Day 1.

  The first problem was getting close enough to attack the crystal bugs. It was easy enough to bend his barrier inwards so that the beasts were within striking distance. The issue was doing that and keeping up the tunnel that funneled air to them at the same time. As soon as Dante focused on one, the other would fail. It wasn’t the most serious problem at the moment, they could all survive for a few minutes in the oxygen-poor environment, but it wasn’t going to be like that for long. There was no way that [Overloaded Warding Flesh] would not level up soon under this pressure.

  When he shared this concern with Pauwna, she didn’t seem to share his concern. “Keep trying to handle both at the same time, you will get a skill for it. We can survive for a time without your intervention. The [System] always provides, given enough time. Make sure to prioritize killing these things though, combat and innovative solutions will make it happen faster. Doesn’t mean its pleasant, though, so hurry it up.”

  Well, if she is so certain.

  Everyone’s breathing became labored as he let go fully of the air pipe. Dante thinned the area protecting them from the swarm, which was about as comfortable as consciously bringing your face close to a saw blade. Judging by Ren’s condition from spending only a second out there, it was an apt enough comparison. The crystalline tinkling sound of the millions of collisions between the bugs grew louder and he placed the new boundary line two feet away from his chest.

  Now, Dante had a new conundrum. He could do as Pauwna had been doing this entire time and kill them with his dagger. However, if he wanted to grind his skills in the most efficient manner, he should do this.

  Tentatively, he poked a fingertip out of the barrier. Before it had even fully exited, one of the bugs dived for it and raked two of its buzzing wings along his gloved fingers. Dante yanked back his hand like he had touched it to a stovetop and inspected his fingers. There was now a rent in his gloves that exposed skin, which had a slight red scratch mark.

  Emboldened, he did it again and was prepared this time when one of the bugs lunged at him. Dante grabbed it in his hand and tried to crush it. That failed and a line of pain lanced from his palm, so he bashed it against the rock. It shattered into pieces and he inspected his hand again. Across the bed of his palm was a small scratch analogous to a papercut.

  Level 1 [Chausus Spawn] has been slain

  Your Participation: 100%

  Got it. Don’t hang onto it.

  Realizing that Pauwna was staring at him, he shrugged his shoulders and said: “Trying to train my [Martial Arts] skill. As you can see, it’s pretty low.”

  “That’s a good skill, good defensiveness, though it can struggle in an actual fight. Poor reach and will struggle against enchanted armor. Will be hard to train here beyond a few levels.”

  Dante grabbed another one and smashed it against the ground but still managed to get cut. It was hard to grab onto the body when three-quarters of the insect was essentially vibrating knives.

  Level 1 [Chausus Spawn] has been slain

  Your Participation: 100%

  This might actually be the first time I’ve fought something below my level. They are so easy to kill. I wonder if this was how the early levels are like for people in non-messed situations.

  “So these things are called [Chausus Spawn], That mean anything to you? Because I have no clue.”

  Pauwna paused in her stabbing to consider him. “How do you know that’s their name?”

  “Ah, I forget to mention that. It tells me the species name for what I kill and also how much I contributed. According to my interface, these are called [Chausus Spawn].”

  “Curious and convenient. I can’t say I have ever heard that name before, but I am not particularly well-traveled. The world is large, so perhaps this is some sort of disaster from another land.”

  “Maybe. Although, the Ahsmati seemed to know that they were coming. Though they didn’t seem to have control over them. They seemed just as eager to get out of there as we were. Is it possible that they created them?”

  Pauwna didn’t even consider the question. “Zero chance. The Ahsmati, as they are now, have no researchers. No, that kind of magic is the Empire’s specialty. Would you mind bringing back the air? Ren is not looking so good.”

