While it was a surprise, it wasn’t in a bad way, because the one who walked through the large sliding stone door was none other than Kara, walking in with her still slightly charred fur that, surprisingly, looked better than it had an hour ago.

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  “You look disappointed,” Kara said, a calming smile on her feline face.

  “Don’t hold it against me, I just prefer my cats medium-rare,” he teased the cat.

  “Ouch. Straight for the heart. You don’t hold back, do you?” she held a paw to her heart, feigning pain.

  “Do you prefer a sorrowful smile and a pained expression?” he asked jokingly.

  “Would be an improvement from the cheap quips,” she joked back.

  “Oof. Now who’s not holding back,” he leaned forward, grabbing at his chest with a wince.

  Kara gave him a toothy grin in response before making her way towards the chair opposite his, sitting on all fours while looking at him, her head leaning slightly to the right.

  “Are you gonna tell me what happened?” he asked, deciding to be more serious.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” she shrugged, her eyes drifting towards the stone tablet. “She just told me to keep an eye on you before you ‘fuck something else up.’ When I questioned, she said it’s better for my sanity if I don’t,” she explained, confusing Matt even more. “And don’t get any funny ideas. She was adamant on me not asking, so I’m staying out of it,” she finished.

  “What about me? I want to know what the fuck happened,” he complained.

  “Then wait for her to come back. I’m here to assist with the rewards and keep you company. If you try to tell me something, I’ll send Lara in instead,” she warned good heartedly.

  “Items it is,” Matt immediately responded before something else caught his attention. “Wait, Lara is awake?” he asked.

  “Yeah. A short while ago. Not in a pleasant mood, that one,” she answered, not alleviating any of Matt’s concerns.

  He had hoped what had happened would’ve made her less annoying, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He doubted the cat would try anything, but he would’ve definitely preferred for things to be less hostile, if for nothing more than a better gift and a friendlier atmosphere. Alas, it wouldn’t be the case.

  It is what it is, he thought before looking back at Kara, who was still studying him with her head leaning slightly to the side. He didn’t know if she could read his mind or not, but she was definitely looking at something. The cats were clearly much more than meets the eye.

  Choosing not to overthink it, he moved on, walking her through what he and Tara had discussed. He’d save his questions until after he had picked his rewards. Making sure to get the best items possible took priority over questioning the cats’ motives.

  Kara agreed that the spatial ring and a new skill were both correct. However, she seemed reluctant about the gloves, which had surprised him.

  He brought the item back up on the stone tablet, rereading the description.

  Gloves of Glorious Sacrifice (rare)

  No race/class restrictions.

  A pair of gloves crafted by a talented leatherworker and enchanted by a genius blood mage.

  Enchant: [Glorious Sacrifice].

  +2 strength

  +2 endurance

  [Glorious Sacrifice]: When activated, the user’s health drains at a rate of 1% current health every 3 seconds. In return, the user gains a 25% stat boost that remains as long as the health drain persists.

  “Understand something,” Kara started explaining. “Stat boosting items hold immense power, so the drawbacks are also substantial. Exceedingly so,” she continued. “The biggest drawback for this item is not the health drain, it’s gaining the stats all at once as soon as the enchantment is activated, putting a strain on your mind and body as they adapt to that new power. A strain that can take from a few seconds to a few hours.”

  She continued on, with Matt listening intently, trying not to miss a single word. “The trouble with that is you also lose the stats instantly once it’s deactivated. Losing that much power that fast will put you in an extremely weakened state, as your mind and body, once again, try to adapt. The longer you keep it activated, the worse the backlash, and the longer it can last. Sometimes leaving you weakened for a few weeks even,” she warned, making it clear that no power comes for free.

  Kara let Matt digest the information for a few seconds before adding even more to it. “Most items with a similar effect have a scaling component attached, for when you gain or lose the stats, to help your body better acclimate. But since this is only tier 9, there is only so much it can accomplish. Also, it comes with a steep 12-hour cooldown, so you can’t even circumvent the weakened state in a crisis. If you turn it off, you better be confident you want it off,” she finished.

  Kara’s words and warning felt genuine to Matt. It was obvious that the item was much more dangerous than the description had let on, but was that enough of a deterrent?

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  A weakened state did sound problematic, but her words had made one other thing perfectly clear: a 25% instant boost in stats was as powerful as it was rare. And while nothing came for free, a weakened state in exchange for that level of combat potential felt more than a fair trade.

  It was true that being in that state for an extended period presented its own set of risks, but all that meant was that Matt had to be extra careful. What could possibly go wrong with that?

  “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” he thanked the cat

  Kara nodded at him before asking, “Any other item caught your interest?”

  So far, Matt had scrolled through most of what was on the tablet. There was nothing for healers, only for magic users, offering either mana efficiency, protection, or a boost to their already existing skills and abilities, which just worked to narrow down the already shortened list even more, as almost all of them provided him with nothing of value.

  Luckily, though, something did catch his eye.

  “I think you’ll like this one,” he grinned at the cat, who now looked visibly worried.

  Matt exited the reward room a few minutes later, a big smile on his face, with Kara walking next to him.

  “So, what’s next on the agenda?” he asked.

