Brigid stood stalwartly in the stone-yard, causing the very stones to crumble beneath her feet. She was beginning to cut an intimidating presence. The Flame Champion Demon Lord had traded in her apron for strapping chitinous plates to her body. “Are you ready to gain some experience, Little Sun?” Brigid casually twirled a hammer sized for a demon with her strength. The thing easily weighed as much as Soleil did, if not more.

Soleil blinked at her mother. “I thought you were going to show me how leveling works.”

“Oh we’ll get to that. But you have 9 skills already, don’t you?” Brigid hefted the hammer over her shoulder as a grin spread across her lips.

“Yeah-”

Brigid charged forward, crossing the stone-yard at an alarming pace. “What’s your plan Little Sun?”

Soleil yelped before closing her eyes in an attempt to focus. She thought about the place where [analyze] had projected her soul to be. She imagined the shape made by her soul’s six attributes before frantically reaching for a skill to pair with an attribute.

Soleil willed Focus into her [Fire Affinity.] All around her, the mana regulating the temperature in the air gathered close before bursting into flames as she opened her eyes.

Brigid was already there, chest displacing the gathered mana with a raised hammer and a satisfied look on her face. Before Soleil could even begin to [shape] a spell, the giant slab of metal came to stop inches from her shoulder. Her mother pulled back the hammer, in favor of descending to plant a gentle kiss on Soleil’s forehead.

Soleil did not like sudden kisses. It’s not that she would have gotten genuinely upset, but the sudden pivot away from being hit with a giant hammer towards a kiss on the head was one of the most disarming things Brigid could have done.

Brigid had also moved faster than Soleil had ever seen her. Not that Brigid had ever cause to fight in front of her daughter. Living atop a volcano in what had once been an imposing fortress deep in demon territory did not exactly invite many hostile visitors.

Soleil looked up at her mother, who offered her a hand to help her to her feet.

Brigid added an insufferable grin to her presentation. “Say goodbye to your Vitality. A blunt weapon getting past your nonexistent defenses would have probably cost you some Endurance too.” Brigid seemed quite pleased with herself.

Soleil blinked and stumbled over her words, flustered. “You- I- no time!” The distraction caused her to lose her focus and skill, not that the gathered heat would have affected Brigid anyways. Still, she liked to think her mother would have been sporting in reacting to how her spells would affect others.

As if in answer to all of Soleil’s words and thoughts, Brigid cut her off. “Nope! That’s the idea. Mana takes time to [shape] and [manipulate]. Lucky for you, practice at your level is more than sufficient for gaining skill experience and Soul Levels.”

“That hardly seems fair.” Soleil tried and failed to take a deep breath, instead settling for leveling indignation back at Brigid.. “If there is no fire already available, it takes me a long time to cast a spell!”

“Better you learn the lesson now where only your pride can get hurt.”

Brigid was already turning to retreat to her original position. “Spell Shapers can solve this weakness in a few ways. You can learn some defensive skills yourself, have someone on hand to defend you, or use the environment to your advantage.”

Soleil frowned. “I can’t go setting fire everywhere I go.”

That got a chortle out of Brigid. “Doing so would certainly give us demons a bad name. No, what you need is a mobile source of a flame you’re comfortable defending yourself with.”

“A torch?” Soleil said, still a little too off balance to inject confidence into her answer.

Brigid looked like she had another idea. But after weighing Soleil’s suggestion, she pivoted towards encouragement. “Torches are cheap, readily available, and serve a number of useful purposes. I agree, you could do far worse than carrying a torch.”

“Fascinating. Will learning more about fire help with my [Fire Affinity] skill?”

“That’s the idea.” Brigid said with approval. “If you want something lighter, I would recommend steel that produces an easy spark paired with some flint, chert, or quartz. Strike them together and you will be able to generate fire on demand.”

“Okay, back to those other methods.” Soleil said, already making mental notes. “Assuming I have to defend myself, what are my options?”

“I’m so glad you asked.” Brigid turned to take in the scenery, before seizing a stone from the yard that caught her eye. “Reach for the attributes that make sense to you, and [defend] yourself.”

Brigid raised her hand, concealing the stone within her hand before lobbing it in Soleil’s direction.

She did as instructed, this time keeping her eyes open. Closing her eyes was a bad habit to develop.

Soleil reached for Endurance. Brigid was scary strong, so she willed more than one point into the idea of [defending] against Brigid’s stone.

The mana responded, pouring out of her and softening the blow. She felt the stone’s impact more in the sense of relating to a barrage of memories than being hit in a physical sense.

Soleil winced at the sudden smell of alcohol and sensation of being punched in the gut. But she came away from the experience with only the idea of the kind of pain she should have expected. After having spent 2 points of her 10 total Endurance, the net result still left Soleil feeling winded.

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Soleil gained knowledge of a new skill. [Defense.]

Mana had a distinct method of communicating through memory.

It did not speak to her so much as she was suddenly aware that new skills and deeper insights allowing skill advancements were available to her. It was an odd system of communicating, but probably for the best considering what her first experience channeling mana had been like.

What would mana be like if it had a voice?

After a few moments, Soleil finally began to catch her breath well enough to get words out. “Is this… skill even… worth it?”

Brigid offered a gentle smile this time. “It is one of the more fundamental options available to most. Increasing this skill will raise your Endurance and Vitality attributes at different ranks. Eventually you will have deep enough soul reserves and ranks in the skill that [defending] yourself will cost little and be instinctual. Provided of course you aren’t actively trying to use another skill at the same time.”

