Bell jolted up, drenched in cold defensive toxins her body was releasing on impulse. For a while, she had no idea where she was. She felt like she’d been slammed against a wall, and was almost surprised to see her limbs still filled with herself just the way they were supposed to be. She hadn’t popped, then. That was good.

Her gaze fell on None right beside her, who looked up from the Golden Apple she’d been examining in her hands.

“What was that?” she asked, tilting her head with a clack.

Bell blinked, trying to calm down her tendril hair from scuttling around in panic. None could feel aura bursts and probably noticed what had happened too, but she was much less attuned and vulnerable to the sensation.

“Something bad,” Bell said, and looked north. “Felt an energy surge. A strong Skill… something…” She rubbed her temples with two hair tendrils.

None looked north as well. “You mean, where Theora is? Is she back?”

Bell slowly continued walking down the busy street. “If she was back, we’d see it on the party screen.”

“Do you think we should check it out?”

Biting her lip, Bell tried to piece things together. “I think… I’m not sure? It was so strong. Hard to pinpoint the exact origin. It’s gone now… Well, either that, or it dulled my senses so much that I can’t feel anything.”

The sounds of people talking on the market felt like hammers on Bell’s mind. She was overloaded. None seemed to notice, and took her hand, gently pulling her to the side, into a small side-alley outside the flow of the main street, and made her sit down on a barrel, where she landed with a bit of a squelch.

Bell noticed more toxins had built up on her forehead, and wiped them off with a strand of her hair.

“Need something to drink?”

Bell nodded, her head dizzy. At that, None smiled, and started choking and retching to puke out a bubble of water from her internal storage. It floated around, and Bell fetched it with her hair, placed it against her mouth, and proceeded to drink the entire thing in one go.

Finally, breathing heavily, she managed to calm down a bit.

“Thank you,” she said. She didn’t feel a resurgence of the sudden impact, nor any residue. It seemed to have been a one-time event, then? Or would there be aftershocks? Bell braced herself.

She’d been a high-level hero capable of sensing auras for a few hundred years. During that time, she’d experienced only one global aura event. One-hundred sixty-four years ago, when the Cube of Solitude had been destroyed, and the presence of the Ancient Evil had made its way onto Himaeya.

An event every hero at the time had experienced with terror.

There had been some smaller events too — sixty-four years ago, when the Devil of Truth had been defeated, and forty-seven years ago, around the time of None’s rebirth, when Theora had defeated Umbra. Back then, Bell had been close-by, tasked with setting up barriers around the next city Umbra had been heading to, in case Theora failed or refused to dispatch it in time.

Typically, strong beings chose to obscure or lessen the size of their aura, much in the way Theora did. In order to recognise Theora’s true power, one had to be extremely experienced. Dema, on the other hand, seemed to make no such attempt, or perhaps, she was oblivious to the fact that every high-level hero on the continent could feel her presence blaze like a beacon.

Of course, Bell had eventually gotten used to Dema’s aura, and while it was strong, it was not painful. It was much like the sun. Fine, as long as one didn’t look at it directly, but always there. Well, not now, since she was in a different reality.

However, none of these events compared with what Bell had experienced just now. A violent, terrifying burst unlike what she’d seen in the entirety of her career.

“If something really bad happened, the System will probably call on you,” None mused. “So, as long as it doesn’t, things should be fine?”

With a sigh, Bell nodded. At this point, with how surreal the experience had been, she almost wondered if she’d imagined it. If her brain had played a trick on her. It was not reasonable for anything of this magnitude to just happen without warning.

“Sorry,” she said, and gestured to the Golden Apple with a tendril. “Let’s continue asking around, then?”

None clacked a nod, and held out a hand to help Bell back up, who gladly took the opportunity for some skinship. Or rockship, in this case. Somehow, Bell still felt a little rattled, but she did her best to stumble after None, who was apparently eager to get back into their task. She probably wanted to offer Bell a quick distraction — and it was working.

“Hey!” None greeted the next scroll merchant she could find, looking over the variety of his offers. He smiled at her widely. He had a wine-coloured cloth wrapped around his head, and wore a linen dress to shield himself from the sun. In front of him laid countless scrolls, meticulously labelled.

Scrolls functioned akin to one-time Skill uses, and they circumvented the System. It was unclear whether they were older than the System or had been developed as a way to avoid it. They were very much a niche product by now, since most people relied on abilities one could use through the Interface; it was much easier.

