Trillia glanced at her debuffs when she woke up. Unsurprisingly, she was parched and malnourished again, with exhaustion as a nice topping to it all. She'd have to be more careful about falling into tenacity. Even with her traits, it still felt miserable.

Sitting up, she saw a mug with a rune for creating water on its side and a lukewarm bowl of stew. Trillia happily drank deeply and gobbled up the stew. They had placed her in the tent that she and Amelia shared.

After satisfying her thirst and hunger, she held her arms up in front of her, remembering the blue ichor and the outline of a demon's claw on her left arm. Flexing her hand a few times, she shook her head. She had used [Searing Rend] dozens of times over the years, but nothing like that had ever happened.

But! She remembered hearing that they had defeated the second-floor boss! They'd have to do it again to get to the third floor and see it, but that was progress! She quickly looked through the hundreds of notifications that she made a habit of ignoring. Most of them didn't matter anyway.

Your group has defeated [Dungeon Goblin]! No experience has been awarded due to the ease of this fight!

...

Your group has defeated [Stibs]! No experience has been awarded due to the ease of this fight!

Damn, even Paws and Stibs weren't enough to gain experience anymore. Trillia even had [Dungeon Addict], which would specifically give more experience in dungeons!

Your group has defeated [Icy Megapede]! No experience has been awarded due to the ease of this fight!

...

Your group has defeated [Megapede Hybrid]! Experience greatly reduced due to the level difference in this fight!

What?! Trillia scowled at the notifications when she saw that. The hybrid had been giving her group serious issues. It should have been worth a fair bit of experience!

Class: [Alchemist] Level 4 -> Level 7

[Alchemist]

Active Skills:

Splash Potion (In Use)

Split Potion

Hybrid Potion

Passive Skills:

Alchemical Encylopedia (Mastery)

Eye For Ingredients

Marg wasn't kidding. Alchemist got a lot more skills once you had some of its other skills mastered. She took a look through the things she didn't have already active.

Split Potion:

This skill allows you to expend an amount of mana equal to (50* Potion Level + Number of Targets -Level of This Skill). By doing so in unison with Splash Potion, your potion will have a range that covers all available targets and substitutes your mana for additional liquid. All available targets must be within 1 meter of each other. Every level in this skill also increases the range that targets can be from each other by 1 meter.

Trillia smiled and immediately added it to her active skills. That was a very good skill to have. She brought its description up and tugged at the word meter until it explained that it was just another unit of measurement. Trillia nodded once more before moving on to the next skill.

Hybrid Potion - Hybrid Skill (Hybrid Skills can be placed as an active or passive skill.)

This skill allows you to mix the essence of your mana into a potion during the brewing process. (This still works when utilizing instant brew skills.) When doing so, you may choose a skill or spell you know to impart its effects into the potion itself. Doing so costs an amount of mana equal to (100* Potion Level * Skill Level (Min: 1) - Level of This Skill).

That gave her some pause. Maybe it would let her make [Restorative Chant] potions. That'd be extremely useful, especially with Splash and Split potions.

Eye For Ingredients:

This skill allows you to consume mana when gathering alchemical ingredients to double the total usable amount collected. OBFUSCATED The remainder of this skill's uses are not available until you've gained the skills: OBFUSCATED, OBFUSCATED.

Trillia would have to ask Marg about this one. Maybe it was another skill that just got better if she mastered it.

So far, she was having a lot of fun with [Alchemist]. Sure, it wasn't a direct combat class. But it was pretty darn close! It also gave her something to do in her downtime. Brewing potions was a fun experiment and a game of patience, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. Especially because Marg was such a good and patient teacher.

Trillia rubbed her eyes and gave herself a big stretch and a mighty yawn before climbing off the pile of furs that made up her bed. Reaching down, she grabbed Resonance and blew a soft note to call Ialu. The wolf immediately stuck her head into the tent, having been lying outside evidently. The wolf bounded over to her and nuzzled her, trying to form a mental bridge.

Trillia spent a few minutes calming her friend down and saying that she was okay before she climbed onto Ialu and asked the wolf to bring her to Ba'Shoon.

