I was staring at the bay eyelids, getting ready to enjoy the plush bed and the surprisingly rexing vibrations of the train when I felt that same tug from the System again. I opened my eyes and sat up before dragging it into my perception.

  [Experiehreshold reached, you are now level 13]

  [You have 5 u Attribute points. Would you like to use these now?]

  Huh, something I was doing seemed to t for one of my csses. I would guess Survivor, but I was teically hitting some vulnerable spots on Henna for a while and making her even more fond of me so maybe Heartseeker? I s my own stupid joke. Either way, something I was doing gave me experience.

  I accepted and found the usual free point to my Coordination then looked at my Status. I was worried about a lot going forward, but my mental well being seemed the most in danger. So tossing three points into Willpower not only helped that fear but also gave me a nice round thirty. Extra good! The remaining two I tossed into Endurance, almost as an afterthought. I just… I’d been roughed up too mu the short period I could remember and having more buffer between me ah was a balm to my worries.

  Then I had a thought. “Carmil? I haven’t gotten more notifications about sharing experieh you since you reached one. Are you still getting that?”

  “Hmm? What was that, love?” She sounded almost drunk “I was just basking ierglow. You two certainly had fun, didn’t you?” she ughed that intoxig ugh of hers again.

  “You could feel that? Actually no, I’m more ied if you’re still getting experience from my gains.” I could force myself to stay on topic if I o, see?

  “Oh that? Of course love. I don’t think you’ll get more about that now that I’m, well, awake? I get my own updates through the System, I’m level five now just so you are aware.”

  “That fast?”

  “I’m fairly certain tracted Elementals reach level ten rather quickly, but after that it should slow down to something closer to your level of growth. Though we don’t have the same e to the System that mortal races do. We gain levels and it passively increases our own abilities without any Attributes or Skills or Spell. We have Elemental Evocations and Innate Powers, but those are holy extremely difficult to expin to noals. Simply put, what I am gives me certain abilities that will grow stronger and be joined by more abilities as I level. I have less flexibility than a mortal does within the System, but I also am a being of my nature. Trying to be something else would be…” she left a long pause as she thought about how to describe it. “Imagine y to be a bear. No matter what you did you would still just be a human pying pretend, no matter how hard you wished for it you could ruly bee a bear. Even if you had some magic that ged your body, your mind would still be a human one and at best you would be a human trapped in a bear’s form. Me trying to be anything but a blood elemental, doing anything other than what a blood elemental does would be pying at most.”

  I sched my nose in thought “Then how do the bands work? Are you just naturally a medical marvel capable of telling what’s wrong with people at a gnce?”

  “Yes actually. To a degree at least. Blood elementals need blood, we’re a bit vampiric that way. But we’re also susceptible to the frailties and illnesses of the living things we feed on. So even the weakest of us tell quickly if a creature has some dangerous impurity ihe runes e bands simply enhand focus this ability and turn it towards medical use. I uand the draw for mortal races to use devices like that, even if I disagree with the ethics of it.”

  “Hang on.” something she’d said stu my brain “Mortal races, plural? There are more than just humans?”

  “By the gods, love. That brilliant brain of yours really is full of holes, isn’t it? Yes, humans are the most numerous of the races, and from my memories in the band I think that other races are at least rare ireme in Pitrak, but you are not alone on this world.”

  I felt a bubbliement inside me, my smile stretg wide “Really? What ones are there? What are they like!?” I let out louder than I intended.

  “Well of the few I remember, the orcs are-…” her words cut out suddenly and I could feel her suddenly move inside me in a way I hadn’t before. Like she was suddenly running through me in a panic “Oh no, no no no! Esme! Call for help!”

  I didn’t hesitate or question her, I’d figure out why I was doing this ter. “HELP! HEEEEELP!” I screamed as loud as I could from the bed. The door opened after only a few moments and the two soldiers esc Henna and I rushed in, pistols raised. They moved to secure the room, speaking irayl nguage. One of the men turo me and said something, questioning me about what I was screaming for most likely. “Carmil, what do I need help for?”

