CHAPTER 70.

For a moment, all she saw were visions⁠— visions of white slashes tearing the earth and subsequently exploding, and more than anything, she felt how it was to execute each individual slash. Not too long after, she returned back to reality with new-found knowledge.

Amber smiled.

She had learned an Essence Skill and it was one she had made. A thing she had created by pushing her limits. It was simply put: nothing short of amazing. While the process of learning the skill was odd, she wasn’t complaining.

She had also seen some level ups too, both in levels and skills⁠— or well a single skill.

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 5 to 3rd Rank level 6.]

[You have reached level 137. 5 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

…

[You have reached level 140. 5 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

She was close to her level 150 advancement as well. Amber felt amazing. She looked at her hand, and after learning the skill it was as if she had a whole new understanding of how to manipulate Essence. No longer did she have to think about all the steps, no⁠— she could just unleash the skill whenever.

It was as easy as breathing. As easy as using Cursed Cleave or any of her other skills, and Amber felt happy at that, but also slightly disappointed⁠—

After all, controlling her breathing and doing all of that mid-battle seemed like a great way to test her limits. Of course, she could still do it, but it wasn’t a necessity. At least not with this skill anyway.

Finally, she heard clapping and turned only to see the Asil, the elf emerging from thin air. He had a wide smile.

“I have no words to express how amazed I am,” he said.

Amber paused. “I feel like you’re lying⁠—”

“No, of course not,” he scoffed. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone use something so strong without an inert core. I can only assume that the skill you’ve learned is even stronger now.”

“Is it?”

“Try it,” he suggested.

Amber turned to the wall and swung her arm, her Essence whirling towards her hand⁠—

“Cleave.”

At that, a bright white slash went and then hit the wall before causing an explosion of crimson flames that burst in all directions. One that broke through stone and left a shallow hole that was just as tall as her on the wall. Its strength was the same as when it had first hit the Cursed Artkil, detonating all of that Esssence.

It was evidently, weaker than some of her skills, but also stronger than a lot of her skills.

Then, Amber tried to slash again and found⁠ that the attack was weaker.

“You can only use it at that strength, twice every minute at most,” Asil explained. “Of course, you can do it anyway by bypassing the nature of your core, but that will cause strain and ultimately fracture your core.”

Amber blinked at that. “Can I push the limits of my core by doing that⁠—”

“No, should a core fracture it won’t heal through normal means, so I suggest you don’t do that unless you want to weaken yourself,” he said. “Think of this as skill cooldowns with the System.”

She nodded at that. That seemed normal.

“Anyway, congratulations, Amber.” He smiled widely. “You now have an inert core.”

“And forming the nucleus comes next, right?”

He nodded. “Indeed, after that you will have to awaken it, but one step at a time. Each core has an outer shell, an inner shell, and a nucleus that has been ignited,” he said. “All of them work to help you manipulate Essence, but I won’t explain how it works.”

“Why not?”

Asil grinned. “Because you don’t care about that.”

Amber blinked, though he was right.

“But I will tell you, that forming your nucleus should be a straight-forward process, so long as you continue to polish and refine your Essence you should be enlightened, not something I can give you guidance with exactly,” he said. “However, for awakening it? Only pushing your limits to the fullest will achieve that.”

Amber nodded, that sounded straightforward enough.

“Now, with that out of the way. I can truly say, that you will be terrifying in the future.” He smiled.

She blinked at that, and Asil continued.

“Anyway, you acquired the skill so I assume you were enlightened?”

“Uh, you mean the visions?” Amber asked, confused.

He nodded at that. “That is how acquiring new skills will go, you will be enlightened for every new skill you learn, granting you increased mastery over a skill or granting you a skill itself. Much like the System, you will also learn skills as your core grows.”

“Oh, huh…”

Amber didn’t really expect that. She felt weird about calling it enlightenment but decided to do so for the sake of learning the Essence related terms.

“So you mean my core will level up, and I will get enlightenment of some kind of skill?”

“Pretty much,” Asil agreed. “Enlightenment comes in many ways, but it’s always a realization. Hence, why I cannot help you with forming your core.”

He finished, and a moment later, he blinked.

“Oh, and I wanted to congratulate you for learning your Essence.”

