1 Prologue

Prologue

It was game night. A cat side-eyed us from the door, upset as it was every week to have its nap time so rudely interrupted. The familiar smell of pizza and dry-erase cleaner filled the room. And for once, everyone was freshly showered and dressed up for the occasion.

I tried to keep my voice as level and polite as possible. I didn't want to come across as ungrateful. "I have some immediate critiques. The system is needlessly complex. It took me four hours to make a character and that was only because I discovered you had sample characters in the second of seven appendices at hour three."

The prim and proper businesswoman smiled understandingly and nodded. She was the odd one out around the table, which otherwise consisted of my RPG table, a motley collection of nerds. The others were nervous, and watched her reactions to my criticisms carefully.

"We completely understand." She had an odd way of speaking, this sort of sing-song cadence that bordered on the uncanny valley. "Eventually the character building process will be AI-assisted, but we thought that your group with its many years of experience would feel comfortable using the text to do so."

With the exception of Nasim, who got paid to DM at his restaurant job once a month, for the first time in the rest of our lives, there was money riding on our gaming sessions. The others were nervous, likely feeling out of their depths. They had all waited for me and Nasim to boil down character creation for them. Evidently it was impossible to get most players to read the rules, even when they were literally being paid to do so.

Paid playtesting, and at great rates too – who would have thought it was possible? I was certainly suspicious when I found the application online. And yet here we were, seated at the usual table except with the addition of an overdressed Asian woman wearing a tie and a too-nice skirt and jacket combo.

"There's sixty skills," said Nasim slowly, "twelve attributes – thirteen if you include the optional horny one – thousands of feats, and dozens of romantic archetypes, magical traditions, and martial arts which all confer different bonuses and restrictions. It's total choice paralysis. It'll take hours of going through the book every time we want to spend Experience. Not to mention the difficulty of GMing this game. Who is GMing anyway? I'm still unclear about that."

The woman from the publishing company waved it off. She had a generic attractiveness to her that made her simultaneously approachable and deeply unremarkable at once. I'd already forgotten her name, although that wasn't saying much; I was famously bad with remembering them. Luckily, she didn't seem offended at our criticism, which put the others at ease. We were all counting on this money.

She said with the same easy smile, "We want Arcane Rhapsodies: Legends of Love and Battle, Echoes of Fate, where Legends Converge and Destiny Resonates to be the sort of game that captures the mind for life – a forever game, if you will."

"Are you taking notes on the name?" asked Cat sarcastically. "We've all been calling it Love Fight in our group chat." Her girlfriend Mars elbowed her lightly.

Cici raised her hand like we were back in school. "I have some questions about the setting. It came across as a Supernatural-Horror-Martial Arts-Fighting Game-Romance-Anime World. Is that, is that right?"

"Yes. But though I appreciate all of your feedback, I would ask that you reserve it for later. Today we are finishing your character creation, after which you'll be ready to start testing out the game properly." Spotting my skepticism, she added, "And you will of course be receiving your first, substantial, payment once you're finished."

I looked around the table. We shared an unspoken, mental shrug emoji between us. "Sure, no problem. We've done dice pool systems before, so it'll probably click in place when we start playing."

"Excellent!" She clapped her hands. "Well how about you share a little about your characters with me and then we can get into where in the world you want to start your stories."

We went around the table. I was playing James Li, a stunt actor who was raised by a martial artist and a professional thief. Since I'd been the first to make a character, I hadn't been sure what would be needed so had made him bit of an all-rounder. Cat and Mars had made twin sisters, but that was where the similarities stopped. Cat was playing a doctor/traditional medicine practitioner, and Mars a shaman in a bike gang. Nasim, ever the combat minded, had built an ex-military powerhouse. Our resident mega-weeb, Cici, had built a ninja, and her husband Ted a cybernetics specialist. Davis was playing a girl as usual, a ballet artist/model, and Victor had ignored all the martial arts stuff the best he could to make a straight up wizard, again, as usual.

