After our impromptu shaking party and my subsequent laughter I was feeling light as air. Prim seemed to be having a good time, but they paused as they remembered something, emoting this realization by slapping their forehead.
“Ah, I should probably explain a bit about your avatar.” Usually Prim just jumped into the explanation, but this time they seemed to be waiting for my answer. I gave them a quick nod, and when they continued to wait I answered out loud.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that”
“Alright! Calling forth your avatar just requires you to will it into being, and on top of the effects of the aspects or attunements contained within it will provide some amount of increased strength and durability. How much of your avatar's potential you are able to bring forth and how long you can keep it up in a day is determined by your synchronization, or sync. Sync is gained by using your avatar, pushing it, and understanding it. Your sync needs to reach 100% before you can add on another tier. Adding a tier will lower your sync again, usually less than fifty percent. Your current sync is approximately 10% which means you can only bring about 10% of its power to bear and keep it up for around three minutes before you need to recharge.” my spirit sank slightly, I had expected that my avatar would be limited at first, but that was much worse than I expected. Three minutes, that was maybe one or two fights. Did everyone start with 10% sync or was I below average? Well comparison wont accomplish anything, I guess I should get a feel for it really quick. Let's see, how did I do this? I concentrated on making my avatar appear, and felt a strand of something, but it got away before I could grab it.
“When you’re at low sync it helps to try tying the summoning of your avatar to an action, such as pulling out a weapon or securing a harness, which can make it much easier.” Oh, like how John Green and Zack did, that made sense. Again I tried to summon my avatar but this time at the same time I mimed securing the shield strap to my forearm, halfway into the action I felt something connect and the shield appeared on my arm. The shield was mostly transparent, and I didn’t feel any stronger, but it was still incredible to see it appear on me. I looked down and sure enough my calves had chainmail greaves secured to them. The shield and greaves had a little weight, but it was minimal. My avatar vanished when I willed it to, leaving me back to normal.
“Excellent, you figured out how to summon your avatar, would you like to leave the shrine now?”
“Yeah, I think I’m all done.” Prim waved bye, and then deanimated as their crown and wings returned to being the door and windows. I waved goodbye to the statue as I walked toward the door. I was definitely coming again later, if only to say hi to Prim again. The door opened for me, and I stepped out into the dungeon only for a shape to jump toward me. I tried to call on my avatar, but I couldn’t set the strap in time, and Wiggles knocked me over, giving me kisses until Jake got her off me. Once I was standing again I gave Wiggles a few pets, after making friends with Prim I had realized I had no excuse for being scared of Ms. Wiggles of all things.
“Soo, how’d it go?”
“Great, but why didn’t you warn me about Prim, or the out of body experience. A little warning would have been nice.”
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“I’d never ruin a surprise. Also why Prim? I call them Larry.”
“Well I asked them what they were named, and they said Prim.”
“Huh, I just called them Larry and they rolled with it. Anyways, what's your avatar look like? I’ve been dying to find out” I pulled on the nonexistent shield strap to summon my avatar, and showed my shield somewhat embarrassed.
“What do you think? I wanted more armor like yours but I didn’t have enough, so I just made a shield instead.”
“I think it's great! One of the biggest negatives of using my spear like I do is I can’t use a shield, attaching one to your avatar is a good move. It's not much yet, but give it another tier or two and it’ll be better than most normal shields.” I smiled at the compliment, and dismissed my avatar.
“The only problem is I can only keep it up for three minutes. How long does yours last?”
“Two and a half hours.” Wow, it looked like I had a lot of work to do.
“Oh man. How hard is it to gain sync?”
“It gets hard later, but at the beginning it's not too hard. You should be able to get a percent or two a day just by having it up and feeling out how it feels and moves, and maybe a few more by visiting the shrine to refine it every now and then. This way you wouldn’t have to fight any monsters and you could get another tier every few months.” While I liked the idea of being safe and not killing anything The goal was to get to tier seven, and soon. This way would take ages for each level, and from what Jake implied it would get slower with each tier. Though I didn’t like it, I needed something riskier.
“How fast could I improve if I did fight monsters.”
“You don’t have to do that, I know I kinda pushed you into trying the dungeon out, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, we can take things slow.”
“I’m going to have to face monsters anyways, even if I want to avoid it I will have to fight monsters to get to the third tier. Besides, how would I protect myself if I never face anything?” Jake sighed, and it was like our roles were reversed; I wanted to take a risk and exit my comfort zone while he wanted to choose the safest route. Regardless after a moment he relented.
“When you are pushed to your limit you can grow your avatar much faster, but don’t think you have to do this, you have time.” I considered it, I really did, but I had made up my mind. If I wanted to reach my goal, I couldn’t shy away from the dungeons it held. That being said, there was no reason to throw caution away yet.
“I’ll be more careful when you’re in the dungeon, but today I have the best dungeon guard out there keeping me safe, right?” Jake’s whole expression shifted a bit, and when he spoke again it wasn’t the Jake I remembered. His voice was somber, and hinted at pain I had never had to face.
“Yeah, the best.” His expression relaxed a bit as he continued, but he was still more solemn than normal.” Alright but promise me you wont take any unnecessary risks, if you decide to keep delving after I go don’t do it alone, I don’t want you to get hurt. (I don’t want to lose anybody else)” the last part was left unspoken, but I understood it clear as day, he had lost people I had never known. If the dungeon had done this to him did I really want to go through with delving? I felt my resolve shake, and it was only one thought that reaffirmed it. My friend had been hurt when I wasn’t there for him, I had to be able to be there for him, and if that meant fighting through monsters to be there then so be it.
“Alright, I will.” Jake stared at me for a moment, and then he relaxed, becoming my old friend again. The pain once again hidden away again, but I thought I still saw a bit of the pain and worry in his eyes.
“Well you got one thing right, the safest place in the dungeon is by my side, you ready grind sync?” I took a final breath, and then met his eyes.
“Yes.”