Alistair flexed his hand, feeling no more strain or feeling exhaustion when he did so. Then he stood up, expecting his legs to be a bit shaky still, but was surprised when he found his legs felt like nothing had even happened. Wow, this body of mine is weird and really cool. He thought.

[Do you see that ugly one over there?] Myst said as his vision once again changed slightly as if the world got less colorful and somewhat out of focus right as something in the corner of the room got brighter and clearer.

Whoa, that is weird. Alistair said, recalling an old movie he once saw called "Pleasantville.” The difference was everything else wasn’t quite black and white, just less somehow. Yeah, I see it.

As Alistair walked over to pick up the item Myst had somehow highlighted, his vision returned to normal. [Would that be better for you moving forward to see what I am talking about?] Myst asked.

It definitely works, but it's just a bit off-putting, how about just maybe putting a colorful highlighted border instead of dimming everything else? Alistair replied. Can you do that all of the time? Make things clearer for me. Alistair asked, hoping to see if he can somehow get better eyesight with the help of Myst.

[Maybe, as our connection grows, and your mana pool and regen rate as well perhaps. As it stands, I am using my own minuscule amount of mana to do it.] Myst explained. [When our connection gets more substantial, we can share more, and if you allow it, I can siphon some of your mana to perform better for you. I can even accelerate your thinking speed, though it drains a considerable amount of mana to do so.] Myst added. [Right now, it does not seem pertinent to expel such resources while you are still so low-leveled.] Myst finished.

Alistair thought about it and got excited about the possibility of having something like Myst inside of his head. Something to look forward to then I guess. He thought, glad not to be focusing on all of the downsides.

Alistair took the ugly-looking bright red, almost pink leather armor. He just realized that this armor did not stop at the waist, but continued on all the way to the feet. It was a sort of leather jumpsuit romper thing. It had two straps with clasps on the back of the neck and one under each armpit. Alistair guessed and figured it was to help tighten the fit around the chest.

“This thing is hideous,” Alistair said out loud. Looking at it he had a hard time envisioning himself wearing it, so it took the better half of a few minutes to get his avatar to put it on. The avatar kept glancing back at Alistair with a raised eyebrow, clearly not enjoying himself and wanting to resist. “I hate you so much right now,” The avatar finally said to Alistair’s surprise.

“You can speak?” Alistair asked his avatar.

“Obviously,” It responded back.

“Are you alive, what is going on… Myst..” Alistair asked. He felt very sick and confused about all of this all of a sudden.

[Haa ha ha haaa…] Alistair heard Myst laughing.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. It's just me…” The avatar said, also laughing.

“What?!” Alistair asked, getting upset and more confused.

[It’s me, I’m speaking through the avatar,] Myst added, [I thought it would be hilarious and you did not disappoint.] He finished laughing more and more.

“Jesus Christ…” Alistair said through clenched teeth, first annoyed by the prank and then chuckled at the end. If that’s how you want to play it, you have yourself a war then my friend… Alistair thought back to Myst, starting to think of ways to prank Myst back, admittedly coming up blank after a few moments. How does one prank something that can read your thoughts?

[First off, I would probably stop speaking about it in my head if I were you.] Myst said before belching out another laughing fit. [... And secondly, who or what is a "Jesus Christ"]

Fuck off… Alistair said, disregarding his question at the end, I wonder if this "disintegrate" skill works on you as well… Alistair snapped back, instantly feeling regret because of the flash of fear and helplessness that flooded him shortly after

[…]

I’m sorry, I was only trying to make a joke, Alistair pleaded, I swear that I didn’t mean anything by it.

[I know…] Myst said at first and then followed up with, [I was just thinking that with your luck, you would probably end up disintegrating your own mind in the process.] He said laughing, although his laugh sounded… lesser. The feeling of fear and helplessness subsided a bit but not fully going away.

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Yeah, your right. Alistair replied, before pushing a thought to the avatar. The avatar then started bleeding from his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. Its eyes rolled up and began mumbling, Alistair could only make out, “Shit, you were right…”

Myst laughed fully, sounding a lot better, the feeling going away more and more as he did so.

After a couple of moments, Alistair took the armor in his hand and identified it.

Full-Body Leather Armor (Common)

This Armor was made using the hide of giant salamanders by a leather worker inspired by the metal worker Muncie, who came up with the first iteration of full-body chain mail. The chain mail was notably heavier but provided more ventilation with its components being made entirely from metal rings. This leather counterpart however does not offer such luxury, thus unable to garner matching success as the chain mail.

