Taking Xodoven's advice to heart, I found a worthy tree and rammed my head into its trunk several times. Splintered bark rained across the forest's floor, but the hefty impact left nothing but a few mild scratches across my forehead. While one additional point in Resilience didn't sound like a massive gain, it was technically a 100% increase. My bones felt tougher, my muscles thicker, and even my skin was more resistant to physical damage.

  Without a doubt, I had gained the point in Resilience from the long series of beatings I'd received since acquiring my first point. Knowing that, I assumed each individual stat point had a similar leveling function, but their numbers were hidden.

  How much suffering must I endure for a 3rd point?

  When Xodoven said he was taking a break, I assumed he'd give me a modicum of space. Instead, he sat on a log, only a few feet away with his gaze trained on my back, watching as I attempted to inflict self-harm.

  Finding the tree trunk method for inflicting damage ineffective, I dropped to my knees and lined myself up with an unassuming, disc-shaped rock. It was a formidable stone—at least a foot thick, sticking out of the ground.

  Wait a second, this is crazy.

  What was I thinking? To ensure proper safety, I ripped off a sleeve from my cloth shirt, balled it up, and stuffed it between my teeth. Then I banged my face into the stone. Still, a subconscious hesitation prevented me from using my full strength.

  For the second attempt, I closed my eyes and pictured Westcott's smarmy grin and with all my might, I launched my forehead into the disc. A nasty thud echoed through the woods as my skull reverberated from the impact.

  Suddenly, I felt an extreme sense of vertigo and a nasty urge to puke. I spit the cloth from my mouth and slumped over the stone, vision spinning.

  Warning HP Low

  Moments later, my senses returned along with the ability to keep my lunch down. I rose off the ground, rolled my shoulders back, and ran a hand over my face, assessing the damage. There was surprisingly little blood, considering how hard I had hit the stone. Overall, the pain was insignificant. The stone fared worse than myself, suffering a crack down its center.

  "Now I know why you hold the old man's favor. You're an absolute lunatic. I'm sure he's coming up with a thousand different ways to put you to use if you come back alive," Xodoven said.

  "I have to admit he's an impressive manipulator. But I question his judgement of character. Like you said, I'm crazy and crazy is unpredictable. Then there's you... You're a total asshole and he keeps you close," I said.

  "As a foreigner it'd be wise not to concern yourself with his agenda or our history."

  I gave him a thumbs up, which only confused him further. "Don't worry, Chief. I won't disgrace my new title anytime soon. Besides, I have enough enemies as it is. I figure, between Soul Viper, Black Diamond Mercenary Company, and Pearl Banner, it's best I don't piss off the guild, too."

  Xodoven took off his helmet and gauntlets, setting them on an adjacent log. "You've left quite a few organizations off the list. News may travel quickly, but negotiating assassination contracts with thugs can take time. Eamon was hoping I could convince you to auction off the shard before we returned."

  He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "But I know a fruitless endeavor when I see it. You won't relinquish the shard under any condition, will you?"

  "No, I found it fair and square. Don't worry, soon I won't need an escort and you can go back to whatever it is you do."

  Xodoven smiled, shaking his head. "How many attempts has Soul Viper made on your life?"

  "They had two miserable performances. I warned their last assassin not to try again."

  "You warned them?" Xodoven bit his lip, muffling a subtle laugh. "Ah, I see. That's the key fact Eamon left out when he assigned me this duty."

  "I thought Soul Viper was supposed to be a secret organization, yet everyone knows about them." I retrieved my canteen from the supply pack tucked beneath my cloak. "Honestly, I'm not impressed."

  Once more, Xodoven gawked at me like his brain had hit a loading screen. "Their name is known across the world because there is nowhere they can't reach. Nobody knows who formed the organization and its decentralized network makes it impossible to track. They have branches across every continent."

  He paused, gaze lingering on my canteen as I brought it to my lips and took a long sip. "Why is your canteen coated in dried gore?"

  "Oh." I glanced down into the stained supply pack. "It's probably from the severed head I was holding onto for a bit," I said.

  "Never mind. The point is, Soul Viper will never stop until they get what they want. Having stumbled twice, they won't make a third misstep," Xodoven said.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "Aren't you the infamous Grimspark? Surely, they will cut their losses when they realize what they're up against."

  Xodoven grabbed his forehead, staving off his massing frustration. "Everyone has their limits, myself included."

  "Limits don't exist, only plateaus," I said and dashed off, heading downhill through the woods.

  I felt a distinct lack of fear as I mindlessly ran. Instead, excitement surged through my battered body.

  ***

  At first I expected Xodoven to give chase, but thankfully he didn't. After a good hour of doing laps through the forest I had burned my stamina down to critical levels. Finally, I was alone. While I caught my breath, I pulled out my pocket glass and skimmed through the talent tree.

  With only two mastery points left to spend, I carefully weighed my options once more. Suffering a series of defeats and near death experiences made spending the first point easy.

  + Resilient Skin Mastery 1/5

  Passive Bonus: Further increases physical damage resistance, which now scales with the Resilience stat.

