The moment Ethan selected the skill and confirmed it was the option he wanted, knowledge unlike anything he had ever experienced entered his mind and body. It was akin to cramming years and years of information into his head in the span of seconds. The sheer volume of it was staggering. His thoughts immediately slowed beneath the weight of it while a sharp ache began building behind his eyes.
His footing faltered and he stumbled, bringing a hand to his temple as another wave of information slammed into him. He had experienced similar sensations before when learning skills, but this was entirely different. Magnitudes greater. Magnitudes more complex. Even compared to [Mana Infusion], this made the earlier skill look like a child learning how to walk. Ethan had never possessed a true magical skill before. Not one that allowed him to properly manipulate mana beyond the confines of his own body. Looking back, he realized he had vastly underestimated what that actually meant. He had assumed mana manipulation couldn't be that difficult. After all, he had already managed to release molten mana through brute force and determination. But now that he was seeing the proper methods laid out before him, he could only laugh at his own ignorance.
The truth was he had been a barbarian.
Every breakthrough he had achieved so far had come from forcing the issue. Blocking pathways with aura. Restricting flow. Pressurizing mana until it exploded from his body. Effective? Certainly. Elegant? Not even remotely. The information flooding into him made that abundantly clear. Concepts that had once seemed impossible now felt obvious. He was shown how mana could be guided through the pores of the skin without damaging the body. How ambient mana could be manipulated and drawn upon. How released mana could be influenced beyond the moment it left his body. Most importantly, he was shown just how little he actually knew.
The torrent of knowledge seemed endless. Every answer brought three more questions. Every revelation uncovered another layer beneath it. Ethan quickly understood that he wasn't going to understand or process all the knowledge immediately. But what he had been given was a foundation. An absurdly advanced one, but a foundation nonetheless. Even so, what little he could grasp amidst the chaos was enough to make his heart race with excitement. The possibilities alone were staggering. He wanted to begin experimenting immediately.
Unfortunately, his body had other ideas.
For a moment he tried to continue toward town. The attempt lasted all of three steps. Between the pounding headache and the wound in his leg, his body quickly informed him that continuing was a terrible idea. Ethan eventually relented. He lowered himself onto the ground where he stood. The cool evening air drifted through the forest canopy overhead. It did little to alleviate the pressure building inside his skull, but it was something.
His gaze drifted back down the path.
Thankfully he had managed to make it around the bend before collapsing. At least now he didn't look like an idiot to the guard stationed near the dungeon entrance. Ethan didn't particularly feel like dealing with questions right now. So with nobody around to bother him, he closed his eyes and focused on enduring the influx of information.
By the time the worst of it finally subsided, Ethan had come to two separate realizations.
The first was that he was perhaps a little special.
Looking back on his mana journey felt almost embarrassing. Not because he hadn't worked hard. He had. He had spent countless hours experimenting. Countless hours trying to incorporate mana into his fighting style. Yet despite all that effort, he now understood he had barely scratched the surface. Even [Mana Infusion], a skill he had been proud of mastering, suddenly seemed far more flexible than he had originally believed. The information he had just received contained dozens of ways to improve it. Dozens of methods for increasing efficiency, reducing waste and directing power exactly where it needed to go. The closest comparison Ethan could think of was that he had been a child, and now he had advanced all the way to graduating school.
The second realization was considerably more daunting.
This skill was different.
Even without sorting through all the information, Ethan could tell that much. Something about it felt fundamentally distinct from any other skill he had ever encountered. Part of that was undoubtedly due to the amount of PO he had spent. Three and a half thousand points. The thought alone was absurd. Most people on the second floor likely hadn't seen even half that amount. Looking back on his previous life, Ethan was beginning to wonder if this was the sort of thing that separated the truly monstrous individuals from everyone else. The people who stood at the top. The pillars. The names remembered throughout the trials.
Was it because of primordial energies? The energies in their purest form. The original source from which lesser variations had branched. Of course Ethan had heard about them. And it was a known fact that the sage had known each primordial element. But he was only just realizing what that actually meant.
A thought entered his mind and Ethan found himself sucking in a breath.
What would happen if he upgraded it?
What would happen if he merged it?
How powerful could a primordial affinity become once it was allowed to grow?
The thought alone sent excitement coursing through him.
