I rushed to Dominion’s temple with Aerion on my back. I barely noticed the hot, muggy air making my sweat cling to my skin.

  It was just dirt. Dirt! And in just one attack, they took out an opponent with 40 points of Vigor? If [Launch] was this devastating with dirt, why the hell hadn't my earlier test wreaked utter havoc on my cuirass?

  A few ideas came to me as a ducked and weaved around the city traffic. For one, I'd been closer to Aerion than the cuirass. That must've concentrated the fire. Like the spread of a shotgun blast, the force was many times greater the closer you were. That was a possibility.

  The other... There were definitely some small stones and pebbles in that dirt, as evidenced by the streaks of blood on Aerion's face and the holes punched through her clothing. I'd shoveled up a large amount of it... I should have thought to check for stones.

  But that just brought up another problem... Not even my stones had done that much damage. The smaller projectiles definitely sent the breastplate tumbling, but they hadn't... Oh shit.

  I almost stumbled as a memory from years ago came rushing into my stupid head. I'd been half-listening to some armor geek streamer rant about how medieval weapon slicing tests were unrealistic, and that you had to anchor the thing you were hitting with a proper jelly-like substance inside for any tests to have any meaning...

  That must've been over a decade ago... But if he was right, it'd explain everything. I should've realized it when a single pebble had enough force to move the whole damn cuirass. It wasn't that [Launch] was weak... The test had just been flawed. Aerion's mass, as light as she was, was considerably more than the cuirass. She'd been forced to endure more of the impact.

  There was one final thing, too. Since I'd been trying to blind her with a dust cloud, the full brunt of my blast had been directed at Aerion's face. A small target. Not only was the quantity of dirt greater than my test, it'd been closer, and aimed over a much smaller area. I was no physics expert, but even I knew those factors multiplied the force.

  And if it was that deadly with mere stones, what would it be like with swords? What would it be like with enchanted swords? Or missiles?

  I gulped. This changed everything. The ability honestly didn’t sound like much at first glance. Shooting things out of my inventory with more force than before.

  I just hadn’t figured how much force. Shame iced my veins. It was why I’d tested it, goddammit!

  How wrong I had been. Objects emerged with the same force. Even said so in the damned ability description. The smaller the object, the greater the speed, and bullets proved that small things could be plenty devastating if hurled fast enough. Basic physics. I should have anticipated it. I should’ve tested it better, maybe against a tree. Something that couldn't have been blown away.

  Granted, there were no trees in the area, but that was no excuse.

  Stupid. Greg. Really stupid.

  I'd have to totally rethink how I tested new abilities in the future. Maybe even construct a proving ground, of sorts, set up with test dummies and other hardened targets. But where the hell would I do that?

  I glanced back at my unconscious friend. Her life wasn’t in danger, of course. While her face was a bloody mess and her light armor was riddled with holes, she’d recover without a single scar thanks to the magical healing she was about to receive. It didn’t matter.

  I’d hurt my friend. My dearest friend in this world, and it was the most gut-wrenching feeling I’d ever felt. The moment she got out of treatment, I was gonna get down on my knees and beg her forgiveness. I'd fucking prostrate if I had to.

  I was only human. I screwed up. But I’d be damned if I didn’t own my mistakes. Never again.

  Rushing past the line, I burst into the temple amid cries denouncing me.

  Fuck ‘em. I helped save this city. I figured that earned me enough brownie points to cut a line.

  “Healer!” I shouted the moment I was through. This was the same building where Aerion had touched that stone after exiting the dungeon. The one that sat right next to the floating inverted pyramid.

  A skinny giant woman approached me. “Yes? What is the meaning of this?”

  “Got an emergency,” I said. “You gotta heal her. Please!”

  The giant’s expression softened a bit when she looked at Aerion’s state, but shook her head. “I’m afraid I must insist you wait in line like the others—!?”

  I flipped her a gold coin and showed her the medallion Sinclair had given me. The one with his family crest on it. “Take it up with Sinclair if you have to. Now, can you heal her or not?”

  As much as I loathed throwing around my authority, Aerion was an exception.

  The giantess’ eyes widened, and she nodded. “This way.”

  I brought Aerion to a bed in a corner and set her down.

  “These injuries are... not as severe as they appear,” the giant woman, a Boonworthy, said, frowning as she moved her large hands over Aerion’s body. A golden light spread out from her hands, and whenever they passed over a wound, it visibly healed in front of my eyes.

  What an incredible power. For the briefest moment, I wondered what it would take to get this lady to join our party… Gold? Promise of fame?

  I quickly gave up on it. Even assuming she was willing, who knew if we’d get along?

