Gabriel was beating his head against the counter. To get out of his explaining situation, he had to outright invent a whole absurd story about the Dungeon not wanting to deliver him a Challenge because of his

  'being a Herald situation.'

  He told them he remained stuck in the darkness with a descending number that counted down the minutes until he could come out. It was a shitty lie, but that was what he managed to come out in those few minutes. He had never been good with lies anyway. However, there were no doubts that the Seer would be able to see through it, and if he did not tell her the truth, he might get himself in a nasty situation, another nasty situation.

  They had, of course, never heard of such a thing. Just as it was unheard of a thing such as

  a timer

  for in a Dungeon. He knew they had not been the only ones hearing it, and the idea that the distorted knowledge could spread did indeed amuse him. However, the number of answers he had to answer after that gave him a terrible headache.

  "Are you going to ruin my counter, Gabe? It's new, you know?" Garena said, extending him a beer from the other side of the counter.

  She placed her elbows on the counter and her chin in her hands as she used to do. Her short dark hair was growing. Her bangs now dangled in front of her eyes, and she had taken to blowing them away every time they did. She wasn't used to it.

  "Are you making them grow?" Gabe asked, massaging his temples.

  "My hair? Yups, maybe a little. You like it better short?"

  "Wasn't saying that. And anyway, you would look amazing even shaved, really."

  "What a flatterer you are, Gabriel Walker. About that, have you seen Olivia recently?"

  "Mmh, the other day, at the hospital."

  "Well, she didn't come back yesterday. I thought she had stopped in your room. But she's not there too."

  Few people were remaining in the hall; most of the guests had left, including Varcivald and Greta, Fang as soon as they came back, duty. The worker, Orcs, some violet, some of green complexion, and Dwarves swept and cleaned the place. As Gabriel had gathered, they were parents or people that Commodo and Garena had saved from The Core.

  "Why did you think she would be in my room?"

  "Oh? Was I wrong? Didn't you two… no?" She stood straighter, "Oh my. I might be growing old. My senses are failing me."

  "No, well, yes. We did, but it was right after we left, and many things changed and happened after that. Even though it was a relatively short time frame. We've had quite a falling out," Gabriel admitted. Liz was already sleeping on a stool by his side.

  "These things always happen, especially considering what happened to you. It would be insensible asking you to think about something else before finding stability for yourself," said Garena.

  Gabriel had told Commodo and the she-orc about his adventure in Turtle Dungeon. It had been a moment of true connection for them, and they had listened to him until the hand. Commodo had held his hand many times as Gabe cried.

  They had been of incredible support for him, and it was easy to say that Gabriel had never really experienced relying on someone so much, or at least on someone who wasn't his mother.

  "But I don't understand. You still felt the feeling? I kind of can't stand her right now. So, whatever you are feeling, I'm positive it doesn't come from me."

  "Oh, you'd be surprised how many things our animalistic side let's slip past us," Garena said.

  "No… you can't be serious! You can… feel those kinds of intentions?"

  She smiled, "My skill set allows me to... blend, with my more animalistic side. A bit like you, Druids, but less Spiritual and more… wild. At the same time, it gives me access to some other types of perception. My Class is called Wild Brawler."

  "That means you can feel when one is, well, aroused too?"

  She nodded with a smile.

  "But surely not when one has those kinds of thoughts? Right?"

  "Well, it depends on their intensity."

  "Jeez… that's a nasty advantage over the other sex. You are a disaster walking machine. Thank God you're already taken, or you'd be slaughtering us, poor male genre."

  Garena chuckled. "There was a time in which it was like that, both sentimentally and physically. You see," she continued, pouring herself a drink and one for Gabriel, who thanked but declined, "Among my people, the Brawler class is widespread. The Wild Brawler, though not overly rare, is not that common. Being one had its advantage. And they clearly showed, especially in the way I used them," she said, gulping down the rest of the drink.

  "So, sexy bomb Garena was a sexy man-eater Garena. Man… No matter how I think about it, I can't see you in those ways. Anyway, did you feel that from me as well, or was it from her?"

