"I'm not saying it… Until I'm sure." ~Shallies Mythernal

"Dammit!" Grace cursed, falling on her butt. Her Scan kept getting deflected by the cocoon, sending her on the floor with a violent push. She couldn't even penetrate the outer layer, much less reach the entity within.

[Keep cool, Grace. You're doing fine,] Stachie said. [Take your time, tap into your Mana-Affinity and Focus, and don't falter when you see the rejection. You can try as many times as you need.]

"We might as well just wait for it to wake up." Grace turned to the other two taking a break behind her. "Why don't we just fight the two Mini-Bosses instead? They might be back on the Delve Gate by now."

"Calm down, there, Grace," Tayin said. "We agreed to fight just one Mini-Boss. And this is what we got."

"Fine." The half-orc sighed her frustrations, turning her attention back to the cocoon.

For some reason, the wind picked up, her hair waving constantly in front of her eyes. The desire to concentrate only exacerbated her awareness of the distraction.

"Damn it." Grace shook her head, trying to get her hair out of the way. Unsuccessful, she retrieved a short ribbon and channeled her irritation into tying her hair. She got a bun out of it eventually, but whether it was neatly done or not, she didn't bother to check.

Scan, Grace realized, was one of the most complex and deceptive Skill ever made. It was exactly like what her teachers had described looking at an iceberg to be like. Or the feeling of staring at a clear lake. Their depths were hidden beneath what they showed on the surface. And that was exactly what the Skill giving her now.

She remembered how Shallies could seemingly feel anyone trying to use the Skill, and how the Godkiller had subtly utilized her expertise to either allow or deny any of those attempts. To the point that she has been able to choose exactly what to give away and keep hidden.

On the other side, Grace remembered how Shallies also used Scan. How easy it had been for the Godkiller to find anything she needed. To the point that she had gone out of her way to not use it simply because it would be rude. Because there would be no stopping her from finding out everything, should she choose to use the Skill.

At the same time, Grace understood that the ideal, the vision, was completely out of her reach. Whether that would remain the same in the future or not didn't matter to her right now. What mattered was she couldn't afford to give up now.

That thought centered the half-orc. Her frustrations, her irritations, her fatigue, all gone with a single breath.

Tayin might have said something. Ren, too. Even Stachie might have opened her System Console to give some advice, but all of them, Grace completely ignored.

She walked up to the cocoon, determined to use the Skill up close. Determined to take the hit should she get completely rejected. Doubt vanished. The fear of negative feedback became an afterthought. She didn't need to be afraid of something that wouldn't come in the first place. Because now, she would be successful.

Slowly, her hand touched the leather. Immediately, from all the ends of the cocoon, malicious mana rushed towards her hand. But rather than push her away, it stayed an inch away from her skin, like violent ants stalking an unknown animal and deciding whether it was dead or not.

Grace's Mana-Affinity and Focus, as she tapped into them, guided her mana around her hand. Gentle, calm. Still like the deep lake. Subtle, yet grand, like the iceberg.

The mana around the cocoon retreated.

"Scan."

Grace felt her mana wrap around her target. Before, she wouldn't have even been able to emit her mana, much less her intention to use the Skill. By now, she would be on the ground, massaging her backside.

This time, however, Grace's concentration allowed her to complete her Scan. But the information she acquired came to her in a much more vivid way than a System Console providing her with the details.

She saw red lines across the cocoon. Intense reds, glowing in a certain pattern.

Grace realized what they were. She stepped back and retrieved her Mana-Edge +4 through mana-control and activated it. Ignoring everyone's surprise and warnings, she invoked Flametongue around the yellow blade and slashed along the lines, following the order in which they glowed.

The violent mana surrounding the cocoon went towards her attacks. But they were slow to get there to prevent the damage from taking root in reality, effectively making them unable to deflect the attack.

The half-orc's speed was nowhere near blinding. But she was guided. She knew exactly how strong to strike. How fast. In which part of her follow through should she flow into her next strike in order to enter her next stance. Where to put her feet. How to flick her wrist. When to breathe. By how much.

There was even a purposefully delayed attack to ignite a deflection. Which she avoided by taking a small step to the side, while slashing across another part of the cocoon, and dealing even greater damage.

Sparks flew. Leather, torn and burned.

Shallies was looking at a monster.

No, if I tell her that, she might get offended.

The era when the phrase 'she's a monster' had been viewed as a highly regarded praise was long gone. Only a few gods mention it as an endearment. Even those that had once called Shallies a monster chose to avoid using that phrase again in her presence.

But within that technical term, when comparing someone's growth to most people, Grace, in the most prideful manner Shallies could provide, was growing at a monstrous rate.

