While Sonny practices with Conner, Rachel, and Taymin, the Canine Faunus combat counselor, Dawn and I ready to open the second Rook Chesst. "Ready?" she asks me with a wild grin and I respond with a nod and a smile. With a slow creak, she opens the box and a flash of light blinds us momentarily.

[What the? You received Corneleus's Arbitrary Mini-Map Progenitor.]

Standing before us is a thick, peculiar door frame made from a dark metal covered in multiple lines of tiny runes. Two gems sit at either upper corner, one a blood red and the other a deep blue. The door itself is a sickly green, pale and pitted, shallow scratches all over. The handle looks to be made of some kind of bleached bone, bright white and cracked, while the keyhole below looks to be large enough to fit a soda can through. Dawn and I look at each other and I can see the confusion in her squinting eyes and scrunched eyebrows. Honestly though, I have no idea how they can tell with my features, but she seems to see it on my face as well.

[Corneleus's Arbitrary Mini-Map Progenitor. Unique Wonderous Item.

[Once per 24 hour period, any key may be inserted to unlock the door and create a unique dungeon experience that will be available until the door is closed and the next key is used.

[Keys cannot be used more than once in this way.]

Neither of us really know how to feel about our pull, since we really didn't understand what to make of it. It's exciting to have a Unique item, but it's equally perplexing to not know what to do with it. My Analyze doesn't give any better description since it can't even tell me the composition of the materials used in the door.

"All I'm getting are a bunch of question marks and some gibberish font?" I dismiss the screens and put my hands to my hips. "What do you think?"

Dawn’s hand has found it's way to her horn, clacking as she stares at the door, "I guess we'd need a key to find out what it does." She jiggles the handle, but it refuses to turn. "You think anyone inside would have one?"

I shrug my shoulders and look over at Sonny while Dawn stows the door in a Rucksask.

Sonny's wielding the cumbersome weapon amazingly well, though on occasion she misjudges the ground and Meteora cuts deep gashes in the dirt. Nearby, a watermelon sized rock lay split cleanly in half. Moments ago, she was unsure of what she was holding. Now, she whirls the oversized blade around her body, creating distance as it sweeps across the practice area. She parries and blocks strikes from Conner and Taymin's Dual Needle spears with her noticeably longer weapon.

Suddenly, she disappears into thin air, reappears behind them, and uses the flat side of the yellow glowing blade in a wide sweeping arch to swat them into the air. When they land, I Blink Step close by, biting my lip to stop from laughing, and cast Healing Breeze a couple times.

"That was quite the suprise," Taymin remarks as I give him a hand up. "I do believe just the visual aspect of that remarkable weapon is enough to throw off one's rhythm."

"No kidding," Conner says, dusting himself off. "Then she up and learns Blink Step, because of you, I think." He glances at me with a grin and I respond with an embarrassed smile.

"When Miss Sonasolaria reaches higher levels she will unequivocally be a force to be reckoned with." Taymin gives us a short bow before excusing himself to the vardo.

"I take it you put a few points into Arcane, then?" I ask the new Machina.

"Nineteen, actually. And I got two Spell points because of it," Sonny says with a wide smile, bringing up her character sheet for me to appraise. "And twenty six into Dexterity."

I see Assassinate, which means she learned the Blink Step Spell, the Critical Stab Skill, and allowed them to combine. She also had Shocking Touch and Sweeping Slash.

At first, it seems like standard fair. But, unlike many of us, the players especially, she was given her Stat Points and subsequent DecaStat Points in one shot. With guidance and inspiration she could easily plan her build and invest in the ideal Stats, Spells, and Skills. Even the literal build of her shell was given stringent attention and we used the best materials that were available to us. Her lineage is of the highest echelon in Arc and her first piece of equipment is a Legendary weapon that came from the depths of Arc's own history.

"So what's the goal, Sonny?" I ask, resting on a rock as she sits cross legged in the dirt. "Any idea what kind of Job Class you'll be aiming for?"

"Bard," she says without any hesitation. I'm taken aback by her answer. Based on her stats, it seems plausible, but wouldn't she have to switch weapons over to a type of instrument? What a waste of such a rare piece of equipment. But her next words cause my heart to race with anticipation, "Conner told me about a Bard he used to work with in the circus and she was a Bladedancer."

