He had been surprised when he had awoken within the safety of a cave instead of the unknown afterlife. His instincts told him that going through with the resurrection would likely be the end of his life should the woman choose to leave him. And he wouldn’t have blamed her for it, since he had already done the same after all.

The woman kept looking from the food he summoned into his pestle, to the magical light that illuminated their impromptu meal, and back to him.

“You can make light. Summon food. Revive the dead! Just how much of a headstart did you get in this life?”

Adriel couldn’t help but grimace at her accusatory question before soberly replying.

“A ‘headstart’ is one way to put it. This life took what little I had and thrust me into the wilds. It would have taken my life as well had I not developed such abilities. Now I simply try to help people who deserve a better fate than they’re given.”

The woman seemed to come to an understanding of her own before failing to brighten her mood and changing the subject.

“How do I develop skills of my own? Is there a process to it?”

What.

Her question was like asking if the sun was hot. Even children knew about skills. Or perhaps she simply wanted an explanation from the perspective of an adventurer. But she ought to have had teachers for that as well.

“It is evident that you have trained for this journey, but did you not study as well?”

“Where's the fun if I'm just told how to do everything before playing? Hey, what's up with that face?”

Reckless. Far too reckless. Why did her family let her depart so unprepared?

The woman turned away from his bewilderment and began distracting herself with rinsing out the pestle in the spring. Her embarrassment was clear to see.

He gently reached out and stilled her hands. A simple cleaning ability flowed over the pestle, removing any remaining water and food from it.

Wait. I’m supposed to say something now. What did that strange bard always say to do when I get into this kind of situation? Ah, compliments.

“It was not my intention to mock you. Your bravery and intelligence speak for themselves. And though it is irrelevant, your beauty does as well. Let's return to our seats. This will take awhile.”

Once he noticed that his words had made an impact and she was sitting down, he followed suit and sat across from her.

“The topic of souls has been debated since the dawn of history. It is believed that the ancient species guided the first short lived ones in its expanse. This manifests itself in countless different ways, such as my magic.. Our will guides its development and our struggles grow it. A lack of either limits the growth of the soul. That is why it is so common for powerful families such as yours to send their heirs on grand adventures.”

He brought the summoned light between them and proceeded to brighten and dim it.

“This magic is the manifestation of my will bending the world's rules using my soul as the fuel. Your will must project a clear picture of your desired outcome or else it fails. The knowledge of most abilities are closely guarded and only taught to those bound to each other, such as guilds, religious sects, or ancient families. A more difficult path is the path of the unknown. There is no guarantee of success and no protection from being forced to divulge your secrets. Every tidbit of learning is earned through grueling study and practice.”

“From the way you're speaking, it sounds like you are taking the latter path. Why not join one of the established ways? You are clearly talented.”

“Because using my abilities as I deem fit would be forbidden. What use is a power I cannot use? I would be no better than those fanatics that turn away the poor. How great would it be to grow strong enough that not even they could stop me from freely spreading my knowledge to the world.”

But that can only ever be a dream. It’s not like I could ever be as strong as the heroes of old.

Shaking his head of such thoughts, he continued.

“And then there is the impossible way. It defies all logic of this world. If the usual method bends the rules, this method breaks them. There is no reasoned process or meticulous execution. It is the sheer infliction of a soul’s desire far beyond that of a conscious will. My first time experiencing this method was when I brought you back to life. And what a soul has felt once, it can more easily feel once more. Given time, I should be able to reproduce such results, but in the meantime, I ask that you forgo any more suicidal actions.”

“Yeah, like you've never gotten yourself killed in a game.”

Every new tidbit he learns about this lass is crazier than the last.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Never… And you shouldn't be playing ‘games’ that do.”

“But it's okay if you do?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

The two of them stared in confusion. There was clearly a misunderstanding between them. She was the first to break the silence.

“Sorry, that was childish. Thanks for the explanation. Shall we get this adventure underway?”

Adriel gladly took the proffered hand if it meant discarding this confusing discussion.

“Let's form a party until you achieve your goal. You can just tell your superiors that I insisted. Let's make this a better world together.”

Hmm. It’s true that she is better trained than most beginners, but outside of her combat abilities, she’s still too lacking. He would no doubt get into needless dangers with her around.

A warm breath tickled his ear, a sweet whisper accompanying it.

“Are you afraid of falling for adorable little me?”

His survival instincts took over, causing him to lunge forward while summoning a greatsword of radiant energy into his hands. Its sharp edge clearly displayed its lethal intent. Recognizing the culprit, he lowered it to his side. Raising her hands with a mirthful smirk, the woman quipped once more.

“I surrender. You’ve got me beat.”

But his mind was on something far more outrageous than her little act.

“You already figured out how to work on your first skill…”

Normally it took weeks or months to first grasp the feeling of the soul that is required to begin working on a skill. Either she had been lying about her lack of knowledge or she was insanely talented. Both options were terrifying in their own way.

Adriel found himself picking up the walking stick he had dropped and walking towards the cave exit. He had never considered his impossible goal as, well, possible. With her by his side, he might actually have a chance, though. But now that he was faced with such a possibility, he couldn’t help but feel hesitation. He had been careful with who he had displayed his abilities to over the years and he would no doubt need to do so much more frequently should he decide to team up with this woman. Chaos would definitely follow them everywhere they went. Though, perhaps a bit of excitement was exactly what he needed all along.

Having made his decision, he called back behind him.

“Are you coming or not? We’ve gotta get moving if we want to make it off this mountain before nightfall.”

“Coming!”

The joy in her voice tenderly washed away the worries that plagued his mind, a fact that he carefully kept to himself.

