Kenny had been right. The amount of time it took Kenny to piggyback Val to the safe zone was shorter than it would have taken them if she hopped the entire way. It even surprised Val how easily Kenny carried her.

She was afraid he would complain that she was heavy, or he would get tired a few times during the trip. While he didn’t stop nor show any signs of needing a break, when they finally made it the dry spot and sat her down on a piece of log that was used as a seat, he was sweaty and breathing a little fast.

Val eyed Kenny as he made a fire inside the circle of rocks that were placed by a party that had come through some time before them. As she watched him struggle to get the fire started she tried to think about the boy in front of her.

She didn’t know what his game was. His angle. She knew she didn’t get a lot of admirers, but the few she did get were creepy, pushy, shorter boys, because that’s how they acted, and they left a bad taste in her mouth.

What made her confused and wary of him was he was being nice without asking for anything in return. He literally ran into the fight and helped her survive without any concern to his own wellbeing. Sure he did drop her into the swamp water like a sack of potatoes, but even she had to admire she was being a bit of a bitch.

Although she was like that to him he still wanted to make sure she was able to heal her twisted or sprained ankle. Something that would heal quickly after a bit of rest. She was thankful that those who awakened, whether inside the actual Tower or in the Trial Grounds, had a faster and better healing factor within themselves. Something she still didn’t quite understand fully yet.

When she was trying to figure out if he was playing her he offered to leave if she wanted him to. That was something she didn’t think anyone would actually do. His words of knowing when someone didn’t want him there kind of felt…strange. He was an honest person from what she was able to see so far. Even if he didn’t say anything his body did.

That was another thing. His body. He was clearly stronger than the guys she had partied with before they split. His Endurance must have been high too since he was able to carry her here without issues even with both hers and his packs on her back. Something she was struggling to hold on to at the end. Not only that, but he had also ran to where she was caught in a trap and fought off those nasty Toxic…

Val’s eyes widened as she remembered Kenny had fought the Toxic Swamp Toads with his fists. While he did have hand wraps on when he punched them those things were still able to soak up the poison and if he didn’t get them washed then he’d keep getting poisoned over and over.

Val’s eyes swiftly locked onto his hands. As she stared at them looking for the signs of him being poisoned her eyes began to squint as her brows furrowed. Without thinking, she asked, “Your hands…”

Kenny, finally able to start the fire, stood up and turned to look at her with a confused expression. He peered down at his hands before looking back at her and asking, “Yes they are my hands. What about them?”

Val’s confused expression turned into a flat look as she stared at him. The joke was lame and while she did want to chuckle a bit at how lame it was, she didn’t want him to know she found it funny at all. Instead, she focused on what was confusing her as she continued, “What happened to the poison? Anyone who touches a Toxic Swamp Toad would normally get poisoned. Did you have some form of detox or antidote?”

Realization bloomed on Kenny’s face as he understood what she was talking about now. He contemplated on whether he was going to give her a proper answer for a moment before deciding there wasn’t any harm since it was just the two of them. With a bit of hesitation he said, “No. I don’t have any of those. It’s actually my awakened ability.”

Val was taken aback a bit by that answer. As she processed what he was saying she tried to remember what kind of abilities there were and their effects that would help him. Most she could think about she only knew the names of but not their description because they were ones that poisoners from the Toxo Clan and this guy didn’t look like he belonged to that clan since he didn’t have the colored hair or eye features they all had.

She didn’t have to think long and hard because Kenny further explained, “I awoke my Defense Skill Tree when I arrived at the Trial Grounds with a Body Focus. The ability given to me was one that absorbs poisons into a storage allowing me to be immune to it until it fills up.”

Val stared at him for the longest time, blinking as she took this bit of information in. Now she was even more confused. He had a Body Focus Defense Skill Tree and the ability he awoke was a poison immune ability?

While that was something that was completely useless in the first two areas it was a godsend here. Her thought went back to when they spoke about teams. He did mention he didn’t have a team. Did they drop him because his ability was useless to the monster they had previously fought, and they wanted someone else? That had to be it.

Val gave him an apologetic look. While she could relate to him being dropped due to people having an issue with one’s abilities, they were different. He hadn’t been giving the chance to display his useful ability…she had and still failed to be found useful.

Kenny saw the look on her face and grew even more confused as he asked, “What? What’s with that look?”

