As time passed, the only thing left, as she was occasionally by interrupted a bump in the road, was for Kara to find out which of her skills she could use. Back then she was fully able to use Kinetic Mana as well as Third Movement: Deviation and Fourth Movement: Amplification. The cost for those used her own Equilibrium bar, but the Mana was siphoned from Nilbog's Soul.

Life Force was a trickier thing. It was more difficult and costed more than the effects it had. She blamed his body for that—it would take quite a bit of work to stretch those pathways.

His skills, and her passive skills did not seem to be usable here. Considering she was an 11th Ranked Kinetic Mage, the cost of channeling Kinetic Mana should have been substantially lower.

Most likely, whenever she used his Mana or Life Force, the process went through her Dancer's skills rather than hers. That meant as long his body met the requirement for the skill, he didn’t need to know it as long as she did. That was likely why she can use Deviation and Amplification, and not her other class skills that had skill requirements he did not have. It also meant she can use any 1st rank Life Force or Mana skills she knew.

Not quite a blank sheet, but... She swallowed that thought, refusing to become complacent. Not everything was set in stone. There was much to be tested.

“What should we expect?” the Ranger said ahead.

I would like to know that myself. Kara tried to dim the excitement growing in her heart, but it was too much. There was hope. She had a real chance at becoming something once again. All she had to do was get her Dancer to cooperate with her.

“What will we do?” he asked. “I can see a couple of groups ahead. Some of them are fighting. We can crash the party, but that will leave-”

“-Us vulnerable to attacks from other parties,” Yan finished. “We’re too low. Guessing we’ll pass?”

“Those Thalls messed up our plans. We gathered a decent amount of points and orbs. Probably worth a few skills with add-ons. I’m sure you all know how much I hate gambling?” Caldain said.

I don’t need to see your eyebrows twitching to know that your bullshitting them, Caldain.

“We’ll stick to the edges of the storm,” Caldain decided. “Rest up. We have a dozen minutes or so before it ca-”

“Quiet!” the archer hissed, causing everyone to drop to the floor.

That included Aron. The sudden descent caused her to slip off and to strike the ground face first, but not before her left-hand shot towards the sword that was tied down to his waist, holding the hilt for a second, and pushing it on its axes.

1st Life Force Levitation.

She was not able to fully clutch it, though, and was forced to let go of the sword as she smacked into the ground. As the belt snapped the sheath towards the front, however, the blade floated out of the sheath on its own accord. It hovered in the air as Yan walked away.

Kara stretched her hand backward as she tiptoed out, letting the blade float towards the cusp of her hand.

Uncommon Life Force Infused Longsword Weapon Type: Sword

Slash: ★★

Thrust: ★

Durability: ★★

An old but well-crafted sword, the steel has gained the special ability to trap the Life Force inserted into it. The cost Life Force Enchanting skills is reduced by 20%.

Using his Life Force felt like drinking mud instead of water. A simple 1st Life Force Rank channel cost her 10 Life Points, roughly triple its actual cost.

There were four possible reasons for this: a penalty was applied because she was using Life Force that was not hers, he was unconscious, or it was because of his broken body.

What was odd, however, was that those same penalties did not apply to Mana.

Why, Kara did not know. Was it because he never used it before, and now she is creating the appropriate channels in which the Mana travels from the Soul? The other theory, which she liked a lot more, was that she was just that damn good. Unrealistic, but it did make her feel good about herself.

Sneaking away, Kara found a spot to rest in. She did not bother hiding her tracks. None of Caldain's party would pose a problem to her.

Not that they would have a reason to, anyway. Caldain might be a grumpy leprechaun, but he was a sweetheart. She could see why Nilbog chose a young body--It really did give him a lot of leeway. Those that only recently became adults were at a severe disadvantage to the older rankers. They were often pitied and underestimated for their bad luck.

With her escaping, though, his consciousness would be cleared. I tried, he would say. I did what was required of me. Ask no more, condemn me no longer! The bastard never changes.

Kara did, however, conceal the pulsing of her Life Force. There was no cost to this beyond it being annoying, like wearing tight lairs of clothing from toe to mouth, but the benefits were worth it. She became invisible to most Life Force Detection skills.

She did use 6 Life Force points to Life Force Enhancement on her eyes. Not only did it increase her eyesight, but any objects containing Life Force glowed through walls.

Kara had quite the array of 1st rank Life Force skills to use. Life Force Slash, Pierce, Burst, Palm, Ball, and Bellow were the offensive ones, but their cost was so enormous it made little sense to use them. Life Force String, Empowerment, and Levitation were the only feasible ones.

Fighting without skills, Life Force and barely any Mana...

She was a slightly higher than average soldier that could be found in any dirty ditch, or a super-soldier for a few moves before they dropped into that ditch.

It was more than enough. Deviation and Amplification were still functioning.

