"Sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is a riveting monologue," Kirstin said. "But, if we could cut to the chase a little? For the sake of clarity, you’re admitting that you don’t possess any Level 2 abilities?" She leaned in slightly, flashing him her sweetest, most innocent smile. "Just making sure I understand, you know."

  Eliud's expression in response was not quite a snarl, but nor was it filled with sunlight and rainbows. In any other circumstances, should the Duskstrider have looked at another person in that way, it would make them quail to their very boots. Neither was it improving his general mood that the Celestial Harbinger was grinning mischievously back.

  "As I have stated, many times, no, I do not possess any Level 2 Skills. And that is because such things simply do not exist."

  "Oh, right. My apologies. I must have been mistaken. Hang on a moment; let me just check." Kirstin's voice quivered with faux confusion as she pulled up the notification that had appeared just before she had lost consciousness. has advanced to Level 2. You have gained a threshold bonus. "No, it definitely says that my has advanced to Level 2. It's in bold and everything. Would you like to read it again?"

  The sky above them shifted ominously, dark clouds swirling as all-too-close thunder rumbled, crackling with the promise of an imminent storm. The air above seemed to thrum with power, and Savage let out a small, warning yowl, her fur bristling in response.

  "Not that it isn't delightful for you to tweak his nose this way," she purred, "but neither the dog nor I are especially inflammable."

  Josul, clearly unsettled by the charged atmosphere, gave a low whuffle of agreement, his large frame shifting uneasily as he glanced up at the darkening sky.

  “I must protest at the characterisation of me as someone so insecure that they are likely to cause catastrophic destruction because of a little light teasing."

  "You forget, Eliud," Savage said, "I was with you when the walls of Port Tallen came tumbling down. Wasn’t that because Lady Heron had the audacity to suggest your robes were last season's cut?"

  The exchange had the usual rhythm—a delicate dance of barbs and jabs—but Kirstin was already thinking ahead, her attention shifting from their petty squabble to what lay before them.

  For all his eccentricity, there was no real likelihood of Eliud actually allowing his irritation at her unexpected advancement to cause actual harm. She was, though, utterly captivated by the idea she now possessed something beyond the experience of the Duskstrider.

   has advanced to Level 2.

  It went without saying that if Eliud had never heard of a Skill advancing to Level 2, she certainly hadn’t either.

  Kirstin was aware, of course, that through intense and consistent use, it was possible to evolve a Skill into something more powerful. As an Archer, she had spent countless hours on the range, firing off after , desperately hoping for that elusive third arrow to appear. But despite her efforts, nothing ever came of it. There was, though, a well-worn path for her to follow, even if it had always led to the same dead end, time and time again.

  That, since evolving her Class into Celestial Harbinger, her now had four arrows as standard rather than two, was proof that such things were possible, after all.

  But that was as a consequence of linear evolution.

  Skills just did not 'level up'. Did they?

  Kirstin activated . Was there anything different about it now it had gone through this transition? She was not sure. In the grand scheme of things, she was still a novice at using the Skill. Would she even notice a change if there had been one?

  Now that she thought of it, there was perhaps a subtle shift—a slight easing of the usual disorientation that accompanied phasing out of time. Her stomach didn’t lurch as it had in the past, no sickening swirl of vertigo to signal her departure from the flow of reality.

  It was a smoother transition, less jarring. But then again, that could just be the result of her growing familiarity with the Skill, her body and mind adapting to its peculiarities. The first time, it had felt like stepping into a void, but now, it almost felt... natural, as though she were learning to move with the rhythm of time rather than against it.

  "Kirstin?!"

  There was a note of panicked alarm in Eliud's voice that pulled her out of her reverie.

  "Yes? What's wrong?"

  "I cannot sense her, Savage. Does your bond tell you where she went?"

  "No," the cat yowled back, matching the Duskstrider's tone. "It is as if she has simply stopped existing. Could she have passed through the portal without us?"

  In confusion, Kirstin dropped , causing Savage to leap in the air as she manifested next to her. Eliud spun around, both hands flaring with crackling, purple lightning.

