Ignoring any other changes for now, I found that when I swiped between my visible and hidden Statuses, I could go one screen farther.
> Ikfael
>
> Path of the Land Spirit 7 (Otter Avatar)
>
> Age 223
>
> Silverlight 97,791
>
> Darklight 488
>
> Total Light 98,279
And below the identifying information were her soul marks:
> Soul Marks
>
> * Mana Door
> * Way of the Hunter
> * Fateful Exchange
> * Spirit Transformation
> * Mana Spring
> * God Touched
> * Dawn
> * Beloved
> * Spontaneous Formation (shared)
> * Memories of Another World (shared)
Several appeared to be duplicates, but there were also some unique to her and me. Swiping back, I saw two new additions to my Status: Fateful Exchange (shared) and Mana Spring (shared).
When I saw Mana Spring listed, my eyes instantly shot down to check my Secondary Attributes. Body Power and Qi had stayed the same, but the amount of mana available to me had tripled!
> * Mana 151
It felt like… it felt like an ocean now dwelled within me. I got a little woozy then; it was just too damn impactful.
I tried to read the soul mark’s tooltip, but I saw a familiar loading screen instead. It’d take time for the contents to decode, and the same was true for Fateful Exchange.
So how much mana did Ikfael have? Checking, I saw:
> Secondary Attributes
>
> * Body Power 49
> * Qi 37
> * Mana 139
Those are really healthy for Level 7. There must be another bonus somewhere. I looked through Status again and realized… Wait, I don’t have Spirit Transformation.
I double checked, and that particular soul mark hadn’t been shared. Which makes sense, since I’m not a spirit of the land.
My eyes couldn’t help glancing a little farther down on my Status. Two new talents were there:
> * Hoarder's Pocket (shared)
> * Devoted Artist (shared)
Heavens, I nearly jumped for joy. By a hair’s breadth, I almost lost control and triggered the level up to silvered. No one could blame me for my excitement, though—I’d gotten access to the Hoarder’s Pocket.
I reached up to my chest, and I suddenly knew the pocket’s contents. Everything that Ikfael had shoved in there was available to me, and I could add to it too. At the moment, the space was packed full of furniture—beautiful, splendidly valuable furniture.
The only thing better would’ve been getting both Hoarder’s Pocket and One with Stone and Water, but that was just me being greedy.
Ikfael tapped me on the hip. “I feel you gazing upon our treasures. Don’t believe this will delay me. What is your answer?”
“Hmm? Answer about what?”
Ikfael’s eyes narrowed. “Who is Helen Miriam Sandoval?”
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry, I got distracted.” I thought about how to respond and decided to simply let my feelings flow. That was a better approach than me fumbling with words. Besides, I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to eavesdrop on us while we were within the pyramid’s protections, but just in case.
My heart filled with love, sorrow, and a little guilt too, even now. But like all the other emotions having to do with my old life, they’d become familiar friends. Hardly any twinged these days—not really.
“There were children,” Ikfael signed.
My feelings grew more complicated. It was hard to stop worrying about my kids, even though they were adults. Hells, Alex probably had kids of her own by now. Odds were, I was a grandfather, which was weird to think about.
In return, Ikfael offered me her contentment and her loneliness—the long years she’d spent living in the Glen while learning how to be by herself. There were no lingering attachments left. The people she’d lost had died a long time ago.
My arrival in her world had been a revelation. It might not have been a pleasant one at first, but I had grown on her. Well, she’d certainly grown on me too, and that pulled an innocent smile out of her. I couldn’t help noticing my own in return.
The feeling of delight merged with the wild joy winding its way through us. The desire to become silvered pressed us to move ahead. The Path to Perfection called.
Yuki seemed to feel it the most. Maybe because they were the oldest among us?
‘Ollie/Eight, we don’t know how much longer we can hold out. We really want to GROW.’
“A little longer. Let’s make sure we’re truly safe before we commit to the process. I want to—”
With a tilt of his head, the Deer God caught my attention, then gored the Butcher of Men, stabbing the undead warrior with his antlers and goring the core in the process. He snorted to keep the darklight dispersing away from him.
