Izick and Mill found themselves an empty table inside the crowded parlor. Mill plopped down into one of the wooden chairs and sighed.

  "Whew, I want to keel over, but it feels so good to be alive," Mill said, laying her head and arms on the table.

  "No argument there. I'm glad I can walk this time around after pushing my Mana into that annoying boomstick," Izick said, taking the seat across from her.

  "Though things definitely went wrong today. I might have gotten us exposed twice over after using those two Skills today. Things might get dangerous if they figure out who we are."

  "You also saved us twice with those Skills as well. No one has said anything to us about the 'boomstick' yet. Giselle saw you use it point-blank and hasn't said anything to us either."

  "They could be feigning ignorance just so they can come up with a plan to deal with us."

  "That's a possibility, but there's not much we can do now. We're too deep into hostile territory now to turn back, and we need a caravan to help us through the Misty Alps. They also need me now that Didra is dead and Sibyl lost her nerve. I wish I could have gotten to the injured earlier, but my ability as a Healer won't be ignored with this group. I doubt they will do anything nefarious until we're past the Alps."

  "Even if we're suspicious? Were the losses of the Hossa Mercenary Band that bad?"

  "Absolutely. This band is barely holding itself together after that ambush. I wouldn't be surprised if they recruit some people here in Ambri to bolster their numbers. This caravan is undermanned," Mill said as she opened a small pouch attached to her belt and frowned.

  "You might be alright because they need a Healer, but I'm pretty sure they're suspicious of me. Our route through Yenga probably got leaked to the bandits by a traitor in this band. Nothing that happened today was purely luck. Someone sold out this caravan. Scouts, especially those with the Tracker subclass, take pathfinding very seriously. The Scouts of Hossa will be motivated to find the leaker for their pride and the safety of this band."

  "So you're in danger?"

  "Yes, and no. Hossa finding out that I'm a Scout isn't necessarily a problem in itself. Scouts aren't known to be trustworthy, so we regularly hide our true class. This operation had to be from the inside out, so I'm likely low on their list of suspects since we just got here. I'm just worried about them finding out more about me, which might be the case after today's events," Izick said as he stared at the Honor Rod resting on the table beside him.

  "Then let's stay vigilant and be ready for their next move, whatever it may be."

  Izick shook his head and lightly slapped his cheeks to snap out of moping. He stopped a passing waitress and ordered some food. Mill followed his lead, putting in a quick order. The food finally came around after a few minutes. Izick smiled and rubbed his hands together as a plate of steaming fried wings with a side of crushed potatoes was set down in front of him.

  "Well, like you said, there's nothing we can do about our problems right now, so let's eat our problems away. Parody Bird wings always hit the spot after difficult jobs. Cheap, delicious, and widely available."

  Izick tore into his food and was enjoying himself until he noticed Mill's sad slice of bread and cup of soup.

  "I thought you were starting off with an appetizer. You're not ordering anything else? Are you on some sort of diet?"

  "Oh, uh, not intentionally. I'm just trying to save on coins since my purse is running low."

  Izick grunted before waving down the waitress.

  "Excuse me, ma'am, another order of Parody Bird wings, please," Izick said before spooning some potatoes into his mouth.

  "Izick, you don't have to order anything for me. I'll be fine."

  "Who said I'm ordering for you? I decided to be a glutton tonight."

  The waitress came back with the wings after some time and placed them in front of Izick, who instantly pushed the plate to Mill, who was nearly salivating over the food.

  "I'm not letting you starve from a lack of coin. I should've known you were stretching yourself thin when you kept paying for everything and saying it's fine. I already sent most of my money to Cylvia, but I still have something left over," Izick said, pointing to Mill with a Parody bird bone.

  "Mill, do you hate following your own advice? Why are you trying to shoulder everything by yourself when we're going through this together?"

  "You got me there. I'll keep that in mind from now on. Thank you, I'll pay you back," Mill said, soberly as she pulled the plate closer to her.

  "No need. Just like you told me, I don't want anything in return for helping a friend. I don't know what trouble is ahead of us, so let's enjoy ourselves while we can."

  Mill smiled happily as she picked up a wing to satiate her hunger. She was about to take a bite when her traveling pack beside her chair began to vibrate.

  She groaned before putting the wing down and wiping her hands so she could rummage through her pack.

  The Long Book rapidly shook as it was being taken out of Mill's pack. She set it down on the table, and the Long Book automatically opened itself to flip through its pages before stopping on the new message.

  Mill picked the book back up.

  "It's from Foster Braun."

  She skimmed through the message, frowning more and more with each passing second before sighing heavily and rubbing her temples.

  "That's really unfortunate."

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "What happened? What did he say?"

  "He's on the run right now."

  Izick looked at Mill with shock as she leaned back into her chair.

  "Remember when he said Druids of his rank are not allowed to know the intricacies of the Blessing?"

  "Yeah, I do remember him saying something like that when I started to describe the Blessing to him."

  "Well, he secretly tried to gather information on the Blessing for us, but got exposed in the process. He had to leave his position as Foster at his Convocation and book it."

  Izick hung his head. Foster Braun's livelihood and position were taken away because he was trying to help him. No way he wouldn't feel guilty about this.

  "He's in danger because of me. I was afraid something like this might happen."

  Mill flipped through the pages again.

