"Are you nearly done?" Kali groaned.

"I w-would have finished thirty minutes ago if these w-wards weren't g-garbage," Bergman snapped back, more out of frustration with his work than with the pestering. "These t-things are older than my h-household. You should be grateful that I can get them working at all."

"You'll thank me for the laps in the morning if you keep up the snark."

Like everything else in Ilvan-Trai, the Commander's Quarters were old. A detached building set aside from the main keep, Alarion found the two-story structure remarkably nostalgic because of its similarity to the Trinity manor. Built of stone and lined with wood, it offered rustic comfort long since surrendered to decay. The roof leaked, the floors creaked, and the damp, mold-laden air clung to anyone who stepped inside.

Its sole saving grace was the privacy wards built into its foundation, even damaged as they were. It had taken Bergman nearly three hours of muttered curses and flickering sparks to coax the wards into shape, and another hour to stitch them into something that wouldn't unravel the moment they were tested. But good things came to those who waited, and Alarion was in no rush.

He was nervous. Alarion trusted both men with his life, but he was not sure they felt the same. He doubted either man would repeat the things he told them, even for a reward, but he was giving them good cause to walk away.

"O-okay," Bergman said at last as a ripple of green light flowed through the intricate carvings that marked every wall of the room. "I have added my own to t-the mix. We s-should be safe."

Alarion nodded and moved to take a seat on the edge of the wide desk that served as the room's focal point. It didn't feel right to sit behind it. That would make him an authority, not one of their peers. Bergman joined him, and the three sat quietly as Alarion gathered his thoughts.

"I will start with the easiest one, I suppose," Alarion said. "ZEKE?"

"Hello!" the Steelborn said, flickering into miniature existence on the desk beside him. To his credit, Kali barely flinched at the sudden arrival. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Sergeant Kali."

"Another familiar?" Kali asked.

"Not quite, though we will get to that, too," Alarion told him. "This is ZEKE, my mentor. He is a Steelborn, and he was the one who guided us toward the True Heart. He is also the only other survivor of the Trinity Massacre."

The latter statement caused Bergman to sit up straighter in his seat. The merchant boy had known about ZEKE for months, but never the full extent of Alarion's relationship with the machine.

"I am telling you this now because I need to be able to trust you, and for that, you need to be able to trust me. That means no secrets." Alarion took a breath to steady himself, then said, "The Vitrians were responsible for the Trinity Massacre. At the orders of an Imperator, with the assistance of the House of Sorrow and my patron, Ruin."

"I k-knew it," Bergman said, clapping his hands as though he won a bet.

"You are telling us you conspired to kill a Vitrian household?" Kali asked grimly.

Alarion shook his head. "No. I was to be another victim. The House of Sorrow wanted to capture me, the Imperator wanted me dead, and Ruin made me his client to spite the leadership of the House of Sorrow."

"Politics…" Kali cursed. "Are we in danger?"

"Possibly. I was forced to kill my friend, Sierra. She was Syrus Feln's daughter…" He paused. Saying it aloud was like reopening the wound. Only when Nessa's hand settled on his shoulder was he able to continue. "Ruin keeps me safe, but I cannot guarantee the same for you. But he has not attacked any of my comrades in the past. My guess is that you are beneath his notice."

"That's reassuring."

"Why d-do it at all?" Bergman asked.

"I do not know," Alarion said. "It might have been me, it might have been something we found on one of the islands, or just pure opportunism; a chance to eliminate an up-and-coming rival."

"It might have been your curse," Kali pointed out.

Alarion winced. Ilvan-Trai was remote enough that he'd hoped that rumor hadn't reached them. It would have been easier to broach the topic without preconceptions.

"That is another thing I needed to talk to you about."

He produced a few folded-up papers from within his coat pocket and passed one to each man, then waited as they read through the transcribed description for [Fated to Fight, Fated to Live, Fated to Lose]. When the tension became too much, he spoke again.

"I understand if you want to leave."

To his surprise, Bergman laughed.

"Something funny?"

"T-this is the safest place we c-can be, for this at least. S-severing a connection is no easy m-matter, and the less time we spend around you, the weaker our c-connections will be. L-leaving puts us at more r-risk, not less."

