A bemused Eric soon found himself soaping off what felt like lifetime’s worth of blood and grime in a luxurious tub of marble and deep green jade before drying himself with a fluffy white towel as soft and fluffy as a dream, from a towel rack at least alloyed with gold.

“You’re clothes are ready, Commander,” said a voice from an adjoining room of the palatial suite his sister had led him to, giving him exactly twenty minutes to shower, shave, and dress before his twin would take him to her meditation chamber, whatever that was, and show him how she leveled up without having to worry about too much System influence, which truly was Eric’s greatest concern.

He was still surprised by how well she had read his anxieties, a gentle hand squeeze and a few whispered words having made it clear that even now, their mother was doing what she could to see to the diplomatic release of his friends, still locked up in Freetown, most especially Rica and little Ria who, according to his nightmares anyway, had been forcefully separated and god knew how badly both had been emotionally and perhaps physically scarred by the ordeal.

The guilt he still felt at what had happened to them had served as the fuel to his fury, propelling him forward as much as anything else. And perhaps their mother’s intervention was a good thing, since he was halfway tempted just to declare war and obliterate every asshole that got in his way in Freetown with over fifteen thousand troops at his beck and call.

Before Elonia had given him a look and said, “Never go full Leroy Jenkins, Eric. Even without worrying about your Blue Status and my future farming empire, you know better. Besides, you know as well as I do that most of the people living in Freetown are just trying to get by, and everyone fighting on the goblin’s behalf are probably buried in debt, a single late penalty fee away from the collar. Basically their slaves in all but name.”

Eric winced. Indeed that he had known better. He was just tired and venting.

And now he was residing within the most magnificent palace he could imagine, making himself at home in a vaulted chamber decorated with priceless works of renaissance art and elegantly upholstered baroque 17th century furniture he knew damn well had been looted from one museum or another. Or, for all he knew, had indeed been in his mother’s possession all this time.

He tried to shake away the odd twinge guilt he felt, going from bloody battlefield to luxurious palace. But mostly what he felt was exhausted, surprised to find even his 200+ Strength and Vitality was finding it pretty tough to completely resist the temptation to crawl under those thousand count cotton sheets of the four poster bed even now calling out to him.

But no. Meditation chamber first. Because his tingling Interface made it clear that he was ready to level up, and if his sister really had a way to increase even mental characteristics without feeling as if the System was sending slivers of its essence into his brain, he was willing to put off sleep for as many hours, days, or weeks as it would take to make use of that boon.

“This way, Commander Silver.”

Eric nodded at the distinguished-looking elf with the salt and pepper hair which he thought must be a fashion statement, since he had yet to see anything like an aged elf. Nonetheless, after finding that by some miracle the dark slacks, ruffled white shirt, and everything else left for him actually fit him perfectly, he was happy to let the smartly dressed servitor lead they way down multiple vaulted corridors.

Eric found himself smiling at the sight of countless alcoves adorned with exquisite portraits, murals, and other works of art worthy of any gallery in the world before finely reaching the rooms of his beaming sister, looking absolutely exquisite in a ruffled lace dress of a delicate lilac hue that perfectly set off her blush, eye-shadow, and lipstick.

Not that he was surprised by how stunning she looked.

His sister was an old hand at dolling herself up for countless premiers.

Her eyes crinkled in a smile, catching sight of Eric scratching a collar she quickly adjusted before giving him an approving nod. “There. You look every bit as good as you did at the Tokyo premier.” She smirked. “Actually, you look so much better its ridiculous, with features not even airbrushing could make any more perfect. Hell, the aura you’re giving off would net you a dozen leading rolls, and who gives a fuck that you can’t act? You’d play smirking straight-man to one of a half dozen geniuses who were absolutely made for the role of comedic side-kick. The guys would laugh at his antics, while all the girls drooled over your chiseled features, yummy shoulders, and dreamy smile. And the way you fight? We just gotta make the villain vile enough that your look of primal rage fits the final fight scene and, shit, brother, maybe we can make an actor out of you yet!”

Eric blinked at that. “But my Charisma’s only 13.”

Her sister frowned, peering at him with eyes that suddenly took up his entire world. “Jeezus, Eric. Your Strength and Vitality are both over 200! I think that speaks for itself, whether or not you open your mouth. You don’t need to warp probability with an 18 Charisma for a dozen girls you meet by happenstance to suddenly care about your fate, like every isekai hero ever. They’ll care just because you’re the strongest, most vital mate they’re likely to find anywhere, whether or not they’re willing to actually put that into words. You’re not trying to convince anyone to buy a car or give you their fortune, after all. All you’re doing is showing the world what delicious eye candy looks like. And we’re not even going to talk about your absurd Appearance score, okay? We just aren’t.”

