Helping Moana with her crossbow had been surprisingly easy.

The girl readily accepted when Sophia asked to borrow it. And she had hung around, positively gloating at her trial and error until her pride and competitiveness got the best of her as Sophia was getting the hang of it.

Though she never bothered using it, according to her brother at least, she could not stand anyone being better than her with her own weapon. And so it had turned into a game between them. Sophia would raise the bar and Moana would do her everything to best her, rinse and repeat.

And after a few hours going at it, they were both decently good at it and Moana wasn't in need of further motivation to keep going.

Besides, Sophia needed a break. It was hard to be around the girl, either because she was insufferably mean or cute.

'Pull yourself together' Sophia berated herself.

Moana was straight, she was sure of it. And they couldn't stand each other personalities. It was only her hormones talking, as Paolo had told her. They only had one good moment together because they were both competitive and Moana took a break from her feud with Sophia. But it would not last. Moana's grudge and perfectionism would not allow it.

Yet, rationalizing things did not help much.

She was frustrated and what she needed wasn't an option. Usually, she would train until she dropped from exhaustion, gymnastics, dance, or more recently archery, anything would work. But the place was taken. And so she had to find something else.

And so she went cooking.

It was clearly not how she would like to make her hands dirty, but chomping vegetables and working dough did help somehow. Veggie and cheese pie was nothing special. But without the modern convenience of ready-to-use dough, it still took her quite some time.

But the result was better than anything she had made before. The biscuit was golden brown. The paste was an explosion of colors in a galaxy of white cheese. The exterior looked crispy and light. And the smell was absolutely divine. Satisfied with today's dinner, she put it up on the counter to cool down.

She checked the training area and after confirming that Moana was gone, she went to town on the already overused training range. Scorch marks from the day before and crossbow bolt holes from earlier had done a number on them, exceeding the amount of punishment they could usually withstand.

But at least, she would not imbue another arrow with bone chill until they got to the floor proper. And only as a last resort. Her surge was far too dangerous.

Accuracy training would not do her any good. Her arrows would not behave the same in zero gravity. And that more than anything else was going to set her back. She would have to relearn everything from scratch, on that floor, and on the next.

So Sophia defaulted to Acrobatic Archery instead.

It had the highest potential for this floor. As with no up and down and enemies attacking from every angle, this floor should prove more deadly than the last. And Acrobatic Archery had the most chance to counter it.

And so she created a new parkour to concentrate solely on that aspect.

Once she was done, she felt like a kid at the local playground. How many times had her mother berated her for doing something reckless and showing the wrong example to other kids? In the end, her mom decided to try and channel all that energy into gymnastics, which had been the first pivotal moment of her life.

What would she have become had things turned out differently?

It was a pointless question she had asked herself quite a lot before the tutorial when her prospect had turned sour with no backup plan. But now at least, she knew it had been for the best.

And so she gave in Acrobatic Archery with wild abandon, feeling like a kid again with every reckless shot she tried. Many were so off-target that it rekindled a sense of humility. She might be a good speed archer but she still had much to learn outside her comfort zone.

Even with practice, her shooting upside-down accuracy was about 50%. And shooting from unstable shaky platforms? It was even worse. But her main challenge was the self-made rope bridge. It consisted of three parallel ropes, with little to no stability whatsoever. While the bow recoil was usually minimal, with that particular challenge, the law of actions and reactions applied even more, sending her shaking wildly with every shot.

At some point, people had gathered once again to watch her try and fail, as the sources of entertainment were so very few. But at least, the girl wasn't among them to bother her even more.

And so she kept pushing.

It was hard to judge if she was getting any better or if it was her careful slower pace helping her. But by the time she was done, the arrows that reached their target marginally exceeded those that had missed.

"You aren't pushing yourself too hard, are you?" Paolo asked concerned after everyone had left.

"I would still have enough steam for our training if that's what you are concerned about." Sophia retorted dismissively.

"You've been growing reckless and you know it," Paolo stated back. "What's it going to be next time?"

The question was rhetorical but still very much valid: indeed, what's it's gonna be next time?

