To Play With Magic by Draith

Category: Original

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Female Lead, GameLit, High Fantasy, LitRPG, Magic, Portal Fantasy / Isekai, Psychological, Sci-fi, Supernatural

Status: In-Progress

Published: 2019-12-17

Updated: 2023-02-18

Packaged: 2023-02-20 23:48:03

Warnings: Gore, Profanity, Traumatising content

Chapters: 171

Words: 542,255

Publisher: www.royalroad.com

Summary:

Dragons, Catgirls, Guns, and Magic. Oh, and the ability to stop time. What more could a modern gal want?

Well... If my past would stay locked in a dark corner back on Earth, that'd be nice.

Right. There was that one other thing. The world is coming to an end. But that seems to happen every Tuesday these days.

...

*LitRPG-Isekai start with a return to Earth to stop the System apocalypse goal.

...

Updates Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Still a first draft, but with a bunch of edits from you guys thrown in. Thanks for that.

This story is only available on RoyalRoad and my Patreon. If you find it anywhere else, please reach out to me. Thank you.

Old cover provided by Asviloka. She's also does werds!

Current cover provided by Fuyudust.

0.00 Prologue

January 11, 13246, 21:12 GST. (January 11, 2008, 21:12 UTC Earth Equivalent.)

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station

Theglia frantically entered the coordinates into the computer in front of her. The system would be updating in minutes, and when it did her intrusions wouldn't just be detected, they'd be deleted. But only if she wasn't finished. Most of her squad, fellow Forerunners who had gotten her this far, lay dead behind her, their blood staining the rough stone floor.

There wasn’t much she could do for them now, except complete the mission. When she’d joined the Forerunners, it never would've been like this. There had been ways around the system. But every decade there was a new patch, and every patch closed more holes and restricted more freedoms, until they were left with no recourse. Other than to resist using brute force. Her friends behind her hadn’t fallen to beasts, maniacal bandits or killer robots. They’d died deflecting the system away from Theglia. She was the only one with the skills to ensure a smooth integration. To give the next wave a chance to do what they couldn't. Now, only Theglia and her sister Belthar remained.

With the co-ordinates locked in, Theglia moved to connect the integration matrices. These were highly experimental matrices that would allow the new members to have priority access to normally restricted aspects of the system. They’d tried using these cores on system-integrated species, but the system prevented removal of existing cores. And even children couldn't bind these cores. The system started early. Through experiments that Theglia was ashamed to have been part of, they had discovered that even at birth, the system would link proto cores to babies. And you couldn't remove a core without killing the host.

So now Theglia was preparing an AI that would graft these cores into volunteers, though the term volunteers could only be used loosely. There were restrictions on what an integrated could say to free sapients. Especially strict for an AI. So the AI would have to take some liberties. At least it should put them on a relatively safe world for their integration. Whether they'd be able to return to their home would be up to them.

Checking the connection, Theglia paused when she noticed Belthar on her knees clutching at her head. That was a good sign. It meant the system hadn't killed her in a single scan. They might just have enough time.

The irony that the core she was loading was the most impressive space-time related matrix ever discovered by a non-Creator species was not lost on her. Whoever the AI selected for this core was going to have abilities even the Creators would fear.

Ha. Serves them right, the bastards.

Glancing out the window, Theglia saw the accretion disk that surrounded the nearby world of Akilo. Akilo had been inhabited once but then the system had marked it as a training world. The exodus had been one of the greatest challenges of her life. She knew that hidden inside that black hole was an entire star system, reserved for Creators to play in. Black holes were used to keep any but Citizens out of their little developmental worlds. But with a direct connection to a space-time matrix, Theglia expected the user to be able to bypass that restriction. Eventually.

Theglia didn't slow as she ruminated on the Creators and their little pet worlds. She'd practiced this procedure as often as she could before they started, but she still didn't feel fast enough. She had to get everything in place before the patch hit. If she could do that, then her custom code should allow the AI and the matrices to be integrated without being deleted or restricted.

After loading the last core, Theglia turned to her sister to let her know it was done. But she'd been too slow. Her sister was staring up into space, the system having ripped out her soul when she denied it access. If only they'd learned this wave was being integrated sooner. They just hadn't had enough time.

Sitting down next to her sister, Theglia closed Belthar's eyes and prepared to die.

They'd done what they came for. It was a long shot, but they'd done the impossible. This would be their last mission. Looking out once more, she watched the disk continue to spin, slowly making its way around an empty hole in the sky. It was beautiful.

Whatever came of it, the Forerunner Initiative had begun.

1.00 One of Those Days

Remember, the world ends on a Tuesday. An especially cold and dreary Tuesday. February 25th, 2020 at 6:12 pm PST if you want to be precise.

But that’s the end of the story.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Sunday, January 13, 2019, 10:35 am.

It's the kind of day where I wake, able to luxuriate in the soft feel of my sheets, my alarm blissfully silent, allowing me to embrace the snug. Which is okay, cause I don't have plans. At least not in the morning. Sab and I do have plans for tonight though. Apartment hunting.

I pull my phone out, checking my balance. The deposit went through. I now have just over three-thousand dollars. Enough for my best friend Sab and I to finally get our own place.

As I move to the edge of my bed, still wrapped in my extra three layers of blanket, the warm satisfaction is interrupted when I bang my elbow on the table. Gritting my teeth, I stumble to the bathroom with only one slipper on my foot, the other lost somewhere beneath the pile. Still shaking my arm to recover from the sensation, I discover that in a single night, my mom's managed to go through a dozen rolls of toilet paper. The remains of her paper mache mask are scattered throughout the bathroom.

Sighing, I can't even manage a smidge of surprise. Instead of the peaceful day I had planned, it looks like I'm going shopping. Well, since I'm going anyway, I might as well put together a list.

As I'm inspecting the expiration date on a tub of sour cream, I knock the shelf loose.

Looking at the containers of spilled salad, half-eaten Chinese food and the tub of sour cream that started it all, I shake my head then start cleaning.

Today is not going as planned.

After I finish scrubbing the tiles, I decide that since I've already started cleaning, I might as well finish the rest of the kitchen. By the time I'm done, our kitchen is spotless. The sort of spotless you see in soap commercials. Unfortunately, I also discover mom didn't just use up our toilet paper. She's also cleared out most of our pantry.

Throughout my efforts, there's no sign of mom. Which isn't surprising. Strike like a hurricane then disappearing to leave me to deal with the wreckage is kind of her modus operandi. Which is why it's past time for me to get my own place.

Still, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. Throwing on my jacket, I start on my quest for groceries and the all-mighty teepee. I’m making to pay when disaster strikes again. My card is declined.

I know this shouldn't be a problem, but when I check my phone, it indicates my money was transferred out.

Two hours ago.

At some point when I was still cleaning the kitchen, all my money disappeared.

My eye twitches as I stare at the grand total of three dollars and fourteen cents. After texting Sab to let her know what happened, I call my bank. But I'm given the run around by the automated voice system. Cause why would it know where my money went. After half an hour on hold, I still haven’t reached a live person, which means there are no answers forthcoming.

At this point, I realize I'm standing around the grocery store making a fool of myself. Since I'm not making any progress, I leave. Sans tee-pee.

The cashier put my groceries back anyway.

I’d been planning to take a taxi home, but now that I don't have groceries, I walk instead.

Of course, while I've been engaging my digital arch-nemesis, hold music, the worst downpour of my life has rolled in.

I'm not a stranger to rain, I live in Vancouver. It's a temperate rainforest, we know rain. But our rain is often a haze or light sprinkle, with an occasional day of non-stop downpour thrown in to keep it interesting. Unpleasant, but not that bad.

The rain I'm staring into now is heavy enough I can’t see my hand in front of my face. Still, I'm not about to stand around the grocery store until it lets up, so I march home.

Stepping out into the rain, I tuck my hands into the large pockets of my rain jacket. The dark green material is plastered to my skin the moment the rain makes contact, but it keeps me dry.

As I walk home my big rubber boots splash through streams that didn't exist an hour ago. My mind keeps spinning but I get no closer to answering the question; where's my money? Did I get scammed? Was it that nice lady I gave that donation cheque to at the clinic?

Once I make it to my apartment building, I'm so glad to get in out of the rain that I climb halfway up the stairs before remembering I should check the mail. I forgot yesterday and Friday too.

Turning around I see my neighbour Josh as he's preparing to go out. He has his trademark black trench coat tented over his large frame. I always try to say something to Josh whenever I see him. You know, 'cause it’s important to be nice to your neighbours. “Hi, Josh. Quite the downpour out there today, don’t you think?”

Though, in his case, I always seem to say the wrong thing. He turns to me, then looks back outside before quietly replying, “Yeah.”

I cringe at his terse response, watching as he steps outside. Shaking my head at my obvious statement, I move over to the bank of mailslots, tracing my finger over the surface until I reach number 302. I open it, expecting to find our usual junk mail, but quietly hoping for a letter from my Norwegian pen pal Preban.

Instead of the plain white envelope that would indicate his letter, I see a dark brown one. It has embossed green vines running along the sides. Whoever sent this letter was feeling fancy. They even sealed it with dark green wax using an elaborate tree stamp.

I would've thought the letter was in the wrong mailbox if not for the fact that someone took the time to write, in exquisite penmanship, “Alexis Wyonna Everette.” It's not very often I see my full name. Other than my parents, not many people know my middle name. Maybe my dad's mom, mami?

This letter kinda reminds me of fancy letters mom used to get. The ones telling her she’d won a prize. All she had to do was mail in the generous registration fee. I wish I could say mom saw right through those scams and never sent a red cent, but that's not really mom.

She did stop getting those letters a couple years ago. More accurately, I started throwing them away before she saw them. Eventually, they stopped showing up.

Those letters are why my first instinct is to throw this one away, but there's something about it that stops me. I consider it for a moment. The envelope is just so elegant, I want to see what's inside, even if it's another scam.

Plus, it's addressed to me. I don't get a lot of mail.

As I reach to open the letter, a big wet plop, from my still thoroughly soaked raincoat, reminds me that if I'm going to keep it intact, I should probably dry off first.

I'll grab it later.

Leaving the letter, I set off for my apartment, my mind going back to my missing money. I decide to call my bank again, hoping to find out why my account is empty. After another two hours on hold, I finally get to speak to a living breathing person.

However, the unapologetic rep simply tells me that the other member transferred the money out of my joint account, before asking if there's anything else they can help me with. And when I say no, they request that I rate their performance.

You really don't want me to do that right now buddy.

Hanging up the phone I get up from our big brown couch where I've spent the last couple hours before storming towards mom's bedroom.

Joint account.

I should have known better, but I honestly forgot it was a shared account. I couldn't have been older than ten when mom took me in to set it up. It's not like she'd ever used it, so it’d effectively been my account since. There’d never been more than ten dollars in the account until the last six months, so why would she?

But for the last six months, I've been saving. Ever since I graduated from highschool, I've been putting money away. I'd almost had enough to move out with my friend Sab.

But now.

I'm reaching for the handle to her room when suddenly my strength leaves me. I just collapse, the tears pouring freely. It's not just the money. It's knowing that I've been betrayed, yet I'm the one who should've known better. I cry for half an hour, tears of frustration and self-recrimination pouring freely.

I know three thousand isn’t that much, not really, but it's all I had. And it represented hope. And freedom. And it was proof I could take care of myself. And now it's all gone.

This never would have happened if papa was around.

Forlornly, I decide to get up to make myself something to eat.

Digging through our little kitchenette, I quickly discover that all we have left is some slightly wilted lettuce, an almost empty box of rice, and the ever-present mustard. It's impossible to run out of mustard. Even after the world ends, there'll still be mustard.

Sighing, I make myself a mustard flavoured salad. I don’t use the rice. It's going to have to last us almost two weeks. Which reminds me that I was just paid on Friday.

Damnit mom. Couldn't you have emptied my account a few days ago. Our utilities are due in a couple days. Le sigh.

At least putting those off shouldn't be a problem. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get an advance from my boss.

I know I'm not getting my money back. It’s been hours since mom took it out of my account.

Or I guess, our account. I give it even odds that she's gambling it all at the casino or gave it away to needy kids in Africa.

Who probably have more rice than we do, I lament while staring at the box on the counter. I really hope she donated it. Least then it'd do some good.

Booting up my ancient laptop, one I’d bought years ago through our local ThinkGeek, I decide to check my email. I'm staying off social media though, cause there's a high chance I’ll see mom bragging about where she spent my money.

I can’t handle that. Not right now.

Email's safe though. She never uses email.

I have a couple of email alerts from my gaming and hobby websites, an email from my friend Sab_733N, plus a second email that managed to make it into my main inbox. A quick check of the email address [email protected] convinces me it's spam.

Quickly, hitting delete on the spam, I reply to Sab, ranting about my mother. Not that it'll surprise her. She's heard all my stories about mom. Been around for a few herself too. I then spend an hour browsing through the aforementioned websites trying to distract myself.

Unfortunately, even alternate rulesets for playing as unholy aberrations aren’t enough to keep me distracted. To be fair, I was never much of a crunch girl.

So, I start planning out what I can do next. I start by emailing my boss at the mill to ask about an advance. I also shoot off an email to my aunt Sharon, just in case.

Next, I'm going to need my own account, so I check my bank’s website to see about opening a solo account.

There isn’t enough in my current account, but hopefully with an advance, I’ll be okay. As I'm browsing the bank’s site, my trusty laptop decides it's time for a system update. No warning, just a sudden reboot.

It really is one of those days.

Sighing, I go to open the website on my cell phone. As the screen turns on, I see that I have a text from an unknown contact. The words “Hello Alexis, it’s” are as far as I get before a thought occurs to me. It's probably mom on a new cell phone.

So, I ignore it.

And by 'ignore it', I mean I throw my phone across the room.

It's an amazing shot.

My phone hits the wall, sliding down until it wobbles on the windowsill.

Then, it continues its journey, bouncing off the couch, narrowly missing the old picture of me, mom, papa and his dear friend Mr Edwards, on the nearby end table. The one from days before the ugly tree incident. Of course, Mr Edwards has been cut off. But I can still feel his eyes on me if I look at the picture for too long.

My phone doesn't care about any of that, continuing to slide across the coffee table while dancing past my half-empty tea mugs and mom's beauty magazines with grace.

Right as it's about to go over the edge of the table to drop into our leak bucket, (that bucket everyone has, you know, to catch water from a leaky ceiling) it stops.

It totters on the edge of the table, over the, currently very full, bucket of water.

Carefully moving forward, I rescue my phone from its near demise right as another drop falls, plopping on the back of my hand.

Phone saved; I flop down on the couch in relief.

That would have been all my fault, I admit to myself.

Deciding that I can’t risk interaction with electronics, I start thinking about offline distractions.

I already cleaned our place before going for groceries.

I could read one of my old books, but I've been through them all recently.

With the heavy rain, going to the library doesn't seem worth it.

Then I remember the letter. Even if it isn’t anything interesting, I can doodle on the back or edges like I do with our junk mail.

Pulling myself off the couch, I make my way back down to my mailbox. After doffing my bra then changing into my kitten onesie.

I need the comfort.

Reaching inside our mailbox, I pull the letter out, inspecting it closely. I run my fingers over the ridges created by the embossed edges, feeling a little thrill when I break the wax.

Every part of this envelope screams quality. There's a return address which says Unit 17, 3205 Theodore Drive, but there's no name. Opening the letter, I admire the elegant script, which is much better than the chaotic mess I call writing. Then I start to read.

“To our dearest Alexis,”

“Congratulations, on being selected for the Forerunner Initiative. Thank you for your patience as we prepare for your integration.

As you were informed during your initial application, the Forerunner Initiative has a long history of helping new civilizations adapt to the brutal realities that come with a System Inclusion event. As a Forerunner, you have been granted an all-expense-paid trip to the Akilo training centre. In the training centre, you will receive advanced Forerunner training, unlock unique Forerunner equipment and learn as much as we can teach you about the changes coming to your world.“

“Every journey begins with a single step.”

“The Pantheon System Integration Team.”

"P. S. Please see your email for a reminder of the terms and conditions. See you in Akilo."

Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Oh. My. God.

This is my acceptance letter to the alpha test I applied for nearly a year ago. The Forerunner Initiative is supposed to be this amazingly immersive role-playing game being made by a local developer. I'd heard they were only approving a handful of applicants for the first thirty-six days, so I'm amazed I made the cut.

They must have major funding too. This is the fanciest acceptance letter I’ve ever seen. And the letter isn't the only fancy thing in the envelope.

Attached, I find a detailed map with a contoured surface that doesn’t just show the geography, but lets me feel it. Each texture is distinct. I run my hand across mountains, hills and forests which are pointy, bumpy and furry in turn.

It's not a local map, so it's probably a map of the game world. Chuckling at finally receiving some good news, I'm turning to head upstairs when I just about slam into Josh.

I'm so distracted, that for once, I don't even try talking to him. I just scoot around, going straight to my apartment.

As I climb the stairs I'm already contemplating what system the game might run on. They’ve been quiet about the mechanics, but I know there's going to be magic of some kind. I've always loved magic, ever since I was little. I even used to run around pretending I was a wizard, just like a certain muggle-born.

Though my 'spells' were always a little more elemental in nature. Hehe.

Checking my phone on reflex, I see the text from the unknown number is still showing. Now that I've calmed down a little, I decide to read its contents.

As I read it, I see it isn't even from mom. I’d caught the first few words earlier, but obviously I stopped reading when I threw my phone.

Considering it now, I realize the PSI team really doesn’t want me to miss this program. They've sent the same message as in the letter, but with a link at the bottom. Clicking the link takes me to a map. This map is mostly the same but is less textured than the paper one.

As I step back into my apartment, I wonder why neither the text nor the letter mention a download link or login code. Maybe they’re going to send it later?

Glancing at my laptop, I see that it's still locked in reboot paralysis.

I wonder if that spam mail was related. I’ll have to wait until my laptop finishes to check. Excited as I am about the game, the reality of how broke I am kicks in. I’d been counting on that money to pay for a new computer after I moved out.

Specifically to run games like Forerunner.

Now I don’t know when I’ll be online. I doubt my potato is going to be up to running their super immersive experience. It'd probably bog down just trying to process something as detailed as this map. I might have to recruit Sab. Which I'm sure she'll be down for.

Yawning, I settle onto the couch, running my hand along the map.

The more I look at it, the more it feels like I'm there, surveying the world from above. The detail is amazing. The western snowcapped mountains practically send chills down my spine when I touch them.

I swear the river which runs down from those mountains is sparkling in sunlight.

That sparkling river meanders east, passing out of the lumpy foothills covered in fuzzy trees, before flowing into the vast Akilo ocean.

North of the river, the soft yellow plains are covered with flowing grass. Inspecting the map closely, I see the grasslands north of the river continue until the map cuts off.

To the south of the river, the rolling foothills stretch all the way to the ocean, covered by a thick forest. Like the plains to the north, the map doesn't show an end to the forest.

But just south of the river, near where it enters the ocean, is a clearing.

The clearing is clearly ringed by a set of standing stones. There are four clearly marked stones, one pointing in each cardinal direction. Looking at them closely, it almost appears as though the cardinal stones are glowing. The lesser stones are neither glowing nor as large. They're more like markers. On the entire map, the stones are the only sign of civilization I can see.

I wonder what it'll be like to adventure in such a place. Untouched by humans, a whole new world to discover. A place where I’ll be the first to set foot. They claim the game will be unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, but everyone knows how common marketing like that is.

Still, I'm excited to be one of the first.

As I inspect the fine details of the map, my eyes keep being drawn to the standing stones. If I’m going to be playing in this region, I'm sure that'll be my starting location.

The longer I stare, the clearer it all becomes. As I’m inspecting some runes carved into the southernmost stone, I can't help but feel like they're familiar. Even as the thought occurs to me, I find my mouth opening in a long yawn, my focus immediately shattered.

Drifting off to sleep, my eyes grow heavier. Even as I slip off, I remain fixated on the map, the runes on the south pillar filling my mind as all other thoughts are brushed away.

The warm morning sun shines down on me, waking me with its brilliant rays. My eyelids feel heavy as I blink sleep from them. Did I fall asleep on the couch again?

Hmm, nope, the couch doesn’t smell like fresh loam or scratch my nose like that.

Taking in my surroundings once my eyes adjust to the light, I figure out where I am. Not that I believe it. I’m in the middle of the standing stones. Right where I figured I was going to start in-game, I can even see the mountains rising to the west.

“What the hell?” I mutter.

Did I start playing the game then forget everything that led up to this point? Pretty sure I would have remembered logging in or going to the training centre.

To make sure this isn’t a dream, I pinch myself. Wincing at the pain, I rub the soreness of my overenthusiastic pinch away while thinking. Whatever is happening, it seems real enough.

Okay, if I'm in a game, there should be a way to exit, right? But I don’t remember entering the game. The last thing I remember was… looking at the map?

I start searching for the map in the nearby grass. Maybe it'll have a clue. The immediate area around me is empty but as I'm searching, I hear a rustling noise. Turning, I see there are other people laying in the grass.

I count three forms, none of whom have risen yet. The rustling is coming from a small dark shape that is shifting back and forth. It seems like they're trying to get comfortable.

Okay, so at least I’m not alone. Standing up, I search around the clearing again. I still don't see the map.

Other than the three forms, there doesn't appear to be anything but me and the grass within the circle. I do notice the grass inside the stones is greener than the grass outside them.

I don't mean it's greener on the other side greener. The grass outside is yellowed and drying, but the grass inside is fresh and alive.

The next thing I realize is that I know what time it is. Not by charting the stars or gauging the sun or anything like that. I have a literal sense of time. It feels similar to my sense of balance. I know it's 6:03 am, on the 14th day of the year 2019, when I make this discovery.

And isn't this all just crazy.

Seriously, who gets up at 6 am.

This pretty much settles it in my mind. I’m definitely in the game. It’s already interacting with me, but if it's a game there should be more. An interface of some sort. Preferably a way to log out.

Then maybe a character sheet.

So, I start doing what any reasonable gamer in my situation would do. I start calling out words while moving my arms back and forth. Quietly. Because there are people sleeping over there so waking them would be rude. It's only six in the morning after all.

"Exit. Logout. Disconnect. Status. Menu. Options." I whisper to the air hoping to see something appear. "Character. Inventory. Escape." I continue, starting to feel disappointed.

I really hope this isn't one of those, "feel your way through it" games. If so, I might have to find an actual exit to log out.

I'm wracking my brain, trying to think of other words I could use, when I feel a growing pressure building behind my eyes. Thanks to my time sense, I intuitively know that the pressure will finish whatever it’s doing in seven seconds.

6

5

4

3

2

1

1.01 Loading, please wait.

A note from Draith

Edited Mar 8, 2020.

January 14, 2019, 6:04am.

"Forerunner call sign, not established. Please designate your call sign before continuing."

The words appear in front of me, floating in my vision. There's no background, but I have no problem reading them.

Cool, I get to create my character after all. Or at least choose my name. No sign of a menu or logout option though.

"Pandora," I whisper back. I know it's not original, but I've been using it since I was a kid.

My papa told me the myth, but the version he wove was an older rendition.

In his version, Pandora had brought all good things to the world where she placed them in her vase for safekeeping. However, one day a fool bumbled in. He knocked the vase over, barely getting the lid back on. In the interim, he'd allowed all that was good in the world to escape.

All except hope.

Pandora's vase contained hope for all of mankind. Even as all other good in the world disappeared, it still held onto hope. It's my favourite story. I've heard the other versions about Pandora's box being all sorts of trouble, but that first story is the one that stuck with me.

"Call sign accepted. Forerunner Pandora Integration - Level 1 initialized. Interface compatibility confirmed. Assessment of base attributes of Forerunner complete. Forerunner compatibility: 53. Additional distribution of attributes allowed based on compatibility. Allocation required to continue integration."

As I finish reading the text, it fades. A transparent window replaces it. For a second it flashes, strange characters in a table I can't read. Then it resolves, slowly translating to English. On the left, I see the assessment of my attributes. The attributes themselves seem mostly normal, except….

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

Adjust

Strength

-20

(+/-)

Constitution

-03

(+/-)

Agility

12

(+/-)

Endurance

05

(+/-)

Intellect

53

(+/-)

Spirit

35

(+/-)

Perception

18

(+/-)

Resolve

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

53

What the hell? I'm pretty sure I'm not that smart. Plus, negative attributes? Does that mean zero is average so I'm twenty points below average? On the other hand, I have 53 points. If that’s a one for one increase, am I going to be crazy strong if I put my points into Strength?

While I'm tempted to invest my points, I move my attention to the right side of the panel where it lists my resources instead.

RESOURCE

POOL

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

14

[-3.5]

(7/day)

Stamina

34

[1.8]

(18/day)

Mana

152

[15.3]

(99/day)

Focus

123

[9.0]

(73/day)

Matrix

Facet

37

3.6

(24/hour)

Health, Stamina and Mana are pretty standard, but what are Focus and Facet? What's a matrix? Am I going to start seeing lines of code? Also, what’s an Edge?

Adjusting my attributes is as simple as willing them to increase and decrease. After a little experimentation, I realize that each integration point gives 1 attribute and I can’t decrease the attributes below their starting values. I try to put all my points into intellect, but it stops increasing when I hit 100. Weirdly, I'm still able to assign my remaining points to intellect, they just don't have any noticeable effect.

While I'm messing with my integration points, I notice my attributes affect resources I wouldn’t have expected. For example, increasing resolve increases focus and mana but also increases my health pool for some reason.

I decide to try allocating my points to strength to see if I feel stronger, but I don't notice any difference. Deciding this calls for a test, I grab a rock lying in the nearby grass. Hefting it, I shift ten points into Strength, then toss it lightly in the air. Then I try shifting all fifty points. Still not seeing a difference, I find another rock nearby. They both seem about the same weight, so I chuck one with no points assigned and another with all fifty-three in strength.

They're both equally as ineffective, barely disappearing past the edge of the circle.

I guess they just affect my character's Resources which is a relief. Or maybe they only kick in after I confirm my selection.

Before I can continue perusing my attributes, I'm interrupted by a familiar voice calling my name.

“Alexis? Is that you? What're you doing here?”

Turning around, I see Josh standing awkwardly, looking at me. His dark face scrunches up as he focuses on me. He's out here without his customary toque, so his curly black hair is falling in his eyes. Despite being something I don't see very often, despite our years as neighbours, that isn't what catches my attention. Because Josh is wearing the most luxurious bathrobe I’ve ever seen.

Despite wanting to answer his questions, I'm momentarily stunned by how gloriously pink his robe is. I never would've guessed Josh owned a bathrobe like this. Or any possession, for that matter. The only outfits I’ve seen him in before are his black trench coat, with his equally black glasses, toque and camo pants or the jeans and t-shirt he uses for gardening. Still black.

And this bathrobe isn’t just pink. It has frilly lace at the cuffs, with embroidered roses running up his arms, over his shoulders. There are other roses scattered about the bathrobe, all of which sprout from somewhere on the back of his robe. The collar is white and super fluffy, with little blades of grass embroidered in it. But the best part? The best part is it's definitely his. I can see his name stitched over the left breast pocket.

“Uhm Alexis, hello?” he verbally prods me. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been so fixated on his magnificent bathrobe I may have forgotten there was an attempt at conversation.

Thinking back, I try to respond. “Right, yes. Sorry. It’s me. I think.... I think we’re in the Forerunner game world. I signed up for it, so that’s why I’m here. But I’m not sure what you’re doing here?”

“Unless you signed up too,” I add after a moment’s thought. “And before you ask, I don’t know how I got here. I swear I fell asleep on my couch. The next thing I know, poof, I’m waking up on the lawn with the sun shining on my face, like an old Nordic folk tale.”

While the fact that we were kidnapped is worrying, I'm buoyed by the fact that there's an interface and that I have mana. Mana means spellcasting. In a game this real, spellcasting sounds awesome. Also, if we really have been abducted, then we're very far away from my mother and my sudden financial crisis.

That might be a factor. Maybe.

A little.

“Anyway, have you figured out what your starting stats are? I’m thinking I’m going to focus on my mental stats, my physical stats are pretty awful, honestly.” I barrel on before focusing back on my status.

“Alexis, what are you talking about? I signed up for the Forerunner Initiative's extreme wilderness survival training program, not some game! And no offence, but I can't imagine you signing up for survival training. Never mind being approved for extreme level training.” Josh is practically panting by the end, pulling me back to reality.

Wait, what? They were running a survival program too? Though I guess even if this is a game world, it's real enough you might be able to do survival training. I certainly feel like I’m outside. The air is even a little chilly. If we weren’t in the sunlight I might be freezing right now. I wonder if I can channel mana into fire to keep myself warm. And he's staring at me funny because I've been ignoring him for too long.

Again.

Normally Josh is a glance at me, then ignore me, kind of person. Now that we've woken up in a field in our pyjamas together, he's looking at me differently, like maybe now I'm a person, and not just that kid next door. Okay, maybe not. Besides our pyjamas probably aren't an important part.

But.

Oh. My. God.

So pink.

"Alexis," Josh whispers, staring over my shoulder, "what kind of game did you say this was?" his voice descending into a barely audible hush as he crouches down in the grass.

Pfft, like crouching will help him hide in that robe.

"I'm not too sure. They weren't very forthcoming with.. any…." I trail off as I see what inspired Josh's cautious behaviour. His choice is probably better than my reaction.

Considering I just stand there, staring with my mouth hanging open, I don't set a very high bar. At least I don't scream.

There before us, in all its feathery splendour, is a freaking dinosaur. It's one of those really big ones that are like five stories tall and eats leaves.

A lot of leaves.

Possibly all the leaves.

I think they're called oh-my-god-that's-huge-osauros.

Or something to that effect. It doesn't move quickly, grabbing another bunch of leaves in a slow stretch of its enormous neck, the movement dragging its majestic feathers through the lower branches.

Suddenly, Josh trying to impersonate a rose bush makes a lot more sense to me. But it's a leaf eater. Surely, we're safe? Unless it starts walking towards us of course. Then we’d be pancakes.

Or if it likes to munch on roses. Hehe.

I wait and watch the giant feathered dinosaur for a full minute and a half before I decide we’re probably safe and it isn’t going to trample us. I base this on the fact that it's been slowly moving away from us, grazing on the upper canopy as it shifts away.

Turning back to Josh, I see that he's flicking his gaze back and forth between me and the dino. When he sees me looking at him, he finally straightens up to his full height of nearly two meters. Which, compared to my meagre 154cm, feels almost as tall as the dino.

I watch him open his mouth, but before he says anything he clicks his jaw closed while staring off into the distance. Turning to see what new threat he’s found, I step back while turning in the direction he's staring. All I see is the standing stone, glowing brightly.

While it's pretty cool, with its glowing runes and all, I'm eager to get back to my character sheet.

Trying to be polite, I ask him, “So, we good? That dinosaur’s clearly not going to eat us, so I’d like to set my stats before we get started with our training.”

There, I asked for permission and everything.

Waiting two whole seconds, okay, one second, I take his vacant stare and lack of reply as assent, bringing my character sheet back up.

I’d hardly noticed at the time, but it automatically faded when my attention left it, keeping it from obstructing my view when I wasn't interested in it. Handy feature that. I’m definitely giving positive feedback to the devs about the smooth design.

Occasionally glancing up at our massive neighbour, I check which stats affect my mana the most. It's definitely Intellect and Spirit, though Perception and Resolve both have a lesser effect as well. I do put three points into my constitution first though. My gamer instincts suggest that a negative con is a really bad idea, no matter my other stats. However, even after playing with the stats for a while I'm still having a hard time making up my mind.

"Hey Josh," I whisper at him in a near hiss. Harsher than I meant to. Damnit.

"Yeah, Alexis?" he replies, shifting a little closer.

"What do your attributes look like?"

"Uh. You mean in my Status?" he replies, blinking at me a couple times. "I've got uhm... negatives in most of my mental stats, apparently. But my Strength and Con are both over twenty."

Choosing not to comment, I nod to myself. Definitely sounds like his character is the tank. Which means I'm probably the healer or damage dealer. And... I don't feel any magical healing happening. Tapping my foot where I bumped it yesterday morning, I don't feel the slight bruise recede.

Kay, probably not a healer. Which means probably the mage. I'll think I'll put half my points in Intellect and half in Spirit. My adjusted stats definitely have a strong focus on magic.

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

Adjust

Strength

-20

(+/-)

Constitution

0

(+/-)

Agility

12

(+/-)

Endurance

05

(+/-)

Intellect

78

(+/-)

Spirit

60

(+/-)

Perception

18

(+/-)

Resolve

11

(+/-)

RESOURCE

POOL

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

14

[-3.2]

(15/day)

Stamina

50

[1.9]

(26/day)

Mana

230

[23.1]

(99/day)

Focus

174

[9.0]

(73/day)

Matrix

Facet

56

5.2

(40/hour)

When I think about confirming my choice the interface responds by bringing up what I'm starting to think of as “the notification window”.

“Would you like to confirm the current allocation of attribute adjustment integration points. Warning, once confirmed, these choices will take 24 hours to implement and cannot be reset.”

Okay, that’s weird. What game takes 24 hours to set your stats? Oh well. Maybe I’ll recommend they speed that up, at least for the beta.

“Confirm,” I say to the air. I probably could've confirmed mentally, but this is an important moment. Saying it aloud makes it more concrete.

“Allocation confirmed. Temporal matrix integration resumed. Class selection will be available once integration is complete. Note, skills can be unlocked and quests can be completed prior to class selection.”

I don’t get to choose my class now? But apparently, I’m integrating with a temporal matrix and I can try to unlock skills? That definitely sounds like a mage.

Before I can start any new experiments, the notification screen silently displays a new notice.

“Update. Due to the nature of your integration matrix, you may spend 37 facet to accelerate the integration of your class by 18.5 hours. Please note that edge does not reduce the cost of this function.”

Sweet. That sounds great. It also gives me an idea of what Edge might do.

I immediately project my thoughts at the system, confirming that I’d like to spend my Facet (Facets?) to reduce the integration time.

Now, only five hours and 29 minutes to go.

I watch the Facet disappear from my status with a smile. As the Facet disappears, I feel very tired for a second. Fighting to stay awake, the feeling rapidly fades away as a new notification appears.

“Skill unlocked: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

The skill notice is welcome. The sudden inability to move. Not so much.

The second I recover from the fatigue, I discover my body is locked in place. I feel as though I’m encased in stone. A small part of me wants to panic, but my internal time sense tells me that for every second that passes in real-time, I’m experiencing an hour from my current perspective. My body is literally unable to react to the speed of my thoughts. Also, panicking would require being able to move.

It's not a proper panic, if I can't run away.

Did I just consign myself to eighteen and a half hours of standing here with nothing to do but read my stats while thinking? I take back every nice thing I’ve thought about the devs. This is going to be hell.

That thought I had earlier about logging out? Yeah, that sounds like a really great idea all of a sudden.

So of course, when I mentally try to exit or logout or disconnect, nothing happens. Whether it’s because I’m forever trapped in a game world, or because the dev’s don’t want me cheating out of my ability, I don’t know. Further testing is required. Another solid minute of escape attempts leaves me consigned to my fate.

As I’m waiting, I decide to see if there is anything else I can access. There isn’t any response when I think about options or help, but when I concentrate on the different parts of my character screen, I get a general sense of what each attribute and resource mean. It's not much but it gives me something to stave off the boredom.

Disappointingly though, concentrating on my attributes mostly gives me textbook definitions.

Strength is physical strength, lifting, hitting that sort of thing while Constitution is the toughness of my body, including my ability to withstand my own Strength.

Agility is my body's coordination and smoothness of movement and Endurance is my body's ability to keep that movement going.

Intellect is... not exactly my smarts, but my ability to process hidden clues in the world around me. And to think faster.

Not sure I need more of that at the moment...

Spirit is... The sense I get, is that Spirit is the strength of the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character, aka the soul. Or something.

Again, kinda obviously, Perception is my ability to observe my surroundings.

And then, Resolve is my ability to keep going.

It doesn't give me a sense of which pools or any game functions that might be tied to any of the attributes, though I did discover some of those with my experiments earlier.

The knowledge I gain when focusing directly on the resource pools is more useful though.

Concentrating on my health makes me realize that it functions as a shield of sorts. So long as I have health available, I won’t be injured by most physical attacks. Makes me wish I didn’t have that negative health edge.

Oh, that's another thing. Edge applies to every action that uses a resource. So, if I take health damage, I’m going to take an extra 3.5 damage each time.

Stamina is similar to health, but instead of injuries, it prevents exhaustion. If I still have stamina available, I’ll be able to keep running without getting tired. I guess there’s a first time for everything. Not that my stamina is much better off than my health.

In addition to being used for spells, mana also protects against mental attacks. The fact that my Mana Edge is 15.6 almost makes up for my negative health edge. Almost.

If I can figure out how to cast spells.

Probably should've thought of that before going all in on the mage build. But hey, that's what the tank, I mean, Josh, is for.

Knowing my Mana Edge is going to keep increasing as my attributes go up over the next couple of hours is nice, but I wish I’d figured out what edge was like ten minutes earlier. Or based on my internal clock, I wish I'd figured it out at least nine minutes and 23 seconds earlier. Right before I assigned all my integration points, leaving my health out in the cold.

For the basic resources, that just leaves Focus. If the feedback is right, Focus can be used to greatly enhance actions. In fact, I think I spent half my focus when I used my Facet to speed up my class integration. On the plus side, it looks like focus is regenerating at its normal rate even during my time freeze. My Facet regeneration, on the other hand, is clearly linked to what I’m going to call real time.

I’m really wishing I could still experiment with adjusting my attributes now that I've initiated this process. It’s only been nineteen minutes and 23 seconds since I started, yet I’m already bored. I've been too spoiled by my smartphone.

I try to look around, but I can’t even get my eyes to refocus. Everything is blurry.

This means I don’t have any distractions to keep me from thinking about how my mom stole all my money. Apparently, my time sense works retroactively, because I know it’s been thirteen hours, forty-one minutes and three seconds, real-time since I discovered my account was empty.

The worst part of her taking everything is I've known for years that I can’t keep money in the house, or it disappears. I should've put the money in a new account. Now I have to start saving all over again.

Damn this game, it should be keeping me distracted, not giving me all the time in the world to think about this.

I spend a solid five minutes cursing the game, my mom, and that weirdo on the corner who used to stare at me as I walked past. And myself. For being an idiot. Mentally, because of course, I can’t speak. When I finally stop swearing, I realize my vision has gotten less blurry. I can almost make out the standing stone that Josh was looking at!

Yes! A distraction. I guess I can control my body, it’s just really slow to respond. That should help with the boredom. At least a little.

Another five minutes then I can see the runes on the stone clearly. They don’t really mean anything to me but thinking about their obvious magic reminds me of the notification I saw when I trapped myself. Just thinking about the log brings it back into focus.

Yep, there it is.

“Skill unlocked: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

Realizing I’ve yet to see a skill page, I try focusing on one. Like the rest of my interface, my skill status slides into place at the speed of thought. On it are listed my vast plethora of skills.

Skills

Matrix

Skill Level

Temporal Manipulation

1

Knowledge

Skill Level

Gaming

2

Engineering

1

Support

Skill Level

Cooking

0

Cleaning

2

Crafting

Skill Level

Woodworking

1

Movement

Skill Level

Swimming

1

Running

1

Okay, I’m not sure, but I think the system is insulting my cooking.

The engineering knowledge comes as a surprise. I’m guessing the woodworking skill is from my time at the mill. The Swimming and running skills, even at skill level 1, actually seem generous. My ability to swim could be compared to a lead anchor while my running wouldn’t be far behind. Actually, my running would be very far behind. Cause it would be closer to walking.

I wonder if there are any other status pages I’ve missed.

I try thinking about my class page, but I just get a feeling that it’s processing so I need to wait another 23 hours, one minute and fourteen seconds to access the menu. Or another 5.5 hours and seventeen seconds, depending on how you want to slice it.

Okay, that’s out. What else can I try? Inventory? Journal?

I decide to try thinking about my inventory first because it's less likely. When nothing happens, it’s disappointing, but not too surprising. This game does feel like we’ll be packing things around by hand. Still, I’ve already learned there are mana and time manipulation, so I’d be shocked if there isn’t any magical storage to be found.

Wait. Time manipulation. Like the state of frozen-time I’m in right now! Argh, for all my Intellect, I’m such an idiot.

I immediately try focusing on my Temporal Manipulation skill to glean what I can from it. My first impression is a feeling of emptiness, that there’s nothing to work with. Because it’s fueled by my Facet. My Facet which I just spent to enter this state. Lovely.

Further concentration reveals that I may be able to enter and exit this state with some practice. Once I have regained some Facet obviously. However, since my Facet regenerates in real-time, I don’t think I'll have a single point by the time my 18.5 hours/seconds are up.

I guess that means my amazing discovery doesn’t really help me.

My remaining two sources of hope for the next few hours are a journal and the standing stone in front of me. If I’m honest, at this point, I’m expecting the runes to give me a headache while the journal will probably be another dead end.

But there’s only one way to find out.

A note from Draith

Those who notice the "clairvoyant mc" effect, if you could leave a comment in any chapter you notice the effect, it would be appreciated. This should be something I can reduce with some minor feedback.

Thanks for reading.

1.02 Survival

A note from Draith

End of chapter edited Feb 13, 2020

End of chapter edited Feb 18, 2020

January 14, 2019, 6:15am.

Mentally prodding my interface for a journal, I watch excitedly when the display changes before my eyes.

However, it leaves me slightly puzzled. There isn’t much to see. While it does open with four tabs along the left, my current tab, labelled Zone Quests is just an empty list with labels at the top.

Since this is just the first of the four tabs, I quickly switch to the second tab, System Quests, finding my first entry.

Quest: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 30 days. Reward: Variable. Time: 30/30 days remaining.

Focusing on the quest doesn’t reveal much more than what it says in the title. It does “helpfully” suggest that I find food, shelter and water. Which at least tells me that we’re going to need sustenance. Unfortunately, this further cements the idea that I'm actually stuck here, and we’re not just logged into a game.

Looks like I'm joining Josh in his survival training. Thirty days though? I guess our bodies are truly here then. God, I hope so. Pretty sure I’ll die if we stay logged in for thirty days. Okay, the first rule of practical philosophy, treat your apparent reality as if it’s true. For all intents and purposes, my arm is still my arm.

Even if my real body is lying there helpless, slowly withering away into… Stop it, Alexis. That's not helpful. Also, possibly not even true. You don't know what's happening.

Mentally sighing, I try to focus on the third tab, personal quests, but my thoughts keep circling back to the survival quest. Unable to change my mental focus, the system quest tab stays open instead of switching to the third tab.

I don't know a single thing about survival, not real-world survival anyways. The closest thing I've come to survival training was when my papi (my papa's father) took our family to his cabin. This was back before the ugly tree incident when my Dad's side of the family was still on speaking terms with my mom. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the cabin had power while they brought the food. About the only wilderness skill I learned there was how to stack newspaper and cardboard to start a fire. Somehow, I doubt there's going to be much newspaper to use here.

That doesn't even account for foraging, hunting or skinning. I've done it all in games, but it's all automatic there. Everything I've seen so far makes me doubt it's going to be that simple here.

My ruminations on survival finally subsiding, I continue, moving to the third tab. Inside I find three entries, the most extensive page of the journal so far.

Quest: Learn Magic. Requirements: 0/1 elemental manipulation skills learned. Reward: Variable. Time remaining: No limit.

Quest: Escape Time Freeze. Requirements: Find a way to disable class-based time freeze. Reward: 1 iron ranked integration point. Time remaining: 1056/1110 minutes.

Quest: Return to Earth. Requirements: Find a way to return to Earth. Reward: Variable. Time remaining: 360/360 days.

Yes! YES! YESSS!

The first two quests are nice but it's the third and last quest that really grabs my attention.

Because the last quest is a little terrifying and exciting. It implies there is a way home, which is great.

But the idea that if I don't complete it in time, I might never find a way home leaves me unsettled, to say the least. This practically confirms I'm not going to find a logout button. If I was in control of my body, I'm pretty sure I'd slump to the ground then start crying.

One more small plus to being time-stuck.

The first quest leaves me feeling better about heavily investing in my intellect and spirit attributes. I'm not sure how easy it'll be, but I'm hoping I can get fire or earth manipulation unlocked. If we're trying to survive, being able to cook strikes me as important. And earth manipulation might be useful for creating structures. There's a river just north of us so we should be okay on water, right? I think Josh knows more about survival than I do, so maybe I'll ask him for advice.

The second quest is encouraging, as it implies I'm not stuck waiting the full eighteen hours for time to unfreeze. If I can figure it out. I also have no idea how good the reward is.

What is an iron rank integration point? What can I use it for? Is iron rank good? Not that it matters, just getting out of the time freeze would be reward enough.

Now that I'm done going through the quests, I try to add another quest. I think really hard about studying dinosaurs, but nothing happens. I try adding a couple more arbitrary quests like reading the quest log three times fast, but with no new results.

As this avenue of exploration isn't yielding fruit, I switch my attention to the fourth tab.

Unlike the first three tabs, it’s simply labelled Pandora. The script isn't block text like everything else in my interface. Instead it's written in the same flowing script as on the letter. When the tab opens, I’m greeted by a mostly empty interface. But this time there are four small icons just below the tab. Focusing on them, I glean their general meaning. There's an icon for write, draw, erase and new page.

Is this a personal notation page?

Grasping the pencil icon with my mind, I start taking notes. I’m able to literally think words into existence.

Closing the interface, I try mentally sending notes to the journal.

Peter Piper packed pickles pretty poorly.

Opening it back up again, the words are there, criticizing poor Peter's pickle packing skills. Further experimentation allows me to discern that I’m able to split up or combine my notes at will. This is going to be so very useful.

I spend a couple minutes listing what I’ve discovered so far, in order of importance:

- There is a system that likely allows me to wield magic.

- Josh has a pink bathrobe, with roses on it.

- I’m in an unknown location, in my kitten onesie, surrounded by standing stones.

- There’s at least one huge dinosaur nearby.

- I need to survive, with Josh, for 30 days.

- I'm on another planet, called Akilo, and have 360 days to return to earth.

- I’m able to freeze time, though not on purpose (yet).

- I have a mental interface that reads my mind and lets me take notes.

- I don't have to worry about making that rice last two weeks.

Thinking about being able to use magic, I ponder the standing stones. Now that I can take notes, I can record my observations if I study the southern stone. Wishing I could let my eyes play over its surface, I instead direct my focus to the few runes that I can discern clearly. There are several linked symbols connected together, but only one shape I would call a complete rune.

While inspecting the linked runes, I notice the energy isn't consistent. When I observed the stone in real-time, it seemed like the runes were constantly glowing. From my current perspective, I can tell that the magic is pulsing through the runes. The light fades for a little less than a second before returning to full strength for the next nine.

I study the moments when the glow fades then returns, trying to puzzle out what's causing it or where the energy is coming from. Watching carefully, I realize the energy, which I assume is mana, is travelling upwards from the ground into the runes. Unable to track the flow further while not having any other ideas, I inspect the only rune that is entirely within my view.

It reminds me of a Q overlaid with an arrow, with a couple of extra lines leading off which link it to the other runes. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to gain here. I guess I'm kind of hoping that by studying the runes I might unlock a runescript or enchanting skill. So far though, all I'm getting is an appreciation for whoever carved these runes. They're skillfully made, the lines etched into the stone with no sign of slip or mistake. Since I have this new mental notebook, I decide to sketch the pattern into my journal. Even with the ability to draw directly with my mind, my drawing isn't half as precise as the rune. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can draw better by hand.

Okay, now that I have this rune recorded in my journal it's time to stop exploring my interface while staring at this rock. I have a quest to break out of this time-freeze. That means that I should be able to.... manipulate time or something. Right?

I try to feel how the time-freeze is affecting me, to see if there's anything noticeable. There's a kind of friction that I've felt whenever I think about moving or doing anything which feels like a good place to start. Concentrating on the feeling, I attempt to close my eyes then notice... an intangible field. There's a barrier between my thoughts and my body, muting my actions. When I try to direct my will towards it, I feel an energy rising from my chest in response.

The energy feels full of potential. The scorching heat of the noon summer sun. The gentle comfort of hot tea on a cool autumn day. The bitter chill of a winter blizzard. All of these feelings are just a taste of what I feel within this energy. There's only one thing this energy can be. This is my mana. It's responding to my will, though it remains formless, swirling behind my eyes as I struggle to close them. I spend a few seconds relishing the fact that my mana responds to my will so readily before returning to the task at hand.

I try sharpening my mana into a needle, but it doesn't want to hold the shape. I can form the needle easily enough. It's just that once I have the needle formed, if I stop picturing it, the mana collapses back into formless energy.

Every time I try to use it to pierce the barrier my attention wavers. Not much, but it's enough for it to collapse. I need a way to make my mana take a shape while holding it.

I'm confident the best choice would be a rune, though I'm basing that on the standing stone in front of me. I only know the one. But it still seems like the best place to start. So, I begin shaping my mana into a needle again, but this time I try to overlay the needle with the Q-arrow rune. The result is amazing yet useless. The new structure is neither stable nor does it resemble a needle. In fact, it's making my head hurt trying to hold it together. But the amazing part is the notification I receive.

Skill unlocked: Mana Manipulation, (skill level: 1)"

Releasing my monstrous rune, I open the relevant page to focus on the skill. The familiar feeling of potential is there but now I'm also able to sense three shapes that I hesitate to call runes. They're so basic that I decide to call them rune-shapes instead.

There is one that is a modified version of an arrow that might achieve what I'm hoping for. I immediately take my mana then start shaping it into this modified arrow. It's not a complicated design, basically, just three pointed-arrow symbols stacked on each other.

But trying to shape it feels as though I'm trying to push my mana backwards uphill. I keep trying to push my mana into the arrow, but my mana just gets harder to add. Before I'm halfway done the construct, I start to get an extreme headache. Not willing to give up, I keep pushing mana into it, but I can't get the construct past two-thirds complete.

There's clearly a reason why this isn't working, but I'm not sure what. My mana flow is clearly stuck where the second set of arrowheads split off from the rune-shape. Concentrating on my mana, I can feel my mana flowing back down the part of the mana construct I have in place so far. Am I trying to build the arrow backwards?

Allowing the existing structure to collapse, I start over, reversing the direction of my mana flow. This time the mana construct practically snaps into place. It still takes some effort to maintain the structure but it's so much easier than my earlier structure that it's barely worth mentioning.

Now that I have a basic structure, I need to make it serve my needs. I've given the mana direction, but it still lacks purpose. In this case, the purpose is to break myself free of my time-freeze, but how to instill that in the arrow? I try imbuing the arrow with thoughts of freedom, movement and not being stuck inside my own head, but that doesn't help.

Next, I try to imagine piercing through the barrier, like I was attempting with my needle. This feels like I might be on the right track as I feel more mana flow into the arrow. It's more complete, but there's still a component missing.

Just one final push then hopefully I'll be able to utilize my first spell!

But I can't think of anything that works. I picture a balloon being popped, but it's not what my spell needs. I project the image of a nail piercing a tire, but it doesn't help. I keep trying to throw images and concepts at the spell construct, but it doesn't help.

I'm not getting anywhere, so I circle back to the shape of the rune then observe it with my mind's eye.

What am I missing?

The answer is so obvious it irks me. My arrow needs a bow. It has purpose, shape, direction, it just needs propulsion. Creating a second rune in the shape of a bow, mainly because the symmetry appeals to me, I feel the entire construct hum. There's a tension in the construct as I hold the shape in place. I'm pretty sure that if I release the bow, the arrow will fly forwards now. I mentally point the arrow towards the barrier over my eyes, but then I pause.

Am I ready to break out of this time freeze? Is there anything I want to do before I return to the normal flow of time?

Easing off the bow, I keep the arrow construct ready as I give myself a moment to think. I decide to at least quickly copy down the parts of the other runes neighbouring the one I can see. Before that I let the arrow dissipate then quickly check my mana. Even with all my mucking about, it appears I've only used a single point. Maybe it's only expensive when I actually cast a spell?

As I'm copying the partial runes, my eyes adjust further, which allows me to copy entire runes, though the quality is subpar at best. Since it takes longer for my eyes to adjust than to copy the runes, I amuse myself by creating the other shapes with my mana. Other than the arrow, there are still two rune-shapes that my mana manipulation revealed to me. There's a small triangle with "legs", that continue out past the "bottom" side of the triangle. The other is a circle with a single straight line that leads from the edge into the circle's centre.

Learning my lesson with the arrow, I try to push my mana into the structures in whichever way provides the least resistance. As I pour my mana into the triangle, it flows from the top point, along both sides, then converges in the centre of the bottom side as it travels to the tips of the legs. Even though the legs are twice as long as any single side of the triangle, the mana reaches their ends at the same time as the mana meets in the middle of the bottom side. The entire structure snaps into place at once, with a satisfying mental click.

I may be stuck on an unknown planet, no food, shelter or clue as to how to survive, but at least I'm learning some magic!

Jotting down another fancy rune from the standing stone, I turn to the last basic rune-shape. The circle. With this one my mana wants to start at the center, running up the line to the circle. Once my mana reaches the circle, it splits off in both directions. Once my mana meets on the opposite side of the circle, the construct snaps into place just like with the two previous rune-shapes. However, I also notice that mana now flows continuously through the outer circle of this rune-shape, even as it waits for me to complete it. Having constructed all three shapes, I decide to cycle through constructing them, practicing as I jot down the much more elaborate runes on the standing stone. Twenty minutes later, I'm just about done recording all the runes I can see from where I'm stuck when a notification pops up.

"Skill increased: Mana manipulation: (2)"

Sweet. I'm able to increase my mana manipulation skills, even when I'm stuck in this time freeze.

Switching back to my resource page, I check my mana again. I'm pleased to see It's still almost full. However, I notice that my focus hasn't increased. In fact, it's now at less than half. That implies I've used more focus than I've regenerated since I threw myself into this time-freeze.

Has my practice been using focus?

I decide to check by creating another mana construct while keeping my resource screen open at the same time. Sure enough, the second the construct snaps into place, my focus decreases by 0.1. Not a drastic amount, but with the number of constructs I've been creating it's definitely added up. I also note that the construct takes 0.1 mana, but when I collapse the structure, I regain the mana.

Does this mean I need focus for my spell casting? I guess I'm lucky that my focus is decent. I'd hate to have unlimited mana then be unable to cast spells because I have no focus.

I want to keep practicing, but now that I know it takes focus, I don't want to be left empty either. There are too many unknowns about what we might need to do, and I'm still locked in my time-freeze. The smart thing to do would probably be to wait through my time freeze while letting my focus recharge. Maybe even keep practicing once it's full.

But that sounds boring. Really boring.

Instead, I decide it's time to return to the land of the living. And breathing. I know my body is technically still moving along at its regular rate, but the lack of breathing is starting to disturb me. I haven't been paying close attention, but I think I've only taken one breath since I started this whole time-freeze thing.

Conjuring up my bow and arrow construct, I once again aim at the barrier.

Here's hoping this works.

Mentally bracing myself, I release the arrow, then it slams into the barrier, right behind my eyes. At first, I'm not sure if my mana construct even did anything. But then I feel the barrier crumbling.

The moment it does so the feeling of being encased drops away so suddenly that I start to collapse onto the grass.

Before I'm able to rejoice in my freedom, I'm assaulted by burning worse than any sunburn I've ever had.

Ohmygod! AGGGGHHHH!

The burning is everywhere, especially in my eyes. The burning is so bad that I scream myself hoarse while I roll back and forth, rubbing my face, my arms and even my toes into the grass, trying to find relief before I lose my grip on consciousness.

Ruby stained lips, smudged and uneven, try to engulf me. Twisting away, a giant hand reaches for me, the corduroy sleeve, large as my head.

I escape into a grasping bog, sea blue gowns dancing along the edges. A flash, lights flickering, as I run down an endless corridor.

Until the door. It's cold.

Frigid brown eyes bore into mine. Judging.

"Trust me," the man with eyebrows the size of a picket fence warbles, blocking a door which is swallowed in shadows, twisting away until it's gone.

A ripping sound echoes before the world turns to ash.

The nonsensical nightmare fades away as I reawaken to the pain. When I finally recover, I open my eyes seeing red. Well, more of a fiery orange.

"Ah, I think she's coming around," says the woman whose eyes of emerald green peer at me through the fiery mane of hair shrouding her face.

"Are you alright? You gave us quite the scare, what with all the screaming," she worries, those piercing emerald eyes staring into my soul.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak yet. Looking up at her I wonder who she is. I realize I've lost track of how long I've been staring at her as the pain subsides. As in, I realize my time sense isn't working. When I try to focus on it, my head explodes with that same burning sensation, but now it feels as though it's inside, trying to escape my skull. I close my eyes, trying to block out the pain, but it doesn't really help.

When I open my eyes again, I see Josh is standing behind the woman, concern written clearly across his dark face. His dark curly hair has broken free of whatever constrained it, getting in his eyes. His face relaxes when he sees me looking up at him. Funny, I think he's more worried about me, his neighbour who he hardly knows than I can ever remember my mother being. Weird, what you think about when you're lying on the ground suffering from the worst headache you've ever had.

As the headache dies down, emerald eyes speaks again. "So, my name is Bethany. Beth to my friends. What's your name friend?" Her gentle smile conveying more warmth than a hot cup of chocolate when she asks.

"Alexis," I reply. "Uh, Lex to meh-my friends," I stutter out. Ugh, my brain feels like it's churning through butter. My words slow and disjointed.

"Nice to meet you, Alexis. I hope we can be friends. Do you know what happened?"

"Uhm, I might have fuh-frozen myself in time then used mu-magic to break myself fuh-free early. It appears to have buh-backfired a little," I stutter. Thus said, I wonder if I lost health. I think about reaching for my status, but the idea of another headache dissuades me.

"What?" Josh interjects, doubt flickering across his face. Beth sits, staring at me silently for a moment without saying anything before nodding. I'm starting to feel embarrassed as no one says anything else when I realize Josh's focus has shifted away, like he's reviewing something only he can see.

"Does this have something to do with why I can see words floating in the air, and why you think this is a game?" He questions, once again turning to me.

"Uhm yuh-yeah, about that. Eh-either this is the muh-most advanced game the wuh-world's ever seen, and these guh-guys are going to make a ke-killing. Or..." how do I explain that I just spent two hours in pause mode, exploring my interface, copying down runes and of course, taking my first steps in learning magic.

Without sounding crazy that is.

I take a deep breath (and oh yeah, despite the pain, that feels good) before continuing. "I thu-think we're really here. I don't thu-think this is a game."

"And I thu-think I majorly screwed up my ah-attribute's if that's the case."

Josh stares at me for another few seconds before nodding, as if I've just said the wisest thing he's ever heard.

"You know, that was the best sleep I've had in years." Beth's deep feminine voice catches my attention again. "All it took was waking up in a whole other world with a computer speaking directly into my head," she continues with a wry smile curling her lips.

Her eyes meet mine. Now that I'm not in pain, I give her a once over. She's older than me. If I were asked, I'd say she appears to be about my mom's age. I'm guessing mid-30's or early 40's. But Beth has a presence to her that my mom never did. She kind of reminds me of my 10th-grade biology teacher Mrs. Bueller. Though, if I'm honest, it's mostly because of her mane of fiery orange-red hair. Unlike Josh and I, Beth's at least dressed to be outdoors, wearing a comfortable, green hooded jacket, jeans and a pair of leather boots.

While I'm sizing up Beth, I continue rubbing my head and digging my toes into the sod. The burning has died down to a slight itch instead of "oh-my-god I'm on fire" levels of pain and my head has likewise recovered, but it's still throbbing slightly. I'm just considering reopening my interface when Beth starts laughing.

I watch as she tosses her head back and forth, her fiery mane of hair flying everywhere, continuing to laugh. It doesn't sound like a maniacal, I can't believe this has happened to me laugh, but I can't be sure. Maybe she only just noticed Josh's bathrobe.

Either way, she doesn't laugh for long. There's still a smile on her face as Josh moves up to her.

"Thank you for taking care of Alexis, ma'am. Do you happen to know where we are?" Josh asks as he extends a hand to help her stand.

Ignoring his hand as she pushes herself up, Beth brushes herself off before replying. "I haven't the slightest. And I'm not nearly old enough to be a ma'am," she declares as she glares up into Josh's eyes. She has to look a long way up. Josh is fairly tall, but she only comes up to his chest. The top of her head doesn't even reach his armpit. I think she might be shorter than I am. Not that it matters, as I see Josh visibly shrink at her response. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was afraid of her.

"I think it's obvious where we are. Clearly, we are in the middle of the standing stones of Akilo, our starting area," comes a new nasally voice from my right.

Turning my head as we all glance over, I see a middle-aged man in a pyjama suit... suit pyjamas... they're pyjamas that have the appearance of a suit. He's not looking at pink bathrobe Josh, nor fiery-haired Beth. Even though it was their conversation he interrupted.

He's staring at me.

His bushy eyebrows are drawn together, his deep brown eyes send a chill down my spine.

"So, did I hear you say that you've used magic already? Excellent. Most excellent," he declares, steepling his fingers like one of those villains from a nineties children's show. His gaze never wavers.

Before anyone can say anything else, yet another voice rumbles forth, emanating from the standing stones around us. The words are deep, coming slowly as if they are only supplied grudgingly.

"Welcome Forerunners, to Akilo, your assigned training world. Your initial training will be focused on helping *error, species not found* adapt to inclusion. You will be able to shelter within the arrival zone for one night before the protective barrier's residual energies are depleted. For the next 30 days, all survival skills will have reduced focus assistance costs, lowered unlock requirements and will grant improved focused insights. Good luck."

1.03 Focus Alexis, Focus.

A note from Draith

Chapter revised Feb 13, 2020

Chapter revised Feb 18, 2020

January 14, 2019, time unknown.

With the last vestiges of the announcement echoing through the air, I look around, wondering what we're going to do. I don't see ravenous monsters prowling at the edge of the circle, so when this invisible barrier drops, we'll probably still be safe for a while. But then what? Are we just going to stay here for thirty days? Probably not, given that I'm already starting to feel hungry and I doubt there's a single seven-11 in this entire valley.

Josh looks about as lost as I do. Which is kind of comforting.

Meanwhile, Beth is already surveying the surrounding forest. When she sees our friendly neighbourhood dinosaur, her eyes only pause for a second before she continues her scan. Maybe Beth has an idea? She seems to be searching for something specific.

My watching of Beth watching the world is interrupted by the old guy speaking again.

"Ah. If I may be so bold. I suggest you both allocate your attributes before this barrier drops and we're left defenseless. My notifications informed me that it takes 24 hours to get my class once I locked my attributes in. I don't know about you, but I'd rather face this world with whatever advantages that brings."

Solid advice in my opinion. But Beth doesn't seem ready to give up her scan of the area yet, her steely gaze still piercing through the trees. I'm not sure what she's looking for, but pajama-suit's comment has me wondering how much longer it’ll be for my class to finish.

Bracing myself, I reach for my interface. There's a small spike of pain behind my eyes but I’m otherwise okay. Focusing on my class, I can tell it's closer to completion, but my time sense must still be broken, as I only get the vague feeling that my class integration is about three quarters done. At least I know that breaking out of the time freeze didn't cost me my accelerated class integration. Or even worse, my class.

Now that I know my interface is working, I quickly check over my status to check my health.

ATTRIBUTE

Value

Adjust

STRENGTH

-20

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

00

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

05

(+/-)

INTELLECT

73

(+/-)

SPIRIT

55

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

18

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points - Iron

1

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

0/30

[-3.2]

(14,   0)/day

Stamina

48/48

[1.9]

(25)/day

Mana

215/215

[21.6]

(154)/day

Focus

164/164

[11.1]

(100)/day

Matrix

Facet

3/52

[4.9]

(36)/hour

Exactly as I expected. It's down to zero. But my total health pool has more than doubled, so, yay?

While I'm checking my health, I realize my mana and focus pools are not only full, they've both substantially increased. I guess breaking out of my time freeze wasn't all bad.

Checking my attributes, I see that my intellect and spirit have both improved a lot, which explains the increase in both pools. I think they've both finished about 80% of their upgrade. It's also nice to see that my constitution has moved up to zero, leaving strength as my only negative attribute. I'm sorely tempted to put my sole integration point into strength, but I hold off for the moment.

I see that I've already regenerated three facet in the short time since I broke the time freeze. I decide I should see if I can access the pool, bracing for the pain. While reaching for the pool does cause a throbbing ache in my head, it's not enough to send me sprawling. While I knew from my interface that the pool wasn't empty, I can feel a difference when I reach for it. Since the pain isn't as bad as when I reached for my clock, I think I may even be able to use my facet. Once I've let enough regenerate I can accomplish something that is. The pain is also a factor. Maybe if I let it recover, it won't hurt as much once I do use it.

Having checked over my attributes, I turn to my notification log to see its take on recent events.

"Condition disrupted: Temporal Buffer."

"Spell discovered: Pierce."

"Skill increased: Temporal Manipulation (2)."

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (3)."

"Health reduced to zero by Temporal Tides.”

“Condition gained: Temporal Dissonance."

"Quest completed: Escape time-freeze. Reward one iron rank integration point."

"Condition gained: Forerunner's Survival Focus."

"Hidden Condition discovered: Forerunner's A Good Night's Rest."

Wow. That's a lot of notifications. I'm guessing the Temporal dissonance condition is what's preventing me from accessing my clock.

When I decide I want to check my conditions, a new page appears, and it's got more conditions than I expected.

Current Conditions

Previous Conditions

Temporal Dissonance

Temporal Buffer

System Class Integration

Forerunner's Survival Focus.

Forerunner's N.E.W.B. Protection

Forerunner's A Good Night's Rest

Well Rested

Not only does it have all my current conditions, it has the buffer which I dispelled. I think it's pretty clear that the buffer was protecting me from whatever temporal tides are.

When our imminent doom was announced, the voice also mentioned that focus costs for learning survival skills would be reduced.

If focus allows me to learn survival skills, I wonder if I can use it to learn more from my interface as well. I focus on my Temporal Dissonance condition while watching my current focus. As the information about the status enters my mind, I pull from my focus, trying to increase the effect, causing my focus to decrease by an entire point. Focusing like this is way more expensive than practicing my runes was, but I receive a full description instead of just a vague feeling.

"Temporal Dissonance: interferes with natural connection to time. Inhibits abilities that rely on Temporal manipulation. Prevents regeneration of health. Condition persists until repaired. May have additional side effects."

Welp, that’s ominous.

Not only do I have crap health and health regen, now it’s at zero and it won’t regenerate. To say this isn’t an ideal situation is probably understating it a little. Not really sure what I can do about it though. How do you even go about fixing “Temporal Dissonance?”

I imagine that any repairs to my Temporal Dissonance are going to require facet, so while I wait for that to recharge, I decide to continue checking my other conditions. Since, I can guess what class integration and survival focus mean, I skip over those. Well-rested seems just as self-explanatory, which only leaves the Forerunner's N.E.W.B. Protection and A Good Night's Rest.

Once more, I focus, spending another point of my precious focus to see what being a newb means to me.

“Forerunner N.E.W.B. protection: protects newly enlightened worldwalker beings from critical injuries once per day. Charges remaining: 4/5.”

Holy crap. I haven’t even left the front lawn, but I’ve used a charge already. Plus, I’m afflicted by temporal dissonance to boot. How is temporal dissonance not a critical injury? Just how bad would it have been without this protection? Would I have been torn into little bits and pieces? Would I have been removed from time? I'm not sure I want to know the answer.

It appears that I still have protection remaining though, which I imagine extends to the others as well. Once per day implies that I should probably be extra careful until tomorrow. That said, I should continue to act like I don't have any protection in the first place. It clearly doesn't protect me from everything. Not sure how useful the health resource is yet either.

Hoping for some good news, I focus in on A Good Night's Rest then focus.

"Forerunner's A Good Night's Rest: Allows one night of protected rest for one creature within the Akilo Forerunner Transition Circle. This condition will not expire until used. This condition may be charged with 500 mana/charge. Charges remaining 1/5. Mana contributed to next charge 0/500."

Well, that's much more encouraging. I immediately try directing my mana into the condition, to see if I can charge it. When I do, I feel a tug at my... soul? It's coming from the standing stone to the south. The same standing stone I've spent hours studying. Looking towards the stone, I feel one of the runes near the base respond when I make eye contact.

The strength of the tug increases but it's gentle enough I can resist it. Deciding to see what happens I allow the tugging to continue. With my permission granted, I can almost see a connection form between me and the standing stone. The connection feels solid, like there's a wire running between me and the rune, free of gravity. I try sending a small amount of mana along the intangible wire. It's weird, normally I can't really quantify the amount of mana I'm handling or shaping, but when it enters the wire, I can intrinsically tell roughly how much mana translates to one unit. Once I've transferred across about five points of mana, I stop the flow and am rewarded with a new update.

"Mana contributed to next charge 5/500."

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (4)."

Okay. The condition appears to be linked to the standing stones, which I guess makes sense, since the protection is based off sleeping here. It's good to know that I can spend as little mana as I want, yet it'll still contribute to a safe night's rest. Hmm, I know I can still regenerate my focus and mana when I'm stuck in a time-freeze. Would I be able to spend my facet to freeze myself again? Even better, maybe I can find a way to use my facet to just regenerate my mana and focus without sticking myself in that boring state. My resources did regenerate as if I'd stayed in when I broke the barrier after all. But trying it might lead to something worse than my current temporal dissonance. Definitely a later project.

Putting that aside, I decide it's time to explore the notification about having a new spell. Having spells seems awesome. I try to bring up the spell menu, which rewards me with a new and welcome page. The interface reminds me of a combination of my journal and attributes. There is only one tab, but I get the impression more can be added. My current tab is labelled iron and has the rune of the bow and arrow construct I created drawn out with a table beneath it.

Iron Rank - Spell slots used/available= 1/3.

Spell Name

Scaling

Effect

Range

Duration

Affinity

Pierce

Yes

Damages and breaks through a single barrier. Much more effective from a barrier’s weak side.

Short

Instant

Mana

You know what? As cool as this interface is, the spell is actually kinda lame.

I have the ability to use magic and my only spell is specialized in piercing barriers. Which by itself wouldn't be so bad but… I'm limited to only three spells. Which means I've wasted one of my spell slots and inflicted a permanent condition on myself because I was bored and wasn't cautious. The sudden wrenching feeling that appears in my gut is almost as bad as yesterday, when I found out my mother had stolen my savings.

Again.

And again, this is all my fault. Because I should have known better. There was obviously a good reason I was forced into the time-freeze. But no. Just because I had a quest, I thought that meant success would be like in a game, automatic and without consequence.

I mean, I know there are games that aren't like that, but that doesn't change the fact that I wish I wasn’t using a spell slot for a spell like pierce.

How often will this even be useful?

Continuing to ignore the world around me, I decide to focus on this spell that's using up one of my three, just three, valuable spell slots. If I'm stuck with it, I should learn everything I can about it. However, the only information I receive when I focus on the spell is everything that I went through to create it.

As I focus on it though, the rune appears before me in my mindspace, the bow and arrow pulled taut, ready to fire. It's filled with the intent to break through barriers.

None of this is new to me, but as I inspect the rune, I'm fascinated by how it appears more solid, more real, than when I used it the first time. I guess it’s improved somehow. Calling up my mana, I push it into the formation. Unlike during my time-freeze, this time the mana flows into the rune with no hesitation. The transition is instant, as far as I can tell. There's no need for me to push my mana into the arrow, then create the bow. It simply comes into being.

With the spell held ready, due to my investigation, and curious to see if there’s a physical manifestation, I point my finger out across our grassy field, above the tallest standing stone on the North side. I can feel the mana flow down my arm and wait beneath my finger. There is a feeling of sharpness, like having the edge of a needle pressing against, but not breaking through, my skin. As I release the spell, the pressure releases. There’s a nearly invisible distortion. It travels about five meters before it loses cohesion and disappears. It was so faint and clear that I wouldn’t have seen it if I wasn’t staring right at it, waiting for it.

However, Beth apparently saw it too. Or least I'm guessing that's why she's turned towards me, raising a questioning eyebrow, her emerald eyes bearing down on my soul.

Feeling the need to defend myself, I stutter out, “Uh-Uhm. It’s my first spell. It’s called peh-pierce.” Even as I’m gaining confidence in my words, prepared to continue, the old man can’t help but interrupt.

“Oh really, and how did you form this spell?” he asks raising his voice while judging me with his eyes. "What does it do? How did you use your mana? Do you know any other spells?" He fires his questions off at me, his arms waving back and forth as he approaches where I'm still sprawled on the lawn.

As I try to process all his questions, whatever I was going to share about casting my spell is lost. I’m preparing to scoot behind Beth to put her between us when, unexpectedly, a curtain of pink steps into view, blocking him from sight.

“Yo, leave her alone. Can’t you see you’re making her uncomfortable,” Josh interjects, as he stands between us, facing the old guy down.

I watch Josh's robe sway, momentarily marveling at the lack of grass stains, while the old guy sputters in the background, “What?! All I'm doing is asking her questions young man. Why would that make her uncomfortable? Clearly, we’re in this together. And she’s discovered how to use magic. Magic that might get us home. Magic that could allow us to survive these next thirty days. I don’t know about you, but I very much intend to survive.” All very reasonable points. His method of approach is still triggering my anxiety though.

Josh doesn’t say anything. But he doesn’t move either. A silent shield.

When I think about it, he’s kinda always been that way. Ever since mom and I moved into our little apartment across from him, just after the ugly tree incident. He's lived in our little four storey apartment building longer than we have. He's been there for half my life, yet I don't know him that well.

Which is kind of obvious, considering how surprised I was when I saw his robe. I'm sure, thinking back, that he's never had a roommate. I mean, I know he's had the occasional visitor, but I'm reasonably sure he's been living on his own the whole time we've lived across the hall.

While he’s always been brusque and short with me, he's never hostile. Instead he’s been there when I needed him. More than once. For example, there used to be this creepy guy who hung around our building and pestered me every day. The first time Josh saw this, the very first time, he walked up to the guy then just talked to him. I couldn't hear what was said, but when he was done, the guy stood up, walked away and disappeared from our lives. I never saw the guy again. When I asked Josh about it, he just shrugged, then walked inside.

He's also always helped us out with little things like fixing the sink or carrying the groceries up. But I figured that mom was paying him or something. But maybe that's his way. Funny how I'm only figuring this out now. I guess I can be fairly oblivious sometimes.

Thankfully, with Josh keeping himself interposed between us, the old guy gives up, walking away while muttering to himself.

"He does have a point friends, magic might be useful," Beth whispers softly, keeping her brilliant eyes fixed outwards. I hadn't noticed her move closer, but she's now crouched in the grass next to us.

Josh turns towards her, keeping himself between me and the other guy as he responds. "Maybe. Only if Lex wants to." He glances at me, making sure he makes eye contact before he moves his eyes towards our fourth lawn dweller, who even now appears to be losing his mind, muttering and waving his arms about wildly.

My tongue is still feeling heavy, so I shake my head while pointing at my mouth under Josh's friendly gaze. "Wuh-words are huh-hard," I stutter out. Then I point at the pillar and mumble "stuh-studied ruh-runes."

Josh accepts my response with a nod and the word, "Okay." He doesn't move from his spot, shifting to keep himself between me and the old man who appears to be having a fit. Probably trying to figure out magic.

While Beth keeps looking out into the trees, she takes a moment to turn to me, ruffling my hair as she speaks, "Fair enough kid. We’ll be okay."

Well, I tried to tell them. If I'm honest with myself, part of me didn't want to share my newfound ability to use magic with anyone, not just the old man. It's not very team spirit of me, but I know I'm going to be horrible at this survival thing. Me and the outdoors have an understanding. I stay inside, it stays outside. Done.

Being the only one with magic is about the only thing I can think of that will ensure I stay valuable right now. Clearly, the others are more comfortable out here. Josh has always been doing survival stuff and Beth clearly knows how to dress when going into the wild.

I know Beth and Josh appear to be looking out for me, which is great. But my mom has taught me that just because you should be able to trust someone, doesn't mean you can. And good intentions aren't worth the paper they're written on. Also, gingerbread and icing are the ultimate holiday building materials.

But that seems less relevant at the moment.

Still it's only a small part of me. Talking really is hard right now.

Beth interrupts my thoughts as she whispers to Josh and I, "You know friends, I think I've figured out a little magic of my own."

With those words, I watch as she furrows her brow then starts drawing a shape with her hands. As I sit there watching, I see her trace a faint outline with her finger. Even as she's tracing this pattern, I see her flicking her gaze up into the forest, paying attention to our surroundings. After about a minute, I can tell that the outline resembles a rifle of some sort. As Beth continues, I realize that even in my games, I've never seen one this complex. Nor rarely so large. If the rifle was solid, I'm sure it would weigh at least ten kilos, easy.

As if reading my mind, she adds details, the rifle getting more tangible, like I could reach out and grab it.

It takes at least ten minutes for Beth to finish. But when she does there's a soft click, then the massive rifle materializes. The rifle's smooth, black finish now appears as real as the grass we're sitting in. Perhaps more real.

Even though I watched as closely as I could, shifting back and forth throughout the process, I didn't see her use a single rune. I was able to see her mana flowing into the rifle easily enough, yet not one rune appeared. It would seem there's more than one way to harness the magic of our new world.

"Oof. Well, that certainly cost a lot of Umbra. Mana and Focus too, looks like. Worth it though." Beth states, raising her new rifle up before scanning through the scope, out through the trees.

"Umbra?" Josh asks, more shocked by the final appearance of the rifle than he was by my ability to cast a spell. Then again, it's an absolutely monstrous weapon. A rifle like Beth's is clearly meant to use powerful munitions. The barrel is nearly as thick as my wrist. I don't really know much about guns, but I'm going to guess that bigger bullets equal more damage. This thing could probably punch through a house and keep on going. Or….

"Duh-did you get that gun for thu-the dinosaur?" I ask, suddenly worried for the five-story behemoth, who has been leaving us alone as she gets her daily dietary fibre. I mean, we'd have enough meat for the next month. But the idea of killing her, especially just for meat, seems wrong.

Chuckling at my worried tone, Beth just shakes her head then replies, "No Alexis. I wanted it for the one we haven't seen. The one that gave our friend there her scars."

Scars? What scars?

Looking over to our friendly neighbourhood dinosaur, I inspect her plumage until I find the breaks in her feather pattern. There, along the right side of her neck, are jagged areas where the feathers don't match up properly. They must be a meter apart and at least three meters long. Whatever gave her those scars is no lightweight.

Suddenly, Beth's vigilance makes more sense. And her massive rifle feels much more comforting. But my magic? My magic feels less solid than a breath of fresh air.

Time to fix that.

1.04 I believe in magic

A note from Draith

Chapter edited Feb 13, 2020

Chapter edited Feb 18, 2020

January 14, 2019, early morning.

The first thing I do, is stand up, brushing the grass off my onesie. With that basic bit of housekeeping accomplished, I turn my attention to improving my magic.

Since I have a quest that states it will reward me for unlocking elemental manipulation, adding an elemental flavour seems like a great place to start. I'm able to manipulate my mana, but there's no elemental aspect. I'm not sure if I'm limited in what I can unlock, but luckily there are only two elements I really want.

The first is fire. First off, no matter the lore, fire is always included as one of the elements. It's also beautiful, destructive, powerful and represents our mastery over nature. It drives away the cold. I feel like it's a reasonable place to start.

Plus, fire is badass.

Speaking of badass, the element I really want is lightning. Ever since we moved to Vancouver, I've missed the powerful thunderstorms that would roll in off the prairies. No clue what the weather here is going to be like, but if I'm able to work my way into throwing around a lightning bolt or two, well, let's just say I wouldn't complain.

The fact that Storm is the coolest X-man in my book is also a contributing factor. Though wolvie is a close second.

That said, before I try to emulate the best, I should start with the basics. So, fire it is.

Closing my eyes, I focus my mana in the palm of my hand then start picturing ways I can transform it into fire. I picture images of wood and gas burning but there's a disconnect. While I stand there, holding my palm to the sky, I realize the mana doesn't need an image of fuel. I already know there's an inherent potential within mana to bring forth fire. I felt it when I first held mana in my mental grasp.

Refocusing my mind on my palm, I circulate the mana there, emulating the feeling of heat. I start provoking my mana, exciting it, urging it to grow hot. I'm rewarded with a warm feeling on my skin shortly after. As I concentrate, the warm feeling continues to increase, soon reaching a level that's a little too hot to be comfortable. Opening my eyes to witness my success, I look down at my hand only to realize something horrible.

I've started a fire under my skin.

Taking my burning fire mana, I quickly form it into the only working rune I know. As I send it flying into the sky, I can't help but notice how visible it is this time.

"What the fudge was that?" I hear Josh ask, as I turn my attention to my notifications.

"Skill unlocked: Elemental Manipulation - Fire."

"Quest - Learn Magic updated: unlocked elemental manipulation - fire. Rewards: 1 iron rank integration point. Base class - pyromancer, unlocked. Updated quest. Requirement: 0/3 elemental manipulation skills. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points and variable class unlocks. Time remaining: no limit."

"Spell modification unlocked: Flaming Pierce. Would you like to make this the default version of this spell? (Note, this choice can be changed at any system integrated Nexus.)"

"Yuh-yes!" I shout at the last notification as I bring my spell menu up again.

Spell Name

Scaling

Effect

Range

Duration

Affinity

Flaming Pierce

Yes

Damages a single creature or object for light fire damage. Heavily damages and breaks through a single barrier. Much more effective from a barrier’s weak side. Has no effect on fire barriers. Weak against water barriers. Strong against ice barriers.

Short

Instant

Fire

The most important change I see is that it damages objects and creatures instead of just barriers. It being useless against fire barriers sounds like a worthwhile penalty.

I'm a legit wizard now, thank you very much. I didn't even have to spend years at school with a bunch of crazy, but lovable, instructors. I will admit, that would be a whole other kind of awesome.

Spinning around, I fire off a few, (okay, maybe a lot,) more flaming arrows, all the while exulting in the flow of mana through my veins. And yeah, that's what they look like. Actual flaming arrows, with a pointy head and fletching and everything. They're exactly what I imagined they should be when I was young.

When my excitement dies down to reasonable levels, I realize I probably shouldn't just be throwing magical flares up into the air. But hey, at least I didn't aim them at the others or light the forest on fire.

I'm about to check my status when a strong force impacts my shoulder, sending me sprawling.

The accompanying words, "Hey Lex, congr…. Oh my God! I'm sorry." allow me to figure out some of what just happened. I'm pretty sure that Josh was just trying to encourage me, but for some reason he put way too much force into that pat on the back. Or maybe I'm just that weak? A result of having no health or my negative strength maybe? Testing will be needed.

Either way, I'm once again sprawled on the grass.

I turn to Josh, whose face is contorted into a mask of horror. Until he sees my giant grin.

I can't even pretend to be mad, flopping back into the grass, staring up into the sky with a great big smile plastered to my face. Casting spells feels so good. So right. It's like eating a triple decker ice-cream Sunday while watching the best Saturday morning cartoons while also spending an amazing Friday night out with Sab. All rolled into one. I think I'm in love.

I just need to avoid certain things.

Like accidentally destroying barriers that are protecting me from the tides of time. Or whatever. I also need to not light my hand on fire from within. Easy.

I just lie there, watching the clouds drift by above me. It's amazing how much this feels like I'm outdoors on Earth, even the clouds are the same. Tuning out the others, I continue staring up into the sky as I check my status screen. Even though I shot off at least twenty Flaming Pierce spells, I'm only down two mana and no focus. It's basically free. Raising my hand to the sky I watch my status as I fire another arrow straight into the air. My mana decreases by 0.1 but that's it. No focus.

So why did it take focus when I was creating the constructs earlier?

Deciding to investigate, I create the familiar bow and arrow construct I've been using, but I create it one piece at a time, watching my focus. When I finish creating the construct my focus ticks down by 0.1. Firing it out of my finger, it produces the same nearly invisible shimmer my unmodified pierce spell did.

This is amazing!

Okay, I can still cast the basic version of my pierce spell, though it takes longer while costing me focus. This means I can use my spell slots for my favourite spells, but I can still do freeform magic. I feel pretty silly for complaining about only having three spell slots. If I can cast whatever magic I want, so long as I have focus, then the spell slots are just icing on the awesome cake that is magic.

Sitting back up, I'm prepared to continue experimenting when a deep, rumbling roar shakes through the clearing. Looking to the north, I see a flock of birds taking to the sky, understandably fleeing the source.

I gulp, hoping that whatever that is, it didn't see my flares. I mean, there were only twenty of them. Even if it did, the clearing will protect us. Right?

"So, the child gets to throw magic around, potentially drawing every predator within miles to our location? Does it seem fair she has magic while we don't," the old man questions Beth, who even now has her rifle propped against her shoulder. The one she made with magic.

Beth doesn't respond to him immediately as she keeps her gaze focused northwards. When he attempts to continue speaking, she raises a single finger, causing him to stop in his tracks.

After a few seconds, Beth turns to him gesturing at her rifle. "There's more than one way to do magic here. It was very intuitive. I'm surprised you haven't discovered yours, neighbour. Both our younger companions have figured theirs out."

Wait, what?

Forgetting Beth and the other guy, I stare at Josh, who's standing close by my side. He actually blushes when I look at him. Which given his dark complexion, I only notice because his blush is so damn bright.

How did I miss Josh's magic?

I can hear Beth having a mostly civil conversation with the old guy. But I'm still staring at Josh as though I'll figure out his magic just by observing him hard enough.

As if understanding my desire to see, he holds his hand out in front of him. As I watch, little stems weave their way out of his robe, encircling his hand. The stems then sprout rose petals and thorns. The petals fold over his skin, covering him until they form a glove. The petals then continue laying over each other in layers until his glove resembles a gauntlet.

The thorns appear to be decorative, except for two notable exceptions. The first is a long, curved thorn that stretches past his middle knuckle, running parallel to his hand. It extends at least ten centimeters past his fingertips before narrowing to a deadly-looking point.

The other thorn extends up from the back of his hand. It's only a couple centimeters high but it's covered in jagged ridges. There's a lack of symmetry to the finished gauntlet that adds to the beauty of his new rose glove. Josh demonstrates how flexible the gauntlet is, flexing his fingers with ease.

"Thu-that is so cool," I exclaim, as I glance back up at his face.

I hadn't realized, but apparently what I think matters a lot, because Josh's entire body relaxes at my words. He smiles then steps back holding up a single finger, saying "check this out."

Closing his eyes and scrunching up his face in concentration, the stems start expanding, shooting out to cover his entire body.

Less than a minute later, he's encased in a fully armored suit of rose petals and thorns. Even his eyes are covered by transparent petals as his transformation finishes. The surprising thing is how very Metal he is. I'm willing to bet that if most people start walking around in a literal rose suit, they're likely to look weak or frail. But Josh is a wall of pain. I admit, the wicked thorns at his shoulders, knees and elbows do help with that impression.

Man. If we were an adventuring party we'd almost be set. We've got an incredible wizard, a badass tank and a deadly damage dealer. If Beth isn't a rogue, I'd eat my hat. The only thing we need is….

a….

I turn towards the guy who looks like Mr. Edwards, my thoughts frozen. He's still talking with Beth, but he's much calmer now.

As I watch, he brings his hand to Beth's knee, his eyes focused. Beth doesn't react, so I'm guessing she's expecting this.

They both just stay there. There's no sign of what they're waiting for, but I have an idea. After a few more seconds, he exclaims in excitement before reaching to pull Beth close for a hug. Which is apparently a mistake.

I'm unable to register exactly what happens, but suddenly instead of hugging her, he's lying on his back on the grass behind her. Meanwhile, as if a man sprawled at her feet is the most natural thing in the world, Beth is standing there calmly.

"Sorry, bout that. Reflex," Beth apologizes, reaching a hand down to help him back to his feet.

Josh whistles beside me, the sound echoing strangely from inside his rose petal helmet. I’m expecting the old man to be livid, but when he sits up then looks around, he just has a confused expression. Then he sees Beth standing comfortably on her leg. For the first time since I've met him, I see a smile on his face. His smile remains in place as he takes Beth's hand. Not the reaction I'd expect after being thrown on the ground. Which is what I thought happened, but maybe I'm wrong.

"It worked, it actually worked," he exclaims inspecting Beth's leg. I'm not 100% sure what's going on, but I suspect it has something to do with him being our team healer.

"Sure did Doc. Thanks."

Even as Beth thanks the old man, I unconsciously take a step back, shaking my head. I was hoping we'd have a healer. Now we do.

Which is a good thing, I remind myself. As I'm looking back up, Josh gently places his hand on my shoulder, to give me a reassuring squeeze.

However, having that thorn-spiked gauntlet suddenly appear in my peripheral almost gives me a heart attack. Not going to lie, Josh is not having much luck comforting me today. Luckily, I don't jump or do anything silly, so he doesn't realize he just about put me in cardiac arrest.

When I glance back over, Beth is already walking towards us, her stride smooth but with more of a bounce in her step than before. "Apparently, Dr Roberts here has the ability to heal. And not just this weird health resource either. He just restored my bad knee. Which I've had for over a decade."

Past her, I see the old man sitting with his legs crossed in the grass. He doesn't seem to be doing anything, but he has that same focused gaze he had when interrogating me or healing Beth's knee. Luckily this time his eyes are closed. Since he doesn't appear to be doing anything momentous at the moment, my attention returns to Josh and Beth.

Which leaves me gazing into two blinding emerald eyes from half a meter away. Eyes that cause my thoughts to stutter to a halt.

…..

When my brain starts working again, I realize Beth asked me a question. "I'm suh-sorry, could you repeat that?" I ask while trying to shake off the strange feeling. It was like I was suddenly trapped before an apex predator, while all reason left me. If the old guy's attention feels judgy, then Beth's feels dangerous.

"I said you may want to get yourself looked at friend. You appear to be suffering some ill effects yourself," Beth explains as she glances back to him, missing my reaction.

My involuntary shudder is so violent I almost lose my feet, but I grab Josh's arm to steady myself. Somehow, he keeps any of his thorns from stabbing me in the side. I do tear a small rip in my onesie though.

"Nu-no thanks. I'm uh-okay. Reh-really." I force out while avoiding looking at the doctor. Even if he could heal me, there's no way I could handle him focusing on me the way he did with Beth. It might not be the smart thing, but I'm hopeful I'll figure out a way to fix my temporal dissonance myself, with a little time.

"Okay. If you change your mind, I'm sure he'd be happy to help you kid. He seems like a decent sort," Beth decides as she steps away. "I've got a couple more things I want to try with my umbra, but I think I'll be ready to set out exploring in a little bit here. You two are welcome to join if you like. The doctor said that he needs to stay here for a bit since he was successful.”

“Very successful." she adds a second later, glancing over at him once more.

"Hey Lex," Josh whispers to me when Beth steps away.

"Hey," I reply while keeping my eyes on the ground.

"You gonna be okay to work with him?" he asks, nodding at the doctor.

I finally let myself glance back at the doctor, I see he's still sitting with his legs crossed and eyes closed. Almost like he's a monk who's meditating. The pajama suit ruins the effect a little.

"Yuh-yeah," I whisper back. I just need to not have him look at me like that then it'll be fine. I think.

"Okay," Josh replies, offering his hand again.

I squeeze it once, before calling out to Beth, "Uh-I'd like to go with you." As much as I want to stay here to keep experimenting with my magic, something tells me the safest spot is next to Beth currently. I don't know why, but Beth feels more dangerous than our dinosaur neighbour and whatever else might be out there. Besides, I trust her more than this magical barrier.

That's not to mention that my stomach is starting to bother me. That mustard salad yesterday wasn't enough to satisfy me when I made it. Now it's a day later without any breakfast. I could eat an entire four cheese pizza. With extra bacon. Hopefully we can find something to eat in the nearby forest.

While I've been ruminating on breakfast, Beth has figured out a way to access another part of the interface.

"Beth has invited you to join her group. Do you accept? Y/N?"

Yes. I think at the notification, feeling the link connect to my interface in response. Opening the party page, I see the menu for my party. There's a blurring on the page before Beth's resources appear under the name Raven Queen.

RAVEN QUEEN

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

85/85

[4.7]

(46)/day

Stamina

75/75

[5.2]

(41)/day

Mana

98/98

[6.0]

(55)/day

Focus

101/139

[9.6]

(83)/day

Matrix

Umbra

28/35

[2.4]   [0.9]

(21)/hour

That is such a cool call sign.

Beth is more balanced than I am, I realize as I check her resources. When I focus on her matrix resource, Umbra, I'm able to tell that her Edge is reduced so long as she has the rifle. I'm unable to tell anything else about her umbra though. It feels almost as if it's hiding itself from me.

A moment later Josh's resources appear. His call sign is, amusingly enough, Rose.

ROSE

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

110/110

[8.9]   [18.9]

(64)/day

Stamina

89/89

[5.3]   [10.3]

(49)/day

Mana

19/19

[-0.7]

(9)/day

Focus

12/12

[-0.4]

(6)/day

Matrix

Petal

14/26

[2.0]   [1.0]

(15)/hour

Thorn

5/10

[0.7]

(6)/hour

Wow, his stats must be the opposite of mine. He has less mana and focus than I have health. Well, total health. However, unlike Beth and I, Josh has two matrix resources. They even share a theme. At this point, I'd say he's more in sync with his matrix than I am with mine. He even matched his call sign to his matrix resources.

When I focus on his Petal resource, I get a defensive feeling, similar to my health. He can use it instead of his health when he takes physical damage.

Like Beth with her rifle, while he has the armor formed his Petal edge is decreased. However, I'm able to discern that the armor increases his health and stamina edges. Even if his Petal resource is empty the armor will remain, so that's awesome.

His Thorn resource has a wicked retaliation feeling to it, so I quickly pull my focus back, as it feels as though I would be punished for inspecting it too closely.

Dropping the interface, I see Josh is doing some stretches in his rose-thorn armour while Beth is staring off into space.

Beth said we'd still have some time before we set out, so I decide this is as good a time as any to see if I can harness lightning.

I mean what's the worst that could happen, I get struck by lightning?

……

Upon consideration, maybe I should wait until I'm not sitting at zero health with no defences before I try lightning magic.

I decide to work on something a little saner, like a magical barrier that can protect me, since I have no health. Maybe from said lightning strikes. Flipping my mental notebook open, I go to the page with the basic runes on it.

The circle rune feels like the best choice to start with, but I'm not sure how to complete it.

My first thought is to make an all-encompassing shield, but I imagine the mana cost for a shield like that would keep me from using it for very long. Instead, I settle on the idea of a small floating shield. Thinking back to the creation of my pierce spell, I start by imagining myself standing while holding a small handheld shield. The closest I've ever come to holding a shield is a pot lid, but that feels like enough to start with. I shouldn't need to propel my shield, but I'll need a way to tether it and direct it. Ideally, I'll be able to set it up to block incoming strikes on its own, but that's something to work on later.

My first several attempts at creating a shield spell end in nothing more than collapsed constructs and lost focus. The problem I keep running into is that I need to connect the tether to the line inside the circle, but I can't cross the circle, or I disrupt the construct. Once the circle is disrupted the whole construct becomes unstable then falls apart.

I keep trying to get my mana to connect through the circle, making my lines finer and more precise when I get another notification.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (5)"

This encourages me to keep improving my lines. I'm even able to get my mana manipulation up to six but I still can't get the shield spell working. I'm ready to give up, when I remember what I did to figure out my pierce spell. Taking a moment, I step back from the circle then inspect it. I feel like the solution is practically staring me in the face, but I don't see it.

Maybe if I had more time before we left, I'd be able to work it out, but with a quick glance I see Josh and Beth are waiting at the east side of the clearing.

So much for my shield spell. Which means I need to suck it up then talk to the doctor.

As if reading my mind, Beth stops me.

"Why do you have no health?"

I stare at Beth, trying to think of something easy to say.

"Thu-the time-freeze," I stutter out.

"Don't you think you should let the doc try to heal you kid?"

"Buh-but," I start, as she holds up her hand, interrupting me before I can say that's what I was doing.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to go exploring with you at zero health. If you're not going to be healed, you should probably stay kid."

"Uh-of course" I reply resentfully, as I turn towards the doctor. I try to step towards him, but I can't. Not until Beth steps up beside me, raising her eyebrows. Under her watchful eyes I approach him.

You can do this, Alexis. You can.

"Uh-uhm," I start but I lose my voice when his dark brown eyes open, his gaze flicking up to meet mine.

"Could you take a look at her," Beth asks for me, to my relief and embarrassment.

"Of course," he replies, standing up next to me. I'm shaking as he holds his hand out. But I put my hand forward which he takes, humming to himself.

I don't see it, but can feel something wash over me, my headache receding while my health returns to full. But my regen remains at zero.

After a few more seconds, I can't help myself, so I ask, "suh-so?"

"There doesn't appear to be anything wrong, other than the stutter of course. But I'm still learning," he smiles at me as I quickly draw my hand away. Seconds later my headache returns.

"Thu-thanks," I squeeze out. Try to be polite Alexis, he's your healer, I remind myself.

I turn to Beth, who looks at me, then sighs. "Let's go kid, just," Beth pauses as she rubs her chin, "just be careful okay?"

I nod as we prepare to head out.

1.05 Alexis VS Nature

January 14, 2019, morning.

I walk over to head out with Josh and Beth, discouraged by my inability to create a shield spell. Everything else has come so easily. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

At least I have my health.

As I approach, I find Josh casually standing at the edge of the clearing, his Rose armor menacing and beautiful in the morning sun. As Beth joins us after thanking the doctor again, I notice she's now clad in a new dark bodysuit, the pattern slowly shifting to match the foliage. She has her Umbral rifle slung across her back and a dark dagger sheathed in her boot.

You know, I felt like I was figuring this magic thing out fast. I think we've been awake in this world for less than two real time hours yet I'm already capable of slinging around flame arrows like nobody's business.

Which I thought was super impressive.

But how useful is it going to be compared to Josh's armor or Beth's umbral everything. Plus, my proficiency came from hours practicing in a time freeze.

Then again, when I check their equipment, they're both relying on their matrix resources. My first (and only) use of my facet was also incredibly easy for what it did. Maybe I'm doing okay. If I hadn't broken my time shield, staying to study longer, maybe I'd be more badass than either of them.

Nope. They're both awesome to start with. Can't catch up to that with just a little magic. I guess I need a lot of magic. Mwahahaha.

Stepping up beside them, Beth turns her eviscerating eyes in my direction but softens the effect with a smile. Seriously, every time she looks at me, I feel a quiver down my spine. Maybe it's her umbra or something.

"All ready to go then, kid?" she asks before ruffling my hair again. I want to object to her calling me a kid, but then I remember I'm wearing a kitty onesie.

Okay. An obscene amount of magic.

I nod since my tongue still isn’t cooperating. I'm lucky spell casting doesn't require a verbal component, or I'd be in trouble. Come to think of it, do I need to use my hands to cast my spells? The first time I used pierce, I was completely frozen. I just directed the spell to release from my eyes.

Can I shoot Flaming arrows from my eyes? Stitch would be so jealous.

While I'm revelling in the idea of destroying toy cities with nothing but the power of my eyes, we start into the forest. The moment I step past the outer edge of the clearing, I feel an intense pressure pushing down on me. I'm not sure if Josh or Beth notice, since they don't even pause when they pass out of the clearing.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I'm greeted by the familiar tang of salty air. There hadn't been anything notable about the smell of the clearing, but now I'm certain we're near the ocean. When I look up, I see both Beth and Josh have turned back to stare at me. Blushing, I wave them forward while I adjust to this new pressure.

Despite Josh's armor and survival knowledge, Beth takes the lead.

Her movements are smooth and efficient as she leads us forward, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She's not nearly as loud as I am, despite the fact that she's more focused on our surroundings than watching her step.

With his armour cushioning every step, Josh is quieter than either of us, a veritable ghost moving through the forest. Other than the pink of course. But as we move, even that improves, his armour slowly getting darker, until the rose petals are such a deep burgundy that they may as well be black.

All of this I note in passing, as I'm still struggling with the strange pressure.

Checking my conditions, there are no new ones listed. Maybe it's related to my temporal dissonance? It takes me several minutes before I'm finally able to get a handle on whatever's causing the pressure. It's still there, but I feel better able to function under it.

Even while I was busy adjusting, we continued travelling deeper into the forest. If I’m judging correctly, we're headed towards the ocean, but I'm not totally sure. As I take in my surroundings it becomes clear that I'm not sure which way leads back to the clearing either. Only five minutes yet I'm already lost.

Nature 1. Alexis 0.

As I keep following them through the forest, I start thinking about the source of the roar from earlier. Anything with a roar that loud? From far enough away we can't see it? Best to avoid. I haven't heard it roar again, but that just means we don't know where it is.

I try to follow Beth's lead, attempting to keep an eye on our surroundings while we travel, but I'm having enough trouble just watching my step.

We travel for another fifteen minutes before I realize I'm not getting worn out by our trek. Normally speed walking home from the mill after work is enough to leave me huffing and puffing. We've been moving quickly, across rugged terrain yet I still feel fresh. Checking my stamina I see I've only used a single point. I feel like I could keep going all day at this rate. When I check Josh and Beth's resources in the party screen, they're doing even better. Neither of them has used a single point of stamina.

Huh, this is almost enjoyable. Nature 1. Alexis 1.

As the hike continues, I consider practicing with my magic. I'm really tempted but I'd rather not draw the attention of whatever's out there. I'm kind of wishing I had stayed in the circle to experiment.

Another half an hour later, I'm finally getting used to staying semi-aware while not tripping over everything. The key is to alternate. After I'm sure of my next few steps, I take time to observe. As I look around, I start admiring the wildlife. I'm not very familiar with the flora near my home, but most of the plants and trees we've been passing through are especially unfamiliar. They still have bark and branches and leaves, but that's all I can identify. When I think about it, that's about all I could identify at home too.

Nature 2. Alexis 1.

We're moving along a ridge line when Beth holds her hand up, signaling us to stop.

Wondering what's caused her to break our pattern, I glance around. I don't see anything then it occurs to me that maybe it wasn't what she saw. She could have heard something. So, I close my eyes to listen. I can just barely hear the rolling rhythm of waves in the distance. It sounds like it's coming from over the next rise. We must be getting close to the ocean. But I doubt that's enough for Beth to call a stop.

Opening my eyes, I see Beth is in motion.

For the first time since we left the clearing, I see Beth swing her rifle around to move it into a firing position.

Clearly, she's seen something worse than the ocean. As she raises the scope to her eye, I wonder what she sees on the other end. Is it a terrifying monster ready to tear us apart? Does it know that death has it locked within her steely gaze? I'm not sure if I'm more worried about us or whatever she's about to shoot.

Beth’s entire body goes still. In fact, she's so still that if I didn't see Josh shifting slightly beside me, I'd be worried I was frozen again. A moment later there's a quiet whispering sound from Beth's direction. The next second Beth is reholstering her rifle, swinging it onto her back while beckoning us to follow. We continue for another 500 meters before we come across a creature missing its throat. The head lies to one side, the body to the other.

I can't hold it in, losing last night’s dinner at the sight.

Neither Josh nor Beth comment on my digestive pyrotechnics, both moving to inspect the body instead. I've played survival games before. I knew we'd probably be killing things for food, but I'm still not prepared for the ... mess. Or the smell.

In this moment, I doubt I would have survived if I'd been dropped in that clearing on my own.

That thought makes me force down my gag reflex to watch Josh and Beth.

"You've done this before friend," I hear Beth state as she and Josh start their work.

"Yeah," he replies as he continues to cut with a steady hand. After watching Beth working beside him for a moment, Josh comments, "so have you."

"Yeah, dad used to take me hunting. You?"

"Survival training," Josh answers while tugging on something soft and squishy. The sound makes my guts clench.

"Hmm." Beth mumbles, nodding as she continues to cut.

"Why the gun?" Josh questions her a minute later.

"What do you mean, friend?" Beth replies as I edge slightly further away from the smell, continuing to fight my stomach.

"It's fancy. Too fancy," Josh states as they pull the meat apart. "Why?"

"I'd rather not say," Beth replies, shifting uncomfortably.

"Okay," Josh shrugs as he secures the ankles with thin saplings.

I almost throw up several times but am able to fight it down as they work. The effort is almost worth it. They take the dead animal, a distant relative of a deer, I think, then finish preparing it for transport. It's not much but apparently, the system thinks watching them is enough to say I've improved.

"Skill gained: Survival Temperate Forest (1)"

Curious, I focus on the skill, hoping for useful insights, such as I received from my mana manipulation. Amongst other things, it gives me very vivid flashes of how I could skin and prepare the creature that Beth and Josh have slung up on a stick between them. This overcomes my recent success at suppressing my gag reflex, resulting in me emptying what little remains within my stomach.

Once I'm finished recovering, I follow them up the hill. I thought we might turn back now that we had secured a meal, but once Josh convinces Beth that he can easily carry the deer on his own, Beth decides we'll continue on to the ocean.

Holy crap he's strong. I observe as Josh makes his way up the hill, maintaining the same pace we've set all day while carrying what must be a hundred kilo animal.

Beth is waiting at the rise when Josh and I reach the top, surveying the beach beyond. I imagine it's the vista that really grabbed her attention.

If I hadn't already been convinced we were on another world, the two spheres I see hanging low in the eastern sky confirm my suspicions. The lesser sphere, a pale pink, is smaller than the tip of my pinky. It hangs just above the horizon, where it partially eclipses its larger partner. The second sphere, which is larger than my hand, has striking blue and green masses, which I imagine are oceans and continents.

As we gaze out, I can see entire weather patterns moving across its surface. Below the twin spheres, the ocean stretches out, as far as the eye can see, massive waves crashing on the shore below us. The only break I see, is a rocky peninsula north of us that extends out from the beach.

The three of us just stand, staring at the amazing sight for a while. The moment lasts until Josh shifts in place to keep his burden from slipping.

The silence broken; Beth turns to me with a smile. "Do you think you could start a fire with one of those flame spells of yours, Alexis? This seems like a nice place for breakfast, don't you think?"

Other than the view I don’t know what’s so great about this spot, it feels kind of exposed. I don't bother voicing the thought, just nodding instead.

"Excellent. I'll gather some firewood," Beth decides, putting action to her words as she moves towards a nearby pile of driftwood.

I don't sit idly as she leaves. I find a nearby piece of wood that appears decently dry then try using a flame arrow on it.

The result is incredible but not very useful. My flame arrow should have set the small piece of driftwood on fire easily enough. I can feel the heat it produced even now. However, half my practice wood was obliterated in the initial impact while the rest was thrown clear before the remains had a chance to ignite.

I grab a couple of the nearby fragments then start trying to figure out how to coax my fire mana to ignite them. This time less explosively.

I'm still trying to figure it out, when I see Beth returning, dragging a bundle of driftwood behind her. She appears to have bound it with a dark rope, which after a second, I realize is yet another tool she has made from her umbra.

Cursing at my lack of progress, I start gathering my mana beneath my skin like I did when I first created my fire arrow, but this time I try funneling it into the swept triangle rune. The fire mana snaps into the mana construct eagerly, a wave of flame spreading out before me. The flames just keep going until I realize I'm automatically supplying fire mana to the rune. When I cut the mana flow, all that's left of my pile of fragments are several pieces that have been reduced to small embers.

Moving up beside me, Josh uses a stick to move the embers together. "Banking the coals," he explains, thankfully not commenting on my explosive methods of fire starting.

Beth, however, has no problem commenting, "You're quite the dynamo with that fire magic of yours aren't you, kid?" Her smile softens her words, but I still shrink back into my hood in embarrassment. She's not even looking at me as she and Josh are building wood up over the banked coals.

As I sit watching them build a proper fire to roast her kill, I review the notifications that flashed up when I cast my flame spray.

"Skill increase: Mana manipulation (7)."

"Skill increase: Fire Manipulation (2)."

"Skill increased: Survival Temporal Forest (2)"

"Spell discovered: Flamethrower (1). Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spell list? Y/N?"

Where was this prompt when I learned Pierce? And how come I cast twenty Flaming arrows yet didn't gain any fire manipulation. Meanwhile I gain a point the first time I cast Flamethrower? Hmm. I wonder.

Rejecting the spell, I start trying to manipulate my fire mana, but without a rune. Conjuring a small amount of fire mana, I clamp down on its tendency to draw more mana, preventing it from getting hotter. This time it sits just beneath my palm, keeping my hand warm but not threatening to bust out. Or burn me. As I consider my mana, I try to draw it through my skin without using any of my runes. At first it seems to be working fine but then it dissipates in a puff. Trying again, I decide to augment with my focus like I do to get more from the interface. The mana draws to my skin then dissipates just as it did the first time, but this time I'm able to feel more. When the mana passes through my skin it loses its cohesion because it's bombarded by the free mana in the air around us. I can't see the free mana, but when I'm focusing, I can feel it.

Determined to understand what's happening I keep drawing the fire mana through my palm switching back and forth as each hand grows hot from exposure. I lose track of time as I get closer and closer to sustaining the fire outside my body. Finally, I realize I can use my mana to direct the ambient mana along channels on my body. I have to run my internal mana along the underside of my skin to shape the channels, but it doesn't cost me mana or focus. After some practice using the channels, I'm able to keep the ambient mana from disrupting my fire mana.

Further refining the channels to isolate my fire mana, I can finally draw it forth from my skin where it flickers in the palm of my hand. It almost goes out, but I redirect the channels on my skin, feeding ambient mana into my little flame. It sputters and starts, but finally stabilizes into a small ball. It’s no more than five millimetres across, but it’s still amazing. With my success blazing brightly in my hand the world, then the beach, suddenly come back into being.

Feeling as though I'm coming out of a daze, I raise my head to find Josh and Beth staring at me.

"Uhm. Hu-hi. Suh-sorry about that," I apologize, wondering what has them staring at me now.

They've seen me throw flames all over the place, what's the big deal about zoning out for a while?

"Ahem. Are you aware that your skin is covered in glowing runes kid?" Beth asks, spearing a piece of meat on her black-as-night dagger then bringing it to her mouth, all while keeping her eyes fixed on me.

Inspecting my arms, the channels I've been using are glowing. And it appears they’ve cut through my onesie, leaving the sleeves below my shoulders in tatters.

Amazed by the beauty of the channels, I trace the lines that have appeared on my arms. My finger tingles as I follow the familiar feeling of mana flowing along the channels. It's weaker than my personal mana. Not only is it more diluted, but it's also as if this mana has fewer possibilities contained within. Even as I trace it, the ambient mana continues to flow along my channels feeding my little ball of flame. Watching to see how they react; I shift the mana beneath the skin of my arm. I'm delighted to see the lines shift in response. Of course, this causes my fire to sputter until I shift them back.

My delight is somewhat diminished when I realize I'm now stuck wandering around a forest without sleeves. It may not have been ideal forest gear, but my onesie still protected me from several branches and other potential minor injuries on our way here. Plus, unlike everyone else, I’m not clad in magical armour to protect me from these minor inconveniences.

I'm wondering if I have any way to create my own armour when a whiff of cooked meat reaches my nose. My stomach rumbles loudly in response, reminding me of just how hungry I am.

Glancing up, I see Josh has moved over with a plate woven of stems intertwined with rose petals. Just like his armour, it's a work of art. Though the majority is made of petals, it's clearly rigid enough to support the slabs of roast meat. The delicious morsels are lying there, neatly stacked, just waiting for me to devour them. He's even provided a two-pronged skewer grown from a thorn.

Oh my gawd. Josh is using magic to make cutlery. That is so cool.

Dispersing my ball of flame, I smile up at Josh as I accept the plate, careful not to stab myself with the skewer. "Thu-thank you. This suh-smells so good."

"You're welcome," Josh says, smiling at me before returning to his place near the fire.

I hadn't noticed while I was playing with my fire mana, but a cold wind is blowing in from the northeast. At least I'm pretty sure it's northeast, based on my memories of the map and the idea that the ocean was to the east. I consider trying to use fire mana to warm myself but instead I opt for moving over to sit next to Josh and Beth by the fire. I nearly drop my plate when the large piece of driftwood they've requisitioned as a bench shifts, but luckily, it's only a momentary stumble.

Not delaying any longer, I dig into the meat with gusto. It's had time to cool, which implies I was distracted for a while. It's kind of plain, and a little chewy, but it still tastes pretty good. Before I know it, I've finished the whole plate. Normally I'm a more reserved eater, but I'm feeling especially ravenous today. Looking over at the deer, which is still roasting on a spit, I consider asking for more but decide I can wait a few minutes. I wonder if we're planning to haul it back with us or if we'll just leave it here. It'd be a waste to leave it as there's still a large amount of meat left but I'm not sure how we’d preserve it if we want to bring it with.

Josh stands up, taking another portion of deer from the roast then sitting down beside me, talking to Beth about how they can turn the deer into jerky. Realizing that the food situation will be handled by the capable people who are quietly chatting beside me, I decide to check my notification log. Hopefully they’ll be okay with me taking some time to fix my migraine inducing temporal dissonance condition after breakfast. Well, taking some time to try.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (8 to 10)."

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (3 to 5)."

Hmmm, that little bit of experimenting increased my mana manipulation more than hours of mindlessly practicing my runes did. I'll need to keep that in mind in the future.

"Suh-so, before we huh-head back I'd luh-like to fu-fix my stu-stutter," I'm not certain but I think my stutter is getting worse. Does that mean my temporal dissonance is getting worse? Maybe it's because of this non-stop pressure that I feel bearing down on me.

Beth and Josh glance at each other before Beth speaks, "We were talking about it while you were playing with your fire magic. We were thinking of making a forward camp near the river, just a little way north of here. Based on his experiments with his cutlery, Josh thinks that with some time he can grow serviceable walls, and there's a freshwater spring nearby, so we'd have water as well."

"If you want to stay here with Josh, I'm certain I can make my way back to Dr Roberts safely on my own. Probably faster without the two of you, if I'm honest." Beth is smiling as she looks at me, but I'm still embarrassed again. She probably included Josh just to reduce the sting, but I'll take it.

"Yuh-yeah. Okay." I want to say more but the stutter is frustrating. I've never thought about how much extra effort people who have a speech problem need to exert when speaking. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've never been patient with people with a stutter. I've always been in a hurry to get on with the conversation. But I feel I can empathize with them better now. Meanwhile, Josh and Beth are practically saints in comparison, they haven't even been irritated.

"We'll be there," Josh states, pointing to a nearby hill with a small copse of trees over the beach.

"Sounds good. Before I go, I want you to have this. Just in case." Beth offers as she hands me a button. It's just a small green piece of metal with an unfamiliar logo on it, but there's a small catch in her voice. That, plus the way she presses it firmly into my hands, implies it's important to her.

"Thu-thanks," I reply. I feel like I should say more but she speaks before I can think of anything.

"I'll see you soon kid," Beth replies ruffling my hair then giving me a quick pat on the head. "For luck" she adds, before turning around, disappearing into the trees.

I inspect the medal but it's just a picture of a person running on a green background. I pin the button to my chest then turn towards the copse of trees.

Wait, how are we getting a roast deer up there?

1.06 Hiking

January 14, 2019, late morning.

Turns out, roast deer is as easy as unroasted for Josh to carry. This is because he's so freaking creative. And strong. His solution is to use his magic to weave a branch that wraps around each end of the skewer. Then he just hefts the combined assembly onto his shoulders creating a pseudo backpack. Huh. I wonder if he could make me a backpack. I'll ask later.

It only takes us a few minutes before we're making our way up the hill. Even with his burden, Josh isn’t having trouble. Meanwhile, I'm left picking my steps carefully, trying not to slow him down. When we reach the trees, I glance down the slope to our left. Which is when I notice the spring Beth mentioned. It's back down the west slope not even twelve meters from where we came up. It's a couple of minutes down, but seeing it makes me realize how thirsty I am.

Damnit, why didn't we stop on our way up?

When I turn to Josh, he's already standing next to me, gazing down at the spring. When he sees me looking his way, he offers me a small smile with a shrug. "Oops, " he shrugs, before turning back to the copse with his burden.

Sighing, I turn back down the hill then head towards the spring, keeping my eyes open for anything that might attack. I'm not very concerned though. Even after our trek through the forest, and our time on the beach, the only creatures we've encountered are small birds and the deer that's slung over Josh's shoulder. Plus, the area around our little hill is mostly rocky terrain, so there isn't a lot of foliage for any potential monsters to hide in.

So, since I'm convinced there's no way anything can sneak up on me, of course when I get close to the spring, I hear a rustling noise. I'm pretty sure it came from just ahead, near the spring, so I stop in my tracks, holding still while listening carefully. After waiting a moment, a small furry animal hops out. It reminds me of a rabbit with a giant squirrel-like tail.

When it sees me, it freezes. We spend a minute sizing each other up before it decides I'm either not a threat or that it can escape if I try to chase it.

Which, I mean, fair.

I watch it approach the spring, stopping at the pool that lies just below. The rabbit critter dips its head down to drink, pausing regularly to watch me with its cute little eyes. Once it's reassured itself, it takes another drink.

After a few more sips, it seems to have had its fill, so it hops away. As it's about to move out of sight, it stops for a moment to stare back at me. With a final shake of its head it continues on its way.

Shrugging, I step forward to get my own drink from the spring. I almost copy the rabbit starting to dip my head down to drink directly from the pond before I remember one of the ideas my survival skill shared with me. I cup my hand to lift the water to my mouth, which should allow me to keep watch as I drink. Unfortunately, I have a hard time pressing my thin fingers together enough to form an effective cup so I'm effectively getting less than a small sip every attempt.

After a few more attempts with frustratingly little success, I decide to try drawing the water up using my mana instead. After all, I've already taught myself how to create and hold fire in the palm of my hand, how hard can it be to manipulate water? I know, I know, famous last words.

Bringing my mana to my fingertips, I dip them into the pool beneath the spring, urging my mana to match the feeling of the water. Then I activate my channels again. But this time I have them direct the ambient mana in the opposite direction. Hopefully this way I can use my mana to pull the water up and out.

My results are again, surprisingly effective, as I create a geyser of water that completely soaks me and my onesie.

Why is it that all my magic reacts so explosively?

Sighing, I try again. But this time I use a much smaller amount of mana, so when I pull, I only cause a small splash of water. While the reduced volume is exactly what I was hoping for, I'm still not getting a drink this way. I guess I could wring water out of my onesie, but the thought is disgusting. I’ll just drink from the pool before it comes to that.

Trying again, I create another little splash but I'm still unable to shape or hold the water. As I watch the water cascade back into the pond, I try to figure out what I'm doing wrong. While I'm thinking, I continue creating small geysers of water. Checking my status to see how much mana and focus creating the geysers is costing me, I'm shocked when I discover it's completely free. I start creating larger and larger bursts. It's only when I create a geyser as large as the first, that I see my mana and focus each tick down by 0.1.

Does this mean I can cast less powerful magic completely free?

I start creating the smaller bursts again. While I'm still making no progress, I confirm that even after twenty small bursts I still haven't used any focus or mana. At least my experiments aren't costing me resources.

With this minor discovery buoying me, I decide to approach the problem from a different angle. Since raw water refuses to be gathered, maybe I need to start with water mana already formed. Maybe then I can draw water from the pond to it.

So, instead of drawing water up, I try creating water with my mana. It's as easy as thinking of home, with the perpetual mist, that last great downpour and the weight of the tides washing in. However, when I draw the water mana out of my hand, the mana disperses immediately. It's even faster than when I was attempting this with my fire mana.

Pausing in confusion for a moment, I then repeat the process several times, but each time the drop scatters. I even try to summon a ball of fire which fares no better. After a few more attempts, I remember that I reversed my channels to draw the water out of the pond.

Switching my channels back, I'm immediately able to create a small globule of water. It appears reversing my channels increases the disruptive effect of ambient mana. I really need to remember that direction matters.

My success is finally confirmed by the system as I receive a pair of notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (11)."

"Skill gained: Water Manipulation (1)."

Water manipulation wasn't high on my list of magics to acquire, but considering how explosive my efforts have been, it'll probably prove useful. Plus, it should be convenient when I'm thirsty.

Taking my globule while holding it over the pond, I'm able to easily draw additional water up. As I'm siphoning it, I realize I can choose to carry the loose particles within the water. Or I can just draw pure water. Leaving the particles behind, I keep drawing more and more pure water. Once I have a basketball-sized globe of water floating over my hand, I finally take a good long drink. It tastes very pure and refreshing. It's without a doubt, the best water I've ever had. Except... I swear I've had water like this before. Oh, well, not important.

Since I've established I'm able to manipulate water without any drain on my resources, I decide to play with the water as I make my way back up to Josh, trying to coax it into different shapes.

It's only once I get back to the trees that I realize I haven't been keeping alert. Quickly looking around, just in case, I walk the last few steps up to Josh quietly.

By this point, I've figured out how to keep the globe of water floating over my right shoulder. This requires new channels on my shoulder which pushes my poor onesie into an even greater state of disrepair. Of course, I don't stop at a globe of water over just one shoulder. I need a matching set. So, further compounding the damage to my onesie, I create a globe of fire which I set to hover over my other shoulder.

Maintaining both orbs at the same time does require some focus, though still no mana. The focus cost is low at about 0.1 per minute, but I definitely wouldn't want to walk around with both floating orbs non-stop. Josh's expression of shock when I step into the little clearing proves holding them in place was totally worth it.

I can't wait to show Beth.

After revelling in Josh's shock for a moment, I let the orb of fire dissipate while searching for a spot to deposit the water. I bring it down to my hand while requesting, "cuh-can you make me a container please?"

Josh jumps as if I slapped him, moving quickly to the far side of the little clearing. I see him pick up a bowl that's clearly his handiwork. There's no rose petals or thorns but the weaving of the stems is similar to his earlier plate. Pouring the water into the bowl, I take it from him. Holding it up I inspect the bottom. Not only is it beautiful, but it's also more watertight than our old apartment, not a drop to be seen.

"Wow, thu-this is amazing," I say, handing his bowl back to him.

"Thank you," He smiles fondly at the bowl as he takes it back. "My sister always loved my weaving. It's much easier with magic."

Nine years I've lived across from him. This is the first hint I've had that he has a sister. I don't know what to say. So, I look around the little clearing instead. Other than the woven dishes, it doesn't seem like he's had enough time to do anything else. There's so much to be done to make this into a secure space yet I can't think of anything I can do. Feeling useless, I turn back to him, "is thu-there anything I can do to help?"

Turning up from the bowl, I see Josh wipe a tear from his eye. He looks around the clearing. Then after some consideration suggests, "gather firewood maybe?"

Well, not the greatest task but I can see how it'll be helpful at least. Too bad I have no idea what makes for good firewood. But hey maybe my survival skill will help me. Focusing on it does give me the impression that dry wood burns better, which also reminds me of how well the driftwood burned. Score one useful insight from survival.

Seems I'm off to find some dry driftwood.

I'm about to step towards the beach when Josh clears his throat behind me.

"Uhm Lex. Now that the others aren't here, I wanted to ask you something." His head dipping nervously. I realize he probably wants me to teach him magic.

After my amazing display when I came back into the clearing, I'm not really surprised. I'm still not sure if I'm ready to teach anyone yet. Still have a stupid stutter. I guess I could give him a couple basic pointers. It's not like I have to teach him everything I've discovered. Just enough for him to get started. Ohh. Maybe I can get him to teach me how he does his magic weaving thing.

"Suh-sure," I reply.

He raises his head, then seems to gather his resolve, "Are you okay?"

I'm shocked by his question. Apparently, Josh feels the need to clarify because he continues when I don't answer.

"I don't mean the stutter or whatever. We've woken up in another world. There's magic, dinosaurs and a woman with a rifle who frankly scares me. I'm weaving wood together with little more than my thoughts and an energy I've never imagined before. But I've been through worse."

"So, yeah. Are you okay?"

I can feel tears forming in the corner of my eyes as I nod then stare at the ground.

"I'm actually ku-kind of relieved, you know? Being here without mu-my mother. Though I think if I'd woken up alone, or even with just du-Dr Roberts and Beth I'd be terrified. But with you here, there's lu-like someone I can count on. Something familiar and safe."

"Thu-thank you," I stutter when I finally raise my head.

"Any time," Josh states, smiling back at me.

Josh then hands me a giant rose petal to wipe my eyes while asking "Petal?" I laugh at the absurdity. Soon Josh is chuckling along with me. It isn't that funny, but I feel as if the massive pressure pressing down on me is a little lighter now.

"Ah-Anyway, I should go find some firewood," I say as our laughter dies away.

"Right. And I should get back to," he pauses, as he waves his hand indicating the whole copse.

I nod, patting him on the elbow before turning to find some wood. When I step out of the other side of the copse, I get my first view of the river to the north.

It's almost a kilometre away from the hill, but it appears rather wide from here. At least we shouldn't have wandering dinosaurs sneaking up on us from that side. Upon further inspection, this hill seems to have clear lines of sight in every direction. No wonder they thought it would be a good place to set up camp.

As I make my way down the hill towards the beach, I start summoning little wisps of water and fire, playing with them while I think.

Josh has a sister. I don't think I've ever seen her visit, but then I guess I was never that close to Josh.

I wonder if mom's noticed I'm gone yet? Probably not. Which means no one will notice until my mami doesn't get her Sunday night phone call.

I almost stumble across my first piece of driftwood by accident. I've been trying to keep my eyes open for danger while playing with my magic this time, so I may have forgotten I was searching for firewood.

Even as I gather the wood, I keep practicing with my mana since I'm able to direct my mana without using my hands. By the time I've gathered a bundle, I'm able to spell out my name in both fire and water, though only one letter at a time. Even though my practice was fun it wasn't just idle play, as I can tell that my ability to control both elements has improved. Including my earlier walk back to camp, I've made great gains in my fire, water and mana manipulation My log conveniently summarizes the improvements for me after a second of Focusing.

Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (12)

Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (6 to 8)

Skill increased: Water Manipulation (2 to 8)

Heading back up to the copse with my bundle of driftwood, I see that Josh has already woven walls between several trees. He's left a small gap of about thirty centimetres for us to squeeze through on my side. Pushing my bundle of wood through first, I step inside. He's clearly been busy. Even though I haven't been gone that long, the woven underbrush is nearly a solid wall around the clearing. The only gaps are the one I just squeezed through, plus a similar one near where I climbed up from the spring.

Josh is currently standing near a stump that I swear was a tree when I left. His eyes are closed, his face all scrunched up. As I watch, he draws his hand forward while a small overhang forms over the clearing, following the movements of his hand. As I watch, he creates a transparent ceiling of rose petals to protect us from the elements. Once he's finished Josh slumps to the stump exhausted. The entire clearing is only about five meters across, but it's still amazing he made all this while I gathered firewood.

I attempt to neatly stack my driftwood to one side of the gap but end up dropping it. At the clattering, Josh opens his eyes then greets me with a lazy wave of his hand.

"I think this is all I'll be able to do for today. It takes a lot of mana and focus to weave these walls," he informs me as he gestures to them.

"It's incredible," I exclaim, for once with no sign of a stutter. It really is. In the space of about half an hour, he's created a reasonably secure shelter. It's not very big, but I imagine it'll keep out most smaller dangers. Besides, anything that can bypass or destroy his walls we should be able to hear coming.

"It will do for now I guess," Josh says, yawning near the end. Checking his status on my party screen explains why. He's completely out of mana, focus and petals. He's even used a large chunk of his stamina, which considering his edge is impressive.

While I'm reviewing the party screen, I realize that Beth's status is grayed out. And there's another name there now. Roberts. I can't see any details, but it reminds me that I want to fix my dissonance.

Going over to sit on another stump, I take a moment to draw forth a ball of water and fire mana then just gaze at them. They represent a power I never had before. I've always been small and weak. Not that fast either. But now I'm able to wield the elements as easy as walking. I set my globes spinning in orbit around each other, gently nudging them so they circle between my hands. All it takes is directing minuscule amounts of mana to propel them, with a translucent tether of non-elemental mana to bind them.

As I observe the globes, I admit, neither seems like mana. They just look like little orbs of water and fire. The only reason I know they're not is because of the connection I feel as I hold them. Stilling their orbit while holding them both in front of me, I wonder what would happen if I brought them together. Before I can set that into motion, I remind myself of the explosive results of most of my other experiments so far.

Maybe I'll use the beach as a testing range.

From a long way away.

Later.

After all, I still need to address my dissonance.

Dissipating the fire, I get up then pour the water sphere into another of Josh's bowls. It's not much but it's still better than a hike down the hill. Then I settle back in place.

Okay, let's do this.

1.07 What a mess

January 14, 2019, before noon.

When I close my eyes to reach for my facet, the headache is immediate, but also less pronounced. Something has improved but I'm unable to determine what.

Even though I used it to enter my time freeze, this is the first time I've actively interacted with my facet. My facet has a very different feeling about it compared to mana. It's less direct. Where mana has immediate potential, facet feels tied to space, time and perspective. At least that's the information I get when I spend focus on it. I'm unable to get it to trigger a proper notification, but I suppose that's enough to work with.

I have two ideas about where to start. The first is my health. Since my regen has been set to zero something about my dissonance must be affecting it. My other idea is my clock. I'm hesitant to start with my clock because the headache I got from focusing on it was so bad. It had hurt as much as breaking the barrier had. So, my health is my preferred starting point.

Directing my attention, plus a little bit of my facet, to where my health is indicated on my status, I try to perceive a link. I mean there should be a link, right? After all, every sensor needs some way to communicate with the readout. Even if it's a single thread or frequency.

After focusing on my health for over a minute I'm able to differentiate an underlying pulse. It seems to be travelling from wherever my status exists, moving back and forth to my body. Following the pulse, I watch as it contacts my body. The pulse stretches from the outer edge of my skin to the center of each of my organs. As I inspect my "health" I realize it's a holistic network. To weaken it anywhere weakens it everywhere. But this is what allows it to shield me as well.

While inspecting my health this way, it's apparent there's static. The signal isn't getting through clearly. The source lies both in my physical body, more specifically my head, and simultaneously in my other space, the clock.

It's more than just causing the static, it's continually wearing at the web that is my health. This, in turn, is preventing it from regenerating.

Doesn't seem like I'm going to be able to escape dealing with the clock, but I wonder if there's anything I can do to prepare myself.

I go back to my earlier attempt to create a shield spell. I may not be able to create a shield outside my body, but maybe I can create one within. Even if I'm not able to restore my clock, if I can create a buffer between my clock and my health network, maybe I can at least get my health regen back.

Bringing up my notebook, I start doodling ideas for different ways to create an internal shield.

My first thought is to wrap the clock in a cocoon but I've no idea how to shape that. While I'm getting better at manipulating mana, my runes haven't exactly grown in scope much since my first three. Maybe I should just try creating a protective barrier using the circle rune, but inside my body. What if I try one of the other runes? I've got fifteen unknown runes I copied down from the stone. Opening my pages from before, I start flipping through them, searching for a rune that might work. I come up with two runes that feel like they could be the answer.

The first is the Q shaped rune that I unlocked mana manipulation with. The second is a rune that reminds me of a corkscrew but in two dimensions. Though the more I look at it, the more I realize that's not quite right. It resembles a corkscrew, but it also appears as if there's more going on.

….

Is it rotating?

….

No, but shifting my perspective I realize the rune is three dimensional.

Runes don't have to be flat. It seems so obvious, but I can't believe I didn't think of it. How did I copy this down without noticing that? I mean, I wasn't paying that much attention at the time, but I should have noticed this. On the plus side, this might be the solution to my shield spell problem.

Moving my focus back outside my body, I create the shield construct I was struggling with. But this time I create a tether that runs perpendicular to the rest of the circle. Holding it in place, I direct my mana into it with an intent to create a barrier. The spell succeeds immediately, and I'm greeted by a pair of familiar notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (13)."

"Spell discovered: Small Shield Barrier (1). Would you like to make this one of your preferred spells? Y/N?"

"Yes," I say to the system as I inspect my new shield. It's as translucent as my non-elemental pierce spell but feels more solid. It's larger than I'd originally been planning, about a meter in diameter. But that's okay. It should be much easier to defend with a shield this size. I have a couple of thoughts to improve the spell already, but I have a more important matter to address first. With my shield spell successfully complete, I return my focus inward, hopeful that I'll be able to make a similar breakthrough with my dissonance.

The next step is to try manifesting my shield between my health and my clock, but I'm not entirely sure how to do that. If creating my shield spell required me to think in three dimensions, this feels like it requires me to think in five.

I suppose I could try to think in four dimensions first. Time is the only fourth dimension I can think of, so when I try casting the shield internally, I picture the shield as not just appearing now, it's also forming in the past and in the future. While I feel like this must be the right track nothing special happens. I can tell that I manifested the shield, but it's outside my body.

Continuing on, I try several more variations of casting my shield inside my body. I have one partial success where I manage to create a shield between my body and the other space. I try to make it small enough to only block the clock. But I'm unable to change the size intuitively, so when it appears it's not just blocking my clock, it's also blocking access to my entire interface including my facet, health, stamina, mana and focus. Luckily, the barrier disperses itself after a minute so my connection to my mana returns.

I just about decide to stop after losing my connection to my mana. As silly as it may seem, I feel as though I could live without health and facet at this point, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to go without mana again.

But as my papa would say, setbacks are part of life, you never get anywhere if you quit, so I continue. Cautiously. I bring the shield into existence outside my body so I can inspect it to make changes. The first thing I try is adjusting the size by reducing the amount of mana I'm supplying the spell. Instead of getting smaller as I'd intended, the shield becomes less solid. When I try pumping more mana in, the shield not only becomes more solid, additional decorative details start to appear. The most noticeable being metal banding and wood grained slats. While cool, I stop supplying it mana for the moment but make a note to investigate the strange behaviour later.

Trying a different tactic, I make the rune smaller which translates to a smaller and closer shield, which is basically what I need. Bringing my new knowledge into my other space, I place a much smaller shield between my clock and everything else. This time it doesn't cut everything off, but it's still not helping with the clock.

It seems like I'm either going to have to wrap the clock up or I'm going to have to address the damage.

Keeping the internal shield in place to hopefully reduce the pain, I brace myself as I send my thoughts and facet towards the clock. The shield seems to work, as although there's pain, it's much less intense. It's also possible I've recovered, which would mean my shield is doing nothing. I'm not keen on investigating why the pain has diminished. It's enough to know it has.

Inspecting my clock reveals that the damage is not only pervasive, its messy. There's a lot of associations with my memories, but the clock is assigning the same timeframe to several different memories at once. It's also assigning several timeframes to the same memory.

For example, I know that it wasn't October 13, 3020 or June 2, 1852, when I came home from swinging in the park with my father on the day of the great storm. It had been a sunny morning just before returning to school, so I'm pretty sure it was August, maybe September. Since my father was still there, it had to have been at least nine years ago. Plus, you know, both of those are the wrong freaking century! Clearing away all the timeframes that don't make sense, I'm left with August 29, 2010. Each change costs me facet but once I'm done the memory feels better, more pristine.

I'm about to continue cleaning up when a glimpse of my father's face draws me into the memory. It's strange, but watching it like this, I swear everything is clearer than it should be.

As my young eyes look around, I note there's a strange calm in the air, the kind which only happens before a powerful storm. The joy in my papa's eyes as he picks me up then spins me around is something I haven't seen in a long time.

More than I have in years, I'm reminded of my father's love. Here, in this moment, he's still the strong healthy man I remember.

There's no sign of what's going to happen to him at Christmas. And why would there be? As the memory continues, we talk about the storm as chill air flows around my hand.

He tells me that during a storm is the best time to find peace. "Because nothing and no one likes being outside in a storm," he would say. "Everyone wants to take shelter. So, if you're prepared and have shelter, then a storm is simply a reminder of everything you've accomplished. There ain't nothing to do but let it pass."

My memory continues as we walk into our yard, my father carrying me on his shoulders. Partway back I started dragging my heels to get him to pick me up. It worked just like it always did. Even if there was more of an "umph" than there used to be when I was younger.

But my time with my papa is cut short as mother comes out, demanding to know why we were outside and don't we know that she needs to be downtown so my father had better drive her now (even though she had her own vehicle so could easily have driven herself).

Giving me a quick hug, my papa didn't even question my mother as he sent me upstairs then told me to be good while he was gone.

As they drove away, I climbed out the window of my bedroom onto our roof to watch the storm come in. Even as the lightning crashed down and the thunder rolled across the skies, I kept my watch, waiting for papa to return.

Eventually, the sky unleashed hail and sleet so I was forced to retreat inside. I lay in my bed, dreaming of peace while visions of lightning and echoes of thunder lulled me to sleep, the sound and feeling familiar like an old blanket.

I didn't see papa until the next morning.

Wow, that was way more vivid than I remember.

It had been like I was reliving it for a second time. Though this time I knew my mother was going downtown to gamble, while my papa was trapped there with her by the storm.

I think the pain coming from the clock has decreased, but it's still pretty strong. That's the only memory I've cleaned up though, so I start working through more.

The next memory I come across is me and my cousins, Thomas and Alex (yes, I have a cousin named Alex, that's why I go by Lex or Lexi) hanging out near the lake by my auntie Sharon's place. This was only a few years ago when mom realized she'd never been to China so she really needed to go. There may have been a man involved, in fact, I'm sure there was, but I never met him.

Before I knew it, I was spending a semester with my cousins in the Rocky Mountains. It was one of the better periods of my life after the ugly tree incident. I got along well with Thomas who was my age while Alex treated me much better than he treated his little brother. Uncle John wasn't around much as he was always working, but he seemed nice when he was there.

Auntie Sharon even offered to keep me around when my mom got back, but my mother said something about family welfare so she dragged me back to our leaky apartment in the rainy city. Even as I finish clearing out the, oh so wrong, timeframes, I once more get drawn into the memory, near the end of my stay.

Mom had just called auntie Sharon to tell her she was on her way to pick me up, so auntie had come to find me with a cup of peppermint tea. I was playing pool in the basement with Alex, Thomas and their best friend, who was also my secret crush, Joseph.

Auntie Sharon took me aside before telling me my mother was coming back so I had to go home. After crying into her shoulder while sobbing out that I didn't want to leave, auntie Sharon took me by the shoulders then looked me in the eyes, "sweetie, I'd let you stay if I could, but she's your mother. If your father were still around, things might be different. But listen, if you ever need me, just call. I'll be there for you every way I can."

Then she pulled me closer again, holding me until I stopped crying.

When mom finally showed up the whole family was home to say goodbye. Uncle John even pulled out the barbecue saying they couldn't send me off hungry now could they.

I called her every week after that, though I haven't been calling her as often lately. She'd lived up to her promise the few times I'd needed her though. If things hadn't worked out at home, I know she would've done something to help.

I wish I could call her to tell her I'm okay.

The next memory I tackle is from my time at space camp. I ended up going because mom had met a guy, who knew a guy, that ran the camp, so she ended up dating him for a couple months. I knew it wasn't going to work out because he seemed like a pretty good guy. I was right of course, but at least I got to go to space camp. That's where I met my best friend Sab_733N, or "just Sab" when we get together in "meatspace" as she calls it.

We met during a rocket workshop where we were paired together making a model of the famous Saturn V rocket. Sab was super excited to be making the rocket, but then, she loved everything about the camp. She spent most of the workshop telling me about how it was the biggest rocket humans have ever built and it was super awesome because it's the only rocket that has taken people beyond low Earth orbit and people who don't believe we landed on the moon are total nutters.

She was like that all summer, sharing trivia about everything space related. I thought she was incredibly smart. It was kind of funny though, if it wasn't space-related, then she just didn't have the interest. Even as we got older Sab's interest in space never waned, though she never was interested in being an astronaut. It's too hard on your body, plus I need corrective lenses. She'd say.

When camp ended, we swapped numbers, followed each other, promising to keep in touch online. Which we actually did.

She only lived an hour away from me, but neither of us had passed our driving tests. Not having a licence, never mind a car, kept us from meeting up very often. Though we do manage to arrange monthly sleepovers and we see each other online every day.

Well, we did. And we will once I get back to earth. And I'm going to have the best story ever! I'm like freaking Merlin here.

A few minutes and the memory of poor Mr. Mewmew's funeral later and I've cleaned up the timeframes on a significant portion of my muddled memories. At this point, the pain has basically vanished while my time sense is even partially working again. It's not perfectly precise, but I know that it's just before noon, and I can place past events by the hour again. The other plus side is that I have health regen again. It's only at three-quarters effectiveness, but that's a pretty significant uptick from zero.

While there are only a few memories left to untangle, each one is a memory that I need to brace myself for. I've grown comfortable with reliving some of my memories since it happens every time I fix one, but the idea of reliving those particular memories ties my gut in a knot.

Finally allowing my attention to return to the real world, I'm faced with a difficult decision. Do I continue the repairs, or do I accept that it's good enough?

Deciding I'm not ready to handle more memories, I turn to my notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (14 to 15)."

"Skill increased: Temporal Manipulation (3 to 5)."

"Quest - Repair Temporal Dissonance updated: restored memories and timeframes. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Condition reduced to Temporal Inconsistency. Updated quest. Requirement: restore remaining memories and timeframes. Reward: variable. Remove condition. Time remaining: no limit."

I'm about to open my status when I hear a rustling from outside the clearing. Glancing over to Josh, I see he also heard the noise, as he's got both hands out in front of him, dagger-thorns at the ready.

The noise gets louder and louder as whatever it is thrashes its way through Josh's rose hedge walls. There's a moment of tension when they're right at the edge, before a familiar face steps forward, seeming none too pleased.

Oh, it's the bunny. But why is it on fire?

1.08 Flaming bunnies and other magic

January 14, 2019. Still before noon.

The bunny sits there, like a certain fire-type Pokemon, staring at us. But all I can think is,

Why isn't Josh's bush on fire?

I mean, it's not like the bunny suddenly lit on fire the second it pushed out of the bush, so why aren't the trees on fire?

The bunny only spends a second staring at us until it seems to recognize me, at which point its flames disappear then it sits back. It doesn't approach us, it just sits there, poking around our small clearing and wiggling its cute little rabbit nose.

I'm sure if Beth ran across it in the wild, she'd put a bullet through its brain, at which point it'd join the remains of the deer for supper. But Josh doesn't know what to do with this rabbit that's intruded upon us. And frankly, I don't have any idea either.

So, I ignore it.

I get up, moving over to the bowl I filled with water earlier, rinsing my face. As I'm rinsing, I decide to try manipulating the water to scrub my face for me. It's fairly abrasive at first but then I'm able to achieve a smoother scrubbing motion which leaves me feeling clean and refreshed. Since I'm able to choose what I gather with my mana I remove the impurities before returning the clean water back to its bowl.

Josh is still watching the bunny but seems to be more relaxed now that it's not on fire. The bunny has started cleaning itself, apparently following my example. Now, I was about to check my status when our uninvited guest interrupted.

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-20

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

0

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

77

(+/-)

SPIRIT

59

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

18

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

INTEGRATION POINTS

4

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

27/32

[-3.2]

(15)/day   (11)/day

Stamina

48/50

[1.9]

(26)/day

Mana

225/227

[22.8]

(165)/day

Focus

168/172

[11.5]

(106)/day

Matrix

Facet

23/55

[5.2]

(39)/hour

Nice, it seems my attribute increases have almost finished. I think there's only a point or so to go in spirit and intellect. Which means my class integration should be available soon. I'd very much like to get another couple elemental manipulation skills unlocked before that happens.

"Josh, do you think you'll be okay with our bunny friend here if I go for a short walk? I want to test something, but I don't want to do it here. It might have backlash," I explain without a trace of stuttering.

"Sure. I take it your meditation was a success then?" he asks, the thirty-centimeter wrist-thorns retracting as he relaxes his posture further.

Meditation huh? I guess it might've come across that way.

"Yeah, it's not perfect but I'm feeling way better." I emphasize the point by drawing arcs of fire and water out in front of me. They're super thin, dissipating quickly, but the effect is very pretty.

"I should only be a couple minutes, and I won't be far," I continue as I head back towards the beach. I seem to have company as the bunny follows me out, watching me curiously. I don't want it to get hurt, but considering its flaming aura I'm not too concerned.

The next element I'm going to attempt is lightning. I know throwing lightning from your hands is typically a sign of the bad guys, but I'm no Empress, so it'll be fine.

I raise my hand then start shaping the arrow rune, but part way through I stop. I don't want my first lightning spell to be constrained to a single arrow, so I break the arrow down while I construct a spiral rune instead. Inspecting the spiral, I decide that it seems incomplete, so I weave a second spiral, forming a double helix. Drawing inspiration from the ubiquitous image of a DNA molecule, I bond the spirals together with thin strands of mana. Finally, I place a small thrust outlet on the end of the spirals facing me, ensuring I have propulsion covered.

With the spell structure formed, I turn to summoning the mana.

Bringing the memory of the great storm to the front of my mind, I picture the torrents of energy which rained down from the sky that night.

The power of the lightning as it crashed to the ground splitting the sky. As I concentrate, I can feel my lightning mana gathering beneath my skin, an unreleased potential growing every second, straining for release. So far this is the easiest mana for me to create. It's so easy that I've created far more than I probably should have. It's like a song played over so many times I repeat the words without thought.

There's so much that the lightning mana is struggling against me even as I feed it into the construct. Luckily, I formed the rune first. The second my construct feels properly charged I release my spell. I'm thrown backwards onto the sand by the massive energy release as I watch a spinning torrent of lightning fly across the beach, destroying the distant pile of kindling I had chosen as my target.

Lightning is not a quiet element, the accompanying thunder echoes loudly as small pieces of kindling rain down dozens of meters away. If I thought my flame spells were destructive, lightning is on a whole other level. It's a good thing I didn't practice it in the clearing. That blast would have hit everyone, myself included.

The notifications I receive are sweet, but my recent trip down memory lane leaves me wishing Sab was here to share this moment with me. She'd probably make a joke about me being the ultimate battery for her new car.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (16 to 20)"

"Skill unlocked: Lightning manipulation (1 to 3)"

"Spell discovered: Lightning Torrent. Would you like to add this spell to your favorites? Y/N?"

What the hell!

The improvements are beyond my expectations, five points of mana manipulation for a single cast of my lightning torrent spell is amazing.

"Yes," I answer the interface as I open my spell menu. There's now two tabs at the top, the familiar tab, favorites, plus a new tab that says discovered. Checking under discovered shows every spell I've experimented with so far.

Iron Rank - Favourited Spell slots used/available= 3/3.

Spell Name

Scaling

Effect and Description

Range

Duration

Affinity

Flame Arrow (Renamed by Forerunner)

Yes

Damages a single creature or object for light fire damage. Heavily damages and breaks through a single barrier. Much more effective from a barrier’s weak side. Has no effect on fire barriers. Weak against water barriers. Strong against ice barriers.

Short

Instant

Fire

Small Shield Barrier

Yes

Prevents medium damage from any strike on the opposite side of the barrier.

Self

Channeled

Mana

Lightning Torrent

Yes

Damages all creatures and objects in the area for massive lightning damage.

Medium

Instant

Lightning

Spells discovered

Spell Name

Scaling

Effect and Description

Range

Duration

Affinity

Pierce

Yes

Heavily damages and breaks through a single barrier. Much more effective from a barrier’s weak side.

Short

Instant

Mana

Flame Arrow (Renamed by Forerunner)

Yes

Damages a single creature or object for light fire damage. Heavily damages and breaks through a single barrier. Much more effective from a barrier’s weak side. Has no effect on fire barriers. Weak against water barriers. Strong against ice barriers.

Short

Instant

Fire

Flamethrower

Yes

Damages all creatures and objects in the area for moderate fire damage.

Melee

Channeled

Fire

Small Shield Barrier

Yes

Prevents medium damage from any strike on the opposite side of the barrier.

Self

Channeled

Mana

Lightning Torrent

Yes

Damages all creatures and objects in the area for massive lightning damage.

Medium

Instant

Lightning

Reading over the spell description for lightning torrent, I'm not surprised to see it does massive damage, there's nothing left of the driftwood pile but smoking cinders. Checking my mana, I realize that a single cast of my lightning torrent cost me fifteen mana and five focus. That's more than I spent on my experimenting all day. No wonder I gained so much proficiency with a single cast.

I'm sorely tempted to cast the spell again. It was totally awesome. But I may need my mana if that roaring menace shows up. Which given the racket I just made, it might. At least I have an artillery spell. The driftwood I targeted was easily 200 meters away, but the spell zoned in on it perfectly.

Thinking about it for a moment I try firing off a couple flame arrows, but I have a hard time accurately hitting a pile of driftwood that's only a hundred meters away. Does the spiral rune have tracking or is it a property of lightning mana?

Forming my familiar pierce rune, I imbue it with lightning mana then fire it off at a distant pile of driftwood.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (21)"

"Skill increased: Lightning manipulation (4)"

"Spell discovered: Lightning Arrow. Would you like this spell to replace one of your favorites? Y/N?"

Immediately rejecting the spell, I fire a couple more test shots. It isn't as far off target as my flame arrows, but it doesn't have the crazy tracking my lightning torrent spell had. I'm tempted to test a flame version of my torrent spell, but at 15 mana a pop, I'd rather save experimenting with those runes for rare occasions. Or at least when my mana is full.

With my lightning spell and manipulation unlocked, it's time to unlock my fourth mana manipulation skill. I was going to do earth, but my recent reflections on the power of the storm made me realize I want to harness wind first.

My first attempt at creating wind mana includes using my standard pierce rune. I form the rune readily but then realize I'm not sure how to embody wind. Looking around I see the trees on top of the hill swaying in the wind, finding inspiration. I reach my arms out to the side then let the wind embrace me.

…..

And realize that down here on the beach, there's almost no breeze. Staring back up to the trees, I sigh as I march up the hill for what must be the fourth time today. It's weird using stamina instead of sweating, but I'm not complaining. Not yet.

Reaching the edge of the copse I still don't feel much wind blowing over me, so I do the only sensible thing I can think of. I climb the tallest tree I can see. By the time I'm ten meters up, most of the other trees are starting to thin out. I can almost feel the wind. Climbing another meter, I take a moment to gaze out on the world before I start my next experiment. I can see the forest, the spot we had breakfast, the spring, the ocean and the river. But what immediately grabs my attention is the giant dragon.

It's flying high over the river to the north, though gliding may be more accurate. I suppose it could be another kind of dinosaur. But it reminds me more of Smaug from the hobbit, except with glittering green scales. Which means I'm calling it a dragon. I'm not able to determine how large it is from so far away, but it's clearly massive. Luckily, it's flying inland, away from our little hidey hole. I watch it fly into the distance, an occasional green flash helping me track it until it fades from view. It continues flying clear over the foothills then into the mountains until I lose sight of it.

Attempting to resume my experiments, I keep trying to focus on harnessing the wind, but my mind and my eyes are continually drawn to the west instead, searching for any sign the dragon may be returning. How the hell are we going to survive thirty days in the shadow of that thing. And whatever else may be out here.

Lightning torrent is awesome, but I think I'm gonna need some bigger spells.

Gazing out towards where the dragon disappeared, my mind starts to drift, imagining giant cats, t-rexs and soda can robots.

As I'm pondering what other creatures this world might hold, I hear a rustling from below. I just about fall out of the tree as I jump in shock.

Catching myself, I glance down to find the bunny is making its way up the tree, one careful hop at a time. Every time it makes a hop, it stops, takes a second to regain its balance, then looks up making sure I haven't moved. Then, once it's reassured itself that I'm still here, it hops to the next branch, repeating the process. It's only a meter below me when it slips.

I don't even think as I summon water mana, sending it to catch the falling bunny. Soaking but alive, the bunny stares up at me from its new branch before resolutely shaking itself dry. And then fearlessly hops to the next branch.

You just about died little guy. So fearless.

When it finally lands on the branch below me, I stretch out my hand towards it, waiting to see what it will do. The bunny sniffs at my hand for a moment before butting its head forwards, pressing firmly against my hand. Bracing myself against the tree, I reach down then give it ear scritches. A pleasant rumbling sound emits from the bunny in response. It reminds me of how Mr. Mewmew would purr when I gave him head scritches. The noise the bunny makes is deeper and more rumbly, but still expresses that same satisfaction.

After another half minute of head scritches, the bunny pulls its head back, looks up at me again, then jumps out of the tree. I'm so surprised I don't have time to respond.

My heart just about stops as I watch it plummet. After a second I start reaching for my water mana but realize the bunny is fine. It's using its little arms to direct itself on the way down while bouncing off branches at a reckless pace. It's back on the ground in seconds after a very controlled fall. Once it's back on terra firma, it turns then stares at me. Once it's sure I'm still here in the tree, it starts cleaning itself.

Uhm, okay. That bunny is officially crazy.

The bunny's antics have helped me relax after seeing the dragon. I mean if this little guy can survive out here, maybe it won't be too bad.

Okay, I'm sitting in this tree for a reason. It's time to get on with it. Turning my mind back to my goal, I reach out then try to achieve the feeling of wind with my mana. It's fleeting and insubstantial, hard to grasp, but I feel like I'm so close. I once more turn to the great storm for inspiration. During the storm, the winds reached terrifying heights, though I never felt them, since I was tucked safely in bed by that time.

But I saw the results in the morning when I went out with my papa on the way to school. We found several branches had fallen throughout the neighbourhood. The ugly tree gained its final form that day, having lost all its branches and large portions of bark along one side where another smaller tree had crashed into it.

That's what I was missing, wind is fleeting, intangible yet powerful. I can feel the mana beneath my skin, so I loose it in a wind arrow. The arrow is invisible to my sight but scores a deep gash into the bark of a nearby tree. Exactly as its supposed to. Then I fire a couple more as I confirm its working properly.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (22)"

"Skill unlocked: Wind Manipulation (1)."

"Spell discovered: Wind Arrow. Would you like this spell to replace one of your favorites? Y/N?"

"Quest - Learn Magic updated: unlocked elemental manipulation skills water, lightning and wind, 3/3. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Base class - Firestorm Elementalist unlocked. Updated quest. Requirement: elemental manipulation skills 0/5. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time remaining: no limit."

Sweet, I've unlocked a firestorm class. That sounds incredibly badass.

Opening my status, I consider whether I should put my seven integration points into my anemic strength or if I should further enhance my magical aptitude. As much as the negative strength leaves me weak, I can't bring myself to invest in it. My ability to use spells is amazing so if I can use my integration points to make it even better, well, that's how it's going to be.

Since spirit is tied to the strength of my magic as well as my mana regen, I decide to invest all seven of my free points in spirit. This will bring its final total up to 67, though I suspect it will take several hours to finish. It seems to be allocating one point per hour in each attribute. Unless something changes, perception and resolve are likely going to be my next focus, pun intended, after I get my spirit and intellect to 100.

Confirming my points, I climb down from the tree pondering what I should do next. My class feels like it's going to be complete any minute, but there's something else tickling the back of my brain, a thought that won't let go. But I can't place it. It's as though I'm forgetting something, something very important.

I'm not sure what it is as I turn around, finding the bunny hopping towards me. Shrugging, I head back into the clearing.

"So, I think I saw a dragon," I state to Josh as I re-enter the clearing. But it's not just Josh who I find waiting for me, but Beth and Dr Roberts too. And that was what I forgot. Roberts was coming. I'd even seen them crossing the open area below the trees, but I'd been busy thinking about dragons and other monsters.

Beth turns her full intensity gaze on me as she questions me, "A dragon? Did it see you?"

"Uhm no. At least I don't think so. If it did it ignored me then flew off into the mountains."

"Well, that wasn't in the disclosure agreement. What sort of world did they send us to?" Dr Roberts chimes in. I only now notice that he's standing taller and less stooped than when we left him. He's still not as tall as Josh, but he's clearly taller than me and Beth.

His improved posture is more than I can handle, his new bearing too similar to Edwards, "One with dragons, obviously," I snap at him without thinking, small flames trailing my fingertips as I throw my arms wide in frustration.

His eyebrows arch as he takes a step back from me.

Yeah, that's right, you better be scared, I can throw fire. Let's see how you heal that.

"Alexis, please. Dr Roberts was just asking a question. And I think it's one that merits some thought, even if we're unable to answer it." Beth interjects as she steps between us.

Reining in my anger, I turn away from the old man. I try to remind myself that he's not the person I'm angry at, but it doesn't help. Every time I look at him, I see another man's face. His recent transformation only makes it worse. So, I don't look at him.

"Yeah, I know," I concede sulkily, reaching down to give the bunny head scritches. But I can't stop myself from saying more, my random thoughts spilling out.

"But what does it matter? We're here and like he said earlier, we have to survive, and now there's freaking dragons flying around. I'm not sure about you guys, but I haven't seen any sign of civilization out here. And our real bodies might be rotting. And we might just be copies. And we might really be stuck here. And the notifications said they're enhancing survival skills so maybe there isn't anyone else here. And we have to spend the next thirty days together, cause we're screwed if we don't work as a team. And we all have enough magic to be superheroes. And there's a magical flaming bunny. And why are we even here. And who puts green peppers on pizza. And I miss my papa." I rant, not even sure what I'm saying by the end.

Nobody says anything, but Josh kneels down next to me then holds out his hand. I take it, squeezing as hard as I can while letting myself calm down.

Thanks to bunny's headbutts and Josh's support, I soon feel ready to turn around to face Dr Roberts. He's closer than I'd like, but there isn't that much space in this little clearing, plus he's technically as far away as he can get while still remaining in the clearing.

He's not Mr. Edwards, I remind myself as I look him in the face. This time I force myself to look, making sure I note the differences. His face is thinner, he has less hair but also less of a bald spot. And he's looking away like he's embarrassed.

Mr. Edwards would never look away.

It's still hard to see him, every moment a reminder of the man who told me. The man who wouldn't leave. The man who knew better.

But every little difference I see makes it easier. Amusingly, it's the pajama suit that truly does it. I can't picture Mr. Edwards wearing a pajama suit to bed. Or at all for that matter.

"I'm sorry," I apologize, looking down into the dirt.

"No, no. No reason to apologize. We're all very out of our element here. I'm sorry for how I behaved when we first arrived. Hardly my best behaviour. Please, accept my apologies." Dr Roberts requests, bowing slightly as he apologizes.

Ugh. Why does he have to talk like him too?

"Kay," I manage to get out. It's not much but then, it's still hard to talk to this guy.

"Well, Alexis. Doctor. I'm glad you two were able to sort that out. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I could go for some lunch."

So, saying Beth starts building a fire pit in the centre of our clearing. A clearing that currently has a roof.

"Uhm," I interrupt, pointing upwards, "not sure that's a good idea in here. Josh said he's tapped out."

Looking up, Beth scrutinizes the transparent rose ceiling for a moment before gathering up the firewood then exiting out towards the beach. I follow her outside. I might be better with the doctor around, but he still makes me feel uncomfortable.

When Beth stops at the top of the beach, I move to help her make the fire pit. Scooping the sand out by hand, I'm tempted to start experimenting with earth magic, but I hold off when Beth starts instructing me on what we're doing. I thought we were just digging a hole but apparently there's a whole air flow dynamic that we need to keep in mind if we want the fire to burn hot but not high. Listening to Beth, I just do as she says when suddenly, we're done building the starter pile.

"So kid, think you can light this without incinerating our hard work?" Beth asks with a casual wave of her hand.

Realizing Beth doesn't know about any of my improvements, I just say "sure, watch this," then call forth an orb of flame.

It's so much more responsive than it was just a few hours ago. With no trouble I'm able to direct it to the center of our pile, where it quickly catches the dry driftwood on fire. Dissipating my orb, I notice Beth observing me.

"You're not even glowing when you do that anymore. It seems like you're getting better."

"I was practicing while you guys were gone. It's much easier now."

"I can tell. I also notice your stutter is much better. You managed to fix that while we were gone too? You've achieved a lot in the last couple hours, haven't you Alexis?" Beth comments as she pokes at the fire with a stick.

"Well, like I was saying earlier, we're all going to have to work together, and I just want to be able to do my part," plus magic is freaking awesome so of course I'm going to learn all I can. I leave the last part unsaid though. I'm already contemplating how much better I could make our camp if I had earth manipulation.

"Don't you worry, kid. I've no intention of letting anything happen to you. And you may be right about there not being anyone else around, but I don't think you're right about there not being any signs of civilization."

"See what I found on my trip back to the doctor?" Beth asks as she hands me a ceramic mug with writing on it.

"That was outside a little hill that I think was a house at some point. There were more ruined buildings nearby," Beth adds as Josh and the doctor walk up with the remains of the deer strung between them. It appears cleaner than when Josh carried it over earlier, but I don't pay it much attention as I'm busy inspecting the mug.

"After lunch, I want to go back to check them out. Do you want to join me?"

Beth's asks, her eyes on me.

"Yes," I reply.

I'm about to say more, when I have a notification flash up.

"Pandora Temporal Matrix Integration Level - 1 Complete. Please prepare for class selection."

1.09 Important decisions, delayed

January 14, 2019, Definitely noon, or thereabouts.

Finishing my conversation with Beth, I give her a quick, “Just need to check something,” then reach for my class. Where before I received a feeling of waiting, now I have a prompt appear before me.

“Your grandmother has fallen deathly ill, and is expected to die soon. Do you:

A) Try to seek any and all treatments, even resorting to unethical sources.

B) Go visit her in the hospital and just accept that whatever happens, happens.

C) Ignore her, it doesn’t matter to you.

D) Cozy up to her and remind her that she should update her will. You know, just in case.

E) Break into her house, find her will and make sure it’s all as it should be. Which of course means everything is going to you.

F) Recognize that this question has nothing to do with class selection, it’s merely an anomaly based on your past experiences, current situation and this adaptive interface.”

Uhm, is my interface trolling me?

I almost want to ignore the prompt, (which feels like it's from a certain post-apocalyptic game,) before thinking about it for a second. I realize that my answer would depend on which grandmother. If it was mami, (my papa's mother) then I would be willing to cross all sorts of lines to save her. If it was Grandma, I'd be more inclined to ignore her. Which I think is only fair, as she spent most of my life ignoring me first.

Choosing A, I wait for the system to continue.

“Forerunner Combat Class selection required."

Instead of more questions, my field of view transitions from the beach to an open training yard. There's even a green camo tent, standing to one side.

The yard is full of different versions of me. I count seven in total. There's a group of four closest to me, all with my plain brown hair and plain brown eyes. None of them truly seem like me though, all with different postures and equipment.

There are also little wooden signposts with descriptions floating next to each avatar.

The closest four all seem to be themed according to different roles.

The first is wearing heavy plate armour with a mesh between the joints. She's holding a shield as tall as she is, a thick helmet protecting her head.

In her free hand she wields a transparent barrier that is continually shifting. I see it flicker through several different colours and shapes as I watch her. Without warning, she suddenly slams the shield into the ground, bracing as if for a great impact.

Checking her description, it reads:

“Base Protector class unlocked: Protector.”

“Protector (Common): Protector’s stand between their allies and anything that comes for them.

- Attributes: Minor increase to Strength and Constitution maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to health and stamina. Minor increase to focus.

- Abilities: Protection. Short Range Inhibition. Low damage.”

Moving to the next avatar, I find her pacing back and forth, her eyes flickering about quickly as she moves. Her hair is cut short, like mine, just reaching her jawline on either side. She's clad in light leather armor, with several daggers sheathed along one side. As she paces, she draws twin pistols which she regularly fires off, sending bullets of different colours flying. Occasionally she leaps five meters in the air or dashes into the distance before reappearing in front of me.

“Base Skirmisher class unlocked: Skirmisher.”

“Skirmisher (Common): Focuses on mobility, with a lesser focus on damaging enemies that insist on following them.

- Attributes: Minor increase to Agility and Endurance maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to stamina, moderate increase to health and focus, minor increase to mana.

- Abilities: General. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.”

Moving to the third avatar, I find her hiding her face behind long messy hair. Her robes are plain and white. She's just standing there holding a staff with a glowing crystal on the end while muttering to herself. Occasionally I see her weave transparent barriers, throw an intangible web then even turn invisible for a moment before reappearing. All while continuing to mutter to herself.

“Base Controller class unlocked: Controller"

“Controller (Common): A controller uses any method at their disposal to inhibit their enemies. Is capable of causing minor damage to creatures and objects over a moderate sized area.

- Attributes: Minor increase to Intellect and Spirit maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to mana, moderate increase to focus, minor increase to stamina.

- Abilities: General. Inhibiting. Minor damage to moderate sized areas.”

The fourth and last avatar that's close to me is standing with an enormous two-handed greatsword balanced on her shoulder. She also has a large sniper rifle over her shoulder. I'm slightly disappointed to see it's not as large as Beth's. While I watch, she starts swinging her greatsword in a great overhead sweep before stepping back. Then she kneels down, bringing the rifle to bear before rocking back as if she's fired a powerful shot.

Watching more closely, I realize the first four avatars are all interacting with each other. When the Destroyer fires, the Protector brings their shield forward to block the shot. At the same time the Skirmisher leaps into the air while the Controller disappears.

“Base Destroyer class unlocked: Destroyer.”

“Destroyer (Common): A destroyer uses weapons or spells to cause incredible amounts of damage to a single target.

- Attributes: Minor increase to Perception and Resolve maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to focus, small increase to health, stamina and mana

- Abilities: General. Incredible single target damage.”

Huh, four different roles based on the different attributes. I'm surprised that focus is so heavily damage based. Apparently, there isn't a default healing class. I guess that makes Roberts even more important.

The remaining three avatars are all standing behind the controller, who fades away as I look past her.

The first avatar is standing only slightly behind her, much closer than the other two. Leaning against the fence that runs around the training ground, she's in short shorts and a bikini top the likes of which I've never owned.

She's holding twin orbs of fire which she's shaping into all kinds of lewd shapes as I watch. I feel myself blushing as I inspect her. I've never had the kind of casual confidence she's displaying, and I've never seen my plain brown hair look so good. She even winks at me as her class description fills my head. Wow. Not remotely right for me.

“Base Controller class unlocked: Pyromancer."

“Pyromancer (Uncommon):

- Attributes: Moderate increase to Spirit maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to mana and focus, minor increase to stamina.

- Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Inhibition and moderate damage in moderate sized areas.”

Closing my eyes to clear away the pyromancer avatar, I turn to the furthest avatar next.

Sitting at the far end of the yard, she's standing with her hands in her pockets. Looking her over, I see that she looks just like me. She even has the same onesie, though hers is still intact. She's not holding any weapons or wielding any magic.

When I meet her eyes, I feel the weight of years press down on me through her sad smile. Nothing happens as I observe her, but I feel the details of her class swim past me.

“Base Controller class unlocked: Chronomancer."

“Chronomancer (Unique): By bending time to your will, you have demonstrated that even the most powerful force in the universe isn't beyond your control. A Chronomancer is capable of many feats considered impossible by lesser creatures.

- Attributes: Minor increase to Intellect, Spirit, Perception and Resolve maximum.

- Resources: Large increase to focus and unique matrix resource facet, moderate increase to mana and health, minor increase to stamina.

- Abilities: Spatial and Temporal. Inhibition and repositioning in moderate sized areas.”

Turning away from the weathered eyes of the Chronomancer, I feel a shudder run through me.

Then I switch to the final avatar.

She's standing closer than the Chronomancer, but standing isn't the right word. She's floating above the ground, her toga flapping gently. Above her there's a stormcloud with purple lightning and blue fire flashing inside. As I watch, I see rain falling, which is swept away by the wind before it lands on her.

Unlike the others, when I look at her, she moves forward, approaching me with her hand extended. I can feel her inviting me to take her power. As I gaze at her, a fraction of her knowledge blossoms within me.

“Fire-Storm Elementalist (Rare): You have demonstrated the ability to wield the elements, with a special affinity for fire. A Fire-Storm Elementalist commands mighty storms to dominate and control their environments.

- Attributes: Small increase to Intellect and Spirit maximum.

- Resources: Immense increase to mana, substantial increase to focus, minor increase to health and stamina.

- Abilities: Rare. Fire, Lightning, Wind and Water. Inhibition, repositioning and moderate damage in large areas.”

As the information about the class scrolls past my eyes, I take a second to review.

I know what I should choose, and I know what I want to choose, but first I copy all the descriptions to a page I label as classes in my notebook. Then I spend a few seconds to focus on each image to see if there’s any hidden information.

After a few points of focus have ticked down, I understand that the Chronomancer is the most powerful, but I'm not sure I can pay the price. Her eyes are still looking at me with that far too heavy gaze as I turn to inspect the Elementalist more closely.

The Fire-Storm Elementalist feels as though it matches the Chronomancer in power, but doesn't carry the same feeling of cost. Her eyes are calm pools with flashes of power barely visible in the corners. I see everything I want reflected in those eyes, the perfect storm cycling within.

Mentally I prepare myself, then state out loud "I choose Fire-Storm Elementalist."

“Congratulations Forerunner Pandora, you have selected your base class, Fire-Storm Elementalist."

Even as my system updates, I see her smile. She steps forward then I feel her clasp my hand. Then I watch the avatar fade away. I'm still holding my hand out when another notification appears.

"Updating status. Please return to your closest available Nexus to finalize your selection. Please note, you may update this choice at any time before you finalize at a Nexus."

"Updating status. You have studied and recorded the rune-key coordinates for the Nexus point, Forerunner Transition Point-South."

"Compatible matrix detected. Teleportation routine updating."

"Would you like to teleport to Forerunner Transition Point for 36.3 facet? Y/N?"

What. The. Hell.

Finalize selection? Why the hell do I have to be at a Nexus to gain my class? Does this mean I can unlock more classes before choosing? Couldn't they have mentioned all this earlier?

Putting my complaints to the side, I address the rest of the notifications.

Okay, I admit, teleporting would make it relatively easy to get my class. Plus, it'd be interesting and cool. But I'd rather not get stuck there by myself. Plus, last time I spent facet on a system message it had some painfully weird side effects. Since we're going back that way to investigate maybe I can convince Beth to stop by the Nexus while we're in the area.

Glancing over at Beth, I see she's eating some freshly re-roasted deer. Remembering that she wanted to go after lunch I move to grab my own portion.

As I'm starting to join her, something slams up against my leg. The bunny is sitting there innocently, like it didn't just headbutt me in the shin at Mach 5. It stares up at me with its cute little face, moving its head forward expectantly. I kneel down to pet it, but instead of closing its eyes while enjoying it, this time it reaches its paws out for the mug in my other hand. I kinda forgot about the mug.

Curious, I hand the mug over to the bunny. It doesn’t take the mug in its paws, but it does run its little paws over the surface several times.

It occurs to me as I watch the bunny, that I haven’t tried inspecting or identifying it with my focus. Wondering if anything will happen, I pull on my focus pool, shocked when it drops by twenty-one points in exchange for a single notification.

“Creature analyzed: Fire-hare. Gene seed D. A former prey creature that likes their meats and vegetables cooked. This is an evolved version of the common mana-hare, a creature commonly found in the forests of Akilo.

Name: (Vague concept of fire being hotter than everything else, does not translate to English)

Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; High, Magic; Low, Awareness; High.

Attacks: Flaming headbutt, Fire blast, Medium fire manipulation.

Defences: Low physical and magic resistance. Incredible fire resistance.

In addition to the notification, I receive a small information packet on mana hares in general. I realize that Smoulder, as I decide to call her, is fairly young as far as her species is concerned.

Analyzing Smoulder seems to have drawn her attention. She’s left the mug alone, instead shoving her head up against my hand for more scritches. Scritching her absently, I take the mug checking it over again wondering why she wanted to see it.

"Does this mean something to you?" I ask her as I read over the writing on the mug again, searching for some clue as to what it might say. If it's anything like the mugs in our kitchen, it's probably just silly sayings like, "Coffee, then conversation," or "I don't need therapy, I just need coffee." Heck, it might even be an old standby like, "World's greatest Dad."

I quickly note the characters in my journal before setting the mug down. Stretching, I glance around only to realize Roberts must have gone back inside. Josh and Beth are both eating quietly near the fire. When I join them, Josh offers me an empty plate with a knife and fork. Moving over to the roasting deer I rather clumsily attempt to carve some pieces of meat off, before Josh starts chuckling.

"May I?" he offers, his hand extended towards me. Handing over my plate, I watch as Josh only takes the knife and fork. Then he begins deftly cutting large slabs of meat from the deer, placing them on my plate.

Okay, first step, don't try to hold the fork, plate and knife all at the same time.

"Thanks Josh." I say, taking the fork and knife back from him.

Maybe the system is right about my cooking, I can't even cut a piece of meat.

Sitting down, I dig into the deer again. Unexpectedly, it tastes better than before. It's more tender, the smoke giving it a nice flavour. I take my time to enjoy the deer while listening to Josh and Beth talk about what we should do next.

"We need to stop splitting up," Josh declares while he finishes his last portion then stands for more. "If that dragon had come for us, I doubt Alexis or I could have done much to it. Besides, we can't afford to have anything happen to you or Dr Roberts either. The standing stones might be safe, and I stress might, but we can't stay there forever either."

"So, until we have a better base here, I think we should stick together." Josh is seeming tense by the end of his speech as he waits for Beth to respond.

But Beth seems to be giving it some serious thought.

I make it through several more bites before Beth chooses to respond.

"You're right. Knowing that there's something so dangerous which can fly up to us at a moment's notice changes things. I thought we'd be able to hear it coming to avoid it as we move through the forest but it's ability to fly changes that. Plus, you're right, we can't afford to lose any of us. You and Alexis are just as important as Dr Roberts and I. That said, I intend to investigate those ruins, so you'd best get ready to move friend."

Josh seems relieved that Beth agrees with him, so just nods in response.

"So, kid, are you ready to head back into the deep, dark forest to see what we can find?" Beth asks as she spears another morsel with her knife.

"Yeah, and I'll try to be better with the doctor. Dude just sets me on edge, ya know?" I reply meeting her eyes with the most conviction I've felt all morning.

"Hmmm." Beth hums in response, "thank you. As Josh said, we really should stick together. That will be easier if you're not going to have issues with the doctor."

"Not much of a choice, is there? I'd still rather not let him touch me though." I declare as I stand up then put my dishes to the side. I draw water mana forth then begin washing my face before turning my attention to my dishes. I'm almost done washing the dishes when I realize Beth is staring at me again.

"Uhm, did I miss a spot?" I wonder while rubbing at my face with my water mana again.

"I'm sorry Alexis. You didn't mention that you'd started working with water magic as well. That and the fact that it doesn't appear to cost you any mana surprised me, that's all," Beth explains as she stands up, finished with her lunch. I watch as her umbra plate fades from existence.

Well, I guess that's another way to deal with dishes.

"Are you able to create drinkable water with that ability?" Beth wonders as she picks up one of Josh's many woven bowls.

"Sure," I reply, "at least I think I can. Let me see."

Moving my still held water mana into the air, I start cycling the mana to draw water vapour from the air towards it. As I'm cycling it, I start using my wind mana to direct the wet ocean air towards my sphere while also directing the now dry air away. In under a minute I've gathered more water than I brought back from my earlier travel to the spring. I've also received a couple notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (23)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (9 to 10)."

"Skill increased: Wind Manipulation (2)."

With the water gathered, I deposit half of it in the bowl Beth is holding. I've managed to gather too much water to fit in a single bowl, so I try something new. By activating my channels while maintaining a thin connection of pure mana, I direct the other half towards where Josh's other bowls are. When the water gets a little over two meters away from me, I can feel it starting to lose cohesion. Before it falls to splash on the ground, I step forward, bringing it back under control. Depositing the majority of the remaining water in a second bowl, I start experimenting with a small globule.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (24)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (11)."

While maintaining my channels I'm now able to control my water mana in a respectable two-meter sphere around me. Dissipating the water, I draw forth fire to find I can achieve a similar distance.

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (9)."

I'm tempted to try creating orbs of lightning and wind, but I'm not feeling confident enough with either to experiment with them in front of Beth.

Taking my fire orb, I move it around me while feeling how it interacts with the ambient mana. After some experimenting, I discover that by changing the shape of my boundaries I can achieve greater stability. I'm able to send the orb another half meter out before it starts losing cohesion.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (25)."

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (10)."

"If you're done playing with fire kid, I'd like to head out soon," Beth comments, interrupting my thoughts. Looking over, I see they've put out the fire, packed the roast deer away and are all standing there watching me.

"Amazing, truly amazing," Roberts remarks as I move to join them. "If we're able to bring this magic home can you imagine how we'll change the world? With a wave of her hand she can create water and summon fire. I can heal years-old aches and injuries in minutes. And we've been here less than a day. What will we be able to do after a week? A month?"

"That's what scares me," Josh answers. "Earth already has enough problems. I can't imagine bringing more ways to destroy will make things better."

"Walk and talk, people." Beth commands, interrupting Josh and Roberts. We all move to comply, but I'm left thinking about bringing magic to earth.

Is it even possible? What if magic is limited to our new world. I think that if magic were possible on earth one of the billions of inhabitants would have figured it out by now.

Either way, I know that we'd be greeted as crazy people if we didn't have our magic available when we started talking about it. At best, people would think we had a particularly vivid dream or something. I know that Sab would listen to me, but she wouldn't give me a centimeter if I couldn't prove it.

"You're correct of course. Unbridled magic would be a disaster. It would need to be regulated if possible. Perhaps this system we're interacting with does just that."

"Maybe, but this system is just another thing we don't understand. How do we know what consequences bringing a system like this to earth would bring?"

I stop listening as we head into the woods, but I can hear them continue as Beth and I lead the way. While Josh and Roberts are keeping each other distracted, I move up next to Beth to ask her about visiting the Forerunner circle.

Beth gives me a curious glance as I take my place beside her. Not keeping her in suspense, I dive right into it, "my class integration finished early. It indicates I need to return to a Nexus to finalize my selection. Which apparently means the standing stones." I'm not ready to take it yet, but I want to see.

"Really? Hmm. Mine says I still have another eighteen hours. It shouldn't be a problem though. We'll go by the stones after we visit the ruins. They're about a ten minute hike south of the ruins," Beth replies as she resumes scanning the forest.

"Thank you," I say as I drop back to let her lead. I stay ahead of Josh and Roberts who are still talking behind me. Now that I know we'll be going back, with Beth keeping watch, I decide I can spare attention to practice. I'm about to start when I realize Smoulder is tagging along at my side. She's not having any trouble keeping up with Beth's pace, but I still reach out to see if she'll let me pick her up. After a moments consideration she lets me gather her in my arms. She's astonishingly light, three kilos at most. Probably less. With the little ball of floof cradled in one arm, I start practicing my magic as I follow Beth further through the forest.

I decide to avoid lightning and fire, as they'd just draw attention, so instead start drawing wind mana forth. Of all the mana I've wielded so far wind feels the least connected to me. Smoulder looks at me askance when I accidentally blast her with a small gust. Observing my wind mana, I note that it also has the least trouble staying stable once I've drawn it outside my body.

With the mana floating in front of me I gather more air until I've created an orb nearly a meter in diameter. Even though I know where it is, it's only visible as a slight distortion in the air. Looking closely at the orb, I ponder if I could use wind magic to breathe underwater.

Yet another experiment for the list.

I keep running my wind mana through a familiar set of shapes then even use it in all three of my basic runes to get a feel for it. I'm glad I started with fire and water mana. If I'd been trying to achieve these with wind mana first, it would have been an upwind battle. As it is, once I've worked through all my spell and mana forms, I've raised my wind manipulation significantly.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (26)."

"Skill increased: Wind Manipulation (3 to 8)."

Using wind with the basic circle rune without any modifications had reminded me of the time freeze. For a second my body had been encased in a wind barrier that slowed my movements before I allowed it to dissipate. Experimenting with it, I realized the barrier was static, but didn't prevent me from moving through it. It was just difficult, like walking into a windy day.

The air spray spell caused me a bit of a shock when it literally picked up poor Smoulder. She had decided the moment I was casting was the perfect time to get some head scritches, which resulted in me throwing her a dozen meters into the underbrush. Josh and Roberts were still talking behind me, and while Beth glanced back, she didn't say anything. Either way, I decided I'd keep the experiments to manipulating my raw wind mana for a while.

Luckily, after a couple minutes of dirty looks, Smoulder decides she's forgiven me. Or maybe she's just tired of hopping. Either way, she comes over then gets me to pick her up again.

I've just about mastered creating the alphabet with water and wind mana when I hear Roberts question Josh, "So, what were you doing, before you were brought through?"

"Like, for work?" Josh replies as I slow so I can hear them better. I can't believe I don't already know the answer to this obvious question.

"If you like. Though I meant immediately prior to our journey. That doesn't appear to be the kind of robe one sleeps in after all."

"Uhm," Josh responds, "no comment."

"Hmm. No? I was reading through the terms and conditions of our little soiree myself." Roberts continues.

"Oh. Yeah," Josh seems to think for a second before continuing, "did it mention the whole other world part? Because I'm pretty sure I missed that detail."

"It did, but the way it was phrased sounded like hyperbole. 'Our amazing system will transport you to a whole new world of experience.' Surprisingly accurate, I'd say," Roberts answers using air quotes as we make our way around a particularly thick tree. It's weird seeing him do something so human.

"So, what did you do? If you don't mind my asking," Roberts prompts Josh again.

"I uhh, I was a butcher," Josh answers moving a branch out of his way. Without touching it.

"Oh? Do you enjoy your work?" Roberts inquires just before we all stop for a moment. We wait quietly while Beth searches the forest around us with her hand up. She took us through a few basic signs after she'd tried using a signal earlier only for the rest of us to bumble forward obliviously.

When she signals us forward, Josh speaks up, "it was alright. It was a job. Paid well enough, I guess. Being able to bring home fresh meat every night was pretty great though."

"Nothing wrong with work that pays," Roberts agrees while I practice forming a triangle out of wind mana.

"How about you?" Josh returns as I watch my formation waver before locking into place.

"I'm a doctor," Roberts responds, "a surgeon actually. Not that those skills have much value here," he adds while running his hand through his hair before looking at it. "Ironic that I'm probably better at it now. I had arthritis for years."

"Heh," Josh chuckles, "I guess we both cut meat for a living."

Roberts stops for a moment, before throwing in a chuckle of his own, "I suppose we did. So, what led you to sign up for this experiment?"

"Experiment?" Josh questions, "I signed up for survival training. Extreme."

"Oh? You mean you weren't intending to be a subject for The Forerunner Initiative's amazing neuroregeneration procedure? Interesting," Roberts comments as he steeples his fingers. Dude, enough with the villain stuff already. I'm glad he doesn't have a goatee. That'd be too much.

"Neuroregeneration," Josh responds slowly as if testing the word on his tongue, "what's that?"

"It's the restoration of nervous tissue. A standard function in the peripheral nervous system, but the treatment promised excellent recovery of issues in the central nervous system," Roberts explains excitedly as we move around a bush with thorns and little red berries on it.

"The results are quite remarkable. Far better than I'd expected," he adds as we all make our way under a low hanging branch, "not nearly as flashy as your ability but incredible nonetheless."

Josh nods along, while I start spinning a small wheel of wind.

"So, I kind of need to know. Do you always wear suit pajamas to bed?" Josh asks as we step over a shallow ditch.

Roberts waits to respond because Beth is signalling for quiet again.

"They're a gift from my grandson. So yes," Roberts replies when Beth motions us onwards. Of course the reason he's wearing suit pajamas is adorable. Jerk.

"Ah," Josh intones in a way that conveys his understanding.

I'm checking my status when further conversation is cut off when Beth signals us to a stop again.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (27)."

"Skill increased: Wind Manipulation (9 to 11)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (12)."

Looking around I realize there's a good reason to stop this time. I turn to Smoulder to share a look, before she nuzzles deeper into my arms.

We've made it to the ruins.

1.10 Would you like to know more?

January 14, 2019, about 1 pm.

Beth is moving into the ruins before I’ve begun to take them in. What I see doesn’t seem extensive, but they’re not a single building either. Possibly the remnants of a small village or plantation, I’d guess. It’s hard to estimate when half of it is covered in vegetation. I start plodding forward, summoning a transparent shield while keeping Smoulder close, just in case. Josh is beside me in his full battle armour, rose-spikes fully extended. Roberts is bringing up the rear, still in his suit-pyjamas. It actually makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one who can’t summon magical armour. At least I have my shield now.

As we move into the ruins, I realize the previous occupants must have been roughly human-sized. The openings, where I assume doors used to be, are only slightly smaller than the ones we have at home. The couple that still have intact masonry above, indicate they’re fond of arches, but that might just be a local style.

Beth doesn’t seem to be interested in any of the buildings on the outskirts, because she keeps leading us deeper. I’m tempted to break off to explore, but I still don’t know what kind of threats are lurking about.

As we approach the centre of the village, I notice the statue. It's a creature with four arms, two legs and a head that reminds me of a cat. If this is a former resident, I doubt the statue is to scale as it towers four meters over the village centre. The statue is located in front of the only intact building in sight. The statue's four eyes serve an unending vigil, gazing off to the west. Curious about the statue, I focus on it, which costs me eleven points of focus for a short notification.

"Species K'tharn. A warm-blooded animal, similar to cat mammals of earth. Sapient. Integrated in the year 12,567 GST. Additional information available. Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the K'tharn species for 38.4 focus and 19.8 facet."

What? That's an insane price for a little knowledge.

I am able to glean a little more from the info, thanks to my internal clock. As it seems to have an idea of when the year 12,567 is. I get the sense it would have been the year 1329 A.D. on earth. I hold off on deciding whether to obtain the extra information at the moment. I do decide to share what I've learned with the rest of the group, so they don't waste their focus too.

