Once he had used all the skill books Syl had set aside for him, he was all but physically kicked out of his domain and back into the dungeon.

  As predicted, none of the armour Syl and Alicia had put together for him was still equipped.

  His body was just as he had left it, sitting on the cold, hard dungeon floor. His legs, folded underneath him, had gone numb and the moment he tried to get up, they failed him.

  Lying flat on his back as pins and needles raced through his lower extremities, he made a mental note not to spend too much time in his domain unless he was comfortable. He either had to lie down in a more restful position or get his body used to a stable meditation position.

  As soon as he could sit up, he tried summoning his new set of armour. He had hoped his ring would allow him to summon it already equipped.

  Unfortunately, the different pieces of gear just appeared on top of him in a heap.

  There was a chance that with practice and familiarity it could be possible, but for now he would just have to do things the mundane way.

  Luckily, when he had learnt all three armour skills, they combined into one skill that gave him intuitive knowledge on the subject.

  Common Armourer:

  You have a basic understanding of many different forms of armour. The range and scope of your understanding give you an almost intuitive ability when it comes to fitting, repairing and maintaining all sorts of armour, even if you are only vaguely familiar with it.

  With that new skill, it didn’t take long for him to put everything back together. Rotating his joints and testing the fit, he realised he actually did a much better job putting it on himself in fifteen minutes than Syl and Alicia had managed working together in an hour.

  Summoning a short sword and giving it a few test swings, he was amazed at the difference his other combined skill made.

  Basic Swordsmanship.

  You have a basic understanding of many different sword styles; be it a shortsword or a great one, you know how to adapt your form and technique. The range and scope of your understanding give you an almost intuitive ability when it comes to the use and maintenance of sword-style weapons, even if you are only vaguely familiar with the sword in question.

  He was glad he wouldn’t be stuck using any one type of sword based on an uninformed choice he made when starting the tutorial because with the skill active and the short sword, he realised while he could use the weapon, it probably wasn't for him.

  He also had gone for the basic knife, axe, spear, and hammer skills, but he had been disappointed when they didn’t combine into something with his new swordsmanship skill.

  He might use those weapons when the time called for it, but the combined swordsmanship skill was too much not to focus on.

  He, of course, was not abandoning his hopes of being some kind of weapons master; he still had another fourteen melee skill books to work with. Sure, they only gave basic skills for each weapon they were used with, but if he could get something like Axemanship or Spearmanship. He didn’t see why they wouldn’t combine into one whole. He thought it might work with a greater variety of weapons.

  He just hoped he wasn’t massively underestimating what it would take. Syl seemed to think so. Alicia, however, told him outright someone had done it; she just couldn't remember who, when or, most importantly, how.

  He needed to do more research before he burnt through more of the skill books.

  Switching to a bastard sword and liking the feel of the extra length it gave, he moved into the corridor just in front of him.

  Just as before, the shadows in the corridor lifted and revealed another room with two bickering green-skinned goblins.

  He wasn’t so eager this time; he started by examining one of the goblins.

  Goblin Wretchling Lv. 1

  Rusty Dagger

  The goblin stopped bickering and turned to look in his direction as the skill-turned-system action triggered. It tilted its too-big head in confusion as it scratched under its little soiled loincloth.

  Realising the goblin couldn't see him or possibly even the dungeon corridor, he paused to deliver a very important message back to Syl and Alicia.

  “That little fucker just scratched his balls. Make sure I never let one of these guys get their hands on me ever again.” He said it out loud and waited for any indication that the goblins could hear him. There was no reaction; the goblin he had examined even turned back to its friend to continue bickering with him.

  ‘I will add it to the many, many things you need to learn.’ Syl answered him in his mind. ‘Like how you need to finesse your examinations, they can't see or hear you, but your use of examine is like a sledgehammer; even pathetic wretches couldn’t help but feel it.’

  ‘How come I can't understand what they are saying with my all-powerful omniglot skill?’ He asked as he watched their exchange.

  He felt Syl Sigh more than he heard her. ‘They aren't real; they’re dungeon spawn. They may look like they are communicating, but they are not. Their actions should be determined by the dungeon. You might be able to get a feel for their mood or intent. But picking up the occasional base word will be the best you can interpret. It's all they interpret. Now stop wasting time; try mana bolt.’

