Raj was a monster. A psychotic, cruel bastard devoid of empathy or humanity. A destroyer of souls, sent by Satan himself, to torment the innocent. A sadistic, power-hungry, tyrant that knew no mercy. Millie regretted ever knowing him.

“Get up, Millie,” the spawn of hell said. “Is that all you got? GET UP!”

“F-fuck,” Millie gasped. “y…you.”

“If you can curse, you can count. In position, now!” He bellowed. “The rest of you in time with her. Move!”

The others scrambled to join her on the ground. A puff of breath left her lips, her face grinding against the grass, sweat pouring down her temples. She growled angrily, hands in front of her as she began to push upward.

“Ten pushups,” he commanded. “Start!”

“One, two, three, one!” She screamed, the others echoing her. “One, two, three, two! One, two, three, three! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, five!”

“I said ten and I only hear five,” Raj shouted. “Keep going. Any of you drop, you all start over!”

Fucking Marine Corp counting! Her mind screamed. We did ten, you stupid—

“One, two, three, six! One, two, three, seven! One, two, three, eight! One, two, three, nine! One, two, three, ten!”

Millie collapsed to the ground. They did it. They actually…wait, how many times was this now? How long had it lasted? How much further did they have?

“Up, up, up! Get up!” Raj yelled, even going so far as to grab CJ. The scrawny boy whimpered as he was set on his feet, tears in his eyes. Millie grit her teeth, stumbling as she stood. She was crying too.

“Start running. MOVE!”

Millie did as instructed, her mind swimming with fatigue. Why had she asked for this? Better yet, why had everyone agreed to this? She wanted to die, but the mustached devil wouldn’t let her.

He drove them through hell itself.

It turned out: back to back training was brutal. When they realized that Coach could empower someone to act in his stead they’d all thought it was a great idea to let the former Marine train them. But Raj plus Coach equaled suffering the likes of which they’d never known.

I am not a smart person, Millie mused darkly. If I ever doubt that again, I’ll remember this day.

The hellish experience was mostly an accident, truth be told. Millie knew that logically. Though emotionally she hadn’t yet accepted it. Unbeknownst to them all, Coach’s power could affect one mentally, it was just indirect. The last two training periods felt like months of agony, crammed into an all-night bender of pain. Their bodies grew in strength, but their minds felt the weight of that process. Had it really only been a few Earth hours? Millie would have bet her life it had been years.

It was an unexpected consequence of their plan to spend their hard-earned resources boosting their Attributes in the most efficient manner possible. One that, in hindsight had she known how it would play out, she’d have said fuck the training. Free Attribute points or not—the only reason they got through was Raj’s Coach-empowered ruthlessness.

It had literally been torture, one they couldn’t quit because he didn't let them, the Spirit infused drive a command they couldn’t disobey. Every time they’d begged to stop he’d just pushed them harder. They’d learned pretty quickly not to beg—instead, they’d just quietly prayed for death. It had truly felt like there was no other way out.

But it was done now. It was finally over.

Millie laid on her back on the ground, panting. Sweat blinded her, her muscles screamed in agony, and her son was curled in a tight ball in her stomach. He was probably scared to death from the sheer intensity of the last two M-hours, that or he too was exhausted inside of her. Two M-hours in a row were spent training with Coach and Raj, under the effect of a competency potion on each. She cursed herself for that idiocy as well. It was probably why the mental weight of it was so crushing.

“I…I want…to die…” CJ panted from next to her. Nearby, she heard Tanya let out a quiet sob. She didn’t know where Katelyn and Catherine were, but she assumed they were passed out on the ground with them.

“Fuck, that sucked,” Isabella said, fighting to sit up. She was absolutely plastered with sweat. “You alive, dipshit?”

Her brother groaned from the side before curling into the fetal position.

“Yeah, me too…” she said, before falling back to the ground. Millie was convinced Isabella was only still mobile because she’d joined in for the second round. She couldn’t afford the first because of her extra time spent training the spear.

“You all did really well,” Raj said, standing above them. He shuffled his mustache amiably—the psychotic bastard.

“They, ah, don’t look too good,” Braylon said. He’d stayed out of the training since he’d already fixed his physical Attributes; it would have been a waste for him to join in. Millie would have hated him by proxy, but he’d donated resources to help make sure everyone could afford the potion enhanced training, and since they’d all suffered alongside her and misery loved company—she gave him a pass.

