Katherine wanted to crawl into a hole and die. While unconscious, she’d been plagued with dozens of terrible dreams of Simon hating her, laughing at her, or telling her how he just wanted to be friends. There’d been other dreams mixed in, ones with monsters or killer robots, but those didn’t stay with her long when she woke.
She was alone in their room at the inn, lying on the bed. The only light came from the open window, which looked out onto the ocean and pier below. The others must have carried her all this way, which only made her feel more embarrassed. She felt like an idiot. She’d tried to do something heroic, but all she did was make things harder on him and Justus.
A floating box filled the center of her vision. She’d been staring at it for the past half-hour.
Spirit Threshold Achieved
New Rank Progression: Peak
Skill Evolution(s):
[Null] Skill(s):
[Deflection]
Reduced Cooldown.
Current Cooldown: 45 seconds
[Eruption] Skill(s):
[Pyromancy]
Two independent ignitions can now be created.
Energy increased.
Current Energy: 125/125
New Affinity Manifested: [Power]
New [Power] Skill: [Amplify]
[Amplify]: Activate in tandem with the activation of another Skill to increase its effects or potency.
Channel Skill.
You are now eligible to advance to rank: Jade.
To see more info on evolved skills, see skill menu.
Katherine read over the text for the dozenth time. Power. She itched to get out of bed and test the new skill out, but the others were gone. Part of her feared they’d left her behind, but she told herself they’d be back. Katherine knew Simon would never leave Belle, and the tiny dog was currently asleep at her feet on the mattress. Would they be disappointed in her? Angry that she’d needed to be carried all the way to town?
The door of the room opened. Katherine sat up, causing Belle to jump out of the bed. Justus walked in, and Simon came in a few seconds later. Simon saw she was awake and smiled. He was wearing a maroon eyepatch over his left eye.
“Hey, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”
“Fine…” she said, looking down. “What’s wrong with your eye?”
“It’s fine. Just a little surgery. Sorry about the arm. Justus thought it wasn’t worth healing until we were in town, or you woke up.”
It took Katherine a second to realize Simon was talking about her broken arm, which was still in a splint.
“It’s fine. He was right. What do you mean surgery? Are you okay?”
“Better than ever. I’ll tell you later. Let me take care of that arm.” Simon stepped closer and offered her a hand. Katherine lifted her broken arm and looked away. She fought back a blush when his hand touched hers.
A numbing feeling spread through her arm, then she felt the bone and tendons twist back together. Like the other time he’d healed her, it felt uncomfortable, but not painful. A sigh escaped her lips as the skill finished, leaving her aching arm as good as new. She pulled it back and worked on taking off the splint.
“Thank you.”
Simon shook his head.
“I should be thanking you. You saved my ass back there.”
“It was your plan,” she pointed out.
“A plan that wouldn’t have worked without you. So thanks.”
Katherine wasn’t sure how to respond. She wanted to bring up the kiss, but she couldn’t with Justus here. He was crouched down in the center of the room, messing with a tiny metal box.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
Justus touched something on the device. The box’s top unfolded, and a short antenna with a round tip stuck out and began to glow with Spirit. The air in the room shimmered; a faint silvery bubble created a dome that nearly touched the ceiling and surrounded all three of them. As it appeared, Katherine’s ears popped, as if she had just been plunged underwater.
“Privacy device. It prevents our voices from leaving the bubble. Don’t mention it to anyone. They aren’t exactly legal. It’ll make sure no one will overhear us.” Justus’s voice sounded off. There wasn’t any echo to it at all. It must have been because of the device.
“No one? Not even…” Simon said, pointing up.
“It has limits. Most Emeralds can pierce it, but only if they know there’s one active and where it is. As for them…” Justus looked up. “If they’re paying attention to us, we’re already fucked no matter what we do. Best to still be cautious. If you talk about where you’re from, be vague.”
Justus raised a hand, his palm up. Simon lifted his eyepatch; the eye underneath was a metallic grey with a white iris. Katherine opened her mouth to ask him about it, but Simon spoke first.
“I knew I saw something! I thought I was going crazy,” he said.
Katherine followed his gaze to Justus’s empty hand.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
Justus frowned after a long pause. He kept his eyes on his hand.
“Permission? You never asked me for permission. You just jumped in.”
“I can’t hear her. What’d she say?” Simon asked.
“What the hell is going on with you two?” Katherine asked. Finally they responded to her.
“There’s a spirit here. You can’t see or hear her until she connects to your Spirit. She wants me to ask you if she has permission. It won’t hurt.”
“A spirit? Is she… friendly?”
“She looks friendly,” Simon said.
“She’s not dangerous. I think. She’s helped me twice now,” Justus said.
Justus was a careful person, so his assurance meant a lot.
“Okay then… sure. How will I know—”
Katherine tensed, then relaxed as a refreshing warmth spread through her body. Moments later, a light came from her hand and rose out of her skin like fog. The mist came together and formed a tiny figure.
“Hi!” The spirit spoke in a bright, cheery voice. Katherine wasn’t sure where the sound came from or how it was looking at her. The figure had no eyes or mouth and only an impression of a nose. It was a lot like Simon’s clone in that way.
She was only five or six inches tall. The spirit’s form was unmistakably feminine, but it had no nipples or sex organs, making it look like a ghostly barbie doll with no face. The misty light poured from her bald head, looking like hair that floated in water.
“Hello. Who are you?” Katherine asked carefully.
“No idea!” The spirit giggled, then flew off to land on Simon’s hand. He nodded, and she sank into his palm. A few seconds later her head popped out.
