January 18, 2019, 8:00 pm.

As I prep the water for tonight's bath, Smoulder and I start on her obstacle course, though I only put up a couple basic sections at the moment.

Despite the lack of skill increases, it feels like practicing these complicated manipulations helps me refine my skill. In fact, the more I experiment, the less accurate I feel the notification increases are. Sure, they seem to reflect some tangible change to the ease with which I draw mana forth and direct it into my spells. But they don't reflect my increasingly fine control over each element.

Nor does it entirely explain why I'm still noticing improvements in my ability to handle multiple objects at once.

Perhaps the system only regulates how much power I can bring forth? It doesn't feel like the change is coming from outside myself. But maybe that's just how deeply the system is ingrained inside me.

I contemplate this strange conundrum for several minutes but there's no clear answer.

Adding another note to self, I bring up the ability shop then go straight to the pet sub-option, Basic - Development Menu.

Purchasing it for five points, I bring up Smoulder's new and improved interface.

General Ability Shop price abbreviations:

INP: Integration points PRP: Progression points ADP: Advancement points

SMOULDER

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

12

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

14

(+/-)

AGILITY

100

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

50

(+/-)

INTELLECT

11

(+/-)

SPIRIT

21

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

82

(+/-)

RESOLVE

75

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

238/238

[11.3]

(146)/day

Stamina

273/273

[26.3]

(208)/day

Mana

242/242

[12.2]

(151)/day

Focus

320/320

[25.5]

(242)/day

Matrix

Ignis

71/71

[4.4]

(47)/hour

Smoulder Development - Basic options.

"Warning! You have bound a mana-warped creature as a companion. Your choices will be proposed but must be confirmed by your companion to take effect."

"Huh. I knew you were special," I say to Smoulder, climbing into the bath before turning back to the screen.

Basic Options:

Class selection available: Pyroskimmer (uncommon): Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility maximum. Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and focus, minor increase to health. Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.” Pyroranger (uncommon) Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility and Endurance maximum. Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and focus, small increase to health, minor increase to mana. Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.

"What do you think, Smoulder? Are you ready to choose a class? Or do you want to hold off? Maybe we'll unlock something even better!" I ask Smoulder as I read through the short list again.

Smoulder sends a general feeling of not being impressed with any of her available options. She wants something more distinctly fire-based.

Laughing, I move on to the next menu while trying to think of how we might improve Smoulder's options.

Synergistic abilities unlocked: The Bunny House: Creates an extradimensional home for Smoulder. Unlocked by Temporal and Spatial manipulation of fifty each. Cost: 1 user's class ability point. Here Bunny. Summon Smoulder from anywhere within range. The range is limited by the user's available facet. Current estimated range: 157km. Unlocked by Return spell and spatial manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 user's class ability point. Hotfoot: Smoulder is able to create tangible platforms of flame. She can use these to hop through the air or as low strength shields. Unlocked by Flight spell and fire manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class) Flaming Ball o'doom: Smoulder is able to leave a fiery wake, blasting forward at the head of a raging whirlwind of fire. Unlocked by Blazing Torrent spell and fire of manipulation fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class)

Okay. I think I need to pick up both the first and second abilities. The others are cool but useless. Until Smoulder has a class that is.

Known Species Evolutions: (requires pet class) Magma-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met) Ash-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met) Steam-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met) Fire-Storm-Hare, (Rare), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met)

Wow. A lot of choices are locked out due to her not having a class. It won't even give me more details on the options, just indicating that Smoulder requires a class. I guess I should be grateful it's even allowing us to see the options.

…..

Nope. Jerk move. Show me more or keep it to yourself.

When I float the idea of becoming an Ash- or Magma-Hare by Smoulder, her response is along the lines of 'does it make her even more hotter than hot?'

Letting her know I have no idea, I shrug then move on to the last section.

Point conversion: Integration point rate: 3:5, three user integration points will grant five integration points of an equivalent rank to their pet. Progression point rate: 1:2, one user progression points will grant two progression points of an equivalent rank to their pet. Advancement point rate: 1:1, one user advancement point will grant one advancement point of an equivalent rank to their pet.

