—Sally—

  I stared in wonder as a new blue screen hovered in front of me instead of the typical angry orange-red one I expected. It wasn't a gentle colour, a stark and hard to miss shade. But even then it was more… silent, hesitant—patient yet uncaring of the outcome.

  If the previous system was an angry king that demanded everyone's attention and lashed out with executions at the slightest insult, then this new System was a cunning queen. Always carefully watching her court from her throne, with a cold and detached stare. Never becoming directly involved, but orchestrating tragedies that'd been designed to cut you in the cruellest way she could envision.

  I shook my head to get rid of the weird anthropomorphisation of coloured boxes, and I felt a bit confused at the sudden and extremely defined characteristics that'd popped into my head.

  Distractions aside, I finally read what the message entailed.

  [New Message, from: Moon God]

  [Well, your desperate words have inspired me to offer a solution to your plight, should you deign to take it, your Path should become somewhat unblocked. However, my creation cannot fix what is no longer there, so what you'll have to sacrifice to rectify the issue is not my problem to solve.

  But it will still be better than the Sun's unfinished framework at navigating those muddy waters, that I can guarantee.

  Good Luck, ye whining scaled wyrm.]

  [Congratulations! You have received an offer to be the first user of the beta test for the Path framework 'The Moon's Path'. This comes with a plethora of benefits, but most of all it is available for all to use, unlike the current competition. Just say the activation phrase out-loud, and The Moon's Path will find you!]

  [The closed beta activation phrase is: 'I give myself to the Moon, and my Path shall be taken under its light.']

  [Feel free to invite friends and family to help test the Moon's Path.]

  That fucking asshole always has to have the last laugh, doesn't it. Well, I'll have to be a bit nicer to them if they really have given me a working replacement to the garbage system I have currently.

  The sacrifice thing doesn't really scare me too much, at this point I'm willing to sacrifice almost anything to get my hands on some levels and magic. And what do I have left to give up that I couldn't just simply find a workaround for?

  I mean it's magic! I could use it to replace whatever it wanted to take.

  If it wanted my eyesight? Sound magic for echolocation, or earth magic to feel for tremors, like a certain earth-bending girl.

  Besides, it's a unique system just for me. I can practically feel the narrative weight behind it—this'll be a turning point for me, I just know it.

  I'll finally start getting some power, and with that the ability to make my own decisions—control what happens to me next. More importantly, how could I say the activation phrase? It's not like I've regained the ability to speak yet.

  Though now that I give the sentence a closer look, it's a very ritualistic phrase. 'I give myself to the Moon, and my Path shall be taken under its light.', it sounds like-

  [Please confirm your choice to adopt the Moon's Path?]

  Oh, I suppose that it makes sense for it to read my mind.

  Yes? Go ahead with-

  [Thank you for participating in the Moon god's first round of closed Beta tests for 'The Moon's Path', we look forward to working with you.]

  [Please wait while all previous frameworks are removed and replaced.]

  As soon as the last message was read by me, it disappeared with a violent flash of light. I then watched in fascination as the other window I still had open started flickering.

  It was still in the old red colour, but that had begun to change as well—the text unstable as all of the details began to morph and twist like something left in the sun for far too long. Circles of blue light had started to burn through the old system, like those old film reels breaking.

  The red system tried to fight back—to close and heal the holes ripping it apart—but it was overrun before it could fight back. It was like watching a kid try to protect their sandcastle from the rising tide, maybe they could stop a wave or two with their body, but a few always splashed past. As the foundations were weakened from multiple swells that the kid couldn't stop, it'd finally give in and crumble.

  Don't ask why I have such a particular analogy for that scenario.

  But eventually the old system was completely subsumed by the pale, arctic light. After a few seconds of the box being reduced to a solid blue colour, words eventually reappeared.

  [Framework update complete! Enjoy the new Path your fate shall take.]

  After reading the new system's self-congratulations, I willed the system to open—I was eager to see what new opportunities awaited me. Finally! Everything is working properly and as intended, and I can see that I'm allowed to pick a new race? Don't mind if I do!

  [An evolution is possible, Please select one from the option below at your earliest convenience.

  Be warned, the greater the change in between your current form and the one you're evolving to, the stronger the possible side-effects. However, the most common symptoms of:

  

  
• 
  
    Drowsiness
  
    


  
• 
  
    Nausea
  
    Migraines
  
    


  
• 
  
    Memory loss
  
    


  
• 
  
    And more
  
    


  

  Only typically last twelve hours at most. If symptoms persist, please pray to your personal god at your earliest convenience.]

