Even if it was a slow process, I could still feel it. I was starting to get better, bit by bit.

The healing process felt so much easier whenever I was around others. Even when I was back in the infirmary, times spent with visitors helped to keep me sane. Pack Rat's check-ins. Shafu's gifts and stories. Streiphen's constant care. I appreciated it all even more back in the infirmary, while I was unable to move, and the same could be said even now.

It hadn't taken long to fix the mech once my Soul and body didn't pulse and throb with pain with every use of a Skill or Spell. It had taken some time to put the legs back together after the heavy blow I'd taken from Big Tooth, but now that everything was fixed, I was able to move. Once I was back on my feet, things got a little easier. I could move, rest back at our room, our home, and take time to gather myself.

It felt as though I had more... energy, now. Especially around others. I thought I'd be eager to dart back to the workshop to resume building and training, but I didn't feel that same urgency that had plagued me before the raid on Big Tooth.

The wound at the forefront of my head was in the last stages of the healing process. Or... so Capillary suspected, at least. It was difficult to tell with an unusual physiology like mine, she'd said.

Although I was 'taking it easy', I was still moving about. Now, I was walking through the posh purple halls of the Velvet Star's headquarters alongside Sigura and Streiphen. They kept their gait slow and casual to avoid leaving me in the dust. I knew that I could've moved faster and with greater purpose given my size and the fixes to my suit, but I was loath to get another earful- or... 'zoneful' of a lecture from Capillary about overtaxing my Soul again.

I'd been caught using my abilities by her a few times, whenever the monotony of the infirmary stay had really gotten to me. It was hard to resist using my abilities as some form of outlet, even when I'd been told to rest. I didn't want to trigger a relapse and damage my Soul again, so I'd promised to keep my progress back to normality slow and steady.

As three, we climbed up the staircase surrounding the desk where Comnica was hard at work, tapping away at a collection of [Light Screens] hovering above it, her pair of golden metallic eyes darting back and forth to absorb more and more information. We took a right at the top of the staircase, quickly approaching our destination.

"Oh! This is it!" Streiphen chirped, breaking the unspoken agreement of walking slow to dart ahead, pointing at a green and black coloured door with a lavender edge. In the center of the door was a purple symbol, one designed to look like the Aetherman's head, with the word 'GAMECHANGER' written in block text above it. I was glad this base was all privately owned, otherwise the Gnome could have ended up getting trouble with the company that created Aetherman.

"Really? What gave it away?" Sigura snorted, reaching up to knock on the door. I was glad that Sigura was with me. With us. She'd been a little distant recently, but... I was glad she still made the effort to hang out a little in her spare time.

"Come in," came a muffled voice from inside. It was easy to place the voice of Shafu, although the muffled secondary voice tinged with annoyance was harder to recognise, at least from the tone.

Streiphen did the honors, reaching up to grab the handle to the door. I was relieved that even though Gamechanger was a diminutive Gnome, his doorway was still big enough for someone like me to fit through. I presumed it was to get his larger creations out the door, but it was still a relief.

I knew that I'd be entering the room of a member- a fellow member, in advance. Not wanting to give a bad impression or leave a mess, I ensured to clean up my mech for presentability, and worked to give my body a wash using a collection of metal buckets and flying hands. It was the best I could do, but I hoped that I didn't give off a bad scent, at least. It was impossible to tell, given the limitations of my body.

Streiphen and Sigura made their way in first, and I followed them inside. The room was... perhaps a little cluttered, which was to be expected of a Gnome, but I couldn't help but compare it to my own. Not the room we all shared now, but my old room.

Bookshelves lined the walls, all neatly stocked with volume after volume of comics both familiar and alien. All of them were in order, too, with rows of figurines, assorted cards with glittery additions to them, and memorabilia on the top shelves. Beyond the bookshelves, I saw cases, desks and drawers neatly decorated with small glowing trinkets, boxes folded between furniture with coloured metals and Selarium, and a number of other objects I could only identify as 'collectibles'. That, or he just kept random objects around. It was cluttered, perhaps, but I had no doubt everything was ordered in a way the Gnome himself could understand.

One of the figurines caught my eye. A round metal stand featuring six adventurers in brightly coloured plate armor. The protagonists of 'Adventures of the Six'. Given its size compared to the figurines around it, I couldn't help but assume it was expensive.

While silently admiring it, I noticed the words 'Property of Conahan Freizel' etched onto the front. Was that Gamechanger's real name? Once I saw it on the figurine's stand, I started noticing it everywhere. Etched into metal. Written on the base of books or tucked at the bottom of the cover's interiors. All of it, one way or another, was marked with his name. I'd heard that Gnomes could be possessive when it came to their belongings, and it seemed some stereotypes had their basis in fact.

With the quantity of collectibles and how everything was organised and seemed to fit together, it put my old room to shame. It felt... lived in, in a way that my old room never had. That, and it was much cleaner. I made a silent, solemn vow not to let my new room end up like my last, especially if this was my competition. When I got that new room, I'd have work to do if I wanted to catch up.

"Wooooooooow! Look at all this cool stuff!" Streiphen exclaimed, bounding over to one of the desks where his eyes had locked onto what looked like a small Manticore statue with a bobble head.

"Good to see you're still holding up, Yur, come on in," Shafu smiled. She sat at the right of the room, still wearing her lab coat despite being half-sunk into a red bean bag chair, her hooves planted firmly on the floor to help her stand up if need be, and the end of a lollipop stick hanging out of her mouth.