Seems like there's a lot of resources required to keep Smoulder in the same relative power level. Luckily, Raz indicated that with enough time a person could get enough points to increase their attributes well into copper rank. It might require a bit of investment, but keeping Smoulder at comparable levels should be negligible. Well, compared to the thousands of points increasing copper rank attributes would take, anyway.

It's almost too bad Smoulder doesn't want either of her class options. I could level her up twice as fast as I can level.

Then again, I might not need to spend any resources on her, now that I think about it. If she's getting her own quest rewards, I wonder if that means she'll get the rewards from the overarching quest?

Deciding I should reach out to Rufka, since she's the only other pet owner I know, I connect.

"Hey, Rufka?" I start, not caring if I disturb her in the middle of something. She probably deserves it.

"Oh, hey Lexi. You're getting kind of lazy, using this when we're in the same building." Rufka teases. Yep. Definitely deserves it.

"Just didn't want to leave my bath, ya know?" I respond while letting the water trail through my fingers. While it's floating upwards. Because I can.

There's a pause on the other end before Rufka responds, "You're contacting me from the bath? Are you bored or something? I have aids that can make bath time more fun."

Blushing I'm suddenly glad I'm alone where no one can see me.

"Uh. No… At least that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," I quickly object. I wasn't thinking about that. Even if I am kind of curious what a K'tharn would use. I mean, they didn't keep their pu'shaha around. What would that mean for…

Right, not important. Pet upgrades.

"Oh, so you are interested?" Rufka asks before I can ask about Smoulder.

"Never said that," I half-heartedly deny while moving on, "I had questions about pets."

"Oh. Pets. Boring," Rufka chuckles, "what about them?"

"Smoulder isn't boring," I object. "I wanted to know if pets can receive progression points as quest rewards or if they're limited to integration points?"

"They get the rewards that are listed in your quest log if it has the pet tag. Wait, is one of our quests… Why of all the Vaus blasted balthen-sucking…." Rufka's voice trails off into quieter and more obscure sounding curse words.

"Wow, you okay there Rufka?"

"I'm going to have to take Tuffie back to both of the challenges we completed today, that's all."

"Oh. That's all, is it? I'll leave you alone with your boring pet. Later," I say, cutting the connection while sinking deeper into the tub.

Then I check my quest log for this pet tag she was talking about.

It's very apparent. It has the word {pet} inside brackets with a little icon of a round head with bunny ears. Strangely, the challenge hidden quest is marked with the pet tag but the main quest isn't. None of my personal quests are marked with the pet tag, nor are the survival or anti-corruption quests.

"Well, it looks like you don't get rewards from most quests, do you?" I say to Smoulder. She just replies with a general sense of disinterest, wondering if I'm going to set up an obstacle course already.

Laughing, I bring her course up, creating new obstacles inspired by today's challenges including collapsing platforms. I consider adding balancing beams but realize Smoulder could jump past any beam I create. Wiggling, Smoulder launches herself at the course while I lay back.

If I could move like Smoulder does, I'd never have trouble with these obstacle course challenges.

Once Smoulder and I are finished indulging ourselves, we head back to the common room where we spend the next couple hours with Roberts, Tipan and Rufka.

When I suggest we should spend some of our mana essence, we spend five minutes discussing how many each of us should use. Eventually, we decide on holding three in reserve while using the rest. For me, this means I'm gaining seven integration points from essence.

The process feels similar to submerging myself in a bath, the essence washing over me, before sinking through my skin. A very quick bath that lasts for a fraction of a fraction of a second.

Investing my points in Resolve, I ask Raz if he has any drafting supplies. He provides me with a huge stack of paper, several crude pencils and some advice for a handful of essence.

