Hi guys, I just wanted to hop on here and see if I could get some advice. I recently moved in with my partner and we’ve been having issues with my dog. The problem is that they have dogs, and I have one. My dog has become aggressive and has bit me and my partner multiple times. My dog has never acted this way before. Always has been protective of toys, but never aggressive to the point of biting some one or growling uncontrollably. I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford a trainer as in my areas they are anywhere from 500-1000 minimum. I have spoken to one that gave me a bit of advice, but it hasn’t seemed to help much, if at all. I just need help. I’m scared it will come down to me picking my partner or my dog, and I’m not willing to lose either. Honestly, if it really came down to it, I’d pick my dog. I feel like my dog has been outcasted. I used to get cuddles in bed, listening to commands was more frequent and I was never bitten. Any advice anyone can give would be amazing! I could really use it.

TL;DR at bottom
Hey everyone I have been working at a restaurant in carbonear, newfoundland canada for 2.5 years there are 2 pieces of equipment that don’t work at the moment 1 is a refrigerated drawer that I use to put burger buns and bread rolls for soups, mussels and shepherds pie in this one was give out long before I worked there so we have to keep the buns and rolls in bags so they don’t dry out cause the unit doesn’t even turn on. The second is a cold holding unit for burger and salad ingredients/toppings. This one gave out the first year I worked there in September of 2021. It was too expensive to fix the unit and happens only this year in April I find out from one of the sous and the new head chef that the owner had a new unit ordered which I’m excited about. but I am wondering how long it takes to get a new unit like that. Ever since it gave out, we have to use two 6-inch full sized hotel pans and 1 half size 6-inch hotel pan to keep the stuff in the top cold. the bottom fridge of the cold holding unit which was used other things that were for stove top items like beer for steamed mussels and pasta macaroni and cheese or just extra prep items for easy access as well as cold bowls and plates for salads is now used as a cupboard. Currently, since it’s my station, I keep boxes of small gloves and some basket liners in a half sized insert so I can reach them for when I line baskets. I also keep some oval burger baskets and some round baskets in this bottom for me cause I and a couple of others can’t reach the spot the night time burger station guy puts them for him to reach easily. Any how any one know how long it takes to get new kitchen equipment it’s been over a month, almost 2, and it hasn’t shown up or been delivered or installed yet.
TL;DR: 2 pieces of equipment at the restaurant I work at no longer work was told some where around the middle of April that there was new units ordered and was wondering how long it takes to get new equipment delivered after being ordered?

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Beer Money	Earnings
Bank Switch	£230
Matched Betting	£120
GPT	£57.75 & £3 Tesco gift card
Surveys	£19.50 & £20 Zizzi gift card
Market Research	£1.80
Sign up Offer	£6.20
Interest	£2

Bank Switch = £230

Another month and another bank switch completed, I've started to do one of these per month. In May I did the RBS switch for £200 & I also received a £30 bonus from Quidco from when I did the First Direct switch. For Junes switch I've started the Lloyds one, I already got their last bonus from Feb so I'm not sure I'll get this one but from what other people have said I think it will go through still.

Matched Betting = £120

This total comes from doing the weekly bet clubs, reload offers, daily free spins, and odds boosts. If you're thinking about starting matched betting have a read through some of the posts in here & I'd definitely suggest signing up to the free trial of OddsMonkey or OutPlayed to show you the ropes.

Get Paid To Offers = £57.75 & a £3 Tesco gift card

Inbox Pounds = £30 Sign up & get a £1 sign up bonus non-ref
Inbox Pounds is a great GPT site that has some very high paying offers for playing games, signing up to sites/apps & more. In May I cashed out £30 for completing the Empires & Puzzles game. I've just started the Family Island game which is currently paying £30 so hopefully I complete that.
Cashback Earners = £15 Sign up & receive a £6.50 sign up bonus non-ref
Cashback Earners is a GPT site that has lots of casino offers where all you have to do is sign up & deposit to the casino via their site, wait for it to track on Cashback Earners and then you can withdraw from the casino again. I've had £15 in there for awhile from a casino offer and was able to withdraw it this month as I had one successful referral.Each casino offer ranges from £10-£17.50 per one!
TopCashBack = £12.75 Sign up to TopCashBack non-ref
Topcashback seems to be the site with the best cashback offers out there! In May I withdrew £12.75 from signing up to BetUK.
Unbanx = £3 Tesco gift card Sign up & receive 150 bonus points non-ref
Unbanx is an app that allows you to earn points each month by sharing your spending data through open banking. Once you reach 492 points you can cash out a £3 gift card.

Surveys = £19.50 & a £20 Zizzi gift card

OnePulse = £15.50 non-ref
OnePulse is an app that has surveys in the form of polls, which are all 5 slides or less so they only take a few seconds to complete each one. You work your way up to earning more for each 'Pulse', atm in at 21 cents per pulse.You can cash out once you reach $20 (£15) which I hit each month now.
Consumer Pulse = £20 Zizzi gift card non-ref
On Consumer Pulse you take a weekly survey about your shopping habits. Each item you enter gives you 500 points. You can cashout a £10 gift card at 10,000 or a £20 one at 20,000. They also sometimes email out other surveys to fill in for extra points. I think it took me about 2 to build up enough points for a £20 gift card.
Testing Time = £4 Sign up with my ref link non-ref
Testing Time is a site to sign up for if you want to start doing more market research as it offers tasks to give feedback on things like apps, websites, physical products, gadgets & food. In May I completed 2 quick surveys, each for £2.

Market Research = £1.80

Testable Minds = £1.80 Sign up with my ref link non-ref
Testable Minds is a site similar to Prolific as it has academic studies posted by researchers which I find quite interesting. I completed one quick study on here last month for $2.30.

Sign Up Offer = £6.20

Lightyear = £6.20
Lightyear currently has an offer to deposit £50 and receive a $10 share, you then have to wait 30 days & can withdraw it all. I ended up with £6.20 at the end of the 30 days. I don't have a referral link as only certain people receive one so search the sub if you'd like to take advantage of this offer.

Interest = £2

I know this one isn't really beer money but it's because of this sub that I decided to try out some new savings accounts. I'd had my savings in the same TSB account my whole life at a horrifically low interest rate which I've not really thought anything of until I started hearing about banks with interest rates around the 3.3%-3.8% mark. The thing I love about them is they pay monthly too and not yearly like my old one. In May I tried out Chip but didn't really like the app & also found it annoying how you can only deposit & withdraw through one account through open banking. So now I'm trying out Chase & I love it so much more already!

CashBack

Shopmium Ref link to get free Dairy Milk Buttons or enter my ref link W3AN4K non-ref no bonus
Shopmium is an app that has offers on products you buy at the grocery store. You buy the product and upload the receipt to Shopmium to either get it for free or at a discount. This month I received cashback for baking paper, coffee & cocktails.

Happy M0o Monday 🐮 week 15!
As the Sunday scaries turn into Monday miseries, I hope to give you a little something to look forward to! I make a new post every Sunday evening. Complete the listed task by ~11:59pm Monday EST for a chance to receive something on your wishlist up to $10.
For this week...
Tell us about something you do to help you get through the hard days. I'm having a tough day dealing with my chronic illness and so I'm all ears to hear your ideas 😊
Rules:

1. Summon a friend (if you wish)
2. Have a WL in your flair with an item under $10
3. Have gift card info available if outside the US

​

DayZ: RedDawn is a new DayZ server that's still in development that is looking for a community of players to give us feedback on our current state of the server, The server is aimed to be noob friendly and nontoxic and provides some useful addons!

​
Discord: https://discord.gg/SFxppAFJPA
WE OFFER INGAME BONUSES FOR INVITING YOUR FRIENDS TO THE SERVER!
Join the discord for more information!
​
Latest wipe: June 1st
​
Features & Addons:

• Loot++
• Better Air Drops
• All Loot Spawn Pristine
• No Run Stamina
• Slower Digestive (Less Hungry/Thirsty)
• Longer Days/Shorter Night ( 15 Minute Nights )
• Starting GeaLoot
• Traders + 25k Start
• Player2Player Trader
• Radios + Cassettes
• Dj Items + Vinyls
• Spawn Selection
• Bed Respawn
• Raid Schedule
• PvP Zones
• Safe Zones
• Bandit System
• Better Map
• Mini Map
• Compass Navigation
• BaseBuildingPlus
• Dynamic Item Placements (Place an item where u want it exactly)
• Build Any Where (No restrictions on ground level)
• Territories
• KeyPads
• Groups/Party System (With party chat)
• PVP/PVE Leaderboard
• Killfeed
• KOTH
• Dog Companion
• Garbage Search
• Auto Run
• Disable Broken Legs
• Slower Footwear Damage
• No Vehicle Damage
• Car Keys
• Car keypads
• Heli Spawns
• Motorcycles
• More Vehicles
• More Storage Items & Furniture
• More Backpacks
• Cl0ud's More Military Gear & Camos
• Modular Vest System + MVS Custom Gear
• RedFalcon Flight System Heliz

​
RedDawn IP:
IP: 208.115.217.67 Port: 2302

Hello! Here's the situation:
​
I'm downsizing my collection of audio gear, and first cut is my microphone setup. I've used and thoroughly enjoyed the Beyer M201TG (after purchasing it used locally) in combination with the FetHead (bought brand new) for a little over 6 months now. To my eye, there is almost no sign of wear on either of these items, and of course, they both function perfectly. With the enormous Shure A81WS windscreen on the end of it, the M201TG becomes a stellar mic for spoken word: warm like an SM7b but with extra clarity and utterly immune to plosives to boot. Podcastage's review on YouTube convinced me to buy this thing in the first place, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations.
​
So then why give it away? Without getting too personal or sob story-ish, I was using this mic setup primarily for streaming, but I've recently had some health issues that are likely to keep me from streaming for quite a while. These same health issues have me out of work for a while as well, so quite honestly it just makes sense to sell these things for a little extra cash in the meantime (I promise you I'm doing fine, really). That said, if you've got a good-condition-or-better Audio Technica ATH R70x that you want to trade for these things, that's also worth it to me.
​
Oh, and it doesn't fit the M201TG, but in case anyone is interested for any reason, I do also have a Shure A55M shock mount that I used to use with an SM57 to great effect but now just sits in a drawer. It has some minor wear but functions perfectly. So maybe that could sweeten a potential deal or something.
​
For the A81WS and A55M, I'd much prefer to sell them bundled with the other items just from a shipping/logistics standpoint. But, if you really only want one or both of these little things, PM me and we can work something out.
​
Thank you for looking, please PM me your inquiries if you have any!

