Sitting down near the fire, I pulled up my status and finally got a good look at the skill options that the system said I could choose my replacement from.

Part of me wanted to wait until level twenty-five, especially since I was fairly certain I would be hitting twenty-four in the next hour or so with the rate Lily was hunting.

But it wouldn't hurt to review my options, right?

Congratulations you have 1 available ability selection.

Choose from the following options:

Feast of Power

Mana Pan

Gourmand's Insight

Flame Control

Handle the Heat

Clean Cut

Huh, it didn't give me the full skill breakdown like on level-up?

Was that because I had already seen these skills?

Straightaway, there were some that were no longer useful to me—and even when I tried to think outside the normal on the skills, I couldn't see where they would assist me. For those, it was Flame Control and Handle the Heat.

Both of these options were covered by Crisplet's presence. I was also tempted to rule out Mana Pan, but honestly, having Milo was useful, sure—but I needed to regularly get cooking equipment made from him to fit fairly unique meals.

I also had to recognise I wouldn't always have Milo there to make me a tray, or a pan, or a pot for the rest of my life. That said, I do also have Crisplet now, who can build stuff, but something tells me I won't be able to serve a dish on a tray made out of hot coals and ash.

I also wondered if this could be used as an emergency defence—maybe I could make a large pot of something and use it as a shield of sorts in a dangerous situation?

Then there was Feast of Power. This seemed useful, although limiting. If my memory was right, it allowed me to produce a special meal once per day that would be deemed a "feast of power", and this meal would provide stronger buffs and longer duration. Again, I tried to think how this could be used outside the norm, but I was coming up short.

Gourmand's Insight very much was what it said, and although it seemed really nice to know what people liked and disliked—as I'm sure you could use that information to your advantage if people didn't know you had a skill for it—where could I use it?

This one didn't seem likely for me to take.

Lastly was Clean Cut. I ignored this pretty quickly back when I hit level five, because at the time I already had Knifework, and I didn't see a reason to get Clean Cut as well. I was also worried it would be useless—but having seen mana infusion in several skills and the results; it was making me wonder just how powerful that cut would be.

That was especially on my mind after trying to chase down an enchanted knife, almost getting ripped off, and even now with a decent-quality knife, I still couldn't even scratch the dragon tail. Probably not the drake either. But even the Chironid was a challenge.

I could absolutely see a use for it, if it did what I think it did, but ultimately I was in no rush to select a skill, so I'd wait till I had a discussion with Milo and see how close I was to twenty-five before I selected.

"How ya' holding up?" Liane asked, sitting next to me.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I'm angry at the orphanage, and at all of those who lied to us and set us up for failure." I sighed.

"Understandable. I don't really speak of it much, but I came from an orphanage as well," she said.

"Really?" I was shocked at the revelation.

"Yup. I suspect a large reason I got rogue was because I used to steal a lot of food to survive and shared it with my friends."

"What happened to your friends?" I asked, wondering if she had a similar experience.

"Most are probably dead, honestly. Like yourself, they didn't prepare us. Unlike you, they had more freedom on the streets and learned a thing or two to survive that way," she said in a sombre tone.

"I got lucky. I found a good party and leveled very quickly," she continued.

"This party?" I asked, gesturing around us.

"No, actually. I've only been with Hari and Jen for a couple of years at this point. It was a group that mainly operated out of a town far to the north," she explained.

"Did your orphanage lie to you as well? What did you do?" I asked, curious.

"They did, and it was a large part of why I leveled up so fast," she sighed, hesitating before she continued. I didn't interrupt.

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"I wanted revenge. It's probably a thought that crossed your mind—I wanted to kill them all, every single one of them who lied to us and used us," she said bitterly.

"Did you?!"

"Sort of. I went back. I found the people who did it to me, and I had them at my mercy. I could have killed them," she said softly.

"Could have? So you didn't end up killing them?" I asked.

"No. In the end, what I got was information, and may have threatened a little. Which reminds me—we should check back in one day to see if my threats held," she said with a smirk before returning to the point.

"I got information about why. The people in charge of the orphanages are, well, nobodies. They are often old orphans themselves, and many of them are doing the best they can with little to no money. If I killed them, they'd be replaced by the end of the week with more expendable people."

She took a deep breath. "The issue, Trev, is the system itself, and that comes from the top. I've not given up my efforts to have it changed, but I'm not strong enough to effect change yet."

"So what? It's not their fault they set us up to die?" I shook my head.

"No — not at all. It is absolutely their fault. But unless we change at the top, you'd be killing an endless number below. You don't want that much blood on your hands," she said.

"And how do we do that?" I asked, curious if she had a plan.

"That's a great question, isn't it? How indeed. Strength speaks in this world, Trev. You want change, then you need to be strong enough and powerful enough to force it to change." She said with determination.

