Three steps were all Kara could take before she dropped to the floor.

She had checked everything, yet nothing could explain the pain resounding in her head. She would have screamed if she could, but speaking was not something her body could do without the aid of her Puppeteer skill.

There was a resource bar for everything. A cost to everything. A number or duration.

Kara had always wondered from what her Songs took power from and how it granted it. She could understand moral or skill, or even Source buffs--those were mental buffs, and impacting those was the state of someone’s mind.

But what about a Speed buff? The ability to have blood fly back into your veins? That required something. Everything had to come from something--Energy could be changed but not created or destroyed.

Those were the rules, and nothing broke those rules.

But with the miasma of sounds crushing her eardrums into pieces, she understood that none of this mattered. And now, as she withered on the ground in silence and stillness, she understood their repercussions.

Her either Notes self-destructed or was propelled at random directions, sending Kara’s Soul a hundred different sensations and sounds simultaneously. It felt like being pulled in a hundred different directions, and all she could do was try to hold herself together.

She upped the Life Force Conversion, attempting to keep her Soul from bursting.

It was a drop in the ocean. The more she tried to keep herself together, the more the pressure threatened to snap.

Minutes or hours passed before the pain lessened, Kara couldn’t tell. The last of her senses were overwhelmed and seized to work--she could neither see nor hear. Her Energy dropped perilously low, but she couldn’t tell how low.

For the first time in a long time, Kara began to feel fear. She didn’t fear death, not as much as others, at least, but to die with none of her senses intact began to frighten her. Will it be now? A few seconds? A few minutes? The unexpected always hurt more.

Kara didn’t know when the pain lessened, or when she regained consciousness. No Notes were left. She had grown used to them, and now that they were gone she began to feel just like then, when she had lost her entire body.

A shell of a broken shell. How far will I fall?

She knew she had gone overboard with the second song. As seasoned as she was, using that many unfamiliar Siren skills within a short time might have been foolish--she didn’t know whether there will be other long-term consequences.

Still, she had little choice in the manner. The early levels were the most dangerous, and now that Nilbog got up to the level 50s, his growth would be more steady and measured. 

Her Notes would grow back, that she was certain of, but his death would have been permanent, alongside the loss of her time and effort.

Kara tried to open her eyes and move, but all she could do was a sound a weak grunt as her vision began to blur and mush into different colors and shapes.

“You--?” she heard someone say, from some direction. The voice kept mumbling, each word knocking on Kara’s ears like war drums.

Her vision did not work, but her dulled sense of touch still worked. She lifted one hand up, trying to cover that sound.

She touched something, and from the way her fingers pressed against it, it was soft.

Something wrapped around her hands.

Danger! Kara yelled, trying to jolt up, but all she could muster was a flinch. Sensing the danger, Kara fully woke up. Both her vision and hearing returned to her.

“What did I tell you about sleeping in the frontline of a battle?” Ron said, right above her. He held her hands against his cheeks.

Kara stared vacantly at his beaming face. Her head was resting on his lap, the twists of her hair laid under her.

She glanced to the side. The storm at her side had dissipated, and in the far distance, the prisoners were returning. It must have been at least half an hour’s walk from the center, but Nilbog wasn’t one of them.

A few soldiers on horseback went ahead, carrying the injured. The prisoners left would be worth salvaging, it seemed.

“Did you catch so-”

Tearing damage!

You have dealt 2 damage!

Kara pulled on his cheeks, smiling as his skin extended absurdly far.

“Staaap!” he moaned, trying to unlatch her fingers.

“Did you not learn your lesson from the first time?” Kara said, and began to pull on the other cheek.

“Yuv ven sleepn!”

“That doesn’t explain why my head is positioned here, instead of on the grass,” Kara said, narrowing her eyes.

“Grand is dity!” he whimpered, tears appearing at the end of his eyes.

Kara glared at him for a few more seconds, twisting his cheeks up and down.

She really didn’t mind, but that face did drive away the two dozen problems that Kara had accumulated in the past few hours. “Fine,” she said, letting them snap back into place. He rubbed them tenderly as he looked at her with hurt eyes. “Help me up.” Her Energy was sub 400, and she didn’t have it in her to start re-casting her Puppeteer skill. Speaking and smiling was enough of a chore.

