Zeff’s head had hardly even hit the pillow when *ZRR-shoom!* He found himself in his full color, high definition, ‘ghost form’, floating in a dreary gray world above his own sleeping body. The azure Skill Tree terminal was suspended in midair just before him and was opened to the main screen, the one with the three columns.

Unlike the last time in his room where everything had moved so slow that it had seemed like time had stopped, this time, as he looked out of the massive hole in the wall that he had made, he could see everything moving in fast forward.

The moon was crawling across the sky at a hurried pace. The trees where swaying in the wind as though a hurricane was outside. The leaves that fell, fell as though the earth’s gravity had increase one hundred fold.

>> Welcome, Subject-04.

“Thank you, dRas.” replied Zeff. “I don’t know how long I’m going to have with you this time, buddy. So let’s get this going.”

Truth be told, Zeff wasn’t quite as eager to ‘get it going’ as his demeanor suggested. He had a ton of things on his mind that he would rather think about. His father, who he thought had abandoned him, was actually alive, for goodness sake, and captured by some strange organization. And what had happened to his mother? There was a hurricane raging behind his eyeballs and he thought if he couldn’t process it all soon he might explode. ‘I wish I had more time.’ he thought.

Then it occurred to him, perhaps he could.

“dRas?”

>> Yes, Subject-04.

“Can I change time dilation so that I have even more time in here?”

>> It is highly recommended that Subject-04 not exceed a T.D. of 10000:1 or fall beneath 1:100 while at the Skill Tree.

“Why not fall below 1:100?”

>> The reason is two fold.

>> Firstly, at tighter degrees of T.D. it becomes detrimental to the Subject. For example, with a T.D. of 1 : 100,000, ten seconds at the Skill Tree would be more than 10 days in reality. The Subject would expire in that time under normal circumstances.

>> Secondly, and perhaps most pertinent to the general case, the brain needs time to process information by means of deep sleep, also known REM sleep. The Subject that experiences T.D. tighter than roughly 1 : 105 for a prolonged period of time is likely to suffer from hallucinations, hysteria, and, in severe cases, mania.

“Canned bread and coffee beans!”

>> The cans of the bread and the beans of the coffee, indeed.

Zeff didn’t know what ‘mania’ was, but if it was worse than hallucinations and hysteria, it must be bad.

He would have to save the deep thinking for later. For now, he had to do what Dr. Sylvan had asked. He had to learn more about the dRas and learn about his skills. He had to get stronger. He had to be strong enough to protect himself and…

To save his father from the Rings of Rutigorn.

He didn’t have to think long about that one. He knew what he would have to do from the moment he had heard his father was alive and a prisoner. He didn’t have all the facts, he didn’t even have a clue, but when he next spoke to Sylvan he would ask him for answers.

Zeff found it quite peculiar. Up until now he had had no aim in life. He was simply trying to make it through each day, waiting for the day when his parents might return. He had had no way of knowing where they had gone or how to find them. He had had no way of even knowing if they were alive or dead.

But now? Now, things were different. Now, he not only knew at least his father was alive, he also had an idea of where he was. Now, he had greater purpose besides merely surviving until the weekend.

‘I’ll save you, Dad. No matter the cost.’ He thought resolutely, then added with a smile, ‘Then I’ll punch you in the face for leaving me all alone and we’ll find mom together.’

He finally turned his attention to the terminal.

“Okay.” he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Let’s get it goin’.”

On the terminal the ‘Skill Tree’ tab was already opened. Nothing was any different from the last time he had seen it with the exception of one thing. There was a light red progress bar at the bottom of the screen between the Level and SP values.

“Hey, dRas. What’s this thing?”

>> That ‘thing’ is the level progress bar. It denotes how far beyond your present level you’ve progressed in decimal or percent form.

Sure enough, just inside the progress bar it read, ‘.84’.

“So, the system doesn’t work on experience.” he said, more to himself than to dRas.