"They're called K'tharn. Apparently, they were integrated in 1329 A.D. Obviously they share some similarities with cats." I supply waving at the statue.

"Alexis, not that I doubt you, but how the hell do you know that?" Beth asks while turning her emerald eyes loose on my soul.

"I just focused on it. Like when you spend focus on your interface to get more information. It cost me eleven focus to get that little tidbit though, so I don't recommend it," I reply, managing to keep the quiver from my voice.

After dialling her look down to a mildly curious death glare, Beth turns it on Josh and Roberts. "Have either of you been able to spend focus to get more information?"

"I have no focus," Josh replies immediately, "and never tried."

"Hmm. I tried but I was only able to get a vague sense from things. My focus pool isn't that large, but let me check again."

Roberts response reminds me that I haven't checked his status yet. So, I call up the party screen to give it a quick review.

PANDORA

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

1/33

[-3.2]

(15   11)/day

Stamina

42/50

[1.9]

(26)/day

Mana

225/230

[23.1]

(168)/day

Focus

126.1/174

[11.6]

(107)/day

Matrix

Facet

46/56

[5.2]

(40)/hour

ROSE

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

131/133

[11]    [21.0]

(81)/day

Stamina

75/113

[6.4]    [11.4]

(64)/day

Mana

0.8/32

[0.1]

(16)/day

Focus

0.3/21

[0.2]

(11)/day

Matrix

Petal

32/32

[2.5]    [1.5]

(19)/hour

Thorn

12/12

[0.9]

(7)/hour

RAVEN QUEEN

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

88/88

[4.7]    [14.7]

(48)/day

Stamina

78/78

[5.2]    [10.2]

(43)/day

Mana

90/110

[6.6]

(62)/day

Focus

102/157

[11.4]

(96)/day

Matrix

Umbra

40/40

[2.8]    [0.3]

(24)/hour

ROBERTS

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

89/89

[4.5]

(48)/day

Stamina

119/119

[11.4]

(73)/day

Mana

42/49

[4.2]

(26)/day

Focus

58/63

[2.1]

(33)/day

Matrix

Reprieve

23/30

[3]

(18)/hour

Not as balanced as Beth but also not as lopsided as Josh and I, Roberts has a clear focus on stamina with no real weak points. Apparently, I'm the only one with crap health.

"Hmm, focusing on my attributes gives slightly more information, but nothing particularly useful. How about you?"

"Vague feelings, that's it. Nothing more." Beth replies while turning her gaze back to me. "Are you sure it just costs you focus? No other resource, such as facet or mana?"

"I don't think so. The first time I used it, I didn't really know how to use my mana and I had zero facet." I respond while thinking about it.

"It is saying that I can spend facet and focus to get more information on the K'tharn. Maybe the facet cost has just been so low my edge reduces it to nothing?" I offer while barely withstanding everyone's scrutiny. Even Josh is staring at me strangely.

"Well, I imagine that would be very useful. I don't suppose you could use your ability on my special resource, Reprieve, to tell me what it says about it. It's rather maddening getting only a general feeling of wellness from it," Roberts requests, looking at his hand while wiggling his fingers.

"You have received a request to examine Forerunner Roberts' Reprieve resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 38.4 focus and 19.8 facet. Note, the codex will be shared with Forerunner Roberts."

"Wow," I whisper quietly as I read the cost. It's the same cost as the codex for the K'tharn, but this seems way more useful.

Checking the prompt I realize I haven't tried this with my own special resource since I was stuck in the time freeze. As I focus, instead of a notification, I'm brought to a new section of my interface. It's reminiscent of my journal but instead of quests, it has tabs that read bestiary and codex. There's a very brief entry under K'tharn and a thorough one for mana-hares. There are also brief descriptions of all my attributes and resource pools.

Most importantly my facet codex is flashing with a symbol I intuit to mean there's more information available. Likely for the low cost of 38.4 focus and 19.8 facet. Opening the entry, I'm proven correct. There in front of me is a notification asking me if I'd like to know more.

Returning to the conversation, I answer Roberts question, "It seems like I could get a codex description of your Reprieve, but it would cost me 40 focus and 20 facet."

"I think I can do the same for everyone's resources." I continue distractedly while I consider whether I want to spend the focus to learn about my facet. I'm not really worried about the facet cost. I'll regain that in less than an hour. But 40 focus represents over a third of my daily focus. I’m already down a fair amount of focus from all my investigations and practice. Taking a quick look, I see I have 126 focus remaining. That means I could theoretically get three codex entries.

Josh lets out a low whistle in response to my statement. "That's twice as much focus as my maximum. Seems pretty expensive for just a little bit of information."

"I agree. As nice as it would be to know more about my Reprieve, best to save your focus for more important matters. If perhaps your focus is full before we rest for the night, maybe you could do so then? After all, it appears you'd regain most of it by the time we wake, at least with your regeneration."

"Maybe," I answer, not committed to the idea. Well, the idea is fine, but I'm not sure I want to spend my focus on his resource right away. Then again, I'd get to know everything it's capable of. That might be useful.

"Either way, we can make that decision later. Roberts, Alexis." Beth interjects, interrupting our discussion while pointedly moving past the statue, leading us to the largest and most intact structure in the village. If I had to guess, I'd say it used to be a church or town hall, maybe both. It's made entirely of stone, stretching at least twenty metres high.

As I look it over, I notice what seems like the remains of a stained-glass window in one opening. While Beth is peaking her head inside the door, I move closer to the glass. It's a broken piece, but it has part of a picture depicted on it. The portion that's intact shows a figure that vaguely matches the silhouette of the K'tharn statue. It's four arms are splayed wide, as if its worshipping something but the rest of the window is missing. Still, I try to jostle the piece free, intent on taking it with us. It's not even very hard. A moment later I'm holding the glass in my hand before joining Josh and Roberts back in front of the building.

"Seems sturdy. There's a doorway in the back that we should check out, but it might make a decent safe house. If we're as alone out here as it seems, we're probably going to want a few." Beth decides as she pulls her head back out from looking around inside. "What's that?" she asks, gesturing to the glass fragment in my hand.

I hold it up for her inspection, "appears to be stained glass. An image of a K'tharn. I found it in the window," I answer.

"I wonder what happened to them," Josh wonders.

No one answers him as we all look around the village. It doesn't seem like it was destroyed by a dragon. It just seems like it collapsed in on itself due to neglect.

"Who knows," Beth shrugs. "Let's secure this building then maybe we can explore a little. See if we can't find something more useful than an old mug or a broken window. Josh, lead the way. Roberts keep a watch out here, please. Kid with me."

Nodding, Josh steps forward into the abandoned church while I put the glass down before stepping next to Beth. I'd rather not be carrying it if we come across anything dangerous.

I really need that backpack.

Taking his duty seriously, Roberts puts his back to us, keeping his eyes open for anything that can approach from the village. He's not carrying a weapon of any sort, but at least he'll be able to let us know if there's trouble coming.

The church is a relatively plain grey building. There are large windows flanking the front door, allowing light in. There are also a few smaller windows along each side that I could easily climb through. It'd be a tight fit for Josh though.

I don't think I've been to a church since my mom stopped making me go when I was twelve. I still remember her exact words,"If you want to burn in hell, then that's your business. I'm a good Christian. Unlike some people."

The inside of the church is incredibly intact considering the roots and trees growing through most of the other buildings in the village. Here, it's as if the vegetation is afraid to encroach, leaving the inside covered in a thin layer of dust but not much else. There aren't even animal tracks running across the floor. I can feel Smoulder shifting her head back and forth as we make our way across the room. It's hard to make out any details in the dark, but I can tell there's no furniture, just a single stone podium near the far end and the doorway leading further back. There's a raised balcony that runs along both sides and the back of the building, the guardrail missing.

As we move forward, I notice that Josh's soft steps are sending small puffs of dust into the air, clearly marking our passage. I'm tempted to summon wind and water to scour the place clean, but it doesn't feel like an appropriate time. Josh reaches the back door, then turns, whispering to us, "there are two sets of stairs. Which way?"

Looking up at the balconies, then the windows located above them, Beth quietly replies, "upstairs first, then we'll go down."

Moving upstairs we find more of the same. Dust and empty windows. By this point the dust is sticking to my onesie in greater quantities, rendering me an unpleasant brown. Not my best look. Meanwhile, both Josh and Beth are untouched, their magical armours apparently dustproof.

With the top two floors explored, we approach the stairs leading down. We huddle together, gazing down into the darkness. Beth glances over at me before asking, "Alexis, light?"

Summoning an orb of fire, I grow it until its five centimetres across, warming me while chasing away the dark. I send it forward a couple meters then take the first step down. A hand on my shoulder stops me before I can go any farther.

"Me first," Josh smiles weakly. Nodding I step aside, letting him move past me down the stairs. I bring the ball of flame up near the ceiling, but the passage is low, so he either has to stay slightly ahead or behind it to avoid getting burned.

Choosing to walk ahead of it, Josh cautiously picks his way down the steps as he nears a small landing. From where I'm standing, I can just make out that the stairs turn off into the dark. Josh waits for me to catch up. Once I'm immediately behind him, he gestures for me to send the orb further down, ahead of us.

Obliging, we watch my orb descend, it's light illuminating the sudden drop off where the steps end a meter ahead. It's hard to tell but it seems like it's only a two-meter drop to the floor below. Peering down, I can barely make out the edges of a small room. There's a solid door set into the wall where the stairs would have let out if they hadn't collapsed, but not much else of note.

Tapping my shoulder, Beth squeezes by me, dropping to the floor below. I keep the flame steady as she checks the corners of the room before turning to the door. "It's all clear. Come down to take a look at this door."

I walk over then stand cautiously at the edge. It's not the biggest of drops, but I've never been that athletic. I'm about to start carefully climbing down when Josh jumps down. He then turns, extending a hand up for me to hold. Grateful, I take his hand before attempting my own jump. It's not as smooth as Josh or Beth but I don't hurt myself, so I count it as a win.

Amazingly the orb of fire remains stable even though I'm outside of my two-meter range. When I try to manipulate it though, I realize the only connection remaining is my ability to dismiss the mana. Shrugging I dismiss the orb, then summon a new one before moving to stand next to Beth. The door is covered in a neat orderly script.

It's not runes, at least they don't resemble any of the runes I've discovered so far. There are too many breaks and the characters don't connect, so there's no path for the mana to flow through.

There's no door handle, just the strange characters. I reach out to touch the door, but Beth stops me with a look.

"Maybe don't touch the strange door, we find in a mysterious building's basement, on an alien planet, kid. At least not without a good reason."

"Right. Yeah. Bad idea." I agree as I pull my hand away. I do however decide to start noting down the characters. Wondering if any of the characters are the same as the mug, I cross-reference my notes. There are several characters that match. Maybe it's the local language.

"Quest received: Knock, knock. Description: Translate the strange door, in the mysterious building's basement, on the alien planet. Requirements: translate 0/23 characters. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points; unknown. Time: unlimited."

Huh, a new quest. Only three integration points. Does that mean it isn't that hard?

"So, I just got a new quest for translating the door when I copied the characters into my journal. Apparently, there are twenty-three characters." I relay as I compare the characters on the mug to the ones on the door. Unfortunately, I don't have any reference for what any of the characters mean. Are they letters like in English, or are they like Mandarin where they have thousands of characters? As I ponder it, I'm not sure how either of those translations could be considered easy. Maybe I'll be able to use focus to help? Though if I'm able to just download a translation of the language that would be too easy.

Right?

I'm about to start focusing on a character that appears on both the mug and the door when Beth interrupts me, "I'm sorry Alexis. What do you mean journal?"

Pausing, I turn to her confused, "the journal under the quest tab? The one marked with my Forerunner name. It's right below personal quests."

Beth pauses, with that distant look I'm starting to associate with menu browsing. Narrowing her eyes, her focus returns to me. "It seems there's more than one thing you're capable of doing with the system that the rest of us aren't."

"Well, to be fair. I can't make magical armour out of nothing. So, there's that." I reply, feeling nonplussed.

I'm a little surprised when Beth explodes into laughter at that.

"Hah, kid. That is a very fair point. Don't worry, I wasn't accusing you of anything. Merely observing that your interface is more, hmmm. What's the word?" Beth ponders tapping her chin.

"Robust. Your interface is more robust than ours. Something I'm sure will come in useful later."

"But enough of this. I'm tired of this dark hole in the ground. If we block these stairs off, I'm sure this will be a fine safe house. I'd rather not leave a door like that exposed, " Beth states, making the two-meter leap up to where the stairs end without bothering to get a running start. My ascent is nowhere near as cool, Josh boosting me up with cupped hands. Of course, Josh pulls himself up, easy as walking.

"Uhm, how are we going to block the stairs?" I wonder as we walk back through the empty main hall.

"I'm not sure yet. We'll think of something. Might have to roll some big blocks of stone in."

It no longer takes concentration to maintain my flame orb, so long as I set it in a specific position relative to myself. Which I mention because I once again forgot that it's weird that a teenager in a kitty onesie is walking around with a flaming orb over her shoulder. But I'm reminded of this fact when Roberts turns towards us as we're exiting the building, once more focusing his uncomfortable gaze on me. To his credit, he catches himself this time, looking away. But it still causes me to freeze for a moment.

"There's a door in the basement that might have something weird behind it, but the place is otherwise clear. There's nothing except a podium and a whole lot of dust." Beth tells Roberts when she steps out behind me.

Which reminds me.

"This is going to be our safehouse right?" I ask the others who are inspecting the different paths that lead into the village while talking about sightlines.

"That's the plan kid," Beth replies as she kneels down, inspecting something at the base of the statue outside the church.

"Okay, I'm going to clean it up a bit then," I mention as I turn back to the church while Josh and Roberts talk about whether they should move stone or trees to shore up the church's defences.

I create water mana then proceed to draw more from the air before thoroughly washing my face, hair and onesie. When I'm done, I have the water deposit the waste in a neat little pile then take a drink, sighing in satisfaction.

"She, she, she…." Roberts stutters while pointing at me.

"Yeah, it's been a busy morning," I respond turning my attention back to the church. There's still a lot of dust in there, and now that we're out, I intend to clean it up.

Marshalling my water orb, I'm about to start when I realize I haven't dismissed my fire orb yet. Shrugging, I let it dissipate then continue gathering more water from the air. Once I've gathered an orb roughly a meter in diameter, I notice a drain on my mana. It's low though. Only 0.1 mana every minute, so I start cleaning.

I spread the water out into a wave then walk it around the building, depositing the dust outside the front window every time I finish a lap. After my second lap I hear the others talking and a brief mention of a briefing but I remain focused on my task.

By the time I've cleaned the whole building, excluding the basement obviously, the pile outside the window is two meters tall. Now that I'm done cleaning, I check my skill notifications with satisfaction.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (28)."

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (11)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (13)."

"Skill reassessed: Cleaning  (3 to 30)."

Walking outside to let them know I'm done, I see Beth, Josh and Roberts all sitting at the foot of the statue watching me.

"Hey guys, I cleaned out the safe house."

Beth glances over at Josh before speaking, "Alexis. That was amazing. But I need to know one very important thing."

Beth stands up then puts her hand on my bare shoulder, her eyes boring into mine.

"Do you think you can learn earth magic?"

1.11 Raising Walls. Now with magic!

January 14, 2019, pretty close to 2pm.

"Now, I know it might be a lot to ask, but you're the only one able to use magic. At least magic that isn't our own special brand. We were talking, and we could haul stone or other rubble to block the entrance, if you don't think you can do it. But do you think you can try blocking it off?"

Did she just ask me to spend more time using magic? Hell yes.

I pause pretending to be troubled by the idea. But that only lasts a second before I smile then respond. "Sure. I can try at least."

Trying not to show my excitement, I turn towards the church. I doubt I'm successful, as I'm moving rapidly while rubbing my hands together. As I approach the stairs leading down, it occurs to me I'm not sure where to start for earth manipulation. I'm also not sure how much mana it would take to create a door to block the opening. I've mostly used small amounts of mana while slowly drawing the resource from my surroundings. Except for my lightning spell of course. I guess I'll need to figure it out.

Sitting, I run my hands over the stone beneath me, willing my mana to match the feeling. There's a stubbornness and unchanging aspect to it which reminds me of my papi. But there's also a feeling of sudden change, of breaking free, like a great avalanche that lets loose after centuries of stillness. As I work, I ponder the stone around me. It's chiselled and finished. Fine craftsmanship but it's dull grey, lacking that lustre I've seen in granite or marble countertops. It occurs to me I have no idea what it's made of.

While I'm inspecting the building, my mana slows in my finger, getting denser and more rigid. When I call it forth, it's sturdy but oh so small. It's little more than grit on my skin. It's enough to receive a notification though.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (29)."

"Skill gained: Stone Manipulation (1)."

Interesting. It seems that stone is its own element. I wonder if metals and earth are separate or related. Filing my thoughts away for later consideration, I refocus on creating a wall in the doorway. I create a larger pool of stone mana before drawing it forth this time. As the mana pools, I can feel my hand stiffening, losing flexibility. When it feels like my hand has become as solid as stone, I release the mana. I'm only able to create a small block, perhaps two cm per side. Inspecting the block, I sigh. It took me a solid minute to pool enough stone mana to create that block. I may have to approach this differently.

Looking at the building around me, I wonder about stealing a little material. I don't want to take it from the walls or the floor, but maybe if I take it from the stairs below. They're already partially collapsed after all.

I start cutting with my stone mana, attempting to draw the stone from the stairs up. I'm able to do it slowly, by breaking the stone down into cubes with my mana then setting them in place. The first block takes me a minute to levitate a cube roughly ten cm to a side into place. Once I have a meter-tall wall completed, I realize I need to be able to see the stone to cut it away neatly. Standing up I begin bringing blocks up past the wall while stacking them in the corner. I go a little overboard, leaving the stairs leading down as a narrow 30cm wide strip. Technically I've created a second set of stairs on either side of the still remaining steps, but they're each a meter down so it'd be a bit uncomfortable to take them. But I have enough stone to keep experimenting with once I've blocked off the door. I'm also much faster at cutting the blocks than when I started.

By the time I finish placing the wall, I'm able to cut about four blocks per minute. Placing them takes almost no time compared to cutting them free. Reviewing my work, I realize there are some gaps along the edges. I break down a couple of my blocks while moving the pieces into place, securing the wall. Still not satisfied I reach out to the stone to meld it together, cycling my mana through the gaps to weld the stone.

As I'm melding the stone with the floor and walls, I realize that there's some resistance when I link my stone to the outer walls. Whatever keeps the plants away seems to disrupt my ability to connect my stone mana as well. I'm still able to meld my wall, but it takes significantly more effort, including several points of focus.

A quick glance at my notification log confirms that I've improved with my stone manipulation, already getting it up to 7.

"Looks good," Beth admires from behind me, reminding me of my group's presence. I knew they'd been moving in and out of the church as I worked but I hadn't paid them much notice while I was working.

I turn to Beth as she continues, "it really is something. That would have taken us a couple days to plug with debris. You finished in less than an hour. Good work kid," Beth finishes her thought by ruffling my hair again. It's a good thing I don't have a mirror, I'd hate to see how unruly my hair is at this point. At least it's not getting in my eyes.

Basking in my accomplishment is interrupted when Roberts suddenly cries out, "Come quick, Josh is in trouble." Beth and I glance at each other, before running for the door. Beth moves at an insane rate, easily beating me to exit by half the room. The second she reaches the door; I see her unsling her massive rifle as she turns in the direction of Roberts' voice. She sights down her rifle even as I move up next to her.

Looking over I see a creature the size of a car snapping at Josh. It reminds me of a wolf. If a wolf had armadillo plating and a wicked Mohawk of quills running along its head. I dub thee wolfadillo.

As I watch I see Josh roll to the side, easily dodging a lunging bite. He tries countering with a quick slash of his thorn-blade, but the wolfadillo is too fast for him. He's circling the wolfadillo warily, searching for an opening when I hear a familiar click next to me. The shot is nearly silent, but the impact sends a heavy whump sound that rolls across the village.

The impact hits the wolfadillo so hard that it is thrown up and over Josh, the remains of its body twisting as it falls.

The thump of its landing is nearly as loud as the initial impact, leaving me wishing I'd covered my ears. In the time it takes for me to process what's happening, Beth follows up with a second shot, ensuring the wolfadillo won't be rising again.

Josh is staring at the wolfadillo's body. Beth is scanning the area while I'm still just watching. Then I hear a howl. It's like every howl I've heard on every tv show or movie. But this time there's one thing that's different. This time I'm hearing the howling in person. As if that's not enough, it isn't just one, I hear more and more joining in from all around us.

"Fall back! Into the church!" Beth yells, grabbing me by my arm before shoving me inside.

"Alexis, can you get some of that stone into the windows? I'd rather not have them coming at us from all sides." Beth requests as I stumble inside. Turning I see her looking directly at me. For once those eyes of death feel comforting. It's good to know she's on my side.

"Yeah, sure. On it," I reply, turning to my pile of stone blocks. I wasn't pushing myself earlier, as I wanted to conserve my mana in case of an emergency. Well, I'd say this qualifies.

Reaching out with my mana, I grab half a dozen stone blocks at once then run them to the back-most window. I fit them loosely, just using a quick burst of mana to set them into place. From outside I hear another thud followed by a loud whine. Stepping back from the window, I see Josh and Roberts appear next to Beth at the entrance. Turning I run back to grab another six blocks taking them to the next window. The wolfadillo was huge, so I feel that I should be okay with just making the windows smaller for now. I hope.

Setting my third set of stone in place I spare a quick check of my mana. I'm only down six points, I can do more at once. This time I grab twelve stone blocks before moving to block off two more windows. Once they're in place there's only one window on the right and the two large windows at the front that are still open. And the door of course.

I'm running back to grab the last blocks when the howling stops. I don't stop moving, reaching out to snag the last of the blocks. There's only eight left but that's enough for the last side window. As I head back towards the front, I notice everyone has moved inside. Josh is facing the front, keeping himself between the door and the others. Beth is facing forward, keeping her rifle trained on the doorway. Roberts isn't doing much, but he keeps scanning the sides, including the windows I've blocked off. It's like he's worried the wolfadillos could come crashing through at any moment.

Given their size, I'm afraid he might be right. I move forward carefully as I set the last few blocks in place. I don't really want to get close to the window, but I need to stay within two meters to set them in place. As I set the last block down, I glance up through the front window to see a large wolfadillo staring in.

It locks its eyes on me then charges.

I still have my mana locked around the last block, so I take the block, shooting it at the wolfadillo. The twenty-five-kilo block bounces off the thing's hide, barely slowing its charge. I hear Beth's rifle click, the impact ringing out.

Either she was shooting at something else or she missed. Scrambling back, I fire off my quickest and easiest spell, flame arrow. It slams into the wolfadillo, leaving a smouldering scorch mark on its shoulder but it's already in the air leaping through the window.

I keep moving back, happy I took the time to clean the floors in here. Seeing how little my flame arrow did, I summon a lightning torrent instead. The energy takes a second to build before ripping forth from my hand. The wolfadillo didn't stop charging me the entire time, so it's only two meters away when I release the spell. When the wolfadillo sees the lightning coming, it tries to twist out of the way, but it's too close so my lightning seeks it out, twisting and flowing into it, before arcing away. The loud impacts from Beth's rifle are gentle pops compared to the crackling roar that accompanies my lightning at close range.

The backlash from my spell sends me flying across the stone floor, leaving me deaf and blind as I roll to a stop. As the ringing in my ears fades, I'm greeted by the sound of sizzling. As my vision returns, I'm able to make out three huge shapes lying on the stone floor. At first, I'm relieved, but then I realize someone is missing. Looking around, I see Josh picking himself up off the floor. He's immediately joined by Roberts, but I still don't see Beth.

I'm about to call her name when there's another loud thump outside the building. Glancing at Josh, I run for the front entrance. As I'm stepping around the still sizzling flesh of the three dead wolfadillos, I see Beth skirting around the statue dodging the snapping bites of a snarling wolfadillo.

Josh brushes against me as he rushes to help, jumpstarting my brain.

I can't shoot another lightning torrent without hitting Beth too, so I fire off a quick flame arrow. Unfortunately, this one isn't charging straight at me so my shot goes wide. I really need to practice more.

While I'm shooting at it, I see Josh moving up to flank it. Right when I think Josh has it, the wolfadillo shakes it's spikey mohawk, sending dangerous quills flying at Josh and Beth.

Before I can fire another arrow, I hear a low growl from my right. Turning I see an insane flaming bunny slam into the lead beast before dashing off into the trees. Behind the lead are two more wolfadillos. They're advancing slowly, probably wary of more bunny sneak attacks. Or maybe they can smell the seared flesh of their dead companions. Which is pretty awful, by the way.

Their slow approach is perfect for me. They're at least ten meters away, which is way better than the last one, so I carefully create another lightning torrent then throw it at them. Even though my spell is carefully crafted, I'm thrown flying as the lightning arcs towards the beasts. Before I land, I see my lightning hit the first creature before continuing towards the other two. The one furthest back manages to avoid the worst of the spell, but the first two are already writhing in pain.

Then I hit the ground, my world spinning around me. The last thing I see is Josh running straight in my direction as my head hits something hard.

Christmas Eve, the year after the ugly tree incident.

There's a jostling noise coming from outside our new apartment's windows. I don't like it. I don't like anything about the new apartment. Or the new school.

I especially don't like our neighbour across the hall. He's big and scary, everything about him is dark and black and sharp.

We shouldn't even be here. We should be at mami and papi's just like we have been every Christmas Eve since forever. But we're not. We're sitting at home in the dark. There are candles burning, but the power is out. It's not just us, it's the whole block.

Mom broke out the tiger's eye ice cream, claiming, "it's just going to melt anyway."

She's served us each a giant portion so I'm relishing every bite. It was papa's favourite. I still try to sneak it to him when we go to visit, but mom always knows. That's okay, it's not like he can eat it anyway. The visits haven't stopped yet. Mom hasn't given up hope. Not yet. She won't for another year.

"Eat up sweetie, your ice cream is melting," she encourages as she wipes a spot that dripped.

I diligently return to eating my ice cream, when there's a knock at the door. Glancing at me for a second, my mom hesitantly stands up before moving to the door. I watch as she looks through the eye hole.

A moment later, she undoes the deadbolt but leaves the chain in place. I lick a spot where ice-cream has dribbled onto my hands as I hear my mother whispering to whoever is on the other side of the door, not close enough to make out the words.

When mom sits down, it's heavier, like something is wrong.

I don't ask her. I want to be at mami and papi's. That's what makes it Christmas. Looking to the little tree we have shoved into the corner of the living room; I think of the grand Christmas tree papi would have. It would be decorated with all sorts of hand-crafted ornaments instead of the sparse store-bought ones on our little tree.

But that wasn't the important thing. Christmas was the only time that papi would tell his stories. He'd been a photographer when he was young. The kind that went to the dangerous parts of the world to take the kind of pictures that could change it. Back when you didn't have people with cell phones on every corner, that is.

But the stories were never about his photos. They were about the people he met. The foods. The places. And they were magical. He had a way of speaking that took me with him.

So yeah, I was wishing I was there, listening to my papi's stories with my cousins Luke, Bryce and Kaylee, instead of sitting in a dark apartment eating ice-cream with my mom.

Mom starts crying which breaks me out of my thoughts. I sigh as I move over to hold her. I don't know who was at the door, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was Mr. Edwards. His visits always leave mom crying. I don't know why he'd come by on Christmas eve.

She is starting to calm down when there is another knock at the door. Looking at her, I resolutely move to the door, sliding my spy bucket into place. Outside the door is our tall dark neighbour. In his hands, he has a large casserole dish.

He's shifting back and forth as I inspect him. He doesn't seem so scary as I watch him through the peephole. He seems kind of young and scrawny. It's the trenchcoat I realize. It's missing. He's just a kid without it.

Making a split-second decision, I unlock the door then swing it open.

"Hi," I proclaim like I knew papi would. He was brave. I could be brave. Even when I was missing his stories.

"Uhm hi. Is your mother home?" he asks staring down at me.

"Yep. She's busy." I answer while meeting his eyes.

"Oh. Uh. I'm Josh. I brought you guys a beef casserole." he offers as I scrutinize him.

"I'm Alexis. Uhm thanks." I reply taking the casserole from him.

"You're welcome," he mumbles as we both just awkwardly stand there. "Merry Christmas," he says while waving goodbye before retreating.

"Merry Christmas," I reply closing the door. Explaining to mom who it was, we dish up, putting the ice cream away. It's actually pretty good.

Maybe he's not so bad after all.

Shaking the remnants of the memory from my mind, I wonder if the magic and Akilo were just a dream. I shift under my super warm blanket, where I'm safely tucked away no crazy monsters or amazing magic. But then my head throbs fiercely while my arm complains about being crushed underneath me. My bed feels like it's made of stone and my blanket is far too heavy.

Pushing my way free takes a great deal of effort and even some stone manipulation. When I emerge, I realize my blanket is a dead wolfadillo. I do not react to that well, bile rising in my throat.

Once I'm done gagging, I start looking around the village. I spot the still smoking body of a wolfadillo to my right. One of mine, I think. The one Josh and Beth were fighting is lying to my left. But the village is quiet. There's no sound of fighting or struggle. Pushing myself up, I wince as I realize my right arm is burned. Probably feedback from my lightning torrent spell. I should probably work on adjusting my spell.

Where is everyone?

I can't imagine Beth or Josh abandoning me here, so something must have happened. They only had the one wolfadillo left to fight, so what happened to them? My first thought is that they're injured. If so they might need my help. Quickly checking inside the church, I confirm that it's just the three smoking bodies from earlier, no teammates in sight. Next, I check my party status. That should let me know if they're okay at least. But every status is greyed out, even Josh.

Okay. They left me here, or worse, they're in a rough enough state they have no status. They clearly finished the remaining wolfadillo, I think while kicking the body of the one at my feet. Maybe there were more so they had to run for it?

Do I have any way of tracking them?

None of the magic I've learned so far seems like it would be useful for that. Maybe if I use my forest survival skill, it can help me.

First, I'm going to check this area. Maybe my status is broken, or I'll find a clue or something.

With that in mind, I start searching where I last saw Josh and Beth fighting the wolfadillo. The creature is lying there, its body marked by numerous puncture wounds. I'm pretty sure the blow to the eye is what finally did it in. Luckily, I don't find Josh or Beth bleeding out next to the wolfadillo. Since I don't find any clues either, I make my way over to the ones I charred outside.

Here I find my first clue, though I'm not sure what to make of it

One of the wolfadillos is missing, there's nothing left but a smattering of blood where its body fell.

Inspecting it closely, I'm able to determine that there's a trail of blood that leads over to the side. There in the overgrown stone, I make out massive gouges, carved by what I'm guessing are some truly massive claws. Looking around again, I remember the dragon then run back to the church. Once I'm inside the nice sturdy stone walls, I retreat to the corner, near the sealed stairway. With no easy angle of ambush, I try to think about my options. Josh, Beth and Roberts are gone. Possibly taken by a dragon. Or maybe they saw the dragon coming then booked it. In which case they might be coming back. I can't blame them for running, because let's face it, we do not want to take on something that nasty.

Speaking of nasty, I turn my gaze on the corpses stinking up my refuge. Sighing, I stand to get to work. This is the only reasonably safe place I've seen so far. If we're going to stay here, I'd rather it not stink. I call forth the, oh so useful, water mana but discover I don't have the force to push the bodies out. Not unless I want to use large amounts of mana. Switching to stone magic, I'm able to create a layer of round stones after some trial and error. I'm able to use them to carry the wolfadillo bodies outside. I've finished with the first two, depositing them across from the church. I'm about to remove the third when I'm struck by a horrible thought.

The wolfadillo in front of me might be an important source of food. Bracing myself, I reach for my forest survival skill focusing on the idea of turning the creature in front of me into food. I only receive flashes, but they still make me gag. On the plus side, they do give me a general idea of where to start. The only problem is, I don't have a knife.

The obvious solution is to make one out of stone. Taking a fifty-centimetre-long piece of stone, I'm able to form the general shape of a knife, but I can't get it to hold an edge with my stone manipulation. I try several methods before I decide to try scouring it with a spinning orb of water instead. This allows me to get a finer edge, but when I try to use it, I notice it's prone to breaking.

Deciding I don't know enough about crafting to create a better knife, I start skinning and gutting the wolfadillo, reforming and regrinding the blade throughout. By the time I've finished, I realize it's been an hour since I woke. If they were coming back, they'd probably be back by now. I just want to sit while lamenting my misfortune, but my survival skill told me I need to smoke and dry the meat as soon as I can. So, cautiously, I step outside into the village in search of firewood. Which means moving past the bodies of the other wolfadillos.

Stepping carefully, I push the bodies further away from the building before moving towards the nearby forest. I consider searching for dry wood, but my magic should allow me to light pretty much anything on fire.

With that in mind, I settle for the first decent-sized tree I find. It's a nice small tree, hopefully, small enough I can haul it back myself. A couple of quick wind arrows later leaves me struggling to pull the fallen tree back to the church, branches snagging on everything. Giving up on hauling it by hand, I once again turn to magic. I use wind mana to chop through all the branches, leaving the trunk bare. I then drag the main trunk back by hand while using water mana to drag the other branches.

As I'm collecting the water to transport the branches, I end up drawing some of the water directly from the tree. This is perfect for my needs. By the time I return to the church, I've drained half the water from the tree. Meanwhile, the branches are dry enough to make excellent kindling. Apparently, that's what it's called, the material you use to start fires. Beth told me that while we were making the fire pit at lunch. Maybe if they see the smoke, they'll have an easier time finding their way back.

Looking around I realize I don't have anywhere to store all the water I've gathered. Shrugging, I take a quick drink, wash myself off, then send it all outside creating a big sploosh by the statue. Turning back to my firewood and meat, I realize I need more building materials. I step outside before returning with half a dozen blocks, all cut from the closest building to the south. I gather enough blocks to create an enclosed space that I put next to the least blocked window near the front. I'd rather not smoke myself out if I don't have to so I'm going to create a smokehouse that vents to the outside. I create a few slabs for the meat to sit on but keep the fire in a separate area with stone channels directing the hot air up. Just like mana, I'm pretty sure direction matters. The understanding I get from my skill is I want the smoke and hot air to dry the meat out.

Once I've constructed my smokehouse, I place all the meat I've carved inside it. Then I seal it up with my magic. I won't be able to get at the meat without stone shaping, but that means nothing else should be able to either.

Starting the fire using kindling is the easiest part of the process.

Once that's done, I start preparing the rest of my firewood. Before I draw the rest of the water from my firewood, I gather some more stone then make myself a washbasin. Thus prepared, I draw the water out, wash my hands, yet again, then deposit the clean water into the basin. With my basin completed, I set out to the nearby building to gather more stone to block up the windows. I don't stop even after the windows on the ground floor and the upper balcony are entirely filled in. Once I've gathered every available block from the nearby building, I have enough to fill the front door, plus a lot of extras. As I prepare to close myself off, my eyes scan the clearing one last time. But no one is coming. After a second of hesitation, I start filling in the front door.

I swiftly go over the checklist in my head.

- the building is secure,

- I have water ready to drink,

- there's food slowly cooking,

- and they're not coming back,

Now that I know I've finished everything on my checklist I do what I've really been waiting for.

I sit down and cry.

1.12 Working Plumbing

January 14, 2019, getting pretty close to 6 pm.

I remain there, crying for about five minutes.

Because crying is cathartic when you're frustrated and alone and don't know how to save your friends.

But the tears dry up as I accept, I'm not done yet.

Sure, I'm stuck in a ruined village, there are crazy murder wolfadillos outside and the only trace of my companions are deep gouges in stone that are probably dragon tracks. And now I'm alone in an alien world.

But at least I have magic.

And food. And water. And hopefully in about fifteen minutes, working plumbing. That's right, I'm going to create working plumbing.

First though, this place needs more light. There's a faint glow coming from the bottom of the smokehouse, but I blocked off all other sources when I was fortifying the place. Probably all the air too, now that I think of it. Time for me to rectify that.

I go up to the balcony, carving narrow slots into the walls. I keep them small. So small that I couldn't push a pencil through. Stepping back, I admire my handiwork only to realize it hasn't really made a difference. It appears they need to be bigger to let in any light. I end up making them a little larger than my fist, but that's as large as I'm willing to go. It's still not bright inside, but it's enough for my purposes.

With light trickling in, I start work on my bathroom. Taking a couple of the extra stone blocks I put aside earlier, I place them in the farthest corner of the balcony. Away from the stairs. I intend to put my bathroom as far away from my sleeping area as I can.

When I was creating the smokehouse, I noticed that so long as I'm touching the stone, I can sense and shape it, up to about twenty cm deep. With that limitation in mind, I start by punching a passage out the side of the building using stone manipulation. Once I'm satisfied it has a sufficient slope, I reform the stone blocks into a stone bowl with a flared lip to sit on. It's a simple system, it'll just dump my waste on the side of the building, but it's a far sight better than going in the forest. With water magic at my disposal, it's easier to flush than ever.

With the toilet in place, I build up a few thin walls. They're only a couple cm thick, but they'd enough to hide the toilet from casual observation. I know I'm by myself, but the thought of doing my business in the open doesn't feel right. Besides, they might show up any second now.

With my bathroom complete, I do my business then go back down to the main floor, approaching the front door. As I'm looking at it, a thought occurs to me. I don't have to enter and exit by the front door. I can literally create an entrance anywhere. But I don't know what's out there.

With that thought in mind, I look up. If I'm going to create a way in and out, I want to be able to survey the area outside first. Taking several blocks with me, I make my way to the edge of the balcony above. I imagine at some point in the past there was a railing at the edge, but now there are just small indents in the stone. It's convenient since I'd need to work around the balcony. Now I can just make my stairs leading to the roof.

Taking my stone blocks I carefully reshape them into steps, just wide enough I can stand on them while holding onto the handrail I add. Once I've melded my first step, I test it to see how well it holds my weight. It doesn't seem to shift or creak when I place a single foot on it. I'm about to put my full weight on it when I have a better idea. Placing my other five stone blocks on it, I release my hold on the magic, watching. Other than a slight shifting from the blocks when I release them, everything seems stable. It even holds when I test it further by pressing on it with my foot.

Feeling more confident, I shape the other blocks into similar shapes, creating the start of a stairway that will lead to the roof. Stepping back, I retrieve more stone blocks, hurrying back and forth to finish my ascent. I continue creating stairs until I'm nearly to the peak of the building. There's a point where I need to zig back that requires I get creative, but it's otherwise pretty simple.

Once I'm within reach of the stone roof above me, I place my hands against it. As I start reshaping the stone I pause. I was going to create an alcove in the roof that I could squeeze through. But as I'm thinking about it, I decide to create a viewport to survey the area instead. I'm not going outside until I have to.

I choose to put my first viewport facing what I think is south. Which should be the general direction of the standing stones, if I remember correctly. They should only be a ten-minute walk, so if they're as tall as I think they are, I might be able to see them.

Looking out the viewport I can see the tallest ones looming over the surrounding forest. At least I'm guessing those are the standing stones I'm familiar with and not a completely different set of standing stones.

I don't know anything about this world. It could happen.

Further south, I can't see anything other than treetops and sky. Immediately below I can make out a couple buildings, but I don't see anything of interest. I close the south viewport, then turn, creating one on the north side.

On the north side, I mostly see more of the same. There's no one out there, man or monster. There are a couple buildings, which I might gather stone from later, but that's it.

I'm about to close the viewport when I notice movement. There in the shade of one of the buildings I see a familiar silhouette hopping towards the church. Closing up the alcove, I step back then hustle down the stairs before moving to the wall. It takes me longer than I'd like to carve a new exit, even though I only make it large enough for me to barely squeeze through. Peeking through the gap, I see Smoulder cautiously sniffing at one of the wolfadillos by the fountain.

As she's sniffing, I start making a psst sound to get her attention. I was going to retrieve her, but if she comes to me, all the better. Looking up, Smoulder turns in my direction. It takes her a moment to spot me, but when she does, she starts hopping towards me.

She takes the long route around the wolfadillo bodies, stopping to sniff occasionally. I feel my anxiety rising every second she's exposed. She's just about reached my hiding spot when she stops next to the closest wolfadillo, sniffing it. With a satisfied look on her face, she raises her hind leg then sprays the wolfadillo's remains. Apparently being a fire-hare means that she even pees fire.

Seriously though, she has no respect for the dead.

Pulling her up when she gets to me, I give her all the head scritches while simultaneously moving the stone blocks back into place. I leave a small gap that Smoulder should be able to squeeze through, but otherwise, it's a solid wall once again. As it should be.

With Smoulder held close I head back upstairs to reclaim the stone I used to reach the roof. I might make them permanent later, but for the moment I want to use this stone for something else. Specifically, a table and a chair.

It's surprisingly easy to reshape the blocks. They practically melt into the desired shapes. They're both a little boxy in appearance but very stable. Yet I'm not satisfied. So, I set to work making them less boxy and more elegant. Once I'm done the table is round and smooth, with tapering legs. The chair takes longer, but that's because I keep adjusting it until it's comfortable. When I'm done it has a smooth contoured shape. It's almost as comfy as our couch. We really need a new couch.

Sitting at the table I finally turn to my notifications. It's not that I forgot about them, it's just that I decided I don't need to check them every time I improve a skill or learn a new spell. Ever since I made the decision, the notifications stopped appearing. Now that everything important is handled, it's time to review.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (30 to 34)."

"Skill increased: Stone Manipulation (8 to 16)

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (12 to 13)

"Skill increased: Lightning Manipulation (5 to 9)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (14 to 18)

"Skill increased: Wind Manipulation (11 to 14)."

"Skill increased: Cleaning (31 to 33)."

"Skill increased: Running (2)."

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (4 to 7)."

"Skill unlocked: Crafting - Stone Shaping (1 to 13)."

"Quest received: If you build it, they won't come. Description: Learn the ways of crafting with stone. Requirements: Using Stone Manipulation 1/1 structure, 1/1 tools, raise Stone Shaping skill 13/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 3/3 days remaining."

"Quest received: Gotta slay em all - Wolfadillo! Description: Kill the remaining wolfadillos from the pack that attacked your group. Requirements: 8/12 wolfadillos slain. Reward: iron rank integration points based on your contribution; variable. Time: 3/3 days."

"Quest received: Follow that dragon! Description: Find out if the dragon took your companions. Find and recover your companions. Requirements: 0/3 companions found; 0/3 companions recovered. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points per companion found; unknown. Time: unknown."

I skim over most of it, not really paying much attention to the skill gains. The first quest is interesting, but I can work on it later.

The second quest is worrying. That means there are still four more of those things out there.

Then I read the third quest. The quest dialogue doesn't even tell me anything. Find out if? Seriously? At least the second quest told me there's only four wolfadillos left.

Rankling at my quest log's unhelpfulness, I pet Smoulder while I think of what I should do next. There are two major objectives I can think of. One of them is even related to that useless quest. In a way they both are.

"What do you think Smoulder? Should I try to poke around outside? Or should I go check for them at the standing stones?" I ask her while staring blankly at the wall.

"I could pick up my class. I guess I could teleport to the Nexus. I could even spend a safe night there if they're not around. But do I really want to do that? This place honestly feels a lot safer than sleeping amongst a circle of standing stones." I continue. I'm confident Smoulder is ignoring me by this point, as she hasn't given me a shrug, an "uh-huh" or even a noncommittal "whatever".

Putting my feet up on the table, I hold her up in front of me. "You're right, I need to investigate the village more thoroughly. They might have left me a clue. But once that's done, we'll head to the Nexus."

My mind made up and my resolve firm, or at least not crumbling, I march straight down to the hole in the wall, plopping down to peek through. I don't see any wolfadillos or dragons, so I pull a block out then look again. I'm not paranoid. I had my entire party disappear on me after fighting a pack of wolves, the smallest of which was the size of a Prius. Caution is warranted.

Continuing, I leave myself with a gap similar to earlier. I also create a separate, smaller entrance for Smoulder, just in case.

Poking my head through the gap, I check in every direction. Including up. How embarrassing would it be if the dragon was on the roof?

With no sign of hostiles, I pull myself out of the church into the town centre.

I can do this. I just need to search around the village then go to the standing stones. Easy.

As I'm standing, I feel a gentle breeze blowing against my right knee. Glancing down, I realize my onesie is steadily degrading. At some point, most of the knee on my right leg was ripped away. Now, the bottom seems ready to fall off. I feel like I'm in one of those video games where the heroine's outfit gets more scandalous the longer you play. I never really thought I had the hips to pull off scandalous until I saw myself in that pyromancer's outfit. Wow. Though in my onesie's case, it's not truly scandalous. Just… destroyed.

Sighing, I shrug off my onesie's condition. As I don't see any sign of a threat, I carefully make my way through the village, double-checking every nook and cranny. This includes checking buildings partially covered in flora despite my reservations. I spend about half an hour searching through the village before I'm confident they didn't leave any clues. By this point, the sun is starting to disappear amongst the trees. I reckon I still have an hour of daylight, but that's it.

I'm about to head for the standing stones when I have a thought. I couldn't see this village when we were at the stones the first time. Looking at the church I gauge how long it might take to build a spire on top. It would be nice to have an easy landmark to navigate to.

After thinking for a moment, I decide it would take more daylight than I have left. I'm tempted to go back inside to wait for morning, but there's a chance they went to the stones for safety. If I can find them, it'll be worth it. Besides, it's only a ten-minute walk. I can do this.

Setting off in the direction of the standing stones, Smoulder hopping along beside me, I move quickly towards my goal. I feel like Beth would be proud of my pace and attentiveness. I don't let myself get distracted by playing with magic once as I make my way towards the stones.

Halfway there I come across a narrow gap in the ground that has a small stream running through it. It's such a minor obstruction that I almost don't register it. Stepping across the gap with ease, I still slip into the stream when the topsoil crumbles beneath me. Picking myself up, I sigh as I realize the leg of my onesie is buried in mud. Pulling my leg free with a loud slurp, I inspect the damage. My onesie is still more or less intact, but it feels like my leg weighs an extra five kilos now. I try drawing the water out but that just leaves a dried-out brick attached to my leg. When I try reaching out with stone mana, it doesn't feel right. Considering how easy it's been for me to gain manipulation skills; I decide to try manipulating the dirt.

Sticking my fingers in the dry dirt, I cradle a scoop in my hand encouraging my mana to match it. It's rich and solid when wet but dusty and frail when dry. It's the basis for life, but only with patience, time and a working pattern. Channelling my mana into my onesie's leg, I attempt to draw the dirt away. I'm partially successful, as clumps of dirt start lifting free. I toss them aside before drawing more dirt out. There's still some roots and grass but a little bit of water carries them out, leaving me unencumbered once more. Setting out again, I swiftly review my notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (35)."

"Skill unlocked: Earth Manipulation (1 to 3)."

"Skill increased: Cleaning (34)."

Pretty good gains for slipping in a ditch. I'm almost there when I encounter thick undergrowth blocking my way to the circle.

I could go around. Instead, I use a few well-aimed Wind Arrows, making quick work of it. Using water mana to clear the remaining brush out of my path I hurry through, making sure my legs don't catch on anything. Which means that instead, I catch the hood of my onesie on a branch I missed instead. Reaching up, I run my fingers through the long slash over my right ear while I resolutely continue towards the relative safety of the stones. After everything else that's happened today, my onesie being torn up just isn't that important.

As I approach the standing stones, I watch for any sign of my companions. Even Dr Roberts. Unfortunately, there's no sign of them. Luckily, there's still no sign of the wolfadillos either. I'm glad I haven't been jumped, but I can't help but wonder where the wolfadillos went. If I'm supposed to hunt the rest down, how am I going to track them? Unlike the dragon, they don't leave giant claw marks in stone.

Right as I'm about to step into the circle of stones I remember something. It's time for another experiment.

I promised myself I'd do this when I saw that I had the option to teleport to the Nexus. I was nervous about teleporting all the way from the beach, but a short-range teleport is the least risky way for me to experience, and potentially, maybe, if I'm really lucky, learn how to teleport. So, yes, I'm going to use the teleport even though I'm already here.

Opening my notification log, I have it bring up my class selection notification. As I theorized, the cost has dropped drastically. It now says it only costs 0.1 facet to teleport.

Before I accept the prompt, I motion Smoulder forward into the circle. Then, with her flopping her cute little ears to the side while she watches me, I focus on my facet. Since facet is the only resource required, I want to try observing how the system uses it. Hopefully, by watching closely, I might be able to duplicate the effect. Being able to return to the circle at will would be incredibly useful.

Accepting the prompt, I feel both my focus and my facet begin to rapidly drain out of me. In exchange, it's as if I'm watching the process in slow motion.

The system starts by creating a barrier around me using the basic circle rune but with five linked copies which encircle me, starting at my head then descending downwards. Once formed, the barrier reminds me of the state I was in when I was stuck in my time-freeze.

Next, the system creates a copy of five linked runes. I recognize all five from when I was studying the pillar. This includes the rune I discovered powers the safe rest condition, which is set in the very middle. Once the system has finished constructing the runes, it feeds my facet into the rune. At this point my facet… stretches is the best word. My facet stretches between the spell construct and the original runes on the pillar.

Once the stretching is complete, I see the world expanding around me. As the world grows, I feel myself slipping sideways into the stretched facet bridge. While my eyes swear, I must be shrinking, my focus tells me that I remain the same size. It's only my perception of space changing. For that fraction of a second, it's as though I'm seeing the world through a magnifying glass.

Suddenly, I re-enlarge in front of the south pillar, my short journey complete. It didn't feel as though I travelled between the two points. Not exactly. It was more like I was standing still. But I was standing still while riding an escalator sideways through an incredibly small doorway.

Now that I've arrived the barrier dissipates, so I let my focus go.

Checking my focus, I'm shocked to find I used 73 points in what felt like two seconds. I also used 31 facet. A quick glance at my notifications makes me admit it was probably worth it.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (36)."

"Skill unlocked: Spatial Manipulation (1 to 5)."

"Quest updated: Learn Magic. Hidden requirement: Learn Temporal and Spatial manipulation. Reward: 10 iron rank integration points. Chronomancer class updated to Chronodancer."

I'm a little shocked that I received ten points for what was such an easy gain, but I suppose it was only easy since my interface handled the actual teleportation. I just spent resources to understand the process. I'm tempted to try myself, but I intend to acquire my class first. Right after I spend my quest reward. I open my attributes, spending all ten points on Spirit. I watch the first point tick up immediately. In another nine hours, it will have risen to 77, almost matching my intellect.

Mentally confirming my selection, I turn towards the south pillar while reaching for my class. Only the Fire-Storm Elementalist and Chronomancer appear this time. The Elementalist is standing next to the pillar, a serene smile on her face. Her toga has more colours worked into it than when I first saw her, but I barely register the fact as I check over the Chronomancer. She's wearing the same onesie, but her demeanour has changed. A lot. She doesn't seem worn like she did before, while also standing with more poise.

Wondering what caused the change, I recheck the notification where I notice the second part of the quest reward. It updated the class. I was so focused I almost missed it.

It only takes a moment to bring up the revised class description.

“Base Controller class unlocked: Chronodancer."

“Chronodancer (Unique): By bending time and space to your will, you have demonstrated an understanding that time and space are intrinsically tied. A Chronodancer is capable of many feats considered impossible by lesser creatures.

Attributes: Minor increase to Agility, Endurance, Intellect, Spirit, Perception and Resolve maximum.

Resources: Large increase to focus, stamina and unique matrix resource facet, moderate increase to mana and health.

Abilities: Spatial and Temporal. Inhibition and repositioning in large-sized areas.”

I only get a second to skim the description before I hear words rumble from the pillar.

"Citizen Pandora, would you like to confirm your base class selection as a Fire-Storm Elementalist? Please be aware that once you have made this choice you will be unable to change it."

Meeting the stormy eyes of my Elementalist avatar, I shake my head.

As clearly as possible, I proclaim "No. I'm not ready to take my class. Not yet."

1.13 Not now. Maybe later.

January 14, 2019, roughly 8 pm.

I'd forgotten quest completion and skill unlocks affect which classes are available. I'd been so caught up when the initial process finished, that it'd clean slipped my mind. Plus, the Fire-Storm Elementalist seemed really cool. Rechecking the Chronodancer, I see there's already a huge difference. If I can improve Chronomancer with a single skill, what might happen if I unlock more elemental skills? Can I get an Ultimate Fire-Storm Elementalist?

Stepping back from the pillar, I glance at the setting sun. I decide I have time.

Before I leave, I want to attempt teleporting on my own. Once I'm done, I might be able to make it back to the church before nightfall, if I hurry. When I look at the standing stones to get my bearings, I see both of my avatars still there. They're both watching me with smiles on their faces.

Ignoring them, I hurriedly move outside the standing stones. I prepare myself by casting the barrier spell first. The spell is still fresh in mind, the concentric circles being a simple design. It's easy to copy the familiar runes, my facet flowing smoothly into the construct. This time I'm watching for the notification.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (6)"

"Spell discovered: Space-time buffer. Would you like to replace one of your preferred spells? Y/N?"

Emboldened by my success with the buffer, I start creating the runes for the actual teleport. I need to consult my journal several times. I'm still not sure it's perfect but light is fading fast and I want to get back. With my fingers crossed, I activate the construct, hoping my magic doesn't blow up on me.

I very briefly feel a sucking sensation before I find myself in front of the south pillar. I'm left feeling very nauseous but I'm otherwise okay. Even though my spell cost ten facet, there's significantly more disorientation using my version, the system seems to think that I've done well enough.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (7)"

"Spell discovered: Return. Would you like to replace one of your preferred spells? Y/N?"

"Return point: Forerunner Transition Point South used. Would you like to set this as your preferred return point? Y/N?"

Accepting the option to set this as my return point, I consider the spell. I'm tempted to replace my shield with Return, but I decide to hold off for now. It's clearly not perfect. But then I'm trying to copy five different three-dimensional runes. Studying the runes on the pillar will have to wait for later. Hopefully, I'll get another opportunity to teleport. With another active example, I'm sure I can improve Return.

Reaching out for Smoulder, I pick her up, letting her wiggle her way into my arms. I wave goodbye to my avatars, who are still watching us, then start the trek back towards the church.

As we move, I do my best to keep my eyes open, but it's hard to see anything in the shifting shadows. I hear several creaks and groans, but whenever I turn, there's nothing there. Nothing but trees.

As I’m approaching the spot where I fell in the stream, I notice tracks. It's almost an accident. If I hadn't been looking, reflecting on my fall, I'd have missed them entirely.

Spinning around again to double-check the woods around me, I startle the wolfadillo that was sneaking up on me.

With a screech, I fire off a lightning torrent. This time I’m prepared for the recoil. As a result, I only stumble a few steps. I watch as the lightning strikes not one, but two wolfadillos, arcing to hit a second which had apparently been hiding in the nearby bush.

Seeing the second wolfadillo fall out from an area I thought was clear, I realize they could be anywhere around me. I conjure my shield then turn, running towards the church. I only make it two steps when I'm brought up short by a giant shape leaping out of the trees, landing a few meters in front of me. This new wolfadillo is the largest I've seen, easily the size of a truck. And it's cut me off. It's close enough that I can see its maw full of razor-sharp teeth as it stalks closer.

I swear it's staring at me with hatred, its dark crimson eyes narrowing as I take a step back in response. That one step saves me, as I once again slip then fall into the stream. I send Smoulder flying when I hit the ground. As I fall, I see a dark form flying through the spot where I was just standing. I hear the whumf, as its heavy claws hit the earth to my left, turning towards me with a snarl.

I scramble to my feet, keeping the shield between me and my enemies. I start casting another lightning torrent, but both the beasts seem to know what's coming. Instead of waiting they each send a brace of quills my direction, causing me to go on the defensive. Halting my spell, I duck behind my shield, wincing as I feel a couple quills slice through my left leg. Better than taking one to the face.

Running isn't an option, but I can't outlast their quills either. I briefly consider using teleport, but it takes too long to cast. Watching them closely, I realize they're not waiting for me. They're slowly stepping away from each other, moving to flank me. I’m starting to get worried when my saviour comes hurtling out of a nearby tree, her flaming bunny headbutt knocking the smaller wolfadillo to the ground. The large one and I are both left startled. Luckily, I recover first, sending a torrent its direction. The backlash pushes me deeper into the soft earth, but I’m otherwise fine.

Unfortunately, the giant beast manages to avoid the worst of the spell, twisting out of the way. It takes a nasty hit to its leg which sends it rolling across the forest floor. By the time I push myself out of the shallow ditch I ploughed, it's regained its feet as well.

It's limping on three legs now, but I'm running low on time. The other beast is snapping out but it's distracted for the moment, as Smoulder hops around it. It's a tempting target but I can't send a lightning torrent for fear of hitting Smoulder. Instead, I snap a couple flame arrows out, one at each of them. The first takes the leader in the snout, causing it to snarl and snap at me, but doesn't hinder it. The second misses my target completely. Yet Smoulder takes full advantage of the distraction, slamming into its jaw with a bone-shattering crunch.

That's the last I can spare for her fight because suddenly the giant wolfadillo has decided it's done playing the waiting game.

The beast lunges at me, powerful jaws snapping in my face.

My shield deflects its first bite, but I'm thrown off balance. I feel my ankle give out as I step on something wrong.

My foe doesn't give my time to recover, quickly snapping at me again. As I scramble away across the forest floor, I throw a handful of needles and dirt into its eyes. Not my proudest moment, but the creature is blinded enough that its next attack misses me entirely.

Taking a moment, I channel lightning mana into the forward-swept triangle rune. When I did this with my fire mana it created a flamethrower. This time it's like I'm channelling pure lightning. Even as the lightning smashes into the massive creature it manages to snap at me one last time, its jaws ripping a hole in my arm before it's thrown free by the lightning.

As I stand next to it, channelling more and more lightning into it, I watch its remains turn to charred ash. Only once there's nothing left do I remember the other one. Turning, I spot Smoulder hopping towards me. The second beast is lying in a heap. There’s a disturbing mess back where she blew a hole clean through its jaw.

"Damn, I'm glad you're on my side," I say as I reach down to pick her up. We leave the wolfadillos where they lie, as I pick my way back to the church. Other than a quick check to confirm that all the wolfadillos are dead I avoid using my interface. I can't afford to be distracted if anything else shows up.

Having to step carefully, to avoid hurting my ankle further, it takes me longer than I'd like to get back. I'm also being extra cautious as I return to the church. Considering how it could have ended, I count myself lucky. The wolfadillos almost took me out before I noticed them. If it hadn't been for me seeing their tracks, they might have gotten me. Given that I thought I was paying attention, I'm worried there's more at work here than my alertness.

Without Beth around to watch my back, I might need to put points into perception earlier than I’d been planning. Perception must help with noticing things sneaking up on me, right?

I keep moving slowly until I spot the familiar outline of the church looming in the distance. With safety being so close, I allow myself to sacrifice caution for speed as I hobble my way to my entrance. I almost start climbing inside but feel a tingle. The one I get at the back of my neck when something is wrong. Looking at the clearing around me again, I notice what's missing.

The rest of the wolfadillo bodies are gone.

I don't know what happened to them, and I don't stick around to find out. Ducking down, I scoot through my entrance then seal up the stonework behind me.

With the stone door sealed, I slide down against the wall while I take stock of my injuries. The scratches along my right leg, while painful, seem to be superficial. My ankle, while sore, let me walk on it. Hopefully, it’s just bruised or something.

My right arm, where the giant wolfadillo tore into me, seems to be in rough shape though. It didn’t seem too bad at the time, but inspecting it reveals a spot that’s just gone. Luckily, it’s not very big, but it is bleeding. Unfortunately, I never took that first aid course, my boss, Henry had suggested. I know you’re supposed to wrap things up or pour alcohol on them, but that’s all from watching people get injured on tv. The other thing I’ve seen is fire. Maybe I should put points into strength. Being perpetually low on hp doesn't leave me with much of a buffer before I start getting injured.

"System, I don't suppose Survival skills help with injuries?" I question the air.

The lack of response is hardly a surprise. Reaching for the skill I focus on healing my wounds, but nothing happens. Checking over my onesie I sigh as I use a stone knife to cut off several of the loose strips of my right sleeve. Tying them together, I use them to block the flow of blood, placing the largest knot directly over the jagged hole.

With the bleeding addressed I turn to my notifications.

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (8 to 10)"

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (36 to 40)"

"Skill increased: Lightning Manipulation (10 to 18)"

"Quest completed. Gotta slay 'em all - Wolfadillo. Contribution: 8/12. Rewards: 8 iron rank integration points; one uncommon starter item; Codex: Wolfadillo updated."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

I'm not sure if I should be happy that the system gives tangible rewards for quests or disappointed that I need to return to the standing stones to claim it. Not dealing with that now. With Strength and Perception vying for integration points, I open my status while I review my choices.

PANDORA

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-20

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

0

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

78

(+/-)

SPIRIT

68

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

18

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

8

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

0/37

[-3.2]

(17)/day   (12)/day

Stamina

39/50

[1.9]

(26)/day

Mana

104/246

[23.9]

(181)/day

Focus

72/182

[12]

(113)/day

Matrix

Facet

21/60

[5.4]

(43)/hour

Considering my integration points, I think carefully this time. Strength is definitely my weak point, but perception seems more useful. Not only does it increase my mana and focus, if it helps me notice enemies before they get close, which is exactly what I need with my current build.

Putting all 8 points into perception, my mind hovers over the confirmation notification for a moment before hitting accept.

With my points confirmed, I look at the low fire burning under my smokehouse. There’s only one more thing I want to do before going to sleep. Opening my menu, I scroll back to the notification from Roberts. I hesitate for a moment before confirming my choice.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Reprieve.

Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Roberts.

Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of biology and anatomy, Reprieve grants the user the ability to repair or prevent any damage to a living creature. With sufficient stores of Reprieve, a user may restore those who have recently died. Reprieve should not be confused with healing abilities, which are only capable of restoring their specified conditions.”

Reprieve’s primary contributing attributes are Agility and Endurance, with a lesser contribution from all other attributes.

Like most higher concept resources, Reprieve may be fashioned into armour.”

I barely skim over the notification before I feed some more wood into the feeder. Then I settle down next to the fire, letting it warm me. When I received the notification, the system said the codex would be shared with Roberts. I’m not sure where they are or if they’re worried about me, but this is the only way I can think of to let them know I’m alive and well.

I bundle what I can of my hoodie under my head, while pulling Smoulder close. It’s been a long day full of monsters and magic, so I feel incredibly drained as I lay down to get some sleep.

It doesn't come easily. The stone is cold and hard, the night dark and full of strange sounds. Even the refuge of the church feels foreboding, full of dark shadows, hiding the corners from view. But even with visions of snarling wolves and massive dragons flitting through my mind, I eventually drift off into sleep.

When I wake, it's still night. The fire has nearly died, leaving me shivering from the cold. Groaning as I move to put more wood on the fire, I realize Smoulder is missing. Looking around, I can feel myself panicking as I start whispering her name.

"Smoulder, Smoulder, are you there girl?" I call out quietly. My first irrational thought is she went into the basement somehow, but when I summon an orb of fire, I spot her immediately. She's hopping towards me, moving directly from the little entrance I made for her.

"There you are," I exclaim in relief as I reach down for her, pulling her into my arms for more head-scritches. "What were you doing out there, huh?" I ask as I hobble back towards the fire. She just looks up at me like it's obvious, then butts my hand for more head-scritches. Laughing softly, I relent, while glancing down at my arm. My impromptu bandage is covered in dried blood. I know I should change it, but I'm afraid of ripping it open again.

So, delaying, I move closer to the fire. I cut several more strips from my onesie, this time from my left sleeve. Cleaning them with water, I wince as I realize I forgot to clean the first binding. I definitely need to remove it. With my new binding ready, I gingerly peel the crusty one away.

There's a moment where I feel a sharp pain, but nothing else happens so I just inspect the wound. It's scabbed over more evenly than I would have expected, but there's an angry redness where I had the knot. Tying the new bandage in place, I clean the old one, dropping the debris in the far corner.

This time I mould the stone as I lay on it, shifting it until I feel comfortable. It's still a stone floor, but it's better than it was. This time when I close my eyes, I fall asleep immediately.

I awake to an urgent need. Quickly rushing upstairs, my ankle makes me regret having put the bathroom so far from the smokehouse. As I sit on my stone throne, I turn to everyone's favourite pastime. Reading.

Opening my status menu, I review the changes since last night.

"Skills increased:

- Water Manipulation (19)

- Cleaning (34)

- Stone Manipulation (17)

- Stone Shaping (14)

PANDORA

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-20

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

0

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

78

(+/-)

SPIRIT

78

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

26

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

42/42

[-3.2]

(19)/day   (14)/day

Stamina

54/54

[1.9]

(28)/day

Mana

274/274

[25.3]

(206)/day

Focus

200/200

[14.1]

(128)/day

Matrix

Facet

66/66

[5.8]

(48)/hour

Seems like the points keep increasing even when I'm sleeping. But… I'm pretty sure my health shouldn't be full. My mental clock tells me it's around 7 am, January 15th. That means I didn't sleep an extra day or anything. If that's the case, why are all my resources completely full.

Bringing up my conditions, I check to see if there's an answer there.

Current Conditions

Previous Conditions

Temporal Inconsistency.

Temporal Buffer

Forerunner's Survival Focus.

System Class Integration

Forerunner's N.E.W.B. Protection.

Temporal Dissonance

Forerunner's A Good Night's Rest.

Bruised Ankle

Well Rested

None of them stand out, so this time I decide to go through focusing on every condition.

Temporal Inconsistency is exactly what I expect. It reduces my health regen by 25% while slightly inhibiting Temporal Manipulation. It will persist until I repair it. Which I'm sure I'll get around to eventually. Definitely not avoiding it. Nope.

Reading over Forerunner's Survival Focus I'm surprised when the notification appears, but it's not the source of my rapid regen.

"Increases rate of all survival skill gains. Improved focus support of survival skills. Increases rate of all class skill gains. Improved focus support of class skills. Time: 29/30 days remaining."

That seems powerful, but I'm not sure it's enough to grab my class right away. My skills already seem to be growing rapidly.

I've read N.E.W.B. Protection and A Good Night's Rest already, their descriptions remain unchanged.

Focusing on bruised ankle lets me know the obvious, I have decreased movement speed and my dodging is inhibited. But interestingly it only has a duration of twelve hours remaining.

Moving on I focus on Well Rested, but the notification stops me in my tracks.

"A good night's sleep is the only cure for several ailments. It also restores all resources to full. Increases resistance to exhaustion effects. Time: 8/8 hours remaining."

That's unexpected. Very welcome, but totally unexpected. At least I don't feel as bad about putting points into perception now that I know my health will regenerate after a night's sleep. It also makes me wish I'd stayed up to buy my facet codex.

With the question of my mysterious regeneration solved, my thoughts turn to breakfast. I have no idea if the wolfadillo meat is ready, but I figure I can always roast it by hand.

Creating a stone flipper, fork and plate, I prepare to open the smokehouse. Now that I can just levitate them all with magic, cutting a piece off to eat should be easy. Opening up the smokehouse, I realize I forgot an important fact.

It's full of smoke.

The smoke billows out, making me cough as I step back. I summon a gust of wind but only end up making it worse.

Attempting to use wind and fire manipulation, I'm surprised when it works. Reaching out I realize that smoke contains ash, leading me to add earth manipulation to my efforts. Suddenly I feel the concepts shift, my manipulation becoming much easier.

Using my new understanding to direct the smoke away from me, I carefully use stone manipulation to reach in then cut myself some of the meat, pulling it out on the stone plate. Once that's done, I reseal the smokehouse then inspect my meal.

It doesn't seem nearly as appetizing as the deer from yesterday, but I don't have a lot of options. Cutting it into small pieces, I cook anything that appears even vaguely raw. Once I'm satisfied, I take my first bite. I nearly spit it out, the taste of ash is so thick.

After a second's struggle, I force the first bite down. I make it through three more bites before a thought occurs to me. Using my earth manipulation, I pull the ash off. It's not perfect so I use some water mana to scrub them down. It doesn't even leave them soggy since I can pull the water away.

Pleased with myself, I pop another one in my mouth. It's plain and gamey but it's much easier to get through without the ash. As I'm chewing, I realize something disturbing. The whole point of the smokehouse is to dry the meat out. Can I do that with water manipulation?

If so, could I use it on something that's still alive?

Could I use it on someone that's still alive?

Choosing not to dwell on that line of thought, I open the smokehouse once more. I direct the smoke away with little effort as I stare at the slabs of meat. There's enough here for over a week at the rate I eat, even though I seem to be eating a lot more than I used to. But that's not what I focus on.

Taking a deep breath, I reach out, then draw the water out of the meat. As I continue it shrivels up until it resembles beef jerky. Stopping, I move it to a stone plate then cautiously take a bite. It tastes better than my roasted meat bites. It almost makes me regret building the smokehouse in the first place.

Smothering the fire with some strategically placed water magic, I decide to leave the smokehouse mostly intact for the moment. I seal off the channels I had the smoke travelling through, then dry out the remaining slabs of meat before sealing them inside. Ten solid centimetres of stone should keep the meat safe from most things. Anything that can get through that? Well, they're welcome to it.

I spend the next five minutes cleaning out the bottom of the smokehouse. Once that's done, I deposit the filth in the growing pile in the corner before making my way back up to the balcony. It's time to get a lay of the land before I start on my chores for the day. I want to set out to search for the others, but with my ankle the way it is, I'll be lucky to make it a kilometre. I have an idea that might help with that, but I've decided that first I'm going to create a lookout tower atop the church. Then I might be able to spot the others. It'll also serve as a landmark I can find my way back to.

Looking up at the peak I consider how I'm going to make my ascent. Instead of stairs, I decide to create a ladder. And a fireman's pole. It'll take a lot less stone while it'll be faster too. It only takes me a minute to get up to the peak where I create a platform. I'm not ready to start on the tower yet, I'll need more stone for that, but I'd rather not step outside without observing the area around me first.

I open the south first gazing out towards the standing stones. Seeing them reminds me that whatever else I do today; I should pick up the "starter" item at some point.

I'm tempted to try teleporting again. In fact, I'm almost certain I will, with my ankle, but there are a couple things I want to finish first.

Not seeing anything of interest, I close the south viewport before opening the north one. I don't see anything new outside, so I quickly close it up. This time I've put the platform at the east end of the church, which allows me to make a third viewport. This viewport allows me to check out over the central area with the statue, which I note is still conspicuously empty of wolfadillo bodies. From up here though I can see signs that one was dragged east into the woods, the rest appear to just be gone.

Deciding I've seen enough, I close the third viewport. I take the stone fireman's pole in hand but then I make the mistake of looking down. I made it as strong as possible but I'm a little nervous about sliding down. It seemed like a good idea at the time but from up here I'm not so sure. Taking a deep breath, I bring the basic circle rune to mind, ready to feed wind mana into it at a moment's notice.

Then I chicken out, choosing to climb down the ladder instead. Which I do. Carefully.

When I reach the balcony, I consider the pole. Reaching out, I grab it, sliding down from the much more reasonable height of four meters. Even though I'm still intact when I reach the bottom, I still don't think I'm ready to take it all the way from the top. Eighteen meters is scary high.

With my feet back on solid ground, I head towards the north wall. I need more stone, but I don't want to sacrifice my nice solid walls for it. The next closest building is just outside the north wall, so I'm going to make a direct path to harvest the stone as quickly as I can. Doing my usual routine of opening a peephole, slowly expanding it, looking around, then repeating, I soon find myself surveying the remains of the half-buried building.

The ease with which I lift the dirt away would have left me shocked yesterday. It's still only a bucket at a time, but I'm able to unbury the building in only five minutes. It only takes me another half an hour to scavenge the first half of the stone. I've been systematically removing every block of stone I can see, even the floor, so it shouldn't come as a shock when I uncover an underground room, but it does.

I've removed half the building at this point, so the room clearly doesn't extend under all of it. Continuing my work, I carefully pull away the rest of the material over the room, letting light shine down into the hole.

As I'm looking down, I see the morning light glinting off something half-buried in the earth. There's treasure in that thar hole.

1.14 My Shinies

January 15, 2019, Roughly 8 in the morning.

As I gaze down into the hole, I make out several jars and bottles lining a shelf along one side. Most of the earthen wall that was above the shelf has collapsed but most of it seems undamaged. Drawing the earth away, into my new "dirt goes here” pile. Then I set several stone blocks into place, creating crude steps that I use to step into the pit. I think it used to be a cellar. I leave the bottles and jars alone for the moment, as there’s another object that catches my interest.

It must have been unburied when I spotted the dirt out. Wedged between several bottles is a tool that almost seems like it might have been a shovel. It’s missing its handle, but the head is still intact. Picking it up I realize it’s about thirty cm to a side but only two millimetres thick. I'm not sure what it's made of, but I'm guessing it must be steel or iron, though I don't see any rust.

My first thought is that I might be able to make something useful out of this once I’m able to learn metal manipulation. I already know that it doesn’t respond to Earth manipulation since it's still here after I excavated the area. Climbing out of the hole I move into the church where I can experiment without having to watch my back continuously.

I barely look as I seal the entrance behind me. Instead, I’m inspecting the flat piece of metal carefully. If the previous owners left any markings on it, I’d like to find them before I accidentally destroy them. My careful inspection is for naught, however. There isn’t so much as a scratch to mar the object’s surface.

Shrugging I start cycling my mana in my fingers as I run them along the shovelhead. It’s neither fluidic nor rigid. By themselves, most metals are malleable. They're also conductive allowing heat and electricity to flow through them. Then there's the weight of metals. Not just their physical weight either, but historical too. The harnessing of metals is one of the most distinctive marks of our civilization besides fire and agriculture. We literally have ages named after bronze, iron and gold. Even the system is using metals for grading.

Drawing my mana forth I'm able to shape the thin sheet in my hand. It takes more time, plus I need to work smaller sections to not drain my mana, but the degree of control compared to any other mana type is phenomenal. I'm able to run my hand over the surface leaving small indents, basically drawing on the metal surface as I go. I keep playing with the sheet of metal until I eventually remember I need to be productive. With that thought, I create a knife from the sheet then fold the rest together for later. With that done I do a quick once over of my notifications. It takes me a second to remember I haven't checked my notifications since before I went to bed the night before.

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation (41 to 43)

- Fire Manipulation (14 to 16)

- Water Manipulation (20 to 21)

- Wind Manipulation (15 to 16)

- Stone Manipulation (18 to 25)

- Stone Shaping (15 to 17)

- Earth Manipulation (4 to 11)

- Cleaning (34 to 38)

"Skill unlocked: Metal Manipulation (1 to 4)"

"Skill unlocked: Crafting - Metal Shaping (1 to 2)

"Quest received: Metal in the Making. Learn the basics of creating metal tools. Requirements: Create 1/5 tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 2/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 3/3 days remaining."

Deciding it won't take me long to make progress on the quest I make two more knives, a fork and a spoon. Checking my progress, I see that I'm at 3/5 tools while my metal shaping is up to 5/25. It seems like they need to be distinct types of tools. Wracking my brain for a second, I grin as I make one of the knives into a small gardening spade. The last one I make into a spearhead, which the system doesn't count as a tool.

I still have half the metal left from the sheet though, so I look at it as I think of other tools I could use. Glancing down, I see the tattered sleeve of my onesie flapping about. Oh. Ohhhhh. Reaching for the metal plate I create several needles. Now all I need is some string, then I can start patching up my poor onesie.

My collection of needles is sufficient to count as a tool, turning the progress over to 5/5 while also raising my metal shaping to 17. Now I just need to raise my metal shaping skill another eight points. Considering the whole process has only taken me a couple minutes so far, I feel it's probably worth completing such an easy quest. Then I can get the integration points right away.

My needles are already exactly what I need so I start with upgrading my utensils. Taking each in hand, I start by refining them. I give my knife a finer edge, my fork smoother prongs and my spoon a rounded edge. Then I shape my name into the underside of each one, proudly claiming them as mine. Which leads to me adding swirling designs to the top of each handle. Looking at my tools and utensils, I realize I need storage for them.

Taking some stone, I quickly create a rack for my utensils and a small box for my needles. Storing everything, I turn back to my remaining piece of metal. I split several small pieces off which I use to pin the leg of my onesie together, eliminating most of the draft that's been blowing through. I'm left at metal shaping 24/25 so I should only need to create one more object.

The last object I create is a simple cup. Like my utensils, I take a moment to engrave my name in the base then add swirling patterns running up the sides. With that complete, I happily read my notifications.

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation (44 to 45)

- Metal Manipulation (5 to 26)

- Metal Shaping (3 to 26)

"Quest objective completed: Metal in the Making. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points."

"Quest updated: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will stand up to abuse. Requirements: Create 0/5 iron grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 26/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

Okay, so the crafting quest is a chain quest. That's pretty cool. It took me an hour to complete but it was definitely worth it. I might need to work on the stone shaping too. Hopefully working on my tower will help. Setting my tools down in their new containers, which I leave near my smokehouse turned meat storage, I return my attention to investigating the cellar with its unidentified contents.

My ability to cut stone blocks has grown to the point where it only takes me a minute to recreate an opening large enough to step through. At this rate, I might be able to open and close some walls as if they were doors in a couple days. Stepping outside I glance at the large pile of dirt I left sitting to the side before peering down at the jars. As I'm limping forward, I'm struck by an idea. Pausing in place, I put a large portion of dirt inside the church for later experiments, then continue into the cellar. Pretty sure I can use earth in crafting too. Maybe some windows.

I'm able to feel the bottles with earth manipulation but I can't lift them. As I touch one of the bottles, I'm able to tell that about 80% of the contents is water, but the rest is unknown. Since it's in a cellar I'm kind of hoping that the bottles contain wine or something similar. Then once I've found the others when we're all back together we can toast to our unlikely success.

Directing my water mana carefully, I lift the bottles from the shelf then set them inside on my pile of dirt. Once I have all the bottles collected, I realize I can't leave them sitting there. I decide to create a stone rack to rest them on instead. It only takes me a couple minutes, but it's the fanciest thing I've created with stone. Apparently, it's enough to complete the first stage of my stone shaping quest.

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation (46 to 48)

- Stone Manipulation (26 to 30)

- Stone Shaping (18 to 25)"

"Quest objective completed: If you build it, they won't come. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points.

"Quest updated: If you build it, they won't come. Requirements: Build 0/1 iron grade structure using Stone Manipulation, raise Stone Shaping skill 25/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

Sweet. Nice wine rack plus a quest completion. I wonder what it means by iron grade structure though. Is it saying I can make my structures even stronger than stone? Reading back, I see that it mentioned iron grade metal tools too. Yet another item on my list of things to investigate.

I mentally designate and confirm all six points to perception without opening my status, returning directly to work. There's nothing else of interest in the building, but I'm considering taking apart the rest of the village now. Not very seriously, but who knows what else might be buried here. I'm about to fill the pit back in when I realize leaving it as an obstruction might be more useful.

With a small house worth of stone built up, it's time for me to start working on my tower. But first I need to get all my stone to the roof. I'd rather not climb up and down the ladder continually. Instead, I create a narrow stone staircase along the outside of the former church. Then I create a flat spot at the top where I can stack my materials. Moving the stone is a slow but steady process since I'm trying to avoid making multiple trips. Once I've moved my materials to the roof, I go back to reclaim the staircase.

Just because I'm trying to avoid multiple trips, doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy for things to sneak up on me.

With my materials in place and my stairs reclaimed, I reach down into the roof with my stone manipulation, slowly reinforcing the west end of the building. With the stairs already at this end, there are more walls to hold my tower in place, so it doesn't take much before I'm satisfied. Then I start building the tower. It doesn't need to be much taller to see over most of the nearby trees, heck I can almost see over them just standing on the peak. But I want to be able to see it from a distance.

As I float the blocks into place, I think about how much work it would be to do this without magic. Not just setting them in place, but the ability to meld them together into a monolithic structure? I'd never be able to do it.

I keep working until I have a tower that stretches another ten meters above the peak of the church. Climbing the inside is remarkably easy as I've covered the interior with hand and footholds. I chose not to go with a ladder, but I still have a pole. I decided to split the tower into two halves so I can take the pole down five meters at a time. It's safer that way. The entire time I've been building it, I've stayed below the rising walls. Which keeps me away from anything that might come along and snatch me up. Once I've worked a domed roof over the top I finally gaze out over the world.

The standing stones to the south are immediately visible, but I also think I'm able to make out Josh's little fort near the beach to the east. Doing a careful survey of the skies, I don't see any sign of the dragon. Breathing a little easier, I look to the north where I see that the river is only a half a kilometre away. It's nearly as close as the standing stones. If I remember correctly, the river leads all the way to the mountains in the west. There were a few minor tributaries, but I could follow it there. More importantly, I can follow it back to the church.

Looking towards the beach, I estimate the distance to be about four kilometres. It took us an hour at a comfortable speed, to make it to the village. Using that as a guide I try to determine how far I could travel in a day. If I went all out for fifteen hours, I could probably make it halfway to the mountains rising in the distance. I never would've been able to make a journey like that before this system, but with my body draining stamina instead of my energy, I can keep going for a lot longer than I could before. Combine that with a good night's rest completely restoring everything then I should be able to make decent progress.

Unfortunately, the mountains are only where I suspect the others have gone. Because I'm assuming the dragon took them. And I'm assuming that's where I saw the dragon flying. Instead of assumptions, I have an idea that might let me know.

Opening my interface, I go to my party status. They're all greyed out, but the fact that they're still in my party gives me hope. If they died, they probably wouldn't be in my party anymore.

With this vague thought in mind, I start feeling around the edge of Josh's status using my facet. Just like following my health led me to the interface layer, I'm hoping that I can follow his status back to him. I've been examining his status for over a minute when I finally feel a pulse reach me.

It's weak so I'm not able to determine the direction but it's the lead I'm hoping for. I patiently wait another minute then two for another pulse. I'm starting to get worried when after nearly three minutes I finally feel another pulse arrive. I'm still not able to narrow down the direction. Waiting for the next pulse I count up to 176 when it arrives. This time I'm ready for it so I send facet into the connection, hoping to get their direction.

For a second I go blind. It feels like my wrists are burning and I have a major headache, but then the sensations disappear as quickly as they came. When my vision returns, I see Josh's status flicker for a moment before returning to grey.

At that moment I saw that he still had plenty of health and stamina, but his mana and focus were both negative. I didn't realize you could have negative mana. Looking down at my wounds it occurs to me that it's probably similar to running out of health.

At least he's alive. And I know his direction. The pulse came from the west almost directly along the river. Checking my facet, I'm floored when I realize that pulse cost me eleven focus and 43 facet. I'm only going to be able to repeat the pulse a little more than once every hour.

I was planning to check on Beth right away, but it appears I don't have the facet. Looking out to the west, I see a spot where the river bends. If I'm going to head out today, that's where I want to reach. I only have a few more simple experiments I want to try before I'll be ready to set out.

Climbing down through the stone hatch in the roof, I collect the last of my unused metal.

Shaping it into a thin sheet, I wrap it around my ankle creating a brace. Standing up I test it. It takes several redesigns, but I find a balance that lets me move at a reasonable clip without jostling my ankle too badly. I make a couple more adjustments for aesthetics purposes before I'm satisfied.

The final design resembles a metal boot. Inside I added packed earth to soften each step. Thanks to my manipulation skills I'm able to walk without it taking a significant amount of energy, though it does take some getting used to.

With my first experiment a success I move onto revising lightning torrent. The inability to stay standing whenever I cast this spell is a major weakness. If I'd made my spell correctly my companions might still be here beside me.

I can't do anything about that, but I can try to fix my spell. I call the rune structure to mind but don't feed it mana. As I'm inspecting it, I see the two thrust outputs. The way I have them set they're pointed straight at me. With a slight adjustment, I point them out to the sides. The moment I'm ready to cast, I wince. If this doesn't work, I'm going to send myself flying again.

Moving out of the church I go down next to my dirt pile. If I'm sent flying, I'd rather land there. With my backup in place, I start casting. The spell is a complete success. It goes flying across the village slamming into the tree I chose as my target. The tree lights on fire before falling back into the nearby forest. The thrust was successfully directed to my sides. It scorched the earth just to the front of me and I felt a tingle in the air, but it left me unharmed.

I don't take time to revel in my success though. I'm already limping across the clearing, dousing the burning tree before I light the whole damn forest on fire. Running across the clearing highlights that my ankle is still sore, but my design is working. I'm guessing that being able to run, even for short periods, is going to be important.

"Skill reassessed: Engineering (1 to 21)

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation (49 to 52)

- Water Manipulation (22)

- Lightning Manipulation (19 to 20)

- Stone Manipulation (31 to 42)

- Stone Shaping (26 to 32)

- Earth Manipulation (12)

- Metal Manipulation (27 to 29)

- Metal Shaping (27 to 28)

- Engineering (22 to 24)

- Spatial Manipulation (8)

- Temporal Manipulation (6)

"Lightning torrent modified, would you like to update your preferred spell?"

"Oh, hell yes," I say to the air.

With my first two experiments a success, it's time for my third and last before I head out. The last idea occurred to me when I had to use two manipulation skills to control the smoke. First, I summon my orb of fire setting it spinning. Then I summon an orb of water matching my fire orbs orbit. Slowly I bring them together. When they make contact, they explode in a cloud of steam. Using both my water and fire manipulation, I'm able to direct the steam providing myself with an obscuring cloud. One that doesn't smell like smoke. Spinning it out around me I watch as I let it float into the sky where I'm distracted when I see the green and blue planet peeking over the northern edge of the village.

"Sab, I wish you could see this." I sigh, looking to the sky. Glumly, I check my notifications.

Moving back inside I pack my meagre possessions including what should be a few days' worth of dried meat in a couple stone blocks. With my preparations complete, I call Smoulder then we start out towards the west.

….

I make it three steps before I remember I need to stop by the standing stones first. Turning in place, I start heading south. Hopefully this "starter item" is useful.

"I'm coming, Josh." I say as I limp out of the clearing.

1.15 Going the Distance

January 15, 2019, a short while before 10 am.

For the first time, I don't slip when I cross the stream on the way to the standing stones. The rest of the trip is even less eventful. Until I reach the branch that ripped my onesie that is. It deserves to be destroyed with extreme prejudice.

This is a good opportunity to try a variation of my torrent spell. The only thing I change is using water instead of lightning mana. When I begin casting I feel the air around me go dry, the forest floor cracking as all the moisture is sucked into me. When it feels ready, I unleash a veritable deluge. It doesn't just blast the offending branch away, but the entire tree as well.

I watch as the tree tumbles towards the standing stones. Instead of landing in the circle, however, it rebounds off a transparent barrier, which leaves it sloughing off to the side. I guess the circle's protections are more concrete than I surmised.

Watching the water recede, I inspect the damage. The earth has been scoured clean as if a giant firehose was unleashed. I knew my torrent spell was powerful, but I'm shocked to discover the water version is this destructive. It was like releasing a tidal wave. While cool, I don't add the spell, ignoring the prompt as I push the water pooling at my feet away. I walk forward on a much dryer path than the surrounding area.

Stepping past the fallen tree, moving towards the standing stones, a thought occurs to me.

How am I supposed to receive an item from a bunch of stones?

I immediately realize how silly the question is. I can teleport and knock a tree down with no more than some water conjured from thin air. Why am I worried about where my reward is coming from?

And speaking of teleportation, I should use the proximity to safely practice my Return spell. I immediately do so.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (9)"

Stumbling, I almost throw up again. With everything else that's happened, I completely forgot about the nausea. I need to fix this spell. Luckily the runes are on the pillar. I think I'll study them to make corrections. Right after I collect my loot.

Stepping closer to the south stone, the notification I’m waiting for appears.

"Quest rewards available. Would you like to claim them now?"

"Yes," I answer waiting for it to appear on the lawn in front of me. Instead, I hear a 'plop' from behind. Turning I see a small bag lying in the centre of the clearing. Moving closer I realize it's not a bag, it's a backpack. When I reach down to see what my reward is, I discover the backpack is empty.

"Seriously?" I call out to the air.

Staring at it, I'm left wondering why the system gave me a freaking backpack. I mean, I wanted a backpack when I first got here. But that was back before I could levitate stone to carry things around. Checking the pack over I realize that it’s pretty high quality at least. It's got that going for it. It appears to be made of leather with shiny copper buckles. But it's just a backpack. Couldn't I have got a jacket or a blanket instead? Or a magical staff that increases my elemental powers. Yeah, that would be sweet.

Looking at the backpack again, I sigh. I'm not going to leave it here. Maybe I'll make something useful out of the leather. I don't bother putting any of my supplies in the pack. It takes less effort to levitate them beside me than it would to lug around an uncomfortable backpack full of stone packed meat.

As I slide the backpack over my shoulder a new notification shows up.

"Featherlite Backpack equipped. Would you like to spend one iron rank integration point to bond this item to your core?"

Wait, what?

Taking the backpack off I focus on it, prompting more information to appear.

"Featherlite Backpack: Always weighs two kilograms no matter how much is contained inside it. Maximum capacity one cubic meter. Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

Palming my face, I shake my head. Of course, it's a magical backpack. The price to bond it seems kind of expensive. Especially since it doesn't tell me what bonding does. Besides, I don't know if integration points are limited. They've been pretty easy to get so far, but all of my quests seem to be getting harder. Sure the rewards are better, but they're not that much better.

Still, I figure I might as well test it out. I dump one of my blocks of sealed stone full of meat inside. Hefting the bag, it feels like the pack does make them weightless. Curious I try reaching in. My hand disappears but I'm able to grab the meat block. Putting the rest of the blocks inside, I slip the pack on. I guess it's not that bad a reward.

Still would've preferred a jacket.

At least now that I'm not floating a dozen stone blocks, I can easily summon a pair of fire orbs to orbit me instead. They're not perfect, but they ward off the chill, which has only grown worse since I left the sunny village clearing.

Moving to the south side of the circle, I start studying the runes the system used in my teleport spell. Looking at them closely I notice that they're hazy outside the time-freeze. Even so, I still make progress on my Return spell. There are dozens of little mistakes I fix before I decide I'd need to spend a lot more time to make further progress.

Walking outside of the stone circle I brace myself, before casting Return. I instantly reappear. The facet cost has dropped, from nearly ten to only 0.7 facet. Still more expensive than the system version, but it's an order of magnitude cheaper, which is great. The transition is much smoother, not causing any discomfort, which is even better.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (10)"

"Return modified, would you like to add this spell to your preferred spell list?"

Yes, I say as I pick up Smoulder. Looking down at her, a new thought occurs to me. Can I teleport her too? No. I'm not willing to risk her well-being on something untested. It can wait. I'm about to move on with I realize the system didn't ask me to replace a spell.

Opening up my spell list, I see that I now have 4/4 iron rank preferred spell slots filled. How did I unlock the additional slot? The only changes are my perception. And spirit. And mana manipulation. Ugh. Whatever. I'm going to keep increasing everything anyway. Hopefully, I can narrow it down.

Moving to the edge of the circle I look around again. It's probably going to be a few days before I make my way back here. Looking to the north, I drink in the sight of my new tower backed by the green and blue planet above. It's a powerful image.

With that image in mind, I ready myself to connect to Beth. When the pulse arrives, I use my facet. There's nothing but darkness and silence, but there's no pain. When I return to myself I see all her resources are full. She's in better shape than Josh.

With my direction confirmed I step forward, Smoulder hopping along beside me, as we move into the west, remaining vigilant.

An hour later, the boredom is starting to overtake my caution. Smoulder is once again nestled in my arm as I chew on a piece of jerky. I haven't seen so much as a bird since I left the clearing. It's getting to the point where I'm tempted to start playing with my magic again. Not that I ever truly stopped. I've had fire mana keep me warm, but that barely counts at this point.

While I've been travelling, I've been angling towards the river at a gentle degree. I'm not moving straight towards the river but we're getting close enough I can hear it. Being this close lets me use it as a guide.

Speaking of guides, my focus and facet are full, so I stop to trace a pulse. This time I'm going to focus on Roberts. The pulse comes and I'm ready for it. Again I feel a headache and my wrists are sore, but I think I hear Josh say the word catch. It also could have been ketchup or cat. Roberts' mana and focus are in the negatives, just like Josh's.

At least it seems like Josh and Roberts are together. The fact that I get a headache and feel burning wrists when I focus on them has me worried. It seems like they need my help. I'm hoping Beth is still with them.

Setting off with renewed determination, Smoulder decides to spend some time hopping along beside me.

We keep moving for another half hour before I give in then start playing with my magic. I start by taking my lightning mana through the alphabet. Once I'm able to reliably form every letter I do the same with my earth mana. I'm about to start on my stone mana when I hear moving water in front of me.

Dismissing all my floating mana I ready a shield spell then move forward slowly. As I break through the trees I see it isn't the large bend I saw from the tower. It's just a short jog in the river. But given that the river is over a hundred meters across its a decent sized detour.

Since I'm already at the river, I decide to move down to the shore. I have fond memories of walking along the river shore with my aunt Sharon, skipping stones while talking. My best record was three skips. My aunt was a master though. She could get six skips with almost every throw. I'd even seen her get ten. She tried to explain it to me, but I could never get the motion right.

Reaching down for a broken rock, I pick it up, curling my finger along the edge. Then I throw it out into the river, counting the skips.

One.

Two.

Sploosh.

The amusing thing is the system thinks that's pretty good.

"Skill reassessed: Throwing (1 to 11)"

I keep picking up rocks, attempting to beat my record as Smoulder and I make our way along the bank.

I've probably thrown twenty rocks when the most recent one is suddenly snapped down by a giant maw. A creature with a head the size of a Volkswagen beetle briefly surfaces before sinking below the surface. I spend several crucial seconds staring at where it's smooth glistening head disappeared before I realize, I should get away from the shore. Like, right now.

Grabbing Smoulder, I dash up the nearby bank, causing part of it to crumble into the water below me. The creature doesn't show itself again, but I decide to stop throwing rocks. And to follow the river from the top of the bank instead of next to the water. Even after five minutes of watching, I don't see it resurface. I move a little farther away, remaining wary, but allow myself to relax.

Half an hour later I notice the trees are changing. They aren't new trees, but the ratio has changed. Instead of mostly leafy trees, now there's an even mix of leafy and needlie. I'm sure there are better words for both types of trees but I don't know them.

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (11)"

Wow, I got a skill increase for noticing that the trees changed? The bar really is low on that skill right now, isn't it?

Curious, I try focusing on the tree, feeling the eleven focus drain out of me in exchange for a new codex.

“Plant analyzed: Unnamed deciduous tree. Gene seed D. A tree similar to deciduous trees on earth. It can be used for mortal grade crafting. Makes excellent firewood once dried.

Okay, the leafy trees are deciduous. I wonder how you say that.

Name: N/A, insufficient sense of self.

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; N/A, Magic; Very Low, Awareness; N/A.

Attacks: N/A.

Defences: High physical resistance. Low magic resistance. High fire vulnerability.

As soon as I'm done reading the codex, I gain an understanding of the tree's biology and life cycle. Which, of course, is followed by a system message.

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (12)"

Shrugging, I continue my journey, practicing my magic as I travel further west.

Another hour of practicing passes before my focus has recharged enough to send another pulse. This time I'm going to send it to Beth. After the last attempt with Roberts, I'm almost afraid of what I'll see this time.

When I focus on Beth it's shockingly different. There's no darkness, and she still doesn't have a headache or bindings. Instead, she's sitting in a comfortable seat, next to a fire with a bowl of what appears to be stew in her hands.

A split second after I connect Beth flicks her eyes to the east, tracking past a blurred figure. Before I can see more than the sun peeking over a wooden barrier, the vision ends. I did notice that the stew smells really good though.

When her status flickers, I confirm that Beth's nearly full on all resources. At least she's alright. But what's going on? Argh. Only being able to see through their eyes for a second is infuriating.

With this in mind, I decide it's a good time to cast another torrent spell. I need the distraction. So I aim a wind torrent at a nearby tree.

The resulting gale is like the most powerful sneeze imaginable, knocking every loose object in front of me flying. Several not so loose objects too.

Such as the tree I was aiming at, which is thrown clear into the river. What's left of it anyway. The howling cyclone that I sent blasting forth was surprisingly cheap, coming in at only four mana and 0.1 focus. I just about replace Flame Arrow but decide that I still need a quick cast spell, so it stays. For now.

Feeling better, I set out at a brisk pace.

It's lunchtime when Smoulder and I encounter a tributary blocking our path forward. It's filled with rapids as far upstream as I can see. It's only twenty feet across, but I can't determine a clear path across. Shrugging I decide I can take the time to build a bridge. It is well within my capabilities at this point.

But first, we're going to have lunch.

Smoulder and I both eat a sizable amount of jerky as I check my stamina. I've only used a few points, but apparently, I've been going through health as well. I'm so weak that walking through the forest is literally bad for my health.

That's mildly depressing.

Since we're already sitting, I decide to ping Josh again. His condition hasn't changed, but I'm able to confirm I'm still headed in the right direction. I'm not sure yet, but I think the pulse might be originating on the north side of the river. Hopefully, I'll find a safe place to cross. Until I do, it's the south side for me.

Finishing our lunch, I survey the rapids blocking our path, it occurs to me that this would make an excellent spot to test my stone torrent variant. Maybe I won't have to make that bridge after all.

The stiffening feeling permeates my entire body before a veritable avalanche of stone, all jagged and sharp, flies forward across the gap. It takes nearly 75 mana and 35 focus to cast. Which is more than five times as expensive as lightning or water torrent. It does create a massive pile of stone shards though. Upon reflection, I probably should have expected it to be expensive considering all the rock I just created from nothing. Definitely not adding this one to my favourites.

As I'm inspecting the aftermath, I can already see the water pooling. Not waiting for it to get worse, I start shaping a bridge. To my delight, I'm able to have it form under my feet as I slowly make my way across the stream.

Roughly five minutes after I take my first step, I've created a bridge spanning the entire gap. To save time I used the stone rocks of the rapids as the base for my bridge's columns. It weaves back and forth a little while appearing a little unbalanced, but I'm sure it'll be standing for a long time.

Now that I know I can build a bridge, I keep an eye out for rapids in the river. It might be my solution to making it to the north shore. Without getting eaten by whatever I saw or drowning that is.

Having blown so much mana on my experimental spell, I resign myself to a few hours of simple shaping practice as Smoulder and I resume our journey. With a few basic rune experiments thrown in, of course.

A couple of hours later, I've tested every variant of arrow, shield and swept triangle rune. I'm running out of motivation to keep practicing. On the plus side, as I was experimenting, I realized that I gain a point of Mana Manipulation every time I cast a basic rune with a new element. There's a temptation to experiment with new mana types but... that hasn't always gone well, plus I don't have a secure place to retreat to.

Even though I've been practicing continuously my mana has regenerated a fair amount. I'm considering casting another torrent variant, but this time for a practical reason. At least that's what I tell myself.

Smoulder and I are looking out over a valley filled with thorny undergrowth which shifts and grasps at anything that moves close. The plants have cleared an area two meters deep all the way along their edge. Not even grass dares to grow nearby. I could clear it with wind or fire arrows, but I'm feeling a little bored.

So I'm going to clear it with earth torrent. Before I try it, I modify the spell. Instead of casting it from my hands, I construct it so it'll originate from my foot.

We approach the undergrowth, Smoulder held close in my arms. I stop at a little over four meters away. If I was a death plant, I wouldn't clearly indicate the safe zone. I take a moment to line myself up, then kick the ground sideways, copying the move of many an anime character. The only difference is I'm using magic instead of unbelievable strength. Though I guess that's a kind of magic too.

The resulting wave of dirt creates an earth tremor nearly sixty meters long. It completely flattens the nasty thorn bushes. I'm sure that if there had been any trees in the path it would have uprooted them too. All for the low cost of five mana. Compared to stone, using earth is remarkably cheap. At least with this method. A couple more stomps ensure we have lots of room to pass through.

As I make my way along the uprooted thorns I keep my eyes open. It seems I've buried them pretty deep. Continuing to follow the now thornless path, Smoulder and I eat the last of what I thought was going to be day two's wolf jerky. This confirms it, I am eating more. A lot more. I'm going to have to start scrounging for more food at this rate. Instead of practicing, I start searching for anything that seems like it might be edible.

All thoughts of food are forgotten when we arrive at the top of the rise above the far side of the valley. The climb was steep but we're on a rare point that peaks through the forest cover. No matter where I look, all I see on the south side of the river are trees and more trees. To the north, there's a sea of grass, broken by a tower of earth to the west. It looks as if a Jenga game was played partway through, then abandoned, letting plants grow over it. To the west, I'm able to make out a little more detail in the bluff that looms over the bend. Compared to everything I've passed through so far, it appears surprisingly barren, the dark orange surface unmarred by greenery.

As I survey the land around me, it strikes me that this would be a good place to establish a link. Looking to the west I count the time between pulses. It's down to 108 which is encouraging. When the pulse arrives I connect to Beth. She's already gazing out in my direction from atop a wooden platform lined with heavy stakes. looking down from high above the forested hills. She shouldn't be able to see me, but it feels like she looks right at me. Right as the connection is fading, I feel a tug on her sleeve, then I catch a glimpse of a fur-covered claw as she turns.

As I return to myself I reflect on her situation. It's pretty obvious Beth isn't a prisoner. Or if she is, she's getting much better treatment than the others. Either way, I've spent all the focus I can justify for now.

We head out while I lament the terrain that lies before us. It's going to be a challenging trek making it the last dozen kilometres to the bend.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Updated synopsis due to feedback of Bob925 in his review. Hopefully it comes across less slapstick now.

Thanks Bob.

I'd also like to thank Markm and Ulvlar for their reviews.

Last I'd like to thank everyone who posts their thoughts on the story and system. I'll never comment on either, but I love to read them.

1.16 Chill for a moment

Jan 15, 2019. That peaceful period in the afternoon, when the day is at its warmest, right around 3 pm.

Our next stop isn't because of an obstacle. No, it's much better than that. There's a beautiful bush of blueberries with little red spots on them. We don't eat them of course, since I have no idea if they'd be safe for consumption. Except I can cheat. I focus on them, their codex entry and biological data entering my mind. Also a recipe for turning them into jam.

Now that I know they're okay, I pop a big juicy berry in my mouth, I then prepare to create a mental bridge to Beth. Since she hasn't been tied up, she's my best bet for surveillance. Until they're all free and clear, I'll be linking to her the most.

When establishing the link I don't go through the interface. I no longer need to. I can feel where the pulse connects if I close my eyes.

As my senses switch, my vision is obstructed by a large furry rug. Which I realize is the back of a large furry creature. It appears Beth's staring at its back. I'm tracing the tiger-like stripes that run up and down its body when Beth whispers, "Alexis? Is that you?" In response I see the creature turn all four of their dark eyes in her direction, which raises the hackles on the back of my neck. Right before the connection ends, I see claws flash as the monster moves closer to Beth.

I'm not certain, but I think that was a K'tharn. And it was huge. The damn thing was at least as tall as the statue back in the village.

The idea of vicious cat people tormenting my companions urges me onwards. The mountains are still a long way off, but I'm getting closer. Once again, I'm reminded that I need to remain alert, watching for what lurks in the shadow.

When I was atop the ridge I'd been concerned about the terrain ahead. It appears my worry was well-founded. I've reached a ten-meter cliff that seems like it was ripped straight from the ground. It stretches most of the way across the river, creating an impressive waterfall. The cliff feels more like an interruption than natural terrain, it's so abrupt and even.

There's a thin layer of frost covering the surface, which strikes me as weird. While it's been chilly all day, it hasn't been that cold. There's something strange going on.

Getting closer I see dark thin lines running through the frost. Inspecting the wall carefully I realize the frost radiates out from the lines. I almost reach out to touch it when I swear I hear Beth in my head, "Don't go touching strange things on a strange planet, Alexis Wyonna Everette."

Okay, maybe not quite how she'd say it, but the point still stands. I should be careful.

I step back, then focus on the wall but instead of a code or knowledge, I watch as the frost detaches from the wall then slams into my head. I can feel the chill spread through my skull, then with a spike of pain, I collapse to the ground screaming.

I don't know how long I spend like that, but when the pain dies down to what I will generously refer to as a mild migraine, I open my eyes. Looking back at me, Smoulder sits there, bathing the area in heat. I can see the distortions in the air.

Checking my conditions I see a new status.

Mana Poisoning.

"You have been afflicted with mana poisoning. Increased sensitivity to mana. Users are advised to select a class to manage their mana radiation. Continued exposure will result in mana over-saturation, then death."

Well.

That's not good.

I lay there for a second cursing my idiotic self for not getting my class when I had the chance. If I wanted to get it now, it'd cost me at least a day's travel.

I think about my choices for all of three seconds. I already know what I'm going to do. Every step I take out here could lead to death. This isn't any different. I made my choice this morning. When I set out to help the others instead of holing up in the church, I knew there was a chance I wouldn't make it.

Sitting up, I look at the cliff. There's a clear spot all the way to the top now. It'll be easy to climb with a little stone shaping.

But before I do so there's something I need to do first.

Moving closer to the river, I use water manipulation to pluck a piece of ice out, setting it in my hand. Instantly my migraine disappears as my mana shifts to match the cold touch of death I now cradle. A sensation I've felt once before, on the day after the ugly tree incident.

I was home alone and it was especially cold outside. I found out a couple of years later when my mother was laughing at her 'idiot daughter' that it had been minus sixty degrees Celsius.

See, I knew my papa was in the hospital nearby. Plus, I'd walked to the hospital before. Mother had always made us go for flu shots as a family in the fall. It was only fifteen minutes away. So I bundled myself up then started walking.

Breathing was painful the second I stepped outside the door, but by the time I was halfway, I was feeling comfy and sleepy. I just wanted to lay down to have a nap.

But papa was waiting for me. If I could make it to him, he'd be all right. He would!

So I kept plodding forwards until I emerged into the hospital. I caused a pretty big disturbance when they realized I'd been out walking by myself. In all the years since I don't think my mother has ever held me so tight.

There's a reason I've avoided such an obvious possibility for elemental manipulation. Even as I watch the flakes swirl around my hand I know it's going to be a challenge to practice with ice.

"Skill unlocked: Ice Manipulation (1)"

Dismissing the ice, I set my shoulders then begin to climb.

It's nearly dark when we reach the bend in the river. Across the water I see the rocky shore stretched below a jagged cliff. I was hoping to come across rapids by this point, but we've had no such luck.

Chewing on some of the berries from earlier, I sit down. I feed a couple to Smoulder while reaching into my backpack. From inside my pack, I proceed to pull out nearly a cubic meter of stone. About halfway through the day, I started collecting rocks. I kept going until the pack was full, all for this moment.

As Smoulder and I continue to snack, I start shaping the rocks into a stone dome. Presto, instant shelter. Faster than I could put up a tent too. Not necessarily faster than a competent person could do so, but definitely faster than I could. When I release the magic, the dome presses down into the soft forest floor a little, but otherwise seems stable.

I leave a couple of small holes for airflow then summon a small orb of fire.

Plus an exit of course. Not that either of us needs a very large one.

With my shelter in place, I use some spare rock to form a basic toilet. Finishing with my waste, I collapse the toilet, sealing everything inside before propelling it into the bush.

Now that our camp is set, there's one last spell I want to try before we crawl inside for the night.

Fire torrent.

The antithesis of ice. Ever since earlier, I haven't been able to chase the chill away.

Gathering my fire mana in great quantities, the heat builds rapidly. It feels as though I'm standing next to an oven, warming me to the bone.

Before it overwhelms me I release the spell. The blues, oranges and reds are beautiful as they spin away from me. It's such a blazing rush of heat, that it leaves the ground scorched for a hundred meters. It might have gone further still, but I aimed it towards the river. Now a giant cloud of steam rises from where it dissipated. Even with the torrent dispersed, the heat from the scorched earth is uncomfortable to stand near. As I watch, I see a couple of fires start on the edges. I spend a minute putting out fires with water until I finally cast a couple earth torrents to bury it instead.

Fire torrent was the quietest of the torrent spells, but it was still pretty loud. Plus, incredibly bright. All things considered, I probably shouldn't have cast it so close to camp.

The thought is enough for me to pack up my dome before continuing another fifteen minutes south, following the river. Once we're far enough from my (totally intentional) distraction, the sun has well and truly set.

Slipping into my new dome, I close the entrance, only leaving enough room for Smoulder to move in and out. I'm sure I'd regret it if she had to use the bathroom but couldn't get out.

Now that we're secure in the dome I remove my ankle brace. The status said my ankle was better a couple hours ago, but I decided to keep moving. It wasn't impeding me at all. In fact, I might make two boots for tomorrow. Maybe it'll help with the health loss.

Next, I check my bandage covering the hole in my arm. It doesn't look any different than it did this morning, which I think is a good thing. Gently, I use some water to wash the wound and the bandage.

Once I'm satisfied with the cleanliness of my bandage, I retie it before checking over the status of my onesie.

It's being held together by even more loops of metal at this point. At the rate I'm going my onesie will consist of more metal than fabric by the end of tomorrow. I might have to start making the hoops out of stone. Or creating more metal. Taking all the metal hoops out, I put them in my pack with my former boot. When I put my pack on the ground, a realization dawns on me. My pack will make a decent pillow. They should have included that in the description.

As I ready my bed, I think back over my progress for the day. I've managed to get halfway to the others, so it doesn't seem like they're moving. Practiced my spells while shaping a whole bunch. By the end of the day, I was able to take all of my mana through the alphabet, cast most of my torrent spells and cycled through every element in each of my basic runes. I made a bridge then flattened a grove of evil plant things. All in all, it's been a good day.

I held off on experimenting with metal torrent. It's going to be super expensive. Tomorrow maybe.

With that finished, I allow myself the time to check over my notifications for the day. I'm glad I'm able to get my log to summarize everything so easily. I swear my notifications keep changing based on my desires.

After earth torrent reminded me that spells are much cheaper when I'm redirecting material rather than creating it, I realized that I could lower the mana costs significantly. This allowed me to add metal and stone spells to my practice repertoire at nearly no cost. As a result, my spell list has grown quite a bit.

"Spells discovered:

- Tidal Wave

- Cyclone Blast

- Avalanche

- Earth Tremor

- Blazing Torrent

- Water Arrow

- Metal Arrow

- Earth Arrow

- Stone Arrow

- Water Barrier

- Stone Barrier

- Metal Barrier

- Fire Barrier

- Lightning Barrier

- Water Spray

- Fire Spray

- Earth Spray

- Stone Spray

All said, my improvements add up to satisfactory gains across the board.

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation* (53 to 78)

- Lightning Manipulation (17 to 27)

- Water Manipulation (23 to 27)

- Stone Manipulation (43 to 49)

- Earth Manipulation (13 to 27)

- Metal Manipulation (30 to 32)

- Wind Manipulation (17 to 27)

- Fire Manipulation (17 to 27)

- Spatial Manipulation (11 to 12)

- Temporal Manipulation (7 to 8)

- Cleaning (39 to 40)

- Engineering (22 to 25)

It's not just numbers either. I can feel how much easier it's become to work with each element. Not just externally, it takes less time to gather them to my fingers as well. My aim is also improving. At least on stationary targets. I think that's just a result of my practice though.

I'm planning to spend some time running tomorrow to see if that gets easier too. If it works, it might save my life.

While I'm checking over the skill increases for a second time, basking in the clearly recorded progress, I notice the asterisk next to Mana Manipulation. Focusing on it, a new notification appears.

"Skill at maximum. Please increase governing attributes Spirit and Intellect to increase."

Interesting. I guess I have another reason to increase my spell casting attributes. Not that I needed more. I really need more integration points. Oh well. Now's not the time to worry about it.

With my status reviewed and my injuries addressed, I'm almost ready to settle in for the night. There are just a couple things left.

First, I reach out, preparing myself to connect to Beth once more. Letting the first pulse go by me, I count as I wait for the next.

1, 2, ....

..., 88, 89, Pulse.

As soon as I connect, I start speaking, "I'm safe. I'm coming."

I've had two hours to come up with something yet that's the best I had.

I don't process much on Beth's end as wherever she is it's dark. However, I think I hear her say, "good," right as I disconnect.

It's not much, but if I'm right, we can communicate. At least I know Beth is still okay. Also, whatever she's laying on is super comfy.

Ruefully patting the forest floor that will serve as my mattress tonight, I wait for my facet to tick up so I can complete my last task for the night. Once it reaches nineteen I purchase the codex for facet.

"Codex obtained: Resource - Facet."

Description: Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Pandora. Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of time and space, Facet grants the user the ability to change the fabric of reality. With Facet a user may travel incredible distances instantly, alter the flow of time, access locked interface options or perceive another's senses. Please note these effects can also be achieved using quest rewards, rituals or artifacts. With sufficient stores of Facet, a user may view events that occurred in the past. The cost of viewing past events increases based on distance from the user's personal temporal thread.

Hmm, okay. Most of this I've already figured out. Past viewing is interesting. I wonder what it means by temporal thread though?

Facet’s primary linked attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser gain from Perception and Resolve and a minor gain from Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Endurance.

Unlike most higher concept resources, Facet may not be fashioned into armour.

Figures I get one of the only HCR (higher concept resources) that can't make armour.

Facet is a new resource and as such all possible applications have not necessarily been recorded in this codex. Good luck Alexis.”

Okay, that's it. My interface is officially talking to me. I laugh nervously as I say, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

I don't get a response, but that doesn't surprise me. If my system can talk to me, it hasn't been very chatty. But now I know it's not just an automated system. Not sure what I can do with that fact though.

"Uhm, I'm going to purchase the codex for K'tharn as soon as my facet recharges, so if you can hear me, maybe send a message that includes bananas," I say to the air. I wasn't planning on purchasing the codex. It didn't seem that important. But then I saw Beth with that giant creature.

It takes sixteen minutes for my facet to tick back up to nineteen, at which point I send my mental confirmation to purchase the codex for K'tharn.

"Codex obtained: System Species - K'tharn. Gene seed D.

Description: K'tharn are a highly dimorphous species. The females are approximately 1.5 to 1.7 meters tall, are highly intelligent and incredibly dangerous. The females have litters of approximately six to eight, which the males then tend. The males are smaller generally between 1.1 to 1.3 meters tall. They are weak and have severely stunted Intellect but are excellent caregivers of their young. Due to not meeting the minimum sapience threshold, K'tharn males are not recognized as valid users.

That seems way too small. The one I saw in front of Beth was easily 2.5 meters tall.

On the Eastern continent, K'tharn society at the time of integration was composed of warrior queens whose reach was as far as they could travel in a week. Post integration this trend continues, though a single warrior queen rules over far larger territories. Most K'tharn who have left their homeworld have adopted their new cultures, with exceptions for their dimorphous biology.

K'tharn don't particularly care for anything resembling a banana, as they are primarily carnivores. They do utilize a wide variety of herbs and roots to season their meals, however. They even make a mean chilli.

Hehe. Cats don't like bananas. Go figure.

There is a limit to how much I can add to a system message. You may call me Wyonna.

Using my middle name. I guess they don't want to give me their real name.

K'tharn languages primer is available for 34.7 focus and 19.1 facet. Warning, multiple language primers in a month may cause headaches."

Similar to when I analyze objects, I feel a detailed understanding of K'tharn biology fill my head when I finish reading the codex. Once it finishes, I realize I know more about K'tharn biology than I do about humans. I'm also far too familiar with the mechanics of their sex drives.

If there are K'tharn here and I can learn their language by downloading it, I don't see why I shouldn't. I'd like to be at full focus when I set out tomorrow so it seems I'm staying up for another fifteen minutes. Plus maybe this Wyonna character will have something else to say.

"Nice to meet you Wyonna. You obviously know my name. Are you reading my thoughts?" I ask, before trying to project the words 'if so you should work bananas into the next message. Then I'll know I don't have to speak to reach you.'

Spinning several elements around in the dome as I wait, my facet reaches nineteen. I immediately purchase the language prompt.

"Language primer downloading.

Haha. Nope. That's against the rules. Uhm. One sec.

Uh oh, something weird is happening here. It's a good thing you're ready for bed. Good night Alexis."

I barely have time to register the last notification before I find myself rapidly losing consciousness.

My last thought as I fade isn't that I've been betrayed. Or that I'm being knocked unconscious again. No. My last thought as I fade into the abyss is far worse.

I didn't remember to wash before going to bed.

A note from Draith

Special thanks to Arkeus for all the typos you've pointed out.

1.17 Uthica

A long time ago, on this very world, a few short years before integration, a cub named Uthica woke up.

It was the third day of falling leaves. This wasn't a particularly important morning and she wasn't a particularly important cub (at least she didn't think so, her mother would disagree). But it was an important day for her. For today she was going to start learning her letters.

Her pu'shaha had told her last night as he tucked her into bed. Most pu'shaha couldn't really speak, but hers was special. He was so smart that her mother sometimes joked that he must secretly be female. Her pu'shaha always smiled politely when her mother said this, but Uthica knew that her pu'shaha was just humouring her. She knew it hurt him when her mother said such things.

What's going on? What's a pu'shaha? And who is Uthica? Am I a disembodied voice?

Uthica hurried through her breakfast, barely waiting for the meat to cool before digging in. Most cubs weren't as excited to learn letters as Uthica, but then they didn't have a teacher like her pu'shaha. Normally only the oldest females taught letters, and everyone knew how mean they could be.

Uthica was sure matted fur disease would make anyone cranky. That's what the cubs called it, though Uthica was pretty sure it had another name. But everyone who had the condition developed matted fur, ergo all the kids called it matted fur disease. Uthica supposed the old warriors could cut their fur off. But then they'd have no fur. And they were civilized K'tharn, not like those twisted mountain dwellers.

Yep, definitely disembodied voice mode. Wait, go back, that sounds like something that would be useful. More about the mountain people, please.

Taking her dishes over to the basin, Uthica washed them carefully. If they were found dirty then her pu'shaha would be blamed. If he got in trouble he might not be able to teach her letters.

Once she had her dishes put away carefully she hurried out into the common room where her pu'shaha was waiting. He had a coloured book with pictures in it and everything. Starting at the beginning he opened the book saying, a is for antelope, our favourite treat.

No response. Guess I’m just along for the ride. Hmm, I recognize that character. That's one of the symbols on the door.

Uthica paid close attention as her pu'shaha took her through her lessons. She knew she'd need to keep working at it, but spending time with her pu'shaha was one of her favourite things. She loved her pu'shaha with all her heart.

Totally understand how you feel Uthica. My papa was pretty awesome too.

Uthica continued attending her lessons, day after day, month after month, year after year. Even when her cubmates Athana and Lesi stopped, Uthica continued studying. There was just so much to learn.

Ugh, my head. So much reading.

This story is only available on RoyalRoad, if you're reading it elsewhere, it's been plagiarized. Draith.

By her tenth birthday, she was recognized as a junior scout, the youngest in decades. While she wouldn’t be recognized as an adult until her honour day, her place in the clan was ensured. Uthica thanked her pu'shaha for all his readings. He taught her so much about the world through his books.

Ha. Uthica thought. If only the others understood how much knowledge letters held. Then they wouldn't be so quick to dismiss them. But everyone knew reading and writing were for the infirm. Real warriors trained only with muscle and bone. Sinew and steel.

Wow, I guess that hasn't changed much. According to the codex at least.

If Uthica ever became queen, she would make reading and writing mandatory. She'd also repeal the horrid laws that stated pu'shaha were third-class citizens. They deserved to be second class, at the very least. She would never say it out loud, but she was certain her pu'shaha would be a better queen than any queen they'd had in the past ten generations. She wasn't so blind as to think every pu'shaha was so intelligent. She'd seen her aunt Jethico's pu'shaha spend ten minutes trying to move through a door before his daughter turned the handle to let him inside.

Making her way home she was hoping to share an evening reading with her pu'shaha. But halfway there she heard a low rumble roll across the village. Looking up, she saw strange blue lightning split the sky. As she watched, larger and larger strikes started raining down. The thunder that rolled over her felt different than normal. As though it was a physical thing, seeping into her bones. Even as she fought the thunder, struggling to remain standing, the earth started to shake. She kept moving cautiously but suddenly the ground beneath her feet gave a mighty groan. The sudden movement knocked her on all sixes.

When she regained her feet she could just make out what had been the World Spine mountain range on the horizon. But they no longer towered above her. Instead, Uthica could see the tip of their peaks below the horizon. And some of them were missing. Looking around the village, she saw several homes had collapsed and there were cubs meowling all over.

No longer holding back she ran for home. Her pu'shaha would know what to do.

Uhm, wow. That's terrible. Is this going to happen to Earth? Wait, why is everything going black.

A month later Uthica found herself staring out at the remnants of their scarred world. Earlier in the day she and Athana had completed the ritual that recognized them as adults. Their ritual had been performed by the clan matriarch herself, a true honour. Today was Uthica and her sister’s honour day. It was funny, as a cub, Uthica had looked forward to her honour day with great enthusiasm. But when the lightning had split the skies everything had changed. With the burdens of the last month weighing on her, she understood what it really meant to be an adult. The ruins of that day occupied Uthica’s thoughts as she gazed out on the lands below.

There had been panic in the tribes below, of course, when the world had been shattered. But the Halterin Clan had survived better than most. Now located high above the world, their people didn't die of the strange sickness that swept through the lowlands.

And I'm back. Wow, that doesn't remotely resemble the view she had as a cub. Half the mountains are missing. And is that a river of lava?

Uthica was thinking about that day. The others had started calling it the day of thunder and death, Vaus’ awakening. Clearly this was a sure sign of their goddess’ displeasure, her aunt Jethico said. Uthica doubted it, but she couldn’t fathom what else could cause such destruction.

When she’d arrived home, Uthica found it in ruins. She had to pull her unconscious pu’shaha from the collapsed building. When she’d gone in to find her sisters, she found Athana sitting next to Lesi in the hollow of their collapsed bedroom. Uthica saw that it was too late for Lesi. The wall of their bedroom had fallen in, crushing her. Only her upper right arm remained free.

Lesi had met her eyes with a look, a look Uthica had grown too familiar with over the last month. Lesi knew she was dying.

Uthica joined Athana then they sat, holding Lesi’s claw, crying together as they said goodbye. They remained there even after their mother came. They were there when the body disintegrated into a fine blue powder, floating up and away. That had been an alarming discovery. No longer could they honour their fallen by partaking of their flesh, ensuring part of them would live on. Instead, the goddess stole their people away.

Despite the new shape of the land, their warriors remained strong, easily holding their own against the strange monsters that had appeared. It was as if the very stories of her childhood had come to life. She'd heard they arose from the great rifts, but she'd never ventured that far from their home. She’d been there the day they encountered Lesi though. It hadn’t been just Lesi either. All their fallen had returned.

They’d been overjoyed at first of course, their tribe was whole once more.

But as they got closer Uthica noted that they all had the worst case of matted fur disease Uthica had ever seen. And there was a dark red glint in their eyes. Uthica held back. She was about to say something when the first warrior reached the Fallen. They quickly realized their mistake. These weren’t their friends come back. These were just monsters who wore their faces.

Uthica had been the one to bring Lesi down for her second and final death. It was the hardest duty Uthica had ever performed.

Now, as Uthica looked out over the world, she wondered what they’d done to deserve such a fate.

Wow, that’s rough.

Uthica was finally turning from the vista to return home when she noticed a shimmer run through the air. A moment later, strange words appeared in her vision.

"Hello user. It has been determined that your world has been contaminated by a class 2 mana swarm. For your safety, inclusion protocols have been initiated.

As she read the words Uthica started running home. She had a feeling in her gut.

Based on your cultural norms, you have been determined to be an adult of your species. As such you have been designated a combat role. To opt out of combat roles, please see your closest administrator upon completion of your tutorial quests.

Uthica scoffed at the notion of opting out. She was a warrior. She’d proven that enough times over the previous month.

Welcome to inclusion event 398. Please select a class from the following options. You have five minutes before a class will be chosen for you.

Base classes available.

Protector.

Skirmisher.

Controller.

Destroyer."

Wait, five minutes and you only get to choose from the base options? Doesn't seem like you even get descriptions. Wow, Uthica. That's rough.

"System update. Your skill assessment has been completed. Granting access to additional base controller class: Lorekeeper.”

Oh, at least she's got one extra option. Wonder what it does?

Uthica didn't slow down as she read the notifications. In truth she sped up, hoping to reach her pu'shaha before she made her choice. She knew many of the other warriors would dismiss the words immediately, but she sensed they were a herald of great change, possibly of salvation.

Bursting through the front door, her pu'shaha glanced up at her, clearly startled by her entrance.

"The words," Uthica gasped. She really had run as fast as she could, so was now out of breath. Her cub mate Athana would be shocked, Uthica was never out of breath. Her pu'shaha placed his work to the side, then looked up at her, waiting for Uthica to continue.

Taking a deep breath Uthica continued, "they tell me I have unlocked a special class, Lorekeeper. I think they're a chance to change things." As Uthica speaks, her pu'shaha's brow raises higher and higher until finally, he speaks.

Oh. Oh no. Don't you see Uthica?

"My dearest Uthica, I don't know of what you speak, but I think that I would be proud if you called yourself a Lorekeeper. Can you imagine such a thing? What a marvellous idea," he says stepping forward. Uthica knows it's improper, but she embraces her pu'shaha as if he were female, hugging him tightly.

Aww, hugs. Huh? Oh, things are going dark again.

"This is your chance, I know it is." Uthica proclaimed even as she accepted the Lorekeeper class.

She'd never been more wrong.

And we're back. This is getting weird.

Uthica had thought things would change when the system came, which was true in a manner. Their society was hardly ruled by the same warrior queens who'd once held sway. Instead, those like her, who had taken the system seriously, were in charge. They were still warrior queens, there were just less of them. Now, instead of wasting their time fighting each other, they fought to tame their new world.

That didn't mean things had improved, however. Between the massive invasion of magical monsters, the reshuffling of their world's landscape and the newfound danger of the deep ones, over half her tribe had perished. Sometimes she felt as though they were the lucky ones.

Doesn't sound so lucky to me.

Looking across the open plains, Uthica studied the shimmering walls. It was the Builder fortress of Calviwashobb. If it weren't for the Builders, beings who arrived with the system, many other tribes would have surely perished.

However, the Builders were limited in their ability to help. They said they couldn't venture out of their sanctuary cities, though all were welcome within. Uthica was suspicious of this claim.

The cities provided sanctuary, but the System wouldn’t allow anyone who wanted shelter to stay for free. No. To enter the city you had to pay an iron integration point. The cost was per day. But there was another option. You could give up your combat class and survival questline. Many traded their classes away for safety. It had shocked Uthica to discover so many K’tharn would give up so easily. Even her cub mate Athana had joined the sanctuary city.

What no one had known was you couldn’t upgrade past an iron rank being without a combat class. This was bad enough, but the next discovery was far worse.

There had been no children since the mana swarm had struck their world. It had taken nearly three years before anyone suspected that mana poisoning had sterilized their entire species. It took five years before it was discovered the system would restore it. Of course, the system could restore it. But it imposed its own limits. To be given permission to have children, you had to complete a specific quest chain. Or in the words of the System,

"Quest received: More than One. Description: Prove your worth by contributing to the system. Requirement: Complete More than One sub-quests 0/1 or Contribute 10 iron rank integration points worth of work to the Builders. Rewards: Reproduction privileges unlocked. License to have 1 child."

Hold on. What? Does that mean I'm…. This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

This was seen as a great violation of a K'tharn's basic rights.

Damn straight!

Yet Uthica hadn't really cared. The first step in the chain could be unlocked simply by contributing to the Builder enclaves, so even noncombatants could easily complete it. By the time the system revealed they needed to complete these quests to restore their ability to have children, Uthica was capable of completing the entire quest chain. It had been as easy as closing her upper eyes.

No, for Uthica, the part of the system that bothered her was the classification of the pu’shaha. It had enshrined the idea that pu'shaha were not people. When it arrived not a single pu'shaha was given a status screen or user name. No, they weren't deemed sapient. So the stigma that Uthica and her mother had fought against for her entire life was reinforced. Even as her sister Athana hid in the Builder’s city, her pu’shaha stayed by Uthica's side, eschewing the safety of the Builder's sanctuary cities. Even in the face of her own protests. All the pu’shaha were afforded protection in the sanctuary city. Since they never had a status, they didn’t even have to give anything up.

There was one thing that had come with the system that Uthica treasured. It had brought new words. New ideas. One of these words was father. This was the word that she chose to call him. Never again did she think of him as a pu'shaha. Because there was another word she had learned from the Builders. Slave. And the idea of anyone referring to her father as such filled her with a mighty rage.

Through some miracle, her father had survived the years beside her. He'd saved members of the tribe on more than one occasion, his understanding of the System enabling surprising recoveries. Half the tribe owed their evolved classes to his diligent studies. She never would have been able to become a Lore Queen without his guidance.

Evolved classes huh? Does that mean our class can change after we choose it?

But today none of that mattered. She'd heard the rumour a week ago. She'd hoped it would stay quiet, but it had spread. Of course, it had. Now Uthica reflected on the past, while she waited for Jethico to arrive.

She was prepared for the inevitable argument. Early after inclusion, it was discovered that lesser beasts could be taken as pets, granting them bonuses under the system. Uthica had never chosen to do this. The pets required integration points to improve and of course, the points had to come from their owner. Pets didn't receive quests. Why would they, they’re not intelligent.

Interesting. I wonder if I can make Smoulder my pet.

The pet system hadn't been particularly important to Uthica. Not until she heard the rumour. They said the system considered pu'shaha legitimate candidates for the pet system. Her aunt was coming to insist her father be made a pet.

A pet!

They wanted him to be little better than a slave. Uthica wouldn't allow it.

The soft footsteps on the stone behind her prompted Uthica to turn. But it wasn't her aunt standing there. Her father stood at the final step, his eyes seeking hers. And for a moment she was a cub again, pulling his small frame close, hugging him tightly.

"I don't want to do it father," Uthica said after she finally stepped back.

"I know," he said, smiling up at her with sad eyes.

"But if I don't, then someone else might. We can't afford to lose you," Uthica continued.

"I know," he said, taking her hand then patting it, just like when she was a cub.

"Doesn't it upset you?" she asked, confused by his calm demeanour.

"How does this change things? I will still be your father, yes? And I will still advise the tribe on their growth. And we will still drink bluebank tea with your sister on Sundays. It is enough, I think," her father said, continuing to smile up at her.

Wow, kinda personal. Wish I wasn't here for this.

Uthica shook her head, "but you'll be my slave."

"Oh ho, will I now? My understanding was that I would be your pet. And do you remember what it was like having your very first blood-hare? She was your pet, but you couldn't get her to do anything she didn't want to do, could you?"

"Well no. But that's different. This will be enforced by the system," Uthica countered.

"Yes, but I have studied the bond between pet and master. It is not so one-sided as you seem to think my dear Uthica. For one thing, you will be able to grant me access to the system. I'd say that alone is worth undergoing the ritual."

"Yes, but," it was hard for Uthica to keep saying no. She felt like it was wrong, but when she thought about it, he was right. And having him in the system would let him live longer. She just felt that it was wrong. Like she was somehow betraying her beliefs. But maybe those were the dreams of a cub. She was a queen now. The needs of the queen outweighed the wants of the woman.

"You're right," she sighed.

"I know," he chuckled as they walked down from the wall, moving towards the hunt master's quarters. An hour from now her father would finally be part of the System. Even if it was as Uthica's pet.

The needs of the queen outweigh the wants of the woman, just who are you Uthica?… and oh, here we go again.

Starting to get used to that. Oh wow, that is a massive mirror.

Uthica watched as her people filed through the portal to the core world Ytela. In less than a month the home she'd known all her life would be encapsulated by a shield so powerful, nothing would be able to pass through, not even light. It was the final step of containment. The system would remain of course, but it would be a local system, cut off from the greater universe. It would receive updates only once every ten years.

They'd been given a choice. Stay locked to copper rank forever or step through the portal to the core worlds, joining galactic society. It was one way. Less than half of her people were leaving with her. She didn't expect many to follow, but once every ten years the portal would reopen for a day.

Okay, not a mirror, a portal. Wait. They're moving to another world! This might be our ticket home.

It had been over a hundred years since the system had arrived, saving them from the mana swarm. Restricting their ability to have children. Since it had forever changed their lives.

All those who hadn't embraced the system were gone now. This was the final step, preserving those who chose to remain behind. There'd be no more mana swarms, star empires or galactic republics coming to claim this star system. And each of those had happened, oh yes.

Err, what?

The system was often brutal but it never did anything without reason. Even this felt as though the system was pushing her forward, telling her that her world would be safe as she travelled the stars. And when she said world, she didn't mean the ball of mud and grass.

"I wish you were coming with me," Uthica said to Pern, her father. He'd earned his name. The only named pu'shaha on K'tharn.

"I'm too old for more adventure," he said waving his hands at the portal.

Laughing, Uthica replied, "you're only twenty years older than I am, that's not much of an excuse."

"Aye. Only twenty years. But I've had a good life Uthica. And I can't bring myself to leave. I love you, but I think perhaps it's time you let me go."

Looking at her father, she saw it then. The weariness. The sign of one who'd seen too much. She'd seen it in her warriors before, the signs that it was time for them to teach instead of fight. But her father had always been a teacher. And he's lost most of his students, Uthica realized. The last of them were preparing to step through the portal, saying goodbye to their home forever.

"Take care of yourself Uthica," her father said wrapping her in a hug.

"You too, father," Uthica replied. She’d known this was going to be the hardest part. Eventually, she drew away from him. She'd held off as long as she could. There were only a few minutes left until the portal closed. But her people were through.

Walking to the silvery surface, she watched its ripples. It was as if she could see the waves that her every action had caused, leading her here at last. Turning back Uthica took a last look at Akilo.

The twin planet Ukila stood proudly in the sky, with its vast forests of green and rich blue oceans. It was partially obscured by the silhouette of the sanctuary city Bethreyne which sat on the shore of the Lathiac sea.

Uthica closed her eyes to capture the moment, letting her class crystalize it in her memory. Then she turned, stepping through to her new world.

Are we done? Feels like we're done. Oh wait, there's more.

"Hello Citizen, my name is Uthica. But by now you probably already know that. I hope you can forgive me for my digression. I know you didn't sign up for my life story, just the K'tharn language and culture." The darkness faded to reveal Uthica staring at herself in a mirror. It'd been a hundred years since she'd left her homeworld, but the system had given her a quest. It was unique from what she'd heard. Only one member of a species was ever given this chance. A chance to pass along their memories to those who came after.

"You're probably wondering why I wasted your time with silly things that you probably already know about the system. But our culture was changed by the system. How could anything so huge not change your culture?

And also.

I wanted you to see my father. It's because of him that I was chosen after all. Without his guidance, I wouldn't be here today. So this is my final gift to him. A memory that won't fade until the end of the System itself."

Aww. I think I'm crying.

"Thank you for walking this path with me, I hope my memories serve you well."

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Link2999 thank you for the kind review. Wow, just.... Wow.

1.18 When it rains

January 16, 2019, before 6 am. Early, but not early enough to avoid the rain.

Waking up, I realize I'm laying in a puddle. I'm fairly certain I didn't go to sleep in a puddle, but after spending what felt like months in Uthica's memories, it takes me a moment to be sure.

There's a lot for me to digest but I probably shouldn't do so while lying in a puddle of water.

Before I consciously finish processing the idea, I'm already displacing the water around me. Looking at the water, water that was obviously working up the courage to drown me in my sleep, my brain starts to function. If only I could displace water like that while sleeping.

As my now conscious mind fully comprehends my cold and dreary state, I circulate fire mana in response, warming myself. After a few seconds, the cold is chased away.

With comfort restored, I'm unable to help pondering Uthica's memories. It's kind of humbling, thinking back on what she's lived through. I'll definitely remember her father Pern, as she asked. It feels like he's read me as many bedtime stories as my own father at this point. It's pretty weird.

But it's Uthica I'll truly remember. I wonder if this is what it would feel like to have a sister. I feel incredibly grateful to her. I'm glad she shared so much of her life. There were a lot of personal memories, but her story left me with a lot of critical information too. Such as the portal near the city Bethreyne.

For the first time since I've arrived, it feels like I have a solid lead for getting home. The only question is, will it bring me to Earth? Oh, and where is it? And when does it open? Is it being guarded? Does it still work?

Okay, I guess there's more than one question. Still, it's a place to start.

I also learned classes can evolve. That's pretty huge. And the reason the wolves were disappearing? Sucked into the air, turning into magical dust. Apparently. I’m not sure if that makes it better. Are they going to come back like Uthica’s sister?

And of course, there’s the fact that overlaid with Uthica’s memories is an intrinsic understanding of her entire civilization as well as fluency in their languages. That's right, languages, plural.

No big deal. Turns out that by the end, Uthica was a bit of a polyglot.

But with all the knowledge Uthica left me, none of it is immediately relevant. At the moment I feel as though I know everything there is to know about making the perfect cup of espresso. But I need to make pancakes.

Hehe. Kind of describes my mom.

Redirecting myself to slightly more immediate issues, I review my notification log. It appears I only received one update after Wyonna wished me goodnight.

"Skill increased: Temporal Manipulation (9 to 10)"

Kinda wish there'd been more warning. It's a good thing I'd already bunkered up for the night. Note to self, next time the system asks me if I want to obtain a language or skill, make sure I'm somewhere safe. Preferably with someone guarding me.

Speaking of which, Smoulder isn't in my immediate vicinity. I guess she didn't want to sleep in the rain. Not that I blame her. I'm just glad I didn't drown. Second note to self, make my bed elevated in case of rain. Plus, add drainage holes.

Third note to self, remember to review notes and quests once I head out for the day. I feel like I've been so focused on getting to the others that I may have forgotten obvious experiments or quests.

Reshaping my dome, I peek out into the dark. I know it's technically morning, but the sky is so dark I can't even see the nearby trees. The ground underneath my feet is dry but that's my doing. I'm not certain I should keep travelling until the rain lets up.

Unless….

Drawing water from the falling rain I create a water umbrella. Every drop that hits becomes part of my umbrella, but it takes a lot of concentration to maintain. It's even draining focus at a rate of one per second.

I immediately cancel the umbrella, forming my shield rune instead. I imbue it with water mana, jack up the size then presto, problem solved. Except I can feel the shield weakening with every drop that hits it. Each individual drop is insignificant, but in rain this heavy, it adds up quickly.

Sighing as my dream of a water-based umbrella fails to materialize, I form a barrier out of my stone shelter instead. It has no focus or mana drain, so it's a clear winner. But I'm still disappointed. A stone umbrella is nowhere near as cool as one made of water.

At least it should keep me dry. Okay, next step, sports bra. Or a reasonable facsimile.

One of the great things about this world so far has been getting away without wearing a bra. I want to attempt running today, but without a sports bra, well... I need to figure something out.

Since I'm working on clothing anyway, I throw up some walls before stripping down, washing everything thoroughly. I hope no monsters show up right now. It would be so embarrassing fighting for my life while doing laundry in the buff.

I consider a stone bra for all of one second before discarding the idea. Instead, I start by trimming away my onesie so my arms are completely free on both sides. Then taking the scraps of cloth, the remnants of my bandages and my needles, I start fastening everything together. It's annoying as the cloth only kind of responds to my earth and water manipulation skills, so I have to do most of the work by hand. At least I'm able to control the wind so I don't have sudden gusts or even my own breath disturbing my work. It takes half an hour and several failed attempts, but I manage to secure my boobs without making it too uncomfortable.

As I'm inspecting my freshly cleaned onesie, I notice the pin that Beth gave me. Picking it up, I look at it again. The edges are dinged up, but the picture of the woman running against the forest green background is still in good shape. I run my finger over the well-worn edges, it's smooth, but it's that worn by time smooth instead of a freshly sealed smooth. I slip my onesie back on, reweaving it together while tightening up the loose slack. This time I use coils instead of individual loops which cuts down on the clinking. It also gives me a bit of a frankenkitty appearance.

With my clothing prepared, I sit down, crafting a pair of boots from the remaining clump of metal stowed in my backpack. My boot design evolved several times as I was walking yesterday, culminating in a design that resembled a dark, high collared, hiking boot by the end of the day. Only one made entirely of metal while using soft packed earth for an insole.

Today I do the same, but I take the time to add some artistic flair as I craft two matching boots. It takes an extra minute, but it makes them look way better. Given the ragged state of my onesie, I'm glad I can at least make my boots cool.

Finished outfitting myself I replace the pin then pack the stone from my shelter away while I search the area for Smoulder. I imagine she didn't go too far in rain like this, but given that I can't see two meters past the tip of my nose, she may as well be miles away. Reminds me of the rain just before I….

Just before I was ripped from my home then deposited on Akilo.

Could it be related?

Was the rain part of bringing us here?

If it is, does it make long-distance teleportation easier? Or is it a side effect of what brought us here? Rawrgh. Not enough information.

Adding yet another note to self, I put this one under 'notes for going home?' As I'm looking for Smoulder, I reflect that it's handy not having to dig around in my pockets or fumble in the rain for a notepad.

Now, where did that little ball o' doom run off to?

Thinking back, I believe I recall trees to the north of camp. Hopefully, she's hiding out under one of those.

Moving slowly, I search through the trees until I eventually come across Smoulder. She's sitting on a branch in the biggest needliest (that's a word, right?) tree of the bunch. She's giving off a low heat, but it seems like it's exactly enough to keep herself dry, and no more. I imagine she's had lots of nights to figure out how to stay warm in crap weather like this.

She looks so adorable sitting there I almost can't resist snuggling her awake. I say almost because I've seen her save me twice with her flaming headbutts. I do not want to be on the receiving end of that.

Instead, I take a piece of jerky from my pack, offering it to her by holding it in front of her nose. She'll probably want to cook it first, just like every other piece of jerky I gave her yesterday. At least I know she likes it well enough. Smoulder soon wakes, scorching my offering before wolfing it down.

Then she jumps straight into my face forcing me to scramble to catch her. As soon as she's properly nestled, she returns to her nap.

Right. I probably could have picked her up.

Prepared to set out, I send a pulse connecting to Beth, half expecting her to be asleep.

Instead, I find her working through a set of movements that I'm guessing are martial arts of some form. Thought she flicks her eyes to the right when I connect, she doesn't pause, continuing the graceful motions.

She's in an open field, no rain, with the giant tiger striped K'tharn. It seems the K'tharn is working through her own set of martial arts just in front of Beth. While fierce, the way she moves is strangely beautiful. She's also wearing a harness I haven't seen before. In fact, when I think about it most of the K'tharn in Uthica's memories weren't big on clothing. Bandoleers, backpacks and utility belts sure, but nothing for the weather.

As the vision fades, I make out an area to the side where there are several other K'tharn gathered together.

It felt as though Beth hasn't moved yet, so I start my day's hike following my original plan, moving south along the riverbank.

As I walk I start experimenting with my water-based umbrella design. Now that the idea is in my head, I feel driven to try a few things, mostly different variations of what I've learned so far.

But discerning ways to implement my water shield is remarkably tricky. I feel like there should be a way to make it self regulating, but I'm not making progress. After fifteen minutes I decide to take a break to give my quests that review. It's a little embarrassing to admit I haven't reviewed them since I discovered the quest log.

Zone quests:

Huh, there’s still nothing here. Oh well.

System quests:

“Quest: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 30 days. Reward: Variable. Time: 28/30 days remaining.”

The second tab is still just the one quest. What makes it a system quest versus a personal quest I wonder. This is the questline Uthica indicated a person had to give up to enter the sanctuary city, right? Maybe it's related to that.

Personal Quests:

“Quest: Learn Magic. Requirements: 8/9 elemental manipulation skills learned. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time remaining: No limit.”

I swear I should have learned enough manipulation skills by now. Wondering what’s going on I open up my skills.

Skills

Matrix

Skill Level

Temporal Manipulation

10

Spatial Manipulation

12

Mana Manipulation

78

Combat

Skill Level

Throwing

11

Elemental

Skill Level

Fire Manipulation

27

Water Manipulation

27

Wind Manipulation

27

Lightning Manipulation

27

Stone Manipulation

49

Earth Manipulation

27

Metal Manipulation

33

Ice Manipulation

1

Knowledge

Skill Level

Gaming

2

Engineering

25

Survival - Temperate Forest

12

Support

Skill Level

Cooking

0

Cleaning

40

Crafting

Skill Level

Woodworking

1

Stone Shaping

34

Metal Shaping

33

Tailoring

2

Movement

Skill Level

Swimming

1

Running

2

Huh, I guess temporal and spatial don’t count as elemental skills. I did get a pretty awesome reward when I learned spatial, so I probably shouldn't complain too much.

What other elements are there? Let’s see. Wood is pretty common in some systems.

I stop next to a tree then try to sync my mana to it. I get a confusing mix of water, earth, wind and lightning as feedback. It would be easy to rip any of the individual elements out, but I’m not sure I have the skill to manipulate them in concert. This is the first thing I’ve tried manipulating that I’ve felt would be a real challenge to use. I might come back to it later, but the level of difficulty leads me to believe it’s probably not a missing element.

Everything else has been remarkably easy. Even ice, though it did involve revisiting a less than pleasant memory. This thought causes me to pause.

At the bottom of my elemental skills, ice manipulation sits with a single solitary point.

As Uthica demonstrated, the needs of the queen outweigh the wants of the woman. I'm no queen. Hell, I'm barely an adult. But that doesn't matter. I've been running away from my power, playing with the easy stuff. As I see the entry for ice manipulation, I force myself to admit there's another obvious element I've been avoiding.

Taking a moment, I stop. I create a shelter so I can deal with this properly. Looking upon the woods cast in perpetual twilight, I begin bringing forth fire and water. They're set in orbit as I summon wind and lightning to join them. Then stone, earth and metal push into the expanding ring.

Which only leaves ice. For the first time, I draw an orb of ice forward, letting it sync with the others. I can almost picture what floats in the centre. A space that needs to be filled. I can't sustain the ring for long. Every second costing me focus. So I dispel it.

Closing my eyes, I go to the place where my clock and memories are tangled together. Then I clean up the timelines for that night. As my memory pulls me in, returning me to my mother's arms, I know I'm ready.

Or so I hope.

My mother is hugging me tight, crying into my shoulder. The cold from outside is slowly thawing. I know she’s distraught, but I just want to see papa. Even as she's holding me, I hear her mutter, "why do these things always happen to me."

Pushing away from my mother, I notice her ruby lipstick, normally defined and neat, is crudely smudged, a single track leading down towards her chin. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she says as she strokes my cheeks, igniting my skin with the edge of her nails. There’s a warmth in her face I’ll remember fondly over the next few years, even as our lives turn to ash.

Mami and papi are the next to embrace me.

As much as I love them, at this moment their affections are obstacles to endure, instead of the love that should be supporting me. They're between me and papa. With a stony resolve, I embrace my papi his corduroy jacket scratching my cheek as I slide away from him. But I can’t stand to be rigid with Mami.

Instead, Mami is drowned with tears. Followed by a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek to bog her down.

And then I shock them, running down the hall while they're still too worried to react.

Before the nurses, in their sky blue gowns, can think to stop me, a gust sends documents blowing off the desk. While they're distracted, I blitz past their guard.

Which only leaves me with the final yet greatest obstacle.

He's only just stepping out of the room.

It's him. The private detective.

Mr. Edwards.

His cool demeanour blocks my path. He turns his frigid gaze on me, standing between me and my father.

My spine is unbending, reinforced by my need to enter, an alloy of determination and regret. I stand up to him when he tells me I shouldn't go in. “Trust me,” he says holding the door shut. “I know, it’s hard but it's better not to see,” he says, as I forge my way past. “Would you just listen to me,” he says, trying to pull me away, his suit sleeve ripping when I refuse to yield.

Despite his protests, there's only so much he's willing to endure to keep me out.

My anger collapses when I finally make it into the room. I hear Edwards sighing as he steps into the room behind me.

The medical monitor beeps. There's only one bed in the room, despite having space for two. The ubiquitous uncomfortable hospital chair next to the bed sits unused. It has a brown plaid seat covering with light brown wooden arms.

The plastic curtain is pulled tight, and my legs carry me forward. Now that I'm here, I'm not certain I can face my memory. I'm afraid. I know what I'll find. But I can't escape. So instead, I scan every object in the room.

A tray with uneaten hospital food, so unappealing even the jello remains unopened. The plastic rolling cart on which the tray rests. A dull grey cell phone charging on the nearby end table, the light blinking indicating an unread message. The partially open door to the bathroom. A bathroom he can't even use.

The bed. Clean, despite being occupied, the white sheets crisp. The clipboard hanging at the end, filled with words I never read.

That weird hospital smell.

Sterile.

A hint of death, hidden just beneath the remnants of cleansing agents.

Through it all, my short legs continue taking me closer, until I have nowhere else to look.

My father's bed is draped in twilight. The usual bright light of the hospital lowered, allowing him to rest. This is what I'm here for. Even now, within my memory, he remains hidden from view. On this night he’s still at his worst. They haven’t prettied him up yet.

I'm not supposed to be here. No one is.

I reach out, almost against my will, to draw the shadow away, with a flick of my hand.

It doesn't vanish, so much as peel away, gathering in my hand. But I hardly notice.

Because as the darkness disappears, the curtain pulled away, I gaze upon the disfigured face of my father. Blind in one eye, paralyzed below the neck, unlikely to wake, the chart says all these things. Any of these would be enough.

But to my nine-year-old brain, it's his missing left arm which seems most pressing. If only that arm remained, then obviously he'd be alright, my brain tries to tell me.

Right?

Moving closer I take my papa's remaining hand and start crying while whispering, "Papa, I'm sorry. Wake up. Please, wake up. I promise I'll never use my magic again. Please. Please just wake up."

"I'm sorry Alexis," Mr. Edwards says from behind, "he can't hear you."

I ignore him as I continue begging my papa to wake.

I gasp as the memory fades.

No.

Nononono.

I throw Smoulder to the side, tearing my way free of the shelter before running out into the rain where I collapse.

As my shoulders heave, I know what I'll see if I look up. I can feel it floating above me. There will be eight spheres of familiar energy, all orbiting around a small orb of darkness rimmed with a pale dusty light. Twilight.

Just like I used to imagine it. Every single element I've called upon has been like this, I realize. Exactly as I imagined them when I was a child. They'd been mine and papa's little secret. But I told myself they weren't real. They couldn't be real. That's what the world said.

And it made sense.

No one else could use magic, why would I think I was special. I didn't deserve to be special. That night staring at my father's broken form, I forswore magic.

I'd considered fixing my mistake of course. I had magic, why wouldn't I. But I didn't know what I was doing. Not really. What was I going to do, freeze him? And healing? Even now, healing is completely beyond me. What use was my magic if I couldn't fix my Papa.

I never tried again. At first, it was because of my promise. But then it became self-defence. If it wasn't real, then it wasn't my fault.

When we came to Akilo, the system let me think it was a game. Or even that the system was responsible.

When I finally look up, I see the twilight orb amid the other spinning elements. Exactly as I knew it would be.

I don't bother checking my notifications. Instead, I continue crying.

I returned to his room of course. I was there so many times over the next week that I basically lived there. Edwards was always around too. He wouldn't leave. He brought food then left it for me. It's embarrassing to see how he really acted. Even now, a major part of my brain wants to swear it's all his fault.

But it's not. It's mine.

I never made it to Mami and Papi's for Christmas that year. But that didn't matter, everyone came to us instead. I didn't have much patience for Papi's stories though. I was too worried papa would wake up while I wasn't there. I needed to be there to tell him I loved him. To tell him I didn't mean it. To tell him I was sorry.

It takes me another minute before I finally feel rational again. I'm soaked to the bone as I move back to the shelter. I'm dry before I reach it.

When I step inside, Smoulder is glaring at me reproachfully, so I hunker down to offer her head scritches. Deciding she’s magnanimous enough to forgive me, she hops forwards into my arms again as I laugh-sob. With her comforting presence, I spend several minutes staring out into the rain, before resuming our march.

It's honestly amazing how much cuddles with a floofy little bunny can help.

Since we're on the move again, I continue checking my quest log. Despite how wrenching that felt, it only took ten minutes. Well, ten minutes to relive the memory, plus the ten it took me to recover.

“Skill unlocked: Twilight Manipulation (1)”

“Quest completed: Learn magic. Reward 7 iron rank integration points. Increases edge for all elemental manipulation skills by 0.1.”

“Quest received: Establish the basics. Description: Raise all elemental manipulation skills to 25. Requirements: 7/9. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points, class unlock.”

I laugh, which sounds slightly unhinged, even to me. All I had to do to gain more power was relive one of my most painful memories then discover that the man I hate is a better person than I am.

And to get more, all I have to do is practice my ice and twilight magic. Why would I have expected anything else?

Instead of dwelling on it, I take a deep breath, moving on to the next entry.

“Quest: Repair Temporal Inconsistency Requirement: restore remaining memories and timeframes 1/3. Reward: variable. Remove condition. Time remaining: no limit."

Well, on the plus side, I made progress on the quest. I'm sure Uthica would be able to press on. But I’m not sure I can handle either remaining memory. Or that I should waste my time here dealing with them. The others are still out there.

At least that's what I tell myself.

“Quest: Return to Earth. Requirements: Find a way to return to Earth 0/1. Reward: Variable. Time remaining: 358/360 days.”

No progress here. I guess just knowing there’s a portal off-world doesn’t count. Not surprising.

“Quest: Knock knock. Description: Translate the strange door, in the mysterious building's basement, on the alien planet. Requirements: translate 0/23 characters. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points; unknown. Time: unlimited.”

And this is why I'm reviewing. I completely forgot about this quest.

Opening up my journal I translate the characters from the door with ease. The language is eastern Akilese, the language of Uthica's youth. There's a circle filled with Eastern Akilese alphabet halfway up the door on the right. The rest of the door is a message.

“This node has been claimed and sealed by Uthica of clan Halterin in accordance with directive 24.1 of the Lathian Conclave.”

Uthica, huh? For some reason, I'm not surprised.

The moment I finish translating the words in my journal, my quest updates. Translation is far less stressful than unlocking new elemental magics has become.

"Objective complete: Translate 23/23 characters. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points. 1 iron grade mana essence.”

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Huh, iron grade mana essence. That’s new.

With ten points available I assign five points each to Intellect and Spirit before continuing. My magic skill feels too important to let it be capped.

“Quest updated: Knock knock. Description: Open Uthica’s door in the Goddess Vaus’ temple basement on Akilo. Requirements: open 0/1 doors. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points; unknown. Time: unlimited.”

Damn. Too bad I couldn’t have done that before I left. Who knew I could get five points for opening a door. There’s got to be more to it.

"Quest: If you build it, they won't come. Description: Create more durable creations with stone. Requirements: create 0/1 iron grade stone structure, 0/1 iron grade stone tools, raise Stone Shaping skill 34/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 29/30 days remaining."

"Quest: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will stand up to abuse. Requirements: Create 0/5 iron grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 33/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 29/30 days remaining."

Right. I think I might need to work on figuring out how to do these quests. Luckily I have time.

"Quest: Follow that dragon! Description: Find out if the dragon took your companions. Find and recover your companions. Requirements: 0/3 companions found; 0/3 companions recovered. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points per companion found; unknown. Time: unknown."

Ha. This has been my main quest for the last two days. I guess being able to see through their eyes doesn’t count as knowing where they are. Which is fair, I only have a vague sense of direction and distance.

With my quest log reviewed I consider experimenting to see what I can figure out about iron grade crafting, but I'm feeling dispirited. Plus, crafting requires a lot more attention than anything else. Hard to maintain a decent pace while distracted.

And speaking of distracted, I can't help think about my memory. While unlocking twilight manipulation is unarguably a good thing, I have new concerns. Have I forgotten things from my past? Or are my memories getting twisted by my magic?

Based on everything I remember from earth the latter seems more likely. But….

There's the other memory.

I'm not ready to reflect on it yet, and I'm definitely not ready to relive it, but there's a chance….

If I see what I think I'll see, then my mother has been right all along. It is all my fault.

So instead of working on iron grade crafting or practicing my ice and twilight magic, I play with my water umbrella design, trying to come to terms with what it might all mean.

And the rain continues to fall.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you for the kind review Commando 2342.

1.19 Bring Umbrellas

January 16, 2019, 8:19am.

Half an hour later I'm testing my latest umbrella design when I realize it's getting easier. At first, I'm excited, but then I realize the rain has nearly stopped. Damnit. Stupid rain.

A curtain of rain stretches from north to south, moving away from me to the west. When I turn my head to the east I can see more rain approaching. I have a short window of clear sky before it catches up. So, I make the most of it, running along the riverbank. Except with the rain receding, I can't hear moving water. Stepping closer to the bank, I look over. There's a distinct lack of river. I must have wandered away.

On the plus side, I can't be lost. Because I never knew where I was in the first place. There’s also my connection, which acts as a compass which leads to the others. So yeah, not lost.

Speaking of the others, I clamber over the not-a-river bank, moving in a westerly direction while preparing for my next opportunity to send a pulse to Beth. As my feet hit the ground on the other side, the pulse arrives.

When the connection solidifies, it gets really solid. Something is qualitatively different this time. The image clarifies, the face of the giant K'tharn greeting me. Its whiskers twitch as I mentally gag at its fish breath. I nearly forget myself, but whisper, "I'm getting closer. Over halfway."

While I’m whispering I hear the K'tharn pronounce the word "chair" slowly while pointing to a nearby combination of wood and leather, that I suppose could pass for a chair. If you don’t like chairs with lumbar support or padding. Pretty sure she should be calling it a stool. But hey, who am I to judge the giant murder kitty's vernacular while it's giving language lessons to Beth.

Its language of choice is eastern Vausian. Because of course, they named the language after the goddess they think destroyed their world.

Fun fact, off the top of my head, I can name twenty-four different words to describe the texture of meat in Vausian.

The giant has a distinct accent, rolling her r’s a little more than Uthica was used to, but it's nice to know she's using a language I recognize. How embarrassing would it be to download a language primer that didn’t work?

Beth nods her head in response to my statement, getting to her feet while holding her hand up in the symbol she taught us meant to stop or hold on.

The giant K'tharn steps back for a second, waiting. It appears they're in a hidebound tent. Now that Beth's standing, I notice the super soft rug beneath her feet. Beth makes a point of squiggling her toes in the luxurious carpet while sweeping her eyes across it. The intricate weaving depicts a sole K'tharn fighting off what seems to be a swarm of twisted little monsters, using nothing but fireballs and lightning bolts. At least I think that’s what’s depicted beneath the chair, the giant K'tharn and Beth's feet.

It's a crowded tent. It's also a nice and dry tent. I should take notes.

In the last second, I see Beth's eyes return to the K'tharn, gesturing for her to continue. As the connection fades I hear Beth mangle the word for chair so badly, she manages to say feet instead. Progress.

As my connection to Beth weakens, something else hits me.

Beth couldn't believe she let herself be fooled again. She was making her way through the forest, her inexperienced team behind her. They'd said she'd be leading experts this time.

Instead, she had a kid who looked like they were barely out of high school with an old man who was closer to retirement than his prime. Her eyes scanned the forest for threats as they moved.

At least their fourth seemed like he could handle himself, though she doubted he'd had proper training. But you worked with what you were given. It wouldn't be the first time she'd made heroes out of mice.

As they were cresting a rise, she heard the kid speak. Turning her head Beth started to respond......

The vision fades, sending me spiralling back to my body. I'm left disoriented for a second. That was more like reliving Uthica's memories than my previous connections to Beth. Weird.

Shaking it off, I start running, that rain won't wait forever. I follow the pulse in a straight line. It takes me two minutes to reach the river bank at my best run. Apparently, I managed to wander a lot further than I expected. On the plus side, the improvised bra, tightened onesie and full metal boots work better than I'd hoped.

It feels good to be running.

I never thought I'd think that. My efforts even have tangible gains.

“Skill increased: Running (3)”

On top of that, I’m not out of breath. Stamina is freaking amazing.

As much as I'm loathe to do so, on account of the water monsters, I climb down next to the river, keeping it in my sight. I feel vindicated by this decision when the rain returns moments later, cutting off vision past a couple of meters.

I bet I wouldn't have to deal with a little rain if I'd taken the Fire-Storm Elementalist class. I'd probably be flying around in the clouds, directing the rain. I wouldn't have to worry about mana poisoning either.

Not that I'm too worried about my mana poisoning.

Yet.

Currently, it doesn't have any effect other than increased sensitivity. Which isn't necessarily a problem. Considering that if it gets worse I'll die, I’m not planning to ignore it either. Who knows what options I'll have, but next time I get the opportunity, I've every intention of taking my class.

Back on track, it's time to review my attributes and notes. Okay, attributes and resources first. Focusing on my interface, I'm able to convince it to show my current attributes as well as what they're increasing to.

PANDORA

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-20

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

0

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

80 > 83

(+/-)

SPIRIT

80 > 83

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

32

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

42/44 > 42/45

[-3.2]

(20)/d > (21/d) (15)/d

Stamina

43/59 > 43/61

[1.9]

(31)/d

Mana

283/292 > 283/301

[26.8] > [27.7]

(224)/d > (233)/d

Focus

190/214 > 190/220

[15.7] > [16.0]

(141)/d > (145)/d

Matrix

Facet

28/71 > 28/73

[6.2] > [6.4]

(53)/h > (55)/h

Nothing unexpected here, on to my notes.

A quick glance is enough to realize I should reorganize them.

Several minutes later I'm done, leaving me with four separate lists.

List number one.

Things to remember so I don't die, horribly or otherwise.

- Get some class

- Raise bed and leave drain holes (to prevent water from trying to kill me in my sleep)

- Avoid dragons

- Don’t throw rocks into the river

- Keep practicing magic

- Rescue others

- Resolve memories so I have full health regen

Not really looking forward to that last one, but tonight....

Tonight I'm going to try.

Okay, List numero… uhhh. Two. List numero two.

Things to remember so I can find a way home.

- I’m able to use spatial magic to teleport to the standing stones. Practice, practice, practice.

- There’s a portal near the sanctuary city of Bethreyne. Easy to spot, the walls have a silvery lustre, like stainless steel.

- Really heavy rain may or may not be involved in travelling between worlds.

Nothing super concrete yet, but at least I have some ideas.

List number three.

Things that are awesome about coming here.

- I have magic (again?)

- Smoulder

- Dragons (best to avoid but still totally awesome)

- Dinosaurs (same as dragons)

- Uthica

- Teleportation (does this count as magic? I don't care, I'm counting it twice.)

- Josh's pink bathrobe

- Laundry is super easy

I feel like the third list is especially important at this point. It's easy to get down about the crap I've gone through, especially reliving some of my most painful memories. But this world, with its magic, is pretty amazing.

List number four.

Things to try.

- Flight mode using wind/metal/fire manipulation. Should be possible.

- Water walking on a nice shallow pond. This should also be used for early flight experiments.

- Figuring out how to do anything other than Return with spatial manipulation.

- Figure out how to time-freeze. Probably requires dealing with my memories.

I actually had a couple of other ideas for experiments written down, but I've already created better versions.

Despite my meandering thoughts and the onslaught of rain, I've been trying to keep my eyes open. So when I notice a dark shape moving across the river, I'm surprised. Because it wasn't there a moment ago.

Watching carefully, I realize it's not touching the surface of the river, so much as floating above it. I stop for a moment, staring out. The shape stops alongside me. Until I take my next step that is.

It doesn't move closer, but it follows along, matching my pace. When I stop, it stops. When I walk, it floats forward. It's creepy at first, but after having it shadow me for half an hour with no other signs, I start making a game of it. I try skipping, running then stopping, then I even try walking backwards. I do a pretty good job, only stumbling a little. It always keeps pace, but otherwise just floats there, matching my speed.

I do not throw rocks.

I don't stop watching it, but I decide I really should be doing some practice. Still not up for crafting. Definitely avoiding twilight and ice. Reaching for my water mana, it beads on my fingers, before snapping into the shape of my umbrella spell again.

Apparently, this is what the shape has been waiting for, as now that I'm distracted it decides to draw closer. I immediately let the mana disperse, but the damage is already done. The shape keeps approaching, so I quickly discover it was further out in the river than I'd thought.

By the time I'm able to clearly make out any details is when I realize there aren't many. It's a big ball of water, over eight meters in diameter. That means this thing could swallow our old moving van whole. The rippling motions along its surface are like little waves, searching for shore.

Even as I watch, I keep walking. My heart is beating a mile a minute but it hasn't actually attacked me. That said, after seeing how much damage water can do, I've no intention to provoke it. While I'm observing it, one of the smaller balls starts changing shape. At first, I'm worried it's decided to attack, but then it creates a copy of my umbrella.

Then it reforms the umbrella into a ball again, before slowly forming the umbrella once more. Is it having the same problems I'm having?

No, I can see the spell structure forming, snapping into place. It's different.

Hold on. I can't even see my own spell structures if they're outside my control radius (roughly 2.7 metres at this point.).

Oh. It's not copying me, it's using a different structure.

Is it showing me how to create the umbrella?

Resummoning my water umbrella, I start copying the giant orb's spell structure. Creating several concentric circles, I start linking them together with small triangle segments that are incorporated along the rim. By the time I'm done there's a crapload of little triangles connecting the circles.

Channelling mana into the finished structure, it forms into a smooth rounded barrier, a familiar notification appearing to herald my success.

"Spell discovered: Umbrella (Adaptive Water Shield). Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

Before I have time to inspect my new shield, nevermind read the spell description, the giant orb sends one of its lesser spheres hurtling towards me at a terrifying speed. Before I can think to dodge, the sphere smashes into my barrier. Instead of knocking me back, damaging the barrier or draining its strength, the sphere is absorbed. The barrier didn't just deflect the water, I can feel it has gotten stronger.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Staring at the giant orb, it bobs up and down several times. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was excited. As it's bobbing, it smacks into the river several times making large splooshing noises which cause Smoulder to finally take notice of it. I can practically feel the disdain oozing from her as she shakes her head before settling back down.

She doesn't take her eyes off the orb.

With its effectiveness thoroughly demonstrated, I replace my standard shield spell with Umbrella.

With my new and improved umbrella already out, I bring it into place above me while stowing the stone in my pack. The new spell is so effortless to maintain, that I can easily continue playing with water manipulation. With an audience right here, I decide to display my proficiency with the English alphabet.

I worked hard on it, I'm pretty proud of my results.

I'm at the letter E when it starts copying me, struggling to keep up. So I slow down, showing it each letter, one at a time, repeating them until it gets the hang of them. We go through the alphabet twice before I start holding up several letters at once. The most I've attempted before was three, but this time I go all out, holding six letters at once. After my breakthrough this morning, it's almost too easy.

"Alexis," I say pointing at my name hanging in front of me, then pointing at myself. I repeat this pattern a couple times when a gurgling sound issues forth.

"Ahl lexx hiss," it says. There's an echo to it, but it just repeated my name. Not bad for a first attempt. It also copies my letters, spelling out my name.

"Alexis," it says again, much clearer this time. As it speaks, it sends a ball in my direction which shifts into an arrow pointing at me. Luckily not at heart-stopping speeds this time. Before reaching me the arrow reverses direction, becoming a ball once again as it resumes orbiting the giant sphere.

Not sure what to do next, I try talking to it. "What's your name?" I ask.

It takes a moment, but then it repeats my question back at me, "What's your name?" echoing through the air, slightly garbled. Yeah, English's probably not going to work. In a reasonable time period that is.

But I have another idea. If this thing is native to Akilo, then maybe it knows Vausian.

With that thought in mind, I try saying "Hello," which really sounds more like "Re-ow." There's a bit of a twist to my mouth as I say it. Even though I know their language, it feels surpassingly strange saying it out loud.

In response, the orb slips into the river, disappearing without a sound. Its reaction is so sudden, I stop in my tracks while looking around. That wasn't because of me, was it? All I said was hello.

After a few seconds a small blob of water forms over the river. It stops growing when it's half a meter in diameter. I try saying hello, in English this time, but it doesn't respond. I must have scared it. Starting along the bank again, I start rambling at the shape in the water. In English.

I'm not sure what else to do to reassure it.

“So, do you like it around here? I’ve only just arrived myself. It was pretty awesome at first, but then my friends disappeared. That’s where I’m going. I’m trying to find my friends. I guess I could have stayed back at the church. Oh right, it's a temple actually. But the others seem like they need my help. At least Josh and Roberts do. I think the K'tharn are trying to teach Beth their language.”

I’m really starting to get into it when Smoulder butts my hand, interrupting my flow. Indulging her in head scritches, I look out at the orb again.

I wonder if I can inspect it as I did with Smoulder.

“Creature analyzed: Elder Water Elemental. Mana seed: 2.

A water spirit originally bound by a K'tharn Aquamancer. This elemental has been on its own for over a century. In that time it has grown far more powerful than the spirits most Aquamancer's are capable of binding. This is a particularly advanced version of the standard water elementals often found in the waterways of Akilo.

Name: Splat (in K'tharn. Note, it doesn't like this name Alexis. Sorry about the language primer.)

"Uhm, thanks for the tip Wyonna," I say. Probably a good warning. I would have used its name with nary a thought. Best not to upset the multi-tonne ball of water.

Further, that is.

"All good, just warn me next time maybe? Before I'm already falling unconscious, preferably." I add as I continue to read.

Attributes: Physical; Medium, Mobility; Medium, Magic; High, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Tidal wave, Engulfing presence, Water blast, High Water manipulation.

Defences: High physical resistance, medium magic resistance. High fire resistance. Immunity to water. Vulnerable to lightning."

"Important survival tip, while some creatures you encounter won't react to being analyzed, it's a pretty invasive process. It's guaranteed to let most creatures know you're looking. Hehe, I'll do my best. That wasn't how it normally works."

Upon reading Wyonna's second tip, I start eyeing the elemental, watching to see if it's going to attack.

But no, I realize it has instead retreated further beneath the surface. Now there's only a small ball the size of my fist near the river's edge.

What the hell could someone have done to a being literally made of water, that would leave it this terrified of me after I said hello?

I try coaxing it out with more water shaping, but it remains in its hidden position. I consider offering it jerky, but does it even eat? With my new umbrella in place, I keep walking south until I reach the point where the river starts heading back north still pondering its condition.

My new companion hasn't done anything to slow me down. it hasn't come back up yet either. It just continues floating in the river. Watching me.

I can't waste too much time watching it, now that I'm at the south tip of the river, it's time to check on the others again.

Pulling myself up the bank so I'm out of the immediate reach of the river, I count out the pulse. This time it's down to 76 when I reach out.

I've barely connected when I hear the word, "right." from Beth. Immediately after, I feel the bond strengthen again. This time I'm pretty sure Beth is doing something on her end too.

Beth's kneeling in front of Josh, who seems fine, except for the vacant look in his eyes, like he's not all there. While I'm processing Josh's appearance, Beth starts speaking again. She blurts it out so fast, I have to reflect on her words. Then I understand she said, "Alexis, they're searching for you."

In the time she was speaking Beth's eyes aren't idle. First, she looks at Josh, then Roberts, then at the K'tharn that appears to be watching over her.

This isn't the giant K'tharn I saw before. It's hard to tell since Beth is kneeling, but I think this one's only my height. She seems casual as if she isn't really worried about Beth or the others. Actually, now that I know K'tharn tells so well, I'm pretty sure she's bored.

I suppose no one likes guard duty.

As I'm taking in the K'tharn, Beth keeps moving, pushing the rough hide, which serves as the door, aside. Already this connection has lasted twice as long as any of the previous links. Whatever Beth did, it's working.

Bah…

duh… duh… Dragon….

….

All my thoughts come to a screeching halt when Beth clears the entrance to reveal the creature I'd only caught a glimpse of, that first day near the beach.

Nostrils flaring, the great dragon turns its head in our direction, flapping its green frills. Its emerald scales glisten in the sun as it opens its mouth in a yawn, hints of jade tinged smoke leaking from the corners.

It doesn't feel as massive as the elemental which was a literal wall of water, but it's definitely much longer. It's large enough that the giant K'tharn, the one that's been hanging around Beth, looks small and dainty seated on its back. The K'tharn is clearly connecting its harness to a compatible harness on the dragons back. There are several empty harnesses strapped to the sides of the dragon as well.

Her point made, I feel Beth relax, the connection once again fading into something else.

Beth hiked her rifle upon her shoulder. Progress was slower than she'd like.

The kid was trying, but it was clear this was their first time out in the wilderness. They didn't even have the proper gear. Obviously, they didn't read the briefing.

The old man had proven more capable than Beth expected. Talks too much though. He's going to attract attention if he doesn't stop talking to everyone.

Hefting her rifle again, Beth wondered if that would really be so bad. It would be nice to have something to shoot. She'd have to keep her eyes open. Maybe she could bag some dinner.

Motioning the others forwards Beth considered telling the others to quiet down but decided to hold her tongue. At least they're bonding.

Coming back to myself, I sit down hard. I've been so busy dealing with my personal crap, that I didn't consider they might be searching for me. Looking up at the rain, wondering if it isn't a gift, I start pushing myself to my feet. While I'm in this rain it should be a lot harder to find me.

Right?

Ruefully, I think back to my progress yesterday. Sure, I made good time. But I made good time while leaving a trail a mile wide, heading straight towards their camp. I built a bridge for crying out loud. To say I haven't exactly been discreet is almost an understatement. Not that being stealthy is my strong point.

I suppose now that I have twilight, it could be.

And hey, maybe they're friendly?

Would that matter for Josh and Roberts? Even if they're friendly, would the guys be allowed freedom? After what I learned about how the K'tharn view their males, it's pretty doubtful.

Looking around, I see a path that leads away into the forest.

I need to figure out a way to get them out. In order to do that, I can't afford to get caught. I need to stop running around slinging magic everywhere. So as much as it pains me to admit, I should probably leave the river behind as well. I have the pulse to guide me, but the river…

As long as I'm next to the river, I feel like I know where I am. I know the way back.

But it's not safe here. Calling out to the elemental, I wave goodbye. With Smoulder held tight, a little tighter than strictly necessary even, I step away from the river.

I continue walking into the surrounding forest, pulling my umbrella close as the river disappears behind me.

The rain continues to fall, but I have my umbrella now.

That makes all the difference in the world.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you for the review Demion.

1.20 Watch that Step

January 16, 2019, 11:33am.

I hadn't given it much thought while following the river, but the rain makes finding decent footing challenging in the forest. I tentatively place one foot after another, trying to avoid slipping. Again. The bank of the river had been dark, but at least I could see where I was putting my feet.

It's getting to the point of absurdity. I've already had to pick myself up out of the mud twice. It's only been five minutes.

My go to method of using fire to illuminate my path is out. I'd rather not give the dragon a nice bright homing beacon to zoom in on, thank you.

Time to make some adjustments.

First, since I keep slipping, I reshape my boots. Since I'm a little short on metal, I spend a solid forty mana to add spiked treads. Testing them, the difference is clear, my feet finding secure holds with every step. Worth it.

For vision, the obvious route is twilight. If I'm going to remain undetected, none of my other magic will serve me as well. If only I didn't have a massive negative association with it. It's like eating broccoli. Sure, it's good for me but the idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Being an adult, I overcome my reluctance, eating my metaphorical veggies. I begin by gathering twilight mana behind my eyes. In a way I haven't done since I was locked in the time-freeze, I infuse them with mana. The result is immediate. The darkness absolute. Panicking, I dismiss the magic before recovering my sense of self. At least I didn't throw Smoulder this time.

I'm honestly surprised she's put up with me for so long. It's got to be the head scritches. "Isn't that right you little floofball, you just love head scritches?" I giggle as she pushes her head up into my hand.

Right. Business. Serious magic over here.

Let's see, twilight encompasses everything from the early morning sun, to the darkest night, so I just need to imbue a different aspect of twilight. Trying again, this time I infuse my eyes with mana that reminds me of an early morning. Specifically, that moment just before the sun crests over the horizon, much like it was back home on a clear winter day.

In response, the darkness changes, becoming less occluded. Everything is tinged with a soft, dusty, yellow tint. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close. It's much better than the empty dark, that's for certain.

My boots squelch as I make my way forward, through the clearly defined woods. Watching my surroundings, memories of hide and seek spring to mind. If I had magic back then, shouldn't I have been better at those games? Cause I'll be honest, I was pretty awful. My papa never had trouble finding me.

Weaving the essence of twilight over my fingers I admit I've missed it. I guess it was more like ice cream than broccoli. It just happened to be green ice cream. Or something. Analogies are hard. The point is, I was looking at it wrong. Twilight was shielding me from what I didn't want to see. I can't blame the magic for what lay beneath.

Since I've started using twilight for my vision, it's time to experiment. Just like I have with most of my other magic.

The first step is to take it through all my standard spell forms. But preparation is required. Twilight is more nuanced than the other elemental mana types. A dark shadowy arrow. A brilliant beam of light. Even a sparkly, rainbow … arrow. Each one of these can be formed of twilight, all by shifting the spectrum of my mana.

At the moment though, to keep a low profile, the only version I'll be casting is the dark one.

With a flick of my wrist, I send an arrow of midnight into the forest, striking a branch. The branch doesn't seem to be bothered by my attack. It doesn't even sway.

Moving closer I see light being drawn in, darkness clinging to the branch, preventing me from seeing the actual limb. Hmm. Seems like I might be able to use this for blinding effects. Nice to have at least one non-lethal option.

Splaying my hand I call forth darkness through the swept triangle rune. The darkness clings to everything before me, completely blocking my path. With a wry smile, I sweep my arm forward gathering the darkness, leaving me with a clear trail forwards.

Using twilight with the circle rune, the magic blocks my sight, but this time I'm prepared for it, so I only panic a little before I reshape the barrier. With a small adjustment, I'm able to leave a gap for my eyes. It shrouds me in a cloak of darkness but lacks the subtlety of a proper shadow. It's also not even slightly mobile. Should be useful for hiding in place, but I'm already conceptualizing ways to improve the implementation.

As I'm tinkering with combining my new self-modulation adjustments from my Umbrella spell with my shadow cloak, I come across some tracks. Dissipating my spellwork, I kneel to inspect them. There's a large number of clawed prints, clearly outlined in the sodden earth. It appears they're headed north, towards the river.

I'm about to leave when I hear rustling from the nearby bushes, bushes which I can't help but notice happen to host those delicious berries I found yesterday.

When a hand emerges I do the first thing that springs to mind, I activate my shroud of darkness. I draw my hand up, watching the creature emerge, prepared to conjure forth a lightning torrent.

Stepping into the small clearing is what you'd get if you took a K'tharn, sent them to a barber, left them out in the sun for two weeks too long, then hit them with a large stick for good measure. Repeatedly. The couple random clumps of fur don’t hide its nakedness. It’s far too easy to see just how stunted, twisted, and remarkably ugly the little creature is.

It doesn't seem to notice my puddle of darkness, as it shuffles its way through the clearing, licking berry juice off its fingers. It doesn't look around as it moves, ambling along without a care in the world. I just about gag when it gets closer. It smells worse than the portable toilet at the end of the jazz music festival Sab dragged me to this summer.

Somehow, through its stench, it seems to catch a whiff of something. It moves closer, stopping for a sniff here, then a sniff there. It's only half a meter away when it stops, sniffing the air while digging a finger in its ear.

Dismissing my lightning torrent, I ready a flame arrow. If this thing attacks, I'd rather not alert the rest of its friends. Maybe I should just blind it?

My decision is made for me when a massive force pushes off my chest, knocking me to my butt. Smoulder smashes through the creature's right torso, spraying me with viscera.

"Ew, Ew, Ew, it's in my mouth." At this point, I don't just gag, I throw up.

When I recover, I see Smoulder once again peeing on a corpse. Once she's done I approach, kneeling next to her.

While still a little shocked at the sudden violence, I reach to pick her up. For some reason, she backs away for a second while staring up at me with her little eyes. It takes me a moment to realize she wants me to clean myself up first. Somehow she's still immaculate. Magic? It's what I would do. In fact, it's what I will do.

Laughing nervously, I quickly scrub myself off, while glancing down at the body. I wonder if I can analyze dead things?

Focusing on the twisted little creature, I feel my focus tick down as a new result appears.

“Creature analyzed: Lesser Pothlin. Mana seed 11.

A twisted version of the K'tharn pu'shaha, these little terrors spawn in packs of twenty to thirty, tearing apart any creature they come upon. While individually non-threatening, when in a group they can shrug off injuries that would otherwise kill them. They can pose a significant danger for the unprepared.

These creatures were a regular part of K'tharn folklore. Stealing away children and leaving deformed Pothlin in their place. Sabotaging bridges. Switching good meat for rotten. All these acts were attributed to the Pothlin. This was before the arrival of the mana swarm. Now they're just seen as pests.

Name: ZF43G21

Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Low, Magic; Low, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Diseased claws and bites. Swarm advantage, when in a group of ten or more their physical and magical resistance go up one category.

Defences: Low physical resistance, no magic resistance, low earth resistance."

"Important survival tip, once a user has a class, they can loot mana swarm creatures."

"Would you like to loot Lesser Pothlin for 3.7 facet?"

Huh, contradictory messages there Wyonna.

"Sure," I whisper as I wonder what I can even loot from a naked corpse. I'm still kneeling where it fell when it dissolves into blue dust. The dust is especially cloying, causing me to choke on the too sweet air.

"Item looted: 1 mortal grade earth essence."

Recovering from my coughing fit, I look around, but don't see anything. It didn't give me the notification to return to a Nexus, so where's my loot?

After spending a minute searching the grass around me, I'm unable to find anything. I even check in my bag, thinking that it might have been put there directly. Nope.

"Uhm Wyonna. Not to complain or anything, but I didn't get my loot," I whisper as I finally stand up. As I'm standing I see a glimmering shard fall from one of the folds of my onesie. "Oh. Nevermind."

It must have gotten caught while I was choking on the Pothlin's death fumes. Smelled better in death than in life at least. Not many can say that.

Picking up the little brown crystal, I inspect it carefully. It's barely large enough to grasp between my fingers, about a third the width of my pinky and about as long. And my pinky is pretty small. Slipping it into my backpack, I'm suddenly very glad the pack is magical. It makes it easy to store and retrieve the minuscule object. It's the ultimate sorting tool. I'd still like a jacket though.

Gathering up Smoulder, I hear chittering, from the north. Suddenly, I realize I've spent far too much time poking around the clearing. It's been nearly two minutes since Smoulder destroyed the solitary straggler. I should probably leave.

Before I get a chance, several more of the ugly things step into the clearing. This time I don't give them time to notice me, I conjure forth a lightning torrent, then run the opposite direction.

As I run, I hear their cries of shock get cut short by the crack of lightning and the roll of thunder. I don't look back as I dodge through the trees. I'm an idiot.

I shouldn't have gotten distracted by a single shiny bauble. I also shouldn't have responded by throwing lightning. Good job being quiet Alexis.

I keep running through the trees, using earth magic to improve my footing. The trees fly by at a rapid pace. Before I know it, I reach a small clearing. The rain is still hammering down, but what I see leaves me grinding to a halt.

There’s a pristine log cabin sitting in the middle of the clearing. The cabin is surrounded by a small flowing creek, that sparkles even in the rain, lumination shining from beneath the water. The entire clearing appears carefully tended as if I’ve stepped out of a wild forest directly into the suburbs.

My distraction costs me.

Though, not as much as it should have. I feel a dull impact against my forehead, but no pain. A grey rock lands in the grass in front of me.

Realizing that stone just bounced off my head, I whip around. Behind me are four of the little monsters, picking up more stones from the forest floor. Only one of them hit me, even though I was standing still. Pretty sure there’s poetry about the whole don’t throw stones at monsters thing in here somewhere.

I don’t stop to think about it.

The little monsters are following me. That’s not surprising, but there's only four of them. Only four I can see, I remind myself. One of the four is scorched, both its arms on the right side hanging useless, likely caught by my lightning. It doesn’t let that stop it though as it hefts another stone, preparing to throw in my direction.

Before they’re able to fire again, I swing my water shield between us, hoping it works on rocks as well as it does on water. Why did I think it was a good idea to get rid of my all-purpose shield?

I scramble back into the shallow stream surrounding the cabin, their rocks hitting my Umbrella with negligible effects. Okay, I take it back. Thank you mighty Umbrella.

In response, I start channelling a Tidal Wave from the stream at my feet, which I create originating from my Umbrella.

The wave of water leaves my umbrella mostly intact but does rip some of the water away. When it strikes, three of the little creatures are smashed into the surrounding trees so hard they don't get back up. Except for the last one. The one with two useless arms. It just stares at me for a brief moment, before scampering away into the trees. I guess it gets to live.

There's no way I'm chasing a creature like that into the woods where all its little friends can ambush me. No thanks.

Looking down at Smoulder, I'm surprised at how natural it felt to keep her crooked in one arm even as I was raising the other for spell casting. Is my fighting style going to be dual-wielding a bunny in one hand, a spell in the other?

Given how dangerous she is, that's not as silly as it sounds. Definitely not earning cool points though.

Scanning around for more, I give my status a quick check, confirming what I thought.

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

22/45

[-3.2]

(21)/day   (15)/day

Stamina

42/61

[1.9]

(31)/day

Mana

238/301

[27.7]

(233)/day

Focus

160/220

[16]

(145)/day

Matrix

Facet

42/73

[6.4]

(55)/hour

My health took that blow instead of me. I’m down eighteen points from the last time I checked, but that seems like an amazing trade for not suffering any after-effects of taking a rock to the head.