  He immediately readied his new skill in his left hand; the blue bolt of raw mana condensed from the power he pulled through his channels popped and crackled as it tried to break free from his control. He had only tested the spell a couple of times in his domain, and after throwing it at nothing a few times, he was eager to actually hit something.

  Basic Mana Bolt.

  You know how to form basic mana bolts with mana from your core. Your technique is rough and needs refinement. The bolt is volatile and will break upon impact, causing damage to whatever it hits. You know this spell can be fired off, but you currently only know how to throw it.

  He tossed his bolt at the ball-scratching goblin and was immediately knocked backwards as the spell exploded against an invisible barrier separating his corridor and the room the goblins were in.

  He could hear Syl laughing her ass off as both goblins seemed totally oblivious to his moment of stupidity.

  ‘Why did you set him up to do that?’ Alicia asked.

  ‘Because he learns best when the lesson is as practical as possible,’ Syl chuckled, ‘besides, he should have known better. He already confirmed the goblins can’t see or hear him; it was stupid of him to think the dungeon would just let him stand and fire off attacks.’

  He checked his health; that one indirect blast had dropped his health by thirty percent. “Jokes on you; I learnt around three indirect mana bolts should kill a goblin. If I toss one at their feet, it should act like a grenade and send them flying.’

  ‘Nope. That blast was the dungeon's way of telling you not to do that again. But mana bolt with your stats should still be devastating against level one wretchlings. I mean, just look at them; they’re all skin and bones. They are meant to be easy. Try it again, but this time wait till you’re in the room… You should still be able to prepare the spell before you go in.’

  Getting back to his feet, he noted that his health was slowly recovering and decided not to waste one of his basic health potions. If Syl didn’t say he should take one, then there probably was no need.

  Again he readied another mana bolt and stepped into the room quietly.

  The two goblins didn’t even notice him.

  He wound up his arm and tossed the mana bolt at his target; he was surprised at the velocity with which the spell cracked into the back of the poor little green thing.

  As Syl said, there was no blast; the bolt just connected with an audible snap, and the goblin stumbled forward a couple of steps before falling flat on its face.

  You have killed Goblin Wretchling Lv. 1.

  He didn’t have time to think about what had happened as the other goblin was already coming his way, an old rusty dagger held above his head as it screamed nonsense at him; it was pissed.

  Kai just stepped aside and swung his own sword. The blade thwacked into the back of the goblin's neck and clean through to the other side.

  You have killed Goblin Wretchling Lv. 1.

  As he watched the beheaded goblin hit the floor with a wet sound, its head rolling haphazardly to bump into one of the walls, he finally got that full feeling and knew he could level up.

  He looted the goblins and both their daggers with a quick look around the room. He remembered Syl telling him to wait before he looted any more goblins, but he didn’t want to sit in a room with two stinking corpses while he levelled up.

  Kai found levelling up was much easier than last time. He didn’t wait for Syl to guide him; he just sat in a meditative position, found his core again, and worked the essence he had gained from killing the two goblins as he had before.

  He felt the notification as soon as he was done and couldn’t resist opening it up.

  Kai had to close a blue window again; he knew Syl had seen it by the distant grumble he felt from within.

  Trying again, he got his first notification as he desired without his blue interface appearing.

  Trait Discovered:

  Naturally ambidextrous.

  You can use both your right and left hands equally well, without a preference for either hand.

  That was new; he hadn’t been naturally ambidextrous before. He considered himself competent with his offhand but not completely dexterous, probably something to do with his new race, so he wasn't going to complain about it.

  Pleased he had a trait he could see being useful for his build, he moved on to his next notification.

  Congratulations! You have levelled up 1 level.

  No stats have been allocated by the system as you levelled up manually.

  Disappointed the system wasn't going to tell him his gains, he focused on knowing his status.

  Status:

  Name: Kai

  Race: High-Human

  Level: 1.2

  Constitution: Recovering from internal bruising.

  Health: 71%

  Stamina: 99%

  Mana: 85%

  Physical Core: (50%)

  Strength 22

  Dexterity 22

  Toughness 22

  Vitality 21

  Endurance 22

  Mana Core: (50%)

  Capacity 20.5

  Control 21.5

  Conversion 21

  Absorption 21

  Flow 21

  He had tried to balance out his stats again; he had kind of been successful with his physical core. But with his mana core, he had managed to skew different stats than last time.