"He is right," Kali agreed. "Besides, it only triggers if you would die. Seems the best way to avoid that is to keep that from happening; both by protecting you, and by making you stronger."

"My thoughts exactly," ZEKE added from his place on the table. "As I have told the young master repeatedly, there is no direct evidence that he has ever triggered the flaw in the past. It is possible he survived on his strength alone, or the strength of those around him rather than their lives."

"Really, ZEKE?" Alarion asked, annoyed. The innuendo had not been subtle, for the Steelborn rarely was. There was precisely one thing his mentor wanted to talk about in this conversation, and it wasn't Alarion's flaw.

"They have already agreed to stay, stop whipping yourself, and get to the point," ZEKE retorted.

Alarion knew better than to argue. Instead, he passed out the remaining two slips and waited while his companions read over the details of [Shared Burden].

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Shared Burden [Unique]

Description: Potential is often a double-edged sword, as those blessed with talent are burdened with expectations. Some wilt under the attention, others flourish. While your path remains to be seen, this skill guarantees you will not walk it alone.

Requirements: Orphan. UCL – 100. Aptitude – 220.

Type: Passive/Active.

Effects: This skill bolsters the Aptitude of allies with whom the user shares a positive sympathetic bond. The amount bolstered will increase along with the strength of the sympathetic bond. The amount bolstered will decrease with distance. The amount bolstered increases with levels in this skill. The amount bolstered is inversely proportional to the ally's existing Aptitude, and their total bolstered Aptitude will never exceed that of the user. The user may actively sever the bolstering effect for any individual or group.

Growths: Free Points + 100.

"This c-can't be real," Bergman said.

"Would I lie?"

"You can't take this," Kali said. "Not without triggering an uproar at your next appraisal. Even I'd have to report you. Unique skills are mandatory for reporting. As soon as they see this, they'll strip you out of here and build… Mother, I don't even know how you'd best exploit this, but I'm sure they would figure out a way."

"He could… no. That w-won't work," Bergman leaned back in his chair, the back legs creaking dangerously as he considered the problem. "They couldn't pull him off duty, could they? He is still part of the Auxilia."

Kali shook his head. "They call them Exception Skills for a reason."

"That is actually a misconception," ZEKE pointed out. "The colloquial name of Exception Skills comes from my homeland, not as a commentary on Vitrian System law. Different cultures often experience the System in different, but functionally identical ways. The Steelborn term for a unique skill is-" The glowing machine let out a horrific, high-pitched squeal, "-which translates to Exception."

"Good to know," Kali grumbled, rubbing a thumb against his ear as if to dislodge the sound. "The name makes more sense than unique."

Alarion let the two go back and forth as he listened. It was a conversation he'd already had with ZEKE, back when he'd first been offered [Shared Burden]. Despite the name, Unique skills were not strictly unique; rather, they were unique in that nothing else in the System functioned the way that they did.

[Pig-Headed Resilience], for example, seemed 'unique' on its face. It was linked to a specific personal flaw in such a way that Alarion doubted that anyone had ever had a skill exactly like it. However, many people had acquired functionally identical skills, which enabled them to survive with zero HP and continue fighting. There might be hundreds of skills with the same effects, sometimes with minor quirks or alterations.

Unique skills were different. They violated basic rules of the System, each in their own way, and were uniformly powerful as a result. Some could eliminate a resource pool, for example, allowing spellcasting purely from HP or Stamina, while others broke rank or level caps in unusual ways. Whatever the specifics, there was only ever one path to acquire such a skill, and only one class that offered it with a specific set of requirements.

Typically, such discoveries led to entirely new structured paths. The unique skill holder would be rewarded and studied, urged to pass on their methodology so that others could follow in their footsteps and iterate on their path. But with its ridiculously high Aptitude requirements, it would be almost impossible to reproduce [Shared Burden], making the skill almost truly one of a kind. There would never be another Alarion, which meant the only value in his skill was what they could wring from him while he was still alive.

The Vitrians would never let him see a battlefield or any other danger for as long as he lived. Not when he could empower their sons and daughters. They would never let him go, if only because the risk that he'd lend his aid to a rival nation was far too great.

