February 19, 2019, 1:37 pm. Shortly after using Rufka's shoulder as a tear rag.

After I'm done crying, Rufka and I buy everything in the store. It's fun at first, pulling the expensive looking metal pauldrons from the shelf and placing them on my shoulders as I model them for Rufka. But then it becomes a chore as we pick everything up, putting it on and purchasing it piece by piece. Luckily, I'm able to just pick up the jug of integration points and buy them all at once. Which leave me with hundreds of unspent Iron-rank Integration points. That I guess I can use to bond armour? Or spend on staying in a Sanctuary? Other than the Integration points, all my elemental resistances are boosted by ten percent, as is the damage from every element except Twilight. Instead, the collection of seven star-forged (according to the sign) bracelets boosts the effectiveness of Twilight by seven percent.

The Arena achievement point allows us to unlock one additional bonus to an edge of our choice. Including our special resources. I pull the 'unstuck' stopwatch up, looking at it for a few moments before buying it. Once I strap it on, it becomes part of me, granting an additional 5.0 Facet Edge for the low price of a million points. Shame we only got one Achievement.

When we go back to the Nexus, Rufka laughs as she says, "I'm going to buy every ability I can. Mum's always bragging about having all of them. Now I'll get to brag about getting them all younger than she did."

Her excitement makes me smile. It also makes me lean over and kiss her, drawing her out of her shopping spree for a minute. With the reminder that we can use points on abilities, I flop back staring at the fake sky as I explore the options. Can't believe I forgot how many other uses for Integration points there are besides just spending them on attributes. While laying in the grass together, soaking up the fake rays, from the fake sun, I browse through the menus. After picking up the System's version of auto-loot and a few other silly goodies, I sit up.

"We still need to claim the physical rewards," I say, then notice Rufka is already playing with a new set of gloves. "Or maybe that's just me."

"Yep, totally just you," Rufka says, standing up and punching upward at the empty air.

Rolling my eyes, I prompt the System to give me my goodies.

"Item received: Armour Upgrade: Desh's Mandate."

"Cat's Favour: When used on existing armour, adds the Desh's Mandate modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Health Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you will heal physical conditions at double speed."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Hmm. That's interesting. I'm not saying you should go get smacked around, but it would help me figure out how to copy the effect."

I give a half chuckle. Too bad I didn't get it before the dungeon. I certainly would've finished Wyonna's request by now.

"Circlet of Atun. Having defeated Desh Atun in a single attempt, you have been judged a worthy successor, and she bestows this circlet as recognition of your valor."

"Once belonging to a rival queen, Atun recognized the simple elegance of this circlet as she did the elegance of the queen who wore it. In a battle that took hours, she eventually took her opponent's life. Atun kept the circlet in memory of her opponent, until recognizing a similar spirit in you. This circlet supports your claim to the now defunct Belkavan Queendom, should Atun's spirit ever be freed from her duty within the Ring of Desh Atun. Courageous. Improves Edge by 3.0 when equipped."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

"Note. Additional item bonding option available: Engrained Tattoo."

The simple metal loop is... almost disappointing. If it didn't give a flat three edge to everything, I'm not sure I'd want to keep it. Also...

"Hey Rufka, do you know anything about this Engrained Tattoo option?" I ask, as I run my finger over the circlet's single sapphire.

"Sure. Mom used em for a couple of mine. Takes a lot longer to craft, but then she didn't have to do the tattoo by hand. Still hurt though," Rufka replies from next to me, her voice echoing slightly.

"Huh," I grunt out, holding the circlet up in front of me. "More or less than getting our head smashed by Atun?"

"Less. Though it lasted longer. Why?" Rufka asks, finally looking over at the circlet I'm holding. "Oh, nice. That'll make a sweet tattoo."

"I guess." The thought of getting a tattoo that doesn't have any real meaning to me is... not great. But at the same time, the constant battle of the last week has shown me that I don't want anything on my head that could offer a grip.

