"That's pretty cool," Levi said after Paige had finished explaining the crow situation. "It sounds absolutely OP for scouting."

"What does OP mean?" Joe asked. Grace looked like she would have asked if Joe hadn't.

"Overpowered," Levi answered.

"Ah, yeah, I can see how it would be," Joe said.

"So, you two... why were you both looking for me?" Grace asked, changing the subject.

Levi looked at Paige. "You can go first. I've actually got a couple of reasons I'm here."

Paige's face reddened slightly. "Oh, I was just going to ask her about the system affecting our thinking and behavior. It was pretty much answered in the meeting. If more pops up, I can talk to her later."

Levi shrugged. "Okay." He took his pack off, reached inside, and produced The Anarchist Cookbook: Post-System Edition. He tossed it to Grace.

"What's this?" She asked, eyes brightening as she read the cover. She quickly found the table of contents, and a smile spread across her face as she skimmed it.

"I thought that might be right up your alley," Levi said.

She looked up at him, "Where'd you get it? In the library? How did I miss it?"

Levi quickly explained about the books he'd found in the 'lost and found' equivalent. Joe and Paige didn't seem that interested.

After he was finished, Levi added, "The other book I'm not using is all yours if you find someone worth giving it to or think it can win you some favors around here. That meeting made it seem like you may be in need of a bribe or two. But if not, I'll hold onto it."

"Bah." Grace waved her hand dismissively. "This is more than enough. Thank you for bringing it to me." She put the book into her own pack, almost hesitantly, as if she'd rather start reading it right away. "And what's the other reason you're here?"

Levi's glance shifted to Paige and Joe.

"Joe knows my secret, and I feel like Paige can be trusted well enough after that meeting, but the decision about what you share is yours," Grace said.

"Wait a minute," Paige protested. "What secrets am I missing out on?" She felt a little offended that something was going on she hadn't been told about.

Grace sighed and looked at Levi. He shrugged. Then she looked to Joe, and he just shook his head as if signaling he didn't want to be a part of that discussion.

"I'll tell you. Just keep it to yourself," Grace said. "But Levi's situation is not mine to tell, so don't press me if he decides not to share it. I'm a Witch. That's my real class, and Alchemist is just a profession."

"What, that's all?" Paige answered. She really didn't understand why Grace wouldn't want to tell people. "Why even hide it?"

"Well, Agnis and her attempts to pass stupid laws are at the top of that list, now, but also just to avoid the stigma in general. To be a witch has never had the highest life expectancy, historically speaking."

Paige understood but thought making judgments like that in this new world was stupid. "I think it is dumb anyone would care, but I see what you mean. I promise I won't tell anyone. Maybe the crows, but that's it."

"That's fine with me," Grace answered. "And let your crows know they're welcome around here anytime. I'll put something out for them to eat if they come by."

Joe chuckled, "Like the witch you are."

They all laughed a little at that. Not loudly or deeply. Just enough to break some of the tension.

"Ah, fuck it, I guess," Levi said. "My class isn't just a Sage. It is a unique class, and that's kind of a bad thing for me."

Levi ended up explaining his entire situation over again to Paige and Joe.

Paige started to understand why he'd acted certain ways. He hadn't had much choice. She didn't really feel sorry for his situation, though.

She actually thought it was really cool. He could be whatever he wanted. Even if that was hard, he wasn't stuck being a single thing. She almost envied him, but she was way too happy with her own class and how things were going to want anything else.

"That sounds exhausting," Joe commented.

"It kind of sucks, but it's kind of cool, too," Paige said.

Grace was the one to get to the meat of it. "So, what new problem has you all bothered?" She asked in her abrasive way.

"Well, I don't gain anything automatically. And, trying to learn anything that uses mana requires me to be able to feel and manipulate mana. But, because I can't automatically learn something that uses mana, I have no reference. I've been meditating and trying to figure it out, but I'm coming up blank. I was hoping to have some ideas."

"Maybe your class just isn't meant to use mana," Joe suggested.

"No," Paige disagreed. "His class is pretty much based on being able to do whatever."

Grace looked at Paige and nodded. "Yep."

Joe raised two boney hands, "Hey, I'm just guessing. I haven't played a video game since Battletoads. And I never even beat that one."

Levi laughed. "Don't take it personally, neither did I. Battletoads is considered one of the hardest games in history."

"ANYWAY," Grace said, drawing the attention back to the conversation. "Levi, you're being a dumbass again. You're telling me that you have no way to feel the mana you have?" She had made her way next to Levi, looking down at him.

"I just explained..." Levi began.

Everyone heard the smack as Grace slapped Levi in the back of the head. It wasn't hard, even by old lady standards, but it was enough to sting.

Paige snorted, and Joe looked away, trying not to laugh.

"Ow, what was that for?" Levi complained.

"For being a dumbass again," Grace said with a glare. "And you're lucky I like you, or I'd just let you be a dumbass."

Paige was seriously reconsidering coming to Grace the next time she needed advice.