>> Correct. Level progression, or rather, the splice percentage, is determined by a multi-varied equation which includes: Subject compatibility with Dracophage (time) and frequency of skill use.

>> Said in another way, Subject-04 will level up the more time passes (relative to the number of skills you have) and the more you use your skills, the latter being the most influential on level growth.

>> The degree of granularity of level progression is both alterable and hidden from Subject-04. However, if it pleases Subject-04, I can make known when and what actions yield what percent change via popup window.

“Ugh… Y-yeah. I like pizza, too.”

dRas responded back but with a deep and over-exaggerated Texan accent:

>> Whin ya doosom’nguud, Icunshow ya,iffinyawanmehto. Yeehaw!

“‘Iffinyawannadoo sum’n’, try speaking in plain layman’s English, please!” Zeff huffed in annoyance, then went on, “I don’t care to see all that. Just alert me when I level up.”

He paused a second. “Hey, what happens when I level up if the system doesn’t work on EXP?”

>> Rather than to just answer your question, it might be expedient to explain how the skill point system works in general.

“Go ahead. The floor’s all yours.”

>> As you are aware, you began with 8 skill points. Those were and will be awarded to you in like manner: 1 SP for each percent splice (for each integer level, in this case, 1-5) and 3 for levels divisible by 5, giving you a total of 8 SP for your original amount. Also note that integer levels that are divisible by 10 give an extra +2 SP (resulting in 3+2 SP for being an integer divisible by 5 and 10, respectively). There is also a random component to it based you Subject-04’s compatibility with the Dracophage virus.

“Exactly what does that mean?”

>> It means you could get more or less points depending on how well the virus has taken to you or is taking to you in any given moment. So what I’ve have described previously is more of a guideline for making predictions rather than a rule.

“Hmm. Okay…” Zeff thought scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Well, either way. It seems like it would take a very long time to get SP…”

>> There are other ways to accumulate SP.

>> As your skills are used, the skills themselves level up, giving you more SP. For example, Phobia I will become Phobia II given an appropriate amount of use. As you progress through the levels a skill can be ‘evolved’ at a certain point, if you so choose. This process makes the skill stronger and more efficient but will cost SP.

“So, using SP I can get skills, which then level up giving me more SP.”

>> Correct.

Something suddenly caught Zeff’s eye. “Hey what does this little number mean.” He pointed to a small number just above the ‘Physical Enhancement I’ skill that read ‘(2)‘. “Ah. They’re everywhere.” He said pointing to the small numbers on each of the lines dividing the bottom row of nodes from next.

>> This is the current ‘column value’. Once it equals zero the next row of skills will be unlocked. It was (4) this morning, bef—

“Before I added 2 SP for this:—” He stated. He pointed to the skill that had likely saved his life, entitled, “Armored Hide I.”

‘So that must mean ‘Physical Enhancement I’ was free?’ he thought to himself, but didn’t mention it. dRas would likely make a quip about his math ability, or lack thereof…

dRas went on:

>> As you use skill points in a column, that column’s ‘column cost’ will decrease. At zero, the next row will open, unlocking new skills and a new column cost. However, you can touch the value and pay the remaining cost to unlock the next row prematurely. However, upon doing so, you will permanently lose the specified amount of SP.

Zeff could see that such a thing would only be done as a last resort. If the whole system functioned on SP then losing it forever to gain more skills would be counter-productive when you could just wait and use that same SP to evolve a skill.

>> All that being said, there is one other use for SP that might interest you.

The screen suddenly switched to the ‘SP Store’ tab.

‘Woah.’ thought Zeff as he looked at the flood of information on the screen. There was a single scroll-able column with more than two dozen skills listed, each with lines of information beneath them.

>> Here you can invest in and unlock additional skills.

“Invest in skills?” Zeff asked.

>> Correct. Invest.

