Today’s the day! Force propels me out of bed. Fine metal thread wraps around my day clothes and pulls them to me. Messy hair is swiftly tamed. Teeth brushed. Water splashes my face. Brr. A flare of fire heats and dries. Toasty.

  I run out of my room and stumble through the door to the kitchen.

  “If you break the door again,” Mom says, “you are making and installing a new one by yourself.”

  “I would never, Mother Dearest.”

  She narrows her eyes at me.

  Must. Not. Laugh.

  Then she gestures at the set table, starting to smile.

  Phew.

  I sit down and begin shoveling breakfast into my mouth. Mmm, pancakes.

  “Slow down.”

  The approximation of ‘No time!’ is fantastically articulated.

  “There’s more than enough time.”

  I drain my cocoa with greedy gulps, sighing after. “Not today!”

  Mom looks at me with one of those looks moms across the world have perfected. A mixture between ‘You are my little baby. I’ll never let you go’ and ‘Listen here, you idiot’. Mostly the second one. “Mi’Min.”

  Gulp. “You are absolutely correct, Mom. More than enough time.” I start eating slow and proper-like.

  She stops hovering around me and sits too. Uh-oh. The look is now firmly in the first. “I wasn’t talking just about your table manners.”

  “...I know.”

  “Will you be careful?”

  “Yes. I promise.” I add the ‘again’ in my mind.

  “Dad wanted to see you off. Go by his office, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  I finish my breakfast under her watchful gaze and giving uncountable reassurances. She does not let me go without a long hug, though.

  Once I am out of her sight, I make a mad dash for the battle room.

  “Inspection!” I shout as I burst through another door. Not my fault it’s so satisfying.

  Dad is looking mightily unimpressed, turning away from a group of monitors and at me. “Mi’Min, darling, please have mercy on your father. It’s way too early for such loud noises.”

  I whisper out, making sure to still convey the urgency, “Inspection!”

  “What are you inspecting?”

  My critical gaze sweeps across the whole room, eyes squinting at random items. A finger tests the surface of his desk for dust. I blow imaginary particles away. “Could use some more work. But as we are buddies, you and I, I’ll pass you.”

  Dad shakes his head and stands up. I wrap my arms around him. And so does he.

  “Mom had you promise to be careful?” he asks.

  “Yep.”

  “I trust you, Mi’Min. And... I’m proud of you.”

  “Mmm. Thanks, Dad.”

  He continues to hold onto me. I have no idea how long we’ll be here, because I am not letting go first.

  Eventually, Dad has to go back to doing whatever it is he’s doing today. Spreadsheets? Probably the safest guess.

  I give him a final wave and run out of the room. Shoes on. Blink away.

  After a few seconds, the door I’ve appeared in front of opens.

  “Ready for carnage?” Lucius asks.

  “The blood will flow!”

  We start making unintelligible, aggressive noises at each other.

  Elisa sighs behind him, trying to conceal a grin. “Dummies, the both of you.”

  We agree by making some more unintelligible noises at her.

  She gives Lucius a kiss on the cheek and both blush a little. Squee! How can you be so cute!

  One of, if not the most powerful magic users to have ever lived clears her throat with a haughty ‘ahem’, attempting to ignore my grinning face and wiggling eyebrows.

  “Happy hunting,” she says. I nod resolutely. “I’ll be evaluating your performance after.”

  My eyes shut and I take in a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. “No fair.”

  “Yes fair,” she counters. “Your parents asked for it.”

  Wait... “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  Lucius and Elisa smile at me.

  “Happy hunting,” Elisa says again.

  I wrap them in a hug. “I’ll do my best!”

  “I don’t need your best,” Lucius softly says. “Just be true to yourself, like always.”

  A muffled ‘mm-hmm’ makes its way out.

  Goodbyes said, Lucius and I blink away together.

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  Violet. White puffs abound.

  “Unscouted,” Lucius says. “Me first.” I nod an affirmative. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Looking at the looming gate in front of me, I hardly give it any attention, nothing but a single step, even if it is the first. What I am focused on is the person standing next to me. My teacher, my friend, someone I’ve known for most of my life... family. So why does he feel so big right now? Like I can’t even fit all of him in my vision.

