Warp overflow detected…

Running Warp Protection System… Break.

Calvin winced as he allowed the medic to bandage his torso under the watchful eye of General Andra, who’d returned hours ago. The bucktoothed girl kept glancing nervously at the general every couple seconds or so, clearly uncomfortable having her work supervised by the leader of the entire army.

“You’ve got some blank spots,” she said, her eyes scanning the list of Calvin’s Status that he’d written down for her. “Missing a couple Ability slots.”

The missing Ability slots in question were Cal’s mutations. Those he wanted to keep secret at all costs. Something told him that the general would be far too interested in how that came about.

I did. I told you that.

“A lieutenant has to have some secrets, general.” Calvin said with a smile.

“Catagorically wrong. Haris.”

“Ma’am?” the General’s aide asked. He would have been tall were he not permanently stooped over. The man’s neck seemed to emerge from his body at a fixed angle.

“Remind me to smack Calvin for insubordination when he’s fully recovered.”

“….fully…recovered. Got it, ma’am.” He said, jotting down a quick note.

“I heard from Lance that you have absolutely no defensive skills. According to your deposition this is the case.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mmn,” she grunted, flipping through her list. “I’m ordering you to raise your Body to ten, which is the minimum for your rank, by the way, and you are to acquire a Defensive Skill before the day is over. That should help with the odds of you making it through the month.” She sounded like a doctor proscribing Jeeth salts for inflammation.

“With this?” Cal motioned at his stomach wound, slowly seeping through the tight bandages. He couldn’t imagine himself running or doing pushups or dodging anything without forcing his guts out the massive hole in his stomach.

“You got lucky, the wound is clean, and you didn’t take damage to any organs, the armor stopped it from going too deep or wiggling around too bad, so you can move around a little. You’re not the first person to Break with a wound, either. This is something we’ve dealt with many times before. I’ve got a specialist on his way. He’ll make sure you meet my expectations.”

Oh, great, Calvin thought. That makes my escape even harder.

Cal was still going to rescue his friend. He hadn’t forgotten about that. He was out of Bent and he was sporting a hole in his stomach, and that just meant that no one expected him to make a break for it.

Couldn’t hurt to raise your Body a little bit first.

Won’t help either. Calvin couldn’t exactly exercise to raise his physical abilities before nightfall.

“Good work, ‘Net.” Andra said, nodding to the medic and leaving.

“Thank you ma’am, Annette said, flustered, trying to bow while the roll of gause was still attached to Cal’s waist. It tugged on his side, and she froze mid-bow when Cal gave a sharp hiss of pain.

“Just focus on what you’re doing.” Andra said with an amused smile before redirecting her attention to Calvin.

“And you…focus on healing up.”

Cal gave a salute. A real one this time. Andra studied him for a moment before turning and heading back out the door.

“What about me?” Ella asked from her bed.

The Genosian girl was lying face-down on her military size bed, her feet hanging off the bottom. Her back was a bloody mess of bandages where it had absorbed the heat from Bekvah’s attack. If she hadn’t covered Calvin, there was a good chance he’d be dead…or at least significantly less handsome.

Seeing the wounds all over her body raked his heart over hot coals. She would never be the same at this rate. The scar tissue alone would make her movements stiff and most likely cause pain for the rest of her life.

“You got plenty of drugs,” Calvin joked to hide his unease. “You can barely keep your eyes open.”

“True, but I never thought Gadverans…wouldn’t have noeula.”

“Gadverans don’t have anything like that.” Calvin hadn’t quite believed that something could heal a body in seconds. There was no magic, no ability that had that kind of power.

“How does it look?” she asked, her voice carrying a slight tremor.

“Not good.” Calvin replied as tactfully as he could without lying. An idea occurred to him. It would take a long, long time for the wound to even start healing. He just needed to grab her some Noeula too when he rescued Baroke.

Lemme just add going all the way back to the burned down site of the Ironskin tribe to the shopping list. The scratching of pencil on paper echoed in his mind.

“Ella, is there anywhere I could get you some Noelua?” Other than your village.

