Elzio’s eyes fluttered open the next morning. He took in the gentle sunlight filtering through the trees’ pale green leaves, the birds greeting each other through their various songs and twitters. Inhaling deeply, he could smell the rich, earthy scent of the forest around him, leaf mold and pine needles.

Then he shifted, and his body reported back to him all the aches and pains he’d been steadfastly ignoring the past twelve hours.

“Loreth’s teeth.” His words came out in a sharp hiss between his teeth, rousing Ylia with a start. “No no no, don’t you start moving too. Hold up, let me just—” He gripped a nearby branch and pulled himself to his feet. Blinking at just how sore he was, he pulled up his stats and searched for debuffs.

Elzio Shilon: Level 8(+1!) Summoner Strength: 14 Intelligence: 22 Agility: 16 Fortitude: 12 Hit Points Pool: 250 (FOR) Endurance Pool: 350-20 (STR) Mana Pool: 450 (INT) Speed: 160-10 (AGI) Magical Force: 170 (INT) Physical Force: 90-10 (STR) Magical Resistance: 34 (INT+FOR) Physical Resistance: 26 (STR+FOR) Modifiers: Sore. Level 1. Endurance, Speed, and Physical Force are reduced. Pain levels from activities that require the arms, legs, or back have been increased by 15%. Duration: 12 hours.

That would explain it. He knew better than to typically push his body beyond his endurance pool but sometimes it was necessary. Such as when your life depended on it.

The pain was a reminder of the peculiar night he’d just survived. Sir Thomas’s betrayal. The escape.

Echo.

With a sudden jerk, he looked around the clearing for her. He wasn’t sure if she’d be easy to find, with the daylight so omnipresent, but it wasn’t long before his eyes found her, drifting among the leaves several dozen feet above his head.

Good morning. She didn’t grow any closer, but she must have noticed his gaze. You seemed to have slept well. At least, very soundly. I trust you are rested?

“More or less. Sore. Pushed myself hard last night, climbing out the tower and sleeping leaning against a horse didn’t help.” Elzio wouldn’t have considered his life to be particularly soft. He trained, he fought, he leveled. But he didn’t often sleep on hard forest floors. “I think I was overall tenser than I normally would have been last night. That contributed.”

I cannot imagine why you would have been tense. With a few shifts in her form, she was beside him again. Perhaps, through meditation, you can locate the source.

Elzio stared, lips parted. Was she ignorant of how human minds and bodies worked, or was she mocking him?

Then her light pulsed mischievously, and he laughed, detecting the wry note to her thoughts. It was amazing how human Echo was. Maybe she was just wooing him to win over his support, but even if she was, it would indicate she had more experience with mortals than she let on, and that alone was interesting.

“Right,” he said, laughter subsiding. “Well, the world may never know. Anyway, I have a pressing matter to attend to this morning.”

I expected as much. It is not something I have much experience with.

Again, Elzio felt bad. As a level 1 nexus, she’d never had the frustratingly joyful experience of leveling up, trying to predict the next year of your life to determine exactly what you’d need. Then again, nexus level ups were a lot simpler. They were just energy point increases.

“This’ll only take a few minutes,” he said. “Maybe more, since my decisions this morning dictate the foreseeable future.”

Yes, I am aware how mortal physiology. Still, a few minutes, even more than a few, is less than I would have expected. You brought the necessary components?

He would have a lot to teach her. “You don’t really need anything special. Just some focus.”

She glowered at him, an off putting experience given her lack of face. It was the feeling of a glower. You make fun. I know how mortals function. You cannot simply will into being what you need. Then her glower hesitated. Or perhaps you can. Are you a summoner?

“I… I am.” He frowned. Had she been able to sense that? “How did you know?”

How else could you manifest what you need for your daily ritual?

“Daily?” Now Elzio was lost. “How often do you think humans level?”

Level?

“What did you think… I was about to do?” He looked around the clearing, as if expecting to find some shrine or pyre or something remotely ritual-esque.

Eat?

At her word, Elzio’s stomach grumbled audibly. “Oh.” His hand floated to his abdomen, as if requesting assurance that he was, in fact, hungry. It rumbled again. “Yes. That’s a very good point, Echo. I was actually going to—See I leveled last night. I was a little preoccupied with that, but food is also a good call.”

Did you bring food, or will you hunt?

If it weren’t for her tone, Elzio would have thought she was mocking his lack of preparation. But that note of curiosity was back, so he bit back his gut retort of Well I didn’t exactly plan on getting jumped in my sleep.

“I just summon some food. If I can get close enough to the city, I can locate some from a stockpile or kitchen somewhere.” His stomach growled again, already anticipating the variety of objects he might be able to steal. “But not until I level. Just give me a few moments.”

He had 3 Core Attribute points to spend. Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Fortitude. Normally he’d have scoffed at the idea of putting it into anything but Intelligence, but now that strategy gave him pause. He didn’t have an armorsmith to kit him out with shields and hit point boosting garb, nor did he have any kind of tank to pull aggro. Perhaps taking something that would help him absorb more damage would be essential for the battle to come.

“Fortitude then?” he said, voice low as he thought out loud. “More hit points, more resistance.”

Are you asking me?

“No, I don’t think so. Just… strategizing. How to level up.” He doodled little figures in the sand as he calculated the increase in stats he’d receive from this level.

What does Pyrthet have?

His fingers slowed as her words registered. “An archer, an armorsmith, and a pyromancer.” Mage, support, fighter, it was all pretty standard, but the specifics were important here. “Not fortitude. Agility.” He could dodge Bereth’s arrows if he was smart and fast enough. With his Intelligence as high as it was, his Magic Resistance would absorb a fair bit of Nance’s magic. “Kia always gives Bereth modifiers to his arrows that apply on hit boosts. Poison or slows, usually. So I can’t let them hit me, but if I can dodge them… Because she doesn’t give him accuracy modifiers.” His thoughts raced ahead now. He’d never had to level up with an opponent in mind, since a hero rarely knew who they’d be up against, but right now, he knew his opponents. Both his and Echo’s lives depended on his ability to outthink his old team.

