“Hey! Mister doctor. Whatcha doing out here?”

  Mansol hadn’t seen Maxwell approach him. The man had snuck up on him completely unannounced, almost making him jump out of his skin.

  The guard captain was peak Tier 3, perhaps even Tier 4, whilst Mansol was solidly in the middle of Tier 2.

  That meant that despite Mansol being almost twice his size, the human was likely as physically strong as he, and many times faster.

  “Transporting materials,” Mansol lied, staring at Maxwell out of the corner of his eye as the scruffy man lit a cigarette.

  “Right… the usual?”

  Mansol gave him a long look. “There isn’t a usual. I don’t appreciate the insinuation.”

  Maxwell rolled his eyes, then blew smoke in his face. “I ain’t insinuating shit. You’re a psycho. More kids die on your operating table than out in those caves. If you weren’t a Halfshade, you’d have lost your job years ago.”

  He was exaggerating. Mansol had only murdered two in all his time working here, possibly ruined a couple more. The tiger bore his teeth.

  “Tell me,” The captain started, taking another draw on his cigarette. “Do you work in the kiddie mines because none of ‘em are strong enough to fight back?”

  “Do you?” Mansol asked.

  “Nah. I do it ‘cause it’s easy.”

  Mansol’s so-called ‘materials’ shifted in the cart. It drew both of their attention.

  “So. Shall we see what’s under the tarp?” Maxwell asked.

  “Grr…”

  Mansol hadn’t dealt with Maxwell before. He knew that if he went for the scalpel on his belt, the man would kill him in an instant. His name wouldn’t save him if it came to that.

  But Maxwell apparently knew of Mansol’s… proclivities, and hadn’t immediately attacked him or tried to have him written up for it. It was true that blind eyes had been turned to him by other staff over the years, that he’d been covered for, but Mansol doubted even he could dodge a write-up from the man in charge of security.

  “...what do you want, Maxwell?”

  “Hmm, lemme think…”

  The stirring in the cart began to be accompanied by groaning. Maxwell slapped it with two fingers, his hand moving faster than Mansol’s eyes could register, and the sound quieted. He took another draw on his smoke.

  “Oh! Money.” He hit his palm against his own head. “Duh. Yeah. I think I’d like some money.”

  “How much,” Mansol strained, not used to being shaken down like this.

  Maxwell tapped a finger to his chin. “How much…”

  Gods, how he wanted to rip the smug look off the man’s face. Rake his claws down him just once.

  “First off, let’s see who you’ve got under here.”

  Before Mansol could react, Maxwell had peeled the tarp off.

  “Damn, the Unclassed?” He whistled. “Tattia’s gonna be piiissed.”

  “How much?” Mansol repeated.

  “You know how much that kid was projected to make over the next couple years?” Maxwell laughed.

  “How. Much.”

  “Hmm… three hundred.”

  Mansol stared at him. “That’s robbery.”

  “Yeah, well, your family’s good for it.” Maxwell stuck his pinkie in his ear and twisted a little. “Plus, I’m gonna have to write the report, and dump the kid. It’s honest work.”

  “I can take care of the body,” Mansol protested.

  “Nah. Can’t have your slow ass doing it. If I caught you, someone else will. I’m saving you getting shaken down twice.”

  Mansol… couldn’t really argue with that. And he hated it.

  Bartering like this disgusted him. The fact he couldn’t fight his way through this situation only enraged him further.

  But, in the end, he conceded. It was all he could do.

  “Fine. Come to my office when you want your money.”

  “Alright. Nice doing business.”

  Maxwell flicked his cigarette. He then bent down and grabbed the boy from the cart before running from the scene faster than a horse galloped.

  ***

  “Troublesome little shit, ain’t ya?”

  Maxwell had worked many jobs over the course of his life. He’d spent most of it as a mercenary, wandering from town to city in search of keeps to defend, skirmishes to engage in, or tournaments to fight.

