Finding a suitable second item was proving to be more challenging than Matt had thought. Tara had first suggested potions, which Matt was against, so she suggested more… exotic potions, like a berserk potion that made a person fight with reckless abandon, numbing pain while increasing Strength, Agility, and Endurance, and while it didn’t sound awful, it was extremely risky to use. Sure, more stats were good and all, but having a clear head was more important to him, especially since he was on his own with no one to back him up or stop him. Knowing when to back away, when to fight smart, and when to use brute-force, were all important. A potion that inhibited two for the sake of one was just not for him.

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  Next, she suggested an iron skin potion, which gave the user 20% physical damage reduction for an hour. Also useful for some people, but more of a bandaid solution for Matt, who preferred not to be damaged in the first place. Even if he could heal any damage, pain still sucked.

  Tara then suggest another one, then another, then on to other consumables, elixirs that gave stats, tinctures that made him spit fire, and so on and so forth for what felt like an hour, making Matt realize that out of the 92 items on the list, at least 60 were of a consumable nature.

  He had argued that he wanted gear, which Tara argued against by saying gear at his level was temporary at best with no special qualities about it, which was exactly how he felt about consumables.

  The discussion, if one can even call it that, ended in a staring contest, with Tara claiming Matt was being too picky and unreasonable, and Matt’s response being that overreliance on consumables was a trap that he didn’t want to fall into, and knowing his limits and what he was capable of, was an important factor when it came to improving and progressing. Potions and consumables provided a false sense of security and fake power, and relying on that kind of power when he had no way to replenish the potions once he eventually ran out was just stupid.

  “Fine, no consumables,” Tara relented, clearly not happy about it but accepting that it was Matt’s decision, “But at least get yourself another skill,” she added.

  “Why? I already have three,” he responded, before asking. “And since we’re on the subject, when do I get my next one?”

  He remembered wondering about that question on occasion. Level 10 had come and gone, bringing nothing but disappointment with it, so he hoped 20, or maybe even 15, would offer him something.

  “At 25…” Tara answered, looking at him suspiciously. “How do you have three? We only saw you use two. That flood of mana of yours can’t be a skill since there was no trigger. You’re not counting it, are you?” she asked.

  “No, I have a passive one,” Matt simply answered without giving it much thought. While he should be more cautious, he was starting to feel more comfortable around the cat. He didn’t know why, but after no contact for the better part of two weeks, it was nice having a friendly conversation. Scheming, manipulation, and attempted murder aside, of course.

  Tara looked at him with obvious incomprehension before she started banging her head against the armrest, followed by her looking towards the ceiling. “I’m sorry! I tried, but he seems to really hate living,” she yelled out to no one in particular.

  “Hey!” a confused Matt took offense at her words. “Why judgy cat? You don’t even know what skill it is,” he admonished, refusing to believe that [Advanced Mana Control] was a bad choice, especially with how close to an evolution it was.

  Tara looked at him, her eyes almost tearing up from… honestly, Matt didn’t know from what. “Let me guess,” she said before… guessing, “improved healing.”

  “No. The hell is that? It sounds awful,” he answered.

  “Mana efficiency?” she asked, slightly confused.

  “There is a skill for that? Must be super useful for mages,” he replied, slightly interested in the skill.

  “Added range?”

  “Nope.”

  “Focus?”

  “Nein.”

  “Improved sight?”

  “Nyet.”

  “Awareness? As a healer?” Tara asked, now really bewildered.

  “No, but that’s definitely on the list now,” Matt replied, intrigued by the prospect of a passive skill with an effect like that.

  “Then what is it?” Tara finally stopped guessing, frustrated and confused by what the passive skill could possibly be.

  “Wait, is that all of it? No more passives?” He hadn’t stopped her because he was interested in what passive skills were out there, but if that’s all there was to it, then it was definitely disappointing.

  “None that I can think of that a tier 9 healer should have,” she explained.

  Matt looked at the confused cat, torn. On one hand, her insight had been really helpful, on the other, she was the one who had told him not to trust anyone, and revealing information about his skills felt like divulging way too much, especially after what she had discerned just from being told that one of his skills was evolving.

  Something she said had stuck with him though. She had told him that there were questions she couldn’t answer, which subconsciously made him aware that there were questions he shouldn’t ask, and with how extremely efficient the human brain was, especially with stats now being a thing, that warning only got amplified. Not out of fear or concern, but to combat the fact that he was on a time limit, especially since he had a tendency to argue when told ‘no’ instead of simply moving on.

  It did create a major problem though, where he expected to be told obvious things, even when Tara had insisted on more than one occasion that ‘he didn’t ask’. The odd part was she had answered all his questions, even the ones 2 or 3 tiers above his, telling him what he needed to know and dispelling his concerns about what he didn’t, except for one.

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  Why he’d be hunted down.

  Sal had done something similar, but Tara seemed insistent on reminding Matt to ask. To take off whatever blinders he had on, and question everything, even if the answer was right in front of him.

  “You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?” He asked.

  Tara looked at him, a sorrowful smile on her face. “I’m hiding many things from you,” she answered.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “And you need to be more specific.”

  “Is that what you wanted me to ask about?” He pressed on.

  “I didn’t want you to ask about anything. I just wanted you to be aware of what was holding you back,” she answered, a slight smile on her face.

  “So knowing what is going on won’t help me?” he continued his questions, knowing now that he was on the right path.

  “It won’t as you are now, but it’s definitely something worth keeping in mind, especially since continuing with the trials would mean this won’t be our last meeting,” she answered, giving him a fairly detailed response.