Then he turned his attention toward the death crystal above us. The stone under his hind hooves cracked as he launched himself at it. Caught between his antlers, the crystal tore free from its mount, and a moment later he smashed it to the ground in an aerial dive that should’ve been impossible for a deer. Bronze tubes rang as they fell to the ground around him.
Amazingly, the crystal appeared undamaged.
Undeterred, the Deer God righted himself to repeatedly bash the crystal against the pedestal, and when it became evident that it was the pedestal losing the exchanges, he switched gears once again. He let the crystal fall in order to pry the talon free.
He didn’t care that he trampled Amleila’s corpse in the process. The talon had to have been high silvered for it to bind her; an object that magical would certainly be able to damage the crystal.
I jumped up to help him.
You okay, Yuki?
‘Yes, we’ll make ourselves wait until the Deer God is finished.’
The process of me becoming dawn had taken about half a day to complete, with much of the time spent out of commission. The change to silvered would likely be just as intense, if not more. There was no way we’d let it happen without being assured of our safety.
Even getting caught up in Ikfael’s and my Statuses had been a bad idea until the work was done.
Fortunately, the talon pierced the crystal with barely any effort whatsoever. The Deer God had us run it through ten times from a variety of angles until he was satisfied. Then he proceeded to piss on the crystal.
Note to self, never get on his bad side.
The talon had worked wonders, like the obsidian knife but amped up a thousandfold. I found myself wondering if we could we use it to make spears, knives, and arrowheads?
Maybe there was a way to petrify the talon so that Ikfael’s talent could work on it? Or wrapped it with stone bands? The lethality of her attacks would skyrocket. My thoughts ran ahead. There was simply too much to examine and think about and consider.
Slow down, Ollie. A step at a time.
“Are you all right?” Ikfael asked, concerned.
“Yuki wants to level,” I replied.
She sighed. “And the answer to my question?”
“Oh, sorry, yes. I’m okay. You can’t tell?”
“I can feel your excitement,” she signed. “It is like having a bee’s wings in my head, though. Is that normal?”
I flashed her a wry smile. “Sometimes.”
She nodded, then turned to eye the talon, clearly having her own designs on it. When she went to make room in the Hoarder’s Pocket, however, the Deer God stepped in her way. The two of them stared at each other for a good couple of minutes before she signed, “Okay, we can agree to that.”
The Deer God grunted, and then bent down to continue eating the talon—not the actual physical material but the power inside. He’d apparently held onto that ability in his transition to earth spirit.
I worriedly asked Ikfael, “We can still use it after he’s done, right?”
“He said it will retain its physical integrity. He’s merely consuming the… he called it the ‘more-interesting part.’ ”
“Do you think we can—”
“—wrap it in stone? I’m not sure; the talon might fall through. It’s common wisdom a silvered spearhead needs a dawn haft. Otherwise, the World Spirit wouldn’t recognize its authority to hold the spearhead in place.”
“So we’d need silvered materials to contain the talon’s authority,” I said.
Ikfael nodded, yet her thoughts were elsewhere: on the talon, on her path forward, and on me. There were uncertainties aplenty about what would happen next, and she was checking with herself to make sure she didn’t have any regrets.
She didn’t, and that realization was what finally calmed me down, because I didn’t either.
‘Does this mean we can level now?’ Yuki asked.
The last potential danger, the death crystal, was demolished. It now lay wet and reeking beside the Deer God, who knelt on the floor and happily munched on the talon’s power.
Mumu and the rest? I asked.
‘They know we’ve triumphed and reaped the rewards. They’ve retreated back to the Temple of Wanting to study the writings there.’ Yuki chuckled. ‘Teila nearly gave away the secret of our communications when she heard the news by she crying out in joy. Haol, at least, was quieter. He merely tripped over his feet.’ The hum of their qi was louder than usual, I noticed.
I checked twice to make sure Amleila’s ghost hadn’t lingered, but she must’ve fled as soon as she’d had the opportunity to do so. So yeah, we were done here. I snagged the gold necklace still laying on pedestal, smugly put it in the Hoarder’s Pocket, and gestured for Ikfael to follow me down below.
