“Elonia, hold on, I’m coming!” Eric screamed, suddenly before his sister in the blink of an eye.

Gazing down into lifeless eye sockets gazing at horrors he knew all too well.

No, bullshit! There’s still time, it’s been only seconds!

Eric choked back the scream in the back of his throat, letting old lessons take hold of his anxious hands, visualizing a handful of instructors and an old training dummy as if he were back in that moment, listening to their words wash over him as he gave a steady series of chest compressions, modern CPR techniques forgoing breathing altogether when there was only one rescuer, relying on diaphragm movement alone to both inflate the blood, oxygenate the lungs, and massage the heart.

For endless moments Eric followed his instructors commands, even when their gazes grew anxious.

Even when they began to turn away.

He looked up anxiously into the sad gaze of the CPR instructor who sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, son. You failed the test.”

“Bullshit!” Eric screamed, feeling the flicker of life in the test dummy his sister! still. Knowing that the real test had just begun.

“It’s all about commitment,” he said, slashing open his palms, allowing his blood to pool over the mannequin’s chest… his sister’s heart. “It’s about doing what needs to be done!” He cried out, as he sacrificed all the experience saturating his soul with multiple boss-level kills, along with every last scrap of experience above level 37 that he had earned, multiple levels worth, surrendering it all without hesitation in the desperate hope that it just might make the difference between life and death for the person he loved more than anyone else in the entire world.

He reached out with all his heart for the frightened soul who had endured so much pain, finding herself trapped in a role she had to force herself to learn to love as pain became her constant companion, her mother a monster straight out of a childhood fairy tale, her own life one of fear, uncertainty, terror, and a few precious moments of sheer exultation when the power of magic flowed through every fiber of her being. Even as monsters lurking in the shadows did everything they could to strike her down and kill her. Time and time again.

“That’s why we don’t give up, sis. That’s why we stand up and fight, no matter how many times it takes. And we do it together!”

His voice took on desperate urgency, sensing his sister’s spirit start to drift away. “We have those assholes on the run. Don’t let them claim you now. Not when they’re already dead!” He sobbed. “Because your plan worked! You actually made a spell caster out of me, sis, and you were right! It was the best move I could have possibly made. The only move I could have made!”

He closed his eyes tight, hating the bitter sting of tears, dripping down his cheeks. “For fuck’s sake, sis. Please get up! It’s bad enough, knowing what mother forced you to endure. If I lose you when I could have saved you… if only I had come sooner… I’ll never forgive myself!”

It was all Eric could do to choke back the howl of despair and primal fury welling up in his throat, mind flashing to all the atrocities he’d soon be committing to his enemies in Freetown.

He’d painting the entire damn city right in the rich ocher blood of his foes, desperate to lose himself a killer’s mad frenzy, unable to bear or escape the horror of his unforgivable failure… when a soft chuckle washed over him, freezing him where he kneeled.

“Wow. If only you could see your expression, bro. I’ll savor that look for all time, whispered the gasping girl at his feet.

Smiling up at him with perfectly intact jade green eyes.

The most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

“Elonia!” Eric cried, hugging her tight… before she winced and hissed.

“Careful, you big lug. You’re still a hell of a lot stronger than me.”

“You’re alive! Thank goodness, you’re alive!” Eric’s voice lit with sudden urgency. “Okay that’s great. Fuck, that’s a relief! Okay, the Bronze Tier poison we faced was just a reflection of the real thing. So at least we can heal the damage those bastards did. The next step is for us to get out of here and get you to the sick bay… do you have a sick bay here?”

Eric swallowed fresh panic when his sister snorted, bright red blood now trickling from her nostrils.

“Please tell me you have something like a healer’s chamber here, at least?”

Elonia gave a sad shake of her head. “All of our actual Sylvan healers were assassinated long before you came to save the day.”

Eric swallowed the awful lump in his throat. “Fuck.”

She smirked. “And that’s why we’re not leaving this training chamber. Not yet. Because now’s the perfect chance, the only chance I’ll have to strengthen myself in the ways I know I need to… finally paying attention to my body’s needs. Needs that I’ve ignored for far too long.”

She swallowed, bemused smile cracking to reveal a terrified girl trembling in his arms. “That was too close, Eric. Too fucking close! Because you were right, bro. Your fucking paranoid delusion that those assholes were somehow just waiting to strike, even on the astral plane, even after so many levels of absolutely nothing happening, was absolutely right! It’s as if they were waiting to get us both in one fell swoop! Even when they should have had absolutely no fucking way of knowing what we were doing, let alone that we would ever be in here together.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “We didn’t even know we’d ever get this chance. So how the hell could they? And it should have been impossible for them to triangulate us so quickly. Absolutely impossible! Fuck!”