  He’d had a brief stint as an adventurer. He’d spent some time as a city guard. He’d even held down a job for three months as an executioner.

  Plus whatever odd jobs he’d managed to get on the road. Time spent as a farmhand, as an escort, as a bartender, he didn’t care as long as it put coins in his pocket. It was only happenstance that had led to him finding his current position, which was safer than what he was used to, plus better paid.

  The point was, Maxwell had done a lot in his life. But whether he was fighting knighted men, serving powerful lords, scrubbing toilets, or picking radishes, he’d never had quite the same experience as he was having right now.

  It was one you rarely heard about. It didn’t happen to many people, and those it did happen to scarcely shared the details. It was a strange phenomenon, one Maxwell could barely make heads or tails of, nor remotely discern the purpose of.

  [Quest received!]

  [Intervene and save the child. Place him below ground. Stabilise him. In return, you will receive one skill evolution.]

  He’d gotten the message just as soon as he’d seen the doctor pushing a cart through the dark cave. Maxwell had left his post and haggled over the boy, getting some coin for his efforts. Then, he’d taken him and begun to fulfill his instructions.

  “Why are you so special?” he asked the unconscious, Unclassed child, his limp body rattling against Maxwell’s shoulder as he ran.

  No answer. Guess that was to be expected.

  Maxwell was forty-five now, though he didn’t look it; his high Tier was doing work to stave off the effects of aging. He imagined he’d be eighty before he looked his current age.

  And he also imagined he’d turn eighty without ever knowing why he’d been tasked to save this boy, or ever receiving a quest again.

  Were the gods just random do-gooders, or was he part of something greater here?

  He put the thought out of his mind. It didn’t matter. Maybe a different person would sit around and ponder that shit endlessly. For him, the job and the reward were more than good enough. A skill evolution was a big thing when one was at Maxwell’s level, and took a fair bit of time to force.

  With it, he’d likely evolve one of his Rare abilities into an Epic, or perhaps his single Epic would turn into a Supreme. His only current Epic was a movement-based ability, [Lightning Strike]. It allowed him to move much faster than any normal human for short periods, with great amounts of control in his motion. It was fairly mana-intensive, but powerful in short bursts.

  Evolving that ability to Supreme would likely have taken him ten years at his current trajectory. With such a boost, Maxwell could even see himself reaching Tier 5 within a few years.

  Maxwell was still early in Tier 4, having progressed to that level six years ago, and had always assumed he would reach Tier 5 by the time he was a hundred, then live out the remaining hundred years or so in relative peace with the gold he’d amassed in his first hundred years of life.

  Tier 6’s lived much longer than Tier 5’s, some to five-hundred. That boundary truly separated the strong from the weak, but it was incredibly difficult to achieve. Reaching Tier 5 at a hundred or so, Maxwell had assumed further progression would be impossible for him, especially once his body began to decline. He might’ve been able to hit it at eighty if he trained hard enough, but even those remaining years would be a coin flip on whether he could progress further, all in an attempt to outrun death. It didn’t sound like a very enjoyable life path to him.

  But this might change all of that. There was a good chance that if he received a Supreme ability right now, or even a second Epic skill, the increased money he’d be able to earn and resources as well as training he’d be able to access would push him to new heights. It might take five years for him to reach Tier 5, maybe ten, but he’d do it. He’d do it so much faster.

  And that would bring Tier 6 into reach. After that? He didn’t even know about the requirements for Tier 7. There were only a very small number of them in each country. Tier 6’s were rare enough already. He’d assume that goal was completely out of reach, even if this one, maybe, incredibly wasn’t.

  It was hard to say until he chose his upgrade. Epics didn’t always turn into Supremes, just as Rares didn’t always become Epics. He might even be luckier than that, and receive a fabled Legendary skill, or perhaps something worse.

  He’d see soon. First he had to drop this kid off.

