Interrogation Concluded

John’s stomach lurched as he watched the projection. “W-what is this? I didn’t do that!” he defended himself.

Kaen turned with a smile and stroked his hair. “Don’t worry, I know it wasn’t your fault. I should have backed off when you said you didn’t want to fight, but I wasn’t exactly thinking rationally at the time.”

“So what exactly am I supposed to be seeing, Kaen? Because as far as I see, this is a video of him attacking and almost killing you,” Kim stated bluntly.

Kaen turned back to Kim, though continuing to stroke John’s hair. “Yeah, he attacked me, but it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know what he was doin’.”

“Will you please make some sense? Or explain properly?” Kim asked, irritation in her voice.

Kaen groaned. “Uh, well, it’s like this. True dragons have a fight or flight instinct. Strong emotions like rage, fear or panic can set it off, and once you’re in that state, you basically keep going until you’re burned out.”

“So you mean like when you go off the rails?” Kim rolled her eyes.

Kaen laughed. “Well, yeah, it’s the same thing essentially, but my version has a trade-off, power for control. If I can keep a cool head, I can stay in control; the hotter I get, though, the more control I lose. For other dragons, they can more than double their power but they basically see everyone or everything as an enemy. See, not his fault.”

Kim rubbed her face out of stress. “You know you cause way too much trouble, and I guess when you put it like that, I can’t exactly punish him for it. You’ve made a huge mess here, this is going to be a nightmare when we get back to the clan.”

“Uhm… I have something to say,” John meekly uttered.

Kaen looked down at him with a smile. “What’s that? I’m all ears.”

John felt a jolt of pleasure shoot down his spine as she began to draw little circles on the back of his neck. “I’m not a dragon, I don’t think I should have that ability, and I’ve never heard of it or seen it before.”

Kaen laughed before moving dangerously close to his face; she deeply inhaled before shuddering. “Could have fooled me then, I can smell human on you but only a little. You’ve got a really strong, delicious smell.”

“Kaen! Would you get off him? You already got your way, not like I can really punish him for something that was your fault. We’re done here so let’s go,” Kim said as she stood walking towards the tent exit.

Kaen groaned, “Killjoy.” She looked back at John, giving him a peck on the lips. “That’s for kissing me while I was asleep, maybe we can do it more in the future, or we could have a rematch, I promise not to lose my cool if you do.” She stood, partially bending over to give John a nice and close view of her toned behind, then walked over to Kim, turning back just before leaving. “Bye.”

“Uh, bye?” He said half-heartedly. The girls were gone and he was left alone. “What? I’m so confused and slightly turned on, but mostly confused. I need to see if I actually do have a skill like that, that could be what gave me the debuff?”

He brought up his skill sheet, looked through it but couldn’t find anything. As a last-ditch effort, though not knowing what the hell he was doing, he tried to will the skill’s sheet into existence.

Notice: Hidden Skill Uncovered!

The notification flashed in front of his eyes, and when he swiped it away, he had a new skill window to look at.

Survival Instinct

Passive
Description

When cornered either physically or mentally, you will enter a state of heightened strength. All non-physical stat points are combined and divided between physical stats. Accumulated XP is consumed to temporarily raise your level by a factor of four. While in this state your body will act on its own, viewing everything as a threat that warrants fighting or fleeing.

Use of this skill puts strain on your mana pool and thus causes the debuff: burnout

“I guess that’s good in a pinch, but what if I had seen Alison when I was like that? Or what if it happened when I was with Ellie or my mom? I’d be powerless to stop myself from hurting any of them; I don’t know what to do with myself. Maybe I should just call it quits? Try staying away from the Abyss, that way I won’t hurt any of them,” John thought out loud.

“You could do that, but once you’re part of the Abyss, it’s hard to get out.” John jumped at the sound of Moira’s voice coming from behind the tent flap. “And it would be such a waste.”

Moira entered the tent once more. John felt a little caught off guard. “Oh, uhm, sorry… I was just thinking out loud,” he muttered while awkwardly adjusting himself. “I, uhm, am I still in trouble?”