  ‘Keep going; I think I know what’s happening with your essence… Four goblin kills should have had you at level two. But you’re still short. It’s going to take another four or more goblins at this rate. Syl said

  He got up and made for the next room.

  ‘Alicia also says you’re seeing more goblins than you should; apparently, it’s usually one goblin per person in these first rooms. Also, she is impressed with how you handled yourself.’

  ‘I did not say that!’ Alicia cried.

  ‘I didn’t say you said it, did I?’

  “How did Alicia even see what happened? I guess you’re using our connection, but Alicia is just loot in the domain…” Kai asked curiously.

  ‘I set up a little theatre; I’ve got a kind of projection set up. The reception's crap, but I’m using your low-level senses. You need to get a mana sensor or something; it would really up the quality.’

  He didn’t know what was worse. That reality television had followed him out of the Milky Way or that he was the subject of the show.

  Now more than a little self-conscious, he had an audience move into the corridor. The shadows beyond disappearing once again to reveal another two goblins bickering in the room ahead.

  He didn’t even have to examine them to know the two little wretches had better gear. Both were brandishing crude-looking machetes and wearing rough leather jerkins protecting their decrepit little torsos.

  He was once again disappointed to see one scratching itself. Maybe in a few more rooms he wouldn't have to worry about that so much.

  Again he readied a mana bolt, intending to repeat the last room with one exception: he would have to avoid the goblins armour and go for whatever was still vulnerable. Luckily the back of their big ugly heads was wide open.

  Kai stepped into the room and confidently launched his mana bolt.

  It missed. The mana bolt sailed just over the goblin's head and hit the opposite wall with a crack.

  Fortunately, the little green fuckers weren't too bright, and both of them stared at the little black scorch mark on the dungeon wall in confusion for a little too long.

  He surged forward and drove the point of his sword through the neck of the goblin he had aimed at. It immediately went limp, its full weight now weighing his sword down as its companion turned on him and swung its machete up to his face.

  Kai tried to pull his blade free to block the incoming blade, but he had let his sword penetrate too deep, and he didn’t have the momentum he needed to cut through what remained of the dead goblin's sinewy neck.

  Letting go of his sword, he dodged backwards, the goblin swinging wildly as it chased after him.

  Weaponless and a little too close for comfort with a smelly little green man trying to kill him. Kai decided to try out another new skill and hopefully give himself a little breathing room.

  Throwing out both arms in front of himself as he called up a barrier.

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  The goblin ran into his rapidly constructed spell and only slowed down slightly as he continued to push his way through.

  Checking his mana, Kai realised it was dropping rapidly.

  He was hoping his barrier would hold back the goblin, but apparently that wasn’t how the basic spell worked.

  Frustrated by his earlier miss, he readied another mana bolt; with the goblin a clear and easy target, he launched it. The bolt shot off from his hand far faster than he was intending on throwing it.

  The bolt collided with a crack roughly where he had been aiming. The goblin's head rocked back, and its charge towards him came to an end. Its corpse drifted slowly to the ground as the barrier still holding it tried to resist the force of gravity pulling the body down.

  Kai cancelled his barrier, realising it was still eating away at his mana, granted it was at a much slower rate than before now that the goblin had ceased actively fighting the spell. He didn’t want to deplete his mana stores faster than he had to, so every little thing helped.

  You have killed Goblin Wretchling Lv. 1.

  You have killed Goblin Wretchling Lv. 1.

  ‘We’re giving that a six out of ten. You got your sword stuck and reacted poorly; the goblin was dead. You could have stored your sword and resummoned it in position to block.’ Syl said.

  “I didn’t think of that. I had a goblin swinging a crappy machete at me at the time.” Kai said as he retrieved his sword and looted the two dead goblins. “You two got any other pointers, or can I go to the next room?”

  ‘You want pointers... You’ll need to put in a lot more mana and flex a lot more control if you want a physical barrier. The one you made would be good for blocking projectiles, but as you saw, anyone determined enough will be able to force their way through it; it was so thin.’

