Ignis' First Firesday of Harvestfall, 1442, Boulderfall Pass, Stonereach.

"Gnoll invasion force repelled. Zone quest completed!"

Oh, finally, for fuck's sake…

"You have reached level fourteen for the priest class."

"You have unlocked the spell Prayer."

"You have reached level fifteen for the priest class."

"You have unlocked the spell Flash."

"You have unlocked the trait Reflective Light."

Kaelyn groaned at the series of notifications popping into her field of view.

Give me a break! I'm. Not. In. The. Mood.

All around her, countless bodies of gnolls lay on the red-coloured sands of Boulderfall Pass. Their gangly, furred bodies crumpled against the jagged rocks of the trail. She stared down at one, her staff still glowing faintly in her hands, the light flickering like a candle nearing its end.

I don't know how, but we made it…

The stench made her stomach churn: a revolting mix of coppery blood, the acrid smoke of burning fur, and the sour, salty smell of her own sweat caused her to gag violently. Around her, the rest of the group rested, catching their breath. Leoric leaned heavily against a tall stone, his long brown burrovian ears twitching in the occasional breeze. Vaelith let herself collapse into an invisible floating seat and let out a long sigh of relief.

Kaelyn's chest heaved as she let the spell fade from her staff, the soft glow dimming into nothingness. She wanted to sit down, but her legs felt rooted to the spot, her tail low and unmoving, still bristling from the massacre. Her ears nervously responded to every distant sound—the whistle of wind, the faint shifting of loose rocks far off the trail. Every noise felt like the promise of another gnoll, another spear, another wound she would have to heal before it was too late.

"Kaelyn," Leoric's voice cut through the silence. His tone was calm, grounding. "The event's over; you can breathe now."

It had been a major disaster. A series of unfortunate events. First, they had stumbled on a zone quest.

Or maybe we triggered it when we arrived?

A huge number of gnolls had stormed down from the canyon heights, axes, spears and bows in hand. Kaelyn wondered if the spawn location was a fixed location for this event—and they were simply victim of some twist of fate, finding themselves at the wrong place, the wrong time—or if the game had orchestrated the event specifically to trap them.

Swallowing hard, she pushed aside the unsolved mystery of why it had happened, focusing instead on the events that followed. Gnolls had ambushed her group in the middle of a narrow ravine, sealing off both ends. There had been nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. So they had no choice but to fight. And to survive, they used every trick, every weapon, every strategy they knew, pulling out all the stops.

Every. Single. One.

During the encounter, there had been multiple moments where she had lost all hopes, ready to give in to death's icy embrace. But somehow, Vaelith or Leoric always managed to pull out another miracle. But it was not the rescues by her party members that truly surprised her; it was something far more unexpected.

On multiple occasions, Ryan had felt Kaelyn stepping in to help. The seductress had remained subdued lately. For most of the event, she had stayed quiet and hands-off. But when she took over and moved her body—dodging attacks, weaving through the chaos, arrows grazing past—there was a grace to her movements, almost too natural, too practiced. It was unsettling, watching her like this—effortless, feline, like she belonged in this chaos.

I don't move that way. This has your name all over it. Do you plan to explain what's going on at some point?

She sighed as the voice inside her head remained stubbornly silent, leaving behind a bitter taste in her mouth. She had not expected any answer. By this point, she was fairly certain the other Kaelyn could hear her thoughts, touch, feel and see everything as she did. The emerald green eyes on her face were as much Kaelyn's as they were Ryan's, if not more. But today, she only spoke to him or took control when she felt like it—always on her terms. It left Ryan frustrated, unsure of what he might have done to irritate her.

"Kaelyn?" Vaelith asked.

Kaelyn winced in pain, startled out of her thoughts. Her fingers throbbed with a dull ache, forcing her to loosen her grip on her staff, a grimace twisting her face as she felt the sharp sting subside. Two steps away, Vaelith patiently waited right in front of her, a glass of water in one hand and a perfectly browned bread roll in the other.

