"Come on! It's just unfair!"

It had been ten minutes since Gabriel leveled, and he was still raging at the Anchor for forcing that choice on him.

By his side, a befuddled Dustille still wondered how a level 30 with just Basic Skills had successfully killed a level 50 monster on his own.

Taking advantage of a raging Gabriel, she had him help her in detaching the centaur's lance and shield and pocketed both into her dimensional satchel, a memory from Greenfield, promising him part of the revenue.

"Like I care about revenue! The Anchor stole my selection! It should have explained beforehand what choosing the previous Perks entailed!" Gabriel shouted at her, reining his voice in as she signaled him about the three knights, too close for comfort.

"Well, you should have studied it, or at least asked around," she said, knowing she had a point.

Gabriel sighed, "Maybe you're right.... It's not that I really had any chances..." he started muttering, knowing that the fault was his all the same.

Should have asked many more questions… Still… Spirit Fusion… how cool would that be? Is that what that Japanese cosplayer used? So cool, weird, but cool…

"Come on. I can already feel them. They're close," she said.

***

Ten minutes later, the man and the Giantess, and the sleepy reached a plateau that had raised itself from the ground. On its green slowly-filling lands, a fight between three people was taking place. It looked rather wild, even from where Gabe stood.

Gabe and Dustille had to hide behind a rock formation. Dustille had a bad feeling about it. Taking a look behind it, they could see the ongoing fight.

A thin woman with a rose dress was moving about, leaving a trail of fire on the ground. She had a long, black ponytail and an exotic battle armor. The contenders were a small midnight leather-clad guy with a bob haircut and-

"Olivia?" Gabriel asked himself, confused.

"Yes," Dustille confirmed.

"She looks different, and… what the fuck happened to Brill! Look at how big he is!"

Gabriel turned toward Liz, then Dustille. "What happened to her? Did she raise like fifty levels? You forced her on the front lines because she's a healer, didn't you!?" He asked accusatory, maybe only half-jokingly.

Dustille scoffed. "If you're asking me how that Tier 2 healer I met that damn day of two weeks ago has turned into that… then I just don't know how to answer you. She definitely wasn't like that. The last time I saw her," she stopped, getting closer to his face, maybe for scenic effect, "was when the attacks started. I had to tell her that her companion had disappeared. After that, it all became chaotic, and she disappeared entirely."

As if taking the chance to let off some steam, Dustille continued, "Be wary of that girl, or whatever Gaia says, has gotten over her. She's dangerous. She might have been the very mastermind behind all this!" She finished, slamming her foot on the ground.

Gabriel took a moment to think about what she said, "I don't know… one thing is certain, though. She was not the mastermind behind this. The Boss I was fighting was, or at least he had his part in it."

Pensive, Gabe shook his head. "I need to check for myself. The Olivia I know has done nothing but help me since I met her."

However… If I go in there like this… I don't know what I can do. Look at the speed of those two. They blur in my eyes. It's time I played my cards.

Gabriel closed his eyes and reached for his Anchor.

Hey Anchor, can I use the Skill Token to unlock a Skill?

Skill Tokens can be used to upgrade or unlock a Skill. A token is gained every time a Skill upgrade is nonviable or as part of a Dungeon Challenge completion reward.

Skill Tokens can be spent in this way:

1 Skill Token to upgrade a Skill to Common Rarity;

2 Skill Tokens to upgrade a Skill to Uncommon Rarity;

3 Skill Tokens to upgrade a Skill to Rare Rarity;

4 Skill Tokens to upgrade a Skill to Very Rare Rarity;

5 Skill Tokens + an objective to upgrade a Skill to Extremely Rare;

6 Skill Tokens + recognition to upgrade a Skill to Epic Rarity;

7 Skill Tokens + a fulfillment to upgrade a Skill to Legendary Rarity;

8 Skill Tokens + uniqueness to upgrade a Skill to Mythical Rarity;

9 Skill Tokens + ascension to upgrade a Skill to Transcended Rarity;

10 Skill Tokens + Divinity to upgrade a Skill to Divine Rarity;

Or:

1 Skill Token can be used to Unlock a Basic Skill

Current Skill Tokens collected: 1

What the hell…

Alright, give me Alacrity Basic Skill.

You have unlocked Dash.

Skills

Skill

Dash (Basic)

Description

Increase your Alacrity by 100% for 1 Energy point. Permanently increases Alacrity by 10%

Element

None

Boost

Affinity +2

Alacrity +1

Recovery +1

Resilience +2

Slot

Alacrity

Type

Basic Skill - Spirit Skill

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Your Class has changed to Lost Dark Arts Jack of all trades.

