"System, can you tell me about Embers, please?" Daz asked.

Denied. The system does not own the Embers nor does it govern them, it only categorises them for hosts to more easily learn about them.

"Huh..." Daz was genuinely surprised by that.

Mu raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I mimicked your question in my mind. I assume we received the same answer. Does that mean that there are other entities similar to the system out there?"

Daz frowned. He didn't like the sound of that, honestly. "I'm not sure. It's certainly possible, what we do know, however, is that whatever has control over Embers has given the system permission to hand them out as rewards on the ranking list, at the very least."

Mu nodded. "Indeed... Well, shall we ask the system some more questions regarding this or would our time be better spent investigating the Embers I have permission to learn?"

Daz rubbed his chin for a moment then shook his head. "I feel like we won't get anything out of the system that it doesn't want us to know. We can certainly try though."

And try they did. For the next 30-minutes, they peppered the system with inquiries regarding who or what governed the Embers and how the system had come to gain some administrative power over them but to no avail.

Even with Daz's emerald-level access to the system, it simply refused to speak on the subject beyond very basic information. Apparently, the system didn't enjoy discussing beings that it couldn't forcefully make submit to itself.

'I have so many questions about the supposed god living in Lyle and if it's something similar to whoever created and controls these Embers, but whatever that god did, it's preventing me from talking about it...' Daz held his chin then asked, "System, what was his name again... Sword King Falwon, right?"

He could recall Madison fighting the different versions of the man as he had grown stronger when they were in the auction but he wasn't sure if he was remembering the name correctly.

Daz had a good memory but it wasn't perfect, regardless, he continued with his question. "Did some of his aspects have Embers in them?"

Ruby-level system access and the host owning specific information are required for that knowledge. Confirmed access level of the host to be emerald-level and the host knows of the existence of Embers.

Confirmed. Sword King Falwon possesses many Embers. Specifically, his 8th, 9th, and 10th aspect have insights into Embers.

"Huh, looks like we're really in the dark then, Mu," Daz noted.

The handsome Chinese man nodded. "It is a shame that the system will not or cannot speak about the Embers, but at least this way it is a bit more entertaining. I simply hope I do not choose a useless or weak Ember."

"Anything that you have permanently can't be useless. Tell me what Embers you have permission to learn. Maybe we can figure something out by studying them a bit," Daz suggested.

"Of course. I can obtain the Ember of Loneliness, the Ember of Suffering, the Ember of Betrayal, the Ember of Sweeping, and lastly, the Ember of Respect," Mu explained. "Any 3 of them I may learn."

Daz tapped his chin thoughtfully as his Intelligence and Wisdom worked together to theorise if there was any meaning behind the Embers. Before long, he had a basic idea in his mind.

"What sounds most logical is that strong feelings you've felt before or things that have happened to you which really changed you as a person can be, how to put it... collected into an Ember, I guess?" Daz tried to describe what he was thinking.

"That was obvious, my friend. You are smart but sometimes say things that don't mean anything," Mu said with a short laugh and no ill-will.

Daz smiled as he sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that maybe you'll be more skilled with some of those Embers rather than others. The system only gave you a pool of Embers you already have inklings of an understanding towards, right?"

"That is correct, yes," Mu nodded.

"Then it stands to reason that you'd master and improve ones that you have a firmer grasp over. Let's see if we can determine where these understandings came from, shall we?" Daz asked.

Mu wore a complicated expression as he scratched the back of his leg with his other sandalled foot. "I am younger than you, my friend, but my life has been a rollercoaster of sorts. I am unsure of where to even begin..."

"Well, some of them seem painfully obvious to me," Daz claimed.

"Please, I'm here to listen to your thoughts. Speak your mind," Mu happily replied.

Daz leaned forward and said, "Well, for a start, you earned the Ember of Fear upon literally recalling the fear you felt from the people you had killed when I forced you to experience it during our life-or-death battle. That makes things a little bit easier to figure out for the rest of them."

