After a time, the pressure on his body diminished, though what was left was still enough to keep him pinned to the ground. Dante recovered, albeit slowly. He kept cycling charges and his dizziness cleared enough to take a look around.

  They were in a small canyon with unnaturally smooth walls. It was angled at a steep decline and he sat with his legs on the wall and back across the floor. Within that canyon, the world had been reduced to a rough cylinder around him about eight feet across. Beyond that was a chittering, humming wall of strange, insect-like creatures. They strained against [Overloaded Warding Flesh], but they seemed incapable of moving them more than a few inches inside before being rejected. It pinned him firmly to the wall, but not enough to inhibit his breathing.

  The creatures were utterly bizarre, entirely unlike any form of life he had seen. It was as if they had been grown from translucent purple crystal. They had no internal organs, eyes, ears, or noses. Each was a little smaller than his hand and diamond-shaped. The body was one large diamond and had four oblong diamonds sprouting from it like dragonfly wings. These wings were in constant motion, producing the blur he had seen earlier. That was where the commonalities between individuals ended, each seemed to have random crystal growths sprouting from the body. Without exception, every crystal seemed razor sharp.

  “You doing alright?”

  Dante turned his head to see Pauwna sitting close to the edge of the barrier. She stabbed out with a dagger, piercing one of the creatures and bringing it inside for inspection. The crystal of its exoskeleton parted around the blade like flesh and the creature struggled futility on the blade before going limp. A pile of them lay next to her.

  “Well enough. Has it been long?” Dante attempted to rise but only managed to raise his head enough to look around. The weight on him was too great for anything else and he tried to quell a faint sense of claustrophobia.

  “Only half an hour. Not much has happened in the meantime, though I did bandage up Ren. It seems like we are at a standstill with these little monsters. At least, I assumed so. How are you feeling?”

  Dante let his head settle back against the ravine wall. Lifting it had taken a supreme effort. “Not too comfortable, but I can keep this up for a while. Out there on the other hand? I would rather not even try, but I could manage for a few minutes. Maybe.”

  Pauwna grunted in affirmation but didn’t seem surprised. “Let’s not try it for now. We would likely get lost and there is no guarantee that it’s only these weeklings out there. It’s been a very long day and we all need to recover before facing something like that. Besides, we shouldn’t move Ren.”

  Looking to his other side, Dante saw Ren braced against the wall. She didn’t look so good. Pauwna had cut away most of her shirt so he could see that most of her upper body and face were bandaged. They were already soaked red with blood and her breaths came in shallow. Ren’s eyes were closed and moved rapidly underneath her eyelids. She didn’t seem to be conscious.

  “Is she going to live?”

  Pauwna shrugged. “Maybe? I am not a healer, I just happen to know some field medicine. None of the cuts were that deep and I treated them with a poultice, but she has so many. If one gets infected, it’s all over.” She shook her head. “Mages and their gods damned constitution. They always neglect it. It would certainly help if it weren’t so damn hard to breathe in here.”

  Dante blinked. It seemed perfectly normal in here to him. It might be because of the wall of insects, but that couldn’t be right. It didn’t look like they needed to breathe and he didn’t think that they were packed dense enough to create a seal.

  “It’s been like that ever since I picked you up.” Pauwna tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s an ability of these monsters?”

  Pauwna stabbed out into the swarm, killing another, but Dante was too busy processing that last statement.

  They only started feeling this when they were next to me? I have been suffering for this for a while and it’s only been getting worse. It’s almost like the cause has been leveling up with me … no, it couldn’t be.

  “Hold on a moment,” he said to Pauwna, “I think I’ve got an idea.” Then, Dante delved deep into his aura. He had gotten a lot of practice with it over the last day and had developed an instinctive feel for its boundaries. It was difficult to define them because he couldn’t see where his aura ended. Dante had to interpret the sensations his aura gave him and compare it to his sight.

