[Ephemera, The Mortal Realm, the forest to the north of Maro. The twentieth day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]

  ‘Would you tell me more about my ability or your name?’ Valeria was currently following a trail she found in the woods. Broken twigs, mud on the trees that shouldn't be there and the faint outlines of footprints on the ground. Goblins were smart, at least somewhat, but this one didn't erase his traces.

  “We both know that you have at least a guess regarding your ability and who I am. I don't think that's necessary.”

  ‘You are right about that. Having ropes and chains that bind me miraculously fail at their one job isn't something you could explain with luck. The first time is luck, the second a coincidence but the third is a pattern and that means something else is happening. And guessing your identity isn't difficult if your spies are so friendly with me.’

  A raven landed on a tree next to her, looking at her with curiosity and way too much intelligence in its eyes. Val stood up and fed it some bread. ‘That’s what I'm talking about! They are too nice.’

  Silence was its answer as the raven started eating out of her hands before flying on her shoulder and resting there. Val gently caressed its feathers before resuming her hunt.

  “Telling you right now is not helping you for what is about to happen. I can tell you more about how everything works and the things most Knights wouldn't learn about if you want but concentrate for now. They are closer than you thought.”

  She wondered what he meant as she suddenly heard it. It was faint but if she concentrated on the sounds they became more clear. The pitiful attempt of language goblins developed and used to communicate.

  Val crouched low and slowly made her way in the direction she heard them from. There she saw them. Three small beings, the size of tall children, with green skin and mud covering parts of their body. They all held large sticks or rocks in their hands and were chattering amongst them, none of them saw her yet.

  Hiding behind a tree, Val slowly pulled out her sword and surveyed the area. If she was careful and didn't run into a tree she should be able to do this easily. The raven on her shoulder stretched a wing as if pointing somewhere and Val saw a half buried log. She could trip over the log and lose her balance if she wasn’t careful. Good thing she knew about it now. “Thank you,” she whispered to the raven.

  Taking a deep breath Val gripped her sword with both hands and rushed out of cover, closing the distance between her and the goblins. She swung down, her blade cut into the shoulder of the nearest goblin and buried itself in its chest.

  The others perplexed, surprised even by her ambush, but they collected themselves again and the second goblin attacked her with his stick. She stepped back, letting the swing pass harmlessly in front of her before kicking the goblin with her knee and pushing him away. Throwing her head to the side, she avoided the stone thrown at her and saw the third goblin rushing at her.

  She stood, sword in hand and let him come closer before thrusting forward and impaling the goblin on her sword. Letting the corpse fall from her blade she walked over to the last goblin that had trouble orienting itself, stepped on its back to hold it in place and pierced its heart with her sword.

  With one last swing she got rid of the blood in her sword and sheathed it again before pulling out a knife and cutting up an ear from each goblin as proof for the guild.

  ‘The effect of the dissonance stopped at least. Feeling disconnected from my body wasn't pleasant the last few days.’

  “It is afterall the aftermath of your soul and body being reunited after they spent time apart. It gets worse the more time spent apart and the greater the difference in how the time was spent. It looks like gaining an aura spark helped.”

  Val stood up and put the knife and the goblin ears away. ‘I’m just happy I could get one. I was always told it was difficult to gain anything, be it aura or mana.’ She laid a hand on her chest around the area where she could feel the spark inside of her. It was weak and not very useful right now but it had the potential for more. Val would use the time she has to make sure the spark gets nurtured and grows alongside her.

  “They were right. Essence doesn't listen just because you want it to and trying to turn Essence into mana, aura or the mystic energy of the east is one of the greatest achievements humanity has ever done. The fact that you all found out how to do this showed us gods that even if we weren't here you would still find ways to take care of yourselves.”

  ‘You sound like you are proud of us.’ The raven on her shoulder flew in front of Val, guiding her through the woods.

  “That is because I am proud to see how the beings of this world develop. I'm also proud of even the tiniest achievement one of my Knights did, so congrats for gaining a spark. It will make it easier in the long run.”

