AN: So, here we are once again. We are now beginning the final arc of this volume. There's a couple of things to do before the story mode mission, but it all leads to that.

Enjoy!

Chapter 31: Preparation and Innovation

Home, a place that most people regarded as a sanctuary away from the horrors of the world. For Scott, Home was a series of rooms where he lived in nigh-perpetual darkness. The girls looked around briefly after walking into the gloom.

"This is it?" asked Kitty curiously. Somehow, she'd expected more than a closet and a glowing light. Well, there was the oddly out-of-place fruit basket sitting on the floor. What was that all about?

"Yeah, I haven't spruced the place up any since it seemed like a waste of EXP. I mean, it serves its purpose and I can just use my apartment over in Bounty Star," said Scott.

He looked down at the small crystalline object in his hand. "Interesting, it didn't disappear."

"Was it supposed to?" asked Saelil. She looked at the crystal curiously.

"Typically, items can only be brought here if I bought them through the system or they are treasure items," said Scott. He lifted the crystal up and nodded. "This one at least must be considered a treasure item."

He checked his spatial storage then grinned. The other small crystal was there as well. They could be stored here in his home point!

"What can you do with those things, anyway?" asked Samantha in a mildly curious tone.

Saelil answered, a smile on her lips. "They can be used to recharge magical equipment, or used to create it. If you know the procedure, they can be refined into essence crystals and the essence absorbed as well."

Scott's eyes lit up. "Can you do any of those things?"

"Assuredly. Anyone can recharge a magical item with them, and I would not be much of a sorceress if I did not know how to create mystical items or convert essence," replied Saelil.

"What would you need to make that happen?" Scott asked.

"Create items?" she asked him.

"Yes, that," Scott grew more excited by the moment.

"Well, I'd need the raw materials. The better the material, the greater the potential item. Also, my spell list is rather shallow at the moment due to my rebirth," she replied.

"You can only create items with effects based on spells you can cast?" asked Scott. It made perfect sense, of course, but it would hamper things if she could not cast any higher level spells.

Saelil nodded. "Yes. Once I restudy my spells and gain a few levels, my status should allow me to regain some of my former strength."

"Is there anything you can make right now?" asked Scott. Even something minor would be great.

"I would need a workshop, and the right materials. Otherwise I can make a few weak items with low-level spells imbued within them," she replied.

"Would you mind if we prioritized that sort of thing for now? Acquiring materials and having some of your downtime focused solely on item development?" asked Scott.

"That's perfectly fine with me, beloved," she said with a smile. "I'd love nothing more to show you just how much you need me."

Samantha rolled her eyes and walked off toward the command center. Kitty followed her, a mischievous smile on her lips.

Scott glanced toward them briefly, but turned back to Saelil. "What about essence conversion?"

"Ah, that's simple. I can do it at any obelisk. I just hold several of these crystals in my inventory and then combine them into a true essence crystal," she said, before whipping her head to the side. Her hair swished over the top of her should to curl down across the front. A decidedly warm, if predatory, smile crossed her lips.

Scott eyed the girl carefully for a moment. Her confidence was far from unusual, but she was enjoying her usefulness quite a bit. He suspected that she felt it solidified her place, and possibly her hold, over him. He made a new mental note to be careful when dealing with her. He hated to feel like a racist, but she was both a dark elf and a lesser lich. No one lived long as either in a game-setting unless they were ambitious.

He showed her the crystal in his hand. "Can you tell how many of these it would take?"

She took the stone from his hand and looked it over. "These tiny ones? You'd probably need six or seven to create even a weak true essence crystal."

The crystals Scott brought with him were the smallest and weakest available. Most were far larger. "Can true essence crystals, those forgotten memories things, be used to make items?"

"Yes, assuredly. They are far more commonly used than these crystals," replied Saelil.

Suddenly, Scott smiled. There was definitely a reason to go to Fear Rune now. Taking missions there might be suicidal depending on how long those missions ran, but visiting on off-hours solely to gather loot and crystals was a viable reason. Forty essence converted to one experience point, after all.

"Let's go check on something," said Scott. A thought just occurred to him that could make things even better.

Saelil followed him to her exchange. He bid her check to see if she could purchase her materials from the list. Upon discovery that she could, at an exorbitant price in the case of rarer materials, purchase what she needed. Scott grinned. If she bought materials from the exchange then the items would be classed as system items. There would be no concern for them being destroyed upon return to his home point.

"What's the most useful thing you can think of creating right now?" asked Scott.

"Well..." Saelil clicked her tongue for a moment then asked, "Since there is that place, the one with the undead?"

"Dead Men Walking?" asked Scott. "The world we just left?"

"Yes, that lovely place... If we spend time there, I can think of the best possible sort of item," said Saelil.

"What would it do?" asked Scott, instantly curious. "How is it made?"

