Hari had to stoop a little to knock on her bedroom door, but thankfully for her back Wick slid the door open right away and made room on the bed for her. She had been sitting on the bed wearing her sky robe and a bra and little else, and Hari tried not to stare, as Wick had started getting strange when she pressed for kissing or more. Oddly enough, a sign the woman likely had begun to have deeper feelings for her. Which made Hari both happy and frustrated.

Wick, as far as Hari could tell, was acting more normal today with dark circles under her eyes from staying up too late. A scattering of paper with dried monster blood patterns and a tablet she had been making notes in suggested she was still playing around with summoning. All of that was folded and put into a crash net near the bed to make room for Hari.

Wick waited until she was comfy to start grilling her on the latest assignment. “So Hari, Report?”

“Corvayne is out chasing Princess Bellidine. He doesn't like her, but you know him.” Hari annoyed by the entire operation the guild had pulled on her... the introduction of the princess meant sleeping in a cold tent with barely enough blankets for her and Corvayne.

“And ID?”

“I asked first, but yes.”

“Good.” Wick said and folded her robe to be more decent then scooted over on the bed, pulling out the computer she had been working on. “All right, so let's go over what we know about the System! First, any changes for me for doing it over and over?”

Hari shrugged, and used [Identify] on Wick, her system mastery boosting it.

[Wick][Anastasia (Ianasia Leona)]

Race: Human/Wizard

[Time Disruptor Level 16 (Tier 2) / ?????? ]

Strength: 6->10

Dexterity: 10->14

Constitution: 10->14

Agility: 14->18

Intelligence: 20->28 (+20)

Wisdom: 10->15

Will: 10->18

Magic: 0->8

Charisma: 20

***Territory: 513

(Slow Fall)

(Improved Mana and Health Regeneration)

(????)

(????)

(????)

HP 78.4 (100%)

MP 161.8 (100%)

SP 68.8 (100%)

Hari let the screen drop. “It's the same... it feels like I'm missing a lot. It hasn't made a dent on your other class. The sundial is boosting your mana regeneration and your intelligence, which I think is related to your mana. You have three effects I can't read.”

Wick frowned. “I wish I could tell. We still don't know what's going on with multi-classes?”

“A few people have them. You, Mister I, Grunt, and Growl Whine. Mosh. Oh, and Lady Blood Claw, but she's told us she got it in a particular tower room, but that it's not the only way.” Hari suspected that Lady Blood Claw had lots of missing memories and was more cagey about it than Spears or Corvayne was. Corvayne seemed frustrated sometimes by it, Spears only was ever sad, but Lady Blood Claw pretty much shut down the conversation and went 'Grey' as Hari had started calling her poker faced state. The only person who could probably get through to her was Corvayne, and that of course would mean another elf joining the table. Which was NOT what she wanted at all.

She loved Wick, but loved Corvayne more and if she could be his girl, well, there were lots of places in the world they were going to go together.

Wick didn't notice or didn't care that Hari's cheeks were burning. “Alright, I wanna know more about Mosh.”

She composed herself before saying, “He's one of the few people who gives me a proper race, Goblin. It might be a problem with my ability to sort of get the system to tell me the truth in a way I understand, rather than the scrambled words being something it has hidden away. My mentor explained to me that world had watered down all the 'pure' races a long time ago and as distinct as the races are, for thousands of years they have been dregs.” Even the elves, Hari thought bitterly as she once again looked at her fat human-like proportions.

Wick raised an eyebrow over her glasses, rolling over and resting chest-down on a pillow with her feet in the air. “Even the elves?”

“Tch.”

Wick frowned. “You pissed because I asked, or because you don't have a clue?”

Hari shook her head. “How can I explain? I trust Undine, my mentor, over my parents swearing the elves have stayed pure. I do not look much like an elf, so I have been used as an example supporting Undine on that. Oh, that reminds me of a project... I want to try to ID a wild goblin and see if it gives me 'person' stats. Also if wild goblins have the hidden races as many of us do.”

Hari found she was pleased to see Wick smile and nod at her. She watched Wick take her stylus and tap in on her lips, distracting her so that Wick had to ask her a second time, “Did you talk to Mosh about it?”

Hari thought about it. “He was confused, I think, because he said that he was from a society that had discovered how to mix any two living things into a true child. I know life shapers can make little changes to nudge two different creatures to interbreed, but he spoke of things such as plants marrying rocks. Any time he speaks of home he is either lying or from a place that dwarves our understanding of the system, even if he says there 'was no system'. His Omnicrafter is tier 6 and his priest class keeps evolving, right now he's an 'Arch Bishop' which is tier 5. I don't know why it's going up. Besides him, Corvayne is the only other person above tier 3 I've seen.”