"Hello, Homebound," Gamechanger spoke stiffly, turning his head to look at me with emerald eyes through a pair of round spectacles. His frizzled lavender hair still gave him the look of a 'mad inventor' type, but his current outfit of loose pants and a green jumper didn't make him look quite as unapproachable as he usually did. He too was half-sunk into a light green bean bag chair, a controller not unlike those he used to pilot the Aetherman in his hands. "You're looking far better than you were before. I'm pleased to see your recovery has been going well, especially since we were unsure how you would react to standard potion treatment- hey! Be careful with that, Stardust!"

Streiphen's head turned, looking back at the Gnome with sheepish starry eyes. He placed a figurine of what looked like an Eastern Drow woman in a long red dress on a stand back onto the desk he'd found it on.

"Sorry!" he chirped back, still smiling.

"[My wound seems to be healing fine,]" I told them, my [Telepathy] reaching out to all present as I gingerly pushed the door closed behind me with a leg. "[Although it seems like the brand at the front of my body is healing back to normal, too...]"

I wasn't sure how that brand worked. As one of their little 'parting gifts', Chimera had placed a brand on the front of my body, one mimicking a blue coloured bird with wings extended outwards. The injury had pierced one wing, and part of me had hoped that it would deform the brand, to make their way of marking me less noticeable, but... I wasn't quite that lucky.

"Weird," Shafu idly commented. "Could be that it's some addition made to your Soul, or a natural part of your body. You shouldn't ever expect Chimera's stuff to work normally, so don't treat it like a tattoo, Yur. It might be important."

'Important'. Maybe to the function of my body or Soul in some way, but I'd rather not have it at all. That feeling of disappointment I'd experienced when I saw the brand returning to the way it had been, even after that injury was... something I couldn't easily forget. I'd never been a particularly superstitious type, but it felt like a bad omen.

Hanging from the wall at the back of the room was a large Vox screen connected to a metal arm holding it in place. The screen itself had some sort of cartoonish character on the front in what looked like a castle town, with rows of buildings and a cobblestone road.

Was it something he'd made with the help of Screen's magic, or something he purchased using the funds he'd earned working here? If it was the latter, then I hoped it wasn't that expensive. Now that the idea of getting my own Vox had been made possible by the Don's confirmation, I found myself wanting it more by the day.

"What's that controller for?" Sigura asked, looking over the bookshelves. "Do one of these small constructs jump around and fight like that big one you've got in the workshop?"

"No," the Gnome responded curtly, still looking up at the screen. "It controls what happens on the Vox."

That caught Sigura's attention, prompting her to look over her shoulder at the Vox high above.

"Really?" she asked skeptically. "And how's it do...?"

Her words trailed off as Conahan raised his controller, making it easy to see the buttons he was pressing and the control sticks he was pushing, and how they corresponded to what the character the screen seemed to focus on was doing.

"Huh..." Sigura muttered, walking a little closer to the Vox, both hands jamming into her pockets. "Give me a try."

"Hmm..." the Gnome murmured, glancing at Streiphen for just a moment before looking up at Sigura. "Alright, but these controllers are attuned to my Aera. I'll need to use them every few minutes to ensure the runes don't warp, so you cannot play for long. They're still in perfect condition, and I intend to keep them that way."

I wasn't sure if Sigura had actually been listening, because she'd started walking towards the front of the room to drag over an orange bean bag chair as soon as the Gnome had said the word 'Alright'.

Conahan sighed, leaning forward in his seat to open a small drawer, pulling free another controller. There were two more in the drawer, yet he left them where they were as he gingerly pushed the compartment closed. I watched as his Aera, a metallic grey-green sheen, sparked to life around his hand, sending thin streams of light flowing into the artefact. The controller began to emit a soft glow as he handed it to Sigura, who was now... sitting in the bean bag chair.

Given her size, she didn't quite fit into it. Her upper body was squashed into the chair, while her long legs were forced to curl up to avoid banging against the furniture in front of her. It didn't look comfortable to me, but she didn't seem to complain about it.

The lights on the screen began to flicker and change as words in coloured boxes appeared on the screen. The me of the past might've used [Thought Acceleration] to read them even as Conahan quickly mashed through menu after menu, but I was told to keep it easy.

Now that Conahan and Sigura were using the Vox, and Streiphen was still in the middle of ogling just about everything in the room, I figured that now was as good a time as any.

Since I was confident that Conahan didn't have any bean bag chairs capable of holding anyone near my size, I folded up my legs, sitting down on the purple carpet next to Shafu's bean bag. Her bright amber eyes were locked on the screen above, and I could see a grin dawning on her face. When I sat down, she glanced towards me, inviting conversation.

"[Erm... Shafu, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about something,]" I told her, feeling a little sheepish. I'd grown used to talking to Shafu, but given the subject matter, I was still a bit... apprehensive.

"Sure," she nodded with a smile. "You picked a good spot for a conversation, Yur."

She leaned to the side, reaching for a small Cooler Box tucked beneath the desk with the Manticore bobble head. Opening it up, I could see the icy blue glow emanating from within. She pulled free an orange metallic can with bright text on the front, and a small plastic bag with similarly massive letters.

"This place has great snacks and drinks, so go ahead," Shafu told me, deftly spitting the lollipop stick into a small bin while pushing the Cooler Box door closed with a cloven hoof.

"Snacks and drinks that you said you would reimburse me for," Conahan piped up, not looking away from the screen.

"Yeah, so? When have I ever not followed up on that?" Shafu shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"Plenty of times," Conahan snorted. "Back at the Institute, and here."