Amber was confused, “Wait, what do you mean? All I did was acquire a skill.”

“Exactly.” He smiled. “You acquired a skill, meaning your core has recognized it as part of your Essence. Which just so happens to be… pushing your limits.”

His voice sounded kind of confused to the end, which made Amber urge him.

“Is that odd?”

“Very,” he said. “Normally people will have an affinity towards an element in particular, not a concept… or maybe an element with a concept⁠— like a specific use of the element. But just a concept that’s not tied to an element, that’s the first time I’ve seen it. But I theorize that you should be able to learn more than just slashing and burning attacks, that said, you will only acquire them if they truly push your limits.”

Now Amber paused. “So you mean if my core levels, I won’t get anything unless its by pushing my limits?”

“Not exactly, but let’s continue your training. I’ll also explain in the meantime.”

And that’s how her training resumed.

* * *

Asil went on to hold her hand and show her how various elements of Essence felt to mess around with, some Amber couldn’t quite get, but lightning, water, dust and a few others felt straightfoward to her. Unfortunately, Val’leri’s wasn’t one of them⁠— Asil barely understood it himself, surprisingly. He also showed her his bow creation and his personal Essence, which Amber took note of.

So, time ticked by Amber messed around with combining them and trying different things. All while she learned new things about skills.

Asil explained that she could acquire skills by pushing her limits, but otherwise the skills acquired via ascension of the core would be rather normal and related to her other skills. Perhaps they would be revelations of things she was already trying to learn. That was what he had called “revealed skills” whereas the ones she learned were learned skills.

“I do theorize that, if you are working on a skill there is a chance that upon leveling your core you will be enlightened to it,” he said. “But still, I’m shocked that you came up with a skill without an inert core.”

“All I did was re-arrange stuff.” Amber raised her brow.

And in response the elf shook his head. “It’s incredible. I knew you were extraordinary so…”

He turned to her.

“Allow me to take you as as a disciple.”

Amber was interested for a moment, “What does that entail? Your level is quite low for how strong your Essence usage was, no offense.”

And she shot a small bolt of lightning at the wall. It was similar to using an Essence cleave yet distinctly different⁠— the way to distribute the Essence in the attack anyway.

“None taken.” Asil smiled. “You see, I meditated deep in the forests of the elven continent for years, and that was the result of my strength. If you come with me I can teach you how to do it, how to grow strong without going through this arduous and rocky path that requires constant murder to acquire your Essence to grow.”

His argument was logical and all, but Amber shook her head.

“Not interested.”

He blinked. “Wait, what do you mean by not interested? I am offering you secret techniques here!”

“Not interested in sitting beneath a tree with my legs crossed for millennia on end,” Amber replied simply.

She had read about that in some books back on Earth, it sounded fucking boring.

Her response however, made the elf freeze up.

“Wait, what?”

But Amber didn’t stop to wait for him, she just continued ahead inside the tunnels. Now, they were going to descend in the dungeon to face stronger opponents. Then once she completed her core, she would take Asil back to the surface and help him leave the dungeon. That was the plan anyway.

Still… Amber looked at the electricity on her fingers. I don’t know if I like how this element feels, but I do feel like a true mage.

She nodded to herself, and the elf chased after her.

“I promise you it will be worthwhile, my family will treat you well⁠—”

* * *

Eventually, Amber managed to convince him that she indeed didn’t want to be a hermit for a century in order to grow stronger. Even after he reassured her that soon enough she would stop aging⁠— she just didn’t care about that. She didn’t want that, and even though he tried the argument of: think about how this would push your limits to endure boredom!

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Amber still much preferred to push her limits to something else.

Though, he was annoyed.

“You have no idea how many people would jump at such an opportunity, even in my family tree…” he murmured. “In Vir, anyone that wants to grow stronger would want that, and any sensible warrior of Ill’hine would also pounce at the opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Amber absentmindedly played with Essence formed water.

“Huh, well, too bad.”

She threw it in the shape of laso only for it to dissipate into nothingness upon hitting the wall.

I guess I have to keep supplying new Essence into it? Amber thought.

And the elf paused. “Wait, do you hear that⁠—”

“Don’t pretend that the spirits are calling you to tell me I’m wrong again,” Amber turned with annoyance, except…

The elf was looking at nowhere in particular, and his ears were twitching. He placed a hand to his ear and after a few seconds he spoke.

