Book 2, Chapter 3

See you on Sunday!

It turned out that Lily did not, indeed, find another way out. There were no fake walls, no secret openings, not even traps. She had only found some weird holes that dug much deeper into the ground, and she had caught one or two scorpions coming out of them, which had most definitely convinced her not to venture down there. Moreover, even if she felt like doing an underground mission, there was no way for her to survive in case the monsters had a way to collapse the tunnel over her head. And so, she was back to square one, standing in front of the huge stairs that, had they not been blocked by massive boulders, would have probably brought her to the surface.

She sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor of the ancient temple, surrounded by the eerie silence of its long-forgotten halls. She sifted through the contents of the spatial ring her father, Lucianus, had left her, her deep blue eyes scanning the various food items stored within. The realization that these provisions, carefully rationed, could probably sustain her for years brought a complex mix of gratitude and determination to her. Her blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders, catching the dim light as she considered the possibility of a prolonged stay in this underground relic.

"The old man really thought of everything," she murmured to herself, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth despite the gravity of her situation. She even had a thought of surviving on scorpion blood and flesh or attempting to purify any unsavory liquids with Death Touch – a testament to what she was ready to do to survive. Yet, the urgency of finding an escape was still the biggest concern in her mind. She was here to fight and be free, not to be a prisoner in a damned temple.

Lily set aside the thought of food, her gaze shifting to the expanse of the temple that had become her prison.

"Mana sustains the body after being replenished from actual, physical sustenance, but Meditation can replenish Mana," she reasoned aloud, her voice echoing softly in the vast chamber. Meditation would really come in handy in case her stay here was going to be longer than she was anticipating; sure, she had a lot of food on her, but it was always better to be thrifty and prepared than to be caught with your pants down.

Time to practice Meditation, she thought.

Determined, she straightened her posture and closed her eyes to the darkness that enveloped her. She inhaled deeply, each breath a deliberate act of centering her thoughts and emotions, her body becoming a conduit for the energy of the world around her.

As she delved into the silent communion with her inner self, Lily found a sense of peace amidst the uncertainty. "I will find a way out," she whispered to herself, the conviction in her voice resonating through the silence.

[Meditation]

[Seven Worlds of the Soul]

In the depths of her meditation, Lily found herself traversing the rugged, black mountains of The Seven Worlds of the Soul again. The landscape loomed ominously under a sky streaked with dark hues of an impending storm. The wind, a cacophony of howls and whispers, seemed to carry the voices of her past.

Barefoot, she walked on the jagged stones that bit into her flesh with each step. The pain was sharp and real in this meditative world, yet it paled in comparison to what she had first experience here. In a way, Meditation made the pain even sharper, because she was now more aware of it, but she could redirect her attention to and away from it at her command.

The mountain's side, an insurmountable wall of sheer black rock, stood before her, its surface reflecting nothing and absorbing everything, like the void itself. Ahead, a small basin cradled a mirror of water, calm and undisturbed – an anomaly in the tempestuous world she navigated. She approached it, her reflection obscured by the darkness of the mountain. Within this basin, she caught a glimpse of the vast expanse of the second world of her soul—a shallow ocean bathed in the ethereal light of a sky painted in a thousand hues of gold and azure. A serene beauty that belied the turmoil that brought her here.

Lily knew this place. She had been here before – a fleeting moment of enlightenment that teased the edges of her consciousness. This was the realm tied to the Master stage of Meditation, a level she had yet to fully grasp or achieve. Frustration gnawed at her as she dipped her fingers into the basin, the surface barely rippling under her touch. No matter how many times she reached out, the vision remained just beyond her grasp, a tantalizing promise of peace and understanding.

As she stood there, thoughts of her Alchemist class swirled in her mind—the power it had bestowed upon her was great, yet seemingly useless in her quest for a deeper understanding. Doubt crept in, whispering that perhaps this new power could offer no help in this matter.

But then, a spark of intuition flickered within her. Turning back to the basin, she submerged her hands fully, closing her eyes to the world around her. She breathed deeply, rhythmically, allowing the essence of her Alchemist class to fill her senses. Alchemy, by its nature, was fluid, adaptable—it was the art of transformation, of becoming what was needed. And in this moment, what she needed was to transcend.

Throughout her life, Lily let her mind wander through what her new life had been so far—the black pearl that had opened the door to Death Magic, the demonic figure that haunted her inner world, the loss of Elysium, her father's machinations, her mother's cruelty, Lumius’s manipulations, coming to a new world and abandoning her old family, and the wisdom of Hadrian.