He began raising fingers as he started listing off Embers. "Sweeping is likely from how often you've used a scythe to farm or maybe even from using it in the recent 2-months as a weapon. Betrayal and loneliness are probably linked. My best guess right now is that your understanding of them stems from when your father tried to kill you and you were forced to live with distant relatives on a farm in the middle of nowhere."

Mu seemed shocked. "That... That would make sense, yes." He felt like a fog had been lifted from his mind. "Please, continue."

Daz was happy to see Mu so reliant on him for once. There were only two people that Daz wanted to strengthen his bond with rather desperately. Crusher was one while Mu was the other. The closer they were to him the less likely they were to betray him, after all, contract or not.

"Suffering could be linked to either your life as a teenager struggling to please your demanding father or to the memories of those you killed. Maybe both. As for respect, I'd personally like to think it comes from your feelings towards me as a fellow reaper and as a fellow person," Daz said.

Mu held his chin for a good half a minute in silence before he slowly nodded. He approached Daz and smiled. "I know I came to ask for your advice to choose 3 of my options, but I feel it would be wiser now for me to meditate on this further then come to a decision on my own. Your words have greatly helped me."

"I'm glad to hear it, Mu," Daz responded.

Mu put his hand on Daz's shoulder then closed his eyes as he grinned. "Also, I do not see you as a fellow reaper or as a fellow person, but as a friend and a brother. I would like you to remember that. I may have once tried to kill you and you may have almost successfully done the same to me, but today, as we are while we stand here, right now, you are my family."

It was rare to hear Mu talk for so long. He was usually pondering something, gushing over how 'cool' another thing was, or he just simply replied with single sentences. This confession of brotherhood has truly astounded Daz.

"Thanks, Mu. I didn't expect that," Daz honestly spoke his mind.

"Haha, it is nothing. I am just saying what I think. I will return to Shúzuì now to meditate. Again, thank you, Brother," Mu said.

'Brother, huh?' Daz smiled. "You're welcome, Brother."

"I wonder if she'll like it? It's my first time trying to make something like this," Daz muttered as he carefully put Rose's birthday present in his pocket then left his workshop. "I'm glad Maddy kept this kind of stuff at the apartment though. It was a good idea to gather it all up before Rimmy and my clones demolished the city."

He'd spent practically all night on his gift for his sister. Rose was a tough girl to please and he didn't really want to give her something he'd already gotten for her recently, namely, video games.

She could get those a dime-a-dozen on her own now. Instead, he had chosen to craft something for the sarcastic little girl.

Daz looked up a bit in surprise to see that it was snowing. "So early in November? Not to mention that it rarely, if ever, snows this low in California... I've got a feeling that this is another sovereign-candidate's doing..."

He sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Rose's birthday is more important."

Daz quickly made his way to the fort with hopes that his sister would thoroughly enjoy her special day.

"So, whose bright idea was it to have a birthday party in my room?" Rose asked with a deep sigh as she lay on her bed and looked between Daz, Madison, and Vanessa.

The latter of the trio scratched her cheek sheepishly and chuckled faintly. "Ah, well, I thought you'd prefer somewhere cosy and a place where you're most comfortable... I know you don't really like attention, so..."

Madison nodded as her eyes were sparkling. She was already wearing a tacky pointed birthday hat and had a party horn in her mouth. She blew it excitedly then said, "Good, idea. Not, crowded."

Rose's expression softened a bit. "W-Well, I don't hate it, just... What can we really do in here?"

Daz reached into his Industrial Item Box and pulled out a few board games. "I was thinking we could play these. You used to love this kinda stuff before you got hooked onto video games. If you'd rather not, I also got a few of our engineers to work together to repurpose a game console and a T.V. to work without electricity. I'm sure you know a bunch of good 4-player games, right? Whatever you wanna do, let me know."

