I spend hours cycling through martial arts routines, testing the limits of my new... everything. When I feel like I won’t run face first into a tree again, I move on to the next item on the list: the Starlight Bangle. I almost completely forgot about it after all the changes, but each time my ear twitches its tinkling catches my attention.

  So after getting used to my upgrades, I store away all of my pouches, the three arcanite shards, and the axes. Thankfully, it’s like System Skills, and is as simple as thinking about accessing the space within the bangle. It's almost like a mental image of a room full of shelves. Some appear empty, while others hold the shards, coins, and other things I'd gathered.

  I do a quick test, putting my cloak in the storage while I’m still wearing it. When I remove it again, I can’t hold back the grin when it reappears over my shoulders, exactly as it was before. I try to do the same with the axes and their harness, but it doesn’t quite work. The harness reappears on me just fine, but the axes just appear in my hands despite that.

  Still, I was glad to know that now rather than later.

  While testing my new Skills, I find them pretty straightforward. Bloodmist Fist coats my arms or legs with a scarlet mist that seems to seep from my skin. While it feels a little odd, it's not unpleasant. And it works while Arcane Strike is active as well.

  Blood burst is fairly straightforward—and messy. Its also impossible to get a scale for just how much damage it does here, since nothing I do seems to harm the space around me.

  Scarlet Barrier is interesting though. If I invest just health into it, it forms a solid barrier of crystallized blood. Thankfully it’s mostly transparent, but gives everything a red tint. With just mana invested, it forms a powerful wind barrier around me that swirls almost like a tornado. It’s see through like the blood barrier, just better because there’s almost no obstruction at all.

  Using both health and mana has both effects present at the same time, except the blood barrier is broken into fragments that are sent swirling around me by the wind at a ridiculous speed. They’re still angled to redirect or absorb incoming attacks, but now it looks like the barrier will cut anyone who gets too close.

  I test Hemokinesis while the barrier is active and find that I can shift the crystalline fragments around, and even layer them. It takes a lot of focus and mana though. I can only manage to layer up two of the crystaline barriers, but it becomes noticibly easier after each try.

  Not by much, and it still takes a steady stream of mana that even my absurd regen can’t keep up with, but I'll take it. I add a mental note to practice this skill whenever possible.

  As a test, I try using it on the blood created by Blood Burst and find it significantly more easy to manage, even managing to shift it into simple shapes. It seems… mostly useless, actually. I’m a bit disappointed, but I imagine that after a lot of practice and a class evolution or two, it’ll become more impressive.

  With a shrug, I release all of my skills and pull out the axes, looking them over intently. Thankfully, Relic Whisperer activates all on it’s own now that I’m actually focusing on an item.

  Onyx Axes of Returning

  Rare, Blood Bound

  Enchantments:

  Return

  This item can be recalled to its wielder with a small but constant expenditure of mana.

  Sharpened

  This item can retain its sharpness with regular infusions of mana.

  They’re a bit better than I anticipated. I thought they would be common rarity with only the one enchantment, but this is a nice surprise. The blood bond is pretty good too, and make sense given the Return ability. While similar to soul bonds, blood bonds can actually be removed from an item, are much more common, and only stop someone else from using the item's enchantments—not the item itself.

  It might be a pain, but once I get back to the city I’m going to sell them to the guild. I’ll lose a bit of the profit because they’ll need to remove the bond, but they’ll be better in the hands of someone who will actually use them.

  Suddenly, a new System Notice appears before me, unprompted.

  Notice

  As you have finished adapting to your rewards, all missed System Notices will now be released for your viewing.

  Only a few appear in the corner of my vision then, waiting for me to view them. With some hesitation, I pull up the first.

  WORLD NOTICE

  The System has been updated.

  [REDACTED], the System Waker, uses their authority to enact changes!

  First, the error that prevented access to the System has been resolved.

  Second, the System will now update regularly to ensure such errors never occur again.

  Third, entities of sufficient status within the System may now enact System-wide changes upon reaching majority vote and System approval.

  Fourth, all who were previously unable to access the System will now be granted the following:

  Access to the System.

  A one-time full restoration to perfect health.

  A quest crafted specifically for the individual to aide them with integrating into the system.

  The title “Faulted No Longer”.

  I stare at it, afraid to blink in case it vanishes. But the notice stays—brilliant, undeniable, and beautiful.

  Nobody will ever be Faulted again.

