“Easy, easy… there. Drink this- slowly… good. Feeling any better?”

Chris offers only a pitiful groan in response.

“It’ll pass,” I assure him “just give it some time. It does have the benefit of making you more capable afterwards… but I guess now you can see why I don’t do it that often. Not when I can help it, anyway.”

He merely groans again. Sighing, I place my hand on his head and offer him a bit of healing Energy, which seems to momentarily ease his pain.

“Th-ank you.”

“You learned quickly. I’m curious, what did it?”

“Wha-?”

“What pushed you over the edge? Made you get it?”

“I…” He trails off before shaking his head, wincing when the motion exacerbates the pain.

“Don’t know?” I finish, saddened. Of course he wouldn’t. I couldn’t explain it either. One day, you just wake up. That’s what it feels like, anyway. It was probably even more profound of an experience here, with the system. One day, your will just appears in your hand like a weapon, and it’s yours to wield. Who could say why it appears, though? I remember music, suffering, and crippling isolation… the things that drive people to a slow insanity. Maybe I was insane for a while, but in my mad wanderings, I found my way out… and when I returned, I held something that had been hidden in the madness: an understanding of me. Yes, I was flesh and blood- a brain piloting a sack of meat- but that was not me. I am my will. I am the change I make in the world, and in others.

Simple, I know, but in recognizing simple truths, complex ones become attainable. When you know a weapon exists, you may train with it, defend yourself from it, and with that competence comes power. This is especially true of weapons that others do not recognize.

How do you fight something you can’t understand? Guess, and hope.

Looking down at Chris, I can’t say I envy his position. I’m not sticking around to teach him things, partially because I have other things to do, but mostly because it’s a highly individual process. I can wield my own will, but wielding the will of others? That takes time, and you can never do it as well as they themselves. I wield Kaythe’s will, and eventually, I will do the same with Cerberus. Lauren follows my will, but I do not control her. Nor do I wish to squander her potential by doing so.

“Do you understand?” My voice fills the careful silence I hadn’t noticed descend.

“I do.” Confidence. Little, but there.

“You’re wrong, you understand very little, but that is good. You will find out the rest yourself. Though, before I go, I will caution you: do not seek to use what you know to control others. Control yourself first. Focus inward. Better yourself.”

“I don’t-”

“Don’t worry about understanding that, it’s just an important caution that the system won’t give you. I expect marked improvement by the time I get back.”

“Leaving?”

“Yeah, I was waiting on you. Good luck teaching the other- oh… healing, right.” Ugh, I really don’t want to spend time mentoring right now. “Can you visualize your Energy?”

“Y-yeah… a little?”

“What color is it?”

“Color?”

“Yess.” My voice betrays my impatience. “What does it look like?”

“It looks like… clear water.”

“What.”

“Sorry? I don’t… what’s it supposed to look like?”

“Mine looks like motes of different colored light.”

He screws up his face a little, but still looks aggrieved when he opens his eyes again. “I’m sorry, it’s just water. It feels warm, but t-that’s it.” The confidence seems to seep away with every word, and I know it’s because I’m being a dick.

“Interesting… can you try changing the heat of the water?”

“The… heat?”

“Make some cooler, soothing. Try making some hot and scalding.”

“H-”

“I don’t know how you’ll do it, it’s up to you. The soothing one is more important. Imagine that soothing, cool water gathering in you finger.”

His eyes close as he presumably listens, and a sharp pin of the golden Energy metal quickly forms at my prodding.

“-And heal.” I say, jabbing the pin deep into his finger.

He screams and tries to jump at the sudden pain, but I hold him. “Hey, hey it’s alright, that’s all it was, now just flood the are with the cool water.”

“Ahhh…” He winces. “-coulda warned me!”

“Trust me, it’s nicer than how I learned.”

Blood keeps welling up from the wound, and it’s easy to tell by his facial expressions how the pain is disrupting his focus. I’m about to give up and just heal it for him when the blood stops. Pulling out my water skin, I wash the area… and a small pinprick scar is all that remains.

“You must have some kind of talent for this, or I’m an excellent teacher.”

“You’re not. I’d know.” Lauren, helpful as always.

I release Chris, letting him return to a more comfortable sitting position, but I hardly think he notices. His eyes nearly bug out of his skull with how hard he’s staring at the scar.

“Where… how… what?”

“Congratulations, you healed yourself.”

“I… you mean, you didn’t? I did this?”

“Yeah. All because you did something impossible.”

“The… rock?”

“Yeah, you dolt. You figured out how to take your will into your own hands and use it.”

“I…” He trails off, but the ecstatic grin that spreads across his face makes it clear he’s at a loss for words for a reason entirely foreign to him; he had succeeded beyond his wildest hopes.

