“Why are you suddenly so interested in this?” Steven frowned. He looked up to Tier very questioningly.

Sensing the GM’s curiosity had taken Tier aback. He quickly scrambled for words, “I- I mean I’ve heard those lines before as well, j-just curious.”

“From someone important?” the head GM asked again. This time, his expression turned a bit more concerned. “Like… THAT important? So important that I have to remember it right now when we’re discussing something else entirely?”

The word important had a severe backlash on Tier. “Was she?” He mumbled to himself as his heart started to judge the weight of impact his saviour had on him.

It was true that she was actually an important figure who came at the right moment. If she wasn’t there, he wouldn’t be alive. But, was it really worth it for him to be overly obsessed with her?

Along the journey of his life since that time, he had others who cherished his company. There are people who made his days worth more and less painful though guilt kept haunting him. The image of his immediate family came first in his mind, followed by his wacky closest friends, and finally Mana’s smile that kept rendering him helpless.

The moment when he was saved was indeed the turning point. Yet, his heart slowly told him to believe that those who were there all along the journey itself might be worth even more.

Cherishing someone for what they have done to him was a completely different standpoint than obsessing over the person. Perhaps, changing for the better and keep moving forward was the best way to be thankful.

“Nevermind,” he answered to Steven while looking away. As soon as his heart settled down, his mind started asking questions as to when and why he started to put aside his obsession over his saviour?

Glad I found you, decent deskmate.

I… we can be your reason.

…I will always be waiting for you…

Heat rose up in Tier’s face the moment he remembered Mana’s words. The worst part was that Steven realised just that.

“Why are you suddenly blushing?” Steven frowned. He then teased him, “Remembering your girlfriend eh?”

Before Tier could snap an answer, Steven suddenly clapped his hand. An inspiration seemed to possess him when he exclaimed, “Oh, I know! Those ‘fight on, live on’ things were mentioned before by your girlfriend.”

“Who?”

Steven crossed his arm. He frowned again. “She’s your girlfriend, right?”

Tier halfheartedly knew who Steven was talking about, but he just played a fool until he got a firm answer. “What kind of imaginary being are we talking about here?”

“Manna, duh.” Steven sighed. “The first time she was looking for you guys, she was so psyched, that time I thought she'd be some kind of maiden in love or something. Considering the last time we met yesterday, I guess she had something to do with you romantically.”

“You should write a romance fantasy novel.”

“Gah, fine, I get it,” Steven grumbled. “But, I am not joking that she was the one who said it. I remember her shouting that to her raid mates when they were about to get wiped. Maybe she’s the one telling you that before?”

Tier cackled as the information sounded ridiculous in his head. There was no way Mana was his saviour. While he had to admit he liked Mana so much, he also needed to acknowledge that Mana might have some loose screws in her head. At least that's what he learned from the last few weeks.

It would be impossible for the two to be the same person.

“What’s so funny?”

“Definitely not her,” Tier answered calmly after he gained his composure.

“Ah, whatever.” Steven shook his head, then quickly changed topic, “Back to your ability thing, I think I kinda found out how to control that tendency. Later you would be able to use that brain capability of yours when you wanted, however I will severely limit the amount of information that your brain is able to receive to avoid you being exhausted. Also, I have put some precaution that even if you get desperate, the server won’t allow any data to overflow as long as the ability is not activated. Have you thought of a name yet for this custom ability?”

Tier felt a strong pulsing from his atlas joint due to Steven’s question. The head GM had the audacity to think that Tier would have already thought of a name for an ability that is just a mere restriction and also stole another of his custom ability slots.

Yes, he knew Steven was doing it for good. But it was still outrageous nonetheless.

Thus, the hunter protested, “You know, can’t you just give me an additional custom ability slot? This ability, just like the other one, is just being limiter or some sort. I start to think that this is rather unfair compared to other people.”

Unlike what Tier had expected, Steven was rather unexpectedly calm. He was even smiling knowingly. He asked, “What do you think a custom ability is?”

“Huh, what?”

Steven shrugged and still calmly shook his head. “I thought you are one of those who should understand, my good dude.”

The claim had surged a series of twitching on Tier’s forehead. “Tch, I apologise if I wasn’t up to your standards or expectations for whatever that means.”

“Aw, dude, don’t get angry. You six had far exceeded my expectations, though you definitely were not obliged to.” Steven tried to defend himself. But then his words turned sullen, “Even that maniac Macepaw… he exceeded… far exceeded any expectations normal humans would dare to think of.”

“But you are not normal,” Tier dissed casually at Steven’s desperation.

However, the head GM ignored the diss lightly. He proceeded with his explanation, “Well, in short, we developers, I.. we head GMs also part of it, thought that the true freedom in games are not just about cosmetics. Someone’s capability to express their deepest selves through their abilities, this is what we believed as the true freedom in a game.”

“This is why we tried our best to open the path choices and combinations as wide as possible. In the end, of course there would be the best combination or the META build. But then, that is why we have the custom ability slots. It is tiresome, really… Well, if that helps people to be able to have enough fighting chance while keeping expressing themselves, then it is a worthwhile business.”