Yeah, sure. Why not add, (unemployed) since you're at it…

After that, Gabriel swiftly placed his newly gained 4 Attribute points to Power, bringing it to 17. His muscles felt like exploding, for a moment, and a painful headache gripped him, but he continued still. He placed the 2 Spirit points into Power, and finally his new 10 Pool points into Energy. Now that he had a new Energy hungry Skill, it was better to increase his maximum Energy amount.

"Gabriel! What are you waiting here for? If we have to try and leave this place, we should do it now! Let's go talk to them. I'll give you the Mana potion if you want it. It's half-full but better than nothing," Dustille said, taking him out of his stupor.

The heat had been continuously growing. The Manashield around the dungeon had taken a, probably, permanent red tint. And his boots had even started feeling the heat coming off the dry land. His drenched clothes were further proof that he was reaching his limit, even though at the moment he wasn't feeling it. However, Gabriel had Fire Resistance in his armor; though broken, it seemed to be working because he couldn't feel that much heat.

"I'm almost ready. I just need to accept the hidden rewards from beating the Challenge," he answered.

"The what?" Dustille whispered, but Gabriel was already calling for the Anchor.

I'm ready. Give me the hidden reward.

It felt like an enormous weight was lifted from his soul when the Anchor presented him the message.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have unlocked a free past Perk Selection!

Choose one Perk for each selection:

Active Perks (6);

Passive Perks (6);

Spirit Perks (6)

Gabriel had to put his hand on his mouth not to laugh aloud.

Yes! Yes! One of each!

Show me the Active Perks first!

Choose one Active Perk:

Binding allows the formation of official contracts which can be used to bind willing targets to other willing targets, objects, places, or situations.

Cost is based on the number of targets.

Recall allows you to summon a weapon bound to you by a Mana Imprint or Soul Imprint Bindings.

Cost is 1 Mana per summon.

Channeling is the ability to continuously fuel Mana to something which requires it, including Skills, Magic Skills, and devices to increase its output or its duration.

Mana cost is doubled for each second of Channeling. Skill power and duration can be incremented only in relation to your Mana Pool size.

Warning. Not every Skill can be augmented with Channeling.

Far Sight is the ability to empower your gaze to extend far in the distance. Up to a certain degree, your vision, or other senses, will bend around objects covering it or shielding it.

It can be stacked with other Perks.

Magic Circle is an ability that allows the user to summon Magic circles to use Magic rituals.

Cost 1 Mana for Magic Circle, the cost doubles every time for each subsequent layer after the first.

Party Leader allows the user to form a party of up to six individuals. Party privileges are party interface (1 Mana drain per 24/hrs), party invite, (1 Mana), communications system (2 Mana drain per 24/hrs), experience sharing (3 Mana drain per 24/hrs), summon party member (100 Mana per summon, 24/hrs cooldown).

The choice was ample, but he had to weigh his advantages carefully. He started by excluding the Perks that did not interest him: Binding, Far Sight, and Party Leader.

He was left with Recall, Channeling, and Magic Circle.

Now, Recall. Gabe had obsessed about it. He knew that when the moment arrived in which he could infuse Energy into the Sk'rayr spear, he would have a massive increase in the range of his fighting style. Yes, that meant he would have to learn archery as well. Which would come with time, however, there had been times in which he lost his spear, and without it, his fighting power had practically become nill. However, he still hadn't magic at the time. Now he could have an edge even without a proper weapon.

The thought of being able to throw arrows, or outright his spear, and have it back in his hand as soon as it hit was definitely a huge survivability increase. He couldn't just put it aside.

Channeling. Channeling, though costly, could help him. And it was probably necessary to overload his Skills as well. He could already imagine how a Channeled Skill could make the difference in a fight. The only bad side was that he would not have much use of it with his current Mana pool. For example, Channeling what looked like his most powerful direct damage Skill, Ray of Corruption would drain him in a couple of seconds. It was not usable, at least as long as some other effects came into play.

Which left Magic Circle. His thoughts on it were… complex.

Magic could still be used without Magic Circle. However, they would have to be written on the ground or on a surface, which was just impracticable in battle, if not outright impossible, to use combat Magic without it.

Now, there was something else as well to put into consideration. He would have to study runes, for real. And it didn't actually end there. The few lessons he had with the sealing grandma in The Memory pointed at much, much ampler study then only runes. Formations, confluences, ley lines, the environment, elements pairing, weaknesses, strengths, there were so many topics to study that he was not confident he really cared about it or had time at all to.

I guess it's Recall against Channeling.

Gabriel inhaled strongly. Learning archery, pitted against waiting for his Mana pool to expand enough to make the use of Channeling viable.

Recall. It's Recall. The most immediate and useful Perk for my survival and battle power right now.

