Even before a spar, Jyulem Tyre checked every aspect of his equipment before he began.

He tightened, loosened, and then re-tightened the buckles of his leather armor. He hefted his spear until it stood motionless, balanced with a pointer finger beneath the weight center. He snapped his wrist, caught the weapon, and shook it to test its elasticity. He ran his fingers over the metal plates of his armor, seeking any deformities. He tied, untied, and re-tied his shoes.

He surreptitiously ran a hand through his short hair, trying not to make it obvious that he was examining his current hairline for any recent defeats at the hands of cruel time.

Opposite him in the dirt floor training area, Kamaedra scowled while flicking a hatchet from one hand to the other. As she became more irritated, the hatchets moved faster and faster. “Why do you always insist on this? In a real battle, you wouldn’t have the luxury to run some checks.”

Jyulem straightened without worrying about her temper. “You have your way of doing things, I have mine.”

“Why does my way feel like I’m constantly waiting?” She shook her head. Then her whole demeanor changed when Jyulemn pointed his spear at her. He could practically see the pupils of her eyes dilating as she activated Slayer’s Dissecting Focus. And in the moment after that, as she adjusted which layers to examine in the moment, Kamaedra blinked in surprise.

Jyulem flowed smoothly into a spear thrust at her momentary distraction; while ‘checking’ his armor (he obviously did indeed check) he had been covertly covering his body in a dusting of dried sweat and blood he had gathered just for this little prank.

To her sharpened senses, he likely burned like a beacon due to all the traces.

“You dung tunnel-!” Kameadra scrambled backward, but even with her superior Stats, all Jyulem needed was that sliver of an opening. Because this was why he checked and rechecked. This was why he carefully arranged and nudged details. Because, occasionally, the proper set-up was all you needed. A pebble tumbled down a mountain and clinked against a precariously balanced boulder.

Gravity would handle the rest of the avalanche.

Power wasn't a large enough word for what Jyulem felt, in those moments.

He stepped and thrust, violence in perfect unity. His trick created an opening, his spear acted as the key, and the world split before him. His nerve endings hummed in intoxication. He felt the small details settling into place as he moved, more quickly and sharply than he could ever remember.

It was the best attack of his life.

Your Skill (Earned) Journeyman’s Flowing Spearwork has grown to Level 50.

Necessary elements for Star Creation achieved. Refinement possible: do you wish to consume Achievements in order to affect the outcome? A Wondrous Achievement is required.

For now, he left the notification and savored the victory.

The tip of Jyulem’s spear hovered up against the hollow of Kamaedra’s throat. She glared at him, real venom in her eyes. “You cheated.”

“I prepared,” Jyulem corrected, trying to restrain the smugness in his tone. Even after all these years, teasing his dwarven second still brought him a great deal of joy. He straightened. “Don’t you always complain about the time I take? I figured a concrete demonstration of the benefits of such preparation would help you understand. Besides… haven’t you been really indulging yourself lately? You’ve skipped out on our training sessions to wander around the Frontier.”

From her narrowed eyes and twitching fingers, Jyulem knew his longtime companion was genuinely weighing the prospect of killing him. If he challenged her too directly right now, she might really go through with it. With a little smirk, he turned away and focused on the notification in front of him. This sight, too, filled him with satisfaction, a long cultivated flower blossoming. Today was a day for pleasant surprises, it seemed. A culmination of long preparations.

Perhaps another would have hesitated to spend an Achievement, but Jyulem’s long period of being stranded at the cusp of Tier IV meant he had quite a lot of time to build up Achievements.

Besides, Journeyman’s Spearwork is already a specialized variant. If I evolve it further now…

Jyulem selected yes. The single Wondrous Achievement accounted for fully three-fourths of the Achievements he had earned over the past five years. But when he completed his Class Promotion Quest, the difficulty of the Quest given to him should be plenty in order to ensure a powerful outcome. He wouldn’t need Achievements to tip the scales.

Incorporating Wondrous Achievement… Outcome in flux.

