“Anyone who cracks the spine of one of my books shall, in turn, have their spine cracked by the gentleman I pay to crack the spines of people who crack the spines of my books. Are we clear?”

~Unknown

I anticipated resistance. I anticipated reluctance. Hesitation. There were none of those things. When Fudge felt my ephemeral touch - the impressions of intent delivered to him through the Tamer Bond - there was no fear. There was immediate acceptance. Unconditional love and trust screamed at me from Fudge’s end with a potence and clarity that I had never felt before. There was no need for justification. There was no need for logic and argument. I wanted to raise Fudge up with me, and that was enough for him.

We don’t deserve dogs.

It was overwhelming. I felt a surge of growth in Taming [Dog]. Mana and strength I did not know I possessed briefly flooded my everything. I felt the sensation echoing within Fudge. Had he reacted in the waking world? I couldn’t tell, not at first. There was nothing except-

My paws twitched at the rush of strength. I tried to stand but everything was so strange. So different. A change was coming, but I felt safe.

For the barest of moments, it felt like I was Fudge; my desire to check on his well being made manifest in the rush of Advancement. I didn’t even know something like that was possible. Could it be duplicated? There was no time to dwell on it.

Perseverance flared, adding iron to my will as I urged the process further, clearing my mind from distractions.

Fudge and I are connected, entangled through magic, quantum circumstance, everything. I urged my mana, bolstered by the Advancing Taming Skill, to... I don’t even know what. Reinforce the conviction? Make it real? Both? It felt like the right thing to do, like a nudge from the Skill itself, so I continued unabated. As I Advance, so too will Fudge Advance. My strength is his. His strength is mine. Intent is important.

I felt Fudge’s mana bolster my own as my mana in turn bolstered his. There was no distance for it to travel, no need for it to move through a connection. The space between us was meaningless. We were CONNECTED. A pressure began to build in a place beyond identification, I only knew that it came from within me, but also without. Something was bending. Warping. The discomfort turned to pain, but with that sharp stab of pain came immediate relief. Something had snapped. Something had been reforged in fire and ice and a connection that was written into the fabric of reality.

My eyes snapped open and I gasped. Tina was nearby, her expression tense, her gaze filled with worry. I paid it no mind. I only had eyes for the System notification that hung in front of me.

Taming [Fudge] Level 10/10

Advancement Bonuses

* Tier 1: Skill has been fundamentally altered.

Unlock Condition: Fundamentally alter the nature of a Taming Bond.

Skill Augmentations (1/1)

This Skill is only capable of supporting a single type of Skill Augmentation. The choice has been made automatically.

* Taming [Fudge] (Minor)

That… isn’t the Advancement Bonus I was expecting. I read and re-read the notification. It also didn’t tell me much. That wasn’t exactly news when it came to how the System operated, but the descriptions felt especially thin in this instance, as if not even the System could properly condense the situation into a brief sentence of two.

Well, actually, I suppose it kind of did. Fundamentally altered… The alteration was reflected in the name of the Skill, and as my mind raced through the likely implications my stomach dropped.

Taming [Fudge].

A Skill that would, presumably, only work on Fudge.

On one hand, I had been told that the more specific a Skill was, the more efficient it was when acting within its purview. Being able to throw more mana at something provided both the potential for bursts of power or longevity. Forget just improving my ability to influence Fudge’s Advancement, the new Skill would likely improve every aspect of the Skill in a big way…

But only for Fudge.

The downside was obvious, even as I dreaded acknowledging the possibility. Because if anything happened to Fudge, not only would I lose my best friend in this world, but my Build would stagnate, forever unable to Advance further. It was a terrifying prospect, in more ways than one.

I called up the description of the Skill Augmentation.

Taming [Fudge] (Minor)

The effects of Taming [Fudge] will be marginally more effective.

Yeah, that checks out. It wasn’t much help in identifying what happened, which was to be expected. I pushed my attention away from the System and finally addressed Tina who had been asking me a litany of questions regarding my wellbeing.

“I am fine, mom,” I said, though I didn’t turn to face her. My attention was on Fudge, who had curled into a donut-shaped mound of dog and was sleeping. Tina pulled me into a hug, which I returned, but I still felt so… separate from everything.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Dissociation. The word came to mind.