  It wasn’t something I could really put words to. For as long as I can remember, the System was like a wall I could never scale. But now, I somehow tore it down for everyone. The idea of it seems unreal, and I can't shake the confusion at the core of my excitement. I don’t remember doing any of this.

  Notice

  With the System Update, the System attempted to contact you to receive instructions on what changes to prioritize.

  Unable to receive direct instructions due to your state of unconsciousness, the System then used your desires as a guideline, resolving each in turn.

  If any changes you wished for were missed, you may start a vote to enact them at any time.

  Well, I guess that makes sense. The whole ‘entities of sufficient status’ thing threw me off—until I realized, that yeah… maybe I did want that. I’d always wished that the System wasn’t able to have Faulted in the first place, and one obvious way to achieve that is to have people able to make changes. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it would do.

  I was somewhat disappointed with myself for not being aware enough to guide the changes. It worked out, but any weakness rankled. Even if there was nothing I could do given the state I was in at the time.

  I distract myself with some of the details. How the notice displays my name catches my attention, until I remember what the System Waker title does. I double check it.

  System Waker

  You updated the System, enabling it to awaken to its full potential.

  Your identity will be concealed in all System notices that would otherwise reveal it, unless you wish otherwise.

  Grants an additional unique class slot.

  Honestly, it’s relieving. I’d rather remain anonymous as possible anyways. It’s what I’m used to, and I’d like to think I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years. At the same time, I’m sure a lot of people will be thankful for the changes; especially the other Faulted.

  I didn’t really want credit for it though. It would draw far too much attention, and not all of it would be friendly. Still, the thought that I helped so many brings a smile to my face.

  Grinning, I move on to the next notice.

  WORLD NOTICE

  Morena, Goddess of Life and Death, and Fylem, God of Time and Eternity, enact a change.

  Wild magic zones have been transformed into “Dungeons”.

  Oh.

  I hadn’t thought that the literal gods would get involved with the changes, though in hindsight I feel a little foolish for the thought. They’d obviously be considered ‘entities of sufficient status’. What really concerns me is the fact that I can affect the System the same as they do.

  Then I review the first notice, and my jaw drops. It had said I used my “authority” to enact changes, and the changes I made specifically allowed for others to do the same.

  I was able to do this before the gods themselves could. Granted, they never needed the System to make changes to the universe at large in the first place, but still. However unintentional, the thought that I was somehow in the position to give them permission to do something sends a shudder down my spine and stiffens my tail.

  I’m not quite able to stop myself from panicking, so I just move on to the next notice for a distraction. I regret it the instant the notice opens.

  WORLD NOTICE

  Kiri, the Sixth, and Morena, Goddess of Life and Death, enact a change!

  All previously extinct sapient species will be slowly reintroduced to the world through Dungeons.

  “My predecessors did not have the right to erase from the world those with minds of their own. We shall undo their mistakes.”

  A feminine voice unfurls within me—not through my ears, but deep within the marrow of my being. It’s ethereal, like a whisper carved from reality itself. So soft and gentle… but utterly broken. It's Kiri. Her voice impresses all that she is into me, forcing me to feel and understand as she does, to recognize her even though we've never met.

  The sound of her voice alone shatters me, and I collapse beneath the weight of sorrow not my own. I immediately activate Mental Suppression in full, but it does nothing. The emotions that follow are beyond me, but I am made to know.

  Grief floods through me, vast and ageless. I feel her pain like it is my own. The mourning of lives extinguished by careless hands, the hollow silence left behind where vibrant souls once thrived. Her anguish is so profound, so all-consuming that it presses against my ribs with the weight of a mountain, and I sob without restraint.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  It’s not just sorrow though. It’s love, too. A love deep enough to break the world. A love that remembers every lost name, every forgotten voice, and cradles their absence like a wound that never closes. It wraps around me, suffocating me with a void coiling tight around my soul.

  But then it fractures. A gleam of something warm and golden and so, so pure breaks through. Hope.

  Light spills in through the crack, and with it, something shifts. The grief doesn’t vanish, but transforms. Becomes reverence. Peace. A gratitude so profound it feels like a prayer offered not to the divine, but from it.

  And it’s directed at me.

  I gasp—nearly fainting from the intensity of it—as Kiri’s presence wraps around me in something that is not quite a blessing, not quite an embrace, but something more raw and real. It caresses my soul with a tenderness I can’t fathom, and I know that she could destroy me instantly if she wanted to. But I also know she never would.

  Still, I shudder.

  “Thank you, little fox.”

