Meera sat down on the railing with a sigh. Her armor was filthy with blood and dirt. Her hair might as well have been a rat's nest. She thanked the gods that she hadn't picked up an advanced smelling skill, for she was sure that she smelled worse than a dog that hadn't been given a shower in weeks.

But still, she felt great about the work she had done in the past three days. It had taken the three of them—herself, Dara, and his pet basilisk to clean up the mess that she had created. Even though most of the animals had begun to rot, Dara was still able to rejuvenate them. It was honestly a miracle. She had never seen anyone bring someone back to life. On numerous occasions, she had tried to probe him with her Essence attribute to see if he was a god or an Ascendant and came up empty. He was either human or had the Misidentify skill.

He had worked her like a horse, somehow knowing that Ascendants didn't tire as easily. So, he didn't let her rest for more than an hour each day, which was enough for her. Since she didn't need to eat, she didn't get any lunch breaks either. So, in the past three days, she had no time to check her notifications. But now that her part of the work was done, she could take a break. All that was left was for the Keeper to fix them.

So, she sat and finally brought up her notifications.

*ding!*

[You have killed 6 Kyldar – Level 339 – Level 512]

*ding!*

[You have killed 3 Exarion – Level 369 – Level 589]

*ding!*

[You have killed 12 Zhythar – Level 294 – Level 519]

*ding!*

[You have killed 21 Lumnerax – Level 267 – Level 312]

*ding!*

[You have killed 1 Basilisk – Level 744]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. The Mirrorborn Slayer has gained 20 levels and reached Level 628. You have been awarded 60 stat points]

Truth be told, she was a little disappointed at the number of levels she had gained. She was expecting a little more, but that was to be expected when she was at such a high level.

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity (III) has gained 9 levels and reached Level 94. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 564% boost.]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Mirror Shard Fury (II) has gained 2 levels and reached Mirror Shard Fury (III) – Level 1]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Spectral Dominion (II) has gained 2 levels and reached Level 55]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Death Mark (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 26]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Shadowflame Devastation (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 4]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Dusk Veil (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 23]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Shadow Coating (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 69]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Mirror Step (II) has gained 5 levels and reached Level 12]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Greater Vitalize (III) has gained 6 levels and reached Level 28]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Bastian Strength (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 44]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 73]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Shadow Affinity (II) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 96. All of your Shadow-based attacks will get a 396% boost.]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Spectral Resilience (I) has gained 1 level and reached Spectral Resilience (III) – Level 1]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Iron Skin (II) has gained 1 level and reached Level 76]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Accelerated Healing (II) has gained 1 level and reached Level 23]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Nightfall Surge (I) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 13]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Armor of Mirrors has gained 9 levels and reached Level 284]

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Next came a litany of skills she couldn't use, either because she lacked a tail or claws, or simply didn't like them enough to lose one of her skills. But still, she picked up a few affinity skills. Even if she didn't have any skills related to those affinities, it was still better than nothing.

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the general skill Light Affinity – Level 102. Light Affinity will provide a boost of 2% for every level henceforth for all your Light Affinity skills.]

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Light Affinity (I) – Level 102]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Light Affinity (I) has gained 3 levels and reached Level 99]

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Power Affinity – Level 189. Power Affinity will provide a boost of 4% for every level henceforth for all your Power Affinity skills. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Power Affinity (II) – Level 71]

*ding!*

[Congratulations. Power Affinity (II) has gained 1 level and reached Level 79]

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Bone Affinity – Level 126. Bone Affinity will provide a boost of 4% for every level henceforth for all your Bone Affinity skills. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Bone Affinity (II) – Level 71]

After wading through so many of the Druvis' skills, finally came the skills she had stolen from the basilisk. The ones she was really looking forward to. After all, the snake was a mythical creature back home. She didn't know how rare they were here, but given the reaction from Dara and the fact that he had resurrected it first, she figured it was incredibly rare in these worlds.

