It’d been a long time since he’d left Aloran’s cave. Several months. Now that he was using his body and moving again he felt… powerful. Different, wildly so.

  From the small amount of Fortitude he’d absorbed, he was generally sturdier, but that wasn’t the largest difference.

  Dei did not feel like a level one hundred at all. Each step cracked stone and send him flying. The Wrath mana infused into him gave him explosive, nearly destructive power. He felt his bones creak when he pushed himself to the limit, even feeling some tears appear in his muscles.

  Wrath infusion provided him with more explosive power, but he was not as sturdy. Without something to make his body tougher, he could easily break himself in half if he went all out, so he slowed down.

  It would take some effort getting used to everything, which he supposed was the point of leaving the cave slightly early. He had four days to adjust to his new state, and he was confident with it being enough time. He’d use three to get used to the bog and pick their battlefield, then rest on the fourth. While his healing helped to keep his body in tip-top shape, that same healing would put a weight on his soul that slowly wore it down. His body needed no rest, but his spirit did.

  He wouldn’t need to sleep either. In the time with Aloran, Dei had finally perfected a restless rotation. He could split his mind into multiple parts, each taking shifts and keeping up at all times. True, this limited the thinking power of those minds that were awake, but he could easily rouse them if he was in real danger.

  He released a pulse from his [Soul Echo] Racial ability, searching for any danger he could.

  He counted danger as any particularly powerful souls, or anything that was able to detect the pulse. Dei didn’t have much practice in gauging how loud it was, so now was the time.

  Aside from his unhappy companions, Dei saw that nothing much reacted to the pulse. It didn’t work exactly as a sonar ping that provided a still image, instead it provided several seconds of view into everything around them.

  He guessed that this was because whatever mana type used in the ability, probably Echo, didn’t immediately return to him or fade away, bouncing around slightly in whatever it encountered before going another direction.

  Almost every monster did not react, though two notable ones did. His familiar friend, the Spirit Frog, and an odd skeleton-like entity buried below a clearing in the middle of the Convergence.

  The Spirit frog twitched under the earth, glancing around itself and generally facing his direction before going dormant again. The being in the middle turned its head to look at him directly. He was just barely able to see it turn its head to face upwards once more before Dei’s Racial ability lost sight of it.

  [Soul Echo] was far more effective than [Tremor Sense], even allowing him to glean some information from the beings it passed through- albeit very little- as if it were a low-level Identify. What he saw from the buried skeleton was an aura of power, and he knew it to be the guardian of the Anchor.

  ‘At least I know which area to stay AWAY from during my fight…’

  He also noted that the Spirit Frog was the second being able to detect his [Soul Echo], so he knew it wasn’t just Echo mana bouncing around. He decided to take its name as a direct hint of it being Soul and Echo based.

  Quickly, he found himself at the entrance he’d used back when he first came here, and it had not changed much. The thick wall of spiked Growberry bramble protected this entrance, and he could see some bugs buzzing around.

  Identifying them, none really jumped out at him. The bloodsuckers started biting him and the non-magical ones exploded from his soul-infused blood, while those with affinities prominent enough to show in their description fared a bit better, until he slapped them.

  With each bite, he could also feel a minute amount of Decay mana infect his wounds, doing exactly what one might think it would do by causing rapid necrosis.

  It wasn’t a threat with how rapidly he could regenerate, but it was irritating because most of his body was protected by Praerel leather, with only his head, hands, and ankles open, so they tended to swarm his face. He was happy to note his Homeostasis doing something to the mana, fighting against it. It would take time for its efforts to show, but Dei had four days.

  After slapping the fiftieth bug, he sighed and stopped. He needed to adjust to the Decay mana anyway, might as well just let it happen from the endless swarm.

  Stepping forward, he was surprised when his foot started to sink in the muck. Last time he was here, he could easily walk atop the loose dirt. Of course, that was when he was in his projection form, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that he sunk now.

  Because of how light his body was compared to how much force it could output, Dei was easily able to skip across the mud. It was a weird feeling, realizing he could do something so absurd, but when magic was involved he supposed physics tended to become a bit wonky.

  “Would you like me to carry us across?” Fendrascora offered.

  “Nah, I’ll need to get used to moving myself in this terrain for the fight. You’ll be good for making micro adjustments later, but I have to do the majority of it myself or you’ll tire far too quickly.”

  “Okay… But also! Not as quickly as before. I managed to earn my own Homeostasis Skill called Balance that does the same thing. It’s only level forty, but it should help me move on my own for longer.”

  “That’s good, I’ll keep that in mind” he said, then focused back on trying to manage his movements.