“You had me worried, you-”

I stopped listening to her at that point, even as I remained vaguely conscious of the feeling of her arms wrapped around me. I was both there and nowhere at the same time, my place in the world felt uncertain. Was it my place in the world, or-

Fudge!

It was growing hard to keep my thoughts organized, and I drew on that barrier, defining it as an obstacle to justify my Skill. Steel chains wrought from Perseverance tethered my mind to the inside of my skull. All distractions were pushed to the wayside of my awareness. I called upon the System and asked of Fudge.

A screen opened up instantly. There was a flutter to my mana, which I was only just realizing was teetering close to being dangerously low. There was no delay, no sense of a request being made along the Bond. One moment, nothing, the next:

[Fudge] Level 10/10

Advancement Bonuses

* Tier 1: Skill has been fundamentally altered.

Unlock Condition: Aid in the fundamental alteration of a Tamer Bond.

Skill Augmentations (1/1)

This Skill is only capable of supporting a single type of Skill Augmentation. The choice has been made automatically.

* [Fudge] (Minor)

All Skills have gained sufficient recognized proficiency for Advancement.

Commence Advancement?

Advancement Commencing

As I read the words, my vision started to blur. It reminded me of when I started my own Advancement, except without the pain, just a sense that I was-

Darkness.

***

Awareness returned to me, yet still, all was darkness. The same spike of terror I felt the last time this occurred tried to rear its head, so I smacked it down. This was not The Nothing. Except…

It’s not my Core Space either, mine has-

Even as I had the thought, there was a crack in the darkness from which my Skill Tree erupted in all its glory. The crystalline lifeform pulsed to the tune of my mana as non-existent light refracted through the delicate leaves. Perseverance. Recovery. Even Taming [Dog], well, Taming [Fudge], now. They were all there, and they felt closer to me than ever.

There was something beneath the tree, a curled up figure, one I would recognise anywhere.

Fudge! He reacted to my wordless cry, stirring in a flurry of excitement. His eyes locked onto me, for the arrival of my Skill Tree bestowed upon me the spectral form I occupied in this space. I took a knee as Fudge quickly closed the distance and he tumbled into me with a flurry of affection. There was no foul odor to his breath, and his fur felt wispy despite its fullness.

Right, he’s not really here either, is he. I clambered to my feet and looked around, taking comfort from the presence of my Skills while I kept one hand on Fudge who stood at my side.

Wait, whose Core Space are we in? I-

Taming [Fudge] shone, the leaves catching my eyes as they thrummed with power. Like tea dregs in the bottom of a fortune teller’s cup, I found myself gaining insights and understanding.

It’s both… and neither. The ephemeral distance between us didn’t matter, not anymore. My Core Space, Fudge’s Core Space - it was immaterial. It was a comforting thought, but also a terrifying one. I looked around for the representation of Fudge’s Skills.

Next to me, Fudge harrumphed in the way that dogs often do. The answer hit me immediately.

Fudge’s Skill had been called Dog. It was Fudge now, but still. It also explained why animals who Advanced changed physically. The ‘spiritual’ representations of their Skills were mirrored on their physical forms. I looked down at the adorable, dark gray bundle of love that was Fudge and committed the sight of him to memory.

“There’s a good chance you’ll be going through some changes soon, bud,” I said. “No matter what, though, we’ll always be pals. I promise.” If I was going to shoot for the impossible task of leaping between worlds, then what was the harm in trying to take Fudge with me, as well? An impossible task could hardly get more impossible.

Fudge just leaned into my touch, seemingly unbothered by my words as his tongue lolled happily out the side of his mouth. He remained a bastion of unwavering faith in me. It was the kind of thing that inspired a man to want to live up to expectations.

System! I am ready to help Fudge Advance.

Advancement successful.

Please choose two additional Skills to finalize Advancement. Threshold proficiency must have been demonstrated for a Skill to be an eligible choice.

The System window popped into existence.

You know what we want. I recalled the hours of practice Fudge and I put towards ridiculous games that touched upon quantum theories. I thought of those theories, the pseudo science behind them, the Advancement of the Tamer Bond - everything. I rolled it into a cognitive ball and threw it at the System with everything I had.

I held a breath I didn’t need to take.

…

…

…

No records of chosen Skill.

…

…

…

Skill is theoretically possible.

My eyes went wide. I’d seen those words before.