  Another moment passed and Henna rushed into the room, uniform jacket half buttoned and her own pistol in hand. “Esme, what is it, what’s happening?”

  “I don’t know, Carmil told me to call for help, she’s not responding. I think she found another problem.” and before anyone could say anything more, lights wrote letters in the air over my arm once more.

  [Warnireme Mutation Effect Catalyzing. Signifit loss to Health Pool expected. Seek medical aid immediately.]

  “What? What the hell is that supposed to-” and every muscle in my body seized. Every up like fire had been driven into my skin and I could suddenly quite clearly taste blood. I was gd for the Willpower boosts, I don’t think I could have stayed saherwise. It was still absolute hell, but I was holding on through it. Though I still felt a wave of relief as I slipped from sciousness.

  “You don’t have to do this you know.” ____ said, her hand squeezing mine as we watched the sun rise over the mountains. Spring hadn’t fully arrived yet and the chill of the night bit at my ears and nose. I should have worn my scarf after all.

  “I don’t do I? What, I run? I’ve been called to serve ____, if I don’t report they’ll bel me a deserter and I’ll have no p the entire Republio pe here, at my home.” I barely kept from snapping at her. She didn’t deserve my anger, she was simply afraid of losio the war. Losing her friend. I pretended I didn’t know she thought more of me than mere friendship, as I had done for years now. “Besides, I’m not good enough for bat. I’ll be assigo sweep an offid make meals in a mess tent, mark my words. ’t say it’ll be any worse than Lord ____’s bed.” I shuddered at the memories of that man’s hands on my skin.

  “Then maybe I could-”

  “No.” I cut her off. “You’ve an invitation to train as an inscriber at the capital, an invitation! You don’t have to test for it or pay your way through a scribe school, you have an open door to a good life! I won’t let you throw that away.”

  “But I-” there were tears in her eyes as she looked at me.

  “____ please, please don’t do this. I… I know how you feel about me.” she tried to pull away but I held her hand firm. “But think about how I feel. I’m a worthless orphaned whore and that’s all I’m likely to ever be. Don’t argue, just let me speak, please.” I stopped her attempt to interrupt and took a breath. “I’m not much, and maybe I’m wrong and maybe one day I’ll be something more. But that is a distant dream at the very best, ____. You? You be more than ahought street trash like us could be. You will be someone great, someone important. If you throw this ce aside simply for my sake I will never five you.”

  She couldn’t stop the tears and simply nodded. She knew I was right. “Then before you leave tomorrow, be with me. Give me the memory of your touch before I lose you forever.”

  My heart felt like it was going to burst screaming from my chest, like knives were digging through my breast to tear it free, dripping my life’s blood on the ground in a sick imitation of ____’s tears. I hadn’t wahis. I wanted her tet me so I might fet her. I wanted our love to die before it rose from the dirt so that we might be more apart than we were together. I wanted her to live beyond me, for her own sake.

  But I kissed her anyway, I took her to bed a every inch of her skin and tasted her core and shuddered ihless ecstasy, dang to the music of her moans.

  Then the day, I left, and I left the shattered remains of our hearts with her.

  I watched the train pull away from the station, taking my body to train to be a on for a war I cared nothing about. “Well that felt…”

  “Dramatic?” a voice spoke in the air beside me. I turned and saw a… a… gods, how do I describe it? Like a pond and a star and a bonfire and a dancer wreathed in silk veils and firailing down my spine and the entire shining universe bursting with light and power all at once. But also a beautiful woman who’s skin was the night sky and who’s hair was a thundercloud and who’s eyes were eight poiars that somehow sparkled like joy and lust iwined. She giggled, the sound filling my ears in a way that made my very heart sing. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a moment. The first time seeing a god outside of an Avatar is always overwhelming.”