After he discovered I have earth and metal manipulation, he recommends I use them together to create an effectively infinite pencil. I do this by creating graphite inside a steel pen-like holder. Mana-wise, graphite is surprisingly cheap, at least for the quantity I'm using. Earth manipulation also works as an incredible eraser, lifting any graphite away from the paper without leaving smudges. My efforts to use it to draw directly are abysmal though.

With pencil and supplies secured, I join the others in feasting on a small mountain of different foods. As I finish a bowl of fruit salad, I begin drawing the promised Phothean world-ship designs.

Once I finish the first sketches, Rufka prods me to provide drawings of the other ships. Since I'm enjoying drawing freehand, I acquiesce far too easily. Roberts and Tipan aren't as interested in the ships as Rufka but everyone makes a game of guessing what each ship is designed for. Even though I know the technical specs, I don't have as much of an advantage as I'd like.

Now that Rufka has her drawings in hand, it's with some trepidation that I add a flask of moonshine to my pack.

No matter how useful, it still tastes awful.

Rufka assures me there's enough for a full 30 days in the flask. And not only does she have more, but she can make moonshine with the right ingredients with a couple basic tools she carries with her. I'm hoping I don't need it thirty days from now, but it's important information to have.

Even though I gave her the drawings, Rufka keeps bugging me for more details about the Phothean ship as we play another game of billiards. So, Roberts suggests she just get the codex from me, mentioning it might cause a headache.

Rufka eagerly accepts, but no headache ensues. I guess she has enough spirit.

Heading to bed, I can't help but wonder what's going on with Josh. He keeps avoiding me. And when he's not avoiding me, he's snapping or flinching away. At least today was better than yesterday.

Sighing, I pull Smoulder close while weaving a picture out of twilight. It's the old picture from the end table in my apartment. The one where Mr. Edwards was cut out. But when I recreate it, I leave him in. It was never his fault, so why did I keep blaming him?

When sleep takes me, my last half-formed thought flits through my mind.

I wonder if Mr. Edwards has his own version of a pink bathrobe.

When I wake, Smoulder is sleeping on my chest, her fluffy tail dominating my view. Not wanting to disturb her, I take a quick look over my newly increased attributes.

While I'm at it I decide to reorganize my skills. It only takes a minute to organize them alphabetically while shortening several of the skill names. Then, as I'm laying here, I realize I haven't looked at my party members' resources in a while either, so I bring them up, arranging everything in front of me, all at once.

Spoiler: Spoiler

PANDORA

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

13

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

86

(+/-)

SPIRIT

86

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

33

(+/-)

RESOLVE

31

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

101/101

[6.3]

(50)/d

Stamina

96/96

[7.6]

(50)/d

Mana

540/540

[49.0]

(423)/d

Focus

442/442

[32.9]

(300)/d

Matrix

Facet

143/143

[11.5]

(105)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[43.3]

Elemental

[43.3]

Temporal

[68.5]

Spatial

[68.5]

Matrix - Skill Level

Support - Skill Level

Mana - 86

Cleaning - 60

Runic - 18

Cooking - 0

Spatial - 53

Crafting - Skill Level

Temporal - 86

Ceramics - 28

Combat - Skill Level

Metal Shaping - 40

Throwing - 13

Stone Shaping - 37

Elemental - Skill Level

Tailoring - 3

Earth - 86

Woodworking - 1

Fire - 86

Movement - Skill Level

Ice - 43

Climbing - 8

Lightning - 86

Flight - 31

Metal - 57

Riding - 8

Stone - 75

Running - 11

Twilight - 51

Swimming - 1

Water - 86

Knowledge - Skill Level

Wind - 86

Engineering - 41

Gaming - 3

Survival - TF - 13

ROSE

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

180/180

[15.3]

(118)/day

Stamina

171/171

[10.7]

(104)/day

Mana

76/76

[2.1]

(40)/day

Focus

76/76

[8.2]

(44)/day

Matrix

Petal

45/45

[3.6]

(29)/hour

Thorn

18/18

[1.3]

(11)/hour

RAVEN QUEEN

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

154/154

[8.8]