"So... wanna help me choose a spot?" I finally ask, which gets a good guffaw out of Rufka. Then she runs a finger along my thigh.

Nodding, I bring the circlet next to my thigh then I pause.

"Hey, can tattoos be upgraded after they're uhm... attached?"

"Yep. Has to be after. Doesn't work otherwise," she replies, still running her finger back and forth across my leg. It's rather distracting.

Still, I place the circlet next to my thigh again, Focusing on the tattoo prompt. Which makes me sigh when it opens up a separate screen for selecting the tattoo's location. Using the screen to roughly match Rufka's preference? Suggestion? Suggestion.

I Pause right as I confirm the prompt, sweeping Facet through my leg as the System takes over. It starts by deconstructing the circlet, and I can see it holding the mana in a steady pattern, but the runes and mechanisms it's using are too complex to understand. So, like everything else I don't understand, I record what I can for later study.

Then it... bonds the circlet with my leg. But it's not just my leg. It also bonds it into my aura. Does it do the same-

The sudden spike of pain isn't mitigated by Pause in the slightest. And it ruins my ability to concentrate. I drop Pause, but the pain continues. It takes almost a minute for it to clear, leaving me gasping for breath.

"That... was way worse than anything Atun did," I gulp, only realizing Rufka is holding me as the air fills my lungs. Was I screaming? I can't remember.

"Sorry. It was never like that with mum. I don't..." Rufka bites her lip as she frowns down at me.

I reach up to pat her cheek. "Pretty sure it's my fault. I was... uhm, trying to watch."

"Oh," Rufka says, her frown deepening. "You could've warned me."

"Didn't expect it to hurt," I shrug. "And it only kind of tingles now."

"So you're all better?" Rufka asks with a slight lilt to her voice.

"Yes?"

"Good," she states as she attacks my sides.

Four arms give her far too much of an advantage in a tickle fight, and for the second time in five minutes I find myself gulping for air.

Then we're back to the business of upgrading our class abilities. I could spend my remaining five progression points to upgrade my Facet. Or to gain one of the abilities I skipped. But nothing jumps out to me, so I put it off, staring upward as Rufka continues her shopping.

"Oh. I unlocked another class upgrade when we beat Atun. I think I'm going to take it," Rufka says, breaking me out of my daydreaming.

"Yeah? What's it called?"

"Unshackled Champion," Rufka answers in that way that tells me she's only partially paying attention to me. I don't mind. If she's looking at a class upgrade, that's a serious decision.

"Sounds cool," I say, just to let her know I'm listening if she wants to tell me more. But she remains quiet.

A few minutes later she pushes up onto her elbows, grinning at me. "What do you say we run another couple?"

"I take it you have some new abilities you want to try?"

"Yep. Plus you never got to play with your Cataclysm ability either."

"True," I agree with a smile, pushing to my feet. "Not that I can use it much. It has a nasty tendency to suck me dry."

"Yeah. Little weird, but not as weird as your seed."

With that reminder, I prod Seed again. Whatever I did when I first activated it, it hasn't repeated since. "Yep. Still just sitting there."

"Guess your class has a dud too," Rufka says as we make our way to the challenge room. We end up waiting as Josh and Tipan are there, punching in their own challenge. They wave at us before going in to face Desh Atun.

Once they're gone, Rufka and I choose one of the runs that ends with a lesser version of Atun. Inside, Rufka dives forward, swinging. For a second, I think she's using her bow as a club, but as I step around the other K'tharn's errant arrow, I realize her fist is covered in sparkling plasma. The second she strikes the first K'tharn, she disappears, reappearing in a flash of lightning that strikes the second one down.

Neat.

