It turned out Lowe needed more than just a moment for his head to stop swimming—and only part of that discombobulation was due to the unexpected boost Mylaf's consumables had given him.

Ever since losing his Class last year, Lowe had - by necessity - had to become familiar with how to exist with much lower stats than had previously been the case. In fact, the whole experience had been so devastating that he actually couldn't remember the last time he had so much as opened his Core Sheet, much less carefully read it.

However, with the incentive of checking out the impact of Mylaf's concoctions, he managed to swallow down his pride and look at it.

Name: Jana Lowe

Level: 19

Class: ***Removed***

Primary Attributes

* Strength: 70

* Dexterity: 65 → 69 (+5% Mirth of the Fey)

* Intelligence: 85 → 94 (+10% from Echoes of the Ancients)

* Wisdom: 78 → 86 (+10% from Echoes of the Ancients)

* Charisma: 60 → 66 (+10 from Mirth of the Fey)

* Constitution: 75

Secondary Attributes:

* Perception: 80

* Willpower: 74

* Luck: 58

Health Points (HP): 1150

* Regeneration Rate: 2 HP/min (natural); 15 HP/sec (via Roll with the Punches)

Mana Points (MP): 400

* Regeneration Rate: 1 MP/min (natural); increased to 2 MP/min when Mana falls below 10%

Stamina Points (SP): 550

* Regeneration Rate: 5 SP/min

Skills

1. Roll with the Punches (Passive) Rare - Level 23

Converts 10 MP to heal 15 HP per second. Activation depletes 5% of the maximum mana pool.

Cooldown: None.

2. Grid View (Active) Rare - Level 14

Records up to 30 minutes of footage for perfect recall of details

Cooldown: 1 hour.

Mana Cost: 50% of total MP.

3. Slugger (Active) Rare - Level 18

Next melee attack deals triple damage.

Cooldown: 10 minutes.

Mana Cost: 30 MP.

*** Skill slots 4 and upwards are blocked as per Council decree ***

Although he had steeled himself against the familiar burn of shame at seeing such low numbers, what he read still hurt.

Even with the uptick following the consumption of Mylaf's food and drink, he was still utterly tragic. What was worse was knowing that those flat % increases she had provided him with would be utterly game-changing for someone with anything approaching decent numbers, but for him . . . it was all just a complete waste.

He fought down the self-loathing and plastered on a smile for the . It was not her fault that he was clearly the weakest person who had ever sat in this room.

"Well, I have to say you have quite the ability there, Mylaf!"

She dipped her head in thanks. "I have been - had been, I guess - with the mistress for a very long time. I worked for her parents, of course, and she had known me for her entire life. As she became more and more successful, she was pleased to upgrade my Skills to the Legendary tier and then to spend the gold to ensure they levelled up regularly.”

Lowe whistled. Well, that would explain the insane buffs a cup of tea and a mediocre bit of cake prepared by a Level 15 could offer.

As he considered the implications of this, he found himself - entirely unwillingly - transported back to Mr Clariy's classroom when he had been a boy. In this memory, the was droning on and on about one of his favourite topics: Levels and Skills.

"Of course, ladies and gentlemen, you will all understand that Skills level up through use. No surprise there, even for those of you on the back row. Just as most of you will find the wherewithal to move your way up through the levels by acquiring XP, your attendant skills will constantly develop. However, where people and their techniques differ is that, at the time they are acquired, each Skill has a tier linked to the effectiveness of that ability. And why is that interesting, Mr Lowe?"

Lowe remembered thinking it was not nearly as interesting as trying to look down Griselda Byron's almost see-through tunic, but he'd wisely refrained from sharing that with the .

"I don't know, sir."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You don't know . . ." Clariy sighed, then determining he was slightly more interested in the sound of his own voice than berating a sixteen-year-old boy, continued unabashed. "Every single Skill you possess will level up with use. It will get incrementally more powerful with each Level it acquires. So far, so good. However, and it is crucial that you appreciate this, there is a hard ceiling for how good each Skill can possibly become. A common Skill at Level 200 will not be nearly as impactful as an Epic Skill at Level 5, for example. A Skill you can acquire at Level 30 will be infinitely better - even at its earliest stage of development - than any Skill you have had since Level 5."

The memory faded, and Lowe found himself back in Mylaf's quiet, calm company. In theory, you could upgrade any Skill - move it from Common to Uncommon, and thus increase its effectiveness - but it was a prohibitively expensive endeavour, either in terms of gold or Progression Points.

For most people, waiting to see the broader tier of abilities offered to them as they progressed through their Class was much more cost-effective than upgrading any early Common Skills they may have. Indeed, as most patron gods were reasonably free with rewards at various thresholds, it was not uncommon for even those with minor Classes to end up with a Rare or even an Epic Skill.

