Cyn found four sets of eyes watching her as she moved from lying down to a sitting position facing her party. They were collectively sitting in a loose circle on the path, facing inward. It was awkward as hell, made even worse when no one said a word. Clearing her throat as Spam climbed up into her lap, Cyn addressed the Guardian, who she noticed had a plate chest piece on now that was not present when they had left the first floor. “Nice to have you with us again, Scott. We were worried for a bit there.”

Scott gave her a smile that didn’t quite break through the concern in his eyes. “Me too, girl. How are you feeling?”

She let out a tense laugh. Here goes nothing . “I… I’ll be alright. I’m really sorry for running off like that. I kind of panicked. It shouldn’t happen again.” Turning slightly to face the Rogue, who was maintaining a completely neutral face, she continued. “Thanks, Hex. If you hadn’t followed me… You kinda saved my ass.”

Hex’s face changed to one of surprise, and he shifted a little, as if he did not know how to respond to being thanked. “Don’t mention it. Would hate to lose our guide through the labyrinth, and it seems a bit attached to you.” Cyn chuckled, this time more genuinely, as Spam glared at the Rogue and let out a croak.

The Guardian also chuckled before his face became more serious again. “You look like we will need to rest a while,“ Cyn shook her head - she was sure they could travel at a steady pace even with her current condition - but Scott ignored her, “but can you tell me what happened there? That creature was part of the Trial of Mind, and just had me answer some riddles. She was rather polite, even kind.”

Cyn rubbed at her face and took a few deep breaths. Just the anticipation was raising her heart rate. After a few moments, she went on to explain what she saw as calmly as possible, along with a partial explanation of why she could see through the illusion. It wasn’t perfect, and Cyn could feel herself falter at points, but she managed to keep going. As she spoke, the expressions on her party’s face changed. She wasn’t going into too much detail, at least compared to the detail her eyes had taken in, but it was enough to paint a picture of why she had panicked.

Sam, who had started out looking concerned, appeared a bit green by the end.

Dana’s face became wide eyed, her lips forming a thin line as she tried to stay in control of her expression.

Hex also tried to keep his expression neutral, but he wasn’t able to stop his skin from paling as Cyn described the condition of the human torso.

Scott’s face changed the most. From serious, to alarmed, before settling on just sad about halfway through her explanation.

When she finished speaking, electing not to talk about how close she was from running herself to death, the Guardian stood up. He then moved in front of Cyn and kneeled, taking both her hands in his. “I am so sorry you had to see that, sweetheart.” While she was appreciative of the sympathy, Cyn was also a bit confused about Scott’s reaction. He’s not… horrified? Sickened? Afraid?

The Guardian’s next words made her realize why his reaction was so different from the others. “First one’s the hardest, in some ways. It gets better. Easier to stomach. Or maybe you just get numb. I reckon we all will be witnessing more horrors before all is said and done. Perhaps even after that.” The war veteran squeezed her hands. Scott had only mentioned his military service in passing once or twice since they had met, but the chasm of experience between the old soldier and his party of greenhorns shone clear in the Guardian’s gentle words.

Cyn nodded, having already come to Scott’s conclusion on her own already, and pulled him into a hug. The Guardian hugged her back tightly for a brief moment before they pulled apart and he moved back to his spot across from her. Scott asked her to fill him in on how the floor started before she met Hex, and detail the experience at the Trial at Will. He had been given everyone else's side of that particular debacle, and based on their inconsistent experiences he determined Cyn would have the most objective view of the event. Predictably, the Guardian did not seem thrilled with her refusal to defend herself from Hex, but beyond that Scott only had praise for her effort to keep everyone alive. Cyn couldn’t help but preen over the praise, lifting her mood significantly.

“Now, I know everyone is eager to keep moving, but I think there's a discussion to be had now that we are all back together again.” Scott’s voice had shifted back to stern. Ignoring the sigh from Hex, the Guardian paused only a moment before continuing, “Everyone should be coming close to class level ten. If you’re not already?” Scott looked around a moment, everyone shaking their heads. Cyn was level nine, and based on the previous trials she would probably hit ten after the Trial of Luck. “My mentor told me that we each might receive different advice about the upcoming evolution, and I think it would be prudent to share it. Especially since you ninnies have proven you don’t like to share without being told to.”

