I spent the rest of the day forging the storm into armor and contemplating what Stormsteel Core really meant for my build. The forging came first, and when I'd finished, the gauntlet I'd created on the mountaintop looked like a child's toy.

The breastplate I'd built fit over my chest like a glove. There were no seams, no straps an attacker could break. Dark gray Stormsteel wrapped around the holes for my neck, arms, and waist, while between it, the deluge spun in a dozen miniature maelstroms. I'd modeled it after the Stoneworm Leather Breastplate; its protection only extended down to my lowest rib, and I hadn't bothered with pauldrons or a gorget.

Until I merged my defensive skill, my speed was my best protection. The Stormsteel breastplate was simply another layer—and a tool to unlock that skill.

It consumed Mana at a faster rate than the Stormsteel rapier, too; I couldn't maintain it indefinitely, even with the extra fifty Mana from the rank-up to Stormsteel Core. But it did have one huge benefit over any armor below C-Rank. When I unsummoned it and resummoned it—which took about two seconds, but would probably get faster as I practiced—it reformed fully-formed and undamaged. I had a self-repairing piece of armor, and I was still only E-Rank.

Thunderbolt Forms was going to be a problem, though. I'd expected Grassi's Greater Swordplay, and to build around Vital Lunge for most of my damage. Instead, I'd gotten a puzzle in Lightning, Rain, and Wind charges. Until I unlocked a second type, it didn't look like I could Consume them, and until I could find something—or someone—to practice with, I'd have no idea if there was another benefit to them. Stormsteel Core implied that it would improve synergy between my skills, though, so I had hope that this would be better than my original plan.

It still annoyed me, though. I'd put a lot of work into my build plan, and Stormsteel Core seemed to be almost toying with it and picking it apart. Between it and the egg, I wasn't sure the way I planned to build was optimal anymore. But the only way forward at this point was through the maelstrom to the other side.

And then there was the Path.

I pulled up my status.

User: Kade Noelstra E-Rank Stamina: 146/190, Mana: 94/250

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (D-01, Unique, Merged) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (E-01, Altered, Merged) 3. Dodge (E-09) Open Skill Slots: 4

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of Stormsteel

In all my research, I'd never heard of a Path before. Laws? Yes. But a Path? No. And I didn't know who to talk to, who I could trust with it. If it was really something special, its existence would get out eventually, but until I knew more, I couldn't re-register my build with the Governing Council or anything. Keeping it a secret was too important. The last thing I needed were eyes digging into me before I figured out the egg.

Especially some of the guilds. The Iron Falcons out of Tucson, for example. They'd do whatever it took to figure out how to exploit my Path for themselves. And the others wouldn't be much kinder.

But one thing was for sure: I was getting stronger, and it was happening quickly. I just hoped it'd be quick enough.

"So, we're going to…do what we talked about, right?" Ellen asked.

"Yep," I said.

"And it's going to hurt?"

I nodded. "Probably a lot, but we can't be gentle."

"I understand," she said. Then she stretched, popping her back, and smiled to hide her nervousness. "Let's get started."

I nodded and walked to my end of the Governing Council training center's sparring room. Then I formed the Stormsteel rapier and breastplate, burning ten Mana to do it all at once, and threw myself at her. Her new robes flared around her as my lunge cut toward her chest.

She vanished into her own shadow, and I stumbled, off-balance. Then, as quickly as she'd disappeared, she reappeared in the same spot. Shadows clawed at my armor, trying to tear through the maelstrom. I ignored them and sliced toward Ellen's face.

It caught flesh this time. A thin line appeared; in a real fight, it'd be bleeding and crackling with electricity. And she stumbled back, a hand reaching up to cover her hurt cheek and nose.

I slammed a shoulder into her sternum and drove her to the ground. My sword hovered in front of her neck. Touched her chin. And then it was gone. "I win this one," I said.

"You cheated!" Ellen's face went from white to red instantly.

"So did you. I told you it was going to hurt. You asked me to stab you. But then, when I went for it, you Shadestuttered out of the hit. If you never learn how to deal with pain, it's always going to paralyze you in a fight—just like it did right now." I offered her a hand. She took it, and I pulled her up. "Let's try it again. This time, no Shadestutter."

"I just…I don't want to," Ellen said softly.

"It's either learn how to take it now, or wait until we're fighting a boss in a portal."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah, fine! But I'm going to make you pay for every time you hit me!" she half-shouted.