Slowly, reluctantly, Kaelyn exhaled. Her shoulders relaxed, and her tail slowly relaxing from its rigid stance. Straightening herself, she shot a dead gnoll one last glance, its empty eyes staring blankly up at the sky.

"Here," Vaelith said softly, extending the glass toward her. "Drink and eat. You'll feel better."

Kaelyn accepted the glass with one hand and brought it to her lips. She took a small sip. A sour taste, like biting into a lemon, and a thousand tiny stings on her tongue nearly caused her to spit it out. She pulled the glass away from her face, examining the content. She had expected warm, flat water. But what Vaelith had given her… "Ice-cold sparkling water? And it's… citrus-flavoured?"

Vaelith nodded, a blush creeping over her cheeks and golden scales. "Experimented with flavour profiles. Is it okay?"

Kaelyn took a long breath. "Thanks. It's fine. It just took me by surprise." She downed the drink and handed back the empty glass.

Next, she took the bread roll. It was warm, its buttery, heavenly aroma wafting up as if it had just come out of the oven. Some freshly baked bread, in the middle of nowhere. A desolate canyon of red sands surrounded by dead gnolls. She knew Vaelith had created it through one of her rituals, the lingering scent of incense and arcane energy still perceptible in the air. Wary after the magical drink, Kaelyn took a small, tentative bite.

Hot! Ow, ow! That's way too hot!

A searing pain shot through her mouth; she felt like she had just burned her tongue and the roof of her mouth. Hot steam escaped the roll in her hands as she pulled it away. With each deliberate chew, she hoped the persistent pain would eventually lessen.

After a few seconds, she finally dared to swallow, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Are you trying to kill me? This is way too hot!"

Vaelith was in the middle of a bite. Behind her, Leoric was also happily munching on one of his own. Both of them chewed thoughtfully on the food items, their faces displaying only smiles of blissful satisfaction. The dracan looked at Kaelyn, one eyebrow arched. She swallowed. "Is it…?" she asked. "It feels just right to me?"

Leoric took another bite, nodding in endorsement of Vaelith's statement.

This again. The same thing happened earlier with mom's cooking. Is my tongue just more sensitive to heat now?

Kaelyn frowned and glared at the bread roll in her hand as if it was out to get her. She was not sure what irritated her more: the scalding heat or the fact her companions were eating theirs without a hint of discomfort. Her tail flicked in irritation, puffing slightly as her ears flattened.

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Vaelith tilted her head, her golden scales catching the sunlight. "I can make your portion cooler next time?" she suggested. Her tone was genuine, but the faint twitch at the corner of her lips suggested she was trying not to laugh.

If this is a felinae thing, I'm going to need ice cubes with every meal…

Kaelyn sighed and tore off a smaller piece with her fingers, blowing on it furiously before popping it into her mouth. "It's fine," she said, mumbling as she chewed. "It's just… new. Still getting used to things."

Vaelith nodded without a word, her gaze lingering just a moment longer—thoughtful, unreadable—before she turned back to her own meal.

Kaelyn took another cautious bite, her ears twitching at the satisfying crunch of the crust. She had to admit—it was one of the tastiest rolls she'd ever had. And yet… why did everything about this body seem determined to remind her it was not hers? Sensitive taste buds. Twitchy ears. A tail constantly putting her emotions on display. It was like her body was always a half-step ahead of her mind, responding to the world before she could catch up. Even now, she could feel her spine shifting in time with the motion of her tail, easing into the warmth of the bread despite herself.

Leoric, finished with his meal, rose and slung his bow over his shoulder. "We should move," he said, his voice calm but firm. "We're too exposed here. If another wave spawns, we'll be sitting ducks."

Kaelyn's ears perked up at the suggestion, and she glanced around the ravine. The jagged walls loomed over them, casting long shadows in the reddish light of the setting sun. The slowly disintegrating gnoll bodies scattered across the trail reminded her of how less than ideal this area was for another battle. She wanted out of this place as soon as possible.

