As Zeth walked back to base from town, sneaking through the forest and doing everything he could to ensure he wasn’t being followed by anyone, he tried to figure out his future plans.

The Inquisitors had made a very loud splash in town, imprisoning so many people like that. And he did not approve of their actions. However, there was little about it that he could immediately do. He certainly wasn’t ready to try and take on their entire group and break everyone out of jail right now—nor was he particularly eager to draw more attention to himself and draw yet more Inquisitors to the area.

And, while they were absolutely in the wrong for taking away so many people’s freedoms like they did, he didn’t necessarily automatically believe that made all of them evil and worthy of death. Overzealous, yes, but he agreed with them on the notion that drastic action should be taken to take out the Blood Mage cabal. So he was cautiously optimistic that they might actually provide some help toward his main goal.

However, he did still know he would eventually have to do something about them. Throwing his friends and family in jail like that—especially Sophie—was absolutely not okay. He hoped they’d be alright having their life disrupted for just a couple days, but if the Inquisitors planned to keep these people held long-term, he would have to do something about it. So, despite not currently feeling like he was strong enough to fight them, Zeth knew he’d have to plan for that eventuality.

Looking through his list of Skills, Zeth searched for anything with offensive capabilities that he could use against them—preferably something that would help him against a large number of powerful opponents.

One Skill he’d mostly overlooked so far because of its high cost was Unholy Strength, which he’d unlocked all the way back at Level two.

[Unholy Strength - Cost: 18 Skill Points

Uses a ritual circle to grant unnatural strength to the caster. Upon completion of the ritual, the natural effects of the caster’s Strength Stat are increased by 60, and Endurance and Dexterity Stats are each increased by 30, plus an additional 2 to each per Rank in this Skill, for 10 minutes.

Strength of sacrifice required: Low

Required ritual circle diameter: 2.33 feet (originally 3 feet)

Time required to draw: 3.11 hours (originally 4 hours)

Upkeep time required each day: 46.6 minutes (originally 1 hour)]

That one would certainly enhance his fighting capabilities, skyrocketing his Strength, but the cost of eighteen Skill Points was still pretty prohibitive, coming out at a net loss of eight after fully Ranking it. That was the equivalent of purchasing Compact Rites, Speedy Rites, Secure Rites, and Vascular Hypertension, and even all of those combined came out as a net loss of only seven. And he did want all four of those Skills. Unholy Strength’s massive Stat boost was powerful, but it was expensive, awkward to use currently with its higher ritual requirements than Hellfire Ritual, and long-term, he anticipated his Endurance and Dexterity Stats eventually growing high enough that the Skill’s boost in those wouldn’t be particularly felt. So he wasn’t sure if this would be what he wanted at the moment.

Other than that, Zeth could also go down the demon summoning route, grabbing Empowered Summon, which would provide a Stat boost to his demons, and Unstable Anatomy, which would give them explosive deaths to take out their killers, and attempt to build up some sort of army to rival the army of Inquisitors. That was tempting, but he still wasn’t entirely comfortable relying so much on his ability to control a demonic force like that. Astrys had been a reliable companion so far, but her situation was special. He wasn’t about to get more demons like her.

Speaking of demons, there were also those Skills. Forbidden Knowledge and Hell Portal. Both of them had completely insane effects, and Hell Portal in particular was almost frighteningly cheap. It was also the one that felt more controllable than the other. Maybe he could figure out a way to use the Skill to his advantage? The Thirteenth Realm certainly sounded like a dangerous place. If he could find a way to get specific items from there to use here, it’d be a massive increase in power.

Although, really, the best combat Skill he saw was Ephemeral Bloodforge, which would allow him to turn his own blood into weapons mid-combat. That would revolutionize his fighting ability, going from his current strategy of simply hoping he had enough Hellfire Rituals to beat all of his enemies to being able to far more proactively adapt to the situation at hand. It also seemed like it’d be the hardest Skill to use practice-wise. Balancing telekinesis, figuring out which weapon to make, and using those weapons effectively in the first place would be ridiculous to do all at once. So perhaps it’d be best to take this Skill first to start getting used to it?

Whatever he ended up going with, Zeth needed Skill Points. Which meant Rank-ups and Level-ups. It was time to get to work.

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Once he got back to base, Zeth instantly began drawing out an Empowerment Ritual.

He’d gotten three Level-ups basically for free back when he’d assaulted the underground cabal base, which had been a phenomenal boost in power, but it also came with the inherent downside of severely increasing the requirements of his next Level.

So now, for this Empowerment Ritual, he’d have to draw for a total of about eighteen and a half hours. That was an issue.

He wanted to start getting to work acquiring his next combat Skills, but it seemed like he was long overdue for some Skills to decrease his ritual requirements. A detour for Speedy Rites would almost certainly be worth it.

