Spike started breakfast off on his third morning as The Gamer properly: By taking a break from all the training. The first test of Rainbow Dash's hypothesis was a success, and meditating overnight had completely replaced his need to sleep. He likely could have stopped halfway through even if he did still require sleep, but he was getting so many benefits that there didn't seem to be a point. A personal Notes entry (a custom feature he rigged up to record data onto his notebook through his Inventory, based on how the Mail system worked) summarized the progress.
He looked that over while Twilight began listlessly picking at her breakfast. Some of the entries were verbatim copies of the text boxes from his notifications, but others were summaries that he wrote, whimsically, in the same tone and style. It just felt right, yaknow? Getting too granular would be a pain though, especially since his Log already kept track of all the boxes. This was just for quick reference or copying and not absolute precision or anything.
I have achieved Level 20 minimum in all of the Dragon's skills!
I have achieved Level 30 Omphaloskepsis and Exposure!
I have achieved Level 15 with Layer!
I have surpassed 1,000 HP and 1,000 MP!
Through [Dragon's Mind] you have acquired the magic of [Lucid Dreamspace Control]!
You have begun the process of acquiring a [Dream Affinity]!
Those last two were left as-said, and were probably the most interesting. Sure the milestones he hit were amazing, but these were entirely new things to work with. He'd known since the start that Dragon's Mind could allow him to acquire the magic of other species, but hadn't really known how until now. Repeatedly breaking down and remaking his mental show-stage and dreaming incarnation inside of Omphaloskepsis... Well, that whole mess had functioned as a kind of grinding or training. By the end of the night he was able to learn the technique that Luna demonstrated for him, codified as a spell.
And then there was the idea of a Dream Affinity. Metal was already a stretch from most games, so the idea that his affinities weren't just for classical elements... Elements. The Elements! Oh jeez, he should try acquiring an Affinity for those, if it was even a little bit possible. Did that mean there were Solar and Lunar affinities too? What about Love? He had even more on his plate to think about... But none of that took priority over his actual plate, so he sat down to eat.
Two straight days closed had been plenty for the Library, so Twilight was going to open up for the usual schedule today. Spike, meanwhile, had a chance to knock out most of his chores for the week in advance. That would just be the start: Then he'd meet up with Pinkie for a trip to the Arcade so they could eat and check on the results of their Party experiment. Fit in some gaming, research, and a chat with the Ammos... Finally, he'd head home and start figuring out the plan of attack for the big party. He did have a plan, but it would take some digging to figure it out further.
"Have fun with the books, Twilight: You need me to get anything in town?"
She blinked owlishly a few times (he should visit Zecora and see how Owlowiscious is doing! the list just keeps growing) before waving him off with one hoof.
"Naaah, you go ahead Spike. I should be good until dinnertime."
He shrugged and deposited his plate on the cleaning rack: That was his cue to hit the door.
- - - -
Chores were easier than ever before: He'd hit a new breakpoint with Dragon's Breath last night and got his very first slot to assign his own dedicated Mail receiver! Now he could send things to Twilight, which they tested this morning. Unlike Celestia and Luna, she didn't have a method to send him stuff in return. Yet: He was almost certain the Princesses could teach her the spell. Spike had no plan to remove Twilight from the Mail list, but if he wanted? He could apparently spend a good chunk of mana and a half-hour of effort to replace her slot with somepony else. Presumably he'd get another slot every 10 skill levels or so, or maybe it would get more generous at higher tiers? Either way, the result simplified shopping immensely.
As he moved around town he was constantly using Exposure and Omphaloskepsis where possible to recover his mana and train his skills. At each stop he'd amplify his physical stats with Dragon's Heart and carry everything in one over-eager trip. When he spotted the rare unicorn doing their own shopping, he'd work out Dragon's Mind to (fruitlessly) study their magic. And once he checked out at each shop, Dragon's Breath would send everything to the Library.
The sheer distance Spike had to cover meant that his shopping still took time, but it was fast and effective. He decided to surprise Twilight with a little pick-me-up after her long night of studying, which led him on a trip to Lyra and Bon Bon's place. Then that led to him firing a box of chocolate musical notes back to her at home. It was only after he sent the package that Spike realized he wasn't sure if the chocolate would melt... The paper he sent letters on wasn't burnt on arrival, even if it did look like it was being consumed in the process. Eh, worst case he'd just tell Twilight that it was for science. She'd forgive a lot, for science.
Maybe she'd even forgive him coming back to this shop again soon. Dietary concerns aside, he had things he wanted to ask some of Ponyville's residents about.
[Handy]
Lyra
LV 22
[Secret Agent Mare]
Sweetie Drops
LV 22
...Yeah, he was pretty sure Twilight wouldn't have a problem with him making a few new friends.
