Wichita heaved a sigh of relief as they walked onto the second storey. The lights were still leading them upward, though she did not really care about that at the moment.

“What do we do now?” Rose asked, frowning.

“Sleep.” Jace stated, not stopping for a moment as he headed upward. “That Innkeeper and whatever can deal with the rest. The way I see it, it ain’t got anything to do with us.”

The boy looked at them, and she noticed that his eyes were red. The veins that ran through them were clearly visible if she looked close. The muscles in his legs shook slightly, quivering even as he stood there.

A fool could tell that he was tired.

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation in the room.” she said. Rose nodded, and they took off again, up another fleet of stairs. And then another. And another still.

Jace huffed, gritting his teeth as he stared at the stairs.

“Do you need a moment?” Rose asked.

“No.” he gritted out, taking on the stairs again. Wichita pursed her lips. The boy was still the lowest level of them all. The lack of stats was showing as they climbed the last fleet of stairs.

“I think we should slow down.” Tully said as they reached the middle point, where the stairs turned nearly three hundred and sixty degrees and faced the floor again.

“The lights turn towards the floor there.” the boy pointed out, gasping for air. “This is the last one.”

And indeed, it was the last one. The four of them turned left as the lights led them to a door at the end of the hallway. Jace looked even more haggard as he attempted to power walk himself to the door, but the structure was clearly made for people with higher stats. Then again, was five flights of stairs really that much? Wichita was not sure what the average human’s physical fitness was like without levels.

Jace yanked the door open, stepping into what was more of an apartment. Wichita could see a room on each side of the hallway and a large sitting area at the end of it. Of course, the boy turned left into the nearest bedroom and collapsed onto the bed. The bed began to glow as he leapt on it, adjusting itself to increase comfort.

Wichita glanced at the enchantments, observing their effects, and then frowned. Not because she did not recognize what they were doing, but because she did not know how they were doing it. The enchantment had all the hallmarks of being Masterwork, but she did not detect a hint of the Language of Magic.

That…wasn't’ supposed to be possible. There was only one School of Enchantment in the world. The Arcanian School of Enchantment.

“Wichita?” Rose called out from the hallway, and she turned, reluctantly, and headed out. Yes, it would be better if she examined the enchantments in her own room.

“I guess we should take a bit of rest,” Rose said. “I think we’re all tired and would like a good sleep.”

Wichita supposed that was true. “I shall be in my room checking out the enchantments if you need me. If I am in a trance then just make some noise, that should wake me up.”

Rose blinked. “I know you don’t sleep, but don’t you wanna take a break?”

Wichita laughed. A little thing that sounded a bit like a scoff. An Arcana taking a break? What a joke.

“No, Rose, I do not wish to take a break. An Ar- my species will pursue our goals until we reach them. Then we shall make a new goal and pursue that until the magic that holds our bodies together fails us. There is no giving up or resting while the Heart still beats in our chest.”

“Oh.” The girl looked more shocked than upset at her declaration. Wichita was quite proud of this feature of her species. The sheer amount of productivity in living like this was phenomenal.

“I will take this one.” Tully said, walking into the bedroom in the hallway. Rose and Wichita walked into the seating area. The area formed an L shape with the dining area, two floor length windows giving a view of a large garden. Wichita wondered if the garden actually existed or were simply illusions conjured for comfort.

“There’s two other bedrooms here.” Rose called from another hallway across the dining area. Wichita followed her voice, finding that there were indeed two other rooms there, seeming identical to the one Jace had gone to sleep in.

“I suppose we shall meet in a few hours.” she said as she walked into the bedroom to the left. Rose was already in the right bedroom.

The bed was as large as Jace’s, flanked by a short table on both sides. A desk and chair stood against the wall at the foot of the bed. There was even a small balcony with a lounge chair, giving a view of yet another garden.

Wichita ignored it all and crouched next to the bed. A part of her wanted to stop and read her notifications first, but no. This was more important. Enchanting was the one thing she actually took pride in being good at. Now she was finding that challenged.

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Had Masterwork become common, or was the Innkeeper just splurging? No, it had to be the former. There had been less than five non-Arcanian Master enchanters when she had been born. The chances of hiring one of them to enchant so many beds was near null.

Wichita looked at the enchantment with mana sense, trying to get a sense of what was going in. The mana in it was familiar, similar to what she would have used. Mind mana, transformation mana and Dream mana. Not exactly the most common forms of mana, but it would hardly be difficult for a Verge class powerhouse to source them.

No, what mattered was how they had been woven together without the Language of Magic. Wichita had taken years to learn how to do that despite being born speaking the Language. To do it without, why she could not even imagine it.