The wolf didn't take long to dart through the city, expertly twisting and turning through the streets and many stalls. Trillia was surprised no one yelled at them, only to realize that Ialu was constantly running about on her own, so the citizens were probably quite used to the wolf.

She soon found herself standing in front of the command hall. The guard waved her in with a smile, but not before petting Ialu and pulling out a small piece of jerky as a treat for the wolf. Trillia said nothing as they walked inside.

Not wanting to interrupt, she sat off to the side and just listened.

It was four hours of people complaining. They wanted better roads. They didn't want roads at all. Trade was hurting their culture, and the city needed more trade to grow. Trillia didn't understand how her mother or Tormash had ever dealt with it. She'd go crazy sitting inside all day listening to people contradict one another.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Finally, after those long four hours, the hall cleared out. Tormash sat on the raised dais, holding his head. Ba'Shoon brought him a mug of mead and leaned down to kiss his head. "There, there, my love. We are done for the next couple of days."

Tormash's mood brightened immediately. He pulled Ba'Shoon into his lap and kissed her deeply. "As long as you're by my side, I have no doubt that I'll make it through." The two gave each other warm smiles before Tormash placed a hand on her ever-growing belly.

Trillia and Ialu slowly made their way up to the raised dais. Trillia really didn't want to interrupt them, knowing that they were both under a lot of pressure. But she felt it important to let them know she was ok.

Tormash noticed her first, and his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

Ba'Shoon turned her head from Tormash to Trillia and also scowled. "She is! I left instructions with Layla and Amelia to watch over you and make sure you didn't run off and stayed in bed for a few more days."

Well, shit. No one told her that! "Sorry. When I woke up, no one was around. So I called Ialu and had her bring me over here. It's still sort of like resting! Ialu is doing all the work, right girl?" Trillia leaned over and kissed the wolf on the head and scratched behind her ears. The wolf yipped happily a few times as her tail began to wag. The duo looked over at the scowling leaders, whose expressions had softened slightly.

Ba'Shoon rolled her eyes and, with Tormash's help, stood up. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened. Write down the incantation you used and anything else you can remember."

Tormash left the two girls at the table and said he'd return shortly.

Trillia sat at the table with Ba'Shoon and did as she was asked. By the time she was done retelling the story and writing down the incantation, Tormash had returned with three plates of steaming vegetables and slabs of meat. Two glasses of cold water were placed before Ba'Shoon and Trillia, and he had grabbed his mug of mead from before.

Ba'Shoon looked at the notes she had taken, and the incantation, the dark look on her face, didn't bode well for Trillia. "I've never heard you use this incantation for [Searing Rend]. Did it used to be different?"

Trillia thought about that for a moment before she shrugged. "It's just what came to me when I went to use it this time. The other incantation didn't feel right with my improved wisdom score from [Orcish Fury]."

Ba'Shoon nodded absent-mindedly as she kept looking down at the paper. Tormash looked over at Trillia with a raised brow. "What is your Wisdom when fury is active?"

Trillia brought up her status and looked it over before doing some quick mental math. "One thousand and forty-two. Though, that might be a little lower. I did gain a couple levels in [Alchemist],"

Tormash shifted his gaze to Ba'Shoon. "That's why. At least, that's why the incantation changed. The difference between nine ninety-nine and one-thousand is huge when it concerns the system and skills."

Ba'Shoon nodded her agreement. "That is true. But the other effects of the skill seem...wrong somehow."

Tormash leaned over and peered at the notes. After a few minutes of silence, with the exception of Trillia chomping on food and sharing some of her meat with Ialu, Tormash finally tapped a spot on the page. "Warlock pact? That's what it sounds like to me, at least."

Ba'Shoon's visage grew even more distressed and dark at that. "Gods, I hope not. I don't think she'd even be allowed because she is pact-bound to a deity! Maybe that's what it is?"

Trillia couldn't help her curiosity. "Sorry, but what do you mean exactly?"

