For the eighth time, Eli found himself exhausted and almost unable to stay awake and continue, but he forced his mind to keep going, letting in some of the pain he had been ignoring. His body was trying to level, after he got his chaos node to planet level, he was now absorbing as much magic as he could and his body was his next target so he was forcing that magic into his flesh. His body was not able to handle the magic and his flesh would just fall off of him like he was made of melting ice cream. It was only when the flesh fell away that he could push magic into his bones, it took him the first six tries to even realize that part.
If he thought that the flesh melting off of him was painful, forcing enough magic into his bones to have them level was a whole new world of brutality. The bones would slowly disintegrate from the influx of magic and then would heal as improved magical bones. And as if he was a glutton for punishment, after his first ten bones he realized that he could use his earth node to make them even stronger and he had to start over. Doing each bone individually was taking its toll, but once the bone was done, it stayed done, so he kept on pushing. It wouldn't be over until he finished every bone, then worked on his flesh afterwards.
Almost two days into his work on his body and every bone had been upgraded except his pelvis, he was hoping it would work like his skull had where it melted his flesh but everything was copied over to his soul so he could stay mostly conscious while it was happening. Starting the process meant melting off some very sensitive flesh and he had to do it standing up and felt the splatter of his flesh hit the ground and burn away. When he was done and the bone had regrown, he didn't want to have to do this part twice so he used his life node to imbue his flesh with what he hoped would be better healing and not an extra arm or something.
When that flesh was restored, the skin was perfect and it almost seemed to glow a little with vibrant life. He continued to work on the rest of his body, drawing magic away from the volcano as fast as he could and forcing it into every cell as it fell off and regrew stronger and more vibrant than ever. His body was becoming perfection, no body fat, all muscle and veins being held under smooth skin that looked like it was struggling to contain his strength. When he was finished he got the system window.
"Congratulations, you have upgraded your body from level 2 to level 3"
"You have past your first body threshold, further upgrades will require specific reagents"
He knew that it was highly unlikely that he would get a hold of something like that for a long time. But the 'specific reagents' line did seem to capture his imagination. He thought it could be something like having a body attuned to fire or some other element, it might even change his skin tone, or hair color or eyes that glow or something. Then he noticed a slight color difference in his vision now that he had the thought about it, holding his hands up to his eyes he could see a faint purple hue on his hands coming from his eyes. Sighing, he had two thoughts at once, first, he hoped Tara liked them, second, he hoped Bethany didn't like them too much.
Noticing that his body was more resistant, he got closer to the volcano's eruption. He walked slowly expecting to only be able to get a little closer but he was able to walk almost all the way up to where the ash was coming out. It had been six or seven days now, he couldn't tell and he hadn't opened his system menu since he started, but the volcano wasn't slowing down. He stood just feeling with his magic sense, feeling deep into the ground where the eruption was coming from. At the edge of his range he could feel something different about the magic, like it was pressurized somehow and the ash cloud was what was evaporating off of it.
He only was able to reach his senses that far for a short time but it seemed like he was going to have to stop this pressurized magic from reacting and turning into the cloud if he wanted to get this thing to stop. In order for his senses and will to reach that far he was going to need to get closer and he was going to have to level his soul to three. With how much pain he had to go through to get his node and body to upgrade, he was not looking forward to it, but he knew it was his responsibility to get it done. However, before all of that he needed a nap, a long nap, he hadn't slept since he got here and with everything he had done and splitting his mind to focus, he was going to have to sleep. He got as close as he could to the ash cloud and was still comfortable enough to sleep, closed his eyes while laying on rocks hot enough to cook a pizza, and passed out.
***************
"How are they doing?" Tara asked after the second day of training the new recruits.
"Mixed results so far, some are excelling with me and others are excelling with Audrey." Bethany said with hesitation on her face.
"What's the problem?" Tara asked.
"She doesn't like Lucy." Audrey said with a giggle.
"What is she doing wrong?" Tara asked, giving Bethany a look that said she knew the answer already.
Bethany clenched her fists, crushing the bread she was holding, "She doesn't need any training from me, she is a massively skilled martial artist. She is even good at using her stats with her martial arts and leveraging them to get more from her fighting skill. I swear she was trained in fighting with an enhanced body."
"I keep telling you, it's not possible," Audrey said with a frustrated look that told Tara that they have had this discussion a few times before.
"Have you tried talking to her?" Tara asked, doing her best not to look at Bethany and smile.
"Yes but she says she will only talk to Lord Ash and then stares at us with a blank look until we stop trying."
