Andrew let out a groan of relief, dropping out of his state of self examination as his Class level increased to eleven. Only having tier four skills to work with was both a blessing and a curse. The obvious benefit was that when you were working at the level the skill expected of you, you leveled fast. The downside was that getting to the level expected of you was a bitch. His navigation skill didn't give a fuck if he wandered through dungeons for hours on end. That's what he was supposed to do. If he wanted to level using it, he needed to get lost in something like the Great Forest and find his way out, or make his way through a true labyrinth of a dungeon. For his movement skill, he needed to fight against something that could actually threaten him and for his self examination skill, he needed to search deep within himself, both physically and psychologically. Which was why it took him four days of almost constant meditation to get to the point of actually pushing the skill's limits, finally gaining the experience he needed to level up.

Meanwhile, Greg and Thomas were practically flying through their early levels, quickly approaching their Class Advancement. Andrew was actually a little envious of how quickly they'd taken to the inner sight skills. Greg was a natural at Introspect, though he weirdly had trouble with Rest (How hard was it to just sit still and relax?) and he quickly got Concentrate and Observe to a decent level. Thomas, on the other hand, was decent with Introspect and Rest, excelled at Concentrate and struggled with Observe. Additionally, he was already accustomed to regular meditation, and once he got Concentrated Examination, his difficulties disappeared. He just seemed to have issues with the general nature of Observe, the awareness side, rather than the study side, so once that was no longer an issue, he was fine. Other than inner sight, Thomas was focusing on weapons skills, specifically blades, clearly going for a warrior type Class, while Greg was looking into crafting focused skills. Since he could literally make materials out of pretty much nothing, he figured it'd be a waste not to take advantage of it.

As for Chris… Well, he was struggling. First, he had trouble actually getting the energy he needed to level up, because in order to do that, he'd need to go to a dungeon, and since he didn't have an official identity yet, that meant he'd need either Andrew or Quinn to take him, and they were usually busy. It wasn't until Quinn had to do another delve for her stream that he managed to grab a few dungeon creatures to drain. Secondly, after analyzing Quinn, getting access to her system, and training up his inner sight skills, he quickly discovered a problem: he only had access to skills she had learned. When he attempted to merge his skills, instead of a list of options, he could only choose what Quinn had chosen. Which meant he could only be whatever Quinn was, which… Well, Andrew didn't know the details, but Chris hadn't looked happy and Quinn had looked very embarrassed. Chris could still use the energy he gathered for Thomas's system though, so he wasn't completely out of luck.

Speaking of which, they were all taking full advantage of Thomas's system to get stronger, all their stats growing by the day. The only issue was that getting more than thirtyish points out of the daily tasks was pretty much impossible, even with Andrew's aura healing and Greg's multiple selves. The system seemed to operate on a mental level, so swapping out bodies didn't help. Once you hit your mental limit, you were done. "I'm actually kinda glad…" Thomas commented after they figured it out. "I thought I wasn't gaining any more points because I was lazy. Good to know it's actually a universal thing."

"At least it isn't Multiversal." Greg grumbled. "If I was stuck with thirty or so points across all the Worlds we're in…" He shook his head.

"Why is it separated by World though…" Chris asked thoughtfully.

"I don't think it's about the World, I think it's about us." Andrew replied. "Whatever the basis is for our… let's call it mental energy, it's separated between Worlds. I mean, my other self can be dog tired, completely mentally drained, and I'll be fine."

Greg nodded thoughtfully. "I have noticed that my awareness of my other selves is… diminished when they're in another World. It isn't to the point of them being completely separate, but… well, if the connection in the same World is like a hardline connection, then the connection between Worlds is like WiFi. Still there, but more… tenuous."

Chris nodded. "Good analogy. I was thinking it was like the difference between talking to someone face to face and a phone call."

"Or a text." Victoria offered.

"Kinda weird that we can be less connected to certain parts of ourselves than others." Andrew muttered.

"Eh?" Greg shrugged. "For humans, maybe, but there are plenty of animals out there with decentralized nervous systems, and this is kinda like that. Instead of one centralized brain, we have 'clusters' and each cluster gets its own World."

