Quintin stole a glance at Vissitri as he thought, I wonder if others have a system here on Whorrl?

He clenched his jaw, finding himself more and more irritable as time passed. I don't yet know if I can trust Vissitri enough to ask him some of the questions I have.

He frowned in contemplation and almost face-planted into a tree in his path. Dammit, get it together. I'm struggling because I haven't meditated in what feels like a week. Even that time by the brook became sullied by the incongruencies born from Nyathamon.

Breathing out a calm breathe, he decided to look at the descriptions of the new [Skill] selections.

[Pneumatic-Integration]... Is that what happened to my hands? All I remember is a blinding spiral of light after me, and Oltoi started playing around with the device. If that's the case, then these- hands of mine- have been my life-line so far. I wouldn't have made it past the [Intruder Wolves] without it.

While Quintin was intrigued by [Complex Meditation] and wondered how it would feel to walk around in a constant state of [Meditation], he still felt like he needed to rely on what had worked best, so far. It also helped his decision that it was [Unique], which made it seem like a no brainer he needed to take advantage of.

Unaware of the consequences, he made his choice and mentally confirmed it.

Option 2, [Pneumatic-Integration: Legs/Feet] is my choice!

He instantly regretted the choice as a deep pain began to rack his body at that moment. He fell to the ground writhing in agony. His soundless screams made manifest by his deafness in the moments of ligaments and muscles snapping and tearing. He squirmed as veins protruded from his skin, and a redness overtook his complexion like a Tomato about to burst from surrounding pressure.

Vissitri looked back in shock at the fallen, screaming Quintin. He bounded backward and quickly erected a [Sound-Supressing Barrier] while he furtively took a look around the surroundings. The [Carbuncle] was fully aware they were getting rather close to PanQuil; he didn't want to risk alerting any Humans or other townsfolk of their presence here.

"What is going on with his legs from the kneecaps down?" From his perspective, it looked like Quintin's legs were turning into leg-sized Spaghetti noodles before they would re-size back to normal with pops and squirming sounds. A metallic luster, not unlike his arms and hands, was taking place, which was another mystery to him.

"Who in the world are you?" Vissitri transmitted to no one before continuing to watch with horrific fascination.

***

It had been five minutes of chaotic pain before it finally ended.

Quintin was passed out for another twenty minutes after that.

His eyelid shook, trembling and then just as suddenly flew open. Quintin quickly bolted upright with a long scream with tears in his eyes and a horror-filled expression of torture.

The pain had subsided, but the memory of the incident was more than enough a reminder of the feeling. He was panting, miserable, and scared as Vissitri slowly walked towards him, eventually putting a paw on Quintin's hand with a calming purpose.

It worked. Quintin began to calm down almost immediately as he looked down at his odd traveling companion with an expression of sincere thanks.

"Thank you... for that... I... really don't know what happened," he breathily said while wiping his face on the dampened sleeve of his robe and staring down absently at his now entirely metallic legs and feet.

Vissitri regarded him for a moment before he removed his paw and spoke, "You don't know? That seemed like a monster undergoing evolution. Only, it's clear there was nothing particularly special to trigger it - besides a [Level Up]. Tell me, Quintin, what do you know about [Leveling]?" A strange glint passed through the [Carbuncle's] eyes.

Quintin opened and closed his mouth several times, stuttering out a few times. "I-I d-don't know much in truth. I just know I felt like... something was changing within me for a while now." He lied; the shame made him look to the side. He hoped the experience would add some credence to his act; he was worried, and it felt like he was alone.

A wave of anger passed through Vissitri's face before he schooled it. His head became tilted down in thought before he brought it back up and exclaimed, "You idiot! Have I not done enough to show my sincerity already? Why, when I ask a simple question about your [Leveling] experience, do you lie to me?" He barked the last part in irritation and perplexion as to why Quintin would fight him on such a fundamental level.

Quintin stammered while shame made his face red as he looked at Vissitri. "I'm... I'm sorry! I just don't want to continue making mistakes! Nobody has told me anything [Leveling] related. I just had this thought like my process was different from everyone else. I didn't want to give another person a reason to target me!" He said. A weight seemed to lift off of his shoulders as he went prone against the ground and began laughing.

"Sorry, Vissitri... I don't know what I'm doing." He blurted out his innermost feelings. At that moment, he was calmer than he had been in days, months even, since his Master's death.

"You really were raised by wolves... What happened, did your pack die and leave you to fend for yourself?" Vissitri mocked as he sat down near the prone Quintin and continued.

"You're right to be wary, but you have to choose your targets. I know the reasons that brought us together were rough, but trust me when I say I mean you no harm — unless you've harmed one of my kind, have you harmed one of my kind, Quintin?" In the end, there was an absolute seriousness that permeated the air, not scary or overbearing, but of utmost importance.

Quintin sat upright on his knees before he looked straight into Vissitri's searching gaze and said,

"Never. I would never!" Shouted out while his fists dug into the dirt to his sides.

And there it was, the air seemed to open up and become easier to breathe. The trees seemed to resume themselves from a pause that overtook nature — the Play button was pressed, and they each smiled at one another.

Vissitri placed a paw on Quintin's hand and said, "Then there really isn't anything you could say that would make me want to harm you either."

As if a great idea was breached, each took something different away from the moment. But one thing was a constant between them: they began to trust each other.