There was something going on here. A pattern perhaps, something drawn in mana. Wichita wasn’t quite sure. Mana sense told her what mana was there, but she couldn’t tell what the intricacies were. The sense simply wasn’t strong enough.

Letting a growl of frustration, she looked at the bed in frustration. Of course her mana sense wasn’t strong enough to help her when she needed it. Of course, it was mana sense that would hold her back. Wichita wondered now if the cat had been right. Was she really suited to a combat class?

What was she going to do? Use her lacking mana sense and dismal mana manipulation? Or perhaps she could take up a sword. An Arcana with a sword. Just thinking of it made her laugh. The enemies of Arcana would have loved it. A Master of Magic reduced to using the weapons of her enemies.

Then she paused.

Perhaps she should give that more thought. Arcana had fallen what, three Ages ago? The enemies probably didn't care anymore, if they were still around. Wichita suddenly felt sad as she looked at the brand-new form of enchantment.

Just how out of time was she? Was the Arcana’s knowledge even relevant anymore? Just thinking of the advancements the Arcana had made in a single Age made her want to give up. Catching up would be…difficult. Not impossible if she had access to a well stocked library, but who would give her something like that?

…did the Innkeeper have anything like that? Perhaps she should ask her. Wichita stood up, determined to ask the woman. Then she remembered what was going on downstairs. Perhaps she should see what the System had given her first.

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 1

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 2

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 3

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 4

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 5

[Forgotten Queen] has reached level 6

Escaping the forest had apparently given her six levels. That was quite a bit. Wichita was sure she would have gotten more if she had actually beaten the forest. A lot more. But the fact of the matter was that she could not have managed that.

Now for the Skills. The System had to have given her one.

Level 1 reached! Combination Skill Tier assigned! Calculating Skill…

Wichita’s Heart paused. A Combination Skill Tier. At Tier 2. That wasn’t the worst place to get it, if she was being honest. At Tier 2 she might only get three Skills at the Tier, but the Tier would end quickly. The amount of Skills a Combination Skill Tier gave was the Tier +1. A Skill at level one, and at every eleventh level after. Then one last Skill that would be her Capstone Skill.

The Skills would come together to make a strong combination. The kind that would help her even when she was a Verge powerhouse. Wichita was surprised the System was giving her something like this at all, she had expected it would go around giving her the least useful Skills it could.

Skill gained: [Magicus]

Wichita’s eyes narrowed at the name, asking the System to give more information.

[Magicus]: A trial passed long before it became fair. An ambition that burns within the Queen's Heart. Magic reaches out for her even as she reaches for it. SPECIES RESTRICTIONS APPLIED.

Wichita switched it on and decided, at that moment, that she would not be changing her class. Even if she had to spend the rest of her life without a single combat Skill, this one made it worth it.

For the first time in her life, magic was at her fingertips. Of course, the System stopped her from actually using it, but she could feel it. The mana that revolved around the room. Like it was an extension of her body. The second she turned her attention to the bed she could feel the mana that ran through it, suddenly so very clear to her.

A wavy line of mind magic ran across the bed’s border. Transformation mana pooled around the wave, making a rectangle around it. The Dream mana added another border. Wichita sat on the bed and saw the enchantments react.

The mind mana heard what she wanted, and the transformation mana turned the bed into a sand bed, the sands tossing themselves through her body as she laid down. Losing the mana irked her, but she let it go on. The Dream mana acted in concert with the transformation mana, almost convincing her that she was laying down in her own mana bed.

Of course, it didn’t work. The sand didn’t come close, and a mana bed didn’t have any physical presence. That was fine. Wichita knew how difficult making mana beds was, she herself could not do it. Enchanting mana itself was something only the Toy Crafter could do en masse. This was good enough.

The effect was not as streamlined as she could have made it. The mind mana was not able to transfer information to the transformation mana quite well enough. Or else it would not have chosen something as irritating as sand. The Dream mana could also have done more. But if she was being honest, she wasn’t sure she could have made Dream mana actually do more. The Language of Magic was testy even at the best of times. There was no telling if the mana would suddenly decide they did not want to work together right now.

But even more than that, the most amazing thing about this was how little mana it used. An equivalent enchantment she made would have used ten times the mana. The power and quality would have been a step above if she was successful, but that wasn’t really needed. This amount of mana was something even a human could provide, and she suspected that was the point.

This wasn’t made for Arcana, who had far more mana than they knew what to do with most of the time. Speaking of that, she should refill her mana. Wichita called on her Heart and it obeyed. The mana around her rushed to her, her Skill acting in concert with her natural ability. The enchantments on the bed flickered, the mana inside reaching towards her for a moment. But in the end they still held strong.

Wichita looked at it with curiosity. If she could make the enchantments flicker right now, what would happen when she grew more powerful?