Your Skill (Earned) Journeyman’s Flowing Spearwork has evolved into Skill (Named) Tyre’s Tidal Spear Lvl 1.

Star Created: Tyre’s Tidal Spear may be used as the basis for a Constellation.

An Epic Achievement: For developing a Named Skill before reaching Tier V, +10 Health and +2 Free Stats per Level.

An Epic Achievement: For developing a Named Skill before reaching Tier IV, you have gained the Skill (Earned) Martial Genius Lvl 1.

Even though Jyulem had been habitually moving through the familiar habits of the post-spar equipment check, he froze at the slew of notifications. Spending a Wondrous achievement and earning almost half of it back in Epic Achievements was a nice bonus, but the fact he had gambled on creating a Star and received a Named Skill, bypassing the Earned Skill limit-

And then replacing it with a domineering Skill like Martial Genius right away-

His mind buzzed. There were almost too many possibilities. He would need to spend hours in meditation, just to parse apart the opportunities this opened up for him.

“Jyulem?” Kamaedra’s bloodthirst drained out of her as she saw his stillness.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jyulem’s fingers twitched. He wanted to finish his usual process of removing his armor. But also, he wanted to investigate his new Skills. He wanted to open up his Constellation screen because the Named Skill would undoubtedly be an effective central Star. How many more-

He simultaneously wanted to send a letter to the Sunset Tiger, bragging about his accomplishment, while also fearing she would find out and come galloping out to Irkan to spar relentlessly against him until he finished constructing his Constellation.

Actually... I've been thinking about this all wrong, Jyulem straightened slowly. My isolated time in Irkan, while definitely a speedbump, is actually exactly what I need. This period of stasis will allow my eventual metamorphosis-

The loud rapping of knuckles against the wooden door broke Jyulem out of his thoughts. He set his bubbling excitement to the side. He resumed his usual armor removal routine. Patterns calmed his mind; he would have time to consider the implications later. He raised his voice. “Yea?”

“Trouble, sir,” Danzer pushed open the door.

Just looking at his subordinate's face brought a throbbing sensation to Jyulem's temples. "What... is it?"

The muscular half-ogre barely managed to squeeze his upper body through the threshold. He waved a calloused hand the size of Jyulem's thigh. “A wanderer just came in out of the Wildlands. He brought a whole haul of River Opals.”

“Lucky bastard,” Kamaedra whistled. “Diameter?”

“Fourth of a span,” Danzer spoke in his low voice.

Jyulem hung his armor on the wooden peg on the wall. Some of the tension eased. That... wasn't actually that big of a deal. River Opals were rare these days because of their forging value and diminishing supply, but those less than half a span were still possible to obtain. “...but why is this trouble?”

“Ah, sorry sir. Should have led with that.” The half-ogre inclined his head. “He’s spreading wild rumors, that opals are growing like mad in the river beds again.”

All the positivity Jyulem had felt when he earned his Named Skill drained away. He now just felt exhausted. “...and there can be only one explanation for that. That Wildland Kamis… are waking back up.”

“...do they really still exist?” Kamaedra wondered out loud. “I know the records mention them, but… it’s been five hundred years. Why would-”

She stopped speaking and Jyulem knew why: because in terms of strange developments recently, only one came to mind.

What would happen if Necrotic energy invaded and reanimated a long-dormant land Kami…?

“We will need… to consult with the orthodox faiths.” Jyulem Tyre spoke through gritted teeth. His previously open schedule, with plenty of time to meditate and contemplate the direction of his future growth, began to be strangled by the prospect of an unending slew of meetings and politics. “To determine the legitimacy of the threat.”

Jyulem stood still for a few minutes, trying to conceptualize all the problems the development of the Wildlands would signify. Perhaps most pressing was the incidence of threatening monsters. Most mundane animals were limited by their race; they could gain Levels, but there was no possibility of a chicken crossing the First Growth Threshold under normal circumstances. The presence of Kamis changed that. Their very wakefulness pumped steroids into the land.