  Realising her assessment was fair, Kai double-checked the skill description to see if there was anything else he was missing.

  Mana Barrier.

  You know how to form basic mana barriers with mana from your core. Your technique is rough and needs refinement. The barrier's strength and durability are reliant on the amount of mana you put into the spell form. This spell is persistent and will require your control and continued mana input. Outside forces will destabilise the barrier, requiring more mana and control for it to be maintained.

  There was nothing there about anything being able to push its way through the barrier, but he wasn't going to point that out to Syl.

  “Also,” Syl said as she manifested in front of him, “I think I know what's happening to your essence.”

  She bit her lip as she seemed to deliberate something. “Your essence, the essence you get from killing, it’s being shared. It comes in and splits between our cores.”

  “So it's going to take twice as much essence for me to level up? Is this that paired individual trait? That said something about everything being shared.” Kai recalled not at all surprised.

  “It’s not just that; since you levelled up higher than me, it looks like more essence is diverting to my core. I think the more you level up, the more essence will divert my way.” Syl said, sounding a bit defeated.

  “Isn't this a good thing? You’ll be able to level up as I do.”

  Syl seemed to shrink further. “All the essence coming to me is already being consumed by my core as it tries to tie off and repair all my broken system connections… I can’t level up.”

  “So the more I level, the less essence will come my way… At least until you get enough essence to repair all the damage done to you and your level catches up to mine?”

  “It’s worse than that. Your unallocated essence is also being consumed. It’s slowly being drained by my core as we speak. The longer it takes between levelling up, the more essence I will take. If you want to gain levels at any reasonable pace, you will need to keep killing and keep levelling as you go so you don’t lose your stored essence.

  “What I am hearing is I just need to grind out essence until your core has repaired and you can level with me.” Kai said as he had an idea come to him.

  “These goblins give terrible essence; it could take thousands of kills.” Syl shifted her stance. “It’s not so bad at the moment. Your stats are actually on par with Alicia's, and she’s level five. But you’ll eventually hit a point where you’ll find it almost impossible to level further; you’ll be stuck fighting low-level enemies at even higher diminishing returns.”

  Kai thought for a moment, “You go keep Alicia company; she needs to be able to find her core and manipulate essence by the time I get to the twenty-fifth room.” He said, failing to keep the sly smile from his face.

  He had a plan.

  Stepping into the fourth corridor, he checked his status.

  It hadn’t been much of a fight, but he had drained just under half his mana pool; he was glad his mana bolts were effective enough to kill in one hit.

  The smoke cleared to the fourth room, and he realised this one could be a bit trickier than the last three rooms.

  Two goblins stood to attention as another stood before them, angrily slamming the point of its staff into the ground as it spewed a tirade of nonsense at the two of them.

  Kai examined the same goblin he had scanned in the first two rooms.

  Goblin Wretchling Guard Lv. 1

  Armoured, short sword and buckler

  The goblin turned to look his way but was immediately bonked on his helmet by the new goblin with a staff.

  Goblin Wretchling Shaman Lv. 2

  Pretend staff (long stick)

  The shaman too paused, but before it could think too hard on the feeling of an examination pressing in on it, it blinked, shook its head and went back to its angry stream of nonsense.

  The dungeon goblins clearly had a set script that defined their behaviour. They were dumb, unthinking fodder placed in his way for no other reason than for him to kill. He was going to exploit that.

  Kai readied another mana bolt and stepped into the room, launching it at the shaman as soon as he was clear of the invisible barrier. Facing him as he entered the room, the shaman was quicker than he liked, and it pulled a stick from its robe the moment he entered and broke it as he released his attack.

  The stick must have been tied to some kind of protective barrier as a thin, shimmering green wall appeared before his target. His bolt proved to be too much for the other defensive spell, the rough barrier shattering into sickly green vapour the moment the two spells connected.

  It didn't matter; Kai was already on the first goblin guard, sweeping his sword through its neck in one clean strike.

  He liked cutting goblins down to size. They were short to begin with, but a foot shorter was better.

  As he predicted, the other goblin was already swinging for him, but this time Kai’s sword was free, and he managed to deflect the incoming attack to then counter with a thrust to its exposed thigh.