  “You have around an hour left, so Tara and Lara will probably want to give you their gifts,” Kara answered.

  “Wait, I only have an hour left? I thought I would get to stay longer after what happened. Also, Lara is giving me a gift?” He asked, quite surprised by the fact.

  “You have. You’ve been reading through items for two hours already,” she answered, her words surprising Matt, who hadn’t felt the passage of time in the slightest.

  “Tara could’ve healed you, but chose not to so as to let you have more time. She could’ve been punished for it, but she also knows the rules better than any of us so it’s possible she knew it would be fine,” she added, giving Matt a look that he immediately understood.

  “I’ll be sure to thank her,” he answered. While the day did have its ups and downs, and things with the cats had been rocky at times, he was truly thankful she had done that. Six hours wasn’t that long, especially for someone in his position, so he really was thankful to have a few more hours. And just as Tara had said, the pressure on his soul had lessened significantly in those short few hours, now being barely perceptible to the point where he had to actually focus on his soul to sense that something was amiss.

  “As for Lara,” Kara’s words brought him back to reality. “She has to. But don’t get your hopes up,” she simply stated.

  “Gifts tend to lose their meaning when people are forced into giving them,” he told the cat

  “You’re more than welcome to refuse, but she’s still going to offer you one,” was her response.

  Matt thought on the cat’s words for a bit. Did he want Lara’s gift?

  While he did like free stuff, and by extension loot, he also didn’t really trust the cat. Her gift being useless was one thing, but if it was straight out dangerous, would he be able to tell?

  No matter what she offered him, he was most likely to never use it based on that alone. But also turning her down came with its own set of problems. The rejection could make her even more antagonistic towards him, effectively completely torching that bridge.

  Tara had mentioned they would see each other again if he made it to the next trial’s reward room, so it wasn’t like this was the last time he’d see the cat. And while he had no plans to appease her, a diplomatic approach might be the best in the long run. At least if she didn’t try anything else.

  Matt let out an audible sigh. “Guess I’ll play it by ear,” he muttered to himself.

  It took them a few more minutes of walking to reach the stairs near the giant stone double doors, where Lara and Tara were waiting, seemingly in a bit of a heated discussion.

  Tara stopped once Matt was close enough, turning towards him with a teasing smile. “You really took your time in there, huh? Was it the wine? There is no shame in indulging, but knowing when to stop is just as important.”

  “Haven’t you heard? Some cat locked me in there. Apparently she couldn’t get enough of my company, so she decided to extend my stay,” he teased back.

  “Or she was too tired of it and needed a break,” she shot back.

  “Could be, could be. I’ll still go with my theory coz it makes me look better,” he responded, a grin on his face, before his gaze shifted towards Lara, who was making it a point not to look his way.

  She seemed to be tense and deep in thought, and not simply ignoring him. His plan was to ignore the cat. He would do his thing and let her do hers, which would work out great for everyone involved. It wasn’t like he held a grudge, and odds were Tara had told her that, but he’d just rather avoid the headache. Extending an olive branch and having it thrown in his face would just make a bad situation worse. Doing nothing was probably for the best.

  Tara, noticing how tense the atmosphere has becoming, continued conversing with him.

  “Pleased with your rewards?” she asked.

  “Was a little awkward when a certain cat decided to just bolt out, but I think I did fine,” Matt joked.

  Tara seemed to ignore Lara’s questioning look, who apparently wasn’t aware of what had happened, before changing the subject. “You are still due a reward from each of us. How about we deal with that, then you can choose how you want to spend your remaining time,” she suggested.

  Matt nodded in agreement before walking and taking a seat on the stairs once more.

  “Any requests?” Tara asked.

  “Wouldn’t mind a shirt and pants that are more durable, but I’ll trust your judgement,” he shrugged.

  “Finally dropping the vagrant look? It was starting to grow on me,” Tara teased.

  “Excuse me. They are called battle scars, and people wear them with pride, thank you very much,” he shot back.

  Tara waved her hand, spawning a mirror in front of Matt. “Do they? Do they really?” she asked mockingly.

  Matt could finally take a look at himself for the first time in what seemed like forever, and what he saw shook him to his very core.

  Aside from his tattered and bloodied clothes, his body was covered in a mixture of slime, sand, sweat, and blood. His hair resembled that of a mad scientist’s from a 60s movie, and his face barely had any discernable features underneath the layers of dust and grime. His body did look more toned, but other than that… it was like staring at a bog monster from a swamp.

  He was utterly unrecognizable. And his shocked look probably told the cat all she needed to know, judging by the grin on her face. Still, he couldn’t simply let her win.

  Matt raised his chin and puffed up his chest before answering. “The only thing I see in that mirror is a warrior wearing his battle scars with pride.”

  Lara snorted at that, the joke apparently catching her off guard, before composing herself once more, pretending like nothing had ever happened.

  Matt and Tara both looked at her with surprise before facing each other again, Tara giving him a slight shrug.

  “Alright. Gifts time. It’s not a shirt, nor pants, but I’m sure you’ll appreciate it nonetheless,” she said cryptically, before raising a paw towards an intrigued Matt, only for a system message to appear in his vision.

  Modification access to item Desert Shoes requested by (Guardian Tara)

  Accept?

  Yes/No