Do you smell that, is there a swamp nearby?

Alistair laughed hard after reading that description. That is hilarious. Alistair said.

[Thought you’d like that.] Myst said, [I believe we are thinking the same thing, but let's try and shape it before you do the world a favor and disintegrate this horrid thing.]

You make a good point. Alistair replied. He started to focus on the red leather. There weren’t a lot of details he could see, but he did notice some scuff marks and scratches around the knees.

Okay, I’ll try and smooth out the leather here at the knees and after that, we will see about shrinking the length of the pant legs, and arms. Alistair thought.

[Great,] Myst said, [let's try a different approach though. Try keeping the picture of the leather smoothing in your mind, but instead of just touching the armor and infusing mana into it, try and touch the area you are wanting to smooth out. This should offer more accuracy and hopefully use less mana since it doesn’t have to travel as far.] Myst said.

Alistair moved to do so, but before he started Myst interrupted him again.

[Try delicately allowing the mana to trickle out of the tip of your fingers and slide them up as you do, then back down, repeating as necessary until they are smooth.]

Trying to concentrate Alistair did as Myst said slowly allowing a trickle of mana to move down his channels to his fingertips, lightly sliding them up and down the area he was smoothing out. It looked to be working but much slower than before. It's working, but it's taking forever… Alistair thought to Myst.

[Try moving your hand faster…] Myst said.

Alistair did as he was told, noticing that it was smoothing a bit more after every iteration.

[That’s it, stroke it faster Daddy…] Myst got out just before busting out in so much laughter that it snapped Alistair out of his work trance he was in.

What the hell was that? Alistair thought, realizing what Myst had said before his laughing fit. “That’s it, stroke it faster Daddy…” Alistair remembered, God dammit… Are you here to help me or make yourself laugh all day?

[Oh come on, that was good and you know it…] Myst said laughing again. [I had you stroking a leather suit…] More laughter, [And then you finished after I called you daddy…] Myst finished before laughing even more.

Alistair had to admit, it was really funny, and if he weren’t trying to learn an advanced skill he would be laughing too… Wait a minute… He wasn’t learning a new skill, he already learned it. I hate you so much right now. Alistair said now laughing alongside his companion. That whole thing about moving my hand over the area using less mana wasn't even needed, was it? Alistair asked.

[No… But you just went along with it.] Myst said letting out another laugh, which was noticeably dying down now. [What the…] Myst said, stopping his laughter altogether.

What? Alistair asked, readying for another prank or joke.

[Look at it.] Myst said.

Alistair looked at the area he was shaping and found it smooth like how he envisioned. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Yeah, it's smooth, so?

[You don’t understand, look at your mana pool…]

Mana: 298/300

Okay, I used two mana… Alistair said, not getting the big deal, I was only using a trickle of mana like you said…

[Shaping should have used at minimum ten mana for that amount of shaping… Minimum] Myst said. [And you didn’t use two, you used five.] Myst added, [you already regained three while we were laughing.]

Okay, Alistair said, what does this mean, am I more efficient than the average shaper?

[Well, while I was laughing I noticed you got an alert, and I looked at it and, well… take a look.] Myst said before bringing up the screen.

Congratulations Your skill Shaping (Advanced) (Active) (Touch) has been upgraded to Controlled Shaping (Rare) (Active) (Touch)

Alistair was taken aback, skills can be upgraded?

[Yes, though it usually takes a lot more time and practice… and luck!] Myst said. [Seriously what the fuck are you?]

Alistair ignored that last part and asked, what is the difference between Shaping and Controlled Shaping?

A screen appeared.

Controlled Shaping (Rare) (Active) (Touch) Level: N/A

Through the combination of channeling mana and clearly envisioning the shape of the material, it will shape into what you will it to. This skill does not level, instead relies on the person's imagination and the mana reserves needed to shape the desired amount of matter, with respect to the durability of the shaped material. This skill has been upgraded due to mana being directly applied to the area, and using your hands to aid you in the shaping process. This allows for more efficient shaping as well as an increased amount of control of the shaping process. (Upgrade Effect: 50% reduction to mana requirement for shaping while using this technique. Unknown.)

[Well, it seems you are a natural... Good thing you're so good at it because it looks like you’ll be doing more and more stroking from now on…] Myst got out before falling into another laughing fit.