“Don’t let it get to you head. You still didn’t push the rock to the top, but you’ve got a solid starting place from which to help others, or save me some effort and teach them.”

“Yeah… I guess so. I don’t think I can teach like you, though. The others don’t… really like me that much.”

“I gathered.”

“It’s alright. They’re all afraid, and they feel less afraid together… at least, when they’re picking on me they seem happy. It could be worse.”

“I think they’ll change their minds when you turn a crippling injury into a bad memory for them. I wasn’t well liked in the group when I first joined either, but then I healed…” Rav. I healed Rav, and now he’s dead. I notice belatedly that I trailed off mid-sentence, and Chris is looking at me expectantly. I cough dryly. “I healed one of them and they all started being more friendly. Lauren and I are only close because she tried to kill me.”

“I said I was sorry.” She pouts, but her eyes are laughing.

“I think… you’re really weird.” Chris says, staring slightly aghast between the two of us.

“Thanks, Chris. I get that a lot. Anyway, good luck, call if you need me.”

“Call what?”

“Really loudly.”

---

Lynn stares at me across the table while I pick my way through a brief meal. “Did Seth make this? It’s really good.”

“I did, actually, and thank you.”

“You? I thought you were always busy with-” I gesture at the nearest group of people “-managing.”

She sighs, a hint of exhaustion making its way into her posture before she straightens again, fixing me with a piercing gaze. “The better part of management is delegating. Besides, I’ll go mad if all I do is lead them around by the nose all day. Cooking seemed an efficient relaxation method.”

“Can’t fault that logic.” I say, popping another piece of crispy grasshopper into my mouth. They aren’t bad, actually, and just eating them actually boosts Dexterity as well. It blows my mind that I didn’t think to experiment with insects as reagents, but now… the buffs are minimal with just eating the hopper, but mixed in a potion and properly prepared? It could dramatically increase one’s speed for a while. The boost lasts for an entire hour as well… promising. “But, I assume you didn’t want me here just to feed me.”

“Of course not. How proceeds the training with Chris?”

“Done.” I crunch down on the nutty tasting insect.

“Done? He is a trained healer?”

“Yeah.”

“I would be remiss to call you a liar, but I am sorely tempted. You know we need-”

“I know, which is why I trained him at all, but I’m serious. He knows it now. Don’t go getting limbs chopped off in the near future, but he should be able to practice healing minor sparring wounds, and as he improves, he’ll be able to handle more.”

“... Very well. I shall keep our members close to camp until your return.”

“Good. I’d ask you if you wanted to come with, but-”

“You already know the answer. There is one more thing I would ask of you: a donation of Power.”

“What, to you? You’ve got to have plenty after that fight.”

“To the town. It requires Power to expand and grow.”

I narrow my eyes. I have a lot of Power. 22,745 to be exact. But that just means I can avoid killing things for a while, and indiscriminately gather new and exciting Secondary Skills. I could stand to part with some of it, but… even half would be quite the blow. “How much are we talking?”

An evil glint in her eye tells me all I need to know. “I’m not giving you all of it!”

“No, not all. 15,000.”

“WHAT?! THAT’S ALMOST THREE QUARTERS-”

“Oh? Only that? Perhaps you could spar-”

“FUCK NO.” I push away from the table and make to leave. I’d be left with only around 7k Power, which is still a ton, but… not, absolutely not.

“Amadeus.”

“WHAT?”

“Joking aside, I do need that much.”

“UGH. Why?! What could possibly require that much Power?”

“Rushing this town to level two as fast as possible. I can’t rightly ask for Power from the craft- artisans, but many of the combatants already donated what they could. It takes an entire 30,000 Power to level the town up, and we likely need to expand it a few times to make room for future structures.”

“Holy- ok, how much Power do you already have stockpiled?”

“Around 20,000.”

“So why would I need to give fifteen?!”

“Because, Amadeus, and I hate you for making me say it: you can spare it. You will recoup the lost Power faster, and it’s less vital to your growth. We have a lot of new people who are far too weak to stand against even a few Carnines, let alone real threats!” A growl emanates from the corner of the room. “No offence, Cerberus. The point remains. They cannot hope to guard this place if they are weak, and Power will set them on the right path. We need to train them and close the gap as fast as possible, all the while continuing to push the bar further ourselves. We must be strong enough to face whatever comes.”

I turn to face her, a faint fog of ice cascading down my back. “You owe me.”

“Amadeus, you and I both know that has been the case for quite some time.” Her smile is cheeky, but I can see the appreciation. It’s not enough, but she isn’t wrong. She guides me through the process, and the feeling of losing so much Power so fast leaves me retching on the floor for several minutes before the crippling, mind-breaking levels of emptiness and loss start to fade.