"Well, I'd need to get carved human bone rings, ebony powder, zombie bone powder, and sulfur," she said. Saelil clicked her tongue briefly then nodded, "The latter items are simple enough to purchase in most towns. Normally I'd have to make the ring myself, but this exchange tells me that I can buy them for three EXP each. The other materials are one point each."

"So, six EXP and how many essence crystals?" asked Scott.

"The primary charge will require four thousand essence. Each charge after that will be another two thousand. At my level, a charge would probably also be only a single cast. I could potentially add up to three charges currently, I think."

Scott did the math. "So, about two hundred six experience points total to create one with three casts." He looked into her eyes and asked, "But what does it do?"

She grinned. "It's a lesser ring of control undead."

His eyes widened slightly, "You can command the zombies with it?"

"Yes, so long as they don't have a master. The effect is permanent, but they have to be weaker than you, and someone stronger can take control away from you if they also have such knowledge."

Scott could see a lot of uses for such a thing. However, he had more questions. He continued to ask them while Saelil answered as best she could. After some time passed, they decided that they should wait to create items for now. Once Saelil maxed her stats and gained a few levels, it would be much more economical to create the rings and they'd be able to have multiple uses per charge. She could use the spell on her own without the ring. She simply needed the ingredients and time to attune it.

"These rituals you perform. Do you need to perform them before you cast each spell?" asked Scott.

"Most of the time that was the case before. According to the rules of this new life, I simply need to prepare it once. I can cast them according to the total attunement I have, which is based on concentration," she said. She smiled before continuing, "It's quite simple compared to previous concerns."

"How many spells can you cast now?" asked Scott.

"Depends on the spell level. I only have access to my level one lesser lich spells and general sorceries. Seems that I can cast four level one spells per point of concentration. Each spell level beyond that would require one point equal to the spell's level."

"So, say, a level six spell would cost six points?" asked Scott.

"Yes, I believe so," she said after a moment of consideration.

Scott looked to her exchange then asked, "Does it tell you how high your stats can go?"

"Yes. It seems strangely limiting. I can only increase my concentration, agility, and charisma to whatever four and one half is under these divine rules. My other status only goes as high as three and one half," she replied, a thoughtful frown on her lips.

"Dark elf standard then... There's no way to increase those stats further, like with feats?"

"Feats? Well, there is a list of things related to my lifestyles of dark sorceress and lesser lich. Also, I seem to be able to purchase the ability to increase my concentration, agility, and charisma by up to two additional points through my bloodline listing, "she said.

Saelil calculated that she could increase her concentration up to sixteen points if she purchased everything. "Sixty-four casts of a level one spell is not that much, but it seems I would be able to cast even ninth level spells up to eight times. That's obscenely powerful, even if the raw potential is curtailed a bit by my status limitations without self-training."

"Really? You could not do that before?" he asked, still curious about her limitations.

"Don't be obscene, beloved. My willpower would have to be well over nine thousand!" she exclaimed with a beautiful laugh.

Scott laughed loudly as well. "How do you even know that reference?"

"What reference?" she asked him curiously.

He stopped laughing. "Wait, you were serious?"

"Well, yes." She eyed him carefully for a moment. "You do know that a magician would need over one thousand points of willpower just to seal a level nine spell. The ability to seal nine casts would cost nine times that amount."

"Did you know any ninth level spells?" asked Scott.

"No one knows ninth level spells, beloved. Those are legendary spells that only one mage in a century might happen to discover. Most people grow old and die long before they come close to the willpower necessary. Such is true even among elves," she said. "I felt ridiculously powerful when I managed to recreate an ancient seventh level spell."

Scott smiled at her then reached out and lightly tousled her hair. She pushed at him playfully then smiled a little. "Did you not know that messing about with a sorceress' hair was forbidden, beloved?"

"Ah, I suppose I should never cause you to muss your hair then..." he said, a slight smirk creeping up onto his lips.

She blinked slightly then snorted a little. A merry twinkle appeared in Saelil's eyes as she said, "This round goes to you, dear one."

He pulled her close then sighed. "I'll have to rely on you to help me learn about magic, and things."

"Please do so, beloved," she said sweetly before kissing him warmly on the side of the cheek.

They chatted freely for a moment, before Scott asked what she'd meant by self-training earlier. As it turned out, she was unlocked in a similar manner that he was unlocked. With a great deal of time and effort she could train her magic oriented stats to go beyond her limits. She simply could not pay experience points to raise stats beyond a certain point.

Scott's eyes narrowed slightly then widened. Could it be that she was either deemed special, or that all companions were naturally unlocked? He needed to investigate!

They went to find Samantha and Kitty. They were hanging out in the command center, while munching on the contents of his fruit basket.

He discussed the situation with the girls, and then took them all on another grand tour. It was Kitty's first time, so Scott went into great detail about each room. Once they reached the companion area, he showed the cat girl to her private room and she laughed happily. It was empty inside, but it was a private space she could decorate to her desire. Scott figured that it would be overflowing with shoes soon.