  Weird that he’d been asked to leave him ‘below ground’. Wouldn’t he just get eaten down here? He didn’t have a weapon on him or anything.

  Oh, well. Who was he to question a god?

  He ran through the caves, avoiding the densest pockets of mist, searching until he found a flat area that he considered to be sufficiently out of the way.

  He placed the boy down, just to find that a small delegation of fanged, wolf-like monsters had come to inspect the child.

  Maxwell could’ve unleashed his aura and sent them away, but he decided to simply murder them instead.

  A jump and three slashes later, they were mincemeat on the floor.

  Maxwell walked towards the first corpse, digging around in search of the monster’s core. They wouldn’t be worth much to him, but no reason to waste ‘em.

  Then, he heard a sputter from the child he’d laid out, and cursed as he fished a health potion out of his inventory, rushing back over as he did.

  “Oops. No reward if you die…”

  He pressed the potion to the boy’s mouth, tilting the lid until a small quantity flooded his mouth.

  He held his head up as the boy coughed some more, twitched, and eventually swallowed. He watched as the boy’s injuries began to slowly recede.

  Maxwell gave him another sip of potion just to be sure. He looked up at the ceiling, mentally questioning if he’d done his job properly or not.

  It took a second, but Maxwell received another notification.

  [Quest Complete. Skill Evolution granted.]

  [Please visit your Skills tab to choose which skill you would like to evolve.]

  Wow. It really had been that simple. To think he was about to unlock something that would’ve taken years of sweat otherwise, just because his system had told him he could.

  Kinda made him feel insignificant. Oh well.

  Maxwell navigated towards his skill tab, there he saw a new option available: [Refine].

  He selected [Lightning Strike] and hit accept. He waited a few moments—nothing happened.

  Then he felt his core light up.

  He hadn’t felt this level of energy ricocheting around in his body since he’d evolved to Tier 4 years ago. It was painful. He panted and shook as he felt the hand of fate reach into him and pull out something he never could have unearthed on his own, potential he didn’t even know that he had.

  [Skill evolution complete. Lightning Strike (epic) has evolved to Meteoric Rush (supreme).]

  Huh. No options. When you manually evolved skills, you got to pick what you wanted.

  Still, this was a Supreme…

  He could scarcely believe he even had it. He’d never heard of Meteoric Rush before, but part of that was likely owing to the fact that knowledge on Supreme skills was well-guarded and extremely expensive.

  This was incredible. To think he’d done so little to achieve it. Maxwell truly had won today.

  He decided to take his new skill for an immediate spin. He tore through the cave systems at a blistering pace, the level of speed and control he felt at least fifty percent higher than what he’d previously been capable of.

  And that was just at level one. He couldn’t wait until he’d gotten used to this thing, gotten some more points in it. He might even be able to enroll in racing tournaments with an ability like this, or become a noteworthy assassin.

  He coughed as he caught his breath, realising his brief sprint had taken to him to a more mist-heavy part of the cave.

  He couldn’t deal with this for long. Maxwell was fast, but he was lacking in constitution even compared to Tier 3’s, a big reason he’d gotten out of mercenary work. Reaching Tier 5 would likely change that, but for now, he needed to be careful about what dangers he put himself in.

  Maxwell made the ascent back to the surface, laughing and wooping as he went, intermittently sprinting ahead with his new ability every time he entered a stretch straight enough.

  The boy he’d left behind didn’t cross his mind for hours.

  ***

  I awoke with a sudden gasp, feeling a rough tongue work itself over my hand.

  A… dog?

  The moment I opened my eyes, I realised it most certainly was not a dog. Moreover, it was licking blood off of me.

  I punched the rift creature by instinct, scrambling and pulling myself back as quickly as I could, yelling in sheer panic.

  The monster didn’t seem amused. It snarled and bit at the air, locking eyes with me. It approached slowly, looking ready to pounce at any moment.

