Chapter 89: Making Friends (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17nvmXhXD_ehMsD5flqedmtPhUUfoQUmKtGkpf7d7F-0/edit?usp=sharing

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‘Making friends’ with someone had always been a strange phenomenon, whether it was in this life or the previous.

Most of the time, Cayden would be hard-pressed to identify exactly when or how it happened. Looking back, it always seemed to be that he was either friends with someone or he wasn't – he could never really recall being in that in-between period when he was still making friends. That's how it was with both Jeremy and Elise.

Jeremy had seemed ready to be friends with him from the moment they met, slotting naturally into each others' lives at the academy as if it was to be expected. And Elise...well, Cayden had a hard time even imagining his life without his friendship with Elise.

Which was why he found his current relationship with Delphia strange. He wouldn't really call Delphia his friend – she was his teammate long before that, and he knew too little about her to truly identify her in his mind as a 'friend.' But neither did he completely reject the notion. If anything, she was in that weird in-between phase in the process of becoming a friend, and it was strange for Cayden to see it happening.

She had seemingly slotted into a friendship with Elise the same way Jeremy had clicked with him. It was the first time Cayden had ever seen Elise connect with someone other than him or Tiana in their years of friendship, and he wasn't going to be the one to get in the way of that. Plus, there were the practical aspects to consider.

Cayden was really enjoying his new skills and the possibilities they presented, but they came with their own set of limitations: they couldn't be used to their fullest in isolation. He'd been practicing daily with Elise activating her skills through [Conduit], but her skills weren't ideal for the type of training Cayden needed to do. It was surreal having Elise activate her level fifteen [Focused Mind] on Cayden, feeling like he was simultaneously high and the most grounded he'd ever been in his life, but it wasn't the sort of skill that he was likely to use in battle, nor was it one he expected he'd put in the time to level up with [Borrowed Power]. And none of Elise's other skills were particularly useful in that regard, either.

The combination of [Conduit] and [Borrowed Power] presented something of a surprising moral conundrum from Cayden. [Conduit] required at least some trust given to his teammates on Cayden's part, given that he'd have to explain the mechanics of his skill, but that wasn't something he was too worried about; he was already less concerned with keeping his build 'secret' than most of his peers, and by its very nature [Conduit] would keep his enemies guessing even if they knew exactly how it worked. But the skill required even more trust on the part of his teammates, given that Cayden would be able to see, and then steal with [Borrowed Power], any skill that was used through [Conduit].

That was a level of trust Cayden doubted many of the nobles, including Velic, would be willing to extend to him, especially when those skills most effective to be used through [Conduit] were most likely to be the most powerful and integral skills for their build. Of course, Cayden could simply not explain [Borrowed Power]. He could persuade other students to activate the skills he wanted through [Conduit] in the name of training, stealing the skills and training them up in secret. But that...that was not something Cayden felt comfortable doing. At least not yet. They might not have been his friends, and 'stealing' their skills might not hurt them in any tangible way...but it still felt scummy to him.

He didn’t feel nearly as strongly about stealing skills that were used against him. Those – at least those that were used against him in serious combat – he had zero compunctions about stealing. For those used against him in training...he was still unsure.

That still left him with some serious limitations on how he could train [Conduit]. He didn't want to persuade someone to use him as a [Conduit] without also first explaining his ability to see and steal their skill with [Borrowed Power], and he didn't want to broadcast [Borrowed Power's] effects in case it triggered others to refuse to fight or train with him. If he was going to train [Conduit], he first needed to find someone who he could trust and who would trust him in return.

Which led him to Delphia. Perhaps Jeremy would have been the better choice, but Cayden didn't want to put his friend in that position. For all that they were friends, they were also on competing teams, and, as far as Cayden understood it, Jeremy's linking skill was a huge part of his contribution to his own team. Cayden wouldn't have been offended if Jeremy said no, but that was a lot of pressure to place on a still relatively-new friendship. Delphia was already on his team, so she hopefully wouldn't see granting Cayden more power as a detriment to herself, and if she refused to associate with Cayden afterward he wouldn't see it as a big loss. Plus, Cayden found it unlikely that the quiet girl would go gossiping around campus about his skill.

"...and so Cayden didn't want to be able to see and steal your skills without your permission, which is why we're asking you first," Elise explained to the hooded Delphia.

Delphia was slightly less shy when Elise was around, so Cayden figured it'd be best if Elise took over the job of explaining the situation to her. Her presence would hopefully set Delphia a bit more at ease, as Cayden could understand how the shy girl might feel apprehensive about meeting one-on-one with her team's much larger frontliner in one of the private training rooms. Cayden had asked one of the assistants, and apparently the training rooms were completely isolated and protected with runes to prevent eavesdropping and scrying, enabling teams to discuss skills and tactics without fear of being overheard.

