“What do you think this is all about?” Billy asked aloud as they neared the second chamber, the one in which Jenna’s statue and his held hands, forming the entry arch.

  “Governance has sequestered himself in a foolproof chamber that can only be unlocked by the Losers working their powers in tandem. I guess the next room will require that you both work together to solve it, just as the last one required her powers and mine,” Bob answered.

  “But why? Why so complicated?” Billy wondered.

  Jenna led the way into the new room. “He wanted to force the keeper to send us all three as the strike force. He wants us all here and now, and he did so by creating a situation that no one else could solve.”

  They finally entered the second chamber, which was rectangular. Seven circles of inlaid metal were engraved into the floor, each numbered from 1 to 7. The nearest one, engraved with the number 1, was a simple circle. All the rest were double circumferences.

  An enormous glass pane dominated the end of the hall. It was just translucent glass, unmarked.

  “I guess we are supposed to stand here,” Jenna said, placing herself on top of the first circle. Nothing happened.

  “Weren’t we meant to do it together?” Billy asked, standing atop the circle with her, which remained inert.

  “Perhaps if we stand simultaneously on different circles...” mumbled Jenna, approaching the second one, but the number one circle flared into life as soon as she left it. “Ok, it seems you are the only one to stand on them.”

  Then, Governance’s voice echoed across the chamber: “Assume this shape,” it said as the form of a beautiful gryphon bathed in flames appeared on the glass pane.

  Its name appeared in beautiful, medieval calligraphy under its semblance: Flaming Gryphon.

  “How am I supposed to turn into that?” Billy protested. ““I don’t have that form in my Akashic Library.”

  “Didn't you gain the ability to combine different forms in your Library to create new ones?” Bob asked.

  “He does, which raises a new question. How does Governance know so much about our powers? His knowledge isn't just precise; it’s also up to date. Billy only acquired that ability a few days ago,” Jenna replied.

  “Ok, I think I have this. The Elven Gryphon is obviously a must. There is only one shape with fire powers, and that is that of the Undead Firemaster. I will combine them both.”

  Billy summoned his respawn screen and, merely by wishing it, a new section called Essence Gestalt appeared in it.

  Which Forms do you want to use to create the Gestalt?

  He tagged both the Gryphon and the Firemaster. A new screen appeared beside both options, asking how many achievement points to invest in each component.

  Billy could not help fiddling with the controls to get the hang of them. The resulting gestalt would have a minimum fee equal to the weakest of both forms, and a maximum cost equal to the highest one.

  He decided to go for a shape equal to a rank six avatar, the minimum cost available, for 300 Achievement Points. He invested 150 in the War Gryphon form and 150 in the Firemaster form.

  Do you wish to create the Gestalt? Y/N

  He mentally pushed the Yes button, and his body dissolved into a flash of blue light.

  He returned as a skeletal giant chicken with flames pouring out of his rib cage and eye sockets.

  The letters in the glass pane changed.

  You have respawned as a Necrotic Chicken Lich. You have not solved the first task.

  Then the letters changed back to: Flaming Gryphon

  “How the hell does he expect me to get it right? I am just mixing and matching randomly,” Billy protested. “I will just run out of achievement points if I keep doing this.”

  “I guess this is the point where I am supposed to help you,” Jenna said, using Transference to link her mind to his without breaking the circle.

  He first felt his mind upgrade, and then his visualization capacity. He was sure he could create a perfect mental simulation of anything he desired.

  “Let’s do this,” Billy heard Jenna’s thoughts. He had not since they had entered the Black Tower, severing their connection to Joanna’s blood link.

  “Ok, I am going to guide you through the whole process,” Jenna told him. “First, I want you to imagine yourself as a barista, an expert at making cocktails. No, not him. Anyone but him.”

  Billy altered his mental visage to match his physical one.

  “Better,” Jenna approved. “Now I want you to visualize all your possible akashic forms as different beverages.”

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  Billy concentrated; his mental acuity was so fast that soon the cocktail station was filled to the brim with different bottles, representing each of his akashic forms: The Moon Goblin was a dark Bitter with slimy bits swimming in it, the Elven War Hero, an elegant wine, the Blind Swordsman was a dusky-toned gin- every akashic form was presented as a bottle, with a brand identifying it.

  “Ok, now I want you to look at the Flaming Gryphon and imagine it as a drink,” Jenna went on.

  A fruity drink with a little umbrella appeared at the cocktail station. The umbrella was on fire.

  “And now mix and match till you get it exactly right,” Jenna instructed.

  With his enhanced mind and senses, Billy quickly understood that the quantity did not matter as much as the ratio between the components and the order in which they were used. The formula would set the basic form; the more achievement points, symbolized as liquid volume, he poured into it, the more powerful it would become.

  Billy understood that he needed two-thirds of War Gryphon, one-third of Undead Firemaster, and a sprinkling of Elven Druid to neutralize the undead aftertaste.