  [Possible evolutions:

  

  
• 
  
    Acid dreki (Infant) [Synchronicity – 63%]: the wild beasts of the northern hills, simple beasts that prey on wild animals and whatever humans that are unfortunate enough to end up in their way. This unique variation of the pack animal has a bad habit of spitting flesh eating acid everywhere, giving their mountain habitats a ‘unique’ stench.
  
    


  

  Prerequisites: [[Scales], [legs], [a heart that's still beating]]

  Rarity: [All too common]

  Racial bonuses:

  [Strength ++, Constitution +++, Intelligence ---, Wisdom -, Charisma --]

  [skills:

  Gain: [Acid Breath], [Thick Scales], and [Pack Leadership]]

  

  
• 
  
    Silver drake (Infant) [Synchronicity – 78%]: Nobles compared the other beasts descended from the great dragons of the mountains, less predatory and more intelligent than their wyrmling and dreki cousins. They fight with pack tactics and their claws, taking advantage of their nigh invulnerability to lower forms of magic to hunt magical prey.
  
    


  

  Prerequisites: [[Scales], [legs], and [Intelligence > 20]]

  Rarity: [An unusual sight]

  Racial bonuses:

  [Dexterity +, Constitution ++, Intelligence +, Wisdom +, Charisma +]

  [skill changes:

  Gain: [Magic digestion], [Silver Scales], and [Pack Union] ]

  Stolen story; please report.

  

  
• 
  
    Fire dragon (Infant) [Synchronicity – 91%]: A famous and comparatively more recent variant of the great dragons. Tens of thousands of years ago, they became the lords of the sky that coveted any precious metal they could claim, raining down fiery hell-storms on those who opposed them. The hordes of gold upon which they sleep have always been a temptation for any too stupid for self-restraint, or too proud to let their gold stay stolen. Those who attempt to steal from a dragon’s vault rarely succeed, and they are never forgotten, always hunted by one of the few living things that can’t forget a grudge.
  
    


  

  Prerequisites: [[Intelligence > 20], [Wisdom < 15], [ Soul > 45] and [A soul that has sparks of greed]]

  Rarity: [A rare find]

  Racial bonuses:

  [Strength ++, Dexterity ++, Constitution ++, Wisdom -, Intelligence +, Charisma +]

  [skills:

  Gain: [Flame breath], [A sense for Greed], and [fire magic (basic)]

  Changed: [Mental-Framework] -> [Mental-Framework (Partially absorbed 93%)]]

  

  
• 
  
    Cloud dragon (Infant) [Synchronicity – 93%]: A more rare and aloof breed of dragons than most. They once lived simple existences in the clouds, looking down at the world below with the arrogance of kings. In an age many cycles before this one, they were worshipped as genies to gods, their beauty and power revered among all. But because of their in-born power and phenology, they were thought to all have been born with egos capable of matching their horrific, yet awe-inspiring beauty.
  
    


  

  Prerequisites: [[Charisma > 20], [Wisdom < 20], [Soul > 40], and [A soul that fervently wishes to rise above lesser creatures.]]

  Rarity: [An epic creature]

  Racial bonuses:

  [Dexterity ++, Wisdom -, Charisma ++, Soul +]

  [skills:

  Gained: [Weather magic (basic)], [Cloud shaping], and [Flight (basic)]

  Changed: [Mental-Framework] -> [Mental-Framework (Partially absorbed 89%)]

  Lost: [Ill-fitted Soul]]

  Now, I don't want to sound disappointed—I couldn't be if I tried—but why were there only dragon or drake options? Why not a snake? Or any other random animal?

  [The Moon's Path shows only the options that can truly mesh with your soul, the shown options have to both have a [Synchronicity] > 60% and met [Pre-requisites]. There are countless options to choose from, but only a few ones that can be picked without major consequence. Your spirit must be compatible with the physical containers so you can synchronise fully with, and avoid incurring the [Ill-fitted Soul] Condition.]

  Well, I suppose there's an obvious implication when every option is draconic—does my soul crave a dragon's body?

  Which is weird, because while I do prefer this body to my old one, I don't see why preference makes a difference when I was always a human before this? It's not like preference has to do with the soul.

