I spent the next few minutes improving the two tier three Dexterity abilities I’d marked for advancement.

You have upgraded your trap disarm ability to superior trap disarm. The fourth tier of this ability allows you to deactivate tier 4 traps.

You have upgraded your lockpick ability to superior lockpicking. The fourth tier of this ability allows you to open tier 4 locks.

You have 1 of 142 Dexterity ability slots remaining.

I didn’t use a gem for either upgrade—and not because of how costly they were. I’d come a long way in the Game and the price of the upgrade gems were no longer a determining factor.

Still, the gems were rare and not easily come by. For which reason, I’d decided to restrict my use of them to abilities at tier five and above.

Lowering my gaze, I refocused on the ability tomes. I didn’t have many low-tiered abilities anymore. In fact, only four upgradeable ones remained—piercing strike, conceal weapon, ventro, and imitate—and I’d already decided not to upgrade piercing strike and conceal weapon.

Which left only ventro and lesser imitate to consider.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. I was tempted to advance the imitate ability. But doing so would require a drastic shift in strategy—and reneging on previous decisions I’d made.

Given how little I could afford to invest in Perception, I had resolved to stop advancing lesser imitate and focus on mimic instead. And while my Perception slots were still limited, something else had happened to make me reconsider my approach.

Namely, I’d gained the shapeshift ability.

Mimic was useless to me in wolf form. But imitate wouldn’t be.

With lesser imitate, I could, for instance, pretend to be a stygian hydra—my elder form was certainly large enough to pull off such a deception.

Hells, if I advanced lesser imitate all the way to tier six—transforming it into the doppelganger ability—I could conceivably become a hydra. Then, even the spores would not be able to detect me!

However, doing so would exact a hefty toll in Perception slots.

I bit my lip, pondering the cost. Was it worth it?

In the short run—definitely. The doppelganger variant of imitate would allow me to sneak up on the void tree, something I could not do presently and that could prove pivotal in the battle ahead.

Oh, my deception was not quite where it needed to be, but the skill was almost at rank twenty-four, and I foresaw no problems getting it to tier six in the next few days.

The bigger question, though, was would imitate be useful beyond the forthcoming battle?

The answer to that was yes, too.

There was sector 30,199 to consider—and who knew how many other stygian sectors beyond that? All, no doubt, had spores aplenty.

My elder form itself was another consideration. As a doppelganger, not only would I be able to hide from the void’s spores, I would also be able to conceal my spirit signatures and the elder form itself, which in turn, would allow me to walk freely amongst players in wolf form without fear of detection.

I sighed. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have invested as heavily as I had in mimic. But to be fair, without mimic, I would never have survived my visit to Nexus—nor the Eastern Marches.

I picked up the tier three lesser imitate tome. For now, I’ll improve the ability to tier four, I decided. There was no need to go further—yet.

Opening the tome, I began to read.

You have upgraded your lesser imitate ability to improved imitate. The tier 3 variant of this ability expands the spell’s versatility, allowing you to disguise not only your voice, apparel, and appearance, but also your scent.

You have upgraded your lesser imitate ability to superior imitate. The tier 4 variant of this ability improves the spell’s durability, allowing you to maintain the illusion around yourself for an entire day and even during combat.

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You have 14 of 110 Perception ability slots remaining.

Closing my eyes, I contemplated the new knowledge sitting in my mind. Lesser imitate would work while I was in wolf form; I knew that for certain, and now I’d improved it to the point where I could use it in combat. The spell’s potential effectiveness against my foes was still questionable, though.

The tier four variant wouldn’t work against the spores—the spell remained illusion only—and players would still be able to see my spirit signatures—revealing my own player status. But even as limited as it was, imitate should still confound my foes for a few crucial seconds, and in the end, that could make all the difference.

With a mental shrug, I dismissed the matter from my mind. It was time to move on. Looking down, I considered the three Strength ability tomes I’d purchased: charge, overpowering blow, and stomp.

I had a fair idea what all three abilities did, and how they would synergize with my existing abilities, but I wasn’t certain which one to focus on yet—so for now, I planned on learning the tier one variants of all three.