"Agreed," she said, standing and brushing the crumbs from her hands. Her legs still felt shaky. The bread had given her enough energy to move and, most importantly, the break had restored all of her mana. She drummed her fingers against the shaft of her staff before tightening her grip. "Lead the way."

The trail climbed steeply, winding its way up through Boulderfall Pass. The cliffs on either side narrowed in places, the rocks stained a deep, rusted red as if the mountain itself bled into the earth. Loose gravel crunched beneath their boots, the sound sharp in the eerie stillness. Above them, the sky had deepened to a dusky orange, streaked with faint wisps of lavender clouds.

Kaelyn walked in the middle of the group, her staff resting lightly on her shoulder. She let her thoughts drift as they climbed, her gaze flicking between the rocks and her teammates. Leoric led the way, his ears nervously turning which every little sound, his bow held at the ready. Vaelith followed close behind Kaelyn, her long silver hair floating in the wind. Despite the harsh landscape, she hummed quietly to herself an oddly comforting lilting tune.

Once Kaelyn had fallen into the steady pace of her stroll, Kaelyn took this opportunity to check out her new spells and passive ability.

Prayer was her strongest heal spell yet—it healed twice as much as a regular cure spell. However, it did not activate immediately. Instead, it delayed healing until one of two conditions would be met: either the target's hit points dropped below 50%, or twenty seconds had passed. Mechanically, it was distinct from Regen and Holy Shield, but was another preemptive heal. She was getting quite the arsenal of spells to load up a tank defensively before the fight started. If she set up everything right before the pull, she could focus more on offensive casting once the fight started.

It feels like priests were never meant to be reactive healers.

Reflective Light, on the other hand, was a new passive which modified her Holy Shield spell. Now, whenever the shield broke, it triggered a point-blank area of effect blast, damaging all nearby enemies. It did not just hit multiple targets—it out damaged her strongest nuke, Holy Light, even against a single enemy!

Kaelyn blinked at the numbers on her tooltip. "So I got a new passive that turns my Holy Shield into a powerful AoE nuke when it breaks… Does either of you understand why a healing spell now does more damage than my attacks?" she asked to her party.

Vaelith tilted her head slightly and explained first. "Probably to trick support players into dealing damage."

Kaelyn raised an eyebrow. "What, like a bribe?"

Vaelith nodded. "Mm-hmm. It's called incidental damage. You're not trying to hurt things, but you do anyway—by doing your usual support stuff."

Leoric glanced back. "Incidental?"

"In this context," Vaelith explained, "it means the damage comes along for the ride. Like, you cast the spell for one purpose—defence, protection—but it ends up also hurting enemies nearby. It's a trick MMOs use to guide behavior. If you reward players with some personal gain for doing what they were already supposed to do, they're more likely to do it."

She continued, slipping into her usual lecture tone. "Like, say, a rogue has a threat-dump spell. It's supposed to help the tank—but if it doesn't boost the rogue's damage, they might skip it. But if you attach a crit buff to it? Suddenly, they're pressing it every cooldown."

Leoric snorted. "So we're being behaviourally manipulated?"

Vaelith grinned. "Welcome to game design. But that also means you can manipulate it the other way around." She paused just long enough for dramatic effect. "Instead of reapplying shields the moment you can to help the tank, you wait. Let it break first. Then cast a new one."

Kaelyn stared. "You're saying to let the tank take damage on purpose just to trigger the AoE?"

Vaelith shrugged innocently. "I'm just saying—the spell has two components. It would be rude to ignore either halves, they both deserve to shine."

"I don't think spells care whether they're used or not," Kaelyn muttered.

Vaelith just smiled. "You'd be surprised."

Kaelyn opened her mouth, about to say something—then slowly closed it again.

Why does that sound familiar? Two halves. One shield, one spark, both waiting to shine? Oh.

Her gaze fell to the ground at her feet, her tail noticeably slowing down as she tried to close herself to the world.

"Where'd you learn all that?" Leoric asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, I just watch a lot of videos about this kind of thing. It's part of my job."

"GDC talks?" he asked. "Do you work in games?"