(90)/day

Stamina

154/154

[8.8]

(91)/day

Mana

219/219

[13.2]

(138)/day

Focus

262/262

[21.9]

(188)/day

Matrix

Umbra

68/68

[5.3]

(48)/hour

ROBERTS

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

144/144

[6.65]

(82)/day

Stamina

186/186

[18.65]

(127)/day

Mana

101/113

[7.35]

(65)/day

Focus

104/116

[6]

(65)/day

Matrix

Reprieve

48/48

[4.3]

(32)/hour

Rufka

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

434/434

[26.5]

(299)/day

Stamina

554/554

[49.4]

(444)/day

Mana

316/316

[18.7]

(199)/day

Focus

344/344

[22.2]

(225)/day

Matrix

Blitz

165/165

[13.9]

(122)/hour

Tipan

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

235/235

[13.3]

(148)/day

Stamina

247/247

[14.8]

(154)/day

Mana

582/582

[38]

(404)/day

Focus

506/506

[32.6]

(336)/day

Matrix

Aero

93/93

[5.5]

(59)/hour

I've only started to give everything a cursory review when Smoulder wakes up, insisting we go downstairs. Obliging her, I look for anything that leaps out as I get dressed for another day. The only thing I notice is that my mana edge is much higher than Tipan's yet her pool is still bigger than mine. Wonder if that's from an attribute or class difference?

I head downstairs, finding Josh alone, picking at his breakfast.

Deciding this is a good time to get answers or apologize or… something, I approach the table, Smoulder already dozing in my pocket again.

"Morning Josh," I greet him as I take a seat next to him causing him to nearly collapse to the floor in shock.

"Gah! Holy crap, Alexis. You scared me," Josh exclaims, clutching at his chest.

"Yeah. I seem to be doing that a lot lately," I reply, trying not to feel too put out. I did startle him this time.

Josh doesn't answer, poking at his plate.

We sit in awkward silence for a second then both start trying to speak at the same time.

"Listen, Lex. I'm…"

"Josh, I'm..."

We look at each other before we both start chuckling nervously.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," Josh continues, "it's just that when you went all raging avatar of destruction. Well, it reminded me of my sister, Ariane. And not in a good way."

"Oh?" I say, not sure how else to respond.

"When I looked at you, I couldn't stop seeing her face. Hearing her laugh."

"That's… Weird," I say, trying to figure out where he's going with this.

"She kind of went crazy. She shot a kid."

"What? I need more than that Josh," I demand suddenly feeling much worse for the comparison.

"Sorry. Right. So, I was hanging out with this group of friends. And since my sister followed me everywhere, she was too. Not a big deal, having her along. The others didn't seem to mind, and she didn't get in the way. But it turned out these people weren't just a group of friends, they were a gang. With rivals and all that shit."

"Okay," I acknowledge, wondering where this is going.

"And I find out after, one of the members, Belle, had been showing her how to use a gun," he pauses, locking his eyes with mine, "Ariane was only ten years old."

"Anyway, one Saturday we're hanging out together, when another gang comes by, smashing shit, shooting the place up. Next thing I know, there's this kid standing over me with a gun. Couldn't have been older than sixteen," Josh continues, his eyes returning to his plate.

"Holy crap," I exclaim.

"Yeah. I was terrified. Couldn't move. Not my sister though. As I'm staring up at him, out of nowhere, my ears start ringing then blood blossoms from his chest. It took a few seconds to realize Ariane had shot him. I don't know where she got the gun, but she was smiling at me. Laughing. She killed a kid then laughed about it."

"Well. At least you were both okay, right?" I offer consolingly.

"Yeah. I guess. I know she saved my life. But then she asked me if I was proud of her. If she'd done good. I didn't know how to answer her, so I didn't. But the other members of the gang told her how great she was," Josh says before taking a big breath.

"That's kind of messed up," I admit.

"Yeah. We didn't tell our parents, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to split, stop hanging with them but Ariane wanted to stay. The gang took her in as a mascot. So, I stayed too. I wasn't going to leave Ariane alone with them after that," he says as I listen.

