Leo and Cain took cover underneath a large outcropping of obsidian. They had been dodging around in an attempt at stealth, trying not to aggro anything else while they evaded the worms.

He realised they were tracking mana signatures after he had summoned his Cloak to help him traverse with greater ease. They started moving towards them once again, so he was forced to dismiss it.

Mana-seeking death missiles.

While they rested—a good distance apart—Leo took the time to first look at his newly upgraded skill.

Lightning Drive (Uncommon)

Channel lightning through your body to convert stamina into increased movement speed.
Maintaining Lightning Drive drains increasingly more stamina over time.

Spark Dash may be used still, retaining its normal charge limits and recharge time.

When Lightning Drive is cancelled, using it again within a short time will massively increase the strain and stamina cost.

Scales with Agility and Endurance

Cooldown: None

It was an interesting change. Leo had fully expected the Spark Dash functionality to change somehow, maybe more dashes or lower cooldown when the skill upgraded. This was better.

He could Spark Dash still, with or without the skill active. Which could just be toggled on and off. It was a shame that flicking it on and off at will would just cause him to be heavily debilitated, so he’d have to make sure to use it at the right time, and for the right duration. Didn’t mean he couldn’t still activate it though, giving him access to it in emergencies.

Cain seemed to be meditating, so now was his best time to unlock his next skill. One that he would likely pick to hopefully gain the edge over Cain when they fought again.

This is not the time you give me Fireball, you dirty system.

He activated the prompt and looked at the first of four options.

Oh you dirty, manipulative, piece of—

Basic Fireball (Common)

Through your extensive mana practice you have managed to improve your control enough to cast a Fireball.
Sends a small ball of fire to detonate on your enemies

Scales with Intelligence

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

The expletives continued for far longer than it should have. Luckily Ellie was sleeping and didn’t have to hear the parts where he compared the system to something he’d find in a gas station toilet.

Of course it offered him the skill he’d been trying to will into being. Just at the time where there was little to no chance he’d take it. At least it confirmed that practicing a skill and really trying to make it happen could affect the system’s choice selection.

He sighed. Moving on.

Fighting Presence (Aura, Uncommon)

Your will is strong. It pressures your enemies while bolstering your allies. Each strike while flaring your aura will pressure your enemies further, while allies feel steadier.

Scales with Will

Cooldown: None

Warning: You already possess an Aura-type skill.

Maintaining multiple auras will cause their effects to interfere with one another, reducing the overall effectiveness of all active auras.

Another potential dud.

If this was before his Stormforged Presence skill, he’d maybe have considered it. He was starting to understand how powerful auras were. His was enough to cause Cain to throw a hissy fit.

He chuckled. To which Cain gave him a death stare. Leo just stared directly ahead, trying not to laugh further.

Okay system. Zero for two so far. Gimme something good.

Second Wind (Uncommon)

Even the most talented fighters need a break. Take a deep breath. You can still fight.

Use this skill to restore a large portion of Stamina and a small portion of Health.

Amount restored scales with Endurance

Cooldown: 30 Minutes

Jackpot.

This was not the first restorative skill Leo had been offered, but it was by far the best. Simple in theory, potent in ability.

With him now gaining another stamina chugging skill in Lightning Drive, the need to restore stamina he quickly burned through was crucial. This one was a winner. But he checked out his last option.

Just in case.

Concussive Clap (Uncommon)

Bring your hands together with precise force, compressing air and momentum into a short range shock.

The resulting concussion disrupts balance, breathing and focus in front of you. Targets caught close may be briefly staggered or disoriented.

This effect rapidly weakens with distance

Scales with Strength
Cooldown: 30 Seconds

Leo frowned.

He was expecting another damaging skill, something like ‘Big Punch’ so he could quickly discard it and take Second Wind. But the potential for this skill was massive.

Leo had damage. He had speed. He sort of had magic. What he lacked currently was a way to restore himself, and a way to throw off his enemies. And now he’d been offered both.

The question was, how effective he thought the skill would be at this rank against someone like Cain. Would it even make him flinch? It could be enough to turn the fight in his favour to land a decisive blow.