"I always paid you back for those, don't be an ass," Shafu groaned, sinking further into her seat, shooting me a look with a roll of her eyes and a raised brow that said; Can you believe this guy?

"Weeks later, perhaps, but never on time" Conahan replied dryly, turning to look over his shoulder towards me. "Don't trust her with anything you wish to get back, Homebound."

"[I... I'll keep that in mind when I have food and drink to worry about,]" I told him, a comment that caused Shafu to grin brightly.

Any further conversation was promptly cut off by the sound of furious clicking and button mashing. Two characters were on the bright screen above. One was dressed like some sort of Inura in a [Butler's] outfit, while the other was a busty woman with bushy red hair in some sort of [Ninja]-like attire. I didn't quite get what was happening, but both of them were lashing out at each other with strike after strike.

"F-fuck!" Sigura cursed, her expression furrowed with annoyance as she worked to win the battle happening on-screen. Streiphen was standing next to a bookshelf, staring up at the screen with an amazed look in his eyes.

"Hey, speakin' of food and drink, I've got something cool to show you," Shafu said, rising to her feet. She walked over to the desk with the bobble head, reaching under it to pull up a brown bag with a strap extending from it and a red circle with a number of cartoonish black shapes inside it, ranging from miniature bombs with grinning faces and explosions to small Lions with horns to warped, blocky firearms. The shapes were all simple and seemingly unrelated, a symbol that had been stitched into the bag. I guessed it was something Debby had done, given that I suspected Shafu had too much nervous energy to use a needle, not to mention the lack of patience for something as tedious as sewing.

Unzipping the top, she pulled out a thick blue sheet of paper covered in an array of white lines organised into something I hadn't quite parsed yet.

"We were thinkin' of trying to get extra materials to make somethin' like this, and we got the Don's approval for it, too," Shafu said, unfurling the sheet as I got a better look at the contents.

The blueprints consisted of a mech design similar to my own, with eight legs protruding from a base in the center. The main difference between this and my current mech, beyond not needing to use half my legs to hold my body in place thanks to a collection of metal latches, was a glass cube with metal edges around the outside of it surrounding what appeared to be my body.

"[Wouldn't this just make me more vulnerable?]" I asked, unsure about the design. I'd grown used to the snug metal helmet, and part of me was afraid to give that up.

"Maybe," Shafu shrugged. "But we can get an extra shell around it if you want. 'Sides, the glass'll be heavily reinforced, too. The Don knows some really good craftsmen. If you don't like it, we can always tweak the design. Or you could build this as a second mech to try it out first. Abyss, why not just use it as a 'casual' suit while the one you've got now could be used when you're going outside? Oh, and I passed on that message to Debby that her costume was really useful like you asked."

"[Thank you,]" I responded, still silently mulling over the potential changes. It looked like a cage, almost. One that would put my form on display for all to see. I... didn't know how to feel about that.

"I didn't take you for the type to enjoy games like this," Conahan said, breaking through my idle thought.

"Fuck!" Sigura responded loudly, her controller clicking loudly with the sound of violent button presses. "I've never tried somethin' like this, but Gods be damned this is hard!"

"It isn't easy when you have to actually think about a fight, rather than outclassing your opponent in speed or strength, hmm?" Conahan replied with a smug smile.

"Shut up, dumbass," Sigura growled. "I'm just not used to this."

Then, the two of them stopped pressing buttons on their respective controllers in unison as Sigura seemed to slump deeper into the bean bag, the words YOU WIN!!! in bright letters imposed over the Vox's screen.

"What a shame. You got a little closer that time," Conahan responded with a smile, flinching a little once Sigura shot up in her seat, eyes narrowed and hands tightening. "Just... don't break the controller."

"It's enchanted, isn't it?" Shafu asked idly, leaving the blueprint back up onto the desk. Had I waited too long before responding? "It's not like it'll be easy to break."

"Yes..." Conahan replied hesitantly, glancing towards Sigura's hands. "True as that may be, I suspect Sunburst is stronger than an enhanced lump of plastic and metal."

The Gnome turned his head around in his seat, neglecting to press any more buttons until the fire in Sigura's eyes died down.

"How are you, Homebound? Are you still experiencing mild Soulburn symptoms?" the Gnome asked. The question caused Sigura's head to turn towards me, too.

"[I'm fine, really,]" I responded, trying to sound as sincere as I could as Sigura stood up. "[I wish I'd recovered faster, but I'm almost there. I've been told not to do anything too extreme and take breaks, but I'm safe. Capillary said as much.]"

"What's this thing?" Sigura asked, approaching the table with controller in hand, glancing down at the blueprints.

"It's an idea we had for a new mech," Shafu answered. "We were thinkin' she could use this and not be so cooped up in that helmet all the time. If she needs natural light like Cap said, this'd be better for her. We could fill it with water for her to... uh... 'drink' whenever she needed it, too."

Sigura groaned, visibly shivering at the sight as she looked down towards the sheet. Streiphen idly approached Sigura, gingerly reaching out as he tugged on the end of the controller, snapping Sigura out of her stupor. She looked down towards the pleading eyes of the Chimera child, an annoyed look flashing over her eyes as she looked towards the Vox before letting go of the controller. With a smile, Streiphen bound over to the end of the room, sitting snugly into the warm groove left behind in Sigura's bean bag.

