Ch: 118.2 (Patreon)

I was awake, but I didn’t want to be. There was no reason to open my eyes, as we were still underground, and I wouldn't be able to see anything if I did, but that didn’t stop me from checking my surroundings with Sense Mana. Considering we weren't ambushed while asleep, it was safe to say we were temporarily in the clear, but one could never be too sure.

After being ambushed by the soul horrors, I took extra time scanning not only the empty rooms surrounding us but the thick walls and any other gaps I had previously only glossed over as well. Thankfully, though, everything was silent as a crypt.

Next to me, Tabitha’s breathing was steady, which was a good sign. “You awake, I quietly call out into the dark, just in case Tabitha is still resting.

“Not anymore,” Tabitha’s tired voice answers back.

“Any idea how long we were out for?” My stomach felt empty, but with how much I needed to heal, I could’ve been out for only a few hours or a few days.

I hear Tabitha sigh beside me and groan as she slowly shifts around on her back. “I say we’ve been out for about two days.”

“Is that so,” I lazily comment, not at all surprised that Tabitha sounded confident of her assessment or that we were out that long.

“It is a miracle either of us is alive. The goddess of death must not have seen fit to take our souls while she had the chance,” I can hear the mirth in Tabitha’s voice. She was joking, of course, but she didn't realize how right she was.

I don’t move to clasp my hands together or do anything like that, but I do silently say a prayer to Goddess Ebeon and, to a lesser extent, Ilia. Of course, I wouldn't devote my life to the two as a priest would, but I fully recognize what the two did for me and am thankful. Plus, I was a little worried that my already lousy relationship with Goddess Ilia might become dangerous if I didn't show her at least some appreciation.

I gather from my interactions with them that the gods can only interact with people at specific times. To the average person, that kind of opportunity would almost never arise, but seeing how I’ve met the duo twice in less than a year, my luck was either shitty, or I was the luckiest person in the world and didn't know it.

I complain, but honestly, we needed all the luck we could get. We survived the soul horrors by the skin of our teeth, but the final boss was still slithering around above our heads. I still couldn’t sense him, but I was sure the winged serpent was nearby, waiting for us to emerge from our hole.

Speaking of which, “What do we do now?” I ask Tabitha.

"What else? We heal to the best of our abilities," she replies matter-of-factly. "We lick our wounds and devise a plan to escape the winged serpent. Maybe we can sneak away, or possibly- Fuck…...” Tabitha swears out of nowhere and suddenly stops talking altogether.

“What is it?” I sit up and start scanning our surroundings for whatever made Tabitha swear. As long as I've known her, Tabitha seldom swears, so I was already mentally preparing myself for another life-or-death battle for her to react like that. Only, there was nothing there. Meanwhile, with Sense Mana, I noted Tabitha was staring upward with her mouth wide open.

“Is it your danger sense skills?” I nervously ask, still scanning our surroundings, but Tabitha doesn’t answer me. She doesn’t even turn her head in my direction.

“Tabitha, are you alright?” I was starting to freak out at this point. She wasn't responding to anything I said.

Tabitha was mumbling about something I couldn't make out, so I leaned closer. "What was that?" I ask, using my hands to check Tabitha's arms in the dark. I wasn't sure if the potion did its job, so I made sure not to shift anything while examining them. Sense Mana helps me check the state of her arms, and they appear to be healing nicely. The bones were mending at the rate expected of someone of Tabitha's level, and I was about to tell her as such, but she finally said something I could hear.

"My status page," Tabitha’s voice quivers.

“Is it your health?” Did channeling the soul horror experience into Tabitha damage her in some way? “Do you need me to grab the remaining health potion?” I offer.

I don’t know if my question was what brought her back to reality or if she naturally came to her senses, but Tabitha snapped at me. "Don't you dare; we might need it to escape."

Letting out a sigh of relief, I can’t help but smile in the dark. I was worried for a second there, but it looks like she’s okay. Of course, Tabitha still needed time before she could use her arms, but I was just happy she had the energy to snap at me. "Fine, no potion," I quickly agreed before she tried something stupid, like grabbing me with her still-healing arms. "I was worried. You were acting weird."

Tabitha scoffs, “You would too if you opened your states page and saw something that shouldn’t be possible,” she rants in a manner I’ve never seen before.