  “So it’s something I need to find out before the end of the tutorial?”

  “Should,” Tara corrected. “Need is a strong word.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Let’s just say your odds of survival will dramatically decrease.”

  “But it won’t present any difficulties during the tutorial?”

  “I’d say being a healer presents enough of it on its own, so no, it’s not a cause for concern,” she answered before looking him straight in the eyes, adding, “during the tutorial.”

  “Well, that got me all worked up for no reason, while being just as cryptic as ever,” Matt complained.

  Tara chuckled at his reaction, looking far more relaxed now. “You’ll be fine. Your biggest hurdle right now is deciding what your next reward should be,” she teased.

  “Right, about my skill,” Matt remembered, “how valuable is information about one’s skills?” He wanted to make asking questions a habit to prevent himself from falling into that trap once more, and no better time to start than the present.

  “Very. If an enemy got their hands on that information, it would be exceedingly bad for you,” she warned.

  “Are you saying that I shouldn’t tell you?” he asked pointedly.

  “I’m saying that right now your primary concern is reaching the point where you could have enemies, which is my goal as well,” she replied, a smile on her face.

  Matt kept looking her in the eye. He didn’t know what her agenda was, she’d made it perfectly clear that they weren’t friends and whatever she was doing was for her own reasons. But, while she was hiding something, she didn’t seem to be lying, which meant she really did want to help him make it through the tutorial period, but whether that was for his benefit or someone else’s, was the yet unanswered question.

  “If I told you, would you use it against me?” he finally asked.

  “No.”

  Satisfied, Matt answered. “I have mana control.”

  “Mana control? How did you even ge–”

  “Sorry, advanced mana control,” he interrupted.

  “Wait, wha…? Ho…? What?” Tara stammered before staring at Matt like she was trying to dig a hole through him, who, for his part, remained unflinching. Confused, but unflinching.

  After a few seconds of Tara staring at him with a mixture of suspicion, bewilderment, and straight out denial, she turned around and started walking to the door, her wine chalice flying next to her.

  “You’re just… leaving?” A confused Matt asked.

  “Nope, nope, nope. You are not dragging me into this,” Tara adamantly refused to answer.

  “Tara? What’s wrong with mana control?” He yelled at the retreating cat as she exited the room, the stone door sliding shut behind her, leaving his question unanswered.

  “Did I just get locked in here?” he muttered out loud, baffled about what the fuck had just happened. He waited a couple more minutes while replaying the conversation in his head, trying to figure out… anything. When she didn’t come back, he sat back down and started scrolling through the list of items, figuring she’ll be back soon enough.

  After a few more minutes of scrolling through endless consumables and mage-tailored gear, all of which looked utterly useless, he finally found an interesting item.

  Gloves of Glorious Sacrifice (rare)

  No race/class restrictions.

  A pair of gloves crafted by a talented leatherworker and enchanted by a genius blood mage.

  Enchant: [Glorious Sacrifice].

  +2 strength

  +2 endurance

  [Glorious Sacrifice]: When activated, the user’s health drains at a rate of 1% current health every 3 seconds. In return, the user gains a 25% stat boost that remains as long as the health drain persists.

  It was absolutely incredible. He did the math in his head and it would take around 160 cycles, or 480 seconds, to get to 20% health, which was exactly 8 minutes of boosted stats. Not only that, but with a skill like [Repair], the stat boost was effectively permanent since he could always heal himself.

  He wanted to pick it right away, but he also felt it sounded too good to be true. Hidden downsides weren’t out of the question, and he’d rather know about them beforehand, so he decided to ask the cat upon her return. He had no idea what had happened, and the time it was taking for her to return was slightly concerning. Still, all he could do for now was browse and wait.

  He put the item at the top of his list, as he started looking for two more potential rewards.

  First, he decided to follow Tara’s advice. Every skill he had seen so far had been of a supportive nature, which was why he was hesitant to get more skills until he learned more about his class and how skills worked in general. While he had been okay with that, figuring he’d unlock one when the need arose, mana wave showed him that it wasn’t that simple as it refused to become a skill, no matter how many times he used it. Having an extra card to play, even if it turned out to be another supporting skill, felt like the safer option. Level 25 was just too far away.

  He had seen the Skill Scroll on the tablet, which was why he had been hesitant. If he could’ve learned individual skills, or ones from other classes, he would’ve jumped at the chance. But the item on hand was just as limiting, while being the only one available. He refocused on the item once more, the description appearing in front of him.

  Skill Scroll (tier 9) (common)

  Consumable

  Item quantity: 1

  No race/class restrictions.

  Upon using the scroll, a class skill selection is presented, offering 3 class skill options. If the user has 10 or more skills unlocked, only 2 class skill options are offered. Lasts for 10 minutes.

  Having it be a class skill selection meant there would likely be no offensive options. And while that wasn’t what he had hoped for, it also wasn’t as bad. Learning a skill right now meant he could start leveling it. Maybe its evolved versions could offer more versatility.

  Another bonus was seeing what other skills his class had. [Knockback], the skill he had been offered at level 5, was the trigger behind his mana wave. Who knew what else he could learn from the skills on offer.

  With his mind made up, he confirmed the reward from the tablet. A worn out scroll tied with linen thread soon appeared in front of him.

  He untied it, and as soon as he did, a new prompt popped up in his vision.

  You have three class skill options available:

  [Mind Wall] (common)

  [Revitalize] (common)

  [Orb of Mending] (uncommon)

  [Orb of Mending]?

  [Revitalize]?

  [Mind Wall].