Ella’s eyes gained a bit of clarity, and she took in her situation before glancing at Annette meaningfully. The medic was sitting in the corner of the room, watching the two of them idly, her eyes glancing at their bandages every now and then.

“Could you give us some time alone?” Calvin asked.

“Sure, I hope I don’t have to tell you not to engage in intercourse, though. Both of your wounds are far too severe.

“What’d she say?”

Cal repeated the medic’s warning.

“Tell her that I have accepted her challenge.” Ella said.

“We accept your challenge.” Cal said, grinning.

“Seriously, don’t do it,” The medic said, giving them one last look before she left. “I’m…I’m gonna be just outside, okay?”

“We’ll be quiet.” Calvin said with a wink.

“Oh, dear.” She said, blushing as she closed the door.

“Alright,” Cal whispered once the door was closed, painfully turning to her. “What did you want to tell me?”

“I can make Noeula.” She whispered back.

“Really?”

Really? Elliot’s mind-voice sounded like it was leaning closer.

“Bring me the pouch of black ichor from the steel monster’s parts, and a Joyaga corpse.”

Interesting…. Elliot began to muse in the back of Calvin’s mind.

Joyaga were like small versions of the Kugeya – small being relative – with hundreds of legs and forelimbs that carried an absolutely lethal poison. They were almost as dangerous, but much easier to trap or outrun.

I saw a bunch of them strung up in the freezer, actually. Were they ingredients for the noeula?

Duh.

“I’ll get them,” Calvin said, nodding. It was going to be a busy night.

Ella’s arm whipped out to grab him as he tried to turn away, and she let out a brief cry of pain as the skin on her back shifted, cracking. In a second, she muscled the pain down.

“Don’t tell anyone. That is knowledge that belongs to my tribe alone. Don’t. Tell. Anyone.”

“I won’t tell anyone. If anyone asks, I’ll stab them.”

What about me? Do I count?

Ella smiled and slowly brought her hand back, careful not to shift the skin of her back quickly. Her eyes slid closed, and she fell back asleep, lulled by the powerful drugs provided by the wealthy nation. Calvin’s eyes lingered on the new patches of blood where her back had craked open just now.

I’m going to fix that.

As Calvin made that resolution, a burly man with a large sack over his shoulder entered Calvin’s room.

“Are you…Calvin?” he asked, consulting a sheet of paper. His burlap sack clanged to the ground with the ring of steel on steel.

“Yessir.”

“Good, Let’s get this done. There’s hundreds more wounded that need my attention today, and some of them are probably going to mutate because I had to attend to you personally.”

***

Your Body has reached 10!

14/26 Warp remaining.

“It’s there!” Calvin said, dropping the weight and sighing in relief. He had no idea how bad muscle-targeted exercises could be, but true to the man’s word, it hadn’t aggravated his wound, and raised his Body.

Half an hour of vigorously pumping iron had left Cal’s biceps, triceps, and forearms feel like they were going to burst out of his skin. The trainer had been surprised that Cal’s physical abilities had been maxed out, which helped Body level without accidentally spending his Warp on Strength, Endurance or Kinesthetics.

“Good,” Matt the trainer said, his bushy beard waggling as he spoke. Now I need to teach you Toughness. This should only take a couple min –“ Matt’s words were cut off by a soft, princess-like knock.

“May I come in?” Kala’s voice came through the door and Matt’s eyebrows rose, glancing over to Calvin meaningfully.

“Sure,” Calvin said. He was wearing pants, after all.

The trainer cuffed him on the crown of his head, jostling his brain and making his wound hurt.

“Put a shirt on, idiot, the princess –“ The door opened, and Kala walked in, heedless of Calvin’s lack of shirt. He felt a small spike of ardor from her when her gaze landed on his chest.

Her eyes turned to the trainer. “Have you taught him Toughness yet?”

“Just about to ma’am,” he said, bowing low.

“I’ll take care of it, Your work is needed more urgently in the sick ward. There are dozens of men on the verge of Mutating, so you should look to them.”

“But Andra said-“

“I will take on your responsibility,” Kala said with dignity. “I will teach him Toughness.”