With almost childlike enthusiasm, Ethan forgot all about the headache that had well and truly settled in. He forgot about the pain in his leg. Forgot about the aura constantly being consumed as [Aura Overload] attempted to repair the damage. Instead, he looked around at his surroundings. Tall pines stretched in every direction. The path wound through the forest in tight bends while the night continued to settle overhead. Some of his excitement dimmed.
This wasn't the place.
Even if it had been, his core was practically empty. Instead of trying to unleash Worldfire immediately, he closed his eyes and focused inward. He reached out with his senses, searching for the ambient mana surrounding him. To his surprise it answered almost instantly. Gentle streams of energy drifted through the forest, weaving between trees and flowing through the world unnoticed. Ethan grasped them carefully and drew them toward himself and into his core.
—~~—
Ally looked toward the armory, where her dad was currently hammering away at another one of his projects. God how he was obsessed with that shop. Ever since they stopped looking for her mom he had retreated into there. But she knew the truth. She was well aware of their place in these trials. They were nothing. Bottom feeders offered a role in a small town, surrounded by a bunch of dweebs and uneducated buffoons who thought surviving another day somehow counted as living. They woke up, worked, ate and slept, all while pretending they were making progress. Her father was no different. He hid behind a forge and convinced himself that repairing armor for stronger people was enough.
But Rish was different. Was it because he could actually hold an educated conversation that attracted her? Or was it because their goals aligned so perfectly it felt like fate had shoved them together? She didn't know. What she did know was that unlike everyone else in Conevil, Rish understood the world. Understood that power wasn't given. It was taken. The trials rewarded the strong and buried the weak beneath their boots. If someone died and their levels became available to claim, then someone was going to take them eventually. Why shouldn't it be them? They had started small. A traveler here. An adventurer there. People who wouldn't be missed immediately. Rish would slip something into their drink. Something to dull their senses and slow their reactions. Then they would follow them into the forest where Ally's illusions and Rish's blades would do the rest. It had worked beautifully.
Yet recently she had found herself thinking less about random adventurers and more about Ethan.
The thought alone caused her jaw to tighten.
She still remembered the conversation in the courtyard. Remembered the way he had looked at her. Remembered his warning. Bite off more than you can chew. The memory irritated her more than it should have. It wasn't the words themselves. It was the confidence behind them. The certainty. As if he knew something they didn't. As if he had already judged them and found them lacking. She hated that. Hated the strength he carried so casually. Hated the hushed whispers the guards spoke about him. Most of all she hated that she wanted what he had.
She needed what he had. And so, she would take it. How many levels would he give her?
Ethan had been challenging the dungeon for days. Everyone knew it. The guards talked about it constantly. Yet he still hadn't returned. Which meant one of two things. He was dead. Or he was injured. Either way, they hadn't hunted anyone on that side of town for days. The guards had focused most of their attention around the more recent killings. It was the perfect time to return to old hunting grounds, to her first hunting grounds. It would be fitting to take out her strongest prey yet.
By the time she convinced herself, she had entered the tavern. Rish glanced up from polishing a glass and immediately knew something was on her mind. The man always seemed to know. His dark eyes studied her for a moment before a familiar smile spread across his face.
"What is it?" he asked.
She looked around the bar and cast an illusion, making it seem like they were discussing something else. “I have a target.”
His smile widened. “And who would that be?”
“The boy you sent my way. Ethan.”
Rish set the glass down. “Why him. I gathered that he was strong enough. But why?”
“Because he’s late from his run. Meaning he’s either injured or dead. It's the perfect time. And like you said. He's strong. He will give us lots of levels, then we can get off this small island.”
“Is that so. But I’ve still got more work here I need to do.”
Ally rolled her eyes and leaned forward.
“Haven’t you heard the way the guards speak about him? Apparently he's got some kind of special treatment. They let him into the dungeon whenever he wants. Some of them even said he's high up with the Broken Dawns."
“How high?”
"I don't know. Important somehow. But enough to get you off this island if you succeed.”
The rogue leaned back in his chair. The smile never left his face, if anything it grew wider. Ally knew she had him.
"Important people tend to have important rewards."
She nodded, brushing some hair from her face and pushed up closer against the bar. “So will you do it?”
"Dangerous."
"He'll be injured."
"Dangerous and injured."
"We can take him. You can take him."
Rish looked at her. For a moment she thought he might refuse. Then he laughed softly.
"Perfect. I'll get my stuff.”
The pair moved through the forest not long after that. Ally kept an illusion wrapped around them while they traveled. She had gotten considerably better at them now that she had upgraded the skill. It made it a walk in the park to keep the guards off their backs and the kill sites with no clues. So they moved unhindered until eventually they reached the road leading away from the dungeon.