She watched the half-orc from afar, dismembering the arachbat Mini-Boss's cocoon form. No other Base Class holder could find the blind spots of its defensive barrier. Even in Hero Class holders, there would be only one in six or seven. And to find those lines with only a mere use of a Scan, no matter how she had done it, put her in the company of talented adventurers which Shallies was constantly looking out for.

Even Ren and Tayin were just there, standing in awe. They had given up on calling Grace's attention, but they were prepared to intervene at a moment's notice. In a way, they were also great talents in their own right.

But nothing compared to the half-orc.

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Can't hide that truth, even if I try… It's almost unfair. It's almost…

"Unbelievable," Valor'el said, his breath caught in sheer amazement. "I know we've talked about this before, but… Lady Shallies?"

"Stachie, are you busy?" Shallies asked, ignoring the seraph.

[Not much. Grace's ignoring everyone. I think she's in a trance. There's no one else in the tavern at the moment except for me and Apple. Phey'lan took Arun'dul in Cinterbrim Town to get his adventuring equipment sorted.]

"Good. I need you to check the Fate Weave Archives."

[You're not saying…]

"I'm not. Go check for me, please. Let Apple close the tavern, so you can take your time. Let Phey'lan know you'll be gone for a while."

[Alright. I'll leave a message for Grace and the others too.]

"No. Wait, wait, wait…" Shallies pondered for a moment, still watching Grace gracefully dance around the cocoon's deflections. "Stay with them, actually. I'll go check it myself."

[You sure?]

"Yeah. It's not that important anyway."

[Alright. I'll stay with them.]

As soon as Shallies closed her System Console, she turned to Valor'el. His crystalline blue eyes were widened, framed above a frown.

"You're not saying Grace is—"

"I'm not," Shallies said, interrupting the seraph. "You know how much it corrupts their ego. Let me find out first if it's true, then I can come up with a plan."

"If it is, then things just got a little more complicated."

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before," Shallies said. "Don't worry about it. Instead, I need you to do something for me, Val."

"What is it, Lady Shallies?"

The Godkiller whispered her instructions. It wasn't because someone was listening in. Her plan wasn't something only a genius could come up with. It wasn't some well-crafted, secret recipe that was only passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth. It wasn't even that complicated.

But with each word coming out of Shallies' mouth, the seraph's face was frowning more and more.

"Wait…" he began. "Is this what you did to us back then?"

Shallies only smiled.

The cocoon. The Mini-Boss, was gone.

Grace breathed, and suddenly, the world was back to normal.

She could hear the rustling of leaves, the creaking of branches, and the chirping of the birds. Among them was Chippy's proud laughter. She could feel the wind touching her skin, flapping the ends of her hair. From somewhere, she heard the echo of a pebble tumbling down, and the skittering of wildlife because of it.

The dungeon was calm. Quiet. And yet, Grace thought she could feel, hear, smell, and see more than normal.

The Spell Sword and Mana Weaver stared at the results of her work. All that was left were the bits of leather. What was inside had long since turned into mana residue, unable to even form into a solid entity.

From behind her were rushing footsteps. She turned just in time to catch Tayin jumping on her arms, yelling her name in celebration.

"Grace! You did it! What in Ysvil was that!?"

"It's like when you went into a trance, back when we first trained together," Ren said. He was more calm and collected, but he was also smiling.

"I'm not exactly sure," Grace admitted, moving herself free of Tayin's embrace. "I… I'm pretty sure I was conscious the entire time. I just couldn't afford to let my concentration slip, even a little.

"When I used my Scan, I saw a bunch of lines and a lot of things popped into my head. They were so well coordinated to my capabilities, that I just knew I could do it. Sorry, I jumped straight into action without checking in with you first. I didn't want the chance to slip away."

"Well," Tayin began, still giggling. "It was freaking awesome! You were moving like a Hero Class holder! Err… Not that I've seen Hero Class holders in action, but you get what I mean!"

"Thanks, Tayin."

"I wonder if you leveled up?" Ren asked, looking in the space in front of him and waiting for Stachie to appear.

[Well, well, well. Look who decided to return to Ysvil,] the System Assistant wrote, appearing as a wide System Console in front of all three of them. [Are you expecting some fancy congratulations? Well, too bad!]

Grace held her breath. She realized what she had done was selfish. And Shallies, and by extension, Stachie, didn't care that much for killing monsters. She straightened up, attempting to apologize, when the text on the System Console changed.

[I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You did an amazing job out there, Grace.]

"Stachie!" Grace wished she didn't act so gullible. "I felt bad, okay!?"

