We gathered enough firewood for a day or two and returned to the camp. Like last time, I couldn’t see the camp due to the protective bubble. I knew where it was and watched Gorn’s body disappear through the barrier. It was a very useful spell. I thought about trying to learn it from the carvings on the totem, but decided that was just a little too much risk. Plus, I had more important things to attend to.

  I walked up to the barrier and hit a wall. I could feel the barrier under my hand, a solid shell. I couldn’t see it directly with my aura sight, just the absence it created. It appeared to be more than a simple illusion and noise barrier; it must have had a shield-like ability, too. That increased the payoff of studying it, but it was still more risk than I was willing to take.

  I stood there for a solid hour, gazing at the illusion of an empty courtyard, betting all too well on the faces being made at the ‘stupid mortal’ from the other side. It was a much better one-way mirror than we had on our world. I wanted to punch it and see if I could shatter it. That would give me away quite quickly, but with style.

  Sometimes you need to give your audience what they want. I couldn’t tell if the shield blocked out threats or if you had to attune or sync with it. I turned my back and leaned against it hard, betting there was a way for them to let me through. I gave them the comedic option of having me fall through on my ass. I figured it was too tempting to resist. If they didn’t let me in, it wasn’t much of a loss. The weather outside was perfect, either late spring or early fall, that perfect mix of just warm enough and a little hint of cold.

  As I lay there against the invisible bubble, giving my best static Michael Jackson pose, I started to think about all the important things I didn't know about this planet. I had never seen a map, but I knew I was in the southern half of the continent. My direction ability gave me a pretty good idea of how far it was to the exit of Mord’s Dungeon and in what direction. I would eventually see a map, and then I would make good on my promise.

  The weather was another thing I didn’t know about. Mord had mentioned that there were five seasons, but not what they were called, nor what they were like. I had planned on asking my saviors that, but they ended up being kind of assholes, so I kept conversation to a minimum.

  As any true-blooded soul might do on a perfectly fine day with great weather and nothing better to do, I fell asleep. The brazen bull’s timing was expected. I felt his hand touch my shoulder, and the once solid barrier parted around me. I hit the ground as one would expect a mortal to fall. In defiance, though, I just continued to lie there on the ground.

  “Gods…it stinks in here. Can I go back outside?”

  “That will not be allowed. Gorn apprised us of your little fight with the goblins.” Shy had an inquisitive tone.

  “I would say Gorn’s fight with the goblins and my continuing series of trying not to die.”

  “Such as it is. We wanted to make sure you were alright. Check you for wounds and such. Goblins are notorious poisoners. Remove your clothes.” The fox said it so nonchalantly that it took a second to process.

  “Shock him.”

  “Wait..wait….clothes right.” I was still a little in shock. This was also not how I saw my first foray into getting naked with a non-deity going. I undressed quickly as I only really had two things to take off. Two if you counted the belt as part of the pants. I dropped my trousers first to give me a second to think about how to palm my amulet. I knew it wouldn’t part with me easily. I used my aura sight to see if it was obscured by my shirt, and my heart stopped. It wasn’t there. I couldn’t see it, nor could I feel it. I tried to focus on it, that maybe after wearing it for so long, I was just so used to it I couldn’t notice it. I couldn’t feel it. I was panicking. It was a gift from Vex and my soul was bound to it. How could I have lost it? Where did I lose it? When?

  I started to pull my shirt over my head, mostly to buy time to think, and also to run my hand across my empty chest. I had the shirt almost off when I felt the telltale bump of a chain. I couldn’t see it, and it felt different. I caught the purple smear of ink that quickly disappeared against my skin with my aura sight. Ink had covered the entire amulet with the Shift coin material, allowing the entire amulet to camouflage against my skin. I felt a huge flood of relief wash over me. This restored my confidence.

  “Shy if you wanted me naked, you could have just asked. I already told you I couldn't remember my past, which includes the last time I was with a woman. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t have pegged you for the exhibitionist kink, though. Not shaming by the way, it’s totally cool. Well, as long as the boys keep to themselves. I don’t swing that way. Sorry, Gorn, Rogan, Pete.” I nodded to the boys in turn and fixed my eyes on the fox. I tried to put up my most come-hither stare, but probably came off as creepy.” She didn’t get my offer right away, but when she did, the look of disgust on her face was priceless. I had to rub it in more.

  “Aw, foxy baby, don’t be like that. I mean, everyone knows you don't sleep with co-workers, so you've got to be needing a fix. A nice vixen like you. Even if you did opt for a little in-party private time, who would you do? Even a tier above, I don’t think you could handle either of the boys' packages. Pete would do, y’all are both canines after all, but I’m not catching that vibe from you two. There is no chem….alchemy there. Yeah? No?”

  So I did find a universal constant, a shared formula, between this world and my old one. If you give a strong-willed, independent woman a lewd, overt sexual offer in front of others, you will always get the same reaction.

  I contemplated this while lying on the ground convulsing from the most severe kick to the balls I had ever received. I may have pissed her off a little.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Ok. I’ll take that as a ‘maybe’ then?” Her look was death incarnate.

  “Fine…fine….what was the real reason? Beyond humiliation, I mean.”

  “To search clothes,” Rogan added, standing over the pile that was my shirt and pants.

  “For what?”

  “Anything you might have looted from the goblins.”

  “I gave that all to Gorn. It was like a few coins, a knife, and eight green orbs.”

  “Eight?”

  “Yeah. I can count.” I said, holding up eight fingers. She rounded on Gorn.

  “You said there were only two.” Ah, the cow got busted. Shy looked furious over this, actually. Really angry, disproportionately so.