  A smile crawled onto her face. Val giggled happily like a child being praised by her parents. The raven pulled her attention to it as it landed on the ground. It found a herb she could harvest and they resumed their search for more goblins.

  ‘There is something I wondered about. Can a Knight gain multiple abilities or grow the strength of the one they already have? It sounds strange for them to be as strong otherwise.’ Silence answered her, did she ask a useless question or was it knowledge she wasn't allowed to have?

  “...Your ability can grow in strength and the answer to having multiple is a yes and no. Both are dependent on how you are granted them in the first place. The Creators aren't just giving you a power that's derived from the concepts we control. We give you an actual piece of our divine authority, how ever small this piece may be. This way we do not decide what ability you gain but rather which concept they are based on. Edrick for example is the Knight of Life which means all his abilities are centered around healing himself and others mostly. That's also why he earned his nickname. Your abilities grow in strength and number through no other way than having you understand more of what your concept actually is. It has a ‘failsafe’ though which in this case is that someone with a higher understanding and control over the same concept as you can prevent you from gaining a deeper understanding. Don't ask for how exactly it works, just know that only a divine being can do so.”

  ‘That would mean someone who misunderstood his concept wouldn't be able to grow past a certain point, right? How deep of an understanding do the Knight Commanders have then? What else would make them so strong?’

  “A variety of factors contribute to their strength but yes, Commanders have a deep understanding of their concepts. They also have it more difficult than you because they have three instead of one and the only advantage they have is that they are older and more experienced.”

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  Before Val could ask another question the raven started to frantically fly in circles around her, trying to get her attention. The moment it did it flew away and Val understood that as her cue to follow after it.

  She ran through the forest, evading trees and jumping over roots and stones. She could somewhat keep up with the raven even while trying her best to stay as silent as possible.

  A scream echoed through the woods, the triumphant roars of goblins followed. It left a cold shiver run down her spine. Jumping over another dead tree she rolled on the ground and took a stone in her hand. She could hear them now, they were close.

  In front of her was a clearing. Six goblins stood there, all equipped with stick and stones, one even had a rusty knife. Through the gaps between the goblins Val saw a young girl. She was frightened, blood running down the side of her head and dripping onto the basket she held close.

  Val's eyes narrowed as she saw this, some unpleasant memories making themselves known. ‘First priority, get their attention.’ She took aim, gripping the stone in her hand tightly and threw it with full strength against one of the goblins. He got knocked out cold while the others stared at their friend.

  Val capitalized on this moment, unsheathing her sword and rushing towards the second and missing it as it reacted just in time to dodge. Using her moment she stopped in front of the girl and faced the remaining five. They growled and roared, pointing their sticks at her before attacking.

  Valeria sidestepped the first, blocked the second and countered the third with a punch to their chin. A spike of pain radiated from her side as the fourth struck her with his stick. Goblins were small but you shouldn't underestimate them. A monster's physique never mirrored their physical capabilities.

  Gritting her teeth she jumped backwards to avoid the knife wielding goblin. It looked at her, smirking and the others laughed. Val jumped right back in, piercing the heart of one goblin with her sword and retreating as the others tried to attack her all at the same time.

  A deep breath to calm herself, gripping the sword handle tight and she blocked another strike. Her hand snapped forward, holding the goblin by his throat and throwing it towards the next. She followed with a diagonal upward strike, cutting the goblin across his chest. The knife wielding goblin snarled, throwing a stone and sprinting towards her. The two of them exchanged blows, blocking and evading each other.

  One goblin bit into her ankle, preventing her from evading the knife. It dug deep into her leg and Val suppressed a scream. Stomping on the goblin’s head, killing it she turned towards the knife wieder. It grinned at her, kicking the blood from its blade. They stared at each other, waiting for the next moment to strike but the goblin was less patient and rushed towards Valeria.

  She parried the knife, used her pommel to strike against his throat and cut his head off.

  Val paused, looking around for more of them or if any were still alive. ‘All dead, good.’ Sheathing her sword, she turned towards the girl, checking her for any injuries.

  “Are you alright?” The girl just nodded, tears streaking down her face. She clutched the basket close to her chest. This close, Val was able to see that the basket was filled with herbs. On a closer look, the girl looked slightly malnourished.

