Veridiana stood, and the stone chairs they sat on melted back into the floor. Meera wondered if she could gain this skill to manipulate stones. It would be a worthy addition to her skill set. But then she had a similar skill long ago—Petrifying Surge. It encased whatever she wanted into Bloodstone, and she let that go for something that matched her skills more. And, of course, it wasn't that strong of a skill in the first place.

"Before I begin throwing all my skills at you again and you nullify them all, can you at least give me some pointers as to what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong," Meera said.

Veridiana smiled. "I was going to let you come at me some more before I gave you some advice on how to progress, but sure, I can do that now."

Meera waited anxiously for the head sorceress's advice.

"But before I do that, can you tell me all of your skills, even the general ones?"

Meera was taken aback a little. "I thought you already knew them."

"I know most of your active skills, yes. The ones you use for attacking, but I do not know your pool of general skills, your affinities, nor about that self-repairing armor of yours. Is that a skill, too?"

Meera was vary of the sorceress once again. But after their talk about the Arbiter and Meera's role in the great prophecy. She was prepared to do anything to get strong. And strong was what she needed to be to take on the foes standing in her way. Besides, if Veridiana wanted, she could kill Meera in the blink of an eye. So, Meera told the Sovereign about her skills, class ability, and even her necklace of mirrors, which housed her armor.

"Not bad," the sorceress said. "Not bad, indeed. You've assembled quite a set of skills, given your handicap of being unable to unlock skills that pertain to your class. Not to mention, you've picked skills that somewhat accentuate your class ability, giving you more chance to hit your opponent and steal their skills."

"Thank you," Meera replied, feeling rather proud of herself.

"But," Veridiana said, stopping Meera's pride in its tracks. "From my observation, you aren't playing to your mirror affinity's strengths. You're using all the skills to attack, which isn't bad, but there is more than one way to win a fight. And the mirror class's biggest strength is in illusions and reflecting attacks. This is not to say that the mirror class doesn't have some great offensive attacks. Case in point, all the ones you stole from Kalrina. How did you steal so many from one person?"

"I only stole Mirror Wing from Kalrina. I got all others from these mirror golems she had created to watch the forest she was hiding in."

"Ah," Veridiana smirked. "That gives me some ideas."

Meera frowned for but a moment, realizing what the sorceress was planning. "You know, I wouldn't mind more of the witch's skills like Mirror World. She melted a dragon's scales with that."

"I'm sure we can persuade Kalrina to make some golems from whom you can steal such skills. But you leave that to me. For now, let's continue. As I was saying, the mirror class thrives on illusions and reflecting attacks. You have the Mirror Phantom skill for illusions and nothing for reflecting attacks."

"Not like I had much choice in that matter," Meera muttered.

"Don't worry, we'll rectify that soon," Veridiana said. "But first and foremost, let's talk about affinities before we begin training."

"What about them?"

"They are perhaps the most important skill a person can have. They make or break your class. They power most, if not all, the skills of said class, and I've already explained how they take the raw essence and give your skills the extra percentage boost. You were lucky to have obtained the Mirror Affinity when you did."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Meera almost disregarded that comment but remembered that she hadn't stolen the mirror affinity skill. It, along with Identify, was given to her when she stepped out of the mirror in Rothedon's forest.

"I didn't steal this skill," said Meera. "It was given to me when I got my class."

Veridiana frowned. "That's…interesting. It's almost as if Lord Darthin knew you would get mirror skills."

"Darthin is the God of skills, right?" Meera asked.

"That's right, but as far as I know, only Lord Lorendor knows the future. They could have conferred with each other, but it would be highly out of character for the God with the all-seeing eyes to reveal the future to anyone, even his uncle."

"Darthin is Lorendor's uncle?"

"Yes, but as far as importance is concerned, only mother Mirithia is worshipped more than Lorendor. Well, let's keep all that aside and stay focused on the topic of discussion—affinities." Veridiana waved a dismissive hand. "It doesn't matter how you obtained the Mirror Affinity skill. It's fortunate that you have it. You see, all affinities greatly enhance the said type of skills. For you, it's your mirror skills."

"And shadow," Meera promptly added. "Don't forget I have the Shadow Affinity as well."

The sorceress nodded with a smile. "Yes…this is good. From what I've seen, a lot of your shadow skills are of the support variety. With some leveling up and some higher tier mirror skills, you could become a powerhouse."

That's why I'm still here. If not for the promise of power leveling, Meera would have already tried to make her escape. Though, given what she had seen of the Sovereign, there was no doubt in Meera's mind that she would have made it far.

Veridiana continued. "The more of a particular variety of skill you use, the stronger the skill becomes, but so does its Affinity. I'm sure you've seen this in your notifications. But did you also know that the higher your affinity is, the faster your skills associated with said affinity will level up?"

"Wait, what?" Meera cried. "I just thought the Affinities increased the attack strength."

"So do most people." She rubbed her chin. "Hmm, how should I put this without offending the Lord of Skills and the Caretaker of the System…Sometimes, the skill description doesn't reveal all of its properties. A whole branch of studies at the University that deals with experimenting with skills and trying to discover their hidden talents."

Awesome. I'll be sure to stop by there and see if my skills have any hidden talents.

"And since," Veridiana went on. "The Affinity skills take in raw essence to grow and level up their corresponding skills. A place like this, swarming with raw essence, is the best place to upgrade your skills. Another thing that no one aside from me knows is that Agniaz's heart is the place with the highest concentration of raw essence. In other words, this room right here is the best place to level up your skills."

"You just keep selling me on this place," Meera smirked. "Let's begin."

"Before we do, I want to make sure we're moving ahead with the same goals in mind," Veridiana said.

"Go on."

"I will help you level up and grow to the best of my ability, but I want you to forget about whatever deal you had with Kalrina." Her expression hardened, and she resembled Aksha when she spoke. "You need to forget about her. Your sole focus will be to get as strong as possible in the time we have together."

Meera's nostrils flared, and she couldn't help but glare. "So, I am a prisoner just like the witch."

The sorceress smiled. "No, my dear, far from it. You're my pupil. But I would be foolish to think that my story, her story…" She motioned to the walls. "…would have moved you so much that you would want to put the search for your brother on hold." She took Meera's hands in her hands. "Trust me when I say that this is the best thing that you can do to help your brother. Grow strong. Let me help you grow strong. So, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with him when the end comes." She smiled. "Besides, it's not forever, it's only till my death comes, and trust me, it's coming. I know it is. I can feel it."

"What about Neel?" Meera asked. "I can't just leave him to his own out there. He's just a kid."

"He's much more than that, Meera," she replied. "But I can understand your concern. If it were a young Aksha out there, I would be scouring every corner of every world to find her. To put your mind to rest, I will have the Daughters do your searching for you. They will go after Neel so you can stay and prepare for what's coming. Trust me, I will get you to your brother."

Meera knew the game the sorceress was playing. She was making her think this was not the best but the only option. She was giving her the carrot of easy experience and levels, and all Meera had to do was forget about Neel. Meera was sure the Daughters were already after Neel. Even her whole spiel about dying to give Meera the upgraded system was just a ball of lies. She didn't even think there was an upgraded system to begin with. It was just another thing to entice her into staying...just another carrot.

No, I'm not going to be played any longer. Meera nodded. So, I'll stay and be a good little girl, and as soon as I'm strong enough, I'm gone, and if you get in my way, I'll burn your house down.

"Like I said, you just keep selling me on this thing," Meera remarked with a smile.

Veridiana returned the smile. "Now, we can begin. By the time we finish, you’ll be taking on people two hundred levels higher with ease.”