Isa flew casually back into the clearing while balancing a wild boar, several times her size and weight, casually over her head. She looked around the clearing, spotting Vivian with her back against a tree, eyes closed. Isa set the wild boar down and prepared herself for an arduous task.

Vivian hadn't moved from when Isa had left to hunt. Calming her mind, she thought about her family.

Grandfather, did you-did the clan-know everything would turn out this way? The ritual, the sacrifices, even my sisters, was I the only one who didn't know?

Accumulated experiences and self-reflection have released a lock. Displaying allocated potential. Level 2(1) Health Pool 2/4(3) Mana Pool 0/4(2) Strength 1 Constitution 2 Dexterity 2(1) Agility 4(2) Wisdom 3(2) Intelligence 2(1) Unique Racial Stat 5(3)

Vivian frowned at the sudden interruption. System windows appeared in her mind, ruining her focus. She took a moment to look over the changes. Without something to compare with, it didn’t mean much to her. Her frown only deepened.

"Is something wrong?" Isa disrupted Vivian's train of thought even further as she contemplated how to prepare the boar, "Also, how do you like your bacon?"

"There's a fine line between chewy and crunchy, and that's where I prefer it." Vivian answered distractedly, "I'm trying to figure out how I was moving so fast."

"You managed to push your agility to eight points for nearly two minutes," replied Isa as she looked at the wild boar in consternation. A fine line indeed.

I almost feel like I’m getting tested on my control over my mana, Isa thought, looking over at Vivian once more. Vivian was uninterested in everything else at the moment. Her pure white eyes remained closed in thought as she blocked out the world again.

Isa picked up the boar and carried it a fair distance away from Vivian to leave her in peace. Not that roasting a boar would allow that once the delicious aroma filled the air.

Isa flapped her wings lazily to lift herself off the ground. She hovered over the boar, digging into the beast using her talons carefully like filleting knives, she started to prepare the meal. Isa set into her task with diligence, skinning the boar and cutting it into strips. She became so engrossed in her work that she was startled when Vivian appeared beside her to offer herbs for seasoning.

Isa’s mouth watered as she rubbed the herbs on the fillets and marveled at Vivian's knowledge of the culinary arts. Everything Vivian handed her had just the perfect touch for enhancing the flavor of this particular animal to the fullest. When she had thoroughly seasoned the fillets, she placed everything back inside the skin. Using exquisite mana control, she baked the meat.

Before long, a tantalizing aroma filled the air. Isa barely restrained herself from tearing into it and devouring it all. She started growing impatient from the smell, her desire to rip into it growing ever stronger, but patience won, and she cooked it evenly all the way through. Vivian moved beside Isa, her belly voicing its anticipation in earnest.

Isa chuckled dryly, maintaining the fire a few minutes more. She then cut the mana supporting the flame, and they waited in silence for the boar to finish cooking. They barely allowed time for it to cool enough to eat. No words spoken, they tore into the roasted boar ravenously, only bones remaining behind as proof of their great meal. Vivian unexpectedly burped as she relaxed. She absentmindedly rubbed her belly contentedly.

Health and Mana Pools have recovered. The host recovered from starving status, and malnourishment is in the early stages of remission. The host status was updated. Level 2 Health Pool 5/5(4) Mana Pool 4/4 Strength 2(1) Constitution 3(2) Dexterity 2 Agility 4 Wisdom 3 Intelligence 2 Unique Racial Stat 5

It's not that my strength hasn't improved; the state of my body is a restriction itself. That makes sense. Still, that was quite a jump in agility. Also, my unique stat. Vivian was absorbed in thought. Isa mentioned I increased my agility to eight points for almost two minutes.

"When I ran from the beldereaver, I felt something draw on a pool I didn't know I had," Vivian stated. "Up until recently, I've only used my health pool to fuel spells."

Isa blinked at her; disbelief colored her voice as she answered slowly, "You what? Do you even realize just how dangerous it is to use magic that way?"

Vivian shrugged. "It's the only way we had available."

Isa fully turned to face Vivian becoming increasingly exasperated, "Your race dumbed down to beyond foolish since the last time I saw any of them. Using your health pool for spells! Where do I even begin?"

