"So how come you didn't just kill me then? You could've gotten away with it and taken my die."

We had been talking about the game while Lan drove, and had just hit the street where my house was when I asked the question.

Lan shrugged as he straightened the steering wheel. "Sure, I could. But it just don't sit right with me." He sniffed as we pulled into my driveway. "I might be greedy, but I'm not an asshole. Well, I try not to be anyway."

I nodded, opening the door. "Thanks for the ride anyway. You've done a lot for me today, I guess." I scratched my head, feeling uncomfortable. I didn't like debts, and I definitely owed more than one to Lan. Shit, it's only been a day, too…

When I'd hopped out of the car, I leaned in before I closed the door. "Uh… if there's anything I can help you with, let me know?" I said, feeling kinda awkward.

Lan smiled. "Oh, don't worry, I'll figure something out. I'll hit you up."

We'd already traded contacts, so there'd be no problems there. I nodded again. "I'll see you around, then."

"Catch ya," he said as I closed the door, giving a brief wave.

—————

As Lan watched his new friend disappear through the doorway, he pulled the car into reverse.

The figure wearing a hooded trench coat and mask sat up from where he was concealed, and sat down in the passenger's seat.

"Well, that went well," he said in his usual light tone as Lan pulled out of the driveway, not even looking back.

"It always goes well."

"Indeed," the figure replied as he pulled the two knives from his coat and clasped them together. "You could've eased on the pedal when you hit me, though." As the knives clinked together, they transformed into a purple and black jesters hat. The clothes around the man started to disintegrate into nothing, to reveal the albino man.

He plopped the jester's hat on his head. His Artifact.

Lan shrugged, something he did a lot. "I just went with the flow. Had to make it seem believable, yeah? Besides, you hurt my car more than anything."

Trickster giggled. "Oopsies. I guess I should've jumped out of the way a little, but what can I say…" he flashed a devious smile as he leaned back.

In Lan's own voice, Trickster said: "Had to make it seem believable, yeah?"

It was rather uncanny hearing his own voice spoken back to him, and he didn't like it. With one hand still on the wheel, his scythe flashed out at Trickster.

It cut through the empty back seat, though it didn't leave any tears, the weapon being metaphysical and all. The scythe quickly disappeared again as a high pitched, cackling laugh erupted from a little bobblehead of a jester in the backseat.

"Fucking asshole…"

Just as he pulled into his own driveway, his phone buzzed.

—————

As soon as I walked inside the house, my thoughts of what I should do now that I'd leveled up were completely interrupted by the smell of something pleasant cooking in the kitchen. I closed the door behind me quietly, not wanting to announce my presence.

When I heard my sister humming away in the kitchen, I sighed in relief. Sure, the chances of it being my dad were slim, but I'd rather avoid an unpleasant encounter if I can help it.

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"Smells good," I said as I walked into the kitchen.

Lyndis looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey, you're back late. What'd you get up to today?"

"Oh, not much," I lied. It's usually what I said though, so it came out pretty easily. "Just the usual."

"Right," she said as she continued preparing the food. "Well, dad will be home soon. I noticed you left your bong lying around in your room, so you might just want to do something about that."

"Ah fuck," I sighed, turning right back around into the hallway. I went into my room, finding my most prized possession sitting next to my bed, then proceeding to stash it under said bed.

As I picked it up, however, there was a small clinking sound of something on glass. There was something inside the bong.

"What the fuck?" I tipped it and out came a green, four sided die. A Core Die. How the hell did that get in there?

Okay, maybe it was just a normal die? Surely these things didn't just magically appear out of thin air. Right?

I tapped the surely normal die onto my gauntlet.

[Maximum Core Dice limit has been reached. Please Level Up to apply another Die.]

Right, I'd better do that.

. . .

WAIT, SO IT IS A CORE DIE!? WHAT THE FUCK!?

Well anyway, I'd gained enough XP to level up, but hadn't actually leveled up yet. Apparently you had to do it manually, so therefore I had over 50 XP at the moment.

I had the option of putting a single point into either STR, AGI or ACC – which Lan had told me were Strength, Agility and Accuracy, respectively.

I stashed the bong away and pulled my phone out as I sat down on the bed, pressing the app that let me check my stats. The three main stats had a little plus icon next to each. Once I increased one, my level up would be applied.

I pressed on the plus icon next to STR, increasing it to 11. My XP decreased by 50 points and the total needed to get to 3rd level increased to 100.

So it would take me double the time to level up, I guess.

When the level up was applied, I noticed my HP, FP and SP had all increased a little too.

[Discovered ability: Meatball Legend]

Oh?

There was now a new 'Skills & Abilities' tab on my stat sheet, so naturally I had to check that out right away. I quickly found the ability (my only one) and tapped on it, which granted me a broader description.

* Meatball Legend

    Due to the unique circumstances the Core Die of this Artifact was obtained, it can now be fed Meatballs. The Artifact would really like to try a meatball sub, in particular.

Er… what?

Well, this was weird. The Artifact was a gauntlet… How the hell is it meant to eat a meatball?

I shrugged. I mean, it's whatever you know? Seems like a bit of a useless ability, considering Lan had a skill that let him boomerang his sickle. Not to mention he could probably do that with it in full scythe mode, too… yikes.

Come to think of it, how come he didn't just fight me in full grim reaper mode? Oh right, I have his number. I can text him my question!

I texted him my question.

He didn't reply back straight away, of course. That would be completely unreasonable of me to put that expectation on him. I'm not his girlfriend or anything.

I slid my phone away and came out into the kitchen again. Looked like Lyndis almost had food ready. It smelled good; it was just a beef stew with some mixed vegetables and potatoes, but she must have added seasoning too.

I was practically salivating, and she smiled at me. "It'll be ready soon, just needs a bit more. Mind getting some bowls and spoons?"

I'd just put the bowls on the table when I saw lights flash across the window.

"Well, that's my queue I guess."

"Hm?"

Our shoulders touched as I started filling my bowl. "Dad's home. I'll eat in my room."

"Again?" Lyndis frowned.

I didn't reply, just started walking back to my room.

Just as I closed the door behind me, my phone buzzed.

—————

Artifact: Meatball, 2nd Level

Slots: [4] [4]

XP: 10 / 100

HP: 30

FP: 30

SP: 26

STR: 11 | AGI: 12 | ACC: 9

CON: 5 | END: 5 | VIT: 3