I brought up my Innate Capability in my AAI again, making sure I wasn't about to make a mistake by absorbing a spell so early in Tier 1.5.

[Tier 1 Innate Capability: Significantly enhanced essence channels. You may absorb skills with lower cost. You may absorb up to five skills per Tier without any cost and additional skills will have a lower essence channel cost. Absorbing skills when higher within each Tier will allow for additional skills to be added for a lower cost.]

Coming back to the moment, I asked, "But what about if I wanted a skill tuned for maximum power? Or for the lowest mana cost? Is that something you offer?"

Italo scoffed. "We did. It became our most talented artisan's only focus. Rather than using their prodigious talent to invent new skills or fine-tune our existing offerings, each was so engrossed in custom orders, we didn't innovate. We were the first to create almost 40% of the Tier 3+ skills available, how could we fall so low, to chase coinage over knowledge?"

Overall, I could tell the Head of Skill Creation was supposed to be part of the selling process but he just seemed too interested in his craft to do it well at all.

After another short bit of back and forth, Italo retreated with another deep bow to Tabita.

Wonder what that's about.

Gema's return a few minutes later through the wall was utterly silent, though I was prepared for it.

Probably using one of the 'show-stopper' skills. Let people see how useful – and cool honestly – it can be and get them curious about it.

"Now, now, now, before we begin shopping, you are new, so new, oh so new. Just landed on our world! You must understand, we are the best. Our prices, oh they are high. But our quality? High, even higher, the highest," she rhythmically chanted like being annoying would win her a prize.

Yes, your Head of Skill Creation just tried to hammer that home.

I started tuning her out, especially trying to on her word repetitions, and reflected back on my priorities of utility now and into the future at a reasonable price without damaging my essence channels.

On the question of cost, skills in Velez were pretty darn low in price according to my friends. But so was the quality. It was why I hadn't added any skills to my kit, the same as most mid Tier 1 delvers with ambitions of going past the Tier, even though my Innate Capability said it wouldn't be an issue.

I wasn't sure how to test how much of my essence channels a skill would block off. I asked if there was a way.

Tabita answered, "There's a tool. It hurts but is effective."

I hope the answer it provides is private…

I started to wonder if my reading of my Innate Capability was literal or something closer to an approximation.

If it meant I could literally only absorb five skills before skills started to impact my essence channels, I actually wanted skills with incredibly poor purity that maximized power and minimized mana cost. If it was literally five skills, my [Poison Resistance] already had a spot.

But my guess, which I was about 80% sure on after some research and asking questions, was that it was more an approximation. The Scanners would try their best but some things were hard to quantify. If I was right, I could absorb about five typical skills – which blocked off 2% of a normal person's essence channels each – before any other skills actually started to affect my ability to absorb essence.

I guess we'll see. Nothing to do but play it somewhat safe but test.

Gema walked to a free-standing cabinet, placing her palm on it. I heard the slice and saw a bit of red fall into some grooves.

Sealed by blood. Just what's in there?

She glided towards me as her palm slowly healed, likely another skill in use, The pale woman handed me eight of what reminded me of drink menus at a fancy restaurant: a rectangle made of leather with a piece of paper stuck in it.

It was skill menus… Not even anything secret, just more weird pomp and circumstance.

Of course, there are no listed prices. So it's going to be even more of a pain…

The first menu she handed me had about 25 skills listed but a number of the names grayed out as it touched my hand.

Gema tilted her head to the side at that. "My, my, my, one so eager?"

I was lost but Tabita prevented me from having to extract what the hell that meant from the woman. "Skills on the lists, they're good for Tier 1s. But, if you don't have the mana to absorb it, best not to. The names, they go away, don't want to tempt. You can ask to see them. Don't, but you can," she said while still looking seconds from tipping over asleep.

It must scan my mana pool. I didn't even feel it. I guess 'eager' is again that I have a smaller mana pool than most people absorbing their first skill. Do I try to explain it away? I think I'll just move past it.

"Ah, so the ones that disappeared are not safe to absorb right now," I said with a nod. "Got it. Yes, I want to see all of them."

A knife appeared in Gema's hand but Tabita didn't move. At my clear uncomfort, Gema laughed. "Why, why, oh why would I hurt a customer? Your blood, it is needed to override the safety protocols. As all good things do, it requires sacrifice."

I pricked my finger, dropping a dot of my blood on each of the eight menus. Each absorbed the blood instantly, better than any product from a late-night infomercial ever could.

The first list was pure utility skills for domestic life.

[Tidy Up] was a two-pronged affair, a skill that you activated while cleaning. It slowly attracted dust to a spot of your choosing while also highlighting areas in your vision that hadn't been touched since the skill's activation.

[Moist Maintenance] was a cooking skill that allowed someone to monitor and change the moisture in something they were working with. It was especially useful for bakers apparently but also helpful in other situations like pottery.