Raj had technically done the same, but he was top of her shit list. She hated him more than Liam, or Satan himself. Raj was Satan. Hellhounds? Wasn’t that what Marines were called? It’s too nice a word to describe them.

Someone whistled. “Damn, you can actually see the muscle definition on them. That’s incredible.” Millie realized it was Braylon, so she opened an eye to glare at him. Never mind, he’s on my shit list too for having the audacity to be positive right now.

“It is,” Raj agreed with him. “Let’s get them to the Healing Pools though. Otherwise, they’ll be out here all day.”

Millie wanted to curse at them. So much. But that would have required energy. Instead, she just quietly cried as the ragged corpse her soul felt bound to was dragged through the grass.

“I…didn’t realize that was happening,” Raj said cautiously. “I’m sorry.”

“I really doubt that,” Millie said, exhaling with a hiss. She kept her eyes closed, too tired to sleep. She’d mostly forgiven him, but it would take time to mend their rift.

“I’m glad we couldn’t afford anymore,” CJ said. “I…don’t think I could handle that again.”

Everyone, except the muscled men and Isabella, shuddered at the thought.

“Well, think of the gains at least,” Braylon said optimistically. “How much did you get, Millie?”

She opened her eyes, taking in the bathhouse. Braylon and Raj were seated to the side while the rest of her classmates soaked in the pool alongside her. As she looked his way, Braylon stood up and brought over a small tray. The two brawny men had done their best to tend to their classmate’s needs—which had included unholy amounts of food and water. On the tray now were all their Soul Scrolls neatly arranged. Millie held out a hand, which felt heavier than lead, before picking out hers.

“Let’s see then…” she muttered, before opening it.

Name: Millie Anne McArthur

Rank: Initiate

Titles: Bloody Millie, Disciple of the Weaver

Job: Student

Attributes

[Physical]

[Mental]

[Spiritual]

Strength [~45]

Intellect [~58]

Potency [~2]

Stamina [~72]

Willpower [~69]

MPool [~0]

Dexterity [~55]

Cunning [~49]

Flow [~3]

Reflexes [~61]

Clarity [~52]

Resonance [~3]

Attainments

[T1] Eyes of Fate [T1] Mother's Blessing: Soul Cradle [T1] Mother's Blessing: Wellspring of Life

Registered Spells

Frost Bolt (60% Estimated Progress) Wheel Or Woe Consult The Cards

Inventory

Resource Points: 30

[Weapons]

Pocket Knife War Club Sling

[Armor]

Disciple's Robes Leather Bracer (Right)

[Pills (T1 box 0/20)]

[Potions]

[Talismans]

[Attainment Scraps]

Mother's Desperation (3/10)

Strengthen Bonds (1/10)

[Misc]

[Relic] Tarot Cards [T5] Crystal Ball Student Uniform

“Holy shit…” Millie said quietly. In the background, she could hear others softly cursing as well. She glanced up to see that Braylon had distributed their Soul Scrolls.

“Well?” Raj prompted, and Millie turned to look at him.

“I…my Strength went from twenty to forty-five. Stamina is up from forty-three to seventy-fucking-two. Dex is thirty-four to fifty-five, and Reflexes is fifty to sixty-one. Hell, even my Willpower is up from, I think, sixty-four? Now it's sixty-nine.”

“Nice,” CJ said. D’marco snorted in response.

Raj side-eyed them but ignored their immature response. “How much of that were your pills?”

Right, she thought, her dulled mind starting to put itself back together. At Coach’s insistence, she’d taken her pills beforehand—apparently, his power of training could actually scale based on the existing Attributes and Attainments of a person, though there were diminishing returns at the highest levels. Millie’s Wellspring Attainment had also helped her immensely as a result.

Millie shook her head clear, then turned to answer Raj’s question. “I had eighteen points in Stamina from three pills, then six in both Strength and Reflexes.”

“So that's…” Raj trailed off, his eyes darting back and forth as he did the math.

“Seventy-nine Attribute points, after the thirty from pills,” Catherine said from nearby, not bothering to glance up. “Eighty-four if you want to factor in the Willpower increase.”