If we were going to become silvered, we might as well do it in comfort. There were beds down below we could use.
###
As we walked downstairs, the candle stones flickered out one by one. Them going dark wasn’t an issue—we had our own to light the way—but it was indicative of how the pyramid’s systems seemed to be shutting down.
The big question, of course, was if Asiik was still alive. If he was, then he’d know we’d freed Amleila from her bindings, which also meant he was free now too. Once upon a time, he’d loved exploring—winging across the sky to look for interesting things on the ground. He’d made it a tradition to bring the tastiest of those treats to his beloveds.
That was the old him, though: the one from Amleila’s memories before she’d been enslaved. The current Asiik had surely changed since then. Well, not that it mattered to me—our expedition had snuck into Old Baxteiyel, and we’d sneak right back out when we were ready. There’d be less drama that way.
For now, the three of us headed to the living quarters downstairs and found the largest room. The bed in it had gotten left behind because it was bigger than all the others—the thing could sleep four easily. We’d looted the bedding, though, and I took pleasure in removing the sheets and blankets from the Hoarder’s Pocket to create a little nest for Ikfael and me to sit in.
“Yuki first?” she asked.
‘Please, please, please, please’ the uekisheile said.
I nodded. “They’re anxious to get going.”
“Then let them wait no longer. I will hold from meeting Yuki until after they’ve become silvered.”
‘Thank you,’ Yuki said, and the wholeness of their being radiated love, affection, and a wild, wild joy. ‘We’re starting now.’
If anything, the exhilaration refined to a point, remaining steady for a moment of impossible stasis before the center could hold no longer. Wave after wave of energy crashed through Yuki, and the qi that made up their body hummed until my teeth vibrated. It tickled my tongue.
The feeling lasted for almost ten minutes before Yuki came back to themselves. ‘I have a choice of paths,’ they said, their mind’s voice hoarse. ‘The World Spirit is urging me to choose one right-now-hurry, but we need to consult-ask-seek.’
“What are the options?” I asked aloud.
‘There are no names or tooltips,’ they replied, ‘but the path forks into four directions. We can focus on invasion, spellcasting, sapience, or symbiosis. Ah… there’s one more. It appears to be a child of sapience and symbiosis—a hybrid? We almost missed it because it was so close to the others.’
I translated for Ikfael, and she asked, “What does our Yuki’s heart tell them?”
‘We like being with people; it’s fun connecting with them and connecting them with each other. Nothing can stop us when we’re coordinated like that. As the great Colonel Hannibal once said, “We love it when a plan comes together.” ’
“Which path supports that best?” I asked.
Their attention withdrew to consider the options. They weighed the benefits of faster processing speeds, versus the proliferation of the extensions of their consciousness, versus a nodal system for encouraging further multi-threading. ‘Either sapience or the sapience-symbiosis hybrid. We don’t know which to choose.’
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I laughed. “I’ve been in that dilemma before. The answer is that there’s no wrong answer.” A grin spread across my face. “Seriously, if you’re having such a hard time choosing, then both are good options. Just pick whichever one you think would suit you best.”
‘Then we’re selecting the hybrid,’ they said, their voice doubling with excitement. ‘The highs aren’t as high, but the underlying framework is a blend of enhanced authority and influence. It’ll be so cool!’
My vision suddenly went white and my consciousness was overwhelmed. Chilled water flowed through my meridians, washing me with its cool embrace. All I could think was that it was a good thing we were in a comfortable spot, because I’d gone face first into the blankets. A moment later, Ikfael turned me over and stretched me out into a more comfortable position.
When I’d turned dawn, my body heated up and the fever had lasted for hours. Was the coolness a function of the uekisheile, of turning silvered, or of both?
I felt Yuki’s consciousness concentrate once again. They held that way, compressing and compressing, until a critical point passed, and then they expanded in a soundless bang. Their conscious flung itself out, spreading through the room atop a wave of their influence. Never had they felt more real to me. They were stronger than ever, and then they got even stronger as they climbed the levels from silvered to… to… I gauged their strength… Level 14.
The room swirled with their excitement.