"No, not quite," Vaelith replied, smiling faintly. "But understanding games, their designs, and gamers gives me an edge in my field."

The conversation having drifted away from her, Kaelyn refocused on her interface to inspect the last of her new acquisitions: Flash.

Of the three spells she had just gained, this one felt the most out of place—it read more like a tanking skill than anything meant for a healer.

According to the tooltip, Flash blinded a single enemy for five seconds, rendering them effectively harmless. But it also came with a surprisingly high enmity value, causing the caster to draw aggro. Odd. The cooldown was far longer than the blind duration, too, so it could not be used to keep a target out of commission.

She considered a few use cases.

First, it could be used reactively—if a stray enemy went after one of the DPS and the tank had not noticed yet. Flashing it would stop its attacks temporarily and make it mad enough to turn toward her instead, buying time for the tank to pull it off. Tanks usually reacted quickly when enemies were beating up their healers.

Second, she could use it proactively—blinding an enemy wailing on the tank to reduce incoming damage. This carried risks, though. The extra threat meant she would need to keep a close eye on her aggro and use it with parsimony.

Third, it had clear solo potential. With only one enemy, there would be no one to peel it off her, anyway. Flash would just buy her five seconds of breathing room, and the extra threat would not matter.

All in all, it was an odd but flexible spell; a panic button, distraction, and a way to help by stepping in. Even if using it could put her in danger.

A Pre-heal, damage-reflect effect and a tanking skill?

Kaelyn now considered the curious direction in which the new abilities were taking her class. She had assumed her toolkit would be more straightforward. She had picked the class, expecting to be the support, the background character—the one who patched wounds and stayed out of the spotlight. Instead, she got mechanically interesting spells with multiple tactical applications. A part of this made her happy.

There might be more to this class than I thought, after all.

Kaelyn snapped back to reality as the trail levelled out. The towering cliffs before them laid way to a ridge, giving way to open air. The wind picked up, tugging at her blonde hair and the loose folds of her robes, carrying with it the faint scent of pine from the forests below. Ahead, the trail forked into two narrow paths—one veering north into the shadow of darker mountains, the other winding east toward the sprawling greens from Whispering Wilds, the zone surrounding Zephyrdale.

Leoric stopped at the junction and spun around. His ears twitched as he adjusted the strap of his quiver, his sharp gaze lingering on each of them. "This is where we split," he explained.

Kaelyn's ears perked up. "Alright" She glanced between the two paths, her tail swishing lazily. "Meet back here later for the return trip?"

Leoric shook his head. "You two head that way," he said, gesturing eastwards. "Vaelith? Stay busy in Zephyrdale until I catch up to you?" he asked her. "We'll head together to Umbraholme after we're both done."

Vaelith smiled at Leoric, pushing the brim of her hat out of the way with one hand. "Sure, works for me."

"What about me?" Kaelyn asked.

"The fishing guild is here. Once you're done, you can head back to Luminara, where you'll find the alchemist guild. This is where we'll all gather for the group content," he explained. "Please try to stay out of trouble in my hometown, okay?"

Kaelyn rolled her eyes. She pouted and crossed her arms as her tail flicked in mock irritation. "Hey, I haven't caused issues anywhere yet."

Vaelith chuckled softly, adjusting her hat as the wind picked up. "Good thing you ended that sentence with 'yet', Ms Enchantress."

Leoric's smirk softened. "Stay sharp out there," he said, his tone quieter now. "I'll be back soon."

Kaelyn nodded, her ears lowering slightly. "Be careful," she said, surprising herself with the note of genuine concern in her voice.

Leoric gave her a reassuring nod, his hand briefly brushing the string of his bow. "I'm a ranger. I'll be just fine on my own," he said.

The burrovian waved them goodbye, then set off on the northern path.

Vaelith waved slowly, her eyes locked on his shrinking form as he walked away. "See you in a few."

Kaelyn stood next to her, watched him go. Her tail swung restlessly as the faint sound of his boots on gravel faded into the wind—leaving her with a silence far louder than she expected.

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