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// One if By Land: Part 27 
// Story: Spike of All Trades 
// by Ariamaki 
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Each passing day went much like that one, albeit with far less drama and many fewer revelations. 

They settled down for the night and assembled a new variation of the Shelter, ate dinner together, and relaxed on whatever furniture Spike could whip up. Woke up in the morning and ate breakfast together, then disassembled the house before getting back on the road. They'd spend the entire day walking and talking, trading stories and experiences that they'd never had the chance to before.

The only interruptions either came from Spike getting pulled away into another random battle or when the two of them ran into a point of interest. They stopped by a famous tourist stop or two on the path, risked the occasional fight in the forests dealing with unruly wild creatures... One day they got into an argument about which split in the path would be more fun to take, although in the end they just used some of their extra time and looped past both fun bits anyways.

Most ponies would have dreaded the idea of spending an entire week traveling on hoof between Canterlot and Ponyville, but with their fairly unique access to creature comforts? It was almost a little (heh) humdrum.

The Random Battle System only seemed to lash out at him once or twice a day, and he'd gone out of his way to test a few theories in the process. The challenge level of these fights was still bracing but far from enough to pose a real risk unless he got complacent. The 'par' times were a bit strict, to the point where he got only one piece of reward loot (apart from bits) from every battle combined. For contrast the 'breach' times were generous... But honestly he'd rather that be the balance, since the alternative was the enemies getting set loose where they could hurt real ponies.

Pinkie Pie had requested that he let a weaker fight breach on purpose so that she could see what the randomly-generated enemies were like, but Spike wasn't comfortable with the idea. He had total confidence in her abilities and an equal conviction about his own power... But if his system had any consistency, it was in surprising him. Maybe the breached enemies would be restored to full health or buffed to be even stronger, or maybe they'd gain access to new powers. Worst case, they would flee rather than stay and fight, bedding down until they could cause terrible damage...

That led to another half-hearted argument, although even as they started debating their respective sides they realized it wasn't worth it. If they had access to a controlled environment or if Spike knew what the breach would actually entail, then maybe. But with no data? It just didn't make sense.

In the long run they got into plenty of scrapes and tussles without having to resort to that: Their 'as the crow flies' route back to Ponyville cut through a lot of clearly-marked dangerous areas on the maps they'd bought. That led to all sorts of fun encounters, more than enough to sate Pinkie Pie's newfound love for fighting alongside him. He had to admit he was enjoying it a lot himself.

Spike noticed that ever since the tutorial battle he'd been fighting with abandon, adopting a carefree and almost (dare he say) chaotic style. Part of that was willingness to put himself at risk more than ever before, now that he had a true understanding of his limits and potential. Another factor was the need to diversify his skill training and testing: Growth in a given skill slowed down harshly every 25 levels or so. The growth rate picked back up (as far as he could tell) based on two known factors. 

First was that skills got easier to train as he trained up related skills and got them to similar levels. Second was that improving the stats tied to a given skill made it easier to train as well, often by a large amount for even a few points of improvement! He still didn't want to spend his loose points: He could manage to get a stat here and there from training, and those were being saved for when he hit an immovable wall.

Maybe he could have lasted a little longer or even done some damage in the tutorial if he had spent his points then... But that felt wrong. The messages had said that the tutorial was 'not designed to reward you for any kind of success', yet he had been rewarded anyways. Was that just because of his experience with 'dying'? Maybe. But he had a feeling it was because the tutorial was designed to reward failing. Striving and reaching for the top without reaching still meant you tried, and it was a hard lesson to learn, the idea that not every fight even could be won.

In the tutorial he took advantage of the impossibly rare chance to experience death and live, but in the future he would have to treat those unwinnable fights as a chance to find a new route to victory.

As for the change in his fighting style... Well, he'd chalk that up as a positive honestly. If anything it felt like he was getting closer to the idea of developing a 'thesis' for his Nascent Combat Discipline! There wasn't anything like a core idea or a phrase or even a philosophy yet, but he could tell that his way of handling things was going somewhere. All it needed was time and pressure to turn from an unrefined stone into something beautiful.

Thinking of beauty brought his mind back to his body so to speak (they were, after all, separate yet connected things in every sense) as he looked over at Pinkie Pie. Their time out exploring together hadn't done any damage to her looks: If anything, she seemed healthier and more vibrant than ever. Her mane kept its natural bounce even as she continued weaponizing it in their battles, her tail the same. Pinkie's front legs were already well-developed from a lifetime of doing the brutal work of the best party-planning baker in Equestria, and now her hinds were picking up the same muscle tone.

Spike himself managed to grow up quite a bit on the trip himself: Visibly nothing was different since he used Dragon's Hoard to manage his body's size. But looking at his stats told another story...


