As we stalked along the beach, I wondered for the tenth time why we were leaving the island. Keke led the group with averted eyes, unnecessarily clearing any seaweed and driftwood from our path. Cannoli followed beside her, ears tugged down like the corners of her mouth. Ravyn marched beside me with a spring in her step as if nothing in the world could faze her mood. Ball Gag flew just above us and I prayed he didn’t take a giant dump on my head.

The silence was killing me.

“So, [Energy] gets used up no matter what I do?” Ravyn had already said it, but I needed something to fill the tension between the girls.

“Mou ii, you really don’t listen to anything I say, do you?” Ravyn sighed.

“Matt doesn’t listen! Squawk! Stupid Matt!”

She really is speaking Japanese. I wasn’t hearing things the first time. That’s interesting. “I do, honest. I just want to make sure I have a good grip on it.”

“Everything you do during the day costs [Energy]. Walking, Swimming, Fighting, Fishing, Cooking. Some activities cost more [Energy] than others,” Keke called over her shoulder.

Ravyn cleared her throat. “Yes, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted.”

Cannoli made a strained squealing sound.

“The more [Energy] you have, the more activities you can do throughout the day. And the more activities you do, the more likely your [Energy] is to increase. Of course, that’s in addition to Quests and the like,” Ravyn explained.

“What you’re saying, then, is right now I’m expending [Energy] so we can go to another island and buy herbs to replenish it?” Would a nap really be too much to ask?

Ravyn’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t think of the future much, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re impulsive as hell.”

“Ravyn,” Cannoli squeaked.

Not holding any punches, I see. “Says the girl who invited herself into our party.”

“Here’s the difference between you and me. My snap decisions won’t cost us time, resources, or our lives. Yours will.”

I felt the first pricks of wounded pride sliding down my spine. I set my jaw and inhaled. “And how’s that?”

Ravyn ticked off her responses on her fingers. “Buying that stupid hat instead of saving for better gear. Offering to bed me while your girlfriend was in trouble. Throwing your axe at the Defiled’s leg when it could have killed Keke. Spending your every last Bell on booze—”

“Wait, you did what?” Keke paused and spun on her heel, eyes shooting daggers into my soul.

Cannoli danced to Keke’s side and placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

“N-no, it wasn’t like that!” I waved my hand in the air and desperately shook my head. Fuck, seriously? “You know how Ravyn is! Such a joker! Ha-ha!”

Ravyn rolled her eyes. “You’re missing the point, young Matt.”

“She probably really is just joking,” Cannoli whispered to Keke, loud enough for me to hear.

“Hmph.” Keke crossed her arms.

I cringed and rubbed my hand through my hair. “Anyway, they all seemed like good ideas at the time.”

“Thank you for defining the word ‘impulsive’ for the group.”

“D-did you really? Offer to— to…?” Cannoli couldn’t seem to finish the thought. The picture of innocence, this one.

“Of course not. I went to Ravyn to find you two. Besides, she had some other girl at her place anyway,” I explained quickly.

Ravyn stepped close to me and walked her fingers up my chest. Her voice lowered to a sensuous purr, and her eyelids drooped. “What, you’ve never had a threesome?”

My nerves stood on end at the idea. My head fogged with images of Ravyn in her lingerie and Phaedra wrapped in the bedsheet. A sharp pain in my arm overrode the fleeting thoughts.

“Ow! What the hell?” A round stone fell to the sand, and I looked at Keke.

Ravyn cackled. “You’re too damn easy. Goddess above, what doesn’t make you blush?”

“How is Phaedra, anyway?” Keke asked, wiping her hands on her dress as if she hadn’t just chucked a rock in my direction.

“Oh. We broke up,” Ravyn replied nonchalantly as if talking about dinner plans instead of her ex-girlfriend.

“That’s so sad!” Cannoli whined.

Alexa, play Despacito...

“Sure. Come on. We’re losing daylight,” Keke said, turning away from me to continue the lead.

I took a deep breath and two steps to add some distance between Ravyn and me. As uncomfortable as it was to admit, she was probably right. I quickly evaluated our first few fights together as a party, and I’d often seemed to rely more on instinct than on the other girls to perform. “Alright, I’ll try to do better,” I said.