It was a large table, and this was just the people that came every week. There had been some long breaks, but we'd somehow managed to preserve our routine, all the way from back when we shit-heads in our early twenties to fairly responsible adults in our thirties. According to SD Publishing it was the primary reason we were selected to be a part of the playtest.

"Wow, I'm so excited to watch these characters develop!" She passed out professional looking brochures to each of us. "These are the locations within our world that we have ready to go for you. Each of you will select a different starting location. You don't need to stay, but the best way to reconvene for most of you will be to raise your status and reputation high enough to become known globally, so choose wisely. Additionally, each starting location is home to incredible adventures and equally as incredible rewards, so don't feel overpressured either. "

Nasim rubbed his forehead. "Wait. We're going to be playing in different locations? How is that supposed to work? This also returns us to the question of who is GMing for us anyway?"

"It'll all be made clear as soon as you've selected your starting locations."

I just shook my head, increasingly certain we were never going to be paid more than once, if at all, for whatever the hell was going on. Flipping through the pamphlet, I started choosing for the others. Hopefully the sooner we were through character creation, the sooner we could get to some answers.

"Well Cici is obviously going with the 'Sakura Shogunate'. Ted you should probably go with 'Neon Harbor' with your specialization. I'm good with 'The City of Shadows', it seems like the most suited for my character and I like urban fantasy. Which leaves 'The Crossroads of Destiny', 'Arcane Britannia', 'Mystico Maya', 'The City of Eternal Spirituality', 'Realm of Shadows', and 'Zephyr Oasis'. What do you guys think? Realm of Shadows is basically Transylvania, that seems up your alley, Mars."

"Okay." She turned to Cat. "You should do The City of Eternal Spirituality, sweetie. I could ride my bike to you."

"Sure."

"I'm calling Mystico Maya," said Nasir quickly. "I was just listening to a podcast on the Mayan Empire."

Davis stared blankly at the pamphlet before looking at me expectantly. Victor, realizing that was an option did the same.

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, Davis only knows one accent, so he'll do Arcane Britannia. And I don't know, Vic, Crossroads of Destiny? It's a small town in the middle of America. You lived in Illinois, right?"

"That has nothing to do with my character."

"You're free to read through the pamphlet, man."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll do the Crossroads."

The businesswoman's smile grew a bit. "All set? It's a big decision, remember?"

I shrugged. "We'll figure it out."

I came to surrounded by bright lights, a large fist hurtling towards my face. Big block letters hovered in front of the scene blocking most of it from view. My life flashed before me. Then, my other life flashed before my eyes.

Congratulations, you've been selected to star in SkinDimensional Media's pilot season of Arcane Rhapsodies: Legends of Love and Battle, Echoe—

The fist punched through letters, causing my mind to thankfully shunt them into the corner of my vision, and collided with face. I stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"CUT!"

"Shit, sorry kid." My attacker stepped forward and offered me his hand. I recognized him instantly as my mentor, veteran stunt actor Kassem Kahn, and let him pull me up.

"You alright?" asked a voice to my side. A tired, middle-aged man on a director's chair looked at me with a bored but polite concern.

I blinked at the scene around me, half alleyway outside on a sunny day, half industrial warehouse – ah, right, I remembered now. We were on a sound stage, filming a commercial for a chewing gum. The lights were shockingly bright and much hotter than I'd expected.

The director turned to look at Kas, now with genuine worry. "Is he alright?"

Kas slapped me on the shoulder. "He's good, just knocked for a loop."

I nodded at the director. "Sorry about that, my brain bugged out for a second. We can keep going."

The man slumped into his chair, visibly relieved. "Great, you have no idea how much paperwork an injury adds." He checked his watch. "Well we're ahead of schedule anyway. You boys have been working hard. Let's take lunch, everyone!"

"Take a seat, James. I'll go make you a plate."

"Thanks, Kas."

Once I had a moment to myself I pulled up the rest of the messages from 'SkinDimensional Media'.

Quests!