As he worked, he called Astrys over and began explaining the situation to her. He’d want her to be as up-to-date as possible in case he ended up suddenly needing her assistance against the Inquisitors, so he told her everything he knew about who they were and what they were doing.

“So after they arrested those two mercenaries I was working with,” he said, “they also took my family—my mom and little sister. Basically, what I’m saying is, if it ever comes to light that they’re hurting the people they have captive, I’m instantly going scorched earth. And you’ll be helping with that. If they’ve got those creepy looking Masks of Anonymity on, they die. No questions asked. But hopefully it won’t come to that.”

“Your family?” she asked, speaking up for the first time since he began explaining. “You have family members in town with you?”

“Hm? Yeah. My sister was the one who came down into the base—did I not tell you that?”

“You simply informed me it was a guest,” she said. “I suppose you are close to this family, then, if you were upset about my harming her.”

He frowned as he traced his next line. “‘Course I am. My sister’s a good bit younger than me, so I basically helped raise her when she was growing up. And nowadays I like to hope I provide a helpful bit of guidance to her. What do you mean, asking that?”

“I see. I found it surprising, is all. My read on your personality was not one that included a…caring side.”

“I mean, caring for your family is just about the least you can do, right? I wouldn’t think it’d be so special.”

“Perhaps it is my own perspective that is warped, then,” she said. “I did not grow up close to any of my family members. Do…Do you mind telling me what it is like?”

Zeth glanced over at Astrys, his mind immediately going to the question of whether this was some sort of trick. Was she trying to pry for information about his family so she could use them as hostages? But he snapped himself out of it a moment later. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, I won’t claim that my own family dynamic is the same as all other humans’, or even a particularly healthy one to begin with, but if you’d like to hear about it…”

“I would,” she said, her voice quiet.

“Well…It’s nice, I guess. I’m mainly close with my sister—she’s the best. An absolute genius, with the ambition to take advantage of it. I mean, sure, she’s got her shortcomings—definitely a lot more eager to take risks than I’d personally like—but really, with kids, when they’re smart in one aspect, they’ve gotta be inexperienced in another. I have no doubt that when she grows up, she’s gonna turn into the greatest mage this world has ever seen. I couldn’t be prouder. It’s just…I dunno, it’s exciting to be able to be a part of her life. To be that person who enabled her dreams, and gave her the push she needed to fly.”

Astrys nodded softly, a somber look encroaching on her stone face.

“Uh, sorry,” he said, “guess I was rambling a bit there. What’s your family like? I don’t know too much about how that sort of thing works with demons.”

“Um…” She blinked, suddenly looking slightly uncomfortable. Then she nodded to the floor beneath him. “It seems you’ve forgotten your work.”

“Oh, right,” he said, looking down at the ritual circle he was supposed to be drawing, and continued his work tracing out the lines. “Thanks for reminding me.”

The two of them didn’t talk much for the remainder of the day, only finishing up the strategy discussion regarding the Inquisitors before Astrys shut off from more conversation.

As he worked, Zeth’s Ritual Nexus Mastery Skill Ranked up to thirteen, bringing him up to nine Skill Points, which was appreciated. And that reminded him, regarding Skills, he had a question he’d been going back and forth on—whether to purchase Friend of the Unhallowed.

It was a profit Skill, so he’d want to purchase it eventually, but he wanted Skill Points fast right now, and didn’t know how quickly he’d be able to reclaim the seven point cost after purchasing it. If it took several days of hanging around in a demon’s fear aura just to get a single Rank, he’d want to wait until after he got his next combat Skill to avoid delaying any further. But if Ranks came quickly, giving him two or three every day as he stuck around Astrys, he’d want to get it now.

But trying to answer that question was pointless for now, since he hadn’t gotten the most fundamental piece of relevant information yet.

He stopped drawing his Empowerment Ritual partway through, resolving to finish it in a bit. Because it was just about midnight. And the previous midnight, Zeth had summoned Astrys.

“So,” he said to her, “it looks like we’re about to see whether my Skill really does lack the twenty-four hour time limit, and whether you’ll get to stick around.”

She nodded. Her expression had been growing more and more into one of anxiety as the day and night had passed, until it eventually progressed to how she looked now, sitting in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up to her chest. The childlike posture almost made him want to sit down and comfort her.

“Is there anything you wanna talk about while we wait?” he asked. “Might be your last words.”

She looked down. “Can…Can I please sit up on the surface? If I am to die today, I would like to do it below your stars.”

He grimaced. “...I really don’t think I can allow you up in the forest alone in good conscience. I hope you understand.”

“...I would be comfortable sharing the moment with you,” she said quietly.

At that, he paused, pondering the request. If he was up there with her, it’d certainly be a lot safer. And ultimately, as much as he tried to keep his distance from her, Zeth found himself at least wanting to give her a pleasant final moment, if this truly was her last. “Alright. Sure.”