The world stopped rotating. At least, that’s what it felt like to Alice.

Blanche released his grip and Alice stumbled away. It didn’t even register in her mind that she was backing away until she ran into a tree. Scrabbling for a purchase on the tree, she ran on the other side and poked her head out, glaring at Blanche.

“What the hell are you doing?” Blanche asked.

Alice deigned to give him a response, opting to focus on her churning thoughts. Just when she thought she was finally able to not focus on the children, now this happened?!

How? It’s because I slipped up and said ‘Skill,’ isn’t it? Damn you, Alice, why do you have to be so dumb! First you destroy a village, then you have to tell Blanche about your Skills! Just messing up left and right, aren’t you!?

Alice inhaled, trying to calm down. Find the positive side. I was going to tell him anyway, him finding out doesn’t really matter, right? Alice paled when she realized something. Unless he’s mad that I didn’t tell him. Damn it, what do I do? Should I spill the beans entirely and tell him about the Devil? Will he even believe me!?

So far, Blanche had been nonchalant and callous in pretty much all manners. But gaining powers and a Core from a godlike being was more serious than burning down a village. While Blanche may not have cared about the latter, the former could pique his interest in an unpleasant manner.

It all boiled down to whether Alice could trust Blanche not to take advantage of this information. Alice may have gained more Skills and had four more slots, but she was certain Blanche had some tricks up his sleeve as well. Coupled with his superior experience, Alice didn’t think she’d be able to come out on top.

“Look, I know what you’re thinking. I’m not going to go after you or anything like that. Why don’t you come out from there and we can talk?” Blanche asked in a much gentler voice than Alice was accustomed to hearing from him.

A part of Alice still wanted to turn around and run as far away as humanly possible but Alice was sick of it. She was tired of hiding from her problems and just fleeing.

Hesitantly, Alice approached Blanche. The dwarf was obviously impatient, as evident by him tapping the ground with his feet. To his credit, he didn’t rush over and make her come forcefully but waited until she had returned to her original position.

Alice looked at the ground, unwilling to stare Blanche in the eyes. She heard him sigh before footsteps filled the air. Alice made herself stand still even when Blanche’s shoes stepped into her line of vision. She stood still even while she felt his hand on her head.

His hand lingered on her hair for a couple of seconds before it lifted. Then it came down again, over and over, until Blanche was doing the most awkward headpat in the history of headpats.

Alice giggled despite herself and Blanche immediately retracted his hand. Alice didn’t miss the way he subtly wiped his hand against his pants before clearing his throat. Alice finally glanced up and found Blanche staring at her with a stormy expression.

“You didn’t need to hide, ya know. It’s not like I would have forced you to tell me your secrets.” Blanche grumbled. He narrowed his eyes. “I bet that’s what you thought I’d say, wouldn’t you?”

Alice sheepishly nodded, her apprehension beginning to leak away. Blanche exhaled, stroking his beard. “Saying that I’m not curious would be a lie. For a commoner girl, you’re definitely not normal. At the same time, I understand how having secrets can be helpful.”

Hope started to sprout in Alice’s chest but she remained calm. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. “What are you saying?” Alice prodded, wanting to hear it from him.

“I’m not going to pry into your secrets, even though it should be impossible for a human to have a Skill so quickly,” Blanche said. Even though his words were comforting, his face told an entirely different story. He was as red as a tomato and spat out each word like they were slicing into his tongue.

Wow. I guess not prying is really hard for him. A newfound appreciation for the dwarf began to form and Alice smiled. “Thanks, Blanche.”

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“Of course, I still want to know more. I promised not to look into the how you’re evolving so quickly, but I still want to know the details. So, give it.” Blanche ordered.

Right. Why was Alice surprised he pulled something like this off? Still, it was better than having him actively search for her background and somehow discover her connection to the Devil. Alice didn’t know how Blanche would achieve that, but she was sure the crazy dwarf would find a way. If this appeased him, it was a small sacrifice.