“You won’t hit me?” he asked as he raised his nose in suspicion.

“Does this pretty face look like it could inflict damage on a big oaf like you?” Kara said, pursing her lips as she blinked her eyes rapidly.

“I see a face but I can’t find the prett-” Ron began to say, moments before he started coughing. “Of course, my lady,” he said as lifted Kara upward. When he saw how limp her body was, he kept a hand on her back for support. He kept his silence as Kara gazed towards the giant tree in the center of the forest.

Nilbog wasn’t to be seen, and with no Notes, she could not see a connection. Did he die? Was it all for naught?

It was her mistake, that was certain. The joy of moving made her greedy. Moving in this body was second nature now, no effort was required to speak or laugh, even, but nothing can compare to experiencing something first hand.

She should have taken it slower. Too many risks for someone that never learned how to fight.

Damn it. One mistake after another. At this rate, I can’t act half was haughty as I usually do.

Kara shook her head. She’d grown stale. Spoiled by memories of the past, she was rusty. Capable of doing everything but get results that matter--much like Caldain. Much too like him.

“Am I too much?” Kara asked, not turning her eyes from the tree. It was truly enormous, and in this bleak land, it glimmered like a gem.

“Definitely,” Ron immediately answered.

Kara nodded. Another mistake--she was worried about receiving a fake response, but Ron was too honest for that. She could always trust that, at the very least.

“But not for me,” he said, turning towards her.

Suddenly, Kara found herself looking at a very interesting tree on the other side, coincidentally hiding her face. “S-say,” she began to speak, but found the words difficult to come by. “What happened to the prisoners?”

“Prisoners? Oh right, they completed the mission half an ago. Most came back, but there are a few missing.”

“Are the two youngest ones part of the missing lot?”

“Yeah,” Ron said after pausing. “How did you know?”

Kara shook her head. “I have a favor to ask you,” she said.

She turned towards him on accident to see him nodding eagerly. “What can I do?”

Kara swallowed, turning away her face, but keeping a tab on him with her peripheral vision. I swear he’s trying to act like a puppy. It’s just not possible otherwise. She pointed towards the tree. “Take me there,” she said. “One crazy bitch needs a killing.”

Ron paused, shrugged, and then leaned forward, getting one hand under Kara’s knees while the other held wrapped around her shoulders.

Blunt Damage!

You have dealt 1 Damage!

She whacked him on the head, sending him on his back.

“You said you wouldn’t hit me!” he said, springing back up. He rubbed his forehead as he inched away from Kara.

“That’s not how you carry someone!” Kara barked. “Turn around!”

“But the other way is easier!”

“Over my dead body,” Kara said, then paused--that saying did not work any longer. “And that’s not true.” So much for his supposed honesty.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, though he didn’t sound like it. He turned around, letting Kara put her arms around his neck.

His hands reached for her thighs but immediately pulled back, dodging Kara’s slap. “No hands,” she said, tightening her hold on his neck.

“What? How will you hold on?”

“I will. Just jump as far as you can.”

Ron didn’t hide his disappointment, but he gathered his Life Force anyway. After a few seconds, he leaped into the sky, leaving a crater behind him.

***

“I don’t see how this is any less embarrassing!” Ron yelled as they fell.

“It’s not embarrassing if no one sees it!” Kara yelled back. “And you’re not seeing anything!” She only held on to him with his hands, leaving the rest of her body to flail behind Ron like it was a cloak as the wind struck them. She only used her Energy to soften the landing after every leap, saving the rest to tear apart a certain flower.

Ron didn’t ask any questions, neither about what she was doing, what she had done, or why her body was cold as ice--he should have noticed when he grasped her hands. For that, she was thankful.

She still didn’t know what to do about him, much less of what she should do about herself now. That pain she felt back there was either because she had overextended herself, traveled a greater distance than her skills were capable of, or that her Dancer died.

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The information screen did mention a penalty, and this sounded like it.

Should she find a different Dancer? Should she partner with Ron, giving up on her Siren skills, and find a different way to deal with her handicaps?

Answers were not easy. She left them until she could get her hands on Iris.

Nilbog was a monster, but he was damn better than half the humans out there. She did break her promise to him, and before she could do anything she needed to do her part.