Samantha and Kitty checked their exchange points and each reported back that they were also capable of self-training. Their exchanges did not offer alternative lifestyles, at least nothing too different from their current way of life. However, they could continue to become stronger versions of themselves through training once the EXP stopped helping with immediate growth.

"So, that's the importance of companions," said Scott thoughtfully. It started to make sense. Champions were restricted in many ways, but were also granted far more freedom than companions. He could become almost anything by living life and burning through a ton of EXP, while his companions would mostly become stronger versions of who they always were over the course of time.

A good companion was a specialist in one type of world, or lifestyle concept. They would cover for his short-comings since he needed to be more of a generalist. His style of championing needed to shift now and then based on the world setting. A world that did not allow magic, required a more technological champion. The opposite was true of a magical world that denied access to high technology. Such a place needed a magical champion. Of course, if the champion's level was high enough he could start to override such restrictions to a degree. In the interim, the key to survival was flexibility.

The fact that Saelil possessed two life styles was odd, at first. As it turned out the other girls had a second slot for interchangeable lifestyles as well. Saelil was bound to the same two permanently, but they were good and could be upgraded at certain level intervals apparently.

Scott and the girls chatted for a while then he nodded. "We should get you suited up," he said to Samantha, "and then the four of us can go on an easy mission in Dead Men Walking to work on our team work."

The four left Home and went to go visit the world of Bounty Star. Saelil's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when she saw the place.

"Beloved, have we come to a place of the divines?" she asked as she saw people casually flying around, and the open vastness of space. The massive buildings were also quite the sight for her.

Samantha snickered a little, but said nothing. Kitty held up a little better. She'd been to large cities before, this one was just scienci-er. Still, starships and flying cars were a strange new sight.

"After we get Samantha suited up, we'll go on a mission. We can come back here to rest and plan for tomorrow afterward," said Scott.

Samantha went off to fetch her gear from her ship, while Scott took the girls to see his apartment. Along the way he pointed out some of the local sights that he actually knew about.

Up in his apartment, he ordered the robot chef to make a meal, and showed the girls around. Saelil marveled at the luxuries. Some of the fixtures were vaguely familiar, but when she chose to go to the bathroom she bolted out the moment that she sat down.

"Why does the demon of the bowl speak angrily toward me? Have I offended it?" she asked Scott, wide-eyed and unnerved. He inspected the toilet then frowned.

"Voice change, preset three," Scott said commandingly to his fancy toilet. The angry voice changed to the British gentleman's voice from his recent memory.

"Sorry, somehow it was set on Japanese gameshow host," said Scott.

"I-I see..." she said, as though any of that made sense, "What exactly is a 'Supa happy mega fun wateru dansu?'"

"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Scott with a smile.

"Perhaps some other time, beloved," she said nervously. She looked to him then toward the talking toilet.

The door shut behind her as the crisp voice of the English gentleman greeted her. Saelil's eye lid twitched. It was better than before, but still a bit unnerving.

Once she was done, she walked out and said, "Uh, sorry for the inconvenience?"

"Oh, there was no convenience at all madam. I am happy to serve. Please enjoy the remainder of your day," replied the toilet.

"You as well..." said Saelil. How did one properly say farewell to a talking toilet once business was completed?

While Saelil made friends with toilet-san and toilet butler, Scott fended off Kitty in the bed room. The feisty feline giggled and lunged for him once more.

"Not now, Kitty!" exclaimed Scott. "We're about to leave after we get some dinner."

"I want a snack first, though," she said with a laugh.

"How about some light petting until after work?" he said after a moment.

"How about some heavy petting?" she asked while wiggling her ass in the air. Scott started to say something, but she playfully tackled him down onto the bed.

She cuddled up close to him then kissed him sweetly on the chin. Scott lightly ran his hand down her back, and she began to purr softly. Her tail lashed once from one side to the other, just before her thigh slipped forward a bit. "Lower," she whispered. "Pet me lower, Scott."

His hand slid down, down to her lower back. She made a cute little noise and lightly licked the side of his neck, "Lower..."

Scott's hands slipped down to softly cup her ass cheeks through the fabric of her sundress. It took some doing to convince the girl to put on clothes after her transformation. She loved shoes but other clothes were too restrictive. It was impossible to make her wear panties, for instance.

Kitty made a soft mewling sound and whispered, "Almost there..." before rubbing her nose gently against his neck.

His hand slipped between her thighs, and his fingers gently stroked her soft pink slit. Her eyes flashed open and she unleashed a soft murmur of approval. "Pet me there..." she purred into his ear.

Saelil walked into the room, but slowly backed away before she was noticed. For a moment she thought to break the mood, but a clever thought occurred to her. If she caused problems now, it would make her look jealous and foolish. However, if she bided her time she could use this to her sexy advantage later.

"Who's a pretty kitty?" whispered Scott softly while petting her most intimate of places.

Kitty giggled warmly and lightly licked his chin. "So sweet to me..."

Saelil watched and took notes. Everything she witnessed would prove important for the future, she was certain.