Adam stared at Valeria for a long moment. This time, she had taken on her more human form—no wings, no glowing eyes. She sat on the edge of one of the shelves, leaning casually against a rack as if she were on a seaside terrace, not in a grocery store surrounded by corpses.
"I must admit, fate has been unusually kind to me," Adam said with dry sarcasm, reaching for the backpack he'd left by the entrance. He slung it over his shoulder and looked at her. "Seeing you again? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket."
Valeria raised an eyebrow and gave him a soft smile.
"If you've got me, what more could you possibly want to win?" she said with an innocent smile that clashed with the smug glint in her eyes. "You hit the jackpot, Adam."
Adam raised his eyebrows slightly, unable to suppress a short laugh.
"So what happened? Why'd you come back?" he asked, adjusting the backpack straps, his brow arching again.
Instead of answering, Valeria stretched with feline grace, then looked him straight in the eyes.
"I simply decided I'll be accompanying you. You should feel honored—beauty like mine doesn't often choose such brutal guides."
Adam let out a short laugh, shaking his head.
"Someone's switched on their narcissist mode," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you worried you'll float away from all that self-admiration? Because if you do, heads up—I don't have a rope to bring you back down."
Valeria's smile sharpened with a hint of mockery.
"Big words from a man who was drooling over me just this morning," she shot back.
Adam opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. He had no comeback. He had to admit—painful as it was to his pride—that she wasn't entirely wrong. There was something about her that made it hard to look away.
Valeria looked at him with satisfaction, as if she'd predicted his reaction perfectly. The corner of her mouth lifted higher, and a flicker of triumph danced in her eyes. She didn't need to say a word—the silence between them was enough to show who had won that round.
Adam caught the faint, victorious smile on her lips and felt a familiar sting of irritation. She had that look of someone who'd just won a duel only she knew the rules to. He said nothing. Instead, he stepped toward the floating box and reached for it. It opened with a soft click at his touch. A faint glow emerged from within, and then—it vanished, as if it had never been there. In its place remained a dagger—short, sleek, black as the void.
[Bloodshadow Dagger (Normal Grade): A light dagger forged from the essence of a zombie. Ideal for beginner melee users. When equipped: +1 STR | +1 AGI]
Adam squinted, reading the info quickly. He flipped it in his hand, testing its balance. The weapon was perfectly weighted. After a moment, he looked up from the dagger and back at Valeria.
"You watched the whole fight?" he asked.
She nodded slightly.
"From the first step to the final blow."
"And? What's your take?"
Valeria jumped down from the shelf and walked toward him. Her heels tapped lightly on the floor.
"You made several serious mistakes. For example, when the zombie charged, you dodged only at the very last second. If it had been even a little faster—we wouldn't be talking right now. You should've closed the distance earlier and used the shelves for cover.
Second mistake—the head strike. I get that you wanted to end the fight quickly, but you forgot not all enemies have bodies as fragile as humans. Monsters—especially higher-level ones—are incredibly durable. You went for the skull without first weakening it—that's like trying to stab through armor with a butter knife.
And third: you fought as if you assumed the zombie had no abilities. No tricks, no surprises. That's just naïve. If that thing had even a basic skill—a strength burst or an area smash—it could've taken you out in a blink.
Imagine if after that missed charge it had unleashed a burst of energy or a flurry of rapid strikes. You had no guard up. You'd have been dead before you blinked. Assuming your enemy is dumber than you? Fastest way to end up dead."
Adam sighed. Her words weren't cruel—they were accurate. She'd read him like a book, point by point. He thought back to the moment he'd nearly been flattened by the charging zombie, to the risk he took launching a frontal assault without knowing if it would work. He'd fought like a desperate man, not a strategist. And he knew it. He also knew that if he didn't start thinking two steps ahead, his luck would run out fast.
"So, not great."
She smiled faintly, then shrugged. "Yeah, it was rough. Painful to watch at times. But I've seen worse fights, trust me. You've got instinct, and you're actually trying to think in combat. That's more than most beginners."
She stepped up next to him and pointed at his hands.
"But without a skill, you won't get far. You should obtain one as soon as possible."
Adam shrugged.
"I already have one. I just... don't know how to use it."
Valeria looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"It's like someone left a mechanism inside me without instructions. Something pulses, but I don't know how to trigger it," Adam said, frowning.
Valeria froze—then burst out laughing. She couldn't help herself. Her laughter echoed off the empty store walls. She tilted her head back, her long dark hair falling down her back. Her chest rose rhythmically, and the curve of her body moved with each breath, drawing the eye despite itself. There was an almost otherworldly allure to her—her form arched slightly back, her hips shifting just so, and when she caught her breath, she looked at Adam with a gleam in her eye as if he'd just told the funniest joke she'd ever heard.
"What?" Adam frowned. "What's so funny?"
She calmed down slowly, wiping her eyes.
"Picture your brain as a massive palace with an infinite number of doors," she said with a smile. "In one of those rooms, above one door, is the name of your skill. All you have to do is walk in. The rest will follow."
"It's that simple?"
"Everyone who absorbs a skill gets its instruction directly into their mind. It's just that apparently..." —she paused, locking eyes with him— "...not everyone uses what they were given between their ears."
Adam snorted softly and shook his head, but her words stuck. He tuned out the rest of Valeria's teasing. He closed his eyes and pictured what she described—a vast palace, endless corridors, doors on either side, hundreds, thousands... until one drew his attention. It was different—heavier, shadowed slightly. Above it, clearly written: Void Manipulation.
When he reached for the handle in his mind, a wave of information surged through his consciousness. No pain, no confusion—just clarity. As if someone had poured the manual straight into his head.
Understanding swept over him like the warmth of fire on a cold night. In an instant, he knew—what the void was, what had been pulsing inside him during battle, and why he'd felt that strange tension when he'd tried to use it in the apartment.
Adam realized he could shape pure void—not something tangible, but an energy unseen until used. He could strike with it like a battering ram, knocking enemies back, or focus it into a razor-thin line that sliced through anything in its path. He also understood it could absorb impact, soften blows—like an invisible barrier.
With each second, the vision grew sharper, the instructions falling into place in his mind like a language he already knew. He no longer had to guess.
Adam opened his eyes, feeling that familiar tension in his chest—but this time, it wasn't vague. Now he knew its source. And he knew how to release it.
He looked at Valeria, a mix of surprise and curiosity in his eyes.
"That palace... what was it?"
Valeria gave him a faint smile, as if she'd been waiting for that question.
"It's a space governed by the Essence Record. We call it the mental nexus—the gate of knowledge. Everyone who absorbs a skill from a scroll gains access to that space and can find the door to understanding their power. But there's more—it looks different for everyone. Its form adapts to how a person envisions knowledge. For you, it was palace doors... for someone else, it might be a labyrinth, stairs, a light in the fog. The Essence Record gives you the key, but your mind decides what the lock looks like."