  The goblin crumpled under the pain of the injury. Kai wanted this one alive; the shaman was level two, and that meant more essence.

  He stepped back as a green hissing mana bolt splashed between him and the goblin guard that was now clutching at its bloody thigh and ignoring him completely.

  Kai unleashed another mana bolt at the retreating shaman the moment the spell was ready.

  He was hoping it only had the one barrier stick. His second kill notification confirmed either it didn’t or it couldn’t get to it in time… or it was too stupid too.

  With two of the three goblins down, he tried to loot the corpse only to find a slight resistance before they disappeared.

  Kai left the remaining goblin keening on the ground and retreated back through the doorway he entered. Smoke billowed behind him for a moment before once again clearing to show the same three goblins alive and well.

  He examined the three of them again, this time trying his best to be more subtle. All three reacted to him. He was going to learn to finesse his examinations so at least these guys could no longer detect it. It was just a matter of time for him now.

  He was going to work on his swordsmanship, his mana bolt, his barrier, and even his skill when summoning weapons from his storage.

  Kai wanted to tap into his lost experience.

  But most importantly, he was going to grind out however many dungeon monsters it took to heal Syl.

  Syl watched Kai run the room again and again.

  She said nothing.

  She had an idea what he was trying to do; it wasn’t a bad idea since it helped him familiarise himself with his new skills.

  Kai was experimenting; she had watched him do something similar hundreds of times before. It was one of the reasons he did so well in the tutorial calibrations.

  Each time he stepped into the room, he tried something slightly different.

  When he felt his mana get low, he would run the room a couple of times using just his melee weapons and a few thrown weapons here and there. He even pulled out a shield once or twice, much to the surprise of the goblin guard trying to kill him.

  He had the most difficulty with the shaman; it was always looking his way and either blocked his opening attack or launched a steady stream of bolts his way as he killed one guard and crippled the other.

  But Kai figured out it only had the one barrier token and that its mana pool was much, much smaller than his.

  Soon he was in and out of the room in just a minute.

  The room proving to be no challenge at all, she spoke up, “Kai, you're not learning anything new. The next room will have more, smarter, better-equipped goblins.”

  Kai nodded as he stepped back into the room and eviscerated the three dungeon spawn with a few well-timed mana bolts and one swing of his sword.

  The moment Kai felled the last guard, he paused.

  Syl felt through her connection to him and realised his core was clouded in essence. This was it, time for her to break the bad news: “You have enough essence to level, don’t you?”

  Kai nodded again.

  “You’re going to have to do it; if you allow too much to gather, your cores will absorb what they can haphazardly. You'll need to spend more time fixing your core distribution. If that happens, you’ll lose potential stat growth by delaying your core compression.”

  ‘What’s Alicia up to?’ Kai asked, his smooth voice coming straight through their connection.

  “She spent a couple of hours trying to find her core, but she has gone to sleep.” Syl replied, “You should think about resting soon; you haven’t eaten or slept since you got your new body. I have the camping gear Thanric provided ready for you. Level up and get some rest.”

  Kai looted the three corpses and stepped into the next corridor.

  She was going to have to expand the cold storage if he kept this up; she was just happy the domain was subconsciously sorting things as he looted them.

  ‘I don’t feel tired. I’ll see what the next room is like.’ Kai started inspecting the six new goblins. ‘Let me know what happens to the overflow of essence; if we are lucky, it should all go to you.’ Kai said as he stepped into the next room.

  Syl said nothing; she could insist, but she knew it would do no good. Kai liked to learn things the hard way sometimes.

  This was the fifth room, the first challenge room of the trial dungeon. Once completed, it would have a true safe room and present its reward.

  In the room there were three guards and another two of a new type armed with crossbows, and to cap it all off, there was a level three shaman as the boss.

  Syl was actually surprised to see so many goblins; Alicia had said it was odd he was facing so many. But if the dungeon was picking up on her soul connected to Kais, then perhaps it was presenting a challenge for two participants working together, not just a solo runner.

  She wasn’t too worried; they were all still fodder compared to Kai.

  With his race and the base twenty in each of his attributes, it gave him; he was way beyond any goblin wretchlings at his same level.

  The level three shaman also posed little threat, as its intelligence was rudimentary at best, and though higher level, it almost definitely had inferior stats.