“Holy shit,” D’marco said, though it was clear it wasn’t Millie’s miraculous gains that had impressed him—he was staring directly at Catherine. “Hey, what’s, like, three thousand and fifteen times six hundred and two? Can you—”

“One million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand and thirty,” she said. She still didn’t look up, which was a shame. She missed how D’marco’s jaw dropped.

Raj chuckled, before looking over the rest of the group. “How’d everyone else come out?”

“I mean,” CJ said, “I didn’t get eighty damn points, but I still got over sixty. This was incredible.”

“I knew it would be,” Isabella chimed in. “Fuck, I wish I would have waited. I barely got over forty points.”

“You could save up and try it later?” Katelyn offered.

Isabella shook her head. “I’d rather set my stats and keep what I have. It's too hard to know when we’ll have enough points saved up, so I’d rather put my time towards gaining resources than working out in the gym.”

“It was a good return on investment,” Raj said, obviously in agreement with Isabella. “One hundred and fifty RP to get nearly three times that much in Attribute pills.”

“Yes, but,” Katelyn said, “we wouldn’t have all been able to afford it if you and Braylon hadn’t donated your resources. Thank you. Both of you.”

How can she say that? Millie thought darkly, however when the others gave their thanks, Millie grit her teeth and joined in. She was grateful for their help—especially seeing the results—but it was like thanking a surgeon for breaking your arm so it could heal properly, then listening to him apologize because he didn’t think you’d feel it. She probably wouldn’t hold a grudge.

Probably.

Millie walked out of the ‘Attainment’ room, as she thought of it, feeling strangely…wholesome. It wasn’t a warm and fuzzy feeling however—more a literal sense of completeness she didn’t have before. It was even more poignant than her Wellspring of Life had been.

Similar to Isabella, Millie had opted to fix her stats. Though she’d originally planned on doing all of them, Millie had been warned against aligning her magical Attributes. Apparently, that might interfere with her ability to gain future soul parts, so it wasn’t worth the risk. Ironically, this meant the one stat block the remedy fixed for everyone just happened to be the one she couldn’t do. Not yet, anyway.

Speaking of the remedy, however…

“She really told you?” Millie asked. She was seated in the lobby area of the fourth floor Stacks, resting after the procedure. Next to her was CJ, and sitting opposite the low table, were Tanya and Catherine. They’d all fixed their stats together as a small group, the Navarros and Katelyn having seen to theirs earlier.

“Well,” CJ said, looking anxious. “At first, that seemed like the only choice. You were dying, Millie. What else were we going to do? We didn’t start off thinking we could make an Attainment, we did it out of desperation. It was that, or you died.”

She bit her lip, looking down. It was terrifying to know that had she kept the pill, they would have used it. Did that mean her deck…helped ensure she got rid of the pill? It was a sobering thought.

“I’m glad you threw it away,” Catherine said quietly. “To kill your child like that would’ve been…”

“It's not the same thing,” Tanya said firmly. “Please don’t conflate the issue.”

Catherine blushed, before nodding and turning her head. Millie glanced up, eyes lingering for a moment. She was slightly jealous, truth be told. Of all those who’d done the ‘training montage,’ as it was being called by their group, Catherine and Isabella were the most changed, appearance-wise. Isabella, whose defined arms and abs now made her look near-Amazonian, and Catherine who’d shed even more weight. She was still curvy, but it was highlighted in a way it hadn’t been before.

“I wonder if confessing that messed with my robot or something. She’s been acting weird lately,” Millie admitted, sighing. “Ever since that night she’s been so…moody.”

That barely covers it honestly, Millie thought. Her robot seemed to alternate between fussing over her like a mother hen, and melancholy without recourse. Nothing Millie did seemed to help.

“Maybe it’s because she doesn’t have a name?” CJ offered. “All the others have them. They’ve also been doing the movie night thing you started, but Sebas told me your robot hasn’t been joining them.”

Millie frowned. “I wanted her to pick her own though. You know, find her humanity and all that.”

“Millie,” Tanya said, tittering. “She’s a robot! Even if she has the ability to be like us, you think just telling her to figure it out on her own will help her do that?”