  It took concerted effort for me to remember that [Hoard], or the weapon I had stashed in there, even existed. I used my mind more than my hands to pull it out and deposit the gun in my lap.

  I barely managed to fire in time as the monster pounced, bullets ripping into its chest as it jumped atop me and attempted to bite my neck.

  Teeth pierced my cheek as I activated [Flame Body], instantly rebuffing the monster, forcing its canines out of my face as the barrier worked to resist its maw.

  I used mana-infused attacks to kick at the creature, to punch it, but the monster was heavy, as well as hardy. None of my punches seemed to deal damage. None of my kicks were enough to get it off me.

  Well, if that wasn’t going to work…

  I went for a different approach. I instead wrapped my arms around the monster’s back, pushed as much mana into [Flame Body] as I possibly could, and hugged the creature as tightly as possible.

  [Would you like to store—]

  I hit yes on a whim. Maybe my [Hoard] was strong enough now. I could hope.

  [Level 3 Hoard is not powerful enough to store living creatures.]

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I felt my body heating up immensely. The wolf-like thing continued to bite at me, to snarl, to yelp and whimper as I wrapped my legs around its rear, ensuring it couldn’t escape from me.

  The monster bit down on my shoulder, pushing through my barrier, causing me to scream.

  I didn’t let up. I squeezed around my enemy tighter, even when that pressure only pushed its long fangs deeper into my body, I kept on going. I felt it thrash against me as each pulse of blinding heat sent another thrashing whine through the monster’s frame, its motions becoming increasingly frantic, then tired.

  The pelt of the creature above me began to melt away. Its pants became more desperate, more strained.

  It released my shoulder eventually, trying to escape.

  I couldn’t let it. If I let the monster regroup, it would only attack me again. I might not get another chance to subdue it.

  I held on until the wolf could no longer fight back, until the ricochets within its body became tremors and its pants turned to dying breaths.

  I received another storage notification. Hoping that it was finally dead, that it might get the burgeoning creature off of me, I hit ‘yes’.

  Thankfully, this time, it worked. I felt the monster disappear, as if it had never been there, and an immense pressure was lifted from my chest.

  [Grappling: 6 >> 7.]

  [Flame Body: 6 >> 7.]

  [Pain Tolerance: 9 >> 10. Hard cap reached.]

  I disregarded the notifications, immediately reaching into my [Hoard] and withdrawing a superior health pot.

  My second of three had just over half left, now half exactly as I used the miracle concoction to wash my latest injury away.

  Well… not entirely. It must’ve bitten really deep, never mind how much it was ragging at me, because I’d never had something scar after using this potion before. But there was a jagged white line in my shoulder now, beneath the ripped jumpsuit, even long after the potion should’ve finished doing its job.

  I stared at my new scar as I tried to re-align my senses and understand what the hell was going on. How had I ended up here?

  I’d gone to get my finger reattached. I’d taken the excess plants to the doctor…

  The doctor! He’d attacked me!

  Why? I couldn’t think of a single reason that the rift’s doctor would attack me. He’d seemed… pretty pleasant, all things considered. We’d even started talking about Toar, and…

  Wait. Was he… connected to Toar, somehow?

  I didn’t see why he would be. They were both beastkin, sure, but it wasn’t like they were the same species. I supposed they could still know each other regardless. But if that was the case, why attack me randomly? Had he wanted to kill me for what I did to Toar? Or what he thought I did? Did he perhaps know Selsor instead?

  This was all speculation. It could be for a completely different reason. One I wasn’t remotely aware of. All I truly knew was that he’d attacked me, and it was like no attack I’d ever received in my life.

  I only remembered the first strike. I was pretty sure he shattered multiple ribs. Honestly, the fact I’d been able to fight that monster just now still carrying that injury had to be a testament to how much [Pain Tolerance] was doing for me—I’d barely felt the pressure on my chest as we fought.