Isa sighed heavily, "Using the fire of your life itself to fuel magic-if you're lucky-will, at minimum, double the cost of the spell. I highly doubt you were so lucky."

Vivian looked at the ground sadly, "Yes, we know. We often split up the cost over the whole of our people."

"You-" Isa looked at her in disbelief, "Such ignorance, do you even realize the potential danger that would cause?!"

"We summoned my baby in such a manner." Vivian lifted her gaze to look at the Phoenix, "The last of my clan eradicated after the ritual completed. Even near death, Grandfather pressed on with me, sacrificing the last of his life to teleport me here."

"Hold up, did you just say you summoned your baby?" Isa was ready to faint at any moment.

"He is the last hope of my nearly extinct race," Vivian spoke softly, cradling her belly.

"Last hope? How do you know you didn't summon, well, something outside your realm of comprehension?" Isa looked fearfully at Vivian. "Can you say with certainty that what you summoned isn't evil incarnate?"

"No, I can't say for sure that we didn't. However, if my child becomes something that threatens this world,"-Vivian emitted a strange glint in her eye-"I never harbored ill will toward the people of this world, not once, even after all the horrible things they have done to my kind. I still don't. But," a flash of aggression entered her eyes as she paused.

"But, my child is the last hope for my race." Vivian continued, "I don't know how much I care about what that means for the rest of the world. They have hunted us for millennia, and my child will know of this. Will they fear my child and hunt it as they have hunted the rest of us? Will its name become a symbol of calamity, spoken in whispers in fear of summoning doom upon oneself? It matters not, for I will support whatever choices he makes in life. Even if he becomes a terror, I will support him as his mother.”

"One last question: how many people were present when you summoned your baby?" Isa asked seriously.

"There were forty of my clansmen present, including myself. I alone survived. The last of my clan."

"THAT MANY?!" Isa exclaimed.

Startled, Vivian jumped when Isa raised her voice. "This number was low in comparison."

"Just stop there." Isa waved her hand dismissively. "I don't want to hear the rest of that statement."

"Is something wrong?" Vivian asked, slightly perplexed by the Phoenix's reaction.

"Everything is wrong. I can sympathize with everyone that hunted you." Isa said softly. "You've been casually performing these spells for who knows how long, that it's an absolute miracle this world is intact."

"What?!" Vivian shouted, taken aback.

"Casting spells, like this summoning ritual for your baby, using raw life-force to power it creates a stagnant magical aura in the air," Isa explained.

"I'm aware; a thick dweomer formed when we summoned my baby. I felt like I was underwater when I was in it. It was such a pretty blue haze, too." Vivian recalled fondly, thinking back to the ritual.

"Allow me to put that into perspective," Isa said in irritation. "When I created that fire column to distract the beldereaver, there was a very thin dweomer. Also, I completely used it."

"So what you're saying is we left a lot of raw power behind?" Vivian thought about how dense with raw magic that dweomer was.

"From what you've described, I could probably incinerate this world in its entirety with the amount of raw magical pollution the spell left behind." Isa explained, "But then the range would also be dependent on the actual size of the dweomer.”

Vivian swallowed hard as this statement sank in.

"That's what I've been trying to make you realize, and I'm glad you finally understand the gravity of what your people have been doing," Isa admonished. "I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the reason you are so weak compared to your race from long ago is because of your ancestors siphoning off more than just their life-force every time they would cast a spell."

Grandfather, you were an oracle, but even so, were you in the dark about this too? Vivian rubbed her temples.

Isa shook her head, "I can't put all the blame on you. It's what you were raised to believe to be acceptable. With that said, spreading the cost of a spell over 40 people is just purely irresponsible. You may not know this. Having multiple people contributing to a spell affects more than simply spreading the cost of the spell. It also extends the spell's limit far beyond the norm. How did such a long forbidden practice find its way into your race? I won't ask how you've learned of it; I doubt you have the answer. None of your ancestors I've personally seen use it, at least."

Vivian stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the Phoenix.

Just what had her people caused over the years?