"I wouldn't say there are plenty of animals with decentralized nervous systems." Thomas frowned. "Isn't it just like octopuses or something?"

Greg blinked. "Well… I'm mostly getting it from this tentacled form I have… so maybe? Seems like it shouldn't be that uncommon though…" The conversation had devolved from that point as they focused on why Greg had a tentacled form and how that probably wasn't a good thing.

Andrew shook his head with a twisted grin. The longer he spent in that reflective state, the harder it was to break out of it. The thoughts simply continued to come. But it was time to focus! He had a skill point to spend. He took a deep breath, opening his status and concentrating on the skill point, opening the Class Skills page. A single option stared back at him: Essence Manipulation. Andrew blinked. Wasn't that what he'd needed to get the Class? Why would he have to buy it? He frowned for a moment, before it came to him. He had the Essence Manipulation ability, not the skill. They were two different things. Shaking his head, Andrew quickly bought the skill and closed his status. It was time to see what an Essence Master could really do.

*

"I think it's time we started exploring dungeons again." Andrew announced as they sat down for dinner, causing Quinn to look up in surprise.

"About time." Chris nodded in agreement. "I still need more energy."

"I could probably level up my race a bit." Greg shrugged. "More AP is always good."

"I am getting to the point where I need a good fight to level up." Thomas muttered.

Quinn's expression twisted as she shot Chris a look, before taking a deep breath and refocusing on Andrew. "Are you sure?"

Andrew nodded. "Turns out, my Essence Master skills require… participants, and it isn't something I'm willing to test on anyone I'm not comfortable fucking up on a fundamental level. I need dungeon creatures. Plus, we need to see what else I can create using my trait, and I have a lot more Energy to work with thanks to Thomas." He'd been sinking all his points into Energy, so he had just over two hundred Energy to work with now.

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Quinn shot Chris another look, and he sighed. "Remember what we talked about. Go through your thought process, find what's you and disregard the rest." Quinn nodded, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

"What was that about?" Thomas asked, looking between Chris and Quinn.

"We've been working on helping her disregard my influence." Chris explained with a shrug. "Gives us something to do while you guys are off working on your Classes."

Quinn opened her eyes a few moments later. "Okay. Drew needs a way to practice, I need to see how my skills interact with his trait, and providing everyone with a place to level up is a good idea. We should do it."

"Outstanding." Chris nodded, causing Quinn to shoot him another glare. "What? I'm not going to pretend I don't want you to do what I want you to do. That would defeat the point."

Quinn grunted in unwilling agreement. "Still, there's the issue of actually getting you guys to the dungeon."

"You go to the dungeon, I open a portal, we all walk out. What's so hard about that?" Chris raised an eyebrow at her.

Quinn blinked. "I- forgot about that. Then… tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Chris nodded.

Andrew frowned. "Hey, when did these become your plans?"

Chris paused. "Well, I did say we were working on avoiding my influence."

*

Quinn got them a spot in another random level five dungeon, heading there herself before signaling Chris when she was ready, a portal opening and the four of them stepping out. "So, what are we dealing with this time? More rats? Water tunnels?" Andrew asked, looking around and blinking. "This is a forest."

"Yes, this is the ape dungeon." Quinn explained. "Generally considered on the more dangerous end of low level dungeons, since the apes travel in larger packs and have a higher Agility than most dungeon creatures, making them tricky to pin down. It's easy to get swarmed in here."

"Oh good. You've given us a challenge." Thomas chuckled, pulling out a pair of daggers.

"I mean, they're still rank one level fives. With your class levels, plus the points we've been getting, they shouldn't be a problem." Andrew shrugged. "More dangerous is a relative term."

"Dude, you're being a real buzzkill right now." Thomas frowned at him.

"Why are you so excited for a fight?" Greg asked, poking him. "You're stepping on my shtick."

"I am perfectly capable of enjoying a good fight!" Thomas protested. "What's the point of having these skills if you can't use them?"