  I know why, of course. Because I want to live up to the expectations I’ve set for myself. To truly stand next to him. My mind is only showing me the enormous undertaking. Is it actually possible? If it isn’t, I’ll make it possible.

  “Ready.”

  Lucius touches the boundary, disappearing out of existence.

  Mr. Whiskers equips himself around me. Waves of intent brush against my mind, sounding like a steady purr, carrying with them utmost devotion and desire to protect. The intent directed at the gate makes me picture him all hissing and hackles raised. Who’s a good boy? You are! Yes you are! Purring turns to shaking vibration. I giggle to myself.

  Game face on, Mr. Whiskers.

  We growl in tandem.

  Hand plunges into oblivion. I am yanked to a new world.

  What do we have here...

  Muted lightning flashes inside angry clouds, illuminating a stormy tapestry. Weather anomalies? None detected. But my software suite and my magical senses will continue probing for any changes.

  Atmosphere? Breathable. No airborne pathogens, nor any other surprises. Temperature is also in the safe range.

  I am standing on a rocky plateau. There are five hundred and eighty-two others. Each island in the sky is connected to those around it by rickety bridges, constructed out of rotting wood and frayed rope. Everywhere else is a foggy abyss. Depth? Unknown. Designate hazard area.

  Between the flaky gray stones of the plateaus, there are weathered bones strewn about. Number of monsters? Unknown. Estimate from what we have available? Just over ten thousand. Boss location? Unknown. Core location? Unknown.

  Likely in the upper levels of F-grade.

  Alright, initial analysis done.

  A needle shatters an inert skull. All remaining bones on my plateau shudder and start forming into full skeletons. The same needle digs itself out of the rock and streaks for another skull. The monster loses its head, returning to inertness. Same process repeats itself until I am the only one standing.

  Overconfidence, Mi’Min, overconfidence. I take a deep breath and hold it. When any further becomes uncomfortable, I slowly let it out. Okay. Treat this delve as the real deal. No holding back. ...But, uh, conserve energy.

  Space opens and places me on the neighboring sky island.

  Petals gently float around my armored form, glinting much more than Mr. Whiskers’ currently matte surface. Before bones can take shape into monsters, they are reduced to dust. Its task finished, the frenzy of metal disperses, no extra mana drained out of my supply.

  Next island.

  I stomp on a skull. A skeleton leaps at my side. A forearm strike shatters it. A tail strike another. The rest quickly follow similar fate. No tempering necessary just yet, pure bio—and normal—engineering on display.

  Next island.

  ***

  “I’m taking a break, Lucius,” I say in our voice channel.

  He appears a step in front of me. “Here?”

  “Safe zone.”

  “If you say so,” he cryptically mutters.

  I remove my helmet and pout at him. “Stop messing with me.”

  “Not ‘messing’. ‘Testing’. You have to always keep a cool head, no matter the situation,” he says, acting all snooty. I try to match the intensity of Mom’s disapproving glare. “...Maybe a little.” He then attempts to distract me. “Elisa made us sandwiches.”

  It works. “Tea party!”

  He warps in a couple of chairs and a table. A woven basket full of wrapped delights is placed on top. And so is my subtly requested drink of choice.

  As Lucius takes a seat, he says, “You’re pacing yourself better than I expected.”

  I mumble out an Earth saying, ‘Self-control is my middle name’, while my mark is halfway stuffed in my mouth.

  He smiles and starts laughing. “If it was up to me, we’d be cracking heads in high grades right about now.”

  After a laborious swallow, it’s my turn to laugh. “If it was up to you, I wouldn’t see the inside of a dungeon. Ever.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Stop being so cryptic!”

  “That’s an integral part of what makes me ‘me’. Do you really want to take it away?”

  “Yes.”

  He swoons in his chair. “Your cruelty knows no bounds, my avaricious Apprentice.”

  “Drama queen.”

  “So true, bestie.”

  ***

  Sandwiches utterly demolished, Lucius disappears back into the shadows—or whatever it is he’s doing to be stealthy—and I continue the delve.

  Island after island is conquered. As the latest is cleansed of blight, sensors and senses catch a change. Rope snaps, wood cracking, bridges tumble into the mist below. A path is laid out for me. How thoughtful.