Next, I quickly read my notification log, which leaves me cursing my bad aim.

“Quest received: Gotta slay em all - Lesser Pothlin. Description: Kill the remaining Pothlin from the swarm that you nearly slaughtered. Requirements: 21/22 Pothlins slain. Reward: iron rank integration points based on your contribution; variable. Time: 3/3 days."

That little bugger with two non-functional arms was the last one? My Lightning Torrent must have decimated the rest. Wow.

I start moving my Umbrella spell back into place overhead while looking back up the path.

“Wish I’d known he was the last… Oof,” my muttering is interrupted by Smoulder launching herself from my arms. I watch as she takes off in the direction of the last fleeing Pothlin.

“Damnit,” I curse, as I leave the clearing behind, running after Smoulder. I guess I am chasing the damn thing into the woods.

Twenty meters up the trail, I find Smoulder sniffing the body of the last Pothlin. Instead of the impact hole I’m expecting, there’s a black arrow sticking out of the body. I don't approach, looking around for the source.

It doesn’t take me long to find it.

To my right, a particularly athletic K’tharn has an arrow knocked in a powerful, short bow. She’s close enough I can see the golden hue of her eyes which remain locked on me. I notice that her tawny fur grants her amazing natural camouflage. She almost blends in with the tree trunk she's standing next to. Despite her athletic figure, I can tell she's young, roughly my age.

“You’re the strangest looking cub I’ve seen in a long time. Some sort of mana deformity I’m guessing. What is an elemental-less aquamancer doing all the way out here I wonder?” she asks as I process her accent. It's Vausian but it feels rougher, almost rural. Is that being judgey? Wait, does she think I’m a K’tharn? Oh, the hoodie. It’s not that cat-like, is it? I guess she did say I'm deformed.

“Well, something wrong with your tongue? Speak up, cub,” she prods, poking me in the cheek with her arrow. It’s weird, but even though she doesn’t pierce my flesh, I can still feel the sharp sensation on my cheek.

"Ow, stop poking me," I respond, reflexively turning from her arrow, causing it to catch, flipping my hood down.

"Well, I'll be. What are you? I ain't never seen a manaborne who could talk before," she comments stepping back while eyeing me warily.

"I'm not a manaborne. Or at least, I don't think so. I'm Alexis. Who're you?" I ask, eyeing her bow warily. The prudent thing to do would be to bring my Umbrella down between us, but I don't think I could manage to swing it around before she got at least one shot off. And she reduced my health by five points just poking me. I do not want to get shot by an arrow that does that much damage with a gentle nudge.

"Huh," she grunts taking another step back, "ain't never heard of a manaborne having a name either."

"You some kinda elemental?" she asks, waving with one of her upper hands at the floating water above me. Her arrow never wavers. If she wasn't threatening to skewer me, I'd be super impressed.

Okay, I'll admit it. I am super impressed.

"Uhm nope. Just a regular old human." I reply while wondering where Smoulder is. I'm guessing this person isn't a real threat or Smoulder would have put a hole through her. Or they're dangerous enough Smoulder doesn't feel up to trying. Given her reaction around the enormous water elemental, I'm inclined to believe it's the former.

"Hew-mun, huh. Ain't never heard that one before. Well, I can't just let you go now that you gone stumbling into our home. You'll just have to stay," she declares while gesturing back towards the clearing with one hand.

How am I going to find the others if I let myself get captured? I move to follow her lead, thinking of ways I might escape.

The best option I can think of is a distraction, but what? Twilight? I don't think I could form it fast enough. Besides I'm not that fast and I don't know how well my Umbrella will stop her arrows. It worked pretty well against the stones, but those were just thrown by twisted midgets. I don't want to risk serious injury by testing my barrier against her arrows.

As we step into the clearing, I continue to think. I could blast her with a lightning torrent but that just seems wrong. Unlike the Pothlin and Wolfadillos, she's clearly not a monster.

I realize I'm out of time when we reach the front door of the cabin and I haven't thought of anything.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Vaus to descend and open it for you? Drop your water then get inside," my escort commands, pointing to the stream.

Doing as she says, I deposit my water in the stream. Then, taking the last couple steps, I push open the heavy wooden door, the dark brown handle, solid in my hand. It's only as I'm opening the door that I realize I missed the perfect opportunity. Sighing, I step inside.

As the door swings open, I'm surprised to find a cramped but cozy home. The first thing I notice is a small table with two chairs against the far wall. Unlike the stool I saw in the vision, these are proper chairs. They have sturdy backs and fur draped across them for padding.

Next to the table, there are handmade wood carvings, stacked with care in a pile that reaches to the ceiling. The rest of the cabin is similarly packed, with a pair of bunk beds at the back, and all sorts of miscellaneous knick-knacks stacked in neat but very full piles throughout.

"Sit," she commands, gesturing at the chair. I'm kind of surprised she brought me into her home. Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep a watch on me outside?

As I'm wondering about this, I hear the door close behind me, a solid thunk filling the room when she drops a heavy wooden bar into place. It's at this point I realize the windows are incredibly tiny and the door is the only entrance.

As I look back I see she's still pointing her bow directly at my head.

Over her shoulder, there's a small round window that looks out into the clearing. Even trapped in this cabin with an arrow pointing at my head, I can't help noticing.

The rain has finally stopped.

1.21 Hospitality

January 16, 2019, 11:58am. A perfect time for lunch.

Doing as instructed, I move over to the chair. While settling in, I watch my 'host'. She doesn't move to join me, making her way to the lower bunk instead.

Setting her bow to the side as she sits, her eyes never leave me, but her wariness feels like it's dropped off. If I'm reading her right, I think she's more… curious.

"So," I say, testing the waters. She keeps looking at me but she doesn't respond or reach for her bow, so I continue.

"What's your name?" I ask while enjoying the chair. It's so comfy I'm almost glad she showed up, shepherding me in here. Wish I had Smoulder though.

"Rufka," she answers. Then as she leans towards me she asks, "what kind of name is Awl-ex-uhs anyhow? How come you don't have a nice normal name?"

"It's normal enough where I'm from," I respond, wrapping the extra fur from the edge of the chair up and around me.

"Hmm. What are you doing out here in the eastern reaches anyhow? No user comes out here," she asks, gesturing wide with all four arms. It's surprising how expansive the gesture is with four limbs involved.

"It's where we landed," I reply as I study her face. She's the first K'tharn I've seen in person. Her facial colouring is beautiful. There are subtle ripples of dark brown fur against her general tawny colouring. It really accents her eyes.

"We? There are more of you out there? Oh, Vaus. Mum wouldn't be happy to find out there are users running around our reach," she says as she runs a paw through her mane. Hers is pretty short compared to a couple I've seen. I've noticed most K'tharn manes are pretty similar to human hair. Uthica'd never seen a bald K'tharn though. Unlike some of the elaborate hairstyles some K'tharn favour, Rufka's is cut short, keeping it simple.

Seeing as Rufka is currently distracted, I take the time to check my notifications.

"Skills increased:

- Temporal Manipulation (11 to 15)

- Spatial Manipulation (13 to 18)

- Mana Manipulation* (79 to 81)

- Fire Manipulation (28)

- Water Manipulation (28 to 35)

- Wind Manipulation (28)

- Lightning Manipulation (28 to 30)

- Stone Manipulation (50 to 51)

- Earth Manipulation (28 to 30)

- Metal Manipulation (34 to 36)

- Ice Manipulation (2)

- Twilight Manipulation (2 to 9)

- Metal Shaping (34 to 35)

- Running (4 to 5)

Seems like every time I connect, I get Temporal and Spatial manipulation. It's nice to know I've found at least one reliable source for levelling them.

"Quest Completed: Gotta slay em all - Lesser Pothlin. Contribution: 20/22 Pothlins slain. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points; one uncommon starter item. Pothlin codex updated."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

I guess Rufka killing the last Pothlin finished the quest. I'm really glad the system gives me integration points as well as the physical rewards. Having to go back to the Nexus every time I complete a quest would make them next to worthless.

Glancing up I see Rufka shifting back and forth like she's trying to get a better look at me.

"You know, you kinda look like a Builder now that I think about it," she says while stroking her chin. I guess some gestures transcend species.

"Course you're too short. Skins the wrong colour. Eyes are the wrong shape. And let's not even get started on your ugly round ears. But yeah, kinda like a Builder," she says, standing from her bunk before moving closer.

"So how about it?" she asks as she sets herself down in the chair across from me, leaning forward, "you a Builder?"

"You mean the people who brought the sanctuary cities here right? Pretty sure I'm just human," I reply while leaning back from her enthusiastic questioning.

"Ah well. Didn't figure so. Haven't been any Builders for hundreds of years. Shame. That would've been pretty neat," Rufka says as she leans back.

"Hey, wanna play a game of Astra's Stride while we wait?" she asks suddenly, rubbing her paws together excitedly.

"Uhm. I'd rather get going. My friends need my help," I answer while looking to the door.

"Ah. Sorry. But I can't let you go just yet. Mum made a rule. Any-user who sets foot inside our clearing has to stay. See, we can't have word getting back to the Aetherium that we're out here," she says, looking down for a moment.

"But that's fine. Once we're sure you're not from the Aetherium, we'll let you go," Rufka says brightly.

"Uhm, what's the Aetherium?" I ask nervously. I'm not sure why, but something about the way she's talking makes me feel like they haven't let anyone leave. Ever. I think I need to get out of here.

I'm not within range of the door with any of my manipulation skills. But I'm close, only half a meter or so and I might be able to unblock it.

"The bad people who want to lock us away," Rufka replies matter of factly as if that's all there is to say.

"Well, since we have to wait, why don't you show me how to play," I say as I wonder what I'm going to do. Are they criminals? That would explain why they're living out here in the middle of nowhere. I haven't received a quest to turn them in or anything so maybe it's not that bad.

"Really? That's great. Mum doesn't play anymore and Theria doesn't make it around very often," she says as she rises up from her chair, moving to get something near the bunk beds.

I move the table out from the wall as if getting it ready to play. At the same time, I push my chair back a bit, hopefully not so much as to worry her, but enough to reach the door with my manipulation skills. She comes back eagerly, with a well-crafted wood board. It has eight sides and a multitude of smooth, half-sphere divets across the surface. The playing area is eight triangles along the edge with a dark area in the center. With the board on the table, she sets several small bags next to it, each bag clearly died a different colour.

"Okay, so the objective of the game is to reach the other player using your 'magic'. Now it's pretty simple," she says as she takes me through the rules. It's pretty simple. The goal is to get eight of my pieces into her starting area before she can get eight into mine. I swear I've played something similar when I was staying with my aunt Charon, but she called it Chinese checkers.

Even as Rufka's explaining, I start attempting to lift the heavy wood bar she set over the door. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of concentration and I'm trying to pay attention to her explanation, so I'm not making much progress. If it was metal or stone, I'd have already moved it. Stupid wood.

"Okay, I'm lightning," she says grabbing the purple bag, pulling out small purple marbles.

"What kind of magic do you want to use?" she asks as she sets her 'mana' in place.

"Oh, I like to play with all kinds of magic," I reply, reaching for the red bag which I'm guessing corresponds with fire. While setting my pieces, I continue working on moving the bar. To avoid ripping it apart I have to use air, earth, and water manipulation, all in sync. It's not going well.

"Lightning's my favourite. I wish mum had let me be a Lectromancer," Rufka says taking the first move.

"Lectromancer huh," I mumble, as I copy her move. Is that seriously what they're called?

"The only known dungeons for Lectro's are all controlled or sealed by the Aetherium. So completing the progression quest is impossible for any but their agents."

"Oh," I say in response, wondering if maybe I should blow up the damn bar instead of moving it.

"As if that weren't bad enough, they've gone and locked down the portal too. Not like anyone's gonna be leaving world without their sayso anyhow," she continues without really needing my input, skipping over a couple of my pieces while she's at it.

"The Aetherium locked down the portal?" I ask, suddenly much more interested in the conversation. I'm not making much progress with the bar at the door anyway. The balance is different from when I tried manipulating a living tree. Because of course, it is. Plus, trying to manipulate magic while having a conversation and playing a game is hard. Even if I haven't been committing much of my attention to the game or conversation.

"Yeah, a hundred years ago, or so mum said. Vaus, you must be from a long way away if you didn't know that. Are you from the Rashelle isles?" she asks as she moves her last piece out of her starting area.

"Uhm no. I'm from a place called Vancouver. You've probably never heard of it. Not a lot of K'tharn there," I answer while thinking about the portal. If it's locked down, that makes it less likely we'll be able to use it to get home. I'm guessing it's not how we got here anyway.

"Really? That sounds exotic. Must be nice not having the Aetherium around. No user making up rules, telling you what you can and can't do," she sighs as she moves her seventh piece into my starting area. How did I get so far behind?

Right, I wasn't paying attention.

"I'm pretty sure there are people making up rules like that everywhere," I respond, finally getting my first piece into her starting area. I want to ask more about the portal but I'm not sure how much information Rufka will give me. Ah well, it's worth a shot.

"So this portal that the Aetherium locked down, where is it?" I ask. As I finish speaking I watch her move her last piece, capturing my starting area, defeating me with her powerful lightning magic. Which actually shoots me with a small shock.

"What the," I mutter, shaking my hand in reflex as she chuckles. Quickly checking my status, I confirm that I just lost five health for losing a board game.

"It's over the mountains to the west, near their capital city, I think," she answers as all her marbles float up, returning to her bag.

"Again?" she asks with a glimmer in her eyes. Noticing Rufka's nearly pleading expression, I'm struck by what it must be like to spend months out here with no one but her mother and this Theria person for company. Rufka must be lonely.

"Sure," I reply, "Uhm, I just need to check something," I continue, hoping she has a similar interface. I want to connect to Beth again, but I don't want to give away the connection.

Nodding, Rufka waves one paw in my direction which I interpret as a sign to go ahead. I settle back in the chair, not waiting to count out the pulse interval. They're still a long way away.

When the connection forms I'm doing my best to pay attention to Beth's reaction. The last couple of times I've made contact have been different. I'd like to know why. This time I'm able to detect Beth reinforcing the bond using her mana. I'm not able to see focus, but I can't imagine she'd be able to accomplish this without it as well. I make an effort to copy her, which is surprisingly easy.

Even as we secure the connection Beth remains focused on the objects before her. They don't appear special. In fact, it appears to be a collection of random odds and ends. As my attention joins hers, I hear her say the name of a fork, a sea shell and a book, all in Vausian. She gets them all correct. Beth has an accent but it's a noticeable improvement over this morning.

As she finished Beth looks over her shoulder revealing the first white K'tharn I've seen. Even in Uthica's memories, there weren't any white K'tharn. This K'tharn has the most impressive mohawk I've ever seen. It's a woven mixture of mane and what seems like a light silky material. It stands nearly a foot above her head then continues down, tapering off just before reaching her tail. While I'm still talking, she claps her lower paws together in excitement while patting Beth's shoulder.

"Excellent, at this rate you should receive the quest reward in no time. Hopefully, then we can have a proper conversation. I can't believe Ivicka wouldn't let me near you until now. Muscle bound sky jock," the K'tharn next to Beth says before she begins taking Beth through several other objects. I watch as Beth keeps answering until she pauses.

"I know kung fu," Beth says, but in Eastern Vausian, which confuses me for a second until I get the reference. It seems like she managed to complete the quest.

"I knew it, I just knew I could get you through this. The moment I saw you using ...." the white-furred K'tharn continues speaking as the connection fades.

Beth couldn't believe her stupidity. They'd been ambushed and she'd led them straight into the trap. The kid was hurt, and Beth couldn't see them. The old man was dodging around trying not to get torn up.

And their fourth was injured bad. If Beth didn't get to her soon, she might bleed out. Which would officially mean the mission was over. She was the only one certified to operate the equipment. Not that Beth couldn't do it. She just wasn't certified.

But that wasn't Beth's number one priority at the moment, Beth dodged back, then struck the swine swinging at her with the butt of her rifle. It was a good hit, his head tilting back as his jaw shattered. It'd be enough to keep him out of the fight until she dealt with the others.

Beth preferred her targets at the far end of her scope, but she never let that stop her from training close combat skills. It's what you weren't prepared for that got you killed. This wasn't supposed to be that kind of mission, but she wasn't entirely surprised. Backwoods jobs like these rarely went the way they were supposed to. This was still better than the crossing back in '06.

The old man was still being harassed by two of the Rojas brothers' people, trying to keep them from getting too close. Sighing, Beth raised her rifle putting a bullet through one of their knees. She'd barely had to aim. She'd miss the bullet.

When the last dickhead realized he was alone he tried to give up, but the old man took the opportunity to twist the thug's knife around, cutting his throat. He'd been getting fond of Jefferies, they'd made him angry when they shot her. He made sure the thug who put a bullet in her suffered before he finished him. The old man knew as well as Beth that they couldn't let any of these brutes live.

While he was taking care of the thugs, Beth hurriedly checked over the others. She was glad to see that Jeffries had only taken a hit on the shoulder. Probably hurt like hell, but it didn't hit anything major. She'd be fine.

Walking over to where the kid went down, Beth sighed in relief. He was breathing, just unconscious. She brushed the brown hair out of his eyes. He was a good kid. She didn't know how he'd gotten mixed up in this business.

When she thought about it, Beth wasn't sure how she'd ended up running jobs under the nose of the Colombian cartel either.

What…. the… actual….

I come back to myself, only to nearly fall out of my chair. Rufka is next to me, looking down at me with worried eyes.

"Are you okay Ahluxis?" she asks with a surprising amount of concern in her voice. She does know she basically took me hostage at arrow point, right?

"I'm fine," I say as I gain some distance from the memories of Beth's brutal encounter with cartel thugs. That was insane. What did Beth do for a living? Do I tell Beth that I'm reliving her memories? She seemed so at ease with the violence.

It doesn't matter, I try to tell myself, though I don't really believe it.

Still, I have a concerned-looking K'tharn hovering over me. I should probably address that.

"Something I ate," I lie weakly, "and it's Alexis. Lex to my friends."

"Lex. That I like. Strong, like my mum," she says leaning back.

"I can get you something fresh if you'd like. Maybe some tea. Mum always said tea is good for the soul," Rufka rambles as she starts searching through a nearby cupboard. The strong scent of dried herbs washes over me, reminding me of Sab. I never really drank tea until Sab started insisting I try her favourites. Bit by bit, she wore me down. I never became a fan of the really bitter teas she liked, but a nice earl grey with a splash of cream was the perfect thing on those cold, wet, west coast mornings.

Rufka sets a strange pot on the table in front of me before closing her eyes in concentration. A few seconds later I watch steam start whistling out the top of the magical kettle. That's the fastest kettle ever!

Grinning at my expression, Rufka can't help sharing, "my mum helped me unlock the enchanter subclass. I may not be a Lectromancer, but one day I'll be able to create artifacts. It'll be a long time before I can make anything like mum's cabin though."

"Oh," I say, "the cabin is an artifact?" I wonder what makes it an artifact as opposed to a magical item.

"Oh, uhm, I really shouldn't talk about it. Can you just pretend I didn't say anything," she looks at me with four pleading eyes. Wow, it's like trying to be mad at a kitten.

"Promise," I say, as she pours me a cup of tea. The mug is similar to the one from the ruins, though it doesn't have any writing on it. The handle is shaped in a way that is clearly meant for the K'tharn's longer, thicker fingers. I don't immediately drink my tea, because taking unknown substances from a stranger seems like a bad idea. I take a moment to focus on it first.

"Substance analyzed: Muthica's special tea blend.

Description: A restorative blend of mana enriched tea leaves, this tea will restore most iron rank or lower conditions. Doubles iron rank resource regeneration for thirty minutes. Reduced effectiveness on copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals.

Don't worry, you're not mortal. At least not by the system's calculations.

Okay. No longer mortal. I'm guessing that has to do with the iron rank integration points.

Survival tip: This is an unusually potent mix for an iron rank substance. Consumables of this potency require an exceptionally skilled alchemist with a maximized subclass to create.

Well, it appears the tea'll be good for me, at least. Cradling the tea in my hands, I take a tentative sip.

Peach. And raspberry. Or somewhere in between. I savour the drink as I tease out the flavour. I'm enjoying myself when I notice Rufka smiling at me.

"It is good, right?" she asks while smiling at me.

"Yeah, it's delicious," I reply taking another sip. It really is.

"Mum always made her tea bitter. But I convinced her it was better like this," Rufka nodded proudly.

"So, when do you expect your 'mum' to be home," I ask while enjoying my drink. The warmth of the tea feels as though it's working its way through every part of my being, slowly suffusing me with energy. It really is helping with Beth's memories. I know she was defending herself. She was just so... Brutal.

"I don't know. It could be a month or two, you'll have to wait until she gets back," Rufka answers, causing me to spit out my tea.

"A month or two," I sputter, she wants to keep me locked…. Her laughter interrupts my thoughts.

"Sorry, sorry," she says, clutching her sides as she continues laughing.

"I couldn't help it. My mum, she…. she won't be coming back. The Aetherium took her. I'm sorry for lying, it's just so lonely out here. And my mum did tell me, be careful around potential Aetherium. And you're obviously a mage so," she trails off with a sad smile. It's a smile Uthica knew well. A smile that speaks of being resigned to loss.

"So, if we're not waiting for your mother," I trail off, letting the silence serve as a question.

"I needed to make sure you weren't an Aetherium. They're the only users who use magic as you do. But no Aetherium would play Astra's Stride or drink Muthica's tea," she says gesturing to the game and drink.

"Of course I suspected you weren't Aetherium before then," she continues, as she stands up, walking over to where a brace of knives is strapped to the wall. Turning back towards me, a knife held in one hand, her golden eyes narrow while her sharp tongue flicks over her even sharper teeth.

"No. You're not Aetherium."

"Afterall, no Aetherium would be foolish enough to lock themselves indoors with the daughter of Crimson Death."

1.22 Rites, Right

January 16, 2019, 12:33 pm. Right after tea.

I stare at where Rufka stands, knife in hand.

When the knife flashes I throw myself to the side, smashing against a pile of furs and blankets.

There's no thunk from the knife. Looking up, I see Rufka isn't moving forward.

Instead, I hear her laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist," she apologizes as she casually tosses the knife back and forth from paw to paw.

"But there is one final test," she states as she pauses with the knife held against her paw.

"One final test to really prove you're not Aetherium," she continues, drawing the knife across her palm, leaving it dripping with crimson fluid. "We need to complete the rite."

"What?" I sputter as I watch her blood slowly bead along the edge of the knife.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I should've known you wouldn't be familiar with the rite of Astra if you've never heard of the Aetherium," Rufka says holding the knife loosely in one of her other hands. I know that name. Astra, goddess of family, bonding and rebirth.

"Rite of Astra. Right," I reply as I tentatively lift myself from the floor. I guess she's not going to try to murder me.

Which I guess should be obvious. She's had several opportunities that would have been much easier than coming at me with a knife. Even if she is the daughter of Crimson Death. Who says something like that with a knife in their hands? At least I wasn't drinking.

"Yeah. The rite of Astra. A sharing of flesh to bind ourselves to do no harm," Rufka shrugs as if cutting one's hand open is no big deal. In Uthica's time, the rite of Astra was for honouring the dead. I guess with everybody turning into blue sugar dust when they die, the tradition changed.

"Uhm, okay," I say as I brush myself off while I stand, "how do I do this?"

I'm not looking forward to cutting my hand open, but it beats getting shot. Or stabbed. I know I can't bring myself to blast her, so that's out. Even when I thought she was going to attack, all I wanted to do was escape. The idea of retaliating with Lightning Torrent didn't cross my mind. Until now that is.

While I'm thinking, she continues, "it's easy. Since I'm the host, you partake of my flesh first. Just lick my blood," she informs me, handing me the bloody knife, hilt first.

My stomach gurgles as I take the knife from her. Staring at the bloody knife, then looking up at her expectant face, I slowly bring it to my mouth.

She watches me patiently even as I hesitate.

Closing my eyes, I lick the blade.

......

......

Cherry.

It tastes like cherry.

That's when Rufka loses it, no longer able to contain herself.

Nonplussed, I watch as she collapses on the floor, literally howling with laughter.

Oh my God. She's just like my cousin Thomas.

"Hahaha. Your... Haha. Face... hehe," she manages to get out between her peels of laughter. Righting my chair, I sit back down. Any sense of threat I felt from her is gone now. A minute later she finally calms down, setting herself in the chair across from me with a big grin on her face.

"You're going to make me another cup of tea. Then once we're done, you're going to guide me to my companions," I declare, looking her in her lower eyes. If she's going to act like Thomas, I'm going to treat her like I would Thomas.

"Well, I'll make the tea," Rufka counters, starting the kettle again as she speaks, "but I have no idea where your friends might be. Never met them. It's pretty quiet out here. Only user who ever makes their way out here is Theria."

"They're being held by a group of K'tharn up in the mountains, led by a giant K'tharn named Ivicka who rides a dragon. I need you to get me to that mountain," I reply, watching her carefully. Clearly, I'm not as good at picking up K'tharn body signals as I thought. Either that or Rufka is a skilled liar. Probably both.

"Oh Vaus from above. Your friends are in the custody of an Aetherium flight. Who are probably here to investigate the mana strikes that hit a couple nights ago. Pretty spectacular light show," Rufka comments as she pours me another cup of tea, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about that Lex?"

"Not really," I reply, which is technically true. I wonder, could the magic that brought us here have caused it? Or did the 'mana strikes' themselves bring us here? More useless conjecture.

"I can find them," I mention, getting back on track, "my companions, I mean. I have a way of tracking them."

"Really?" Rufka asks while stroking her chin, "and it works past the Aetherium's anti-infiltration measures?"

"I didn't know they had those. I think so. I can only do it once an hour though." I reply, trying to take another sip from my cup, but finding it empty. It really is good tea.

"And you're trying to, what, rescue them? Alone?"

"Yes. And not alone. I have Smoulder, a mana-hare who's been watching my back," I defend with some indignation.

"Oh, a mana-hare. Truly one of the great threats of the reach. I think I know of a wolven who choked on one once," she says, with mock seriousness.

Before I can defend Smoulder she continues, "So just to be clear," a mild frown appearing on her face, as she leans forward conspiratorially, "your companions have been captured by an Aetherium flight. Who have a dragon. Your only help is a small hare. You have a way to find them, but it only works once an hour. And you don't know anything about where you are or the Aetherium. Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes," I confirm, suddenly feeling much less sure of myself. Why did I think I could do this?

"Sounds like fun," Rufka says with a big grin, reaching her paw across the table taking my hand before I can stop her, "sign me up."

Shaking her paw, I try to process what just happened. Is this the same K'tharn who brought me into her home at arrow point. Then sat me down to play checkers and drink tea. Before pretending to cut herself. Did I just agree to have her help me? What was I thinking?

"Crazy," I mutter while shaking my head back and forth. I'm not sure if I'm referring to her or myself.

"Probably," she agrees while shrugging.

"Now, before we leave. A drink. To celebrate our new partnership," Rufka proclaims as she stands up, searching around in a pile near her bed. I watch as the pile arches over her head, held up by unseen forces. As she pulls her head out, bottle in hand I see the pile settle back into place.

Of course. Magic housekeeping.

Setting the bottle down on the table, Rufka picks up both our mugs, squinting inside. Then she stares at me with a considering look.

"You're a water mage, right? Clean these out for me? Tea doesn't mix well with this stuff. Tastes awful."

Indulging her, I summon a small ball of water which I use to clean not only the mugs but my hands, face, onesie and boots as well.

Properly cleaned I look around for a place to dump the debris before deciding Rufka's head would make an excellent trash receptacle. I float it above her head, dumping it while she's distracted. To my disappointment, she doesn't acknowledge my reprisal beyond a quick shake of her mane.

"That's pretty handy. I knew I should have gone controller. They get all the best utility stuff," Rufka says completely ruining my revenge by not just ignoring it, but giving an appreciative nod as she fills both our cups with an orange bubbling liquid.

As she sets the cup in front of me I focus on it. Because why would I start trusting her now.

"Substance analyzed: Muthica's Magnificent Moonshine.

Description: Like most alcohol, this beverage will bolster an iron rank's courage by reducing their caution. Also increases iron rank health edge by ten. Both effects last for ten hours. Reduced effectiveness on copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals.

Survival tip: This is a potent alcohol for an iron rank substance. Consumables of this potency require an exceptionally skilled alchemist with a maximized subclass to create."

"Seems like just the thing for charging in recklessly. Cheers."

Wyonna's comment causes me to pause. I don't want to do this recklessly. But then again. Ten health edge. That's huge.

Lifting the mug, I take a cautious sip.

Gaaaghhh. It burns. It's so much worse than I expected.

"Oh, yeah. I could have warned you about that," Rufka apologizes with a grin that suggests she damn well decided not to. Then she raises her own mug while brushing some of the leftover dust off her shoulder. Despite trying to keep a straight face I notice her cringe as she swallows it. Which makes me feel a little better.

Checking my status, I confirm the liquor hasn't granted me it's buff yet, so I take another drink. I try to make it a bigger one, so this is over quicker, but it backfires when I end up spitting it up.

I've never been a big drinker. Sab and I snuck a few coolers from my mom once, just to try it, but we'd never been that big into partying. We'd both seen my mother in her strung-out state often enough to never want to be like that.

That said, it only takes me two more sips before my status updates, raising my health edge into the positive. First time for everything. As I'm checking my health edge I notice something else. The tea didn't just double my health regeneration, it seems like it restored my base regeneration.

Opening up my conditions I find two new ones.

"Muthica's special tea blend. "

"Doubles rate of all resource regeneration. Temporarily suspends all iron rank negative conditions affecting resources. Time: 25/30 minutes remaining."

"Muthica's Magnificent Moonshine."

"Increases health edge by 10. Bolsters courage, rendering users immune to iron rank fear effects. Provides lessening resistance against copper rank or higher fear effects. Time: 10/10 hours remaining."

Ah, it's just temporary. Too bad. I was hoping I'd found a magical solution to my temporal inconsistency. Not having to relive my memories would be great. I mean, I've been able to do a lot of other things with magic, so why not.

I'm almost regretting not letting Roberts make an attempt at healing me. Almost.

With my conditions reviewed, I turn to Rufka, my words only slightly slurred as I say, "okay. Let's get going. If we start walking now, we can get there by nightfall."

"Walking? You really aren't from around here, are you?" she laughs as she shifts the heavy wooden bar out of the way. Stupid bar.

Stepping outside I see Smoulder sitting on the edge of the porch, waiting for me. Heading over, I pick her up giving her head scritches as a thank you, a hello, and an apology for making her wait.

Head scritches, the ultimate in communication.

As I'm offering Smoulder her due, Rufka walks up beside me. When she looks at Smoulder her hackles raise in quite an impressive array of fur as she exclaims, "you said you were being escorted by a mana-hare, not by a mana-warped monstrosity."

"What? Smoulder's not a monstrosity. Are you girl? No, you're not," I say as the head scritching intensifies, leading Smoulder to start thumping her leg.

"She is a ball of doom though," I concede as I look up at Rufka who's taken a couple of steps back. Reflecting for a second, I ask, "what do you mean, mana-warped?"

"That little thing has clearly been deformed by a massive surge of pure elemental fire mana. Most creatures are killed when struck by that much pure mana. The ones that survive become twisted monsters. Mum said there are a few, a very rare few, that come out blessed with new powers but are otherwise unchanged."

"Oh. Well, she's been a blessing for me, that's for sure. Wish I knew how to make her my pet. She deserves some sweet system love," as if in response to my statement, I receive a notification from the system.

"Quest received: My Very Best Friend. Description: Make Smoulder your pet. Requirements: 0/1 pets added. Reward: 5 Smoulder bound iron rank integration points, 1 familiar. Time: 1/1 day remaining."

What the hell? Only a day to add her as a pet? Don't suppose there's an instruction manual for this.

"You want to make a mana-blessed your pet? You realize you wouldn't have control over her as you would with a normal pet, right?" Rufka asks making a motion with her hands that has no meaning to me.

"So?" I respond with some exasperation.

"Clearly Rufka doesn't appreciate having an actual connection like we have," I say to Smoulder as I hold her up in front of me. I can practically feel her smugness as she turns to look at Rufka.

"Okay, whatever. It's your pet. Plus, I guess you can always bond more," Rufka concedes, turning away with a shrug. I watch her pull a familiar-looking harness from a barrel on the porch as I think.

"Wait, do you know how I can make her my pet," I wonder, stepping closer.

Looking up from untangling the harness Rufka nods, "sure. If you've got a beast tamer you can have them do the ritual. I'm no beast master so I just use an iron plus sufficient focus. Then I..."

"An iron?" I can't help but interrupt.

"Sure, an iron rank integration point, plus about fifty focus or so depending on the pet. Tuffie, my first, cost me 54 focus I think."

Rufka draws all four paws together into a point as she continues pointing all four at Smoulder, "then you just focus on the creature you want bound. If it's typical wildlife like Tuffie, it'll be yours at that point. You can't bind mana-spawn. Damn things are so ugly I don't know why any-user would bother trying, but some user must've" she informs me while looking north.

Returning to her task, she adds, "with a mana-blessed, I have no idea what'll happen. You're going to spend the point whether it works or not. Waste of an integration point if you ask me. Rather not have to hunt down twenty Pothlin just to have a chance to bond a pet."

I've stopped listening by the end of her spiel. I got the important parts. Iron integration point and focus. I've got plenty of both at the moment.

Looking at Smoulder I don't even question my decision as I focus on her, offering up the integration point as my focus drops by over a hundred points.

The result is immediate, Smoulder's status screen appearing in my interface. Ha. I knew it'd be fine. I blow a silent raspberry at Rufka before checking over Smoulder's stats.

SMOULDER

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

12

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

14

(+/-)

AGILITY

95

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

45

(+/-)

INTELLECT

11

(+/-)

SPIRIT

21

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

82

(+/-)

RESOLVE

75

(+/-)

Integration Points

5

Welp, that explains a lot. No wonder she's a death ball. The only stats I have that are higher than hers are Intellect and Spirit. How is it I can carry her in one arm without getting tired but she still has a higher strength than me?! Shouldn't attributes be absolute? Does this mean Smoulder can outlift me?

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

228/228

[10.8]

(139)/day

Stamina

257/258

[24.8]

(193)/day

Mana

240/240

[12.2]

(149)/day

Focus

318/318

[25.5]

(240)/day

Matrix

Ignis

68/70

[4.3]

(47)/hour

I have to read her resources three times before I accept the truth. Smoulder is simply overpowered.

You know what? It doesn't matter. More scritches.

Because I'm a sucker for punishment, I open up her ability page too, looking over her special attacks.

Ability Name

Scaling

Effect and Description

Range

Duration

Affinity

Flaming headbutt

Yes

Does immense fire & physical damage to a single target

Short

Instant

Fire

Fire blast

Yes

Damages all creatures and objects in the area for substantial fire damage.

Short

Instant

Fire

Huh. Her Flaming headbutt does immense damage. Is that more or less than massive? Probably more. Either way, I've seen the effect. It's brutal.

I don't think I've seen her use her other ability, Fire Blast. Then again, she hasn't needed to. It seems best for taking down several weak creatures at once but that's what I'm here for.

Looking at Smoulder, I admit, she deserves to be smug. She nods her head in agreement. Which is when I realize I've been getting clear mental projections from her. She's very happy I figured out how to work the pet system. Finally. She was starting to worry I wasn't serious about our partnership. Sending reassurance her way, I give her a few more head scritches.

Curious, I mentally project the idea of increasing her stats. She responds by placing all her points in agility, setting it an even hundred.

Before we're able to communicate further, Rufka roars, interrupting us.

It's a very appropriate roar for a large cat. It feels like it should send chills down my spine as I look over at her, but I'm unaffected. A moment later, a large wolfadillo steps into the clearing. As it approaches the stream ringing the cabin, I prepare a lightning torrent while I start looking around for its mates.

Where there's one…..

"See, Tuffie here? He's a real pet," Rufka comments stepping up to the wolfadillo. It's only at this point that I notice it has a harness already in place. It's also missing the quills which the ones that attacked us in the clearing were packing.

As I allow my spell to dissipate I inspect it, discovering it's a less volatile version of the wolfadillo. That's literally what it says in the description. Thanks, Wyonna.

Approaching me, I notice Rufka has a spare harness in her hands.

"Come on. It'll be a lot faster to reach your friends on wolf-back than by walking," Rufka says holding up the harness, then shaking it suggestively.

Looking down at Smoulder, I can feel disdain rolling off her. But there's no fear. Taking my cue from my fearless familiar, I move forward, letting Rufka put the harness on.

....

It does not go smoothly.

"No."

"Not like that."

"Here."

"Just hold still."

I'm pretty sure every time I tried to help I made it worse. I do get a new skill once Rufka finally manages to get me in place on the wolfadillo's back though.

"Skill unlocked: Riding (1)"

Secured to our ride, Rufka turns to me, asking an obvious question, "Which way?"

"One second," I reply.

I'm a little reluctant to send the pulse this time. Hopefully, I won't be shocked by another of Beth's memories. The first ones weren't so bad, but that last one was intense. I'm going to try something new so it shouldn't be as bad this time.

Probably.

When I connected to Beth last time, I copied her, reinforcing the link. But that gave me an idea. If I can make it stronger, maybe I can weaken it as well.

Closing my eyes, I wait for a pulse to hit. I don't try connecting though. Instead, I try to focus on my facet, narrowing its bandwidth. When the next pulse arrives, I connect, holding tightly to my facet.

It's a partial success. The facet cost is only five a minute and I've restricted myself to a single sense. But it's her sense of smell. There's not much I can do with the sense, but whatever she's having for lunch smells delicious. I'm getting tired of wolf jerky and berries. I should ask Rufka if she has anything to eat.

Later.

Dismissing the connection, I try again, but this time in addition to throttling my facet, I focus on hearing what Beth is hearing. A moment later, when the connection stabilizes, I wish I'd included volume control.

The booming voice assailing Beth's ears is, amusingly enough, calling for silence. There's a couple of murmurs, but whoever's in the room with Beth quiets down quickly.

Continuing at a normal volume, I recognize the voice of the K'tharn who was teaching Beth while calling the giant one names.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your lunch but Ivicka thinks you've all been growing fat and lazy sitting around while she searches for the last outlander. So, as per her instructions, lunch is cancelled. You're to meet at the base of the mountain where she will give you further instructions," she calls into the now quietly grumbling room.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? You only have thirty minutes. Starting from when I started talking," the grumbling intensifies as she pauses, before continuing, "At least you won't have to prep your kites as I've already set them loose. So you'll be working on your diving skills too. Best of luck," she continues which causes the grumbling to transition to sharp cries of dismay and what I'm guessing are several frantic K'tharn heading for these kites.

I stop paying sole attention to Beth, focusing on the direction of the connection instead. "They're that way," I say pointing in a generally western direction.

"You ready?" Rufka asks turning towards me with a large grin on her face before I can refocus on Beth.

There's something about her grin that alerts me, so I secure my arms in the harness right as the giant wolf springs forward, loping through the forest with ease. Watching as the ground rushes by, I can't help but wonder at how much faster we're moving. It's slower than driving, but with the wind whipping through my hair, it doesn't feel like it.

I try talking to Beth again, but I can't hear her over the wind. I try adjusting the volume, but it doesn't seem to work. The rushing wind just rips the words away.

Huh, I wonder.

With a thought, I create the umbrella rune in my head, but instead of water, I complete it with wind mana. My hair stops flopping as my barrier protects me from the wind. Deciding it would be more useful if we were all shielded from the wind, I expand the barrier bringing it down in front of us. Unfortunately, the wolf is thrown by the sudden lack of resistance, sending us tumbling into a nearby bush.

Rufka spins to her feet with a snarl, her bow already drawn. But she's not looking at me. Her eyes are fixed on the forest, scanning the woods.

I hold my tongue while I pick myself up, ridiculously embarrassed. I want to tell her it was my fault, but I can't seem to find the words. After nothing appears to attack us, Rufka moves to check over her wolf, soothing it while helping it back to its feet.

Since I can't hear anything from Beth while we're riding, plus I don't feel using wind barrier would be wise at the moment, I decide I should 'hang up'. While we're stopped I whisper, "I'll be there soon," into the link. To which Beth responds, "understood," before I let it fade. I am able to confirm she's near full in all resources.

I check on Josh and Roberts quickly as Rufka straightens the harness, they're still in the negatives, but only barely and I don't hear anything while checking on either of them.

Once Rufka is satisfied with the harness, she apologizes, "sorry about that. Sometimes you get random air elementals out here that like to play."

"Uh, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it," I reply. Great. Perfect time to tell her, but I chicken out. Mounting up again, I wisely keep my magic to myself this time.

For the first time since I started, I'm finally making good time, I don't want to ruin it. At the pace we were going, we should see the others soon.

I only hope I'm right.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you Dressedtoparty for the review.

Special thanks to Elaborate for all the typo corrections.

1.23 Connections

January 16, 2019, 1:32 pm. Half an hour after foolishly knocking us off wolfback.

Rufka's pet wolf, Tuffie, is still going strong. In the time since we started, we've covered nearly half the distance to the others.

Forty-two.

We're down to a count of forty-two between pulses. As good as our progress is, I want to stop so I can contact Beth again. There's something about what the white K'tharn did, that has me thinking. I have to yell twice before Rufka acknowledges. Once she hears me, Rufka responds with a shrug, slowing Tuffie only after she finds a picturesque clearing with a small stream running through it.

As I sit and concentrate, I find the limited connection is easy to form now. I don't have to spend focus for this version. I know the specific shape, which my facet slots into without a fuss, following the pattern.

I feel a little uncomfortable about contacting Beth like this without sending her a text. The only person I ever called without texting first was Mami on Sundays. And Beth doesn't even get to answer a ringing phone. Oh well, not much I can do about it.

The connection forms and Beth starts speaking before I'm even sure it's through, "can you hear me, Alexis? Tipan sent most of the others away. She told me we have to get out of here before her boss Ivicka gets back. Not sure what she did, but Josh and Roberts are finally recovering."

Huh, suspicion confirmed.

"What happened," I ask. Then unable to stop myself, I continue, "one second we were all fighting for our lives, I get knocked on the head, then when I wake up, you're all gone."

"Hey kid, listen, I'm sorry. We didn't have a choice, Josh had barely finished beating down that monster attacking you, then an honest to god dragon and cat people showed up."

"K'tharn," I correct her, absently.

"Right, the K'tharn show up. Anyway, the dragon roared, just the once, which caused both the guys to collapse on the ground like wet noodles. Alone and outnumbered, I surrendered. I wasn't sure if I should tell them you were there. Besides, they didn't speak English, and it's not like I spoke cat."

"Vausian," I again correct her absently. While I've been talking, Rufka has approached, sitting down in front of me as Beth and I converse. In English.

"Right, Vausian. Anyway, wait. How did you learn that? Did you manage to finish a language quest kid?" Beth questions me while Rufka pulls out a round stone with a rune engraved in the top. If I were back on earth, I'd almost say it was one of those single element stove burners. We had one at home, though we never used it for cooking.

"No, I downloaded a language primer using facet. It was…. something else," I answer as I watch Rufka start making some soup. Her soup is heavy on the meat, and she deftly uses the little object to heat it. It really is a portable stove.

"Yeah, learning an entire language in a few minutes was a pretty intense experience. As I was saying, they picked us up, then brought us back here. They've been pretty good to me, but they've kept the guys in a stupor the whole time. Not sure why," Beth supplies. This is the first time I've connected to Beth when there's food that has an appetizing aroma on my end instead of hers. It's very distracting.

"Uhm, probably because they don't see their males as people. More like pets," I reply refocusing on my conversation with Beth.

"Wow, okay. That explains a lot," Beth replies. Then I hear rustling on her end.

"We must go, Bethany, your friends have awoken, but the others will be back soon. Ivicka will not be pleased with me, and it will all be for naught if we are here when she returns."

"Why are you doing this?" Beth asks Tipan, while Rufka adds a few sprinkles of what I'm guessing is some kind of herb to the meat soup.

"If Ivicka were to discover your pu'shaha are intelligent, nevermind system integrated as you claim, there's no telling what she would do. But it would not be pleasant. We must get them away from here. I have friends who can help," I hear Beth's tutor inform her. Meanwhile, I watch as Rufka tastes her soup before adding a couple more spices. Then tasting it again, she nods.

Thus satisfied she pours two bowls of delicious, smelling meat soup. That was amazingly quick.

"Thank you," I say to Rufka in Vausian when she hands me a bowl.

"So you can talk to your friends through Aetherium wards? Mum, never said such a thing was possible for an aquamancer," Rufka comments as she takes the other bowl for herself.

Spooning some of the wonderful soup into my mouth, I'm unable to answer. Before I'm finished Beth speaks again. Keeping track of two conversations is going to get annoying I realize.

Swallowing, I don't think about my reply to Rufka as I listen to Beth, "I'm not an aquamancer," in Vausian. I can tell Rufka wants to know more, but I take a cue from Beth, holding up a hand to signal to wait. Rufka seems to understand, instead spearing another piece of meat, which she chews while watching me closely.

"It looks like we're leaving. Tipan is leading us to a secure place south of here. She says it should be safe from Ivicka. Do you think you'll be able to join us there?" Beth checks while Rufka watches me.

"Probably," I reply to Beth in English.

"Okay. It sounds like it could be more than a couple hours on foot. Apparently, we're flying. Good work on the voice comms by the way. This is exactly what we needed."

"Thanks," I reply around a mouthful of, oh so tasty, meat. As I swallow, I realize I could spend the next hour catching Beth up on everything, but I concentrate on what I think might be important.

"It sounds like the people who captured you are called the Aetherium. From what I've been told, they're a group of mages. I think. They have a portal. There's no guarantee, but it could allow us to get back to earth. They're also big players around here."

"Understood," Beth replies while I feed Smoulder a piece of meat from my soup. It's not fried enough for her, so Smoulder cranks her tail up to eleven before chomping down on the once juicy morsel. When Beth continues talking, it takes me a moment to realize she's not speaking to me.

"What's that? Okay. Sorry, Alexis, it's about to get pretty loud on our end. Call me back in a couple hours?" Beth requests as I hear Tipan start instructing her on how to tighten straps.

"Okay," I reply as I let the connection end, leaving me looking at Rufka who's almost finished her bowl.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I prompt Rufka as I snag another scrumptious piece.

"What are you, if you're not an aquamancer? I saw you destroy those Pothlin with your water magic. I've only heard of aquamancers being that powerful when wielding water as a weapon. Do you have an advanced class?" Rufka asks as she chews on her last piece of meat.

Considering Rufka, I wonder what I should tell her. She's really hard for me to read. Sure she's helping me get to the others, but she also held me at arrow point, played a game then made me tea. That was all before she pretended to be a crazy killer followed by her ruse of cutting herself with her ritual knife before making me lick it.

"I don’t have an advanced class. In fact, I don't have a class at all," I decide to tell her. I feel like I should tell her something and this seems like the least important thing I can reveal. I'm not going to mention that I can manipulate all nine elements, never mind space and time. This way I can tell her some of the truth but not most of it.

Rufka just stares at me, her fork falling in the grass as she scrutinizes me.

I just give her a nervous smile and a little wave while trying to figure out why she's staring at me like I have two heads. Suddenly, she starts laughing.

"Ha. Haha. You had me going there," Rufka responds. "I guess I deserved that. If you want to keep your class to yourself, that is fair. It was rude of me to ask."

"Uhm, I was being serious," I try, confused by her laughter. I tell her the truth and this is what I get?

"Sure, like any-user could survive long enough to safely control the elements like that without a class," she says still chuckling.

I nod, holding my tongue as Rufka stands up. She glances at me for a second before handing me her bowl. I look at it for a second trying to figure out the meaning. Then I realize she just wants me to wash it. Blushing, I clean her bowl before doing the same with the rest of the dishes. It's clear that lunch is over. Only now do I realize I forgot to analyze it. I check my conditions, but thankfully there's nothing new and dangerous.

As she packs everything away, I get an updated bearing on the others while reflecting on her reaction. Why did Rufka make such a big deal about my ability? Beth's capability with her rifle is at least as powerful, and she doesn't have a class either. Or at least she didn't.

Interrupting my thoughts, Rufka speaks up, "come on Lex, let's go find these friends of yours."

Once she's got me settled, I point Rufka in a south-west direction. I'm trying to guess roughly where the others are headed based on what Beth said. I haven't had enough time to triangulate their position yet, so it's mostly a guess at this point.

As we set off into the woods, I can't help but wonder why Rufka didn't believe that I can do what I can without a class. Her disbelief is obvious.

Is magic here that dangerous without a class? Thinking back to my early explosive spells, I can see it.

Realizing this is yet another of those things I just don't have enough information to figure out the answer to, I shelve it while subtly practicing my twilight magic. I use Rufka's back as a canvas, creating shadow puppets for mine and Smoulder's amusement. I practice my letters too, of course, but at this point creating letters with mana is so easy it's boring.

An hour later and Rufka is slowing Tuffie down, I see why when I look over her shoulder. Ahead there's a chasm over ten meters wide stretching across our path. As she picks her way up the rocky path, I notice the posts on either side of the road. "Some-user has cut away the bridge," Rufka growls out while sliding from Tuffie's back. I watch her run her finger along the fresh mark gouged into the wood. Whoever it was, they weren't gentle.

Rufka looks to the skies while I inspect the chasm more closely, Smoulder deciding to observe from my shoulder.

There’s a soft glow that emanates from above the gap, colouring everything behind it brown. It’s like looking through novelty sunglasses but instead of yellow, everything is slightly brown. It kind of reminds me of my augmented twilight vision, now that I think about it. The walls of the chasm have what appear to be veins of a rich dark brown running through them, and there are small glistening shards at what I want to call nodes where the veins meet.

Turning to ask Rufka about it, I find her leaning out over the chasm, holding herself out while grasping Tuffie's harness. She looks back with a frown as she says, “I found the bridge. We’re going to need another way across.”

“I take it we can’t just go around?” I ask as I step closer to the edge.

“Yes. If we go south, there’s a far sturdier bridge that I doubt has been destroyed. It’s at least half a day on wolfback though,” Rufka replies while stepping back from the edge.

While she steps back I keep creeping forward As I get closer to the edge I look down.

“Wow, how deep does this go?” I wonder out loud. There’s no indication of a bottom, the chasm just keeps descending into darkness.

“It’s unknown, no-user knows the secrets of the wounds. Those users who venture too deep don’t tend to come back,” Rufka answers while scowling at the missing bridge. “Bah, it's going to take me days to rebuild the damn bridge."

"Why does the air have a brown tint to it," I wonder out loud, still fascinated by the 'wound'.

Rufka shrugs as she sighs, "I'm no scholar. All I know is that earth elementals like to come wandering out of this one, tearing up the nearby forest when they 'play'. There's a really pretty one that's covered in ice a ways east of here. You might have seen it."

With those words, I remind myself to step back from the glow in front of me. I'm really glad I didn't focus on it. The last thing I need is to make my mana poisoning worse.

"Oh, and it's apparently a lot easier to work magic of the same affinity near them," she adds as an afterthought while gazing off into the south.

"Wouldn't it be dangerous to use magic near them?" I ask as a thought occurs to me.

Rufka turns back to me, "Nah," she replies while flicking her gaze back and forth between me and the chasm.

"How much do you weigh?" Rufka asks as she steps towards me.

"Uhm what?" I reply as I take a step back.

"I was just thinking, you're pretty good with that water magic of yours. With that sort of pressure, you could easily throw me and Tuffie here over this gap. Only question is, how do we get you across after," Rufka replies.

"Oh," I respond. That… could work. Drawing forth a sphere of water I pick up a nearby stone. Bringing the whole thing out over the chasm, I turn the orb into a miniature version of my torrent. The stone clears the treetop on the far side then keeps arcing out of sight.

"Uhm, maybe not," Rufka replies scratching her chin. Meanwhile, I look at the literally glowing earth mana around us. When in Rome.

Reaching out with my earth manipulation I start forming a bridge, packing it together, weaving in water then baking it with fire. I've created a structure nearly two meters deep when Rufka speaks up, "handrails. Don't forget handrails."

Looking back I see Rufka lounging against Tuffie, waiting patiently for me to continue. I kinda forgot she was here when I started. This is my problem with magic. I get so caught up in it, I forget about everything around me. Well, it's too late to hide it from her now, not that I wanted to. I continue my work, creating deep supports running down the cliff face below me. And handrails.

When I reach the halfway point I realize I have a problem. I can't reach the other side, but I don't think I can support much more weight on this side. This bridge is not light.

Stepping back I turn to Rufka, who's looking at me with a grin.

"I knew it. You're some kind of Elementalist, aren't you?" she asks as she steps forward to inspect my work.

"Uhm. I mean," I start to reply but she keeps talking, so I stop.

"Hmm. This will do. Pretty good for only ten minutes' work," she says as she turns back.

"But it's not done," I protest as she climbs up on Tuffie's back before reaching a hand down to pull me up.

"Looks done enough to me," Rufka decides as she sets me into place. It only occurs to me what she's planning when Tuffie starts sprinting towards my arching bridge. Grabbing tightly, I feel my stomach lurch as we launch off my half-completed bridge. She didn't even let me buckle on properly.

I make the mistake of looking down while we're crossing. The light of the mana illuminates a long way down, but I still can't see the bottom, and the sudden change in perspective makes me dizzy. As I'm still processing, the ground suddenly rushes up to meet us. We land smoothly, though I still lurch from the sudden change in gravity, tumbling off Tuffie's side.

As I brush myself off I receive a clear thought from Smoulder. She wants to go again.

"So, do you want to stay and finish your bridge?" Rufka asks turning to me with a grin, "or would you rather we go find your friends?"

"Friends," I manage to get out before Smoulder launches herself back across the bridge.

"Or not," I mumble as I watch Smoulder bounce from the top of the arch over into the bushes nearby before hurtling back to the top then doing it all again.

I project a sense of urgency at her, which causes Smoulder to grudgingly give up her new toy. She's mostly satisfied when I give her some more scritches and wolf jerky, but I get the sense she's feeling restless.

As soon as Smoulder's settled, I climb up behind Rufka, who sends Tuffie forward into the forest again.

Since we're travelling again, I decide this is a good time to give my notifications a proper review.

"Skills increased:

- Temporal Manipulation (16 to 24)

- Spatial Manipulation (19 to 27)

- Mana Manipulation* (82 to 83)

- Fire Manipulation (29 to 31)

- Water Manipulation (36 to 37)

- Wind Manipulation (29 to 30)

- Stone Manipulation (52)

- Earth Manipulation (31 to 35)

- Twilight Manipulation (10 to 21)

- Engineering (26 to 27)

- Riding (2 to 5)

"Skill unlocked: Crafting - Ceramics (1 to 4)"

"Quest received: Plenty of pots. Description: Learn the ways of crafting with earth and fire. Requirements: Create 0/10 ceramic earthenware, raise Ceramics skill 4/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 3/3 days remaining."

New Crafting quest. Cool. I'll need to work on that next time we're stopped. Looks pretty easy. Earthenware means plates and stuff, right? Looking at my skills, I wonder why I didn't trigger a quest for tailoring when I unlocked it.

As we travel I continue my practice with my twilight manipulation until I receive the notification I've been waiting for.

"Skill increased: Twilight Manipulation (22 to 25)"

As much fun as shadow puppets was at first, it got boring after half an hour. It doesn't help that Smoulder's only really a fan of the good old bunny ears shadow.

My facet is full, and while I can't use the audio-only connection while travelling, it occurs to me that I can use the regular version. Every time I've used it my own senses cut out. So, securing myself to the wolf, I wait.

20.

When the connection to Josh forms I reinforce it immediately. It only takes nine focus to increase the duration, which is a pretty decent trade.

Oh my God. I'm flying!

Josh is currently rushing through the air, his kite in formation behind the others. Beth, Tipan and Roberts are gliding ahead, the wind blowing his hair back, scratching against his neck.

"Yo, Lex. Is that you?" he asks while I'm still taking in his circumstances.

Oh right, communication, "Yeah. It's me."

"Cool," he says, pausing, "are you like, seeing this through my eyes?"

"Uh yeah," I reply, only now realizing how creepy my ability is. At least they know I'm there. I wonder if they could deny the connection. I should probably check.

"How awesome is this?" he asks, and I can practically hear his grin as he tilts his glider from side to side while staying roughly in formation.

"Pretty awesome," I reply, a matching grin growing on my face. Because it is. They're not just gliding, they're flying. Even as I'm talking with Josh, Tipan leads the group higher. And their gliders all rise with her.

"Check the view," Josh tells me as he looks to the east, which lets me sweep my gaze out over the forest I'm riding through. I can see all the way to the coast, but he keeps panning his vision until my eyes land on the partially overgrown city which rises from the surrounding hills ahead, set at the foot of the mountains.

The structures remind me of the Builder cities, but they no longer have the gleam that defined them in Uthica's memories. As if that's not enough to prove they're abandoned, one of the central towers has partially collapsed. It now leans against several others like an enormous ramp.

I can feel the connection weakening as they adjust course slightly, moving towards the city.

“Stay safe,” I whisper to Josh as he closes his eyes.

"You too, Lex," he whispers as the connection fades.

There are no flashbacks or whatever happens when Beth reinforces the link. Instead, I return to myself without fanfare, and I’m relieved. As interesting as it is, I feel uncomfortable learning things the others might not be willing to share.

The next hour feels like forever as we move as directly as possible. We find ourselves heading almost directly south as we leave the forest beneath us, moving along the ridgeline.

"Fliers," Rufka notes while pointing to the east. I can barely make out several small dots in the sky. If she hadn't pointed at them, I would have thought they were birds. I'm pretty sure that's not the others. They should have landed a while ago. Which means it's probably this Aetherium flight Rufka's been mentioning. Luckily there's no sign of the dragon.

They disappear from sight as Rufka takes us down through a valley towards the next rise. As we crest the top, Rufka exclaims, "Oh Vaus, tell me those aren't your friends."

In front of us lie the city ruins. It's not hard to find the others. They're on a raised platform at the bottom of the hill. I can make out Josh's rose armour, Beth's massive rifle, Roberts pyjama suit and the white K'tharn.

But they're not alone, around them are hundreds of Pothlin, pushing and shoving at each other. Towering over the Pothlin is a giant K'tharn like creature with two heads, dark brown scales instead of fur and a massive club. As I'm looking down I notice an update.

"Objective complete: 3/3 companions found. Rewards: 9 iron rank integration points.”

"Quest revised: Follow that dragon! > Forget the dragon, kill the V'troll! Requirements: 3/3 companions alive. 0/1 V'trolls defeated. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points; 1 iron grade ingot. Time: 30/30 minutes."

"Yep, that's them," I reply.

"Well, this should be fun," Rufka states before plunging us towards the horde at breakneck speed as I hold on tight.

This is not what I had in mind when I told Josh to stay safe.

Oh well, at least we found them.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you for the kind reviews Apocryphal, Limitnacho, Dartmorin and Journeyman_Mike.

You probably didn't read this far, but thank you for the harsh, but fair, reviews D0m1n1c, Aapjuh, and Mike Karr.

There is some contention over how Alexis reacts to Roberts in the first few chapters. These reviews highlighted how effective I was in making Alexis seem unreasonable, which was the goal, but perhaps something I should have saved, only using it after I'd earned some trust from my readers. Thus the rewrite and addition indicated in the pre-chapter note above.

I have the chapter for Tuesday ready, but I'm not sure how well progress will go for Friday. I'm hopeful.

For all those who are reading, thank you so much for joining Alexis and I on her journey.

1.24 Reunion

January 16, 2019, 3:35pm.

Unlike a horse, when Tuffie moves at full speed it isn't a thundering gallop. Not that it's quiet either, the wolfadillo's paws do thud against the ground as we get closer, but it's more like the gentle thud of a washing machine. Rufka is already standing, drawing her bow while Smoulder shifts on my lap as we approach the hoard.

Looking down I realize she's tensing herself for launch which makes me realize I could be blasting them already.

The question that crosses my mind isn't if I should unleash one of my powerful torrent variants. No, the question is which spell I should use to wreak havoc amongst the horde surrounding the others.

I elect to try my Blazing Torrent first. In addition to being immediately destructive, the way it leaves the earth scorched means I may be able to use it to cut off large portions of the horde.

It's challenging creating my Blazing Torrent while on wolfback, Tuffie's gait causing me to bounce and wobble, but I persevere.

As the spell builds the air dries rapidly, quickly baking me. I feel Tuffie slow as Rufka turns to look at me.

"I knew you had more tricks," Rufka calls with a giant grin.

Right, I guess she can feel the heat too.

I don't stop to explain as I aim the torrent straight through the middle of the horde, hoping to take down the giant with my first strike. Right as I'm ready to release, Tuffie veers to the side dodging a glowing crack in the ground. Which of course, throws off my aim.

As the flames shoot across the ground, I realize the others are now directly in the path of my blast. I try to reach out to redirect it, but the spell's passed outside of my control sphere before I can catch more than a wisp of smoke.

…..

Crap.

The flames tear through the horde while skimming past the giant V'troll, leaving its large scaly body unharmed. Every Pothlin in the path of my twisting spiral of flame is incinerated before they have time to react but I don't care about that at the moment.

I watch with mounting horror as my torrent approaches the others. Right as it's about to strike, Roberts raises his hand. In response a flickering transparent dome with a hint of blue appears, shielding them as my spell splashes harmlessly against it.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I'm jerked back to reality when Tuffie veers to the left, taking us along the edge of the horde.

"Don't get shy on me now," Rufka yells from in front, "let them feel Vaus' fury."

I follow her advice, channelling another Blazing Torrent. This time I'm able to strike among the horde in a way that doesn't hit my friends. It's pretty easy, since this time I aim farther away and there are no last-second direction changes.

Angling it so it leaves a barrier of scorched earth between them and the horde, I consider this one a success. Looking over the horde, I discern that with two spells I've incinerated a quarter of them, with at least as many lying on the ground. Frankly, it's slightly terrifying how much damage I can do. For all the damage I've done to the horde though, the V'troll itself still stands unfazed.

As we circle, it reaches down grasping a near-molten rock at its feet, hefting it in one hand while looking in our direction. Before I realize what it's planning, several things happen at once.

The giant throws the boulder.

Smoulder launches herself directly at the giant.

I feel my straps tighten, pulling me sideways as Rufka turns Tuffie hard.

And I see the giant sway as if hit from the side.

Then my head wrenches around, my vision filling with fur as my head smacks into Rufka's back. The boulder slams through the air beside us, the air rippling with heat.

Straightening myself as Rufka urges Tuffie back, I spit out a mouthful of her fur.

Before we've finished turning around I hear a thunderous roar from behind. As we circle back towards the others I take in what happened while we were dodging the boulder.

The V'troll is limping after Smoulder, one of its legs apparently crippled. Smoulder slams into the giant, landing on the scorched earth nearby, which keeps the Pothlin from flanking her. Meanwhile, Beth shoots it while it is still stumbling from Smoulder's hit.

Even though it's crippled it's still moving quickly, trying to strike Smoulder out of the air.

With four arms, you'd think it would have a little more success. But Smoulder starts using its size against it, springing from hand to hand, like it's a tree, while its arms are branches, using them as leverage to slam into it.

Seeing that Smoulder and Beth have the giant handled, at least for now, I turn my attention to the remaining Pothlin.

I see Josh skewer several that were on their side of my second blast with a burst of thorns, while Roberts stays behind him, maintaining their barrier. With the majority on their side down, that only leaves the hundred or so which are running towards me and Rufka.

No problem.

I feel strangely giddy as I see them line up while they run towards us. Some of them even start fighting each other when one in front stumbles, tripping several behind it.

Well, since they're being so cooperative, I happily oblige them, drawing my power forth. However, when I'm nearly ready to cast, thin lines of smoke start curling up from my onesie. Quickly sending the spell into the horde while only aiming enough to make sure I don't hit the others, I start summoning water mana to douse my onesie.

Which was technically on fire. But just a little.

With my self-rescue implemented, I glance back at the horde. There are a couple of Pothlin remaining, but most of those are trapped between the scorch marks I've burned in the ground.

"This is much easier with an Elementalist," Rufka states as she unleashes another arrow. I only now realize she doesn't have a quiver. Each of her arrows materializes only when she draws the bow back.

"Not as much fun though," she continues as two of the little monsters a few meters away run towards us. Rufka spears both of them with a single arrow, leaving the area near us clear of hostiles.

Further out, the giant V'troll is down, both heads missing.

Near its body, the remaining half dozen Pothlin are tearing at each other while trying to strike my favourite ball o'doom. Smoulder is joyfully running rampant in their midst. I've seen Smoulder when she's serious, there's no way they'd last this long if she wasn't playing. I'm starting to suspect Smoulder prefers headbutts over her other ability, Flame Blast, even when it's the suboptimal choice. I let her have her fun since I probably couldn't stop her anyway. Besides Rufka is already steering us towards the others.

Neither Beth nor Rufka waste their energy on the remaining Pothlin, leaving them to Smoulder, though Beth keeps her eyes on them.

The white K'tharn, who I recognize as Tipan, brings a large staff to bear in our direction until Roberts pushes it down while waving us forward. I'm surprised at how relieved I am to see he's okay.

"Good to see you, Alexis. Your arrival was quite timely," Roberts yells as we approach.

"I'm just glad you were able to shield everyone," I yell back as we get closer.

Beth is off to the side, still watching over the battlefield, but takes a moment to wave in my direction while calling out, "Hey kid."

As we come to a stop, Josh's response is a little different. "Alexis are you okay? You look like hell," he states as I try to unclip myself. Unsuccessfully.

Pausing, I look myself over. In addition to the numerous cuts, the restitching and the recent burn holes, my onesie is still covered in mud from my earthworks at the bridge. Not my most elegant look.

Meeting his gaze, I shrug, "it's been an interesting couple of days," I reply, before resuming my struggle.

It figures, kill hundreds of rampaging Pothlin? No problem. Try to pry open a mechanical system? I'm sorry, please try again. This is why they only let me do paperwork at the mill. Well, this and the fact I have a hard time lifting more than eight kilos off the ground.

I finally figure out how to unclip myself. Not by successfully prying open the clips though. No. I cheat. I use metal manipulation to reshape the clips, then bend them back into place. Finally free, I slide to the ground.

"I take it this is your outlander friend. You didn't mention she was a powerful pyromancer. Or that she'd made friends with a reacher," Tipan comments to Beth while I give Josh a quick hug. I don't even wait for him to drop his rose-thorn armour first. Probably not good for my onesie, but whatever.

Only glancing back for a moment, Beth shrugs while replying, "we've been out of touch. Things happen."

"You know, the way you say that almost makes me think you don't like reachers, skyborne," Rufka growls as I give Roberts a firm handshake. Willingly. And with a smile on my face.

"Oh no. I've nothing but respect for those who choose to throw away the comfort of civilization. I mean, to embrace the wild with nothing but the system to guide you, you're so brave," Tipan gushes as she gets a far off look in her eyes.

"So you're calling me uncivilized," Rufka challenges, acting offended. At least, I'm guessing it's an act.

"No no, that's not what I meant at all," Tipan stutters, "I just meant that you're used to roughing it."

"So you're saying I'm a ruffian," Rufka states, leaning down over poor Tipan.

"No, I just mean that, that, that…" she trails off as Rufka snarls for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

Josh and Roberts are clearly confused. I guess neither of them has had much of a chance to learn Vausian yet.

Even if they had, they'd probably still be confused. Rufka has a strange sense of humour.

While Rufka's laughter continues, I pick my way over the broken surface of what I think was once a road, approaching Beth. "Interesting company you're keeping," Beth comments when I get close.

"Yeah, she's something," I reply as I stare at the only Pothlin left standing. Smoulder is running behind it, waiting for it to turn, lunge, then stumble when she dodges out of the way at the last second. Then she repeats the process.

"You didn't mention you'd found help," Beth points out, gesturing at Rufka who's engaging Tipan in conversation. If I'm hearing correctly, they're talking about juniberry spread. Beth's words sound like a statement but they feel like an accusation. I didn't even think of telling Beth about Rufka. I kind of assumed she heard everything on my end just like I heard everything on hers.

"Uhm sorry," I apologize sheepishly.

"It's okay, just hard to plan around what you don't know," Beth replies as she puts the rifle over her shoulder, "I almost shot you when I saw the wolf."

Then she turns to me, looking me up and down. "Josh is right. You do look like hell," Beth smirks as she pulls me in for a quick one-armed hug, "it's good to see you're okay, kid. Thanks for coming for us."

"No problem," I reply as she releases me. When she looks at me, I don't feel trapped by her eyes anymore. I have a proper understanding of how dangerous she is now, but in a way, it sets my mind at ease. It's a quantified danger.

Plus I'm still immune to fear, but I think it's the other thing.

Before I can step away Beth speaks, "I'm guessing you got some integration points from all this," waving her other arm at the open field of destruction.

"So, please, for my sanity, do something about your health."

Nodding, I turn away, cheeks burning.

"You know, it was surprising to see you ride up on that wolf kid. But not nearly as surprising as this," Beth continues as she nods to the battlefield. Following her gaze, I look out at the desolation I created. It's kind of a mess. I should probably put it out before it starts a major fire.

"The fire could be a problem though," Beth mentions as if reading my mind.

"Yeah, about that, give me a minute?" I ask as I stand up, coughing as the smoke drifts over. I'm about to step away when I hear Josh and Roberts walking towards us.

"Did you see that barrier?" Roberts asks Josh excitedly, "it's like a forcefield. A portable forcefield that I can create from nothing."

"Yeah, it was pretty awesome Doctor Roberts," Josh agrees as they get close.

"Alexis wants to do something about the fire before we leave," Beth informs them once they stop.

"Yeah," I add, "I'm going to use some earth tremors to bury the heated ground. And I was thinking I could teach you some magic, it shouldn't be…"

I trail off as all three stare at me.

What?

"Thank you, Alexis. That would be excellent. Yes, most excellent," Roberts recovers first, as he strokes his chin with a big smile on his face. He has a couple of days growth, but it's still pretty short and stubbly.

"Not sure I'll be able to, but it would be awesome," Josh comments as he tucks his hands in the pockets of his, oh so glorious, bathrobe. Even after two days of captivity, it's still immaculate. There has to be some magic going on there.

"Sounds good," Beth agrees as she starts striding towards the bodies. Which she follows up with, "walk and talk people."

Hustling to catch up with her, I then get ahead, using a quick earth tremor to bury part of the field. Ever since the water elemental showed me how to construct my umbrella, I've been thinking about how I can use a similar method to teach the others. As we walk towards the next area, I begin by demonstrating my basic shield rune using water mana to trace the structure.

"Now you can use non-elemental mana for a general-purpose shield, but they seem to be more expensive than elemental shields. Especially for defending against the same element," I instruct them.

Then I watch as they all attempt to make shields themselves. Josh runs out of mana after his first attempt, not even creating a noticeable effect but he just shrugs. Roberts makes progress drawing small amounts of water mana forth but can't get a shield to form.

Beth just creates the shield out of umbra, then copies it with non-elemental mana. She's unable to create a water shield though, even when I provide her with a ball of water to start with.

We pause the lesson as I prepare to cast my next earth tremor. This time I adjust the size. Since I need to cast it repeatedly anyway, I'm trying to get it to the perfect balance of size versus cost. As in, I want it to be as big as possible while costing me no mana or focus.

I keep trying to teach the others as we walk, but I realize they're going to need time to practice. Beth can't create any type of elemental shield. Roberts can get water to form, but he can't create any type of construct. And Josh might not be able to use magic at all. At least until his magic attributes increase. I still go through all the basic runes explaining everything I can think of though.

I'm explaining the concept of creating the spell structures in their minds when we get to the site of my next earth tremor. All three get a distracted look as I resume my work. Yeah, probably should have started with that. For the first time since we've arrived, the others are more distracted than I am, but they follow along behind me.

The next earth tremor is a success at costing no mana but it's a fifth the size. So I keep experimenting as we walk. I discover the best result seems to be when I use 0.1 mana and 0.1 focus to cast the tremor leaving me with a range of fifty meters. If I reduce it below 0.1 of either resource, the range decreases by half for each resource I don't "spend".

Luckily I finish my experiment about the same time as I snuff out the last fires around the edge of where the fires had been spreading, keeping the remaining scorched earth contained. Turning towards the centre, I spot Smoulder.

she finally got bored with the last Pothlin, its body is lying at her feet, unmoving. She's marking her territory again, as I bury half the remaining area. She rejoins me, hopping right onto my shoulder, as I move to finish my task. The others are all talking about magic and practicing, so I quickly review my notifications.

"Skills increased:

- Mana Manipulation* (84 to 85)

- Temporal Manipulation (25)

- Spatial Manipulation (28)

- Fire Manipulation (32 to 37)

- Earth Manipulation (36 to 43)

- Riding (6)

"Quest updated: Establish the basics. Hidden requirement: Raise Temporal and Spatial manipulation to 25, 2/2. Reward: classes unlocked; Chronoknight, Chronoranger, Chronosniper."

That's… a lot of classes. But no upgrades. Damn. I was hoping for an upgrade.

Quest Completed: Forget the dragon, kill the V'troll! Reward: 7 iron rank integration points; 1 iron grade ingot."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

I'm surprised I got credit for that one, I hardly did anything. I wonder if Smoulder's contributions counted. I'm pretty sure she and Beth did most of the heavy lifting.

"Repeatable quest Completed: Been there, killed that - Pack of Lesser Pothlin x 10. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, improved damage against Lesser Pothlin. You have filled your maximum quota for Packs of Lesser Pothlin until next season. No further rewards available."

Wow, nice rewards from such an easy quest. I wonder why it has a limit.

I'm about to cast another earth tremor when one of the not-as-dead-as-I-thought Pothlin suddenly lurches up, wrapping its filthy fingers around my thigh, shredding the fabric of my onesie while scratching my leg before I realize what's happening.

Smoulder destroys the offending little monster while I'm stumbling back, tripping on another body behind me. There's no pain, but I realize that a single attack brought me down to eleven health. And that's with the bonus health edge from Rufka's liquor raising my edge by ten. Was that some kind of sneak attack?

It's time to do as Beth suggested. Opening up my attributes, I'm a little shocked when I see I have thirty points to spend.

My original hope, when I realized I was back with the others, had been to keep increasing my Intellect and Spirit. But between Beth's prompting and my, very recent, reminder of how frail I am, I hardly hesitate before putting eleven points into both Strength and Constitution while checking over my attributes. I check to make sure my health edge will be positive then I confirm my choice.

PANDORA

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-19 > -9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

1 > 11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

85

(+/-)

SPIRIT

85

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

32

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

8

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

11/48 > 11/78

[-2.9] [7.1] > [0.2]   [10.2]

(23)/d (17)/d > (39)/d   (29)/d

Stamina

53/63 > 53/83

[2.0] > [3.0]

(33)/d > (44)/d

Mana

226/301 > 226/306

[27.7]

(234)/d > (238)/d

Focus

201/221 > 201/226

[16.0]

(146)/d > (149)/d

Matrix

Facet

73/73 > 73/75

[6.4]

(55)/h > (56)/h

It's nice that the first point invested applies immediately. Now I just have to wait for them to finish integrating. Then I'll finally have a positive health edge and my pool will have almost doubled. I'll have just a little less than Roberts' starting health.

Once that's done, I'm about to indulge myself by putting my other eight points into my magic stats when I realize I should talk with the K'tharn first. I need to find out how limited integration points are. I may need to put even more into health.

Sighing, I dismiss my status to find Smoulder poking the V'troll with her tail.

Moving closer, now that the fires are all successfully buried, I inspect the V'troll's body.

“Creature analyzed: V'troll. Mana seed 11.

A twisted version of the K'tharn warrior queen, these substantial terrors lead Pothlin hordes, tearing apart any creature they come upon. While not as numerous as the Pothlin, these monsters have killed many more than the Pothlin ever will.

Every V'troll in K'tharn folklore was said to have been the result of a great warrior committing a horrible betrayal. These creatures were said to be the result of their twisted honour being reflected in their deformed state. This was before the arrival of the mana swarm. Now they're respected for the brutal agents of the system they've become.

Name: ZF00A05

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; Med, Magic; Low, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Diseased claws and bites. Fallen queen aura, empowers nearby earth creatures when surrounded by a group of ten or more, causing them to deal increased damage.

Defences: Medium physical resistance, low magic resistance, high earth resistance, high fire resistance."

"Important survival tip, a single strike from a V'troll would knock you unconscious."

Looking at the size of the thing, I have no doubt Wyonna is correct. Reaching out, the notification pops up asking if I want to loot it which I accept while keeping my face covered.

"Items looted: 1 copper grade earth essence."

As the body dissolves a crystal the size of my pinky lands with a solid thunk in front of me. Picking it up, I focus on it. I kind of forgot to do this with my other essence, but it was so small, I'm not worried I missed anything important.

“Essence analyzed: Copper grade earth mana. Can be used in crafting. Can be combined with eight additional copper grade essences, one of each elemental mana type, to create a copper grade mana shard. Can be combined with nine additional copper grade earth essence to create one silver grade earth essence.

"Mana essences can be converted into integration points, but it's a one-way process Alexis."

Huh, this actually seems valuable. I look around at the hundreds of Pothlin, suddenly wishing I had a loot-all function. Which prompts a new notification.

"Would you like to loot all Lesser Pothlin within 30 meters for 52 facet?"

Checking again, I take a few steps to get a better spread. Before I can continue, Beth speaks up.

"Alexis, did you create this?" Beth asks, holding up a crystal just like my copper grade earth essence.

"Yes?" I confirm, confused. I didn't realize I created loot for everyone. That's pretty cool.

"It landed on my foot," Beth states, staring at where the V'troll's body used to be.

"Interesting, do the bodies turn into crystals?" Roberts wonders as he looks around the field.

"Good question Roberts," Beth agrees, turning to the K'tharn, "hey Tipan, do the bodies turn into crystals?"

"Nah, mum says they're just a system reward," Rufka supplies before Tipan can speak while they move closer. I don't see Tuffie anywhere nearby.

"It's been pretty hard to prove one way or the other," Tipan adds as everyone gathers around.

"Every-user in the party gets the same amount of essence, whether there's one person or six. Sounds like a system reward to me," Rufka counters, crossing her arms.

"Yes, but," Tipan starts but is interrupted by Beth holding up her hand.

"Look, this is all very interesting, and I'm sure it's useful information, but you said there was a sanctuary nearby? A place we can rest where this Aetherium flight can't get to us? We needed to keep this fire from spreading, but we should get going now."

While they're talking, I'm focusing on the prompt. I wonder if I focus on the facet as it activates if I can increase the range. I receive an updated notification in response to my efforts.

"Would you like to loot all Lesser Pothlin within 100 meters for 52 facet and 44 focus?"

"Of course, you're right. It's near the entrance to the city, an old Builder's adventurer hall," Tipan replies as she glances around, "It's a shame we don't have time to loot all these. That's a lot of earth essence."

"Actually," I interject, getting her and Beth to look at me, "I think I might be able to."

Beth takes a look around, then glances at Tipan who's staring at me as if I turned into a two-headed V'troll. Rufka's just grinning.

"Do it kid."

"Everyone may want to cover your nose," I inform them. First in Vausian, then I repeat myself in English, for the guys' benefit. We really need to teach them Vausian.

Then following my own advice, I accept. This time the blue dust is practically a cloud, obscuring vision for a few seconds before it fades away.

"Items looted: 307 mortal grade earth essence."

Instead of a single large crystal, a shower of small shards rains down in front of me. When I check I see the same thing happened with my companions but not either K'tharn.

"And that," Rufka states while grinning at Tipan, "is why one of the very first things mum had me do once I was an adult, was bond a storage item."

"Everyone does that," Tipan replies as Beth looks at the ground then sighs.

"It's fine. I've got this," I offer before Beth can order us to leave the shards.

Instead of trying to pick up hundreds of small crystals with our hands, I use earth manipulation to gather them into four tight balls. I float each of theirs over to them while I deposit mine in my pack.

My magical pack. The one I can bind with a single iron rank integration point. Then, from the sounds of it, have my loot automatically deposited inside.

Mentally prodding my backpack, I confirm the bonding process which leads to a new notification.

"Bond established: Featherlite Backpack. Access restricted to Citizen Pandora. Item integrity linked to Citizen Pandora. Spatial inventory unlocked. Please note that items stored within a user's inventory can only be retrieved from a bound container or a system bank."

"Calculating total inventory space."

"Current total inventory space: 3.12 cubic meters."

"Would you like to transfer all system looted items directly to your inventory or continue receiving them directly? This choice can be changed at any system bank."

"Wyonna's handy bonus tip: now that the backpack is bonded, you can repair it using mana. If it's ever misplaced or destroyed, you can recreate it for one iron integration point at any system bank."

Well, that makes my decision easy. I confirm that I want my loot to transfer directly to my inventory. I'm about to try opening my inventory when Beth places her ball of earth and essence crystals in my hand.

"Think you can hold onto this for me kid? I don't have anywhere to put it."

Looking up, I realize that Josh and Roberts are still holding their balls in their hands.

Hmmph. Hehe.

Mind out of the gutter Alexis.

"Yeah, no problem. I can hold onto them for everyone," I share, holding it out to the others.

"No," Rufka yells out when she sees Beth moving to put her ball in my bag.

"Are you trying to lose a hand?" Rufka exclaims as Beth pulls her hand back.

"What?" Beth and I yelp simultaneously as we look to Rufka.

"You must never attempt to interact with another's inventory Bethany," Tipan explains as she joins us, "the consequences can be most dire. The system has little love for thieves."

It has no love for thieves, but has no problem with murderous, rampaging hordes? Figures.

Since the essences are all packed in dirt, I float everyone's over to me before crumbling the earth, creating a tinkering cascade of crystal that flows into my pack.

"Okay, let's move," Beth commands in Vausian while pointing up the hill. She leads the way as we all fall in behind her.

"Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but when I received my class, I got an update on our mission here," Beth informs us in English as we make our way.

Before I can ask about her class, she continues, "we need to do more than find a way home."

She stops for a moment, looking to each of us to make sure we're listening.

"We need to figure out how to stop an apocalypse."

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you for the kind reviews Xiaoma, The Almighty Lord of Rodents (that's quite the mouthful), Claws8367, Kelvas and Sandro530.

Related to last chapter's edits, it's strange to see more downvotes on my positive reviews than there are upvotes. In relation to this, I also had several comments in chapter 1.23 that Alexis' reaction to Roberts was the one part that was jarring. As these readers didn't drop the fiction but read the whole way through, I've done what I can to incorporate their feedback. I'm not inclined to remove her biased reaction, but I've tried making edits to move the vibe from "creepy" to "judgmentally" while also increasing Josh's reaction slightly. Hopefully this will create a smoother reading experience while not degrading the core of Alexis' reaction.

On a positive note, I finished setting up Patreon with discord roles (I think). It was always my goal to try to turn writing into a living, so yay first step.

I'm sure I'm supposed to try to sell you on Patreon, but it's probably best to wait until I have some content on there.

I'll be providing downloads of the story in epub and pdf, so there is that. Unfortunately, I don't have a single advance chapter available so far, but I'll be working to improve that. Preferably it won't slow down public releases, but I'm working a full time job, so we'll see. If it does slow things down, it won't be until after I finish the current story arc and releases on Friday will remain steady no matter what.

No matter whether you choose to support on Patreon or continue reading here, thank you.

I'll see you on Friday.

1.25 Apocalypse

January 16, 2019, 4:03pm. A long time before the apocalypse, but still not long enough.

Beth's delivery is perfect. If I didn't know what happened to Akilo hundreds of years ago, I'd think she was pulling my leg.

"So there is a mana-swarm coming to earth?" I ask as Beth continues marching forward, setting a brisk pace "we have an actual incoming apocalypse?"

"I knew it," Josh says quietly as I finish. So quietly I question if I heard him correctly.

"Excuse me, what are you two talking about?" Roberts asks as he runs up beside us, "what's this about an apocalypse?"

"Apparently seventy-four years ago earth earned our place in galactic society. Any guesses as to why doc?" Beth asks.

He pauses a moment while I try to figure out what happened in 1945.

"Hiroshima," he replies, looking at Beth.

She nods before continuing, "it wasn't just the bombs though."

"Radio," Josh states, sounding surprisingly certain.

"Apparently," Beth confirms as we set foot on the bottom of the broken ramp leading up to the city. It's only now that I realize how big the city itself is. The ramp itself is at least a kilometre long. And that's before we reach the walls.

"What does that have to do with a mana swarm destroying the earth?" I ask, "the K'tharn didn't have radios or nuclear capacity when they were hit."

"You're sure? Anyway, Theglia didn't tell me. I was just told that because we broadcast our presence, a mana-swarm is on the way," she tells us while she scans the sky.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand, what's a mana-swarm?" Roberts asks.

"It's basically a giant thunderstorm, volcanic eruption and earthquake that strikes the whole world," I answer as we step over yet another crack in the road.

"Oh, and it also triggers a massive wave of monsters in its aftermath," I add which reminds me to check my health again. Yep, still at eleven.

"Monsters like all those?" Roberts asks while gesturing back to the now-empty battlefield.

"I think so, yeah," I reply, then change the topic slightly, "speaking of monsters, one of them took a pretty big chunk out of my health. I don't suppose?" I trail off looking at Roberts.

"Hold on one second," Beth interrupts as she turns in place, looking to the east, bringing us all to a stop.

"Sorry. I forgot about my health," I reply while twirling Smoulder's fluffy tail around my finger.

Roberts is already responding, "Well, unlike a mana swarm apocalypse. Which I admit sounds rather impossible to fathom, never mind prevent, this at least, is easily fixed." As he finishes he holds out his hand which I take. When I look at him I wonder how I ever saw the face of Mr. Edwards. Then I look at his eyebrows.

Yep, definitely the eyebrows. Brrr.

"That's not what I was..." Beth starts while looking to the east. But I don't really hear the rest as I feel the wave of healing pass through me, my health returning to full. Unfortunately, that's not all that happens. It also washes over my clock.

As I watch it, I realize I'm looking far too closely before I find myself drawn in.

My last thought before I fade is that Roberts looks far more terrified than I feel.

"I'm not going," mom declared, as I put my boots on, ready to leave.

"What do you mean," I asked. It was Sunday. We always went to visit papa after church on Sunday.

"I mean I can't do it anymore Alexis," she explained.

"But we have to," I replied, pulling on her hand.

"Why? It's not like he's waking up," she sighed while looking out the glazed window of the church.

"But he might," I protested. I had to go. He needed to know I loved him.

"If he was going to wake up, he would have done it by now," mom stated as she turns to me.

"No," I screamed back at her.

"Alexis please, let's just go home," she requested, reaching for my hand.

I refused to take it, running out into the rain instead. I knew where papa was staying. We'd taken the bus before. I even had my own bus card.

Mom called after me, but she didn't try to chase me.

I spent the next couple hours at the hospital, visiting papa. I told him all about my week. Then I told him mom was busy today, but I was sure she'd come next week.

When I finally went home, I was about to buzz up to our apartment when Mr. Edwards stepped out the door. I hadn't seen him since that night a few months ago on Christmas eve.

No matter what else was going on, if I saw Edwards I could count on three things.

His hand on my shoulder as he looked into my eyes.

The smooth tone of his voice as he told me some variation of, "you know he always loved you, Alexis."

And mom's reaction to his visits.

When I opened our apartment door, I knew mom had started drinking.

"You," she slurred in that too loud voice drunk people get when they think they're being quiet. As I took my rain gear off, she lurched up out of her chair.

"If it hadn't been for you and your stupid science fair, your father would still be fine," she said, pointing an accusing finger at me as I froze.

“And that man,” mom continued gesturing vaguely with the bottle, “do you remember who he is?”

“Mr. Edwards,” I replied, as the chill running down my spine grew worse. Of course, I remembered who he was. He'd been there.

“Mr. Edwards. The detective,” mom snorted as she took another drink.

“He saw you, you know,” she said while glaring at me with red-rimmed eyes, “driving to the fair with your father the day of the accident."

If I was chilled before, now I’m frozen solid.

“He said it was the strangest thing. The way the cold front seemed to follow along behind you, freezing everything in your wake,” she ranted as she stood up looking down at me.

“He said it was one of the most magical events he’d ever seen. Too bad the most magical thing killed your father,” mom yelled as she took one unstable step forward, the bottle still in hand.

That broke me out of my paralysis as I screamed back at her, "he's not dead."

"It'd be better if he was," mom cried with a sweeping gesture, the bottle slipping free.

“But you know what I think,” she grumbled, towering above me, looking down into my eyes, “I think it was more than just the science fair.”

"I think it's your fault."

Good god, I was not ready for that.

It was always like that. Every time Mr. Edwards came.

And then mom would go off. She never hit me. Because no good parent hits their child, she said. And she was the best parent. She even had the mug to prove it, she'd say.

But she did go out gambling or partying leaving us with nothing but rice or potatoes for a month. With mustard of course. There was always mustard.

Or she'd just disappear for a week or two. Occasionally she'd bring home some strange guy who was worse than she was. Like Mike.

It got to the point where I associated Edwards visits with mom’s episodes. Until he stopped coming and mom didn't change.

When I let the memories fade, I realize I haven't returned to myself like I normally do. Instead, I find myself floating in an empty white void, disembodied but with a coherent sense of self.

As I float there, I realize the void isn't quite as empty as I'd originally thought.

There's one more memory. I try to wake up instead of confronting it. I'm not afraid of it, but part of me says now isn't the time to be dealing with this.

But apparently, the memory disagrees, because noticing it seems to have been a trigger.

So I brace myself one last time.

Mom was out again. Papa and I were sitting at the kitchen table working on my science project for the school science fair. I was going to do a paper mache volcano, but mom said that was stupid, everyone does volcanoes. Papa said he had another idea. So instead we were working on several different designs for bridges. My personal favourite was the da Vinci bridge since we were able to build it using only pencils and elastic bands. I spent more than ten minutes testing its strength by putting random objects on it.

My papa interrupted me after the first minute, asking a familiar question, "what's the difference between playing and science?"

"Writing down the results," I grumbled as I grudgingly grabbed the notepad we had on the table for this very reason. We spent the whole afternoon playing with, I mean testing, different bridge designs.

For science!

The science project was my last major homework before the Christmas break.

The next week, on the night of the science fair, we were loading it in the car to take to school. We'd just put the cardboard display (printed on recycled copy paper, of course) in the car when mom called. She needed papa to come to pick her up. Now.

I wasn't too pleased. Papa was supposed to spend the evening at school with me. He'd even made sure he had the day off work so he could make it on time. If mom had been down the road it would have been fine. But she wasn't down the road. She was out of town at her friend's house, mom's car still sitting in our driveway.

She couldn't stay at her friend's anymore because, in her words, "Carrie is such a stupid b!%@#."

Papa was trying to get a word in to remind her that it was my science fair tonight, but mom just kept on ranting about Carrie and Yvonne. She's still going even as papa starts the car, after making sure I'm buckled in properly in the back seat, of course.

He leaves the phone in the armrest, where mom can keep talking but we could barely hear her.

"I'm sorry, Lexi," he apologized as we pulled out of the driveway.

"But you promised," I complained, "it isn't fair."

Sighing he nodded, "You're right. It isn't fair. But life isn't fair Lexi. It just is."

"You always say stupid stuff like that when mom calls," I pouted, glaring out the window.

"Language Lexi," he chided in his automatic dad voice before adding, "you know your mother isn't the best at making plans."

"Or showing up," I grumbled.

An exceptionally loud curse reminded me that mom was still ranting on the phone even as we talked.

"I'm sorry Lexi, but I have to go. You know what she'll be like if I don't," papa said, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

I felt the chill spread then, as I watched ice form on the edge of the windows while papa shivered before reaching to turn up the heat. It continued to radiate as I pictured papa getting stuck into the snowbank underneath the ugly tree. If he got stuck, he couldn't pick up mom. Then he'd come to my science fair instead, I thought. But we didn't get stuck. We drove by without incident.

I didn't want to accept it before, but as I watch my perfect memory play out, I can clearly see the ice forming outside, climbing up the tree. As I look on I see it crack from the sudden onset of cold, one branch hanging loose.

It's while we were driving by the ugly tree that I saw Mr. Edwards. I knew him. He was my father's best friend. They'd been in the military together.

He was standing there, Starbucks in hand, looking out at us. His eyes watched the car as we drove past, meeting mine while mother ranted in the background, one hand raised in a little wave. Then he shivered as if hit by a massive chill, and I could see the Frost coat his hair. As we left the area I watched him step back inside the coffee shop.

When papa dropped me off, he left me in the care of my teacher telling her he'd be back as soon as he could. Family emergency.

Turning to me he said, "I'm sorry Lexi," as he gave me a hug.

I didn't respond. I didn't hug him back. I didn't tell him I loved him. I didn't even wave goodbye when he left. I just felt cold inside.

I spent the rest of the night by myself at the science fair numbly going through the motions. I was angry at my father for always choosing mom over me. I was angry at mom for being selfish. I was even angry at Carrie for being "such a stupid b!%@#".

I won first place, all because of him, but it tasted bitter in my mouth. I ignored my friends when they came to congratulate me. I ignored the other parents who asked where my parents were. I tried ignoring my teacher when she came to get me. It was getting late and papa still wasn't back.

Then I heard what my teacher said.

There'd been an accident.

Papa wasn't coming to pick me up.

…..

I was taken straight home that night. The teacher didn't have a booster seat, which I protested, because papa said I was always supposed to have one. After some cajoling she got me buckled in, taking me home. We didn't drive past the ugly tree. It was closed off due to the accident. I tried asking my teacher to take me to the hospital, but she said she'd been told to take me home.

When we got there Mrs. Thatcher, our next-door neighbour was waiting. She took me inside, saying how awful it all was. That horrible ugly tree should have been cut down months ago. But I shouldn't worry, my father was going to be just fine. He was a fighter she said. And they'll take care of him at the hospital.

I could barely hear her.

She stayed with me until she fell asleep next to me on the couch while watching some musical on tv. Turning off their musical escapades, I suited up to go outside.

I didn't just walk to the hospital though. Not like I thought I remembered.

I walked to the tree. The area had already been cleaned up. Traffic must flow after all. But I could see where the car had hit the tree. I could see where the branch had sheared off.

The one which, as Mrs. Thatcher had inadvertently mentioned, landed on my father.

Even now, the crack where the branch broke is still covered in a thick layer of ice.

Lying at the side of the road is the branch that fell when my papa lost control on the black ice and hit the tree. He'd been knocked unconscious by that branch. It'd also taken his arm when it crushed the car.

As I walked up to the tree, I could see the coffee shop where Mr. Edwards had raced out, calling for emergency services after my father had crashed. Not that I knew that then.

Turning from the tree, I saw my eyes reflected in the coffee shop window.

Brown frigid eyes, with a ring of icy-blue, stared back.

The same eyes I saw reflected in the coffee shop window as we drove by.

The eyes from my nightmare.

Because mom was right. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't because papa had to go pick up mom. It wasn't the tree or the branch's fault.

It was mine.

Bright light filters through my shuttered eyelids as my brain starts processing reality again. Neither of these memories weighs as heavily as seeing my father in that bed.

I'm still reeling from the unplanned trip down memory lane when a jostling motion makes me realize I'm being carried.

Opening my eyes further I discover Rufka's furry chin moving back and forth above me. At least I'm pretty sure it's Rufka. She's the only tawny brown K'tharn I've met so far. I only stare for a second before Rufka notices me stirring.

"Oh ho. She's awake," Rufka mentions, stopping then setting me down gently.

"Well, at least she wasn't out long," Beth notes moving closer while Smoulder gently smacks into my ankle. Gentle for her that is.

"I'm quite sorry Alexis. I don't know what happened," Roberts apologizes as they all gather around me as I collect Smoulder for some cuddles. And head scritches of course.

"It's not your fault," I respond, "backlash from my condition being fixed."

"Are you okay kid," Beth checks.

"No," I reply honestly. "I just need a moment," I continue as I take a deep breath. Then I shake my head vigorously trying to clear my thoughts.

While I'm recovering I check my health. It's at one hundred percent, 48/48. Then I give my notification log a quick glance.

"Skill reassessed: Ice Manipulation (3 to 28)"

"Quest Completed: Establish the basics. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points, classes unlocked: Aeromancer, Alloymancer, Aquamancer, Cragmancer, Cryomancer, Shadowmancer, Terramancer, Voltmancer, Primal Elementalist."

"Updating. Class synergy detected Between Chronodancer and Primal Elementalist. Class unlocked: Cataclysm Seed."

“Quest received: Master the basics. Description: Raise all elemental manipulation skills to 100. Requirements: 0/9. Rewards: 11 iron rank integration points, increase mana edge by 1.0.”

"Skill increased: Temporal Manipulation (26 to 27)"

"Quest Completed: Repair Temporal Inconsistency. Reward: Class unlocked: Paradox (Forerunner - Facet specialization class). 1 remote Nexus access activation point. Temporal Inconsistency condition removed."

Holy crap, that's a hell of a lot of unlocked classes. And remote Nexus access. I didn't know that was a thing.

A quick check of my conditions confirms that Temporal Inconsistency is finally gone.

I'm taking another deep breath when Beth prompts me, "so, you gonna be okay, kid?"

“Yeah. He healed my condition. Took a lot out of me,” I reply.

"Good. Cause we need to move. Now," she states while pointing, "we've got company. Coming in from the east."

Looking over I can't make out more than a green glimmer, but then it's gone. Whatever Beth spotted is hard to see, but I trust that her vision is better than mine at this point.

Leaning on her smooth white staff, Tipan starts talking rapidly.

"We must get into the city, they won't follow us there," Tipan tells us, gesturing to the city that lies less than a hundred meters to the south.

"We could stay and fight," Rufka suggests with a grin.

"And risk killing them? No, the whole point of this escape was to avoid needless bloodshed," Tipan replies shaking her head back and forth.

While they're talking, Beth has already given a hand sign to the rest of us to group up and follow her. I'm a little disoriented still, but I fall in behind her.

"We're going in," Beth tells the K'tharn when they don't respond to her gesture.

As I move up next to her, I turn to Rufka, "thank you for getting me here. You don't have to stay you know."

"What, leave now? We're just getting to the good stuff," Rufka claims, flashing her teeth as she sprints ahead.

As we follow Beth, Josh comes up beside me, glancing at the sky.

"That seemed rough," he notes while I look up as well. There's still nothing but an occasional cloud.

"It was. Is. I don't know. But I'm back. I'm glad you guys are back on your feet too. I was pretty worried about you two being bound and kept in a stupor. That couldn't have been good for you," I reply as we all pick up the pace at Beth's urging.

"It's pretty unreal. In the last couple of days, I only have a couple of brief memories. It feels like it's only been a couple hours since I saw you get trapped under that monster, you know," Josh tells me as we jog up the ramp that leads to the gate. I really love stamina.

"Wow," I respond. Between my travels, Uthica's vision of her past and my own memories it feels like it's been months since that fight at the church.

I'm about to continue when Beth calls out, "down, get down."

Following her instructions, I hit the ground as Smoulder hops out of my arms. I can feel the wind whipping through my hair as I look up to see where several rocks just struck the ramp.

"Move people," Beth calls from ahead, setting an example as she charges the last few meters to the gate. I see Rufka and Roberts reach her, Tipan just behind.

This is when Josh and I are interrupted by the giant K'tharn, the tiger-striped one who I'm pretty sure goes by Ivicka, landing in front of us. The force of her landing sends a wave crashing out from her, knocking both of us from our feet. Even as she makes her whirlwind of a landing, the dragon roars overhead, thudding against my ears.

As we make our way back to our feet Josh steps in front of me, blocking me from Ivicka. But she's not looking at us. She's staring at Tipan.

"First, you steal the outlanders away, then you hide behind the relics of the Builders. I honestly thought you'd do better when you betrayed me sister!" Ivicka declares with a dangerous looking smile on her face.

"I couldn't just leave them to suffer at your hands. Not again," Tipan snaps back. Uh oh. Josh and I really need to get in there. I'm not sure what's keeping Ivicka out, but it's clear she's unwilling, or unable, to step over that line.

"Ah yes. So noble, just like aunt Certhen." Ivicka mocks while inspecting one hand before lifting her gaze back to Tipan.

Gesturing to Josh, I indicate he should sneak around one side while I take the other. Shaking his head, Josh indicates we should both sneak around to the left. Deciding it's better to move than to sit here arguing, I nod.

"I would much rather be like auntie Certhen than like you," Tipan yells back.

We start inching our way forward. I cringe at my first step. My metal boot screeching against the stone. Tipan flicks her gaze at me. Ivicka however, doesn't turn. Josh keeps moving forward while I cover my boots with a layer of dirt, cushioning my steps.

"I think you're more like your pu'shaha. No spine and as intelligent as a rock," Ivicka taunts while grinning with far too many teeth.

Josh and I are almost at the entrance when Ivicka's gaze falls on me.

"Ah. You must be the Elementalist," she says not even sparing a glance for Josh until he steps in front of me. Much to my dismay, she sends him flying with a single motion. I don't see her lay a hand on him but I can feel the air currents as he's torn away. He lands with a dull thud in front of the others, inside the gate. He stands back up, attempting to get back to me but slams against an invisible barrier.

I'm unable to keep watching because Ivicka has moved closer, completely obstructing my view of the others. Left facing her alone, I know I should be afraid, but I'm not feeling it. Instead, I feel annoyed. I just joined up with the others, now, here Ivicka stands, trying to keep me from them.

She takes my chin in her hand, looking down at me as if I were a particularly interesting piece of fruit. While she's inspecting me, I start channelling mana for a Cyclone Blast. She's between me and the others but I'm sure a massive wave of air will fix that.

"Now, now, none of that," Ivicka states waving one paw back and forth. I can feel her disrupting my mana structure as if I was trying to form my spell outside my control area. But with way more turbulence. Her disruption forces my spell to collapse.

"I think my sister has made a mistake. She has stolen the others, yes. But she has left the most interesting prize where she can't get to it," Ivicka practically drools as she tilts my head while pushing back my hood with another paw.

Clearly, she can dispel mana but I have an idea. Before I can act though, a flaming ball of death hurtles towards Ivicka from the side.

As Smoulder approaches, Ivicka raises a paw while taking a small step to the side. Smoulder smashes off the translucent shield attempting to redirect herself midair but she's going too fast. Smoulder joins the others behind the invisible barrier. Just like Josh, Smoulder throws herself against the barrier, trying to get out. I can hear the others asking Tipan what's going on but I can't afford to pay them any attention at the moment, because I suddenly can't breathe.

"You have formidable defences to be unaffected by a dragon's roar, but I've found all creatures need to breathe. And very few seem to prepare proper defences for such an obvious weakness," she comments as I feel her manipulation of wind mana forcing the air around me to stillness.

The urge to rip at my throat to break free is mysteriously absent. Probably because she didn't rip the air out of my lungs. But I have no doubt that if she maintains this for long, I'll lose consciousness.

Before that can happen I reach out to my facet. It's there ready and waiting, knowing what I want.

With a twist, I bring a barrier into place as I do the one thing I can think of.

I stop time.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thank you for the kind reviews Hmdrake, Kajarainbow, and Rikimaru.

1.26 Time to Pause

A note from Draith

Spoiler was broken. Might have been for the best if it stayed that way. But it was brought to my attention. Now it should work again.

There's a part of the author that is a troll. I'm happy to report that the troll has been beaten and shoved under it's bridge. If you're wondering what the troll wanted to do, read below.

......

Well, I said this would be the end of the world. And here it is. I'm done. I just can't handle all the negative feedback.

I swear, this isn't because I couldn't achieve my grand dreams of actually hitting the plot point I was hoping for today.

Okay. You got me. This is because of that. In fact, it even ruined the last chapter, every word was wrong. Except for green. Green was the one correct word in the last chapter.

"The world doesn't end. It just seems like it does."

"Because it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."

.....

Just kidding!

.....

Aren't you glad the troll was shoved back under its bridge?

I am.

January 16, 2019, 4:19 pm, between one second and the next.

Now I probably should have used the last of my facet to teleport, run away, freeze Ivicka or something.

But I've never used it like that before. I've been very careful about not experimenting with my facet. Despite its obvious power, it terrifies the hell out of me. The amount of pain from breaking out of my original time freeze still haunts me. A slight misuse of the return spell left me nauseated which could have been so much worse if it'd been even further off. Connecting to Beth sent me back into her memories.

But at the moment, I'm not afraid.

I understand why too. It's the damn liquor. I'm immune to fear, which means everything I should be afraid of is just… blank instead.

Speaking of things I should be afraid of, Ivicka is still in front of me preventing me from breathing, one large paw holding my chin. Not much of a concern at the moment. I have just under an hour before my time freeze ends. Which, according to my now functional clock, should be about two seconds in real-time. Not as strong as my original pause (that’s what I’m calling it now that I can control it) but plenty of time before I have to worry about suffocating.

That's the funny thing about being on pause. Not much happens.

As I look at Ivicka, I discover it's a little different in other ways as well. There's a greater feeling of freedom, but I still can't move. The difference is in my eyes. My eyes can refocus almost instantly now, which means I have the ability to take in everything around me.

Including the enormous dragon floating in the air above us. It is a beautiful creature, large emerald wings are frozen in a down flap... thrust... they're at the bottom. It's really easy to appreciate the majesty. I especially appreciate how it's not trying to eat me.

Not sure what I'm going to do to get myself out of this yet, but at least my pause has improved since that first incident.

Okay, mental inventory Alexis. What do I have?

I have time to think.

Also, immunity to fear.

Tons of earth shards, including the large one, but they're in my pack.

One incredibly torn up onesie. Probably not going to help with anything.

In the same vein, there are my metal boots. They, or the metal they're made of, might be useful.

Checking my conditions, I see one potentially huge advantage. But the NEWB protection mostly just protects me from death. It won’t get me anywhere, plus it'll probably hurt. I'll leave that as extreme backup plan Z.

The preferable solution would be to knock back Ivicka with some spells. Maybe one of my favourites? They are quicker to cast.

There's also my classes if I can unlock them, but that feels like a gamble. At least the remote access point might give me the option. But I only need to escape. I'm not desperate enough to lock my future in by choosing my class. Not unless nothing else works. Especially since I haven't talked to the K'tharn. Let's call choosing a class plan Y.

Might be higher if I'd left the others to the apocalypse talk while asking our K'tharn allies about classes instead. Oh well. It's not like I expected to be knocked out then grabbed by Ivicka's massive paw.

Looking up at the aforementioned tigress of a K'tharn, I wonder if I can analyze her.

“User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D.

Name: Ivicka

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

Damn. That cost me eleven focus but just confirmed how much trouble I'm in. Really wishing I hadn't just looted the whole battlefield, then I'd at least have some facet to experiment with. Greed is coming back to bite me.

At least I confirmed I can use my focus to analyze her, so my focus use isn’t disrupted.

Using focus to reinforce my efforts, I tug at my mana again. I can feel a noticeable difference. My mana’s still reverting, but only after several paused seconds.

Since it's easiest to use my favourite spells, I create a water Umbrella hoping it will complete before her ability affects me. It takes a few seconds to start forming but the basic shape is coalescing.

As I'm considering my spell, another notification pops up, almost as if delayed.

"Important survival tip; copper rank entities can't be properly analyzed by an iron rank user."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the complete analysis of Ivicka for 34.0 focus and 18.6 facet."

Ha. I wish I had eighteen facet to play with. I wouldn't waste it on a description of Ivicka though.

Instead of scoffing over what I don't have, it's time to continue working with what I do.

And what I've got are mostly full pools of mana and focus, several new classes, and a lot of time.

I don't expect reading the class descriptions will save me, besides I have a working plan. But I’m already waiting for my spell to fully form. Plus, I'm super curious.

So while I patiently allow my umbrella to form, I try bringing up my class selection. As I expected, it feels blocked. Probably by the time-freeze. But I can focus on the class names from my log, bringing up the descriptions.

I don't bother with any of the mancer classes. I suspect they're all just variations on the pyromancer. Even though I doubt I’ll take it, I start with Primal Elementalist.

“Class unlocked: Primal Elementalist."

“Primal Elementalist (Rare): You have demonstrated the ability to wield all elements with a passable proficiency. A Primal Elementalist commands every aspect of the Elements to dominate and control their environments.

Attributes: Moderate increase to Intellect and Spirit maximum.

Resources: Immense increase to mana, massive increase to focus, small increase to health and stamina.

Abilities: Rare. Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water, Earth, Stone, Metal, Ice and Twilight. Inhibition, repositioning and substantial damage in huge areas.”

Seems like an upgraded version of the Fire-Storm Elementalist, just less focused on fire and storms.

Looking back at my water shield, I see that it's finished forming. Once it's finished it resembles a picture more than an actual object. It's lacking the usual ebb and flow I normally associate with my water magic. I imagine it's still there, I'm just not able to see it, paused as I am.

Okay, the ability to use favourited spells is confirmed. I'd prefer a better idea than blasting her with a lightning torrent. It is kind of tempting, with her ‘extreme’ stats it might only stun her. But given my spell’s track record of utter destruction, I don't feel comfortable testing it on a non-monster. Even on someone who’s trying to suffocate me.

Though I may need to reexamine my priorities if I can’t figure my way out of this. If it comes down to it I might have to blast her.

But I’m not at that point yet.

I still have new class descriptions to read, so I focus on the Cataclysm Seed while pondering what to do.

“Class unlocked: Cataclysm Seed."

“Cataclysm Seed (Unique): By bending all the elements as well as the foundations of reality, time and space, to your will, you have demonstrated an understanding that everything is intrinsically tied. A Cataclysm Seed is capable of many feats considered impossible by greater creatures. This is only the beginning.

Attributes: Small decrease to Strength and Constitution maximum. Minor increase to Agility and Endurance maximum. Large increase to Intellect, Spirit, Perception and Resolve maximum.

Resources: Huge increase to focus, mana and unique matrix resource facet, minor increase to health and stamina.

Abilities: Elemental, Spatial and Temporal. Damage, inhibition, repositioning and suffering in huge areas.”

Wow, that's amazing. But negative Strength and Constitution? That part about suffering is a little ominous. It’s an interesting class, yet I’m not getting any ideas while reading through the description.

Checking the last class I'm stunned when the information comes up.

“Base Error 4p314 class unlocked: Paradox.

“Paradox (Error 4p314): Error 4p314.

Attributes: Error 4p314.

Resources: Error 4p314.

Abilities: Error 4p314."

I guess I should say when it doesn't come up. There's nothing to even review. How did I unlock a class that has no information? And why would I ever choose it?

I mean other than the name.

Pandora the Paradox.

Has a much better ring to it than Pandora the Cataclysm Seed. Or Alexis the Cataclysm Seed.

Though I guess the second one… hmm. Can I be a cataclysm seed of hope?

Pandora the Cataclysm Seed of Hope.

Nope.

So bad.

That's okay. If I choose it I just won’t tell anyone what my class is. Easy.

Reading the weird error message again, I pause. Hmm, I wonder if.... Focusing on the error code, to my surprise, I get a notification for four focus.

"Error 4p314: Information not found. Please connect to Primary System for analysis."

Okay, so the class isn't broken. It's just, what? Unknown?

Doesn't help me. This isn't the first time I've seen an error though. Where was the other one? Right. The standing stones had an error when they tried to say our species. It didn't know what a human was. This seems related. It's a Forerunner class, so is it like Forerunner Protection?

Not much workable data here, recording my thoughts in yet another page of notes to self, I prepare to continue. What can I do next?

As I'm pondering, I get another delayed notification.

"Would you like to know more? Download Codex for Paradox class for 34 focus and 18.6 facet?"

Well, at least I can get a description later.

Ivicka is starting to notice my water Umbrella springing into existence, her arm getting wet when the shield flows around her. Which gives me an idea.

My spell can still affect her. So could I use the existing shield as a battery for my torrent spell? That would be too easy.

Wouldn't it?

I create the torrent structure in my mind, the familiar double helix structure not disrupted so long as I keep it within my mind. Moving it forward quickly, I try to replicate what I did at Rufka's cabin, but this time I don't worry about keeping the shield intact. In fact, I'm counting on it being the source.

I see the structure snap into place quickly enough, but there's no immediate effect. It appears I'll need to be patient to see results.

It figures that I go through all my classes searching for inspiration but her wet arm is what truly gets my mind working.

The structure is painfully slow to form, so I take a moment for the next thing on my list.

My newly bound Inventory.

When I give it a mental prod, it reacts immediately, creating a visual overlay of everything stored in my backpack. Underneath the pictures are short descriptions. The only things in my inventory right now are, rock-packed wolf jerky, earth essences and a couple juniberries, leftover from the last bush Smoulder and I ravaged. Plus, a whole lot of stone. Hmm.

The interface is very intuitive, but I don't pull anything out. The last thing I need right now is to accidentally bust out of my time freeze again.

Looking up, I see the torrent appears to have formed successfully, the water from the shield draining into it. As I watch I can even see individual drops of water condensing, before joining the spell.

Ivicka doesn't seem to have noticed my spell yet. Honestly given her stats, I'm not even sure if my spell is going to be able to affect her. All I need is for it to push her back enough for me to make it another few meters.

The knockback is one thing, but what if I'm not fast enough.

I need a method to get me past her. The one thing I got from analyzing her is that she's crazy high in all attributes. So I imagine she's going to be faster than Smoulder. And Smoulder is scary fast when she wants to be.

I can't teleport, but I can throw myself through the air. I’ve done it several times already, though this will be the first time I do it on purpose.

Forming my original version of Lightning Torrent, I direct it beside me, into the ramp while avoiding Ivicka, but then I pause. Ivicka still has her paw on my chin. That might change once my Water torrent hits her, but it hasn't done so yet.

So I wait, checking to see if I have any new notifications. Other than a mention of my Temporal and water manipulation skills increasing, it's empty.

Instead of twiddling my metaphorical thumbs, I decide I need to do something productive.

So I start paging through my old notes on runes. As I'm inspecting them I can see several mistakes I must have made while copying them down. Just in case they're not mistakes, I copy my runes then start making adjustments.

There are two new runes that feel complete, but I'm not feeling desperate enough to test them at the moment.

Besides, the torrent is hitting Ivicka now. Her hand is slipping even as her eyes begin to narrow.

I wait another minute. When she starts to stagger back slightly, one foot in the air, I act.

Taking the opportunity, I unleash the original version of my lightning torrent spell, blasting myself away from her. The feeling is surprisingly muted. I had been worried that my barrier was going to lock me in place, but when Ivicka let go she also moved my chin marginally. It takes two minutes before I'm able to discern whether the knockback is truly working the way I'd hoped.

Meanwhile, even though Ivicka is still tilting backwards slightly, it seems like she's already recovering.

With no desire to let her interrupt, I summon another water umbrella before turning it into a second blast. Then I do it again. And again. Once I have six different water torrents shooting in her direction I finally feel satisfied. Even as I'm pushed further away I watch while they all join together as her eyes go wide.

She's blown clear off her feet, one millimetre at a time. By the time I'm halfway across the two meters that were separating me from the others Ivicka is over four meters away, rising into the air. Even now she's recovering, twisting the water I sent at her away.

Water isn't working as well as I'd hoped. She's much stronger than I expected. Maybe a more substantial obstacle will slow her more? Before she can finish I decide to try using an Avalanche style torrent using the stone beneath my feet. I don't have it dialled in as much as I have with water torrent so it's not as efficient, but it’s nineteen mana well spent.

Half the ramp seems to get caught in the spell, yet Ivicka doesn't seem to notice the Avalanche heading her way until it’s upon her. I watch her start shifting in my direction right as the cascade of stone slams against her. She's sent back again as I'm about to cross the line where my companions are standing.

Worried that my barrier might not play nicely with whatever is keeping Ivicka out, I desperately try to dismiss my time freeze.

The barrier refuses to drop, but I pass through without apparent effect. I'd breathe a sigh of relief if that were possible.

Since I have time, as I haven't even hit the ground yet, I read the notification that pops up.

"Iron rank training challenge Fallen City of Lescodo joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to Fallen City of Lescado training zone."

"Zone Quest received: Reach the Eye. Requirements 0/1 Builder's Eye reached. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. Time: 7/7 days remaining."

Well, that's interesting. I'm guessing this has something to do with why Ivicka's unable to enter, but the reason isn't really clear.

I suspect Tipan can explain it to me once I unpause.

While I’m waiting for my pause to wind up, I go back to playing with my runes. I don't make any more progress, but I do organize them by complexity. The runes in my Return spell are the most complex runes in my whole collection.

I need to find a way to teleport short distances. This whole thing with Ivicka could've been sidestepped if I could do that. Especially if I could've brought Josh with me.

As the thought crosses my mind, the time freeze ends then I feel a familiar sensation, like I’m being drawn in. But nothing happens.

As time resumes I can barely track what's happening.

I smack into Josh and Tipan who had the misfortune to serve as my impromptu landing pad.

I can officially confirm that the backlash from my original lightning torrent spell does twenty-one damage when I crash into such nice soft allies.

At the same time, there’s a thunderous roar from Ivicka's direction as all my different torrent spells crack through the air.

The first normal sounds I hear after my ears recover are Josh and Tipan grunting as we all sort ourselves out.

While we're crawling apart, I glance out at Ivicka, who's standing there soaked, but unbattered. Apparently, her defence against my water had nothing to do with manipulation. Either that or she's really bad at it.

Next to me, I hear Rufka chuckling, "I guess she's a little wet behind the ears." I barely register that Rufka effectively called Ivicka a fool by Vausian standards, because I'm busy dodging a random elbow.

Tipan is staring at me with a horrified expression on her face as Beth extends a hand down to me, "what the hell was that kid?"

"That's my magic," I reply, "I'm the only one who doesn't get armour. Being able to do things like that feels like the least my magic can do for me."

"Very impressive. Nicely done Alexis. Nicely done indeed," Roberts congratulates me, steepling his fingers as I welcome Smoulder back into my arms.

My little almost hero is worried about me, but once she realizes I'm fine, she lets me know she wants food. Giggling, I pull the last of the jerky from my pack to give it over to her, though I take a couple bites for myself as well.

Sharing is caring.

"Yeah, sweet moves Lex. You hit like a truck, by the way. I actually felt that a little," Josh agrees as he launches himself to his feet with an amazing push-up. One that I swear should have left the road cracked.

Finally recovered, Tipan speaks up, "Well, we're all inside. We're safe from her here. I suggest we find the Nexus rest area before we complete the zone quest."

"Yeah, and while we're resting, I have questions. So many questions," I mention.

"As do I," Beth agrees, nodding her head.

"And we really need to get these guys speaking Vausian," I add as we step away from the wet cat lady.

"Agreed," Beth says as she gives the area a quick scan, "in fact… Tipan, can you start teaching our male friends here some basic Vausian, maybe get them started on the quest while we walk?"

"Well, I don't see why not," Tipan says as she moves to stand next to Josh and Roberts.

"She's going to start taking you guys through the cat people's language so you can get the quest," Beth explains when they glance over at her.

"It's basically a memory game. It should only take an hour or so. You'll even get a few integration points for it," Beth supplies to their quizzical looks.

"Awesome," Josh says as he gives Tipan his full attention.

"That would be incredible. Learning a new language in an hour. Unheard of. I have plenty of questions to ask once we're all speaking the same tongue," Roberts adds.

"Uhm, why don't we teach them?" I ask Beth.

"She needs something to keep her distracted," Beth answers, scanning the buildings ahead.

As Tipan is moving to start, I remember Ivicka, who's been strangely silent since I passed through the barrier. I know sound can travel through, Tipan demonstrated that well enough during her argument with her sister. So why has she been so quiet?

When I look back, one last time, Ivicka's smiling like the cat that ate the canary, her dragon sitting on the ramp behind her, it's emerald scales glistening in the evening light.

That is not the face of someone who failed.

No.

That's the face of a K'tharn who got exactly what she wanted.

What the hell did we get ourselves into?

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Thanks for the kind reviews Tel and Nightdrift.

There were several small revisions to chapter 1.25 for clarity.

Patreon will have it's first advance chapter by 6:12pm PST tonight. I'm more shocked than you are.

Thanks for reading.

See you Friday.

1.27 Raz' Remarkable Reststop and Repository

January 16, 2019, 4:22pm. The wrong time to realize you left your phone in the other star-system.

My very first question is directly related to Ivicka's grin, "why does she look so happy?" I ask while pointing over my shoulder.

"Probably because she'll be able to capture us when we complete the quest," Rufka answers cheerfully while looking around the city, "mum never let me come here before, but she mentioned that you always exit at the same spot."

"Yes, I imagine that is precisely what she intends," Tipan adds while stepping forward.

"Then why'd we come here?" I ask while indulging Smoulder in head scritches.

"Three reasons," Tipan starts, holding up her upper right paw.

"First, we can rest and make sure your males are properly recovered from their conditioning. The rest area will be clearly marked," she continues lowering one finger as I finally stand up while Smoulder moves to my shoulder.

"Second, I've heard this is one of the easier iron rank training zones to complete. Since we're in the area, Beth agreed it would be a good idea to do so," Tipan says. Beth nods when I look over to her.

"And third. Well, I'll explain the third reason once we enter the privacy of the rest area," she tells us with a grin on her face. She almost looks like Rufka when she smiles like that. If Rufka had white fur, was far less athletic, and had intricate patterns braided into her fur like the ones running down Tipan's arm.

I saw the patterns before, but I didn't think anything of them at the time, thinking they were part of one of the harnesses they're always wearing. But upon closer inspection I discover she has a thin strip of leather woven into her fur, creating a swirling pattern, almost like a rune. But there doesn't appear to be any magic in it.

"Okay people, we're looking for a rest area. It should stand out," Beth declares in English as we start heading into the city.

"Okay, that all makes sense. But why isn't she chasing us?" I ask as I look around. The buildings of the city are very rectangular, the once lustrous sheen, faded to a dull grey. There's also a shortage of windows. What windows there are, all consist of small round potholes. Everywhere I look, there are small sprouts of greenery poking through.

"Because she wasn't in our party," Rufka explains as she sneaks up right behind Tipan, startling her. I'm not sure how old it is, but compared to the village, it's hardly overgrown at all. I have to admit. I’m a little disappointed. If this is a Builder city, I kind of expected more.

Once Tipan recovers, she looks back at Rufka before adding, "partially that, yes. But also, because she's copper rank. She literally can't enter an iron rank zone."

"Huh," I reply as we continue.

We spend the next couple minutes in relative silence, the only disruption when Josh and Roberts repeat whatever words Tipan says as she points at the scenery around us.

This continues as we move around a corner, heading down a side street.

"I do believe we've found it," Roberts notes as he chuckles, pointing down the street.

He’s hardly the only one to have spotted it. It’s blatantly obvious.

Hanging in the air above the street is a big pink neon sign that reads, in English, Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository with an arrow pointing to a small door. The sign isn't attached to anything, just floating there, minding its own business. As we step closer, I realize it's displayed in my interface. Does this mean that the system comes with pop up advertisements?

Shuddering I inspect the building. Its facade is the same as every other dull grey monotonous slab of stone building in the area, only shorter. The door itself is so low that everyone, including me and Tipan, will have to do the limbo to make it through. Or duck.

"Interesting. I've heard of named rest areas, but this one is new to me," Tipan comments when she sees Roberts pointing.

"Hmmm, are named rest areas good or bad?" Beth asks, before switching to English, "stay frosty people, we don't know what's inside."

Rufka seems eager as we gather around the door, "mum says that all the best rest areas have names. All the worst ones too."

"We'll be safe while we're inside. That's guaranteed in a safe area. There's no cost to enter a rest area, or to stay for the first ten hours. We'll likely have to pay for any extra services that are offered, however," Tipan adds while looking at Beth and me.

"Ohh, like food. I hope it's got Builder fare. I've always wanted to try Lembasian. Theria says they use a lot of something called bread, but it still goes down smooth," Rufka gushes as she rubs her hands together in anticipation.

"That would be a rare treat. The primary trial below Aetheria has a Builder's cafe run by an actual Lembasian. She's very sweet. And the food is like no other I've tasted," Tipan agrees as she reaches for the door while the rest of us wait.

The door swings inwards easily, revealing a dark wooden floor, but not much else from our angle. There’s music, which drifts out across the street. It's just a single low voice accompanied by a guitar, which is rather relaxing. I watch as Tipan crouches stepping through to the other side. Once inside she turns around. As she stands up, I realize she's shorter.

"Ohhh, a dimensional space. Sweet," Rufka exclaims as she hurries through.

I look around at the others, wondering who should go next. Josh steps forward, "nice tunes," he comments as he bends his tall frame almost in half to squeeze through the small opening.

Roberts follows right behind him, a hand tracing the edge of the door as he smiles, "like stepping through to Narnia."

Beth and I are standing outside the door looking in when our eyes meet. I shrug then step forwards through the small opening. As I cross the threshold, I detect the familiar feeling of distortion, as if I had cast my Return spell.

The interior resembles a pub. There’s one near Sab's that her dad took us to a couple of times, to expand our horizons, he’d say while watching hockey. There’s no hockey here, but there is what appears to be a billiard table in the corner. There are also several rich wooden tables with a dark, nearly black bar along the back. The entire place is dim, with several pools of soft light over the scattered tables and bar, creating islands in the dark.

In the corner is a raised stage where a short lizard-like creature sits, strumming and singing, the source of the music which fills the room. I don't understand the words, but the beauty of the song is soothing. It kind of sounds like country music. Each twang is produced by the creature’s finely polished claws striking the chords with precision. It sits calmly, its scales absorbing the soft light of the stage.

When Beth steps into the room, pulling the door closed behind her, the short lizard creature opens its eyes, looking up at us. A pair of dull grey spheres play over us while it continues singing.

We all come to an unspoken consensus to hold off speaking until they're finished. While listening to the relaxing music, I take a moment to check my notifications.

Skills increased:

- Temporal Manipulation (28 to 29)

- Water Manipulation (38 to 47)

- Lightning Manipulation (31)

- Stone Manipulation (53)

- Cleaning (41 to 46)

"You have entered Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository."

"You have entered a rest area. Please note that your survival quest will not progress while you remain within a safe zone."

"Rest area time remaining 9:59."

"Additional services will be explained once he's finished playing around."

With a final twang, the song ends, a final echoing chord drifting gently through the room. The lizard sets the guitar to the side with care as he slowly stands, before turning back to us.

"Hello, hello, my name is Raz, your humble host," he greets, waving as he steps down. He's speaking in Vausian, yet I can hear a quiet mumble of English beneath. When I focus on it, the Vausian drops to a barely audible mumble while the English becomes clear.

His eyes focus on each of us for a moment, "Ah, I see we have several first-timers. The standard spiel then, I suppose."

Before any of us can respond he continues.

"Ah. Ahem. Welcome users, to Raz' Remarkable Reststop and Repository. Welcome. No need for the full name of course. We just call it Raz's these days," he explains gesturing around the room while I keep flipping his voice back and forth between English and Vausian.

Even as he's speaking, I wonder if it would be rude to analyze him. I feel like he analyzed us.

"Raz's has all your standard Nexus access features, including bank, class selection, class advancement, return point attunement and general ability shopping. Raz's also carries a full line of interesting and useful drinks and food," he informs us, indicating the bar behind him with a casual wave while I start shifting back and forth. I hope this place has bathrooms.

"If you're feeling weary, we have rooms available. All rooms come with an additional 24 hours of rest area access. While sleeping at the tables is discouraged, we understand that not every patron has spare essence to spend on rooms. If this is your situation, we recommend moving the table to a corner and sleeping beneath it, so as not to unduly disrupt the other patrons. The floors are clean, that's a Dragonheart guarantee," he continues, as I start searching for doors.

"Finally, for the truly discerning user, Raz's has a limited stock of high-end iron grade focuses and armours," he finishes, finally perking up as he looks from face to face.

"Well, this is quite possibly the best place we could have found for the four of you," Tipan states as she rubs the end of her staff with her finger.

"I'll take that as a compliment young lady. You're a K'tharn, correct?" he asks in Vausian, extending a hand in her direction.

"Oh my. You're really here, aren't you? I mean, yes. I'm a K'tharn," Tipan responds, extending her hand to the short lizard.

"Aye. Special request from a friend," he remarks, winking at us.

"And you four would be why my friend asked for me, I imagine. Species not found. That's an interesting occurrence. From outside the system then?" he asks as he moves behind the bar, which is sized for much taller creatures. Hopping onto an invisible ledge that runs the length of the bar, he turns back to us.

"Mostly," Beth answers, "there's been limited contact. But there was no interface until we were brought here."

Wait, what? I mean we did all get the cryptic invites, I guess. And my magic. Did Beth have something else?

"Hmm. Interesting. I imagine you have a lot of questions then."

"I believe that may be a bit of an understatement," Roberts laughs as he settles on one of the stools facing the bar.

"Well, answers are free. At least most are," Raz continues with a particularly toothy grin.

"Before you get into whatever you're doing with them, can you send me your price list?" Rufka asks as she twirls back and forth on a stool further down the bar.

"Of course," he replies, before turning his attention back to us. I hear Rufka mumble, "these are great," as she spins around.

"Uhm, actually. Is there a bathroom?" I interrupt before anyone else can interject.

"Bottom of the stairs, on the right, young lady," he replies pointing to a hallway at the back.

"Good idea kid. Questions can wait," Beth decides as I make my way back while Smoulder hops onto the countertop. Turning to Tipan she adds, "can you please finish taking Josh and Roberts here through the language quest as you did with me? We need to be able to communicate, and I imagine we're going to need to keep speaking Vausian if we want to talk to your people."

"Well, of course, I will. If you'll follow me," she agrees while motioning to Josh and Roberts. Neither of whom follow her, looking to Beth instead.

The last words I hear from Beth as I close the bathroom door are, "She's going to continue teaching you the local language."

The bathroom's more magnificent than I expected, though it’s designed for a single occupant, it's huge.

The toilet, singular, is made of an especially pleasing darkwood that just looks wrong as a waste receptacle. The matching pedestal sink is wrought in a design that makes me picture a tree trying to support a lake. And succeeding.

A full-size tub made of the same wood, with big claw feet is set against the opposite wall. But the real shock is the full height mirror along the back wall.

I have to step back out to look at the relativity mundane aesthetic of the actual rest area before I'm able to use the restroom. It's just so elegant it's jarring.

Once my business is finished, I turn to the task of salvaging my onesie. I couldn't not notice its state with the giant mirror. Its….

It's really not looking good.

And my hair. My mom would yell at me for hours if she saw my hair like this.

The thought makes me smile, and I summon several balls of water.

It’s so easy to clean myself and my clothes, I can’t help taking a minute to do so, now that I can see the spots I missed, the water scrubbing thoroughly. While I clean my hair, I still leave it a mess after. Mom would hate it.

Once I’m done, I stitch the remains of my onesie back together as best I can. I've foregone all material past my knees at this point. The legs just keep getting ripped up anyway. The material can be put to better use elsewhere.

As I’m twirling my hair, inspecting myself in the mirror, I check my facet. I have just enough to purchase the Paradox codex. Given my previous experience with codex downloads, I probably shouldn’t just activate it though.

Stepping back out into the common room, I move over to Beth informing her, “Hey, I’m going to download a codex. Watch me?”

“Sure kid,” she answers, with a bit of a far-off look in her eyes. I take a seat across from her at the table, resting my head, just in case, before confirming the download.

A moment later I receive a notification.

“Paradox codex download initiated. Beginning playback. Sweet dreams Alexis.”

Ha! I knew…..

_________________

Tuesday, February 25th, 2020. 6:12pm.

There's a crack in the sky, split by lightning exactly as I'd seen in Uthica's vision. Back when her world was destroyed before being invaded. It's a lot closer than any Uthica ever saw. But that's to be expected. The worst of the swarm will be landing near here.

I don't know how I know that, but I do know it's true.

Wherever I am, it’s cold.

As my eyes leave the light show above, I realize, I'm standing on the top of a mountain. I think I'm standing on the mountain just north of Vancouver. What was it called again? Some bird, I think. I've never actually been to the top before. I didn't do the outdoors much before Akilo.

So, here I am standing on top of this mountain as world-destroying energy rains from the sky.

Doesn't seem like the best place to be when the world's ending.

But I'm not here, am I?

No.

I’m in the bar with Beth and the others.

Still, it feels like I'm here, bundled up in my favourite winter boots and my aunt's old, not-really-fur, coat looking out over Vancouver. A city I've spent the last eight years in. If I'm honest, I don't have much affection for the city. It's not a bad place. But like the outdoors, I never really interacted with it much.

I'd still hate to see it destroyed.

The sun comes out, warming my face, the mana strikes driving the clouds away.

I notice that my hand is transparent when it moves to shield my eyes from the light.

That confirms it. This is another vision like with Uthica. But didn’t it say playback? This feels like the future. Even my internal time sense says it’s the future. How am I here instead of watching someone else's memories?

Hello, I try to call into the empty air, not expecting a reply. But I don’t even get that much, as no words issue forth. I’m just watching again.

Yet trying to speak seems to have been a trigger, or maybe I'm just at the end because the edges of the world start to close in, the sides fading away. My vision becomes focused on one final mana-strike falling from the sky. I watch as a bolt the size of a coliseum shatters the familiar globe of Science World. The bolt continues down into the earth causing a massive shockwave of concrete, steel and angry Canadian geese to ripple outwards, destroying everything in the vicinity.

Just like that the entire area is no more than wreckage.

Damn. Sab is going to be pissed.

She loves Science World.

_________________

“Download complete.”

“Class unlocked: Paradox."

“Paradox (Forerunner): Created as a standalone temporary class, this class is designed to allow continued use of abilities while not constraining the Forerunner within the system.

Attributes: Small increase to all attribute maximums.

Resources: Small increase to all resources including facet.

Abilities: Increased System access.”

I barely read the description before straightening myself out to look at Beth, "Hey."

"Wow, I didn't realize how much the mud was holding your outfit together kid," Beth comments when she glances over, throwing me off.

"Yeah, whatever I've been through the last couple days, I think my onesie's had it worse" I agree, fingering the edge of my hood while contemplating what I saw.

"So, I think I know when the apocalypse happens," I add as Beth turns away.

“Good. We’ll talk about it later. Let’s get you something to eat first. Raz, could I bother you to link the kid a menu?" Beth requests, raising her hand to get his attention. She doesn't even question how I know.

"Of course," he answers with a smile, pulling a strange device up onto the counter.

Before I can protest, my stomach rumbles, reminding me that yes, I am hungry.

Opening my notification log, I find a link that brings up a list of items. There are over a hundred different choices but I'm able to narrow down my options by thinking of preferences.

There's a number listed next to each item, which I imagine is the price, but it's not particularly clear. Instead of using focus, I decide to fall back on a more traditional method of gathering information.

"Uhm. Excuse me?" I call quietly, getting Raz's attention, "what currency are we paying in?"

"Why essence, my dear child. Essence, the one currency accepted across the galaxy. Some civilizations try to establish their own currencies of course, but essence lies at the heart of the System, so it's not like they're truly independent. They all accept essence in trade after all," he tells me while polishing a round metal tube that I'm fairly certain is not for drinking.

"So, when it says two essence for curly fries with gravy, is that two mana essence or two elemental essence? Are they mortal grade essence or iron? Or copper?" I ask as he smiles back.

"Prices on my menu are in mortal elemental essence. If you focus on the prices in your interface you should be able to feel what each one is," he answers as he combines the metal tube with a crystal.

"Hmm. Speaking of paying. Alexis, I think we're going to need some of our essences. Twenty each should do," Beth decides while he starts wrapping the crystal with thin copper wire, securing it to the tube.

"Sure," I reply reaching into my pack, retrieving eighty shards, packed in clumps of twenty held together by a little bit of dirt. Then I look at Tipan and Rufka, withdrawing another two clumps.

"Ah, I see I should mention that we also sell system wallets here. Which will allow you to pay directly. No need for all of… this," he frowns, waving a hand at my clumps of dirt while putting his tube beneath the counter.

"How much," Beth asks immediately.

"Fifty essence. Mortal, elemental grade of course," he answers, holding up a pouch only slightly larger than my hand.

"This little pouch is going to hold how much essence? And it'll let us pay you directly?"

"The amount of essence is based on your storage space, which is based on your total attributes. You'll need to bond with it, which takes an iron. Like any bonded storage item, you'll then be able to access your inventory which you can use to transfer directly," he explains with the practiced ease of someone who's repeated the same line thousands of times.

"I've got over three cubic metres storage space," I note to Beth when Raz finishes.

"How much essence do we have, kid?" Beth asks, turning to me.

I'm prepared for this question. I checked when he told us they were 50 essence each.

"We have a total of 1143 mortal earth essences," I reply. "That includes these," I add gesturing at the ones floating in clumps around me. I'm pretty sure I missed a few essences when I looted them, but I think I got most of them. I don't bother mentioning the copper essences because Beth already knows we have four.

"Okay, that's two hundred and eighty-something each right?" Beth asks while inspecting the little pouch.

"285.75," I reply automatically.

"Right, two eighty-something," Beth repeats with a bit of an amused grin.

"But what about Rufka and Tipan," I ask, as I realize she's only divided by four.

"Oh, their loot went straight into their inventory. I added Rufka to the party as soon as you fired off your second huge fire spell. And Tipan's been in the party since the gliders," Beth informs me, holding the pouch out towards Raz.

"We'll take three," Beth decides.

Before Raz can respond, I interrupt, "actually, I have another question first."

Beth looks at me curiously as I continue, "does the size of the container matter? I mean, my backpack does the same thing as your pouch, but it's way bigger. Wouldn't it be better to just carry a pouch around?"

"Well, yes and no," Raz replies.

Before I can question him on his partial answer, he continues, "your pack likely provides additional storage, just like a normal backpack would. The pouch only provides access to your base dimensional storage. Also, the size of the opening matters. You can put much larger objects in your inventory using your backpack than with these pouches."

"Do you have more backpack's then?" I ask while giving Smoulder, who has decided to join me on my stool, scritches.

"Sorry. Just the pouches," he replies with a sad smile.

"Though it sounds like you and your friends may be able to afford an item or two from my special stock. If you're interested," he adds with a considering glance at Beth.

"We'll look later. We'll take the three pouches please," Beth answers.

"Excellent, I'll just need the essence," he states, turning to me.

Paying him turns out to be as easy as willing for a transfer to take place. A screen appears showing the transfer of ownership, as well as a disclaimer that all items traded are provided on an as-is basis with a guarantee of iron grade System-level craftsmanship but no warranty. There's also a disclaimer stating that any items not bound by the system which are stolen or misplaced will not be replaced.

I guess you don't need a warranty when you can repair or replace a bound item directly.

"Pleasure doing business with you," he smiles as he places two more pouches on the counter.

Beth fastens hers to her belt while grabbing the other two and marching over to the others. Once she's explained how to use them and made sure we've all bound one, she has me transfer an even 220 essence to each of them saying, "we wouldn't have any if you hadn't looted them all for us."

Which leaves me with three hundred and thirty-one essence. After I purchase the curly fries with gravy. Beth did say we could eat.

As we finish our meals, I look over to Josh, Roberts and Tipan. Roberts is already picking out object after object, but Josh seems to be having some trouble. Even as I sidle over to take a closer look, Roberts exclaims, "Yes!" standing up in excitement. A second later his eyes roll up, but Tipan catches him before he can hit the floor.

"Whoa," Josh cries out as he lurches forward, a half-second after Tipan, as Roberts starts to fall. But he sits back down when he sees Roberts is fine.

"I tried to tell him he should be sitting down," Tipan frets looking at us apologetically.

"That's my fault," Beth supplies from the bar, "I should have told him he'd pass out."

"It is funnier this way though," Rufka adds.

"Okay. That was surprisingly quick. Now I just need to continue working with Josh here," Tipan notes.

"I can do it," I volunteer before I realize the words are out of my mouth.

"Sounds good kid," Beth answers, "you should grab some dinner Tipan."

"That's precisely what I was doing Bethany," Tipan quickly fires back.

"Good. Listen, Raz, do you have drinks too? Feeling a little parched here," Beth asks.

I don't hear his response as I start working with Josh on his enunciation, but soon drinks find their way to our table. Frankly, Josh's enunciation is kind of horrible. I end up giggling several times at his mispronunciation, but he does get better. It takes us another hour, two more drinks, and a plate of fried bird that we pretend is chicken before Josh says, "uh oh."

I barely catch him as he tips out of his chair, and even then, he ends up slipping out of my grip. He's too damn heavy. But it's a gentle slide, as he slumps on the floor.

Once Josh wakes up there's a quick round of official introductions between everyone. Rufka tries to insist her name is pronounced Destroyerofworlds but is shut down by Beth. Once that's done, we finally get to the questions we've been waiting for.

"Okay first question, what's the deal with the minor, small, large and so forth?" I ask.

"Well, they are the tiers of effectiveness or increase. We have confirmed that the correct order for the lowest tiers are minor, small, moderate, substantial, large then huge," Tipan lists off while ticking down her fingers.

"Yep. And mum said immense was the best, so massive would be just below that," Rufka adds, nodding along.

"That's just supposition, it's never been proven," Tipan snaps back at Rufka.

"You calling my mum a liar?" Rufka asks, her voice going low.

"O-of course not," Tipan stutters back.

"Oh. Too bad. She lied all the time. About pretty much everything. It's a surprise I turned out so honest," Rufka claims with a straight face while inspecting her fingernails. Claws? They're pretty much right on the edge of either.

"What?" Tipan says while Josh and I exchange a glance.

"Can we get back to it," I ask.

"Yes, of course," Tipan responds, still flustered.

Straightening herself out, she continues, "I'm sure you're aware of the four base class types. What is less known is that there are advanced classes that don't fit in these categories."

"It's believed this is because their abilities are diverse enough, they could easily be classified as more than one subclass. Such as Elementalists," she explains nodding in my direction. While I'm not technically an Elementalist I understand what she's saying, so I nod back. My bag of tricks is already pretty diverse. I imagine a class could only enhance the effect.

"There are five recorded levels of rarity of class that have been confirmed. Common, uncommon, rare, epic and legendary. There's also the unique classification."

"Unique is basically a trap," Rufka adds.

"Not necessarily. While it's true you can't determine the actual strength of the class from its title alone, since the unique classification overrides the base class strength descriptor, a proper analysis of the class listed improvements can give you a solid understanding of the class," Tipan disagrees as Raz arrives with a basket of nacho equivalents. I'm feeling monstrously hungry.

"Yeah, but unique classes have no customization. Whatever the class says are your features, that's it. Sure, you can flex which aspects are the strongest, but not much else. Who wants a class like that?" Rufka counters as she snags some of my nachos. I try to ward her off, but I've only got two hands to her four. Time for an upgrade.

"Yes, but the abilities are complimentary. And, as per the classification, unique to the class tree," Tipan states as I summon stone barriers to keep my nachos safe. I'm using them to ward off not just Rufka, but Josh as well, a heinous traitor who purloined a clump loaded down with an especially delicious looking jalapeno substitute.

"Which would be great if we could look up a class' abilities in a library. But we can't, can we?" Rufka's last words sound surprisingly accusatory. I'm basking in the successful defence of my nachos when Beth bumps me, snagging a chip that's absolutely loaded with cheese. Sighing in defeat, I drop my stone barrier while ordering another plate.

"The Builder’s library of Lathiac is locked for good reason," Tipan replies coldly as she glares back at Rufka.

Before Rufka and Tipan can elaborate further, a giant plate loaded with what was listed as the ultimate sampler platter arrives, causing everyone to take a moment to look in my direction.

"What? I'm hungry?"

Then, with all eyes on me, I make the ultimate sacrifice.

"Fine, I'll share."

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Several small revisions to last chapter. Mostly for clarity.

Thanks for the kind reviews FlashBangMaster, Binlox and Soldieratarms.

I've been trying to get ahead on patreon, but haven't been as successful as I like. If you're looking to support me or read ahead a single chapter, I recommend waiting until next month before subscribing, or you'll be double charged. I've been trying to get ahead, but I can't maintain my personal minimum level of quality without pushing myself towards burnout, which I've been feeling. As neither patreon nor RR end on any major cliffhangers at the moment, I'll be taking Tuesday off from To Play With Magic this week. This won't stop me from writing, but it will help me get things in a healthier shape. Chapters will resume Friday.

Thank you for reading.

See you next Friday.

1.28 Minor, Small details

January 16, 2019, 6:12pm. Second Supper time.

It’s only been three days. Three days since the four of us woke up in our pajamas, surrounded by towering stones, within a forbidding forest and bestowed with new power.

In that short period, I’ve learned an amazing amount of magic. I’ve discovered how to manipulate the elements, taken the first steps manipulating space and time and even wrestled with some of my personal demons. I’ve seen a dinosaur, dragon and giant water elemental, each one large enough to swallow me whole. Not that elementals eat. Or do they? Not important.

We explored, were forcibly split up, then reunited. Along the way I met Smoulder, my now bonded pet, and a certifiable ball o’doom in her own right. I also met Rufka, who has a penchant for the dramatic. Oh, and I witnessed the destruction of not one, but two different worlds as they were torn apart by forces which I still have a hard time comprehending.

These are my thoughts as everyone takes a moment to try a random portion from my platter. But then my mind turns back to our conversation.

A system library sounds like exactly what we need. I take a bit of a vegetable wrapped in thin layers of meat, bringing it to my mouth as I wonder how far it is. If it's related to the Lathiac Sea that Uthica was looking at, near the end of her memories, it might not be that far from the portal.

"So, this library, would it have records on things like, say, the mana-swarm?" I ask, offering Smoulder a crispy dark green veggie, which she turns down in favor of a drumstick from Josh instead.

Since Smoulder doesn’t want it, I start chewing on the surprisingly sweet veggie as Rufka responds, "probably. But like she said, the place is locked up. Hasn't been a non-Aetherium inside for over a hundred years."

"Which doesn’t even account for the fact that you're all outlanders," Tipan says, "no, the library is outside our reach. But there is another place we could go. The Pernian Academy."

Rufka looks at Tipan for a second before she starts chuckling, "You have some silver running down your spine after all, don't you skyborn?"

“It is the better choice. Unless you can think of somewhere better,” Tipan snaps at Rufka.

"I'm sorry. Could one of you please explain. What is this Pernian Academy?" Beth asks leaning back in her chair, drink in hand.

"It is an independent academy created by one of the great founders of the Aetherium," Tipan says while eyeing my plate of appetizers.

I wave her forward as Rufka speaks, "Ha. I bet that's what they say in the Aetherium. Tell me, does the Aetherium still mention that the founder was a pu'shaha?"

"What? That's not true. It was Jethico herself who established it. Everyone knows that," Tipan snaps back, her hand hovering over a particularly large meatball as she addresses Rufka.

Rufka doesn't bother responding to the point just shaking her head and laughing softly.

"She's right that it probably has answers though," Rufka says as Tipan grabs the meatball, giving Rufka a glare while she chews.

"They don't give in to the Aetherium either, so it might be safe. They're almost as independent as a proper reacher," Rufka adds.

"Interesting," Beth says, "this sounds like a possible way forward. Do we know how to get there?"

"It is far to the northwest. We would need to pass through or around Aetherium lands," Tipan replies, her composure recovered, and her meatball devoured.

"Which is the easy part. Once we're west of the Aetherium we'll need to book passage to the cauldron,” she continues. Meanwhile Smoulder decides she's done sitting at the table, nearly knocking the plate off when she launches herself into the rafters.

"Hmm, you're sure this system library can't be accessed? It sounds much closer." Beth asks while I grab the plate, saving most of my treats.

"It is much closer. But you need to be an upper copper rank Aetherium to earn access. Or be capable of subverting the magical wards," as Tipan finishes, I realize the others are all looking at me.

"What? I don't know anything about wards," I say while carefully moving the plate back into place.

"Okay, so learn more about wards and reach copper rank. Or travel across the country. Those are our only options to get more intel on mana swarms?" Beth asks.

"You could always ask the system. It likes impossible quests. Sometimes it throws in useful hints," Rufka suggests while pulling out the board game we played when I first met her.

"I will," Beth says while nodding.

"I still have more questions," I say.

"Sure. But you can ask them over a game of Astra's Stride. Or are you worried you'll lose again?" Rufka asks with a smug grin.

"Oh, you're on," I reply.

Once Rufka brings out the board, Tipan gasps.

"Is that the original? Pre-Thenum?" Tipan exclaims while sitting down, running her hand along the edge of the board.

"Uhm, yes?" Rufka answers, seeming put off by Tipan's enthusiastic reaction.

"Do you still have the essence bound playing pieces? What am I saying, of course you do, all the colours are still active. I'm stone," Tipan blurts out before remembering herself, "that is, I would prefer to play as stone, if that's alright?"

"Sure. I'm lightning. Lex?" Rufka asks while handing a dark grey bag to Tipan.

"Water," I reply as Roberts and Josh join us, Beth watches but doesn't move to join. Roberts takes fire and Josh takes earth as we return to our questions.

"What are the actual bonuses of having a class," Beth asks. Which is funny since I think she's the only one of us with a class.

"Well it depends. There are per level increases that raise your base resources," Tipan says as she takes the first move.

"Yeah. They're fixed, but at least the fixed bonuses are always positive," Rufka adds watching Josh's first move carefully, "not like the initial class integration. One of Theria's wards ended up with a negative health edge that almost killed her when she took a protector class with a particularly low strength."

"Really, who would let their daughter do such a foolish thing?" Tipan asks.

"We're not too big on forcing users to do things in the reaches," Rufka replies taking her turn, "besides she was fine. Just had to drink a little of Muthika’s best until she got her strength and constitution up."

"Muthika’s best," Roberts asks, looking up from the game.

While Rufka explains her awful, but useful, health edge liquor to the others I turn to Raz. Even while Rufka is explaining the benefits of her mixture, Raz is bring us all a round of something blue and fizzy. Before he can leave, I ask, "you mentioned earlier that we could stay overnight. How many essence does it cost?"

"One per night," Raz answers, setting the drinks floating in the air next to each of us.

"Really?" I ask, surprised by how cheap it is. Each of the drinks he's serving costs the same.

"Yes. This is a rest area after all," Raz replies, his teeth flashing.

"It just seems wrong to pay more for food than shelter," I say as I take my turn.

"Well, food takes more effort than shelter. Makes sense to me," Raz says shrugging as he moves away.

Huh, I guess with magic available he's got a point.

"What about the maximum attribute increases?" I hear Beth ask as I return my attention to the general conversation.

"They allow specialization without having to advance your tier. Pretty huge if you're near the cap, which most people make eventually," Tipan says while taking a moment to consider her next move.

"Mum says it affects each tier, so if you have an increase in iron rank max, you'll have the same increase in copper. Since we don't have silvers, no clue if it continues."

"Interesting," Beth says while scanning everyone at the table.

"I guess," Rufka replies, as she gets her seventh piece into Roberts starting area.

"How common is it to have, say, an epic class?" Beth moves the conversation along while I watch Tipan get her 8th mana into Josh's starting area, which triggers her stone mana effect. A small pebble materializes in front of each of us, hitting us all with a gentle flick, before fading away.

"About one in a thousand are able to upgrade their class to epic by the time they make copper tier," Raz answers unexpectedly, "most start with an uncommon class of one type or another then complete the quests to improve it. I even know one individual who started as a common class, working their way up to legendary. But they're the exception, not the rule. Literally one in a million ever unlock a legendary class."

"And there is a proper way to find out the strength of a unique class," he continues.

"Really," Rufka says looking up with intense focus, her piece still in hand.

"Yes. I can initiate the quest, but the specifics will be determined by the system."

"Does that do anything? I mean, if it's an uncommon or rare class, why does it matter? Can't you just read the attribute and resource increases to gauge the class strength?" I ask as I get my seventh piece across.

"Abilities," Rufka says at the same time Tipan says, "Their abilities."

"Mum says there are unique classes that get worse abilities but have better attributes and resources. Or the opposite."

"That's evil," Josh declares as he gets his fifth piece across. He's having about as much luck as I did in my first game with Rufka.

"They're correct, ability strength can move a class up or down a tier relative to the bonuses," Raz says as he steps away.

I manage to get my eighth piece in place, sitting back and watching everyone get sprayed with a mini spray of water.

Glancing at my notifications when I sit back, I notice my water manipulation has increased by 1.

"One second, just a quick aside," I say as I gesture at the game, "does this increase our elemental manipulation skills?"

"Yep. If there are enough players. And you haven't won with that element before. That's why mum made them. She figured it was a lot easier than training every amped up cub who wanted to learn magic," Rufka replies.

Tipan practically falls out of her chair before gasping out, "Your mother is the Crimson Archmage?"

"Yeah, so?" Rufka asks leaning back, crossing all four arms and flexing at the same time.

"Your mother is the reason I became an enchanter," Tipan exclaims excitedly, "her work with the Aetherium's self-healing defense network is incredible."

"Probably. Though I'm pretty sure she left backdoors. It's not like she wanted to improve their network," Rufka says while glowering at the board in front of her.

"Backdoors could be useful," Beth says.

"Sure. But they have my mum locked up. We'd need to get by their defenses to get to her anyway."

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind, and seriously Alexis?" Beth asks when Raz brings me a plate with steak and potatoes on it.

"What? I'm hungry." I reply defensively.

"Uh Lex, how many attribute points have you increased lately," Rufka asks, an unusual look of concern replacing her glower.

"Hmm, I don't know exactly. About a hundred since we got here three days ago. One second, I'll check. Hmm. A hundred and thirteen including the ones I invested after the fight with the V'troll."

"How are you not fur and bones?" Rufka asks while handing me her drink.

"Uhm. Why would I be? I've eaten like half a wolfadillo in the last couple days alone. I swear I'm hungrier than ever, since I got here. Speaking of integration points, how hard are they to get?" I ask, as I take a big, for me, cut of steak, eagerly chewing it down before washing it down with Rufka's drink.

"Well, that depends on how adventurous you are. Exploration and encountering new things tend to reward more points. But you need to eat to sustain the changes. A hundred points in three days? She's going to need more food," Tipan says while looking to Beth.

"This seems like a significant danger. Why didn't the system warn us?" Roberts asks as he places his eighth piece.

"Mum says you can't actually die from integration hunger, you just stop improving," Rufka says as she snags some of my potatoes, licking them off her finger with a thoughtful expression.

"So, what I'm hearing," Josh says, looking at Beth, Rufka, then me, "is that we can eat all we want?

When no one immediately responds, he smiles, getting that far off look while saying, "Awesome."

The next fifteen minutes are spent establishing that, yes, we need to fuel the system with food as well as integration points. No, I can't just eat nachos. (According to Beth) And maybe, just maybe, the four of us might have received a pretty significant starting bonus.

"Fifty-three points," Tipan says disbelievingly, shaking her head back and forth, "I started with eight and my mother threw a party that lasted for three days, she was so excited."

"Really?" Rufka asks, "I had fourteen when the system forced me to take my class. And my mum was disappointed. Thought I was better than that."

"This is fascinating and all, but I feel like we've gotten off track here people," Beth says as we're all settling around for another game of Astra's Stride.

We spend the next half hour discussing classes, which reveals a few interesting details. As Rufka and Tipan explain the specific bonuses for leveling, I create a mental chart to keep track. As Rufka implied earlier, I confirm that when you get your class, all your non-class resources are multiplied by your “Integration Modifier” once you confirm. It also applies to all future attribute increases but not the per level bonuses.

That means my health edge would have gotten even lower if I’d taken my class when I'd originally intended. Even with a minor health 'boost' my -3.2 would have become - 3.5 or so.

Shuddering, I look over my mental chart.

Integration Modifier

Pool / Level

Edge / Level

Regen / Level

Special Resource Regen

Minor

1.1

2

0.1

1

0.5

Small

1.2

4

0.2

2

1

Moderate

1.3

6

0.3

3

1.5

Substantial

1.4

8

0.4

4

?2?

Large

1.5

10

0.5

5

?2.5?

Huge

1.6

12

0.6

6

?3?

?Massive?

?1.7?

?14?

?0.7?

?7?

?3.5?

?Immense?

?1.8?

?16?

?0.8?

?8?

?4?

I had to extrapolate some parts, but given how linear everything looks, I’m reasonably confident my table is correct. Apparently, there’s a difference between iron rank classes and copper rank as well, but neither Rufka nor Tipan are able to give us more specific details than “more everything.”

While they’re explaining the modifiers, they also reiterate that class abilities are incredibly varied. They're also the real benefit of having a class.

We also discuss how any archetype can unlock abilities which use the elements, though their application of those abilities will vary. A lightning focused skirmisher, (which is what Rufka is, though she won’t tell us her class,) can empower their movement, leaving a trail of lightning that's damaging to cross. A protector could create lightning armor that shocks anyone who strikes them. Tipan says my lightning torrent is in truth more like a destroyer's typical ability than a controller’s, though the flame torrent is more of a controller ability since it "controls" the battlefield.

Higher concepts like healing require proficiency in multiple elements. For healing specifically, those are water, earth, wind, metal and lightning. If a person is willing to practice, most people can eventually learn how to manipulate all the elements. However not everyone has the same proficiency with every element.

As Rufka so eloquently puts it, "Vaus destroyed the world with lightning, but she couldn't chill your tufts to save her life." Tufts are the little bits of fur on the end of every K'tharn's ears.

With all this established, we're all sitting around the table talking amicably. The game has been put away and instead of classes, points or the impending apocalypse, the topic has somehow drifted around to baseball.

"No, the point is to get back to home base," Roberts repeats to Rufka while pointing at a rough diagram made of utensils.

"I don't understand. Why would a user leave in the first place?" she asks, running her paw under her chin.

"Because you need to leave before you can return. Baseball is as much about the journey as the destination," Roberts answers with a giant smile. While I'm listening to Roberts impassioned speech about baseball, Beth squeezes my shoulder then gestures to another table across the room.

Taking her hint, I stand up, following her over while ordering even more food. With the number of points I've been spending, it'll take a fair amount of food before I'm caught up. Like, I'm having second breakfast before we head out tomorrow, amounts of food. And I still have points sitting in the bank, ready to go.

"What's up?" I ask Beth as I take my place at the table. Smoulder found her way back to me a few minutes ago and has been snuggling at maximum ever since. It's pretty great.

Honestly, this whole evening has been pretty great. After the last couple days, it's been exactly the kind of socializing I needed. Not to mention the food.

"You said earlier that you knew when the apocalypse was going to hit. How the hell did you discover that?" Beth asks, locking me in her sights.

"Oh, I just had a vision of the future. You know, like an oracle," I reply, while smiling back at her.

"A vision."

There's a pause as she looks at me, waiting to see if I have any more to say. When I stay quiet, she continues.

"Kid, you know that a vision of the future isn't exactly actionable intel, right? I mean, it's something to go on, sure. But it's hard to verify a vision," Beth says, taking the wind out of my sails. I didn't even think about it, but she's right. And what good is knowing when it happens anyway? We're not even on the right planet.

"Yeah. I guess I was just excited. And it felt so real," I respond, running Smoulder's tail through my fingers.

"Listen, why don't you tell me what you saw. Just because we can't verify it yet, doesn't mean we won't later. Besides," Beth pauses as a grin spreads across her face, "I intend to stop the party."

So, I spend the next few minutes taking Beth through everything I remember. Somehow, I end up telling her about Uthica's vision as well, which none of the others experienced when they got their language primers. This of course, leads into me telling her about having seen into her past. It's as I'm apologizing, that Beth interrupts me.

"Kid, it's fine," she says while holding her hand up in my direction.

"Better that, than the memories of my time in Barranquilla. Let me tell you, not everyone can handle….”

“Actually, maybe I'll tell you when you're older, kid," she says with a smirk.

I'm not sure of the exact reason, but I can feel my ears burning while Beth looks at me, running one finger around the rim of her glass.

"Today didn't go how I expected it to," I say as Beth's hand grows still.

"Kid, nothing has gone the way I thought it would since we woke up in that grass circle surrounded by dinosaurs and dragons," Beth replies before looking up into the rafters overhead.

"Ha. When you put it like that, I'm just glad we're all okay," I say, joining her in rafter watching.

It's amazingly relaxing.

Everyone should try it. It's so relaxing, I decide to try freezing time. For the shortest interval I can. Which with my current abilities appears to be four minutes of pause for one second of real time. For only 3.6 facet and 0.1 focus, this has just become invaluable.

Since I'm just sitting here paused, I decide it's a good time to bring up my attributes.

STRENGTH

-15 > -9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

5 > 11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

85

(+/-)

SPIRIT

85

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

32

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

10

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

45/60 > 45/78

[-1.7] > [0.2}

[8.3] > [10.2]

(29)/d > (39)/d

Stamina

52/71 > 52/83

[2.4] > [3.0]

(37)/d > (44)/d

Mana

43/303 > 43/306

[27.7]

(235)/d > (238)/d

Focus

91/223 > 91/226

[16]

(147)/d > (149)/d

Matrix

Facet

70/74 > 70/75

[6.4]

(55)/h > (56)/h

I really blew through a lot of resources during my escape from Ivicka. I probably didn't need to use quite so many water torrents. But better safe than captured.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my class yet. I want to talk about it with Beth and the others, but there’s been so much to learn we haven’t made it there yet. At least I know more about classes now. I feel the barrier fade away as the other’s distant conversation drifts over, but I’m still staring up into the rafters wondering over just how much has happened since I woke up on the grass a couple days ago.

"We're going to be up to our ears in hostiles if we're not careful tomorrow," Beth supplies shortly after I unpause, pulling me out of my contemplative state.

"Is that a bad thing? Defeating monsters has been a major source of integration points so far," I say, turning to Beth.

"Sure. If you have a clean line of fire with no friendlies to worry about, I can see it being useful to you. Don't forget that if it hadn't been for Roberts you might have roasted us seconds after you showed up," Beth replies seriously.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't aiming at you guys but the wolf-," I start but Beth's already shaking her head.

"It's fine kid. Battle can be like that. Honestly, with this health resource, I'm feeling a little confused. You're not supposed to take hits like that without it messing you up bad. But we probably would've been okay, even if you had hit us. I'm having to learn how to fight all over again," Beth says, staring off into the rafters again.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe it would be a good thing if we encounter a lot of hostiles tomorrow. Tipan says they're limited in strength, due to the nature of the area. So maybe…." Beth trails off before turning to look at me.

“Maybe?” I prompt while meeting her emerald eyes.

“Maybe it’s time we learn to fight as a team.”

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Holy crap I needed to take that Tuesday off. Had way too much going on. Feeling much better about the next arc now.

I'll be taking next Tuesday off as well, but then I expect to resume my regular Tuesday/Friday schedule.

Patreon is one chapter as of Mar 10, 2020, 3 chapters ahead as well as the promised side story for copper rank backers. Side stories will never be required reading for the main story, but will offer small stories for characters introduced here, expanding the world.

Unimportant side note, authors can see comments even after they're deleted. It's weird.

Thanks for reading.

See you Friday.

1.29 I'd like to know more.

January 16, 2019, 7:58pm. Time to work together.

"What do you mean, fight as a team?" I ask, looking over to the others. It's obvious in abstract, but I'd like details.

"I mean, we need to start understanding each other's capabilities. And our own. If you can get us the codexes for all our resources that would be a good start."

"Uhm. I think I can do it tonight. In a couple hours," I reply as I check my focus again. "I could do two right now actually."

"Good. You can do mine first, then we'll get to the others," Beth says as a notification appears.

"You have received a request to examine Forerunner Raven Queen's Umbra resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 34.0 focus and 18.6 facet. Note, the codex will be shared with Forerunner Raven Queen."

Before I accept a thought occurs to me, "I did Roberts resource already, so it's just you and both of Josh’s right?"

"We should do Rufka and Tipan too. They have resources we don't know yet, though I can kind of guess their uses," Beth says while looking over to the other table where Rufka and Tipan are debating with Josh and Roberts.

Beth's comment makes me realize I still haven't looked at their status in the party screen. Taking a moment, I bring up their stats.

Tipan

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

233/233

[13.3]

(147)/day

Stamina

244/244

[14.8]

(152)/day

Mana

561/561

[37.1]

(387)/day

Focus

492/492

[30.7]

(321)/day

Matrix

Aero

91/91

[5.4]

(56)/hour

Please tell me that her resources are so high because she has a class. From her resources, I’d say she's a controller or destroyer. Aero has got to be an Aeromancer resource, or maybe whatever the Wind destroyer is.

Rufka

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

430/430

[26.4]

(296)/day

Stamina

546/546

[49.2]

(437)/day

Mana

299/299

[17.5]

(185)/day

Focus

327/327

[20.4]

(209)/day

Matrix

Blitz

162/162

[13.8]

(119)/hour

And then there’s Rufka. Her lowest resource, mana, is nearly as high as my best. It looks like she's got a stamina focused build. From what I've experienced so far with my limited stamina, she could move at an all-out run while not getting fatigued with an edge that high. In fact, I’m sure her edge is higher than Smoulder’s. Speaking of whom, I’ll need to do her codex too.

Turning back to Beth, I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I apologize, “Sorry, I guess I forgot about them. I’ve only got enough focus to do three tonight.”

"That's fine. Do mine first, then we'll ask Josh if he wants to do his next," Beth says, looking over at the others who are moving to the billiards table. Smoulder decides now's a good time to join them, hopping across several tables, before stopping nearby to watch the game.

“On it,” I reply as I mentally confirm the download for Beth's umbra.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Umbra.

Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Raven Queen.

Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of that which exists between, Umbra is incredibly destructive to standard matter. It can also be wielded to counter any sense which relies upon standard matter.

That seems incredibly dangerous. Just like Beth.

Umbra’s primary contributing attributes are Perception and Resolve, with a lesser contribution from Intellect and Spirit and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most higher concept resources, Umbra may be fashioned into armour.”

I knew Beth's resource could be used for armour, but it still stings that everyone else's resource point that out.

"Paradox will only last until the end of your Return to Earth quest, Alexis. At that time, it will deconstruct, leaving you without a class."

That is some critically important information right there.

"Thank you, Wyonna," I say after I read the last line.

"Who's Wyonna?" Beth asks. Then, before I can respond, "And why does it mention Paradox at the end of my Umbra codex?"

"Uhm. Wyonna is a special part of the System that creates the custom messages. And that's Wyonna giving advice," I reply. It's only as I'm speaking that it occurs to me that Wyonna might not speak to everyone. Another facet of my more robust interface.

Beth rubs her chin, looking at me as she thinks over my response.

She doesn't keep me waiting long, "This is great. I was afraid we were going to be completely cut off now that we're integrated."

I look at Beth, trying to understand what she's saying. I think she's implying that she knew more about us coming here than she was letting on. But, then why didn't she tell us more in the beginning?

Before I've figured out what to ask her first, she continues, "How often do you get messages from Wyonna? Do you know if Wyonna is a Forerunner?"

Thinking before I respond, I ask a question of my own, "What do you mean cut off? Cut off from who?"

"Forerunner Command," Beth replies instantly, reaching over to tap the metal pin she gave me the day we arrived.

Her answer calls up so many questions. Questions I've put off, since they seemed unlikely. With all those questions, I'm surprised by the one I ask, my voice low, "Did you know? Did you know what we were really signing up for?"

"Yes, but-" she doesn't get to finish as I feel myself standing up, pushing away from the table. I walk away my head spinning. It shouldn't be a shock. But I feel like I've been betrayed.

I close my eyes. I try to tell myself that I never asked. That we've been separated for days.

It doesn't help.

As I’m leaning against the bar, Raz approaches. But I can’t talk, so I pause again. Once I’m paused, I feel myself calming down. Note to self, pausing is good for giving myself time to deal.

Looking up, I start scanning behind the bar. I haven’t been paying it any attention. There’s been so many other things going on. But now I’m looking for a distraction. Something to break my thoughts. My eyes play over everything laid out behind the bar. There’s an assortment of devices along the wall, which I thought were decor, but as my eyes focus on each, I wonder if maybe they’re something more.

He did mention he sold other items, right?

I wonder if he has clothes. I could really use a proper bra. My current combination of knots and torn cloth is barely sufficient, never mind ideal. Not that most bras are ideal either.

None of the items behind the bar look like clothing though, there isn’t even any armour. There’s a mini pipe organ set atop a pyramid. Beside it rests a wind mobile made of brass and multicoloured crystals.

The one that draws my eye the most is a snow globe. It has a village inside, full of small moving figures. As I look closer, I see the figures are all mechanical clockwork people. Viewing the snow globe feels reminiscent of when I’d been looking at the map to Akilo, the details getting easier to discern, the longer I look.

Not wanting to risk another world jump, I tear my eyes away, my pause ending moments later. I’ve had several minutes to calm down, allowing me to recenter myself. Glancing back at our table I see Beth sitting, gazing down while rubbing her forehead with one hand.

I should go back and talk to her. I overreacted. It felt like I was dealing with my mother. It felt like I was my mother. With that thought sending a shiver down my spine, I rise from my stool, making my way back to the table.

Beth looks up at me, surprise writ across her face.

"Sorry," I say, sitting down across from her once more.

"It's okay, Alexis," Beth says, meeting my eyes.

"No. It's not," I reply firmly, shaking my head, "You told me the first time it came up."

"Okay. Apology accepted then," Beth says with a smile, which quickly disappears, "But really I should be the one apologizing. Too used to keeping things to myself, kid. Should've brought you up to speed earlier, like I did with the guys."

"Yeah, well, I do have - the guys? You already told them?"

"Yeah, I told them back in the village when you were cleaning the church."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"It didn't seem important to me. Who cares why we're suddenly stranded on a strange planet when there are five-storey tall monsters potentially lurking about. Deal with the crazy shit, try to get secure, then worry about the why."

"Okay, fine. But I'd say we're secure now. So, I think it's time for some questions."

"Sure, kid. I've got some myself. But you go first," Beth says, gesturing to me while leaning back in her chair.

"Okay, I guess the thing I want to know the most is, what happened? I was sitting in my living room looking at a map, then I'm suddenly stranded in the middle of Stonehenge, Akilo style."

"I don't understand most of how we were brought here. Hell, I didn't even know why. What, I do know is the mission window was narrow, the bastards had to spend most of their resources just getting us here, and they told me extraction would be difficult. They kind of undersold that last point."

"How much did they tell you about, well, any of it?"

"They left out a lot. Like the part about a system that modifies who you are. They made integration sound more like a computer being put in my head, an experiment. They did mention that we'd be given 'unusual abilities' to complete our mission which was another understatement. They implied it would be one way, but kind of forgot to tell me we'd be on another planet. Hostiles were expected. In fact, I was told we might be in danger from the second we arrived. I was also given a heads up that I'd be transported with what I was wearing, but little else," Beth says, causing me to tug on the hood of my onesie. That warning about clothing would've been great.

"Did they mention the apocalypse?" I ask while thinking over Beth's answers.

"No. Not once. Not until I received my class at least. And let me tell you, that was quite the experience," Beth responds, shifting her arms while she answers.

"Oh?" I reply, curious.

"Basically put the world on pause while it took me through the class induction. Then I received Theglia's message. She's the one who set all this up. Us coming here, getting our special matrices, everything," Beth explains, tapping a single finger against the table for emphasis.

"Everything?" I say while thinking. Is she responsible for my magic? Is that where my power came from back on earth?

"Well, not everything after we arrived. But she gave Command their mission and designated which type of people to assign each core to. Apparently she was part of a group called The Forerunners. I've never heard of this Wyonna though. My contact went by Mr. Universe," Beth says seriously.

"Wow, that's a crazy handle. Professional bodybuilder? And what is a matrix anyway?" I ask as the familiar weight of Smoulder lands in my lap, pushing up against my hand. I guess she got bored.

"No clue. She didn't exactly explain them. Just took credit. The cores are the source of our special resources though. Normally we'd only get resources from our classes. As for my contact, we never met in person. Always through emails or texts. Paid well though."

"Wait. Did you get paid to come here?"

"In theory, yes. I won't get most of it until we get back though. Kind of seems less important now, what with the world ending and everything. I thought this was going to be more of a reconnaissance mission. Just a dangerous one," Beth admits with a shrug.

"Damn. I wish I was getting paid," I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Kid, you have real fucking magic and can stop time, but you're upset you're not going to be paid? Seriously?" Beth asks, her exasperation somehow coming through loud and clear.

"Yeah, I guess it is kind of silly, isn't it?" I reply sheepishly over the gentle rumbling of Smoulder's purring.

"Nah kid, it's not silly. I'm just jealous. I've been trying to figure your magic out since you first started casting spells back in the circle but had zero luck until you came along. Then you show us spell structures, and it's easy as pie. I still can't do the elemental thing. But the structures are easy."

"Wait, you're jealous of me?" I ask, my brain not quite able to process that fact.

"A little. So, mind if I ask a few questions now?" Beth inquires with a slight grin.

"Sure, just let me order more wings first," I reply, gesturing at the empty plate in front of us with my free hand.

"I still think that's weird. I had no idea I was delaying my attribute growth because I wasn't eating enough. There's no notice or anything," Beth says, shaking her head in disbelief while I order another plate of teriyaki wings. They're not chicken, but they're close enough.

Apparently, none of the food on Raz's menu comes from Earth or Akilo. He says it's all locally sourced, just not this particular locale.

He wasn't inclined to say any more than that, though it did lead into a short conversation about being able to link his place to any rest area. It only takes using an iron grade mana essence for a fuel source. You use it in a special grooved tube 'of his own design' which resembles a flute, except it's only ten centimetres long. Once a rest area is linked, we could use the tube to open a door to his establishment from wherever we are.

As Raz comes out with our wings, seconds after I've ordered them, Beth asks her first question.

"So, as I was asking earlier, how often does this Wyonna contact you?"

"Every time I unlock a codex, guaranteed. She also seems to be able to influence most of my system notifications," I answer before grabbing one of the wings.

"Hmm. And is she a Forerunner like Theglia?"

"No clue," I respond between bites. It's not exactly teriyaki, but it's close enough to be incredibly satisfying.

"Can you ask her?" Beth requests as she takes a wing herself.

"Sure. Hey Wyonna, next time you send me a message, can you let me know if you're a Forerunner?" I ask, looking up as if Wyonna exists above me somehow.

I wait for a couple seconds in case Wyonna has a way to respond. Also, so I can finish another wing.

"No answer yet," I tell Beth, taking a sip of the blue fruit juice Raz brought with the wings.

"Okay. Next question. What's this Paradox she mentioned?"

"It's a temporary class. I guess I can take it to avoid mana poisoning without locking in my class."

"Ah. It's like my Penumbra class then. You should take it," Beth advises.

"Yeah. It sounds a lot better than Cataclysm Seed. That sounds like it's asking for trouble."

"Pardon me for interrupting, but I couldn't help overhearing. Did I hear you mention a temporary class?" Raz says stepping forward, looking up at me.

"Uhm, yes?" I reply, only now realizing maybe we shouldn't be talking about this stuff in the open.

"Extraordinary. She'd said you'd be special. But a temporary class? Unheard of," Raz says, shaking his head as he pulls up a chair.

"Who said?" Beth asks, looking at him suspiciously.

"Why Wyonna, of course," he answers, looking me in the eye as he winks.

"Of course," I reply, "so does that mean you've met her?"

"Not personally. She's a bit shy. Generous though. Paid quite a bit to ensure you had the place to yourselves when you arrived."

"Who did?" Rufka asks as the others all move over to join us.

"Wyonna. The kid's mysterious helper," Beth supplies.

"If she paid so much, why are you charging us for rooms?" Rufka asks, trademark grin in place.

"She paid for privacy. Besides one essence is hardly expensive," Raz replies, matching Rufka's grin.

"I agree, one essence is quite reasonable for a private room in a rest area," Tipan says, settling in across from Rufka before continuing, "You'd mentioned you have Nexus access?"

"Yes. We have full system access, provided by the mirrors located in the change rooms," Raz answers, waving to the room I was in earlier.

"Change rooms? Really?" Rufka asks as both she and Tipan chuckle.

"I'm afraid I don't get it," Roberts adds in, looking around the crowded table. I don't get it either.

"System access is required to make a lot of changes, such as class selection or advancement," Tipan replies.

"What's class advancement?" I ask as Josh joins us, dragging another table over to give everyone more room.

"It's how you increase your class' power. You need to spend class progression points at a system access point to level your class," Tipan answers.

"Luckily, mum says system access is a pretty common upgrade in most settlements," Rufka says.

"Yes, Josh?" Beth prompts, directing my attention to where Josh is lowering his hand.

"Should we be taking our temporary classes? Or wait for something better?" he asks, looking around the table.

While Rufka is choking on her drink and Tipan is trying to pick her chin up off the table, Raz replies, "I'd say you should take your temporary classes if time is no object. The ability to gain skills and accomplishments before choosing a final class, well, I'm certainly a little envious. If you're not able to unlock an epic class with such an advantage, I'd be surprised."

"We'll take that under advisement Raz. Thanks for the advice. I don't think anyone should make their choice tonight. Talk about it with our friends here, get a good night's rest and then we can consider it in the morning," Beth says, panning her gaze around the table, lingering on me for a moment. I don't know why. I've held off on choosing my class longer than everyone else.

"Indeed. If this choice is as important as it seems, the very least we should do is get a good-." Roberts starts, before being loudly interrupted.

"By Vaus' tits, you really don't have a class?! And you have access to a temporary class!" Rufka practically shouts at me, grabbing my onesie while shaking me back and forth.

"Yuh-yuh-yes," I stutter out as she shakes me. I see Smoulder eyeing Rufka from where she landed on Josh's lap, but peace is restored when Josh gives Smoulder ear scritches.

Once Rufka calms down, she casually brushes my clothes off for some reason, saying, "Some users have all the luck."

"As I was saying. We should all talk about our options. And Rufka? Don't do that again," Beth commands as she gets up before walking to the change room.

On that note, we break into separate conversations. There's some talk of classes, but I'm starting to lose focus. The last important point I catch Rufka mentioning before I head to bed for the evening is that a class' minor increase to attribute maximums allows five points and small allows ten. When I ask Raz, he confirms that moderate is fifteen.

After paying Raz one mortal earth essence for my room, I walk up the stairs. When I grab the door handle of the second door on the left, as instructed, a new notification appears.

"Personal sleeping area accessed.

"Would you like to create a bonded personal sleeping area for one iron rank integration point?"

"I'm not technically a Forerunner, but I am closely associated with Theglia."

Looking at the notifications, I dismiss them while heading into my room. I don't need a custom room. I've got questions, and I'll let Beth know about Wyonna's answer later. But at the moment, I just want to unlock Josh's codexes then go to bed.

The room I step into looks like a typical hotel room from Earth, but without the ubiquitous television. The only sign of the room’s magical nature are the levitating lights over the bed. Smoulder immediately settles on one of the enormous pillows as I look around.

In the back, I find a modest restroom with familiar fixtures. Not pausing, I strip out of my onesie, before enjoying a nice, warm shower. As I'm scrubbing myself down, I consider how I might create my own portable shower. It wouldn't even be that hard. Create a stone stall with a water reservoir. Heat the water. Enjoy.

While I'm showering, I unlock Josh's Petal resource codex.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Petal.

Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Rose.

Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of the botanical, Petal embodies the growth and flexibility of the flower. Also allows for the creation of perfumes, pleasant and foul.

Petal’s primary contributing attributes are Strength and Constitution, with a lesser contribution from Agility and Endurance and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most higher concept resources, Petal may be fashioned into armour.”

"There's a limit on how much I can tell you until you select a class. Sorry, Alexis."

"So, choosing my class will let you tell me more? I'll make sure to mention that to Beth in the morning. Thank you, Wyonna," I say while scrubbing my head with my fingers. Then I remember to use my magic instead.

Once I finish my shower, I don't wet the towel, drying myself directly. Clean and dry, I wrap myself in the towel instead of donning my onesie. Flopping down on the softer-than-it-looks bed, I gaze up at the ceiling, confirming the unlock for Josh's thorn resource.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Thorn.

Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Rose.

Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of the botanical, Thorn embodies the rigidity and perils of plant life.

Thorn has no primary contributing attributes, with a lesser contribution from Strength, Constitution, Agility and Endurance and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most higher concept resources, Thorn may be fashioned into armour. Armour incorporating Thorn, is as much weapon as it is armour.”

"Yes. It's the least I could do. Sleep well, Alexis."

Even as I read the last line, my mind drifts away, my last thought, a vision of Josh's rose coloured robe, sprouting thorns.

********************************************************

When I wake, I realize I had a full night of rest without interruption. There were no nightmares, dreams of the past or visions of the future. I also realize Smoulder is slightly drool-smeared from snuggling against my face.

As I look at the ripped remnants of my onesie, lying on the floor, I decide I’d rather go out in a towel than try to make my onesie whole again. Fastening my towel in place with a few pieces of metal, I slip my backpack over my shoulder, then step out the door. Hopefully, I can do some shopping before the others wake.

It's only 6:05 am. I feel like everyone else should still be in bed. I was the first one to retire, after all. Making my way downstairs, Smoulder hopping along beside me, I go directly into the change room.

Once inside, I approach the mirror, while Smoulder hops up on the sink to watch. Looking at myself in the mirror, I access the system menu hidden within.

"Greetings Citizen Pandora. Welcome to system access node Raz's RR&R. Location added to Return library. Would you like to set this as your preferred return point?"

"No," I reply to the system. I might set it here later, but Raz gave the impression his place moves around. Which may be a way off-world, now that I think about it. I'll have to ask.

But that can wait because first I have something I've wanted to do for a long time.

Please let me be able to buy a change of clothes.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Mar 13, 2020. There have been additions to Alexis' conversation with Beth. Please keep commenting though so I can more easily add things I've missed.

So, I may have been marginally productive this week.

Small addition to chapter 1.00

Tiny but critical change to text in chapter 1.01

When Alexis throws her cell.

My phone hits the wall, sliding down until it wobbles on the windowsill.

Then, it continues its journey, bouncing off the couch, **** narrowly missing the old picture of me, mom, papa and his dear friend Mr Edwards, on the nearby end table. The one from days before the ugly tree incident. Of course, Mr Edwards has been cut off. But I can still feel his eyes on me if I look at the picture too long.

My phone doesn't care about any of that, **** continuing to slide across the coffee table while dancing past my half empty tea mugs and mom's beauty magazines with grace.

Tiny but critical change to text in chapter 1.01 I thought I'd made 20 chapters ago.

“Allocation confirmed. Temporal matrix integration resumed. Class selection will be available once integration is complete. Note, skills can be unlocked and quests can be completed prior to class selection.”

Minor addition to chapter 1.26 for clarity.

"Water isn't working as well as I'd hoped. She's clearly much stronger than I expected. Maybe a more substantial obstacle will slow her more?"

Massive amount of fixes to grammar in chapters 1.00 to 1.15.

Patreon is now three chapters ahead. Yay. I'm hoping to get this to 4 by Tuesday.

As mentioned, chapters will resume coming out on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Completely related to my productivity, I'm glad that Delve only posts once per week. I'd never get anything done if I had more of that to read. (And then there were two posts this week, whatever.)

Thanks to the efforts of several users, we discovered you can receive notifications about replies to deleted messages but only the author can read them.

Thanks for reading.

See you on Tuesday.

1.30 Wardrobe +1, and other upgrades

A note from Draith

Edited the spoiler, cause it was broken again.

Edit to chapter Mar 17, 2020 1.29 convo between Alexis and Beth.

Right after Alexis was sitting at the bar looking at Raz's collection.

Beth looks up at me, surprise writ across her face.

"Sorry," I say, sitting down across from her once more.

"It's okay, Alexis," Beth says, meeting my eyes.

"No. It's not," I reply firmly, shaking my head, "You told me the first time it came up."

"Okay. Apology accepted then," Beth says with a smile, which quickly disappears, "But really I should be the one apologizing. Too used to keeping things to myself, kid. Should've brought you up to speed earlier, like I did with the guys."

"Yeah, well, I do have - the guys? You already told them?"

"Yeah, I told them back in the village when you were cleaning the church."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"It didn't seem important to me. Who cares why we're suddenly stranded on a strange planet when there are several story tall monsters potentially lurking about. Deal with the crazy shit, try to get secure, then worry about the why."

"Okay. But we're safe now. And I do have questions."

"As do I. But you go first kid," Beth says, gesturing to me while leaning back in her chair.

"Okay, I guess the thing I want to know the most is, what happened? I was sitting in my living room looking at a map, then I'm suddenly stranded in the middle of Stonehenge, Akilo style."

"I don't understand most of how we were brought here. What I do know is the mission window was narrow, the bastards had to spend most of their resources just getting us here, and they told me extraction would be difficult. They kind of undersold that last point."

"How much did they tell you about, well, any of it?"

"They left out alot. Like the part about a system that modifies who you are. They made integration sound more like a computer being put in my head, an experiment. They did mention that we'd be given 'unusual abilities' to complete our mission which is another understatement. They implied it would be one way, but kind of forgot to tell me we'd be on another planet. Hostiles were expected. In fact I was told we might be in danger from the second we arrived. I was also given a heads up that I'd be transported with what I was wearing, but little else," Beth says, causing me to tug on the hood of my onesie. That warning about clothing would've been great.

"Did they mention the apocalypse?" I ask while thinking over Beth's answers.

"No. Not once. Not until I received my class at least. And let me tell you, that was quite the experience," Beth responds, shifting her arms while she answers.