Run this command in the Terminal to stop Pop Shop from auto starting. Now after you do this and restart your system it wont give you update notifications, you'll have to open PS and get your updates.
Have a great day.
sudo rm /etc/xdg/autostart/io.elementary.appcenter-daemon.desktop

As we all know, there has been an ongoing debate on the speed of Minecarts. On the one hand, many players want them to be faster so that they're more practical for transportation, but on the other hand, some wish for entertainment in the form of slow-moving rollercoasters.
However, I think I've come up with a compromise that will make both sides happy, as well as giving copper a new use.
Introducing the Reinforced Powered Rails.
They're crafted with one powered rail and two copper ingots, as seen here. They act identically to the powered rails in snapshot 14w11b, accelerating minecarts to 25 m/s and putting them at risk of derailing on sharp turns. Regular powered rails decelerate the minecart back down to 8 m/s if they're going at reinforced speeds, making them valuable for completing those turns successfully.
Furthermore, the fact that it's a new item and not a change to the basic powered rails means rollercoasters are mostly unaffected by this change.

I've learned C++ programming language in my school. I used Code::Blocks. I wrote programs to solve problems like finding prime numbers, palindromes, solving mathematical equations, operations on strings, etc.
I don't know how things works. It's like I was born inside a car and I've learned to drive it from the inside. I know turning the steering wheel turns the car but I don't know by what mechanism the car turns itself. I don't know how to make softwares. I can't understand what are libraries, APIs, Frameworks, toolkits, SDKs, Runtime etc. Even if I look up their definitions or Wikipedia pages, I can't get any clue as to what they are.
If I Google anything, like "learn software development for windows", I get bombarded with jargons I know nothing about. What are UWP, MFC, WPF? I don't know what I'm lacking. It's not possible to Google every single thing I don't understand. I can't understand the documentations either.
I thought tracing the evolution of computers and programming will tell me how we got where we are now, slowly building the concepts from logic gates and binary logic to processors, bootloaders, early command line operating systems, etc but there is so much resource and knowlege that it seems one life is not enough to understand everything. Moreover, people told me not to 'reinvent the wheel'. They said that you don't need to learn all that. Learn getting comfortable not knowing how stuff work.
I don't know what to do. Is there any resource which does not teach me Java, c++, GUI, Operating system, etc but give an overall bird eye's view of how different thing fit together, like how the entire computer works? Where does my compiled binary fit in the whole scheme of things? How software development started? How different tools for software development were made? If I'm running a compiled C++ code, who is it 'talking' to? does it ask the operating system to do the tasks for it, or it does it directly using the processor. If it does it directly, then why do we need different binaries for different operating systems running on the same hardware?

Phobia Season 23: Radiophobia

Episode 2

Introduction

Welcome back to Phobia, an Ultra Hardcore group organized by Chasmic_, jamieNCL, MarcC5M & 5kylord, that exposes its players to a new fear each season. In UHC, health does not regenerate normally, and players must instead use golden apples or health potions to heal. The last player or team standing wins.
For S23, we're keeping medicated over Radiophobia!

• Rigged Teams: We made teams of 3.
  
• New City World: It's city world, but not that one! This newer generation features; more vanilla terrain outside of cities including vanilla caves, greater building variety, interesting structures like giant subway networks and basements full of spawners, and grand highways!
  
• Radiation: In episode 2, the metaphorical bombs will drop and irradiate the surface. This radiation is a silent killer, slowly building up in players on the surface and giving them unusual & cryptic effects. Some of these are good, but many are bad. You can find a list of them here with some vague time estimates. You can never tell how much radiation you have at any time, so keep some medicine on hand to cure your ailments. Supply drops will restocked in certain locations that'll give you more resources as well as medicine. Just avoid the surface, right?
  
• Risky Retrieval: WRONG. Any gold or diamonds you mine will not give you their items. Instead, these drops are sent to ender chests in each quadrant. In order to collect your hard-earned materials, you must emerge into the radioactive ruins above.
  

Newcomers:

• fruitlogic (Contest loser)

Perspectives

BOLD means highlighted episodes!

The Cast	Video Links
Team 1
Cyonal	Episode 2
Micale	Episode 2
ThePeridotKnight	Episode 2
Team 2
Emerric	Late
MarcC5MOnYrMarcsGtSetGO	The Bombs Have Dropped!
oworca	Episode 2
Team 3
ColdBac	Episode 2
WIBB0Ldwebbol	Episode 2
itsWingu	Elton John Destroys Phobia
Team 4
Chasmic	Surrender To The Nukes
fruitlogic	Episode 2
Greeples	Episode 2
Team 5
I_is_cheesecake	Episode 2
ShutUpBrick	Will be lateNo Audio
VintageBeef	Coming soon
Team 6
5kylord	Oppen Heimer Style
Brodator	Risky Retrieval
SidGarcia	Episode 2
Team 7
KatyLawsonBeckaty_Lynch	I'm The Bomb
Havenhand	Episode 2
Jakekub	Calculated Risks
Team 8
buttergolem1	The Future Without Us
Flouzemaker	Tactical Nuke
NTBama	Episode 2
Team 9
5hup	Episode 2
Bacan	Episode 2
H_L_llama	Late
Team 10
BSBrent	Episode 2
SimplySam	Episode 2
TastyBaconZ	Big Phobia Wants You To Watch This Episode
Team 11
Jahrod	Episode 2
jamertxn	Episode 2No Mic Audio
ShyGus	Episode 2
Team 12
BBR_	Episode 2
Kubaslov	Episode 2
Maxwellfifty	Episode 2

Previous Links

• Intro
  
• Episode 1
  

Match Specifications

• Version 1.19 (Arctic's 1.8 combat)
  
• Rigged Teams of 3, New City World, Radiation, Risky Retrieval
  
• Fire Aspect and Flame disabled
  
• Golden heads enabled
  
• Absorption disabled
  
• Notch Apples enabled
  
• Pearls deal one heart
  
• PvP on starting Episode 2
  

Special Thanks

• ...to DJoee for creation of the intro
  
• ...to Potsie for creation of the logo
  
• ...to SidGarcia for the intro art
  
• ...to LeonTG for hosting and providing plugins
  

Enjoy the season!

Growing up in a situation where i never had the newest clothes or a full fridge all the time and lots of hand-me-downs, along with lots of frugal nights. Anytime I gain the littest amount of money, and can buy myself something as simple as an ice-cream cone, it really makes me appreciate all those times where the simplicity of ice cream and anything was not attainable for me. Knowing i was at that low of a place gives me such a great sense of appreciation for the small things; and although I would not of preferred to be in a low income state (still am) I can now atleast afford the smallest of items, and im truly greatful for all of it.
Word vomit, I know, just wanted to show some appreciation for the small things in life and see if anyone can relate:)

I'm in need of an Windows wizard skilled in the black art of certificates.
Statement of the Problem: An invalid (self-signed) CA certificate which the browser (Chrome) says it's using, can't be found by standard Windows tools so it can be removed. If you have skills in this area and are willing to give me a few minutes of your time and, if you can, your expertise -- read on.
Background: I am building out a small proof-of-concept self-hosted environment in Docker on Windows 10 (yeah, I know...) so I can prove to myself that I know what I'm doing with Docker before I invest in more suitable hardware. The reason I'm posting here (instead of selfhosted) is that there is no issue with the containers in that they run and are are reachable over HTTP, but not over HTTPS despite that SSL certificates have been issued by Let's Encrypt using NGINX Proxy Manager. I've identified a bogus CA certificate present on the box because it is self-signed by "Linuxserver.io". It appears that this is being presented when I connect to that Docker service over SSL instead of the one from Let's Encrypt (validity of certificate ensured through a https://crt.sh lookup), and therefore the connection fails.
Details of Identified Certificate: I deployed the 'grocy' Docker container and then hit localhost on the host port of 8443. The connection is made but of course the browser (Chrome) reports 'Not Secure' as the 'Issued To' and 'Issued By' are both 'Linuxserver.io' for "Organization" as shown in https://imgur.com/a/HRJJwsC. The 'Details' tab identifies the serial number as "3E:ED:D6:ED:3D:27:47:36:B3:A4:02:70:FB:13:66:A8:48:75:7B:96" as identified in https://imgur.com/a/tuk4ZpX .
Troubleshooting: At this point, armed with the 'Issuer' Linuxserver.io and 'Serial Number' 3EEDD6ED3D274736B3A40270FB1366A848757B96, I thought the process would be straight-forward. Alas, clearly the browser knows there's a certificate but Windows can't find a certificate with that issuer or serial number.
PowerShell
All of the following return no matches.
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-ChildItem Cert:\LocalMachine\Root\ where { $_.issuer -eq "Linuxserver.io" }
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-ChildItem Cert:\LocalMachine\CA where { $_.issuer -eq "Linuxserver.io" }
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-ChildItem Cert:\CurrentUser\Root\ where { $_.issuer -eq "Linuxserver.io" }
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-ChildItem Cert:\CurrentUser\CA where { $_.issuer -eq "Linuxserver.io" }
certmgr.msc
All of the following return no matches.
Action > Find Certificates > Find in All Certificate Stores > Serial Number > 3EEDD6ED3D274736B3A40270FB1366A848757B96
Action > Find Certificates > Find in All Certificate Stores > Issued By > Linuxserver.io
Action > Find Certificates > Find in All Certificate Stores > Issued To > Linuxserver.io
certutil.exe
All of the following return no matches.
C:\>certutil -store ca findstr /i 3EEDD6ED3D274736B3A40270FB1366A848757B96
C:\>certutil -store my findstr /i 3EEDD6ED3D274736B3A40270FB1366A848757B96
C:\>certutil -store root findstr /i 3EEDD6ED3D274736B3A40270FB1366A848757B96
So, the question is how do I delete an existing certificate that the browser says it's using, but Windows can't find. Any Windows sysadmins out there that can solve this issue, suggest additional troubleshooting steps or spot my stupidity?