Of course, None was a total airhead, so she’d managed to get distracted by the countless offers within five seconds, instead of remembering what they were here for. The merchant looked at her with slight amusement, but also confusion, as she completely ignored him and marvelled at the inventory. Eventually, his gaze flickered over to Bell.

“She wanted to ask you whether you happen to know a person possessing the Skill [Compute],” Bell provided, with a nod towards None. Due to the nature of how scrolls were created, people in that area often had knowledge of people with rare Skills.

His gaze jumped back to None — more specifically, to the Golden Apple in her hand, and he nodded, pensively. “Personally, no,” he said. “But I might be able to give you some pointers. Or I could start asking around and keep my ears open. Depending on how much time you have.”

At that, None’s head clacked up, beaming. “Thank you!” she let out.

“I take it you wish to trade?” he asked, and nodded to the Apple.

“Yep!”

“Mind telling me what you have to offer in exchange? It might make it easier to find a match.”

Of course, Bell and None had talked about this before. A Golden Apple was an Epic grade magical item that allowed two people to trade a common Skill. Theora had apparently received the item as a quest reward, and then gifted it to None, because attaining [Compute] naturally was hard, like with any other specific common Skill. Trading a Skill she already had with a person who was willing to let go of their [Compute] seemed like a much easier option to get there.

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“[Identify]!” None let out with a cheer, and the merchant startled.

From None’s perspective, it definitely made sense… Bell already had access to [Identify], so if they travelled together, None wouldn’t need it herself. That said, anyone else would probably find the idea to trade a rare and valuable Skill like that for something seemingly useless like [Compute] completely ludicrous.

“Well… If you’re sure, I’m certain something can be arranged,” he said. “But, you’re not going to abandon the deal at the last second? [Identify] is a valuable Skill.”

None nodded. “Yeah! I love [Identify] but I only have two common Skills, and the other one — [Inner Monologue] — helps a lot with staying sapient, so I’d like to keep it. And the sooner I can get [Compute], the better. So, it’s fine. I mean it!”

With that, they discussed a few more things; ways to communicate, reasonable timeframes, and some kind of compensation. Once None identified herself as a hero of the System, the merchant had some ideas for how he could use her help.

And with that, a while later, they were back on their way striding through the busy street, until they found a bench to sit on under a sycamore tree. None seemed to be in a very good mood, letting her legs dangle over the edge, and making them clash against each other regularly with soft clonks.

“Feeling better?” she eventually asked. Somehow, one of Bell’s tendrils had found its way into None’s hand, who gently squeezed back.

Bell nodded.

“That’s good,” None said. “I can’t wait to get the Skill. Might still take months or years, of course… but it’s so nice of mom to give me the item. Although, it kind of confuses me that she did. I would have thought she’d use it herself.”

“Huh?” Bell let out. “Why?”

“Well, why doesn’t she use it to trade away [Obliterate]? She seems to be really unhappy about having it. And I mean, I can imagine. It devours all her combat Skills. Must be depressing.”

Bell frowned, looking absently into the crowd washing by in front of her. That’s right — [Obliterate] was not a Class Skill, and not a Legendary one either. As ridiculous as it was to imagine considering its strength, it indeed counted as a simple common Skill. Theora could have used the Golden Apple to trade it away.

“Well,” Bell murmured, “I don’t know her reasoning, but I’m glad she kept it.”

None swirled her head around. “What? It’s pretty obvious that she suffers from having it, though?”

“I suppose that’s true,” Bell said. “I guess I’m being insensitive, but ultimately… I do have my disagreements with Theora, obviously, but if [Obliterate] needs a keeper, I think it should be her. After all, it can destroy anything. And the cost is paid by the world, through ambient damage, not by its user. What if the Skill ended up in the hands of a person who just didn’t care? They would be unbeatable, and the world would become a desert.”

Bell pondered for a moment. “Even less than a desert, actually. Some things can live in deserts. Nothing can live in a world blemished by [Obliterate].” She sighed. “I suppose I’m glad Theora wields it with caution and reluctance.”

After all, if she didn’t, Bell would be dead. She and the other heroes who’d come to kill Dema in her weakened state would have been turned into nothing just like Ramph’s hammer. Instead, Theora had spared their lives and asked them to go away.

None clacked a finger against her cheek in thought. “I mean, I did have to stop her from blowing up the System the day I first met her,” she said. “She has a bit of a temper. Also, other responsible people exist in the world. She could have given it to someone trustworthy.”

