As soon as James opened his eyes and sat up, he panicked. Not only was it dark, and Dana wasn't immediately close to him, but his surroundings were so... alien.

He was currently lying on one of the wooden benches that bordered the large garden in the school courtyard, but the garden itself was all wrong.

For one thing, it straight up looked like the jungle from Avatar, one of the few fantasies James could reference. Every plant seemed to have some glowing neon part to it. Some had small leaves that looked like fairy lights, plants with larger leaves had luminescent patterns wrapped over them, and the viny plants had strings of glowing blue, yellow and orange woven into them.

It was honestly the most beautiful thing James had seen since the world shift, perhaps even more beautiful than Dana. He could happily live in this garden, permanently glowing. But he probably wasn't safe. He looked around but couldn't see Dana anywhere. She must have moved him while he was passed out. But where had she gone now? And how much time had passed since the fight? It was maybe 3 or 4 when they encountered the patrol, so at least 2 hours. That thought scared him and he shivered a little.

Which reminded him. He was outside. At night. It should be far too cold to be sleeping, but he was actually comfortably warm... And he had to find Dana. The most likely explanation was that she was exploring the garden right now, so he had to find her. Luckily, his spear was on the ground next to him, so he wasn't completely unarmed.

An entrance to the inner confines of the garden was within view, and he very willingly walked through the small gap in the bushes.

The more exotic plants (by British standards) were further in and had been altered more heavily. What might once have been a palm tree now had a diagonal grid of white neon strip running up its trunk, and seemed to be leaking small orbs of green from its leaves.

James put out his hand under the small canopy it offered, and let a number of these orbs touch his open palm. When they made contact, he felt a little tingling sensation, but that was all.

There were more of these curiosities following the circular paths of the garden, and James felt compelled to fully examine each one. Only when he saw a particularly odd-looking red flower that resembled a sea anemone did he remember to use analyse.

Red urchin flower:

Level: 0

Hp: 2/2

Mp: 0/0

"A plant heavily affected by the shift which tries in vain to collect ambient mana"

The description given what somewhat sad, but it was enough to tip analyse over the boundary of level 14 and gave him more stats as he hit level 15. A quick check of status showed that he had gained another stat point in endurance and vitality.

Annoyingly enough, he didn't get a message to tell him that and then got more annoyed when he remembered he didn't get any as he levelled up any of his skills. He wished that the system would tell him when stuff happened to him so that he didn't have to always check his status to figure out what his stats were.

Would you like to alter the HUD?

James smirked. His understanding of the workings of the system deepening. He could ask and receive. It was like God. But not an actual God. It wasn't like any God would ever slaughter so many people at once for no reason ever.

James almost laughed at the irony of his line of thought and mentally sent a yes to the message. It responded, in turn, offering a new set of options.

What level of notification would you like? (Default is set to: milestones)

• None

• Minimal (required only)

• Milestones (required and level milestones)

• Maximum (every notification is shown)

Wondering why anyone would ever pick None, and what required notifications were, James selected maximum. He wanted to know whenever any of his skills levelled up.

You have a backlog of 20+ notifications related to skill levels. Would you like to see them?

James saw no point in this. At this point, he knew what his stats were, and how high his skills were, so that might just cause a headache. So he answered no to it. Another window popped up though.

You have 1 message related to events and areas. Would you like to see It?

This drew James' curiosity. What event had passed? So he selected yes.

1. Now entering safe zone: Neon Eden.

This explained several things about the garden. It had evolved somehow and it was a more hospitable space. The garden was amazing and he felt the flowers would be of greater curiosity to May as some alchemical potential was blindingly obvious among almost all the plants and flowers here.

But thinking of May, he realised they were not here and he had no idea where the hell they were. They hadn't shown up since they left earlier, so he was at a loss as to where they could be. Maybe they had taken another route back to the workshop and were there now. That was the explanation that made the most sense to him, so he just left it at that.

For now, though, he had to find Dana. He was sure she was in this garden and was likely admiring it like him.

