“You shouldn’t let them get to you like that, Olivia,” Veena said, taking a seat at the foot of Olivia’s bed. They were all still hovering around her, some sitting on her bed, some on Veena’s, and Rald reclined on the floor between them. “I know it’s stressful, but you’re going to be fine. Alyss wouldn’t have chosen you if she weren’t confident in your ability. I, for one, am excited to see that professor choke on his words.”

“Thanks, Veena,” Olivia said quietly. She wanted to explain that she’d been under pressure before and learned to deal with it to an extent, but this was a new level for her. She’d never felt so isolated and alone before, and the hostility that she’d felt from so many of the students staring at her in the crowd had begun to overwhelm her. Only now, sitting in the relative safety of their dormitory, was it even clear to her what had happened. She wanted to explain those things, but she didn’t want to insult her friends who had been so good to her—how would they feel if she said she felt alone while sitting among them? Instead, she swallowed her feelings yet again and looked around.

“Well, when do you think they’ll deliver our awards?”

“Anytime now, I’d guess. I owe you an apology, Olivia,” Shani said as she sat on the edge of Veena’s bed, looking intently at Olivia.

“Why?” Olivia sat up and looked more closely at her. The Ghelli woman had pulled her long white-blonde hair back in a bun and wore severe makeup that gave her face a more angular look than usual. She was beautiful but cold looking at the same time.

“Because when you first joined us, I thought you’d bring us down, but you’ve outperformed all of us. I think it was the rest of us that let the group down. All but Rald, maybe.” She spoke softly, looking down. “I really thought we’d have more of a shot at some of the cohort prizes.”

“It’s true, I am great,” Rald managed to say with a straight face, “but you all did just fine. The professors said it was a hard decision; I’m sure Copper was in the running. Too bad there’s only one cohort prize per class.”

“If anyone let the cohort down, it’s me,” Hanwol said morosely.

“Why? Because you didn’t win any individual prizes? I didn’t either! Still, we won the alchemy prize, which means we all did well. None of us should feel bad,” Adaida said, reaching out to thump Hanwol on the head.

“Yeah, Han! Chin up!” Olivia purposefully used his nickname, and, just as she’d hoped, it perked him up a little. They continued to talk about the assembly and Oylla-dak and how incredible she was, but then they were cut off by a knock on the door. Rald jumped up and stepped over to the door, pulling it open. An Ardeni man stepped in carrying a large woven basket. He was wearing civilian clothes, and Olivia surmised he must be one of the administration personnel. He confirmed that he was in the Copper dormitory and then handed the basket to Rald. He left with a simple, “Congratulations.”

“Well?” Shani asked, “Bring it over here!” Rald nodded and came over to sit on the floor between the two beds again. He set the basket on the ground in front of him. “Go on; you open it.” Everyone nodded and uttered things like, “Yeah! Open it, Rald!” He nodded and lifted the round wicker top off the basket, revealing several individually wrapped items, varying in size but all small enough to be held in one hand. Rald reached in and picked up a package about the size of his fist, wrapped in green tissue paper and bearing a label.

“Alchemy prize - cohort,” he read aloud. He reached in and pulled out five more packages just like it and lined them up on the floor near the basket. “Should we open these first?” Everyone answered in the affirmative, and he passed them out. Olivia took hers and carefully untied the ribbon, pulling the tissue away and revealing a small vial filled with brilliant orange liquid. The vial bore a label that said, “Radasheen’s Hereditary Delver.”

“What the heck is this?” Olivia asked.

“Just a minute,” Veena replied, already thumbing through a thick volume that Olivia hadn’t seen her read before.

“What’s that book?” Rald asked, but it was Hanwol who answered:

“That’s her alchemical catalog. She’s been obsessed with alchemy since she was little.”

“Got it! It’s a rare and potent racial elixir. It unlocks racial advancements by opening new pathways and triggering evolutions. Anecdotes indicate that it can lead to as many as four racial ranks.” This elicited some excited chatter among her cohort members, and Olivia was also thrilled—she’d seen what racial enhancements had done for Morgan and Bronwyn.

“Will advancing our race help with class options?”

“Most people think so, yes,” Hanwol said, carefully studying his elixir, turning it around, and watching the sparkling bubbles that moved from the bottom to the top.

“Well, let’s see what else is in there, if you guys don’t mind us knowing?” Adaida looked at Olivia, Rald, and her sister.

“No, of course not. Let’s see.” Rald nodded and pulled out a package.

“This one has my name on it—it’s Grobak’s prize.” He yanked the ribbon off and pulled the paper away, revealing a pale wooden box. He lifted the lid off and set the box down, whistling to himself. Sitting in a plush depression in the box was a faintly luminous piece of fruit that reminded Olivia of a mango. It was yellow, darkening to orange at the bottom, and she could feel the Energy contained in the fruit from where she sat. Her mouth started to water. Rald picked up the little card sitting in the box next to the fruit and read aloud, “Trivian Sun Pear, known for toughening the skin and bones of those who eat it. Expect a large boost to vitality.”

