“The Mad Moon,” Maltos said to the trio and Korith and slurped on his tea.

Apexus, Aclysia, Reysha and Korith had huddled together in the house a short while after the moon-eye event had passed. There just had been nothing else to do but sleep and wait for the next day to investigate. They had hurried over to the old Monk to talk to him before other duties took his attention. Anticipating them, the mentor had been in the process of making tea when they knocked. Now all of them were on one side of the table.

“That sounds pretty ominous,” Korith remarked.

“It is a title given by people who don’t understand what they are looking at – or what is looking at them,” Maltos responded and took another sip. “The Mad Moon, as it is called, is one of the eight eyes of the Progenitor. It appears in the skies of the Omniverse sometimes, inspecting the current status of creation. I assume you heard some of what it said?”

“That was the Progenitor?” Aclysia asked, awestruck.

“One of its many parts,” Maltos re-emphasized. “Answer my question, if you may?”

“Yes, of course, honoured teacher,” Aclysia recalled what had been said and repeated the single phrase. “It said: ‘Yes. Safety remains, my progeny.’”

“The tail end of a conversation it had with some of us,” Maltos revealed, dunking a dry, hard biscuit into the remaining half of his cup of tea. “Around level 50, you become aware of these phenomena in their entirety. The other teacher’s and I knew the Mad Moon was approaching for two weeks. Tell me, Aclysia, did you realize what the saying meant?”

The metal fairy nodded, “I believe so.”

“Explain it, then,” Maltos nudged her, “We share the same sky, what is that saying based on?”

“All worlds are connected; all are Leaves of the Omniverse. Like the Leaves of the trees are created in the first one’s image, so are our worlds nourished by veins that run through them. Veins that spread out from the Stem, some burrowing into the ground, but most spreading out through the sky. These veins, the leylines, connect every single world of the Omniverse.”

“Did you realize the further implications of this for you personally?” Maltos asked another question to the exiled angel.

“This Smiting that my teacher told us about, it originates from leylines.”

“Since they are the direct connection to the Omniverse us Priests are a part of,” Maltos nodded.

“Us?” Reysha picked up. “Hol’ up a sec there, wise guy, you’re a Monk.”

“He multi-classed,” Apexus provided the simple explanation.

Korith’s tail moved slightly, “People do do that as they get more powerful. Aren’t you going more into the Arms Master niche, Reysha?”

“Can I just be shocked at some realizations?” Reysha grumbled.

“You can certainly be shocked, if you are so inclined,” Aclysia remarked. “You will look moronic in doing so, however.”

Apexus, mindful of the time they had before they all had to return to their actual teachers, kept the conversation on topic. “Is there anything else about this Mad Moon worthwhile to know?”

“If you live an average lifespan, you’ll see it two or three times,” Maltos informed them. “Otherwise, no.” He finished his cup of tea and placed it off to the side. Folded hands rested on the tabletop. “If this is all you wanted to know, I recommend you return to your training now. Reysha, Mai acknowledges your talent and you should try to entertain even her wildest demands. Korith, you have great physical prowess, but your mobility is lacking – perhaps you should ask your teacher if he has a recommendation for you to amend that issue. Aclysia, Pronthin is jaded and his vision clouded, yet his knowledge runs deep. Do not avoid him for longer than is necessary.”

All three women sighed in unison, looking at each other with amused befuddlement afterwards. It took the edge off the moment.

“Apexus, see them off,” Maltos then said and rose to his feet. “Since you’re already here, we may as well enter the final stage of your fast.”

“Okay,” Apexus agreed neutrally. The trio and Korith left the room. The slime led them to where they had left their shoes. Aclysia and Reysha put theirs on, Apexus didn’t touch his and Korith, as a species with claws and scales covering her feet, did not have any to put on in the first place. “Do well without me,” he said his goodbye.

“We’ll fuck after you come back out,” Reysha giggled and threw her arms around her lover’s neck. She had to get all the way on her toes to reach his lips and kiss him. “Keep your wits about you, Apexus.”

“I will pray for your safe return,” the metal fairy added swiftly, after Reysha had pulled back. Lovingly, she framed her darling’s face between her gentle hands. They both leaned forwards, their foreheads resting on one another. Green and blue eyes gazed quietly. Without another word, they separated.

“Uhm, see you soon?” Korith, confused about what exactly was happening, said her goodbye too. The three women set out. When they were a fair bit away, the kobold asked, “Is something bad happening?”

