Lukas helped Akira over to the nearest tree that wasn't covered in a thin layer of monster goo so she could rest against it. He had to admit, he had been more than a little concerned about her once the fight was over. She looked ready to either pass out or die, with luck being the only deciding factor.

She hadn't taken a single potion during the entire fight, making him believe that she didn't have any. After watching her produce potions superior to his own, he'd wondered why. Thinking back on it though, she'd never had the time or space to go digging around in her bag.

"You're sure you're alright?" Lukas asked once Akira was seated. She was in far better condition than she had been a minute prior, though she still looked in need of a nice, long nap.

"I'm fine," she said, waving away his concern. "Just tired. I'll rest here for a few minutes, then we'll head back to the city."

"Alright," he said, looking around and noticing that the recording crystal was still floating over his shoulder. "How do I stop this thing?" he asked, gesturing to the crystal.

"You just have to grab it and pull it down. It'll stop itself once you do."

Nodding, he did just that, and as he did, he felt the mana he had injected into the crystal change. He wasn't quite sure how to describe what happened, but the mana seemed to harden or solidify, getting stored in the crystal. If he had to guess, that had been the recording getting saved. How you were meant to watch what was on the crystal was beyond him, but he'd figure that out later. He really wanted to know how the recording crystals worked and resolved to ask Akira for a few sometime so he could figure them out.

For now, he stuck with handing the crystal over to her. Grabbing it, Akira took the chance to give him a once-over.

"I'm surprised you're not covered in blood," she said, dropping the recording crystal into her bag. "Weren't you running to help when the dusk weaver went boom?"

Lukas glanced at the relatively clean state he was in, marred only by the blood that Akira had smeared on him. There were already a few spots slowly disappearing, the filth vanishing as his armor's enchantment worked its magic.

Flicking away a bit of beast gore off his leather chest piece, he nodded. "I was, but I was in the shadows. Usually, attacks pull me out, but all that blood just sort of washed over me like a weird liquid wind. Maybe because it wasn't an attack, and there was no intent behind it?"

"Intent?"

"Yeah, intent is a big part of magic, right? Well, there was no intent behind the blood, so it didn't register as an attack and didn't affect me. Now that I think about it, something like rain would pull me out of the shadows the moment a single drop landed on me otherwise. At least that's my current theory."

"Hmm, you could be right. You should train with your abilities more to get a better idea of what they're capable of. Doesn't really seem fair though—you should've been painted just as much as me, if not more."

Lukas just scoffed and walked over to one of the trees covered in a thin veneer of blood. "As if I haven't had enough of that today."

Touching the tree and the blood on it, a box opened before him.

You do not have permission to loot this kill.

'Hmm,' he hummed inwardly. The message was one he'd never seen before. The last time he'd gotten a message telling him he couldn't loot something, it had told him he wasn't able to loot anything he hadn't killed or assisted in killing. Why was this different? Had he somehow contributed something to the fight simply by watching, but not enough to give him permission to loot? It was strange, but interesting—something worth looking into. Another thing added to the list.

"Hey," he said, looking back at Akira. "You mind if I loot this thing?"

She looked up from her bag, giving him a raised brow. "Is there even anything left to loot?"

Lukas shrugged. "It gave me the option."

"Then go for it. It's not like I have a looting ability. Even if I wanted to perform a harvesting ritual, it can only be performed on a body, and the weaver's body is kind of—" she gestured at the forest around them, "—everywhere right now."

With Akira's "permission" given, the notification before Lukas changed, and the blood began to darken and dry as though sucked free of what vitality remained.

68 [Copper Mana Coins] have been looted.

[Dusk Weaver Acid (Uncommon)] has been looted.

Lukas had just registered the slightly different lines of text when something like a jangling bag of quarters and a surprised grunt sounded out behind him. Turning toward the commotion, Lukas found Akira still sitting on the ground, now holding up a small brown sack—its top cinched shut with a line of black string—and a vial filled with a forest green liquid.

"What the—? Did these come from you?" she asked, pulling her attention from the items.

Lukas' gaze shifted from the items in her hands to his notifications. "Uh, I guess so. It seems my ability looted the body and gave everything to you, since you did all the work."

"Your abilities are weird," she said, before frowning. "Speaking of your abilities, tell me about the one that lets you see a beast's level."

'Damn it,' Lukas cursed to himself. He'd been hoping that with the fight, Akira would forget all about his slip-up. Of course, luck wasn't on his side, and she pounced the first moment she could. It didn't help that he'd inadvertently reminded her of his own mistake.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said flatly.

Akira fixed him with an even stare. "Really? That's the best you've got? The fight might have distracted me, but I didn't forget what you said."