Right. Soleil had never heard of anyone splitting their focus on more than one skill at a time. There were instant use skills, but they typically had long cooldowns or a heavy attribute cost to use.

Soleil touched the spot in her chest where the stone had collided, feeling nothing. The memory of being hit in the stomach was fresh. “How strange.” She absentmindedly thought aloud. At a raised eyebrow of Brigid’s, she elaborated. “I’m still getting used to the memory inputs from channeling mana.”

“Anything fun?”

“Bar fight, I think. Got punched in the stomach.” Of all the details to stick with her, Soleil was confident could identify the specific alcohol if she ever came across it.

“Yeah, you’re going to build up a lot of those memories. Raising [Defense,] Endurance, and Adaptability will give you a tolerance for shrugging off a lot of it. You can of course further specialize. As you get deeper into spell shaping, you will eventually learn how to either pre-cast defensive wards or swift cast some shapes almost reflexively.”

“But today I’m just focused on foundations. Are there any other properties I need to learn about [Defense] until I can advance it to Rank 1?”

“Oh. Right. You need to hit someone with the defensive skill active. Give me a moment and I’ll demonstrate.” Brigid’s golden eyes flashed with a radiant shine as she channeled mana into a skill.

Soleil tried to push against her mother. She found not even the soft bits of her flesh would give. Soleil then attempted to pull her mother’s knee out from under her to no avail. “What the-?”

Brigid ruffled her daughter’s hair while laughing. “[Defense] makes it much harder for you to lose your balance or get knocked over. It slows you down while it is active, and gets more expensive the more it is used in quick succession.”

Frustrated, Soleil drew upon Intensity before ramming into her mother to absolutely no avail. She felt a resistance that wasn’t entirely her mother’s strength. Running into [Defense] was hard to describe, but it stopped her dead in her tracks.

It became crystal clear that [Defense] would allow its user to regain the initiative in a fight. Just thinking about how the skill fit into combat filled her with a feeling there being a memory or dream just out of reach.

[Soleil’s Soul gained a level.]

Soleil gained a deeper understanding of [Defense.] The skill can now be raised to Rank 1.

“I'm at level three!”

“Your first hundred levels or so should stay easy to gain so long as you remain open to new skills and experiences. Just keep in mind that you are going to be quite vulnerable until you start getting most of your primary skills to rank five or so.”

“Rank five is when skills require a lot more experience and nuanced understanding to gain ranks, right?”

“Indeed And once you hit Rank ten in a skill, the only way you can gain more attributes is to find other skills to learn. So why wait until that point? Give yourself options to invest your skill points in.”

Who knew what kind of doors a variety of skills will open? It was Soleil’s turn to grin. “Transformations, transitions, and lava baths, if my mothers are anything to go by.”

“Don’t knock the value of being able to go where no one else can follow.”

“So you say. You’re not the only one with [Fire Affinity] now.”

“Oh that’s fine. If I want privacy I’ll just wall off my chambers with a rock too heavy for you to move.” When Soleil began to pout, Brigid laughed and pulled her daughter into a gentle hug. “You are going to grow into such a magnificent soul. I can already picture it.”

“So you keep telling me!”

There was a knowing look in Brigid’s eyes at her daughter’s choice of words. “I know we haven’t discussed it yet, but I assume your heart is already set on leaving with Veilura tomorrow?”

Soleil opened her mouth to speak, paused to feel a blush overtake her face, and settled on saying nothing. Was it that obvious that she had a favorite mother?

“It’s okay. I’m not going to get heartbroken over it.” Brigid sure sounded convincing.

“I know. But still. We wanted to at least hear where you all were going.”

Brigid’s smile was just so warm. Soleil immediately felt less guilty about so obviously having a favorite mother long decided in advance of this day.

“I may be forgiving, but you know Nadir will never let you live it down.”

“I knoooooooooow. She’s probably going up north to clear dungeons with Irellia too.”

“Maybe if you sweet talk Nadir, you can convince xer to talk Knight Commander Irellia into visiting when we all see each other next.”

Knight Commander Irellia was Soleil’s childhood friend. Considered something of a special case, her mothers secretly considered her a Demon in all but name.

But humanity saw her as an avenging Angel Knight fighting on their behalf. As the head of the Northern Outrider Knights, she had the opportunity to travel and cultivate a wider perspective than most.

Soleil’s primary interests of course were the quality of hugs that her friend with large feathery wings could give. Being offered a ride in an angel knight’s arms was something she occasionally dreamt about, but it was best that those thoughts remain a dream for a while yet.

Irellia was only a couple years her senior and already close to level 300 from the sheer amount of opportunities Outriders had to gain experience. The last time they had spoken had only been a few months ago.

Seeing Irellia would unfortunately have to wait. Soleil wanted levels and experiences of her own to recount the next time they met. Maybe, just maybe, she could find an Affinity that could grant her wings of her own.

Soleil bit her lip, a curiosity burning within her. “Mother dearest, I know Nadir taught me basic proficiency in using knives as a tool and weapon. But I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a more martial weapon.”

Brigid’s smile practically split her face as it grew to run from ear to ear. “Something more knightly perhaps? I’m sure we have a sword lying around here somewhere.” Brigid stalked off with an eager determination. “Nadir is going to be so pissed at being the least favorite mother. I’m going to help my daughter score her first date.”