She began to sob uncontrollably. “That fucker pulled out my eyes, Eric. He pulled out my eyes!”

Eric just held her close, when she shook and sobbed in his arms, soothing her as best he could as the words poured out of his terrified sister. “Those fuckers have so many hidden aces up their sleeves, high level seers that are forbidden in this sector, seers that they keep on slipping through, because absolutely everyone is on their fucking payroll! Slamming down cards of doom upon the tiles of this fucking game board without mercy, determined to break us, no matter what the cost!”

Eric swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking back what were now scalding hot tears. “And that’s why we have to end them,” he said, his voice a furious hot whisper. “That’s why we need to end them all.”

“You saved me, little brother,” Elonia whispered, still trembling in his arms. “Even when I lay there, feeling my soul drift into their… oh gods, I don’t even want to say it… a black crystal they had waiting for me… suddenly the chamber was filled with fire and screams and massive whipping vines. Tearing right through those shaman fuckers howling in panic, just seconds after they had been cackling and taunting me, sensing my soul slip into their terrible prize.” She shook her head in wonder. “Until your spell tore through them all.”

“Elonia! Did they really have a black soul gem? Like in all those games we used to play?” Eric shook his head in horrified disbelief. “Those goblinoid fucks really were going to soul bind you!”

“And they almost did,” she admitted with a shudder. “I felt… I felt my foot sinking into quicksand.” She swallowed, gazing down at her own shaking hands. “Quicksand of the soul.”

“Elonia!”

“It’s okay,” she said, captivating him with her smile. “Because I found a way out. For a time, I was blind… stumbling in darkness… my eyes nothing but vacant bloody sockets. And I’ll bet blinding me was just that assassin following orders. But then, by some miracle, I saw a bridge of thorns and fire, even with no eyes at all. I could feel its heat, somehow. And that was enough.”

She licked parched lips, shaking her head. “I was scared at first, but anything, even pain, was better than the awful void of nothingness I sensed all around me. And much to my surprise, the fire didn’t burn, and the thorns didn’t prick.” She took a shuddering breath, gazing up at the leafless trees encircling them both with her once-more perfect eyes, the leafless branches now covered in snow, shivering in the cold Eric sensed only in passing. “And then, the next thing I know, you’re giving me chest compressions.”

She flashed a wry smile. “Thank god you weren’t trying to give me mouth-to-mouth.”

Eric smirked. “Good thing the guidelines were finally updated a few years back, isn’t it?”

“Damn right,” she chuckled, eyes twinkling with mirth. “So stay awhile, brother, while I take this perfect opportunity to rebuild and strengthen my body, and maybe deviate just a tiny bit from mother’s ‘perfect build for me.’” she said the last with air quotes, her gaze growing haunted. “Though with the look mom will give me when she finds out, I almost don’t want to risk it.”

“Elonia, you almost died!” Eric snapped, voice filling with heat. “No way in hell you can risk whatever your Vitality is at!” He soothed his voice when she flinched. “Sorry, it’s just… trust me. I’ve survived not one but several heart shots boosted by level 30+ assassin perks. I can confidently say that my absurd hit point buffer is all that saved me from instant death, and pouring extra points into my Vitality helped compel my body into hyper rapid healing of what would have otherwise been kill-shots. In fact, pouring my points into Vitality after being mortally wounded, repeatedly, is how I managed to secure a Unified Healing ability for my second node.”

Elonia nodded. “Points into Vitality to flash-heal crippling wounds, in addition to boosting long term hit point total. Good tip, bro. I’ll remember.” She closed her eyes and nodded her head in satisfaction. “Jeezus, that feels so much better! Like a weight that was crushing my heart just lifted. Literally!”

Eric flashed a relieved smile. “Thank god.”

“Thank this training facility,” she said with a grin. “It allows for far better character modification than you’ll ever otherwise ever be able to enjoy. That is, unless you just stick all your points in stats every level.”

“That I do,” Eric acknowledged with a smile. “And I’ll probably continue to do so. Today was definitely an exception to my rule of never investing my points in anything save physical stats and Perception.”

His sister chuckled. “And you’re better for breaking that tradition, with me here to guide you. Trust me. And Eric? Thanks for saving my life. Again.” She smirked at that, barely able to hide the shudder underneath her smile.

Eric frowned. “Elonia...”