  “Listen here, you stupid cow. You will give all the loot to me. Do you understand?” Her voice did not allow for ‘no’ as an answer.

  “That goes the same for all of you. Then, and only then, I will distribute it how I see fit. I am tired of this fucking babysitting. I am only here to validate the map and verify that there is a dungeon here. I didn’t get paid to power level you through a dungeon. I did it because I wanted the rewards. You should only be so happy that loot is all I can take. If I could, I would syphon all the worthless potential out of your bodies to prime an aspect. If I so much as suspect that any of you are hoarding anything back from me, I will fucking kill you and leave your corpse to fucking rot!” She finished her statement and walked out of the bubble and into the approaching night.

  She did not return for dinner nor for her watch. The boys did not seem concerned, though. I sat and watched as they lazed about. There were occasional snippets of conversation that I stayed out of. It was mostly a reserved evening with all three of them turning in. I was going to ask about a watch, but I needed the privacy. I had cultivating to do.

  It was a big risk cultivating with hostiles so close. I was worried that I would draw undue attention and far too many questions, but I was running out of time. The cat said she would be back tomorrow, and that was an extra set of eyes watching for anything out of place. I was waiting for them all to go to sleep when I saw the same look on all of their faces. All three looked to be meditating while lying down. They were cultivating. It made sense. It made perfect sense. They probably gained a ton of potential while clearing the dungeon, and Gorn got some extra from the goblins. Up until now, I had only cultivated when I had enough for a skill, but I saw no reason I couldn’t add to one of the skill points a little at a time. The drawback is that it is less available for other points. I wondered if there was a drawback to leaving it all in your pool. The three adventurers I was with seemed disinclined to wait for whatever reason. With no watch, they had to have a great deal of faith in the totem shield, but still, there had to be a reason for cultivating out here.

  I wondered if thats what the fox was doing. She seemed well-connected, but down on her luck, or something had happened to saddle her with babysitting duty. Regardless, I had work to do and focused my sight inwards.

  As I dove into the inner reaches of my soul, I remembered back to all the difficulty I had getting to this point. It was like any skill; it needed practice. I focused back on my Speed Loci and the stack of skills I had there. I focused on the first two points, donuts as I called them. I noticed that they were partially empty despite having to fill them to the brim to gain the skills. I looked to the third point and noticed a few impurities floating in the emptiness of the shape. Some concept or another was already twisting the formation of the skill. Mord said that this would happen and that as I used abilities, how I used them would change the nature of the resulting ability. I wondered what it would be when I filled it and what it could have been if untouched.

  Thinking on the purity of the point turned my thoughts to purifying the green soup that was my hot tub of potential. Experimentation won out only because I was pretty sure the green was what Mord had called ‘Low aspects”. I pulled a thread of potential out of the pool. I went much smaller this time than I normally did. I thinned it out until I could see the purity of the strand. I directed the strand up to the third point and had it start to form my usual rings around the donut. I had about a quarter of the rings formed when I caught the first bit of green tinging the strand. I tried to pull it out, but it wouldn’t budge. I tried to cut it off as it cycled and re-direct it out and back to the pool, but it decided to take up residence in the partially empty second point. That point contained my Inscribe Rune ability. I was guessing there was more to the skill, but it needed potential to realize. I wondered if my other skills had room to grow as well. I wanted to check, but maintaining all the rings was getting complicated. Normally, it was just loop and cut in a regular rhythm, but now I was on the lookout for the contamination. That required much more focus. I did spare a moment to open my real eyes and gauge time. By the time the fire had burned for an hour or so, longer if someone stoked it.

  Back in my inner world, I continued slowly but surely. I was worried that I wasn't going to have enough potential to fill up either point, but I could. It would be a sacrifice. I was down to almost only green potential now. I may not have been able to fully filter it, but I did minimize it. I could let the current potential seep in and see if it was enough, or I could use most of what was left and let the consequences be dammed. In my past, I used to spend hours planning out builds. I would watch others’ posted videos about how their build was the best for a class and playstyle. I didn’t have that option here. I was also confident there was no respec. I would get one chance at gaining a perfect skill in a slot. I would also only get one chance to use the mark rune on at least one of them. If I didn't get any unaspected potential before we got someone who was too observant or worse, could see through my acting, I would lose my chance. It came down to that inner voice. My last violent fuck you against caving in. That voice was very much the reincarnation of an abolitionist. I don’t care what the norm was. I don’t care if you thought you had no choice. People weren’t property, and fuck all those who thought they were.

  I felt my rage stoke the cycling I was doing. Everything sped up and condensed at a faster rate. It was like wherever the skills and abilities came from was feeling my need. I felt and saw the rings slam home and absorb into the third point. I also noticed the second point flash and settle back into its normal pale blue color. A pulsing of the gray at the bottom of my vision let me know I was successful and had a message waiting.

  Skill Upgraded!

  Inscribe Rune -allows for inscribing runes on objects. May inscribe Runes without tools using mana.

  Ability Acquired!

  Instant Rune- may form runes quickly and impress them directly into an object.

  That combination was like a direct ticket to success with my other abilities and skills. I was beginning to realize that usage helped form your skills and abilities, but it was desire and intent that really gave them shape. I, in theory, could now form a rune from mana quickly and impress it directly onto an object that I or my aura was in contact with. Five feet was not a lot of room to work with, though. Remembering how I changed the ability for inscribing and how the skill point looked partially empty when I started, I did a quick dive to look at my aura skill. I smiled as I drifted to sleep, the vision of a nearly empty skill donut dancing in my head.