There was a flicker of passion in Steven's eyes when he concluded with questions, “Tell me, Tier, why did you choose [Eagle Aim] instead of the typical boosted shot taken by a DPS based hunter? Most hunters would also long for a nice damage multiplier if they decided to focus on critical strike, but you sacrificed all those wife [Slither Drag]. Also, why did you take Predator’s Tactics?”

Tier scratched his head. He tried to grasp for an anser, “W-well, I just thought it would suit my style.”

Accompanied with a beaming smile, Steven patted Tier’s shoulder. “Playstyle can be trained and forced, but not much with your core mentality in approaching the game. In lives, studies, careers, these all can be seen rather clearly. We want to show something similar in Zurefgar. At least, that’s what I believe.”

“Of course, there would be consequences for that.” Steven gestured for Tier to look around. “Not much of that negative consequences. But, we do make it less convenient for someone to remade their character, changing path, or even companion beast. If not, the workload for us and the balance would cause intense headaches. And also, we want you guys to think carefully about what kind of character you would be comfortable with. What do you want to express?”

“I can’t deny that [Cobra’s Manoeuvre] and this upcoming custom ability is a restriction for you. However, they are also a trigger for you to use them whenever you need them under the right circumstances. Both are, in the trust sense, your true ability that is more pure than others that you have asked. We’re just helping you to truly integrate it to this game.”

“Alright, you win,” Tier groaned in defeat. “But at least give me something, maybe a cool effect when I use a certain mimic when I am under the effect of the ability?”

“Fine, let me see what you want?”

“How about uh… if I use [Mimic: Crocodile] the silhouette would be a churchil crocodile thank, or F-18 for [Mimic: Hornets], and uhhh F-15EX for [Mimic: Eagle].”

“That's too much!” Steve sighed in protest. “Can’t promise anything. How about the additional function as suggested by your friends? So can you share the burdens and effects with them?”

“No!” Tier answered firmly. “I do not want to burden my friends.”

“What? Didn’t you listen to what others said yesterday? Dude, team is not just you being a helper, but you help each other. Aren’t you guys friends for real?”

“It is because we are friends, that I don’t….”

Are you always like this?

Tier stopped his words as Mana’s words and concerned look replayed in his head. He still couldn’t answer why. And he was deeply burdened by it.

Steven let Tier fall silent for a moment before he shook his head and explained, “We need a safety net, Tier. Stop just looking at this as a burden for them. They mentioned it themselves that the information sharing would also be beneficial for them. There won’t be much backlashes since you are friends for real. I guess that your way of thinking might be already naturally affecting each other anyway, information sharing won’t be much of a hassle. To be honest, this kind of synchronisation might enable you guys to perform some rare things?”

Unable to fight the wrenching uneasiness in his logic, Tier questioned, “But what if they turned out to have conditions like me.“

“I am doing what I can to avoid you suffering the same thing again,” Steven retorted. “Do you think I would let them suffer the same thing? What they receive would only be around a quarter of what you experience. The system would also force a break once you are deemed to be overloaded. They won’t feel much at still got enough awareness of your targets.”

Steven took a moment to take a breath, then concluded, “Helping each other, sharing burdens, those are not something out of this world. As a team, isn’t it normal to share a bit of the load once in a while?”

Tier couldn’t give any more counter arguments due to his heart felt the truthness of Steven’s word. Perhaps, what burdened Tier all this time is not his sins, but his fears of opening up his heart again.

“Silence is agreement,” Steven chuckled jolly. “If that special function name [Synchronise]... sounds fitting eh? Let me add the requirement of using [Mimic: Orca] to activate it, but you still can change mimic after the initial synchronisation. And umm.. I think you need to maximise Primal Instinct bonus from your path… oh, you took it already. As expected. Now, just the matter of…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tier interrupted, “I am planning to take [Mimic: Orca] anyway.”

“Not that, dude,” Steven snorted. “I knew a true DPS utility like you would definitely take that. I am asking for the name of the custom ability.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Tier tilted his head, thinking deeply. The word primal from Primal Instinct bonus sounds suitable and kinda cool. He just needed another word to pair with it.

He remembered the sensation he felt when his brain went on ‘sponge’ mode. Before the serene calmness, he felt a short explosion from his emotion. Like something was unbound like a beast that finally let free to prove itself. It was somehow akin to the philosophy and feeling of the dance he once learned and apparently used when under effect of the ability.

“Sitting burst… burst… unleash?.”

“Huh?”

Tier turned his face away while scratching his head. He tried to set his mind straight before finally named, “[Primal Unleash], I’d call it [Primal Unleash].”

At the mention of the name, Steven clapped in amusement. “Whoaaa, cool name, dude, feels so hunter-y, soo… Predator’s Tactics-y.”

However, this excitement was cut short by the sudden appearance of an elf who just jumped into the conversation. “Hunter? Predator’s Tactics? Steven is definitely talking about me, right guys?”