Liara winced as Pellas pulled the last shard of glass out of her leg. The tiny golem’s hands worked across the ripped flesh with micro precision, splitting apart into small tools and stitching the torn pieces back together with invisible mana strands.

Pellas glanced again at Liara’s face with that last intake of breath and focused once more on the task at hand. He could tell that she had been crying, but when he rematerialized, she had insisted that everything was fine. He decided to respect that and not bring them up.

“Done and done.” Pellas crowed.

All over the skin on her limbs and palms were the small scars of Pellas' quick debriding, cleansing, and stitching. Liara rubbed where the largest shard of glass had embedded itself in her arm and Pellas non too gently slapped her hand away.

“Now, now. Do not go rubbing my handiwork so soon after jumping into all that glass. I recommend you stop doing that by the way. It is not good for your health.”

Liara gritted her teeth, more so from the glaring pain in her left shoulder than annoyance, and replied, “Noted. Now, can I take the medicine?”

“Hmm, not yet. I need to put your shoulder joint back into place.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Yes.” Pellas’ response was quick, with no sidestepping of the pain that was going to be involved. Liara appreciated the straightforwardness and nodded. Pellas’ arms wrapped around her left arm and body. The thought to buy a painkiller first flashed in her head, but a loud pop and new nova of pain hushed the words in a muffled scream, as Liara bit into the collar of her uniform to prevent biting her tongue. New tears flowed, but the pain abated significantly when Liara took the greater restoration medication. In remembrance of her recent trauma, a dull ache remained.

While she rolled her left arm around, testing the healed joint, Pellas drifted out of the stairwell and into the lobby. Liara did not need to peek in to see what he was doing, since he returned less than a minute later. Holding a mana core in one of his arms. Triumphantly he shouted, “Finally, a Screamer’s mana core! This is going to make things so much easier!”

“Why’s that?” Liara asked and the Golem replied, “It would be easier if I told you.”

The golem absorbed the Screamer’s mana core, the purple, veiny stone, shimmered and disappeared, and then he floated there, not doing anything.

“Uh, don’t you mean it would be easier if you ‘showed’ me?”

[No, I meant what I said.]

Pellas’ voice slithered in Liara’s mind like an audio version of the notifications that she kept blocked. Though Pellas did not have a mouth, she knew she was not hearing his voice with her ears and she felt somewhat disoriented because of it.

“Are you reading my mind?!”

[No, Screamers are natural telepaths despite their brutish appearance. It is how they communicate with each other and their masters. Reading your mind is a higher-level ability that requires points and cores. I am simply projecting my voice into your mind.]

“What’s the difference?”

[Significant. For one thing, you cannot project your own non-verbal communication into my mind and for the other, I can only produce this inner auditory dialogue. I cannot share images or other sensations with you.]

“Can you stop doing whatever it is and just speak normally?”

Pellas sighed and slumped next to her, “I suppose, but I was looking forward to using this ability for the longest time. Why use so many words when you can use none?”

“Well, it sure would have been useful back at the cafeteria, that’s for sure.”

“I know! Imagine all the possibilities that are unlocked with this ability. Scouting of course, but then I can also give you insights and advice when we do not want others to be listening in.”

“It’d be pretty obvious that I’m listening to a voice in my head if I’m just staring off into space though.”

“Eh, if your academy grades are any hint, then your peers and professors are probably used to you staring off into space.”

“Hey.”

“Anyway, harvesting and utilizing a Screamer’s mana core for this very purpose is a standard procedure for most Magical Girl training missions. You will be one step ahead of the game when you find a big sister to take you under her wing.”

“Will a big sister be like a proctor?” If that was the case, Liara was not looking forward to it at all.

"No, thankfully not. I know your proctor was a bit of a" Pellas paused, "hard case, but not every senior Magical Girl is like that. A big sister is a voluntary position, meaning they actually have an interest in growing your power and teaching you.”

“That’s real nice of them.” Liara brightened.

“Well, they get quite a lot of points from quests for doing so too.”