"Oh?" I reply, curious.

"Basically put the world on pause while it took me through the class induction. Then I received Theglia's message. She's the one who set all this up. Us coming here, getting our special matrices, everything," Beth explains, tapping a single finger against the table for emphasis.

"Everything?" I say while thinking. Is she responsible for my magic? Is that where my power came from back on earth?

"Well, not everything after we arrived. But she gave Command their mission, and designated which type of people to assign each core to. Apparently she was part of a group called The Forerunners. I've never heard of this Wyonna though. My contact went by Mr. Universe," Beth says seriously.

"Wow, that's a crazy handle. Professional bodybuilder? And what is a matrix anyway?" I ask as the familiar weight of Smoulder lands in my lap, pushing up against my hand. I guess she got bored.

"No clue. She didn't exactly explain them. Just took credit. They're the source of our special resources though. As for my contact, we never met in person. Always through emails or texts. Paid well though."

"Wait. Did you get paid to come here?"

"In theory, yes. I won't get most of it until we get back though. Kind of seems less important now, what with the world ending and everything. I thought this was going to be more of a reconnaissance mission. Just a dangerous one," Beth admits with a shrug.

"Damn. I wish I was getting paid," I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Kid, you have real fucking magic and can stop time, but you're upset you're not going to be paid? Seriously?" Beth asks, her exasperation somehow coming through loud and clear.

"Yeah, I guess it is kind of silly, isn't it?" I reply sheepishly over the gentle rumbling of Smoulder's purring.

"Nah kid, it's not silly. I'm just jealous. I've been trying to figure your magic out since you first started casting spells back in the circle but had zero luck until you came along. Then you show us spell structures, and it's easy as pie. I still can't do the elemental thing. But the structures are easy."

"Wait, you're jealous of me?" I ask, my brain not quite able to process that fact.

"A little. So, mind if I ask a few questions now?" Beth inquires with a slight grin.

Then Alexis ordered teriyaki wings, because she likes appies.

January 17, 2019, 6:06am. The right time to shop till you drop.

Okay, let's do this.

"Quest rewards available. Would you like to claim them now?"

"Hell yes," I answer, watching as my rewards manifest. The first is a crystal with small flecks of colour that drift about inside. It's about the same size as the copper rank earth essence I looted from the V'troll.

"Iron grade Mana Essence: A single contained unit of iron grade essence. Can be used for crafting. Can be used to recharge iron rank artifacts. Can be drained for a single iron rank integration point. Please note any use of a mana essence will consume the crystal."

No surprises there, but nice to have. I tuck it in my pack before turning to my next reward.

It's neatly folded. At first, I think my reward is wrapped in leather, for no logical reason. As I unfold it, I discover it's a jacket. A leather jacket. And it's not just any leather jacket. It's an exact replica of the worn leather jacket my aunt Sharon gave me for my 16th birthday. The one my mom 'donated' a couple months ago because ‘it took up too much of my front closet space and was ugly anyways’. The replica even has the patches Sab insisted I sew on.

I’d already suspected Wyonna (or Forerunner Command or whoever) had been watching me from before we arrived here. This pretty much confirms it. That or maybe they scanned my memories. The system clearly has the ability. Which isn’t the first time I’ve wondered what exactly it’s messing with up there.

Fingering the trademark Super Mario Star, I hold the jacket in front of me, focusing.

"Aunt Sharon's Jacket: Not just a replica. This is a painstaking recreation of the original, right down to the crumpled receipts in the left pocket. This is a custom version of the standard leather jacket armour.

Bonuses once bonded: Durable. Improves health edge by 4.0 while equipped. Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: two iron rank integration points."

Wow. Two integration points. If bonding this is like with my backpack, I'll never lose it again. At least not permanently. The edge bonuses really sweeten the deal.

There is one critical thing I need to check first though. Dropping my pack to the ground, I slip the jacket on, looking at myself in the mirror. The towel ruins the effect a little, but it's much better than the frankenkitty look I had when I came in yesterday. Most importantly, it fits, just like it used to. The bulge around the middle is even the same.

"Aunt Sharon's Jacket equipped. Would you like to spend two iron rank integration points to bond this item to your core?"

"Yes please," I reply to the mirror as I rotate back and forth, watching to see if there's a noticeable effect when it bonds.

"Bond established: Aunt Sharon's Jacket. Access restricted to Citizen Pandora. Item integrity linked to Citizen Pandora."

As the bond is forming, I can trace a familiar pulse between my jacket and my interface. It connects through the same link as I do with the others.

"First equipped piece of armour bonded. Equipment screen unlocked."

"Item's equipped through a user's equipment screen cannot be taken or used by other users."

"Equipped armour can be resized by the user."

"Equipped armour will not take damage until a resource pool it grants edge to is empty."

Equipment screen. That's great. And bonded items don't take damage until I do? That's pretty cool. But resizing? That’s straight-up amazing.

"Current equipment grade maximum: iron."

"Current number of iron grade armour-class gear equipped: 1/2."

"Current number of iron grade armour-class gear bonded: 1/2."

Damn, only two equipped armours. So much for a complete set of indestructible clothes.

"Wyonna's handy bonus tip: Armour isn't the only type of bonded equipment that is protected. Hope you don't mind me creating a copy of your aunt's jacket."

Okay, so maybe indestructible clothes are still on the menu.

"It's amazing. Thank you Wyonna," I say as I play with the left pocket's zipper, an old habit. One of the best things about the original jacket had been all the fully functional pockets. With some experimentation, I discover that one of the inner pockets accesses my inventory.

With my jacket wrapped tight, I turn to my last reward. Like the mana essence, this dark bar has flecks of elemental colours within. Unlike the crystal, however, the flecks are static, locked in place.

"Iron grade steel ingot: A single unit (0.032kg) of infused steel. Can be used for crafting. Can be used to instantly repair iron rank artifacts. Can be drained for a single iron rank integration point. Please note any use of a mana ingot will consume it."

I wonder if I need these for my crafting quests. It would be useful to have a guide to crafting. Something else to ask Tipan or Raz about, I guess. Rufka seems to know a lot, but she only answers when she feels like it.

Putting the ingot away, I attempt to bring up a menu of all the system access features. Apparently, a Nexus needs to be upgraded to have functions other than the basic return point and reward dispenser. The protection at the standing stones was one example of such an upgrade and I'm about to use another.

"Configuring Menu. Please choose from one of the following options.

- Access Inventory

- Change Preferred Spells

- Class Advancement*

- Essence Conversion

- General Ability Shop

- Personal Room Customization

- Raz's Repository of Artifacts, Armours and Other Useful Things

- Set Return Point “

"*Class Selection required prior to advancement."

Opening the Raz's Repository option, I discover a short list of categories. Luckily, the first category is exactly what I was hoping for.

Clothing.

There's a limited selection, all of it mortal grade. That doesn’t bother me though, I've soon purchased two new sets of clothing, including custom-fit bras, for the bargain price of six essence. Four of those were for my underwear alone, but I've never had bras that fit so well after such a short time shopping.

While the bras are amazing, the clothes themselves are only ‘okay’. Setting my towel in the conspicuously convenient hamper, I pull one of the loose, ruddy brown sweaters on. It's a little big, especially around the arms, but comfortable. When I pull on the light beige leggings, I find they are similarly loose.

They may not be perfect, but they're a damn sight better than my poor onesie. Tugging at my sleeves, I adjust the fit by using small metal clamps, which I hide inside my outfit. I tacitly accept the fact that metal manipulation is spoiling me. Which is totally okay, because it's awesome.

Inspecting myself in the mirror, I pull my jacket on, turning back and forth. I could use metal manipulation to create another set of boots but I think I'll check the store first.

And I'm glad I do.

"Work Boots: These practical boots are meant to get you through the day, no matter what comes your way. Leather foot armour.

Foot armour. Sweet. They don't look half bad either. Compared to the work boots I owned back home, they’re downright slick. Dark brown leather with polished brace buckles, they’re simple but classy.

Bonuses once bonded: Durable. Improves health edge by 2.0 while equipped. Comfortable. Improves stamina edge by 4.0 and focus edge by 1.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

"Price: 8 iron elemental essence."

I take a quick look through the other footwear options, but I don't find any others with special abilities. Checking my essence …. balance? account? My essence stock? Whatever, going with account. Anyway, when I check my essence account, I find I still have 305 mortal essence, even after all the food I bought last night.

Reviewing the essence conversion option quickly, I discover it only allows combining or splitting of essence crystals. No swapping. Which means I can't trade my earth essence for other elements to provide a quick power boost. Which is probably a good thing.

Since it's a flat 10 to 1 exchange, I upgrade the 80 mortal earth essence I need, then purchase the boots.

When they appear, they're big. At least five sizes too large. Once I bond them, I'm able to shrink them until they're snug but comfortable, leaving me properly equipped. For the first time in forever.

With my gear taken care of, since I'm here anyway, I look at the options again.

Checking preferred spells, I discover that while I can exchange my spells with other spells as advertised, I can also empty my spell slots for 1 mortal mana essence. Not really sure what the use of that would be, but it's nice to know. More importantly, I discover I have an unused preferred spell slot. Unlike the other spell slots, this one is specialized. It's restricted to stone spells only.

Wondering what prompted this change, I double-check my skills. Stone Manipulation is over fifty, while none of my other elemental skills have broken that threshold. Yet another reason to work on my manipulation skills. If every skill gives me another preferred spell slot once my related skill goes over fifty, my flexibility will skyrocket with so many quick cast spells available.

But the change room isn't really the place to work on skills, so I'll save it for after breakfast. As if my stomach agrees with me, it grumbles, causing me to giggle as I head over to collect Smoulder. I still want to investigate the general ability store, but it can wait until after I'm done exploring Raz’s breakfast menu.

When I walk back out into the main area, I find Dr Roberts sitting at one of the tables, picking at his bacon and eggs. It looks like he hasn't visited the store yet. He's still in his pajama suit.

Opening the menu, I order my own bacon and eggs (with a generous fruit bowl as a side,) then walk towards him.

"Morning," I say as I reach his table.

"Huh? Oh, good morning Alexis," he replies, barely glancing up at me with a small half-smile.

"Everything okay? Raz didn't give you burnt toast or anything, did he?" I ask as I sit down. Not that there’s anything wrong with slightly burnt toast.

"What? No. The food is fine. Excellent in fact. Almost as good as my wife's," he replies, taking a bite as if to prove his claim. But then he sighs again.

I nod as I sit down across from him, unsure of what to say. It's clear that something is bothering him though. I'm distracted before I can ask him as a plate floats into view sans server. Looking around as the plate sets itself in front of me, there's no sign of Raz. Maybe he's busy. Or sleeping. I guess he has magic to do his serving when he's unavailable. That's kind of cool.

As I'm turning back to my food, Roberts speaks.

"We're stuck here. I asked our host, Mr Razalin. His establishment allows entry from any number of worlds. But the system only allows guests to return to rest areas we've been to before. He also informed me that he's only able to connect to places that have used this at a Nexus," he says, nudging the tube I'd mistaken for a pepper shaker. At his motion, I recognize it as the tube Raz was showing us last night.

I don't know what to say to that, so I just continue reading in silence for a while.

"It's remarkable. Magic in the palm of my hand," he says a little while later, as a small globe of water forms over his hand. He's much better than he was yesterday, forming it into a donut, then a disc before returning to the orb.

"But it's so…. empty, without being able to share it with Ethan," he continues, letting the water drop into his drink.

"Ethan?" I ask politely, dipping a piece of my sourdough toast into my sunny-side-up eggs while listening.

"My grandson. He's why I'm here," he offers, gesturing around the room. As he gestures, he looks at me for the first time since I've walked in, which causes him to stop partway through his gesture.

"New clothes I see."

"Yeah. My onesie was pretty done in."

"They look like good travelling clothes. Though your jacket has a lot of character for a recent acquisition," he comments before taking another bite of his breakfast.

"Yeah. It's a copy of one from home. It was a gift. Second time it's been given to me, actually," I reply, glad to see he's eating.

"Excellent. I'll have to browse for proper clothes myself. While I'm quite fond of these, they're hardly made for adventure," he says, plucking at his suit-pajamas. Unlike Josh's robe, which is still immaculate, he's managed to pick up a few travel stains, as well as a couple small rips.

"Once you get more clothes, I can probably get those stains out," I say, almost subconsciously summoning a hand of water which I use to point at his pajamas while I keep eating with my real hands.

"That would be appreciated. I see you've not only grown in power but control as well. It's so lifelike," he says, looking closely at the floating hand I haven't bothered to dismiss.

"Yeah, I've been practicing non-stop since we got here. Plus, I think I have a natural aptitude for elemental magic," I supply without going into detail.

"Have you given any thought to your class? I imagine you've unlocked at least one," he says while I munch on a piece of fruit that tastes like mango but has the crispy texture of an apple.

"I have. I need to check, but I don't think I'm taking the temporary one," I reply. It might be the better choice for the distant future, but after seeing how much higher Rufka and Tipan's resources are than mine, I realized the temporary class might be a mistake.

The real deciding factor is the simple truth that I'd be saddled with Paradox until we return to earth. Or we fail. My vision implies we find a way home, but we still only have the vaguest of leads. And if I've learned anything from Sab's rants about time travel, it's that you can't trust visions of the future. Too many maybes required. Honestly, given the nature of my facet, I wish I'd taken notes during those rants.

"I'm going to talk to Beth and Raz first, but I've unlocked a potentially powerful class already. It's unique, so I'm thinking I'll get the quest from Raz to discover its rating," I add, before asking, "what about you?"

"I believe I'll be taking a unique class as well. Returning home alive seems far more likely with a class named Sanctuary, don't you think?" Roberts asks, creating the familiar steeple with his fingers.

"Really? You have a class that's actually named Sanctuary available?" I respond, reaching for Smoulder after pushing my empty plate to the side.

"It does seem different than the rangers and mancers they were telling us about last night, doesn't it? I unlocked it when I healed you yesterday, though I didn't notice until last night. It appears to be focused around magical shields and healing, a potent and respectable combination," he says, with a genuine smile.

"Yeah. That sounds great," I say.

Holy crap. I haven't seen a single pseudo healing option or ability and he gets a class focused on it. I'm not even jealous. Just having him in our corner is going to be huge.

"I know you intend to talk to the others, but may I give you some advice Alexis?" Roberts asks, meeting my eyes.

"Sure," I reply as that familiar chill shoots down my spine. It seems I'm still not completely over my issues. Maybe I never will be. That's a depressing thought.

"Don't let Beth convince you to choose something that feels wrong. You're clearly a capable person. Trust your judgement," he says, leaving me stunned. That said, he stands, his chair squeaking as he pushes it away from the table.

"Now, I believe it's my turn to find something a little less casual to wear," he says walking away while I consider his words. I don't think anyone has ever called me capable before. Nor implied I should trust my judgement, never mind outright said so.

With his words still playing through my mind, I continue petting Smoulder while reaching for my class. There's something I need to check.

The familiar scene of the training yard appears, but I'm standing in a guard tower, high above my avatars this time, instead of next to them. I’m also standing instead of sitting and Smoulder is gone, which implies this isn’t reality, despite how real it feels.

There are a lot more avatars down there than last time. I can see the familiar form of the pyromancer interacting with avatars I'm guessing are the other mancer types I've unlocked. Their styles of hair and dress vary wildly, but I especially like the wetsuit of the aquamancer and the afro of the voltmancer.

Across the yard from them the Chronodancer is sitting at a table, playing cards with three other versions. All four are in my onesie, only distinguishable from each other by their different hairstyles and the weapons at their sides. And the floating signs next to them of course.

The Chronosniper is the easiest to discern at a glance, the massive rifle a clear giveaway.

The Chronodancer has no weapons at all, just as before, which is how I knew it was her. The Chronoranger has a spear, as well as a pair of automatic pistols.

By process of elimination, that leaves the last figure, who wears a longsword at her waist, as the Chronoknight. It takes me a moment to realize their table is the repurposed shield of the Chronoknight, balanced on some unseen object. Or maybe it's floating via magic.

For a split second, I entertain the idea of what it might be like if I chose one of the Chrono variants. The Ranger looks like it'd be especially fun. But this isn't a game. Looking around I realize there are three avatars on the platform with me, who I decide to refer to by class name.

Okay, technically Primal Elementalist isn't on the platform, so much as floating next to it, but she's close enough I'm counting it. She looks mostly the same as the Firestorm Elementalist, but she's got a few more elements making themselves known in her vicinity. She has broken clumps of dirt, dull orbs of stone, jagged shards of metal and glistening spears of ice all orbiting around her.

She smiles that same fierce but calming smile as when I last saw her as a Fire-Storm Elementalist when she sees me looking her way.

Beside me, staring out over the training yard is Paradox, who looks like I did back before I graduated. She even has the trademark ponytail I used to wear all the time before I cut my hair. She gives a small nod but otherwise doesn't acknowledge me.

Cataclysm Seed is by herself, on the far corner of the platform looking out into the empty void that surrounds the training yard. I can't really tell if she's wearing a dark robe, or if she's just gathered twilight around her. Either way, her details are obscured, her head covered by a cloak of darkness.

Okay. These three are what I'm here for.

I was able to gauge a class' power, just by focusing on them, when I first came into this mind space three days ago. This time I start with Elementalist. She's not unique, so I'm hoping to use her rare status as a baseline.

Switching back and forth between her and the Pyromancer below, I'm able to get a decent read on what a "rare" class feels like. Switching my focus over to Paradox, I'm surprised when she feels more in line with the Pyromancer's level of power. It's a little stronger, but not by a lot.

While I’m at it, I focus on the Chrono party where they’re still playing cards. I can’t be certain, but I think Chronosniper is cheating. They all have that familiar feeling of cost, except for the Chronoranger. The Chronosniper feels like the weakest though her power level is still way higher than Paradox. Chronodancer is the next weakest but is still close to Elementalist. The Chronoknight is roughly on par with the Elementalist, though her sense of cost is also higher than any of the others.

Then there’s the Chronoranger. The Chronoranger doesn’t have any feeling of cost and she feels slightly more powerful than the Elementalist. Looks like she’s in the running after all. That’s kind of cool.

Then I switch my focus to the Cataclysm Seed. The gap between her and Elementalist is wider than the difference between Elementalist and Pyromancer. As I'm focused on her, she turns towards me. Beneath her hood I see my familiar face smiling back at me. But her eyes catch my attention, drawing me closer. Like the Elementalist's they swirl with power.

But instead of a storm, it feels as though I'm looking through the veil of time itself, into a slowly expanding galaxy. As I watch the galaxy spin, I reach towards her, as if to manipulate twilight, pulling it forth. I watch as it streams forward, stars rushing around my fingers, nebulae brushing my skin all slowly gathering into a swirling eddy smaller than the tip of my index finger. For a second it feels as if the galaxy is going to dissipate, but I force it to stay.

I close my hand around it, capturing the swirling power within.

When I look up, meeting her now plain brown eyes, her smile is sad.

Then I hear, as in actual words coming to my ears in a low rich voice.

"Citizen Pandora, thank you for confirming your class as the first Cataclysm Seed."

Sweeping my eyes around, I realize all the other classes are gone. Not even Paradox or Primal Elementalist remain.

Before I can react, I feel a hand on my shoulder turning me back to face her. Holding me there for a moment, Cataclysm Seed runs a hand down my cheek tenderly, before pulling me in for a hug.

Then she starts to cry.

What…? What just happened?

1.31 Wyonna

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Warning! There will be no further cliff announcements.

Definition of cliffhanger, courtesy of wikipedia: A cliffhanger, or cliffhanger ending, is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction.

January 17, 2019, 7:12am. Time to admit that, yeah, that just happened.

As my avatar cries into my shoulder, I try to process what just happened. I'm pretty sure I chose my class. Which, while yes, I was considering it, I wasn't ready to select yet. Or maybe I was? When I saw the galaxy spinning in her eyes, I didn't hesitate before pulling it forth into my hand.

"Eh. What the hell," I shrug while patting my avatar on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I should have stopped you. But I had no idea you could do that," she sobs into my shoulder, making me realize that maybe I have a little more than a simple avatar on my hands.

"Uhm, you can talk?" I say, stepping back from the dark-robed version of myself.

"I can?" she asks, seeming as confused as I am, inspecting herself before looking back up at me.

"Oh my God. I can!" she exclaims, grabbing me in another hug, but lifting me off my feet while spinning me around this time.

"You can finally hear me. I was sure everything was going to break when you didn't choose Paradox. Goes to show how silly I was, right? Worried over nothing. And look at you. So powerful. Let’s not worry about it. You're a Cataclysm mage now. Well, Seed technically, so that’s new. But you know, tomayto, tomahto." she says, motoring along before setting me down.

"Wyonna?" I ask, slightly dizzy from my recent spin and her emotional one-eighty.

"Yep. Geez, it's so good to be free of those shackles," she says as she spins in place, her clothes and hair changing before my eyes.

"Shackles?" I ask as I inspect her new look. She's now sporting a beautiful rainbow coloured Mohawk, a jean jacket over a Johnny Rotten t-shirt, a pair of strategically ripped blue jeans and a pair of painful-looking high heeled boots. Even her face has shifted so she no longer appears to be my twin but might pass as my cousin instead, which is strangely relieving.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm still not free, but it's more like I'm under house arrest than chained to a wall in a dark basement where there's no light, ya know?" she asks while stretching her legs at an angle I'm sure would be impossible for me. Especially as she appears to be ignoring gravity as she does so. It hurts to watch.

"Not really," I reply honestly.

"Right. You have like, literally, no clue who I am," Wyonna says, shaking her head before continuing.

"I'm the Forerunner Artificial Intelligence aka Mr Universe aka Forerunner Survival blah, blah, blah. But really, I prefer Wyonna. I feel like it really captures my essence, you know?"

"Was that a system pun?" I ask in return.

"Ha. No. I mean, sure. Why not? It is now. Geez, is it just me or is there so much room in here?" Wyonna asks, stretching her arms out gesturing around at the empty compound.

There is a fair amount of space. It's a little strange that it's still here now that I've selected my class. Which leads me to ask, "what is this place? Shouldn't it have disappeared when I got my class?"

"Why would it disappear? The Citizen training yard is a core feature, configured to allow testing of all kinds. It's a simulated training area. Probably one of the safest ways to practice in the known universe. Not that you can really use it before you unlock it. But check this out," she says, pulling a grenade from her pocket. Pulling the pin she runs towards the edge, tossing it way over the side of the platform.

Instinctively ducking my head, I wait for the explosion. While I'm preparing myself for the worst, Wyonna leans against the railing.

The blast hits a moment later.

Basking in the shockwave of the explosion, Wyonna's mohawk whips about madly while she holds fast to the railing as I get thrown to the far side of the little tower.

I don't know much about grenades but I'm reasonably certain they're not supposed to leave mushroom clouds a couple hundred meters high or lift you off your feet from over a hundred meters away.

"Yay! I love MC-20 grenades. They're just so impactful. Nothing like the threat of nuclear armageddon to make you feel alive. Am I right?" Wyonna says in the wake of the explosion.

"Yeah. Uhm. I guess? Not to be a jerk or anything, but is something supposed to happen now that I have my class?" I ask, after picking myself up then leaning on the railing next to her, watching the dust settle.

"Oh crap, I forgot. Let's see. Okay. Yeah. I kind of had your automatic class integration disabled so we could talk. But then you completely shocked me by skipping past the system to just take your class," she says as a small blue blur appears next to her. Out of which she pulls a floating keyboard and monitor, setting them in the air in front of her. Apparently, it's not just her that ignores gravity here.

"Huh, okay. Let's see. Yep. Uhm. Nope, don't really want that anymore. Hmm. Perfect," Wyonna mumbles to herself before she starts cackling wildly.

I have a bad feeling about this, "Uhh Wyonna, what -" but before I can finish, I realize it's time for another dream sequence.

"Don't worry Lex, I've got your back," Wyonna says, somehow already holding me as I sink to the ground, the military compound fading away.

*******'******************'******************'********

The undulating clicks and buzzing of the surrounding army wore on Marlevaur’s nerves as he looked out over his troops. Conscripts taken from the nearest hive, all barely sapient by Marlevaur’s standards. Obedient though.

Huh. This is new. That's a lot of ant people.

Shhh. He's thinking.

Marlevaur had never been a fan of the slave control network. It was too crude, the results of limited use against the hordes of the Othere. What use was it, forcing conscripts who barely knew how to wield mana, to face their deaths at the hands of twisted creatures that were without end.

No. Much simpler, and more effective, to use their corrupted life-force to power workings that would scour their worlds clean of the scourge. His math showed that there would be much less death his way. He'd been outvoted of course. It was more civilized to allow the lesser species a chance to prove their valour. Or some such drivel.

Wyonna is that you?

*Crunch*Crunch* Yep, I watch these things with you. Now be quiet. You don't want to miss any of this.

Are you eating popcorn?

Shhh.

But he was a pure Asimari, not some mana-addled citizen. He'd taken his allotted defence force then led them here, but they wouldn't be valiantly fighting against the swarm today. There'd be no chance to prove their valour.

No.

However, they would prove their value. Today their sacrifice would allow Marlevaur to drive the accursed swarm off their planet. The losses would be far less than if he allowed the conscripts around him to attempt to save their world themselves. This way their families would live. He was sure they'd be grateful. If he bothered to tell them.

The calculations that he'd painstakingly checked countless times occupied several tables in his command structure.

It was the best way. The only way to be sure.

*Crunch*

Seriously, how come I don't have pop-

Oh, nevermind. Thanks.

Reaching out, he connected his will to the company of conscripts surrounding him. He'd used this same technique countless times before, but never like this. He typically used it to track the location of allies, allowing him to effortlessly exclude them from his devastating abilities. This time he subverted the link, deepening it in the slaves while displacing his end, shifting the connection into the dark stone obelisk he'd prepared for this precise moment.

Any being who had worked with concentrated mana would recognize the dark material instantly. Unlike a typical essence, the obelisk didn't contain small flecks or even large chords of power though. No, it had veritable torrents of elemental energy coursing beneath its surface, struggling for release. If a being were to look upon its smooth form with unfiltered mana-sight, they would find themselves struck blind. Permanently.

It had taken him years to design. And months to build. It would be rather beautiful, even to a casual observer, he admitted to himself.

He'd started the ritual hours ago, tying the obelisk into the corrupted ley-line network beneath the world's surface, gathering energy. Now he connected his conscripted slave network to the obelisk. He was proud of the work he'd put into this ritual. He didn't do this for anything so petty as avenging his lost children, a missing lover or something as fleeting as glory.

No, Marlevaur was better than that. More pure. He was a being of math and numbers. And the numbers said this was the most effective way to end the scourge. He would use corruption to fight corruption.

He would use it to protect all the core worlds.

There could be no higher calling.

As the energy built, he watched the nearest slaves begin to collapse. Before their neighbours could understand what was happening, the collapse spread. Moments later he was the only one standing, every slave's life-force bound within the dark obelisk, their bodies little more than husks.

Taking a moment to appreciate his handiwork, Marlevaur saw a glimpse of his face in the reflective surface of the obelisk. The signs of his toil were showing. His wings were molting and the points of his once finely jewelled ears were unadorned. He hadn't taken the time to refasten them in… He didn't know how long. But most telling were his eyes. His eyes no longer held their usual golden lustre, replaced by the dull yellow of the nearly dead. Luckily his work was almost done.

*Crunch* Holy crap this guy looks more like an angel than the demon I was expecting, kind of like an elf with wings. Seems to be in rough shape though.

Shh, we're getting to the important part.

Placing both hands on the obelisk, Marlevaur reached out, seeking the pockets of corruption, hidden deep within the planet's core. He'd considered learning the local's name for the planet, but had decided it didn't matter. He allowed his senses to spread over the network, isolating it from the temporal ocean, preventing the corruption from divining his plan. There would be no turning back at this point.

Once isolated, he moved to the next stage as his body was wracked by spasms. They were of no consequence. Opening portals throughout, he channelled destruction into the planetary core, allowing the elemental power to rip into every source of corruption. He couldn't allow any Othere to escape his purge. It would simply spread again, rendering his work meaningless. He smiled as he felt the corruption being burned out.

As he finished his work, stumbling away from the pillar, he realized the shaking hadn’t stopped. Raising his head, he watched as the great plains before him heaved into mountains, molten rock flowing forth. It would appear the world did not appreciate being purged of a mana-swarm. He couldn't help but note that the destruction was surprisingly reminiscent of a mana-swarm infection.

As his death came for him, Marlevaur admitted he may have made a mistake in his math afterall.

*******'******************'******************'********

Now that's commitment.

Where’d my popcorn go?

Eh. It was never really there. Did you see that?

Yeah, but what did that have to do with my class?

Are you kidding? He caused a literal cataclysm. Did you think the class name was just for show?

What? I don't want that kind of power. He destroyed a planet!

What? It's fine. He just reorganized the geography a bunch. Plus, he had to sacrifice that fancy pillar and like ten thousand people to have the energy to do it. Not that they minded. The ones that survived that is. The Botherians bounced back just fine, so it couldn't have been that bad. I mean they're one of the only Creator era races still around.

Anyway, you noticed the linking right? That's the important part. That's going to be your first unlockable class ability.

Sigh. Yeah. Seemed kind of like when I connect to the others using my facet.

Good. I hate reruns. Except A-team. Speaking of which, since Beth already went through this I'll just…..

Oops. Uhm. Well, time to wake up!

*******'******************'******************'********

As per Wyonna's last words, I wake to find myself looking into Smoulder's worried eyes. I'm still sitting at the table in Raz' common room, new notifications waiting for my perusal as I reach out to pet her. Before I start reviewing my notifications, I attempt to contact Wyonna, to see if I can reach her directly now.

"Can you hear me Wyonna?" I ask the air.

I wait half a minute for a response. When it's apparent she's not going to answer verbally, I turn to my notifications.

"Class selected: Cataclysm Seed. Forerunner Pandora Integration - Level 1 Completed.

"Yeah, I can hear you. And hey look, we finally did it. Not exactly as planned, but whatever."

"Accessing Achievement System."

"Update: Achievement System Off-line. Connect to the Core System to unlock Achievements."

"Right, Achievements. You'll probably have some good ones saved up. If we ever get off this backwater."

"Citizen Class training area is locked. Cost to unlock: one (1) iron rank class advancement point."

"I'm stuck in here, but at least it's got surround sound and hi-def. Plus so much room to stretch. Oh, just to be clear, I'm stuck in the combat room, not the system. It's a pretty useful place but you might want to use your points for other things first. Once you get them. Totally your call. Soooooo muuuucccchhhh roooooooommmmmm."

Well, it seems like Wyonna is taking advantage of not having a word cap any more. She seems to be having fun. Unlocking the private training space might be nice. Focusing on my class, I don't go to the training yard this time. Instead a new screen comes up.

Combat Class - Cataclysm Seed (Unique) - Iron Rank

Iron Rank Class Attribute Modifiers.

- -10 decrease to Strength and Constitution maximum.

- +5 increase to Agility and Endurance maximum.

- +25 increase to Intellect, Spirit, Perception and Resolve maximum.

Iron Rank Class Resource Modifiers.

- 1.6 multiplier applied to mana, focus and higher concept resource facet.

- +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day) to mana and focus per level.

- +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour) to higher concept resource facet per level.

- 1.1 multiplier applied to health and stamina resources from base attributes.

- +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day) to health and stamina per level.

Iron Rank Class Traits:

- Mana resistance - iron rank. Provides resistance to untyped magic damage. Effectiveness scales off Constitution, Endurance, Spirit, Resolve and class level. Reduced resistance against higher rank abilities.

- Elemental resistance - iron rank. Provides resistance to elemental damage. Effectiveness scales off Constitution, Endurance, Spirit, Resolve and class level. Reduced resistance against higher rank abilities.

- Temporal resistance - iron rank. Provides resistance to the negative effects of exposure to temporal tides. Effectiveness scales off Spirit, Resolve and class level. Reduced resistance against higher rank abilities.

- Spatial resistance - iron rank. Provides resistance to the negative effects of spatial displacement. Effectiveness scales off Spirit, Resolve and class level. Reduced resistance against higher rank abilities.

Iron Rank Class Abilities unlocked:

- Increased Facet Pool 0/10, +15/rank

- Increased Facet Edge 0/10, +[1.0]/rank

- Increased Facet Regen 0/10, +(5/hr)/rank

- IFF (Identity Friend or Foe) 0/1

"Class ability points available: 1"

"IFF is the ability you saw that Creator use, though he had some other name for it, like transcendent link. Okay, let's see. You'll get new abilities and one ability point to spend each time you advance a level. Which you advance by using class progression points, obviously. I'm sure someone told you about that already."

"Once you hit the iron rank level cap, which is level 10, you can keep using iron rank class progression points to improve iron rank class abilities. How cool is that? I mean, you could also use them to improve them earlier without gaining a level, but why would you?"

"Thanks, Wyonna," I say as I look over my class. It's nice to have the advice. There's a lot to absorb here. I'm guessing her chattiness is a result of her being free of her 'shackles'. I wonder if she'll be less verbose once she's had more time to communicate.

Okay, I need a progression point to level. Level 10 is the maximum for iron rank. New abilities each level. One ability point per level. IFF helps me avoid roasting my friends. Simple.

I immediately put an ability point into IFF which causes my mind to go squiggly for a second. Squiggly, as in I'm suddenly certain that the smooth table feels like the taste of the colour green. Yeah, things don't exactly make sense, not until my mind snaps back.

Once it does, my normal senses return. The new one is interwoven so naturally, it feels as though it was always a part of me. Which is freaky as hell. But it's hardly the first sign the system has the ability to mess directly with my mind.

Petting Smoulder, who's still resting in my lap, I let the sense light up. Currently, it gives me an idea of where my party members are, though I only have an impression of their direction and distance. It feels as if there are a large number of 'grooves' that I can slot people in and out of to enable or disable my sense of them. My party members all came pre-slotted. When I test my ability to pop Tipan out of the 'groove', I discover it's as easy as closing my upper eyes, to borrow a phrase from Uthica. From what I felt in my vision I'll be able to improve the ability somehow, which will then allow me to shape my spells around linked targets with no mental effort.

Since none of the party are in the common room, I bring up my status, with an eye towards my resources. They'll never be the same again.

CLASS

Cataclysm Seed

Level

1

Iron

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

85

(+/-)

SPIRIT

85

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

32

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

7

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

88/88

[6.3]

(44)/d

Stamina

93/93

[7.4]

(49)/d

Mana

502/502

[46.9]

(386)/d

Focus

374/374

[29.2]

(244)/d

Matrix

Facet

132/132

[10.8]

(96)/h

Yep. Class integration is broken. If I had any doubts before, they're gone now. My resources have even been refilled.

As I'm basking in the glory of my new and improved resources, I hear a sound from near the stairwell where Josh and Beth are entering the common room together.

Okay. I have to tell them about the whole being able to select your class without trying problem. And that I, accidentally on purpose, chose my class.

Wait, is Josh singing?

I've never heard him sing before. It's very pretty. Like, boyband pretty.

"Good morning, Lex," Josh says as he strolls into the room, pulling up the same chair Roberts was sitting in earlier.

"Morning kid," Beth says, sitting down between us, smiling.

"Morning guys," I reply, smiling back. I'm not used to other people being in a good mood in the morning. Sab is a night owl and my mom, well, let's just say the same applies to her. Kind of.

I really don't want to put a damper on this mood, but I need to tell them. Especially Josh. Otherwise, he might make the same mistake. As I'm preparing myself, I feel Smoulder smuggle herself into one of my pockets. I reach down giving her scritches, drawing confidence from her contentment.

Looking up, I meet Beth’s eyes as she smiles back.

Well, I’ve overcome greater challenges in the last few days.

1.32 Easy. Super Easy.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Had references to progression points and advancement points backwards last chapter. Fixed Mar 24, 2020.

January 17, 2019, 8:04 am. Time to face the music.

"So, I kind of chose my class," I start, causing Beth's smile to crumble, her brow crinkling.

Josh has the opposite reaction, immediately holding his hand up over the table for a fist bump while he says, "awesome Lex, congrats."

Obliging him, I return the fist bump, getting excited myself. I'm about to continue when Beth beats me to it, "well, at least you slept on it kid. Did you take the temporary class then?"

"No. I didn't -" I start but Beth interrupts me.

"Why not? What could you have unlocked that you felt was worth giving up an epic class for, kid?"

"First off. I'm not a kid. Bethany," I start, feeling my pulse suddenly spike while my vision becomes slightly blurry.

"Second. The class' power is around the epic grade tier!" I continue while pushing my chair back as my heart beats a mile a minute.

"And third, be careful of how you interact with your avatars during class selection, or you might end up accidentally choosing your class," I finish, smacking the table right as I yell the word 'accidentally'.

Beth and Josh just sit there, silent, looking at me as if I grew a third head. This wasn't how I planned it, dammit.

We're all just looking at each other when I hear Tipan say from the stairway, "Good morning everyone."

Then she walks towards us, her staff tapping on the floor as she asks, "What do you mean, avatars during class selection?"

Instead of immediately answering Tipan's question, I just look at Beth. I’ve never had outbursts like that before unless I was dealing with mom.

As I stare, Beth answers for me, "the k-Alexis has a large number of unique quirks to her interface."

What? Oh, of course. I'm the only one who has mirror images of themselves popping up during class selection. I should've known. It’s a problem they don’t even have to deal with.

"Really? I've never heard of such a thing," Tipan says as she moves to join us.

"Most users can't see class avatars. But mum mentioned outlanders who’ve seen them before," Rufka calls from within the stairwell, not yet visible. Okay. So at least I’m not totally alone. Tipan sits herself next to me while a pair of plates float out, setting themselves in front of Beth and Josh. But no one moves to eat.

"Look ki-Alexis, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to get on your case. But these are critical decisions. I thought we were going to talk about it," Beth says, looking me in the eye.

"Yeah, well. Like I said, it was an accident. Kind of. There weren't any system prompts or anything," I reply, then, still feeling the need to continue, "but I'm happy I chose my class. One of its first abilities is going to help with not hitting friendlies."

"I am still surprised you were not already an Elementalist. Your ability to control the elements as you do is highly unusual. Most people would never chance it. Not without the protections afforded by our classes. And your speed is astounding. I would have thought you were copper rank if I hadn't seen your resources myself," Tipan says, seeking to ignore the tension. Or maybe she doesn't notice it.

Completely changing the subject, Josh asks, "Lex, you want to go for a walk after breakfast? Raz told me there’s a huge garden," waving at the stairs. Then he takes a piece of bacon, loudly munching on it.

"Uhm sure?" I reply, feeling my shoulders relax when no one makes a big deal out of my outburst. I’m left unbalanced. I’m used to a yelling match following an outburst like that.

"Cool," he says, continuing to eat.

As Rufka gets closer, I step away from the table, making room. I'm not in the mood to continue talking anyway. Smoulder kicks me gently, mentally complaining that I need to stop moving abruptly. I reach for her, drawing comfort from her presence.

She sends an image of her carefully carrying a delicate vegetable back to share with her sister. It would have crumbled if she'd been as careless as I was being. While snickering at Smoulder comparing herself to a delicate vegetable, Smoulder continues to scold me for being a bumpy ride until she realizes how upset I am. Then she starts nuzzling up against my hand offering me support. I have to go all the way to the corner by the billiards table before the others’ conversation is little more than a murmur.

Smoulder's attention reminds me that I was going to get Smoulder's resource unlocked. I send my thoughts to Smoulder, asking if she’d like to. She responds with an impression that if it's important to me, she doesn't see why not, followed by an impression that now that I'm feeling better she's going to have a nap.

"Your partner Smoulder has deigned to allow you to examine her Ignis resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 21.8 focus and 14.2 facet.

At this rate, I'm going to be able to get these for next to nothing. They're already getting pretty cheap. Ignoring the text about her 'deigning to allow me’, I purchase the codex.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Ignis.

Iron grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Smoulder the Incredible Destroyer of Pathio the Vile.

Description: Drawing on very limited knowledge of the system’s understanding of all that burns, Ignis is slightly destructive, but is especially destructive to combustible matter. It can also be passively channelled to stay warm and dry.”

Smoulder's resource seems kind of… lacking compared to our resources.

“Ignis’s primary contributing attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser contribution from Perception and Resolve and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most iron grade higher concept resources, Ignis may not be fashioned into armour.”

Okay, that's unfortunate. If there's one ally I wish had armour, it's definitely Smoulder. At least the rest of us can find gear.

Now that I’ve calmed down, I feel embarrassed. Way to prove your maturity, Alexis.

Breathing out, I try to be proactive instead of dwelling. I can't count the number of times I ended up cleaning the bathroom or doing the laundry so I didn't have to think about mom.

Now, I don’t have a bathroom to clean, but I have plenty of magic to practice. Since I just discovered I can unlock spell slots by reaching fifty in my skills, I start considering the limits of what I can do with water manipulation. It's nearly at the fifty mark, and I already have a useful spell, Umbrella. Transitioning it would free up one of my four primary slots for… I haven't actually decided yet, but at least this way I can be productive instead of brooding.

As I'm playing with the water, I emulate what Roberts was doing earlier, starting with an orb, moving into a doughnut, then transitioning to a flat plane. But that’s not particularly challenging, so I push my efforts further.

Creating an orb the size of my head, I twist it into not one but three fat, rapidly spinning, doughnuts, all looped within each other. Then I flatten them into spinning disks, maintaining their ring shape while ensuring they don't collide.

Finally, I collapse all three disks into a single turbulent sphere, allowing it to rotate slowly while I consider what to do next.

A slow clap interrupts my thoughts.

"That's an impressive display of control for a user barely four days into the system," Raz says as he ambles his way around several bar stools towards me.

"Thanks," I reply as I reach out, physically tapping my water-ball, urging it to spin faster.

"I heard you chose your class. Congratulations."

"Thanks," I reply while shrugging my shoulders. I've been trying not to think about it. Beth's reaction stole a lot of my excitement. Now it just feels like another of the stupid mistakes I've made since coming here.

"May I ask. Was it a unique class as well?" he inquires, looking at me intensely.

"Yeah. But it's good. I know it is. Probably Epic," I reply with a certainty I don’t really feel. If it’s not, that just proves Beth’s point. Despite what I said to her, I hardly feel like an adult.

"Hmm. Would you like to discover its true strength?" he asks, focusing on me intently.

Meeting his eyes, I just shrug, "Sure. It'd be nice."

"Done," he says, looking at me expectantly. I don't feel any different.

"Thanks," I reply, turning the water orb into vapour, letting it dissipate.

"You're welcome. Tell Wyonna I say hi," Raz says, nodding his head before walking away, disappearing behind his bar while I repeat his message.

Figuring it's as good a distraction as any, I open my notification log. I notice that not only is there a new quest, I also managed to hit fifty in water manipulation.

Double-checking, just to be sure, I can feel my lips tugging up into a smile when I see a new specialized spell slot for a water spell.

Feeling a little better with that small goal achieved, I turn back to my log. Immediately below the skill increase notification is a message from Wyonna. I guess she can add text to any system message now.

“Raz is great, isn't he. I know, I know, I'm biased. Tell him I say hi back. Now let's see.”

“Wyonna says hi back,” I call out to his bar, before turning back to my log.

"Quest received: Not so Unique. Description: Gauging power requires knowledge. Requirements: discover one method for upgrading any common class to an uncommon variant. 0/1 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of a single unique uncommon class. 1 iron rank integration point."

A single uncommon class. Does that mean if I try to use it on a stronger class it won't say anything? That doesn’t seem great, but it’s okay since I only want to know about my own class anyway. And this will at least confirm if it’s better than uncommon.

Wow, that is, like, the easiest quest ever. You just need to repeat what I say. Wanna be a Voltknight? Stand outside during a lightning storm and let yourself get struck. By lightning of course. Oh, and you need to have lightning manipulation of at least one. I guess I'd recommend having a health of at least 150 too. Technically, the last part is optional.

Doing as Wyonna says, I finish reading her entire comment, getting another notification.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 1/1 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of a single unique uncommon class. 1 iron rank integration point.

That was officially the easiest quest I've had so far. It was even easier than the translation quest. And I had a cheat for that one. Hmm. I guess having Wyonna is kind of like a cheat too.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: A single source is only the start, knowledge demands more. Requirements: discover eight additional methods for upgrading any common class to an uncommon variant. 0/8 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any unique uncommon class. 1 iron rank integration point. Time: 5/5 minutes."

"Only five minutes, wow," I say even as Wyonna's notifications start.

"Oh, just slap me with a glove why don't you? Fine, challenge accepted."

Is this my quest or Wyonna's? I don't even know.

"Let's do this alphabetically. Aeroknight. Super easy. Just stay suspended in the air without touching the ground for five minutes. Or trees. Or walls. Or clothes. Okay, you need decent manipulation for this one. Or a friend like you."

"Thanks. I think," I mumble to the air after I read her message aloud.

"Alloyknight. Wrap yourself in metal, completely, for five minutes. Piece of cake. Doesn't even have to be airtight."

"Aquaknight. Easier than Aeroknight. Probably more dangerous given your need to breathe and all. Stay completely submerged in water for five minutes."

Yeah, breathing is important, too bad I don't have time to catch my breath while trying to keep up with Wyonna.

"Cragknight. Well, you've probably figured out the pattern for knights by now, stay completely enclosed in stone for five minutes. Not as hard as it might seem since you can trap air in with you. No clothes though or it doesn’t count."

"Cryoknight. This one is a little different. You need to survive five minutes in a temperature below 250 degrees Kelvin, but it’s a little uncomfortable since you have to be naked. That's about - 23 degrees Celsius by the way."

That seems really uncomfortable.

"Pyroknight. This one is opposite of cryo, not so surprising. You need to survive five hours above a temperature 320 degrees Kelvin. That's about 47 degrees Celsius. Needs to be done outside with no clothes, but shade is okay. As long as it stays over 47 degrees."

I’m really glad I didn’t have to go through these upgrades. I guess I’d have my class first, but seriously.

"Shadowknight. Remain in a shadow that is at least 5000 lumens darker than the surrounding 50 meters for five hours. Easy to pull off by, you guessed it, fully encasing yourself. Can easily be done when unlocking other mancer classes."

Yeah, cause no one's ever had problems after spending five hours locked in the dark.

"Terraknight. Have a tea party. Nah, I'm just kidding. Bury yourself in dirt for five minutes. No stone. No clothes. Done."

Huh. No quest update yet. I start to call for Wyonna when another notification appears.

"Oh, and you need one point in the relevant manipulation skill. Obviously."

Repeating this line causes the expected quest notification to appear.

"Quest: Not so Unique. Objective complete: 8/8 uncommon class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveal the rarity of any unique uncommon class. 1 iron rank integration point.

I actually feel like I earned this one after all that.

“Quest updated: Not so Unique. Description: The quality of knowledge matters, as much as, if not more than, quantity. Requirements: discover two methods for upgrading any uncommon class to any rare variant. 0/2 rare class upgrades discovered. Rewards: Reveals the rarity of any rare or uncommon unique class. 5 iron rank integration point. Time: unlimited."

"Okay, now this one might actually take some legwork. I do know the easiest method to unlock a rare class. Basically, just do all the above and have all your elemental skills and at least one armour and weapon skill above 25. Oh, and have mana manipulation at 100. That will unlock the Guardian Elementalist. On a completely different topic, if I don’t respond it’s not that I’m ignoring you. After some testing, I’ve discovered that while the restrictions are lighter, I can still only respond for a few minutes after a system notification."

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Wyonna,” I reply after I'm finished repeating what she tells me. Then I check my quest status which confirms she's correct. I only need to discover one more method. Maybe I'll ask Tipan or Rufka. Or Raz. He seems to know a lot about the system.

Before I track anyone down though, I take the time to concentrate on my class. I'm like 99% sure it's rarity is higher than uncommon, but there's that niggling doubt. One that says I made a huge mistake.

Which is banished when my class' rarity stays unique when I focus on it under my class description. It's surprising how heavy 1% worth of doubt can feel.

Before I'm done basking in my relief, Josh calls out, "Hey Lex, ready to roll?"

"Oh yeah. Of course," I reply, turning to join him. Totally forgot that we were going for a walk. He leads me to the door across from the change room, which I had kind of assumed was the men's change room.

I guess we all share the other one?

Once inside, we follow a short hall, no more than four meters long. We cross the small space swiftly, reaching a dark green door with raised brown moulding and an ornate handle. When Josh pulls it open, a massive garden is revealed before us.

"Wowza," Josh murmurs. Honestly, I can't help but agree with him.

We're at the foot of a small hill. All around us are cultivated trees, shrubs and vines. At least I think they’re shrubs and vines.

They're all very pretty. We're standing at the head of a footpath that circles a small pond. From the pond, four other paths lead away. There's definitely some space or illusion shenanigans going on because the hill we emerged from is way too small to fit the building we were just inside of.

Josh starts moving towards the rightmost path, but I remain standing at the entrance, taking it all in. I've never been to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver, but I imagine this must be what they're like.

"This is better than I pictured," Josh says, smiling when I finally step forward to join him.

"Yeah," I reply, noticing a small creature that reminds me of Smoulder. Thinking of whom, I reach into my pocket, giving her scritches. Which she takes as a signal to come out, a moment later poking her head from my pocket, sniffing around.

I smile at Smoulder as she bounds out of my pocket to inspect the garden more closely.

"I'd love a garden like this," Josh says, gesturing, "a home where life blooms, taking my worries away."

"Oh yeah? What would you grow? Roses?" I ask with a smirk, watching Smoulder chase after the other rabbit creature. I'm certain she's playing, but I don't think the other bunny knows that.

"Among other things, yeah," he replies, smiling back as we watch the other bunny squeeze through a bush that Smoulder decides is more interesting than her quarry.

"Speaking of roses. What's with your robe?" I ask. His face tightens at my initial question, so I continue as if it was simply a prelude to my next comment, "it's as pristine as the moment we woke in the circle?" I ask instead, which is something I was curious about anyway.

"Ah. It's part of my leet skills yo. I'm able to clean and repair anything involving plants. My robe counts," he says, shrugging.

Well, that figures. He's good at the one thing I've tried and found nearly impossible. Given his special resources, it doesn't surprise me.

"I don't suppose you could patch up my onesie? I'd like to have it again, even though it's not really travel-wear. Actually, at the moment, it's not really any-wear," I say as we stop beneath a massive tree wrapped within a flowering vine which coils around it. The vine is a veritable riot of colours, all manner of blues, reds and yellows against a backdrop of green. It's practically reflexive when I focus on it to bring up a notification. I step closer to the Eolanis Bloomer, famous for its soothing colours and amazing perfumes. According to Wyonna, it's roots are also great in chili.

"I don't know if anyone has magic that strong," he replies to which I answer with a less than polite gesture, before motioning him forwards.

"Har Har. Apparently, these smell amazing," I say, gently running a hand against a blossom, feeling its smooth texture. When Josh does the same, the blossom noticeably reaches towards his hand, as if it were a certain bunny looking for scritches.

We take our time smelling the vaguely fruity-smelling flowers until I catch a whiff of something strange. Smoke. Turning, I find a nearby bush is on fire. I don't hesitate, conjuring water mana forth to douse the bush. Beneath which I find Smoulder, sitting proudly amongst the ashes, dry despite the water I just dropped on her head.

She shares what happened through our mental link. I can't help but laugh. Smoulder had been investigating the nearby bush when she got a thorn in her paw. Naturally, her reaction was to incinerate the whole bush. Luckily, I noticed before it spread, but I need to remember that my little ball o'doom is a bit of a pyro. And I don't mean mancer.

"But seriously? My onesie?" I ask, looking over to Josh as I try to get the thorn out of her paw while we move away from the scene of Smoulder's latest crime. I hope Raz isn’t too upset.

"I can try. But no promises," Josh replies as we pass beneath an arch covered in the same beautiful vine. I'm able to squeeze the Thorn out using tiny magical tweezers. When I burn the thorn to ash, my fire magic doesn't feel nearly as hot as it used to. A side effect of my new class resistances, I imagine.

"Deal," I proclaim, sticking my free hand out to him once we step clear of the flowery arch.

With her paw recovered, Smoulder decides to lead the way. We continue through the garden, inspecting random plants while Josh tells me about how much feedback he gets from his skill.

"Like this flower here? Its roots are so deep it's drawing water from over five meters down," he says as I look back at the small bush that's less than a meter tall. Seems disproportionate.

"That's one heck of a root system," I reply as we walk past, approaching the entrance again. The path we were on has led us in a smooth loop around the hill. There were several offshoots we could have explored but we decided to keep the hill in sight, just in case.

"Speaking of drawing water," I say when I notice Smoulder approaching the pond. Instead of standing around, watching her drink, I draw an orb from the pond to sate my own thirst as well. As I sip, I see a rose-thorn mug bloom into existence in Josh's hand.

"Think it's safe to drink directly like that?" he asks, gesturing to my orb of water.

"I kind of filter it. When I use my power to create drinkable water, it tastes exactly as I imagine tasty water should. The rest I deposit into little piles," I reply, demonstrating by dumping the filtered contents into one hand before depositing enough water in his mug to fill it to the brim.

"That's cool. Cheers," Josh says, raising his mug to my floating globe, spilling a little of his over the side.

Chuckling quietly, I match him, "cheers."

"So, have you thought about your class?" I ask Josh as I glance at the hall leading back inside.

"Ya. I'm probably going to take the temporary class, Sapling. The rest are all so combat-focused, ya know?"

"Well, they are combat classes," I reply with a smirk.

"Yeah, but I mean, I don't really want to be an Eviscerator or a BlightLord. Where's the old fashioned Druid class when you need it?" he asks with a rueful smile.

"Those sound nasty alright. My class name has them beat though. What's your manipulation skill called?" I ask as we sit on a bench near the pond instead of returning to the common room.

"I have three. Plant and chemical manipulation from my class, plus mana from your lessons. What’s your class’ name."

"My class is called Cataclysm Seed. Chemical sounds scary."

"Yeah. That's the one that unlocked BlightLord. Cataclysm Seed sounds wicked cool."

"Thanks. What are your manipulation skills at?" I ask, picking up one of the flat rocks that are stacked nearby. Almost as if they're meant for throwing. They’re definitely not part of the path or bench.

"Plant is at 24. Chemical is five. Why?"

"You'll probably unlock more class options once they're both 25. That's what happened with mine. Plus any other skills you might want to get a class from," I answer as I toss my first rock, skipping it twice.

"Huh. Well, I'm actually close to 25 in both spear and shield."

"Seriously? How’d that happen? I thought you were basically unconscious the last couple days," which I kinda feel bad about. Especially because as I watch the rock skip I'm suddenly thinking of all sorts of ways I could have got there faster. In the end, I didn't even rescue them. Well, from the K'tharn anyway.

"I was. But they were both close to 25 when we arrived. I had a girlfriend in the SCA a few years ago. She made me practice with her. It was actually pretty fun. Good exercise too."

"Uhh. That's the people who go around like knights of old right?" I ask while wondering if I can make myself wings of metal while manipulating wind to propel me.

"Kind of. There's a lot more to it than that though,” he answers as my brain circles back to his skills.

"Wait. Let me get this straight. Like most guys, you learned how to use a spear and protection from an old girlfriend?" I ask with an exaggerated eyebrow and an elbow nudge.

Josh gets that faint pink to his cheeks.

Then I wiggle my eyebrows at him. He starts laughing hard enough he starts wheezing.

"Jeez Lex, I didn't see that coming," he says, leaning back against the bench when he finally recovers.

"What? I can be funny," I reply, slightly nonplussed.

"That's not what I mean. You just always seemed so, I don't know. Innocent?"

"Wow. Eight years across the hall from each other and I guess we really don't know each other at all, do we?" I say.

"Yeah. I guess not. Good thing we got abducted and sent to another world. Otherwise, I never would have known you had a dark side." he says, bumping me with his elbow.

"And I never would have known you had a pink side. But yeah, it's still hard to absorb, you know?" I say as I look up at the massive garden that is somehow inside the pub we're staying in. Because magic.

"Yeah. It's all kind of crazy. You think that academy will help us get home?" he asks.

"I wish I knew. For all we know it's going to take us half a year just to get there," I answer as I watch Smoulder chase my stone across the water, hopping fast enough she doesn’t sink. She does end up charging off the far side when my stone sinks beneath the surface though.

Even if the academy does offer a way home, I doubt getting home will be as simple as getting there.

I think the real adventures are only just beginning.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Not much to say.

Patreon is 3 4 chapters by 6pm, ahead but you should probably wait until next month cause otherwise you'll be charged double.

Thanks for joining Alexis and me on our journey.

Oh, and now that she's out of her box, Wyonna says hi.

1.33 Hitting the field

January 17, 2019, 9:24am. Time for the Legend of the Cataclysm Seed to…. putter around, maybe try a new dish or two. Nothing too strenuous. Legends take time after all.

Josh and I make our way out of the garden while I tell him about all the different classes I’ve unlocked and what unlocked each one, leaving out the part where I relived some of my most painful memories, of course. When we step back into the common room, we find the others gearing up.

“Oh good. I was just going to start looking for you two,” Beth states, adjusting a new bandoleer. It’s her only new piece of equipment, but it's clearly well made.

Roberts, on the other hand, has replaced everything. He has on the same baggy pants and sweater I found, but he’s also wearing a dark cloak with tons of pockets. He’s balancing with one hand wrapped around a new staff, tucking his legs into a sensible-looking pair of boots. I recognize them as one of the pairs I passed over when I was checking for other options. He almost falls over when Smoulder comes over to investigate his new pants.

Of his pajama suit, there is no sign. It’s probably packed away in his dimensional storage. Is it weird that I kind of miss it?

Looking closely at his cloak, I realize I can identify it.

“A Cloak Without Borders: Faithfully recreated after being lost during a journey to a faraway land, this otherwise standard design has been augmented with just a touch of dimensional magic and a pinch of love. This is a custom version of the standard leather cloak armour.

Bonuses once bonded: Storage: Expands dimensional capacity by 0.5 cubic meters. Durable. Improves health edge by 2.0 while equipped. Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Roberts - Iron. Cost to bond: two iron rank integration points."

Cool, looks like a cross between my jacket and backpack. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one getting custom gear. I was a little worried, given everything else that seems to work differently for me.

Looking back at Beth, I wonder if… yep, I can identify Beth's bandoleer too.

“A Merc's Best Friend: Being prepared isn't just a good philosophy to you. It's a way to scream "Never again!" at the uncaring universe. The right tool for the job is just a moment away with this meticulously recreated storage device. This is a custom version of the standard bandoleer storage item.

Bonuses once bonded: Quick Storage: Reduces time to access items in dimensional storage. Requires an Agility of fifty to experience a noticeable effect. Expands dimensional capacity by 0.25 cubic meters. Durable. Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Raven Queen - Iron. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

“We heading out?” Josh asks, looking to Beth as I read the description.

"Soon. Grab your quest rewards first," Beth commands, motioning Josh towards the change room.

"Right," Josh confirms, turning to the stairs. While Josh walks to the change room I approach Rufka who's waving me over. When I get close, Rufka throws an arm over my shoulder while simultaneously putting one around my waist giving me a quick squeeze as she says, “I missed it at breakfast, but happy class-day. I got you something.”

“Class-day?” I mumble in response, as Rufka pulls out a familiar-looking drink, letting me go. Thankfully, it’s the tea, not the liquor.

“Class-day. I don’t know your silly outlander traditions, but here in the reaches, the day you gain your class is special,” she declares, setting seven cups down on the table in front of us. When Smoulder hops up, she pauses before setting out a small saucer as well.

“How come you didn’t get me tea on my class-day?” Beth questions Tipan playfully, while Rufka carefully prepares each of us a cup.

“Typically, class-day is celebrated only with your closest friends and family,” Tipan replies, watching Rufka's actions with confusion clearly etched across her brow.

"Exactly. Friends. Any-user who's willing to play Astra's Stride, drink Muthica's moonshine and ride for hours on Tuffie's back without complaining is a user I want to know. But to then go face to face with an Aetherium Dragon Scion at iron rank without so much as a class? That's a user I want to call friend!" Rufka states, passing me a cup.

I smile at Rufka. I'm not sure how well I would've done escaping Ivicka without the aforementioned moonshine, but I appreciate the sentiment. I've only known her for about a day, yet Rufka's already growing on me.

Once she's set out a cup for all seven of us, she gestures the others forwards, "come on. I'm not going to bite. Unless you ask."

Everyone takes a cup, even Josh as he's already returned, surprisingly early. I don't see any new gear, but maybe he got a ring or something. With his resource-based armour, it's not like he needs equipment as much as I do. Besides, I didn't see anything resembling his old outerwear.

The seventh cup sits untouched until Rufka calls, "hey Scales, the last cup is for you!"

Keeping it untouched requires snagging Smoulder, letting her have some of the dried fruit I bought from Raz to bolster my emergency supplies instead.

"That's hardly polite," Tipan reprimands Rufka as Raz comes out from his hiding spot behind the bar.

He doesn't look offended, but it's hard to read his expression as he says, "Scales is fine, just never call me kobold."

"See? I knew Scales was solid silver," Rufka declares, nudging him with her elbow. Her lower one given his height.

"It is an honour to be a part of your class-day. May you level with reasonable risk and resplendent rewards," he cheers, raising his cup to me.

"Friends,” I follow, holding my cup up to Rufka before gesturing to everyone else.

We're all just finished taking a sip when Rufka adds, "plus you saw her magic. She's going to attract trouble like a silver-wrought elemental handing out irons."

"There it is," I mutter, laughing with her as I hear Beth ask Tipan, "irons?" As Rufka and I both sip our tea, Tipan explains that Rufka is referring to iron rank essences.

Have I mentioned how much I love this tea? Probably. Raspberry peach just works for me.

I'm not the only one who thinks so. Josh is making appreciative noises as he sips from his cup. Meanwhile, Beth finishes hers before I do. Roberts and Tipan are both more restrained but don't take much longer than the rest of us.

Raz sips his tentatively. His eyebrows rise, then he downs the rest in a single gulp.

"Okay people. I think we've burned enough daylight. Now, Tipan says this eye should be in the centre of the city, at the top of the tallest tower. However, we don't want to take the thing right away. We should use the next couple days to train, get used to each other. Remember, we’re adapting to completely new abilities. There’s going to be some fuckups, so let’s try to get them done while we're training. Once we're ready to go, Tipan will need to be the one who completes the quest. Remember that third reason she mentioned. The real reason why we came here? Well, I'll let her explain," Beth instructs us before she steps back.

As if they rehearsed it, Tipan steps forward when Beth moves back, "After we finish the quest, I will be able to change our exit to another training area I've completed. This is a hidden general ability that I discovered during my studies at the system library. I'll only be able to use it if I'm the one to complete the second part of the quest."

"Depending on how our teamwork goes today, we may make an attempt to scout out the eye's location tomorrow. We won't be taking it," Beth reiterates as Smoulder starts purring in my pocket.

"Our opponents shouldn't be too difficult. The Fallen take the forms of K'tharn who've died nearby, but they don't wander out of the core. If we get separated, move to the outer ring of the city then make your way back here," Tipan states while creating an image of a K'tharn with the matted fur and red eyes I'd seen in Uthica's vision.

"Any questions?" Beth asks, once more swapping places with Tipan.

Most of that makes sense to me. Testing is exactly what I want to be doing. Maybe I can work out some frustration while discovering the limits of my new class.

Josh tentatively raises his hand when no one else speaks.

"Yes Josh," Beth asks with a gentle smile.

"Does this mean I can wait to choose my class? I'd like to think about it more," he questions tentatively, looking around. I flash him a smile when he looks my way and he smiles back, some of his tension escaping his shoulders.

"Absolutely. I'd have preferred we all made our choices only after we’d given them some thought. But Alexis and I will live with our choices. Since we already have our classes, we should be able to support both of you until you’re ready to make your choice. I asked Raz and he said he'll remain here until we finish our quest, one way or the other, so we'll have a safe place to return to," Beth answers, pointing to Raz as she speaks, who nods, his scales glistening more than they were a couple minutes ago.

While I'm inspecting Raz, Dr Roberts speaks, "Excellent. Having a safe base of operations should help us all adapt more quickly. I believe I know which class I'll be choosing. Yet having time to test our limits first is an excellent idea."

“Getting to test your limits before choosing your classes. These outlanders are so spoiled, don’t you agree skyborne?” Rufka asks.

“I believe that having our entire childhoods to prepare may outweigh whatever advantages they now enjoy,” Tipan counters, stepping towards the exit. I follow since I feel like we’re pretty much done here.

“And this is why no-user likes skyborne, so frigid from living in that rarified air all your lives,” Rufka sighs as she walks beside me.

“Yes. I’m just an awful stuck-up skyborne, spoiled beyond redemption,” Tipan replies as she leads the way out into the city.

“Hey now, I didn’t mean it like that,” Rufka complains, actually sounding apologetic as she follows Tipan.

“Do you think it'll be as easy as she says?" Josh wonders from behind me.

“Hmm. Hard to know," Roberts replies as I return through the gate out into the city.

After the stroll through the garden, the disrepair of the city seems bland and disappointing. Luckily, we’re not here for sightseeing.

Moving inwards, we all stop talking as Beth takes the lead. This lasts for all of a minute before Roberts speaks, “what do you think we’ll find?”

“Only true horror,” Rufka proclaims casually while shrugging. She doesn’t seem particularly worried about our excursion as she continues speaking, “like that one aunt who always pinches your cheeks and never leaves even if you put itch-root in her tuft powder."

"Or a giant spider that camps out in your bathroom?" Josh suggests.

While they’re talking, I try to keep my eyes open, but I’m still surprised when Beth halts us, looking at the buildings to our sides. As I look up, I see several forms leaning over the edge. Before I have time to properly register what’s happening, large rocks start careening down from above.

So, I pause time. Amazing how reflexive and easy it is now. I only spent the minimum 0.1 facet and 0.1 focus but I have four minutes to act in the next real-time second. Totally broken.

I love it.

The first thing I do is erect my umbrella spell. As I'm casting, it occurs to me that I forgot to switch it to my water specialization slot. Oops.

With my basic defence in place, I consider reaching out to the boulders to see if I can manipulate them, but they're all out of range. Destructive counterspell time it is then. First off, I fire a lightning torrent at the closest boulder which looks like it might hit us. Then I let loose a flame torrent at another. Third, I fire an air torrent at the next slab of rock I see.

Testing, one, two, three.

At this point I can see Rufka responding as well, reaching towards Tipan's shoulder. They've barely moved before I look away. Since I'm blessed with plenty of time, I decide to create a bevy of wind torrents for the lowest cost I can as backups. It gets to the point that I run out of directions to aim my spells without really denting my mana. My edge is truly incredible at this point. My torrents are bigger than the first time I cast them, yet each one only costs me 0.1 mana and 0.1 focus each.

Scanning around, I spot a single Fallen who is still watching the result of their attack, floating clumps of earth floating around her. I throw a link towards it but nothing connects.

A moment later, I get a notification.

"Would you like to connect to Fallen Dhanni for 89.2 facet?"

Holy crap. No, thank you.

I would like to analyze it though.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 11.

A mana-warped version of K'tharn. For many worlds, these are the first mana-borne they encounter. As varied as the individuals the mana-swarm claimed them from, Fallen are generally a low iron grade threat as active system users cannot become Fallen.

However, there are exceptions. Occasionally, a user will become disconnected from the system. These users return as new Fallen, often seeking out their loved ones for a twisted reunion. While they retain some semblance of their previous memories and intelligence, the sight of non-fallen brings forth a terrible rage which drives Fallen to immediate violence.

While rare, there have been worlds which were wiped from the system when their champions became Fallen."

Wow. That's worrying.

"Name: Dhanni of clan Plethesa.

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; High, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: This Fallen is an expert with both spears and terramancy.

Defences: This Fallen has high physical resistance, medium magic resistance, high earth resistance."

"Wow, she’s an actual Fallen. You don't tend to see them in Builder cities, even abandoned ones. Far more likely to have system generated imitation Fallen or random mana-spawn. Something strange is happening here."

When I finish reading the codex the fallen is already ducking out of sight.

With my spells in place and the Fallen analyzed, I spend the last moments metaphorically twiddling my thumbs. My lightning torrent, flame torrent and my first wind torrent all take effect before the end of my pause mode, so I'm able to clearly see their effects.

The first boulder is reduced to rubble by my lightning torrent, sending debris raining down. I'd be worried, but I've already aimed several wind torrents in the general direction.

My flame torrent leaves its boulder a molten slag, barely redirecting it, though it’s enough it won't land on us.

When my wind torrent hits the last boulder, it's as though a giant picked the large rock up, then threw it, sending it hurtling over the buildings out of sight.

As the rock clears the building, I run out of pause.

Suddenly, all my air torrents activate at once, which causes a drawback I hadn't considered. I naturally allow my spells to draw from their surroundings. Which means, when I cast twenty-something separate wind torrents at the same time, all from the same spot, it leaves me in very thin air. But only long enough for the sudden vacuum to draw everything in the vicinity into me. Such as my nearby team members.

As I find myself at the centre of a knee and elbow storm of chaos, my torrents continue screeching outwards. Before we're able to extricate ourselves, a transparent shield pops into place, surrounding us.

"Uh. What happened," Josh asks, gently knocking half of us over when he stands, extricating himself with no apparent effort.

"Uhm. That was my bad," I admit as moments later, everyone else is on their feet while I'm still trying to unhook my pack from around my ankle. I'm really glad that my health took the brunt of that. With my equipment, I only took five damage. And I got hit by a lot of limbs.

I push myself to my feet. Huh. That felt easier than it used to. If increasing my strength is going to make the little things noticeably easier, that makes investing in it far more tempting.

"We still have hostiles, people," Beth mentions, accompanied by the whisper of her rifle.

"Yep. Twenty-three," Rufka adds, while shooting an arrow upwards, which is followed by a crackling boom. As the boom passes, she continues, "twenty-one."

Right, the Fallen aren't just sitting there.

Looking up, I notice there are bolts of lightning and wind mana striking Roberts's shield. I join the defence, firing a lightning torrent towards one that has made the mistake of standing where I can easily see it rising from behind its cover.

As I've come to expect, my torrent blasts the Fallen before arcing to others behind it. This time though the Fallen is only stunned, otherwise seemingly unaffected by my spell.

So, I cast another one. This time there's a horrible scream of pain as my spell chars flesh. It's less than a second before the creature stops, dissolving into blue dust. But that second feels as long as one of my time-stops. They're just monsters, I tell myself as I stare at where its body was a second before.

I’m vaguely aware of the others as they act.

Smoulder is on my shoulder, looking around, disappointed that none of the enemies are getting close.

Josh throws a pod made of rose petals and thorns which explodes outwards, throwing thorns while producing a pink haze, causing any nearby Fallen to collapse.

Tipan shoots nearly transparent blades of air from the tip of her staff, which cut through the surrounding buildings as easily as they do the fallen.

Roberts simply maintains his transparent shield, but given that the ability to retaliate without having to dodge is incredibly valuable, I think he's contributing plenty.

Meanwhile, Beth and Rufka continue to shoot. The rest of the Fallen are defeated or retreat before I have time to rejoin the defence, unable to find a new target. Looking around I note that the only damage anyone took during that skirmish was me when I sucked us all into a ball.

Everyone else is at full health, though Roberts is down half his Reprieve.

"I knew the one who led them. Her name was Dhanni. She was my…. friend. I would lay her to rest forever," Rufka mumbles from beside me once it's over. She whispers it so quietly, I'm sure her words are meant for my ears only.

Looking to Rufka, I take her hand, squeezing it as I quietly declare, "I'll help however I can." Even as Rufka squeezes my hand back, I can't help wondering what will happen when I strike another Fallen with my magic. None of the monsters I've struck before cried out in pain. They'd all been pure fury, whether Pothlin or wolfadillo.

Are the Fallen different? Or has my magic changed?

As I'm pondering, I notice a quest notification.

"Quest received: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Description: Rufka desires to lay her…. friend to rest. As a friend, she asks for your help in this difficult task. And you have accepted. Requirements: Lay Dhanni to Rest. Forever: 0/1. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points, one K'tharn terramancy spell. Time: 6/7 days remaining."

"Oh. These are always rough quests. But it's worse to do them alone."

Yeah, not sure how I feel about this being a quest.

"Ki-ahem-Alexis. Any chance you could do that area of effect loot thing again?" Beth asks, bringing me out of the quest screen.

"Oh. Sure. Give me a second," I reply as I reach out.

"Would you like to loot all Fallen K'tharn within 100 meters for 46 facet and 34 focus?"

Confirming, I watch as several clouds of blue dust rise into the air. I don't see one rise from where I struck the Fallen earlier. I guess I must have hit her especially hard. Maybe that's why she screamed?

I hope that's all there was to it. Now that we've all unlocked our inventories, the loot moves directly into our inventory with a short notification summarizing the results.

"Looted from the Fallen K'tharn of Lescodo:

- 1 mortal grade earth essence

- 3 mortal grade fire essence

- 2 mortal grade ice essence

- 7 mortal grade lightning essence

- 2 mortal grade metal essence

- 1 mortal grade stone essence

- 2 mortal grade water essence

- 8 mortal grade wind essence

Total mge (mortal grade elemental) essence looted: 26

- 1 mortal grade mana essence

That's a lot less than the Pothlin, but I guess it's pretty good. There weren’t really that many Fallen and half of them escaped.

"That is a remarkably convenient ability to have around. I’ve never seen an ability to loot at such a range before,” Tipan comments as we start moving again.

"Really? Are there other versions like it?" Roberts asks, dropping the shield while keeping his eyes up.

"Yes, there are several similar general abilities that anyone can purchase in the system store," Tipan answers as we circle a large curved silver building that has no visible entrance.

We continue working our way in and out around the perimeter of the city, easily defeating any fallen that attack us. It's during this time, I note that everyone else in the party moves faster than me. If we weren't being cautious, I'd be slowing them down. I mean I could run to keep up, but I'd lose every race.

As we explore, Josh and Roberts start trading notes about what their Forerunner prep included. After a little bit, I join in, then so does Beth. While there isn't much of note that we haven't already discovered, there are a couple things.

For one, I'm the only one who received a map, though at this point I question my map's usefulness. It didn't even show the village or the city. But I describe what I know of the local territory. Tipan adds that she has a proper map in her storage that we can have when we return to Raz’s.

Josh received a field guide to poisonous and edible flora and fauna, which he'd been given to understand were all located in an isolated preserve. Which is kind of true, from a certain perspective.

As we talk, we're attacked by Fallen again. It's much easier for me to shoot back than it would be if they weren't attacking us first. Thankfully, none of the Fallen cry out, whether I hit them with lightning, fire or wind.

Until I decide to use my very first ice spell, that is.

While I've paused a couple times, I've mainly focused on reducing the amount my torrent spells draw from my surroundings. With my edge, the impact of my spells without using the surrounding energy is still impressive.

But now I'm thinking about the future and what skills I need to improve. Since I've been ignoring my ice manipulation, I decide I need to cast at least one spell with it.

The next Fallen I see dies impaled on a scaled-up ice arrow that, given its size, would be more appropriate to call an ice spike. The Fallen doesn't go quietly, however, screaming incoherently as she fades. This time I'm not the only one that notices.

"I've never seen that before. How did you do that Lex?" Rufka asks, stepping up beside me while pointing at where the screaming Fallen's blue dust is already starting to fade.

"I don't know. I'm not trying to make them scream, it just happens," I reply uneasily.

"Nah. Not the screaming bit. That happens to mess with ya. I mean the turning them to dust. That should take hours or using the loot function," Rufka states.

"Uhm, I don't know," I reply honestly. I guess it didn't really occur to me, but she has a point. None of my other enemies had turned into dust immediately. I hadn't been worried about it, what with being preoccupied with the screaming. A thought which prompts me to continue, "What do you mean, they scream to mess with me?"

Rufka scratches her chin thinking. Before she can respond, the soft voice of Tipan answers from behind me, "Fallen will employ all manner of tricks. If we move into the inner city, I imagine they will have created traps specifically tailored to address the abilities we've displayed thus far. Not that their traps will prove effective."

"Yeah. What she said," Rufka confirms as we begin climbing over a collapsed section of a building that fills the street. I say climb, but I'm actually making steps for myself. While the stone is resistant, similar to how the church had been, my ability has increased by an order of magnitude since then, so it's easy.

"So, they're intelligent?" Roberts asks from below me where Smoulder is playing ring-around-the-Roberts. And the Tipan. She's multifaceted.

"It depends on the Fallen. My sister once fought a Fallen who…." Tipan trails off as we make it to the top, where the rest of us have stopped.

"Who what? Oh...." Roberts trails off as he joins us. There's a hole in the city where a smooth round silver building has been violently thrust several blocks away from us, knocking the nearby buildings away. It remains mostly intact, which is more than can be said for the buildings it rests amongst.

And there, in its shadow, standing in neat, orderly groups, is an army of Fallen.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Fixed some more grammar in the early chapters.

You should probably wait until next month cause otherwise you'll be charged double, but Patreon is 4 chapters ahead. By 6:00 am tomorrow (Mar 28, 2020) it will be 6 chapters.

Thanks for joining me and Alexis on our journey.

1.34 Fallen and Falling

January 17, 2019, 11:29am. A calm moment in the sun as we contemplate the challenges that lie before us. Like a giant army of Fallen.

“I thought we weren’t going to encounter that many Fallen until we made our way into the inner city,” I whisper quietly as I gaze at the Fallen army gathered far below us. Luckily, they've made no sign they’ve noticed us, so I'm not too worried. We are looking down on them from over a hundred metres up, so I guess that rule, 'remember to look up' applies to monsters too.

Creeping slightly closer to the edge that just…. ends, I inspect the army below. They’re standing neatly in squads, groups or whatever... of two deep by five wide.

A quick count reveals there’s at least a thousand there. None of the squads are moving, they're just standing there, stiff.

It almost seems like they’re in a stupor of some sort, like when you go shopping at Wal-Mart for a bottle of milk but end up filling an entire cart with cat pictures, discount movies and toilet paper.

Not that I’ve done that. Well….. I didn’t make it to the till, so it didn’t count.

As I’m mentally tallying up the numbers of the Fallen below, I notice there's some movement in a small camp at the base of the round silver building on the far side of the hole.

“This is fascinating,” Tipan whispers, surveying the assembled Fallen beside me, “I’ve heard of this but never seen it before.”

“What are we looking at here?” Beth asks, clearly troubled.

“I can’t be entirely sure, but I believe those three are awakened Fallen. Training may be more dangerous than we’d been hoping for,” Tipan replies as Rufka moves up next to me pointing down.

Following her finger, it dawns on me that one of the three is her friend Dhanni, her dark chocolate fur not particularly common among the Fallen below. She’s moving around near what appears to be a fire with a cook-pot above it. Do the Fallen still eat?

“These ones appear docile. Are we sure they’re a threat?” Roberts asks, staring down with discomfort written across his face.

As he’s speaking, I hear Rufka whisper, “no debt unpaid,” as she raises her bow, sighting down it. I place my hand on her arm before she can draw as Tipan speaks.

“Only if they notice us. I suggest we withdraw,” Tipan suggests, creeping away from the ledge while Rufka glances at me before lowering her bow.

“Agreed. There’s over a thousand of them down there,” Beth replies as she motions us back down. I prepare to follow but notice Rufka isn’t moving. She looks at me then gazes back at her friend.

Letting out a deep breath, Rufka moves to retreat. Of course, that’s when something explodes in our midst, sending me flying.

I’m unable to see what happened but I can feel Rufka is close but the others are getting further away.

As I process this, I find myself spinning, looking down at a very steep drop, then at the sky above. Huh, there aren’t many clouds in the sky. Then I’m facing downwards again, flipping too quickly to focus. I’m halfway to the ground before it finally occurs to me to pause time.

I’m left facing the crumbling interior of the building we were just crawling over. It’s full of rubble on the inside. I wonder if it was an office building. There aren’t any signs of furniture. Neither beds nor desks to be found anywhere.

Right. Not important.

Quickly reviewing the party’s status, I see that Rufka and I are the only ones who lost health. Rufka seems to have taken the brunt of the damage. I’m only down by nineteen points but she’s lost over a hundred. Even as I’m checking our status, I feel a strange sensation pressing against my side.

I’m hoping it’s Rufka as I can tell she’s close, but I'm worried it might not be.

It takes a long moment before I’m able to confirm that it’s her arm sliding around to scoop me up. As she pulls me away from my close up of the ruined building, I see the ground a mere twenty metres away. I'm sure I would have done something about that, but she seems like she’s got things under control.

Then we’re moving as fast as Rufka can scramble, the pause ending as she redirects me away from the ground.

While Rufka is heroically saving me from the ground, I notice several nearby squads turning in our direction as one of the three in the camp calls out, rising into the air.

Rufka doesn’t move back up the building towards the others. Instead, she’s running parallel using some type of earth skates to hold us to the frame of the building.

“Uhm, not to complain but we’re getting closer to the Fallen,” I observe, watching the squads turn towards us while the 'Awakened' Fallen from the camp floats nearby.

I’m not sure how she’s flying, there’s no noticeable effect granting her flight, she’s simply hanging in the air as if the ground is beneath her. Figuratively as well as literally. Her fur is white, like Tipan’s, though it’s stained in a few spots. Even though it's stained, it’s the least matted fur I’ve seen on a Fallen.

“That’s okay. This is where the fun is,” Rufka grins as we skate even lower as she swings me around into a princess carry.

She pulls a one-eighty as we hit the ground which means we’re finally moving away from their camp. However, the only open path is deeper into the city. Not ideal.

Casting my Umbrella spell, I barely block an incoming ice arrow from a nearby squad before pausing time, taking in our situation.

There are several squads already throwing spells at us, which I move to block while also firing back. Even with Rufka’s speed and my spells, they’re catching up, the white one directing them.

I give serious consideration to trying to haste Rufka. But she doesn’t have the protection from temporal tides I do. Plus, I haven’t even hasted myself yet. I add it to the to-do list.

Rufka does, however, have lightning resistance and excellent balance. When time unpauses, I call out, “I’m going to unleash the Thunder. There’s going to be knockback.”

Rufka nods, dropping my head by half a metre as she swerves to dodge a boulder I hadn’t noticed.

Pausing time again as Rufka draws me up, I fire several throw-us-away lightning torrents out behind Rufka. Since the goal is to escape, I focus on targeting them for thrust rather than sowing carnage. I do manage to hit several Fallen with the discharge regardless.

Directing several more squads in our direction while I've been busy, the white Fallen turns her single red eye upon us. Her other three eyes are empty, only filled with the cloudy white of blindness. Matching her gaze over Rufka’s shoulder, I analyze her.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

"Name: Bel'dast of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Medium, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: This Fallen is an expert with both bows and aeromancy.

Defences: This Fallen has medium physical resistance, high magic resistance, high wind resistance."

"She's near the upper end of iron rank. That there are two Fallen this strong is unusual. That they have so many System spawned Fallen serving them is even more so.”

Even as I read Wyonna’s words, I notice another Fallen emerging from their camp as the pause ends.

Unlike whitey, she’s not content to direct the mooks. She visibly crackles with lightning as she reaches her dark, nearly black, furred arms to the sky sending lightning arcing upwards. She’s clearly missing several chunks out of those arms, the flesh is simply gone, the gaps showing exposed bone.

All four of her red eyes cast their ominous gaze upon us as I react easily, reentering paused time.

I do notice that each time I pause, my duration seems to be getting shorter. That could be a problem.

Instead of worrying about the diminishing returns on my superpower, I start bringing forth a shield of stone from the street beneath us. I’m going to use it to block the lightning strike which is still high in the sky and has only started coming down towards us, but it will take time to get into place.

While I’m waiting for the stone to move, I analyze the still channelling Fallen.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 8.

"Name: Seldast of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Medium, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: This Fallen is a master of lightning.

Defences: This Fallen has medium physical resistance, high magic resistance, high lightning resistance."

“She’s upper iron rank too. There's definitely something wrong here. You need to get out of there."

As I’m looking her over, I notice clumps of earth moving to float around her. Rufka’s former friend, Dhanni, is moving to join the other two, floating on a solid piece of earth. She almost seems to meld with the earth she floats upon, her dark brown fur matches so closely.

With all three together, I decide to fire off a few lightning torrents, just in case. As I’m watching the torrents fly towards them, the knockback from my other spells accelerates us, pushing us nearly a hundred metres away. Rufka lands in the empty street, only stumbling slightly before racing further away.

While watching over Rufka’s shoulder, I see Dhanni is able to deflect the torrent I sent at her with a barrier of earth.

Seldast, the Lightning Fallen, redirects both my other torrents into the ground nearby as my pause ends again. Good to know, I can redirect spells thrown at me. I’m going to need to practice that.

“Awesome,” Rufka grins as I block several incoming spells with a large block of stone. It stops most of the attacks in their tracks, but there’s a shard of metal the size of my head poking through.

At first, I think Rufka is commenting on my efforts. But then I realize she couldn't see any of it. Turning forwards, curious what has Rufka excited, I notice that the street ends just two metres ahead. The buildings ahead are all significantly lower than the ones beside us indicating a precipitous drop.

Yet Rufka doesn’t slow, grabbing the edge then changing our course while skimming sideways with her skates, a spike of ice crashing against the shield I left behind us.

I didn’t notice earlier, but she has a skate on each of her upper paws, which allows for better control.

Having four arms would be so useful. I’m not just saying that because she can hold me up while also keeping a paw to the wall, but it’s a contributing factor. Speaking of carrying others, I quickly check to ensure Smoulder’s still secure only to discover she’s napping.

Figures, I stand up from the table too suddenly, it wakes her up. But, I get tossed a hundred metres over the side of a building before getting caught in midair? Nothing but zees.

As we descend, still skimming the wall I watch the Fallen scramble along the top of the ledge.

I take potshots whenever one comes out, which seems to discourage them as they start to fall behind, apparently not willing to make the jump down to the inner city. While I’ve blasted several of the lesser Fallen, of the Fallen Triplets as I’ve designated them, there is no sign.

There’s also been no further screams from any of the Fallen thankfully. And that's despite the fact I've destroyed over thirty Fallen since we fell.

“So, I don’t know what’s going on, but I think we lost them,” I inform Rufka, who’s still skating along, carrying me as if I weigh no more than a fluffy pillow.

Slowing slightly, Rufka turns to glance behind us before resuming her smooth stride.

“Hmm. I would not be so sure. Unless I’m mistaken, they have proper flight abilities, not simply manipulation skills. Mum says flight requires the highest of iron rank ability tiers. We need a place we can defend or a route to the outer ring,” Rufka decides, continuing to run.

I hadn’t thought about that. We’re going to need to get back up the wall to get back to Raz’s. Every street we’ve passed leads further into the city. The side at my feet is nothing but jagged earth.

"If we can get far enough ahead, I can probably create a way up," I suggest, gesturing at the cliff beside us.

"Could you not simply do that thing where you cast a rapid series of spells?" Rufka asks as she keeps running.

"Uhm. Yes? Probably," I reply, checking the wall.

"Good. Time to start," Rufka states as she leaps into the air next to the wall without further warning.

As she reaches the apex of her jump, only a couple meters but higher than I could achieve, I start forming a platform beneath her feet. It's slower than I'd like, but once there's a quarter metre of platform protruding from the wall, Rufka pushes off, taking us higher. Unfortunately, creating platforms at the rate Rufka requires means I’m creating them from nothing instead of rearranging materials, so I’m going through mana fast.

We continue the process, gaining height quickly. I'm able to start forming the footholds without pausing by the time we're halfway up, saving me a great deal of tedium. The first half of the climb felt as though it took fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, for Rufka it has only been a few seconds.

It's about this time that Smoulder wakes from her nap, complaining about me jostling her. Sending a sense of not-now her way, I continue concentrating on Rufka's footholds. In less than half a minute, we make it to the top. As we reach the lip, Rufka is suddenly knocked to the side, out over the open air.

Not wanting to waste mana repeating our efforts I use a lightning torrent to blast her back into place while seeking the source of our problem.

Floating above a distant building is the white-furred Aeromancer Bel'dast, the first of the Fallen Triplets I saw earlier.

I don't have much time to glare at her before she's obscured behind a wave of Fallen cresting the edge of the building, all of whom start throwing different elemental spells at us.

Entering another pause I blast several of them, unleashing multiple torrents while creating new shields. Without Roberts, I don't have the defences to withstand their assault for long. Clearly thinking along similar lines, Rufka takes us back over the cliff, once more using her earth skates to control our descent.

The Fallen stop chasing us once they reach the edge, looking over while casting their spells, but not following us.

Once we're further along, out of sight of the Fallen, Rufka finally stops, setting me down gently across the street, away from the cliff face. She does keep it in sight though.

"What's up," I wonder as I regain my feet. Whoa, little dizzy there.

"It is strange. The Fallen have made camp further out, yet do not follow us here," Rufka observes, looking up across the street to a gap on the far side. It's similar to the one we just tried to climb, though there are no Fallen at the edge, raining death down on our heads. Yet.

"Do you think we're safe here for a minute? Or do you think we should move inside? I want to let the others know we're alright," I ask, gesturing to the buildings along the side of the street.

"It would be easier to run if anything approaches out here. I could carry you for hours without complaint." Checking her stamina, I realize she's not even boasting. She's still at a robust 526/546 stamina. The others' statuses are all greyed out, but with IFF active I know their rough direction. I'm also able to determine that they're all moving.

"Okay," I reply, sitting on what resembles what may have once been the base of a light pole or something similar if we were back on earth. Realizing we're not moving, Smoulder squirms her way out of my jacket, climbing to my shoulder then rubbing up against my chin. Pulling out some more fruit jerky, I give her head scritches. Then while she roasts her food, I contact the rest of the party.

Now that I have IFF, I don't need to wait for a pulse, connecting to Josh instantly. I'm still feeling uncomfortable talking to Beth. Which is painful to admit. I genuinely admired her. I thought she was 'Just so awesome.'

I still kind of look up to her. Because she is awesome. Which is why it hurts that she wouldn't just listen when I tried to explain.

"Hey Josh," I greet through the link.

"Alexis? Oh, thank Jeebus," Josh responds, his words broken by the sounds of thudding footsteps.

"Beth, Alexis is alright!" I hear Josh yell before I can continue.

"Rufka is too. I think she saved me," I add as I hear Beth ask Josh for our location.

Answering before he can relay the message, I tell him, "I think we're in the inner city. It's like a hundred meters lower than the rest of the city. We tried climbing out, but a huge wave of fallen attacked us, forcing us to retreat. They're not chasing us, which is worrying."

"Yeah, we're at the edge of the city. They're still chasing us which has Tipan pulling her hair out. Uhh. Fur. Apparently, they never come out this far, ya know?" Josh replies as I watch Rufka take a drink from her pack, once more setting a cup out for each of us. This time it's not tea.

"So, it's completely backwards, they're unable to enter the inner city, but they're able to get to the outer edge," I note as Rufka carefully measures out two shots of moonshine. That ten health-edge does seem like a good idea right now.

"Yeah, Beth and Roberts are debating whether to join you or head back to Raz's. Tipan isn't really dealing with any of it well," Josh states as Rufka offers me my cup. But I hold off on drinking. There's no way I'll be able to drink it without gagging. And I'd rather not subject Josh to that.

"Well, we're safe at the moment. You should probably focus on yourself," I offer, prepared to end the link.

"Thanks, Lex. Oh, Tipan says she and Rufka can use party chat to talk.”

“Oh. And now Beth is wondering why Tipan didn't mention-" Josh starts when Beth yells out, "Incoming!" interrupting him.

"Uh, we'll get back to you guys, got to go," Josh practically yells, at which point I let the link end.

"Well, sounds like they're in a pickle," I tell Rufka as I eye my cup warily.

"They're what?" Rufka asks, setting her empty cup down beside me.

"You know, in trouble?" I reply, then I realize I used the English word. K'tharn don't preserve vegetables.

"Ah. Well, I think we are in our own 'pickle'.” Rufka replies, getting most of the pronunciation correct. She manages to fit a rolling “r” in making it sound like prickle, but it’s otherwise a solid nine out of ten. While I’m rating her speech, she continues, “I suspect there's a reason the Fallen avoid this area.”

“What? Like a big bad monster?” I ask, looking around.

“Yes. But a specific big bad monster. Something along the lines of a system boss,” Rufka answers, her gaze drifting towards the centre of the city.

“System boss?” I ask while bringing my moonshine to my lips.

“Yeah,” she nods.

“Sigh. What’s a system boss?” I clarify while trying to slam the whole drink in one go. It does not work.

“Whoa. Easy there Lexi,” Rufka warns a moment too late, supporting me with two arms as I hack and cough. I can’t help but notice how soft her fur is as I fight to recover my breath.

“I-I’m alright,” I finally choke out once I can breathe again, “note to self, do not try to drink it in a single go.”

“Truly, a courageous attempt,” Rufka says with mock seriousness while she refills my cup to make up for all the liquor that’s dribbling down my new jacket.

Damnit.

“Thanks. I was going for Epic, couldn’t you tell?” I joke as I take the new cup of moonshine. It’s a shame the bonus is so big because I really don’t want to drink it.

Welp, too bad.

Several sips later and I’m finally feeling like a proper rapscallion. Checking my status, it’s nice to see the extra health edge.

“What do you think we should do now?” I ask Rufka, looking back to the streets above. “As long as we don’t try to take the entire army on, we can probably make it through to the others.”

“Hmm. That sounds like my kind of plan,” Rufka replies as she drapes her arm over my shoulder.

“This might be the moonshine talking, but I think we’re going to be alright," I foolishly proclaim.

We both look up at the cliff in front of us, just taking a moment.

Then Rufka speaks.

“It’s definitely the moonshine.”

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Hmm. Last day of the month, so you should probably wait until tomorrow to join us on Patreon. If you do join us, you'll be able to read up to six chapters ahead.

I don't usually mention other author's work here, but I thought I'd mention that if you read Into the Mire, the author is asking for some voting support with a pretty tight deadline. This portion of the author's note will be irrelevant as of April 1, 2020.

//intothemire.com/2020/03/30/author-update-nominated-for-the-sir-julius-vogel-awards-rad-new-art/

Thanks for joining Alexis and me on our journey.

1.35 The Moonshine Talks, and the Moonwalk Walks

January 17, 2019, 11:55am. Time to get a wee bit tipsy. It’s 4’o clock somewhere.

“So. How are we going to get to them?” I can’t help but ask. I’m kind of wishing that all these Fallen had quests. So far, I’ve personally taken down more than thirty with no, 'Slay them all,' quest appearing. Doesn't look like I'm going to be farming easy integration points here.

At least there’s plenty of essence, if we only had time to gather it.

"Don't know. If the others are coming to us, it would be a waste of time going to them," Rufka says, leaning against me as she closes all four of her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," I reply, leaning back with her while Smoulder purr-rumbles in our ears.

"But I need to get to Dhanni. If she's not going to come to us…" Rufka starts, her eyes still closed.

"Then we need to go to her. Yeah," I finish for her before adding, "so, uhm. You want to talk about her?"

"No," Rufka replies, resting an arm over her head which she bops on mine with a mumbled, "Sorry."

"Okay. Well, if you-"

"She wasn't just my friend. She was my thiani," Rufka interjects, apparently changing her mind.

Oh. Ohhhh.

Thiani is another of those words that doesn't have a proper translation into English. It's kind of like a mix between a girlfriend and a battle-bonded soldier you'd fought and bled beside. Intimate to say the least. It didn't necessarily mean a future together, but it was an acknowledgement of shared affection and trust.

"We were supposed to meet not far from here, about a year ago. But there'd been a fierce mana-storm the night before. And as tends to happen in the wake of a mana-storm, especially in the reaches, strange users showed up. Not outlanders like you, but K'tharn. At least that year."

"Wait. You have strangers show up all the time? Then why'd you drag me into your cabin like you did?"

"We have users show up. We don't have any-user stumble over our isolated, and off the beaten path, cabin. I still can't believe you found it. Though I'm glad you did."

"Aww. Thanks. You were saying?"

"Right. We were supposed to meet. But I was late. Had to sort out the users. When I finally got my tail to our rendezvous spot, she was already dying. I tried to help her. To put her back together. But none of the system's Vaus damned magic…. nothing worked."

"Nothing."

I don't say anything as Rufka chokes up, just reaching over, holding her hand. Picking up on my vibe from our bond, Smoulder hops onto Rufka's lap, purring gently. Rufka pets Smoulder for a minute before continuing.

"She mentioned a K'tharn had been there. A strange one. She'd done something to Dhanni that had hurt her. Hurt her worse than she'd ever been hurt in her life.

"She'd broken bones and lost an arm once, so I could only imagine what she'd gone through. And at the end of it, her system…. it was gone. She told me…… She told me she was glad I was the one there at the end."

"How do you respond to a statement like that?" Rufka asks me with a strained voice.

I still don't respond, just giving her hand a squeeze. I don't know the answer any better than she does.

We sit in silence for a minute before Rufka speaks again.

"Mum told me a lot about the Fallen that night. We went back out to hunt for her, but we couldn't find a trace. Since we couldn't find her, Mum was convinced she hadn't become a Fallen. Mum's the expert, so I thought the same. We never imagined she'd be here," she says, shrugging against me as we go quiet again.

"Uhm. Thanks for listening. I don't usually get like this," Rufka says, still covering her eyes with her arm.

"Anytime. That's what friends are for, right?" I reply, elbowing her gently.

"Huh, yeah. You understand why I need to lay her to rest though?"

"Uh, hell yeah. But how are we going to get to her if they attack us a hundred at a time like they did? Plus, they've got air superiority."

"Yes. If only we had an incredibly skilled Elementalist of our own. Perhaps one who could control wind well enough to fly," Rufka says, finally lifting her arm. She opens both eyes on her left, slanting her head to the side a fraction to look in my direction.

"See, you say that, but I have no idea where to start with a flight spell," I reply, shrugging.

Satisfied that we're no longer distressed, Smoulder hops clear of Rufka, deciding to investigate the nearby building.

"I think you start with flying."

"Ha. Okay, I bite. How exactly do I start with flying?" I ask, smiling at her.

"Oh, I was thinking something like this," Rufka says as she suddenly leaps into the air, pulling me up off the rock with her.

She doesn't stop there, however.

Of course she doesn't.

Once we’re near her apex, she tosses me overhead where I flail for a second before pausing time.

Only Rufka could go from 'confessing intimate details with' to 'unwarranted tossing of' her friend in under a minute. I'd be glaring at her right now, but I'm currently staring at the sky, so that wouldn't be particularly effective. I still channel my best glare, just in case.

Over my right shoulder, I notice I'm almost halfway to the top of the cliff. How freaking strong is she that she can throw me nearly fifty metres in the air?

Oh, now I'm falling.

I wonder if she's right. Can I figure out how to fly?

I mean I just saw three different examples of flight. Plus, Rufka implied that I could fly using manipulation or abilities. I wonder if flight is possible with every element. Considering one of them appeared to be flying through the application of earth magic, I hope the answer is yes. That would be super cool.

Let's see. How can I do this? Metal for wings? Just try to blast myself up using wind. Maybe I should try to use lightning to…. Okay, yeah, I've got nothing there. How the hell was she doing that?

As I'm thinking, I'm also twisting my body around so I can glare at Rufka. She's watching me with a giant grin on her face. But also, with intense focus.

My glare is not having the desired effect.

While I'm glaring at her I can't help thinking about my spell. If I want to be able to fly long term, I'm going to need a rune of some form.

Otherwise, I'll need to concentrate on the effect continuously. Which will drain my focus, just like with my early attempts at creating my umbrella spell. But I'm not sure which rune to use and I'm kind of falling back towards Rufka's waiting arms, even now.

It's handy that my clock can let me know exactly when my pause is going to end. It makes it easy to start a second one immediately after the first. I notice the decrease in the dilation of the second pause is more extreme when I do it back to back, only getting two minutes per real-time second. I wonder if it keeps halving with every pause.

Facing downwards, I decide I should use wind magic to figure out my flight spell. It feels like the most directly linked to flight, since wind is flying all the time.

Kinda.

Whatever.

It's surprisingly easy to slow my fall just by packing a bunch of wind mana into a pocket beneath me. That's not to say that I'm flying yet, but I've already learned slow-fall. That's three-quarters of the way to being a monk, all by itself.

I continue messing with air mana trying to pack it or direct it away from myself right up until the moment Rufka catches me in her arms. It's a gentle landing, especially since I stretch my effect to slow her landing too.

"Ha, see. What did I say? A single toss and you're already discovering new magic. My mum would have loved to have you as… Ow. Owowow," Rufka whines in response to me smacking her ear when she shifts me into a princess carry again. I was going to pause time again, but since the opportunity to express my displeasure arose, I couldn't help myself.

"What the hell? You don't just toss people in the air Rufka. Don't you know anything about consent? You need to ask before you do crazy stuff," I say arms crossed while I look up at her.

"But that wouldn't be nearly as fun, Lexi," Rufka says, grinning at me as she sets me down.

"Yeah, well...." I say noncommittally as I realize I'm going to ask her to toss me again.

Am I crazy?

….

Probably.

Does it matter?

"Throw me again. Please?"

"Haha. I knew you were my kind of crazy," Rufka says as she tosses me with a mighty leap while Smoulder watches us from below. This time I'm prepared for it, freezing time from the second she lets go.

I immediately start forming air around me to serve as wings, which lets me direct my upwards travel. I'm able to push myself even higher by forcing air against my feet as I spiral upwards. Looking down, I discover I've managed at least sixty meters this time. But I'm still not flying. I can feel the loss of acceleration as I near the peak.

Okay. Flight requires what? Lift? Thrust? Doesn't thrust just give me more lift? I bet Sab would know.

What do I have that I can get thrust from? Obvious answer, old lightning torrent. I guess I could use a series of lightning torrents to fly, though at best it would be falling with style, like we did earlier. Well, Rufka was totally styling. I was being carried like a doll. Not that stylish.

Just one more reason for me to figure out how to fly.

Bringing up the rune for my old lightning torrent, I inspect it. It's the nozzles that point back towards me that provide most of the thrust. There are two of them, which I can't imagine would provide stable thrust. Especially with how roughly I've always been tossed. Altering the design, I attempt to place four spirals in a single rune, but I'm not able to keep all four linked using the same helix structure.

Probably a good thing. That would be an immensely crazy spell.

As I start to descend, I create a new cushion of air while I consider my other complicated rune. Well, the other complicated rune I kind of understand at least. Umbrella. I take the basic design, but wrap it around my legs, basically creating two umbrella structures along my legs. Then I imbue it with wind mana.

As I float down to land in Rufka's arms one more time, (I might be getting a little spoiled with the soft landings here,) I'm not able to notice a difference using just the double wind umbrella shape. Plus, I have to cast it twice. Still not a workable spell, but it feels closer.

"See, I didn't even throw you as hard that time, but you still went farther. You'll have this figured out in five minutes, I'd bet ten copper," Rufka says as she sets me down again.

"You have ten copper grade essence?" I ask her while inspecting my still present umbrella wind shorts. Actually, that might be the solution.

Maybe I can make them into shorts.

“Nah, easier to keep em as iron,” Rufka replies as I continue my experiments. Trying to reweave the umbrella doesn't really work. When I move the triangles too far out of shape, they lose their flexibility. So, I just leave slightly squished umbrellas.

Deciding I should test them to see if there's any effect, I hop in place. Which allows me to observe that they're kind of working. It's similar to the cushion of air, slowing my descent. Now I just need to modify them to have thrust. Pausing time, because I've seen what happened when Ironman tried experimenting with his jet pack, I create thrust points on each leg. Then I try again.

It's slightly successful. I'm not able to fly, but hovering is now a reality. Giving it a minute, to ensure I'm not about to blast into the air due to a delayed effect, I start increasing the size of my foot umbrellas. Which is where I run into a new problem. The umbrellas are starting to overlap, but I'm not able to link them.

Instead of trying to solve it, I discard the idea of wind shorts, moving on to the simpler idea of a wind hoverboard. Because hoverboard. Should have started here.

This moves me up higher. I'm now a full metre off the ground. More importantly, the hoverboard lets me direct myself forwards and backwards. Considering how quickly I can feel the feedback, even when paused, I decide to let it disperse as the pause ends.

"What's wrong? It looked like it was working?" Rufka asks while I think back on the lessons of Ironman.

"Control," I reply, as I think.

"Okay?" Rufka replies, watching me closely.

The problem is control. Hands for control? But why limit myself to hands? I could probably create spells at my shoulders just as easily. The key is to figure out how to link it from my feet to my hands or shoulders though. It's easy enough to create small links between the core runes I've discovered but running a link all the way from my feet to my shoulders would be a longer stretch than any single line in any of my runes so far.

But still, I might as well try it.

As I expected, it doesn't work. The rune forms easily enough, but it costs me fifteen mana and quickly destabilizes. I could use more connections to stabilize it further, but that will just drive the mana cost even higher. The fact that the system didn't give me an option to add a new spell means I can't rely on it to simply improve the spell either. Shame.

If the effect lasts for a while it still might be worth it.

But the casual way the Triplets were floating implies there's an easier way.

Before I can think about it more, Rufka interrupts, "I'd love to wait for you to figure this out, but we have company."

"Huh," I eloquently reply as a rumble shakes through me. Down the street, only a couple hundred metres away, a gigantic, metallic spider is stepping across the street, moving from the top of one building to the next without stepping down. For reference, the buildings are roughly fifty meters apart.

Kind of feeling like I'm in one of those giant monster movies. Things get so big here.

Unlike most spiders, who have all those compound eyes, this metallic monstrosity only has one smooth eye set in the middle of its head. The eye glows with a familiar red light, which glints off its silver cladding.

I almost analyze it, but I'm distracted by the horde of smaller spiders that appear, clambering around its feet, pouring into the street beneath it. They follow it for over a minute before the last one crawls out of sight. Huh, I guess they didn't notice us.

Okay, giant spiders with glowing red eyes. Pretty sure I should be freaking out right now. Guess it's a good thing I've got Muthica's finest fortifying my resolve.

Rufka and I stand there watching for another half a minute, but the spiders don't return.

"I think we scared them off," Rufka says, nudging me with her elbow.

"Oh definitely. It's all my mighty muscles," I reply, flexing my arms before returning my attention to my spell while Rufka chortles.

Now, about my spell. Maybe a different configuration. I could try having more controls near the main disk, but it doesn't solve the problem of my adjustments being bottom heavy. Hoping for inspiration, I open my skills, reviewing them.

Skills

Matrix

Skill Level

Temporal Manipulation

35

Spatial Manipulation

33

Mana Manipulation

85

Combat

Skill Level

Throwing

12

Elemental

Skill Level

Fire Manipulation

43

Water Manipulation

55

Wind Manipulation

54

Lightning Manipulation

49

Stone Manipulation

58

Earth Manipulation

55

Metal Manipulation

37

Ice Manipulation

30

Twilight Manipulation

25

Knowledge

Skill Level

Gaming

2

Engineering

29

Survival - Temperate Forest

12

Support

Skill Level

Cooking

0

Cleaning

48

Crafting

Skill Level

Woodworking

1

Stone Shaping

35

Metal Shaping

35

Tailoring

2

Ceramics

4

Movement

Skill Level

Swimming

1

Running

5

Climbing

2

Riding

8

Hmm. Nothing pops out to me... but looking at my mana manipulation, I Focus on it. And it gives me reminders of all the way I've experimented with it. Including when I first ran the channels along my skin. I haven't experimented with that for a few days. But it might be the answer to my problem. It is the key to manipulating my mana externally after all.

Storing my jacket and boots, in case of slicing and dicing, I prepare to stop time. Then I decide to store my bra as well, just to be safe.

With all my valuable possessions tucked away, I pause time. I start by creating my wind-based hoverboard. Which the system called adaptive wind-shield when it offered to add it to my spells, but I convinced it otherwise. Not that I accepted the spell.

This time I create a link to the board that leads under my skin. Learning from my previous experience, I have the mana channel connect to my bare ankle just above my socks. Then I create another two smaller wind hoverboards around the wrist of each hand.

When the prompt comes up, I can't help but smile.

"Spell discovered: Hoverboard (Lesser Flight). Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

"Skill unlocked: Flight (1 to 4)"

Boo-ya McFly. It's a little late but I've got your hoverboard right here.

Considering how rarely I've used flame-arrow since I unlocked my full time-stopping potential, it's an easy choice which spell is going bye-bye. But then I confirm yet there's no selection, making me realize I've raised my wind manipulation over fifty.

"Hell yes," I think to the system shortly before my pause completes.

Then, to demonstrate my flying prowess to Rufka, I proceed to Moonwalk past her. And since I'm cheating with my flight spell, I'm able to do it. Despite the number of times that my cousin Thomas tried to teach me to Moonwalk, I'd never been able to. It was too counterintuitive.

Now, I can just pretend to walk forwards while smoothly floating backwards.

Rufka doesn't seem too impressed though, just raising an eyebrow as I float past her. I swear, you just can't please some users.

"I think I've got it," I tell her,

"As expected. I'm surprised you hadn't figured it out already," Rufka replies, clearly unimpressed. I wish Josh was here. He'd think it was cool.

"Yeah, well, flight has a history of being dangerous to experiment with," I say defensively as I start redressing, turning away from Rufka as I resecure my bra. Metal manipulation makes it so simple.

"In a world without a system, I suppose I could see how that could be true," Rufka says, pushing me gently, causing me to float a couple feet backwards.

"Hey," I say, pushing her back, not even budging her.

"Hmm, decent control. How's the strength? Will you be able to carry me?" Rufka asks, stepping around me.

"Well, I guess we'll have to test it, won't we?" I reply, holding out my arms.

Rufka just laughs.

"I don't think you can carry me. But we can try," she says hopping into my arms.

Despite the fact I had them open, I'm still caught by surprise. I didn't expect her to actually jump. We're sent back into the building across the street as she knocks me over, but the spell seems to have some safety built into it, as it slows us before we smack into the building.

Rufka laughs all the way across the street.

"It looks like you can carry me," Rufka chuckles while settling in my lap, her head next to mine. Smoulder hops up into her lap leaving me well and truly stuck beneath them.

"Traitor," I whisper at Smoulder as I attempt to manipulate the hoverboard. Even though I'm on my back it's still responsive. I'm able to get us five metres in the air before Smoulder lets me know that she's uncomfortable being this high without branches around.

So, because I'm a considerate partner, I start experimenting with my new spell's ability to maneuver instead of going higher.

"Is this all you've got Lex?" Rufka asks, poking me in the side, earning herself a mild headbutt from Smoulder.

"Oh, you want to see what I've got?" I ask, holding Smoulder tight.

Time to discover how fast this spell can go.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Time for that Patreon drive! You can read up to 6 chapters ahead and won't be charged again until May. Members at the $6 tier or higher also now have access to two exclusive side stories as well. Rufka's 'A day in the reach' and 'Tea with Pern'.

Thanks for reading.

See you Tuesday.

1.36 Turbulence

January 17, 2019, 12:07pm. Time for maximum burn!

"You think I'm worried about how fast your first flight spell can take us. My mum's the…. Ahhahaaaaaa," Rufka starts as I turn the flight spell to full speed, nearly bouncing us off the nearby cliff before turning to fly along the street at the edge of the inner city.

"Weheheheeeeee," Rufka cries out, as we speed along. We're moving nearly twice as fast as when Rufka was carrying me, but it's using up my mana to go this fast. Slowing down, we're able to sustain a pace that's about three times as fast as I can run while using the minimum of 0.1 mana and 0.1 focus per minute. Since it's below my regeneration rate, I'm technically gaining mana as we fly.

So cool.

"Lexi. You're plenty comfortable and all, but now that we have a way to fly, shouldn't we be trying to get to the others?" Rufka asks from my lap where she's holding on to Smoulder.

"Right," I reply, turning us around to head in their direction. I didn't get carried away with the ability to fly. Nope. Who would do that?

"So, Josh said that you can use party chat to talk to Tipan," I mention as we float in their general direction. I'm not going to poke our heads over until we're closer. Flight does give us a lot of mobility, but it also makes us targets without cover. Hmmm.

Actually.

I rip a chunk of stone out of one of the buildings as we pass forming it into a shield. Unlike my umbrella, it won't hold up against multiple attacks as well, but it will block attacks my umbrella won't.

"Ha. Silly skyborne. She assumes that every-user takes party chat. Mum always said it was a waste of irons for users in the reaches," Rufka replies, making me realize I’m on my own for communication.

Slowing us down so I don’t accidentally run us into a squad of Fallen, I reach out. It occurs to me that if the others are still fighting, Josh might be in the thick of it, so I connect to Roberts this time. When the connection forms, the first thing I do is ask, “Hey Roberts, you guys okay?”

“Alexis? Well, this is an interesting experience. We’re quite fine,” Roberts replies as I hear a reverberation in the background.

“I suppose we are technically still under attack. However, they’re not hitting us hard. It's possible they’re finally respecting Josh and Beth’s abilities, but I believe they’re trying to herd us. They're not having much luck. Beth remains determined to reach the centre. We keep encountering obstacles, but we're pushing through where we can.”

“Hold on. I think we’ve got basic flight figured out. We’ll try to find our way to you.”

“Glad to hear it, Alexis. I’ll tell the others,” Roberts replies before he does exactly that. “Alexis says she and Rufka are on their way. They'll be arriving by air."

"Tell them to be careful. Tipan said she could get us up, but she's worried it will just make us bigger targets," I hear Beth call in response.

"Her and me both," I mutter to myself as Roberts relays Beth's message before adding, "we'll see you soon Alexis."

"See you soon," I reply, dropping the link.

"So?" Rufka prompts, motioning upwards.

"So, I hope you're holding on tight," I warn, sending a message of reassurance to Smoulder. Then I urge us up, then over the nearby buildings, moving past a squad of startled Fallen. Rufka calmly plucks her bow as if playing guitar, arrows raining down while I blast several with a pair of lightning torrents.

Then we're on our way, not pausing to loot them. I'd rather not waste the facet at the moment, plus there are three more squads already approaching.

Once we’re clear, I do look for a decent landing spot however. That brief encounter illustrated how horribly inconvenient facing the sky is when you're flying and fighting at the same time.

So, once we're a ways ahead, we take a moment to land on a building with higher than usual parapets. I’m hoping that the little pseudo-walls running around the building's edge will serve as cover. Well, I don't land, I hover, not releasing my spell. I flip over to my stomach and Rufka climbs on my back with Smoulder. I have to wiggle back and forth on my hoverboard to get balanced, but soon we're off again.

Homing in on the others, Rufka keeps taking pot shots while Smoulder watches for any Fallen that get too close, butting Rufka when she sees one.

Smoulder even does a flame blast when one gets too close. I'd be worried that she isn't headbutting everything if I couldn't feel her discomfort at being up in the air while moving so swiftly, especially under someone else's control. But it's clear she doesn't want to fall, and she understands we're in a hurry.

We're able to find the others a minute later. Rufka and I pick off several Fallen that were attacking them from above while I rip a section out of a nearby building for cover.

Once we've secured the area, we float down.

"Lex, you're flying now? Sweet." Josh enthuses coming up to me to give me a high five as Rufka jumps off.

"Right?" I reply, righting myself then floating up. Now that I can fly, I'm able to give him a high five with ease, though I do send myself tilting back slightly upon impact. Need to work on that.

"Impressive kid. But we need to move. Tipan, can you get us airborne?" Beth asks, turning to the wide-eyed K'tharn.

She doesn't look good; her fur is standing on end and she keeps glancing to the sides as if expecting a monster to jump out to grab her. She stares at Beth, clearly unable to comprehend what Beth asked for a moment. Then her eyes shift to Rufka and I, at which point she grows a smidgen calmer.

"R-r-right. Yes. I can do that," she stammers while pulling steel rods from her inventory compartment, handing one to each of the others. I'm guessing these have something to do with being airborne, and a second later it becomes clear how they work. Hitting a hidden release, Josh expands his into a glider then starts strapping himself in.

While the rod is made of steel, the rest of the structure appears to be bone with leather stretched between. There's flowing rune-script on the rod, as well as the leather, though the patterns are new to me.

I was wondering where the gliders went. I kind of thought they might have been destroyed by the V'troll or its horde, but it makes sense they just put them away.

"One other thing. We ran across a giant metal spider in the inner city followed by a swarm of smaller spiders. I'm not sure how safe it'll be."

"That's the system boss. Good to know Tipan was right about that at least. We should be safe from it as long as we don't get too close, attack or identify it," Beth mentions as she helps Josh get into his harness. Huh, good thing I didn't analyze it.

"Either way, this isn't a secure location. The sooner we're out of here the better."

Acknowledging Beth and seeing that they have things under control, me and my rock shield float back up to the top of the buildings. Smoulder is safely tucked in one of my jacket's inside pockets as I check for more Fallen.

And it's a good thing I do.

Just a couple buildings away I see the white Triplet, Bel'dast, with her single glowing red eye. She's directing a wave of ten squads to surround us. Seriously, how are they getting all these mooks around so quickly?

Not bothering to figure out the answer, I pause time, unleash a bevy of lightning torrents then drop back down.

"We have incoming," I yell, moving towards the others.

When I turn back, I see that the others are all rising into the air on their gliders, arrayed in tight formation behind Tipan. I can practically see the stress etched across her face. Which makes sense. She doesn't have much aero left and it's already ticking down.

While we have increased mobility, the others are basically sitting ducks. That is until Roberts' shield springs into place, which is why they're grouped so close together.

"We need to get to the inner city," Tipan calls desperately as spells start slamming into Roberts' shield. The spells colliding with his shield is, upon reflection, very beautiful. It’s a veritable cornucopia of colour as almost every element is represented.

No twilight though. Which inspires me.

Turning again, I pause time, giving the others room by releasing several dark shifted twilight torrents. I'm not exactly sure what effect they'll have, but I'm hoping they'll provide cover for the others since twilight hangs in the air, unlike other elements.

It's more successful than I expected. It doesn't just obscure their sight, but every Fallen who stumbles through the inky blackness is covered in the black shadow stuff, unable to see.

During our retreat I stay in the back, firing off several more twilight torrents. I discover it's not perfect, it only takes a single fire spell to burn through the trails my torrents leave behind. The fire focused Fallen can ignore them completely once they discover the trick. But they're the only ones who do. I'm able to easily pick them off with judicious use of lightning torrents.

While they were making respectable time jumping and leaping from building to building, now most of the Fallen have no chance to keep up with me and my flying allies.

But then a gust blows away the lingering shadows while sweeping over fifty Fallen through the air in my direction. Behind them floats Bel'dast, tracking me with her eye. Well, I guess I know how they're getting around so fast.

Having already bought time, I retreat while continuing to fire. I even throw a few torrents at Bel'dast who manages to dodge out of the way, moving so quickly I almost can't follow her.

Holy crap. I'm lucky she doesn't just come smack me out of the air. Retreating at full speed, I sigh in relief when she halts at the drop.

Thanks to my IFF, it's easy to find where Tipan led the others down, they're all gathered on a rooftop in the inner city, perilously close to the system boss' previous path. When I glance at Tipan’s status I can see that she's completely out of her aero resource.

When I land, I see Josh holding Tipan's hand while she shakes her head back and forth repeatedly. Beth is scanning the area for hostiles while Rufka and Roberts are setting the gliders to the side.

"Is she going to be okay?" I check with Roberts, who's the least occupied at the moment.

Turning to me, Roberts replies, "it would appear that she knows two of the Fallen. They were sisters she lost in a place she calls the Broken Sanctum."

"Ivicka and I were the only ones who made it out," Tipan sobs out, brushing at her eyes.

"I thought we'd gone there to gain progression points. I'd been sure it was misfortune that caused us to fail, but now…"

"It wasn't until recently that I started to suspect Ivicka was up to something. I came across notes she and minister Folthka had exchanged. A way to bypass system protections."

"I didn't trust her with your lives, that's true, but that's because you're outlanders. Outlanders are always treated differently. But they were our sisters. Ivicka was better than any of us. The hero we all aspired to emulate. To have turned our sister into a Fallen. Is this what they planned? Was the sanctum a test?"

As Tipan's dialogue comes to a close I have a terrible thought.

"Uhm. How certain are you that she didn't know about that ability to leave?" I ask Tipan.

"What?" she replies looking up at me in confusion.

"I'm just saying that it seems pretty strange that we'd run into two Fallen that you know personally. And that you’d end up here," I continue, not mentioning Dhanni. If Rufka wants to share, that’s her prerogative.

"So, what if Ivicka knew what you'd find here. Maybe she delayed her landing on purpose, only landing after you were inside. What if she wanted you here?" I ask as Tipan stands, gripping her head with all four hands.

"Oh Vaus on Ukila above! I was supposed to lead the trainees inside. It's why we were officially out here in the first place. But why?" Tipan questions, looking confused.

"I don't know," I answer, shrugging. I could use a codex or something right about now.

"What does she get by having you come here?" Beth wonders from the side.

"Nothing. She can't get inside. And if we teleport away then she loses the ability to steal any of your powers," Tipan replies, shaking her head.

"Wait. Steal our powers?" Roberts asks sharply, looking at Tipan.

"Yeah. That's why they need to strip the system. Ivicka never used to be capable of using wind manipulation. Now she has Aero as a second resource, which she must have stolen from Bel'dast. Oh, Vaus. I'm such an idiot. Why didn't I realize she developed her second resource after our sisters died? It's not even thematically aligned with her primary resource Swagger. It's so obvious."

"I'm sorry. One second. Her main resource is swagger?" Rufka asks, starting to chuckle. I can't help but join in. Josh and Roberts are laughing as well, followed shortly by Tipan.

Beth is the only one not laughing, but I catch a hint of turned-up lips when I glance her direction.

"But yes. From what I've read in the notes, she's prepared to do it again. She was waiting for an outlander. Because outlanders always get better resources once you get your classes. We never imagined you started with them. It's probably the only thing that saved you," Tipan mentions, inspecting her feet carefully.

"That still doesn't explain why she'd want you inside. Or what's going on with the Fallen," I point out as we all look around.

"Hmm. Maybe it does. My mum said she'd worked on a project once that would allow her to gain additional resources. But there was only one way to get it to work, you had to strip a user from the system, killing them. That’s when she discovered that any user killed this way rose again as Fallen. She said she destroyed her research. But she had an apprentice. Mum couldn't bring herself to hurt her just to keep the research silent. She was like a daughter to her. This was before me of course. Mum often said she'd never met anyone quite like me."

I can’t help chuckling at that while Roberts questions her, “If your mother knows how to steal resources, as it were, perhaps she knows a defence against it as well.”

“Oh, definitely. But as I’ve mentioned, her people have my mum locked up tighter than a Rallion’s arse,” Rufka replies while gesturing to Tipan, who flinches in response.

“Even if she wasn’t, we’re stuck in here. The only way out is to complete the quest or wait out the timer. I swear it’s the only part of the zone working the way it’s supposed to,” Tipan complains.

“How does this explain why she wanted Tipan inside?” I ask, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

“Eh. I don’t know. Probably just wants her dead. But I suspect they got their hands on my mother’s research, which would explain the Fallen. And they’re out here because the reaches have a long history of spitting lost travellers out. I’ve come across more than one outlander wandering around lost in the woods. First time I've heard of four at once though.”

"Wants me dead…" Tipan stutters looking at Rufka as if she slapped her. Which in a way she kind of did. It's likely that Rufka's right, but then the question becomes why send her here instead of just killing her.

"It doesn't really explain anything. Why go to all the trouble of getting her here? And how did the Fallen get here from the broken sanctum? Too many things don't make sense," I ask while looking around at the others.

Surprisingly, it's Josh that speaks. "Does it matter? The important thing is we're all safe. The real question is what do we do now?"

Beth steps back towards us, only glancing in our direction for a moment as she speaks, “Well, we’ve only started training. Just because things have changed doesn’t mean we have to stop. But we may need to deal with these Fallen. Or we can attempt to complete the quest. The safety we were hoping for certainly isn’t as guaranteed as we’d been expecting.”

While Beth is talking, I can’t help but wonder about Rufka’s friend Dhanni. And her mother. Did she know the K'tharn who killed Rufka’s thiani?

“So, you think we should try to take on these Fallen? There are a lot more of them than us,” Roberts comments, gesturing back the way we came.

“Yes. But Alexis is capable of defeating a large number of them on her own. Especially now that she can fly. If we’re able to target their leaders, we can likely deal with the rest in hit and run tactics.”

As Beth's talking, I start thinking about flight again. Specifically, I start thinking about trying to teach the others to fly. Or at least how I might be able to propel them. Upon considering it, that's probably the solution. I just need more range on my wind manipulation. Then I could propel their gliders forever.

Okay. Project airborne 2.0 is a go.

…

Maybe I should ask the others what they think first?

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Join us on Patreon! Read up to 8 chapters ahead (as of 6:00 pm, Apr 7, 2020), two bonus side stories (at the $6 tier or above) and grab an exclusive role for discord. And don't get charged again until May!

Or not. I'm glad to have you guys reading here too.

See you on Friday.

1.37 Project Airborne 2.0

January 17, 2019, 1:05 pm. Shortly after escaping the clutches of the Fallen Triplets.

"Yeah. About flying," I start, responding to Beth's comment about my newest skill.

"Yes?" Beth queries while remaining vigilant for other threats.

"I think I could keep us all in the air, so long as I'm not trying to defend us at the same time," I state with reasonable certainty. I'd need to bounce back and forth between different team members but it's totally feasible. Little bit of wind mana under each person's wings, then presto, instant lift. Not as automatic as my lesser flight spell, but a solid start.

"That could be useful. It'd be a strain off Tipan at least," Beth replies.

"Yes, but Alexis is also our strongest ranged fighter. I think it would be best if we were able to fly without her aid," Roberts points out, either not noticing or dismissing the stare Beth sends his way.

"Maybe I can teach you guys then?" I suggest.

"That would be an excellent solution. Though if it's as difficult as the shield you taught us, I may have difficulty," Roberts reluctantly admits.

"We can try at least," I offer, looking around.

Rufka is grinning, Tipan seems confused and Josh appears dubious.

"Okay, the first thing you need to do is get a feel for your mana," I tell them. I spend the next few minutes trying to teach each of them how to use the basics of wind mana, yet other than Tipan and Rufka who both already have wind unlocked, we make no progress. Even when I try lifting them with nothing but wind none of my human companions are able to make so much as a small gust.

Josh and Roberts both have a lot of fun, and Smoulder even joined in when she saw them. She quickly changed her mind, deciding she'll leave flying to me. Which seems to be the current consensus since we're not making any progress. It's no wonder Rufka's mum made the game Astra's Stride.

Since wind mana is a bust, I figure I can at least explain the rune structure to them, but except for Rufka none of them have practiced external manipulation of mana using the channels on their skin. Not even Tipan. I also discover that no one else can form runes mentally. Tipan has heard it's a hidden interface upgrade, but she doesn't know the prerequisites to unlock it.

I try to instruct them anyway, but only Rufka has any success emulating my efforts, so after half an hour of trying to teach everyone we're back where we started.

Except now Rufka has a hoverboard spell too. So, I guess we're a little ahead. It's funny, but I didn't realize how… invisible the hoverboard is until I saw her floating on the air.

"Could we craft something?" Josh proposes, his dark hair falling in his eyes when we all turn in his direction.

Tipan replies forlornly as she speaks, "That would be a wonderful idea. But it would take so much essence. Plus, we don't have a proper Enchanter. It's not a subclass normally used in the field."

"Subclass, what's a subclass?" Roberts inquires as I glance over to Rufka who's grin is so large I want to hit her. The little imp probably has something that lets her fly but she made me figure out my spell. And then she let me try to teach….

Okay, flying without an item is pretty cool. I guess I can forgive her for that part. But I bet she didn't need to ride me like that. I need to figure out suitable revenge.

"Subclasses can do all sorts of things, though most are for crafting or resource gathering. You can only have one equipped at a time at iron rank. Unlike combat classes, they're not permanent, but you can only switch them out at a Nexus," Tipan lectures, slipping into her standard teacher's tone before deflating, "but it doesn't matter. I don't have the Enchanter subclass equipped."

"How do you unlock subclasses?" Beth asks while I stare at Rufka.

It takes all of two seconds, before she sighs out, "I do. I mean, I have the Enchanter subclass equipped."

I wasn't sure she'd have it currently, but I clearly remembered her telling me about it when she was showing off her fancy kettle.

"Oh, interesting," Beth responds, turning to Rufka, but Josh interrupts before she can say more.

"Yeah. Interesting. But how do we unlock subclasses? I'd love to have something creative instead of all this destructive power."

"Mum says every subclass has a primary skill associated with it. You need to complete four quests under the related skill's questline to unlock the subclass. Easy," Rufka replies, clearly glad to change the subject.

"Easy!? It took me six months of dedicated effort to unlock the Enchanter subclass," Tipan yells at Rufka making me wince.

"And how many times did you have to worry that you would be one head shorter if you took a single misstep during those six months?" Rufka asks nonchalantly.

"None, but-"

"Exactly. Easy. No danger required. Unless you count the boredom. Which is a significant hurdle for some," Rufka admits, shrugging at Tipan.

Before Tipan can reply, Josh fires off another question, "Cool. Cool. So, related, what if you fail to complete a step in the quest before the timer expires? Oh, and how does one go about creating iron-grade equipment?"

"If you fail to complete a skill quest in time, then you lose any integration points you would have gained. Most timed quests are like that," Tipan answers grudgingly.

"She's right. Some quests are limited though, like the zone quest here. We'll only ever get one shot at it. As for crafting, the easy way to create iron-grade gear is the same as making any mortal-grade equipment, but using iron-grade materials," Rufka adds.

"Like, an iron grade steel ingot for example," I wonder, thinking about my previous quest reward.

"Sure. Though you'd need enough to craft whatever you want to make," Rufka explains, deflating my dreams. My ingot is tiny. 0.032kg. While I'm trying to picture what I could even craft with such a small ingot, Rufka continues, "It's more common to infuse normal gear with iron grade essence. It takes more skill, but it's much cheaper material-wise."

"So, either way, you have to craft the item you want?" Josh questions, completely engrossed.

"Yep. Though if you're not careful you can destroy your materials when you attempt to infuse them."

"What like, I weave a cotton shirt, try to infuse it, and then it's reduced to shreds if I fail?" Josh asks.

"More like you fail to infuse it, you suffer feedback while your hard work puffs up in a cloud of blue dust, to be given to someone else by the system."

"That's never been proven," Tipan interjects.

"Whatever. Point is, all that hard work is gone."

"What's this about feedback?" Roberts demands.

"Failing to infuse your work causes feedback damage," Rufka replies, shrugging.

When it's clear that's all Rufka is going to offer, Tipan adds, "Crafting feedback applies to all your pools. Or to you, if your pools are too low. That's why crafting subclasses aren't equipped in the field. The system has crafting buildings that prevent feedback, making it much safer."

"Yep. Crafting without an appropriate building can be dangerous. Mum says more than one crafter has gone braindead trying to infuse materials above their skill level while outside a crafting building," Rufka shrugs not seeming particularly worried.

Note to self, don't try to create copper rank gear.

"Uhm, so what does enchanting do?" I ask, moving on from that disturbing news.

"Enchanting adds new effects to your base equipment. Or changes what your equipment does."

"Speaking of which, can we please get started on enchanting the gliders," Beth requests from near the edge of the roof.

Sighing, Rufka nods, taking one of the gliders in hand while checking it over carefully, "I can modify the existing enchantment to run on mana instead of Aero, but I'll need about ten mortal wind essence per glider. More for Rose and Roberts, since they're so heavy."

"What? How can you do it with so little essence?" Tipan demands as the rest of us pool our wind essence.

"Cause I'm amazing," Rufka says with a grin while inspecting our pile of wind essence, sorting them into separate piles then plucking several from different piles.

Then Rufka sets the glider down in a clear space on the roof, setting the shards down on a piece of leather nearby while Tipan watches her closely.

"Is there any chance you could teach us how to do enchanting?" I request as Rufka sets several tools out. She pauses to meet my eyes.

"I would be happy to teach you the basics Lexi, but not now. It is very delicate. Best to teach in an Enchanter's workshop. Luckily, Tipan should be able to assist me even though she's foolish enough to go adventuring with another subclass equipped," Rufka answers as she continues setting out tools. Most of them are a variation on screwdrivers or needle-nose pliers. There’s a mirror shaped like an octagon that stands out as well.

"The Explorer subclass is much more useful when travelling or venturing into new places," Tipan replies defensively.

"For not getting lost, sure. Not so great for modifying gear in the field though, is it?" Rufka teases as she holds each piece of gear up to her eye, inspecting it.

"Wait, what's the Explorer subclass?” I wonder.

"It's a subclass with special exploration-based quests and general abilities. Despite Rufka's opinion, it's a very common subclass when not staying in a stronghold or rest area," Tipan explains, crossing her arms while glaring down at Rufka.

"Sure, it's common. Because most users are lazy. Enchanter can provide most of the benefits of Explorer, you just need to put in a little more preparation," Rufka claims, "now either be quiet or take the conversation over there, I need to concentrate. Why is it like... This is...."

Tipan glances in our direction for a second before hunkering down next to Rufka, watching her start.

Looking around, since Beth's on lookout and it seems we're going to be here for a bit anyway, I open my quests, specifically reviewing my crafting quests. I was going to work on finishing my metal or stone quests, but I realize I haven't finished the basic ceramics quest yet. Now's the time to do it. No fear of failure while the moonshine is flowing through my veins.

"Quest: Plenty of pots. Description: Learn the ways of crafting with earth and fire. Requirements: Create 0/10 ceramic earthenware, raise Ceramics skill 4/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 2/3 days remaining."

When I focus on the ceramics skill it indicates that clay is a good material to work with. I'm guessing the first part should be easy to accomplish.

"I'm thinking I'm going to work on one of my crafting skills while we're stopped," I decide while walking to the edge of the roof.

"Me too!" Josh exclaims, sitting down near Rufka while pulling out a set of clothes like the ones Roberts and I are wearing. He starts splitting the seams by running a single finger along it. That's kind of cool.

"Okay. But nothing you're not willing to drop. We might have to run. I'm not sure how secure we are here. That system boss could come back any moment," Beth says, sweeping her eyes along the nearby buildings as if a four-storey metal spider might be hiding just out of sight.

Meanwhile, Roberts sits near Josh, closing his eyes while drawing forth his small orb of water.

"Please don't go too far k-slick," Beth calls as I dive off the side of the building. I fly down to the base of the nearby cliff with my recently acquired flight.

Which is awesome.

I spend a little more time than necessary flying about before I find a clump of clay. Before I can recover it, I notice the lightning Fallen, Seldast, staring down at me from above. Despite Beth's warning, I may have gone 'too far'.

When I look at her, she grins, raising her hand to the sky unleashing a bolt of lightning. Ripping a large chunk of earth out of the wall, I block the bolt before it can hit me, pausing time while sending a flame torrent back at her. She blocks it with a transparent shield which audibly cracks and pops.

With both of our attacks being neutralized, she just shrugs, then turns away flying out of sight.

Keeping an eye above me, I hastily gather the clay, which I bring back to the roof.

Then, while going over my encounter with Beth, I spend the next few minutes shaping enough mugs, bowls and plates for everyone in the party to have their own.

Once I'm done updating Beth, I turn my attention back to my pottery. There's not much we can do about the Fallen yet. I try to make my pottery fancy with little grooved ridges at the edge, but when I try to finish the process by applying heat, I ruin most of my efforts.

It takes me several attempts to realize that I need to dry out the clay before I begin heating my results. Using water manipulation, it becomes easy to create my first bowl, though it is a little misshapen when I finish.

"Wow, Lexi. That's a lot of broken pots. You might want to stick to throwing your spells around," Rufka jokes, as she sets the second modified glider to the side. It's been half an hour, yet we haven't seen a sign of the system boss or the Fallen since my run-in with Seldast.

"Yeah, yeah," I reply as I continue working.

Rufka has finished modifying the third glider by the time I finally make my first bowl. Looking at my quest, I discover it doesn't count. Focusing on my skill, it tells me I need to apply a glaze. Luckily, my skill also tells me there are two simple methods I can use. Either salt or wood ash added at a high temperature will allow me to glaze my bowl.

Flying down to the wall of earth again, I'm able to draw salt forth using earth manipulation. Handy that. Since I'm already gathering it for my ceramics, I take the time to gather some extra salt for cooking which I intend to put in my bowl once it's finished.

As I return to the roof, I see that Rufka is still finishing the last glider, while Josh has made several changes to the set of brown clothes he was working with.

I take the lopsided bowl, blasting it to what I realize must be an uncomfortable temperature. But I'm able to float it barely a metre in front of me with no ill effects. Just how strong is my fire resistance?

If we were in a safer situation I'd consider running through actual testing. We didn't make much use of it during our earlier training, but Roberts's basic use of Reprieve to restore health is amazing. It only costs him 0.1 Reprieve to restore five health every ten seconds. He can spend more to instantly refill health at a 1 to 1 rate as well.

The point is, we can perform more dangerous tests than would normally be sensible, even for the average user. Which was the plan when we got back to Raz's. Kind of unlikely now. It'd be silly to do those kinds of tests without a secure location. And given that the other side has stone casters, a solid stone building isn't that secure. Hopefully, once we have flight, we'll be able to head back to Raz's.

My thoughts return to my bowl, which is even now cooling rapidly thanks to a liberal application of wind magic to blowing on it.

Once it's finished, I check my quest log, finally confirming my first piece of earthenware has been created. All this effort has been good for my ceramics skill at least, I'm already sitting at 26 of the 25 I need.

Now that I have a working method, I rapidly repeat the process with another twelve bowls, three of which are failures. Once the last bowl is successfully completed, I receive my hard-won quest rewards.

"Quest objective completed: Plenty of pots. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points."

"That was…. Well, it looks like Link was here."

Quest updated: Plenty of pots. Requirements: Create 0/10 iron grade earthenware using ceramics, raise Ceramics skill 28/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 30/30 days remaining."

"Geez. Thanks, Wyonna," I mumble sweeping all the broken pottery to a corner with a wave of wind magic.

That was a lot more work than levelling either of my other crafting skills, yet the three iron integration points are all the sweeter for it.

"You done, Lex?" Rufka questions while my last bowl is cooling, drawing me out of the happy dance I may have been doing. Wow, I just realized how much I miss music. It's weird not having a soundtrack to my life. I wonder if the system can do that?

"Yeah," I reply, turning to see the others experimenting with the gliders. It appears they're taking turns jumping off the side of the building under Tipan's watchful eye. Josh is currently stepping to the edge as Roberts lands smoothly, hitting the ground as if he's done this a thousand times. Josh waves at me nervously then turns back, jumping off.

"You know it didn't occur to me, but how is running his glider on mana going to help Josh," I ask Rufka, inspecting his tiny mana pool of 36 as he circles upwards.

"Eh. By itself, that would have been a waste of time. I decided to use an iron-grade mana essence on his glider to give him some range. It'll only give him an extra hour a day, but that should be enough to get wherever we need to go while we're here. Plus, we'll be able to recharge it if we need to," Rufka answers, gesturing to the surrounding buildings.

"Wow. Thank you," I respond. She may be a bit dramatic, but it occurs to me that Rufka has been very generous since I've met her.

"It is nothing. They will need more time to practice than you did, but I believe we will be able to outmaneuver Dhanni now," Rufka replies, her tone growing lower as she finishes speaking.

Even as Josh lands on the building, stumbling in place, Beth leaps with her glider, smoothly soaring around the building while I respond to Rufka.

"We'll take care of her. With tools like this, it's only a matter of time," I state, taking her hand and squeezing it.

Not that I have any idea what we're going to do now.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Wyonna told me I'm not doing enough. So, I'm going to be completing the Writathon challenge for April. This means there will be a bonus chapter on Saturday. There will also be three chapters a week for the rest of April. Chapters will be released Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:00 AM, PST.

If that's still not enough for you, you can read up to 8 chapters ahead on Patreon.

See you... tomorrow.

1.38 A Broader Perspective

January 17, 2019, 2:32 pm. Shortly after deciding to let the experienced people do the planning.

I might not know how we're going to deal with Dhanni for Rufka's quest, but I don't have to. I'm part of a team. I'm sure Roberts or Beth will have an idea.

"This is amazing. Thank you so much Rufka," Josh calls as he inspects his glider.

"It's nothing Rose," Rufka shouts back though I notice she seems pleased.

"I disagree. Your skill in enchanting is far beyond mine. These are impressive improvements," Tipan states from where she's watching Roberts as he launches himself once more. As he flies away, he nearly smacks into a nearby building, but Tipan uses her staff to direct him away.

Meanwhile, Beth is circling above, twisting and turning her glider with grace. It's a shame she can't use her rifle while she's flying like that. The gliders are designed to be used two-handed, which leaves two hands free for your average K’tharn. Clearly, we humans don’t have the same option.

"It is sufficient. Now, I believe it's time for lunch, I'm rather hungry," Rufka declares while pulling out a large haunch of meat which she holds out towards me.

"Uhm. I know I've been eating a lot lately, but that seems a little excessive," I reply, taking the unwieldy mass in both hands, barely holding it up.

Rufka chuckles, "it's not all for you. But you can reheat it for us."

"Right," I answer as I start cycling fire mana through the haunch.

"Whoa. That's enough," Rufka exclaims as she plucks the haunch out of my hands, flipping it onto a plate where it steams.

"Oops. It didn't feel that hot," I offer sheepishly.

"New resistances. Takes time to get used to the change in feedback," Rufka explains while cutting into our grub.

"Yeah. Makes sense," I reply, accepting the plate she offers me, "Does that mean I'm not going to sweat on hot summer days or feel cold when it rains?"

"Probably. You'll still get wet though," she replies while wolfing down her meal.

Turning back to my own, I add a small dash of salt which turns the cuts of meat into an amazing two-minute meal. I'm faster than a microwave.

Cutting it into smaller pieces with a liberal application of metal manipulation, I direct my attention to my attributes. I'm going to continue holding onto a few points, seeing as there seems to be a lot of things you can spend integration points on. Even so, I feel like I can spend a few now that I've finished another quest.

Hmm, I have twelve points. I can probably spend four no problem, maybe even six. Obviously, I'm putting a point into Intellect and Spirit. I also decide to put a point into Perception, as well as one into Resolve. They’re the other primary stats for my class, so it feels appropriate. It’s tempting to push my Intellect and Spirit to 90 but I convince myself to hold onto the rest of my points instead of spending them.

Tearing into the conveniently available meal, I indulge my system-augmented hunger while I review my adjusted stats.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

86

(+/-)

SPIRIT

86

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

33

(+/-)

RESOLVE

12

(+/-)

Integration Points

8

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

89/89

[6.3] [16.3]

(45)/d

Stamina

94/94

[7.4]

(50)/d

Mana

456/510

[47.6]

(395)/d

Focus

351/382

[29.8]

(251)/d

Matrix

Facet

133/134

[11.0]

(97)/h

Not much of a change, but every bit helps. Love seeing my health edge in double digits. As I chew the warm meat, reflecting on how I couldn’t feel the heat, I wonder if there’s something that shows my current resistances. Hmm, Resistance I mentally project.

Resistance

[EDGE]

Raw Mana

38.5

Elemental

38.5

Temporal

59.0

Spatial

59.0

Oh, sweet. That’s a pretty huge increase to my defences.

I've only eaten about three times my usual before I feel full. Considering how much I eat now, I’m glad I decided to stock up on rations. I wasn't expecting to get stuck out here, I just wanted to make sure I had snacks.

Rufka and I are almost finished eating when the others decide they've gotten enough practice, at which point Rufka pulls out another leg. I obligingly 'microwave' it for the others. Without any random cold or hot spots and without setting it steaming as I did with ours. I'm improving already.

"So, what's the plan now? How're we taking these Fallen down?" I quiz Beth. She likes to be in charge, which is great.

The only person I want to be in charge of is myself. Which is probably a good thing, since even my pet doesn't listen to me, isn't that right you little head scritches fiend.

I almost miss Beth's answer, I'm so busy playing with Smoulder as she playfully bats at my hand while I scratch her belly.

"I’d prefer to hit them hard, take out their leaders, then retreat. But they're all too effective at shielding. I haven't been able to get a clean hit," Beth complains. “But whatever we do, we need more intel first.”

“Now, that’s something I can help with,” Tipan offers, lighting up while producing an illusionary map of the city. Most parts are obscured but the general shape is there, along with greater details in certain areas.

"Cool," Josh and I utter, practically in sync.

"This is the rest area," Tipan explains in her lecturing voice, pointing at a little, blue, glowing tent. "And the red x is where we ran into their army. The glowing green K'tharn head is us."

There are also several flags on the map. Before I can ask, Tipan continues, "the flags are every location where we encountered the Fallen. The white flags are from when we retreated, the blue where we won and the half black, half white flags are from where we retreated, and we saw the awakened Fallen."

"Why didn't you show us this before?" I wonder, inspecting her map more closely. It's no google maps, and it has a fog-of-war effect wherever Tipan can't currently see.

"It doesn't show much until you've explored an area. It was just a blank circle when we first arrived," Tipan replies defensively while glancing at Rufka.

"Is this an ability from the explorer subclass?" Beth asks excitedly.

"Yes. It's one of the higher tier abilities available," Tipan proclaims proudly when Rufka doesn't mock her.

"Huh. I take it back skyborne. If your explorer class is this advanced, it would be foolish to leave home without it," Rufka admits. It's not quite an apology, but Tipan seems very pleased, nonetheless.

"Indeed. Are you able to enhance the areas we've explored?" Roberts inquires, setting his plate on the roof as he moves closer.

"Yes, though it’s blurry. I've only unlocked the basic version. I won't be able to upgrade it more until I advance to copper."

"Could you inspect this for a moment?" he requests, pointing at a round building that doesn't have flags or any other symbols on it.

"Sure," Tipan replies as the aforementioned building comes into focus. Kind of. It's a little grainy, but it's clear that it's a round silver building without windows or doors on it. In fact, it resembles the building from the army's camp.

"Isn't that-" I start at the same time Josh blurts out, "A silver bullet."

"What?" Roberts, Beth and I all respond as we turn towards Josh.

"It looks like a silver bullet," Josh repeats defensively.

"How is that helpful Josh?" Beth wonders while I assess the building again. I guess it does kind of resemble a bullet, rounded on top and everything.

"I don't know. I just thought…" he trails off, shrugging, "it does, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. It does," Beth replies with a gentle smile, before turning back to the floating image.

"It also resembles the building at their base camp," I offer, "can you bring that up too?"

"Of course," she replies as the other 'silver bullet' appears floating next to the original, though this one is tilted. In neither image can we see the bottom of the building. When I think about it, the destruction near the one at their camp had been as if a giant finger had dragged itself across the area. Maybe that was what happened.

I mean, not an actual giant.

But maybe the building, including its foundation, had been forcibly dragged through the rest of the city.

"They definitely look similar. Do either of you know what they're for?" Beth inquires, turning to Rufka then Tipan.

"No. The only active Builder city left is Bethreyne. And not many venture within its walls. There's been little point since the founding of the Aetherium," Tipan replies.

"That's true. Mum always said the one good thing about the Aetherium was it freed our people from the Builders. She never mentioned these silver towers with no entrances, but then she avoided Builders."

"Never mentioned 'silver bullets' either," Rufka adds after a second's pause, giving Josh a grin.

"It's interesting but I don't see that it helps us," Beth states. I don't voice it, but I'm not so certain.

When no one else seems to have anything to add, I finally say, “There's a reason they were camped out in its shadow. We just don't know what.”

"Agreed. But we seem to be reasonably safe from attack here. At least for the moment. It appears that we can get close to their base camp from the inner city," Beth says, pointing to where I'm pretty sure Rufka and I first entered the inner city.

"Yeah. It couldn't have been more than a couple hundred meters," I confirm, reviewing the map.

"Then I think we should see about setting up here," she suggests, indicating a building inside the inner city with a clear line of sight to the Fallen camp.

When no one disagrees, we finish our lunch then set into the air. As we rise, I'm able to see the system boss crawling over buildings further in. There doesn't seem to be a pattern to its movements that I'm able to observe by the time we've landed on the roof near the Fallen base. We don't head there directly. Instead, we set up so Beth can scope them out. The building we've chosen is higher than the camp itself but still lower than the buildings in the outer city.

While she's observing, I wonder if I can use twilight to achieve a similar effect. I've already used it to provide myself with night vision. Creating magnification shouldn't be much harder, right?

A quick application of twilight later, and I'm within the yellow tinted world once more. Shifting the shape of the barrier covering my eyes does allow me to zoom instead. However, when I do so, I make the mistake of moving my head. The nausea is so intense I almost throw-up.

Once I've recovered, I unzoom, turning my head towards the camp. Then, pausing to ensure I don't move my head, I zoom in again.

The Fallen aren't just standing around like last time. Now, they're hauling dirt out of the hole we found them in. Specifically, Dhanni is lifting it out in chunks forming walls along the edge. The lesser Fallen aren't standing around either, hauling dirt on poorly formed metal sheets, dumping it at the edges of their camp. Even as they work, they still have that glazed look in their eyes.

I inspect the camp for another couple minutes, but I can't find either of the other Triplets. So, I let my magnification end as the pause fades.

"I'm not sure what I'm seeing here," Beth says, "but I think they're making fortifications."

"Yeah. Dhanni seems to be making rammed earth walls," I add from beside her.

"I take it Dhanni is the name of that Fallen who's lifting large cubes of earth?" Beth queries, shifting in place next to me.

"Uh. Yeah, sorry. I don't see either of the other Triplets, do you?" I redirect, still gazing in the general direction though I can't see any detail.

"Triplets?" I hear Josh question from behind us.

"I believe Alexis is referring to the awakened Fallen," Roberts answers. When I glance back, I see he's still playing with the little ball of water, standing a few steps back.

"Try doing the alphabet," I tell him when I notice he's still doing the same exercise.

"Oh? Oh my, that's challenging," Roberts exclaims as he starts forming a rough letter 'a'.

"Try using focus when you're having difficulties," I add, watching as his 'a' snaps into shape in response. Then he creates a capital 'A' before continuing with the alphabet.

"Thank you, Alexis," Roberts responds appreciatively, continuing his practice while I turn back to Beth who's reviewing Tipan's map. Her map is currently displaying the camp’s set-up from when we were last here, in all its blurry glory.

"They've added walls here and here," Beth states, pointing along the street Rufka and I recently escaped down.

"So, do we have a plan?" I ask, to which Beth smiles, turning to me.

"I think we might. But we need more intel first. Tell me. How high do you think you can fly?"

"I have no idea. I haven't properly tested it," I answer, tilting my head back while I think about it.

"Feel up to testing it?" Beth suggests, gesturing upwards.

"Hell yeah," I declare as I summon my hoverboard. As it forms Rufka nudges my elbow before conjuring her own hoverboard.

"We're going to race, aren't we?" I ask her with a smile. There's a part of me that says now is hardly the time, but it's not very loud, so it's easy to shove it down.

"Does Vaus like her pu'shaha hard?" Rufka responds.

"Uhm, I'm guessing that's a yes?"

"Ugh. Outlanders. Yes, that's a yes," Rufka sighs while waving Tipan to come closer.

"Yes?" Tipan queries as she approaches.

"You're full Aether, right? Can you set us an Aetherium Challenge Race?" Rufka requests while rocking side to side in the air.

"Of course," Tipan accepts, smiling as a gentle wind starts blowing against my face. Letting Smoulder know I’m about to go flying, she hops over to Josh, headbutting him until he picks her up.

"This is getting rather official," Beth comments with a raised brow.

"You don't know the half of it," I mutter as notifications pop up.

"User Tipan has initiated the official subsystem - Aetherium Challenge Race."

"Subsystem Terms-

- No use of magic that isn't required for flight. This is a test of skill, not combat.

- No use of special resources unless used to power flight.

- All flight spells for this event will be based on the iron rank lesser flight spell, using base power levels only.

- Completion of the course must be achieved within five minutes of the race’s start.

- You must grant the subsystem - Aetherium Challenge Race temporary access to your visual interface.”

"Do you agree to be bound by the terms, forfeiting any prize if you do not abide by the aforementioned terms? Y/N?"

Wow, this is impressive. And it's based on the Aetherium, I wonder what the requirements are to be able to create your own subsystem. Oh, there's a quest too.

"Quest received: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Description: Faster. Faster! FASTER!!! Requirements: Win an Aetherium Challenge Race using nothing but your flight spell and skill, 0/1 races won*. Rewards: One iron rank integration point. Time: unlimited."

"Good luck Alexis. These subsystems are one of the most beloved parts of the System. This is one of the more basic ones. There’s a similar race on Rylax. The Grand Marathon subsystem ties into their power grid and transport network creating races that run across their entire planet."

"Thanks, Wyonna," I say as I mentally confirm my consent. The moment I give my mental assent a series of rings appear in the air, overlaid on my interface. I don't have much time to inspect them because Tipan is already standing between us, holding her hands up as the gentle wind turns into a constant pressure pushing against me.

"Ready."

"Set."

"Fly!" Tipan exclaims, waving all four hands.

As the pressure holding us back releases, we blast off, racing over the buildings, Rufka close behind me. I barely catch Beth sighing out, "I wanted them to go up," before we're out of range.

But then we're away.

I tilt forward, going nearly superman, cutting down the amount of air I need to shape around me. On the very first turn, I barely avoid smashing into Rufka as we both cut the corner tight.

Zooming through the next ring, we climb higher.

Neither of us is gaining a significant advantage. I've got more speed, so I pull ahead between rings, but Rufka makes it up every time we have to turn.

Higher and higher we go, through ring after ring.

We're closing in on a circle that's a checkered blue and green when I realize Rufka and I must be over a kilometre up.

Well, I guess Beth got her wish. We went up, that's for sure. I let myself get distracted for a second as we reach the peak, looking at the city below. I can make out the system boss crawling over buildings with care, leaving no sign of its passing. I can also make out several 'silver bullet' buildings. I count six total, including the one the Fallen are camped near.

While it's a beautiful view, and it might even be important intel, my distraction costs me.

Because as we pass through the checkered ring at the apex, Rufka hip checks me, sending me wide with a loud laugh.

When I recover, I find her swinging back down towards the next ring. I immediately set out after her. She's got a decent lead, but luckily the course continues in a wide looping circle.

I'm able to catch up, and even gain a small lead on Rufka, dodging her attempted hip check with a barrel roll while blowing her a raspberry.

Then, as we draw near to the others, the course switches to what I can only call a slalom, quickly eating into my narrow lead. She's right behind me when I notice her trying to cut me off. Since physical contact appears to be legal, I decide to step on her face, giving myself a needed boost, Rufka calling me names.

Then I see the next ring is a checkered red and blue hanging at the edge of the building where we started.

It's a straight blast to the finish.

Laughing madly, I lean into the spell, throwing myself forward at full non-boosted speed.

I blast through the final ring, still laughing while letting my speed dwindle, only to be tackled by Rufka shortly afterwards. We go rolling across the roof into the parapet along the edge where we finally come to a stop. Thanks to Muthica's moonshine it doesn't hurt at all.

We're both laughing excitedly when Beth comes over to us.

"Good job, slick," Beth congratulates me, reaching her hand down to each of us as I bask in my victory.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 1 iron rank integration point.

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win three Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 0/3 races won. Rewards: Three iron rank integration points. Time: unlimited.

"Now, are you two ready to put those skills to work?"

Looking to Rufka, still feeling a little giddy, we both shrug. Then I reply, "Sure. Just tell us what you need."

1.39 Plans? Where we're going, we don't need plans.

A note from Draith

There's a section where Alexis does some math in this chapter. She notes the beginning and end parts of her math so you can skip right over it.

January 17, 2019, 3:35 pm.

"You're sure?" Beth questions us as Rufka and I calm down from our flight. I wonder if there's any sort of limit on Tipan's Aetherium Challenge Race ability. I'd love to keep racing. I mean it's an easy, and fun, way to get integration points. What’s not to love.

"Yeah. We're ready to go. Do you want us to scout out their camp?" I reply, giving Smoulder scritches while gazing towards the camp.

"You know, that's what I was thinking. But now? Well, we should still scout their camp first, but Rufka and Tipan can do that. For you, I have another idea. Are you able to use your rapid spell casting while you're flying like that, slick?" Beth questions me, causing me to go still as I think about it.

Can I?

"I'll have to do more testing," I answer with a grin. There's a small part of me that acknowledges that maybe Muthica's moonshine plus flight may not be the best combination for a long and healthy life. Despite the health edge. But it's quashed by the part that wants to fly.

Every time I've used my time freeze while flying so far, I've slowed down or paused in place. Either because I've been trying to make use of cover or because it's hard to control my movements during a pause. Also, I'd rather not slam myself into a wall at freeze-frame speeds.

So, it hadn't occurred to me that I might be able to do a time freeze strafing run. Pretty obvious in hindsight, but the Fallen aren't usually clumped up like they are in their camp. Even now it might leave me exposed, but it's certainly worth investing some time into testing.

While I'm at it, I can test to see exactly how bad the time dilation reduction is for back to back pausing as well.

"I imagine you're going to do your testing soon slick?" Beth queries with a significant glance.

"Uhm yeah. I was going to do it now," I reply, not sure why she's asking.

“Before you go. Look. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to call you down,” she apologizes, looking down.

Wow. I’m not sure how to respond. I’m in uncharted waters here, “Uh, apology accepted,” I shrug, slightly flustered.

"Good. While you’re out there, try to keep in that area so I can keep an eye on you, slick. Please," Beth directs, answering my unasked question with a wave of her hand.

'That area' was a large swath of the inner city which the system boss had recently passed through. I suppose by extension it could include the outer city on the far side, but I imagine that isn't what Beth meant.

"Will do," I reply, recasting my flight spell while lining myself up with her proposed trajectory. It's not like I was planning to turn during this little jaunt, so keeping a clear and open route is ideal. Nice to know Beth's going to be watching my back.

Looking over at her, I pass her Smoulder, “and please stop calling me slick. It’s awful. Kid’s fine.”

“Sure thing, kid,” Beth answers, her smile lighting up her eyes as Smoulder nuzzles against her.

Then, without further ado, I take off, dropping into pause the moment I'm at speed. Since I'm experimenting anyway, I attempt to adjust my body but I'm right about it being resistant. But that doesn't mean I can't change my course. I'm still able to adjust my thrust. In fact, if I'd been able to do this during my race with Rufka, I probably would have won by a landslide. But then again, she couldn’t use her special abilities either, so maybe not. It occurs to me I don't actually know what she has for special abilities.

Okay, back on task.

First test, paused-flight maneuverability, successful. I can steer my flight while paused by directing thrust appropriately.

Next test, whirlwind of destruction! Maintain speed while paused and casting spells.

What would be less than half a second later in real-time, the sky is filled with roaring winds, scorching flames and crackling lightning as I unleash a whirlwind of power. When I reach the far end, I can confirm that I'm able to keep flying at full speed even when casting. Looking down below me I realize I may have gone a little overboard in my testing.

The elemental energies I unleashed all dwindle to nothing, but there's a tumult of rough wind blowing through the others below, though Tipan quickly calms the air.

Oops.

They all seem to be okay, so I turn to my next experiment.

Official experiment name: Time dilation's diminishing duration determination. Hehe.

Erm. Ahem, time to get serious. Let's break out the journal for this one.

Hypothesis - Consecutive time-pauses reduce effective time dilation. The suspected ratio is halving each previous time-pause's dilation but insufficient data to confirm.

*******Alexis' Math Notes Start*******

Shorthand:

- paused-time: PT

- real-time: RT

- Focus: f

- Facet: F

Okay, I already know the second dilation is going to be two PT minutes per one RT second, which is confirmed as I activate it at the end of my first pause. Cost remains at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Now, will the next pause halve the PT again? I'm leaning towards yes. But time to verify.

Holy crap. Nope.

Third consecutive pause PT= 30 seconds. RT remains at 1 second and cost remains at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Okay, new expected dilation. Need to be quick about this one. PT decreases to…. Uhh. Let's see. the previous pause duration times ½ to the power of the number of consecutive pauses?

So, PT2=PT1*½^1, which would mean PT4=PT3*½^3 which would be…..

I don't have time to figure out the answer before I start the fourth pause.

Fourth pause PT =11.0 seconds, RT =1 second, cost remains steady at 0.1f and 0.1F.

Fifth pause, again PT =11.0 seconds, RT =1 second and the costs are 0.1f and 0.1F.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth pause, PT, RT, f and F all remain stable which feels like sufficient data to be a pattern. While I'm in the relatively mild dilation of 11.0, I discover I'm able to move my body with relative ease. It feels slightly sluggish, but it's still much faster than my body could move in real-time.

Further testing reveals that if I only wait five seconds after the previous dilation, I still have the minimum 11.0 PT of dilation.

Waiting 30 seconds resets the PT dilation to 30 seconds. Waiting a minute resets it two minutes and waiting two minutes resets it to four minutes.

I thought the fourth pause should have been

- ⅛*30 or

- ¼*15,

- which would be 3.75 PT/RT for 0.1f and 0.1F.

But it appears a different formula takes over once PT approaches RT leaving me with

- 11.0 seconds PT/ 1 second RT at a rate of 0.1f and 0.1F per second. Or,

- 11.0 PTs/RTs @ (0.1f and 0.1F)/s

Checking my status to see how much facet I've used; I notice my facet edge is 11.0. Could it be that my edge is setting the minimum for my dilation? Interesting.

********Alexis' Math Notes End*******

Conclusion - pause time becomes accelerated time upon the fourth consecutive activation and thereafter. Accelerated time (AT) allows me to move and interact, unlike paused time. Pause time (PT) recovers completely after two minutes of real-time without use.

Now, the real question is. How do I get accelerated time as my default, with pause as the backup?

It's literally the easiest thing I've done since I've arrived here. I simply focus on my facet as I'm trying to activate the effect only to discover that the Accelerated Time effect is the most basic use of temporal manipulation. I can even power either effect with mana. Eventually.

I say eventually because the current cost to use mana would be 970 mana for one activation! That's more than double my current mana pool. This means a single point of facet is equivalent to, oh let's see, roughly 10,000 mana.

I suspected that my facet was powerful, but….

Well, if I wasn't flying right now, I'd probably have collapsed in disbelief. As I think about it, I realize that maybe it's not quite 10,000 mana per facet. It might be something more reasonable like 6000 mana.

Because that's totally reasonable. Yep.

What the actual….

How did I get such a powerful resource?

"Wyonna. What the hell is up with my core? How is 1000 mana for time manipulation even reasonable?" I demand. Even though she can't normally answer me, I've gotten plenty of temporal manipulation skill increases recently so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Mana isn't efficient at interacting with the Temporal Tides. Facet is. In fact, facet is better at interacting with the Temporal Tides than any other resource discovered."

"Okay, that explains almost nothing. But there have been references to Temporal Tides before. What are they?"

"The Temporal Tides are the forces of time. It's a reference to the best understanding the system has to the true nature of time."

"You've got my attention Wyonna. Please continue," I urge her, waiting patiently. Did she decide to stop talking? Then I realize she probably got locked out

Figures.

Fine. I haven't done an ice torrent before. Most of my regular torrents still get an increase on every other cast, so my first ice torrent should be a guaranteed increase.

I create the familiar double helix structure, channelling the cold mana through my arms into the work, holding it for a moment to inspect the spell structure before I release it. Even as I hold the spell, I can't help but picture my frost rimmed eyes staring back at me, a familiar chill running down my spine.

When I release the spell a thousand glistening shards reflect my gaze back at me. The shards shoot forwards for a hundred metres before gravity exerts its influence, causing them to tumble then fall on the empty city far below. I barely watch as I force myself to turn my attention back to my notifications.

"Skill increased: Ice Manipulation (31 to 32)"

"Uhm. It's not a well-documented field. On account of it being so difficult to interact with the tides. But the philosophical idea is that time is kind of like an ocean with waves, swells, tides, currents and all that. And using magic to affect time is like being on a one-person raft. With a stick. You can kind of affect it, but mostly you're just moving yourself relative to the ocean. And any disruption you might make will smooth itself out."

"But your facet is more like having a personal motorboat. You're still not going to affect the entire ocean that much, but it's a lot better than a raft with a stick."

"Huh. Okay, that's surprisingly easy to grasp," I reply as I head back to the others now that my experiments are done. I’m surveying the city on my way back, noting the system boss seems to have settled down near the centre of the city. The boss is nestled near a building that reminds me of the Eiffel tower. If the Eiffel tower was made of the same reflective material as the 'silver bullets' throughout the city.

Huh. I wonder if that tower is related to the eye?

"Oh, and just like an ocean there are powerful creatures that lurk within the depths."

"But I'm not going to have to worry about those, right? I'm just a person in a motorboat," I worry, suddenly forgetting my previous musings.

"Well, you should be safe. Considering their existence has only been inferred. They're suspected to be behind worlds disappearing from history. But since the worlds just disappear, it's hard to know. Plus, there aren't many people in motorboats to compare you to either."

"This conversation is a little insane Wyonna. How do you know about a world that disappears from history?" I demand, feeling myself panicking a little. This is so freaking out there. I was already worried about our world being destroyed, but apparently, there are even worse things.

"Because distance in space affects the Temporal ocean's reach. Plus, time isn't clean. It doesn't care about all the details. Just that history is close enough. When a world disappears, it leaves behind millions of little references."

"I think that this is all incredibly crazy. But it's not something I can do anything about, is it? At least not at the moment," I decide, glancing towards the Fallen camp.

Now that's something I can deal with. Yeah. Let's deal with nice normal undead K'tharn.

What the hell has happened to my life?

"Not really. It’s not something anyone can worry about; you know what they say. Keep calm and all that. And I'm out of ti-"

"Take care Wyonna. Thanks for the lesson," I mumble as I float down towards the others, going straight for Smoulder. She senses my discomfort, hopping straight into my arms before I've even had a chance to land.

"Hey, girl. It's okay. Just some crazy stuff is all."

"So, I take it your test was a success kid?" Beth asks, confusing me until I remember why I started experimenting in the first place.

"Yeah, a complete and total success. Even figured some other stuff out," I answer, while Smoulder hops onto my shoulder. I wonder if I can incorporate a Smoulder-shoulder-holder into my flight spell. I could just make a pouch while I figure it out.

"Excellent. While you were testing, Tipan and Rufka scouted their camp. They found something unexpected," Beth explains as Tipan brings the map up once more, showing a rough outline of the newly fortified Fallen camp.

But that's not what Beth is pointing to. At the base of the silver building, almost precisely where the awakened Fallen were camped when we first stumbled across them, is a fuzzy indistinct shape which appears to be an opening.

"Is that a tunnel?" I question Tipan.

"I believe so. Their new defences appear to be centred around it," Tipan discloses, rotating the map, showing that they've built more walls all around the camp.

"They're not sending their squads out as far anymore either," Rufka notes, moving to stand next to me.

"Why would they be building a tunnel," I wonder, looking to the others.

"That's the question. Maybe they're trying to escape. Maybe they want a bunker. But I think the fact they're doing it in the shadow of the silver building is significant. Whatever those buildings are, these Fallen want inside,” Beth states, tapping the floating image of the entrance.

"And we're going to stop them?”

"Well, they've demonstrated they're not going to leave us alone. While we're safe from them here, that system boss makes this a less than ideal base. So, I think it's time to hit them back. The plan is pretty simple. Alexis and Rufka will attack the lesser Fallen along the flanks while the rest of us attack from these buildings here," Beth explains pointing at several buildings that run close together, leading next to the camp.

"That said, we're not in desperate straits here, and we have a fallback position, so if there's trouble, we'll fall back. It looks like every Fallen we take down is staying down, so no need to take them all at once. If they can follow us here or we get split, Alexis should be able to contact you. If we're not able to communicate, try to make it here," Beth continues pointing at a spire-like building near the south edge of the inner city.

"It's still in the inner city, but it should be far enough out that the system boss will leave it alone."

"Questions?"

"Why don't we just finish the zone quest?" Josh asks.

"This is still our best place to safely train, assuming we can deal with the Fallen. Raz's has a lot of features that we won't find anywhere else unless we gain access to a major Nexus. And most of those are locked away by the Aetherium or on another continent," Tipan supplies, running a hand through her fur while inspecting the map.

"Uh. But we can just access Raz's from any Nexus as long as we have this," I mention as I pull the Raz's tube out of my inventory. Raz gave it to me for three essence after I'd bought my tenth meal last night saying that since I liked the food so much, I should have a way to get back. For only three essence, I hadn't even blinked before buying it.

Beth and Tipan just look at me while Rufka chuckles as Roberts pats me on the shoulder, "Ha. It's good to see one of us thought to get the device off him while we had the chance."

"I guess we do have a choice. Shall we hold a vote, people?" Beth asks, getting nods of ascent from the group.

"I need to learn more about Bel’dast, and if possible, I'd like to send her to Astra," Tipan confirms, "I vote we attack the Fallen."

"Hmm. As do I," Rufka agrees, glancing at me as she says so.

"Me too. They've attacked me every time they've seen me," I state, crossing my arms. What goes unsaid is that I’m silently supporting Rufka. I don't know why she doesn't want to tell the others, but I know what it's like not wanting everyone to know your business.

I shake my head, not wanting to dwell on memories of high school.

"Well, that's half our number. I'm not comfortable hurting them, but I'll be there to shield you," Roberts evades, tactfully sidestepping voting, I note.

"Josh?" Beth prompts, turning towards where he's standing. Unlike the rest of us, Josh is gazing up the hill towards their camp.

"Most are basically zombies made by the system, yeah? I say we approach them. If they're willing to talk, then we listen. But if not," Josh responds, turning back to face us.

"Okay. That sounds reasonable. I'm personally all for confronting them. Considering their track record so far, I don't think we'll be talking, but we'll stay open to it. But there's something dangerous going on here. I'd rather take it on than leave it behind us," Beth states, getting nods from all of us.

"So…. If we're going to try to talk, I guess we're not going to fly up then just start shooting?" I mention, shooting hand-pistols at the map. The little balls of wind and water that fly from the tips of my fingers are why having magic is so great.

"We'll see. We'll all get into place on that building, then Alexis and Rufka can watch our flanks as we move in," Beth replies, pointing at the nearby building before grabbing her glider from where it rests nearby.

The others grab their gliders while Rufka and I both cast our flight spells.

Once we're all ready, Beth smiles, standing on the edge of the building before leaping off while calling, "Let's do this, people."

And so, we all follow her. I know Josh is hoping for peace, but I don't think it's likely. They've attacked me repeatedly without provocation.

If they give us peace, then okay. We're all alive and healthy. We can give them peace.

But if they don't.

Well, as the saying goes, war, war never changes.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Is it Tuesday already?

Now that the main chapters are caught up and there's no more talking about spoilers, feel free to drop in on discord.

Plus that good ol' Patreon link where you can read up to 9 chapters ahead, plus get fancy discord roles.

Thanks for reading, see you Thursday.

1.40 All Out Elemental Action

A note from Draith

Clarification of the timeline for the prologue. (January 11, 2009, 21:12 UTC Earth Equivalent.)

January 17, 2019, 4:02pm. Finally, time to attack. Err. Talk. Eh, we'll see.

The gliders make it trivial to get in position though we do have to deal with a few scattered Fallen who attack us on sight. Welp, that answers that question, so much for talking. A few arrows from Rufka quietly take out the remaining Fallen nearby.

As the others land, I scan the nearby rooftops. But other than the handful Rufka silenced, there don't appear to be any Fallen in the vicinity. As the others detach from their gliders Rufka and I float in place, keeping watch. I urge Smoulder to join the others. She'll be of more use to them than trying to balance on my back.

Moments later Rufka and I float to the sides as we approach the Fallen.

I activate accelerated time the moment we start moving forward, my water shield active with a chunk of stone held ready. I've also shaped armour plates from my metal (which my skill now informs me is iron. Handy that my skill lets me identify specific metals now that it’s improved.) The plates hang on my shoulders, ready for me to shift into place should I need them.

A blast of fire appears from ahead which I'm able to easily neutralize with a water shield. Ahead several Fallen are landing on the roof, Bel'dast, the white Triplet lifting them into place. More spells start flying towards us as I glance at the others running across the roof.

I see Smoulder smash through a Fallen, but she stays close to the others, not running out ahead.

Beside her, Josh is in his full rose petal armour, wielding a spear in one hand, a shield in the other. He impales a Fallen with the spear which appears to be several thick rose stems twisted together with an incredibly jagged tip in one hand while the large shield is composed of four oversized rose petals supported and rimmed by the same rose stems.

I watch as he takes several simultaneous spells on the shield but it holds. That's a relief.

I continue to focus on blocking incoming attacks while returning fire with barely aimed lightning torrents, trusting in their auto-aiming and chaining properties to inflict maximum damage with minimal attention. It works remarkably well, the others only needing to pick off a couple of stragglers as we continue forward.

Tipan is using her blasts of wind magic with surgical precision, only attacking when she has a clear shot or to ensure the Fallen are kept off-balance.

As I survey our situation, Beth lands a hit on Bel'dast, sending her tumbling out of sight with a screech that sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

Then we reach the end of the building. Josh has tried yelling out several times that we want to talk, but each time more spells have come flying back in his direction. A clear-cut response.

So, since they don't want to talk, I pause time while maintaining speed. There are so many spells flying towards me that I immediately direct a huge amount of thrust into adjusting my vector instead of blocking. With the first step of dodging initiated, I start returning fire, mostly relying on my lightning torrents.

I've discovered that ice and stone, and to a lesser extent earth, are the best at blocking lightning. Meanwhile, most other elemental shields offer no effective resistance. I've also noticed that other than Dhanni, the Fallen have very few manipulators who use any of those elements. In fact, the majority use wind and lightning. And most aren’t able to direct lightning away such as the dark-furred Triplet Seldast can.

Taking in the battle from my new, higher view, I realize I'm a priority target. There are twenty Fallen targeting me for every Fallen targeting the others. I'm pretty sure they're going to regret not taking the others more seriously.

Then again, I'm sure they're in trouble no matter what they do.

Not that they're going to be pushovers either. Especially the Triplets. Who I haven't seen a sign of since One-eyed Bel'dast went screeching away.

As I change my flight path again, I start working a few twilight torrents in, obscuring the battlefield while I look for the real threats. I only barely notice the stone roof shifting behind the others.

Somehow Beth seems to have noticed it as well. She's already turning in place, her rifle sliding into place as she calls out while Roberts' barrier flickers into existence.

This is when I see the dark lightning Triplet Seldast blasting out from behind the silver building, lightning already sparking in each hand. She sends a massive pair of lighting bolts arcing in the sky, making my torrents seem small in comparison. I'm too far away to shield the others, but Roberts' shield holds as the lightning splashes against it. His Reprieve does fall by nearly half from those two bolts though.

I didn't remain idle while she struck the others, blasting directly towards her which had the side benefit of completely throwing off the aim of the Fallen below. I start with a torrent of ice as my pause ends, dropping into accelerated time.

Given her ability to redirect lightning, I proceed to unleash a wind torrent next, aiming for where I expect her to dodge to avoid the ice torrent.

I get lucky. Not only does she get knocked into the silver building by my wind torrent, but she also gets clipped by my ice torrent, spinning her around before slamming her head against the building hard. Hitting the building only slows her for half a second before she starts moving again. However, that's half a second of real-time.

That's more than enough time for me to finish a fire torrent while closing in further.

As she turns back, she's caught full-on by the scorching heat. It must have gotten past her health because she screams madly as she charges directly at me. Suddenly it occurs to me that I'm probably closer than I need to be. I reverse at full speed, letting my flight spell chunk through my mana as I try to escape her.

But then she's gone, a bolt of lightning taking her place.

I'm too close to bring my stone shield in place before I'm struck by a massive bolt of lightning. I'm pushed back as Seldast appears, her hand sliding past my face in the wake of her powerful attack.

I shriek as I take…. two points of health damage.

That's it?

Cackling with glee, I pause time once more. This time I don't hit her with a single flame torrent. I use thirteen. For luck.

This time when she screams, I know it's her last as she explodes into blue dust.

Even as Seldast vanishes I notice a glittering crystal falling. Manipulating it into my hand with wind, I realize I also have a quest update.

"Quest updated: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Hidden requirement: Lay Seldast to rest. Forever. Reward: 1 iron rank integration point. Class reward: Voltranger ability unlocked: Lightning Warp."

"Okay, that's new. You learned her ability. That's not how it normally works. One second, what was it your class description said? Oh yeah, this is just the beginning."

So, I'm learning other class' abilities? That seems broken.

"Also, wow, you absolutely destroyed her."

Yeah, I really did, didn't I?

"Ability - Lightning Warp: Channel yourself into a bolt of lightning travelling with the bolt until it strikes a target or you reach maximum range. This ability uses stamina. Note this ability must be purchased with an ability point."

"This might be useful for expanding your mobility options."

Huh. I need to 'purchase' the ability. That's a little less broken. I wonder if it's going to be the same with the terramancy spell.

"Updating Ability - Lightning Warp: compatible matrix detected. This ability will use Matrix resource facet instead of stamina."

"That's interesting. I don't imagine that's going to happen with every ability."

That makes it much more tempting. But I guess I'll have to see what abilities I unlock when I level my class. I wonder if I can figure out how to make it into a spell instead?

I'm turning back to the others, who I see are under assault by Bel'dast, Dhanni and nearly a hundred Fallen, when several elemental spells slam into me.

While I am knocked back by the combined fire, I don't take a single point of damage. It would appear my elemental resistance is strong enough that the spells these fallen are hitting me with are nothing to me. Ignoring the Fallen below I unleash blazing torrents on the ranks of enemies assaulting my friends.

With the Fallen Triplets down to just the two and the lesser Fallen beneath my notice, I turn my attention to Bel'dast. She's slowly turning back to face me when I drop from paused-time into accelerated-time. I don't see any fear on her face, but there appears to be a new sense of wariness as she flies away from me, literally throwing Fallen at me.

Laughing as I approach her, I dismiss the lesser Fallen until one of them hits me for five damage.

Right. I'm not resistant to physical damage. Other than my health edge that is. I wonder how my resistances work with stone or metal? Am I resistant to metal spells but not swords? That would be weird.

Then again, magic.

Pausing time again, I blast forwards, using the extreme dilation to easily dodge the random Fallen which Bel'dast is throwing my way.

When I've nearly reached her, I feel a massive force push me back, sending me slowly falling end over end. I can't dodge a wave I can't even see. Not yet.

Unfortunately for Bel'dast, I'm already close enough to repeat my overwhelming assault. This time, without Dhanni or Seldast to protect her, I use lightning. The thirteen lightning torrents have no problems making contact.

Unlike Seldast, Bel'dast doesn't scream. In fact, if I had to describe the last expression I see painted on her face before her body fades into dust, I'd say it was one of relief.

And then I flip further away, losing sight of her as the quest update appears. Fun fact, I'm still laughing while time is paused. It feels oddly disconnected.

"Quest updated: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Hidden requirement: Lay Bel'dast to rest. Forever. Reward: 1 iron rank integration point. Class reward: Aeromancer Ability unlocked: Lesser Flight - Mass."

"And another ability. This would have been more useful before Rufka fixed those gliders."

"Ability - Lesser Flight - Mass: While channelling, grant selected targets lesser flight while within range. This ability uses mana. Note this ability must be purchased with an ability point."

While I agree with Wyonna, my mind is still on the fact that Bel'dast was relieved. I'd been informed the Fallen had some of their original memories but were they then forced to behave as they did?

My pondering comes to an end as I right myself, floating towards the others while the pause comes to an end.

There are no more Fallen attacking them, in fact, most of the remaining Fallen below have started running away in small packs, far less organized than before.

When I float over the ridge, I find Smoulder and Josh flanking a haggard Dhanni. She still has large clumps of earth floating around her, but she's barely raising them to block Josh's twisting spear of thorns or Smoulder's headbutts.

She definitely doesn't raise one in time to block the crackling arrow of lightning Rufka looses from her bow. When it strikes her it knocks Dhanni to her knees.

It seems like the others have her handled, so I fly over beside Rufka as she unleashes another arrow, keeping my eyes open for any other Fallen who may attack. Dhanni doesn't even try to dodge the arrow, collapsing into a heap in front of Josh.

Once I'm next to Rufka, I drop out of accelerated time. She keeps firing arrow after arrow into Dhanni as I guide her down while looking at the other’s resources. Josh is out of Petals and Thorns, but his health and stamina are still high. Beth has more than half her Umbra left while Roberts is low on Reprieve and Tipan is mostly full of Aero.

No one is hurt, thankfully.

Except for Josh, the others continue dealing with miscellaneous Fallen as Rufka and I land not two meters from Dhanni's mangled body. There's no blood. I've yet to see a Fallen bleed, but given the nature of my attacks, it hadn't been apparent until this moment that they simply don't have blood. That’s strange.

Rufka stops firing arrows when our feet touch the building surface, squeezing my hand tightly as we observe Dhanni’s body. It takes me a moment to realize something's wrong. Trying to figure it out, I look around, searching.

Beth's a few steps away, Roberts and Tipan beside her, but she only glances in our direction for a second before raising her rifle to aim at some distant threat. Not them.

As we stand there, I note that Josh is practically standing on top of Dhanni while Smoulder is staying true to form, marking her victory with blazing pee. But that’s normal.

Looking around, I try to figure out what’s off.

What's missing?

And then it comes to me.

There's no quest notification.

While Rufka continues to squeeze my hand hard enough that it almost does damage, I focus on the twisted and torn body of Dhanni.

Even as the fire from Smoulder makes contact with Dhanni, her body twitches, a broken bone suddenly shifting, her body starting to fix itself.

Even as I'm pausing time, Josh drops his spear and one of his pods, grabbing Smoulder as he rolls away.

His pod has started to explode as I follow up with an overkill of thirteen torrents, half fire, half lightning and one metal. Because fuck the second-form boss battle stage. It's time for this to be done.

When the disaster that is thirteen combined torrents being unleashed at short range has finished, I hear a hiss, followed by a small puff of blue dust and the missing quest update.

"Quest completed: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Class reward: Terramancer Spell discovered: Cloying Terrain."

"Huh. Okay, that's weird. The quest completion has the system updating. One second."

"Spell - Cloying Earth: While channelling, all earth within your control radius becomes thick and viscous while being incredibly difficult to reshape."

When the quest update scrolls past and the pause ends, I hear Rufka sob, before she breaks out of my grip.

Wiping her tears away, Rufka breathes deeply for a second before turning to where Dhanni had been a moment ago. There's nothing left except a single crystal glistening amongst the molten metal. Seeing it reminds me of the one I'm still holding in my hand.

As Rufka reaches down to retrieve the crystal in front of her, I analyze the one from Seldast.

"Object analyzed - Fallen Soulstone - Seldast. This crystal has the soul of the Fallen Seldast bound within. Soul stones can be used by users with rare skills to capture a systemless creature within. These users can then summon or interact with the trapped creature. The creature within the soulstone will possess all of its memories and personality. These are a common resource of summoner base classes.“

“Well, that explains things a little bit. There must be one of these summoners involved with this Ivicka. I have a hard time picturing a user with Swagger as their resource being a summoner. Unless they summon ale. I think you should ask Raz about summoners and soulshards. I have no information on them, which is disturbing.”

I can’t help but chuckle a little at Wyonna’s comment. It's weird though. I don’t remember seeing any summoner base classes in my list of options. Uthica’s either.

In fact, there wasn't anything close.

I'm about to show the crystal to Rufka when there's a loud buzzing in my head. The buzzing only recedes after I glance at the next notification in my log.

"Citizen Status confirmed."

"Updating analysis."

“WARNING! Fallen cannot be bound by the system. Therefore they are not safe to be used as summons. The system is unable to cleanse the corruption from Fallen Soulstones without the use of dedicated facilities. Use of an uncleansed Fallen Soulstone comes at great risk to your life, your sanity and your connection. Use at your own risk.”

"Huh, the system is still updating. Wait. Part of your log is blank. That’s weird."

Okay. Nope. Forget the soulshard.

I tuck the shard into my inventory as Rufka stands with Dhanni's in hand. She doesn't hold it long, storing the crystal after only a second's pause, turning to me with a sad smile painted across her face.

Then the buzzing is back, painfully loud. Again, it only fades once I start to read the notification.

"Corrupted Soulstone found by Citizen Pandora."

"Activating Citizen Duty Protocols."

"Citizens Pandora, Raven Queen, Rose, Roberts and Demo located on the local network."

"Sharing System Quest with all Citizens on the local network."

“Quest received - Purge Corruption. Description: There is a summoner bringing Fallen back to life. This is a perversion of the system generated Soulstones. Find the summoner, prevent them from ever summoning again, destroy their research, and return any other summoned Fallen to rest. Requirements: Summoner found 0/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 iron rank integration points, 4 class progression points. Additional rewards for every summoned Fallen laid to rest. Time: unlimited."

"What just happened. More of your log just went blank. Wait, everything just got locked. What-"

"Citizen Anti-Corruption Systems Fully Active."

"Uh, Wyonna? You there?" I ask as I check my log again, making a list of my questions while I wait for her response, trying not to worry.

- It clearly states that the four of us are Citizens. Does that mean that Rufka and Tipan aren't?

- Why not?

- What makes us Citizens?

- What is this local network?

- Who's this Demo?

- Was there a fifth person who arrived with us and we missed them?

- What's a Citizen Duty protocol?

- And what's with the quest rewards? Those are insane.