Her eyes flashed with sudden heat, before mellowing it with a chuckle. “Alright, my lovely exhausted-looking hero of a brother who saved my life… again! The least I can do is show you the proper way to level up.”

A bemused Eric grinned at that. “Sure. You know what? I wouldn’t mind a break from my standard technique. Always good to learn something knew.”

His sister smirked. “And what, pray tell, is your standard way of shaping your limitless potential into concrete form?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I shove my points into Quickness or Vitality, mostly, and almost always in the heat of combat or while I’m reviewing the seconds before my latest brush of death, so I can pretend I’m just having an epic breakthrough, and not feel like it’s the System’s silver worms twisting through my brain and slowly taking me over, making me a psionic cyborg version of itself that only thinks it’s Eric.”

Elonia gazed at Eric for long moments, bemused smile frozen on her face.

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“God, I hope so. But there’s a reason why I almost always stick to boosting my physical stats, and, save for one time that still makes me shudder in recollection, never my mental stats, even though I’d absolutely love a bigger Mana Pool.”

This earned a snort. “Poor little brother.”

“I think you mean bigger brother.”

Her grin widened. “Fortunately, I have just the thing that can help, especially in terms of feeling like you’re truly in control of your own future, and that you, and you alone, shape your destiny. Best of all, guess what it’s especially good at?”

Eric grinned. “I’m guessing you’re going to say it allows you to put points into Arcane Reserves without feeling like a squid-faced Mindlord’s tendrils are squirming inside your brain?”

Elonia paled. “You wouldn’t even joke about that, Eric, if you truly understood what’s happened to Newark.”

Eric winced. “Shit. Maybe it’s time we had that conversation?”

“The hell it is,” she snapped, her eyes flashing with a certain heat. “No. This is timeout. You and me, taking a break from the world’s fucking demands and finally being there to help out and take care of each other.”

“Elonia...”

“Just how hard have you been forced to push yourself? Risking your life time and time again for an alliance you refuse to receive any recognition, title, or accolades from? How many times have you risked your life to save my sorry ass, charging in like the goddamned cavalry when thousands of orcs and sixty fucking cannon were dead set on sending us all to our maker? Seriously, Eric. You’ve already done more than enough.”

She smiled up into his gaze, squeezing his hand. “You don’t owe anyone anything at this point. No matter how much mom might try to imply otherwise. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead and the orcs and goblins would be devouring our corpses, save for those that would be collared and forced to sleep with those greasy bastards till they killed themselves or they died of internal ruptures, and Mother’s gambits here on Earth would be at an end forever.”

Eric clenched his jaw, heart pounding in time to the dirge of destruction roaring in his skull. “I’m glad I killed those fuckers. Every last one.”

“As am I,” Elonia whispered. “And I know how much you hate the goblins. I do too. Even if I haven’t had the… courage, to personally swear Vendetta against them.” She shook her head before stiffening her spine and gazing at Eric with newfound intensity. “But what I can do is give you a gift that might just unlock some of your own potential.”

She flashed an arch smile, giving him a teasing once-over. “No way anyone alive can fault your physique. I already know you’re twice as strong as what even level 50 classers should be, if they have any sort of balance to their builds at all. But I can tell that the Arcane fires in your heart are just a fraction of your physical might, even without you revealing your character sheet to me. And if that’s something you want to fix… if you’d like a sister with sort of a gift in this to help you unlock your potential, whatever it is… I’m here for you.” She chuckled softly. “Me and my Tier 1 Arcane Enhanced Training pod.”

Eric blinked. “Training pod?”

She nodded solemnly, before placing her palm against a solid steel door that looked quite out of place along the fine-grained hardwood panels, Baroque paintings, and the gold filigreed doorways that otherwise distinguished her palace. With a click and a hiss the door opened, and the room beyond left Eric breathless. He gazed with awe at a domed chamber that seemed to be made entirely of cloudy-white crystals, save for a handful of silver chairs, complete with crystal caps clearly intended to be placed on the user’s heads.

Eric whistled and shook his head. “My Unified Perception is pinging this as one sweet, exquisitely complex setup of electromana I don’t have a chance in hell of ever understanding.”

Elonia grinned. “Yeah. It might not be quite as awesome as your Tier 2 Ascension pods, with unlimited class selection and the ability to let absolutely anyone try it out without the godawful 90% fatality rate of the goblinoid death-pods. But once you have your class, this crystalline matrix will allow you to shape your potential in ways far beyond what you otherwise could, just doing it on your own.” Her eyes lit up with an excited grin. “You’d be astounded at all the options you’ll find available, especially we me as your guide! And you want to talk about arcane power? You couldn’t ask for a better path forward than what my Arcane Enhanced Training Pod can make available to you!”