"Good," I said.

"That's good?"

"Yep. I'm trying to learn some new skills. Got my second merge last night, and I'm stuck here until my sister finishes her training upstairs, so I may as well push hard right now. Even better, they're all skills that require me to get hit. A lot. So, if you get pissed and take a chunk off my shoulder with a shadow square, that's great!"

Ellen shook her head at me. "You're crazy."

"I know." I resummoned my gear. "Again. Until I've learned my three skills, and you've learned how to push through."

She huffed, turned, and walked back to her starting spot. I watched her go, readying myself for the next round. And the next one. And the next one. As long as it took.

I needed Light Armor Mastery, Lightning Reflexes, and Recovery. The last skill, Dash, I could get on my own, but for those three, I needed to take damage. And if learning them here was gonna suck, once I had them, leveling them up to six would be even worse.

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This time, I let Ellen make the first move. When the shadow squares landed all across me, I didn't bother dodging. I'd learned from experience that it wouldn't help. Instead, I stood there, taking the hit as rectangular welts ripped across my skin. Hundreds of needles flogged across my shoulders and arms, and the Stormsteel breastplate's storms wavered and shuddered from the assault.

It ended as suddenly as it had started, and I launched myself into a mad sprint across the room. The sword came back in one hand; against a mage, I didn't need to worry about defending myself. Then I slashed it across Ellen's throat.

She was already flinching and yelping before I made contact; when the blade hit, the impact cut her off suddenly, and she hit the ground. Hard.

"You okay?" I asked, offering her another hand up.

"No." Ellen pushed herself to her feet and started heading for the door. "No, I'm not."

"Alright." I stood there for a second.

She stopped with her hand on the door. "Alright, what?"

"Alright. We'll work on your pain problem some other way, some other time. If combat's too much, and taking a hit is too much, we can figure that out later. But right now, I still need your help."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Fine." Ellen stomped back to her starting position. "It's fine."

I had a feeling she was lying, but I needed her, so I got ready. And this time, I didn't summon the Stormsteel rapier.

Pain ripped across my entire arm as I held it in place inside a ball of shadow. I gritted my teeth against the agony, but even at twenty percent of normal, it was all but overwhelming. Stamina flowed like a river through my burning nerves and veins, trying to stop the agony.

Ellen started to say something, but I held up my free hand. "Keep it going."

She did, and after a few more seconds, I pulled the twitching, reddened limb free. It was slow, but I could see the myriad tiny cuts and scrapes from elbow to fingertip. It would take a few minutes, but they were healing.

Recovery

Lifeblood. Health. The monsters' gift. A favorite among tanks, Recovery allows those with enough grit and willpower to take a hit that would stop a normal human and keep going as the wound heals itself over time. Consumes Stamina to heal an individual wound, but requires concentration to maintain.

Upgrade Effects: Each rank increases the number of wounds Stamina can heal at a time.

The healing stopped. I couldn't fix my injuries completely, not at this level. In fact, it was less than half of the healing that even Zeke's skill had provided. But it was mine, and it'd be mine forever—until I merged it. I collapsed to the floor, and Ellen's shoes slapped the concrete as she raced over.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I looked up; her eyebrow was furrowed with worry as she knelt next to me.

"Yes," I said. Then I pushed myself up. "More."

The shadow lance caught me in the back of the head. I hadn't been ready for it, and my neck whipped forward painfully, then jerked back. As I sat on the concrete and reached up to hold the spot it had hit, I couldn't help but laugh. "Shit, that's gonna leave a bruise."

"You really are crazy, Kade," Ellen said. She stood across from me; over the last hour, she'd stopped checking in on me unless I didn't get up right away.

I rubbed the impact spot one more time, pushed on it, and winced. Then I turned back toward my opponent. "Okay, I think—"

Before I could finish, my heart skipped a beat as something tickled in my head—a pulsing red flare and siren, aimed in front of me—and I threw myself backward as another lance of shadow rocketed from Ellen's hand toward me. It hit the sparring room's wall and dissipated harmlessly.

"Sorry! You said whenever I wanted!" Ellen called. "Was that it?"

"Yep."

Lightning Reflexes

Danger lurks everywhere. Ambushes. Traps. Stray shots from enemies you never even accounted for. The best of the best are always ready for it, even when they're not. Lightning Reflexes provides you with a heartbeat you need to react to threats you're not aware of—a heartbeat that just might save your life.