  More importantly, that was an oddly specific response for a random thought that I had. Are you reading my mind and responding to me? Are you a sentient system?

  [The Moon's Path is not aware nor alive in any typical meaning of the word, there are however a number of pre-loaded responses to questions that I, the Moon god, suspected the first users of my Beta would ask. In other situations you must use the skill [Appraisal – Level 1], supplied to all users upon uptake of the Moon's Path, to get more information on specific names or concepts. The appraised words must be surrounded by the brackets, [example], in some capacity anywhere in the Path for it to be queryable.]

  Neat, but I suppose I was already doing that with the old broken system. Though this is already much more intuitive and easy to use than before.

  [You're welcome.]

  I froze in fear, caught off guard and suspecting that the Moon god was watching my every move just to fuck with me. But then I realised that this was probably just another layer of the mind-fuckery.

  I waved the window away before any other fourth-wall breaking pop-ups could disturb me.

  But the selection of options weren't a disappointment—excluding the acid-spitting pit-bull of course—especially the last two. The Silver drake option seems to be the stock standard option, no risk, the safe-and-steady option, with no major rewards.

  The fire dragon option is where it started to get interesting, especially with how it's described like the classic fantasy archetype of it. Like Tolkien's Smaug sitting on a pile of gold, one that it had murdered a kingdom for, a force of nature that takes what it wants, whenever it feels like it.

  If there was no better option, I wouldn't hesitate to take the offer and probably turn red—but there was something more tempting. It caught my attention way more than any instant power boost could've.

  The cloud dragon could fly.

  And I wanted nothing more than that right now, especially after the taste of it I got falling down that tunnel. The wind between my wings and the rush I felt while flying was intoxicating—it made me completely understand why people went skydiving.

  The freedom and power I got from that experience was incomparable to anything else I’d felt, this life and probably my last one too. The phantom sensation of my wings navigating the currents of air still echoed through my now-idle limbs. It made me want to jump off the nearest cliff just to feel it again.

  Though the magic was also interesting. It's a rule of thumb that weirder and more specific the type of magic, the better it was. While fire magic was usually decent, all it could probably do and evolve into was flame related stuff—which is only so useful when you don't want to burn something to the ground.

  While weather magic, that could be anything and become any sort of specialisation. There are storms, rain, mist, lightning, clouds, and so many more concepts are contained within the umbrella term of weather. It was much more versatile than fire, while still holding the same potential for destructive power.

  There was a risk with it though, there wasn't a guarantee that it was as good as I thought it could be—I didn't know the magic meta for this world.

  You know what? Fuck it.

  Fire Dragon might be the safer and more reliable option, with better stats and magic—but I'm not here for the better option. But I'm not just picking at random, I just don't have it in me to meta-game a literal second chance at life. So, I'm going to pick what I want, and that's not always going to be the standard 'best choice'.

  Whenever I'm given the option, getting strong powers is just a bonus criteria, because I'm going to pick the more interesting and personally appealing option. And becoming a Smaug rip-off ain't that.

  I wanted to be a Cloud Dragon—so I'm going to become one.

  With my mind made up, I tried to select that final evolution option.

  [Please resolve the following conditions before continuing: [Stunted Bond]]

  But it's never that easy for me, now is it?

  With the angry sigh of someone stuck on hold for the fifth time, I read through the new condition that'd been dumped on me at the most inconvenient time.

  [Using [Appraisal – Lvl 1] on: [Stunted Bond]]

  [Stunted Bond – Level N/A Condition]

  [A unique issue for a very annoying specimen]

  [Due to a long and convoluted series of events, your soul and Path have become intertwined with the ranger Orion.

  This has resulted in an unique situation, and you've made me, the Moon god, personally write this screen. Just for it to only be seen once, by you.

  You have become unable to augment your Path. This is because the previous framework your Path had been equipped with had promised itself to Orion's Path. However, it was unable to, as it did not have the right, only you do.

  You can no longer adjust your Path, as it's no longer within your reach, but the one who has it cannot access it without your permission.

  Because the Sun's framework is stubborn by design, there is only one option left if you wish to proceed. It might sound like a negative, but having someone else choosing your future is better than not having one.]

  [Are you willing to trust Orion to make the decisions you want him to?]

  [Yes/No]

  Go fuck yourself.

  'Sacrifice a thing you find important' to use my system? What's the point if the thing I'm sacrificing is control over the system?

  I huffed and lay down, dismissing the window with a burst of righteous anger.

