“Then you’re sure there’s a skill to be found here?” Monika asked, tilting her head. She adjusted her blue conical hat, tilting the brim upwards. “It certainly does seem like a place Ci’Gam would leave a spell.”

“Ci’Gam?” Khrx asked. There was a person leaving spells behind?

Monika raised an eyebrow. “Ci’Gam,” she said with a nod. “The god of magic. Though a lot of wizards pretend to worship Jax, we only do that to stave off heresy charges. Everyone capable of using magic unrelated to Jax worships Ci’Gam.”

“And it’s up to him to distribute skills?” Khrx asked. His eyes sparkled. “Where can I meet him?” If he could directly skip the quests and have Ci’Gam bestow skills upon him directly, how great would that be? Someone who could bestow skills freely…, how strong would that person be? If he met Ci’Gam in reality, could he beat him? Of course! Dragons didn’t fear gods. They only feared that the gods weren’t tasty enough. Take his cousin Erif for example, wasn’t he a god of creation? Yet Khrx could beat him into a pile of quivering scales.

“Err.” Monika fiddled with the front of her robe, adjusting her collar. “Ci’Gam’s more of a concept than an actual person. You can’t meet him. Ci’Gam doesn’t personally leave skills behind. We just attribute skills left behind as acts of Ci’Gam. In other words, wizards just refuse to worship Jax.”

Khrx sighed as his hopes of an easy life were ruined. In the end, it seemed like he’d have to do things the old-fashioned way. He bent down, reached for his foot, and froze. The mimic slippers stared back it him, its tiny beady eyes reflecting his image. Something sharp nibbled his toe. Khrx’s expression darkened. He couldn’t rub his feet through the mimic, and he had no desire to lose his toes! What was he thinking when he put those slippers on? Maybe the loss of intelligence had actually affected him in a way more drastic than just decreasing numbers on a screen.

“What’s wrong?” Monika asked, crouching down to face Khrx.

“I lost my cheat,” Khrx said. His eyes narrowed as his tail bristled. If he struck the slippers hard enough at the right angle….

[Your Friendly Mimic Slippers feel threatened! As such, they’ve attached their souls to your toenails. If your Friendly Mimic Slippers die, you can forget about ever seeing your toenails again.]

Khrx read the notification with a blank expression. When he dismissed it, he was greeted by a pair of smiling slippers, their eyes steeped in mischief. Khrx exhaled out of his nose like a bull and stomped his feet, causing the mimics to cry out. Even a pair of shoes were bullying him! Khrx shook his head. Forget it, even without luck, he was a very capable dragon.

Monika placed her hand on his forehead. “Are you alright…? You’re a little warm. Do you have a fever?”

“I’m not sick,” Khrx said, brushing Monika’s hand away. He looked around the room before closing his eyes. If he were a tracking skill, where would he be? Most likely with a dog of some sort. Were there any doglike mimics? If there were, the easiest way to draw them out would be through good smelling food! “To the kitchen!”

“Khrx?”

“It’s for the skill,” Khrx said with a nod. It wasn’t because he was feeling hungry after not eating for seventeen days. That had absolutely nothing to do with it. He was single-mindedly pursuing the tracking skill out of his love for Fufu. If he were to take a detour to eat some snacks, wouldn’t that mean Fufu was less important to him than feeling full? He’d give up his freedom for Fufu. He’d give up his sleep for Fufu. He’d give up his gluttony for Fufu! But a chunk of roasted meat really did sound good right about now. He, uh, the doglike mimics would love it.

Though Monika was incapable of following Khrx’s train of thought, she helplessly walked behind him, unable to disobey his wishes because of the skill that bound her.

***

Anaheim sighed as she turned on the radio. For the past seventeen days, she had been chasing after Luke but was unable to even get a glimpse of his back. Didn’t that man ever need to eat, sleep, or shit? He never logged off! Anaheim ground her teeth as she raised her cleaver and chopped into the fresh tuna lying on her cutting board.

“Following Lukroix’s trail of destruction, I’ve managed to extrapolate his next target. Clearly, Manevit is going to be the next guild to fall!”

“What exactly do you mean by extrapolating, Sam? Surprisingly, you haven’t been wrong in guessing Lukroix’s next target.”

“Well, you don’t have to sound so surprised, Natasha. I’m an expert after all. But I’ve never turned down a chance to share my boundless knowledge with young grasshoppers seeking enlightenment. Look at this map over here.” There was a rustling sound. “I’ve marked all the places Lukroix has attacked already.”

“Okay, I’m really baffled now. I don’t see a pattern at all. How is someone like you able to?”

“Why do your words sound so spiteful? Look here. I’ve simulated the map in my living room by placing borders where the land ends and meets the ocean. Then, I placed an autonomous vacuum cleaner on the location of Swift’s Peak and started it. To my surprise, it followed the same exact path as Lukroix, sweeping up the floor like he’s sweeping up the world of [Resolution]!”

“You’re comparing the greatest player of this generation to a Vuvuvroomga. Are you serious?”

“Hey. Vuvuvroomga’s take the most efficient path to vacuuming the floor, alright? Lukroix is taking the most efficient path to sweep up the continent. If it a coincidence their paths are the same? I think not. This is why I’m the expert and you’re just a radio host, Natasha.”

“You did not just go there, Sam.”

Anaheim turned the radio off with a snort. “Those two should get married already,” she said and shook her head. She flipped through her watch’s menu and opened up a map that projected a hologram in front of her. Her location and Manevit were quite far away. At the rate Luke was traveling, she’d never catch up unless she predicted where he’d be. For the first time in her life, she navigated to a popular merchandise-selling website and ordered a Vuvuvroomga. Her mother had raised her to avoid technology because of the risk of becoming too reliant, but the Vuvuvroomga was solely for the purpose of tracking Luke down to break her curse. It wasn’t because she was tired of sweeping her living room with a broom!

Munch, munch.

Anaheim turned around to see a blob of blankets hovering over her cutting board. The fine pieces of sashimi were vanishing into the darkness at a visible rate. “Hey!” Anaheim shouted, lunging towards the blankets. “You said you didn’t need food, Mr. Bubbles! Give me back my lunch!”