"You alright with this, Yur?" Sigura asked, eyebrow raised. "I'd hate to have to live in this fish tank thing, but I guess you don't have any hair to worry about. Can't drown either, right? Guess it sorta fits, given you're... you're like a livin' sponge now, too."

The 'sponge' comment was one I expected to be accompanied by a grin, but the smile she gave was slightly pained. Forced, almost. I didn't know what to make of it, but the sound of more button pressing helped to distract her somewhat.

"[Beyond that, I could use the water for jets as a cutting weapon if I managed to make other adjustments to my suit,]" I mused aloud, hoping to take Sigura's mind off of... whatever was making her look like that.

"Of course you'd be the first one to look at this an' think 'how can I turn this into a weapon', huh?" Shafu asked drily, a grin on her face. A proper grin, one that looked more like the one that should've been on Sigura's face, not the shadow of a thing the Nekari Halfblood currently wore. "But... you're really going back onto the frontline? Even after that?"

Shafu's words caught me off guard. I knew she was worried about me, but that had been a... fringe case. My injuries in the battle against Big Tooth were solely due to my lack of preparedness and intel. In a proper fight where I was more well equipped and knowledgeable, I... would've been fine.

"[Of course. I'm the Equinox team leader, Shafu. My [Telepathy's] range isn't infinite. Fighting alongside my team is the best place for me to be. It's my job,]" I told her.

Shafu looked exasperated, while the look on Sigura's face was... solemn, almost. I saw the Nekari Halfblood look away, shivering lightly before her eyes landed on the bright screen high above.

Whatever she saw seemed to knock the stupor out of her, and she narrowed her eyes, the strange look of melancholy giving way to irritation.

"How'd you get a hit on 'im so fast, Pipsqueak?" Sigura asked, voice laced with suspicion as she walked closer.

"Maybe he's a prodigy," Conahan responded dryly.

"Really?!?" Streiphen exclaimed, pressing the buttons a little faster after hearing the praise.

Sigura's eyes darted between both Conahan and Streiphen's controllers, narrowing further.

"You're not movin' as fast, or as fluid. You goin' easy on the kid?" Sigura asked with a drawl.

"And if I am?" Conahan retorted, eyes still on the screen above. "It's my choice to fight however I like, Sunburst."

The grin on his face said it all, much to Sigura's annoyance.

Still... This felt better. It seemed more... normal. Like the sort of life I wanted to settle into and have with these people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Conahan had managed to thoroughly wear down both Streiphen and Sigura's desire to play that game of his, they'd agreed to come with me to the workshop at Shafu's behest. The Gnome had assured them that they could come over again sometime if they wished. I suspected that would be a rare occurrence, but... well, it was nice.

"You should've played with us too, Miss Yuri!" Streiphen chimed as we walked down the plush hallways of the Velvet Star base. The five of us all had the same destination in mind, and so we waited for Conahan to lock his room up before going.

"[I... I'm not sure,]" I replied uncertainly. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, but if I made smaller hands, then maybe I would be able to do it. It could be awkward, and the controller would be heavier in my hands than that of a full physical person, but maybe it was manageable. "[If I can make sure my hands won't accidentally crush the controller, I'll consider it.]"

"You've gotten better at grippin' stuff properly, right? For a 'lump of metal and plastic', it felt more durable than it looked, Yur," Sigura reassured me. "That game's annoying as a hyped up Gno- ahem. It's fun."

"I don't want an angry Cat that can do nothing but use attack after attack to criticise the game. The boy was better at it than you were," Conahan added dryly.

"I'm still learnin' that dumb game anyway," Sigura replied defensively.

"It was really fun though!" Streiphen added, turning his starry eyes towards me. "Oh! Miss Yuri, have you checked your Linked Book? I've made so many notes and pictures!"

Notes and pictures?

"[No, I haven't,]" I responded sheepishly. "[Sorry, Streiphen. It hadn't crossed my mind.]"

Within my mech, I brought one of the metal hands within me to life. Once again, they were covered by the silver thread of Debby's 'costume'. My control over them was nearly back to normal, and opening up the book wasn't a strenuous task. Within, I saw a number of 'notes' and pictures through my [Sensory Zone], all of which seemed to be sketches of him spinning and striking with his blade. Combat techniques. Each picture was surrounded by short notes that ranged from idle thoughts to reasons behind the maneuvers to conversation topics he intended to broach in the future.

"[They're excellent notes, Streiphen. I'm glad to see you're staying organised,]" I told him. The compliment brought a bright smile to his face that served to warm me up, too.

Shafu's face was coloured with confusion as she looked over her shoulder. I'd been about to ask what was wrong when the look melted off her face.

"Oh, right. Your weird senses. Was wonderin' how you just... read a book while we were walking. Y'know, with somethin' as convenient as [Sensory Zone], I don't know why you want your eyesight back so much. What you've got seems so much better. Nobody can sneak up on ya, you can find things you've misplaced in a second, and look 'round corners all at once. The sky really ain't all that great anyway, Yur."

I felt the heat along the sides of my body beneath the helmet change to a red tinge of embarrassment. I'd told Shafu about my desire to see the sky again during her visit to the infirmary. She had a way of getting me to voice strange worries I wouldn't talk much about with others.

"I'm sure if anyone can help you with that, GC can," Shafu told me, jerking a thumb in Gamechanger's direction.

"Do not make it sound so simple," the Gnome responded, squinting behind the violet visor he now wore in place of his glasses. "Augmenting or altering existing senses is far less difficult than implementing new senses. The Arcane Stand, the aspect of the Soul that connects to the body, attunes itself specifically to the host. Adding a new sense foreign to that of the body is far more taxing than changing something that already exists. Or have you forgotten such rudimentary arcane theory, Shafu?"