  She held her hands up in mock surrender. "Why don't we all take a breath. I might have found out what a Level 2 does."

  *

  At Eliud’s insistence, they remained silent as they made camp in front of the now shattered portal to the realm of the Dark God.

  Kirstin, eager to press on, had hoped they could pass straight through and begin the search for Genoes without delay. But Eliud, as usual, was not easily swayed.

  “What happened to ‘time being of the essence’?” she had asked, her impatience barely contained. “I thought we didn’t have a moment to waste!”

  Eliud had met her gaze. “And we still do not,” he had replied. “But neither can we risk a confrontation with the Dark God’s minions when I have no understanding of the powers you now wield.”

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  His words settled between them like a stubborn fog. She could see his point, but the tension in her chest remained, gnawing at her as she glanced at the ominous portal, knowing that every second counted.

  “How is it different from before?” Kirstin’s words flowed like a simmering river just before it bursts. “ is still a brilliant defensive Skill. Nothing can hit me, and apparently, I’m invisible now too. What’s not to like? We need to go and save Genoes, just like we promised.”

  “Enough!” Eliud’s command rang out, sharp and sudden, cutting through the air like a crack of thunder.

  In that instant, the restless energy in him vanished, replaced by the quiet intensity of the man who had once been a Mentor to the Kingdom. The absent-minded professor was gone, and with it, a thick silence settled over them, thick and heavy.

  .The shift in Eliud was subtle, but Kirstin was learning to recognise the change to the set of his jaw. The way he stood a little straighter. The darkening hue of the purple in his eyes. She bit down her response helped with preparing their camp.

  With the fire lit, and both their tents established, Eliud made a gesture and a log rolled from the underbrush to bump the back of her legs, inviting her to sit down. For a moment, still smarting from their confrontation, Kirstin thought about refusing, but there was no denying the expression on Eliud's face.

  "I apologise if you feel I’m being overly cautious," Eliud said. "However, I cannot even begin to count the lives I’ve lost because I failed to fully understand the extent of their abilities before sending them into the field. If there is one thing I’ve sworn to change about my life, it’s that I will stop relying on the arrogance of assuming I can overcome any odds. That promise, Kirstin, is etched in blood. And none of it was mine."

  His gaze softened, the weight of past losses pressing on him like a physical burden. He looked at her then, the unspoken plea clear in his eyes.

  "Please," he continued, his voice quieter now. "I need you to tell me how it feels to use that Skill. I need to know what it's costing you." The words hung in the air, a fragile request, but one he knew could be the difference between life and death for them all.

  Kirstin shrugged. "It honestly does not seem any different. If anything, it makes me feel less sick."

  "How so?"

  "Whenever I've used it before, it's felt like everything is slightly off," Kirstin explained, her voice a little distant as she focused on the sensation. "Like I am acutely aware of being in the wrong place, and everything around me is... prickly."

  "Prickly?" Eliud echoed, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The tension that had been steadily building between them over the past hour finally began to ebb away, the ice cracking with the subtle warmth of a shared understanding. "I have some experience with phase Skills myself. I think 'prickly' is actually a pretty decent term to describe the sensation. But—" He tilted his head –"You didn’t feel ‘prickly’ when you used it just now, did you?"

  Kirstin thought back to the sensation of activating her newly upgraded Level 2 . "No," she said slowly, as though testing the words. "It was smoother. Rather than feeling like I was forcing myself out of time, only to have it snap back all wrong, it was more like... I don’t know how to describe it. It was like slipping behind a curtain. Like stepping into something that was always there but not meant to be touched."

  Eliud glanced over at Savage, who had leapt up to join Kirstin on the log, her tail flicking lazily in the air. His gaze lingered on the cat. "And, Savage, you completely lost any sense of her?"

  "She did not phase out of time, she stopped being part of this world." Savage raised a paw and began licking it. "I did not like it."

