It was a bit after six when Flor got to the temple. Not wanting to annoy her spirit guide, Flor sat against a building across the street and pulled up the crafting interface. She built a couple of small chronos which she then stashed in her inventory to sell at the Widow’s Siege shop to cover meals and such for today. After a couple of crafting periods, it was close enough to seven that she felt comfortable entering the temple.

  She bowed in respect to the goddess and then decided to wait for Amets to gather her, from the standpoint that supposedly praying would also assist in rage reduction. A few minutes later, the other cleric walked up to her and gently touched her arm, then nodded to the back. He didn’t seem to like to talk unless he had to.

  She went through the doors and into the back room. The couches had been moved to the walls to allow more space, and Ametz knelt on a mat, maybe asleep or just meditating. Flor moved closer and adopted a similar position.

  After a moment, Ametz said, “It looks like it’s been a rough morning for you already. It’s only seven, right? You seem to radiate angst.”

  “I do not want to get into it, please.”

  “It’s your conscious. You stay there. Don’t mind me, although your mind might go a bit fuzzy. Just focus on anything you want, but I recommend counting your breathing. This shouldn’t take long.”

  This rage aspect is terrible from a gameplay aspect. It’s good they built in ways to reduce it, but it’s wild that it seems to take so much effort to counteract something that gains so slowly. However, that witch doctor temporarily reduced the effects. Maybe the rage is supposed to be only a temporary thing anyway.

  What did that combat tutorial say? If equipped. That’s like a sports model package on a car or something. Your turbo boost, if equipped, can help you scoot scoot faster. But what would rage do that’s similar? Your rage, if equipped, can help you get angrier at your party more comprehensively. Thanks, devs, that’s not really a bonus to most of us.

  Ametz voice broke in. “All done.”

  Your rage has decreased by 2.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Oh, wow. It decreased by two! That puts me back to yesterday. And it only took like five minutes? I’ll absolutely be back tomorrow.”

  “You’ve been under for closer to forty-five minutes.”

  “What? Yikes, I’m supposed to be at Widow’s Siege by 8. There is no way I can make it.” Flor stood hurriedly and began to look around like she had left something.

  “Calm down. The permanent benefit doesn’t stick if it unravels before it settles on you. The treatment has got to soak in. And you still have several hours today to make it to the monument on time. I don’t recommend it normally, but I haven’t done this before, so do you want a beer?”

  Flor shook her head, breathed deeply, and said, “You’re right. I feel calmer, but like I could have spun out of control. I do have a question before I go. I took an in-game tutorial earlier which casually mentioned that rage was a thing ‘if equipped.’ Is there a way to turn it off?”

  Ametz considered. “That sounds more academic. You might be better asking your friend at the university.”

  “But what is the rage for? What does it do other than annoy me?”

  “Again, that’s a good question. And one I’m not armed to answer. But, again, come back tomorrow and we will see if we can remove another two points from yours, right?”

  “Okay. Thanks. Maybe I’ll take you up on that beer tomorrow, but for today, I’m clearing out the monument and hopefully also the lighthouse.”

  “Bon chance, mon ami,” said Ametz as Flor departed.

  Flor - Sparks: Sorry. I’m held up a bit with something at the temple. I’m on my way now.

  Sparks - Flor: No need to hurry. The monument shouldn’t take long to beat as long as you’re here before 11.

  Flor - Sparks: Thanks. OMW.

  Sparks - Flor: See you soon. I’ll be in the exhibit.

  The chat calmed her a bit, as she had considered using one of her recently built chronos to speed up her time and get to the moment more quickly. She was through the north gate just after 8 and knew if she hurried she could get to the monument in about an hour. So she hurried. Hopefully, they could complete it and be on their way to the Lighthouse by 11 since it was supposedly a bit further still and up some steep terrain.

  Flor - Sparks: Almost there. Where should I meet you?

  Sparks - Flor: Center of the monument.

  Sparks - Flor: Unless you wanted to play the Widow’s Run, which I remember you saying you hadn’t done before.

  Flor - Sparks: Can I do it after? Is there something important about it?

  Sparks - Flor: It would give you more hints on accessing the monument interface.

  Flor - Sparks: I expected you to help me with that.

  Sparks - Flor: Oh, I will. I’m uncertain if you’ve done a combine slider puzzle yet.

  Flor - Sparks: A what?

  Sparks - Flor: Combine slider. It’s different than a merge puzzle or the interface sliders.

  Flor - Sparks: Will we have enough time to do both?

  Sparks - Flor: If you get here by 9:30, probably.

  Flor - Sparks: I’m rushing. I’m going silent to focus.

  Sparks - Flor: See you soon.