With the threat of danger gone, my body untenses, and I can’t help but laugh. I laughed because Tabitha sounded crazy and because we won, but mainly because I was alive. And what better reason was there? "How so?” I sputter between giggles.

“You don’t understand,” Tabitha sounds frustrated. “I leveled!”

“And that’s crazy? You deserve to level,” I congratulate Tabitha. Part of me wanted to clap in an over-the-top manner as a joke, but I didn't want to sour the occasion, and honestly, I was just too tired to do so.

“No, you’re still not getting it,” Tabitha sounds like she wants to throttle me, but I don’t understand why. It takes her a minute, but Tabitha finally finds her words and manages to tell me what is bothering her. “I didn’t gain one level; I gained seven!”

I let out a long whistle. “Sweet, congratulations.”

That was not the reaction Tabitha was expecting. “I gain over twenty-seven million experience points, and you congratulate me like it's no big deal!" Her voice rises in frustration, but she doesn’t yell, as that could be risky.

“Whoa, don’t move,” I gently push against Tabitha’s arms, pinning them to the ground, as she tries to reach for me.

“Why are you so calm!?” She growls in my face.

“Well, because I thought you knew this was going to happen,” I sheepishly respond.

“What! Why would you think that?” Tabitha interrogates me in the dark.

“I told you I absorbed the soul horrors,” I remind her. “Remember, you said to share the pain. So, I transferred most of the extra experience to you.”

Tabitha goes silent. “That was experience?”

“Yeah, what did you think it was?” I frown in confusion, but she can't see that.

“I thought it was a form of ghostly poison you could control,” Tabitha replies in a hollow voice, finally realizing what I did.

Oh, that's why she was so confident she could take it. Tabitha thought her Poison Resistance skill would help her with whatever was ailing me when in fact, it couldn't.

“I guess that’s one way you could put it,” I awkwardly rub at the back of my head. Although, now that I think back on it, Tabitha only ever told me ghosts were fragments of souls left behind; she doesn't know that the part of the soul that remains is actually the experience left behind when the central part of the soul passes on.

“You knew they were made out of experience?” I could feel Tabitha staring at me with an accusing glare even though I couldn’t see her in the dark.

“Maybe?” I hesitantly answer.

“And you knew I would level?” She continues to push.

“There was a high probability,” I reluctantly answer, expecting Tabitha to blow up at me for failing to tell her about such an important skill.

But the verbal tongue-lashing never comes. Instead, Tabitha asks me a question in a quiet, hollow voice. “Have you always been able to do that? Is that why Master is going to such lengths to recruit you? He never told me,” Tabitha sounds disappointed, and I think I know why.

Tabitha thinks her Master knew about my skills and kept silent because he didn't trust her, but that simply wasn't true. I could push all the blame onto Pacore, but it would eventually get out that I was lying, and I didn't want to do that to Tabitha. So, I tell the truth.

“Pacore knows nothing about the skills I used,” I admit. “Not even my parents know about them; you’re the only one. And no, up until now, I couldn’t transfer experience to other people. I only accomplished it in the heat of the moment because of our circumstances.”

“You know what telling me all this could lead to?” Tabitha asks darkly. I wish I could see her face to better judge how she was taking everything, but my mana pool was still recovering. “Will you silence me; now is your chance," Tabitha morbidly suggests.

“Yeah, because I worked so hard to save you, only to kill you now,” my words were overflowing with sarcasm so that even though Tabitha couldn't see me rolling my eyes, she knew I would never do that.

“I see,” Tabitha hums in thought. “Then what is your plan going forward?”

That was a good question. But sadly, I didn't have an answer at this time. “I don’t know,” I huff. “Do we have to talk about this now? I don't know about you, but I'd rather have our heart-to-heart after we escape. Then we can sit down and chat. Is that okay with you?”

"If that is what you wish," Tabitha replies in her familiar monotone voice, which I haven't heard in a while.

An awkward silence falls between us, and because we are in a dark space, the silence feels that much heavier. I can only bear it for a few minutes before awkwardly trying to get the conversation going again, albeit avoiding the heavier topics. "So, seven levels, huh? That's cool. Have any idea how you’re going to distribute your points.”

Tabitha sighs next to me, but she does answer. "Typical; you don't realize what you've done for me.”

