Ting! The Saintess of Mana and Magic, Alysara, the Runalymo, has discovered how to cleanse cursed Skills!

She did it. Relief fills Kayafe as her worries prove unfounded. Could she and Safyr have been able to fight a cursed being with a skill at the enhancement point? Alysara probably didn’t think about the possibility of casualties, either confident in the fact that she wouldn’t become a cursed being or because of her trust in Safyr.

The young woman is certainly very cautious. She wouldn’t have proceeded if there was even a hint of risking the worst case.

She walks downstairs to open the door for Alysara’s parents, who are already halfway here. They would have seen the world notification and probably want to congratulate their daughter. Unfortunately, she won’t be conscious for their visit.

Kayafe waits for them at the door, but things become awkward when they see her. She can tell that there is some sort of inner conflict raging in their minds.

“Kayafe…” Alysara’s mother bows respectfully, while her father simply nods her head.

It seems like the Runalymo don’t distinguish between mother and father, but it’s what Kayafe has always known, so it’s hard to think otherwise. To her, she can’t help but think of one as female and one as male. It’s weird, to say the least, but even when she lay with women after her temporary shapeshifting spell, she always thought of herself as female, so maybe it’s the same way?

Kayafe snaps out of her thoughts to pay attention to Alysara’s parents.

“Greetings. Alysara is sleeping upstairs; in order to purify her skill, she needed to evolve” She held the door open for them.

“Thank you,” Alysara’s father says as he… she enters. “I am Kanato, and this is my spouse, Feyan.”

“I am Kayafe.”

The awkward mood only grows as they climb the stairs to see Alysara.

“Will she be able to see again?” Kanato asks. “Are all her cursed skills cleansed?”

“No, just [Manipulate Mana]; she will need to purify the others separately.”

“Why did she have to lose her Kyhosa?” Feyan suddenly says, her voice growing louder. “If she can’t regain her sight, then why did she not come back with it?!”

“Feyan!”

“No, Kanato! I need to know why! Why did my daughter lose her Kyhosa!? She left, freed her, and didn’t come back with it!” Feyan points at Kayafe as if to blame her.

Kyhosa. That was the item that Alysara sacrificed. She knew the Kyhosa was culturally important, but she didn't understand just how important it really was.

“Feyan!” Kanato shouts, “Stop blaming her! Alysara had to free her to save us! If anyone is to blame, then it’s us!”

“I…” Feyan pauses, tears welling up in her eyes. “But why! Why her Kyhosa? Why not anything else? Why not her eyewraps?”

Kanato hugs Feyan.

“Even after this, why can’t she see again!” Feyan cries in her spouse's arms.

“Let's get some sleep, Feyan,” Kanato says. “We can’t let Alysara see us like this. I’m sorry about all of this,” she turns to Kayafe and bows apologetically before leaving.

It must be hard being a parent. Kayafe thinks back to her children, whose lives she never had the chance to be a part of. Guilt fills her mind, but she shakes her head free of it. There’s no use dwelling on the past.

Kayafe walks into the experimentation room and picks up Alysara’s notes, something to busy her mind and distract her from her own troubles.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kayafe notices that I am awake and sets down my notes, walking to my room as I get a feel for my added tails.

It feels like three was the maximum I could handle without suffering any detriments. Five is starting to become unwieldy, and I need to shift my weight forward a little to maintain balance.

“Good morning,” Kayafe says as she walks into my room. She doesn’t seem surprised at my extra tails, but then again, she probably saw me gain more during my evolution.

“Did you stay up all night?” I ask

“I don’t need sleep with this body,” Kayafe shrugs. “Anyway, I assume you learned about what happens when a cursed skill is cleansed?”

I nod and explain what I saw.

“Hmm, I wonder if the excess experience goes into protecting the skill from further miasma or if that will require another legendary point. Your hypothesis that Class and Race frameworks protect the skill is a good explanation, and it’s safe to assume so, but I’m more curious if we can protect the skill without the need of a Class or Race.”

“I’m not going to take that risk,” I say. “And only those with an excess legendary point would be willing to spend some just to know if that’s possible.”

It should be a safe thing to test, just seeing if the skill will become cursed or not, which would require another point to cleanse again.

“Anyway, I’m going to enhance [Manipulate Mana] before we go into the dungeon.”

“Don’t let the power get to your head,” Kayafe warns. “Don’t forget it’s not just the enhancement bonus but also your race and title bonus, so it’s going to feel like you can defeat anything.”

I haven’t explored the increase to my [Manipulate Mana] since I don’t want to have to get used to one power boost only to immediately have to relearn my strength again.

I mentally access my Legendary points and allocate the point for mastering [Manipulate Mana] to the skill, enhancing it. I don’t hesitate. The skill is confirmed cleansed, so there is no reason to wait any further, especially since there could be legendary beings already on their way.

I watch as the mass of experience that is the legendary point gets absorbed by the framework of my [Manipulate Mana] skill, reinforcing it and drawing new frameworks for the skill. From what I can see, the affected frameworks seem to be related to the ‘magic’ part of the skill. If that is the case, then by observing more skill enhancements, I might be able to improve my inscriptions! But I can work on that with Kayafe later.

Ting! Manipulate Mana has evolved to Manipulate Magic!

