Charlemagne squawked as the Squiggles bestowed his chosen Special Ability upon him.

  “I bet that really hurts, doesn’t it, especially since you don’t actually have any sort of Pain Resistance Skill. How did you manage to make it so far without one, I wonder? Perhaps something to do with how your brain is wired, I suppose. Maybe you can use some of your obscene number of Shop Points to buy the Skill. Too bad it won’t help you now. It’s kind of ironic that you just recently lied about having that Skill, and to a Party member no less.”

  The strange creature behind the desk tapped a few pairs of tentacles together as it watched the rooster writhe in agony on the floor. Charlemagne actually didn’t hear anything that the other entity was saying, because all that he could hear was the sound of sizzling as the power of his Ember Core, which had suddenly ceased its regular pulsing, spread throughout his flesh and got to work. Contrary to the Special Ability’s description, the maturity of the rooster’s mana channels meant that “I Lost the Blueprint” needed to make significant changes at the outset in order to fix all the things that Charlemagne had kludged up. Certain areas of his body, such as his wings and the powerful breast muscles that made them flap, had been receiving far more mana than necessary. Other parts, such as his brain, eyes, spine, and other portions of his nervous system, hadn’t been receiving enough. Correcting these issues required the System to essentially break down Charlemagne’s nerves before rebuilding and rewiring them.

  Through the red haze of agony, the rooster heard a soft sound that bypassed his ruptured eardrums and shredded auditory nerves, a chime that spoke to his very soul. It was the Squiggles. Tapping into his last dregs of willpower, Charlemagne pulled up the notification to see what was going on.

  Immediately, Charlemagne’s pain level diminished. A bit. The searing sensation of his nervous system being rewired continued unabated for several minutes more. The rooster, with the first and only clear thought that he was able to muster during that time, hoped that perhaps his Pain Resistance Skill would evolve into something greater due to the sheer agony he was experiencing. If only it was that simple.

  Finally, the difficult part of the transformation finished, leaving the rooster feeling weak and wrung out as he lay on the floor. That is, until his Ember Core began beating again. Power flowed through him: hot, heavy, and efficient. With every pulse, the effect seemed to grow more intense as his newly reforged Veins of Lava distributed the power exactly where it needed to go. Channels that had led to nowhere had been removed, while those that delivered mystical energy to muscles, organs, and bones were reinforced. The memory of intense pain quickly faded as Charlemagne stood, larger and taller than he had been before.

  “Well, I certainly can’t fault you for taking that particular Special Ability, it must have been extremely uncomfortable living with such inefficient mana channels. For a second, I thought that the pain alone might kill you, but the System really is a gentle master sometimes, isn’t it? You must feel so much better now! And, don’t forget that this is an ongoing effect. So, your mana usage will continue to grow more efficient, and the purity and potency of your mana will rise as you develop your abilities. Is it everything that you hoped for?”

  “Bawk,” the rooster admitted.

  “Well, it certainly will help you survive the process if you do manage to upgrade your Ember Core anytime soon, but I wouldn’t try to rush that particular process. I don’t even want to know what stupid stunt you pulled off to get an Ember Core before level 50, but it must have been realllllly stupid.”

  “Bawwk bawk bawak bawk baawk,” Charlemagne denied.

  “Oh, you only ate a Settlement Token and used the latent energy to enlarge your Mana Core, and then subsumed the concept of fire into your core to reignite it as an Ember Core. Yeah, something that a totally rational being would think of doing, I’m sure. But, hey, I guess I can’t be too hard on you here. It’s hard to argue with results, and boy did you get them! Now, are you ready for what’s next?”

  “Bawk?” Charlemagne asked.

  “That’s right, more rewards! So, now that you’ve selected your next Special Ability, we can move on to, well, possibly slightly less exciting things. The System has calculated a suitable reward for your performance in Round 1 of the Systemic Games. It also, for some reason that I find completely incomprehensible, has awarded you bonus performance points for attempting to fight the Round’s Overseer. I am very much opposed to you trying that again, by the way, especially in the Elite Systemic Games, because the Overseers there do not play around, and I plan to bet heavily on your success. So please win, by the way. Anyways, in just a moment, you’ll see an option to select your Round One rewards. I don’t know exactly what they’ll be, but you should be receiving them about…now.”