The next few fights are similar, with Rufka testing her new abilities. To my surprise, Rufka is able to attack Atun with impunity. Then again, I guess all my class abilities worked. Rufka just didn't have as many to work with. We do two more runs before Rufka is satisfied. When we come up against Atun, I unleash Lesser Cataclysm again, but this time, I try to limit it to half my Facet.

It doesn't work.

It's like trying to hold in a sneeze when I'm already sneezing. Actually, I don't think I've had to sneeze much on Akilo, so not sure that applies anymore. But it's definitely like that.

As I sneeze-Cataclysm all over Atun, I get a headache, which I suspect is linked to trying to hold my Facet in. It also does a perfect job of defeating her, but I hardly notice that part as I clutch at my head. It's only as the pain starts to fade that I realize it was more than just my head, just to a lesser degree.

"Okay. Note to self. Lesser Cataclysm really doesn't like being cast at half power."

"Like, with only half your pool full? Or using half your pool?" Rufka asks, kneeling next to me. Which is how I discover I also collapsed.

"Trying to use only half my full pool," I reply, still rubbing at my head even as the pain becomes a dull ache. When I check my conditions, I find that I have a temporal disruption, but it'll be gone in a few minutes. When Rufka and I walk out of the arena, my headache remains. Which...

"Second note to self. That damaged the real me, not my copy," I say as we sit on a nearby bench.

"Don't do it again. Got it," Rufka says, pretending to write in the air. Or maybe she really is recording it in her System. She probably has the notebook feature now if she didn't before.

"Actually," I say, as I think about her earlier question. "There's one more thing I need to try."

Once I've recovered, we go through one more round. This time, I only have a quarter of my Facet pool. But that's still over a hundred points. And when I hit Atun with Lesser Cataclysm, it works. And best of all, no headache.

"Looks like it's a good finishing move," I say as we walk out of the arena.

"Didn't you say it was capable of doing multiple targets too?" Rufka asks as we head back to the kitchen. There's not much left for us to do other than experiment with our abilities while we wait for the others to grind out their points. We're the only ones who got a quest reward of ten million points, afterall. I was surprised Smoulder got it too, which is... convenient. Like, super convenient. She just got her class and is already level ten. Totally awesome.

Now if only the little ball o'doom wasn't so smug about it.

Ignoring Smoulder's aura of 'I am the most incrediblest mana-hare ever' as best I can, Rufka and I prepare a proper buff-based dinner for the rest of the party, to help them finish just a little faster. They come through in pairs, everyone working on Desh Atun, even Roberts, until the tournament opens again. Which makes Kellica super popular, since she can't lose.

"It's not that I'm skilled, it's just that my Venom mage class is really potent," Kellica explains as she's dipping one of the rolled meat in biscuits we made into a thick gravy. "I spent so much time making Truth venoms and paralytics for the Taken to use later, I forgot I could apply the paralytics to my own weapons. Even though her resistances prevent total paralysis, they still slow her down. Combined with my armor, it's not hard to contain her. Does take me a few minutes to create enough paralytic to keep her slowed though."

"That's gonna save some time," Rufka says, patting Kellica on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping everyone."

Kellica tries to hide her smile, but she's not super successful. Even as she leaves with Tipan, talking about their strategy for their next attempt, she's still smiling.

"You done good," I say to Rufka once we're alone in the kitchen.

"I know," Rufka replies as she pulls out the board for Astra's Stride, setting Smoulder on the opposite end. "But... uh, maybe you could clarify what I did?"

"Hehe. You made Kellica feel better about herself. And everyone's been working together to take down Desh Atun. I'm glad no one's hung up about yesterday," I say as I sit beside Smoulder.

For a few minutes, I watch Rufka try to explain the game to Smoulder. But Smoulder eventually yawns, before coming over to me and snuggling into my pocket. Apparently maximum mental attributes doesn't mean she wants to play games.

With her opponent having forfeited, Rufka does a little victory wiggle before turning to me. "Yesterday was... I don't know, exactly. But I don't think anyone meant to go so far."

