It itched. It grew slowly, but the itch was constant. It was the worst after Lyari had used her skills, but it was always there. By the time we left the island archipelago, I had a complete butt and the top of a thigh. I was eating everything I could harvest, and my Hunters Feast went up to eight.

I sniffed out some awakening stones and a Sand essence. I had to share the Sand Essence with Val, who apparently saw it first. I smelled it first.

Apparently, three of the archipelago’s gates had been tampered with or maybe experimented on, depending on your point of view. I was sitting with the professor most of the time now, so I was getting used to spotting the anomalies she was looking for. She was using her senses on the tampered gates and adding them to a map. I was learning some more astral magic, or at least the results of astral magic.

What interested me was that Kai and Ardisia were playing a more active role in fights when I was not involved. I did lose a Kai to a Shab. The main feeling I got was that they were freer to act when they were not having to protect me, especially Ardisia. I was the weak link.

I had a lot of downtime, so I started using Troll Leather on the next version of my whips. Troll leather had a high level of self-repair, so it could stand up to the cutting webs, and I was hopeful this would still be true when the webs went to bronze.

I was practising a lot with the whip as it seemed to be something I could do with only one leg. I had the long bullwhip mostly and the shorter, multi-pronged one ready in case. I was getting accurate enough to manage to get the whip into the joints of two Shab legs, and my sharpened Curtting Web did the rest. My Razor Sharp Skill was getting very close to bronze. The problem with the whip was that when it caught something, I could not drag it off balance with only one leg. I got dragged more than once. The whip was also bringing in Blessings of The Reaper, which I pumped into Hunters Feast to speed my healing.

We exited the Astral Space, and the Professor portalled us to the nearest town. This one had a Temple to the Healer but no Temple of Death.

“The limb is progressing nicely,” the young healer said. We can speed up the healing a bit. The potions for Bone Regeneration and Flesh Reconstruction will help, but our Silver rank High Priest is not expected back for two weeks, and he is the one who could make a real difference here.”

“How much for the potions?” I asked.

I could take one a day, so I bought five of each. They didn’t have anything to stop the itching.

For the rest of the afternoon, I went around the town, sharpening everything I could get my hands on. Getting my Razor Sharp Skill to bronze was my goal. I was curious as to whether the skill was worth fighting over by my boss back in Ironwood.

The town had these metal lamp posts that I was sharpening the point on for no reason other than they were there and a challenge. I hope no kids climb them.

I was using the Tranquil Axe as my meditation when I felt it move to bronze. I felt out the skill and what it could do. I tested it on some of my iron-rank Cutting Webs. Oh, this was a game-changer. No wonder they wanted me.

* Razor Sharp. Bronze 1

* Iron rank: Sharpens any cutting or piercing object to a razor edge. Bonus penetration and cutting through material up to Iron Rank. Cost mana, Varies.

* Bronze Rank: Bonus cutting or penetrating up to Bronze rank. Reduced mana cost for items below the current rank. Gain Instances of Durable Edge.

Durable Edge: one Instance gained for one bronze level, ten iron level or a hundred normal ranked items. Instances may accumulate up to a limit determined by the Spirit Attribute. Instances applied to an item increase the durability of the edge depending on the object and the number of instances applied.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Not only could I sharpen most things to cut bronze, but I could make them more durable. I would have to test how durable it was, but this was going to change everything. I could sharpen a quiver of arrows at reduced cost and accumulate instances of Durable Edge, then apply those instances to something permanent, like Haemir’s claws.

This was going to vastly improve my nets. They will be so much more durable. How many nets did I need to sharpen to make one durable net? I don’t know, but I was about to find out. My old boss was right. I would be able to sharpen tools under rank and make them durable.

My other priority was to rebuild the armour for my growing leg. I had plenty of sand quintessence, but the alchemy was rushed, and I lost several batches. I will need to invest in higher-quality alchemy equipment. Fortunately, my leg was growing slowly, so I didn’t have to do it all at once.

“Do you want to stay here while we do the final astral space, Theo?” the professor asked. It should take two days at most.”

“I really want to see new spaces if you don’t think I will be a liability.”

“You shouldn’t be. It is another mostly bronze space but much smaller than the archipelago. I think you are much more useful in helping me monitor the instruments than you were fighting, so that is good for me,” the professor replied.

I wasn’t sure how to take that, but I didn’t comment. I wanted to see new environments and monsters.

The next morning, we entered the final Astral space. I coughed and choked on the fumes. Why on Pallimustus did I want to come again? I secured the purification cloth over my mouth and nose. I looked at Perich and Professor Venter with envy. They no longer needed to breathe.

Then the heat hit me—waves and waves of heat. I looked around, and we were at the foot of a valley. Due to the smoke and heat waves, I couldn't see very far. A river of lava was moving slowly past us and disappearing into a hole in the rock. The was no vegetation on site, and it all seemed to be sharp, rocky terrain.

I helped the professor set up the instruments near the gate as the others spread out to secure the area. The Kais went out to investigate as well. This was a very difficult environment for Ardisia and Lyari, although Lyari had compensatory skills.

Kai let me know Zavis and Haemir had engaged a rock Elemental. Haemir had picked up a Warhammer and was cracking rock with his might essence. Zavis was slicing the cracks.

Then another Kai alerted me to worm-like creatures crawling out from the river of lava. Perich moved forward and slammed his Staff on them, stomping them out quite easily from his silver rank strength. Val was there with a mace, looking like she didn’t know how to use it. She just looked out of place without a sword.

I was thinking about what I had to kill these monsters. I still had some Ice Quintessence in my Hunters Pack from when I was experimenting with my armour. I had a lot of Frost Quintessence from the Moon Forest. I could cook something up with alchemy, but I didn’t have time before coming here. I had a couple of maces as well. My ones had sharp flanges on the sides to add a cutting edge, even though they wouldn’t hold up well to the weighted smashing against the rock.

Fighting is not my role here. I hobbled around watching. The footing was treacherous with two feet, let alone one.

“I am getting some different readings,” the professor said, “What has the astroscope got?” she asked me.

“It has the inverted Octines wave,” I said.

“That is different again,” she said. “I don’t get this. Pack it up. We are going back to the lab.”

I formed some stone knives and stored fire, stone, and iron quintessence, and thus ended my holiday job.