As I opened my eyes, my evolution complete, I rolled my shoulders and disregarded the sounds of excitement from my surroundings while I thought back on the conversation and revelations I’d just had.


    The same moment I’d named her as Nievtala, the Administrator shifted from a formless presence to a towering goddess. Her form sprawled across the heavens, her head alone dwarfing me. As I laid eye on her, I was amazed to see that she wasn’t so different from what I myself appeared to be. Though as a khatif we were something of a strange amalgam of a quadrupedal creature and an upright one, Nievtala was a truly bipedal upright Keel. Her body, like mine, was silver and patterned with thick scar tissue. Her arms and legs both were heavily covered with muscle and thicker, somehow more armor like scales.


    Her tail stretched out into the distance, proportionally longer than I supposed mine would be, and her chest sported the same brand in the shape as a spear that I had received from her. Though her head was much the same as a Keel’s was sure to be, her snout was shorter than his and the other khatif’s, and, most interestingly, were her eyes. Instead of any of the various dark shades of eye that every keelish and khatif I had seen had, Nievtala’s swam with the lights of the night sky, reflecting the shine of stars and the purple of the space between them.


    “I didn’t quite anticipate your knowledge to pierce the veil so immediately, little fang.” Nievtala smiled, the look absolutely predatory, given any one of her fangs was larger than the whole of my consciousness in this space. “Though, I suppose I should have expected your sharp mind to remain as such.”


    In this place, though my mind wasn’t so clouded by the influences on my emotions that my body provided, I still couldn’t help but be lost in the wash of warring emotions. I’d always considered the two to be different beings, their function and desires to be apart from the other. Perhaps it was the distance I’d been forced to have with Nievtala due to the force of her presence while, though ancient and unknowable, the Administrator had seemed to be a companion of sorts.


    “I guess you should have expected me.”


    “Oh, it has been so long since the System granted the System to a keelish user. It has been a monstrously difficult effort to keep my hopes tempered with reality. How glorious to finally have a user of the System that is willing and able to seize its power to the best of their ability.”


    I felt myself begin to be taken up in the rhythm of her speaking and nearly continued to engage with her on her level. Instead, I looked straight into one of the intimidating, otherworldly eyes.


    “There are many questions I desperately want to ask. However, I remember the limitations placed on me while I’m evolving, so I’m willing to learn whatever it is that you’re going to tell me before I ask my question.”


    “You remain yourself, little fang.” Nievtala laughed, the sound shaking the realm we resided in. Her mirth swelled to an overwhelming crescendo, though unlike when her emotions carried over to me though our bond of Disciple and Goddess, I wasn’t forced to feel the same glee. “Cautious and focused. However, this time, and any other evolutions you may be able to acquire, will be different. You do not need to worry about asking questions and how it may cut our time together short.”


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Permission given, I let the first question that sprang to my mind fly. “Why is this time different?”


    Her face smiled, though the look of her eyes was tender and almost sad. “I cannot say if you will ever again evolve after this point. Thus, our communications will be largely unfettered by the previous expectations the System forced upon us. Of course, there will be questions left unanswered and an eventual end to our conversation, but we will have a mostly uninhibited discussion at this time.”


    There was no shortage to the variety of additional questions her answer gave me, but I had to start somewhere. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that the Administrator and Nievtala were one and the same?”


    “Various reasons, the primary two being that the System would not provide that information without cost, and the second that though you enjoy this additional clarity this answer provides, it gives you no benefit and does not matter in the grand scheme of things.”


    I sighed, though I supposed her words were true enough. “What’s this about me probably never evolving again? I’ve only been keelish for something like a year, there’s plenty of time for me to still evolve.”


    “One year, one month, and seven days.” Nievtala replied, her more mirthful smile returning. “Now, to your question. A Keel is, according to the System, no longer a beast. Your Systemically designated path will remain much the same, but no longer will you have such easy access to evolutions. Instead, you will gain access to a greater breadth of Quests, which will allow for you to better understand the different aspects to your path, according to the System. There will also be other adjustments to the way that the System treats your Skill acquisition and development, but that is largely unimportant.”


    Though I wanted to argue with the mountainous goddess about that, I supposed I would have time to address the point later on, given how many other unrelated questions I had, and how there was apparently some sort of a limit to how long I would be able to ask questions. That could be something she explained after I woke up, if necessary.


    “Were you a Keel? Did you live as a mortal before becoming whatever you are now?”


    “I was the Keel. The original. I created all that we once were, and my path informed the System of what we can and should become.”


    “I don’t know if I understand what you’re saying.”


    “I suppose that would be difficult to understand for you. There are many aspects to the System that I cannot say and others still that I do not understand, but my path as a mortal was much the same as yours is now, which is how you have managed to ascend to this position and evolution.”


    Though I tried to flare my frills in reluctant understanding, I had no physical body to do so. Even so, Nievtala understood. I continued to ask a variety of questions, ranging from how long ago she’d lived (seven thousand years) to how she’d become a goddess (couldn’t say). I did, eventually, come to one of the primary questions I wanted to ask.


    “What will be the greatest difficulty that presents itself to my people, and how can I best overcome it?”