  "That's not a gentleman's question to ask, but since you were intimate, I'd say mainly from her. But she's been holding back, isn't she?" Garena said.

  "I don't know if it's holding back. But I'm not allowing her to take any steps. And by the way, she said some things, it looked like she was pushing me toward… someone else." Saying that, Gabriel waved his hands.

  "Well, Rena, thank you for adding another note on my already

  empty

  list of things to think about, but now I'm going to sleep. Have a wonderfully wild night."

  She smiled, "Good luck for tomorrow!"

  "How the hell do you-! Right, wild senses…"

  Gabriel was to meet the Yggdrasilian girl the day after that. And he was indeed rather excited. It had been the things that excited him the most since, well since leaving Turtle Dungeon, and as of the moment, thinking about the encounter and the girl with her suave laughter was the only thing that kept him from bashing his head because of his mother's abduction situation. The more time passed, the harder it would be for him to find her, or at least so he thought.

  ***

  Resting on his bed, Gabriel was ready to make the choices he had taken as they went over his Perks strategy with Varcivald.

  It was clear that to become a true battle mage, some key Perks where needed, Perls he had left behind. For example, Channeling and even more Magic Circle. They were both achievable only with this method.

  He recalled a determined bit of information that he suspected already.

  "Most of the V.I.P.s buy a Dungeon Challenge pass such as what you

  should have

  experienced today, not only here in Yggdrasil. But in another very known Dungeon in The Glade," he continued, "You see, Elves have their own collection of Dungeon near their forests. Each of the Four Season Forests are born from a Mother Tree, just like Yggdrasil but much more ancient. There are multiple Dungeons around their territories. However, only one of them in the entire territory of The Glade has a level low enough to be considered farmable. It can be found in Winter Forest."

  "So, with this current selection and the next, if I get a chance in doing it, I'd be able to become a proper magician?" Gabriel asked.

  "Yes. You see, as you have surely noticed, the first few selections are vital to building your class around. I should not tell you, for example, how Auto-targeting or Far Sight can forge the hunter classes, Taunt for the tank classes, and Meridians for the melee fighters. In your case, having Meridians and Magic Circle would make you a proper battle-mage. But I won't lie to you; there are always advanced Perks that we'll make you lean toward one class more than another. So, you will never properly become a thorough and thorough battle-mage unless you beat all the possible Hidden Challenges, but there are only so few Dungeons in which that type of thing is doable. In fact, I have no idea how you managed to beat Turtle Dungeon's Hidden Challenge, but I doubt that's gonna repeat itself."

  With knowing that he might get access to at least another Perk selection of the likes, Gabriel and Varcivald started theory-crafting on which among Channeling and Magic Circle was the most vital of the two in Gabriel's current situation.

  "You could always keep studying runes since you need to know them perfectly to summon the desired effect, which makes Magic Circle really not that useful to you right now," said Varcivald.

  Gabriel wasn't certain; however, some of the things the Elf said were true.

  "For sure, it would not bring me an immediate increase in power output nor actual abilities, that's for sure…" he found admitting in the end.

  "While Channeling empowers anyone. Many ranged fighters use it to empower their throwing Skills and their Skill Traps." Hearing that was the focal point of Gabriel's decision.

  "Skill Traps can be empowered by Channeling?" He asked eagerly.

  "Yes. And although Sub-Skills derived by Magic Skills cannot, all other types of Skill or Sub-Skills can. Your new, and congratulations about that, teleport, for example, can be turned into a Skill Trap. You cannot use it on others, but you can set it as a Skill Trap. Sparing yourself the cost. Skill Trap is a rather good Perk, really malleable too. It's weird you never used it."

  "That's because I'm a douchebag. Easy."

  "That's one nice way to put it," Varcivald nodded.

  "You are one mean Elf, Master."

  "Life's tough." Varcivald agreed, sipping on his beer.

  Back from his memory trip, Gabriel knew which one would be his newest Active Perk.

  Active Perks.

  I choose Channeling.