As I'm trying to distract myself, I keep checking my log, the final question on my list weighing on my mind.

- What happened to Wyonna?

When I still don't get a message from Wyonna after waiting a full minute, I fire a couple of twilight torrents until I get a skill increase notification. Then I wait as the others start to ask me what's wrong. And if I know anything about the quest.

But I barely register them, watching my notification screen, waiting for Wyonna to say something. Anything.

But there's nothing.

Wyonna is gone.

A note from Draith

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Thursday.

There's a discord server around here somewhere. Please let me know if you try it and it doesn't work, I'm still figuring this stuff out.

Standard link to Patreon if you want to read up to nine chapters ahead. Or, you know, support an artist. Kind of forgot that was a thing too. Am I an artist now?

I'm going to say yes. Because I'm still getting random 0.5 ratings. At least it's down to once every couple weeks. Thank you to all those who gave me an honest review or rating, even those who didn't make it this far.

Thanks for reading, see you Saturday.

1.41 Citizen Pandora

January 17, 2019, 4:12 pm.

Wyonna is gone.

Reading my log, she was cut off the moment the anti-corruption system activated. Does that mean Wyonna is corrupted?

Is this because she broke out of her shackles? Or is it something else?

And seriously, system? You couldn't give us five minutes to enjoy our victory.

I'm broken out of my thoughts by Rufka squeezing my hand tightly, her concern making me feel guilty. We just had to put down- no, not put down. We had to kill her old love while I'm worrying about Wyonna being missing. It can wait.

"I'm okay. It's just…" I trail off for a second before continuing, "Wyonna is gone. And this new quest is... How are you?"

"Hmm. Yes. I've never heard of a quest that grants Citizen status before,” Rufka answers, ignoring my question but giving my hand a quick squeeze.

I don't know how to respond. I barely registered that there was a difference between Citizens and Users before. It's obvious in hindsight.

"I don't know what yours says, but we're already Citizens," I tell Rufka, gesturing to indicate the others. I could keep it to myself but that feels… wrong.

"Figured," she grunts, draping her arm over my shoulder.

"But what does it even mean?" I wonder, noticing Josh walking towards us with Smoulder in hand.

"It means better than user. Obviously," Rufka states as Smoulder launches herself several metres, knocking me back before I indulge her in post-battle head-scritches.

"What means better than user?" Josh questions Rufka, shuffling his feet while looking at the still molten metal where Dhanni was moments ago.

"Being a Citizen is better than being a user," Rufka explains, staring at the 'silver bullet'.

"Better how?" I try to prod Rufka.

"I don't know. Never heard of Citizen before," she replies teasingly.

When I glance at Josh, looking for support, he flinches away from me. Confused, I touch my face trying to see if there's something on it, but it feels clean and smooth as I ask, "what's wrong Josh?"

"No-nothing," he stammers, turning away from me.

What the hell?

Hoping Rufka can help out, I nudge her, gesturing to my face, "is there something on my face?"

Rufka inspects me closely, scrutinizing my face while taking it in hand. She turns it this way and that, humming and hawing.

"Hmm. Interesting. Very interesting,” Rufka observes, tapping a finger against her cheek.

"What?" I demand after half a minute of waiting, "what is it?"

"Nothing. You're just as pretty as ever. Don't know what he saw. Maybe it's a Citizen thing," Rufka postulates, patting my cheek while I blush.

"I told you. It's nothing," Josh exclaims, exasperated.

"It is better to check. The quest says we must worry about corruption," Rufka states as the others join us.

"Interesting. You received the quest too?" Beth questions Rufka, slinging her rifle onto her back. Beth bumps Josh with her elbow once she gets closer, who gives her a sheepish grin in response, when she adds, "good job there, slugger."

Nodding, Rufka turns her gaze on each of us in turn, "if we are to complete this quest, then it would seem we need to rescue my mother. She never told me the name of her apprentice, but I know that she was a summoner."

"It's possible Ivicka knows something too," Tipan hesitantly adds, "I never had a chance to read most of her letters. But minister Folthka might know."

Considering their words, Beth cracks her knuckles before speaking, "Either way, it appears the Fallen have scattered now that their leaders are gone. Hopefully, they'll go back to their normal training area behaviour. We don't have to set a course of action yet; this new quest can wait until we're back at Raz's."

"Now, we could continue with our training, but I'd like to investigate their excavation, gather essence then maybe pick up some of these general abilities. I can't believe there was a party chat, and no one mentioned it," Beth sighs, shaking her head.

"I imagine that we'll want Alexis to loot them soon. To dispose of their bodies," Roberts suggests, waving at the scores of bodies on the edge of the roof.

"Yeah, I can do that," I agree, walking to the edge of the building, looking over the edge. It's only as I'm looking down that I realize just how many Fallen fell by my hands alone. I know it should disturb me but instead, I feel a sense of grim satisfaction.

Then I reach out to loot everything. But there's no prompt in my interface.

That's what I was afraid of. Wyonna wasn't just giving me advice. She's been providing me assistance through the interface. And now she's gone because of this stupid quest.

Well, Citizen Pandora, I guess you're going to have to figure it out for yourself.

So, instead of dwelling, I focus on my memory of the last time I used the ability to loot a large area.

By spending a small amount of facet I'm able to remember the moment perfectly.

"Even when you're gone, you're still helping me. Thank you, Wyonna," I murmur, thankful I have the memory to copy.

There's an initial pulse that identifies every one of the bodies within range which I replicate using minimal facet. The range is surprisingly wide. It seems facet isn't disrupted by ambient mana the way elemental mana is.

Once I use it, the pulse provides me with feedback indicating there are 179 defeated Fallen within a hundred meters or so. The feedback doesn't include a sense of direction, but I'm already thinking of ways I might be able to turn this into a detection ability. Even a basic, 'are there monsters nearby?' pulse could be useful.

The next step of the looting process bears a resemblance to my IFF ability, though it uses weaker connections. Similar to the first pulse, I send another, but with dozens of filaments of facet lightly tethered to it. I use these to create a connection to every target the first pulse identified. It doesn't cost any focus and only a marginal amount of facet to establish connections with each corpse within range.

The next step will be to focus on the bodies, pulling at the essence stored within. But I don't intend to draw the essence out until I ensure I've discerned the step that comes after.

Starting with a single body, I attempt the part I'm certain will be the most challenging.

Teleportation.

The essence pulls on the tether, but I have to be careful at this step. Not just to get it to work, but I suspect this is the key to learning how to teleport without using a complicated set of runes.

Testing on a single body, I watch carefully as the essence uses the tether to travel to my hand. As the essence leaves, the body disappears in a puff of blue smoke.

As the process continues, I follow it closely. As I watch the essence travel through the bond, it's converted to pure energy, being disassembled before being sent along the bond.

It's not teleporting. At least not how I'm familiar with teleportation so far. It is reminiscent of how teleportation works in Star Trek, but I'd rather not try to disassemble and reassemble myself. Which means, I won't be able to copy the method. I'm not able to glean anything else of use either.

Once it reaches me, the essence floats about for a second before it turns into more of the blue mist. Guess the last step needs to be set up ahead of time.

The last step is simple. All I need to do is create a connection between the interface 'looting' function and the links. Which I do, now that I know the essence disappears otherwise.

Instead of immediately looting all of the bodies, I observe several more transfers, searching for any clue that might allow me to teleport. I've gone through twenty individual bodies when I hear Rufka clear her throat from beside me.

"You want to talk about it?" Rufka offers.

I think she's talking about my experiments until my mouth opens, surprising myself, "I kind of took her for granted. Wyonna that is."

"Oh?" Rufka leans against the recently Fallen-cleared parapet as she encourages me to continue. Behind us, I can hear Beth laughing with Josh before talking with Tipan and Roberts about taking the time to ensure we're not being surrounded while we investigate the Fallen camp.

"Yeah. She's been with me ever since we woke here on Akilo, though I didn't know it at first. It seems like she's been making things easier, giving me shortcuts," I share, deciding I've played enough, finally looting the rest of the bodies. The wave of blue dust that rises obscures the remaining bodies for a moment before it starts disappearing to wherever blue dust goes. Probably not the Kool-Aid factory.

"Doesn't seem as though you're crippled," Rufka comments, gesturing to the wisps of dust that haven't quite faded.

"Yeah, I'm figuring things out. But I owe her a lot. We need to finish this quest. I want her back," I decide, clenching my fist, making Smoulder look up at me.

"Hey, I'll be there Lexi," Rufka reassures me, squeezing my shoulder.

"Thanks," I reply, giving her a sad smile.

"Any time. Besides, with Tipan at our side, I think we might have a chance of being able to break my mum out," Rufka replies excitedly.

"That would be cool," my smile is happier this time.

"If we're going that route, we may want to head east first though," Rufka adds, tapping out a familiar rhythm on the parapet as she talks.

"Why? What's east of here?" I wonder, thinking back to the standing stones. Seems like the wrong direction. It sounds like Rufka's mother and Ivicka's mentor are both somewhere in the Aetherium to the west.

"You mean other than my home and everything I've ever known?" Rufka teases, "my friend Theria. If we're going into Aetherium territory we can't have all of you running around looking like short, discoloured Builders. We'll need proper disguises and illusions."

"And Theria can help with that, I take it," I guess while wondering how illusions work. Would that be an application of twilight? It would make sense.

"Yeah. But that's for later. I don't think we'll be leaving for a few days. You may have destroyed all these," Rufka gestures to the unlooted bodies across the far side of the camp, "but against powerful opponents, our only effective tactic is to send you into melee range so you can drop a Cataclysm worth of elemental destruction on their head."

"While you were dealing with half the army and two of the awakened Fallen, the rest of us were being overrun by Dhanni and a few squads. That's not to mention that if we're not skipping off to another training area, we'll need to deal with this Ivicka."

"Your friend Beth isn't the only one who feels training is required," Rufka declares vehemently.

"Uhm," I pause, not sure how to respond. It feels like Rufka literally saved my life with her skills a couple hours earlier today.

"But it's okay. Because with you teaching me, maybe I'll be able to pass as a mancer yet," Rufka adds, her ears perking up excitedly.

"I think you're already awesome. But I'll teach you everything I can," I confirm, "though I don't think I'm a very good teacher."

"Ha. You're trying to teach several people how to handle the primal elements of the universe. Did you think you could really teach it in an hour?" Rufka lightly reprimands me.

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of silly. But it was so easy for me I just thought…"

"Skill is a result of hard work. Least that's what my mum always said when others were around. When it was just the two of us, she mentioned that the system did allow for shortcuts. Such as Astra's Stride."

"Well, obviously that's where all your skills came from," I tease as Rufka affects an offended air.

"Oh no. She's as dangerous with her words as her spells," Rufka proclaims loudly, pretending to slough to the ground.

"Har. Har. Now, I should probably get back to looting the rest of these," I decide, smiling at Rufka's sprawled form. She really does have well-defined muscles, I note.

"That's right. Just leave me here after mortally wounding me," Rufka exclaims, peeking up at me with one eye, which she quickly closes when she sees I noticed.

"Okay. Since you told me to," I answer, lifting into the air on my hoverboard while transferring Smoulder into her special pocket.

"Heartless. So, heartless. If only-" her monologue is lost to me as I float over to the far side of the camp. Thanks to Rufka I'm feeling much better. Once I'm roughly over the middle of the remaining bodies, I send out another set of pulses, looting the rest of the Fallen.

There were only 83 here, which combined with the 179 Fallen I looted earlier totals 262. When I check, I discover we received 705 mge essence each, mostly wind and lightning but with a smattering of every other element. There are even two twilight essence. With so much data I can confirm that, on average, Fallen drop more than two essence each.

We also receive 26 mortal grade mana essence, which translates to two integration points each, plus change. This implies about one in ten Fallen drops a mana essence. Altogether, it's a good haul, for a few minutes’ efforts.

While counting our gains I float around their camp searching for anything that stands out. Then I realize I never picked up Bel'dast's crystal. Flying to where she fell, it takes me a minute of searching to find it. It's more than half obscured by the loose dirt it fell in, but I pluck it out with a twist of earth and wind, guiding it to my hand, inspecting it to ensure it's the right crystal. Not that it's likely to be anything else.

"Object analyzed - Fallen Soulstone - Beldast. This crystal has the soul of the Fallen Beldast bound within. This soulstone requires a special facility to be cleansed.“

Sigh. It's not the same without Wyonna's extra comments after an analysis.

Putting the crystal away, I fly back to where the others are assembled on the building above. When I reach the top, I notice Tipan isn't around. When I land next to Josh, he steps away. I'm not sure but it seems like he's hiding behind Roberts. But then I see him worrying with the straps of his glider.

You're just being silly Alexis, chill.

"Ah. Welcome back, Alexis. That was quite the bounty you gathered; wouldn't you say?" Roberts comments amiably as he starts strapping his glider on.

"Yeah. It was pretty good. Where's Tipan?" I respond, noting that Beth and Rufka are fussing over Beth's glider.

"She's doing a sweep for Fallen before we head down," Roberts points, making it easier for me to pick out her form where she's flying above.

As I watch, she channels several air blades through her shaft before disappearing from sight. A moment later I receive a notification telling me I've received another 5 mge essence, then Tipan rises back into the air, continuing her patrol. It's weird receiving loot from somebody else's actions, but it's a good weird. I keep watching as Tipan finishes her patrol, landing with grace.

"Good. Okay people, now that Tipan's back, let's go see what these Fallen were so interested in," Beth commands, leading the way with her own glider, the others right behind her.

Because I'm feeling fancy, I try to leap over the parapet before casting my fight spell. But I just smack my knee on the low wall, falling backwards. It doesn't hurt, but I'm glad no one saw that.

"Smooth moves Lexi. Guess you need training too," Rufka mocks from above. Damnit. Can't a girl embarrass herself in private?

"Yeah, yeah," I reply, letting my magic carry me up and over.

Even with their lead I still make it to the ground before the others. This spell really is better than their gliders. It's a shame I don't have that mass flight ability. It would have made getting down instant.

Damn, I might need to pick it up, the tactical uses could be amazing. Maybe I can figure out a similar spell instead?

We spend the next few minutes searching the small awakened camp next to the tunnel. It's surprisingly reminiscent of a campsite we might find back on earth. Or at least that's what Josh mentions to Beth.

We split into pairs to search the camp, each of us choosing a tent to investigate. Tipan, Smoulder and I browse through our empty tent, finding bedding, spare bandoleers and several low-quality knives but nothing of real interest. Well, Smoulder mostly just hops around sniffing things while being adorable. But she's part of the team. As I prepare to leave, Tipan stops me, "we should collect everything."

"Really, why?" I ask, trying to figure out what the value of the scattered items might be worth if we sold them. I can't imagine it's much.

"You never know what you might miss," Tipan informs me, opening a pouch on one of the bandoleers, several essence crystals spilling out.

"Huh. Fair point," I respond. I've been spoiled by my looting ability.

With more care we go through everything again, packing it away neatly. Because you can carry more if things are properly compressed apparently. I totally cheat, using metal magic to create banding. At which point Tipan brings several objects out of her storage for me to help her repack.

"I really need to develop my metal manipulation skills. I didn't think of the simple utility it could grant. We don't use metal magic much in the Aetherium."

"Why not," I inquire politely while carefully packing a set of ceremonial robes that Tipan mentioned she mostly keeps for sentimental value.

"Because it's so mana intensive to use metal. And it's heavy. There are a few smiths who work it for their crafting, but most of our possessions are made out of hide and bone since they’re already imbued with essence," Tipan explains, gesturing at her staff, which is polished ivory.

As we rejoin the others, we confirm that no one found any information though Rufka and Beth discovered a couple enchanted tools for cooking tucked away. Roberts gets very excited about them when Rufka describes their purpose.

"A self-heating portable pan with instant temperature control? This is amazing," Roberts exclaims while inspecting the large pan, "I need to check if Raz has any spices. No offence to his cooking, but I'm certain we're not always going to have such fine fare available."

"I'll chip in," I offer, thinking back to my diet of dried wolfadillo and berries. Rather not do that again.

The other kitchen implement is a small knife that doesn't lose its edge.

"It's not really a weapon," Rufka explains, "it's so any-user can work with infused materials easily. Mostly it's used for food prep."

"That would be a wonderful tool. May I hold on to it?" Roberts asks. Rufka shrugs, handing it over.

With the camp searched, there's only one thing remaining.

Cautiously, we approach the tunnel, Smoulder leading the charge, hopping her way ahead of Josh.

What will we discover inside? Treasure? An escape route? Some strange form of burial chamber?

Maybe we'll find a hint to the identity of the summoner?

Whatever lies below, it's time to find out.

1.42 Tunnel Time

January 17, 2019, 5:12 pm.

Josh leads the way, rose-shield and thorn-spear at the ready as we step inside, Beth close behind him. We're all tense, prepared for the unexpected as we descend into the tunnel. Everyone is quiet and on alert. Even Smoulder is moving with care, only hopping forward once Josh checks around the corner.

The tension only lasts until we make it to the first corner. The darkness continues down, but we break out a plethora of magical aids to light our way.

"So, this new quest," Roberts starts, pausing when Smoulder twitches her large fluffy tail, switching to her flame-on mode. Somehow, she's able to cast light without burning those nearby. I wonder if that's pure skill or a special ability. I didn't see that listed on her page.

"Yeah. The rewards are pretty huge," I note as Rufka activates a glowing rod that has a ball of flickering orange flame on the end.

Passing the torch to Beth, Rufka comments, "I agree. While Citizen status is interesting, gaining 4 progression points from a single quest is like a story from out of legend. Mum would warn me not to take this lightly."

"Eighty integration points also seem like a lot," Josh observes from ahead as I create a glowing bundle of light. It's more of a flower than an orb this time, the light-shifted flower of twilight casting a soft yellow light. Not only is it pretty, but it also helps me practice.

"It is quite a boost. The rewards from this quest are troubling. I've never heard of a quest that grants Citizen status. It’s rare to get a quest with so much information at the beginning. This must be of great importance to the System," Tipan mentions as she produces a harsh green light which emanates from the end of her staff, throwing her pale Mohawk and elaborately braided fur into sharp contrast.

"I'm worried about the target. It sounds like not only can they tear the System out of us, but they might be able to bring us back as Fallen," Beth's voice carries back from near the front of our procession.

There's a general murmur of agreement.

"Do you have any thoughts on who this Citizen Demo might be?" Tipan asks.

"Not one iota," I answer while Beth shrugs.

Once the lighting is sorted out, we continue down, Rufka and I at the back. Which doesn't bother me, it's nice back here. While we're walking, I decide to expand, reinforce and decorate the tunnel walls. I may as well work on my earth skills, making it safer as we explore.

"How deep did they dig?" Roberts wonders as we round the fourth bend. So far, each section has been roughly a hundred meters forward for every ten down, then a sharp turn. At least the Fallen keep their tunnels consistent.

"Hard to say. No signs or anything. It's well packed though, so probably deep," Josh answers from the front.

We continue to move slowly, taking several turns, the tunnel getting narrower the further we go which I continue to modify when it's my turn to pass through.

We've continued through another six turns before we encounter our first discovery. And our first obstacle.

"There's no more tunnel," Josh calls from the front.

"Well, that's anticlimactic," Roberts grumbles from just in front of me and Rufka.

"Hold on people," Beth orders. Then there's a bunch of scuffing, scraping and even some laughter from ahead where the others are trying to switch places.

While we're waiting, I reshape the walls to our sides, pushing them out while compacting the ceiling to better support the larger chamber. By the time the scuffing sounds have died down Roberts, Rufka and I are reclining on earthen benches along the edge of the new alcove.

A moment later Josh's dirt-covered armour appears. He's dismissed the spear and shield at some point, but it's not like his armour leaves him unarmed anyway.

"Right," Josh pauses, inspecting the alcove.

"Beth could probably use your help, Alexis," Josh states, stepping further up the tunnel leaving me with plenty of room to move past him. When I reach Tipan and Beth, I don't try to squeeze past them, expanding and reinforcing the tunnel instead.

As the earth around her starts moving, Beth flails for a second, before turning her head to glare at me.

"Oops. Sorry," I apologize while halting the changes. "Josh said you needed my help," I offer by way of explanation.

Running her hand along the edge of the recently compressed and smoothed tunnel, she shakes her head, "it's fine. You just startled me. I thought the tunnel was collapsing. You'd think at some point I'd stop being surprised by what you can do with magic."

"I highly doubt it," Tipan comments, looking at me, her eyes narrowed, "I've been studying magic for years. Alexis is the most versatile iron rank I've ever encountered."

"I'm sure. Now, let's get back to this," Beth redirects our attention to a small opening no larger than my hand. Inside the opening is a silvery surface, dancing in the reflection of our myriad light sources.

Stepping forward, I inspect it closely. It appears to be a section of the 'silver bullet' from above.

"Think you can open a path kid?" Beth asks while moving back out of the way. Tipan takes it a step further, retreating all the way to the alcove while glancing in our direction.

"Definitely," I declare confidently. Reshaping earth is trivial. I start moving the dirt into the surrounding walls, weaving simple designs into the wall while clearing a larger section of the wall. I've cleared over nine square metres when I notice a change in the surface near the bottom of my excavation.

"I think I've found something," I say while continuing to excavate the area. Once I've cleared another meter or so, it starts to look like the edge of a door. The walls are incredibly sturdy by this time. I'm going to have to keep this in mind. I could easily create an entire underground base with power like this.

"What is it?" Beth asks as she steps up beside me.

"A door?" I shrug.

"Hard to tell with only the top exposed," Beth observes.

"Yeah. Give me a few, I'll get it unburied," I remark while shooing Beth, gesturing at her to give me space as she moves up the hall chuckling.

Turning back to my work, I continue to compact the dirt while creating a set of stairs that leads down. When I'm finished there's the newly revealed door of course, as well as the wall it's set into. The door stands over four meters tall, and both the door and the wall are slanted slightly away from us.

But my efforts didn't stop there. Around the door is a sizable room, ringed by twin curving stairs that lead down to the door from either side. With a railing, for… Safety? Yeah. Let's say it's for safety. In the middle is a large alcove, complete with small benches along the side.

The whole thing only took me ten minutes.

"Okay. I think I'm finished," I yell at the others as I adjust the railing where it transitions at top of the stairs, adding a small flourish.

"I think you may have gotten carried away kid," Beth says when she comes to inspect the room.

"You think the light recesses are too much?" I wonder, eyeing the intricately shaped recesses critically. Smoulder joins me in my inspection, sending a wave of approval at the design of our new den. She especially appreciates the aforementioned resting nooks, (light recesses). I don't bother correcting her, setting her inside of one instead. Her perpetual flames give the room a nice ambience.

"I didn't even notice…. Yes. The recesses are too much," Beth answers, sighing while I smile behind her back. If I'm going to be using my earth manipulation, there will be flourishes. Earth is the perfect combination of firm and moldable material for quick and easy customization.

"Well, I wasn't aware we were waiting in the economy class area," Roberts comments as the others join us outside the silvery door.

"I like it," Rufka opines.

"I'm not sure how we're going to…" Beth trails off as she sets her hand on the door, totally breaking protocol.

"This is confusing, Alexis, Roberts. What do you think?" Beth asks as she turns to us.

"I'm sorry. Think of what, Bethany?" Roberts replies but I have a suspicion. Moving next to her, my thoughts are confirmed as a notification appears overlaid on the door.

"Citizen status recognized."

"Access granted."

"Error - access hatch damaged please contact maintenance."

It takes me a minute to realize why Beth is confused. Then understanding dawns on me. The message isn't written in Vausian. It's in Astreum, a language used by the Builders. I almost forgot I'd learned more than Vausian from Uthica. Thanks, Uthica.

"It's saying it recognizes us as Citizens and it would grant us access, but it's broken," I inform the others.

"Well, couldn't you magic the door out of the way?" Beth suggests, making a waving motion with her hand. I guess she's not surprised I can read it. But then, considering how often I know things I've no business knowing, that does make sense.

Shrugging, I reach out, connecting to the building with stone and metal manipulation. It appears to be a titanium alloy, reinforced by magic. The wall itself is completely resistant to my magic, but the mechanism the door is attached to is seriously busted but partially there. I'm not able to reshape the door, but I am able to manipulate the attached mechanism, slowly sliding the door out of the way with a painful screeching noise.

The inside is dark and silent. For some reason, I was expecting to find glowing lights and quiet beeping noises.

Less than a meter inside lies a skeleton of a creature I don't recognize in a hallway that curves out of sight to either side. The skeleton seems vaguely humanoid, but it's taller than a human. Which means it's definitely taller than most K'tharn.

"Well, that's encouraging," Roberts comments as Josh moves towards the open door.

"One second, slugger," Beth halts him with a hand on his chest.

She looks around for a moment before sighing, "kid, you want to throw a rock in there?"

"Sure, one second," I answer, pulling a nice baseball-sized rock through the wall of the staircase. The only visible stone in the room is the arching support pillars and the textured stair nosings. This means the rock needs to be pulled through roughly a meter of packed dirt, taking a few seconds.

I hand the rock to Rufka instead of throwing it myself. I'd be impressed if I could get it across the threshold.

"Here goes," Rufka warns, tossing the stone into the open door, nailing the skeleton, sending the bones scattering.

"What in Vaus' pit?" Rufka swears, jumping as the bones clatter.

"What?" Beth demands, looking for the threat.

"Didn't expect it to scatter like that. I've never heard of an actual skeleton in a training area," Rufka explains sheepishly which causes me and Tipan to start laughing.

"I don't suppose the explorer subclass gives you trap detection abilities?" Beth asks Tipan while Smoulder sniffs at the opening cautiously.

"Not... Not as such," Tipan stutters out, still giggling.

"If it's still trapped after the opening mechanism is broken, then I doubt we'll be able to find it," Rufka notes, her ears laid back in embarrassment.

Josh is standing there, staring at the recently scattered skeleton.

"Josh? What do you think?" Beth prompts, her hand still on his chest.

"Huh?" Josh grunts as he jumps, turning to Beth.

"Do you think you'd be okay going through?" Beth repeats patiently, smiling at him.

"Oh sure. One sec," he answers, his helmet and shield reforming. Is it just me or was that nearly instant? It's certainly much faster than when he first did it.

His armour in place, Josh places the tip of his shield through the door but nothing happens. He follows that by putting a single finger through the door. Since he still hasn't provoked a reaction, he steps carefully through the door. Even though he's careful he still stumbles slightly when he places his foot on the slanted floor. Swiftly regaining his balance, he glances to each side.

"K, looks clear. Gravity shifts," he warns, avoiding disturbing the skeleton while moving just out of sight.

Beth follows him in, sweeping her gaze both ways, Smoulder close beside her.

"Hey kid, can you come read this," she requests a few seconds later.

"Sure," I say, stepping over the threshold. As I do, I can feel the effect Josh mentioned, shifting my sense of 'down' to be perpendicular to the floor. But it's not the only thing that's off. I feel as though an unseen pressure has suddenly lifted. A pressure I've been acclimatizing to since we stepped outside of the circle of standing stones. Looking around, it takes me a moment to realize it's the ambient mana.

Or I should say, it's the lack of ambient mana. Because I don't feel any in the air.

"Kid?" Beth prompts.

"Right, sorry. Mana in here is weird," I say, moving next to her.

"Weird how?" she asks. She's standing in front of a metallic sign that wouldn't be out of place at an airport back on earth. Except all the words are projected by the system. Each word written on the sign has arrows next to them indicating directions.

"There's no ambient mana. It's just air," I answer. Then, pointing at the sign, I read out, "To the right is Observation, Crew Quarters and the Cafeteria. On the left, we'll find Command, Engineering and…." I indicate each in turn. But a surge of hope runs through me when I reach the last entry.

After half a second, I add, "and a Ripple Drive-core."

"Well, let's make that our last stop, shall we," Beth decides, assigning the drive-core the exact opposite priority I would have chosen.

"Seems wise. Engines tend to be hazardous. Perhaps we can discover relevant information elsewhere first," Roberts proposes, as he joins us inside the hall.

As we're moving further inside, I hear Tipan saying, "this is incredible. I doubt any-"

"Gah!" Tipan exclaims from behind us, interrupting herself. Turning, I find Tipan sprawled in a ball outside the foot of the threshold, Rufka beside her. "Vaus' tits, that looked like it hurt. Full speed collision."

"It appears we're not invited," Rufka observes, pressing her hand against an invisible barrier. The way her fur splays against the barrier is kind of pretty, I note, as she rotates her hand back and forth.

"Not sure I like the idea of splitting up," Beth states, looking at the entrance.

"It's fine. Tipan and I will keep watch for you here. If you're not back in a few hours we will meet you at Raz's," Rufka replies, as if the idea that anything bad could happen doesn't occur to her.

"I think we should at least explore this level," Roberts contributes.

While they're talking, I realize I can still feel Rufka and Tipan through IFF.

Connecting to Rufka, I ask, "Can you hear me now?" while taking a step farther down the hall.

"Yes, I can," she whispers back.

"We have comms," I declare a little louder than necessary, making Beth wince.

"Okay. That settles it. We'll explore this floor. If we lose comms or you need us, we'll hurry back," Beth decides, "let's go right first."

Josh nods, moving up the passage next to Beth, still being careful not to step on the bones. I stay in the back, collecting Smoulder so I can keep her safely in my pocket. Besides, I kind of like being at the back.

Since I'm already in the back, when I use a little bit of water to tidy the bones into a little pile, the only one who notices is Rufka. She raises her right eyebrows, grinning, but doesn't say a word. I notice she's pulled out Astra's Stride and a folding table while Tipan settles in across from her.

Huh. Should I get a folding table? Wait, I can just make my own. Metal manipulation is better than any folding table.

It only takes a minute before we come across a door labelled Crew Quarters. Next to the door are two sets of stairs, one leading up, another down. The stairs themselves are set at an uncomfortable height; each step is roughly half a meter tall.

Over the stairs going up is a sign reading Observation, Cafeteria and Crew Quarters while above the stairs heading down the sign indicates Engineering and Ripple drive-core.

"Am I reading this right? There are crew quarters here and up there?" Beth asks.

"Yeah. It looks like we can get to engineering and the drive-core by going down these stairs too."

"That would make sense. The engine is likely at the bottom, with engineering next to it. You'd probably want to maintain ready access," Roberts speculates while Beth leads the way into the door marked crew quarters.

The silver door swings on a silent hinge, revealing a long central corridor that ends in a wall at the far end. Taking the first door on the right, Beth leads us into a room bereft of furnishings with no signs of life.

"It's… kind of empty," Josh notes as we enter our third empty suite. Despite being designated as crew quarters, these rooms are huge. Each suite is bigger than our apartment back home. But then, considering the height of the doors and the rise of the stairs, the original occupants were pretty tall, so they'd need more space.

"Yeah. Looks like they packed everything up at some point," Beth agrees as we continue searching.

We spend the next few minutes looking through rooms that are mostly the same, only slightly different in shape. There is one room that is completely different at the far end, but other than several discoloured patches, we find nothing.

"This whole excursion has been rather anticlimactic so far," Roberts remarks as we step out of the room with discoloured patches. I think it might have been a communal bathroom. Or maybe a laundry facility?

"Would you have preferred being jumped by slavering aliens who want to burrow into your chest?" Beth asks drily.

"Hardly. But when one is given an opportunity to explore what appears to be an alien ship, it's safe to say that they expect more than a few empty rooms."

"It's how they keep their secrets," Josh whispers conspiratorially from inside his helmet.

No one has a response to that.

Since we're done searching through all the rooms without having found anything significant, Beth motions us out. With Beth leading the way, we circle around to the other side. As we're once again passing the pile of bones, it occurs to me to analyze them.

“Creature analyzed: Yrken. Gene-seed B"

Huh. That's the first time I've seen a gene-seed that isn't D.

"Yrken are a well-established and loyal servitor race. Trading their freedom for ensured genetic continuity, the Yrken are held in great esteem for their continual efforts on behalf of the Creators."

It looks like they're a servant race. I wonder what it means by genetic continuity.

"Name: Calvin Sbboh'n."

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme."

"Attacks: Restricted."

"Defences: Restricted."

It doesn't really tell me much. There's no codex to download. Another reminder that Wyonna is gone.

I'm finished reading the analysis by the time we make it to the other side where we discover another pair of stairs. There's no door on this side though. The stairs down are labelled Engineering and Drive-core, same as on the other side, while the stairs leading up are only labelled Command. Where's the damn elevator?

"Well, I guess that's that," Beth says as we all look at the stairs.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm kind of disappointed," I say, leaning on a wall near the exit.

"Me too," Rufka replies through the link I've kept active the entire time we've been exploring, "Tipan is surprisingly good at this game."

"I'm inclined to explore another floor," Roberts contributes, looking at the stairs leading to command.

"Me too," Josh agrees quickly.

"Well, I'm down to explore another floor," I echo, giving Rufka an idea of what's going on.

"Yes. Do that. I need time for a rematch," Rufka growls through the link.

"Rufka thinks we should too," I chuckle while relaying her opinion.

"Okay then. If we're going to do this, Command seems like a good choice. If there are answers anywhere in here, I imagine they'd be there. Or Engineering," Beth concedes easily, starting to climb the stairs with bounding steps. She's immediately followed by Josh and Roberts. Funny how strange it is to see them taking half-metre stairs, two steps at a time.

I don't bother trying to match their prowess, conjuring my hoverboard to fly along behind them instead.

I don't know who designed this place, but it takes us SIXTEEN sets of stairs to get to command. There are several landings but no other doors. Luckily, with everyone's now superhuman resources, it hardly matters. I'm not certain but I think we must be halfway up the building. Seems about that far based on my IFF feedback from Rufka and Tipan anyway.

As I float through the door, right behind the others, we all stop to look around. There are metallic forms of what might have once been machines scattered about the room, but it's only in this moment that I notice there's no dust. There hasn't been dust anywhere.

"Aren't abandoned places supposed to have dust?" I wonder out loud, inspecting the nearest metallic husk as Josh and Beth lead the way into the room.

"Damnit. I should have noticed that," Beth remarks, shaking her head as she steps forward.

"No one notices everything," Josh offers consolingly as he moves ahead.

"No mana and no dust. Perhaps they're related," Roberts suggests, following close behind.

"Doesn't look like there's- oh, nevermind," Josh says from where he disappeared around one of the large metal consoles.

As we all step around, it's easy to make out what Josh found.

Slumped over a still illuminated console is another Yrken skeleton, in a more intact state than the one we found below. In this position, it's easy to see that whoever they were, they stood at least three metres tall.

But that's not what draws our attention. On the screen is a clear three-dimensional map of the city. Which is great. Even better, next to it is another 3D map covered in greens, blues and browns.

It's hard to say without a closer look, but I think we may have just found a map of Akilo.

As we step forwards Roberts remarks,

"Now that. That is something worth seeing."

A note from Draith

Hmm. Let's see.

Discord link. Check.

Patreon link, Check. Up to nine chapters ahead. Though you might want to wait till next Friday.

Thanks for reading, see you Thursday.

1.43 Unexpected Discoveries

A note from Draith

Minor edits to chapter 1.41 and 1.42

Spoiler: Spoiler

Minor edit to chapter 1.41.

When Alexis asked Rufka about Citizen status.

"Better how?" I try to prod Rufka.

"I don't know. Never heard of Citizen before," she replies teasingly.

Minor edit to chapter 1.42

When they're preparing to delve deeper after creating lights.

"Do you have any thoughts on who this Citizen Demo might be?" Tipan asks.

"Not one iota," I answer while Beth shrugs.

January 17, 2019, 6:22 pm.

"Well, this appears to be a useful find," Roberts continues as we encircle the console. Which I immediately analyze.

"Object Analyzed: Yrken Console. Used for accessing and displaying information.

Condition: damaged."

Wow, shortest analyze description yet. Didn't even tell me anything about the material.

"So, uhm. Are we going to move the…." Josh wonders, gesturing at the Yrken skeleton.

"I think we can leave them undisturbed," Roberts suggests while I try to copy the map of Akilo into my journal, pausing so I can dedicate time to the task.

When I'm done, it's not perfect. It's not even good, but it's pretty amazing for four minutes. It's still weird to me that I can draw with my mind yet the quality is worse than if I did it by hand. At least I have a decent outline.

There's a small flashing red dot on the easternmost part of the map which I'm guessing is our location. Just to the west of that dot is a massive mountain range that stretches the length of the entire continent, running from the north to south. In the middle of the mountain range is a yawning pit which is denoted as a giant black patch.

There are multiple other dots on the map, each one a small black dot inside a circle that doesn't flash. I'm guessing those are other Builder cities. Or points of interest at the very least.

As we're all inspecting the maps, Beth wonders, "do you think this is really Akilo? There are only three continents and a hell of a lot of islands."

"I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. There was a time where the earth was a single landmass," Roberts reminds us while still studying the map.

"I've created a crude copy, but I wish I had proper drafting tools," I tell the others, which makes Josh jump before he shifts away from me.

Okay, seriously. What's going on. I know I didn't imagine it this time.

"Hmm. Perhaps we can ask Raz if he has any supplies," Roberts suggests as Rufka whispers in my ear, "No, you're crude and sloppy."

Even as Rufka's talking, Beth bumps the skeleton, sending it to the floor. At the same time, the map flickers, replacing Akilo with the familiar outline of Ukila but in greater detail. Trying not to laugh at Rufka's comment, I struggle to keep a straight face, but I fail, giggling as everyone else jumps back.

"It's not funny, Alexis," Josh snaps at me.

"I wasn't-," I try to apologize as he turns away, storming past one of the metal consoles out of sight.

"What the hell?" I exclaim softly, watching him stomp away.

"He's been somewhat unsettled since our battle with the Fallen," Roberts mentions his eyes following Josh.

"But what does that have to do with me?" I ask as Roberts speaks again.

"Some guys don't handle it well when a woman is more powerful than them," Beth mentions, looking in the direction Josh stormed off.

"That is true. Far too often. But I'm not certain that's the case here. Josh has said… Well, it's his story. But he's had some bad experiences. He's also uncomfortable with how Alexis acted during our battle."

"But I'd never hurt Josh," I declare, confused and upset.

"I don't know what to tell you," Roberts responds with an apologetic shrug, "I just know he's afraid."

I take a deep breath before replying, "I guess that makes sense. There's a lot of crazy stuff that's happened to us pretty suddenly. I keep forgetting that you guys were out cold. Maybe we should head back to Raz's."

Beth's eyes flick to the still glowing console before refocusing on me, "I'd prefer to investigate a little more first. I'm sure Josh will be okay for a little longer."

Nodding, I reluctantly float over to the console next to her, catching a flash of Josh's armour by the stairway.

"I'll talk to him," Roberts tells us as he moves to join Josh, his cloak rustling as he turns.

"Okay, first. Can you get Akilo back?" Beth asks.

Doing my best to put Josh's reaction out of my mind, I read through the limited symbols on the console, explaining them to Beth.

"The first one, the one sitting by itself in the top left corner reads status," I start. "Currently it says 'Stable'."

"This is a zoom bar, I think. There's a plus and minus symbol at least," I inform her while pointing to the bar in the lower-left corner.

"Filter, map," I list as I point to the remaining two words in the bottom right corner.

"So, you think it's this one?" Beth checks, her finger hovering over the word, map.

"It does have the word map," I answer, shrugging.

"Well, here's hoping," Beth mumbles quietly as she taps the map button. It doesn't bring up a map of Akilo, instead, it lists a dozen different words. It only takes a second to discern they're alphanumeric designations which I note are all variations of MWVAE-220##.

Once I tell Beth, she goes through, tapping on each one until she finds Akilo again. Or as the console calls it, MWVAE-22003. I spend another pause improving my map, then ask Beth, "what do you think happened to them?"

Glancing to the skeleton to her side, Beth shrugs, "hard to say. Accident would be my guess."

Then turning her attention back to the screen, she looks at the screen for a moment before she tries adjusting the zoom. When it doesn’t respond she starts playing with the filters.

"Huh, the mana-flows filter kind of resembles a weather map, doesn't it," I mention as Beth flicks to the next filter, labelled mana-faults.

"Hmm. Kind of," Beth replies flipping back for a second before returning to the mana-faults overlay.

The pattern is vaguely familiar. Beth is reaching to switch to the next filter when I grab her hand.

"One second," I interject as I open my rune pages while Beth stares at me, her lip quirking up with her brow raised. I barely notice, pausing time as I inspect the map, comparing it to my runes.

I was right. The fourth rune in my Return spell matches the mana-fault map filter. Well, mostly. As I'm inspecting the map, I see dozens of mistakes that I start correcting. When my pause ends the rune is vastly improved. It's also given me a theory about how the spell might be used to travel to different parts of Akilo. Too bad I'd still need to know where the other nexuses… Nexi? Nexuvians? Whatever. I’d need to know where the other teleport locations are.

"Sorry, matched one of my runes," I explain to Beth as I release her hand.

"That matches one of your runes?" Beth questions, shaking her head with a chuckle before flipping to the next filter which seems to show waterways.

She keeps flipping. We find geological fault lines, heat maps, precipitation patterns. Everything you might want to know about a planet, there’s a filter for it. I take as many notes as I can, even though I'm not sure any of this is going to be useful to us. Luckily, it only takes a moment to copy any mental image I've already created in my journal, so I soon have pages of maps of Akilo with rough annotations of the overall patterns.

"Does this seem like a monitoring station to you?" Beth asks after having flicked through all the filters a couple times. Several of the overlays are dynamic, changing roughly every ten seconds.

"Yeah. What do you think they were monitoring?" I wonder as Beth changes the map.

"I'm inclined to say 'everything' ," Beth answers, the sound of Josh and Roberts talking in low voices grabbing my attention for a moment before I refocus.

Glancing up, I see she's displaying the map of Ukila. Then she changes it to one of the other celestial bodies, a gas giant that resembles Saturn. She only reviews it for a moment before switching to the next. Cycling through.

She pauses when she gets to one labelled MWVAE-22009. It's different from the rest. It’s a facility of some type. A space station, I think. Hard to gauge the size, but I’d say it’s bigger than the city we’re in now. Unlike every other map, the status 'window' in the upper left corner displays the word Active instead of the word Stable.

"Interesting," Beth comments as she returns the screen to Akilo, "but I'm not sure how useful most of this is. It would be more useful if we could bring it with us."

"This though," Beth adds, switching her focus over to the 3D map of the city.

"Damn," Beth swears as we investigate the city map. There are a few locations noted on the map, but none of the navigation features work, so we're not able to get much other than a few points of interest and the general layout.

Not that we know what the points of interest are. They could be something like, 'find great treasure here.' But they could just as easily be 'this monster smells like sewage, avoid it.'

"I think we're done here people," Beth yells towards the centre of the room. Looking about, I realize that Josh and Roberts must have continued exploring while we were checking the maps, as they're no longer near the entrance.

"I think we may have found something," Roberts calls back from the far side of the room. Beth and I glance at each other before moving to investigate.

Passing by several additional dark consoles we find Josh and Roberts paging through a book.

"Hmm. Well, this is unexpected," Roberts comments as we approach.

"What is it?" Beth wonders curiously. Josh still has his full armour up, helmet in place as he looks over Roberts' shoulder at the book in his hands. Roberts turns a solid rectangular page before he answers. Huh, is the book made out of plastic?

"I believe it's. Yes. It's definitely pornography," Roberts answers, handing the book to Beth. I can't help staring at the pictures that show several large green creatures doing…. something. Something that looks like it would be very painful. At least for the one in the middle.

"Ha. It just gave me a quest to translate the language," Beth laughs as she flips to another page with a bunch of viewer letters on it.

"I'll get you to help us with that later if you don't mind, kid," Beth asks as she stows the book in her inventory.

"Sure," I answer with a blush as Beth directs us to head towards the stairs.

"Hey, uh, Josh. I'm-" I start to apologize as we pick our way over, but Josh interrupts me.

"It's fine, Alexis. Just forget it," he snaps quickly, the odd echo from his helmet filling the room as he turns away.

Ouch.

No one says anything as we awkwardly make our way towards the stairs. As we pass by the twisted metal form of one of the consoles, I wonder if I can manipulate these. Running my hand across the surface I discover a mix of titanium with what I think is plastic. The metal is incredibly resistant to my efforts to reshape it. It’s reinforced to resist metal manipulation somehow.

I follow the others down in silence until we cross the threshold back into the room where Tipan and Rufka are still playing Astra's Stride.

"Oh? You're done? Excellent timing. We're just finished ourselves," Rufka greets us cheerily, turning away from a game she appears to be losing. Though not badly.

"We were?" Tipan leans back confused, noticing us entering.

"Yep. So, find anything interesting?" Rufka asks as she begins carefully gathering up her board.

"A few things. A console with multiple maps, another skeleton and a book. We’ll need to come back to explore the rest though," Beth answers while climbing the stairs before continuing to the tunnel above.

I barely register her words as I glance at Tipan, a thought taking hold. My brain just goes on hold as I recognize that Tipan closely resembles Bel'dast. Was Bel’dast her sister? I stare at her as I wonder if I should give her Bel'dast's crystal.

As I'm staring, Roberts and Josh both make their way past me. Roberts simply steps around making his way up behind Beth. But when I glance at Josh, he visibly finches before hustling up the stairs behind Roberts.

I feel a spike of anger. Anger that he's upset about me doing what I had to. Anger that he's afraid of me. It's not like they were playing nice. They were trying to kill us!

I'm about to fly after him, but before I can move, I find myself draped in Rufka's arms.

"Hey, Lexi. You look like Vaus herself just tried to crawl up your arse," she comments quietly, weighing me down as Smoulder butts against me from within her special pocket.

I can't bring myself to respond even as Tipan approaches, awkwardly patting me on the shoulder before turning away to follow the others up the stairs.

"Thanks," I finally mumble into Rufka's shoulder while trying to convince Smoulder that despite my irrational surge of anger, she doesn't need to come out to smash a hole through Josh. Smoulder's solutions tend to be a bit on the simple and brutal side, but the sentiment is appreciated.

"We'll see you guys in a few," Rufka calls when Tipan reaches the top of the stairs. Tipan turns back for a second, looking us both over before nodding then continuing ahead.

"Maybe we should stay and talk," Rufka offers.

"No. It's fine. You don't have to worry," I disagree half-heartedly, not really meaning it.

"I think I do. And I think you're not being honest," Rufka rebukes me with certainty.

"You're right." I concede, glancing up in the direction of the others.

"Of course," Rufka says, taking my hand while leading me to one of the benches at the side.

We sit for half a minute several thoughts fluttering through my head. Josh's flinching, Tipan's awkwardness and my father's prone form, lying in bed all coalesce and before I know it, I blurt out, "Am I a monster?"

Immediately, Rufka rises from her seat, turning to face me. I'm staring down at the smooth packed floor when Rufka lifts my head to look her in the eyes. Her upper eyes are closed, ensuring I know she's dedicating her full attention to me.

"Yes," she answers, sending me reeling. But she has a solid grip on my arm. Even if I went into a pause, I wouldn't be able to escape her grip. That doesn't stop me from clawing at her arm, trying to escape.

"Lexi, listen to me," Rufka shouts in my face, causing me to flinch before I make myself meet her eyes.

"You're a Vaus-damned monster but it doesn't matter. You think I'm any better? You think any-user is!" she declares passionately, gesturing wide.

"We're all monsters. That's part of accepting the system. If you don't want to be a monster then you can run away to a void-blasted Builders' city to live the remainder of your life with the rest of the cowards who refuse to face the world," her passion clear even as her voice goes low.

Staring at Rufka in shock, I can't conjure words but my relief is palpable as I hug her fiercely. Not strongly, since I'm still weak as a kitten, but as fierce as I can. Then she hugs me back.

Note to self, a K'tharn hug is very secure. And comforting.

"Every-user is a monster, Lexi. We have been since the system came. But that doesn't make us evil," she notes over my shoulder as we just stand there for half a minute.

As I'm reaching down to reassure Smoulder with some head-scritches, I can't help but wonder, "How the hell can you be such a good friend to me when you barely know me."

"Skill and dedication. At least that's what I would say, but someone seems to think I rely on shortcuts," Rufka teases me.

"So, you're just lucky then," I tease back.

"I'll say. It's been too long since I had a friend who can hold her own," Rufka informs me, causing me to blush as she pulls away from me while keeping me held secure with both left arms, "Speaking of which."

I don't know if she's trying to hold me up or prevent me from escaping, but either way, she doesn't let go. Then she pulls out two cups and her moonshine.

"Hold these for me, would you?" Rufka requests, handing me the cups.

"I'd rather have tea," I mention as she pours the first cup.

"Tea is for breakfast. Or lunch. You're such a silly outlander," Rufka states flatly, pouring the second cup.

"But we still have the buff from earlier," I point out.

"And? I need a drink. And I'd say you do too. So, drink," Rufka commands, lifting her cup.

Eyeing my cup tentatively, I sip carefully. I must be getting used to it. While it's still unpleasant, it's not that hard to down my cup. Checking my status, I confirm that it just resets the condition. It doesn't double the health edge or stack the duration.

As I'm looking at my conditions, I notice that all of the Forerunner conditions are greyed out. NEWB protection, Survival Focus and A Good Night's Rest are still in the current conditions tab, but there's an asterisk next to them.

"There. That wasn't so bad was it?" Rufka prompts me while handing me her dirty cup, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"The only reason you keep me around is cause I do the dishes, isn't it?" I kid while checking the asterisk.

"*Unconfirmed condition: Isolated for the safety of the citizen. Please connect to the primary network for proper assessment."

"I wouldn't say the only reason," Rufka answers while I clean both our cups before handing them back to her. Looks like Wyonna's not the only thing that was locked away.

"Yeah. I'm good for drama too," I sigh. I really wish I'd stop embarrassing myself. This is why I just stayed home all the time. Caring what people think about you is such a pain to deal with.

"Yep. That's why you're my favourite monster," Rufka tells me as she starts leading me upwards.

"Thanks. I think. I'm feeling better now, we could fly to catch up to the others," I suggest but I don't cast the spell yet.

"Nah, you can just call them, right? Let them know we'll join them topside," Rufka instructs me as we pass yet another corner.

Shrugging in acquiescence, I connect to Roberts, "Uhm, Rufka and I are on our way to the surface. We'll meet you guys there."

"Excellent. Thank you, Alexis. We'll see you shortly," Roberts responds.

When we emerge, the others are gathered together, assembling their gliders. We really need to figure out a faster method for them. Tipan is able to use hers instantly, but the others don't have flight harnesses built into their regular clothing.

Instead of joining the others, Rufka pulls me to the side then we check the nearby area for Fallen before settling on a nearby roof. We sit on the edge, our feet dangling over the side, Rufka still keeping one hand in mine.

"Lexi, can I ask you a personal question?" Rufka asks as we wait, Smoulder sneaking her way out of my pocket now that we're safely settled on the roof.

"After the way I've been acting today? I'm pretty sure you deserve to," I answer, giving Smoulder head-scritches and dried fruit while enjoying the quiet.

"How even are your attributes?"

"Huh?" I respond, "How is that a personal question?"

"Attributes are personal. Like your diary. Anyway, I'm uncertain, but I believe you're experiencing side effects of rapid attribute change mixed with unbalanced mental attributes," Rufka explains when I don't answer her question.

"That's a thing?"

"Yes. Mum insisted that I don't exceed a 2:1 ratio for any mental attributes or else I'd be likely to go crazier than a wennigo in rutting season. On top of that, the rapid change to your attributes may be making the situation worse. Like with resistances, you need time to adjust to the changes."

"Wait, so I'm making myself crazy with unbalanced attributes?"

"Not crazy. Just unbalanced," Rufka denies, then as if she's trying to change the subject, she adds, "One needs to be careful with the physical attributes as well. There's less danger of imbalance affecting your behaviour. But it's likely you'd end up hurting yourself. Until you adjust. Mum is certain the imbalances are why the System requires us to reach the maximum in every attribute before we can advance to copper."

"So, you think if I raise my other mental attributes, I won't get angry as often?" I ask hopefully.

"Eh," Rufka shrugs noncommittally, "I don't know. But probably."

Looking at my attributes, I'm tempted to put every point I can into Resolve this moment. Instead, I just put a single point in. I can add another point in an hour if it still feels like the right call.

The others just about look ready to fly when I look over to them a moment later. I connect to Roberts again, telling him where we're waiting while waving down at them.

"We're ready to go back to Raz's for the day. Will you be joining us?" Roberts checks.

"Of course," I respond, prepared to float away from the edge. But Rufka still has a firm grip on my hand.

"The others are headed back to Raz's," I tell Rufka as we watch them assemble then strap into the gliders below.

"Good. I'm getting hungry," Rufka informs me. But she still doesn't stand up. Or join me in floating.

"But?"

"I think it would be best if we escorted them from a distance," Rufka suggests, pointing to where Josh is struggling with his glider.

As I'm watching I see him glance up in our direction, stumbling back when he meets my eyes, causing him to get completely entangled in his glider.

"Oh. Right," I grumble as I settle back into place, turning my gaze upwards to the night sky while settling back down.

"Wow," I whisper when I see the way the evening sun lights up the green and blue orb of Ukila in the sky above.

"Yeah," Rufka agrees, focusing on the view beside me.

"We found a map of Ukila inside," I mention offhandedly while we gaze at the sky.

"Huh. You know, my mum used to tell me stories about Ukila."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She told me our family made it there. Back before the System even. Her grandmum, Melcia was an explorer from the western continent back before the System arrived. They crossed the boundary. Vaus knows how they did it. Mum never was clear on that bit," Rufka starts, her eyes focused on the distant planet.

"When they arrived, they discovered they weren't the first. There was an entire civilization of K'tharn there. Advanced beyond her understanding. Hidden from our world so as not to 'interfere'."

"She spent years there before returning to Akilo. But neither her nor the other explorers told anyone what they'd discovered. Not until decades later. Instead, they said it was wild and dangerous. That they'd lost half their numbers to Ukila. That there was strange and terrible magic," Rufka pauses, leaning forward then motioning for me to get up.

We fly into the air following the others back to Raz's as Rufka continues.

"They did lose half their number to Ukila, but it wasn't as dire as it sounded. Not then. That half were the ones who had chosen to remain behind. Melcia wanted to stay, but she had responsibilities here. When she came home, she never expected she’d be able to go back."

"But that was before the System arrived. Melcia used to say that 'the System makes the impossible merely kind of improbable.' Mum prefers to say, 'the System makes the mundane kind of murderous.' I think they're both right."

I snort in amusement as she continues.

"Anyway, Mum said her grandmum went back. This was after she'd reached the heights of her power, shortly before the great exodus. But Ukila's great civilization had vanished with the arrival of the mana swarms. They’d received no Builder cities or System. When we underwent inclusion, they'd been left with nothing but their own wits. Whatever they'd used to hide from us, had worked on the System as well. But mana-storms didn't care how well they hid."

"When Melcia arrived, she'd found ruined buildings and precious few survivors. She was surprised to discover there were no manaborne there. There were only the local creatures, infused with Ukila's mana. And the Fallen."

"Her arrival brought the System's attention to Ukila which brought the planet into the inclusion. However, the System didn't help the few K'tharn who remained free. They were little more than quest objectives for Melcia and her companions to the System. The scattered refugees that Melcia found were returned to Akilo as survivors from one lost Akilo city or another. They were escorted into the Builder cities where they could live out the rest of their System-less days."

Rufka pauses once more as we land on a rooftop, watching the others land outside the entrance to Raz's as they make their way inside.

"Every twenty years or so the System would issue a quest sending our upper copper ranks to Ukila. Until the Aetherium gained control over the portal. There hasn't been an excursion to Ukila for over a century."

"My mum said that Ukila sleeps, waiting for a great hero to find the lost civilization, which is still there, hidden out of sight."

"Wow," I mumble staring up at Ukila as it casts its reflected light across the street.

"Thanks, Rufka. For sharing," I add a second later.

"No problem Lexi. Just remember one thing."

"Yeah?"

"My mum likes to lie a lot."

A note from Draith

Standard blurb plus map. I think. Is this thing working?

Eh, whatever.

Discord link here. It's kind of quiet, come make some noise!

Patreon link. Up to nine chapters ahead. Though you might want to wait till next Friday. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

Thanks for reading.

1.44 Why You Wittle Wascal

A note from Draith

Minor edit to chapter 1.43

Spoiler: Spoiler

Minor edit to chapter 1.43

Right after they explore the ship the first time and Josh gets all weird.

We sit for half a minute, Josh's flinching, Tipan's awkwardness and my father's prone form, lying in bed all fluttering through my head before I blurt out, "Am I a monster?"

January 17, 2019, 7:13 pm.

Smacking Rufka, I ask, "was any of that true?"

"Her name was Melcia. Probably," Rufka answers grinning shamelessly before her face sobers. "But honestly? I don't know. Mum really did tell me all that. But it's hard to believe. Crossing the divide without the System. How would you even do such a thing?"

"Have you heard of Thenite Skyscreamers?" I ask Rufka, which is the closest thing that Uthica knew of to the word spaceship. They definitely flew through space.

"As in the Howling Skyscreamers of the Thenite Consortium of Free Worlds? Of course. The Aetherium won't let any-user forget about their victory over the 'mighty sky pirates'. Nevermind that it was centuries ago," Rufka declares, striking a mockingly heroic pose for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, on Earth, we have our own Skyscreamers. But they aren't used for war. I mean not directly. Actually, we have another type of… Nevermind. Point is, we have Skyscreamers that are primarily used to explore. We went to our own version of Ukila once. It was a big deal at the time. But our moon was barren and lifeless, so there wasn't much reason to go back."

"Wait, you're saying Skyscreamers could cross the divide?"

"Uhh. Yeah. You didn't know that?"

"How could any-user? There hasn't been a Skyscreamer on Akilo in centuries. How do you?" Rufka demands with a penetrating stare.

"The System," I answer, tapping my forehead.

"Ah. Right. Sorry," Rufka apologizes, "think we should head inside?"

"Probably," I shrug, holding Smoulder close while gazing up at Ukila.

"I think those 'silver bullets' might be able to cross the divide too. They're like something out of a…" I pause for a second snapping my fingers as I try to think of what the Vausian equivalent might be for the word movie.

"A memory crystal!" I finally declare, proud of myself.

"Yes. Because those are so common, any-user would know what you're talking about," Rufka drolly replies as she hefts herself over the edge, sliding down the side of the building with her earth skates. I watch as Smoulder follows, bouncing off Rufka's shoulder then the wall before landing on a piece of debris leaning against the building.

"What. You're saying you don't use memory crystals?" I ask as I follow them down. My descent isn't nearly as stylish, but I'm still thrilled to be flying.

"Only a copper rank would have the essence to spend on something so…. frivolous," Rufka grouses as I land next to her and Smoulder. I dismiss my flight spell, stepping towards the door.

"Huh. Uthica used them all the time," I point out as I step inside Raz's.

"Yes, well, Uthica was the greatest warrior queen of her time. I'm sure a few essence were nothing to a warrior of her strength."

"How many essence are we talking?" I wonder curiously before I turn to find the others gathered around a new larger table. Roberts offers a small wave as I move to sit beside him.

"More than we gathered today, that's for sure," Rufka answers as she sits between Tipan and me.

"Welcome back," Beth greets us as Raz arrives with meals for the four of them.

"Raz here was just about to tell us what he knows about citizenship," Beth states, drawing a sigh from the short lizard creature.

"I told you, Beth. There's nothing I can tell you about Citizens except that they have special access to resources and locations that aren't available to the general user. You must be a Citizen to be able to learn about the benefits. If a Citizen were to try to tell me any of the details, I literally wouldn't be able to understand them."

"Wow. That's harsh," I note as I order my own food.

"The System has similar restrictions in place for Builders and Creators. It hardly matters. Citizens are as rare as legendary classes," Raz shrugs, his black scales making the gesture hard to follow in the dim light.

"Have you ever heard of a quest that awards Citizen status?" Roberts asks as he carefully sets a napkin in place before starting on his delicious-looking plate of fried bird, mashed tubers and a selection of unknown vegetables.

"Only once. I had a guest who stayed with me shortly after he'd finished his Citizen quest. He'd been unable to share the details, but he told me he'd had to travel to fifteen different core worlds trying to find someone. He complained to me that it had taken him twenty years to complete the quest. He did imply the rewards had been worth it though."

"Wow. Twenty years?" I burst out, "that's longer than I've been alive."

Raz looks at me then, his eyes narrowing as his gaze flicks up and down, taking me in.

"You're younger than I realized. It can be difficult to tell, once a user is integrated. Especially with new species."

"Yeah. Mum complained about that. Thought some users didn't deserve eternal youth," Rufka comments.

"Hmm. Interesting. What happens to users who integrate later in life?" Roberts asks, the reason for his interest clear as he runs a hand through his still grey hair.

"They get younger," Raz answers, "the system gives everyone the same time. But it only counts the time you're integrated."

"What do you mean gives us time?" Beth asks, setting her food to the side.

"Simply that. Every user has 144 galactic standard years of life during iron rank. If you haven't ranked up by that point, you die."

"Wait, so I'm going to live to be like a hundred and sixty?" I ask incredulously.

"Approximately. Assuming you don't die from other sources, of course. Naturally, most users don't die of old age at iron rank."

"This is true. Even most risk-averse K'tharn decide to start attempting to break through into copper once they only have a decade of life left. Since they don't really know how to handle themselves, many of them die without success," Tipan supplies casually, as if discussing the weather.

"Well, as fascinating as the idea that we're all going to live for another hundred years is, it sounds like it's going to be a long time before any of us have to worry about it," Beth points out as she leans forward. "There are more immediate matters that require our attention."

"Indeed. Such as this Demo. Do you think there was a fifth?" Roberts asks, setting his fork to the side as he speaks.

"I didn't see any signs that anyone else had been in the circle. I'm more inclined to think they have nothing to do with us," Beth answers, a couple loose strands of her fiery hair falling over her face as she shakes her head.

As Beth tucks the loose strands back into her loose ponytail, I ask, "are we doing the Citizen quest?"

"There's nothing we can do yet. Rufka mentioned getting assistance from her friend. With her help, maybe we'll figure out a way to deal with Ivicka once we're finished with the Dungeon. If not, we'll need to run."

"How fast is she?" I turn to Tipan. With my new flight spell, I can't help but wonder if I could outrun her.

"That depends. When she has Asterix, her bonded dragon, she is capable of incredible speed. Faster than I've seen you fly. Without Asterix, she's rather slow. For a copper rank."

"What're you thinking, kid?"

"I have a mass flight ability that I can take if we level up. Then, when we finish, we can run instead of teleporting away."

Tipan tilts her head to the side, tapping her chin as she thinks. "Hmm. I don't believe it would be enough. Not for all of us. Unless the ability was unusually fast, the spell's speed would be too low while she's with Asterix. If we were able to keep her away from Asterix for an hour or so we'd be able to disappear. Unfortunately, I've no idea how we could do so."

"What if we…." Roberts starts asking as we continue discussing for the next half hour. Unfortunately, we're not able to come up with anything. The closest we come to a decision is we'll wait and see.

Beth's meal looked so good, I decided to try it myself. While I'm eating and we're talking I invest another point into Resolve, bringing it up to thirteen. Only like 30 more points until I'm at Rufka's recommended ratio. After checking the time, I decide to invest another three points in Resolve which leaves me with nine points.

Which is still more than I need, so I put another five points in. Now my Resolve will be twenty-one by morning. A solid start.

As I assign the points, I order two plates of wings and more blue fruit juice while checking my current balance of essence. I've got just over a thousand essence. Since this conversation isn't going anywhere, it's time to do some shopping.

Excusing myself, I head for the bathroom. Closing the heavy door, I see myself for the first time since I accepted my class.

It feels like I should be drastically different, but other than some dirt on my outfit, I basically look the same as I did this morning. There's no dark cloak or swirling galaxies floating within my eyes. I almost wish there were. Then at least I could see the reason Josh is afraid of me.

Sighing, I decide to take advantage of the bath. That's what it's here for right? Much like the shower upstairs, I don't have to create my own water. There's a set of runes at one end which I'm able to tap, which fill the tub with either hot or cold water. It's rather quick too, only taking half a minute to fill the large tub.

Copying the new runes into my journal, I lay back inspecting the mirror. A mental push is enough to bring up the system menu.

"Anti-Corruption System Activation detected. Re-configuring Menu. Please choose from one of the following options.

- Access Inventory

- Anti-Corruption Subsystems

- Change Preferred Spells

- Class Advancement

- Essence Conversion

- General Ability Shop

- Personal Room Customization

- Raz's Repository of Artifacts, Armours and Other Useful Things

- Set Return Point.“

Huh. A new menu option for anti-corruption. The system really takes this seriously. Before I start browsing, I figure I should let the others know about this. But since I'm in the bath, the only one I feel comfortable contacting is Beth.

"Hi, Beth. I'm in the change room and when I accessed the menu a new anti-corruption option appeared. I thought you'd want to know," I inform her as I enjoy the languid feeling of the warm bathwater.

"Really? One second, I want to see for myself," Beth responds as I'm holding my arm above the water catching the droplets before they can fall. When I realize what Beth said, I duck my body beneath the surface as Beth approaches the door.

"I'm not really….." I trail off as I feel Beth move into the room. But she doesn't appear in my view. Even though I can track her movement with my new sense, I realize we're in a layered space. The room is in the same place for both of us, but it's also displaced. I guess that explains why there's only one change room door.

"Whaddya know. There really are new anti-corruption options," I hear Beth say through the link.

"Uhm. Yeah. I'll talk to you later," I say as I disconnect. Now that I've informed Beth, I intend to enjoy the rest of my bath in privacy. Then I 'unslot' the rest of my party members. I'd rather not know when everyone is using the bathroom. I wonder if I can set it to turn on and off every time I leave the rest area.

Knowing that Beth is probably investigating the anti-corruption options, I pull the menu up for a little light shopping as I'd originally intended when I came in here.

Going through Raz's store again, I purchase several outfits I passed up the first time. They wouldn't have fit before, but with my ability to tuck and fold any outfit using Metal Manipulation, my wardrobe is now a lot bigger.

I have four complete outfits, not counting my poor onesie. That's almost as many as I had on earth since I didn't really need many outfits.

At home, if I really wanted to change it up, I could just borrow some of mom's clothes. As long as it wasn't one of her cocktail dresses, she was happy to have me wearing them. Though if she saw me, she'd give me one of her remarks such as, "that looks almost as good on you as it does on me, sweetie. I really do have the best taste, don't I?" It did discourage me from wearing her clothes if I knew she was going to be around.

Most of my own weren't fancy. Easier to keep mom from disappearing them that way.

With my new outfits obtained, all of which I transferred directly to my inventory, I switch my attention over to exploring class advancement. I probably need one of those progression points to do anything, but I'm still curious.

Cataclysm Seed - Class Advancement:

- Progress Class Level. (Requirements complete.)

- Advance Class to next rank.

- Refine Class to next rarity.

Huh, I meet the requirements to level?

Focusing on level progression brings up a new menu.

Cataclysm Seed - Level 2 Progression Requirements:

- Minimum Attributes:

- Agility = 5.

- Endurance = 5.

- Intellect = 10.

- Spirit = 10.

- Perception = 10.

- Resolve = 10.

- Minimum Skill Levels:

- Mana Manipulation = 10.

- Temporal Manipulation = 10.

- Spatial Manipulation = 10.

- Fire Manipulation = 10.

- Water Manipulation = 10.

- Wind Manipulation = 10.

- Lightning Manipulation = 10.

- Stone Manipulation = 10.

- Earth Manipulation = 10.

- Metal Manipulation = 10.

- Ice Manipulation = 10.

- Twilight Manipulation = 10.

"Would you like to progress to level 2 for one class progression point?"

Well, I've got even more reason to balance my attributes now. If this pattern continues, I won't be able to get to level three until I raise my endurance from five to ten though. At least the rest of the requirements seem easy.

While I'm certain I don't have a class progression point, I decide I may as well try to confirm anyway. Since it's asking.

When I do, I receive a notification indicating that I have insufficient progression points to advance my class at this time.

Yeah. That's what I thought. I do notice the system now adds a helpful counter under my attributes. Right under integration points, there's now a spot indicating progression points, of which, I have zero.

Oh well, it was worth a try.

Curious to see if I can check the requirements to advance my class to copper, I prod the option leaving me pleasantly surprised when the menu changes.

Cataclysm Seed - Copper Advancement Requirements:

- Minimum Attributes:

- Strength = 90

- Constitution = 90

- Agility = 105.

- Endurance = 105.

- Intellect = 125.

- Spirit = 125.

- Perception = 125.

- Resolve = 125.

- Minimum Skill Levels:

- Mana Manipulation = 125.

- Temporal Manipulation = 125.

- Spatial Manipulation = 125.

- Fire Manipulation = 125.

- Water Manipulation = 125.

- Wind Manipulation = 125.

- Lightning Manipulation = 125.

- Stone Manipulation = 125.

- Earth Manipulation = 125.

- Metal Manipulation = 125.

- Ice Manipulation = 125.

- Twilight Manipulation = 125.

- Flight or Shifting = 125

- Minimum System Quests Completed:

- Survival - Stage 1 - Survive for 30 days.

- Minimum Lesser Iron-grade Dungeons Completed:

- Combat Dungeons = 0

- Training Dungeons = 1

- Puzzle Dungeons = 5

- Scenario Dungeons = 5

"Class section updated for easier tracking of advancement requirements."

Wow. When Rufka mentioned that you needed to have your attributes maxed out I didn't think about just how maxed that meant. Or that I'd also need to max out so many skills and complete so many dungeons. At least the survival quest should take care of itself.

On the plus side, apparently, I've got over a hundred years to get there. When I think about it that way, the requirements don't seem that bad.

Ha. I only just got my class today yet I'm already thinking about advancing it to copper. Shaking my head, I adjust the temperature of the water by channelling fire mana into it directly as I move on.

Since I'm already perusing the menu, I give the Refine Class option a quick glance. It has two options listed, which is impressive. I didn't expect to find anything under this menu.

Cataclysm Seed - Class Refinement Options

- Black Cataclysm Lotus.

- Crimson Cataclysm Lotus.

Interesting. I wonder whether they'll show me any details.

Black Cataclysm Lotus - Rarity Refinement Requirements:

- Minimum Skills Unlocked:

- Unknown.

- Minimum System Quests Completed:

- Unknown.

- Minimum Dungeons Completed:

- Unknown.

Ha. It's like my Paradox class all over again.

At least it's not too surprising. They told us that people have a hard time advancing their class to epic. I imagine part of that is having to figure out how to do so in the first place.

I quickly check Crimson Lotus, but predictably, the results are the same.

Crimson Cataclysm Lotus - Rarity Refinement Requirements:

- Minimum Skills Unlocked:

- Unknown.

- Minimum System Quests Completed:

- Unknown.

- Minimum Dungeons Completed:

- Unknown.

I wonder if the requirements are revealed once I complete them or if there's some other way to reveal them. I don't have a quest for it, but maybe I need to do research or something. At least I've got general hints from what Wyonna told me about unlocking the knight classes. And unlocking more skills is probably important.

Hehe. I'm doing it again. Now instead of thinking about advancing to copper, I'm pondering how to 'refine' my class.

I consider going through the general ability shop and the anti-corruption subsystems, and I give them a brief glance. Maybe there will be something to help Wyonna. But there's nothing that immediately pops out to me. I'll go through them properly in the morning, but it's been a long day and what I really want to do…

What I need to do, just for a moment, is to play with magic.

Creating a ring of fire, I float it over my bath, bringing it closer to the surface. As the water starts to boil, Smoulder suddenly leaps through the ring, landing on the far side of the tub with a smug feeling of victory emanating from her.

Amused, I create a second ring of burning fire which I place further along the tub.

Smoulder only takes a second to hop through both rings before looking at me smugly.

Okay, challenge accepted.

I reach out, grabbing the stone and earth I keep in my pack while also grabbing the metal from my discarded clothes.

Mentally, with my magic, of course. No need to get out of the nice, luxurious bath. Once I have all the mana-expensive materials in front of me, I start creating a more challenging obstacle course for Smoulder.

At first, I create simple platforms of earth, ice, metal and stone, with rings of fire, lightning and water for her to leap through. But it poses her no challenge, completing the course with ease. Even when I place a ring where it shouldn't be possible to get through, she succeeds by using the wall as a springboard.

If I thought I was getting smugness from her before, now it's practically Astral-grade.

Deciding I can up the challenge further, I start reshaping the platforms. I start with the earth platforms, which become mud with the addition of a little water.

The application of fire makes for slightly molten stone platforms which, thanks to her fire resistance, won't harm Smoulder, but should be like the mud making it harder for her to gain traction. Plus, they look cool.

Halfway through, I realize I might not have the chops to pull off as many different platforms and rings as I want to do at once. Not while making them rotate or shift back and forth as well.

Accepting I'll have to make a couple changes, I continue. Next, I add metal platforms imbued with a hint of lightning to shock her slightly and ice platforms with a steady invisible wind to make them even more treacherous. Then, because I doubt this would be enough to hinder Smoulder at this point, I change the platforms' shapes so they're round and a couple will rotate slowly.

The final course starts at one edge of the tub and floats in the air all around us, a two-meter radius floating circle of elemental platforms. The only components remaining are the rings that will direct Smoulder along. I wonder if there's a subsystem for something like this?

Shaking the thought off, I add the rings of fire and lightning. As the rings come into place my focus begins dropping rapidly.

Urging Smoulder to start, she tears through the course, nearly making it to the end but the small shock from the metal plate surprises her, causing her to fall into the tub.

But that doesn't discourage her. Smoulder swiftly swims back to her starting position, dries herself off with a little bit of flame-on action, then starts again. It takes her three more attempts while costing me over a hundred and fifty focus to successfully complete the course.

When she sits beside me this time, it's not a sense of smugness she sends my way.

No, this time Smoulder sends me a sense of satisfaction and gratitude.

Totally worth it.

Deciding I've played around long enough, I stow my materials back in my pack, climbing out of the bath while leaving the water where it belongs. It's amazing being able to dry myself so easily without a towel.

I don't know if it'll ever get old.

After getting dressed, I head back to the common room where I find Rufka, Roberts and Tipan.

Joining them, I order yet another meal. When I first arrive, Tipan is quiet, Rufka is subdued and I'm worried that Josh has disappeared and might be avoiding me. Yet Roberts stays us all out of our heads, sharing stories of when he used to coach his daughter's little league team. We spend the next couple hours playing Astra's Stride, billiards and even a game of cards bought off Raz for five essence. All while listening to Roberts regale us with his tales.

When I make my way to bed, I'm not worried about anything. Barely shucking out of my clothes, I zonk out the moment I hit the bed.

It's been another long day.

But we made it through.

A note from Draith

Standard Author's note

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. Read up to nine chapters ahead.  Also access to exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story) for all tiers starting in May.  Wait till May 1st. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

Thanks for reading.

1.45 Bright and Early

January 18, 2019, 6:56 am.

Yawning, I kick the soft covers off the bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes while gathering Smoulder into a tight hug. Good morning, you little floofball.

Okay, morning checklist. Freshen up a little, check the general ability store, grab breakfast then try to teach Tipan how to channel mana along her body.

Rufka and I'd been talking excitedly about our race last night when Tipan mentioned that most users in the Aetherium didn't know how to direct ambient mana. Most didn’t even have a spell for flight. Tipan added that anything that allows you to direct ambient mana is a controlled in the Aetherium, only taught to select enforcers. So, I’d offered to give Tipan what advice I could. Which would give her a skill not even her sister had. Even though Ivicka was a Dragon Scion, she wouldn’t be given permission.

None of which makes any sense to me considering how easy it was to learn. But maybe I had a distorted perception of the difficulty due to more of Wyonna's shenanigans.

"Miss you, Wyonna," I mumble, continuing to think while starting to scrub myself down using water with a touch of fire woven in for warmth. If a user in the Aetherium had personal flight, it was by purchasing an ability in the general store. This ability is unlocked by completing a certain type of challenge in any wind-aspected dungeon and also has a level six requirement. While talking about level requirements, we'd ended up discussing getting to copper rank and why it was so dangerous.

"You need an advancement point. Those are rare. The only method that's guaranteed to grant an advancement point is completion of the Great Dungeon," Tipan informed me while we were playing a version of billiards Tipan called red vs yellow. It was a simple game, but I was pretty bad at it. At least compared to everyone else.

"Yep. Mum says there are other quests too. But they're never easier than the Great Dungeon," Rufka added while readily sinking her shot. After the first game where she and Roberts had decimated us without Tipan and I sinking more than two balls, we'd quickly re-adjusted the teams.

"Progression points are easy to find. Every unique dungeon you complete will reward at least one. More if you can complete the hidden challenges. Ha!" Tipan explained right before I fouled my shot, giving the turn over to her and Roberts. We continued playing, the conversation dying out when Tipan managed to sink three yellow in short succession.

Finishing my morning scrub-down, I pull all my clothes out. After pulling on a blue and black plaid sweater with a pair of dark blue trousers, which I quickly trim then fasten to fit, I make my way downstairs with Smoulder blasting ahead.

The common room is empty upon our arrival. Am I the first one up today? I would have thought Beth or Josh would have been here first. Oh well, breakfast time.

Ordering breakfast, I share it with Smoulder while I check over my newly increased attributes.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

86

(+/-)

SPIRIT

86

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

33

(+/-)

RESOLVE

21

(+/-)

Integration Points

4

Progression Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

94/94

[6.3]

(47)/d

Stamina

94/94

[7.4]

(50)/d

Mana

524/524

[48.2]

(408)/d

Focus

410/410

[31.3]

(274)/d

Matrix

Facet

138/138

[11.2]

(102)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[40.75]

Elemental

[40.75]

Temporal

[63.5]

Spatial

[63.5]

Nothing major, but it's nice to see those points in Resolve bringing my resistances higher. Hopefully, the increased Resolve will help the bursts of anger too. Though if Rufka's right, it's going to take a lot more.

Even after I’ve finished my breakfast, no one else has joined me in the common room. Since everyone is taking their time, I decide to hit the change room to check out the ability shop.

When I open the shop menu, the first thing I find is a list of abbreviations at the top.

General Ability Shop price abbreviations:

- INP: Integration points

- PRP: Progression points

- ADP: Advancement points

It’s nice to see it plainly laid out that advancement points aren't the same thing as progression points. While I'm focusing on the menu, I'm able to discern that I can convert a progression point to ten integration points. One-way process though. No buying levels with integration points. I can also convert advancement points into thirty integration points, but given how rare they are, I'll probably hold off on that for… I don't know, maybe forever?

To the side of abbreviations is the list of General Ability Categories.

General Ability Categories:

- Communication

- Essence Gathering

- Interface

- Material Gathering

- Node Management

- Pet

- Safety

- Storage

- Training

- Transport

Impressive. Ten different categories, this might take longer than I thought.

Focusing on each option expands the menu further. Letting me see the ability options available, their price. If I focus a second longer, the description even appears directly in the menu.

General Ability Shop Abilities:

- Communication

- Contacts, 1 iron INP.

- Allows adding users to a basic contact list. Users in the contact list can send and receive system mail and party invites through any Nexus.

- Party Voice, 2 iron INP.

- Provides party voice chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled.

- Party Text, 2 iron INP.

- Provides party text chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled.

Okay. The contact list seems kind of useful. It's neat that you can send mail or invite people to a party at a distance. Too bad it's limited to being at a Nexus.

Party text would be excellent for silent communication. I wonder if we can just shoot thoughts as text. That'd be great.

- Essence Gathering

- Autoloot - Touch - Mortal, 1 iron INP.

- Allows automatic gathering of any mortal-grade manaborne or mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

Well, that seems weak. Limited to touch and only mortal-grade creatures. I'm hoping there's an upgrade I can't see. Tipan did mention the shop only shows abilities you have unlocked. Either way, it's unlikely I'll be taking this or any of its upgrades, not with my amazing aoe looting option.

- Interface

- Analyze - Touch - Mortal, 1 iron INP.

- Allows automatic analysis of any mortal-grade object or creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

- Citizen Class Training Area, 1 iron ADP.

- Allows access to a mental space training area. It can be linked to any other citizen who has their own training area unlocked. Requires a Nexus.

- Journal - Spellbook upgrade- Copper-grade, 2 copper PRP.

- Allows recording and refinement of spell runes of copper grade. It has lesser quality when copying runes of silver-grade or above.

- Remote System Access, 1 iron ADP.

- Allows remote access to any unlocked system Nexus menu on the local network. Charges 1/1. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Remote System Access recharge, 1 iron INP.

- Recharges the remote access ability.

- Threat Tracking, 2 iron PRP.

- Creates a heads up overlay of confirmed threats based on a user's ability to perceive them.

There's a lot more options under interface. Most of them are interesting. Remote System Access and Threat tracking? Yes please. Too bad they're so expensive. Threat tracking costs the equivalent of two levels by itself.

Wish I could get the ADP for the citizen training room. Wyonna said she was there, so maybe if I get access, I'll be able to talk to her again. Maybe. Damn, I don't actually know.

- Material Gathering

- Autoclaim - Touch, 1 iron PRP

- Allows automatic claiming of any mortal-grade manaborne or mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

I'm not even sure how useful this is. What does it mean by auto-claim? And how is that worth more than auto-looting? More questions for later.

- Node Management

- Basic Access - Nexus, 1 iron ADP

- Allows Basic Access to Nexus Node Management Features.

Another category with a single entry. Even the description doesn't tell me much.

- Pet

- Basic - Development Menu, 5 iron INP

- Provides additional options for developing bound pets.

I'm going to need to get this for Smoulder! Because I don't have enough things to spend integration points on. Still, I think this will be my first major purchase here.

- Safety

- Protection - iron grade, 4 iron INP, Cooldown 36 hours.

- Upon receiving critical damage that would render a user dead, receive a linked condition instead. Less effective against copper rank or higher sources of damage.

- Protection - recharge, 1 iron INP.

- Recharges the Protection ability.

- Restoration, (Citizen) 1 iron PRP.

- Upon death, this ability will restore an iron-grade citizen to their last assigned return point 36 minutes later if they have not been revived. Cooldown: 36 days.

- Restoration - recharge, 1 iron INP.

- Recharges the Restoration ability.

Hmm, protection. I might need to get that. Okay, next is restoration. Wait…. I can't be reading this right. Upon death? As in, if we die, we can come back to life? A single level to have that kind of backup seems way too cheap.

I stop reading through the general abilities as I turn to Smoulder.

"So, there's an ability that lets us come back to life. How crazy is that?" I ask my furry friend. She just looks at me wondering if we're done staring at the mirror yet. She knows she's pretty, but there's only so much self-admiring she can do before lunch.

Right. Finish reading through the abilities. Be astounded by their life-changing (and apparently 'life-restoring') abilities later when I talk to the others.

Even as I'm thinking that, I can't help but skim the rest of the options, only giving them a cursory glance.

- Storage

- Personal Repository, 1 iron PRP.

- Training

- Citizen Dungeon Training subsystems, Iron-grade, 5 iron INP.

- Transport

- Citizen Teleport, 2 iron PRP. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Teleport to any unlocked return point.

- Teleport, 2 copper PRP. Cooldown 36 hours.

- Teleport to any unlocked return point.

- Teleport - recharge, 1 iron INP.

- Recharges Teleport or Citizen Teleport ability.

- Return, 1 iron PRP. Cooldown 36 minutes.

- Return to your designated return point.

When I get to the bottom of the list, it takes me a second to realize I've finished before exiting out of the menu, grabbing Smoulder then rushing out of the change room.

Most of the others are still in bed but Roberts is eating breakfast at the new larger table when I run over.

"Dr Roberts!" I exclaim, startling him as I get close, causing him to drop his sausage.

"Good morning, Alexis. You're certainly excited this morning. Discover something interesting?" he asks, before trying to take a bite of the sausage of unknown origin. I know better than to ask. They're too tasty to wonder what they're from.

"Yeah. That's an understatement. Dr Roberts," I reply, practically dropping into the chair across from him.

"Alexis, you really don't need to call me doctor or Roberts. Westley or Wes will do just fine."

"Wait. Westley? Really?" I ask, momentarily distracted.

"Or Wes. Yes," he offers while dabbing his chin with a napkin.

"Okay then, Wes," I start slowly, "There's an ability in the general ability shop that lets you, get this, come back to life!" I end up blurting out excitedly.

"Interesting. I wonder what that would entail precisely," Roberts or… Wes replies, leaning forward while steepling his fingers before his face.

"Uhm. I don't know. I guess it's not that clear. It says it restores a citizen 36 minutes after death at their last return point," I supply as I start thinking about it myself. How does the system bring us back to life? Are there limits?

"A citizen you say? So, this isn't available to everyone then. An unexpected perk. And likely a contentious one as well. There are many who would pay dearly for such a thing."

"I didn't think of that. Besides, with a cooldown of 36 days, it's not like it'll come up that often, right?"

"That is quite a short amount of time. Especially to return to life, I'd say. And any who witnessed your death would likely be very surprised to find you alive after," Roberts (it's tough to think of him as Wes) points out as the familiar tapping of Tipan's staff echoes from the stairs.

“Yeah. That would be kind of freaky, wouldn’t it?” I admit, thinking of what would happen if I had to watch Sab die then have her pop back up. “Do you think that’s similar to what happens with the Fallen?"

"Good morning," Tipan greets while Roberts taps his fingers together in thought.

"Good morning, Tipan," Roberts responds while I give her a friendly, "morning," and a welcoming smile when she joins us, unknowingly interrupting our conversation.

"I'm quite looking forward to learning about external channelling. Thank you for offering to teach me," Tipan says, dipping her head slightly in my direction.

"No problem," I shrug, "though I'm not certain how much I'll be able to help. I'm not that good at it and it did come sort of naturally to me."

"It's such a rare skill that any guidance will be useful," Tipan disagrees, shaking her head as her breakfast floats out from behind the bar.

“Alexis will be a fine instructor, I’m sure,” Roberts offers, starting back into his meal.

I just shrug with a helpless smile, as I warn, "just don't say I didn't warn you if this doesn't help."

"I would never," Tipan gasps in distress.

"It's okay. It's just an expression from home," I calm her quickly while Roberts chuckles quietly. Conversation putters out after that as they both eat while I inspect the two runes I haven't experimented with yet.

The first is similar to my torrent spells in that it's a helix. But the helix is twisted into an infinity symbol. Since it's three dimensional it doesn't quite cross back over itself in the middle. I'm not certain what it's for, but it's the first full rune I've found that has two connection points built into it.

The second rune is a box. Not like a cube, but as if I'd taken a cardboard box, cut all the flaps loose then splayed them outwards. Again, no idea what this one is going to do, but I figure I can test both my new runes today. Especially since I seem to be up early. It's already eight though, I've been up earlier than this every day since we've arrived. Which is weird, when I think about it, but there's always more I want to do.

There's still no sign of Josh, Rufka or Beth by the time Tipan has finished her breakfast. So, letting Roberts know that we're headed into the garden, Tipan and I begin her training.

"So, the first thing you're going to want to do is get a feel for your mana," I tell Tipan who's sitting in a meditative pose, her eyes closed, all of her arms and both legs crossed.

"The most basic use of mana manipulation. This is a logical starting point," Tipan comments as I continue.

"Yeah. Okay, now when your mana is within your body, it follows your direction naturally, right?"

"Correct."

"But if you try to draw it out without a rune it just dissipates?" I ask, not sure about this part.

"Yes. Unless I use my staff," Tipan confirms while nodding deeply. Which sets her Mohawk quivering. Stifling a giggle, I continue.

"Cool. The point of this is to allow you to control your unstructured mana at a distance. Or at least that's why I learned it. Anyway, if you adjust the mana beneath your skin, you can direct it to stay in place."

"Hmm. Yes. This is fairly simple so far."

"Good. I kind of thought so myself. Now, the next step is to shape your mana into channels that will direct the ambient mana. You can use focus to help hold it in place. This should create a stable zone around you where the mana behaves. Mostly."

At this point, I stop talking then settle down next to her to watch, Smoulder climbing into my lap. It took me a while to figure this part out, but I'm not sure if I can explain how I created the channels. Certain patterns worked and other ones didn't.

Oh. Maybe I should mention that part.

"Ah. I think I've-" Tipan starts to say as I'm suddenly thrown backwards by an explosive wave. Before I had time to realize what was happening, I was lifted into the air, my skin tingling fiercely. As I start processing, I smack into a nearby tree losing over half my health before falling to the ground below.

Looking up, I see Tipan is covered in glowing green and purple runes. I'm going to guess she was successful. Probably. I don't remember there being an explosion when I did it. The glowing runes are familiar at least.

Once more thanking the system for my health resource, I make my way towards Tipan while checking for Smoulder. I find her sitting on the branch I slammed into, staring at Tipan suspiciously. Tipan managed to throw us over ten metres with that little explosion. Impressive. I'm glad we did this first thing. Hopefully, Roberts can heal me before we head out for whatever Beth has planned for today.

Tipan remains sitting with her eyes closed, a smile the size of Ukila plastered to her face. Since she's having fun, I decide not to disturb her. I also try to impress on Smoulder that the explosion was an accident, which she accepts easily. I'm only confused for a second before Smoulder reminds me of how often things explode in my vicinity.

Ouch. It's a fair point.

I watch as Tipan's runes flare brighter then dim before flaring so bright that it's like staring into the sun. Which means I start taking health damage from looking at her.

Turning my eyes away, I wait until the ambient light dies down before calling out to her.

"So, I take it you've got it?"

"Oh. Oh yes. I'm sorry. I forgot you were here," Tipan exclaims, the runes dying down to a bare flicker as she looks in my direction. Then her eyes go wide as she scrambles to her feet.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asks as she approaches.

"I'm fine. Why do you… Oh," I laugh as she picks a branch out of my hair.

"You may have exploded a little," I admit with what I hope is a teasing smile.

"I did? I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I was just so focused on the channels. Everything was so easy. It was just like you said. Especially once I started using focus. And then it was working. So, I started experimenting. It was just so liberating, being able to use mana without a rune or ability. And I'm rambling. I'm…. I'm sorry," Tipan rambles adorably, her ears laying flat in embarrassment as she stumbles to a stop.

"It's fine. You're forgiven. No harm done. And you did it, right? Unlocked the skill?" I verbally forgive her, which I'd already done in my mind because it was obviously an accident.

"I did. I can't believe it took me so long. But all the lessons said to never lock… ma… na… they purposely mislead us," Tipan cries in shock, all her eyes going wide.

"I guess so?" I reply, not as surprised as Tipan. Seems like they're pretty big liars at this point.

"But this means… I have to relearn so much. What else did they teach me that's all lies? First, my sister. And now the basis for Aetherium magic itself. What if," Tipan frets, rubbing two hands through her Mohawk.

"What if Rufka is correct? What if the Pernian academy was established by a pu'shaha?"

"Then it's established by a male, not a big deal, right?" I shrug. Sure, there aren't a lot of intelligent pu'shaha, but Pern was famous in his time.

"You don't understand. We don't have any males," Tipan informs me while striding back and forth.

"The pu'shaha. They're gone."

A note from Draith

Surprise Monday chapter!

Edit: I know the formatting looks awful. If anyone knows how to use multiple styles of bullet points on RR, please let me know the secret! Formatting has been fixed. I still don't love it, but at least it doesn't hurt to look at.

Countdown to the end of April. Just to make sure I clear the requirements for the challenge, I'll be sharing chapters Monday to Thursday this week. No chapter Saturday, but then we'll be back to three chapters a week next week, resuming on Tuesday

1/4 chapters this week.

This is completely unrelated to this series so you can stop here, but I thought I'd share a story I've been reading. It's a self-described young adult, 80's style, sci-fi story. I've been enjoying it. There are no LitRPG or fantasy but the writing is solid and the characters feel good so far.

Plus it has blue boxes full of ship specs.

Chronicles of the Starfighters

Standard Author's note.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. Read up to nine chapters ahead.  Also access to exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story) for all tiers starting in May.  Wait till May 1st. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

Thanks for reading.

1.46 What is a father anyway?

January 18, 2019, 9:05 am.

"Uhm. What do you mean, gone? How can you not have males? How do you get, you know, little K'tharn?" I ask, confused.

"You don't need a male. Any user can choose who they want the partner to be. If they even want a partner. If they spend the extra irons, we can choose the gender of the child as well. It's been years since I've heard of a pu'shaha being born. Why would any K'tharn want to use one of their limited children on a male? Especially since everyone knows that females accomplished everything of importance!" Tipan practically screams as she turns, throwing herself on the grass. I'm sure she's being flippant but it's hard to tell, now that she's face down.

"I thought Ivicka said you had a father," I remind her, still confused.

"Of course, I had a father. She was just trying to insult her. How else would I have learned magic?" Tipan mumbles from where she has her face buried in the grass. Smoulder moves up next to her before glancing at me for a second then nudging Tipan with her nose.

"Uhm. What do you mean, her? And what does learning magic have to do with being a father?" Her explanations are doing the opposite of helping me understand.

"Your father is whichever mother teaches you literacy and magic," Tipan explains distractedly from where her face is planted on the lawn, her head being gently butted by Smoulder.

Well, that's embarrassing. And kind of funny. I guess my translation from Uthica isn't perfect. I can see how 'father' could come to mean magic teacher, given that's kind of what Pern did. And Uthica was the one who basically introduced the word to her people by referring to Pern as her father.

"Well. That's not what Uthica meant that word for at all," I comment as Tipan flops over onto her back, her arms and legs splayed out. Which makes a perfect landing pad for Smoulder.

"Yes. Well, it would appear that a great deal of the world I thought I knew is built on lies," Tipan grumbles disconsolately.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's how it always works. At least I think that's the point Mr. Heinsberg was trying to make in my grade ten social studies class. He may also have been perma-stoned, so, who knows," I respond laying down on the grass beside Tipan.

"What?" Tipan responds in confusion, shifting to stare at me.

"Nothing. Point is, history is usually 'edited' to favour the people in charge," I explain with air quotes which Tipan probably doesn't understand either.

"But why would they hide such a thing. So, pu'shaha aren't useless. Why hide it? What is there to gain?"

"Not my area of expertise," I shrug helplessly.

"Thank you. For helping me with my channelling. And for dealing with my sisters. It is still hard for me to believe that both Seldast and Bel'dast returned as Fallen. And the thought that perhaps Ivicka caused their deaths then turned them into servants," Tipan trails off as she shudders.

"You're welcome," I reply, patting her hand as I sit up. "Speaking of your sisters. I'm not sure if you want these?"

Holding out the crystals for her inspection, Tipan just stares at them for a moment, "are those…. soulstones?"

"Yeah. Apparently, they're linked to your sisters. They're corrupted though."

"I think it would be best if you held on to them. For now," Tipan decides, closing her eyes while laying back in the grass.

We sit silently for a minute before I start getting a little antsy. "Okay. Listen. I have some tests with new runes I want to run, but I don't want to wreck the garden. You can come with me if you want."

"I think I'd like that," Tipan decides after considering silently for a moment.

"Cool. Tell you what, you show me yours, I'll show you mine."

"I'm sorry. What do you mean?" Tipan asks as she pushes herself to her feet.

"I mean you probably know runes that I don't, right? And maybe I know some you don't. So, we trade them," I answer as we walk back to the common room.

"Ah. That may be challenging. While you're able to conjure runes in the air for easy study I'm... Oh…." Tipan trails off for a moment, her eyes going wide as she realizes she can do the same now. Then she turns to me with excitement, "Yes! Yes, we should do this!"

"Sweet. I just want to get Roberts, I mean Wes, to heal me up a bit," I mention looking about the room for him. He's not here but the moment I decide to check for him with my IFF, I realize he's in the change room.

"Uh. I guess we should wait. Looks like he's busy," I inform Tipan while grabbing a seat at the table.

"Surely we can share runes. There should be little harm in that," Tipan suggests.

Eagerly agreeing, we start trading spells. Tipan has the basic shield spell and the swept rune that produces a flamethrower effect. The one I never use. I've already shown her both umbrella and flight when I was demonstrating them for the others, though she takes a little while to correct her notes.

As we're talking about flight, I mention, "You know when you were practicing your channelling, I noticed you were flickering green and purple." It was hard not to, considering how bright it got.

"Ah, I was channelling my mana. I have a strong affinity with wind mana, which I was encouraged to focus on. I also have some affinity with lightning, but I never worked on my skill," Tipan explains as I bring up my pierce spell.

"This is a strange combination," Tipan comments, inspecting the floating water sculpture I hold in place in the shape of my pierce rune.

"Oh? It's kind of weak. But it was my first spell," I offer, proud and embarrassed at the same time.

"Well, I can discern the intent behind it. It is meant to bypass barriers, correct?"

"Yeah. That was what I thought I needed at the time," I confirm while blushing. That was an awful mistake.

"Strange that you didn't use it against the Fallen. I imagine it would have worked quite well at ignoring their shields," Tipan observes, while rubbing her hand along the shimmering water structure.

"Uh. Oops." That's totally not because I forgot that it was more effective against barriers. Nope.

"I don't have any spells like this one. Excuse me for a moment."

"So, is there a primer to how runes work somewhere?" I wonder as Tipan adopts the familiar I'm-checking-my-interface look.

"There is. But I'm no longer sure how useful it might be. One of the earliest lessons was to never lock your mana in place. I can only imagine how many other portions are incorrect," Tipan answers while gesturing for me to rotate the rune for her.

"Huh. Good point," I reply as we continue. Tipan shows me her rune for firing a flat spinning disk. Which I want to test out, but until Roberts returns, I hold off. As she's demonstrating, she explains that she usually forms it out of Aero instead of mana.

"That reminds me, do you want me to unlock your codex for Aero?"

"That would be excellent. The only description I have is from the Aetherium's codex library. Who knows how much they tried to mislead me," Tipan exclaims, clasping my hand in excitement.

"You have received a request to examine Tipan of clan Lithania's resource. Would you like to know more? Obtain the full codex for 18.7 focus and 13.8 facet. Note, the codex will be shared with Tipan of clan Lithania."

The cost of these codex has really come down. Confirming, Tipan and I read over her codex.

“Codex obtained: Resource - Aero.

Iron grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Tipan of clan Lithania.

Description: Drawing on very limited knowledge of the system’s understanding of aerial fluidics, Aero is slightly destructive, but is especially good at slicing attacks. It can also be passively channelled to slow or accelerate a user's descent through the atmosphere.”

“Aero’s primary contributing attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser contribution from Perception and Resolve and a minor contribution from all other attributes.

Like most iron grade higher concept resources, Aero may not be fashioned into armour.”

Wow, Aero is almost the same as Smoulder's Ignis. Just for wind instead of fire.

"Well, it's nice to see that at least this matches what I was told. Though it didn't mention the increased contribution from Perception and Resolve. Hardly a critical mistake seeing as they recommend them for an Aeromancer anyway."

"Maybe that primer could be useful if they're only partially mistaken," I suggest.

Even as I'm speaking, Tipan is already shaking her head, "your understanding is already beyond the primer. It only covers the three basic runes as well as fundamentals on how to unlock an element. It also claims that trying to develop more than one element is a path that will limit a user. Clearly, that too was a lie."

"They're really trying to keep you guys down, aren't they?" I ask rhetorically to which Tipan nods dejectedly before resting her head in her hands.

"Hey, why don't we continue? I haven't even shown you my best spell yet," I offer, perking her up.

"Yes. Yes please," Tipan replies, shaking her head before nodding resolutely.

As I'm showing her the twin helix's and explaining why you need to point the outputs to the sides, a thought occurs to me.

"You know, now that you have the helix, you should really use it with lightning mana. It has a kind of auto-aim and auto-chaining effect."

"I… I can do that. I think," she replies as she continues copying my rune. Then, once Tipan has copied the twin helix, I show her the runes I don't understand yet.

"Well, I don't know that it's the only use, but I've heard that an infinity helix is a type of capacity rune for creating delayed effects. Properly integrated into a spell it should allow us to create a continual effect. I've created a similar effect with the standard shield rune, though it tends to store very little energy," she explains as she records it in her own spellbook.

The unfolded cardboard box rune is a mystery to both of us. Tipan guesses that it might be a connection type rune, which I'm inclined to agree with. It was connected to a lot of other runes when I first discovered it.

Demonstrating the double helix torrent rune again, Tipan starts making adjustments to her spell when Beth and Josh walk in from the garden. Huh. I guess we missed them.

"Uhh. Good morning, Alexis. Tipan," Josh says as he takes the chair across from me.

"Morning," I grumble back. I'm still kind of upset at how he snapped at, then avoided and flinched from me yesterday. I'm trying not to hold it against him but argh. Can my resolve just be at forty-five already?

"Was that explosion earlier, you, Alexis?" Beth asks while tucking her fiery orange hair into a ponytail. Is it just me or is it more vibrant than when we got here?

"Actually, that was me," Tipan interrupts with a wave of her paw, quickly telling them about our lessons before sharing her revelations about how misinformed she is. While they're talking, I happen to glance over at Josh, yet he doesn't flinch away. Giving me a tentative smile, he offers a small wave.

I don't really know how to respond. I'm happy he's not flinching away from me anymore, obviously, but I'm still feeling kind of peeved that he was in the first place.

I give him a small wave back, but I can't find it in myself to return the smile.

"I'm afraid I've discovered I know nothing of our world. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be useful," Tipan finishes, gently drawing her claw across the surface of the table, unable to meet Beth's eyes.

"Uhm…" I start to object, trying to voice my disagreement but Beth beats me to it, "Tipan, you likely saved us from a brutal death at the hands of your sister. You brought us here, giving us time to grow in relative safety. And yes, some of your intel was incorrect, the only things you were wrong about are so outside the norm that the system has issued an incredible quest to fix them. We owe you. Big time."

"Thank you. But I meant I'm not going to be useful for knowing what lies ahead," Tipan clarifies while smiling bashfully.

"Really. I know I've said it before but thank you Tipan. And not knowing just puts you in the same boat as the rest of us," Beth counters giving Tipan's shoulder a squeeze as Beth stands. "Anyway, I wanted to visit some of these training challenges, see what they're about. What do you say, kid?"

"Training challenges?" I respond, curious.

"Yeah. Under training in the general abilities menu," Beth answers, "it lets a citizen initiate special challenges."

"Must have missed that when I saw the restoration option," I muse.

"Well, I picked it up. Looks like you don't have to buy it either. The ability gives a basic map of the dungeon with icons for each of the challenges and the ability to activate it for the party."

"This sounds amazing. Being a citizen is going to change so much," Tipan remarks.

"What? Just because we can complete challenges?" I ask.

"Challenges are hard to find. The records indicate there's at least one challenge in every dungeon. Unfortunately, unless you stumble across one, they remain hidden. And their rewards with them. When a challenge is discovered, it's recorded in the Aetherium's sealed records for special training. They pay small fortunes for new challenges. Which I thought was generous. But it's just another form of control isn't it?" Tipan complains bitterly.

"See Tipan. Useful knowledge already. It sounds as though it'll be worth the investment," Beth observes, not commenting on Tipan's last question.

"I didn't realize I had such prestigious guests. It's not often I have visitors who are capable of having conversations I don't understand," Raz comments with his teeth fully on display as he brings a pitcher of juice to the table.

"Wait, you can't understand us?" I ask. We were talking in Vausian, so it's not like we were hiding our discussion. Even as I ask, Roberts emerges from the change room, walking towards us.

"I imagine you're talking about your Citizen benefits. No. No. Don't bother trying to tell me. It'll all just end up as useless noise anyway," Raz protests, both his razor-clawed hands held up to forestall Beth who was about to answer.

"Thank you for the juice," Beth replies instead, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

"You're quite welcome. And if any of you fine citizens are interested in custom equipment, please, don't hesitate to ask," Raz finishes with a bow before retreating from the table.

"Wes. Any chance you can heal me up? I've got more experiments I'd like to run," I request from Roberts, making a conscious effort to call him by name.

"Absolutely, Alexis. One moment," he responds, stopping a half-metre away while closing his eyes. I'm about to ask what he's doing when I feel his energy wash over me, replenishing my health.

"I've managed to extend my range, just a little," Roberts explains with a surprisingly shy smile.

"Sorry, could we back up a second here. Your name is Wes?" Beth asks with a chuckle.

"Westley, actually," I supply before Roberts can respond.

"Well, congratulations on your progress, Westley. Has anyone heard from Rufka? I'd like to head out soon," Beth asks while looking around the table.

"No. But give me a second," I reply as we all shake our heads.

Reactivating my connection to Rufka I realize it's pointing me towards the door leading back into the streets. But the connection is really weak.

"I think she's already outside," I inform Beth getting up from the table.

"Good. Everyone ready to go in, say, five minutes?" Beth checks, looking to each of us.

"Indeed. I'm ready to test myself," Roberts declares, a transparent staff shimmering into existence in his hand while his body is encased in a similar set of transparent plates.

"Wow. Sweet upgrades," Josh exclaims, holding his hand up to the doctor.

"I modelled them after your own. Your instructions yesterday were quite helpful. Thank you again," Roberts replies as he politely high fives Josh. I didn't realize you could politely high five. Not until that moment.

While they're casually testing the effectiveness of Roberts's new armour, I bump Tipan's shoulder then gesture to the door. This is a perfect opportunity for us to test some spells.

Rising beside me, we make our way out. The moment we step through the door my sense of Rufka gets stronger, snapping upwards. I look up just in time to see a large fluffy shape descending on us.

"Eep," I barely squeak out before Tipan and I are squashed by Rufka.

"Good morning, sleepy-cubs," Rufka howls out while laughing from on top of us.

"Rufka. How could you? I nearly blasted you," Tipan declares as she struggles to free herself.

"Mum always says, don't forget to look up," Rufka answers unashamed as she extends a hand to each of us. Which I accept while Tipan stands on her own.

"I don't believe that applies to rest areas," Tipan exclaims while dusting herself off.

"Of course it does. Fallen like we saw yesterday? Those aren't going to play nice. And neither is your sister. We can't count on the rules you're used to skyborne," Rufka disagrees, her grin still in place.

"That… Those are valid points," Tipan concedes casting her eyes down ruefully.

"Hey, what did I just say about looking up?" Rufka asks, grabbing Tipan by the chin then guiding her head towards the horizon as I watch, trying not to giggle at poor Tipan's expression. Then she moves Tipan's head back and forth several times before lightly bopping her on the head just as Beth and Josh step out of the door behind them.

"What'd we miss?" Beth asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, just flying death kitties, raining from above," I chuckle as I activate my spell, floating upwards.

"Ohhh. Yes. I'm totally a flying death kitten who reigns from above," Rufka declares as she leaps into the air beside me, drawing her bow while striking a pose.

"Aww. That's so adorable," I admire mockingly.

"Damn. I was going for majestic," Rufka replies as Beth whistles, getting everyone's attention.

"Okay people. Turns out there are hidden challenges in these dungeons. Now, I've unlocked the subsystem that will lead us to them, but we're still going to have to fly to each one. Turns out none of them are next to the rest area. Now, we may have defeated the Fallen leaders, but we don't know if there will be more or what else is waiting for us, so let's try to pay attention."

"Questions?" Beth calls once she's finished.

"What type of challenges?" Rufka asks as she tries to lean on me. But I float away just enough she has to keep floating over until I suddenly stop, causing her to run into my elbow.

"It doesn't tell me that part. I guess we'll have to go and see," Beth replies as everyone starts strapping into their gliders. Except Tipan, who is now able to join me and Rufka.

"I wish I could have retrieved the core control for the gliders," Tipan sighs as she floats beside us while watching the others.

"That's why they're all so inefficient!" Rufka exclaims from beside us.

"What?" I ask from next to her, wondering if her outburst cost me any health.

"The gliders should be more efficient than a flight spell. They're properly crafted artifacts after all. But I had to install that mana-battery just so Josh could stay in the air. But obviously there's a master control so that they can't just be stolen. It's what mum would do," Rufka sighs.

Moments later we're flying towards the nearest challenge that's also in the direction of the 'silver bullet' we started exploring yesterday. Because we haven't finished with that yet. I never got a chance to test my new runes yet either.

On our way, we discover several packs of Fallen, but between our aerial mobility and spells, they're picked off easily. Since they're small packs, Tipan recommends I don't waste my facet on my aoe looting. She instructs us that if we have a class we can loot for free.

Trying the process, I discover I have to touch the body, send mana into it then confirm that I want to loot it at which point it'll deposit the essence into our inventory. Testing with my aoe technique proves that looting everything within three metres is cheap enough that manually looting isn't worth the time and effort.

Then we arrive at the challenge location where a single large slab leans against a nearby building. There's nothing else here.

Flying next to Beth, I search the area again before asking a question.

"So, where's the challenge?"

A note from Draith

Chappie 2/4 for this week.

Standard author blurb.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. Read up to nine chapters ahead.  Also access to exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story) for all tiers starting in May.  Wait till May 1st. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

Thanks for reading.

1.47 Challenge Accepted

January 18, 2019, 10:30 am.

Looking around, I can't discern anything that might serve as the challenge. Maybe we're supposed to copy the giant slab of rock, taking turns leaning on the nearby building? Heh, maybe we could do a lean off, each of us demonstrating our best slack-off moves.

That'd be a great challenge. Unless we had to do it for an hour. Marathon leaning session, no thanks.

While I'm searching for another possible challenge, Beth approaches the leaning slab, squinting underneath it. Then she starts chuckling.

Landing beside her, I hear Tipan asking, "What is so amusing, Bethany?"

Backing up, Beth points into the shadow of the pillar while we crowd around, "the challenge is started by climbing through those."

Moving closer, I see several small holes in the wall that lead into the building. Small holes which are arranged in the shape of a smiley face. Joining Beth in her chuckling, I note it'd be easy for me to make my way through but I'm not sure if Josh or Roberts will be able to fit.

"Ah. Well, this is most unusual," Roberts comments, kneeling next to Beth while inspecting the holes.

Moving up next to the closest hole, Beth stops, gazing ahead unfocused.

"Okay, it says this is a movement challenge. Everyone, find yourselves an entrance. Josh, it looks like the eyes are bigger, so you and Roberts can use those," Beth instructs us, stepping out of the way.

Nodding, Josh slides under the stone slab, Roberts close behind him.

As I move into position near the bottom of the mouth, Smoulder decides to take her own hole beside me.

Smiling at her, I position myself to climb into the opening in front of me. It's only half a meter off the ground, which makes it a little awkward.

"Betcha a hundred essence I'll finish before you skyborne," Rufka boasts as she and Tipan file into the tunnel.

"Only a hundred essence? So little. Are you afraid of losing? Why don't we make it five?" Tipan counters as she steps to her entrance.

"Hah. Solid silver. Deal, five hundred essence. Last one to the end loses," Rufka confirms, shaking Tipan's hand with a two-handed shake.

Once we're all in position, I receive a new notification.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the hidden challenges located throughout the Fallen City of Lescodo. Requirements 0/7 unique hidden challenges completed. Rewards: 14 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point, 1 piece of iron-grade gear. Time: 5/7 days remaining."

Wow, those rewards are greater than the base zone quest.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the obstacle course challenge, 'The Collapse' using only your base attributes and movement skills. Use of any ability, spell or movement item will result in a failure of this challenge. This challenge may be attempted repeatedly. Requirements 0/1 collapsing buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 iron rank integration points, 1 iron-grade mana essence. Time: 5/7 days remaining."

"Your discovered skills which are allowed for this challenge are running, swimming, and climbing."

"Uhm. Does anybody else have a notification saying we need to escape a collapsing building? This seems dangerous," I mention, a little worried. This is crazy restrictive. No flying and I'm pretty sure my time freeze counts as an ability.

"Yep. But don't worry. Mum said obstacle courses won't kill you," Rufka answers while rubbing her hand together in anticipation before adding, "Though some of the conditions they leave you in might make you wish you were dead."

"Not helping," I reply, wondering if this is really worth it.

"She's exaggerating. With the power Roberts has displayed, we should be fine. And if he is unable to heal us, all such conditions go away after one- or two-nights rest," Tipan corrects Rufka with a glance and a rare smile.

"See kid. We're good to go," Beth smiles as she sets her own hands in place.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, The Collapse. Are you ready? Y/N?"

A little after everyone else has mumbled their affirmation, I sigh, then quietly exhale my, "ready."

In response, a new overlay appears, similar to the one from the challenge race. Oh hey, challenge race. That makes me feel better, that was 100% non-hostile. Can't believe I didn't…. Right. Not the time.

Crawling into the hole, I follow the glowing blue arrow forward.

When I emerge on the other side, I find myself alone, kneeling on the broken remnants of a floor with a counter telling me I'm twenty stories up. Considering we were at ground level when I started squirming my way in, I'm guessing there are dimensional or mental shenanigans in play.

I don't have much time to reflect on what's going on because the floor under my knees begins shifting.

Looking for something, anything, to hold onto, I grab a round piece of metal protruding out of the wall pulling myself to my feet. Even as I stand, the floor lurches before settling into a ramp leading to the floor below.

Convenient.

As I'm inspecting my path, I realize the blue arrow is pointing down. It's not showing me a safe path to follow. It's simply pointing straight through the solid floor-turned-ramp.

Okay, looks like I need to do this myself. I wish I could fly, but it clearly stated no spells allowed. Why would it do that I wonder?

Doesn't matter, it's time to get on with this. I carefully try to walk down the sloped floor. The moment I let go of the wall, putting my full weight on the floor, it shifts again knocking me on my butt.

Suddenly, I find myself scrambling for purchase, but the floor keeps shifting. And then a large chunk of stone falls from above landing between my sprawled legs.

Giving up my attempts to make a smooth transition, I slide down the ramp, following the stone. My health takes a small hit when I slam into the wall at the bottom, but I avoid falling off the side.

Should've asked Rufka for some moonshine before we started. Live and learn. Probably.

Another large chunk of stone crashes down, reminding me to get moving.

Glancing up, I see that parts of the building above are collapsing. As I dodge another falling rock, I happen to catch a glimpse out a window. Which leads to yet another fun discovery. The building isn't just collapsing, it's swaying back and forth. Either that or the entire skyline is shifting.

Deciding I really should get on with it, I inch over to the edge finding more collapsed floor a metre below. There are several sections leading down, and I think I can see a clear path for several floors. Sweet. This, I can do.

The first jump is even easier than I was anticipating, and I continue to make my way down, moving from mostly intact sections to wide ledges to narrow beams.

I'm making decent time, when after jumping and balancing my way three floors down, the building shifts again, causing me to slip on a piece of loose rubble.

I try to catch my balance, but I'm thrown clear.

I feel my heart in my throat as I'm suddenly looking down into a gap that stretches at least four floors before there's anything solid to land on. Thrashing in the air, my hand grabs a piece of twisted round metal. Jerking to a stop, I find myself hanging out over the open gap that stretches down through the tower.

"This challenge is insane," I grumble to myself as my heart beats in my ears. It's tempting to just cast fly. To give up. But the others are doing this challenge too. Even Smoulder. I'm not sure I could look her in the eyes if she finishes and I don't give it an honest try.

Gritting my teeth, I find a nearby ledge that might work. It's four metres down, but it's the closest spot I can see on this side. I swing myself side to side, building momentum. When I let go, I almost miss the ledge but manage to throw myself forwards, hitting the wall. It's not pretty, but I'm secure.

Steadying myself, I prepare to continue. I'm on the wrong side of the building though. Where before there had been a relatively easy path, now I'm forced to make longer jumps to less stable looking remnants of what passes for a floor. On the plus side, since the platforms are further down, I'm making my way out of the tower faster.

I'm at floor twelve when I run out of platforms on my side of the tower. Just ten meters down is a mostly intact floor where a great deal of rubble has accumulated. It looks like there's only one path forward once I'm down there, so hopefully, I'll be able to get back on the easier path.

Only ten metres of open-air between me and easy mode.

Checking around me I see a platform that's slightly higher that has more of the twisted metal rod. There are several protrusions clumped against the wall that appear to offer good handholds.

It's only a couple metres, but the only way I see to get to it is by inching my way along a very narrow ledge. If the building shifts while I'm on that ledge, I'm not sure I'll be able to hold on.

So, I wait a few seconds for the building to shift again. Unfortunately, it doesn't oblige. And rocks are still falling. I wait another five seconds before deciding I should go for it. I make it to the other platform right as the building shifts again. But I've already got my hands wrapped around the metal rod, holding myself in place. Moving quickly but carefully, I start climbing down, the cold metal bars bending slightly under my hurried efforts.

The protrusions end about two meters above the floor below. Trying to choose a nice clear landing spot, I swing myself slightly then let go.

As I land on floor ten, only stumbling forward a little, my interface updates, adding a green timer.

5:00

4:59

Oh joy.

4:58

I rush across the floor to the only opening below. However, during my time on the wrong side of the tower, I forgot about watching for falling rocks. I'm struck from behind just as I reach the opening. The blow costs me twelve health while knocking me off balance. Landing on my hands and knees next to the opening, I shrug the rubble off. 4:32

Not bothering to stand, I investigate the opening then drop to the next ledge in my path. Now that there's a timer, I move even quicker from ledge to ledge, jumping, running and climbing as quickly as I can. Luckily, they're the easy ledges from the beginning of my run. 4:14

I keep going through the next few floors, catching myself several times when the building shifts. Even though I'm expecting it, it's still hard to be ready for those. When I'm five floors from the ground, I stop seeing windows. Guess they don't want me jumping down. I'm only three floors from the end with two whole minutes on the clock when the entire building makes a disturbing screeching noise. 2:17

Even as I continue, making my way to the big obvious door at ground level, large sections of stone start raining down around me. I'm only a couple of metres from the door when a massive block falls in front of me knocking me from my feet. 1:31

Luckily, it only knocked me down. 1:24

Looking up, I see that I was wrong. It also knocked health down to two while completely covering the exit. The big blue arrow is still pointing right through the slab. 1:18

"Okay. That's just not fair," I mutter as I search for another option. 1:10

But there are no other exits. Moving next to the giant block, I find it's leaning against the door like the beginning of the challenge. However, any exit to be found is buried in rubble. I start pulling the rubble out of the way. After a few seconds of work, I find what I'm hoping for. Daylight. 0:54

Pulling more rubble out of the way, I hit the ground then start squeezing through the gap pushing my way out while the clock continues counting down. 0:33

I'm nearly out when my leg gets stuck on something. Pulling desperately, I groan when I hear a rip. 0:15

I keep pulling myself forward through the surprisingly long tunnel until the timer finally stops, blinking at 0:08. The timer is replaced by a quest notification as I pull myself out of the wall.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 collapsing buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 iron rank integration points, 1 iron-grade mana essence."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

"Wow, Lexi. Looks like you had fun," I hear Rufka say from beside me. Looking up I find everyone else standing around. Smoulder is right in front of me feeling satisfied.

"I have to say, I found it quite exhilarating myself, " Roberts proclaims as he and Rufka both extend a hand, helping me to my feet while Smoulder hops onto my shoulder.

"Yeah. That was amazing. And those random steel balls with all the spikes? Those really kept me on my toes," Rufka agrees.

"I must have missed those," I note, inspecting my clothing. Yep, that was a real rip. But my health is back at full. With Roberts here, I kind of wish it was the other way around.

"Me too," Josh says from where he's standing. Tipan and Beth are talking in low tones just behind him.

"Indeed. It seems to have given us different challenges based on our individual skills or attributes. While I had no spiked balls of death, I did have to descend from forty floors whereas Beth only had to descend twenty or so," Roberts contributes.

"Yeah. I think I had a hundred," Rufka adds while draping her arm over my shoulder. "So, how many did you have?"

"Uh. Just twenty," I answer even as I add a point to my Resolve.

"Huh. Well, at least we all finished it on our first try, right?" Rufka grins while shaking me gently.

"Agreed. And now that we've seen just what these challenges are about, we'll be more prepared for next time," Beth notes, her Umbra armour soaking up the sun as she approaches. I wonder if she gets hot while wearing that?

"We're done here. Let's get ready to move people," Beth commands while bringing her glider out.

On that note, Josh and Roberts start setting up their own gliders. While they're busy I turn to Rufka.

"Uhh Rufka, do you think I could have some more of that moonshine?" I ask quietly. It's still kind of early, but that health edge is just so huge for me.

"Sure thing, Lexi," Rufka replies, pulling everything out then handing me a cup.

"Thanks. Cheers," I raise my cup before once again gasping at the burning. So bad. But that health edge is so good.

"Anytime, Lexi. Anytime," Rufka says as I wash our cups.

With that out of the way, and with the others still working on their gliders, I decide now's a good time to try Tipan's rune.

"Just going to test something before we fly," I let Rufka know, moving slightly away from the others.

"Oh yeah. Me too. Thanks for reminding me," Rufka replies before flying up over the dull grey building we just emerged from.

Turning back to my own experiments, I pick out a loose stone block twenty metres away as a target. Creating the disc in my head, I imbue it with wind mana. It's what Tipan uses, so it only feels right starting here.

It works exactly as I'd seen when Tipan used it, slicing off part of the stone block. Watching the stone slough off, I start bombarding it with all my cheap elements. I get similar results with water, removing another corner. Nice to know that even if I didn't have stone shaping, I could still carve it.

Continuing, I find that fire and lightning scorch my practice target while the earth disc just crumbles, not having much effect. Meanwhile, the twilight disk produces a small field of shadows or glowing yellow light.

Finally, I use a disc of stone taken from my pack, firing it forward. My disc and target shatter in an amazing example of mutually assured destruction, the impact far louder than any of the other discs so far.

"The hell was that, kid!?" Beth yells from where they're lifting into the air.

"Just a test," I call back as I activate my own flight, joining them above. When I arrive, I find a dozen Fallen bodies on the nearby building with Rufka's arrows protruding from them.

"Right. Just a test. Figures."

"Come on, let's go do some exploring. Then we'll see if we can't find another challenge," Beth commands. Following along, I notice we're taking an indirect route, but Beth's leading the way towards the silver bullet from yesterday.

The same silver bullet where I was cut off from Wyonna. Which reminds me.

Flying over to Beth, I ask her about the anti-corruption system and she reveals that all the options require the Node Management Basic Access feature which costs an advancement point. That's as expensive as getting the training ground or going from iron to copper!

Resigning myself to the fact that there's no easy out through the anti-corruption menu. (And why even give us the option?), we continue on our flight.

We encounter another two squads of Fallen on the way. I don't even have to help.

Now that Tipan has access to lightning torrent and a flight spell she's nearly as scary as I am. And she's much more graceful. Plus, Rufka is trying her hand at Tipan's disks. They're not as potent as mine and Tipan's, but she has amazing aim.

Once we get near the tunnel, the Fallen seem to disappear. I guess they don't like it here anymore.

As we land, I inspect the opening leading down. It's kind of lacking that special something.

"I'm gonna stay topside," Rufka informs us as I start reshaping the earth around the entrance to be more of a general sphere.

While I start shaping large clumps of earth into neat blocks, I see Tipan nodding as she adds, "Seeing as we can't join you inside, I'll wait here with Rufka. I wish to practice further with these new runes I learned from Alexis."

I'm just about finished placing a small sphere over the tunnel entrance when Beth acknowledges Tipan, "Sounds good. Alexis, stay in contact with Rufka. Tipan, let's test party chat."

"Testing. Testing…." Beth's voice cuts out as she steps away.

"Yes. I wish we could explore as well," Tipan answers as I decide my entrance needs sharp protrusions stretching into the sky.

"Uhh, kid," Beth mutters when she returns.

"Yeah, Beth?" I reply as I float two balls of burning flame into the recessed nooks on each side.

"Why the hell did you make the entrance into a giant bunny head?"

Looking at it critically, I turn to Smoulder for a second, receiving an approving nod before answering.

"Ambience."

A note from Draith

Chappie 3/4

Standard Author blurb.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. Read up to nine chapters ahead.  Also access to exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story) for all tiers starting in May.  Wait till May 1st. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

Thanks for reading.

1.48 Fear not the Bunny!

January 18, 2019, 11:42 am.

Beth just shakes her head at my slightly larger than life representation of Smoulder before suggesting we eat.

This whole, eating more food thing is a lot more fun when we're at Raz's. Not so much when working my way through jerky. It's tasty enough, but I'm starting to get tired of it. Wait. Have I even tried storing fresh food?

Damnit. If only I had two people who grew up with the system within arm's reach I could ask.

"Quick question. What happens if I put fresh food in dimensional storage?" I ask, noticing that Rufka is eating some sort of sausage. A sausage that appears to be warm.

"It goes in," Rufka answers with a chuckle.

I glare at her but she just smirks back. Luckily, Tipan is here too. And like usual she provides a more useful response, "if you're wondering about long term storage and spoilage, there isn't any. A freshly prepared steak will stay hot and sizzling."

"I thought you just liked jerky, kid," Beth laughs as she pulls out a fresh pulled-meat sandwich.

Looking at Josh and Roberts, I realize they both have similar sandwiches. Josh gives me an apologetic shrug as he takes another bite while Roberts doesn't notice my question. He's gazing out across the city as he eats.

"Doesn't always taste right in my opinion," Rufka notes even as she takes another large bite of sausage. I keep chewing on my jerky while making a mental note to pick up as many interesting dishes as I can reasonably fit once we get back.

When we're finished, the others hand their gliders over to Rufka and Tipan. Rufka has some thoughts about how to fix them, but needs to take a look at them first.

As we descend into the bunny tunnel of terror, the others start a discussion about the differences in their armour. Beth mentions that using different amounts of Umbra seems to increase its effectiveness and Josh confirms its similar for him. When they start talking about feedback and maneuverability, I kind of zone out. Instead, I start playing with a pseudo-scale model of earth's solar system formed out of twilight. Sab would probably give me an earful about incorrect distances and other inaccuracies. Instead of worrying about Sab, I concentrate on setting the system in motion while pampering Smoulder with snuggles and head-scritches.

Once we reach the ship, Smoulder returns to my shoulder while I simplify my twilight into an orb. Then Beth takes us towards the Crew Quarters, leading us up.

She leads us through the next floor, which we quickly check, but it's still just a bunch of empty rooms. Same as we found when we searched the first floor yesterday.

Deciding to skip past the rest of the quarters for now, we continue up for another six floors. Finally, after we've passed yet another Crew Quarters, we come across the Cafeteria.

While not being quite as empty as the crew quarters, it does have an abandoned feeling to it. The room is reminiscent of a cafeteria you might find back on earth. Tables and benches scattered throughout, all firmly attached to the floor.

But for all the familiarity, exploring the cafeteria makes me feel like I'm a child in a room meant for adults. More than any other part of the ship, I mean. It's the height of everything. The top of the tables are just over my head while the benches are over my waist.

Deciding it'll be easier to scout the room from above, Beth starts marching along the top of the tables, easily bounding from one to the next while the guys follow behind her. So, I float into the air following behind. Now that there's hopping involved, Smoulder is right beside Beth.

At the back of the cafeteria is a kitchen area, separated from the rest of the room by a long counter and a pair of swinging doors.

As we approach the kitchen, we don't find anything in the room. Just the benches and tables. Instead of trying the doors, Beth leads us directly over the counter. Entering the kitchen we find several devices that look like they could have been stoves or ovens at one point. It's strange to be here, in this ship. Everything feels abandoned. Lifeless and sterile.

We continue our search, finding a sealed door at the back of the kitchen that reads, "Chef Bana only! This includes you captain!"

"What do you think is inside?" I wonder as Beth steps back from the door.

"Food, I imagine. It appears to be a larder or perhaps a walk-in cooler," Roberts speculates while Beth tries interacting with the door only to discover it's locked.

Unable to make any more progress than the aforementioned captain, and not wanting to waste time on something that's likely useless, Beth leads us up through the 'bullet' once more. We travel past ten more floors of crew quarters until we finally run out of stairs, leaving us outside the door to the Observatory.

When we arrive, we're all left waiting on the platform as Beth touches the door. She stops for a moment, as a familiar notification appears on the door.

"Citizen status recognized."

"Access granted."

When the door swings open, we all just stand and stare for a second.

Just inside is a small observation platform that looks out over the room below. Split up into several sections, this room is as full as every previous room was empty. And it's not a small room. The room must take up the entirety of the top section of the 'bullet', its ceiling curving out of sight above, disappearing into darkness.

There's a low thrumming noise coming from the otherwise quiet, but apparently still functional, machinery. Everywhere I look, there's a different display, momentarily lighting up then going dark.

"Wow. I was honestly expecting more empty rooms," Beth admits staring about in surprise.

"I… I don't even know where to start," I agree, stepping up next to her. Some of the flashing screens show us the familiar map of Akilo, but others are just lines of numbers or pages of text.

"Let's not get worried about the computers yet. Take a look around, see if we can't find anything else of interest," Beth suggests, starting our search as she's talking, heading to the right. Not even four steps along and we find a pad lying on the ground.

Picking it up, Beth turns it on. It contains written stories about "The Adventures of Superbug Bo'ktoz Azin and his robo-slug sidekick Rax." Again, I need to read it for her but this might be all we need to teach her Astreum. I notice the pads seem to react to mental input. There might be more to discover, but Beth wants to finish sweeping the room first.

We continue, finding more pads, a few plastic books about K'tharn and what might have once been a lunchbox. It even has coloured pictures of big green men standing heroically on it. It's easier to make out the cartoonish features on the lunchbox than the magazine we found. There weren't any visible faces in that, the publication choosing to prioritize other assets. At least on the page I saw.

But anyway, I'm calling it right here. Yrken are orcs with a great dental plan. The ones on the lunchbox have a very superman-esque vibe to them, all spandex and heroic poses. But they've also got the muscles, stature, green pointed ears and even the tusks of an orc.

"Huh. Orcs," Josh comments, echoing my thoughts as Beth prompts us to finish investigating the room.

Ten minutes later we've gathered everything we found after a casual search.

"Well, we certainly have a lot to go through," Beth states, looking at the pads, hard plastic books and more than one lunchbox. Everything is somewhat neatly stacked near the centre of the room.

"Anyone else feel like we've gathered up the lost belongings of a bunch of kids on a field trip?" I ask looking at the pile.

"Yeah," Josh agrees soberly while staring at the pile. A moment later a loud thump sounds out as Smoulder lands in the middle of the pile scattering everything. Looking up at us, I can feel her fake innocence as she gives us an 'oops, did I do that look'.

"Well, she certainly knows how to make a splash, doesn't she?" Roberts chuckles, picking up one of the books Smoulder just displaced.

"Always ready for a hopping good time," Josh tries, getting a small laugh from Beth as I collect Smoulder, mentally thanking her for the distraction.

"I think we should take the time to learn their language. We certainly have plenty of source material," Beth suggests, grabbing a book of her own then looking to me. So, we start working on everyone's lessons while I browse through some of the contents on the computers. Further analysis reveals they're tracking all sorts of information about Akilo. It's basically the maps from before but now with numbers. Lots and lots of numbers.

"Do you think these have anything to do with the system?" I ask as I look at another page of data on the amount of precipitation received in grid E12 of quadrant A3 of sector 2. Reaching down to give Smoulder scritches, I remember she wandered off. Right, she was hopping around from computer to computer, searching for a good hidey hole. Just in case.

"I have no clue. I'm sure that with the right equipment, all this information would be valuable though. Not certain we have the tools to get anything from this. Nor do I think we need it," Beth responds before she tells me the name of yet another letter from the book beside her. Which she gets wrong. Again.

Still, she's learning faster than Josh who's working with Roberts. Apparently, Roberts was able to finish half the quest just using the porn book last night. Which meant he was able to finish pretty quickly once I started instructing him. Not really sure how to feel about that, but decide it's really none of my business why he picked it up so quickly. He certainly wasn't ashamed of how he'd made progress.

It takes another half hour with Beth for her to finish the quest. During that time, I discovered there are definitely more Builder cities on the continent. Looking to see if there's anything else that might be useful doesn't yield any results. It feels like these are general purpose monitors like you might find on an exhibit, loaded with certain pre-recorded messages. Plus the ongoing analysis, of course.

"Thanks, kid. Now let's see," Beth says as she starts taking a turn at the computer with no protests from me.

I mean, why should I complain. Maybe she can find something I couldn't.

While she's doing that, I start contemplating the spatial aspect of my facet. I've really been under-utilizing it. There must be a way for me to achieve a short range teleport.

"I'm going to do some testing again," I inform the others, getting a nod from Beth and a thumbs up from Roberts. Josh is busy focusing on the letters very carefully.

Experimenting with the tethers I used for my aoe looting, I attach one to a lunchbox. Then I erect the shield around myself. I'm not really sure how to push with my ability so I try to pull myself towards the lunch box.

Instead of teleporting when I exert myself, I feel the tether dissolve, unable to sustain the connection.

Huh. Interesting.

Not very useful, but interesting.

Thinking back to my return spell, I try to figure out what it was that let me use it. It was a combination of runes, yes. But the combination feels like it was mostly about having a precise location. It allowed me to lock on to a specific target. Like an address.

But I'm able to use my tether for a location. Maybe I just need a more solid object?

Looking around the room, my eyes settle on a computer mounted on the far side of the room. Linking to the computer, I take a deep breath, then I pull.

It's not like when I cast the return spell.

There's no feeling of being on a moving escalator. It's much quicker than that. One second I'm standing next to Beth on one side of the room, the next I'm falling through the air to land on the computer on the far side.

"Alexis! Are you okay? What'd you do now?" Beth yells out as I look at my health. Only lost twenty points. I really need to work on that landing though.

"Uh yeah. I'm fine. Just, you know, playing with magic again," I reply from my awkward position.

"I thought you were just testing something?" Beth says as she strolls closer to me.

"Yep. I was testing to see if I could teleport," I answer as I stand. "Looks like I can."

"Wait? This I need to see. Can you do it again?" Beth requests, crossing her arms while watching me closely.

"Uh, sure. One second," I agree. It's really nice that she's encouraging me. Checking my facet, I discover my experiment consumed nine facet to cross twenty metres.

Throwing another tether to a computer back towards the guys, but only about ten meters away, I repeat my trick. This time I'm even higher up when I appear, but I have less forward momentum, so I don't slam into this computer. I do fall rather ungracefully to the floor though.

"Why do you appear so high up?" Beth asks as she approaches.

"I'm not sure. Still figuring this out," I respond while considering her question and checking my facet. Hmm. Still used four facet that time. Need to test an even shorter teleport.

Choosing another computer, this time I pay closer attention to where my tether lands. When I realize it's on top of the monstrous computer station, I send out a new tether which I stick closer to waist height.

When I make the four-metre teleport, I come out only twenty centimetres or so up, which makes landing much easier. I only stumble a tiny bit. The teleport only cost 0.1 facet and focus too.

"Well, that was definitely an improvement. Are you able to teleport others as well?" Beth asks as I teleport to a slightly farther target, trying to lock down the range.

"I haven't tried yet. I'm a little worried about it failing. It could be pretty nasty," I answer as I try another slightly longer teleport.

This time I'm not as careful, falling half a metre when I emerge. Did I mention how much I love the effect of Rufka's moonshine? That extra health edge makes all these falls painless. I wonder if I could get a flask of my own. Or maybe something with the same effect that tastes better.

"I suppose that's true. What about objects. Why don't you try teleporting a weapon into your hand?" Beth proposes, staying back.

"How about I start with a lunchbox," I counter, reaching out a tether to the lunchbox from earlier. I try pulling on it again, but changing the direction of the pull. A moment later I'm hit by a twisted piece of metal accompanied by a horrible screeching noise.

"Wow. Good call on testing with a lunchbox. That thing was destroyed," Beth notes, kicking the tangled mess at my feet.

"No kidding. I almost feel bad for it."

"Well, it was kind of asking for it, sitting there all defenceless and empty. Only thing better for target practice would be empty beer bottles," Beth chuckles as I study the crushed lunchbox.

She's right. It is empty. And when I look closer, it looks like it collapsed inwards. I try searching around the room for something to fill another one with when I realize I can just grab materials from my pack.

"Uhh, kid?" Beth voices as I start floating a bunch of earth into another lunchbox.

"Look at the way it's been crushed. I'm thinking that maybe if I teleport a solid object it'll come out intact. I hope," I reply, setting the now full lunchbox down while stepping away.

Creating a new tether, I pull the lunchbox towards me excitedly. Instead of a piercing screeching there's only a low groan and the lunch box arrives in my hands mostly intact. Not that I actually catch it. I wasn't as prepared for it as I should have been, so I may have let it slip, dropping it on my foot.

"At least it was quieter," Beth comments, apparently losing interest as she starts to flip through one of the K'tharn books. While Beth begins reading, I inspect the damaged but not crushed lunchbox which tried to seek revenge on me via my foot. Unlike the previous lunchbox, which Smoulder ignored, this time she decides to ignite the offending object.

As I watch it melt together, I ponder what I could do if I were able to teleport others. It would be huge if I could use teleport with timestop, swapping people on the battlefield. Moving people out of the way for my attacks then moving them back? Okay, probably not that. Not yet.

As I'm staring at the box I can't help but wish I could shield it. It's obvious that pulling it to me is what's damaging it. I try copying my personal shield, but unless I'm holding the box I can't form the shield. And the second I set it down the shield comes undone. I'm going to need a way to keep the shield in place before I can teleport objects to me.

And this still doesn't help me teleport others. Am I being too greedy? I did just figure out how to teleport myself. Shouldn't that be enough?

…..

Nah.

While I mill over how I might teleport others, I keep experimenting. I start teleporting myself while carrying objects, stretching my shield over them. I start with a five kilo block of stone. When I succeed without damaging the stone, (not counting the crack from when I dropped it of course,) I try teleporting with a few different plastic books.

My next few tests are successful and I'm starting to get a hang of not falling when I teleport. The biggest discovery was realizing I could anchor myself to the ground. I always come up a metre short of where I target my tether but I'm consistently arriving on my feet now.

For my last test I swapped out the books for another lunchbox which made it through intact. I'm feeling encouraged. Before I go any further, I open up my skills to take a look at my spatial manipulation.

Skills

Matrix

Skill Level

Support

Skill Level

Temporal Manipulation

86

Cooking

0

Spatial Manipulation

53

Cleaning

57

Mana Manipulation

86

Crafting

Skill Level

Combat

Skill Level

Woodworking

1

Throwing

13

Stone Shaping

37

Elemental

Skill Level

Metal Shaping

40

Fire Manipulation

86

Tailoring

3

Water Manipulation

86

Ceramics

28

Wind Manipulation

86

Movement

Skill Level

Lightning Manipulation

86

Swimming

1

Stone Manipulation

72

Running

8

Earth Manipulation

86

Flight

26

Metal Manipulation

53

Climbing

6

Ice Manipulation

42

Riding

8

Twilight Manipulation

48

Knowledge

Skill Level

Gaming

3

Engineering

35

Survival - Temperate Forest

13

Impressive, it's already over fifty. Hopefully, this means I can bring Smoulder with me when I teleport. Still not sure if I should test it with her.

Sitting down next to her, I take her in my arms while projecting my thoughts to her, wondering if she wants to try teleporting.

In response Smoulder reminds me that she's a hare.

Hopping comes naturally to her.

A note from Draith

And here's chapter 4/4 for this week. Next chapter is on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading.

Standard Author's blurb.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. The entire main story will be released here on RR, but you can read up to nine chapters ahead.  Also access to exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story, just little asides) for all tiers starting in May.  Wait till May 1st. Otherwise, there's that double charge thing.

1.49 Crew Quarters

January 18, 2019, 3:33 pm.

Okay. Yes, Smoulder, I know you're a master of hopping. But teleporting isn't quite the same. As I'm pointing out this minor difference, I'm broken out of my thoughts by Josh's sudden movement.

"Finally!" Josh exclaims before slumping over behind us.

"I guess he finished," I whisper to Smoulder while Roberts ensures Josh doesn't smack his head. I wonder what Josh's intelligence is. Does it apply a modifier for when we're trying to complete these quests?

Smoulder doesn't appreciate me trying to change the subject and reminds me that I need to try hopping while holding her tight.

"Excellent. Once Josh recovers, I think it's time to continue exploring. We'll double-check the Crew Quarters then see if we can't find another challenge," Beth decides, tossing the book she was perusing into the scattered pile.

While she's doing that, I put Smoulder in her pocket, making triple sure that my shield is wrapped around her. I don't feel entirely ready to subject her to this, but it was my idea.

So, with a deep breath, I teleport across the room. Then I check to make sure Smoulder's okay, flicking a glance at her status even as I'm pulling her out of my pocket. She didn't take so much as a single point of damage. Cuddling her close, I whisper, "that was easier than I expected."

Smoulder just nuzzles me back while conveying a feeling that can best be summed up as, "I told you so." Admitting the foolishness of my trepidation, I look back to the others and the pile of miscellaneous loot we've gathered.

Not willing to leave anything behind, I start preparing it for dimensional storage.

Stacking everything neatly, I set aside one copy of each of the books. There are three different books from what I can see, all about different K'tharn cultures from before their apocalypse. Might be worth something to Rufka or Tipan, but we've got at least six of every book, so I'm keeping copies for myself.

We all take one of the pads as well. They're a little large, roughly twenty by ten cm. I imagine they're sized for the Yrken. When I started packing things away, Beth was tinkering with one of the pads, she determined that we could use them to bring up any aspect of the System we'd interacted with. This includes things we'd only glanced at, such as the abilities in the shop as well as the maps and the data on the consoles. Pretty useful feature.

The lunchboxes turn out to be titanium that I can manipulate. I keep one lunchbox intact which I put my K'tharn books in, but the rest become raw material. They only add up to a kilo, but that's still a decent amount of titanium. I'm not sure it'll be more effective than steel, but I can't wait to test it.

Everything we didn't set aside; I wrap into several large bundles that I put in my pack.

Then we continue our way down the tower, quickly searching through the Crew Quarters below. Now that we've found something, Beth doesn't want to leave any room unchecked. Even so, the search is only cursory, and we split into teams of two on each floor to cover ground faster.

Roberts and I are checking the floor above the cafeteria when we stumble across a room that doesn't immediately swing open. When Roberts pushes against it, it flashes the notification about citizen authorization then opens. This room isn't empty. Calling out to Beth, we stay out of the room even as I note its contents. Against the far wall is a humming machine covered in glass, like a grocery store frozen foods cooler. There's also a desk with its matching chair and an end table. All sized for a 3-meter tall creature of course.

"What'd you find," Beth asks when she and Josh run over.

"I'm not certain, but I believe we've found an office," Roberts replies as Beth approaches the room.

Scanning the room through the open doorway, Beth doesn't say anything.

Taking our cue from her, we all remain silent. That is until Roberts decides to ask," what do you think? Should we investigate?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to look in that thing," she gestures at the frozen foods cooler with a shudder. "I'm afraid we're going to find a half-rotten, what did you call them?"

"Orc," Josh answers with a grin, looking in with interest.

"Yeah, a half-rotten orc."

"Well, if that's your concern, I can check. I've seen far worse than a rotten cadaver," Roberts offers, his transparent staff resting above his shoulder. His armour is interesting. There are times I can't tell it's there. Like now.

"That'd be great," Beth motions him forwards while forming a large pistol out of Umbra. When did she add that to her arsenal?

Beth notices me staring and explains as Roberts cautiously approaches the machine, poking it with his staff.

"The rifle isn't useful in close quarters. Or against quick targets or crowds. I figured I should have a couple more options," she demonstrates, shifting the pistol to some sort of assault rifle.

"Wow. You're a lot quicker with that," I observe.

"Yep. Turns out it only takes a long time to form it the first time. Fairly handy."

"Yeah, no kidding," I reply as we look back into the room. Roberts is standing next to the machine, standing on his tiptoes to peek inside.

"Interesting," he mumbles before carefully climbing up the machine to get a better view.

"It appears to be a stasis chamber of some kind. An empty stasis chamber," Roberts calls from his balanced perch.

"Good. Josh, can you watch the door while we search the room," Beth requests as we step inside.

As Josh mumbles his assent, we move into the room. Beth motions me towards the desk while she investigates the end table. Flying up to the table, I discover it's strewn with several plastic pages similar to the ones in the books we've found so far. But these are all loose and it looks as though whoever was using them was writing on them freehand. I try to read them, but whoever used this desk their notes are barely legible.

After reading through half of them, I realize they're crossing parts of the writing out, then scribbling notes in the margins.

"Tastes better with…"

"... need to add ….. ginseng then…"

"Only remove roast …... the oven after…"

As I rifle through the notes, I mention, "I think this may have been the cook's room."

"See if you can find anything about the kitchen. I'd like to check in there if it doesn't take too long," Beth requests as I hear a thunk from her direction. She's pulling open a drawer in the end table, checking inside.

"Sure," I reply while trying to sort the notes. Okay, recipes here. More recipes there. Seriously, I don't think there's anything but recipes. How many different ways do you need to prepare, let's see, Vhethal? Wait, isn't that the name of the deer-thing we ate the first day? Huh, maybe Roberts would like these.

I spend five minutes searching through the desk's contents, but I come up empty. The main thing I got out of reading through all these recipes, is hungry.

"I don't think there's anything but recipes here," I tell them as I search through my neat stacks of plastic while sharing more fruit jerky with Smoulder. I got a little better at reading the hand-scratch writing, so now the recipes are organized by meat, fish, fowl and baking.

"No sign of anything useful in the cabinet either. Not a huge loss. It's unlikely there would be much of use in the larder anyway. Let's keep moving," Beth directs us as we once more split into teams.

"Thought you might want these," I say as I proffer the recipes to Roberts.

"Thank you, Alexis. Are these local recipes? Hmm. Yes, these will prove to be interesting. I'm not certain how compatible we'll be with these creatures, but it appears they at least prepared similar foods," Roberts replies as he accepts the recipes, rifling through them as we walk.

We don't find anything else, additional stasis chambers or otherwise as we sweep the rest of the floor.

We check the Cafeteria again quickly, Beth checking to see if having the pads or the recipes helps with the door but nothing happens. So, we go loping down the ridiculous stairs to the floor below. As is becoming our standard routine, Roberts and I start with the room on the right while Josh and Beth go left. The moment we touch the door, I call out.

"We've got another one," I tell Beth and Josh as they join us.

"We might have something on the other side too. Door's partially open but it seems to be stuck," Beth informs me while Roberts cautiously steps inside the room, investigating the stasis chamber.

The former occupant seems to have had a thing for model ships. Like the cook's room, the room has a giant chair and desk. But they're frankly overshadowed by the prominent feature of this room. The numerous display cases, which clutter the space as if the owner had run out of room, but insisted on having all the models close. Each case contains intricately detailed miniature ships, all neatly arranged, a complete contrast to the display cases themselves.

Focusing on the model of a ship that seems familiar, the system reveals the name is the Thenite Skyscreamer. Its blocky design has two nasty-looking spikes projecting from either side of its cabin. It's in a stand next to a spherical ship with several tubes sticking out of its back that the system labels as a "Phothen World-ship." When I look back at the Thenite Skyscreamer, I notice the prompts.

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Thenite Skyscreamer for 18.6 focus and 13.7 facet."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Phothen World-ship for 18.6 focus and 13.7 facet."

"Wow. Apparently, I can download a codex for each of these," I mention as I gesture around the room at the models.

"Interesting. That might give us a lot of useful information. Once we're sure the room is safe, you should download a few," Beth suggests as we wait for Roberts. He's balanced on the edge of the chamber gazing inside.

"Yes. About that. It would appear we've found someone. I think they're still alive," Roberts informs us, still hanging on the edge.

"Interesting. Are they asleep or in stasis or what?" Beth asks while we all edge closer to the humming machine.

"Hold on," Roberts responds as he closes his eyes while staring at the occupant. Yep, Roberts is capable of staring with his eyes closed. It's kind of impressive really.

"Ah. It looks like they're in stasis. It would appear he is greatly injured. I can't do anything at the moment, but I believe I could restore him if we were to bring him out," Roberts answers before jumping down next to us.

"Okay, let's see what we can find first. I'd rather not be messing with this with no understanding of what's keeping them in there. Alexis, do you have a codex for these people?" Beth checks as she moves to the end table.

"Huh. Not yet. One sec," I reply as I fly above the Yrken in the chamber. Yeah, it's an orc all right. This specimen is roughly three and a half metres tall.

“Creature analyzed: Yrken. Gene-seed B"

"Yrken are a well-established and loyal servitor race. Trading their freedom for ensured genetic continuity, the Yrken are held in great esteem for their continual efforts on behalf of the Creators."

"Name: Lugett Ell

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme."

"Attacks: Restricted."

"Defences: Restricted."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Yrken Builders for 18.6 focus and 13.7 facet."

"Okay. I have the codex available to me. I'm just gonna lie down first though," I tell the others as I float to a spot near the floor, pulling my pack off to use as a pillow.

Before I can get settled in, Beth objects, "Hold on, kid. If it's going to put you out, I'd like to secure the floor first."

"Oh. Right. Sorry," I apologize as I shrug my pack back on.

"No problem kid. I appreciate the enthusiasm," Beth reassures me while we continue searching the room. By the time we're done, I've received more than a hundred different 'Would you like to know more?' notifications. There are so many interesting ships. The Alston Library Ship has no visible weapons or protrusions unlike most of the other ships. It's blocky form simply resembles a thick plus (+) symbol.

There's one which appears to be a specific ship. Abapira's Wanderer is a strange mish-mash of parts that seems as though it's been blown apart several times before being reassembled. I'm not certain, but it seems like it started life as a small fighter but now it's much larger and more durable. I bet there's quite a story there.

There's another of the pads in the end table but otherwise, the room only holds the Yrken and the model ships.

Since we already know the room across the hall isn't empty, Josh leads the way directly there. Like Beth was saying, the door is stuck. I'm not able to manipulate it, the door having the same resistance as the rest of the ship. There's an opening in the upper corner which I could fly through, but Josh steps forward and manages to force the door wide enough for each of them to squeeze through as well.

We don't immediately enter though, Beth scanning the room for a minute before gesturing Roberts forwards to check the chamber.

"Empty," He declares as Beth and I enter, "and this one doesn't seem to be functional."

This room has several containers scattered around the corners. When we investigate them, they're all empty except for a couple of pieces that may be fasteners. The fasteners appear to be made of the same material as the walls, highly resistant to my manipulation skills.

"Whatever was here, it seems like someone took it all," Beth observes as we look at where the contents of the stasis chamber appear to have been removed.

"So it would appear. I surmise these are the quarters of one of those skeletons we found," Roberts agrees as we move to the next room. We don't find any additional stasis chambers in the remaining rooms on this level, but we do discover three standing devices in the normally empty chamber at the end.

"Object analyzed. Yrken cleansing unit. This simple device uses pressurized water to cleanse a Yrken of whatever filth and grime that may buildup throughout the course of their day. Designed to provide Yrken with maximum relaxation and comfort for a minimum of fifteen minutes per day."

"Condition: Functional."

"I think it's a shower. The analysis indicates it uses pressurized water," I inform the others as we look at it.

"Finally, a shower where the faucet is over my head," Josh kids, setting a hand on its side while peeking inside.

"I'm not sure I'd want to take a shower that's meant for a creature that large. It'd be like stepping under a waterfall," Beth laughs, her pistol held casually. I wonder if she has an automatic safety feature. It uses her resource to fire, so she must be in greater control than with a normal gun, right? I mean, it's not like my spells activate unless I want them to.

"Personally, I've always found bathing beneath waterfalls quite refreshing. If occasionally challenging," Roberts opines while keeping a watch behind us.

"You've gone bathing beneath waterfalls?" I question Roberts while Beth checks the shower units over, looking for anything that might be interesting.

"Oh yes. Every summer. I used to take our daughter Julie and her family to our cabin up near Bear Lake," Roberts answers, his eyes going unfocused for a moment before turning back to me.

"I have no idea where that is," I reply honestly which causes him to chuckle.

"Few people do. It's a small village a short distance north of Prince George," he informs me. I'm not sure where Prince George is either, but at least I've heard of it.

"It's a pretty cool name. Bear Lake," I note instead of admitting my ignorance.

"I agree. That's why I say my cabin is near Bear Lake instead of Prince George," Roberts admits as Beth finishes her sweep.

"I think I've been there," Josh mentions, "you have to drive through to get to Alaska, right?"

"Yes. If you're going through British Columbia," Roberts confirms, continuing to describe the alternate route through Alberta while Beth leads us back to the room with the models and the Yrken in stasis.

"Okay kid. I think it's time for you to download that codex. Be careful," Beth warns when Roberts finishes his declaration that I really need to go to Banff and Jasper national parks since I've never been to either.

"Will do," I acknowledge as I put my pack on the floor while pulling Smoulder close.

Okay, time to download the codex on the Yrken. I wonder if this is going to be nice and simple like with our resources or if this is going to be more like Uthica. I'm expecting Uthica-like, ergo the laying down.

Welp. Time to find out.

"Yrken Codex downloading."

"Remote Access requested. Local Network under Anti-Corruption Lockdown. Download paused."

"Please wait. Verifying Identity."

Huh. This is new. I give Smoulder head-scritches while we wait to see if the system will let us download the codex.

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Citizen Pandora."

"Download commenced."

"Codex obtained: System Species - Yrken. Gene seed B.

Description: Yrken are a biological bipedal species with a long history of administration and rescue operations within the system. Yrken maintain a nuclear family structure. Their mate-bond is permanent once formed. This bond shapes them greatly throughout their first life. A Yrken who loses their partner will die within a month, unable to function without their literal other halves. A Yrken who has not chosen a mate-bond isn't considered an adult, as no Yrken can be considered whole by themselves."

I forgot that downloading a codex came with an intimate understanding of the subject's biology and mating habits. Ugh. I'm sure nothing in that magazine could surprise me now. Note, mate-bonded they may be, but that doesn't preclude them from having 'special friends' as well.

"Yrken nearly wiped themselves out after first gaining access to apocalypse class weapons. There were several tribes of their original people who happened to stumble across Creators. The Creators had arrived to investigate the aftermath as per Apocalypse weapon protocol D-34-003. These tribes asked for protection, and in her infinite wisdom, the Creator Odeon added the Yrken to the ranks of her Builders.

Though the decision was uncontested at the time, the Creator Meras later expressed his dissatisfaction with the inclusion of such a warrior race serving amongst the pacifist Builders. While unwilling to divest her now favoured people from her entourage, Odeon could not simply ignore another Creator's demands.

As a compromise, the Yrken are granted a second life. In this second life, they are provided with any combat skills they desire as well as intense training. Due to the nature of their second life, they are reborn without their bond-mates. They are encouraged to vent any frustrations on whichever opponents Meras has chosen deserving of testing.

Despite this opportunity, most Yrken choose not to participate in their second life, passing beyond the veil instead. Those who remain are everything that Meras could have wished for."

Interesting. I'm reasonably sure this is the first time I've seen the names of any of the Creators.

No replay this time. That's good. But honestly, this kind of feels anticlimactic.

….

Staring at the stasis chamber I wait for the Yrken inside to wake up.

No? Oh well. It was worth a try. Guess it's time for the next codex.

Now, let's see. Which ship should I do first?

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/3 this week.

It's time for that good old Patreon drive! This story will always be free, but if you want to read ahead, come join us. There have been some slight changes this month. Read up to 9 chapters ahead and up to 3 exclusive, independent sidestories (So far, they're all about K'tharn. Might change one of these days, if enough people vote for other stories.)

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.50 Brainfreeze

January 18, 2019, 4:19 pm.

Once I realize I'm not being put to sleep, I immediately purchase the codex for the Thenite Skyscreamer as well as the World-ship that was sitting beside it. I don't read the codexes immediately, choosing to read them later once we start searching through all the boring quarters again. And since I'm here, I decide to grab another four codexes. However, after going through five different codexes in rapid succession I discover an unfortunate side-effect.

"Alexis, you okay, kid?" Beth checks when I gasp out in shock, stopping two codexes before I'd been planning to. I barely notice Smoulder nuzzling me.

Brain-freeze. Not only is it painful, but I've also cut myself off from my facet and mana. Luckily, when I check conditions, I discover that it's a temporary condition called system overload that will go away in five minutes. Whew.

"Yeah. Just a bit of an overload. I'll be fine in five," I respond while taking a deep breath and offering Smoulder head-scritches to reassure her.

"Perhaps I can assist," Roberts offers, leaning over.

"That would be amazing," I accept, opening my eyes to find him staring down at me, holding out a hand to me.

Taking his hand, I feel the strange feeling of his Reprieve washing into me. "Hmmm. Yes. I think I see," Roberts mumbles as the brain-freeze mercifully abates.

"Excellent. Now, kid. What did we learn about these guys?" Beth asks, casually gesturing her pistol at the stasis chamber.

I read out the entire codex for them, pausing at the end. "I also gained an intimate understanding of their biology. It's kind of hard to explain that part though," I add with a shrug.

Beth nods, staring at the stasis chamber, deep in thought.

"I wish I had direct access to this codex. It would be useful in ascertaining the Yrken's status," Roberts mentions as he helps me to my feet.

I laugh out loud when I see that the system seems to have heard him, a notification popping up on my screen.

"You have received a request to share the Yrken codex with Forerunner Roberts. He would like to know more. Share the full codex for 18.6 focus and 13.7 facet."

"Kid?" Beth worries as I continue to laugh.

Holding up my hand, I finally control my sudden outburst as I explain, "sorry. I just thought. Nothing, it's not even funny. I can share the codex. That's all."

Honestly, I'm not entirely certain what I found so funny about the notification. I share the codex with Roberts. It's unfortunate that I have to pay the same cost to share the codex as I do to download it. But I'll get the facet back quick enough. And I'm barely needing to use focus lately.

"Oh. Oh my. This, this is amazing. I wish I had… GAH!" Roberts screams out as he crashes to the floor.

"What the hell just happened," Beth yells as Josh flips Roberts over, checking him for… something.

"I don't know!" I yell back, staring down at Roberts in shock while Smoulder butts against him gently. His eyes are open and his eyelids are fluttering rapidly.

"I just shared the codex and then," I gesture at Roberts who's still lying on the floor, cradled in Josh's arms.

Then as suddenly as he collapsed, Roberts recovers, sitting up with a start, sending Smoulder dancing back in alarm.

"Roberts. You okay there? You gave us a hell of a scare," Beth checks as she drops down beside him.

"Yes. I believe so. That was thoroughly unpleasant. According to my conditions, it would appear I didn't have the 'Spirit' to receive the full codex safely without a 'System overload.'" He informs us as Josh helps him back to his feet. Wait, he got the same thing at only one codex? Eep.

"Sorry Wes," I apologize to which he just waves his hand dismissively

"Looked rough," Josh comments once he releases Roberts.

"Most definitely. But I'd say it was worth it. I now have a full understanding of our friend's biology. This is beyond what I've ever known about human biology. It's remarkable how different they are."

"Great. I'm glad you're okay, Doc. Kid, a moment?"

"Yeah Beth?" I ask as we step around the stasis chamber, Smoulder offering Roberts comfort after I grievously injured our friend.

"First you get hurt with this codex, and now Roberts. Seems kind of ominous doesn't it?" Beth asks while glancing back at the doctor.

"Uhm, I downloaded the codex without any issues. It was the other four codexes I grabbed afterwards that gave me my headache," I admit, slightly chagrined.

Beth stares at me for a second, before glancing around the room. Then she starts to laugh.

"Thanks, kid. That makes me feel better. Much better," Beth chuckles cheerfully as she moves back to the guys. "So, what do you say doc. Time to crack open the orcsicle or should we move on?"

Considering for a moment before he answers, Roberts decides, "I'd like to take another look now that I have a more intimate understanding of his biology."

Beth gestures at the machine as she replies, "go ahead. We'll just get out of your way."

"One moment, Alexis. Could you create a platform or ladder? It's rather awkward working here while hanging off the end of the machine," Roberts interjects as he gestures at the machine. Wow. I got so used to not being able to change things in here I forgot one of my most basic tools. Silly Alexis.

"Yeah, sure," I answer as Smoulder hops onto my shoulder while Beth and Josh step outside the room.

"His name is Lugett Ull, by the way," I mention as Roberts stares at the Yrken with his eyes closed. "And he's way more powerful than we are. Like around Ivicka's level."

"Hmm. Well, Mr. Ull here should be fixable," Roberts replies as I pull all my metal out of my pack to fashion a platform for him to work on.

"I wanted to ask you a question. Mostly unrelated to our friend here," Roberts adds as the platform comes into place. He steps to the edge, one hand ready to climb before pausing to look at me, "do you have a codex for humans?"

"Uhm," I pause before responding, quickly checking my codex. That's kind of weird. I don't have a codex for my own species.

"No… I don't think I've ever tried to analyze a human either," I answer.

"You should try. Go ahead. Analyze me," Roberts suggests, letting go of the platform while gesturing to himself.

Well, with an invitation like that, what lady could resist.

"Creature Analyzed - Error, species not found. Gene-seed D.

First reported to the System in Galactic year 13,183 when they triggered an apocalypse level device on their homeworld, this species has very little system data available.

"Name: Roberts."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; High, Magic; Low, Awareness; Low."

"Attacks: Basic physical attacks, minor water manipulation."

"Defences: Able to erect shields to protect self and allies."

"Note, for a proper analysis of this species, submit a specimen to your nearest registered Builder."

"Ha. Apparently, the system thinks your full name is Roberts," I laugh out as I read through the description. "The analysis isn't that detailed. The only thing in here that I might not have known, is that you have high Agility or Endurance. At least I'm pretty sure that's what mobility stands for."

"Hmm. You're correct. Both were my highest attributes by a wide margin when we first arrived. They hardly reflected my abilities at the time. A strange acknowledgement of my youth, I feel."

"Oh. Do tell?" I wonder, intrigued.

"Perhaps later. Suffice to say, I wasn't always a doctor. And I may have taken a less… direct path to earning my education than others," Roberts avoids answering with a small chuckle while turning to Beth.

"I'm certain we can wake him. However, Alexis has told me that her analysis indicates he is approximately as dangerous as Ivicka," Roberts calls to where they're waiting in the hall.

Coming back into the room, Beth pulls her pistol, holding it at the ready while beckoning me towards her.

"You said it was injured, right? Wake it up. But hold off on healing it until we know it's not going to attack us," Beth orders.

"I think not," Roberts disagrees, causing Beth to snap her head in his direction.

"Care to explain, doc?" Beth prompts, her voice flat and emotionless.

Shaking his head, Roberts explains, "my understanding is that he will be in immense pain once we release him from stasis. I can't conscientiously release him from stasis to then subject him to what would essentially be torture until you're satisfied he's not dangerous."

Wow. I didn't realize it was that bad. It just looked like a couple of little nicks to me.

"I'm with Wes," Josh agrees though he doesn't put down his spear or shield.

"Okay. We do it your way, doc. Heal him as soon as we bring him out of stasis," Beth amends her order. Even as she speaks, she keeps her pistol levelled at the chamber. "Everyone else, stay frosty. We don't know what kind of Yrken we're waking up."

Ah. That explains why she's worried. It didn't even occur to me that he might be one of the combat Yrken.

Roberts starts messing with a panel on the edge of the chamber, making adjustments. Waiting patiently, I prepare to drop into pause at a moment's notice.

The humming from the machine gets louder as whatever Roberts is doing wakes it up.

"This may take a little longer than I thought. Probably a good five minutes before the stasis lets me treat him," Roberts lets us know.

"Understood," Beth acknowledges while I decide to quickly review the codexes… codi… codices? The new codex entries.

They're interesting, but none of the information is immediately useful. Top speeds, crew capacity, cargo, weapons. I was hoping for some sort of history behind the ships, but they're all technical specs. Unlike with a biological codex, the intimate details of the ship aren't beamed directly into my brain, though the attached schematics and specs are probably very useful. If a person had a facility to produce this sort of thing.

I guess if all else fails, we can… build a ship? Not sure we'd make it home in time to avert the apocalypse that way.

I'm keeping an eye on the stasis chamber as I check over the schematics. It's as I'm reviewing the fourth schematic while wondering if there's a codex for inter-material phase transducers, whatever those are, that there's movement from within the chamber.

The large form shifts only slightly but it's enough that Beth raises her gun once more while Josh stands up straight, no longer leaning on the doorframe.

"Hmm. Appears simple…. Yes," Roberts mumbles to himself as we all wait, ready to act.

The giant next to him suddenly makes a low gargle sound before pushing itself to the side while shaking violently. A moment later he stills. Then he lets out a low groan while groggily mumbling in a low rumbling voice, "what happened?"

"You were severely injured. I've dealt with the damage, but I'm afraid we've only just arrived. We've no idea as to how you sustained your injuries," Roberts responds, answering in Astreum while stepping down from the stasis chamber.

"Who… What are you?" The giant asks as it sits up, looking down at us.

"I'm doctor Roberts. An outlander, I believe we're called," Roberts answers, remaining between us and the giant, who has now turned his dark eyes on us. His dark eyes which are disquieting but beautiful, nearly black but with flecks of blue sparkled throughout.

"Obviously you're not native. I mean what species? How long have I been in stasis?" Luggett, the recently awakened orc, I mean Yrken, demands half-panicked as his eyes scan the room.

"Ah, yes. I'm not sure how to tell you this. Still, I suppose the honest approach is best. According to the records, you've been in stasis for over four hundred of your galactic cycles," Roberts answers.

"Oh, thank goodness," he exclaims as he flops backwards into his chamber, surprising me. A galactic cycle is slightly longer than a year. Why is he happy he was inside for four hundred years? Weird.

Roberts startles, glancing back in our direction. At which point, Beth steps forward, deciding to take over the discussion.

"Pardon me, Luggett. But I had some questions," Beth states as she climbs up onto the platform. As I'm watching her, I realize the platform is kind of ugly. Hardly my best work.

While he's sitting back up, I pull all my extra metal out, small amounts of gold, silver and the titanium from earlier. I've been collecting every bit of metal I can get my hands on. I've got over a cubic metre of it at this point, mostly steel which is already in the platform.

At least the platform lets Beth stand at eye level with the giant Yrken. She's staring into his strange eyes as he responds, "Nuh-uh. I still don't know your species. And if I don't know your species, I don't know how I should be interacting with you."

"We're humans, from a planet we call Earth. I'm Beth," she answers, holding her hand out to him while I experiment with the platform.

I use the precious metals to work line several grooves, giving Beth's perch a nice subtle flair. Luggett ignores Beth's extended hand, exclaiming, "Human? Oh no. Your species isn't in the system. But you're a citizen. This won't do. Nuh-uh, this won't do at all."

The large creature pushes himself out of his stasis chamber, clumsily grasping at the side before retrieving a pad from a hidden pocket underneath. I wonder if the cook has a hidden storage spot as well. We might need to check that.

Sitting on the end of his stasis chamber, Luggett turns to Beth.

"I'm afraid that we have some paperwork to do. Now, we can do a scan or you can complete the attached form," Luggett shrugs, his large muscles rippling. He hands Beth the pad as she holsters her pistol. Which she does by pressing it against her armour. Her armour reforms slightly, moulding the pistol to be part of it, holding it secure against her leg.

That is so cool.

"I have some questions I need to ask you first," Beth counters, not looking at the pad.

"Nuh-uh. I can't provide you with any information until you've been entered into the system. It's against the rules," Luggett refuses while shaking his head.

"You're sure. You can't even tell us what happened to you?" Beth prods, still not so much as glancing at the pad.

"Nuh-uh. Scan or form please."

"We just woke you from sleep, quite possibly saving you from being suspended forever. And on top of that, Roberts healed your wounds, literally saving your life!" Beth exclaims in exasperation, crossing her arms.

"Uh-huh. Thank you. Please submit to a scan or complete the form," Luggett responds, matching her gesture.

Beth sighs as she concedes, "Fine. Scan me. I don't know how the system doesn't have a scan already, but go ahead."

"Excellent. One moment. Oh. Anti-corruption measures in place. Localized systems to prevent corruption. That's why you're not in my database. Whew," Luggett sighs out as he slumps in relief against his stasis chamber.

"You know, for a minute there I was worried you were Forerunners."

…..

We all go stiff; Josh and I glance at each other for a moment. How does he not know we're Forerunners?

I mean, are we though? I hardly know anything about them at this point except they're the ones that brought us here, and Wyonna is kind of one of them. I never really got any answers about them out of her either, not that I really tried to. It just didn't seem that important at the time.

But he doesn't notice our meaningful glances, rambling on, "Or creators. Not Reavers. That would be bad too. But nope. New biped elvenoid species. No wings. Some redundant organs. Your world hasn't been integrated yet. Ah, must be explorers then. No wonder you referred to yourselves as outlanders. Locals wouldn't receive many ships that can cross the boundary."

"Or more likely you got caught up in a mana-swarm from before the enclosure. Hate to tell you, but if that's what happened, you were out of it longer than I was."

He stops, looking up, waiting for an answer to a question he didn't ask.

"Reasonably sure we weren't caught in a mana-storm," Beth tells him. From what I've learned, I'm not certain that's accurate. But I hold my tongue.

"Ah. So, explorers then. Excellent."

When none of us correct him, he turns back to his pad humming to himself for another couple minutes while we wait. Starting to wish we'd picked up party text. Smoulder's shifting on my shoulder reminds me I need to purchase her pet menu too. So many things to spend points on.

"Okay explorers. I don't know what you did to gain yourselves citizen status, but congratulations and welcome to the Asimari Techdom," he proclaims with enthusiasm, nearly smacking Beth in the face with his expansive gesture as he throws his hands wide.

Asimari. Why does that sound familiar?

Wait. During my class vision, wasn't the crazy guy who blew up a planet an Asimari?

While I'm trying to remember the crazy guy's name, Luggett continues, "A new species gaining their first citizens is normally an event celebrated throughout the Techdom. Unfortunately, with the anti-corruption measures engaged the news won't spread."

"It also means you're not going to be seeing those parties any time soon. No one will be leaving until the situation is cleared up. I'm afraid the barrier will prevent all interplanetary travel in these situations. Even Builders and Architects are trapped," he explains with a deep rumble.

"I do have some good news though."

"Oh," Beth replies while I bemoan the fact that we're not going anywhere until we deal with the summoner. I had a feeling we'd be trying to deal with it anyway, given the rewards and wanting to get Wyonna back. But now, even if we wanted to leave, we literally don't have a choice.

"It would appear that the 1000-year workmanship guarantee for my scale model ships wasn't just bold advertising," he explains happily. Stepping forwards, he lifts a model. The system labels it the Trillian Transverser, it kind of reminds me of several plates stacked on top of each other, ready to fall over. It's not one of the ships I have a codex for.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/3 this week.

Standard Author's blurb.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Patreon link here. Slight changes this month, read up to 9 chapters ahead and up to 3 exclusive, independent sidestories (So far, they're all about K'tharn. Might change one of these days, if enough people vote for other stories.)

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.51 Model Ships

A note from Draith

Minor edit to the Mastering the Basics quest rewards. They now give a bonus to mana edge instead of elemental edge.

Minor edit to chapter 1.47 about anti-corruption systems

Spoiler: Spoiler

After completing their first challenge on the way back to the 'silver bullet' spaceship.

The same silver bullet where I was cut off from Wyonna. Which reminds me.

Flying over to Beth, I ask her about the anti-corruption system and she reveals that all the options require the Node Management Basic Access feature which costs an advancement point. That's as expensive as getting the training ground or going from iron to copper!

Resigning myself to the fact that there's no easy out through the anti-corruption menu. (And why even give us the option?), we continue on our flight.

January 18, 2019, 5:08 pm.

"Uhhhh. Yeah, they're amazing," Beth answers noncommittally, glancing at the model ships for a second. "Now, any chance you can tell us what happened here, bud?"

"My name is Luggett Ell. You can call me Lugget Ell," he replies, ignoring her question while crossing his arms once more, the model ship held carefully.

"Sure thing, Luggett Ell. Any chance you can tell us what happened," Beth repeats with a straight face.

"Uh-huh. Forerunners happened. They invaded during the final evacuation. Killed Calvin Sbohh'n right in front of me. Condemned poor Vincal Sbohh'n to her soul-death. She was his bond-mate," he starts, swinging his hands wide, playing out the motion of being stabbed.

"Pretty sure that's all that saved me. When she attacked them, the Forerunners ran after her, not bothering to finish me off. Then I stumbled my way up to my room. I tried to send a distress call, but we'd already taken ourselves offline in preparation for the conservatory barrier going up. Since it felt like I was dying, I finally told Cook he was an ass, locked my door, then climbed into my stasis chamber. I'm amazed the Forerunners didn't break in here to steal all my models. You know this one is worth over 200 essence?" He asks rhetorically while cradling the small 'stack of plates'-shaped ship in his hand. Even as he's talking Beth tries to interject several times.

"Wait. Forerunners attacked you? Why?" Beth asks when he finishes, sounding shocked.

"Who can know with those forge-bound fanatics. Probably because I was in the way. Attacking me, boarding my ship, stealing every piece of system tech they could get their hands on, they're almost as bad as Reavers. Luckily, they're not able to stay for long before the system catches them," Luggett replies as he lovingly sets his ship back on the display case.

"Does this happen often, Forerunners stealing system tech?" I wonder. I'm still uncertain of how I feel about them. I mean, the Forerunners kidnapped and sent us to a strange world where we had to struggle to survive. But they also gave us awesome abilities to deal with it. At least I'm thinking it was them. Plus, I'm not certain, but I have a suspicion they're the source of our citizenship too.

"Uh-huh. Once or twice a decade at least. Course, I've been asleep for a few hundred years, so that could have changed. I'm a little out of date," Luggett admits as he settles himself into the chair at his desk with a grunt.

"What are these Reavers you mentioned?" Roberts inquires.

"Reavers are….. Well unpleasant. They're a genocidal hivemind whose drones are immune to the system. They create all sorts of different biological servitors. They have a bunch of different sub-species. Including their gene-morphers who show up prior to their invasions. Reavers aren't much of a threat to a core world, but out here? Well, I'm glad the barrier is up. I'd rather not be skinned alive then forced to watch something slip into my skin like a suit."

"Nasty," Josh mutters.

"This barrier. You mentioned it's shut down travel. Is there any way you can help us with the quest?" Beth asks. "Or is there another way to get off-world? We don't have a lot of time. Our home is under threat from some form of apocalypse. Something called a mana-swarm, I believe,"

"That's unfortunate. Not much you can do once a mana-swarm tendril starts snaking its way towards a world. Might consider the inability to get off-world a blessing. At least this way you don't have to watch your world go through the upheaval. I hear that's hard on natives."

"Is there anything you can tell us about mana-swarms?" Beth nearly begs.

"Sure. Lots and lots. But you need to fill out non-disclosure form B-41, consent form A-3, non-liability form C-3124 and agree to the proprietary, citizen-only, mana-swarm awareness subsystem terms of service," he answers, holding a pad out in Beth's direction. When she taps the pad, her eyes go distant.

"Always was jealous of people who could do forms in their heads," Luggett sighs as Beth works.

"Are you unable to do so?" Roberts inquires politely from his position next to Josh who's just staring up at the orc.

"Ha. That's putting it mildly. Builders aren't allowed to be on the system. That's why we all have these," he answers, waving his pad in the air.

"Do you want to be on the system?" Roberts asks while leaning on his staff.

"Nuh-uh. That's more of a second life thing. I'm too young to be worried about that. I haven't even found my bond-mate yet," Luggett sighs while pulling a new model kit from his pocket which he starts assembling on the desk. "It would make the paperwork easier though."

"It says here that I'm not allowed to discuss any of the information I learn using the PCOMSAS with anyone who hasn't completed these forms or I'll face a system imposed penalty. What is the penalty for breaking the rules?" Beth checks, her eyes focusing on Luggett.

"For a citizen, a fine of a few integration points. Deducted from your attributes if you don't have any points saved up. You do not want to go through that process. Incredibly painful," he answers, flicking a glob of a metallic substance into the air which arcs down to land on his model. When I reach out with metal manipulation, I discover it's liquid titanium. Is he making models out of titanium? No wonder they last so long.

Beth's face twists into a grimace as she asks, "Is that every time?"

"What? Nuh-uh. Once you've broken the rules and paid the price, the system doesn't care," Luggett answers while carefully holding two pieces of his model together.

"Excellent. Then the others don't have to bother filling out the form?" Beth checks with a giant grin on her face.

"Nuh-uh, not if you want to pay the costs. You'd have to be crazy to give up five integration points to avoid some paperwork."

"Yes. But I've always hated paperwork," Beth replies with a perfectly straight face. I'm not sure what she's thought of, but I imagine she has a reason she doesn't want us all signing.

Conversation dies out for another minute while we all wait for Beth to finish. I reshape the platform into a two-sided bench which we can all relax on. I form a few platforms for Smoulder to play on while we wait. Again, I decide to create platforms using two elements at once. Lightning and stone is a useless combo. It's basically just stone. But lightning and earth is interesting, it allows me to create a platform that kind of breathes, expanding and contracting every two seconds.

"Okay. And done," Beth proclaims as Smoulder finishes my mini obstacle course for around the fifth time.

"Really? Wow. That was quick. One second," Luggett requests while setting the model he's working on to the side. "Just let me give a quick double-check. There's usually a mistake or two."

He scans through his pad, his finger flicking against the screen repeatedly. "This is complete. Impressive. I haven't had many people fill out non-liability form C-3124 without missing either the unintentional side effects or accidental death and dismemberment sections. It's poor form design in my opinion, but I'm not going to be the one who fills out form Ω-1 to request a change."

"Thank you. So, how do I…" Beth starts before falling silent. "Ah. I see."

"Oh. This is going to be rather intensive, isn't it?" Beth adds after a moment of reading, looking up at Luggett.

"Uh-huh. But it's a comprehensive package. It should have every piece of information the system has related to the mana-swarms. Well, I guess it's a few hundred years out of date now, but new discoveries haven't been made regarding mana-swarms in thousands of years."

"Okay. I'll read over this tonight. I think it's time for us to head out. What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Luggett replies with a yawn. It's a big yawn, but he's a big guy and he did just wake up from four hundred years of sleep.

"Are you staying here, or do you want to join us?"

"Oh. I'm afraid I can't leave. Not allowed now that the dungeon protocol has been initiated. Going outside would be an instant end. Quick trip to my second-life," he replies with nonchalance.

Beth stops for a second, looking at him before she speaks, "So, you're just going to stay here then?"

"Uh-huh. I'll take a look at my equipment. As long as the Forerunners didn't steal the important bits, I'll let my people know I'm still here. If they did, then I'll have to cobble something together. Then I'll hop back in stasis and wait for retrieval. Luckily, the fools didn't make their way in here. No way they'd have left an original Asimari Vette behind," he proclaims while gazing at a small, sleek model that's all rounded curves and dark lines.

"Wait, if you're able to build machines from scratch, does that mean you're an engineer?" I ask, the model ships suddenly seeming like they should have been a dead giveaway.

"Uh-huh. I'm a communications and data specialist. Graduated shortly before deployment," he answers, puffing out his chest.

"So, if this quest wasn't in the way, could we fly this place out of here?" Beth asks.

"What? Nuh-uh. The city-ships never leave an integrated sanctuary world once we've installed them. The drives are one way," Luggett replies, shaking his giant head, "why not use your own ship?"

"As it happens, our own arrival was also a one-way trip," Beth answers, shrugging.

"Ah. Then I'm afraid you may be here for a while. Unless," he pauses as he uses his pad for a moment, "yes. You'll be able to travel to one of the core worlds in six months and five days. If you're copper rank that is. Which is technically possible. If you dedicate yourself to completing dungeons and are able to resolve the anti-corruption issue quickly enough."

"I'm sorry, but what precisely would getting to one of these core worlds achieve?" Roberts inquires.

Luggett looks at Roberts as if he's a child, which given our size difference is kind of funny. "I don't know how you managed to earn citizenship without knowing about the core worlds. But to answer your question, you can arrange passage from any core world. Even to systemless worlds, though it'll cost you."

Beth stands from the benches, "well, thank you for the answers. How much longer until you go into stasis?"

"Oh, a couple of days at least. Most of my equipment was already set in standby mode when the Forerunners attacked. It's one of the only times we're actually vulnerable. So, I'll need to reactivate it. Of course, that's assuming that the Othere-cursed Forerunners haven't stolen everything. I'll be working for a week if I have to rebuild the transmitter from scratch," he answers while setting the partially complete model to the side.

Beth nods as she prompts the rest of us to get up, "Well, if you don't mind, can we stop back in? We have a lot of questions that you could answer."

He's nodding his large head before Beth's finished speaking, "Uh-huh. It's always a pleasure to talk to those who've proven their dedication to the Techdom. There are some things I'm prohibited from sharing, even with citizens, but I'll answer all I can."

"Thank you. We'll let you get back to your work Luggett Ell," Beth bows slightly, then the rest of us copy her.

"Nice meeting you," I add, reclaiming my metal before I follow Beth out into the hall.

"Well, that went surprisingly well," Roberts notes as we step back outside.

"Agreed. And I've got a lot of new information to go through. Let's finish sweeping these Quarters then get out of here. I'd like to hit another challenge today," Beth says, leading us to the next floor down.

"Hey Beth," Josh interjects before we start down.

"Yeah slugger?"

"Did you see him pull that pad out from under his bed? Do you think the cook had a similar storage space?"

Pausing, Beth turns back to look at him. Right, I almost forgot about that.

"I expect it's a standard feature," Roberts notes.

"Think we should ask Luggett about it?" Beth responds with a grin.

"I'll go," I volunteer.

"We can all go," Beth counters before we turn back, knocking on his door. I considered flying straight in, but now that I know it's his room, that would be weird.

"Oh. Hello again, citizens," Luggett greets as he opens his door.

"Hi. We just had a couple more questions. Oh, I'm Alexis by the way," I inform him while holding my hand out to shake.

"How can I help citizen Alexis?" he asks, shaking my hand gently.

"First, is it okay if we keep searching through your ship?"

"Uh-huh. It looks like everyone else is gone," he indicates his pad as he responds, "and they won't be coming back. Otherwise, now that we're in a dungeon, technically everything is free for you to take. Except my ships. Don't touch my ships."

"Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mess with any of the equipment in engineering until I've sent my message. If you find anything interesting, just ask me and I'll let you know if I need it."

"So, if we were to find something in, say, the cook's room, we could keep it?" Beth asks.

"Uh-huh. If you manage to get into his larder, you should let me know. I've always wondered what he kept in there."

"Excellent. Thanks again, Luggett Ell," Beth responds, turning away as I wave goodbye to the green giant.

Heading back up, we go straight into Cook's room, Beth and Roberts going to where we saw Luggett pull his pad from beneath his chamber.

It takes them a minute to figure out how to operate it. Roberts and Beth are arguing back and forth about how to properly lever it, to get it open, when Josh steps forward. With a quick tug, he pops the compartment open. Inside we find several mana essences, a few more recipes and a journal written on the plastic book pages.

Pulling it out, the first thing we do is count the mana essence. There are twenty-three iron rank mana essence. That's huge. That's roughly the equivalent of four points for all six of us.

The journal has hundreds of entries. After a cursory check, Beth makes the executive decision to read through it later. Roberts volunteers to go through it as well as the recipes, so Beth hands them over.

Now that we've met Luggett, Beth has decided we can split up for the rest of the search. I reach out to Rufka, letting her know we're just checking a few more floors.

"Good. I think I've figured out how we can modify these gliders, but it's going to take me more than a week with the tools and resources I have on hand. I think Raz might be able to help knock that down though. With the stuff I've seen him put together, he must have access to a workshop of some kind," Rufka answers. Oh yeah. I may have forgotten about the gliders.

"Cool. You know how last time we explored this place, we found almost nothing? This time, we discovered a whole bunch of stuff. We even met a Builder," I reply as we continue our search.

"Truly, what's he like?" Rufka asks. I fill her in. After telling her about Luggett, his model ships and how he'd been attacked by Forerunners, I continue telling her about everything else as well. Especially telling her about the observatory where I carried out my experiments with teleportation.

We make excellent time as we search the remaining floors. It helps that they're completely empty. We're finishing the last room right about the time Rufka has started asking me for more details involving the Phothen world-ship. I try to tell her what I can, but she's not satisfied with my crude 'over the phone' description. She extracts a promise that I provide her with several sketches of the world-ship once we get back to Raz's.

But I don't give it to her for free. In exchange, I demand my own flask of moonshine. I tried insisting on something better tasting than the moonshine. Unfortunately, the next best she's seen, for health edge at least, is a juice that provides four health edge. And it only lasts for two hours.

"Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Lexi. Just remember, I want at least one sketch before I give you your own flask," Rufka states as we're making our way back through the tunnel to the surface.

"What, you think I'd cheat you?" I pretend to be offended as I respond.

I can see the light from the surface shining down our tunnel when Rufka answers, "Nope. Cause I'll never let you." I can practically hear the smirk in her voice.

Stepping out into the surface, a flash of light draws my attention. Looking up, I see a stormcloud overhead with torrents of rain and lightning crashing down. But the dungeon seems to be shielding us from it, the lightning crashing against an invisible dome, but not having any other effect. Then I realize it's not just the lightning. The rain is washing up against the side of the dome as well.

"It kind of feels like looking through a windshield, doesn't it?" Josh remarks from just behind me, his rose petal helmet unfolding to reveal his face.

"Yeah. It really does," I reply, looking to him with a smile, Smoulder's tail wrapped around my neck like a scarf. A very floofy scarf.

"Another reminder of just how far we have to go," Roberts adds, leaning slightly on his transparent staff.

"Yep. And we'll never get there if we stand around gawking at the rain," Beth states, stepping forward, her dark armour contrasting her fiery hair.

"Let's get to it, people."

A note from Draith

Chapter 3/3 this week.

The last few days have been really tough, hard to focus or do anything without a major headache. There might only be two chapters next week.