  Angry as I was, I still observed my surroundings and noticed that it'd been at least an hour since Orion had gone hunting.

  The day had become tinted with the golden hue of the afternoon in the time that I'd been waiting. The temperature was pleasantly warm—much more pleasant than the cave.

  It was nice enough that I fell asleep, before I could even realise how tired I was feeling.

  ***

  I woke up to the sound of crackling, my eyes opening just enough to look for the cause of the noise. I felt the heat and smelled the aroma wafting off of the campfire before I saw it.

  Above the pile of popping kindling, sticks, and burning branches was an animal that I didn't recognise. Though it was hard to tell when it was already skinned, its meat becoming a crispy gold colour from the heat.

  You could've told me it was any cat-sized animal with four legs, and I would've believed you.

  But I ignored my loudly protesting stomach when I saw Orion sitting next to the campfire, a mix of feelings making themselves known at the sight of him. I was happy to see him—the food he'd brought was most of that—but the newest mess his [Soul-Bond] had made was a headache that I wanted to solve as soon as possible.

  I looked around for the sticks we'd been using to twig-text—I'm not giving up on the name yet—but I couldn't see them in the spot they'd been left before.

  I carefully inspected the fire, and an antagonistic scowl that slipped out of me unconsciously—he must've used them as firewood. It wasn't hard to figure out what'd happened to them when so many of the burning sticks looked painfully familiar.

  Orion looked over when he heard the noise that I'd made, and tried to give me a reassuring smile. I say tried, because it looked like the most painful and forced thing he'd ever done. I would've been less worried if he didn't try to fake it in the first place.

  I shook my head at him disapprovingly, doing the best I could to dissuade him from doing that again without twig-texts. He thankfully got the message and stopped trying to fake whatever reaction he was attempting to portray.

  While I appreciated him treating me differently now that he knew my true nature, I didn't need him to overexert what little social skills he had. I'd also rather he didn't bother to lie to me, it would be easier to trick him if he was always honest around me.

  Orion quickly went back to tending the meat, the pleasant smell wafting off of it almost enough to devolve my ravenous state into a mad fervour. It drove me to attack the meat while it was over the fire.

  To distract myself, I thought about the most recent and demeaning development in my ongoing war against the system. Unfortunately I don't think I can thrive in this world without it and its ability to evolve me out of drake-hood and into a true draconic being.

  Which means that I'll have to break this [Soul Bond] to be free of Orion. Before, it was just a gimmick that I could take advantage of, when it wasn't forcing me to do anything.

  Now, it was forcing me to let Orion choose my future. Even if I managed to negotiate with Orion, and get him to pick the option I wanted and I was okay with that—I might have to be if I can't find another option—it had the consequence of forcing me to stick with Orion.

  Don't get me wrong, Orion has been a great assistant so far, but I don't want to be stuck with him if a better option pops up. To use the system at all, I would have to stick by his side constantly to tell him what to pick for me.

  He saved my life a couple of times, so naturally I trust him—only a bit more than before—but who wouldn't get tempted with all that power?

  The ability to make the executive decisions over someone else's life isn't something anyone can resist. Even if it only starts off with small things in the beginning, anybody would be tempted to slowly take control.

  Which means that I have to find out a way to break the [Soul Bond], and take back my system for myself.

  The question is whether to accept the situation as it is for now, and let Orion have control until I can destroy his stupid [Animal Companion] skill, or wait. Spend God—I suppose it's gods now, given that I've met one, and know of another—knows how long as an infant lesser silver drake.

  "Sally, are you hungry?" Orion suddenly asked, shocking me out of my serious thoughts, and I felt even more surprised when I realised that I could understand the statement. It was going to take some time to get used to being able to understand his words.

  I looked over and saw him holding the roasted animal by the stick he'd pierced through it, and nodded my head as quickly as I could.

  I've been losing health because of literal fucking starvation, of course I'm hungry.

  He tore off one of its legs and started to lean over to pass it to me. But I snatched it out of his hands like a dog, and demeaning as that was, I couldn't bring myself to really care—it just smelt that good.

  I gnawed on the drumstick and swallowed its flesh as fast as I could without choking, barely tasting it before it disappeared down my gullet.

  I was a bit disappointed that it tasted worse than when I just had raw meat, but I suppose I was a carnivore now, so I'd have to adapt to eating a bit more 'rare' steaks now.