First want to preface this by saying that I've talked about this with my players and established boundaries on the subject. And if anyone ever becomes uncomfortable at my table I will back off.
I had an idea for a BBEG who is very Killgrave inspired. Their all about modifying memories of people until they become his follower. But with it's inherent restrictions I'm wondering if this would work. So is there magic items or anything else that can buff modify memory outside of being an enchantment wizard?

--- Table of Contents ---
--- Part 1/2 ---
When Shon woke again, it was to be told he'd slept, not only the rest of the day and night of the incident, but the entire day after as well. Despite the Cleric assuring Shon that this was normal, he still had Shon eat breakfast in the infirmary while the Squires attended their morning lessons. He'd slept through drills, breakfast, and prayer.
The Cleric kept the curtains drawn over the window, though Shon's head wasn't pounding anymore, and had added a second set of standing curtains around the girl's bed. Shon's eyes flicked in her direction with every alternate bite he managed to force down, but there was no movement beyond the white cloth.
Master Daunas came in shortly before tenth bell and armor practice to inform Shon that he was to take the day off to rest but could rejoin the others in training the following day. He was at least allowed to leave the infirmary, though he waited until he could hear sparring outside before he did. He didn't want to run into any of the Squires.
As he opened the door to leave something flew by the window, catching Shon's attention enough to make him stop and look over. But it was already long gone. Just a bird... Assuming he hadn't imagined it. He shook his head, still aching all over. His mind swam with worries and memories, made worse by the fact that the Cleric was trying to hide shivers now that Shon was fully rested. He'd probably just imagined it...
Back in his room Shon huddled over his journal. He could still smell the smoke in his hair and had decided it would be best to shower soon, but finally alone, his thoughts and memories could no longer be ignored.
So he drew. He tried to start safe. Nangran atop his borrowed horse; Ivelm mostly naked and shaking a club in his doorway; the Archmage's workroom lined in shelves filled with magical components. That one had taken a while. But as he released these images onto the page, others forced themselves forward. Smoke billowing over treetops; a burning tower; charred bodies; and a girl reaching out through the flames. A girl lying asleep in the bed next to his. The stillness of the picture made her look dead.
He dropped his pencil, letting it roll right off the desk. Crossing his arms over the book, he rested his head on his desk. The wood felt warm compared to his skin, comforting. What more could he have done? What could a Paladin have done? Or Master Veon-Zih? Shon saw again the bodies and shivered.
No one could save everyone. To think otherwise was pure arrogance. But knowing the facts and feeling them were two very different things. The tower wasn’t that far from Hamerfoss. Shouldn’t they have known something was going on? Shouldn’t they have been able to do something sooner? Years sooner? Long before the fire killed those people?
A loud tapping startled him awake. When had he fallen asleep? Shon searched his room in confusion, trying to piece together his dream and what had awoken him. He'd been in the Temple chapel, but as he'd walked down the middle aisle, the pews had started to decay, the stone walls crumbling. Small plants, then trees began to sprout from the ground, overgrowing the once-holy place now in ruin. Shon pressed the heels of his hands hard into his eyes, trying to remember what had come next... A man with white hair pulled back in a ponytail had been standing at the head altar... something with leathery wings on his shoulder...
The painful screech of something sharp on glass had Shon jumping up, his chair falling to clatter on the ground behind him. He looked to his window but saw only orange sky beyond. Was the sun already setting? He knelt on the mattress and looked out the window, unsure what he expected to see. He was on the third floor, but that was definitely where the sound had come from, and the window was the only glass in the room.
Nothing but open sky.
He opened the tiny window, the pane swinging up and letting in cold and refreshing air that helped clear his mind. Master Daunas's voice bellowed orders from the courtyard below, and Shon stuck his head out to look down and see his fellows working through their dagger forms. He'd slept through lunch and afternoon lessons. And he still needed a shower.
If he hurried, he would be able to shower before the others finished their lesson. Shon left the window open and even opened his door before he remembered to grab a fresh uniform. Obviously, he still wasn't thinking clearly.
The halls were blissfully empty, and Shon could almost pretend that even if he did pass someone, their breath wouldn't show in the air. It was a short-lived fantasy, however. He managed to make it all the way to the showers, but when he opened the door a voice called, "Squire! Why aren't you... Oh..." Shon performed a sharp about face to stand at attention before the Major General.
"At ease, Squire Shon," Selibra sighed, waving him down, "Did you get enough rest?"
"Yes, Sir," Shon answered but then caught movement out of the corner of his eye, again. He hadn't managed to turn his head far enough to see before the Major General started speaking. Shon snapped his head back to give the officer his undivided attention.
"You did well, Squire. Smith Nangran told us what happened at the tower." Sir Selibra managed a strained smile that faded quickly, "If you want to talk about what you saw there... any one of us will be more than willing to listen. You shouldn't have had to experience death so soon." an image of an arm pulling away from a charred corpse flashed in Shon's vision.
Shon swallowed down the accompanying nausea at the memory and managed a nod, adding a quiet "Thank you, Sir." for good measure.
Feeling the need to scrub even more than before, Shon was grateful when the Major General left, allowing him to enter the still-open room. The shower was only mildly comforting, however. What should have been scalding water felt merely lukewarm now, the mist billowing off his truly icy skin thick enough that he could barely see the spigots. Closing his eyes, he scrubbed and tried to imagine the images flowing off of him with the filth...
Something chirped, and Shon slammed the water off. Just the pipes creaking... How much longer would he have to rest before his mind stopped playing tricks on him? But as he moved for his towel, Shon stopped in shock, his new uniform had been scattered around the benches and floor.
He hadn't heard the door open, but had heard the pipes creaking? But who here would even do something like this? Shon started to search the showers, but as he did, he heard something else—voices in the hall. The Squires were done with their practice. He still didn't want to see them and dressed quickly, rushing from the shower and slamming the door behind him.
Something thumped into the door from the other side. Shon held his breath and turned slowly. It was his imagination. It had to be. He reached for the handle again and, standing behind the swing, opened the shower slowly.
"He's been gone three days... Do you think they sent him away?" Thom's voice sounded from around a corner, and Shon jumped in surprise, pulling the door open fully as if he could hide behind it.
"No way. he's the best Squire we have, so what if he's a Sorcerer." They were talking about him... Shon definitely didn't want to see them yet. He dashed down the opposite way, taking a long way around through the Paladin's barracks and back to his room. Or that's what he'd planned before he remembered the Squires hall would be full of people now taking their break and trying to get into the shower before everyone else. His feet faltered, and he turned away again, to one of the hardly used stairs that would take him down to the rest of the fortress.
Barred from his room, Shon made his way to the place he associated the most with comfort, the chapel. It wasn't empty, three Paladins knelt in prayer near the front, but it didn't matter anymore. He felt a wash of calm as he entered the incense-filled room, the sweet-smelling smoke finally banishing the stench of burning hair from his memory.
Shon took a spot near the back, kneeling to pray as he stared up at the statue of Hengist behind the altar. He was dressed in full plate mail, his arm raised in triumph, holding his mighty sword, Darkspliter.
Shon sighed and felt himself smile for what felt like the first time in a very long time. He could tell Hengist anything and everything, and none of it out loud... But then his smile faded. What would he say...?
I'm sorry. I feel like I've been lying to everyone, to you. I've known there was something different about me, something wrong with me. That's why no one likes to touch me, why everyone pulls away at the feel of my skin, like it's somehow dirty or painful. I should've realized... Should have known...
But I worked so hard... You know that, don't you? And I'm not ready to give up. I'll do whatever it takes, atone anyway I can if you just tell me how. The Major General said something about it being a sign. I want to believe he meant the unlikely convenience of Smith Nangran knowing an Archmage who could make an item so I won't have to get the tattoo. Thank you. I just hope I don't disappoint after getting a second chance...
The bell for dinner sounded. Feeling better, Shon considered going with the Paladins as they left the chapel. Until one of them shivered as they passed. "Winters right around the corner," another muttered.
"We'll need to install the heating orbs soon." the last answered before the door closed... He wasn't hungry anyway.
Please, Hengist. Don't let me hurt anyone else. Kefir was trying to help me, and I answered that kindness with pain. What if the healers hadn't gotten to him in time? Would I have smothered him in ice? Please, I'll give up everything if it means that will never happen again...
But he didn't want to give up anything. He wanted to fight, to reach his highest potential, and lead a life of meaning. He thought of Master Veon-Zih. The Monk had told him that he didn't need to be a Paladin to fight for justice, and he was living proof of that. But...
I don't want to be alone... At first, I thought I just wanted you, a god, as a guiding light in my life. But now I realize that being a Paladin gives me even more than that. It gives me brothers and friends, and I don't want to lose them either. But I especially don't want to hurt them.
Shon clenched his hands tighter, as tight as he could, digging his fingers into the spaces between his knuckles; as if external pain might dull internal strife...
They say I'm scary... And I know they aren't really joking. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their nervous laughs when they try and make it a joke. But they only mean when they fight me... don't they? And I'll never try to hurt them. It's only sparring... they know that... don't they?
He squeezed his eyes tighter shut,
But what about now? Will they be even more afraid? Even when we aren't sparring? Can I blame them if they are?
He actually found himself waiting for an answer... Of course, none came. He wasn't a Paladin yet, and wouldn't be able to feel the god until he swore his Oath and took a piece of Hengist into himself. For now, Shon took in a deep breath, as deep as he could, then let it out slowly, relaxing his hands and face as he attempted to release his anxieties unto his god.
I won't give up. I'll fight this danger within me as hard as I will fight any threat without. I ask for your help with this. Please don't give up on me yet. I'll prove I'm worthy, I swear.
The bell ending dinner and starting study time sounded. Shon stayed in the chapel until a handful of Squires came in to pray themselves. They hesitated by the door, but Shon didn't look at them. He knew he couldn't hide forever. But he also wasn't sure what he should say to any of them. Or if he should say anything at all. Shon waited until they moved away from the door to finally stand. If he had to face any of them, he wanted it to be the ones he considered friends first.
Shon left the chapel and made his way to the library, fighting the urge to just go back to his room. Heads swiveled in his direction the moment he opened the library door. Shon flinched, sucking in a sharp breath and holding it, pulling his energy in as best he could.
He stepped in, and the Squires exchanged looks, but then the Paladin on library duty coughed, and they quickly went back to reading.
His typical spot was available as usual, so Shon made his way there. The others would want to talk after... and if not, he would just go back to his room. Distracted by his continued worries -and the silent effort to hold his energy in- Shon still heard when something behind him hissed along the stone.
He spun quickly, scanning the floor. This time he definitely wasn't imagining it...
"Squire Shon... Shouldn't you be resting?" He turned back to find the Squires trying to make it seem like they weren't staring at him, while the Paladin who called looked openly concerned.
Shon's cheeks flushed, now feeling cool rather than warm. Another change... He cleared his throat, "No, Sir..." and when the Paladin's worried expression didn't let up, Shon added, "I've been resting all day."
"Three days..." Zihler muttered.
Shon met his eyes and the Squire smiled, but Shon couldn't tell if the expression seemed strained or not. He nodded anyway, taking his seat alone at the table by the window.
Books on their current subject of study were already laid out, and he pulled one forward, opening it without checking the title. As he read, he could hear the others occasionally whisper and even caught snippets of what they were saying,
"I found another one. Do you think this will be enough?" Thom asked.
"We have the rest of the hour; we should find all we can," Rerves answered. It didn't sound like they were studying, but Shon had missed three days of lessons; maybe they were working on an assignment... He went back to his reading. He would get any missed work tomorrow.
When the bell rang that would finally begin their last hour of free time, Shon closed his book. It would be best to just go to bed early; everyone seemed to think he should be resting anyway; they could talk after he got the sealing item... But he hadn't stood yet when his six closest friends jumped up, books in hand, and crowded around him, preventing him from leaving. From running away.
"We're glad you're okay." Rehlien blurted out.
"The Major General told us what happened," Baradin added.
Shon looked from him to Kefir and took in a sharp breath, "I'm..." he started to apologize, but Kefir interrupted with a broad smile,
"I'm fine. I even got a day off for it. I didn't need it though, they healed me up right away."
Rerves placed his book down on Shon's table, "It was just really surprising, you know? But hey! Now we know why you're so cold all the time."
Shon looked down at the massive tome on the table, not wanting to meet their eyes. He didn't know what to make of what they were saying. There was no way it was okay. How could they be alright with a dangerous magic user that could kill them all on accident...
"We found these. We thought they might make you feel a little better," Thom whispered, stacking his book on top of Rerves' and opening it to a page he'd marked with a ripped piece of scrap paper. It wasn't a textbook, it was a record book. Shon furrowed his brows down at the page, reading 'Sir Patrich, served 4876-4929, died 4955. Paladin of Hengist, General. Air Sorcerer...'