"Why didn't you tell me all this earlier if you went through it yourself?" I asked, turning to her, realising I could have known this weeks ago.

"What would knowing this back then have done besides ruin your inquisitive and positive attitude?" she countered.

"I suppose…" I wasn't sold on that. I felt it was something I should know.

"I see that you don't really believe me, but I'll speak from experience. Being bitter and angry will make you alienate everyone around you. You were mostly happy—learning about your new class, making new friends. What would I have done by telling you everything you knew back then was a giant lie, other than ruin that sense of wonder and enjoyment?" she asked.

I knew she was right, but it still frustrated me. Ultimately, Liane almost felt like a big sister to me at this point. I had no reason not to trust her; she had probably helped me more than anyone.

"What do you plan on doing then?" I asked, curious.

She smiled, and there was something very ominous about it. "You leave that to me, because one day, I'm going to burn the whole system to the ground."

After that, the conversation turned to lighter topics—by that I mean Liane asking what I was cooking.

"Think we can try the honey today? Since we have the afternoon off?" Liane asked excitedly.

"I'll tell you what: I'll let you try some if you get Hari to agree," I said with a laugh.

"Hari!" Liane yelled, before disappearing a heartbeat later.

Not even a minute later, Liane came back dragging Hari along, a giant smile on her face.

"He said yes!" she said excitedly. "Right?"

"You can try the honey. Do not eat the dragon. And please have all the potions prepared and ready to go before you do, in case it turns bad," Hari said, defeated, before calling Jen over and explaining what was going to happen.

Jen didn't even question it—just started taking out potions. A couple I recognised: a strong health potion, a mana potion, an antidote. Then there were a few I wasn't familiar with, but I decided I'd do my part too. I pulled out the honeycomb on a large stone surface I had used to prepare food.

It had been a while since I'd seen it, and seeing a vivid dark purple in the honey was unnerving. It just felt dangerous. But since the Purify skill had levelled up, I used it again on the honey—just in case it helped at all.

Hari again cautioned Liane. "Just a very small amount at first, okay?" he said, giving her a very stern look.

Liane just nodded before taking a spoon and putting a tiny bit of honey on the end of it—even going as far as showing it to Hari before she promptly put it into her mouth.

Her eyes shot open wide, but she didn't blink away like she did with the drake. She went slightly out of focus before looking around.

"Seems fine?" she said. "No buffs obviously—it's not been cooked—but my mana didn't change. It tastes both sweet and spicy. It's bizarre. But there are no poison effects showing on my—"

Hari cut her off. He still wasn't entirely convinced. "Even I can name a dozen toxins and poisons that have delayed effects. So wait a little while before you eat more. If you're still fine, then it looks like Trev has a new ingredient to use," he said.

She just nodded, clearly not looking to push her luck with it.

"After that, we can do some training if you'd like?" Hari asked me. Normally he just told me, so it was strange to have him ask. But before I could respond…

"Um, I'll do some training with you today? If I'm allowed," Darren said timidly from outside the group.

"I'd like to watch, if that's okay. I don't know that I'd be much use joining in right now," George added.

This seemed to surprise Hari before he broke out in a giant smile himself.

"Absolutely! And don't worry yourself—I'll go easy on you today. We need to find weapons you're comfortable with. Come, come, let's step outside," Hari said, completely forgetting me.

I heard Jen whisper next to me, "He'll never admit it, but he loves training the younger generation. They probably just made his week by asking to train on their own."

Knowing they'd be in good hands—and honestly, despite wanting to talk to George—I also knew I really needed to work on my runes. I had put them off for far too long. And with so many good options now, like candy, fruit, even rolls?

There was really no excuse for me not to practice, so I got straight to work, pulling out Char's book as Liane took a seat next to me again. Once Hari was out of earshot, she leaned over to me.

"When you made the drake, did you purify it before I taste-tested some?" she asked.

Honestly, I couldn't remember. "I don't know. I know I wanted to, but I don't think I did," I answered honestly.

"While I have all the potions out, and Jen is glaring at me, could you purify the strip I have?" she asked, pulling out the little strip she once liberated.

"Sure," I said with a chuckle, using the transformation ability on the strip. Then, with a look at Jen, she took another tiny nibble.

But again, she didn't blink away. "So, err, I think we found out why we couldn't eat it," she said with a giant grin. Jen's eyes widened with realisation.

Jen immediately held her hand out to Liane, who clearly understood without words, handing over the strip. Jen took a tiny bite herself, and after a short period she proceeded to slap the back of Liane's head.

"You're telling me we could have been eating these amazing rare ingredients this entire time and didn't because you were too impatient to wait for Trev to purify it?!" Jen practically yelled—catching Milo's and Micca's attention. They also came over, and before long everyone had taken a small bite of the strip, and I was left with the last tiny bit.

Shrugging, I ate it as well.

"Hang on—does that mean the salt will be fine also if I just purify it first?"

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