“I think I hear… people. Multitudes of them, they’re walking slowly and saying something about… a great nation?”

The mages are back. Amber turned serious.

“In what direction are they? And also, you may want to stay back.”

Asil looked confused. “I lack the necessary context.”

“They want to gather monsters to destroy the city above, the Grand City of Torl.”

“Oh, that’s…” The elf worked his jaw. “I can’t believe I missed so much while imprisoned.”

“Yeah, so just tell me where they are and I’ll deal with it.”

Soon enough, he told her the general direction but insisted in coming along.

* * *

Olag couldn't believe his luck.

Working with more people than just his partner.

Ridiculous!

There was nothing more than he hated than to have to deal with the bicker of other mages. Thankfully, Raul, his pal, his mate, was a quiet one. In fact, he was mute. That was why he made the best company. And he had been his companion for this important mission, but that was a thing of the past.

Because now, he had more than just Raul as a companion. He had a mage and another warrior, both of them were quite annoying.

“Do you think the person that has been killing our squads is near us?” the mage asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to find out,” the mage said in response.

And finally, Olag had enough.

“Both of you just shut up and do your damn jobs, why is it so hard to have some peace and quiet here, huh? We are here together to fight them off should they show up⁠⁠— so just shut up.”

“You shut up, old man,” the warrior retorted. “You signed up for this, I was conscripted.”

“Hey, you dare say you don’t want to serve our nation?!” the mage asked angrily.

The warrior shrunk at that and Olag snorted.

“You people should be more like Raul, quiet and focused on your mission.”

He gestured towards his mate, and pal. He had his staff raised against a weakened group of monsters. Not a single word was said. All that could be heard was his rhythmic rhythm.

“See? He is a paragon of peace,” Olag praised. “I wouldn’t trade him for anything⁠—”

And a flash of light hit Raul, Olag’s eyes widened and Raul⁠— exploded.

Fire soared in all directions and the three of them were knocked back. The surroundings instantly ignited ablaze, and rocked like never before.

Olag’s lungs burned from the smoke, and for a moment he was disoriented. He couldn’t understand what had happened. A moment later he had been praising Raul and the other there was fire⁠—

Wait… Olag blinked, and then he paused seeing the charred corpse in front of him.

He was horrified to see his trusty old pal and companion dead. He was burned to death, and a good chunk of his body had been cut. Who could do something like this⁠—

“Enemy attack!” the mage said. “Come forth, hounds!”

With his words, the nearby monsters responded and charged. And that’s when it all clicked for Olag. The person that had been hunting down their squads had done this. But now, it was personal, he had to get revenge for him.

Olag rose from his spot with newfound determination, only to see a frail looking man. One with elongated ears.

The one responsible was an elf?

No, he was a bit too weak.

[Mage. Lvl. 121]

“I’m very out of practice, so I hope you can help me get back into it,” he said with a smile.

And Olag screamed, unleashing a spell with his staff.

* * *

Amber was rushed by a bunch of mindcontrolled monsters, and in response she torched them alive with crimson flames based in Essence, at this point she had figured out that the amount of Essence used was paramount to how long they burned. So⁠— she used a fuckton of it given she had the Cube of Stars on her.

The monsters screamed, and soon enough began to fight each other.

Then, she rushed at the warrior and swung⁠— she used Cursed Cleave but he managed to barely eat the attack with gritted teeth.

“I’ll admit I’m outmatched, but⁠—”

And she headbutted him. The warrior reeled back and Amber slashed with her sword but this time used Essence⁠—

A radiant white slash shot forward and a barrier formed to stop it. And it hit⁠— the barrier exploded and the warrior was sent flying back covered with some flames. He was still alive, but his condition didn’t seem too great.

“Die!”

Lightning was shot at her, but Amber dodged it with the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash. She did consider taking it just for the sake of leveling her resistances⁠ but it was stupid to do so. Especially when she had a mage whom she could ask that from.

Amber landed and sent a Cursed Cleave towards the mage who put up a barrier.

“That is much weaker than your previous skill, are you a Spellsword or something?!” the mage asked, evidently alarmed.

“Even better.” Amber grinned.