Val shook her head as she said, “Sorry, I was just thinking about how you and I were kind of alike being forced to separate from each other’s groups because people had issues with our abilities. Except, you didn’t get the chance to display yours since there weren’t proper monsters in the last two areas to show it off. While mine was properly displayed and I was still left behind.”

Kenny stared at her for a long moment. While he felt there was a story behind her separation from her group, he understood there was a misunderstanding she was working under. Something he wanted to correct. “While I’m curious about your situation, I have to correct you on something.”

Kenny turned to look for a seat for himself. When he found another stump he could use as a seat he walked over and grabbed it.

Val watched him with some confusion. She didn’t know what he wanted to correct and wanted to ask, but waited as he sat the stump on the other side of the fire. The fire wasn’t big so they could see each other over the flames.

She could feel the heat waft from it making her wet clothes more apparent on her skin as her skin started to dry up. She was going to need to change out of these clothes and wash both them and as much of her body as she could before hanging her equipment to dry. But first, she wanted to know what he had to say.

Kenny sat down and got comfortable. After he was able to sit in a way he didn’t feel his rear would go numb, he explained, “I never had a group from the moment I started this Trial Grounds. I’ve been going at this solo since I arrived.”

Val stared at him for a long moment. She blinked but didn’t say anything. Slowly one of her brows raised as a frown started to form. She didn’t believe what he had just said. She knew he was lying because no one was all alone when they started heading out. She definitely would have heard about a lunatic going off on his own.

She was about to point out his obvious lie, but stopped as Kenny continued, “I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I’m not lying. I can see it in your eyes that you think I’m lying. I have a couple of titles that could prove I’ve been going at this solo, but I don’t know how to show you them.”

Val’s eyes widened at the mention of Titles. She thought about the possibility of his words actually being true after the mention. While she had yet to gain any Titles since her group hadn’t ever been the first of any Mid-Area or Area Boss defeats nor a finder of the special areas hidden, she had heard of them before.

If he truly had been solo until now then he should have gotten a Title for every fight. Unless someone else had gotten them…Val shook her head. She remembered almost everyone that had arrived in their Trial Grounds. While many looked promising, none looked like they would be dumb enough to go solo.

Val was very curious now and wanted to see these Titles. “There is a way to show others your Titles. The same with Stats, Skill Trees, and abilities. However, you can’t show those until you awaken all of your Skill Trees and I wouldn’t recommend you just show anyone. Only those you trust.”

Kenny stared at Val. While he agreed with what she had said about not showing his information to just anyone, he hadn’t known it was possible. Wanting to know, Kenny asked, “What’s the way. I feel that showing you my Titles will be the only way to prove to you that I’m not lying.”

Val eyed Kenny. She noticed he was persistent on wanting her to know he was telling the truth. That made her feel like he had been in a few situations where he needed to prove himself because no one believed him. She was starting to feel both pity for him and wary.

She had some dealings with boys who wanted to prove themselves and it never ended well. At least he wasn’t trying to prove what those boys were trying to. “All you need to do you is pull up your Titles and will it to be shown to me. You have to want to show them,” Val explained.

Kenny furrowed his brows at the explanation, but did as he was told. As he pulled up his screen that held all of his Titles he stared at them with an intense look Val almost thought he was constipated and giggled a bit.

Kenny looked at her with a raised brow, but when he did all he got in return was a waved hand. He let out a sigh as he looked back at the screen and felt his facial features soften a bit. Instead he just thought to himself, Show Val my Titles.

After a few seconds of silence he noticed a screen suddenly appearing in front of Val. This surprised him as he didn’t expect to be able to see a screen appear in front of someone else. However, he noticed that his surprised expression was nothing compared to Val’s as she read each Title that appeared in front of her.

Kenny saw her eyes flicker back and forth as she read each and every one of his Titles. Her mouth slowly dropped the further she got until it suddenly slammed shut and she swiftly shifted her gaze upon him.

She looked like she didn’t believe what she just read, but at the same time she couldn’t refute that it was really there. “How…Why…This shouldn’t be possible.” Val looked back at the screen before her. “It shouldn’t, but the Titles here say otherwise. How did I not hear about this? Someone should have heard about this…”

“No. You’re probably the only one, besides me…and probably two others, who knows about this,” Kenny stated nonchalantly.

Val looked at him with a puzzled look. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, there is a reason why I have been solo the entire time until I met you. It’s not an exciting story, but I can tell you if you’d like,” Kenny said as he looked at Val.

Curiosity got the better of Val making her reply without any hesitation, “Tell me. I want to know.”