  Indeed, she wasn’t; the visible sections of her skin had gone more pale. Dante hurried to reopen the channel while keeping the current shape of his aura. Creating a second depression was doable, but the instant he started deepening it into an invisible pipe was when his concentration faltered. It was too much to hold both images in his head. It was impossible for anyone to truly do two complex tasks at a time. The best Dante could manage was to alternate his attention between the breathing hole and the shield shape. Which really meant that both were on the brink of failing. He needed to find a creative solution.

  But for now, the breathing. Dante let the barrier return to normal and shaped the breathing hole. While his head cleared, an idea struck him. It was so obvious that he wanted to smack himself.

  Perhaps I should save the brainstorming for when I am not oxygen-deprived. I am thinking about this wrong. Why does it have to be two different shapes?

  After his head had cleared and Ren looked healthier, he dropped the breathing tube so that he could start from a clean slate. Like always, he created a pit in the field and enlarged it until it was an inverted cone. The swarm filled the area and Dante grunted as the increased surface area allowed them to apply more pressure to him. Carefully, he elongated the very tip of the cone into a narrow pipe that the insects could not fit in. He continued this for about half a foot, then tried to enlarge it again.

  And faltered. This was the most complex shape he had made by far and, while it was simpler than maintaining two aura modifications, he had reached his limits. Dante didn’t let that stop him. This was the solution; he was sure of it. Dante redoubled his efforts and strained for it.

  Inch by inch, he expanded the other side of what had become an hourglass shape. Dimly, he was aware of some notification unlocking but shunted that to the back of his mind. He was so close. Fresh air reached him once again but he didn’t let that break his focus. If his focus slacked for even a moment, Dante was sure he would lose control of the entire contraption.

  He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, trying to imprint the sensation of holding his aura like that into his subconscious. Eventually, it became second nature, like how one could space out while driving a car. Still, Dante was sure that he would lose control of it if he received a sufficient amount of shock. At least, he could engage with the world again.

  Dante opened his eyes and suinted at the unexpected darkness. Judging by the length of shadows, a fair amount of time had passed. The temperature had dropped and Dante grimaced as he realized that they had nothing but cold stone for a mattress. Though he was not as cold as he should have been. Someone had placed a thin blanket over him and there was a warm mass pressed into his side.

  Fighting against the pressure, Dante looked down and froze. Ren had two blankets wrapped around her and looked quite cozy. But Pauwna … Pauwna was curled into his side, sound asleep. He promptly lost control of his aura construct and had to take a minute or two to reestablish it. It allowed him to calm down a little. Dante looked down again.

  Her hair spilled over his lap and her head rested in the crook of his arm. He watched her for a second as she breathed in and out. A stray hair tickled her nose and she sniffed. With great effort, he lifted an arm and brushed the hair behind one of her ears. He was surprised by how intimate the casual gesture felt, and he reddened and let his head fall back to the stone, careful not to make any movements that could wake her.

  I am not quite sure how to read this. The culture of this land is strange to me and still catches me off guard. I mean, the baths alone …

  Dante reddened; that was the wrong memory to think of at this moment.

  Ok, let’s think about this practically. It is cold, so it makes sense to cluster together for warmth. Except that Ren was left out of it. Maybe the blankets were too small? Shit, this is the kind of stuff I am really bad with. I am probably overthinking it. Yeah, let's go with that.

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  …

  Would that even be something that I would want?

  Desperate for any distraction, he opened his flashing notification window.

  You have acquired the [Hyper Focus] skill

  So this was what allowed him to finish constructing his aura construct. Dante felt like he had always been able to do this to a certain extent, but never to this degree. It seemed alright, but it was not quite what he wanted. It seemed like it had some obvious downsides. Pauwna had managed to move things around and touch him without disturbing him, so it seemed like it would leave him vulnerable.

  For one, it had kept him from noticing how tired and hungry he was. A lot had happened that day. A battle, an escape, yet another close encounter with death. The hunger could wait. He didn’t want to wake Pauwna, but he should probably rest.

  Careful not to jog Pauwna, he gathered some of his blankets underneath his head and tried to drift off to sleep.

  Day 2.

