//------------------------------// // The Party: Part 5 // Story: Spike of All Trades // by Ariamaki //------------------------------// Twilight happily tapped one hoof against the air her letter had just occupied. "Although I'm feeling emotionally drained, I'm actually pretty innervated. And in addition to the schedule, my letter contained some new magical exercises for getting used to... well, you know. I assume you're going to keep working on your own skill progression, Mr. Gamer?" "For sure! I don't want those buffs to go to waste. Oh! I almost forgot, once we wrapped up the meal I got a bunch of rewards. Want to help me sort through the changes before we split up?" His (companion?) smiled at him and gestured over to the couch, extra strands of her magic almost passively working to reconfigure the table and shelves at the same time. "Gladly!" They both plopped down into the cushions and Spike re-opened all of the windows he had closed prior. It wasn't a huge surprise to see that some of them were shrouded in mystery: His system really did seem to enjoy presenting him with puzzles. The difference this time, compared to the odd Masteries he was working on from the Crusaders? "I think I know what that one is." When Twilight didn't immediately follow, he realized the problem: A quick Party invite made it so he could share his ‘window view’ with her. Once she could see, he pointed a claw to the very first box in the set: Affinity for the Element of ???? has begun to grow. "Oh? The message is pretty bare-bones: Why are you so certain with so little context?" "That's exactly why! It's phrased differently from any of the past messages about affinity, and it happens to lean into a theory I had the other day. So I'm not perfectly certain, but... within a margin of error, I think that must be either Generosity or Laughter." Twilight took a sharp intake of breath and was about to reply when the window itself changed. Affinity for the Element of Generosity has begun to grow. He was going to shoot her a jokingly-smug grin, but then more windows piled on. You gained a point of Intelligence through logical deduction! You gained a point of Wisdom through prudence and guile! You gained a point of Luck through fortuitous guessing! "...Well, I guess those training enhancements you cooked up must be working overtime!" "Haha! Guess so. But yeah, I had just thought the other day about whether Elemental Affinity would include The Elements... Glad to see I was right." Twilight rubbed a hoof along his shoulder with a smile, looking wistfully at the message window. "I'll admit I might be a little jealous: It's not so easy for the rest of us to know we're on the right track." "I'll see if there isn't something I can do about that, in the long run. But I think you're doing a pretty awesome job all on your own Twilight! So don't stress it too hard." "Awwww! Thank you, Spike." After they shared a quick sideways hug across the length of the couch, Spike opened another one of the dismissed windows. This one was another partial-progress message, sans mystery. You have cleared the first hurdle towards becoming a [Spirit Chef] This time he wasn't the one to figure out the details right off the bat. "A title for cooking magical food? Or more specifically food that elevates the diners, I'd suppose." "A title or a class, probably: Although I'm not sure if there's any difference for me? When this all started the character sheet had me down as The Gamer for both. And I haven't seen anypony with a listed Class yet, although I still can't really see the sheets in much detail for higher-level ponies." "Well, I suppose you'll just need to keep an eye on it." Third was... a new kind of window he hadn't seen before. This one was far smaller, totally square, and had a single interior square on the inside below text... Basing it on other games he had seen with this kind of user interface, this was an alert with an item inside of it. The comparison bore out when he 'clicked' the smaller square, producing... "...Isn't that the outfit you were already wearing?" Spike ran his claws over the fabric, careful not to damage it... Although he quickly realized he might not need to bother: It felt far more durable than the scale costumes he'd been using, and maybe even more durable than a fabric outfit was ever meant to be. "Not exactly. That was just a kind of piecemeal disguise, but apparently I used it enough in the right circumstances to get rewarded with, I dunno, a permanent copy? The 'real' thing?" "Interesting! I notice it's missing the hat. Does that have some significance?" He thought back to the conversations with Pinkie Pie earlier, a blush flashing across his cheeks. "Y-yeah. Nothing to worry about, just... No need to make a duplicate of the hat. I heard somewhere that copies diminish the original on some level, you know?" "If you insist: Your ‘system’ is a subject where you definitely know more than anypony else." "Hah, well..." Spike didn't actually have a response to that, so he