  Still, the fact that a single strike from that doctor had managed to do so much damage to me… What was he? A Tier 2? A Tier 3? He was some kind of monster, surely, to possess strength like that. There was certainly nothing I could do to fight someone that powerful. It took every trick I had to take down Toar.

  And… I’d been dumped down here to die. That or presumed dead already.

  Presumed dead by a powerful enemy who would quite likely attack me again the moment I emerged from this place. He’d done it once, what was to stop him from doing it twice? Even if he wouldn’t try and kill me out in the open, whatever his motives, I couldn’t simply rely on that, nor could I constantly surround myself with others as a means to protect myself. People had to sleep sometime.

  Dealing with Toar had been one thing. Toar hadn’t been actively trying to kill me. Just shake me down. Plus, he was a teenager, a Tier 1 fighter. A group leader, sure, but no more connected than that. At least, as far as I’d known at the time…

  I rubbed my head as I tried to get everything straight in it. This was a staff member. I couldn’t just lead him off somewhere and trap him. Hell, there was a chance he could just kill me in broad daylight and get away with it! Guards here didn’t even intervene when kids were getting attacked by monsters, who was to know what they’d let their own get away with? Who was going to hold someone that important accountable?

  The only thing I knew was that I couldn’t simply return to the surface. That wouldn’t just be ill-advised, it would be a death sentence.

  I fished the face mask I’d constructed for myself out of my [Hoard], realising the air around me was stifled and thick with mist. Too much of this and I’d start to lose my mind. I could already feel myself panicking, my thoughts racing. And while I wasn’t sure if it was the result of the mist or of the situation I’d been thrust in, I knew it wasn’t quite like me.

  I slipped the mask on, and while it wasn’t incredibly comfortable, the air cleared up immediately. Again, it was almost as good as being out in nature. I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to clear my head, and checked my surroundings.

  There were multiple dead wolves besides the one I’d stored. Had they fought over me?

  No… they looked sliced apart. Into multiple pieces, in some cases.

  They must’ve attacked the doctor while he was dumping me down here. That was the only logical conclusion I could draw.

  If he could make mincemeat out of multiple opponents like this while I could barely kill one, that was all the more credence to my assumption that he wasn’t an enemy I could beat, or even ambush using Control-Stoned monsters.

  Maybe if I had more fierce monsters… a lot of them… how many Control Stones would I need for that? And of what grade?

  It was a shaky idea at best. What was I going to do? Wander back into camp with a fleet of monsters and attack the rift’s doctor? I’d be executed without a doubt, assuming I even got to him without a guard dispatching me first.

  No… that wouldn’t work. The aboveground wasn’t a safe environment for me. Neither was this place. It was only a matter of time until I ran into more enemies like these ones.

  Speaking of which, I could use to be better prepared. I reached into my [Hoard], grabbed my knife and its sheath, and put it on my belt.

  Honestly, the fact I’d attempted to burn the wolf to death rather than gone for my knife and stabbed it told me my instincts needed work—I needed to get more used to using this weapon.

  I drew it then, attempting to take a stance with it. Me and Naska had never progressed to knife training, nor even to real swords, but the basic grounding I’d gained in [Swordsmanship] was helping here. It was at least showing me how to stand, though the specifics of lunging and parrying seemed to be largely defunct whilst using a knife.

  Oh well. I wasn’t good at those anyway, and this was better than nothing.

  I returned to considering what I was going to do next. The prospect of sneaking back through camp while no one was looking for me and attempting to access the portal home crossed my mind, but that came with obvious difficulties.

  Even if I was able to get past all of the staff working in the caves, I knew that at the other end of that portal laid the interior of a building owned by the Rift Delving Association, and that it’d be damn near impossible for me to bluff my way through returning unattended—forget trying to fight my way through…

  Then there was the option to go back to my group. To tell them about all of this. To tell Naska and maybe to even barter with Grhinda and attempt to fight back against whoever on the staff wanted me dead.

  Wanted me dead… that was assuming this wasn’t a random attack. That the doctor wasn’t just some murderous psycho who attacked me for fun.

