It’s Nicholas’ turn to look startled.

  “You’ve imprinted…. Of course. I had forgotten that you listed Imprinting as one of your Skills. With all the other surprises you gave me that day, that particular one slipped my mind. I apologise for the oversight. Which Skill did you imprint?” he asked curiously.

  “Flesh-Shaping. And it cost me two Master levels for that,” I add.

  “Two Master levels…it must have been a powerful stone,” Nicholas muses. “If you would leave it here, I would be happy to give you one of our family heritage stones in return, or even two if you choose ones of which we have multiple copies.” He sounds eager. A pity I’ll have to disappoint him.

  “I can’t – I left it behind on the other world,” I explain with a hint of apology.

  “Why in the name of the gods would you do that?” Nicholas demands incredulously. “It’s not like anyone there will be able to use it.”

  “What do you mean?” I frown.

  “Well, none of them have Classes, do they?”

  “Well, no, but that didn’t seem to be an issue,” I argue. Tarra took to it well enough. Perhaps Nicholas reads my thoughts on my face.

  “Didn’t seem to be an… You’ve already given it to someone, haven’t you?” he theorises, his eyes sharp. “And, somehow, it wasn’t wasted.” I shrug.

  “I gave it to the herbalist who had been the main healer for decades of the group of samurans I led. Ah, the samurans are the humanoid-looking lizards.”

  “The ones who are capable of using weapons and seem to be able to use fire too?” Nicholas clarifies.

  “Yes, those, though the fire is a new development.”

  “And you say you led a group of them? How did that happen?” Nicholas asks with intent curiosity.

  “Well…it’s a long story. Perhaps something to save until we’re stuck in a carriage for hours on end.” I’ve been on enough long car journeys to know the value of having something to pass the time. And since I doubt that the carriage will come equipped with a radio, stories seem the way to go. “But in short, it was a mixture of helping them out, demonstrating my strength, and then using Dominate when I’d beaten them in battle. Anyway, I got to know some of them pretty well. And when I managed to create the Flesh-Shaping Skill stone, Tarra the herbalist seemed the best option to give it to.”

  “And what happened? Did it gain Flesh-Shaping?” Nicholas asks, his full attention on me.

  “Yes, though not exactly the same version that I have – it was definitely changed based on her own understanding of how bodies work.” I answer. “And, even better, it gave her the inspiration she needed to Evolve to Tier three.” I can’t help a bit of pride coming into my voice.

  “Giving this beast a Skill stone forced an Evolution?” Nicholas asks, strong interest clear in his voice. I hold up a hand.

  “It didn’t force her; it allowed her to see things differently. She was close to Evolution as it was, but had been stuck there for a while, probably years. The new Skill allowed her to finally break through. And I think that that was only because the Skill was so well-suited to her. If I’d given it to anyone else, it would have just given them the Skill, if that.” Possibly it would have done nothing at all if I’d given it to someone like Yells.

  “Perhaps,” Nicholas murmurs, falling into a thoughtful silence for a few moments. Then, he looks back up at me. “I have never heard of anyone trying to give their beasts a Skill stone. They have tried to give non-Classers Skill stones before, and every single record of such an attempt has failed. But there are no records I know of attempting to give beasts Skill stones – I suppose because they’re just too valuable. Perhaps someone has, but just has not published the results. I certainly wouldn’t unless I knew that it would have a good effect. You’re sure that these ‘samurans’ of yours do not have Classes?”

  “Not in the way we do, no, but they have Energy channels just as we do, and once they Evolve the first time, they gain Cores like we have as a result of our Classes,”

  Nicholas’ eyes are so sharp they almost cut into me.

  “How do you know? Is this linked to those ‘Energy channels’ you mentioned earlier?”

  I hesitate for a moment, wondering whether I should reveal this information. Then I decide that I pretty much have already, and besides, isn’t this part of my own agreement to share information with Nicholas?

  “Yes, exactly. You’ve seen an Evolution from Tier one to Tier two, I presume?” I check. Nicholas gives me a flat look.

  “Yes. Many.”

  “Well, you know how they’re surrounded by a ball of flying sparks? That’s their Cores in process of being created.”