She immediately held out her hand. “Don’t say it. Please. There’s no way I could follow the path I’m on if I didn’t make full use of this chamber.” Her eyes grew pained. “Pretty much every level. But the good news is, those over-leveled shaman fuckers that had been waiting to ambush me? Well, if any actually survived, I doubt they’d ever dare try that shit again.”

Eric desperately shook his head. “Don’t. It’s not worth the risk! Elonia, you’re still in peril if you ever make use of this chamber again. Those goblin shamans will know. Somehow, they’ll know. And they’ll use it against you.”

His sister’s gaze hardened. “Now that we know what to expect, I can take precautions. Very strong precautions. And I took your advice. Big time. I won’t tell you how much I just poured into Vitality, but it was a pretty fucking hefty amount.” She swallowed. “At least it was for me. But I should still have sufficient points left over, barely, to shape myself in ways that will make sure no asshole ever gets a bead on me, outside my own palace, before I rip them to shreds with summer storms that will send them flying for fucking miles!”

Eric blinked. “Wait, are you talking about, what was it mom mentioned? Spell mastery?”

Elonia grinned. “Exactly. Because even if High Elmentalists like me have infinite potential to cast countless variations of spells, it requires very precise, very exacting confluences between our elements. Mastering a spell locks a given pattern in, like the spell patterns in your wands, so you don’t have to spent what feels like ages in fussy preparation before unleashing a hell storm.

“Once you’ve locked in a particular ritual with spell mastery, that pattern becomes a part of you. An extension of yourself. No more worrying about exact elemental node balances and configurations.”

Eric gazed at her for long moments. “Wait… that’s sort of like what I’m doing, right? My putting together my limited lexicon of runes in various patterns, is like what you’re doing with the elements you’ve assigned to your various nodes. And your buying ritual masteries is like me tying it all together with my Runic spells! The two spells you helped me forge, Inevitable Doom, and Hell Vines, are, effectively, my mastered spells.”

His sister beamed. “Exactly, Eric. You’re finally getting it!”

“Only the rituals at your command… Elonia, that mile-wide Doomtwister tornado was howling like god’s vengeance, sucking up those giants like it was nothing in the blink of an eye.” Eric shook his head with a wry chuckle. “Whereas my runic configurations let me trigger too easily flammable gunpowder over a decent size area… or whip a dozen foes with vines of flame and thorn… you’ll be able to master spells that can destroy entire cities. Hell, you already cast that ritual once, in the battle just past!”

Elonia nodded. “Correct, Eric.” Her gaze hardened. “Because where you’ve managed to tap into an entire lexicon of power with a single node, I’ve had to invest a full eight out of twelve, using this chamber to allow me to assign an Arch-Mage’s power configuration I otherwise wouldn’t be managing until level 80! And the ritual still took me hours to cast!”

She gave him a pointed look. “Hours you spent decimating our foes so well that my Doomtwister tornado was barely an afterthought! So yeah, I can cast a tactical spell that could wipe out an entire army! If they invade territory where my will reigns supreme. If you give me a couple hours where I’m vulnerable to any assassin pointing a sniper rifle my way! Whereas your spells, brother, you can cast in just seconds, anywhere you like.”

Elonia squeezed his hand. “If I didn’t say it before, congrats on making an absolutely epic spell. Those Hell Vines definitely saved both our lives. So forget my earlier bullshit elitist talk. You definitely have the makings of a badass wizard, in addition to being the deadliest frontline fighter I’ve ever seen.”

She flashed a teasing smile. “Though you might or might not be in trouble with your Blue friends, since I’m pretty sure at least a couple government buildings in Freetown just burst into flame. And why the hell Blue Faction entered into a joint territory holding with the goblins, I’ll never understand.” She tilted her head. “How long do those blazing hot Hell Vines last, anyway?”

“Until sundown,” Eric said with a fierce smile, earning a throaty chuckle.

“Fucking wonderful,” she smirked. “And you call my spell a city killer?”

Eric winced. “Yeah… that’s actually a very good point.

He was surprised to feel his sister clasping his shoulder. “Just take a deep breath, and visualize yourself drawing the power out of your spell. You might or might not get any mana back, but you should be able to have it fade out. Maybe.”

Eric nodded and did just that, surprised by how easy it was to unwind the tightly corded knots of arcane and spiritual energy, and feel just a trickle come back to him, even as they faded away.

“Useful.”

“Very,” said his sister. “And if we’re lucky, no one will be pointing any fingers your way.”

Eric frowned. “How easily will others be able to dispel or detect my magic?”

“Considering that you’ve actually forged a runic art comprised of two separate disciplines and power sources? I’d say pretty fucking close to impossible to dispel. But it’s unique enough that pretty much everyone who’s anyone will recognize it as your own. Eventually.”