  Dante felt like he had gotten no sleep at all. His concentration on holding up the hole in his barrier was not conducive to sleep. Even switching to the simpler version did not help much. Whenever Dante drifted off, he would lose control and he would be woken up soon after. He had kept trying to return to sleep, if only because there was nothing else to do and he was dead tired. Trying to kill the [Chausus Spawn] in the dark would have been far too dangerous. It was like sticking his hand in a blender in pitch blackness.

  As soon as the first rays of light peaked over their ravine, Pauwna left his side and went back to her constant stabbing of the Chausus. Their crystal shards littered the outside of his field and had build up a wall a few inches high around them. Dante pondered if he should mention last night, but firmly decided not to open that can of worms.

  “Sleep well?” Dante asked while rummaging through his bag. He came up with a few pucks of hard tack and grimaced. He had bought the stuff a while ago in case an opportunity to run away came up. The stuff was barely palatable but would keep him alive.

  “Yes. It was nothing out of the ordinary for me. I am used to sleeping in the rough.” She gave him a sidelong glance as he yawned and rubbed at his eyes. “You, on the other hand, seem miserable.”

  Dante just grunted and began to form his more complicated aura form. If nothing else, the long night had seen him get better at that.

  “I can’t fix my aura to let us breath and sleep at the same time.” The shape snapped into place and he eyed the writhing mass of spawn in front of him. His hand darted out, snatched one of the insects, then smashed it against the ground. That was the first one he had managed to kill without getting cut in turn. Progress.

  Level 2 [Chausus Spawn] has been slain

  Your Participation: 100%

  “Sure you can.”

  Dante stopped and squinted at her. That was news to him. Information that he would have liked to have last night.

  “How? Whenever I stop paying attention, all of my work is undone.”

  “There is a skill for it. I’ve been doing some thinking since you told me about your power yesterday and have come up with two skills you need. First off is aura reinforcement, which allows aura manipulations to last longer. Next is aura compression, which lets you condense your aura to become more powerful. Along with aura manipulation, they are three skills that any competent aura user should have.”

  That was a lot. How did Pauwna know all of this? The Empire did not strike him as a benevolent enough entity to give out valuable information like this freely. Now that Dante was on this train of thought, there had been a few recent discrepancies that he had question about. The question was, how did he ask her without being suspicious?

  “Just ask the question.” Pauwna was staring dead at him. It was as if she had pierced him to the core.

  There is no way she could tell what I was thinking, is there? Do mind-reading abilities exist?

  Pauwna sighed, placed the knife to the side, and faced him directly. “Your heart rate has doubled in the last minute. It’s obvious that you have a burning question that you are afraid to ask me, even without my senses. You are awful at hiding your feelings. We are going to have to work on that.”

  “That really isn’t fair, you know?” Dante complained.

  “You already know my feelings on that. Now, out with it.”

  Dante continued to methodically murder the spawn while he got his thoughts in order. He didn’t want to mess up his words and possibly cause a misunderstanding. Pauwna seemed happy to wait.

  “You know a lot of stuff for a simple soldier. One who, if I am not mistaken, is on the bottom of the social order.” The statement hung in the air and Pauwna made a go on motion with her hands. Dante swallowed, working up the courage to get the last part out.

  “An … and I am pretty sure that the Black Wind recognized you. He called you a betrayer.”

  Dante had said it. He watched Pauwna warily for any hostile movements. Not that he thought she would do anything even if he had driven her into a murderous rage. Not when he was her only lifeline. It was the only reason he had the courage to say what he had.

  Pauwna didn’t seem surprised or even angered by the question. Instead, a contemplative look passed over her face. Though Dante wasn’t sure if that was what she was truly feeling. If what he expected was true, then she had to be a master of deception. Well, at least enough to fool the likes of the Black Wind.

  “Before I answer your question, let me pose one of my own. What do you think of the Empire?”

  That caught him off guard. Dante was so tense that it took a second for the question to register. Though once it did, he had an immediate answer.