As he confirmed it, a Tether appeared inside of his soul, once again coming from an impossibly distant realm, and became his, once again without really connecting to him. He felt nothing.

Passive Perks, please.

Choose one Passive Perk:

Auto-targeting makes you always aim correctly to your wished target. Auto-targeting does not guarantee a target hit.

Enhanced Pain Resistance gives you a mental edge in dulling out the pain. With enough training, it is possible to cancel pain entirely.

Air resistance is not an issue is an ability that enables the user and its object to move as if air resistance did not apply, effectively freeing the user of negative natural effects that would restrain its maximum movement speed.

Mass is not an issue is an ability that enables the user to deal with tethered sentients as if their mass did not matter. (Example: stopping an assault of a fifty tonnes monster ignoring the difference between the user and its target mass; taking into considerations only Attributes and their relative effects.)

Enhanced Perception increases the user’s range of perception of all senses. Warning. Senses-related Perks stack with each other.

Life Tank is an ability that allows the user to store one full Life Pool inside of his core.

Life Tank can be drawn upon in every situation in which the user retains control of his actions.

Regeneration from Life Tank does not restore the body. It only refuels Life points.

Once drawn upon, Life Tank must be fully emptied before being restocked.

I think this one is easy... Again though, Life Tank could definitely be useful. No! Auto-targeting just might fix my problem with archery.

I choose Auto-targeting.

After that, Gabriel was in trepidation. He had just been fucked by the system with his Spirit Perk selection but now had a chance to recover.

Choose one Spirit Perk:

Spirit Perception allows you and your Spirit to perceive direct and indirect manifestations of spirits as long as they are not using Spirit Fade.

Cost None, duration indefinite.

Spirit Touch allows you and your Spirit to touch direct and indirect manifestation of spirits and to touch spirits even if they don’t have a physical form.

Cost None, duration indefinite.

Spirit Bulk allows the doubling of each Spirit Attributes at the cost of a Spirit pool, for 1 second per Spirit point spent.

Spirit Fade allows the Spirit to fade from all senses and perception abilities.

Once duration ends it can be reapplied.

Spirit Fade ends upon contact with another Spirit or physical entity.

Duration: 1 minute per Affinity for every Night-Day Cycle.

Cost: 1 Spirit.

Spirit Form empowers your Spirit by joining him in his form.

While in Spirit form, your Total Attributes for Recovery, Resilience, and Stamina are taken into consideration.

You are shielded from each and all physical effects, storing yourself in your Core.

Body maneuverability is shared between you and your Bond Spirit.

Requires Spirit Bulk.

Duration: 1 minute per Affinity for every Night-Day Cycle

Cooldown: None.

Cost: None.

Warning. Spirit must be in touch with your body for the Form to take effect.

Spirit Fusion allows you and your Spirit to fuse into a half-sentient, half-spirit form.

While in half-spirit form, Total Attributes for Affinity, Alacrity, and Power are taken into consideration.

Everything applicable to Spirit and non-spirit can be applied to you in that form.

Requires Spirit Fade.

Duration: 1 minute per Affinity for every Night-Day Cycle.

Cooldown: None.

Cost: None.

Warning. Spirit must be in touch with your body for the Fusion to take effect.

Spirit Fusion, now!

Warning. You lack the Spirit Perk Spirit Fade.

Without Spirit Fade, Spirit Fusion will not have any effect.

Son of a-! AAAAAARRRGH! GIVE ME SPIRIT FADE YOU, DETESTABLE, MISERABLE, CHEATER! He very uselessly mentally screamed at the Anchor.

The Tether descended right away.

Well, at least we've got you covered now, he said to the lizard.

Spirit Fade, Lizzy. The lizard disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriel shot up, "It's time to roll," he said, departing without waiting for Dustille.

"Humans and their damned moods…" Gabe could hear her saying.

Gabriel did not waste time, though. As he ran toward them he started shouting for Olivia.

"OLIVE!" he called at full lung capacity.

The girl, intent in the fight, turned toward the voice with a big smile on her face.

Gabriel could clearly distinguish her green eyes and those wavy hair floating upwards.

"Gabe!" She shouted, giggling.

Gabriel wanted to make a big entry, so he dashed over to her with Meridians, Burst Attack endowed step, and, of course, the new entry, Dash. The dust exploded behind his feet and shot faster than ever toward her.

Dash worked differently, almost exactly as Burst Attack, the significant difference he noticed right away using it was that Dash did take into consideration a few actual steps, or at least all the steps he could do in one second.

Differently from Burst Attack, though, it only incremented Alacrity; his muscles did not retain any increment in Power. In terms of pure speed, it was half as effective as a Burst Attack endowed step, maybe even less, given the fact that speed seemed to be determined factoring in Alacrity and Power, but it lasted more. In the end, though, using them to reach maximum speed, he could activate them all together in one incredible movement.