Then, she dashed and slashed at the mage. But it was once again, stopped by the mage. Amber couldn’t use Essence again so⁠—

She stomped.

The mage was discombobulated, and then Amber burned them for good measure, before kicking them. The mage was sent against a wall, and with a rage-filled Cursed Cleave, his life was taken away.

“I nearly forgot I can do that…” Amber muttered.

And just like that, the battle was over, or nearly over. She turned towards the warrior that was rushing at her, and Amber sighed. She didn’t want to kill these people⁠— especially not when she felt like the hunter rather than the victim. But she had no choice.

Amber electrocuted him before stabbing the warrior right through his chest with the Cursewelder⁠. She didn’t know the best way to cause a quick death, but she most definitely hoped that was one of those ways.

Finally, after shaking her head, she took in the state of the battlefield.

She had briefly considered using Curse Battery to try to level up the skill, but it was something she had long decided to only keep for emergencies. After all, even if she could dictate how much of the curse was unleashed, it’d be stupid to use her trump card against anything that wasn’t something worth using on.

It did come with the drawback of only leveling when used, but Amber didn’t mind.

Rather than think about the possible missed skill level ups, she turned only to see Asil and some mage still fighting.

At first, Asil was struggling but soon enough, he ended the mage after a long and hard fought battle. He was panting.

“You know, if I had known it was so easy to level with Essence, I would’ve gone out of my way to at least reach level 300,” he said with some regret. “Now I struggle to deal with a wimp.”

Amber gave him a look. She decided against making fun of him for his meditation, and instead she spoke.

“We should probably look for the monsters they controlled⁠—”

“That won’t be necessary, I can hear them… screeching and killing each other,” Asil said.

“Oh.”

“Anyway, we should get going to a lower floor, and you should tell me about the state of the affairs of the outside too.”

Amber nodded at that.

* * *

First though, Amber forced the elf to teach her body enhancements and teleportation, the first she managed to understand somewhat, and the second⁠— that one she was completely clueless about, given it felt like her Essence disappeared to the teleportation spots.

But eventually, a day in the lower floor Amber managed to barely enhance her strength, it was a measly 10% but it was an achievement. So, she focused over the next day to increase her strength, she had also tried shocking her muscles to enhance her reaction time but it wasn’t an easy task. She also messed with other concepts like corroding targets and stuff, but she wasn’t feeling it.

One thing she realized she liked was the creation of objects, or the realization that in theory she could throw a spear and make it cast a skill from it. And that, along with strength training was what she had been focusing on in the past day.

She also finally told Asil the situation of the Great Desert, namely how two nations were at war and how the others were engaging in skirmishes. Then she went on to explain how there was a plague⁠— or there had been a plague. Amber wasn’t sure what the status on that was.

Needless to say he was quite shocked.

“And how do you even know the plague is gone⁠— or almost know?”

“Oh, I met the necromancer who created it. Well, he didn’t intend to create it or something,” she hesitated. “He like… was betrayed by the same kingdom trying to besiege the city, he wanted to create something else apparently.”

And then, she was electrocuted by the elf’s magic, at her request. It nearly broke her concentration in regards to Essence, but she held on. Holding a bow of flames, she shot an arrow that caused a small explosion.

“You seem unsure,” Asil said.

“It’s just that, I met him and we went to kill the source of the plague, a gigantic tentacle monster who turned out to be his wife,” Amber explained.

He was at a loss for words, “That’s… huh…”

“So, we killed his wife and… he wanted to revive her? I tried to prevent it, but then the people of the Arcane Council showed up and tried to kill me. He revived his wife and protected me, which I’m grateful for. And then he died…”

She trailed off, and then there was silence. It was a weird tale all things considered. Though Asil had stopped shocking her with his magic, which made her glance back.

He was frowning.

“Was the Arcane Council coming after you?” he asked.

“Yeah, they wanted something I took from them,” she said. “So, it’s not Essence related, or not fully.”

Still, Asil’s expression didn’t change. “I advise you to be very careful. They are cautious and their plans are never as simple as just sending someone you can run away from. I was once chased by them after all.”

Amber paused at that. “Oh.”

“Which is why, I want you to be careful. Things with them are never simple.”

“Right…”

Amber decided to indeed take his advice, and upped the danger level of the Arcane Council in her head a notch.