"Well I get to train them tomorrow, and I have an idea that might help us get some answers from her. I'll use my chaos node skill Time Slow. That should get her to talk a little." Tara said with a smirk.
"How do you know it will work?"
"I have a feeling."
The next morning Tara was out where they had been training an hour before the sun was going to come up and Lucy was already there. Tara walked up to her, "Do you know who I am?"
"Lord Ash's partner."
"I'm his wife under the system and his first servant. I wonder if you would entertain me with a little spar to warm up before the others get here."
"As you wish," Lucy said but was not amused. Tara thought that she looked bored and a little annoyed, like all of this was beneath her, which made Tara not feel bad about how much she was going to make this hurt.
"Let's begin." Tara said and dashed forward in a predictable and aggressive move which Lucy blocked with ease and countered with a balance and footwork move that let her get close to a hit. However Tara had her second axe in her left hand and blocked the attack. Tara shifted her weight lower to the ground and moved closer to Lucy, she moved to hit her with the back spike of her axe in the stomach but was again blocked by a quick reposition of Lucy's body and a clever use of the hilt of her sword. Dropping the axe in her left hand she swung it as if she was going to bring out another one, but changed her weight distribution and hip movement at the last second and landed a punch on Lucy's right cheek.
They separated and were assessing each other while taking careful and slow steps to circle one another. Lucy then went on the offensive using a quick attack skill that sped up the movement of her weapon. Tara had to focus hard to dodge, block and redirect the attacks coming at her but she remained untouched. Right when Lucy was getting frustrated, Tara dodged an attack with an odd twist and flex of her legs forcing Lucy to block while off balance and they were separated again. This time there was anger on Lucy's face as they circled with practiced footwork. Tara smiled as she knew she was getting to her so she tried to get her more riled up by making an attempt at trash talk.
"How old are you girl?" Tara asked, being sure to say girl in an insulting tone.
"I'm 19. I am the only one left of my family and I cannot be beaten by you."
"You can't hit me so I don't see how you can win.
"I'm holding back obviously, I would not use my full strength against the lord's partner."
"Whatever makes you feel better about losing little girl," Tara said knowing that saying that would make her try and prove herself and use a big move. Lucy flash forward in an instant and when she reappeared her sword was at Tara's throat. But Tara had also used her time skill perfectly and her left axe was stopping her blade from touching her throat while her right axe's blade was about an inch deep into Lucy's chest. At first Lucy was smiling thinking she had proven her point, but then she saw that her attack had been blocked and she had been injured.
Knowing that Lucy was going to use some kind of speed attack, Tara had used her time skill and a guess that she would charge in and go for a flashy hit like the throat to prove a point. So she blocked and put her axe out in the direction she could mostly tell she would end up in. Tara had not moved faster than her, even with her time skill, but she had predicted her moves and countered them before Lucy had even moved.
"I will concede to a draw between us if you can tell me why you won't talk to anyone but my lord husband."
"Those terms are agreeable," Lucy said in a strained voice while holding her bleeding chest and coughing up blood.
"I'll let you recover some before we talk, using my time skill takes it out of me, I would like to sit."
Lucy's jaw dropped open and her eyes traced the visible scar on Tara's face and body with her eyes and she made the connection. The scars were always more visible after she used her fake chaos node, they had a bit of a purple glow to them. Tara sat on a rock while Lucy was completely stunned, unable to move or talk for several seconds.
"You have a time skill for your implanted chaos node?" Lucy asked, still wheezing with blood in her mouth and it running down her chin.
"Yes."
"Where did you get it?"
"You need to answer my question first."
"All I can say is that my family has served his family for hundreds of years. I must be allowed to speak with him, I have a task to complete, then I will serve him. That is the promise I made to my father before he was killed and I was left as the last member of my family."
"So you know his mother?"
"No, I never got to meet her, but I know her name."
"Well don't tell me, that is something Lord Ash should hear before I do."
"Now you answer, where did you get that node and skill?"
"From his mother." Tara said with a small smile.
"That is not possible, she would not do such a thing. It is a forbidden practice."
"Forbidden by who?" Tara asked nervously.
"His mother."
"Well nothing to do about it now, she can punish me if she ever shows up. The others will be here soon to begin training, we should rest until they get here."
"We need to talk more," Lucy said frantically.
"We will talk more when Crater town lets you in, until then, I don't trust you with any more information."
"I can get in now, the only reason it didn't let me in before was because I asked it to stop me."
Now it was Tara's turn to have her jaw drop, she didn't know how, but she knew Lucy was telling the truth.