“Ooo, your Spirit tastes good!”
“You can taste it? Wait, are you eating my Spirit? I thought you were friendly,” Simon said, shaking his hand. The spirit flew out in front of him.
“I didn’t eat any. I taste it when I go inside. Duh. You’re not very bright, are you?”
“How would I know that? At least I know what I am.”
The spirit somehow frowned despite not having a face. It leaned forward and put both of its hands up, thumbs in its ears in a mocking gesture, and let out a loud, drawn-out “Nyah!”
The tiny white lady flew back to Katherine, flying up to rest on her shoulder. Simon lowered his eyepatch, covering the strange glowing eye.
“I like you better,” the spirit hissed, loud enough for everyone to hear.
The spirit gasped loudly, making Katherine wince given how close she was to her ear.
“Puppy!”
The lady flew down to Belle, who sniffed at her. The spirit zipped around the dog, and the two started playing.
Simon and Katherine looked at Justus. Neither of them said anything, but the question didn’t need to be asked.
“I found her in the ship. I think…” He leaned forward and spoke quietly. “I think she was trapped there, part of the machine that powered the whole thing.”
Justus told them what happened after he fell, from wandering into the engine room all the way to how his guidestone had been fixed by the spirit and somehow connected to the ships’ systems, which she had removed later. Apparently Simon had overheard part of that, though he hadn’t been able to see the spirit at the time.
Katherine looked back to the spirit, who was still playing with Belle, giggling as the dog nipped at the trail of light she left behind.
“So… what is she?” Katherine spoke quietly, not wanting the spirit to overhear.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anything like her.”
“But she fixed your guidestone. Didn’t you say that’s impossible?”
“Not impossible. Only six beings on the planet can do it, as far as I know,” Justus said.
“Maybe that’s what she is,” Simon said. “Not one of the big six, I mean, but maybe a more advanced version of a guidestone? What if she’s a personality construct that controlled the ship?”
“Personality construct?” Katherine asked.
“Yeah, an AI, but made of Spirit instead of circuits. Think about it. She was in the ship’s core. With a ship that advanced, it would make sense to have an artificial intelligence in control of all the different systems. You could either have a dozen technicians or just one AI to talk to and give orders to.”
“It does make a bit of sense, but what made you think of that?”
“It’s just like Halo. Look at her; she’s basically Cortana. Except not as… mature.”
“Your theory is from a video game?” Katherine asked.
“That doesn’t mean it’s not a good one. What else could she be?”
Katherine didn’t have an answer to that.
“We can’t know for sure with her memory gone. Maybe she is some kind of Spirit construct, but she’s definitely useful. If she can repair a guidestone, she’s bound to be able to do more. Did you notice the feeling when she goes into your Spirit?”
Katherine nodded. “Refreshing.”
“Comfortable,” Simon said.
“It feels like a healing potion,” Justus said.
“Healing potion?” Katherine asked.
“Heals your Spirit, not your body,” Simon explained. Katherine gave him a puzzled look. “Justus explained them to me a little bit ago. Different conversation.”
“It makes me think she could be useful. Legally we’re supposed to hand her in to the guild. I’m not sure how we’d even explain how we found her, but I doubt they’d ask many questions. But if she’s useful, it might be better not to.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about turning her in,” Katherine said. “Look at her. She’s like a child. We couldn’t just give her to the guild. They’d probably kill her or do some kind of experiments on her. She fixed your stone, which is the only thing you seem to care about. And you’re thinking about turning her over to them?”
“I’m just pointing out our options.”
“That isn’t an option.”
“I don’t really like the idea of turning her in either,” Simon added.
“I never said we should,” Justus said. “I said it’s not worth it since she’s useful.”
Katherine shook her head. “God, you’re an asshole.”
“Glad you’ve finally noticed,” Justus said. He walked over to the device and looked up at them. Neither Simon nor Katherine protested, so he pressed his foot against the device’s antenna. It sank back into the box, which closed around it. Justus picked up the box, and it vanished into his inventory.
“Now, one last thing before we can get some sleep.”
Justus dug into his pocket and pulled something out and tossed it at Katherine, harder than necessary. She caught the blue object as it hit her stomach. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened.
“Is this—”
“A sapphire guidestone. An ascendant model. Congratulations, your net worth is higher than half the world's population now. It was one of the three items we took from Goffner’s house. Thank Simon. He’s the one who found it, but being an idiot, he said you deserved it.”
Katherine looked at Simon, her mouth still agape. She didn’t know what to say.
Simon, for his part, looked sheepish. He fiddled with the straps of his eyepatch.
“Like I said, you saved my life. I felt like you deserved it more than I did. Don’t worry about it. I can save up for one if I ever need it. But, well, yeah…”
Katherine clutched the sapphire close. For some reason, seeing him get nervous made her feel like that spirit was swimming around in her again. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Simon look so embarrassed before, and she was glad that it was because of her.
“Thank you,” she said.
Simon gave her a small smile.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Justus said, pulling out two rolled-up futons and dropping them on the floor. “Tomorrow you two will get back to training. I’ll visit Goffner and see about his offer.”
Justus’s interruption snapped Katherine out of her moment, and she slipped the guidestone into her pocket.
“What offer?”
“He offered to grant us spots on a trip to Tide Blessed if we smuggle a shipment of goods for him. I’ll take care of it. This job is more my area of expertise; you two won’t need to do much. That’s why you’ll spend your time training. You can have the bed. Rest well.”