“I guess I’ll tell you everything that has happened, at least in my life anyway.”

That got her a very curious but serious nod in response.

And so, for the next two or three hours, Amber proceeded to relay what had transcurred with the Arcane Council, from Ax’thra to the capital. Which again, surprised the elf. Then, she relayed to him what happened with the demons, and when she was done telling him about leveling Deer, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Amber… who are you?”

“Hey, I could ask the same thing,” she retorted. “Powerful Essence user from a whole lineage that is related to the secrets of the Primordial Spirits?”

“Right…” He massaged his temples. “It’s just that my normal still can’t compare to yours.”

Amber smiled at his words, as they continued. And that’s when they both heard screams, screams of dying humans.

The mood instantly did a one-eighty and Amber rushed forward.

* * *

Riya screamed as her companion was torn apart.

Dozens of Crimson Allitoris dug into one of the other scouts. They tore his limbs apart and ate them piece by piece. She couldn’t understand⁠— no she didn’t understand.

[Crimson Allitoris. Lvl. 142]

[Crimson Allitoris. Lvl. 145]

[Crimson Allitoris. Lvl. 143]

…

Why were monsters from the lower floors here? She was supposed to be scouting for an expedition⁠— they all were. But they were swarmed by the group of monsters, but even though they fought to escape it was futile.

Riya dodged, barely escaping the jaws of another monster. She turned only to see Nistal, another scout, clutching at his bleeding shoulder stump. He had lost an arm, and that was just the beginning. It was only a matter of time before they were caught. There were just too many monsters, but still, she had to run.

She had to run and inform the group, inform them of the dangers so they could come out of this encounter victorious rather than sustain heavy casualties.

Which is why, she had to survive.

With newfound determination, she dashed forward. And on cue, a Crimson Allitoris lunged forward, but she expected this. So, with a use of her dash skill, she deftly stepped past the deadly jaws.

She wasn’t going to die here. She couldn’t die here.

Riya, spun, dodging another monster. Then, as she approached one of the exit tunnels, two more Crimson Allitoris emerged. She had to step back to avoid being mauled by the new arrivals, but she didn’t give up. She couldn’t give up. She grabbed her dagger and stayed on guard.

If she couldn’t just run, she’d have to carve her way out.

So, she did. She headed to the nearest exit, and a Crimson Allitoris pounced on her. It was slightly higher level than her, which normally wouldn’t be a problem for most Warriors, but she was a Rogue that focused on scouting skills. So, gritting her teeth, she deftly stepped to the side and muttered.

“Slash.”

Her dagger flashed and she swung, carving a large gash on the Crimson Allitoris, which landed with a shriek. The injury was enough to impede its movements, so she shepped past it only to see now two monsters blocking her way. For a moment she hesitated, but remembering her duty, she steeled herself.

“You can do it,” she whispered to herself.

Then, she activated numerous skills. All of them to make her faster, and then, her dagger began to shine. It was an Enchanted Grade weapon with the Enchantment of Sharpness ⁠— its effect self explanatory ⁠— and she was going to use it to the fullest.

Riya rushed, and hopped over the jaws of a monster, then with a swing of her dagger she stabbed its maw. It shrieked and she drew it with a burst of blood before stepping back. The other charging Crimson Allitoris barely missed her as her pray, and she lunged, stabbing into its snout.

The monster reeled and she jumped back, landing at the exit. Now it was time to escape.

She dashed and from the shadows⁠—

Another monster pounced.

“No⁠.”

Her leg was caught.

The Crimson Allitoris bit onto her and shook her, breaking her leg and making her scream. She was flailed like a doll as her mind panicked. This couldn’t be happening⁠— it just couldn’t.

She teared up and then she was thrown. The world spun around her and almost seemed to slow down as she caught sight of the monsters that she was going to land on.

Their mandibles were wide open, waiting for their next meal.

I don’t want to die⁠—

And a white flash hit the center of all the monsters, before a crimson explosion sent her flying back.

Riya hit the ground with a groan, and then raised her head only to see the impossible⁠— a woman with a gigantic sword slashing a monster in half⁠. And her special appraisal skill showed who it was.

[Berserker. Lvl. 140]

A berserker.

And she had saved her.