Quests are hooks for adventures, romance, and personal development. Not Satisfied by your starting quests? Don't worry! There is an infinite number of 'hidden quests', our way of rewarding you for seeking out entertaining situations on your own.

[Grand Quest: Session 0]

Reconvene with the other members of your test group.

Reward: 1000 XP

Bonus Objective: At least 4 members of your group are alive at completion.

Reward: +2 to your three lowest Attributes.

Bonus Objective: At least 6 members of your group are alive.

Reward: Choose between 2 random Special feats.

Bonus Objective: All 8 members are alive.

Reward: You may return to your home world with your new bodies and abilities.

This was…crushing. My thoughts went back to the pamphlet we'd been given to choose starting locations. I had barely skimmed it, and from what I could remember there were no real names in the descriptions. My new home, Black Harbor, New Jersey had only been referred to as 'The City of Shadows'.

But at least Black Harbor stuck out as an obvious set piece, there not being a city of 5 million people between New York and Philadelphia in our old world. The rest of the places were things like: a small town in the middle US, a mega city in East to South East Asia, a small university town in the suburbs of London, and a haunted Eastern European valley; in other words, borderline impossible to find from just a map. Then there were the mystically hidden places, which I'd presumably have to go on a 'quest' to even hear about.

I opened a notes app on my phone and immediately set to putting down everything I remembered about my friend's characters and where they'd been sent. After a few minutes I looked at the dismal list. It consisted of character archetypes with a handful of notes, 'Cici, playing Blackanese Ninja somewhere in Japan', that sort of thing. Nasim's character was called Tor, which was the only name I could recall. We'd talked about the system and game a fair bit together and I actually remembered a good amount about Tor, which was unfortunate since Nasim had chosen a lost city as his starting zone.

I groaned. This was a nightmare. I had a great group, really, but I knew them well enough to know that if this was all that I could remember, then they knew absolutely fuck all outside of what they'd gained from their characters' memories.

There were other messages as well.

[Character Quest: Honor Among Thieves, part 1]

Determine the truth behind your father's arrest.

Reward: 125 XP, +1 to six different skills of your choice

[Character Quest: Fame, part 1]

Become a local celebrity in Black Harbor, known by the majority of the population.

Reward: 100 XP, +1 to all Social Attributes

Bonus Objective: Become cherished by a significant percentage of people.

Reward: 50 XP, +1 Charisma, Free Major Feat from within your Romantic Archetype

Bonus Objective: Become feared by a significant percentage of people.

Reward: 50 XP, +1 Presence, Free Major Feat from a Predator Romantic Archetype

[Quest: Enter The Shadows]

Encounter the supernatural underbelly of the City of Shadows.

Reward: 25 XP, +1 to Aura, Affinity, OR Attunement

[Quest: Damsel] [Scintillating]

Rescue a young woman from a mugging in your neighborhood.

Reward: 25 XP, Gain a Contact.

Bonus Objective: Successfully leave her wanting for more of you.

Reward: Upgrade a social feat. +1 to Sensuality

Scintillating!

Quests marked Scintillating are those more likely to lead to situations that our viewers adore. Here at SkinDimensional we pride ourselves for producing the multiverse's finest pornography, and we've taken every opportunity to incentivize you to help! You'll receive greater rewards from engaging in steamy romance and smutty scenes. If you do exceptionally well, you can receive random gifts from the Audience! Prove to be a star, and the Producers will grant you incredible boons!

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. My life was being shown to an audience of perverts from across the multiverse. It was a good thing I happened to make James Li, my character and new half, an actor hoping to become famous, because Alan, the man I'd been before, was currently freaking out about being watched. Alan very much did not want to be the star of a supernatural horror, martial arts rom-com pornography. James didn't love the horror or the pornography part of the deal, but was doing backflips over the thought of becoming a star in multiple universes.

I'd have to deal. My friends were counting on me to survive and to somehow find them in this chaotic new world. To do that I'd have to play along with my 'Producers'. At least they proved themselves helpful with the last message.