Kenny took the time to explain what had happened. He explained how he waited on the day he knew those who would get an invitation would get one. How he waited and waited but never got one. He then told her how he felt when he didn’t get one and had heard that his best friend and another friend of theirs had received one.

He then told her how Vessie appeared almost two days after that and what she had said about one was supposedly sent, but just never arrived. He then told her how both she and Ayla had talked to him about the odds that were stacked against him. How he would have to go at it solo until, if he ever did, came across a group or anyone willing to team up with him.

Val was both shocked at what he had said and slightly skeptical at it all. However, her skepticism was small only because he had the Titles to prove he had been fighting solo his entire time here.

But for an invitation to be sent and not arriving to the designated person? That part of his story made her very confused. She had never heard of an incident like that ever happening before. If one ever did then the person it happened to probably didn’t make it in time.

“How did you do it though?” Val asked, her curiosity growing even more. While he had shown proof that he had taken on all the monsters from the lower mobs to the Mid-Area and Area Bosses as well as a full nest of monsters, she still couldn’t understand how he did it.

“Ah, about that,” Kenny started as he looked sheepish. He hesitated for a brief moment before finally saying, “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

The look on Val’s face made him swiftly put both hands up and start waving them around like he was trying to defuse a bad situation as he quickly added, “It’s not some big secret, but like you said earlier. I shouldn’t go around showing stuff to just anyone.”

Val paused the words that were about to slip out of her mouth. He was right. She had said that, and she had meant it, but right now she really wanted to know. The reason for that was because she needed a teammate.

She needed someone who she could trust in handling themselves in a fight and not end up killing themselves. After seeing his Titles she understood that he was a capable person. A capable person who had survived this long on his own. The only thing bugging her was how he did it.

Generally speaking, during her studies at school someone had once asked if it was possible to solo the Trial Grounds. Her teacher at the time said they didn’t think it was possible. They would need to have their stats at a certain level and have the right abilities to be able to do it.

After Kenny explained a bit about his awakened ability Val knew he had to have something else that had helped him get this far and so fast. If the day he claimed to arrive was true then he had soloed each area so far taking a day for each one.

Normally groups would take their time and go at it slow. To him he might have been taking a lot of time since the timer was cut short, but from her perspective he was getting through the areas pretty quickly. If he had someone else on his team, especially someone with her ability…Val shook her head. She would need to know exactly how he fought in order to determine if she could team up with him.

She mulled over that last thought. While it was true that it would be best to have someone to synergy with, abilities and such, she couldn’t really be fussy. She didn’t have any defensive capabilities nor any offensive besides her wand. She only had supportive. Either way she knew the only way to really understand how he was capable of making it this far on his own was to offer herself as a potential teammate.

“You’re right that you shouldn’t show it to just anyone…but what about a team member?” Val asked, feeling uncomfortable. She wasn’t feeling uncomfortable because of him. She was feeling uncomfortable because she was afraid he would decline her offer once he found out about her only ability.

Kenny stared at her for a long moment. His face held no emotion, something that made Val start to feel even more uncomfortable. The look and the silence growing only made her think he was going to reject her suggestion. While she wanted to add in that he wouldn’t be able to go on without a teammate, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Especially after seeing those Titles.

Val was about to say something to break the silence, but stopped as Kenny gave her a smile. She wasn’t sure what that smile was about, but it didn’t make her feel uncomfortable anymore. It also didn’t alleviate any of her worries, but his words did help her relax.

“A team member? I guess I can show my team member so they can get a better idea on how I fight,” Kenny stated. His smile then disappeared and was replaced with a serious look as he added, “However, I have to ask if you are serious about forming a team with me here in the Trial Grounds that you understand what it means to being a teammate with me.”

Val stared at him. She wasn’t expecting him to make terms. If anything she thought he would either reject or accept and that was it. More so on the former than the latter. She wasn’t sure if this was a good idea now until he listed his terms.

“First, if we form a team here in the Trial Grounds then there is no going back from that. We are a team until the end, no leaving because someone who sounds better wants either of us to join them instead. No backstabbing or betraying. We are a team and we work together not against each other.”

Kenny paused for a moment before continuing, “Bickering and arguing is fine. There is no such thing as a perfect group, so I don’t expect that. Also we help each other out. If one of us is in a pickle or needs help figuring something out, they help,” Kenny stated as he lifted a finger with each term. “However, if I can’t do my job to protect you and end up letting you get hurt so much you can’t stand to be in the group anymore then we will split once we find others you can join. How does that sound?”