  The peculiar Tethers failed to connect once again but granted him their blessing all the same.

  Now Passive Perks, please.

  I wish I could skip this one for a future Perk selection.

  Gabriel and Varcivald had talked at length about this selection. Gabriel was sure Enhanced Pain Resistance was useless, while Varcivald was sure of the contrary, so they agreed on disagreeing on that subject.

  However, the effective abilities tied to Air resistance is not an issue, and Mass is not an issue were... problematic. Although on the Air resistance, one was not specified, both the abilities were meant to work for Tethered beings. Which made Gabriel directly excluded from their range of effects.

  Basically, where Air resistance is not an issue was an ability chosen by speedsters or even affliction specialists to move about with maximum fast-paced movement without worrying about anything restraining them, Mass is not an issue was for heavy hitters or tanks.

  It made heavy hitters capable of applying their abilities on things and monsters against which their weight was nothing while considering only their bare Attributes. At the same time, it allowed tanks to stop monsters that big as buildings or that weighed as mountains by only taking into consideration their attributes.

  In Gabriel's case, their effect was unknown because it governed the alchemy between tethered beings. What it meant was that, even if a man with a power of one thousand went on Earth, on which nothing was Tethered, he wouldn't be able to slash down a building or stop a train. Things which were instead possible on Alter.

  "But, a building or a train are not sentient beings," Gabriel obviously asked.

  "When it is something that is not

  alive

  , what is taken into consideration is the soul of the planet. Earth has one, like all the planets, but it too is untethered. Thus, everything made from it will be considered as untethered," Varcivald answered.

  "So… the planets have souls," Gabriel said more than asked.

  Varcivald nodded; they were having their third aperitif at that point.

  Since there was no way to know if not to waste a Perk, Gabriel decided not to try his luck. He was fine without both anyway. Which left his choice to dangle among Enhanced Perception and Life Tank.

  With Enhanced Perception, the advantage was clear. Gabe's already Enhanced Senses would become even more comprehensive, and his range would vary. He would become able to witness shades of light he couldn't before, see in the darkness, hear sounds that would not usually be perceived, feel the texture of objects differently. It was enticing. However, Life Tank was an immediate survival boost and not only that. Paired with another Perk that Varcivald had told him about, he would have the ability to cast Burst of Rage up to thrice in the same day. It was an overwhelming difference in both his survival abilities and his defenses.

  Life Tank it will be.

  Life Tank manifested just like Meridians, with a lot of pain.

  It was created by splitting his core and freeing a space in it, inside which store his life essence. It took Gabriel's many breaths away while the process was working. His pain threshold had sky-rocketed since

  the training

  in Turtle Dungeon, but it was painful all the same.

  Sweating buckets in his bed, Gabriel decided to sit up and go take a shower while the process did its thing.

  In the end, it lasted for a few minutes, then the pain went away, leaving him with a feeling of emptiness in his soul. It was only a matter of a few more minutes when he realized how to pour his Life essence into the new empty socket in his core. When he poured his entire amount of Life pool, the newborn Life Tank felt stuffed. It did indeed tore ten points of Life, not more than that.

  After speeding up his Recovery with Helping Hand, and drying himself, Gabriel was back on his bed.

  Man… to Spirit Perks, I guess. Although this one's easy.

  Over this, Varcivald had not much to say. He did not have a Spirit. However, it was clear that Spirit Fusion was by far the best form a Druid could take to increment his physical power output. While Spirit Assimilation was better for casters and Spirit Form for tanks, and not one of them was useless, Gabriel had already invested in Spirit Fade, which was the requirement for Spirit Fusion. There was only this path he could take.

  I choose Spirit Fusion, obviously. It's gonna increase my Power output by a lot.

  Gabriel, excited as he was, wanted to test it right away. But after having been woken up from his pain, Liz had already gone back to sleep; he did not want to wake her up. So Gabe decided to finally go to sleep. The next day might reserve surprises, considering he was about to visit a Yggdrasilian. He needed to be as fresh as possible.

  His upgraded Tethers tab was as such.