“Well…” the burly, bearded man glanced back and forth between Cal and Kala hesitantly before nodding. “All right.” He swiftly packed up his weights and threw the sack over his shoulder before heading out, shooting them one last confused glance over his shoulder before he left.

Kala watched him until she was sure he was gone, then turned back to Calvin. In an instant her straight posture and perfectly smooth movements went out the window, and she slouched with a sigh.

“I hate lying to people.” She said before glancing around. “Where’s Ella?”

Calvin nodded over his shoulder.

Kala walked halfway around Calvin, spotting the wounded Genosian laying on her bed, drugged into a stupor. She gasped and rushed toward her.

“This is horrible!” she said, stopping herself just shy of touching the girl’s wounds. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes.” Cal said with every ounce of conviction he could manage.

“But the scars…” Even Kala could see that they would be extensive. The concern was more than cosmetic. If they were bad enough, she might never be able to move normally again.

“She’s going to be fine. I guarantee it.” Cal said.

Kala studied Calvin’s face for a moment, contemplative.

“I see. I look forward to being pleasantly surprised,” she said, lapsing back into her princess demeanor. From her gaze, he could tell that she’d slipped into that behavior because she was planning something and didn’t want him to know what it was.

Princess Poker Face. Huh.

Kala’s eyebrow twitched.

Calvin dismissed it quickly. Even if she were planning something, his Feel Intent didn’t tell him what it was, just that she didn’t harbor any ill-will. He’d have to trust that whatever she sprung on him in the future was in his best interest.

“I came here to visit and see how you were faring,” she said, moving smoothly to stand in front of his bed again, peering at his slightly seeping gauze curiously.

“I’ll be fine, according to the medics, I got one of those million dust wounds. I’ll be back up and about in no time.”

Kala heaved a gentle sigh of relief, but her gaze kept sliding back to Ella lying on her belly, her back a bloody canvass.

“I was going to tease the two of you about last night, threaten to erase your memories, but…the situation is sobering. We really are at war, and I can’t do anything to help. Too valuable they say.” She clenched her fists in frustration.

“You can help, though.”

“How’s that?” she asked, peering up at him.

“A moral boosting campaign based around princess hand jobs. With your sexual orientation, you could actually handle the needs of a wide variety of – ack!”

Kala grabbed a pillow and bashed it into Calvin’s face, knocking him backward. He tried to arrest his fall, but his wound screamed out in pain, forcing him to reflexively relax his stomach, allowing himself to fall backward.

He slammed back onto the bed, groaning in pain as his wound screamed mindlessly.

That was a bit less princess-y than I was expecting.

Kala jumped onto the bed and started smothering him with the pillow, her delicate wrists like iron.

“You. Will. Forget. Everything!” She shouted, her voice barely audible past the pillow that was covering his mouth and nose.

Isn’t this a bad situation? Cal thought, for a brief second fearing for his life as the enraged girl ground the pillow into his face.

Eventually though, the pillow was retracted to reveal a heavily blushing Kala glaring down at him.

“I mean, maybe we could narrow the scope of that campaign to just me and Ella – mmfff!” The pillow was pressed over his face again, until he worried for his safety.

Just when he was starting to feel lightheaded, she pulled the pillow away.

“Are you gonna keep talking about it?” she demanded, her soft dusky skin almost as red as a cherry.

“As long as it gets a reaction from you.” Cal said with a shrug.

She pursed her lips in consideration.

“I see. I didn’t want to kill you in front of Ella, but you’ve forced my hand. She’s the second person I’ve ever been able to go shopping with without them trying to marry their son to me, or invite me to some political social event. She’ll forgive me in time, I’m sure.”

“Who’s the first?” Calvin asked, frowing.

“Your sister.”

“Ouch.”

Kala glanced over her shoulder to the door, where people could walk in at any time to see the princess of their country smothering a wounded man. Kala climbed off the bed and helped Calvin to sit up. She glanced around to make sure no one was there.

“You are the most distracting boy I’ve ever met. I came here to teach you a defensive skill. If anybody asks, it’s Dodge, okay?

Calvin nodded.