“Oh.” Liara’s mood deflated somewhat and she bit the inside of her mouth, plugging the mean comment she was about to quip. When she glanced at the pile of skin and bones near them, she had a convenient change of topic. Before, she had been trying hard not to look at it, since it was small enough that it could be mistaken for a child's corpse if you did not know what it was. The creature would have certainly killed her if she had not purchased prior protection, so she did not feel too bad about its demise.

“Oh, that. You really should check your corners. It would have been so bad if a Lurker of all things had killed you.”

"Well, thankfully I had this on." Liara patted her flak vest, the lower abdominal part was now covered in scratches and small pinpricks, but the Lurker's claws had not pierced it.

“If it had gone for your throat or eyes, then we would be having a different conversation.” Pellas paused, uncomfortable with the reality that almost occurred. “I should have gone in ahead of you. At least you would not have been jumped like that.”

“I think you did more than enough with that Screamer, Pellas.” Liara tugged one of his arms and pulled him into a quick embrace. When she let him go, Pellas’ eye was pink and his arms were rubbing together.

“Oh, don’t mention it. Anytime, haha.”

“Well, I do want to mention it because I think it opens up a whole new set of tactics for us.”

“Oh?”

“Like, maybe you can take one of the mana storage spheres and self-bomb an enemy.”

“Oh. My. Goodness. What a cruel and heartless girl you are!” Pellas’ eye turned a bright orange and he crossed all his numerous arms together. “It is not like it is fun to get destroyed and cast back and forth between the realms!”

“Hey, hey,” Liara had both hands raised and shushed her golem, “It will only be for last resort. It’s just an idea. I’m sorry, I thought you’d understand.”

Pellas stopped, whirled his arms in a windmill, and sighed. "I suppose I see your dark logic, you disturbed, strange woman." He giggled but stopped immediately. “But do not be one of those Magical Girls who treat their golems like tools. We have feelings too and we hate that. We are friends, not tools.”

"Friends, not tools," Liara replied, but she was not speaking to Pellas. Was he her friend? Pellas certainly had an interest in keeping her alive, but there was a lot about the golem she did not understand, let alone the system whose rules he had to abide by. Yet in those few minutes in the dark, while she was waiting for him to rematerialize, she missed him. She looked him in his largest central eye and nodded. “I’m sorry Pellas, for real. You’re my friend and I hope I can be a friend to you too.”

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“That was really cheesy.”

Liara gave a genuine bark of laughter and nodded. “Guess I had that coming.” But her smirk faded when she looked at the dead Lurker. “Can you, uh, harvest that thing’s core too?”

“Eh,” Pellas groaned and his eye dimmed. “Nasty little thing, hardly worth the ten points you got for it. I can harvest its core, but there is an issue that we need to address.”

“Something tells me that it’s going to be more nonsense about the point system.”

"Something tells me you are right because that is exactly it. You see, golem upgrades are quick, free ways for Magical Girls to gain useful tools in the field."

“Right and so far we’ve used all your abilities.” Liara sighed. “So, how is the system going to stick it to me now?”

“Well, a golem can only integrate five Yabanchi abilities until they reach their maximum capacity.”

Liara held out her fingers and counted off: Mylock, Gardener, Matriarch, Screamer, and now the Lurker. This will make you full then.”

“Almost right. I have not integrated the Matriarch core, it is more valuable as a material than it is a core for golem abilities.”

“Then integrating the Lurker core will leave us with one more slot left. We should still do it.”

“I should tell you though, the Lurker golem ability is not that good. It will provide me with low light vision.”

“So you’ll be able to see in the dark?”

"No, that is dark vision and an upgrade to low light vision. With this core, I will be able to see clearly in environments with decreased lighting."

“That does sound pretty useless.” Liara trailed off and then asked, "But what if we did have five golem abilities and you were full? What would our options be?”

“Hmm, if that were the case then we would have to either do a system reset, upgrade an ability with a fusion, or purchase a Golem Frame upgrade.”

“Let me guess: points, points, points.”

“Yes, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault. Please, go on.”

