“Listen, I talked with the rest of the girls, and we’re staying here,” Shana said to Hannah.

  “I figured as much.” She sighed. “Don’t get too comfortable, though, because the second that quest timer hits double-zero, you guys will be headed for Veils End.”

  “Don’t think we aren’t grateful you guys showed up to save us from Charles…” Shana began.

  “Shana! It’s fine, we understand. I’m just trying to light a fire under you so you guys don’t stop leveling up. No matter what Outpost we all end up at in the end, we’re going to need everyone to be as strong as possible.” Hannah encouraged.

  “Thanks.” She smiled sheepishly before walking away.

  The group of women from Treetop Village had been hogging the Loom for hours, unwilling to wait a second longer now that they could finally create their first skills. Julian and Hannah took their places at the back of the line and prepared to craft their own before heading to bed. When they finally got to the front of the line, Hannah stepped up first.

  She began with her first profession skill, opting to focus on a movement ability for Buttercup with the Level 15 slot. She didn’t know if the slots themselves affected the quality of the Loom’s creation, but she saved the newest one for the shield skill just in case.

  Images of Buck carrying her out of harm's way floated into the loom, and the brown, white, and blue spools of thread all spun to life. The sigil it weaved took the shape of a brown leather saddle, with essence bleeding from the leather. When it was complete, it floated off the Loom and seared itself into Hannah’s right thigh. She grit her teeth until the pain of her weave being rewritten subsided, and opened the skill screen.

  It was perfect. It was starting to feel weird having a dexterity-focused class while her profession kept her attached at the hip to Buttercup, and now she had a way to let him benefit from all the stats she wasn’t using while riding him. It sounded like the skill would keep her steady while generally improving his ability to evade danger.

  We’re becoming a literal bio-weapons platform, Buttercup! Hannah encouraged through her telepathic link.

  We are? That sounds awesome! These bushes are delicious! He replied.

  Don’t destroy the place too much. I’m not as annoyed at them as I was earlier. She warned.

  Awe. But they taste so good. He complained.

  Who am I kidding? The landscaping doesn’t matter. Have at it, kiddo. She laughed.

  “So what’d you…” Julian asked, only to be cut off by the rainbow haze reappearing around her.

  “I’m not done yet!” Hannah sang to herself, grinning as she began working on her second empty profession skill.

  Her first idea had been to create a shield Harvey-style. A pure essence barrier wrapped around Buttercup’s head for her to fire through. But the more she thought about it, the more problems she saw. Buttercup never stopped moving. Attacks could come from any direction, and she needed to protect more than his head. A static dome around him would either leave too many gaps or cost so much essence she'd dry up in a minute.

  She needed something adaptive.

  In the end, she ditched the shield idea entirely. Instead of trying to protect every angle at once, she’d let Buttercup shoot down anything that got too close, like firing a missile to intercept an asteroid instead of building a giant shield around the whole planet.

  You want to start using magic, buddy? She tried talking to Buttercup, only to realize the Loom’s isolation had cut off her mental connection. Oh well, I’m sure he’ll like this.

  Brown, blue, and white threads all spun down from the loom, gathering into a sigil depicting glowing antlers. When it was done, it floated towards her.

  “Oh no. Go lower. Go lower! Not my head!” She screamed as a tattoo was seared into her skull right at her hairline. The pain in her weave was nothing compared to the agony she felt at her beauty being marred by a pair of bony glow sticks.

  “No!” She wailed, the rainbow haze receding into the crystal ball.

  “Hannah! Are you ok?” Julian asked.

  “I have a face tattoo! Do I look like I’m ok!” She screamed.

  Julian tried to stay calm, but couldn’t help bursting out laughing when he saw the glowing ink peeking out from under her hair. The top half of the rack was covered by her hair, leaving her looking like she had two strange runes carved into her head.

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  The skill was exactly what she’d hoped for, but of all places to get a tattoo, why did it have to be her face?

  Oops! Buttercup’s voice returned to her mind.

  What happened? She asked.

  I wanted to test the new skill, and I may have just shattered a window.

  “We need to get out of here fast,” Hannah whined. “Buttercup just broke a window.”

  “Well then stop worrying so much about your face tat and finish making your last skill, Lil Han.” Julian laughed.

  “What did you just call me?” She asked.