“Really.”

Elonia positively beamed. “Yup! You might be paying twice as much as you should… but the payoff is that your primal magic tapw into both your essences and your elemental affinities, which my interface is pinging as pretty profound. And, yeah, that shit would be hard even for me to dispel.”

Eric grinned. “I still say that your 50th level Doomwind kicks my flaming tree’s ass. If there was ever a spell to invest a point into mastering as opposed to stat boosting… that’s what I’d pick, hands down.

Elonia nodded. “Damn right. And it will only cost me ten minutes to cast, not two hours, once I master it. And that’s just with the first tier of mastery. According to mom, the benefits don’t stop there. Putting further points into mastery will increase the speed and power of all my rituals, until I can fire them in under five minutes, and it feels as easy and natural to cast as my pointing one of my wands and screaming ‘glacie pilum!’

Eric whistled. “No kidding!”

His sister grinned. “Damn right. So in this, mother and I are seeing completely eye to eye. I keep enduring the pressure, pain, and strain, until I can finally evolve my class to Arch-Mage at level 50. That’s what I’ve been saving so many level-up points toward, Eric. Because once I have access to level 50 Rituals, I’ll truly be owning any battlefield! I’ll then be devoting weeks, even months, to learning how to cast each ritual, and the minute I do, I’ll be double and triple mastering those epic tier spells to such a fucking awesome degree that I’d almost pity any fool that dared to invade our territories then!”

She swallowed, fists clenched, eyes glittering with excitement.

“So that’s what I’m waiting for, Eric. A chance to evolve my class to a Master Tier option that I should have at least a Deep Bronze affinity for, at level fifty. Hell, Mother says I might even have the potential for Silver one day! Do you have any idea how rare that is? Just a handful of all of us that make up the first generation of Classers might ever hope to one day achieve Silver. The tiniest fraction of the billions that once populated all the continents of Earth. And that’s many times the galactic norm, according to Mother! And it’s all thanks to the potency our newly ascending world is flooding us with. Potency that comes to us so easily, being native-born. Potency that’s still enticing enough for all those invading assholes to snatch up whatever territory they can, all of them so damned eager to absorb even the smallest portion of Earth’s potential for themselves!”

She shook her head at her own distraction. “But more than anything else, I can’t wait for the chance to learn some more truly powerful spells. But then, assuming mother allows it, I’ll start investing some of my points in a few decent fast-cast spells and wards. Even if they aren’t exactly tactical battlefield killers. Because between you and me, bro, I’m getting tired of feeling like a one trick pony. I’d like to actually be able to delve a bit on my own, without being entirely reliant on low grade magical tools for DPS. And maybe I could develop some personal protection magics or defensive summonings as well. Because if I actually manage to hit level 50, I should be able to take care of myself, right?”

“You mean be self-sufficient?” Eric asked with a sad smile. “Able to delve without a full compliment of what, body guards? With no more facility to quickly combat cast than, say, me with the lightning wand your wonderful talents allowed me to unlock the use of with just a single cast?”

Elonia sighed, nodding her head. “Exactly. And if Mother gives me permission, I can be far more of a tactical asset to her, not limited solely to strategic rituals, but possessing some powerful quick cast options I can use to defend myself and as a force multiplier for our troops on the immediate battlefield... even if my too damned fragile meridian network does end up rupturing one day. Disintegrating long before I ever become the arcane paragon she clearly expects me to be.”

She blanched and looked away, clearly uncomfortable even contemplating the idea.

“Which is all too likely,” Eric whispered. “Because we aren’t pure-breeds, Elonia. We’re Roundear mutts. As human as we are elven.” He winced at her expression. “Elonia… I can sense your Meridian framework.”

He took a slow breath, bracing himself for what his sister’s reaction would be when her smile froze. “As impressive as it is to see you’ve already planted System affinities in 8 nodes, what we cultivators call gateways, you’re paying a very steep price for that privilege.” He sighed. “Elonia, your entire meridian framework is strained to the breaking point, and absolutely clogged with waste. So much waste, it’s at risk of tearing apart what would otherwise be an impressive configuration! Of course I have no idea exactly what this path mother is so hyped for you to master entails, but I can tell that you’re in trouble. Big trouble. But here’s the good news. It’s not to late,” Eric assured, his voice taking on a desperate urgency. “It’s not too late to lessen the strain, keep your gateways from rupturing open. To keep your entire network of too brittle channels from getting any worse. The first and most vital step would be cleaning the buildup of toxic waste.”

His sister blanched, stepping back, her red-rimmed eyes gazing his way with incredulity.