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Petrifying Gaze – Level 254. Petrifying Gaze – Type: Active. Affinity: Stone Affinity. You can emit a cursed light that will gradually turn anyone who meets your gaze to stone. The speed of the petrification will depend on the level difference between you and the target. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Stoneheart Garden – Level 219. Stoneheart Garden – Type: Active. Affinity: Stone Affinity. You can awaken your nearby petrified victims as stone sentinels to fight for you. These stone statues will fight for you until they crumble to dust. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

Meera was a little disappointed, but at least she got one good skill. Stoneheart Garden was useless without Petrifying Gaze. So, she had to get the first for the second to be of any use, but then, she had Spectral Dominion, which let her summon her own sentinels without the need for turning them to stone first. Besides, this was Stone Affinity while her shadow warriors were Shadow Affinity. So, she passed on the second skill, but she was more than intrigued by the first one.

But the first could be countered by not looking her in the eye. She had easily countered it while she fought the basilisk. If it were a flash freeze, that would be a different story, but the slow and deliberate nature of the petrification meant this skill wasn't nearly as strong as it could have been. So, as much as she wanted to take it, she decided against it and kept all her skills.

She once again input all her stat points directly into Essence. After all, that attribute had lots of catching up to do. As soon as she had finished inputting the stat points, she felt something, like a tingle in her head. She couldn't tell what it was, not until she opened her eyes.

She shut off her notifications and noticed Dara taking a deep breath and blowing on the assembled pieces of the Kyldar. All the rotten pieces of the Druvis came together as if they were magnets that were being pulled together by an unseen force. A moment later, the maggots fell off the rotten meat, as the Keeper's magic rejuvenated it. A second later, the Druvis was as if it were sleeping, until it finally twitched.

Its eyes fluttered open. In the next moment, it jumped to its feet and let out an ear-deafening roar that must've echoed all over the jungle.

Thank god, the basilisk wasn't here, or it might have taken this as a sign of battle. Dara patted the Kyldar's leg, as if it were a pet dog. The Kyldar looked down, and Meera would've drawn her chakrams by now, but the Keeper simply laughed.

"Of you go, my friend," Dara said, as he patted the ferocious monster.

The Kyldar looked at the Keeper once more before it moved on and left through the same trampled path that its kin had made.

Meera wondered if this was what her Essence had seen. A life coming back into this world. She must've seen Dara do this a dozen times, and still she was amazed.

Dara jumped up and landed on the treehouse beside Meera.

"You know, I don't think I would've ever imagined anyone capable of bringing the dead back to life," Meera commented in genuine awe.

"All of us Keepers can, but only for animals and, thankfully, not humans," Dara said. "They don't deserve a second chance at life. We're blessed by Lady Vashira. She has a deep love for these innocent creatures and places of natural beauty. She appointed the first Keeper and ordained him to find more like-minded souls and share with them his skills so that we can do our humble work and make sure the wild places continue to thrive."

"This Lady Vashira must be a great person," Meera commented.

But Dara's nostrils flared at the words. "Person?" He rather took that personally. "She is no person. She is a god."

"Oh…"

"Lady Vashira is the god of the Wild," Dara went on. "Of all the places such as these jungles and all the animals that call such places home. The goddess who oversees the circle of life. The one, I daresay the only goddess save for Mother Mirithia, to have the power to breathe life anew into creatures that have passed on. How do you not know of Lady Vashira?"

Meera coughed lightly and gave the same excuse that she always gave when someone asked her this question. "I was raised as an atheist."

"But even still, one should know all the names of the gods, especially you, since you'll be meeting them sooner or later. If you're not from these worlds."

Meera started. He straight up pulled the rug from under her feet with that comment. He turned to her with a knowing look. It said everything that she feared. That he knew who she was, where she had come from, and what her destiny was.

"You know?" Meera asked in a hushed whisper.