  “I see,” Nicholas comments thoughtfully. “I have also seen the Evolutions go wrong with several different consequences ranging from merely not succeeding to deformation and corruption of the beast’s existing form and abilities, to death.” I swallow.

  “Fortunately, I haven’t seen that. Though it was close with two of my Bound – Fenrir and Flower. I’m lucky that I was able to intervene and help them through it.”

  Nicholas’ eyes flash to mine again and he actually takes a step forward.

  “You can intervene and save a failing Evolution?!”

  “I’ve succeeded twice,” I remind him. “That doesn’t mean I can always help.”

  “And how many times have you failed?” Nicholas demands. I look away.

  “Uh, none.” Nicholas lets out an odd sort of noise that’s halfway between a laugh and a choke. I look up to see him going red. “Um…are you alright?” Now he really does laugh and there’s a hint of hysterics to it. I eye him carefully but he doesn’t look like he’s suffering more than just a minor breakdown so I leave him to it. In the meantime, I just look around the room more.

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  Finally, Nicholas calms down.

  “Ah, forgive me,” he requests, wiping tears from his eyes. “It just seems so incredible that you are capable of multiple things which are widely believed as impossible. But now you are my heir, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he grins. “Now, to give my poor mind a little time to get used to your revelations, let us consider Skills and why I’m offering you these two in particular.

  “Something which you probably don’t know is that there are limitations on how many Skills someone can have at a time. Were you aware of that?”

  “I wasn’t,” I acknowledge. “What limitations?”

  “Non-Class Skills are limited by your Intelligence and Wisdom. As a general rule, you can have as many Skills as is the total of those two attributes, divided by three. It’s only a general rule, however, as there are multiple recorded cases of people having more Skills than that when their attributes are very low or very high, as well as some other exceptions. But the rule works in most cases once both attributes are over twenty and below a hundred each. If you try to absorb more Skills than that, you will generally find that Skill stones either don’t work or the Skill replaces another similar one. Sometimes people are lucky enough to have the two Skills combine, but the results aren’t always better than the separate Skills would have been.”

  “And can people still earn Skills even beyond that limitation?” I ask. “I mean, I’ve only absorbed a single Skill stone, but have many more Skills than that.”

  “You have a rather impressive list, yes,” Nicholas admits, shaking his head with incredulity flashing across his face. “As to the answer to the question, I can’t say for sure. It’s so hard to know when someone should have received an earned Skill but didn’t. But even if it is possible to continue earning Skills past that limit, it seems to be very difficult based on the drastically fewer cases of people reporting that they’ve earned a Skill when they’re nearing their limit in comparison to those who are far away from their limit.”

  “So that’s just non-Class Skills. Are Class-Skills held to the same limits?”

  “They count as part of the total, yes. However, acquisition of Class Skills is also limited by the number of Skill points you have. I should probably have told you to save your points past level ten, but honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to be past level ten,” he admits honestly. “Because even the stones which my family have amassed are not exempt from this. However, they are much ‘cheaper’ to absorb in stone form rather than waiting to buy them from the bank of Skills stored within the Class stone. For example,” he picks up a cerulean blue stone a little smaller than his fist, “this stone contains a Skill which allows all those in a Bond network to transfer magical health between each other.” He hesitates. “Do you understand the difference between physical and magical damage?”

  “Like, damage done by a physical object versus damage done by a spell?” I ask uncertainly, not sure that I know.

  “No,” Nicholas refutes with a sharp shake of his head. “There are two primary causes of damage – physical and magical. There are others too, but they are rarer. Physical damage is what is done directly to the flesh. For example, if you are stabbed with a knife, the blade will separate parts of your flesh, causing a hole and bleeding. If the knife wielder stabs you in an organ, it may interrupt the normal function of that organ. Magical damage, however, is when the magic imbuing the flesh is affected – your magical health. This can be by physical damage that overflows what the flesh can sustain, or from spells and Skills which attack the imbued magic directly. The more magical health is stored, the more resistant the flesh will be to attacks and the quicker the flesh will regenerate, meaning that more damage must be done to wound or kill a target.”

