Meera peeled herself off the ground, huffing and bleeding from her nose, while her vision swam in circles. Blood dripped from her head to the ground, which was new as she hadn't realized she was even hurt. But maybe that was because of Vitalize, which she had kept on full blast all the time. It had been two days since she started training with Veridiana. It felt more like torture as the sorceress queen rag-dolled her across the room while Meera did her best not to end up as a blood stain on the walls.

Another great thing was that in all this time Meera had not managed to land a single blow to the so-called Sovereign, which meant no new skills. This was becoming a big cause for Meera's frustration. Veridiana was the strongest opponent that Meera had ever faced. No one was this difficult to land a hit on. If Erenyx were this strong when Meera faced her, she would've been dead a dozen times by now.

"I'm going to…take a breather…and check my notifications," Meera wheezed as she dropped to the ground again.

Veridiana smiled. "I'll be here."

Meera half expected her to make a remark about her enemies not waiting for her, but thankfully, she didn't. So, Meera checked her notifications for the first time since she started training.

*ding!*

[Congratulation. The Shadow Image has gained 16 levels and reached Level 386. You have been awarded 48 stat points]

That stumped Meera. She stopped her notifications and looked to the sorceress, who was waiting with a knowing smile. "How is it that I gained levels in my class when I've only ever done so if I killed something?"

"Well, that would be because of my friend, Akhessai, here," Veridiana said. "An Archdragon's magic is so potent that even four hundred years after her death, we can use it to enhance ourselves. In simpler terms, it's one of the few places where you don't have to resort to slaughter to level up."

Meera nodded, but another question popped up, one that had been burning in the back of her mind for some time now. She figured now was as good a time as any to ask. "How did you kill an archdragon?"

"I would think that is obvious?"

Meera's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the stone wall, which must've been one of the valves of the dragon's heart if dragon hearts had valves.

"So, your second class is based on stones," Meera pondered. "Stone and tremors—that is a deadly combination."

Veridiana smiled. "Thank you."

"Then you emptied out the dragon's body and made a home for your sorceresses. But how did you turn it to stone? I imagine it couldn't have been easy. How did you bring it down?"

The sorceress's smile withered a little. "Weren't you examining your notifications?"

"Yes, right." Meera continued with her notifications but noted that the sorceress avoided answering Meera's question.

She had used every skill she had, so all her skills had leveled up considerably, some more so than others. Like Vitalize, Mirror Shard Fury and Mirror Wing had gone up more by than thirty levels. Closely followed by Shadow Coating, Corrupting Hex, Spectral Dominion, and Mirror Step. But none of these touched her Mirrorstrike Vision, which had gone up by a staggering fifty-six levels, as she always kept it on.

She also gained a new chakram, and her Armor of Mirrors gained almost twenty levels. It was like this place was a free buffet for levels. Even if she used a particular skill lightly, the skill would level up at an alarming rate.

She input the bulk of her stat points into Focus to give herself more Mana and the rest into Dexterity and Agility. After the last two days, she knew one thing—she needed to be faster. If she could move faster than the damn sorceress, then there was a chance she could maybe hit her and steal a skill. She had also noticed that Dexterity increased not only her chakrams' power but also their speed. The latter was sorely needed to beat the Sovereign or, well, just steal her skill. For that would be a victory in and of itself.

Meera whistled. "No wonder your sorceresses are so high leveled and why you never leave this place and sit here and train."

"When you're at my level, your progression slows down a fair bit. Besides, Akhessai's residual Mana is almost spent. It won't be long before this place is nothing more than a stone statue of a once great and proud dragon, fallen to the trickery of humans." Veridiana smiled sadly. But before Meera could prod about the sad smile, the sorceress asked. "Are you ready to begin again?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I am, but what do you mean when you say residual Mana?" Meera asked instead.

"Whenever someone dies, the Mana stored in their bodies at the time of death begins leaking, you can say. It's true for everyone—whether they be a mighty dragon or a lowly insect. Humans have such little Mana to begin with that when we die, it is hardly noticeable unless the person is strong and high-leveled."

Meera remembered Kalrina's tale of Eston's body being cut up into pieces. It was a brutal punishment, and she figured it must have some implications. "What happens if one's body is cut into pieces and thrown to the dogs? Does that person's soul wander around for all eternity?"

"I cannot say for certain," Veridiana replied. "But it is said that the soul will not rest until a loved one gives them the benediction of rest."