He grinned in her direction, pushing up his visor with one hand as the Darkling rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. She used to be a Humanoid though. Or... Tierakin, I guess. A halfblood. Wouldn't her Stand still have some 'eyesight' left in it from when she had her old body?"

My... old body. It felt like such a faraway thing now. Something so distant that it might as well have been from the remnants of a dream.

"It's... unclear," the Gnome responded vaguely, glancing towards me. His eyes began to glow behind his visor as his green/grey metallic Aera burst to life with [Insight]. "I am no [Soul Doctor] or [Appraiser], but if she no longer possesses eyesight, it is likely her Soul has adjusted to that. Although... the composition of a Chimera's Soul is far from standard. It is not outside the realm of possibility that such a sense still lies dormant within her."

"Doesn't matter how 'awkward' or 'taxing' it is," Sigura added, her voice hard. "One way or another, we'll get Yur that eyesight. It's just a matter of time."

"Someone's fired up," Shafu responded with a grin, glancing towards the Nekari Halfblood. "That game get your competitive streak going?"

"This has nothing to do with the game," the Chimera responded stiffly. "This is Yuri we're talking about."

Shafu looked away, rubbing at the back of her neck. That awkward, cold exchange was strange. Usually I was the one who missed humor or social cues, but now Sigura, who had always excelled in such situations, had missed what had been a light hearted joke. Had Shafu touched a nerve I knew little about? Still... it was touching to know Sigura was truly that serious about my situation.

The five of us arrived at the entrance to the workshop. Streiphen skipped over to the panel next to the door, planting his dark grey skinned palm against the plastic. His own emerald and black Aera streaked with silver stars seeped into the Selarium crystal within, causing it to glow brightly. Streiphen's brow was furrowed in concentration as he closed his eyes. Then-

"Ding!" Ding!

Gamechanger raised an eyebrow as the young Chimera exclaimed in time with the sound overhead.

"What are you doing?" he asked as the doors opened. One of the Dolls, still wearing the standard Velvet Star uniform, had let us inside.

"Oh... That's my special training," Streiphen replied as we stepped inside. "I do it so I can learn to be patient and make my timing better!"

"I see..." Conahan murmured back, glancing over his shoulder and towards the ceiling, back where the chime had come from.

While Streiphen followed the Gnome to his spot by the wall, Sigura and Shafu followed me over to the right. The open space I tended to occupy while working was left bare, ready and waiting for my return. The workshop itself was less active than usual. Beyond our group of five, only two Dolls occupied the space. They weren't the type to gossip anyway. I was in safe hands.

"What did you want to talk about anyhow, Yur?" Shafu asked, glancing up at me as she beelined for her desk, pulling a lollipop from a jar as she plopped herself down into her wheeled chair.

"[I've... got some things I've been keeping secret for a while,]" I responded sheepishly, already dreading this conversation.

"Nothing too dark and dangerous I hope?" Shafu asked with a grin, one cloven hoof pushing against the floor to send her flying towards me at speed while Sigura leaned against a nearby wall.

The sound of metal turning against metal became audible in the quiet workshop as the screws holding my spacious compartment in place began to turn, popping off as the front panel flew into the air with the aid of my [Telekinesis]. With a collection of flying hands, I began to retrieve the subject of my 'secrets' from within. Bars of a clear emerald metal. They were smooth, with an appearance more akin to a shining gemstone than a conventional metal.

I began to hold them in the air before Shafu, arranged in a semi-circle in front of her chair. They were heavier than standard metals, but after what I'd been through, their weight wasn't too difficult to bear.

"Is that it?" Shafu asked, casting her bright amber eyes from ingot to ingot. "I was hopin' for somethin' real juicy, y'know? A dark secret, like... meeting a Demon, or bein' part of some ancient bloodline, or an evil long lost siblin' or childhood friend comin' to hunt you down."

"[P-please be serious...]" I whined, feeling embarrassed already as the inside of my helmet grew warm from the heat of my body. "[I was really stressing over this, Shafu.]"

Shafu let out a laugh as she wheeled over, causing the redness along my sides to deepen further.

"Why's that?" she asked.

Why... was I so worried about it? I remembered the reasoning I had back then, but compared to how I felt now, it was so ridiculous that part of me insisted I must've had a better reason.

"[I... didn't know what this metal was, or how valuable it could have been,]" I admitted. "[I was planning on researching it on my own. I... was unsure as to whether or not the Don might try to seize it or not.]"

While Shafu indulged in another laughing fit, Gamechanger looked in my direction.

"It is unlikely you'll find something the Don would wish to 'seize', Homebound," he told me. "He is not as materialistic as many seem to paint him as."

I... knew that much now, but back then I didn't know what to make of the Don. That passionate speech of his still rang true in my head, breaking any misconceptions I had about his goals.

"[Yes, I'm aware of that now, but back then I didn't know what to do,]" I explained, trying to weakly justify the actions that felt silly, even to me. "[I'd been feeling some sort of 'pulse' from it, like an echo of a feeling. What is this metal used for?]"

"How much do you know about stuff with Charged Aera inside 'em, Yur?" Shafu asked, planting a hoof on the ground as she very slowly began to spin herself around in place.

