Chapter One hundred fifty-one – Changelop

Pandy wanted to head straight back to the Rabbit’s Den, but there were a few problems with that.

The first, but not necessarily the most difficult to overcome, was the fact that she had only the most general idea where it was.

Knightmere wasn’t a large city to someone used to populations in the millions, but it was large, and, worse, sprawling. And, of course, there was the fact that the map of Knightmere in Gacha Love showed only important locations, with everything else left a rather blurry idea of ‘city’. Still, Pandy had money and almost two hours remaining in her human shape, so she should be able to get a taxi, or a cab, or whatever they called the coaches that could be hired to take people places.

The second problem was that it was still broad daylight, and the tavern would be crawling with…police? Knights? Pandy couldn’t just turn up and say, “Hi, I was here with Augustus earlier, and I just want to look around and see if you missed anything.” Somehow, she doubted that would go over well, and at best, she’d be locked up until they could check with Augustus.

The third, and trickiest problem – though it felt wrong to think of him that way – was Thaniel. He was clearly so relieved and pleased to have her back that she just couldn’t take off again right away. He’d given her permission to do what she needed to do, with the understanding that she would always come back to him, but he hadn’t been expecting to wake up to find her gone, and it seemed wrong to just take off again. She needed to find a way to let him know when she expected to be back, so that he could at least worry less. Not that that would have helped this morning, since she’d been a few hours later than she should have been, but there had to be a solution to that, too.

So Pandy spent the day watching the children play, while also obsessively tracking her Mana to make sure it was still going up, but slowly. She hadn’t thought to ask Professor Beeswick how long it would take to get the antidote, so she had no idea if she should expect it sometime today, or a week from now. If her Mana saw a sudden upward spike, would that mean Augustus had gotten the potion and didn’t need her help any more, or that he’d died?

When yet another late summer rainstorm sent the children inside – they were no longer allowed to stay in the stable when there was lightning nearby – Pandy sat beneath the table while Thaniel and the others played cards, and tried to keep her anxiety from forcing her to go check on the headmaster. Surely there would be some kind of uproar if things started to go wrong. Thanks to Clara’s Light magic, no one in Gacha Love was ever sent to the hospital, but surely such places existed, and someone would come to take Augustus to one if necessary.

Pandy was staring at her Status screen again when the System started a conversation. The System started a conversation. What was she even supposed to do with that? Was it just going to start being snarky with her any time it wanted? But what it had to say almost immediately drove such questions from her mind.

Would you like to view the Changelog?

Just a summary?

I can make it funny.

I can add some puns.

Every day is better when you start with a-

<Read Changelog,> Pandy thought, and she could practically feel the System’s excitement.

Do you want the short version?

The long version?

The version with puns?

I’m pawsitively hoppy to provide puns.

<Just the regular version,> Pandy thought, then added, <please,> because this version of the System really did seem to appreciate that kind of thing.

The regular version.

Of course!

Changelog v1.1

1. New Command: You may now use Info [skill/spell name] to see detailed descriptions of skills and spells. Yes, even the ones you’ve been pretending to understand for months.

2. Inventory Command Added: Use command Inventory to see the contents of your inventory. That way you don’t have to strain your Intelligence points.

3. Currency Overhaul: Gold now has its own dedicated inventory. Only whole pieces are stored. Gold can be removed in whole number increments. Use Command Gold to see current total, Add #Quantity Gold to add gold, or command Remove #Quantity Gold to retrieve gold.

4. Shifting Faces Update: Upon gaining a new level, the first Outfit you use from Inventory will automatically be set as your default until the next level. Outfits now include Clothing, Hairstyle, Cosmetics, and Adornments. Yes, your hat counts.

5. System Personality Toggle: You can now adjust the System’s tone! Choose between:

• Detached

• Meek

• Toaster

Toaster? What did Toaster mean? And that…was it? Not that most of the changes weren’t amazing, but Keros had had to shut the System down and restart it for that? Or had he really just taken advantage of the fact that she’d already broken it – because of course she had – to adjust things he wouldn’t otherwise have been able to change? She would have to ask, but right now, she had better things to do.

<Info Dark Restoration,> she thought eagerly.

No such skill/spell found.

Try something you actually have.

Ugh. Of course it couldn’t be that easy. <Info Shifting Faces, then.>

Shifting Faces – A spell you aren’t supposed to have, but whatever. Allows user to shift face and form to that of a saved individual. Levels one through ten increase spell duration, to a maximum of five hours. At level ten, gain an additional saved individual. Costs sixteen Mana or ten Corruption Points to cast.

Current Outfit (Cannot be changed until Lv. 7)

• Clothing – Simple Yellow Dress. A dress of common but conservative design, complete with underclothes and shoes. You’re not going to impress anyone with this, but they won’t mistake you for a commoner, either. Quality Excellent.

• Hairstyle – Disheveled. Oh, did I say that out loud? I meant Messy Bun.

• Cosmetics – You have some.

• Adornments – A matched pair of pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and the Summoned half of a Heartsplit Charm.