Opening the books in question, I absorbed their knowledge one after the other.

You have gained the basic ability: charge. This is a Strength ability that allows you to ram all targets in a 5 yard straight-line path, knocking each down for 1 second. Its activation time is very fast, it consumes stamina, and it can be upgraded. Note, this ability can only be used when you are in wolf form.

You have gained the basic ability: overpowering blow. This is a Strength ability that causes your next attack to deal 1.5x more damage than normal. Its activation time is very fast, it consumes stamina, and it can be upgraded. Note, this ability can only be used when you are in wolf form.

You have gained the basic ability: stomp. This is a Strength ability that staggers all foes within 3 yards of you for 1 second. Staggered foes lose concentration and for the duration of the debuff can neither attack nor cast. Its activation time is very fast, it consumes stamina, and it can be upgraded. Note, this ability can only be used when you are in wolf form.

You have 37 of 40 Strength ability slots remaining.

I smiled in satisfaction. How effective the new abilities proved was yet to be seen, however their Game descriptions were promising.

There was one last matter to attend to: my mind abilities. Turning my attention inward, I called up the relevant Game information.

Status of Mind abilities (156 of 188 slots used)

Elite abilities (not eligible for upgrade): sentient shurikens, shadow jump, and impregnable mind.

Master abilities (eligible for upgrade): mass puppet, windborne, enhanced reflexes, and quick mend.

Basic abilities: stunning slap (can’t be upgraded).

I sighed. The Adjudicator’s response confirmed my fears. I only had enough Mind slots to advance two of my master abilities.

Mass puppet. Windborne. Enhanced reflexes. Or quick mend.

Which two did I advance?

Quick mend definitely. Its healing had proved lifesaving on more than one occasion. But what else?

Enhanced reflexes, I decided after contemplating the matter. Seeing that I didn’t need better escape options just yet and the void tree’s protective aura had effectively nullified my charm spell, upgrading windborne and mass puppet could wait.

Picking up an upgrade gem, I willed my intent to the Adjudicator.

Ability gem activated.

Creating ability tome…

…

You have acquired a tier V quick mend ability tome.

I sagged in disappointment. This time around, there were no variants on offer. Still, an elite version of the quick mend ability was nothing to scoff at, and opening the newly-acquired tome, I devoured its contents.

You have upgraded your quick mend ability to greater quick mend. The fifth tier of this spell increases the restorative effects provided by each trigger-cast to 50%. Additionally, the number of trigger-cast events generated has increased to 2.

“Wow,” I murmured. The tier five variant of quick mend was even better than I’d anticipated. Not only would the spell trigger twice, it would restore half my health each time.

Definitely worth it, I concluded as I picked up the next ability gem.

Ability gem activated.

Creating ability tome…

…

Tome creation halted.

There are 2 elite variants available for the enhanced reflexes ability.

A wry chuckle escaped me. Using the upgrade gems for advancement was already yielding dividends! Stilling my impatience, I waited to see the options on offer.

Variant 1: acrobat. This variant increases your Dexterity by +30 ranks for 1 hour.

Variant 2: engine of war. This variant increases all your physical attributes: Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, by +20 ranks for 30 minutes.

Ah, well, I thought, deflating slightly.

Both variants were nice, if not as good as I wanted them to be. But I didn’t take overly long in making my decision. My Dexterity buff had served me well in the past, but the new engine of war variant offered better benefits, and I chose it without hesitation.

You have upgraded your enhanced reflexes ability to lesser engine of war. The tier 5 variant of this ability expands the reach of your chi to boost all 3 of your physical attributes by +20 for 30 minutes. Its activation time is slow, consumes psi, and can be upgraded.

You have 2 of 188 Mind ability slots remaining.

That’ll do nicely, I thought with a pleased grin.

Scooping up the rest of the books and gems, I returned them to my bag of holding. I was done with my player progression, and now it was time to get some much-deserved sleep. Lying flat on the bed, I rested my head on the pillow.

Tomorrow would be another long hard day, and hopefully by its end, our plans for dealing with the rift would be concluded.