As he continued to comb the annoyingly large circuits of the garden, he couldn't help but to stop and look at the bioluminescent wonders that surrounded him. The relatively low walls and bushes and flowers seemed to have grown taller to the point he felt he was in a maze, making the surroundings almost hypnotic.

While staring at a fruit tree that now bore low hanging fruit that resembled a bunch of small glowing apples, he bumped into Dana.

Immediately, they both sprung into battle poses, and then laughed at how jumpy they both were. Despite the calming beauty of the garden, they both understood where they were, and took the apparent safety of the garden with a pinch of salt.

Once they had both calmed down a little, Dana dropped her spear with a loud clanging and hugged James, the knocking of their armour already becoming commonplace for him.

While they stood there, embracing with a beautifully glowing background, James took a moment to appreciate the good things that had happened to him so far. The system had definitely made him and Dana closer, and improved their relationship. He had found something that he really had to live for instead of a social obligation. And he had seen the romance of life. Forgetting the bad things he had witnessed even if only for a moment, James found a happiness. A moment he could hold on to for a long time to come.

Spiritual skill gained: Reason

The skill may have settled nicely in his stats, but as it appeared, he could not ask the system for more information, nor could he even guess what the skill did. It didn't even have a rarity.

Dana pulled away from their embrace first and smiled at him.

"I'm so glad you're ok. You zonked out after the lizards were dealt with."

Smiling with her, James replied. "Stamina ran out, got to keep a closer eye on it." He looked down as something caught his eye and saw she had tucked a multitude of flowers into the crevices of her armour.

They acted almost as an illuminating decorative cover, as the flowers continued to glow despite being cut off.

"What's all this. And what even is this place now?"

Dana scrunched up her face as she searched for an answer and picked up her spear. "I guess the schools garden became a good place. It's kind of... magical now. These flowers helped me get an occupation!"

Her excitement had mounted near the end of her explanation but only succeeded in confusing James. How did flowers help we get an occupation? She was looking to get Oracle or something similar wasn't she?

Before he could ask, she grabbed his hand and led him further into the maze. By now it was obviously larger than the courtyard that contained it, but James just brushed it off as another example of spatial warping like what they had found below the workshop.

"Where are you taking me? Is there something in the maze?"

James struggled to utter these questions as Dana accelerated, pulling him from a walk to a jog to a full out sprint. He couldn't see her expression anymore, but he felt that she was trying to show him something. So he ran without any resistance, through the twists and turns that Dana confidently ran through. He had already lost any semblance of an idea of how to get back out besides from a general direction he could gather from the shadows of the surrounding building.

After only a minute of running, Dana let go of his hand, stopped them both before returning to him.

"Ok, so it's going to be really bright. Go slow. Let your eyes adjust."

"What? Let my eyes adjust to What?"

Dana gave him a curt nod and just turned then walked around the next corner. In response to that, the glowing plants around the gap dimmed greatly and a white light ebbed from around the corner.

James took a deep breath and edged along the low wall to the edge of the gap. The light grew in intensity and even being this close was making him squint. But he trusted Dana. She had just said to take it slow. So he shut his eyes, and spun around the corner, feeling his way with his spear on the ground.

The light glared through his closed eyes, illuminating the thin skin covering them. He put up his hand reflexively and while this helped, he still couldn't see where he was going. Some short glances to either side of his hand, away from the source of the light showed he was in the recognisable centre of the garden. There was a circle of red brick encasing a low wooden stage which had some metal benches arranged in a ring, each dedicated to the memory of a deceased teacher at the college.

James almost laughed at how many they would need to cover for all the teachers who had died recently, but realised how heartless the would be. He wasn't a bad person for god's sake.

For now, though, he had to locate Dana yet again. She was most likely ahead of him again, but the light was too bright to make much out.

He flipped his spear so he walked with the blunt end out front and imitated a blind person with a cane. He stepped onto the stage, and immediately the light stopped. Or rather, it was still there, just not glaring. His immediate surroundings revealed he was almost in a dome of light that encased the very centre of the garden. The centre of the very college. And inside this dome was the same benches he remembered, Dana sitting on one looking excitedly at him, and a box of sorts in the very middle of the stage.