“I feel our Yuki’s influence,” Ikfael signed. “They have crossed the barrier to silvered.”
“They most certainly have,” I said.
‘No spoilers, and no trying to figure out what we’ve gained from becoming silvered!’ Yuki’s voice was crisp, like their signal had been boosted. ‘We want to be last to share.’
I moved a blanket to cover myself more thoroughly. “You’re really not going to tell us? I thought we’d coordinate.”
‘There’s no need,’ Yuki said. ‘Whatever you choose, we will support you.’
“They are as stubborn as you are,” Ikfael signed, and then poked me in the chest afterward. “Your turn.”
I shivered in anticipation, and the grin on my face might’ve looked a little goofy as I opened the first of the notifications: the ones from absorbing Amleila’s light.
> The skill Spirit Magic has increased from 8 to 9.
>
> The skill Time Magic has increased from 0 to 2.
>
> The skill Spirit Arts increased from 12 to 13.
>
> The skill Taoism has increased from 12 to 13.
I had to stop to check the Time Magic skill, but the tooltip remained unchanged, and the memories were just of Amleila weathering the ages. I even double-checked, but that really was all.
Then there was the big notification. I held my breath and willed it to open.
> The World Spirit rejoices. Another has become silvered. The process begun at dawn continues, and the constraints of the body and mind are further lifted.
>
> Walker, know that every step transforms the path and the world. For reaching this milestone, you receive:
>
> * A bonus attribute point and guaranteed talent.
> * Bonuses to your capacities for body power, qi, and mana.
> * An increase of maximum human attributes from 25 to 30.
>
> Your path evolves! Please select from one of the following options before continuing:
>
> * Earth Priest
> * Water Saint
> * Spirit Hunter
The elation let loose for real, and the euphoria was almost painful. The air grew cold, and I dimly noted how Ikfael threw another blanket on top of me. The very marrow in my bones hurt. My thoughts grew sluggish, but I felt disconnected from them at the same time, as if observing myself from the outside.
My options were only three. The tooltips came to mind as I considered them in turn.
> Earth Priest: Your reverence nourishes the land. This is a unique path born of your extraordinary origins, the connections you made previous to your current incarnation, and the relationships to the divine since then. You would represent the authority of the land when required, and the focus is on spellcasting in the nature- and core-elemental domains. The closer you are to the land and its spirits, the more powerful you become.
A unique path doesn’t mean it’s better—just that it’s particular to me. I do appreciate the focus on the land, though, and more magic is always good. Plus, I’d get stronger from something I’m already doing.
> Saint of Water: Water is life, and water is change. It is the great engine by which even mountains are brought low. This unusual path offers unparalleled access to hydromancy, as well as significant boosts to the power of water-based abilities and the control of them. You would also gain affinity to water and significant authority over any within the range of your influence. Finally, as water flows, so does this path: it adapts to the contours of the life chosen for it and offers a flexibility of options rarely seen at this stage of the Path to Perfection. There are two other water saints in the world, and they are as alike as red and blue.
I’ve never seen ‘unparalleled’ show up in a tooltip before. That’s kind of heady, isn’t it? To be the very absolute best at something. Does it make sense to be that much of specialist, though? Then again, it’s not like anything will ever stop me from learning all the magics. I’d simply have to do it without bonuses. It’s interesting that the System mentioned the other water saints. Was it to drive home the point about the path being exclusive, flexible, or both?
> Spirit Hunter: Most beings never notice the hidden world outside their five senses. You, on the other hand, have found a way to straddle the line between physical and spiritual. No boundaries stop you when hunting for threats to the land and its denizens. Wherever they may originate from, this path offers the tools necessary to track them down and eliminate them. Expect a focus on martial skills, as well as nature and spirit magics. A moderate amount of authority is invested in order to mark targets for culling.
This would be the more-of-the-same choice. The focus on the spiritual is what separates it from other spellcasting hunter paths. The vibe is a bit assassiny, though. It reminds me of the Veil Walker option at Level 5.
I took a breath in a useless attempt to calm the riotous energy, and when that didn’t work, I settled for rereading each of the tooltips. I didn’t glean any new insights, nor did I get any helpful hints or clues from System-Eight. The language was all straightforward.
