don’t see how you could connect to something physical.” Someone else said.

Jude interjected, “I think your missing something important. is what needs something that needs the physical to connect to its skills to get past Rank III. Think about it, what is Spectral anyway? It’s just another word for ghosts and spirits. But each of us has a spirit and each of us has a body. Because our spirit and body are connected we are alive. So I believe that advancing requires connecting that magic directly to our bodies.

“But this doesn’t mean that it is the same for Combat Magic. I want each of you to think of ways to connect to something other than your body or even something physical. Perhaps it is an idea or an emotion. I want each of you to think about it and see what you can come up with.”

The other Wizards were in awe of the words Jude spoke. Part of them believed that they couldn’t get past Rank III, but after hear Jude’s words they wanted to try! Only Cairfray was different, she viewed everything that Jude said to be enlightened and true.

Each of them sat quietly, contemplating. When one would have an idea they would quietly cast a spell to see if it had an effect. Occasionally they would discuss an idea.

At some point Cairfray asked, “Master, can we not use the same connection we have with to connect with and ?”

“First off, don’t call me master. We are all the same age. Just call me Jude.” Jude said. He was technically older but trying to explain to everyone that he created a ‘character’ would be difficult. “Please continue, I’m curious to know what you mean.”

“How could you not be our master? Not only did you give us the Wizard class, but you’ve taught us all we know!”

Jude wanted to disagree, but even the others were nodding their heads. “Fine, just tell me what you mean about .”

“Okay, you created a new circuit through your arm when you raised the rank of to Rank IV. That circuit was to connect to the sword, right?”

“Yes,” Jude could see where she was going, but wanted her to talk it out.

“Then why can’t we use that same circuit to connect to the object we hold or a shield on our hand? Wouldn’t that allow them to both advances without creating a new circuit?” Cairfray asked.

“That is a good line of thought, why don't you start working on it.” Jude was pretty sure it wouldn’t work. needed a weapon as a focus, it wasn’t until later that he was able to change that from being the weapon in his hand to one that he was familiar with. and didn’t have that requirement. But he still encouraged Cairfray to experiment with it, after all, he could be wrong.

It was then that he heard a knock at the door. After which an old man entered that Jude had never seen before.

“Hello, my name is Weak. I’ve been sent here to help you.” The old man said.

“Weak? That’s a strange name.” Jude said almost absentmindedly.

“Interesting,” the old man’s eyes lit up. “You actually hear the true meaning of my name rather than the sound? Perhaps you do have some potential.”

“What do you mean?” Jude asked.

“Earlier I said my name was Feyrath, but you heard the word weak am I correct?”

“Yes, I’m just now hearing Feyrath.”

“Ha ha,” Feyrath laughed, “It’s very rare to find an individual who can hear the true meaning of words. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to give you a little help with your magic.”

“Who are you?” Jude asked, “And who sent you? Why would you help us?”

“I’m just a weak old man,” Feyrath said. “However, the one who sent me is quite strong.”

“Did Murl send you?” Jude asked.

Feyrath chuckled, “No, but I have worked with him, though it was very long ago.

“But that is not why I am here,” he continued, “I’ve come to give you some assistance. To open up a door for your understanding. Will you accept it?”

Jude’s natural reaction to anyone who opened the door and offered assistance out of nowhere would be to reject such an offer. After all, who knew what this person really came for or what scheme he had up his sleeve. But Feyrath didn’t seem like someone who was a schemer. He had an honest bearing and clear words. He might seem weak, but he was also steady as a rock. Jude had no doubt that this person could help them and it wouldn’t hurt to hear him out regardless.

“Very well, I would like to hear your words,” Jude replied.

“Good, good,” the old man said as he sat down. “Tell me, what problems are you facing right now?”

“We were discussing ways to get past Rank III in our magical skills,” Jude said.

“Ah, that, yes a very interesting topic. Did you know, that before many of the formed that there were only the primary skills? Take for example. In the Great Before, there were no or or any of the other skills under . There was only .

“Using people created many skills with it. These skills eventually became the part of the very essence of . Because of this, people only trained in the skills under and completely forgot about using directly! If you want to break past the Rank III barrier in any magic, you first need to understand and use the base magic. Only then will the path open up for you.”

Hearing this Jude was a bit confused, “But I’ve seen the structure of the skill categories. Besides there is not much inside of them. How could one use them the way they wish? Moreover, if it was this simple, how come others don’t do it?”

