“Maka!” Liv shouts as I enter the room. She immediately jumps to her feet, leaping at Tien and trying to snatch me into a big hug. My survival instincts kick in and I Blink onto the couch she got up from.

  I immediately regret it as my body complains of being strained while in recovery. I turn to my left and see Moxie, bewildered at why I am suddenly next to her. I gently pat her on the head. “You’re a Fool.” Ouch, those words hurt more than my injuries, but I can't really contest them.

  Liv spins around and makes a pouty face as she realizes that I evaded her hug yet again. “Maka, you are a jerk.”

  “Glad to see you weren't eaten too.” I smile back at her and settle in. Moxie prods around at my arm’s stump, it kinda tickles.

  Stephen walks into the room, carrying a couple mugs of teoffe. A truly magical drink that everyone can enjoy. I once heard a legend that said it was created out of two different drinks to stop a giant galactic war about which one was better. But that would've been in ancient times, so I don't know if the legend is true.

  He hands me and Moxie a mug. The warmth quickly spreads through my hand, and the aroma makes my mouth water. Seems like Stephen has a secret side talent as a brewer, who would've guessed. “Maka, how the fuck are you alive?”

  “Well you see, I just refuse to die. Or who knows, maybe I've died and I am just a ghost, ha.” I try to meet his gaze, but I immediately avert my eyes. Perhaps I should avoid causing such trouble for my squadmates.

  “Well that is probably a good trait to have for our scout I suppose. Though perhaps minimize the times we have to carry your half-dead corpse home.” He plops down on the couch across from us and Liv joins him. A brief battle ensues as he tries to keep the mug of teoffe that he brought for her out of her hands.

  “So what's this that I hear about exciting new toys?” Tien did mention they waited for me to open them.

  “That would be these.” I jump as Violet speaks. I look around the room and cannot see her. Then, she pops up from behind the couch I am sitting on and nearly scares me half to death. Any sane minded person would be a bit shocked when a cute girl suddenly appears. She tosses a few small cubes onto the table, they are quite tiny. But I can feel that they are important. “Three augments and two gear pieces.”

  Stephen leans forward and grabs one of the cubes, an augment one. Violet then proceeds to take a seat on the last couch, next to Tien. Though she seems a bit reluctant to do it. Tien notices and doesn't let it go. “Awww, is Violet darling nervous to sit next to Auntie Tien? Come here and gimme a hug.” Tien moves to hug Violet.

  “Touch me and your pay gets docked.” Ouch, Violet aims right for the wallet and lands a critical hit. Tien backs away and even makes a bit more distance between them.

  “So, how exactly do you two know eachother?” I have been wondering why they seem so familiar. They definitely have met before this whole guardianship thing.

  “Tien did some work for my company in the past. So when I saw that we needed a guardian, I pulled some strings to get her hired. It's not very often a squadron gets the privilege of having such a high ranking guardian.” Violet answers me, I figured she would just tell me to fuck off and mind my own buisness. She is cute when she explains things, so I should ask her more questions. “Plus, I saw she was your sponsor so I figured she couldn't be that harsh if she adopted you. Though if I knew she would be like this, perhaps I wouldn't have.”

  I am not sure I like the implication of those last statements. But I choose to ignore it as a flash of light comes from Stephen’s hands. “Aha! I figured it out, these things are a bit tricky for some reason.”

  The box vanishes and it leaves behind a small crystal. It reminds me of the orbs that carry our dragons around, but this one is far shinier. It has a lovely blue color.

  Tien reaches over and Stephen hands her the crystal. She inspects it for several moments. “Hmm, not bad for the first one. A basic cognitive interface augment. It can increase the strength of your mental bond with your dragon so you can share more information. It's only a rank one, so it doesn't do all that much. Especially since your dragons aren't active combatants yet. Probably best to sell it to a reforger.” She tosses the augment back to Stephen and he sets it back on the table.

  “Oooo! Me next! I wanna open one!” Liv is as enthusiastic as always as she picks up one of the other augment ones. She opens it up and frowns a bit, then she comes to a realization. “Ooh, this would be perfect for Moxie or Maka. It says it can allow the dragon to store a bit of mana, effectively expanding the Guard’s mana capacity by quite a bit.” She tosses me the crystal, and I manage to catch it.

  I take a look at it and a message appears via the system.

  Dragon Augment / Common / Rank 1

  Mana Capacitor: This augment can be slotted into one’s dragon to provide a significant boost to their mana capacity. Do note, that this extra capacity is not factored into mana regeneration speed.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Extra Mana Capacity: +2000

  I hand the augment to Moxie. “Hmm I think this would work better with you. You throw more flashy spells around.” She accepts it with a smile, her eyes get a bit of a sparkle in them.

  Stephen opens the last augment. It says it can reduce the negative effects of a dragon’s ability. Without even hesitating, he hands it over to me. I wonder why, it's not like I ever have had issues with such a thing.