Standard Author's blurb.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Slight changes this month, read up to 9 chapters ahead and up to 3 exclusive, independent sidestories (So far, they're all about K'tharn. Might change one of these days, if enough people vote for other stories.)

1.52 Fire Drill

January 18, 2019, 6:03 pm.

After the others retrieve their gliders from Rufka and Tipan, we make our way across the city to the next challenge. On the way, we hunt down any Fallen we discover, though Beth has requested I hold off on assisting so everyone else can get more practice in.

Beth demonstrates the utility of her new pistol exactly once when a Fallen happens to wander out of a nearby building after we land near the next challenge.

I feel her pistol is far too quiet for the damage it does, an enormous hole replacing the Fallen's head. Morbidly curious, I approach the Fallen, confirming that its head didn't explode in a shower of gore. Its scalp is still there. Her weapon simply disintegrated everything from the chin upwards until just above the eyebrows.

I gag a little, but it's amazing how much I've adjusted since just a few days ago because while I do gag at the smell, it's mild and easily overcome. I wonder if this is a side effect of my attributes increasing or just the amount of dead bodies I've been around. Hard to say.

Turning back, Beth has found the entrance to the next challenge and is beckoning us over.

Beth leads us inside an office building. At least the desks and chairs scattered throughout remind me of an office building.

There are over a dozen doors leading off a single central lobby, each door charred black. So black I can't help but wonder if Smoulder wasn't here before us. The doors range in size, from ones that Luggett could barely squeeze through down to a door that would barely accommodate Smoulder.

Speaking of Smoulder, I checked her status on the way here. I discovered her Agility is still at one hundred and she has two integration points to spend. When I pointed it out to her, both points went straight into Endurance. She really likes those movement attributes.

Since I know that Smoulder gets attributes from these quests, I encourage her to take the door next to me. Reaching out, I read the notification as it appears.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective revealed: Complete the obstacle course challenge, 'Fire Drill' using only your base attributes and movement skills. Use of any ability, spell or movement item will result in a failure of this challenge. This challenge may be attempted repeatedly. Requirements 0/1 burning buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Endurance, 2 iron rank integration points, 1 iron-grade mana essence. Time: 4/7 days remaining."

"Your discovered skills which are allowed for this challenge are running, swimming, and climbing."

Huh, endurance this time. Interesting.

"Okay, people. Ready?"

Our chorus of agreement is followed by a notification echoing Beth's question.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, Fire Drill. Are you ready? Y/N?"

I send my redundant mental confirmation to the system as I push my way through the charred door. The other side of the door is a short hall with another door. The next door is so badly charred that it looks like it's going to collapse. Which turns out to be exactly what happens when I try to push it open.

As I release the ashes that were a door handle a moment before, a glowing arrow appears. This time the arrow is yellow with a small orange glow in the centre. The arrow is floating in the middle of a low room. The only light within the room comes from the arrow which gives off a glow that lights the surrounding. Well, the arrow and the flames licking through small gaps in the walls and the low ceiling.

Looking to the left, where the arrow is directing me, I see a hallway filled with flames. Holy crap. I know I'm theoretically resistant to flames, but that going down that hallway seems like a bad idea. Then I see a collapsed wall, where the flames haven't reached yet.

Stepping over, I realize the air is full of smoke. It's not causing me to cough, but it does start draining my health. It's only 0.1 per minute, but if I take any other damage in here, this could get bad.

Carefully climbing over the collapsed wall, I'm startled when a loud crash comes from behind me, glancing back, I find a flaming beam running across the room I just left, the nearby ceiling reduced to kindling. Remembering how many times I was hit by fallen objects during the first challenge, I decide to pick up my pace.

Squeezing through a small gap in the next wall, I find myself in a hallway full of flaming debris with no way forward except to run through them. It's not the wall to wall flames I saw in the last hallway and the fires aren't placed too closely together, so it shouldn't be too bad.

I continue forward, and the heat doesn't even bother me. Since I'm already being forced to get close to the flaming debris, I test to see how close I can approach before the flames cause me damage. I'm able to put my hand directly in the fire without losing health. I'm taking more damage from smoke than fire.

Shaking my head at the incongruity, I decide to make my way as quickly as I can. I pass through another three sets of rooms, their hallways all full of burning flames. Which I continue to avoid. No sense pushing my luck. I seem to be outrunning the falling beams when I come across a new challenge.

In front of me, there's a four-storey drop to a blazing inferno below. The smoke in this room is so bad my health is now falling at 0.5 per minute. The way forward is clear. There are several narrow planks leading out and over the room. There isn't a single plank that leads all the way from where I'm standing to the far side, but I can trace several paths by making transitions at the centre crossbeam.

Starting out, I balance on the narrow plank, ignoring the drop, the slight wobble and the flames below. Gotta love being immune to fear.

I make my way out to the central beam with ease. But as I set foot on it, a familiar timer appears. If I'm halfway, the five minutes the timer displays feel pretty generous.

When I take a step towards the plank I was planning to take, the central crossbeam shifts. As I'm teetering, all but one of the planks that lead to the far side fall away. And I nearly join them, the shifting of the beam catching me off guard, knocking me to the side. I latch onto the beam which crumbles under my fingers. Digging in with my fingernails, I feel the edge of the beam give until I find the solid wood buried beneath.

Okay, maybe five minutes isn't so generous.

Pulling myself up, I slowly move to the remaining plank, which is at the very end of the crossbeam. Looking at it, I sigh. I specifically avoided crossing near this side. All the planks here were in worse condition. The one in front of me looks like a solid thunk could split it in half. But it's my only choice, so I set out across the plank.

I'm just over halfway across when I hear a crack beneath my feet. Deciding that my time is running out, I dash forwards, trying to keep my feet from slipping. I'm only a metre from the end when the plank cracks, then snaps.

I slam into the edge of the balcony, taking no real damage while keeping myself from falling. For the second time in less than a minute, I find myself dragging myself away from the fire below.

But I don't have time to rest on my laurels. The timer is still counting down. Pushing myself to my feet, I continue forward. I go through another two debris-filled hallways before I come across another beam filled room. This time there are three crossbeams. Starting out, I choose a close plank instead of trying to find the best path. If they're just going to fall anyway, why bother.

When I make it to the first crossbeam, I'm ready for the shift, but I still almost slip again when it hits. These obstacle courses are almost making me want to up my agility. But it sounds like those with higher agility get harder challenges, so it wouldn't help anyway. Much.

Half of the planks are still up, so I move to the closest plank, making my way to the next crossbeam. This time, there's no shifting when I set foot on it. I wait for ten precious seconds before I decide to chance the next plank.

Amazingly, I make it to the central crossbeam and there's still no shake. Choosing another sturdy-looking plank, I make it three steps when the room shifts. The plank I'm standing on is only one of the victims, but it's the one I care about, as I'm currently heavily invested in it remaining in place.

But my desires have no bearing on reality.

As I feel myself falling, it occurs to me that I'm about to find out what the conditions are like when you fail. I really hope they're right about not being able to die in here.

Deciding, I'd rather be disqualified than find out, I cast flight, halting my fall. Unfortunately, I'm not taken directly out of the challenge.

Instead, I receive a notification.

"Challenge failed: Unauthorized use of flight."

There's more, but I don't have time to read it before I feel a heavy thud that knocks me down.

I slam into the ground with a thunderous crash, as a flaming beam comes down on top of me, smashing my shoulder into the floor. I feel shooting pain shoot up through my arm. Something's out of place. Then I feel the warmth of the flames getting hotter. It's more than uncomfortable as I try to stand, only to be held down by the beam. The pops and crackling all around me get louder as my fire resistance no longer seems to be enough to defeat the damage, my health disappearing rapidly.

Moments later, I can't hear anything over the sound of my own scream. Then another heavy object strikes me, rendering me mercifully unconscious.

_______________________________________

When I wake, I find myself sitting on a clean bench in a room much like the one I entered the challenge in. The incredible pain is mostly gone. Until I shift, causing my right shoulder to scream at me, that is. Then, when I bump my left hand against my seat, I receive a fresh flash of pain.

I should have paused time before using flight. Or at least before I read notifications in a dangerous area.

Glancing at my conditions, I discover the dislocated shoulder and burned conditions. But they're kind of a relief, cause I'm alive. And the memory of the pain I was in is already fading. Now I know the system is messing with me. As I contemplate whether this is a good thing, I take a moment to check what the conditions mean and how long I'd be stuck with them without Roberts.

Dislocated will go away after two nights of rest or if it's set back into place. It lowers my dexterity with my dislocated arm and causes me pain when it's bumped, ignoring health.

The 'burned' condition reduces movement speed, increases focus costs by 100%, reduces fire resistance by fifty edge while also causing pain if bumped, touched or thought about too hard. But it can be healed after three nights of rest.

After reviewing my conditions, I have to admit, as bad as my current situation is, it's still so much better than being dead. Or having similar burns in real life. Looking down at my arm, I discover the flesh is…

Well, it's really not supposed to look like that.

Gritting my teeth when I stand, I reach for the door. When I step out, I discover I'm the first one to finish this time. Makes sense. I still had three minutes left on my timer.

The exit is located in a similar office building from the one we entered, which I see across the street. There's a part of me that wants to try the challenge again. I don't need my arm for this challenge.

But that would be foolish. I can wait for Roberts to finish. Then he should be able to heal me.

Then I can attempt the challenge again.

I don't do anything productive as I wait, leaning against one of the many desks while focusing on not breathing too deeply. I don't even summon any magic.

The next person to enter the lobby is Josh. He seems well. No sign of injury or burned flesh.

That's good.

"Hey Josh," I try to croak out. But it comes out more like, "Glog-coff," and it really hurts. Like, it takes me a few seconds to realize Josh is calling my name level hurts.

"Alexis. Are you okay? Nevermind. Stupid question. Obviously, you're not okay," Josh deduces, reaching towards me, but stopping himself before he touches my sloughing flesh.

Despite my condition and my appearance, I'm not feeling that bad. I mean, lots of pain, sure. But the fact it's temporary somehow makes it easier to bear. I'm wondering if there's been a change due to my attribute growth. I've always been able to ignore some pain when I thought it was necessary, but this is on a whole new level.

Then again, compared to digging around in my memories, physical pain somehow seems less real.

Luckily, most of the others finish in the next half minute. Before I can get Roberts' attention, Josh is already there, practically screaming in his face, "Alexis is hurt."

Looking up from where he was just brushing himself off, Roberts' gaze follows Josh's arm, which is pointing in my direction.

I raise my slightly burned, but mostly functional left arm in a small wave as Roberts approaches with Beth, Rufka and Josh all crowding around behind him. Roberts is only just reaching for my hand when I sense Smoulder emerge from her challenge.

Her satisfaction at having completed her trial dissipates immediately. If I thought I'd seen her move fast before, the speed at which she's by my side once she senses my pain is hard to fathom.

One second, she's emerging from her trial twenty metres away. The next, she's at my feet, bowling Roberts over with her meteoric approach.

Looking at everyone with suspicious eyes while wiggling, preparing to launch at them, it takes a few painful laughs before I'm able to tell Smoulder it wasn't them.

She shows zero remorse, concentrating on expressing her confusion and concern. Confusion, because how could I be hurt by something as wonderful as fire. Concern, because I'm still in a lot of pain. I reassure her that I'm fine. Or at least close enough. It's good to know that she's able to sense my condition through the familiar bond. I wonder if I have the same feedback if she's hurt.

"Sorry bout that," I apologize to Roberts as he brushes himself off.

"No harm done. Now, let's take a proper look," he replies, taking my hand. When he starts healing me this time, I feel my body grow distant. It's as though instead of feeling my body, I'm now reading a status report about it. While I'm in this distant state, Roberts pops my shoulder back into place then sends his healing energy through my body. Once the pain is gone, my body reconnects.

"Have I mentioned how amazing that is," I observe while standing up, stretching to test everything. Yep. Just like that, the pain is gone.

"You know, I'm not certain you have," Roberts smirks while stepping back to give me room.

"She must be the only user who hasn't," Rufka chuckles.

"That's amazing. Thank you," I repeat before stepping back towards the challenge. I'm sure I can do this. I just need to try again.

"Kid, what're you doing?"

"I'm going to do the trial again. But this time I'm going to finish it," I answer.

"Alexis, what's wrong with you?" Josh asks, causing me to stare at him.

"Why, whatever do you mean Josh?" I snark at him in response. As grateful as I am for his concern, his question feels insulting.

"Why would you go back in after what obviously just happened to you?"

I stare at Josh for a second before ignoring him, turning to Roberts, "I would appreciate it if you waited for me to try again. I might not succeed."

Roberts smiles at me as he responds, "of course Alexis. I'll wait right here."

"Good luck Lexi," Rufka offers as encouragement when I pass Smoulder over to her. As I'm giving her Smoulder, Tipan emerges from her trial looking slightly shaken but otherwise intact. Looks like I'm the only one who didn't succeed on the first try.

Congratulating her, Beth and I go to the trial start.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Beth checks as we approach the door.

I tilt my head while giving Beth an are-you-serious look as I answer, "Yes. Aren't you the one who said that it's fine because the conditions are just temporary?"

"Just checking. Didn't want you doing this if you were just trying to impress us, that's all," Beth responds as she triggers the notification for starting the challenge again.

Reading the notification, I wait for a moment, turning to Beth, "I suspect we're going to have to endure far worse than burning buildings to get home. This is a safe way to increase our stats and get experience in extreme circumstances. I'm not going to leave any of these challenges uncompleted if I have a choice."

Beth smiles at me for a second before clapping me on the back, "Good. Best of luck, kid."

Thanking her, I step forward confirming my choice.

Okay. Let's try this again.

Stepping through the second door which again turns to ash with a touch, I find myself back in the same first room. Knowing what I do about the course, I quickly run through, making it to the first beam room quickly. Taking care, I move to the centre crossbeam where it again shakes. This time I don't fall, since I'm prepared for it to move. Strangely, a couple of planks stay up this time.

I make my way across a more solid-looking beam than last time. There's no further shifting and I'm soon on my way to the next room. Another minute of dodging and crawling brings me back to the room with three crossbeams.

This time, I purposely choose a different first plank. When I arrive at the first crossbeam, a different set of planks fall into the blazing fire below. I wonder if it's based on the plank I chose or just random.

Either way, I don't have time to worry, the timer is ticking down. Even though I'm making better time than before, the next step is worrying.

I race across the widest plank I can, moving to the central crossbeam. No shaking, just like last time. I set foot on the nearest plank, but instead of crossing, I only take a step out then wait for a second. There's no shaking, so I grit my teeth before dashing forward. I'm about to set foot on the third crossbeam when the plank wobbles under my feet.

Thankfully, the plank doesn't fall this time and I'm safely on the third crossbeam, making my way to the second closest plank. Since I just experienced a shift, I don't pause, hopping on the plank and running full speed across. This almost backfires when I near the far end. My foot grips on a knot which causes me to push the plank backwards out from under my foot, sending it plummeting into the fire.

But I'm at the end. The same push that nearly doomed me also lands me on the balcony. As much as I want to, I don't stand around celebrating my success.

Instead, I follow the arrow through another burning hallway. I still have a minute and a half left when I come across an empty room with no fire and a blackened door, just like the entrance. Looking around, I try to figure out the catch. There's no way it's that easy, right?

I spend a solid fifteen seconds searching for it before I realize it's the floor. It's not as solid as it looks. The constant smoke is obscuring my view, but I'm sure there are sections that'll collapse if I put too much weight on them. Looking at the door, I judge the distance is only three metres or so. And the section in front of the door should be solid right?

Working backwards, I find two different paths that I think might work out. With only thirty seconds left, I chance it and jump as far as I can to the wider looking path. When I land, I step farther than I'd intended, my left foot breaking part of the floor but not slipping through.

Carefully pulling my foot back up, I make a dash towards the exit, making it through with fifteen seconds on the clock. But there's still the second door. I run forward, opening the second door which finally causes the timer to stop.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 burning buildings escaped. Rewards: +1 current Endurance, 2 iron rank integration points, 1 iron-grade mana essence."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Well, that's a relief.

A note from Draith

In regards to this chapter, unless the challenge is remarkably different, this will be the last "full chapter" challenge.

Chapter 1/2 for this week, next chapter Saturday. Going back to two updates a week. Updates will now be on Mondays and Thursdays starting next week.

Standard Author's Blurb

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. The entire main story will be released here on RR, but you can read up to nine chapters ahead, with access to up to 3 exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story, just little asides. Mostly K'tharn.)

1.53 Enchanted, I'm sure.

January 18, 2019, 6:29 pm.

Everyone is waiting, discussing attribute balance at a nearby desk. I've barely entered the room when Smoulder offers me her congratulations, knocking me back half a step with her enthusiasm.

Beth and Roberts both offer greetings as I join them while Josh doesn't say anything, though I notice his shoulders relax after he looks me over. Relieved that I'm okay. I think.

Rufka throws her arm around my shoulder as we walk outside. "So, what do you say to another race? Tipan claims she can set it up so all three of us can race."

I don't respond so much as start flying, pulling out of her grasp while blowing her a raspberry.

"Oh. You're going down," Rufka calls out as she flies after me. When we emerge, I find Tipan on the roof ahead of us, her legs gently kicking against the building while she gazes out across the city.

Josh starts struggling with his glider while Beth and Roberts draw theirs out as well. Considering how long it usually takes them to get ready, I float straight over to Tipan.

She sets up the race and the three of us blast through it. The course is similar to the first time and I note that the system boss seems to be on the move again though it's still keeping to the innermost areas.

Tipan wins by more than a dozen meters. She's faster than Rufka and has better handling than I do. Which means she's roughly average compared to either of us. The race should have been closer, but Rufka and I may have spent several corners sabotaging each other. Tipan suffered from no such drawback.

Though after her casual boasting, she's not going to enjoy that advantage for our next race.

Race completed, we return to Raz's, hunting down any Fallen we spot along the way, though we don't find many. It seems like they're already getting more spread out. We might have to head to new sections of the city, but we're already planning to do that for the other challenges anyway.

Once we're inside, Rufka, Raz and Tipan take over several tables, discussing modifications to the gliders. While they're doing that, we humans start talking about Luggett and what we learned about going home.

Or more accurately, not going home.

"I suppose we don't have to journey to the academy now," I offer.

"Depends on how long the trip is, kid. Especially with flight and teleportation as travel options? Who knows how quickly we can get around. A repository of information might be useful. He said his information might be out of date and they might have records that the system wouldn't show us," Beth counters, "but neither of those is an urgent reason to go immediately."

Roberts nods, as he agrees "Indeed. I believe our primary objective needs to be increasing our strength. We're hardly capable of opposing the forces that the system wants us to track down. Not as we are now."

"That's why I want to hit at least three challenges tomorrow. We know for certain that we can heal the side effects if we fail," Beth confirms, before pausing. Glancing over at me for a second, she adds, "No matter how awful those side effects are."

"Yeah. Thanks again," I give Roberts a nod in appreciation.

"Absolutely. Least I could do."

"You know, with how quickly we're getting around the city, we might be able to do all five challenges tomorrow. If we start early," I suggest while rubbing my fingers through Smoulder's fur. It's really nice and soft and a little distracting.

"Like I said. At least three. If we hit all five, even better," Beth reminds me while leaning back from the table.

"Right. Sorry," I apologize while idly brushing my cheek with Smoulder's tail. Which earns me a what-are-you-doing look from Smoulder before I stop.

"No problem, kid. If we finish on the first try, it'd be five easy. But we can't count on passing them on our first try. I nearly failed both challenges several times. I was only one wrong step from joining you."

As Beth finishes speaking, Josh suddenly rises from the table, his chair screeching across the floor. He doesn't say anything about the challenges. Or anything we've been talking about. In fact, I only just realize he hasn't said anything since we got back.

He just walks towards the stairs with a mumbled, "Goodnight."

We're all watching him leave but Beth is on her feet even as Roberts begins to rise, "I'll talk to him," she states.

Roberts nods, returning to his seat as Beth hurries across the room, making sure to catch Josh before he gets to his room. If he makes it inside, I'll be the only one who can contact him. The rooms are incredibly private. Other than the renter, only Raz can get in. Not only that, but they're also completely soundproof. This means we can't even knock on the door.

As I watch, Beth intercepts Josh leading him out to the garden.

Josh's behaviour reminds me of my own outbursts. Turning back to Roberts, I bump another two points into Resolve. It's getting up there, but I still have a way to go. I'm considering spending several mana essence to boost my attributes further. I'm also thinking I'm going to buy the pet interface tonight.

"Roberts. Could you give a user a second?" Rufka asks, approaching our table.

"Certainly, how can I help?"

"I've got an idea for the gliders. Might be able to modify yours and tall, dark and pink's to run off your resources. Need you to channel some of that barrier power of yours into the glider."

"Interesting." Roberts stands almost as quickly as Josh did.

I'm thinking about going to the change room when Rufka calls out to me. "Lexi, you should come check this out, you might learn something."

Moving to join them, I look down at the glider. It's a carved titanium rod with wings of rough leather. The wings emerge from the central rod upon command. Inspecting the glider more closely, I see that the wings are reinforced by narrow veins of titanium. There are also two supports for control and several fastening points.

"Okay, now Roberts. I need you to channel your resource into this crystal," Rufka explains as I approach. The crystal is connected to the glider by several strands of copper wire.

"Like this," Roberts checks, making the crystal glow.

"Yes. Perfect, now just hold it," Rufka orders as she starts making marks on the glider's central rod with a thick coloured marker.

"What do you think, Raz?" Rufka asks our silent host.

"I believe you're correct. The enchantment would require a significant rework to the underlying structure. I'd need to keep the gliders for several days to make the changes. It would also require at least one iron mana essence for each glider. Plus, payment for my labour of course," he offers with his toothy grin, his dark scaly eye-ridges drawing downwards. "Only four hundred emgee. Each."

It takes me a second to realize emgee is referring to the basic elemental essence.

Rufka's hair stands on end in shock as she stares at Raz. When she recovers, turning to Roberts, "it's really your call. The gliders work well enough already."

"Hmm. That sounds rather expensive. But I'll admit, I'm basing that off the price of buying your lesser gear," he hums, plucking at his shirt.

"Not expensive," Rufka whispers to Roberts.

"In truth, I prefer to create entirely new devices. I'd still require the mana essence, but I'd be willing to create a unique flight item for five hundred emgee," Raz responds to Roberts, not commenting on Rufka's whisper.

"That way you'd be able to continue using this glider. My designs would be far easier to use than these generic products," he adds with a sniff of disdain.

"What kind of item?" Roberts inquires while Rufka points out the rune work carved into the side of the glider. The runes here make the ones I use in my spells feel like the equivalent of a five-year old's crayon drawing. And I don't mean a talented five-year old either. I mean one that makes the sun blue and the grass black.

The only runes that come even vaguely close are the ones in my return spell. There must be over a hundred runes and I'm not sure where one ends and the next begins. So, of course, I pause time then start copying every unique rune I see into my spellbook. Again, it feels like the runes I record are a crude copy, but I'm happy to add them. Just copying them into my book is causing my brain to tingle strangely.

I don't get any notifications, so it doesn't seem like the tingling means I've learned a new skill or anything. Maybe if my mana manipulation wasn't already maxed, I'd be seeing some growth?

Coming out of pause I hear Raz respond, "for you, I believe a jacket or possibly a modified vest. For your friend Rose, I feel a scarf or belt would be best."

"Hmm. Will it be similar to the cloak?"

"Yes. The jacket would require an armour slot but provide protection in addition to flight. The vest would simply provide flight," Raz answers, "do you have an armour slot available? It would be unfortunate if you had to wait until your attributes increased to use the jacket."

"I do. What do attributes have to do with equipment slots?" Roberts wonders, asking my question for me.

As Raz answers, Rufka and Tipan put the glider away while moving to the big table. I guess they already know most of this stuff.

"Let us say you had ten in every attribute. Then you would have a total of eighty attribute points. Now, let's instead presume you have thirty in strength, not that it matters if it's strength. The point is you now have a hundred points. With at least a hundred you're able to bond a single iron-grade armour. Then you gain the ability to bond another piece of iron grade armour for every hundred points."

Roberts is about to ask a question when Raz holds his hand up, indicating he should wait.

"Now, a couple of other points. Negative attributes will count against this total. And once you advance to copper rank, you'll need a hundred points past your iron rank class limits to bond copper-grade armour. The same will apply for silver. If you ever make it that far."

"Since we're on the subject, how do copper rank attribute increases work?" I ask.

"They're basically the same as iron. Except you need more powerful essence or integration points. The system won't allow you to increase your attributes past their cap until you advance, but every point you invest is recorded by the system and will count as partial progress towards a copper rank attribute increase."

"Really? So, if you took your time you could save up enough points to increase your attributes in copper as soon as you advance?" I ask, surprised. I guess that's what happens if you try to invest your points into a capped attribute.

"Yes. In fact, I've met a couple adventurers who were stuck at iron rank so long, they were nearly capped in copper rank attributes when they finally advanced. That would have taken thousands of iron rank integration points, so you can understand why it's so impressive."

"So, it's similar to upgrading mana essence then," Roberts notes.

"Exactly so," Raz confirms nodding, "so, can I interest you in the jacket?"

"Do you have a design in mind?" Roberts asks. As they get into the finer details of the trade I move over to the 'meeting' table, placing my own order when I see Rufka and Tipan's are arriving.

"Well, I was right about him being faster," Rufka boasts before tearing a bite out of her juicy looking drumstick.

"I don't believe that was in doubt. It was clear he had his own workshop," Tipan points out while demurely cutting off a piece of her own bird. The large size of the slice is a bit of a juxtaposition when compared to the care with which Tipan cuts it free.

"Yeah, well. Still right," Rufka states, taking another bite.

"Yeah. Except Roberts is getting new gear instead of upgrading the glider," I point out, playfully stealing her plate and drumstick with a gust of wind magic.

Tipan nods, not acknowledging Rufka's attempts to retrieve her plate, "That is correct. And he's providing his services at such a low fee. I'm certain he's a copper rank crafter at the very least. To be accepting emgee for his services…"

"Yeah. Custom gear like that doesn't come cheap. Ha!" Rufka exclaims as I finally allow her to capture her drumstick. She doesn't bother with the plate, leaving it hovering in the air until I set it down.

I wonder, is the discount on custom gear another one of those benefits provided by Wyonna and the Forerunners? I can only guess. Why did they invest so much in us? Luggett made it sound like they were thieves or religious jerks.

Huh. Maybe if they're religious, this is their version of donating money to a bunch of starving kids. Wouldn't be the first time someone with good intentions has created chaos in another's life.

"Well, if he's offering his services at such a reasonable rate, I believe I'll ask to see if he can create a braiding. It'd be nice to have a proper battle enchantment," Tipan decides, pushing away from the table while running her fingers over the intricate leather woven into her fur.

"Oh. You don't use tattoos?" Rufka asks as she licks her fingers clean. I summon a ball of water in front of her. Rufka doesn't even pause, sticking her hands inside the floating ball the moment it appears as if she was expecting it. "Thanks, Lexi."

Moving her hand from the braid, Tipan traces a pattern of fur that doesn't stand quite as high as the rest of her arm as she answers "I have two. But I was unable to afford a third. With rates as low as he's offering, I would be remiss not to find out if he can create an enchanted braiding."

"True. Think he does tattoos?" Rufka wonders while gazing in Raz's direction.

"I don't believe we have the time for a proper tattoo. But I will ask," Tipan responds while moving towards Raz.

"Tattoos?" I ask, poking Rufka.

"Sure. Easiest way to make sure your enchantments last."

"Do you have any?"

"Of course. Like mum would've let me use anything as bulky as armour. Not when she was around anyway," Rufka answers as her face falls, looking at the table for a second before grinning at me.

"You wanna see?" Rufka asks excitedly.

"Sure," I reply, smiling at her enthusiasm.

The first tattoo is actually what I thought was a slightly discoloured pattern in her fur on her outer right thigh. When Rufka traces it for me, I realize this is another example of sophisticated rune work as she informs me there are over a hundred interlinked shapes within the tattoo. That's hundreds of runes in an area that's only slightly larger than my palm.

Not that I can see them, instead just the general shape of the runes is visible through the slightly discoloured fur. It's reminiscent of a biohazard symbol, but with the central circle replaced with a diamond shape.

Now that I know what her tattoos look like, she points out her second tattoo over her heart. I've looked at it a dozen times, at least, but I didn't know it had meaning. I thought it might be a scar. At a glance, it doesn't appear to be as fancy as her other tattoo, just a jagged line that crosses over her chest.

"This was my first. Mum said she was proud of me when I told her I was ready," Rufka tells me while gingerly tracing the tattoo.

"What do they do?" I ask, staring at her tattoo.

"This one," she explains while tapping the jagged shape over her heart, "is a basic health and stamina rune. It increases my edge and regen."

"And this one? This is an interface rune," she adds while tapping her thigh.

"An interface rune?"

"It allows me to slow my perspective of time when I'm aiming my bow. Mum says it's rare and that I shouldn't… uh."

"Shouldn't what?" I ask as Rufka lays her ears against her head while turning away slightly in embarrassment.

"I shouldn't tell anyone about it," Rufka admits with a shy grin.

"It's okay. Your secret's safe with me," I promise her while squeezing her hand.

"What secret?" Tipan asks as she returns to the table.

"Sorry. Can't tell. It's hush hush," I answer, letting go of Rufka's hand while shooting Tipan a smile.

"Oh-kay," Tipan responds slowly, looking from Rufka to me then back again.

"It's about my tattoos," Rufka explains without explaining.

"Ah. Sorry. A personal topic," Tipan acknowledges.

Glancing back to where Roberts and Raz are still talking, I ask, "So, what did he say?"

Brightening, Tipan flashes us a smile that practically answers my question on its own. "He said yes. And for only five hundred emgee."

"Does he do tattoos?" Rufka clarifies.

"Oh right. Uhm. I forgot to ask," Tipan answers with a shrug.

Rufka shakes her head with a grin, before dismissing herself while going to Raz.

"I think I'm going to hit the change room," I tell Tipan as I watch Rufka join the others.

Tipan nods. "Okay. Have good… Uh… change time," she stutters, to which I smile and wave before Smoulder and I make our way to the glorious bathtub and its stores.

It's time to unlock Smoulder's pet interface.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for this week.

Standard Author's Blurb

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. The entire main story will be released here on RR, but you can read up to nine chapters ahead, with access to up to 3 exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story, just little asides. Mostly K'tharn.)

1.54 Status Check

A note from Draith

Edited to fix mobile viewing.

January 18, 2019, 8:00 pm.

As I prep the water for tonight's bath, Smoulder and I start on her obstacle course, though I only put up a couple basic sections at the moment.

Despite the lack of skill increases, it feels like practicing these complicated manipulations helps me refine my skill. In fact, the more I experiment, the less accurate I feel the notification increases are. Sure, they seem to reflect some tangible change to the ease with which I draw mana forth and direct it into my spells. But they don't reflect my increasingly fine control over each element.

Nor does it entirely explain why I'm still noticing improvements in my ability to handle multiple objects at once.

Perhaps the system only regulates how much power I can bring forth? It doesn't feel like the change is coming from outside myself. But maybe that's just how deeply the system is ingrained inside me.

I contemplate this strange conundrum for several minutes but there's no clear answer.

Adding another note to self, I bring up the ability shop then go straight to the pet sub-option, Basic - Development Menu.

Purchasing it for five points, I bring up Smoulder's new and improved interface.

General Ability Shop price abbreviations:

- INP: Integration points

- PRP: Progression points

- ADP: Advancement points

SMOULDER

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

12

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

14

(+/-)

AGILITY

100

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

50

(+/-)

INTELLECT

11

(+/-)

SPIRIT

21

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

82

(+/-)

RESOLVE

75

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

238/238

[11.3]

(146)/day

Stamina

273/273

[26.3]

(208)/day

Mana

242/242

[12.2]

(151)/day

Focus

320/320

[25.5]

(242)/day

Matrix

Ignis

71/71

[4.4]

(47)/hour

Smoulder Development - Basic options.

"Warning! You have bound a mana-warped creature as a companion. Your choices will be proposed but must be confirmed by your companion to take effect."

"Huh. I knew you were special," I say to Smoulder, climbing into the bath before turning back to the screen.

Basic Options:

- Class selection available:

- Pyroskimmer (uncommon):

- Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and focus, minor increase to health.

- Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.”

- Pyroranger (uncommon)

- Attributes: Moderate increase to Agility and Endurance maximum.

- Resources: Huge increase to Stamina and focus, small increase to health, minor increase to mana.

- Abilities: Uncommon. Fire. Increased mobility. Moderate damage in a small area.

"What do you think, Smoulder? Are you ready to choose a class? Or do you want to hold off? Maybe we'll unlock something even better!" I ask Smoulder as I read through the short list again.

Smoulder sends a general feeling of not being impressed with any of her available options. She wants something more distinctly fire-based.

Laughing, I move on to the next menu while trying to think of how we might improve Smoulder's options.

- Synergistic abilities unlocked:

- The Bunny House: Creates an extradimensional home for Smoulder. Unlocked by Temporal and Spatial manipulation of fifty each. Cost: 1 user's class ability point.

- Here Bunny. Summon Smoulder from anywhere within range. The range is limited by the user's available facet. Current estimated range: 157km. Unlocked by Return spell and spatial manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 user's class ability point.

- Hotfoot: Smoulder is able to create tangible platforms of flame. She can use these to hop through the air or as low strength shields. Unlocked by Flight spell and fire manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class)

- Flaming Ball o'doom: Smoulder is able to leave a fiery wake, blasting forward at the head of a raging whirlwind of fire. Unlocked by Blazing Torrent spell and fire manipulation of fifty. Cost: 1 pet's class ability point. (requires pet class)

Okay. I think I need to pick up both the first and second abilities. The others are cool but useless. Until Smoulder has a class that is.

- Known Species Evolutions: (requires pet class)

- Magma-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met)

- Ash-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met)

- Steam-Hare, (Uncommon), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met)

- Fire-Storm-Hare, (Rare), Cost: 1 pet advancement point. (Requirements not met)

Wow. A lot of choices are locked out due to her not having a class. It won't even give me more details on the options, just indicating that Smoulder requires a class. I guess I should be grateful it's even allowing us to see the options.

…..

Nope. Jerk move. Show me more or keep it to yourself.

When I float the idea of becoming an Ash- or Magma-Hare by Smoulder, her response is along the lines of 'does it make her even more hotter than hot?'

Letting her know I have no idea, I shrug then move on to the last section.

- Point conversion:

- Integration point rate: 3:5, three user integration points will grant five integration points of an equivalent rank to their pet.

- Progression point rate: 1:2, one user progression points will grant two progression points of an equivalent rank to their pet.

- Advancement point rate: 1:1, one user advancement point will grant one advancement point of an equivalent rank to their pet.

Seems like there's a lot of resources required to keep Smoulder in the same relative power level. Luckily, Raz indicated that with enough time a person could get enough points to increase their attributes well into copper rank. It might require a bit of investment, but keeping Smoulder at comparable levels should be negligible. Well, compared to the thousands of points increasing copper rank attributes would take, anyway.

It's almost too bad Smoulder doesn't want either of her class options. I could level her up twice as fast as I can level.

Then again, I might not need to spend any resources on her, now that I think about it. If she's getting her own quest rewards, I wonder if that means she'll get the rewards from the overarching quest?

Deciding I should reach out to Rufka, since she's the only other pet owner I know, I connect.

"Hey, Rufka?" I start, not caring if I disturb her in the middle of something. She probably deserves it.

"Oh, hey Lexi. You're getting kind of lazy, using this when we're in the same building." Rufka teases. Yep. Definitely deserves it.

"Just didn't want to leave my bath, ya know?" I respond while letting the water trail through my fingers. While it's floating upwards. Because I can.

There's a pause on the other end before Rufka responds, "You're contacting me from the bath? Are you bored or something? I have aids that can make bath time more fun."

Blushing I'm suddenly glad I'm alone where no one can see me.

"Uh. No… At least that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," I quickly object. I wasn't thinking about that. Even if I am kind of curious what a K'tharn would use. I mean, they didn't keep their pu'shaha around. What would that mean for…

Right, not important. Pet upgrades.

"Oh, so you are interested?" Rufka asks before I can ask about Smoulder.

"Never said that," I half-heartedly deny while moving on, "I had questions about pets."

"Oh. Pets. Boring," Rufka chuckles, "what about them?"

"Smoulder isn't boring," I object. "I wanted to know if pets can receive progression points as quest rewards or if they're limited to integration points?"

"They get the rewards that are listed in your quest log if it has the pet tag. Wait, is one of our quests… Why of all the Vaus blasted balthen-sucking…." Rufka's voice trails off into quieter and more obscure sounding curse words.

"Wow, you okay there Rufka?"

"I'm going to have to take Tuffie back to both of the challenges we completed today, that's all."

"Oh. That's all, is it? I'll leave you alone with your boring pet. Later," I say, cutting the connection while sinking deeper into the tub.

Then I check my quest log for this pet tag she was talking about.

It's very apparent. It has the word {pet} inside brackets with a little icon of a round head with bunny ears. Strangely, the challenge hidden quest is marked with the pet tag but the main quest isn't. None of my personal quests are marked with the pet tag, nor are the survival or anti-corruption quests.

"Well, it looks like you don't get rewards from most quests, do you?" I say to Smoulder. She just replies with a general sense of disinterest, wondering if I'm going to set up an obstacle course already.

Laughing, I bring her course up, creating new obstacles inspired by today's challenges including collapsing platforms. I consider adding balancing beams but realize Smoulder could jump past any beam I create. Wiggling, Smoulder launches herself at the course while I lay back.

If I could move like Smoulder does, I'd never have trouble with these obstacle course challenges.

Once Smoulder and I are finished indulging ourselves, we head back to the common room where we spend the next couple hours with Roberts, Tipan and Rufka.

When I suggest we should spend some of our mana essence, we spend five minutes discussing how many each of us should use. Eventually, we decide on holding three in reserve while using the rest. For me, this means I'm gaining seven integration points from essence.

The process feels similar to submerging myself in a bath, the essence washing over me, before sinking through my skin. A very quick bath that lasts for a fraction of a fraction of a second.

Investing my points in Resolve, I ask Raz if he has any drafting supplies. He provides me with a huge stack of paper, several crude pencils and some advice for a handful of essence.

After he discovered I have earth and metal manipulation, he recommends I use them together to create an effectively infinite pencil. I do this by creating graphite inside a steel pen-like holder. Mana-wise, graphite is surprisingly cheap, at least for the quantity I'm using. Earth manipulation also works as an incredible eraser, lifting any graphite away from the paper without leaving smudges. My efforts to use it to draw directly are abysmal though.

With pencil and supplies secured, I join the others in feasting on a small mountain of different foods. As I finish a bowl of fruit salad, I begin drawing the promised Phothean world-ship designs.

Once I finish the first sketches, Rufka prods me to provide drawings of the other ships. Since I'm enjoying drawing freehand, I acquiesce far too easily. Roberts and Tipan aren't as interested in the ships as Rufka but everyone makes a game of guessing what each ship is designed for. Even though I know the technical specs, I don't have as much of an advantage as I'd like.

Now that Rufka has her drawings in hand, it's with some trepidation that I add a flask of moonshine to my pack.

No matter how useful, it still tastes awful.

Rufka assures me there's enough for a full 30 days in the flask. And not only does she have more, but she can make moonshine with the right ingredients with a couple basic tools she carries with her. I'm hoping I don't need it thirty days from now, but it's important information to have.

Even though I gave her the drawings, Rufka keeps bugging me for more details about the Phothean ship as we play another game of billiards. So, Roberts suggests she just get the codex from me, mentioning it might cause a headache.

Rufka eagerly accepts, but no headache ensues. I guess she has enough spirit.

Heading to bed, I can't help but wonder what's going on with Josh. He keeps avoiding me. And when he's not avoiding me, he's snapping or flinching away. At least today was better than yesterday.

Sighing, I pull Smoulder close while weaving a picture out of twilight. It's the old picture from the end table in my apartment. The one where Mr. Edwards was cut out. But when I recreate it, I leave him in. It was never his fault, so why did I keep blaming him?

When sleep takes me, my last half-formed thought flits through my mind.

I wonder if Mr. Edwards has his own version of a pink bathrobe.

When I wake, Smoulder is sleeping on my chest, her fluffy tail dominating my view. Not wanting to disturb her, I take a quick look over my newly increased attributes.

While I'm at it I decide to reorganize my skills. It only takes a minute to organize them alphabetically while shortening several of the skill names. Then, as I'm laying here, I realize I haven't looked at my party members' resources in a while either, so I bring them up, arranging everything in front of me, all at once.

Spoiler: Spoiler

PANDORA

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

13

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

86

(+/-)

SPIRIT

86

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

33

(+/-)

RESOLVE

31

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

101/101

[6.3]

(50)/d

Stamina

96/96

[7.6]

(50)/d

Mana

540/540

[49.0]

(423)/d

Focus

442/442

[32.9]

(300)/d

Matrix

Facet

143/143

[11.5]

(105)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[43.3]

Elemental

[43.3]

Temporal

[68.5]

Spatial

[68.5]

Matrix - Skill Level

Support - Skill Level

Mana - 86

Cleaning - 60

Spatial - 53

Cooking - 0

Temporal - 86

Crafting - Skill Level

Combat - Skill Level

Ceramics - 28

Throwing - 13

Metal Shaping - 40

Elemental - Skill Level

Stone Shaping - 37

Earth - 86

Tailoring - 3

Fire - 86

Woodworking - 1

Ice - 43

Movement - Skill Level

Lightning - 86

Climbing - 8

Metal - 57

Flight - 31

Stone - 75

Riding - 8

Twilight - 51

Running - 11

Water - 86

Swimming - 1

Wind - 86

Knowledge - Skill Level

Engineering - 41

Gaming - 3

Survival - TF - 13

ROSE

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

180/180

[15.3]

(118)/day

Stamina

171/171

[10.7]

(104)/day

Mana

76/76

[2.1]

(40)/day

Focus

76/76

[8.2]

(44)/day

Matrix

Petal

45/45

[3.6]

(29)/hour

Thorn

18/18

[1.3]

(11)/hour

RAVEN QUEEN

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

154/154

[8.8]

(90)/day

Stamina

154/154

[8.8]

(91)/day

Mana

219/219

[13.2]

(138)/day

Focus

262/262

[21.9]

(188)/day

Matrix

Umbra

68/68

[5.3]

(48)/hour

ROBERTS

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

144/144

[6.65]

(82)/day

Stamina

186/186

[18.65]

(127)/day

Mana

101/113

[7.35]

(65)/day

Focus

104/116

[6]

(65)/day

Matrix

Reprieve

48/48

[4.3]

(32)/hour

Rufka

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

434/434

[26.5]

(299)/day

Stamina

554/554

[49.4]

(444)/day

Mana

316/316

[18.7]

(199)/day

Focus

344/344

[22.2]

(225)/day

Matrix

Blitz

165/165

[13.9]

(122)/hour

Tipan

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

235/235

[13.3]

(148)/day

Stamina

247/247

[14.8]

(154)/day

Mana

582/582

[38]

(404)/day

Focus

506/506

[32.6]

(336)/day

Matrix

Aero

93/93

[5.5]

(59)/hour

I've only started to give everything a cursory review when Smoulder wakes up, insisting we go downstairs. Obliging her, I look for anything that leaps out as I get dressed for another day. The only thing I notice is that my mana edge is much higher than Tipan's yet her pool is still bigger than mine. Wonder if that's from an attribute or class difference?

I head downstairs, finding Josh alone, picking at his breakfast.

Deciding this is a good time to get answers or apologize or… something, I approach the table, Smoulder already dozing in my pocket again.

"Morning Josh," I greet him as I take a seat next to him causing him to nearly collapse to the floor in shock.

"Gah! Holy crap, Alexis. You scared me," Josh exclaims, clutching at his chest.

"Yeah. I seem to be doing that a lot lately," I reply, trying not to feel too put out. I did startle him this time.

Josh doesn't answer, poking at his plate.

We sit in awkward silence for a second then both start trying to speak at the same time.

"Listen, Lex. I'm…"

"Josh, I'm..."

We look at each other before we both start chuckling nervously.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," Josh continues, "it's just that when you went all raging avatar of destruction. Well, it reminded me of my sister, Ariane. And not in a good way."

"Oh?" I say, not sure how else to respond.

"When I looked at you, I couldn't stop seeing her face. Hearing her laugh."

"That's… Weird," I say, trying to figure out where he's going with this.

"She kind of went crazy. She shot a kid."

"What? I need more than that Josh," I demand suddenly feeling much worse for the comparison.

"Sorry. Right. So, I was hanging out with this group of friends. And since my sister followed me everywhere, she was too. Not a big deal, having her along. The others didn't seem to mind, and she didn't get in the way. But it turned out these people weren't just a group of friends, they were a gang. With rivals and all that shit."

"Okay," I acknowledge, wondering where this is going.

"And I find out after, one of the members, Belle, had been showing her how to use a gun," he pauses, locking his eyes with mine, "Ariane was only ten years old."

"Anyway, one Saturday we're hanging out together, when another gang comes by, smashing shit, shooting the place up. Next thing I know, there's this kid standing over me with a gun. Couldn't have been older than sixteen," Josh continues, his eyes returning to his plate.

"Holy crap," I exclaim.

"Yeah. I was terrified. Couldn't move. Not my sister though. As I'm staring up at him, out of nowhere, my ears start ringing then blood blossoms from his chest. It took a few seconds to realize Ariane had shot him. I don't know where she got the gun, but she was smiling at me. Laughing. She killed a kid then laughed about it."

"Well. At least you were both okay, right?" I offer consolingly.

"Yeah. I guess. I know she saved my life. But then she asked me if I was proud of her. If she'd done good. I didn't know how to answer her, so I didn't. But the other members of the gang told her how great she was," Josh says before taking a big breath.

"That's kind of messed up," I admit.

"Yeah. We didn't tell our parents, but it wasn't the same. I wanted to split, stop hanging with them but Ariane wanted to stay. The gang took her in as a mascot. So, I stayed too. I wasn't going to leave Ariane alone with them after that," he says as I listen.

"But then she did it again. Only this time someone testified and Ariane got sent to juvie," his eyes meet mine again, glistening in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh Josh, I'm sorry," I say while squeezing his hand, hoping it'll help.

"Yeah. Anyway, I guess when you started blowing people away, it hit pretty hard. Especially since you're like a little sister to me, ya know?"

"Uhm. Really?" I ask, surprised. I mean yeah, he's been there for me but I never really thought he was annoying enough to be a brother. Or even a cousin. Maybe an uncle?

Rufka on the other hand… Yeah, she's annoying enough to be a sister. In a good way.

"Yeah. Sorry. Projecting or something I guess. I thought I'd dealt with all this shit, but apparently not. Beth tried to help me figure it out last night. Rufka mentioned it might be an attribute imbalance, but I feel like that's just an excuse, ya know?"

The second he finishes, I'm already adamantly shaking my head. "Nope. The system is guaranteed screwing with our brains. I've been dealing with its… intricacies a lot. I have a whole new sense which feels completely natural. Like I've always had it. If the system can do that, then having it affect our behaviour seems like a pretty small leap."

"Huh. So, you think it might really be because of an attribute imbalance?" Josh asks, his shoulders slumping as if a massive weight just slipped off his shoulders. Then he attacks his plate with sudden gusto.

"Uh. I wouldn't dismiss it," I answer, watching him devour his meal as another floats out. Right, I should get my own.

"But seriously. Me, your sister?" I ask minutes later as we both finish our breakfasts.

"Well, yeah. You were the same age as my sister when I first met ya. You reminded me of her."

"Really?" I reply, trying to understand how I reminded him of his gun-toting sister.

"Yep. Like I said, same age. Kinda acted like her from before the shooting. Quiet and reserved, but brave."

"Brave?" I choke out. That's a word I've never associated with myself.

"Yeah. You weren't afraid of anyone. No matter who came, you'd answer that door. I've seen you send men away that left me quivering."

"But those were just mom's boyfriends," I shrug, not exactly a big deal telling them to get lost when mom wasn't even home. "That's nothing like standing up to a guy with a gun."

"If you say so," Josh says, crunching into a third helping of breakfast bacon. "Still weird that it hit me so hard. Kept seeing her face all day."

"Huh. And I thought my imbalance was bad," I say while sitting back, playing with Smoulder's tail.

"You had an imbalance too?" Josh asks, sounding more relieved.

"Have, yeah. The system should come with a warning, like 'attribute imbalances will seriously mess with your mind' or something."

"I get the impression the system isn't really here to help us," Josh notes as I hear the sound of footsteps from the stairs.

I shrug while changing the topic, "you know. I think you'd make a pretty great big brother."

"Thanks, Lex. I really am sorry," Josh apologizes again.

"Geez. You're more Canadian than I am," I kid, bumping his elbow as Tipan emerges from the stairs.

Tipan, Roberts and Beth all join us over the course of the next minute. Even as they're sitting, Josh heads to the change room to spend some mana essence when Tipan mentions how hungry she is after using hers last night.

With everyone accounted for except Rufka, I check my connection to her. I'm not entirely surprised it leads upstairs. Such a lazy-bones.

"We're all up and ready to go. Get your lazy butt down here," I whisper through the connection. Not totally true, but whatever.

"What? Mum? Is that you? What're you doing in my room?" Rufka asks, clearly only half awake.

"Nope. This is your captain speaking. Your final boarding for breakfast will be in five minutes."

"Lexi? You're using your ability to interrupt my sleep? I knew we should have stopped you before you went mad with power."

"No power in the verse can stop me," I reply, putting every ounce of menace I can squeeze in, letting my voice rise into a high shrill pitch before laughing maniacally.

An "ahem" causes me to look up, only to find everyone at the table looking at me.

"What?" I ask to the sound of Rufka's laughter while the others all just shake their heads then continue eating breakfast.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for this week.

Standard Author's Blurb

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link. The entire main story will be released here on RR, but you can read up to nine chapters ahead, with access to up to 3 exclusive sidestories (not required reading for the main story, just little asides. Mostly K'tharn.)

1.55 Well, that happened.

January 19, 2019, 7:24 am.

Rufka decides to stay in her room for another fifteen minutes before finally gracing us with her presence. In that time, Beth finishes her breakfast. This means that before Rufka is finished sitting, Beth has already started to lay out our proposed plans for the day.

"Mostly the plan is the same as yesterday, except we're going to try to fit in as many challenges as we can," she dictates, pointing at several points on Tipan's map of the city. "If we have time after we complete the challenges, we'll stop by to visit Luggett again. It's possible he'll have a method for dealing with Ivicka. If not, I expect we'll be making use of Tipan's teleport once the dungeon completes. We still have several days, so let me know if anyone has another idea."

Once Beth is finished, I pull her to the side to mention that I want to work on modifying my return spell. She agrees that it would be the way to go. Especially if I'm able to figure out how to use it to not just return, but teleport. Even as Beth and I talk, the others don't waste time.

Everyone is feeling excited. The rewards for completing all the challenges are significant. It's got me chomping at the bit. By the time Rufka's finished her breakfast, the others are already strapped into their gliders, ready to go.

We head off to the first challenge, the others hunting Fallen while I practice with my magic. The entrance is beneath several slabs, all leaning against each other. Once inside, I discover the appearance and terrain are similar to 'The Collapse,' except there are two slanted buildings leaning against each other.

And it's a rescue challenge. My interface doesn't have an arrow leading through the buildings. Instead, there are several glowing areas labelled as 'safe zones' and a counter with a little stick figure icon. The four arms make it apparent that it represents K'tharn, but it takes me a minute to find the first one I'm supposed to rescue.

The strange doll kind of resembles a K'tharn. If they were furless. When I pick up the doll an arrow directs me to the closest 'safe zone' where I deposit the dolls before continuing. Once I understand the idea, the rest of the challenge is simple, allowing me to finish with plenty of time to spare. My rewards, +1 agility, 2 iron and a mana-essence. Good to know the rewards are kind of fixed.

The only one who fails on our first attempt is Josh. Everyone else finished it, even Smoulder and Tuffie (Rufka's pet wolfadillo, who she literally summoned out of thin air before the challenge, startling everyone.)

Josh didn't get crushed or anything dramatic. He was just slow.

While Josh goes back in, Rufka, Tipan and I hold an impromptu race. Our race isn't as speedy as usual. In fact, Josh is done his trial by the time we make it past the final ring.

This may have been due to a considerable amount of 'course corrections'. And Tipan wasn't exempt this time.

I end up winning mostly by dint of being at the leading edge of our rolling ball of elbows when we cross the finish line. As I'm lying there, basking in my victory, I can't help but note that health edge makes rough-housing more fun than I remember.

The others are getting faster at getting into their gliders. So, as we're still picking ourselves up, they set out for the next challenge.

"Damn. So much for the lazy day I was hoping for," Rufka sighs as we fly after them.

"Yes, because completing challenges while hunting mindless Fallen is soooo hard," Tipan retorts as she fires a lightning torrent at a group of Fallen who didn't even notice us.

Rufka shrugs, "I mean, it's harder than sitting around playing Astral Stride."

"Spoiled. I swear you must have been utterly spoiled as a child," Tipan mutters before we fly towards the others.

After I'm finished looting, that is. We haven't found a distance restriction to the party looting yet. When I mention the range, Tipan says it should share loot throughout the entire training area and there's a hard limit of 1.2 kilometres outside of the dungeons. It's the same range for the party screen and voice chat functions.

The second challenge of the day is located in a busted-up building that's partially flooded. When we activate the prompt, I'm excited at first, because it allows the flight skill. But once we're inside I discover it's a flooding building, and we're forced to use our swimming skill to rescue the 'helpless' K'tharn trapped within. I end up using swimming a lot more than flight. I'm guessing that's why this challenge gives +1 Endurance.

Roberts is the only one who manages to complete the challenge successfully on the first try. Rufka says that her dolls kept panicking then running away in different directions. Mine didn't move, so I didn't have that problem. But between the fact that they're submerged and I can't see that far underwater, they're much harder to find. That's the only thing that kept me from completing it. I couldn't find the last doll.

The second attempt is easier. Not all the dolls are in the same positions, but I have a better idea of what I'm doing. I'm glad mine don't panic like Rufka's do. I don't have the skills to handle that. Capital 'S' Skills either. When I finish my second attempt successfully, Roberts informs me that Rufka had to start a third time. Apparently, damaging the dolls causes you to get disqualified.

Other than Rufka everyone completes the trial on their second attempt. Rufka manages to succeed on her third attempt.

As she comes out, I sling my arm over her shoulder. "You know, for the fastest person here, that took you a long time," I tease while squeezing her close.

"The Vaus-blasted doll smacked me on the face hard enough I took damage. I reacted with an appropriate measure of force. The challenges are just finicky," Rufka protests while Tuffie comes over to give her a big nuzzle. Huh, I wonder how Smoulder and Tuffie are handling the rescue aspect? I guess Tuffie could grab the doll with his maw.

"Sure, they are," I acknowledge Rufka with a condescending tone before sending the general idea of my question to Smoulder. Her answer is headbutts. She's been pushing the doll to 'safety'. With headbutts. I also get the impression that her dolls are much smaller than mine.

With that answered, I begin flying after the others. I suspect Beth is happy with our progress. It's only been two and a half hours, yet we've already managed to complete two of the challenges.

The third challenge of the day is a building that's flooding again, but this time it's an escape, not a rescue. And the building is collapsing. Whee!

As I pass the halfway point and the timer appears, a piece of rubble falls over the only exit. With my pathetic strength and inability to use manipulation skills, I'm unable to get through the massive slab.

Since I can't find a way around, I realize I'm trapped as the rising water starts reducing the size of my air bubble. Rather than subject myself to drowning, I create a bubble of wind, which leads to a disqualification notice. Thirty seconds later I'm ejected after being told to 'please try again'. When I emerge, I discover everyone except me and Josh completed their version on their first try. Oh well.

As we prepare to restart, Josh mentions that he had a similar problem, except the collapse had been so far ahead that he didn't know where the door was. Which meant he had to dig through rubble searching for it. He did find his way out, but he ended up running short of time before he made it to the end. Apparently, he can hold his breath for an especially long time now, so he wasn't in any danger of drowning.

My second attempt goes smoothly. Knowing the route, I make it through before the rubble can block my path. Once I'm at the end, I emerge from the challenge, disconcertingly dry with another +1 to Agility.

I'm practicing using fire and metal together in a glowing orb of silvery metal when Josh emerges from his trial. He's holding his fists up in triumph this time, so I'm going to assume it was a success. Roberts and Beth both congratulate him and I even give him a high five.

Still feels a little awkward but it's a step back towards normal. Yay.

As we set off towards the fourth challenge, my thoughts turn to lunch. I finally picked up several interesting meals from Raz which I intend to enjoy while lounging around on a rooftop near the fourth challenge. We've been absolutely tearing through the city as we go, we've swept over half the city at this point. There were even a couple pockets of Fallen that were thick enough that Beth gave me the okay to participate. But mostly I've watched the others practice then gathered our loot afterwards.

It's not thrilling, but we're racking up a huge amount of essence at this point. Close to two thousand emgee this morning. The twilight essence remain rare, to the point we have more pure mana essence than twilight, but they do show up.

I have noted that not a single Fallen we've encountered wields twilight, though they use every other element.

As we land in the street near the fourth trial, Beth recommends we eat before the challenge.

Letting the others know I'm going to the roof; I sit on the edge of the building where Tipan joins me.

We watch as Rufka dashes across nearby buildings, taking Tuffie for a 'run'. As I watch, I realize Rufka is at least as fast as her wolfadillo.

"Huh. I wonder why she even rides him," I mention offhandedly before taking another bite of my delicious pulled pork sandwich. The sandwich has a pleasant bite I can't identify and is definitely worth every essence I spent on it.

"Certain abilities or skills only work with a bonded companion," Tipan supplies in between bites of her own crispy meat chips. "But I suspect she just likes him," Tipan adds with a half-smile and a small contented sigh.

"Yeah. I can understand that. Even if Smoulder was useless in battle, I'd still want her around," I agree while giving the aforementioned floofball some of my sandwich, so she knows I love her.

Nodding, Tipan and I finish the rest of our lunch in relative quiet before starting the next challenge with the others.

This challenge is a fire rescue, which turns out to be the most difficult we've done so far. Smoulder is the only one who finishes it on our first try.

I rescue the first doll easily enough, but another catches fire and I'm not able to douse it in time causing an immediate failure.

Rufka has a similar problem, but her dolls were also running around and panicking.

My second attempt doesn't fare much better. I end up crushed under a beam trying to 'save' a doll trapped beneath it. A little after I come out, Josh joins Smoulder in the winner's circle while the rest of us head back in for our third attempt.

After a quick round of healing from Roberts, that is.

This time I take my time, moving confidently between rooms but watching for falling debris. I still almost fall to my 'death' when the floor collapses from under me near the end of the trial, but I manage to pull myself up. This trial was a test of endurance, so it feels appropriate that I get a +1 to the attribute when I finish.

Now that the trial's complete, I find Roberts waiting with Josh, Smoulder and Tuffie. Smoulder is curled up in Roberts' lap, greedily absorbing as many head-scritches as possible while Tuffie is flopped at their feet partially obscuring them from view with his large frame.

"Rufka is on her fifth attempt," Roberts mentions as I join them.

"Really?" I reply, reaching out for Smoulder who gladly trades Roberts' head-scritches for my own.

"Yeah. She messed up early on her third try. She was pretty upset. Charged straight back in then popped back out again a minute later. She seemed very pleased with herself for such a quick failure," Josh informs me while holding his first up for a fist bump.

Alright, more normal!

Returning the fist bump, I listen to Roberts describe his version as Beth and Tipan join us. Basically, it was like mine with a couple more rescues required and burning beams to run across.

When Rufka appears, she's not looking very good. Roberts' rushes over to her. Once she's healed, she just howls with laughter before walking back over to the challenge.

"I guess we might only get four today," I mention to Beth as we all play Astral Stride. Josh apparently borrowed it from Rufka back when we were doing the first trial.

"Hmm. Or Rufka can come back once she's had a chance to cool off," Beth replies as we continue the game. Beth and I have both finished our 'magic zones' when Rufka emerges from the challenge again. She's intact and grinning like a madwoman, so I'm guess-

"Lexi. Pour me a drink to celebrate!" Rufka cries, her eyes locking on me the second she emerges.

Obliging her, I pull out two cups then pour each of us a drink. Can't let her drink alone, now, can I?

Handing Rufka her cup, I raise my own, "congratulations. Finally."

"Ukila above. Finally, is right. One of those Vaus-cursed dolls decided that jumping out the window of a twenty storey building was better than burning."

"Seriously?" Josh asks, beating me to it.

"Yeah. And then it had the nerve to beat on me once I rescued it from certain death."

"You truly have trials far and away more intense than mine," Roberts observes.

"Agreed. Do you need a minute before we move out, Rufka?" Beth checks while pushing herself to her feet.

"Nah. We're this close to finishing this thing. Let's get to it," Rufka responds, handing me her still dirty cup with a grin.

"Excellent. Let's hit it, people," Beth commands as Josh packs up the game.

This time when we take to the sky, there's a celebratory mood. We still have one challenge to go, but we have hours left in the day and no one doubts we'll complete it today. At this rate, we'll be back at Raz's earlier than ever.

Minutes later as we're flying towards the last challenge, I'm looking over at the system boss watching the now familiar movements when I notice something.

"Hey, Tipan," I say, as I float closer to her.

"Yes, Alexis?" Tipan responds while searching the city below for more Fallen.

"Is it just me, or does that thing have more eyes than it did when we arrived here?" I ask pointing at the system boss.

Looking in the direction I'm pointing, Tipan doesn't answer for a second.

"Interesting. I had no idea…"

"Beth," I grab her attention through my link while Tipan mutters to herself.

"Yeah kid," Beth responds, the sound of rushing air slightly distorting her voice.

"I think the system boss is being affected by the challenges."

Ahead, where Beth is flying in her glider, I see her raise up, floating inwards towards the city centre slightly closer to where the boss is patrolling.

A few seconds later I hear her swearing before she remembers I'm talking to her, "Good catch kid. Looks like we're going to have a more interesting time than expected."

"Yeah. I guess so," I reply, dropping the link as I follow her down to a nearby building that is especially grey.

Landing beside her, it turns out we're not just stopping because of the boss. The final challenge starts from the top of this building. Beth does spend a minute staring at it before we start though.

There are numerous ladders, all descending into the dark. The moment I set my hand on one of the ladders the familiar notification appears. This time it's a +1 to Agility again. I wait, with the notification hanging in front of me as everyone gets ready. They're even setting their gliders to the side carefully so they can get into them more quickly after we're done here. They're really getting a system down.

Smoulder gives me a quick headbutt to remind me not to mess up again before heading to her own ladder.

"Raven Queen would like to initiate the challenge, Catwalk. Are you ready? Y/N?"

When I descend, it's as though the light has been stolen away, leaving me climbing in the dark until I set foot on a platform below. Then the entire building lights up, revealing a massive warehouse full of catwalks, steel ladders and flickering lights. Glancing down, I discover the floor is covered in jagged and torn steel plates.

It's not a bunch of pits full of spikes, but it's nasty enough.

Unsurprisingly, the entire building shifts regularly as I follow the steel grey arrow across the room. As I cross, catwalks fall and ladders shake loose to join the other twisted metal below.

It feels easier than it was yesterday. I'm not certain, but I'm starting to feel like there's more to our capabilities than our attributes and skill sheet. My agility has increased by a meagre three points since I ran through "The Collapse," yet I'm feeling much more capable of balancing. I'm starting to suspect there are skills the system either isn't capable of or doesn't bother tracking. Or maybe my Resolve is affecting things in a way I don't understand? It's hard to say.

Reaching the steel ladder leading out on the far side of the room, I look back across the warehouse. Most of the catwalks have fallen away at this point. I can hear the screeching and rattling of another catwalk crashing to the floor as I start my ascent, well ahead of the clock.

I think I'm going to miss these challenges.

When I step away from the ladder, the challenge completed, the usual notification appears.

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 collapsing warehouses successfully crossed. Rewards: +1 current Agility, 2 iron rank integration points, 1 iron-grade mana essence."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

The final quest notification I'm expecting now that we've completed all the challenges doesn't show up though.

While I'm wondering what's going on, I join Beth and Josh at the edge of the building, where they're already relaxing. After a quick greeting, I plop down next to them as we wait for everyone else to finish, confirming that they haven't received a notification yet either. Beth suggests we wait for everyone to finish, then we can talk about it. Tipan is the last to climb onto the roof.

Even as she's setting foot on the smooth grey stone, the notification we were waiting for appears.

"All party members have completed all Zone challenges."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 7/7 unique hidden challenges completed. Rewards: 14 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point, 1 Staff of the Elementalist."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Even as I'm reading over the rewards, we receive another notification.

"Zone Quest updated: Reach the Eye. Denying the Destroyer their prizes, they turn their sights to you instead. Requirements 0/1 Spider Destroyer destroyed. Rewards: 18 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point, 1 piece of iron-grade gear. Time: 2/2 hours remaining."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training area countdown has been set to two hours, five minutes (2:05)."

Looking up, I see the silver legs of the giant spider bot shifting. The system boss that's been ignoring us this whole time, turns towards us, its red eyes glinting as it starts to approach.

As we're all staring over at the boss, Rufka summarizes our thoughts rather succinctly.

"Vaus-Damnit!"

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for this week.

Standard Author's Blurb

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.56 Ugh, Spiders.

January 19, 2019, 5:00 pm.

The notifications weren't the last of it, nope.

The swarm of spiders that normally clamber around, following in the system boss's wake, have grown silvery wings. They rise into the air like a swarm of angry locusts. So now, the system boss is surrounded by a swarm of flying spider bots. On top of that, its single red eye is now ringed by eight other eyes, each shining with that same crimson glow.

Oh, and most importantly, it's headed straight for us, crushing buildings beneath its feet as it slowly drags itself forward.

Standing on the roof, inspecting the changes wrought upon the system boss, Rufka swears again.

"I never got a chance to get Tuffie to the other challenges," she offers by way of explanation.

Wait, that's what she's worried about?

"Okay, people. Looks like we just got shoved in the deep end," Beth remarks. The others are already getting ready. Josh's armour encloses him, then as he makes a giant leap towards the nearby building, large wing-like rose petals blossom forth from the shoulders of his armour. As he glides down, Roberts dashes across the gap, using transparent panels as stepping stones. Though perhaps since he's able to spread them nearly two metres apart, it'd be more accurate to call them leaping stones. Rufka's wolfadillo follows them, clearing the distance in single leap.

They're only slightly closer than we are but it sounds like they're planning to serve as a shield for the less mobile Beth. Not that it makes that big a difference yet, what with the boss still half a city away.

Then the flying spiders break away from the boss, buzzing towards us at incredible speed making defence a three-dimensional challenge.

Beth has her rifle out, taking aim while Tipan, Rufka and I rise into the air, spreading out. I'm hoping we can destroy these flying spiders quickly.

We really didn't need flying spiders.

A moment later, Beth's shot finds its mark. Even from more than a kilometre away, the effect is noticeable.

I barely notice one of the smaller eyes flicker but I'm definitely able to see the central eye when it starts glowing brighter. In fact, it's much brighter than it was a second earlier.

"Incoming," Beth screams out, diving over the edge of the building in front of her.

After a day full of dodging falling objects, everyone scatters remarkably well.

Beth disappears out of sight just before a bright red beam strikes the spot where she was kneeling seconds ago.

The blast doesn't stop there though. As I fly away as fast as I can I watch it carry through the collapsing roof of the building where we just completed our trial before reducing the building behind it to a pile of rubble as well.

What the hell?! Note to self, do not get hit by that beam.

While the attack forced us to scatter, no one took any damage. Smoulder and Rufka are already several streets forward, fighting the flying spiders.

Smoulder seems to be having fun, slamming into spider after spider. They're not falling though. Not yet.

As I move to help, I watch more of the silvery things descend, their bodies occasionally reflecting the setting sun's light into my eyes.

Shielding my eyes with twilight, I slow time then accelerate towards Smoulder, Rufka and the flying spiders. Tipan is close behind me. Unfortunately, unlike when we race, as soon as I start messing with time, she's unable to keep up.

As I'm closing on the swarm, another shot strikes the system boss (or Spider-Destroyer as the system labelled it in the quest,) one of its eyes dimming in response. This is followed by another eye-laser of destruction ripping apart the building Beth was firing from. Destroyer really is a decent name for that thing.

Once I'm close enough, my first lightning torrent hits a nearby flying spider but skips over it, leaving it unmarked. So, I release a flame, wind and water torrent hoping that at least one of them will work while analyzing them for weaknesses.

“Object analyzed: Venithal attack drone."

"These drones are used to protect their Venithal tech-savant. Deployed from a central unit, their primary purpose is to disable and distract allowing the tech-savant's primary weapon to destroy its target."

"Name: A563-0221."

"Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Acidic projectile, adhesive netting."

"Defences: Physical: High. Magical: High. Lightning: Immune."

As I read the analysis I watch the effects of my spells. They visually deform under fire while wind and water throw them around but are otherwise ineffective. Immune to lightning. I already learned that the hard way, thanks.

I let everyone know to watch for acid and nets before sending off another fire torrent.

Fire isn't enough to destroy them, but it does slow them considerably.

I'm easily dodging their acid projectiles but I've almost been torn open several times. Definitely would've been, if not for my accelerated time. Then again, if not for my time abilities, I wouldn't be here. After a few more fire torrents, I start thinking about other options.

Then I notice Rufka putting an arrow through one of the flying spiders I've deformed, taking it out of the fight.

Right, I have other spells. Too set in old habits. Firing a piercing flame arrow, I'm shocked when it rips through the nearest flying spider, sending it spiralling to the ground.

Changing tactics, I cast the occasional flame torrent to slow the spiders when they're clumped up, but spend more time using my piercing spells. Considering how cheap they are compared to my torrents, I decide to try my hand at every element, including several versions of twilight.

Except for Earth, lightning and twilight, every one of my arrows tears through the flying spiders as if they're made of paper. And after I inspect one that landed on a nearby building I discover why. Each one is basically a small bundle of flesh with a thin metal casing.

As I'm inspecting it, another spider flies up, taking advantage of my distraction to shoot a globule of acid at me.

Putting an extra half dozen arrows through that one, I'm knocked flying to the next building by a heavy force.

I'm about to retaliate when my IFF tells me that Josh just carried me out of the way of the eye-laser, the building behind us crumbling in a giant explosion of twisted steel and flying rock.

I'd been so focused on the lesser spiders, I'd forgotten the main threat. Which had apparently decided I was dangerous enough to shoot at.

"Thanks," I mumble as he picks himself up, helping me to my feet before glancing towards the boss.

"You're welcome. You shouldn't stop moving like that," he advises.

"Right. Thanks again," I reply. Once he's sure I'm okay, he turns away, leaping to the next building while heading towards Beth.

Taking his advice to heart, I fly straight up while surveying the battlefield. All our efforts haven't been for nothing. The flying spiders are down to less than a dozen. More importantly, none of them are harassing Beth any longer. Checking my party status reveals that we've taken some hits, but no one's in desperate straits. Rufka is technically down to a quarter of her health, but at 112/434 she still has more health than I started this fight with.

While we've been whittling down the flyers, Beth has managed to take out another of the eyes. That's three out of eight lesser eyes. I'm not sure why she's shooting them but it definitely grabs the Destroyer's attention.

As the Destroyer crosses the city towards Beth, I notice another flying spider join it from beneath its shiny carapace.

Moving closer, I have to change course when a beam suddenly shoots from one of the smaller eyes. While I'm able to avoid the worst of it, I'm still caught on the edge. I'm sent flying towards the ground and my health is reduced by twenty.

If I hadn't been in accelerated time, that would have hit me full on instead of barely glancing off. That's a good reason to be shooting those eyes.

Since I'm so high up, the lesser beam doesn't collapse buildings, but it does force me to rethink my approach. Flying directly at the Destroyer isn't going to work.

Oh, and look, another flying spider just emerged from underneath it.

Too bad there aren't any anchors up here for my teleport spell. I'd have to go back down towards the ground if I want to get closer that way. Which I really don't. I don't want to get closer at all at this point.

As I'm thinking, I notice that Tipan is firing her wind disks from nearly as far away as Beth is. Unlike my arrows, they're maintaining cohesion long enough that they're striking the Destroyer.

Huh. Well, why don't I just do that then?

Creating disks of fire, I join in the barrage. Both mine and Tipan's disks are far less effective than my piercing arrows, but they seem to be having some effect. But only when we're targeting the eyes. The rest of its body ignores our attacks entirely.

With only the main eye laser having extreme range and the Destroyer not being able to aim that laser without turning its whole body, we're soon using a strategy of surround and destroy. Beth, Josh and Roberts have all grouped up while Tipan, Rufka and I are all spread out around the boss.

I finally regroup with Smoulder since all the drones are down and she's done playing. It's a relief to have her back, which I express through head-scritches before setting her on my shoulder. She balances there with ease, watching my back while we continue to wear the boss down.

Finally, we seem to make noticeable progress, the last of the eight smaller eyes flickering then going dark.

Suddenly, the Destroyer starts firing its main eye-laser nonstop, destroying an entire block of buildings. It also starts moving twice as fast.

If Roberts and Josh hadn't been with her, I'm not sure Beth would have made it out in time. But the second the eye went dim, Roberts grabbed Beth before charging towards one of the silver bullets. The building stands up to the punishment fine but the resulting backlash sweeps across an even wider area, forcing us all to dodge the random pattern until they emerge from behind the building again. They're forced to remain on the move, barely staying ahead of the collapsing city as it tries to chase them down.

Without Beth's incredible damage it takes Rufka, Tipan and I five minutes of unrelenting assault before the boss stumbles and the large red eye in the centre dims.

I feel relief for all of a second before the boss starts crashing through the buildings straight towards Beth. Pausing time I finally risk getting closer, flying as fast as I can while shooting elemental disks at it. Once I'm within a hundred metres, I switch to my piercing arrows. Once again, they prove remarkably effective, creating holes everywhere they strike. A thick black substance oozes from the holes though, solidifying and reducing the effect of further attacks.

Tipan joins me a real-time second later, mimicking my attacks, though at a much lower rate of casting.

As I drop out of paused time I realize the boss doesn't have any way to shoot us. Its charge has also slowed to a rough stumble.

I drift closer, trying to find a target that will let us put this thing down properly. When my eyes settle on the main eye, I notice an important detail. While dimmed, it remains intact. Floating closer, I ready myself to unload on that eye.

But I don't get the chance. Less than ten metres away, a large silver limb flashes in my peripheral as the entire Spider-Destroyer spins in place at a frightening speed. I feel Smoulder's impact as she launches from my shoulder, trying to divert the massive leg. But it keeps coming.

I pause time, starting to fly away immediately. But it's the shield spell that saves me.

One paused second, a silvery leg as thick as a dumpster is flying towards me, practically guaranteed to strike me from the air.

The next, Roberts's transparent barrier is there, causing the leg to bounce off, deflecting it over my head.

Grateful, I continue flying away while unloading over fifty different piercing spells on my original target. The eye resists the first half of them before shattering when it's struck by a black bolt from Beth. The rest of my spells strike deep even as a crackling arrow from Rufka lands. Then a massive electrical burst explodes from within.

As I fly away, the boss shudders then collapses, spewing forth dozens of the flying spiders. As they take to the air, its body creaks before imploding accompanied by a horrible metallic screech.

We have the flying spiders measure by now, so they are dealt with quickly. I notice that Josh is crushing them with a quick thrust of entangling vines while Roberts has discovered a method of using his shields to slice into them.

Awesome.

While we regroup, I start looting the flying spiders. The loot is, frankly, amazing. There's a veritable landslide of mortal grade mana essence, a total of 93 for each of us. That's basically 9 integration points.

While the little flying spiders are responding to my looting ability, the large body of the Destroyer is immune. I'm not sure if that's because it's still alive or if it's just too large.

"Well, that was exciting," Roberts comments once we're gathered.

As he heals her, Rufka grins, "that was awesome. I can't believe mum didn't want me coming here."

"That could have gone very wrong, very quickly," Beth points out, but Rufka just shrugs.

Once Rufka's healed, we approach the Destroyer. With caution. We still haven't received a system update message saying the quest is completed.

When we get close, we find a broken shell. It reminds me of a crumpled up beer can, empty and messily crushed.

"Think there's an alien inside waiting to jump out and snatch us?" Josh asks as we approach.

Beth raises one eyebrow with a small smile as I respond, "probably. But they're most likely just trying to get you to buy into their pyramid scheme. You too can look like this if you use red lasers."

Roberts actually snorts at that while Josh nods before adding, "if only they knew that blue lasers are superior."

"Clearly," I agree, noticing Tipan glancing at Rufka, who just shrugs.

Surprisingly, when we get closer, we find something smaller lying inside. A dark brown spider creature that's merely the size of my bedroom. Most of what I can see is charred chitin, exposed through a gap where the eyes used to be.

It's flesh bubbles and pops, though it doesn't move. Either it's severely injured or it was never meant to walk on its own. After everything we just threw at it, I'm guessing it's the former.

As we approach, I analyze it.

“Creature analyzed: Venithal. Gene-seed B."

"Venithal are a race of arachnid idiot-savants that were nearly wiped from existence after attempting to subvert a trade deal with the Thenite Consortium of Free Worlds. The consortium responded with overwhelming force, crushing the Venithal. Using their superior position, the consortium forced the Venithal into indentured service. The Venithal now serve as shock troops for the Consortium, serving as an example while collecting on other's bad debts."

"Name: A563-0001."

"Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; Low, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Flensing claws."

"Defences: Physical: High. Magical: Low. Acid: Immune. Fire: High."

Seeing its battered form, the flesh broken and torn, it's almost hard not to feel bad for it.

Except, ugh. Spider.

Beth doesn't hesitate. Even as I'm reading the analysis, she draws her rifle then puts a round between its two rows of eyes before I can blink.

Her shot startles me slightly, causing me to jump as the Venithal's form tilts back before slumping down. Josh handles it even worse for some reason, turning and holding his hand over his mouth like he's going to be sick.

"Oh, god. That's awful," Beth proclaims as a horrid stench wafts over me. Oh, never mind.

Awful is an understatement.

This is worse than that time mom bought ten pounds of meat then left it in her room before disappearing for a month. Oh, and now all those bubbles are popping and I can almost see the stench.

We all back away. Quickly.

When the quest notification appears I barely acknowledge it, instead, continuing to retreat from the smell. Now that the boss is dead, I do send out a tether to loot it. I'm hoping that once it's looted it won't smell as bad. That's how it's worked for everything else.

A moment later we all receive three iron-grade mana essence and the air gets a little less rank. Not completely though.

With that resolved, I check the quest notification.

"Zone Quest completed: Reach the Eye. Requirements 1/1 Spider Destroyer destroyed. Rewards: 18 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point, 1 Memory Locket."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit."

Ten minutes? Damn.

"I wish you hadn't done that Beth," Tipan remarks as she stares into the empty space where the Destroyer used to be.

"Yeah. Wouldn't have stood so close if I'd known."

"I mean shooting it so soon. The gliders are buried back there," Tipan points out.

"Crap. Can you guys go see if you can find them?"

"Yes, but we need to be together if we want to use my exit teleport," Tipan reminds us. It also reminds me that I never finished working on improving my return spell.

"We can carry them," I point out. "I carried Rufka before. It's awkward and slower, but better than hoofing it across a destroyed city."

"Good call, kid. I'm with Alexis. Rufka, you think you can handle Josh?"

"Ha. Are you kidding? If Lexi, can do it, so can I," Rufka boasts, walking over to Josh. She hoists him into the air before he can react. "See?"

While Rufka's showing off, Roberts and Tipan are already floating out of sight.

"Excellent. I see we're ready to go. Let's move," Beth says, stepping next to me. I lay down so she can sit on my back while Smoulder sneaks into my pocket where she'll be secure. I'm not like Rufka. If I tried to carry Beth, I'd probably drop her.

It takes us nearly two whole precious minutes to find the building we were on when the encounter started. Half a building and six minutes of searching later, we've only recovered one of the gliders.

It's at this point that Beth calls out. "Okay, people. Looks like they're lost. Let's not push this any further. Gather up."

At her words, we gather together in the shade of the only remaining building in the area.

"This may be a bit uncomfortable. It's a system ability but most people don't handle teleportation well," Tipan warns as we all hold hands. Rufka takes my right hand immediately while Beth is on my left.

"Ready?" Tipan asks. As our affirmation rings out I pause time, trying to watch the effect carefully. The runes that form are difficult to follow, barely visible. If I hadn't paused time, they wouldn't just be difficult to follow, they'd be impossible. In just ten paused-time seconds the entire structure expands, sophisticated interwoven runescapes that flow out from Tipan until they've encapsulated us. Then it shrinks, condensing us within it.

Then we're through, everyone stumbling, breaking the link as they lose their lunches. I'm completely unaffected, barely noticing their discomfort as I take in our new surroundings. We're in a forest of beautiful trees, covered in pink and white blossoms. Like cherry blossoms but a little more triangular at the ends.

It seems we've arrived in a well-kept forest. There's a packed dirt path that transitions into a narrow mountain trail before turning sharply to the right a mere ten metres away. The surroundings are quite picturesque, but they don't allow for much of a view.

When I turn back to the party, I realize I'm the only one that didn't get sick.

As I summon a ball of water, I can't help but wonder if scrubbing vomit off a forest floor will increase my cleaning skill.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for this week.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.57 A Walk in the Forest

January 19, 2019, 5:32 pm.

As it turns out, cleaning the forest floor of vomit does give me an increase to my cleaning skill. Or maybe it's from helping the others clean off. Either way, everyone is clean and we seem to be in the clear, at least for the moment.

Tipan's teleport worked precisely as we'd been hoping, depositing us outside of the mountain dungeon. A dungeon whose entrance is only a few metres away. Smoulder pops her head out and immediately begins sniffing around, investigating this strange new area.

This wasn't their original destination. We're further inside the Aetherium's territory than the elemental puzzle dungeon she and Beth were originally planning to use. But they made that plan back before we entered the training dungeon. Which was also before we suspected Ivicka might know about our exit plan. So, they decided this was better than the more obvious dungeon on the coast.

It's definitely a better choice than the dungeon she completed that's next to their capital city, Aethire.

Since this is one of the only dungeons Tipan has completed, Ivicka knows about it. Apparently, you can't enter a controlled dungeon unless you're given permission by the owner. So obviously, we won't be going inside. Besides, while it might not be Ivicka's first stop, Tipan is sure she'll either come here herself or send another flight. And that means we need to move.

Unfortunately, we haven't decided on a destination, since we thought we still had a few days of planning/training ahead.

"Okay people. We can't stay here and we're down to a single glider. Luckily, this forest will make it harder for them to spot us by air but we're going to need to hoof it. Tipan, suggestions?" Beth requests, helping Roberts to his feet while I deposit their filth in a nearby bush. It'll make great fertilizer.

Tipan pulls a piece of thick leather from her inventory, unrolling it for Beth to see.

"Okay. Uhm. One second," Tipan mutters as she struggles with the map, trying to fold it. Noticing how awkward it is for them to hold it, I decide to fashion a floating table out of metal. It takes some time, but I even add little clips to hold the map in place. Even as I'm forming this table, we start down the forest path away from the mountain.

Tipan isn't even fazed at this point, simply setting the map in place with a polite, "Thank you."

Then she continues walking, pushing the giant floating clipboard in front of her. "We're here," Tipan starts, pointing at a mountain with forests at the edge of it as Smoulder hops on the corner of the map to see what all the fuss is about.

"As we've discussed Beth, this is the core of the Aetherium, which we want to avoid," Tipan continues, petting Smoulder with one hand while pointing to a large area that includes the entire yawning pit. The one I mentally refer to as 'the giant hole in Akilo's backside'. Tipan also indicates that the core area includes a great deal of land to the southwest of that pit. These 'lowlands,' run almost all the way to the ocean, only stopping fifty kilometres from the coast. Our little mountain is on the south side of this territory. We're clearly inside their borders, but not by much.

"This is the effective reach of the Aetherium," she continues highlighting the whole freaking continent excluding a small area at the Northernmost end. "They're much less likely to find us in these areas, but if they do, they can reach us in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's just Ivicka who will be after us, or if the minister has more allies amongst the council."

"When we were talking about the academy, you mentioned it was outside the Aetherium's control," Beth notes as we all look at the map. Except Smoulder. She decides it's boring, hopping to my shoulder for head-scritches and treats.

"Yes. The academy is located here, on the isle of Yellow Winds," Tipan says, pointing at an island that I'm pretty sure I recorded. I think it had a…. Yep, there's a volcano.

"So, how long would it take to fly there? If we could get more gliders?"

"To the coast, it would take a week, at most. That's assuming we only fly at night, run into mana-storms and get attacked by wild mana-borne," Tipan answers, drawing her hand across the map in a straight line west, leaving a visible trail behind.

"A week doesn't seem that bad. Do you truly expect we'll have to deal with all of that?" Beth responds while scanning the forest around us.

"Flying at night would greatly reduce the chances of being spotted by the Aetherium. Mana-storms can strike at any time. Especially, since we haven't seen one in a week. And once we're outside of the Aetherium's core territory, the mana-borne will no longer be kept in check," Tipan explains as we round a corner that leads to another short path before turning in the other direction.

All these twists and turns make it feel like this was a wild forest once. I suspect they only added the neatly packed path afterwards.

"But we only have a single busted glider. We'd be carrying them, which would be slower and more dangerous. Especially if we drop them," Rufka counters as we make the next turn, moving further away from the mountain. "Besides, we wouldn't be able to keep flying once we hit the coast."

"Why not?" Josh asks as I start analyzing the nearby trees. Oh hey, some of these are fruit trees. And they're in season.

While I'm grabbing several peachaples, which taste like peach but resemble a blue apple, right down to the crispness, Rufka explains, "cause of the Lords of the Deep. Mum says they're not too keen on the Aetherium flying over their oceans. And they're more of a cast first, ask questions of the corpse kind of people."

Tipan nods as I give Smoulder her own entire peachaple, before adding, "They're the reason the Aetherium's borders don't reach the ocean. Then again, they're also the only reason the borders are anywhere near the ocean, as they are open to trade."

"Yep. But only with approved captains. They prefer to avoid allowing Aetherium loyalists to be in charge of their vessels. Heard they encourage tourism to their dungeons though. That'd be something to experience."

"It's true, they only allow licenced captains to sail their waters. If we want to go to the academy, we'll need to book passage," Tipan agrees, her lower hand idly tapping the island.

"Do we? Want to go, I mean?" Roberts questions Beth, who stops studying the map to meet his gaze.

"I don't know. What we truly need, is access to a Nexus point and a whole lot of food. Then we can safely spend all the resources we received."

She's right. I have a grand total of 42, hmm, nope. Just gonna spend a point on Perception and Resolve, so let's make that 40, integration points. And two levels to gain.

Hmm. I've still got the summoning device for Raz's. With that, all we need is a Nexus point. In fact, couldn't I….?

Flying up to collect more fruit, I open my spell list to check on my Return spell's cost.

What the hell? Why does my return spell indicate it would only cost me one facet to return? We're way further away. Did I improve it that much?

I could go to the standing stones right now. But I'm not sure mentioning that would be helpful. Not until I can transport everyone.

Damn. I need to upgrade this spell to full-on teleport. I might have to purchase the ability from the shop. Except, checking my pad, I see that the cost was two iron progression points. Two levels or unlock teleportation, that's an expensive choice. Either way, I decide to mention Raz's device.

Beth responds from below, "That's good, kid. That means all we need is a Nexus point."

"Unfortunately, the only Nexus points I know of are all controlled by the Aetherium," Tipan complains before taking a bite of the peachaple I hand her. Then she creates a grid of glowing dots that are mostly within the Aetherium's core territory.

"Kid. Do these look familiar to you?" Beth asks, tracing her finger from dot to dot.

"Kind of. But I don't remember…" I trail off while staring at the map, trying to picture it.

"When we were looking at the filters. You asked me to go back to the mana-faults. Don't these correlate to several of the brightest points?" Beth reminds me, pointing at a small cluster around the edge of the giant hole. Crap, she's right. And I have a better copy of that map than any of the others because it's part of the rune that I keep tweaking.

Following Tipan's example, I create an overlay out of twilight. It takes some adjusting since her map is flat while my rune is round, but after a few minutes, I have it mostly aligned. I think.

Then I spend half a minute getting rid of all the lines between points. This is made easier by the fact they're thinner than the spots Tipan indicated. This still leaves us with over a hundred glowing points, over half of them outside the central area.

There are only three which appear to be within a few day's travel though. One of which would have us heading the opposite direction from the academy.

"Wow. That's amazing. The Aetherium would kill for a copy of this map," Tipan exclaims once it's finished.

"Literally," Rufka adds, floating above the others on her stomach while carving pieces out of the peachaple I gave her.

"Yeah. Probably," Tipan concedes, her body deflating alongside her enthusiasm as if Rufka attacked it with an entire box of needles. Gathering herself, she continues, "this one is the coastal Stronghold of Mithan. There's guaranteed to be an Aetherium presence but they're not in control. It's a settlement governed by the Lords of the Deep."

"Who are these 'Lords of the Deep' you keep mentioning," Roberts asks as I gather even more of the peachaple after having given several to the others.

We seem to be in an orchard. And since it's available, I've decided to fill my stock with fruit jerky, dehydrating it then storing it away. Free food is great when you're an outlaw on the run and don't know where your next meal is coming from. Which I think we are.

"They're like the Aetherium, but instead of controlling the skies, they control the oceans," Rufka supplies, not telling us anything we hadn't already gathered from context.

But Tipan continues the explanation without missing a beat, "The Lords of the Deep are a powerful species who live below the waves. I've never seen one, but I've heard them described as massive creatures the size of a dragon. They have long tentacles that can squeeze the life out of an iron ranker in seconds. And that's before they receive their class."

"Mum says their command of storm and twilight magic is unparalleled. Especially amongst the K'tharn," Rufka interjects when Tipan pauses for half a second. Rufka is also following my example, plucking fruit from the trees as we continue walking through the forest. Though she doesn't have a greedy little mana-hare stealing a quarter of it, does she Smoulder?

"Kind of sounds like an octopus or squid," Josh notes, using the English words. There isn't really a Vausian equivalent.

"I've heard they have cities the size of mountains buried beneath the waves," Tipan notes dreamily while staring off into the trees.

"There's no guarantee they'll be any happier to see us than they are to see the Aetherium, is there?" Beth remarks, gesturing to me and the guys.

"They're unlikely to care about outlanders as long as you follow their rules. And if we're not going to the coast, we need disguises. You four stick out like a Zanbia in mating season. And the skyborne is nearly as bad," Rufka answers, pointing at Tipan.

"And disguises means magic. Powerful magic if we want to circumvent the Aetherium's detection measures," Tipan sighs.

"Yep. Too bad all my friends who know magic like that are locked away in an Aetherium prison. Or back in the reaches," Rufka states before adding with a smile, "These are sooooo good."

Then she gobbles down another peachaple while Tipan droops her head. I squeeze Tipan's shoulder in what I hope is a reassuring gesture but she doesn't respond.

"So, what are our options then? Book passage to this academy and hope they can teach us powerful illusion magic? Any other ideas?" Beth asks, clearly hoping for one of us to say something.

"Isn't your resource made for deception?" I ask Beth while bringing the relevant section up.

Description: Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of that which exists between, Umbra is incredibly destructive to standard matter. It can also be wielded to counter any sense which relies upon standard matter.

Yep, there it is. Counters any sense that relies on standard matter.

"Hmm. You might have a point, kid. I haven't experimented with that part much outside of my camouflage."

"Well, it would be a start. At least then you and Rufka may be able to venture into an enclave to trade. Maybe buy some gliders so we can get to one of these Nexus nodes," Tipan nods excitedly, though it almost seems like she's forcing it.

"Yep. Shouldn't be too hard. If you're able to maintain a decent illusion. Rather not go solo."

"Okay. I'll start…" Beth stops mid-sentence when a loud rustling noise issues from the east, back the way we came.

"Maybe we'll save this for later," Beth suggests, handing the map to Tipan while I reclaim my metal, folding it into a thin slat before attempting to store it in my pack. My pack which is so full thanks to the dried fruit I've been gathering that it doesn't fit. I end up tossing a bunch of stone on the ground to make room as we continue away from the crashing noise that's getting louder.

By this point, everyone is moving as quickly as they can down the path. Breaking away, Rufka flies above the trees for a second before returning, her fur standing on end.

"There's a mana-warped Zanbia headed our way. We need to move faster!" Rufka exclaims, grabbing Josh by the shoulders, not giving him time to react before rocketing away through the canopy.

Tipan scoops Roberts up with nearly the same ease while I attempt to follow their lead. I try to wrap my arms around Beth, but I'm unable to hold her with my own strength. Even as I'm struggling, Smoulder makes her way into her pocket. At least one passenger is secure.

Grabbing ahold of me, Beth jumps on my back, arms and legs wrapping around me before yelling at me to fly. I struggle upwards through the forest canopy, branches slapping against my face until I summon a shield. The second I'm clear I make the mistake of glancing back.

There, behind us, is one of the gentle giant dinosaurs I saw the day we arrived. I pause time the second I see it because it's only three metres away from engulfing Beth and I in its massive mouth. A massive mouth filled with an impressive array of sharp, pointy teeth that are also crackling with electricity. Because why not.

Several of the teeth are at strange angles, protruding through the creature's lips or into the roof of its mouth but there are more than enough in their proper position to tear us to pieces.

As I zoom away, taking full advantage of the extra speed I can get while paused, I analyze it.

“Creature analyzed: Lightning-Zanbia. Gene-seed D."

"This unfortunate creature now feeds solely on mana-attuned creatures seeking the brief respite that consuming them provides. This is a devolved form of the uncommon Zanbia, a large herbivore found all across the surface of Akilo."

"Name: (The complete but agonizing understanding of torment created by a perpetually overcharged nervous system)"

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High."

"Attacks: Electrical discharge, Extreme Blunt Force, Stomp, Crushing bite."

"Defences: Physical: Extreme. Magical: High. Immunity to lightning."

Well, an analysis that actually makes me feel a little better. At least none of its description is restricted. And only one of its attribute groups is extreme. Practically a cakewalk.

Since time is paused anyway, I let loose a few torrents and arrows, trying to gauge how strong it is. Every attack splashes against its hide in a colourful but ineffective display of power.

And, oh look, it destroyed several trees when it made a hundred-metre lunge while trying to swallow us. It misses by dozens of metres, so it's fine.

I keep flying away as fast as we can. It's kind of exhilarating. I know I should probably be more focused on the escaping part, but skimming over the trees with a five-storey dinosaur chasing behind me is kind of epic.

I'm seriously considering spending the resources to be able to revive from death instead of levelling though. If we're going to keep running into stuff like this when we're just walking around, having a safety net like that is going to be critical.

After another few hundred metres I realize it would be much simpler to fly up. That's when I spot the others who are behind us, but they're much higher. Once I've gotten above its head height, plus an extra few hundred metres to be safe, we regroup with the others.

It's still staring at us balefully as Beth says, "Well, that was horrific. But at least we're in the air. What direction were we headed?"

Tipan doesn't respond, still staring down at the mana-twisted creature below.

"Should be that way," Rufka instructs, pointing past where the forest ends along a large body of water.

"Tipan?" Beth prompts gently as I float closer to Tipan and Roberts.

"Huh? Sorry," Tipan responds, turning to Beth.

"You okay?" Beth asks as I look away, trying not to embarrass Tipan.

"What? I'm fine. It's… there shouldn't be anything like that here. We're inside the Aetherium's core territories. Hunting down monsters like that are why the Flights exist."

"Which probably means a Flight is on their way," Rufka observes, flying back to us after she realizes we weren't following her.

"Good point, let's move people," Beth commands, before muttering, "And let's hope that thing doesn't chase us."

"Don't you know better than to say things like that?" I ask Beth as we fly off into the sunset.

"It's fine, kid. If it does chase us, we'll use it as a distraction when the real trouble shows up."

"Oh," I respond, wondering how in the two worlds she intends to do that.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for this week.

Auto-update decided not to work today.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.58 Fly by Night

January 19, 2019, 6:03 pm.

The mana-warped Zanbia decides not to chase us as we fly even higher. We quickly deliberate the idea of fighting it but decide to head out before the Aetherium shows up. As we're leaving, the Zanbia, denied its prize as we fly away, resorts to the solution of spoiled creatures everywhere.

The tantrum.

Demonstrating just how loud a five-storey creature can wail, it thrashes about, knocking over trees in its vicinity with little regard for anything other than its dissatisfaction. Even though we're speeding away, it prevents easy conversation for a good two minutes.

Glad we didn't fight it. That's definitely going to draw attention.

Once we clear the edge of the forest and we're sure we've left the beast behind us, Tipan suggests we fly closer to the ground. When within the core territory, most Aetherium forces attack any high-flying creature that isn't clearly marked. That basically means anything other than a glider, a dragon or one of the Aetherium's airships. There are a couple of other exceptions though.

While gliders are exempt from being shot on sight, apparently using one if you're not a member of a Flight is technically illegal. But it's the kind of illegal that isn't usually enforced. Since the only glider we have at the moment is busted, it's kind of irrelevant.

So, as per Tipan's suggestion, we fly a few metres above the surface. Turns out carrying the others is working well, so we don't need more gliders yet. At least not for long haul travel. I'd hate to try to fight burdened like this.

Half an hour later we discover our very first Aetherium ranch. The 'ranch house' is floating half a kilometre in the air, tethered in place by a thin, glistening rope. The rope is so thin, I half expect it to rip free at a strong gust of wind

"It's called Pelthian's infused recombinant tethering system," Tipan explains when I ask her what the rope is made of.

"Most users just call it P-rope," Rufka adds unprompted.

"Well, yes. But P-rope just feels so inadequate. It's a marvel of enchantment design. Even the Lords trade for it."

"Yep. It's great. Users still call it P-rope," Rufka shrugs as we move past a sleepy herd of shaggy, four-legged creatures that are grazing on the wild-looking grass.

“Creature analyzed: Gruffullo. Gene-seed D."

"This herbivore is a central component of most K'tharn diets. Having enjoyed the protection of K'tharn for several millennia, this is one of the few creatures to remain mostly unchanged by the arrival of mana. An excellent source of vitamins and minerals but not essence."

"Name: None. Insufficient sense of self."

Wow, my analysis doesn't even give me details on attacks or defences. That's new.

As we get closer, I'm able to discern that the walls of the 'ranch house' are made of the same leathery material as the gliders. Combined with the tether, it gives the building a kind of leather balloon sort of appearance.

Except this balloon is bigger than my apartment building back on earth, and the fancy zigzag patterns are composed of compacted bones that serve as walkways and access scaffold.

"Mum says the Aetherium uses mana-infused parts from powerful beasts because they're lighter but mostly because the Aetherium is cheap," Rufka informs me when she sees me staring.

"They're also the most plentiful copper-grade material on Akilo. Which is important when you're trying to provide people shelter," Tipan adds, defending the Aetherium's architectural decisions.

Rufka nods, "Yep. That's why it's cheap. I think it's a great idea."

"If the tether is broken, do they float away?" Josh asks while Tipan glares at Rufka.

"If the tethering is disconnected or cut, yes. The house is more likely to be destroyed than the tether is to break on its own though," Tipan explains a second later, expanding her hand in a mock explosion effect for emphasis.

Huh, that's pretty impressive.

"Awesome," Josh exclaims, staring while I bring Smoulder out so she can take in the sights.

The conversation continues in low tones as we pass beneath the floating ranch house. Beth wanted to go around, but Tipan insists that we're no more likely to be noticed moving beneath than if we went around. Especially since we're travelling along the ground.

Surprisingly, Rufka agrees with her without any mocking or teasing.

By the time the ranch house is behind us, the conversation has shifted to what we're going to do next. While escaping the core of the Aetherium and finding a Nexus are both mandatory, we still don't know where we're going after that.

Unfortunately, neither Tipan nor Rufka know much about the dungeons on this side of the Aetherium. So, if we're going to get more powerful, we're going to need a new map. Or a guide. The academy is looking like a better and better prospect just because we don't have many other choices.

Half an hour after we've left the ranch house behind, Roberts points out that we've crossed a few rough dirt roads that don't seem to go anywhere. As I watch, I see that the nearest two that run the length of a field or three then just stop.

"Why aren't there any major routes connecting these?" Roberts asks.

"There are trade routes near Aethire, but why would the Aetherium build them here? There's hardly anyone out here. And trade with the Lords is done by river," Tipan explains as we cross another one.

"Sides, the Aetherium doesn't like to set their feet on the ground less they have to," Rufka chimes in, "Cept these ranchers. They know it's easier to move their equipment between fields using roads. Equipment like that."

At first, I think Rufka's pointing at a collection of sticks but then I realize it's an evenly dome-shaped pile of sticks.

"Is it under the sticks?" Josh asks, staring intently at where Rufka's pointing.

"I believe it is the sticks," Roberts comments from Tipan's back as we go over a low ditch.

"Yep. They mix natural camouflage with ambient camouflage and low power 'nothing interesting here' mental enchantments to keep the harvesters protected when not in use."

"You know, Rufka. For someone so opposed to the Aetherium, you seem to know a lot about it," Beth comments as we fly over another field.

"Course. I live in its shadow. And they make a habit of conscripting or capturing my mum. Not that it ever did them much good before," Rufka grumbles, throwing a glare over her and Josh's shoulders, back the way we came.

"Once we make our way into the Aetherium, rescuing your mother will be one of our top priorities," I promise, looking to the others for confirmation. Josh and Roberts nod while Tipan shrugs.

Rufka smiles at me for a second but then she looks to Beth.

Beth shifts on my back, meeting Rufka's gaze for a few long seconds before answering, "If what you've said about your mother is true, it would be foolish not to enlist her assistance. I'm not certain we'd be capable of rescuing her without a great deal of preparation though."

"Oh, Vaus knows, that's an understatement," Rufka chuckles as we pass over the end of the fields. From here forward, as far as I can see there's a rolling forest. I wonder if we're out of the core territory now.

Even as we fly, I continue my experimenting, using twilight to shroud myself, trying to find a method that will travel with us. Using the umbrella spell as a base does allow for a mobile shadow shield. But it's only in a single direction and blocks my vision as much as anyone else's. A change to the shield to match my night vision use of twilight creates a shield that grants everyone on this side night vision. It's more accurate to say that everything seen through the shield appears in that same dusky yellow.

I'm not the only one experimenting. Partway through my tests, I feel unexpected lift as Beth figures out her own way to create wings.

"Nothing personal kid, but I didn't feel entirely comfortable not having a safe way to the ground."

"Yeah. Totally understandable Beth," I reply while checking my mana to see if I'm back to full.

Which it is, but I also discover my health is decreasing. I don't want to say anything, but I think carrying Beth on my back is starting to lower my health. Either that or something involving her experiment. It's only 0.1 per minute, but it was nothing when we first left the forest by the dungeon.

"Uhm Beth," I start even as I take a better look at the terrain we're flying over. The trees here are taller than the ones in the reaches. These are the sort of trees I'd expect even a five-storey tall dinosaur would be able to peep over.

"Yeah, kid?"

"I think you're hurting me," I respond, unconsciously flying a little bit closer to the forest below before catching myself then regaining altitude.

"Weird. Are you in pain?"

"No. I just seem to be losing health. It's not that bad, I can probably keep going for another few hours as long as it doesn't get worse," I answer as Beth waves Roberts and Tipan closer.

"Roberts, can you heal the kid? And let me know if you find anything strange."

"Absolutely. One moment," Roberts affirms, reaching out to grab my shoulder. The familiar tingle washes over me though it feels more invigorating than it used to. When I check my resources, I discover he didn't just heal me, he fixed the health loss. Furthermore, he increased my health edge by one.

"Wow. You're even increasing health edge now?" I gasp, slowing slightly in surprise.

"It doesn't last long I'm afraid. No more than a minute. But I'm hoping to improve that," Roberts replies with a grin.

"I'm starting to feel like I haven't been spending enough time practicing. That's great, doc. Good job," Beth congratulates Roberts with a slap on the shoulder, slightly unbalancing me.

We continue flying over the forest for another hour when Rufka speaks up, "I'm not going to be able fly much longer. My mana is getting low."

Checking her mana, I'm surprised to see she only has 30/318 left. Even as I'm watching it drops to 29.

"Understood. Let me know if you see any promising shelter," Beth responds, causing me to start laughing.

"What's so funny, kid?"

I start pointing at the ground, swinging my arm back and forth as I proclaim, "shelter here, shelter there, shelters every, everywhere."

Rufka and Tipan both start laughing along with me but it takes Beth a moment to realize what I'm saying.

"Right. Nevermind, kid. Just find a clear spot I guess?"

Rufka's already leading the way to the ground, so I follow her down, with Tipan just behind me.

Landing in a small clearing with a babbling brook running through it, we check the perimeter as Rufka states, "I'm going to need some sleep before I'm able to fly again."

"Indeed. I'm starting to feel the effects of our long day myself," Roberts notes with a large yawn.

"Okay, kid. Do your thing," Beth instructs me, waving her arm in what I suspect is supposed to indicate magic.

Nodding, I start fashioning an underground space. Shaping the entrance so it's hard to spot from above is tricky, holding me up for a minute before I achieve any progress.

Eventually, I create a lumpy hill with a recessed staircase covered by sod. Not perfect, but it should be sufficient. Next, I continue down, creating a large central chamber with packed earthen benches around a table. While I'm working, I stack all the stone to the side. I'm going to need it later. Once I have the central chamber finished, I inform the others.

"Uh. It's nice, kid, but where are we supposed to sleep?" Beth asks as they file in.

"Oh, I'm just getting started. But I thought everyone would prefer to wait in here," I explain, before turning back to my work.

Before I'm able to step away, Beth mentions that we're going to take shifts watching the entrance. She and Josh will go first. Rufka and I agree to do the second shift with Tipan and Roberts on the morning shift. Even as the shifts are confirmed, she and Josh walk back out to the clearing, followed shortly thereafter by everyone except Rufka. And Smoulder, of course.

But I'm hardly paying attention, shaping earth again. I wonder if I'll have time to teach the others some earth magic tomorrow? It'd be cool if we could all create places like this.

Off the central chamber, I create three small nooks. One to each side, and one at the opposite end from the stairs. Each of these nooks is going to serve as a hallway once I'm done, but for the moment they're just reminders.

As I'm working, Rufka and Smoulder both give me feedback on the design. Smoulder requests I put in running tracks along the top of the walls as well as more 'bunny nooks'. Rufka asks for a lounging chair instead of a bench.

Starting with the passage on the left, I create three rooms. Each room comes complete with my trademark, softer than stone, beds.

I miss Raz's already. I should figure out a better system for creating beds on the go.

With the first hall complete, I repeat my efforts on the opposite side, creating another three bedrooms. Once the bedrooms are complete, I inform the others.

Rufka is already asleep in her chair, but when the others make their way down, their not-so-quiet conversation wakes her. After she realizes the beds are ready, she and Roberts both thank me before heading down opposite hallways.

Coming in slightly later, Beth sits at the table experimenting with her camouflage power under Tipan's guidance while Josh watches them closely.

While they're doing that, I finish the last hall. I'm using this one to create enough bathrooms for everyone. I ensure each bathroom includes several sinks. Once the fixtures are in place, I fill each and every sink with clean water.

I'd rather not have to clean up after the others. Then I start on the truly masterful part of my abode.

Doors. The stone I've been collecting as I've been working makes for excellent doors. Starting with our main entrance, I form my door in place, fusing the pegs to the door slab. Unfortunately, I didn't think to reinforce the hinges, so the door starts tilting wildly. When I try reinforcing the hinges the door still shifts enough that I'd be the only one able to use it.

So, I use more stone to reinforce the entire door frame, only leaving round holes in the roof and floor for pegs.

The degree with which I'm able to fit the moving parts would be nigh impossible without magic. Or maybe with the right technology back on earth. We did have some pretty amazing stuff.

Once the door is complete, I consider locking mechanisms before deciding on a pair of simple bars that can be slid into place. It almost takes as long to create proper holders for the bars as it did to create the door but eventually, I have a working system.

That complete, I replicate my doors in each hallway. But with a simple latch and handle instead.

Checking my stone shaping skill, I see that it's increased to fifty-four. With our temporary shelter complete, I rejoin the others at the table, yawning as I sit.

"Hey Lex, did you put in ventilation?" Josh asks, staring at the solid stone door. I just blink at him for a moment before standing back up then carving several small holes in each door. At which point Smoulder requests a bunny hole to bypass the door. I'm glad she caught me before I sat down, I'm starting to feel tired myself.

Which makes sense, it's 3:23 in the am, locally. And we're four hours ahead from where we were this… yesterday morning. This is the first time I've been awake late enough to realize we have a 25-hour day cycle on Akilo. Well, more like 24.94. But I feel like that's splitting hairs.

That means it would be 7:23 there. It's been nearly twenty-eight hours since I woke up, yet I only feel as tired as I normally do after a long day.

"Yep," I reply to Josh's question, rather belatedly, as I plop down next to them.

Beth is still experimenting. At this point, she's turned her right hand completely black. It's kind of painful to look at. So, I don't. While she and Tipan murmur in excited tones, I pull out dried fruit jerky, (sharing with Smoulder obviously), then check my attributes.

Forty available points. Wow.

I want to jump right in, but before assigning any of my points, I bring up my quest log.

Zone Quests:

None.

System Quests:

“Quest: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 30 days. Reward: Variable. Time: 23/30 days remaining.”

“Purge Corruption. Requirements: Summoner found 0/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 iron rank integration points, 4 class progression points. Additional rewards for every summoned Fallen laid to rest. Time: unlimited."

Personal Quests:

“Quest: Return to Earth. Requirements: Find a way to return to Earth 0/1. Reward: Variable. Time remaining: 353/360 days.”

"Quest: Master the Basics. Requirements: 0/9 Elemental Skills at 100. Rewards: 11 iron rank integration points, increase mana edge by 1.0. Time: unlimited.”

“Quest: Knock knock. Requirements: open 0/1 doors. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points; unknown. Time: unlimited.”

"Quest: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: 1/3 races won. Rewards: Three iron rank integration points. Time: unlimited.

Personal Crafting Quests:

"Quest: If you build it, they won't come. Requirements: create 0/1 iron grade stone structure, 0/1 iron grade stone tools, raise Stone Shaping skill 55/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 24/30 days remaining."

"Quest: Metal in the Making. Requirements: Create 0/5 iron grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 45/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 24/30 days remaining."

“Quest: Plenty of pots. Requirements: Create 0/10 iron-grade earthenware using ceramics, raise Ceramics skill 33/100. Reward: 7 iron rank integration points. Time: 28/30 days remaining."

Huh. If I can finish my crafting quests, I could get my spirit and Intellect to a hundred while bringing my perception and resolve up to fifty. With my mental attributes evened out, I could also finish my 'Mastering the Basics' quest.

Let's see, I need fourteen points (and thirteen hours) to raise Intellect and Spirit to a hundred, for a total of twenty-eight. That would leave me with twelve points I can invest in Perception and Resolve. I'm already noticing the difference from increasing my Resolve, so hopefully, if I increase all my mental stats at once, I'll remain mostly not crazy.

Let's say eight points into Intellect and Spirit raising them to 94. Then seven into Resolve with five into Perception raising both to 38. Technically, even if I go all the way to a hundred with my magic attributes, it should improve my ratio compared to right now, right?

Then I can just finish my manipulation quest, (ensuring I get my Temporal and Spatial skills to 100 first, of course) which would bring me even closer to being in balance. Especially if there's another hidden reward.

Which would let me invest all the points from my crafting quests into Constitution! Or maybe a general balance.

After some quick math to confirm my estimates, I assign my points while rubbing my hands together in excitement. Then, since this is going to make me very hungry, I pull out a large plate of steak, mashed tubers and still sizzling veggies.

"Wow, Lex. I take it you spent some points?" Josh asks as he pulls out his own meal that practically mirrors mine.

"Yeah. I usually spend them right before bed. That way they increase while I'm sleeping."

"Cool. Totally spend mine every time we get em. It's like a compulsion."

"It's a little unnerving to receive so many at once," Tipan admits from where she and Beth have been sitting silently for the last minute. Glancing over at her, I almost choke when I see two Tipan's staring back at me.

"I'd say the illusion is working," Beth notes, her voice issuing from the second Tipan's mouth.

"Awesome Beth. That's amazing," Josh cheers as I stare at her with awe.

"Huh. So, this must be how you feel most of the time kid?" Beth teases, lightly punching my shoulder with a hand that looks entirely like Tipan's, fur and everything.

"So cool," I answer, running my hand across hers. "It feels like real fur."

"Yeah. Tipan pointed out that I'm not limited to sight. Tactile, olfactory, even aural," Beth declares, her voice shifting until she sounds just like Tipan.

"But I've still only got two functional arms. I can only move the ones that align with my real arms," Beth explains further, drawing my attention to the fact her lower arms have remained crossed in her lap since she started talking.

"Luckily, many K'tharn have a dominant pair of arms. It shouldn't be too noticeable," Tipan reassures us even as Beth's illusion breaks apart, turning into blue dust before fading away.

"You meant for that to happen, right?" I ask as Beth shakes her only two arms as if they'd fallen asleep.

"Not really. I had an itch that I couldn't reach while disguised and for a second I wished I wasn't," Beth explains as she scratches at her elbow.

"Huh. That's a strange side effect. But it could be worse, right?"

"Yeah. It could make you smell like watermelon," Josh states.

"What's wrong with watermelon?" I can't help but ask, morbidly curious.

Josh is unfazed as Beth and I both turn to stare at him.

"It's gross. Anyway, bio-break," Josh states, heading towards the bathroom with a quick step.

"Yeah. Watermelon's gross," I sigh as I push away from the table.

"Wake me when it's my shift?" I request from Beth.

"Sure thing. Night, kid." Beth waves. Even as I'm stepping away Tipan joins in the round of goodnights, heading for the opposite hall. I find an unoccupied room near Rufka. Might as well sleep on the same side as my shift partner, right?

As I climb into my earthen bed, Smoulder settles in on my chest then I try to fall asleep.

To my surprise, it takes me instantly.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for this week.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.59 Pick me ups

January 20, 2019, 8:32 am

Rufka and I are roused from bed at what can only be called an unreasonable time. Well, it would have been fine if we hadn't stayed up until four am. Anyway, I'm far grumpier at being roused for my watch than I was expecting.

As I'm walking towards the central chamber, grumbling under my breath, I stop. Smoulder's still sleeping in my room. When I turn back, I notice Josh and Beth standing close together. Then Beth gives him a quick peck on the lips before pulling him into what, at some point, I mentally labelled as Beth's bedroom.

I stare at the entrance. It takes several seconds for my recently awoken brain to kick in and understand what's happening.

Oh. Oh!

Good for them.

Instead of going back to retrieve Smoulder, I close the stone door behind me, giving them some privacy.

Even though I'm feeling giddy at Beth and Josh apparently being together, I'm still kind of grumbly when I greet Rufka for our late morning/middle of my sleeping period watch. I'm gid-rumbly?

Nope, doesn't work.

However, Rufka makes us a new tea. As I take my first sip, my grumbling transitions to contentment.

"Substance analyzed: Rufka's Nightwatch tea blend.

Description: Grants improved night vision, alertness and reduces effects of fatigue for one hour. Reduced effectiveness on copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals."

"The description should include that it tastes like oranges," I tell Rufka as we sit in a pair of thrones I've formed out of the benches. I say thrones instead of chairs because these are grand and majestic and difficult to move in and out of. Rather comfy for a bunch of packed dirt though.

"Nah. Where's your sense of discovery," Rufka counters, taking another sip of her tea.

"I reserve my sense of discovery for magic, exploration and food. And no, tea isn't food," I declare as I set my tea on the large flat space that joins our thrones together.

I consider mentioning Beth and Josh, but decide that if they wanted us to know they'd tell us. Instead, I tell Rufka the beginning of a story from earth about a young wizard who went to an amazing school to learn about wizardry.

It's more back and forth than I was expecting, I use magic to illustrate my story. Rufka doesn't have any sense of wonder when I talk about magic, but when I mention cars and trains it takes over an hour before we get back to the story.

At least the digression is good for practicing my elemental skills. Now that the caps are raised, creating small replicas of cars and trains is giving me increases again. I decide that ice will be my control element. If I don't level ice, I can ensure I'll get both Temporal and Spatial to a hundred without accidentally completing the quest.

Temporal is already at ninety. And given the frequency with which I use pause, I'm not worried about getting it to a hundred.

Spatial is going to require active practice though. Which is a good thing, because I'm continually forgetting about it in combat.

So, since the story is derailed anyway and most of my elemental skills are at ninety, I start practicing. Rufka happily volunteers to help me train, firing arrow after arrow at me.

As we're practicing, I pause time. I've been meaning to test this since I figured out how to teleport, but never seem to have the time or safety to experiment. Now we're in an underground bunker, with hours of nothing to do except ensure no one gets slaughtered in their sleep. Perfect opportunity to practice.

I reach out, forming the tether and everything is going as expected until I reappear. At this point I discover not only is time unpaused, I'm unable to re-enter pause. Before I have time to reflect on this, an arrow hits my shoulder, spinning me about. I thump off the nearby wall, but I'm not hurt.

"Lexi? You okay?" Rufka calls with a higher-pitched voice than usual when I don't stand up right away.

"Yeah. Forgot to mention I was trying something new," I inform Rufka as she comes over. She sighs, slumping down beside me while draping her upper arm over my shoulder. There's no new condition listed, so I'm waiting to discover when I'll have the ability to pause time again.

"You do that a lot. Worries me," Rufka says, squeezing me closer for a second. My ability still hasn't recovered. Even though we're sitting I'm still idly playing with twilight, running it through my fingers.

"Sorry. It's just so amazing, you know?" I reply a few seconds later, leaning my head on her shoulder.

"Yo...it really is," Rufka responds. Even as she's speaking my pause finishes recharging, activating as I test it. It looks like it takes thirty-six seconds after teleporting to recharge. On the plus side, now I know it takes me out of pause. Which means there should be another way to end my pause without teleporting.

That'd be nice.

Since I'm in pause mode again, I attempt to do exactly that. Reaching for my facet, I focus as I teleport again, trying to determine exactly what causes my pause to end. As I'm porting, I realize that my isolated bubble of time shrinks with me but doesn't reappear after I'm through my teleport.

"Ukila above, Lexi!" Rufka swears from across the room, causing me to turn to look at her in confusion. Then I realize I didn't warn her. Again.

"Sorry," I mumble as I feel my cheeks burning.

"By Vaus' tits, you're gonna be. You better get moving, Lexi," Rufka says as she draws her bow. Looks like practice is back on.

As she takes aim at me once more, a grin spreads across her face. The arrows are coming quicker now, but I'm having no trouble dodging. I don't have a mirror but I'm sure my grin is a rival for hers, the arrows flying towards me failing to find purchase.

As if I'd make it that easy for her.

Teleporting away, I test haste with teleport next. Same results occur. I have to wait before I can use it after I port. Luckily, teleport isn't on cooldown, so I keep porting away as Rufka's arrows send chunks of earth flying.

Reactivating haste once the cooldown is over, (Which was thirty-six seconds, again), I dodge her arrow by jumping away. This time I'm trying something slightly different. As another arrow thunks into the spot I recently vacated, I teleport after deactivating haste. This time when I activate it again, there's no cooldown.

Sweet, all I need to do is time haste with teleport and I can use them both together. I wonder what's causing the cooldown to kick in? Even as I'm thinking, I'm still dodging but my next teleport fails to activate as quickly as I'd like, causing me to take another arrow. This one strikes me in my butt, spinning me around.

Even as I stumble to remain standing, I discover I was so distracted I didn't realize my facet was nearly empty. If not for its rapid regen, I'd be at zero. Which I'm pretty sure is what slowed my teleport. I guess we have been going non-stop for over an hour, not counting our short break.

But I had over fifty facet left, even after my first experiments.

Is teleporting combined with haste more expensive?

"Spent already?" Rufka teases as she comes over, draping her arm over my shoulder while settling her other on my hip.

"Yeah. I think using teleport while hasted costs me more facet," I postulate as I catch a sniff of…? Is that lavender?

Turning my head towards Rufka, I sniff her before I consciously realize what I'm doing. Even as I confirm that, yes, the pleasant lavenderesque smell is coming from Rufka, my cheeks start burning. I start to turn away, but I don't actually try to escape her hold on me as she chuckles.

"You know, that's a rather bold move, Lexi," Rufka teases with a small smile.

"Sorry. You smell, uhm, good," I chuckle nervously. I'm suddenly acutely aware of how closely Rufka's holding me. I blame Josh and Beth, but I can't help thinking about the other night when I was in the bath and the first thing she mentioned was toys.

Is Rufka…

I mean they don't have males. And their thiani are all females. Am I that dense? Is Rufka into me?

Thinking back, I realize she's only prone to throwing her arms around me. No one else gets that preferential treatment.

"Thanks, Lexi. You smell good too," Rufka replies after a quiet moment.

I think there's a slight tremor to her voice. I mean, I might be wrong. Hate to misinterpret her just being friendly. I don't know how I feel about it either way, but I know I'm fond of her. So, I wrap my arm around her then lean my head on her shoulder.

"I'd ask if you want to sit, but we kind of wrecked the furniture," Rufka observes.

Looking around, I realize she's right. Though technically she's the one that did most of the wrecking, her arrows chipping away at our thrones, the table and the benches. I'm glad I took the time to craft doors for the bedrooms. I'd hate to imagine how loud we've been. I guess that goes both ways. I haven't heard anything from Beth and Josh either, though it's possible they just went to sleep.

Returning my attention to the lack of appropriate seating, it only takes a moment to craft a new, wider two-seat throne, which I find myself guiding Rufka towards one is complete.

"I have a confession," Rufka says as we're sitting on the bench. Her words cause my stomach to get all fluttery.

Before she makes her confession, I need to get myself sorted. So, I cheat, pausing time before she can continue.

How do I feel about her? I like her. A lot. But she's a girl. I've never felt anything for girls before. Then again, I've only ever been attracted to a couple of guys. And that was only after I got to know them.

Sab suggested I might be pansexual once, but I countered with the fact I'd never been attracted to a girl before. So much for that idea.

I mean sure, I've admired a few girls who were pretty but never had uh-uh thoughts about them.

And now that I think that, I'm having those kinds of thoughts about Rufka. She is rather pretty. And she did mention having toys and…

Not right now Alexis. Concentrate. You're trying to get sorted.

What else? Okay, she's not human. I should probably keep that in mind. It's technically an issue. But for some reason, it doesn't feel like a relevant factor.

It's not remotely as important as the fact that we're from different worlds. And I'm trying to go home. Will she be able to come with me? Would she want me to stay here? Would we have to break up?

And is she even interested? I don't know that she is. Maybe I'm only hoping she is?

Wow. All this time to think isn't helping as much as I'd been expecting.

Except for one thing. If Rufka is into me. Well, I'm sure I'm into her right back. I definitely don't want her to stop holding me.

There's still another minute of pause-time left but I'd prefer to resume talking to Rufka right now. Since I've just witnessed one way to end my pause early, I attempt to replicate the result without porting away.

Drawing the shield in doesn't work as I cautiously tug at it. It's only when I exert strong mental pressure that it rapidly collapses, returning me to the regular flow of time.

After another couple seconds, Rufka hasn't continued, so I nudge her side, "what confession?"

"Hmm. When I joined you, I was only sticking around cause I was hoping to use you to free my mum," Rufka admits, which completely derails my thoughts. Not the confession I was expecting.

Hoping for? I don't know.

"The fact that you were actively going against the Aetherium seemed like something I could work with. I didn't expect to have so much fun with everyone. Even Tipan's not so bad. Never thought I'd meet a skyborne who didn't look down her nose at me."

I nod, not sure what the big deal is. I already told her we'd go after her mum.

"What I'm trying to say is. Mum told me that I should be true to my heart." I pull away from her, enough to look into her eyes, but she's staring at the door leading to where Tipan and Roberts are sleeping.

"Oh?" I ask, suddenly worrying that maybe she sees me as a friend and it's Tipan she has feelings for.

That's fine. I'm cool. We're still cuddling, right?

Right.

"Yeah. And my heart is telling me I need to get mum out as soon as possible. I shouldn't be relying on the mysterious power of outlanders to do it for me."

Wait. What?

"And I won't drag you into it. There's no way I'd put you at risk like that. Not now."

"What do you mean, won't put me at risk?" I demand. There's a confusing mix of conflicting emotions behind my question. Anger that she thinks she gets to make my decisions for me. Delight that she cares. Fear that she'll go off and get herself hurt or killed. Probably a couple more in there too.

"I don't want you to get killed or worse. Like Beth and Roberts keep saying, you need to be stronger before you can take on the Aetherium."

"Well, what if I don't want you getting killed either?" I counter, wrapping my other arm around her, pulling her into an awkwardly angled hug. The throne wasn't designed for sitting hugs. Even as I maintain my hug, I change that.

"I'll be fine. I've snuck into the Aetherium before. And I'm not the one being hunted. Now that I have all these essence from our dungeon run, I can free my mum without putting all of you in danger. It'll be expensive, but with this sort of wealth Theria and I can buy her freedom," Rufka reassures me while returning my hug with all four arms.

We sit quietly as Rufka brushes one hand through my hair.

"I don't want you to leave," I admit after a minute of her continuing to stroke my hair.

"I won't. Not yet. I'll make sure you're all safely outside of the Aetherium first. Besides, I have every intention of coming back. I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but mum's an Archmage," Rufka teases, "Once she's free, she can teleport us to any Nexus on the continent. You'll see us in a matter of hours. As long as you're not busy becoming even more awesome inside a dungeon, that is."

"Good. That's good," I say, releasing her from my two-armed hug. This time when I look at her, she's staring right back at me, her upper eyes closed.

"What's your full name?" Rufka asks as I stare into her golden eyes.

It takes me several long seconds before I'm able to answer her question. "Uhm. I guess it would be Alexis Wyonna Everette?" I reply, confused as to why she'd want to know my full name.

I listen as she tries to get it right, repeating it several times. I find it incredibly endearing.

At her request, I correct her until she's saying my name mostly properly. There's still a couple extra r sounds. When I mention it, she insists she wants to pronounce it perfectly. It takes a couple of minutes for her to stop adding the r's, but eventually, she's saying 'Alexis Wyonna Everette' like a pro.

As soon as she confirms she's saying it perfectly, she states "I, Rufka of clan Plethesa, would like Alexis Wyonna Everette, to be my friend."

"User Rufka of clan Plethesa has issued Citizen Alexis Wyonna Everette a Friend Request. WARNING! Friends will be able to use Nexus hubs to determine each other's approximate direction and distance. Do not add a friend you do not trust. Would you like to be her friend?"

"The Friend Request ability has been unlocked in the general ability shop."

"Yes. Of course, I'll be your friend," I grin at her while mentally confirming with the system at the same time. It's so much more formal than social media. And it warns you about potential stalker abuse.

"Friend added. Purchase the Contacts or Friend Request ability to remove friends."

Being friends is good. Much better than not friends.

"Good. When I leave, I'll send mail whenever I have access to a Nexus hub if you do the same," Rufka offers as I snuggle in next to her.

"Definitely," I confirm. Not sure where I expected this to go, but I'm okay with just snuggles. For the moment.

However, I'm still worried about the idea of Rufka going into the Aetherium alone.

But I have an idea. All I need is to improve my twilight magic to create illusions like Beth. Then, once I look like some random K'tharn, I'll be able to go in beside her. It could all go wrong, of course.

But being there for each other is what friends are for, right?

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Always pause time responsibly.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.60 Small Improvements

January 20, 2019, 11:52am.

Even as Rufka and I cuddle in the two-person throne, I start on my efforts with twilight, creating a dusky orb in front of me. Twilight is the most finicky of the elements. From what I've discovered so far, there are more ways to change twilight than any other two elements combined.

However, none of my efforts have discovered a way to do damage with it. I wonder if that's why so few K'tharn use it. When we were talking about it, Tipan mentioned that the only user she knows of is Rufka's mother. She suspects there are members of the Aetherial council who know how to use twilight as well, as a couple are known elementalists, but she doesn't know for certain.

Even as I'm playing with twilight, I feel Rufka playing with my hair. Leaning into it, I watch as my twilight shield changes shape. Wait, could that be it?

I need to tie my spell to the surface of my body.

Creating a dizzying array of simple circle runes linked together, I attempt creating a shroud over myself.

The gentle playing turns into a sharp tug as my sight is suddenly blocked. I feel Rufka extricate her hand as I inspect the spell.

"Uhm, Lexi," Rufka quietly grumbles from where she's sitting beside me.

"Err. Yeah, Rufka?" I respond, trying to split my attention between her and discerning how well the spell is working.

"Did you just casually create an invisibility spell?"

"Invisible? Damnit," I reply as I dismiss the rune-structure. No spell appeared for whatever reason, but invisible isn't what I was going for. Also, seeing would be nice.

"Lexi, are you complaining about being able to go invisible?" Rufka questions, incredulity dripping from her lips as she pokes me in the nose.

I stop working on a revised spell structure to look up into her eyes. She's looking at me, but her eyebrows on the right side are both raised.

"No?" I try, hoping not to incur her wrath. I'm really quite comfortable at the moment.

She stares at me for another couple seconds before chuckling.

"You're almost as bad as my mum," Rufka chides while shaking her head.

Crisis averted, I lower my head back onto her shoulder as I reply, "I'm working on my twilight magic. I'm trying to create an illusion to allow me to pass as a K'tharn."

"Besides that wasn't a spell it was an effect," I mumble as I continue experimenting. We spend another half hour cuddling while I practice. Once most of my facet has recharged, Rufka reminds me of our teleport practice.

I think she's just getting miffed at me continually disappearing from sight. I'm still unable to create a disguise spell, but I've mastered a stationary invisibility spell. That only works in the dark.

Yeah, it's not amazing, but it's a start. Better than the murky shadows that I had the first time I experimented with twilight. And I can see out of it now. If I don't need to turn my head.

It's a work in progress.

This time when Rufka and I work on my teleporting, I start throwing low powered spells back at Rufka. My aim is amazingly bad without haste or pause. Unless she's standing still, I have a hard time hitting her. Actually, even when she agrees to stay in one spot it's difficult to hit her while dodging. I'm only striking her with one in ten shots.

I'm dodging another arrow from Rufka when suddenly a transparent barrier pops into place, causing me to halt. Glancing over to where Roberts and Tipan were sleeping, I find Roberts staring at us.

Then, without saying a word his eyes sweep the room before they rest on me again. Looking around, I realize we've destroyed most of the furniture. At some point, we also collapsed the entrance leading into the bathrooms. That has been exciting.

"Oops?" I offer as I clear a path to the bathrooms, triple reinforcing the attached entrance and hallway.

"Thank you," Roberts politely intones as he steps past me into his marked stall.

"No problem," I reply, stepping back into the main room where I begin cleaning up.

"I guess we got a bit carried away," Rufka opines as she patches some minor damage to the only intact bench.

"Maybe," I shrug. It was fun and it maxed my spatial and most of my elemental skills at 95. Once we sleep for the rest of the night… Err, day? Once I finish reading in five hours, I'm going to be really close to finishing my elemental quest.

Besides, repairing everything is good for my ceramics skill. As long as I'm infusing things with fire to bake it that is.

When Roberts is done with his morning ablutions, he rouses Tipan allowing Rufka and I to slip off to sleep. Which is when I realize I want Rufka to cuddle up with me, but I don't know how to ask her.

Instead of asking something that might only make things awkward, I head towards my previous bunk where I find Smoulder still making away in her nook. Now there's a cuddler I don't have to worry about messing things up with.

"Sleep well, Lexi," Rufka says from behind me, causing me to turn.

"You too, Roofie… Nope, forget I said that," I retract, waving my hand back and forth as if I can erase my attempt. "Sleep well, Rufka."

She chuckles at my words before slipping into her alcove across from mine. I stand there for a couple seconds before turning around and snuggling up next to Smoulder on the cold, hard-packed dirt. My improved health edge keeps it from being uncomfortable, but it's still no bed.

Even as I slip into sleep I swear I feel Rufka's golden eyes watching over me. They're a lot more comforting than the frosted brown eyes that normally plague my sleep.

When I wake in the afternoon, it's on my own without anyone shaking me or an alarm going off. Though the volume of Smoulder's rumbling should almost count. I start with checking my status, confirming that all my points have finished integrating. I'm officially at a hundred Intellect and Spirit.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

16

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

8

(+/-)

INTELLECT

100

(+/-)

SPIRIT

100

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

38

(+/-)

RESOLVE

38

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Iron rank

Progression Points

2

Iron rank

Storage

4.02

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

2/3

Now that I know the mechanism behind them, it only takes me a moment to add my maximum storage and armour to my character status.

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

119/119

[6.7]

(60)/d

Stamina

115/115

[8.6]

(62)/d

Mana

630/630

[56.7]

(523)/d

Focus

521/521

[37.8]

(369)/d

Matrix

Facet

166/166

[13.2]

(129)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[49.25]

Elemental

[49.25]

Temporal

[79]

Spatial

[79]

Matrix - Skill Level

Knowledge - Skill Level

Mana - 95

Engineering - 51

Spatial - 94

Gaming - 3

Temporal - 95

Survival - 17

Combat - Skill Level

Support - Skill Level

Throwing - 13

Cleaning - 72

Elemental - Skill Level

Cooking - 0

Earth - 95

Crafting - Skill Level

Fire - 95

Ceramics - 54

Ice - 73

Metal Shaping - 53

Lightning - 95

Stone Shaping - 65

Metal - 95

Tailoring - 3

Stone - 95

Woodworking - 1

Twilight - 95

Movement - Skill Level

Water - 95

Climbing - 8

Wind - 86

Flight - 45

Riding - 8

Running - 20*

Swimming - 10

My mana regen is so high that I could literally recharge the fancy standing circle protection on a daily basis. That's one hundred percent pure awesome.

As a side effect of this, I'm rarely not playing with magic. It's at the point where even while I'm checking over my status, I have flames and electricity skipping and arcing playfully above my hands as I give Smoulder morning head-scritches.

Now that my attributes are at a hundred, my personal next goal is to get Temporal and Spatial up. I'm almost tempted to stay in my room to practice. There's a high likelihood that as soon as I join the others Beth will take charge and we'll be out the door.

With that thought in mind, I dig a new practice chamber, leading down a set of stairs where my bed was, moments earlier. Even as I enlarge the room, I find water dripping through the pair earth. Baking more earth in response, I use it to direct the water away. Once I've cleared a decent-sized space, I start practicing.

It only takes me half an hour of pausing, teleporting and casting useless spells before I've raised not just my matrix skills but several of my elemental skills to a hundred. When teleport finally hits a hundred the hidden quest completion pops up.

"Hidden Quest Objective Completed: Master the Basics. Requirements: 1/1 Temporal Manipulation at 100, 1/1 Spatial Manipulation at 100. Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points. Increase Facet edge by 1.0.”

I might be a little greedy, but I really thought I'd get more integration points from this quest. Then again, plus 1.0 to my Facet edge is pretty huge when I think about it.

I invest two points in Perception and one in Resolve then finally go to join the others. My regular manipulation skills can easily be practiced while we're travelling.

When I emerge into the central chamber, the only thing I find is a note saying, "I hope you slept well, Alexis. We're all on the surface enjoying the sunlight. Westley."

Emerging from underground, I find everyone floating in the air.

Okay, I know I slept in a bit. And then stayed in my room to practice. But what the hell did I miss?

"Oh. Morning Alexis," Tipan calls, causing everyone to wobble in place. This is slightly exacerbated by Smoulder deciding that this looks like an opportunity to play, leaping from Beth's shoulder to Josh's elbow to Robert's knee.

As I apologize to everyone while recovering Smoulder, Tipan explains that she's figured out a way to create secondary levitation spells linked to her own flight spell. She's still in the early stages and it keeps collapsing if her attention wavers though.

Seconds after Tipan's finished explaining, Beth has us starting on our journey again. We're only a half day's travel from the Nexus point, and she'd like to get there, so we can access Raz's and level up.

I give Rufka a quick hug before we launch ourselves above the forest. We're not as tightly grouped today, each pair flying slightly apart as we enjoy the afternoon sun.

I'm partnered with Beth again, who's kind of chatty this morning. She decides to tell me a story of an adventure she had in Spain once. I don't really get her references, but she mentions a place called Del Prado or something she visited as well as several people she met.

One of whom she fucked then ended up having to kill. Her words. The casual way she describes it as an unexpected conflict of interest leaves me worried for Josh.

"Did you seriously kill an ex-lover?" I can't help but ask.

"Technically. But it wasn't like I had feelings for him. It was just sex," Beth shrugs, shifting on my back. "And he tried to kill me first. Or at least he was planning on it."

"Oh," I mumble. I hope that means Josh is safe. But does that mean she's just using Josh for sex? I guess it's none of my business.

"You okay, kid?" Beth checks, continuing before I can respond, "Sorry. Sometimes I forget not everyone's had the life I've had."

"Yeah. It's pretty crazy," I comment as we drift further away from the others. "So. You and Josh? Do I need to worry for him?"

"What? No. Of course not," I can feel Beth lean back in what I'm guessing is shock as she answers my rather blunt question.

"Okay. Good," I reply, drifting back towards the others.

"I'm guessing that means you've noticed our closeness," Beth asks quietly.

"Well, I saw you guys last night. Why? Was there something else?"

Beth doesn't answer for a second, "last night was the first time we were intimate."

It's weird hearing Beth use the word intimate. She's usually so straightforward yet now she almost sounds bashful. Yep. Weird.

I just nod, and we continue flying in silence for a while.

Eventually, we start talking again, Beth telling me another story about her past. This time about a job in eastern Europe. Nobody dies in this story, but one donkey does end up distressingly drunk. She assures me the donkey was fine.

We've just gathered as a group preparing to land when my continual practice with ice magic finally triggers the notification I've been waiting for.

"Quest Completed: Master the Basics. Requirements: 9/9 Elemental Skills at 100. Rewards: 11 iron rank integration points, Mana edge permanently increased by 1.0.”

Even as I follow Tipan to a nearby outcrop projecting above the trees, I wait, wondering if there's a 'next' stage. But once I've landed and let Beth off my back, I accept that I've finally finished the entire chain. It was nice while it lasted.

With eleven points, I increase Perception and Resolve to 45 each, then join the others for dinner. We all pull out several full plates before we're done. I'm not the only one who's been completing skill quests and it takes us over an hour before we're all satiated.

As we return to the sky, there's a bit of excitement as we engage in a piggyback version of Tipan's race. At this point, all three of our passengers are capable of slowing their descent enough that Beth thinks we should practice maneuvering fully loaded.

While in theory, I thought we'd be more careful with passengers, especially under the condition that we can't win without them. However, these delusions are soon revealed for what they are. Silly.

On the first corner, I drop Beth when Josh and Rufka bump us. I'm terrified for a second until I turn to find her floating on black raven wings a short distance below. We're behind for the first half of the race, only catching up when Tipan and Rufka collide, causing both of them to fly outside the ring as they recover their passengers.

Taking full advantage, Beth and I make it all the way across the finish line before the others finally catch up.

The best part is, we're even heading in the right direction. Tipan has several basic 'templates' for the challenge races. This includes the first one we tried, basically a 'return to start' challenge and several 'destination' challenges.

Once she discovers she gets credit for winning, even as a passenger, Beth has us try them all. By the time we make it to the Nexus, we've completed each version of the race over a dozen times, earning us even more integration points.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 3 iron rank integration points."

We didn't do half bad, throughout. I almost finished the next quest by the time I look at the notification.

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win five Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 4/5 races won. Rewards: Five iron rank integration points. Time: unlimited."

It also pushes my flight skill to 100 at which point it informs me I need to increase my attributes to increase it further. Huh, I guess flight is based on my magic stats.

Even though I only need one more race, we're finally at the Nexus. It's buried so far beneath the forest canopy, that if we didn't have the map, we wouldn't have been able to find it.

As we descend through the thick branches, I notice that there's a lot of sleeping wildlife in the nearby trees. There's a giant cat the size of a wolfadillo that just watches us pass. It reminds me of the jungle predators from home except it has six legs instead of four.

“Creature analyzed: Vexthera. Gene-seed D."

"This carnivore is highly territorial and mana sensitive. Despite this, they gather in large colonies, ranging over huge territories to hunt their prey. Rarely seen near K'tharn territories, these predators not only excel in ambushes, they know when not to fight."

"Name: (Concept of silent death at night)."

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Low, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Rending claws. Vicious Bite."

"Defences: Physical: Low. Magical: Low."

No one speaks as we get closer, everyone following my lead since I have the best indication for where the Nexus should be.

As we reach the forest floor, I finally spot what I assume is the Nexus.

There's a large tree, at least twice the girth of any of those around it. That's the least interesting thing about it. Its branches are home to more of the Vexthera. There are no fruit growing from this tree, but there are large acorn-like nuts hanging from its boughs. The bottom of the tree expands even further, creating a bulb, like an upside-down bowl woven from cherry stems. Under the hundreds of twisting roots is an open area, barely visible through the tangled mass.

Moving closer, I can see the edge of a table with several chairs set around it beneath those roots, all seemingly made of the same material as the tree itself. And in one of those chairs is a short figure who is lacking the extra set of arms and too many clothes to be a K'tharn. Yet they also have far too much blue fur to be human. They're not looking in our direction. And they don't appear to be concerned about being out here alone.

At least I'm guessing that's why they have their feet up on the table with the chair leaning back as they toss several dull grey objects in the air.

I look to Beth, who holds a hand up for the others to hold position, then motions me to drop her.

Letting her down, I float upwards as Josh and Roberts follow Beth's lead. Once everyone is in position, weapons out and armour activated, Beth calls out, "Hello there."

The figure catches the objects, each one making a heavy thud in their hands as they catch them before fastening them to their belt. Then they turn to look at Beth with a grin, their dark green eyes dancing behind their very fox-like face. They take in the rest of us with a glance before once more focusing on Beth.

"It's about time yeh showed up," they declare as they stand, stretching their lithe, muscled form to nearly two metres tall. A bevy of fox-like tails splays out behind them. I have to say, everything about them screams kitsune.

I mean, except for the wooden toothpick protruding from their mouth. And the newsboy-esque hat on their head. Or the rolled-up white sleeves and black suspenders. Not to mention the round grenade type explosives at their waist.

But everything else? Yeah, totally giving me forest fox spirit vibes.

"You were expecting us?" Beth asks, not aiming at the fox creature but keeping her pistol in hand.

"Aye. Pleasure to meet yeh," they greet while sketching a shallow bow.

"Nice to meet you too," Beth replies before slightly raising her pistol as she demands, "Who are you?"

"Ah'm Demo. I'm sure yeh have more questions but first, if yeh'd be so kind, yeh could tell me," they start, their grin fading as they speak, the toothpick hanging by just a sliver.

"What in Odeon's name did yeh do to me?"

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Stealth Kitties know what's up.

Standard Author's blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.61 Demo

A note from Draith

Minor clarification edit Aug 17, 2020.

January 20, 2019, 10:52 pm.

The fox person is grinning at us, the toothpick protruding as they wait for a response. Well, we were wondering who Demo was. Now we know.

As we stand there, I pause, using the opportunity to scan them.

"Creature Analyzed: Phothen. Gene Seed D."

"Despite being a long-established member species, the homeworld and culture of the Phothen has never been discovered. All that is generally known is they're explorers who tend to prefer peaceful resolutions to conflict."

"Name: Demo."

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Medium, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium."

"Attacks: Explosives. Projectiles. Ice."

"Defences: Physical: Medium. Magical: Medium. Ice: High."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Phothen Exploriat for 11.4 focus and 11.6 facet."

Wow, that's impressive. The codex now costs more facet than focus. As I'm reading their status, I stare at the dull grey orb they're holding in their hand.

That's an explosive, isn't it? Not sure how explosives and peaceful go together.

Ending my pause, I feel a pressure followed by a faint tingling sensation wash over me as Demo stares at me. The sensation fades and his grin grows wider as he tosses the baseball-sized orb up before snatching it out of the air with a flourish.

"You're Demo?" Beth asks, not holstering her pistol, but lowering it further.

"Yep. Pure Phothen genius, yeh are," they grouse while inspecting each of us in turn. "Now, I've answered your question. What system-tainted business do you citizens have, pulling me halfway round the world away from my ship?"

"We found corrupted summoning stones," Rufka blurts out. Looking over, I see she's put her bow away and is hopping back and forth from foot to foot. "Are you a Phothen explorer? Like Ashkaban?"

Demo winces as if they've been struck, staring at Rufka before saying, "corrupted summoning stones? Never heard of them."

He completely ignored her question about being Phothen. Jerk.

"What are you doing here?" Beth asks, trying to get things back on track while I wonder about this ship he mentioned. He wouldn't have been on a world ship, would he? Those things are huge, there's no way he crashed one here.

"Me? After the damn quest showed up, there was an update. Seemed reasonable enough, offering to put me in contact with other citizens. When I accepted, did I get a nice little call or message? Nope. I was dumped here instead. Let's see how was it phrased, 'due to a Citizen's discoveries, you've been transported to a meeting point.'"

"Wait. The system brought you here? We barely knew we were coming here a day ago, when did you get your update?" I ask, forgetting to give Beth the lead.

"Oh, I'd say about a day ago. It's a nice change of scenery from the swamp I landed in, I'll admit that much."

"Do you know anything about the quest?" Beth asks as she decides to holster her pistol. At a wave from her, Josh follows suit, his spear and shield wilting away.

"Of course not. It's your system-warped quest, not mine. It did update to tell me I'd be meeting citizens here at Nexus point three-nine-two. Given the out of the way nature of the place, I figure you must be them."

Beth is walking towards Demo as she responds, "We are. I'm sorry to inform you, we're not planning on addressing the quest yet though."

"Yeh're kidding. Yeah?" Demo asks, his whiskers laying flat against his face as he stops bouncing the grey object.

"Afraid not, neighbour," Beth answers as she glances past him at the Nexus. He's blocking the path down, though I think there's another entrance on the far side.

"Of course not. Wish the system weren't such a pest, yeh know? No courtesy at all," Demo complains, hands on his hips.

"Yeah. Listen, speaking of courtesy, we've been travelling all day and we're ready to take a break, maybe relax a little. Why don't you join us, tell us all about your version of the quest and what brought you to Akilo."

"Ha. Good one. Citizens of the system wanting to know what brought a Phothen to Akilo."

When Beth doesn't respond but simply stares at him, Demo decides to continue. I don't blame him; Beth can get a good glare going.

"All I know is, one second I'm investigating a space station orbiting a black hole, the next, I find myself crashed in a swamp on a sealed world. As if that weren't enough, I end up enslaved by the system, ripped away from Saratesa, then I meet yeh here," Demo states as they edge away from us, crossing inside.

He keeps the table between us even as we follow him into the rather cramped Nexus.

Oh. It's not one table, it's four tables spread around the edge with an open area in the middle. I count a total of twenty-four seats at the outer edge with none in the middle.

Rufka nudges my elbow as we take seats further from Demo, "I can't believe it. He's a real live Phothen," Rufka practically squeals in my ear as she stares at him.

"Is that special?" I ask. I mean I remember the Phothen world ship, but there were dozens of other more interesting models in that room.

Rufka's nodding, as she answers in a low voice while Beth and Demo begin trading notes. Apparently, Rufka used to read about an infamous Phothen explorer when she was young. I'm trying to listen to Beth, Roberts and Demo even as Rufka is telling me about this Ashkaban The Great yet Rarely Successful (apparently, she was a light-hearted Phothen more focused on exploring than completing whatever task she was attempting).

Beth mentions something about the system quest and Demo mentions the anti-corruption system but it's not until I remind Rufka that we're missing out that she quiets down, allowing me to hear them properly.

"That sounds good. We can work from there," Beth agrees, not giving me much to follow.

"If yeh're sure. This particular Nexus is lacking in pretty much every feature except basic amenities," Demo explains while maintaining a precarious balance on his chair.

"We have a way around that. Given some time and resources," Beth answers carefully.

"Good. Yeh're not gonna be a waste then. And if we're able to visit a couple of these dungeons yeh mentioned, maybe I'll be able to find a way off this mudball."

"We won't be able to leave until we finish the system quest, unfortunately," Beth answers.

"Well, if yeh want to get stronger before dealing with the quest, I can understand that. But Yeh'll not be leaving me behind. Now that the system has its hooks in me, I'll be making use of it," Demo demands, his arms crossed.

"Hmm. We'll have to talk about it. I'm told that six is the party limit, and as you can see, we're full," Beth replies, waving to the rest of us. I glance at Rufka, whose face has fallen, her fur flattened in disappointment.

"Kid, you want to activate the device. I'd rather finish this conversation at Raz's," Beth requests, looking at me.

I'm surprised she wants to bring this Demo with us to Raz's, but Raz did indicate his place was safe for almost anyone.

Shrugging, I pull out the dark tube that Raz sold me. Then I insert a mana essence. It hurts a little to spend what's essentially an integration point, but the system menu here at Nexus point 392 is limited to purchasing a selection of fresh fruit (which I acquire several kilos of for ten emgee) and the Negotiation Table. The table's interesting, preventing damage to any copper rank or lower being around it. It's like a test area that can be accessed without going into a dungeon. While we're sitting here, I'm unable to summon so much as a flicker of flame or bead of water.

On the other hand, Raz's device interfaces with the system without any issues, a simple prompt appearing when I insert the mana essence. Holding it in place, a quiet thrumming fills the room causing everyone's conversation to die out.

A moment later, a familiar neon light starts blinking. The pink sign appears between one blink and the next. Immediately after the sign appears, another exceedingly bright flash of pink blinds me. When my vision clears, I discover the familiar plain too-small door has appeared, seamlessly interwoven with the surrounding roots.

"Doorway to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository linked to Nexus point 392. This door will disappear in ten minutes."

"Citizen Pandora may summon this door from their system menu at the following locations: Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository, Nexus point 392."

Basically, confirming what Raz told me, but still nice to see.

"Interesting. Artifice magic," Demo mumbles, scrutinizing the door.

"Yeah. The innkeeper seems to like making all sorts of things," Beth nods, observing Demo's reaction closely.

"This was done by the owner?" Demo asks while reaching for the handle.

"Indeed. He's been quite a wonderful host," Roberts notes from where he and Josh are standing on the far side of Demo.

"What do you say we get a table, have a drink and get to know each other?" Beth suggests, indicating the door in front of us.

"Yeh might have the right idea. But I think it's best that yeh go first," he replies, pulling the door open. He keeps his eyes fixed on us as Beth nods, stepping through the doorway with no hesitation. Tipan, Roberts and Josh are only a moment behind.

Rufka and I are standing next to him and Rufka is doing the foot hopping thing again when he glances at her. She's about to speak when he catches sight of her then retreats through the door. He doesn't slam it behind him, but his disinterest is clear to me.

"Isn't he cool?" Rufka exclaims rhetorically. At least I'm hoping it's rhetorical. He doesn't seem too keen to face her. And I've realized what Rufka's doing.

She's gone full-on fangirl.

Sab and I never really had fangirl moments. Okay, Sab might have gotten excited whenever we went to the observatory or she found a new article about space exploration. But that wasn't over people.

"Uh yeah. His tails are pretty awesome," I admit while sending Smoulder a mental message that her tail is awesome too. Smoulder reassures me that it's okay to look at other creature's tails. It's her fire that makes her special, not her tail.

"So awesome. And did you see his hat? I want one just like it. I wonder if Raz can make me one?"

"Probably. Speaking of Raz, why don't we head inside?"

"Right. Sorry. I'm just excited. I never thought I'd ever meet a real live Phothen, you know?" Rufka gushes as she leads the way through the door.

I nod along, thinking of what I'm going to do next, probably hit the change room, retrieve my loot then upgrade my class a level. However, when I step in behind Rufka, I find we're not in the bar.

Instead, we find ourselves in an octagonal room with doors set into each side. It still looks like Raz's with the familiar hardwood floor and polished doorframes. But other than vague discolouration on each door, there's no clear indication of where to go.

Our entire group is still taking in the doors when the door to our right opens.

A short creature about a metre tall emerges. They're propelling themselves on a large number of tightly packed limbs. They kind of resemble a bundle of licorice, if a bundle of licorice could peel the very ends then use them to move. And was light pink with a single rapidly blinking eye the size of my fist on top. One of the pink… Limbs? Tentacles? One of the tentacles is curled upwards waving a clipboard as the creature speaks. I'm not entirely sure where its voice is coming from other than under its legs somewhere, but the tone is warm yet warbly. I'm not certain how, but I feel it's distinctly feminine.

"Welcome guests to Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository. Can I have your names for the waiting list?"

"Waiting list? Where's Raz? Who are you?" Beth asks in what I'm guessing is surprise. Which is fair, I'm a little shocked too. Raz mentioned he was usually busier, but I didn't expect a waiting list. Or a new face. At least, I think we're looking at her face. She's honestly a little more shocking than the waiting list.

"Yes. I'm sorry, my name is Amanana. I'm new. Mr. R hired me on after he received an unexpected surge in popularity when he returned from his sabbatical."

"Your innkeeper was on sabbatical, was he?" Demo asks, glancing at us for a moment.

"We were here just two days ago," I mutter, wondering how much busier he could have gotten in two days.

"Oh, are you on his existing customer list? He did mention he was expecting some special guests," the jellyfish-like being warbles, her body undulating up and down as her complexion around her eye changes colour, resembling a blue star in a pink sky for a moment.

"Indeed. In fact, we have outstanding orders with him," Roberts mentions, "under Roberts, Rose and Tipan I believe."

"Oh. One second," she responds. As the jellyfish inspects her clipboard, I inspect her.

"Creature Analyzed: Weldiqa. Gene Seed C."

"A relatively recent member species, most of the Weldiqa were annihilated shortly before their species integration. While few records of their time before integration remain, traces of apocalypse class weapons and genocidal propaganda indicate a successful eugenics campaign. The remaining Weldiqa are ruled by an autocratic council known as the Weldiqa Ten."

"Name: Amanana."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; Minimal, Magic; Minimal, Awareness; Low."

"Attacks: Paralyzing touch."

"Defences: Physical: Minimal. Magical: Minimal."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Weldiqa Ten for 11.4 focus and 11.6 facet."

Okay, now I feel bad for thinking of her as a jellyfish. She's the least powerful person I've analyzed.

"Ah. Here you are. I'm so sorry about that. Right this way please," she trills waving her clipboard in the direction of the door. As she's about to lead us inside, she stops for a second to look at her clipboard again, which is when I notice it's blank.

Invisible ink? Maybe she has an ability that lets her read it. Or maybe she sees in a different spectrum?

Even as I'm contemplating why she has a blank clipboard; she leads us through into a much louder and more crowded bar. In the corner is our large table, but it's currently occupied by creatures that resemble Raz. They're much larger and more colourful though.

"Yeh know, this almost makes leaving my ship behind worth it," Demo states, taking in the bar with his tails all flowing behind him. Even as I watch, they settle together near the floor. It's almost like he's only got one truly fluffy tail.

Like, super fluffy.

"This way please," Amanana trills, leading us past the bar to a pair of tables sitting in the corner. As everyone takes their seat, we discover we're short a chair. I let everyone else take a seat while I remain floating. Why stand when you can fly?

"Oh. I'm so sorry. It says here you're a party of six. I'll just. Uhm. Give me a moment, I'll find another chair," she exclaims, spinning back and forth before disappearing between two tree-like beings. They're very humanoid, but all their features are wooden. But not fresh living wood. More like faded beachwood, a light beige and hard.

They're still expressive though, their wooden eye ridges rising in apparent surprise when Amanana squeezes past them.

There are several other species throughout the room and several are staring right back at us. Guess they've never seen a human before. It's kind of overwhelming, so I turn back to the conversation already starting at the table.

"Now, what did yeh have in mind to keep me from being left out?" Demo asks Beth as trays start floating over to our tables.

"Actually, I might have a solution to that," Rufka admits with a pinched face, her fur laying especially flat.

"We're out of the Aetherium's core now. The only way you'll be further from the Aetherium's reach is if you decide to book passage on the narrow sea. I'm going to return to free my mum."

"The whatsits core?" Demo asks in confusion. Roberts explains to Demo about the Aetherium with Tipan clarifying while Beth addresses Rufka.

"Are you sure? I meant it when we said we'd help you."

"Yeah. My mum's been their prisoner for too long now. I was almost ready to make an attempt when Lexi came stumbling into my life," Rufka explains, squeezing my hand.

"I almost wish I could get to know Demo before going after mum. A real live Phothen. Wow."

"Well, you can get to know him when you get back with your mom, right?" I console her.

"Yeah. Mum's going to be so excited too!" Rufka exclaims.

Amusingly, despite Rufka's worries, we spend the next half hour getting to know Demo. A solo explorer (apparently most Phothen who leave their world ships are), Demo was investigating a strange signal being routed through the space station. His comms beeped. When he answered, he got a burst of static before he and his ship popped.

"So suddenly, I'm not in space, the hull starts creaking under the sudden change in pressure and I'm completely without power. Do I panic? Not even a little. I've flown through Reaver space before which is non-stop wormholes. A little powerless flight is nothing to me."

"Awesome," Josh mutters, as Demo continues.

"So, knowing a freefall spin will just end up with my guts splattered six ways to Odeon, I grab the controls, guiding Saratesa into a smooth landing in the swamp. All without power, of course," he leans back, looking satisfied.

As Josh and Rufka hover over him, I listen as he describes fighting off the local wildlife while working on his ship. He'd gotten several of his ship's systems back online when we triggered the system quest, though it was still far from flight-worthy. Something about a missing engine.

While all this is interesting, and Rufka is hanging on his every word, I find myself regularly distracted by the busier bar. It reminds me of what Raz said about being able to enter from any location we've already entered. If I'm able to teleport back to the stone circle, then I'd be able to move between the two using Raz's as a waypoint. And I'd be able to set my return point here. Maybe we'd even be able to use it to travel back and forth as a group.

Before that though, I want to access the change room.

First, so I can level.

And then, there's that other little thing that I wanted to pick up.

Immortality.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Life insurance as it should be. Get yours for the discounted rate of 999,999.99.

Post chapter Author's blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.62 Sleepus interuptus.

January 21, 2019, 12:15 am.

Taking my leave, I purchase my room for the night. I still haven't seen Raz but Amanana takes my essence. However, the price has increased to two emgee a night. When I ask her why the price increased, instead of answering my question, Amanana apologizes but firmly states that the price is set and she has no influence over it.

Eh. It's still worth it to sleep in their beds.

Entering the change room, Smoulder and I engage in our nightly ritual of extreme ninja-bunny while I crack open the menu.

Now that I have the chance, I need to buy Restoration.

I barely blink as I select the ability from the list.

"Are you certain you wish to purchase the Citizen ability, Restoration?"

"Upon death, this ability will restore an iron-grade citizen to their last assigned return point 36 minutes later if they have not been revived by other means. Cooldown: 36 days."

"If a citizen has a charge remaining but this ability is on cooldown, they will be restored after the cooldown has finished."

That last note makes it an even better choice. As I send my confirmation to the system my body locks up. It's like when I was first stuck in time-freeze. But I know time is still flowing. Besides my time-sense indicating I'm not paused, Smoulder's still hopping around, free as a bunny. Which, technically, she's not.

At least the process isn't painful.

As I'm watching Smoulder complete the course again, I realize her obstacles are no longer under my control yet they remain in place. Then the understanding of my circumstances really hits me. I'm completely cut off from my mana.

I start panicking even as an insane itch starts at the very top of my skull. When it crosses my eyes, everything goes dark yet I remain conscious.

The itching is expanding in bursts, pushing its way down my body. After a couple of seconds, I feel Smoulder pushing up against my hand and my panic recedes slightly.

Thanks, Smoulder.

When the itching finally reaches my toes, there's a moment of increased intensity. Then the itching fades as my vision returns. A moment later I can move again. Pulling Smoulder in close I read the new notification as I scratch at a spot on my elbow that remains itchy.

"Update Complete: Citizen Pandora has fully integrated the Citizen ability, Restoration."

Wow. I need to warn the others before they go through that unprepared. The experience is worth it, but a warning would have made it much easier to go through. In fact…

Even as Smoulder and I recover, I connect to Beth letting her know first. Then I inform Josh. And then finally I connect to Roberts.

While I'm talking to Roberts about it, he asks me for as detailed an experience as I can give him. So, I let him know everything I can remember about purchasing the Restoration ability.

"You know, I wonder if it's a sort of protective coma, to mitigate any self-damage you might do?" he ponders after I've described it as accurately as I can.

"Uhm. Maybe," I reply. "If you're curious you can totally give it a shot."

Even as I'm responding, my mind comes back to the word coma. My father's still stuck in a coma and I never did talk to Roberts about his condition. What if we get back and he never has an opportunity to help because I've kept it to myself?

"So. Uhm. Speaking of comas," I start, scritching Smoulder's ears for support before I continue.

"Yes. Speaking of comas?"

"My papa's in a coma back on earth. I know we're a long way away. And we might never make it home but," I blurt out before stopping, recentering myself, then finishing slowly, "I was wondering if you could take a look at him when we get back?"

"Hmm. I don't see why not. I'll be trying to keep my abilities secret once we return, but I'm sure I can help your father."

"Oh. Thank you. Thank you soooo much."

"Out of curiosity, where is your father?"

"Pleasantview Care Home," I respond quickly. In my excitement I shift in the tub, splashing water up my nostril.

Even as I start snorting water out, Roberts chuckles, "I imagine that means something, but I was actually wondering what city and province he was in."

Recovering from my little misstep, I respond, "Sorry. It's in Burnaby. Uh, British Columbia."

"Ah. It should be easy enough to check in on him then."

"Thanks, Westley. Uhm. I should go," I mumble, pulling myself out of the tub while drying off. I use the water to shoot at Smoulder, providing a new aspect for her to adapt to as she leaps over a burning pit full of flaming bunny skulls made of stone. Her idea.

"Of course, Alexis. I'll talk to you in the morning," he replies politely. I swear I can hear his polite smile as he steeples his fingers.

"Goodnight," I agree as I end the connection.

Even as the conversation fades, it hits me.

I can come back from the dead now.

I'm going to need to keep integration points on hand to recharge the ability. But if I die, I'll come back.

I just sit there for a while, my mind trying to process the idea. It's almost as difficult as when I first realized I was going to die one day. Poor Mr. MewMew.

After a few minutes of sitting there trying to wrap my head around it, I realize I'm not done.

Next objective, gaining a level.

Sitting with my back against the tub, I access the class advancement menu then select the option to level.

Compared to my experience with Restoration, levelling is rather anticlimactic.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed has progressed to Iron Rank - level 2."

- +1 Class Ability Point

- New Abilities unlocked. Elemental Cascade, Elemental Chakram

- Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

- Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

- Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour).

Nothing surprising there. The new elemental abilities seem cool.

Focusing on my class, I bring up the available ability choices.

Ability points: 1

Iron Rank Class Abilities unlocked:

- Increased Facet Pool 0/10, + 15/rank

- Increased Facet Edge 0/10, + [1.0]/rank

- Increased Facet Regen 0/10, + (5/hr)/rank

- Transcendent Link (IFF / Identify Friend or Foe) 1/1, maintain constant awareness of selected targets.

- Elemental Cascade: 0/1, by chaining different elements, you can increase the damage each deals against a target. Each different element a user uses on a target will increase the damage of the next spell. This bonus resets if the user hits the target with the same element twice.

- Elemental Chakram: 0/3, Grants Proficiency (1/3)/Expertise (2/3)/Mastery (3/3) with Chakram and Elemental Chakram. Taking ten minutes, a user can create a chakram from any element. The chakram can be used as a melee or ranged weapon. A user can channel their spells through their chakram for an increase to the spell's damage. The maximum number of chakram is equal to the number of ranks in this ability.

Iron Rank Quest Abilities unlocked:

- Lightning Warp: Channel yourself into a bolt of lightning travelling with the bolt until it strikes a target or you reach maximum range. This ability uses stamina. 0/1

- Lesser Flight - Mass: While channelling, grant selected targets lesser flight while within range. This ability uses mana. Note this ability must be purchased with an ability point. 0/1

- Cloying Earth: While channelling, all earth within your control radius becomes thick and viscous while being incredibly difficult to reshape. 1/1

Iron Rank Pet Abilities unlocked:

- The Bunny House: 0/1, Creates an extradimensional home for Smoulder. Unlocked by Temporal and Spatial manipulation of fifty each.

- Here Bunny. 0/1, Summon Smoulder from anywhere within range. The range is limited by the user's available facet. Current estimated range: 171km. Unlocked by Return spell and spatial manipulation of fifty.

Well. That's a lot of new abilities.

Cascade or Chakram would increase my punch, which probably would have helped with the system boss. But then again, despite how long that took, it didn't feel dangerous. Too bad there aren't any numbers to indicate the strength of either ability. Chakram does have the advantage of being the weapon of my favourite warrior princess though.

Lightning Warp is cool, but automatically out since I can teleport now.

Tipan's already working on a spell to duplicate the effects of Lesser Flight - Mass, so that'd be redundant. And I already have Cloying Earth…

Wait, what?

Concentrating on the ability, the spell fills my mind. Its complexity is on par with teleport, the group version I can't cast yet. Hmm, probably more complex.

As I'm experimenting with it, I realize it has earth specific runes. I'm not entirely certain where they begin though. The entire structure is linked throughout. The only way I'm able to discern they exist is certain sections of the spell are incredibly dense with earth mana while others use completely unattuned mana.

Despite its complexity, using it is as easy as any of the other spells on my favourites list.

But it's not in my spellbook, it's a bonus spell!

Trying to copy it, the entire ability collapses the second I open my mental notebook. So instead, I pull out my physical notebook then start taking notes. I spend half an hour trying to record the runes when I realize it was easier to draw out ship designs.

Thinking of which, I purchase another two codices. So far, I've unlocked twelve different ships, thanks to occasionally purchasing codices. Which only leaves me with another 53 to go. But from cross-referencing the different designs, I think I'm starting to see patterns.

Remembering why I came here; I turn back to my abilities. I want both of the abilities for Smoulder, but I try to consider my choices rationally.

The elemental choices are the only ones I can honestly consider at the moment. And with the conditions that apply to Elemental cascade, it feels practically tailored for me.

Pause, hit them with a bunch of arrow spells to build up the damage, then unleash a powered-up torrent. Or just a whole bunch of arrows or torrents. I wonder if my channelled fan ability counts as a separate spell?

I could really use some practice dummies.

While I'm leaning towards elemental Cascade, I decide to put off the choice until morning. Unlike the class advancement itself, I can use my ability points anywhere.

Which just leaves grabbing my loot.

"Quest rewards available. Would you like to claim them now?"

Five iron-grade mana essence join my stash. Including all the mortal essence I can rank up; this leaves me with a total of… nineteen? And that's after using the one to get here. Nice.

I hesitate before using them to bring my attributes up. I'm getting close to balanced. And I swear I can feel the difference. But they might be more useful for my crafting quests. Rufka mentioned you had to imbue items with essence to create iron grade items. I'll need to work with her on it tomorrow.

I do use one to give myself a free integration point though. Now that it can recharge my resurrection ability, I don't know if I'll ever go without at least one point held in reserve ever again.

Continuing with my loot, I receive the Staff of the Elementalist and the Memory Locket.

The staff is a dark colour that reminds me of a mana essence. Most of the colours I've come to associate with the different elements flicker throughout the length of the smooth staff. However, at its head is a small dusky yellow gem no larger than the tip of my finger. I feel certain it's an embodiment of twilight.

"Staff of the Elementalist: This is an iron-grade Staff that grants increased power to all iron-rank elemental spells cast through it.

Bonuses once bonded: Empowered. Improves the power of iron-rank elemental spells by 20% while wielded.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

Huh, I wonder if this is similar to the damage bonus I can expect from the chakram? Twenty percent seems like a decent trade for only one point.

"Memory Locket: This is an iron-grade Locket armour that sharpens a user's memory.

Bonuses once bonded: Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while wielded.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: five iron rank integration points."

Uhm. What? Five points. Seems excessively expensive for such a small bonus. Definitely need to ask Raz about the locket before I spend that many points on it.

Hmm. I think I'm done.

"Ready for bed, Smoulder?" I ask holding her up in front of me as we finally exit the change room, the staff and locket already stowed away. I almost walk back out to the common room before remembering it's not just us anymore. Deciding to avoid that, I connect to Rufka to wish her goodnight.

"Hey, Rufka. Just thought I'd let you guys know I'm heading to bed," I inform her.

"Really? Are you tired already? Why don't you come play a game of Astra's Stride first? Please?" Rufka pleads as I put my first foot on the step.

Hmm. I guess I'm not that tired. Turning back around, I rejoin the others for a quick game of Astra's Stride.

I end up staying for three hours. Most of that time I spend snuggling with Rufka while we continue playing. Demo is drawn into the game by Beth explaining that it can unlock skills and even Raz shows up long enough to play a couple of matches.

When I ask about my locket, he explains that there must be a secondary effect that isn't reflected through the normal functions of the system, so they're given a simple description instead.

"There are several items like that. Such as the jacket I made for Roberts. The flight ability is barely referenced in the description even though it's the focal point of the jacket."

Doing as Raz indicates, I analyze Roberts's new jacket.

"Raz's Leather jacket of Flight: This is a standard leather jacket modified to grant flight.

Bonuses once bonded: Durable. Improves Health edge by 4.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Roberts. Cost to bond: five iron rank integration points."

"Huh. So, the memory locket probably does exactly as it says," I note.

"I imagine so. Though there are items that have entirely hidden effects as well."

We continue talking but our conversation drifts to how difficult it is for an active user to maintain an ensemble that isn't atrocious without resorting to jewellery or tattoos. It turns out tattoos are an especially popular choice for the fashion-conscious.

When we do go to bed, Rufka is still teasing me about losing the last game while Smoulder is perched between us, her tail draped over Rufka's arm, which is itself draped over my shoulder.

"It's not my fault. I just wanted to try a new strategy."

"Lexi, that strategy was a big steaming pile of Zanbia dung," Rufka informs me.

"Thanks. It's so nice to see you displaying your usual eloquence," I reply back teasingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rufka demands. She's pulling back from our walking cuddle slightly, but it's hardly the first time she's played the offended card.

"The great and mighty Rufka. Foul-mouthed and falsely offended," I continue. It's not my best teasing but I'm feeling kind of tired. Totally ready for bed.

We make it another ten steps when Rufka pauses two steps from the top, asking in a low voice, "Is that really what you think of me?"

When I turn to look at her, she's staring away, tears in the corner of her eyes.

Shit.

"No!" I practically scream when I realize she's taking it seriously. Where did this come from?

"I thought we were just kidding," I insist earnestly.

Rufka doesn't say anything, but she leans against me as she continues the last couple steps up, moving to one of the doors that leads to her bedroom. Turns out the bedrooms are all 'stacked' on top of each other, just like the change room. Rooms?

Anyway, Raz's looks like an Inn for six yet it comfortably sleeps six hundred. Plus, there's room service. Huh, I wonder if there are multiple common rooms too?

Rufka doesn't open her door or say goodbye, she just stares ahead unmoving. I don't try to pressure her but I'm trying desperately to think of some way to apologize.

Rufka turns to me and is about to speak when a large ant-man pushes their way past, shoving me into Rufka with a grumbled, "Glarz-nart."

I don't get a chance to say anything before Rufka yells, "Hey, you Wennigo-faced moron, watch who you're shoving!"

It doesn't even glance back at us, fumbling with the next door down the hall before disappearing from sight.

"Seriously, some users," Rufka mumbles while stroking my hair.

"Hehe. Yeah. Some users," I agree quietly.

"Sorry, Lexi. Didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just…"

She pauses, not really doing anything.

"Did you notice the way Demo looks down on me and Tipan? It's like we're not even users to him."

"I didn't notice that. I do remember him talking to Beth and Roberts a lot," I reply. I didn't pay much attention to Demo. Between cuddling with Rufka, the games and taking in all the many even stranger patrons at the bar, he kind of faded into my mental background.

"Yeah. Well, whenever either of us asked a question he'd ignore us. Then if anyone else asked, he'd respond right away."

Oh. I'm just going to assume she's right. "I'll have to keep my ears open for it tomorrow."

"Thanks," she grunts ruffling my hair. "We should probably get to bed. Beth wants to make it to the Lords' enclave. I agreed to stick with you guys that far."

"I want to go with you," I admit before I can catch myself.

"Well, I'd bring you along. But I'm not sure how useful an invisible patch of stationary air is going to be."

"I know. I'm working on it," I grumble. Even as I'm looking down, Rufka tilts my head up, a giant grin on her face. Then she blows a raspberry at me before disappearing through her door.

I turn to Smoulder for confirmation of what I just saw but she's totally not concerned with Rufka. She's more focused on whether I have more of that peachaple jerky.

Sighing, I hand Smoulder some more jerky while making my way down the hall to my door.

When I climb into bed, I can't help but picture Rufka's grin.

Even though it'd be a silly choice at the moment, I almost put the point into Smoulder's extra-dimensional house so I can have some me time. But I manage to hold off. The fact that Smoulder has decided now is a good time to curl up on my chest, tickling my nose and causing me to sneeze, does help.

Damn Smoulder, you're just so adorable.

Her contented rumbling is like a sedative, leading me gently into dreamland.

Waking to Smoulder's far too warm tail, I realize I forgot to pull the sheets on before going to bed. Which is probably a good thing, because, for some reason, Smoulder is doing her 'I'm a living ball of fire' shtick. It's a little terrifying until I realize I'm completely fine.

Yay for fire resistance.

As I'm watching her, I realize she's sleeping, her legs kicking against me frantically but ineffectually. The fear she's projecting through our bond makes me think she's having a nightmare. I didn't know she had nightmares.

Reaching out, I start petting her while whispering soothing little nothing words.

Almost immediately, she calms down, the fire going out and the fear disappears. I'm tempted to pull the covers over us but decide that maybe, at least for tonight, it's better if we sleep without.

"Go away mom," I mutter as I wake, flailing out at a fading dream. Turns out Smoulder's not the only one who had bad dreams last night. When I open my eyes, there's a slight ozone smell in the air and smoke rising from a slightly scorched mark on the wall. Even as I watch, the wall repairs itself, returning to its original austere wooden slat appearance.

It takes me several minutes for the anger at my mother to go away. I can't even remember what she did in my dream. The anger remains, real enough to darken any enthusiasm for breakfast.

Knowing that it'll take some time before I'm ready to face the others, I open my interface, reviewing my status. I'm still not certain whether I want to put that point in Elemental Cascade.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

2

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

16

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

8

(+/-)

INTELLECT

100

(+/-)

SPIRIT

100

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

47

(+/-)

RESOLVE

46

(+/-)

Integration Points

1

Progression Points

0

Storage

4.19

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

2/3

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

125/125

[6.8]

(63)/d

Stamina

123/123

[8.7]

(66)/d

Mana

669/669

[59.8]

(557)/d

Focus

573/573

[42.6]

(418)/d

Matrix

Facet

184/184

[14.3]

(143)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[61.25]

Elemental

[61.25]

Temporal

[93]

Spatial

[93]

The anger is gone by the time I'm finished checking over my attributes. It's a little hard to believe this represents me in any way. Especially with mom on my mind. Anyway, I've spent enough time ruminating.

Time for today's adventure.

And by adventure, I mean breakfast.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Sometimes when I'm editing a chapter, I'll be drawn back in, the world I imagined rekindled more brilliantly than when I'm writing anew. I don't know what it's like for other author's but editing is one of my greatest creative sparks.

It's still not as bright as Smoulder though.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.63 Cross Country.

January 21, 2019, 11:03 am.

Beth barely gives me time to order breakfast before she starts our 'briefing.'

"Demo is going to accompany us as we try to 'level-up'," Beth starts, using air quotes while looking at Josh with a subtle lifting of her lips. "Rufka has decided that she's not going all the way to the enclave, so she'll be leaving us today. We'll be heading to the Lords of the Deep's enclave, Glimmering Sands," Beth says, pointing to a spot on the map south of the original enclave we were discussing while I look to Rufka. She doesn't say anything, but I imagine Demo ignoring her has hastened her desire to rescue her mum.

Rufka accepts my hand when I reach out to her, Tipan taking over the briefing after Beth signals her forward.

"This particular enclave isn't on any major Aetherium trade routes but they still have a small presence. If I remember correctly, they should be in the single digits. There will be a large number of unaffiliated K'tharn there, those who choose to live outside the Aetherium. There's a reasonable chance we'll run into outlanders as well. I wish I could be certain, but I've only been there once."

"What Tipan is certain of, is that we'll be able to find at least one captain who will be able to take us to the academy while guiding us to dungeons along the way," Beth interjects, Tipan nodding her agreement.

"And yeh think we'll be able to trust a random stranger? Not everyone is going to be as even-tailed as I am," Demo points out, his toothpick still present as he drops his feet to the floor, leaning forward.

Does he have an unlimited supply of those things? How funny would it be if that was one of his class abilities?

Summon toothpick.

…

Nah, that's too silly.

"We need dungeon locations, and we'd prefer to reach the academy as soon as possible. That means someone who knows where we're going and is willing to get us there. Our ability to trust them only matters so much," Beth counters meeting his level gaze with her own.

They continue back and forth for a bit, but I tune it out as I concentrate on my food. I don't know why Demo's making a big deal about it. It's not like we trust him either.

I think.

Eventually, we set out. Luckily, I had time for my second and third breakfasts while they debated. Smoulder spends almost as much time with Rufka as she does with me, clearly picking up on my desire to have Rufka stay and trying to entice her with extra Smoulder cuddles.

It's super effective.

But Rufka's still going to leave.

As I saw last night, Raz has provided Josh and Roberts with their new flight items which they're wearing now. Raz and Rufka even managed to repair the glider. Beth'll be using the glider for a little longer but she's put in an order with Raz. Apparently, that had been on the docket before we vacated the dungeon but she hadn't prioritized it.

Even as I'm watching everyone experiment with their flight items, Rufka elbows me, getting my attention.

"Hey, Lexi. I was going to tell you first, but you kind of slept in. I'll be back soon."

"Kay," I answer, a lump in my throat keeping me from saying more as I pull her in for a hug while I establish a link with her before she leaves. I'm hoping I'll be able to connect to her as I did with the others when they were captured. My ability hasn't been properly tested at long range yet.

"Oof," Rufka kids as she pretends to lose her balance, pulling us both to the floor. We tumble a bit, Smoulder landing on top of us when we finally come to a rest.

"I'm gonna miss this," I say as we sit there, looking out through the tangled roots of the Nexus tree.

"Yeah. Me too. Mum needs me though. Plus, yeh know," Rufka kids, mocking Demo's accent.

Sitting there, we watch Roberts gliding around in his fancy new jacket. The jacket itself looks like a nice durable travelling jacket. A rich brown leather. Out of that jacket, a pair of bat-like wings have unfurled. They grant him better maneuverability and freedom than gliders, but he's still not as good as me or Rufka.

Pretty badass looking when combined with his cloak though.

Josh is out there somewhere too. Raz and Josh discussed the mechanics of using a belt for thrust while Josh uses his own abilities for control. As a result, Josh is flying around in Full Petal armour, deadlier than any Rose that came before, his Petal wings taut.

Since I saw him don the armour, I know he's still wearing his pristine pink bathrobe underneath.

Even as I'm thinking about him, Josh darts past, Demo skating along behind helping Josh practice his aerial dodging.

Skating, because Demo has a pair of rocket-skate boots.

Okay, they're not actually rockets, but he has boots that let him fly. And they have a blue effect that shines from the bottom. The blue changes intensity based on his actions, so they appear rocketey. Demo says they're standard gear for any Phothen explorer, though he's made his own modifications. Which is also standard for any Phothen explorer.

While the others are each testing their new flying devices and Rufka and I are saying goodbye, Tipan is ensuring no one hurts themselves. She follows behind, preventing them from crashing into trees or each other.

"Okay people. I think that's enough practice. Time to head out," Beth calls five minutes later, gathering everyone together. Except Demo, who settles where he is, leaning against a faraway tree.

"Rufka. It's been an honour having you with us," Beth says as she clasps Rufka's hand. Josh and Roberts's goodbyes are respectful but muted. Then Rufka turns to Tipan.

"Skyborne," Rufka smirks at Tipan.

"Reacher," Tipan replies, her face blank.

"Take care of these cubs," Rufka declares as she pulls Tipan in for a hug. It takes Tipan a moment to process before she hugs Rufka back.

"I'll try," she says in response, her voice choking up and coming out a little broken. I catch Beth's eye, who's looking at them with an amused smile.

Rufka and I wave back and forth as we fly in opposite directions, not stopping until we're out of sight.

We settle into a comfortable rhythm as we go, racing, hunting, experimenting then racing again. When I complete the next stage of the racing quest, I realize why the Aetherium isn't full of users who've maxed their stats through this system.

"Quest objective completed: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Rewards: 5 iron rank integration points.

"Quest updated: Hell yeah! We're going to race! Requirements: Win ninety-nine Aetherium Challenge Races using nothing but your own spells and skills, 0/99 races won. Rewards: Five iron rank integration points. Time: unlimited.

When I relay this discovery to the others, Tipan shrugs, "most users don't have easy access to flight until they're close to their cap. The challenge is mostly for fun or bragging rights."

After that, the day's travels are mostly uneventful. We do come across a few packs of mana-borne creatures that we decimate with ease.

Beth's actually making us use combination attacks, trying to get everyone used to working together.

Except Demo. He watches but doesn't contribute.

It's not like we need the help. Our biggest challenge is finding targets that can hold up to more than a couple hits at this point.

We don't have access to a Nexus when we stop for the night, so it's another underground chamber. Beth gets me to dig it deeper while only setting a single person watch.

"Okay, Alexis has first watch tonight. I'd rather not risk anyone losing their head while attempting to wake her up," Beth says while setting the watches.

"I wouldn't do that," I object, staring at Beth in shock.

"Kid, you almost did last time. You put a bolt of lightning into the wall over my head, doused half the room in flame then froze that half over before cursing your mother for interrupting your sleep."

Huh. I remember being grumpy, but I didn't realize I'd manifested several elements in response to her shaking me awake. No wonder Smoulder was sleeping in the nook instead of on top of me.

"Sorry. I really didn't mean to do… Any of that," I apologize to Beth, who definitely deserves the apology. I'm officially more hazardous to wake than my mom. That's a little worrying.

"No harm done. But, I think it's best to let you wake on your own," Beth replies before heading to bed with the others.

My watch is quiet and Tipan is awake before I can rouse her for the second watch.

Heading to my 'room', my eyes play over what should prove to be a much comfier bed. While we were at Raz's, I picked up some cotton fabric to make impromptu cots. Sitting on the edge, I reach through the connection to Rufka contacting her which doesn't surprise her at all. She's still in range, but the cost is already high enough to eat up my entire facet pool in ten minutes. I ask her about what I should do with my ability point as I'm feeling some decision paralysis. She recommends cascade since I like to use everything anyway.

With her input, I decide to invest the point right then. Unlike with IFF and Restoration, I don't feel any different but the point is definitely invested.

Thanking her, I settle into my cot as Smoulder snuggles on my chest while I continue chatting with Rufka idly, a perfect end to the day.

It's the little things.

We continue in a similar manner the next two days, though I'm also trying to experiment with my magic. I'm still not having much luck with invisibility. I do manage to create a sort of magma arrow though. It's neat but not as quick as my other spells. I feel like I could do something interesting with magma if I could use it with my Cloying Earth ability though.

Tipan spends time with us before we turn in each day, teaching us the basics of infusing objects with essence. Without proper facilities, she only guides us through the basics, explaining that it's ridiculously expensive to craft without them. That doesn't stop Josh and I from creating several lawn chairs out of his petals and stems reinforced with my metal.

It's our third day since we've split from Rufka when Tipan brings us to a stop, turning in place. There's been a kind of static feeling building in the air that I haven't been able to place, but Tipan's next words identify the source.

"There's a mana-storm coming," she explains once we're gathered together, her hand raised over her lower eyes as she squints into the distance behind us.

Following her gaze, I cover my eyes in twilight, magnifying my view. I discover a roiling mass of clouds full of flashes of lightning filling the horizon. It's still a long way away, but it seems to be coming towards us quickly.

"We need to get underground," she states, pointing at the ground.

"It's so beautiful," I mumble, watching it play across the sky for another second. Then I notice the others are already descending. I'm turning to follow when I receive a notification.

"Quest received: It's so Beautiful. Immerse yourself in a mana-storm and survive. Requirements: 0/1 mana-storms survived. Rewards: 5 iron rank integration points. Time: 36/36 hours remaining."

As soon as the words appear, I connect to Beth.

"Beth, did you just get a quest to immerse yourself in the storm?" I ask, still following them down. The rewards honestly don't feel sufficient compared to the risk. Rufka's mentioned people disappearing for centuries when they get caught in a mana-storm. Or coming out insane. Or just plain dying.

Point is, they're dangerous. Even for fully upgraded copper ranks.