[Producer Boon: Moving Bonus]

Along with your first promised payment, we've included a small moving bonus to help you get settled.

Black Card: This little metal debit card is a bank to itself. While it works at any ATM, and has an account and routing number in an ink only you can see on the back, you can deposit money into the card simply by touching the card to cash or other currency. And you can withdraw money simply by reaching into a pocket or wallet the card resides. If lost or destroyed will return to you safely the next day. Money stored in the Card grows at 10% yearly compound interest.

The card fell into my palm as soon as I dismissed the message. I could intuit the contents of my account just by touching it. Five thousand dollars, a good chunk of change, Still, I'd have been more grateful for the money if the people who'd paid me hadn't also trapped me in a reality tv show against my will. But I couldn't deny it was a life changing amount of money for me, James Li. I was currently living frugal in a basement apartment in the second or third roughest neighborhood in Black Harbor. Living off the wages of a non-guild Stunt Actor was not easy. In fact, it was impossible, which is why I'd been supplementing my income with parcel delivery work.

We wrapped up my scene fairly quickly after lunch. As a non-member of the Stunt Performers Guild, my screen time was forced to be limited. I also wasn't allowed to say any lines or be on set for longer than four days, which severely hampered the type of roles I could take. There was also a serious difference in pay. Kas and I would end up being on set for about the same number of days for this commercial, but he'd be walking away with ten or twelve times what I'd be.

Luckily this was my thirtieth supervised day of working with a guild member present, so I was finally qualified to apply for membership to the SPG. Unfortunately, I'd heard it could take up to two or three years to actually get accepted. I assumed this was to make room for nepotism.

"Hey, kid, stick around, would ya? I'll buy you some protein to celebrate," Kas said with a wink.

Kassem "Combo" Kahn was almost everything James Li had wanted to be. Kas lived in a nice brownstone in Riverside, had work all year round, and was respected by his peers. James had been shooting to be the next Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen, but he could respect the old man's lifestyle. Kas was comfortable. His face might not have been well known, but the man had been in hundreds of productions and had some insane stories to show for it. He even had a niche community of fans from back in his tournament fighting days.

I didn't know how aggressively I'd be pursuing James' old goal of Hollywood stardom – my old goal. I really had to get used to that.

Fame in this kitchen sink of a world would probably mean dealing with literal vampires or sex cults with actual magic behind them. But, at the same time, it was my best plan at the moment for getting the others' attention. Nasim, at least, would be able to recognize my name if not my face should it end up in a headline or movie's credits.

Kas was magnetic to watch, a phenomenal physical actor. He didn't have any lines in this commercial, but every movement, even the way he stood, signaled emotion and intent to the audience. We had the same job today, ostensibly, but man did it feel like he was on another level entirely. If I had to put a finger on it, it was the difference between the skill I'd taken, Performance (Stunts), and the skill Performance (Physical Acting). Except of course, the old man could also do any stunt I could. It was a shame he didn't get the spotlight more often. Kas had the ethnically ambiguous, average height, average frame build that producers lost their minds over when casting stunt doubles.

He had a few more scenes with the new girl, Annie Shine. She was a bit older than me, having gone to and graduated college. I didn't know much about her other that she used to be a Penn State cheerleader, but she was Kas' newest protégé. After we'd confirmed this booking and was assured that I'd meet the 30 supervised days requirement to join the Guild, Kas hadn't wasted time in finding someone else to coach through the process. He was waging a one-man crusade against what he called the Guild's elitist gatekeeping policies.

Annie stumbled a few of her stunts. It was no big deal, but it did make me feel a bit better about getting punched in the face earlier. I could tell she was relying on her cheerleading and gymnastics experience to bridge the skill gap for what was being asked of her. At least she wasn't getting nervous or in her head about messing up – that was the biggest flag I'd noticed that someone wasn't going to be able to cut it. I guess that was what performing to stadiums of a hundred thousand people did for your nerves.

