Mewi and I were once again in a bedroom, this time one that appeared to be on a ship. Mewi was lying on a bunk which you’d have to be fairly uncharitable to call small, though you couldn’t possibly call it large or plush. I was, once again, on a holographic PC. I moaned. “Whether ingredients or potions, prices are still just as impossible as ever. At the rate the Federation’s paying us for missions, we’re still not going to be able to challenge the 8th Floor until after another year of trips to the 7th. Unless the Federation finds another high-value emergency mission to offer us, of course.”

“We’re still making a way better living than we were on our own,” said Mewi, “lots of people aren’t even able to take potions into Floor challenges these days.”

“I know...I just hate that we’ve been reduced to freaking Leeches for Shumba on the 7th Floor as our best source of income. I thought we’d be in Area 2 by now! By like, a year before now!”

“I know what you mean...nobody likes being lumped in with the nastier sorts of Leeches who take out their frustration by killing challengers. But you have to admit, it’s helped the Class Evolver that we’ve been allowed to take High difficulty missions each time.”

I turned my chair from the holographic screen. “Now there’s a thought. It’s almost to 90% to Silver, right?”

“Yeah?”

“I bet we can clear a Very Hard mission on the 8th Floor instead of just doing another Hard one. By now, clearing Hard on the 7th is actually easy for us, after all. Like, we even got a 4.8 rating not so long ago! That appraisal said a Very Hard mission will give us 2% per point above 3.0. We could get you a Silver class to use by the 9th Floor with just one mission! All we’d need is a 3.5!”

“Hmm...maybe,” said Mewi, sitting up now, “even if you think Cap’n Torguur will go for it, I’m sure we’ll need to bring even more supplies than we were planning for the Hard mission. It’ll mean waiting even longer to clear the 8th Floor—more trips to the 7th anyway.”

“True, but it’ll also mean better pay from the Federation and more access to their supply stores. It’ll mean more respect in general! The others are getting almost as restless as me, and he’s no exception. I’m sure I can talk him around to it.”

“Well, okay then. We’d better train hard, though!”

I nodded as I went to the exit of the room. “It’s time team Blazing Warriors got something better for ourselves.”

Evolving Trait | White

When sleeping, occasionally experience dreams that show visions of a certain time. You will always remember these dreams perfectly upon waking.

Upgrade Criteria:

1) Experience all available visions. Current progress: 8/13

2) Change your fate.

I didn’t have the luxury of pondering the implications of the Evolving Trait moving the goalposts on me. I had wave after wave of empowered monsters to deal with, over a period of several more days, for us to so much as reach the Blackfang Mountains.

It was when we reached the barren plain, the plain Mewi and I would be visiting for the second time where the first actual glimpse of the Blackfangs could be seen, that I decided to approach Ilsandre. “I’ve decided how I want to call in my favor.”

“Oh?” Ilsandre’s eyes, which had been shut, his body laying against a tree as though he was napping, instantly snapped open. He even straightened up a little bit.

“According to your own evaluation of the mages assigned the task, it’ll take about an hour to pour enough mana into your Dimensional Transportation Array to fully activate it. You also think the Monster Lord will come out of its wound-licking state when the activation begins.

From my spatial storage ring, I drew out a pack of 10 of Agility potion-pills, enough to change Speed to Agility for a half hour. “When that phase starts, use these.”

Ilsandre was of course able to Identify it. “Agility Potions...that would definitely make it easier for me to keep the Monster Lord’s attention and help keep it corralled in the array formation. The Cradine kingdom isn’t capable of making a potion like this. But how does this use your favor?”

“Because you’re proud of your strength. I don’t want you saying that sure, you’ll use it, then when the time comes, you have a thought like ‘eh, I don’t need it’ and not use it. Put that kind of thinking aside, just for one half-hour, and accept my help. That’s the favor.”

Ilsandre chuckled, and took the potion from my hand. “I see that it takes one to know one. All right.” He stored the pills—he also had a dimensional storage though I couldn’t tell quite what he used for it—then stood up, looking around. When he saw there was no one else around, he looked right at me. “Now’s as good a time as any, I think. There’s something I need to tell you.

You know what déjà vu is, right?”

I nodded. “Well,” he continued, “I’ve been having déjà vu pretty often, ever since the last annual swearing in of new Cradine adventurers. Like this has all happened before. But when you hit me with that attack that actually hurt me, what I felt was more than déjà vu.

I felt a flash of memory...memory of challenging someone else like that. Only this someone wasn’t just able to hurt me. They were way, way stronger than me. As soon as he released his real power I could tell I didn’t stand a chance against him.

And I remembered a few more things since then. Lheticus, I think I’m—no. Not just me. The whole kingdom is stuck in a loop, isn’t it? It would explain a lot about the new adventurers. Like how your team has such huge potential out of nowhere. There are people who would swear that you and the others have lived in Cradine all your lives just like all of us, but you haven’t, have you? You’re from outside the kingdom. Outside the loop.”

I couldn’t look him in the eyes as I replied. “It doesn’t matter for anything, though. If that is how it works, you won’t remember when the loop resets.” I’d ask Bruzigan or somebody about this later, but I was pretty sure that was how it worked.

“But if it’s true, if there really is a loop,” he said, with an urgency in his voice that shocked me, “then please, try to find a way to break me out of it! I just—I have a feeling you can do it.

I felt what you were doing in our fight. It wasn’t some power-up ability. You willed what you wanted to happen, and it did. Maybe if you can make that power of yours stronger, you can will me out of this world and into yours.”

I stared at him, open-mouthed. Could something like that really be possible? “I...guess I can at least think about it.”

He nodded, then went back to pretending, or what I thought was pretending to sleep.