“Thank you.” Pellas cleared his non-existent throat and continued. “The options vary in point cost, with a system reset being the cheapest at one thousand points.”

The fact that one thousand points was the ‘cheap’ option, flabbergasted Liara, but she pressed on with her questions. “So if we had the points, we could keep adjusting your abilities as needed?”

“No, I’m afraid not. Once a system reset is purchased, there is a one-week cooldown.”

"Of course. What about fusions or golem frames? If a basic medical suite costs us six thousand points, I’m not sure I want to know how much a golem frame upgrade costs.”

“Ah, well, maybe you do not want to know, since it does usually cost ten thousand points for the first golem upgrade tier.”

Liara slumped against the wall and pressed her neck to the cool concrete. The sensation helped with the headache that was starting to form around her temples.

“Pellas. Does the system want me to die?”

“Now why would you say such a silly thing like that?”

“We’re in the middle of a Yabanchi invasion and I’ve almost died several times in the span of less than two hours, and now when I want to upgrade you or purchase items, the system is wringing me for every point it can get. It’s gone beyond malice at this point, it just seems stupid.”

Pellas’ eye became hooded, despite not having any eyelids, and he settled on the ground. “It is complicated.”

“You can’t just hand wave it away like that, Pellas. I’m your friend, not a tool.”

"Ouch, did not think I would have that thrown back at me so quickly."

“Please, be serious. I’m here, I’m present and I just want some answers.”

Pellas leaned on two of his arm pairs, the other pairs stroked his eye.

“To be frank with you, when I materialize in this realm, I forget a lot of things. It is a limitation of this form.”

“Convenient.”

“Quite so, in fact, I think it is designed that way. Though that is a theory only, the whole truth gets left behind when I leave my true form in the other realm.”

Liara involuntarily trembled. She remembered what Pellas called “the other realm”, the throne and the voice like thunder and she asked if that was what he was referring to.

“Indeed!"

"So those voices, one was you, and the other was the system?"

"Yes." Pellas stood up but cocked his head. "No. Wait. Yes, sorry, but you heard the voices of myself, the system, and my friend.”

“Does your friend have a name?

“Yes. Though that is one of the many things I forgot.”

“So, what do all these booming voices I heard have to do with the reason why I’m getting nickel and dimed, literally to death, for a few points?”

"Well, for one thing, they are higher authorities than me. So, when I negotiate the purchase of an item for us, the system gets to dictate a less favorable price."

“Don’t the items have a predetermined price? Are you telling me that you haggle like a street vendor with the system every time I want to buy something?”

“No, there are conditions and variables that affect the negotiations. Perhaps the biggest mark against us, is that you are so brand new and relatively weak. Why would the system do you any favors when it is likely that you will die before its investment pays off?”

“Isn’t the fact that I am a Magical Girl indication enough of my value as an investment? Letting their newbies die before they even have a chance seems like a waste.”

“Well, again, that is what a big sister is for. They are supposed to protect their proteges from death and dismemberment and along the way help the new girls form connections with Conglomerate entities that can give them favorable system plans and license rights to mana constructs.”

“I know you guys make fun of my grades a lot, but I know they never covered ‘license rights’ and ‘system plans’ in class.”

“Presumably they would have taught you the basics in your last year, but a system plan allows for a Magical Girl to make point purchases that are protected from high and unexpected costs. Now, how good or extensive these protections are varies from plan to plan, but licenses are also important since they are essentially required for the purchase or manufacturing of some of the best mana equipment."

“I did not need a license for this flak vest and it was cheap.”

“That flak vest is essentially a junk item and would be labeled ‘generic’ on the market. If you are purchasing by generic only, then a Magical Girl’s item roster would be severely limited.”

Liara's foot tapped and echoed in the stairwell, the new concepts that Pellas presented were frustrating and hard for her to wrap her head around. "Get rid of plans and licenses then. That way items will become cheaper and we can cut out the middle man.”

“You know, I really need you to keep that opinion to yourself. If the system heard you, then it would make my negotiations that much harder.”