  Kai entered the room with his favourite opening attack, the mana bolt zipping across the room to kill one of the crossbow goblins before it could even raise its weapon.

  He dodged the goblins opening attacks of a crossbow bolt and mana bolt as he got into the middle of the three goblin guards as quickly as he could. Syl guessed he was hoping to make himself a harder target for the ranged attackers using the guards as blockers.

  It would have worked had the goblins been a little taller than half Kai's height.

  It was eminently obvious that Kai had spent too much time running the last room and had fallen into a routine despite the many different methods he employed. He dispatched one of the guards quickly but took a mana bolt to the shoulder as he crippled another.

  Syl winced as she saw the attack coming but could do nothing about it; checking Kai's status, she relaxed. The bolt was relatively weak and failed to do much damage through his armour.

  Kai reacted well to the first real hit he had taken as she watched him back off a little, putting up a robust little barrier to block any ranged attack as he felt out his for his status without showing any sign that he might be panicking.

  He seemed satisfied and launched a mana bolt at the other archer as he collapsed his own barrier just before it could interfere with his shot.

  Syl had to admit he was much better with his mana bolts now. He no longer threw them, having learnt they would fire off at his target if his intent was strong enough.

  When Kai eventually learnt he didn’t have to form the spell in his hand and from there could possibly work on multiple bolts at once, he would probably slaughter goblins like these in the dozens.

  The only reason she hadn’t prompted him already was her concern he might fall into mana depletion if he tried anything too fancy too soon.

  Syl just wished she could remember which magical aspects Kai favoured so she could guide him towards a more powerful spell form like fireball or a lightning bolt. She added it to her growing list of things she might be able to teach him when he was ready.

  For now his raw, unrefined mana bolts were doing significant damage, and even better, he was favouring efficiency over raw power in an attempt to conserve mana for his room grinding.

  Kai killed the last mobile guard easily, leapt over the crippled one, and closed in on the frantic shaman that had backed itself up against the far dungeon wall.

  As he got close, he pulled three little sticks out of its robes and snapped them all at once. A thick barrier appeared where it stood, wrapping around to touch the wall on both sides.

  Kai tested the green shimmering wall with his sword, but his swing slowed significantly as it connected.

  Next he stepped back and tried a mana bolt of his own, but much to the goblin's delight, it cracked into the barrier and fizzled out without breaking it.

  Kai was unperturbed; he just turned on his heel, finished off the crippled goblin, and retreated just after looting the room.

  ‘What’s the essence doing? It doesn't feel like it's building up any more than before.’ Kai asked her.

  Syl looked at the same time Kai checked for himself.

  She was frustrated to see Kai’s hunch was right; the essence was in fact overflowing into her core at a rapid rate.

  If he levelled now, he would still gain a slightly higher level up.

  But she also doubted he would get to the point his cores would start absorbing essence on their own. He would need to kill the goblins much faster or go for something much higher level than himself before that would happen.

  She didn’t want to tell him.

  Kai turned around as the smoke cleared. ‘This room's a better challenge. I’ll run it until it’s too easy, then level up.’

  He did his examinations once again, the goblins still noticing something but now failing to determine the direction. ‘I think I’m getting better at that.’ He said once again, stepping into the room.

  Syl pulled back, knowing he would be fine for now.

  She examined her own core as it greedily drank up the incoming essence Kai was offering up with each kill. There was so much coming in that some essence was even starting to pool up.

  She might be able to level up in an hour or two if he kept this up; that at least might get him to focus on himself.

  The only issue was she felt sick, like a parasite draining Kai of all his effort.

  She knew he had gone past the point she could help him. He had a plan, and it seemed to be working.

  He had killed a few hundred goblins now; they were low level, but it was more than enough for him to have reached level three, possibly even four or five if not for the diminishing returns on lower quality essence.

  Perhaps she could tell him higher-quality essence from higher-level monsters would help heal her faster. That might get him to push on, levelling up because of the increased difficulty…

  At least he was working on his skills at the same time.

  Two hours later and dozens of rooms later, Alicia appeared.

  She was wearing nothing but a massive white t-shirt that didn’t quite have the desired effect on the shorter el'vei girl; perhaps Syl should have sized it to be a little more seductive.