Wick nodded. “I bet it's Seru's fault, she did do a video of how to build piety with her and how to call for mending from Lythandies.”

Hari smiled. Every little bit she could do to convince Wick that Seru was better than they had pegged her at first glance made her happy. “Since he showed her... he's the head of the church?”

Wick nodded. “Her monk class is evolving too... so we know the Tiers are some sort of upgrade path.”

Hari folded her arms. “Yeah but what Undine always taught me was that there were only 2 tiers, as they just looked at 'basic' and 'advanced' classes. There was always evidence of forks in the road because some classes can cross over. To paint a picture, Spearman was a basic soldier class who used spears, and they evolved into Lancer if they survived a lot of wars. But a Warrior who used spears might evolve to Lancer as well.”

“Are the higher Tier classes strictly better?”

Hari nodded. “It varies between classes by how much but, yes. It may be bias, after all you can see lots of bad warriors who will never advance past that class.”

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Wick sighed. “We need... to do a Tower-Inn run and buy one of those overpriced books. And figure out damage formulas too, since you can pull hit-point readings. It seems like it all follows physics until Corvayne does massive damage past what physics says his spear attacks should do.”

Hari didn't follow Wick's rant about physics after the test in question. Something about how in Corvayne's hands it did more damage than it's weight and speed would allow in someone else's hands. Undine suspected that there were things that even the most powerful [Investigate] casts couldn't see, and had stated one of her goals was to get or develop a better spell and see stats she suspected were hidden.

Hari guessed that her mentor was right, and there were some extra small multipliers beyond simple skill and training. “We don't know what it is, it might just be how his new forms work.”

Wick nodded. “Tower power maybe? His shadow hands seem to be able to do things inside himself. I saw them try to slow vines from striking outwards before.”

Hari waved a hand. “Enough of Corvayne suffering for a year or more! Though to talk of Powers... I also wonder if the Tower powers are related to Class intent... you found your magic after a fifth floor exit, right? My traveler power is well suited to [Investigator] as a class, as I've found it makes me stronger for a few moments after I move places. Horton wanted magic and got magic, like you did. Brines wants to run longer and be liked, so he got a power that helps him run and makes him popular as a group member.”

Wick nodded. “So we should pay attention and see if Reaper and Gary get different spear powers?”

Hari had the same idea but the sample size was too small to really make a conclusion. “We can see there are differences possibly related to alternate classes? Reaper can 'Fish' enemies to him, and it's not equipment based. Gary on the other hand hasn't manifested a power we can measure.”

Hari hesitated a little, but she felt Wick would understand. “What do you think about the things hidden on you and Grunt?”

Wick stared at her. “I don't know what's up with it, but my guess is it has to do with... the Wizard thing and that core. It's part of what I want to figure out. Corvayne kept it on him and we've looked at it, but besides basic measurements we can't tell what it's made of or anything. As for Grunt... I trust him.”

“What does he say?”

“Nothing of course. Ha Ha HA!”

Hari sighed. “I'm trying to bounce ideas off you... what do you think his deal is?”

Wick at least after that rolled her eyes and stopped talking to at least pretend to about it. “He might have touched another artifact like the one I did. Dawn says there's a risk of something leaking when he speaks.”

“So he could be cursed?” Hari lowered her voice, feeling a little guilty for talking about Grunt behind his back.

“Whatever Grunt's hiding... he's always got my back. So if he is, we'll figure it out while we help Corvayne too.”

Hari smiled. “You are a good friend.”

Wick muttered just loud enough that Hari could hear, “Yeah, except for the part where I'm keeping an eye on my allies and trying to pry open their secrets.”

Hari knew if she got into the graveyard of her thoughts it would be hours of backrubs and sneaking treats from the kitchen before Wick was feeling better. “Okay, so let's not pry too hard... let's talk about Powers then.”

Wick perked right up as she went into lecture mode. “Corvayne has Shadowy hands, he can manifest at least four wispy black hands, and they have limited strength but the potential to pierce objects and hold things, as well as some sort of tactile damage to hostile things. He also can manipulate gravity, somewhat well for himself and weakening the further it gets. He is a bonehead and has not been pushing these powers to their full potential. He also has an internal compass that can point him to things, but it seems to have a complicated relationship with his stamina. As in, we knocked his ass out when we tried asking it where The Magus was. It could point to the portal when asked to lead him to Tripic, but if I asked him where my fifth brother was, it also knocked him flat on his butt.”

Hari nodded. “I think his Cross-Skill weapon talents are related to his class, but it might also be a power.”