“That's why I suggested the movie night!” Millie protested. “I don’t know, aren’t there shows about having robots watch stuff to understand humans?”

“Well,” CJ said, “in Avengers two, Ultron goes on the Internet and learns about people.”

“Thank you!” Millie said.

“Then because of what he learned, he immediately decides to kill everyone.”

“Fuck you!” Millie pivoted.

CJ laughed. “I think Tanya might be right though. The other robots really seem happy with their names. Sebas is constantly asking me to tell him about Overlord, so he can match the character I named him after. I think the same thing that drives them to want to serve, drives them to fill the role we give them.”

Millie scowled. “Damn it…” What was she supposed to name her moody robot?

“It’s not a bad idea to hold off on it,” Catherine interjected. The others turned to look at her in confusion. “What? Giving them names could be a bad thing, you know. Millie’s choice might end up being fortuitous.”

“It could also prove wrong,” CJ countered. “We could be denying her robot the opportunity to grow. We really don’t know enough to decide.”

“That’s fair,” Catherine said. “But, that’s also a point in favor of not naming her robot. Isn’t it in some ways acting as a control group right now? Inaction here could help us better understand their developmental cycle, but only if we have an untarnished data point to compare them with. How else can we measure their behavior?”

CJ frowned, before letting out a sigh. “That’s…yeah, no that’s a good point. We kind of do need a control group. I think I agree in that case.”

Did CJ just lose an argument? Millie thought, raising an eyebrow. She raised her assessment of Catherine—

“If you change your mind though,” she said, turning to Millie. “Can I suggest the name: Isis? It’s a powerful, feminine icon that I think reflects you well.”

—and then lowered it immediately back down.

“You want me to name my robot after a terrorist group!?”

Five days. Five Magincian days. That was how long Millie had been trapped in an alien city, torn from her family, her life brought to a crashing end. But that was in their time. Their calendar. Their system.

In Millie’s world, it had been eleven and a half days. Almost two weeks. It was easier to think of it as that: two weeks. After all, if her math checked out she was now thirty-one weeks along in her pregnancy. Only nine more to go.

“Millie?” Raj asked, his voice worried. “You with us?”

“What?” She said, snapping back to the present. “Yeah, sorry. Just seeing the notice for the fifth day distracted me.”

“That’s fair,” he said. “You sure you still want to do this? We can rest, or go questing instead.”

Millie rolled her eyes. “It’s fine. Ah, everyone got their notebooks? D’marco?”

“What the fuck? I forgot it one time.”

“Three times,” Catherine corrected.

“Three times,” D’marco said, throwing his hands in the air, scoffing. “Gimme me a break, Senpai.”

“Ugh, please don’t call me that,” Millie said, scowling. Nearby, CJ laughed—the little gremlin. He’d been the first to use the term and now D’marco stuck to it like Gorilla Glue.

“Can we just get on with the lesson?” Catherine pleaded. “Please?”

“Wait, I think I forgot my notebook.”

“Fucking hell!” Millie screamed, only to glare murderously when a shit-eating grin appeared on D’marco’s face, notebook held in his hand. He cried out in pain, however, when his sister smacked the back of his head.

“Don’t be an ass,” she told him. Then she turned to Millie. “We’re ready.”

Millie nodded gratefully, before approaching the whiteboard. They’d dragged it from CJ’s lab to the training yard, partly to enjoy the faux sunlight, but also because today’s lesson would include practical applications.

“Alright, so last time we went over all the scrap and practiced some of the Spells,” Millie said, drawing out a few items on the board. “This time, we’re going to focus on Improvisation of Spells, which means going over Spell construction in greater detail. Now, you all said you liked Catherine’s term, Components—”

Even though Features was a perfectly valid one, she thought.

“—so I’ll be using that from now on,” she continued. “Let’s start with the basics. How many Components are in the Elemental Bolt?”

Catherine raised her hand, of course, but Millie glared at her warningly. They’d discussed it before that her answering every question kept the others from participating. Sheepishly she lowered her hand, and Millie called on Tanya who’d raised hers.

“Three major, two minor,” the petite girl said. Millie nodded for her to continue, so she did. “Um, it has an Elemental Glyph, a Targeting Glyph, and a Projectile Glyph. Those are the majors. The minors are the Point of Cast and Trigger Phrase.”