  Valeria shook her head, another young child searching for herbs to earn some money. ‘That was one thing that would never change, huh?’

  “Let's get you back to the city.” Val stood up and helped the girl. As they made their way out of the clearing Val turned back to look at the goblins. There was something strange about the knife wielding one. It felt smarter, stronger and more skilled than the others.

  She counted only five corpses! Where was the last one? She looked around frantically, searching with her eyes. The raven, helpful like always, drew her attention to something in the air. Dark blue particles of some kind rose into the air and disappeared. If she remembered correctly that was the place where its corpse was meant to be.

  A soft, quiet voice called for her. “Miss, is everything alright?”

  Val returned her gaze to the child. It stood next to her, looking at her with some lingering fear in her eyes, shaking a bit.

  One last look over the clearing and she shook her head. “It's nothing, kid. Let's get you home so we both can eat something delicious.” Val couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. She would have to consult with someone more knowledgeable to be sure. She really hoped she saw wrong.

  [Ephemera, The Mortal Realm, City of Maro. The twentieth day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]

  The evening sun bathed the city in a golden glow. Lanterns were lit in the street to help fight against the encroaching darkness that came with the night.

  Val and the girl went to a healer first to ensure the kid wouldn't have any problems and Val even bought her some food they enjoyed together. Val herself only has a bandage around the wound, it wouldn't do to pay a healer for every small inconvenience in her mind.

  Her mind was occupied with the events in the clearing, the dark blue particles causing her to worry. ‘Why do you have to be silent right now, Paradox…’ Her Creator didn't answer, remaining silent since their talk in the forest. It frustrated her to be unable to talk with him. He was more knowledgeable than her, he would know if it was what she thought it was.

  Having no contact with him right now didn't stop her, she already had a plan b in mind. She entered the lobby of Adventurer Guild. She wanted to look through their library even if it costs her some money. It was just an added bonus that she could turn in her quest.

  “Hello, Eri, I'm here to make my report.” Val placed a bag with the gathered proof on the table.

  Eri, the receptionist, smiled at her. “Good evening, Miss Leriscroft. A successful hunt, I assume?” She took the bag and began counting. “A total of nineteen kills, correct? That would reward you with 2 silver and 66 copper coins.” Val took the money and put it into her bag.

  “Is there a library here that us adventurers can use? I would like to read more about some monsters and herbs.”

  Eri nodded. “There is. Just down the hallway, you won't miss it. But I do have to tell you that because of your rank as an amberstone you are restricted to the first level of knowledge. You will understand what I mean with this in the library. I hope you find what you are looking for.”

  Val nodded and waved her goodbye before walking down the hallway. At the other end was a double door leading into the library. It was filled with rows upon rows of bookshelves, each filled to the brim with books. Some looked older than others and some were more carefully handled by the visitors but it was an impressive sight. The giant ground-to-ceiling windows let in enough light over the day but now magic powered lamps were taking over.

  She also understood now what Eri meant as each shelf had a number painted on it and Val was physically unable to pull out a book from any shelf that didn't have a “one” painted on it.

  Walking between the shelfs she started looking around for a book that has what she is looking for. [Bestiary 101: how to differentiate a beast and a monster], [An introduction into mana and spells for beginners], [Know your world! A book about the geography of Ephemera], [A sword masters' teachings: why the sword is the best weapon],...

  'I know you are here, show yourself already. And who is even making up all these stupid names?! I don't wanna read something titled [How to seduce your way to greatness. A beginners guide for every aspiring bard], that sounds like a con-artist trying to make money…’

  Her search wasn't bringing any results. Most of the books were focused on ways to increase the capabilities of adventurer or their overall knowledge for their quests and the few books she did find that were talking about the subject like [History altering consequences: A list of events that changed our world forever] didn't have the information she needed.

  Frustrated, she left the library and returned to the inn she was staying at. After a short meal she laid down to rest for the night. 'Paradox, if you hear me, we need to talk.’

  And for the first time since many years, Valeria prayed to a god.