My awakening died down quickly, and my Imprint receded back to the edge of existence. But I still saw. The ability hadn't disappeared. Even if it had weakened, seeing reality at a shallower layer than it had, it still illuminated the world around me to depths I couldn't have understood before.

As I ran, I knew as every muscle twitched, every synapse fired, every joint bent. I could measure my flexibility and power and apply that knowledge instantly. I could perceive the dirt around me, find the most efficient area to step on. A leaf drifted into the clearing at the edge of my awareness and I saw, felt, smelled, tasted, and heard the tiny hole bitten into it by a bug in a synesthetic cacophony. And that was only one tiny thing. Everything in range was exactly like that.

To my own disbelief, despite how many processes were involved, it took almost no effort to employ that and all of the other information I now had fed to me at every instant. The world around me felt as grounded and close as my own arms and legs. Everything was a part of me. And that did not fade.

I know I'm going on and on here, but I cannot exaggerate the feeling that this ability gave me. It felt right, and I felt like more than I ever was. It only extended around 10 meters (30 feet) around me, but the world within was now sanctuary. The familiarity of decades was built with not even a glance.

Which is a lot of big talk considering that the first thing I did with it was make a tactical retreat.

I felt quite silly as I did it despite the fanfare I had built with my awakening. My all-out sprint was probably about a 10th the speed of anything I had seen out of Luo, and I couldn't even see Rilu move half of the time. The difference was almost comedic.

I was pulled back into the present as Luo's strange slowing aura snuffed out the flames erupting behind me quickly. Amidst Rilu's blows, even as I ran far enough that Gradient couldn't see him directly, the light gave me a good idea of their fight each time I looked back.

The black-haired Dragon hadn't budged from his location, the darkness of his strange energy-depleting aura wrapped tightly around him. He seemed immovable, shrugging off Rilu's attacks with only minimal apparent impact. The same attacks that sent blazes into the sky, the same attacks that dried the grass in their immediate proximity, the same attacks that shook every fiber of my body, even two dozen meters away.

Rilu was still holding back, and he was focusing his effort on creating short-lived constructs out of flames to constrain the attacks toward me. The sparks that flew at their collision sometimes turned into swirling blazes, from which Rilu stepped from one to another. I wondered how impressive his mobility would be when his flames had the ability to truly spread. And when he could let loose.

I intended to at least be able to see the latter.

I had run toward the center of the clearing when I began, and I had just crossed it. I tried to keep as many obstacles behind me as possible, but the edge of the clearing, where I would be (mostly) safe, was still too far away. Rilu would probably err in that time with his Skill the way that it was, and I needed to prove to him that he could focus on gaining ground.

So I prepared. I bet it all on a vague understanding I had of Luo's abilities from my awakening.

Survival instinct overcoming modesty, I tore off my shirt. The waves of heat washed over my bare back, a surprisingly welcome respite from the biting cold of the aura. I tossed my Canteen ahead, estimating I would be slowed further for a second or so by the aura as an attack came through. So, I corrected, adjusting the angle.

Seven meters later, I saw blue and I saw red light from behind me, but I didn't see the blaze of glory as they collided as I had before. Rilu had missed.

I kept my strides short and my stance low, ready to do whatever I could to avoid the oncoming attack.

Not even a meter later in my slowed state, it entered at the speed of an arrow, and I felt the aura tighten around me. This time, I was ready, and I adjusted quickly. I knew he could control them, so I would need to block it.

The instant it entered, I tossed the shirt behind me at the last possible moment. If he reacted to it, it was over.

But he didn't, and a storm of mist swirled around and into my shirt in the air as the ghostly blaze engulfed it. The aura loosened its grip, and my shirt was now submerged in a block of ice which promptly fell to the ground.

Oh well. Not like there was much left of it anyway.

I bent forward and reached out to catch the canteen I had thrown earlier, barely catching it. I felt the heat on the battlefield intensify. Blue fire mustered a weak resistance, but it wasn't prepared. The red fire seemed to intensify and reverse direction, but that trick took focus, and the aura's dominion lifted. I sped up. I had been refreshed, running this far at my top speed was a breeze.

I cleared the treeline, but I wasn't safe quite yet. I needed to know that Rilu could go all out.

I need not have worried, as that confirmation came the instant I broke out of the clearing. And it came in the form of a scream of rage and a shockwave that radiated a climate reminiscent of an oven even as far away as I was.

I scrambled up a tree in hopes of a show as it died down, but all I got to catch were the remnants of a monumental pillar of flame dissipating out to the sky.

I saw a battered and burned Rilu without claws, now adorned in scales. A different tree blocked my sightline, so I couldn't see Luo.

I don't think I really wanted to, considering the decidedly unconcealed smoking crater.

-

I gazed in amazement at my very own movements as I climbed back down and walked back out to the clearing. That would take some getting used to.

Not as much getting used to as coping with my worst fear about this world would, but that was something easy to figure out.

I walked out of the trees, energetic as I had ever been since arriving... here. I had used what was essentially a full restore, which I had desperately needed. Not just to save my life, but to not have to wait 2 months in an unfamiliar place waiting for my burns and injuries to heal. I felt better than I ever had before, honestly, if a bit fatigued from not having had slept yet.

I smelt burnt flesh. I couldn't see deep enough into the crater to know, so I just asked the first thing I needed to know.

"Is he dead?"

Rilu laughed, "He's a Second-Rank specialized in endurance in Tree, Skill, Class, and Race all at once. The only reason I could do this to him is because I lack control right now. Which has the side effect of letting me output more, and I got a lucky shot. He doesn't regenerate too fast, but I doubt he'll be out for more than 12 hours."

That was a relief. I didn't know how I'd be able to confront differing views on mortality and murder. The relief lasted until I got an add-on.

