Sylvi was somewhat surprised when Ashlyn returned with a triumphant grin, her mother in tow.

“You’ll be looking after my daughter?” Claire asked as they approached.

“To be clear, the mission comes first. That being said, I’ve never left anyone behind, and I’m not about to start now,” Sylvi said.

“Then take good care of her. And Ashlyn, you do exactly what Sylvi says, and no taking unnecessary risks,” Claire said with a tear forming in her eye.

“I know, Mom. She already gave me the spiel,” the teenage girl said while rolling her eyes. Claire ignored the eye-rolling and embraced her daughter in a fierce hug.

“We’ll be going to this Celestia place. I assume we’ll meet up there once your mission is completed?” Claire asked.

“That’s the plan,” Sylvi said.

“Good, then this isn’t goodbye; just see you in a few weeks,” Claire said, finally releasing her daughter.

“Why did you say yes to this? It's not that I want you to change your mind; I just wasn’t expecting it,” Ashlyn asked Sylvi as her mother left to help get the camp moving.

“I have my reasons. One of which is that you remind me of myself before I joined the military,” Sylvi said.

“I don’t see it,” Ashlyn said.

“You also have the third highest level in your group. This might not seem like a lot, but you have to remember that the vast majority of people have died or given up. Besides, you are almost at the right level,” Sylvi said.

“Right level for what?”

“Have you absorbed any cores?” Sylvi asked.

“What’s a core?” Ashlyn asked.

“That’s a no, then,” Sylvi confirmed as she dug around in her pack before finding what she was looking for. She held up the level 24 and 25 E-Grade cores from the Umbral Tigers she had slain a few days ago. “These are cores. Every living creature has one, including monsters. While they can be used for many things, for your purposes, they can be absorbed for XP,” Sylvi explained, passing one of the valuable items to the excitable teenager.

“How does it work?” She asked.

Before Sylvi could explain it, she figured it out and started absorbing the energy.

“How did it go?” Sylvi asked when the girl had finished absorbing the energy.

“I gained two full levels,” the girl said with a wide grin after she had reviewed her system messages. In comparison, it was rare to gain more than a single level from a core, whether from Ulfr cores or the system shop. Neither of those compared to the amount of energy from the high-level E-grade Umbral Tiger core that Ashlyn was absorbing.

“Good, now absorb the next one,” Sylvi said, handing her the level 25 one.

“Are you sure I should be getting all this?” Ashlyn asked.

“What was rule 1?” Sylvi reminded her. Ashlyn just rolled her eyes and accepted the core, immediately starting to absorb it.

“Only one level this time. Is this how you got so strong?” Ashlyn asked.

“No, I think you have gotten more XP from cores than anyone else. We were only absorbing Ulfr Hound cores, or level 10 cores from the system store,” Sylvi explained as she dug through her pack for the next item. “Alright, so you’re level 12 in your duelist class now. What’s your new constitution score?”

“106, why?”

“Alright, this next part is important. To be clear this is up to you, I’m not telling you to do anything. This is one of the heritage rank-up elixirs I talked about earlier. It should give you the same abilities I have but with a slightly lessened requirement,” Sylvi explained.

“So I’ll have cat eyes, like you?” Ashlyn asked.

“Among other things, yes. Is that a problem?” Sylvi asked.

“Hell, no. Who doesn’t want cat eyes? This is like a real-life anime,” she said excitedly.

“Why is everyone so excited for anime-like abilities?” Sylvi mumbled to herself.

“What was that?” Ashlyn asked.

“Nothing. Just a warning, this is going to suck. It’s going to be the worst pain you’ve ever experienced in your life, and by a lot. It will last for a couple of hours and once it starts you can’t stop or use any healing items, you just have to endure it,” Sylvi said. The warning did suck any light-hearted excitement for cat eyes from the girl, who now looked at the strange elixir with trepidation.

“You gave me those cores hoping I would take this?” Ashlyn asked.

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“I gave you those cores to help you keep up with me,” Sylvi said. Of course, the girl was right, but Sylvi didn’t want to add any extra pressure to the teenager.

“I don’t want to be helpless or a burden,” Ashlyn said as she uncorked the vial and chugged the vile liquid. She made a scrunched-up face but didn’t complain.

“You might want to remove your clothes if you don’t want them ruined. I’ll be keeping a lookout to make sure no uninvited guests interrupt the party,” Sylvi said as she turned and left the girl to undergo the transformation.

“What are you talking about? This isn’t so bad,” Ashlyn said, though Sylvi could hear her following her advice.

“Just give it a sec,” Sylvi said as she started jogging towards a good vantage point to keep a vigil.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck,” Ashlyn said as she started to panic.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Sylvi could do for the young woman as she started to scream in agony. Caroline and Imri were extremely confident that as long as people met the Constitution requirements for their level, there would be no lasting damage. She reminded herself of that as the screaming continued, only accentuated by the snapping of bones and muscles remaking themselves.