"But then she did it again. Only this time someone testified and Ariane got sent to juvie," his eyes meet mine again, glistening in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh Josh, I'm sorry," I say while squeezing his hand, hoping it'll help.

"Yeah. Anyway, I guess when you started blowing people away, it hit pretty hard. Especially since you're like a little sister to me, ya know?"

"Uhm. Really?" I ask, surprised. I mean yeah, he's been there for me but I never really thought he was annoying enough to be a brother. Or even a cousin. Maybe an uncle?

Rufka on the other hand… Yeah, she's annoying enough to be a sister. In a good way.

"Yeah. Sorry. Projecting or something I guess. I thought I'd dealt with all this shit, but apparently not. Beth tried to help me figure it out last night. Rufka mentioned it might be an attribute imbalance, but I feel like that's just an excuse, ya know?"

The second he finishes, I'm already adamantly shaking my head. "Nope. The system is guaranteed screwing with our brains. I've been dealing with its… intricacies a lot. I have a whole new sense which feels completely natural. Like I've always had it. If the system can do that, then having it affect our behaviour seems like a pretty small leap."

"Huh. So, you think it might really be because of an attribute imbalance?" Josh asks, his shoulders slumping as if a massive weight just slipped off his shoulders. Then he attacks his plate with sudden gusto.

"Uh. I wouldn't dismiss it," I answer, watching him devour his meal as another floats out. Right, I should get my own.

"But seriously. Me, your sister?" I ask minutes later as we both finish our breakfasts.

"Well, yeah. You were the same age as my sister when I first met ya. You reminded me of her."

"Really?" I reply, trying to understand how I reminded him of his gun-toting sister.

"Yep. Like I said, same age. Kinda acted like her from before the shooting. Quiet and reserved, but brave."

"Brave?" I choke out. That's a word I've never associated with myself.

"Yeah. You weren't afraid of anyone. No matter who came, you'd answer that door. I've seen you send men away that left me quivering."

"But those were just mom's boyfriends," I shrug, not exactly a big deal telling them to get lost when mom wasn't even home. "That's nothing like standing up to a guy with a gun."

"If you say so," Josh says, crunching into a third helping of breakfast bacon. "Still weird that it hit me so hard. Kept seeing her face all day."

"Huh. And I thought my imbalance was bad," I say while sitting back, playing with Smoulder's tail.

"You had an imbalance too?" Josh asks, sounding more relieved.

"Have, yeah. The system should come with a warning, like 'attribute imbalances will seriously mess with your mind' or something."

"I get the impression the system isn't really here to help us," Josh notes as I hear the sound of footsteps from the stairs.

I shrug while changing the topic, "you know. I think you'd make a pretty great big brother."

"Thanks, Lex. I really am sorry," Josh apologizes again.

"Geez. You're more Canadian than I am," I kid, bumping his elbow as Tipan emerges from the stairs.

Tipan, Roberts and Beth all join us over the course of the next minute. Even as they're sitting, Josh heads to the change room to spend some mana essence when Tipan mentions how hungry she is after using hers last night.

With everyone accounted for except Rufka, I check my connection to her. I'm not entirely surprised it leads upstairs. Such a lazy-bones.

"We're all up and ready to go. Get your lazy butt down here," I whisper through the connection. Not totally true, but whatever.

"What? Mum? Is that you? What're you doing in my room?" Rufka asks, clearly only half awake.

"Nope. This is your captain speaking. Your final boarding for breakfast will be in five minutes."

"Lexi? You're using your ability to interrupt my sleep? I knew we should have stopped you before you went mad with power."

"No power in the verse can stop me," I reply, putting every ounce of menace I can squeeze in, letting my voice rise into a high shrill pitch before laughing maniacally.

An "ahem" causes me to look up, only to find everyone at the table looking at me.

"What?" I ask to the sound of Rufka's laughter while the others all just shake their heads then continue eating breakfast.