  Carefully, with as delicate a touch as Dante could manage, he created a divet in the barrier. He made sure to locate it where the boundary intersected with the stone of the ravine so that he could make the entrance small enough that crystal insects could not fit. He made it deeper, creating a corridor through his aura, and ran it towards his head. Dante could just barely do it, finessing the aura like this was hard. It had an inclination to return to its natural state, but he barely managed it.

  [Aura Manipulation] has advanced to Level 4

  He took a breath experimentally and it was like a headache he didn’t know he had went away. With every breath, his thoughts ran clearer and exhaustion melted away. It was such a great relief that he nearly lost control. Dante resolidified his grasp on the hole, determined to never let it disappear again.

  This is going to be tough. I need to always be concentrating on this or else I will lose control … Of course this damned ability almost killed me again. I swear it’s done that as many times as it has saved me. Whatever, at least I have figured out a solution. Although, I can’t exactly do it while sleeping.

  “You figure it out yet?” asked Pauwna, poking him in the side. Stifling a yelp, he turned a glare on her. In answer, he simply expanded the auraless area to include her and Ren’s heads. With the recent upgrade to the skill, he was able to manage it. Pauwna breathed a sigh of relief of her own and stretched.

  “Ah, much better. So what was the problem?”

  “It’s kind of stupid. You know how one of my abilities pushes things away?” Dante waited for the nod before continuing. “Turns out it pushes everything away, except me, I guess. Water, food, and now air. So I had to adjust it using [Aura Manipulation]. It didn’t even occur to me until you pointed it out to me.”

  “Hmm.” Pauwna tapped her lips thoughtfully. “It’s rather unusual for an ability to be so self-destructive to its user. If you don’t mind me asking, what's its rarity?”

  “Isn’t it taboo or something to talk about our abilities? I remember you telling me something along those lines and I have never heard anyone else speak about their ability details.”

  Pauwna heaved a heavy sigh, then turned to face him. “Oh. So we are going to have this talk now.”

  “What talk is this?”

  “The one about how you know absolutely nothing, even about things that everyone should know. And don’t give me the excuse you gave the Princess about being from a far away country, this goes beyond that.”

  Dante glanced towards Ren worriedly. She appeared to be asleep, but he didn’t want to take any chances with this. This was perhaps his greatest secret. That woman, out of everyone in their unit, seemed to dislike him the most.

  “Don’t worry about her. She is asleep, or I wouldn’t have brought this up.” Pauwna tapped her ears. “I can hear the rhythm of her breathing and heartbeat. Steady as a rock. Unless she has received very specialized training, she can’t fool me. Now, back to the topic at hand. Do you trust me? Or shall I continue to pretend that I didn’t notice your strangeness?”

  It always came back to this. Dante had long ago decided to trust her with parts of the truth and she had not let him down yet, but he didn’t want her to think that he was mad. However, Dante had no idea if knowledge of other universes existed here. For all that he knew, he could be keeping quiet for nothing. Perhaps interdimensional travelers like him were common here.

  Seeing his hesitation, Pauwna added: “How about this. A truth for a truth. You can decline to answer, but you must answer another question. We both have secrets that we will take to the grave, after all. You can even go first.”

  That seems fair. I was going to answer some of her questions anyway. This way, I can get something more out of it. I don’t have any guarantee that she will tell the truth, but what other alternative do I have? Besides, she remains an enigma to me. I want to know more about her.

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  “Alright,” Dante said, “First question then. What’s the rarity of your highest ability?”

  Pauwna laughed her odd little laugh. “Fair’s fair, I guess. I would ask that you take this to your grave. You are perhaps the third person I have told. It's legendary.” She paused, as if waiting for a reaction and seemed disappointed when he didn’t give any. “I’ll even give you some more knowledge for free, no need to pay me back. It is called [Sanguine Authority]. It allows me to manipulate blood. Mostly my own, but I can claim others as long as I injure them. It also allows me to imbue it with my mana, making it stronger than any mortal metal.”

  “That’s a lot of things for one ability to do.”

  “Tut, tut, tut.” She waved a finger at him. “You already had your question. My turn. Now,” she redirected her finger to him, “Your turn. Same question as before.”