>> You unlock these skills by satisfying conditions. However, you can permanently invest SP in a skill, which will, in turn, make the unlock condition less complicated, or easier to fulfill. Additionally, some skills also have an SP cost, so that after they are unlocked you will still have to pay SP to activate them. If you have invested SP, however, the SP cost will be deducted from your investment in order to pay.

‘That’s more like it!’ Zeff thought with glee. With the store he could use his SP and actually get a return on his investment unlike with spending it on the ‘column cost’ to advance up the skill tree.

>> Take this skill for example.

On the screen a skill entitled ‘Phobia VI’ was highlighted.

Zeff read the information allowed.

“<<Passive Skill: Phobia VI >>”

“ISP: 0/10? What’s ISP?”

>> Invested SP… Was that not obv—

“SP COST:—!” Zeff interjected loudly, continuing on with the description. “—3”

“Unlock Conditions-”

“1: Unlock Phobia V, (1/5)”

“2: Phobiate… 7500 people!!” Zeff exclaimed as he read the number. He could guess what ‘phobiate’ meant by what followed: ‘(6/7500)‘. Six for the six cops in his apartment.

>> This would be a good time to mention—

“dRas… 7500 people?!”

>> …

>> Again, you can invest SP to make the unlock conditions more manageable if you wish.

Zeff only had 5 SP left but this was as good a time as any to test out how investing could affect unlock conditions. Next to the ISP value there was a small plus sign. ‘Investing a single SP wouldn’t be so bad, right?’ he thought to himself apprehensively. He tapped the plus sign which gave a gentle *boop* as the ISP increase from ‘0/10’ to ‘1/10’.

Instantly the second unlock condition decreased from 7500 to 6750.

“Nice.” Zeff said with a smirk and a head nod. But then something occurred to him as he look for a small question mark by the title of the skill. “But what does Phobia VI actually do?”

>> Subject-04 must unlock it in order to find out.

“What the heck, dRas!” Zeff exclaimed throwing his technicolor hands into the air, causing his ghost form to bob up in down gently. “Why would I invest my SP not knowing what I’m going to ge— Oh…” he interrupted himself as he realized, “That’s why it’s an investment, huh…?”

>> Indeed. But rest assured, all of these skills are useful and many are very powerful. It is completely up to you, however, whether you want to focus only on the Skill Tree or invest in the skills here. I should point out that you have already unlocked one store skill.

“W-what? When? How?”

>> Observe.

The column shifted to another skill that had been further up on the screen entitled ‘Dragon’s Rage’.

In the description there was a single unlock condition: ‘Become highly enraged’.

Zeff felt his ears burning. He had unlocked the skill when he had attacked Sylvan, no doubt.

To his left sylvan was still sleeping despite the fact that the midday rays from the falling sun were already beginning to retreat, his chest going up and down at a inhuman rate as he breathed in fast-forward. The clock at the edge of the room read just after 3 PM but the minute hand was turning extremely fast.

Zeff sighed. He knew he had over reacted with Sylvan. Not only that, but he had said some horribly mean things, effectively blaming him for everything… When next he had the chance, he would apologize.

dRas suddenly interrupted Zeff’s thoughts, saying:

>> Would you like to view the unlocked skill? Though it is a reactive skill, all reactive skills are in the ‘Passive Skills’ tab.

Zeff merely nodded his confirmation.

The tab changed instantly. Zeff looked intently on the screen for Dragon’s Rage but something else caught his eye. Another skill with a very familiar title.

When he read the name his jaw nearly hit the floor.

“What the h*ll!!?” Zeff exclaimed floating closer to the screen to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. “How is this possible?”

>> Ah, yes. This was one of the many consequences of Error: 035. Due to my system’s need of processing power and space, it was necessary that I turn—

“You turned her into a skill!?” Zeff breathed with sudden realization.

Directly before his eyes was the skill that read: “Aida, AI.D4.18.3; <<New>> System Passive.”