After such a long and eventful day, I hold high hopes that I’ll be able to get a restful night’s sleep. Which is why, in a fit of cosmic irony, sleep comes sporadically and fitfully. There’s simply too many things on my mind, and even the warm comfort of Chloe’s body resting against me fails to push all those racing thoughts out of my mind.

The impending job offer as a new instructor and researcher of Ethertech first and foremost, but I’m not even sure if I want the position. Or maybe I do want the position— some part of me does— but I feel horrendously underqualified for it, despite my accomplishments to this point. Impostor Syndrome at play, or just my correctly identifying my lack of expertise in a field where there are no experts and no one remotely qualified to speak on the topic?

Dear goddesses, I would like to ask Madison… were she here in this reality. She would know more about the System and be a proper mentor if I end up accepting this offer.

I sigh as I gaze at the clock. 10:37 PM. Not too late objectively, but it feels late after how long this day has been on the whole. As if sensing my stress, Chloe’s sleeping body curls around, pulling me into her embrace and… Yeah, she smells incredible, her hair scented with traces of vanilla and lavender. As it always is, because it’s just one of her hidden Unique Traits. Maybe not one recognized as such by the System, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Instead, I cycle through my thoughts about the best option to take until— at some point, sleep finally catches up to me and gives me a few brief hours of calm respite.

----------------------------------------

I wake up late enough that Chloe’s already out and about. But… the smell. Something else smells really good, and I hear footsteps. Did she really…

The door opens, and I’m greeted by Chloe, carrying two heaping bowls of scrambled eggs and sausage, one of which is coated in shredded cheddar cheese. She’s wearing an apron which says Kiss the Chef on it. And, to my surprise, absolutely nothing else. I glance at the clock once more: 8:22 AM. Late enough that her mother would have long since left for the evening. I still don’t know why she wouldn’t put on something, lest she burn… No, she has [Saintess’s Cloister], so she needn’t worry about getting singed by a couple droplets of grease.

The first order of business is carrying out the order contained on the apron, which lasts a few seconds as our tongues linger. The second is wolfing down these delicious, greasy eggs. Last night’s dinner of fast food hamburgers was… okay, but I must’ve been far hungrier than I realized at the time, because of course my voracious stomach is demanding I continue to eat. Just as it has seemed to every day since the System arrived.

I’m curious, in a purely academic sense, where it’s all going, though. My clothes don’t fit any more tightly than before, and if anything, my body changes have been purely in gaining more muscle mass and tone. An artifact of increasing my stats, or just because we’ve been engaged in so many battles over the past couple of months?

“So, Chloe, what do you

want to do today?” I ask.

“Hmm…” Chloe tilts her head as she ponders the matter. “Besides having my way with you all day? I can think of a few things. Most importantly, I’d like to take a look at those Skill books that we got yesterday. And then, maybe, we can go from there.”

I nod in approval. I lean over and grab the books out of my bag. One of them has a wrench on it, and one of them contains a picture of a holy garb. I’m not completely certain that I can still use a [Mechanist] type Skill Book; I’m no longer a [Planetouched Mechanist]. But perhaps the ‘Mechanical’ part of my [Mechanical Angel] class will be enough to allow it to work.

I hand Chloe her book and begin to read through the pages of my own. But the reading is slow going. I get a general sense of meaning, but the glyphs are off, somehow. Distorted from how they should look according to every sense of my knowledge of glyphs and the linguistics thereof. I’m not sure if this is an alternate variation of the glyphs I know already, the copy- and read- protection built into these glyphs, or if there’s a completely different glyph language at play. I don’t think it’s the latter, considering I can read a bit about what this is trying to do. But it could just be an offshoot language or maybe a blend of the native glyph language with some other influences.

Dr. Reynolds would know more about how I can determine the difference; sadly, he’s already left again for Chicago— or whatever they’re calling it now.

The glyphs begin to rearrange themselves, the ink pulling itself off the pages as it begins to glow the characteristic bright teal of ambient Ether. The language bends and contorts, glyphs dancing around in midair around me. Chloe looks mesmerized as well, sitting in the bed beside me, but I notice her eyes are transfixed on something else— something I can’t see. Her own book must be having a similar effect, and she is having knowledge implanted directly into her mind the same as it is for me.

My entire body feels weird. I feel discorporated from my physical form for a brief moment, my consciousness temporarily leaving my body as glyphs continue to dance around me, spinning faster and faster. My eyes— or vision, though disconnected from my body’s senses— spins right alongside the glyphs as my mind tries to decipher their meaning and what power I’m about to receive.

The glyphs slam into my head— into my mind— with force that should be concussive, if not fatal. But I feel no pain. Instead, I feel a connection. A connection to power that isn’t native to my body, but which is taking root in my mind and will soon become as much a part of me as the rest of my body. Much like how my prosthetic arm and my wings are part of me. Maybe even more so, given how strong this new connection is.