“Loreth has an aura set to buff magic,” he said. “Specifically length of spells, since I’m a summoner, and Nance has a lot of damage over time. Since I was their highest level hero, they wanted to play to their strengths…”

Would they reconfigure the aura? Perhaps instead of spending points on a different aura, they’d summon a fourth hero. Elzio knew how they thought. Both the team and the vast number of professors valued sheer man power over arena modifiers. Only the Professor of Terrain really cared about this kind of thing, and he’d be outvoted.

They would summon a fourth hero that fit the aura.

“They’ll keep that buff,” he said, voice certain. “Summon a fourth hero instead of changing the entire nexus. My main objective will be to stay hidden and avoid combat while summoning doppelgangers to fight for me.” There was no sense in keeping his strategies hidden from Echo. They were all each other had. “Agility will help me with that, scale trees, move faster, stay light on my feet. The only other thing I really need is a mana boost.”

Then allow me to craft an aura that buffs your mana while you split your points between Intelligence and Agility.

It wasn’t a bad idea. He would need as many high powered doppelgangers as possible.

“I’ll put 1 point into Agility and the other 2 into Intelligence.” He’d have 20 total Agility and Intelligence, which put him higher than both Bereth’s and Nance’s key stats. If they couldn’t land a hit, he could survive this.

Elzio pulled up his stats again and flicked the 3 points into their designated core attributes. After confirming his selection, he moved onto the next screen. Spell leveling.

All common sense screamed at him to diversify. Take a new spell, something that could conceal or protect or cleanse. However, his only real chance here lay in his doppels.

To reach level 6, he’d need to spend 6 of his 10 spell points. His doppels would increase in power slightly, but more importantly, they’d be able to cast level 3 abilities. Without Elzio, Nance would be their highest leveled hero, so he’d get good utility out of the increase. It would be expensive, both points and mana wise, but that really would be his greatest chance.

With 4 spell points left, Elzio toyed with an idea that might truly be awful

“What if,” he posited, “I were to take a point in invisibility?”

Level 1 Invisibility is a weak spell.

He laughed at her bluntness. “You’re right. It’s barely a camouflage. Doesn’t mask energy, doesn’t do a thing for sound, fades when casting, and, worse of all, drops entirely if you walk for more than ten seconds.” Common wisdom dictated that the ability wasn’t worth taking until you could level it up to 3, at which point you could move without ending the spell. At level 5 it caused no visual disturbances when the caster moved, and at level 8, it stayed up when spells below its power level were cast. “Invisibility is almost always used to position fighters around the field.”

But… Echo was quiet for a second. You do not plan on using it as such. You plan on hiding much of the battle, in place, while puppeting your doppelgangers. Thus the need for permanence during movement is—

“Unnecessary.” It would be expensive. 2 points to unlock the illusion tree and 2 points to unlock a new spell, but more than anything, it would keep him safe. “It’s our best chance.”

The strategy was risky, and his stomach tensed as his finger hovered over the confirmation message. This really was the best way.

He hit confirm.

You have gained a level! Elzio Shilon: Level 8+1 Support and Mage Level 8 Summoner Level 1 Illusionist Strength: 12 Intelligence: 18+2 Agility: 14+1 Fortitude: 11 Hit Points Pool: 200+25 (FOR) Endurance Pool: 200+25 (STR+AGI) Mana Pool: 400+50 (INT) Speed: 150+25 (AGI) Magical Force: 50+5 (INT) Physical Force: 15 (STR) Magical Resistance: 35 (INT+FOR) Physical Resistance: 25 (STR+FOR) Spells: Summon Doppelganger Level 1: Physical copy, cannot move, 10 hit points, no stats, vanishes upon death — 80 mana, 20 second cooldown, concentration (20 mana) Level 2: Physical copy, can be puppeted, has 10% stats, remains upon death as long as the spell is refreshed — 125 mana, 25 second cooldown, concentration (31.25 mana) Level 3: Copy, can be ordered, has 30% stats, remains upon death as long as the spell is refreshed — 160 mana, 30 second cooldown, concentration (40 mana) Level 4: Battle copy, can be ordered, has 50% stats, can cast abilities below doppel level, retains visual traits of the original (assuming known), remains upon death as long as the spell is refreshed — 200 mana, 35 second cooldown, concentration (50 mana) Level 5: Battle copy, can be ordered, has 60% stats, retains 25% of buffs, can cast abilities below doppel level, retains visual traits, remains upon death as long as the spell is refreshed — 300 mana, 40 second cooldown, concentration (75 mana) New spell level reached! Level 6: Battle copy, can be ordered, has 65% stats, can equip items, retains 30% of buffs, can cast abilities at half doppel level, retains visual traits, remains upon death as long as the spell is cast — 380 mana, 45 second cooldown, concentration (95 mana) New magic field unlocked! Illusions New spell unlocked! Invisibility Level 1: Hides user while staying still, vanishes if abilities are used

For a moment, the little clearing—not even a clearing so much as the place he’d crumpled off Ylia and made a small dent in the bushes around him—hung in silence as Elzio contemplated his decision. This had been, perhaps, one of the most important decisions he would have to make regarding his battle with the Pyrthet Nexus. The weight of the decision sat a little uneasily in his stomach. This gambit with Echo had to work, or their lives were both forfeit. Hers from the battle, his shortly after.

So.

“So?”

You said you would eat breakfast.