The next morning, after channeling ether in Paradise again, while Vivi was eating her porridge, The Luminary showed up on her door.

Her usual cheery smile was missing. For once, the Luminary appeared like the leader of a country. She stepped into Vivi's smithy with confidence and authority, and a sharp look in her eyes that indicated she wanted to have a serious conversation.

"Is something… wrong?" Vivi asked.

Her half-eaten bowl of porridge sat on the table. Coshi glanced at it. "Feel free to eat. We're both pressed for time."

Vivi sat back down hesitantly, wondering what the nature of this visit was exactly. "Has something happened?" she asked again.

"I am here to discuss your skills," Coshi said. "Namely, your ascension skills, which you now seem to have two of."

"Ah, that…" Vivi said. Awkwardly, she sat down, wondering how she should go about explaining this. She ate a spoonful of porridge.

"First," Coshi began, "I want to thank you again for defeating the golem. Good work. I'm not upset that you have ascension skills. I'm overjoyed if anything. You never seem to run out of ways to impress me. But I am curious about your choice to hide your abilities from us. You didn't seem to have these skills on our trip to the surface.

"And second…" Coshi directed a stern stare at her. "I will ask you to not call upon your skills again, Vivi. You're destroying your body."

Vivi paused. She didn't need to ask Coshi what she meant. Vivi still felt the effects of the ascensions through lingering aches all over her body.

"Ascension skills are coveted and powerful," Coshi said. "I don't blame you if you've purchased one with your recent wealth. But admittedly, you aren't proficient enough at channeling ether to wield ascension skills. There's a reason why only the strongest warriors can wield exalted ascension skills, let alone another ascension skill on top of that. Our bodies aren't built to withstand tens of thousands of ether at once."

"I did feel awful afterward," Vivi admitted. "Ether can be dangerous just like it can be useful."

Coshi nodded. "You're probably still fine because the skill is new. But use it often, even just a few more times to the extent you did previously, and it's possible you might not be able to fight again. Your ability to carve runes might be hindered too."

Vivi paused, head lifting up. "Seriously?"

Coshi herself was surprised by Vivi's reaction. "Has Lucius not warned you of the effects ascension skills have? Misusing ascension skills is one of the quickest ways to ruin your body."

Vivi glanced at him inside her core. Lucius crawled away awkwardly. "Uh," he said out loud. "I have, um, been watching Vivi's condition. She looks fine to me."

Vivi frowned at him. Then she turned to Coshi. "You're saying that ascension skills could hinder my runesmithing abilities?"

"Abusing ether can lead to much more than that," Coshi said. "Abusing ether even without ascension skills can lead to addictions. Your body will be unable to function without ether. Abusing ether beyond five thousand, however, will cause actual harm. Torn muscles, broken ligaments, ripped organs. In the worst cases, you might destroy your own core. Unprotected and unpracticed bodies cannot survive a current of ether as strong as the one you used. As far as I know, you have not yet reached even the first elevation."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"So in order to use ascension skills, I must elevate my core first?"

"It's more complicated than that," Coshi said. "But the baseline is that you're not ready to use powers like the ones you did. It's only a matter of time before you tear yourself apart."

Vivi bit her lip, fingers playing with the spoon in her bowl of porridge. "Lucius? Why haven't you mentioned anything about this before?"

"You're resistant to ascension skills, Vivi," Lucius said, still from within her core. "Your core is strong."

"Clearly it is not," Vivi said, crossing her arms, "considering what I've just heard!"

"Coshi isn't wrong," Lucius said. "But I'm also not lying! I can see your core, and your body. It's more resistant to ascension skills than most. That's partly why I chose you."

"You could have still informed me!"

"I have been watching your condition, Vivi!" Lucius said. "I wouldn't just let you die!"

Vivi pouted at him, taking a deep breath. Her spirit could be difficult sometimes.

Coshi watched for a short while. When nobody continued, she cleared her throat and said, "Admittedly, I came here to make a request. I saw you activate two ascension skills, one of which must have been a new exalted skill. I'm going to make this frank. For the duration of the storm season, I'm asking you to offer the exalted skill to me."

"That… will be difficult," Vivi said. "The ascension wasn't performed by skills. It's a bit complicated."

Coshi raised an eyebrow. "An ascension not performed by skills? How is that possible?"

How should I explain this… "The ascension happened thanks to Lucius. He has an ability to burn wisps. You know, to permanently burn wisps instead of just shaping them. That temporarily lifts my limit entirely."

Coshi took a moment to register what she'd heard. "You mean, you can lift the limit entirely?"

"Yes."

Coshi stared at her. "And… how much ether did you have active when you slayed the golem?"

"I think we got to around fifteen thousand wisps if we include the five thousand shaped normally," Vivi said. "I could have maybe gone for more, but the whiplash could have harmed me."

"It already harmed you, Vivi," Coshi said with a sigh. "What about your basic ascension skill?"

"Ah, that one was active as well," Vivi said. "But it was weak. I don't really notice it anymore."

Coshi placed her hands on Vivi's table, leaning closer. "Vivi. You had fifteen thousand wisps active. That's the equivalent of having two exalted ascension skills active at the same time. And you're telling me you did it all without even reaching the first elevation, not one minute of practice wielding ascension skills safely?"

"Yes, you could say that?" Vivi said.

Coshi stared her directly into the eyes. "You should be dead, Vivi. That amount of ether should have killed you instantly."

Vivi leaned back, uncertain on what to say.

"I told you her core is strong," Lucius said.

The Luminary was lost in thought now, taking slow steps around the smithy. "Change of plans, then. Neither of those abilities can be transferred to anyone else. It seems our next step is to train you to wield your skills."

"I need to elevate my core?" Vivi asked.

"No, not exactly," Coshi said. "The goal of channeling wisps is to make as much use out of a low amount of wisps as possible, and to generally gain a better understanding of how ether behaves in the body. Controlling more than ten thousand wisps at once, however, is largely impossible. Nobody can contain all that power in their bodies."

Vivi recalled Iszul's figure on the battlefield. Wisps had leaked out of him at a rapid pace. He certainly wasn't containing wisps inside.

"Controlling ascension skill is similar to channeling, but the goal behind it is different," Coshi said. "When using ascension skills, the wielder's goal is not to control the wisps. Rather, you must channel ether to protect yourself from the rampant flow of ether. With over ten thousand wisps in your body, your goal is not to control, but to survive."

"And how do I do that?" Vivi asked.

Coshi thought for a moment. "A friend of mine is visiting soon. I think he could help." She thought more, nodding to herself. "I think it's time for you to have a mentor, Vivi. We will meet at the next storm break."

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