Natalie khey would o finish having this versation, but while not literally melting in pce like Liz, she was also fairly flustered. She happily accepted the defle Liz had given to her. Especially since her other two skills weren't as lewd—though every bit as exg.

  Um. Exg? Natalie wased that [Divine Invigoration] might have given her an excuse to get her coside Liz's throat. Or eveer pces. If anything, all of that would only be happening out of a strict sense of professionalism.

  "The sed skill," Natalie said, shifting in p perhaps a not-so-subtle manner, a troublesome stirriween her legs appearing. "Is called [Aura of Blessed Adva]."

  And this one was rather crazy.

  "It's an aura," Natalie said. "Not maxed out, so I progress it, too." [Divine Invigoration], like [Hunker Down], was a skill that came as-is—no further upgrades allowed. Probably because a 'massive week-long siarget buff' was already ridiculous. "And I think I might have gotten it because of something that's been w us."

  Csses in general morphed to their user. Skills didn't always ma in ways the css-bearer wanted—she wouldn't have gotten magic as a crucial poo her kit if so—but if, for example, someone received a warrior css and only wielded axes, then it was entirely possible an axe-specific skill might e along.

  "Enough prefag," Sofia said. "Go on, what is it?"

  Natalie read the ability out:

  "[Aura of Blessed Adva]," she said. "Select up to four party members to receive amplified experience gain."

  The team digested that.

  "Oh, wow," Liz said.

  "art be progressed?" Sofia asked. "You said it's upgradeable?"

  "Only the amount of party members," Natalie said. She could feel the 'stress' on that particur part of the description. "Not how much experience is boosted by."

  "And how much is the boost?"

  "Just says amplified. It's vague."

  "Huh," Sofia said.

  Again, the went briefly quiet as they sidered.

  "It's pletely busted," Jordan said. "A team-wide experience boost? Are you kidding me?"

  "I thought a week-long massive stat bonus was already a ridiculous ability," Liz said, shaking her head. "How e your buffs are better than mine? I'm the healer!"

  "She is a Padin," Jordan said. "Not surprising she's getting more team-oriented skills. Her level two seemed to be her 'self-bat' upgrade. Now level three is more focused on the supportive part of her css."

  " it be [Empowered]?" Ana asked.

  "Oh," Natalie said. "That's a great question. It should. [Empower] says it works with both actives and auras, just not passives. But how would that work? Emp wastes al energy. So would I have to stantly be draining it?"

  "Siphoning your own progression, effectively, to boost ours?" Jordan said.

  "I'd do it," Natalie said instantly. "I'm just w if it's sustainable."

  "You should think about that a little more carefully," Liz said. "Those are your points. You 't upgrading your other skills just to help us."

  "She's right," Sofia said. "We're all responsible for our own progression."

  The responses only further firmed Natalie's decision.

  "Nah," Natalie said. "Like I said, I'll do it. We just o see how it works."

  "Natalie—" Sofia started.

  "They're my points, right?" Natalie interjected before she could.

  "Yes, but—"

  "So I'll do what I want with them. And what I want is to help you four."

  Sofia opened her mouth, but then blushed and closed it. She looked away. "Always so stubborn," she grumbled.

  "Malice might be enough to keep us equal in level," Ana said. "So don't burn through the resource too fast. You'll want to upgrade [Empower] as well, if that's your pn, right? What's it at?"

  "Progression two. So, a two-times multiplier."

  And Ana was right. If she were to start making heavier use of [Empower], then upgrading it beforehand would make sense. Upgrading [Aura of Blessed Adva] itself didn't, since she had four party members—which was the max the skill allowed. She didn't think Malice would t as a valid target, or if it even worked, whether it would transfer her bonus experieo the summoner in the first pce.

  "And speaking of [Empower]," Ana said. "You could also empower [Divine Invigoration], couldn't you? Turning a massive boost into … a doubled massive boost? That sts for aire week?"

  The went quiet.

  Jordan whistled. "Architect. What's that gonna do?"

  "Definitely worth trying out," Sofia said, sounding fasated.

  Natalie, unfortunately, was frowning. "Empower is really good, but it burns through points pretty fast. We 't just throw it ohing."

  "But a doubled massive week-long boost?"

  It was definitely a good target. But so was [Illusion], [Aura of Blessed Adva], and even [Juggernaut], should she he surge in strength. al Energy was a valuable resource that she had to dole out only when necessary.

  Or … for the most part. Sometimes she would get carried away. Like when she'd really wao fuck Camille's illusion. But she couldn't be bmed for that. Her other brain had been thinking for her.

  "It'd be pretty good," Natalie said. "Dunno. I'll think about it."

  "It's your decision," Ana agreed. "Is it just those two skills? Or do you have more?"

  "One more, yes," Natalie said. "Seems pretty good too. Only for me, though. Not a team skill. It's called [Smite]. A heavy-hitting spell that be eled up to six seds, dealing amplified damage the longer I cast it."

  "Oh," Jordan said, impressed. "Se in your kit. That's nice."

  "It's eled, though," Sofia said, frowning. "That's horrible for a front line. Natalie always o be in motion, holding enemy attention."

  "Yes and no," Ana said. "She's also a heavy disabler, especially with her new hammer. sider the situation where she nds two back-to-back strikes and triggers her on's stun effect. Or uses [Illusion] to distract her oppo. She step bad cast [Smite], possibly to its full duration."

  "A bo that would destroy most monsters, I bet," Jordan said, raising her eyebrows in appreciation. "Yeah. I see how that would be strong."

  "Plus it's never a bad thing to have options," Liz said. "Maybe it'll be a niche ability, not something she use every enter, but having a le damage-dealing spell is definitely a plus. Even on our tank."

  That was true. But then again, earning skills during a level-up was teically a trade-off. Unlog [Smite] meant she hadn't unlocked something else. Likewise, having [Aura of Blessed Adva], something that purely beed her teammates and not herself at all, meant she hadn't gotten another skill that improved her own personal strength.

  So her level three, while phenomenal, hadn't actually been an enormous boost to herself. Definitely a big step up, as all levels were, but level two had e with [Juggernaut], [Hunker Down], [Bigger is Better], and [Stylish]—all four abilities that boosted her bat abilities in direct or i ways. As Jordan had put it, level two had greatly increased her personal strength, and level three had greatly improved her team's prospects.

  heless, level three had e with unbelievable abilities. And almost more importantly thahing, Natalie wasn't as stressed about the iability of outpag her teammates. That'd been a niggling fear of hers that she'd been trying to chase away. Even the [Capture Core] had only been a half solution, with Malice feeding her experieo whoever summoned her.

  A part of Natalie that she hadn't known had been persistently tense finally rexed. She'd alo stick it out with her team for the long run, but this made it much more feasible. Maybe it wouldn't be too long before their own level threes arrived.