She had a hunch that he would want to be buried if he did die. Iris would be a piece of cake to destroy. A penalty would probably be applied to her for purposely hunting and killing her, but it shouldn’t be too detrimental.

A few minutes later Ron reached the natural barrier that surrounded Yasargil. Hundreds of trees were layered on top of each other, creating impassable terrain for at least fifty meters into the air. It half the height of Yasargil but was still a great distance to pass through. A great deal of drilling and work needed to be done before this area could be manned.

“I don’t think I can land on top,” Ron said, shaking his head. “Beyond this rests the garden, and those usually have defensive tools. My landing will damage the plants. We need to walk through the tree openings.”

“So don’t land there. Our destination is the tree, anyway,” Kara said, shrugging.

“B-but it's so far!”

“Let’s go Iron Heart. Let’s see those quads flexed.”

Kara felt Ron swallowing. He glanced to the left and right, almost as if looking for an escape. “Whatever happens is up to you,” he said, and began overflowing his body with Life Force.

Kara glanced at her Equanimity bar. It had reached the max cap of 50%. “Prepare to take some...minor damage.”

“What does that mean?” Ron said, his Life Force faltering.

“Shhh, it will all be over soon. Just jump towards the tree.”

As Ron jumped, Kara whispered a word.

Fourth Movement: Amplification.

They whizzed through the air, and the only thing that kept Kara’s cheeks from being pulled off was the Energy spell she constructed around her body. Not even Ron’s Life Force was able to protect her from the friction.

Damn it, the Fifth Movement would be really useful right now.

They rose higher than Kara had expected. Higher than the tree, in fact, but they were still far away. She was down to 40% Equanimity.

“Kara?” Ron said as they floated in the air for a few moments as their momentum died. “I don’t think I can survive the landing. I just wanted to say I-”

They fell like a comet through the sky. She felt her organs sliding up, and had to forcefully place them back.

Ron’s hand snapped back, catching Kara’s thighs and pushing her against him. His Life Force began to surround her, attempting to protect her from the force of the landing.

A futile effort, if she ever saw one. No amount of Life Force could protect someone from the speed at which they were falling.

Well, at least she was only endangering her own life. The worst Ron would suffer would be a broken leg or two.

The garden was beautiful. The colors mixed beautifully, and even as they plummeted their scent seemed to seep into her dead nostrils. Maybe she could harvest a Note from there. Many people died, and who knew, maybe it would have different attributes than normal ones. 

Third Movement: Deviation, Kara thought as both Ron’s and her feet touched the dirt.

Kara didn’t tap into his momentum--Life Force resisted any outside interference, and though she could overpower it, there would be little of her Equanimity left over for the fall.

Instead, she redirected the entire Energy caused by his feet striking the ground into her own legs, channeled it through her skeletal system, and blasted it above her through her upraised arms.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

White cracks appeared in the space above Kara’s hands. A half-second later, the sound of glass breaking screeched above her as a violent wind roared above. It rose high enough to pierce what few clouds remained overhead, creating a hole in their shade.

“You can open your eyes now, Ron,” Kara said. The flowers swayed slightly from the wind, few petals floating around them from the breeze.

Ron didn’t move for a while, maintaining his awkward sitting position.

“Ron?” she said again.

“Are we...in heaven?” he said, finally opening his eyes. He glanced around, awing at every corner of the garden. “It smells like it.”

“Up we go,” Kara said, nudging him forward. She needed to return to the boss lair as soon as she could. She can confirm what happened once she gets there.

"Uh, you're not going to explain anything?"

"Nope."

"Figured," Ron said, inching closer to the tree. Yellow tendrils could be seen with the naked eye spiraling to the top--a sign that the area was rich with Life Force.

Every creature’s life that the Undead Ent had absorbed now fed the tree and its surroundings. Not only would the wood be quite useful for low to mid mages and Life Force casters, but the area itself would also improve Life Force training.

Not a bad harvest, though many good candidates died for it. Again, if the government body of Dlair was not in such a state of disarray, a better-organized campaign could have been created in order to avoid creating poorly matched parties.

Or, at the very least, avoid having them kill each other.

Ron gathered his Life Force again, stabilizing his Empowerment skill, and then began leaping from one branch to the next until they reached the entrance.

“We can go from here,” Kara said, tapping his shoulder. Not a bad ride, considering the quality of the last one.