  "Foster Braun even wrote this in his letter, as I quote, 'don't let young Izick feel guilty about this since it was my own carelessness that exposed my position. It is a Druid's duty to support the Summoned Heroes, so I will give the new Hero of Light any advantage I can secure, no matter how small or costly. Let us both do our parts so that Arekia may remain safe from the hands of its corrupted former hero' end quote."

  "Foster Braun…"

  "That's not all. Apparently, he didn't put himself in danger for nothing. He says here that he learned a few things about the Blessing that may or may not be useful to you."

  "Really? What did he learn?"

  "He says that Summoned Heroes can bring up the Blessing with different triggers, but it can always be opened by saying 'Status Open'."

  Izick pushed his finished plate to the side before turning to his left, where a brawl between two drunk patrons was starting.

  "Status Open."

  [ STATUS OPEN ]

  ═════════════

  【 HERO SYSTEM 】

  ═════════════

  [ STATUS | ATTRIBUTES | SKILLS | INVENTORY ]

  ─── STATUS ───

  NAME: Izick Hajago Featherbelle

  AGE: 14

  RACE: Humin

  TITLE: Staff Hero of Arekia

  CLASS: Mage

  AFFINITY: Light, Force

  ─── HEALTH & RESOURCES ───

  HP: 179/210

  MP: 49/120

  Stamina: 472/750

  Condition: Mana Exhausted

  [-]

  Izick stood and pointed to the status menu.

  "It actually works! Now I don't have to wait for this thing to randomly pop up to interact with it."

  "I can't see it, but that's an improvement," Mill said as she moved onto the following line in the Long Book.

  "He also mentions that actions that require effort, intellectual engagement, or even things that you eat or wear will slowly increase your Mana."

  "Intellectual engagement?"

  "Basically, reading and understanding concepts. I already know this, but the important part is that the Blessing can somehow restructure the growth from your Mana Base to optimize it for your class or fighting style, but he doesn't know how to trigger this function."

  Mill raised her Long Book and turned it around for Izick to see.

  "These are some of the actions he says will expand your Mana. Fighting, Mana Shaping practice, reading, exercise, and even certain foods and armor," Mill said, pointing to a specific line.

  "He stresses here that you shouldn't just go around killing everything in sight to increase Mana. Meditation and practicing your Mana Shaping are much more efficient, safer, and morally sound than indiscriminate killing. Near-death experiences that push your limits, and hard battles with tough opponents are what give you the most Mana in a fight, not killing hundreds of random slimes in a forest."

  "So it's quality over quantity? That makes sense," Izick said, before taking a swig from his tankard.

  "I did what I had to do today to survive with those bandits, but I don't want to become some murderous wanderer who kills everything in sight. Foster Braun doesn't have to worry about me turning into someone like that."

  Mill nodded before turning the Long Book back around to read more.

  "He goes on to say that the Blessing won't bombard you with messages during combat and will only show warnings to avoid distracting you. Non-emergency messages will be put off until after a battle," Mill said while flipping the page.

  "Lastly, he tells us to tread carefully with this information since he is not an expert on the Blessing, and this is all second-hand knowledge. Extracting the Malevolence, expanding your Mana Base, and understanding the Blessing should be the main objectives. That's pretty much it," Mill said, closing the Long Book.

  "Did he mention anything about Blocks or Crystals?"

  "No, he didn't mention anything like that."

  Many questions remained unanswered regarding the Blessing. He was in the dark, but the information Foster Braun worked so hard to secure might one day guide him to a definitive answer to his problems. Izick pointed to the floating menu in front of him.

  "Look, I got a message from the Blessing after I killed those bandits, saying something about a [SKILL TREE] being unlocked. It looked like this," Izick said, pulling out a pen and notepad from his traveling sack before mocking up the Blessing's main menu screen. He ripped out the page and held it up for Mill to see.

  "The word [SKILLS] here towards the top was grayed out yesterday, but now it's blue like everything else. I wonder if I should press it? It must be related to those Mysteria Skills I recently learned."

  Mill put away the Long Book and gave Izick a serious expression.

  "I appreciate Foster Braun's efforts to find this information, but like he said, we have to tread with caution. None of us truly understands the Blessing, and you're the one who will face the consequences if something goes wrong."

  Izick lifted his finger towards the word [SKILLS].

  "I understand that, but I have to at least investigate this to know what I'm working with. I'll play into Alister's hand if I stay ignorant and afraid of everything."

  "If that's your answer, then I won't stop you. Just know that you're messing with something you don't understand."

  He nodded, then tapped the [SKILLS] tab, causing the entire menu to shift to a blank blue screen. A spinning white circle with the words "UPDATING" came into view.

  Izick became even more confused when a red message box appeared.

  [ ERROR 404: Connection unstable. Please try again ]

  [ Try again? ]

  [ YES/NO? ]

  "Okay, I don't know what that means."

  "Something happened?"

  "Yeah, some strange words popped up in a message-"

  Izick's eyes went wide as the option for [YES] blinked white like he tapped it himself. The red message box flickered blue, then rapidly flipped from the "UPDATING" and "ERROR 404" messages before stopping between the two.

  "No! It's stuck!" Izick said, furiously tapping the frozen blue-and-red message box.

  "Ah, there you two are. I've been looking around for that Healer and her apprentice," Barson said as he swaggered up to Izick and Mill's table. He dropped into the open chair beside Mill with a smirk.

  "Let's have a little talk, shall we?"