Shon looked up to find them all smiling down at him. Zihler set his book down over Thom's, opened to another personal record, "This one was a fire Sorcerer, and they're supposed to be the most destructive."
Rehlien took Baradin and Kefir's books and stacked them with his own beside the open records. He ran his fingers over the slew of bookmarks sticking out of the closed pages, "All Sorcerers and Paladins." Rehlien said.
"Master Daunas said you would be back in a few days, but just in case we wanted to find these for you," Thom explained in a rush, "You know... in case the officers or Mages needed to be convinced..."
Baradin cleared his throat before he spoke, clasping his hands behind his back, "We haven't found any ice Sorcerers yet, but they're also the rarest, so that really shouldn't be surprising."
"Yeah, and there are plenty of fire who are crazy dangerous even when they're trained," Kefir added quickly.
Shon could feel a burning in his eyes and blinked furiously, looking away from his friends. He wouldn't cry.. he wouldn't. "Thank you..." he managed to croak out, finally giving in and rubbing his eyes. None of them commented on his show of emotion, or the frost clouding his window.
Rerves took the seat across from him with a smile, "So, what type of familiar do you think you'll get?"
Shon managed to stop blinking enough to arch an eyebrow. Hadn't Ivelm said something about a familiar too?
"I bet you it'll be something really lame." Zihler laughed, "To balance Shon's badassness."
"Squire!" the Paladin librarian barked, "Pushups! Now!"
Zihler groaned, mumbling as he stepped back to perform the punishment, "How do they always do that?"
"Divine hearing," Rehlien snickered as Zihler started the pushups, "Probably only works for curses, though."
"You can join him," the Paladin called without looking up from his book, and Rehlien groaned, dropping down next to Zihler.
"Seriously though," Rerves said, ignoring the boys huffing and puffing through their punishment, "Familiars are animals, they're supposed to be even closer to their Sorcerer than a Paladin and their mount! Like an extension of yourself. You can see through their eyes and talk to them with your mind. It's awesome!"
Thom actually blushed, confessing, "We read up on it a bit over the last two days..."
They knew more about what he was than he did. Shon actually smiled, starting, "I don't..." but chittering, like a particularly loud squirrel, interrupted him. The Squires all swiveled their heads to look around, Rehlien and Zihler jumping to their feet with the Paladin, who stood so quickly his chair fell over. The chittering turned to chirping, and then to a purr, as Shon finally found what was making the noise.
On top of the bookshelf closest to the door, sat a tiny dragon.
The size of a large barn cat, its scales were mostly brown but had streaks and blotches of red and orange, like the few deciduous trees that still held their leaves in autumn. Its leathery wings were folded against its back and its front claws grasped the edge of the bookshelf. Its long tail, complete with a scorpion-like stinger, flicked back and forth, its sinuous neck held high as it surveyed the library.
Some of the Squires let slip breaths of wonder, and the little dragon seemed to preen at the attention, holding its head a little higher and purring even louder. The Paladin, however, stepped around his desk and commanded, "Stay back, Squires," before he started chanting. The little dragon tilted its head at the Paladin, as curious as the rest of them. A moment later, the knight's spell washed over them to fill the room, sending a shiver down Shon's spine and making more than one of the other Squires shudder.
The little dragon let out another string of chittering and hissed down at the Paladin, whose eyes went wide as he announced in a breath, "It's real."
"How did it get in?" a senior Squire asked. Shon started to stand but then fell back again as images flooded into his mind. He watched a window opening from outside the fortress, and saw himself lean out. Then the image shifted, and he saw himself digging under his bed for a new uniform and towel as the him that was watching slipped out the door. It shifted again, and he saw himself in the shower, mist billowing off his shoulders before he dug through the piles of clothes left on the bench. It shifted again, and he darted into the library and behind the bookshelf, watching as he, Shon, walked in and sat down at the little table.
Shon blinked and shook his head furiously to try and clear it. All the pictures had flooded in so fast that no one even had time to answer the question or pose their own, "I let it in..." Shon whispered, then looked at the Paladin, explaining quickly, "I didn't mean to. I left my window open to air out my room and..."
"It's okay, Squire," the Paladin was actually smiling, and the little dragon whistled, "They're goodly creatures, though elusive. I've never seen a live one." the dragon leaned forward on the bookshelf, crouching down on its front claws and wiggling its hindquarters before it leaped into the air, opening its wings to spread as wide as it was long. It glided a lap around the library then hovered in front of the Paladin, chittering again and flapping hard enough to blow the man's short hair back before flying right towards the group of Squires around Shon.
It brushed Baradin's head with its claws, the boy ducking as it swooped down to land on Shon's table. The dragon looked from the open books to Shon, then, before Shon could pull back, climbed up his arm and to his shoulder, purring hard enough to vibrate Shon too. It weighed considerably less than it looked like it should, though its claws were sharp enough to pierce through his clothes as it climbed. It brought its face right up to Shon's eye, and though he tried to pull away, it followed him with its long neck, rubbing its cheek along his face. The scales were smooth and lacked temperature, like being touched by a gloved hand. It nuzzled his cheek again, then down his neck and into his shirt.
Surprised, Shon tried to throw the dragon off, but it just dug its claws into his sleeves, chittering angrily then clawing its way around to his back before lifting itself up to drape over his head. "What..." Shon started, but the Paladin cut him off with a laugh.
"I think that answers your friends' questions, Squire."
Shon was too confused to even arch an eyebrow at the man, but Rerves apparently understood what he'd meant because he said, "But I thought only animals could be familiars, like cats and crows and stuff..."
The Paladin nodded but then shrugged, "That's usually the case, but sometimes, rarely, there will be a Sorcerer who gets something a bit more special, like a winged serpent, fairy dragon, or in this case," he nodded at Shon, "A pseudodragon."
The pseudodragon purred, vibrating Shon's head. The Squires all gaped slack-jawed in awe at it, and Shon reached up slowly. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do, pet it? Push it off? But before he'd even touched it, it lifted its head, stretching its long neck out and nuzzling into his hand, obviously not caring that his skin was colder now than it had ever been.
"Damn..." Zihler muttered in obvious disappointment, "I was really hoping it would be a toad so I would have something to make fun of..."
The little dragon's answering twitter almost sounded like a laugh.
***
She groaned, rolling over and nuzzling deeper into Her pillow. Except it didn’t smell like Her pillow. Her eyes flew open, and She sat up. Then fell back down. That was stupid. Ran and Brom had probably taken more blood than usual again… except She couldn’t remember them taking Her for samples. Not for weeks and weeks…
“It’s alright, you’re safe here,” the kindly voice of a man spoke from Her right, and She sat up again, more slowly this time. A stranger in white robes with a sword embroidered on the chest reached out to help Her up, but after touching Her back he pulled sharply away.
She was too confused to apologize for burning him. “Where?” She asked, looking around the room. Like the stranger, it was covered in white. White blankets, white rug, and white curtains hanging to either side of an open window. A window that looked out onto a blue sky. She gasped, scrambling from the bed and nearly tripping over Her white gown. Of course it was white. How in all the hells did they keep it all clean?
She shook Her head and rushed for the window. The man behind Her gasped, his chair scraping loudly as he stood to follow. She pressed Her hands on the cold glass, staring up into the sky, “I’m on an upper floor!?” She grinned excitedly over Her shoulder as the stranger stared at Her, mouth hanging open.
Turning back to the window, She used Her arm to wipe the fog from Her heat off the glass, letting Her gaze trail down. She didn’t see the treetops She expected. Not close anyway. Instead, the forest was beyond a wide clear field, which in turn was beyond a tall stone wall with people dressed in silver walking along its top. She stood on Her toes to look down through the window. Between the wall and Her was a courtyard full of more people swinging things that glinted in the sun.
This wasn’t the tower. None of those people wore robes except the nice stranger. She spun to him, “My treasures, where are they? Brom? Ran? Where…” She saw a flash of red, heard a pained bark, and smelled iron. She fell to Her knees, grasping Her chest and breathing hard, remembering bits and pieces. He killed them. He killed all of them. Then what? She couldn’t remember...
“You are in a training facility of the Temple of Hengist, Hamerfoss, in Clearhelm.” a new voice, deeper, less kind though not cruel, spoke from the doorway. Lifting Her head, She saw the new man wearing a crisp, white, uniform, with a sword hanging comfortably from his belt. Hengist… so that explained all the white.
The kind man in robes had rushed to Her but dared not touch Her. Wise. With Her head spinning so fast, there was no way She was controlling Her heat properly. “How long has she been awake?” the new man asked the kind one.
“She just woke up, Major General,”
“He killed them…” She whispered, squeezing Her eyes shut, pushing back the rage and sorrow, trying to fill in Her memory. What happened next?
“It will be alright. You're safe here,” the kind man said again.
She pulled Her own hair, lacing Her fingers into the golden strands and squeezing. What had happened? She had run down the hall, but how had She gotten out of Her room? There were strangers in Her tower. These men? She glared up at the brown-haired man who looked down at Her, his hands behind his back.
“Who are you? What did you do to the Mages?” She could feel the hair rise on the back of Her neck and a familiar tingling where the collar should be.
The Major General remained calm before Her building fury, saying only, “Calm down.” It was a command backed by magic. She felt the power flow over Her and try to settle on Her mind. She could almost sense the peace it promised but shook Her head, clearing it of the spell.
He could've used his magic to hurt Her. Perhaps not with the collar as the Archmages did, but in other ways. And yet, he hadn’t moved from his spot, his hands still behind his back. She looked again at the sword of Hengist at his side. She'd read all about the gods. Hengist was good and noble, all about self-sacrifice and protecting the weak… A fool, the Mages had said. And yet his Temple ruled this province. The Mages of Her tower would never work with the Temple of Hengist. Or any kingdom order…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t need his help to calm down, not when She had something to focus on. She shoved Her grief to the back of Her mind. “How did I get here?” another image flashed in Her mind, fire all around, a white path, blue eyes.
The Paladin didn’t answer right away; instead, he motioned for the robed man - a Cleric? - to bring him a chair. She tilted Her head curiously at him, but he only sat down with a weary sigh, then gestured towards the bed, “Please, have a seat.”
She stood, returning to the bed and eyeing the door over his shoulder. He hadn’t locked it. “We saw smoke from the woods and found you in a burning tower.” the blood drained from Her face, “We have recovered several bodies from around the structure, but there were no other survivors.” he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and fixing Her with a piercing stare, “What happened? What was going on in that tower?”
She brought Her feet onto the bed and hugged Her legs tight, “I don’t… I can’t remember…” a fire, the tower burning… But it was made of stone. Her fire couldn’t burn that hot… Could it?
“Sir Selibra,” the kindly Cleric sounded stern, crossing his arms and glaring down at the Paladin, “She has just woken up from what was obviously a terrible ordeal. Show some compassion.”
The Paladin, Selibra, actually looked ashamed, leaning back in his chair and clearing his throat, “I apologize, miss…” he drew out the last word, looking at Her expectantly. She tilted Her head. “What is your name?” he asked more clearly. She tilted Her head the other way. Were they going to play that game here too?
The Cleric hummed then said, “Please forgive him, miss, we are all very troubled by the events and deaths at the tower. The Major General merely got ahead of himself. If you could tell us your name, then we can let you rest and…”
“I don’t have a name.”
The two men blinked dumbly at Her, and She rolled Her eyes, “I knnnooowww,” She let Her legs fall back down, so She was sitting properly again, “But I don’t know it yet. As soon as I do, I'll tell you.” She assured them. The men exchanged looks as She glanced again out the window. Maybe She should've just told them what Brom and Ran called Her… But those weren’t names. They were descriptors. No better than ‘Firewyrm.’
If these Temple men were to be believed, everything was gone. She had no room, no books, no clothes, no treasures, and no name. What did She have? She pulled Her hair over Her shoulder and stared out the window as She stroked it. She had Her hair. They hadn’t cut it in months. She had Her body. She straightened Her posture, holding Her head high. And She had Her power—the fire crackling deep inside Her soul. The Mages had taken the first two. The third had destroyed them.
“You should rest,” Selibra stood, and Her eyes snapped back to him, “You can send for me when you feel ready to talk. Until then, focus on recovering your strength and your memories.”
He made it all the way to the door, even swung it open before She called out, “What are you going to do to me?”
Selibra turned back, his eyebrows raised in surprise. The Cleric placed a hand on Her shoulder, slowly and carefully, gauging how much of Her heat he could handle. She turned to him, and he let Her go. He'd held on longer than expected. “We will keep you safe, child.” the Cleric assured Her.
The Paladin grew stiff for a moment, then brought his right fist up to his chest, “By the sword of Hengist’s honor, we will safeguard your life and freedom,” Freedom? “Whatever injustices you endured there, you will find justice in the laws of Clearhelm.” She didn’t know what to say, and so, after an awkward moment of silence, Selibra turned for the door again and left.
She didn’t lay down. Instead, She walked back to the window. The view seemed to stretch on forever from so high up, higher than She'd ever remembered being before. Even when She used to climb the trees around Her tower.
Selibra hadn’t locked the door, but the Cleric bustled around behind Her, and the wall below Her clanked with armored knights. What was freedom anyway?
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