That was it? What was with all the unnecessary commentary? Pandy thought she’d done a pretty good job with Ms. Wellington’s make-up kit, though she still wasn’t entirely certain that the red cream was meant for the eyelids. The powders had all crumbled into her eyes, though, so she’d done her best.

More importantly, what happened after level ten? It looked like Pandy wasn’t going to get any spoilers out of this. Maybe Keros himself didn’t know what would happen after that? That wasn’t a particularly comforting thought, so Pandy went through a few more of her skills almost at random, finding only a few surprises.

Dance – A skill that makes you look ridiculous. Each use selects a dance style at random. At higher levels, user has greater control over what style is selected. Lasts up to ten seconds per level, but can be interrupted. Levels one through ten add +1 Agility. Costs five Corruption Points to use outside of designated areas.

Dual Wielding – As long as you have two weapons, you can use two weapons. You may look like an idiot while doing so, but that’s all you. Choose wisely. Lasts up to ten seconds per level, but has a decreasing chance of being interrupted if user takes damage. Levels one through ten add +1 Agility. Costs ten Corruption Points to use outside of designated areas.

Minor Heal – A weak healing spell. Recovers up to twenty Health Points of physical damage (that’s Life Force to you). Target must be within ten feet of user. Cannot recover more than one hundred percent of target’s maximum Health/Life. Cannot restore more than 15% of total body mass, so it doesn’t work when someone blows their bits across the room. Levels one through nineteen add +1 Mana. Level twenty bonus +5 feet target distance. Levels twenty-one through thirty add +#Level Mana. Costs half as much Mana (rounded up) as the HP recovered, or one Corruption Point to use outside of designated areas.

Wings of Glory – A flying spell that produces physical wings from the user’s back. Lasts until user touches down. Damage from wing eruption is reduced with each additional level, and isn’t that good to know, Miss Wings of Gory? Levels one through ten give +1 Agility. Costs a whopping fifty Mana to cast, or twenty-five Corruption Points to use outside of designated areas. 

It was good to know that she would eventually be able to influence what style of Dance she used, but really, looking like Raybun the Dancing Rabbit was the least of her problems right now. Dual Wielding was far more interesting. There were elementals in Gacha Love who were all but immune to magic, so having a physical attack would definitely be a good thing, though there was nothing in the skill description to tell her if it depended on her own – nonexistent – weapon skills, or made her a grand-master in whatever weapon she used. She would definitely have to try it once she wasn’t anywhere near small children or breakable things like schools.

It was also interesting to note that the spell radius had increased at level twenty. She’d always been as close as possible whenever she cast it, usually touching her target, but now she knew exactly how far away she could be, without trying to test it in an emergency. She was also gaining a bit more Mana than she’d thought for each level of Minor Heal. Honestly, her total amount of Mana had grown to such a large number that she hadn’t even noticed.

Best of all, however, was the knowledge that Wings of Glory would cause less damage – and thus presumably less pain – with every level. That was exactly the kind of motivation Pandy needed to actually use it. But now for a little inventory management. And the first step was seeing what she had. <Inventory,> she thought.

Slot One – EMPTY

Slot Two – Unknown Unknown Pink Pearls (Qty: 4)

Slot Three – Battered and abused Small Pink Handbag

Slot Four – Unknown Brown Leather Bag

Slot Five – Small blue book of unknown age and origin, entitled Notes from the Far Side of Dawn: A Primer on Dark Magic

Pandy heard a grinding noise, and realized it was coming from her. This inventory wasn’t that much more helpful than the old one, and was a definite downgrade in one respect. Her clothing and money had apparently been moved to some other ‘dedicated’ inventory, without her having to do anything. Well, that or all of her gold had gone poof, which would make her a very, very Unhappy Pandy.

<Gold,> she thought, very, very carefully.

Current Gold: 896

Is that good or bad, though?

Ignoring the question, Pandy thought, <Remove one gold,> and a single glittering circle dropped out of the air in front of her, falling to spin ever more slowly until it finally came to a halt. As always, watching a spinning coin was somehow fascinating, and when she reached out to lay a paw on top of it, she found that she wasn’t alone in that feeling. A fluffy gray-furred paw swatted the coin, sending it bouncing off of Matilda’s shoe and out into the space between tables. The brief glance Pandy got told her that the kitten’s eyes were almost entirely black, and her tail looked like a bottle-brush, so she sighed, giving up the coin as lost. There was no way she was fighting the feline elemental for a single coin, no matter how valuable.

Unfortunately, the students didn’t know Miss Cupcakes as well as Pandy did. Soon after the kitten raced after her prize, someone let out a surprised shout of, “Gold!” and the chase was on. Most of the live-in students were gathered in the dining hall, since it was still raining, and they were obviously tired of cards and doing homework. More than one chair was knocked over as they leaped to their feet en masse, and soon several children were standing on the tables, calling out the location of Miss Cupcakes, then the gold, whenever the kitten swatted it away. Somehow, no matter how many of them lunged for the glittering coin, the furry little elemental was always faster, which resulted in ever-growing chaos. Pandy, for her part, buried her nose beneath her paws and was simply grateful that no one would ever know where the coin came from.