“Apexus has to starve himself for the next three days,” Aclysia explained.

“Oh, that`s… unpleasant?” Korith’s tone reflected her continued confusion. “I mean, it’s definitely unpleasant! It sounded like you thought he would die or something.” Both women tensed up a little bit at the mention, Reysha less so than Aclysia. Noticing this, Korith added, “I know he’s a giant of a man, but he should be able to go a few days without food?”

“…Perhaps,” Aclysia badly dodged the topic. Absolutely, the kobold knew that she was being left out of something again. It irked her, yet she couldn’t hope to get an answer. Without a fresh pint in her, she didn’t have the courage to press the issue either.

“Are ya going to do what Maltos recommended?” Reysha asked, changing the topic.

“I’m afraid so,” Aclysia sighed. Even though she had now realized what made Smiting easiest from the sky, being the density of leylines up above, she had planned to go the full two weeks. Retaining distance from Pronthin was a reward for her. Duty compelled her to action, however. “What about you two?”

“I can at least try to Sneak the way there,” Reysha shrugged. “Not like I’ve refused anything else she tasked me with so far.”

“I suppose I will ask,” Korith answered. “Not sure what they will point me at, but I’d like something that allows me to reposition. Hard to do my job as a vanguard if I can’t keep up on my short legs.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

“You’re lucky you have such short legs,” her teacher told Korith. “Short, thick legs.”

“Uh, thanks?” Korith asked. She was used to receiving compliments regarding thickness for bust, boobs, or thighs. She was not used to that happening in this particular context. “Why am I lucky?”

“Because your muscles are densely packed around the bones. Something about comparative volume, ask the mages how exactly that works,” Vulk waved off. He was a goliath (a race of humanoids that differed from humans by their towering size and general lack of hair) and it was difficult to say whether he was covered more in tattoos or scars. Whichever it was, the aged Warrior’s muscles underneath still worked fine. “Advantage is that shorties like you have less of your body to press your ki through. HEY!”

Korith jumped when the scream of her teacher caused the entire courtyard, filled with training Warrior novices, to suddenly turn to them. The sounds of wooden weapons and shields colliding ceased. Everyone looked at the two of them.

Aside from Korith, everyone was tall and muscular. Naturally, the kind of people drawn to being Warriors and Brawlers, the traditional frontliners of any adventuring party, were physically impressive to start with. It took a special kind of self-assured thrill seeker to volunteer to stand face-to-face with all the monsters the gods could concoct.

To the kobold, none of them were as impressive as Apexus. There were people who had the looks, people who had the body, and people who had the character. None had all three. At least not in the configuration Korith was looking for.

“DEMONSTRATION TIME, YOU CUNTS, IF YOU WANT TO LEARN SOMETHING COME HERE!” Vulk roared.

Korith shrunk a little bit, while a ring of musclebound bodies formed around her. She had sparred against practically everyone around her at the moment and came out on top quite often. Regardless, their concentrated gazes did intimidate her a little bit. ‘I don’t like this much attention,’ she thought.

“Alright. KORITH!”

“Y-yes?!” the kobold stammered, standing at attention.

“What are the two most essential Inner Body Skills for a Warrior?!”

“Bone Hardening and Muscle Strength?”

“Are you asking me or is that your answer, shortie?!”

“It’s my answer! Please stop shouting at me…”

“No!”

“Awwww…”

“YOU!” Vulk pointed at a random person in the crowd. “What’s the order of difficulty for the three major kinds of Inner Body Skills?”

“Bone is easiest, Muscle is middle, Joints are hardest,” the Warrior novice responded.

“Correct!” the teacher barked. “That’s typically important when it comes to Weapon Arts and I don’t teach those. Next question. KORITH!”

“Why me again?” the kobold whined.

Ignored, she listened to Vulk’s continued aggressive teaching, “Can you lift as much as anyone else here?”

“Generally speaking, sure?” the shortstack was so confused where this was going.

“Squat!”

“Yes, sir?” she squatted down where she stood.

“You, also squat!” Vulk barked at someone else in the crowd. “Both of you, use Bone Hardening and Muscle Strength on your legs and jump as hard as you can! On the count of three!”

