Tal-dak and Shinra were Morgan and Issa’s second opponents to leave behind a chest. While Issa studied the chest, Morgan looked around at the much more sparsely populated cluster of tents. Most of the remaining challengers were sitting or standing near their tents, talking or eating, but none of them gave any attention to the victors. He also noticed that the shadows seemed longer, and he looked to the western hills, noting that the sun had begun to sink lower. Defeating the final challengers had, apparently, unstuck the clock in this place. “I don’t think there’s anything dangerous about this chest,” Issa said, interrupting his thoughts. He looked at the large, square box, activating his Azure Sight skill, but, as usual, couldn’t see anything that Issa had missed. It was another chest that didn’t look like it came from the System - thick, pale planks and a bronze clasp and nails.

“Well, same as before, then. I’ll guard you, and you open it.”

Morgan activated Guard Ally and then backed off a good ten feet. Issa gently opened the lid, and, once again, nothing happened. She took in a hissing breath, though, and Morgan hurried to see what was in the chest that had her attention. Nestled in the folds of a rough-spun blanket were two large, faintly pulsating apples. Morgan didn’t know if they were really apples, but they looked like colossal granny smiths. Next to the blanket was a shiny black scroll case with a silver crane embossed in the center. Morgan’s mouth watered when he caught a whiff of the sweet, fruity aroma coming from the apples, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the scroll case. “What the fuck?”

“Those fruits are calling to me!” Issa said, and Morgan glanced at her to see her mouth slightly open and drool starting to leak out of the corner of her mouth. To be fair, he would probably be in the same state if the sight of that crane scroll hadn’t shocked him out of it.

“Do you see that scroll? It seems a little too coincidental, don’t you think?”

“Uh,” Issa licked her lips and gulped, taking a step back from the chest. “Um, you think it has to do with your sword style?”

“Do you mind if I check?” Issa shook her head, and Morgan reached past the fruit to grasp the scroll case. It had a silver clasp holding it closed, so he opened it and gently lifted the tightly bound scroll out. He unfurled it enough to see the densely packed runes and stared at them for a moment. They started to shift around, and then a message appeared in his vision:

***Prerequisite for the form, The Crane Takes Flight, not met: Sword Mastery - Advanced.***

Morgan, his fingers trembling, gently re-rolled the scroll and put it into his ring. “It’s another form for my style, all right. I need to get my sword skill up to advanced, though.”

“That’s great, Morgan, but the fruit?” Issa leaned over the chest again, her eyes fixated on the apples.

“Well, if that guardian is going to appear tonight, we have until midnight. I guess we could eat them. What do you think they do? Another racial upgrade?”

“That’s what my body is telling me! Oh, Morgan, I ache to eat them!” Issa leaned in closer.

“Well, you go first. Just one, though!” Morgan chuckled. He also wanted to eat the fruit, but his mind was still racing about his style scroll. This dungeon definitely seemed tailored to the two of them - all the duels with other pairs, the difficulty level, and now treasure that seemed far too unlikely to be a coincidence. The question Morgan was struggling with was whether the System was responsible or if the spirit or “soul fragment” of the Swordmaster that created this dungeon was. Maybe it was both? He didn’t have time to worry about it anymore because Issa took up one of the apples and began to chomp away at it. She sat down abruptly, but she kept eating. She made little moaning sounds as she swallowed, and Morgan sat back from the chest to watch her.

With each bite, her eyes became more glazed, and Morgan began to notice tiny pulses of light flaring underneath her skin, flashing out from beneath her chain shirt along her arms and up her neck. As she swallowed the last bite, she moaned again, then lay back on the scrubby grass, writhing. Steam started to rise from her body; first, it was white, like water vapor, but then it began to darken. The steam quickly dissipated as it rose from her, much like Energy vapor after the System or a spell generated something temporary. He watched her steaming and flashing for a couple of long minutes, and then she arched her back and moaned again. Morgan grabbed one of her hands, and her skin was hot to the touch. He felt movement against his palm and held her hand up to see that her nails had grown longer and more pointed, almost like claws.

Starting to worry, Morgan leaned over her face to see if she seemed to be in pain, but her lips were raised at the corners in a smile, and Issa’s eyes were rolled back in her head, short pants coming out of her mouth. She didn’t seem to be in any pain, more the opposite. “What the hell?” Morgan’s eye had been caught by how Issa’s canines had grown. She’d always had several more sharp teeth in her mouth than a human, but now her canines were notably longer. Nothing terrifying or disfiguring, but definitely a change. Shortly, her muscles ceased spasming, and she lay back down, a soft purr escaping her lips as she fell into a deep sleep. Still, her body was emitting constant steam, and beneath it, Morgan could see that her skin had become more vibrant, almost glowing from within.