Justus shut the thick curtains, which cast the room into darkness. The spirit flew away from Belle and toward Katherine.
“Can I sleep in you?”
“Um, sure,” Katherine said, trying to sound casual as to not hurt the spirit’s feelings.
The spirit beamed, or at least Katherine got the impression it did, then dove into Katherine’s stomach. Her Spirit was once again doused with that pleasant warmth.
While the others slept, Katherine couldn’t. She’d slept enough lately. Instead of going to bed, she explored her new guidestone.
Unlike the stripped-down Opal guidestone’s menu, the Sapphire’s system was far more advanced, similar to Justus’s. After setting herself as the admin, she was able to access the inventory, which held over 800 square feet of storage. She hadn’t known it was limited by volume until now. She wondered how large Justus’s might have been. It seemed like he had a warehouse worth of junk and tools in that stone of his.
Katherine tested the inventory, grabbing her Kindle from the nearby bedside table. The moment she focused her intent to store it, the device disappeared in a shimmer and popped up in the inventory. The system used her memory to name the item and gave her the option to have it scanned. She accepted, and the box with a picture of the Kindle flashed a few times before a new window appeared.
The window gave information about the Kindle’s weight and composition and a summary of its capabilities. The system also recognized the device had an energy storage component, and Katherine’s eyes went wide when she saw an option to charge it. She mentally clicked on the button.
A pop-up appeared, telling Katherine that the system would use her Spirit and convert it to the necessary energy to fill the battery of the Kindle. Katherine agreed immediately. Why hadn’t Justus told her his guidestone could do this? She could have been reading on her downtime all this time.
The pop-up vanished, and a progress bar appeared under the Kindle. It filled slowly, and Katherine could feel a noticeable amount of her Spirit being siphoned into the stone. It was more than she expected for such a tiny battery, around a tenth of her total Spirit. Of course, it was still worth it. She’d have given ninety percent.
Katherine watched the bar rise until it flashed solid green and disappeared. The Kindle vanished from the box, and her fingers gripped it as it appeared in her hand. With a trembling hand, she opened the cover of the Kindle and pressed the power button.
When the screen lights flickered on, shining onto the black and white inky display, Katherine felt tears fill her eyes. It hit her without warning; this was the only thing she had from Earth. This was all that was left of her old life.
She spent the next two hours reading through one of her old favorites, Pet Sematary, until she fell asleep.
“Wake up. There’s something else I need to tell you two.”
Katherine groaned and turned over as someone shook her by the shoulder.
“Hey, if you’re tired, then you shouldn’t have stayed up reading. Get up.”
Mumbling curses at Justus under her breath, Katherine threw off the comfy blanket and sat up in bed. She stretched and let out a long yawn. The tiny spirit was awake and sat on the edge of the bedside table. She mimicked Katherine’s movements, letting out a yawn of her own. Katherine reached over and put her Kindle in her inventory.
“What?” she said, making sure Justus could hear in her voice how she felt about him waking her up.
Justus nudged Simon with a boot, and Simon stirred. Justus kicked him lightly in the side, and Simon sat up sharply, looking around. He frowned when he saw Justus standing over him.
“What the hell, man? What time is it?”
“Time to wake up,” Justus answered simply. He turned to the center of the room, setting the small cube down and activating the privacy shield.
“I didn’t want to mention this last quarter, given the… other surprise.” Justus glanced at the spirit, who looked behind her, then back at Justus.
“Oh, you mean me? Sorry!”
“It’s fine… anyway, there’s something else I planned to share with you, once I learned more. I haven’t really learned anything more, but I still think it’s worth sharing. I can’t really show you, but I can tell you.”
“Tell us what?”
Justus reached out. Three vials appeared in his hand. They were vials of a faintly milky liquid, like water with a bit of milk mixed in.
“Gross. What is it?” Simon asked, taking a seat on the end of the bed.
“Healing potions. Opal quality. Three of them.”
“Okay. What does that have to do with anything?”
“I didn’t have these last night.”
Katherine frowned. “Did someone sneak them in here?”
“No. My system gave them to me.”
“What?” Katherine asked. It was the first she heard of something like that. “Is that normal?”
"It shouldn’t even be possible. The system assigned me a quest when we returned from where you two were. Only the adventuring guild is supposed to be able to do that. This quest is different. It’s been giving me what it calls ‘optional objectives,’ though they aren’t very optional considering it threatens to deactivate my guidestone if I fail too many.”
“What’s the quest?” Simon asked before Katherine could.
“To save Earth. It’s a timed quest that expires in twenty years. It says if we don’t complete it… both our homes will be destroyed.”
Katherine felt goosebumps on her skin. She got up from the bed, feeling dizzy. A pressure constricted her chest, causing her to struggle to breathe. The strange dream she had before leaving Earth replayed in her mind. Simon had seen it too, but still, she hadn’t really believed it could be true. Hearing Justus lay it out so bluntly made the reality hit her all at once.
It wasn’t over. Part of her had known already, but there was a difference between suspecting and being told that she was responsible for the fate of Earth. Not only hers, but apparently this planet as well.
“Why? Why us?” she said. “What about the Ruby rankers you talk about? Can’t they do something? What about the Monarchs? This is their planet, why—”
Justus rushed forward and clamped his hand over Katherine’s mouth. Katherine tried shoving him off, but it was a pointless effort.
