"… you have to admit, the unintentional timing was amusing."

Zolast only grumbled. "Not when you're the one that had been blindsided by a political crisis while trying not to accidentally kill an annoying puppet," he said. "Do you have any idea how hard it's to fake weakness when all of your Stats suddenly triple in effectiveness?"

"I wouldn't know. Awakened Stats don't have such problems —" I responded, only to lean to avoid a mana bolt targeting my head.

"Hey, that's rude," I said as I waved my hand, and three mana bolts appeared in the air, rushing toward him. A childish response, but it still worked.

Zolast sighed even as he cast a shield to block my magical attack. "Great, you awakened Intelligence as well," he said as he noticed the smooth move, clearly annoyed that he lost one of his favorite comebacks whenever we bickered. "Or, did you Awaken another weird variant?"

"Nope. This time, it's just plain boring Intelligence."

"Really, that's a rare coincidence," he added.

"I'm not sure it is," I countered in a more serious manner, and he shifted. "Do you remember how I told you I felt a weird echo when you Awakened your Intelligence?" I asked. He nodded, showing that he understood what I was getting at. "Exactly. I somehow combined that feeling of echo with my perspective and … voila."

"Another Awakening," he said. "Did you get that kind of echo when Limenta awakened Concealment?"

I paused, trying to think. "Maybe, but if I did, I probably mistook it for my Concealment. It's really hard to distinguish without knowing what to look for."

"Extraordinary," Zolast said. "But that's not it, is it?"

"No," I said. "I got bored while hiding, so I designed a set of exercises to copy the way the Skills are helping to use stats, with some fascinating implications," I said as I looked around. "Is there any furniture you're planning to replace?" He pointed at a chair. I gently reached toward it as I tapped to my Strength, and it smashed into pieces the moment I touched it.

"That wasn't mana or health," Zolast commented, his gaze too sharp to miss it.

"Exactly," I answered.

"Do it again," he said, his attention sharply on me. Several destroyed furniture later, Zolast was frowning even deeper, doing his best to unravel the working mechanisms, trying to understand the way it worked. "Any guesses as to how it works?" he asked.

"No idea, but I have a feeling that it's one of the reasons why naturally Awakened stats are valued so much by the divine."

"Probably," Zolast said.

"Do you want to try out the exercises I had come up with?"

"Sure. Do you have an exercise for Perception?" he asked, though his tone implied he expected the answer to be negative.

The joke was on him. "Of course. I had three boring days to fill," I said with a bit of a smile. Just because we were unraveling the secrets of the universe didn't mean I couldn't revel in smug satisfaction. Zolast sighed as he stood up, wading through the broken furniture to stand next to me.

"Close your eyes, and feel your surroundings. Focus on the way the wind is against your skin, the subtle buzzing of the silencing wards, the flickering light against your closed eyelids, even the dance of mana…" Admittedly, it was half nonsense, and half practice. The training itself was practical, as my trick was to swiftly focus on one sense like hearing, and explore it to the limit, before shifting to the next sense.

In the chant part, I was copying the occasional martial arts movie that I had watched in my previous life.

It didn't work, at least not the way I had hoped.

"You're right. It almost feels like a skill, but far more controlled," he said, looking more satisfied with the outcome. "I can see how much help it'll be after a few months of practice."

"Well, I was hoping for an Awakening," I said. "I'm afraid we don't have months for it to matter. Not after they convinced themselves that I'm dead."

"It might not be that horrible," Zolast said. "I know little about the Calamity, but I know that the ritual to trigger it is not simple. And, after forcibly stopping it, they would need months to put everything in order, and more time for the ritual to work. We have at least a year."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Not exactly a long time when the subject is the Apocalypse," I countered. "And, that also assumes that the ritual was stopped, and not just paused. We might have less than that."

"True," Zolast admitted with a sigh. "Still, it's not like we're hopeless. The Life Elevation alone might give us the edge we need. Do you think you can repeat that trick of giving it without a Promotion?"

"I'm not sure," I answered. "There's something external blocking it. Only the presence of the God of Destruction somehow invalidated that block and allowed me to reach it. We can't bet on it further."

"Pity. Launara would have been effective on the battlefield with her new stats."

"But that would require her to be stolen from her goddess."

"She's one of the goddesses with the weakest presence. A suitable target for poaching."

"Also a suitable target to have as an ally, at least temporarily," I said.

