And they keep walking out of town. The terrain is hillier on the east side of town, but still quite wooded. Birds chirp as they walk, and the air is crisp and clear.

She's always loved a good hike. In real life she's hiked the Rockies, and in Realms of Dragons she's hiked the Needles. It's a familiar rhythm of one foot ahead of the next. Fortunately her starter gear comes with some decent boots.

So does Sable. Honestly, all five Pirates love a good hike, to varying degrees. Speaking of which...

"So, apropos of nothing, have you ever heard of plurality?"

"Now that's a topic I wasn't expecting. Yeah, I've heard of it, there was a site I saw when I was in high school called... what was it... 'Crow's House' or something. By someone who was multiple. They had written up a contract to be signed by all their selves to take care of their shared body and had a bunch of other notes on it... I don't remember a lot more about it except that I thought it was kind of cool."

"Well that's convenient. Chalk another point up to meddling, perhaps. As you may now have guessed, the pretty girl who fucked you last night is secretly five girls in a trenchcoat, and we think that's why randomization offered us the option of an Infiltrator variant of Darkling."

She blinks. "Sorry, run that by me again? Did I... manage to fuck five people by accident?"

She giggles. "Sorry. We get a bit co-conscious during daily life, but we're solo during sex. The others have lurked a bit today and yesterday, but it was primarily me, Sable, all day, and exclusively from when we went up to bed. So no, you were only fucking one girl last night, though yes, there are five in total now who want to get to know you. And the reason we got this particular randomizer-only race, we think, is because we strongly prefer to have different appearances. This look is always me. Everyone else looks distinctively different, and we finally got enough ability points last night to build everyone's separate forms."

"Oh! Okay. I... will keep that in mind!"

Wow, she really doesn't know this girl.

... still, there's no harm in sticking around to try and learn her. 

"Thanks, Sin," she replies with a warm smile.

The terrain gradually gets rockier and less wooded as they keep walking.

"Looks like there might be a decent place to practice fairly soon."

"It does," she agrees. "So, favorite color, if it's not obviously purple?"

"It is obviously purple. But silver is nice too."

She grins. "Silver is Hailey's second-favorite, after green. Mine is obviously purple as well."

It's nice to learn something more about her, even if it is pretty trivial.

"Cool." What do you even say to someone who lives in someone else's head?

"What inspired you to want to be a mage?"

"I mean." She kindles a Flare in one hand, holding it in place with its Held Spell node. "What's the point of living in a fantasy world if you don't get to have fun with it?"

She holds up her saber, which is briefly wreathed in a dark aura. "Mood," she replies with a laugh.

She looks around for a nice patch of rocks - it's getting barren enough, now - and lets the spell dart out and splash across them harmlessly.

It splashes across the rocks and stays put, a patch of rocky land about two meters across burning steadily.

"Oh that looks awesome." She darts into the flames for a moment and back out. "And my resistance seems to handle it well enough."

"Let me try."

Hyacinth walks out into the burning patch of ground, very prepared to turn right around if necessary.

She isn't burned! It stings a bit, but not in a way that's building up any, and oddly has a sort of cozy vibe.

"I can staaaaaaand in it," she sing-songs. "It stings a little, but not unpleasantly."

Stings, but not unpleasantly?

Oh my.

"Hell yes."