“There are only two things that could destroy an entire world,” Justus said softly, his voice barely audible. “One is a Worldshaker, a Spirit Beast that dwarfs the one that attacked your city. The only thing that can stop a Worldshaker is also the only thing I know that could threaten our homes. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
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The pit in Katherine’s gut grew. He was implying that the gods themselves were the ones behind this.
It took a minute before Katherine composed herself enough to reach up and pull Justus’s hand off her mouth. He let her, but stayed close.
“How?” She asked.
“I have no idea. I hope I’m wrong. It’s just a working theory. Maybe you’re right, and we should reach out. But if you’re wrong…”
Katherine nodded.
“So we’re on our own? Facing a threat we don’t even know?” Simon asked.
“We’re on our own,” Justus confirmed. “Our goal doesn’t change. We get stronger. Advance. Whatever we need to do, advancing could only make it easier.”
“I’m gonna be sick,” Katherine said. She sat back down on the bed. She looked up at Justus. “Tell us what you know. Everything. If they’re listening, then, like you said, we’re already fucked, right?”
Justus nodded, then began his story. He wasn’t even a minute in before Simon interrupted.
“What was a lich doing in a sewer? And liches are real? Like, an undead wizard? How is that not magic?”
“How do you know what a lich—wait, no, it must be a translation thing. The systems are picking a word that best describes the concept in your language, but it's not what you’re thinking. A lich is someone who has a certain combination of affinities: Death, sometimes Decay, mixed with life-related affinities like Body, Mind, Blood, or something. The skills that come from that kind of combination are dangerous. It’s not technically illegal to be a lich, but affinities are tied to a person’s Spirit. It’s part of who they are. People who resonate with the affinities needed to be a Lich usually aren’t the type who should have their powers.”
Simon seemed unhappy that the lich wasn’t the spell and sorcery kind, but he accepted the explanation. Justus continued his story.
“And you just… appeared? Was there anything? Any clue? A voice, image?” Katherine asked.
“Just a blue and gold light. Then I was falling. That’s when I met you in the park.”
Justus continued filling in his side of events since that moment. Most of it was as Katherine expected, until he came to the part just before arriving on Varkalus. He told them how he thought he was dead until a strange system message appeared.
“It asked if I saw what it could, that your home was set up to fail. I think I know what that means. The people you call superheroes have damaged Spirits. They’re strong, but even that one Peak Ruby—”
“Phoenix,” Katherine interrupted. Justus gave her a look. “Sorry,” she said.
“Even ‘Phoenix’ has terrible skill and power compared to a true Ruby. Even most Peak Emeralds would be able to best her in a fight. Whatever is causing people at your home to advance, it's twisted and unnatural. Their Spirits are crippled. It’s like giving a knife to a toddler.”
“But who is doing it? What for? Why give them Spirit at all?”
“Espionage,” Simon said. Both Justus and Katherine looked at him. “I watched a drama documentary about the cold war a few times about something called the Farewell Dossier. Apparently one of the Chinese colonels defected to the US secretly, and his codename was Farewell. They used him as a plant and had him leak military secrets to China. But he wasn’t actually leaking secrets. He gave China flawed intel and tech designs, which led to China spending years building up military might that the US knew exactly how to counter.
“If I wanted to set up people who could use Spirit to fail, that would be it. Give people Spirit, but give them a shitty version you know won’t stand a chance against real Spirit Artists. What confuses me more is that your quest said both our homes will be destroyed. If the big guys in the sky are planning to invade our home, how does that threaten yours?”
“Maybe our home isn’t as weak as they think,” Katherine said, feeling a spark of anger at the idea of a group of people thinking of conquering Earth. She didn’t care how strong they were. Wasn’t ruling one planet enough?
“Maybe. Or maybe we’re still missing something,” Justus said. “We can’t make assumptions when we’re working off of so little information. We don’t know what the threat really is, only guesses. Whatever communicated with me—”
“With all of us.” Katherine interrupted. “Simon and I were contacted by the same thing.”
Justus didn’t look surprised. “I got an alert that made me think that might have been the case. What did it tell you?”
“Not much. It said my home was in danger, and that I could help. It said if I wanted to help, I had to ‘follow him.’ I think it meant you.”
“That’s what it told me, too,” Simon said.
Justus nodded. “Not what I wanted to hear, but it’s something. It gave me a little more than that. It said, ‘Defiance is what led us here; it won’t save us now.’”
“What the hell does that mean?” Simon asked.
“I don’t know. I have no clue who the ‘us’ behind the message is. I thought maybe it was one of them.” Justus glanced upwards. “But it doesn’t make sense that they would need help. Unless something with the treaty is preventing them from taking action. Even then, they have their Delegates, who could give direct orders to Ruby rankers who are far more capable than us. I have to assume I wasn’t chosen but randomly selected. Whoever sent the message was someone, or a group, from your home, not mine. And they’re desperate. That’s what I think.”
“So by Defiance, does that mean against the monsters? The Spirit Beasts attacking Ear—I mean, my home?” Katherine asked.
“Could be.”
“What else did it say?” Katherine asked.
“They told me I could save them if I had help. Safe to assume that means you two. And then the message said to ‘seek that which was lost in the ages past.’ I thought about that a lot on the hike back to town. The quest gave me an optional objective to take Goffner’s job. I think the thing it wanted me to find was her.”
Katherine followed Justus’s gaze to see the tiny spirit. She was floating by the window, mimicking a bug that was crawling across the outside.
“And the next line… I still don’t know. I can’t say it out loud. It said to defy them. I don’t think it means physically. That would just get us killed. I think it means we need to do something they don’t want or can’t allow for some reason.”