A moment later, Ikfael listened while in her thinking pose as I read the options aloud.
Do you need our advice? Yuki asked, a hint of mischief in their voice.
“You’re going to tell me there are no bad options, aren’t you?”
They snickered. ‘Maybe.’
My eyebrows lifted. “Just that?”
‘Good advice repeated is still good advice,’ they said.
Ikfael sat back with a sigh. “It’s said that the World Spirit doesn’t offer unwelcome choices, and all of these seem powerful. You are being rewarded for your hard work and sacrifices.”
“You think so?”
“I do,” she replied.
“And what would you recommend?
Her face scrunched up. “The most uncertain of the three is Earth Priest, stemming as it does from the intersection of worlds. I also wonder at the path’s limits. Will you have to seek out new and greater spirits to grow in power? Also, the world speakers would want you. Desperately so.”
“There’s no way I’ll ever join them. Their pyramids are snake pits.”
Ikfael nodded. “That they are. The last option—the Path of the Spirit Hunter—you know it is the straightest of the paths, correct?”
“It’s me doing my thing, minus the… minus the storm calling.”
She put a paw on my knee. “Yes.”
The feeling of exhilaration amped up, as if I wasn’t allowed to feel despondent about the loss of my previous path. “It occurs to me,” I said through gritted teeth, “that Spirit Hunter doesn’t offer anything I don’t already have. I can just keep doing what I’m doing without its help.”
Ikfael nodded. “A truth, perhaps.”
“A truth for certain,” I said. “I can expect to live another three hundred fifty years. That’s a long time to train, not even accounting for Yuki’s Dream Worker talent. What I want to get better at, I will.”
Ikfael’s eyes opened wide in realization. “Yes! Do you think that I might also participate in these nightly trainings?”
“What?”
“Our soul bridge—do you think it might enable me to dream alongside Yuki and you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe? Once you have a portion of them inside you?”
‘We can try!’ Yuki said. ‘And if trying isn’t enough, we will do. Whatever it takes! Short of crossing any boundaries we shouldn’t, of course, because that would be bad. Anything else, though, we will make happen!’
Ikfael laughed after I’d translated for Yuki. “We will meet soon enough, but first our Eight must decide his path, and I must decide mine.”
“I think…” The words petered off, as I really thought things through. “I think I’m going to rule out Spirit Hunter. If I really am going to live for centuries, I want more flexibility than what it offers.”
“The same is true for Earth Priest, yes?” Ikfael asked.
I nodded. “This is going to sound selfish, but I need my own authority. Representing another’s isn’t enough—not when I’ve seen how influence is used. I’m tired of being pushed around.”
“So, the most specialized of the paths is the one you will choose,” Ikfael signed.
“Ironically, yes. Because of the nature of water.”
My thoughts spooled out to consider the long, long life ahead of me. I would need something to keep me interested, and a focused path with flexibility offered an interesting challenge, as did learning the intricacies of water. There were some obvious ways the element could be used, but the skill ceiling was likely high.
I forced myself to disregard the pressure to decide-decide-decide and retraced my thinking, just in case I missed anything. Ikfael simply waited for me, even though she was under the same pressure.
My connection to water came from her. The Mana Door soul mark she’d inscribed within me had been the start of things. I looked back over that tooltip.
> Mana Door
>
> Silverlight is the only reality, and every being is magical. This soul mark provides access to the freeform mana emitted by silverlight, and allows for the intentional creation of hitherto-unknown magics. Because of the eisendon used, there is minimal efficiency lost, a natural affinity to water, and a small bonus to water-based spells.
With this path, I’d lean into that strength. And there’s something in me that’s really focused on the significant authority from Water Saint. Yeah, no matter what, it won’t be a bad decision.
“I’m choosing,” I said aloud. All it took was a touch of will for it to be so.
I suddenly couldn’t breathe, like there was no oxygen to be had. My lungs simply fluttered uselessly in my chest. Then, my muscles locked up—this part at least was similar to when I’d become dawn—but they soon melted as if they’d been injected with a relaxant.
