Sasha. Release the limiter.

What? I sense no doubt, no fear. Only determination.

I have waited for this, but what changed her mind?

I suppressed my excitement; I didn't want to alarm her after all. My first integration was supposed to include what I'm doing now. I curse that anomaly, the void. The initial integration I was only able to merge with her body at a very superficial level.

We traveled together; she showed me just how flawed I'd been. I grew fond of her; as time passed, I could go as far as to say I grew to love her. I didn't want to lose her; I forced the next stage of integration upon her.

She resented me after that. She argued with and yelled at me near every time we conversed after that. Yet, she continued to rely on me. Looking back, I see that was out of necessity more than anything. I don't mind. She's precious to me.

I watched her struggle. She taught me so much, time and again putting herself in danger for these lessons. Her recklessness and selflessness were unmatched in my eyes when protecting those important to her. And now, finally. Finally, I can do everything in my power to correct her weakness.

"Starting the final integration process."

Up till now, I've only had bits and pieces of my leads attached to her. Ethereal but real enough, invisible connections tying us together. At first, I barely had limited access to her muscles and heart. As for her mind, I still have only a single lead. Since then, I've strengthened our bond. The more I latched onto her heart, the more her emotions poured into me. I felt her anger and hate; but, also her love, tenderness, and compassion. A flood of illogical inconsistency assaulted me from her full range of emotions.

When I tried to do the same with her mind, she pushed back against me. Was I too rash in my methods? Maybe it was fear. Whatever it was, she resisted even while unconscious. I respected her wish and gave up. Now, however.

Hundreds of thousands of my leads appeared as I prepared to begin. Her resolve faltered. Her fear resurfaced.

"Vivian, please relax; this process is painless," I comforted. Is her trust so low she would prefer to get stepped on? No, she wanted this only after she found out the sphinx will return. I began slowly, moving my leads one at a time and merging them with her tissues, linking myself intricately into every fiber of her being. The original sparse connections turned into a dense network spiraling through every part of her body.

"Vivian, how do you feel?" I asked. I had no cause for concern. However, as I entangled her heart in my ethereal network, I felt her fear and trepidation rushing through me like never before.

I don't feel any different, and that scares me.

"I do not understand. You want to feel different?"

You're making changes, but there's no change in the way my body feels. It's disconcerting.

"In that case, I will give you something to focus on." I passed relaxation, comfort, but most of all, my love for her through our connection. Her fear melted away. I moved my remaining leads, the vast majority of them, to her head. They sank into her, merging into her brain tissue almost instantaneously. Now the last step. Leads in every part of her body extended and linked together completing the integration network, then finally connected into my functions.

I'm sorry I doubted you.

"You are a survivor. It is your nature to doubt, question, and be cautious." I replied. "I am going to process the request now."

My functions lit up bright enough to blind me. A mountain of data rushed at me. It unfurled before my eyes. I see. This request will take a fair bit of time. I sighed deeply, preparing myself for an arduous task. I tugged at every lead that had merged with Vivian.

Sasha, what are you doing to me?

"Your limiter is your mind and body, and one part I do not understand. I am rebuilding from the ground up. Does it hurt?"

Not painful, just a numb, tingly feeling.

"Can you push some mana into your stats?"

Which one?

"All of them. All at once. Just establish the link."

I'll try, I'm not sure I can.

I stared at her in an awe induced stupor. One by one, sections of her body lit up, turning pale blue. I had not noticed it before, probably due to my superficial integration. Mana has a separate network for interacting with the body. Her muscles tore and rebuilt, bulking up visibly.

"Perfect, just maintain that now," I requested and resumed tugging on the leads. Each adjustment I made increased not the flow of mana, but the efficiency in which it affected the muscles. Her muscles stopped bulking up and instead became tighter and more refined.

Completed with augmenting her entire body, I turned my attention to the source: the mana pool located inside her brain. I tweaked around with my leads and flipped the gate wide open. Mana spewed forth unhindered and coursed throughout her body, giving her body a deep blue shimmer. The mana tempering and refining each section separately and all at once.

I closed the gate to her mana pool, preventing the last of her mana from drying up. She maintained a pale blue hue even though she had no mana coursing through her. Her muscles started to revert but not entirely; the pure intensity of the stat augmentation had a permanent effect.

Sasha, I feel incredible!

"We are not done yet. Judging from the size of your mana pool, we need to repeat this process several times. After that, you will be able to push through the bottleneck on your own."

The Creator truly wanted a peaceful existence for the Jadendajuda. The stats she attained on her own exceeds her physical limits, not to mention what Anya has done. That much is evident; she does not have the necessary mentality nor body. I forced her into a role beyond her means. And yet. When I look at her, I feel no regret.

Wait, I forced this upon her? No, that is not entirely correct. This is her life now; I am simply the tool providing her the means to stand tall and persist.

Full integration. Let me see what I can do for Vivian. I sighed. Eager as I am, there is still the main problem. Only some of my capability is available. I tugged gently at my leads, letting my functions guide my actions. I touched upon her circulatory systems. The mana pathway had begun merging into her arteries and veins; preparing to circulate blood and mana at all times. A development I didn't expect. Her mana pool is a bit lacking to have mana flowing constantly. I probed at her mana reservoir. I pushed at the edges expanding it to hold more, stopping when I felt cracks forming from the strain.

What will this mean when she breaks through to the Epic realm? Why does that thought excite me so?

I gazed through the skills I'd developed and stored. Withholding these is a waste, is it not?

Let me see her status. I only need to see the changes. I watched with interest as skills passed to her. How they merged into her physical body provided me with valuable insight.

Name Vivian Mana Pool 23/155(90) Wisdom 9(6) Intelligence 4(3) Miscellaneous The host stands five feet(152 cm) tall, and her tail is seven inches(17 cm) long.

Sasha began the process to remove the level restriction. While still present, it has weakened. Skill List Survive. Anya's Blessing. Sleep Resist(advanced). Quarterstaff(Master). Heat Resist(moderate). Dragon Fire Resist(poor).

Is this my limit? I shook my head. No. Not yet. I sent my consciousness into my databanks, digging deep into the secrets stored within. Unsure what I was looking for exactly, I did something I had never considered before. I pulled upon everything I knew. Void corruption remained, I left anything infected from that mess alone for now. I wanted to purge it, but something nagged on me not to, that it would be necessary to keep part of it to study.

[Anya's Blessing]. That gives me an idea. Vivian's body has improved healing when she's in direct sunlight. Her mana and health are melding together within her.

All my information now readily accessible before me. I scanned through it instantly. I felt myself spark with new understanding, my breakthrough unimportant. I had a task to complete. I learned something, correcting my prior thought. My integration with Vivian is not yet final. There's more to a person than mind and body. The soul, but how to tap into it?

I had to stop myself and take a deep breath. That can wait. I fiddled around with the leads. I created an interface detailing my integration with Vivian. With that complete, I tapped on the screen I'd created. I pulled up her skill [Anya's Blessing].

The skill weaved throughout her body seamlessly. I felt a twinge of jealousy at the perfectness of it. I slapped myself. Focus. I dragged a lead from Vivian's mana pool and fed it into the skill, my goal: to link her mana regeneration into her enhanced health regeneration from [Anya's Blessing]. In theory, at least, it should work; her health pool and mana pool are preparing to circulate through her body as one.

Now to wait, I hope she's not too upset with me. Her stats will be in a constant state of activation now.

Sasha.