The torture was both cruel and merciless, his tormentors taunting him without end by both their word and deed. Betrayal, as it always did, hurt worst when it came by those closest to you. What made it all the more unearned was that he had committed no sin nor crime worthy of this treatment.

Sitting at the breakfast table, Daniel once more considered blocking out the telepathy, though he knew it would only get worse if he did. Tak, you said you had advice on pursuing your kind for romance.

Oh, yes! Tak replied brightly, as if he were actually dumb enough to not know exactly where Hunter was going with this. Are you perhaps interested? With Feline Charm and the body Daniel can give you, you have some advantages, and none that would cross a line.

No, I think I am not comfortable with that, not yet. Hunter flexed one arm, looking at the opposable thumbs he currently had. Still getting used to this body. But I have a friend who would be interested in that advice.

I see, asking for a friend. Very thoughtful. Tak acted like Daniel didn't exist at all as he took a sip of water. I have experience with women of my kind, and others. While everyone's tastes are different, I have some general advice if they are ever fortunate enough to find a partner. For example, anyone whose interests extend to other races would likely enjoy how they are different from us, I think.

Daniel was finally urged to break his silence, though he did his best to keep his deadpan gaze so as to not let the others at the table know what was happening. Guys, come on. We just talked.

Sure you did, Hunter answered sarcastically, smiling while not quite looking at Daniel. Doesn't smell like it.

I've had your nose for weeks now, I know you can get someone else's scent by just being around them, and I know the difference between that and being 'with' someone. I was just getting to know her better.

That is good. Better to know someone before becoming involved with them, Tak advised, pretending to be on Daniel's side while continuing to tease him. I know some that have specifically looked to pair with humans as there is no risk of children. Maybe not for long-term partnership, it depends.

Would have to make sure Evalyn is alright with it, probably. Hunter's smile grew wider as one of Daniel's eyes twitched.

Oh, yes, it would be bad to make that kind of thing a secret.

Why don't I tell her now? Hunter opened his mouth, and then yelped as Daniel activated Beast Mode. The physical effect was on Hunter's side and it couldn't be taken back against his will, but Daniel could cancel the power that sourced it. If it didn't work like that, then Hunter could use Flash Jaunt and give it to Daniel, enabling the Artificer to remain intangible long after the ability ended.

The sudden conversion of a biped to a quadriped, and one that was a bit larger in their true form, rocked the table causing drinks to spill and one plate to fall off entirely. A handful had been dexterous enough to catch one or two items during the jolt, but Alex hadn't been one of them. "Everything ok?" she asked slowly.

"Huh, weird, my power just reset," Daniel said blankly. "I wonder why."

"You spilled my milk," Hunter accused, lowering his head to look mournfully at where the cup had landed on the ground.

"No use crying about it," Daniel shrugged, continuing to act as if it had all been just a magical accident. "But don't worry, you can shift back in an hour. I'm sure it won't happen again." He smiled at Hunter wider than the one he'd been getting and the ringcat's eyes turned suspicious.

No fair, Hunter thought back.

What would you call telling Evalyn about what didn't happen last night?

…it wasn't like I was going to.

That would have been too far, yes, Tak agreed, picking up a slice of toast that had fallen butter side up and dusting it off thoughtfully. We joke, but only joke. Hunter filled the mental chat with background grumbling but it seemed like he'd taken the point.

As the hijinks had interrupted the other side conversations, Evalyn apparently decided it was time to broach the subject they'd been putting off as the rest of breakfast was recovered. "Everyone, I'd like to talk about yesterday now. Alex…" She paused, looking between the Virtuoso and Daniel.

She was the only one here not affiliated with the hunt, though Willow and Tlara weren't technically part of the team now either. They were effectively an auxiliary as Willow had to be on site to look for spirits, but neither she nor Tlara could effectively engage while keeping her safe. The near miss with the sparrow had made the earlier times they'd taken the Spirit Master into heavier engagements seem extremely risky, but then again there was no level 1ish team out there she could easily be slotted into. At the very least, it appeared her ongoing work with the two spirits and the strange type of healing Spinner needed allowed her some advancement potential to held progress.