As if Grace had read Paige's mind, Grace's gaze swiveled to her. "Don't worry dear, I wouldn't hit you. I can just see he needs it." Grace's eyes turned back down at Levi. "If you can't figure it out, I'll spell it out for you. But try. You have a hard time ahead of you, and we both know no one is going to spoon feed it to you."

Joe had completely shrunk back at this point, as if he'd also been a victim of the head smack a time or two.

Levi rubbed his head. He'd never felt mana. He couldn't think of any time he'd sensed anything about it. Then it hit him. "Parched Soul, my debuff."

"Bingo," Grace answered.

"So, what... just let the debuff affect me, and focus on how it feels to learn how to sense my mana?" Levi phrased it as a question, but already felt that Grace was onto something. "Grace, you're a genius. I could kiss you!"

"Now, don't go inflicting that misfortune on the next girl you kiss," Grace said with a smile. She'd already made her way to a stool and had finally taken a seat. "Is that all? I swear, you have a habit of making a mountain out of a molehill."

Grace's voice sounded annoyed, but the smile on her face betrayed it. She was happy to be able to help.

Levi gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Now, where have you two been sleeping? Have you eaten anything other than those terrible rations?"

"I set up camp outside the safezone. It's comfortable enough. And the rations aren't the worst thing I've eaten," Levi answered, confused about Grace's concern.

"And you?" Grace turned her attention to Paige.

"I-I just had some jerky. A lot, actually. And I accidentally fell asleep in the woods last night. I stayed out late talking to the crows. It didn't bother me, though. I actually feel pretty well rested." Paige waited for Grace's backlash, but it didn't come.

"Well, you look okay. Your class may have something to do with that. But both of you are going to eat something before you leave. And you're welcome to stay here, but I can't stop you if you decide to sleep out in the woods again." Grace turned to Joe. "Can you go collect a dozen eggs or so?"

Joe nodded, wearing a smirk. He put his hands on his knees, and pushed himself up. "Well, Grace has spoken. I'll be back."

-----

The meal Grace prepared was simple but good. She'd even used some of the cheese from the rations.

Eggs with melted cheese and simple flour tortillas.

"Where'd you get the flour, lard, and salt?" Paige asked.

"I raided everything from the bakery to the tannery. You'd be surprised what the system has provided as simple ingredients." Grace said smugly. Then muttering under her breath a little, she added, "Would've been nice to have some damned coffee, but I guess surviving and living aren't quite the same thing."

"Well, thank you," Levi said.

"Thanks, Grace, maybe one day you'll be able to stop feeding me," Joe said quietly.

After a moment of glaring, Grace threw her shoe at him. He caught it and tossed it back to her, flashing a roguish smile.

Everyone laughed at that, except Grace.

'This feels nice. We're turning into a real group of friends,' Paige thought smiling. They'd all had a good time talking and joking while the food was prepared.

Levi was having similar thoughts. Jumping up suddenly and looking around in all directions, he seemed to be in a hurry.

"I need to get to practicing and reading. I really appreciate the food, Grace. Joe... it has been really nice to meet you, and you seem like a good guy. Paige, it has been fun, and you're still welcome to stop by if you want, even though you seem to have this system thing under control." And with that, he headed off at a brisk pace.

"Hey, why not stay a little longer, we're having fun," Piage asked.

"No, I really do have stuff I need to do," Levi said half turning, and then continued off.

Paige's gaze followed him. She thought it was kind of rude. For the first time, she felt something other than a crush. She kind of didn't like him right now. Everyone had been having a good time, and he'd just jumped up and left.

She got to her feet, intent on following him, but Grace caught her arm. She gave Paige a sad look. Paige looked to Joe, and he shook his head.

"But..." Paige started to speak.

"I'm going to put this into terms you might understand. Levi is the friendly neighborhood stray." Grace said.

Paige saw Joe nodding along behind her.

"He has no desire to hurt anyone. But for whatever reason, feeling like he might get too close to people scares him. I've seen my fair share of the type. Trust me. Leave him be," Grace said calmly. "He'll be back around in a day or two."

Joe nodded, and looked like he was considering something for a moment. "I don't like talking about others, but you both mean well. A skill I have let's me see if a person seeks redemption in some way. It flared up right before he decided to leave, but... I'm not sure how to explain it... it didn't fit him quite right." Joe shrugged. "I think that might be part of it."

Grace looked to Joe. "I think there is more to it than that. Let's call it a Witch's intuition." Turning back to Paige, Grace continued. "I can tell you're sweet on the guy. I'd warn you not to act on that. He's not a bad guy, but trust me when I say he's more than you should deal with."

Paige didn't like that. She really didn't like any of it. She was aggravated at Levi, and she was aggravated that Grace told her not to pursue him.

'To hell with what they think,' Paige thought.

Grace saw the look on Paige's face and laughed loudly. "I think I may have just done more harm than good."

Then Paige was aggravated about Grace laughing, too.

______

Levi didn't put any thought into things with the group after he'd left.

True to what he said, he found his way back to his camp and immediately started practicing his Tai Chi.

By the end of it, he felt like he was almost refreshed enough to claim he was where he'd been when he'd quit a few years earlier.

