“So I should just listen to my guide then?” Quinn asked once Lucas finished his explanation.

Lucas nodded affirmatively. “Exactly. All you need is a firm idea of the kind of Class you want and the patience to listen to your guide and take it slow,” he reiterated. “Ultimately, nothing I could tell you will be any better than what your guide says–they are literally the part of you connected to the System.”

“That makes it easy then!” Quinn smiled cheerfully. “I kinda thought you’d know some secret way to get the best Class, though.”

“Nope,” Lucas denied, “I don’t think there is any better way than that, really. What you do before an evolution determines what you’re offered, but you’ve been training with Eugene for years, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

The boy beside him hesitated, then asked, “But what if it wasn’t enough? What if I go in there and find out I only needed to train a little more to get something better?”

Lucas considered that for a second before spouting an answer. It was definitely a valid concern, in his opinion, but it was also a neverending slope. People could never be completely sure they got the best option, that they put in enough effort. Lucas’s last Class evolution had definitely been rushed, but he had no lingering regrets for going through it–and that wasn’t just because he needed the strength it gave at the time.

“You can only ever do your best and hope for things to work out,” he told Quinn. The boy stared at him in confusion, so Lucas chose to clarify. “Look at it like this: right now, whatever your next Class turns out as, it will only ever be at the first evolution. You could train for years more, and make your options the very best they could be, but they will never be as strong as a second evolution.”

Quinn nodded along quietly to his words, and when he was done, the boy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Right. I’ve done the work, and now it’s time to take the next step. Do you mind watching over me while I do it?”

Lucas hid his instinctual grimace. He knew that question had been coming, and he didn’t really have any problem with watching over him, but there was no telling how long it’d take. If it took longer than a few hours, he could see there being trouble with Penelope and Eliot. Plus, he still had a lot he needed to get done today.

“I don’t know,” he hesitantly answered. “You could take days, and there’s really no way to hide that from your parents.”

Quinn’s face twisted slightly at that realization, as if he’d bitten into something sour. “They’re never going to let me pick the Class I want, though…”

“Either way, they’re going to be really mad,” Lucas replied, “there’s just no avoiding that.”

Quinn visibly deflated even more, but Lucas wasn’t done. “But as long as you’re willing to accept that, there’s nothing else that will hold you back. Even your parents can’t control what decision you make within the world of your soul, Quinn.”

Lucas paused, his mind hanging on the edge of a decision, then looked down at the ground and spoke once more.

“I’ll tell you what,” he started, “you can start your evolution here, and if it only takes a little bit, then there’s even less of an issue. But if it takes longer than a few hours, I’ll have to let your parents know.”

“Really?” Quinn perked back up.

Lucas nodded, then stood. “Yeah. Come on, let’s get somewhere comfortable inside if we’re gonna do this.”

He returned to the clinic with his friend trailing right behind him, and directed Quinn to sprawl out on the couch. Lucas made sure he was comfortable and no part of him was contorted in a way that would result in some sort of ache when he woke back up, but after that, there was no point in waiting any longer.

“You ready?” he asked the boy.

In response, Quinn only grinned at him and gave a small nod, then he closed his eyes and his entire body went still. Lucas watched the boy relax that last bit of tension unconsciously as he fell into himself. And all the while, Lucas took in every little detail and change in the boy’s mana.

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This was a rare opportunity to hopefully understand a bit more about how the System worked, and possibly just the one he needed. Lucas had already observed the fluidity of most people’s channels before their unlock, and of course he knew the nature of mana channels after that point, but it was the transition itself that might be the key to figuring out how to heal the survivors.

At least, in theory. But as long as he had the opportunity right in front of him, he’d take it.

Nothing, as far as he could tell, happened immediately. Quinn’s channels continued to fluctuate in an unpredictable manner that was characteristic of kids his age and younger. There might have been a moment of reduced activity when the boy must have prompted the evolution, but it was too brief to be sure Lucas hadn’t just imagined it.

So, he kept patiently watching as the minutes passed by.

Any time now…

And passed by.

Eventually, Lucas settled back into his chair and got comfortable. He didn’t pay any less attention to Quinn’s unconscious form, but that state of hyper-focus wasn’t sustainable for even him–not when nothing was actually going on. In the past, he might have maintained it for longer with the base version of [Meditation], but ever since he evolved it, it wasn’t nearly as effective outside of battle.

At least while he was doing this, he was also present to respond to anyone that might come by for healing. That let him focus on the task of observation a bit better. Still, it wasn’t enough, so Lucas started absently playing around with a [Lightning Construct] as well.

It wasn’t until an hour later that something happened to jolt Lucas’s steadily declining attention back to focus. He was attempting to somehow solidify the ball of electricity he’d made, just an idle challenge to help pass the time, when there was a sharp deviation in the behavior of Quinn’s channels. All of them–and it made Lucas practically jump forward out of his seat.

In a moment, he was by the boy’s side and watching over everything intently as Quinn’s mana migrated to various specific regions. It started to take on a shape superficially similar to Lucas’s own channels–though unique in likely every way that mattered. There hadn’t been any warning when this process started, but even though Quinn’s slumber hadn’t shown any signs of ending yet, this could only mean he had finally selected an evolution. This was what Lucas was keeping vigil for; this was what he needed to see.

He did his best to inspect every little stretch as closely as possible. An impossible task, as it was, but that didn’t matter when the slightest detail missed could obscure what he was looking for. To that end, he activated the once-per-day effect of [Eternal Vigil] to boost the speed of his perception.

Time seemed to slow down, and Lucas watched Quinn’s channels gradually settle into a formation. They concentrated heavily in the upper body and arms, with a bit less coverage in his legs, and an even amount in his head. Lucas waited for more to happen–something significant that he could at least work with to understand more.

He kept waiting, even as Quinn’s mana stopped shifting altogether. There had to be something he wasn’t seeing, some missing piece, because he got nothing from this. The mana just stopped, like the pattern it formed was itself the source of its immutability. It just settled into something and decided that was the way it would be from then on.

It doesn’t make any sense!

If that were the case, disrupting the pattern the slightest bit would cause the person’s channels to unravel. At best, it would send them back to before their unlock. The problem was, that wasn’t anything like the damage done to the survivors’ channels.

They had lingering, sustained damage to the substance, so to speak, not simply to the pattern. So even if Lucas’s speculation so far were somehow, against all odds correct, it probably wouldn’t be relevant to his concerns anyway.

This was all just…a waste of time.

Sure, he helped Quinn a little–and that was worth it in its own way–but the rest…He could have better spent the time just working with his tome.

Lucas returned to his chair and lounged back just as Quinn started showing signs of rousing.

A few minutes later, the boy groaned low and fitfully as if he didn’t wish to get up, but once the sound reached his own ears, his eyes shot open and he sat up from his prone position. Lucas watched Quinn sit forward till he was nearly halfway off the couch, and saw his vacant stare into the open air. He gave him time to process the flood of notifications he was surely getting.

He wouldn’t dwell on the dead end he’d run into with this, Lucas decided. It would’ve been unreasonable for him to expect the solution to just fall right into his lap like this. He knew all along that things would never be that easy.

Instead, a better use for his time would be to plan where to go from here. How could he attain a better understanding? Maybe his study of Quinn’s Class evolution wasn’t entirely a dead end, and he could use what he’d observed somehow? It was something he’d have to think on, once he was on his own again. From the boy’s increasingly excited fidgeting, it looked like Quinn was just about finished.

“Hey, Lucas,” Quinn finally said, as he turned to look at him with a huge smile. “Do you wanna spar?”