-Rebecca Solnit

A week passed in the blink of an eye, John's blissful lifestyle and relative lack of anything of major importance making the time fly by in a blur. While Springfield moved steadily into the throes of winter, a chill in the air nearly enough for him to see his own breath some days, his world remained static and unchanging - well, as much as such a magical place ever could. Everyone adored the taste of John's new fruit bush, and after a few days of grinding out Barriers, he had enough ZCP to make a second one.

Tricia started dropping by occasionally, claiming that her drones were overdue for maintenance she could not perform from the other world or that she was particularly interested in personally witnessing the growth of John's plants. He tried not to make a big deal out of it, not wanting to frighten away the ever-rare sighting of a wild Tricia, but secretly he was overjoyed to see Tricia so excited to test out her new access key to his world. He actually felt bad the few times she showed up while they were doing Barrier training; he only found out about it after whoever had not been a part of that day's training session relayed her arrival to them later.

Normally he would've relaxed the Barrier training a bit now that he'd finished the Portal Stone, but to be honest, his world was getting kind of boring. John stopped by a hardware store and bought a generator on a whim, mostly because of the thousands of dollars he had lying around from all those Barriers, but then realized he was going to need components to actually wire the house - which meant more grinding, and more wait times to Build, so the project never even really got off the ground, mostly due to the sheer amount of copper and plastics and various materials he realized it would take to not only rewire the house but to make sure it wasn't going to burn down. Whether mundane fire could physically hurt them or not, he wasn't watching their home go up in smoke because he wanted to play Steam games, and the kittens were definitely not powerful enough to survive a fire anyway.

Well, not yet, at least. The kittens were growing more rambunctious by the day… none of them had spoken yet, but they were all starting to show more signs of personality. They'd already been crawling around quite actively, but now he was pretty sure he'd seen Moira try to stand up at least a couple times, only to topple over adorably and mewl all the way down. John wondered what their growth was going to be like.

"Evellyn, how long until the Nekos will have… I dunno, the functional capacities of your average preteen? And what about full adults, like Maera and Mithra?"

"My databases indicate that typically Nekos reach adulthood in around a year; it's likely they'll be able to speak in complete sentences within three or four months, and to be similar to how the Nekos were when you first met them even sooner than that."

"What about…" John hesitated, the uncomfortable thought causing a fear to rise in him as he prepared to ask the question he dreaded an answer to. "…how long can they live? Them and their mothers? When will they get old, or die?"

"Do you want them to, Master Newman?"

"W-what? No," John said, caught off-guard by the neutral tone his assistant had.

"If you wish to implement an aging system, we could-"

"Hang on, Hang on. I can see them growing already a tiny bit, and you just said they’ll reach adulthood in about a year. Are you telling me they just… don't age past adulthood? At all?"

"There was no need for them to in this world, so it was not included as a part of your Purification. None of your creations will age, nor will Sophia. Magic is infused into their being, Master Newman, just like the Barrier creatures that they were spawned from. Furthermore, your world has space for infinite growth, and both your ZCP and the items that drop from your Barriers allow you to create infinite resources. So long as you live, there is no danger of running out of space or resources. So long as you live, so too will they. That was something your benefactor ensured."

"I, uh… wow. Infinite growth. Immortality… for everyone…"

The weight of that hung on John's shoulders, not in a bad way, but once again he was confronted with the strange nature and absurd, seemingly limitless ways his power broke not only mundane laws, but even some of the laws of the Abyss. John spent a couple days thinking over that before something else took his primary concern, toward the end of the week.

His upcoming Reincarnation.

Without a war going on, John had blown through levels far faster than he had anticipated, spending more time in Barriers and less at strategy meetings or regular fights, which while still nice for EXP didn't give the same benefits as a completion bonus from a dungeon. He'd hit level 17 shortly after making Vallya, and the past week of Barrier training had boosted him all the way up to 25. He distinctly remembered it because it finally gave him another Talent Point, something he hadn't received in a long while. Already committed to the Twin-Soul Talent Tree due to its insane usefulness, John didn't think long before slamming it into the third and final tier of the ability.