There were only two ways around the conundrum. Bergman had touched on the first, and it did not take Kali long to suggest the second.

"We need leverage on an Ordinate."

"That w-would be impos…" Bergman's frown tightened mid-sentence as he drifted off on a new train of thought. "A-actually… the whole unit is s-supposed to be v-volunteer only. Isn't it?"

A grin crossed Kali's lips as he stood and nudged Alarion aside. He swept his hand through half a dozen clipped reports until he found the one he was looking for and began rifling through it.

"A few of the rank and file have volunteered, but no Ordinates," he declared triumphantly. "If we can get someone to volunteer, we'll guarantee our pick."

"You are not going to threaten them," Alarion warned.

"Physically? No. But if you want leverage, blackmail is better than payment, especially if you want a Vitrian to lie for you. But ideally, we do both." Kali scoffed. "Ordinates are overworked and underpaid. I've seen more than one skulking about a brothel or a gambling house."

"I d-do not want to know why you w-were there, but-"

"Because I was gambling and whoring, Bergman," the big man said as he pressed on, ignoring Bergman's look of disgust. "I have an Ordinate in mind, actually. One with debts. How much can you afford, Ivor?"

"What? W-why me?" Bergman held up a hand to silence both men before they could state the obvious. "R-realized it as soon as I s-said it. I can dip into my trust fund, if need be."

"Make sure to take out a little extra." Kali grinned. "I might have expenses."

"Well then, that is settled," ZEKE said. "Alarion, take the skill."

"We have the bones of a plan, not-"

"No, he's right," Kali interjected. "You should have taken it immediately. Even if we fail, that skill is too good to pass up. We will find a way to make it work."

"Bergman?" Alarion asked.

"I-if you are looking for b-backup, then you should l-look elsewhere."

Three against one; perhaps not even that.

Alarion wanted the skill. In many ways, it seemed tailor-made for him. [Shared Burden], the System called it. Not [Shared Aptitude] or [Shared Blessing], it recognized that strength came with obligation. That it had taken from him almost as much as it had given.

More than that, it addressed a deep-seated worry that had filled Alarion since his days back on the Trinity Isles. Without the skill, he would outgrow everyone. It had taken him only a few months to outgrow Sierra, and he would do the same to Bergman and Kali, given time. The skill was vague on the specifics, but the fact that it specified they'd never exceed him suggested that they'd be able to come close.

And then there was Lily.

Not her in particular, but what she represented. She was a cripple among her peers, a pariah not even talented enough to become an Ordinate. Under their laws, she wouldn't be allowed to have children.

He could change that for her, for ZEKE and his kin, for every gutter orphan not blessed by the System as he was. But it was dangerous, both for himself and for those he empowered. He'd seen firsthand how Vitrians treated the weak Ashadi they inducted, and there was no guarantee he could control the bonds he made.

Alarion thought back to that girl in Ilvan-Shad, Ilya. Would that interaction have been enough to trigger the skill? If so, he doubted she'd last six months in the Auxilia. It would be one more curse he'd be forcing on strangers.

"You are overthinking," Nessa said gently. "Is there anything better?"

"No," Alarion said. When the other men started to protest, he clarified. "I am talking to Nessa."

"Is there another choice that is even close?"

"No."

"Do you need me to flip a coin? Because I can make it come up however I want."

Alarion scoffed, shaking his head slightly as he navigated his menu.

You have selected the skill Shared Burden [Unique]. Is this correct? Y/N? Please note, this selection is permanent.

He confirmed the skill without hesitation and was surprised by the immediate lack of feedback. There was no rush of knowledge or the pulse of new strength—instead, only a new system message.

You have 100 Free Points to be assigned. Please note, these points must be assigned within 48 hours, or they will be lost.

"It is done," Alarion said, smiling slightly as ZEKE let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "I have free points to assign, and I do not know where to start."

"Agility and Strength," Kali said immediately.

"You have given this some thought."

"Why do you think Bergman is looking so trim?" Kali's grin turned wolfish as he spoke. "If you expect to take command, you need to be strong enough to hold it."

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