Victoria was slowly getting the hang of focusing on her Rune while she did other things. Throughout her daily exercises, the only time she'd lost her focus was when Greg showed up and jolted her out of it. Disregarding how completely unfair it was that the man could fly now, what had convinced him it was a good idea to visit her at the castle!?! Did he want to cause problems for her?!? Victoria paused, beginning to scowl. Knowing Greg, he just might. Victoria shook her head as she continued to her room. The point was that since she felt she had a pretty good handle on her Rune, she wanted to try cultivating again, to see if she could keep it going while she compressed the energy in her core.

As soon as she got to her room, Victoria got comfortable and began to meditate, maintaining her focus on her Design Rune as she gathered all the pressure from her Runescape and focused it on her Spirit core. Her concentration wobbled a few times, losing either the Rune or the pressure for a moment, but she could feel herself approaching a balance, and suddenly… it clicked, and energy began to flow into her Spirit core! "Yes!" Victoria exclaimed in triumph, only to curse as she immediately lost the balance. It took her another minute or so to find it again, this time controlling her excitement as she focused on her cultivation, though she couldn't keep the grin from tugging at her lips.

"Victoria-" Beatrice called for her as she entered the room.

"Beatrice, I did it!" Victoria immediately exclaimed, jumping to her feet and pulling her into a hug. "I figured out how to compress my core and cultivate at the same time!"

"Congratulations, you've managed to pass the easiest bottleneck of cultivation." Obanonos commented sarcastically, managing to clap without any arms.

Victoria glared at the snake. "It's still an accomplishment." She grumbled.

Beatrice snickered, hugging her back and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. "I'm proud of you, but I think you're forgetting something."

Victoria blinked. "I am?"

Beatrice nodded. "It's Sunday."

Victoria cocked her head. "So?"

"Victoria, it's Sunday." Beatrice continued insistently.

Victoria frowned. "Did- did we schedule a date or something?" She asked hesitantly.

"No!" Beatrice groaned, burying her face in her hands. "You have your meeting with Horace! He's already waiting for you!"

Victoria's eyes widened. "Oh!" She then paused, frowning again. "Oh." She sighed. "I should never have agreed to that."

"But you did, so chop chop! We can't keep the big bad Unification Realm Cultivator waiting!" Beatrice urged her to get moving.

"Yeah, yeah." Victoria grumbled, getting up and fixing her clothes. "Stupid Horace. Interrupting my cultivation." She muttered as she stomped out of the room.

Victoria made her way down to the room she met with Horace in, her annoyance only growing as she stalked down the halls. So far, Horace had been more of a bother than a help. Sure, he'd told her a few secrets about how energy worked, teaching her how to imbue it with intent and use it to strength her body, but she could learn all that from Obanonos, and using Horace as a cover wasn't worth his attempts to worm his way into her life! If he didn't behave himself today, she was done with him. She didn't care what agreement they had.

"Ah, Lady Victoria!" Horace looked up from studying something in his hand, standing to his feet and giving her a bow. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about me." He chuckled.

"I did, but Beatrice reminded me." Victoria replied with a shrug, glancing at his hand and frowning as she noticed Greg's smoke, which momentarily turned into a hand and waved at her, causing her to scowl. "Where did you get that?" She growled, glaring at the smoke, resisting the urge to give Greg the finger.

Horace paused, lifting his hand. "A strange man- ah, right, you and Greg know each other, don't you?"

Victoria sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Yes, well, he gave me some of his smoke… I'm not exactly sure what to make of it, actually." Horace coughed awkwardly. "It appears to be almost completely inert, ignoring all my attempts to interact with it." He took out some Spirit threads and poked at the smoke, moving it slightly but otherwise getting no reaction.

"It's smoke. It doesn't do anything until Greg wants it to do something." Victoria shook her head. "He probably just gave it to you to mess with you. That's kinda what he does."

"I barely mess with people!" Greg protested as the smoke turned into a fairy, causing Horace to yelp. "He asked for the smoke! I figured why not give it to him. Who knows, maybe he'd actually figure something out? I didn't realize he was coming here to see you though… I guess I am visiting you again." He shrugged.