If Val was being honest, the terms sounded too good to be true. Especially that last part. He had basically given her an out that won’t go against the other terms. She felt odd about what he had just stated. She believed no one would ever make terms when forming a team nor make the terms feel so…reassuring. She was starting to grow even more curious about the boy. What kind of experience did he have to make him come up with this?

Val’s eyes widened slightly as a different question formed. Was he possibly scouting for an actual team member for the Tower Ascension? Were these terms meant as a test run to see how others would react to them when he scouts for more members?

She couldn’t be certain, but if that’s what he was doing then it made sense to her. And to be honest…she had nothing against the terms. They all suited her just fine. However, she wanted to add one more safety term. Something that would make her see if he was true to his word.

“Alright, but I want to add another term,” Val started. When Kenny nodded for her to continue she said, “No flirting.” She paused to see his reaction. It was…a lot more muted than what she had originally thought it would be.

He looked like he was in thought and confused by it. She was okay with that. Since he didn’t out right protest it as soon as she said it. She believed he was serious about getting through this. To help clarify her meaning she said, “We need to focus on getting through this Trial Grounds. That means we have no time to flirt with each other or anyone else that decides to join us later.”

Kenny’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ah okay. I understand now. For a moment there I thought you made that rule because you thought I was going to start flirting with you right away. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Val asked with a sharp raised brow and a dangerous frown. “Are you saying that you find me ugly and incapable of being flirted with?”

Kenny’s brows furrowed as he listened to her words. When he recognized the dangerous undertone in her question he once more placed both hands in the air and waved them around trying to look nonthreatening as he said, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant by that was you don’t have to worry about me flirting with you because I will have my own mind full on trying to figure out my triggers. Not because you’re ugly. You’re not ugly. You are beautiful. Gorgeous even.”

Val’s stare on him remained for a long dangerous moment. She smacked her lips as she muttered, “Laying it on thick like that makes me question if you do think that.” Val saw the worried look on Kenny’s face and tried not to laugh. She failed. She let out a laugh that made Kenny start to relax. Then a snort was exposed.

Val swiftly stopped laughing and covered her face. Her cheeks flushed red as she pointed a finger at Kenny and shouted, “You didn’t hear that!”

“Hear what?” Kenny asked, trying his best to give her a puzzled look while also not mentioning that he found the snort cute. He was already sticking to the term she had implemented.

Val’s eyes narrowed as she lowered her hand. “You catch on quick…maybe too quickly.” She held that stare for a short few seconds before finally relaxing as she shrugged and said, “Eh works for me.” She then turned her thoughts back to the terms he listed. What he had listed was fair and sound. He worded them in a way that told her he was giving her as much trust as he was hoping to get back in return.

While it all sounded good she was still fearful he was going to drop her after seeing the only thing she was able to do. The sting of her old team dropping her because her ability wasn’t helpful to them anymore remained and was starting to resurface.

However, her need and want to get the rest of her Skill Trees and abilities to awaken screamed louder in her body to the point she cautiously asked, “So you are saying that if we form a team you won’t automatically ditch me if you don’t like what you see?”

Kenny’s brows furrowed as he stared at her. He was confused on what she meant by what he saw until he understood that she was willing to show him her ability once they formed a party. After coming to that realization his thoughts then went to the full meaning of her question.

As he pondered the question he saw the look in her eyes. While she was trying her best to portray herself as a strong independent girl, he could see there was some hurt hiding within. He then remembered her saying earlier that she had been separated from her group. Maybe they left her because of the ability she had awakened?

Kenny shook his head. No matter the ability, he wouldn’t leave her behind. She seemed just as determined as he was to pass the Trial Grounds. With that in mind he would accept her and the ability she had no matter what. Trying to sound cool, he said, “One of my teachers once said there are no bad abilities only stupid people who don’t know how to utilize them. You don’t look like a stupid person to me.”

Kenny watched as Val’s body relaxed at the answer. He then noticed the corners of her lips twitch for a brief moment before she tried to hide how she felt about his response. When she looked like she was about to lose the fight, she turned her head to look away for a moment collecting herself before turning around and saying, “I’m not and you don’t look like one to me either. However, I will be holding you to your word after we form a party.” She then put her hand out to the side of the fire and stared at him.