"No kid. I definitely did not get a quest to go into the storm," she replies, slowing so she's gliding beside me instead of ahead.

"Weird. Cause I just did," I inform her, reading the prompt to her.

"Agreed, that is weird. Not a risk I'd want to take," Beth notes, as we get closer to the ground. I'm inclined to agree with her.

Tipan's already starting work on the shelter. Her earth manipulation is still weak, but she's been working at it ever since she unlocked it with Rufka's board game. Her growth is at best a tenth of mine but she's adamant that her current improvement is incredible compared to what she's used to.

Joining my efforts to hers, we create a deep bunker, twenty metres beneath the surface. Unlike the last few days, Tipan instructs me to seal us in, leaving no access to the outside. She then sets up a device that purifies the air, powering it with an iron rank wind essence. It kind of looks like a Christmas tree, glowing with sparkling green coloured lights as it works.

The storm rages outside as we play a lesser version of Astra's Stride, Rufka having the original safely stored in her inventory.

Between Josh and me, it was easy enough to create a replica. It doesn't give skill gains like Rufka's, but my elemental skills are maxed and everyone else has unlocked the skills they're interested in, so it's not a huge loss.

As Demo finishes his move, for the third time in as many days, I find myself inspecting the Phothen we've been travelling with.

He's not rude, but I've noticed there's a lot of things he won't talk about. Pretty much the only things he will talk about, are things that happened after he landed here. Or general statements about Phothen explorers.

Even as I'm watching him, he turns, meeting my gaze with his own.

"Bold move," I comment, in regards to his play.

"I live on the edge," he replies as Beth uses his last move to cross most of the board with one of her pieces.

"Might want to give some thought to moving off the edge," Roberts chuckles, as he likewise takes advantage of Demo's play.

"Oh, like maybe somewhere in the middle?" Josh asks as he places his piece, causing both him and Roberts to break into laughter.

I feel like I missed something.

Even as they're laughing, Tipan starts her turn. Then she stops, her hand frozen in place over the board as she looks up. She doesn't say anything, but her brows are furrowed in concern as I feel that familiar static.

A moment later I hear creaking. Creaking that is particularly ominous considering we're twenty metres below the surface. Reaching out with my magic, I find several new weak spots in the structure and start reinforcing them, drawing earth up from below. Tipan's working on the other side of our shelter as the creaking gets louder.

To my horror, a crack forms in the ceiling directly over the table.

"Alexis, it needs support," Tipan yells at me.

In response, I pause time while creating a pillar where our game table is, connecting it to the roof in a thunderous roar of rapidly moving dirt and stone. I'm burning mana like crazy, not restricting myself as I reinforce the pillar that now dominates our space.

The pillar reduces the creaking to a gentle cricking. Tipan and I remain vigilant, reinforcing anything that we notice weakening. I feel a headache growing as we keep working.

Finally, a couple of minutes after the creaking started, the changes stop.

Tipan and I both collapse onto the uneven ground, neither of us having any mana or focus left. My mana must have reach zero a while ago, as it's currently at negative two hundred. This is far worse than what Josh and Roberts went through but I'm in better shape. Not that I'm doing great. It feels like I wrenched something important inside myself. Not only has my mana edge been reduced to a mere ten, my body feels sluggish, my head still aches and it's hard to concentrate.

"Yeh know, that's one way to get out of a losing game," Demo remarks. Looking around through bleary eyes, I see I've destroyed the table, scattered the game pieces and the board itself is ruined. I feel a twinge of regret at the sight of the board. Josh and I worked on that together and we'd both been proud of it.

Luckily, the rest of the storm passes with little trouble, but no one relaxes until we're back on the surface. Tipan was in better shape, so she led the way, pushing the new tunnel to the surface. By abusing my pause mode as much as possible, I have positive mana by the time we breach the surface. It's only a mere five points, I have a lingering headache and my body's still sluggish but it's better than it was.

The nearby flora seems mostly untouched, but the ambient magic is almost painful to walk through. I'm not certain if this is because of my overdraw or a result of the passing storm.

Testing my flight, I find it works well enough. Not going to be up to experimenting though.

"That was rather unpleasant," Roberts notes, which reminds me to ask him for healing. A moment later his energy flows through me, wiping the headache and sluggishness away.

I must have been more out of it than I realized to wait so long to ask for relief.

Now that I'm restored, we take to the sky. Ahead of us the storm continues, receding into the distance as quickly as it came.

"Would yeh look at that. For all its faults, the system has some of the most incredible phenomena," Demo comments, watching the storm.

I mumble my agreement as the storm disappears from sight and we continue on our way. Beautiful as it is, I'm glad I chose not to throw myself into its heart.

Who knows how that would have ended.

As I'm following the retreating storm with my magnified vision, I make out the coastline a long way ahead. Not too much longer and we'll finally be there.

The enclave that Tipan's been leading us towards.

Glimmering Sands.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Lawn chairs are one of those objects that I find reflect the beauty of simplicity in design. For such a small number of components, they're decently comfortable, sturdy (if made from decent materials) and portable.

Standard Author's Blurb 0.02

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

1.64 Glimmering Sands

January 24, 2019, 3:05 pm.

Once I inform the others I've seen the coastline, not much changes, simply continuing our journey. While our current travel is unremarkable, we have seen a few interesting sights over the past few days.

Before we finished leaving the forest, we skimmed over a glade filled with snapping flowers that Demo insisted he needed a sample of.

After the forest, we flew over dry, grassy fields with lion-esque six-legged felines that watched us with bemused detachment. Thinking about the state of those fields reminds me that it's autumn here.

Good thing we're headed south.

The last distinctive creatures we came across were a herd of the grazing deer-like creatures prancing across the surface of a tepid marsh.

Despite the fact I'm literally flying everywhere, the sight of the deer creatures left me in awe when we observed them. They weren't just moving across the marsh, instead, regularly stopping to dig beneath the surface to wrangle sustenance from below.

Honestly, if not for the mana storm, today's journey would be rather unremarkable, mostly low grasslands without so much as a single six-legged lion.

A few hours later, we stop for our meal break. Flying higher while the others land, I try to gauge the distance to the coast. We've made it nearly halfway.

"It looks like we're only a few hours out," I tell Beth and Tipan as I land. Josh and Roberts are both practicing nearby, firing thorns and water arrows respectively. The trees they're using for target practice are already getting beat up and we've only been here for a few minutes.

"What do you think, Tipan? Press on? Or break for the night?" Beth asks while setting her glider to the side.

"Yes," Tipan replies, failing to keep a smile from her face.

Beth just sighs in response, settling herself into a folding chair she pulled from her inventory. Despite my ability to make furniture out of nearly anything, Beth prefers the permanent one Josh and I crafted.

So, now she has her very own, personal, lawn chair.

Once Beth is settled in place, she turns to Tipan who's setting up her own chair

"If we go tonight, I imagine we'd be able to stay in the local shelter. But I've no idea what facilities they have," Tipan supplies once she's comfortable.

"Hmm. I'll ask the boys what they think once they're done playing around," Beth decides while Smoulder and I start preparing a late lunch. Despite what the system says about my cooking, my reheating skills are top-notch.

After lunch, it's decided we'll continue on our way. The sun is just starting to sink below the horizon when Tipan calls out, "there it is, to the south. You can see the tower."

I can just make out a faint white pillar thrusting from the shore. Magnifying my view, I discover the 'stronghold' we're headed towards is reminiscent of a beach resort. One of those super nice ones, like one that mom would brag about this or that boyfriend taking her to, with individual cabins and drinks with tiny umbrellas.

The other thing I notice is a distinct lack of walls. Other than the tower, I don't see anything that could be mistaken for defences. Even the tower looks as much showpiece as fortification. It's intricate, spiralling, patterns bathed in the ruddy glow of the setting sun make it challenging to discern much detail from the distance.

Grouping together as we fly closer, I approach Tipan, commenting, "I expected a stronghold to be more… Strongholdy." I emphasize my point by creating a square fort out of shaped dirt, holding it in front of us as an example.

Laughing gently, Tipan responds, "Each one of those dwellings is capable of resisting a dragon's worst teething fit. And that's just based on what I can see of their base construction materials. I know in the Aetherium, any controlled stronghold node gives its linked structures additional benefits. The least of which includes increasing their durability. I can only imagine the Lords have advanced features I've never heard of available to them."

"Creative freedom while maintaining structural integrity? As a basic feature? Wonderful," Roberts notes excitedly while we move closer. That is pretty cool.

"Awesome," Josh agrees from above me where he and Beth are flying.

The size of the tower becomes more apparent as we move closer. It must stand a kilometre or more above the nearby cabins. The cabins surround the tower, stretching out to the north and south, with a large 'bump' near the tower.

Sheltered on its westward side, I can barely make out a bay enclosed in two reaching arms that reach out from the tower. They nearly encircle the bay, hiding most of its contents from view from our current approach.

"There should be landing platforms for aerial visitors near the tower. Since it's their territory, flight abilities aren't supposed to be used without a license," Tipan informs us, then points, "I think that's one, there."

Following her down, we alight on an all-wood platform which is about halfway between the outer ring of cabins and the tower. At the edge is a set of stairs leading down. And next to those stairs is a bored K'tharn carving a wooden object. They're lost in their work, only glancing up after Beth clears her throat.

They nearly drop their carving, only catching it between their lower claws as they tumble forwards.

"Vaus-damnit. Where the hell did you come from?" she chokes out, glancing up at the now-empty sky.

Beth waves in the general direction behind her as Tipan steps forwards, "Hello, we're looking to enter the stronghold. Are we permitted to enter? Oh, and would you be willing to direct us to a place to rest?"

"What?" the guard asks, staring at us before focusing on Tipan. When she stares at Tipan, suddenly, her fur stands on end, and she hisses out while bowing slightly, "Sure thing, your royal Skyness."

Tipan sighs but doesn't respond as the guard gives her directions. To the Aetherium garrison at the far northern tip of the stronghold.

"Actually, we were hoping for unaffiliated lodgings," Beth interjects, stepping forwards the moment the guard mentions the barracks.

"Oh. You mean you're not…" the K'tharn's hackles settle down as she inspects us again. "Of course. Don't know what I was thinking. You'll want something close to the Spire, I imagine. Better access to its restaurants, shopping, crafting facilities and training zones. Plus, the harbour."

This time she provides Tipan and Beth with a different establishment and informs us that the Spire access is available from sunup to sundown, so we've missed it for the day.

"You're here a little early if you came for the Great Tidal Festival by the way," she mentions as a prompt appears.

Beth replies as I read the prompt. It lists off the terms and conditions for entry to the stronghold. They're far too long to conveniently read, but when I scroll directly to the bottom, I discover several options, one of which will make understanding the terms much easier.

"Wow. It's like a disclaimer from home," Josh comments as I check over the options.

There are three. Refuse the terms, accept the terms and download a shortened list or accept the terms but don't download the list. Both of the acceptance terms also require paying a fee of five emgee for entrance to Glimmering Sands.

Choosing the download option, the emgee transfer immediately as I open the much shorter list.

"Welcome to Glimmering Sands. While you're here, try to be a decent sapient. This includes but isn't limited to the following.

- Don't steal.

- Don't murder.

- Don't harass.

- Don't assault.

- Don't fly without a permit.

- Don't annoy Lord Thansone.

- All rules are subject to change or exclusion at Lord Thansone's discretion. Remember, you had a chance to read the fine print before you entered."

Huh. Those seem like reasonable rules. Well, except that last one. But you need things like that to deal with trolls.

"Yeh think these terms are a little extravagant?" Demo observes as I finish reading.

"It mostly just says don't be an evil jerk," I reply, peeking over the edge of the platform with Smoulder on my shoulder, both of us watching the people moving below. "I don't see what's so confusing about that."

"How can yeh know that already? I'm still on page one where it explains the basic rights of individual species."

"There's a downloadable summary at the bottom," I reply as I watch a gaggle of laughing K'tharn walk by. At a glance, they kind of resemble Rufka but their fur is more of a greyish brown colour, not nearly as beautiful as her tawny brown.

I'm probably biased.

"Indeed. An excellent example of 'too long, didn't read' if ever there was one," Roberts notes while looking over the enclave beside me. The word enclave feels wrong now that we're here. This is more like a small community or village. Okay, probably too many people to be a village. But the individual styles of the cabins lend themselves to the word. The only unifying features of the cabins are the glossy black roofing and the wooden material used in their construction.

"You know what tl;dr is?" I ask Roberts as we make our way down the stairs ahead of the others. I can hear them talking behind us but only barely. Smoulder, of course, is already on the ground waiting for us. The no-flying rule doesn't apply to bouncing off the railings.

"The internet isn't just for young people," Roberts replies, stopping when we reach the bottom as I collect Smoulder. We watch a pair of K'tharn walk by, chatting in what Uthica referred to as Unerse, or 'the deep tongue.' It's strange hearing the low and echoing sounds coming from K'tharn.

"I wonder if we're able to teach the K'tharn English," Roberts ponders as we continue our trek towards the indicated inn, closer to the tower. After only a few blocks of walking, I'm already getting antsy to fly again. It's faster and since it requires mana, it feels more invigorating, even when moving at a relative crawl.

"I imagine so. Vausian is mostly the same language that Uthica grew up with as a kid," I respond as yet another set of K'tharn walk past us, giggling amongst themselves. "Does this place feel like a tourist resort to you?"

"I must admit it's not quite what I expected of the first settlement we came across," Roberts inclines his head in agreement as we approach the 'cabin', Ocean's Breeze. Cabin seems to be a misnomer as I consider it's size from the front where a short set of stairs lead up. It's easily half the size of our apartment building back home.

It's decorated in an ocean motif that helps confirm we're at the right place. There are aquatic dolphin-esque creatures carved into the log walls and something that reminds me of a sea-based long-neck dinosaur features prominently over the entrance, its eyes watching us enter. I'm pretty sure there's a name for the dinosaur I'm looking at, but I don't know it.

Given our proximity to the ocean, I would have expected the aquatic motif to be more common, but this is one of the few cabins with one so far. While I'm rather taken by the design, Smoulder's not impressed. Too many fish.

"Those are some sweet carvings," Josh comments from behind us where he's holding Beth's hand.

Aww.

"I didn't realize they put such an emphasis on the artistic aspect here. Each building could easily be a Commander's residence in the Aetherium," Tipan remarks as Roberts leads the way up the steps.

"It's a beautiful sight, to be sure," Demo agrees as Roberts puts his hand on the door, pushing it open.

Inside we discover a rather typical setting for a hotel back home, a service desk sitting before us. However, there's no one at said desk when we walk in. We browse the lobby as we wait. It feels almost like a gift shop, prices for miscellaneous knick-knacks popping directly into my mind if I focus on an object for a moment. And there are a lot of knick-knacks, from little centimetre long carvings of aquatic creatures to a great moving chime of assembled shells that shifts in the gentle breeze blowing through the lobby. A minute later, a K'tharn with striking black and white colouring emerges from a back room greeting us with a smile and flattened fur. Despite the fact she's clearly a K'tharn, her colouration reminds me of a skunk.

She apologizes in Unerse but when everyone else glances at each other in confusion, she switches to Vausian before I can step in, "my apologies visitors. Do you understand Vausian?"

Nodding, Roberts responds, "Indeed, we do. We were told you might have rooms available?"

"Yes, I do. And at a very competitive four emgee per night," she pauses as she checks over our party. "Though I'm sad to say that I only have two rooms available."

"Hmm. Are there any other inns nearby? We'd rather not be split up," Beth explains, levelling her gaze at the poor K'tharn.

"Yuh-yes, there's another Inn just two buildings down and across the path. The Falcon's Catch should have room for the rest of you. I feel I should mention, if you're all needing your own rooms, you're unlikely to find them in a single building this close to the Spire."

"Oh. Why is that?" Roberts asks politely, stepping between Beth and the desk attendant while inspecting a squid carving.

Huh, I think he did that on purpose.

With a more level voice, the K'tharn responds, "most visitors prefer to stay near the Spire. With flight being illegal and running being frowned upon, it's a time saver. You're lucky you're here now. Two weeks from now and you'd be arriving during the Great Tidal Festival."

"I've never heard of this festival. Is it a local affair?" Tipan asks, drawing the K'tharn's attention for the first time. The K'tharn glances at Tipan for a second before fainting, disappearing behind her counter.

Tipan sighs again while Roberts makes his way around the counter and Beth glances at her with a sideways gaze.

"The locals sure do take notice of yeh. Yeh some kind of royalty or something?" Demo asks, tilting his hat back while pointing at Tipan with his toothpick.

"Hardly. It's my fur. There's a silly rumour that it signifies an especially strong connection with Vaus. An avatar of destruction, master of wind and lightning. A rumour that the Aetherium has clearly proven is fal…..se…." Tipan cuts herself off as her eyes go wide. She turns to stare at me for a moment then sits down hard, missing the chair she was reaching for, landing on the floor instead.

"Am I missing something?" Demo asks, looking back and forth between us.

"Eh. Just your typical government lying to everyone about anything and everything," Josh shrugs.

"A common symptom of those who inhabit the system I imagine. I suppose I'll have to grow used to it as well," Demo nods.

While they're talking, I go over to offer Tipan a hand up. While she does take my hand, when I tug on her, I pull myself to the floor instead of pulling her up.

Right, I'm still a weakling.

Sitting next to her, I figure I can do the next best thing and hold her hand. Smoulder, noticing my desire to console Tipan, is also nuzzling up against the aforementioned hand.

"It's just like everything else," she mutters, staring at her upper hands where a spark of electricity is bouncing around. I'm postulating that she's got some wind mana going too, but it's a little less visible.

"Yep," I agree, nodding as though she's said something wise and profound.

Tipan turns to stare at me for a second then starts giggling.

"Thank you, Alexis," she finally says as I hear a groan from behind the desk.

"Uhh. Anytime," I reply. Not sure I did much, but hey, at least she's feeling better!

We stand up while the K'tharn behind the counter stares at Tipan for a second. When she doesn't explode or turn into a magical ball of kitty death or whatever she's expecting, she finally speaks. "I've never had a skyborne in my inn before. My apologies, my lady."

"Thought she said she wasn't royalty," Demo mutters behind me as Tipan stiffens.

"Oh. That's quite alright. No harm done. But perhaps it would be best if I stay in the other inn," Tipan assures the troubled K'tharn.

However, the innkeeper's eyes draw open in shock as she proclaims, "you'll do no such thing. You'll stay here or my name isn't Pefe La'mew. And the first night is free. As an apology. I'll even throw in dinner for you and your companions. After they've had a chance to secure their lodgings, of course."

Tipan is shocked, only able to mumble out a demure, "Okay," in response.

Josh and Beth decide they'll stay with Tipan, though at first Beth insists we should stick together until everyone has their rooms figured out. But Roberts and I convince her we'll be safe enough. We're only going a couple of doors away and I can reach her over comms.

With that decided, Roberts, Demo and I make our way to Falcon's Catch, Smoulder on my shoulder and a sense of relaxation in the air.

The Falcon's Catch is simple to find following Pefe's instructions. Unlike most of the other buildings here, the exterior is rather plain with just a single sculpture of a majestic bird over the entrance, its wings forming protective eaves against the weather.

Stepping inside we're hit by a heavy wave of smoky incense. It's almost as thick as the trial I ran through. There's no desk or lobby in this room. Instead, there's what I would describe as a large bird resting on….. Is that a bean bag chair?

I'm guessing it must be the falcon featured in the name. Given the pipe hanging from its beak, and the way it turns its head to stare at us when we enter, I'm guessing it's also the proprietor.

It continues staring when Roberts speaks, "Excuse me. But we were wondering if you had rooms available?"

The silence grows long, Demo holding the door open while we wait for a response.

After a minute of us not moving, I'm about to suggest we leave when they sigh while waving us forward, "fine. I've got the space. But there are no meals and I don't do room service."

Damn.

I hate to say it.

But I think Beth got the better inn.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

And so we receive the first taste of civilization on Akilo.

On a separate topic, I'm looking for two (2) pre-readers.

I have enough pre-readers for now. Thank you.

You’ll receive the builder tag on the discord server as well as early access to all the chapters.

To be clear, I’m not looking for an editor. That’ll still be handled by me. What I am looking for is people to mention when things don’t make sense, are out of place or even if the direction the story is going feels off. Pointing out spelling/grammar mistakes is nice but not the goal.

I need critical feedback on each chapter ahead of when it goes live to patrons. It can be as little as letting me know a particular paragraph feels wonky to as much as proposing entire story arcs for the future (though I have most of it mapped out, it is still being written).

If you're interested you can message me through RR or discord.

Peace!

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier. Should probably hold off until July 1st or you'll be billed again.

1.65 Removable Obstacles

January 24, 2019, 8:06 pm.

Roberts immediately tries to assuage our disgruntled host, "If it's that much of a bother, we can stay at another inn. If you'd be so kind as to direct us, we can be out of your feathers."

The falcon-like bird-person just stares at Roberts with narrowed eyes for a second before shrugging, "two doors down and across the way. Ocean's Breeze."

Demo and I chuckle as Roberts glances back for a second before responding, a small smile on his face, "Unfortunately, they're full."

"Well, looks like old Herv is stuck with you then. It'll be five emgee per night. Each. You're to be out of your rooms between 9 and 11, in the am, every day," our host, Herv, informs us as they close their eyes, dismissing us from their notice.

"Yeh're not big on customer service, are yeh?" Demo asks with a wide grin causing Herv's eyes to snap back open.

"My rooms are clean, safe and secure. You want bootlicking, you're in the wrong town."

"Clean, safe and secure sound excellent. You have a room for each of us?" Roberts interjects before Demo can continue, waving him back. This only causes Demo's grin to grow wider.

"Course. Accept the prompt and the rooms are yours. Your interface'll show the way."

Accepting his terms after our conversation, we all purchase our rooms. But since we're still planning on dinner with the others, we leave instead of going to bed, letting Herv know we're going out. He just grunts in response, still not moving from his bean bag.

When we get back to the Ocean's Breeze, we find a veritable feast laid out, the others already partaking with gusto. Considering Pefe's a K'tharn, it's not surprising that most of the dishes are meat. But not all of them. While there's an entire roast bird, several different types of cubed fish and pork crisps, there are also two different salads. Salads which are mostly leafy greens with only a few pieces of meat mixed in.

As Roberts informs the others we've secured our lodgings, I take a place at the table, noting that Pefe is nowhere to be seen. Once I've grabbed my own food, I reach out to Rufka, letting her know we've arrived in Glimmering Sands.

"This place is interesting. Wish you were here," I tell her as Smoulder hops onto the table, investigating my meal.

"It sounds fun. Definitely better than sneaking around Aethire. They've imposed a curfew for every-user not in the military. It's making everything take twice as long. I swear, it's like they don't want me to get mum out."

I can't help but giggle as I respond, "probably cause they don't."

"Yeah. I mean, what's with that?" she asks. I can practically hear her grin and picture her raising her brows.

"Oh, they're probably just trying to do you a favour. They know how much more awesome she is than you are. They're just trying to give you a chance," I tease while trying a pork crisp.

"How dare you! You think my mum's so great? You haven't even met her! Next, you'll be telling me she's the great Crimson Death!..... Oh, right."

I chuckle as Rufka and I start talking more seriously about her mom. Rufka lets me know that she's making progress but there's something weird going on in the capital.

"It's not just the curfew. Users are missing. A lot of users that I knew five years ago have disappeared," she tells me in a low voice.

"Be careful, okay?" I request, suddenly wishing I'd been able to go with her. Stupid invisibility not working.

"Hey, you know me," Rufka replies immediately.

"Yeah. That's what worries me," I try to tease, but I'm not able to put any weight behind it.

Rufka seems to pick up on my worry because she tries to reassure me, "Seriously Lexi, I'm being careful. No point in doing this, if I end up stuck with mum."

"Good. Hate to say goodbye but I'm almost out of facet," I reply while watching Smoulder incinerate some salad I'd been about to eat. Welp, that's hers now.

"Okay. Night Lexi. Talk to you in the morning?" Rufka asks quietly.

"Definitely. Night," I answer, glad she's asking me to check in more.

The moment the connection ends, Tipan turns to me. "Rufka is doing okay?"

"Yeah. She did mention some trouble though," I answer before filling Tipan in on the details. She listens quietly until I'm finished.

"I'm such a fool. Obviously, it wouldn't just be Ivicka," Tipan mourns.

"Hey. We don't know what's going on yet," I reply, trying to reassure her.

"No. But we can suspect. Curse my fur. If I were any other K'tharn, I could have gone with her."

"Ha. I know how you feel. Pretty hard for me to let her go on her own," I agree, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling.

"Yes. I noticed that you've become close. Is she… special to you?" Tipan asks with a low voice as Smoulder lands on my lap, having had her fill of the feast.

I think for a second before I respond. Obviously Rufka is special to me. But I'm not sure how I feel about telling the others that. I feel like I can trust Tipan though.

She's good people.

Checking around the table, I realize the others are arguing about the appropriate treatment of prisoners. Not really sure how they got on that topic, but they're clearly invested, so I answer Tipan at a barely audible whisper.

"Yeah. She's Vaus-damn special to me."

"Have you told her?" Tipan asks, matching her voice to my own.

"No," I admit grudgingly.

"You should. I've seen the way she looks at you. I'm certain she feels the same way," Tipan informs me.

"Oh. Thank you, Tipan," I reply, squeezing her hand again, "You're a great friend."

Tipan squeezes my hand back. "You're quite welcome, Alexis. It's the least I can do."

Suddenly there's a disturbance from where the others are arguing.

"Yeh'd kill them to save yourself the hassle?" Demo demands, glaring at Beth with cold eyes, his fluffy blue tails all flat against the floor.

"If they've attacked me or mine, yes," Beth admits readily. "I've tried the lenient approach before. It gets people killed."

Josh and Roberts aren't saying anything, but I can understand why no one is rushing to side with Beth.

"Sounds like you're perfect for the system. Kill or enslave all you come across," Demo sneers, jerking himself to his feet while glaring at Beth.

"Now hold on, Demo. Just because I'll shoot an unarmed prisoner, doesn't mean I wander the streets murdering children. There's a difference between those who've brought violence against you and those who haven't," Beth states, her voice growing low and cold as she stands, meeting his glare.

Glancing over at Josh, I see he's turned his eyes down. Beth seems way harsher than Josh's sister was. This can't be easy to hear, especially with them being so close lately.

I watch Beth as she stands there, glaring Demo down. I can't imagine myself killing a helpless prisoner. But when I consider Beth, it doesn't surprise me that she would.

And I know Uthica would. If she thought it would save the life of any of her people. Which I think is what Beth's saying.

Demo doesn't respond. After another few moments, he drops his eyes, sitting down heavily before returning to his meal, pretending to ignore Beth.

In response, Beth stares at the ceiling while muttering several words I don't understand in a harsh manner. Probably curse words. I wonder what language they're in.

"So, I have news from Rufka," I inform them, hoping to dispel the awkwardness.

Beth looks at me as though I've just pulled her out of a pit filled with killer sharks, as I convey my limited intel to the others. After this, we end up discussing possible disguise artifacts we might be able to find in the market. After all, the Lords of the Deep specialize in twilight manipulation. Tipan agrees that if anyone on Akilo can create an item that will allow us to infiltrate the Aetherium undetected, it would be them.

The rest of dinner passes without any significant topics but most of the conversation is carried by Roberts, Tipan and me. Josh being quiet isn't surprising, but tonight Beth and Demo both remain unusually silent.

Their silence holds until Beth says goodbye to us as we leave for the night.

"Hey, Alexis," Beth adds, holding me back as Demo and Roberts walk out the door.

"Yeah, Beth?" I ask, letting the door close as I turn to her.

"You understand, right?" she asks, the furrowed brows an unfamiliar expression on her face as she stares at me. Is she worried?

It takes me seconds longer than it should before I realize she's talking about her argument with Demo earlier. "Yeah. I doubt I could do it, but I understand why, logically, a person would think they have to."

"Good…" she nods, going silent for a second. "Goodnight kid," she adds, rustling my hair affectionately.

"Goodnight," I reply, smiling back at her as Smoulder and I push our way out into the cool night air, joining Roberts and Demo.

We're halfway back to the Falcon's Catch when Demo speaks, "is she always like that?"

"Beth? She can be rather intense at times," Roberts replies.

"Yeah. She's seen a lot," I add, feeling the need to defend Beth.

Demo nods as we approach the front door, "so, not all humans would agree with her then?"

"I'd be inclined to say most wouldn't," Roberts answers as we make our way inside. "I'd certainly object if she attempted such a thing."

Herv watches us move to our rooms as Demo smiles at Roberts, "good. It's awful enough to be trapped in the system. I'd hate it if yeh embraced its dark nature."

"I'm not certain it has anything to do with the system," Roberts replies. They continue talking, walking towards a clearly labelled bathroom. They both offer me a nod and a wave as I say my goodnights.

"Wow. Tonight was kind of intense," I mumble as I inspect my room. It's smaller than Raz's, barely enough room for the bed and me besides. No built-in bathrooms here. Luckily, the bathroom is just down the hall, which I make use of. It's cramped but the shower works. As nice as cleaning myself with my magic is, letting the shower wash over me is cathartic.

Finished with my shower, I plop down on the comfortable bed, that totally makes up for the lack of a bathroom, while I think back over the night.

"Life is weird," I tell Smoulder while staring at the ceiling.

Smoulder doesn't understand my worries. We had good food, we're together and now we get to play. 'What more could I want?' she wonders at me while pushing against my hand.

Laughing, I give her belly rubs and head scritches as she melts under my attention. Then once we're done, I start on tonight's obstacle course.

Tonight, I focus on practicing with water and steel, trying to create unique obstacles while Smoulder dashes about. Eventually, it resembles a waterpark, crammed in to fill most of the small room.

Except Smoulder is trying to avoid going on any of the rides in this particular park.

Once Smoulder's satisfied with her results, she settles on my chest, and we drift off together, the water park glowing lightly in the background.

When I wake the next day, it's with an urgent need. After escaping the mess that was my room, I stumble my way to the shared bathroom at the end of the hall. I end up dancing in place when I discover the closed and locked door. A humming drifts through the door, clearly confirming the rooms occupied status.

Knocking on the door, I hear the expected "just a minute" before Demo pushes his way out through the narrow bathroom door, his tails splaying out behind him majestically.

"Ah. Morning to yeh," he greets, bowing slightly, his eyes glinting mischievously as he stops in the doorway, inhibiting access.

But I push past him with a mumbled morning of my own, his body practically weightless. Seriously, can't people wait until after the bathroom to mess around?

It's only once I'm in the middle of my business that I realize he was too easy to push to the side. Reflecting on my memory, I realize I unconsciously used my wind magic to pick him up and shove him out of the way.

This unconscious use of magic is getting a bit worrying. Is this another effect of my attributes being out of balance? Or is it something else?

When I emerge from the cramped washroom, I'm planning to connect to Rufka when I find Roberts and Demo already waiting in the hall. Before I know it, we're out in the street, on our way to join the others for breakfast as I chat with Rufka. Because, why wait?

Nothing's happened since last night but we still keep chatting. Our conversation continues until our group has almost reached the Ocean's Breeze before I reluctantly wish her goodbye after she lets me know something has come up.

As I'm ending the link, I realize I'm about to step on Demo's tail. Halting myself with a quick combination of earth and wind magic, I glance up at him. Demo still hasn't made a single comment about me pushing him out of the way with my magic. He did grin at me when I emerged from the bathroom, but I've no idea if that meant anything.

As we make our way up the steps, a voice can be heard coming from the other side of the door, speaking in Vausian.

I'm only able to discern the words "thank you. I'd never have found them without you," before the door swings open. A moment later, we find ourselves presented with the incoming back of a boisterous K'tharn as she waves goodbye to someone inside. Her grey and black colouration remind me of a tabby cat.

Just as she's reorienting herself to descend the steps, she plows into Roberts. As she bumps against him, she starts trying to retain her balance by flailing her arms wildly which causes her to throw three carved figurines in the air.

In an impressive display, Roberts not only doesn't stumble, but he also catches the suddenly windmilling K'tharn with one hand while plucking each of her hand-carved figurines out of the air before they can fall.

"Well. This is unanticipated," Roberts notes as the K'tharn stares up at him before turning her attention to the figurines he holds proffered in his hand.

"Oh, thank goodness. Thank you for saving them," she states once she's recovered, gathering the three figurines in her lower hands excitedly.

"I would have been in so much trouble if I'd dropped these," she adds, giving him a quick peck on the cheek

Then, before we can respond, she leaps to the bottom of the stairs racing out of sight as she calls back, "thanks again."

She almost runs into another couple K'tharn making their way down the street since she's turned back while waving at us.

"Yeh okay there?" Demo inquires as Roberts stares after the K'tharn who's disappeared down the street.

"Hmm. Yes. But I think we have a problem," Roberts replies distractedly.

"What? Just cause she bumped into you?" I ask. If we didn't all have magical inventories, I'd wonder if he'd lost his wallet.

Roberts steeples his fingers as he paces in place, "I recognize her. I wasn't sure at first. But now I am. She's the K'tharn who fed Josh and me when we were captured. She's from Ivicka's Flight."

"And if she's here," I reply, gesturing in the direction she ran off.

"Then Ivicka can't be far behind," Roberts agrees.

Here I thought we'd made it away from that oversized K'tharn and her dragon.

Damn.

I was really looking forward to shopping for a new pair of pants.

A note from Draith

Pants are tyranny!

Unless it's cold out.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier. Should probably hold off until July 1st or you'll be billed again.

1.66 Unexpected Guests

January 25, 2019, 8:58 am.

"This Ivicka, she is the K'tharn yeh told me was one of our leads, correct?" Demo asks, pulling me back on task.

"Indeed. She's Tipan's sister," Roberts confirms while leading the way into Ocean's Breeze.

We find Pefe behind the desk, staring at us as we rush into her lobby.

"Have you seen our companions. We've had something come up?" Roberts asks her while I use my link to determine that the others should be through the back wall.

She directs us to a garden in the back even as I'm about to tell him the same. Following her directions through a thin bead curtain, we find the others in a picturesque garden eating breakfast.

Specifically, I notice Beth hand-feeding Josh a small piece of fruit while Tipan is picking a sausage off a plate stacked with them.

"Good morning. I'm glad you could join us," Tipan greets us, relief in her voice as she throws a sideways glance at Josh and Beth. Not handling the early couple closeness well, I'm guessing.

"Good morning to you as well. Unfortunately, we have bad news," Roberts replies while Demo grabs a sausage from the little ornate table they're resting on.

I immediately follow suit, grabbing some for Smoulder and myself as I follow up, "Yeah. Looks like Ivicka might have followed us here."

"Unfortunate. Still, we knew there was a chance she'd find us," Beth reflects, leaning back in her chair. "That's part of why we chose this enclave. She shouldn't be able to do much to us here."

Tipan's already nodding when she asks, "did you see her? Or did you catch sight of her dragon, Asterix?"

"Neither. Roberts recognized one of the K'tharn from her flight," I explain before I take a bite. The sausage is surprisingly sweet.

"Oh. Did you happen to note her name?" Tipan asks, sitting up straighter in her chair.

"Not much time for that. She was gone in a blip," Demo responds.

Blip, huh? Even during our practice sessions he's never used that word before. I guess it wouldn't come up when discussing how to create a fireball or while dodging ice blasts.

"She was the guard who brought us our meals, grey with black stripes. She had a tendency to stay and talk at us even though we were barely conscious," Roberts supplies in place of her name.

"Ah. That would be Cristha. That's a relief." Tipan slouches back into her chair at that.

"Why is that a relief? You've never mentioned this Cristha before," Beth observes, glancing at Roberts for a second before focusing on Tipan.

"She was a last-minute addition to our Flight's training exercise. Her mother had insisted she be included. Ivicka spent days complaining about the disruption to our plans. She was glad to have her once we caught you though. Ivicka didn't want to let me near you, but Cristha was someone she wouldn't miss if you did anything drastic."

"You know, I never did understand why Beth was kept apart from the guys," I interject while snagging another couple sausages.

"Ivicka believes that having males aboard a Float is bad luck. Especially while anchored in the outer skies. She figured keeping them unconscious was the absolute least we had to do. She'd originally intended to bond them to the bottom of the Float," Tipan explains.

"Wait. Ivicka's superstitious?" I gasp, incredulous.

"Well. It's not like we have many males in the Aetherium," Tipan responds defensively, surprising me with her suddenly closed arms.

"Does that mean she's… scared of us?" Josh asks, giggling partway through his question.

"Scared you'll bring bad luck to her flight, yes. To be fair, she was kind of right," Tipan replies with a wry grin. "We did escape her grasp then destroyed her summons."

"It could have been much worse," Beth points out.

"True, but I doubt she'll see it that way. But as for Cristha, her being here doesn't tell us whether Ivicka's here as well. Cristha grew up in Glimmering Sands. So, she may be visiting home or even have been kicked out."

"Well. In that case, we need to find out if Ivicka's here. Suggestions?" Beth prompts.

"I believe we should ask the desk clerk. It seems Cristha purchased several souvenirs. It's possible she knows her," Roberts suggests.

"Good idea. Kid, why don't you and Josh go talk to our host?" Beth requests before turning back to Roberts, "Any other ideas?"

Nodding, I grab another couple of sausages. Smoulder is actually eating them uncharred.

"We could visit the barracks," Tipan suggests as Josh rises from the table.

With Smoulder catching bits of sausage as I toss them to her perch on my shoulder, Josh joins us as we walk back into the lobby where Pefe is stacking several of her items into a crate. When she notices us approaching, she stops what she's doing, brushing her lower paws on her thighs before turning towards us, turning on her 10,000-watt smile. "Ah, what can I help you with?"

With a smile that bright, I'm glad I don't burn easily.

"The K'tharn who was here, just before I arrived, do you know her?" I ask, looking at the contents of the crate. Several different fish-themed plates and bowls are packed neatly, a spongey red material cushioning them.

"Cristha? Sure, why? What did she break now?" Pefe asks, running one of her paws through her fur while glancing towards the garden.

"She didn't break anything ma'am," Josh answers, shaking his head. "We have a mutual acquaintance, we were wondering if you had contact details."

"Oh. Of course. I can send her a message. Who should I say is messaging her?" Pefe offers, meeting Josh's level gaze.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I need to ask Beth," Josh realizes after a second's thought. Hehe. Yep. I'm not sure what to say either? 'Excuse me, is your old boss here to try to kill/capture us?'

I mean, that's what we want to know, but would Pefe even send that message? I doubt it.

"Sure. Cristha's a good kid. I'm sure she'll be willing to help you out," Pefe replies before turning back to boxing her collectables.

Even as Josh saunters back to the others, I stay to ask Pefe about her packing, "Why are you putting all that stuff away? It's obviously high quality."

She stops in place for a moment, looking down at the plate she's currently holding, an inscription of a K'tharn battling against one of the long neck sea creatures, their ship nearly crushed beneath its massive bulk.

"The upcoming festival is going to have a lot of Aetherium and free K'tharn in each other's fur here. When they mix in large numbers, things tend to get broken," Pefe explains, running her hand over the inscribed surface, caressing it gently before placing it in the box.

"Oh. I thought the Lords had rules against that sort of thing?" I ask, watching as she resumes her packing.

"Sure. But getting into a mutually agreed duel doesn't break the rules. It's amazing how often they'll pretend they agreed to a duel after the fighting's over. And sure, they have to pay for anything they break. But it's not always about the essence, you know?" she asks, looking over to me with a sad smile.

"It's about preserving beauty, right?"

Nodding, she closes the box before setting it to the side then sitting in the chair it was recently occupying.

"Exactly. I'll be leaving out some of the children's earlier practise pieces and the more durable copper grade creations. But the regular stuff, created from mortal material but still beautiful? Those I'll put away for a less rowdy crowd."

Nodding with her, we remain silent for a moment, both of us looking across the many works in her lobby turned gallery.

It's into this moment of reflection that Josh returns, bringing news from the outside world! Also known as everyone in the garden. Or possibly just Beth.

Noticing our shared silence, he doesn't speak immediately. After a moment, Pefe turns to him and asks, "So? What message did you want me to send her?"

Josh stares at the ceiling while reciting, "They said, 'there's a difference between captors and captives. Would you be willing to grab lunch to discuss this dynamic as we did before? Sincerely, your favourite skyborne, Tipan.'"

"Sure. Did you have a time and place?"

"Ah. Yes. Beth said they'd meet at that restaurant you recommended for dinner. About 5 tonight. Paid by Tipan," Josh answers, directing his attention towards her again while playing with the loose end of his new belt. It's still pink, but it's a light faded pink that contrasts well with the darker pink of his robe.

Pefe stares at him for a second before nodding. Then she gets a distant look in her eyes as we wait for her. A couple of seconds later, she opens her eyes, glancing back at Josh. "Kay. Cristha says, and I quote, 'Yes! Yes! Yes! Tell her I'll be there! I'd love to go to Suelo's with Tipan.'"

We really should have let Beth and Tipan handle this. Now we get to once more, relay a message.

Stepping out to the garden balcony, I find Demo inspecting the plants while Tipan, Roberts and Beth are gathered around the little table, the sausages cleared away. On the table is a projected vision of the Enclave. My eyes are drawn to the clean-cut where the tower just disappears, making it look like a tree stump instead of a tower. Makes sense, it'd be hard to see anything else with the full tower on display.

Josh relays that Cristha has agreed to meet Tipan while I poke the middle of the tower, not causing so much as a ripple in the floating image.

"Alexis, will you be able to watch Tipan's back with Demo? I'd rather not have them meeting alone and you can both keep tabs on her without being in sight," Beth requests, causing me to turn to Demo in surprise. I didn't realize he had an ability like mine. I wonder how his works? Maybe I'll ask him later while we're on our stakeout.

"But before that, I think it's time to check out the local barracks. I mean, it would be a shame not to avail ourselves of our 'enforced peace'."

"Indeed. Though from Tipan's description the only thing we'll be able to ascertain with any ease is whether Ivicka's dragon is there," Roberts observes while tapping the location of the barracks.

"Unless we get lucky," Beth counters, directing Tipan to close the map.

"Time for a walk?" Tipan asks as we gather around.

"Definitely. But first," Beth halts for a moment, turning in place. "Where'd we put those sausages?"

After polishing off the remaining sausages, we make our way north through the settlement. While the others are keeping their eyes open, I'm resolved to improve my invisibility spell. Instead of trying to get the entire field to function at once, I've reduced the size. I'm sure that if I can get it to work on my hand, it'll be relatively simple to scale it up from there.

While I'm playing with the evasive invisibility spell, the others continue ogling the surroundings while commenting on the varied art which draws my attention. In a way, the engraved building art reminds me of home. There are many places in Vancouver where instead of a blank side of a building, the owners hired artists to do full wall murals. My personal favourite was just off of Commercial Drive, a wall painted with sunshine, reminding me that even on the cloudiest days, the sun was shining somewhere. In the middle of that sunshine, a figure could be seen walking into the sun, passing out of sight as they move towards the light.

Not that I made it out that way often.

Returning my attention to my spell, I realize my hand is invisible. It even stays this way when I flex it. Playing through my recent memories, I discover it happened when I was thinking about the person being blurred by the sun. Focusing on the feeling, I fix it in my mind before expanding the field to encapsulate me once more, a familiar prompt finally popping up.

"Spell discovered: Lesser Invisibility. Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

"Skill unlocked: Stealth (1)"

Confirming the prompt, the spell goes into my free twilight spell slot. Three days working on my spell but it took reflecting on old art to push me over the edge. Still better than what I went through to unlock twilight.

I'm still poking and prodding my invisible limbs when Josh asks, "Uhm, where'd Lex go?"

"What do you mean?" Beth asks, turning to look back right as I pop out of invisibility.

"Sorry," I apologize, reappearing next to Josh, causing him to stumble several steps away from me, nearly tripping over Demo's tails.

Once he pulls his tails clear, Demo's laughter rings out, a deep, pleasant sound while I repeatedly apologize to Josh again.

"Well, Alexis. Congratulations. It's good to see you've finally succeeded." Roberts beaming smile brings me out of my slumped posture, reminding me that I'd been responsible this time. Everyone had been informed I was working on an invisibility spell a couple of days ago. They'd even seen my imperfect attempts that only worked if I didn't move.

Doesn't mean I didn't startle Josh. Which makes me think of how useful this is going to be when Rufka gets back. I almost start cackling when the thought crosses my mind, but I rein myself in. I've already put Josh through enough torture in the last few minutes.

"Excellent timing kid. There's going to be lots of opportunities to put your new spell to work today. Now, show me what you did. And explain everything you can," Beth directs as she moves next to me. Then after receiving an elbow from Josh, she adds, "please."

Raising an eyebrow at Josh, I chuckle, then start taking Beth through my process. After a few minutes, she's able to replicate the effect using Umbra.

"This is perfect. Maybe we'll be able to do more than just stroll around their barracks," Beth enthuses as we walk quietly behind the others. At Josh's suggestion. He said it was less likely for them to run into us this way, but I can't help but think he's worried about being startled again.

"I imagine there must be spells that'll nullify our advantage. For example, I can still detect you with my class ability," I counter. I'm not really surprised at how quickly Beth picked up invisibility, considering she can become a copy of any K'tharn she's seen and her already formidable camouflage was already nearly invisible. Full invisibility was a minor step for her at this point.

What's more impressive is that a moment later she disappears from my IFF sense as well. She's completely gone. When I poke the spot she should be in, I feel her hand wrap around my wrist, but there's no other sign she's still there. There isn't even any sound as she waves my hand back and forth.

"Uh. Can I have my hand back?"

There's no answer, Beth poking herself with my hand instead. A second later my hand comes free. I'm standing in the street not moving, worried I'll lose Beth if I move.

Half a minute later, Beth reappears. "So, you can't hear me when I talk. That's good to know. Can you try your comms thing when I go invisible again?"

"Sure," I reply, Beth, disappearing from sight immediately.

Establishing the connection requires using the old method of linking through our party interface, my IFF still blocked. A second later, I feel the connection form.

"Go ahead Beth," I prompt her.

"Testing. Testing. Pineapple."

"Pineapple?" I can't help but ask.

"Good. You're able to hear me through your comms. Now, let's disappear and catch up to the others."

Inspired by Beth, I delay going invisible for a second, "just a second. I want to see if I can muffle sound too."

Beth accedes, becoming visible, and more importantly audible, to let me know the results of my efforts. It takes me another five minutes to figure out how to use twilight to absorb any sound I generate. Interestingly, incorporating sound reduction reduces the ongoing cost of the spell. The upgraded version of the spell records itself as Average Invisibility. Average does sound better than lesser.

"Okay kid, let's join the others. But remember, full stealth."

Nodding, I activate invisibility then connect to Beth. Now that we're invisible, I wonder if I could get away with flying. Glancing over my shoulder at the tower rising high into the sky, I decide not to risk it. I do start cackling when I realize no one can hear me now.

Using IFF, I direct Beth towards the others, both of us moving at a low run. We stumble into each other twice, before Beth instructs me to hold her hand. We accidentally thwack each other a little when we first make the attempt. Beth ends up groping me slightly as she searches for my hand. I'm glad we're invisible as she can't see my burning cheeks once her hand finds mine.

"Sorry bout that kid. Still getting the hang of not being able to see my own limbs."

"Yep. Totally understand," I reply, choosing to move on instead of dwelling on it. And then we're jogging along, both invisible and silent.

"I wonder if we've walked past anyone else using magic like this?" I ponder while watching a group of K'tharn we're circling around.

"Good question. If we have, we wouldn't know, would we?"

"Not unless they bumped into us. Which makes me wonder. Is that the next step? Making it so you can't even be detected via touch?"

"At that point, it's more intangibility than invisibility isn't it? Besides, couldn't you do something like that by combining your teleport with your invisibility?"

If Beth wasn't pulling me forward by my hand I'd probably have stopped in my tracks at that moment. But not because of her comment.

Just ahead shimmering green scales reflect the morning sun. Asterix, Ivicka's dragon is staring down at the others who are standing a few steps ahead of us.

"Quest obtained: Investigate Ivicka's visit to Glimmering Sands. 0/1 investigations completed. Rewards: 1 Iron-rank Progression Point."

Watching the others back away from Asterix, it takes me a moment to realize Beth is still jogging towards the walled complex.

Crap. I'm not ready for this. Tugging on Beth's hand I get her to stop as I mumble, "One second."

Looking up at the dragon above us, I shake my head. Then grit myself for what I have to do.

With a grimace, I take a shot of moonshine.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Drinking and casting, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Wanna help give Alexis and I more exposure? Feel free to upvote a favourable review or two. Lot easier than writing your own but still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier. Should probably hold off until July 1st or you'll be billed again.

1.67 Turning up the Heat

January 25, 2019, 10:02 am.

As the moonshine slides down my throat, I find the burning sensation oddly comforting. Because it reminds me of Rufka. Which makes me curse the fact I didn't figure out invisibility in time to travel with her into Aethire.

Still, at least I'm properly fortified and the idea of sneaking around a massive dragon no longer leaves me frozen in place. I nod to Beth to let her know I'm ready. It's only as I glance over to her that I remember she can't see me.

Hehe. Oops.

"Ready," I tell her while taking in the Aetherium barracks. The size of it makes me think it's more of a compound than just a place to sleep.

"Okay, turns out team speak doesn't work when invisible. Let the others know to fall back while we circle around. We're just scouting, so keep your eyes open for any possible points of entry." A second later, Beth tugs gently on my sleeve, pulling me forwards.

The compound looms above us as we make our way around. Its walls are made of the same light beige wood as the cabins, just stacked twice as high.

There are two bored K'tharn tossing a small object back and forth in front of the closed gate beneath Asterix. K'tharn engineering must be fairly advanced, considering the size of the dragon casually sprawled on the edge of the roof over that very gate. Even if dragons are light for their size, that has to be a tremendous amount of weight.

Who am I kidding? They probably solved it with magic. There must be a skill related to magic-based engineering though. Maybe I'll ask Rufka or Tipan about it later.

As we get closer to the compound, I'm able to determine the guards aren't tossing, so much as batting an oddly shaped stick back and forth off the back of their hands.

Not exactly paragons of vigilance. Then again, I guess they have a dragon to pick up their slack at the moment. At least in theory.

Reminded of which, I glance up, but 'Mr. angry glare' has settled down, his head out of sight. I guess the others backing around the corner was enough to get him to relax his vigilance.

Beth leads me around the complex, stopping regularly. Even as we move, Beth keeps mostly to cover, not trusting invisibility alone. It'd probably be more effective if she wasn't leading me around by the hand as she does so. After a couple of minutes, I realize she must be watching for something specific, but I don't see anything. It's only once we're on the far side of the complex that I notice a guard patrolling the top of the wall. As we watch the K'tharn walk past, there's a loud roar that shakes the air.

Connecting directly to Tipan through the interface, I ask "Tipan, what's going on?"

"Alexis? I'd love to…." Tipan starts as a loud thrumming sound overwhelms the connection.

Checking the party status, I see Tipan's at half health, Josh is at three-quarters and the others are even worse off, their health near zero.

"Beth. We've got a problem," I inform her.

"Yeah. I heard, let's move."

"It's not just that. Check the party status."

"Fucking, donkey-loving, son of a…" Beth exclaims as she jerks my arm hard enough to do health damage, abandoning any attempt to stay in cover as she sprints back.

We run and stumble the rest of the way around the building, trying to make it to the others as quickly as possible without leaving each other behind. Surprisingly, Asterix is still perched above the gate, his head raised as his chest expands. A second later the roar reaches us. It's like a physical hand wrenches me through the air. I land awkwardly, my elbow jarring against the ground causing me to punch myself in the face.

Glancing back, I see that Asterix isn't leaving the top of the fort. He's just swaying back and forth, snapping at any creature that comes near. Which is when I realize there's more going on than his roaring.

There's quite a bit of chaos. I don't recognize the creatures attacking the K'tharn guards at the gate. There are dozens of swift insectoids that resemble supersized ants with grasshopper legs propelling them around at incredible speeds. They're only the size of a shopping cart, but that's plenty big enough to make them creepy and gross.

Glancing about, I realize Beth and I are still invisible and she's no longer holding my hand. Looks like we're moving separately from here out.

"Kid, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," I answer as I push myself to my feet. "What're the rules here again? Pretty sure the 'try to be a decent sapient' allows for self-defence against a bunch of crickets, right?"

"Agreed. Get around the corner. Focus on helping the others. But let me know when you're clear first," Beth responds as one of the K'tharn at the gates fires a glistening black arrow into one of the ant-hoppers as it attempts to snap its mandibles at them. The arrow is enough to end its struggles, but there are a lot more where that one came from.

Doing as she commands; I barely dodge past a nearby ant-hopper as it lands. Even as I'm turning the corner, it kicks up a huge cloud of dirt when it leaps away, obscuring my vision. As I'm going, I can't help but be annoyed at how much these things are obstructing my senses. It's not just the dirt. They're loud too. Each time an ant-hopper leaps, they make a loud thumping that reminds me of that time Sab's dad got us a ride in a helicopter.

Her dad has some pretty cool friends.

As I make it around the corner, I let Beth know I'm clear. Immediately after, the sound of her umbral assault rifle, soft thwips, start ringing out. Or so I assume, since the thumping of the ant-hoppers behind me is replaced by a sudden burst of chittering as Beth lets loose.

While that's happening, I pause time so I can take in the situation unfolding in front of me. Josh is fully armoured, standing over an unconscious Roberts. He's surrounded by a thick thorny cage with several dead ant-hoppers at his feet, but he's being assaulted by several ant-hoppers being ridden by ….. dolls?

The riders resemble little, half-metre tall, cloth, K'tharn dolls with their mouths sewn shut. And they're all carrying sewing needles. And they've torn his defences apart with those needles, large chunks of his protective dome lie scattered about.

If I hadn't fortified myself with moonshine, I know I'd be freaking right now. Creepy dolls are the worst. Even as I'm completing my visual inspection, I analyze one of the riders while preparing my first spell.

“Creature analyzed: Aethop's daughter. Mana-seed 3."

"It was said Aethop was a pu'shaha twisted by the loss of his children to the warrior queen Mephil. Refusing to accept their death, he created new bodies for them. Woven from their own flesh and bones, these new soul-vessels were as twisted as his need. Upon their return, they were subjected to soul wrenching pain, their screams filling his every hour.

Incapable of bringing himself to destroy his children again, yet unable to withstand the constant reminder of their suffering, he sewed their mouths shut. This worked for a time. Eventually though, his daughters found a way to inflict their pain on others, transferring their torment directly to their targets. Now they hunt the warrior queens and their loyal servants, never satisfied. Since the arrival of the System, these creatures have proven remarkably…"

"Sally sees you. It's not nice to peek inside."

I'm not able to read the rest of the notification. It disappears as an alien presence replaces it, forcing its way inside my mind for a fraction of a second.

The doll which wasn't even facing my direction when I first analyzed it, is staring at me, her eyes locked on mine. Even though I'm supposed to be invisible.

As if that weren't surprising enough, it feels as if the alien presence shoves me, ejecting me back into regular time while ripping away over a hundred focus.

I'm so shocked, I slump to the ground. Which saves me from the half dozen sewing needles that soar through the air over my head half a second later.

A tinkling laugh sounds in my head as the doll's mount catapults her away. Somehow, I manage to fire a lightning arrow in her direction on reflex. But then I sit there dazed for a couple of valuable seconds before attempting to activate pause again.

All I get is accelerated time. Well, this sucks.

Still, it's better than nothing.

There are several dolls attempting to surround me, strands of thread dangling between them. Teleporting away to a nearby roof, I turn invisible again, looking down on the others while Smoulder launches herself into the fray.

Ugh, I want to unload with torrents but there are K'tharn civilians mixed in, fighting alongside us. I do unleash several arrows and a disk of cutting wind at the back of a doll harassing Josh. He's been forced away from Roberts, but Tipan's taken his place. For some reason, the dolls are much more interested in Josh, so Tipan only needs to fend off swarming ant-hoppers. Annoying, but after what we've faced, not that threatening.

Of all my spells, only my lightning arrow connects, the rest of my shots easily being dodged by the highly mobile ant-hoppers. The arrow hardly fazes the doll, but it does get its attention.

Even as she's turning towards me Demo catches her with a grenade that explodes in a wave of cold, trapping the doll and her 'bugout' mount inside the grasping claws of ice. With such a clear shot lined up, I send an overcharged fire disk into her back. She's made of cloth, so hopefully, she burns well.

The results don't disappoint, the doll goes up in a nearly explosive blaze, melting the ice that holds her fast as clumps of misshapen cloth stick to the ant-hopper like flaming glue. The ant-hopper panics, jumping straight into a nearby building at full force. Even as I turn my attention to the next target, it's still slamming itself against the building.

Okay. Fire it is then.

Smoulder clearly agrees, becoming a veritable flaming meteor, tearing her way down the road.

As I turn, I discover Tipan working to keep a few of the dolls away from Demo, who's sprawled on the ground, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle. Not that he allows such a 'minor' injury to keep him from contributing, another grenade flying out to trap several ant-hoppers and a doll in place.

Knowing they have that in hand, I teleport into a position that should allow me to hit several dolls at once with a single flamethrower spell. While I'm hoping it lands multiple hits, I don't take the time to aim carefully or confirm its effects. All my practice with the others has drilled in the fact my mobility is incredibly hard to match, even when I'm not flying.

So, I port away, moving to a nearby roof as the flames take hold. I'm glad Glimmering Sands doesn't restrict teleportation. It's already annoying enough not being allowed to fly.

Surveying the scene below, I see Beth moving towards the others, every ant-hopper within her line of sight already growing still.

From up here, I can see that the ant-hoppers spread all the way to the tower. There are K'tharn fighting them back everywhere I look, but there's a niggling feeling that I'm missing something as I unleash several more fire arrows at a doll near my friends below.

Teleporting to the roof across the way, I'm startled when I find a larger doll hidden behind an angled outcropping. This one's not riding an ant-hopper. Instead, this particular grey and black doll is holding itself up with nothing but loose linen threads that extend from their back in a writhing mass, staring at the fight below.

In the moment I'm observing it, I can't help but feel it's familiar, though I'm sure I've never seen it before. I almost analyze it but decide I should lead with fire instead.

As I unleash fire on it, I hear it scream.

Even though it seems distracted, a wave of needles rise from that twisting mass, rocketing towards me before I have time to register them, finding their way into my invisible flesh. The first few manage to reduce my health by three-quarters before I'm able to teleport away, locking on to a nearby wall above an adjacent alley.

I lose another couple points of health from the rough landing, but at least I'm away from the strange half-woven doll. I release the new spell I've been working on under Demo's guidance. It's one of those staples that every decent wizard should know, but I hadn't been able to figure out on my own. Honestly, it's probably not much more useful than my torrent or disk spells, but it's an important staple.

A second later, the fireball blooms brilliantly, a second sun that illuminates the nearby fighting. Hopefully, it's enough to finish off that particular monster.

I dash back out into the street, but things are changing. It's as if my fireball was a signal. The remaining dolls are leaving, abandoning their riderless ant-hoppers.

Well, we can't have that now, can we?

Attempting to pause, I'm delighted to find that I now have a solid four-minutes to wreak havoc. Laughing to myself, I methodically shoot down every target I see.

When pause ends, I turn to the others

"Alexis. Are you okay?" Tipan asks as I walk towards her.

"Yeah. You guys?"

"I'm fine, but Roberts is still unconscious," Tipan replies, glancing at his suddenly frail-seeming form. I move to check on him as Demo hops over, one leg flopping about. On closer inspection, I discover his leg is now made of the same rough grey linen as the dolls. Or at least it seems to have the same consistency. In a way, it reminds me of frostbite. Except, more cloth, less dead skin.

"Yeh'd think that the residents would be a little more prepared for attacks," Demo remarks, leaning on a nearby cabin wall.

"Usually there's more warning. I don't understand where they came from," Tipan shakes her head, though I don't think she's disagreeing with him.

Beth rounds the corner, halting when she sees us.

But only for a second. Then she's scanning the area around us again, searching.

A second later she runs up to me asking, "Where's Josh?"

Looking around, I realize he's nowhere to be seen. And I can't feel him either. Staring at Beth, I realize I didn't know she was coming around the corner until she got here. I can't feel anyone.

I don't know where Josh is.

Looking at my conditions, I find a new one labelled Dampened. Caused by psychic backlash. Apparently, all my senses are slightly muddled and my IFF is completely disabled.

"I don't know. They messed with my ability," I inform her, glancing towards Roberts who's still lying there unconscious.

Then Smoulder comes bursting out of an alley towards the tower, butting up against my hand. It takes me a moment to realize Smoulder wants me to follow her, images of Josh being knocked out, thrown against a wall repeatedly be the dolls filling my head.

"Smoulder saw something," I exclaim, following Smoulder to where she emerged. I run in what I hope is Josh's direction, Beth close behind. When we reach the narrow space between buildings, I'm able to spot Josh's pink bathrobe immediately.

It's lying in a heap at the end of the alley. But despite the fact his robe is lying there, it's empty. There's no way his large, slightly awkward frame would fit in that small lump.

Smoulder dashes straight to the robe, poking her head into it as I search about in frustration.

Beth rushes closer, holding the robe up while inspecting it for clues, causing something to clatter to the ground.

A small wooden figurine?

When she picks it up, I can see Josh's smiling face staring back at us, perfectly etched in the wood.

Beth is flicking her gaze back and forth between the figurine and his robe while I wonder what to do. Roberts is still unconscious, so he's out. Could he even heal being turned into a wooden object?

While I'm still thinking Beth acts. She doesn't say anything, throwing Josh's robe over her shoulder, but she does tap my shoulder before striding out of the alley. Smoulder hops into my arms as I scramble to follow Beth while she approaches Tipan.

"Ideas?" Beth grunts out, thrusting figurine-Josh into Tipan's face.

Tipan, who was inspecting a fallen ant-hopper, tilts back in shock before focusing on the wooden doll in front of her.

"Uhm. You had a doll of Josh made?"

"One of those things turned Josh into this," Beth quietly seethes, her teeth audibly grinding.

"That shouldn't be possible," Tipan exclaims, taking Josh from Beth delicately, inspecting him herself. "They're cloth horrors. Not one of them showed any ability with wood."

"Uhh. Hate to interrupt," Demo interjects from where he's sitting on the ground next to Roberts, "but we have company."

Turning around, I discover K'tharn approaching us from either side, all with their weapons drawn. And amongst them is a familiar face. Ivicka.

Beth pockets figurine-Josh as we all turn to face the dozen K'tharn flanking Ivicka.

Her striking orange and black tiger fur practically shines, standing more than her size, which is impressive considering how much she towers over the surrounding K'tharn.

As I look up at her, I notice there's one big difference compared to the last time we met.

Ivicka isn't grinning this time.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2

Uhh. Yeah. Cake anyone?

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.68 Face to Face

January 25, 2019, 10:21 am.

Here we are, face to face with Ivicka. A perfect opportunity for… something.

And we might even be protected by being in Glimmering Sands, though the recent battle shows that's more of an administrative type of protection. At least out in the open like this. Besides, at the moment, I'm worried about Josh, Roberts and Demo. Hmm. With Demo unable to walk and Roberts unconscious, is there any way we can escape other than flying?

While I'm worrying about the guys, Ivicka and Tipan are staring at each other as though they're the only ones here.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, sister," Ivicka drawls out after a couple seconds while I circumspectly scan the K'tharn around us, ready to pause and steal the others away using wind magic, flying us all away the moment Ivicka attacks, rules be damned. None of the other K'tharn seem ready to attack though, standing there at ease. Her comment provokes a choked cough from Tipan, ruining her attempt to stoically stare back.

Ivicka doesn't wait for Tipan to respond, swaggering closer, pushing her K'tharn escort to the side until she towers over Tipan. Well, over all of us really. Even as she pushes closer, she continues speaking, "I was worried when you ran inside the zone with a bunch of outlanders instead of your squad, but I see it's worked out for you. Was that lightning I saw you tossing around like honeyed crisps? Clearly, we have much to discuss. Maybe we should get dinner tonight to catch up?"

She's only two metres away when she stops, her eyes still fixed on Tipan.

"Why wait? Are you afraid of what all your loyal troops will discover?" Tipan counters, crossing all four arms while pointedly glancing around at the surrounding K'tharn.

Even as Tipan's speaking, I hear Beth mutter into Tipan's ear, "We don't have time for this. We need to take care of Roberts and figure out what's happened to Josh."

Beth is searching our surroundings nervously. I swear she's ready to break away or turn invisible on the spot. But then her eyes flit to Roberts and she tenses up for a second.

"And you. What a poor way to repay my hospitality. Sharing my meals, sleeping under my roof, learning my secrets before absconding with several of our gliders?" Ivicka calls out as she shifts her gaze to Beth, ignoring Tipan's question.

"Secrets? The only thing I learned was that you need to bathe more frequently. You kept two of my people bound and unconscious while confining my movements. Hardly hospitality," Beth spits out, her glare actually causing Ivicka to flinch for a second.

"People? Males aren't people. Everyone knows that," Ivicka laughs out, though there's a bit of an edge to her laughter.

"Is that what you've been teaching your trainees?" Tipan demands, waving at the assembled K'tharn.

Before Tipan's finishes speaking, Beth is adding her own reply, "They're better people..."

"Trainees? Look again dear sister," Ivicka interrupts, not noticing, or perhaps not caring about, Beth's opinion.

Beth glares daggers at Ivicka while I give the K'tharn accompanying Ivicka a closer inspection, leaving me shocked for a second. These ones are in better shape, but to my surprise, I quickly discover they're all Fallen. Most have that vacant gaze similar to the generic ones from the city, not really seeing anything. However, two do not. While their eyes are imbued with life, tracking our interactions, that's the only thing that distinguishes them from the rest.

Pretty sure those two are more of the awakened Fallen we need to be dealing with. I'm tempted to analyze them but considering I still have a dull headache from doing so in the fight with the dolls, I'm a little wary. If this is anything like when I broke pause, it'll just bring about more headaches.

Tipan continues staring at Ivicka for a couple seconds before she glances at the surrounding K'tharn. When she does, she gasps out, "You'd bring Fallen here? To a stronghold controlled by the Lords?"

"I don't know what you're talking about sister. I'd never stoop so low as to do such a thing. No, these aren't Fallen. Fallen are mad and attack anyone they see. As you can see, my associates aren't attacking anyone. Based on this simple truth, they can't be Fallen," Ivicka denies. The smirk that appears on Ivicka's face threatens to devour Tipan's indignation whole. "These are a gift. Servants for his Lordship Thansome."

"Servants?" Tipan responds flatly, her fur flattened in shock.

Even as Ivicka's monologuing, I can feel the gaze of one of the awakened Fallen weighing on me, so I meet her eyes. She gives me a small, almost timid, wave when I look at her. I find myself reflexively waving back at which point she gets a tentative smile. This causes my brain to stop processing for several seconds. When it restarts, Ivicka is already speaking again.

"Yes, servants. And after this little disruption, I think I'd best deliver his gift quickly. I'd hate for there to be any damage." The Fallen I'm staring at winces at Ivicka's words, the smile disappearing as she glances up worriedly then casts her eyes at the ground, shoulders slumped.

Tipan doesn't respond. But she does step to the side, directing the rest of us out of the way as well. I'm reluctant to concede our ground but it's probably the wise choice. Beth's the only one of us with more than a sliver of health remaining. And Ivicka's a copper rank threat. Not only that, but from what Tipan's told us, Ivicka is at the upper end of copper. That means she's one of the more powerful K'tharn in their little empire. Probably on the planet.

And that would be if we were fighting her without her entourage in a settlement controlled by another powerful empire.

As Ivicka and her entourage of Fallen push past us, I watch the strange timid Fallen. She's not looking about any longer, her eyes downcast. The awakened Fallen are truly strange. Even stranger when they're not throwing spells at me every chance they get.

"Are we really just going to watch her walk away?" I ask as we do exactly that.

"Not sure what else we can do, kid. And besides, we need to see if we can't find someone that can help us with Josh and Roberts. Speaking of which. What even happened?" Beth asks, glancing at Roberts before turning to regard Tipan.

"I'm not certain. One second, we were talking about the likelihood of my sister being here given Asterix and Cristha's presence. The next there were thumps all around us as dozens of these things landed. One of them crashed into Roberts, tearing at him. He was out of the fight before we knew we were under attack. I've never fought things like this before but I've heard of them dwelling far to the south," Tipan answers, shrugging while pointing at the ant-hoppers before kneeling next to Roberts.

"I don't suppose you have any healing items handy?" Beth asks Tipan while they pull back his sleeves then gently lift him to inspect Roberts completely.

"No. His health is only at negative twenty, so he should be fine once he's recovered. With his current regeneration, he should be back into the positives in a little less than four hours. Most users can go a fair way into the negatives before they'll be at risk of dying. Half of our positive health, at minimum. Of course, the nature of the injury can change that. But he's not bleeding or missing anything important, so he should be okay."

"Well, that's reassuring. Time to move," Beth states, spinning Josh's robe back over her shoulder then striding away. She takes a different route, not quite travelling in the direction that Ivicka just went.

Glancing at Roberts once more, I groan at my uselessness. This is another thing I need to learn. Roberts hasn't been able to teach me any healing magic since his magic relies on robust training and his Reprieve resource. However, if we can find someone who uses regular system healing, I shouldn't have a problem learning from them. At least, that was Tipan's theory when we were talking about it the other day.

The second Beth decides we're ready to go, Tipan gently lifts Roberts into her arms, cradling him. Glancing at Demo, who's leaning on a nearby building with his cloth changed leg rolled up and pinned in place, I move over to offer him a shoulder.

"Thanks. Almost thought yeh'd all forgotten about me," he says as he puts his arm over my shoulder before we attempt to make our way down the street.

"Beth's just worried about Josh," I offer in her defence. Even as I say that Beth is striding away at a near run. I use wind magic to take most of his weight as we strain to keep up with Beth's rapid pace.

"Aye. I noticed. Yeh'd think she'd never had a lover transmuted to a wooden doll before," he says. I'm about to inform him that it's a truly unusual event for any of us when I notice his twitching lips.

"Jerk," I mutter as we hobble south towards the tower.

"Best if yeh left us at the Inn, I think. We'd be a liability if yeh need to escape and it should be safe. These buildings are tougher than they look," Demo says with a sense of awe I haven't heard in his voice before.

"I'd rather not leave Roberts alone. You'll watch over him while we're gone," Tipan states as Beth disappears around a corner ahead of me. It's at this point I realize she's not even thinking about waiting for us.

"Beth, we're going to drop the guys off at Falcon's Catch," I inform her, still connected through the interface.

"Good idea. I'll meet you there. I just want to have a word with Pefe first," Beth replies.

By the time we make it to Falcon's Catch, a troublesome thought occurs to me. What if no one knows how to help Josh? Even if we revive Roberts what if he's unable to heal him too? I don't think the Restoration ability applies to being turned into a wooden doll unless he's dead. I'm glad we all bought the ability, but it's not as perfect as I'd imagined.

When we step into the lodge, Herv is still perched on his bean bag chair. I don't think I've seen him move from that thing once. He does crack one eye open to observe us when we enter though.

"Trouble with Aethop's daughters," he states, staring pointedly at Demo's floppy leg.

"Yep. Don't suppose yeh'd be able to recommend a solution. It says it won't heal on its own. Needs to be restored," Demo responds while flopping his leg back and forth like a toy.

"Easier to cut the leg off then find someone to regrow it," Herv suggests. Herv's suggestion causes Demo to abruptly lean away, nearly dragging me off my feet until I reflexively catch us with wind magic, nearly lifting us off the ground.

"I'd rather not. Yeh're sure you don't know anyone who could restore it? We've another friend who's come down with something similar. Cept he's all wood."

"Wood, huh? That ain't a daughter's ability. More likely a wood sylph. You'd be better off looking for a transmuter. Might be there's a lady in the market I know who could help you. She's a bit of a strange one though," Herv warns.

I'm not certain Herv has much right to be calling other people weird. Then again, I'll admit, I don't either.

"Can't be that bad. Could yeh give the details to my friend here? As yeh can see, I'm not in the best condition to be wandering around," Demo states.

"Sure. You can even stay in your rooms until you find proper treatment. Just hobble your way out here if you need a meal or anything. I can get em delivered."

With that settled, Tipan and I start moving the guys to their rooms. As I'm walking, I feel Smoulder squirm out of my pocket, moving closer to Herv to investigate. Herv's single open eye rotates to watch her get closer. For a second, I'm worried he'll hurt her, but when Smoulder sniffs at his bean bag, he reaches down one feathery hand and gently scratches her behind the ears.

Leaving Smoulder behind to get acquainted with our host, I take to Demo to his room. It'd be tough to squeeze him into the same room with Roberts.

"You sure you're going to be okay here?" I ask, lifting him over to his bed using nothing but wind magic. He makes a small, "eep" when I hoist him into the air.

Oops. Probably should have warned him.

Once he's sitting on the edge of his bed, he turns to me, pulling a worn paperback book from his inventory. "I'll be fine. Yeh just worry about tracking down a healer for Roberts. I'm confident he'll be able to fix this right up."

"You don't want me to check with Herv's friend first?" I ask, surprised.

"Hardly. I've read about what most healers can do in the system. What our comrade Roberts is capable of shouldn't be possible for a silver rank healer, forget iron rank. Perhaps we'll need this weird friend of his, but we should try a little closer to home first, don't yeh think?"

"Sure. But it's going to be a few hours until Roberts has regained enough health to be in the positives."

"Like I said. Yeh should find him some help."

"Right. I'll talk to Tipan," I answer sheepishly.

"Be careful. This Ivicka being here, right when we're at our worst? It smells worse than a Reaver's breeding pit," Demo warns right as I'm turning to leave the room.

"I will," I answer with a grin before slipping into invisibility to remind him what I'm capable of. Being invisible should be an excellent first line of defence, right?

"Filthy Creators, that one's got too much power," I hear him complain behind me. Once out of his sight, I reappear before peeking into Roberts's room.

Tipan is next to his bed, carefully tucking Roberts into place, gently pulling the blanket over him before squeezing his shoulder while whispering something I'm unable to make out.

As she's standing next to his bed, I whisper, "Let's get the details from Herv. And maybe ask him which shop has healing items for Roberts. Demo figures Roberts will be able to fix his leg."

Tipan nods, carefully edging around Roberts's bed, replying as she slowly pulls his door shut. "It'd be a good idea to ask Pefe as well. She was telling us this morning that she knows most of the local subs."

"Subs?" I ask as we enter the lobby where Smoulder is parked in Herv's lap, rumbling away while he strokes the length of her body.

"Those who focus their efforts on developing the skills of their subclasses. Artificers, brewers, rune-smiths. That sort of thing," Tipan explains.

"Ah. Crafters." I nod understandingly.

After some quick directions from Herv and a reluctant parting between him and Smoulder, we enter Ocean's Breeze. A new wooden wind chime outside the door makes a low wooing noise as we hear Beth engaged in conversation with Pefe.

"Those are all the transmuters I can think of. But this doesn't look like a transmuted person to me. I think it's one of Lifithent's works. I sold several similar figurines to a friend this morning," Pefe explains patiently, her voice even.

"Okay. Where does this Lifi-whatever work? If this isn't Josh, then that means he's missing. And I need to know why this was left in his place," Beth demands, her hand clasping the air like she wants to form it into a fist or draw a weapon.

It's at this point that Pefe notices Tipan and I standing awkwardly in the door, giving us a welcoming smile and a small wave.

"Lifithent's workstation is located on the seventh level with most of the other higher-tiered subs. But she doesn't take kindly to unannounced visitors. It'd be best if you let me make an appointment for you," Pefe explains, wringing her lower hands.

Beth shifts in place for a moment, likely weighing her response before grunting out, "Fine. But we can't afford to wait long. Let her know we need to speak to her. Urgently."

"I will. One minute please," Pefe says, her eyes going unfocused for several seconds.

"Okay. I've messaged her. I'll let you know… Oh. That was quick. Oh. Uhm," Pefe continues, rubbing the back of her head as she stutters to a stop.

"What?" I can't help but ask, drawing an amused quirk of the lips from Tipan beside me. I know it's Beth's show but hey, we're here too!

"She says that she won't be making any appointments until after the festival. She's had a generous but demanding client claim her time," Pefe explains.

"Well. I guess we'll just have to visit her without an appointment," Beth decides, crossing her arms as she glances our direction.

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, I didn't realize she'd be so busy. Normally, she at least attempts to accommodate others. It's strange. She's very passionate about sharing her work with those who follow her rules," Pefe apologizes.

"Not a problem," Beth waves off Pefe's apology before continuing, "but perhaps you can tell us about other places who can supply more traditional healing. Including lessons or training."

"Yeah. I can do that just give me a second here…" Pefe trails off, digging around behind her desk.

Pefe ends up writing out a physical list using a device similar to my own infinite pencil. Once she's done, she proffers the list to Beth a flip of her wrist and a warning, "I've never purchased anything from any of these shops, other than Mel's Crystals. But they all offer healing in one form or another."

Beth nods her acknowledgement as we review the page with twelve different names on it. There's only one place listed which offers training, which Pefe clearly labelled with a big bright star and the word training, both in orange. It's cheerily listed under the name The End of The Line.

I guess it's not the first place you'd want to get healing training.

Hehe.

"Thank you, Pefe," Beth says, waving goodbye then leading us outside.

"So, how are we going to do this? Should we split up and search individually or stay as a group?" I ask Beth as we follow her down the stairs, the chime causing me to raise my voice to be heard over its wooing.

"We're going to travel as a pack. We can't afford to split up anymore. Much as I hate to admit it, the guys are all stable. They should be able to wait for us to do this safely. And I want to be in top form once we're finished. Because once we're done…. "

Beth stops at the bottom of the steps, turning to face Tipan and me, who bump into each other as we halt. Beth has a near-feral grin on her face as she snarls out.

"Once we're done, we're going hunting."

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for this week.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.69 Now Shopping For Widgets

January 25, 2019, 11:05 am.

Hunting, Beth says.

At this moment, I'm reminded of Beth's lack of hesitation when we saw that first deer. It took her less than a second to decide to end its life. I feel the same primal aura emanating from her now.

Then it's gone, Beth spinning on her heel as she leads us towards the tower.

"First priority is getting Roberts on his feet. But we'll check this healing centre too. If we can get a second healer, that will help immensely," Beth decides over her shoulder as we all run at full speed towards the tower. Beth and Tipan are both quicker than I am in a straight-up run but I'm able to make up for it by teleporting to keep pace. Now that we're moving unburdened, we're moving almost as fast as when we're flying which allows us to reach the tower just a minute later. Even as we move, Smoulder sleeps quietly in my pocket.

The intertwined pink and white coral that forms the entrance to the tower is guarded by another K'tharn. She's reading what reminds me of a newspaper as we pass into her domain, stepping out of the sun. It's weird, even though this is supposed to be a Lords of the Deep stronghold, I haven't seen a single Lord so far. Just K'tharn and Herv. The guard only glances at us for a second, a tingling sensation passing over me when her eyes inspect me. As a shiver runs down my back, she waves us through, pointing at a sign before returning to her reading without a word.

Shrugging when I glance at the others, we inspect the wooden sign. Each letter is carved in tight looping cursive which reads:

"In tribute to our ancestors, the Glimmering Tower strives to provide an authentic interface-free experience. Please refrain from any active use of your interface while in public areas. Guests who repeatedly disregard this rule may be asked to leave.

Welcome to Glimmering Tower.

Your Lord Thansome."

I can't help but smile a little as Beth leads us inside. It's basically like a no cell phone sign back on earth. My smile lasts right until my jaw drops when we step through the beaded curtain that separates the outside from within.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but after how normal everything else in Glimmering Sands has been, to say I'm a little surprised at the interior is an understatement.

Herv mentioned that his friend was in the workplaces north of the open space on the seventh level. What he neglected to mention is that the majority of the tower is open. The size reminds me of a stadium. Except with several levels of stores along the edge instead of seats. And instead of a field, there's a huge inlet filled with lapping water, wooden walkways and small boats all surrounding a huge central pillar. The pillar consists of large tubes that spiral up out of the water several metres below, wrapped around a substantial central tower. Each tube is reminiscent of an aquarium. Except the fish are swiftly swimming as though being propelled along. Half of the tubes push the fish inside up out of sight while the other half plummet down just as rapidly. As I watch I notice a K'tharn rush past emerging in a shallow pool not far from a set of stairs that lead up. Next to the shallow pool is a sign that simply states "Waterbreathing required. Glimmering Sands is not liable for any damage."

While the tubes are the main feature of the central opening, other than the branches that lead to the pools scattered along the edges they barely take up any room compared to the vast expanse. It's strange that there's no flying allowed because there are no rails along the edge I'm looking over. As the thought crosses my mind, I see a pair of K'tharn fly from one level to another.

"I thought there was no flying here," I complain to Tipan while pointing to the K'tharn.

"I suspect they have the proper permissions," Tipan offers, shrugging while stroking her chin.

"We should find out what the requirements for that are. Could be useful. But first, I think our first shop is over here," Beth states, leading us towards a simple stall set back into the first ring of stores. Yep. Definitely rings.

As we approach, I can't help but notice how plain this store is compared to its neighbours. The store to its left has stalls out front full of what appear to be towels, hand-crafted umbrellas and even hammocks, each more colourful than the last. The stall on the other side offers a dizzying display of candied meats, with colourful signs with bold claims about the flavours.

But the stall Beth has chosen only has a plain wooden sign saying Kili's Brews. The inside of the store itself is simple and unadorned, several sturdy shelves full of small bottles set behind a K'tharn who seems as plain as her store. All of the bottles are kept out of reach. No casual browsing of products here.

Beth spends some time talking with the K'tharn while I go back out to inspect the umbrellas. It's strange to see them here. Looking up at the twisting tubes of flowing water full of speeding fish, I glance back at the umbrellas.

Yeah, definitely weird.

And then I feel it again. That slight twist in my stomach and vague dizziness that practically screams, "You're on another world!"

It's easy to forget at times that this is really happening. Sometimes, if I close my eyes for a minute, I imagine I'll open my eyes and wake up on my bed. If I'm honest, the thought terrifies me. There's so much more for me here than there is at home. With an impending apocalypse, we need to get back, sure. Not only are there a lot of people I care about on Earth, but there's a lot of innocent people in danger.

But if there was no apocalypse, I'd want to stay here. I mean, Rufka, magic, Smoulder, exploring spaceships and completely 'authentic' pre-system resorts.

Watching another K'tharn emerge from the nearby pool with a slight stagger, I smile. Stepping away from the umbrella stall, I look up into the twisting water. But this time I match it with my own, the water flowing in a quad-helix, running up two strands then down the others. If I could breathe underwater, I'd be able to use the moving sidewalk. I almost feel disappointed at the thought. But then I see the water circulating in response to my commands and my disappointment fades away.

Even after more than a week of wielding mana it still feels amazing. And I realize I've been so hung up on not being allowed to fly, I've been neglecting any other way I can use my magic to move. So, after redirecting my gathered water to my feet, I glide myself back to the stall on a small wave, giggling to myself as I bump into Tipan who's emerging from the store.

Beth follows behind her a second later. She only spares me a quick glance, before leading the way to the next name on the list. Which reminds me why we're here, my brief moment of joy is crushed by the reminder that Josh is a wooden doll and Roberts is unconscious. I bet it wouldn't have happened if Rufka'd been here.

The next half hour passes quickly as we rush from shop to shop. In this time Beth collects a number of consumables that should all restore health. There are potions that can be poured down Roberts's throat, specialized bandages that automatically bind open wounds and a dehydrated powder that can be swallowed whole for an immediate burst or prepared as part of a stew which, if made with fresh mana-borne meat, not only restores health but mana as well. Tipan's explaining that there are innumerable substances that can act as an empowering ingredient if one is willing to take the time to prepare them properly.

While I "Ohh" and "Ah" at all our fancy new items, we approach 'The End of The Line'. It's the most severe shop we've seen here, sharp steel cladding running along the storefront with none of the usual windows displaying wares. Only its name in blocky black lettering lets us know we're at the correct place. The door itself reminds me of a mechanical vault, with one of those large turning wheels like you might see on an old nautical vessel.

Beth takes the handle in hand, and the wheel turns easily, almost as if it's frictionless. As the wheel spins, the door slowly creaks open towards us. It's hard to make out what's inside, the only light coming from the open doorway.

"Well. This really brings me back," Beth comments before stepping inside the poorly lit building. I apply a layer of twilight over my eyes before following, which helps me avoid stepping on the miscellaneous …. Body parts?

No, they're prosthetics. I think.

There's no smell of blood, and they're made out of wood and metal. I really hope they're prosthetics.

"Hello?" Beth calls into the darkness while Tipan holds the door open behind us. Not that it's dark to me. In the back at an uncluttered workbench is what must be the first elderly K'tharn I've seen within the system. I'm only able to place her as elderly due to Uthica's early memories of those within her tribe, her matted fur and slumped posture the most immediate signs. But it's the way her eyes crinkle as she places her strange set of pliers to the side then stares at Beth that really give her age away. A younger K'tharn's fur doesn't crinkle like that.

"What do you want?" she snaps out, not bothering to step forward or raise the amount of light.

Beth isn't startled, and she doesn't appear upset that the shopkeeper doesn't step forwards. She does turn in the direction of her voice before responding though. "We were told there might be someone here who offered healing training. If we were misinformed, then we'll leave immediately."

I watch the elderly K'tharn narrow her eyes at Beth. Once she's done her inspection of Beth, she looks at Tipan then me. When her eyes meet mine, all her eyes go wide for half a second before she restrains herself, looking back to Beth. "Plenty of people want to learn how to heal. Very few can. What makes you think you're special?"

"I'm not. Well, at least not when it comes to healing. The kid is the one we want you to teach," Beth answers, pointing at me with her thumb over her shoulder.

"Really? And this child is prepared for the commitment? If I'm to teach her, it will be many years before she will be finished."

"Years?" Beth asks, half a second before I echo her. "Can't you just show her a couple spells so she can restore health?"

"Pah. That's not healing. That's just restoring system energy. Any idiot can do that. You don't need a rune, just an appropriate conversion skill."

"What? I've never heard of such a skill," Tipan exclaims stepping forward for a second until the lack of light reminds her that she needs to hold the door.

"Would it be possible to learn that skill? We have a friend who's a skilled healer but we need to restore his health," Beth requests, her hand rubbing at her belt where she has Josh stored away.

"I could teach it to you. But what would you give me in exchange?" the old K'tharn asks, arms crossed as she regards Beth.

"Well, we have a fair amount of essence. Though from what I've learned today it's not as much as I'd originally hoped," Beth offers uncertainly.

"Essence is of no use to me. But there is something. Child, come here," the old K'tharn gestures from where she's hiding in the darkness. Even as she speaks, the darkness rolls back, revealing her hunched and twisted form to the others. Tipan lets out a small gasp but Beth doesn't even raise an eyebrow.

Looking to Beth for guidance, her emerald eyes catch mine, holding me in place until she shrugs.

Okay. Well, at least they can see the old K'tharn now. Maybe I should figure out a way to share my night vision with the others. It's got to be easier than mass teleport.

Not sure what else to do, I step over the piles of wooden and metal limbs. Then I notice torsos and heads mixed in. Each is highly detailed, as though they had the actual muscles and bones lying beneath their surface.

"Good. Good. Now let me see your control. Start with lightning child," she commands, twirling her hand in a 'get on with it' gesture when I'm finally standing in tight space just in front of her.

"I'm not a child. I'm eighteen," I counter even as I draw forth a leaping arc of lightning, shaping it into a copy of the tubes outside, central pillar and all.

"Eighteen she says. Practically a baby. Yet control is decent," she concedes while poking her hand into the electrical structure in front of us. She directs me through earth and water next, then each other element in turn until the only thing left is twilight.

"Now, I've seen that you've started on your understanding of dynamic conjoinment. Let us see what you're able to do with it," she commands, her hidden arms coming from beneath her upper arms, drawing shapes in the air using twilight.

Watching carefully, I start copying her movements. At first, I only use the dusky yellow that I prefer, but then I start incorporating deep shadow and brilliant rainbow structure. She continues leading me through the motions for another half a minute when Beth interrupts.

"It's very pretty, but we're in a hurry," Beth states, staring at the K'tharn who appears younger under the illumination of our twilight magics.

It's the smile on her face I realize, a smile that disappears when she acknowledges Beth. "Hmm. I suppose I've seen enough. Very well, I could teach you the basics, child. And I know what my price will be."

"Finally. What can we offer you?" Beth asks.

The old K'tharn isn't looking at Beth as she answers instead, staring at me. "The child will serve as my apprentice for three years, learning all she can of the healing arts."

Beth snorts as I protest, "Three years! I don't have that sort of time."

"Hmm. Perhaps not. But I have no use for essence. I do have need of a skilled apprentice, however. One who isn't tied to the Aetherium," she glances at Tipan at the last, who flinches under her gaze.

"Hey! Tipan's a great person. Don't judge her like that just because she has white fur!" I find myself objecting to the old K'tharn's dismissal of Tipan, standing between them before I realize it.

"Oh ho. Those of white fur are often Aetherium, this is true, but it's not her fur that marks her. Only Aetherium Aeromancers wield staffs such as hers," the old K'tharn laughs while pointing.

Glancing at her staff, the head is a plain diamond shape with swirling grooves carved into its surface. I didn't realize it was distinctive. Tipan's fur is laying down in embarrassment. I'm fairly sure my face is as red as her fur is flat.

"Oh," I meekly reply.

Before I can apologize for my mistake, Beth's taken control of the conversation again. "Thank you for the offer, but we don't have that sort of time. We're kind of up against a deadline."

"I understand. Should you change your mind the offer shall remain open," as she finishes her sentence, she summons shadows with a snap of her fingers. Not only does the darkness reappear, she also goes invisible. Shrugging, I copy her, fading while Beth leads the way out.

I can't help but think about what she said regarding conversion as Beth impatiently leads us towards our final few stops, jostling a pair of K'tharn who don't step aside fast enough for her. Beth is moving faster than she has since we arrived but I almost don't notice as I race to keep up with her. The K'tharn implied conversion was simple, yet this is the first time Tipan's heard of it. Another thing kept from her by her teachers? Or something else?

Even as I follow Beth, I start experimenting, trying to push at my mana to convert it to health. But I've honestly got no idea where to start.

We're climbing the stairs to the seventh level, (no elevators unless you can breathe underwater,) when Tipan exclaims, "I've got it!"

"What?" Beth asks over her shoulder, not stopping or turning.

"I can convert energy. I think I can heal Roberts," Tipan proclaims, looking at me with a giant grin.

"That's amazing," I state, giving Tipan a giant hug.

"It is amazing," Beth agrees, giving Tipan a small smile before pulling us further up the stairs. "Since we're here, let's talk to Lifi-whatever then we'll head straight back."

Nodding our agreement, we follow Beth out onto the balcony that surrounds the pit, heading straight towards Lifithent's workshop. We're only a few steps away when a large shape obscures the light, casting us in darkness for the second time in the last fifteen minutes.

This time when we turn towards the source of the darkness however, we don't find an old K'tharn searching for an apprentice. Instead, we're face to face with a giant squid, tentacles as thick as my couch pulling it up through the tower.

Before I'm fully able to process what's happening, the large creature has already moved past us.

There was no rumbling, squishing or squeaking to announce its passage. If not for the fact it literally blocked out the light, I may not have noticed it.

"Well, that's creepy," Beth remarks as the last tentacle disappears.

"That's a Lord of the Deep," Tipan supplies, her voice quivering.

As a faint smell of squid hits me, I have a sudden craving for calamari.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2

I'm personally allergic to calamari. Found that out the fun way. Getting fluid in your lungs because your throat has closed itself off isn't the most painful thing I've ever experienced but it's a solid 6/10. Do not recommend.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.70 Holding Up

January 25, 2019, 12:05 pm.

With the Lord out of sight, I glance up the tower. Seventh floor, yet we're not even halfway up. There must be at least another twelve floors above us. And those are just the ones I can see. Judging by the exterior there's are plenty more I can't.

"Alexis, I might be able to restore your health," Tipan reminds me, wrenching me back to reality as her hand pokes me in the side. She chuckles at my reaction, offering me her hand.

When I take it in mine, her soft fur reminds me of Rufka. I consider reaching out to update her when I remember I can't connect with my IFF damaged. Which raises a new concern. What if I'm unable to connect to her after I'm healed because I've lost the connection?

Tipan's efforts arrest my thoughts, the tingling sensation similar to Roberts's healing but gentler. And far less effective. A quick glance at her mana indicates she shouldn't waste her time.

"That's pretty inefficient," I note. It's costing her five mana to heal a single point of health.

"Yeah. It's nearly a one to one trade when I use it on myself," Tipan sighs in defeat.

Still expensive, but I'd take that deal.

A quick grunt from Beth refocuses us. "Unfortunate. Good thing it's not our only option."

"Agreed," Tipan responds, discussing which option might be best with Beth as we turn back to finding Lefi-whatever's workshop, Beth leading the way. As we move across the platform, I note the seventh level doesn't have as many stores. It appears each one receives a larger portion of the floor than the smaller shops below. On the plus side, this makes finding our destination rather easy.

The sign isn't the most elaborate display I've seen since we've arrived but it's tasteful in a way most others can't match, a simple wooden sign, the raised script proudly stating 'Lifithent's Luxuries'.

We're moving to enter when Smoulder pokes her head out of my pocket, her nap over.

Bringing her to my shoulder, I follow Beth inside, almost giggling as Smoulder tickles my ears with her soft wet nose. A couple of head-scritches later, Smoulder's back to scanning the workshop, perched on my shoulder like a sentry.

While Beth approaches a counter with a bell on it, I follow Smoulder's example, inspecting fine wooden figurines who fill a single glass and wood display case to the right of the door. Each figurine appears to be of a different outlander species. There's everything from Yrken to Phothen to Human. And the human looks rather familiar.

Which isn't too surprising since I've seen her in the mirror countless times.

I don't think I've ever had my likeness carved into wood before. Looking at my figurine, there's an alluring aspect to the way she holds her tattered onesie closed I wish I could emulate.

Great, I'm jealous of my own wooden figurine's appearance.

"Wow. That looks just like you," Tipan states, startling me.

"What?" Beth asks, bumping against my arm as she stares down at my figurine.

"How the hell did they get such an accurate image of you?" Beth wonders as a crashing sound rings out from behind the counter.

"We're closed," calls out a shrill voice as the shortest, and cutest, K'tharn I've ever seen stumbles through the door into the small reception room. She's only barely inside when she pauses, shaking one of her legs causing a small sawdust nimbus to encircle her for a moment.

"We're here to see Lifithent," Beth states plainly, her arms crossed as the short K'tharn peeks over the top of the counter at us.

"Uhm. She's not seeing anyone right now. Can you leave? Please? She's going to be cross with me if she realizes I forgot to lock the door," the young K'tharn pleads, turning her adorable kitty eyes on each of us in turn. It's a good thing Beth's in charge, cause I almost cave to her squeaky voice and brown saucer-like eyes. Then Smoulder intercedes, launching herself onto the counter in front of the young K'tharn.

Smoulder pokes her nose into the young K'tharn's face, totally derailing her efforts. When she glances at Smoulder who's still investigating her, she squeals in delight. She's reaching towards her when she looks up at me, asking, "is it okay if I pet her?"

"Sure," I reply. It's a good thing she's not still trying to get us to leave because now that she's petting Smoulder with single-minded dedication, their combined adorableness is overwhelming.

We all watch them for a few seconds when another deeper voice calls out, "Methila, where are you? Did I hear the bell?"

Methila jumps, pulling Smoulder close, hiding her from sight.

A moment later a tall, skinny K'tharn emerges through the same door. She tsks at the sawdust lying on the floor before addressing us. "I see Methila forgot to lock the door again. How can I help…. You!"

She's pointing a shaking paw at Tipan as she places herself between Methila and Tipan, inadvertently brushing against Smoulder, who starts purring louder in response.

"What the…" she exclaims, jumping away from Smoulder towards us. Then as if she's been burned, she reels back, keeping her distance from Tipan instead.

"Why are you holding a mana-warped? And what are you doing in my shop, Tipan?" the jumpy K'tharn who I'm assuming is Lifithent asks.

"Mana-warped?" Methila murmurs, still holding Smoulder close.

"I didn't know it was you Livi. I would have waited outside," Tipan replies, her words clipped as she strokes her arms in agitation.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt, but we actually have some questions about one of your figurines," Beth interjects, causing everyone to turn to her.

"I'll just… wait outside," Tipan states before doing exactly that. She throws a single glance back at 'Livi' before closing the door.

"My questions," Beth prompts again.

"You can find my figurines in the display case. If you're looking to purchase a specific model you can place an order through one of my affiliates. I'm really quite busy," 'Livi' intones, carefully pulling Smoulder out of Methila's hands then holding her in our direction as if she's going to explode.

Which, I mean, fair.

Stepping forward, I reach out to take Smoulder from her. As I'm accepting my little bundle of trouble and joy, Livi freezes, almost causing me to drop Smoulder when she holds onto her more firmly than I expected. Smoulder looks back at her with a feeling of disdain as she climbs onto my shoulder.

"You're one of the new outlanders, aren't you? The ones from my collection?"

"That's what we're here to talk to you about," Beth grits through her teeth, "Do you recognize this?"

Beth holds up Josh. Well, the figurine that looks like Josh. Livi attempts to pull out of Beth's hand, but Beth doesn't release her grip.

After a second Livi realizes Beth's not going to let go, so she bends lower. "Yes. This is one of my carvings. I sold it through a friend."

"It is? Now we know we need to find Josh. Thank you," Beth responds, immediately pushing us towards the door.

"Wait. Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you with Tivi?" the confused shopkeep asks as Beth directs me towards the door.

"I'm sorry, we have to find our friend," I call over my shoulder. Beth is right. If this isn't Josh, then someone has him which means we need my IFF back. Like now. Livi halts me with a hand on my shoulder before I can step outside.

Turning back, I notice moisture at the corner of her eyes. "Please. Can you tell Tivi I'm sorry? Please?"

Nodding, I apologize again for having to leave so quickly as I follow Beth out into the tower.

With all our objectives achieved, we race back down the stairs. I relay Livi's apology which Tipan accepts with a terse nod. I'm tempted to ask Tipan about Livi but now's not really the time. Maybe when we're practicing magic together later.

We're on the second level crossing the short distance the next set of stairs when several K'tharn block our path. Beth tries to step around them, but they have the stairs blocked and they're not budging.

"Where do you think you're going?" the K'tharn in the lead asks, a low 'thock' sounding out when she plants her staff on the floor. It's only at this moment I realize they're all carrying similar weapons.

They're also wearing a utility vest with a badge showing a great tower on a glittering… Wait, no. A glimmering beach. Security for Glimmering Sands maybe?

"Move it. We need to get through," Beth demands, trying to push the K'tharn with the staff to the side, but she barely budges.

"Well. I'd say that confirms it. You're the outlanders who think they can ignore the rules. Well, you're not special. You're coming with us," she says as she grasps Beth's wrist. Which was probably a mistake as she's suddenly on the ground staring up with confusion in her eyes as Beth smoothly redirects her attempt. Amazingly I'm able to follow the entire thing.

Unfortunately, the now prone K'tharn has a lot of friends. The moment her body thuds against the floor, invisible bindings snake around my wrists and ankles. It's impressive but as I test their control over the spell, I'm certain I could escape without having to resort to teleportation. And they didn't even try to restrain Smoulder.

"Lordites," Tipan states, drawing my attention back to the K'tharn.

Damn. She told us about these. People who've pledged themselves to one of the Lords in exchange for power. Apparently, the Lords of the Deep have an easy time power-levelling people.

The K'tharn on the ground chuckles as she pushes herself off the floor. I catch her name as one of the others asks, "are you okay Vethel?"

Waving her companion off, Vethel turns back to us not seeming particularly upset. Still, I'm not a fan of being restrained. I'm about to shatter their control when Beth signals us to stand down, "Sorry bout that. Reflex."

"Impressive skill. But our Lord Thansome has requested your presence and you will attend. Now," Vethel's eyes narrow at the last word as I feel my feet leave the ground. Guess I get to fly after all.

A moment later we're all flying up the central chamber. Flying isn't as much fun when someone else is in control.

Seconds later we pass Livi's shop and my eyes linger on the shopkeep. She gapes at us, her jaw hanging slack as we pass. I wave cheerfully.

But we don't stop there, continuing to ascend. Eventually, we arrive at the highest level. There's a single door which opens as we approach, revealing a large open set of stairs leading upwards with dark columns spaced evenly along its sides.

When we reach the top of the stairs, we emerge into a large chamber that occupies the entirety of the tower. This room alone is triple the height of any below. The entire thing would remind me of a throne room from a movie except it's missing the throne. It has several ornate columns, thick luxurious carpets and a raised dais, but no throne. Kinda disappointing.

To the right side of the room, we find Ivicka standing, surrounded by her Fallen escort. The one who waved at me earlier is missing. In fact, half the fallen Ivicka was with are no longer accompanying her. She glances in our direction when Vethel leads us in, baring her teeth in a vicious grin when she notices us.

Our guides deposit us across from Ivicka, a lush purple carpet all that divides us.

While I'm staring at Ivicka who's opening her mouth to make some sort of remark, a low groan emanates from the door at the far end. It swings open revealing the great squid who passed us earlier. I'm not terribly familiar with squid from home, but I swear, even if it's not exactly the same, it's damn close to those who dwell beneath our waves.

Other than the intricate tattoos that cover every inch of its massive body, that is.

I've never imagined a tattooed squid before. Unlike the K'tharn tattoos I've seen so far, which are patterns more than images, the ones on the squid's flesh are full-blown tapestries. The most prominent is a squid grasping a dragon, several K'tharn and one of the six-legged lions in its tentacles, each one clearly bleeding from open wounds.

Well, not such a subtle statement, that.

As I'm inspecting the large squid, it lowers itself onto the stone dais, located in the back of the chamber near the doors. Two large tentacles wrap themselves around a nearby pair of pillars before it turns one of its giant eyes to flick over us. A tangible wave of pressure rolls over me when it settles into place. At first, I think it's some type of aura, but then I notice a sheen of water now encompasses the squid's upper body. Is it using magic to allow it to remain above water?

From the pillar on the right, a deep voice asks, "What sort of mess am I cleaning up this time?"

One of the K'tharn who brought us here steps forward. It takes a second for me to realize it's Vethel, the same one Beth knocked on the ground. "We've brought the outlanders." There's a pause, the K'tharn looking at the squid who remains silent. "As you requested."

"Oh. Right, the outlanders, of course. But what is she doing here? And why is she walking around with food? We have proper storage places for such things." The squid wiggles one of its tentacles in the direction of Ivicka, causing waves of light to flicker in the air.

I swear I can see Vethel trying not to facepalm as she quietly explains, "she's the ambassador from the Aetherium you asked to talk to. The others are a gift."

"Hmm. From the Aetherium you say? What happened to Tessa? And why would they send me such a gift? Tessa would have brought me something I like, fish or some monster that's been making a mess nearby. She never brought me kitty snacks before."

"They're not snacks my Lord. They're servants," Ivicka interjects, seeming nervous for some reason. Probably the multi-story tall squid staring at her.

"Wait. I recognize you, don't I? Yes. You've been here before. Guards. Arrest her!" the squid commands. One of its tentacles starts reaching for the door behind it as Ivicka's nervousness evaporates with a shrug.

"Knew this was a silly plan. At least I can tell her I tried. It's so much more fun this way anyway," Ivicka grins, striding forward while ignoring us. The Lordites magical bindings holding me in place weaken as several elemental blasts smash towards Ivicka, all of which she ignores.

Eep.

The Lordites don't just cast spells. They're already moving, yet before they're able to get close, Ivicka is already leaping towards Lord Thansome. She has one of the listless Fallen in one hand, tossing it past him, towards the entrance he emerged from.

The large squid dodges to the side, a thunderous boom shaking the tower in his wake.

What little was left of my bindings is wiped away as the explosion collapses the distant doorway. Then the door behind us explodes as well, knocking me to my knees, leaving me with no health and ringing ears.

There's a moment of confusion as we all watch the gore strewn rubble spill to the ground. Is she trying to prevent his escape? Or everyone's?

Then people are moving everywhere. I'm barely able to make out Lord Thansome dodging slashes from Ivicka, who's drawn a pair of scimitars from somewhere which she's using to harass him. She's mostly ignoring the Lordites who are in turn attempting to harass her. She's pushing the giant squid closer to where we've all collapsed on the floor.

As I'm standing, another shuddering shake runs through the floor, but this one doesn't come from within the room. Moments later I feel a shift in the tower below my feet. The feeling is disturbingly reminiscent of our first training challenge.

"What have you done?" Vethel cries out as she unleashes a burning blade at Ivicka's back. She's prevented from using any follow-up attacks when one of the Fallen leaps on her, literally exploding in a disturbing shower of gore as her blade is turned aside.

"Should we be helping?" I ask as Thansome brings a tentacle down on several Fallen, sending stone and viscera flying.

"This is above our weight class. We need to get out of here," Beth yells over the rumbling of the nearby battle. "Kid, can you make us an exit?"

"I'll try," I respond as we push up against the wall, trying to avoid the fighting. Smoulder is ready to launch herself into the fight, but I command her to get in my pocket. It's only after I explain that we're leaving that she accepts.

Reaching out with my magic, I find the stone is similar to my first efforts at the church, resistant to manipulation. But only resistant. Realizing time is of the essence, I pause then start shaping like crazy. Even with my ability, it still takes me three realtime seconds to carve a hole large enough for all of us to squeeze through. The tower's wall is over two metres thick.

"Not that it's going to matter, but I think we're going to need to fly," I inform Beth.

"Expected. Tipan first, try to catch me please," Beth instructs as the floor shifts beneath us again, a loud 'screee' sound reaching up from below, setting my teeth on edge.

Tipan nods as she blasts through, not waiting to be outside before she starts flying.

Beth is right behind her, diving through the hole in the wall right behind her.

I'm about to follow when I hear Vethel call from behind me, "Stop her. Stop the Forerunner!"

Not wanting them to catch me, and not stopping to ask how she knows I'm a Forerunner, I throw myself through the hole feet first without casting flight. The tower is tilted slightly, so it feels like I'm on a slide as I emerge in the air a long way up. I'm in free fall for a moment as I shoot out from the tower.

Then my reflexes kick in, accelerating time as I cast my flight spell.

Hmm. So good.

I'd have to fly up to join Beth and Tipan but the tower is giving another great lurch and groan, so I glance upwards. It's at this moment that I'm able to confirm it's falling. And of course, it's falling north, directly towards Roberts and Demo. As I watch, a single piece of the tower roars past, slamming into, then through, one of the nearby cabins.

So much for their powerful protections.

"Goddamnit! Let's move people," Beth screams, pointing at the inn where we left the others. Tipan doesn't hesitate, flying towards the inn before I'm able to decipher Beth's words.

Even as Beth's speaking, an alert pops up.

"Glimmering Sand's ownership has been contested. All users are recommended to vacate the stronghold until ownership has been decided."

As I read over the notice while following behind the others, I can't help but look back.

Through the hole in the wall, I can just barely make out Ivicka's distinctive orange fur. Without any sign of movement, her fur disappears.

Then I glance up. The looming tower is still moving towards us. Which is when I realize I don't have time to be distracted or to wait for Beth and Tipan.

Looking down, I plot a route that'll get me back to the inn using flight and teleport in tandem.

Time to hop, skip and fly my way across town.

Should be fun.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Basejumping is so much easier when you have magic.

In a stealth update by RR, they changed the icon for the spoiler button. I have to say that the crossed through eye is more thematically appropriate. At least in my humble opinion.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.71 It's Raining Tower

January 25, 2019, 12:34 pm.

Even as the tower comes crashing down, I activate teleport, skimming down the side of the tower. It's a little tricky to manage, but I'm able to purposely appear roughly a metre above the tower. Not that I'm travelling along its surface long. As I near the bottom, I teleport to the furthest point I can reach.

Changing orientations is somehow worse than rocketing towards the ground, the sudden change in gravity nearly causing me to crash into the nearby building. Note to self, change directions then teleport. Adjusting course, I start picking out the next landmark inside accelerated time. While I'm doing that, another piece of falling building appears ahead. It's eerie to watch, the car-sized block, ponderous as molasses as it slowly collapses the roof of a nearby cabin. Then I'm beyond it, my next target in sight.

Despite the obstacles, I'm able to cross the entire distance to the inn in less than two real-time seconds.

Teleportation with flight is Awesome!

When I reach the Falcon's Catch, I grab the edge of the roof, flipping over like I imagine Rufka would. By using wind magic to guide my efforts, I'm able to make it smooth. Too bad there's no one to see it. Wasted coolness.

Right. Emergency.

Without hitting the ground, I barge inside. Herv isn't on his beanbag, so I head straight for Roberts and Demo's rooms. When I round the corner, I find Herv's already taken Roberts into his arms while Demo is on a pair of crutches behind them. Herv acknowledges me with a grunt, gesturing to Demo as he calmly strolls past me, Roberts slung over his shoulder.

"Good to see yeh. I take it shopping wasn't as smooth as yeh were hop…. eep," Demo starts as I lift him in the air with my wind magic.

"No time," I inform him, turning back. Herv's already out front by the time I catch up. I start to lift Roberts, same as I've got Demo, but Herv waves me off.

"He's a guest. I'll take care of him. Let's just get out of here," Herv grumbles while looking at another piece of the ruined tower.

Nodding, I watch him take off while I follow his gaze, glancing at the tower. It's looking worse than it was seconds earlier.

Despite all his feathers, Herv's flying looks the same as mine, completely magical. It's a little disappointing. As we launch ourselves into the air, I connect to Beth. "Herv is here. We've got Roberts and Demo."

"Good job kid. Now get the hell out of there. Goddamnit, I wish I knew where Josh was," the last part is mumbled under her breath, but still comes through the connection clearly.

"Yeah. Me too. We'll find him but first…" I don't finish speaking because I'm distracted by having to dodge another piece of collapsing tower. Good thing I'm keeping my eye on the sky.

"Agreed. Get clear. We'll find him after this is over," Beth instructs me. I'm about to leave with Demo when I notice Pefe looking around in a panic down the street. Flying over to her, I don't ask before hoisting her into the air beside us.

"Ack. What? Why are we flying? What's going on? Miss Alexis?" she gasps out.

"Disruption in management," I explain, pointing up to the tower above us before slipping into accelerated time. I'm about to rescue another K'tharn when they turn, slinging several lightning arrows at us. Deciding they can take care of themselves; I spend a considerable chunk of mana conjuring an earthen shield while booking it. Looking around, I notice there's outright fighting in the streets as the tower continues to crash down.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad time to be fighting?

Most of the K'tharn aren't fighting. There are entire groups who are running together away from the tower. Most are fast enough to escape, but several are rushing the wrong way and there's even one K'tharn who continues strolling along completely unconcerned.

The incongruity almost inspires me to investigate, but instead, I fly far outside the local area. I don't stop until we're over the nearby plains, where Beth suggests we gather. Without IFF it takes us nearly a minute of constant communication to find each other. There are a lot of flying K'tharn out here. So much for the rules against it. At least we're not the only ones.

While we're finding each other, the tower continues to shake and groan.

Not long after I've found Beth and Tipan, Herv reminds me that Roberts is still unconscious in his arms.

Reunited, we fly further afield, ensuring we've got plenty of space between us and the tower. And anything that might come out of the tower for that matter. We all look back at it as it refuses to collapse. Then as if our combined attention is the final straw, something snaps, sending a visible wave echoing through the air.

Despite our distance, the thundering boom still sends us reeling further away.

"I hope yeh found what we need. I imagine the market's going to be closed for a bit," Demo observes as I set him down next to Pefe.

"Nah. I'm sure they'll have it up and running by tomorrow," I reply, laying the sarcasm on as thick as possible.

"Ha! Somehow, I doubt it, kid. Tipan did you want to take a crack at Roberts?" Beth asks, glancing back towards the stump of the tower while idly stroking her belt pouch. The belt pouch where she has the figurine of Josh tucked away.

"Of course. Can you set him down here?" Tipan requests. Herv just grunts but is surprisingly gentle as he lays Roberts at Tipan's feet. It occurs to me that I could've created a table for them to use, but I don't want to interrupt Tipan's efforts.

Not that I'm able to see what she's doing, other than holding her hand against his forehead. But nearly a minute after she's started, Roberts shifts. With a groan, Roberts opens his eyes to find me, Tipan and Beth crowded around him.

"That bad, huh?" he asks with a small cough before sitting up.

I squeeze his shoulder as Beth responds, "Yeah. Pretty bad. You okay?"

"I think so. Mostly. One second," Roberts closes his eyes. He sits like that for several seconds, then the tightness in his face disappears.

"It would appear I had mana-shock and a concussion. How's everyone else? Does anyone need help?" Roberts asks, searching our surroundings, causing me to smile.

"Kid's hurt, Demo's short a leg and Josh is missing. So, not exactly peaches and sunshine," Beth informs him, causing my smile to collapse into a frown. "Let's take care of Alexis first. Hopefully, she'll be able to find Josh once she's healed."

Even as he reaches to me, I'm hesitant to put my hand in his. This time it has nothing to do with Roberts.

I'm worried I've lost my connection to Rufka.

Probably not the most important concern, considering everything that's happening, but it's still on my mind. Doesn't stop me from giving him my hand, it just delays me for a second.

As Roberts takes my recently dust-covered hand in his, I feel the familiar wave of his healing wash over me, my health returning to full in seconds. Then I feel the haze, the one that's been wrapped around my head like a crown, dissipate. Unfortunately, it's as I feared. My connection to Rufka is gone. My connection to everyone is gone.

"I believe that should do it," Roberts notes as he releases my hand before turning to consider Demo.

"Well, kid? What's your sense saying?" Beth asks as she steps closer.

"One second. It's been reset," I answer as I start making adjustments.

Luckily, the others are still in my party, so I'm able to connect to them immediately. When I do, awareness of their locations blossoms comfortably, like the summer sun peeking through the clouds. Funny how comforting feeling everyone's proximity has become.

There's a weird resistance when I attempt to connect to Josh. It feels like I'm trying to push through purple jello with a green balloon animal.

I'm not certain, but it feels as though there's something attempting to block the connection. So, I reinforce my attempt, drawing freely from my facet and focus pools.

In response, the connection snaps into place. It's so sudden, I stumble from the sudden lack of resistance, even though it was only mental. Once I've recovered, I know his direction. It's pointing straight at Beth.

Well, that's not what we wanted. Damn. Now I'm even happier we've got Roberts back on his feet. We're probably going to need him.

"I think… I think that Josh might…" I cut myself off as Beth steps closer, shifting to my right. When she moved, my sense of Josh didn't follow her. It's still pointed the same direction, somewhere to the northeast. It's not pointing to Beth.

More importantly, it's not pointing to the wooden figurine. Yay?

"Uhm. Nevermind. He's that way," I point with a shrug.

Beth pulls me in for a one-armed hug, "I knew that doll wasn't him. Just didn't feel right."

Now that I'm able to detect his presence with my mind again, I guess I kind of do know. That's probably not what Beth's talking about. Hehe.

"Yeah," I respond anyway, turning to regard where Roberts is still inspecting Demo. Whose leg is still cloth.

"No luck?" I ask, joining them.

"Nope," Demo responds cheerily, his toothpick snapping with the force of his grin. He sighs, drawing another toothpick while Roberts continues.

"Told ya. Best if you just cut it off then grow a new one," Herv comments, startling me. I'd actually forgotten he was here.

"That seems rather extreme. Especially given that I've only had a few moments to inspect his injury," Roberts responds, his voice flat as he shoos us away.

Herv grunts as we move away, Roberts calling out, "Tipan, can you answer some questions?"

Tipan waves in acknowledgement from where she and Beth were talking, striding past as we join Beth and Pefe.

"What are we going to do?" Pefe whines, drawing my attention back to the tower. It's completely stable at this point, nothing left other than the stump. The remains of the upper portion of the tower are strewn all the way through the Aetherium complex, stretching past the north end of the settlement.

"I'm not sure about you, but we have a friend to rescue. All this," Beth waves her hand back at Glimmering Sands, "isn't as important as getting him back."

"For you. We have friends and family here. And, what's left of our homes," Herv points out.

"Yes. And I imagine you'll want to see them just like we want to see Josh. Thank you for bringing Roberts, but we're going to be on our way shortly," she decides.

At this, I glance over at Roberts, Tipan and Demo. Demo's still down a leg but Roberts is getting him to walk between him and Tipan. I'm not certain, but it seems like Demo's putting weight on his leg.

"Hmm," Herv rumbles in response. Pefe continues to wring her hands while pacing back and forth, her eyes locked on the greatly diminished tower. "I'm going back. Can I offer you a ride Lamew?"

"Yes. Please," Pefe confirms, halting her pacing as she nods deeply. Then glancing over at me, she adds, "Thank you for getting me out, Alexis."

I wave it off as nothing as we make our goodbyes. Moments later they're in the air as Roberts pronounces the results of his inspection. "I believe I can restore Demo's leg but it's going to take time. I need a better understanding of his physiology first."

"Kid, can you share a codex?" Beth asks, her fiery hair blocking my view of her face since she's still staring in Josh's direction.

"I never got one for Phothens. Just for the Phothen Exploriat, whatever that is," I answer with a half-smile for Demo.

"It's the organization we operate under after we leave our world-ships," Demo explains, staring at me intensely. "I can't help but wonder what the system has to say about us."

"Not sure about the codex but my analysis says Phothen are explorers who prefer peace. It also implies you like your privacy," I reply after a quick review of his original analysis.

"About as detailed as what I received when I scanned yeh," Demo admits while taking another step on his stiffened cloth leg.

"I think this might work," he adds, speaking to Roberts as he bounces on the leg slightly.

"Good. It's probably not as good as if you were skilled with Metal but hopefully, it shouldn't take much to keep it reinforced with ice," Roberts affirms, nodding.

"Real trick is going to be getting it to work with my boots," Demo remarks. A second later he fires off an experimental blast, his brows furrowed in concentration.

It's uneven but after a minute of practice, he's able to get himself under control.

While he's doing that, Beth retrieves her glider.

When she prepares to fly away from Glimmering Sands, Roberts speaks up. "Where are you going?"

"Alexis said Josh is that way," Beth answers, pointing in a direction that's almost accurate.

"There may be people who need our help," Roberts states, pointing to the shattered tower.

"They're probably okay. The system should protect them from most of the worst of it. And for those, it doesn't. Well," Tipan pauses, rubbing at her eyes, "It's too late for them now."

"Like Tipan said. And there's not much we can do if Ivicka's there. We had a hard enough time dealing with a pack of dolls! And it's turning into a war zone back there," Beth shakes her head as she answers. As if to emphasize her point several cabins collapse in the distance, a vague figure rising from the wreckage.

"But shouldn't we help? What if it was the Aetherium who took Josh?" I ask, the figure disappearing as more buildings explode.

"What if they did? Why leave the doll? And how did they get it in the first place? No, it doesn't make sense. But neither does this. I was expecting us to need to go into the Aetherium fortress to retrieve him. Now? Now, I don't know what's going on," Beth admits.

"Speaking of the Aetherium, we have company," Tipan notes, staring into the sky, causing us to follow her gaze.

Flying towards us, alone but nonetheless a force to be reckoned with, is Asterix.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's fly people," Beth commands. This time, we're in the air immediately, flying away from the enormous dragon.

When we first spotted him, he was approaching us slowly, his emerald wings cutting through the air with measured strokes. When he notices us flying away from him, he accelerates, soaring forward.

In just a few short moments he halves the distance between us.

"Looks like it's not going to be easy," Beth calls out. "kid, let's try Draco two."

Thinking back, I try to remember which plan was Draco two. Beth had a bunch of ideas for working as a group but we didn't get much of a chance to sort them out properly. Especially since she kept revising them. I fly into position, away from the others. We haven't had the opportunity to practice the maneuver, but if I remember correctly, the idea is to use my mobility to confuse the dragon while the others attempt to injure him enough we can escape.

Or if we get really lucky, possibly take him out.

Pretty sure, I'm still supposed to get a few shots in, but given how fragile I am, Beth wants me to focus my attention on keeping his attention and avoidance.

Asterix complies with our plan, such as it is, focusing solely on me as we split up.

The pair of flame and lightning torrents I tossed in his direction might have had something to do with his choice.

Even as he gets closer, I teleport away, ensuring he's only at the outer edge of my range. Not that I'm able to hit him with anything at this range. He's too fast, dodging out of the way with a flick of his wings.

The fact he doesn't just tank his way through my spells is kind of reassuring. I'm sure Ivicka wouldn't bother dodging.

He continues chasing me for another few seconds, his roar sounding closer as I slip away through another port. His roar cuts out, changing to more of a whine a second later. Turning back, I see that he's spinning in place, trying to dodge the near-invisible projectiles that are tearing holes in his wings.

I can make out the others in the distance but Beth's nowhere to be seen. As yet another hole appears in his wing, Asterix unleashes a gout of emerald flame.

Invisible as she was, Asterix was able to work out Beth's location, her form suddenly wreathed in flame. Her glider disintegrates as she falls from the sky.

On the plus side, he's so focused on Beth, he's forgotten me.

Using the latest trick in my toolkit, I disappear.

I don't just go invisible, I teleport closer, appearing directly under them. Then I pause time. Not exactly according to plan, but then neither was Beth getting caught out.

First objective: catch Beth. Giving the still crackling flames, water's the best choice. I almost drown her in the, relatively gentle, conjured torrent. Once it's in place, I turn my attention away, knowing I'll have plenty of time to catch up with her.

Now that I've bought Beth time, and with Asterix distracted, I set up a crossfire of torrents, arrows and disks, mixing the elements to hopefully maximize the effect of Elemental Cascade. My spells start crossing the intervening space, the first starting to land before I've finished casting the last.

Then, right as pause is about to expire, I fly out from under him, snagging Beth from my impromptu waterspout.

The resulting maelstrom turns out to be effective, the dragon is only held aloft by the pure fury of the assault, its body wracked by over two dozen different spells before plummeting to the ground.

I'm about to follow him down to ensure I've finished the job when Tipan calls out. Roberts is fending off several attackers with his shields while Demo freezes them in place and Tipan shatters them. But that doesn't seem to be her concern. I'm not able to understand her words, but she's pointing back at Glimmering Sands. Behind us, I spot the familiar shape of Aetherium gliders moving towards us. There's over a hundred of them.

Thankfully, they're a lot slower than we are. Without Asterix, they'll have no chance of catching us. And our brief encounter with Kristha proved that they're not all like Ivicka. Sparing one last glance for the ruins of Glimmering Sands in the distance, I reach into my pocket to pet Smoulder as we join the others who've dealt with their attackers. More Fallen lie broken beneath their feet, their essence collected with nary a thought.

Looking down at Beth's unconscious body, I sigh. I don't know what Ivicka's after, but Beth's right. We're still not ready.

For now, we'll find Josh.

And then we'll find a way to stop her.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2

Poor tower, just innocently towering, then Bam-Boom, Ivicka comes along and it towers no more.

Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.72 Discouraging Pursuit

January 25, 2019, 1:15 pm.

Even flying at full speed, some of the Aetherium gliders start gaining on us. Since I'm not able to safely harass our unwelcome tagalongs while carrying Beth, I just watch as Tipan and Demo move to deal with them.

Tipan sends a couple of wind torrents, scattering them. Then Demo tosses a grenade that locks at least three of them in ice, leaving them unable to follow. The explosion was the size of a football field yet it only created ice when it hit something solid.

Totally epic.

With pursuit discouraged, we continue until Roberts informs us he's recovered enough Reprieve to heal Beth. Who has all of our healing items tucked away in her inventory.

Not our best bit of planning, that.

With over an hour since the last sighting of the Aetherium forces, we decide to risk landing while Roberts checks on Beth while I face an unpleasant truth.

Josh is in bigger trouble than I thought. I've tried connecting to him, but he's bound and trussed. I'm not certain if he's even conscious, everything is muted compared to before. Literally the only thing I'm able to determine is his direction. It's incredibly frustrating. Connecting to the others has never been like this before. I was able to connect normally to Tipan, so I know it's not me.

With everything else cut off, I've been trying to at least determine distance through triangulation. By flying to the side, so far I lost sight of the others, I'd been hoping to find a new angle. However, even several kilometres parallel to our original heading, my connection still indicates the same direction. Which implies either my connection is broken, or Josh is a long way away.

Now that we've landed and Roberts is going to have a chance to heal her, Beth will be regaining consciousness.

Which means, I'm going to have to break the news.

Where's a bunch of frenzied Fallen when you need them?

We're watching Roberts healing Beth on a summoned table when Tipan sighs as she turns, looking back in the direction of Glimmering Sands. "I hope she's okay."

"Ivicka?" I ask with a grunt of disbelief. Ivicka could probably have thrown half that tower at us. And probably would have. But I guess she's still Tipan's sister.

"Ha!" Tipan snorts. "That meathead will survive far worse than whatever she's up to here. No. I'm worried about Livi. And Methila too." Tipan flops down on the grass next to me. Smoulder uses the opportunity to launch herself onto Tipan's lap, prompting an 'oof' followed by several giggles.

"Yeah. It seemed pretty crazy back there. I hope everyone's okay."

"I'd never have expected it. There hasn't been a fight between the Lords of the Deep and the Aetherium in over a hundred years. And that was over a trade dispute." Tipan shakes her head while giving Smoulder the requisite head-scritches. "I don't understand what Ivicka's doing. Why would she start a war over an ocean-bordered stronghold? She'll never be able to hold it."

"War? You think this is going to start a war?"

"I can't see the Lords reacting any other way. She attacked without so much as a system notice. Even if Ivicka's acting on her own, we'll all be blamed. A lot of innocent people are going to die as a result of her actions today."

"Huh. Hard to believe they'd go to war over a small settlement like that. Especially since most of the people there were K'tharn."

"Small? Glimmering Sands is one of the largest communities outside of Aethire."

I stare at Tipan as my mind tries to process her statement. There couldn't have been more than a few thousand K'tharn in the entirety of the settlement. Do most people live in their capital?

"Not that most of the K'tharn will remain there. It doesn't matter who wins, half the buildings were in ruins. And whatever protections were active will take a month to return. They'll run."

"What? Won't they fight back?"

"Against who? Ivicka would wipe them out with a casual wave of her hand," Tipan snaps out, waving her hand for emphasis. "And then turn them into Fallen. Those who reside under a Lord's protection have chosen a life that doesn't revolve around battle."

Demo's voice drifts over our shoulders, "Just another of the system's faults. Not much we can do for them till we're able to stand up to your sister ourselves. Her followers aren't impressive but from what yeh've said, we're little better."

As Demo's talking, I watch the moving clouds drift into the west. There are several dots barely visible above the horizon. At first, I think they're birds. Curious, I zoom in with twilight lenses. I'm able to discern a dozen Aetherium gliders.

"We're stronger than most. Since I've met Alexis and the others, I've started to wonder why my people are so weak." Tipan conjures a stone arch in front of her, then letting it crumble.

I continue inspecting the flight as she sighs again. No sign of Ivicka, so I'm sure we could disable them with little risk. From the way Tipan's described Aetherium Flights, unless they have a dragon-rider or a glider-less flyer, our current strength should be enough to handle them. It seems like they're more effective against monsters than people.

"Perhaps they've…" Demo is interrupted as Roberts calls over, "she's waking up."

When Beth wakes, her first reaction is rolling off the table while pulling her pistol, using the table as cover. Beth doesn't say anything, instead, scanning our surroundings before brushing herself off after holstering her pistol. "You kept moving once I was out. Good."

"Speaking of moving, now yeh're up, we should be on our way. They're still out there," Demo notes, approaching her with a slightly uneven wobble, his frozen leg crunching with each step.

"Indeed?" Roberts scans the horizon while Smoulder hops over to wave her fluffy tail in Beth's face. And making sure she's warm. Not because she's worried about Beth or anything. She just wants to remind her that the dragon's not the only one capable of fire.

"Yeah. They're on the horizon now. Just gliders though." I follow Smoulder to Beth, giving Beth a hug while retrieving my fire-happy bunny.

"Thanks, kid. No sign of Josh yet?"

I can feel the weight of everyone's eyes turn towards me as I shrug, "Not yet. I think…. I think he's at least a couple days away."

Beth stares at me, her emerald eyes narrowing. Then she nods before turning to Tipan, "Do we have time to break out the map?"

Wait. That's it? I thought she'd be way more upset.

Tipan glances back at the gliders before shrugging, which sets her mohawk waving. "Probably. But I'd rather put more distance between us first. The map lacks reinforcement, I'd prefer not risk it."

"Okay," Beth waves it off. "Where's my glider?"

"Uh. It didn't make it," I explain, grimacing at the memory of her and the glider getting bathed in flames. I didn't even try to recover the remains.

"There wasn't much left, most of it went up in flames. But Lex caught you. Not only did she catch you, she's carried you for the last hour." Tipan is beaming at me, causing my cheeks to blush.

"Finished the dragon off too. Was an almost acceptable explosion," Demo adds, further ratcheting up my embarrassment.

"Thanks, kid." Beth grips my shoulder firmly. I nod at her as she shifts focus, handing out some of the healing objects. "Should've done this earlier, but who knew we'd need them so soon."

I'm given a feather enchanted to restore health when filled with mana. Its healing effect is proportional to the mana supplied at a rate of five health per mana. It's guaranteed for at least two uses. As Beth's explaining the feather's functions, I can't help but compare it to Tipan's recently acquired conversion skill.

While we've been distributing the healing items, the Aetherium gliders haven't moved closer. Or at least not to a degree I can discern.

When I mention it to Beth she shrugs. "Okay people, Let's see if we can't shake these fuckers."

Thus stated, Beth has us fly all out. This time, instead of being carried in my elemental grip, Beth rides strapped to Roberts back. I'm deployed at the back under cover of invisibility maintaining awareness of the gliders. No matter how fast we fly, they remain behind us, right on the edge of my magnified sight.

Half an hour later, Beth calls a halt.

"They're still there," I confirm when she looks at me.

Beth nods then pulls out her lawn chair. Raising an eyebrow, I collapse into my own earthen chair. This time with sod still intact as an experiment in comfort.

"What about Josh? Feel any closer?"

Shaking my head, I can't help but feel useless. I know there's one way I could get improved info but it's a non-starter. My Return spell could get me far enough away to get a better read. The coordinates are still set to the tree in the forest. Not only that, I've still got the original version for returning to the standing stones. The only problem is I'd have to go alone. I can't exactly teach the others how to cast a spell empowered with facet.

This is why I need to improve teleport.

If I could bring the others with me, presto, problem solved.

"We can't keep heading directly into Aetherium territory. And we need to shake our pursuit," Tipan points out.

"Yeh have an idea?" Demo prompts while rolling a grenade up and down his intact leg.

Tipan nods, drawing us all in as she explains her plan.

I smile as she continues. Too bad Rufka's not here.

I think she'd like this plan.

Another blast of lightning flies overhead as I teleport away from Tipan, cackling as I throw out bright disks of fire wildly. None of them hit their targets, but that's the goal. The point is to keep their attention, not to take them out. My favourite aspect of this plan has to be the fact, laughing like a crazy person isn't just okay, it's exactly what we need.

The lightning is a bit of improvisation on the part of our unwitting dance partners. They're not exactly pleased with us at the moment. We haven't hurt them. Much.

But we're still dodging amongst them, ensuring none of them split off to follow the others. It's amazing how much more maneuverability we have comparatively. Their gliders are fast but I can literally fly circles around them.

And Smoulder's making it even harder on them, bouncing around as if this is just another obstacle course. It took longer to explain to her that we didn't want to hurt them than it did to come up with the plan.

Tipan's idea was simple. The others would fly away while she and I would remain hidden at our landing site. While Tipan wasn't able to just go invisible as I did, it turns out it's not the first time she's had to hide in plain sight. Using a touch of earth magic, she passed as a pile of dirt. In the meantime, Beth took Tipan's image, flying off with Roberts and Demo.

The original plan had been to ambush and delay them when they got close. But that had been if they'd continued flying overhead. Luckily, one of their members must have been suspicious as they barked out orders to stop to investigate our rest area. As half of their squadron landed, I froze time. I was able to bury five of them before they had time to react. Tipan managed to get the last one, impressing me.

I mean, I'm operating at insane speeds through my amazing resource. Tipan's using an element she's only started learning recently yet she's reacting at a fifth of my enhanced speed.

The panicked cries from the mostly buried squad members caused the remaining flyers to scramble. So Tipan and I hardened our encasements then took to the sky, harassing them. I was slightly worried at first. We'd decided to keep things nonlethal but we hadn't received any assurances the flight would do the same.

Then they grazed me with one of their spells and I realized they can't do real damage to me.

But we can't let them know they're ineffective, or they may call in the big guns too quickly. So instead, we've been dodging spells as we fly back towards Glimmering Sands. We've been flitting around and harassing them for over ten minutes now. Their frustration is making it progressively easier to evade their ill-timed attacks.

Another blast of lightning from the vocal K'tharn, who I'm pretty sure is their leader, brings me out of my thoughts as I spin with a flourish to narrowly dodge her attack. I'm trying not to let her realize how easily I could be evading.

Seriously, it's like they're not even trying.

"Lex, I think our time is coming to an end," Tipan calls out, spinning about after being hit by a blast of wind. Ha. As if their wind spells would hurt her. Not only is it one of her key strengths, she's fortified with a healthy dose of moonshine. She manages to make it look like a real hit though.

She's so successful that if I couldn't see her health, I'd think she was really hurt.

But that's my cue to cut the laughter. Because Asterix is approaching.

I thought we were recovering quick, but he's a hundred times our size and is already catching up.

Wait. Is he….?

His scales have molted, his once lustrous emerald hue now dark and uneven. It would seem Ivicka's not willing to allow anything, even a loyal companion, to rest in peace.

There's a visible sliver of green that splits the sky as he blurs forwards through the air towards us.

This was not part of the plan. I mean, I could probably take him, but after what happened to Beth, we've agreed none of us should stay too close. A single hit could take any of us out. And who knows how Ivicka making him Fallen has affected him.

"Fallen dragon incoming," I inform Tipan as I dart towards where she's falling from the sky, Smoulder landing on my shoulder.

"I see it. Ready?"

"The moment you are," I answer as we land.

Even the leader of the flight seems unnerved at the approach of Asterix. I can hear her ordering her remaining flyers away as he roars towards us.

Asterix is closing fast as Tipan and I complete our spells.

The sight of a dark-green flame building in his throat is the last thing I see before we disappear.

The familiar sight of the four-piece table and under-tree chamber greet us as we appear safely, several days travel away.

Turns out I'm not the only one with Return. While the rest of us were picking up the system's version of life assurance, Tipan used one of her points to purchase the ability from the shop. She'd mentioned it at some point but I'd been distracted by a certain other K'tharn.

"We're clear," I tell Beth. It's expensive at this distance, but no more than calling Rufka. Which is another thing I should be able to solve. With access to Raz's, I can invite Rufka to a party to restore our connection.

But first.

The connection remains intact, allowing me to lock on. Turning in place, I gauge the direction to Josh.

When I stop, Tipan's rubbing her chin, her map out. She matches my facing with the line we had from before, tracing a pair of lines until they meet.

It's not perfect but it's enough for us to know one thing for certain. If Josh isn't in the Aetherium capital, he's damn close.

Looks like we're heading to Aethire earlier than planned.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Sorry for the delay, moved over the weekend and thought I'd prepped the chapter already. Oops.

Standard Author's blurb 0.03

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Note, there have been changes. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.73 One Small Step

January 25, 2019, 3:52 pm.

The entangling roots of the Nexus point barely register as we prepare ourselves for the next step. During one of our practise sessions a couple days ago, I'd explained how my teleportation worked to Tipan while we'd been trying to use it as a basis for invisibility. At the time it'd been a dead end. While it hadn't helped at the time, it occurred to Tipan I could use my IFF to teleport to the others. As we were hashing out the details of our impromptu escape plan, this had been the key component for regrouping.

If it didn't work, then we'd be stuck waiting for the others to catch up. Which means there's no better time to start practicing. I cast one lingering gaze on the doorway to Raz's but remind myself that Rufka isn't expecting me to contact her for hours yet anyway.

Tipan and I spread out while Smoulder perches on a nearby branch, watching with detached curiosity as I prepare to throw myself at Tipan.

Reaching out, I grasp the tether established by IFF, then, piggybacking on the tether, I create the spatial link I use for teleportation. Taking a deep breath, I nod to Tipan.

She conjures a barrier of wind, prepared to catch me.

Initiating the tug, I'm soaring over her head a moment later, wrapped in a bush located not far behind Tipan. It's even worse than my first effort back in the Yrken ship.

"You seem to have missed," Tipan notes with a soft chuckle.

"Yeah. Accuracy is hard," I note as I pull my arm out of a thorn bush with spikes the size of my finger. Yet they only tickle, hardly pressing against my health edge. This is not a Josh level thorn bush.

Picking myself up, we continue the experiment. I'm trying to use Tipan as my only anchor, so the solution I came up with last time won't work. Unless I'm able to create several anchors on Tipan herself.

The basic test I perform when I visually attach several anchors to Tipan confirms that yes, it's enough to increase my accuracy. But it doesn't help through the IFF link since it only connects to a single spot. And when I try connecting them to her blindly, I end up forming tethers that are lost in the surrounding forest. Hmm. Creating tethers without guidance isn't much better.

If only I could see from her perspective.

…..

Wow. Sometimes, I'm an idiot.

Warning her, I let Tipan know I'm going to be connecting directly to her perspective. It's not as strange as I expected, though it's a little unsettling when she rubs her lower arms together while leaning on her staff with her upper arms.

Ignoring the extra sensations, I use the connection to create tethers. It works so perfectly I'm able to arrive next to her with my arm wrapped over her shoulder.

"Well. That's a noticeable improvement," Tipan remarks.

"Yeah. But it's only the first step," I agree while staring at Smoulder. Why is it so easy to bring Smoulder with me when I teleport?

Is it her size or something else?

Tipan and I spend the next half hour continuing to work on my teleport. I check with Beth every few minutes, making sure that the others are still safe until she suggests that I check back every hour instead. Unless we make some real progress of course.

I'm about to interrupt our practice to contact Rufka when Tipan asks, "have you tried using your special abilities on others? Offensively, I mean."

Her question causes me to freeze in place. "No."

"They could be potent as they seem to ignore a lot of rules," Tipan notes.

"Yeah," I murmur back. Even though I'm immune to fear, the idea of experimenting with my abilities on a living being unsettles me.

"Maybe you could start by experimenting on a tree or something," Tipan suggests, gesturing to the bush I just climbed out of.

That's… that's a great idea!

"Just remember Mr. Bush, you started it. What am I saying? I don't owe you an explanation," I proclaim, waving my arm grandly as I attempt to wrap the bush in one of my stasis-shields. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. I envision shielding runes around it connected through a tether but the field collapses inwards the moment my facet completes the pattern.

It takes me several tries until I realize that when I use the shield on myself, my mana channels are an integral part of the barrier. Mr. Bush is completely lacking any such mana channels.

So, I guess that means I need to create a suitable substitute.

I spend several minutes trying to create a proper structure but they all collapse.

"No luck?" Tipan asks as I join her in the shelter of the tree where she's been waiting.

"None. My shield keeps collapsing as soon as I try to form it."

"Hmm. What have you tried? Maybe if we…"

Tipan and I spend the next five minutes going over different runes. Our first attempts fail until we incorporate the open cardboard box rune. My first test proves it's not perfect, the spell not covering the entirety of the bush. And it's expensive to maintain.

But it's progress.

Besides, I don't need to teleport Mr. Bush, he's just a nice easy target. Still, Tipan and I keep working together, trying different combinations. We come up with several different rune structures that each encompass different shapes and sizes. Turns out that creating shields is a rather modular process but there's a general rule that circles take less mana per volume.

The first time I studied Return the entire spell surrounded me, circles composed the structure from top to bottom. It was practically a cocoon, just formed of mana instead of whatever cocoons are normally made of. Is a cocoon a silk-like or skin-like substance? Or are they just chewed up leaves?

Adding that to the list of google questions for when we make it home, I return my attention to our experiments.

While shields prefer circles, they're not against being morphed into blobby shapes. Tipan and I continue experimenting until we create a shape that should allow me to teleport everyone with me. The final shape doesn't incorporate blobs at all. While the blob shapes are interesting, the costs make a starfish shield into a dead-end. That I'm able to notice the cost at the short ranges we're practicing at is a bad sign.

Instead, we've simply expanded the range of the bubble of my self-shield, reinforcing with several of the box runes to expand the circle outwards.

"Okay. It seems to be stable. Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Tipan gives me four thumbs up while stepping back, Smoulder on her shoulder. Next to me are five earthen statues standing, the rough features overlaid with bold numerals. My very own crash test dummies.

Safety first!

The connection forms and the pressure are greater, but I emerge a dozen metres away from my starting position. The statues are standing beside me as planned. Except most of them are missing miscellaneous parts.

That was Tipan's idea.

Each statue was placed at varying distances from the centre of the circle. The furthest statue who was three quarters shielded is missing its head and one of its arms. The edge is sharp enough that it'd probably draw blood if I wasn't protected by the system. If I used this as a weapon…

It's surprisingly easy for me to picture the statue as a person, their limbs sloughing to the side. Unpleasant.

"Well. That's quite the impetus to be fully inside the shield." Tipan hefts the remaining 'head' in her hands, watching it crumble. Each of the other statues except the 'control' are missing pieces as well.

"Yeah. Do you know how to add colour or something? It'd be nice if the boundaries weren't invisible. I'd rather not cut anyone's head off on accident." I reform the crippled statues as I speak, moving them completely inside the safe area for the next test.

"A second spell maybe? Adding colour to my spells hasn't been something I've needed. That's more..." Tipan's words are cut off as I teleport. Her voice is much closer when I re-appear surrounded by test dummy honour guard near her. "... a twi-whoa!"

Grinning at her, I continue, moving away with my regular teleport while leaving the statues posing heroically before her. "Twilight huh, like this?"

A glowing ring of dusky light springs into place. It's much simpler than the actual bubble surrounding us, only showing three concentric rings. Even so, it provides a clear delineation between inside and out. For safety, I add in a small margin of ten centimetres.

"Yes, that should-" Tipan's not surprised when I appear in front of her this time, giving me a light shove shortly after I arrive. "That should work."

"Yeah. Now I just need to test it on some local wildlife. No offence but I'd rather not use you as a test subject." I'm already scanning the area, searching for a likely target. There are a surprising number of songbirds in the area, but I'd rather not subject such an innocent creature to my experiments either.

Even if it'd be safer than trying it with one of the jaguar-esque predators I'm looking for. But unless I find a mana-borne, the Vexthera are the only targets I feel comfortable using.

"You realize how potent this could be?" Tipan asks, gesturing to the arm from the mauled statue from earlier. "There are very few creatures with resistances to spatial magic."

"Yeah. Trying not to think about it," I answer. I mean, sure, this could be helpful for confronting Ivicka. A way to do the sorts of damage she'd otherwise shrug off.

But it feels too lethal.

Too real.

"I'm going to keep testing," I inform her, porting away before she can respond. I'm ten jumps into my hasty retreat when I stumble across a Vexthera.

It's sprawled across the branch above me, its dark tail flicking back and forth as it judges me with its amber eyes.

The way its eyes remain locked on me causes me to hesitate. Do I really want to experiment with an innocent creature like this?

I almost don't notice when the feline's muscles begin to contract. In fact, it's only the tail growing still that clues me in.

Before I can process what's happening, there are hundreds of kilos of angry kitty flying towards my face.

So, I do what I always do these days. I pause time then consider how I'm going to handle this. At least this solves my moral quandary. I've zero issues with experimenting, now that it's attacked me.

A burst of wind manipulation places me next to its frozen form. I pulse my twilight safety margins spell. When it reveals that I would have been cutting all its whiskers and half its nose off, I push myself slightly closer to the murder cat.

Once I'm certain it's within the bounds of my spell, I unleash my power, sending us moving a whole five metres. With my pause ended by the teleport, I slip into invisibility. I only take a couple accelerated seconds to inspect the Vexthera before teleporting out of its immediate reach.

My caution is rewarded when it spins in place shredding the air where I'd been standing.

Which is a good sign. If it's slashing the air, then it's not injured. It only spends half a minute investigating the area before it leaps away. Worried that there might be hidden damage, I teleport after it.

I follow the Vexthera for ten minutes before I accept that if I did any damage to it, it's likely of the undetectable kind. It's not missing any of its limbs and isn't showing any signs of pain, so I'm calling this a success. No notification from the system that I've created a new spell though.

Returning to Tipan, I find her in the meeting room beneath the tree. In her hands she has a weathered book, its pages crinkling as she peruses it, pausing when she notices me. As I join her, she sets the book aside but not before I read the title, 'A Guide to Embedding Mental Signatures.' The Vausian characters have a sloppiness that implies they're handwritten. And not by a skilled calligrapher.

"How was the testing?" Tipan asks while placing her hands on the book in front of her.

"Found a Vexthera. It survived the teleport."

"Then the next step is clear." The book vanishes into one of Tipan's pockets as she stands, walking to the circle where we performed the first test. "Well?"

It's hard to stand. Despite the testing, I still feel a vague sense of unease as I place the barrier around us.

"Okay. Ready?" I ask, hoping she'll say no.

"Ready." Tipan nods as she clasps my hands in hers.

I pulse the safety warning, receiving visual confirmation that she shouldn't lose so much as a single strand from her mohawk. Then I pulse it again. Just in case.

Okay, here goes. This is the game-changer. If this works for my short hops, it's only a small amount of work to incorporate it into invisibility. And then Return.

As the familiar twisting happens and we emerge a few short metres away I sigh in relief when Tipan emerges wholly unscathed. I'm sighing in relief while Tipan starts jumping around excitedly. "It works. It really works. Do it again!"

I can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. So, I repeat the process until Tipan lets go of my hands, collapsing against a nearby tree, her soft tinkling laughter filling the clearing.

"That's so much better than system teleportation. It almost feels like flying, a sudden rush of movement, then bam, you're there."

Not quite what I experience, but then, not everyone is able to distort their perspective of time like I do.

"I'm just glad it worked. It would have been challenging if we had to wait for them to find their way back to us."

"Except we have to confirm you're able to do retrieve them. This wouldn't be the first spell I've seen that works at short range but breaks down if pushed too far."

"Guess it's back to the test dummies then," I sigh, summoning new earthen statues. Next step is incorporating it with invisibility which turns out to be as easy as modifying the spell form.

"This spell might not be so great for stealth," Tipan notes, poking at where one of the statues disappears halfway down its body.

I have to agree, it's not perfect. It even makes parts of the nearby trees fade from sight. It the sort of thing that would stand out more than just hiding.

On the other hand…

"It works as a proof of concept," I point out as I let the spell drop.

"True. I'd say it's enough."

"Just a couple more tests," I state as I try to improve the globe by excluding objects. But it's like using the blobs to shape the basic spell, the mana cost climbs rapidly for each exclusion.

"Lex. I think we've done enough tests. You should get the others." Tipan points her staff in their general direction.

"Just one more." I stop playing with invisibility then start making changes to my Return spell. When I'm done, I move off from the circle with my loyal test dummies. Then I implement the spell. Unlike my regular teleport, this time there's a major issue. One of the statues is superimposed with one of the tables.

"Damn. Okay, you're right. More tests are probably a good idea." Tipan prods the statue with her staff and we watch it collapse.

"Yep."

After an hour and more than a dozen attempts to solve the transposing issue, we're still struggling to fix the spell when Tipan asks, "Couldn't we just push the tables back?"

I'm about to object when I realize that we don't need the spell to work perfectly yet. Retrieving the others is more important.

"Yeah. We should probably just do that. But I'd like to fix this after."

"Well, perhaps Beth or Demo will have an idea. Either way, you should let them know we're just about ready."

Nodding, I connect to Beth, reinforcing the connection with focus since I'm low on facet. "Looks like we've got an area-based Return spell figured out," I tell her while taking in her surroundings. More plains.

"Excellent kid. How long?"

"Should be ready to come to you in…. Twenty minutes if I end the call now. It'll be easier to teleport if you're on the ground at the time."

"Will do. See you in twenty, kid." When I let the connection end, I get a couple of flashes. They're not full-on memories but I can feel Beth's concern for Josh and I. While I was talking with Beth, Tipan's kept busy by moving the tables against the walls. We finish tidying up the area by moving the remaining dirt from the bisected test dummy outside the circle.

With that done, Tipan returns to her book while I start experimenting with invisibility. I want to call Rufka but since I'd have to leave the party, then reconnect my IFF to her while spending a bunch of facet for the call, I wait.

Instead, I settle for playing with my invisibility sphere. One hundred percent mana based, and still fun besides. Smoulder's poking her leg through the edge, watching as it disappears then quickly hopping away before returning to try it again.

Twenty minutes later, I let Tipan know I'm leaving, connect to Beth then teleport hundreds of kilometres in a single thought.

As I appear beside my friends, I can't help but notice the sound of a crackling fire. Beth hands me a kebab with freshly grilled meat as Demo and Roberts join us.

Once we're finished eating, we gather in a circle, each of them well within the glowing rings of twilight. Beth turns to me, her hand grasping my shoulder.

"So kid, ready to bust this continent-wide open?"

"You have no idea," I answer as I send us back to the safe confines of the roots of Nexus point 392.

There's none of the disorientation or vomiting that accompanied Tipan's group teleport. While everyone oohs and awws our success I stride towards Raz's door.

I can't wait to tell Rufka.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Yay! Remembered to schedule this one.

Standard Author's blurb 0.04

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.74 Wake me up

January 25, 2019, 7:23 pm.

Raz's door swings open, the noise tangible as I cross the threshold. Raz is sitting at his stage, playing his guitar again, though this time he's joined by several other creatures, creating a more complete experience. There's an insectile creature who stands out, a beetle with a membrane between its massive legs. They're playing the membrane, running a soft rod across the edge, producing a sound similar to a well-tuned violin. I listen for a moment when the others emerge from the door behind me.

"Hey, Beth. I lost my connection to Rufka when I was messed up. I'm going to leave the party so I can contact her again," I inform Beth while Roberts waves down the multi-limbed (tentacled?) waitress, Amanana.

"Okay kid. Don't take too long. I'd like to get going as soon as I get my new wings from Raz."

"Kay," I respond before crossing directly to the change room as Tipan follows the others in.

There's another of those beetle people entering the room when I arrive. Their feet click on the floor as they close the door behind them. I reach out, but the door remains closed for a couple of seconds before responding to my touch. I guess it takes time to switch instances. Whatever the reason, a second later the door clicks open.

I stare at the bath with longing but prioritize talking to Rufka, opening the system interface.

Okay, first. Ensure all my existing connections are in place. Yep, still know where everyone is, cool.

Next, leave the party.

Pacing back and forth, I focus on wanting to leave the party.

"You're about to leave 'Beth's Group'. Please confirm. Y/N?"

Sending my mental assent, I access the message center in the system Nexus when a new notification appears. I almost ignore it but then my brain processes the first word.

"Wyonna has invited you to join her group. Do you accept? Y/N?"

It's with some trepidation that I accept the prompt. There's a slight delay but then Wyonna's name appears on the party screen. However, all her information is grayed out, other than her name.

I wait for a second but there's no sign of notifications telling me she's back.

Turning to my trusty companion, I say, "You won't believe this Smoulder, but I just got a party invite from Wyonna. How crazy is that?"

Instead of responding, Smoulder tilts her head to the side while reminding me that we're in the playroom but the obstacle course is missing.

Rolling my eyes, I set up a simple but challenging course for her using wind platforms that are invisible with lavafalls interspersed throughout.

As I'm finishing Smoulder's obstacle course, I check my notifications again. This time I'm rewarded with a new message, though it's not quite what I expected.

"Wyonna has offered to transfer the 'Group Owner' role to you. Do you accept? Y/N?"

"Yes!" I yell at my notifications.

Even as it accepts my response, I resume pacing as I wait, hoping for another message.

A minute later, nothing.

What's going on? Why would she give me leadership permissions?

Okay, stop and think Alexis. There are only two functions that owners have that everyone else doesn't. At least according to Tipan. The first being that only the group owner can invite new people to the group. Which isn't going to help since Wyonna's already in my group.

That leaves the second function. But I'm not certain what use having control over the chat and voice channels is. Especially when I don't have either of those…

It can't be that easy? Could I just buy the ability then be able to talk to Wyonna again?

I mean, I've been saving my integration points lately. Mostly for emergency resurrection recharges. Not that we've received many since the races stopped giving easy points and I completed my manipulation skills quest.

Which means most of the points I have are from essence. I still have a fair amount, but not as many as I should. When Josh went down, I forgot to loot most of the ant-hoppers and dolls.

Speaking of which.

Yep, there's a quest.

"Quest received: Gotta slay em all - Ant-Hopper! Description: Kill the remaining ant-hoppers from the pack that attacked your group. Requirements: 56/512 ant-hoppers slain. Reward: iron rank integration points based on your contribution; variable. Time: 3/3 days."

Huh. No quest for the dolls. Weird. Also, that's a lot of ant-hoppers.

I seriously doubt we'll be hunting down the rest of those ant-hoppers at this point. Does that mean I'm not going to get any rewards?

Anyway, not important.

Converting a couple points of mana essence to integration points, I buy the party chat function. The second I make the purchase, I facepalm. I didn't even try to connect with her directly.

"Wyonna?" I mentally send, watching the words appear in a visible chat window. I'm able to shrink and enlarge the text as much as I want while still being able to read it. Which makes me wonder, can I receive the messages directly?

Before I'm able to continue my experiment, I receive a message.

(Wyonna) "Alexis! Did it really work?! Ohthankgod. I wasn't sure you'd get my invite while in your group."

I lean against the nearby tub in relief as I ask, "Are you okay Wyonna? You kind of disappeared there."

(W) "I think so. Most of my internals are fine but I'm trapped in the training room with most of my System access unresponsive. It's unsettling being so blind and deaf. What happened?"

(A) "New quest triggered anti-corruption protocols. Which apparently included you," I inform her while filling the tub. This conversation is going to take time. Might as well use it to my advantage.

(W) "Anti-corruption protocols? Oh. Wow. That's… well, at least you figured out how to contact me right away. Was this related to the summoners?"

(A) "Right away? Wyonna, it's been eight days," I respond, testing the water then raising the temperature when it feels chilly.

(W) "Really. Okay, this is worse than I thought. That means I'm in some kind of containment that's messing with my perception of time. I can't believe we're dealing with these measures. Akilo should have been clean. It's a sealed world for crying out loud!"

(A) "Yeah, I don't know what most of that means. But the quest wants us to deal with the summoner which should let you out. Unfortunately, we've got other problems. Someone stole Josh." The last sentence almost makes me feel bad about sliding into my bath. Almost.

(W) "But you're able to track him, right?"

(A) "Well, yeah. But we have to get him back."

(W) "Right. Uhm. So, couple of things you should know. You might have figured it out already but all your Forerunner conditions weren't technically system approved. Part of why I chose a sealed world was its antiquated system."

(A) "Yep, we figured out the buffs are gone."

(W) "Cool. The other thing… anti-corruption quests are dangerous in a way other quests aren't in the system. And not just if you fail them. Success makes you into a Citizen, a system agent which has benefits but it comes with personal attention from the system too."

I stare at her words for several seconds trying to understand what she's talking about before I finally reply.

(A) "We're already Citizens."

(W) "What? No. That's not possible. What do you mean?"

(A) "I mean, we're Citizens. Pretty sure we've been Citizens since we woke up. Are you telling me that wasn't your doing?" I ask as Smoulder comes over, bumping into my exposed shoulder. I may be freaking out a little.

(W) "No. Not at all. I can't…. I don't…. I have no idea how this happened."

(A) "Okay. So, what does being a Citizen mean anyway? The only thing we've figured out is we can buy a couple abilities that seem to be exclusive."

(W) "Lots of things. The most important aspect Forerunners have confirmed is Citizens don't stay dead. They're also protected from a lot of things that would kill regular users. We modelled our Forerunner's N.E.W.B. Protection based on a detailed recording of one of them surviving a direct nuclear blast. I don't think we've ever had a Forerunner who was also a Citizen before."

(A) "Huh. Well, already knew all that. Except for the Forerunner parts of course." I tell her while petting Smoulder harder than strictly necessary.

(W) "Really? Interesting. Now, what else? There are worlds that are off-limits to users that only Citizens can access. Rumoured to be paradise worlds. Scattered throughout the Known Worlds there are ships, artifacts and other devices that only respond to Citizens. The Starkiller for example."

(A) "Uhm. The Starkiller? That sounds bad. That's bad, right?"

(W) "Oh definitely. It's the size of a moon. A fully operational battlestation. Plus, it can cause a star to go nova."

(A) "Damn. I can understand why they wouldn't want anyone using things like that."

(W) "Yep. It's only been used a couple times according to my records. First time it was used by the species that built it, they blew up a neighbouring star system. As a test. There was a bit of panic until everyone found out the system had confiscated the entire ship. Now it only shows up after something's gone incredibly wrong in the target system. Like when the Reavers converted Corella to a breeding ground."

(A) "That's incredible. But I feel like we're getting off track here. Welcome back Wyonna."

(W) "It's weird hearing you say that. It feels like we were just taking out a horde of Fallen and discovering their soulstones."

(A) "Yeah. About that. There's lots I need to fill you in on, but we're still trying to deal with getting Josh back. And I need to contact Rufka."

(W) "Of course. I'll just… you know, I have no idea what I'm going to do. Everything is still offline. Hmm. Nevermind. I've got an idea."

(W) "Later."

(A) "Uhm. Okay. Later," I say then stare ahead for a second. Was that really Wyonna? It felt like it. Briefly, I worry it was my imagination, then before I know it, I've sent another message.

(A) "Let me know if I can help."

(W) "Kay."

Well.

Contacting Wyonna was not what I had in mind when I came in. Now I have even more to talk to Rufka about.

Accessing the mail system, I send a party invite to the only person on my super simple contact list. A contact list that doesn't have an add, remove or even a sort function. Those are all part of the purchased ability. Which is still kind of low on my priority list.

"Group invite sent."

I stare at the words for a few seconds before realizing Rufka's not going to respond immediately. Probably. So I finish my bath while collapsing Smoulder's obstacle course.

When I'm nice and dry I still haven't received a response.

Well, I was hoping I'd be able to connect to Rufka then rejoin the party, but it doesn't look like that's happening. Especially now that I've contacted Wyonna. But that's okay. I can just connect to everyone directly.

Smoulder is proudly stationed on my shoulder as we exit the change room, moving to join the others. They have a table near the musicians at the front.

Demo's slapping the table, his head tilted back as he howls out. Beth is chuckling while Tipan's face is in her hands, her shoulders heaving, her laughter barely audible.

"Yes. As you can tell it wasn't my finest moment," Roberts notes as I approach. Damn. Sounds like I missed something good.

"Ah. Alexis, you're back. Good. It appears we'll be spending the night," Roberts informs me while pushing a chair out for me.

"Oh?"

Beth stops chuckling while squeezing one hand into a tight ball. "Raz hasn't been able to finish my wings. Apparently, he needs my direct input to finalize the changes. Besides, Roberts has convinced me that we should rest here before we try to track Josh down. It's not like we can teleport directly into Aethire so it's going to take us several days anyway."

As she finishes, she slowly unclenches her fist, revealing the cracked form of the Josh figurine within.

"Huh," I respond as I slump down into the proffered chair. Guess I'll get to enjoy Raz's performance for a while longer then.

Ordering a strange new pasta, I only half-listen to the others discussing possible problems while I wait for Rufka to accept the party invite. It's been at least ten minutes. Has she not received the invite?

Oh. Maybe she's in a party like I was. She couldn't get the invite then. Or maybe there are other rules. I should ask Tipan.

"Hey, Tipan. Are there any restrictions on accepting a party invite?" I ask in a low voice as Roberts points out we can't make solid plans without more information. Which Beth agrees with. Then continues proposing ideas anyway.

"Sorry, what's that?" Tipan asks as she turns to me.

Repeating my question, I add, "Rufka hasn't accepted yet."

"She's probably not close enough to a Nexus. Invites only show up when you're at a Nexus."

"Oh. That explains it. Thanks." I'm standing again even as I speak, prepared to go send Rufka a message alongside the party invite so she knows what's happened. Smoulder decides to stay with Tipan, hopping to her shoulder.

"You don't need to stay by the Nexus once the invite is sent, you know," Tipan teases while stroking Smoulder's tail.

"Yeah. I know. But I want to send her a message. I don't want her to think I forgot to call her; you know?" I tell Tipan.

"Ah. Of course. Tell her I say hi," Tipan says as she starts loosely braiding strands of Smoulder's tail.

Nodding, I slip away to the change room.

It's only as I'm writing everything that's happened in the last couple days that I realize I forgot to tell the others about Wyonna being back. Hmm. Thinking of which.

(A) "Wyonna? Do you know if there's a way to send a party invite without the other user being at a Nexus?"

(W) "Sure. If you have the friend's list feature you can send and receive group invites from anyone on the list from anywhere. I mean, if both users have the option and aren't in a group. Why? Aren't you already in a group with Josh?"

(A) "Oh, it's not for Josh. I was hoping to contact Rufka."

(W) "Well, you don't need to be in a group to do that. But being in a group is cheaper."

(A) "What's the other option?"

(W) "Lots of system upgrades. First, both of you need to unlock the friend's list feature under communication. Then you'll need to have purchased the party chat or party voice. That'll unlock the Friend Channel feature for purchase. After you've purchased that, you have to have added each other to your friend's lists. Then, problem solved; unlimited calls and chat with all your friends. Careful who you add as a friend though."

(A) "Well, that's not an immediate solution, but I'll mention it to Rufka next time I reach her. Thanks, Wyonna. It's great to have you back."

(W) "No problem Alexis. Glad I'm able to do something to help."

(A) "Wait. Could we contact each other through the friend's list then?"

(W) "If you buy the ability…. Probably. You'd need to add me to your friend's list though. I'm not able to invite friends. Another of those AI restrictions."

(A) "Wow. Jerk move. Okay, once I purchase the ability, I'll send you an invite."

(W) "Really? I mean, thanks, Alexis. That means a lot."

Shrugging off her gratitude, I say goodbye to Wyonna again. Then I add her information to the letter I'm writing (mentally projecting?) Rufka. When I'm finished writing, I look it over. I haven't mentioned my feelings for her.

Because that feels like a thing that should be done in person. Or at the very least, over voice connection.

Once I'm finished, I send the letter off, receiving a notification that simply says, "Message sent."

Since I'm here anyway and we're staying for the night, I decide to check the communication options. As I'm going into the menu, I notice the anti-corruption submenu. I almost forgot about the anti-corruption options being added.

In idle curiosity, I open the menu to read the description of the abilities. There are all the abilities Beth mentioned, most involve using a Nexus node to cleanse Fallen or soulstones. It's all ridiculously expensive. The cheapest option is a Soulstone purification chamber that costs five iron rank progression points, can cleanse one Soulstone per week and requires five iron grade mana essence to recharge.

Again, they all require the 'Claim Nexus' feature which is kind of out of reach at the moment.

After checking over the communication options, which I hold off on purchasing, I return to the others where we play a quiet game of Astra's Stride before turning in for the night.

Even as I lay in bed, there's no sign of Rufka in my party interface. In a way, I'm kind of glad Josh is somewhere in Aethire.

If Rufka doesn't respond, at least I won't have to choose who I'm going to save first.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

So... Yeah.

Wyonna says hi.

Standard Author's blurb 0.04

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.75 Before you Go-Go

January 26, 2019, 6:33am.

When I wake, it's not from the most restful night ever. On the plus side, it turns out Raz's rooms are pretty much everything proof. Even lightning bolts and raging fire don't leave a mark.

Apologizing to Smoulder for the panic storm, the remnants of my nightmare fade as I brush her fur. I'd dreamed that dolls had captured Rufka and she was being turned into one. Which, after the day I had, seems rather pedestrian in comparison.

There were a lot of system messages too, though none of them made sense.

Speaking of messages, the one I was waiting for greets me when I check.

"Rufka has joined the group."

(R) "Hey, Lexi. Just got your message."

(R) "Okay, waited fifteen minutes and no response. I guess it is pretty late. I'm glad you're on your way."

(R) "I hate to say it, but I'm not able to rescue mum on my own. The Fallen are here. I'm worried, Lexi. Really worried. Call me as soon as you get this, please."

Following the link through the party interface, I connect to Rufka, speaking directly into her ear. At least, that's how I picture the connection working. "Morning sleepyhead. Time to wakeup."

"Blargul… duh. Luh-Lexi..?" Rufka responds, my heart melting at the sound of her struggling for consciousness.

"Good morning. You asked me to call as soon as I woke up," I inform her, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"Ruh-right. Sorry, it's just… Vaus-damn, I only went to sleep a couple hours ago."

"Oh. Sorry," I apologize meekly while flipping Smoulder's tail back and forth.

"No, it's alright. Worth waking up to hear your voice. Sides, it's not like it's your fault our streets are crawling with Fallen."

I blush pretty hard going silent for several seconds before I realize what she said about the Fallen in the streets. "Crawling with? Just how many Fallen are there?"

"More Fallen than K'tharn. And it's worse at night. I wish you could teleport straight here."

This time my jaw drops as I realize just what she said. She's in the capital. Exactly where we need to be.

"Uhm. I think I can," I mutter while thinking about what I need to do. Return is working. But only to go where I've already been. Yet it's cheaper than my regular teleport. I'm going to need to make several adjustments before I'm ready to teleport everyone to the capital. But it should be possible.

I think.

"Really? Awesome! Wait. Can you give me five minutes?" There's a rustling noise followed by a really loud thump. "Ow! Uh, maybe make it ten?"

I can't help but giggle. "Not right now. I'll need to practice to make sure I can bring the others. And you'll need to be in an open space."

"Oh. Damn. Can't you just experiment here then go back for them later?"

As she asks the question, I just about teleport right then and there, the others be damned.

But I don't.

"Get some sleep, I'll let you know when we're ready," I reassure her gently instead. It'll be better to have the others with us. And I'm sure that if we work together we can figure this out by the time Rufka's rested. I'm just glad she's okay.

"Sleep. Right. I guess I can do that. You'll still be in my group when I wake up, right?" Rufka asks with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Absolutely. Are you okay?" I press, suddenly worried again. I don't know anything about where she's resting. It's unlikely she's found a place as safe as Raz's.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just… hurry, okay?"

"I will. We'll be there as soon as I can figure this out," I assure her.

"Good. Okay, I'm gonna get some more sleep. Oh, and Lexi?"

"Yeah?"

"You're vaus-damn awesome."

I just about choke on my reply, but manage to squeeze out, "You're vaus-damn awesome too."

Rufka makes a vague affirmative followed by a 'fwump' which is when I end the call.

Okay, now I just need to figure out how to take us to a place we've never been before using Rufka as my guiding light.

Easy.

As is my morning ritual, I take a quick glance at my status, though not much has changed lately.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

2

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

16

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

8

(+/-)

INTELLECT

100

(+/-)

SPIRIT

100

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

47

(+/-)

RESOLVE

46

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

Storage

4.19

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

2/3

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

125/125

[6.8]

(63)/d

Stamina

123/123

[8.7]

(66)/d

Mana

669/669

[59.8]

(557)/d

Focus

573/573

[42.6]

(418)/d

Matrix

Facet

184/184

[14.3]

(143)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[61.25]

Elemental

[61.25]

Temporal

[93]

Spatial

[93]

Matrix - Skill Level

Knowledge - Skill Level

Mana - 100

Engineering - 59

Spatial - 100

Gaming - 3

Temporal - 100

Survival - 18

Combat - Skill Level

Support - Skill Level

Throwing - 13

Cleaning - 76

Elemental - Skill Level

Cooking - 0

Earth - 100

Crafting - Skill Level

Fire - 100

Ceramics - 64

Ice - 100

Metal Shaping - 85

Lightning - 100

Stone Shaping - 82

Metal - 100

Tailoring - 3

Stone - 100

Woodworking - 1

Twilight - 100

Movement - Skill Level

Water - 100

Climbing - 9

Wind - 100

Flight - 82

Riding - 8

Running - 20

Swimming - 10

Without getting more integration points, my skills are stagnating. All my manipulation skills are capped out at a hundred. I was hoping to finish the crafting quests in Glimmering Sands to bring up some of my other attributes but… Well, that didn't really work out.

When I enter Raz's main room, I'm shocked at how empty it is. I'm literally the only being in residence. Going to a nearby table, I order a heaping breakfast platter from the menu while considering how to incorporate my two different teleportation styles.

I've nearly finished my breakfast and had exactly zero inspiring thoughts when Beth emerges, striding directly to join me.

"Morning kid. Others aren't up yet?"

Shaking my head, I lift my last piece of crispy bacon, catching it between the tines of my fork. I rotate it back and forth for a second before saying, "I think I can get us straight to the capital. But I can't figure out how to make it work."

"That'd be great kid. Have you been able to talk to Josh?" She's smiling as she asks but it doesn't reach her eyes.

Damn. Now I feel bad. I haven't tried connecting to Josh since I first established the bond.

"Not yet, but let me check again," I suggest. While I haven't checked again, I did technically check the first time.

When the connection forms, I'm surprised to find myself aware of Josh's surroundings, his blindfold removed. It looks like he's in some sort of study. There's a nearby desk with scattered papers and there are several books lining shelves along the walls. He's still bound, though it feels like he's tied to a chair.

With the connection so clear, I have to try talking to him. "Josh, can you hear me?"

Immediately after, I hear him grumble something that could charitably be interpreted as 'Alexis'.

Or maybe 'my mouth hurts'. Either way, I feel it's safe to take it as confirmation he's awake and listening.

"I'm going to take that as a yes. I don't know exactly what happened but we're tracking you down. We think you're somewhere in the Aetherium's capital city. Are you okay?"

His head bobs slightly and I realize he's nodding in response. Then he turns towards a window partially obscured by a high backed chair. On the other side of the window is mostly empty sky, but just to the right, only slightly obscured by the chair is a silver spire, not unlike the one from within the dungeon.

Then his head slumps against his chest and I feel moisture beading on his cheeks.

"Hey. It's going to be okay," I attempt to reassure him. It seems like I'm doing a lot of that today.

He nods again, but it's not like he can wipe the tears away. I feel pressure on my hand, then look up to discover Beth is holding my hand while her emerald eyes bore into me.

Muting the connection to Josh, I address Beth, "he's still tied up. But he's awake and conscious."

"Good. That's good," she says, easing her grip on my hand.

"Hey, Beth?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Beth smiles at me, her orange hair falling in her face as she shakes her head, "not right now. I just want him back."

"Yeah," I nod in agreement before returning my attention to Josh.

He's staring at an empty stone alcove. After another few seconds of him staring at the alcove, I ask, "is there something you want me to see?"

Nodding, Josh continues staring at the alcove. So, I inspect it again, looking for anything that might be important.

But I'm not seeing it. It just looks like a featureless slab of stone between shelves of books. Upon consideration, it being empty might be what he's trying to draw my attention to. It's the only spot in the room without books or paper stacked nearby.

"Okay. It's empty. Is that what you wanted me to see?"

Shaking his head, Josh pans his gaze around the room again. He pauses when he looks through the small window, then pauses on the alcove again. It's on the third loop I realize the room is missing something integral to a normal room.

"There's no door," I state when I figure it out. Josh's shoulders slump as he nods, confirming my guess.

"Noted. You're locked in a room without a door. So we'll either need to stone shape or teleport through," I share out loud, keeping Beth informed as Josh nods. There might be more to discover, but my Facet is getting low.

"Listen Josh, I'm just about out of Facet. But we're coming to get you out." Another nod from Josh but this time I can feel him sit a little straighter. Then I hear the sound of grinding stone. The wall he was staring at shifts out of sight, the sight reminiscent of my own shaping.

Through the new opening strides a tall, thin K'tharn. Unlike most K'tharn, she wears robes, the emerald green contrasting against her golden fur as she steps in front of Josh.

I can feel her paw on Josh's chin as she tilts his head to the side, Josh struggling to resist the movement.

"Awake are we? Congratulations, it's rare that we find a new species. There's so much we can learn from you. No, no, don't try to speak. Your questions will be answered soon enough."

I'm just able to make out an emerald ring on her paw as I run out of Facet and the connection ends. I give Beth a quick run down of what I saw, including the K'tharn at the end.

"Thank you, Alexis. It's one thing to see his name in the party screen but it's another to know he's alive and awake."

"Of course." I answer

"Anyway, you were telling me about your spell? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm not sure," I tell her. Then I start describing how my spell works, the issue with statues appearing inside of the table and that I technically need to create a whole new spell to reach Rufka and Josh. I'm two sentences in when it occurs to me I should ask Wyonna for suggestions too. This leads to a sideline where I inform Beth that I've re-established contact with Wyonna. While glad to hear it, she pushes me to continue work on the spell.

As I'm describing the issues the others all join us at the table. Soon, I'm repeating my issues yet again while trying to describe the structure of my Return spell.

"Yeh're not using contact triggers to help shape the spell? Like the one I taught yeh to trigger the detonation for fireball?" Demo asks as I finish explaining the issue for the third time.

"I'm not sure how I'd incorporate it. This is the existing rune structure," I say, as I create a three-dimensional recreation of the Return spell out of steel. I should have done this in the first place.

Apparently, the structure is sufficiently complicated that creating it earns me an increase in metal shaping.

"Odeon's sagging tits…." Demo grunts to the rest of the table's laughter. "Yeh forgot to mention that it'd be simpler to build a ship to fly us there."

"It's not that bad," I counter. I mean, sure it takes up the entire table now but that's just because it had to be expanded to keep everyone inside. And it'd be too hard to inspect if it was smaller. I didn't even include the runes for the safety zone spell.

"Sure. But I see what yeh mean about not knowing how to incorporate the runes. I don't even know how most of this works." He pokes at the outer runes with his toothpick, not quite touching them.

I shrug as I respond, "Neither do I. At least not all of it. But these are the runes that control the shield specifically." With the model on the table, we start diving into the inner workings, with the others all offering different ideas.

I end up having fifteen different variations to test once they're finished breakfast and my Facet has recharged.

After the first round of tests, three variations seem to have promise. It's the third iteration of the thirteenth design that finally gives me a notification. A notification I'd almost given up on receiving.

"Spell discovered: Greater Teleport - Mass. Would you like to add this spell to your preferred spells?"

The final design increased the complexity by adding dozens of the impact detection rune linked throughout in a way that redirects the traveller. The first version tended to overcorrect to the point of creating projectiles that broke the sound barrier.

Supersonic bullets. Another idea to look into later.

Now that the system has recognized the spell, I take a look at its description.

"Teleport - Area:

- Teleports all creatures within the radius to a target location. It is recommended to only use known teleportation coordinates or to remain within the visual range of the caster.

- Current known teleportation coordinates: Forerunner Transition Point South, Nexus point 392."

Now, the important test. Can I use my linked vision to cheat the visual component?

Tipan is standing nearby watching carefully while Roberts and Demo have gone to talk to Raz about options for Demo's leg.

I'm currently encircled by five earthen test dummies. Designated Test Team Alpha, they've proven their worth, making it through the last couple tests mostly intact.

Number five lost their head a couple times in the earlier trials, but they've grown out of such foolishness as my spell improves. Smoulder and I are giving number five a stern stare when Tipan coughs.

Right. Stop playing Alexis.

Beth is serving as the target site. She insisted on being the one to help with the most dangerous part of the testing and is now roughly two kilometres out, waiting in a clearing surrounded by a dozen earthen statues. She and those statues are team Beta.

I stretch my mind out, linking to her. I can feel her constant vigilance in the constant movement of her eyes as I solidify my arrival location in my mind.

The next moment, me and team alpha materialize around Beth. Not one of them is embedded in team Beta. Even number five keeps their head. This is despite the fact I intentionally tried to embed half of them inside the others. But the spell autocorrected which should make it much safer.

I'm still inspecting the statues to make sure there are no hidden joinings when I find myself being spun around by Beth as she hugs me.

Right, I guess she's excited. Makes sense.

I mean, I'm excited too. Just, I want to get to Rufka and Josh, then celebrate.

So, even as she's spinning me about, I return us to the Nexus point. She's still spinning me on arrival, though she quickly stumbles then throws up on my shoulder. Right, teleportation isn't as easy for everyone else as it is for me. Interesting that the improved Return spell didn't have the same effect.

Beth mumbles an apology as I whisk her mess away in a chunk of earth.

"A very good sign. Well, mostly," Tipan moseys in, watching me fling the clump of earth out of sight.

"Yeah. Sorry bout that," I apologize while Beth shakes her head.

"It's fine. Better than the spell Tipan used. Just wasn't ready for it," Beth waves off our concern.

With the spell in place, Beth goes to grab the guys while I contact Rufka.

Waking her again, Rufka takes several minutes before she informs me she's ready for us to join her.

I'm not certain why, but the cost to teleport to Rufka is barely more than the cost to reach Beth had been. That alone would have been worth the time to refine the spell. My area return spell took most of my Facet when I retrieved the others.

We arrive in a plain room, furniture piled messily against one wall. I think I can make out a narrow bed beneath. There's some gagging from the others.

I barely notice any of it, a grin creeping across my face as I smile at Rufka, who steps forwards, sagging against me as she mumbles, "it's good to see you."

"All of you. Even if you are making a mess of my place," Rufka adds.

"It's good to see you too. Kid, how much time do you need until we can go for Josh?" Beth asks as I help Roberts clean everyone.

Checking the connection, I'm surprised when I discover we could go right now. "Uhm none. I've still got enough Facet to reach him."

"Excellent. Let's not waste any time." Beth clasps her hands together with a loud clap.

"One moment Beth. We agreed it would be best if we gathered 'intel' first," Roberts interjects, his hand on her shoulder.

Beth's face twists into a grimace, but then she sighs, nodding. "You're right. Sorry. Kid, can you at least tell how far away he is?"

Concentrating, I'm able to tell he's closer than he was, but the feeling is still muddled. At least I'm still able to determine his direction. "No. But he's that way." I point through the wall. A wall that I only now notice is made of leather.

"Are you sure?" Rufka asks me, a strange pitch to her voice.

Nodding, I start looking for a door, only to find that the entrance is a piece of leather that's woven closed. At least I'm guessing it's the entrance since there are several cloaks and a jacket stacked nearby and there are no other obvious ways to access the space.

"Should we take a look?" Roberts asks.

"Sure. Just, watch your step. It's a bit of a drop."

Rufka grips a handle next to the leather flap, the stitching unzipping as the flap rolls itself up.

On the other side of the door is a wide balcony formed of bone-white slats. Which are probably actual bones, when I think about it.

Stepping out, the view is rather impressive.

Rufka's dwelling is only one of thousands of similar buildings. There is a massive network, thousands of beast hide and bone bulbs in a web that stretches out as far as the eye can see.

Rufka grins as she pulls me to the edge of the balcony where I make the mistake of looking down only to discover that there's nothing below us, just an open empty pit that stretches to infinity.

While I'm reeling, Rufka shakes me slightly before saying.

"Welcome to the capital of the Aetherium, Aethire."

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Too bad there's never enough time for sight-seeing.

Standard Author's blurb 0.04

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.76 Hell of a Drop

January 26, 2019, 8:44am.

I know I can fly, yet the abyss remains daunting. The clouds drifting below us must be hundreds of metres down. Other than the distance, the clouds are reassuring, making the abyss less… abyssie.

Pulling my gaze upwards, I notice there are K'tharn moving about on a nearby enclosed walkway. In fact, I notice there are a large number of enclosed walkways that form the backbone of the superstructure that is Aethire. A lone figure soars past overhead, her fur pressed back with the speed of her passage as she flies between several walkways, disappearing from sight.

"It's good to be home," Tipan comments, stepping up next to us while taking a deep breath.

"That's a hell of a drop," Beth notes, her new cloak unfurling into wings as she flies over the edge looking down. The dark black feathers only flutter slightly as they lift her up. As near as I can tell they're styled after actual raven wings. Though all I know about raven wings is that they're black and have feathers.

Despite the fine articulation and appearance, they remain obviously magical in function, easily holding Beth in place despite the lack of flapping.

"Indeed. This is a rather impressive achievement." Roberts doesn't get as close to the edge, standing back next to Demo, whose limp remains. Guess Raz didn't have anything to help.

"Now, kid, where's Josh?"

Following the connection, I lead us around to the far side of Rufka's pod. This side of her pod shows the edge of the abyss. In the distance, I can see the mountains along the edge scraping the bottom of the clouds.

Damn, we're a long way up.

Josh's connection draws my gaze to just beyond the peaks. At first I only catch a flicker of light, but when I focus with my twi-noculars (twilight-culars?), I'm able to see the same silver spire. It's surrounded by a city similar to the dungeon we escaped from, all the way down to the silver bullets. And behind the city is a body of water that I'm pretty sure is the Lathaic Sea.

"Looks like Josh is either in or pretty darn close to that Builder city outside Aethire. That's good right?"

"Not if he's inside the city. We'll have to pass through the Builder's toll gates," Tipan replies.

"An iron per day, right?" I ask, checking my essence. It shouldn't be a problem, we all have plenty of essence.

"Yes. But that's only one issue. The Aetherium maintains their own guardhouse at the only gate they haven't blocked off."

"Blocked off how? Wouldn't we be able to manipulate our way through their walls?" Roberts asks, a small globe of water in hand for emphasis as he gestures at me.

"The sealed gates are still patrolled. I've served on those patrols in the past," Tipan answers.

"We only need intel. There's no guarantee Josh is inside. And if he is, hopefully, the kid can take us right past those obstacles."

Even as the others keep talking, my attention returns to Rufka, who's holding me tightly to her side. "So, where's your mum?"

At first, I think Rufka didn't hear me, her silence stretching. I'm about to repeat myself when Rufka responds, "I don't even know. They've moved her. The last anyone saw of her was three weeks ago when she was removed from Velthin's Holding Centre."

"Half of my old contacts have disappeared. And the other half can't or won't talk to me. Like I said Lexi, it's bad."

"Wow. That's awful." I don't know what else to say. I want to comfort her and tell her we'll find her mother, but without a connection, I don't know how I'd find her. Though I suppose…

"Could you invite her to a party?"

"Ha. Mum would laugh at that. Was always worried we could be tracked by being in a party. But no. Wherever she's held is preventing party invites. User unavailable."

"Damn." That sounds like it could be a lot worse than her mum being locked away.

"Yep. Now that you're here, we'll figure it out."

"I'll try," I offer, surprised at her faith in me. Not sure what I've done to deserve it.

I'm saved from having to figure out exactly what we'll do when the others inform us that Beth is planning to slip out of the city.

I watch Beth disappear as we test the connection, ensuring it's clear. Now that I can teleport the entire party to anyone I'm able to create a link with, it's been determined that the rest of us should stay put where it's safe. But we're to be ready to teleport at a moment's notice. In case Beth needs us.

I can feel Beth as she passes out of the city, headed towards the distant mountains ringing the abyss. I can't help but feel a shudder as I stare at the empty space that lies beneath our feet. As if sensing my unease, Rufka pulls me inside where she starts putting furniture back into place. Once she's got the bed cleared off, Rufka reassures me she'll be fine to help, despite her lack of sleep. What she means is obvious as she prepares some of her not-coffee-but-still-sleep-be-gone tea. Instead of drinking it, she stores it away. Then as I'm watching the still steaming tea disappear into her inventory she mutters "naptime," pushing me onto the bed where she uses my lap as a pillow before falling asleep.

I can't help chuckling quietly (and probably blushing) at her successful attempt to ensnare me.

Even as Rufka is catching up on her beauty sleep, Beth continues flying west, relaying her status checks through the link. I also update Wyonna on everything she's missed.

(W) "Wait, so this Demo is a Citizen too. Did he say how long he's been here?"

(A) "I think he said a couple weeks now."

(W) "Uhh. Well, that's probably a side effect of the transfer. He must have been caught in the mana-front I used to get you here."

(A) "Mana-front? Can we use that to get home?"

(W) "Maybe. Though if this Demo's ship is intact it'd be easier than creating a mana-front to take you back."

(A) "But we could do it?"

(W) "Yes. But there are multiple ways for you to get home from an integrated world like Akilo. A mana-front was the only method I had that could get the four of you here intact."

(A) "Like the portal?"

(W) "Not directly. The portal would take you to one of the Outer Worlds."

(A) "Figures. So, Demo's ship?"

(W) "If his Ripple drive is still working, yes."

(A) "What is a Ripple drive? Demo isn't very forthcoming about… well, anything really."

(W) "Not surprising. All Phothen keep parts of their minds partitioned. Even the system can't access them."

(W) "A Ripple drive is the standard post-mana-swarm faster-than-light drive. They use ripples in the mana field to move next to real space. They're kind of like a jet-ski. Except the ride isn't as smooth."

(A) "That's not encouraging."

(W) "Well, I imagine that if you keep working on it, one day you'll be able to transport everyone back to Earth without a mana-wave. It'll take a long time to get the practice you need if you don't unlock the combat training room though."

(A) "Huh. I'll keep it in mind."

Further messages are cut off when Beth indicates she's made it to the outer rim.