The floating sensation of being pulled from my physical form gradually subsides. The omnidirectional vision I had in that state— perhaps a manifestation of [Angelic Insight]— returns to normal, much to my chagrin. My sense of self reorients itself as it re-enters my body, including the sensations of weight and mass returning to my form.

A System notification appears in the periphery of my vision, one which I eagerly bring to the forefront.

[You have gained the Class Skill [Omnidirectional Sight]. Would you like to learn…]

Before I can bring up the Skill’s effect and confirm that yes, I do want such an ability, the notification disappears, followed by more notifications replacing them.]

[System Error: Insufficient Class Skill slots available to learn [Omnidirectional Sight]. Error: [Omnidirectional Sight] partially conflicts with [Angelic Insight]… Attempting to resolve error by overwriting [Angelic Insight]… Error in attempting to resolve error. An outside force is preventing rewriting of Skill effects. Attempting to resolve error by Skill merger…]

[Standing by…]

An error while resolving the error? Is this some hidden effect of「The Anomaly」 manifesting itself here and trying to prevent the System from doing what it wants? Hopefully something good comes of whatever happens here.

[Class for user ‘Seraphina Mortensen’ compatible with proposed merger. Level and [Mind] stats sufficient for proposed merger. Stand by… Merger Successful. [Angelic Insight] and [Omnidirectional Sight] have merged into [Archangel’s Gaze]. You have gained [Archangel’s Gaze] as a Class Skill.]

[[Archangel’s Gaze]: The eyes of the [Mechanical Angel] peer through the physical realm and enter the Etheric realm. As [Angelic Insight], but with the following additional effect: As a free action usable at will, a [Mechanical Angel] can separate her vision from her physical eyes, seeing in all directions. This discorporated vision has a radius of (Level x 20) feet and can also see through the effects of glamours created by effects with a lower combined (Level + Mind) than the wielder. (Current value: 153)]

[[Archangel’s Gaze] has been set to Rank IV.]]

I am a bit miffed that I’ve lost two of my hard-earned Skill Ranks without a chance to even protest the decision. But at the same time, gaining such an incredibly potent effect without even burning an extra Skill slot is… I’m not complaining too much about the end result. Though I need to test it out to know exactly what I’m dealing with.

I trigger the new impulse that’s visible within my mind, letting my visual perception flow outside of my body. It’s weird. It’s more than a little jarring to see myself from the outside. Chloe’s hand has slipped into mine, and I can see that right alongside the light streaming in from the bedroom window and the dresser in front of me and everywhere else around me, all with the same acuity as my foveal vision. My mind throbs briefly as it adjusts to all the new sensations, but I acclimate quickly and just stare in awe.

I focus on Chloe. Which… doesn’t do all that much; all the other visual stimuli continue to enter my mind and be processed just the same. Yeah, I’m definitely going to have to practice this Skill a lot before I can use it in battle. I have a feeling that this is going to be a signature part of my toolkit as a fighter, and no longer will I have to fear being stabbed in the back by a blindside attack. But goddesses help me, it’s disorienting as shit, and so I disable the effect, returning my vision to that which my eyes see.

“Did you get something good?” Chloe asks.

“Yeah. Though I’ll need to practice with it to really make use of the effect.” I explain the Skill and its potential applications, all while Chloe listens with awe and wonder.

“Wow, Sera. That does sound cool. As for me–” She cuts off for a moment. “I… I got a Skill called [Angelic Bond]. It allows me to–” She chokes on her words for a moment. “It allows me to choose a creature with the [Angelic] property and form a bond with them. In doing so, each partner is supposed to gain a stat increase, along with other benefits that I can’t see until forming the bond.”

“So, we should go find one, right? I don’t know where we’d find an angel, but–”

Chloe shakes her head. “No, Sera, we don’t need to go on a quest. I don’t know if it’s because of your class, or maybe because you’ve descended from another universe. But whatever the reason, my Skill considers you to have the [Angelic] property. And so, if you would have me, I would like to form my bond with you.”

A lump forms in the back of my neck as I ponder Chloe’s words. A bond with her acknowledged and enforced by the System. A part of me is screaming at me to take the bond without a second thought. We’ve been best friends for years, and I hope that we’ll stay that way for the rest of our lives.

I can see in her eyes how badly Chloe wants this. She looks at me with such love and adoration, and I feel weak and desire only to submit to her and make her happy.

At the same time, we’ve been dating for less than two weeks, and I’m still not yet ready to make a commitment that may well be for life. At the very least, I think we need to talk some more about this. To figure out more about what this bond might entail, how it would be enforced. And in a less romantic manner, exactly what sorts of effects the bond will have on us. I don’t like the idea of the System placing some sort of oath or other compulsion upon me. After what feels like an eternity but is probably only a few seconds, I sigh.

“Can we talk about this bond a little more first? About what it means for you, and me, and most importantly, for us? As friends and as girlfriends both?”

Chloe’s eyes drop for a moment, but she forces herself to speak with an even tone. “Sure.”