“It’s called Beli Ma,” she said conspiratorily.

“Belly mom?”

Kala glared at him.

“Shutting up.”

“It’s a Skill that’s been passed down among nobility for generations, based on redirecting force. It’s superior to Dodge. You can get dodge by people throwing things at you. This is way better. More suited to someone like you, who doesn’t like wearing heavy armor.”

“Cool.”

“Just be quiet while I tell you how to use it.” she said, rolling her eyes.

She stepped away from the bed and made an unprincess-like stance, her legs spread wide and her body crouched low to the earth.

“Watch my whole body,” she said. She began preforming a slow dance, moving sinuously from stance to stance.

Cal couldn’t see anything at first, but he eventually noticed the light around her seemed to be shimmering.

“That’s…what is that?”

“Try to copy my movements. As you do, imagine the Bent moving into your hands to allow you to redirect blows around you, causing them to miss.”

Does this ability use one Bent to counter one attack? That doesn’t seem better than Dodge…at all.

Cal continued to follow her movements, finding himself deciphering them, rapidly understanding their function, as the Warp lent him an afternoon of prodigy-level improvement.

Once he had the arm movements – he couldn’t walk very well – She began to slowly practice with him making slow punches toward him that he slowly deflected with Bent-laden palms.

You have manifested Beli Ma!

An ancient defensive art that was adapted to Bent use in the late Harbinger Era from an even more ancient defensive art. The Skill Allows a user to consciously warp the trajectory of any attack. At higher levels, it transitions to an unconscious aura.

^I’ve seen this one before! -Elliot

Beli Ma has reached Level 1!

Beli Ma level 1: Redirect force. 5% correction.

13/26 Warp remaining.

Kala waited patiently as he looked the skill over.

“Does it take Bent?” Calvin asked, frowning.

“No.” Kala said, shaking her head. “It circulates it inside of you, so it never leaves your body, even when it redirects attacks beyond your reach.”

“How does that work?” Calvin asked.

“The entire concept of the art is based on circles,” She said, motioning. “The Bent leaves your body, deflects the attack, then goes back to your body, in a circle.”

“What if you’re empty?” Cal asked.

“I suggest not being empty, but if you’re out, the Skill can still be used, just less effective than it might otherwise be.”

“Alright,” Cal said, nodding. Only four Skill slots left, he thought, slightly miffed. Never thought I’d get so little magics.

“You look disappointed about the secret technique I just taught you.” She said, her voice flat.

“Just thought I’d get more spells than this.”

“You’ve done far more than anyone ever expected you to.” Kala said, patting Calvin on the back. “ If it makes you feel any better, Andra told my father that you’re highly dangerous and hiding several unknown abilities.”

“She really things I’m dangerous?” Cal asked, hope creeping back into his voice. Yeah, it doesn’t matter so much how many spells I have, it’s about how much I can do with them, and how that’s perceived by my enemies.

That reminds me, I need to put more time into raising Sense-Grafting.

“Thanks Kala!” Cal gave the princess a hug. She stiffened against him for a moment before relaxing, her body softening against him, her arms folding around his back. After a moment, they let go, and Cal found his face inches away from hers.

Everywhere their skin touched was tingling, jumpstarting his heart. The pain of his wound faded away as he looked into Kala’s deep brown eyes. Calvin could feel the desire radiating from her like heat from a bonfire.

“You know,” Kala said hesitantly, “I could –“

“Ride him like an ornery Guar.” Ella groaned from her bed, watching them with an eye twinkling with mischief.

Kala panicked and shoved him away from her, going over to check on Ella.

“Ow,” Cal said, staring up at the ceiling, his wound aching from the shove.

“Are you all right?” Kala asked, kneeling beside Ella.

“Of course. I was just thinking how uselessly soft Gadveran sheets are, when I got the opportunity to spend a few weeks face-to-face with them.” Ella’s voice was soft as her eyes began to slide closed again. “See if my tone changes.”

Calvin rolled onto his side and carefully used his back muscles to get himself upright before grabbing his shirt and trying to put it on. Trying being the operative word, as his wound prevented him from moving the way he wanted to. He eventually got his arms into the shirt, but raising them over his head was painful.