Eric just stared at his sister for several long moments, almost unable to believe his good fortune. After so many trials and tribulations, struggling just to unlock the cornerstones of his potential, forced to spend far more of his time fighting for his life than actually training, save for when lost in a cultivator’s paradise where the arcane path was the one that he had no instructor’s for whatsoever, this was a godsend. An oasis in the constant high-pressure madness his life had become. Yet for all that a part of him was afraid that it was too good to be true, he knew he’d be an absolute fool to pass this opportunity up.

He took a steadying breath, locking gazes with his sister as he slowly pulled out two equisitely made wands from storage attuned to the elements of Ice and Lightning, neither of which he had the slightest idea how to use.

“I don’t suppose you couldn’t show me how to use these?” He winced at her pitying expression. “I’ve got fire down pat. Believe me. But I don’t really understand the flow of either of these elements, and the cost I’d be forced to pay trying to force learn it by imprinting it on my soul via blood magic… not something I want to go through again, to be honest. Necromancy and blood magic have already cost me enough years of my life.”

Elonia’s gaze was filled with such pity that she looked on the verge of tears for his sake. Wordlessly, she wrapped him up in a hug.

“You poor, poor dear. Don’t worry, little brother. Once we strap ourselves in, I’ll take a good long look and help you plot a path that will make a master wizard out of you before you know it!”

Eric blinked, genuinely surprised. “Really? You can do that?” He positively beamed. “Honestly, if you could do anything that would help me with magic, or enhancing my runes, I’d be grateful as anything!”

“Don’t mention it, bro. Believe me, I more than owe you! And I must admit, I am beyond curious to get a sense of how exactly your runes work, once we upload into the pod together. So come on, take a seat, and let’s blast off!”

Eric’s grin faded just a bit. “Elonia… I know this might sound terrible, but.”

His sister’s gaze hardened. “You have guest privileges, brother. I know you and Mother don’t always see eye to eye, but when she said those words, it changed everything. She will do nothing to you without your consent. And you’re free to leave our territory… my territory… whenever you like.”

Eric winced. “Alright. Fair enough.”

She chuckled softly, features softening into her trademark grin. “Don’t worry, little brother. These chambers are sacred. No one would dare interrupt my level-up training sessions on pain of death. Not unless we were actually under attack, and Mother authorized it.”

Eric blinked. “Ordered a lot of executions, have we?”

His sister chuckled. “Not even one. Don’t worry. I’m not quite as deliciously savage as my twin brother. I got the calm charming genes that can actually act.”

Eric winced. “Yeah… you definitely got me there.”

She kissed his cheek before squeezing his hand, leading him to his chair.

Eric froze, heart skipping a beat. “Elonia. We’ll be very vulnerable in there. Are you sure it’s safe?” He squeezed her hand when she frowned. “I don’t mean physically… I mean, well, mentally.”

Elonia grinned. “Don’t worry, brother. Even the astral space I train in is hidden from sight.”

Eric frowned. “Camouflage isn’t the same as being truly protected.”

Her smile faded, a hard glint coming to her eyes. “I’ve used this training facility to forge my body and mind for over thirty levels, brother. If it were unsafe, if any foe could actually pierce my wards… don’t you think they would have destroyed me long ago?”

Eric blinked, slowly shaking his head. “Actually… no. Not with how many billions the goblins invested in taking you out, and with how many thousands of orc Classers were backdoored into this realm. If those fuckers had any additional vectors they could use to strike at you, they would have already done so.”

Elonia flashed a mirthless smile. “My thoughts exactly, bro,” she said, while placing the helmet over his head. “And thank you again for my life, Eric. Because their attack vectors were bad enough, even without them piercing the astral realm. And don’t worry. No one will interrupt. Not only that, but the machine will take care of all our bodily needs. Not that it will matter if we’re just in here for a quick hour or two, just in time for the start of Mother’s celebratory feast. But if we end up stretching things just a bit longer… we’re still good. The revels should last for days, and our physical needs will be met, no matter how long we’re buckled in.

Eric whistled, more than a bit impressed. “No kidding. You’re not strapping in any IVs or anything so how does it do that?”

She chuckled throatily. “How the hell do you think, goofball? Magic!”

Eric winced. “Yeah, I guess I should have figured that.” He then frowned, already feeling restless, staring at the underside of the milky-white helm with an admittedly pretty pearlescent sheen.

“Hey Elonia, how long are we going to—” He managed to utter before he was struck by an impossible wave of vertigo and felt himself toppling over into a fall that became a dizzying spin as absolute starry blackness became the scents of freshly cut grass and wildflowers as he felt the warm rays of the midday sun caressing his bare arms, the tantalizing aroma of ripe peaches on a warm summer's day also permeating the air.

Eric’s eyes sprang open with a gasp, finding himself face up on a grassy field, gazing up at billowy white clouds and a deep blue sky. His sister, dressed in a bright pink shorts and matching t-shirt, clasped his hand and lifted him to his feet.

“Welcome to the matrix, bro.”