Sky Heart had refused the boost. Instead opting for watching from the sidelines as Dolce's body expanded. His body ripping itself from the inside out. Organs pulverizing his old skeleton before shooting outwards and forming a brand new one much, much later.

His scales dissolving and remaking themselves once, then twice, then thrice. Their sheen changing slightly from their original hue, to one that was more pinkish-gold in color, to one that was pinkish-beige at their final iteration. Looking much and more like a newborn babe freshly out of the womb.

His new eyes were the very last to form. Watching the specks that we were from up on high. His mind reeling with the new emotions and convictions and the way they clashed with his old ones. All of the sudden, he recalled being a large thoughtless thing in a black void. Swimming in darkness with no other ambition than to ram himself against the walls. That and to occasionally chew on the weaker members of his kind that thought it would be hilarious to ram into him.

It was a fun, fulfilling life for Dolce. Back before he even knew to differentiate himself as Dolce. As an individual.

Things had changed the first time I [Dominated] him. Dolce learned about me and then I became the most beautiful thing he could have possibly imagined.

Then the first boost came and Dolce became much, much stronger. Much more eager to run down monsters at the bottom of the sea surrounding the island. Turning the Master Difficulty Instance into little more than a holiday destination. He was starting to think though.

To truly consider what he was. When he had begun. Where he had begun. Why I hadn't begun at the same place as him. He had started to wonder where I'd come from. Mulling over the information that he had and the visions he had seen. Dolce sat still in the times when the monsters weren't spawning and then, in the stillness beneath the waves, Dolce thought.

He didn't like thinking all that much. He liked to kill and chew and ram. He liked praise and belly rubs. He liked to feel appreciated. He had no need for the sudden bouts of curiosities.

Yet they would not go away.

Remaining like an itch that they could not scratch.

And then the second boost came and Dolce changed once more. Roaring in agony as all the memories rushed in. He saw my house growing up. The stickers on the wall and the feeling of a warm blanket. He saw the door to my room and the stairs leading down. The kitchen counter and the dinner table and the fridge. He saw mom making pancakes and dad sighing before the newspaper. Muttering to himself before I finished making my way down.

He saw, he saw, he saw….

And this time he understood.

He was made to understand.

We all heard another roar washing over the island. Watching as Dolce descended in a mad existential fury. His jaws swallowing me and Buddy as he swooped down upon us. His mind carrying out the orders I'd given.

System Notice:

Error!

System Notice:

System-created unit: Dolce has gained true sentience.

Disconnecting.

System-created Symbiote: Buddy has gained true sentience.

Disconnecting.

System Notice:

New students identified.

No new students may be admitted to the Tutorial at this time as per the ruling of Senior Enforcer: Hazimon the Dragon.

New Students will be expelled into the greater Labyrinth.

Dolce was sent away. As was Buddy. The body, my body, immediately growing another layer of hardened skin on the spot. To at least spare my own dignity.

It came out looking more or less like clothes, though the toughened keratin plates made it look more like tanned rhino skin than anything else.

'Meh. It'll do.' I told myself. Feeling the soft afterglow of the sudden departure and the brief sense of disorientation that came with it.

The body fell from the sky as Dolce de-materialized and then the body looked around.

"So, how is everybody doing?" The body asked.

Slab vomited some blood by way of answer. His muscles trembling as they writhed about under his skin. A thousand fleshy serpents looking to knit themselves back together as they shattered the bones beneath.

He was still breathing though. His lungs taking in air as I kept infusing the air with more and more Psy. Degrading the veil while pumping more and more of my reserves into the boost.

Mom and dad were laying on the ground now. Still wheezing from the pain of the first boost which brought them to Tier 3. They weren't receiving the second one of course, but the way the grains of sand changed color beneath their bodies still seemed to make them uncomfortable.

Clumps of the wet sediment now turning cherry red and trying to tie themselves together in the same way cells did.

It was definitely a show, but it didn't go as well when the clumps of red sand began donning faces that resembled mine. Some weeping. Some laughing.

I had to say, I felt more or less the same way. Things were going well so far, but I'd rather avoid falling back to my last few contingencies.

The body looked around some more and saw Vince and Thunder Fist. Both having grown two full Tiers. Until they reached the very top of Tier 7 and they had run out of combined abilities to grow further.

They were still trying to force their bodies and minds past the breaking point, but to no avail.

Mittens wasn't having any such issue however. He was positively frolicking about at the top of the 8th Tier. Having quite literally become a walking apocalypse on his own.

As for Randall, he was doing an excellent job pretending to be hurt.

The doll suffering as a real body would, complete with the tearing of the flesh and the sundering of bones.