Kenny looked puzzled as he stared at her hand and then at her. With a raised brow he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Forming a party with you,” Val replied as she gave him a confused look. She then remembered how he explained that he was in a rush after getting here and realized he didn’t get the instructions on how everything worked. “You grab my hand in a handshake and a screen will pop up. Choose yes after it does.”

Kenny reached out and clasped her hand like she had said. True to her words, a screen popped up.

[Would you like to form a party with Valerie? Yes No?]

Kenny mentally accepted. The screen disappeared and was quickly replaced with a new one.

[Congratulations! You have formed a party with Valerie. Valerie has been designated Party Leader. If you wish to challenge for Party Leader position, voice your challenge while tossing the appropriate Party Leader Challenge Item. If the challenged person accepts a duel will commence. If you win the duel then you will be placed as Party Leader, if you lose then Party Leader has the right to either keep you in the party or kick you out. If kicked out you will not be allowed to reenter the same party for 1 hour. If you are allowed to remain then your right to challenge for Party Leader will be void for one day. If you wish to leave party only think the words Leave Party and your place in the party will be lost. You will not have any penalties for voluntarily leaving the party.]

Kenny nodded as he read the screen. It was wonderful to have all this information freely given to him. He did learn about the penalties, the challenge, and the duel back in school, but it was still nice to see the details. Even though the details were given the item in question needed to create the challenge wasn’t fully stated.

Luckily, he knew what it was. It was a glove…any glove you had. It was a tradition made from some point in history where people challenged others publicly when their honor or the honor of their loved one was beseeched. They would toss a glove on the ground in front of the offender or at their face.

Kenny smirked something Val caught as she raised a brow and asked, “Thinking of challenging me for the Party Leader position?”

Kenny shook his head. “Nah, but I did have the urge to throw a glove at you for the hell of it though.”

“Rude,” Val stated with a smirk of her own. That smirk faded as she said, “Alright. Let’s share info. As team members we need to see what the other is capable of…right?”

Kenny nodded. He was slightly excited for this. He wanted to see how he compared to others who had started before him. He thought about sharing his information and willed it to Val. As soon as a screen appeared in front of Val’s face, one arrived in front of his.

Status

Name – Valerie Ragna

Race – Human

Level – 7

Tier - .33

Class – N/A

Skill Tree – N/A

Tier – N/A

Stat Talent – N/A

Skill Tree – Power

Tier – N/A

Stat Talent – N/A

Skill Tree – Support

Tier – 1

Stat Talent – Intelligence

Stats

Health Points – 160/160

Mana Points – 320/320

Stamina Points – 170/170

Strength – 15

Agility – 18

Endurance – Base – 13 + Equipment Bonus (4). Total – 17

Vitality – Base – 15 + Equipment Bonus (1). Total – 16

Intelligence – Base – 37 + Equipment Bonus (6). Total – 43

Wisdom – Base – 29 + Equipment Bonus (3). Total – 32

Perception – Base – 24 + Equipment Bonus (3). Total – 27

Willpower – 27.]

Kenny was both shocked and a little confused. She was at the same level as him and yet her stats were lower than his. At the same time she had higher stats where his were the lowest and lower stats where his were higher. She was the complete opposite of him, which was good since she seemed to be more magical than him.

After looking it over once more he realized where the problem was. It had to do with the fact she had no Percentage Bonuses. That must mean she had no Titles. Since she had no Titles she didn’t get that added bump in her stats. He didn’t want to say this was the norm for other Ascenders, but if he was to go off of what he saw and used her as an example then he was actually looking pretty good.

“Go to hell!” Val suddenly shouted. Her words brought Kenny out of his thoughts and made him look at her to see a disgusted expression on her face. “Your Endurance is ridiculous! Even without the modifiers it’s still disgustingly high. No wonder you were able to solo the two areas before here. You’re basically a walking punching bag.”

“Yeah, but I still took damage and even with the damage negation thanks to my Endurance the attacks still hurt like hell,” Kenny stated. He was met with an I don’t pity you look from Val which made him slightly chuckle.

“Besides that, the total after the modifiers in your Strength, Agility, and Vitality are higher than they should be for your level and even your Willpower. That alone doesn’t have any modifiers and its past mine by like what…nine?!” Val continued before giving him an incredulous look. “Seriously. This can’t just be from the Titles and equipment. What else did you get to get these numbers?”

“Oh that? You get a bonus of five Free Stat Points for soloing the Area Boss on top of the five given for beating the Area Boss,” Kenny explained.