“Looks like there is a lair down there.”

“I’m familiar with it. Try to keep up,” Kara said, stretching her limbs. She had enough Energy now.

“Ha, a spellsword trying to beat an Internal Life Force user?” Ron said, nudging her with a shoulder.

Kara looked at him. Right. He still doesn’t know what she was capable of.

Well, that was fine. It would make it more enjoyable. “The lair is directly to the front from here. Start in 3?”

“What do I get if I win?” Ron said, getting in position. He put two hands on the ground and raised his butt high.

If he was taking it seriously, then so should she. “Anything,” Kara said, and began the countdown.

Most Kinetic users were able to use the air around them to float at around the 5th rank. It wasn’t a question of power, but rather of how well a mage was able to precisely push on the back of their bodies in order to propel them forward. Generally, a mage needed to be able to find balance in pushing from five different directions, each subsequent one being considering a multi-cast, and further increasing the Energy cost.

Being a 10th Rank Kinetic Mage, however, Kara received enormous discounts to multicasting Kinetic Energy. Most received a basic version of it at the 5th Rank, which should fool Ron long enough.

Using it here would give him intel about her skill ranks, but considering that he'd seen her fight already, he probably already assumed she had passed that level.

At one Ron bolted at near maximum speed.

6th Rank Internal, at least, Kara noted as stomps sent vibrations throughout the wood. At some point, Empowerment would not only increase physical parameters, but also reaction, perception, and cognition--the real reason why Internal Life Force users were undisputed in close-terms combat.

Spellswords, the role she was playing, however, easily triumphed in one role--Power.

Kara converted roughly 200 of her Energy into Kinetic Energy, and a quarter of that into Life Force to keep her body safe.

Combining her Kinetic Energy with the few percentages of Amplification she had left, Kara jumped forward, blasting it from the back of her leather shoes, both sides of her thighs, both sides of her chest, and her hands.

It was far from breaking the sound barrier, but it was enough to nearly blow Ron to the side as she whizzed by. She slightly curved her body to adjust for the winding road, but it was a mostly straightway to the lair. A few seconds later Kara found herself within the dome.

Instead of the dingy room she had expected, Kara found it to be overflowing with plant life and numerous Light Vines. Squads of fireflies flew around the grass, avoiding the rays of sunlight that fell through the open half of the room.

A tree had grown where the Ent Core had died, with it a pool under its green leaves.

Even with her numbed senses the fresh, sweet smell was abundant. It wasn’t just for sights either--Kara easily spotted a couple dozen important alchemical ingredients used in Alchemy and Tinkeronics.

“Wow, this place is something,” Ron said as he trundled into the room, panting. “Not as dreary as I heard it was.”

Kara nodded. She walked around, trying to pick up a signal on Nilbog.

He might still be alive. If he had died here, then the system would have informed him of his death.

Because it listed him as her Dancer still, however, it meant that he was still alive.

“I wouldn’t drink that, if I were you,” Kara said, checking the other trees that had grown. An Ash Tree began spurting through the ground. Pure white, it stood at about five feet with no leaves on its smeared branches.

It was a rare, high-level material used to create wands specialized in thermal energy. It was also a material banned from usage by most civil races.

“Why?” Ron asked, his lips a few inches from the cupped water in his hands.

“The prisoners that had died an hour ago--their bodies are no longer here,” Kara said, leaving the rest for him to figure out.

Placing her hand forward, she summoned her staff. A small black circle appeared in the space before her as the cane materialized.

Epic Left Bone of the Dragon Lord

Equipment Type: Staff

Affinity: ★★★★★--★★

Durability:★★★★★--★★★★

The Dragon Lord was one of the Lordan’s greatest rulers.

Even in death, his body retains fragments of his powers.

Left Bone of the Dragon Lord possesses the ability to interact with all Sources at the same Affinity and Durability Star rank.

Hidden Trait: Those that possess the Earth and Sky Weaver class will have the following bonuses applied when using those skills through the Left Bone of the Dragon Lord.

Third Movement, Deviation: Double the range at which you can deviate objects.

Fourth Movement, Amplification: Increase stability and power by 30%.

Sixth Movement, Desolation: Impaling an enemy with Left Bone of the Dragon Lord will siphon up to 10% of their Sources.

Seventh Movement, Locomotion: Allows you to insert up 10 items into a spatial inventory.