I was having a great time leveling my Druid up until about level 30. Then monster HP started to scale up a lot faster than my damage. I'm level 40 now, and things are turning into a real slog. At this point, it feels like it takes me a full minute just to grind down a single mob. I've tried lots of different builds and I'm playing on World Tier 1 - nothing is really helping.
I'm not sure what happened. I think I may have gotten unlucky with item drops? I've only found a small handful of legendaries so far (many of which have been repeats), and they all seem to be pretty inconsequential and uninteresting - they just give brief movement speed boosts or small damage buffs. I know that there's loads of sweet legendaries out there, but I haven't found them yet.
To mitigate the effects of this, I've kept up with the dungeons so I have quite a few really cool aspects unlocked, but I still need the Coiling Wards/Baleful Fragments/Abstruse Sigils to craft them, and I have no idea how to get them anymore. Back in the beta, you could salvage your other legendaries to get them, but now I don't get anything except for common materials when I salvage my legendaries - and, like I mentioned, I haven't gotten a lot of those to begin with.
I want to keep enjoying the game - so what should I do to keep moving forward? I have a feeling that I could "salvage" things (no pun intended) if I could just craft my aspect legendaries - but how do I get the materials? Or should I just keep grinding - and if so, are there any good item farming spots that won't keep leveling me up so fast? Maybe I should I roll a new character and hope for a smoother start?

