Cless stumbled out of the canvas acting as a bridge between worlds, barely keeping her feet underneath herself. She clenched her gut to resist the sudden wave of lightheadedness. Her spell really didn’t like the extra arachnid passenger. Her mana pool had drained dry, the relocation squeezing her for every last mote.

Unconsciousness knocked on her mental door, demanding to be let in. Hisses of forced breath through grit teeth got her through the worst of it. She held her precious spider cargo between two cupped palms while giving herself a moment to recover through a bit of meditation.

Her room, despite its generous size, would give a claustrophobe a panic attack. Dozens of easel-mounted canvases packed the floor space. Art depicting myriad landscapes and action scenes tessellated her walls. Some even appeared to move on their own. Tarps stained with every color imaginable and several unimaginable until first perceived littered the floor. They slipped and slid upon the wood flooring as Cless scrambled to get out of the room.

In this moment Cless didn’t care for the extensive warding throughout the home she and Claire shared. Outside would normally just be a simple blink away, but the anti-teleportation enchantments prevented that. Only her anchor painting allowed her to bypass them with her magic to get back home.

Though to be fair ‘shared’ implied Claire spent time at home, which was provably false in Cless’s experience. The workaholic never left her office except to head to council meetings. Claire acted more like owner-in-name. If anyone could be called an abuser of the lowered need for sleep all humans experienced past level two hundred, then it would be Claire. But as a leader of Ravenhall, controller of Ilea’s finances, and a councilor of the Accords she didn’t get much time for herself. That level of fame dictated the necessary protection of her home.

Cless hooked an elbow into the door handle and awkwardly leaned down to undo the latch. The second a tiny gap cracked open between the door and the frame, living lightning with dozens of eyes squeezed through the impossibly tight space. It weaved through Cless’s legs once before coalescing into a white, soft-furred feline form that came up halfway to her shin. Tiny sparks of lightning continued to zip through its fur.

“Squiggly, no!” Cless called to her childhood pet silintis, “You can’t be in here.”

The creature emitted a mental touch the urging her to feed it. Cless had learned the hard way that the herbivorous monster loved to eat her paintings. If given the choice, her most recently completed work seemed to be the preferred meal. She lost more than a few paintings until wards were installed on her door to prevent its entry. But there wasn’t any time to corral the beast into compliance right now.

Cless forwent the stairs by hopping over the banister down to the foyer, cushioning her fall with a touch of flight. Using the tiny blip of mana she had recovered through meditation swept another wave of nausea from overextension through her. Her shoulder checked into the front door while her vision dimmed. Sliding down the frame allowed another elbow-rangling with the handle.

She nearly tripped down the single-step stoop before taking a deep breath and belting out “medic!” at the top of her lungs. The burst of energy dropped her to a knee to recover.

In the nicer residential area of Ravenhall, foot traffic was low. But those few on the cobblestone street paused to crane their heads at her outburst. They pointed her way and repeated the call of “medic,” hoping to draw extra attention to the unfolding crisis. As protocol, no more yells repeated beyond those who directly saw the one in need, lest it sow confusion.

None dared approach without knowing the kind of affliction Cless suffered. Without visible wounds it could be a number of things from curse, to poison, to disease, to blood magic. Any of them could prove fatal to an unlucky helper.

In most other cities in Elos, shouting for a healer would amount to little more than disturbing the peace. But Ravenhall held the headquarters of the Medic Sentinel Corps, the healing organization Ilea founded with the intention of lowering adventurer mortality.

As the seconds ticked by Cless worried she lived in a too-remote part of the city to receive help. She kept her head down and closed her eyes, trying to get back into a meditative state to recover. Doing such a thing wasn’t a good idea. Any city, even one with such high level guards as Ravenhall, had its dangers. She wasn’t even wearing armor. Claire was sure to scold her if she ever found out.

But her magic told her of the spider’s importance. And while the shrill warning had dampened since she returned to Elos, it still continued to nag her. So she prepared to run across town to the Sentinels’ headquarters.

A piercing whistle drew Cless’s attention to the sky. Above her a Shadowguard, dressed in dark leathers with a prominent raven emblem on dispay, floated in the air. They unleashed a burst of magic straight above themselves that roughly resembled the letter M. It wasn’t quite the drake symbol the Sentinels used. The caster likely didn’t have the skill to emulate such a complex design, but it certainly caught the eye.

In any case, Cless celebrated her luck. Among the Shadowguard population, mages weren’t exactly the most numerous. Martial classes far outstripped every other class category. To have both a Shadowguard within shouting distance and them being a mage proved her fortune. With the Shadowguard’s added signal flare, a healer was surely on their way.

She didn’t bet on it though and continued to lull herself into a meditative state. If worse came to worse, she could warp over to her destination once her mana pool was full enough for the jaunt.

“Cless!”