“Good,” Millie said, writing down the three major Components. She then circled them. “Now, who can tell me the difference between tiers of Spells?”

Isabella raised her hand, so Millie called on her.

“Spells are placed in tiers based on the minimum Mana needed to cast them.”

“Correct,” Millie said, before drawing a connecting line between the three pieces, then one shooting off to the side. There, she wrote the words Detonation. “Now, what happens to the Spell when I add another Component?”

“It costs more?” D’marco offered. A few of her classmates chuckled.

“Yes, but why,” Millie said. “If it’s a tier-one Spell, shouldn’t you be able to keep adding to it?”

“If you did that, wouldn’t it just become a higher tier Spell?” Tanya said, confused.

“Exactly!” Millie said, pointing at her. “In fact, that’s one of the go-to ways you can improve your Spell list—upgrading your Spell’s Components to the next tiers. However, the fastest and easiest way to know what tier a Spell fits into is based on the number of Feat…er, Components it has.

“The size of the Formation limits the amount you can include, and it's that size which sets the minimum Mana cost. Tier ones can have one to three major Components and one to three minor Components. Tier twos will have four to six major Components and anywhere from one to six minor Components. It's a small distinction, however they repeat that pattern as they increase in tiers. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Isabella said, frowning. “Why not open with that? Hell, why not tell us that when we first started out? That seems a lot simpler than the Mana efficiency thing.”

“I…I was leading to more advanced topics,” Millie said defensively. “After all, there’s enhanced Features, damn it, Components. They take up more ‘weight’ so to speak.”

“Whoa, what?” D’marco asked. “I’m confused, enhanced shit?”

Damn it, I thought I was doing better at this teaching thing too. “Just, ah, hold on a sec, okay? Just think of the Components as having…grades. Like everything has tiers, right? Components can have sizes and complexities of their own.”

D’marco stared at her, a look of distant betrayal in his eyes.

Millie huffed. “There's a fucking difference between a hot wheels car and a Mercedes, ain’t there?”

He hesitated, then nodded.

“Well, Spells only have so much room. You can put three small things in a tier-one Spell, or one medium-sized thing and a small thing, or just one really big one. Got it?”

“Y-yeah, actually,” he mumbled.

“Great!” Millie said, feigning enthusiasm. I regret every time I ever gave a teacher shit as a kid. “So, we’ve gone over some of the Spells we found, which includes their Components. If everyone is still on board for it, let’s go ahead and try our experiment. You still good, Catherine?”

The girl’s eyes widened, having finished scribbling some notes. Millie knew now that the girl wasn’t writing anything Millie was saying—she was jotting down ideas, theories, and brainstorms for the insane things she’d do next.

“I’m ready,” she said. “Do we have the Wards?”

“Katelyn and I have us covered,” Raj said, standing up. He glanced over, and Katelyn joined him.

“Alright then,” Millie said, gesturing to the side. “Let’s give this a try then.”

The class repositioned itself, walking a little further down the field, heading towards the targets they’d had Coach put out. They stopped a good twenty yards away, Coach standing nearby, leaning against a tree lazily watching them.

“Now, just to re-iterate,” Millie said. “We’re going to try this, safely, then we’ll go back to theory crafting and discussion time. Alright?”

The class nodded in agreement, but Millie made sure everyone double-checked their Mage Armor. Once that was done, she gestured for Catherine to step up. She did so, training wand held out in front of her, breathing deeply to steady herself. Beside her, but one step behind, Katelyn and Raj took their places.

“Cast the Flame Ward,” Millie said, and the two nodded. It was technically an improvisation as well, but it was an easier one that the ‘sanctuary’ Spell Catherine had cast in the Collections, and the two had practiced it earlier at Millie’s behest. They took their time here, and soon the ground began to glow as the outline of a Mandala formed briefly, then a shimmering appeared in the air. It looked like a mirage but cast a step back as it was Catherine’s hand poked through. She had to cast her Spell outside the Ward, or…pretty bad things would likely happen to the class.

“Walk us through it, Catherine,” Millie said. She’d coordinated with the girl ahead of time, even going so far as naming her the ‘Teacher’s aide,’ a position Catherine had been oddly thrilled to get. At Millie’s command, however, Catherine nodded, closing her eyes as she began to concentrate.