The nerves throughout my body began to heat. The feeling was comfortable at first, but as the minutes passed, the temperature increased until my insides felt like they were being branded by countless microscopic wires.
As the pain radiated through me, Meliune’s Blessing finally descended. My consciousness was put in a box so that I could watch what happened without concern. Briefly, I was reminded of the process used to print circuit boards. Also, every once in a while, I recognized the motion of my body flinching.
Time passed, and I didn’t seem to mind. Both Yuki and the Deer God had been quick to complete the process of becoming silvered, but I was apparently a slowpoke. Unless time dilation was involved? Or distortion of my perception of time?
The next thing I knew, Ikfael was running a paw through my hair. I could feel my body again. Groggily, I sat up and instantly regretted it. Everything ached, every inch of me. The pins and needles set in, all at once.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!”
The room’s lights had gone out, and Ikfael now had only a single candle stone lit. There was also a mug of water set on the floor for me and some jerky beside it to eat until I regained my strength.
She signed, “Welcome back, my beloved.”
“Thank you,” I replied, my voice hoarse. A glance at the clock showed that almost three hours had passed. Slowly, I stretched to work out the kinks. The pins and needles were slow to fade, but fade they did. What they left behind was a languid tranquility that was deeply comfortable. I felt at ease. I felt strong.
> Congratulations. You have collected enough silverlight to grow in power.
>
> You’re now Level 10 and silvered. You receive two free attribute points. Checking for new talents. *Ding* Your hard work has successfully triggered a nascent talent.
>
> Attribute and skill gains have been finalized. Thank you for striving toward perfection.
>
> * Agility has increased from 15 to 16.
> * Constitution will grow from 13 to (14).
> * Body Power Arts has decreased from 5 to 2
> * Hydromancy has increased from 10 to 14.
> * Nature Magic has increased from 9 to 10.
> * Qi Body has increased from 13 to 14.
> * Qi Body Arts has increased from 13 to 14.
> * Spirit Magic has increased from 9 to 10.
> * Hydrodynamics skill gained. The initial rank is 4.
> * Ocean Survival is now Ocean and Waterways Survival. The rank has increased from 5 to 10.
>
> The base benefits for a Level 10 Saint of Water are active.
>
> Attribute foci:
>
> * Wisdom, primary
> * Spirit, secondary
> * Your choice of tertiary attribute
>
> Skill foci:
>
> * Hydromancy
> * Two additional magical disciplines of your choice
> * Hydrodynamics
> * Ocean and Waterways Survival
> * Three martial disciplines of your choice
> * Two additional disciplines of any category except magical or martial
>
> Your capacity for silverlight has grown. Secondary attributes increase by another 40%. The total bonus is now 220%.
>
> * Body power has increased from 36 to 42.
> * Qi has increased from 116 to 132.
> * Mana has increased from 151 to 173.
Gods, that was enough mana to cast spells for days. And true to its word, the System had delivered on its promise of flexibility; the path offered me so many choices, but first I had to check the new talent.
> Baptism of Water
>
> From the beginning of this incarnation, water has been the source of your salvation. Rivulets of this most precious of the elements flow through your soul. Your choices of eisendon and path already mark you for water affinity, and this talent completes the triad. You gain additional significant authority over matters relating to water, as well as healthy bonuses to all water-affinity-based abilities. Yes, this means that your soul mark, path, and talent are mutually reinforcing.
The spirits of water adore you, and water nourishes you. Submersion in natural bodies of water provides a minor healing effect, as well as extending life expectancy by a miniscule amount. In addition, submersion accelerates the recovery of magical energies.
Water responds to your will. This talent includes the effects of being Water-Touched.
Holy… oh my god… what?
The stoppers to my waterskins both popped open as the remaining contents flowed out to pool in front of my face. There was only about a cup’s worth, but the water bending to my will was beautiful. Yuki gyrated in celebration.
Across from me, the joy on Ikfael’s face mirrored my own. “You’ve become Water-Touched?” she signed, then pressed her will onto the water.
I could feel her delicate touch upon the surface, which she used to turn the globule into a true sphere and make it spin. I had a lot to learn, it seemed, but that was okay; my teacher was the best.