“What? At not blushing?” Ravyn asked.

“No. To not be so impulsive,” I mumbled.

“Good. Now back to your question about the spices. We should stock up for all of us, not just you. We may have higher energy, but if we want to tackle what’s to come in Nyarlothep, we’re going to need better stores.” Ravyn held out an arm, and Ball perched gracefully on her forearm. She reached into her [Cat Pack] and fed him a cookie. “Isn’t that right, Bally? Oh, you’re such a good boy.”

“Wait. You guys said to get to Nyarlothep, we need to be at least level 10,” I said.

“That’s right,” Cannoli replied.

“So, how are we getting to San Island? Will we not get attacked by the Defiled?”

Ravyn shook her head. “The roaches that live between the islands can be easily defeated at level 5. We’ll be fine.”

“But I’m level 3. And they just hit 4,” I countered.

“And that’s why you have me!” Ravyn beamed. “There’s nothing between here and San that I can’t kill.”

“We should be able to help, too,” Keke added without turning around. It was impossible to read her mood, but her whole body seemed tense.

“Yeah! We got new Skills and everything!” Cannoli cheered. We could always count on her to maintain high spirits. “Right, Keke?”

Some of the tension drained from Keke’s shoulders. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Ah, yes. The Great Cannoli and her blinking light show,” Ravyn snickered.

Cannoli spun on her heel, cheeks puffed and fists balled. Her tail was rigid, and her ears laid low on her head.

“H-Hey! I still need to plug in my stats. So, let’s do that now, shall we?” I stammered. “Remember how I didn’t do that the first time, Cannoli? Ridiculous, right?”

Cannoli’s face relaxed, and her hands unfurled. Her tail resumed its usual sway, and a smile returned to her lips. “Oh, yeah! Silly Matt!” she giggled. “What will you put them into this time?”

Quick to anger but quicker to cheer. I exhaled a sigh of relief and summoned my iPaw. “Let’s see.” I hovered over my Stats and weighed my options.

More Health or more Strength? The last couple of fights had shown that I wasn’t getting KO’d every damn fight, so maybe my Health Points were finally in a good place. Hitting harder could only help us all, really.

“I think [Strength],” I said.

Cannoli nodded. “That’s a good idea. You should keep the roaches on you after all.”

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and looked back to the iPaw.

INCREASE STRENGTH TO 3?

[YES] [NO]

I chose [YES] and once again felt the immediate effects of my level. Everything felt a little lighter and a second wind coursed through my veins. Man, a guy could get addicted to this.

Matt

Level 3

Combat Stats:

Warrior Class Level 3

Health Points: 22/22

Myana Points: 4/4

Energy: 14/14

Strength: 3

Magic: 1

Vitality: 3

Dexterity: 1

Agility: 1

Resistance: 1

Life Stats:

Kindness: 1

Charisma: 3

Knowledge: 3

Valor: 3

I realized it had been a while since I’d looked at Keke and Cannoli’s stats, too. Knowing where they were distributing their points was just as important. I checked Cannoli’s first.

Cannoli

Level 4

Combat Stats:

Acolyte Class: Lv. 4

Health Points: 10/10

Myana Points: 19/19

Energy: 30/30

Strength: 1

Magic: 4

Vitality: 2

Dexterity: 1

Agility: 1

Resistance: 2

Life Stats:

UNKNOWN

I felt relieved. I’d made a mental note to have a chat with Cannoli about the importance of [Vitality], but it seemed that she’d figured it out on her own. It wasn’t a ton more Health, but it was certainly a start.

I backed out and looked at Keke’s sheet.

Keke

Level 4

Combat Stats:

Scout Class: Lv. 4

Health Points: 17/17

Myana Points: 11/11

Energy: 30/30

Strength: 2

Magic: 1

Vitality: 2

Dexterity: 3

Agility: 2

Resistance: 1

Life Stats:

UNKNOWN

Wait. She picked [Vitality] too? That didn’t seem right. The drider had picked her up, sure, but I hadn’t seen Keke actually sustain any damage up to that point. So why hadn’t she gone with more [Dexterity] or [Agility]?