**

“Boo!”

A shriek of terror erupted as yet another victim frantically scrambled away.

In the hours since they began their journey from the cave, she had taken to terrorizing the local wildlife. The first time was for laughs. The next couple were because she noticed it made him smile. It seems the rest were only because practicing her skill creation on living beings was far more effective than just maintaining it. She was surprisingly diligent in her training.

It was only once they had come upon a small rabbit with reddish eyes that Adriel placed an arm in front of her.

“I wouldn’t scare that one if I was you.”

“Now I want to do it even more!. Be ready to save me!”

Yup. Definitely a source of chaos.

The woman crept up to the little bunny and started to pet the creature. He knew it was too late the moment it went rigid. A moment later it looked to the sky and began letting out a chirp. It wouldn’t be long before he was pulled into the consequences of her actions.

A few moments later a much more guttural chirp answered the small one’s cries. The creature’s mother flew out of the brush, its teeth on display for all to see. It briefly sniffed the air before locking onto the woman’s location despite her attempt at using her skill.

“I’ll be needing that saving!”

“I only kill for survival or when something is needlessly hostile to travelers. I suggest we run until it tires of chasing us.”

The scramble down the mountain was interspersed with the occasional quake skill slowing down the mother rabbit.

When the creature felt that it was slowly losing them, its speed increased in a burst. He had encountered these creatures before and had expected the use of such a skill.

He led them to a deep rumbling that got louder and louder until a cliff edge came into sight.

“Did you mean to lead us to a deadend? Jumping off waterfalls is a lot more dangerous than it seems!”

“Hang on tight and trust me.”

He sent his walking stick arcing into the distance before grabbing her hand and pulling her into an embrace.

A powerful leap sent them plummeting as he felt the woman’s grip on him tighten. Noticing that they were close enough to the ground for his skill, he sent a pair of golden feathered wings out of his back. It had taken hundreds of jumps to learn how to make such functional wings to glide with. Unfortunately, the flapping of them was still beyond his understanding.

It only took a few seconds for them to glide to hard ground.

He should have chastised her dangerous actions, but the look of awe from the woman’s eyes made the chase worth it in the end.

Her joy had yet to fade when a slim man burst out of the nearby trees and rapidly approached Adriel. He pulled a book and a quill from a leather bag on his hip like a courier finding his charge. His robes screamed ‘apprentice wizard’ in the most stereotypical way possible, complete with a fashionable headband.

“Good afternoon, my Lord and Lady. I am a collector of the arcane arts and I can’t help but be awed by your incredible skill. I have never seen such a beautiful yet functional spell before. Though it is impolite, I would be overjoyed should you feel compelled to divulge knowledge of that ability.”

Adriel yanked his walking stick out of the ground and sternly eyed the strange man.

Why doesn’t this man display any fear of us?

“I see. Perhaps a demonstration of my own is necessary.”

He began speaking in a foreign tongue, a lightning spell forming at his fingertip. Fortunately, the weak spell failed to cast when a muscular woman backhanded it out of existence. Her hands were wrapped and she wore loose clothes that enabled easy movement. It would seem she was the monk type.

“Stop screwing around. If we don't find your target, you're definitely gonna get fired and I already passed up getting a second job to help you pursue this dream. I'm not letting you give up this time.”

“Loosen up. The leakers say we need to strengthen our souls first. For all we know she has already been killed.”

It would seem they had walked into a comedy act.

“Sounds like we'll have to use your grimdark army fund for rent afterall.”

“Actually I'm feeling really good about this job. We’ll stumble across her any minute now, I’m sure of it.”

The woman shook her head in exasperation before turning to the two of them.

“Please pardon my brother’s strange behavior. Ever since he found that he was a bit talented at this soul stuff, he’s gotten a big head. I’ll make sure to keep him more in check in the future. I’m Laura and this idiot is Leon. We’re still quite new to the area and would appreciate any knowledge you may have on this individual. We’ve only completed a single quest, but you may have the earnings if you can point us in the right direction. She was supposed to be on that mountain you just came from.”

“She may look a bit different than the poster but her essence should be the same.”

His new companion took an overly long look at the sketch. She recognized it. And it scared her.

Laura and Adriel noticed her reaction and launched into action. The greatsword of energy appeared once more, but this time it was wreathed in flames that roared as it consumed the air around it. Adriel moved far quicker than a human should have been capable of as his body blurred in its assault.

“Gosh I hate this magic garbage.”

Metallic clangs rang out each time Laura’s fists smashed into the sword causing the flames to diminish around them. Every time she tried to close the distance, it almost seemed as if the sword pushed Adriel out of reach. This was all but confirmed when he decided it was necessary to show another card. Pivoting midair, using the greatsword as a rebound point, he surprised Laura by latching onto her body and holding her in place as the sword flew to impale her. It was clear that, in terms of brute strength, she was far outmatched.

Adriel noticed the beginnings of an incantation from the man’s direction, but he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off the opponent before him. The ability to neutralize soul skills was incredibly rare and incredibly dangerous. At its strongest, it could fell dragons, creatures of tremendous power.

“Oh God. You stabbed me!”

Leon’s exclamation made Adriel and Laura disengage and turn his way. Laura’s shock caused him to stay his hand.

“Language! Wait… isn’t this man holding you hostage?”

“Aren’t you player killers?

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that she just stabbed me?!”

Laura ignored her brother’s pleas and bowed to the woman.

“It would seem that we have made a mess of things. Ava Maribel Welter, my brother and by extension myself have been tasked by Fate with assisting you. Please let us know how we may make up for this blunder to you and your companion.”

Ah. So her name is Ava.