Eighth Movement, Jurisdiction: Left Bone Of The Dragon Lord effects will transform when in Jurisdiction Field.

Ninth Movement, ???.

Requirement: 150 Spirit

It was one of the few of the Soulbound equipment she could use in her current state, and was possibly the most important.

There were two important parts to staffs--Durability and Affinity.

Bone by far had the greatest durability, allowing an obscene amount of Energy to be stored, converted, constrained, and concentrated. Each star roughly translated to 100 points of Energy, meaning that the largest skill that could be cast would take 900 Energy--a near-impossible amount compared to unaided casting, and one that was able to punch through any type of Armor, raid monster or not.

Affinity, on the other hand, was how well the wand was able to be cost-effective with the Energy during multicasting. The closer the ratio to 1, the better.

Casting a Fireball--creating Thermal Energy, condensing it with Kinetic Force, and then moving it forward would be twice as effective compared to unaided for most mages. Unless one as a master, Energy would be lost to the environment, wouldn't correctly convert, or get stuck within the bodies impurities.  

For her, that wasn't an issue. Rarely did she ever cast spells that needed more than 300 Energy, the limits of her free casting abilities. 

Kara motioned over the tree with her cane. Purple Energy seeped out of the bone within, enclosing the tree. It gradually turned transparent until the tree vanished into thin air that returned into the cane.

While wood was not Kara’s choice for staff, Ash Wood could still be sold or turned into useful tinkers.

It was fortunate that the bone’s abilities worked regardless of her body’s incapability of using The Seventh Movement, Locomotion.

“So who are we searching for?” Ron said, falling beside her.

“A young girl, in her 20s with blond hair and petite body. The other is a male, same age, with...varying features.”

“That’s useful.”

“You asked,” Kara said, looking at the newly created exists. “Let’s go up,”

The entire area of the Mission is surrounded by Scouts, so they could not have escaped. They must be around here. Maybe fatally wounded? Resting their wounds? Or is she torturing him? Or...did he run away?

For some reason, him running away seemed to have posed a bigger problem to Kara. Kara began to feel anxious. She floated outside into the sun, and went up the spiral, letting Ron trail behind her.

“Turn off any Life Force skills for a moment!” Kara yelled, raising her cane above her. She twirled it around as she converted Life Force into it.

“Why?” Ron asked, turning off his Empowerment.

Using Life Force was costly, but she had no other choice--harvesting her Notes back would take too long. Using another 100 points, her Life Force spread out in all directions, piercing through the wood.

It met with a couple of dozen signatures, sending her a messy jumble of sensations, but it was nothing compared to the influx of information that her Notes sent her.

There!

It was faint, but there were two condescended signatures extremely close to the other.

Kara flung herself up, knocking aside branches leaves and fruits as she squeezed herself by. She broke through the clearing, her cane pointing forward and a blue crystal in the other hand.

She stood still for a few moments, Kinetic Energy strongly condensed at the tip of her cane. Releasing it would fire a highly fast concentrated burst of air the size of a pebble that would be capable of ripping through the toughest armor at a very high speed.

There was no need to capture her. A single shot costing less than 50 Energy was all it would take, but Kara decided to play it smart. The blue crystal held Kinetic Energy. She couldn't siphon it, but she could certainly blow it up and then re-direct it the force with her few remaining Equlbriam percentages. 

Ron followed shortly, his sword and shield materialized into his hands before landing next to her. He held his ground, waiting for Kara’s cue, but once he saw Nilbog and Iris on the ground, he hesitantly lowered his shield.

They were sleeping soundly next to each other, each holding the other's hand. “Uh, Kara?” he said, shaking off the leaves that stuck to his hair. “I don’t know who he is, but aren’t you being a bit...overprotective? They're just kid-"

“Not another word,” Kara said slowly, her hands shaking.

Nilbog was safe, and so was Iris. They didn’t fight, and in fact seemed to be on good terms, which was the best case scenario. She didn’t think for this to happen--she expected for him to be stabbed a couple of times at least.

It worked, however, and that’s all that mattered. Presumably, he gained a competent party member and received valuable experience in surviving a bizarre situation. He grew, both in power and in his character.

But why in the two faces of the world did she have the strongest urge to blast him to smithereens anyway?