When I woke up, it seemed like no one had even noticed I’d been asleep.

Guess I was still sitting in a position that gave the impression I was in the middle of cultivation, so fair enough.

My body still felt heavy, even a little sluggish, but the auto functions of the Harmonic Foundation had helped me recover, at least partially.

I opened my eyes and glanced around, scanning the sight presented before me. I tilted my head up to check. Still daytime. Sooo, what’s with all the lizards?

They came shortly after you passed out, Wyrem said.

After Bristle made that loud noise, Luna added.

I thought about it. Either they could sense me from the ocean, or Bristle had one heck of a bark. Guess he wanted to give his students the benefits from my power.

I stood and carefully wove my way around the lizards.

It seemed like the rest of my companions had taken the opportunity, all seated in cultivation, unmoving. All except one person who I couldn't see.

Getting a little tired of delicately weaving through, I leapt up to the dirt dome and spotted the lone guy who wasn’t meditating.

Another jump, and I landed beside him. 

“Dude? The heck are you doing?”

Trevor flinched. “Scared the crap outta me.”

He grabbed a bundle of vines next to him and tossed it into my lap as I sat. “Thank the heavens you're here. I was going nuts doing this alone.”

I looked over. He’d made three piles. One: long, fresh vines, still wet and green from the moister of the forest. Two: rough strips of bark that must their outer layer. And three: a mound of stringy fibers I guessed to be the vine cores.

Th—this is sick, Luna muttered, though the veins in her petals flushed a warm pink.

Okay, I get not being grossed out... but happy?

I’m not happy! she shot back. I was making a joke...

I felt a little bad for not understanding. That was

funny.

Sure.

“Start separating them out like I did,” Trevor said, focused on his pile. “Then we’ll braid ’em.”

“We making rope?” I asked, already creating out a small, sharp Spiritual Object and slicing into the vine with care.

He glanced over. “Yeah. I’ll use it f—”

His eyes caught on the tool I was using. “You able to make another?”

I did, keeping a thread of power attached to the original so it wouldn't dissipate, and shaped another for myself.

“Why do we need rope?” I asked, continuing to work.

He carefully peeled away the vine bark, sliding a blade along the inner fibers. “Since you’ll need to leave soon, I figured I’d make a boat. A real one. And with bindings so there's hopefully no need to seal it with your energy.”

My eyebrow arched. “You can make a boat?”

“I can try,” he said with a sigh. “Basically, two hollowed-out trees, shaped, then a couple boards laid across and tied together.”

“Movie?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nah. Read about it once. Some islander communities made something similar.”

Still sounded impressive.

“If I’ve got time, I’ll add a platform between the hulls. Something stable enough to walk on. The double hull should... should help with balance.”

We worked in silence for a while. The repetition numbed my thoughts in a strangely pleasant way.

“How’s training been?” I asked eventually. “You seem tighter with Marcus these days.”

Trevor nodded, tossing another bundle onto the growing pile. “Yeah. He’s a good guy. A lot to teach.”

I thought before that it was easier talking to him now. And it was, but this still felt weirdly distant. I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.

“It’s wild how different life is now. Back then I was focused on school. Finding a girlfriend. Now? It’s just strength. That’s all that seems to matter.” He grunted, wrestling a stubborn knot of fiber.

“I disagree.”

“Oh?”

“I'd have to swim if all that mattered was big energy muscles. Instead I got someone making a boat for me.”

He shrugged. “I guess. But... you could swim. I mean, seriously, if a giant monster doesn’t eat you—”

“A real possibility,” I cut in.

“Do you think you'd actually struggle to swim back to the mainland?”

I paused, thought about lying, then just shook my head. “No. I could probably do it.”

He snorted. “Exactly. That’s what I mean. I bet it wouldn't even take that long.”

This time, I shrugged. “Yeah. Personal power definitely matters more than it used to.”

I glanced at him and tossed over another neatly stripped vine. “Does that bother you?”

He scratched his head, brushing away a few sweaty blond strands that had stuck to his brow. “Oddly? No. Not really. Especially since I started growing on my own. Feels like a whole new world opened up.”

“Big talk from a lower disciple,” I teased, nudging him with my shoulder.

“Says the puppet king,” he shot back without missing a beat.