When we got to the last scene before it was a wrap for the stunt actors on set, I immediately saw why Kas had scouted her. It was a simple stunt. The premise was the actress would pop the gum in her mouth, turn around, and jump straight up to catch a fire escape's railing. There were cheap and expensive ways it would normally be done, the expensive ones requiring a harness and wire, and the cheap ones involving setting up the shot so you couldn't see the guy underneath giving the jumper the boost. Instead, Annie just made the jump.

My jaw dropped. Scaled to my height, that would've been like if I had hit a 7 foot box jump. And she wasn't a martial artist really either, so there wasn't Qi involved. Then she did it four more times for some extra takes. My feat, Style Maker, went wild trying to figure out how I could mimic what she was doing with my anatomy. I took out a pad and pen that I kept for specifically this sort of inspiration and started furiously sketching out drawings with notes trying to decipher each micromovement involved.

"Holy crap, is that my standing high jump?" said a voice behind my shoulder, startling me.

"Wha- oh, hah." I looked down at a very rough figure drawing of Annie as she was loading her legs. I'd lost track of time. "Uh, sorry, I got a little carried away."

Annie was leaning over the table reading my notes, her face uncomfortably close to mine. Kas stood further back looking amused.

"Don't apologize, this is awesome. Huh…I do rock my heels back, don't I? That's so weird, I never thought about that before. I always figured it was good genetics."

"You mean you've always been able to do that?"

"It went up a lot when I started deadlifting seriously, but yeah I've always had a crazy vertical."

I drummed my pencil on the pad in thought. "Hmm, your Agility and Strength are playing a role but there's definitely a trick to it that I'm pretty sure I can replicate."

"Wow, I'd love to see that! None of my teammates came close over four years. Oh, I could help you train! Maybe you could show me how you do that crazy kip-up backflip you do."

I quirked my head in confusion. I knew the trick she was referring to, but I hadn't done it at all today, not even in warmup.

Annie caught my look and quickly added. "Oh, I asked Kas to send me some videos of him training, and I binged all yours and Kas' this past week. I thought I'd watch some with other women but once I saw yours I couldn't look away. You've been on loop on my laptop for like four days." She paused. "Sorry, was that creepy? That wasn't creepy, was it?"

"Ha! No, I'm sure I'd scour your training videos as well." I stopped myself. "Okay, it does sound creepy when I say it."

"Right? That's how I felt!"

Kas slapped a hand on each of our shoulders. "I knew you two would get along. But let's get a move on. We're contractually obligated to be off set within thirty minutes and I'm trying to grab my check. I don't know what it is about this production company, but if you let them mail you your money it's always at least two months late."

After we grabbed our checks, and I'd discreetly confirmed that I could tap my Black Card to one to deposit the money, our mentor insisted on driving us to a fancy steakhouse to celebrate me finally being able to apply to join the Guild. The fact that he owned a car while living in Black Harbor did mean that he, like all drivers in the city, was an unhinged maniac with no regard for his personal property, but I didn't judge him too harshly.

We took three seats at the small bar in the restaurant, Cappa's Steakhouse. I was amazed they let us in the door dressed as we were in our sweatsuits, but we had come in between lunch and dinner, and it appeared that Kas was a regular.

Annie sat next to me. She nudged me while Kas made flirty small talk with the bartender and ordered us drinks. "Hey, can I look at that notebook?"

I hesitated. I had been raised with a pretty secretive outlook on personal techniques, inherited from my family's traditional kung fu upbringing. Or James had – huh, was I already considering those memories mine? That was…good? Yeah, probably for the best.

"Please." Annie batted her eyelids at me, leaning in a bit. She was gorgeous, with blue eyes, short red hair, and a light dusting of freckles. She would have been a stunner on my old world, but this universe had gotten a Hollywood make-over which rendered her merely well above average. Maybe it was the existence of Qi here, or maybe SkinDimensional Media had pulled it off somehow. I had no real idea of how powerful they were, but if they were in the porn business, they presumably had an interest in gussying up everyone's appearance.

I laughed. "Of course," I said, passing her the notebook. "Just don't judge my handwriting."