I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but the last few years have been wild for airline travel. It seems like not even a week can pass before a new viral video is circulating the internet, showcasing some idiot on a plane or airport screaming, shouting, and even starting fights with other passengers and flight staff for no apparent reason.
I’m sure it’s entertaining when you’re sitting at home and come across these videos while casually scrolling through Reddit or Twitter. You might laugh, or shake your head at the stupidity and not give it a second thought. Unfortunately, this isn’t an option when you’re the one on the job.
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to call security to deal with a rowdy or straight-up violent customer in the airport over the last couple of years. Most of the time, the things that set people off are surprisingly minor and avoidable issues.
They want to board now but it wasn’t their turn so they start harassing me and my co-workers. Another passenger looked at them funny so they get into a screaming match. A baby is crying so the grown adult starts whining even louder. The person in front of them took the last chocolate donut with sprinkles from the airport bakery so they start throwing punches.
You would not believe the stuff I’ve seen. Needless to say, I got tired of it. Getting up to go to work, wondering what kind of unhinged maniac was going to make a problem for me lost its appeal. So, I started to look for a new job.
A few weeks into the job search, I began to get doubtful that I would find a suitable replacement. Seeing as my only tangible skills and experience were in the airline industry, I didn’t have much more than other airline jobs within realistic reach. Though I didn’t have a problem with relocation, if it meant I was going to end up in another major airport, I had no interest.
During one 3 am job search after my long shift at the airport, running on nothing but the jittery movements from the room-temperature coffee, I found a new job listing. One Pine Airport, a rural airport in the midwest. I sat up and took another sip of coffee. The pictures for the place gave an idea of the size and it looked tiny. Only a couple of runways, a single terminal, and a cute internal design reflective of the forestry that surrounded it. Perfect for me, I thought. I imagined there would not be nearly as many people to deal with.
I scrolled down to the job details and to my relief, it was for the exact same job I had already been doing. The only difference was that it required frequent night shifts. I had done plenty of night shifts before, but doing a few more of them made no difference to me. Surprisingly listed was the pay. I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were offering more starting than I was being paid at the airport I had been at for over three years.
Now wide awake, I eagerly uploaded my resume, filled out all of the application questions, and even spent the next hour crafting an unnecessary cover letter. I headed to bed with the hope that my days at overflowing airports might be over. The next day as I was getting ready for work, I opened my phone to scroll through notifications and check emails.
To my disbelief, I had one from the job I had applied for only hours earlier. The manager at the airport, who had posted the job, requested an interview over Zoom. I quickly replied and we settled on a time during my lunch break that very day.
The first few hours of work breezed by and as I boarded flight after flight of passengers, I couldn’t help but think about the upcoming interview. When it came time, I was nervous as hell but my fears were diffused within the first minute. A bald, well-kept, and well-dressed man joined the meeting room and greeted me with a warm smile. He introduced himself as James.
I couldn’t have asked for a more friendly interviewer. He welcomed me and after some small talk and a few questions about my relevant experience, he gave an overview of the job's details, that being the same job I already had with better pay but more frequent night shifts. No problem with me. After affirming that I knew all the details of the job, James cracked another wide, friendly smile and asked an unexpected question.
“When can you start?”
I spit the out sip of coffee I had just taken back into the cup. I looked back up at James and tried to find the right words but I was unprepared.
“You uh… aren’t gonna give me a call back like later or something? Don’t you have more interviews and… and paperwork waiting to clear and, and…?”
James waved his hand dismissively at his webcam.
“You’re the only applicant we have, and we couldn’t have asked for a better one. As for the paperwork and such, we’ll figure that out when we figure it out. The job is yours, whenever you can start, that is. Preferably soon?”
Though the feelings of shock and confusion remained, they were pushed to the side by my excitement. Throughout the remainder of our conversation, James and I reviewed our schedules and set up a start date before ending the call. I sat back in my break room chair with a sigh of disbelief and a chuckle.
I am well aware that it is standard to give at least a two-week notice to your employer and moving across states for a job is supposed to take quite a bit of planning but I was dying to get out of my current job. Through both eagerness and maybe a little stupidity, we settled on a day only a little over a week away.
At the end of my shift that day, I let my manager know I had to be done in a week. Though she wasn’t happy, she assured me it wouldn’t be a problem.
My final day was nothing short of horrendous. A couple had come up, demanding and screaming that I refund their tickets for no apparent reason. On top of that, they still wanted to fly. After hearing that no, they would not be able to fly for zero cost, the husband, followed by the wife, both started shouting threats. Security was quickly called to the terminal.
As soon as they arrived, I checked my watch to find that my shift was over. I let out a sigh of relief and excitedly walked away. As deprived of sleep as I was, with a long and undoubtedly stressful drive ahead of me, I was still more energetic and in higher spirits than I had been in a long time.
Surprisingly, the drive went off without a hitch. I arrived earlier than expected and checked into the motel room I rented for the week so I had time to get the move figured out. After dumping a few boxes of personal items and a suitcase of clothes into the room, I turned off the lights. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I energetically awoke that evening to prepare myself for my first shift. I quickly got dressed and started the drive in hopes of arriving plenty early. Naively, I hadn’t considered how my unfamiliarity with the roads would slow me down, and after a staggering amount of wrong turns, I arrived at the little airport with only minutes to spare.
The airport was even smaller in person than I had imagined it to be from the pictures. I quickly walked through the entrance and was greeted by the small team of security. After notifying them that I was there for work and that James had been waiting for me, they hurried me through without so much as a question. The security, the architecture, the beautiful scenery that surrounded it, nothing about this airport couldn’t have felt more welcoming.
I walked through to find the single terminal inside, devoid of any passengers, with James sitting behind a counter at the end. After a moment he looked up and upon making eye contact with me, his tired face lit up. I was about to apologize for my tardiness but didn’t have the chance as he rushed to show me the employee locker room where he had my new employee uniform and badge waiting inside my very own locker. He told me to get changed and to meet him outside right away.
I did as he asked and within a couple of minutes, I walked out to find him back behind the console at the counter, gathering his belongings. He noticed me approaching and glanced up, thanking me for showing up and starting so soon as he handed me a fresh cup of coffee. He also apologized for not being able to stick around long for my shift but he sounded sure that he wasn’t all that worried.
“I have to be going now, I’ve been on duty for 17 hours. I know you’re plenty familiar with our systems and software, you know what you’re doing.”
He assured me with a pat on the back before walking out from the desk. He turned and added
“It’ll be a quiet night for you anyway. No flights scheduled. Just sit back, relax, and uh... Oh yeah. Most importantly, I nearly forgot”.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a single sheet of laminated paper and held it in front of me.
“Give this a read as soon as you can. Go over it a few times if you need, don’t deviate from it”.
I took it but before I could even get a look, I noticed James begin to walk toward the exit, along with every single one of the security guards and the cashier who had just closed down the only shop in the airport. I then noticed that all of the scanners and metal detectors at the security gate were shut off. I started to panic.
“Hey! James? Where is everyone going?”
I shouted. The first words I had managed to speak to my new boss since arriving. He stopped and turned back again
“Oh yeah. Another thing I ought to have mentioned. Everyone except whoever is working the night shift in, well, your position takes off right around now. Don’t worry, security will be back sometime around 5 am. You’ve got this place to yourself. Grab a magazine from the little store in there if you get bored. Feel free to snag yourself a couple of snacks too”.
He began to walk away again before briefly turning and pointing at me.
“But before you do anything, read that list. You’ll need it”.
I stood, dumbfounded as I watched my new boss along with all of the other airport staff leave. I started to wrap my head around the fact that I had an empty airport to myself for 10 hours, with nothing to do and no one to deal with, all while I was getting paid the highest wage I had ever earned.
As much as thinking about it delighted me, I turned my attention turned toward the sheet of paper I almost forgot I was holding on to. James said to follow whatever list was on it, so I figured I ought to take a look. I walked behind the airport counter and sank into one of the seats behind it. I took a sip of coffee and finally took a serious look.
A total of 6 rules were neatly spaced on the sheet.
Rule 1: All lights in the airport are to stay on at all times. If one is off, or if you are to accidentally turn one off, turn it back on as soon as possible. If a light seems to be broken or is out and unable to turn back on, calmly exit the area. Report the outage to James or maintenance when possible. Do not listen to the sounds. Do not listen to the voices.
Rule 2: Rule 2 pertains to rainy or stormy weather. If it is raining or storming outside, disregard rules 3, 4, and 5. They will not be a concern during these types of weather conditions. Stay inside at all times. Do not use the men’s restroom and avoid going near it entirely if possible.
Rule 3: Sometime between 11 pm and 1 am, a young woman will walk out of the women’s restroom. She will enter the terminal and sit, occasionally getting up to walk around or change seats. Her name is Elizabeth. She will attempt to make conversation but you must not reciprocate. You may look at her, you may give nonverbal communication such as a head nod, you may write as a means of communication, or you may shake her hand but do not speak to her. If you refuse to speak to her, Elizabeth should be gone within a few hours. If you happen to make such a mistake, go to the men’s restroom and wait for her to leave.
Rule 4: At around one or two in the morning, a janitor in blue coveralls will arrive at the front entrance. Crack open the door and ask for his name. If he says his name is Simon, let him in. If he gives you any name other than Simon, shut the door and lock it without another word and walk away. If the janitor is Simon, he will attend to the janitorial needs of the airport. If he asks to clean where you are standing, oblige him. Simon will not interfere with your duties otherwise. He is not hostile or dangerous. You may engage in conversation with Simon. He will leave the same way he came when he feels it is necessary.
Rule 5: At around 3 am, you may notice that a black and red Cessna Skyhawk has landed on one of the airstrips. You will never see it land, and you will never see it take off. It will just appear when you’re not looking. After spotting the plane for the first time, do not look at it again. Avoid looking in its general direction if at all possible. There is a picture of the exact plane displayed inside the terminal, behind the counter.
Rule 6: Later in the night but sometime before dawn, a group of men claiming to be from TSA may arrive at the airport. They will have their own key and let themselves in. Some could be armed. Often, they exhibit panicked behavior. They may search through the airport, sweep room to room, and ask questions. They are permitted to search anywhere in the main airport building that they please, and you may oblige to any questioning but under no circumstances are they permitted to enter the sky bridge. They will not enter without verbal approval and they cannot harm you.
After reading over it a few times, I set the laminated sheet down and leaned back further into my seat before taking a long sip of coffee, wondering what on earth I had just read. I hadn’t taken James to be the imaginative type. Most of all, I hadn’t taken him to be anywhere near the unprofessional type. Though as I thought about it, it was unusual how rushed this all was and how he left in such a hurry, leaving so few details.
I began to wonder if I was being pranked, I considered that maybe this was all some sort of messed up joke or setup. I ruled that out pretty quickly. This was, in fact, a real airport. I had done plenty of research by the time I got here. At least a few real flights were coming in or going out each day. James has been working here for years and I couldn’t think of a reason why he would jeopardize his job or reputation just to get a scare out of me.
After chuckling to myself at the absurdity of my situation, I decided to indulge and see what would happen. Maybe it was a “test” for me as a new employee. Maybe James wanted to see if I could follow orders.
After glancing at the list once more and realizing the impact rule 2 had on the number of things I would have to keep track of, I brought up my phone to check the forecast. Clear skies, not a chance for rain or storms all night. Great, I thought to myself. I had to watch out for these Elizabeth and Simon characters to show up and I suppose “not” be on the lookout for a random plane to appear on the runway.
I stood up and grabbed my coffee, walking to the glass panes. I took another sip from my cup while admiring the lit runways along the airfield. It sure was a pretty nice sight. As I was raising my cup to finish what was left, I began to hear the click of shoes on the floor somewhere behind me.
Startled, I spun around abruptly, dropping my cup and spilling the remainder of the coffee in the process. At the other end of the terminal seating stood a young woman, around her mid-twenties in my estimation. She was holding two large leather suitcases in each hand and had an old-fashioned sense of style with a skirt and heels. Most surprising was her stunning beauty and welcoming smile.
“Oh I’m sorry dear, didn’t mean to scare you”
She expressed with a sincere tone. I opened my mouth, ready to assure her that everything was fine but I stopped myself. I recalled the list. At this point, I was certain that she was here at James’s request, a paid actor determined to make me break the rules. I was more determined not to. Instead, I simply fixed my posture, straightened my uniform, and looked back with a smile.
She walked to the counter where she placed her leather suitcases on the ground before closing the distance between us.
“Looks like we’ve got this fabulous airport all to ourselves. I am Elizabeth”
She said, reaching out her hand. I shook it, but she didn’t seem quite satisfied.
“And your name?”
I continued to smile and lock eye contact. Her grin grew for a moment before she remarked
“You don’t seem to be much of a talkative one”
And with that, she turned and started to walk away. I returned to my seat behind the counter, watching her closely as I did. Elizabeth proceeded to the unattended airport shop and after a couple of minutes of looking over magazine covers and occasionally taking a peek inside, she returned carrying a small stack of reading material. She approached my counter before placing a National Geographic magazine in front of me.
“I figured you might like this one. Enjoy”
She said, winking before settling on a seat in the first row of the terminal, straight across from where I had been sitting.
Remarkably, her intuition was spot on. I may have lived in cities all of my life but I loved nature, despite how little of it I had gotten to see. National Geographic was a favorite of mine, one I had been familiar with and enjoyed on work breaks from time to time. Rarely was I given this long to be able to read. I was almost tempted to break the rule and thank her for her rather thoughtful act, though I didn’t. I stuck to the rule.
The next couple of hours were uneventful. Elizabeth and I read through our magazines, occasionally looking up at each other to exchange glances and smiles. Within that time, she had attempted to get me to talk at least half a dozen more times. I almost gave in when she asked me if I wanted another magazine.
At a little past 1:30, I could hear a knock at the front entrance. Elizabeth and I both looked before she remarked
“Oh, that must be the nice cleaner man”
With a giggle before returning to her magazine. I walked over to the front doors and sure enough, there stood a man around his mid-thirties, sporting a blue janitor suit waiting patiently at the door. I unlocked the door and opened it. As he took a stride to enter, I remembered the most important detail from rule 4. I closed the door halfway and sternly commanded
“Wait”
The man looked up at me with a surprised look. I asked him the question.
“What is your name?”
The man stared back at me as an innocent smile formed on his face.
“I’m Simon!”
He announced excitedly.
“The Janitor here. Did James let you know I was coming tonight?”
I stood there for a moment, thinking over the rule, before nodding my head and opening the door once again to let him in.
Once inside, Simon walked with purpose to the janitor's closet which was positioned near the men’s restroom. I followed him somewhat suspiciously for the next few minutes as he began to clean but I eased up once I got the feeling that he was just the janitor around here and that James made up the whole “ask for his name thing” to make into one of his rules.
I returned to my counter in the terminal and continued to read. Occasionally, Simon would pass by, off to do his duties in some part of the airport or Elizabeth would stand up to look at the various pictures and paintings on display in the terminal. A good half an hour of this would go on before Simon approached the terminal counter with his mop in hand. He seemed to be eyeing up the two leather suitcases Elizabeth had set there.
Assuming he wanted to clean where they were, I got up to move them. I grabbed each one by the handle but failed to lift them off of the ground. Confused, I stepped back to see if they were stuck on something. They were not. Just two suitcases, left right where Elizabeth had set them.
I tried to lift just one. Again, I failed. I tried both hands, putting my back and legs into it with all that I had. It wouldn’t budge.
I looked back up at Simon who nodded his head in Elizabeth’s direction. I turned to look at Elizabeth, who after noticing my stare, and my apparent inability to move her luggage, smiled and stood up.
“Let me get that for you”
She insisted. With ease, she lifted both leather suitcases and moved them closer to her seat before lowering them, this time letting them drop a few inches. When they hit the ground, a boom echoed through the airport and I flinched in surprise. I looked back at Simon, who hadn’t seemed shocked at all. He just continued to mop.
I slowly made my way back to my seat, not taking an eye off Elizabeth for one second as I did. After a few minutes, she looked back up from her magazine, noticed my stare, and returned to her reading with a grin. She seemed to find my shock amusing. Eventually, Simon noticed my surprise as well. He paused his mopping and approached me before raising his head.
“I know, I know. Stick to the rules and everything will be just fine, trust me”
He stated quietly. I nodded my head in response.
Simon went back to his cleaning. A few minutes passed before Elizabeth had something new to say.
“What a remarkable aircraft!”
She exclaimed, looking out the glass panes facing the runways. I followed her gaze to the lone, black, and red airplane positioned on the runway. I turned around, looking at the picture displayed behind me. It certainly looked like a match. I turned back to the window and felt my heart sink. A silhouette of a person now stood next to the plane, facing the airport and the windows of the terminal.
“Stop looking at it”
Simon sternly muttered from behind me. I looked back at Simon who quickly cowered, seemingly ashamed to have raised his voice at me but I was grateful he had. I read over rule 5 again, specifically where it stated to not look at the plane twice. I murmured insults at myself under my breath but they didn’t have much room between my now heavy, frantic breathing. My eyes darted through the other rules. I chose to focus on that sheet of paper. At least it was something other to look at than the plane outside.
This went on for a good ten minutes or so and my breathing started to calm down. I had begun to pray in my head that whoever and whatever that was would go away when Elizabeth suddenly approached my counter. I snapped my head up in a jittery movement to make eye contact with her.
“I’m going to get some more reading material. Want another one of those?”
She asked, reaching a hand out to my National Geographic magazine. I looked up and nodded, forcing a smile. As She moved away, my gaze didn’t, and once again I found myself looking at the plane on the runway, the silhouette now standing hundreds of feet away from the plane, even closer to the building, and still staring in my direction.
Chills ran up my spine as I snapped my gaze back to my desk. I began to shake with fear and the manic breathing returned. Moments later, Elizabeth returned and placed a new magazine on the counter before running a hand over my shoulder, seemingly to comfort me. Simon then put his hand on my back.
“He’ll be gone soon and so will the plane. Just don’t look at it again”
He assured me.
“Mind if I clean here?”
He then asked.
I got up and walked to the end of the counter, watching Simon thoroughly clean the floor before I looked up and let out a soft
“Thank you”
He nodded and smiled back.
“What was that?”
Elizabeth asked. I turned towards her.
“Oh, I was just thanking Simon for-”
My error occurred to me before I could finish speaking. My eyes locked on Elizabeth as she stood up from her seat and her smile faded. Her eyes and nose began to bleed profusely as she started to sob, lightly at first, then hysterically. She let out a bellowing screech, a mix of pain and anger. She picked up one of her suitcases and hurled it at me, I barely dodged the ridiculously heavy object before it crashed into the wall behind me.
Luckily I was quick thinking this time and made a run for the men’s restroom recalling rule 3. She chased after me but I slammed the door shut in her face and locked it. Elizabeth pounded on the door with furious anger a few times but gave up quickly.
“So that’s how you dance, is it love? I can play that game”
She snickered before flipping a light switch outside of the bathroom. The clicking of her shoes faded away. A few minutes of silence passed before laughter started to become audible from the other side of the door.
One voice grew to two, two voices grew to three, three grew to ten. While others continued their now hysterical laughing, some began to scream. I crumbled to the floor, covering my ears as the voices went on, only stopped by another flip of the switch. Light beamed through the bottom of the door.
“It’s over now. She’s gone, and so is the plane. I’ve gotta be getting out of here soon”
Simon’s calm and friendly voice called out. I reluctantly exited the bathroom and followed him back to the counter, where he had prepared another coffee for me.
“Wish I could have done more there but you’ll come to find out that when Elizabeth gets angry, you just gotta let her do her thing”.
I looked up at him, still with my distraught face, at a loss for words. Over the next few minutes, Simon finished cleaning Elizabeth’s blood from the floor before putting everything back into the janitor's closet. He looked down at his watch.
“I better get out of here. Good luck with the rest of your night. I hope I’ll be seeing you soon”.
He said, letting out a sigh as he again looked at me in pity. I think he knew how shaken up I was. It was like he had seen people in my position before. Something told me he doesn’t have a choice on when he leaves. After I watched him exit the door, I returned to my seat behind the counter. I began to feel alone and afraid, but the loneliness wouldn’t last at least.
Only minutes after Simon left, the doors swung open and men in tactical gear, most of which had their faces covered in masks and goggles, rushed through the door. I sprung back up from my seat and watched as they did, with not much else I could do. They swept room to room, checking every nook and cranny at gunpoint, ignoring my existence at first.
As they cleared the entire building, the twenty or so armed men made their way to the terminal seating area. A lone man in a suit, whom I had not noticed enter, made his way to the front of the group.
“I’m with TSA, I’m going to need you to answer some questions for me”
He demanded. I nodded in affirmation.
“How many individuals have you seen in this airport since the security team left the building?”
“Besides myself, 2 Inside, one outside”
I answered confidently.
“Was the individual outside next to a black and red Cessna Skyhawk?”
“Yes”
I again responded confidently. The man in the suit nodded and paused for a moment before making another demand.
“We’re going to need to search the air bridge”.
I glanced back at the sheet of rules on the counter. Making sure I had read it right before. I took a step forward and straightened my uniform.
“No”
I replied. The man in the suit looked irritated.
“If you do not step aside and give us permission to search, I’m afraid I’ll have to detain you”.
Already tired and worn out, I wasn’t going to break the last rule. I decided to give a not-so-smart remark to the man in the suit
“Looking a little well-armed for TSA, wouldn’t you agree?”
He ignored my comment.
“Last chance, step aside”
“No”
Again, irritated by my response, the man in the suit turned to his right and raised his chin to give a signal. Gunshots rang out and I collapsed to the floor. I felt as though my life left my body before it all faded to black.
The next thing I remembered was the feeling of my hand gripping a water bottle. Then came James’s voice.
“I see you made it through the first night intact. Looks like you got to meet Simon. He’s a nice guy, you’ll get to like him. And Elizabeth, she’s…well, she’s something else, isn’t she?”
I opened my eyes and looked up at James.
“Am I dead?”
I asked in a raspy voice. James chuckled in return.
“No! No, you did great. You’re fine. It does, however, look like you might have been a little assertive to our undead TSA special forces wannabes. I would recommend sticking with the less aggressive tone and word choices, maybe I ought to edit that into the rules sheet… In any case, they can’t hurt you but they can still get a jump out of you, as you saw”.
Once again, I was at a loss for words. I slowly made my way back to my feet from the ground and looked at the sunrise over the airfield. James held out an envelope for me. I opened it, revealing a stack of crisp $100 bills.
“A little bonus for your first night. It sure is a lot to go through for the first time but I promise, you get used to it all”.
I turned to James with an angry look and finally spoke up.
“What the hell is wrong with you? What makes you think it’s okay to put someone through this without any warning? I'm done, keep your damn money. I’m gonna go call the cops”.
I started to walk towards the exit when James stepped in front of me.
“Look, I know it isn’t fair for you but it wasn’t fair for me either. It wasn’t fair for any of us. It’s not okay, I know. But what do you expect me to do? Someone needs to be here for the night shift. You wouldn’t believe any of this if I told you ahead of time. You would have thought I was some sort of nutjob and the police will think of you the same if you tell them. I needed you to see it for yourself”
James was starting to get worked up and stoppeto breatheth before continuing.
“This money is yours, no strings attached. You’re free to leave now and never come back, there will be no shame in it”
I also started to calm down but I couldn’t bring myself to look James in the eye yet.
“If you choose to stay, I’ll see you in my office to finish up your paperwork”.
And with that, James walked away. Facing the front of the airport, I watched the first passengers of the day come through the entrance. I just stood there for a few minutes. Whether I was ready for this job or not, I knew right then I sure as hell wasn’t going back to another overcrowded city airport.
I turned and headed for James’s office.