"Because you are the smoke!" Victoria countered. "Would you give someone your hair if they asked?!?"

Greg paused. "Probably? I mean, it's just hair."

"What- how- you're- you're alive!" Horace exclaimed, poking the tiny fairy.

"Hey!" Greg slapped his finger. "Hands off, buddy!" He chastised him, flying over to land on Victoria's shoulder. "What're you doing with this dude anyway?"

"He's teaching me about cultivation and in exchange I'm teaching him about Earth." Victoria replied.

"You're teaching him about Earth?" Greg raised an eyebrow at her. "Like what, electricity? Planes? Guns? Capitalism?"

"It's more cultural, but that stuff does come up, yes." Victoria nodded.

"Wait, you're from this Earth as well?" Horace blinked, looking between the two of them. "Is that how you know each other?"

Greg and Victoria shared a look. "Something like that, yes." Victoria nodded.

"And if you're trying to learn about Earth…" Greg commented, diving into a nearby chair and consuming it, before creating a large book in front of him. "Tada! Andrew's book for history class! I mean, New Zealand history, but close enough, eh?"

"Hey! Don't eat the furniture!" Victoria snapped, swatting at the fairy.

Horace picked up the book, opening it and frowning. "I- can't read this." He muttered, looking up at them.

"Ah, shit, right." Greg muttered. "Language barrier… wait, how are you understanding me now?" He asked, cocking his head. "What language am I speaking? Does the universal translation trait work through my smoke?"

"Well, you're still connected to your other self, and he can understand people, so why can't you?" Victoria shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but I think the point is more that they understand me." Greg frowned. "Feels weird. I mean, I can't usually use abilities from my other selves."

"Yes, but those are energy abilities. This is a mental ability. All your selves share the same mind, or at least the same mental energy, so…" Victoria waved vaguely, letting him connect the rest of the dots.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Greg nodded, before turning back to Horace. "Sorry, no book for you." He turned the book back into smoke, taking it back. "Guess you just have to listen to Victoria drone on and on about barely remembered historical facts."

"Wait, hold on, bring it back!" Victoria snapped her fingers at him as she had an idea. Greg raised an eyebrow at her, but did as she asked, making the book again. Victoria sent out her points to cover the book, scanning it as she tapped into her Design Rune's communication aspect, designing a new book with all the information translated into Callowan, and ten points later, a second book sat on the table. "Ha! Translation! Boo-ya!"

Greg clapped politely. "Bravo, well done."

Horace took the book, beginning to leaf through it. "This- this is amazing! A whole history from another world!"

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"So we can call it square on my side of our deal?" Victoria commented, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, yes, of course." Horace nodded, putting the book aside. "Shall we move to cultivation?"

Victoria nodded. "As long as you don't try to push me into getting a Qi Rune again."

Horace's expression twisted. "I-" Victoria glared at him for a moment, and he coughed awkwardly. "Yes, well, uh… so, um, the biggest thing you need to focus on is developing your intents. Deepening your understanding of whatever aspect you wish to imbue it with. The better you understand the intent, the more flexibility you'll have in its implementation. Let's take iron for example. The basic implementation of an iron intent is, as you previously demonstrated, to make your skin like iron. However, with a deeper understanding of iron intent, you can focus on individual aspects, such as sturdiness, and imbue it into Spirit threads, making them more difficult to break. The key is to not simply focus on the structure, but to focus on what iron means."

Victoria nodded. That made sense. The more you understood a concept, the more applications you could find for it. "So, I should focus on studying iron then."

"Well…" Horace hesitated. "You could, but it's best to build off the foundation your Runes provide. Why start from scratch when you have a perfectly good foundation to build off of? That, or I could teach you some of my intents. I have a decent understanding of fire and air, though my primary intent is culture."

"Culture?" Greg cocked his head. "How does that work as an intent?"