“Here,” he heard Kala’s voice through the shirt, and felt her tug it down until his head popped out.

“Much appreciated,” Calvin said, grabbing his temporary cane. “I’m going to go see your uncle. Did you want to come?”

“I think I’ll actually stay and look after Ella for a while.” Kala said politely.

Calvin nodded and left the room.

***Kala***

Kala watched Calvin leave the room before sitting on the bed across from the Genosian savage, who watched her with a knowing grin.

“What exactly is your relationship with Calvin?” She asked, trying not to let her eyes wander to the Genosian’s generous breasts squished up beneath her chest. They were practically spilling out from beneath her. And the muscles of her long arms…Mmm

Kala’s eyes snapped back up, her spine straightened. This person is wounded. You are a princess. Maintain decorum.

“Wondering if there’s room for you?” Ella asked.

“I didn’t say that.” Kala retorted, wincing at how close to the mark Ella had come. “I don’t…I can’t…” Kala came short of words for a time.

“A princess can’t be seen to be engaging in a..relationship like that. I have to project an image of virtue and reserve myself for my wedding.”

She explained that she held an important responsibility should her father ever need to secure an alliance with another country. The current state of the war made that almost inevitable. She would be shipped overseas where she would be married to a stranger and spend the rest of her life subtly shifting her husband’s decisions to favor Gadvera. That was her duty.

“Wow,” Ella said, her eyes widening. “Sucks to be you.”

Kala felt the stormclouds behind her eyes as she felt her childhood friend slip farther away behind a wall of propriety. She swallowed it back.

“What’s…What’s it like?” At least she could experience some kind of vicarious closeness from Ella until she was sent away. Even if it was painful.

“What’s what like?” The saw-toothed woman asked curiously, forcing Kala to spell it out. Is she doing that on purpose or does she genuinely not know? Her limited Gadveran makes these talks difficult.

“Being…together with him.”

Ella’s brows rose and a hint of a smile formed on the half of her face that wasn’t mashed against a pillow. “Wow, you’re more of a keyoia than I thought.”

Kala leaned forward and began to deny it vehemently. She didn’t know what a keyoia was, but it was probably not great.

“That’s not what-”

Ella grunted in pain as she reached out with her long arms and pinched Kala’s nose, making her lose her words.

“We haven’t done anything yet, little princess, but if it’s your duty to marry someone who can provide aid to your country, wouldn’t it behoove you to arrange for Calvin to be such a person?”

Kala’s eyes widened.

“I never tought ob dat.” She said, the Genosian still pinching her nose.

***Calvin***

Your Mind has reached 24!

1/26 Warp remaining.

“Thank you. I don’t know how I can repay you for this.” Calvin said, handing the gold-lined puzzle book back to Bekvah. The spectacled wizard lay in a lavish bed, with an aged doctor taking care of him. The prince’s thin frame was covered in gauze where he’d taken a deep wound in his chest and lost his right hand.

Calvin had been fooling himself, thinking he was a high value target. Shortly after the prince had arrived, he’d been set upon by the entire Ilethan army, who had furiously tried to see him put in a grave.

“Happy to help.” Bekvah said with a smile as he reclined against the silk-covered pillows. His hawkish nose carried indents where his spectacles should have rested, his glasses rested on the desk beside him. The grey-haired doctor was tending Bekvah’s wound with such care and precision that there could only be a Skill at play.

He glanced at the doctor and gave him a nod. The elderly woman understood his meaning and left the room, silently closing the door behind her.

“C’mere.” He said, motioning Calvin closer with his uninjured hand.

Confused, Calvin stepped closer.

“I never married, never really had an interest in it, but I love Kala like a daughter.” He said, meeting Calvin’s eyes. Calvin could feel sadness and determination in his gaze.

“I want you to make sure she never gets taken by the Ilethans. They have spells that can wear down a person’s identity and twist them into something else. If she gets captured, they’ll change her into someone you won’t recognize. Don’t let them take her. under any circumstances. That’s how you can repay me.”

“You want me to kill her?” Calvin asked, confused.