Yesterday, she had given her everything while giving into a wild surge. And that had been pretty terrifying, yet necessary. But what she did today? It had not served any purpose other than to vent her frustration. Not that she could admit that much to Paolo. Sure he would understand alright but would also mercilessly tease her until the end of time.

"You are right. I have been reckless." She conceded instead. "I'm sorry I got you worried."

"Just please, get aware of your own limits before they come and bite you." Paolo insisted.

And then, they made it up by sharing dinner over her pie.

★☆★

Paolo's training session had gone much like the first. Albeit he did push through the pain for a little while longer.

And it was also torture for Sophia to see her friend subject himself to that. He was excessively sweating and reddening as she kept going. And once they were done, Paolo had let himself collapse on the floor, trembling and crying like a little kid experiencing pain for the first time instead of the growing adult he was.

"Are you sure you don't want to switch training?" She asked, ironically much as a mirror of his previous concern.

"Don't tempt me" Paolo replied through gritting teeth. "And yeah, I'm sure. I can't afford to be useless in combat every time I'm feeling the slightest pain, fear, or fatigue."

And to that, Sophia had nothing to retort.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Paolo was an amazing ritual caster and could hold his own in most combat. But anything that could break his concentration would make him unreliable. And they simply couldn't afford it.

If boon were granted on determination alone, that much should have done the trick. But it wasn't how the system worked. It would take until there was no more to give and only then would it turn it into power to help their survival.

It wasn't by far an equivalent exchange, as it was hard to name a price for any supernatural power. But it was still a very unreasonable one.

"It's okay. I was just checking." Sophia finally replied and nursed Paolo's back to his bed, before retreating to the library.

"Close the door behind you and keep quiet," Michel said as soon as she opened it.

And so she did as instructed while Michel was... Praying? Meditating? Trying to shut down the sound around him? One way or another he looked like he had seen better days.

I just got a boon. It's called Alert and it's doing exactly what the name implies. I can't shut it down and it's going to take time getting used to.

At least, that was explaining things.

How did you get it?

Michel's answer was as effective as ever.

I was trying to boost my diviner power. I found the boon in a guide, thought it was perfect for me, and managed to unlock it. It turned out that a boon that promotes alertness over already enhanced senses was a terrible idea. I wish there was a way to disable a boon, permanently.

That was sure one hell of a double-edged sword. But once he would get used to it? They would be downright invincible.

With Michel's battle awareness, her speed archery, and Moana's surgical strike, they could end most fights before they even started, allowing them to last longer by saving their energy. So Paolo could keep his big spells for the real fight. And Lono didn't have to rely on his second wind too much.

Sorry, it didn't work out for you the way you thought it would. Still a great boon for the team. Do you want me to leave you alone?

The answer however surprised her.

Nope. Pick a book and start skimming. I need to get used to this.

So it was to the point he could hear the rustling of paper from across the room? That was truly one hell of a boon.

And yet, she did as he asked and went reading as she initially planned.

★☆★

Moano had unlocked her crossbow boon on the very next day, leaving only Paolo hanging. The poor guy had already gone through so much pain that one might have called him a masochist under different circumstances. But still, he kept throwing himself at her during their training both determined and desperate to unlock the boon he had been hoping for.

Each day, he looked more like a feverish dying child by the time they were done.

But despite the sweat, the shortness of breath, and spasmodic shaking, he kept getting more resilient and taking more and more punishment. However, this time around, when it was about time for them to stop:

"Please keep at it, I'm getting close to my limits. And I really don't want to go through a repeat." He asked, panting heavily.

And so she kept at it with renewed vigor. And this point, she knew Paolo every weakpoint to maximise the pain he was feeling without truly hurting him. It was just about pressing on the right nerve with her hands or striking at him randomly with the flat of her blades. As the most terrible pain was sometimes the least expected.

And then, she truly broke him as he collapsed on the floor, trembling, vomiting, and coughing all at once.

Before he went completely still and unconscious, like that time on the first floor.

So he finally got the boon and decided to enable it immediately to escape the pain? Good for him.

Knowing what was happening this time around, she waited quietly for Paolo to come back to his senses.

And then, he startled awake still trembling, but crying tears of joy instead of pain.

"I suppose this is even better than you thought it would be?" Sophia asked.

