127 – Stolen Bounty

Vivi couldn’t help but think that Saffra seemed less concerned by the announcement than she should be.

“That does explain the weird feeling I got,” the girl said, pressing her hand against her chest like she had earlier. “It took my experience? That was why there was so much more when I did it, right? You’re high enough level that nothing gives you more than a trickle, but I’m leveling several times an hour.”

“Those are my assumptions, yes,” Vivi agreed slowly. She wasn’t sure what to make of how unruffled Saffra seemed by the introduction of an experience-stealing item—considering the surrounding implications. There was a high chance the item had been designed to aid Vivi, not to share in the other direction.

Indeed, the catgirl continued without faltering, and in fact only seemed to perk up further as she talked. “Do you think it drained all of the experience, or just some? I couldn’t tell. I’ll pay closer attention next time.”

“You don’t sound bothered,” Vivi pointed out.

“Bothered?” Saffra blinked in surprise. “Why would I be bothered? I finally get to be useful.”

Vivi wasn’t sure the girl could’ve said something more upsetting. Only Vivi’s natural stoicism saved her from outright frowning—something she didn’t want to do, because meeting Saffra’s enthusiasm with disapproval might not be appropriate.

But, ‘I finally get to be useful’? she thought. The statement made her bristle.

Rafael came to the rescue, as he usually did. And in such a smooth manner that if Vivi hadn’t known better, she might’ve doubted whether he was salvaging her lack of social grace or just continuing the discussion. “It’s a relevant question,” the man said. “Always best to fully understand a given scenario before making judgments. Shall we, Lady Vivisari?”

She appreciated the excuse. Continuing the experiment would give her time to organize her thoughts. “Yes, of course.” She raised her staff. “[Detect Presence].”

One spatial warping later, Vivi had positioned their party of three over another level-appropriate monster. She handed the chalice to Saffra. The girl’s hesitation cleared away, and she took the artifact and focused on painting out [Scorchlance]. The spell gathered, released, and detonated, and once more, streams of wispy red essence flew from the monster’s corpse to infuse the bone cup.

As far as Vivi’s own perception went, she had no way to test Saffra’s theory. The Chalice might be claiming some of the experience, or all of it. She couldn’t detect the flow of that enigmatic resource—it certainly didn’t fly out upon a monster dying. Honestly, she had no clue how to go about studying that phenomenon, or nearly anything related to the System’s inner mechanisms. Tearing open a portal between worlds seemed like an easier task.

All that to say, only the girl’s personal intuition could provide evidence. Saffra shivered at the Chalice’s thievery, visibly disturbed by the sensation, which made Vivi wonder why she herself hadn’t felt anything. Perhaps because of how little experience it had stolen? Too high level, thus a diminished and imperceptible effect.

“I don’t think it’s taking everything?” Saffra proposed, clearly uncertain. “But I’m not sure how I can tell that. It’s just a guess.”

“You can usually trust your intuition when it comes to items,” Vivi said. Connecting to the Codex had been no different. There had hardly been a set of formal instructions, or a spellcircle to facilitate the link. “We’ll know for certain after a hunting trip. If you level up while keeping the Chalice on you, then that means it’s only taking some. We’ll also be able to guess how much, since we have an idea of how fast you should be leveling.” They could use their earlier expeditions as a benchmark.

Saffra bobbed her head eagerly. “Should we do that now?” She looked into the cup. “Since there’s not that much inside yet. Does it have to be full for it to work?”

“A mouthful is probably a good starting point.” Even with how many millions of times more liquid Saffra’s kills had yielded than Vivi’s own, it would take many dozen [Scorchlances] for the cup to fill enough for a single gulp. The entire Chalice would take weeks. “Though I’m tempted to see if even this much would do anything,” she admitted, eying the inside of the cup. “I’m assuming it won’t.”

“Only two monsters’ worth of effort would be lost for the experiment,” Rafael suggested. “Perhaps worthwhile, just to see what it does?”

Vivi couldn’t disagree with that logic. Sensing that, Saffra held out the cup, and Vivi took it.

Looking at the thin layer of red inside the bone receptacle, she mulled over what the item’s effect might be. She had a prevailing theory, but the truth was, it could technically be anything. Even following the belief that the item had been designed with her in mind—as a way for the System to aid against the Void—there were a thousand possibilities. For all she knew, it could be as simple as a potion, a temporary magical power boost to match the Codex’s stamina increase. She doubted it, but it was possible.

Without deliberating longer, she tipped the cup back. The taste that hit her tongue was thick and metallic, offensively similar to blood. She grimaced and forced herself to swallow, then closed her eyes and opened her senses.

While the sensation that passed through her was faint, she could inexplicably describe the experience in a single sentence. The opposite of a statement Saffra had given earlier.

“It feels like I… took something,” Vivi said.

Saffra’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t seem overly surprised by the comparison Vivi had drawn. “Like, experience?”

“I think so.”

Saffra’s excitement returned in full force. “How much? Isn’t that—completely ridiculous? How can an item possibly do that?”

“The Codex broke rules I didn’t know could be broken too. But yes. If we’re not jumping to conclusions, and even if we need to fill the entire cup for a single level, that’s still…” She quested around for the right word and ended on the obvious one. “Absurd. It’s almost impossible for me to level at this point, and if even a few droplets made me feel something, then I can’t imagine what a full Chalice does.”

They all stood there and digested the sheer ridiculousness of the item.

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“I’m interested in whether it could be used in reverse,” Rafael mused, breaking the brief silence. “If you slew a monster still within range of yourself, for example. One of those Greater Voidbeasts. Would the cup fill in an instant? Overflow? Could you distribute that kill and share a lake’s worth of experience to whoever you please? Are lower levels and higher levels treated the same? If so, in what manner does the artifact not work in an absolute sense, but merely a relative one? Can experience be quantified in such ways to begin with?”

He shrugged.

“Some of these are answerable with experimentation, some are not,” he said. “If I were a betting man, I would wager the item was designed with a particular synergy in mind.” He nodded at Saffra, then at Vivi. “Between master and apprentice. I doubt the blessings would extend in both directions. Allow you, my lady, to share your experience effectively too. The effect boggles the mind as it is, almost regardless of how potent it turns out to be.”

Vivi’s frown returned, though she stayed focused on the practical aspects, rather than her discomfort with stealing Saffra’s levels… and, in reverse, how pleased the girl at her side seemed. “All good questions. We’ll have to test to find out. Though, Saffra can only train so many hours per day. Would giving the Chalice to other people be a good idea? A rotating schedule, so it’s always in use?”

She cringed to be prioritizing herself in such a manner, but it went without saying that—since she was the only person in the world who could hold back the void threat—she would be irresponsible to not progress now that a clear avenue had been provided.