  “Right. My barrier is a unique.”

  She blinked at him, left to right, with all of her eyes. “Pardon? I must have misheard you. I thought you said unique?”

  “I did.”

  The moment stretched out, then she leaped to her feet. “Huh!?!” She began pacing, though she was forced to make very tight circles given the spatial restraints. “A lie? No, it can’t be. His pulse was truthful. Delusional, perhaps?”

  So it was a big deal then. It was a good thing that Dante didn’t mention that he had two of them.

  “I can hear you, you know? Is it really that important? Also, isn’t it a bit unfair that you can tell what the truth is and I can’t?”

  That question brought a hysterical bark of laughter.

  “That sounds like a skill issue to me.”

  This brought an unexpected bark of laughter from Dante, which continued into a fit of giggles. At Pauwna’s questioning look, he waved her on. “Don’t worry about it. You accidentally made a joke from my homeland. It would take too long to explain it. Please continue.”

  “Ok?” Pauwna stopped her pacing and settled in next to him. “This is going to be a bit of a long explanation, so get comfortable — ” He raised an eyebrow at her and she coughed.

  “Ah, right. So, first, we have common rarity. Everybody has something of that tier. Most people have only that. These are things that are useful in everyday life. Common skills would be like cleaning or running. A common ability could be creating a day's worth of drinking water or a temporary minor boost to strength. Next is uncommon. In the average town, you will have a handful of people with these. Nothing too impressive, blacksmithing or tailoring. Perhaps an ability to throw fire or to see in the dark. Now rare is where it gets interesting.”

  She held out a palm and drew in the air above it with her finger. To his astonishment, the finger left a glowing red trail. After completing a magic circle complete with one rune in the middle. As soon as she completed the circle, it flashed once and was replaced by a globule of blood which floated in the air above Pauna’s palm.

  “Rare is the first tier that gives you access to magic, perhaps the most important weapon on the battlefield. Especially here in the W?lian Empire.”

  Dante couldn’t help himself. “What is the difference between magic and any other skill or ability?”

  Pauwna didn’t seem annoyed with the interruption, giving him an amused smile that showcased her canines. Lately, he had noticed that she didn’t cover them with his hand as much around him, especially if they were alone. The realization that she was comfortable around him made him feel unexpectedly warm and fuzzy.

  “A magic ability is like a key that opens a door. It does nothing by itself but allows you to use runic circles and all the spells associated with your affinity and rarity. You are only limited by your talent. It also unlocks a good number of skills associated with the magic. Now, may I continue?”

  Cheeks burning, Dante nodded.

  “Rares are just that, rare. Perhaps a dozen in an average city might have something of that caliber. A few hundred across the Empire in total. It’s the same concept with legendaries, except there is only a handful across the nation. As you can imagine, they are kept track of and are considered military assets. Currently, the Empire doesn’t know about me or you. They would have kept a firmer grip on us if they did. For the most part, legendaries are just upgraded versions of rare abilities.”

  With a gesture, the blood orb separated into clear water and a cloud of red dust. “My blood magic is an upgrade from a water ability and still retains some of its functions. Though it is much more expensive now.” Pauwna let both substances fall to the ground.

  “Mythics are where things get a bit strange. Truthfully, I don’t know much about them and I suspect that it is intentional. What I have heard is that they interact with the fundamental rules of reality. There are only a few of these in the world. The Queen and first princess have one as do the Ahsmati dragons.” At last, we come to uniques.”

  She hesitated a little here before continuing. “Uniques are where this relationship breaks down a little. Abilities of this tier are much more common than legendaries or mythics. The value of a unique varies quite a bit. I have met a man with a unique skill for making a certain type of bread. All the title seems to mean is that there can only be one holder of it. Though some unique abilities can be quite strong though specific.”

  She gestured to the barrier and Dante nodded.

  “What makes uniques notable is that they have more attributes tied to them.” Pauwna paused after seeing his confusion. “Ah right, I suppose I hadn’t mentioned that yet. Every ability has a few attributes associated with it that will modify how it manifests. Commons have one and it increases by one per rarity. So uniques have six. This doesn’t necessarily make them more powerful, but certainly more controllable.”