  The Squiggles reappeared right on time.

  Once again, the rooster was left with a very difficult choice. With his newest Special Ability, “I Lost the Blueprint”, he was already gaining additional potency and efficiency with his mana attacks. Choosing “Any Mana of Mine”, which he was surprised to see offered again, would greatly complement his overall skillset by leaning into his ability to both protect himself and attack with mana. But would the bonus that he received be better than having a lot more mana to use? The “Storage for your Corage” Special Ability was equally intriguing, because it would give him additional mana to use so long as he kept himself at full long enough to fill up the reservoir. It was definitely a difficult decision between those two, for sure.

  Then there was also “Ethereal Assault”, which was a confusing ability that seemed to be only slightly different than “The Duality of Rooster”. Technically, Ethereal Assault was slightly worse when it came to empowering his attacks, since it specified that only attacks “empowered by your mana” were included. But really, all of his attacks were empowered by mana, and he didn’t see that changing any time soon.

  But what really caught Charlemagne’s attention was the final portion about manipulating souls. Whatever his soul was, it seemed that it was much more fragile than his body. He didn’t like that feeling one bit, and, if he could use mana to manipulate his soul eventually, then it stood to reason that he could do something like empower his soul by infusing it with mana. Maybe then he would not have to worry about a very powerful bacteria pulling him away from his physical body and destroying him that way.

  So, with unusual clarity that he didn’t think to question, Charlemagne selected “Ethereal Assault”. As he did, he felt the weight of something enormous descend upon the small office. The being behind the desk shuddered for a moment and then went completely limp as the oppressive presence of the very Squiggles themselves was made manifest. Crushed beneath the benevolent heel of the Squiggles, Charlemagne’s puny mind reeled as it touched upon something so far beyond its capacity to comprehend that he didn’t realize how traumatized he should be from the experience.

  Something brushed against his innermost being, its feather-light touch engendering a warmth deep inside his very essence. Wherever the warmth spread, Charlemagne felt more substantial, more alive and present. It was a wonderful feeling. And then it was gone.

  The Squiggles, having given their caress, withdrew. Charlemagne stared up at the ceiling as he felt the weight depart from his soul, wondering what exactly had happened to him. His moment of reverence was cut short, however, as his handler suddenly lurched back into full consciousness.

  “Oh, you’re back. Oh, wait, I’m back! That was quite a doozy, I don’t mind admitting. It’s not often that a portion of the System itself descends to personally bestow a reward. It must have its eye on you…so be careful.”

  “Bawk?” the rooster inquired.

  “Careful is such a broad word, don’t you think? It could mean anything!” the being chuckled as it waved its many appendages around in a manner that made Charlemagne a bit dizzy.

  “So, what did you get?” it asked him. “Was it good?”

  “Bawk,” Charlemagne confirmed.

  “That’s good, that’s good! Another Special Ability so quickly…those are quite rare, you know. It’s not every day that the System gives out a Special Ability as a reward for, well, anything. Consider yourself lucky! So, what did you get?”

  “Bawk, bawk!”

  “Wow, the System really must want you to have the ability to damage souls. There’s no doubt about it. But you have to ask yourself ‘why’. It’s a very niche ability for those who are under level 200. In fact, you rarely see it until you get to the point where you’re a Deific Contender for ownership of your kind.”

  “Bawk,” Charlemagne proudly announced.

  “You have your own species?” the strange being gasped. “That’s incredible. I mean, it’s only the first step to becoming a Deific Contender, but you’re not even level 50 yet. What a monster the System is growing you into.”

  The rooster preened at being given such a compliment.

  “Now, let’s move on to the final thing before I send you off shopping. You need to be rewarded for defeating the Wave 40 Boss before the second event. This time your rewards will be more like those you receive from Dungeons, so you might need some time to make a decision. Are you ready?”

  The rooster bawked his acknowledgement. He was ready to see what other goodies that the Squiggles had for him, and hopefully this time his rewards would include something tasty for him to eat…

  But when he saw his options, he realized that the being behind the desk hadn’t been joking. He had some seriously good options to choose from.