Moira chuckled as she stood on the opposite side of the table, tucking the metal chair under. She then closed her eyes and began circling around the room, somehow able to navigate without knocking into anything or tripping at all. “Who exactly is John Newman? Even an Abyssal walking by on the street would view you as an ordinary mundane, with nothing special about you whatsoever… well, barring the fact that Kaen reported you have a very potent draconic scent… Which only adds to the mystery. You also removed handcuffs which should block magic flow and you somehow took… ahem, an item from me which no one should be able to remove with or without magic. You have strange magic, John, and from the report you aren’t as strong as Kaen had assumed; you shouldn’t be able to cloak your mana completely as you have.”

She stopped walking when she arrived behind John’s chair and stepped towards it, placing her hands on his shoulders. “All of this mystery and things only get much, much more confusing… I asked you to heal me, and of the countless healing spells or abilities out there, you just so happened to use one that bore the warmth of The Lady. This wouldn’t be odd, we have many clerics and knights with healing abilities… But it wasn’t any regular healing ability, you used a very unique method of healing, unique only to the three Wardens of the Golden Rose… so again, who exactly are you, John Newman?”

John was silent, not knowing what he should say or do, and left with only one question on his mind, ’She hasn’t actually answered my question, am I in trouble?’

Moira pulled John’s chair out and knelt down between his legs, resting her arms on them. “John?” she repeated.

“Huh? Uh, what?” John replied dumbly.

“You know what, never mind that. I would like you to join the Order of the Golden Rose, and if you do, I will see to it that you work directly alongside me. There is only one explanation, you are a champion of The Lady, and as such, I feel that I must help you in any way possible,” Moira implored.

New Quest: Knight or the Dragon

Option one:
Accept the offer, embrace the epitome of boredom and become a side character in someone else’s story.

Reward:
Gilded Knight Class - An extremely powerful knight within the Order, and unique to you specifically. In order to keep the powers of this class, the Knight is sworn to celibacy excluding one Warden of choice.
Removal of The Gamer powers along with all Draconic Mutations.

Option two:
Decline the offer to join the Golden Rose, and be your own protagonist, choosing where you go and what (or who) you do.

Reward:
Mates Mark Feature: Skill Share

John looked at the options he was given and quirked an eyebrow

<I swear to me… there is one right answer here and if you go with the wrong one…>

“Yeah yeah, at least let me look at them both first,” John grumbled.

“What? Are you talking to me?” Moira asked in confusion.

“Oh, sorry, no, one second,” John said as he reached up and tapped on Skill Share.

Mates Mark Feature: Skill Share

Skill Share Slots: 2
Description:

This Feature allows you to choose a skill and give access to it to any one of your mates.
The level and experience of the chosen skill will be shared between users and the experience gained from using the skill is halved for each additional person (you and one mate halves XP, you and two mates quarters XP, etc.)

The number of individuals you have marked is equal to the number of share slots you have access to.
Skill slots can be shared equally between all mates or multiple slots can be allocated to an individual mate.
Any mana required for a spell must come from the user and is not shared from your mana pool.

After reading everything he swiped away the window.

“John? What’s wrong? And why are you waving your hands through the air? Are you okay?” Moira’s voice softened, betraying her authoritative tone.

“Huh, oh, uhm, no, nothing,” he dismissed before finally looking back down at the crimson-haired beauty literally kneeling between his legs. A rush of colour painted John’s face and heat began to radiate from him.

Moira seemingly realised her position and quickly stood, donning her own blush and avoiding eye contact with John. “Ahem… Are you in contact with someone outside of this barrier?” she asked.

< I am everywhere... and nowhere! >

John attempted to mentally swipe the window away, but for some reason, it wouldn’t disappear. “W-what? No.” His voice cracked as he swatted at the air, finally getting rid of the window.

Moira straightened, placing her hands on her hips and looking down at John. “Don’t lie to me!” she thundered.

John felt himself cower ever so slightly. “I… fine, it’s to do with my abilities…”

Moira’s gaze pierced John, making him almost feel naked in front of her. She was silent until her face began to soften, then morphed into recognition and realisation. “I… The Lady is speaking to you directly, isn’t she?” Her excitement seeped through. “If that’s true, you have to join, what better way to put her powers to use than in the Order? With this, you will practically jump through the ranks!”

John stood abruptly. “No!” His voice came out louder than he meant to. “Ahem, I mean no… I, uhm, well...” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck trying to think of an easy way to explain. “Well… If she wanted me in the Order, then I’d have already been there.”