As she delved deeper, a realization dawned upon her. These experiences, while shaping her, did not define her. She was not just a pawn in the games of gods and men; she was the master of her own destiny. With this epiphany clearing her path, she mentally released the burdens that had weighed her down, embracing the freedom of her existence.

In that moment of release, the world around her shifted.

She felt the oppressive sensations in the mountain range dissolve into a serene beauty. She felt her feet submerge into the warm, shallow waters up to the ankle.

Lily opened her eyes to the second world of the soul.

[*Ding!* Skill – Meditation Beginner Stage → Master Stage!]

[*Ding!*Adjunct Skill – Seven Worlds of the Soul Beginner Stage → Master Stage!]

[Twenty Perks have been offered to you.]

She looked at the list of Perks.

Eternal Wellspring: Enhances natural regeneration rates for health, Mana, and stamina while in a meditative state.

Flow of Vitality: Significantly boosts health regeneration rate while meditating.

Mana Spring: Significantly boosts Mana regeneration while meditating.

Harmony of Body and Mind: Significantly boosts stamina regeneration rate while meditating.

Harmony of Leaves: Every successful meditation session layers an additional, invisible shield of life force around you, which passively regenerates health over time and can absorb a small percentage of incoming damage.

Mental Onslaught: You can unleash a psychic attack that disrupts your opponent's concentration, causing temporary confusion or stunning them. The efficacy depends on the Meditation’s level.

Mind's Edge: Amplifies mental focus.

Mental Fortress: Increases resistance to mental attacks.

Temporal Stillness: Slows down the passage of time for the user during meditation, allowing for longer periods of rest and recovery in a shorter real-world time span.

Eclipse of Consciousness: Grants the ability to enter a state of deep meditation that hides the user from magical detection skills and scouting perks, making them virtually invisible to such methods.

Lily scrolled over a few Perks to look at the last one, which made her raise her eyebrows.

Echoes of the Seven Worlds (Double–Perk): Thanks to your deep understanding of your own soul, you can overcome the physical limitations of Meditation. You can use Meditation while you move and inject extra Mana, Stamina, or Vitality into your skills to amplify them beyond their current capacity. Attention: this is a shared Perk between [Meditation] and [Seven Worlds of the Soul]. Choosing this Perk will result in no additional Perk being offered for [Seven Worlds of the Soul].

Lily looked at Echoes of the Seven Worlds and swallowed lightly. What was currently described in the skill sounded an awful lot like what was waiting for her at the Grandmaster level of meditation—at the very least, that was true for the first part of the description. Then, the second part – injecting extra punch into her skills – sounded like something she very much needed to excavate her way out of this underground temple.

She was conflicted, though.

Eclipse of Consciousness would make her much harder to look for in case she needed to run away. However, it didn't really synergize with her other skills. She was a melee fighter through and through. The regeneration skills, too, were interesting, but nothing compared to something like Temporal Stillness, Eclipse of Consciousness, and Echoes of the Seven Worlds. This was the second time she got a Double Perk offered to her, the first being Pestilence Purge, which she received during the plague epidemic.

And once again, she felt that her choice was quite obvious, given her current predicament.

“Echoes of the Seven Worlds it is,” Lily smiled.

...

Lily was in a realm vastly different from the rugged, shadowy mountains of her soul's first world. Here, in this second domain, she walked through shallow waters that lapped gently at her ankles, their touch softer than silk. The world around her was an endless expanse of calm, with water stretching to the horizon, beneath which golden sand shimmered like a treasure, just beneath the surface.

The faint smell of saltwater filled the air, evoking memories of the stories she had read, the tales of sailors and explorers who ventured into the unknown. Here, however, there was no fear of the unknown, only an overwhelming sense of peace and contentment.

“This is very different,” she wondered, walking around. This time, she didn’t have Hadrian by her side, and it wasn’t exactly clear what she was supposed to do in this world. But she would have to figure it out at some point if she ever wanted to level up the Adjunct Skill and, one day, bring Meditation to the Grandmaster level.

As she strolled, the sound of the waves became a rhythmic symphony. The water danced around her feet, urging her to explore further, to lose herself in this serene world.

What do you do when you’re in a world where there’s nothing? She wondered. Back in the mountainous range, it had been clear that she had to stay calm despite the pain, the incessant disturbances, and the literal physical assault of the wind. Now, with the smooth sand beneath her feet, she found nothing to work with.

In fact, Lily felt only a profound sense of contentment in this moment. The struggles and trials she had faced, the pain, and the revelations all seemed to fade away, leaving her with a sense of accomplishment and peace. For a moment, she let herself appreciate surviving all she had and simply exhaled.

"I made it," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the gentle caress of the waves. "I really made it."