The body turned to regard Puffin. Who no longer seemed to have as much hate in her eyes as before. And from her, to Dusty, who was struggling to rein in her screams. Determined to ride out the wave with as much power as possible in her own frame.

The same was happening to Henry and Luigi and Monique and Charlie. Even to Granny Golden, as I figured I may as well pay her back for all the help.

After all, the last and final contingency I had relied on wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't run into her. If I hadn't seen the messages I'd seen and realized the things I'd realized.

I figured I may as well pay her back as best I could. No telling when she might run into something or someone that may want her dead. If they ever figure out she was the one who let me realize that little tidbit.

'And to think it was right there. All the way back in the beginning. So obvious in hindsight.' I recalled how even before then, the truth was more or less right in front of me. When I first met Dusty and Slab. Them arguing about Randall's severed arm and me recalling my project.

The body shook its head.

'Nah. I wouldn't have made that connection. No one could have.'

The rush of power kept surging and surging. Making the sky come alive with colors both real and unreal. Pastel blues that made me recall the colouring books I had as a kid and vibrant hues of pink and purple that made me think of the drapes in the mansion by the lake.

And the waters.

Oh, the waters had turned an oily midnight black, despite retaining their consistency. Their once reflective surface now drinking in the last lights of the dying stars above. Yet still they shone.

As if a million liquid diamonds were struggling to break free beneath the dirty veneer.

I took another quick look around and saw those same shimmers around their eyes. All their faces weeping that very same black water. Their lungs drowning in them. Along with their minds.

Grandpa reached the 5th. Puffin reached the 6th. Luigi got as high as the 7th alongside Thunder Fist and Vince.

Charlie and Monique and even Boris didn't fare as well.

'Their first boost was far too weak.' I reasoned. 'Their second is going to need to push further if they're to make up for that.'

I reasoned that all of them would want that and so I let more Psy flow in their direction.

Then I made my way over to the DMV's instance window to watch how Deketer was doing.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

'Huh.' I thought with some astonishment. 'Wow. I know I saw this coming, but wow. She's actually quite talented.'

Granted she had to be pushed this far for her talents to finally blossom, but I don't think I can hold it against her. Hard to really improve when you've had training wheels on your entire life.

Little D had finally touched the tip of Tier 2 with her combining the all-too-important [Mindscape II] and going to town on the poor poor residents of the forever DMV.

Not by developing over abilities and using them directly like her grandpa Hazimon had. No. Nothing so brutish.

Deketer favoured a subtler approach. If only out of necessity.

She learned every little tidbit about every little person in that Instance. Sometimes spending weeks with a single one from the looks of it.

Only to then later use those details to manipulate each and every person in front of her. Sometimes reacting to unexpected situations on the fly by calling upon personality quirks and inconsistencies in how they saw the DMV and each other.

It didn't matter that she hadn't put that many points into gaze and presence abilities because she knew those targets on a fundamental level. Which in turn led her to have greater insights into the art of using Psy on resistant targets. Which improved her control. Which gave her more levels once the abilities spontaneously improved.

More importantly, she managed to ride out the usual slowing of growth the more one levels. Looks like some, 26 levels in a few…months? Like, half a year on her end? Pretty good by Labyrinth standards.

I went back to her current predicament. Right after the clerk shredded her complete files because they had not been filled out in triplicate. Hazimon had, of course, knelt on the ground before raking bloody lines across his face from the sheer weight of shock horror that overcame him. It had been funny. In a morbid sort of way. But only because I knew it wouldn't really hurt him.

Deketer had instead stumbled backwards a couple of steps. Her eyes having lost what meager light they'd held on to. She hit a pillar with her back and then simply stopped. Slumping down like a puppet without strings.

I opened a slight window into the Instance using the crystal. Just enough to stabilize the flow of time within.

"Hello there." I said in a casual tone. My voice coming out of the intercom system on the walls and ceiling.

"Looks like you're having a bit of a hard tim…"

"I'M SORRY!!" She wailed at once. Falling forwards into a kneeling position and kowtowing. Tears streaming down her face.

"I'M SORRY I HURT YOUR MOM! I'M SORRY I ACTED SO HIGH AND MIGHTY! I'M SO SORRY! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! JUST RELEASE ME FROM THIS NIGHTMARE!! PLEASE!!!"

I cleared my throat.

"I'm afraid I can't do that until you've cleared the scenario." I informed her. With the casual ease.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds after that. Spending the next half minute staring at the plaster ceiling and the pastel-colored floral pattern on the columns.

"But, I suppose I can spend a few moments to help you out a bit."

She twitched. Her eyes blinking and refocusing.