"You helped me; it’s only right I help you in return,” I quickly shoot back. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

"Friends," Tabitha slowly repeated the word, like it was a foreign concept. "You consider me a friend?"

“Friend, teacher, big sister, role model; I consider you a lot of things,” I smile to myself.

“I’ve grown to tolerate you as well,” Tabitha replies in what sounds like a monotone voice, but I knew her well enough to recognize the slight tone change she makes when telling a joke.

“I appreciate that,” I playfully quip. And like that, the heavy air was gone, or should I say, pushed aside for later. I know it isn't responsible of me to put our discussion off until later, but I couldn’t deal with it right now. No matter how short it may be, we deserve a break, so the heavy stuff can wait until later.

“Did you get anything else,” I keep the conversation going.

“Oh,” Tabitha is surprised by my reminder. “To be honest, I never made it past my level. As soon as I saw it, I was caught off-guard."

“Is that what you’re calling it,” I playfully tease.

"What did you expect? Do you know what it’s like to suddenly jump so many levels, especially at my age!?” Tabitha defends her actions, but it just makes me laugh harder.

“I actually do," I giggle.

“Of course, you would say that,” Tabitha mocks, sounding frazzled. "At least this explains your ridiculous level.”

“Stop stalling,” I try to come off as good-natured, but mostly I’m trying to steer the conversation away from the topic of my skills.

“Alright, give me a second to check.” There’s a short pause while Tabitha pulls up her status page, but a few seconds later, she can’t help but to exclaim again. “I can’t believe I’m level 105 now. What is Master going to think?” I could practically hear the gears turning in Tabitha’s head.

“We’ll figure something out,” I casually remark.

“You mean lie?" Tabitha retorts, and I don't have a comeback. But, thankfully, that's all Tabitha says on the subject before moving on. "I didn't do much against the winged serpent, and I didn't help with the soul horrors, so my skills are all the same.”

“That's a bummer; I thought you'd at least get a new skill,” I comment.

"Give me a second; I'm skimming through all my skills for any changes." I forgot that not everyone has a well-ordered status page like me. So, Tabitha must have a bunch of different skills, and she has to scan through all of them before she reaches the end, where new skills would appear.

"You're right; I unlocked a new skill, though I’ve never heard of it before?” Tabitha hums in confusion.

“Maybe I can help,” I offer. “That is if you’re willing to tell me which skill you got.”

Let it be known I wasn't oblivious to the parallels between us. And while I would be bummed if Tabitha didn’t tell me which skill she unlocked, I wouldn’t hold it against her.

Okay, maybe I would, a little.

“I suppose it’s only fair, and if I don't know what it is, I doubt you would," Tabitha comments.

Hurtful but probably true. "So, what is it?" I urge her to spit it out already.

“It’s called Sense Soul. I’ve never encountered it in my studies, but maybe Master will know. I'll ask him the next time I see him. What do you think it does?”

I sensed Tabitha turning her head in my direction, and it was good she couldn't see me because my jaw was almost to the floor. Of all the skills she could've unlocked, it had to be that one.

“Aaliyah?” Tabitha calls my name, reminding me I haven’t answered her yet.

“Yeah?”

"I asked you if you've heard of it before?" Tabitha asks again, and I realize I have another choice to make. On second thought, no, I don't. Pacore knows I have Sense Soul, so I might as well inform Tabitha of what she unlocked. It seems no matter what I do, I can't avoid the subject of my skills. Well, at least it isn't one of the scarier ones.

"You're not going to believe this, but I know what skill you got," I say cheerfully to hide my apprehension.

“No, you don’t,” Tabitha is suspicious of me, but this wasn’t a joke.

“I do, and it’s a good one; you unlocked a tier 5 skill,” I give Tabitha the good news and wait for her reaction.

“What!” Tabitha begins to raise her voice in alarm, but she catches herself before she gets too loud. “A tier 5 skill!” She exclaims in a hushed voice. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I assure her, but I don’t think she was listening to me.

Tabitha was back to mumbling to herself. “I finally unlocked a tier 5 skill. I really did it. Me.”

“Yep, you sure did,” I casually interject to remind Tabitha that I was still here.

In the dark, Tabitha’s head snaps in my direction. “I unlocked a tier 5 skill, but you already have it,” Tabitha’s voice doesn’t sound accusing, more like she was trying to process everything.

