In RPGs, there's a concept called "Power Leveling" — where a low-level character gains experience exponentially by fighting enemies far above their weight class. Common cheese strategy. Fun if you know what you're doing.

  This world has a level system too, but it doesn't work like a typical game.

  Here, defeating a dragon doesn't suddenly hand you a stat boost. Talent and effort are everything. According to Adele, killing monsters can raise your stats — but only up to a point. There's a ceiling, and we call that ceiling a "breakthrough."

  No matter how many monsters you kill, you stop growing once you hit that cap. The only way past it is through training or items. Breakthrough items are extremely rare, and discussing how they work in full would take forever — so short version: mages and fighters reach breakthroughs differently.

  The Philosopher's Stone I consumed a few weeks ago is technically a breakthrough item. Bad example, though, since it's practically impossible to make — except for me, obviously — and even I don't fully understand its upper limits yet.

  [Note: Your breakthrough in both magic and physical abilities is already maxed.]

  I hate those notifications.

  Anyway. Breakthroughs come in different levels, and the higher the level, the harder the cap is to shatter. Items like the Philosopher's Stone are rare because they require a skilled alchemist to craft, and the only one in the entire empire who qualifies is [Rhinedottir] — which, by the way, is one of my pseudonyms.

  For everyone else, the only real option is training. Physical exertion, mental fortitude, refining whatever specialization you've built your life around. A swordsman breaks through a combination of physical discipline and something closer to philosophy. Same principle applies to other paths.

  And then there are tiers.

  This world's equivalent of levels runs from 1st to 9th. But you can't climb tiers through effort alone — that's where talent comes in. Talent determines your ceiling. When Josephine was baptized as a child, the results came back at 3rd-tier mage and 2nd-tier swordsman.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  That was why the Konrow Duchy dismissed her entirely. She was never meant for greatness, and she became a disappointment by default. Meanwhile, Adele's baptism revealed a 9th-tier mage — making her valuable even as an illegitimate child.

  In Adele's previous life, she was never baptized, so her talent went unrecognized. In this timeline, she schemed her way into early adoption by the Duke, ensuring her potential would be revealed. That was her first move. And from there it spiraled — into the revenge, into the narrative, into the current situation where Josephine became the villain of the story and was shunned accordingly.

  Josephine knew, the whole time, that no matter how hard she trained in magic or swordsmanship, she'd hit the wall. She always knew. So she pivoted to craftsmanship and alchemy instead — neither bound by combat talent — and spent years becoming the best on the entire continent.

  Her family ignored that too.

  Even after she produced a Philosopher's Stone — an item that, for reasons nobody fully understood, obliterated the limits of her revealed potential — they kept looking down at her.

  The stone elevated her to 11th tier across every specialization.

  But does that actually mean she can use any of it?

  I know how to use a sword, I thought. But magic? I barely understand the theory, let alone the formulas.

  That problem could wait. Right now, I had other priorities.

  Specifically: power leveling these two.

  Jane and Peter needed real battle experience, and the Darkness Incarnate was as good a training ground as any. Neither of them was taking actual damage — my skill handled that — but they were getting thrown around, knocked back, and genuinely pushed to their limits.

  Which was the point.

  The fight kept going. The Darkness Incarnate was relentless, and they weren't gaining ground fast enough. Peter was struggling to keep up. Jane got flung across the plaza.

  "My Lady! I can't keep—" Jane started.

  She got tossed again before she could finish the sentence.

  "Cruel," Trynda muttered beside me.

  "Shut up," I said.

  This was a test. Not just of their skills — of their loyalty. If they broke now, if they gave up and looked to me to fix it, I'd know what I was actually working with. But...

  They didn't break.

  Slowly — painfully slowly — they started to adjust. Moving in sync without coordinating it out loud. Finding the rhythm of the Incarnate's attacks. The situation was grim but they were holding.

  Then a second Darkness Incarnate appeared from the shadows and kicked Jane clean across the plaza.

  "...Another one showed up," I muttered.

  I watched the odds shift.

  Now what are you going to do?