Although, that did make Cayden wonder how many of the training sessions in the unmonitored rooms devolved into something a bit more...physical...between the teenage students.

He shook his head to refocus when he noticed Delphia's hood turn in his direction, and he gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Feel free to say no if it makes you uncomfortable. But I hope you'll say yes."

There was a minute pause before the hood shook back and forth in the negative. "No, it's fine. I don't think you'll get much benefit from taking my skills either way, but I'm willing to help you train."

"Really? I'd think healing skills would be amazing for a frontliner to have. Moreso for ones that are as powerful as yours," Cayden replied, confused.

Delphia paused, her hood tilting downward, before responding. "Perhaps it best if I show you?"

Cayden gave a quick nod before activating [Conduit] and extending a link toward Delphia.

"I'll need something to heal," Delphia said.

Without hesitating, Cayden slipped the sheaths off of his claws – made somewhat more difficult by his missing arm – and made a small cut on his calf. A second later the cut disappeared as if it were never there, and Cayden received a notification.

New skill available for Borrowed Power: Misery Loves Company.

Without accepting the offered skill, Cayden wouldn't be able to read its description, so with a thought he dismissed his previously borrowed skill, Elise's [Soul Notebook]. He'd been using her racial skill as much as possible to see if it was possible to level up a borrowed racial skill, which normally had no levels – an enticingly broken prospect – but so far hadn't had any luck.

A moment later, his [Borrowed Power] skill changed to [Misery Loves Company], and he pulled up its description.

Misery Loves Company (active): Injuries are transferred from the target to the user. Transferred injuries are 90% as severe as on the original target. Minimal mana cost.

He looked up at Delphia in incredulity, who shied away from his gaze.

"This is how you've been healing everyone? Just transferring the wounds to yourself? How do you move around so easily afterward?"

"...the injuries aren't as bad on me, and it's less as it levels up. And I don't always take all of the injuries. I have an assessment skill as well, and I can choose to take on only part of injuries or ignore others, leaving them behind."

"Still, though..." Cayden shook his head. "How is this really helping the team, overall? Just shuffling around the injuries with a small reduction?"

"I...I also have other skills which help with that," Delphia responded as Elise looked back and forth between the two of them curiously.

New skill available for Borrowed Power: Alchemical Assistance.

Cayden was a bit surprised by the sudden notification, as he didn't feel or see the effects of any new skill being activated through [Conduit]. But, at the implied direction from Delphia, he dismissed [Misery Loves Company] from [Borrowed Power] and learned [Alchemical Assistance] in its place.

Alchemical Assistance (passive): The effects of all potions are 30% more effective on the user. The user's potion limit is increased by 200%.

Cayden's eyes widened. "This...this is amazing! Why don't you take a bunch of buffing potions before fights?" But then the implications of the skill caught up to him, and he frowned. "So all those potions you're drinking are healing potions, not mana potions? But they don't do anything for the pain, and standard healing potions can't heal everything." His still-missing arm could attest to that.

"I have a high-leveled [Pain Resistance] skill. And buffing potions could be helpful, but I'd rather keep a larger buffer on my potion limit so I can take more healing potions if needed. A two hundred percent increase sounds like a lot, but the limit can still sneak up on you when dealing with more severe injuries. I'd rather not take the risk."

Cayden noted that she never addressed the issue of potions' imperfect healing, but before he could ask again Elise jumped in, finally unable to contain her curiosity after listening to their discussion for the previous minute in silence. "What's the skill? Something with potions?"

Cayden looked to Delphia. "Do you mind if I share?" he asked. It was, after all, her skill.

Delphia shook her head, and Cayden read off the skill's name and description to Elise.

Elise immediately pulled out her soul notebook, scribbling with her conjured pen. "...thirty percent increase to the effect of potions. Is that thirty percent to each potion? Or to the cumulative effect of potions consumed at any time? Usually, potions have diminishing returns when stacking multiples of the same effect."

Delphia seemed surprised by Elise's sudden fervor, but she responded to her questions much more confidently than she had been responded to Cayden's. And while they talked, Elise scribbling some equations in her notebook as she calculated how the skill would affect her stacking enchanted item and potions theory, Cayden pondered what the skill might mean for him, a small smile growing on his face.

Delphia might not have been able to make full use of buffing potions due to her need to always be ready to use healing potions, but Cayden had no such limitations, especially not with Delphia nearby to instantly and perfectly remove his injuries. And though it wasn't her favorite area of study, he had a veritable expert on potions as a best friend.

It was still early to be sure, but he believed he had found an excellent long-term option for [Borrowed Power].

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