"Where did everyone go?" she asked Gromorlig.
"They got tired after a few hours. The knight stuck around longest but even he gave up eventually." Gromorlig scratched his beard. "You're the only one who even got the Skill."
Monica checked her Skill with the monocle again.
Skill List
Meditation - Lv. 12
Rank: Iron -> Bronze
SKILL EFFICIENCY: 10%
Basic meditation technique that allows you to regulate your Mana flow.
#1 Base Effect: Increases Mana Regeneration by 5% while meditating. The bonus increases by 1% per Level.
Current Bonus: 17%
#1 Hidden Effect - Flow: You can now use Meditation while using your other Skills.
The description had a new entry, ‘Rank.’
“Bronze Rank?” She asked Gromorlig.
“So you reached 10%,” the Dwarf shook his head. “Once you do, that’s what you get. You can’t see the Skill Efficiency without an artifact, but you can see the Skill’s Rank if it’s above ten percent.”
"So this helps all my other Skills with their Skill Efficiency?" Monica asked.
"Yep. Not much, but it's a start." Gromorlig stood up. "Most people give up before they get this far. They think meditation is boring or useless."
Monica stretched her stiff muscles. Her stomach growled loudly.
"I need food," she said.
"Yeah, you do. But first, try using your Phoenix Step while you have Meditation on."
Monica stood up shakily and tried to use Phoenix Step while keeping her Meditation active. Right away, she felt both Skills slip away from her.
"Try again," Gromorlig said. "Focus on keeping the Mana flow steady first."
Monica took a deep breath and started over. She got Meditation going, feeling the smooth flow of Mana. Then she tried to use Phoenix Step. The moment she did, her Meditation broke.
"This is harder than I thought," Monica said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"Keep trying. You need to learn how your Skills work their Mana around your body. The System imparts Skills, but no one spends time making sure they work correctly. Relying only on the System is like sanding a sword with a hammer."
After a few more attempts, Monica managed to hold Meditation for a split second while activating Phoenix Step. What she felt shocked her. The Mana flow for Phoenix Step was completely messy - spraying everywhere instead of flowing in a steady stream.
"I see you noticed," Gromorlig said. "Below 10%, your Skills are wasting most of their Mana. That's why the Skill Efficiency is so low."
"So, they consume more Mana than they should?”
“And they are not nearly as strong as they were intended to be,” Gromorlig added.
“How do I fix it?" Monica asked.
"Now that you have Meditation at Bronze Rank, lass, you can start working on your other Skills," Gromorlig explained. "Do the same thing - feel how the Mana moves and guide it better. It'll take time, but you can get them to 10% too."
"And after that?" Monica asked. "How do we get past 10%?"
Gromorlig shrugged. "Don't know, lass. This is all I learned about the Age of Heroes. The rest of the techniques are probably lost or hidden away somewhere."
"So that's it? We're stuck at 10%?"
"Hey, 10% is better than what most people have these days," Gromorlig said. "Plus, you're the Avatar. Maybe you'll figure out how to go further. Most people don't have the patience. But yeah, they need it if we're going to take on that spider nest."
"Speaking of the nest," Monica said, "how long do we have?"
"Those spiders won't wait forever," Gromorlig replied. "But a few days of training will help more than rushing in unprepared."
Monica nodded.
DottyShe was hungry and exhausted as she stumbled toward the entrance of the barracks.
* * *
Dotty stared at her Skill selection screen.
She had a choice to make but she wasn’t sure what to go for.
Maybe Monica was right, maybe she did have to pick Shadow Step.
Gromorlig had told Dotty that he wasn’t able to help—that she had to figure it out on her own since the choice was evident enough.
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But then, why was Dotty so conflicted about it?
Shadow Step sounded like it would increase her chances of surviving their excursion in Viscera, but it also sounded nothing like Void Slash, which positively sounded like the strongest Skill Dotty had ever heard of.
She suspected it would be a complementary Skill to Magic Rend, something to one-shot a monster, even if higher leveled.
Dotty heard knocking at the door.
“Come in.”
Monica opened the door, startling Dotty. She had thought it would have been someone else.
Monica sat down on the dusty bed with Dotty.
“Can we talk?” The redhead asked.
“Sure,” Dotty shrugged, not looking up grom the scabbard of her sword laying on her knees.
Monica took a few beats before she felt comfortable enough to speak her mind.
“I lost my children,” Monica started.
Dotty knew that.
“I lost my children and now I’m terrified of losing you. I’m not your mother, Dotty. I’m not Madeline. I know you’re not my daughter. But I don’t think it’s because of chance that I was summoned in the temple and saved you and your brother there. I had two children exactly your age, one daughter and one little boy. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the System—or maybe someone else—is sending a message.”
Only now Dotty realized that, indeed, it felt like too much of a coincidence.
“I didn’t really want to think about this. The more I do, the more I have this rat made of fear that burrows in my chest every time I think about the possibility of you dying in here. Sometimes, at night, I wake up in a panic, wondering if someone is going after your mother and Ronnie.”