"And isn't it rude to ask about someone's abilities?" he shot back.

She pursed her lips and gave him a pensive look. "I guess you're right," she sighed. "But you really should tell us. People are going to find out what your racial abilities are sooner or later, and if my family knows ahead of time, we'll be better prepared for when it happens."

"But by then, the fact that I'm an outworlder will likely be out, so I could tell you then," Lukas countered.

"And if people find out you're an outworlder, it will likely be because they found out about one of your abilities."

"What if I just say I don't want to talk about it?"

Shrugging, Akira said, "Then I'll just pester you until you give in to my charm."

That earned a laugh from a certain goddess that lingered nearby. Throwing a quick glance in her direction, Lukas found her hanging upside down some ten feet in the air as though from a tree branch. Only there was no tree branch; she was just floating upside down for some reason.

"Not helping," Lukas scolded.

The radiant and divine goddess just snorted. "I'm not here to help, I'm here for entertainment."

Sending a mental grunt through the blessing, Lukas refocused on Akira. "Aren't you a noble aristocrat with years of social training and lessons on manners?"

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She looked at him from under a raised brow. "Yeah, so what? You know I hate that stuff. It's one of the reasons why I like you. I can be myself around you. I don't have to put on the whole 'Young Mistress' or 'Lady Anuk' act around you, unlike when I'm with other people or even members of my own family. It lets me bother you until you give in. It's like having another older brother, now that I think about it."

"Another older brother?" Lukas asked, attempting to shift the topic.

Akira shrugged. "I've just got the one. He's in Light Hollow with my dad. He's a few years older than you, I'd guess. But you're trying to change the subject."

Lukas just sighed and ran an exasperated hand over his masked face. This whole thing reminded him of his sister, Cas. Growing up, she would constantly bug him about playing with her and Iz or going out shopping with them. Of course, he'd always give in. Cas was ruthless and relentless, always finding a way to wear him down. One of her favorite techniques was to complain to Mom—or threaten to. That one always worked.

The thought of his sister brought a familiar ache to his chest, and he found his resolve crumbling quickly. Why did he have to have so many weird and complicated women in his life?

"Fine," he relented. "I'll tell you."

"Really?" Akira perked up. "Just like that? All I had to do was threaten to annoy you?"

Lukas rolled his eyes. "Yes. My sister did it all the time, and I'd like to avoid going through that again."

"You have a sister?" she asked, curiosity thick in her voice.

"Who's changing the subject now?"

Akira was silent for a moment. It was clear she wanted to ask more about his sister, but she knew if Lukas would rather talk about his racial abilities than his sister, then that was telling of how unwilling he was to talk about her.

She was right, of course. Lukas wouldn't be talking about his family any time soon. It was already hard enough to think about them, and if he actually started telling people about them... well, he wasn't sure, but he felt like something in him would crack.

"So, what is this ability of yours?"

"Before that, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this ability."

"I thought that was a given," she said with a raised brow. "Since that would go against your agreement with my family."

"No, I mean you can't tell anyone—not even your mother."

"What?" Akira laughed incredulously. "You can't be serious."

Lukas straightened, crossing his arms. "I am. I don't want anyone else to know about this. Just you and me."

Akira stared at Lukas for a moment, and while she couldn't see his face, she could read his body language well enough. This was not something he was going to bend on, no matter how silly she thought it was. Still, she knew she was already pushing her luck. She was about to receive one of his biggest and most valuable secrets; the least she could do was let him decide when to let other people know as well.

"Okay. Just you and me," she agreed.

"Good. I'll know who to go to if the information starts getting around."

"Yeah, I get it. Now what's this ability?"

Taking in a deep breath, Lukas let it out as a slow sigh. He didn't have to tell her everything his ability did—just the bit he'd let slip. That lessened the knot in his gut.

"It lets me see a creature's race and level. That Dusk Weaver was a level 74."

"I knew it!" she gloated, just about jumping to her feet. "And creatures? What's the limit on that? Can you do it on people as well?"

Lukas opened his mouth to reply, ready to say 'any living thing,' but that would only open him up to more questions—something he needed to learn to avoid.

"Er, yeah. I can do people. I can see that you're a level 64 elf. You were level 63 before the fight."

"That's—hang on, I only gained a single level?" she asked, digging through her bag.

"Yeah? I can only see your race level though, not class level, so you probably gained two in either one of those."

Akira shook her head. "But the surge of power I felt made me think I'd gained at least two race levels, maybe even three. To only gain one..."

Pulling out her crystal, Lukas watched as she stared off into space for a moment, her eyes shifting from side to side as she read. A few seconds later, her gaze refocused on him.

