'I change my mind. System, let's suppose I wanna escape this mad house. What's the plan?' She asked the system feeling bitter about what just happened.

What happened? I was distracted with the next upcoming update and kind of zoned out.

'I went potty in the toilet just like she did. She got mad and put me in that cage.

For a moment, the blue windows shook erratically with no rhyme or reason. And then it stabilized and asked her.

Did you climb on the porcelain seat, or did you do your business on the floor?

'I'm not THAT stupid, you know?. I saw her do it, so I tried to do the same. It took me 5 minutes to climb the damn thing, got wet, took another minute to make myself comfortable, did my business, and left. I was having a good time drying my fur before the fire when she started screaming, barged in, took me to the toilet - to show me what I did, I guessed - and then, straight to that cage.'

You can't meditate to save your life, but you figured out the toilet on your first try!

The system exclaimed before it shook some more.

'You're done?' She asked, annoyed at whatever that new behavior was about.

Sorry. Humans usually don't like wet dogs roaming inside their houses. You probably made a mess of her toilet too. Plus, may I assume you have not figured out how to flush the toilet yet?

'Flush? Oh, you meant the water thingy! Damn, I knew I had missed something. I think I remember. Is that what the metal thing at the top was for? I saw her push her paw on it, but I forgot.'

...

I think I should report this development to MAGUS for potential rewire side effects. Though it never ever happened with any Galorian dog before, you are the system's first-ever border collie. After all, earthlings do praise your breed for intelligence.

Congratulations! I thought you were a little slow to the uptake. Not only did you prove me wrong, but you turned out to be a rather smart cookie! All the more reason to hurry up, double down on your training, and catch up to your peers!

'Glad you are having fun at my expense. Escape plan, please?'

Trust me. You are doing fine here.

Besides, I might be able to teach you how to unlock your cage, but you won't get past the front door.

The system tried to reason with her before it started nagging again.

Though if you learn magic, you might be able to [suggest] your owner to open the door for you before she remembers to put your leash on. What do you say?

'I do not know which one I hate the most: you or her.' She retorted before turning the chat down.

★☆★

'C'mon, please respond! I said sorry already. And I need you RIGHT NOW.'

So now, we are on talking terms again? How convenient!

But I will bite. What's your emergency?

'Ball or Frisbee, which one's the best?

Are you serious? That's your big emergency?

'She asked me to choose. I think she can only buy one toy. Ball is the safe choice cause I don't know a thing about Frisbee. But I don't want to be stuck with a game I might not like. So you heard me: why should I pick one over the other? Would you please hurry up and help me before she changes her mind?'

Ball is the most basic. She throws the ball at high speed, as far as she can. You run after it and fetch it for her. It's the best game for you to burn a lot of energy running back and forth. Even better if you are playing on a slope cause the ball might roll farther and let you burn more energy on your way back. Bonus point for playing it in the forest cause the ball might run through the undergrowth.

Frisbee is quick pace game that requires more brain and less brawn. She throws the Frisbee at low speed, and you are supposed to catch it mid-air. It's the best game for interaction with your owner. Humans love to feint, turn over, throw high or low, or change the speed at which they are throwing. This game is better in an open space like the clearing.

You might also play tug of war with a Frisbee, although humans are not a massive fan of this one. So you should play this one moderately and use it more like a joke than a serious game. They don't like to fall on their ass when they lose.

'I want the Frisbee, ' She decided. 'My owner sounds more like a play-at-home girl, and I want to play WITH her.'

She paused to nudge at the Frisbee until her owner picked it up.

'Besides, I think she needs the exercise too.' She concluded with a big doggish smile.

★☆★

She lazily looked at the fire when the system notification startled her out of her trance.

I think your owner just decided what your name should be.

'Ok-kayyyy...' She yawned. 'I'm all hears.'

Called you Ember cause of the reflection of the fire in your eyes. It has a double meaning about how clever you are, although it eludes me.

'Something about the burning passion in my eyes?' She asked tentatively.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

How could you possibly know that?

It asked back in disbelief, and so she obligingly responded.

'It's just occurred to me when I remind of my mother.' She confessed, 'The look in her eyes was always so intense, fierce, protective, passionate. At the time, it was as if all the wisdom in the world were contained in her eyes. I was in adoration before her and wanted her to teach me everything. She never got a chance. She did not even try to resist when they separated us from her.'

She was back to contemplating the flames as if she could find the answers to her unresolved feelings in them. Sadness and anger had overcome her and clashed with one another. She never felt like she got the time to grieve properly and did not even know if she wanted to.

I think I can see that right now.

I'm sorry for your loss.

You know what? Screw that! You should aim for the top and spite them. They would never know what they missed.

'Please... just shut up.'

She heard the click telling her she was alone and rested her head on her lap.

★☆★

It didn't take her a long time to figure it out. If she did something stupid, she would go to the cage. If it were time to sleep, she would go to the cage. She was now going on her own and even once did a sit-in there as a sign of protest against blatant unfairness.

But back to the here and now, it was night. She could not sleep but could do anything, either.

And so she did the only thing she had left and meditate.

She tried to remember the last time she felt almost there, her innate talent building up.

And then, it just happened. Her magic took over and threatened to drown her under an ocean of calmness.