The next list was a lot more interesting if not useful to me at the moment. It included: [Enhance Relaxation], which was great for anyone in a service business where people wanted to destress; [Feel the Music], a skill used to heighten the experience of anyone listening to music you were playing, often even providing faint visuals so people could enjoy with multiple senses; and [Perfect Plate], a skill for visually enhancing whatever food you made, which was one chefs loved.

There were also a few bedroom-related skills that I filed away for later, [Set the Mood] being the only skill I had seen yet that required consent from anyone in the casting area.

I should have listened to Tabita, to not look at what I couldn't – or at least shouldn't – have. My heart started racing at the list of ranged mage skills. Thinking back to a conversation I had with Jasna, it was true: I was just never going to be a ranged specialist. While I was still in love with the idea of being a backline mage, it wasn't in the cards for me.

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Fighting up close and personal just felt right. It made me feel safe, my fate in my own hands. It made me feel alive in a way I never had on Earth.

It wasn't something I was willing to give up and I didn't have the money to waste on a whim.

Still, I let my inner child run wild for a bit.

Taking the time to read every line, I imagined having an unlimited mana pool to cast [Fireball], [Ice Spike], [Lighting Bolt], and more. There were even a few more powerful versions of the same spells like [Enhanced Fireball] that cost more mana but did significantly more damage.

[Fireball]: Create a ball of flame slightly bigger than a human head and launch it in a direction. Once the initial cast is complete, the trajectory of the ball may not be changed. 12 mana cast. Purity rating: 93%.

After a few seconds of staring longingly at the entry, I had to know exactly what the purity rating percentage meant.

"Yes, yes, correct, the higher the rating, the less impact on your channels. They are our pride. Most sellers won't even show you!" Gema tittered like it was some funny joke.

While Italo had covered that, he didn't actually mention the numbers. "So how much of my essence channels would 93% purity block?" I asked.

"Ah [Fireball], our best seller for Tier 1 boys," Gema said with a chuckle. Then she failed to answer.

I looked to Tabita. "Math. Lots of it. Depends on your sub-Tier, essence affinity, luck. Art not a science. Use the tester. The pain is worth it."

Well that's a crappy answer.

I pinned her down and found out that a rating of 50% meant it would typically block off about 2% of someone's essence channels but 100% meant it would block off 1%. How that worked, I still had no idea. Almost all the skills were in the 70-80% range, meaning they blocked off about 1.5% of someone's essence channels.

The fourth list was mostly ranged attack skills. There were ones similar to the enchantment on Romie's bow that allowed them to split an arrow into three.

The coolest were probably around the throwing weapons, especially [Forever Mine] where you could mark a weapon as yours and have it return to you at nearly any distance over any time period unless someone cleared the spell in some way. There was even the option of physical or a magical return; the first could be dangerous as it meant a dagger flying back at you in the midst of battle – or far later – but the second used spatial manipulation to instantly return it to you and the void could eat at any magical items, slowly whittling them down.

The fifth list of skills was buffs and debuffs. It was getting closer to what I wanted, so I looked it over with interest even though I thought it was likely not a fit.

I went back to my internal checklist, which was pretty simple.

I wanted a skill that had current utility to our fights and that wouldn't fall behind. Without knowing if Steve could supply extra essence, it was good to find a skill that could still be useful if it were only Tier 1 when I was Tier 3. Otherwise, the costs – to my wallet and my cultivation – started to not make sense.

I always hated buying something that would only last a few months and was treating the Tiers similarly.

A skill that wouldn't break my bank and was a great trump card in a desperate situation also felt important. While I was starting to make more money, I still had to pay for Steve's final healing treatment and probably needed a new shield after a scythe sliced through my beautiful one that afternoon.

Gabby gave me that…

[Sustained Stamina] looked great, being able to trade my mana for stamina to enhance my staying power in fights. It wasn't my main problem but most of my biggest challenges did come later in fights, not the opening salvo.

I put it on the 'maybe at some point' list but mentally crossed it off as a possibility for that visit.

[Scream of the Void] was a particularly disturbing one. It had the greatest impact on people rather than monsters, eliciting fear and confusion. The caster let off a noise that, according to the listing, was 'worse than nails on a chalkboard, a baby's cry, and the singing of Igor Zarina combined'. It was a controlled spell because using it on kids could cause significant harm.

[Team Triumph] was the only one that made my list as a 'maybe', though likely not for the time being.

[Team Triumph]: Upon activation, designate up to three 'teammates'. Significantly enhance team coordination, especially the ability to anticipate actions of any designated teammate. When within <ten feet> of a teammate, enhance up to three physical attributes across dexterity, strength, and stamina. Maximum enhancement is 40% and choosing multiple attributes lowers the total enhancement available. Purity rating: 76%

While enhancing across all three of strength, dexterity, and stamina would only be a 7% boost to each, a 40% increase to both Pavel's and my strength if we were attacking the same monster would make a massive difference. Add in an Inara sneak attack and it could be huge.