just let it pass into a brief period of silence. Before things could get awkward he opened the next message: Second to last, and a big one. Through a perfectly-presented performance, Balanced Soul has gained ten levels! Twilight's low whistle cut through Spike's own surprise, and he opened his main character sheet to be sure. That backed up what the other window said: The bonus to all of his base stats (even with their current lopsidedness) had made it to +4%. Putting the buff from the meal on top made them all significantly higher... Even higher than they should have been, actually. Almost twice as high... Rather than voice his suspicion in advance, he just opened the last window. For serving an inaugural feast, all buffs and bonuses from food are doubled for 48 hours. That was big enough that neither of them had a response at first, electing to just stare at the words. Eventually Twilight asked the most Twilight-y question, under the circumstances. "From when you got the message, or from when you opened it?" Jerking his thumb across empty space at the flurry of stat gains that followed his guess about the Generosity Affinity, he gave a helpless smile. "Been on the whole time, as far as I can tell: So minus an hour or two by now." She stood up from the couch and, almost as an afterthought, tapped the button to remove herself from the party with her horn. Spike closed all the windows and followed her up, even as she began to trot across the library floor. "Don't waste time on my account, Spike: Don't you want to take advantage of the opportunity?" ...Gosh, it was nice having family that really understood you. "For sure! Are you gonna be alright-" "While it might not always seem like it during a research binge, I can make food for myself Spike." He just stared at her. Silent. Accusing. Knowing. "..." "...Sandwiches. Or a salad. Or I can just order something! Anyways, time is a precious resource: Go use it! I don't want to have to shoo you out of the Library myself." They both started laughing, and he gave her a quick hug before turning to head for the door. "See you in a few days then: I've got just the place in mind to really get this started." - - - - - - - - - Spike had a plan. It wasn't fully-fleshed yet, but he knew roughly what to do and exactly where to go. The Unihorn he had consumed earlier was still waiting to be absorbed, since he didn't meet the (problematically unlisted) requirements to use it correctly. He was a little worried about letting it sit too long, but he was also just generally running out of patience. Between growing up with Twilight and spending time with Celestia, he was incredibly suited towards taking the long angle on things and building up a stable base before he risked anything... But he was also young, and a dragon, and a young dragon, and The Gamer. There's only so far that prep can get you before you just need to sink your teeth into the problem, and he felt like this was the tipping point. If he used this period correctly, he might skyrocket in power overnight (well, over two nights, but semantics) and make serious strides into the future. Right now his baseline stats were all around 25 across the board: A few up, a few down. None lower than 20, so that already put him well past double where he'd started. But those were just the base stats: The Creative Kitchen buffs were pushing him well past the 50s with their doubled potency. And that was only the half of it, literally: The other Creative Kitchen buffs made it easier for him to train his stats even further, and were also doubled. The thing about training is that it requires a baseline: Up to a certain point, the hardest hurdle is getting your stats (literal or metaphorical) raised to the point that you can train effectively. It's hard to study without understanding the concepts, you can't lift much weight until you're already strong enough, and you can't do any training for long until your stamina improves. With artificially-boosted stats from the meal and rewards? Spike knew that he could do tougher more-demanding training than he could normally take, which would then have enhanced results... Results amplified several times, actually! The first amp was the food buffs themselves, and the second was the reward doubling them. A third was that his stats were only so high because of the buffs: When they went back to normal, he wouldn't lose the progress he made. But he would have made that progress 'early' in terms of the actual base, so the results would be bigger and future training would be smoother. Diminishing returns would kick in far later than usual, and he would be able to make up for his 'wasted' years. ...He'd have to look into training with the Crusaders again sometime soon. With a regimen of the Creative buffs from food or Layer, he could help them turn their already high-for-their-level stats into something truly impressive. But to help others you need to help yourself first, so until this reward bonus wore off? Spike was heading to the Arcade.