  Dragon Augment / Rare / Rank 1

  Reality Stabilizer: This augment makes it both easier and less costly to use dragon abilities. It achieves this effect by slowly siphoning off a harmless amount of soul and life energy and storing it up to be sacrificed in place of oneself. However, it is very weak, and not something to be relied upon.

  “Woah, this one is rare. That must be, well, rare or something.” I say when I finish reading it.

  “Well, rares are indeed rare.” Tien laughs. “Though there are still four tiers above rare that are even rarer. That one is one of the more useful rare types, use it well. Or rather, don't use it because you need to stop losing your limbs.”

  “So uh, how do we even use these things?” I turn the crystal around in my hands, it is quite smooth and I can feel a bit of power pulsing inside of it.

  “Thats simple. You have your dragons eat them.” Tien says calmly.

  We all stare at her.

  “What are you all staring at me for? It's the only way to get the things into such small dragons. Once they are older it becomes easier, but for now they gotta swallow them.”

  Trusting Tien, I let Lemon out and she is very excited. Maka, I get to help you not die now!

  You have been doing that plenty with all that aether you have been feeding me. Now you are simply doing even more to help me, how helpful of you. I pat Lemon on the head a bunch and give her some head scratches. I even throw in a few belly rubs for good measure.

  Then she eats the augment. I feel a slight shift, it's almost imperceptible. But something definitely changes ever so slightly. It's nothing major, as one would expect.

  Maka, this thing feels weird. I can feel it absorbing energy and growing stronger, but it's so slow.

  Well that is fine then, it must be working. Maybe next time I need to use that ability I can not lose a limb.

  You better, I don't want to watch you nearly bleed to death again.

  Pfft, when have I ever nearly bled to death?

  Lemon mentally rolls her eyes at me.

  “Alright then, now for these two gearpieces.” Stephen picks up one of them, it is a bit larger than the augment ones. He opens it and a slightly larger crystal appears, how unexpected. He ponders the crystal for a few moments. “Hmm, it says that it is a Ranger’s hood. Provides extra accuracy and ranged damage, which sounds awesome!”

  “Well then, why not give it a try? The helmet socket is at the back of your collar. Though do be aware that the optional cosmetics are enabled by default, so you might want to do it in private.” Tien suggests, a smile growing on her face.

  “Wait, optional cosmetics? How bad could they-?” I start to say, then Stephen slots in the crystal and the group simultaneously bursts out into laughter. He is now wearing a giant red nose, like a clown. It's super shiny, and I think it is even glowing a bit. It does pair well with his eyes though.

  “Wait, what are all of you laughing at? I just got a nice upgrade, it feels awesome.”

  “Steph, go look in a mirror.” Liv says between bursts of laughter.

  “I don't know what's so funny.” Stephen walks to the bathroom and as soon as he steps inside he notices. “What the fuck! Who designed these things? How do I turn it off?”

  “Thers a button on the back.” Tien says, then continues to laugh.

  Stephen finds the button and his nose goes back to normal. We calm back down and he sits down with a sigh. “Well, that was a hoot for sure.”

  “Me next! I want a funny outfit!” Liv grabs the other box and opens it. The moment she reads the description, her face brightens up. “Oooh this is perfect! It says it boosts defense when one is stationary. It is a pair of boots, which is awesome.” She wastes no time and bends down to put the crystal into the socket. Unfortunately, it is just a pair of normal looking metal boots. Liv looks disappointed that we don't get to laugh at her today.

  I turn to look at the one person who didn't get a new upgrade, Violet. Surprisingly, she meets my gaze and predicts what I was about to say. “Do not even start, idiot. I can just buy any upgrades I want.” She abruptly turns her head to look away from my gaze, and her hair does a super cute flicking motion.

  “Nuh uh missy. You cadets aren't allowed to use the exchange until Rank 3.” Tien immediately shoots down Violet’s idea.

  Violet scoffs and then gets up and heads to her room. The rest of us chat a bit and go over the mission. Tien says we exceeded literally every single benchmark and are sure to draw lots of attention.

  Given my recent run in with the MIC, I am unsure if that is a good thing.

  Also everyone got brand new skills for hitting level one hundred. So we are even stronger than before. Moxie also has the meditate skill, so she is going to be a real force to be reckoned with, especially with all that extra mana capacity. I can't wait to see what absolutely absurd things she starts throwing around. Perhaps she can finally get that flight spell to work too.

  When we are finished, I dodge Liv’s attempt to carry me – and likely crush my ribs in the process. I end up having Tien carry me and set me in my room. Which is only just a little bit extremely embarrassing.

  Tomorrow we head back into space and I can get my missing appendages repaired. Which sounds like it will be a very pleasant experience. I fall asleep thinking of all that has happened recently.

  I have already grown a lot stronger. Which is good. Because it will be needed if we wish to eradicate every single monster.

  No matter the price, I will ensure that every fragment of those bastards are destroyed. Not even a single worker will remain.

  Next Chapter: Waves of Blue

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