“First, the basic Elemental Bolt,” Catherine said. “However, on top of the standard three Components, I’m adding a Detonation Component, built using Runes of Harm, Burst, and Change. I’m also using an additional minor Component of Delay, using the Rune of Time, but also infusing the Trigger Phrase Component to contain a secondary aspect that will only be active after its cast. I’m using the Creature Rune, as well as a Change Rune, to act as a proximity detector.”

“I…I need to take notes,” D’marco muttered. To his credit, the boy actually started writing it down.

“Lesser Fireball!” Catherine shouted, and her spark of flame shot off like a rocket. A split second later, it smacked into the target, bursting with a wash of fire. It looked impressive, but sadly very little damage was actually done to the training dummy.

“Now,” Millie said, drawing the class’s attention while Catherine began to focus on her next Spell. “As you can see, while it looked great, it wasn’t much more effective than a normal Elemental Bolt. To make that a truly viable second-tier Spell, we’d need to do one of two things. Any guesses what?”

“Make the fire more…ignitable?” Tanya offered. “Make it spread and last longer, to burn the target I mean.”

“Yup,” Millie agreed. “Anyone else on the second?” Sadly, no one answered, so Millie continued. “The second option would be to add a Compression Component. In some ways, this is like trying to layer a second Element, because it weaves in kinetic energy to the fire, which will in turn greatly enhance the detonation effect, rather than just making a splash like we saw. You ready, Catherine?”

The girl nodded, so Millie gave her the signal.

“Lesser Fireball!” Catherine shouted again. This time, however, the ball of flame, barely a speck in the air, slammed into the target and burst with a small pop.

“A fine hit,” Coach called out. “Easily lethal to an unaugmented human.”

The class clapped, equal parts politeness and awe at the display.

“You ready for the big one, Catherine?” Millie said.

The girl nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Now, this time,” Millie said to the class, “Catherine’s going to make a real fireball. Remember how I said Components can be upgraded? You good to walk us through what you’re doing, Catherine?”

“Yeah,” the girl said through grit teeth. Her wand was starting to vibrate in her hands as a ball of fire formed in the air, shrinking just as rapidly as it appeared. “I’m using an enhanced Compression Glyph, mostly by repeating Runes in fractal patterns in the Mandala. The same goes for the Flame Rune, I’m intensifying it. That counts as, ugh, f-four Components to start.”

“Remember everyone,” Millie jumped in. “A tier three Spell will have at minimum seven Major Components, and the more Mana in a Spell, the more powerful it will be. Upgrading or adding Components is a more efficient power to cost choice. Much better than Overcasting, which is just pumping Mana into a Spell to get it to work. Now, what are you doing, Catherine?”

“N-now I’m adding the Detonation Component,” Catherine said, her teeth gritting with the strain as her arm wavered to hold the Spell steady.

“Can she do this?” Tanya asked.

“I-it’s fine,” Catherine said loudly, raising another hand to grip the wand. “I’m at five Components, but it’s not enough. I’m going to try and upgrade the Elemental and Compression Glyphs again.”

The ball in the air glowed white-hot, air starting to rush towards Catherine as space itself seemed to fall inward. Millie could actually see the girl’s Mage Armor glowing on her hands as it soaked the heat.

“Catherine,” Millie said warningly. “You said you’d upgrade the Detonation Component a second time, then just use a Mana Overload to upgrade it to tier three. Don’t try to overreach!”

“I can do it!” Catherine shouted, blood leaking from her ears, eyes, and nose. “Doubling the—the Detonation now. And…and again! Triple upgrade! Oh, and the Projectile Component!”

Wait, that’s…Millie’s eyes widened. “Catherine, abort! That’s a tier four Spell, don’t—”

“FIREBALL!” Catherine screamed.

Her voice was drowned out instantly by a deafening screech in the air. It shot forward followed by a strange thump. Millie barely registered it as her Mage Armor activated, only a moment later it was gone, somehow overwhelmed.

The next thing she realized, she was on the ground looking at the sky.

“———” Millie’s mouth moved, and as she blinked she caught on to the fact that she was speaking but couldn’t hear it. A split second later she felt an odd sensation of her Lifeforce draining, and her ears popped back into focus.