Charged Aera. Magical energy with a set 'identity' or purpose to it. It was the form Aera took when a creature began to use a Spell, or the form it possessed while inside objects and the atmosphere that possessed an inherent magical 'charge'. Aera in this form could leak from the Souls of powerful Casters and creatures, or even from the planet itself, permeating the world around it. It granted objects imbued with this Aera magical effects. Plants and animal parts used for an [Alchemist]'s potions, or the parts of a monster such as hides, fangs, and claws to be used in a [Blacksmith] or [Enchanter]'s work as a catalyst for creating artefacts. Magic items.

I could see where Shafu was going with this.

"[I know enough,]" I responded. "[It's a magical metal, isn't it? What kind of effect does it have?]"

"If you've been feeling pulses from the Lyridium," Gamechanger chimed in, looking up once again. "Then it is because the metal is reacting to a Sensory ability you're using on it. A Spell, or a Skill, perhaps. If I were to guess, I presume even something like your [Sensory Zone] could trigger it. The metal reacts to sensory input through magic."

"Sensory input?" Sigura asked, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes turned towards the Gnome, blazing with purpose and clear intent.

"Yes," Gamechanger nodded. "I've used the metal to line the interior of my mech, creating a series of connected segments akin to a nervous system that transmits sensory data. There is a small chunk of Lyridium within my specialised controller to act as a transmitter, too."

Then, he sat further up, wearing a wide smirk as both eyes were locked onto the Nekari Halfblood from behind his visor.

"It truly is an ingenious design. The magical toll of piloting a construct like this with runes alone would be incredibly taxing without the aid of the Lyridium. That metal is what makes it all possible."

The Aetherman. A remote control construct... powered in part by Lyridium. If I learned to use it properly, would I be able to create something like Gamechanger's magic did? In a way that fell in line with-

"[There was something else I wanted to talk about, Shafu,]" I continued, stacking the heavy ingots on the floor in a neat pile next to my mech.

"Shoot," she responded idly, linking both hands behind her head as she leaned further into her chair.

"[You... hinted before that I probably had a magical specialty deeper than something as broad as 'memories',]" I began.

"Yeah, I did say somethin' like that, didn't I?" Shafu mused, nodding to herself. "You got somethin' in mind?"

"[Yes... Every memory I've experienced in the middle of a [Creative Process] has been when I made something that reminded me of... well, my old house. I've never made an artefact while thinking about being on a hunt. The only places I've been to during my memories beyond my own house are the marketplace I used to frequent for metal and parts.]"

And... occasionally... my original home.

"So?" Shafu responded, her words more lukewarm than I'd hoped. That smile on her face seemed to be in place just to push me forward.

"[I think 'home' is my specialisation, Shafu. That's what I've been thinking,]" I told her, finally saying it aloud.

"The 'home', huh?" she murmured to herself, still spinning in a circle as her eyes were locked on the ceiling lights above. "You've made... what? An alarm system, Heater Boxes, and a pair of fans? Yeah, I guess that sounds about right. I could see it."

Then, one of her legs snaked out, a hoof pressing to the floor as she came to an abrupt stop, her eyes alight and locked onto my emerald helmet.

"Well? Have you tried makin' anything since the battle?" she asked, her smile sharp.

"[No... but I've been thinking-]"

"That's a good first step," Shafu cut in with a grin, starting to spin again as I searched for the words to keep going.

I was... a little intimidated by the idea of trying again. I knew I'd need to engage in a [Creative Process] at some point, given that I was working as a proper Caster now, but the idea frightened me. I didn't want to emerge from the infirmary with a healed body, eager to craft and create, only to fail immediately and get disheartened. In truth, I dreaded the thought of trying to use my magic, only for it to let me down. It was something I wouldn't have needed to worry about if I was still the 'old' me, but the emotions I'd been unable to fully bury since my transformation filled me with anxious, crippling worry. Would I even be able to recover and use my magic properly at all?

"E-excuse me," Streiphen spoke quietly. "Can I try that too?"

My attention turned towards Streiphen as an escape, watching as he pointed in the direction of the Aetherman, which was still in the midst of repairs after it had been painstakingly retrieved from the Big Tooth base. The Orcs had managed to pry many of the reinforced plates free and run off with them while retreating, and our people had yet to recover the metal. I doubted that he'd see it all in one piece again, at least not without rebuilding portions of it with new material.

"Not a chance," Gamechanger responded with a snort, lifting his controller with one hand. "This controller is bound to me alone. It is a self imposed Condition to increase my control, you see. Other Casters are unable to use the artefact, but even if they were, the time and effort put into crafting this masterpiece is not worth the risk of the runes deforming from another person's Aera."

"How'd you work through your slumps again, GC?" Shafu called out as Streiphen deflated from the rejection. The look in the [Tinkerer's] eyes worried me. She was aiming for something.

"You know full well what I do, Shafu," the Gnome groaned, looking away from the smug Darkling's face.

"Yeah, say it again for Yur, Conny. She needs some encouragement," she continued, gently pushing herself side to side with a hoof.

The Gnome let out a long, theatrical sigh, crossing his arms as he sank against a cushion leaning against the wall.

"I do research," he responded flatly.

"What kind of research?" Sigura asked. "Yuri's growth is important, so just spit it out, will ya?"

The Gnome's head drooped to one side, and I saw him roll his eyes beneath the visor.

"My specialty is making... mechs, like this one. More specifically," he responded pointedly, looking towards Shafu. "I make character replicas. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"This never gets old," Shafu said, glancing towards me as she wheeled and leaned over, lightly tapping the elbow of her metallic arm against the side of my mech. "He's the world's craziest fanboy."