  Any time Dei walked, he carried his, Clever’s, Perumah’s and a lot of Fendrascora’s weight. Even with all that though, he didn’t struggle. When it came to skipping across the water, his focus was on releasing enough that he stayed above the muck, but not leaping into the air. It required a lot of fine control, but his mind stats and abilities made the task possible. In a pinch, he could also use his SP to fly or even just lighten his weight slightly, but he didn’t want to rely on such a tactic because it consumed SP far too quickly to be viable in a drawn-out confrontation.

  When he felt like he had it mostly down, He went about moving through the bramble wall that blocked his sight.

  He was tall enough now that the top of his head was just barely above the thorns, and this is where Clever moved himself to. Dei also held fang above the thorns, just letting them scrape the surprisingly sturdy hide he wore. He came out the other side generally untouched.

  Looking around, he saw a weird… hilly bog-like area. Pete and water everywhere with a few sparse trees, the only solid land he could see were large mounds of moss.

  He knew from his [Soul Pulse] that these mounds were filled with loose dirt, but he imagined that they were actually the broken remnants of houses, walls, or other structures; the strong Decay mana would have caused these to fall apart or erode much faster than natural.

  He noted that it was dark, but that wasn’t an issue for anyone in their party except maybe Clever, who still had the ability to detect shifting heat. Dei confirmed with his Korgonda buddy that he was solid, then started looking around for something to hunt.

  Dei knew he could punch above his weight class with his current enhancements, so he’d go for things in the one-fifty to one-seventy range. To find them, he would need to let out another pulse, but he really didn’t want to anger the guardian in the middle.

  ‘Even if it can't stray from the anchor, I don’t want to test its patience. Not to mention, that stupid spirit frog… I know it’s clever. I remember watching it for a time. If I draw its attention, then the thing is likely to attack me during one of my fights if I ever become vulnerable.’

  Two hazards he’d need to watch for. To this end, he would need a much weaker pulse.

  Dei wasn’t sure why he hadn’t tried to do that so far, and felt a little silly. He’d been releasing it full-strength, because that was the only way for him to get the same range he had on [Tremor Sense], but this Racial ability was different. It was active, not passive.

  Fendrascora was more sensitive to the ping than Clever, so he asked her if she could still feel it when he released a very weakened pulse.

  The space he could see was a little pathetic, just five feet around him before it lost its power, but Fendrascora’s silence as she tried to listen for something told him that it was invisible.

  Next, he went for fifty feet around him, still getting her silence, and he moved up in strength until around one thousand feet, when she spoke up about feeling a tickle at the back of her head.

  ‘Okay yea. Full strength is a few miles, which has been unnecessary this whole time. One fifth of a mile should be okay. I could probably push it more because no other creature will literally be INSIDE me when I ping them, but it’s better to be safe. Some things will inevitably outclass Fendrascora in the perception department.’

  Letting out more quiet pings, he scanned the life around him. Most everything was over level one hundred, as that seemed to be the bare minimum to exist in the open. Nothing caught his eye as a challenge right now, so he started moving around.

  It felt incredibly strange, being able to just… exist. He’d spent forever hiding, and only now could he walk freely, yet the sensation wasn’t foreign. Maybe he’d mentally prepared himself for a time like this, but it just felt right. Walking around in the open, unbothered by almost everything.

  He found that the wilderness wasn’t as actively deadly as he thought. There were a bunch of killer creatures, sure, but they all just stayed out of his way and away from each other. Occasionally, one would growl to warn him off, but as long as he backed away he was solid.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He also noted that these creatures were not as afraid of Fendrascora as those he’d encountered as he walked through the caves. Maybe they were used to water-based creatures, because he saw a few around him that looked like green slime-like things. Each of them were also quite large, which was a recurring theme in general for the caves but especially so for water creatures. Maybe they needed more room in their body for some reason?

  He finally found what he was looking for when his ping flowed over a soul that was stronger than those around it, and he made his way over.

  The entire time he’d been moving, Dei was charging heat in his body in preparation for a fight. The explosion at his fingertips, Dei readied himself. He wouldn’t use the convection mana just yet, he would wait until he saw how the monster fared under his normal punches.

  Its body was shaped like a large orangutan, with a bulging torso atop two stubby feet and long, clawed hands at its side. It was covered, head to toe, in green moss that made its shape a bit muddled compared to the area around it. It was a suspiciously strong effect, which made Dei assume it was at least slightly magical in nature.

  As he approached it, it remained unmoving. If he didn’t have such honed perception of souls, he still would have struggled to see it because everything around them contained souls. The dirt and water were alive, and this creature managed to blend itself well. Still, not perfectly.