"I can send in the power of a boost into the Instance as well. I can just open a window and endow you with the boost I'm already giving my parents. The contract I have with your grandfather specifically details how I'm supposed to help tutor Kenari. But only if they ask for it. It might be taken as an attack otherwise."

"How…" She gulped. "How much is it going to cost me?"

"5 billion Store Tokens." I answered casually.

Now, I would have boosted her for free of course, but Deketer had grown up a lot during the past few minutes on my end. At least enough to internalize the fact that free stuff was often far more expensive than things that came with a price. Moreover, this frankly outrageous price point was more or less in line with her expectations of what a real boost might cost out in the multiverse. Easing her suspicions of the offer, as well as her suspicions of my little Instance.

'From her point of view, it'll seem as if scamming her out of Store Tokens was the point.' I thought with some amusement. 'She'll think that her grandpa will be angry that she was fooled, but that he'll be angrier at me for doing such a cheap, stupid mistake. But she'll also think that he'll shut up and pay, if only because he'll value her own progress that much.'

I sincerely wished she was right. Sure would make my life easier if that was the case. No need for all kinds of crazy contingencies and no need to resort to the depths of moral depravity I had planned for. No need to stain my hands even further.

'No need to get… him involved.'

I shuddered internally, but kept a cool demeanor on the outside.

"It'll be fine." I assured her. Further cementing her suspicions. "Just agree to be helped and more importantly, to pay me later, and we'll be A-okay."

Deketer agreed at once and I opened a proper window into the Instance. Flooding her with Psy as well.

Now, I could have taken her to the 4th Tier right away with how much practice she already had, but I figured I'd save the second boost for later on. Once she was even more desperate and properly chastised.

The Deketer I was seeing right now had been broken down once. She had rebuilt herself into a different, stronger person, but her flaws were still lingering there. Beneath the surface.

Now, I could just let her off easy, but I had more or less confirmed the Dragon wanted her properly chastised. That and, as dark as it sounded, he was already on the fence as to whether or not he should try and help her any further. Her no longer being a lost cause in his eyes would do much good for my chances moving forwards.

Or so I had predicted.

That was one of the darker aspects of my newly-improved power. With higher levels, the clarity of the predictions I could make became clearer as well. So that I knew just how slim some chances were and how inevitable some outcomes seemed.

When I first learned of the Dragon, his goals and aspirations were a complete mystery to me. Even after levelling the ability as much as I did, I hadn't had any clear predictions of the Dragon himself. But the workaround predictions I'd made for those around him did not paint a pretty picture.

'Especially with those last ones I made on my own realm. I mean, good Gozo. That (Gnome) got dark.'

It all led to the same place. Over and over. Hazimon would not back down. Nor would he consider other options. He would merely resort to violence and every time, the amount of people he was willing to kill only increased the more people I healed. As they'd become potential vectors for an eventual resurrection.

I was still holding out hope that I could talk him out of it though. Since the alternative was not pleasant to say the least.

'It's like the prisoner dilemma.' I bemoaned. 'In the worst way imaginable. Either I convince him to get along so we both get all we want, or it comes down to a fight, in which case neither of us get what we want.'

Well, not really. I'd still come out on top eventually. That's what all the fail-safes were for.

But I wouldn't like the things I'd have to do to get there.

I banished those thoughts from my mind for now and refocused on Deketer. Watching her grow and grow her psychic might until she eclipsed the Dragon when it came to levels in Telepath.

I closed the window to the Instance and allowed time to distort once more. Observing her as she did it all over again much more quickly and then going to testing room A4. And then realizing that the hallway she needed to take didn't lead to the testing room. Instead leading to another, identical hallway.

One with a single booth at the end. And she also saw the door behind it.

Deketer stared. Hatred and despair comingling in her eyes.

"Is this the testing room?" She whispered.

"No. This is Hifis." Hifis answered. "The testing room is beyond that door somewhere."

She twitched again.

"What do you mean, somewhere?"

Hifis shrugged.

"I dunno. Somewhere. There's lots of doors that way and I don't know them all. I'm working at this booth now."

She nodded.

"Is there something I need to know before I go looking for it?"

Hifis, who had been staring at a blank book in front of him, now turned his eyes upwards to face her.

"I dunno."

Deketer started hyperventilating at that. Actually, genuinely having some kind of mental breakdown before even beginning her search.

And it was all downhill from there.

She opened a door and found another hallway. Then she tried to go back and found another, different hallway that opened up to the left and right instead of simply extending straight ahead.

She tried to open each and ever door before going through and found a different kind of hallway behind each door. With some even opening up on the ceiling and leading to a change of gravity, where forwards through the door became downwards to the floor behind the door.

Naturally, she didn't try it.