Ting! Manipulate Magic has obtained levels 551-949!

I gained almost four hundred levels! However, now I have twenty-three breakthroughs to work on to bring them up to the max level. It’s no surprise that most that are best used in combat are in the low teens, but I am surprised my fifth and eighth breakthrough isn’t at the new max. The fifth is working on large quantities of mana at a time, and now that I think about it, I haven’t really done anything impressive in that department. I mostly work on the extremely small scale, perfecting the mana structure even within the super-solid scale of mana. My eighth breakthrough is casting spells, but most of my really powerful spells come from my Bond. Thinking about it that way, it’s no wonder that particular breakthrough is not higher.

Since I will be going into the dungeon anyway, this is a good opportunity to power-level my skill in the combat-focused breakthroughs.

I still need to train my [Sense Magic] and scout the layers for more of those eldritch things, but I can wait until I am stronger; it’s safer that way.

“My skill is enhanced now, so I’m ready when you are,” I say, turning to leave the house, but Kayafe stops me, placing a hand on my shoulder as I conjure my wings.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the dungeon? We wanted to train right?”

“Are you really going to go into the dungeon without seeing your parents first? What are you scared of? You haven't really spoken to them since you freed me.”

“I—” I lower my head, trying to control my emotions. How can I face my parents after losing my Kyhosa, something they worked so hard on?

“I’ve been waiting to see if you’ll remember them, but you haven’t even mentioned them. Are you ashamed of losing your Kyhosa?” Kayafe accuses me, her words piercing right through me like an arrow. “Go see your parents, Alysara; the dungeon can wait. They aren’t mad at you; they just want to know that you are fine.”

“How can I tell them that I threw it away?” I mumble, my voice getting quieter.

“You didn’t throw it away, Alysara; it was to save them. They’ll understand. Just talk to them. Besides, think of it as an upgrade. It’s like the Mana Arc is your Kyhosa now!” Kayafe says to try and cheer me up. “It doesn’t say that it’s your Kyhosa, but it does refer to your title. Is that close enough?”

I was about to argue back, but she’s not entirely wrong. The Kyhosa symbolizes my life, and I sacrificed it for Kayafe, so in a sense, it’s both of our Kyhosa now. It’s not the same thing, though; my Kyhosa was sacrificed to the Mana Arc, not the other way around; but at least the thought of it still existing as part of the Mana Arc is a little comforting.

“Go on, Alysara,” Kayafe gives me a light push. “Go talk with your family; I’ll wait here.”

I walk to my old home just in time for breakfast. However, before I can walk in, the twins excitedly run to the door to let me in; having seen me with their [Sense Mana].

“Aly!” the twins tackle-hug me.

“Ooph! You two are getting too big to do that,” I say, almost knocked down by them.

“You have five tails now!” Yafe says, noticing my extra tails.

“Yeah…” I respond, keeping my complaints to myself. They were really starting to become an encumbrance now.

“Hmm?” Yafel tilts her head. “Where’s your Kyhosa?”

“We can talk about it later. Are you going to let me in?”

The twins let me go before leading the way to the dining room and taking a seat.

Mom already has another chair prepared and is dividing up some of her food onto another plate for me.

“You don’t have to do that” I try to stop her.

“Nonsense. If you are going to join us for breakfast, then you need to eat with us.” Mom argues back.

Dad then shares some of her food as well before giving me the plate.

“Thank you”

“Five tails now. Isn’t that cumbersome?” Dad asks, taking a bit of Domr.

“It is…” I grimace, “But I’ll get used to it, maybe a future evolution will solve it.”

“Like all your tails combining to make one mega tail?” Yafel suggests, gesturing with her own.

I imagine having a tail five times larger and longer. I frown as that may be even more trouble. With five separate they at least have their weight distributed over a wider area.

“I hope not!” I say as the twins giggle.

We share a silent moment before I bring up the more serious topic.

“I’m sorry, for losing my Kyhosa” I bow my head, trying to speak loud enough.

“Don’t be, Aly.” Mom says, placing a hand on my head. “We just want to know what happened.”

“With everything that has been going on lately, we’ve been very stressed; we want to know that you are okay. You didn’t tell us why you needed to free Kayafe, so we are left to speculate.”

Many believe that losing one’s Kyhosa is bad luck, although we’ve never really believed that. But the thought must be in the back of their minds, eating away at them with worry. Considering the recent Eldritch invasion, everybody’s stress levels must be high.

I explain everything; how and why I needed to free Kayafe. That I needed to finish the incomplete Mana Arc to keep everyone safe, and that it required a great sacrifice to fuel the magic. I explained my title, what the Mana Arc is named, and what it does.

“So it’s like The mana arc is your Kyhosa now! That’s so cool!” The twins have the same idea as Kayafe on the subject.

I don’t know if they are saying that to cheer me up or really mean it, but it brings a smile to my face and I pat their heads before changing the topic to my plans for today.

“I got a large powerboost and I need to figure things out, so I’ll be in the Dungeon for the next few days. If you need anything, talk to one of my clones.”

I’ll be leaving several clones in the nexus. One to continue my airship business which is just now rolling out the first series of ships. One to manage my shop. And one to train [Sense Magic] and continue my experiments. That leaves about ten minds to do dungeon stuff and power-level my Class and Bond.