  What did we say about overconfidence, Mi’Min? Keep cool.

  Space folds and unfolds, bringing me to my eventual destination earlier than might be polite. The hosts are ready, though.

  A Lesser Skeleton Mage boss is surrounded by warriors. It prepares a spell, guards ready to do just so.

  ‘Kitty Mode’.

  Deep crimson metal envelopes me, fuses with my form, with my mind. I stand on four clawed paws, a long tail swiftly swishing, sharp fangs showing.

  The skeleton warriors have no time to react, cleaved into pieces by a red streak. Mage is now alone, fireball forming and nearly ready to launch.

  Okay, just like you practiced. But what if I fail? What if he deems me weak... unworthy. Mr. Whiskers makes a pitiful mew. Yeah, he never will.

  Remember what Mara and Ery said, to not think of it as an external manipulation or internal mastery but a harmony between.

  A conceptual breath in. My awareness expands. A conceptual breath out. The world shrinks.

  ‘Colossus Mode’.

  A deep crimson fist comes down upon the boss, pulverizing the monster as it craters the stone beneath. The plateau cracks into multiple chunks but does not collapse.

  When a mana crystal appears somewhere down the hole, so does Lucius. “That’s a new one,” he says. Not from inside the hole, though.

  I make my greatest gremlin giggle, now back to default mode. “Learned from the best.”

  He shakes his head and smiles. “Go on out while I have my talk.”

  “Boo! At least tell me how I did first.”

  “Shoo, shoo.” He complements the rudeness with the accompanying gesture.

  Grumble, grumble. Stupid Lucius. Grumble, grumble.

  “I heard that,” he says.

  “No you didn’t! I mean... I didn’t say anything!” I run through the gate out. Lucius sends me a vaguely threatening emoji.

  Now in the outside world, I drop to the grass and take off my helmet, placing it in front of me. What did you think, Mr. Whiskers? Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. Hmm. I don’t think I did that well, but I appreciate the encouragement.

  Some time later, Lucius steps out too, catching me laying down and smelling a pretty flower. I row over and wave my arm around. He walks up to me and grabs it, pulling me up.

  “Thanks.”

  “‘s alright.”

  “How did I do?”

  “‘s alright.”

  “Grumble, grumble, grumble.”

  He smiles. “How do you think you did?”

  I prepare to say something, but air refuses to leave my lungs. My shoulders drop. Then I offer with a meek shrug, “‘s alright?” I dismiss a ping. “I know I have a lot to work on, like my power—” I dismiss another ping. “And my spell diversity.” Ping. Who keeps sending these? “And—” Ping. Can you stop! My attention is briefly shifted to actually read the text. ...Uh?

  “Congratulations, Mi’Min. You are now an adventurer.” He extends his hand. “I look forward to—” His words are interrupted when I crash into him and hug tight.

  “Always with the drama.”

  “You love it,” he says. We hold the hug for a while longer and then let go. He continues, voice serious yet still warm, “But there’s a caveat. We start nice and easy. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. Hungry?”

  “Yeah. New mode’s a guzzler.”

  “I imagine. Got an impressed whistle out my mana senses.”

  “Really! A whistle? Heh. And so, the apprentice surpasses—” Lucius picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, delaying his dethronement but graciously offering to ferry me around instead. “To food, my majestic steed!”

  A warp drops us next to an already prepared feast and a gathered group.

  ***

  Lingering excitement keeps my eyes open and my mind unable to welcome sleep. ...How much I ate probably doesn’t help, either.

  I really did it. Like really. Maybe I can’t fall asleep because I already am, and I’ll wake up soon, everything that happened today being a pleasant dream. I flop over. Only the first step, Mi’Min. A lot more are yet to be taken, Mi’Min. I flop over again. But... Adventurer! Aaa! I flop over a third time. Yes, adventurer. Where a single failure is all you need. And all you will get. A fourth flop is deemed too much effort. Okay, now I feel it. Eyes shut by themselves. Mind grows quiet. Just be true to myself, right? I can do that.

  As I finally drift off, I wonder, what awaits tomorrow?