...

What brought her back to reality was a strong pinprick at the back of her neck, warning her of danger. Quickly, she snapped back to the grim reality of the ancient temple, where not one but two Diseased Venomshade Stalkers, one a level 81 and the other an imposing level 84, skittered on the ceiling. Their sinister forms loomed above her, and their beady eyes fixed with a malevolent intent.

“I really don’t look forward to having to eat you, guys. I hope I’ll make it out before it comes to that.”

[Crucible]

[Necrotic Restoration]

She re-arranged her Attributes like she had done while fighting the previous monster, feeling a wave of strength empower her muscles. Then, with a swift leap, she quickly closed the distance to the ceiling. As the stalkers turned their heads toward her, their pincers poised to strike, Lily activated Wraithform. She phased through their attacks with ethereal grace, emerging unscathed on the other side, barely half a meter from the first. A shockwave came out of her fist, destroying the first monster. The second, however, had already struck her with its venomous tail. Lily found her skin penetrated two inches deep by the stinger. She immediately activated Death Touch and Lesser Mandala of Eradication while keeping the stinger in her stomach to avoid falling to the ground.

“That was a mistake,” she gurgled through some of the blood reaching her mouth. She threw another destroying punch, which finally obliterated the second scorpion.

[Necrotic Restoration]

The damage she dealt to the monsters mostly healed the injury on her side. She didn’t dare to consume another health potion from her ring, though. She had no idea when she would be in real trouble and needed to drink more of them.

[*Ding!* Skill – Reality’s Whisper level 3!]

[*Ding!* Skill – Crucible level 3!]

[*Ding!* Skill – Crucible level 4!]

[{Master} Death Touch - Level 17]

[*Ding!* Class – Alchemist level 3!]

"Why is leveling the class so hard?" she mused aloud, her gaze fixed on the lifeless forms of her adversaries. "I should be blazing these early levels, especially given the strength of my foes."

The question hung in the air, unanswered. The struggle to level up, in stark contrast to her expectations, hinted at a deeper complexity within the Alchemist class. Was there a flaw, a hidden mechanics at play that she had yet to understand? The notion that her path to power might be fraught with unforeseen challenges was both intriguing and daunting.

"Could there be something amiss with the class itself?" Lily pondered, her mind racing.

...

Lily stood before the formidable barrier that sealed the temple's entrance, a massive wall of stone that seemed to mock her with its silent, immutable presence. The stones, colossal and indifferent, formed an impregnable fortress that denied all hope of escape. In a ritual of defiance and hope, she approached a nearby column, etching a vertical line into its ancient surface. "Day one, I guess," she declared, her voice a mixture of resolution and resignation, marking the beginning of her siege against the stony blockade with a knife.

Soon, days turned into a week – each marked by a new line on the column, her personal calendar. Despite her relentless efforts, the barrier stood largely unaffected, a testament to the daunting task ahead. The minimal progress, the mere millimeters of erosion in the gargantuan obstacle, underscored the futility of her efforts. Lily's reserves of Mana, though considerable, paled in comparison to the monumental resistance of the stone. The prospect of spending years chipping away at the rock this way almost made her lose her mind.

One day, driven by frustration and the unyielding will to escape, Lily unleashed her fury on the rocks. Her fists, powered by a blend of desperation and magical enhancement, struck the stone with all the force she could muster. Yet, the barrier remained defiant, barely registering the impact of her attacks. With her hands bleeding, she soon realized that brute-forcing this problem would not work. She quickly ran some mental math, realizing that at the current rate, it would be decades before she managed to eat through God knows how many dozens of meters of rock that separated her from the outside world.

She had even tried putting a hole through the ceiling out of desperation, but that had only made an entire room collapse on itself, almost killing her in the process. Only thanks to Wraithform did she save her life.

Hadrian's teachings came to her mind.

He mentioned I could be forming Death Magic blades with Mana Shaping if I wanted to train that. We didn’t have enough time to focus on it, but... Well, now, she had all the time in the world.

As she pondered her options, Lily found solace in a simple meal from her father's spatial ring—a plate of noodles with meat sauce, miraculously warm and preserved thanks to the ring’s properties.

With the determination of one who refuses to be caged, Lily set her sights on mastering Mana Shaping. She had finally recognized the folly in the repetitive, unchallenging practice of trying to erode the rock without giving it any serious thought. What she needed was real training and thinking through the problem.