Twin-Soul Resonance Stage 3: Soul
This skill allows the user to absorb the physical form and mind of one of their creations, or another being which shares a piece of their soul. Part of their soul is added to the user's and allows for body modifications to the user's form. The user will gain the physical and mental stats of the absorbed being for as long as this skill is maintained, and the absorbed being will share all of the user's senses, while being able to communicate mentally with the user. During this time, the user is able to utilize any techniques of the absorbed being, including those specific to the race or body characteristics of the target, and the user will possess any proficiencies of the target for both combat and non-combat purposes. Communication between user and target becomes instant, and the user will feel and experience the same emotions and desires as their target (and vice-versa). If the user performs any acts which the absorbed being would consider abhorrent, the technique is immediately ended, and may never be utilized again on the same being. Either the user or the target may end the technique early at will. If the user is killed while this technique is active, both participants will die. Any injuries sustained by the user will remain on the absorbed being after separation as well as themselves.
Mana Cost: N/A.
Duration: 1 minute per level of user. After acquiring this technique, Stage 2: Mind will have its duration extended to five minutes per level of the user.
Cooldown: 1 year Cooldown, unique to each individual being. Shared cooldown with Stage 1: Body and Stage 2: Mind. However, after acquiring this technique, utilizing Stage 1 will be reduced to a one-week cooldown, and utilizing Stage 2 will be reduced to a one-month cooldown.
Restriction: May only be used on willing partners, with a relationship score of 200, while they are gazing into the user's eyes.

"Huh. Doesn't actually seem to add as much as the other levels, does it?" John mused when he got the full description. No additional stats, but he supposed that the ability to alter his body and take on the racial characteristics of any creation was pretty insane… wait, if he fused with Seras, would he be able to become a vampire? A geeky fantasy of John in a flowing red outfit, with pale skin and a pompous red hat, flowed through his mind for just a few minutes before he shut the thought down, deciding to find out for himself in another… ugh, still almost ten months before the skill was going to be off cooldown for Seras. He would've regretted using it, but then he'd be dead, so as much as he was disappointed by the wait time, he couldn't do much about it.

Of course, being at level 25 meant that he only had a single level to gain before he'd be capped out again… John didn't really mind that much; it was taking a lot longer to go through his Reincarnations, but he could get a pretty decent head start with an afternoon of grinding using his creations as crutches to carry him through higher-level dungeons, and at this point even his Level 1 form was enough to handle some pretty decent threats. But John had spent most of the last several days when they weren't in Barriers doing repairs to both his and Sophia's armor. They'd gone home half-naked the other day when they did a Level 25 Barrier and the enemies cut through the mundane armor like cheese and the magical armor like only slightly stale cheese. John and his team had made it through mostly intact, though a lot of that could be attributed to Vallya.

Vallya's performance in combat was every bit as impressive and - occasionally - terrifying as John thought it would be. She didn't have the finesse or precision of the Slayer, but she tore through the enemies just as fast, and with possibly just as much style. She rarely set foot on the ground, usually hovering even when she was only at about standing height, using her legs to push off the ground when she needed a particularly abrupt change of direction or speed. Everywhere she went a purple trail followed her, while yellow and orange stars would form in her hands and shoot out like guided missiles, striking with enough **** to deal pretty reasonable damage on their own. She'd have been impressive enough if that was all she did, especially with how effortlessly she floated around the strikes of their foes, ducking and diving between the mounted Black Knights army as though they weren't even there.

But when she really got creative? That was a thing of beauty. He could still remember the fight she'd had against the mini-boss.

Her purple trail lingered just a little longer than usual near the end of the fight, as she led the Knight Commander on a chase across the field. Seven levels behind and with a steed not nearly as mobile as a flying Kitsune, the knight never really had a chance at catching her; the few times he got close enough to swipe with his lengthy blade, Vallya would conjure up a wall of blue and orange flame spheres that hovered around her and exploded on contact with the blade, driving the attack away. Then she'd giggle and continue on a while longer.

John wondered at first why she wasn't attacking, but then he noticed that the purple haze behind her wasn't fading. The two of them were nearly surrounded by it now, covering a solid twenty yards in every direction from the center, where she was now leading him.

"Starlight, burn bright!"