“Great. This is beginning to feel like a greek tragedy,” Simon said. He shrugged. “Still beats High School, at least.”
“Did it say anything else?” Katherine asked Justus.
“‘Open the gate that was sealed. Walk the forbidden path, for they are coming. Twenty years. Return.’ That was the last thing it said.”
“At least it’s a long time,” Simon said.
“Not long enough. Most who reach Emerald take anywhere from eighty to a hundred and sixty years.”
“Oh. Bummer.”
“What’s the fastest anyone’s ever reached Ruby?” Katherine asked.
“Raddim Mark. He’s from my Kingdom, and he was the most recent Ruby until a few cycles ago. He reached Ruby when he was thirty-eight.”
“Great, so we just need to reach Ruby faster than anyone in history. Cool.”
“It didn’t say we have to reach Ruby,” Katherine said. “‘Open the gate that was sealed. Walk the forbidden path.’ What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. You can see why I kept this to myself. Nothing I know is concrete, and I don’t even know if we can trust whatever is behind it.”
“It can’t be that bad. It saved all of us and led us to Goffner,” Katherine said. She looked to the spirit, who had left the window and flew back down to the bedside table. “And it brought us to her.”
“Lyka!” The spirit said, flying upright.
“What? Was that a translation error?” Simon asked Justus. The spirit flew over to his face, causing Simon to take a step back.
“That’s my name!” The spirit said haughtily. “Lyka. I picked it just now while you guys were talking about all that boring stuff.” The spirit placed her hands on her hips and spoke matter-of-factly. “It’s a very pretty name.”
“It’s a lovely name, Lyka,” Katherine said. Lyka flitted over to her and sat down on her shoulder.
“Thank you. Hey, what’s that?”
Lyka flew off Katherine’s shoulder and towards Justus’s hand, where he still held the three small vials of healing potions. Justus closed his hand tighter around them and pulled them away.
“They’re ours,” he said.
“They smell delicious. Can I have some? Please?”
“No. They’re made for people, not… whatever you are.”
“Justus, don’t be mean to her,” Katherine said. She walked over to him and held out her hand. “One of those is mine, right? The quest gave it to you for helping Goffner. Well, I helped too. Or were you going to keep all three for yourself?”
Justus frowned, but he dropped one of the vials in her waiting hand. Katherine popped the cork at the top.
“Here, Lyka. You can have some of mine.”
The spirit didn’t hesitate; she flew right for the vial and dove into the top. Her form shimmered, becoming a thin wisp of glowing fog that rushed into the vial and into its milky liquid. The vial glowed as she filled it. Lyka’s fog billowed out a few seconds later, leaving behind a vial of clear liquid. The fog reshaped.
Lyka formed again, but she didn’t look the same as before. She had more detail now. Her face had a mouth and eyes, and the mist-like hair now resembled real hair, though it still flowed like she was underwater. The most noticeable change was that she was now definitely naked.
Simon averted his eyes, looking uncomfortable. “Hey, Lyka, can you make some clothes for yourself or something?”
Lyka looked down at herself. “Oh, those are new. Neat,” she said. She lifted a hand, and her body shimmered. Robes formed around her, similar to the ones Justus had given them, only they were a bit more form-fitting.
“How do you feel?” Katherine asked.
Lyka frowned. “Good.” She stretched and yawned. “I need a nap.”
The spirit darted over to Katherine and flew into her stomach. Katherine felt the spirit’s warmth diffuse through her.
“Okay, sure…” Katherine said.
Justus stepped on his privacy bubble device and put it away.
“I’m going to go talk to Goffner about our job. You two get to training. You need to test your new evolved skills, and Katherine has a new skill to train. Make sure you take the dog. You won’t be able to ignore her skills forever, Simon.”
“Alright. Don’t get yourself killed,” Simon said.
Justus walked out of the room, leaving Simon and Katherine behind.
It took a few moments for Katherine to remember what she’d been worried about before Justus’s bombshell. After talking about the fate of worlds resting on their shoulders, worrying about a kiss felt stupid and childish. Then Katherine looked at Simon and felt her stomach flip. She was stupid and childish, apparently.
“The park again?” Katherine asked, heading for the door so Simon didn’t see her blush.
“Sounds good.”
The two walked down the street, Belle dashing around them as she tried to catch a whiff of everything they passed. Katherine wanted to break the painfully awkward silence between them, but a paralyzing nervousness kept her from saying anything. She was relieved when they arrived at the park. They walked down the hill, into the sparse woods.
Once they were a safe distance, Katherine took stock of her new skills.
“I’m gonna do some experimenting. I’ll let you know if I need any help.”
“Same here.”
Simon split off, heading east with Belle. Katherine forced herself not to watch him as he left. She needed to focus on her Spirit Arts.
Katherine started with her fire. The improvements were noticeable immediately. Her energy pool had increased, and so naturally she could create a larger burst of fire, which created a blast of flames nearly fifteen feet across. Once it recharged, she tried to create two bursts at once. Doing so was harder than she expected. It felt different than creating one at a time. Her first attempt ended with one large blast and only a puff of smoke where she expected the second.
On her next attempt, she tried pulling all the energy first and then splitting it in half. That was easier and ended up with two even blasts. After that, she experimented until she could create two varying sizes of blasts at once. She had to think of the ratio she wanted, then visualize the split as she pulled on the energy. It would be tricky to manage under stress, but she planned to practice until it was second nature.
Once she was pleased with her progress with her Pyromancy skill, she moved on to her Deflection skill. It was trickier to practice, with its long cooldown, but the skill evolution had reduced it by fifteen seconds.