  Neglecting my defenses had proved detrimental, so I figured spending at least one mastery point here was warranted. As Resilient Skin upgraded, my skeletal structure shifted, subtly reinforcing itself. Getting more efficiency out of my points in Resilience was also a nice bonus.

  Finally, I used my last remaining mastery point on Shadow Weave.

  + Shadow Weave Mastery 3/5

  Active Bonus: Weave complex patterns using shadows from multiple sources of darkness.

  Passive Bonus: Significantly reduces stamina costs and reduces incoming physical damage while shrouded in darkness.

  Passive Bonus: Unlimited ability range, only limited by stamina.

  Interesting.

  I wondered how noticeable the effect would be combined with my recent defensive upgrades. However, the newest and most important addition was the second passive bonus. I thought Shadow Weave's range was already ridiculous, but now it was only limited by my stamina.

  I had hoped investing another point in the Shadow Weaver tree would unlock the next tier, but it remained blurred. Fresh out of mastery points, and still a few thousand XP away from leveling up, I headed back up the hill.

  Xodoven, the infamous Grimspark, was less than pleased when I returned to the shack after my unexplained absence. But I couldn't convince myself to care. Capitalizing on this spare time to train was too important. Who knew when I'd get another chance to breathe?

  "You still operate with such carelessness after what I said?" he asked.

  Keeping with the trend, I ignored him and headed inside. The damage from the beatings and exhaustion from constantly running down my stamina had turned my body into one giant heap of soreness.

  Viessa was sitting at the table, hunched over her books with a quill in hand. I tapped on the table and she glanced out. Without a need to exchange words, she stood up, placed a hand on my back and whispered, "Heaven's Touch."

  "I've never met a more irksome individual. The old man has always thrust the worst duties my way, but this is outrageous," Xodoven complained as he came stomping inside.

  I crouched down, leaning up against a dusty wall in the corner. "And here I thought you were such good pals."

  "Honor and loyalty lie in the same vein, clearly something you know nothing about."

  Unable to argue, I tilted my head back against a rotten wooden plank as Viessa's healing spell coursed through my body.

  +1 Recovery

  I cracked a smile, immediately noticing the increased healing rate. Within a few minutes, my body felt as good as new. Every cut, contusion, and fracture had been repaired. Even the splotchy burn mark on my left arm was completely gone.

  Xodoven slammed his fist into Viessa's table, splitting it into half. She doubled back as he shouted, "No more wasting time. We're leaving for Ingcaster immediately."

  Viessa glared at the hulking warrior as she gathered her notes off the floor. I just sat back and watched as Xodoven ranted, hoping he'd eventually calm down.

  "Don't give me that look," Xodoven said before turning his ire toward me. "I should've listened when you told me Eamon mistook your master's identity. The real Hollow Demon's training methods would never be this asinine. Giving yourself a concussion and going for a jog? That's his great secret?"

  "Cardio is important," I interjected, trying to figure out the best way to spin my next lie.

  "You're a fraud. Nobody would employ such asinine methods. "

  "You want the truth?" I stood up and calmly stared into his eyes. "I don't know if my master was truly the Hollow Demon or not. He never mentioned his name nor did I care to ask. And I may not know much about honor, but by insulting my master's completely legitimate conditioning exercises, you've thrown dirt on his name, whatever that name may be," I said, tactically raising my voice throughout my long winded rebuttal. "I almost let it slide, but then you had to go and break master's antique table."

  "Fuck your master's furniture and his legacy," Xodoven shouted as he dropped the heel of his sabaton through the chair, smashing it to bits.

  His tantrum seemed a bit unwarranted. Yes, I lied to him, but I lied to everyone. I nearly felt sorry for duping him, knowing he wouldn't benefit from my training in the slightest. Pretending to be mad, I lunged at Xodoven with my knee aimed at his head.

  As he was about to counter, I activated Dagger Step. Much to his surprise, I appeared behind him and drove my palm hard into the back of his knee. Even for a brute like him, the strike pushed him off balance. He nearly pivoted, but I popped Agility Burst as I rammed my elbow into the side of his helmet.

  He stumbled into the wall, accidentally putting a hand through it as he caught himself. Using his vulnerable position to my advantage, I tackled him at full force. Xodoven burst through the wall and hit the ground. I slipped my legs around his head and grabbed his arm, locking him into a triangle choke.

  Xodoven thrashed about like a fish out of water, slamming me into the ground as I applied more pressure with both legs.

  "Just tap out already."

  Immense rage flared through his irises. Extreme heat extended throughout his arm, the same appendage I was gripping tight. As my fingertips started to sizzle from touching his armor, flames spurted out of his hand like a roman candle at my face.

  Abyssal Veil.

  The ability activated, immediately absorbing the fiery blasts. I clenched my thighs tighter, further restricting the blood flow to his brain, not caring if his neck snapped. If my stamina depleted before he passed out, I figured my face would melt.

  Warning Low Stamina

  I squeezed harder, hearing Xodoven mutter a string of curses through clenched teeth. His bursts of fire slowly subsided until they stopped completely as his body went limp.