With that cry, Vallya snapped her fingers and the purple haze combusted in an orange frenzy with blue cores igniting through the lingering mana in miniature explosions. The star-spangled firework display was not only nearly blinding, but must have been extremely effective, because the damage notifications John got flew by in such numbers he barely read them. When the blaze died down enough they could see the field again, Vallya stood in it untouched and gave a victory pose.

"Star Guardians never lose! You alright, guys?"

"Err, yeah," John shouted as Vallya slowly hovered toward them, eyeing his inventory. Most of his armor looked like a medieval can opener had been taken to it, and Sophia's was in nearly as bad a condition, so they'd allowed Vallya to take on the final enemy alone. "I healed up everyone while we were watching, our armor got the worst of it. You're really impressive, Vallya."

"Aww, thanks! I tried extra hard cause you were watching," Vallya said, blowing John a kiss as the Barrier faded around them and his dungeon bonuses popped in.

"Consider this a formal welcome to the team, Vallya. It's good to have you."

Unfortunately John knew that the problems with their armor was only going to grow more severe with time. He asked Evellyn about recipes for armor that would be more durable, but all of them involved mana gems - which at $50,000 apiece, he could afford exactly one of, even after all his grinding. He could have farmed the magical rocks and then sold them for gems, but according to Evellyn the closest recipe to recreate his sword that Koharu had forged for him would have required nearly a thousand of the gems, and that was without the complex and powerful runes.

John would have been surprised, but considering they were half the price of the pebbles that he needed twenty-five of just to make a simple stone, it made sense that so many would be required for such a powerful weapon. It really emphasized to John's mind how much Kim valued quick improvement, the way his Gamer abilities allowed… which meant Kim was his only shot at getting a proper set of armor made any time within the next year. John didn't really want to ask her - it was clear now that the blade she'd made for him was worth far, far more than the training that he'd done with her, even the additional sessions he'd done after their initial falling out.

But hey, he'd struck a deal once… perhaps he could work that magic again? One afternoon after meeting with Drill Sergeant Glenna Simons to talk about Maera’s continued Order training, John found himself having a very familiar conversation with Kim over the phone.

"So, uh, Kim, I was thinking…"

"A dangerous practice," she chimed in when John paused a little too long.

"…kind of," John admitted, rolling his eyes even though Kim couldn't see him. He was pacing the hallway down the corridor from Moira's room while he chatted with Kim, wanting to be nearby in case he needed to borrow another car. He'd finally surrendered the Order safehouse back to Moira now that his private world had become more or less self-sustaining; he hadn't slept there at all lately. That also meant no permanently loaned out car, though.

"Well, what exactly were you thinking about? I'm guessing it was me, in which case I'm flattered."

"It was, but I'll be honest, I feel kind of bad about this one," John said, sighing before continuing. "The blade that Koharu forged me is great, amazing, beyond compare. I haven't even had to sharpen the damn thing yet, and the runes are unbelievable. I finally figured out how to control them with my mind, too!"

He didn't mention that his control of the runes mostly amounted to activation; swinging the sword with his mind was still pretty rough. John was quite certain that Knight Etriyya would scold him for days if she saw the ragged form and cuts he had with the blade when it wasn't in his hand… if she were still speaking to him.

"But you want an improvement made? John, that weapon is already loaded with so many runes it's a miracle it functions properly with that strange additional one that Koharu added without realizing it. The mana network is-"

"No, no, no, I don't need any improvements," John stuttered, nearly tripping over himself as he continued to pace the hall. "It's just that I'm not nearly as skilled as she is… and I'd really like a suit of armor that will hold together. The monsters I'm going up against now are tearing through it, even the lightly enchanted stuff."

"A full suit of armor? Koharu has the skill, though we tend to use enchanted fabrics for our outfits to not hinder our movement… but that would be a very costly endeavor, John."

"I know, I know, that's why I feel bad, "John explained, "but it wouldn't need to have fancy runes or enchantments, I just need something that's not going to crumple every time I get hit. I've spent as much time repairing my armor as I have wearing it lately."

"You must have increased the power of the monsters you're fighting considerably," Kim said, and John could hear the thoughts rolling in her head as clearly as if she were speaking them aloud. She was factoring in how much stronger he'd gotten, and the kind of enemies she could face by his side.