Sylvi did her best to ignore Ashlyn and focus on watching for any signs of a Chixel patrol. After about an hour, she was pleasantly surprised when a Chixel patrol approached, drawn by the young woman's screams. Fortunately, they were the normal variety, and Sylvi was entirely unconcerned. She waited until they were well within her range and passing through a small clearing before taking the first one out with an uninfused Devastation Shot. It took the patrol a few moments to process what had happened, giving Sylvi enough time to take out a second and third before they wisened up and scrambled for cover. She managed to pick off two more as they made an unorganized retreat.

She was down to half a dozen arrows after having been unable to retrieve several arrows from the previous fight and having lost several arrows while hunting Umbral tigers. She had only had twenty at the beginning, having to limit what she carried with her during the long hike. She retrieved four of her arrows, bringing her total back to an even ten, with one having broken and another that couldn’t be found despite her improved eyesight. She also took the opportunity to harvest the low-level cores of her Chixel victims. At the very least, they would sell for a few credits while not taking up much room or weight within her pack.

As she returned, she noticed that the screaming had stopped. She made her way back and checked on the young woman. As with Sylvi’s transformation, Ashlyn had gotten noticeable physical improvements and the same slitted eyes, no longer looking like a gangly teenager. She had tossed her clothes to the side and was now covered in all manner of bodily fluids and reeked like a dying hospital patient who refused to be cleaned. Sylvi helped the girl wash herself before wrapping her in a blanket. She handed her a potion that improved all her resource regenerations by a little over 10% for just over 8 hours. While Ashlyn was exhausted, Sylvi forced her to move a few hundred meters, hopefully far enough that another patrol wouldn’t find them, as the location was also fairly well hidden.

Ashlyn collapsed as soon as it was safe, instantly asleep as she hit the ground. Sylvi was starting to get a bit tired herself, but she remained vigilant this close to an enemy position. Fortunately, there were no signs of patrols, and the young woman managed to sleep for over 10 hours before stirring.

“I feel like a semi-truck ran over me,” she complained as she stretched her body.

“You did good,” Sylvi commented. Ashlyn just shrugged and dressed herself. She then stared off into space, undoubtedly reviewing the slew of changes to her stats.

“I can create darkness, too. This is so cool,” Ashlyn said excitedly as she summoned a small mote of darkness and moved it about.

“Don’t waste too much mana; I don’t have many of those potions,” Sylvi pointed out. The teenager just nodded and continued playing with the now amorphous cloud of umbra.

“What’s next?” Ashlyn asked as she dismissed the spell.

“How’s your class progression quest going?” Sylvi asked.

“Alright, I need to kill 11 enemies without taking damage, dodge 43 attacks, and have 24 melee attacks that don’t get stopped by armor,” Ashlyn read.

“Do you want a dagger or shortsword?” Sylvi asked as she noticed the pitiful condition of Ashlyn's current weapon. Melee was Sylvi’s backup plan, and she would still have two of whatever weapon she gave up. Three, if she counted the hatchet she used for firewood.

“You’re giving me one of those?” Ashlyn asked, eyeing the shortsword made from shaped Umbral Tiger bone.

“I’m lending it to you,” Sylvi said emphatically. “We’ll figure something out when we get back to Celestia.”

“I’ll take that one,” she said, pointing to the short sword. Sylvi handed it over, and the girl accepted it with reverence.

“Keep that shitty knife as a backup,” Sylvi said as Ashlyn was mid-motion to chuck the worn knife like a piece of trash.

“Do I really remind you of yourself? I keep thinking about it, and that’s the only reason why someone like you would be nice to me,” Ashlyn said as she tested her new weapon.

“Someone like me?” Sylvi asked.

“You know, someone who has all their shit together. I mean you’re a total badass, I’m just an annoying brat, even to my own family,” she said.

“I wasn’t always this way. I was a bit of a troublemaker and did far worse than pinching a thing or two. As to your family, I don’t know them well, but I can already tell they love you, ” Sylvi said.

“What gave you that idea?” Ashlyn asked.

“Your mother might have let you join me, but she didn’t do so easily,” Sylvi said. The teenager just shrugged.

“Have you ever killed anybody? I mean, a person, not a Chixel?” Ashlyn asked after a brief pause in the conversation.

“Do you always just say the first thing that pops into your head?” Sylvi asked.

“Not all the time. Why, is that not something you’re supposed to ask?” Ashlyn asked.

“It isn’t the politest topic of conversation, but that’s probably the number one question I get when people find out I was a ranger,” she said.

“And?” Ashlyn asked.

“It’s none of your business,” Sylvi said.

“So, you did kill someone but don’t want to talk about it. What is that Imri guy like? Does he have a girlfriend or a wife?” Ashlyn asked.

“He is almost ten years older than you.”

“So, is he hot?” Ashlyn asked.

“You do realize I’m not into men, right?” Sylvi asked.

“So, you can still figure out if he’s hot. So, is he?”

“I’m not even going to dignify that question with a response,” Sylvi said.

“You’re no fun,” Ashlyn pouted. “How about Zhaire?”

“Get some rest. We’re going to be scouting out the enemy position come nightfall,” Sylvi said as she moved to get comfortable. The girl made a pouting face but didn’t continue her line of questioning. Sylvi was definitely starting to regret her decision.