Bekvah reached out to cuff him, and Calvin leaned out of the way. He avoided it, but the strike still hit the top of his head, somehow, sending a lancing pain through his skull.

“Absolutely not, boy. Just keep her out of their hands if there’s absolutely any way you can do that, Understood?”

“Yessir,” Calvin said, rubbing the top of his head.

“Good. I’ve got something for you.” He pointed to the far wall where a plain wooden box sat on the cabinet.

Calvin opened the box, and saw nine steel vials, identical to his Slime vial, including the red Fireball.

“Those belonged to you originally anyway.” He said with a thin smile on his pale lips.

Calvin leaned in closer, and spotted tiny script etched into the vials, along with unique colors and textures

Steam. It had a matte surface with grey coloring

Void. shiny and black.

Web. White spiderwebs were painstakingly drawn across the surface, so he could feel them with his fingers.

Lightning. Electric blue with raised jagged bolts drawn on it.

Flash. A sun was depicted on the side, a brilliant ball of light.

Miasma. Dark green with stylized vapors drawn on it.

Cannon. It was orange and black with a raised picture of a cannon on it. It had a raised arrow pointing the direction it was meant to be faced.

Poison. Purple with a raised white skull.

Calvin carefully slipped them into the sleeves built into his belt, right beside his metal marble. He knew they weren’t particularly dangerous, in and of themselves…except maybe the poison. The danger they represented in his own hands was what gave him pause.

“Use them wisely.” Bekvah said. “Andra didn’t think a teenager should have access to those, but lucky for you, I outrank her.”

“Thank you.” Calvin said, giving his first honest salute to the wounded wizard.

“No, thank you for lending them to me,” Bekvah said.

Cal said his goodbyes, then walked out of Bakvah’s room, using the cane to avoid aggravating the muscles around his wound. It was precarious, but he managed to get it done. He limped out of the palace to where the metal monster’s parts had been shoved off the side of the wall in the haste to clear space, taking the sack of black fluid before turning toward the red light district.

Gotta make sure not to put too much emotion into it, or else I’ll get a Walking With Canes Skill.

Cal was passing by the barracks on the way to his second meeting with Perthea, when a commotion from the Barracks caught his attention.

“Wake up, Steva! Wake up!”

“He’s already started, hold him down!”

“Mutation!”

The cries of young men and women turned Calvin’s feet – and cane – toward the barracks.

Calvin limped toward the sound, entering the barracks that housed the wounded infantry, and stopped short, stunned at what he saw.

The young man who he’d seen sleeping on the side of the parapet was lying in bed with his eyes closed, but he was not the picture of peace. Three other soldiers were crowding around him, busily trying to strap him down with knotted bedsheets.

The soldier’s jaw was clenched, his teeth creaking against each other as he shivered violently, nearly thrashing out of his bed.

In front of Calvin’s eyes, he saw the soldier’s jaw elongate, pulling the rest of his face forward with it. For a breathless moment, the changes seemed almost natural, as if he was looking at a perfect blend of man and animal.

Then the lower kept extending forward, while the rest stayed where it was, his teeth growing into a mangled mess of distorted canines that jutted out into the air.

The man’s bones began to creak and shift under his clothes, popping apart with a sound like they were relieving pressure from the rest of his body. His chest deformed around the restraints and incorporating them, flesh and sheets becoming one.

The man’s left arm dislocated and began to writhe around like it had a mind of it’s own, slipping out from beneath the restraints and slapping against one of the people holding him down, causing her to stagger away before she leapt back on top of the man and forced the rapidly changing arm down onto the bed.

“I’m calling it,” A grizzled veteran shouted, pulling out a knife and burying the blade in Steva’s eye. The arm kept wiggling after the body went still.

“What happened?” Cal asked, attracting the attention of the woman, who cradled her swelling arm.

“Bad mutation,” She said, watching the corpse with a pained expression. “Steva was hit in the head bad while he was on the wall. He had a Break and plenty of Warp to spend, but we couldn’t wake him up. He had too much Warp. One or two points of Warp, and you’ll probably still be a person, but Steva had fourteen. Just too much.”