…What? Mentor? We evolve at level ten?!

Cyn did not have the chance to wrap her head around that bundle of information before Scott was talking again. “I was told to consider what my role is, and what I want it to be. It’s best to be sure of what you want before the first evolution, because you can’t change your mind.” Dana, Sam, and Hex were nodding along, so clearly, they knew what the hell Scott was talking about.

Why didn’t she?

“The ability to kill isn’t the only thing that matters. Think about what you are bringing to the table.” Dana filled the silence quickly, followed by Sam.

“You will have to fight sometimes, even if you don’t want to. Some of us will always have to be on the front lines, but combat is not the only way to contribute after we return home.”

There were a few awkward moments of silence, everyone looking at her, when Hex just stepped in and took his turn instead. “Fake it till you make it. Once you know what you want, just start doing it and the System should provide.”

Her turn. With everyone looking at her expectantly Cyn quietly admitted, “I have no idea what you are talking about…”

Scott spoke slowly, furrowing his eyebrows. “Your mentor. Between the dungeon floors? They should have given you some advice and a guide.”

These motherfuckers have a GUIDE?! Cyn started to shake her head, then stopped. Between… Looking down, Spam was still sitting on her lap. She lifted the chubby frog up with both hands to display to her party. “This is the only thing that happened to me between dungeon floors. You have a guide ? Like, a guidebook? With information?”

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“It hasn’t been useful. Just a lot of disjointed facts and history, and a way to ask questions they can’t answer. It’s not on your menu…?” It was Dana that responded to her, a puzzled look on the other woman's face. Scott was just staring at the raised familiar with a frown. Cyn spared a moment to bring up her menu to double check. There was nothing there that would indicate a guide.

“No. Between floors I just met Spam. It held me hostage there until I petted it. Then it kind of… forcibly came with me?” Spam, for its part, seemed to be ignoring the conversation and was attempting to chew off its foot. Again.

“I know I only just met this little guy, and Hex has made some… questionable claims about it, but are you seriously trying to tell me it forced you to do something?” She saw the Rogue roll his eyes at the Guardian’s incredulous tone, but Cyn found that reasonable. Spam was something that had to be experienced firsthand.

“The skill Spam gave me literally says: ‘a magical creature has determined you are friend-shaped, whether you like it or not’. So yah. I did not exactly get a say in the matter.”

Scott covered his face with his hands, sighing before speaking in an exasperated tone. “Alright. You didn’t get a mentor. The important thing right now is, our classes should evolve for the first time at level ten. Profession at twenty-five. There are no set evolution levels after that. So just… be prepared for it.”

She nodded, moving Spam into the pouch on her tabard. The leather was almost entirely repaired from Hex stabbing it and, while it definitely was painful to have so much weight on an area her circulating mana had been running through, she didn’t have a more comfortable place to carry the familiar easily. The party started to get up, with a clear intent to get moving. While Cyn was sure they would remain stopped if she needed to heal more, all sitting here would do was make her restless. She would just have to be in better shape before they went into another trial.

“One of us could try contacting our mentor about your missed mentor connection.” It was Dana who spoke. The other woman sounded more like she had before the Trial of Will, and Cyn wondered if Scott had said something, or if the Archer had realized she was being unfair.

“I mean… you said yourself it wasn’t particularly useful. I would like to read or hear those history bits you mentioned, though.” Who doesn’t like lore?

“It hasn’t been useful yet , and that's mostly because it's mostly things Kreeble told us already. It can’t hurt to try, can it? I won’t be able to ask for you for god knows how long, since they take a while to respond and I already have an inquiry out.” Cyn would not be surprised to hear the lawyer was submitting back-to-back questions, even if none of them could be answered by her mentor.

Scott and Hex both also had inquiries pending response. The Rogue was particularly annoyed, since he had put his out at around the same time Cyn found him stuck at the start of the floor, and his mentor had not responded. ‘Useless bitch’ was thrown out, leading the Guardian to lightly smack him in the back of the head with a scowl.