Wick frowned at Hari. “That's an assumption based on the name, but I won't fault it. It fits what you said about how Lancers spears have more reach than their length.”

Wick gestured to herself. “Time magic. As far as I know, just giving myself the ability to do it, then improvements to my main spell. I can make it explode, bounce, you name it.”

“It doesn't do a lot of damage.” Hari pointed out.

“Fine! But it slows, and it's cheap to cast!” Wick pouted a little, so Hari pointed at herself and batted her eyes.

“Ok you over-sexed keebler, you for sure have a power that boosts you when you move, and from our jogging with Growl-Whine, it lets you last a lot longer and move faster than you should move, which makes you look like you're gliding like a poorly coded video game character. You picked up something that has to do with cores, but it doesn't work on the emerald core, and you are NOT going to mess with the Spider's core if we can help it.”

“Mosh we know too...” Hari said, “But we also know it's a good example of missing all the functions. His glass bubble caught that big fireball that would have destroyed the truck.”

Wick shook her head. “The little green dumbass should have figured he couldn't safely hold the spell, as he nearly fried himself!”

“Aww you worry about him?”

“He's the only person on this trip shorter than me!”

Hari didn't dare question if Mosh was actually shorter than her if he stood up straight. “Well, he has more powers. The ability to fling salt that purifies undead, and can liquify earth to a small degree. It's a nice fit with Varia and her earth magic.”

Wick smiled. “Varia is such a sweetheart. I hope Mosh gets a clue.”

Hari nodded. “She has a mineral compass power too, maybe we'll have them open a mine and see if being together in the dark helps her get a little courage? At least Reaper is easy... he has that ability to hook things.”

Wick tisked. “We don't know if it's related to his class!”

“Well, Bearer of Burden and Ears are a little easier to assess. Ears has metal coating her bones, and Bearer has some sort of movement corrective ability that lets her run sideways and backwards perfectly well.”

Hari did not add that Bearer had also been telling her it also made her tremendously flexible in bed. Or, more importantly, had been loudly telling Corvayne that.

Wick shrugged. “Those are a little boring to me. I think Brines getting an aura is more interesting. As is Horton learning to cast three elements of magic, almost all destructive but, if he's happy who can complain?”

“Wick, since you know them well.... any ideas for Grunt or Mister I?”

“Grunt it might be just being... big? Hard to say. He's very straight forward, but he's always been too strong for even his absurd frame, and certainly too agile for it. Mister I... good question. He picked up on Lythandies quickly... so maybe piety? But he's also very good with a bow. And can make medicine.... maybe if there's some sort of jack of all trades ability?”

Wick holds up three fingers. “We also have our weirdos... the two girls from the nearby village. Kirae has been making lots of gold, even with people she shouldn't understand. Shallee has only been in a few dungeons, but I guess she's learning Cascadian almost as fast as you did.”

Hari blushed at that.

“Spears being a slime girl... I suspect she's got something that aids her with water attacks and leaping, since Corvayne has to cheat to match her when doing the dive-bomb moves. June I'm also stumped. She's a Tower native, and has something about her that makes her unnaturally good at cleaning, cooking and other little chores... It's annoying because she wouldn't complain if we just had her do all the chores. If we could just have her and Grunt meet halfway...”

“You are less worried about his hidden status and more that he's lazy, are you not?” Hari didn't think Grunt was that lazy. The elf tried to vary her hours now and then, and no matter if she stayed up late or woke up early, she never actually saw Grunt use his cushy bed to sleep in.

Wick blinked her eyes. “Fuck Hari.... honestly? I just don't know. For all the crap I want to give Corvayne, I'm also walking around in a haze of mystery about myself. Part of why I spend so much time on the system.”

“Any luck figuring out Essence or experience points?”

“Reminded me, we skipped your friend. Seru.”

Hari smirked. “We know what she can do, Impactus seems to give her legendary attributes but for a single moment. And we still haven't talked about levels!”

Wick rolled her eyes. “They make you better. Stats influence your gains. Classes do too. What I want to know is what I can do to get more health, I'm one of the most fragile people here.”

“We'll ask when we get the Inn again. Or maybe see if Corvayne can compass his way to an academy in the Tower.” Hari assumed since they ran into one tower-folk settlement, they'd find another. Eventually.

“Honestly, I'm ready for a nap after all that, and for all we know it feels like we're missing even more. Like, the Spider's power set? How do they switch powers? Or is it a racial thing?”

Hari had hoped Wick would be in a more affectionate mood, but settled for getting her to lay down, then gave her a kiss on her forehead. “It's okay Wick. When you're ready, we'll figure it all out together, okay?”

Wick had closed her eyes, but smirked at Hari who settled in next to her.