I open up my message screen and stare. Fortunately, it’s possible to read my messages regardless of the light level around me. My message area looks a bit like a mail-box, but each entry is just labelled as ‘message’, nothing more helpful than that. I can scroll down to see all the messages I’ve received since the beginning, but these days actually finding something in the list is a bit of a trial. Read messages are slightly grey meaning that unread ones are highlighted by being white. It shouldn’t really be a surprise considering how urgent the nagging feeling had been getting, but I’m still shocked at the number of unread messages.

  Well, no time like the present. I scroll down to the oldest message – I actually have to do that, which shows just how many messages I have to read – and select it mentally.

  My eyebrows almost disappear into my hair-line. I can level up again? But I only levelled like...two days ago? That’s fast. Choosing ‘no’ for now, I navigate to my status screen first, half-disbelieving the notification.

  I mean, the notification was right. I’m sitting at one hundred percent in terms of Energy gathered. But the surprises don’t stop there.

  Starting from the top, the first number that sticks out to me is the Energy absorption rate. That’s a crazy number. Kalanthia’s den is in an area where I get thirteen units of Energy per hour. More to the point, River’s village is in an area further into the valley than we are now, but I was only getting twenty-five units of Energy per hour.

  To have such a dramatic difference between absorption rates within just a few hours… there’s got to be something wrong. Or right. Or maybe it’s normal. What do I know? Regardless, I mentally switch my Energy absorption to going towards my Energy debt: right now, I’m just wasting the opportunity. I wonder how long I’ve been at the point of being able to level up and curse myself for not checking my notifications sooner.

  Well, nothing I can do about it now… Next, I note that my Wisdom, Willpower, and Constitution have each increased by a point. I’ve got to guess that that is because of my experience just now with the poison, but I might be wrong. Given that I didn’t have to assent to the points, they must be ones I fully earned rather than needing to shortcut the system with a bit of Energy.

  Finally, I look at my Skills list and the number of changes there. Dominate has actually ranked up interestingly enough. Considering that I haven’t actually Dominated any creatures recently, I can only think it’s linked with my current Bonds – maybe drawing mana from River is the cause? That’ll be one of the messages waiting for me; perhaps whatever new feature of the Skill I’ve got will explain where I got it from.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  I’m also curious as to why Lay-on-hands is suddenly in italics when it never has been before...maybe there will be a message about that? I know I haven’t lost the Skill or anything because I’ve been using it, so at least I don’t have to worry about that. It’s also ranked up, though that’s not entirely surprising considering I’ve never cleared out poison in the way I just did.

  Animal Empathy has increased a little and Meditation a lot – also not really surprising considering what I’ve been doing recently. Still, nothing ground-breaking there. I decide to clear out all my notifications before levelling up since there may be information in them which could change my allocation of stat points.

  Apparently, despite not being sure about attempting to complete this quest at all, and most definitely not wanting to do it before delivering Lathani back to her mother, I’ve been sucked into it nonetheless. Could the quest have been given by the vine-strangler trees themselves? It seems strange to consider trees giving a person a quest, but it’s also strange to think of trees herding me to battle with a giant fire-breathing salamander.

  On second thoughts, though, that same salamander is considered a ‘guardian’ in the quest – something I doubt the trees would consider it. Unless it was guarding something else? I dismiss the thoughts with a shake of my head. Either way, it doesn’t make much difference. The situation hasn’t changed and that hole in the centre of the clearing still potentially offers our best chance of getting out of here, since we can’t fly like the bird. It just gives me a warning that the tunnel might be even more dangerous than I thought. Dangerous...or lucrative.

  Being called a ‘guardian beast’ really makes me wonder what exactly the salamander was guarding – and whether it might be any use to me or mine. Deciding to think about that later, I move on to the next notification. This one is pretty surprising too.

  I stare at the message for a long moment, reading and rereading it. I still don’t understand it. So, I could kill the salamander by invading its brain with my magic, but now I can’t? Because some people in this ‘Way of the Healer’ school say I can’t? How on earth – or off it – can they enforce that? But apparently they can.

  Is this why Lay-on-hands was written in italics on my status sheet? Because I could lose it entirely, replace it with ‘Flesh-Shaping’? My being shrinks away from that option, especially since it says I could lose aspects of Lay-on-hands. ‘Potential’ aspects, whatever that means. Lay-on-hands has kept me alive, it’s kept Bastet alive – twice – and in no way do I want to lose anything about it.

  However... I can’t say that ‘Body-Invasion’ sounds very appealing. Yes, it’s what I did, but… In the end, I decide that I need to talk to Kalanthia about it. And maybe River too. They might have heard of either Flesh-Shaping or Body-Invasion before and have an idea of whether one Skill would be better than the other. I mentally select the next message option.

  I click away, feeling a little troubled. The fact that negotiations will become easier is great; it’s the second effect that worries me a little. That the system box even warns me about the effects is a red flag for me. I’m going to have to be very, very careful with this, I decide.

  But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to investigate it at all. If I could draw on my Bound when I’m low in mana? That could be a life-saver. And what if it’s not only mana? What if I could draw on health? Or Energy? Even better, what if it could be a two-way street and I could share my own health with a heavily injured companion? I may be reading more into the possibilities than actually exists, but if any of these are potential discoveries waiting to be made? Game-changer would be the least of it.

  The next three messages are the expected notifications about having gained points in Wisdom, Willpower, and Constitution. It doesn’t say why, but I can guess. The following message is actually an offered point.

  With regret, I choose to reject it. I think levelling up is more important. If I accept the point now, it’ll take a chunk from my Energy store and I won’t be able to level up for a while. Besides, since I’ve already half-earned the point, it’ll either be offered to me again later or I’ll gain it outright through another dangerous encounter – by this point, I’m not foolish enough to think that I won’t have any more of those. Plus, I’ve already earned a point in Constitution outright, so I don’t regret missing this one as much.

  Lastly, is my rank-up message for Lay-on-hands. Clearly, until I make the decision about whether to Evolve or Split the Skill, it’s considered as business as usual. I suppose I should be grateful that not making the choice hasn't frozen my Skill's ability to progress or something.

  Nothing particularly ground-breaking, but useful enough. Like the extra absorption of mana while in Meditation, it’s the kind of thing that shows its use over time. However, by the point that I reach Journeyman nine, I’ll have a forty-five percent reduction in mana costs – that’s big. Given that my most recent issues have been to do with not having enough mana to deal with the gravity of the injuries, it feels a little like an answer to my prayers. Actually, how come I’ve had two Skills in two days offer me something that’s effectively a percentage increase in mana? Is there a reason, or is it just coincidence? Sighing, I push the question out of my mind – perhaps I’ll discover the reason later, but if another Skill suddenly starts affecting my mana, I’ll conclude that it’s not just pure coincidence.

  With all the messages dealt with, it’s now time to consider where I’m going to put my level-up points. Not having been expecting to level up for a good while yet, I haven’t exactly put a lot of thought into it. Not that I’m complaining, of course – the quicker I level up, the stronger I get. But now, instead of just putting points in wherever seems best in the short term, it’s time to seriously consider what kind of fighter I want to become.

  here!