  Eliud began to pace around the campfire, the crackling flames casting fleeting shadows on his face. "So, we have a Skill that 'levelled up'—" he couldn’t quite keep the distaste from his voice, "which now is noticeably more powerful than any phase Skill I’ve ever heard of." His eyes flicked to Kirstin, as if her Skill was some kind of personal affront. "Believe me when I say that I know of no one who has been able to withhold their presence from me. And that includes gods."

  "Although," came Savage’s lazy voice, punctuating the tension with a yawn, "presumably, if anyone could hide their aura, you wouldn't know about it, would you?"

  "Touché, Savage," he said. "Point taken. Well, that is a thought that will fester. Thank you so much for that." He dropped his eyes to Josul, lying happily near the small campfire. "Were you able to smell her when the Skill was active?"

  "Hey!" Kirstin protested. "I don't smell!"

  The dog raised his head for a moment and then shook it, settling back down when done, giving every impression of having fallen back asleep.

  "So, what do we have here?" Eliud said, his voice a blend of curiosity and scepticism. "You possess a Skill that makes you intangible to my magery, one that severs Savage’s spirit bond and baffles Josul—who, mind you, I know for a fact can track a drop of blood from at least a mile away."

  "So what does that tell us?" Kirstin asked, frustrated.

  Eliud studied her for a moment, his brow furrowing as his mind turned over the possibilities. "It tells us that something is happening here that shouldn’t be. And I need to understand it." His voice shifted, becoming more focused, more urgent. "Activate your cloak. Now."

  Kirstin barely had time to activate the cloak before a surge of energy enveloped her, a fiery tempest of power that sent a shiver down her spine. "Woah, Eliud. Easy!" she shouted, but then she realised the futility of speaking—he couldn’t hear her now, not while she was hidden behind the shield of .

  Then she watched in quiet fascination as Eliud unleashed Skill after Skill in rapid succession, each one crackling with energy but dissipating harmlessly against the invisible barrier around her. His attacks were relentless, but futile—none of them making any impression.

  She took a careful step to the left, intrigued to see if he would adjust his aim, but he didn’t. He continued to unleash his power at the spot where he believed she still stood, his focus unwavering, as though he could not fathom that she was no longer there.

  For a brief moment, the mischievous thought crossed her mind to slip behind him, tap him on the shoulder, and drop the cloak just to watch him flinch in surprise. It would’ve been a satisfying trick—a lesson in humility, if nothing else.

  But she held back, the sense of something deeper in the air telling her now might not be the best time for such flippancy.

  The memory of the expression on his face when he had shouted "Enough!" earlier was still too fresh, too sharp. She had no intention of seeing that look aimed at her again. Not unless she was prepared to face the consequences.

  Instead, she simply cancelled the Skill where she was, several feet from when Eliud had last seen her. "You truly lose track of me, don't you?"

  His eyes slipped across to her, pausing in the act of throwing another fireball. It vanished in his fist and he let out a weary sigh. "I have never known anything like it. Put a knife in your hand and you would be a terror to put Gallant Stonehand himself to shame. A completely unstoppable killing machine that I would not be able to sense, much less counter."

  Kirstin shuffled her feet uncomfortably, images of Jak with his knives coming unbidden to her mind. "I don't think we need to worry about that. I have no desire to be an assassin."

  "Well, I certainly would not recommend it as a life choice." Eliud took a deep breath as if seeking to cleanse his mind. "Okay, there is no need for us to get ahead of ourselves in this. I presume there is a significant mana cost to holding the Skill open?"

  Kirstin nodded, the weight of her words tempered by a certain clarity. "More so since the level-up. I can probably keep it active for thirty seconds at most now. Maybe less."

  Eliud gave a sharp nod, processing the information. "Well, that’s something, I guess. It gives the rest of us a chance, at least. And that’s down from what it was before?"

  "Yes," she replied. "I was able to keep open for a few minutes without issue before."

  "Fine," Eliud said, his voice more thoughtful now. "That gives us some parameters to work with. But I have one last question."

  Kirstin arched an eyebrow. "And then we go after Genoes?"

  "And then we go after Genoes."

  A grin tugged at her lips. "So ask."

  "Do you have any idea what a threshold bonus might be?"