I’ve gotten rid of about 20 initial XL trash bags worth of items in the last few years from my childhood room.
For reference, it was a very tiny room that just barely fit a twin bed and desk. I had to wade through garbage until I moved out.
Since then, I’ve moved 5 times and have gotten rid of 10+ garbage bags each time.
On move 4, my husband and I moved about 35’ of combined uhaul to our new 500 sq ft home.
We had to significantly downsize. We got rid of nearly all of our furniture and Marie Kondo’d an additional 15 trash bags of small stuff. The rest we very creatively jam packed into the house.
This last move we Marie Kondo’d AGAIN and we are finally down to a reasonable amount of stuff.
We rarely buy anything. We get new clothes (like, a shirt or two) maybe 2x a year. We wear shoes until they wear out and replace them. Most things in our home are 1 in 1 out. Our family doesn’t give us “stuff” for holidays since they know we hate it.
My question is that even though I feel like we’ve done near everything possible, how do we still have such a messy and cluttered home?!!! There’s always something that doesn’t have a home.
I feel like every time I turn around our house looks like a tornado came through. We clean constantly and it’s just two adults working from home.
Do we really need to go down to the barest amount of items, get rid of decor, books, art, etc. to get to the point that cleaning becomes possible?
Everyone we know keeps a tidy home all the time and it feels nearly impossible. We were thinking about opening a brick and mortar for our business, but the idea of keeping two locations tidy makes me want to faint!

