Edge stepped into his core with a smile on his face—excited by the prospect of combining two great skills to make something even better and free up a slot in the process.

  He walked across the workshop filling his central chamber and took a seat in his father’s armchair, contemplating his plan while gazing at the pair of floating eyeballs playing in his village. He had a hunch the ocular powers were a perfect match for a merger since the avatars enjoyed each other’s company.

  Penetrate Foliage let him peer through organic matter to see what was lurking behind, with a bit of thermal vision thrown into the mix. Darkvision sent out tiny particles of mana that went bouncing around before returning to his position, letting him perceive his environment through a process he thought of as magical echolocation.

  His gut was telling him that if these properties were combined, the whole would be more than the sum of its parts. That being said, Edge was still a novice in the art of combining skills. He wasn’t willing to risk fucking up two amazing powers based on his intuition alone. But that wasn’t a problem when expert advice was only a knock away.

  Before he spent his Skill-Merger Token, he rose to his feet, then walked over and rapped his knuckles against the black door. “Sorry to bother you, big guy. I was wondering if I could get your advice on another merger before I pulled the trigger.”

  He explained his idea then waited patiently, hoping that Skill-Eater’s slumber was shallow enough for the master of skills to hear his request. Just when Edge was certain his core wasn’t going to reply, the door cracked open for the briefest of moments, letting a lick of storm-charged sea breeze pass through.

  The ravenous lord didn’t voice its opinion, but he caught a faint impression of approval before the portal slammed shut with a resounding clang. That’s good enough for me. “Thanks, partner.” He flashed a thumbs up. “I couldn’t do this without you.” Now that he was certain the joining would be fortuitous, all that was left was to get on with the show.

  Edge walked over to his skill village while watching his avatars play. It still blew him away how much was going on inside his core. The area that had once been his skill garden had expanded after evolving to stage-two, and that was the least of the changes. Now, each skill had its own territory—filled with a dreamlike blend of dwellings, training equipment, and recreational activities.

  He was happy to learn the visual powers had chosen to live side by side. He took it as a promising sign they would be willing to grow even closer.

  Before he used the token, he took a good look at both skills. If this worked out the way he hoped, it was the last time he would see them in their present forms. Penetrate Foliage was a floating eyeball with a piercing stare. Its iris was the color of spring growth and banded by a red ring, which it had obtained after gaining its thermal vision upgrade. Darkvision took the form of a big blind eye, with an iris so light he could barely see it.

  Edge came to a stop beside them, held up the token, and addressed the skill avatars. “Hey there, friends. I hope you’re doing well and enjoy living in my village.” As he spoke, both eyes turned to face him, and he had the impression they were following along with his words.

  “I wanted to get your blessing before I combined you using a Skill-Merger Token. I could really use the extra slot right now, and I have a hunch you will turn into something even more awesome than you already are. Do you think that would be all right with you?”

  He gave them some space while they considered his proposal, passing the time by reviewing what he’d learned about using these tokens. So far, whenever he combined a skill that was rank one with a power that was rank two, the merged skill had come out rank one but retained the upgrade from the component’s rank-two advancement.

  If that rule held true, it meant there were ideal windows for merging the best possible powers. Using his tokens strategically would let him create skills that were stronger than would otherwise be possible, and Edge had a hunch it would work out the same way if he ever merged a rank three with a rank four. On top of that, if his theory was correct, when skills were highly compatible, the merger would increase their rarity, granting an additional bonus to the new power’s potency.

  Eventually, both eyeballs floated over to where he was standing. They bobbed to indicate their approval, which meant the board was green to proceed with his plan. As his adrenaline began to flow, Edge reached into his belt pouch, pulled out the token, then voiced his intentions to the planetary AI. “I would like to use my merger token to combine Darkvision and Penetrate Foliage.”

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  When those words passed his lips, the token rose from his hand and started to spin. It floated between the avatars, shining with a silvery light. Soon, the glow expanded to encompass both skills, obscuring them within the radiant nimbus. The buzzing, crackling display continued for a few minutes before fading away. He realized his avatars had come to watch the show, sitting on his shoulders and crowded around his knees.