It was not a peaceful, pleasant feeling. But instead, a raging battle of will against an invisible power trying to crush her and take over.

'Don't even think about it. I'm not a pushover you can trample on as you please,' She barked to the void.

Summoning emotions to fight back was easy. But it was to no avail as the 'Soothing Presence' would not bulge and just stopped its advance.

'What am I missing? I gave my everything, and it's barely enough to stale it.'

Nothing came.

'Stupid. Are you going to roll over and die just cause you can't fight back? Think harder.'

It was like when she was trying to let go of her thoughts and emotions and miserably failed. That power was ramming against her mind and demanded to be acknowledged. And she was not strong enough to fight back. So how?

Forget about letting it go. It was it than would not let her go.

Yet, she had to persevere.

It was the system that suggested I focus on Soothing Presence. Did it do that on purpose?

What did it say again?

'I remember! It said it was 100% effective against me.' She exclaimed before realizing the implication.

'Wait, what? How I'm supposed to fight back against something that is always as strong as me?'

— Well, you can't — it would probably have been the system answers if only it responded to her call.

'Even when it isn't there, it can't stop nagging.' She thought to herself. 'He did say something about that. What was it?

— maybe you should embrace your innate talent instead of fighting against it for a change —

She remembered! 'But seriously? Its answer was just giving up and giving in?'

She thought about it more and concluded:

'Nope. It did not tell her to give up. It said to embrace it. But how?'

'I won't let you control me,' She barked to the invisible power.

'But I can't control you either?' She thought, and suddenly she felt the power shudder in reaction.

'That’s it? It can't control you, and you can't control me? It's all an illusion. And you tried to make me buy it?' Her anger built up as she realized it, and the power grew stronger and more combative once again.

'Nope. You are only as strong as I make you, only as strong as I feed you.'

She calmed down on her own, and the invisible power kept shrinking over and over again until the table was turned.

'Not so tough anymore, are you?' She taunted it. 'Are you going to behave, or should I keep going?'

It shuddered, and she decided to take it as a yes.

'I'm going to let you go, so no funny business, okay?'

It shuddered again, and so she did as promised. And it jolted away from her before settling at a safe distance from her.

'It's okay. You don't hurt me. I won't hurt you. Deal?'

It shuddered again, and Ember decided it was time to take the gamble.

'Okay. What about peace, then? You need me. I need you. We should make a great team together. What do you think?'

And then, it rushed straight at her, and her mind exploded.

Magic was everywhere, and the information overload was excruciating.

Her mind could simply not keep up, and she could not fathom she was still alive while in so much pain.

Until one wild idea crept her way into her mind:

'it's like that time right before the system initiated. Hold on a little longer, and the pain should go away,' it promised.

And so it did. Except that when Ember came back to her sense, she was struggling for air. Her owner was giving her a bone-crushing hug and somewhat screaming blue murder in a high-pitched wail.

'What the hell is going on? Why is she trying to kill me again?'

You are in no danger whatsoever. She thought you were having a nightmare, but you were unresponsive, and she panicked. She thought you were dying, and she had a breakdown. Just bear with it until she calms down.

By the way, congratulations on your first Awakening. I look forward to teach you novice tier spell after the update, so hurry up.

'Now isn't the time, but this conversation is far from over,' She stated bitterly. 'Then, how do I calm her down? This is uncomfortable, and her sobs are piercing ears.'

★☆★

It had been nine days since she first met her owner. And while those had been trying times for both of them, they somewhat found a middle ground and established boundaries. Ember learned that her owner's bed was off-limit, that she should not wake her up before midday, and that trashing the room when she was doing her business in the toilet was not okay. And her owner learned to leave every door opened, her cage included, left Ember to manage her food on her own and learn to read her subtle cues about the appropriate amount of daily exercise.

Until that morning came, and her owner woke up before dawn, groaning. Ember instantly knew something was wrong cause her owner smelled overwhelmingly sad all of sudden and did not behave like the same person.

'System, is that possible she got possessed by her own magic? Only that's sadness instead of calmness?'

There is no risk of that since your owner doesn't have magic, period. Never have, never will. That's actually unfortunate...

...But at least she is at no risk of losing herself to her magic. So no, 0% chance. And no one on earth has that kind of power yet.

So whatever her deal is, it's completely normal. Maybe she is sick. Or perhaps she just woke up on the wrong foot.

Ember saw her owner prepared to go outside and silently wagged in anticipation.

But when she was finally ready and opened the door, her owner rushed out and slammed it on her face.

'What the heck? Are you sure there is nothing wrong with her?'

On the contrary, I'm positive that something IS wrong with her and that whatever it is, magic ISN'T involved.

'So I guess this is something you can't help me with?' She inquired.

Lasting sadness might cause unrest your innate talent might be able to suppress. But your talent cannot suppress emotions at their roots. Whatever caused her to be sad might or might not go away. You might be able to help, but that's yours to figure out. And magic cannot help you with it. Unless you already identified the source and got the power to blow it up to smithereens, that's it.

'Anyway, I have a feeling she is not going back any time soon.' She observed, 'And she made it pretty clear she needed some alone time.'

She turned away from the window. 'So, I should make use of that time as well. Any ideas?'