Claire.
Retrieving the crystal, I glanced around and suddenly wondered how late it had gotten. Time had a strange way of slipping past lately. I needed to try and transform a watch. Knowing the time would be… helpful
“Hi, Claire. How are you?” I asked.
“Hi! I’m so glad it worked,” she replied, her voice filled with joy.
I understood exactly how she felt. Before the world ended, I hadn’t been the most social person—but I wasn’t completely alone either. I used to talk to my family and a few friends. Now, though... the past week had been difficult.
“Me too...” I said, smiling as I pictured her face in my mind. “I like talking to you…”
Shit. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it the way it must’ve sounded. I wasn’t trying to flirt or anything…
“I... I mean, I just… I don’t want to…” I stammered, struggling to find the right words.
A soft chuckle came through the crystal. “Relax,” Claire said gently. “I know what you mean. I like talking to you as well.”
“Thank you,” I replied, a bit relieved. “I’m not the most social person.”
“Did you have any problems on your way home?”
“Nah,” she answered casually. “I had one Kobold in my way, but my trusty bow took care of it. I’ve been practicing, and my aim’s much better now.”
I wondered if I could practice my spells, but it would be difficult indoors—especially after what happened to my lamp the last time. Casting inside came with its risks. Outside wasn’t much better; it would definitely draw the attention of the Kobolds.
Maybe I could use one of the other apartments—the empty one downstairs, perhaps...
“Danny? Are you still there?”
Damn. I was such an idiot. Claire…
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I was just thinking about practicing, but my spells do a bit of damage… so I’m not sure where or how to do it safely. How do you practice with your bow?”
“Well,” Claire replied, her tone light, “it was easy in the beginning. I just used some cushions to aim at. Later, once my mana-infused arrows started doing real damage, I found a target at a sporting goods store and transformed it. It’s a bit more durable now.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said, genuinely impressed. “I wonder if I could find something to practice my spells on…”
“Yeah, that could be a problem,” she said thoughtfully. Then she fell silent, and I waited, almost able to hear the cogs turning in her head.
“You could try and find a mannequin,” she suggested after a moment. “I think I saw a few in one of those older, antique-type shops. All the newer ones seem to have gone missing, but…”
I considered the idea and my eyes widened with realization. “That’s brilliant,” I said, excitement creeping into my voice. “I could make a practice dummy—something I can upgrade over time. Claire, you’re amazing.”
“That’s me,” she said with a mockingly proud tone. “Amazing and brilliant.”
We snickered together, and then just burst out laughing. I was beginning to like Claire. I knew she was a bit of a flake but a brilliant flake.
We spoke for a while longer before reluctantly saying our goodbyes. We were going to meet not the following day but one after that. We had some hunting to do, food and water packages to obtain.
We were planning to talk again the next evening, and I was already looking forward to it. Just hearing her voice had become something to hold onto—something that made the days feel a little less heavy.
It was already getting late, I thought, but I decided to try enhancing my staff before calling it a night. I retrieved an Enhancement Shard from my inventory and held it tightly for a moment before pressing it against the staff’s surface.
The shard pulsed briefly with a soft light—and instead of the list of options I’d received when upgrading clothing, only a single enhancement appeared.
I stared at the system message for a bit before bursting out laughing. Apparently, the System either had a sense of humor—or it was adapting to my particular style of fighting.
Yes.
The staff in my hand looked the same. No changes in appearance at all. I guess I’d have to test it in the field, where it mattered—killing Kobolds.
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Without wasting more time, I took out another shard and touched it to the staff.
Why couldn’t the System be a little more forthcoming? It wouldn’t hurt to explain why the staff couldn’t be enhanced right now. Maybe even include a line about when it could be upgraded again. That kind of information would actually be helpful.
With a sigh, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while pondering the idea of using a mannequin to practice my spells. In theory, it sounded like a solid plan. But realistically, hurling spells at a lifeless dummy wasn’t going to earn me any experience—not the kind I needed to level up or survive.
Note to self: remember to transform or upgrade the watch tomorrow.
With that thought, I finally let the day go and drifted off to sleep.