  “Lil Han! It’s your rap name!” He chortled, running away as she started punching him. When she was done with her assault and battery, she finished her skill blitz with a class skill called Living Turret that increased her damage while stationary. She was banking on it counting her sitting atop Buttercup. If it didn’t, the skill was basically useless, but she was pretty confident, considering all the component memories were of her shooting through his antlers.

  Julian stepped up next to create his final class skill. He’d become a true juggernaut over the past week, and they’d talked a lot about what his final skill should be. He had his Guardian’s Breath – which healed everyone within his aura as long as he was fighting – his Heroic Leap, the expansion skill, and his shield slam. He was large, tough, and mobile, but they were all relatively simple concepts. For his final G grade class skill, Julian wanted something big.

  Hannah watched as memories of Julian standing between groups of survivors and the enemies blocking their path merged with visions of him carrying the injured out of the flames from his firefighting days. She smiled as red, orange, black, and silver threads were woven into the shape of his breastplate, coated in righteous flames. The sigil imprinted itself on his chest, just above his heart.

  When the haze receded, he walked up with a smile and shared the screen.

  “No way!” Hannah gasped.

  “Yep. I have become… the fire fighter.” Julian beamed, emphasizing the split of the last two words.

  “You’re so dumb.” She laughed.

  “I’ve got the full kit now. Make myself big enough to get in the way, light myself on fire, and start beating the hell out of everyone.” He smiled.

  "What does it mean by Capstone?" Hannah asked.

  "The System Notification letting me know a new skill was available mentioned that whatever I created would become a key piece in my next class. I'm guessing it has something to do with that?" He answered.

  “Sounds freaky. Are we testing it out tonight, or are we sleeping here and leaving in the morning?” She asked.

  “Let’s leave tonight. I’m itching to get home now that I know we’re in a competition.” Julian said.

  “I hate to say it since it means leaving behind a cozy bed, but I agree. Let’s do a little rampaging on the way back, though. We’ve got a lot of levels to gain if our little town of 60 is going to stay ahead of the Hell Hotel.” Hannah smirked.

  The two found John and said their goodbyes, both sides promising not to hold a grudge wherever they met next.

  “You sure you don’t want to stay until the morning?” John asked.

  “No, we'd better get going. Thank you so much for your hospitality, Captain. It was great to see you again.” Julian effused.

  “The pleasure’s all mine, son. You’re a good man.”John smiled. The same teen from behind the front desk led them out to the wooden gate, and Hannah had to practically tear Buttercup away from the hedges. The heavy logs thumped closed behind them, and the two were alone in the wilderness once more.

  They could move a lot faster without a group of low-levels to watch over, so they didn’t hold back as they sprinted towards home. It was liberating to finally be able to fight without holding back. Helping the others slowly level up was rewarding in its own way, but didn’t come with the catharsis of really testing your limits.

  Hannah embraced the name of her latest skill, becoming a living turret raining hell down from Buttercup’s back. They found a bird that shot its quills like knives, just like a Carrionwing, but blasts of light from Buttercup’s antlers knocked them away until Hannah could pin them to a tree with an arrow.

  When they came upon the bigger creatures Buttercup couldn’t bowl over, Julian ignited and carved a path with sword and shield. Roars of hunger turned to whimpers of fear as the smell of cooked meat filled the air.

  Eventually, their essence reserves started to dwindle, and they found a place to rest. Instead of a full night’s sleep, they elected to nap for a few hours at a time, just long enough to restore their essence, stretch aching limbs, and set out once again. It seemed like every minute, some opportunistic hunter took a shot at the duo, but it only served to make them stronger.

  Hour by hour, day by day, they forged a path back home until the canopy above finally turned purple. Standing at the threshold where life turned to undeath, they paused.

  “I hope Harvey’s ok.” Hannah worried.

  “Why wouldn’t he be?” Julian asked.

  “I don’t know, I’ve just had a bad feeling the last few days,” Hannah answered.

  “I’m sure he’s fine, but we’re almost home. He’s gonna be stoked when we show him the notification we got.” Julian smiled.

  “Yeah…” Hannah whispered, but the ache in her chest didn’t ease. Something was wrong. She could feel it. She pulled up the notification Julian mentioned to try and distract herself.

  Your weave stirs, an F-Grade evolution is available at the Loom.