  Didn’t matter. Either way, even imagining a best-case scenario, one in which I won support from my own group, from Naska’s, and even secured assistance from Grhinda… what would we do next?

  Vulrak would stamp out a group like that before it could even be formed. There was another large group in the mines that wouldn’t stand for it either.

  I sat, hands drumming frustratedly as I attempted to figure out my way forwards. Everything was pointing me back towards the facility, and while I’d been planning to go for a while now, I didn’t feel quite prepared. Even still…

  There was another portal there. If that led me anywhere near home, maybe I could use that to get out of here.

  Even if not, finishing my quest alone would grant me a [Major Advancement], whatever that was. Major was a pretty hefty-sounding word. Would it be something that shored up the difference between me and a Tier 2 or 3 adult? I doubted it. But it would be something significant. That I had faith in.

  Between that, the crystals that existed in this cave, and the weapons and items I’d found even during a brief previous search, it seemed reasonable for me to assume that I could use this time, down here alone, everyone believing I was missing or dead, to massively increase my own power.

  That said, I wasn’t remotely sure where I was, nor how far I’d wound up from the facility.

  Toar had once said that there were three things to know about the underground, and the most important was how to traverse it. Getting out was one thing. Finding a specific spot was another entirely.

  And until I found that facility and got that portal open, I was stuck here with what I had. I had to make what I’d gathered until now last, and collect more useful items if possible. Anything that kept me alive or made me more powerful was a priority, but I had plenty of space in my [Hoard]. Even the massive wolf carcass only took up less than a quarter of it. I could grab valuables as well, assuming I located any.

  I reached back into my [Hoard] and took out the body armour I’d previously found inside the facility, pulling it over my head and fastening the straps as tight I could. Even then it hung loose. I wondered if I might be able to combine it with a better-fitting piece of clothing, but decided I’d hold off until I found a second vest to attempt the combination with, not wanting to ruin my only existing armour.

  While in my [Hoard], I spied the wolf I’d stored. I decided to read its description.

  [Madmaw: A monster with four eyes and four legs that mostly resembles a canine. Found in sub-rift 371, this creature holds the instincts of both predators and prey, its prey drive kicking in whilst hungry, its flight instinct stronger otherwise. Possesses powerful hind legs, able to jump long distances.][Resistant to poison and disease. Struggles with extreme temperatures. Said to have gamey meat. Core is typically E-D Grade. Height at shoulder, 3 foot and 3 inches. Length, 3 foot and 9 inches. Weight: 160.8lbs. Average lifespan (in the wild): 3-6 years.]

  That… was a lot of information. I wasn’t sure if it was complete information, either, but I did gain confirmation that heat was a good means to deal with them.

  Then there was something about a core… what exactly was that?

  I stared at the message for a little while before making yet another realisation. The [Deconstruct] option existed for the carcass in my [Hoard]. I could use that to cut the beast down.

  Would it simply give me the predominant pieces of the wolf? Would it keep a percentage of the creature like it had with the box?

  [Break Down creature? You will receive 48 lbs of edible meat, 10.6lbs of organs, a 39.4lb pelt, 19.5lbs of poor-quality meat, 21.4lbs of inedible meat, 12.3 lbs of bones, a 5lb monster core, and two 2.3lb fangs. Cost: 2 silver.]

  …nope. I added it up, and these numbers coincided fully with the total weight listed. That said, breaking the pieces down automatically would cost me two silver pieces…

  Seemed worth it. I didn’t have much use for coins right now, and I didn’t know my way around skinning a monster, either. Let alone how to accurately remove bones, or even where a core was located.

  I selected ‘yes’, and as two silvers left my inventory, I watched the corpse break down into multiple sections.

  Once done, I realised that not only did the consummate parts of the madmaw take up a bit less space once broken down, but I could also remove anything I didn’t need.

