Now that he had free time, he was able to deal with the passengers in his head, starting with Nadia. Her new body bristled with a litany of augmentations from half a dozen different species of warped creatures, Some of which he’d hunted down specifically for this. The combination of potent mutations made her a terror in her own right, without even including the mind magic she was skilled in.

She looked slightly different than she had before, as though an artist had gone over the rough draft that was her body, and subtly altered every detail to be just a bit…more.

‘I have the opportunity to outshine everyone in the room, I’m going to take it’, She’d said.

She had horns budding from her head, Her fingernails could grow into razor sharp, poisonous claws, her lips could render a man insensate at will.

Calvin wasn’t concerned with these, because he was immune to poison.

She could feel people’s intentions toward her, change the color of her skin at will, make people ignore her presence, fly, and a host of other things.

Calvin gave her all of these advantages in exchange for a contract that guaranteed her good behavior. It was a harsh, magically binding agreement that prevented her from acting against him in any way, convincing others to act against him, or failing to inform him when others planned on doing so. He owned whatever she did and could demand her service at any point in time, with very few limitations.

The terms of the contract discouraged her from seeking his death, simply passing to the closest people to Calvin in the event he passed away.

Still, he didn’t want her to have no hope at all, so at his insistence, they had added an expiration date. Nadia would be free of the contract after twenty years of good behavior.

That way she would have no reason to kill him, and something to look forward to.

Thank the gods, Nadia didn’t come back as a ravenous undead, with any cravings beyond what she’d already had.

Calvin’s circumstances must have been because of the state his body had been in before he’d died: Transitioning to a Maculat.

Once Kala laid envious eyes on Nadia’s new form, she became more amenable to resurrection…With caviats. It took time, convincing, and several compromises, but Calvin was able to get Kala to accept resurrection before the deadline set by her father, her appearance largely unchanged.

What was beneath the skin though, was another story.

Once Calvin’s head was no longer full of people talking to him and each other, he felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, giving him time to deal with something he’d been putting off for a long time.

***Calvin***

The temple of awakening was bustling as he walked through the center of the city he’d cleared out of the jungle.

Well, city might be a stretch, Calvin thought, scanning the citizens. They mostly wore homespun and hides, bore axes on their waists equally good for firewood and femurs.

It was more like a fur traders market. Foot traffic was decent, but that was by Calvin’s standards as a small town shepherd. He was fairly sure they weren’t quite city density yet.

The age was also a factor. In the future, Calvin expected the future of his citizenship would come here to earn their free breaks.

You should consider making them pay for it, via taking a commission in the military or something.

Maybe one day, but I don’t need to yet.

He imagined the streets would be flooded with young men and women between the ages of twelve and sixteen, prepping themselves for their trade by gaining Skills and raising their Attributes. Idealistic and utterly sure they would make a difference.

That kind of energy is valuable.

Instead, it was primarily men and women in their twenties and thirties, looking to carve land out for themselves.

These crusty folk spotted Calvin out of the corner of their eye and gave him hoarse grunts and nods of respect before going on their way.

It seems like homesteading attracts a…type.

Still, Calvin was directly responsible for two population centers, Which was two more than most people his age.

What about juntai? Elliot asked, souring Calvin’s mood.

Juntai people were slightly xenophobic and had questionable marriage practices. Selling a girl’s first Break to the highest bidder was objectively awful, and yet the harder Calvin tried to dissuade them, the more they took the practice underground, crying martyrdom at the top of their lungs.

I wonder if I should just bring all the parents of Juntai here, get them their Veteran Break and rape them until they liked it. Nah, they probably wouldn’t get the message.

“Kurawe’s taking care of Juntai,” Calvin muttered to himself as he dodged around a group of leather clad men running through with a man on a stretcher between them.

It’s only a stopgap though. Kurawe might be experienced and talented, but he’s not Juntai, and they basically nod at everything he tells them to do, then gives him the finger as soon as he turns away.

And don’t get me started on systemic corruption…

You’d think it would get better when you cut the head of the snake off, but the major factions of Juntai splintering into tiny pieces had caused the flow of money to change hands dozens more times before it reached its destination, each and every person taking a little cut.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I need a representative in Juntai who’s agreeable to….

Calvin slammed a fist into his palm.

That’s it! What was the name of that older businessman? The one we built the train with? Calvin searched his memory for a moment.

Gunder. That was the name of the merchant. Carem’s direct competitor.

Did Gunder survive the riots?

Surprisingly, he did, Kurawe said.

What about him? He’s got the right age, he’s got the right money, he’s got the right race.

He’s done business with you in the past. People will accuse him of being a puppet. Kurawe said.

Of course he’s going to be a puppet. See if he’s amenable. If so, funnel money toward diverting the public’s attention to something else while you set up the new Diocese.

As you wish, Ravager. Kurawe said.

You’re starting to get the hang of this, aren’t’cha? Elliot asked.

Just a little bit, Calvin thought as he entered the shadow of his towering shrine, ducking into the first layer and heaving a sigh of relief.

The hunger that had been slowly building began sloughing off of him as soon as he felt the invisible Warp press against his skin.

1/34 Warp remaining.

The Shrine of Awakening was organized into four layers. The outermost layer was kept as a Warp concentration that would trigger a Break in someone with none. The second, third and fourth layer were similarly managed via nem-infused paint on the walls and careful ventilation.

What if I bought the first Break of several hundred young juntai girls and turned them into Royals? Godsdamned unholy terrors, unleashed on their home country.

That might work. They’d certainly be more cautious about selling their daughter’s future to foreigners afterward.

Calvin snorted, opening the door to the second layer, his Warp tank gradually ticking up.