"YES! Yes! yes!" Was all he said, clearly not hearing her.

She let him have his moment. Until he crawled into her arms and cried some more. And so she gently patted him on the back, completely disarmed by his distress. She was the only culprit for the state he was in. And yet, it was still her that he chose for comfort.

What was wrong with that guy?

★☆★

And so, they were finally back to prep time.

Michel still needed time to recover from the side effects of his own boon.

But he wasn't needed for this and Sophia left him some dedicated space in the backpack she prepared for him for any item he might want to personally take with him. Paolo was still the king of personally held books. And he was still trying to convince everyone else to carry more for him, explaining to whoever was willing to hear him that the information contained could be as critical as his recent breakthrough with the tutorial proprietary magic.

And so, she gave in once again and took three such books, mainly because she still felt guilty about what she had done to him. Even after resting for a full day, he was still pretty shaken and she could tell that experience had changed him in ways she couldn't even fathom.

But at least, his war caster's new boon had been worth it. Even with his current abysmal concentration, that boon not only doubled it but also promoted its growth. So it was clearly a growth-type boon like her Song Healing.

Although her own growth type boon was in name only: to improve it, she needed to learn healing spells. And she was starting to get around the idea that she was locked out of them unless she took one of her patron's assassination contracts.

Which got her back to the team member she had avoided as much as she could: Prince.

She was already fed up being toyed with by both her patron and familiar.

But she couldn't temporize any longer.

"Prince, a moment of your time, please?" She called out and went to the respawn room, the only place in the resting area that was practically unused.

"Yes, Miirik?" The tressym said as soon as he got in after her.

"On the last floor, did you set me up to get hellish cuisine?" She finally confronted him.

"Actually, I set you up for Kingslayer," Prince admitted. "I never doubt you would survive somehow. But it was this or letting you die pointlessly to that abyssal lesser dragon. I did what you asked of me and did my best to secure a diplomatic solution, no matter how short-lived it was."

Those were all perfectly rational points. And yet, she had to ask:

"Remind me of the terms of our contract?"

"I'm to help and guide you throughout the tutorial and promote Lady Silverhair's values and objectives, should you be so willing to listen. I'm also reporting to her each time I die. But I'm otherwise solely loyal to you. And I have kept faithful to my parts of the terms." He recited.

"So you say you did not set me up for Kingslayer for her sake?" Sophia asked again, doubtful.

"She threatened my life for so liberally helping you." The tressym retorted gravely, before providing some extra context. "I'm not free to talk about the details of this conversation. But Lady Silverhair isn't your friend and her help would always come up at a price. That being said, you should try your best to find a middle ground and show her some appreciation."

The silver lining that she was learning from his subtext was that both their lives were at threat because of her patron. And that at least pretending to play to her tune might allow her to live longer.

"So, what are you suggesting?" She kept asking, still uncertain the tressym could be trusted.

"First thing first, we need to both stay alive so no suicide mission for either of us. Second: you need to curry favors with Lady Silverhair without breaking the discretion clause. Third: you need to be even more vigilant about temporary allies, as those might turn on you. I could go on with a detailed list but I'm trying to appeal to your preference for conciseness."

Every piece of advice was both sensible and insidious, depending on the perspective. If she followed those bits of advice to the letter, she would turn isolated and paranoid before she knew it. And she wasn't willing to become a zealot driven by the fear of Gods. And so she did not know where to stand with Prince, as things were.

The light directly over their head flickered and went out. The first sign of alien technology ever malfunctioning.

"See?" The winged cat said as if it proved his point. "She is not omnipotent or omniscient but she can still reach out and try to threaten me. By the way, it happened all week long."

Sophia did not know what to believe: the tutorial protection against gods' intervention was supposedly fail-safe. But so were the tutorial technologies. And yet, one way or another, there was no denying what she just saw.

"How come no one reported it, then?" Sophia asked once more.

"It's only temporary and centered around me." He explained, "The light will come back online shortly. Just wait and see."

And less than a minute later, the tressym prediction had proven true. So either he was a skilled liar and a master of illusion magic, or he was somehow telling the truth as he claimed he always had.

"Okay. I'm going to trust you." She conceded. "But anymore 'helping me' behind my back and we are done."