Upgrade Effects: 1. Each rank increases the number of simultaneous attacks you can keep track of at a time.

"Great!" Ellen said, and as she jogged over to talk, I quickly pushed Stamina to heal the very tip of my nose; she'd sheared it off with her last missile, even through the fifty percent damage we'd boosted the room up to.

My armor swam in my blurry vision. We'd been at it for hours, and my Stamina and Mana were down to almost nothing, but I pressed on. I wanted these three skills; I wanted them bad. Strings of shadow wrapped around my chest for the dozenth time as I lifted my arms free. They squeezed, and the Stormsteel breastplate buckled.

It'd be easy to cut them free. Easier than that, even, to simply rush Ellen. One stab, and the crushing, suffocating feeling as her magic collapsed my armor around my chest would stop.

But I was so close.

The strings broke through, ripping into my chest and back. Ellen stopped the spell almost instantly, but I still dropped to a knee, sucking in breath after breath. Then I unsummoned the Stormsteel breastplate and resummoned it.

"Again?" she asked.

I looked up. Ellen's face was covered in a sheen of sweat. Her twin pigtails were matted, and her robes had dark spots under the armpits and all across her chest and back. She was reaching the end of her Stamina and Mana reserves, too. But I was close. One more time should do it. "Again."

"Fine." She shook her head and recast her spell.

Light Armor Mastery

If you're fast enough, you can avoid almost anything. For everything else, there's light armor.

Upgrade Effects: 1. Each rank increases light armor's damage reduction.

It took Ellen half an hour to get changed and stumble her way to the GC center's sauna.

She liked the ritual of it. A hard workout deserved a reward, and she'd pushed herself hard today. Her body was covered in sweat again, even after a quick shower, and she'd filled her water bottle three times while beating Kade up—then drained it just as many.

The guy was a maniac. But he'd also learned three skills in the five hours they'd monopolized their sparring room. Three. In a day. Most people could only learn one in a session that long. It had taken Ellen almost a month to learn her first set of skills. Something was driving Kade—something that made him push through pain and suffering.

Ellen had to figure out what, because whatever he had, she definitely didn't. She couldn't even stand up to her own father—couldn't even tell him that enough was enough, and she didn't want to be a tool or investment for him anymore—without freezing up.

She wanted to, though.

And with Kade—no, not just with Kade, but any time she was delving—things were different. She could be confident, in control—her own woman instead of daddy's little girl. At least until it started hurting. Then she froze. Every time. Always.

She pushed the sauna door open. Kade sat there, arms spread out across the back of the far wooden bench, in his workout shorts. His body was bruised and welted, and he clearly didn't have the Stamina to fix all his injuries. He didn't even have the Stamina to raise an arm and wave, either, but he tried anyway. "Hey. Thanks," he said.

"Uh, no problem." Ellen poured more water onto the steaming-hot rocks in the middle of the room, then lay on the bench across from Kade. She stared at the ceiling for a long time. Then she steeled herself. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Kade didn't move. Ellen couldn't even hear him breathing.

"Deal with pain."

The room was quiet except for the water in the center boiling away. Then Kade said, "When I was a kid, I was always in fights. Mom didn't know what to do with me, but Dad—my sister's father, really, but mine in all the ways that mattered—did. He taught me how to fight. How to use a sword, or how to throw a punch. He couldn't teach me how to take one, though. I had to learn that from someone else.

"At first, it was the kids on the playground. I'd come home with black eyes, bruised arms, and bloody scratches from my fights. But even then, I didn't really have it figured out."

"So what did you do?"

Kade didn't say anything. Ellen dug in to play the waiting game, but as the seconds stretched to minutes, she realized that she was going to lose. "Kade, I need to know. You're right. I lock up every time the pain is sudden, or if it's too much. That's not going to work. I need to know what you did to get over it, and I need to start getting over it myself."

The silence stretched even longer.

"Please." Ellen hated how pathetic her voice sounded. "I helped you, and you tried to help me, but I don't think what you're doing works for me. I need to slow down and process it all. There's a lot to work through."

"Fine," Kade said, and Ellen couldn't help but wince at the word. "Fine. It's going to hurt, though. Be ready. Oh, and your skill slots are all full, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. What we're going to do would give you a few otherwise."

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