Gabriel was planning to stop near her and make an entry of effect, maybe posing in her defense. Of course, that failed mightily as the boy appeared in front of her, in her defense.

Gabe stopped before running into him. The midnight leather-clad boy had two scary looking daggers in his hands and was grinning at him. Gabriel studied him for a second.

"Hello there," he said.

"Herald…" the boy answered, with a little nod.

Then to their right came a scream, "Gaia!" At that moment, Gabriel instinctively activated Dash, but he was far, far too late to do anything.

In just one movement, the Asian beauty stepped over to Dustille, the terrain behind her exploded, a trail of sparks shined over where she passed, and with a perfectly timed kick to the clavicle, she threw the Giantess away, removing the sleeping beauty from her arms, the next instant she was back on her side of the battlefield.

Gabriel barely managed to follow a tenth of the sequence and only thanks to the boost in Alacrity which Dash had just given him.

As Garena had explained, in fact, Alacrity did not increase only physical speed. Otherwise, it would be far too ineffective. It increased his ability to cope with a reality where Magic defiled physics laws and thus otherworldly speed was possible.

The little man behind him snorted, at the scene.

Dustille was still recovering from the kick, but she got up rather quickly.

"Man, I thought you were done for, for a moment…" Gabriel said.

"Alacrity ability…" Dustille answered, heaving.

"Come here; you are too exposed there," added Darte.

Dustille, a little taken aback, slowly joined the group.

"So… anybody wants to tell me what the shit is going on here? Are you okay, Oli? You look kinda floaty…" Said Gabriel.

Olivia smiled only from her mouth, then her eyes turned brown for a couple of seconds, and her smile reached her eyes too, "I missed you, pervert," she said, then her eyes started once again shining with a peculiar green light.

Gabriel smiled back with all his strength, he could even feel tears welling up inside of him, but that was not the moment. The two toughest months of his life had yet to end.

"I missed you, too; you have no idea how much."

"If we've done with pleasantries," the boy started, "help us convince the crazy lady that I don't need saving from our Olivia."

"First things first, what's your name?" Gabriel asked, Man, I hate children…

The boy scoffed, turning to Olivia, "Wasn't my impression spot on?"

Olivia chuckled in response, "Almost got him perfectly, and you only studied him for a day, right?" She answered.

What?

"You studied me? What does that mean?"

"Should I remind you that the woman over there is Tier 6?" Dustille shrilled, massaging her clavicle.

"Oh, sorry, babe," Gabriel said, using Helping Hand on her.

The boy couldn't help but shake his head at that.

"I'm Darte anyway, Herald. Now present yourself to the woman over there. We need my sister to fight off those bastards down in Kanceldom."

"Just what the hell-" Gabriel wanted to say but was stopped by the Giantess.

"What is there to fight in Kanceldom!? Dragons?" She shrilled.

The boy called Darte nodded, "Dragons, and Priests of Lore."

Dustille brought a hand over her mouth.

"You have a long way to go with your seering, novice. It's way too narrow," Olivia answered. Her voice was still hers; it just was… different, more profound, like that of a woman instead of that of a girl. It was more about the tone. Gabriel couldn't explain to himself what he felt, but something was amiss from the old Olivia

"You are not really Olivia right now, are you? What is that some sort of fucked-up body swapping-sharing thing?" He asked.

Olivia giggled, "Something like that, but Darte is right. We do need to focus now. My powers don't extend over Tier 5, Olivia's body is too weak it would kill her to use more of my power, but Darte, though really capable, is really not enough to take on Jiao," Not-Olivia said, pointing at the Asian woman. She was feeding potions to the girl, still very much passed out.

Gabriel inhaled and exhaled forcefully, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Then without asking any other questions, he started walking over to the woman.

"Wha-what's he doing?" Darte asked, for the first time taken aback.

Not-Olivia did not answer.

As Gabriel walked forward, the woman, Jiao was her name, raised her head toward him. She straightened up.

"What are you?" she asked.

"I thought names came first, ma'am," Gabriel started using his tried and tested butler's voice.

"I'm called Gabriel Walker. Gabe, for friends, Big-G for a few, Boss for others. With whom do I have the pleasure to speak with?"

The woman studied him, her eyebrows perked up for a moment. She shifted Gaia in her embrace, placing her over her shoulder.

"My name is Jiao Liu, ranking ninth for the Champions of N'arr. Tactical assault specialist for the Yggs, defender of Yggdrasil."

"Good. I was invited to The Den by the woman you're carrying on your shoulder. I just saved her from bleeding to death. I swear I have no bad intention. I just want to know what is going on. Can you help me?"