  He had nearly an infinite number of possible choices, which would only increase as he added more forms to his Library.

  His only regret was that Gestal forms would never be considered part of the Library, but he could recreate them if he memorized the formula for each.

  His beverage was the exact copy of the one he had conjured by studying the gryphon. He dispelled the vision and conjured his spawn screen, adding the correct proportion of achievement points and in the required order.

  Congratulations, you have respawned as a Flaming Gryphon. You have solved the first task.

  The magical circle flared and disappeared. Billy was pleasantly surprised when he discovered that he had gotten back all the achievement points he had spent while in the circle, even those used for his first failed try.

  He checked the stats of his gryphon. He had the flight abilities and stats of the normal gryphon, plus some kind of Competency based on an active Fire Aura. He also noticed that he had not uncovered any new Pantean Skills; Gestalts were limited to permutations of the original skills and meta-abilities their components possessed. No free skills for Bob this way.

  “Easy as pie,” Jenna told him. He tried to protest; each time Jenna said that, she jinxed it. It was the Loser’s equivalent of gloating. He could only emit an angry squawk.

  Damn, he missed the Blood Link.

  “Step on the second one, please,” Jenna asked him. Billy had already noticed that the other six circles were double circumferences, as opposed to the one he had just solved.

  He discovered the purpose of the second circumference the moment he stepped onto the circle marked with a 2. Jenna’s mental link was instantly severed, and Billy’s mind lost all the enhancements it granted. How was he supposed to do it now?

  The second task appeared on the panel. It looked like a batch of flowers stemming from a trunk. A single eye appeared inside the petals, which opened and closed, much as if they were eyelids.

  Thousand-Eyed Mandrake, the glass pane called it.

  Billy left the magical circle so that Jenna could commune again with him, but doing so dissolved his body, respawning him back into his basic shape and removing all the achievement points he had invested in the Chicken Lich and the Flaming Gryphon.

  He immediately saw the problem. If he left the circle without solving the task, he would soon run out of achievement points.

  “I think Jenna was supposed to help him only on the first try. Training wheels and all that,” Bob volunteered.

  “I won’t be able to do this without the Visualization powers Jenna provides,” answered Billy.

  “How about helping him create a gestalt that can be used to figure out other gestalts. He starts each circle on that form, uses it to find the formula for the one the Glass-pane shows, and gets all points back when he solves the task.”

  “That is actually a pretty brilliant idea, Bob,” Jenna told him, hiding the fact that she had already thought of it.

  Bob beamed.

  Jenna enhanced his Visualization again. There he was, back at the cocktail station. This time, he was not trying to reproduce another cocktail. He was trying to create his own. He got it right on the third try.

  Combine two parts of Alchemical Master with one part of Moon Goblin.

  Shake well, then add one part of Blind Swordsman.

  Finally, sprinkle in some Headless Machetist to help reduce the cost.

  He memorized the formula and wished he had something to write it down on. Just then, a subsection with old formulas appeared in the Gestalt sub-screen. The respawn module was feeling generous today.

  “Ready now,” he said, stepping back on the disk. He discorporated and returned as a Headshaker, a scaly, green humanoid with exquisitely enhanced senses, able to mix different types of essences within his hollow head, which he held in both hands.

  It was also very affordable: adding Headless Machetist did not improve the final look, but it did halve the cost.

  While in Headshaker form, he had an even easier time divining the final results of Gestalt mixing than when he was enhanced with Jenna’s power.

  Guessing the Thousand-Eyed Mandrake formula was easy: it only needed three portions of Fungal Tree and one of Fluid Watcher.

  Shapes based on different systems could be mixed; interesting.

  The Mandrake had a couple of fixed abilities originating from the Fungal Tree, plus the Watcher’s ability to modify them, as long as they adhered to specific parameters.

  The second circle dissolved, and Billy recovered all the points he had spent in it.

  He repeated the operation four more times, each time acquiring forms that were both weirder and more complex. The last one was a miniature River Dragon with eight heads.

  “Congratulations,” Governance voice announced. “You have beaten the chamber.”

  Jenna hugged him. “Congratulations, Billy,” she told him. “You were powerful before; now you are also versatile.”

  “What’s the matter, Billy?” she added, noticing his troubled look.

  “Nothing, it is just… I was hoping one of the gestalts required using the Mystic Storyteller form as a component.”

  “I understand,” answered Jenna. Mystic Storyteller was the form he obtained from Penny. It was the most powerful form in his Library, one level above his Ethel Tribulation form.

  It also made him uniquely vulnerable to Exile.

  Requiring it as a Gestalt in one of Governance’s tasks would have been the Imperial’s way of telling him it was safe to use.

  The fact that it had not been required probably meant that using it was not a good idea.

  “That is a mystery for another day, Billy,” Jenna told him. “Today was a win.”

  With that idea in mind, the three approached the next arc.