When Davenport said there would be a significant wait before their order was ready, that left Spike with time to kill but no reason to go too far away. Given the area he could find a nice spot on a bench and grind one of his skills or practice something new... Oh! There had been one idea that occurred to him which he hadn't gotten around to trying yet, and now was as good a time as any.
Spike plopped himself down onto the boards and then exhaled a gout of fire across his claws. A quick application of Stagnet froze it, and left him with a disorganized mess of stilled flame. Looking it over from a few angles, he decided it didn't suit his purposes and let it disperse. He'd wanted to try using frozen fire as a tool for doing other work, something he could breathe-to-order as needed. Trying that would have to wait until he had better breath control, both the normal kind and the magical type: It was too reckless to do in public right now.
He did have a backup plan, however: Dragon's Scales. One aspect of the skill he had yet to test was the ability to shed scales and adapt them into temporary equipment. Spike decided to start small and pulled away a few scales from his arm before running mana through them. Finding the right route for the skill's power took a few tries, but eventually he got the trio of purple flakes to fuse into a small carving knife. It was lifeless and dull, a very pale dusty purple: It resembled his past sheds from when he got sick, honestly.
But a knife was a knife was a knife, so it would be good enough for his purposes. He wanted to train Earthshaper without training his Dragon's Claws at the same time, to see whether multi-tasking or focused training were better for low-level skills. He'd gotten fewer than a half-dozen levels into the skill before now, so it was a good candidate. He could try using a Scales tool, then using his claws, then using a totally normal knife... There were options! For now he would just focus on being a whittlin' dragon, alone with his clay and his blade.
- - - -
It took several minutes for Spike to breathe enough fire to send the entire crate of quills, ink, and parchment paper back to the Library. Then it took a few more minutes for him to explain that no he hadn't bought all that stuff just to destroy it, although come to think of it most ponies in town had only ever seen him send letters... OK, maybe the focus on efficiency was causing some issues. But hay, at least it was closer to lunchtime now!
He'd managed to get a few more levels into Earthshaper and one into Dragon's Claws, plus bits of actual levelling-up XP from the act of creating particularly good items. Those were few and far between with how little practice and time he had, but still! It was a sign that his levels weren't purely a factor of quests and fighting... He still hadn't even confirmed how combat would give experience, but he also had an inkling of how to test for that. It was hard to tell how many things were occuring in his 'engine' because of repeated effort and trying new avenues, and how many were just... changing as time went on.
Modern games could send out updates to their rules and systems through new expansions for the boards that stored their information, and the ones that connected to other cabinets could even be sent updates straight from the master-cabinet. It wouldn't be completely far-fetched if Spike's rules and mechanics changed over time... Although he hoped that wasn't the case and these little intricacies were just taking him multiple tries to properly ferret out. Learning all of his own rules was one thing, having to relearn them every time they self-updated on a whim? Let’s hope not.
After he finished putting away all of his simple clay creations (and throwing away the powdered remains of his third scale knife: they didn't last long!) he popped through his menus to the Party system. Team Purple Pink and Green was still formed, with himself and Pinkie as members. They had left it up overnight as a test, and now he'd be using it to check in before the second half of the plan.
Voice chat, turn on... Subvocal for privacy's sake of course.
Hey there Pinkie!
Oh hey Spike voice in my head! Which I assume is actually Spike, but you can never be too careful about that sort of thing.
Is there even anything I could say that would definitively prove that? I'm sure there's some kind of paradox on the subject.
There was a very actually-vocal giggle over the line at that, but Spike doubted it was weird for ponies in Sugarcube Corner to hear Pinkie laugh at nothing.
See, Twilighty stuff like that is totally good proof!
...Fair. You good for our trip to the Arcade?
Yuppers! Gimme five or six to get out and box these last few orders, then I gotta tag out with Mr. Cake. I can drop off the deliveries on my way to meetcha!
Sounds like a plan: I'll be outside the front entrance!
He left the communication line open after that, just in case Pinkie needed to tell him something or adjust things. Apart from their Party research, this trip was going to be focused on research and digging into games they weren't familiar with: Easier for Pinkie than Spike, since she hadn't spent a lot of time at the old Arcade and had never visited the new one at all. It would be nice for him to get into touch with the Ammos again as well, let them know a few things before their training started.
When he approached Arcane Ammo's All-Day Arcade for the second time, he did it while mired in the depths of walking meditation. The change in his senses made everything seem more personal, viewed as it was from the perspective of self-investigation. It would probably be very different if he used a different style of meditation (another thing for the lists), but right now? Even more than the first time, the arcade felt comfortable. There was still an aura of Gillie's work in the place and it reminded Spike of his early days in Ponyville: Simultaneously exciting and relaxing, down-home and yet unfamiliar.
It's amazing how much something could change and still stay essentially the same, at its heart.