Sam, however, seemed happy to help. “I can ask for you. I haven’t looked much at the guide, so it’s not like I am using it for anything else.”

Cyn smiled at the Warrior. “As long as it’s not any trouble.” He confirmed it was not, and after a few minutes of him fiddling with his menu, Sam declared it was done. After that, with Cyn confirming to Scott she would be alright, the party started to backtrack.

She had run a good distance in the wrong direction, but not as far as Cyn was afraid of. Choosing directions at random while running was pretty inefficient, and Spam seemed to lead them along a direct route. The party did move slower than before, at least at first. Once she had a comfortable amount of mana, Cyn started channeling Restoration as she ran. Not for the health points, but the skill’s ability to close wounds. The cauterized gouges from her excessive mana circulation ran along her arms, legs, and crossed over her chest. While Restoration was not a quick fix for those like it was with most wounds - closing them even slower than it had grown a whole new hand for Dana - it did seem faster than just letting the injuries heal on their own.

If nothing else, it made Cyn feel like she was actually doing something about the problems she caused with her little breakdown.

Once she had sufficiently healed herself, the party was able to speed up. Travel had been steadily getting easier, and not just because they could run longer. Scott mentioned he had not had to sleep for quite some time, or felt hungry. The ensuing conversation led to the conclusion that something about leveling up or the adaptation process had lowered their basic needs. The only time Cyn had felt tired was due to mental strain or being injured, and she could not remember the last time she felt hungry. The lack of hunger she had assumed was because she and Hex had been eating regularly, since the Rogue took every rest opportunity to work on his profession, but based on what Dana and Scott had experienced they just did not need to eat as often.

While that was an interesting development for all of them, the mentor conversation had given Cyn a lot to think about. She wasn’t salty about missing out on a mentor. Not since Dana had pointed out they hadn’t been very useful. But the few points of knowledge they had provided for her party and not her now put Cyn in a bind. Scott, Hex, Sam, and Dana had had much more time to contemplate the upcoming evolution than she had.

Cyn obviously knew at some point she was bound to evolve. It had been clearly spelled out in the descriptions of her class, profession, and race since she was first placed into adaptation. She just did not think it would be quite so soon. Without knowing how far away they were from the Trial of Luck, and her inevitable level up, the best thing Cyn could do was think about the advice the other mentors had given her party.

Consider what my role is, and what I want it to be. What Cyn wanted it to be was simple, and had not changed. She wanted to be a healer. As for what she was right now? A bit of a walking disaster, if she was being honest. But Cyn believed that was more due to the System not separating the idea of mage and healer. So she was both and neither, with Hubris providing just enough rope to hang herself with.

The ability to kill isn’t the only thing that matters. Think about what you are bringing to the table. See: healer. It’s not like anyone else had displayed the ability to keep themselves alive except with potions.

You will have to fight sometimes, even if you don’t want to. Some of us will always have to be on the front lines, but combat is not the only way to contribute after we return home. Cyn had a complicated relationship already with fighting when she did not want to. But she definitely was not interested in doing anything else. Cyn did not feel those two things were contradictory. This advice just did not seem like it was for her in general, but thinking about Sam it made more sense. There was a hope for him that he could focus on his profession, and only fight when there was no other option.

Fake it till you make it. Once you know what you want, just start doing it and the System should provide. Hex’s contribution was not news, she had already noticed her skill options and treasure was reflective of her actions. Thinking about it in terms of evolution though… she had a theme, one she had recently committed even more to. And it was too late to change it before evolution. Perhaps she could mold it into something different later, but Cyn was sure whatever evolution she received would revolve around hurting herself to use skills.

Very productive brainstorming, everyone. Let's take a break. Cyn could think in her old boss's voice, at least for that line. She did not miss team meetings with Ross, and unfortunately the advice her party had been given had been about as helpful to her as Ross’s meetings had been. Thankfully, it did not take too long for the party to get back on track, and they were closer to the Trial of Luck than anyone had anticipated.