"It's a higher intent, based on my Tri-Rune." Horace explained. "It- well, it's more multifaceted and harder to pin down. My first insight into it was pervasiveness, the fact that culture pervades a society, to the point that it's practically inseparable, which is why I felt the need to leave. In order to study culture, I needed to leave my own, or I wouldn't be able to truly see."

"Okay, but how do you make your energy… cultural?" Greg asked, still confused.

"Ah, well, my energy provides a foundation of mutual understanding between individuals." Horace replied. "A sort of… universal inclusiveness, I suppose you could call it, grouping people together, giving them a shared sense of belonging."

Greg blinked. "Neat."

"So, what kind of intent could I draw from Bladework or Design?" Victoria asked, frowning slightly.

"For Bladework, the obvious intent is the blade, is it not?" Horace replied. "Your Rune should give you the foundation to turn some aspect of your energy into a blade, usually creating one from your essence like your armor pattern. From there, you can focus on sharpness, or… well, I'm not an expert of the blade, but I'm sure there are many aspects to choose from. As for Design… Well, again, your intent is design. Basic Runes are simple like that. Your bigger issue is going to be figuring out how Design and Bladework fit together for your Dual Rune."

Victoria blinked. "Pardon?"

"You didn't know?" Horace paused. "Dual Runes are formed by combining your understanding of two Basic Runes. And then Tri-Rune's are formed by combining your understanding of three Dual-Runes. And you can't simply push them together, you have to understand how the two connect and support each other."

Greg sighed. "See, that part sounds interesting! All this sitting around just focusing on a Rune… bleh!" He paused, glancing at Horace. "You know a way to be more active with this Rune stuff?"

Horace blinked. "Uh… well, you could try to form your intent without the Rune, though… that seems unnecessarily difficult. However, as long as you form a decent understanding of the subject… it should be possible?"

Greg raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? So all I need to do is figure out how to terrorize people on my own, and I don't need to spend my whole day sitting on my ass?"

Horace shook his head. "No, it isn't about understanding how to-" He cut off with a blink. "Wait, terrorize?!? Why do you have a Terrorize Rune?!?"

"I know! It's ridiculous!" Greg threw up his hands in exasperation.

Horace stared at him incredulously, before shaking his head. "A-anyway, knowledge of how isn't the key to a Rune, it's making that Rune a part of who you are. Not simply a person who designs, but a designer, not a person who uses a blade, but a blademaster. Otherwise it isn't an intent, it's just knowledge."

"So… I have to become a terrorizer?" Greg's expression twisted. "Damn it, why do all these Worlds seem so intent on making me a damn villain!"

"Have you considered it's a you problem?" Victoria suggested with a snicker.

"It isn't my fault my laugh is evil! That's just how it comes out!" Greg exclaimed, throwing up his hands again.

*

"Victoria, why am I hearing that another man dropped into your courtyard this morning?" Melissa asked, raising an eyebrow at her as they sat down for dinner that night, and Albert looked up sharply, fixing Victoria with a suspicious look.

Victoria groaned. "That was Greg. It's not- he's just a friend."

"You're making friends?" Maurice's eyebrows rose. "That's great!"

"But she's making friends with boys." Albert frowned.

"Her other self is a boy, dear." Melissa commented, patting his hand. Albert froze, before letting out a groan. He'd been trying to forget about that. Melissa turned back to Victoria. "So tell us about this Greg. If he knows about your… situation, you must be pretty close."

Victoria blinked. "Wait… you know about my other self?"

Melissa gave her an amused look. "Of course dear. Do you really think your father would hide something like that from me?"

"Then… the system?" Victoria asked hesitantly.

Melissa nodded. "That too."

"Victoria has another self?" Calvin asked with a frown. "What's the system?"

Everyone turned to blink at the boy. They'd completely forgotten he was there. "I'll explain everything later." Melissa assured him, before turning back to Victoria. "Now, this Greg?"