Then she spotted him. He was sitting on the road, a short way from the dungeon. Even from a distance she could tell something was wrong. She could see blood soaking from a bandage on his leg. Could sense mana flowing into him as he meditated.
The sight filled her with confidence. Rish saw it too. If he was meditating, then he was completely unaware of the outside world.
Neither of them needed to speak. This was their chance.
Ally expanded her illusion over the area while Rish drew his blades. The spell wrapped around them both, hiding their presence just in case. Then, when they were close enough, Ally dropped the concealment and launched the first phase of the attack.
Ethan's eyes snapped open as soon as the illusion dropped. The man surged to his feet. Then his injured leg buckled and he slipped.
A curse escaped him.
Relief washed through Ally, even though she was unsure what gave them away. At least his leg was worse than it seemed.
Mana flowed through her channels as dozens of illusionary figures appeared throughout the forest. Armed men and women rushed Ethan from every direction. At the same moment Rish attacked.
Her rogue exploded forward. His blades streaked toward Ethan's throat, ready to take his life and give them power.
A curved blade appeared in Ethan's hand seemingly from nowhere as he ignored her illusions and blocked Rish's blade.
Ally frowned. He was competent but she had expected that. The illusions would handle the rest anyway. Nobody could ignore that many attackers forever.
Yet even as a robed figure sent a spear through Ethan's abdomen he never reacted. His attention remained fixed entirely on Rish as he blocked attacks faster than Ally could keep up with.
It was as though the illusionary soldiers didn't even exist. The realization annoyed her. He should be withering on the ground from the phantom pain, screaming in agony while they finished him off.
She pushed more mana into the spell. More attackers appeared. The forest became crowded with charging figures. Surely now he would understand.
Then Ethan's leg gave out again as he was forced backwards from Rish's attacks.
They had him. Even if her illusions weren’t entirely working, his injury would be enough. She dropped the spell and began to call on her only attack skill. Ready to pounce when the opening presented itself.
Rish seemed to realize he was weak too, because his attacks became more aggressive. Her rogue drove Ethan backwards step by step. Twice Ethan stumbled. Twice he nearly fell. Ally could see blood continuing to seep through the bandages around his leg.
Then Ethan looked up as he shoved Rish to the side.
Their eyes met and something about the look made her stomach tighten.
There was no fear. No panic. No desperation. Just annoyance. As if they were inconveniencing him.
The ground cracked. At first Ally thought she had imagined it. Then another crack appeared and another.
Glowing lines spread outward from Ethan's feet.
Orange light shone from within them.
The fractures raced across the road and into the forest floor. The earth itself seemed to split apart wherever they traveled.
Rish immediately disengaged. He leapt backwards. For the first time since she had met him, Ally saw genuine concern flash across his face.
"What is he doing?" she asked.
Rish didn't answer, instead he looked at the cracks as they began to hiss and smoke.
Then the bubbling started. Liquid pushed through the fractures. It burned the very ground, melting it with the heat of an inferno, all the while banishing the cold night air.
She assessed the situation. Something had changed, they had almost had him. Now she focused on the ambient mana, trying to find the answer to her problems. When she extended her senses, she almost stumbled back. The mana surrounding her seemed alive, so much so that the hairs on her arm stood on edge as goosebumps ran up her spine. Something made every instinct she possessed scream. Power radiated from Ethan like she had never felt or imagined. One thought entered her mind:
Run.
Then whatever Ethan had been holding back finally broke.
The forest erupted. Fire burst from every crack simultaneously. Entire sections of earth were launched into the air as glowing pillars tore through the ground.
Heat slammed into Ally like a wall. She threw up every defensive spell she had.
It wasn't enough. The eruption hurled her backwards through the forest. Branches shattered around her. Burning debris rained from above. Her ears rang. Her vision blurred and her senses scrambled.
When she finally managed to stop tumbling and force herself upright, she simply stared.
Everything around Ethan had been transformed into a burning wasteland of fiery earth and shattered stone.
At the center of it all stood Ethan. He still looked barely able to stand. Blood dripped from his leg in a steady flow. He looked exhausted, his face scrunched up in pain.
Yet somehow he seemed more terrifying than anything she had encountered since entering the trials. Standing amidst the destruction, with molten cracks still glowing beneath his feet, Ally finally realized the truth.
They had walked willingly into the territory of a monster.