  No, adding a healer with no other powers to our party wasn’t the best idea, but we couldn’t rely on just potions and salves, either. Those were only marginally better than the medicine from Earth. Sure, they could numb pain and lessen burns, but it was no Sanctuary water. True healing abilities were critical in a Cataclysm Dungeon.

  Even my sprained shoulder, which was about as minor of an injury as possible, had caused me so much grief. What if we got severely wounded? We’d have to hole up somewhere for days, maybe even weeks, to recover.

  What I really wanted was a suit of armor that allowed me to heal—both myself and Aerion. In lieu of that, maybe Aerion could delve a Trial somewhere to gain a healing-related Blessing? Gaining a second, or even a third Blessing was apparently possible for non-Champions. Just, beyond rare, given how deadly the Trials were.

  It would be a lot of work, and with the Cataclysm kicking off in earnest, there would be more Landing Castles descending on Axius, not less. Would we even have the time?

  “Do you require any healing?” the woman asked. “Your donation was most generous. I would be happy to heal you as well.”

  I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. Problems for another time. Problems we couldn’t deal with right now.

  “I’m good,” I said. “Can't say much after cutting the line, but the others here need your attention.”

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  It seemed the healing I’d received after exiting the Cataclysm Dungeon was a gift from the gods, as a reward to those who risked their lives in the name of the greater good. I was in tip-top shape, and thanks to my Vigor, my hangover was already gone without a trace.

  Then Aerion awoke, and when her eyes found mine, I found myself suddenly unsure of that decision.

  “Uh, actually?” I glanced at the healer. “Let me get back to you in about five minutes.”

  Aerion’s reaction was more subdued than I thought. Instead of broken teeth, I got away with a bashed skull and an epic bruise.

  “Be more careful next time!” she said, huffing off.

  I gave the healer an awkward smile before darting off after her.

  “What came over you!?” she said when we were out.

  “I fucked up,” I said. “Poorly planned my testing. I can assure you, going forward, I'm going to test every fucking aspect of my ability in excruciating detail. I honestly thought it wouldn't be that dangerous... But that's no excuse. I was wrong, and I made an unforgivable mistake.”

  No matter how angry Aerion was, nobody was more pissed at me than myself. This was unacceptable. It was unlike me... I was too excited about using the ability, and after that test, I'd been lulled into a sense of complacency.

  Maybe it was my words, or maybe it was the anguish that must have been all over my face, but Aerion's anger seemed to abate significantly.

  “Well, everyone makes mistakes. We should work together to come up with a plan for this form of testing in the future. I suspect this is something that will affect even me... There will come a point when fighting you under [Reave] will no longer be safe.”

  “I agree,” I said. “We'll need land, for one. Money isn't a problem, but we'll need to build up a place where we can test stuff out in peace. I... don't know how that's gonna happen yet, but I assure you it'll be a top priority to figure that out.”

  “Good,” Aerion said, averting her eyes. “And... It was better to have discovered this now, when we're still relatively low in rank, than later. Perhaps this was for the best.”

  I gave Aerion a pained smile. “You're incredibly reasonable, sometimes, you know that?”

  Aerion's expression darkened. “My apologies, I must have misheard. It sounded like you said sometimes... But that can't possibly be right. Can it?”

  “Uh, no, you're absolutely right,” I said, stiffening. “Always. Definitely always.”

  Aerion rolled her eyes. “Well? Where are we off to next? And don’t say back to the field. I’m done training for today.”

  “Don’t you want to level your stats, though?” I asked half-assedly, knowing it was a sour cherry, even as the words came out of my mouth.

  “Feel free to go train on your own, then” Aerion said bitterly. “No, I rather think I’m done training for the day.”

  “Right. Makes sense,” I said, spotting an opportunity to cheer up my good friend. “Say, Aerion. Would you like to buy some nice clothes?”

  “Maybe?” she said, eyeing me suspiciously. “Why are you asking?”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking that my [Uncommon] undershirts have been chafing a bit too much as well. I feel like it’s time to upgrade to some [Rare] garments. Maybe even silk.”

  “Was also hoping we could grab some Soul Crystals. For when I eventually Initialize Aurora. With our newfound wealth, I’d be willing to bet we could get the best dang crystals in town.”

  “Well?” Aerion asked, her voice giddy with excitement. “What are we waiting for?”

  She grabbed my wrist and practically pulled me along, her anger long forgotten. More than the clothes shopping, it seemed it was the Soul Crystals that really got Aerion riled up. I should’ve guessed.

  “‘Tis lucky we’re at the center of town. All the best shops are around here. None I would normally ever shop at, mind you—far too pricey—but they do have the best gear.”

  I chuckled. For all the emotional scars of her past, she still showed that youthful spark from time to time.