He nodded. "I do, sister of the Champion. I surely do. Didn't I say there are more Keepers of the wild in all three worlds? We keep an eye on the happenings of our forests and jungles, and when something as significant as visitors come through Midiea's mirror, we tend to take notice. Though it seems that others have figured out how to travel through that mirror recently, but that's besides the point. Of course, it was the same mirror that gave you your chakrams, and then you went on a little adventure with a pair of hunters, one of whom perished in your fight with a Nightcrawler Ape. The one you put down with your chakram. Need I go on?"

The way he so nonchalantly spoke about it all was one thing, but this man knew everything. All that had transpired in Rothedon's forest. Her throat felt so dry at once. She gulped and tried to find her voice.

"H-How do you know about that?"

"Didn't I say that we Keepers talk amongst ourselves?" He turned and walked inside his treehouse.

Meera jumped off the railing and followed. "And this Keeper in Rothedon's forest saw all that we were doing in the forest?"

"Not personally, but then we have our little critters that report everything to us," he replied, as he moved to wash his hands in the wash basin in the corner of the room.

That answered the riddle of how he knew about the Kyldars dying every time the prince came here for training. Then another thing became clear. Something that should've been so obvious. Something she should've asked him from the start.

"You didn't just save me because I was an Ascendant," she said. "You couldn't have known I was an Ascendant when I lay dying, because I was still veiled. You saved me because you knew I was the Champion's sister."

He smirked. "And it only took you four days to figure that out." He finished washing his hands and dried them on a rag before turning to her. "Yes, I knew who you were as soon as I used Identify on you. After all, you aren't destined to die on my doorstep. If you had, then the entire might of the Varshan military would be combing through the jungle to look for you."

Meera's eyes widened at that. The gala…

In the business of the past few days, she had totally forgotten about the gala. It was a week away when she had entered the jungle with the prince, and seven days had passed since then. She shot up and headed for the door.

"Oh, I'm so late," Meera said. "If I don't get back to the palace, they really might send an army to comb through your jungle. You wouldn't happen to know the way back to the portal door, would you?"

He shook his head. "No one is coming or leaving through that door ever again. I had the basilisk bury it deep into the ground."

"Are you kidding me?" Meera practically shrieked.

Truth be told, she wasn't that excited to go to the gala, but she knew if she didn't attend, then some of the goodwill that she had earned with the royal family might go out the window. After all, she had agreed to judge the tasks of the princes with the God King. She couldn't agree to it in his court, in front of all his nobles, and then spit in his eye by not showing up. They might consider her somewhat divine, but she was sure even they had limits as to all the insults they could stomach.

She knew the general direction she had to travel in, and she was sure she could find the city from high up above. She headed for the door.

"You know, there are other things that Zadius, the Keeper of Rothedon's forest, told me," Dara said.

That stopped Meera in her tracks. She turned to him slowly. "What else did he say?"

"That the Cosmarian king is on the move. That his Charred Riders regularly go to the barrier to receive orders from his son. That Rothedon himself has been seen lingering on the barrier, conversing with his servants. All of this points to one thing that the barrier holding the Cosmarians is weakening. They are preparing to make their move. Soon, Rothedon will exert his will and break the barrier and flee his bonds."

Meera gulped. She knew that he wouldn't sit still as the end transpired all around him, but getting confirmation of it was another thing entirely.

"That is not all," Dara said. "Recently, a crippled man went to him and came back whole." His eyes narrowed on Meera. "My counterpart was present himself to witness this meeting. Though he couldn't hear everything, but what he did hear chilled him. They have plans, Meera. Plans that involve you and the Cultists."

Meera frowned. "What plans?"

"I cannot say. He couldn't risk getting closer, but I just know that whatever Rothedon did for this cripple probably enthralled him. He became his servant and was given a task that bodes ill for you."

Meera stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily. Being on the radar of the Cosmarian king was the last thing she wanted, especially now. All she wanted since the first day she stepped out of that infernal mirror was to find Neel. Why can't they just leave me alone?

"Thank you for the warning," Meera finally said.

"May the Lady guide your path."

Meera walked out of the treehouse and blasted off into the air.

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