Hey Saviors, thank you for reading. I’m a Ragnarok Online player and have a very high interest in exploring ToS because of it’s relationship to the series. However I feel like this is the most un-user friendly game that has ever been created.
I want to give the game a fair chance, and experience it for what it is, however when I look into content geared towards guiding new players it quickly devolves into a Plumbus skit with the plethora of different currencies and equipments and enchantments and whatever else. It’s overwhelming. I’m looking for a very succinct guide to follow that slowly introduces me to the most important concepts and systems that will have the biggest effect on the gameplay, and some guidance of what exactly players do in the game.
Questions I have:
What order should I prioritize learning game systems in? Which have the biggest impact and which are min-max focused?
What are players working towards and what do they do when they play together?
Some guides say to play the story line, but you are given an item that instantly makes you level 440, should I still be doing the quests? How long does it take to catch up on the quests? It seems boring/tedious to go through so many quests where you one shot everything, so I feel like I’m missing something.
Thank you, any help is appreciated!

Dang this game is a mixed bag for me right now.
Starting with the good. WOW the art team killed this game literally annihilated it with how good it looks. Its a joy to just look around. In combo with the cinematic team this is generally a really great visual eye candy game. The map feels good overall and the dungeons look different enough to where it doesn't quite feel like I'm in the same space every time. The voice acting is phenomenal for all characters and I felt really immersed in their lines and story when the story was good.
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For the iffy. MINOR Spoilers for this part. I felt the story was lacking some major set pieces to set the scene. I randomly end up in different climates and have no idea why I'm really here other than the game telling me I need to be there. A brief cinematic or overview of the new lands would have been nice. It felt very Mario "Your princess is in another castle". The ending felt very this is DLC coming!!!! and less like a conclusion.
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Another iffy thing for me is the skill bar. It's 2023 let me at least have a ultimate skill slot that is separate. PLEASE.
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For the bad. The skill tree is objectively very bad. I had hoarded 10 skill points as a Druid in the level 40 range because there was nothing of benefit in using them and I was hoping I would get an item that would make them useful. If you want proof of it put only 1 skill point in each of your 5 point skills and you will notice almost no difference in damage, cool-down, or status. It all felt the same no matter what. For instance I know it is a gauge filler but the arc lighting skill the druid has for each point you put in gives you like 20 more damage which is literally nothing.
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The level scaling to character is also kinda bad. It could be toned down in certain parts of the game. I don't mind doing a dungeon with a friend of a different level and it scaling since that allows me to play with my friend. But in the over world it felt bad having everything always taking the same time to kill. This ties into the last point.
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No matter what I do unless its getting a new aspect which is RANDOM I never feel stronger during the grind. And now that I have my aspects I want I literally never feel stronger even if you drop a new weapon with 100 more damage it still feels about the same. This is different from my Diablo 3 experience (That game has issues to) but I remember to this day a decade later of dropping a legendary sword that bought my damage up 300 from where it was and had an affect of shooting out tornadoes that did damage and it felt for lack of a better word fucking awesome. And it was a sad moment when 12 levels later the enemies finally out leveled the weapon. I want to feel like an overpowered demon slaying machine. Difficulty should come from knowing when to use an ability, when to dodge, when to fortify, and when to heal, etc. It should not come from me feeling week.
Also I need more zoom out