Technically, the notes were just a part of the in game explanation for how James' ability to rapidly adapt other techniques into his own style worked. I no longer had to engage in the note taking process at all now. I was a Player Character, as long as I had the Experience points for it, and met the biological, feat, Attribute and Skill prerequisites, I could learn how to mimic Annie's high jump in an instant. Hell, if I could get her to use it in a fight against me, I'd get a slight discount on the purchase. That was the power of my feat Style Maker, which had been the driving force behind how I'd designed this character. Sure, I couldn't mimic Ted's cybernetic feats, nor a werewolf's ability to transform, but anything a 'normal' human could do was fair game.

Kas looked over and smirked. "Hey! Is she reading your notebook? You never let me look at those?"

"You…never asked."

"Yeah, but only because I knew you'd say no."

"How could you know I'd say no if you never asked?"

Annie giggled. "Well, I'm honored either way. Kas called you a prodigy but it's one thing to hear and another to see. I got to say, I was skeptical when he said you were going to try and qualify for the Tournament with your own martial art, but I think I might put some money on you now."

I blinked at her and tried to go through my memories. "I'm what? What tournament?"

[Hidden Quest Complete!]

Made your first fan.

Reward: 10XP, +1 Presence

Annie opened her mouth and paused, her eyes momentarily wide. "This lighting really makes your eyes pop." She shook her head. "Sorry, what was I saying. You know, the big one. The Black Harbor Martial Arts Tournament."

My head rocked back. That was ludicrous. The Black Harbor Martial Arts Tournament was in the top five biggest in the country. It had a multi-million dollar prize pool, I was at bare minimum 500XP away from anyone in the top eight, and the thing was only three months away.

"I…don't think – I mean, I'm pretty sure you have to qualify for that. And you have to get sponsored by a school or former fighter to…" I turned to look at Kas.

He looked guilty for a second before his smirk returned. "Hey, Suze, three Manhattans," he said to the bartender. "Well, I was going to wait until you had a few drinks, but congrats, kiddo, you're fighting in five weeks. There's one last qualifier, top two go on to fight in the Tournament."

"Are you insane? Five weeks! I don't even have a name for my style yet, Kas. I've been calling it Improvised Operatic Kung Fu."

He stuck his finger up. "I've thought of that too! Call it Black City Style, it'll get the locals on board right away. Plus, it was made here, right?"

I stared silently, mouth agape.

"Real quick, can I just say, this lighting is really good for you."

"Kas."

"Right, sorry. Listen, remember two weeks ago when you asked about how to expedite getting into the Guild once you qualified to apply? We talked about getting your name out there, who to schmooze, how to impress your peers, that sort of thing. I mentioned getting into tournaments?"

"Among other things."

"Right, right. So anyway, the next day I did a little bit of day drinking, and an eighth of mushrooms, called in a few favors, and ended up registering you for the Northeast Qualifier."

"What! Why didn't you tell me? I could've had two more weeks to train!"

"I was waiting until you had a few drinks, remember? We haven't had a chance to go out since then."

Suze, the bartender, placed a Manhattan in front of me. "He's a menace, isn't he. Here, sugar," she poured me a shot of vodka, "it's on him."

"Thanks." I tossed it back.

The James half of me was reticent, worried about embarrassing himself and his fledgling new martial arts style. But pausing to think about this…it wasn't the worst idea. In fact, it was about perfect. Even if I didn't qualify for the Tournament, I'd definitely make some XP along the way. And the Black Harbor Tournament was a great way to complete my 'Fame' quest while hitting both the optional objectives. If I won, I'd be both feared and cherished alike.

"Okay. I'm in." I gave Kas a serious nod.

The old man looked triumphant. Waving at the glasses, he exclaimed, "What did I tell ya! I knew that would work."

"When do we start training?"

He shrunk in on himself. "Okay, this I really, really do feel bad about. But I got a call about a job in Germany that I couldn't say no to. It's a speaking role – comedic too, you know how I've always wanted to do one. Huge paycheck, I get to brush off my German, to see my daughter…I am sorry though, to both of you."

