She reached the door after destroying the last of the enemies in her way Tisha and Damon right behind her. Though Tisha had to throw the others forwards before helping him as he lost steam.

Olga slammed the familiar double doors open just as the barrier disappeared, it seemed to be very short lasting considering the entire sprint lasted less than ten seconds. Then again in that time they had moved over half a kilometer to reach the entrance to the pyramid. They rushed inside and the door proceeded to close behind them locking the enemies away from the group.

Damon was gasping for breath as the others also sat down to rest as they studied their surroundings. The surroundings were just like the floors before Floor three, they found themselves in a corridor with the same double door at its end.

“We’ll rest briefly, twas rough.” Olga nodded to herself.

“Anymore tricks like the one you just pulled?” Mel asked.

“Sorry, that was the last of them barring a new ability I just gained and I wouldn’t be able to do it for a while.”

Speaking of new abilities Tisha studied the notifications she gained in that last battle.

[Neuter Sensation – Tier 1/10]

[Neuter Sensation lasts a little longer also slightly damages enemies affected over the duration]

[Your Artifact has reached the first threshold, choose one of the two available Abilities]

Neuter Sensation finally gained a tier and now had an offensive application and on top of that she got to choose her next ability. She focused on it.

First Threshold Selection, choose between the two:

Scarlet Flare:

The Orb erupts into an incredibly powerful cylindrical explosion ten meters in radius. The Orb is briefly rendered unusable after this ability is used. The Orb can move a much further distance from you.

Observation (passive):

Your Orb can observe targets allowing you to gain insight on them. The Orb can also move a much further distance from you.

Both of these seemed useful, Scarlet Flare being a directly damaging ability, something that she had been missing until her first ability had gained a tier. It had its downside of disabling her Artifact which for most people would be an issue but as a fighter who used her fists, this was not a problem. She was also interested in the increased range the Orb could separate from her, that was useful in being able to attack from different angles giving her infinitely better versatility. She suspected that was so that she did not destroy herself in the process of using the Scarlet Flare. She could assume that ten meters from the minimum it would gain based on the explosion radius.

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Observation was yet another supportive ability, it sounded like Analyze but for specifically for combat. The statement was quite vague, however. She was unsure of how detailed it would be much like Analyze and how she would receive the information it gained. Much like the Scarlet Flare it also gained the ability to move a further distance from her, she assumed it would not be able to move as far, however.

If she was to be honest in the current situation they were in Scarlet Flare seemed like the much better deal. She assumed that they were about to meet the Anchor which according to the Authority was essentially the Boss of the Tear. Meaning that a very damaging ability like Scarlet Flare would be of immediate use. But she could not help but be drawn to Observation. One thing about Tisha was that she was very experimental I how she went about life and could not help but look at the possibilities beyond what was first presented and Observation seemed like one that could go further than Scarlet Flare could. She assumed that both could get tiers just like the other abilities giving them further applications, but Scarlet Flare felt to limited from the start.

She saw the others were in busy seemingly staring into the air likely with upgrades and abilities of their own to pore over.

She did not hesitate for long. Besides, it would be helpful to get an idea about the enemy’s moves and work against it.

[You have chosen Observation]

[First Threshold Selected, Anak Orb has evolved to Peira Orb]

She glanced at her Orb as it got covered in a scarlet energy from top to bottom drawing the attention of everyone, before the energy disappeared leaving the Orb on its own. Tisha studied it for any difference and immediately noticed that there was a paler elongated shape in its center. It looked like a large slit eye.

A moment later a splitting headache seemed to explode into her mind causing her to close her eyes before disappearing as quickly as it came.

Tentatively opening her eyes again she looked around and noticed something was off about her sight. She could…see more, no it was like she could see everything but from two angles. She glanced down at herself and could see herself glancing at herself.

Wow this was trippy. She looked up at the Orb again and saw the slit eye glancing back at her. She could see from the Orb almost like a security camera except it was not separate screens it was both overlayed and not. Honestly, she did not think she could describe the sensation at all.

“Are you okay?” Mel asked carefully before nervously glancing as the slit eye moved across the Orb’s surface towards her.

“Yeah I’m good, just a weird new ability I gained.” Tisha tried to use the ability further, but nothing was popping up, she supposed she would figure it out in the fight.

“Seems far more flashy than the normal ways we gain abilities though.” Damon said.

“Yeah, it was called the First Threshold Selection.”

A glow to the side had her, Orb and everyone else turn to face Olga as she held a large nail in her hand a grey black energy covering it similarly to what had happened with Tisha’s Artifact.

“You gained a Threshold Selection too?” Tisha asked.

Olga simply nodded with a grin as the Nail showed itself, now with two bands of the grey black color on either end of the nail. Olga threw the nail across the hall a moment later, it stopped mid flight before flying back to her hand. Olga’s grin widened further.

She could now control its movement mid-air? Or only call it back to her, either way it was a very useful ability.

“We only have a few minutes now people, we have to finish this asap.” The large woman took charge again ever on the move as she walked to the door at the end of the corridor.

Tisha shook her had as she tried to get used to the shared vision, they had mostly recovered their energy in the short rest and Olga was right to hurry them.

Tisha steadied her mind with a deep breath before focusing ahead of herself at the door.