CHAPTER 31: FIRST LINK
Gobta's hand hit my shoulder like a friendly hammer.
"You've been staring at that onion for three minutes," he said. "Either you're planning to propose to it or something's wrong."
I blinked. The onion sat on my cutting board, undiced, mocking me with its untouched layers. The CSN dashboard floated at the edge of my vision, that compatibility reading with Gobta still glowing—65%, potential link detected, waiting for activation.
"Just thinking," I said.
"Thinking doesn't cut onions." He grinned. "What's the actual problem?"
"The actual problem is that I have a new ability I don't fully understand, and I'm terrified to test it because the system explicitly warned me it's visible to anyone with analytical skills above A-rank. And you're standing right here being helpful and trusting and I keep thinking you might be the safest person to experiment on."
"Nothing. Just tired."
Gobta slapped my back again—harder this time, the way goblins expressed affection through impact.
The link snapped into place.
It wasn't pain. It wasn't pleasure. It was presence.
Warmth flooded my chest, spreading outward like heat from a fire I couldn't see. Suddenly I could sense Gobta—not just see him standing beside me, but feel him. His stamina level, high and steady. His emotional state, cheerful as always, an uncomplicated brightness that had no shadows.
And something else. A sharpness at the edge of my awareness that didn't belong to me. Combat instincts, reflexes honed by years of patrol and practice, the constant low-level alertness of someone who'd learned to survive by being ready for anything.
Gobta's skills, echoing faintly through the connection.
[Citizen Sync Network — Link Established]
[Partner: Gobta — Compatibility: 65%]
[Duration: Active — Strain Accumulating]
"Whoa." Gobta's eyes went wide. "I feel weird. Good-weird. Like I just ate something that made me stronger but also... warmer?"
The cooking buff. My standard morning preparation—stamina regeneration from the breakfast I'd made—was flowing through the link into Gobta. And his physical reflexes were echoing back, a faint ghost of coordination I'd never naturally possessed.
I felt faster. More alert. My hands wanted to move with a precision that wasn't mine.
Then the link collapsed.
The sensation cut off like someone had pulled a plug.
I stumbled, catching myself on the prep table. Gobta did the same, grabbing a counter edge with one hand.
"What the hell was that?" he asked.
I checked the CSN dashboard.
[Link Terminated — Duration: 32 seconds]
[Strain Generated: 2 points]
[Current Strain: 2/72 — Recovery Rate: 1 point per hour]
Thirty-two seconds. That was all I could manage—inexperience collapsing the connection before I learned to hold it stable. The strain was minimal, well within my threshold, but the warning at the bottom of the dashboard was impossible to ignore.
[Warning: Sync Links appear as faint magicule threads visible to analytical skills above A-rank.]
A-rank. That included Great Sage. That included whatever analysis Shuna could bring to bear. That meant every time I activated a link, anyone with sufficient power in the vicinity would see a thread of magicule energy connecting me to my partner.
"Tyler?" Gobta was staring at me. "You okay?"
"Fine. Just... testing something."
"Testing what?"
I considered lying. Considered deflecting. But Gobta had just felt the link as clearly as I had. He deserved some truth.
"A new ability. Part of my... past life skills."
Not entirely a lie. The system was connected to whatever had brought me here, whatever had made me Tyler Barrett the transmigrator instead of Tyler Barrett the corpse on I-95.
Gobta's expression shifted from confusion to delight.
"Can we do that again?"
The enthusiasm was pure Gobta—immediate, uncomplicated, no calculation about what the ability might mean or why I'd hidden it.
I laughed despite myself.
"Later. Not here. And definitely not near anyone who might notice."
"Who would notice?"
"Rimuru. Great Sage. Shuna. Souei, probably. Half of Tempest's leadership, who are already watching me for reasons they haven't fully disclosed."
"Just... trust me. Later."
Milim left that afternoon.
I watched from the eastern district as she launched herself from Tempest's ruined front gate—the same gate she'd cratered on arrival, now sporting additional damage from her departure. A pink streak crossed the sky, trailing destruction that was somehow affectionate, and vanished over the horizon.
The city exhaled.
I felt the collective release of tension as civilians emerged from buildings they'd been sheltering in, as patrols relaxed from the heightened alert that had accompanied a Demon Lord's visit. The mess hall filled with workers who'd been eating cautiously for days, finally comfortable enough to linger over meals again.
The TBP feed noted her departure without generating a bulletin. Apparently "Demon Lord leaves" wasn't narratively significant enough to broadcast.
"She'll be back. The source material says she visits regularly once she decides she likes Rimuru."
And she'd told Rimuru to make sure the cook didn't leave.
The thought should have been terrifying. A Demon Lord had claimed me as a food source, something to be preserved for future visits like a jar of honey on a shelf.
Instead, I felt an unexpected pang of loss.
Milim had been dangerous. Overwhelming. The kind of presence that made my system nearly collapse just by existing in the same building. But she'd also been honest. Direct. Someone who wanted what she wanted without pretense or manipulation.
There was something refreshing about that, compared to the careful games I'd been playing with everyone else in Tempest.
Want more? The story continues on Patreon!
If you can't wait for the weekly release, you can grab +10, +15, or +20 chapters ahead of time on my Patreon page. Your support helps me keep this System running!
Read ahead here: [ patreon.com/system_enjoyer ]