She opened her eyes to the familiar voice of Raphia only to be held on the shoulder. By quirk of teleportation magic, the sound from Raphia’s far-off call met her ears at the same time the medic arrived. The soothing effect of healing magic flowed through Cless’s body, taking away any remaining vestiges of her headache. The deep ache in her soul from overtaxing herself remained.

“You seem fine,” Raphia said with a perplexed tone.

“Not me. Her.”

Cless uncupped her hands to present the mangled spider barely clinging to life. Several of its legs were crippled, the carapace cracked and leaking. The tiny creature, smaller in length than one of Cless’s finger joints, had barely moved since being picked up.

[Spider]

Very helpful, inspect.

“Cless, that’s a monster.”

“Raphia, please heal her. You’ll see. I promise.”

The ash-clad Sentinel extended a single finger to delicately place upon the spider. Broken limbs snapped back into place and the carapace sealed together once more. The spider briefly looked good-as-new, save for her lying on her back with legs curled inward. Then the brown carapace started to flake off like old chipped paint.

In alarm, Raphia took her finger away, cutting off her healing. “Sorry, Cless, I–“

“It’s fine. Watch.”

The sight was horrifying. It looked like the spider was decaying before their eyes, falling apart at the seams. The deterioration revealed blackened pulsing flesh beneath. It would have panicked Cless as well if the nagging of her magic hadn’t quieted to a melodic murmur after Raphia started healing.

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“Everything alright here?” the Shadowguard asked.

Cless peeled her eyes away from the gruesome metamorphosis to address him, “Yes, thank you for your help. We saved her.”

“Saved who?” He lowered himself slowly to the ground.

“This spider, of course.”

He frowned at the revelation. “Guard and Sentinel resources shouldn’t be squandered for a mere bug. What if I missed someone who actually needed help?”

“Come look. You’ve never witnessed what’s going to happen next.”

“If this is some kind of prank...” the guard warned.

Some curious onlookers who helped spread the call for help came over along with the guard. Over the next minute the spider shed the rest of her carapace. Then a torrent of atmospheric mana funneled towards her.

Before the crowd of humans the spider steadily increased in size until it barely fit in the palm of Cless’s hand even with curled legs. Then, starting at the thorax, a purple and black carapace began to form. When her exoskeleton finished encasing her, tiny speckles of white appeared in a random smattering, giving the appearance of a nebula.

The changes ceased. The spider, who had been completely still throughout the process, now occasionally twitched a leg as if testing them out for the first time. In a blink she reoriented herself to stand upon Cless’s palm. Six eyes, arranged in three pairs, looked at the audience who bore witness to her transformation.

Cless Inspected the spider again and smiled at the result.

[Rogue - lvl 1]

“Hello, I’m Cless.”

The spider flinched, then tilted its head like a confused puppy.

“Well, I’ll be demon chow. An Awakened. Always wondered what it looked like when one formed,” The Shadowguard said, “Sorry about the accusation, miss. Never had my words so thoroughly shoved back in my gob.”

Raphia’s sparkling blue eyes kept darting between Cless and the spider in her palm. Her brown hair, tied up in a bun, bounced with every sudden jerk of her head. “What– How– Cless, explain.”

The young blonde woman’s smile turned into a grin. “Meet my new friend.”

Cless turned to the spider. “You can understand us, right? Uh, wave a leg like this if you can.”

She put up her index finger and wiggled it back and forth. The spider copied her movement. Cless devolved into happy little giggles.

“We are going to have so much fun. Wait, are you hungry? That transformation looked intense. Wave a different leg if you want some food.”

The spider flailed four of her arms at once causing Cless to cackle at the enthusiasm. Briefly she thought about her parents left behind at Ilea’s house. One more stop wouldn’t hurt, right? It would be downright rude not to share a meal with her new friend. Or at least she hoped the spider would be her friend. Her magic certainly seemed pleased with the idea, scintillating with faint notes of approval.

Just as Cless was about to rise off the ground, a curious white paw playfully batted at the spider in her hand. The sudden attack startled the newly-awakened spider.

“Squig– eek”

Cless couldn’t help but yelp from squeamishness when the spider darted up her arm and hid from view under her blonde hair, touching her neck in the process. Having a spider on her was one thing, but all those tiny hairs on her many legs were ticklish.

Hands freed from holding a fragile spider, Cless grabbed her pet before it could jump on her. It wiggled a little in her grip but a few strokes of its fur calmed it down. The silintis’s sparks tingled her fingers pleasantly with every pet.

Cless rose off the ground, cradling her pet and wincing a bit when the spider tensed against her skin. “Thanks again for the help everyone. I’m sure the spider appreciates it.”

“Wait, you’re not going to explain?” the guard asked.

“Yeah, Cless, what’s going on?” Raphia added.

Others in the crowd grumbled or otherwise expressed their curiosity.

“Uhm,” Cless began eloquently.

Her mind spun for a valid answer to give to the people around her. Maybe even the spider herself was confused at the situation. Cless wouldn’t know until she found someone with telepathy to bridge the communication barrier or her taking the time to make a series of questions to pump enough information out of the new sapient being. In any case, Cless didn’t think Ilea really wanted the existence of Earth to spread widely.