That was apparently all that the evolution had done, but when Katherine kicked a tree and absorbed the impact, she could have sworn the energy obeyed her Spirit’s will easier. Either it was an evolution aspect that wasn’t noted, or her advancement had naturally given her better Spirit control, which translated to better control over the energy.
Katherine split the energy and found that was also easier. She joined it back together. It was easier than before but still harder than just holding the one pool of kinetic force. If she was in danger, she could split it then if needed.
Next came her new skill.
[Amplify]
Activate in tandem with the activation of another Skill to increase its effects.
Channel Skill
She wasn’t sure how that was supposed to work. Did she have to set it up before using the skill or at the same time? And she’d forgotten what a channel skill was.
Katherine summoned another blast of fire. As she did, she reached for her new skill.
Nothing happened. At least, nothing unexpected. A fireball, about a foot across, burst ten feet in front of her, but there was no prompt for her Amplify skill.
She tried a different way. She reached for her Amplify skill, then summoned more fire. Again, the Amplify skill didn’t trigger. Frustration bubbled up inside her. The skill was there. She could feel it, but it wasn’t activating.
Maybe she was going about it wrong. The description said she needed to activate it. What if she activated it without using another skill?
For the next while, she toyed with the Amplify skill, twisting and pulling at it to see how it would respond. Nothing seemed to work. Katherine’s frustration boiled over. She gathered her Spirit and slammed it against the skill.
To her surprise, something clicked. The skill didn’t activate, but it responded. What was its affinity? Power. She was trying to study it, but that’s not what the skill was made for.
Katherine looked around. She found a long stick and thrust it into the ground, then grabbed one of the giant fallen tree leaves on the ground and tied its stem to the stick. It was a crappy and hasty target, but hopefully that was all she needed.
Katherine backed up and focused on the leaf. She focused on dominating it, overwhelming it. Reaching into her Spirit, she activated her fire skill, pouring all of her energy into the attack. At the same moment, she didn’t reach for her Amplify skill. She commanded it to give her more power. It bent to her will, moving outward with the fire.
An explosion of blue light made Katherine wince and hold a hand in front of her eyes, and a loud whoosh of air rushed past her. A flash of heat passed across her skin. She stumbled backwards as the flames dissipated. The smell of burnt hair filled her nostrils. Thankfully the flames had only singed her arm. If she’d been a few feet closer, she might have needed a haircut.
With her new forceful technique, Katherine practiced the new skill. It took a lot of concentration, but she realized pretty quickly that she could control how much the skill amplified. Once she managed it a few times, a digital display appeared in her vision, showing her how much the Amplify skill was boosting her fire. The max boost was double, but she could bolster the fire as little as five percent. The more she amplified, the more cost-effective the skill was. Doubling her fire only increased the Spirit it used by about fifty percent. The amplification didn’t increase the size by much but rather made the flames hotter and more dense. At around a sixty percent boost, the flames became blue. She wasn’t sure why the flames turned blue, but they looked pretty as long as she stayed a safe distance away.
Getting it to work with her Deflection skill was much more difficult. With Deflection, she had to pull with her Spirit, while Amplify required shoving it. Doing both at once was a bit like trying to yank on something while throwing a punch with the same arm. It took her nearly half an hour to manage it, but the effect was worth it. As she hoped, she was able to double the kinetic force she absorbed from a single hit.
The only downside was Amplify’s cooldown. She remembered what a channel skill was after some practice. It was like a dial. As she activated the skill, she could set how much of an effect it had, from nearly nothing to doubling her skills' potency. But the more she channeled, the longer the cooldown. Doubling resulted in a forty-five-second cooldown, which was luckily the same as her Deflection’s reduced cooldown. If she only used it with that skill, she could effectively triple the rate she could store kinetic force compared to before. That wouldn’t always be the best use of the skill, since it made her Pyromancy far more deadly, but if she continued to get better at storing kinetic and holding it outside of combat, it would save her a lot of time.
Katherine decided to practice splitting her kinetic and releasing it in two bursts. She’d managed it once, but it was still too difficult to rely on.
The practice didn’t go as she hoped, as she kept screwing up the timing. Splitting the energy wasn’t nearly as difficult, but both wanted to explode outward at the same time. She kept launching herself at a tree, planning to land a punch on it and hit it with the other half of her stored kinetic force, but the energy kept exploding from her fist when she launched.
After launching herself at the tree six times only to hit it with a normal punch, Katherine growled with frustration.
“Damnit!” she yelled, punching the tree again. What was she doing wrong? How had she done it before?
“Having trouble?”
Katherine grimaced, then forced a smile and turned.
“A bit. Trying to practice with kinetic.”
“What about your new skill?” Simon walked over, large leaves cracking under his shoes. Belle followed nearby, sniffing the ground.
“It’s pretty straightforward. I think I got the hang of it.”
Simon let out an amused huff, stopping a few feet away. “You really are good at this stuff. I’ve been spending the last two hours just figuring out how to use the new feature with my clone, and you’ve already mastered a whole new skill.”
“It’s probably just an easier skill to learn,” she said.
“Maybe,” Simon said, though his tone suggested he didn’t think so.
In the silence that followed, Katherine felt her chest tighten. She had an idea what he was thinking about but silently hoped he would drop it and never bring it up. Her hopes crumbled when he spoke again.
“About what happened on the ship…”
“Sorry. I didn’t know it would use a Spirit attack. Sorry you two had to carry me all the way back.”