Ba'Shoon looked up at her with a sigh. "Sorry, Trillia. I didn't mean to exclude you. The class Warlock requires that you be pact-bound to a creature from the Infernal Bands. The things you describe feeling and the mana claw you produced are all effects that Tormash and I have witnessed from Warlocks. This may be a question you need to put forth to your deity."

Trillia nodded and, without a thought, reached out to his mind. As soon as she made the connection, a portal opened beside her, and the god stepped through.

Once more, she felt the weight of power come crashing down on the room. Even Tormash and Ba'Shoon seemed uneasy. Arlyss walked over to pet Ialu and offered the others a little wave. "Is it acceptable if I read surface thoughts? To get myself caught up?"

Trillia nodded. Arlyss placed a finger to her temple for the briefest of moments before removing it. "That's odd. You're right, Chieftain. It is a warlock pact."

Everyone at the table stopped and stared at him. Trillia felt panic creep into her mind. "I swear to you, Lord Arlyss! I have not formed pacts with any such creatures!"

Arlyss raised a hand, and with it, a wave of calming mana flowed through the room. "Even if you had, I wouldn't be angry. You are your own person, Trillia. You just work under me. Same as Ralrouk works under Tormash. Besides, this is from a pact that formed before we ever met."

Trillia thought about that for a moment before realization hit. "Alirast?"

Arlyss nodded and took a seat next to Trillia. Ba'Shoon gave them both an odd look. "But she has no trait saying she was bound. I don't understand."

Arlyss reached over and plucked a tiny potato from Trillia's plate. "Alirast is bound to a deity. A Primordial Deity, that as far as the system is concerned, counts as anything and everything the system and universe need it to count as. She utilizes Alirast's mana. My guess is that because her Wisdom reached a benchmark, the skill evolved and changed to be Infernal in nature. Because that's what Alirast and my father see the origin of the skill as."

Ba'Shoon wasn't struck silent as Trillia had been, thankfully. "Are you saying that she has to contend with Alirast's traits and oaths when dealing with her own skills?"

Arlyss nodded. "Yes. I'm not entirely sure, but Alirast's core doesn't feel like the core of other realms. I've visited a few to see how their local deities run things and learn from them. Something is different with Alirast. But I can't access the core. There is a barrier there that requires some sort of trait to enter. It even blocks my divine attempts at bypassing it or seeing past it."

Tormash glowered at the god. "Alirast is a prison, is it not? That was the message we all received about locks when Centrallis woke?"

Arlyss paused at those words. "That's a good point. Perhaps Alirast is holding a powerful Infernal prisoner. Thus causing those connected to its mana streams to be influenced by that creature. The reason deities and lesser deities aren't allowed near the core is so that we don't get corrupted by a powerful creature."

Trillia looked between all of them with more than a little worry. "Does that mean I shouldn't use mana if my Wisdom is over a thousand? Is it possible for something that's not a deity to corrupt a deity?"

Arlyss looked over at her while shaking his head. "Use your mana. You will get used to the feelings and learn to control them. Perhaps do so in a controlled environment to start, not during a boss fight. It's possible for an immortal to outright kill a deity. We are just immortals with a title, after all. That title may bring power and extra benefits, but, at the end of the day, if an immortal ten times my level confronts me, I stand very little chance of surviving."

Ba'Shoon sighed and rubbed her eyes. "We can help you train, Trillia. For now, why don't you go and see your friends? From my understanding, you all got some interesting drops from the second floor. We can discuss this more later. Lord Arlyss, could I trouble you to stay for a moment?"

Arlyss nodded at the question before turning to Trillia. "Good job, by the way. You all did well during the fight. I may have some ideas on how to make melding work. I was watching your process of failures and successes with it and would like to experiment with it myself. Assuming none of you mind."

Trillia stood and crawled back onto Ialu. "We'd be happy to have you, Lord Arlyss. Thank you for all your help." Ialu plodded over to get her ear scratches from everyone and to let Trillia give Tormash and Ba'Shoon goodbye hugs before she departed the building.

She had to admit, she was very curious about what they were going to discuss. But it wasn't her place to snoop and eavesdrop, so the two headed toward the armor shop.