“Yeah, and before you ask, Pacore knew about this one.” How did I explain this properly? “You know the skill I use to judge levels? It's Sense Soul, though you need to level it before you can sense other people’s souls.”

It was surreal talking about one of my higher tired skills openly and oddly liberating. Due to all my paranoia, I’ve purposely never mentioned my stronger skills to anybody else, and the few people who did know about Sense Soul weren't aware of my other skills or what they could do.

Any information I had on Sense Soul should be considered a major secret, but after how much Tabitha has helped me, it felt only right to tell her the few things I discovered or at least point her in the right direction.

"Be careful not to focus too closely on your soul, at least when you're not someplace safe,” I warn her.

"And why is that?" I could feel Tabitha hanging on my every word; is this what it feels like to teach someone?

“It’s a defensive mechanism. If you try to look at the core of your soul, your conciseness will be dragged in there. It’s a great place to meditate and rest, but you'll leave your body open."

“So, you’re saying I shouldn’t use the skill until we’re back at the village," Tabitha immediately understood what I was hinting at.

"That's probably best. Getting used to it will take a lot of meditation and practice."

Tabitha lets out a long sigh. “Just my luck. I unlock a tier 5 skill that doesn't suit me at all."

“Sorry?” I confusingly reply.

“Ignore me,” Tabitha remarks. “I know I shouldn’t complain, most go their whole lives without unlocking a tier 5 skill. It’s just I’ve dreamed of this day and I just thought the skill I would get would be something more physical, like Master's, or something to do with my sword skills, which I’ve spent my whole life honing. Instead, I got a skill I have no idea how to use. It sounds more of a mage’s skill than anything else,” she remarks disappointingly.

“But you know magic; I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it,” I offer Tabitha some encouraging words, but she just huffs in amusement.

“I am no mage; I only know a bit of magic to work my gear and cast the most basic spells. I despise meditating and anything else that requires me to do nothing for hours on end. It may be an excellent skill for you, but it isn't for me,” Tabitha lets out another tired sigh. “How did I even unlock such a skill?”

I cough into my hand. "That was probably my bad," I sheepishly answered. “The method I used to transfer all the experience into you involved direct contact with your soul. So, it only makes sense you'd start noticing it after suffering through such a thing. And I don’t know what other tier 5 skills are like, but I’m sure you’ll find Sense Soul more useful than it sounds. Trust me.”

Technically, I wasn’t lying. Tabitha wanted a physical tier 5 skill she could use in battle. I had other tier 5 and 6 skills, but other than Soul Devourer, which I couldn't use as a means of attack unless it was against very specific enemies, all my strongest skills were passive in nature. And now that she mentioned it, I was curious what a physical skill of that caliber could do.

Sense Soul, Soul Manipulation, and Soul Devourer were all overpowered skills; what would a tier 5 sword skill look like by comparison?

“If you say so,” I swear I could almost hear Tabitha rolling her eyes, but I was sure with some time and some help from me, she’d come to appreciate the skill she was given. “Now,” Tabitha suddenly changes topics. “Enough about me. Tell me, how many levels did you gain?”

"What?" The sudden shift in conversation takes me aback.

“Come now,” Tabitha pushes. “Don’t tell me you forgot to check your status page,” she chuckles good-naturally. “You helped me escape the lesser dragon, saved my arms, and protected me against the soul horrors. If I gained so much, you must be equally as happy.”

I can't help but blush, partially from Tabitha's praise but mainly because I was embarrassed. The truth is, it totally skipped my mind to check my status page. I was content to sleep more, and with everything focused on Tabitha, it never crossed my mind that there were probably a whole host of changes to my stats.

I pushed most of the soul horror experience into Tabitha, but I still had a lot to process myself when I passed out. If she said, she got twenty-seven million, how much did I keep?

Only one way to find out.

"Alright, give me a second,” I tell Tabitha as I pull up my status page.

Let’s see what my chaotic life has earned me.

**********

3,500 words.

Another cliffhanger, but this chapter was already getting quite long, and I wanted to post it, so this is where I’m stopping.

What do you think about Tabitha’s unexpected windfall? Do you think her reaction fits her character? Sometimes, I portray her as a sturdy brick wall, but I feel Aaliyah has pulled her out of her shell enough that she would react like this if she suddenly jumped up so many levels.

Please tell me what you think, and as always, stay safe.