  When he crossed some imaginary threshold, Vigilance activated and the world slowed. Despite his incredible senses, Dei was barely able to keep up with the snake-like movement of its arm, the claws whipping towards him in an attempt to cleanly bisect him.

  With time to process what was happening, Dei used [Fluid Shape] to harden the point it was going to impact him, tilting his body as well. He had to push himself past the healthy self-imposed limits, feeling certain things crack as he let the claws tear through his Praerel leather, scraping across his forearm and over his head. In the same moment, he cast Identify on it as its arm passed within range.

  [Bargoben - Level 163

  Solo ambush predator. Uses Shadow, Snap, and Growth affinity.

  Physical: 131

  Mental: 15

  Spiritual: 98

  Magical: 42]

  He didn’t need its history, so he didn’t try for a full description. Battle tendency, active affinities, and stats would do.

  He knew there was a Darkness affinity which suppressed light, but he assumed Shadow was more for camouflage- a more passive affinity. Snap for ambushing, Growth for… growing the plants? He wasn’t sure.

  He saw his Identify react to multiple things within the creature. He’d shot the Bargoben in its hand, as that was what was closest. When it tried to pull its hand back though, Dei felt something tug him forward, and pulled back to keep his footing.

  The invisible connection he still maintained with the needle really was physical in nature, and the bargoben glanced at its hand, no doubt confused, when it was still held slightly aloft in front of it rather than back in a resting position.

  Normally, Dei wouldn’t have been able to detect any mana outside his body, but he was granted access to the bargobens body in much the same way as he would his own. A flicker of understanding passed through his head as he realized this was a new effect of his Identify- connecting him to the other monster's soul and, consequently, the way it moved its mana.

  Dei had used Wrath mana in this Identify, and he saw the curse spill out now- but the monster resisted it surprisingly well. Dei also noticed the mana spilling out began to target the Shadow mana in the bargobens arm, and the blurry shape of its arm became more defined.

  Now that he had a very physical attachment to it in the form of his new needle, Dei went for a contest of direct power, and jumped back as hard as he could.

  With hardly any resistance, he heard a loud popping, a yelp, a squelch, and the beast was pulled out from where its legs were buried in the mud.

  It fell forward and, without giving it time to reevaluate, Dei jumped forwards and punched upwards at its vulnerable head.

  It tried swinging at him with its good arm, but the length of its limb worked against it here, and it stuck in the mud. Without much fanfare, his fist met its forehead, and its body rocked back.

  ‘Sorry dude. It’s kill or be killed, and I’d rather not die.’

  [EXP gained for killing the Bargoben (Level 163). EXP gain raised due to level disparity]

  [Class Leveled Up: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 100) -> (Level 101)]

  [Stats Gained: +2 Physical]

  Dei grunted at the notification. This was what he assumed was going to happen.

  Alorans multipliers for experience worked in both ways. When he was in danger, he’d get more experience. When the enemy overleveled him a lot, but had no hope of winning against the unnaturally built mana in Dei’s body, the experience would be penalized. He was surprised he’d even gained one level.

  He supposed that this was where the new Training Mode of [Growing Rage] came in. He could weaken himself to increase the danger of an enemy, gaining more levels.

  Looking at the corpse of the enemy again, Dei wondered when scenes like this had become normal to him. It was just a monster, just another thing standing in his way. His clothing was already repaired by Fendrascora, and he wasn’t phased by the blood on his hands from where he’d caved the skull in.

  He sighed and shook his head with a rueful grin. He wasn’t bothered by the changes his personality experienced in the wild, and he didn’t hate who he’d become. Life was about change, and he wouldn’t have wanted to stay the person he was before anyway. Leven did not have a happy ending, maybe Dei wouldn’t have an ending at all, if he succeeded at Ascending.

  Resigning himself to killing monsters over the next few days, Dei walked out in search of his next target.

  * * *

  POV: Justin Tabrey

  After months, months of requesting a meeting with Oura, Justin was finally here. Oura insisted that the meeting be held directly in front of the Seers Rest, because he could not waste a single moment. As time passed, Justin saw the hive of activity that was the Gem Dweller system become more fervent.

  Oura was pushing them. He was becoming impatient. Dei would be around a year and a half old by this point, and Oura’s panic at him getting any older seemed to stir even the ancient councilors from their seats.

  Justin had to admit, he’d never seen Oura so… frantic. If he weren’t already wildly suspicious of him, he might’ve actually considered listening to his orders mindlessly. Yet still, Oura refused to share even a peep of information about what their enemy was.

  The only good that’d come out of this was how a few of the other councilors were also beginning to get suspicious. Oura was supposed to be calm and collected, if he was frantic, he might be making mistakes. Without him telling anyone, there was nobody to double check his work. There was noone to keep him in check.