Meera knew what she was talking about. Silas had said that once Cossus fake died, but his acting was so genuine that it felt real. Now that she knew it was a sham, it left a bad taste in her mouth. She had recently seen Leonel take Verna through it once her mother passed.

"So, what we're doing is using Akhessai's leftover Mana to speed up our progression?" Meera asked, changing the subject.

"That's right. She had so much leftover Mana at the time of her death that we're still using it, over four hundred years later," Veridiana said. "It's sad that we humans don't have the capability to see a person's Mana after death, or we might change some of our deathly ceremonies. But even in that case, most of us have such little Mana that it would evaporate within days for a powerful individual and hours for the weaker ones."

Meera walked to the sorceress while nodding. "Any way we can earn that skill?" She asked, wondering if her Mirrorstrike Vision skill could evolve to earn this capability.

Veridiana smiled. "We might, but we would have to level our Identify skill to untold heights. Even my Identify hasn't reached that high. But then again, I haven't left my chambers in some time."

"I tried Identifying as many people as I could in the Hall of Judgement," Meera commented. "I guess I'll keep leveling it up and hope for the best. But how does one use the Mana of a deceased person? As a matter of fact, how am I doing it now?"

Veridiana snapped a finger, and two stone chairs emerged from the floor. "I feel like this is going to be a long talk, but it's good that you're trying to understand the underlying basics of it all." The sorceress queen began once they were both seated. "All Mana is made up of a finer material called essence. But not all essences are the same, just like how every person's Mana is not the same. What kind of Mana you have is dictated by your class. Your class molds the essence into Mana, which can be used to power up your skills. This is why we cannot just steal anyone's Mana and use it as our own. However, once a person dies, their bodies begin releasing the Mana into their surroundings in the form of raw essence, as they no longer have a class. Essences also power up the various affinities we possess. Since you have a lot of mirror-based skills, I'm sure you possess the Mirror affinity, am I correct?"

Meera nodded. "I do."

"Good. So, you take in this raw essence from the air when you breathe, and your affinity uses it to power up your mirror-based skills to give you a boost in damage. It also levels up faster. And even if you don't possess an affinity for a certain type of skill, let's say your strength-enhancing skill, the essence, does the same thing for it, though at a slower pace. Giving it the boost to level it up. You could do the same thing with any recently deceased being. All you have to do is stand close enough to it, and you will take in the essence of its Mana without even realizing it."

"But what about when we're not around or in a dead body that is emitting raw essence?"

"Then nature itself produces this essence, though not in as great quantity as Akhessai. You see when we die, and our raw essence dissipates into the air, it flows around until it is eventually used. There is even a theory that trees and plants also exude essence at all times, which is why we can grow our skills. You see, Meera, this raw essence is the key ingredient that helps us grow, and it's all around us."

"So, our skills grow with practice but also because of this raw essence that is used to power up the skills, and it's most prevalent in places like this?"

"That's right."

"Why isn't this common knowledge?" Meera asked.

"Because everyone is not a scholar who spends their time researching these things. And I'm sure not many people want to spend their time hanging around a morgue or a graveyard, leveling up their skills. So, until someone finds a way to capture and bottle this essence, we'll have to level up the old-fashioned way."

"Or unless someone petrifies dragons and uses them to level up, cause these things have a habit of blowing up when dead," Meera chuckled but Veridiana didn't find it amusing. She stared stone-faced. Meera got the feeling the sorceress wanted to petrify Meera and use her essence to level up. "But still, Akhessai must've had a mountain's worth of Mana remaining that it's still leaking even after four centuries."

Now, the sorceress smiled. "Yes, she was something to be marveled at."

Meera opened her mouth to ask the question on the tip of her tongue but stopped herself, for she didn't know how the sorceress might respond. She felt she had somewhat offended the Sovereign by joking about petrifying the dragons.

After a long moment of silence, Veridiana sighed. "You can ask the burning question in your mind, Meera."

"I see all the murals, pottery, and furniture, among other things, in this…chamber with dragon designs, but dragons are supposed to be your mortal enemies. And earlier, you didn't find it funny when I joked about petrifying dragons. Then, whenever you talk about Akhessai, you talk with great reverence. It's just all these things that can't help me but make me wonder…" Meera drew a deep breath. "What was Akhessai to you?"

Veridiana gave a small smile. "She was my friend. No…she was more than that." Then, a tear leaked from the side of her eye. "She was my sister."