Moira visibly deflated. “Oh, I see… Well, at the very least we should have you as an official ally under our protection. It’s an extremely simple contract. Essentially, we will ensure your safety and the safety of your family and, in return, you would provide some assistance when asked.”

“That sounds like becoming part of your faction but to a lesser degree… I’m not sure if that would come under the conditions I’ve been given, so I think I have to pass,” John said with a tinge of uncertainty in his voice.

Moira deflated further. “Right... But you should be allied with an established group. If you were to deal with anyone in the Abyss, they’d already be wary of you if you had the backing of someone else; without it people are likely to become suspicious. Surely that’s worth something?”

A lightbulb shone above his head. “Oh!” He quickly opened his inventory and retrieved the Mana Gem within. “I have this,” he said, handing it over to Moira.

She looked at it; her eyes widened and a confused expression adorned her face. “I… you? How did you get this? This is from the Hunters of Hemet, they rarely if ever give this kind of symbol to other dwarves and it’s usually to exceptionally skilled craftsmen that can’t for one reason or another join the Hunters.”

John took hold of the crystal with two fingers and stored it once again. “How do you know I’m not a skilled craftsman? Or a dwarf? I’m not, but I could be,” John complained, earning a genuine and very cute giggle from the Shield Warden. “I, well, it’s hard to explain, I guess you could say we are old buddies?”

“You said you’d only had your abilities for around a week, so how could you be ‘old buddies’? That doesn’t make sense,” Moira pressed.

John sighed. “It’s a long story, it’d be better to just leave it as that. I didn’t know he was a god, and I definitely didn’t think he was anything more than fiction. Hey, listen, if I’m not in trouble and you’re not holding me hostage or anything, I’m actually kinda in a rush.”

“Oh, no, you aren’t **** to stay here… I hope you might reconsider my offer to either join the Order or at the very least enter a formal relationship as an ally… Either way, you are free to leave. I need to have a conversation with Alison, so she will be staying here for a short while, then I will ensure she returns home safely. The Hawthorne mansion is on the way to my home so I will personally walk her to her front door,” Moira stated, leaving no room for arguments.

“Fine, but… Listen, she didn’t know anything about the Abyss until we were pulled into the barrier, and she hasn’t done anything wrong…” There was a silent pause before John seemed to change demeanour and looked directly into Moira’s eyes. “If any one of you hurt her, I’ll make you regret it.” As the sentence left his lips, John's eyes widened. “I, uhm, I mean… Uh, just, don’t hurt her… please?”

John’s babbling continued but Moira was dumbstruck by John’s sudden change in tone, not only that she wasn’t used to people speaking to her in that manner. She grunted and cleared her throat as she shook the shock off. “You have my word that she will be unharmed.”

John walked towards the tent exit while Moira stood staring at the space John previously occupied. “Uh, thanks… I’m going to just say bye to her before leaving.”

Moira turned, nodding and following as John walked towards the tent Alison was in. She’d gotten out of bed and was currently sitting in the lone chair of the tent. Upon John’s entering her eyes lit up and she ran to him, threw her arms around him and hugged against him tightly.

“Hey, sorry I took so long. Listen, Moira says she needs to talk to you and promised me that she’d make sure you get home safe. I would really like to stay but I really need to get somewhere, it’s kinda urgent,” John said as he stroked Alison’s hair. “Do me a favour, make sure you text me when you get out of the barrier and tell me you’re alright, then text me when you get home so that I know you’re safe, alright?”

“Can’t y-y-you st-st-stay? P-p-please?” Alison begged.

John gently pushed her back, bringing his hand up to brush her mossy hair out of her eyes. “I want to, but I’m going to be cutting it close already, I promise we’ll get together soon.”

Alison gave a sad smile and nodded. “O-o-okay… I g-g-guess I-I’ll see y-you in sch-school tom-morrow.”

John leaned in and kissed Alison’s cheek. “Yeah, I’d like to say that we could get lunch together but we know how that’d go.” He laughed. “Make sure you text me, alright? I’ll see you later.”

John turned to Moira who nodded at him before he walked to exit the tent, hearing a very quiet, “Bye, John,” from Alison.

Once out of the tent he brought up the barrier skill and exited. Luckily John was closer to Ancient Wisdom than he’d expected, and began walking in that direction.

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