Now, a sufficient number of grass meals would see chickens gain the potential to breathe fire.

Patrols would need to be strengthened and nearby nests of creatures deemed previously harmless would need to be cleared as soon as possible. In particular, the oversized termite hive Southeast of Irkan would need to be smoked, immolated, and salted. He returned to himself with a plan of action ready. But he was thrown slightly by the fact that Danzer remained halfway through the door. Jyulem’s eyes narrowed. “...is there something else…?”

“Psychic as always boss.” Danzer chuckled. “Report from the Central Headquarters: The People’s Army was deployed to crack open a goblin stronghold. The Guild wants us to keep an eye out for any strangers heading across the Spine of Hubris.”

If the first bit of news gave Jyulem a headache, this second bit of information punched him in the gut.

“Those fucking Senators…!” Kamaedra’s eyes blazed. She gave Jyulem a look. “I’ll go speak with Drick. He might know more, and we will arrange for patrols.”

A small snag interrupted Jyulem’s thoughts. “Who is Drick-”

Kamaedra had already left. Jyulem would normally have felt pity for the guard that she had attached herself to, but he didn’t have any spare empathy.

“Errr, I know I’m slow but, what do a few goblins matter?” Danzer blinked.

Jyulem licked his lips. “If it were just mundane goblins, it would be one thing. But the fact the Senators moved their overpaid army… this wasn’t just a normal goblin rabble. A Monarch must have been born. If they gave us a warning… they might not have managed to kill it.”

Inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel aggrieved. I really just needed six more peaceful months…!

*****

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…!”

On a rocky mountain path, a sapphire slime smashed a goat paw against the face of the lead goblin. Despite the slight size advantage the goblin possessed, it staggered backward. The Sapphire slime manipulated its human hand to zip forward and grab the small copper dagger at the goblin’s waist.

Two other goblins rushed forward and swung their short, rusty weapons. But the implements sank harmlessly into the colored ooze. The goblins stared at their ineffective attacks, unsure how to proceed.

“But if it needs to be like this… Heh, it’s not like it won’t be fun to go a murder-hobo route.”

The Sapphire Chimera Core used a tentacle to swipe the dagger across the first goblin’s throat. As it bled and fell back, fear entered into the eyes of its companions. However, the human hand of the Chimera latched onto the ankle of a goblin and yanked. It collapsed with a yelp.

One goblin fled from this strange monster while its two companions were consumed, chopped up, and incorporated into the Chimera Core. Ten minutes later, although still possessing a Sapphire Slime body, the specially evolved Chimera Core possessed the legs and right arm of a goblin. Dark flames flickered across the edges of its body.

"Tsk, I thought the evolution into a Corrupted Chimera Core would unlock the Mage tree... the Attack Stat is useful, and Degenerative Touch means killing is easy... but really... aren't I just some common mob? It wasn't... heh, I smell more Anima..." Giggling, the sapphire ooze staggered on its mismatched legs up the mountain path after more prey.

Two shadowy figures watched the developments.

“Already the necrotic energies have begun to erode the original soul. Are you truly confident in your submission? The adjustments you’ve made to his Skill options are dangerous.”

“Is damage to the soul truly important? What matters are the ripples; and even you cannot deny that this thing will cause chaos, once he gathers momentum.”

“Compared to the storm brewing around Number 2’s submission, this is small. And also… that deviation in the Wildlands…”

"Tch, who drew in those three souls? It wasn't number 4 or 6. They are particularly stable, even if the souls are powerful. Yet that stability limits their growth."

"Considering their current actions, they are the most unpredictable variable. Do not dismiss stability out of hand." The other shadow admonished.

“Does it really matter?” The second shadow shrugged. “In the end… it’s all to awaken Her. At this point, it almost seems inevitable. And then, this twisted world…”

The first shadow trembled with an emotion perfectly situated between fear and ecstasy. “She will cut and cut away the supports until this hell collapses back into oblivion.”