"Yeah, it's getting to be a pain… uh, no pun intended," John hastily added. "I figured since I still kind of owe you for the sword, though, I'd cut you a sweeter deal on this one. I owe Moira a week of training the recruits already, but whenever I'm not working with her for that, I'll give you a month. Not only do you get to train with me any time, just us so you get full benefits, but I'll let you keep every item they drop. We can farm raw materials or magical stuff, I made some good money selling these little enchanted pebbles about a week ago that I had left over from making the stone for Tricia."

"What kind of items can you gather from these creatures, besides what I've seen?" Kim asked, a new note entering her voice. Hope? Inspiration? She sounded positively elated.

"Oh, I mean, I think about anything? I'd have to consult Evellyn for loot tables for anything specific," John said. His needs were pretty simple - food, materials, and occasionally something specific like the enchanted pebbles. He actually had no idea what would be available, especially with his absolutely gigantic table of monsters, most of which he'd never even bothered facing, from Centaurs to Fairies.

"Perhaps you could visit?" Kim suggested casually. "We could discuss exactly what items could be obtained, and how many of them we could expect to gather in a month. If you have something of value for the Clan, I see no issue in this trade, and you'll already be here to have your measurements taken. Unlike a weapon there's a bit more that goes into designing a suit of properly reinforced armor."

"Sounds great," John beamed. "Does now work for you? I don't have a whole lot going on."

"I was going to begin a set of blade exercises… text me when you arrive, and I'll gladly stop for something this important. Don't keep me waiting too long, John."

At the sound of the dial tone, a beaming smile broke out across his face. Sophia smiled softly back at him, finally breaking her silence now that her Father was off the phone.

"I take it that it went well, Father?"

"Seems like it. She sounded like she wasn't sure if the trade would work out, but she didn't shoot it down right away… I'm not sure about getting two suits, though. If we get one made for me, though, I can put all my efforts into your suit. You'll get the best pieces from both of our sets, I can break down the leftovers, and maybe use the combined pieces to make something stronger."

"I am not overly optimistic about their ability to make armor that is suited to my wings regardless," Sophia said, shrugging. "I trust you, Father. I would be honored for you to craft a proper set of gear for me."

John dashed down the hallway toward Moira's room, excited to get on the road. Standing before her doorway, he had just raised his hand up to knock when Moira's door opened on its own, startling John into taking a rapid step backwards.

"You need to borrow a car?" Moira asked bluntly, one eyebrow raised.

"I, uh, yeah," John stuttered, "I'm-"

"-going to Kim's place to see about having a suit of armor made."

"Did you have Tricia-"

"-put a bug in your phone? No, but this is more fun than I thought it would be." Despite her jovial tone, Moira sighed and shook her head at the bewildered Gamer. "Subtlety and intrigue are not your strong suits, John… and I say that knowing full well that neither of them are mine, either. You talk very loudly for a man with so many secrets that would cause disaster if they were known."

"That's… fair," John noted. "Soooo… about that car?"

"Take key #37 from the box. It's my secondary vehicle for when the Warden's private car is out of commission… and I have no need to leave today anyway."

"Thank you so much! I'll bring it back in one piece!"

"Frightening that you have to say that," Moira called after John and Sophia, already at a near-jog down the hallway. "And I better get first dibs on training time over Kim! You promised me first!"

John didn't even break stride, just turning to smile at Moira and give one last thumbs up.

"You know it still kind of weirds me out seeing just one small building here walking up," John noted as they stepped out of the car, parked almost a block away from Kim's house due to the weirdly full street parking. He didn't have a way into the Barrier to park without Kim being there, though, so John settled for the short walk.

"More than if it were to be something like one of your barriers? A forested glade, a fiery hellscape, or a crystalline cavern?"

"Weirdly enough, yeah." John shrugged. "Like, those I kind of got used to. Seeing a bunch of buildings pop out of nowhere when we walk in is like they were just invisible, not hidden in a Barrier. I dunno, I'm weird, I get that."

"You are perfect."

"I'd accuse you of flattery if I didn't think that you believed it," John noted, chuckling as he whipped out his phone. He was halfway to dialing in Kim's number when he heard a voice coming from behind him and Sophia.

"Holy shit… John Newman!"

A hand clasped John on his shoulder and spun him around so hard the phone nearly flew out of his hands, eyes going wide as he saw the man standing behind him.