“Top secret.” Cless said.

“What’s that supposed to mean, young lady?” By her tone Raphia was trying to pull long-time friend privileges to get answers out of Cless.

“It means it is a secret that I’m not at liberty to discuss at this time. I cannot answer.”

“Is someone holding you up to this? Are you in trouble or something?”

An image of Ilea finding out she snuck back to Earth flashed through her mind’s eye. She imagined her considerable power as a goddess bearing down upon her. Ilea’s a friend, right? She’d understand me saving someone.

“I shouldn’t be,” Cless hedged.

If her hands weren’t full of fluffy silintis she would have waved away the concern. Maybe I shouldn’t have let other people witness it. Now she was sure Aki would know before end of day that she did something. And once Aki knew that meant Ilea knew. And once Ilea knew… well, Cless would worry about that later.

“Anyways, I seem to recall I have a spider to feed.”

Cless slunk out of the rough circle of people back up the stoop to her home. She realized she left the front door open. Taking a moment to listen to the Art, nothing called to her indicating an invader to her home. So she simply closed the door and turned around only to see Raphia right in front of her. She wore a complicated expression on her face.

With the added height of the stoop, Cless had a few inches of height on Raphia. Isn’t that a change? She grew up watching Raphia and the rest of her party train to be more competent adventurers with William as their guide. Cless even trained with them when William allowed it. The woman was like a big sister to her. And now…

[Battle Healer – lvl 183]

Raphia still had twenty-six levels on her, but that was a far cry from the original gap between them. In Cless’s opinion the woman played it too safe. Two healers in her party and they stuck to safer missions on top of that. The approach worked, obviously. None of her teammates had suffered any permanent injuries or died. It was just too slow for Cless’s tastes.

Growing up seeing Ilea’s legendary exploits through her Art sparked a need to experience that for herself. But Ilea found beauty in fighting. Cless didn’t share the same craving for a challenge, but having the strength to explore and capture all the beauty of the universe on canvas without fear of death. That was what Cless wanted. And to do that she needed to push herself.

Now that Cless was fifteen-years-old, Claire had lifted a lot of her restrictions. She was her own woman now, capable of making decisions about her safety and progression. Her parents had relocated to Elos now. Surely they could be convinced of Elos standards for adulthood, right? A sudden shiver went through Cless’s spine just imagining the blowback from her mother.

“Hey, Raphia, need anything?”

“I’m not leaving until you explain, young lady.”

Cless’s eyes scanned the street. The crowd had begun to disperse but with superhuman capabilities they were surely within earshot of many individuals.

“I already told you. It’s a secret.” Cless did her best at a non-verbal tic to indicate a need for privacy. Just a smidge of eyebrow waggling. Oh no. I got that from my parents. She coughed away her embarrassing thoughts. “I need to make good on my promise of food to the spider anyways. Want to join me for…”

Cless paid attention to the environment for the first time since arriving back on Elos. It was daytime here in Ravenhall, unlike the night she had just jaunted from in London. The twin suns had drifted just past their zenith. “...lunch?”

Raphia narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Cless supposed that was fair. Not knowing the time of day didn’t bode well for keeping her story straight. Though she had been known to slip into a trance while painting. If pressed, that made a convenient excuse.

“Sure. Where to?”

“How about The Golden Drake? The spider should surely experience the wonders of Keyla’s cooking.”

Raphia paled a bit at the restaurant’s name. The Golden Drake was by far the most fancy and expensive eating establishment in all of Ravenhall. Cless only got in on the regular because of her connections with Claire and Ilea.

“I think that’s a little out of my price range, Cless. Besides, I think the spider is probably a carnivore, so all the additional accompaniment is probably lost on her. How about some street food instead? What do you think, spider, lots of very tasty food or a little extremely tasty food?”

Cless could feel the spider shifting around her neck in a little dance. She pressed her lips together to stifle her ticklish giggles.

“Sorry, I don’t understand. How about two legs up for street food and one for The Golden Drake?”

Raphia sputtered a bit. “Three legs? Who are you? Ilea? Here to clean out all of Ravenhall’s food vendors in one fel swoop? We better stick to the street food then.”

The battle healer formed her ashen wings and leapt into the sky. Her large wingspan beat a steady pace, keeping her aloft. From afar, it was mostly her brown hair that differentiated her from looking like Ilea. All the Sentinels took after their Headmistress when using their ashen magic.

Cless called up to her, “I’d rather walk, if that’s okay?”

Her big sister seemed confused before dropping back down. Ever since Cless had unlocked flight with her latest class evolution she hardly ever wanted to keep her feet on the ground. Flying was synonymous with freedom. What sane person wouldn’t want to fly?

“Something the matter?”

“I'm fine. I'm not a child who needs to be coddled anymore. Just a little strain. I need to avoid using magic for a bit. Besides, she probably wants to see the sights anyways.”