Willow wasn't the possible issue here, though. Daniel doubted anyone didn't want her to listen in. It was a question of whether Alex would, or if she'd feel left out if asked to leave. There was a strong argument for including her given the role her power had played. He wanted to see how much advancement potential she had now, wondering if his Spoke had tossed her a point or two for indirect participation, but was respecting her privacy.

"It's fine," Alex answered the implicit question. "I mean, it's not like hearing about monster hunting is boring."

"Yeah," Shuni agreed a little nervously, unsure but clearly concerned about what had happened with Hunter in addition to what Evalyn was about to say. "It never is."

"True, but last time was a bit too interesting for my taste," Evalyn sighed, and then turned to the largest person in the room. "Khiat, you were above us the whole time and saw everything. I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'd like your thoughts before I say anything, and again, no one's to blame for what happened." Her tone was softer compared to yesterday, clearly trying to put everyone at ease.

The dusker looked uncomfortable for a moment at being put on the spot, but she nodded and started with what she was confident about. "I hit almost all of my shots, but I should have stopped attacking the evolved wyvern faster. We might have been able to stop two of them from getting to us, or taken one out at the start if I'd aimed for another one."

"None of us knew what we were walking into with the evolved wyvern," Evalyn returned. "Fighting it at all was a risk, and I think your first attack did show us something important. From what I was able to tell, it did look like you were struggling to figure out what to do once it released that cold field, right?" Khiat nodded and Evalyn sighed. "I can see why. You're strong, but your powers are almost singularly based around archery. We'll have to think of other ways you can contribute if enemies use cover or can invalidate ranged attacks like that wyvern. Anything else?"

Shuni tensed as the dusker looked around the room, before she shook her head. "No. We all saw that thing, no way we could beat it. Maybe Sigron's hands could have given people an opportunity, but the ice might have still trapped people." The Knight, who had shown up for breakfast and was considering whether he and his parents would be better off at the church of the Hand or the compound, nodded in agreement while waving a hand uncertainly. He'd yet to discover all the depths of his bond as well. "I think we did as well as we could."

Evalyn leaned back, not with complete confidence herself as she was still feeling out the nuance of leadership like Sigron was his bond. Daniel couldn't tell if she was trying to get someone else to point out the Shuni issue before saying it herself or just liked open questions. She turned next to Tak and Hunter, whose pride had allowed him to resist lapping the milk up from the floor. "You two, you fought the evolved wyvern for the longest amount of time. What would you suggest if we had to fight another one without Tounaki, or Tlara and Willow for that matter."

The two looked at each other for a moment before giving their answer together. "We don't." Tak then elaborated, "It was too strong. Too risky. If we used everything, and fought it alone, we could kill it. But people would die." Alex stiffened slightly at that, but she was clearly trying to suppress her reactions and no one commented on it.

"We'll have to be careful," Hunter added. "Have Daniel check each one. Maybe not all are that strong, but that one was too tough."

"For now," Evalyn agreed. "I think I said something to the effect of fast leveling being behind us unless we were suicidal back in Aughal. Looks like I was mistaken. I want to say I received two advancement potential from that fight and that's with Tounaki bailing us out." She briefly turned to Daniel, then Tlara, pondering where to take the discussion next, before biting the bullet. "I have some observations, but before I share them, are there any other comments?"

"I still don't know how far out I can sense spirits," Willow said, in what was a sharp tangent to what Evalyn probably wanted to discuss. "It's likely tied to how close we are to the Astral. I'm sure none of those had them, but a kilometer could be too far on later hunts. I can't save them if they die, and it'll be hard to reach any when you're actively killing them. The sparrow only gave in because he had no other option and I had the time to talk to him."