"At least my methods are reliable," Gamechanger snapped back, raising his head as if to look down at the Darkling. It was a ridiculous pose for a Gnome of all races to adopt. "Unlike your ridiculous magic, 'Shambles'. Calling your work a 'specialisation' is a very generous descriptor."

"Yeah, yeah, keep talkin'," Shafu smiled, looking very proud of herself.

"[What kind of research do you do, Gamechanger?]" I ventured, hoping I could get some answer that would help.

When he looked towards me, there was a glint in his eye. Not an annoyed glint, or one that told me I had a tongue lashing in store, but something else.

"I research characters and reread stories," he explained. "When I need to make a mech, I will reacquaint myself to the intricacies of a character's depth, ensuring I know everything about them in and out to implement their subtleties into my magical creations, increasing their potency and fluidity in battle."

"What about the writin', GC?" Shafu inquired with a grin. "Leavin' a bit out, aren't ya?"

The Gnome sighed once again.

"To help get into the character's mindset as part of my magical process," he spoke loudly and pointedly again. "I will devise and write out scenes between characters to better understand what feels 'right' in relation to their potential dialogue and mental states."

"You read comics and write stories to make your magic work better?" Sigura asked, one eyebrow raised in clear disbelief.

"Magic isn't nearly as linear a process as many believe it to be!" he snapped back. "It is... different for everyone, you see. Leaning into one's own eccentricities and interests is the key to growth, the cornerstone of finding a definitive style that distinguishes one's identity from others. It is the sign of a skilled Caster, and those with generalised abilities tend to be inferior as a result."

Of course, he was staring accusingly at Shafu once again with that last comment.

It was... strange to think of reading and writing as a valid way of training one's magic, especially magic like Gamechanger's. As unorthodox as it sounded, the theory... felt right, to me. Was there some way I could apply that to my own work?

Would it help if I thought of home? Created memorabilia of my past life? Reminisce about the past and attempt to get lost in my memories?

Be around... something that made me feel like I was home?

"[Alright... I think I've got some things I can try,]" I told the group of Casters around me.

"Sure, what do you need?" Shafu asked as my awareness turned away from the Darkling.

"[Can... Sigura and Streiphen, could you... erm... sit with me while I work?]" I asked sheepishly. I was going to look silly if this didn't work.

"Sure," Sigura said after giving a shrug and a raise of her eyebrow.

"Of course, Miss Yuri!" Streiphen chirped, skipping over to sit down cross-legged in front of me. Sigura did much the same.

Their eyes were on me, and even as I began to dull my senses, I could still feel their sight on me. Part of me wondered how Toya was. I was worried about his well being, even if I refused to pry into his affairs. Especially if he didn't want us around. This would be enough.

"You get the process going yet, Yur?" Shafu asked, glancing at the pair of Chimeras sitting in front of my mech.

"[No...]" I responded, still feeling embarrassed.

"What're you trying to do?" Sigura asked, leaning back as she rested her palms on the floor behind her. "We can't help if we don't know what you're doing."

"[I'm... trying to make this place feel more like home, and...]" Gods this was embarrassing. Where was [Silent Heart] when I needed it most? "[Could we start talking about Addersbrook, maybe? I'll start talking about the town and...]"

My words trailed off as I came to the realisation that I didn't know what to talk about. While my memories could be spotty in places, naturally spotty, I believed, it wasn't as though I had nothing to say. The combination of embarrassment and shame made it hard to speak up. This probably wouldn't even work.

"You just need to think about Addersbrook, right?" Sigura asked, her orange eyes locked onto my helmet. "If that's all, I'll talk. You just sit around and listen."

"[Alright,]" I responded, feeling a weight lift from within me. That sounded much better.

Sigura's eyes turned towards the ceiling, lips pursed in thought.

"Remember, it's gotta be about 'home'. So, somethin' about her house, or the marketplace she mentioned before," Shafu chimed in, smiling with satisfaction as she leaned back into her chair.

In contrast to Shafu's relaxation, Streiphen was leaning forward, eyes bright, attentive, and locked onto Sigura.

"Alright, alright, I've got somethin'," Sigura said, looking back down towards my helmet. "Remember when that travellin' salesman came to town, Yur?"

"[Erm... which one?]" I responded uncertainly.

"Human, fat, wispy orange hair?" Sigura told me. It wasn't jogging my memory. The faces of Humans tended to blend together, especially ones I hadn't talked to much. "The one selling fake artefacts. You know the one, right?"

"[Oh!]" I exclaimed, the memory slotting into place. "[I remember now, sorry. Yes, I remember.]"

"Fake artefacts?" Shafu asked, raising an eyebrow in Sigura's direction.

"Yeah," Sigura nodded back. "Some asshole came to town with a cart full of 'enchanted items'. He was tellin' people he'd carved 'runes' into objects, and they worked when people started pickin' 'em up and tryin' 'em out."

"Sounds real enough to me," Shafu commented.

"Usually the Enchanter's Guild down south gets real pissy if people start sellin' improper artefacts, but this bastard must'a found a way to skirt around the rule with this scam," Sigura continued. "These 'runes' he carved were just a shitty trick."

"A common [Swindler] making use of people's misconceptions of magic?" Gamechanger inquired.

"Well, what'd he do?" Shafu asked.

"[He had magic that was able to linger on objects, something that let him trigger them remotely,]" I added, filling in the space Sigura had left. "[It let him pretend the objects he sold were enchanted, but they just had light form around etchings and minor effects that lasted a short time that passed as runes.]"