“Am I wrong though? Why can’t people just help each other? Don’t the rest of the Magical Girls hate this too?”

“Who do you think benefits the most from it?”

Liara rubbed her temples and groaned. She did not know which was worse, a single-minded, but consistent system that was bent on opposing her at every turn or a loose conglomeration of bureaucrats and corporations whose malice was accidental rather than purposeful.

“Hey now,” Pellas bumped Liara’s shoulder and said, “Do not think too much about it. I have to handle most of the negotiations anyway. Look, there is blood on the ground.” Pellas was in all likelihood trying to distract Liara from getting too angry about the little glimpse she had of the system, but when she looked at the floor, it was indeed covered in blood that was neither hers nor the Lurker’s.

In the chaos of being chased, ambushed, and tossed around like a ragdoll, Liara had never noticed the trail of blood on the floor. Such sights were becoming too common lately for her liking, but unlike the black trail of Mylock blood from before, this was a dark red. Human.

Pellas squashed this hope as soon as it sprouted, “Not necessarily human, though most Yabanchi do not bleed red, there are a few varieties that do. Perhaps it is a wounded Cadaver?”

“But they are already dead when a Gardener converts them into a host, right? So wouldn’t a dead body not bleed so much?”

"Again, not necessarily. Not all Cadaver hosts are dead while serving their new masters." Pellas let the thought trail off into uncomfortable silence and Liara felt her heart spasm with regret for all the Cadavers she killed in the cafeteria. The idea that maybe she killed someone, even if the person was a Yabanchi host…Her face must have said it all since Pellas decided to speak directly into her mind.

[To become a Cadaver is considered a fate worse than death, Liara. There is no known way to save a person once they have gone that far. If anyone was alive when you slew those parasites, then you served them a mercy.]

“I’ve never killed anyone before today, Pellas.”

Back to his usual voice, he said, “And you have not killed anyone yet. Yabanchi are filthy animals that need to be brought low and back into the mud.”

“But what if I just keep killing? Won’t I get numb to it? What will happen to me then?”

“Then I will slapstick some sense back into you, but not now, not here. You have to keep pushing; people are relying on you.”

“Like Talia.”

“Like Talia.” Pellas agreed. “Trained to be killers, yes, but ultimately Magical Girls are defenders. Your sacrifice is not only the life you may be called to give, but those that you take, so that others may never know the horrors of the shadow as you do.”

“And if I let the shadow consume me? Become a mindless killer like some Yabanchi?”

“No shadow, however dark, can overcome the tiniest spark. The night is far spent, our enemy knows this, and though the shade of the evening seems eternal, joy shall come in the morning.”

“If I did not know better, I would say that you have two personalities instead of one. A jester is in charge half the time and an old man the other half."

“There is a time for levity and sobriety both, though I am more fond of the former than the latter. Yet when you live as long as I, you pick up a few things.”

“Well, come on then Sage Pellas.” Liara started up the stairwell, following the trail of blood. Pellas did not join her for half a minute, but then he floated beside her, another mana core in his sharp claws.

“The Lurker’s?”

“Yes.” The core disappeared and Pellas said, “I can store it in myself until we decide to utilize it or trash it.”

“Do you think we could sell it?”

“I suppose we might, but,” Pellas cut off, his eye narrowing. “Do you feel that?!”

Liara looked around and aside from a faint buzz in her ear, she felt nothing. “I think I hear something.”

“That something is the emergency shelter mana barrier! We have just entered its field.”

Hope surged in Liara and she asked, “But how can we enter it from so far away? The designated shelter is the community room upstairs.”

"I am not sure, but this confirms one thing. This trail of blood does not belong to a Yabanchi, most would not have been able to get this far into the field without being repulsed." The confirmation that they were trailing a heavily bleeding person made Liara pick up her steps, two stairs at a time so that they reached the top floor of the student barracks in less than a minute.

When Liara got to the final landing of the stairs, she stopped and gasped. A pale thing was waiting for her, covered in blood and barely breathing. It stirred from its place beside the stairwell door and groaned at her.

“Dr. Holzer?!”