“We’re here,” Keke said.

I’d been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed our arrival at the port. Though, to be fair, it was hard to miss. A single dock extended into the ocean, flanked by an abandoned merchant stall and a vacant wooden booth. At the dock’s end was a wooden rowboat flecked with chipped red paint. It looked old. That’s what we’re going in? I swallowed my apprehension and continued to put one foot in front of the other.

A deeply tanned catgirl with cropped sea-green hair sat on the edge of the dock, spinning the reel of her fishing rod and whistling a wordless tune.

“Any good catches today, Portia?” Ravyn called.

Portia looked over her shoulder and scowled. “Not anymore, looks like.”

“Oh, come now. Be a doll and take us to San Island?” Ravyn purred.

“Ya still owe me for the last trip, doll,” Portia spat. She reeled the line until the feathered lure caught the tip of her fishing rod and set it aside. She stood to face us, and the first word that came to mind to describe her was “scrappy.” Faded overalls were tucked into bright yellow fishing boots. A tight white tank top hugged modest curves, and one of the straps on the coveralls dangled loosely around one shoulder.

Cannoli’s eyes widened, and she stared at Ravyn. “Why didn’t you pay her?”

“Well, expenses came up. You know how it is.” Ravyn waved a casual hand at Cannoli’s distress. “I thought I’d pay for both this time around—”

“Squawk! Bally needs cookies! Stupid Portia! Squawk!” Ball chirped from Ravyn’s shoulder.

Good to see she treats everyone equally. I coughed behind my hand, masking the laugh rising in my throat.

Portia crossed her arms. It was then I noticed a full sleeve of nautical-themed tattoos on her right arm. Portia may be shorter than me, but I’m pretty sure she could punch me into next week.

Ravyn grumbled beneath her breath and pulled a jingling cloth sack from her [Cat Pack]. “Here. This is enough to cover my last trip plus fare for the four of us.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Would you please take us?”

Porta accepted the purse and untied it, picking through the Bells. She plucked one free and bit down on the coin’s surface with her back teeth.

“Portia! My friend! I’m offended!” Ravyn exclaimed.

Portia raised her eyes to Ravyn, and a dry smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. But she said nothing.

“Wow,” Keke said.

Ravyn scoffed. “I even threw in a little extra.”

Silent numbers formed on Portia’s lips as she counted to count. When she finished, she nodded and tossed the pack into her [Cat Pack]. “You’ll buy me a meal when we get there, too.”

“But I said I added extra!” Ravyn whined.

“Um. Maybe it’s a good idea if you do?” Cannoli suggested timidly. “I-I mean, you did skip a payment.”

Ravyn sighed, but I didn’t miss the sidelong glare she shot Cannoli. “Alright.”

“Drinks, too,” Portia added.

“Kuso! Dinner, drinks, extra for your troubles. Anything else you’d like, my queen?” Ravyn snapped.

Portia grinned. “Your manners have always been shit. Alright, switch to [Combat Mode] and get on the boat. San Island it is.”

Cannoli did her sailor scout shtick while the rest of us silently changed. Portia looked at me with curiosity. “Every time,” I said simply. She chuckled and tossed her weapon—an enormous tipped-spear?—into the boat.

I let the girls board first before stepping gingerly into the wooden hull. Portia boarded last and looked me over for the first time.

“You the new man?” Portia asked.

“Yeah, uh, I guess so,” I replied. “I’m Matt.”

“Good to meet you, Matt. Sit right there and help me row.” She pointed to a seat at a pair of oars and took a second pair of oars from the boat’s bottom. “We’ll get there faster with the two of us working.”

“Oh. Alright.” No use complaining. I could put my newfound Strength up to something helpful for once. Keke and Cannoli shifted to the middle of the boat between Portia and me. Ravyn squeezed in next to Cannoli. Is this really big enough for five people?

“You been on the water yet?” Portia hoisted the hooked anchor and pushed us off the dock.

“No. Just in it.”

Her grin widened. “Hang on tight, Matt. The ocean always surprises me.”

I swallowed against the lump in my throat and concentrated on rowing.