"Me either. So, what do you say we play a game?"

The way Rufka's eyes light up almost makes up for how terribly she stomps me.

Hmm. On second thought, it totally does.

...TWPM...

February 21, 2019, 11:02 am

It takes the others another day and a half to clear out their stores to their satisfaction. Roberts finally fought Atun solo and had no problem dismantling her. Helps that his barrier armor wasn't disruptable once he got it as a class ability. Even after everyone has all their points, we still spend a couple hours getting ready to leave. After being here for a week and a half, we're all feeling excited to get back to the ship, but we also spread out a bit. It's been a very productive period, but being trapped inside the arena is starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

"Once we get away from the spout, we need to have a race," Tipan says, as we stand just inside the entrance, waiting for Smoulder to burn away the jungle that did indeed grow back over the entrance.

"Oh, yeah. Now that everyone's got innate flight, that'll be awesome," I say, rubbing my hands together as I float out over the still molten sand. It seems she went a little overboard, since it's warm enough it's causing my Health to tick down just flying over it, even through my enhanced resistances. "Actually, we could do that now, couldn't we?"

"Uh... the subsystem doesn't work in here," Tipan replies, her eyes looking up as the others come out of the chamber behind us, everyone floating up to get away from the molten ground. "I think there's too much interference."

"Yeah, the mana here is kinda-"

I don't get to finish my sentence, something striking from the bush. I've paused time and am already analyzing the giant lizard before I know what's happening. The analysis reveals it's a young Ravnor, though it's not much of a threat. However, its physical stat is still very high, so it's strong enough it could do some damage. Not at the level of Atun thankfully.

Considering it's as much mouth as anything, and that mouth is currently stretching forward to snap closed over our party, letting it finish its attack seems like a bad idea. So I blast it away with a spinning torrent of molten metal lifted from beneath us.

The combination smacks it backwards as my Pause ends, and its roar manages to announce our location to everything within a ten kilometre radius.

"Maybe holding off until we get back to the mainland is a good idea," I say as the beast collapses backward into the jungle with several other projectiles through its head. "According to my analysis, that was just a young one."

From the back, where she's scanning the jungle behind us, Beth calls, "You heard her people, let's-"

Again, we're interrupted, this time right as we're flying over the canopy. Metal objects emerge from the underbrush, and when I reach out to stop them, they ignore my metal manipulation. Pausing time, they tear through my wind and earth shields. When I spot a thin grey line running back from them, I attempt to burn the connection. But the lines remain strong, the forces I can bring to bear during a Pause, insufficient to overcome more than a couple.

I attempt to use Anchor the moment my pause runs out, but all three paths end up with everyone getting struck then collapsing. Whoever is attacking came prepared. Out of options, I teleport away, afraid to move the others without having a proper boundary established. By the time I fly back, I see Pogell standing over Tipan. Somehow he has the book. I don't hesitate, focusing on the tether that should be connecting us. But it says Pogell is still back at the ship. Pogell glances up at me, and instead of the fluffy face and black spot I'm expecting, there is a chitinous surface with eight dark eyes staring up at me.

Before I can establish a new tether, the thing I called Pogell disappears into the surrounding jungle. I spend an entire half-second debating if I should follow it before turning to my friends. At that moment, Rufka bursts out of the bush, then disappears after Pogell. Smoulder emerges a second later, right behind. As tempted as I am to follow, I need to make sure the others are alright. Most landed in the jungle, and my party screen confirms that Tipan and Kellica are all fine, just paralyzed. So I search for the others, following their tethers. Josh and Roberts are tangled in a heap near Tipan, but they're fine other than the awkward position. I find Rose on the edge of the molten field and pull him out with only some mild smoke rising from the attached slag. Then I realize my tether for Beth is pointing at the middle of the molten pool.

Point two seconds later, as I'm still flying across the molten sand to where I can see the back of her head, her tether disappears.