Lee thought that his plan to keep Neia alive was good, great even. He just didn’t expect the Troll to have magic. The basic earthen wall spell was the downfall of his rescue, all because of one simple thing he wasn't aware of. Lee should have at least tested this skill beforehand. The amount of ignorance he had when it came to his skills, magic, and even stats was coming to fruition because...

He needed to be able to see his target to be able to use Miraculous Return, and the earthen walls got in his way.

The glacial explosion was cataclysmic. A solid, towering spear of jagged dark blue glacial ice erupted from the battle location, reaching upwards of a hundred meters and as wide as thirty. Everything in the vicinity was flash-frozen and transformed into a winter wonderland of chilling death as chunks the size of cars were launched around, demolishing all in their path.

The flying chunks flew in all directions. Some went straight up into the sky, some parallel to the ground. When they landed, they created fractured craters in the now-frozen environment, causing the earth itself to turn into small chunks of shrapnel.

The plume of snow and mist caused by the spell created a field of winter nearly three hundred meters across, blocking the line of sight within.

Lee felt a pit forming in his stomach as he scanned around with the Aquavista, trying to find any trace of Neia.

As the snow and frosty air settled, he found her as he spotted a ragdoll figure falling toward the ground at terminal velocity. Apparently, he either missed her getting launched or mistook her for one of the ice chunks, as she was covered in icy blue glacial frost. He immediately activated Miraculous Return, hoping that she was somehow still alive.

In an un-miraculous and somewhat eerie affair, Neia was now lying on the ground next to Lee up upon the battlements. He did not point at her, say anything, or send forth any mana, and there was no indication that he did anything at all. He had just looked at her, and she was there, fully healed.

While bending down to feel for a pulse, Lee nearly had a heart attack as Neia’s arm grasped his when he was mere inched away. Neia’s glowing and fierce blue eyes locked onto him and then grew softer. She scanned her surroundings, still in her battle mindset.

Lee just looked at her and gave her some time to process her situation. He didn’t want to risk her swinging at him or anything of the sort. He would die before he could blink.

Slowly, she sat up and hurriedly patted around her body. She was beginning to hyperventilate as Lee softly spoke to her.

“You’re okay. You killed it. You’re safe now. I used my skill to save you. That’s why you’re here on the battlements.”

Neia slowed her breathing as Lee gave her some time to process everything. Lee didn’t know what his skill felt like or how it affected others. If it was anything like how his Healer’s Touch reset his bones and caused searing white-hot pain, then he couldn’t imagine how an instant complete restoration might feel. He hoped it was painless and soothing, but he was beginning to suspect it wasn’t.

He was about to lean over and give her a hand to help her up when he saw water fall from her face. He paused and backed up a bit more. Soon after, he heard her take a shuddering breath and let out a small cry. Lee waited in silence for her to process her ordeal, and he decided that he would wait for her to speak first.

She put her hands up to cover her face as she sobbed quietly. Some of the other elves upon the battlements noticed and were about to say something when Lee signaled to them to let her be.

After a minute, he was about to tell the others around to give her some privacy when he heard her utter a single word through her shuddering breaths.

“Seven.”

In response, he sat next to her on the ground and then calmly and quietly asked.

“You’re okay now. Seven what?”

She began getting her breath under control and calmed. She uncovered her face and stared into Lee’s, showing utter terror.

“I had seven HP left. I… almost died.”

In response, Lee simply nodded and continued to sit with her. They might have looked weird to the others, sitting on the battlement floor, but that was fine. This was more important.

“Well, your HP should be full now. I hate to ask so soon, but did my skill cause any pain?”

Neia was winding down in her traumatic episode as she shook her head.

“No. One second I was free-falling, waiting for the ground to end my pain. The next, I was completely fine. It was… sudden. I don’t know how else to describe it.”

She pushed off the battlements to get to her feet.

“Lee. That is one of the strongest skills I’ve ever witnessed. Most high-level individuals have one of such strengths, but It’s very rare that someone of your level does. Use caution when revealing it.”

It sounded like a good idea, so Lee took the advice. It was just one more thing to add to the secret collection.

Lee got up as well, then began traveling down the battlement stairs. Neia followed close behind.

“Let’s see if Nitis found Jud. That’s who was apparently a monster. I don’t think he was right, but you never know. Also, I have some pressing questions about stat points that I would like you to answer if you’re feeling up to it. I would understand if you don’t want to answer. I can always head to the consortium when this is all over…” Lee said.

Neia cut him off.

“It’s fine, Lee. You literally saved my life not five minutes ago. Ask away. I’m sure you leveled quite a bit and got some points to spend, and I would enjoy getting my mind on a different topic.”