"Wow..." James was lost for words and trailed off before he could say anything else.

"I know, this place is amazing. What are the chances! But that's not the best part! Analyse the cache!"

Confused at her choice of words, but still understanding her meaning, James took a closer look at the box. As he got closer, he took in the large number of edges and faces it had, becoming more complex as he neared. The design on the faces, of golden vines and leaves over white marble, seemed to shift and grow as he looked harder. Completely magic. Unable to crack it on his own, he relented and used the skill to analyse it.

Divine Cache

Holy level required: 10+

The lack of information was a little concerning, and the mentions of a holy level were just strange.

"You know what it means by holy level?"

He directed his question at Dana, who had obviously been here already and seen it.

"It's like a skill level I guess, something you can get from an occupation and maybe a class."

"You got an occupation earlier right? What did you get?"

Dana looked proud as she explained her class to him and outlined the skills she got while James tried to make sense of the shifting box in front of him.

Floral Oracle [1]

Foresight (spell):

Gain an idea of the twistings of fate at the cost of time and mana.

Cost: 50 mana

Petal Divining (skill):

Study the natural patterns of falling petals to understand the correct direction to take.

Cost: 20 stamina

Divine Request (spell):

Ask unto the gods a request for knowledge and receive their guidance.

Cost: 80 mana

Though she had only gained three skills and spells from the occupation, she had gained a few stats in intelligence and wisdom, as well as permanent regeneration increases. On top of her feature, she was quickly becoming the fastest to recover.

"Interesting skills. Did you mention a divine spell? So is your occupation holy at all?"

"Oh yeah, but it only gives a holy level of 2." Dana looked a little embarrassed to have to admit that, but it wasn't her fault this cache had some stupid requirement to open.

James had a sudden epiphany about his capacity for the divine. It may not be holy in specific words, but it was powerful for sure.

"I have an idea, but it's risky."

"An idea for What?"

"I'm going to break it open."

"And how are you going to do that? Oh, most holy of holy men."

James laughed immediately. It had been a while since he had heard Danas savagely sarcastic side. Her latest friendly insult was a little weak, but he felt she would improve in time.

"As cheesy as this may sound, I'm going to use the power of the gods... god... a deity at least."

Dana needed only to look at him stretching his arms to know that he was being serious.

"Should I stay? Or..." she pointed out of the dome of light and James nodded.

"Yeah. I don't know how this is going to go. I'll give you a minute to get clear. Come back after that. If I'm passed out again... I don't know. It might be a good time to test out some healing magic."

Dana didn't need to be told twice. She ran out of the circle and James waited a tense moment with a heavy weight in his gut. This was more nerve-racking than fighting lizards, even more than taking a difficult test. He was about to mess with the gods. And he had only one shot at this. Damn. He should have kissed Dana before he left.

Though he had no idea if he could bypass this condition set by the system, he was determined to try.

This was a risky move, sure, but there was something good in here. He could tell.

He tried not to think about the repercussions. Besides the mana fatigue, the spell itself suggested something deeper. But he needed something. Anything to give him an edge. Something was keeping the others somewhere in the school, and he needed whatever was in this damn box to get it.

Shit!

He was already overthinking it. He took a few steps back from the cache, and made a practice run, punching it flat on one of the faces with a little effort after a small run-up.

He nodded to himself. He could do this. It would work.

James reset his position, backing out of the circle as much as he dared before hitting the blinding light. He lowered himself into a sprinters position and waited for half a minute for his stamina to refill.

He would run at It, swing, and activate the spell at the last moment.

Fear Factor has increased to level 4

Well, that made sense.

James sprinted towards the cache, his counted steps pounding out with each syllable of the spell.

"Di - Vine - Con - Tract!"

As he finished yelling the final syllable, time slowed, and his mana dropped like a stone. His fist made contact just before it was depleted though, and he felt his knuckles push through the stone as if it were water.

His final thought was how strange the back of his hands looked as the glowing white veins flickered under the skin.