It would only work once. But that’s all I’d need. Hello decision paralysis, my old friend. He began singing in his head.

After far too long, he ended up choosing the skill in which he’d get the most value out of. Something he sorely lacked and would probably be a no brainer for some.

You have unlocked the skill: Second Wind (Uncommon)

The instinctual know-how on using it came to him instantly. It simply required a stance and a thought.

He’d made the right choice, and now had an ace in the hole to use against Cain. Now the question was; where to go now?

“Do you want to go straight to the Bastion?” Leo asked.

Cain grunted.

Give me strength, this man is infuriating.

“Fine.” Leo sighed. “We need to at least check it out, make sure we can get in. It’ll probably take us a day to get to it, based on my best guess.”

The Bastion was far. And this realm they had found themselves in was vast. Not to mention the spattering of enemies dotted around.

Leo had already spotted more worms and some kind of walking fire elementals—bodies of flame, glowing white eyes. They weren’t the most perceptive thankfully, which meant they hadn’t had to fight any while moving.

Cain stood up and walked off.

Somehow when Ron does it it’s cool. He just makes me want to punch him.

Ellie had woken up and hopped out of his soul-space. Cain turned upon feeling the reaction, staring at her before she snarled and he turned away.

“Don’t mind him Ells, he’s weird,” Leo whispered.

A hatchet appeared in Cain’s hand. A bit of bloodlust leaked out as he stopped.

Leo just laughed and walked right past him. Ellie did the same, turning her nose up at him.

The trio encountered their first fire elemental around twenty minutes after departure. Leo identified it.

Fire Elemental - Level 45

It wasn’t alone. There were three others, all crowding around some kind of object on the ground. Like they were drawing power from it.

They were all level 45.

“How do you—” Leo began, but Cain ran off into the fray without a word.

“Okay Ells, go time.” Ellie giddily dashed forward, coating the enemies in razor sharp blades of wind as her Elemental Breath took on the Wind Essence.

Leo fired his Frost Lance out while she did so, taking off after it the moment he fired.

The Elementals turned, but they were slow. Big hulking creatures of pure fire.

Cain arrived first, slashing both hatchets into one of them. The fire simply displaced where he attacked, which meant he either destroyed it, or it was barely effective.

Leo held back a smile when it was the latter. Okay, maybe a smirk.

His Frost Lance hit the same Elemental in the head. It didn’t go right through it, but caused it to flail wildly as the mana inside it was disrupted. His attack also kept it from retaliating at Cain, who dashed to another Elemental.

*Snap*

What was left of the ice in the lance in its head detonated out, ripping apart the flames and exposing what looked like a core in its neck.

Ah, so that kind of elemental.

It was a common trope for elementals to have some kind of core that sustained them and built upon. At least in anime.

Another check mark that I might just be in an anime.

Ellie’s breath hit next, ripping into two of the elementals. The blades of wind shredded the fire they were built upon but not enough to expose any cores.

“They have a core in their neck!” Leo called.

The Elementals retaliated quickly, scorching the ground beneath them as they split their focus. Two went for Cain, one went for Ellie and one went for Leo.

They basically teleported with how fast they moved, but it was staccato in rhythm, pulsing across the landscape.

Cain swiped his hatchets across the neck of one of the elementals, cutting through its expanding flame defense it was exhibiting. Leo could see him being actively burned but didn’t stop his attack.

The blade of his weapon cut right through. Hitting nothing once again. Cain’s form was a bit off as the flames came closer.

Leo saw it happen. “Maybe not just in the neck! My bad!”

He believed Ellie could evade on her own so he focused on taking down his. It got right up in his face and swung out with two hands as it tried to bathe him in fire.

He’d seen how effective his Frost Lance was so far, so being icy was the natural conclusion.

Ice.

Leo ducked its attack, feeling the flames skiff his ear. He spun, elbowing it in its side as he got around it. Following up with an Echoing Talon that came out almost simultaneously.

The elemental flailed as the ice mana tried to invade it. Pieces of its flaming body petered out, but no core was exposed and Absolute Shatter was on Cooldown.