  “It’s awful.”

  That broked Pauwna's serious facade and she snorted then gave him a grin. “Come on, you have to give me more than that. Why are they awful?”

  “Well, they essentially enslaved me for one. I have some hard feelings at that.” That pulled a bark of laughter out of her, which he joined in. Dante was glad that the mood had changed. “I am pretty sure that is not just a me thing either. I don’t know this for sure as I pieced together myself, but I am pretty sure that the Ahsmati were their slaves at some point. Even worse, they were literally made for the task. There is a lot to hate about that. Honestly, I am more on the Ahsmati side of things. Though I have some hard feelings about them trying to kill me. Lastly, they have a monarchy — which is never good. That damned princess nearly got us all killed with her recklessness.”

  Pauwna seemed taken aback at his outburst. “You know Dante, I have to give you more credit. Those were some pretty accurate deductions. Though I don’t know about that last part. Is there a kingdom that doesn’t have a ruler?”

  “Hey! Just what did you think about me before!”

  “Anyways, you got it mostly right. Everything except for the Ahsmati being on the right side. Maybe at first, but certainly not today. I promise that I will answer your question, but I need to give you a little history first.”

  “Sure, go for it. It will keep me entertained during this.” Dante had gotten the hang of killing the [Chausus Spawn] now. He didn’t really have to grab the body, the wings were much less dangerous near the body, where they moved slower. With that discovery, he was killing one about every dozen seconds. Dante still got a small cut every once and a while, but he found that they scabbed over quite quickly and were gone by morning. He was pretty sure it was high constitution at play.

  Pauwna on the other hand, had given up completely on killing the crystal insects and had taken a drink of water to prepare for her story.

  “A long time ago, the W?lian Empire was much greater than now. About thrice its current size and quickly growing. It had conquered its neighboring kingdoms and subjugated their people with all the unpleasantness that involves. It was considered the center of the world and was a hotbed of magical research. All was going well, save for one problem. Care to guess what it was?”

  Dante thought about it for a moment, then gave it his best shot. “Nobody liked them and teamed up against them?”

  “Close. The Empire’s enemies did form a coalition against them, but that was nothing it hadn’t dealt with before. No, the problem was that they grew too fast. They had a lot of land, more than their core territories, full of recently conquered and mistreated people who would rebel at the slightest opportunity. It took a lot of the Empire’s attention just to keep order. This is normally when an Empire should focus on consolidating their gains for a few generations. But the W?lians weren’t satisfied with this, so they used all their magic knowledge to create a solution.”

  “The Ahsmati.” Danted breathed, realization dawning on him. This was so much worse than he thought. Not only were they engineered to be a slave race, but one whose first purpose was to fight wars.

  “Correct. The Empire used their extensive magical knowledge to create the Ahsmati, though they weren’t known as that then. A stunningly fast-growing race that can manifest many different forms, depending on the will of their creators. When the first batch of Ahsmati hit the battlefield, the Empire's borders grew once again. No one had seen their like and the Ahsmati proved terribly adaptable.”

  Pauwna held up a clawed finger. “There was just one small problem. As the Ahsmati went to war in foreign lands, they were exposed to new ideas. They learned how terrible their position was and, like all sentient creatures, they yearned for freedom.”

  She is quite good at this. Dante thought, watching her. Pauwna spoke with a passion that he had never seen before from her. It was the type of passion born of first-hand experience and he had to wonder just where she fit into this.

  “After many years of fighting, they had grown in both experience and knowledge, and they eventually had the power and plan to ensure their freedom. In a small city state that was also known for being a center for magic research, they found a certain magic theory. In secret, they developed the theory further until it was ready to be put into action. On one fateful night, right before a major battle, the Ahsmati enacted a ritual built upon that theory. The largest in history. Every single member of their race sacrificed a portion of their levels to create beings capable of freeing them. They created …”

  She leaned in closer to him and whispered the last part into his ear.

  “The primordial dragons.”