"What is this?" she asked. "My crystal says I gained multiple points in every stat—enough to indicate I gained a handful of levels. Except I only got a few, and the distribution is different from my usual spread."

"It's like I said," Lukas shrugged, all too willing to shift the topic. "Doing what you thought was impossible and pushing past your limits makes you stronger."

"But like this?" she pressed, confused. "So easily?"

Lukas raised a brow from underneath his mask. "You think that fight was easy?"

"Well... no. All throughout the fight I was doubting whether or not I could actually win. But still, getting as strong as you are is that simple? I just need to fight stronger and stronger beasts?"

"First of all, you're stronger than me—"

"You know what I mean," she interrupted, waving away his protest. "You're terrifyingly strong for someone your level. If we were the same level, you'd have me beat handily. How do I get like that?"

"I already told you. You don't just have to kill stronger beasts. There are other ways."

"And how do you know this? Is it another one of your abilities?!" she asked, finally getting back to her feet in excitement.

"Solstice's shiny ass, are you allergic to keeping secrets?" Sera snipped.

"How do you think?" Lukas asked, once again ignoring the goddess. "I figured it out the hard way. I came into this world with no magic, waking up naked in the middle of the forest."

"Well, how does it work?"

Lukas scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with a way to describe the title system without giving himself away.

"I guess you could say it's like an achievement? You know, you do something hard or uncommon and get a reward for doing it. The reward being additional stat points."

"How many?" Akira pushed.

"I don't know. It depends on what you did, how impressive the feat was."

"So, what—?"

"Akira," he said, cutting her off before she could ask any more questions. "I've been in this world for less than three months. I don't have the answers to your questions. Now, can we go?"

"Fine, fine," she relented. "I guess I've rested long enough anyway."

"Great," Lukas said, turning and heading off toward the city.

Jogging to catch up to him, Akira walked by his side. "Here," she held out the vial of acid for him to take.

Grabbing the vial, Lukas inspected the virulent green liquid before looking back at Akira. "You're giving me this?"

"You're the alchemist. You'll make better use of it than me," she shrugged. "Take it as compensation for prying into your secrets."

Lukas gave her a flat look. "One little vial of copper-ranked acid for information on my racial ability that could very well have massive personal and geopolitical implications?"

Cheeks flushing, Akira toyed with her spear. "Well, when you put it like that... I'll give you the coins as well. I don't need them with my family and all."

Shaking his head, Lukas stored the acid in his inventory. "Just keep it and take the amount off the total I owe you for the armor."

"Lukas, you don't owe me or my family anything for the armor. We've told you that. How about this—for telling me about your ability, we'll wipe away whatever you feel you owe us. Sound fair?"

Thinking the offer over, Lukas wasn't entirely sure how to feel. The debt was something he felt like he owed, a way to avoid having the 'gifted' armor held over him should the Anuk family want something. Now Akira was suggesting that he forget about the debt as compensation for her nosiness. It wasn't the trade of information or benefits that bothered him; it was the fact his racial abilities were involved.

Lukas didn't want information about himself to become a tradable commodity—something someone could get from him in exchange for something else. He felt that would set a dangerous precedent, and had he not already made Akira promise not to tell anyone about his ability, he wasn't sure what he would have done. For now though, he just nodded.

"Alright. I don't owe you for the armor then."

Just over an hour later, Lukas and Akira could see the city's southern gates in the distance, having joined one of the more populated main roads. They had originally left the city to the northeast, but throughout the day they had made their way south. The plan had been to gradually fight stronger and stronger beasts, giving Akira an idea of where Lukas' limits were.

When they first set out that morning, she hadn't expected Lukas to take everything she threw at him and handle it without needing help. She hadn't quite found his limit, but she had gotten close and had achieved her other goal. That naturally being to see how well Lukas could fight a beast.

By the time they were almost at the city gates, Akira was mostly recovered. The only signs of her life-and-death battle were the last bits of damage to her armor that hadn't fully repaired, and streaks of blood across her face and hands.

As Lukas eyed the city entrance, he lamented the thought of having to deal with more scrutiny from the adventurers. In an attempt to quash the nervous and anxious feelings before they could emerge, he distracted himself by looking out toward the horizon.

Obscured by the massive trees of the forest, the sun was beginning to touch the horizon, throwing brilliant oranges and pinks across the sparse clouds in the sky. Long shadows dominated the forest floor and much of the city, bringing a much-needed coolness to the late spring heat.

It was while enjoying a light, refreshing breeze and the cool air of the shadows that Lukas had an idea that should've come to him much sooner.

Turning to a distracted Akira, he said, "There's something I want to try out."

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