For the first hundred times at least. Then she started getting desperate after using all her newfound Enhancer, Shifter and Projector powers to blitz through the hallways wasn't letting her escape as easily as she had hoped.

She actually ran out of Psy on more than one occasion, but then she'd wake up on the exact same spot and then proceed to overdraw on her reserves again to try and run her way out.

This lasted for about five minutes on my end, so I took a little break to check on mom and dad in person.

I found them both gasping for breath. Puffin sitting between them and patting each one on the back.

"So? How was your first time?" I asked solemnly.

"I feel like I saw some kind of horror movie." Dad wheezed. "I was seeing myself through your eyes. But I didn't remember anything of that time. I was seeing a puppet acting like me and I couldn't make it break out of that prison. Everything was so fake. Like a…"

"Like a puppet show." I finished for him.

Mom threw up again.

I bent down to heal her and decided that saying something wouldn't help.

"Sorry it was unpleasant."

Dad actually chortled.

"My last colonoscopy was unpleasant. This was a different kind of hell."

Yeah. I honestly couldn't say anything back at that moment.

So, I sat with them in silence for a bit longer. Until they got their bearings again.

Dusty and Slab and all the rest approached thereafter. Telling me how much they'd changed and what they could do now.

Things were more or less as expected.

Dusty had finally gained all the Types, though she still favored Enhancer by a whole two Tiers above the rest.

Slab had managed to evade that issue by focusing on Enhancer and Telepath simultaneously, with Shifter and Projector lagging behind.

Monique had the same kind of deal with Telepath and Projector. Charlie being that way with Enhancer and Projector at the same time.

Ironically, the one who got the best deal out of it was Boris. Not because he rose to the highest Tier, or because he got the most levels or the highest Tiered ability combinations. He didn't.

But he had so many abilities and so many of them combined at the same time that he had a plethora of points left over, with a more diverse toolkit than any of the others.

"That's going to help you a lot when you're out and about doing Excursions."

He nodded, but whispered his next question.

"Will we be doing Excursions after you're gone?"

'Oh?'

"Why wouldn't you be?" I asked him.

He didn't say anything else, but only looked around with some trepidation.

"I don't know how to put this into words but, this sort of feels like a funeral." He said.

The others stopped dead in their tracks. Mom and dad staring at the man and freezing solid.

"Like you're planning for something that will change how everything works. Like you're tying up loose ends." He paused.

"Like you think you're going to die."

'Someone is.' I thought out of reflex. Before I then pushed the impulse aside.

"I'm hoping to solve this issue with Hazimon without any bloodshed." I said diplomatically. Which was the truth in any case.

"But you're going to boost your parents again as soon as they regain their senses." He didn't phrase it as a question.

"Yes."

"So you're expecting something is going to go wrong."

"I'm hoping nothing goes wrong."

Dusty frowned.

"We can help."

I turned around and looked right at her. Suppressing the urge to say something that might give the game away at this late stage.

"Thank you. But, I don't think this is the right time for a bunch of hugs and a speech about how friendship is magic."

I grinned an impish grin.

"Friendship is magic of course, but it just won't work as well in this case."

Grandpa laughed in the distance.

"But that doesn't mean it doesn't have any uses! You guys are going to need to rely on each other from now on. No matter what happens. You guys are going to need to get along and cooperate effectively. And when things go sideways, you guys are going to need to work together to figure stuff out and keep other planets from eating themselves alive."

"You suck at giving speeches." Henry muttered from the side.

"Which is weird because he can see the future. He really should be better at this." Luigi agreed.

"I liked it." Thunder Fist commented from the side.

I smiled and said some other heartwarming things to calm down the somber mood. It didn't work and I eventually settled down to help my parents through the last of the aftershocks. Only to then boost them and Granny Golden again.

I made my way over to where Deketer was after that.

Watching the subtle ways in which her mind had become undone.

"Please, I beg you." She sobbed at the desk. "I've been stuck in this place with you for years. Trying to do something, anything to your mind. I don't understand what else I'm supposed to do! I don't understand where I'm supposed to go! All I want is to escape! To be free! Please! Please save me my lord!"

Hifis wiped his drool with the back of his hand. His mind untouched as always despite the ferocity of the earlier psychic assault.

"My name is not Mylord." He informed her. "My name is Hifis."

Deketer burst into tears again.

"And if you want to leave, you just have to find testing room A4 and complete the test. If you have any complaints, fill out a complaint form and file it according to regulations. Addressed to the hospital where you were born."

Deketer wept harder. Soaking the smelly rugs with her flowing tears.

Honestly, I might have taken it too far.

"Hey there." I said to Deketer after opening a window. "Need another boost?"

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