“I’m sorry,” Cal nodded and left before he could attract any attention.

He’d been warned not to leave Warp unspent, but nothing drove it home more than seeing it in front of him. If that’s what mutation is supposed to be like, what does that make me?

A masterpiece.

I’m going to ignore that ominous statement and focus my attention on the rescue plan.

Calvin limped out to meet Perthea. He entered the building they’d agreed to meet in, and found the middle-aged whore entertaining a couple richly dressed women.

“Ah, there you are. We were thinking that perhaps you’d been one of the unfortunate losses on the wall.”

“Terrible thing, that,” the Gadveran woman with a pinched face said. “Just awful.”

Calvin’s skin crawled at the mannerisms of the women that spoke of overwhelming amounts of wealth.

“Perthea approached us with an offer we couldn’t refuse,” the other woman said. she was slightly dumpy and missing a front tooth, a trait she concealed with a rich silk fan in front of her mouth.

“Helping the defense of the city in such a titillating way, I never would have imagined.” The other said, grinning as she looked Cal over with a predatory smile. “And with a Malkenrovian boy. Exotic.”

Let’s get this over with, Calvin thought, mentally rolling up his sleeves.

3/11 Bent remaining.

4/11 Bent remaining.

5/11 Bent remaining.

6/11 Bent remaining.

7/11 Bent remaining.

8/11 Bent remaining.

9/11 Bent remaining.

10/11 Bent remaining.

11/11 Bent remaining.

“My merciful god.” The dumpy woman with the missing tooth said, shamelessly sprawling herself out on the couch and using her fan on herself in earnest. “That was better than you said, Perthea.

“Agreed,” The other woman said, slumped forward in her chair.

The smaller woman reached into her purse and handed Perthea two gold coins…half a glimmer for his services.

Damn.

Novelty Pseudo-sex sells, I guess.

Perthea motioned to hand him half, but Calvin shook his head. “Just spread the word. I’ll need more tomorrow. If I’m still alive, that is.”

“Well, thank you ladies. It’s been an honor, but I must attend to other matters.”

“’onor’s mine,” The woman on the chair groaned, giving him a thumbs-up.

Calvin limped out into the street. He glanced up at the wall, spotting significantly less density up there than the day before.

It was only two o’clock in the afternoon. Plenty of time before the sun went down.

Now I just need to find a quiet place to meditate.

Calvin paid a silver quarter for a room where nobody could interrupt him, then laid down and closed his eyes, arms folded over his chest.

Eye of the Tiger

Shadow boxing

…

….

Calvinian Summoning has reached level 7!

level 7: 343 pound limit, 49 minutes. 0 slots available.

Calvinian Summoning has reached level 8!

level 8: 512 pound limit, 64 minutes. 0 slots available.

Calvinian Summoning has reached level 9!

level 9: 729 pound limit, 81 minutes. 0 slots available.

Calvinian Summoning has reached level 10! Shadow boxing will have no more effect until Meditation reaches a higher level.

level 10: 1000 pound limit, 100 minutes. 1 slot available.

+1 Will

Please choose an Ability or Mutation.

Calvin opened his eyes and peered at the light falling onto the floor through the window.

He’d spent maybe two hours, and used the spell tens of thousands of simulated times, bypassing years of waiting for Bent to recover, or bribing women to provide Bent for him. Even the quarter speed penalty was rendered meaningless.

Calvin redirected his attention to the System

Please choose an Ability or Mutation.

Abilities:

Variety is the spice of Death : 2 extra slots, +1 extra slot every 5th level, rather than 10th

Atom Ant: Sacrifice Mass of summon for increase to physical attributes of summon. 1 to 1 ratio. 1 summon's worth of mass lost empowers 1 summon with double physical attributes. (Max multiplicative power equal to Calvinian Summoning Level)

Chimera: The user may rearrange parts from any slotted creature onto any other slotted creature in any combination.(New slot every 10th level)

Mutations:

Heart of the Swarm: Your mass may be added to the effect of Calvinian Summoning. You disintegrate into the summoning, controlling the swarm from inside. If the spell expires, or the mass of living summons drops to your mass, you immediately recombine at the center of mass of the remaining summons.