Bell tried to parse the shock of what None had just shared with her, and blinked a few times. Then, shook her head. “Theora has existed for millennia, and the world is still largely in one piece. So, I guess she’s kind of proven herself. But I mean, who knows. Perhaps she already used a Golden Apple ages ago for something completely different. Maybe this whole discussion is moot. In the end, she gave it to you, because she wanted you to have it.”

None sighed, clicking her mandibles together. “I guess you’re right. And, if [Compute] helps me do the things I want to do, I’ll be able to help her too. So, it’s not a waste.”

For a while, they kept sitting side-by-side. They watched a girl cry because her dad would not let her climb down a well. A lizard scuttled by eventually, between their legs.

It was unusual for None to be silent for long periods of time. Occasionally, Bell sneaked a glance at her, to see if something was wrong, and indeed, the girl had a pensive expression on her face.

“Something on your mind?” Bell eventually asked.

“It’s… I don’t know.” She turned to look at Bell. “You referred to me as ‘she’ when we talked to the merchant.”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No,” None said. “I’ve just been wondering about this whole thing for a while, and even more lately. Like, back then, in my ‘first life’, so to speak, things were very different. Some of us laid eggs and some didn’t, but there was no culture around any of this stuff.”

“Makes sense,” Bell said. “Well, laying eggs doesn’t necessarily correspond to it anymore here either. But I suppose you mean that such divides exist at all?”

None clacked a nod. “Since I got here, people have used ‘she’ and ‘girl’ for me. I don’t dislike that, but I sometimes wonder if I’m a bit of an impostor.”

“You look cute,” Bell said. “Feminine features, I suppose. That’s why people default to it. Does it bother you?”

None frowned. “No, it doesn’t. It makes me happy. Even more so when I realised my ‘mothers’ had gifted that identity to me. But I was just wondering, if, maybe, it would be nice to have a place like home?”

“How do you mean?”

None shrugged. “I’m wondering how it would feel if someone treated me the way it was in my old life. Where it didn’t matter.”

“Oh,” Bell said.

“Since you already use a different name for me, I was wondering if that person could be you?”

Bell felt herself blush. She didn’t have any blood, so it didn’t turn her red, but instead, made her blue skin shimmer with yellow. “Of course? Yes. Of course. Just me? I could talk to the others for you?”

None smiled. “I’ll probably talk to the others about it myself, just so it’s less confusing. But yes, just you. Just one place to feel a bit nostalgic.”

Bell swallowed and nodded, and lost her gaze in the crowd again. Out of all the people in the world, None had chosen her to feel ‘like home’?

“But, you know… Actually — different topic again,” None said, laughing. “Sorry I jump so much. But like, since we were talking about [Obliterate] earlier. Don’t you think there’s something off with that Skill?”

“Off how? You mean that it’s too strong?”

None shook their head. “That much is obvious, and I mean, it kind of explains itself if you consider how many Skills it must have absorbed. Theora’s Skills of all things, which were probably already ridiculous in the first place. But, like. I get the feeling… The Skill’s description in her sheet — It doesn’t really match how she uses it? Or talks about it?”

Bell pursed her lips. That was certainly true. There were some inconsistencies.

“Like,” None continued, “The Skill says that there will be ambient damage on every use, to offset the Skill’s strength. But… If that was true, and she used it countless times over the course of the plague in Hallmark — how is there a single pebble of Hallmark left? Shouldn’t the damage have destroyed it?”

“Yeah,” Bell said. “That doesn’t quite add up.”

None nodded. “I talked to Dema about it while Theora was asleep in the bath house, and Dema said that Theora once mentioned something about the Skill having hidden rules of sorts, and that killing things was already damaging the fabric of reality, but… The description of the Skill is very straightforward. It shouldn’t leave room for hidden aspects like that. The way it’s worded, ambient destruction should happen on every single use, but the way Theora talks about it, it only happens sometimes, when she’s not careful, or when she messes up. It’s puzzling.”

“There are some glitches and errors in her sheet,” Bell mused. “Maybe [Obliterate] is affected, and thus inaccurate? Or perhaps she found a way to obscure some details about the Skill?”

“I can’t imagine that she’d do it on purpose. I mean, she doesn’t love talking about this stuff, so all anyone can get out of her is very vague and skirting around the topic. But like. I guess what I want to say is… I can’t wait for [Compute]. I want to ask her if she can show me how she uses the Skill, and then use [Compute] to analyse the data, and figure out what really happens.”

Bell nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. In that case, let’s hope that we find a trade soon.”

None smiled. “And then we’ll all meet back up! I really hope they’re having a nice time on their date.”