All around her was groaning and cursing.

Instantly, Millie sat up, looking around. The entire class was on their ass, looking decidedly unhappy, but they were alive. Off in the distance, however, she saw a fucking crater where the target dummy had been. Of course, it was gone now—reduced to atoms. Probably.

As she looked around more, she realized something else. Everything around them was scorched black—the only pristine area being the part shielded by their two Wards.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Millie said. She quickly became apparent that she’d said that to herself.

No one else had working ears.

In a strange juxtaposition, Millie was the first out of the Healing Pool. This was due, naturally, to her Wellspring of Life which had kept her almost entirely intact. Sadly though, the Attainment didn’t seem to recover using the pool, not very well at least. It needed time, and unsurprisingly, food to help replenish. It seemed Millie would be doomed forever to eating like an Olympian.

At least my food doesn’t have bugs in it anymore, she thought, chowing down on her latest abomination: a bologna sandwich with pickles and ketchup on it. It was the kind of thing she’d only eat in private—people just didn’t appreciate fine taste.

“Alright, what’re you guys up to…” Millie mumbled through a mouthful. She was in the Recreation Room, her unnamed ‘Control Group’ robot joining her, kickin’ back in her fuzzy PJs. Millie was researching the Forums while she waited for the others to recover, but out of the corner of her eye, she watched her wayward servitor. When she didn’t think her ‘Mistress’ (a term she seemed even more determined to use lately) was watching her, she stared off into space. She almost looked…hollow, inside. Millie was damn near ready to throw away the plan and name her then and there. At least try to do something to make her seem happy.

But no, I’ll wait a little longer, she decided. She had tried, subtly of course, to probe the robot for the source of her funk—but she’d been tight-lipped. All of the servitors were, according to the others.

“The Golden Palace?” Millie said suddenly, setting her sandwich down. She grabbed the table with both hands as she stared intently at the post.

‘Golden girl spotted annexing large complex in admin. Golden Palace looking for recruits?? Someone know more?’

Millie kept searching, food forgotten, as a scene unfolded before her in the Forums. She found report after report of sudden activity from the Golden Girl, showing up in places unexpectedly, getting into non-lethal fights. None of it would be particularly concerning, given her activities on the first two M-days, but apparently she was kidnapping people. As she searched, Millie also saw she knew one of the victims.

Okimi Lavore. She wasn’t sure it was the same girl, given the last name and the girl's obvious heritage, but quick research brought up the footage of Okimi in the opening Trials. Millie hadn’t wanted to, but she’d learned then that Okimi had come with her mother and older sister, all apparently close enough in age to be together. But only Okimi had made it out.

And now she was gone. Taken, by the Golden Girl.

“Why?” Millie said, anger rising. Guilt too, for not acting sooner to bring the girl in. “Why are you taking them? What are you doing?”

The reports were all over the place, but one thing remained clear. So far—no one she’d kidnapped had left the ‘Golden Palace.’ Further, Rebecca was targeting stragglers and loners exclusively. Millie half expected to see Thomas’ name on the list, but the slippery bastard had apparently found his own place as well.

“The Mourning Wood,” Millie read, snorting. “Jesus, you’re just the worst, aren’t you?” However, she had to admit his stupid name was on theme—his building that he’d uncovered was located amongst the branches of a massive tree that had grown out of nowhere. At least, according to the other students that was. Millie couldn’t find any footage to confirm the event, but she had plenty of stills of his place now.

A base all his own, which meant…

“Liam, Rebecca, and Thomas all have their own places,” Millie muttered. “Shit, this is a Seed quest thing, isn’t it?”

She hadn’t received any clues after her vision of the Weaver. She’d considered reaching out to the Fortune-Teller about it, but had put it off. She had a lot to do right now and had been distracted, but now with others making their move…

Curious, Millie activated Eyes of Fate. It was a lot trickier than she’d thought it’d be, navigating the Forum looking for any chains—Millie assumed the medium just didn’t translate well—but she did find something that had a slight pull towards her. She stopped to read the title.

‘Does anyone know where to learn Tailoring? The Weaver’s Hall is a total bust.’

“The Weaver’s…oh, come the fuck on. It can’t be that easy, can it?”

There was only one way to find out.