The two sat near the dungeon wall. The damp, cold surface didn't bother them as they surveyed the destruction left behind by their short spar. The floor was riddled with holes and cracks, which would have been even larger had their fight occurred outside the dungeon. Despite the dungeon's reinforced walls and floors, a large rectangular pit had formed from Sol's [Phoenix Dive].
They weren't worried about the damage; the dungeon would repair itself over time. Even now, they could see the smaller cuts and holes slowly disappearing.
"So. Any new changes?" Sol asked.
He had long since taught Amber how to break through to A-Rank and about law techniques. Since then, she had been working hard to ascend, just like him.
Amber nodded and took out one of her daggers. She swung it lightly, and a small cut appeared on the opposite wall 50 feet away. It happened instantly, without warning; even Sol could only helplessly be hit by it if he didn't anticipate it ahead of time.
"[Distort Weapon] has changed a lot since you started improving it," Sol remarked. "Originally, it could only distort the appearance of the weapon, making it seem like it was somewhere else. But somehow, you've managed to distort the distance and turn it into a ranged attack. I'll be honest, I can't even begin to understand how you did that. Is it some kind of spatial manipulation?"
It was similar to [Mana Slash] and other variants, but there was a key difference. Skills like [Mana Slash] sent out a projectile that traveled toward its target, while Amber's skill landed instantly where she aimed, as if there were no distance at all.
Amber shrugged. "Maybe. Working on power and different directions."
As she demonstrated, the attack directly struck her target but was rather shallow compared to her regular slashes. She still had to improve its strength to make it truly life threatening and figure out how to make her slashes appear from any angle she desired.
Sol made a puzzled face. 'Maybe? How do you not know?'
It seemed ridiculous to be trying to master a new technique without fully understanding its basis. But in a way, he wasn't much better. He still wasn't sure why skills and law techniques manifested the way they did, where they originated, or more importantly, what the guiding principle was behind seeing and manipulating them.
He could attribute it to his own understanding influencing his perception, but he felt there was more to it. However, he doubted he'd uncover the truth anytime soon, even after creating a law technique.
Thinking of his own law technique in progress, he decided to peek at Amber's skill lines out of curiosity. To his surprise, he noticed something different.
'What is this? Is that line unraveling?'
Sol scooted closer to Amber, making her tilt her head in confusion as he inspected the string further. On closer look, he saw it represented the talent skill for [Distort Weapon], and it was splitting into many tinier strings. Most continued in the same direction, but a few were veering off toward a different path, a path whose end he could see—unlike the other skills. Wherever it was heading, it hadn't arrived yet.
'It's not breaking… Is it forming into a law technique?'
In that moment of realization, Sol felt a change within himself as well. He looked at the lines leaving his chest, and the one representing [Aggregate] began to split off a small section. The new strand headed in an almost parallel direction to [Aggregate], but separate enough to not be considered the same.
He looked up into Amber's red eyes and smiled. "Thank you, Amber."
"?"
She, still confused as to why he'd scooted closer, was now even more puzzled by his sudden gratitude.
Sol chuckled at her blank expression, which clearly showed traces of confusion, and explained, "I'm closer to comprehending my law technique, thanks to you."
He might not have noticed this process if he hadn't witnessed it happening in real time. And because he could see hers, it triggered the formation of his own law technique. He wasn't sure if it was necessary to see another's law technique forming or if it was something else, but he was thankful nonetheless.
Amber didn't respond and instead looked away, staring off at the cut she had made on the wall.
Sol smirked at her reaction. 'I guess she can still get embarrassed.'
He considered teasing her but knew it would likely end with a dagger in his side. Instead, he joined her in staring at the cut in the wall in silence. They sat together, watching as the damaged floors and walls slowly repaired themselves.
…
The next day, Sol woke up to surprising news. A priest from the Church of Caela had arrived with a ring containing exactly 500 liters of blood. Even Diana had underestimated the fervor of her fellow followers, as they had moved incredibly quickly at the prospect of obtaining another blessed item from their goddess.
When the priest received the Blessed Boots of the Sky, Sol swore the man nearly fainted from just touching them. It felt especially odd since Sol had worn them for quite a long time.
The priest brought the boots closer to his face and took a long, deep whiff.
"Hmm! Blessed by Caela herself!" The priest shuddered with excitement.
Sol took a step back in horror as he realized what type of person the priest was. Even though he had made sure to clean the boots thoroughly before handing them over, it still felt extremely wrong.
After recovering from his post whiff ecstasy, the priest turned to Sol with frenzied eyes. "Did they smell like this when you received them? Was it stronger?"
'Is this why they wanted the boots so badly?'
Luckily for Sol and the rest of the world, the answer was no. Few in the church shared the priest's... unique tastes. The only reason he had the honor of receiving the boots was because he had traded an astronomical amount of favors for the opportunity. Even though he would only get to hold them for less than an hour while delivering them back to the church, the priest was more than satisfied with that.
"Thank you for the blood, have a good day." Sol immediately distanced himself from the man and hoped they would never meet again.