The Rare Food Package was more of the same—just with better ingredients. I chewed on a handful of yogurt-coated dried blueberries while trying to plan out my day.
My watch!
I never actually wore one, but I did have one. My father had given me a watch that belonged to my grandfather. I’d never really used it—my phone had always told me the time back then.
I opened the cupboard door, using my pillowcase as a buffer. No way was I risking a debuff from touching something unsanctioned—thank you very much. The watch was still there, tucked inside its original, timeworn box. The thing looked ancient, like a relic from another era… which, in a way, it was.
I first touched an upgrade shard to it.
Okay then.
I pressed a Transformation Shard against it, and in a blink, the watch—and the box—vanished.
A moment of sheer panic hit me.
Dad is going to kill me. If... if Dad is still alive.
The second thought came slower, heavier. I shoved it away, forcing it down into the dark corners of my mind where all the dangerous thoughts now lived.
I felt a familiar flicker of irritation. Once again, the System provided no real description.
Object created – Time Crystal. Great. What even is that? An object? A display? Maybe I could—
“Help,” I said aloud.
Nothing happened.
I tried focusing on the word. Still nothing.
A sigh escaped me as I sat back, thinking it through. An object would probably take up a slot in my inventory—something I couldn’t spare lightly. That left one other option.
Display.
Nothing happened at first but then a small translucent rectangle appeared in the bottom corner of my field of view. It moved as I moved my eyes.
Slowly blue numbers appeared on it.
I pondered the idea of voice activation.
“Off,” I said.
The display vanished instantly—too fast, actually. A moment later, I realized I didn’t know how to bring it back.
“On… Display… Time.”
I liked it but couldn’t help wondering what could be done to upgrade it. I still had a few basic upgrade shards left, so I figured it was worth a try.
The only problem was—where exactly do I touch the shard? The display, maybe? I didn’t have any better ideas, so I tapped the shard against the glowing display.
It worked. Okay then.
“Yes, for both.”
I sighed deeply. It was time to face the world of endless Kobolds again.Of course, I wanted to grab some supply packages—but I also needed to find a mannequin.
And I almost forgot. I needed to add to my map of the barrier. I decided to head to the opposite side of the area I’d already mapped. I really wanted to start forming a clearer idea of just how big the barrier truly was.
I stopped at every clothing store I came across, but none had mannequins. Maybe they never did. Or maybe they vanished when the System arrived.
A gaming store caught my eye as I passed. I knew transformation relied heavily on intent, but you still needed the right base objects. Take the mapping crystal, for example—using a book, a pen, and a GPS device made it possible. If he’d used a rock, I would imagine it wouldn’t have worked.
I browsed through the titles, looking for something that could give me a functional practice dummy. There were plenty of options. What would a wizard need to improve?
I settled on a fantasy RPG with a wizard as the main character and grabbed a PS5 console to go with it. Hopefully, the combination—along with a dummy—would give me an edge against the Kobolds. I stuffed it all into a pillowcase I’d brought from home.
Debuffs were a nightmare, and I wasn't about to let them catch me off guard again.
A block later, I dodged a few Kobolds—then a few more—but I finally found a mannequin in a vintage clothing store. I found two, in fact. Old wooden mannequins.
I placed them on the floor alongside the game and console, making sure everything was touching.
Would it be enough? Did I need to add more?
I touched the shard to each of the objects.
The crystal was beautiful. It was diamond-shaped and just a bit bigger than my hand. A soft blue light shone from inside. I wasn’t sure how it worked yet, but I had a feeling it would be safer to use the crystal back at my home base. Reluctantly, I placed it in my inventory.
I still needed to hunt Kobolds; I was low on loot—food and water packages were needed daily. But as Murphy would have it, I didn’t find any Kobolds while I was specifically looking for them.
I ended up walking a long distance. Instead of finding Kobolds, I found the barrier first—or rather, my nose did, as I walked straight into it.
I dutifully marked the barrier on my map, keeping an eye on my Mini Map. Just as I was about to lose hope of finding some Kobolds, a few appeared.
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first Royal Road chapter of each pair. The second one won’t have pictures. If you want to see all the art together (or earlier), it’s on Patreon with the combined chapters!