"Hm." Greg narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, before shrugging. "Fair enough. Let's go kill some apes then!" He chuckled evilly, throwing an arm over Thomas's shoulder.

Thomas sighed. "Why did you have to make it weird?"

"Okay!" Quinn clapped her hands. "This is a field dungeon, so feel free to spread out. The mobs could be hiding anywhere, so we'll need to do some searching. Another reason this dungeon is considered difficult. High risk, high effort, low reward."

"Want to help me capture a few?" Chris asked her.

Quinn froze, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, muttering to herself. "There's no benefit in me helping the others, we shouldn't start experimenting with Andrew's trait until this dungeon is clear, you're weaker than the others because you had a later start… I'd rather go with Drew… but he'll be fine. You need me more… ugh." Quinn opened her eyes, her expression twisting. "Fine, I'll help you."

"So are you going to do that every time he asks you to do something?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Quinn flushed. "It- helps." She nodded. "Whenever I can, to go through my thought process… the influence is still there, obviously, but… being mindful of why I'm making my decisions helps remind me that I'm still me, not just who he wants me to be."

Greg frowned at her. "See, it's statements like that that keep me going back and forth on this whole 'connect everyone I love to Chris's world' thing."

Quinn frowned back. "It's a difficult thing. For someone to have that much influence over you… I may have exaggerated a bit. It isn't that it erodes your sense of self, it's more… your sense of agency. The idea that you're in control of what you do and how you live your life. Sure, it's limited, but… if he pushes me a little here, a little there… how long until I'm exactly where he wants me to be? How much can I adjust to if I'm simply… eased into it? Which is why it helps to be mindful of the pushing."

Greg continued to frown. "That- doesn't make me feel any more comfortable."

"If it helps, I have no interest in turning anyone into anything." Chris pointed out. "I'm perfectly happy with the way things are."

"He's not lying." Quinn agreed. "Though it doesn't exactly make things better. It actually makes things trickier, because he always asks you to do things you're already inclined to do, since he knows what you'll want to do, because why would he ask someone to do something if he knew they wouldn't want to do it, which means you have both the inclination and this pressure pushing you to do what he asks, and they get all mixed up making you question every decision you've ever made and-"

"Breathe." Chris interjected.

Quinn paused, taking a deep breath before shooting a glare at him. "Like that!" She growled. "I knew I was getting worked up and needed to calm down, but did I do it because I wanted to or because he wanted me to?"

Chris shrugged. "I think both is a perfectly valid answer, but she disagrees."

"Of course I disagree! If I just accept they're one and the same, how can I know when it's me or you?!?" Quinn protested.

Chris shook his head. "If it's both, then does the distinction really matter? If it's something you want to do, then do it, what does it matter if you get a little help from me? The important point is when you don't want to do it. If you find my influence pushing you to do things you don't want to do, that's a problem. If it's pushing you to do what you already want to do, then who cares?"

"I care!" Quinn retorted. "I want my motivations to be mine and mine alone!"

"And I keep telling you that that isn't how life works." Chris replied. "Even without me, all your decisions are influenced, by the World, by the people around you, by events, everything. You can't expect to live your life free of influence. You simply have to account for it, and adjust. What we need to determine is if my influence is undue, not if it's avoidable."

Quinn shook her head. "Your influence is different! It's too… present!"

"Only because you keep yourself constantly aware of it." Chris countered.

"Because I can't ignore it!" Quinn snapped back.

"Okay, I think we get it." Thomas interjected, waving his hands in a calming motion. "We have a dungeon to clear, remember?"

"Right." Quinn sighed. "Come on, let's go." She walked off, Chris following after.

"Want to see who can get the most?" Thomas asked, turning to the other two.

Andrew shook his head. "I'm going to focus on practicing with my new skill."

"I'm down." Greg smirked as his smoke billowed out to form into a dozen fairies who immediately flitted off to search.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Thomas protested.

"Get gud, scrub!" Greg retorted with a laugh as he dashed off.

"Then I'll just follow you!" Thomas raced after him, leaving Andrew behind, scratching his head.