Victoria's expression twisted. "He's… well, he's Greg. He's like- have you ever met someone who is simultaneously one of the best and worst people you know? Like, if you fell and got hurt, he'd definitely help you, but he'd also be laughing, because your misery amuses him. Like he's a shitty friend, but a great guy, if that makes any sense."

"An interesting combination." Melissa muttered. "So, when do we get to meet him?"

Victoria froze. "Uh… I- I'm not sure that's a great idea. He's- well, he's not exactly polite, and… well, being respectful around nobility isn't exactly his thing."

"Victoria, this is your friend. We've dealt with commoners who don't think very highly of nobility before, and if putting up with a little impropriety is what it takes to get to know the person who has become so involved in our daughter's life, then it's worth it." Melissa declared.

Victoria gave her a skeptical look, before sighing. "Then I might as well introduce you to Andrew and Chris as well."

Albert blinked. "There are more?!?"

Victoria nodded. "We- kinda fell into a group together."

Maurice frowned. "I thought you were hunting with Ursa."

"I am." Victoria replied. "We just kinda got together and… well, we talk a lot."

"How did you meet these men?" Albert asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

Victoria hesitated. "We just kinda… I was just hanging out and then they were just there. We started talking, and we just… didn't stop." That was close enough to the truth, right?

"So are they Hunters as well?" He continued.

"No, they're barely even Cultivators yet. Freshly Awakened." Victoria replied.

"I take it you had something to do with that?" Melissa raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe a little…" Victoria coughed in embarrassment.

"Are you sure these men aren't just using you?" Melissa asked, a bit of concern creeping into her tone.

Victoria couldn't help but snort at that. "Yes, I'm sure. They're more than capable of taking care of themselves, even without my help."

Mellissa gave her a look. "Well, if you say so… though I suppose we'll be able to see for ourselves tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Victoria blinked.

"When you bring them by." Mellissa replied with a slight smile. "That won't be a problem, yes?"

Victoria paused, before letting out a sigh. "I suppose that'll work."

"Excellent!" Mellissa clapped. "So, how was your lesson with Horace?"

"Good." Victoria replied, thankful for the change in topic. "We went over intents, and he helped me get started with my Blade intent. I can make my Spirit threads sharp now!" She grinned, proving it by using a Spirit thread to slice her steak, picking the piece up and placing it in her mouth. "I also figured out how to compress the energy in my core and cultivate at the same time, though… I mean, everyone has to, right?"

"It's still an impressive accomplishment!" Maurice assured her. "Particularly for someone who has only been cultivating for a few months. What method did you go with?"

"Compression." Victoria replied, giving him a weird look. Hadn't she just said that.

"Yes, yes, but how did you tie it all together? A breathing method? Hand motions? A sword form?" Maurice prodded.

Victoria blinked. "Uh… what do you mean?"

"Well, you can't do both simultaneously, obviously, so what did you use to help you fall into the pattern of compression and cultivation?" Maurice elaborated. "I used my breathing, compressing as I breathed out, cultivating as I breathed in."

"That was an option!?!" Victoria asked incredulously. "But it's so inefficient!"

"Well, it's not as simple as filling your core, obviously, but-" Maurice froze. "Wait, then- you mean you actually do them at the same time!?!"

"Yeah!" Victoria replied. "That's what I thought I had to do!"

"But- but how?!?" Maurice asked incredulously.

"I just focused on cultivating as often as possible until it became second nature to keep my Rune in mind, even as I did other things." Victoria explained. Maurice's mouth dropped open, before clicking shut. He didn't even know what to say to that!

"That is very impressive, dear." Melissa commented, patting her arm.

"I guess… feels like wasted effort now." Victoria grumbled. If she'd known that she could just compress and cultivate in a cycle, she just would have done that and focused on using points when she really wanted to boost her cultivation!

"Waste of- you manage to do something that many would deem impossible, and you consider it a waste of effort?!?" Maurice exclaimed incredulously.

"Well… I guess I'm just kinda used to it?" Victoria shrugged helplessly. "Breaking the norm is pretty much what I do now."

Maurice blinked, before letting out a sigh. "Yes, I suppose you have a point."