Name: Spike
Class: The Gamer
Title: Spirit Chef

Level: Lv 25
HP: 3,267 / 3,267
MP: 5,102 / 5,102

STR:  55 (113) (-) (+)
DEX:  55 (122) (-) (+)
VIT:   55 (110) (-) (+)
INT:   55 (110) (-) (+)
WIS:  55 (112) (-) (+)
LUK:  55 (140) (-) (+)

POINTS: 150  (Confirm?)


> As a party, gain at least 2 levels apiece and lead another group in doing the same.

Both he and Pinkie had picked up their mandatory two levels on the way home and his stats had gotten significantly improved. Their growth rate had slowed to an annoying degree, but that also meant he was much better able to get them lined up properly for getting Balanced Soul bonuses.

And speaking of him and Pinkie gaining things together, they had also managed to make a little bit of progress on the other half of her quest: Earning and sharing skills and Titles together. The count was now at 2/5, which meant it apparently counted Pinkie's Potential and her equivalent. As for the other two? That came down to dinner last night.

The stored food from the restaurant back in Canterlot was still nowhere close to running out, but they had gotten to the point where they wanted to dissect and reassemble the recipes together. Three days of their trip were dedicated to culinary experimentation, at least when he wasn't busy with the Random Battle System... and when Pinkie wasn't busy still being mad at his system for keeping her out of the fights. He wanted a control skill for that system just as badly as she did, if only so they could work on it together.

But that was one thing and this was another, and instead of the control skill they wanted? One of the more 'interesting' recipes had led to a new mark in his cookbook after far too long, and a new title they both shared. It had been an idea they came up with after an entire day of making plans, taking into account the mood, the weather and the wild seasonal ingredients. All that and Spike's gem supply and the level of the tools and workspace they had available... It was easily the hardest either of them had worked at cooking since Twilight's reveal party, or maybe the zacahuil tamale.

Their goal had been to make a classic dish that could all be brought together as one, something with the flexibility to be a side dish or a main, an accompaniment or a focus piece. Given the early summer timeframe it was hard to avoid leaning into the vegetables they found, the spices they had picked up, and a variety of gems that each paired to an ingredient. Never before had Spike tried to use multiple stones in one recipe, but if there was ever a time to experiment? It was with Pinkie.

The results spoke for themselves: The scent was astounding, the flavor incredible, the experience was like putting a whole feast in one bowl... And his system clearly agreed with their assessment.


[Summer's Greeting: A Crystalline Caponata]
A perfectly balanced dish designed to take advantage of all eight aspects of a perfect chef: Their ingredients and knifework, the vessel and its temperature, the utensils and seasoning, the medium and the method. Combining this in the Creative Kitchen with an ally who shared an equal vision was able to create something unique in this world.

All Attributes +10
Skills develop and grow 15% faster
All resources recover 33% faster
This dish's benefits depend on the power of a Spirit Chef.


You and yours have prepared a truly unique meal!
In light of this you are marked with the title [Spirit Chef]

[Spirit Chef]
You have been elevated to the heights of those who cook with the sun and brew moonlight itself! Reign in the powers you've been given or else you will easily get burned, yet relish them always.

You are able to make extremely complex Spirit Chef Dishes with multiple unique benefits.
You are able to collaborate with other Spirit Chefs or equally skilled cooks to elevate your work.
The power of every Spirit Chef Dish improves with each one you manage to innovate and make.

The title of Spirit Chef must be equipped during prepwork, during cooking, and until the buff expires.

Spirit Chef buffs cannot be extended with the consumption of raw gems or the application of Layer.
Spirit Chef buffs cannot be applied via Layer or replicated by any other source or outside power.
Spirit Chef Dishes cannot be preserved and lose all effectiveness if not consumed immediately.


...So yeah, they'd both been wearing the titles all morning as the buff ticked down its final minutes, letting it run its course naturally. There was no point wasting something like that, right? And now they both had their own personal recipe guides to keep track of things like that, which would have a lot of benefit.

In theory.

Next year.

Turns out, since they had created such a specifically seasonal dish in the Crystalline Caponata? It only had a window of weeks where it could be prepared effectively, and the power was even limited to regions that grew the exact right kinds of vegetable! It seemed like they'd be able to adapt it to work for other areas by studying the local supplies and the environment, but if every dish was like this it was going to be a real chore trying to keep up with any regularity. And since it replaced any other title while active... It was probably only going to be a niche thing, sadly.

That didn't mean they let it go to waste, as he'd thought before: Even now Pinkie Pie was working on acquiring her own skill akin to his Exposure or Dualism, measuring and focusing her breath as they walked. For his part Spike was honing his ability to teach and provoke the best aspects of the ponies around him, guiding her along and desperately wishing he already had the title for [Mentor of Young Heroes] to make this easier.

Maybe when they got back into town he'd have to talk with Cheerilee a bit and figure out how she managed? If anypony could get information to sink into the Crusaders and ponies like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon (before their somewhat recent reforms) they had to be a fantastic educator.

Hopes and plans aside, they didn't manage to get another shared skill before they crested the final hill that separated them from Ponyville: After a wild and weird week on the road, it was finished.

They were home.