As far as I can tell, the combat trial involves the participants fighting gradually more dangerous opponents, to finally combat each other. Hunter was pretty busy overlooking the matches, and those participants not actively fighting had split into their parties and taken seats on the other side of the gallery. This meant that Gecko and I had both space and time to just hang out.

“And what happened then?” I ask as I check through various parts of the divine framework thing.

“I didn’t want to refuse, so I stayed with him for, like… Three attempts or so? Taught me everything about crafting jewelry, and even more so about how to inscribe them. Did you know that most mages only learn the fundamentals of the spell, and leave it to the written grimark to get the specifics right?”

“That’s crazy,” I mutter. “But what about when they use, like, wands and staffs?”

“For those, you need to know the full spell, but some people do actually get the grimarks engraved directly into the material. However, from what I can tell, these aren’t actually used like normal spellbands. They don’t instantly create the spellcircle that transfigures the divinity, but rather act as personal notes for the mage themselves. But, again, it depends. I saw a guy who had a bunch of rings hung on his staff, which he could use to cast magic instantly. It was insane.”

“So it was like the rings on those, uhhh…” I scratch my cheek. “You know. The Japanese monks? I’m pretty sure they have staffs with rings in them.”

“Oh, no, no, not like that, this was more…”

As she continues talking, I return my attention to what Simon’s up to. It’s… pretty interesting.

{::`H´::};

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a spider with such a determined-looking face. All things considered, though, it seems pretty worthwhile.

Shards: 3.

Total divinity: §//3.

Origin: God of Kings.>

Hmm. Does the framework have anything on the god of kings?

Formerly Gunut XVIII

Prime God of planet Crown II,

Spire (formerly Sororia), and Throne (formerly Jie).

His rule currently entails zero (0) sapient subjects.

Total divinity: X3§.>

Data inaccessible.

Insufficient authority.>

Ah, right. Should have guessed. Anyways, back to the shards of divinity stuck in my heart.

{::w::}/!

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Please hold…>

“Why’d you leave?” I ask her.

She chuckles. “Sometimes, I ask myself the same thing. I guess… After the way I joined the tutorial, it felt hard to trust someone like that again.”

I glance at her, eyes still on the messages. “But… you learned to trust again?”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice filled with indescribable relief. “I did, in the end.”

I can’t help myself. In a small voice, I mutter, “I hope I won’t ruin that.”

Unfortunately, she heard me. She laughs lightly—like silver bells. “Trust is a two-way street, you know. You aren’t wrong for trusting someone, but… It should all be within reason. Being overly suspicious out of fear means you miss out on connections. And… In my life… That’s always been something I’ve regretted. I’ve always been bad at that—making friends and all. Talking first… I’m terrible at it.” She smiles warmly. “That’s why I was so glad that you came up to me.”

“You still pointed at me with all five claws,” I shoot back, but she takes it as the joke it is.

“I never said I was all better, totally and completely. I still have my kinks. A few nuts and bolts, rattling around in here.” She knocks her fist against her head. “But just because I’ve still got ways to go doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten anywhere. I’m better now than before. Heck, half a year back, if I’d spotted you stumbling up to me, I wouldn’t have given any warning.”

“Good thing I wouldn’t have died,” I reply. “But… I’m glad to hear that you’re better. Getting better… it’s not easy, exactly.”

“Getting better fucking sucks,” she says, before I can finish my thought. “You have to become a new person, all the while talking to people who don’t understand why you want to change, and then, to boot, you have to listen to a bunch of smart-asses giving shitty advice, like ‘have you tried dieting?’ or ‘have you tried thinking before you act?’ all the while not shooting them in the face. And you know what’s worse?”

“I’ve got a hunch.”

She grins, in equal parts joy and disbelief. “They’re usually right! Which sucks even worse, because, sure, it’s good for me, it gives good results, but it sure as heck isn’t as easy as they make it out to be. Like, ‘Oh, yeah, Mom, I’ll just go to school and smile and pretend not to like anything I actually like and then I’ll finally make friends, thanks for the advice.’ Pssht. Sure, it might help, but I still don’t…”

A thought strikes me. “How old are you, anyways?”

Brought out of her rant, her face scrunches up. “That’s, um… Well, I’ve been in the tutorial for like a year and a half now, and I was eighteen when I joined, so…” She tilts her head. “Almost twenty?”

I feel some core emotion drain out of my ears. “You’re… younger than me?”

She blinks back at me. “Wait. Seriously? Are you older than me?!”

“I—I’m only, like, twenty! Or, wait…” I count on my fingers. Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty… “Ah. Shoot. I might be twenty-one.”

“You’re twenty-one?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe! I was keeping track, but things have been hectic lately, so… Is it June? My birthday is June 28th, so…”

“Do you count the attempt we spent on Earth as a day or as a month?”

“How am I supposed to—” I shake my head wildly, weighing the options in my hands. “Maybe? Maybe not? It’s—argh, whatever! I don’t feel like a twenty-one year old, so I’m not. And that’s that!”

“Um, in that case…” She looks down at her lap. “How old do you feel?”

“How old do I…?” I close my mouth. To reach the answer doesn’t take much time. The difficult thing is saying it. “Seventeen,” I say, weakly. “I feel seventeen.”

“Right?” she says, looking back up at me. “I feel eighteen. It’s been a year and a half, and I don’t feel a day older.”

“It’s not like our bodies are growing,” I say. “I haven’t grown a single hair on my chin all this time. My body is still the same. But, even more than that…”

I can tell by the look in her eye that she knows exactly what page I’m on. “Socially, nothing’s changed,” she says. “I was still thinking about what to do for college when all of this happened. So, I just… didn’t.”

“I haven’t finished high school,” I admit. “Guys my age in Sweden are heading off to university, or doing military service, or getting jobs.”

“Moving away from home, becoming self-sufficient…”

“Having partners and pets,” I continue. “But, over here… Doing this…”

“We’re like the kids from Peter Pan, never growing up.”

I nod. “Even if it takes fifty years to beat this tutorial, I’ll still feel like I do now. I’ll still be seventeen years old.”

“So…” She smirks, leaning in closer. “Does that mean I’ll be older than you?”

I push her away. “No way! Face it, tiger—I’m the oldest one around, which means that… That…” I frown. What is it older people are supposed to do? “When the time comes, I’ll be the first to retire, and while you’re slaving away at your minimum-wage job, you’ll have to watch me cruising by on my yacht!”

“If you do that, I’m throwing harpoons at you.”

“You’d never hit me, though. I got camouflage!"

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

A message blips in the corner of my vision.

{>>w<<};/!

Would you like to assimilate

Shards of divinity?>