Alice studied her left arm. The only thing returning her gaze was unblemished skin, no signs of any of the burns she was sure she’d suffered. But if Alice concentrated, she could imagine her arm bursting into black flames all too easily.

Her eyes snapped open, and she hastily dropped her arm. That had been—! Something had reacted in response to her thoughts! Even now, tingles ran up and down her arm, subsiding with every passing second.

“I don’t know. It first happened when I saw two Manergy Cores flash,” Alice said.

“You know what Manergy Cores are?” Blanche asked before she could continue. A growl slipped out from between her lips at the interruption.

“Yes, Tamara taught me, anyway, that isn’t important!” Alice rambled on. “I saw them flash and all of a sudden, my left arm was on fire! It didn’t hurt or anything, at least, not at first.” Alice recalled. The teror she’d experienced had been almost tangible. The fear that she was about to be burnt to death.

“Does that mean it did end up hurting?” Blanche clarified.

Alice nodded. “After a while, yeah. And once I summoned the first black flames, all the other times were easy. I just imagined it in my head, and poof!” Alice mimicked an explosion with her fingers, hoping to convey the image better.

Blanche leaned in. “Just like that? ‘Poof?’” His eyes glinted, danger shining through, warning her that if she was lying, the fate that’d befall her wouldn’t be pretty. Alice bobbed her head back and forth. Blanche pulled his head back, scratching his beard again.

“Super interesting. As I said, all magic is done by extensive calculations. The average person doesn’t even know these calculations are being done because the System takes care of that, but processing speed needs to be taken into account. From what you’re saying to be true, the processing speed needs to have been double that of the average noble your age. Not to mention spouting off so many of those fireballs. . .either your Manergy Capacity or Manergy Conversation Rates are off the charts.” Blanche mused out loud.

“What does that mean for me?” Alice asked. The more Blanche had spoken, the more evident it became that Alice was a fish on land.

Despite her quick education under Tamara, she still didn’t possess the level of knowledge that was expected for a noble her age. She swore to listen to every word Blanche spoke, burning it into her memory to go over on a later date. While she doubted he would spend the time to teach her all the terms of magic, if she simply listened carefully, Alice may be able to piece things together.

“The land my village is on has a lot of Manergy accumulated, courtesy of the thousands of dead monsters. The only explanation that makes sense is that you’re a natural talent at accessing External Manergy from your surrounding environment and using that to compensate for your own.” Blanche explained. “If this is the case, we can modify your training around it.”

Alice chuckled, relieved. “So, I’m not some sort of super talent that only comes around once in a lifetime?” Maybe with this, Blanche wouldn’t look so closely into her past. Besides, it was interesting to know more about this strange magic the Devil had gifted to her.

Blanche didn’t take his eyes off her. “If my theory is correct, then yes. You may be above average but you’re still just a commoner girl. But it’s close; are you sure there isn’t anything else? Anything important?”

Alice tapped her chin, thinking about it. The only thing that came to mind was the System message that said she had four Skill Slots available. Alice shot a glance towards Blanche, who was staring at her intensely.

What the hell? He already knows this much so why not? Holding back this information would just lead to bigger problems down the road.

“By the waaaay, the System said I have four Skill Slots available?” Alice drawled warily, keeping an eye on Blanche’s reaction.

Blanche started. “Four!?” Whatever he’d been expecting, obviously it wasn’t that. He composed himself quickly, dissolving into yet another murmured rambling. Alice heard snippets of it, words like ‘Level’ and ‘Ranks’ coming up often.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this!” Blanche abruptly announced.

Alice squinted. “…what?”

“You just telling me isn’t enough to gather an accurate image of your powers. I need a hand-on course.” Blanche declared.

“You want me to show you my Skills?” Alice repeated. Her mind flashed back to the dwarf village and shook her head. “Bad idea. Bad idea. I don’t think I can emphasize how much of a bad idea that is.”

“Having you demonstrate it without a motivator isn’t helpful, I agree.” Blanche nodded.

“That’s not really what I meant—“

Blanche’s teeth shined. “So that’s why we’re going to have a training duel.”