  I quickly judged bones as mostly useless, hanging onto only a few in case I ever decided to make a broth. I also discarded multiple organs, including the creature’s brain.

  The meat, thankfully, was separated into three separate sections denoting its quality.

  I kept all of it. Even meat branded ‘inedible’ might be useful as bait or something else, and I wasn’t lacking in space.

  Besides, it wasn’t like I had to smell the inside of my [Hoard].

  Then there were the fangs. Upon inspection, I found them to be hard enough that I could strike them against walls and stalagmites with the force of [Flame Body] behind my swings and they still wouldn’t crack.

  I decided to leave them on my belt. Back up weapons in case I dropped my knife, or if it somehow broke.

  The pelt itself was valuable, worth three to five gold at an estimate. It had a strong smell to it, I discovered upon pulling it out, but it was warm, soft, and appeared to be dry and free of gristle. If needs-be, I could use it to sleep.

  Finally, there was the monster’s core. It was a [D Grade Beast Core (Common)].

  A letter grading and a rarity grading? What did that mean?

  [D Grade Beast Core (common): A core that retains properties associated with the aspect of the beast, emphasising savagery, hunting instinct, focus, and heightened senses. Cores can be consumed to further core evolution, used as catalysts in the casting of spells, or spent as a focus when refining spells and skills. Grades denote the strength of the associated monster and the power of the associated aspect. Rarity denotes the rarity of said aspect. Estimated value: 12 gold pieces.]

  I pulled it out of my [Hoard] and stared at it. It was a little thing, like a marble, but strangely heavy.

  To think this tiny stone was worth more than all the money I’d made in my life up until a couple months ago.

  Also, to think it could be used to refine my skills… Could I use it when combining skills also?

  I checked over my existing skill levels:

  [Subject name: Adam Tallow.]

  [Bloodline: Rat]

  [Skill list:]

  [Flame Body (rare): 7]

  [Pickaxe Mastery: 10]

  [Pain Tolerance: 10]

  [Throwing: 9]

  [Running: 9]

  [Persuasion: 9]

  [Intimidation: 8]

  [Sleight of Hand: 8]

  [Climbing: 7]

  [Trap-making: 7]

  [Tinkering: 7]

  [Perception: 7]

  [Grappling: 7]

  [Haggling: 7]

  [Jumping: 6]

  [Stealth: 6]

  [Literacy: 6]

  [Mathematics: 6]

  [Mining: 5]

  [Polishing: 5]

  [Cooking: 4]

  [Whittling: 3]

  [Swordsmanship: 3]

  [Marksmanship: 3]

  [Pain Tolerance] was ready and waiting for evolution. Did I want to combine it, or refine it?

  I ran through possible pairings in my head. [Pickaxe Mastery] felt as if it were pointless to combine with anything but [Mining], and was likely a better candidate for refinement. A combination of [Pain Tolerance] and [Intimidation] or [Persuasion] sounded interesting, almost like something Selsor might’ve had, but didn’t help me at all in the immediate.

  Adding another skill to [Flame Body] sounded good, but I might not like what came out of it. That skill was my bread and butter right now, and I wasn’t willing to mess with it.

  [Swordsmanship] seemed the most obvious candidate. It was either that or [Grappling], but I settled on my first choice.

  I didn’t have a sword with me. I was likely going to be more reliant on [Flame Body] and projectiles than anything, and combining [Unarmed Combat] previously hadn’t made me forget how to throw a punch or kick. It’d made me a little more sluggish in the immediate, but I felt as if I’d already overcome the setback.

  It made sense. I didn’t need to justify the combination more than that.

  Before anything, I checked the corpses of the other madmaws around me, and after breaking them down, pocketed four more cores, two of which were Beast Cores, both E Grade, and the other two were labelled Slashing and Rest Cores, also graded E.

  It was then that I found I could slot multiple cores into the ‘material sacrifice’ section of my [Skill Combination] menu. After placing the D Grade Beast Core and two E Grades, the number on the screen instead read ‘D+’.