Originally, I assumed she would take up a Fighter Job with dashes of Arcane, such as a Spellsword or an Eldritch Knight. Having such a large weapon, customizable body, and an already varied library of Abilities, she could easily find a spot on the vanguard with Victoria and Dawn. In Arc, the Bard Class is one of the magical branches of Rogues and, depending on how one would "perform," they would specialize in a type of instrument or in their own voice through song. As Conner describes it, even rhythmic physical performances invoke the Abilities of the Bard and some become Dancers. Sonny and his circus co-worker choosing to become Bladedancers specifically.

Dawn gives us a couple of directives and we head away from the vardo for some proper grinding. "Usually," Conner continues to explain, "A Bladedancer would use a finesse weapon such as a rapier, saber, or even sharpened metal rings called Chakram. Luckily, due to the Attributes of Meteora, the only trouble Sonny would have might be getting used to its size, which she seems to already have done."

Dawn gave us the goal of helping Sonny reach Level 10 and achieve her first Bard level, as well as for me to attempt getting Adaptibility back. She didn't seem too concerned when I told her about the conditions of my Race change. She informed me that there's always grinding and that, as important as it is for me and my Job Class, it isn't a crucial part of it. It just makes it easier. I mean, sure, we could always walk somewhere, why even take the vardo, right?

"Whatever," I mumble to myself, "…take away your stupid forge… how about that?"

"You say something, Ardy?" Sonny asks, finishing off a Badger Bear, in this area it's a Level 14 creature that should have been able to steamroll an adventurer at Sonny's Level.

"Did you just throw Meteora at the Bear, Blink Step above it, have the sword tear through the Bear to get back into your hand, Critical Stab it, and then finish it with a Shocking Touch?" I muse while she stuffs the loot sack into her ring.

She responds with a wide grin and I look over at Conner. He had his bow out and an arrow nocked, though it wasn't drawn back yet. I'm pretty sure he was ready to assist, but it just wasn't necessary with how quickly Sonny took care of the beast. We didn't form a party so that she could gain as much XP as possible. For Conner and myself, the minor XP we would gain by sharing wouldn't be as useful to us even in the long run.

That, and we didn't want her to have hollow power, prefering her to gain actual combat experience and to discover her own fighting style, which appears to be a flashy, solo blitzkrieg.

I relegate myself to heal bot for the two of them, the monsters offering no challenge to me and being stingy with their Abilities. Not only that, their spawn rate is low enough and the two's kill rate is fast enough that we have to actively search for more monsters instead of having a conga line of them waiting to offer up their loot and XP.

"Finally!" Sonny exclaims, clearly still full of energy.

I shoot a couple finger guns over at her, casting Healing Breeze over the two Machinas collecting the loot sacks from their latest encounter. At some point, we had wandered far enough from the vardo that we happened upon a pack of Gnolls, a tribal race of hyena Faunus who are more monster than humanoid. Their language consisted of growls and barks as they threatened us with spears.

I had seen their dots on my screen, but with the challenge rating of the other monsters in the area and the strength of the three of us, I didn't deem them a real threat. My intuition was proved correct and Sonny practically swept through fifteen of them herself, Conner firing an odd arrow or two as a form of distraction rather than for damage. In other games Gnolls aren't too much of a threat in general, as vicious as they appear, but these were actually a little stronger than I expected.

I smell the area for more nearby hostiles while Conner and Sonny check out her Level up. I speak to them from over my shoulder, "It's actually much easier to gain XP from Quests than by grinding. We just wanted to make sure you had a grasp on combat, before we moved on to step two."

Her screen disappears and they both look at me. Her head tilts to the side, "Step two?"

"Come on," I motion them to follow me back to the vardo, "We're later than I thought we'd be, so we gotta head back. Besides, unlike you two, I'd like to get something to eat." I muse the possible lunch menu while Conner and Sonny go over her newest Skill, Stance/Flurry, which gives a small stat penalty in exchange for a boost in something else. Her first tier Ability, Defensive Flurry, deducts -10% melee damage, but it increases Armor by 25%.

"Armor bonus… Armor… Um, Sonny? Are you wearing armor?" I ask, looking over my shoulder.

"No. Why?" Her tone is far too chipper for someone walking around in a t-shirt and cotton pants.

"Damn, why didn't you say anything?" I smack my forehead with the heal of my palm. Turning around, I walk backwards and look over the two. I finally realize that Conner is wearing the heavier Terror of Many set and that it's become so commonplace to see that I thought it was just part of his build.

Conner explains how the Racial Feat Machina allows them to use the natural sturdiness of their bodies in place of armor, like hard scales or thick hides. As long as the head, over chest, over leg, and forearm slots remain empty, a Machina will receive a bonus to their Armor equal to twenty percent of their HP Max. The only reason Conner wears the Terror of Many set, is the bonus that effects himself and the rest of the party increases according to how many sets are being worn in that party..