Korith gave a tiny nod and concentrated on her ki. While Vulk counted down, she filled her bones and muscles with mana. Even before coming here, she had known how to perform both Skills and had only gotten better at it since. Hardening Bone made the body sturdier, able to take more punishment – particularly if timed well in response to an incoming attack. Muscle Strength did exactly as the name implied. What confused her was why she was made to use the Hardening Bone too when she was supposed to jump. It didn’t help with that endeavour.

Or so she believed.

“Jump!” Vulk commanded and both the kobold and the novice shot straight into the air. The chosen novice made it high enough that his toes were level with everyone else’s heads. Average height around the courtyard was 1,90 metres. Absurdly determined people may have been able to approach this without the help of magic. For a novice, this was an impressive showing.

Korith made it up a further fifty centimetres. She could hardly believe her eyes, when she looked down and people had their heads leaned backwards to follow her. Then a feeling of mild panic settled in. Gravity reclaimed her, the ground got closer, and she landed with a shock travelling up her hardened bones.

Vulk explained to everyone what had just happened. “Bone and Muscle magic is the easiest. Being the easiest doesn’t mean there’s no increased efficiency in certain conditions. If you meet someone who has considerably lesser size than you yet has the same strength, be prepared. Their ki usage will lead to stronger bursts. That’s a lucky quirk of magic for the shorties, because it means they can leap around in combat. They often end up being among the most mobile Warriors, especially on a battlefield with various heights. Helps make up for their lack of range. Ask mages for the details.”

Regularly, differences in efficiency were practically a non-factor. Between a person that was 1,70 and 1,80, there wasn’t much of a difference in the ki usage. Because Korith was a kobold and truly tiny, there was a notable gap. Primarily, this was created by the difference in the length of the bones. Inside the body, bones were the main way ki travelled.

This was what led to the huge difference in difficulty of Weapon Arts between Bone and Joint Skills. Bone Skills were already primed to utilize the same conduit they travelled through as the outlet of the magical effect. Joint Skills typically had their mana provided through the bone and were then formed locally. Having to shape the magic while it travelled through the conduit was the opposite of the behaviour inside the body. Muscle Skills had less of the issue, as they were in between the two categories.

Inside the body, Muscle Skills required a balance. With bones, having shorter, denser ones was always beneficial to the efficiency. For muscles, there was a balance to be struck. The closer the muscle was to the bone, the easier it was for the magic to reach. However, muscle fibre had a limit in terms of saturation, which was why frail people would be weaker Warriors. Athleticism was required for optimal output. Under all the squishiness, Korith was a trained frontliner who had survived on her own until that point. Her body, specifically her legs, did possess that balance between being short and thick. The perfect balance for ki efficiency.

Almost every curse could become a blessing, even being three-heads shorter than everyone else.

‘This feels like the kind of thing I should have learned earlier,’ Korith complained mentally.

“Since Maltos recommended this to you, we’ll focus on it extensively now!” Vulk shouted at the kobold. “Time to teach you the basic Martial Art of leaping – the Frog Jump!”

‘Why can’t it have a cooler name?’ Korith cried in her mind.

“The rest of you, remember – if you fight a short Warrior, Brawler, or any other kind of frontliner – If you don’t expect them to jump at you, say goodbye to your kneecaps! Understand that?!”

“YES!” the Warriors shouted in one voice.

Crazy or not, they did train her well. For two days, she did nothing but leap around. Once she got the hang of it, it was pretty fun. The Frog Leap Martial Art did little to increase the height on its own, but it did help with the landing. Wearing full armour made rolling difficult and, depending on terrain, sometimes impossible, so she would have to break the fall with her feet most of the time. Without some magical reinforcements to the relevant tissues, that would be quite painful.

“Ale-hop!” Korith shouted, believing herself alone. She was leaping the rest of the way to her cottage in the woods. It was quicker to travel that way and more entertaining. It did look odd, however. A small, partly scaled, horned woman was pouncing through the autumn forest, crossing several metres with each jump. Her boobs and butt were jiggling intensely. The sight would have turned heads for many reasons.

“Hello,” the friendly voice of Maltos reached Korith, just as she was about to go for one more jump. Startled, she stumbled and fell. The old Monk bowed over her. “Quite impressive for a few days of training,” he complimented.

“Thank you?” Korith responded, rolling onto her back. “I worked hard at it, but I didn’t really want anyone to see me practice on my way home and I would be lying if I said I was glad to see you – can I help you?”

Maltos’ face turned serious, “I do have a favour to ask.”