That was actually a good point, and it seemed Evalyn had thought about the issue. "Willow, I respect what you're trying to do and I know you're not just making this point because finding spirits will make you stronger. That being said, I'm not going to risk anyone on my team if it's between them or the monster trying to kill them."

"Any that are lost are gone forever!" Willow protested. "I'm not saying to take insane risks, but if we do find one on a hunt, you have to capture it. Maybe it doesn't want my help, maybe all it wants is the hatred, but it could also be lost and scared like Spinner and Wisp were." The drider wasn't in the room because she was too big for most interior spaces in the compound, but they thought of her then. "I can't stomach the thought of how many just like her are dying out there right now because no one can hear them crying for help."

"And I'm saying we'll try, but I value the lives of those on my team more than an unknown spirit in the field," Evalyn replied evenly, matching the intensity of Willow. "Gods, I've been around Hunter enough to know you aren't wrong, but we can't lose perspective. Until they join you, they are an enemy." Willow looked conflicted with that and took a reluctant bite of her bread rather than answer, leaving the matter unsettled.

"Alright, look, I'll say it." Shuni shifted as she broke the uneasy silence. "You don't like how I did in that fight."

"I wouldn't put it that way," Evalyn countered, unsurprised by this as well. "But there was a communication breakdown between us. I'd anticipated Sigron being a problem, not that you yourself are a problem Sigron, but I wasn't expecting that you'd have to delay speaking for so long, Shuni."

"Against typical monsters, I can pop in and out if you need me," the Rogue replied defensively, "But those were level 3. If I'm going to do anything against them I have to approach carefully. Having Sigron helped, but if I had answered right when you'd asked me earlier I'd have wasted mana and time."

"I understand." Evalyn nodded, but then placed several empty cups around the center of the table away from each other. "The problem I'm seeing is that we're not fighting together. Fighting separately is fine, Tak and Hunter stalling the evolved wyvern at the beginning allowed us to injure and kill the others, but we still have to fight together. You and Sigron were practically your own team most of the time."

"But I'm not a Bard, my class doesn't work like that!" Daniel heard some of Shuni's earlier frustration he'd heard last night and knew the slight anger in her words wasn't entirely directed at Evalyn. "You want me to be visible to you at all times, switch what I'm doing at a moment's notice, but I have powers that benefit from stealth and attacking weakened enemies. It makes more sense for me to be independent."

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"It doesn't have to be black and white," Daniel offered, hoping that if the words came from him Shuni would be more receptive. Evalyn had probably been about to make the same point. "We're not saying you can't be trusted, but it's not like you're always fighting on your own, right? You bailed me out when we first fought the corrupted avianoid."

"The bottom line is that we're unfamiliar with each other," Evalyn said, taking back control over the conversation as Tak did his glass. "I'm not used to having a Rogue in the team, and you're not used to most of us. If I had to do things over again knowing what I do now, I'd have tried to have someone like Daniel committed to your wyvern so there would be someone there to report if needed. I'm also not ignoring the fact that you practically took down your wyvern alone with Sigron's support. You're competent in a role our team needs and you've worked well with some of us in the past. All of this is just growing pains."

"Ok," Shuni acknowledged, breathing a little easier as she started to internalize both what Daniel had said last night, and what Evalyn was saying now. "Ok. So, what happens?"

"We keep talking, identify weaknesses or areas we can improve, and do better the next time." Evalyn popped a small square of fried not-potato that grew here into her mouth, adding, "I'd also like to finish breakfast without anyone flipping the table again."

…

The conversation continued for about an hour after that, getting into 'this could have been an email' territory for Daniel toward the end. Fortunately, the mood had gotten lighter and Alex had been engaged without either being disturbed from hearing he'd nearly been bitten in half or perturbed when Evalyn asked for more details on when he and Hunter had used the Empathic Link. It was a promising option if he and Hunter were in the right mindset and needed to destroy something, but it also wasn't something Daniel was thrilled to discuss the finer points of in front of his sister.