“That’s incredible, Rald! Congratulations,” Hanwol said, eyeing the fruit with his mouth slightly open. Rald looked around at his salivating roommates and quickly slapped the lid back on his box.

“I’ll just set this right here,” he said, placing the box by his side near his knee. He reached into the basket and pulled out another package. “Olivia,” he said, handing her the bright blue bundle. She took it from him, her hand dipping with the significant weight. The object under the tissue was hard and round. She removed the ribbon and peeled the tissue away, revealing a deep blue glass or crystal ball. A small card was tucked against it inside the wrapping, and she lifted it out to read the label out loud, “Heart Crystal Core Breaker - use this at Core rank nine.”

“Whoa, nice, Olivia! Some people never break through rank nine because Cores build up a resistance that takes a lot of effort and Energy to break through. Oh, did you already know that?” Adaida asked, looking a little embarrassed.

“No, I didn’t, Adaida! Thank you!” Olivia set the crystal on her bed next to her little vial. “What’s next, Rald? This feels like Christmas morning!” Everyone looked at her in confusion, and she clarified, “Um, where I come from, some people give gifts to each other once a year to celebrate a religious holiday.” Everyone nodded or said something like, “ahh.” Then they turned to Rald expectantly. He reached into the basket, lifted out another green-wrapped package, and handed it to Shani; then, he lifted out an identical one and gave it to Veena.

“From Ghall.” Veena and Shani opened their packages together. Olivia watched Shani and saw, as she peeled away the paper, another vial, this one made of ceramic, so the contents weren’t visible. At first, Shani read the label to herself, her eyes brightening with excitement.

“It’s a mental boosting elixir! It says it will help with intelligence and will!” Veena announced, and Shani nodded.

“Congratulations!” Rald said though he seemed a little bored. He reached into the basket and handed the last wrapped item to Olivia. It was, like the others, wrapped in tissue, but this time the tissue was black with a silver ribbon. “From Alyss.” Olivia felt the shape of a small box under the tissue, and the item wasn’t nearly as heavy as the Heart Crystal. She set it on her lap and carefully untied the silver ribbon, and then she peeled the tissue down to reveal a black wooden box. She lifted the lid off the box and caught her breath. Nestled in the felt interior was a pulsating orange gem about the size of her thumbnail. It throbbed like a living thing, glowing with a bright fiery shimmer and then dimming down like an ember. A card was wedged into the crease of the lining, and she lifted it out to read it:

Olivia,

This gem has been infused with a fire elemental’s soul fragment. If you absorb the Energy within this gem into your pathways, they will expand to allow for the broader passage of elemental Energy. In short, you’ll become part elemental, a very small part, but still worth going into with your eyes open. This might sound extreme, and it would be if you didn’t have such high elemental affinity, but you should come through the process just fine. Additionally, I am confident that this process will provoke the System to offer you a more rare class selection.

Be sure that you are outside, away from flammable materials, when you absorb this gem.

Best regards,

-Alyss

“Jesus,” Olivia muttered as she read the card.

“You only say that word when you’re freaking out,” Adaida said, leaning over to look into the black box. “What in Nature is that?”

“It’s...” Olivia paused to gather some saliva in her dry mouth, “It’s part of an elemental’s soul. Alyss thinks I should absorb it.”

“Woah, that can’t have been easy to come by,” Rald said.

“No, it’s quite a difficult task to capture part of any creature’s soul, let alone a furious, ethereal being like an elemental. Then there’s the matter of processing it into an absorbable condition like that. That’s an extraordinary item,” Hanwol said.

“It sounds suicidal to me,” Shani said, “Do you really have elemental affinities that high?” Olivia just nodded, deep in thought. She felt both excited and strange about the idea. Would anything else about her change if she absorbed part of another entity’s soul? She decided to turn to her cohort, who were all still staring at her and speculating, for advice.

“Do you think Alyss would encourage me to do something that could harm me or change me in some strange way? It seems extreme to absorb part of another creature’s soul.”

“I feel like Alyss cares about us. I don’t think she’d have you do something bad, Olivia,” Adaida said right away. Most of the others agreed though Veena seemed a little troubled.

“What, Veena?” Olivia prodded.

“Well, if your will isn’t high enough, I think it could affect your personality. Sure, it’s just a small soul fragment, but elementals are powerful beings. Do you mind telling us what your will stat is?”

“No, I don’t mind. I have twenty will, but I still have five free points. Should I put them into will as well?”

“Twenty isn’t bad for level nine, Olivia. Still, yes, I’d put the other five into it. Yes, it never hurts to have a high will when you’re casting spells. Don’t you all agree?” Veena asked.