“Why would they?” Dotty frowned.
“No reason. I just worry.”
“Why?” Dotty frowned.
“Because,” Monica laughed. “I worry because I don’t have children anymore. I don’t even know what happened to them. I just know that… they’re not with me. That’s why I look at you, or I think of your brother, and I’m terrified of what might happen.”
“Terrified?” Dotty asked, surprised that the Monica, the fearless Avatar of the Twin Phoenix could experience such feelings.
“Absolutely terrified. I can die a thousand times over and come back without a problem, without feeling one single ounce of fear. I could be tortured for a hundred years, Dotty, and I would prefer it to the dreams I have, to what I wake up at night thinking of. There are monsters in my head that would make Machina’s creations blush in embarrassment. And I can’t kill them. I can’t burn them, I can’t do nothing. I’m powerless.”
Dotty’s own heart started racing at what Monica was telling her. She suddenly felt at least a part of the terrifying fear that the redhead had apparently lived with since Dotty had come to Viscera.
“Monica, I—“ Dotty didn’t know what to say. “I am sorry I came.”
“No,” Monica shook her head. “That’s the wrong conclusion.”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t be sorry you came here, Dotty. WHen I saw my daughter in my most recent vision, I realized something—I protected her too much. Let me ask, how would you deal with this terrifying sense that everything could come crashing down once again, that your children could be taken from you again at any point?”
“I would try my best to protect them, to shield them from—“
“That’s what I did the last time,” Monica said. “I sheltered them and their growth was impaired. I couldn’t let them take too many risks, especially when they weren’t under my supervision. So, if I did that again, I would just suffocate them.”
“But then, what about the fear?”
“The only choice I have is to live with it. It’s there. I can’t fight it. I fought with it in one life and we can see the results. Now, I can either embrace it or condemn you to make suboptimal choices for your life because I’m scared out of my mind for your safety.”
“Wait, so—“
“Take Void Slash,” Monica said. “Don’t take Shadow Step.”
“Why?”
“You’re a Hunter, not a Thief,” Monica shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious. If you need to run, you’re already dead. If it was a hiding Skill, I could have had my doubts between that and Void Slash. But a movement Skill? You don’t need that right now. We’re in a group and, again, if you needed to run, it means we’re all dead and you’re about to die shortly after. If you were trying to become fully independent, I could see choosing the suboptimal option in order to try and survive longer—say, in a forest alone where you might actually need to outrun your enemies. But the spiders are already slower than you and any speed-focused monster would catch up with you anyway, Skill or not.”
Hearing Monica’s explanation, Dotty’s eyes lit up.
"The daughter I had before all this." Monica stared at her hands, remembering. "I tried so hard to protect her that I think I made her weak. I was so focused on keeping her safe that I never let her learn to be strong. I can’t do the same for you."
"So, that why you've been so protective."
Monica nodded. "I see myself making the same mistakes and only after hearing Gromorlig tell me off, I finally put it together.”
"But everyone said mobility would keep me alive-"
"Shadow Step is for sneaking around. For hiding, as I’ve already said." Monica looked Dotty in the eyes. "That's not you. You're a Hunter - you're meant to strike hard when it matters. By the time they see you coming, it should be too late."
"You really think so?"
"I do. You don't need to hide. You need to be unstoppable." Monica smiled. "The traps Gromorlig mentioned? They're tools, not crutches. You'll use them to control the battlefield, not to run away from it."
Dotty sat quietly for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I trust you."
She accepted the Skill.
Void Slash Lv. 1
SKILL EFFICIENCY: 1%
Channel Antimagic into Void Energy to deliver devastating slashes that pierce through any defense.
#1 Base Effect: Strike with concentrated void energy, dealing 2900% weapon damage. Damage increases by 25% per Level.
Current Damage: 2925%
#2 Base Effect: Attacks ignore 50% of target's physical and magical defenses.
#1 Special Effect - Void Resonance: If used within 3 seconds after activating Magic Rend, Void Slash adds 500% further damage to the Base Effect.
Limitations: Can only be used with slashing weapons.
Cooldown: 2 hours
Immediately after, unbeknown to Dotty, two notifications popped up in Monica's head.
*Ding*
Memory Fragment Unlocked
*Ding*
Quest Completed – ‘Memories of the Flame III/???’
Uncover a fragment of your past.
Reward: ???
*Ding*
Memory Fragment has been momentarily paused by The Twin Phoenix
*Ding*
You have been summoned by the Twin Phoenix
The world started spinning. Monica felt herself falling sideways, Dotty's worried voice fading into the distance.
The last thing Monica heard before losing consciousness was Dotty calling for help, and footsteps rushing toward them on the stone steps. But she was already gone.
Everything went dark, and she found herself floating in a vast void.
In the darkness ahead, two massive birds made of fire - one gold, one black - waited for her.
The phoenixes towered before her, their wings spanning what seemed like miles.
“You’ve earned an audience, Monica Monroe,” they spoke in unison. “You are finally showing yourself worthy of our blessing.”