However, since becoming Unclassed and having all of his Skills above Common locked by the Council, Lowe has been left in a pretty difficult situation. With no patron god and no prospect of acquiring any more Skills, he had needed to make a difficult choice and had chosen to pour all of his time, energy, and money into getting the Skills he had as high as they could go. Even then, the best he'd been able to do was round all three of his abilities off at Rare.

At times like this, he wondered why had bothered.

He could not even begin to calculate how much gold Gianna d'Avec had sunk into her Skills to raise them to the Legendary tier. He doubted he would earn enough money to do that to one of his Skills even if he survived for a couple more centuries.

How the other half lived.

"I'm going to assume it was your habit to ensure the High Priestess left in the morning with her various cooldowns refreshed?"

"Indeed. However, yesterday morning, she informed me that she had partaken of the consumables she required the night before and had no need for fresh food or drink." Mylaf tilted her head, "You will be aware that, due to the power of Legendary consumables, there can be an adverse effect should you try to make use of them within their cooldowns?"

Lowe had read the warnings on the tea and cake he had just eaten and was not remotely interested in risking the adverse reactions. He assumed the High Priestess had felt the same!

"Do you know what she had eaten?"

Mylaf shrugged. "It was my mistress's habit to store food within her inventory. I could not possibly know what she had eaten unless I had asked her. Which I didn't."

Lowe took a moment before asking his next question, doing everything he could to avoid requesting a doggy bag to take the tea and cake home with him. "What did you think had happened when your mistress did not return last evening?"

The began crying again. "If I am honest, sir, I knew something must have been terribly wrong. I just could not bring myself to admit it before this morning. When I contacted Mr Webber at the Temple, I was hopeful there may have been some emergency that had delayed her overnight."

Lowe shuffled in the very comfortable seat, painfully aware that he was feeling better than he had in a year and, for a change, had mana to burn. It was odd to be so upbeat when interviewing a grieving woman, and he was finding the experience extremely distasteful.

"What will happen to me now?" Mylaf's voice brought him out of his brooding.

"How do you mean?"

"The mistress. Without her, what do I do?"

Lowe grimaced, wishing he had taken the time to learn a little more about the situation before allowing himself to be bundled out of the Celestial Temple by Latham. He would usually have familiarised himself with any number of things before visiting a murder victim's home, and he found himself cursing the for putting him in this position. Honesty, however, seemed like the best policy. "I am afraid I do not know, Mylaf. This is right at the beginning of the investigation, and I do not have access to the sort of answers I would usually like. For example, do you know if the High Priestess had any relatives?"

"She had no one, sir," Mylaf was dabbing away tears with a handkerchief that was constantly cleaning itself. Lowe had to force himself not to stare. That Skill, as well as the one she had used to clear up the expelled crumbs when he had choked, suggested Hostess with the Mostess was not the only Legendary Skill the possessed. He doubted even the Mayor of Soar himself had staff with such outrageously overpowered abilities. "Her parents . . . passed away when she was younger. What a terrible time that was. And then, well, the mistress was not one to make friends easily. I would doubt if there was anyone in her life at the Temple with whom she would take freely. Oh, there was a young gentleman she was seeing discretely, but that all ended a few weeks ago. I never met him, and I do not think the mistress was taking it too seriously."

"So, who do you think she would have spoken to if she were in - I don't know - in trouble of some kind?"

Mylaf blew her nose loudly on the self-cleaning handkerchief. "That would be me, sir."

Lowe tried to keep his expression kind. "I do not mean any disrespect, Mylaf, but are you really suggesting a Level 67 avatar would confide her fears in her housekeeper?"

Mylaf smiled back, and Lowe found himself struck by the sincerity of her whole demeanour. "I know it is difficult to understand, sir, but the mistress truly had nothing other than Gravalk in her life. We spoke, at great length, each evening about her hopes and dreams for the future. After what happened to her parents, there was simply no more important thing for her to do than to reach the summit of the Temple. She was so . . . focused on that there was no time for anything else."

Lowe stood surreptitiously, taking another sip of tea and a bite of cake to refresh the cooldowns. There would be more questions for Mylaf but now was not the time. He was making his way to the door when he became aware of the tumult of noise rolling around the street outside.

It seemed like Soar's press corps had finally caught up with events at the Celestial Temple. And, more importantly, they had located the High Priestess' home. He wondered how that somewhat confidential bit of information had found its way into the public domain . . .

Something for Cenorth to look into, Lowe thought. He was amused to see that some of the younger, less experienced were struggling under the impact of the dissuasion aura the building was generating. It appeared he got away quite lightly just with just a bad case of hives

"Oh, my," Mylaf was at his shoulder and was distressed at the noise. "What on earth am I supposed to do now?"

Blatant self-interest fought with chivalry for a moment in Lowe's soul. He wasn't too sure which won out when he next found himself speaking. "It might be sensible for you to relocate for the time being, whilst all this initial interest blows over. I might know of a little apartment that would be absolutely perfect for a looking to stay busy whilst keeping her head down . . ."