  Their suspicion wasn’t to the degree that they would oppose him just yet, but it was enough that he was now forced to acknowledge his loudest protestor- Justin himself.

  Justin was the only one to outright refuse to work with Oura until he had answers. All the councilors were, after all, technically of equal rank. Oura had no right to boss any of them around if they didn’t want to be.

  It would be more efficient if Oura gave Justin any explanation in order to get his help in the search, yet still Oura refused to relent. He would rather be inefficient than give up his little secret, which was very telling of his goals in this.

  That was fine by him. Justin did not actually need Oura’s answer, not anymore. He had given up on getting that long ago, and was going with a much more brute-force method. The plan was simple- the moment Oura stepped out of the Seers Rest, Whisper would slip in. He didn’t even consider the possibility that she would be detected, as she was a stealth Slaughterer. Sneaking and tracking was her every specialty, even if she lacked proper karmic Skills to track Dei.

  With the artifact at her back, it would take her mere seconds to find Dei’s location, then they would set out.

  ‘I should have him in my sights within the week. I wonder how far his mother hid him to have evaded everyone for this long?’

  Standing at the threshold of the iron doorway, Justin finally saw it crack open.

  Oura was here.

  The tall Gem Dweller stepped out, fancifully adorned staff in hand, looking down at Justin with cold eyes. Not because he hated Justin, it was simply how every Gem Dweller looked when not actively emotional.

  “Justin” Oura nodded to him.

  “Oura” Justin nodded back respectfully.

  Oura took the time to fully exit the rest and close the door behind him, what little good that would do when Justin's compatriot was already within.

  What came next was a lesson in tedium as Justin described in detail, including visual and numerical graphs, exactly why it would be beneficial for Oura to tell everyone their enemy from preparation, to morale, to how helpful Justin's personal involvement would be. He was, after all, a user of Foresight- he had prepared for such a day for a very long time, predicting any and all apocalypses that might befall them. The efforts of Gem Dwellers would rise in efficiency by up to twenty three percent if he mobilized his resources.

  Through it all, Oura remained stoic and emotionless, giving no indication that he was convinced at all. Justin used up every moment of his allotted half-hour meeting and, in the last ten seconds, gave Oura the time to voice his own thoughts.

  “No.” Oura said, and Justin perfectly recreated the scowl he should be wearing if this was his only idea.

  Without further ado, Oura opened the door to the Seers Rest again, went inside, and shut it behind him.

  Justin kept his stormy expression up as he left the city, awaiting Whispers good news.

  * * *

  POV: Oura

  Oura perfectly schooled his expression, keeping any sign of joy from him. Justin, the young hot-blooded fool, had finally fallen to his trap.

  Oura was no stranger to planning against Foresight users. They were terrifying and efficient, with wildly effective plans and ways to reach their goals despite the best efforts of any others. They were also, notoriously, predictable. When the most efficient plan was found, it often resembled the plans of others to a T. Multiple people would come up with the same idea independently if it was the best, because it was the best. Why settle for anything less? But always striving for the best made it so, so easy to see.

  Oura, in his old age, had butt heads with three other Foresight users- making Justin the fourth. In that time, they all did the exact same thing when it came to this step in their plans to get what they wanted from him- distract him while sending players behind their backs to take what they wanted.

  Oura was not ignoring Justin for no reason, he was setting Justin up to reach a conclusion that Oura wanted him to. Oura knew Justins capabilities well, and the limits of them. He wouldn’t have been able to find Dei, with or without specialized karmic tools. He’d need the Seers Rest.

  For this reason, Oura had waited. When Justin finally took the bait, luring Oura out, Oura laid the perfect karmic trap within. The next being to use the Seers Rest would have it tack on to them.

  He predicted it would not be so easy though, so the moment he’d reentered the rest, he had strengthened that connection- and it was good that he did so. The karmic connection was slipping off the target, and Oura couldn’t help but feel impressed by whoever Justin had pulled in to help. Using everything he could though, Oura kept that connection to them solid.

  Over time, the karmic tracking began to attach itself to a second, someone else who had strong karmic ties to Oura, someone who had been resisting Oura’s own attempts at attaching to him.

  At long last, Oura’s karmic search stuck to Justin, and it was much easier to maintain such a connection with his coworker than whoever he was with. Still, Oura did not release the connection to the original target- lest this be another ploy on Justin's part.

  When Justin found the boy, Oura would too.

  ‘The weakness of Foresight users is that they often forget to look towards the past. If he had, he would’ve seen that I’ve pulled this exact scheme twice before.

  ‘Poor Justin. I do hope you forgive me for this one day. ‘