I nod along, mainly observing the two of their appearences for the first time. Conner has the skin tone of a lightly tanned human, his sandy brown hair currently covered by the centurian style helmet. There are lines and rivets across visible skin that mark him as clearly not human.

Hand in hand by his side and standing a couple inches taller, the darker skinned Machina is wearing the grey Linqs shirt, grey Linqs pants, and an old pair of Umbra Boots. Her hood is up just enough to cover her smooth head, glowing amber eyes smiling at me. Since she was given one of the extra sets of clothes, the turquiose logo over her chest is actually the default Grey Wanderer mask and if I had skin on my face it would probably be red from the moment I saw the wolf looking back at me.

I turn back around in time to face another snarling Badger Bear's dripping teeth and rancid breath, but a surfboard sized blade flies past my head. Sonny appears out of nowhere, standing on the handle of Meteora, sending a Shocking Touch through it. I stand aside as the weapon pulls itself out of the Badger Bear's chest, floating in midair with Sonny positioning herself along the flat spine of the blade. She uses Wind Blast, a Spell that doesn't deal damage itself but violently pushes a target with a torret of air. The damage comes from tumbling against the ground (it feels good seeing someone else getting ground damaged for a change) and the sudden stop as the Bear slams into an outcropping of stone.

The monster lets out a sigh as it evaporates into a cloud of pixels, leaving behind its loot bag. That doesn't concern me right now, however, as Conner and I are still gawking at the massive, levitating weapon and the Machina standing calmly on top of it.

I give up trying to describe what had happened to the others, opting to allow Sonny the chance to float around for several seconds. With only a fifteen foot ceiling, she doesn't need much room to show that she is, indeed, using the sword as a sharpened galactic surfboard. She tries to explain the connection she gained with Meteora after hurling it the first time.

"It's like it begged me to throw it and when I did, it attuned itself with me. Then, during combat with the Badger Bear, it sort of… I don't know… 'whispered' how much it missed flying and asked if we could try." She hops off the blade and it flies to a spot behind her back.

"It reminds me of the Regalas Shards," Victoria says, inspecting the weapon hovering handle up directly behind Sonny.

Dawn stands next to her and does the same, "I recall you mentioning them to Lady Anne in her office. What are they exactly?"

"They are the heirloom of the Regalas family. A weapon, actually. Queen Herexa gave Lady Anne and me a glimpse of what they can do once, after a few too many bottles of wine." Victoria brings up a blueprint screen and draws a squiggly cylinder and six elongated diamonds. "This is just a rough drawing of them--"

"Very rough…" a muffled voice says from among us.

"…But they start off as an armlet," Vic continues, either she didn't hear or is choosing to ignore the comment. "When Queen Herexa gives the command phrase they become these six floating metal pieces."

All of us, Sonny included, are watching her scribble across the board. Kona giggles into Serenity's shoulder who smiles back at the cat girl. A Thunderstruck flies past the pointy ears, causing Kona to flinch hard, "I know I can't draw! Pay attention!"

Victoria grumbles to herself as she stows the weapon, "Anyway, using her will and a set of command words, she can use the thin slabs of magical metal in a multitude of ways. As melee weapons, shields, platforms, and even to fire bolts of magic." She cringes at her work and dismisses the screen without saving it.

Dawn takes a quick glance at Meteora, "If Meteora is Legendary then the Regalas Shards must be higher than that. Is there such a class?"

"There's Mythic and then Pantheon class," Sonny says, her pupils fully dialated and fixated on a spot on the ceiling. "One has a ten percent chance of obtaining a Mythic class item from a King Chest, though there is no record of one being opened in this world yet. Panthe--" Her sentence is cut short as she begins to sway drunkenly, Meteora quickly hitting the ground point first before falling flat.

I shout, "Blnkstp," teleporting just in time to catch her before she could fully crumple like a wet noodle. My Spell word almost came out as a single, barking syllable and I'm glad the system understood me enough to activate it anyway.

Everyone reacted just as quickly, jerking forward to catch her, and we end up kneeling around her to keep our eyes on her condition. According to her stat bar, her MP and SP are flashing at empty and we wait for them to start their gradual refill.

It doesn't take long for her points to top off and her eyes to flutter open. Her head is resting on a bedroll and her gaze drifts lazily from face to face.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, my mask pulled to the side, the flames from my skull reflected in her amber eyes.