"But I can only not kill him because we'll be getting to the Citadel first, and you'll be learning to protect yourself. If you can pull off forced Catalization consistently, you may be the first 'Hornless' to get in as a citizen."

"Speaking of Catalysts," I changed the topic while tossing the new evolution of the canteen- which I had elected to rename to the Well of Life- to Rilu. "Take a sip,"

Why did I change the topic? Well, that was simple, this wasn't the time to deal with moral quandaries. I had superpowers to train.

He drank and his eyes went wide. His wounds didn't heal much, but his eyes seemed clearer and some of the scars and burns disappeared. It wasn't much, but he seemed to have acquired new life. Applaud my naming sense.

"I assume Hornless is a term for Dragons born without a horn? You've got antlers, do those count?" I asked, not caring if it was offensive. Perhaps I was feeling *too* powerful after my awakening.

"Dragons are powerful because of the Bound Flame ability. Our capabilities are passed down through it, and there are more variations of it than there are worlds in the sky. If someone inherits a Talent, they forego the many powers of a Dragon, and they do not develop a horn."

"So I'm not technically a Hornless?"

"We're going to pretend that you are. Less explanation about the nature of your existence here. Try not to reveal your ability, though. Dragons do *not* manifest mental Skills. Not in the Nexus, at least."

"Ironic that a mental enhancement can only end up in a feral child."

"Why?"

"Oh, um... Humans see intelligence as a measure of sophistication. Most of the time. I guess there are certain tropes that contradict that..."

"I can tell you're going to start rambling again."

"Ouch. Hurts more that you're right. Back to the main topic," I said while floating my status screen over to him. "Here're my Skill and my Class options,"

"And you're comfortable just showing me this?"

"After all of this, do you really think I don't trust you with my life? If you ever decide to slit my throat for one reason or another, it means that I probably deserved it."

Rilu, with no more complaints, looked over it for a moment. He tilted his head to make his smile at my statement of trust less visible. After all that I've gushed over my ability, I don't think I need to explain why that was futile.

"Hmm... Good news, bad news, and worse news. It evolved at Level 2, which also shouldn't happen, and it means you're going to have some difficulties. I think that it's strong enough without upgrades, though..."

"Based on your tone, that's the good news."

"Close, it's both the good and bad news. Not in that order. The worse news is this," he said, pointing at a specific point on the screen. Which I, of course, could see.

It was the part about me not being able to have my senses get too strong.

"Don't I just need to take the other Tree when I pick my class?"

"It wouldn't be a problem if it worked like that. Your Tree is given based on your performance. With a passive like this? It will be close to impossible to get anything but Acuity."

"And I can't turn it off?"

"You can't turn off passives. You may be able to since your Skill is strange and likely has an active component, if my theory is correct, but you'll need Mana for that. Which you need a class for."

"Oh. Oh no. So, to get stronger, I need to somehow pass my Class Trial without relying on an extremely powerful, constantly active tool?"

"Extremely powerful is a stretch,"

"Ouch," I interrupted. With a face of mock annoyance, Rilu continued.

"But yes. And thankfully you can retake it as often as you want," Rilu's expression shifted once again, this time into my favorite one; his contagious excitement. "But... we can't afford to just sit down for hours at a time, Luo will make it to the Citadel before us."

"I recognize that tone. You've got an idea, don't you?"

"You could say that I have a bit of a change of course in mind."

-

Sunbeams had begun to filter through the thick canopy far above by the time we had finished our conversation.

We would make it to the Outpost, but we wouldn't stop for long. Apparently, we had to be somewhere, and we had to get there fast.

There was no rest for the wicked.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't losing sleep in anticipation. To be fair, I hadn't slept, but I *would* have been losing sleep in anticipation.

I just wished that my friends could've taken me instead.

-

There weren't any more incidents on the way. I was healthy and everything in the forest knew to stay the fuck away from Rilu.

However, the Outpost was a minor goal now. The journey was so very far from over, that it seemed like a pitstop more than anything.

And, to be honest, that was what it was. And that was what the place was meant for.

You wouldn't have thought that by looking at it, though.

We started getting close in the morning a few days later when first we broke through the tree line. The sun rose in the direction we had walked, so as we exited we were greeted by the sun rising over a vast plain that I couldn't see the ends of sprawled out beneath us. And I mean beneath, because we were standing on the edge of a rocky cliff, with a precipitous drop of at least 70 meters.

Our path was clear. On the edge of the cliff was a well-worn road heading left. Why a Dragon would walk I didn't know. Based on the depth of the footprints, Gradient told me it could have been due to cargo.

I used that as a working theory and promptly suppressed my curiosity. I had too many unimportant questions. I didn't know why, perhaps it was curiosity, perhaps I was looking for plotholes. I hoped that whatever it was would lead to better questions someday.

I took a sip from the Well of Life and felt my mind clear. My eyes lightened and my awareness heightened. It was like Adderall with no side effects. It was all of the refreshing parts of a stimulant without the straining energy.

Rilu took a sip as well.

"Good job on this one. We could probably sell it for a lot, I have a few contacts who would kill for it," he said after the irresistible refreshed sigh that came with a sip from the Catalyst in question.

"I'm not letting you, you'll need to kill me for it."

"That can be arranged."

I paled and he laughed.

"Don't worry, I like it too much to sell as well. But we will need to see if it was a fluke, I want to see if you can make another Catalyst."

He handed me the Satchel, and it was my turn to smile at the display of trust. I still didn't have a shirt and Rilu's robes were far too big, so I was glad it was meant to fit on pants.

Not sweatpants, however. So I just had to carry it. I'd fool around with it as it became more reasonable to do so.

Really, any time when I am not taking a walk on the edge of a cliff would be more reasonable.