  Pauwna held up a finger, withstalling any further questions.

  “That was a long answer. Now, I believe you actually asked two questions. So here are mine.” Pauwna turned to look him directly in the eyes, seeming suddenly tense. “How is it that you are leveling without a status ritual?”

  Dante hesitated, giving it some true thought. Pauwna seemed to care about this one. “I can see a … page, like a book, that details my status. It changes as I change and it lets me pick abilities, skills, and specializations through it. It can even let me review information about my selections. I am guessing this is not how it works for everyone?”

  “Fascinating. It must be wonderful to have all of that at will. No, for everyone else we need to perform a ritual to see such things. While the materials are fairly common, it does require a ritualist, which is expensive, so most people only get it done a few times in their entire life. It is more instinctive than what you have described. You get a sense of what can advance and what it will become. It is not a certain process and there is a great deal of skill involved in interpreting the feeling.” Pauwna paused, a look of desperate yearning passing over her features. “Is your method an ability, skill, trait, or title of some kind? Can it be learned?”

  “No.” Better to crush that firmly in the bud, no need to give her false hope. “I received it under special circumstances. I doubt they will ever arise again, and I have no idea why it was given to me.”

  “What special circumstances?”

  “Death.”

  Pauwna scrunched her face at him. “Never before have I doubted the accuracy of my ears. Bringing the recently dead back to life is a rare power, but not unheard of. You keep saying that you received this power? From what exactly?”

  I guess this little game of ours has pretty firmly broken down. At least it got us talking. Which might have been her intention the first place.

  “I am not quite sure. It happened while I was … away, so it’s not exactly the clearest of memories. But I do recall a vast being of light bestowing gifting me something and when I recovered, I had this power.”

  “A being of light, huh?” Pauwna stabbed out with the dagger once again, skewering another crystal insect and adding it to the pile. “That sounds like T’vir, but he is one of the gods that are dead for certain. Shame, because I can’t think of anything else that could do what you are describing. The next time you level up, mind if I watch?”

  “Sure, but I have to ask. What’s with these dead gods? I have heard people mention them, mostly in curses. Did they ever exist and how in the world do you kill a god?”

  “You think they tell people like me that stuff? It happened a long time ago, but the proof is there.” Pauwna pointed to the shattered moon. “From what I understand, they mostly killed each other. They wared, as gods often do, and got us mortals caught up in it. After a particularly grievous disaster, they decided not to wreck their creation and so they reached an agreement to fight where they couldn’t hurt mortals. After a few centuries, there was one winner. Slar?v, the god of death. Who could have guessed that one, right? Anyway, our ancestors murdered him after he returned. Shattered an entire continent in the process.”

  A companion silence fell between them as they both considered the information they had learned. Dante wished that they had done this sooner. It felt good to unburden himself of some of the secrets he had been carrying. None of the big ones yet, but hopefully that would come in time. It was a shame that it took this type of circumstance. Speaking of that …

  “So, how are we getting out of this?”

  Pauwna did not answer immediately, taking down a few more of the creatures. If she kept this up, she would fill their small space.

  “As I see it, there is no possible way for me or Ren to kill all of these things. Even under these conditions. There are simply too many of them. Nor is it likely that rescue is coming. We are still deep in the enemy camp and the Empire probably presumes that all of their soldiers are dead. These are unchangable facts. But there is one thing about our situation that can still change.” She paused in her task and pointed the dagger at him.

  “You.”

  It all clicked into place.

  “You want me to use this entire situation to get stronger. To level enough so that we could walk out of here.”

  “Precisely. Whatever these things are, they are too weak for me or Ren to get any stronger off them. Even if we could level. You on the other hand, are weak yourself and can improve instantly. Honestly, I can’t think of a better situation for you. Though we will need to hide it from Ren when she recovers.”

  Dante liked this plan. It felt right. All this time, he had been at the mercy of those with more power, so it was time to gain some himself.

  “Let’s begin then.”