She laughed as she danced the sphere around us, then she let her control drop so that it was up to me to keep it moving. Back and forth we played, simply enjoying the impromptu game for a little while—not too long, though, because I wasn’t done with my leveling and Ikfael was waiting for her turn.
Letting the water sphere drift, I returned to my Status.
The only other change to my talents was Scholar of Land and Sky evolving to now include the Sea. It promised small bonuses to the study of the natural world, as well as related abilities.
As for the skill decrease to Body Power Arts, that was to be expected. According to Yuki, the filaments running through my spine were still present but now dead. And no new ones had been added. Apparently, becoming Water-Touched didn’t need them.
Next, there were the choices to be made. A few were easy: I picked Spear Arts, Archery, and Knife Arts for my martial disciplines. For my tertiary attribute selection, I talked it over with Yuki and Ikfael and decided on Constitution. Not only was the stat valuable on its own, but it contributed to the depth of a person’s qi well. It was also a difficult attribute to train in comparison to Strength and Agility, which ended up being the deciding factor.
The decisions about focus skills were tougher.
Nature Magic was a solid choice I used every day, but what about Time Magic? Could I learn how to cast those spells one step at a time through their respective skill-sensei? Unfortunately, the answer is likely no.
Yuki confirmed my assessment by reminding me of the struggle early on to find the necessary spells to make my magic skills effective. My best bet would be to pick something I could genuinely build on—which was how I landed on Spirit Magic.
As for the remaining two skill slots, Stealth was a given for a hunter, but the last choice wound up being the most hotly debated between the three of us. The shortlist included Forest Survival, Spirit Arts, and Taoism, with the final pick being Spirit Arts. The reasons were two-fold. One, the skill came directly from the experiences from my previous life, which meant that it heavily benefited from the God Touched soul mark. And two, I felt like I’d be dishonoring the memory of mis abuelos if I didn’t pick it.
Once my choices were made and locked in, I opened the rest of the notifications. I normally didn’t feel much during the “regular” level ups, but my blood pressure spiked as I gained four levels in a row.
Afterward, there was a sense of my body settling into its new normal and also a sensitivity that I couldn’t quite articulate yet. It was like I could tell the bed would give way if I chose to press against it. My presence was more important to the world, my will prioritized. At the moment, that influence moved aimlessly, but I knew I could train it to a purpose, like Silasenei, Ithia, and even Xefwen had.
Here is what I got in the process of climbing to Level 14:
* I hit 15 Constitution, 17 Wisdom, and 21 Spirit.
* I gained another four free attribute points, giving me a total of seven.
* The boost to my secondary attributes increased by another eighty percent for a total of three hundred percent.
* My Enduring talent evolved to Supernatural Resilience.
* I gained one rank in all my focus skills except for Hydromancy and Hydrodynamics, both ranking up twice instead.
Then I assigned the free attribute points until I reached 25 Spirit and 20 Wisdom, hoping for the milestones to trigger more potent talents. Instead, Qi Sensitive evolved to Qi Savant, and Spirit Hunter evolved to Spirit Walker.
The tooltips of all three made specific mention of how by embracing the spirit world I’d made the talents more potent. That translated to increases in the bonuses they provided, as well as a new ability to leave my body to go spirit journeying. A ritual would still be required, but without the need for rare spell components.
There were no brand-new talents, though, which was a ridiculous thing to be saddened about given all the other gains, but human nature was human nature. We always wanted more, didn’t we? To ease the sting, I took another look at my capacity for magic.
> Secondary Attributes
>
> * Body Power 56
> * Qi 200
> * Mana 270
I giggled. I giggled like a boy finding the BB gun of his dreams under the Christmas tree. I’d lost the lightning in my veins, but this… this made it worthwhile. I felt the urge to leap and dance and started to grab Ikfael, but then I noticed how my connection to her felt so much stronger than before. I noticed the pain she’d been hiding—the swirling pressure to become silvered hadn’t abated at all.
My manic grin faded, and I calmed myself. Stroking the fur along the top of her head, I said, “It’s your turn, beloved. Wait no longer, and let the World Spirit rejoice in you and the path you walk.”