“Many things have been lost to time because they are not easy. Have you heard the phrase, ‘The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life?’ And, ‘Those who find it are few?’”

“Yes, but isn’t that about being a good person and the golden rule?” Jude asked.

Feyrath replied, “Yes, but it is also about all things in life. The phrase: ‘The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.’ should tell you why using the magic and skills directly has been lost to many. It’s not an easy route. Only by entering the narrow gate and transcending the hard path will you find the way.”

Jude still had many questions. He had seen inside the Modicuit for each of the skill categories. They were truly simple. How could one create the complicated magics with just the primary categories themselves? What did the narrow gate or wide gate have anything to do with this? The whole thing seemed like rubbish. The crazy talk of an old man.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Feyrath said. “I will find you again when the time is right.”

“Wait, I still have more questions…” Jude said, but the old man was gone. He disappeared like he wasn’t even there.

“That’s all for now,” Jude said dismissing the other Wizards. He had a lot to ponder.

***

Jude wasn’t sure if he should take Feyrath’s words seriously or not. But he figured he should at least give it a try. After all, anyone who became anything had to do things differently than others. Perhaps that was what Fayrath was getting at. It was very easy to go with the flow and do the same thing that everyone else does. However, finding a new path or another path that others rarely use was much harder.

But wasn’t this also the very thing he was looking for? A new path that would lead him beyond Rank III. After all, the path that everyone else took only lead to Rank III. But did that mean that his current path using the Modicuit was wrong? He didn’t think so, but perhaps the next step in his path was to use the magic categories directly.

Jude decided to forgo the metaphors and just try it.

He went with as his testing ground. It was already Rank V, so he hoped it would make it easier. The circuitry was very basic and it made him wonder if it would even do anything at all. Regardless, he wanted to try so he would.

He inputted mana into . It was very simple. And very quick. And very disappointing.

All that happened was a puff of spectral smoke.

He tried it numerous more times getting the same result. He tried it with less mana, more mana, and even different speeds. Nothing seemed to work. Each time he would get a puff of magic and nothing else.

Then he remembered how worked. Spectral Weapons could form any weapon, but in order to do that Jude had to have a good mental image of that weapon. The easiest image was when one held the weapon. Which was why that was the first thing that would form when anyone cast the spell the first time.

When working with , Jude had not formed any image of what he wanted. Rather he was hoping to find what it would become on its own. Because of this, all that formed was a puff of magic. When Jude saw that puff of magic the first time, it then became the image of all successive casts of the spell resulting in the loop that he was stuck in.

This time Jude focused on the image of a sword. Specifically, the sword that was created with ! He already had a high ranking in and so when he cast the magic this time, instead of a puff he got a spectral sword!

This spectral sword was not as strong or had the domineering properties of . But it was a good proof of concept. The skill categories could be used as skills themselves! Jude was still unsure how this would relate to advancing his skills past Rank III, but he was just starting!

Continuing with a spectral sword would be pointless as was already past Rank III. He wanted to rank up but decided to go with as he felt it was more closely tied to the origin of .

He started to create various random objects with and was slowly getting the feel for it. This seemed to be the major difference between and its related skills. Jude was very technical with the skills themselves as he could see the circuitry and plan out a path within that circuitry. It all depended on the inputs he entered to get the desired output.

Using directly, lacked that technical aspect. It was all about feel, emotion, and image. That’s when Jude was hit with inspiration. Perhaps what he needed was to apply the logic of the other skill circuitry to the primary skill that he was using. Instead of imagining a cup or bowl, he would be imaging the circuitry of the skills he already knew!

But how hard would this be? To accurately imaging the formation of all the circuits and gates would not be easy. And even if he did, wouldn’t he only be recreating what he already had? What would be the use of that? Perhaps the answer could be found from the difference between the two.

was very much like art. Anything could be created with enough skill, imagination, and patience. The end result was the embodiment of emotion and image.

skills were all structured. There was always a very certain outcome. would always be a weapon. would always be a shield. And so on. It was always logical.

Jude thought back to all the times he reached past Rank III and remembered! During those times he had combined the cold logic of the Modicuit with the ethereal nature of creativity! It wasn’t so much about connecting one thing to another, but bringing a skill back to its roots! A skill was logical, but the category of that skill was creative, erratic and even chaotic! The category didn’t have any limits besides what the category was!

As long as it was Spectral, could create it!

This was the inspiration he needed!