‘’What do you think? She liked me, right?'' asked the lovestruck buffoon as he bounded up the stairs two at a time.

I didn’t want to entertain his delusions. We were in danger, and I needed to think.

‘’C’mon, say something. You saw her smile at me. Oh yeh, don’t forget the way she brushed her hair away.’’ He continued.

‘’Oh god, Why did you have to lumber me with such a buffoon?’’ I snapped and stamped a foot on Liam’s shoulder. ‘’She is not into you; she’s up to something. We’ve walked right into a trap.’’

‘’You don’t know that. What proof do you have?’’ asked Liam, with a hint of anger.

I couldn’t deal with this. Just let me think, please, my inner voice screamed.

‘’You know what, Liam? Yes, she is so into you. I saw her blush when you weren’t looking. And did you see her twirl her fingers between her hair?’’ Please give me strength. At least that’ll buy me a few seconds of silence.

‘’Now that you mention it, I remember that. It was while she was reading the letter. She kept looking at it and then back at me.’’ Liam smiled with the goofiest smile I’ve ever seen.

I slapped my face with my palm.

At least he was done asking me stupid questions. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t manage to get the time I wanted.

‘’Hmmm, this is strange.’’ Murmured Liam.

We reached the top of the stairs to see a shimmering barrier between ourselves and the hallway that led to the rooms. It had a faint blue and purple glow that pulsed and moved from one area to another.

Can we go through it? I thought to myself.

Liam reached out a hand and the key in his other hand began to vibrate and give off a faint blue glow. The barrier reacted to the key and slowly dissolved before us to reveal doors numbered 300 and upwards.

‘’Must be some kind of spatial magic,’’ I said.

Liam nodded but didn’t say anything.

We moved in silence. The corridor stretched out before us until we reached room 313.

‘’This is so cool. Looking from the outside, you would never expect such a dilapidated dump to have so many rooms.’’ Said an excited Liam.

Liam still didn’t get it. For myself, however, it was becoming more and more apparent the danger we were in. If this was spatial magic, then the only way out was through the way we came in. That meant exiting through the front doors.

Liam pulled on the door handle and the key glowed again to unlock it.

The room inside was pleasant. It had two single beds, with white linen sheets, a bathtub in the center of the room, a fireplace on the wall to our left, and a round table to the right with two simple stools.

I jumped off Liam’s shoulder and landed on my feet. It was a little disorientating switching my view so suddenly, from top-down to down-top.

While Liam got to work on the fire, I headed over to the bathtub. Did I want to share it with Liam? That was a hard pass. I needed to stay clear of him. While my mind was on saving our lives, his was on Buxom Mary. Trying to guess what was on his mind sent a shiver down my spine. The bathtub was a definite no-no.

I looked around for an alternative. Thank you!

Looking at the table, I noticed a jug and two cups. I headed over and stood before the giant cup. I needed help but didn’t want to ask Liam. I was still angry at him for underestimating our predicament.

/Open interface/

Skills

-Tail hop L1 -activate.

I landed in the cup effortlessly and laughed at Liam who was still trying to get the fire started.

I checked out my other skills and used a combination of ‘Water blast’ and ‘burning flare’ to create my bath.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Finally, I relaxed as the warmth soaked into my body.

‘’Damnit, who uses rocks to start a fire? Mary said to meet her in an hour. Light up you stupid fire.’’ Cried Liam.

I ignored him. Opening my interface, I spent a couple of minutes going through my skills. I found nothing that could help us escape the Inn. I had an overpowered set of skills, but that set didn’t come with a teleportation skill. Just my luck.

I exited the skills section and suddenly noticed that the internal resonance tab was glowing.

Internal Resonance at 8%

Two percent for bond upgrade.

Could it be?

Did we have to be nice to each other for this thing to work...

And what did the upgrade mean…

Were the higher-ups playing therapist or what?

Knock Knock

The knocking was very forceful. Someone was eager to see us, but who?

I had a feeling I knew.

Liam had heard the knock and got up. I had to stop him quickly.

Rocking side to side, I tipped over my bath. My heart yearned for the gentle warmth but now wasn't the time.

I had to think fast. If I asked Liam to stop and let me get it, he wouldn’t listen.

‘’Liam, don’t worry about it. I got it. You need to get ready for Mary. She’s waiting for us.’’

That worked. He gave the same goofy, sickening smile from earlier and got back to work on the fire. I decided to cut him a break for obeying and used one of my skills to hurl a fireball over at the fireplace. It grew from my fingers in a blaze and flew over with blistering speed toward the logs.

‘’I finally got it started.’’ Yelped Liam.

Of course, given my size, the fireball just looked like a flying ember to him.

Knock Knock

‘’Who’s there?’’ I asked.

‘’Room service.’’ Replied a burly voice.

‘’We didn’t order room service.’’

‘’It’s complimentary. We have cheese, dried fish, and meat.’’

‘’Oh, that sounds amazing.’’ Replied Liam, who had just finished setting the bucket of water over the fireplace.

Fool, get back, I whispered to myself as he began to walk over to the door.

‘’Sorry, We’re vegan.’’

As Liam got closer, I quickly opened my interface and used my skill, ‘’slick’’

He began slipping, desperately trying to regain his balance.

‘’What’s a vegan?’’

‘’Someone you don’t ever want to mess with,’’ I replied, and with that, I heard them walk away.

‘’What was that about and why do you have a towel around your waist? You’re a mouse.’’ Asked Liam angrily.

‘’Listen, I may be a mouse, but I have some shame, you know. I don’t want my bits hanging out for the whole world to see.’’

‘’Well, what were you doing until now and how did it suddenly appear out of nowh…’’

Before Liam could finish, the door smashed to pieces before us. Large shards of wood shot towards me. I had no time to react. A bright explosion followed, blinding us and overwhelming all our other senses. A ringing shot through my ears as the world began to spin. I tried to stand but fell over several times. Nausea and disorientation kept me stuck to the floor. A glimpse of Liam showed that he was in no better state than myself.

I saw myself lifted off the ground. Liam was on the floor. He was shouting something and reaching for me. I couldn’t hear him. His mouth. His mouth … seemed to be saying.

Everything blacked out.

Internal resonance - 10% threshold has been achieved.

Initiating Upgrade.

……………

Upgrade installation complete.

Telepathic link synched.

Combat system erased.

New system implemented.

Familiar combat autopilot synched.

Shapeshifter skill Lv 1 now available.