  I know this part isn’t from the System. The words aren’t just text or sound. They’re intent, pulsing with meaning, threading through every corner of me like light through a cracked window.

  That she can reach me like this… that she would reach out at all… it should terrify me. But it doesn’t. I feel her joy and affection. Her boundless desire to repay a debt she believes I’m owed. She speaks a promise without words, made to me alone.

  So I don’t fear her. I just stay curled where I am, arms wrapped around myself, tail drawn close, and let the silence cradle me until she fades away and I’m ready to move on.

  It takes some time. I don’t know how long I lay there, but when I feel the emotional suppression finally start to work, I instantly turn it off.

  I don't know how she did that, but even if I know she means me no harm, I want to rage at her for forcing that all on me. On everyone, really, but especially me. It was almost like an alien mind had been within my own, forcing me to grasp every concept they understood, as they understood it.

  It's awful.

  With a shudder, I sit up and move on. I know I'm not quite over the experience, but I’m as ready as I can be, for whatever comes next. I brace myself and open the next notice.

  WORLD NOTICE

  Morena, Goddess of Life and Death, and Fylem, God of Time and Eternity, enact changes!

  First, the System error granting Constitution-based immortality has been resolved.

  Second, Classes that grant immortality, or have similar effects, are now exclusively locked to Mythic rarity or higher.

  Third, any who gained such abilities naturally or unintentionally before these changes have been pardoned.

  “Some thought themselves clever, twisting the System to defy our will.”

  “Time stops for nothing. Judgment awaits.”

  Two voices rise in tandem, once again brushing against my soul. One warm and coaxing, the other cold and vast.

  The first voice, Morena’s, drifts into me like the memory of soft hands and lullabies long forgotten. She speaks not with wrath, but with weary understanding—like a grandmother who has seen too much, and who knows better than to rage at foolishness when patience will do.

  There’s humor in her tone. A faint, knowing amusement, as though she sees the mess we’ve made and is gently preparing to clean it up. I can almost picture her shaking her head fondly at us, disappointed but still doting.

  Then comes the voice of Fylem.

  His presence is not sharp or thunderous, but deep and endless. A voice weathered by eons, vast as the sky and slow as the turning of stars. There’s no anger, no hate. Just inevitability.

  Where Morena scolds with soft affection, Fylem simply is. There’s no appeal in his judgment, because there is no malice to resist. Only the sense that the clock has run its course, and now it tolls.

  I feel their disappointment. It’s not sharp or personal—just ancient, collective. As though we, the mortals who twisted what was given, are children they love… but must now restrain. It isn’t aimed at me, but still, I can’t help but feel ashamed. Like I’d just been scolded by parents I never had.

  There is no gloating. No triumph. Just the quiet sadness of gods setting things right not because they want to, but because they must. And for a moment, I feel so small. Not in fear, but in perspective. It is a gentle slap on the wrist, a reminder that even as I rise, there are still forces so absolute that nothing could ever compare.

  And they are watching.

  I’m not the focus of this message, but I still shiver with existential dread. I had thought that Kiri was possibly some long forgotten Goddess, but no. The vastness of Morena and Fylem, two true gods in every way, were as beyond Kiri as Kiri was beyond me.

  ***

  For a while I just sit there and reflect on what I’d just confronted. But I've already made up my mind. In the end, it doesn’t change my goals. I just know how far I have to go now. I was overwhelmed at first, with the powers at play, but I’ve decided to turn it into a catalyst. A way to motivate myself and move forward.

  Still terrifying for sure, but they showed me the peak of a mountain I hadn't even known existed. And as foolish as I may be for it, I couldn't resist the urge to climb it.

  But first… I desperately needed a bath. If I've already been noticed by gods and godlike beings, I figure it's best to just ignore them. It's not like I could stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

  Maybe someday, but definitely not anytime soon.

  “So… System. Can I get a bath tub? Or even just a few buckets of water?” I ask sweetly.

  Notice

  If you are ready to leave, please take exit through the door at your convenience.

  “So no, then…” I say, my ears drooping with disappointment.

  Then an idea hits me. A stupid, brilliant idea.

  Mentally, I push out the idea that I want to start a vote to change the System. A simple screen appears before me, already filled in with exactly what I had in mind, and I grin.

  System Change Proposal

  The System will provide baths and all necessary cleaning supplies to those held within System made pocket dimensions as requested.

  The supplies will be generated by the System, and will cease to exist when the entity who requested them leaves the System made pocket dimension.