The next list was melee attack-related; I was tempted by more than a few. I saw a little plus sign next to [Fire Weapon] that piqued my curiosity. When I pressed it, the piece of paper transformed to listing all the sub-specialties of [Fire Weapon].

Cool but unnecessary bit of magic checks out.

There unfortunately wasn't one for a morningstar – they said it was too niche – but that the mace version would likely work just fine.

But it didn't feel like the right fit. The skill was 60 mana and it only lasted for one hit. Maybe with a bladed weapon, it would be more impactful, but I figured for me, it would suck.

If I throw a burning log at someone, the log will do 90% of the damage most times. The fire just is going to bounce off them unless I hold my weapon to them. Not a good fit.

I really did like the idea of using lightning to try to shock people but Tabita said it rarely disabled people at Tier 1.

I put a few on my 'maybe' list but thought none were really that enticing.

As soon as I saw the seventh list, one of melee combat utility spells, I knew it was where I would spend most of my time so I decided to come back to it.

The final list was a hodgepodge of skills useful to delvers that didn't fit well elsewhere. Jasna's stealth skill [Undetectable] was among the list. I knew most of the skills she, Tiesa, and Gabor had but most weren't listed so I figured either Gema's hadn't created a version or they were too high-Tier to even bother showing me at that point.

Going back to the melee combat utility list, the first one that caught my eye was [Unmovable Bulwark], a skill that would synergize very well with my armor's enchantments that enhanced heaviness.

[Unmovable Bulwark]: For <40 seconds>, any creature of your Tier will find it impossible to move you. While the spell is active and you have not moved for <0.7 seconds>, damage from physical attacks is reduced by 50%. While the spell is active, your physical movement speed is reduced by 70%. Purity rating: 83%

The reduced speed and lack of magic damage reduction were both big drawbacks. Having to remain still to enable the positive effects, especially as I advanced to Tier 2 and Tier 3, felt like a bad option. It would have its uses, just not in most battles.

[Become Ethereal] seemed like a good option until I saw that while you were able to become completely unhittable, you also couldn't move for the 30 second duration, it took multiple seconds to activate, and it made a bright flash before your body returned to normal.

Both were added to the 'maybe' list but at the bottom.

[Retaliatory Strike] sounded cool, a return blow with twice as much force to any creature that hit you, but it required getting hit pretty badly to really do damage. If I used an extremely sharp weapon, that doubled force could have an incredible impact on a fight, slicing deeply into an enemy. But I wasn't that convinced bludgeoning harder was worth the risk of taking a huge hit, especially as my morningstar already had a heaviness enchantment.

Finally I looked at [Hasty Retreat], one of Jasna's skills.

[Hasty Retreat]: Immediately move straight backwards by 'mana used/7 <feet>' up to a maximum of <43 feet>. You do not become ethereal and will strike any objects in your way. You may, for twice the mana cost, change the angle up to <15 degrees> to either the right or the left. To activate, at least one part of the caster's body must be on the ground AND the caster must be in a standing position. All movement is parallel to the ground. Purity rating: 68%.

While the purity rating wasn't great, it seemed quite interesting to me. I could quickly retreat, using that as a dodging tactic. But it could also get a creature off guard if they were expecting resistance and I suddenly wasn't there; or it could even be a good way to taunt stupider beasts, getting them to chase me into an ambush by my teammates. With some creativity, it felt like it could be a good fit.

I asked more about [Become Ethereal] and if Gema was using an upgraded version to move through doors. "Oh no dear, no, not at all. That is a secret, ohohoho. So, which twelve did you want to see?"

At my confused head tilt, the strange woman got a little more peeved, her strange nature slipping for a second. "Nina, you incompetent shit… Deary, you get to see, to feel, to experience twelve of the skills in action. Why else would Tabita be here?"

My bodyguard – who I was now thinking might not be only serving that purpose – nodded gravely. "Offensive skills will be cast on me." At my clearly further confused look, Tabita said, "It's fine. You get to cast any twelve skills. Each skill three times. Choose wisely."

I immediately started adding a few of the spells I longed to cast back to my list before I realized I might be torturing the woman if I sent 33 consecutive [Fireball]s her way.

"Uh, so…"

"Yes, it will hurt. But not much. You are weak. This is my job. Do yours, gain strength." After a brief pause, she looked at me, her eyes finally opening fully. "Let's go. I want dinner."

Gema grabbed my arm daintily and led me through the door, though with a forcefulness that was surprising for her light grip.

We continued down the hallway, taking another turn to stop at two massive doors, these looking like the reinforced doors of a bomb shelter rather than of a fancy building. Gema stuck her head through before opening them with a large shove, her head still on the other side when she did so.

I wasn't sure what I had been expecting, but what I saw sure wasn't it.

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