I’m done hurting myself for now. I have some idea of what all these ingredients do, but I don’t have any way of experimenting further. I don’t know much about alchemy, but I do know I’ll need some sort of container to hold stuff I make, and I’ll probably want to reduce ingredients in water over a fire. I have exactly zero capacity to do that.

The red flowers might be able to solve the fire problem, though…

Actually, now that I think about it, that’s probably how they got the fire going at the camp. Idiot. Should have asked. I mean, I tried, but Lauren seemed like the go-to person to ask, and she… wasn’t in a ‘talkative’ mood. I have a vain hope that she’ll teach me some stuff, or at least tell me how I can get my hands on an alchemy kit like hers.

Seriously, that setup looked really legit, there’s no way it was cobbled together from sticks and rocks. I’m pretty sure I saw a mortar and pestle!

But she definitely doesn’t have it on her now. Probably left it at camp. Not that I feel comfortable checking through her stuff… for a variety of reasons.

The least of which is ‘being stabbed’.

I promise.

I opt to take a seat on one of the open sarcophagi, with Lauren firmly in my view, while I peruse the Traits tab. The last thing I want is her unstable ass sneaking up on me.

The tab is… mostly vacant. Selecting it brings me to a screen that looks like it will be a canvas of traits at some point, but right now has only four: The Selfless; Energy User; Energy Healer; and Path of Denial.

[The Selfless (0/5): Reward trait. Saving one of your own species at great personal risk has earned you the interest of the Administrator. Gain one free Primary Skill for every point. Reduced cost of Ascending once the trait is complete.] [Basic Energy User (0/10): Increases efficiency of all Energy use by 1%/point. Bonus doubles once the trait is complete.] [Novice Energy Healer (0/10): Speeds active healing effects by 10%/point. Reduces concentration required for active healing once the trait is complete.]

And finally:

[Path of Denial (0/25): Does absolutely nothing. Effect doubles once the trait is complete.]

Pfft. This is actually so terrible that I can’t help but laugh. Honestly what the fuck. The two Energy related traits are pretty great, same with the reward trait (whatever Ascending is), definitely worth the investment, but my path? Good fucking lord. I’d laugh harder if it didn’t hurt so much.

Why, pray tell, the fuck, does it do nothing? Maybe it’s a joke? Maybe it just says that but then you put in ten points and it switches to something awesome.

Or maybe I’ll put in all twenty-five points and get nothing x2.

The worst part about this is the fuckin’ God thing told me I have to ‘walk the path’, which means it wants me to finish this stupid thing for some crazy ‘epic destiny’ or whatever. What kind of epic destiny starts with FUCKING NOTHING.

Well, maybe I’ll have tons of trait points and won’t even know what to do with them, so it won’t be a major loss.

Trait points available: 26

Oh boy. It has a one to one match with the number of Secondary Skill levels I have. Fuck.

Well, I’m maxing the two Energy traits on account of the fact that I need to survive long enough to finish the stupid path, and being able to heal quicker and with less focus will definitely contribute to the chances of me being alive. Same with reducing Energy costs.

I distribute the points: 10 to Basic Energy User, 10 to Novice Energy Healer, 5 to the reward path, and 1 to Path of Denial.

It’s only after putting in the final point that I realize I could have left the point available and just put it in as a lump sum later, especially because I might get more traits that would be even more useful.

Ugh. It’s only one point, but I just have to hamstring myself every once in a while. I can be all cool fighting off a horde of angry Shades and then trip and fall on my proverbial face in the comfort of a menu.

I’m interrupted from my point distribution by a *CLACK*(Danger!) and, before I can react, something cold is on my throat. I literally took precautions to ensure exactly NOT this.

“Oh for fucks sa-” I mange to get out, before a sharp pain emanates from my throat followed by a “Shut. Up.”

A pause, heavy breathing. Well, Lauren’s awake. Not feeling too hot I see.

-“Now tell me -breath- what the fuck -breath- you did to me.”

“Saved you from shadow monsters-” I blurt out, unthinking. Shit, I meant to say anything other than that because- yep, that’s more pressure. Great. Fucking genius. “What!? I did, alright? I thought you were Rav and came to save you, and, once I realized, I decided to save your worthless ass because…” I don’t even remember, why did I do this? “-Because you know how to fight and we need you so we don’t all die.” Might as well double down. Speak the language, so to say.

She doesn’t move or say anything for a while, seemingly content to hold me hostage while she thinks. I concentrate a fair chunk of green Energy in my throat, right along the line of pressure I can feel. If she does it, I doubt she’ll be thorough, and I might be able to save myself. And I will, honestly and truly, destroy her soul if I survive. Wait-

I convert the remainder of my Energy to the weaponized red, gathering it along the points of contact between us.

Why wait? I could destroy her now.

She’s literally holding a knife to my throat. Her intent is clear.

-“Why really. Why would you help me. Don’t lie again.”

Really? Because-

“You could be useful to me personally. I wasn’t lying. I saw you working on alchemy, and that’s a skill I want so I can survive. I need all the tools I can get. Where did you find equipment like that?”

It’s weird having a conversation when both parties have weapons levied against the other. Not that she knows. It’s better this way, she thinks she’s in control.

The tension of the knife eases somewhat.

-”You helped me so that I’d teach you? Fuck off, -breath- jackass, I’m not teaching anyone. But, I don’t think -breath- I’m going to kill you just yet. You’ve left out an important part: what the fuck was with that dream you gave me?”

Dream?

“I didn’t-” the pressure gets more intense than ever before, definitely breaking skin.

-”Don’t you FUCKING lie to meeEEE AHH WHAT THE FUCK-” Oh, did that hurt? My bad. I only managed to use about half of the Energy I had ready to attack her.

I kick off the ground, taking advantage of her being stunned, and smash the back of my head into her face. A distant clatter rings out as the dagger flies from her grip. The small amount of poison that made it into my neck is being held at bay by the wave of green Energy around the wound. Hopefully it’ll stay until I have time to fix it.

“Well,” I say, over her pained groan, “that worked even better than I thought. What? Don’t give me that face, I saved your life, suffering greatly for it, and you rewarded me by pulling a knife on me and demanding answers I would have freely answered if you had just asked, like a fucking normal person. I literally did nothing to harm you-” except throw you across a pit trap, but that was necessary and she was unconscious “- and I helped you, despite my extreme doubts about why you came here. Oh? It’s spreading? Well you’re familiar with poison, right? This is just like that, but instead of targeting the body, it targets the soul. And yes, it would eventually consume you.”

I grab her good arm, letting her try desperately and ineffectively to fend me off with the unresponsive Energy infected one.

“-But it won’t. I won’t let it. Now hold still and let me help you.”

Her eyes hold a mixture of fear, confusion, and anger, but the fear wins out and she just shakes and holds still while I remove the Energy from her, pushing a bit of green Energy in to fix the damage passively. She visibly shudders when the Energy passes into her. Weird.

She sinks to the ground, breathing heavily, looking at me with a strange expression.

-”I -huff- don’t like you.” she says, simply.

“Feeling's mutual.”