[I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But congratulations! You got yourself two levels! Neither of you got any, though, Ren, Tayin. Sorry.]

"That's totally fine!" said the halfling. "Grace deserves all the levels!"

"They didn't get any experience points?" asked the half-orc.

[They did, just not enough to gain a level.]

"Oh…"

"What exactly was it that she did, Stachie," Ren asked. "The whole thing, I mean. I'm just super curious."

[Well… Technically, it was just a simple old Scan. If we're talking about the same Skill about a millennia ago, that is.]

"Explain?" Grace inquired this time. The others were just as confused.

[Just like progress, some Skills get simplified over time. This is the case with Scan. A lot of its functionalities were separated into specialized Skills. In your case, you can replicate the same effect with the Skill Kill Sight. It does exactly what you saw, showing you the lines in which to effectively kill the target.]

"That doesn't explain how I was able to follow those lines perfectly," Grace said. "Does it?"

[Correct, it doesn't. That was all you, I believe, Grace. You have a knack for ignoring everything else and just concentrating on a single task. You might not be able to replicate it often, but you can certainly do it. Not exactly advisable, I must say. But that's something you can definitely train as you go.]

[But, as I was saying, Kill Sight was a specialized extension of Scan, however, that same functionality never disappeared from the original Skill. Just like how Shallies can replicate the Land Lore Skill and map out the entire dungeon with it. Of course, there'll always be nuances involved. But anyway, over time, people forgot that Scan could even be used in those ways, and lots more, because of these new Skills that can replicate those much more easily.]

"So, how do we do it?" Tayin asked.

[Mmm… That's not something I'm actually allowed to tell you. Ask Shallies.]

"Oh, then we can get back right away, then," Tayin said, turning to get back to the entrance of the dungeon. She bumped into something invisible and fell on the ground. "Hey! What gives?"

The halfling reached out a hand, pushing into some invisible wall. She got up and started panicking, realizing that the entire space in front of her was blocked off. She started walking to the sides and found the same.

At this point, Grace and Ren were also trying to feel their way through the blockade.

"I'm sorry, kids," Valor'el said. He appeared in front of them, past where the invisible wall was. He wore his Magic-Armor, but not without his helmet. "I would've wanted to make this a little subtler, but I'd rather that you know this was planned rather than let you go out there blind."

Grace pushed away the thought of betrayal from her mind. Valor'el was one of the most loyal people she ever knew.

"This has something to do with Shallies, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," the seraph replied. "She kept telling you before, that she will never force you into a decision. And while that's true, she never said anything about making your situation any easier."

That calmed Grace and everyone down.

"She doesn't have to be so dramatic," Tayin complained. "It's easier if she just tells us."

"Incorrect," Valor'el said. "The moment earlier meant that you're all still quick to panic. This is a lesson that you must know now. Shallies had given you the optimized routes in order to make controlled situations like this. It's still part of your training. Next time, you won't have a map, and traps more sinister than I have here will most certainly catch you all by surprise."

Grace realized that the seraph had taken the most opportune moment to trap them. As rude as it might seem, a party would always be at its most vulnerable after a successful hunt. She realized that letting her guard down while still inside the dungeon, no matter the reason, would be the difference between life or death.

She was the first to break the silence that had awkwardly risen.

"Thank you, Val," she began. "I'll make sure not to get caught off-guard next time."

"Same," said Ren. "This is a valuable lesson. But I'm not sure if it's something we can practice. I guess we just have to get used to it."

"Same, but just a little," Tayin said. "I'm not happy about the mini-heart attack, but I understand the point. However, how do we get back now?"

The seraph smiled at them. From Grace's perspective, it looked like he was relieved to not be hated after acting like the bad guy.

"You have two options," he started. "Either you break down the invisible wall, or you kill the two Mini-Bosses. Whichever you choose, and how you approach them, we leave up to you."

Grace looked like Ren and Tayin. The two turned to her and sighed, already knowing what she was about to suggest.

"Of course… Of course!" the halfling screamed and stormed off. "Fine! Let's go kill those bastards! It's so convoluted!"

Ren smiled helplessly. "Sorry about her," he said more to Valor'el, than Grace, before following after the halfling. "She likes puzzles and complicated theories, not complicated situations. Come on, Grace. Let's go. I know how much you love putting yourself in danger."

The half-orc raised an eyebrow and turned to the seraph. "Is that how I seem to everyone?"

"Even Lady Shallies is amazed by it," said the seraph. "Just make sure you don't die, alright? You can always choose to break the wall. I'll be right here."

"Alright. Understood. We'll be back soon."

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