Apparently she wanted to continue the trend, because Alex pulled him aside afterward. "Hey, not that I'm trying to pick on you, but you and that Rogue?"

Shut up, shut up, Daniel thought across the Telepathic Link, absolutely certain Hunter had been close enough to hear that. Alex couldn't appreciate the fact that the ringcat could hear anything happening in the same house he was in. Hunter frequently ignored what didn't concern him, but he didn't have to do that. "What do you mean?" Alex just stared with a raised eyebrow in reply and Daniel groaned softly. If she could pick up on it… "We're not anything, right now at least."

"But you're not saying there isn't a chance? You're actually interested in her." The twist in her voice had more than surprise, but none of the judgment he was fearing. "I can't believe it took you this long to get to this stage."

She doesn't know about Claire, Daniel realized, silently thanking Earth-Daniel for keeping that secret. The context was important if he was going to tell Alex the whole story, but now wasn't the time. "I'm still figuring things out," he said simply, and quietly. Hunter hearing was a foregone conclusion but he'd like it if everyone else didn't. Ok, as soon as we get the money from Zolyra I'm breaking down and buying that muffle sound formulae. Fifty viridian is skyway robbery but it's worth it now. "You don't think it's weird?"

"What, her being a half-bird?" Alex shrugged. "You're the one who calls the megafauna that shares a body with you a brother. I'm guessing the fact that she's into it means she doesn't have a true name?" Her mentioning that caused a pause for a few minutes as Daniel somehow hadn't heard of the topic before, requiring Alex to fill him in on what Gadriel had told her. A little understandable given it mainly mattered for the Grafted species and he'd avoided anything relationship-adjacent after Claire up until now.

He of course knew Shuni's last name as that was included in her tag, while someone like Lograve or Murdon could keep their secrets. "'Martell'. I guess not. I had noticed people like Quala had bird-related last names but I just hadn't thought anything of it," Daniel said reflectively. "Tlara and Willow are 'Seliri' too, but I guess…" He trailed off rather than mention Alecia, knowing that it was a somewhat sensitive topic for at least Willow. "We're just talking for now. I like her, but I don't know if I like her like her." Alex snorted with that and Daniel gave her an offended look.

"I'm sorry, but I honestly thought I'd never hear you talk like that after you graduated high school." The Virtuoso shook her head, bemused. "I get it though. Talking is good, especially if you're not looking to just rush into things." Daniel tried to hide his wince as Alex unintentionally elbowed him in the emotional kidney. "You, both of you are far more mature than when I'd last seen you, but you're way ahead of the one on Earth."

Daniel would have in no way asked this next question if Alex hadn't settled somewhat, but since she'd sat through an entire conversation on monster hunting he felt fine. "You, uh, didn't have anyone back home, did you?"

A little bit of the light left Alex's eyes as she frowned. "No. I was taking a break from dating after my last boyfriend… I don't want to think about it. Any of it." They were near her door and her hand briefly touched the handle before pulling back. "Not right now at least. All I can say is if this is how you're starting off, you've got a better shot than we did. Seeing as she's saved your life before I can hardly complain."

"Well, Tlara's saved my life before too and I'm not lining up with all the other eligible bachelors clamoring for her attention," Daniel quipped.

"Why, what's wrong with her?" Daniel's eyes opened wide in horror as he realized his sister was uninitiated to the monster that was an aggravated Tlara. Every time the Beastmaster had been near his sister, including the breakfast they'd just been at, she'd toned herself down. It was a remarkable show of support no doubt inspired by what she'd found with Willow and he was grateful for it, but it all went wrong as Daniel saw that Alex's question had been completely serious.