“Thousand cuts it is.”

Leo unleashed a barrage of attacks while dodging away when needed. Its attacks were not large in variety, boiling down to arm swings, flaming projectiles, and a flaring up of a defensive barrier.

Before long it was just a husk of barely moving fire. Its core ended up being in the equivalent of its ankle. A place he’d neglected attacking which is why it had taken so long.

As soon as he spotted it, he hit it with a Volt Crash. Cracking it into pieces as blue light flashed.

You have slain: Fire Elemental - Level 45

Experience increased for defeating a higher-level enemy

+900 Store Credits

He saw Cain struggling to handle two of the elementals at once, briefly considering leaving him to his fate. He also saw Ellie running circles around hers.

It wasn’t worth the potential fallout of the shaky truce.

Leo fired a Frost Lance into one that had tried to get behind Cain, hitting it in the chest as it staggered forward.

“Frost em’ Ells!” Leo called out.

The little dragon coated her elemental in frost as it tried to flee from the attack. As soon as it was coated, Leo detonated both with a snap.

With great luck, two cores were exposed. Ellie dashed to chomp hers, Leo activated his Lightning Drive, feeling the speed course through him as he tried to get to the elemental before it reformed.

Just as it was about to seal up, Leo’s fist hit it in a corkscrew motion, blowing away the flames and cracking it to pieces that fizzled into the landscape.

Ellie’s opponent quickly had its core chomped to pieces. But not before she suffered a few burns for her troubles. She was strong, even with lower stats. But she was squishy.

A flash of anger was quickly suppressed as he watched her scales get burned. He quickly dashed over to her to make sure she was fine. She shook off the damage with ease apparently, taking not a lot of damage.

Who would have guessed; using fire on a dragon doesn’t do all that much.

Cain swiftly took care of the last elemental, having to use whatever claw attack Leo had seen him use in other fights. The energy from it carved it apart.

That must be his Essence, but what kind even is it? Blood? Cat? Leo desperately wanted to ask, but that would open up another case of dick measuring. He could see it now.

“Beast Essence.” Cain would growl.

Then he would say with a smirk, “Oh, only one? Not sure if you noticed but I have five.”

Not worth the hassle, even if it would feel good. A bit too petty for right now.

After all the elementals had died, leaving no more than shards of their cores littered about, he dismissed the notifications, but enjoyed the Level ups.

Your Elemental Adept Class has reached Level 41

Stat points distributed

+3 Free points

Anchored progression:
+1 All stats, +2 Free Points

Ellie has reached Level 38

Stat points distributed

+3 Free Points

Ellie’s gains from race:+5 Free Points

Again, Leo put the free points into Agility, gaining another 8 points in it. Which turned into almost ten thanks to his bonuses.

He felt like he hadn’t leveled this fast since the push on the Tower. Thanks to Ellie leveling through combat, Leo could gain even more advantages over Cain in stats. He likely already had somewhat of a lead, but he’d need even more to offset that ridiculous sense of danger he had.

Ellie popped all her free points into Intelligence under Leo’s quick suggestion. Her breath attacks worked wonders on these Elementals when she used the frost version. Better to give it more oomph.

“We can’t stay here for long,” Leo said pointedly. “The worms will have sensed the mana.”

Cain grunted.

But before they left, Leo took a look at the item the elementals were all crowded around.

Cinder Core Shard

A splintered piece of a Cinder Core. Combining ten of these will cause them to form into a full Cinder Core.

No rarity on it. Could be part of the dungeon, or maybe just too basic to have one. Leo considered quickly.

He moved to store it when Cain gave him a look.

Leo rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure this is part of some kind of dungeon gimmick. Not some kind of rare item.”

“Do not hide treasures from me. Deal will be off,” Cain said flatly.

“Yeah, yeah. We split the loot, but I’ll gather up these Core Shards if we find any more. Once it’s combined I’ll show you what it is.”

Leo tried storing it into his ring but it gave him pushback. “Looks like I can’t store it anyway, I need to carry it.”

Cain nodded and began walking off.

It was going to be a long day.