Not wanting to miss this opportunity and realizing that the change of topic from near death was desired, Lee asked away.

“So, is there a balance of stat points I need to worry about? If, for example, I added forty points into intelligence, would my not having high wisdom have some side effect? Same question for strength and dexterity.”

Neia walked in front of Lee at this moment, leading the way. This was her city, after all, and she probably knew where every building was. Lee only knew a scant few.

“A good question. While there are not any side effects in and of itself, there would be drawbacks. If someone had ten constitution and a hundred strength, they might hurt themselves doing activities. I think the example is someone having to open a jar. They could easily open the jar with their strength, but they might snap their wrist on accident. One of the most common stat allocations for noncombat classes is full-on constitution. The only drawback to that is that while they’re safer from harm and can withstand ample amounts of damage, they lack any of the typical benefits of leveling up. No moving faster and no getting stronger. They may get skills that help them in some ways, but stats are the basis for most skills and spells.”

Lee nodded along, then said.

“That’s good to know. Also, I noticed that increasing my intelligence doesn’t increase the amount I heal. Would you happen to know anything about that? And while we're on the topic, what does intelligence actually do? I haven’t noticed much of a difference, if any.”

Neia showed a smile for the first time since they reunited. Lee was sure he wouldn’t be smiling for a week after that battle.

“Intelligence is actually my highest stat. Let me ask you a question here. That spell I cast at the end was called Glacial Annihilation. Do you think you could replicate that spell? I will say, for fairness, that I used more mana than you currently have in that one spell with skill, but cut that down to about a third of its strength. Do you think you could create that spell?”

Lee didn’t even need to think for a single second.

“Absolutely not. I have no clue how you actually created that in the first place. All my skills need knowledge. Are you telling me you know the how and why of how a giant glacial pillar erupts and sends forth chunks of ice the size of wagons?”

Neia actually chuckled upon hearing that.

“Lee. I think you may be mistaken somewhat. When you create a spell you usually have a goal in mind. Take your water wall for example. Are you telling me you know how to cause water to erect itself with nothing holding it in place? No, you need to have a vision in mind, and a way to accomplish that vision with knowhow. You know water, and you know what you wanted it to do. Your mana shaped the spell into form and function using your knowledge. That’s probably why yours moves like a wave. In your mind, you thought it needed to be moving to keep its shape. To answer your original question, the higher your intelligence, the more powerful your spells. I will tell you with confidence that you couldn’t create my spell. You don’t have the spell power to do so. If you increase your intelligence, you may be able to create more powerful spells as a base. Your little stone-throwing spell is a good example. If you tried to create that spell with fifty intelligence, it would be like throwing a smaller boulder. Not a rock.”

Lee frowned and responded.

“So, will my Earthen Strike grow more powerful? Or will I need to create a new spell for better effect? Will I need to create more powerful healing spells?”

Neia turned a corner of the empty streets, seemingly knowing where she was going.

“It will still grow in power, just not as much as a newer spell would. That’s one of the reasons being a spellcaster is a pain. For your healing spells? I would have assumed they would be growing in strength as well, but as I don’t have any, I don’t know for sure. Could you create a stronger one?”

Lee thought about that for a second, pondering on how he could improve upon Mend Wounds.

“I probably could, but I am not confident. Would adding more mana to the spell’s creation help? That sounds straightforward.”

Neia raised an eyebrow.

“That may help. There are also some skills you could try and learn to help with your spells. I would recommend learning as many skills related to spellcasting as you can. If you wanted my input on stats, then I would suggest going with constitution, wisdom, and intelligence as the main priorities. I wouldn’t worry about strength or luck. Dexterity you could add in sparsely, as moving faster is always beneficial when it comes to survival.”

While taking that information in, he had a sudden thought. A slight grin strode onto his face.

“Hmm. Hypothetically, if I dumped say, forty-five, stat points into intelligence… Would I be able to create a spell that could let me fly? I think I know how I would go about it…”

Neia snorted.

“With just air magic? I would say no. If you found an advanced, or even expert tiered element that related to the wind or gravity then probably.”

Carrying on into his thoughts, still with a grin, he asked.

“What about dropping a chunk of earth from the sky? Like a meteor? Or a black hole with Void?”

Neia slowed and turned her head to look at Lee’s grin. Shaking her head, she continued on.

“I forget how young you are. I don’t know about a meteor, as that would be from space I think. You could probably conjure a large stone above someone's head though. I don’t know what a black hole is so I’m going to say maybe?”

Lee’s grin turned into a scowl.

“Someday, I’m going to drop a meteor from the sky. Just you wait.”