"That was enough to fool your native people?" Gamechanger asked dryly. "The fault falls on your people's educators as much as the [Swindler] themselves."

"We had a small school in town, but we were off the beaten path. We didn't have the sorta money bigger towns did for a better place," Sigura replied, lightly defending our old home. I was glad she still thought fondly of the place, even after coming to a place as vibrant and massive as Divastyr. "But yeah, it was a bit of a dump."

Never mind.

I didn't think of it as 'a bit of a dump', but I wasn't about to break the flow of Sigura's story. I needed to focus, to dull my senses and leave only hearing alive.

"Yuri was the one to out 'im," Sigura grinned as the features around me began to blur. "She was practicin' Runecraft even at the time. The look on the guy's face when some kid called him out on it was hilarious!"

Sigura's laughter caused a wavy, blurred smile to pull the edges of Shafu's face upwards.

"He started sayin' that Yuri didn't know what she was talkin' about, and she pulls out this crazy grapplin' hook thing she was always carryin' around. She started showing how the runes worked, and just started pickin' this guy's scam apart in front of everyone, as if she was a [Teacher] givin' a lecture. Funniest shit you'd ever see."

It was... as good a memory as any to choose from. Even if Sigura hadn't mentioned the most important part, it was still clear in my mind. The people around me faded away as the memory came to the fore.

It was late in the evening, with the light of a golden sun peeking over the stalls of the marketplace. The Human had been spluttering as the crowd erupted into laughter once my demonstration had been complete. I didn't feel pride in dismantling the scam as much as I felt a bit of disappointment. When he'd come around with cheap artefacts, I'd been hoping to buy them with the money I'd saved up. That they'd be my ticket into an earlier adventuring life. That disappointment had turned into me ruining his scam. Not out of spite or a desire for revenge, but because I wanted the space he took up in the marketplace to be freed again.

Then, a hand had clenched my shoulder. I'd jumped from the shock, my head whirling around to stare into the face of someone I'd seen occasionally around town. A Halfblood, just like me, with golden hair and bright eyes like the sun. She'd told me I did a good job for 'sticking it to him'. I hadn't known what she'd meant, but I remembered nodding numbly, feeling nothing.

Until the moment she asked me to join her adventuring team. A team of younger Casters that could 'use someone as smart as me'. It was one of the few times I'd ever felt like I'd 'belonged', as depressing as that sounded. Without a second thought, I'd agreed to the offer, and we'd shaken hands on it.

The memory was vivid and free. With a little bit of imagination, I could almost turn the head of the person I used to be and picture the stalls and townsfolk I used to call my own. I was lost in the past, in a way that could've only been done with a [Creative Process].

I closed my eyes, returning my senses to total blackness before I felt my body reassert itself around me. My [Sensory Zone] expanded, taking in the flying metal hands, heated steel being shaped, and the Humanoid figures chatting around me.

"Is that what he tried to sell?" Shafu asked, looking up at something my Aera was wrapped around hovering in the air.

"Yeah, it was one of many things," Sigura grinned, looking up at it. "That was the reason I'd been so god damn happy she put that bastard in his place. I'd been about to buy that heap of junk, and she stopped me from wasting my coin. I was grateful, y'know... Real... grateful."

Her words trailed off as my awareness turned towards the item being forged mid-air. It was a long metal scimitar. Although the handle too was metal, it looked nearly identical to a blade that the Human had been selling that day. I began to lightly spin it around, waiting for the heat to leave the molded steel. The icons along the round hilt were different to those that had been on the blade that day. I couldn't remember what kind of runes the man had been using, but the icons decorating the weapon before me now were suns peeking over buildings and the grinning faces of Cats in a ring.

I hoped nobody would look too closely at that.

Sigura snapped to her feet in a single movement, grabbing the blade's handle the moment the heat had left it. How had she known? I... suppose it made sense, given her affinity for Heat Magic. Did she have [Heat Sense], too? She raised the artefact towards the ceiling, looking towards the sharpened edge as it glinted in the light.

"Well, what does it do?" Shafu asked after a few moments of silence had passed, with Sigura staring into the weapon.

Lowering it, I watched as her orange-gold Aera danced forth from within her hand, a burst of light with fiery edges that enveloped the steel, turning the icons surrounding the ringed hilt separating blade and handle the same colour as her magic.

"It's... warm," Sigura responded with a smile. There was a strange look in her eyes as she said that, watching the edge of the blade emit an orange glow as her Aera flowed through it more and more. Glowing brighter and hotter by the second. The same effects as her own Aera.

As though it was made for her.

The intrusive, unwelcome thought sent a tinge of red flowing through the sides of my body. Why had the runes formed like that? Was it because of her significance in that memory? I felt my legs coil up beneath me, hoping nobody had noticed.

Sigura noticed. She raised an eyebrow, grinning up at my helmet in a way that made the embarrassment feel worth it.

"Hey, look on the bright side, Yur," she grinned, waving the blade around. "Seems like that fixed your slump."

My slump... My awareness shifted, drifting between the faces of those around me. They weren't the team I started with all that time ago, but a new team that I'd formed in the wake of a tragedy I couldn't have ever possibly seen coming. Even if I'd only met them all by sheer chance, I felt closer to them than I ever had with my own team.

Conahan. Shafu. Streiphen.

Sigura.

She was still with me, even through all of this madness. It was a reassuring thought, one that spread a feeling through me that warmed my body to its core.

Joy.

"[I... suppose it has,]" I replied, feeling the smile poke through in the tone of my voice.