I clapped him on the back. "Don't be. You deserve this. I'm happy you're getting a chance to shine."

Annie nodded. "Yeah, we'll be fine. How are you long gone for anyway? I'd probably have been lucky to get more than a day and a half of stunt work anyway."

"Not sure. I'm going to try my hardest to get back in time for the Qualifier."

"When do you leave? I only really need one good fight from you to learn your combo thing anyway. I'll be able to figure it out from there."

Kas looked offended. Suze the bartender laughed and leaned in. "Oh boy, here we go."

"Combo thing? Combo thing? Are you referring to my Six Star Meteor Kick? It took me seven years to invent that. You think you can learn it, without instruction, after one fight?"

I took a long drink of my Manhattan. Oof, heavy pour, Suze. The Six Star Meteor Kick, Kas's signature move, was probably a Master Feat, but I'd only seen it done in grainy VHS footage so I couldn't say for sure. That meant that it would cost 100 XP and have some serious prerequisites. I probably couldn't swing that in time for the Qualifier, but maybe if I won that…

"Wanna bet? It took you seven years – I'll do it in seven weeks."

"Ha! Alright, I'll take you up on that. But if you lose, you have to finally move out of that hole you're living in." He turned to look at Annie, "James here is living in a building with no floorboards or walls."

"No, I live in a basement apartment which is perfectly fine and has a stellar back yard. The rest of the building above me, yes, does not have floors per say, however, that makes it perfect for training. I love that place."

The women seemed skeptical of my response. Kas just shook his head. "Ah, I see, afraid to put your money where your mouth is."

"Alright, old man, I'll call your bet. But if I win – hang on. Hey, Annie, want to help me train hard?"

She grinned. "Sure! I've been looking for someone who can keep up. I don't know much about fighting though."

"That'll be fine. Okay, Kas, if I win, you pay for an all expenses paid trip to Mexico for me and my corner woman. I want to see some Mayan pyramids." I turned to Annie. "You good with that?"

"Are you kidding? Hell yeah!"

[Hidden Quest Complete]

Make your first new Ally.

Reward: 10 XP, +1 Persuasion

Bonus, Make someone your Ally within hours of meeting them: +2 to Random Social Skill (Rolled Seduction)

Bonus, Ally is a potential romantic interest: 10XP, +1 Seduction

There was a sharp spike of a headache as I went from knowing nothing about seduction to being a skilled Lothario in a split second. I hid my expression in a long sip of my drink. All of sudden, it became startlingly obvious that Annie had been flirting with me for several hours now. Damn, thinking back on the looks I'd gotten from Kas and Suze it was clear that I was the only person in the room who hadn't picked up on it too.

"Deal," said Kas, sparing me from having to dissect all my past interactions. We shook hands.

We called it shortly after the food came out, despite the protests of one of our trio. Kas was driving, and while he insisted he'd be fine, Annie and I didn't feel like betting on it. Plus, while it didn't really matter in this world, alcohol was a gains killer, and I had a tournament to qualify for.

As we were getting close to my apartment, I had a fun idea. It wasn't the most sensible way to spend my Experience points, but I couldn't help but flex on the old man. I bought the Feat that allowed Annie to jump so high.

[Minor General Feat Purchased]

Coiled Hamstrings – Your jump distance and height are both tripled.

"Hey, pull over here. I want to show you something."

The sun was low in the sky over Black Harbor, painting the sky in a smoggy red. The streetlights were just beginning to turn on. I got out of the car and made my way underneath one of the lights ahead of us.

With no run up, I leapt straight up in the air. The feat had converted my 40 inch box jump into a ten foot vertical. Combined with my six foot frame it was easy for me to catch the top of the streetlight. I hung there for a moment as a laughing Annie got out of the car with her phone up and filming, before sliding down the pole safely.

"I think I'll walk from here. See you guys! Sunday, Annie?"

"Definitely!"