  “A GOD!?” I felt my mind reeling. Okay so dreaming, yes, dreaming. I’m just dreaming.

  “I meahis is obviously a dream. But I’m still very real.”

  “Reading my mind without permission is rude!” I yelled, I’m not proud of the outburst, but I anig. Everything about what was happening was freakihe fuck out. I could remember what happened before I passed out, I was damned sure that what I’d just watched and relived at the same time was one of my memories, and now there was a god in my dream. A god that I was just then realizing was pletely hat night sky skin on full dispy.

  “I’m inside your mind, you ’t think quietly the same way in a dream. Your thoughts aions might as well be lights in the sky spelling themselves out for anyone here. For example, I feel you staring at my breasts.”

  I pulled my eyes up to her fad stammered “S-sorry, uh, not… not very brain right now?”

  She giggled again “It’s fine, if I wao be covered up I would be. Go ahead and look. After all, it’s going to affect you once you awaken.”

  I wondered what that could possibly mean, a my gaze drift down again. Though this time there was less appreciation(though not zero appreciation) and more examination. Something about her body would affect me once I woke up? Had to be something to do with the mutation effect. “So are you the cause of that mutation thing?” I just asked while my eyes traced over her sizable bust and trying to not get horny from it.

  “Not solely, but yes. You’re not in danger from it, or me for that matter.” Then a pause before she added “...directly.”

  “What about that strange error dition.” I moved around her slowly, looking at her shoulders, back, her bound perfect ass- FOCUS Esme.

  “Again, not solely but yes. Enjoying the view, mortal?” she giggled.

  “You know I am. Okay so unless I’m going to look like a panorama of the northern lights I don’t see what-” and as I came around to her front again she spread her legs and my brain froze. There… was a dick. She had a cock swingiween her legs “Uh… the effect you talked about…”

  “Sorry, that’s gonna be awkward for you I know. But we need you to have at least a few little ones and we hadn’t realized you were not into men until after you’d beeed.” She tried to sound like it was no big deal but the fact she avoided looking directly at me was telling.

  “That is a pretty big thing to fug miss all things sidered.” I tried not to sound as angry as I felt.

  She sighed, that sigh rushing over my ears and making me shiver and my pussy ch. “Look, we’re… I ’t tell you much or it would put you and us in danger but we’re desperate. We threw together our pn in only a few hours. MORTAL HOURS.” She said, the words pulsing like ahquake in my bones. “So we missed some things, some important ones. But you are even more incredible thahought you’d be, even mao stay sahrough the- wait no, ’t say that o. Okay look.” She straightened up and tried to look serious, though the worry evident in her fad voice rui a bit. “I’m sorry, we’re all sorry and no I ’t say who. I ’t even tell you my own . But we’re trying not to die, and we… we tied ourselves to your fate out of ck of options.”

  “Why me?”

  “You fit the criteria, well… aside from that ohat we are ging now and I am still sorry about that. But to be blunt, you died. You didn’t survive like you thought you did, we pumped life bato you as part of what we were doing so show a little gratitude.”

  I paused “I… met the Ferryman.” the realization hit me. That’s how I got that skill. I mean, I figured it was something like that but literal diviervention? Shit.

  She blinked and looked fused. “You did? Oh… e cut that closer thahought. You uh… didn’t do anything to upset him, did you?”

  “Actually, I have his ‘favor’?”

  She smiled brightly and cheered, throwing her arms into the air in celebration “Wohooo! I k! Yoing to be the best Champion! Good job! Look, we’ll work on doing what we to make things easier for you but until you’re stronger almost anything we do puts us all at risk. It’ll be a while before I tact you again, but know that I am watg over you. Don’t tell anyone about us! Oh, aside from Carmil, she’s cool!”

  “Wait, I have ques-” and then I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling “-tions.”

  FaultyHyperdrive