Val stared at him before looking back at the screen. He could see the wheels turning as her lips started mumbling. After a nod he heard her say, “Yeah…that could do it I guess. Gah!” Val threw her hands up before staring at him and saying, “You are definitely taking all the hits for the both of us. With your stats in Endurance you can totally do it. I would crumple with one good powerful attack.”

Kenny shrugged. “That was my plan. Since you seem to be a mage type class…Speaking of which. It shows you awakened your Support Skill Tree. What Focus did you get and what ability?”

Val froze as she heard the question she had been dreading to hear. With some hesitation she finally said, “My Focus in my Support Skill Tree is Debuffs and the ability I awakened was Slow.”

She paused and waited for the reaction she had been dreading to see. However, to her surprise Kenny’s eyes widened as a slight smile formed. She was confused by this reaction and was about to say something but was stopped.

“Wait! Was that why I heard you shouting Slow at that Barbed Mosquito earlier?” Kenny asked, his voice starting to get a little excited. “So does that mean you can slow down a target making its speed or rather agility slower than normal?”

Val slowly nodded her head. She wasn’t sure what was going on. It was a welcomed reaction she wasn’t going to lie, but still a confusing one. She didn’t say anything as she just let Kenny continue his excited rant.

She was taken aback when he raised a fist in the air and yelled, “Hell yeah! Now all those stupid Agility Stat Talent creatures will finally be touchable without me having to have them latch on to my arms or legs with their stupidly sharp teeth!”

Val couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at that statement. Apparently, he had a tough time with the Agility Stat Talented monsters. She felt her body shiver at the thought of having them bite down on her own arms or legs just to be able to hit them.

She wouldn’t have been able to do that, even if she was going solo. A new light was being shone on him and an appreciation that he would be the one to take those types of attacks for her…hopefully.

“How effective is it? How often can you do it? Is it stackable?” Kenny started asking one after another swiftly.

Again, she was taken aback by his enthusiasm. Her old teammates weren’t anything like this when she informed them of her ability. The team leader of the group had said it could be handy in fights, but after a while he grew unimpressed by it.

Deciding to be honest with him she said, “Currently the ability only slows down a target by decreasing their Agility stat by five percent for a short amount of time. I think it lasts for ten seconds. However, it has a chance to fail. If I fail, I have to wait a second before trying again. If it is successful I have to wait for it to wear off before I can use it again. I can’t stack it, at least not without an ability that allows me to stack it.”

At the mention of needing an ability to be able to stack her Slow Debuff, Kenny remembered something he had received back in the first area. With a curious thought, he asked, “That ability…the one to allow you to stack your Slow Debuff…it wouldn’t be something you could receive from a tome…would it?”

Val’s eyes squinted as she thought about it. Speaking the first word slowly she said, “Yeah…I think so. Something called Tome of Stacking or something like that I think.”

“Skill Tree Tome of Stacking Magic?” Kenny questioned.

Val’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. She was starting to feel suspicious of Kenny as he gave her the exact name of the Tome she couldn’t remember. However, before she could question him, Kenny pulled something out from his pack. It was a plain blueish colored book. A book that looked exactly like a Skill Tree Tome. Her eyes slowly widened as the dots started to connect. Without meaning to, Val asked, “That isn’t…”

Kenny nodded. “It is. This is a Skill Tree Tome of Stacking Magic. I got it as a reward when I took on the Grey Haired Colony Nest back in the second half of the first area.” Kenny looked at the book then at Val. “I have no use for it, so…” He then handed the book over to her.

Val, surprised by this, looked at the book and then at him. “What are you doing?”

Kenny looked confused. “I’m giving it to you. Like I said I have no use…”

“No, I mean…why are you giving it to me?” Val asked again. She was mentally kicking herself for even asking the stupid question. She could use this book. This book could help her out in so many ways with her Debuff abilities that she wanted it so badly.

However, a side of her was screaming that him just giving it to her could set her back. As the saying went there was no such thing as a free lunch. They were strangers. He didn’t owe her anything and yet he was giving it to her? There had to be a catch.

Kenny stared at her for a long moment before realizing what was going on. He pulled the book back and said in a serious tone, “I know that this book can be useful and probably has a good price on it if I sold it. However, I also can understand how valuable this can be to someone like you. If there was a chance you could use it here in the Trial Grounds then that could help us out so much…”

“I can,” Val unconsciously stated forcefully.