They had gathered in Margie’s front yard when the weather decided to be difficult.

There was a saying in Alaska. Don’t like the weather? Wait five minutes, and it’ll change.

Call him paranoid, but Steven felt like the saying only applied to good weather.

A gust of wind blew snow into his face. He spluttered, and Micheal, who was currently using Steven as a wind block, laughed.

“I could throw you into that snowbank, you know?”

“I think there are laws about support abuse.”

“Like hell there are,” he chuckled.

Markus looked at them through the swirling snow. “I’ll admit!” He shouted. “I don’t think we’ll get much training done here!”

Margie laughed, the wind pulling the sound away.

Del shivered and zipped her coat up to her chin. “Is there anywhere else we could train?”

Micheal stepped out from behind Steven. “Yes, actually! What are y’all’s opinions on creepy mansions?”

~<>~<>~

Five minutes later, Margie’s truck pulled to a stop before Markov, the Mad Doctors manor. It hadn’t changed in the past weeks. What little Steven could make out of it in the snowstorm, at least.

It was still imposing as hell, all grey stone and dark wood nestled into the mountain like some lord’s keep.

Del whistled. “This was your first Scenario?”

Micheal nodded. “It was filled with zombies and abominations and shit. It was certainly one way to start this shit off.”

They climbed out of the car, flinching against the freezing wind.

“Does Buford need to bite the handle again?”

Margie shrugged and shoved on the front doors. They swung inward with a loud creak. “It would seem not.”

“Well fuck that’s ominous,” Del said.

The entryway was the same as Steven remembered, a short hallway with a door on the far end.

Dank stone and cold iron filled his nose, but the room was mercifully lacking in rotting flesh.

He wasn’t sure if the wrought iron coat hanger had been there before, but he wasn’t going to complain. They pulled their coats off and continued on.

The next room was decent-sized with three doors, one in front and one to the left and right.

“This should be big enough.” Markus clapped his hands together. “Alright. Well, I think you three should practice your new Skills first. And while you're doing that,” he turned to Del. “I’ll give you some hand-to-hand lessons, assuming you're willing.”

Del’s eyes went wide, and she nodded frantically. “Yes, please!”

The old man laughed. “Alright. It’s been a few years since I taught, so I’ll need to polish off some rust here.”

Steven turned to Micheal. “Wanna test out your speed buff?”

Micheal narrowed his eyes. “And how are we going to do that, exactly?”

Steven smiled.

~<>~<>~

Micheal sprinted across the room directly away from Steven, swearing up a storm as he booked it.

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“Fuck fuck fuck!”

Steven laughed, his shrinking shield only a few feet behind Micheal.

The man made it two steps before blue light erupted over his body.

His speed doubled as he ripped across the room, covering the entire thing in seconds.

Steven blinked. “Holy shit.”

His shield puffed away to nothing before reaching Micheal.

The man turned to Steven, his eyes wide. “That…was fast. Not a little nudge, either. That was some real speed.”

Del nodded from where she and Markus were training. The man was lecturing her on footwork. “You had to be going 35 or 40mph at least!”

Micheal rolled his shoulder. “And that was level 1. The hell is this Skill going to look like at level 5?”

Steven rubbed his chin. “Could you come back over? I want to try something.”

Micheal obliged, dropping into a runner's stance a few feet before Steven.

“On three.”

“One. Two. Three!” Steven called a shield and used Goes A Long Way on it.

The Hand-Shield started flying towards Micheal, and the man took off, blue light coating him.

Steven broke into a run simultaneously, following right behind his shield, which was right behind Micheal.

Blue light sprung up over his feet as his speed increased. It wasn’t as much of a boost as Micheal’s, but it was a nice proof of the concept.

All he had to do was toss a shield at Micheal, and the whole group would get a speed buff.

Micheal juked to the right, at the blue light vanished from both of them. He slowed to a stop. “Damn, that really is instant. The second I stepped out of the attack's path, the Skill dropped.”

He shrugged. “Still damn useful, though.” His smile grew. “And it feels strong. It feels like magic.”

He flexed his hands. “My taunt also feels like magic, to be fair. But it's different when I can feel the power literally coursing through me.”

Steven smiled. “I’m glad. Now then…” he trailed off, turning his attention to his own Skills.

He had an active slot to fill and two Skills to choose from.

He’d been eager to use Kinetic Give since he picked it at level 5, but now he had an epic Skill contending for the slot.

He gave Kinetic Give a sad look. Sorry, buddy, maybe next time.

He slotted Anchor Shield.

The Skill settled into place like a boulder. Tension spread over his shoulders and built in his head. Power. It burned in Steven’s veins and pulsed through his head.

It was too much!

And then it was done. The tension snapped, vanishing with a dull pulse from his Class.

Steven flexed his hand, feeling the Skill in his mind.

A new icon appeared in the corner of his vision. A large green shield, its corners inscribed with swirls of grey filigree. And across its center lay an anchor wrought of dark metal.

He reached and called.

The shield snapped into place with a thrum of power. It pulled a chunk of energy from him with it.

It wasn't the same as his Tower-Shield. He was pretty sure it took slightly less energy, but the energy it did take felt layered.

Well, it did say it was imbued with my will. I suppose some that goes into the calling.

The shield was a little bigger than his chest, and he could feel its aura from where he stood.

No, more than that. He could feel its location with more clarity than he’d ever managed before.

He paused, then called a Hand-Shield. The shields had felt so natural that he hadn’t noticed it before, but he could sense their location much more clearly than before.

He reached out and linked his senses with the closest shield.

Sounds burst into his mind. Del’s foot scraping against the hardwood, Buford’s quiet pants, Micheal’s voice.

Micheal’s voice?

Steven opened his eyes—when had he closed them?—and let go of the shield.

“Woah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The System upgraded my Trait and didn’t bother to tell me.”

“Oh yeah. My bad.”

All Tingly has been enhanced! Not only can you link your sense to your shields, but they are enhanced in the process. Maximum number of shields you can link to at once has increased.

“Bruh. You couldn’t have told me that earlier!?”

“System out!”