Simon gave her a look. “Not that. Before that. That was more than just a distraction, right? You thought you were going to die.”
Katherine blinked. “I didn’t… Well, maybe. I wasn’t really thinking. Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. You tried to save my life.” Simon looked down and kicked at a small rock, flipping it over. “Look, I’m not really good at talking about this stuff, but I’m not blind. Stuff makes more sense now. Stuff with you. And… I think you’re pretty incredible. You’re a badass in a fight, you’re determined, and you put up with me being an annoying ass pretty well.”
Simon took a deep breath and looked up at her. Katherine felt paralyzed.
“You’re awesome, Kate, seriously. Maybe back before everything went crazy… but right now? We still don’t know each other very well, and if things didn’t work out, it could end badly. Maybe when things don’t feel so crazy I’ll change my mind, but for now, I just want to be friends, I think. At the very least, teammates.”
Katherine nodded, looking down. Belle was sniffing at her feet. She felt the tightness in her chest creep through her whole body. Of course this is how it would go. Friends.
“You okay?” Simon asked. He glanced down. “Your hand is bleeding. Here, let me—”
Simon reached for her hand, but Katherine stepped back.
“It’s fine. I’m still a little worn out, I think. I’m going to go back to the inn.”
Simon frowned but nodded. She could tell he didn’t buy the weak excuse, but she didn’t care. Belle hopped away as Katherine walked briskly away, resisting the urge to run.
Katherine didn’t remember the walk to the pier. She found herself leaning against the copper rail. The ocean was closer than it had been when they left. The sounds of waves crashing against the rocky mountain below rose up from a hundred feet below. She felt like breaking down and crying, but the tears didn’t come. All she could do was watch the water, feeling numb.
For some reason, she remembered Ashley, an old friend from school. They’d been best friends before Katherine had cut everyone off after her brother died. In middle school, Ashley had asked out her crush, and she’d been turned down. That night, Ashley had slept over at Katherine’s house and cried for over an hour, then spent the rest of the night talking about how much of a jerk the guy was and how she never really liked him.
Katherine wished she had a friend to talk to now, but she was alone. Justus was as emotionally mature as a slug, and Simon was the reason she felt this way. If she had someone else, maybe she could bring herself to cry. As it was, she didn’t feel she deserved to feel as devastated as she did. Her city was destroyed, and the rest of Earth and apparently Varkalus were heading the same way, yet here she was moping about being rejected in the most gentle way possible.
Her head lowered to look once more at the churning water below. The thought of jumping over the pier crossed her mind, and though it was a fleeting daydream, it wasn’t a real option for her. She didn’t want to die. She only recently realized how much she wanted to live. The revelation had come when she’d fought with all her strength to survive when faced with a monster alone in the swamp. There had been a desperation for survival that she had never felt before then. She didn’t want to die; she just wanted to get away from all the problems and worries that never seemed to leave her alone. Still, the thought of falling and everything being over was disturbingly comforting. It scared her.
A warm sensation flowed through her, and a tiny figure crawled out of Katherine’s hand, stretching and yawning. Lyka hopped off her hand and onto the pier’s green metal railing. She leaned over, looking curiously at the water down below. Her feet slipped on the round rail. Katherine started to reach for her, but the spirit flung her arms to regain her balance, and then she seemed to remember she could fly and floated upward. The tiny spirit zipped up to Katherine’s shoulder, leaning against her neck.
“It’s pretty,” Lyka said.
“Yeah,” Katherine agreed.
“You can cry if you want. I won’t tell anyone.”
“I don’t—” Katherine’s voice cracked. Maybe just a few minutes of crying would be okay. She had twenty years before the world ended, after all.
***
“What is it?” Justus asked, looking at the round golden thing on the table.
“It’s food.”
“I know that. I’m not stupid. What kind of food?”
“A pie. It’s sweet and tasty. A bit pricey, but it’s worth every bit.”
Justus eyed the crusty-looking food suspiciously. He could feel the heat coming off the pie, and the smell made his mouth water despite himself.
“Do you like blueberries?”
“Is that what’s inside?”
“That, and a few other things. Try it.”
Justus looked up, his eyes narrowing. “Why?”
“Because I bought it for you. It’d be rude not to try it at least.”
Justus watched as a slice was cut and set on a plate that was put in front of him. It smelled even better cut, and the thick purple insides steamed.
“Why is it purple?”
“I told you, it’s a blueberry pie. That’s what it looks like.”
“Blueberries are purple?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess so. Purpleberries don’t sound as good, I guess. Just try it.”
“Why?”
“It’s your birthday, kid. That’s what you do on your birthday. You eat something sweet with the people you care about.”
Justus's mind turned to the past, when he heard his mother and father being killed. The moment he saw what was left of her after Books crushed her. Books’ blood on his hands cycles later, when Justus had finally gotten the revenge he thought he’d wanted. He looked away from the slice.
“I don’t care about anyone. I don’t want it.”
There was a moment of silence, then Justus felt a large hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off, then got up from the table.
“I’m going to bed. I’m tired from training.”
Justus stormed off to their room, leaving his mentor and gift behind.
___
Justus sat in the corner of the dimly lit inn, fingers rubbing the fork in his hand. He looked out of the window overlooking the suspended dock, but his mind was elsewhere. Something shimmered in the corner of his vision, and he turned to see a blur of white streak through the air and dive into the pie on his plate.
“Hey!” He snapped. His eyes darted to the receptionist, who thankfully paid him no mind. The spirit raised her head from the pie as he turned to face her again.