His legs were sore to a point that standing up from sitting or a squat hurt, and his shoulders weren't much better. His core was a little sore, too, but not quite as bad. It felt good. He felt good.

After he finished practicing Tai Chi, he sat with The Essence of You: Why What's at Your Core May Be All You Need, refreshing himself on the meditation practice. After that, he put himself into a lotus position, something he'd seen people do for meditation, and practiced.

This time, relaxing each part of his body felt far easier. In some ways, it felt that his Tai Chi practice had been synergistic with this type of meditation. However, once he reached the stage where you had to locate and follow some type of internal energy, he hit a wall again.

There was just nothing there, at least as far as Levi could sense. It was like reaching out into open air and hoping to catch a rainbow... when you couldn't even see the rainbow. It felt fucking stupid.

When he opened his eyes, Paige was staring at him. She sat cross-legged just three feet away, staring.

Levi immediately rolled backward and found himself crouched on all fours.

Paige laughed so hard she was gasping.

"You've got to stop scaring me." Levi said, glaring.

After catching her breath, Paige answered. "I promise I wasn't trying to scare you. You looked like you were meditating, and I didn't want to interrupt you."

Levi grumbled and stood, dusting off his legs.

"So what was that earlier, Tai Chi?" Paige asked.

Levi straightened and looked at Paige, "So you were spying on me with your crows."

Paige's cheeks reddened again. "I wasn't spying, I was scouting the area."

Levi just nodded, but his expression was noncommittal, "Okay. Yeah, it was Tai Chi."

"Is it related to your class or something?" Paige pressed.

"No, and you know the details of my class, so you should know that."

"Why are you so grumpy?" Paige asked with frustration.

"I'm not grumpy, I'm busy." Levi began busying himself by straightening up the camp. It was difficult considering there wasn't really anything to straighten up.

"Why are you being an asshole? I'm just trying to talk to you," Paige demanded.

Levi hesitated. His mind came up blank. He didn't know. Why was he acting like an asshole?

Rather than say that, he chose a different approach to the problem. "Why does it matter? Why are you even here?" Levi snapped.

"You know what, fuck you. I was trying to be nice. I can't believe I had a crush on you." Paige stood and stalked away.

Part of Levi wanted to follow and apologize, but another part of him felt it was probably for the best that she left.

But, he did pause for a moment and think, 'She had a crush on me?'

______

Levi spent the next few days with his nose to the grindstone.

He ate the rations and stayed at his camp. He was either working or sleeping. He avoided even the thought of visiting the safezone.

A couple of times, he had heard crows cawing at him and assumed Paige knew what he was up to, but he'd ignored them. It was best to keep working and improving.

Some of it was just anger at himself, for not handling the situation with Paige very well. And the fact that he hadn't talked to either Grace or Paige made him feel a little sad and empty, too, but he didn't blame them.

It was a long, lonely three days.

After his debuff had kicked in, he did finally start seeing some progress.

During his meditation using The Essence of You: Why What's at Your Core May Be All You Need, he'd felt the energy. He wasn't certain if it was mana or stamina, but he'd felt it. Then he lost that feeling.

He'd spent the next two days meditating and trying to follow that feeling of energy back to the source or even figure out whether that energy was stamina or mana.

And when he wasn't doing that, he was practicing his Tai Chi.

That was actually going very well. He was having to self correct his posture and make sure his movements were practiced properly and efficiently, but he could tell it was getting a lot better. He had gotten to a point where correcting himself while going through the slow sets was rare, and it felt like he was fine-tuning everything.

Sometimes, he'd take a break and think about Grace and Paige. It made him sad.

So, he'd start meditating or practicing Tai Chi again. It would clear his mind and he would move forward.

He didn't really know what else to do. He felt a little ashamed and didn't know how to just talk to Paige. He also realized he was overthinking it too. But for whatever reason, he couldn't face it.

Instead, he kept working.

On the third day, something happened.

Ding. Skill Acquired: Martial Technique Level 1 - Tai Chi Chuan

Ding. Skill Subset Acquired: Perfect Form - Tai Chi Chuan.

Ding. Acquiring a Skill has reset Parched Soul of the Sage.

Parched Soul of the Sage has been paused for 12 hours.

Levi smiled broadly. He'd have to test the Skill out, but he suspected it would come naturally in a fight. He assumed it would work similar to lighting a fire with flint using the skill. He'd known how to do it, but letting the skill do the work for him had been way more fluid and flawless.

The truth was, now he needed to spar with someone to really test what the skill could do.

Levi felt excitement rise in his chest, coming to a realization. This was his first skill. This was the first time he'd actually managed to accomplish anything since the system had taken over their reality. And he'd earned it. His first skill.

He hadn't been handed some skill out of thin air based on a Class assignment or a level up. No. This he'd done all on his own.

His mouth spread into an even bigger smile.

And then he thought about Paige, and he felt a little sad and a little guilty, again. His smile was gone. Levi wished he wasn't an idiot.

After everything, after Levi had gained the first of his skills and had finally felt some sense of victory in this new world, one thought stood out above them all.

'I need to apologize to her.'