"Really, you guys are insufferable..." Rose whispered. "I'm always so mean to you so why do you care so much?" She shook her head and wore a rare smile. "Well, the presents come first, right?"

Madison bounced up to her feet and reached under Rose's bed before pulling out a neatly and well-decorated large box. "For, you! Worked, hard. Hope, like."

"What the... How the hell did you hide that under my bed without me knowing about it?" Rose was genuinely surprised.

Madison grinned with her eyes and blew the party horn again. "Secret."

"... You're sneakier than you look, Madison," Rose grumbled as she carefully began unwrapping the box in front of her.

As soon as she could see what was inside of it her eyes opened wide. "H-How did you get this?"

With trembling arms, Rose reached into the box and pulled out a scaly lizard of sorts. It was firmly asleep and didn't react in the slightest to being held by the girl.

It was bronze in colour and had two sets of wings on its tiny back. Quite clearly, it was a baby dragon.

"Hehe. Quest, reward. Worked, hard. Know, like, lizards. Like?" As Madison had said, Rose had always loved lizards, even more so in her recent rebellious stage.

Rose looked down at the tiny creature in her arms and mumbled, "Modest Bronze-scaled Inarthium... Basically, a dragon that'll only grow to be the size of a Prius at best... Known for their bad temper and it's also on the brink of extinction system-wide due to having such a low reproductive rate and since they get into fights often... I mean, I don't have a tamer class so it'll be work to get it to listen to me, but yeah, I like it."

Madison hugged Rose. "Glad."

Rose's gaze was averted to avoid her embarrassment, but she still seemed incredibly happy at having received such a thoughtful gift. "I'll have to feed the thing, but I'm sure I can manage... My first pet, huh?"

Madison grinned widely with her eyes and nodded. "Knew, happy. Hehe."

Vanessa looked at Daz and asked with her body language if it was okay for her to go next. The Reaper just calmly nodded.

"Um, Rose. I know it isn't a dragon or anything like that, but, uh, here," the young teen said as she handed a small wrapped box to Rose.

"Hmm?" the birthday girl immediately opened it only to find a small wrist strap with an odd-looking metal brain charm attached to it.

Vanessa raised her wrist to reveal an identical one only hers had a small metal quarterstaff charm on it. "It's a matching set. I didn't really know what to get you, so I, uh, got something that I wanted... The charms are meant to represent our champion status." She smiled wryly as she scratched her neck. "You don't have to wear it if you don't want to."

Rose inspected the wrist band closely and nodded. "You made these yourself, huh? I'll gladly accept it. Th-Thanks, Vanessa." She then slid it through her hand and let it sit on her left wrist.

'Rose stuttered?' Daz thought. 'That's rare.'

"Oh. Uh, y-you're welcome." Rose not making a quip about how stupid it was had caught the German girl off-guard a bit.

"Well, I guess that leaves just me, huh?" Daz asked.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Knowing you, you probably spent millions of merit points on something stupid. Let me guess, you're gonna upgrade my V.R. capsule for me?"

Daz chuckled. "You wish. That thing was already an early gift. Here, I made it this morning," Daz said as he reached into his pocket then tossed something to Rose.

She caught it easily and stared at it. "A necklace? No... a locket?" She popped it open only to see a small photo of herself between the expressionless Daz and Madison.

In the image she looked like a toddler and had a stupid smile on her face while Daz and Maddy looked like teenagers.

"How old is this picture?" Rose asked.

Madison peeked over and her eyes opened wide. "Theme, park. 5."

"Right, it was when you had just turned 5 and were still cute," Daz said, earning him a glare. "Damned shame the park's been destroyed. I'd love to go back now that I can actually experience fun. Let's retake the pic when you're 15, huh?"

Rose snorted but said no words. She was trying her best to not tear up. After a few seconds, she managed to squeeze out a soft, "Thanks, Daz."

"Don't mention it," he answered rather happily. He then picked up one of the stacked board games and raised an eyebrow, "Care for a game?"