Her only response is a weak smile and her eyes close again. A brief moment passes before they open once more and she finally speaks, "I tried to access Arc's history and lore like I used to… but I just don't have enough energy to do so for long." Dawn helps her back on her feet and covers Sonny's hands with hers.

When she was just a dungeon core, she had what was the equivalant of several thousand MP and a way to regenerate it at a near limitless speed. Currently, as a Level 9 Machina, her max MP and SP are about 62 and 49 respectively and they both regenerate 3 points a second after the normal 8 second delay.

"Thank you for trying, Sonny. Until you can get larger reserves, we'll hold off on doing that again, okay?" Dawn asks.

Sonny nods at her with a smile.

"Okay, speaking of which, are you ready for step two? Everyone else, please top off all potions and items you may need for the raid."

We all make sure that Sonny will be okay before shuffling off to the next phase. Dawn stops me, "Any luck?" I shake my head with a tight lipped smile. "That sucks. How do you feel about the plan tonight?"

My heart skips a beat, but it finds a running pace as I think about her words, "Honestly, it sounds like something I would do. Anyone volunteer to come with me even though there's such a high chance of death?"

"Richter said he would, but I'm thinking Rachel should go instead," Dawn says, her fingertips twirl in her hair before going up to her horn.

I shake my head, "It doesn't look like they have any kind of aerial units and air superiority has always been a force multiplier. We want to keep them overhead until the battle starts to boil, you know?"

Dawn nods, the only sound between us is the rhythmic clacking of her horns. "What if Sonny goes with you, too?" She considers out loud, "You've seen her fight, plus she knows Assassinate, just like you."

"Too risky, but it's a good idea for her to participate in the battle. Maybe in the second squad?" I ask, watching Dawn withdraw four, small Life Crystals from a storage crate Lady Anne gave us. She hands them to Sonny.

"What are these for?" She asks with her hands barely able to hold them all.

With big grins we both say, "Time to Level up!"

Sonny's Character Sheet

Spoiler: Spoiler

[Basic Info: Sonasolaria__ Race | Subrace: Machina |

[Height/Weight: 5'8/135lbs

[Class | Subclass: Bard 1

[Level: 10

[Experience: 1531| 2000

[Multiclass | Subclass:

[Artisan Job Classes: | |

[Copper/Silver/Gold/Platinum: 0/0/0/0

[HP/MP/Stamina Regen Delay: 8sec/7sec/6sec

[HP/Max/RegenPerSec: 71/71/5

[MP/Max/RPS: 96/96/15

[Stamina/Max/RPS: 53/53/4

[Combat Modifiers

[Strength: 1

[Dexterity: 32

[Arcane: 30

[Faith: 1

[Defense Modifiers

[Agility: 32+3

[Armor: 14

[Willpower: 16+1]

[Main Hand: Radiant Meteora

[Durability: 700

[Type/Range/Ammo: Strength, Dexterity/Melee, Throwable/1

[Base/Modified Damage: 35/55

[Bonus: Attuneable. Light. Pale Winds. Mountable. Spells: Control Winds, Wind Blast. Skill: Concussive Smite

[Off Hand: empty

[Durability: n/a

[Type/Range/Ammo: Strength/Melee/0

[Base/Modified Damage: 1/2]

[Head: empty

[Durability:0

[Armor:0

[Shoulders: empty

[Durability: 0

[Armor: 0

[BodyOver: empty

[Durability: 0

[Armor: 0

[BodyUnder: Linqs Tunic

[Durability: 300/300

[Armor: 4

[Bonus: -1second SP Regen wait

[Arms: empty

[Durability: 0

[Armor: 0

[Hands: empty

[Durability: 0

[Armor: 0

[LegsOver: empty

[Durability: 0

[Armor: 0

[LegsUnder: Linqs Pants

[Durability: 300/300

[Armor: 3

[Bonus: +1SP Regen

[Feet: Simple Umbra Boots

[Durability: 110/110

[Armor: 4]

[Face: empty

[Neck: empty

[Ear Right: empty

[Ear Left: empty

[Wrist Right: empty

[Wrist Left: empty

[Ring Right: Apprentice Ring of Storage

[Ring Left: empty

[Waist: empty

[Spells: Shocking Touch, Assassinate, Control Winds*, Wind Blast*, Inspire

[Skills: Minor Survival Craft I, Critical Stab I, Sweeping Strike, Concussive Smite*, Stance/Flurry I]

[Feats: Machina, Dungeon Core, Backup Battery, Spell Storage/Blood Quartz, Bard]

[Major Quests: none

[Minor Quests: none]