  “So it’s what happens when we increase Constitution?” I conclude, thinking back to my experiences there. One of my discoveries in the other world was that when I increase Constitution, the Energy that ricochets around my channels doesn’t stay there, but instead seeps into the blackness surrounding them – my flesh. It also makes me think of the damage I did to myself when I touched Pure Energy: for a period of time my right arm was a complete void in my Core space, empty of Energy. Suddenly, I wonder if one of the ‘rarer’ types of damage is soul damage – I’ve certainly had experience of that one.

  “Exactly,” Nicholas answers. “Of course, beasts don’t have Constitution as an attribute, but they do seem to have a similar pool of magical health which can shift around the body to act where it’s needed – one reason why it is hard to kill the higher tiers.”

  “So this Skill basically allows us to share health points?” I ask, definitely interested in it.

  “Precisely. It doesn’t share wounds and it is limited, but it does mean that if one Bonded is nearing zero health, they can draw on a fraction of the health of other Bonded and thereby have a better chance of surviving.”

  “That sounds like a Skill we need,” I think, remembering back to Storm, to Honey, to Spike, to all of those I’ve lost in battle.

  “From the way you’ve spoken about your Bonded, I thought it would interest you,” Nicholas agreed. “Now, if you wish to gain this Skill as part of your Class, you will have to wait until you’re level forty and then expend twelve Skill points on it.”

  “Wait,” I say holding up a hand. “Twelve points? Not thirty-two?” Nicholas frowns at me.

  “Why thirty-two points?”

  “Because…it’s doubling each time, isn’t it?” I ask, confused.

  “Only to level twenty. Levels thirty, forty, and fifty all earn twelve Skill points each. After that, it’s twenty points for each tenth level, until level ninety where it’s apparently thirty points. What level one hundred might earn is unknown since no one is recorded to have attained that.”

  I frown.

  “People don’t make it to level one hundred?” Nicholas raises his eyebrow at me.

  “Markus, most people don’t make it to level sixty. Not unless they hunt or spend a fortune on Cores. Even those who do make an effort rarely reach above level eighty. Given how quickly you have reached level twenty-five, I don’t think you realise just how long it takes most people to level. Though I suspect you will find out now you are away from that other world.”

  Huh, I kind of hope not – it took me long enough to get to level one. And then ages to get to level two. I hope that we’re not going back to that. Maybe I’ve been spoilt by having access to the Pure Energy stream. Still, at least I have lots of Cores in my Inventory which can either be a source of wealth for us or used for our own development. Though without replenishment, even the hundreds of Cores I have are likely to disappear quickly.

  Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

  “As I was saying, normally, Health Share would come at a cost of twelve points. But since a member of the family has previously taken it to Master and imprinted it in a Core, it’s now available to us at half the cost – six points. And since it was at Master level, it’s a full Skill which offers bonuses to the speed of progression through the first two ranks of the Skill.”

  I hold up my hand and then quickly lower it when I see Nicholas’ immediate wariness. It’s such an instinctual gesture, but I’m going to have to overwrite the urge.

  “So that’s why it’s possible to imprint Skills below Master? They’re not full Skills or something?”

  “It’s possible for those who have already unlocked Imprinting, yes, and that’s indeed the problem with teaching a Skill before mastering it – the stones created are not as good quality. Stones imprinted at Journeyman are full Skill stones, but don’t offer any sort of increased speed of progression. Stones imprinted below Journeyman are fragment Skill stones, and may not even convey the full Skill at all. However, they can combine with existing Skills, or lay the basis for the Skill if more fragments of the same Skill are absorbed later.”

  That’s very interesting to know, especially when I think about what happened when I gave Tarra the Skill stone. It sounds like, even though I gave her a Skill I had imprinted with Master levels which should have acted as a full stone, it instead acted like a fragment which she combined with her existing knowledge. She did come out with a full Skill in the end, but it was different from my own and the stone also changed her other abilities. Or maybe that was the Evolution. It’s hard to know given that one happened hard on the heels of the other.

  Even better, it means I might be able to share some of my Skills with my companions without needing to get them to Master level first. And if I find some of my existing Skills are not useful for me anymore, I might have found a good way of getting some use out of them.

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