I choose Heart of the Swarm. Cal thought.

User will be rendered unconscious while Mutation is taking place.

Cal’s body started itching, and he had to force his hands to the bed until sleep took him.

When Calvin opened his eyes again, the sun was just starting to go down outside the inn’s window.

I’ve got time, he thought, stretching an ache out of his back.

…

…..

Chained Spirit has reached level 3!

Chained Spirit level 3: 45 pound limit, 27 minutes. 1 slot available.

Chained Spirit has reached level 4!

Chained Spirit level 4: 80 pound limit, 64 minutes. 1 slot available.

Chained Spirit has reached level 5!

Chained Spirit level 5: 125 pound limit, 64 minutes. 1 slot available.

+1 Will

Please Choose an Ability or Mutation.

Abilities:

Continuity: The Chained spirit remembers time spent during each summon, is aware of what the user is aware of while it was unsummoned, and can learn or improve System and non-System Skills to the limit of Chained Spirit.

Bent: The Chained Spirit gains a limited pool to draw from to fuel Abilities. The effects of the abilities are extentions of Chained Spirit and not actual Bent. Pool is 1/5th the level of Chained Spirit.

Chained Minds: All active Chained Spirits and the user share senses and can communicate telepathically.

Mutations:

Siphon: Chained Spirit gains the Lady Killer mutation, any Bent drained is sent to the User.

Voodoo U: Damage taken by caster is absorbed by Chained spirit instead.

Consume: 1 Bent to consume a corpse on touch. Size limit mirrors Chained Spirit’s.

No more pesky things going moldy in the fridge while you’re working through the leftovers.

Cal read through them quickly, but decided to abstain. Each of them were incredibly useful, in context, but none helped him immediately, so it would be a bad idea to select one without a plan.

Now, all I need to do is sneak out of the castle and rescue Baroke. No big deal.

Calvin opened his eyes and slid out of bed. The sun was well and fully down, now. the perfect time to change into a swarm of wasps and fly behind enemy lines.

Heart of the Swarm fixed his travelling problem, so all he really needed to do was carry Baroke, and if he was the one directly controlling the swarm, it would be easy to do so without harming him. And snag a deadly poisonous insect without exposing himself to harm so he could make a strange bubbling healing potion.

Let’s do this, he thought, putting his feet on the ground and flexing his toes in preparation.

“You’re taking me with you.”

“Gah!” Calvin flinched, raising his hands in a defensive posture.

Kala was sitting quietly in the corner, delicate hands folded over her lap.

“When did you get here?” Calvin demanded the dark-skinned princess.

“Two hours ago. You seemed busy, so I waited.”

“I can’t take you. It’ll be much easier if I go by myself…and how did you know I was leaving?”

“Ella felt that you were up to something stupid.”

“Damn,” Calvin muttered.

“I did something…uncharacteristic,” Kala said. “You cannot refuse. Take me with you, or it will bring down such misery on your head that it will beggar belief.” She said, her voice sweet and gentle.

What is it with the women in my life?

Hold on, I got this, Elliot said, his voice growing closer. Booga booga! RAWR!

Kala’s fingers twitched, and her eyes narrowed.

“Tell your passenger that he’ll have to do better than that.”

Huh, damn. Guess you’re on your own. Cal heard the sound of a chair scoot across floor as Elliot sat back down.

“I’m coming with you.” She said again.

In the distance, Cal heard a voice shout, barely audible.

“Someone’s taken the Princess! Alarm! Alarm!”

You have manifested Your Princess Is In Another Castle!

0/26 warp remaining.

Your Princess is in Another Castle: Aids in the logistics of successfully kidnapping princesses. Also Boosts attractiveness to princesses and renders them more amenable to being whisked away.

Your Princess is in Another Castle level 1: 5% Correction.

5th Break complete.

There was a moment of silence before Calvin heard the sound of a wooden chair shattering and Elliot laughing maniacally.

Bwaahahah!

***

In the depth of the palace, Ella began to shiver, her features subtly shifting.