  After a final pulse, the magic faded away, leaving a pair of eyeballs hovering in front of him. For a second, Edge was worried the merger had failed—that he’d misunderstood some critical detail and wasted the token. But when he focused on his bond, he could sense that instead of existing as two independent entities, the eyeballs were now a single avatar, bobbing in tandem like they were lodged inside an invisible skull.

  He was surprised to discover that each eye looked the same as before, which made him wonder if he could still use their original powers in addition to something new. His other avatars let out a cheer, welcoming a new friend to their village. Or maybe they were congratulating their old friends on an exciting new phase of their lives—he couldn’t really tell.

  Edge already knew the merger had gone well, but he still let out a sigh of relief when his Guide appeared to let him know what he’d obtained.

  Congratulations.

  The skills: Penetrate Foliage

  (Uncommon, Rank 2) and Darkvision

  (Uncommon, Rank 1) have successfully merged into a new skill.

  The thermal vision bonus from Penetrate Foliage has been preserved.

  Your new skill is: All-Seeing Gaze

  (Rare, Rank 1).

  You may peer through plants or use particles of mana to create a representation of your environment. The first configuration of this power includes a weak thermal vision component. Additional information may be revealed while using both modes at once, although doing so may induce sensory overload.

  He was so excited he started to dance, and his avatars enthusiastically joined him. Not only had the merger gone well, his new skill wound up being Rare after all, which meant the ceiling on its power would be quite high.

  Since All-Seeing Gaze is multimodal, it can mimic both original skills and offers a new mode that combines the properties of both. I can’t wait to see what options I get when I advance it to rank two.

  The only downside was the Rare skill drained more mana no matter which mode he used, but Edge had so much Generation by this point that it wasn’t a serious drawback. I can’t choose to specialize those aspects individually anymore, but it’s a small price to pay for three skills in one with a rarity upgrade to boot.

  As always, the description was accompanied by a brief vision, imparting more details of how the skill worked. He had the impression the combined mode was extremely powerful, and the cost would be considerable. However, the image was confusing, which meant he would have to try it to learn more. Given the warning the System had included, it came with a steep learning curve. I wonder if more Perception would make things easier, since it helps my brain deal with extraneous information.

  While he contemplated his newest skill, he turned to face the avatar hovering beside him. “All-Seeing Gaze is a bit of a mouthful. I think I’ll call you Gaze.” The eyeballs seemed happy with the nickname and circled around his head before returning to the village to oversee the renovation of their old homes into something new.

  After spending some time talking to each avatar, Edge bid his powers farewell and popped back into his body—eager to try Gaze for the first time.

  First, he tried out both of the original components. He began with Penetrate Foliage and then switched to Darkvision. He was pleased to discover they worked just as well as before. If anything, they seemed a little more sensitive—probably due to the skill’s increased rarity. Now to try out the new visual mode provided by All-Seeing Gaze.

  When Edge willed both modes to activate at once, a surge of mana flowed out from his reactor—far more than using either of them individually.

  When the magic gathered around his eyes, he screamed and shut the skill off. It felt like a pair of icepicks had slammed into his temples. He’d had a brief flash of viewing the area around him—all at the same time and from every angle at once. Unlike the other modes, it wasn’t limited by his field of view. But it was so much data it was painful to experience. That felt kind of like an information flashbang.

  He rubbed his forehead, then tried it again, willing Gaze to activate for just a fraction of a second before shutting it down. It still hurt like hell, but now that Edge knew it was coming, the sensory overload wasn’t quite as unbearable. It was far too much data to wrap his head around, but at least he had a sense for what the skill could do once he learned how to use it.

  As he’d hoped, All-Seeing Gaze’s combined mode would let him see around and through the objects in his environment, along with the relative temperature of everything within its range. It would be a while before it was better than using Penetrate Foliage or Darkvision separately, but he had a hunch that Gaze’s new aspect would eventually become a powerful counter to stealth—both concealment skills and old-fashioned technique.

  He realized that his shout had woken up Lilly. He apologized, but since it was time for her watch, he didn’t feel too bad. Edge handed her the magelight, then tucked himself into his bedroll—sandwiched in between Sasha and Mel. He was fast asleep a few minutes later.