…

Hours later, Daniel was standing alone in the main courtyard of the compound, training. It was a great space for it, at least at his current level. There was enough room to move, little to damage besides the ground, and they were somewhat secluded from the rest of the town with the way the entire compound was raised compared to the nearby neighborhood. One of these days he wanted to have a nice duel with Hunter while in Beast Mode, but that wasn't his goal today.

His aim was. During the last hunt Daniel had finally started to sense some progress in using Quick Mind to help him relax his reliance on Snap Shot, but it wasn't all the way there. For one it was like a target lock. It required time, and if the opponent was moving fast enough they could reset the mental calculations. He also needed to get a lot more experience using his blast bow with Quick Mind, and while he could train right now with it, there was that one little problem that always came up with it these days. Bullet math.

So instead, Daniel was trying to improve how he threw daggers. He had plenty of those and didn't even have to walk over to pick them up since the cost of Telekinetic Reach on them was negligible if they weren't stuck in something. Rather than introduce complex variables and ask for someone to run around holding a target, Daniel was instead throwing them at a stationary post from the same position. Again and again.

It felt like how he'd trained his seventh sense with Claw Strike, though he doubted he'd unlock a way to visit another world with this method. Instead he was trying to see if he could find a baseline for how effective Quick Mind could get. If it would take half a minute for the feature to reliably improve his aim each time he might as well keep using Snap Shot, but if he could pare down this simple throw to a second or two it would show there was merit in keeping this up.

He could have done this earlier of course, but there was always something else in the way. Getting Hunter back, avoiding thinking about how he should handle the Shuni situation, and bullets. Hell, he was effectively choosing this over playing with his new formulae today. He couldn't believe there'd been a time when he'd spent a day or week relaxing, but then again a lot had happened since Roost's Peak.

His tests got to the point where he could reliably hit the target over the first hour, and do so point first. At that point he ran into difficulties as the wooden post he'd chosen was cut in half, and instead Daniel used Hover Object on his Focus shield. The phone in the center performed its role as an impromptu bullseye fairly well, while the wood around it would repair any damage the daggers did.

Hunter walked out into the courtyard, back in hybrid form, and gave him a look as he passed the second hour of repetitive actions. The ringcat understood training, especially now that he had an entire new form to learn the ropes of, but he hadn't been one to undertake any that lasted longer than a hunt. Instead, it seemed like Hunter intended to go out into town and enjoy the fact that no one knew who he realized was. Daniel briefly considered the possible problems that might crop up from both of them publicly using the hybrid form but figured it was probably fine after some thought. Hunter wasn't devious enough to use that fact to get revenge for this morning, was he?

After Hunter departed, Daniel was reaching the point where he was close to depleting his mana. Most had been from Snap Shot as the attack ability carved away at his pool throw after throw. Going to zero was less concerning now than it had been because potions, the magical elixirs that most of the team's money went into as a whole. He figured he couldn't complain though as most teams would gripe about how much they spent on enchanted items.

Daniel hit a chain of five attacks without Snap Shot that hit perfectly with assistance, and then decided to test something else. He threw a dagger unaided and watched as it bounced hilt-first off the Focus shield. Sighing, Daniel saw that he was effectively trading one crutch for another, but there was no changing the fact that for all he had the ranged archetype, his natural aim sucked. Or maybe it's just that I can't throw daggers well. Guns are easier, and once I pester Lograve to tell me how rifling works I can remake my barrels. It'll be harder to impossible to resize them for different ammunition, but when have I ever cared about that?

At the end of the third hour, Daniel decided to take a break. He considered the trial a success as he'd reached the point where he didn't need to use Snap Shot as an example for Quick Mind. It still took around ten seconds to prepare a throw, but as Hunter and Tak could attest, relative time from Moment of Clarity counted and was in fact more efficient because his target didn't move, and he had finer control over what action he'd take after the ability was over.

Not that Daniel wanted to splurge on that ability every time he fired a shot either, but the pieces were falling into place. Now all I have to do is spend four days enchanting enough ammo to test this with my blast bow.