  Alicia noticed Syl studying her sleepwear. “I still do not understand why men would find this sexy; that lingerie was a lot more provocative.”

  Syl chuckled, “It’s because they have to use their imagination; what can and cannot be seen gets together and has a party in a man’s mind, and it drives them wild. Just wait till I introduce you to sundresses.”

  “I still do not understand this tactic.” Alicia crumbled.

  “What Kai lacks is confidence. I need him to come out of his shell on his own accord. Sure, I could jump him and grind some confidence into him, but then he will always be waiting for me to make the first move. I came dangerously close to making that mistake with him once already.” Syl sighed, “It’s better for him if he finds it on his own, if he makes the first move. It will take more time, but I’m not going anywhere; he’s literally bound to me. It’s bad enough that he is clueless, but he is also too goddamn respectful.”

  “Is he up yet?”

  “He hasn’t slept…” Syl said as she activated the makeshift projection for Alicia.

  Kai was driving the point of a great sword through a green barrier, shattering it with the impact as the blade flew through it and into the skull of a panicking shaman.

  “I got him to eat at least; made him chew down one of the tutorial rations. But he is still experimenting.”

  “Is that the fifth room? It is not uncommon to rerun rooms until a party is happy to move on. We did the fifth room four times. But you say he has been at it for hours?” Alicia asked as she tucked herself in behind a giant cushion on the couch.

  Kai looked worn down and dishevelled, his armour covered in goblin blood, scorch marks and gashes from the occasional sword blow.

  “What level is he? Surely the amount of essence he is getting is no longer worth it.”

  “Still refusing to level up.” Syl said as she moved to the doors to the outside decking.

  “He is refusing to level up; why?” Alicia asked, her surprise and confusion evident in her tone.

  “Come here; it’s best if you see for yourself.”

  A moment later Alicia stood out on the decking, her jaw slack as she looked up at the maelstrom of essence above them.

  “I told you about soul damage before…” Syl said softly.

  Alicia nodded, unable to take her eyes from the activity above them.

  “My soul is damaged… Kai is trying to fix it, or at least overwhelm it so much I can level up with him.”

  “So much essence… Both cores are engulfed in it. But only one of them is taking it in.”

  “That would be my core; I almost have enough collected to level, but Kai needs to keep up his kills so that my core doesn’t drain what has been collected.”

  There was a short lull in the incoming essence before it picked up again.

  “He has restarted the room.” Syl said, answering Alicia's question before she could ask it.

  They watched for a while; Kai was taking no more than just over two minutes to clear and reset the room.

  “Is he not tired?” Alicia asked.

  “He’s exhausted, but he’s also realised he is gaining stats by pushing himself to the limit and beyond.” Syl sighed, “I’ve been experimenting myself. I think the only way I can get him to stop this is if I can use up all the gathered essence at once.”

  Syl closed her eyes. “I think I’m ready.”

  Alicia watched as the accumulated essence around one of the cores started to collect and spin before finally coating two smaller cores she hadn’t been able to detect before.

  “That was harder than I thought. Kai made it look easy.” Syl looked at Alicia. “You cannot tell him I said that.”

  Alicia nodded her complete understanding.

  “Now for the hard part. I just hope he doesn’t fight me.”

  Alicia watched as the essence around the other core came together and started to spin. Syl was focusing much harder this time. But after a moment that seemed to drag on, she nodded and the essence separated and went to the two smaller cores.

  Syl wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and grinned. “He’s going to be pissed.”

  “Did you just force him to level up?” Alicia said as she blinked at the much calmer sky.

  Syl nodded as the sleeping mat and blankets Alicia had brought into the dungeon for Kai appeared in her hands. “Turns out I can do a lot of things through my connection with Kai.”

  A moment later the essence that was coming in stopped altogether.

  The domain around them rumbled with the sound of thunder. “What did you do!” Kai's voice echoed throughout the domain.

  “I levelled up. Congratulations, your plan is working,” Syl winked at Alicia. “Somehow you got levelled up too; it must be the connection. Now kill that last goblin, go to the reward room,” the blankets and sleeping mat she was holding disappeared, “and get some rest; you were getting sloppy.”

  Silence followed before there was a trickle of essence, and Syl let herself smile.