The temple, with its resident scorpions and obstructive debris, presented a unique training ground. The creatures, possibly a product of the temple's inherent Mana or guardians of a Dungeon obscured by the fallen rocks, offered a potential means to refine her abilities. Yet, the realization dawned on her that the true challenge lay not in the physical realm but in the magical essence that imbued the stones with their formidable resilience. Translated to simpler terms, the rocks were way too tough for her to just erode them with Death Touch and Inferior Mandala of the Black Rain.

Armed with the knowledge from her past life and the wisdom gained through her adventures, Lily devised a new strategy. The resistance of the rocks to her magic was not merely a matter of physical hardness but also of magical intricacy. To dismantle the barrier more efficiently, she would need to harness her Mana Sense to perceive and unravel the magic woven into the stone.

Thus, she embarked on a rigorous regimen, focusing relentlessly on Mana Shaping to hone her control and precision over the skill. Simultaneously, she sought to amplify the potency of her Death Touch and other death-aligned magic through her new Perk, aiming to identify and target the magical foundations that fortified the barrier.

The task demanded a harmonious application of Mana Sense, a delicate balance of detection and destruction that promised to push her understanding of magic over new boundaries.

...

Seated cross-legged on the cold stone floor, she focused her attention on the tip of her fingernail, envisioning it as the conduit for her magic.

The aim was to coat her hands in Death Magic, to extend it beyond the flesh and into a blade to slice through the rocks. She started small, attempting to create a one-inch-long claw of Death Magic from her fingernail. The air around her finger thickened, a visible distortion as she concentrated on her Mana, coaxing it to take shape.

At first, the attempts were clumsy, with the magic dissipating before it could solidify. Lily's brow furrowed in concentration, her deep blue eyes reflecting the flickering lights of her efforts. With each try, the frustration grew larger, but so did her resolve. "Focus," she whispered to herself, a mantra to guide herself through the maddening isolation of the temple.

Finally, after countless attempts, a small, sharp protrusion of dark energy formed above her nail—a tangible manifestation of her Death Magic. It was a minor victory, but a victory nonetheless. Eager to test its efficacy, she activated Death Touch, reaching out to touch the rock with her makeshift claw.

The anticipation was palpable, a moment frozen in time as her creation made contact with the ancient stone. But nothing happened. Death Touch seemed to halt at her skin, unable to extend through her magical construct. The realization dawned on her with a mix of disappointment and enlightenment. "It's not enough," she murmured, the words barely a whisper in the colossal chamber.

Her magic struggled to manifest through an external medium, even if it was made of Death Magic, too. It was yet another puzzle for her to solve.

Lily refused to be deterred, though. With a renewed determination, she returned to her task. The process was grueling. Yet, with each failure, she gleaned insights and learned more.

...

Two months had passed since Lily first tried scratching the impenetrable barrier of stone with her Death Magic, her determination unwavering. The ancient temple, silent and oppressive, bore witness to her transformation. Now, she stood amidst the evidence of her relentless training—a field of bisected carcasses of Diseased Venomshade Stalkers, victims of her newly mastered skill. The air was thick with the scent of victory and decay.

[Mana Shaping – Level 99]

Clad in the shadows of the temple, Lily examined her hands, now fully coated with a sheen of Death Magic protruding from her fingertips into a five-inch-long blade. Her shins, all the way down to her toes, were adorned with blades of the same dark energy but shorter ones that she had used to bisect the monsters with kicks.

She took a deep breath, the magic pulsating around her limbs before she released it, allowing the dark blades to dissipate into the air. The accomplishment was monumental, a breakthrough that granted her the ability to wield slicing attacks with deadly precision—a technique proven effective against the scorpions that lurked within the temple's depths.

As she stood among the remnants of her foes, Lily's gaze fell upon the rock barrier that had mocked her efforts for so long. The realization struck her, a flash of insight borne from her extensive knowledge of healing and the human body.

If she could understand the anatomy of a living being in order to heal it, why not apply the same principle to the stones before her?

She placed her hand against the cold surface of the rock, closing her eyes to better visualize its structure. In her mind's eye, she saw the tetrahedral atomic arrangement of quartz, or a similar mineral, that was likely a part of the stone. She imagined the magical enhancements acting as both glue within the bonds and a net encasing groups of molecules, reinforcing the rock's formidable strength.

With a slow, deliberate exhale, Lily activated Death Touch and channeled it through the blade. She envisioned her magic seeping into the rock, a corrosive force targeting the magical bonds. It was a delicate, precise operation unraveling the fabric of the stone's enhanced durability. When she opened her eyes, the sight that greeted her was a faint imprint of the blade etched into the rock's surface—a clear sign of success.

A triumphant smile spread across her face, the satisfaction of her achievement lighting up her features. "It's carving time," she declared, empowering the skill with extra Mana with Echoes of the Seven Worlds.