A good twenty minutes later, the steam ceased, and Issa stretched, yawning deeply as she lazily rolled to her side to look at Morgan. Her eyes, always a bright yellow-gold, were now glowing with their own luminosity and her hair was much more gold than yellow. All of her seemed leaner and longer, her fingers, forearms, and collar bones. “Mmm, that was incredible. Morgan, I gained three racial ranks.” She arched her back, stretching her arms out above her head, taking a long, deep breath.

“No shit?” He looked at her, and while he’d always found her attractive, she was starting to become beautiful in an almost unearthly way. “Stand up for a minute.” He stood and held out his hand, pulling her to her feet. She’d definitely gotten taller, but not as much as he’d imagined, based on the first time she gained racial ranks in the Crucible. “You’re a little taller, but not as much as I would’ve thought.”

“Mmm, yes, racial ranks improve your physique, basically helping you reach your body’s maximum potential if you’d been raised in a perfect environment with perfect food and perfect everything else. At least that’s what they do, at first. Then you start to get other benefits, like, Morgan, I can see so much better now! Even in this dim twilight, everything stands out so clearly.”

“Well, you also have fangs now, and look at your nails.”

“Fangs?” Issa hissed the word and held a thumb up to her teeth. “Really, Morgan? Fangs? Are you afraid I’ll bite you?” She growled at him and bared her teeth.

“Hah, maybe the wrong word. Okay, okay, they’re not really that big, but still, they did grow!” While he was sputtering, Issa looked at her nails and then reached up to gently scratch the back of Morgan’s neck and the base of his scalp.

“These seem to work just fine,” she said, pulling him down for a kiss. “Anyway,” she stepped back from him and pointed at the other apple, still sitting in the chest, “it’s your turn.” Morgan nodded and picked up the fruit. It felt like it was alive with Energy; he felt like he could feel it vibrating almost imperceptibly.

“I’m a little nervous,” he said, taking a seat in the grass. “What if I grow horns or something?” Issa laughed and punched his shoulder, and he shrugged and took a big bite of the apple. The first thing he decided was that this was most certainly not an apple. It tasted like a carrot dipped in honey, though the way it dissolved as he chewed was more like cotton candy. He could feel it tingling all the way to his stomach, and he continued to bite, chew and swallow as waves of euphoria, not unlike intoxication, began to roll out from his stomach and up into his head. His arms and hands were tingling by the time he finished eating the fruit, and the world was dancing and vibrating with yellow and blue halos around every object.

Morgan couldn’t explain his feelings any other way than to say it was orgasmic. He’d never taken any opiates, but the feeling he had right now was what he imagined people meant when they talked about “chasing the dragon.” Every cell in his body was tingling, and it felt like a warm, buzzing liquid was surrounding his brain. When he looked up at the night sky, the stars seemed to be swimming in a cobalt jelly, and when he stared at any one star, it was like it grew in size and intensity to the point where its pulsing light sent warm waves over his face. The entire time, he was dimly aware that his body was twitching and that a dense fog engulfed him. Slowly, profound, healthy exhaustion seeped into his mind, and he closed his eyes to oblivion.

“Morgan?” He felt a gentle jostling of his shoulder and then, “Morgan!” Issa’s voice was louder and more urgent. He opened his eyes and saw Issa leaning over him, a slight frown on her face. He smiled and stretched.

“God, that feels good.”

“I was starting to worry, you oaf! You’ve been out for almost two hours!” She stood up and stared down at him with her hands on her hips. “Well? How do you feel?”

“I just said! I feel good! How do I look?” Morgan looked at his arms and hands, not seeing much difference.

“Well, you definitely grew a little again. Thank the ancestors I did, too! Other than that, you seem more vibrant, and almost all your scars are gone. Maybe your race doesn’t show much when it comes to actual physical changes. Of course, the biggest changes come when you progress past basic into improved or even advanced, though I’ve never met anyone with an advanced race.”

Morgan stood up, and, based on how his cloth pants and shirt felt, he had grown again, not more than an inch or so in height, but he was broader too. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the pleasing way his chest expanded with a massive inhalation. He checked his status sheet, and the only change was that he had a base-seven race now. None of his other stats were different. “It seems like my strength or vitality should have gone up with my improved body.”

“Oh, they have. Not directly - but now you have a potential for far greater attributes than before. Your muscles are denser; your organs will function better, and even your brain and blood vessels are improved. Look around; I bet your vision is clearer too.”

“Well, my vision was already good, thanks to my previous upgrades, but yeah, it doesn’t seem as dark to me, and I can see little details even in the low light.” Morgan ran a thumb over his teeth, and they all felt normal. “No fangs for me!” Issa mockingly chomped her teeth at him, and then she pulled him into a hug.

“You look good, though,” she murmured into his chest, gently scratching his back through his soft, cotton shirt. “Let’s go to the tent; we still have a few hours ‘til midnight.” Morgan couldn’t argue with that.