"Try status or store," Fuka said. "No, wait. I think it's 'shop'."
Ty blew off her hair flowing over his face.
"I don't understand."
She wiggled on his back more than she needed to. "Which part, mister?"
"The whole thing. I can see everything." Ty kept a steady pace through the forest. "The way the goblin formed its spells, the way the necromancy fueled their death-rage. But I can't make sense of it."
"Because you're dumb?"
"No fairy," Ty said. "Because my Awakening failed."
She was quiet now.
"So what do you know?"
"You're asking me? You're actually asking me for help? Thought you wanted me quiet, hmm?"
"Don't make me change my mind."
"Okay, okay, jeez. You still need to praise me, by the way." She cleared her throat. "Status shows you everything about yourself. You have the Engine to thank for that. Speaking of which... the Engine is what runs everything in the Oasis."
"That's what she said." He looked back over his shoulder with his new green-pupiled eyes. "What she gave me."
"Yes, that's what m-master gave you. The eyes just let you read what was always there."
"So, I can do more with the Engine."
"Bingo-o."
"You still didn't answer my other questions."
"I dunno," Fuka said. "I'm just a girl."
She either didn't know or wasn't allowed to say, and pressing either would get the same result.
"What I can tell you," she said, pulling against his cheek, "is that status and shop are just doors into it. Status shows you what the Engine thinks of you. Shop lets you trade with it."
"Anyone can shop?"
"Nuh uh, master hacked into it."
"Status," Ty said.
─────── [PROFILE] ───────
NAME: Akahoshi Tyger
RACE: Human
WEIGHT: 11
EDGE: 9
VESSEL: 12
WILL: 25
MANA: 75/75
WALLET: 350 G + 300 G (Froggy Bank)
─────── [SKILLS] ───────
ACTIVE
Lesser Bolt .... 12 MP
Crude Binding .... 25 MP
PASSIVE
Erisight (Mythic)(Permanent)
Chaos Broadcast (Tethered)(Source: Fuka)
─────── [CHAOS BROADCAST] ───────
CHANNEL: Unnamed
STATUS: Offline
SUBSCRIBERS: 0
FOLLOWERS: 7
"M-m-mister," Fuka gasped. "You are..."
Ty dismissed the panels. "What?"
"A monster." She gulped. "M-master chose well."
The F.A.I.R.Y. couldn't reach it. Eris just read what was already there.
In other words, his new eyes had fully awakened his innate potential.
Even then...
"I feel no different." Ty shrugged.
More importantly, his eyes gave him nothing when looking at the fairy. Same [???] as the woman.
She too, was a monster, it seemed.
The trees darkened and the ground sloped downward. The air got warmer with every step.
"Mister?"
"What now?"
"Your channel doesn't have a name yet. The system auto-generates one after twenty-four hours if you don't pick. Or if you want, I'll pick for us!"
Ty kept walking.
"I'm just saying, mister. You could pick something good. First impressions matter."
"I'll think about it."
"That means you won't think about it."
The canopy broke open and the valley spread out below him under the twin moons. The red one had moved again, or he'd moved under it.
The dust pointed straight across.
"Who's special in your life, mister? Got a girlfriend? Wife?" She let out a giggle. "Boyfriend?"
Ty started down the slope, not caring for the branches that hit Fuka's face.
"Ow!"
"Keep your eyes open," Ty said.
The trees gave way to bare dirt and loose rock, and Fuka's weight shifted with every uneven step. She hooked her arms tighter around his neck and pressed her chin into his shoulder.
"What are you?" Ty said.
"A fairy, what else?" She giggled. "The big form is a blood thing. My mother had it. My father..." She trailed off and blew air through her lips. "Actually I don't know what my father was. Something with wings. Tall dude, though. Made lots of people cry."
"And the fairy form?"
"That's my lens. It's what I do when I broadcast. I compress down and my eyes become the camera." She tapped the side of her head with one finger. There was nothing in there. "It takes a lot out of me though. The longer the stream, the longer I need to recover."
The slope leveled out and the terrain changed to wet dirt, tall grass brushing against Ty's boots and Fuka's bare soles where they hung at his sides.
"What about the woman?" Ty said.
Fuka went quiet.
"The one who gave me the eyes," Ty said. "Who's she?"
"My m-m-master, of course." Fuka's voice got smaller. "The Goddess of Mischief."
Ty waited for more. "Eris, I take it."
Fuka nodded, her chin digging into his shoulder. "She found me when I was little. I don't remember where. She said I was useful, so she kept me in a box." Fuka's fingers fidgeted against his collarbone. "She's not... she's not mean, mister. She's just really intense."
"She tell you to say that?" Ty said.
"Nuh uh, I can think for myself."
Ty kept walking. No point arguing her choice words about the woman who wore his sister's skin and got off to his near-death.
Fuka shifted on his back, pressing her chest flat against his shoulder blades. She held the position for a few steps, then adjusted higher, her arms sliding up around his neck until her mouth was next to his ear.
"Am I heavy, mister?"
"No, but lean further on my bad shoulder and we'll fall down."
Fuka wiggled to settle in anyway, her weight rocking side to side, her bare legs squeezing against his ribs. She ran a finger along the collar of his jumpsuit and tugged at a loose thread.
Her chest pressed flat against his back.
"Your heart isn't even beating fast," she said, and her lower lip pushed out.
"I know what you're doing," Ty said, avoiding her blinking wide eyes. "I won't hesitate to kill you."
She scoffed and turned to nowhere in particular.
It didn't seem to bother her at all that he just threatened her life.
"You said there was one more thing, right?"
She piped back up and shot a thumbs-up. "Shop."
"Shop?"
A new panel came to life. This one was longer and organized in clear categories.
─────── [CHAOS BAZAAR] ───────
SUPPLIES
Moth-Eaten Cloak .... 30 G
Stained Bandage Kit .... 50 G
Fraying Rope (10m) ..... 40 G
Whittled Stake ... 15 G
Tallow Candles (3) ..... 25 G
CONSUMABLES
Bitter Stamina Draught ... 120 G
Lesser Healing Potion ... 1,400 G
Murky Antidote ... 80 G
EQUIPMENT
Chipped Iron Sword .... 800 G
Boiled Leather Guard ..... 950 G
Skinned Boots ... 200 G
Dented Buckler ..... 350 G
WALLET: 350 G
FROGGY BANK: 300 G
SHOP RESET: 9h 43m
"Buy me jewelry, please?"
"There's nothing there for you. Stop bothering, or I'll buy rope and drag you along."
She went quiet.
"Give me the cloak," Ty said.
[PURCHASED: MOTH-EATEN CLOAK]
[WALLET: 350 → 320 G]
The cloak materialized in the air the same way the healing potion had, folded and moth-eaten. Ty grabbed it and held it over his shoulder.
"Put this on."
"Huh? But I'm warm enough, mister."
Ty kept holding it there. Her feet were red from frostbite, and her breathing had stalled to shallow panting. Fuka took the cloak and wrapped it around herself, still on his back.
The fabric was thin and patchy but it covered her from the shoulders to below the knee.
"It's scratchy," she said.
Ty started down the valley. The dust was still pointing west, lower now, closer to the ground than it had been in the forest.
The valley floor stretched out ahead of him under a sky full of stars he didn't recognize.
"You're a scary man," Fuka said, stuffing her face under the cloak. "You say you'll kill me and then give me a pretty gift."
Ty counted the stars overhead. There were fewer than before, no longer blinking.
The sky had gone from gray to silver since he started down the slope, and it kept lightening the further west he walked.
"Be useful, and I won't have to."