We worked in silence for a bit more, finishing off the last of the vines. Then came the braiding, which, for the record, I sucked at.

“I’ve already got the wood ready,” Trevor said as he tugged on one of the sections to test its strength. “No clue how far the second island even is, so keeping that energy stored is better, right?”

The rope held, so he moved on to the next of the five.

“Didn’t know you cared so much about me,” I cooed sweetly.

He made a face like he was about to puke, and I made one in return to show him how much it hurt me.

“After this, we’ll braid three of these together. Makes a stronger cord.”

I nodded, half-listening, half-zoning out. My hands were fine, but I liked pretending they were sore. Gave me an excuse to space out.

Conversation was the only thing keeping the mental tide from taking off.

“I saw a robot,” I said.

His hands froze mid-braid. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah. It was... alive, maybe? Talked like a person. And there was this demon-looking guy. Plus a pretty dude with pointy ears.”

Trevor laughed. “Your girlfriend mentioned some of that, but really? Three different intelligent species?”

“Well... species anyway,” I said, grinning. “Turns out, idiots are universal.”

“Go figure,” he muttered. “Of all the things to get stuck with... I got you.”

“HEY!”

“Wasn’t an insult.”

My hands fumbled on a twist, ruining a section I had to undo. “Oh.”

We fell back into rhythm and knocked out a few more ropes. I finally got the hang of it and actually started moving faster than him.

“The library...” Trevor muttered, almost to himself.

I looked over. “What?”

“These systems or blessings, and the levels. They’ve been around a while here, right? I wonder what the library has on it all.”

I thought for a moment. “Well, Seritha said the way we cultivate now was interesting to her as well, but she recognized something in me a while back too. But still, maybe even then cultivation wasn't really known about. She mentioned records that may be helpful though.”

“Yeah, but about blessings specifically?” he asked. “Not cultivation. Marcus said he has a level now. He had a mission before too. And before that, there was an entirely different system. Why?”

Braiding the dryer, thicker cords was a lot easier than the clingy threads from earlier.

“No clue. There’s gotta be something in there. But not that it’ll help us. No blessings.”

He let out a long, dramatic groan. “Don’t remind me. If I could recruit a pack of monster puppies with a mental machine? Oh, my revenge would be glorious.”

“I thought you liked Marcus.”

“I do. I just don’t like him when he’s pounding me into the dirt.”

Movement on the other side of the dome caught my eye, and a figure came jogging over.

“Sorry for leaving you alone, Trevor,” Marcus said as he approached. “Couldn’t let that opportunity go to waste. Go ahead and get your own training done.”

Trevor stood up and stretched with a loud groan. “Finally. My hands are killing me. And being left alone with Peter…”

My eyes widened in full betrayal. “I thought you were happy to get stuck with me!”

His eyes went wide in return. “That’s how you took that?”

Unbelievable.

“Alright, go on. We’ll spar once you’re done,” Marcus told him.

Trevor took off toward the obelisk without another word.

Marcus turned to me. “And you? Shouldn’t you be training too?”

I dropped the rope I was working on, already over it. “Honestly? There’s not much to train. I can’t progress my cultivation right now, at least not in any obvious way.”

I didn’t bother bringing up Grand Carving—Harmonic Carving? Whatever it was called now.

“Body Refinement’s maxed out,” I continued. “I’m letting Spiritual Refinement kick in passively…”

“And combat?” he asked.

I looked up, suddenly wary. “Combat?”

Marcus whistled sharply. Across the clearing, five double Body-Refined hounds bolted toward us like a growling cavalry. He pointed at one of them. “Go get your big brother.”

Didn’t he usually command them through the system?

Either way, the hound tore back the way it came, returning a moment later with Bristle.

Marcus grinned. “Alright. Time to beat up your master.”

“Seriously?” I said as Bristle’s tail started wagging. The traitor looked excited.

“And bring the big guy too,” Marcus added.

Bristle lifted his head and gave a deep, dignified—“Ruff!”—then lowered it again, ready.

“Actually, I’m kind of hungry,” I tried weakly. “Oh, and Elric said I could have his ration.”

Marcus ignored that entirely, already turning away. “Let’s move farther from the others,” he said just as the Alpha Goldmain came bounding around the dirt castle.

“Fine,” I groaned, resigned to my fate.

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