“Hey!” she said. “This tastes great!”
“Get out of there,” he hissed. “It’s not for you. You can’t even eat.”
“I can still taste it. Sorta,” the spirit said. She stuck her tongue out and then sank back into the pie. Justus sighed.
“I thought you were with Katherine.”
“She was.”
Justus looked up to see Katherine leaning on the booth across from him. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and she looked even more tired than usual. She looked down.
“You eat sweets?”
Justus looked down at the pie, which he hadn’t yet started to eat. He didn’t know why he’d bother to buy it. He’d never eaten one before.
“Not really.”
Katherine hovered in place, silent. It seemed like she was deciding whether to go back up to their room or stay. Justus didn’t care either way. Her issues weren’t his problem.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said, sinking into the booth.
Justus looked up to the flickering candles above. This inn was an old building and wasn’t connected to any of the power that was available in the upper areas of the town. He didn’t mind. Justus still wasn’t used to electricity, as Talon’s outer districts were slow to adapt to it. The warm light of candles and lanterns felt more alive than static electric lights.
“I kissed Simon,” Katherine said. He looked up to see her looking at her hands, fidgeting on the table. “Before I tried to stop the drone from blowing up, I kissed him. I wanted him to know, in case I… didn’t make it, I guess. I’ve liked him for a few years now. And… he just wants to be friends.”
Justus wasn’t sure how to respond. It was definitely a good thing that Simon wanted to keep their relationship platonic. Romantic interests often formed in parties, but they were also one of the leading causes of party disbandment. Better not to risk feelings. Even he could see that wouldn’t be comforting, though. Justus grabbed a fork from his inventory and held it out.
“Want some pie? It’s blueberry.”
Katherine hesitated, then grabbed the fork. “Thanks.”
Justus grabbed a knife and small plate, offering them to her. She stuck the knife into the crust, and a small yelp came from inside. The spirit flew out of the pie and sat cross-legged on the table. He watched Katherine cut a slice, and then she held it out to him.
“I… thanks,” he said, taking the slice. He gave her his plate, which had come with the pie. She cut another slice for herself. She broke off a small piece and set it in front of the spirit, who reached into it. Katherine stuck her fork into the slice and started eating.
After a couple bites, she looked up at him, then glanced at his untouched slice.
“Why get a pie if you don’t eat sweets?”
“It’s my birthday. It’s a tradition. So I’m told.”
“Oh. Happy birthday. How old are you anyway?”
“Twenty.”
“But cycles aren’t as long as I’m used to. What would that be where I’m from?”
“Uh…” Justus thought about it, mathing it out in his head with what he knew about her calendar. “About eighteen and two-thirds.”
“Ah. So you are old.”
Justus let out an amused huff. “Twenty is nothing. Goffner is probably close to three hundred and fifty.”
“Seriously? I knew he was old, but damn. Does everyone here live that long?”
“Of course not. It’s because he’s high-ranked. Haven’t I told you that? I’m pretty sure I mentioned it.”
Katherine shook her head. “Ranking up makes you live longer?”
“It extends your natural life. The effects are compounding, so it’s not really until Sapphire that it starts to make a difference. It also only affects your remaining lifespan, so the faster you progress, the longer you’ll live. Unless you die of unnatural causes, of course. That’s usually what happens. Retired adventurers are rare…”
“Huh. The more I learn about this stuff, the weirder it seems that so few people here try to rank up.”
“It’s dangerous and takes a lifetime of dedication.”
“Hmm, guess so. Maybe it seems like the obvious choice for me, since I don’t really have a life here. Are you gonna eat?”
Justus looked down at his slice of pie and poked at it, then picked some up with the fork and ate a small piece. It was delicious.
“How did it go with Goffner anyway?”
“Good. I took the job. We should—”
Justus cut off, his eyes catching movement outside. Someone running. He sat up from the table, moving for the door.
“Justus? What is it?” Katherine asked, following behind him.
Justus didn’t answer. He went outside. There were people leaving buildings, all looking up. Justus moved, as the inn blocked most of his sight. When he saw what everyone was staring at, his heart stopped in his chest.
There was a massive illusion of Spirit above the Delegate’s palace, the crystals embedded in the marble glowing bright. The illusion was a face. Trimmed beard, small green eyes, smooth youthful skin, but an expression that carried hectocycles of wisdom. Justus had only ever seen it in paintings before: Relvo Songral: the Diamond Monarch of Greatide.
The Diamond Monarch remained silent for a long time, his eyes sweeping the city. Justus stood frozen; Katherine had gripped his arm, her fingers digging into his robes. Justus tried to think, but fear paralyzed his mind as much as his body. Even though it was only a projection, an immense pressure of Spirit pressed in around him.
Finally Songral spoke. His words entered directly into Justus’s head, ringing louder than any noise could through his ears. Each syllable made his Spirit tremble. Katherine winced and grabbed her head.
People of Greatide, we have a message for you all. The Monarch Treaties have bound us to silence, but no longer. The Diamond Empress is dead. They have been gone for thirty cycles. The agreements that bound the Diamond Monarchs are fading. In two phases, they will be gone. Change is coming. That is all.
The Diamond Monarch’s face blew away in the wind, the Spirit fading slowly like a cloud. The pressure vanished, and Justus placed a hand over his racing heart. No one moved for a long time.
“What does that mean?” Katherine asked.
Justus looked at her. She looked as terrified as he felt.
“It means we need to get back to Talon. Fast.”
What should the next arc be about?