  I tried throwing in another core, an [E Grade Slashing Core (uncommon)] that I had found, and the material offering morphed again, its letter grading reverting to D and the blue marble that signified the Beast Core collecting a series of white lines inside of it, all of them moving and glowing.

  I took the final core and tried to slot that inside, too, but that addition was enough for the amalgam core inside to be notated as ‘D-’, the marble’s colour losing some of its shine as its colour shifted a darker blue.

  I thought about it hard. Did I want to offer up a core that utilised all of these aspects? Even if it made the overall offering of a lower quality? Was more effects always better, or would it dilute the result? Was I even guaranteed to get an ability that decently represented three different aspects, plus the core skills I’d put in?

  Also, did I not wish to consume any of these cores?

  After some thought, I decided to remove the common Rest Core from my offering and sacrificed only the Beast and Slashing Cores. I decided to throw fifty gold into the offering, too. The more materials I sacrificed, the better the results, right?

  The moment I hit accept, I felt the static buzz of power whirling around my body. It was as if, for a moment, all of my mana had woken up, even the large portion of it I struggled to control.

  It wasn’t painful. It was empowering. It made me feel like a god.

  That sensation left not long after it began, but in its place, there was wonder.

  A new system screen stood in front of me. I read it slowly.

  [Material Sacrifice of Aspects has resulted in increased combination choices.]

  [Please choose from the following options:]

  [Brutal Strike (uncommon): Sacrificing defence, user is able to spend a period of time charging a powerful attack and unleash it. User passively senses good areas to strike.]

  [Savage Reflex (uncommon): User’s senses are heightened, pain is dulled, and agility is passively increased, increasingly so when taking or receiving damage. Toggle ability.]

  [Slicing Tornado (semi-rare): a slashing attack that incorporates wind mana, can be executed with or without a weapon. Most effective when utilised via a sword. Effective versus soft-tissue.]

  Damn. Last time I’d combined abilities, I’d been given a single option. Sure, that single option had been [Flame Body], and it was incredible, but this felt a lot harder to figure out.

  Of course, my eyes drifted straight to the semi-rare ability. It was the rarest. That meant it was the best, didn’t it? That taking anything else was a downgrade?

  Not exactly. I didn’t even have a sword. Plus, my intrinsic understanding of how to utilise my mana was still terrible. I could just about access it via use of [Flame Body], but would I be able to use both [Flame Body] and [Slicing Tornado] simultaneously? Both asked for different types of mana. Could I reasonably expect my body to convert mana into two types at once?

  Even if I could, how strong was the slashing attack, especially without the correct weapon to back it up? It wasn’t like I got to trial run these abilities and see how good they were.

  It said it was effective versus soft-tissue. What if my opponent had armour?

  I skipped to Brutal Strike just to make sure I could discount it. It was a powerful-sounding ability for a brawler, sure, but for me?

  I didn’t exactly have a powerful attack to bolster. I barely weighed anything. Not to mention, I wasn’t durable enough to take hits right now. Even with [Flame Body] running at full capacity, I couldn’t prevent that madmaw from sinking its teeth in after a few attempts.

  What I needed more than anything was ways to move better. Dodging, striking faster, getting out from pins, and having the focus necessary to fight even through heavy pain and bleeding sounded a far cry better to me than a nebulous wind mana skill that I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to use properly, and that might burn through my mana reserves in seconds.

  I locked in [Savage Reflex]. As soon as I did so, I felt a sheen of focus descend over me.

  Everything looked sharper. I could approximate the ends of the room and even see a little further beyond. Even in the endless dark, I could make out faint outlines.

  I heard distant movement. I felt my stomach rumble.

  I wanted to find the facility. But on my way there, I wanted to find more cores. I could test my new ability in the process.

  And, more than anything, there was a new desire being stoked within me.

  A desire to hunt.