  I followed after the diminutive elf as we weaved through traffic, avoiding dung piles, giants, and everything in between. The sun was hidden behind clouds, and it looked like it would probably rain, so I was happy to duck into the opulent curio shop located in Basecrest’s central ring. According to Aerion, it was the nicest one in the city.

  It was where one found Soul Crystals, apparently. Too few master smiths in Basecrest to make for any real demand, and so these things were mostly just collected by the rich as baubles.

  Which meant their price tags were similarly hefty.

  I whistled as we went around, looking at the various pieces secured under thick glass displays. “Didn’t Sinclair say our four thousand gold was enough to buy a few mansions?” I muttered, too quietly for the clerk—who watched us with a professional smile—to hear. “Three hundred gold for some of these!”

  “Yes, well, the rich need to spend their money on something…” she whispered back. “One can only have so many mansions.”

  I felt like real estate investors back on Earth would have a thing or two to say about that.

  Seeing that we weren’t just casual window shoppers, the clerk finally spoke up. “If there is anything I can assist with, please do not hesitate to ask!”

  “In that case,” I said with a toothy smile, “I’d like to see every orb in this case,” I said, pointing to the glass case with the biggest orbs.

  There were a half-dozen in all. I whistled. All [Rare], which I confirmed by touching each in turn. Quite the surprise, considering the local Trial was only Emergence Rank. Foundation corresponded to [Common], Emergence to [Uncommon], and Divergence to [Rare]. Which meant these orbs must’ve been imported from elsewhere.

  The clerk didn’t seem to appreciate me getting my fingerprints on them very much. Though he maintained a mask of professional courtesy, I could almost read the thoughts that must’ve been going through his head.

  Damn peasants. Who do they think they are, touching these priceless treasures? Just look at them! They couldn’t afford even the cheapest orbs if they tried.

  Okay, so maybe I was reading too much into his stiff posture, and the utter lack of enthusiasm in his voice, but I doubted I was too far off the mark. Neither Aerion nor I cared much, either. If we did, I’d have dressed up in this world’s version of a suit, and Aerion a dress of some kind. Instead, we’d traipsed in with our armor. Freshly cleaned and no longer stinky, but not exactly the most fashion sensible choice.

  On the other hand, with all my armor, I must’ve looked like Aerion’s bodyguard, testing for traps by touching each orb before letting Aerion handle it. It didn’t hurt that I wore the same armor as the City Guard—something I could tell the clerk was dying to ask about, but had the good sense not to.

  “Which Crystal tickles your fancy?” the clerk asked. “I’d be happy to tell you more about its pedigree.”

  Pedigree? What were these, show dogs or something? I wonder how the guy would react if I told him I was going to take this ‘treasure’ to a forge to smash it into little bits.

  Anyway, there were only two crystals that made any kind of sense for Aerion. Of the half-dozen, two were Passion-related powers that boosted one’s image. Because of course the store’s clientele would want to wear something like that around their necks, even if the power only manifested when worked into weapons or armor by a talented-enough smith.

  Similarly, the other three seemed to boast abilities more to do with showboating than anything useful. One of them apparently summoned a flock of swans… From my own reading of it, it couldn’t control them and make them attack, or do anything else. It just summoned them, and then they’d fly away.

  Another one, [Aegis of the Sixth Barrier], offered a defense against all forms of magic. This one was one of the two I’d been considering. I didn’t think it would make a good fit for Aerion’s Aurora, being a weapon. I didn’t know if the crystal's ability protected the weapon, or Aerion, and I wouldn’t find out until the thing was destroyed. Too risky, but also tempting to grab, assuming we got a good deal for the pair.

  The other one was a no-brainer. [Smite] increased the weight of every blow dealt. Kind of like my [Snap] ability in its original form, except this one seemed to amplify the power without increasing the speed, somehow.

  Regardless, it had perfect synergy with Aerion’s skill set. Between [Reave], [Smite], and her high Dominion stat, we really were turning her into a deadly monster.

  The only problem? That orb was 300 gold coins. The other one I’d been looking at was 250.

  Now, it was Aerion’s turn to bat. Using nonverbal cues, I’d hinted which ones I was interested in without outright saying it. If I did, Aerion would’ve lost a lot of my bargaining power.

  I locked eyes with Aerion, and she nodded. The message was clear. I’ll take it from here.

  “We might be interested in this red one,” Aerion said hesitantly. “But only for the right price. And if you give us your best, we may buy two. We may even…” she slid Sinclair’s token across the counter, “put in a good word with the Baron. We’re quite close, you see, after recent events.”

  I had to admit… I didn’t miss much from Earth. But at that moment, I regretted not having a camera. I would’ve loved to preserve the look on the clerk’s face when his jaw hit the floor.