“I agree—your strength is your spell casting, Liv.” Adaida nodded encouragingly. Nobody seemed to disagree, so Olivia applied the points to her will stat.

“Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.” They looked at her with blank faces, and Olivia laughed. “I mean, no going back from here. I’ll do it. First, though, we should drink our elixirs, don’t you all think? Alyss says I need to go outside to use this gem; maybe you guys can come and watch over me afterward?”

“If everyone else is going to drink it, then I am,” Rald said.

“Has anyone improved their race before? What will it be like?” Veena asked.

“I have, but only to base two,” Shani said, looking at her sister, “We had a lottery in my town for a natural treasure. My father won, and then he gave it to me. Adaida was on his bad side back then.”

“You’re oversharing, sister.” Adaida didn’t really look upset, though. “Truth is, my mother likes me better, so it’s okay.”

“She most certainly does not!” Shani sat up and leaned in close to Adaida, outrage on her face.

“It looks like you know the right buttons to push,” Olivia laughed, but everyone, again, looked at her in confusion. “I mean, you know how to get to each other.” She indicated Shani and Adaida, and they laughed.

“Anyway, we should all go to our beds to take the elixir. If it’s as potent as it sounds, we might be out of it for a little while.” Everyone gathered up their things and dispersed to lie down on their own beds. Olivia stretched out and took several deep breaths, then she broke the wax seal on her vial with her thumbnail and tilted it to her lips. At first, she was surprised by the lack of flavor—it almost seemed like she was pouring thick, syrupy water into her mouth. Still, as she swallowed the ounce or two of liquid, her entire body started to tingle, starting with her mouth and throat and rapidly spreading through to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Buzzing filled her ears, and her vision grew blurry with tiny pinpricks of light filling her view. A sense of euphoria flooded her mind, and for the first time in recent memory, she exhaled all of her problems and inhaled a sense of peace and pure pleasure. The scientist in her reasoned that the potion had triggered a massive dopamine dump.

Dimly, she was aware that her body was vibrating and that some sort of steam was rising from her, but she couldn’t be bothered with it. Her vision continued to cloud and darken, and then she felt like she was flying among stars, a comet on an intergalactic tour. She lost sense of herself, at one point turning away from the stars to see her body lying on her bed and having the strangest sensation of looking at “Olivia” and thinking about how she was so much more than her. Then the feeling started to fade, and the pinpricks of light dissipated, replaced with the usual ambient light of their dormitory, and Olivia came back to reality.

Olivia sat up, feeling like she’d just slept a solid night through, noting how she was not sore in any way, and in fact, her body felt strong and limber like it hadn’t in quite a while. Remembering Bronwyn’s gleaming red hair, she pulled some of her hair up from her shoulder to look at it. It felt heavy and thick, and when she let the strands splay across her palm, she noticed that the black strands flowed like silky fibers that gleamed and glistened in the yellow-orange light of the dormitory. “I gained three ranks!” Rald shouted from the far end of the dormitory. Olivia smiled and called up her status sheet, noting that she’d also gained three racial ranks, up to base four.

Olivia examined her hands and nails, noting the smooth luster of her pale skin and the hard, perfect ovals of her nails. As far as she could remember, her hands hadn’t ever looked that good, not even after a manicure. “Do I look different?” Veena asked from the next bed. “I gained two ranks.” Olivia sat up and looked at her.

“Yeah, you look taller, and your hair is beautiful, Veena. My god, your eyes are glowing a little, and they look like they have little crystal facets in them!”

“Uh!” Veena grunted as she sat up, “You’re taller too. Your scar is faded but still there, and you also still have a silver eye, but it gleams in the light. Your blue eye is brighter too. Olivia, your hair is stunning!” For the next few minutes, the cohort spent time looking at each other and exclaiming about how they’d changed. All in all, Olivia felt like they’d just grown a bit and gotten better looking. She wondered what exactly the effects the racial evolutions were having other than cosmetic.

“I wonder if there’s a text I could read about racial evolutions. I’m curious what changes are going on under the skin, if you know what I mean.”

“There’s got to be. I know of a few things that happen, but I’d also be interested in knowing more,” Veena said.

“Yeah, for one, you can’t get very high level if you never evolve your race. A normal body can’t handle that much Energy.” Hanwol said.

“I’d say let's go to the library, but we need to go outside so you can absorb that crystal. I mean, unless you want to put it off? I recommend doing it, though, Olivia—you want to have it done before your demonstration tomorrow, don’t you?” Adaida looked at her earnestly, and Olivia knew she was right.

“Yeah. If all goes well, my demonstration will level me, and then I’ll be ten—I need to have this done before that if I want to gain a benefit for class selection.” With that, her entire cohort escorted her through the hallways and out onto the commons. The whole while, Olivia was contemplating the prospect of absorbing part of another creature’s soul, and she could only wonder if she was making a mistake.