Before she could fully confirm her current combat capacities, however, she needed to fix it. As beautiful as it was, being at 30 HP was not a feasible way to carry out the rest of the Dungeon. The lightest touch and she’ll drop dead.

It was time to use her Siren skills again. She didn’t have precise control over the outcome of the Song, but she could push it towards a certain way. When Nilbog lost his hand she desired a healing effect. The Song accommodated to the situation. She was at 60 Siren points—she had two shots at getting a healing effect.

The issue, and the main reason why Kara broke off from Caldain’s group, was that most of these healing effects were Life Stealing effects. Those buffs healed her when she dealt damage or killed creatures. That meant she’ll have to find a decent group of monsters or thugs to take out.

That, and she just wanted to fight. Not flinging bolts over the distance, but real metal against metal clashes that she could feel vibrate down her bones. All she had to do was not to be so abundant with her Life Force and Mana use—she didn't have an upward of two thousand points to spend, after all.

She pulled up his status screen, eyeing the Shapeshifter race. If the rumors were true that any race could evolve into a Shapeshifter, then her becoming one might solve all her problems.

From the storm’s progression, she figured there were about two to four minutes. That pushed it a bit, as some fights might extend long enough for the storm to make a person do foolish things in a fight.

After a while she hooked around, heading to the center. She peaked through the bushes, scouting ahead.

It seemed like she found the final stage. The previous areas she went through were lush with bushes and covered with intricately woven tree lines that covered the skies, and had a diverse flora inhabited by various insects and birds. The smell and colors had literally taken Kara’s breath away. If her memory was correct, it had all the qualities of a rich forest.

The area ahead couldn’t be more different. The sparse trees that stuck out of the ground were dry poles with no leaves or any other life around their trunks. The dry stone was cracked throughout, with little in between. The open field allowed Kara to see other parties moving forward. There was no cover to hide behind. Other than the few that encountered giant Ents that rose from the ground, most parties stuck to themselves. She spotted Caldain’s party at the same time they spotted her, but they were a way off.

It’s a bit sad, that I won’t gain anything for anything I do here. Maybe Nilbog might at the end, though everything was uncertain at this point.

It was something to hope for, as the first contestants already appeared. They were actually waiting for her in ambush, though their efforts were laughable.

There were three of them.

Kara shrugged. It wouldn’t make a difference for her.

She walked straight into the ambush, yawned for the dramatic effect, and then walked out, without any of the monsters reacting.

Stupid Ents can’t detect those that conceal their Life Force while underground.

Some of the trees were actually the top half of Ents. The rest of its body remained underground, ready to break through the brittle ground at a moment’s notice. From the signature of their Life Force, Kara estimated them to be seven feet each, half as wide, and hovering around level 50.

No action yet, but this encounter did reveal to Kara a few vital things.

First, monsters in this Dungeon did not scale with the number of people or levels, as the Phases always do. They might be planned or randomized encounters. Considering she is going solo, this was a major disadvantage for her.

Secondly, anyone that could not detect Life Force would be in for some unexpected trouble. Unlocking Vision empowerment was possible at the 1rd Life Force rank, but the person still had to train or buy it, which was a bit uncommon at this level.

That could be used to her advantage.

Those Ents would probably decimate a clueless group of fighters, and there were many clueless fighters roaming the wasteland. Barely any of the parties out there were well optimized.

That was not an oversight by Iron-Eyed Olivia. There were too many people in Dlar and not enough Dungeons. She did not have the resources to waste on soldiers that will die at the first challenge they meet. These randomized parties ensured that those that lacked the character to survive were quickly removed from the picture.

The golden line, of course, was not having too many of the low levels die.

It wasn’t a bad decision per say. Some kingdoms assisted everyone in their leveling to have mighty armies or focused their resources to make a small group of elite fighters. The second path offered greater rewards if they could control the rankers they create. Having them grow too powerful and leave once their sponsor kingdom ceases to be useful was a common event.

Five parties were in the open. Two additional ones were fighting three giant Ents. The open ground ensured that everyone was able to keep a tab on each other.

Imagine one party that wanders into the ambush. The one over will pounce of the opportunity, only to fall to a different Ent lair. The chaos will be a joy to watch. Quite clever.

Kara kept an eye for any party that was not aware of the Ents. The ones that knew were quite obvious, as though Kara could not see too far out with her Enhanced eyes, she was still able to see them scuttle around certain areas.

There was a notably strong party that did not belong with the prisoners. Five Wolves. They must be the party from the Anima she heard about. They would pose a challenge, so she gave them a wide breadth.

After finding a party that fit her descriptions, Kara began to jog towards them. There didn’t seem to be anything special about them.

They were probably just poor folk caught on the wrong end of the straw, but Kara no longer had the luxury to cherry-pick her opponents.