Performing a quick 360, Daniel accounted for each aura belonging to his friends and family and saw all was well. The sun was on its way to setting, it was definitely dinner time, and- Gah! Shuni blinked as Daniel's gaze met hers from where she was crouched on a rooftop. She'd been watching him, and for how long there was no telling. She did a front flip off once she was sure he was watching, turning the move into a sharp dive down as she briefly switched to her wings.

"Wouldn't recommend becoming a Rogue when you level up next," she said good-naturedly as she threw a dagger over her shoulder, nailing the center of Daniel's Focus shield. "Also, your aim kinda sucks."

"But it's getting better?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Yeah, from 'sucks' to 'kinda sucks'," she said, smiling. "I can see why you spent so much effort making a bow that explodes what it hits." She watched as Daniel levitated his shield back to himself, willing the hover effect on it to end, before he put it back on his arm and yanked Shuni's dagger out. "Thanks."

"If I suck at aiming, at least I'm good at giving other people magical items." Daniel tapped the blue blade of the dagger as he handed it back. It'd been the first ice weapon he'd made during their talk last night, and he attributed nothing at all to the fact that it had been for Shuni. "Whether that's handing it to them or shooting them at things."

"I'd like it if you stuck to this way, at least with me." He was having a hard time reading exactly what she feeling in that moment. There was a playfulness, though nothing on the level of Tounaki and he'd be worried if there was after just one late night chat. What her words alone wouldn't show was the slight tension in her posture, as if they were back in the ruins and she was constantly on alert for a crawler.

"Feeling better after this morning?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, I let that shit get to my head. It's not the first 'talk' I've had with a team and they don't always end productively."

"You know, Evalyn had bounced between teams too before we made the Wings. You've probably got more in common than you think."

Her head tilted as a mischievous note entered her voice. "Really? Well, she has known you longer than I have."

You'd have to be deaf not to pick up on that implication. "Go for it. It's like I said last night, I don't want to keep secrets from the people I care about. Whether that's because you're my friend or teammate, or…" he briefly paused, throwing his own implication like a flashbang and getting some satisfaction out of Shuni paying more attention to him than normal. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Sure you are," Shuni said skeptically. She half-turned toward the part of the compound that had a low wall separating it from the edge of Pinion's Point. "Hey, wanted to let someone know. I'm going to be out for a few hours after dusk. Nothing anyone should worry about."

"Ocean of black?" Daniel asked, remembering what she'd said back when he was showing off Power Shot, and Shuni gave a grateful nod for his understanding. "Are you going to be ok on your own? I can give you a sending stone linked to Janice." Full party sending stones were still out of the budget and without whatever 'special material' you needed to make them, they were still too difficult for him to do manually. Taking it as slow as he could Daniel could only get halfway through the enchanting process.

"Nah. With my powers I can escape or evade anything under level 4. Well, as long as I'm careful. One good thing about being a Rogue." She kicked the ground with that. "Since we spent so much time and blood clearing the immediate area, I think now's a good chance for some uninterrupted night flying."

"I could join you," Daniel offered after using a Moment to think, taking another step toward an uncertain future.

Shuni shook her head, but it wasn't a harsh denial. "Think I need some alone time. Besides, I like having something to come back to."

Daniel watched her fly away, wishing he could just task Quick Mind to figure out for sure how he felt, but the power didn't work on everything. It was processing power, not a second heart. It also couldn't do things like remember facts for him. Which would have been helpful as a thought struck Daniel.

Oh fuck, I told Alex I'd help her fly today. Seeing that there was no light left in the day for it, and he did not want his sister to test out rocket boots in the dark, Daniel belatedly thought it was for the best. The wyvern parts would be coming in a day or so, and he could give her fresh flight gear to test out. I'll make it up to her somehow. Maybe I'll try out recoloring now that I'm more confident with enchanting.

Plans made, Daniel slowly walked back to the main house and prepared for another lonely night of enchanting.

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