  Would you like to submit this proposal?

  Yes / No

  “Yes, please. Thank you System,” I say, making my tone as snooty as I can.

  Notice

  Your abuse of System functions has been noted.

  Advice: Don’t abuse the System.

  “Aw, don’t be like that. This is a good thing! Besides, it’s not like anyone will get to keep any of the supplies, or even return to these spaces, right? It’s just a small measure of comfort for those that end up here, that’s all,” I say.

  I don’t know why I’m trying to soothe the System. Is it even annoyed? I can’t really tell. But it felt right.

  I submit the proposal, and a new screen appears almost instantly.

  A vote has been called by:

  [REDACTED], the System Waker

  Submit your votes for the proposed changes.

  Three “Yes” votes received from:

  Kiri, the Sixth

  Kophis Vheyra Enkarosi Taska, Archmage of Wonders

  Morena, Goddess of Life and Death

  Fifteen abstain.

  Proposal accepted.

  WORLD NOTICE

  [REDACTED], the System Waker, enacts a change!

  The System will provide baths and all necessary cleaning supplies to those held within System made pocket dimensions upon their request.

  My face is flooded with heat as I blush furiously at the realization that everyone in the world can see what I just held a vote with the literal gods for.

  Notice

  Advice: Don’t abuse the System.

  “Okay, okay! I’m sorry, alright? I forgot that would happen!” I whine.

  For a moment, I just hide my face in my tail, too embarrassed to face the world. Then I perk up, remembering what I started the vote for in the first place.

  I can have a bath!

  At that thought, a large tub filled with water appears just above the ground not even three steps away, along with a multi level wood shelf filled to bursting with soaps, towels, lotions and oils. They crash to the ground loudly, and some of the cleaning supplies fall from the shelves to shatter and make a mess on the ground below.

  “Oh, come on! I said I was sorry,” I say to the air.

  I was absolutely certain that the System didn’t need to let them appear just far enough above the ground to cause a racket, but it did anyways. I know it's pouting, even if it pretended not to care. I feel doubly sure that I’m right when the System doesn’t respond.

  With a sigh, I move over to test the bathwater. It’s steamy and just shy of scalding. The perfect temperature for a good long soak. Every part of me wants to dive in, but I hold back and strip down first, tossing my tube top and loincloth into the water. They’re the only clothes I’ve got—other than the Cloak of Self Repair—and as awful as they smell, they’re still salvageable. I give them a proper scrubbing and leave them out to dry, relieved when the tub seems to cleanse the water as quickly as I soil it.

  “System,” I say, lovingly. “What do I have to do to make this tub permanent?”

  Of course, it doesn’t respond.

  I roll my eyes and sigh as dramatically as possible, “You’re no fun.”

  It probably knows exactly what I’m thinking and is just choosing to be petty. I’ve clearly been alone too long.

  When I finally lower myself into the bath, I instantly forget every hardship I’ve ever endured.

  “Oh, Gods, yes…” I groan, sinking into the warmth that caresses me like silk.

  For a few solid minutes, I just melt into a puddle of squealing bliss. I don’t even care how I sound. Who needs dignity when shamelessness feels this good?

  Eventually, I remember I’m supposed to be cleaning, and I get to work scrubbing off the grime and blood of several near death experiences and far too many goblins. I even make use of some of the oils, pouring them into the tub with me to soak into my fur. It has a sweet, woody scent, almost like a mix between strawberries and pine trees. Whatever it is, it’s a miracle worker—especially for untangling my hair.

  After that comes the full body inspection. With everything finally calm, I take a good look at myself. And I really look. No bleeding, no crusted-over blood, no twisted, angry scars. My skin is smooth. Intact. And all the bits are back where they’re supposed to be.

  Even… those bits.

  A little sheepishly, I check. Just to be sure. And—

  “Yep, fully functional,” I whisper, my voice a mix of awe and excitement.

  It’s probably a weird thing to be relieved about, but damn it, I’ve earned this moment. After years of flinching at even the idea of touching myself and dreading every estrus cycle that seemingly existed just to remind me that my body had become a battlefield—it’s over. No sharp pain. No sick twist of frustration. Just… normal. Finally.

  I don’t know whether to cry or laugh, so I just slump deeper into the water and do a bit of both.

  By the time I drag myself out, I’m flushed from head to toe—probably from the heat. Definitely not from the brief celebration I just had over finally having functional lady-bits. That’d be ridiculous.