“Clearing them? Eric, that’s the worst thing I can possibly do! Mother made that bit damn clear! I need everything stiff, absolutely rigid, so that each and every element is precisely and exactly uniform in its relationship to every...”

Eric gently clasped her hands and sat her down beside him. A silent plea was all it took to coax her watch him breathe in, and out. Refusing to be distracted by the breeze whipping their blond locks of hair, the air vibrant and alive with the scents of grass, wildflowers, and desperate hope, the winter woods replaced by spring in the blink of an eye.

He could sense Elonia’s eyes widening with something close to awe when she finally began to sense, truly sense, the pristine river of flowing spiritual energy cycling through his meridian gates and the channels connecting them. Revitalizing him. Strengthening him. Serving as the key to what was, for him, a potentially endless font of power.

“Eric! Jeeze! The energy flowing through you!”

“There are many paths to a cultivator’s power, sister, and some don’t require a single fallen foe to strengthen your own foundation.” He flashed a bemused smile at her incredulous gaze, her trembling finger tracing the flow of Qi through his major meridians.

“Eric, I sense… I sense it so clearly! Completely different from what I’ve always known.” Her eyes crinkled in mirth, and pain. “Now I can appreciate how you made your Runic Spells powerful enough to send half a dozen high level shamans howling. And just seeing your perfect meridians makes my insides ache like never before. And maybe...”

“Gives you hope?” he quipped with a smile.

She swallowed, shaking her head, tears and smile unchanged. “I don’t know, Eric. Maybe? I don’t know.”

Eric’s gaze grew intent. “You have what’s called a Royal Configuration in the cultivation world, Elonia, same as me. And the great thing about having a complete set of Meridian channels, is that it means you have the potential to truly excel as a cultivator. To excel and blossom at least as much as… well, whatever the hell mother’s trying to do to you. And best of all, you get to power-up two ways, instead of one. You’re basically multi-classing with two sources of level-up points to put in your stats and further evolve your build. Best of all, a cultivator’s path, even the most basic and gentle paths, won’t be tearing up your meridian channels. Instead, it will be strengthening them to an unbelievable degree, and unlocking power unlike anything you can experience or feel as a pure arcane caster.”

Eric gently squeezed her hand. “A cultivator’s path will allow you to strengthen your meridians, your spirit, and most especially your physical body, to the point that you’re glowing with health and utterly free of pain, and you can finally break free of that which I know you both love and hate.”

Elonia swallowed anxiously, her hand squeezing his so tightly he was forced to wonder if she had put a point or two into Strength, after all. She appeared to be agonizing over her decision for long moments, before finally whispering the words Eric most wanted to hear.

“You can’t imagine how much I want to be free of the pain… and the cravings. Show me how?”

A whisper that was almost a plea. And instantly, he understood what she meant. After the wondrous prizes of knowledge and potential she had unlocked within him, it was truly a relief to sense how he could gift her in turn.

So he closed his eyes, excited by the chance to help his sister when the blinking interface warned that even showing her an echo of his path, in full, without changing anything within her, would cost him one full point from his Soul Reserves and grant him absolutely nothing in return. Still, he didn’t hesitate.

He merely allowed her to join him as he sat and struggled futilely to understand his own cultivation path in a warm cave filled with Fire Qi and so much power, and so very little wisdom between he and a fellow young necromancer who was now enamored of an entirely different path… until, at last, Eric dared to pour himself into the twelve meridian configuration reserved for royal elves, nearly as presumptuous as thinking he was somehow part dragon… and how his eyes had widened with wonder and fiercest hope when he actually felt the pattern imprint itself upon his soul.

A path of spiritual energy that would cleanse his clogged gateways and strengthen his channels… and all he needed was time, discipline, and focus.

And oh yes, the delicious potency of countless dozens of kills, massive Spirit Boars falling to his javelin, sword, and even his fists as thousands of hours of cultivation were compressed into the tiniest fraction of that time and he finally awoke to his true potential, feeling whole and complete like never before.

Peripherally, Eric could sense the wonder and glee that was his sister’s soul linked to his memories.

But it was absolutely nothing compared to the awe shivering through her when she sensed him eating twelve divine Spirit Peaches in one go, catalyzing each of his fully cleansed Gateways with miniature suns. Like tiny golden cores within each one, boosting his attributes and his cultivation potential to wondrous effect.

When Eric opened his eyes to behold his sister, trembling as if shaken by a revelation.

Eric swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling more firmly than ever that sharing his experiences over those months he had been trapped in that newly seeded world had been the best gift he could have possibly given her, even if it had cost him a tiny portion of his soul.