"Really? Why? That's not like you," Zolast said.

"It's just an idle thought, but she feels desperate. Otherwise, why would she make such an enormous investment in Launara and bet on her successful ascension?"

"Are you sure the expenditure for class changes is as big as you think?"

"Probably," I answered. "Until now, every single feature of the System is growing exponentially. I suspect the same also applies to Class Change."

"So, the Mistress of the Forge is…" Zolast commented.

"Likely at least ten times more expensive than your own High Priest class, though I wouldn't be surprised if it's a hundred times more expensive either," I said.

"That's a sizable gap," he said.

"It's hard to make guesses with no evidence," I said with a chuckle. "Intelligence is no help making guesses without data."

"No, it is not. But how does the cost of a class make you certain that she's weak enough for an alliance."

"That's another educated guess. We know the gods are hardly generous. Your god had empowered you back in the day, because he needed you to manage his church. Mahruss has been improved, because he has many abilities in a world that's about to go through the Calamity."

"But Launara's goddess asked her to Ascend as soon as possible, even going as far as making a huge investment," Zolast completed. "But maybe it's just about the Ability she had received."

"Not impossible. Or maybe she just wants to save her worshippers before the other blacksmiths catch her," I completed. "That's why I didn't immediately find ways to talk with her goddess. But, similarly, I wouldn't poach Launara from her unless we had no choice. There's no harm in keeping our options open."

"But the gods are the ones to trigger the Calamity. Do you think we can trust her?"

"Well, the gods are doing nothing as Hephaestus and the other gods of the forge are doing their best to prevent her followers from getting strong. She might stab them back for nothing more than the satisfaction of it."

"Really? They will be that vindictive?"

"I remember little about the stories about the gods, but every single story I could recall shows them as selfish, vindictive pricks," I said. "Nothing I had seen since my arrival contradicted that."

"A nice point," Zolast admitted.

"Still, the poaching plan is a good idea. We just need to pick our targets well. It would be best if we could cut the connection without alerting the Divine in question, but at least we have to make sure we didn't trigger an immediate revenge."

"Another project for me. Like I don't have enough," he grumbled.

"Then, let's ensure that you have the Stats to handle it. Close your eyes."

"Again?" Zolast said.

"I want to try something else," I replied. He followed my request and closed his eyes, doing his best to work his Perception stat directly.

I chanted the same made-up verse, but while I did so, I focused internally as well. Essentially, I was trying to replicate my achievement with Intelligence, but in reverse. Back in the castle, I had used the echo of his Awakening as a template, and now, I pushed the same feeling through the connection.

It was not exactly a simple accomplishment. The Heroic Party was a mysterious Ability that I barely understood … it was little more than a hail-mary attempt.

Then, I felt an echo back, one that was almost the same as my own Perception. I would have missed it easily if I wasn't paying attention.

"It worked," he gasped as he opened his eyes wide. "Now, I have Perception awakened."

"Congratulations," I said, glad that it worked. I couldn't help but feel excited at the realization. "Now, do you want to see if we can Awaken your Wisdom with my Memory, or should we focus on Charisma first?"

"You don't really do anything halfway, do you?" Zolast said.

I shrugged. "With the duel, and kicking the Night Blades out, it's clear that the Somaton's realized we have no intention of fulfilling their demands. I'm sure the only reason they didn't hit back is because of the sudden explosion. What's the status there, by the way?"

"Apparently, the kingdom decided to build a royal dungeon there, and the princess is going to stay here for the task," he said.

"Really," I said, surprised. "Then, why is almost all of the military pulling away? I would have expected them to leave a bigger force to defend the area."

"How would I know?" Zolast said, cutting my questioning short. I snickered at his reaction. It wasn't like him to ignore an important topic. Especially since it affected us directly. We were linked to Princess in two different ways. She was the sponsor of our new church, blocking some inconvenient questions. And she was the fiancee of our newest guild member. The combination meant that whether or not we liked it, the political intrigues around her would affect us.

Zolast ignored it, because he was too excited about the prospect of awakening another Stat. "Alright, we'll talk about it later. Now, Wisdom or Charisma?"

"Let's start with Charisma. That will be more straightforward," he said.

"As you wish," I said even as I went through the next exercise, but this time, I was far more confident as I used the Heroic Party to convey the sensation of the Awakened stat.

I had a feeling that it would be much easier this time.