2/34 Warp remaining

3/34 Warp remaining

….

He’d nearly gotten his ass handed to him the last couple conflicts he’d been in, and there was no reason why that should’ve been the case.

The Harbinger…

Calvin’s hairs stood on end. The Harbinger had taken the full force of his friends and family, along with Elliot’s knowledge of the creature’s weaknesses. If he’d been by himself, he would have tied after the first backhand.

With Kurawe managing the territory, Kala and Nadia alive again and doing their own thing, Calvin finally had the time to devote to maximizing every Attribute and every Skill.

With access to a siphon granting him a constantly refilling supply of Warp, he could reach the absolute limit of his abilities in a matter of weeks, rather than decades.

If it weren’t for Kala watching my back, I’d be dead several times over.

If another Harbinger arrived, Calvin didn’t want to count on another intervention from a Seer.

What should we start with first? Calvin thought, doing some minor stretching as he opened the final chamber, the room built directly around the black pit leading to the Siphon

The final chamber was lit by enchanted lights crafter by Jinsei and embedded into the walls of the room. It was basically one huge obstacle course on the inside, with weights and a practice yard, fighting dummies, and even a place to relax between training sessions.

In the center of the room, just to the side of the hole in the floor, was a buxum young Gadveran woman doing a handstand on one finger, her face showing total concentration.

Calvin had strong fingers, but that was just…

“Calvin!” Learner shouted, hopping off her finger and bouncing toward Calvin, tumbling in the air before landing directly in front of him and engulfing him in a hug.

“What were you up to?”

“I was just practicing Body Perfection,” she said, stepping away from him. “It’s a really handy hybrid Skill that both enhances and strengthens the body itself and grants large bonuses to proprioperception as well as the accuracy of my shifting. Which comes in handy, since sometimes when I shapeshift a get a little clumsy,” She said, sticking out her tongue and bonking her head.

Calvin’s brows rose at Learner’s effortless use of ‘cutsie’ body language.

Calvin had experienced a bit of that with One of the Guys. When he got taller or shorter it sometimes made him trip over his feet.

“You did a lot of research on this, didn’t you?”

“Indeed, my mom made this list of potential Skills before I even had my first Break,” Learner said, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of her cleavage.

“Your mom?”

“Well,” Learner paused, blushing. “I mean, It was me, but it doesn’t feel like me, you know what I mean? So since that part of me made most of me, I call her my mom.”

Calvin considered the annoying passenger in the back of his head. “I think I know what you mean…although I don’t think I’d give him the satisfaction of calling him dad.”

Aw, C’mon, don’t be mean to your dear old pops. You’re practically the seed of my loins.

Bite me.

“So you’re in here practicing your Skills?” Calvin asked, taking off his jacket and tossing it aside.

“Yep, I focused on my Attributes the first three Breaks, then took the first four Skills on mom’s list, that she called Foundational Skills, and once I raise them to high levels, I can access more powerful Skills and Abilities during my next Break. At least, I think it’ll work.”

“You aiming to be a Royal?” Calvin asked frowning.

“Why not be the best you can be?” Learner asked with a shrug.

“What four skills?” Calvin asked.

“Body Perfection, Bent Manipulation, Internal Evolution and Social Butterfly.”

Bent manipulation he already had, Body perfection she’d just explained, and Social Butterfly was obviously to help her navigate human society more effectively, but the last one…

“What’s Internal Evolution?” he asked.

“It’s the skill I hypothesized when I was studying biology for my Break. I got it when I went through my entire body and did compare and contrast testing on the random mutations my cells make and culling the ones that were detrimental, while feeding the beneficial mutations back into my stem cells with messenger proteins. I was trying to emulate a process known in macrobiology as Artificial Selection on a micro scale. The Skill allows makes doing it easy enough to do that I can passively increase the average performance of all my cells over time.

“So…you get stronger, tougher, and smarter, the longer you live?” Calvin asked, frowning.

“Yep,” Learner said, posing victoriously. “Very slowly, though,” She qualified.

“And will you age?”

“Why would I wanna let my body do that?”

“So you’ve essentially escaped the human condition already,” Calvin said with a chuckle. With one skill, too. Learner is scary.

“Huh?”

“There are a few things that have always been constants about the human experience,” Calvin said. “One of them is getting older and dying, whether you like it or not. We call them ‘the human condition’.”

“Well, that blows,” She said, crossing her arms and frowning. “Why don’t they just…not age and die?” Her curious frown cracked him up, forcing a peal of laughter out of him.

“It’s actually impossible for natural born humans to stop aging of their own will,” Calvin said, chuckling.

Not true. Humans figured out the cure for aging in 2072, but then only the super-rich were able to afford an immortality license. Rich bastards citing overcrowding to keep eternal youth to themselves. Elliot began muttering under his breath.

Looks like I touched a sore spot.

“Normally, it’s impossible,” Calvin corrected himself.

“Weird. Why would you choose that?”

Calvin frowned. “Has no one explained this to you?”

Learner shook her head.

“People don’t choose to be human. They don’t choose to exist at all. We’re all just the result of random chance.”

“Except for me.” Learner said, frowning, brows furrowed in thought.

“Except for you.” Calvin said.

“If you bred me, would the resulting human have chosen to be one? Would it be our consciousness combined in one body, or simply random?”

Bred me?

Learner slapped her hands over her mouth.

“Sorry, that was mom. She doesn’t always understand.” Learner said, her face flushed with embarrassment.

And on that note, let’s change the subject, Calvin thought.

“How about we help each other raise our Skills?” Calvin asked. “It goes a lot faster with a sparring partner.”

“That would be great!” Learner said, brightening immediately.