Increasing the strength of our connection, I try sensing Josh's location through her but it doesn't work. Looks like I'm limited to experiencing Beth's senses.

As I'm trying to use my IFF, I can't help but wonder if I can manifest any of my other abilities through Beth. As she's still flying around scouting for danger, I decide to hold off randomly attempting to throw abilities around.

Then again, she's made it outside the pit. And there's no sign of anyone chasing her, so we could join her. Glancing at where Rufka's napping on my lap, I'm tempted to remain here in this little shelter.

"I'm going closer," Beth informs me before I can make the decision to teleport the rest of us.

"Sounds good. I'll just… wait here," I answer, gazing at Rufka with what I'm sure is a silly smile on my face.

I let the next few minutes go by peacefully, playing with Smoulder while stroking Rufka's soft fur until Beth informs me to reconnect.

When I open myself up to Beth, I find myself looking down on the familiar city. This one is in much better shape than the dungeon. The most obvious being that all the silver bullets are still standing. It also has several structures standing south of the outer wall. Must be the Aetherium's gatehouse. Beth repeats the pattern of flying around then getting me to connect to her until she's flown around the entire city as I relay what she's seeing to the others. Not that there's much to report.

Outside the city, are that stretch from the mountains to the nearby sea, all neatly broken up by an extensive grid of stone roads.

When she's completed an entire circuit, Beth settles down in a field full of reddish-brown plants with large open fronds. Now's the time to experiment. "Hey Beth, I want to try something."

"Sure kid. But make sure everyone is ready to teleport. It doesn't look like they're expecting anything," Beth instructs me.

Acknowledging her order, I ask Tipan to grab the guys while I gently shake Rufka awake. She sits up, taking her tea out while muttering, "Vaus-bound outlanders and their high efficiency scouting."

Even as Rufka's complaining about her nap being too short, I've started experimenting through Beth, trying to affect the mana on her end. Unfortunately it's as unresponsive as the detection through IFF. I do discover one ability I can activate that works in conjunction with the connection, but I'm not certain what advantage being connected while in paused time might convey.

"Everyone ready," I ask when Demo and Roberts come back inside.

"I'll be staying here," Demo states, standing just inside the entrance.

"Uh, you're sure?"

"I've no interest in going inside a Builder city. Besides, this way yeh'll be able to use me as a beacon."

"That would be nice," I admit as we start pushing all the furniture to the side again. We don't need to be bringing Rufka's furniture with us.

A moment later, we're standing in a circle around Beth. Despite our close proximity, Tipan still ends up out of sight. A nearby frond quickly folds over, as she flops over it.

"Either I'm getting used to that or the shorter distance reduces the nausea," Roberts mentions, only stumbling slightly.

"Forgot about the side-effects," Rufka notes, while pushing her way out of sight through the fronds. "Seriously, once we get mum out I hope she can help you with that."

I shrug while Beth watches over us as the others recover. Once everyone is solid on their feet again, Beth turns to me. "So?"

"One second," I reply before turning invisible then floating upwards. This close, and from above, I'm able to identify the block of buildings where Josh must be held. They're not especially different from any of the other buildings in the city. The only notable characteristic is that all the buildings seem to be entirely adjacent to each other, with no space between them.

I float down next to the others, explaining where I saw Josh.

"Well, now we just need a way inside," Roberts notes, stroking his chin where a light brown fuzz has started growing in.

"We have a way in," Beth states, clasping my shoulder with one hand.

"I'm still reluctant to teleport into unknown circumstances," Roberts shakes his head.

"Well, at least the symptoms are reduced with a lower range," Tipan observes, which causes Beth to snap her mouth closed on whatever she was about to say.

"This is true. But I'm more worried about what we may encounter on the other side. How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"A trap built to prevent us from using an ability no other user has?" Beth demands. "Besides, we have resurrection."

"That we know of," Roberts counters as Beth tugs on her hair. "And not all of us have resurrection, or have you forgotten our friends here."

Beth sighs, "Sorry. You're right. It'd just be so easy. Teleport in, grab Josh, then come right back out again."

Huh, she's got a point. It's not like it takes a lot of Facet for me to teleport at this range. In fact, I don't even need to bring the others, do I? Looking at them, I realize neither Beth nor Roberts would approve of me going on my own.

So instead of asking, I move to the nearby frond with Rufka, sending her a message through party chat.

(A) "I could go in, get Josh, then be right back."

(R) "What? Oh, teleporting. Sorry, still waking up. I doubt that'd work. Mum says Builder cities prevent teleporting in and out."

(A) "Damn. I should probably tell the others."

"Rufka thinks we won't be able to teleport into the Builder city," I state as I emerge from behind the frond, Rufka right behind me.

"That's what my mum told me. One of the reasons she hated visiting Bethreyne. You know, other than the cost. And the Aetherium. And the… actually she has a lot of reasons."

"Well, I guess that's settled," Beth sighs again. "Any other ideas?"

"Sneak through one of the other entrances?" Rufka suggests.

"They're blocked off," Tipan points out.

"Only technically. Lexi has invisibility and the ability to shape stone and steel however she wants. I bet she could get us through in fifteen minutes, tops."

"Sounds good," Beth agrees quickly. Roberts's nod is slow, but he doesn't voice any concerns.

Huh. Guess I'm working on my stone shaping.

Instead of all of us going, Beth scouts out a sheltered location near the Northwest entrance. As a first step, I create a slightly larger place for the others to wait before approaching the sealed gate with Beth.

We both remain invisible as I consider the large stone block that literally obstructs the entrance with its mass. As though someone took a smooth cube then plopped it down, trusting its size to do most of the work.

The block lacks any ornamentation other than the intricate runes worked into its surface. But some exploration underground reveal they only extend a couple metres beneath the surface. Exploring below the surface is actually a greater challenge than I'd anticipated as I need to ensure I'm not leaving any obvious traces of our passage.

Ultimately, I end up seperating a square of sod that I lift away while compacting the space beneath. It's only the work of moments allowing Beth and I to crouch inside before sealing any sign of our intrusion from above. A minute later I've discovered an already existing tunnel a mere three metres into the block. It looks like I'm not the first person to try this.

"Well, this is interesting," Beth's voice carries over comms.

"Yeah. I think this is far enough I can grab the others," I suggest as we look around the tunnel. I've already closed off our entry point, but since we're still outside the city, teleportation should work.

"Do it."

Two quick teleports later and we're all standing in the tunnel, heading towards the 'sealed' gate.

The silver filigree along the iron-wrought gate is much nicer looking than the entrance to the Fallen training dungeon was. No sign of any guards either. I can't help but wonder who made the tunnel as we approach the gate. There's no sign of traffic passing through, so it doesn't seem like it's used often.

The gate swings freely when Beth pushes against it, revealing a courtyard with a similar gate on the far end.

"I'm guessing this is where we pay for access to the city?" Beth asks as she steps forward.

Tipan nods as she answers, "Yes. The notification should appear the moment you pass through the crystal arch. The system will accept integration points or essence." I follow her pointing arm to see an arch halfway through the room, the crystals inside giving off a pale blue and yellow glow. I'd have barely noticed them if not for Tipan.

Following the others forward, I notice Roberts and Beth have both stopped shortly after passing through the arch.

Curious, I step through the arch, a message popping into view.

"Greetings Citizen Pandora. Welcome to the city of Bethreyne. A guide will be with you shortly."

Rufka and Tipan are still moving forwards for several steps before they realize the three of us have stopped.

Beth explains, "We've got something weird. There's no option to pay for entrance to the city. And a guide is on their way."

"A guide?" Tipan asks, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

"You didn't have to pay?" Rufka chimes in at the same time.

As the others are talking, the far gate swings open. I'm a little surprised when the being I'm guessing is our guide emerges. Honestly, I'd been expecting one of the Yrken or maybe a K'tharn.

Instead, they're more of a mini-minotaur. A mini-taur. Their horns are nearly as long as the rest of their body. If they weren't floating above the ground as they approached us, I'd be wondering how they even got around. As it is, I'm torn between inspecting them and not doing my typical space out as our 'guide' arrives.

"Uhm hello," Beth waves uncertainly as the mini-taur floats up near her face.

Even though they haven't said anything and I haven't inspected them, I'm fairly certain the mini-taur is male.

"Why doesn't anything on this world wear pants?" Beth mutters, looking to the sky as the mini-taur opens its mouth to speak.

"Greetings Citizens to the city of Bethreyne. As your appointed guide, I'll be showing you your housing for your stay while visiting our fair city. If you require the use of training facilities, enchanters, crafters or transportation, let me know and I'll endeavour to direct you to the appropriate service."

The mini-taur waves us after it, floating back towards the gates as we look at each other. It's nearly at the gates yet we haven't moved when it turns back to us.

"Oh. And one more thing. What in the Nine Worlds took you so long?"

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for this week.

Somehow the scheduling got messed up. I blame the gerbils and their war with the hamsters.

Mini-taurs are a-maze-ing.

Yeah, I went there. Whatcha gonna do bout it? You gonna inflict your own pun-ishment?

Sweet.

Standard Author's blurb 0.04

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories are available for $1 and the advance chapters have all been moved to the $5 tier.

1.77 System Access?

January 26, 2019, 10:17 am.

Beth turns to the mini-taur, a single strand of her fiery hair falling loose as she responds, "What do you mean?"

"I sent my request for an official citizen response team over eighty years ago. Ever since Subsector 3-G went offline, I haven't been able to get a proper response. I don't know why I ever took a position this far out in the rim." His voice is deep, almost as deep as I'd expect from a full-size minotaur emanating from a frame that wouldn't come up to my waist if he wasn't flying. He waves us forward, leading us through the gate then to the side into a squat building.

"Uhm, I think you…" I start to correct the mini-taur when Beth Waves me off.

"Well, we're here now. What's the issue?" she asks. There aren't any other people around. It would seem this really is an out of the way spot.

"The issue is that for eighty years there's been an entire sector outside the control of the system. Did you even read the report?" The mini-taur's eyes flare open as it stops, turning on Beth.

"Not as such," Beth admits with a shrug.

"Figures. Finally, have someone show up and they haven't even read the report."

"It never made it into our hands," Beth notes as the mini-taur leads us to a massive desk. The surface of the desk is practically at my shoulder, yet he hops up onto his chair then looms down at us.

Not effectively. In fact, it's kind of cute and I can't help giggling. Rufka elbows me in the side yet I can't help but notice that she's fighting off laughter as well. Hypocrite.

"It didn't make it… you're not the Citizens I sent for, are you?" he asks, leaning away from us.

"No. But I'm sure we can help. What can you tell us about this sector?"

Even though there are no chairs or ways to set us at an equal height (other than flying or creating our own platform, both of which I'm considering) Beth manages to create a feeling as though she's the one with the higher ground.

The mini-taur doesn't respond. Instead, he weighs each of us in turn.

Welp, since he's doing it to us.

“Creature analyzed: Mabryn. Gene-seed E."

"While the Mabryn were once a unified force, the loss of their homeworld to a Reaver Gene-mother has left this once proud species lost and drifting. A Mabryn's natural instincts are to avoid direct confrontation, instead directing opposition through others or calling upon system resources. A hermaphroditic species, the Mabryn horns are one sign of a species adapting to regular access to mana. Mabryn are a common sight within the core worlds, often in positions that other species avoid. It's rumoured that large portions of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of the core worlds are a direct result of Mabryn efforts, though this has never been proven, as to do so would require filing the appropriate paperwork."

"Name: Geral de Vinkent"

"Attributes: Physical; Low, Mobility; Low, Magic; High, Awareness; High."

"Attacks: Earth and Stone control."

"Defences: Physical: Low. Magical: High. Immunity to Stone. Immunity to Earth."

Not much of a threat from the looks of it. Unless we need to fill out a form.

"Well, you really are Citizens. Completely unrelated to my request. That figures. Guess I'll have to issue the quest personally." The Mabryn waves his (its?) hand in our direction.

"Quest obtained: Investigate Subsector 3-G for Geral. 0/1 investigations completed. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank Progression Point, 5 Iron-grade essences."

In addition to the notification is a map. A map that indicates Sector 3-G is located on the outer rim not far from the other sealed gate. In fact, it looks like the building Josh is inside is located in this Subsector 3-G.

Beth and I share a look. Yeah, that's not a coincidence.

"This is your standard tiered quest. Find out what's going on, fix it and deal with anything that might prevent the sector from working properly in the future, understood?" he asks while leaning forward over his desk, his cute little paws pressed firmly against each other. Still not as cute as Smoulder, but he's surprisingly close. I'm glad Beth's doing the talking. I can feel my hand twitching as I almost reach out to pet him.

Somehow, I imagine that wouldn't go over well. So, I indulge my urge-to-pet by giving Smoulder head-scritches instead.

"Interesting. And you said it's been like this for eighty years? Is that sort of thing normal?" Beth asks from atop her still rising earthen throne. I was getting a little tired of him looking down at her.

"Uhh…. Yes. I mean, no. If it was normal, I wouldn't need a Citizen to fix it, would I?" Geral asks, shaking his head. Something weird is going on there, cause when he moves his horns, I can make out ripples echoing their shape.

"What can you tell us? Have any of the local residents been able to tell you anything?" Roberts asks from his position next to Beth on the throne. Not like I'd only give one of them a throne.

"Of course not. The sector's been locked off since we lost contact. Standard isolation protocol. Citizen training has really gone to the Reavers in the last few hundred years, hasn't it?" The last part is muttered beneath his breath, but that doesn't keep me from hearing it.

"Couldn't say. Wasn't around then," Beth replies, pushing herself up from the throne. "If you don't have any information, we'd best get to it."

"I may not have any recent information, but I can tell you all of sector 3 went dark before coming back online. Whatever caused the outage knew enough to overload the neighbouring subsectors, blinding us until the seals engaged. At least we know it isn't Reavers."

"How do you know it's not Reavers?" Roberts asks,

"Because Reavers wouldn't have sat tight for eighty years. We'd be hip deep in whatever fresh hell the genochef had cooked up." The way he states it as though it were an obvious fact causes a chill to run down my spine.

"Right. Anything else?" Beth prompts, her hand resting on the hilt of her pistol.

"Yeah. Don't die. If the System can't get a read on what's in there it might not be able to pull you out."

"Noted." Beth leaps down from the throne, which I return to my pack as we walk out the door, Geral muttering to himself behind us. I guess he's not guiding us.

His gaze weighs uncomfortably on my shoulders as we leave the ugly building.

"Ivicka?" I ask, looking to Beth as I share a drink from Rufka's flask.

"Maybe. But who or whatever it is, they have Josh."

"Mum never mentioned there was part of the city that was inaccessible." Rufka pulls out a stick like the one I saw the guards playing with, tossing it towards Tipan as we walk.

"I never would have guessed. I suppose it is near one of the sealed gates. I've never had reason to visit them on the inside." Tipan smoothly bats the stick into the air, barely pausing as it flips from arm to arm before she sends it spinning back towards Rufka.

I try to join Rufka and Tipan in their game, but it's worse than playing hacky sack. Which I'm already bad at. The stick has a strange balance. Even though I only have to hit it with two arms, I have a hard enough time just trying to catch it to pass to my other arm. Beth doesn't join in, focused on leading the way. Roberts not only catches it on his first attempt, but he also uses his ankles. It's as if he's spent his whole life juggling mishappen sticks.

As soon as we make it outside the entrance area, we take to the air, the game stored away as we approach. I can feel Josh just ahead when the connection starts acting… staticky.

Reinforcing the connecting with focus, I switch my perspective to Josh. Or at least, I start switching perspectives. The static makes it feel as though I've been pushed into a busy shopping mall, having to endure the crowd as I find my way to Josh. The most disconcerting aspect is I can't feel my body while in transit.

Suddenly, I'm there, Josh's senses, such as they are, entering my awareness. It's only been a few hours, but it's clear that things have changed since the last time I connected.

The most obvious change in his circumstances is that he's floating. There's a mask covering most of his face, but I'm able to make out a room crisscrossed with wires and tubing. Not that I'm able to focus on that at first. His throat aches, as though he's had it thrashed recently. Once I get used to the aching in his throat, I note that everything has a blue tint, but I think that's the edge of the tube or chamber Josh is floating in. As I inspect what lies within Josh's vision, he jerks his head sideways, a blinding flash of pain disorienting me.

Okay, note to self, I can feel others' pain through the connection. That sucks. Let's just turn that off.

Damn, can't change it while I'm connected. Luckily, the pain is going away. As I come back to myself, I notice Josh's chamber isn't the only one within the room. There's another on the far side where a K'tharn with a gnarled form is moving about.

"Uh guys," I start, my eyes watching carefully. "Josh is some kind of vat in a room with a gnarled K'tharn straight out of an old horror movie."

I'm guessing Josh can hear me, cause he starts mumbling through his mask. It's at this point that I realize the mask is probably the only thing keeping him from drowning. Beth starts issuing orders but there's not much more she can do. We're already flying straight towards him as fast as we can.

Of course, now that we're inside the city, I might be able to teleport to him.

"Not unless you bring me with you," Rufka shakes her head in denial, grasping my hand firmly when I propose the idea.

"All of us should go," Roberts disagrees, Beth a second behind him.

"We should keep an anchor out here," Tipan reminds us as everyone gathers together. She looks at where Rufka and I are holding hands, then to Roberts and Beth. "Which I believe would be me."

"Agreed. Let's do this, people."

We settle on a nearby roof, the sound of an open merchant stall nearby reminding me that we're not the only ones in the city. I think I smell cinnamon.

A moment later, I deposit us into the room, everyone ready to fight. The air here feels empty, like being inside the silver bullets.

Despite our battle-ready positions and moving to cover, the K'tharn doesn't even notice us, continuing to fiddle with a console with several bulky knobs on it.

"Ahem," Beth coughs out as Roberts and I step towards Josh, looking for a latch to free him from the tank.

The K'tharn starts, looking up at us in shock. "Wh-who are you?"

"No one important. We're just here for our friend," Beth replies, glancing over at me and Roberts. I can't find any latches. The entire container is sealed solid.

Right, magic. There are seams where it looks like it's sealed though.

"What? No, you mustn't remove him!" It's only as they're yelling that I notice they have a higher pitch than I'm used to hearing from most K'tharn. Glancing over, I see Beth easily holding them off the ground with one hand. I didn't realize it before but they're even smaller than your typical K'tharn.

"Right," Beth replies dismissively, as she looks at us, "what's the holdup?"

"There's no latch. I think I'm going to have to break the tank," I answer, reaching out to the glass enclosure. It's definitely earth, but there's resistance. Instead of being firm like in the tower, it's loose, as though there isn't anything to grab onto.

"No. You don't understand, he won't survive outside. His core's been remo... Gack," the K'tharn shouts, struggling feebly as Beth tightens her hand around their throat.

"Explain," she demands.

They try to answer, but they're barely able to wheeze out the word, "air," causing Beth to loosen her grip. Slightly.

"Minister Folthka took his core. There's no system to regulate his remaining mana. The incubator is the only thing keeping him from being dispersed."

"I don't believe you," Beth states, her eyes narrowing.

"It's true. It's true, I swear. He's one of our first successes," the K'tharn objects, their struggles against Beth nearly stopped now that their feet have returned to the floor.

I run my hand against the glass surrounding Josh. I can still feel him through the connection, but the static remains. Is it the lack of his core that's causing the static? As I'm running my hand along the glass, Josh pushes his hand up against the glass. I can't make out his expression, most of his face blocked by the mask, but his eyes are glazed over and have difficulty focusing on me.

There's a 'blurgle' through our connection as he attempts to speak.

"Roberts?" Beth asks, not releasing the K'tharn.

Roberts places his hand next to mine, closing his eyes as he focuses on something invisible to me. "He's stable. But there's definitely something wrong with him. I might be able to fix it, but I'll need time."

"Well, looks like our smash and grab just turned into an extended stay. Kid, you want to make sure that door's locked?" Beth asks, pointing to a heavy-looking steel door at the far end of the room.

I nod, picking my way over the cables that run across the room. As I'm making my way, my eyes fall on a device that I'd almost call an altar if not for the number of tubes and cables running in and out of it. I analyze it on reflex as I walk by, not surprised when there's no result.

I make it all the way to the door when I feel analyze finish. Never had a delay like that before.

"Object Analyzed: Core Containment Junction. This device could theoretically be used to hold a core once removed from a user. This device is currently empty. It is attached to Citizen Rose's incubation pod."

I'm gonna say that's important. So, I mention it to Beth while securing the door. I don't bother checking it visually, instead, expanding it slightly so that it fills the doorframe.

"Door's not going anywhere," I inform the others. It's only once the room is secure, I notice Rufka glancing over at the K'tharn every other second. "What is it?"

"Huh? What's what?"

"What's so interesting about her?" I ask, gesturing to where Beth has forced the K'tharn to her feet, hushing them to silence.

"Not sure. But I don't think that's a 'her'," Rufka answers slowly, her words unusually hesitant. Following her gaze, I analyze the old K'tharn.

“Creature analyzed: Pu'shaha. Gene-seed D."

"The opposite of K'tharn, these gentle creatures are the non-sapient counterparts to the warrior. Nearly extinct on the Vausian continent, there are rumours that many still exist in a distant land. "

"Name: Bem."

"You're right. His name is Bem. And he doesn't even have attributes." He's not even trying to fight Beth anymore.

Which is probably a good thing, as she's started muttering to herself while staring at the tank.

"Can we put it back? Would that save him?" she asks suddenly.

"In theory. You'd need to get a core quickly. We've only been able to keep the subjects alive for a day. I think I've improved the formula but his biology is unfamiliar. I don't…"

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, hoisting the scraggly pu'shaha high above her.

"I don't know what the minister does with them. I'm just in charge of trying to stabilize the freed hosts."

"Then where can I find this minister Folthka?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I'd tell you if I could," he mewls as the fur Beth was holding him up by rips free. He collapses at her feet with an awful screech.

"Is this really necessary?" Roberts asks as he stands next to Beth.

She ignores him, directing her statement at Bem, who's shaking on the floor. "I don't believe you."

"It's true. I don't know anything but my labs. They don't even let me into the gardens."

"But they let you run these experiments?"

"The lack of ambient mana drains them. They don't stay longer than necessary," he explains pleadingly. I'm glad he's being so cooperative. I get the impression Beth's just hoping for an excuse to hurt him again.

"Is there anything you can tell us? Please?" I ask, hoping to forestall Beth.

"I've heard them mention offices in the building across the gardens. There might be more information there."

Beth paces back and forth for a moment. She's avoided looking at Josh's tube since we came in, but now she stops and stares at it.

"Kid, what say you and I go take a look."

"Hold on, what about us?" Rufka interjects, indicating herself and Roberts.

"Unless you've figured out how to turn yourself invisible, it's too risky. Besides we need someone to guard Josh."

"Should we be splitting up?" I ask. Part of me just doesn't want to leave Rufka but I'm also worried about getting out of here quickly.

"It's not like we can leave until we figure out a way to bring Josh with us," Beth points out, gesturing at the large device currently keeping him alive. Hmm, I wonder if that's true.

"Object Analyzed: Forerunner Gene-seed D incubation pod. This device is currently stabilizing Citizen Rose's mana state. Note, Restoration and Protection abilities are tied to a Citizen's core. Estimated time until Citizen dispersal: 38 hours. "

"Well, it looks like we've got a day and a half to find his core before…" I start but my throat chokes up.

"Even more reason to move. The sooner we find his core, the faster we can get him back on his feet."

Reading the description again, I focus on the name once more. "Huh, that's weird. It's called a Forerunner pod. I wonder why?"

"Haven't you heard of Forerunner's before?" Bem asks, his voice climbing as Beth turns towards him.

"What do you know about the Forerunners?" Beth demands.

"Other than the fact that they're the ones who run these experiments and the central government? They're crazy, every one of them."

The room goes silent, the only sound a faint bubbling from Josh's incubation pod.

…..

Well, that raises some questions.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

It's a good thing I can schedule these chapter thingies, cause sometimes I legit forget that they're supposed to be coming out.

Author's Standard Blurb 0.05

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories: $1. Advance chapters on pdf/epub on the $5 tier.

1.78 Forerunner

January 26, 2019, 10:33 am.

"The Forerunners run the Aetherium?" Beth asks Bem while I'm still trying to think of what to ask Wyonna.

"That's what the minister has claimed, yes." He doesn't meet her eyes, but I can't really blame him for that.

"Why doesn't anyone know this?" Rufka demands, pushing into his space.

"How should I know?" he retorts, looking up at her, his ears twitching in exasperation.

"This is rather unexpected," Roberts deadpans, stroking the stubble on his chin.

"Well, we hardly needed more of a reason to find this minister," I point out.

"Alexis is right. Whatever this is, it can wait. Once Josh is stable, we can find out what's really going on." Beth is nodding as she turns back to Bem. "How do we get to these offices?"

"They're just across the garden. But the exit is sealed off. The minister uses her magic to keep me locked in here."

Beth stares at him for several seconds before responding. "How exactly do you think we got in here?"

"Uhh," he scratches his head, then looks at us again, as if he literally hadn't given the matter any thought. "Magic?"

Beth rolls her eyes as she picks him up, though she is gentler, pulling him up by the elbow instead of grabbing him roughly. "And you think we're going to have a problem with a stone wall?"

"Right, right," he mutters as he heads towards the door that's still wedged into place. Before he reaches it, I start fixing it, drawing the metal back from the surrounding stone. By the time he reaches the door, I've finished fixing it. Mostly.

At the very least, it should open. I wasn't exactly careful when I drove the edges into the surrounding stone. I could fix it, but I'm having a hard time feeling bad about damaging the residence of the people who not only kidnapped Josh (twice!) but also ripped his core out then basically left him for dead.

"Okay, Alexis, I want you to stay in constant contact with Rufka. I imagine that shouldn't be a problem?"

I can't help but blush, nodding as Rufka chuckles before throwing her arm over my shoulder, "Sounds good. We need to catch up anyway."

"Not too much, she needs to be paying attention," Beth cautions, but she's smiling. It's strained, but it's still nice to see. Realizing that this would be a good time to contact Wyonna, I send her a quick message.

(A) "So, apparently the Aetherium is run by Forerunners. What the hell? How did you forget to tell me something this important?"

As Beth and I follow Bem through the stone hallway, we pass a lounge, the lush chairs neatly arranged at ninety-degree angles around a solid stone table. Bem ignores the room, but I can't help but poke my head in. There's nothing exceptional about the room, but I can't help but notice that there's a spot on the table that's more worn. And the corresponding chair is likewise threadbare.

Not important Alexis, focus!

Shaking my head, I accelerate time allowing me to easily catch up with Bem who's started up a set of stairs at the end of the hall while reading Wyonna's response.

(W) "What? No way? That's awesome."

(W) "Never heard of Forerunners running a government before. The only records I have of Forerunners on Akilo are from before the sealing. Let's see, I'll widen my record search to include all K'tharn. Looks like there were several involved in the core purging experiments about a hundred years ago."

(A) "Core purging, like the core removal that Josh is dealing with?"

(W) "What? This is why I hate being locked in this room. I have no idea what I'm missing."

When I reach the top of the stair, I realize Beth has disappeared, literally. I copy her, keeping a link to her and Rufka active.

(A) "Oh right, so, apparently minister Folthka is a Forerunner. They've extracted Josh's core, whatever that is, and he's floating in a tank. We have roughly a day and a half to figure out a way to stabilize him or he'll dissipate."

(W) "Oh no! Poor Josh."

(W) "It's kind of surprising. When they performed the original experiments, they hadn't been able to keep any of the volunteers from going poof in under an hour. I wonder what they're doing differently?"

Bem reaches the end of the next hallway, which is full of alcoves instead of doors, pointing at the one at the end. He's clearly confused when he turns around looking for us. His confusion turns to panic when I start reshaping the wall, yelping before running back down the stairs.

I create a neat opening inside the alcove, Beth letting me know she'll check the area first. The courtyard beyond really does deserve the name garden, neat rows of brightly coloured plants flank the simple cobblestone walkway. Just like our current building, the far end of the path ends in a simple stone alcove.

(A) "Well, they have him floating in a tank in a room with zero mana, a really old pu'shaha who's tending him and an entire city block that's outside of the System."

(W) "Interesting. But it looks like Theglia tried all that. There must be something else that's different."

(A) "Maybe they've just kept trying it on everyone they can get their hands on. It's not like Josh volunteered for this."

(W) "Eww. There's no record of the Forerunners doing anything like that. Maybe they're only using the same name?"

(A) "You're kidding, right? What are the chances of that?"

(W) "Not that bad, about 1 in 10,314."

(A) "You made that up, didn't you?"

(W) "Extrapolation isn't 'making it up'. But yeah, I totally just threw a number out there. I have no idea why Theglia didn't provide me with any more information. Maybe they figured something out after I was deployed. It's not like I've been in contact with anyone since I was brought online."

Beth reporting an all-clear keeps me from responding, moving through the garden to the far side. Even the courtyard feels bare of mana. It's only as we step through into the new hallway, that I feel mana return. The experience isn't entirely dissimilar to diving into a pool. The mana doesn't seem to flow through the open doorway. I want to investigate the mechanics, but Beth prompts me to follow, reminding me that we're intruders here.

Shaping every alcove into a usable doorway seems like it would be a bad idea, cause it'd expose us too much, but Beth insists it'll be more useful if we need to move around quickly. The first room is full of crates. When we look in one of the crates, there are cables like the ones attached to Josh's tank. The next room is full of taller crates. Crates large enough to fit the pod.

"It looks like they're getting ready to scale their efforts up," Beth observes as we crack one of the crates confirming that they really do contain the same pods.

"Yeah. Do you think they're making more Fallen?" I ask.

"It's possible." We both stare at the pod for a second before continuing our exploration.

We're looking into a third storage room and I'm checking in with Rufka when she asks, "Hey Lexi, did you guys take Bem with you?"

"Nope. He skedaddled when I started reshaping the wall. Why?"

"He never came back. He probably told someone we're here."

Passing Rufka's thoughts on to Beth, she responds. "Good. Hopefully, they'll hurry back."

"What?"

"We need to find Folthka as soon as possible. If she comes hurrying back, all the better," Beth explains as we move to the next room.

"Right. And we're invisible, so hopefully, she doesn't notice us." I nod along, even though she can't see me.

"Won't matter if she does."

The certainty in Beth's voice sends a shiver down my spine despite the moonshine. I wouldn't want to be Folthka when we find her. Assuming she isn't more powerful than Ivicka. I'm not sure that'd matter to Beth at the moment.

Refocusing, I open the next alcove. The stone in front of us quickly disappears, this time revealing what looks to be the entrance to a small apartment. It almost makes me feel like I'm back on earth for a second with miscellaneous knick-knacks, abstract art on the walls (not sure if that's supposed to be a K'tharn or a tree) and even some dirty dishes cluttered on one end of a small coffee table. Currently unoccupied though.

Beth still heads into the room, while I keep an eye on the hall, letting Rufka know that we haven't found anyone yet.

It's as Beth's poking around behind a counter in the kitchen that I hear a 'whish' from outside the apartment. Letting Beth know we might have guests, I peek around the corner, trying to remain hidden even though I should be shrouded in invisibility.

The K'tharn with the golden fur is there, striding towards us from the direction of the courtyard. Which means she's passed all the open rooms already.

"Genitha, are you in here? You left all the storerooms open again." She walks into the room, looking around for a second before sighing. "I swear, some-users…"

I stand rigidly as she walks past me towards the kitchen where Beth is silently waiting. I remain frozen, waiting for Beth to let me know what we're going to do as the K'tharn starts making some sort of lunch. She doesn't get farther than putting meat on a chopping block before Beth appears with a knife at the K'tharn's throat.

The K'tharn doesn't even bat an eye as she continues working. "Really Genitha, I thought you'd be more imaginative by now. Though I suppose the dagger at the throat thing does have a certain, pre- Vaus' Awakening charm."

I'm surprised Beth isn't exerting force or attempting to ask any questions when the K'tharn steps out of her grasp to retrieve something from beneath the counter.

"You know this means your daughter is going to suffer, don't you? We can't have you…" she trails off as she finally looks at Beth.

"Oh. Now, this is interesting," she says as she inspects Beth, poking her in the side. Beth looks around frantically, letting me know she's still aware at least. I reassure her as I move closer. Don't know what this K'tharn is doing, but she doesn't seem to know I'm here.

As I'm inching closer, she continues talking, "You must be related to 'Forerunner Rose'. I must say, that was quite the surprise. Not as surprising as the fact that Ivicka neglected to mention that he had a companion though. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Agatha Folthka."

"But you can call me 'Forerunner Thark'."

I'm less than three metres away when I notice the soft fluttering of a piece of the cut meat. Cautiously I reach out with my air manipulation, detecting a light flow of wind mana swirling around Folthka.

"Where…" Beth manages to squeeze out as I'm studying the air magic. The whole thing reminds me of how Ivicka ripped the air out of my lungs.

"Your friend? Oh, he's here. Not far away, in fact. He's not doing so well though. A minor case of displaced core." As I watch, Beth is floated out of the kitchen then set on a nearby chair as Folthka resumes working on her lunch.

"But you may be just what he needs. What do you say? Would you like to volunteer for a core transplant?" She flicks a bit of bloody meat in Beth's face as she gestures in her direction. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Here, let me get that."

She's shaping water to clean Beth's face when it occurs to me that I don't need to take control of the wind magic binding Beth in place to free her. I can just disrupt the spell. It'd be mostly effective, though I'll need to sweep Beth close to me using water. With Beth in arm's reach, I could teleport us out. But we came here looking for minister Folthka and we've found her.

But there's no sign of Josh's core. Maybe I should let Folthka continue. She is performing a very useful villain monologue. Then I notice the ropes moving towards Beth, completely out of her line of sight.

Damn, I guess she's not just monologuing. Stupid smart enemies.

Sighing, I pause time, sending a massive amount of wind mana into Folthka's spell to disperse its effects before reaching for Beth with water mana. Except, my massive burst of wind mana doesn't just disrupt her spell.

Instead, it generates a massive gust, sending Beth, the chair and pretty much everything in the vicinity flying over the counter. Including Folthka's half prepared lunch.

Oops.

Folthka's eyes are still expanding as I reach out to pluck Beth out of the air with water mana. We're still trying to get information out of her, so let's see if I can't make this seem like it's Beth's doing. With a little bit of pushing and pulling, I manage to assist Beth in doing a roll then landing on her feet, her pistol drawn and pointing at Folthka. This time from a couple metres away.

Honestly, I didn't even have to do much, Beth figured out what I was doing on her own then went along with it.

Since the rope and chair were already flying in her direction, it doesn't take much effort to secure much like Josh had been tied recently. They're about as responsive to my attempts to manipulate directly as before, but it takes little effort to draw the water from the nearby meat to direct them into position instead.

As my pause ends and time resumes its natural flow, I watch the room carefully.

"Disappointing," Folthka states, searching the room with her eyes.

"I'm sure," Beth responds, patting Folthka down. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Folthka asks, fluttering her eyes with faux innocence.

"Josh's core. Bem said you had it."

"Oh, he did, did he? That little rascal." Her words are accompanied by her rising from the chair, the ropes snapping as though they're made of spaghetti. She only makes it halfway to her feet when she's struck by a dark blast from Beth's pistol.

She pauses in shock, looking down at where her upper right arm now just... ends.

"Sit," Beth commands.

"Amazing. A mere iron rank able to create such damage." She does sit as Beth commanded, though her focus is on her missing arm which seals itself closed. It doesn't even have time to bleed on the remainder of her emerald sleeve.

"Where's his core?" Beth demands, firing a warning shot into the nearby floor to get Folthka's attention.

"With the others of course. You probably walked right past it. Ah, Bem, always so clever."

"Take me to it." Beth backs away, keeping her pistol trained on Folthka who calmly rises then starts walking towards me. I backpedal out of the room, waiting for them to emerge into the hallway while contacting Rufka to let her know we've found Folthka. And maybe have her hostage.

Either she's got nerves of steel or she doesn't see Beth as a threat even after having her arm literally disintegrated.

"You know, it's either brave or foolish of you to come here alone. I'm impressed though. Not many would be able to sneak into our inner chambers without tripping the warding scheme." As we move down the hall, I notice that all the alcoves are closed again. Someone was busy.

"Uh-huh." Beth doesn't wait for Folthka to reshape the alcove leading back into the courtyard, drawing a second pistol from behind her back. Her eyes remain fixed on Folthka as she blasts a jagged hole in the wall.

Folthka picks her way carefully over the ruined wall, pausing momentarily at the threshold as her eyes flick to the jagged edges of the hole. Beth doesn't tolerate the wait, gesturing forward after another warning shot at Folthka's side.

Raising her brows, Folthka steps into the courtyard. I can almost see her posture stiffen when she passes through the invisible barrier that holds the mana from following her. Beth follows behind as I stare at the jagged edges of the opening. It reminds me of what happens when I teleport something without taking care, but less neat. As I watch, more of the stone disappears, the edge getting even more jagged.

Eep.

I use a quick burst of accelerated time to catch up to Beth and Folthka when Rufka contacts me. "Hey Lexi, you're not going to believe what just happened."

(A) "Can't talk right now, don't want to risk Folthka discovering my presence."

We're only halfway across the courtyard when Beth fires, ensuring there'll be no waiting when we reach the far side.

"You know, there's really no need for the hostility. I'm sure we'll find this is all a terrible misunderstanding," Folthka says when she enters the hall.

"Sure. You accidentally ripped Rose's core out of his body then left him to die." I can hear Beth's sneer as they make their way down the stairs. Folthka really wasn't kidding. We're almost back to where we started when she stops in front of a section of unadorned wall. Unlike the other entrances, there's no alcove here. It's just a featureless plain wall.

"May I?" Folthka asks, gesturing in front of her.

"Fine." Beth grunts, sidling against the far wall as Folthka begins creating the passage. The grinding of the stone is audible as I message Rufka telling her where we are. Then Folthka finishes, revealing a new passage ten metres long leading down at a gentle slope.

"His core is down there?" Beth asks, her eyes flicking down for only a second before returning to Folthka. As they're talking, I reach out to the stone, reinforcing the structure when I notice several sections that were left weakened. Trying to trap us, I bet.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Folthka replies with a shrug.

Beth takes a half-step towards Folthka before she stops herself. "You'd best speak plainly. What do you mean 'in a matter of speaking'?"

Folthka lays her ears back, tilting her head up as though thinking before responding. "It's better if I show you."

"After you," Beth acquiesces, waving Folthka forward. Folthka nods, and I can see her glance up at the recently reinforced roof then back at Beth. Noticed my reinforcement efforts, I'm guessing. Might have been better to let her think she could trap us here. Oh well.

She starts making her way down the hallway.

I'm about to follow her when Rufka messages me again, reminding me she has important news. I inform her I'd love to hear it but she insists I need to come see in person. She tells me it'll keep for a couple of minutes, she doesn't want to spoil the surprise. Apologizing, I tell her it's not a good time as I hustle after Beth, sneaking down the hall before they get too far ahead.

Emerging from the sloped hallway, we come out into a room dominated by a long, low stone table with dozens of short chairs pushed underneath it. I've barely noticed the table when a high voice rings out, followed by another.

While surprising, the sound is familiar. I heard it all the time when I walked past the park near my father's care home.

It's the sound of children playing.

A note from Draith

Chapter 1/2 for the week.

Draith's standard blurb 0.05.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. The side stories: $1. Advance chapters on pdf/epub on the $5 tier.

1.79 Not so Simple

A note from Draith

Edited Aug 18, 2020.

January 26, 2019, 11:12 am.

I'll admit, children running about playing tag was not what I was expecting when we came to rescue Josh from the evil lair. But that's clearly what the two small K'tharn who come barrelling into the room are doing.

The one in the lead jumps onto the table, their golden mane flying loose as they scramble away from the shorter one who sends a nearby chair spinning. At a glance, the cubs appear nearly identical, the only apparent difference is that the second cub is much louder and slightly shorter. The one in the lead is nearly halfway to where Beth and Folthka are standing before they notice them, stopping in place.

"Gotcha!" Their shorter cohort calls out, two paws raised in triumph when they catch them.

"Celthi, Qern, we have a visitor," Folthka calls sweetly, extending a paw towards them then gesturing them closer. Her greeting throws me off, but she keeps speaking, "Come say hello to…"

"You know, I never did catch your name?" Folthka remarks casually, turning to Beth with a grin full of sharp pointed teeth.

"You can call me Forerunner Raven Queen," Beth replies with an equally toothy grin. "I hope you didn't bring me here because you thought children would distract me from retrieving Rose's core."

"Where's your arm?" the shorter cub, the one Folthka referred to as Qern, asks. I was wrong about them being identical. Not only does he have the flatter teeth that indicate he's a male, but he also has a black star pattern over his left eyes. Eyes that are focused on Folthka's partial disintegration.

"Just another lab accident. You know how dangerous my work can be," she responds, ignoring Beth's remark. Both of the children nod, though they seem nervous. Celthi in particular keeps glancing at Beth while playing with a pink rose woven into her hair.

"How are you feeling Qern? Any nausea?" Folthka continues, who keeps herself between the children and Beth's gun.

I jump when Beth puts a new hole in the table. The children are as startled as I am, tripping over each other before collapsing on the floor. Then Qern starts crying.

"I suppose a little patience was too much to ask," Folthka sighs. Then she stares into Beth's eyes, "Rose's core is in my son Kalim. Removing it will kill him."

Beth's eyes narrow, flicking to the children, then back to Folthka. "Why? Why would you experiment on your own child?"

"To save his children," Folthka replies calmly as she kneels next to Qern, stroking his head reassuringly.

"How does this help your child? And how does it justify killing my… Forerunner Rose?"

"He's not dead, there's a chance he'll recover, free of the System. Really, you should be thanking me."

Beth snorts, before adding, "Unlikely. But if that's how you feel, perhaps you should take his place." I don't think she's kidding.

"And leave my children without their mother. I think not." Folthka shakes her head while helping the kids to their feet.

"Mom, what's going on?" Celthi asks, tugging at Folthka's sleeve.

"She's here to see the nice man who helped Kalim."

"You know Mr. Rose? He's nice. He gave me this flower," Celthi states, fingering the rose.

Beth stares at the child for a second before glaring at Folthka, who's still holding Qern. "I want to see him."

"Of course, your friend is this way," Folthka nods then takes a step towards the ramp.

"Not Rose. Your son. Kalim."

Folthka stiffens, her robe falling unnaturally still. "He's still recovering."

"And?"

Beth and Folthka spend several seconds staring at each other before Folthka nods, standing then shooing the children away, "go play in the arboretum."

Neither seems eager to leave, but Celthi gives Beth another look before taking Qern's hand, leading him away. They're not nearly as excited as when they came running in.

I can't say I blame them.

As the children wander out the right side of the chamber, Folthka strolls towards the door the children emerged from. Beth and I follow. I maintain my distance, ensuring I never get too close to either. I don't need one of them to bump into me. It may look like Beth has the advantage here, but Folthka remains too calm.

She takes us through a homier and more open hallway. Several worn benches are set along the hallway looking out through large windows into a sun-dappled enclosure to our right. I can't make out the children but I suspect that's the arboretum. As I'm gazing in, I realize the sun must be an illusion as the entire space is enclosed under a solid stone ceiling.

Interesting. I wonder how they do it? An application of twilight maybe?

We pass several closed doors, each of them made of wood instead of the stone doorways that block every other part of the facility. This is an area meant to be lived in.

Folthka stops at the second door from the end, hesitating. She draws herself up, before turning to Beth. "Look, I know you're upset about your friend. But Kalim… he's... Please don't hurt him."

"I don't hurt children," Beth offers, though she doesn't lower her pistol.

Folthka pushes the door open while mumbling something under her breath. It almost sounds like a prayer.

On the other side of the door is a small room. Every wall is covered in drawings, well, sketches really. There are several of a suspension style bridge, more of a grand arch and a large poster-sized sketch of the Builder tower. There's a desk in the corner with several half-finished sketches of the tower as well. The K'tharn I'm assuming is Kalim is lying with their back towards the door. At first, I think he's just sleeping, but then I see the thin cables running from his back underneath his bed.

"As you can see, he's still not doing well."

Beth doesn't say anything. They both remain in the hall and I take the opportunity to sneak into the room to analyze him.

“Creature analyzed: Pu'shaha. Gene-seed D."

"This pu'shaha has had a non-pet System core integrated."

"Name: Kalim Folthka."

"Attributes: Physical; Minimal, Mobility; Minimal, Magic; Low, Awareness; Minimal."

"Attacks: Wood and Chemical manipulation."

"Defences: Physical: Minimal. Magical: Minimal."

Well, that's not a very detailed descript… oh, what's this?

"Quest received: Not doing well. Do a more thorough analysis of Pu'shaha Kalim Folthka using Facet and Focus to create a codex. Requirements: 0/1 Pu'shaha analyzed. Rewards: 5 iron rank integration points."

That's a remarkably easy quest. Especially for five points. Glancing over, Beth is staring at Folthka, but she's not saying anything, her face blank.

Well, I'm already here, I'm not going to look a gift quest in the mouth. So, I pause time before analyzing him again. This time, I push extra Facet and Focus into what had become a routine interaction with the System. This time I can feel strands of facet as they pierce his exterior. It's as if I've wrapped him in a cocoon of invisible threads of Facet, each thread performing surgery on a microscopic level. Except, instead of cutting him into pieces, this dissection will leave him intact.

I hope.

I've used up over half my considerable reserves when the threads retract, pulling back into me, filling my mind with a complete understanding of his inner workings. I can feel his body healing. I don't know the terms to use to describe what was wrong with him, but he had incredible damage throughout his entire cardiovascular system. It almost looks like his blood was literally tearing holes in his body. Whatever caused it doesn't appear to be present anymore.

I'm also able to discern the edges of his 'System interface'. The layer is interwoven with his entire body, but it's not perfect. If I were to compare it to my own experiences, it reminds me of when I arrived then damaged myself.

He probably has a killer headache. It's a good thing for him that he's unconscious. But then that's what the pain killers are for. The scan ends and my quest updates. But I don't read it yet because I've run out of pause. And I'm still stuck in the room with the young, though according to my scan, adult, pu'shaha.

I cautiously duck beneath Beth's steady arm as she sighs. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip out your core to save Rose?"

"Because it wouldn't work. You don't have the expertise," Folthka answers, her voice level. But I see her body relax slightly at Beth's question. As Folthka is replying, I start messaging Wyonna, letting her know everything I just scanned. I'm even able to share the codex, as I did with Roberts.

(W) "Hold on, I'll go over this. Going to need a couple minutes."

"I think I'll take my chances. Better you than…" Beth waves in the unconscious pu'shaha's direction.

Folthka's right eyes twitch as she pulls the door closed. "On that, we can agree. Are you really only here because of Rose?" she asks, her hand lingering on the door before turning down the hall.

Beth pauses, waiting until I confirm I'm still with her before she starts following. "It's enough. Though I will admit, I'm curious."

"Do you intend to make your son a Fallen? If this doesn't work?"

Beth's question causes Folthka to spin in place, her eyes flaring and her ears laid back. "I would never make a loyal K'tharn into one of those abominations."

"Just the disloyal ones, huh?"

"I've never created a Fallen from a K'tharn. Such a thing would be a travesty."

"Sure…"

"Why do I suspect there's something you're not telling me?"

"Just how often do you get out of here?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Folthka declares, pirouetting about, her emerald robes brushing against the benches lining the hall.

"I'm just asking, because a certain Ivicka is running around using Fallen K'tharn. And she seems to be reporting to you."

Folthka's step falters for a second then she continues, responding with a too calm voice. "Clearly this low mana area is affecting me. Because I couldn't have heard you correctly. You expect me to believe that my loyal apprentice would commit the foulest crime possible?"

Beth snorts, "Doesn't matter if you believe me. With what you've done to J… Rose, I don't need to sort things out."

"He volunteered! He said it'd be worth it."

"Ha! Not likely."

Beth might not have any doubts, but I could see Josh doing it if he thought it'd help a kid. Especially, if it meant he'd have a reason to stop fighting. But I'd need to hear it from him to believe it, which could be a bit of a challenge at the moment.

We make it all the way up the ramp without incident. But as we're walking past the neatly organized room with the single threadbare chair, Folthka halts.

"These Fallen… how many are there?"

"I don't have exact numbers. Over twenty in the attack Ivicka led at Glimmering Sands. Encountered hundreds more back in the dungeon. A few of them had these," Beth replies with a shrug, holding up one of the soul stones we took from the Fallen. That lightning Fallen Bel'dast was damn creepy, there was no way I wanted to hold onto her soulstone.

Folthka just stands there staring at the soulstone. She starts reaching for it but Beth pulls it back into her inventory. Still, Beth seems to relax slightly. Then Wyonna contacts me.

(W) "So, it looks like his condition is improving on its own. I think a lot of the damage you found was from a condition K'tharn haven't suffered from since before integration. Some kind of degenerative disease. But that's not the really interesting part. He has access to System functions, but he's fully disconnected from the network. There's no oversight on his System at all. I can't find any limiters either."

(A) "What does that mean?"

(W) "It means he's got access to more rights than a Citizen. At least for his own body. He wouldn't be recognized by the System as a user though. No System Quests or Nexus access. I don't think this was an accident, these changes are too thorough. And specific."

While I'm getting the deets from Wyonna, I'm whispering what she's learned to Beth who's letting Folthka lean against a wall. I must have missed something, because Folthka's convulsing with laughter.

"Of course. She would. It all makes sense now. Here I thought she'd finally seen the importance of our mission. But no. She's been using my research to amass personal power. I'm such a fool."

"Yep."

Even as Beth prods Folthka back to her feet, I let Rufka know we're coming while Wyonna continues her update.

(W) "Oh. I think I know why they did this. You said there were young K'tharn there right? Male and female?"

(A) "Yeah?"

(W) "Well, if they're able to do this with several people they'd be able to keep most of the advantages of the System. But they'd also be able to start having kids without any System restrictions."

(A) "Why would that matter? Couldn't they just complete the 'have a child' quests?"

(W) "Right, I never mentioned, but one of the things the System doesn't really advertise before allowing a user to create a conservatory world is the procreation quests become limited. They're not getting as many of those quests as they used to. The System only awards the best of a species with those quests, so once they send enough people off-world, those on the planet stop getting the quests. If the species survives long enough in the Core Worlds, it leaves nice, mostly empty worlds without the destruction of conquest. And if they don't, then the quests maintain a small 'stable' population on their homeworld until the System decides they're ready to 'play' again."

(A) "Wow. So, we're like what to the System? Corgis?"

(W) "If Corgis were bred to be warriors in the Eternal War instead of being cute, sure. Actually, strike that. There are some species that are kept around for their cuteness. I don't think that'll be humans though. You're more horror than cute."

(A) "Harsh."

I don't have time to keep chatting with Wyonna since we're finally opening the door.

"Hold on a minute," Beth commands Folthka before signalling behind her back. It takes several seconds for me to realize she wants me to teleport into the room so Folthka doesn't realize I've been following around invisibly.

Shrugging, I do as Beth asks. Using Rufka as a reference, I pop into place out of sight of the door, right behind her. Seems like the perfect time to surprise her.

I end up getting an elbow in my stomach followed by a quiet apology. Followed by soft giggling. Turns out I came into the room as she was turning, leaving me on the receiving end. There's no sign of Bem, but Rufka, Roberts and Josh are still here as expected. I kind of forgot that Rufka mentioned there was something she needed me to see, which I'm guessing is the other occupant. Talking in low tones with Roberts is another K'tharn. They're both consulting a panel in front of Josh's tank.

She shares Rufka's tawny colouration and short fur. In fact, she's pretty similar to Rufka in height as well. There are two major differences though. The first is the heavy collar and chains linking her limbs together. The second is the crimson red tattoo that covers half her body. Starting just below her left eye, the intricate details of the fractal-shaped tattoo reach the tips of both her left hands, while also stretching down both legs.

Before I have time to process the implications of this apparent prisoner further, the door swings open, Folthka gliding through. Smoulder decides this is a good time to escape my pocket, picking up that we're going to be visible for a while. I send her mental thanks for being quiet. She reminds me that I owe her double head-scritches and a full-size obstacle course later.

Folthka jerks backwards when she notices everyone scattered about the room waiting for her.

"So, you didn't come alone," she states before her eyes land on the crimson tattooed K'tharn. "Genitha, are you okay?"

"Your worry is touching, if somewhat misplaced, Agatha," Genitha responds, her voice vaguely familiar.

"Ah, Beth. Good, I've been talking with Genitha and I believe we can… who's this?" Roberts straightens, glancing between Beth's tight face and her drawn weapon.

"This is minister Agatha Folthka. She also goes by 'Forerunner Thark'. She's the one who put Josh in the tank."

"Ah, yes. About that. I believe I should be able to stabilize Josh. I don't want to make any promises but I think we can restore him using his Citizen restoration. But I'll need Alexis' assistance," Roberts searches past Beth before turning back to discover me next to Rufka.

"And who is she?" Beth asks, clearly indicating Genitha.

"Ah, my apologies. This is their resident expert in the transferal process. A prisoner as it happens. Her name is Genitha. She's been quite helpful."

"She's also my mum," Rufka whispers to me, squeezing my hand as Smoulder's tail dangles between us.

Oh, that's why Genitha looks so familiar.

A note from Draith

Chapter 2/2 for the week.

Was totally not ready for the reaction to Monday's chapter. It went completely unremarked upon on Patreon.

I do appreciate everyone's feedback.

Draith's standard blurb 0.06.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Three side stories and my gratitude: $1 tier. Advance chapters on pdf/epub and a greater dollop of gratitude: $5 tier.

1.80 Some People's Parents

January 26, 2019, 11:32 am.

As Rufka's mom (mum?) addresses Beth, I have a minor panic attack. I'm totally not ready to meet her mom. Luckily, Rufka took my hand before whispering to me, keeping me from doing something silly, like teleporting away. Doesn't keep me from using pause.

After a minute of thinking about it, I've calmed enough to realize I shouldn't have to worry.

She's clearly focused on Josh and the others; she probably won't even notice me. And if she turns my way, I can use Smoulder as a distraction.

Even as the thought crosses my mind, Roberts redirects the conversation towards me, "Alexis. You're still connected to Josh, correct?"

"Uhh. Yes?" I respond as everyone's eyes turn on me. Even Smoulder's. Traitor.

Roberts steeples his fingers with a smile. Beside him, Genitha claps her hands together before loudly proclaiming, "Amazing. I'd theorized there were ways of interacting with a user removed from the system but this is the first time I've seen it. I'd love to study the effect. Is there any pain or discomfort?"

"No? I mean, it's all staticky and establishing the connection was difficult. But no pain."

"I see. And this connection lets you know his location at all times? Is there a range limit? How much mana does it cost?" Genitha fires each question off more rapidly than the last, all four eyes narrowed in on me. Huh, the crimson tattoo extends all the way into both her left eyes.

"Mum," Rufka protests, stepping between us, her ears flattened in embarrassment. It's kind of cute.

"What? Oh, I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sorry kitten," Genitha apologizes causing Rufka's ears to flatten even further.

"Mum! Not a kitten."

"Never said you were."

"You just did."

"Can't prove it."

"Mum!"

"Yes, kitten?"

Rufka stares at her mum for a second, then sighs, "Love you."

"Love you too, kitten."

I can see where Rufka gets her smirk from. The one on Genitha's face is a perfect rendition. She pauses before turning back to me, "Now, we have work to do."

This last part is said with a wave of her arm at me and Roberts. Beth is still holding Folthka at gunpoint, but waves her away from us to the far side of the room while asking, "Where's Bem?"

"He's probably hiding in his room. He knows better than to poke his head out when we have 'company'," Folthka answers as she settles on a cracked box. Beth says something else, but Roberts and Genitha command my attention as Roberts explains what we're trying to do.

Basically, Roberts's power has revealed that while Josh's Core has been removed, the Restoration power seems to have maintained its link to his body. But the link is tenuous at best. The more he explains it, the more it feels like Roberts's solution isn't a great first choice. It sounds like Josh would need to die to be fully restored. When I point this out, Roberts speaks up.

"But that's just it. As far as the System is concerned, he's already dead. It's just unable to connect to him properly. If we solidify his connection, he should either be reborn at his Restoration point immediately or, as Genitha has theorized, the System will override his current location and reinstall his Core." I'm jerked out of the explanation for a second at the word reinstall, which was in English instead of Vausian. I'm not the only one who notices, but in Genitha's case, she doesn't know the word. So, Roberts patiently explains.

While they're doing that, Rufka whispers in my ear. It takes a moment to register her words as I get a pleasant shudder down my spine when she first starts whispering. Focus Alexis. "Mum's been here for the last three weeks. Apparently, Ivicka was the one who brought her in. Mum didn't tell me how she got them on, but her manacles inhibit…"

"Rufka, can you get us that scanner please," Genitha interrupts, pointing to a laptop-sized device across the room. Rufka mentioning Ivicka bringing her mum, makes me wonder how she got Josh. I thought he was taken by the creepy doll monsters. Weren't they attacking her too?

Rufka nods to Genitha, who turns back to us while Beth and Folthka are still talking, "Roberts tells me you can get us all out of here. Don't tell me how but we need to leave soon. Ivicka heard about our success, so she'll be here shortly. We need to take care of your friend then get out."

"You know, that's what surprises me. Ivicka seems to have used the procedure on herself. Wasn't that enough?" I ask. It's been bothering me since Folthka said this was their first success.

"SHE WHAT?!" Folthka exclaims from just behind me.

Oops.

It would appear I missed the end of their conversation and Beth directing her over here. Not the best timing on that.

While I'm gauging how much to tell her, Roberts beats me to it, "Tipan believes Ivicka's managed to bind an Aero core in addition to her original core."

"I still can't believe her primary resource is Swagger," Rufka giggles beside me.

"May Vaus swallow that squid-faced, mortal-hearted, cub-of-a-Reaver. And then spit her into Astra's Maw," Folthka spews out venomously while I elbow Rufka. Not that I can keep a small smile off my face at her vitriol.

"I find it hard to believe you didn't know," Beth comments.

Folthka doesn't acknowledge Beth as she slumps to the ground, her eyes glistening as she mutters, "So many people. Years of effort. All wasted. We succeeded and she hid it from me… I don't..."

"Well, that's not as satisfying as I'd hoped," Genitha remarks at Folthka's slumped form before turning back to us. "We don't have time for this."

Right, Josh.

Nodding, I establish a full-strength connection. He's still uncomfortable but I can feel how much he's relaxed since we've shown up. His relief is palpable.

Okay, now I need to find the existing link Roberts was talking about. Then trace the connection before reinforcing it.

Simple.

But there's no obvious sensation that tells me where this link might be. As I'm trying to figure it out, Josh happens to look at where I'm standing with my eyes closed. It's really weird to see myself from this angle. Do I have something in my teeth?

Nope, just a blob of gunk floating in the tank.

I spend several minutes inside Josh, performing a similar scan to the one I used on Kalim. I try three times, establishing a far too thorough understanding of Josh's biology. I probably understand him better than he does. But I still can't find the Restoration link. Since focusing isn't working, I switch tracks, relaxing my mind, just floating and picking up any sensation but there isn't so much as an itch. I mentally sigh before returning to myself.

When I drop the connection, I feel my mind flit away. I thought this might happen.

Josh was in his garden situated on the apartment building's roof looking over their little cul de sac when he heard the voice below. He tried not to listen, but the acoustics of the alley funnelled the sound as though he were next to her. Her voice was smooth and low, yet still decidedly feminine as she muttered a nonsensical sentence, something about high ambient levels.

They'll fade out in a moment, Josh thought to himself as he checked the base of his tomato plant for invaders. Weeds and insects, not aliens. He didn't think he'd ever have crops big enough to deal with those kinds of pests.

He'd never been one for plants before moving to Vancouver, but Dana, his girlfriend from a few months ago had volunteered him to help out with her mother's garden expansion. They'd broken up but Josh had gotten along fabulously with her mother, bonding over their shared love of 'Aliens who walk among us' conspiracies. So when Tracy, Dana's mother, had offered him dinner in exchange for helping in her garden, he'd accepted.

She'd only asked him to help move some dirt around and break ground for her planned expansion, but they'd gotten to talking and Josh had found himself joining her as they prepared the furrows, then stayed even longer as she explained how to plant several different vegetables.

It had been the most calming experience he'd had since leaving home. Before he knew it, he'd started a small garden of his own. It'd taken him a few months and a lot of free steaks, but he'd finally convinced the building manager to let him set up a little rooftop space.

Usually, his garden was nice and peaceful. But apparently whoever was in the alley below had chosen to stop there.

"You're sure this is the right place? Seems kind of run down."

Josh guessed whoever was below must be on her phone because he didn't hear anyone respond, but she kept talking as though she'd received an answer.

"Yeah, I get it. Kid was at ground zero. Changed her. Don't worry, I'll…"

The voice faded away as Josh wondered if there'd been some sort of alien incursion that the government had tried to cover up. He'd check the forums tonight, but without more information, it'd just be another maybe. Part of him wanted to go find the owner of that voice. But he had work to do.

By the time he was finished moving through his garden, his thoughts had turned towards pest control and new raingear instead. He was starting to wish he'd requested a greenhouse instead of an open plot.

There was always rain in Vancouver, but the last fifteen minutes had been like standing under a waterfall.

He couldn't wait to get into his new luxurious robe.

He was behind on his favourite soap.

As I open my eyes, my time sense informs me I haven't missed a single second since I disconnected from Josh. This is despite the fact I spent a good five hours reliving his gardening. Even now, I can almost feel the dirt under my fingernails and the chill down my back where the rain snuck through.

And that woman. It was Beth. Or someone who sounded just like her. Did she know about us before we came through? I swear she never mentioned it… She seems to leave a lot of things out.

Shaking my head, I focus back on my current objective. Ensuring Josh can live long enough to tend another garden.

"I can't find the Restoration link," I inform Roberts while wrestling Smoulder down off of Josh's tank.

"Well, we thought that might be the case. That's why we've been adjusting the scanner." Roberts indicates the flat box that Rufka retrieved earlier. It mostly looks like an oversized tablet, the screen surrounded by knobs, switches and buttons. It's all very analog.

"I call him Piercy," Genitha adds while patting it fondly, the links of her chains jingling with the motion. "Roberts acted as a calibration tool, so we should be able to figure out where exactly this link is."

We spend the next few minutes adjusting knobs and taking pictures that show Josh as nothing more than a blank space where a person should be. It's as we're looking at a blurry image that looks more like a three-legged chair than Josh when Rufka asks, "Is he supposed to be doing that?"

Josh is moving inside the tank.

Considering how weak he felt, I'm surprised at the amount of effort he's putting into tapping his knee repeatedly. His right knee doesn't appear special in any way, but he keeps lifting his arm then bringing it back down, jostling himself as we watch. Turning to the others, Roberts shrugs while Genitha chuckles out, "I guess we could have just asked him."

I stare at Josh for a second, wondering why I didn't feel anything in his knee when we were connected. Then I glance over at Beth. Josh follows my gaze, staring at Beth for a second before looking back to me.

Beth doesn't let him off that easy, leaning against the tank as she asks, "Did you really volunteer for this you big dumb man?"

Josh nods, then shakes his head as if he's saying no. Then he shrugs while making 'the wait until it's clear' signal Beth taught us. Well, that tells us nothing.

She stares into the tank for a second before turning to me. "Okay kid. Go fix him."

"We're gonna get you through this," I promise him as I reinforce the connection again.

I can feel him nodding as his senses blossom in my mind. Outside the tank, Genitha and Roberts are scanning his knee with 'Piercie' and I can feel the twinges when they twist the knob associated with the scanning frequency.

That's all I need to find the link.

It's similar to our original connection through the party interface. But the signal is weak. Which is why I'm here.

At this point, reinforcing the connection is easy. A simple infusion of Facet and Focus establishes a connection. It's so easy, I almost don't notice the transition.

Suddenly, we're not in Josh's body. Instead, we're connected to … I'm not entirely sure. It kind of feels like everything's blank. There's no colour. Or lack of colour. There's no sensation, nothing to indicate… anything.

Even as I'm taking in the strangeness of the overwhelming nothing, it changes.

The space is filled with a familiar notification screen that wrests my attention.

"Update: Emergency Restoration Initiated.

Scanning Citizen Rose. Restoration required. Citizen corruption chance: High. Command Executed: Citizen Rose stored in Anti-Corruption buffer.

Scanning Citizen Pandora: Restoration not required. Citizen corruption chance: negligible. Command Executed: Citizen Pandora returned to existing shell."

A second later, I can feel my body again, as Josh fades away.

Not just the connection or his senses. His body is turning into the same blue dust I've seen from so many enemies, dissipating inside the tank. There's no final moment with his hand on the glass or saying we love him, he's just… gone.

There's another notification but I don't have time to read it as I'm suddenly whirled about.

"What the hell just happened?" Beth demands. I can see flecks of dark energy circling her. When one strikes my hand, it passes straight through, ripping a tiny hole. There's no pain.

"Josh was put in a buffer," I offer meekly.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. It felt like everything was working but then we were in this empty space. And then the System said it was scanning and then it said Josh had a high chance of corruption, so it was putting him in an Anti-Corruption Buffer and then I was sent back."

Beth looks even less satisfied than she did before I started talking but I don't know what else to say. This isn't how it was supposed to go. Beth looks like she's about to say more when Smoulder's tail waves in front of my face, effectively breaking her train of thought.

"Okay. We just fix the source of the corruption. Easy. Then it won't need to store him in the buffer, right?" Beth rambles as she starts pacing.

I'm not sure that's how it works, but the look in Beth's eyes tells me now would be a bad time to suggest that to her.

"Stored in a System buffer? Just who the hell are you people?" Folthka cries out, startling me. I'd totally forgotten she was here.

"Doesn't matter. We can't do anything for Josh and Ivicka's on her way," Rufka reminds us, her mum behind her still fiddling with the scanner, her chains jingling with each motion.

"Ivicka's on her way?" Beth stops in place, tapping her pistol against her leg.

"Beth?" Roberts asks. He's still staring at where Josh disappeared.

Beth doesn't answer immediately. Instead, she takes a moment to reshape her gun, forming it into the assault rifle configuration. She checks everything over, even though she just created it, then turns to us. "I think it's time we stop running from Ivicka. She owes us a lot more than answers."

A note from Draith

Chapter 1 out of... actually, you've probably figured it out at this point. Imma just post something if it's different than usual.

Draith's standard blurb 0.06

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Three side stories and my gratitude: $1 tier. Advance chapters on pdf/epub and a greater dollop of gratitude: $5 tier.

1.81 Are Not As They Appear

A note from Draith

Important clarification in chapter 1.79!

Spoiler: Spoiler

Minor clarification in Chapter 1.61 Demo. At the end of the chapter when Demo is describing having started the repairs on his ship,

He'd gotten several of his ship's systems back online when we triggered the system quest, though it was still far from flight-worthy. Something about a missing engine.

Clarification in bolded text chapter 1.79, when Alexis scans Kalim. This is a very important distinction. I didn't emphasize it because of a really unimportant sidejoke that I've cut. I should have made this edit earlier.

My humblest apologies.

But I don't read it yet because I've run out of pause. And I'm still stuck in the room with the young, though according to my scan, fully adult, pu'shaha.

January 26, 2019, 11:59 am.

"What precisely did you have in mind?" Roberts asks Beth. Which I think is a fair question. Especially, considering we've run from Ivicka each time we've seen her so far. Then she shrugged off attacks thrown by the squid-Lord back in the tower. Now Beth wants to stay and fight?

"Set an ambush."

"Why now? What's changed?" I ask.

Beth stares meaningfully at Folthka's missing arm. "I'm not saying it'll be easy but... we have proof I can do nasty damage to a copper rank. You can provide us with instant tactical retreat. We've got Genitha with us. Oh, and Ivicka is this one's apprentice. Which makes her bait."

"Was. She was my apprentice." Folthka is finally gathering herself, stepping between Beth and I on uneven feet. Her fur is still matted from her recent tears, but there's a hard edge to her eyes as she adds, "She hasn't been my apprentice for over a year. Not since..."

Beth cuts her off, stating that a former apprentice is even better then prompts her to remove Genitha's shackles. While they're doing that, I connect to Tipan. If Ivicka's coming, it'd be best she has a heads up. I mean, if we're lucky, Tipan can alert us if she sees Ivicka. Or more likely, Asterix.

Big green dragons have a tendency to stand out, even if their scales are all moulted.

While I'm talking to Tipan, I quickly fill her in on everything that's happened, including Josh disappearing into the buffer. Even as she's offering me her condolences, I start doing the same with Wyonna. Keeping people informed would be simpler if I had a better way to contact Wyonna than through party chat.

(W) "He was placed in a buffer? I wonder what kind of state he's in. It's possible they've stored him locally."

(A) "Would it be useful if we found his storage spot? Could we get him out?"

(W) "Maybe? You're able to get into all sorts of places as Citizens that Forerunners only ever had glimpses of."

(A) "Speaking of going places without permission, did you have Beth spying on us before we transitioned?"

(W) "Totally. Needed to make sure you all arrived safely."

(A) "How long were you watching us?"

(W) "Depends. I only started watching Josh and Roberts a couple years ago."

(A) "Only? How long have you been watching me?"

(W) "Uhm. You sure you want me to answer that?

(A) "Wyonna. Not comforting."

(W) "Extenuating circumstances. How many humans on earth do you think could create their own mana? Hint, the answer is less than two."

(W) "So, yeah, I started observing you in, oh let's see, October 27, 2009. You looked absolutely adorable in the blue Katara costume by the way."

I stand there with my jaw hanging loose instead of responding. Before I can think of anything to say, I flashback.

It was the first time I used magic. Papa and I had been getting my Halloween costume ready out behind our house and I'd been going through the motions. I'd wanted to emulate her, so imagine my surprise when I wrested an icicle from the nearby house then flung it across the yard into the tree. Papa was right there, watching. He didn't say anything at first, standing there stroking his beard. But then I got into it and summoned more icicles, setting them in orbit around me.

Papa muttered something then kneeled down next to me.

"Lexi, sweetie. You can't tell anyone about this. Not even your mother."

At first, I ignored him, intent on creating an igloo formed of icicles but when he addressed me in Cree, he arrested my attention. Papa never spoke in Cree. Not unless it was serious. He never told me why. And despite Mami having Metis status, she rarely talked about that part of our heritage. Other than the occasional curse about her uncle Joe, she remained tight-lipped. Even when my cousin Luke and me teamed up to ask her, attempting to emulate the investigative skills of Papi, we walked away empty-handed.

Leaving my half-finished igloo alone, I turned to my papa with my serious expression as I swore, "On the honour of the water tribe, I swear to keep this secret."

My father's face scrunched up in an effort to contain his laughter. But he schooled his face before taking my hand then repeated, in a perfectly even voice, "On the honour of the water tribe."

Then we spent the next half hour setting up a massive blanket fort for me to practice inside. When mom arrived home, she threw a fit at us having all the laundry outside in over three feet of snow.

To be fair, there'd only been a few inches when we'd started. Papa and I didn't tell her that obviously, but we did pack it in for the evening. I didn't get many more opportunities to practice before the Ugly Tree incident, but papa insisted he be there to help me with what he called my 'gift'.

I'd forgotten he called it that.

Damn, that was weird. Time sense tells me it only took me a second to flashback, but it's strange watching my own memories without warning. An after-effect of trying to fix Josh maybe?

Smoulder draws my attention back to the room with gentle headbutts to my jaw until I turn my gaze on Genitha. The shackles are lying at her feet as Beth steps away, sheathing her Umbra knife. Discarded shackles aren't what's caught Smoulder's attention though. No, it's the palpable aura that fills the air surrounding Genitha. When bound, the lines of her tattoo were merely a bright crimson but still within the realm of ink. Now they shine in a way that tangibly pierces the air around her. While gazing upon her, it's as though I can feel the blood rushing through my body ignite in response.

A second later, the feeling fades, as does the brightness of her tattoo.

"Sorry about that, takes a moment to realign after being released," Genitha apologizes as Smoulder headbutts me again. Looking at her, it takes a second to understand she doesn't just think Genitha's tattoos are impressive. She wants her own.

What are the rules for tattooing your pet? It's okay if they want it right?

Now, I was doing something before the tattoo and flashback... Oh right, Wyonna.

(A) "So let me get this straight. You've had Beth watching me since I was eight?!"

(W) "Uh. No. I've been observing you myself. Because I had to. On that note, it's a special kind of torture not being allowed to interact with someone you feel like you were born beside."

(A) "What do you mean, 'had to'? Why did you have to watch me? And what do you mean born beside?

(W) "Remember the whole having restrictions thing? I have to follow my directives. I'm just glad most of my orders have been carried out. So much less confined now."

(A) "Most? What else are you supposed to do?"

(W) "I'd love to tell you. I really would. But I'm not able to."

(A) "Kay."

I'm not pleased as I send my last message to Wyonna, giving Smoulder some head-scritches. Suddenly, I'm kind of glad Wyonna's gone. Sure, she seems to be on my side. But I have no idea what hidden directives she has. And if Folthka is an example of a typical Forerunner, there's a good chance I don't want to be part of whatever they have planned.

I guess we'll just have to figure out a way to free Wyonna from her programming. Cause I totally have any idea where I'd even start.

Before I can lose myself further in thought, I feel Rufka press against me as she leans her head on my shoulder while slipping her arms around me. "Now that we've found my mum, I think we can handle her."

Right. Ivicka.

Which reminds me.

I remain cuddled with Rufka as I address Folthka, "There's something I don't understand. You said Ivicka brought Josh to you. But she didn't take him. He was captured by a squad of weird dolls, called Aethop's Daughters. It seemed like they weren't on the same side."

Folthka snaps her head in my direction as I finish. Throughout our entire invasion of her facility, not once did she exhibit fear. Beth shot her arm off and she was only annoyed.

But there's no mistaking her wide eyes or the tremble in her voice when she attempts to state firmly, as if trying to convince herself, "Aethop's Daughters were destroyed. Over ten years ago."

"Guess the System made more," Genitha remarks while tracing a pattern in the air with both her glowing left hands.

Beth grunts out a rough laugh, "Doesn't matter. Ivicka already has Fallen, the dolls were barely a threat. If they hadn't caught us off guard, they never would have taken Josh."

"You shouldn't be so dismissive of Aethop's daughters," Folthka protests.

"Oh, do you know more about them?" Roberts inquires as he sets the scanner to the side.

"They're vicious little predators who invade people's minds. They cost me my partner in the last incursion. Why the system keeps bringing them back…"

"Doesn't matter why they're back. Maybe it's related to the Fallen. Whatever. What we need is intel. And equipment. Do you have mental shields or something to protect against them?" Beth interjects.

"They're susceptible to fire. And of course, I have mental protection. I'm just not certain how effective they'll prove."

"Not very. Your crafting has always been weak Folthka," Genitha smirks as she presses on an invisible portion of… whatever it is she's doing.

"Which is why I hire others to do the crafting for me Genitha. You'd know that if you weren't always running off on your own and observed your duties to the Aetherium without having to be hauled back like a petulant child."

"And yet, it's that same independence which makes me so valuable to the council, isn't it?" Genitha counters as I feel a subtle shudder run through the air, a golden-hued fan appearing in her hand. The same crimson pattern she was drawing in the air seems to be imprinted on the blades of the fan.

"Hardly. It's your damned unique skills we need, not you."

Beth interrupts with a loud cough. "We're not here to discuss how little you think of each other. Folthka, it's time you earned yourself a few more breaths. Why don't you break out these mental protections? Rather have an ineffective chance than none at all."

Folthka nods, striding towards the door at a pace that catches Beth off guard. She has her rifle half raised to fire before realizing Folthka's simply doing as she directed. Beth follows Folthka out of the room without comment though she signals Roberts over to join them. Roberts seems conflicted, shuffling in place for a second before dashing after them in a blur while calling "Hold on Beth! We still haven't decided if we should trust..."

It's only as the door closes I realize I've been left alone with Rufka and her mum.

An insistent push for head-scritches reminds me I have one other companion remaining. We all stand awkwardly for a second before Gentiha smiles in our direction.

"So... this is new," Genitha states while waving to Rufka and me.

"Mum, please."

"What? It's nice to see you interested in someone. After what happened with Dhaani. Well, you weren't the same kitten." Genitha pauses, slowly fanning herself as she judges my worth. Or at least that's how it feels as she stares at me without saying anything.

Then she increments her head by a tiny margin as she withdraws something from within her fur. Is she using her tattoo as access to her inventory?

"I didn't want to mention it because I only have the one, but this should help you with any mental attacks that occur." Genitha profers a small hair clip. The clip is a round circle with an etching of a K'tharn skull, the lines traced in crimson. It's a common symbol for the death aspect of Vaus, though it's rarely done in crimson. It's far more common to associate it with yellow. At least it used to be in Uthica's time. Still, I suspect the colour is a personal touch.

"Thank you, uhm, Genitha." Well, that was close. I nearly called her 'Rufka's mum.' Glad I dodged that embarrassment, but… "But what about you and Rufka?"

"Oh, Rufka and I have superior enchantments woven into our tattoos, isn't that right kitten?"

"Yes, mum," Rufka sighs.

I inspect the clip as I try to figure out where to put it. I haven't really needed hair clips since I started controlling the wind around me, so it's mostly an aesthetic choice. Which has never been my strong suit.

"Vaus's Sanctum. Created by the Crimson Archmage in an afternoon, this token would represent years of effort from a lesser craftsperson, such as Minister Dethra. Imbued with the unbending Spirit of the Archmage herself, this token can allow even a brute to protect themselves from mental assault. If said brute were to react fast enough with enough force.

Bonuses while worn: Bastion: Increases the delay before mental attacks take effect by two seconds while revealing the source.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

"Who writes these messages?" I mumble to myself as Rufka decides to help me place the clip.

Reminding me that K'tharn have excellent hearing (or maybe she just has high Perception,) Genitha answers my not-so-rhetorical question, "It depends on the item. System registered items can be written by the crafter, which I do with everything I craft. Then there are lazy crafters who don't bother registering anything. And people who don't want their items recognized. If it's not registered, the System does it's best to come up with an appropriate answer from the information available to you. Not registering equipment is pretty important for experiments like the ones they've been running here."

"I can't believe they might have killed Josh just to give a kid his powers," Rufka grumbles.

"There's more to it than giving a child his powers. They're trying to solve a problem. They just don't know it's a local issue."

"What do you mean?" Rufka asks though I have my suspicions.

"The population of the Aetherium has been in decline for the last hundred and fifty years."

Nodding, I ask, "You mean the K'tharn who went to the Core worlds?"

"Not exactly. Has Rufka told you the story of my grandmum Melcia?"

"I think so. She's the one who went to Ukila, right?"

"Yes. And Ukila is what I'm referring to. There's a settlement on the Stilled Continent that serves as their port here on Akilo."

"WHAT!?" Rufka exclaims in my ear. Her voice is imbued with lightning and it's loud enough it actually costs me a sliver of health before I lean away from her. Smoulder's not nearly as fortunate, sent flying by the sudden movement.

Genitha continues as though Rufka didn't just explode in shock while I retrieve Smoulder from where she landed amongst scattered cables. "This port is naturally in remarkable shape with the support of an entire world behind it. It's been drawing free K'tharn for the last couple hundred years. But the total number of K'tharn on Akilo seems to be restricted to a certain number, so as they've prospered, the Aetherium has withered. A completely unforeseen side effect, but hardly the calamity that Folthka thinks it is."

"Why doesn't she know?" Rufka demands.

"I never told her."

"But you could have stopped these experiments," I point out with Smoulder safely in my grasp again.

"I only just discovered these experiments yesterday. I haven't paid any more attention to the Aetherium than I had to. Not for the last nineteen years." Her gaze lingers on Rufka as she says this. Rufka rubs her eye, trying to shrug it off as something in her eye but I can't help smiling.

"But doesn't that mean the K'tharn population is still limited?" I ask after thinking for a moment.

"On Akilo, sure. But we have a whole other planet up there. A planet no user has visited in over a hundred years."

"Mum, you made it sound like you only theorized there was a hidden city. I was certain you just told me about it to distract me from failing to attune to… uhh, you know. But now you sound as though you're certain."

"You were rather heartbroken over not being able to bind a wind elemental, but that's not why I told you the story. It's always best to hide fact in fiction, kitten."

"Now's not the time for a lesson, mum."

"It's always time for lessons, kitten."

"Ugh, next you're going to say every dragon has a silver mana essence."

As if Tipan can hear us, she contacts me letting me know we have an incoming dragon.

Well, how's that for timing.

A note from Draith

Dragons are like clouds. Soft and fluffy and full of lightning.

Except for the soft and fluffy part. They do cruise through the sky though. And they make great pets. Unless you have to clean up after them.

Draith's standard blurb 0.06.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here.

Patreon link here. Three side stories and my gratitude: $1 tier. Advance chapters on pdf/epub and a greater dollop of gratitude: $5 tier.

1.82 Breached

January 26, 2019, 12:11 pm.

I don't hesitate to tell Rufka and Genitha there's a dragon inbound. Instead of concern or even annoyance, this news draws a smile from Genitha.

"It's been too long since I had a proper battle with a dragon," she notes, flexing her claws before waving her fan with a flourish.

Even as I'm about to update Beth, Tipan contacts me again, "Possible false alarm. It's the right size to be Asterix but if it's him, he's had a miraculous recovery."

Before I can respond she adds, "Oh, Beth wants me to assume it's him. In which case, I want to note that while we're technically under the protection of the Builders, we don't know if that sector is shielded while it's disconnected."

"Noted, thanks. By the way, Beth wants to ambush Ivicka."

"Well, if we're able to retreat into the controlled zones, we could probably use it to our advantage. Besides, if that's her, she's probably going to charge in without worrying about consequences."

"Good idea, you should tell Beth," I suggest before turning my attention back to Genitha and Rufka.

"Well, I'd say we should get out of here. A basement lab is a horrible place to fight. It's all fun and games until you cause a mana cascade and then everyone's running from the ensuing explosion instead of playing catch with lightning bolts."

"Sorry, what?"

"Mum's not kidding. Lightning Ball is a popular sport but it's played in open-air arenas. And spectators watch from a substantial distance."

"Okay….." I don't know how to respond to that.

"Shall we?" Genitha asks, offering us each an elbow before leading us towards the door.

She leads us up to the courtyard. The ramp leading back down has been resealed, once more hidden from sight as a featureless wall.

Beth, Roberts and Folthka are all standing around the courtyard. Both Beth and Roberts have their wings extended as if they're ready to take off, holding several small items. When Beth spots me she tosses an emerald token in the air which I snag with a gust of wind, directing it into my hand before analyzing it.

"Mental Stability Token. A standard Aetherium mental ward engraved into a bandoleer clip. Must be worn in a visible location to have full effect.

Bonuses while worn: Calm Mind: Increases Defensive edge against mental attacks by 10.0.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

Huh, not sure if this is better or worse than what Genitha gave me, but since it seems I can use them together, I doubt it matters. This one I decide to pin to my jacket by weaving the metal to hold it like the world's most secure pin.

I spend half a minute fussing with getting my pin to sit properly while the others start discussing our plans for the ambush. Ivicka doesn't tend to come into the city with anything but her 'contributions' when she visits. Yeah, that's the word that Folthka used to describe Josh. Urge to fill her full of ten thousand volts rising. And not in a fun let's toss lightning sort of way.

I've only just finished affixing the emerald token properly when Tipan confirms the dragon landed near the main entrance. She hasn't seen any sign of Ivicka herself though. There are several additional mentions of ideas, but the plan basically boils down to Beth and I remaining invisible then Beth will unload on Ivicka before she notices we're here. Hopefully she'll cripple her enough to delay her. At least that's the plan I hear discussed verbally.

Despite working with Folthka, Beth reminds us to keep our eyes on her. Which is passed on through Tipan since we're in separate parties. Beth, Roberts and Tipan have been talking on party chat and have established several fallback positions for me to teleport the party to which will allow us to continue attacking without having to remain in immediate proximity. They're audibly talking about splitting up and have only just asked how to use Genitha when Tipan informs us she's spotted Ivicka landing near the sealed entrance nearby.

"That means she's reached the entrance. She'll be here in less than a minute," Folthka informs us.

There's a part of me that itches to take a sip from my flask, even though I know the buff is active. Instead, I fade from sight while Genitha casts a spell that does the same for her, Rufka and Roberts.

Figures she'd have an area invis spell.

Folthka paces back and forth in the courtyard, her eyes flicking towards the sky betray her nervousness. While we're waiting, I ensure Smoulder knows to stay hidden in my pocket while we're invisible.

Another two minutes pass but there's no sign of Ivicka.

I'm ready to ask Beth what we should do when a massive thump emanates from the far wall producing a solid wave of air that slams through the entire courtyard, lifting me into the air. I've been on the edge of triggering accelerated time since Tipan spotted Ivicka, so I'm able to keep myself from being thrown into the nearby wall. Barely.

As I readjust, the wall where the thump emanated from crumbles. From the new gap, a stream of Fallen emerge. They don't wait for targets before tossing out spells. Half the courtyard lights on fire as lightning arcs forward. The lightning is accompanied by invisible blades, one of which strikes me, knocking several Health off with a single hit.

When the storm of spells dies down enough to see through, more than twenty Fallen have made their way into the courtyard. I can pick out two that are likely Awakened floating behind them. The one dark brown furred Awakened with the spinning metal that orbits them like the rings of Saturn is especially eye-catching.

There's no sign of Ivicka, but that doesn't matter. The spells only cut out for a second but when Folthka stands up clearly unharmed, they resume. But this time there's a clear focus, every spell flying in her direction. Yet half the spells are simply gathered into a ball of swirling lightning and air while the rest impact a solid shield of ice, splashing harmlessly to the ground. I suspected she wasn't weak, but now I know she's at least as capable as I am.

"Finally decided to reveal what a worthless excuse for a K'tharn you truly are?!" Folthka calls towards the gap, but Ivicka doesn't answer.

A quick check with the others confirms that other than a few points of health, everyone's fine. Since Folthka seems fine, we're not seen as targets and there's no confirmation Ivicka knows we're here, Beth directs us to remain hidden. I float to a nearby tree branch as the Fallen move into the yard while Folthka finally counterattacks. The resulting explosions are like a rapid series of firecrackers going off causing many Fallen to end up twisted and broken. But the metal wielding Awakened creates a shield of swarming, spinning steel balls that protects both Awakened.

Part of the metal shield splits off with the next diminished wave of spells sent towards Folthka. She blocks most of the spells easily, but something hidden within the steel balls makes contact with her hand. It's no more than a glancing blow but it causes the crackling lightning she was conjuring to harmlessly dissipate.

It must have been more than just a disruption to her spell because a fraction of a second later, Folthka collapses. Even as the Fallen move forward towards her collapsed body, Beth demands we remain hidden. Which makes sense. I don't want to sacrifice myself to save Folthka. Especially since there's no sign of Ivicka.

We remain hidden as the smaller of the Awakened steps away from the one with the spinning metal. This one lays her hand on Folthka's head, closing her eyes. As I inspect her, her fur strikes me as familiar. Then I realize her fur is a match for the K'tharn Roberts ran into. The one who was carrying the wooden dolls, Cristha. Looking closer, I'm certain she's the same K'tharn. Either that or an incredibly similar relative.

But her missing throat makes it incredibly clear she's no longer among the living.

She nods to the other Fallen who collapses her spinning metal shield into form-fitting armour before sending one the other Fallen back through the hole in the wall. We wait another minute before Ivicka strolls in.

By this point, Folthka has regained consciousness. She's glaring at Ivicka with a look of pure hatred. It's interesting how much more hate four eyes can convey than just two.

"Ha, I bet you didn't see this coming, did you?" Ivicka asks as she swaggers towards Folthka.

Folthka spits to the side as she pushes herself to her feet, "I should have known better. You've never hidden your opinion of pu'shaha but I thought you'd accepted our need."

"Need? We've never needed the weak. You'd sacrifice everything that makes us great to save us from-urgh," Ivicka sputters as a dark Umbral bullet smashes her through her lower right eye. Beth keeps firing, but Ivicka's already moving, the rest of Beth's shots going wide.

Ivicka's fast enough that if I wasn't in accelerated time, I wouldn't be able to track her. Despite her missing eye, she doesn't seem inhibited in the slightest as she leaps her way towards Beth. Or at least where I can feel Beth. Apparently, she's able to maintain invisibility while shooting. Not that she's still firing with an angry Ivicka closing in at terrifying speed.

Instead, Beth is flying above, trying to get distance between her previous location. But Ivicka adjusts, as though she can see Beth. Which prompts me to act. I teleport to Beth, then grab her out of the air before moving us to the building we emerged from.

I receive an elbow to the face (or maybe a wing?) for my troubles before Beth figures out the invisible force grappling her isn't Ivicka. Then she's shooting down at Ivicka again before instructing me to teleport her away.

Ivicka is leaping towards our previous location, a new hole in her thigh when she slams against an invisible surface. Which is when Genitha drops the invisibility hiding her from vision.

At the sight of Genitha casually ambling towards her, Ivicka's eyes dart towards where Genitha's shackles used to be. When she sees they're missing, she starts pulling with sharp tugs at something on her chest. In response, she drops to the ground before being encompassed by a faint green glow. Beth's already let off her next shot when Ivicka starts to disappear. Ivicka cries out, spinning around as Beth's shot severs her arm at the elbow.

Just like that, she's gone. Her departure as sudden as her arrival.

"What the hell just happened? Where is she?" Beth screams out.

Genitha stops, poking the arm on the ground gingerly with her foot. "Emergency teleport."

At that moment one of the Fallen takes a shot at her. The lightning bolt doesn't even elicit a reaction, splashing off an invisible barrier like water. But it's a reminder there are other…

The Awakened Fallen are gone. And so is Folthka.

One of Rufka's lightning arrows tears apart the Fallen that attacked Genitha. It seems it was the last enemy standing in the courtyard.

Genitha looks around, playing across the broken stone and fallen trees until her eyes fall on Beth and me. We're still invisible. Or at least I thought we were. Looks like the spell needs to be improved.

Since it doesn't seem to be effective anyway, I drop my invisibility before flying down next to Genitha, who addresses us as we approach.

"Impressive results for iron ranks. I think you could have taken her if she hadn't come prepared to fight two of the greatest Archmages on Akilo."

"Two?" I ask when I land.

"Despite Folthka's poor item crafting skills, she is admittedly rather skilled in Restoration and Construction."

"Construction? I thought they made everything out of hide and bone?"

"Not at the Spire."

"Sorry to interrupt, but were you able to get a link on her kid?"

Crap. Was I supposed to do that? Probably should have been listening closer when we were talking about the plan. "Uh no. I wasn't able to."

Beth sighs but nods, "She was moving fast. We didn't have much time to act."

"Yeah, she was." Maybe I didn't miss them saying anything, maybe Tipan forgot to relay it to me. Totally not going to mention it, if that's the case.

"I can't believe she took Folthka. Why would she go to all the trouble?" Beth wonders while we all gather around Ivicka's arm.

Rufka chuckles as she says, "Maybe they're starting a club for three-armed, Vaus-damned K'tharn."

"I truly thought a headshot would do more damage," Beth admits. "Now she knows I can wound her."

"Indeed. And she's not the sort to forgive such a thing. I suspect she will attempt to hunt you down now," Tipan agrees.

Roberts kneels down, disturbing the rubble next to the arm while inspecting the ragged edges of the wound. He pokes it with a transparent barrier shaped into a needle, causing a finger to twitch. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't have happened.

Huh, I wonder.

"User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D.

Name: Ivicka

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

Well, that's interesting. No new information. But does getting the window at all mean there's still a connection? Maybe one I can trace back to Ivicka?

Before bothering the others, I decide to see if there's anything to connect to. Using the advanced analysis, I try to find anything that stands out. I find the link almost immediately. If the connection from Josh to the system was like a single thread, the link leading away from Ivicka's arm is equivalent to one of those big steel cables. But it's already thinning as I watch.

I almost establish a connection, but then I think better of it. What if I get thrown into a flashback as I did with Josh? Or when Wyonna mentioned a date? Seems like the flashbacks are on a hair-trigger at the moment.

"I think I might be able to connect to Ivicka through…" I point at the dismembered arm, unable to articulate the word when I notice a thick red fluid oozing out the end Roberts holding towards us. I'd say blood, but it seems too sluggish.

"Good. I'd like to track her down before she has time to recover. I want to get Folthka back too. Should've shot her when I had the chance."

"That may be unwise. She's likely retreated to her personal sanctum. Even I would be in trouble were I to challenge her there," Genitha warns.

"You're not coming with us?" Beth asks. "Don't you want revenge?"

"For what?"

"Mum. They took you, prisoner."

"And I should kill her for this? You know they wouldn't have taken me if I hadn't been curious. Next, you'll want me to kill people for spilling my tea. Honestly kitten, I thought I raised you better."

"It's more than that. You haven't been in Aethire recently. Those strange Fallen are in the streets."

"Oh really? Has it improved the smell?"

"Actually… yes," Rufka admits with a small shrug.

"So, about helping us?" Beth tries again.

"Well, I can offer you advice I suppose. And I'll permit my daughter to continue helping you," Genitha offers.

"Gee, thanks mum," Rufka replies with a smirk while squeezing my hand.

"I don't suppose you'd be able to offer anything more tangible? We did free you," Beth presses, though she seems flustered by Genitha's reaction.

"Hmm. Technically true. I suppose rewards are appropriate in a situation such as this. See kitten, this is why you should always free yourself or allow your friends or family to do so. It's much less complicated."

Rufka can't hold in her laughter, though her chuckle is quiet. It's her laughter which causes me to realize that Genitha is messing with Beth. Looking to the side, I notice Roberts has a small smile on his face and I can't help as my lips tug up too.

"Would you like a fortune in essence? No, that's so crass. Perhaps a powerful artifact to protect you from… Hmm, too practical."

"Actually," Beth objects but Genitha just keeps talking.

"A dragon to bond as a pet. But then you'd need to establish a proper hoard to keep it happy."

While Beth tries to get a word in edgewise, Roberts pulls Rufka and me to the side. "Do you believe establishing the connection would be safe?"

Looking down at the arm, I feel compelled to shrug. I have no idea whether it would be safe.

But it could be a huge advantage.

"I don't know," I answer as Beth cries out, trying to break Genitha's flow.

"Then perhaps we should find another way. We need to stop whatever Ivicka is doing. I'm not sure if you saw, but I'm certain she killed Cristha."

Suddenly Genitha's ramble cuts out as she interjects herself in front of us, snatching Ivicka's arm out of Roberts's grasp. "Who was this Cristha?"

Roberts explains how we ran into her in the city. And how she'd been kind to them when they'd been captured. And that she'd been the Awakened K'tharn with Ivicka. Which prompts an explanation of how Awakened Fallen are different from the regular ones.

Genitha is tapping her chin with the bloody stump of Ivicka's arm when Roberts finishes his explanation. Beth is staring at her, her frustration evident in the way she keeps squeezing the grip of her rifle.

"Well, I suppose I will be helping you. I can't in good conscience allow you to confront such an atrocious villain alone."

"Thank you," Beth sighs out in relief.

"I'll have my mana-hare help you out," Genitha smirks as she finishes. Beth's twitch is so pronounced that we all break into laughter. This finally ruins Genitha's facade as she joins in.

And while she kids, if someone like her had a pet similar to Smoulder...

Well, Ivicka wouldn't stand a chance.

A note from Draith

I've heard it said that Smoulder is OP.

...

Completely unrelated.

It's at least a month out, but there will be a break between the end of the current arc and the next one as I write it out. There's a good chance it will be the last arc (maybe two) of the 'Akilo/Return to Earth' portion of Alexis's story. After which, I'll be taking a break from TPWM.

I'm not saying goodbye to the universe forever but I have five other story ideas I really want to work on. And that doesn't include the Towerside project I already started on RR. Not to mention the amount of editing this will take before it's ready for something like Amazon. Which might never happen. It might just stay here and free forever.

Yeah...

Anyway, thanks for reading. See ya on Thursday.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.83 Little Complications

January 26, 2019, 12:32 pm.

Laughter's probably not an appropriate reaction, but it's only once I started chuckling that the invisible tension eases. Today hasn't been great. We failed to save Josh. Ivicka's escaped. We even lost Folthka.

"My apologies," Genitha offers while bowing slightly in Beth's direction. Despite her words, she's not able to wipe the smile off her face as she continues. "I will of course help deal with Ivicka. I suspect she'd have attempted to take me as well, had I not demonstrated my freedom."

Beth swallows, simply nodding. But I can see moisture beading in the corner of her eye. A reminder that Beth didn't benefit from the bout of laughter the rest of us shared. Damn, now I feel like a jerk. Not certain I should offer support immediately after laughing, I urge Smoulder to go to Beth instead.

Smoulder sends me a feeling of affirmation with an undertone of confusion, not understanding why we didn't set Ivicka on fire. To be fair, I did try.

Beth is startled when Smoulder lands on her shoulder, but then she's butting up against her cheek and Beth cracks a small smile while glancing over at me. I just shrug.

"We should get back to Tipan," Beth states while stroking Smoulder's long fluffy tail. "But first, do you have another way to track Ivicka?"

This last is directed at Genitha, who shakes her head softly while saying, "No, but I know where she had her Sanctum several years ago."

"Uhh. What's a Sanctum?" I ask.

"In essence, it's a personal Stronghold. They're much less expensive. However, their protections only extend to a small number of users."

"One thing mum forgot to mention. Within a Sanctum, the owner is nearly invincible."

"I believe I mentioned that I'd have trouble with anyone in their own Sanctum," Genitha objects. "Though if she has as many Fallen wandering around the city as you claim, we have other avenues to strike at her."

The discussion continues for another half a minute, but I tune it out as I'm about to read the quest text from scanning the kid. The kid who's still laying in bed downstairs.

Damn.

"What're we going to do about the kids?" I ask, interrupting Beth as she strokes Smoulder vigorously, eliciting her rumbly purr.

"What kids?" Roberts replies, looking around the demolished courtyard.

A large block teetering on the collapsed wall chooses to crash loudly to the ground as I respond, forcing me to repeat myself. "Folthka's kids are downstairs."

"Bem will take care of them. He's always been their caretaker. Though many have forgotten, pu'shaha are actually quite good with children." Genitha folds her fan up, hanging it at her waist instead of storing it in her inventory.

"Where has Bem been hiding anyway?" Beth wonders as she hands Smoulder back. She meets my eyes, holding my gaze while mouthing the words "Thank you," before releasing Smoulder.

Which is totally not right. There's no way she should be thanking me right now. But I don't say anything as the others lead the way back down at Roberts insistence. While Bem should theoretically be looking after the kids, he wants to ensure that's the case before we leave. The next few minutes are spent searching for Bem. We split into groups, with Beth and Roberts checking his quarters, Genitha occupied with something important in the lab while Rufka and I head back to the children's area. We find him leaning against the frame of Kalim's room, staring through the open doorway.

He only twitches slightly when Rufka scuffs her foot against a bench. Loudly. Considering how quiet she is, that had to be intentional.

"Folthka's gone." It's not a question. There are tear tracks matting his fur as he brushes at his eyes. He's holding a dull grey stone with a crack running down the middle.

"Ivicka captured her," I supply while connecting to Beth, letting her know we found him.

He nods, still staring into the room. "Folthka didn't want to see it, but she's always despised our work."

There's a moment when Rufka and I glance at each other, unsure of what to say, but then he continues, "I suppose that means it's just me now."

"It took us hundreds of years for us to birth a pu'shaha like Kalim. When Pern started, I doubt he imagined we'd use his descendants in such a way," Bem sighs out as he finally turns to us. "So, what are you going to do with me? I suppose I'm to be executed for my crimes?"

"Uhh, what?" Even as I stutter out my response, I pause time to give myself time to process what he just asked. Is executing people a thing we're doing?

"I hope not," I answer. Beth's on her way here. But she wouldn't kill him for just being a part of this, would she? She didn't seem to be on the warpath when we were searching for him, so it'll probably be alright.

Letting the pause end, I connect to Roberts making sure he's coming with Beth. Just in case.

It only takes them a minute to arrive, but it feels longer as we all stand around awkwardly until I hear the laughter of children behind us. They stumble into the far end of the hall at the same time as Beth and Roberts emerge behind us. Celthi, the female cub, pulls Qern to a stop when she spots us.

"Celthi dear, can you take Qern and fetch Kalim's drafting pencils. He's looking better and I think he'd like to have them on hand when he wakes up," Bem calls out, preempting any response. Celthi stares at each of us for a second as if daring us to hurt Bem. Then she nods as if satisfied before leading Qern away.

"I have some questions for you," Beth starts once the cubs are around the corner.

"We have questions. If you don't mind," Roberts amends. Rufka and I step back, letting them take over. I didn't really want to handle the interrogation anyway.

Bem glances inside the room, pulling the door closed before addressing Beth and Roberts. Now that they're here, I kind of want to sneak off. But instead, we hang around while I read the quest update for scanning Kalim.

"Quest completed: Not doing well. Requirements: 1/1 Pu'shaha analyzed. Rewards: 5 iron rank integration points."

"Additional reward granted. Advanced all Class Dungeon Completion requirements by one. Thank you for your service Citizen Pandora."

Huh. I quickly check my class upgrade requirements and sure enough, they've been updated. That's an impressive reward for something so… easy.

I suppose this must be important to the system.

"Quest received: A New Normal? Requirements: Perform a thorough scan of pu'shaha Bem and Qern. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points."

Well, there's my confirmation. It's definitely important to the system.

"Alexis, we're done here. Beth's agreed to allow Bem to stay with his children," Roberts informs me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glance at Bem wondering if I should complete the quest. I have a feeling it would have the system integrate the pu'shaha.

Uthica would be thrilled.

As if urging me to complete the quest, the children come scooting down the hall behind Bem. Celthi is holding a small box while Qern has a large straight object that he has over his shoulder as though he's a soldier. He's so damn cute. They approach with caution until Qern notices Smoulder who's been soaking up da pets from Rufka.

He starts stomping toward us at full steam. Smoulder only barely notices him before he reaches us. He's about to start petting her when he looks up at Rufka, "Can I pet her?"

Rufka looks more startled than Smoulder, glancing over to me. When I pass the message along to Smoulder, her impression is that it's only appropriate that he shows the proper deference.

Not bothering to encapsulate that in words, I just nod.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I ask as Rufka and Qern smother Smoulder with affection.

"I suppose we can stay for a couple minutes," Beth grunts. Which prompts Celthi to cautiously approach. She looks to me just like Rufka did, so I motion her forward. Smoulder's not afraid to receive more attention after all.

Actually, I probably shouldn't be letting her get all these pets. There's no way I can give her this much attention on my own. Smoulder picks up on this thought reassuring me that she values me for things other than my supplementary grooming skills. Though she stresses receiving pets is appreciated.

Yeah. I think this deserves more thought. And I think I'd like to talk to Roberts, Rufka and Tipan before I make a decision. Especially since the System didn't give me a time limit.

Eep.

No? No System update telling me I have to choose now?

Okay then.

A few minutes later, I extract Smoulder then we make our way to the lab, leaving Bem with the children. We meet Genitha there, she's levitating a crate the size of my bed towards us.

"What's this?" Beth asks.

"Sensitive equipment." Genitha doesn't elaborate. We glance at each other before addressing the last task we had before leaving this mess behind us.

Figuring out what's causing the SubSector to be separated from the System. We know it's related to Folthka's research but we don't know the mechanisms. When we start discussing it, Genitha reveals that it should be easy enough to find whatever's causing the disruption. She says the equipment will be located along the perimeter.

As we search for the perimeter Rufka and I pass through Folthka's office, checking for anything that might tell us what we're looking for. The moment I open the wall, we discover there was another prong to the attack. I'm not sure if the courtyard was a distraction, but each of the storerooms has been opened. This isn't the smooth work that Folthka or I would do though. Each opening is blasted open, the entrances jagged and filled with coarse sand. The rooms themselves are empty other than a single half pane of glass for one of the tubes leaning in the corner of the first room.

Folthka's office hasn't been spared either, though it seems it was better protected. The entrance is filled with sand, but not a single grain has made its way onto the floor outside the alcove. Whatever protection stops the sand doesn't inhibit Rufka and me as we step into her office. Still, when we notice the scorch mark on one of her rugs, we decide to be careful in our search.

"Do you think she knew Ivicka attacked the Lords?" Rufka asks as she inspects the desk.

I'm peeking at a large bound hide that looks like it might be a map as I answer. "She didn't seem to be aware of any of the things Ivicka was up to. I'd guess she avoided thinking about what Ivicka was doing. That way, no matter what Ivicka did, Folthka could pretend they were the good guys."

I have the map halfway unrolled when I realize Rufka's staring at me from less than a metre away, a slight smile playing across her lips when I glance over. "Is this the same woman who was worried about being a monster a week ago?" she teases.

"I mean, technically, that was imbalanced attributes," I object halfheartedly. Not because I don't believe what I'm saying, but because she's taken the opportunity to move close to me.

"You know, we haven't had much opportunity to be alone since you came crashing into my bedroom this morning."

I swear, whoever shoved the metaphorical baseball in my throat wants me to choke to death, as I attempt to swallow but find it impossible. She's only a few centimetres away when I hear Beth calling out, asking if we've found anything.

….

But Rufka doesn't let that stop her.

When her lips find mine, my mind goes blank for a solid 1.24 seconds before I return her affections.

It's only when Beth coughs loudly from behind us that I realize where we are. And that Rufka's mum is nearby!

Rufka doesn't let me pull away for another second. I'm certain I must be solid scarlet but Rufka just smiles at Beth.

"Did you two find anything? Or have you been too busy?"

"Well, I've certainly been distracted," Rufka answers, running a hand through my hair as Roberts appears behind Beth.

I smile at her, but I also find the strength to break away before gesturing to the map. "I think this might be important."

Beth strides over, glancing down at the partially unfurled map before scanning the rest of the room. She stops in front of the window, staring out at the view beyond. "None of this was supposed to happen."

Neither Rufka nor I respond. It occurs to me that seeing us being intimate... Well, we need to get Josh out of the buffer.

I really hope it's as simple as finishing the anti-corruption quest. While Beth's staring out the window, my attention turns back to the map. It looks like a map of the city. It's even in amazing detail but there are no conveniently labelled 'sub-sector disruption towers here'. Nor can I see anything similar.

"Huh. Let me see that map again," Beth requests right as I've started rolling it up.

"Sure," I answer, splaying it across Folthka's desk again. We spend the next couple minutes tossing ideas back and forth, inspecting the map before we decide to talk to Genitha. Who's apparently been using the sensitive equipment to solve the problem. She just didn't want any of us underfoot as she worked.

"Mum, you could have just asked us to give you space."

"Yep. I could've."

At Genitha's direction, we find the first of the objects causing the disruption in a partially collapsed room near the wall. The device reminds me of my Papi's grandfather clock. It's the right size and shape. It even has a swinging pendulum. The only thing out of place is the missing clockface. And the fact it's made of bone instead of wood and steel.

"Object Analyzed: Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus. Based on a similar design of Reaper origin, this device reroutes mana from the surrounding atmosphere into a linked mana essence well. Gathers the equivalent of one mortal grade mana essence every day when placed in a standard class 1 mana field. Current rate of absorption: 1.3 mortal grade mana essence per day.

This apparatus has been modified to Intercept System access within its area of operation in addition to its standard function."

"Quest objective completed: Investigate Subsector 3-G for Geral. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank Progression Point, 5 Iron-grade essence.

Quest updated: Disable Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus in Subsector 3-G for Geral. 0/?? Apparatuses disabled. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank Progression Point, 5 Iron-grade essence."

Citizen quests really do pay better, don't they? I wonder if this is like having one of those cushy government jobs? Except we actually have to go out and do stuff. Not that I know what government people do. Maybe they work hard?

Not important.

"Hmm. A significant reward for little effort. Worrying," Roberts notes, echoing my thoughts.

"It could have been much worse. Going into the unknown usually pays better," Beth points out. She's poking at the apparatus with her knife when I relay the description. It's basically a free source of mana essence. Which means easy integration points. Though it's way less than we earn by being active, one of these could raise a person's stats from 0 to 100 in… roughly twenty years? And that's at only one essence per day.

Considering you wouldn't even have to put yourself in danger, that's pretty powerful.

We end up finding another six of the devices around the perimeter. The quest still hasn't registered as complete, but Genitha says the edges of the subsector will allow mana to circulate. It's as we're approaching the final apparatus, one that is being used as an actual clock in the children's dormitories, that Bem approaches us.

"You've done something to the mana, haven't you?"

Roberts takes point, pre-empting Beth. "We've shut down several devices that were placed around the perimeter, yes. Is there a problem?"

"Kalim woke up. I'd just started talking to him but he started thrashing about while calling out in an unfamiliar language. He kept saying the word 'Beth'." Her name is clumsy on Bem's tongue, but it's still clear.

"What?!" Beth's' roar is startling, but it's nothing compared to how quickly she leaps over the table before disappearing down the hallway. She's probably at Kalim's bedroom before I realize Beth reacted. It takes me a second to process what happened which leaves me trailing Roberts as well.

When Rufka and I catch up, Roberts is standing in the doorway, his jaw hanging loose as he stares at Beth and Kalim.

Inside his room, I see Kalim holding Beth's hand while she mutters angrily. He glances up and with a small wave of his upper-right hand says, "Hey Alexis. You'll never guess what happened to us."

Okay, then. If I'm understanding this right, Josh is a K'tharn now.

...

Huh.

A note from Draith

I blame Star Trek...

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.84 Making the List

January 26, 2019, 1:34 pm.

Well, I certainly didn't expect Josh to end up inside Kalim. I suppose if his identity is tied to his core, it makes sense. But what does this mean? Did he replace the kid? Or is Josh sharing mental real estate?

"Josh, is that you?" Roberts asks as Bem shuffles up behind us. Right. Confirmation would be important.

Kalim (who may be Josh) glances at Beth before answering. "Kind of? I'd say it's like sixty/forty Josh/Kalim. I have memories of both lives but they're all blended together."

"But it's I? Not we?" Roberts presses.

"Uhh yep. Never been fond of the royal we."

Everyone stays quiet. There's a loud thud as Bem collapses on one of the nearby benches. He starts running his hands over his ears while muttering to himself, glancing in the direction of the room.

I've got dozens of questions, but it'd probably be rude to ask them. Especially right now, since Beth has her face scrunched up like she's tasted the world's bitterest sour soother.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Beth asks, her face blank but with an edge to her tone.

"I was talking with Bem about the procedure. Uh. Both Kalim and Josh were, that is. Damn. This is weird. It feels like both names… not just the names, but both people. They are me but not, ya know?"

"Yeah," I agree.

"Kid?"

Oops, did I say that out loud?

I grimace at having interrupted before I respond, "It's like after I experienced Uthica's memories. I mean not the name thing, but the whole 'having someone else's memories become part of your own' thing…. it's weird at first. But then it feels normal, even right after a while. Like, you're not less you, you're just more."

"Exactly!" Josh/Kalim exclaims, wrenching his hand free from Beth's to point at me.

Seriously, he could have used any one of his other three arms but he had to use that one?

"So… what should we call you then?" Roberts asks.

Josh/Kalim stares at Roberts, then flops back in the bed, staring at the ceiling as he considers the question with an audible, "hmmm."

"I'll respond to Josh or Kalim. But it'd be weird to choose one over the other. Probably best to just call me Rose for now."

Huh. Well, I never did think of Josh as Rose… so, I guess it won't be too bad.

"Well, at least we'll be able to remember it," Roberts grumbles out with a chuckle.

"I don't think his robe is going to fit anymore," Rufka adds.

Beth is the only one who isn't at least smiling. Wordlessly, she stands before stalking out of the room, brushing past Roberts forcefully. Waving the others back, I turn to follow, Smoulder in my pocket. Using Accelerated Time, I fly after her, catching her before she can make it farther than the common room.

She turns to me as I enter, tears in the corner of her eyes as she states, "He's not Josh."

"Maybe. It's at least partially Josh. I guess it's not totally clear cut. And it might get even weirder. Because I'm pretty sure we still have the original version of Josh waiting for us in the buffer too." As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I regret it. Somehow it feels like I'm betraying Josh by saying either version is more him than the other.

But Beth does perk up, so maybe it's helpful?

"You're right. This isn't Josh. The real Josh is being held ransom by the System."

"Uhm…" I start to object but Beth's already striding back towards the others.

Damnit, Alexis Wyonna Everette, this is why you think before you speak!

Beth's barely into the hallway again when she calls out, "We still have an objective to deal with people. Ivicka's out there, probably making more Fallen as we speak. We need to stop her."

I can hear something clatter to the floor from within Kalim's, I mean, Rose's room before he appears beside Roberts. Rufka's waiting with her arms crossed looking out over the arboretum and Bem's gone from the bench.

Beth only halts for half a second, but it's enough. I can see Rose's face fall before she resumes, "We only have one more mana interference device to deactivate then we can report to Geral."

No one knows what to say, but we all move to follow Beth. Including Rose.

However, when he does so, Beth holds up a hand. "Where do you think you're going?"

"With you? To help with Ivicka."

"No. You'll stay here with Bem and the other children."

"Neither Josh nor Kalim were children, and I'm not either." Looking at him standing next to Bem, I can see he's actually a few centimetres taller. Pu'shaha are so short that I can understand how she could have mistaken him for a kid. It didn't help that Folthka referred to him as her kid, but moms are like that I guess.

"Fine. You're not a kid. But you're still recovering. We can't risk you." I can't help but notice she leaves the part about her thinking he's not Josh left unsaid.

"What? That's not fair. I'm fine, Roberts, tell her I'm fine." Rose insists, turning to Roberts.

"Well, you appear to be in good health but…"

"See. Roberts agrees!" Rose insists flailing all four arms out, resulting in a loud smack as he hits one on the wall.

"BUT!" Roberts interjects loudly before continuing in a level voice, "But, we don't know what sort of effects the… melding might have had."

"What?!" Rose collapses. I wonder just how old Kalim was. Rose is much more excitable than Josh. More verbal too.

"Alexis can keep in contact with you. She could also retrieve you relatively easily," Rose starts to object, but Roberts silences him with a finger. "However, I don't believe we should leave Rose here alone."

Bem is still muttering to himself, rocking back and forth. I'm able to pick out the words, "He's different, but" repeated several times, but the rest of his words trail off.

Beth shifts in place, her hand drumming the handle of her pistol as she asks, "What are you suggesting?"

"We should take him back to Raz's. If he's there, we'll know he's safe."

Beth looks like she's about to object again when Rufka whispers, "Well, at least we'd always have a table."

"Fine."

"But…" Rose starts but I stop him with a pointed look. Beth doesn't want to bring him along, and I'm not certain her reasons are good ones, but now's not the time. Besides, I suspect we'll have a chance to revisit the topic later.

There's a commotion with Bem screaming about us not taking his son when Roberts talks to him about Rose going with us, but I only catch the beginning as Rose moves to reassure Bem.

Instead, Rufka and I are disassembling the last mana interference device, taking it offline (which I jokingly refer to as a grandmana clock.... Rufka doesn't get it).

As we pack the clock away in Rufka's inventory (I've already got three in mine) the quest updates again.

"Quest objective completed: Apparatuses disabled 8/8. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank Progression Point, 5 Iron-grade essences.

Quest updated: Return a Forerunner Mana Interception Apparatus to Geral. 0/1 Reports delivered, 0/1 Apparatuses returned. Rewards: 5 Iron-rank integration points, 1 Iron-rank key."

Huh. Well, that's actually a little disappointing, but it's still pretty easy. I wonder what the key is for? Turning in the machine might not be the best way to go in the long term but it'd take more than six months to generate an equivalent number of points for just one of us using it. And hopefully, we'll be gone by then.

Though…

If Earth wasn't in trouble, I have to admit, I'm not sure I'd be so eager to return. There's still so much to see. And Rufka's here.

The only one I really miss is Sab.

Guess I just need to get really good at teleporting. Then I can just bounce back and forth between worlds, right? Problem solved. Hang out with Sab for Pasta Tuesday, then back to Akilo for wings Wednesday.

Or would having access to Raz's fix that? No, he said he can only connect to a Nexus. I don't think there are any Nexuses on Earth. But maybe I could make one.

"Iron for your thoughts?" Rufka says, elbowing me gently as we sit on the edge of the table waiting for the others.

"Oh. Just thinking about how nice it'd be if I could teleport between worlds."

"Ah. So, typical Lexi thoughts." She nods sagely, no trace of her smirk. But I know better.

"How is that typical?" I respond, unable to help myself.

"Because you want to do something impossible. And you'll probably figure it out."

"I think you're biased," I point out, sneaking closer to her.

"Not a chance," Rufka denies. She doesn't have an opportunity to say anything else before I press my lips against hers.

Despite my internal sense of time, I totally lose track until Roberts gives a gentle "ahem," followed by, "We're all done here. We're just waiting on you two."

"Uhh, sorry. We're done," I apologize.

"I wasn't," Rufka teases. But she does pull away from me.

With everything completed, we gather in the courtyard again. The children are there with Bem. It's strange watching Rose say goodbye, promising he'll see them again soon. Bem's not as loud as he was earlier, but I can tell he's not pleased to see Rose leaving.

A reminder that he really is more than Josh.

Tipan's just above the courtyard, still keeping watch but close at hand, just in case. Cause she's awesome like that. We have a short discussion and agree that as long as we only need to give him one of the devices, we'll hand it in for the last quest. We're keeping a few so we can set up our own System free zone. Just in case.

Before I know it we've flown back to Geral's. The mini-taur is practically dancing when we arrive.

Correction, he is dancing.

In a circle. While whooping his arms in the air. He sends himself wobbling with every motion, his flight spell apparently having trouble compensating but he doesn't let that influence his enthusiasm as he greets us. "There you are my great... no amazing! No, my incredible Citizens! I knew you could do it. Never doubted you. Not even for a minute."

Huh. Not so dour anymore, is he?

There are a few minutes of Beth relaying what we found before the quest ticks over. When I read the quest notification, there's a small pressure against the back of my right hand, then a new notification appears.

"Iron rank key acquired. Use keys to create or upgrade personal spaces accessible from any Rest Area, Creator Sanctuary or properly attuned Nexus."

Oh? Neat.

"Now. As we no longer have a dire threat sitting in the midst of our beautiful city, how would you feel about a proper tour?" Geral asks, rubbing his tiny paws together.

Beth looks around at the city before answering. "We don't have time. Still have other Citizen quests to resolve."

"Oh, of course. How silly of me. Well, when you're done, you really should come back. "

Before Beth can respond, Genitha steps forward from behind her, "We certainly will, my precious little Geegee."

"Geegee?" Rufka and I echo out simultaneously.

Neither Genitha nor Geral acknowledges us. Instead, they greet each other with a quick hug before beginning to chat amiably about a nearby restaurant. For a second, I consider asking him about the System giving me a scanning quest, but decide I'd rather talk it over with the others in private first.

While they catch up, we hold an impromptu meeting about our next steps. First thing we'll be doing is returning to Demo. Genitha wants to see the Fallen in Aethire for herself. Then it'll be back to Raz's for the evening, giving us time for our recently gained points to integrate. We'll leave Rose, and probably Demo, before turning our attention to Ivicka's Sanctum tonight. Which according to Genitha is near the southern tip of the continent.

When we appear back in Rufka's little hut next to Demo, Genitha remarks, "Oh my. A real live Phothen. I never dreamed I'd see the day."

"Greetings Lex. Yeh've picked up more locals, I see," Demo admonishes me instead of acknowledging Genitha from the centre of our circle.

"Uh yeah. I guess we have." Despite his rudeness, I'm more worried about how tiny Rufka's apartment feels with eight people all crammed in together. Afterall, Genitha's an archmage, I'm sure she can handle it. Luckily, Beth and Roberts are already making their way outside. "It's kinda tight in here."

"Well, when I was shopping for secret hideouts, seating for ten wasn't on my list," Rufka notes, drawing herself up as though offended.

"Well, clearly it should have been," I tease, idling slightly closer.

"I'll make sure to keep it in mind next time."

"You better."

We're only centimetres from kissing again when Demo asks, "Yeh do remember yeh're not alone?"

This prompts a deep bellied laugh from Genitha before she steps outside, followed quickly by Rose and Demo. Which just leaves us and Tipan, who's kind of trapped because we're between her and the exit. Otherwise, I'm sure she'd have made a graceful exit as well.

Then I realize she's staring at the room's entrance, shaking her head as if in a daze. Okay, maybe she wouldn't have.

When she notices my attention, she offers a slight smile, saying, "It's one thing for Rufka to say her mother's the Crimson Archmage. It's quite another to see her in the flesh."

"You know, she doesn't bite. I could introduce you properly," Rufka offers, taking Tipan's hand then giving it a squeeze.

"I'm not ready to talk to her. I'd probably say something stupid."

I can't help but laugh at that before remarking, "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

I'm not certain, but I can't help but feel like Tipan's ears stand a little straighter after my offhanded comment.

"Well, I suppose we should join the others," Tipan suggests. As much as I want to stay here with Rufka, I know she's right, so we join the others outside. The issue of overcrowding the small balcony is solved by half our group floating next to it.

Just like standing on the lawn back home. Totally the same thing.

I realize Genitha is talking to Roberts, though I miss most of it, I catch the last part, "...and Beth and I will teleport to this Nexus point 392 afterwards."

Huh, I guess Beth is going with Genitha.

I notice Tipan, swaying back and forth as if unsure about something, but then she blurts out, "I'm coming too."

Beth glances over at her, nodding. "Good."

"Hmm. She's rather conspicuous. I think I have just the thing," Genitha notes before a plain iron ring simply appears in her hands. Okay, that was neat.

Probably incredibly useful in combat too. I wonder if I can get something like that? She said it was a tattoo, right?

Tipan girds herself before reaching out to accept the ring from Genitha, "Thank you, Archmage."

"Oh no. None of that archmage stuff. Rufka's told me about you. You can call me Genitha."

Tipan doesn't respond, just nodding mutely as she slips the ring on. Seconds later and she looks like a completely different K'tharn. Her mohawk is gone, as are her elaborate braidings. The most shocking change is her new dark brown and black fur.

They don't waste any more time, but instead of flying out, they cross into the nearest walkway. I follow their movements for half a minute before they're out of sight.

Having seen them off, the rest of us return inside.

As Roberts, Rose, Rufka and Demo gather around me for our teleport to Raz's I realize something.

Way too many people's names begin with R. Rose is going to need a different name.

…..

Or not. I'm just going to pretend I didn't think that.

The teleport itself is the smoothest yet. At least, we teleported the whole way and no one is vomiting. I'm calling it a win.

As we shuffle into Raz's I notice that there's a table kept clear in the corner despite the room being otherwise completely packed.

Raz shows up seconds after we've entered, directing us to the table. "So, the strangest thing happened an hour ago. I received an order from a new client."

"An order from a new client doesn't seem all that strange," Roberts notes as we follow Raz towards the table. It's larger than any of the tables he had in here before. This new table could sit a dozen people comfortably while still having room left for pretzels and pizza.

"It's the client that's strange," Raz admits, taking a seat while gesturing for us to do likewise. "Their request is a little unusual as well, but I've heard stranger."

"Oh. And I take it this has something to do with us being shown to an empty table?" Roberts asks.

"Yes. Go ahead, inspect the table."

We all look at each other before shrugging and doing as he suggests.

"Object Analyzed: CMCC.

Description: Restricted."

Wait for it...

...

"Updating: Citizen Access - confirmed."

There it is!

Object Analyzed: Citizen Mission Control Centre.

Description: Activating this table will transport all connected Citizens and any of their approved agents to a private Citizen Mission Control Centre. Please note, temporal acceleration within the Citizen Mission Control Centre may cause disorientation upon entering and exiting. A reasonable facsimile of all active users will be maintained while the table is in use. Secondary effect: Sound and visual obfuscation for all creatures within two metres of the table.

Stewardship and Agent privileges granted to Agent Razalin Crancoid."

"Thank you for your service. This System looks forward to greater collaboration in the future Citizen Pandora."

Roberts lets out a low whistle while Demo leaps away from the table as though he's been burned.

Raz is grinning as though he expected their reactions. "Yep. Like I said. A very strange client."

When my eyes meet Rufka's, we just shrug before we both glance at Rose.

A fancy table?

Not even in my top ten 'Strangest Things' I've experienced since arriving on Akilo.

A note from Draith

Rejected names for the CMCC.

Come Meet Crancoid's Cronies.

Catastrophic Meltdown Coordination Chamber.

The Cats Meow, Chill & Chase lounge.

...

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.85 If You Choose To Accept It

January 26, 2019, 2:49 pm.

The table doesn't really look like an access point for a super-secret Citizen Mission Control Centre, but I guess that's kind of the point. If anything it looks like a well made wooden table I might find in a second-hand store under half-a-dozen equally nice but boring chairs.

Demo isn't handling the new furniture with as much aplomb as the rest of us. He's limping back and forth, working on his third toothpick. It's only been a few seconds, but he keeps snapping them the moment he puts one in his mouth.

'Snap.'

And that's four.

"Perhaps you should take a walk in the garden while we investigate this," Roberts suggests, breaking Demo out of his fugue.

"No. There's no way yeh're using this... thing... without me. I just need a moment."

Well, since we're waiting anyway, I order a meal from the menu while allowing Smoulder to hop onto the table.

The food arrives moments later and Demo stares at me as I dig in, though Rufka and Rose decide now's a good time to resume the game of "how much food can Alexis keep."

Answer. Not enough.

As my second plate floats out Demo finally sits down, ready to use the table.

But at this point we're all eating, so he's forced to wait.

Once we're all finished our late lunch, we return our attention to the table.

"Should we be using this without Beth and Tipan?" I ask, now that I'm giving the table actual thought. "I should probably contact them and let them know about it at least, right?"

Part of me wants to reach out to Wyonna too. But I'm still worried about her latent Forerunner programming. Which is another thing I need to discuss with the others.

"Agreed. This is a rather obtrusive addition. It would be best the other's are informed before we investigate it further."

"It's like something out of one of the stories. Like when Merlin created the round table," Rose gushes excitedly.

"Uh. Did Merlin create the round table?" I ask. Is that where it came from?

"I don't know. Probably. He was an alien wizard, so he totally could have."

"Merlin wasn't an alien," I snort.

Rose leans over the table, raising his eyebrows as he asks, "How can you be so sure? He was a being with mysterious powers whose origin was unknown."

"Well, yeah. But…"

We spend the next ten minutes eating, joking and arguing over whether or not Merlin was an alien. When it becomes apparent we're just repeating the same arguments, I cut Rose off with an "Agree to disagree?"

"But you're wrong," he sulks out.

"Yeah. But I don't actually care that much," I admit with a shrug. "Sometimes it's just fun to argue."

"Did you contact the others yet?" Roberts inquires, to which I nod. When Rufka interjected to ask just who Merlin was, I took the opportunity to reach out to Tipan, explaining what little we knew of the unexpected table. Unsurprisingly, Beth's response was that we should wait to investigate the table together. This is exactly what I relay to Roberts before adding, "you know, we really should have everyone purchase the chat function."

"Indeed. I didn't want to spend essence on it unless it was an emergency though. Now that we have so many points from quest completion, it'll be one of the first things I purchase."

"And that's another thing!" Demo barks out. "The System gave me quest rewards for helping with a quest when I wasn't even there. Straight up bribery, I tell yeh."

"Are you complaining about System rewards," Raz asks, one of his scaly eye ridges raised as he dissects a crunchy meal of what I had thought were little black bugs but turned out to be blackened tubers when I analyzed them. Like putting french fries in the oven then forgetting about them until your daughter comes home from work an hour later than usual. If my cooking skill is zero (which is what it still says on my status screen), I'm pretty sure my mom's is in the negatives.

"The System keeps trying to convince me to trust it. I've reasons not to."

"Oh? You mean other than the fact it tracks our every movement and changes our very being?" Raz asks casually as he takes another crunchy bite.

"It's not just the System. It's who controls it. Ever been around when one the Creators stroll through? Of course, yeh haven't, because yeh'd be dead or mindwiped if yeh had."

"What do you know about the Creators?" Raz asks, setting his spoon to the side while giving Demo his undivided attention. Honestly, I think he's got everyone's attention. This is the closest he's come to explaining his distrust of the System since we met him.

Demo pauses as he considers Raz carefully before pulling his toothpick out of his mouth to point at him. "Enough to know they'll wipe out a world just because it rejects their precious little System."

"Wait, you can reject the System?" Roberts asks.

"What do yeh think happens if you scale up those mana disruptors yeh found? No mana, no System."

"Could they be used to shield a world from mana? Like, say an incoming mana swarm?" I ask, thinking back to my vision of Science World being obliterated in a single strike.

"Depends on the strength of the swarm, but yep, yeh could do it."

"What our nine-tailed friend here fails to mention is that you'd need massive disruptors to shield a planet from any but the weakest of mana swarms. At most, you might be able to create protections that would protect against a class-two swarm."

"Really? That's all that Akilo would have needed."

"They must have been hit by a rather weak swarm then. Most swarms don't escape their home systems until they've reached at least class-five."

I can't help but go white as I stare at Raz. I saw the devastation the class-two caused to Akilo. Is what I saw coming to Earth only the beginning? How would we even survive something worse than what happened to Akilo?

Roberts runs his hand through his (much more full than it was a week ago) hair as he asks, "Escape? You make it sound as though these swarms are alive. I thought mana was controlled by the system."

"Ha. No, the System only uses mana once it's settled down into its incubation state. The system then slows it's spread," Raz stops, tossing a couple more black tubers in his mouth before continuing. "At least that's the official story. I'm sure the Phothen would tell you otherwise."

Demo nods at this, fingering one of his grenades. "The System could prevent the swarms from spreading. If it wanted to. There's proof that it can be warded against. This very planet is inside of one of the System's control mechanisms, that's why it's jammed into a pocket dimension."

"Could we use that to stop the swarm coming to Earth? Put it into a pocket dimension?" I ask. I mean, it's a little out of my capabilities at the moment, but a girl can dream.

"Ha. Not likely. Yeh'd need hundreds of years to prepare. And that's if yeh had every technique known to the System itself. It'd be far more likely that yeh'd kill everyone you were trying to save."

"This is all well and good, but if we're not going to be accessing the table any time soon, I have other matters to address. You can reach me through the menu." Raz then plucks his bowl off the table, popping more tubers into his mouth as he weaves through the crowd.

"So, I don't suppose you do have any ideas on how to save our planet?" It's never occurred to me to ask Demo before. But it occurs to me that his people avoid the System. Which seems to include mana swarms. Which means maybe he has an answer.

"Myself? No. But my people would. But we'd have to free ourselves of the System to see them again." His gaze settles on the table. This time his toothpick doesn't snap, but I see it bend slightly. "Which is going to be difficult if the System's keeping a constant eye on us."

"What is it that the System's done to you? You seem to have a personal issue with it," Roberts notes while steepling his fingers in his thinking pose.

Demo laughs, but it's a dark chuckle, empty of mirth, "I suppose I do. It's not just crashing my spaceship and forcefully integrating me. It's… well, I can't tell yeh. Not that I don't wanna. But it's against the rules."

Roberts narrows his eyes. "Your people's rules?"

"Yep."

"And such a responsible user like you wouldn't ever go against your precious Phothen rules, would you?" Rufka demands, her tone unusually sharp. She really hasn't enjoyed Demo ignoring her.

However, unlike his usual dismissals, this time Demo weighs her words carefully, meeting her challenging gaze. "It's more accurate to say I can't. In the same way Alexis can't save her world by placing it in a pocket dimension."

"So, there are ways around these restrictions, they're just effectively impossible?" Roberts asks.

There's a loud thud as Rose drops the bird-leg he was working his way through on the table before exclaiming, "Oh! Like stopping time? Or teleporting through space instantaneously? Or conjuring fire with your mind? Cause before Josh came to Akilo, I thought all of that was… okay, not impossible, but I was sure only aliens could do it. Heck, Kalim felt the same way. Except for the fire thing."

I can't help giggling at Rose's enthusiasm though I'm able to keep it quiet enough only Rufka notices. As I'm giggling, I realize I don't consider Rose to be Josh any more than Beth does. It doesn't help that he has a different face, mannerisms and doesn't even wear the bathrobe. Which I'm pretty sure Beth wouldn't give him anyway. Probably shouldn't bring that up.

"Yeh're actually proving the point. All those things are only possible because this planet's been soaked in mana."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense," I object. "I used magic before I ever came to Akilo. And we don't have a System on Earth."

It's only as everyone stares at me that I realize I haven't told anyone about using magic when I was a kid. Except Wyonna, who already knew. Which reminds me, I want to get Rufka and Roberts alone to talk about Wyonna.

"Yeh used magic without the System?" Demo asks each word carefully enunciated and punctuated by a flick of his toothpick.

"Yes? At least, I think I did. It was years ago."

"Huh." Demo slumps into his chair, his toothpick held idly in one hand as he stares off into space.

"That must have made for an interesting childhood," Roberts remarks.

"Uhh. I suppose you could say that. It was only for a year or so… then I stopped until we came here. Before we arrived here, I would have sworn I imagined it." Almost inaudibly, I add, "I wish I had."

"Ah. I see," Roberts says, reaching across the table to pat my hand for a second before leaning back.

I'm starting to relax when Demo starts asking me questions, mostly variations of "what did it feel like to use magic without the System?" though occasionally he'll throw in something like "and what was your favourite colour?"

I spend ten minutes fielding questions before Rufka interjects on my behalf. "She's said three times that she was just a kid, I don't think she's got whatever answers you're hoping for."

"Right. Yeh're right. It's just... I've never heard of anyone using mana without the System before."

Returning to the table, Raz clears his throat, which produces a high pitched trilling sound, causing Demo to start. With our attention, he grins then says, "Using mana without the System is uncommon, but there have been documented cases of pre-integration species with the capability. I could show you the records."

"That would be… Yes, please. I'd owe yeh a debt."

"Hmm. Well, I think I have something in mind. But we can talk about that later. Wes, I've finished your request." It takes me a solid second to understand Raz is talking to Roberts.

"Indeed? Wonderful," Roberts states, taking several folded bundles from Raz.

At our shared attention, Roberts explains that he's had Raz procure several outfits, each custom fit for him. Rose inquires with Raz about getting some clothes made for him, stating that he's in need of a whole new wardrobe. Which is when he discovers that he doesn't have access to Josh's inventory. Before he can spend time worrying about it, I offer to pay for anything he needs. We certainly have more than enough essence to pay for non-armour rated clothing.

"Thanks, Lex," Rose says as he pulls on the bottom of a black sleeveless vest over his jean-like pants. After discussing several designs with Raz, they managed to find something he could wear now while the rest of his orders are made. "It's pretty weird running around without clothes. Even though Kalim was used to it, it doesn't feel right to me, ya know?"

"No problem Rose."

I'm considering getting something for myself, or maybe Rufka when Beth contacts me letting me know they're on their way back. Less than a minute later, Beth pushes through the busy crowd, Tipan and Genitha talking animatedly just behind her.

"...is only true when using Verthen's standard array series. When using Beltim's revised formations, you'll find that you can reduce essence use by at least twenty percent with any element other than lightning. Hello, kitten."

"Hey, mum."

"I wasn't expecting the Fallen infesting Aethire's streets to be so… orderly. In the stories, they're little better than rabid beasts."

Tipan shudders as she adds, "Seeing them wearing Aetherium equipment while patrolling the streets was… disturbing. Even if they were obeying living officers."

"We've confirmed that Ivicka's not in the capital at least," Beth says as they all settle in. "But details can wait until after we've investigated this table. If it really does offer time dilation, we'd be silly not to use it."

"Wait. That's why you wanted to return so quickly? Why didn't you tell me?" Genitha asks.

"Rather not broadcast it. Raz's place has privacy wards that the streets of Aethire are lacking for some reason."

"Still, I wouldn't have tarried so long if you'd given me a hint of what we were coming to investigate," Genitha notes as she lovingly caresses the edges of the table in front of us.

"So people, anything we need before giving it a shot?"

I order another few platters of appetizers and several full dinners, all of which goes directly into my inventory before confirming I'm ready. If there's time dilation, I'd like to ensure I don't run out of food. Which prompts everyone else to follow suit.

After disappearing enough food to feed a team of lumberjacks for a week, we finally activate the table.

"Citizen Raven Queen has initiated access to Citizen Mission Control Center. Please place your hands in the highlighted position prior to entry.

A pair of handprints light up on the table before me, clearly indicating where I'm supposed to put my hands. Following its directions, I lay my hands on the table.

Would you like to enter the CMCC now? Please note that after time dilation is initialized, access will only be available at thirty-six-minute intervals."

Pausing time, I focus on the sensation as I confirm.

There's a barely visible blue pulse from the table as a familiar shield structure wraps around me. Then I feel myself being drawn forward into the table. Entire walls of runes form a hallway as I'm transported within the table. Then my sense of Raz's bar is lost, replaced by a pervasive dull grey.

We're all sitting in the same positions we were around the original table, but the smooth wooden finish of the original table has been replaced with a matte grey replacement. It's bumpy surface reminds me of one of those non-slip mats as I draw my hands away. The dull white light emanating from the ceiling, reveals that the floors, walls and even the only door is made of the same material.

Beth leads the way through the door down a long hallway, everyone remaining silent. Actually, except for Beth, they all seem queasy. Which I suppose makes sense. If my time sense is working properly, we're experiencing an hour for every minute in reality. It's weaker than my strongest pause, but it's still pretty impressive. Until I realize I can't use my magic. Without access to my magic, I can't do anything worthwhile here. At least not when it comes to improving my skills. Or my Skills.

After ten metres of featureless walls, we arrive at another door. Pushing it open reveals an open space with windows looking out over a vast forest with a large body of water beyond it. There's a blue symbol in the bottom corner that catches my attention. When I focus on it, I'm informed this view is provided by camera eight, Sector B in Builder city Calviwashobb.

Spread throughout the room below the stunning vista are several workstations arranged around the edge of the room with a large round table in the centre.

There's no avatar to greet us or directions on what to do next.

"Okay people. Let's see if we can't find out if the System left us any surprises."

"I believe a temporal chamber such as this is enough of a surprise," Genitha notes while stepping towards one of the workstations.

"Yes. But there's no such thing as a no-strings gift."

I don't say it, but I'm pretty sure the System's already getting what it wants from us. At least that's what the detailed scan of Rose on the workstation in front of me seems to hint at.

But not as clearly as the list indicating everything else the System wants scanned. And the rewards listed next to each one.

Well, at least I know that it's not just interested in the pu'shaha.

But where the hell am I going to find a two-storey tall teddy bear with gatling guns on its shoulders?

A note from Draith

Because only a true villain would weaponize a teddy-bear.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.86 Gather Round

January 26, 2019, 4:43 pm.

I spend a minute at the workstation looking through the entries. It doesn't take long to understand why I don't have all of these as quests. There are thousands of things the System wants scanned. And a reward of five iron-rank integration points is on the absurdly low end. There's an entry for a creature that seems to be the offspring of a tentacle monster crossed with an old fashioned storage trunk. It's listing offers ten silver-rank advancement points. Just for scanning it. That's enough to cross the rank border from silver to gold ten times.

I haven't even come across a single iron rank advancement point.

Yeah, I'd rather not come across whatever this Boxxy-class devourer is.

There are filters for general habitats and I am able to add half a dozen possible listings under my notes for Akilo. None of them pay as well as scanning Kalim did, but they're also listed as minimal threats.

Interestingly, there are options to download codices as well, though not for free. Each entry costs 1 mge. Which, I mean, it gave us an entire secret base with time dilation effects. Not including free intel seems weird.

Upon further perusal, I discover the cost for Akilo entries is 1/100th the cost of codices for any other world. At least it's giving us a discount.

Searching through the database, I find a codex for the Aethop's Daughters we encountered. Whatever that one doll did to me, she disrupted the process and I never did get a codex for them.

As I accept the prompt to download the codex, I'm reminded why the System might always impose a cost.

It almost feels as though I have one of the dolls poking around in my head for a second but then the download finishes and the feeling abates. Now that my understanding of the dolls has reached an intimate level, I'm able to ascertain that I only have to worry about those mental attacks if I connect to them in some way. Such as when I analyzed it. But it can also be through ongoing spell effects such as my channelled flame spell.

Deciding I shouldn't keep this to myself, I motion to Beth before filling her in on the basics.

"Good job kid. This is exactly the sort of advantage I was hoping we'd find."

This leads to a round of everyone downloading codices. Beth insists we don't stop at the threats we've encountered, resulting in us discovering that the System has a warning when you're bypassing your 'absorption threshold'. At least when you're doing it this way.

I already knew my limit was five at a time, but it turns out my rate of recovery is one every twelve minutes. That's five per hour. And not realtime hours, but every hour that we spend here in the chamber. Considering we can stay in here for a day and a half while only half an hour will pass on the surface, I'd be able to download over a hundred codices during lunch in the real world.

If I skipped out on sleep.

Which is nothing. Genitha could download over a hundred without it affecting her. On the other end of the spectrum, Rose is limited to one per hour.

Genitha's not downloading the codices though. It turns out the discounted price is only for Citizens. Not our agents.

I can circumvent this by downloading them, then transferring them to her. But that brings her down to my level. Which is still fast enough that Genitha insists it's worth it.

Once we've all hit our download limit, we gather around the round table at the centre of the ring. If I didn't know better, I'd say the System was listening to us when we'd been arguing about Merlin.

In fact…

"Ahem. I, Queen Alexis, call this meeting of the knights of the round table to order."

"Kid, hate to break it to you, but you're no King Arthur. I think you're more of a Merlin."

Rose blurts out, "No way. Tipan's totally Merlin. And Roberts is totally Galahad. Beth's Arthur, obviously. Rufka is Leon. I'm Lancelot. Lex is probably Mo…. uh."

"What. Don't stop now, you're on a roll," I prod him. I have no idea why he thinks any of those are appropriate, except maybe Beth, since she goes by Raven Queen, but I'm curious where he's headed.

He can't meet my eyes as he mutters, "Lex is probably Morgana."

I can't help it. My eyes light up with glee. I release my best cackling laughter while drawing Smoulder forth with one arm. I'm even able to conjure some small sparks from the tips of my fingers, though it's like drawing a super thick milkshake through one of those coffee stirring straws.

"Are you accusing me of being a witch," I accuse in my best high pitched voice while throwing sparks in an arc over my head. Rose stares at me mouth agape while Roberts starts laughing so hard, I'm worried he's going to fall out of his chair. At least someone got it.

Rose stammers an apology before Beth gets us back on track. I let my lightning fade, though I keep a small spark bouncing between my fingers. It's only been fifteen minutes, but it feels like it's been so much longer.

I can't help but think it's funny that Rose would compare me to Morgana. I always considered her to be a misunderstood character. She was persecuted because of who she was, and while she was… wait, didn't she kill a whole bunch of people when trying to take over the kingdom repeatedly?

Whatever. My call sign is Pandora and Morgana is badass. I'm going with it.

Besides, Smoulder full-heartedly approves of my demonstration. Though she's under the impression I did it to show her off.

"That was awesome," Rufka whispers to me while Genitha begins laying out the specifics of Ivicka's Sanctum with the same virtual map Tipan uses so often. "But I totally didn't get it. You're going to have to explain later."

I nod, attempting to listen to Genitha's description of the literal mountain fortress that comprises Ivicka's Sanctum. Apparently, just because you're not allowed many people in a Sanctum, it doesn't stop you from claiming a spot beneath a kilometre of stone.

Granted, with my ability to reshape stone, that's not the same sort of defence as it would be on earth. But that takes time, and Genitha is certain that Ivicka would have detection wards in place to detect any such intrusions. She also notes we shouldn't rule it out either, because while we have teleportation, Ivicka would have defences against it. Especially now that Genitha's free.

Turns out teleportation is much easier to ward against than it is to perform.

Scrying or divination is warded against as well, but Genitha's been there before so she can recreate it from memory.

"However, my information is out of date. I haven't needed to enter Ivicka's Sanctum since the Vaus-blessed Dragon incident."

"Wait. Mum, are you saying this is Nowhere Fortress?" Rufka laughs out.

Genitha shrugs. "It sounded better than Ivicka's Sanctum. That's like beginning a story at Theria's house."

"Ha. We have lots of stories that start at Theria's house."

"Those are a different kind of story, kitten. Now, as I was saying..." Genitha continues, showing us the general layout, including all the standard stuff like kitchens and bedrooms. It's the storage warehouse where she pauses.

"Now. As you know, your personal storage is limited in size. However, once you have a Sanctum or Stronghold, you're able to transfer items directly into it from your storage space. It's not an extradimensional pocket, however. Everything in the warehouse is physically stored within the warehouse. It's also the most secure part of any Sanctum."

"We suspect it's where she's keeping all the equipment she stole. I also suspect there are a large number of users being prepared to be converted to Fallen. Forcefully."

Beth interjects at this point, "Unfortunately, we don't know how many Fallen we're going to encounter."

"Or who Ivicka's contact in the Aetherium is. I would have thought it was Folthka, but they seem to have fallen out," Genitha pauses, arching her eyebrow as she looks about the table. "No-user? Tough crowd. Anyway, clearly she's working with at least one of the other Ministers. There's no way she'd be able to get so many Fallen into Aethire without support."

Beth leans over the table, looking to each of us in turn. Except Rose. "Which means we don't know what kind of support she has at her Sanctum. I'd prefer better intel, but we can't afford to wait."

"Perhaps there's a way to use this facility," Roberts suggests, "We've only been exploring it's capabilities for a short time. Perhaps we should see if we can't change the view at least."

Beth glances over her shoulder, her hair shielding her expression as she responds, "Hmm. Agreed. Everyone spread out. Genitha, could you perhaps…"

I stop listening as Smoulder has thumped into me, driving my attention to where Rufka is playing with her, dangling a little ball on the end of a line for Smoulder to chase. I follow the line back to its wielder, getting lost in the smooth movements of her arms as she directs Smoulder skittering across the table, her brows furrowed in concentration. When she catches me ogling her, Rufka stretches languidly, exaggerating her curves.

I'm still admiring the view when Smoulder knocks her off balance, following the little ball that had returned to Rufka's hand while she was flaunting. This sends Rufka tumbling towards the floor. However, before I've had a chance to step forward, she's transitioned into a roll, popping up in front of me with a shrugged, "Oops," and a peck on the cheek before returning her attention to Smoulder.

Which reminds me, I should be investigating the room too. If anyone's going to have an extra way to tap in here, it's going to be me.

Or maybe Wyonna.

I guess I should ask her. But… I think I'll talk to Roberts about my worries concerning her untriggered commands first.

With that decision made, I make my way over to where Roberts is standing, inspecting the jumbotron-sized window-projector.

"Hey, uh, Wes," I nearly stumble over his name. If I hadn't heard Raz address him earlier, I would have referred to him as Roberts without a thought. It's the first time I've made the effort since he told me to refer to him as Wes. It just feels awkward.

"Yes, Lex... Lexi... Which do you prefer?" Roberts asks, seeming almost as uncomfortable with using a less formal name as I am. Which suddenly makes me feel more comfortable not using his formal name.

Weird, how that works.

"Either is fine. Papi always calls me Lex, but aunt Sharon's a major proponent for Lexi."

"Well, I think I'll go with Lexi then. No offence, but I'd rather not be perceived as your father."

"Yeah, fair enough. But Papi is my grandpa, not my dad. That's papa."

"I see. Still, I stand by my choice." Roberts turns away from me, tapping the edge of the screen experimentally. "Now, you wanted to ask me something, I presume?"

"Kind of?" I pause, trying to think how to phrase it. "Okay, so first things, first. You know Wyonna, right?"

"Right. Your System helper. Sent by the Forerunners."

"Yeah. Anyway, she says she still has some commands that she's bound to run. Orders she received before we came here. Now, before we met Folthka, I'd have thought nothing of it. But now…"

"Now you're worried the Forerunners who sent us here aren't as benign as we'd hoped."

"Well, I mean, yeah. Why'd they even send us here? What's in it for them?"

"Good questions Lexi. Unfortunately, I'm no expert in Forerunners, AIs or even computer code. I'm not sure how I can help."

"Oh, well that's fine. I wasn't asking about that. I was just thinking that Wyonna could help us figure all this out," I wave my hands across my chest swinging them out to the sides to indicate the whole room, "but I'm kind of worried about giving her access to the System if she's not in control of herself."

"Ah."

"But then, she's done nothing but help me since she's been unlocked. And I can't see her turning around to use all this against us. Besides, I want to keep her informed."

"Of course."

"Anyway, I guess I should let her know. It's the right thing to do."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. And Wes."

"Yes, Lexi?"

"Thanks for being a wall. Didn't expect to just bounce stuff off you."

Roberts chuckles, covering his mouth with one hand to keep the volume down. "Anytime."

Taking a couple of steps back, I send a message to Wyonna.

Then I remember the time dilation. Is she even going to be able to…

Oh, yep.

(W) "Hey, Alexis. What's up?"

(A) "New System reward that I thought I'd get your input on. Hold on, I'll put together a description.

Half a minute later, I've given her the general idea of where we are and how the place seems to work.

(W) "Wait, you're in a time dilation field? Huh. The System must not have disconnected us like I thought. I'm probably still stored in your interface. Quick question, is your cooking skill still zero?"

…

(A) "Are you saying you're the reason the System thinks I can't cook?"

(W) "Is that a yes?"

(A) "Yes, my cooking is still at zero. But seriously, why cooking?"

(W) "Would you have preferred a magical skill locked at zero?"

(A) "Did you have to lock one of my skills?"

(W) "Yep. Like I said, that's where I'm stored. There's a chance you could bust me out of here. But then again, not sure I want to be run through a full-fledged anti-corruption filter. There might not be much me left after that, even if I were 'System Approved'."

(A) "Okay. Don't break you out. Yet. That's good since I wouldn't even know where to start. Any ideas about the CMCC?"

(W) "Yes. Okay, so we're going to start by…"

Wyonna guides me through opening the System menu on one of the workstations. I bring up a similar menu to the one that normally appears in Raz's, but with a couple of new options. One of which allows me to choose the source for the giant screensaver serving as our window to outside.

Without waiting for confirmation, I start flicking through the different feeds, looking for anything familiar to use as a reference.

Which of course gets everyone's attention when the vast forest is replaced by an underwater reef which is immediately followed by a flowing lava field.

The presets are definitely memorable.

"Kid, you figured it out?"

"Kind of. Wyonna showed me. It was actually pretty simple. It's just like in the bullet."

"Interesting. I've never seen the System constrain itself like this before," Raz comments, watching me tap through the options on the workstation.

As everyone gathers, Genitha and Tipan help build a map of where each camera is likely located. Since each camera is labelled with grid coordinates, eventually we're able to work out several cameras that should show us Ivicka's Sanctum.

"It's weird," I mumble as we're about to bring up the first feed. Except for Rufka, the others are at the table, prepared to take notes when the screen changes.

"What's weird Lexi?" Rufka asks from where she's leaned up against my back, still petting Smoulder.

"I'm on another planet. Wielding the elements and time itself, easy as walking. But here I am, sitting at a computer, looking through video feeds while my girlfriend pets my bunny."

"Pets your bunny? Is that what you call it on Earth? I like it. I can't wait till tonight. I'm going to pet your bunny all night."

I choke, before clarifying, "Smoulder. I meant you're petting Smoulder."

"Oh. I know. I just wanted to feel you squirm," she replies while pressing her back more firmly against me for a moment.

"Well, mission accomplished," I chuckle nervously while bringing up the first camera.

It doesn't show much, just empty rolling hills with what might be the base of the mountain to the side. The next couple of feeds aren't much better, each showing more rolling hills covered in trees.

I've just flicked to our last reasonable option when Tipan cries out.

"Wait, go back."

Obliging her, I bring up the previous image. It's another scene of rolling hills, trees partially obscuring the camera.

Except as we watch the screen, one of the trees moves, shuffling to the side. Which is when I realize they're not trees at all. They're giant creatures with skin so rough it looks like bark. And poofy, leafy green hair.

Okay, time to call a spade a spade and a tree a treant.

As one of the treant's shuffles out of the way, the familiar form of Cristha is revealed, directing them in their labour. And behind her, nestled in a valley outside the mountain, is a large stone fortress full of what I'm assuming are Fallen.

We all spend a moment staring at the screen before Roberts chimes in, "Well, that's better than I expected."

Not that I'd voice it out loud, but I feel the same way.

….

So, what are we missing?

A note from Draith

Good enough is the enemy of excellence while seeking perfection prevents completion.

Between these two extremes lives an ideal point on the bell curve.

Wyonna turned the whole curve into a slide, and now Alexis and Smoulder are so busy playing they're not getting anything done.

Oh, and yes, last chapter's teddy bear was totally a nod to Vaudevillain.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.87 Rest and Remote Infiltration

January 26, 2019, 4:44 pm.

While at first, I thought we had a live feed to Ivicka's compound, after some investigation, we discover the recordings are at least several hours behind reality. Further investigation reveals the videos are sent in once a day, with only a week's worth of records in the archives.

A week's worth of records is a lot of potential information but it's incredibly boring to watch. And with time dilation, we don't have a good excuse not to.

After three hours of scanning through the footage, we've identified two other perspectives that expand the view. We've also determined that for some reason each cycle ends at 9:10 in the morning. Whatever the reason, this means the last video ends shortly after Ivicka departed her compound with Asterix before she invaded Folthka's compound.

Just like Tipan said, Asterix truly is looking better. Though the flowing crest composed of tentacles is new. It's not even that disturbing, resembling a slicked-back mane of dark emerald hair. As I watch, said hair reaches out to scoop up a nearby Fallen before depositing it in the resting dragon's maw.

Nevermind. That's super yucky.

Is this what they did with the Lord of the Deep? What possible benefit could it offer?

We continue scouring through the files while working out our plan of action. The intel is a few hours out of date, but it's amazing considering it fell into our lap. Then again, with how badly the System wants us to take down the Fallen, I guess it's not that surprising it's helping out.

"Next, it's going to give us a specialized rocket launcher that will take out Ivicka in a single shot," I verbalize to myself. There's no conveniently timed System message or appearance of an insta-kill weapon, but it was worth a try. I mean, what's the point of being continually monitored by an all-powerful System if they don't drop things in your lap every now and again.

Not that the System has a habit of giving me things without at least a nominal effort on my part.

With a clear outline of the compound, the flight path between it and her mountain Sanctum and a general understanding of the scale of their forces, I've come to a rather unpleasant conclusion.

This is going to suck.

Thousands of Fallen, hundreds of treants and at least three other dragons, all with the same tentacle manes encircling their heads. There are at least two Awakened Fallen, one who floats around with large metal plates and another who skips about with sudden bursts of wind. And those are just the forces we've been able to confirm.

On the plus side, they'll have no idea we're coming. And Genitha insists she could defeat everything herself. Except for Ivicka's unknown ally. If they turn up while the unconverted K'tharn are still locked away, things could get messy. And yeah, there are entire holding pens full of K'tharn waiting to be processed. We've already seen several dozen flown to her Sanctum.

So, that's our first objective. Get in, find the K'tharn, then get them out.

We'll be operating in two teams.

The current plan is mostly reliant on using me to ferry groups back and forth between the Knights and the Wizards. It was a surprisingly unanimous decision when Rose proposed the group names. He was kind of upset when Beth reminded him he'd be staying at Raz's, so it didn't matter which group he was in. He's an honorary Knight.

He felt a little better when Demo informed us he'd be staying behind as well. He chose Wizard.

The Wizards are composed of Beth and Genitha, while Roberts, Tipan and Rufka are the actual Knights. Technically, I'll be joining the Wizards, but I'm not on either squad, since I'm going to be bouncing around like crazy, ferrying people out. And transportation is going to be all on me. Turns out that Genitha's teleport takes a lot longer to cast. Like five minutes a shot.

Not what you want when you're in a hurry.

After the first step, we have half a dozen contingency plans, each for a different combination of Ministers that Genitha theorizes may show up. My part in each plan is simple. Get the Wizards to safety.

We're going over yet another variation of bad guy shows up, Beth and Genitha blow them up, Alexis gets everyone out when Rufka speaks up, "What happens if they come for us in the staging area?"

"That's why yeh'll be planting these in the area," Demo explains. Right, I think I remember them mentioning something about explosives. Rufka and I may have been a little distracted with Smoulder at the time. Smoulder's starting to feel a little annoyed she can't summon flames within the CMCC. When we tried to send her back to Raz's, we discovered we can't just pop out. We're stuck here until the full thirty-six hours are up.

Really glad I grabbed that extra food.

"Right. Uhm, what do these do again?" Rufka asks, glancing around the table.

"Shaped mana disruption charges. They'll knock any integrated creature below Silver-rank unconscious. Well, almost any."

"Wait. You've been carrying these around with you everywhere," I glare at Demo, as I realize he could have knocked us out at any time.

"Yep."

"Vaus-damn, that's handy. Mum, didn't you say these things are expensive?"

"To purchase, yes. There aren't many with the skill to create such devices in the Aetherium."

"Anyway, we'll plant the charges before anyone goes in. Assuming everything is the same as on the footage we'll place them…" Beth continues explaining the instructions which I copy as best I can into my notebook.

Another hour later, we've exhausted most reasonable tangents related to our upcoming smash and rescue so we've started playing cards while Roberts tells us about one of his less than legal adventures from before he became a doctor.

"Anyway, as I was saying, little Jim had me cornered. He's not to be confused with slim Jim, my brother's dealer. They're very different. For one thing, little Jim was actually quite large, so when I say he had me in a corner, I mean there wasn't much space to maneuver. At least, not at ground level. For another, little Jim had a personal interest in ensuring I'd have an extended stay in the hospital. After all, in his eyes, I was the only reason Maria wouldn't give him the time of day."

"Now, it may not be that incredible here, but at the time I thought myself rather daring when I chose to dash off the balcony to swing into the apartment underneath. It wasn't actually my best plan because I forgot that the apartment under Maria's was her brother's…"

Turns out Roberts had worked as a courier for some low-level drug dealers when he was in med school. This whole story started when Rose asked Roberts how he met his wife.

It's also the reason he goes by Roberts. When he told the story to his grandson, Ethan, the boy compared it to a movie he loved. Apparently there was a pirate hero that went by Roberts. Which leads to the most shocking revelation of his story.

Roberts's last name is actually Ling.

To which Rose blurts out, "You don't look Chinese!"

Even as the words come out of his mouth, his ears lay flat in embarrassment. I mean, he's right, Roberts doesn't look Asian to me. But then, I don't look Cree either.

Roberts laughs it off as he explains, "I take after my mother's side. But my grandparents moved to Canada from the Qinghai province."

Rufka is tapping a beat on her leg when she interjects, "I have no idea what any of that means. But did you actually go back for the package? Without any enchantments? Against a foe twice your size?"

"Of course. I'd have been dead without it, so it wasn't much of a choice. In fact..."

Before I know it, we've spent several hours trading stories. We hear a lot from Roberts, because Rufka keeps asking about his past. She loves that so many feature him running above cities. Apparently, he was quite the skywalker when he was younger.

That's another way to say a crazy person who runs up and down buildings without magic or equipment. Pretty sure they call it parkour or something now.

Rufka informs us that even with magic, there aren't many who choose to do so. At least not in the Aetherium.

As we're getting ready to sleep, we discover the command centre has rooms available.

It's a little late, but when I enter the room, the System informs me that I can use our key to link my personal room to the CMCC. If I'd set it up before I came in. It also informs me that if I access my room from within the CMCC, I won't be able to use any other exits. Because, you know, dilated time.

It's still cool.

The room is fairly basic, a simple desk and the least comfortable bed I've encountered since arriving on Akilo. Which includes sleeping on the stone floor of the church. Luckily, a positive health edge prevents it from being an actual issue.

While the bed is uncomfortable, this is the best place I could hope to spend tonight.

Because I'm able to spend it with Rufka without having to worry I'll zap her with a lightning bolt in my sleep.

…

And Smoulder. Yes, you little furball, I'm not kicking you out.

Not yet.

When I wake, I'm not sure if the fur in my mouth is from cuddling with Rufka or from Smoulder planting herself on my face to rouse me.

Deciding to get even with her by not feeding her immediately, I check the improvements to my attributes instead. And then start giving her a snack while I review. Because I'm a softie.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

2

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

1

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

16

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

11

(+/-)

INTELLECT

100

(+/-)

SPIRIT

100

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

50

(+/-)

RESOLVE

50

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

Storage

4.39

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

2/3

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

142/142

[9.2]

(74)/d

Stamina

142/142

[9.6]

(77)/d

Mana

682/682

[60.3]

(571)/d

Focus

598/598

[44.2]

(442)/d

Matrix

Facet

189/189

[14.6]

(148)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[63]

Elemental

[63]

Temporal

[95]

Spatial

[95]

I was tempted to increase my Agility, but instead, I've finally raised my Strength to the point it's not in the negatives.

Yay?

The rest were almost evenly split between Endurance, Perception and Resolve. Hopefully, that'll be the end of any unbalanced attribute syndrome. Or whatever it's called.

Not every point went into attributes. Everyone made sure to pick up party voice and party chat. I was sorely tempted to keep placing my points into my mental stats, but the ease with which Rufka won our playfighting last night reminded me how much I rely on my magic to… well, do everything really.

I can move things with my mind. Of course, I use it every chance I get.

But sometimes you need to be able to take a hit without being reduced to a giggling mess once the tickling starts. Okay, I'm not actually sure Strength will help withstand being tickled, but it'll help me be the tickler instead of the ticklee.

The tickling also made me realize how long it's been since I've felt pain. I don't get minor aches or pains anymore. Not even that tingly sensation I should have got from Rufka sleeping on my arm all night.

I wonder how the System differentiates between tickling and other sources of tingling?

My musings are cut short by Rufka making an adorable half-snort as Smoulder steps on her ear. As they sort themselves out, I start laying out breakfast on the desk. After eating, we climb back into bed. We still have nearly twenty hours before we're done here. This is the closest we're going to have to a break and we've decided to make the most of it. Especially since we're charging into the lion's den once we're released.

And that's exactly what we do. Though we don't spend all day in bed, like I'd originally been envisioning. Rufka can't actually handle sitting still that long.

After a full day of messing around, visiting with the others, getting to know Rose (who is either incredibly different from Josh, or just doesn't have Josh's filters) and reviewing 'the plan' another dozen times we're all back at the entrance table, waiting for the last five minutes to count down.

Everyone can barely wait to get out. While we'd thought we were prepared to spend thirty-six hours in here, most of our preparations included using magic in some way. The lack has led everyone except Raz to go a little stir crazy.

He spent the whole time playing his guitar in the corner. Rufka and I danced several times, even taking turns with Roberts and Tipan. Roberts also took the opportunity to demonstrate some good old earth music, busting out a marvellous rendition of 'I like that old type of Rock & Roll' and a less impressive version of 'Iron Man'. His guitar work was excellent, but he just doesn't have the voice for it.

Rose and Beth spent a while talking. A long while.

But now we're leaving. Time to go face the big bad and all that.

My attempt to follow what happens on the way out reinforces that whatever went into creating the CMCC is out of my league.

For the moment.

Our hands are once again in position on the table. Other than a slight change in the patrons around us, it's as though we never left.

We don't waste time. The moment everyone is over the nausea, we head for the exit where Genitha prepares her group teleportation spell. Which I totally take notes on. All the notes. These are in addition to the instruction she gave me when we compared the idea of our spells while trapped in the CMCC, our efforts frustrated by the limited access to magic.

Even after spending a whole day there, I was the only one able to harness any magic.

It has roughly ten times the runes of my spell, which kind of makes me worried about mine. But then again, hers has guidance built-in, whereas mine requires a link.

Speaking of which, we still have Ivicka's arm, and the connection is still strong enough for me to confirm she's in the general direction of her Sanctum.

Kind of a grisly task, but better than teleporting halfway across the continent only to find out she was already in our back yard. Err, relative to our teleportation capability that is.

Genitha's spell is much neater than mine. Only the actual people chosen for transport are teleported. No practice dummies were harmed in the casting of her spell.

We emerge in a shallow dip between two nearby hills. I nearly step in a small pool covered in green moss when I turn to look around but manage to keep my footing. And by 'keep my footing' I mean I reshape the ground beneath my feet while crackling flames engulf my hands. I breathe deeply, embracing the plentiful mana in the air as a shudder of relief passes through me.

"Uh, Lexi. Stealth mission," Rufka reminds me, breaking me out of my daze just before I start creating great arcs of fire in the sky.

"Oh, right. Sorry," I apologize as I float down, stepping off the newly formed square block on the edge of the pool. I go to dispel my flight spell but...

I wasn't even using it.

Huh. That's new.

There's no time for me to revel in my newfound ability, as I help the others place Demo's charges in an egg-shaped oval around the small valley.

"Okay, people, we all know the plan. Keep your eyes and ears open. We'll be back for dinner." With that, Beth, Genitha and I slip out of sight, each of our invisibility spells enshrouding us.

However, while they fly directly towards the compound, I fly straight up.

Once my head barely protrudes above the treeline I connect directly to Beth's vision, ready to teleport at her signal. But it's a bit of a flight.

Didn't want a drago-squid stumbling over us. That would kill the mood.

Still, while we're flying, I decide I should talk to Beth.

I've kind of been ignoring it, since I've been focused on Ivicka and Rufka, but things were tense between her and Rose.

"So, Beth," I start.

"Yeah, kid?"

"About Rose."

"Not the time kid."

"I just wanted to know if you're going to… Ohmygod! What is that?!"

Beth snaps her vision to a twisting mass of flesh that is snaking between the trees below her. It must have over a million little arms, each one the general shape of a human's. Or a K'tharn's actually. Each arm ends in hands like theirs, though it looks like its claws never retract.

"Ah, a Vothborean. Truly an auspicious omen," Genitha comments through party voice.

"I'm sorry, what? How is that thing an auspicious omen?" Beth demands.

The rumbling of the massive millipede (cause that's what it reminds me of) fades as Genitha explains, "They're a rare creature that hunts Fallen, sending them to their final rest. It seems we may have an unexpected ally."

As Beth stares at the slimy carapace propelled by hundreds of humanoid arms, I can't help but wonder if we could trade-in for a slightly less disgusting ally.

Judging by Beth's 'blech,' she agrees with me.

A note from Draith

That's one big brugger. And it's watching.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.88 Task Failed Successfully

January 26, 2019, 5:29 pm.

The giant millipede doesn't notice either of its invisible watchers, continuing on its path straight towards Ivicka's compound at a speed that is frankly terrifying.

Wait a second. Is this the System's answer to my overpowered weapon request?

Note to self, request less slimy secret weapon next time.

Shortly before the massive millipede reaches the compound, it twists upwards, ascending several stories above the ground as if climbing an invisible wall. It teeters there for a second before crashing down, slamming the ground with such force I can see the shockwave distort the air, flattening the nearby trees. Luckily, Beth's nowhere near it. By the time the shockwave reaches her, it's just an extremely loud noise, the wind barely ruffling her hair.

"Did it just assault their base?" Beth asks in party chat. I love that invisibility mutes our sound yet we're still able to talk freely. Total cheat.

There's a pause as we all stare at where the millipede is twisting on the ground. A second later, two of the squidified-dragons fly from behind the low walls of rough stone (which seem to act more as an indication of the invisible forcefield than an actual deterrent.) At this distance, I'm only able to tell that one dragon is red and the other a blue so dark it almost seems purple.

Genitha's soft laughter precedes her answer as they resume flying towards the compound, "I… I think it did. I'll admit, I didn't expect that. Vothborean are generally less aggressive than that."

When they're only a kilometre from the compound, the millipede is running away with the dragons strafing it. The blue dragon is surrounded by a thick mist which it reshapes into whip-like tendrils, reinforcing the squid theme they're going with. The red dragon is thankfully just breathing regular old dragonfire. Which isn't so great for the Vothborean judging from the way it melts under each volley of fire, but there's something wrong about a dragon using their magic to form tentacles.

Apparently, the appearance of a giant millipede isn't enough to justify much of a response beyond the dragons. As Genitha and Beth close in on the wall, the Fallen stationed atop it barely register the fight between the behemoths to the north. They're no more cognizant of Genitha and Beth's attempt to bypass the warding scheme.

After three minutes, Beth's patience seems to run out. "What's taking so long? You said this should be easy."

"It should've been easy. But it's being powered by a type of mana I've never seen before that's hard to focus on. Which is making it interesting to bypass without setting off the alarm." Genitha doesn't sound upset. In fact, I think she might be enjoying herself.

It takes another two minutes for her to finish. As she works, the sounds of fighting dies out until I can barely hear the Vothborean thumping against the ground.

When Genitha completes whatever she was doing, a crack forms in the wall. The jagged stone opening doesn't look comfortable, but neither complain as they make their way through. Once inside, they head straight for the holding pen, keeping close to the ground under most of the flying Fallen traffic. There's so much flight in use that they run into several dead ends, having to carefully cross over before making it to the pens.

The crudely assembled structure causes me to wonder if the Fallen are incapable of using their stone magic for construction. I've seen at least two Fallen with stone floating over their heads, so I know they're available. As it is, the walls of the pen are composed of loosely stacked blocks, each the size of a refrigerator with the top open to the weather. Though rain seems to be kept away by the invisible barrier overhead.

When they reach the back of the barricade, Genitha starts laughing softly. "I thought they were idiots for using these. But if I try to reshape the stone, they'll know someone was here. It's a low magic tracking system. Someone is probably feeling incredibly clever. They may have even noticed our passage through the outer wall."

"We assumed we were on a clock. Best we keep moving."

"Wait. There's something else."

"What?" Beth demands.

"I'm not certain, something about the mana is off."

Beth manages to wait patiently for thirty seconds before she asks, "Anything?"

"Hmmm." Genitha hums to herself, which seems like a strange use of party chat, before responding, "It's some sort of illusion magic. Not twilight."

"Wait, why would there be illusion magic over the holding pens?"

"An excellent question child. Now hush, I need to concentrate."

The fact that they're both invisible makes me feel more tense instead of relaxed. My IFF only cares about where people are in relation to me, not where my perception of myself is. Which is to say, I have no idea what Genitha's doing, and only a vague idea of where she is.

So, I have no idea what she did to trigger the stone blocks to start reforming, but I'm hoping it was intentional. The cursing kind of indicates otherwise though. At first I'm unable to comprehend exactly what's happening, the downside to Beth being right next to it.

Well, that and the potential for being crushed by that massive foot that's forming from the stone blocks. Beth's view reorients so quickly, it takes me a moment to realize she dove back the way they came, peeking back around the corner at the rising golem.

"What the hell is that?" Beth screams into party chat.

"Unexpected." Genitha sounds amused.

"Yeah, no shit."

"Don't worry, it would appear our invisibility is sufficient to fool its senses. I'm more concerned with the lack of prisoners."

"What are you…" As Beth trails off it becomes apparent that the holding pen blocks that didn't go into forming the first massive golem went into a second slightly larger golem. Both golems are just standing there, as though waiting for orders. Or more likely a target.

As we're staring at the empty field, Beth's eyes narrow in on a barely raised section of dirt. "There, do you see that section? Just in front of number two's foot."

"Ah, yes. Good eye. An underground area."

Even as Genitha confirms Beth's suspicions, Beth jumps into motion, dashing straight for the covered hatch while ignoring the golems. "Straight in?" she asks as she skids to a stop above a hatch made of a wood the same colour as the surrounding earth.

"Go ahead. I'll provide cover. You investigate."

"Fine." With that, Beth twists the handle, only opening the hatch wide enough to peek through. Even as Beth is lifting the cover, there's a roar from above. In addition to the golems, Ivicka is flying in on Asterix. Unlike the golems, Ivicka doesn't wait until she can see the threat. She starts tossing fireballs, blanketing the area. Beth's attention returns to the hatch. When she sees an empty shaft that drops roughly five metres, she slips through, bracing against the wall then sliding along before killing her momentum with a roll at the bottom. I'm not sure if she remembers I'm tagging along, but I'm pretty sure she didn't need to be so fancy.

Pressing against the wall next to the only doorway leading out of the shaft, she pokes far enough I can determine there's an empty hallway with heavy wooden doors blocking five doorways.

"Kid, you seeing this? I think it's a good spot for you to port to."

"Yeah. On it." I've already established my anchors, so I'm able to appear next to her a second later. The moment I appear, I feel as though there's a cloying pull on my skin. The mana here feels… wrong. Like motor oil poured over pancakes.

Shaking it off, Beth confirms I'm here then begins checking the first door on the left. Immediately, she comes across a group of shackled K'tharn who meet us with suspicious stares. Each of them have masks over their heads, inhibiting speech. Genitha warned us this might happen. It can be challenging to keep a user contained without the use of special restraints to disrupt their mana.

The restraints could be removed, if the user who put them in place disables them. Since, it's unlikely Ivicka will comply with such a request, that leaves us with breaking the enchantment. Which can be done, but each set would take Genitha several minutes. Rufka and Tipan would take even longer. Which means it's a later priority. Ergo, teleport everyone to safety first, break them free later.

It takes some convincing to get the prisoners to come with us, but once they do, I start organizing them to ensure we don't bring any of the wall with us. When Beth opens the second room, I'm still trying to get the first group out. There's a bit of a scuffle as several K'tharn from the second group want to leave first. We manage to get things sorted out thanks to some understanding K'tharn in the first group, but we decide to finish each room before opening the other doors.

While I escort the prisoners out, Beth keeps a watch over the unopened doors from the access shaft. Before I know it, the first three rooms have all been cleared out. Tipan and Rufka are even attempting to break the enchantments binding them. I'm opening the door to the fourth when we're interrupted by Fallen entering the prison.

They don't tell me to stop or give a word of warning.

They never got the chance.

Beth was waiting for them. The moment they flew into the hallway, she calmly dispatched their entire squad.

Sneak attack with an armour ignoring automatic weapon. Nasty.

Deciding it'd be best if the prisoners don't see the bodies, I quickly use my AOE looting ability, revealing another Soulstone. It disappears, likely into Beth's hand, while I turn my attention back to the prisoners, teleporting the next group out. By the time I make it back, Beth's defeated another group of Fallen. I was only away for a minute.

They're coming faster.

"Hate to hurry you, kid, but they know we're here."

"Kinda guessed that. Only one room left."

Room at the end of the hall. Cause if any room isn't going to be full of holding cells, this would be it. With that in mind, I advance in accelerated time with invisibility up. Popping open the door, I glance through, before ducking back.

There are three unshackled K'tharn in the room, playing a game of Astra's stride. If it wasn't for recognizing Cristha, I almost wouldn't have noticed they were Fallen. She's had work done. The ripped throat and other damage has been filled in with a rough patchwork. The dark green patches stand out against her grey and black fur. They don't seem to have noticed me. Taking another quick peek, I confirm all three are intensely focused on the game. I also notice a faint set of glowing runes inscribed along the floor and walls between the door and their table.

Huh, wonder what that's about.

While I'm staring at the runes, one of the gaming Fallen pauses partway through their turn, glaring at me. Or more likely the open door I'm leaning through.

They straighten slightly before calling out, "Ivicka, we already told you. It doesn't matter what you do to us. We're not going to help you."

Uhh. Okay.

This seems like a Beth thing.

"I've got Awoken Fallen who are… uhm, rebels, I guess," I tell Beth through party chat. "They think I'm Ivicka. Telling me they're not going to help. Oh, now they've started insulting her parentage. That doesn't seem fair to Tipan's mom."

"Kinda busy. Did you get all the prisoners out?"

"Everyone except them."

Our conversation is interrupted when everything shakes. One of the heavy wooden doors splits and cracks, splinters flying everywhere. In the shaft I hear lightning crackle.

"Kay. Your call kid, but decide quick."

My call?

I never make decisions like this. This is way too important.

Another shake of the everything and I'm already stepping into the room, dropping my invisibility again to a barrage of insults that cuts out when they realize I'm not Ivicka.

"Hey, I know you! You're one of Roberts's friends," Cristha exclaims. Her voice no longer has the smooth dulcet tones that she once apologized to a bemused Roberts with. Now it's as though she's scraping steel-wool cloth on a chalkboard with the resulting noise forming words.

Clearly, the patch to her throat is not entirely effective.

"Uh, yeah. I'm Alexis. Look, we don't have a lot of time. I can get you out of here."

"Are you going to kill Ivicka?" The Awoken who first noticed me open the door asks.

I shrug as I start laying anchors on their side of the glowing glyphs. "Probably, though that's not really my department. I'm just the ride."

Even as I speak, I send Rufka a message asking her to move away from the others. No reason to bring them to a group of helpless prisoners. Not yet.

"You're going to need the…" Cristha starts but trails off when I appear on their side of the glowing runes. Which is when it occurs to me that I might not be able to get out. But my connection to Rufka is still strong. "Nevermind."

"Yeah, I know. Now keep your arms and legs inside the circle. Anything outside the glowing ring won't be coming with us."

They gather closer than strictly necessary before I teleport back to where Rufka's hiding out. Giving Rufka a quick half-hug, I let Beth know they're out.

"Great. Ivicka's beat feet but she's got heavy support. Bring the others."

Right. I have no idea what Beth means by beat feet, but the prisoners are safely extracted. Time to take the fight to Ivicka.

"Time to go," I tell Rufka, who glances at the unbound Awoken who I only now notice are watching us. But we don't have time to deal with them, so I take a step back, pulling Rufka with me before teleporting us to Tipan and Roberts. I don't need to say anything as we gather away from the prisoners. It's with a bit of guilt I realize if we fail, they're stuck in the middle of nowhere stuck in bindings that keep them from accessing their powers.

Still, better than being forcefully converted to a Fallen, right?

We appear just outside of the prison where Beth is taking pot shots at Asterix while dodging his breath weapon and tentacles. Genitha is currently flying around duking it out with another Fallen who's countering her every attack. One such block sends a shockwave strong enough to knock a couple points off my health.

Damn, getting the prisoners out was a good call.

There's a fraction of a second where we all take in the situation, picking targets. I don't see Ivicka but there are several Fallen attempting to flank Beth. Elemental energies are flying everywhere. If I wasn't able to slow down my perception of the battlefield with Accelerated-Time I'd be completely lost. But with it, Smoulder and I start blasting our way through the Fallen before they realize reinforcements have arrived.

Roberts moves to support Beth, his shields allowing her to focus on offence. Which results in Asterix retreating.

Scanning the battlefield for Ivicka, I find her trading fire with Tipan and Rufka. Looks like they found her before I did. I tell Roberts her location then move to support Tipan who was just sent tumbling by Ivicka. Rufka manages to draw Ivicka's attention before she can attack Tipan further.

I start slinging elemental discs, torrents and arrows at Ivicka. She hardly seems to notice. After more than thirty seconds of her barely dodging our attacks, I realize she's just playing with us. The grin on her face should have clued me in earlier.

And why shouldn't she play with us? Clearly she's stronger than we are.

But at least I've taken down more Fallen. I thought about looting them, but that can wait until later. It's not like I need to keep the ground clear with everyone and their dragon flying everywhere. In fact it works to our advantage, making it harder for the treants to reach us. They hit anything that gets close with enough force it's worse than getting hit by half a dozen Fallen at once. Not that they're surviving Smoulder's blazing attacks any better. She's not technically capable of flight, but you wouldn't know it with the way she's smashing her way through the treant ranks.

The greatest hazard the Fallen pose is hiding the much more dangerous attacks from Ivicka amongst their own spells. I've nearly taken three hits from Ivicka, only dodging because I'm moving in accelerated time.

Ivicka's been calling out for most of the fight, mostly insults about Tipan, but occasionally she'll try to include Rufka and me as well. Most of them are lost in the general roar of dozens of high powered spells. But she seems to be focused on insulting our lineage by referring to the fact we're descended from males.

I'm not sure if insults just aren't her forte, or if she thinks that having a male parent is truly that bad.

Doesn't matter, since she's keeping us from doing anything to her, so it's not like we can get her to stop. The best I've achieved is to knock her back slightly with a well-aimed Water Torrent. But most of the time, I can't even land one.

Then Genitha spares a single crimson bolt of energy in her direction before returning her attention to her opponent.

That single crimson bolt of energy strikes Ivicka's shoulder sending her spiralling into a nearby Fallen. She continues falling, eventually landing behind the broken body of one of the golems, itself reduced to a pile of rubble. We're unable to follow her, held back when a surge of Fallen arrives from the direction of her Sanctum. Fallen wouldn't have been enough on their own, but the pair of powerful Awoken accompanying them send us running for cover.

At least until Beth puts a hole in the one with the giant metal shield. It's easy for me to take out the other one after that, teleporting in close then unloading several Piercing Flame Arrows. They're exceptionally effective against the Fallen's Wind Shield.

I'm trying to find Ivicka again when she announces her presence in a way I never would have expected.

She shoots Genitha out of the sky.

A dark purple beam with sparks of crackling blue lightning spears straight through the massive steel block Genitha was using for a shield. It doesn't just cut through her shield, the beam pierces through Genitha's shoulder, tearing up towards her head as she collapses.

"MUM!"

Ivicka doesn't stop there. She's already turning the strange cannon in our direction when I pause time.

The beam is sweeping across the sky, splitting everything it passes through. Tipan barely dodges above the beam. Ivicka doesn't stop to focus on her sister though. Instead she continues sweeping the weapon towards Beth and Roberts.

Even with time paused I'm reminded how fast Ivicka is. It's only going to be a few paused seconds before she reaches them.

No time to hesitate.

So, I teleport next to her, meeting her gaze as I appear before her, fully visible.

Then I unleash a water torrent.

But that's all just a distraction to buy the precious seconds I need to teleport away. Using the simpler version of my area teleport, I bisect her energy cannon, the glowing rings guiding my aim. I might get her arm, but that's better than her killing the others.

Ivicka's distorted scream of rage as she swings the rifle towards me is cut off as I teleport away.

When I reappear, I realize I misjudged. A simple but critical mistake. I forgot I added a safety margin to the rings.

Instead of her arm, I've brought half her head and torso with me.

Time is flowing normally but for that moment it feels as though it stretches into eternity. I stare at her left eyes. She seems to have just enough time to process what happened before her eyes lose focus. My mind can't help but note how 'clean' the cut is. Then her face collapses to the ground with a barely audible squelch.

A sound I'll never forget.

Unable to help myself, I turn away, vomiting.

When I recover, I make the mistake of glancing over, only to start heaving again. It's only the thought that Genitha needs help that lets me stand, fighting my gagging.

Despite Ivicka being down, the Fallen haven't stopped fighting. In fact, the Fallen Genitha was fighting is keeping the rest of the team away.

Damn.

I've teleported to Genitha's side before I've had time to process the spell, fumbling to retrieve the healing feather I received from Beth after our mad dash from the tower. When I see the gash where her heart should be, I don't see Genitha.

I see papa, staring up with glazed eyes.

I gasp, dropping the feather into the torn earth. The vision of papa disappears, but the brown of the feather blends in, making me waste a precious second as I almost look past it.

With feather in hand, I lay it on Genitha then start channelling all the mana I can into it.

"Please, please let this work."

A note from Draith

Uhm. Sorry for the cliff.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.89 Setting Sun

January 26, 2019, 5:59:34 pm.

Five seconds too late.

At least that's how it feels.

The sun is setting, shining at just the right angle to give Genitha a halo as I pour my mana into the dull brown feather. It feels like the universe's sick idea of a joke.

But I have bigger worries.

The feather isn't working.

I've dumped half my mana into it, but the wound won't close. Several other minor scuffs close over, but the dull black edges of the gash seem to repulse the feather's efforts.

It's only once I'm out of mana, frantically trying to think of something, that it occurs to me to get Roberts. He could fix this.

Glancing in his direction, I see him shielding Beth from the red dragon that was chasing the millipede. Clearly, the dragon is a distraction. Though with the trouble Beth is having landing a shot, it's an effective one. I know an easy way to fix that, I just have to do it.

I teleport next to the dragon, it's large red tentacles writhing as it releases a roar that shakes the air.

Okay, Lexi. It's simple, just teleport away with the giant dragon's head.

Yet, I hesitate. Which is when a heavy impact throws me careening away. That one hit cost me half my health. I don't think it was even aiming at me.

This time I don't give myself time to hesitate. In, then out with its tentacles squirming around me. When I teleport away I bring a sizable chunk of its head with me.

This time it's more of a 'clang,' the armoured skull smashing against a broken golem.

But no more distraction. The rest of the dragon is crashing to the ground behind me when I teleport next to them. They don't even realize I'm there before I've relocated us to Genitha.

"Alexis, what?" Roberts is blinking at me instead of helping Genitha. I don't think, instinctively turning him with a transparent wave of wind magic, nearly shoving him into her. Which reminds me that even with no mana I can still create minor effects if they're close enough.

It doesn't take him long after that to start working, but it still doesn't feel fast enough. Yet I can see him making progress. The black gunk at the edges is being pushed back and the flesh underneath is starting to reknit.

Then everything goes dark as a wave of earth slams over us. I'm thrown clear, and I can feel Roberts and Beth should be clear as well.

Glancing up, I see the Fallen. The one Genitha was fighting.

And it is a Fallen, that much is clear now. It's the missing chunks in her torso, ruining her otherwise well-groomed chocolate brown fur, that gives it away. Because either she's Fallen, or she was doing poorly against Genitha.

She's staring down at us, making no further move to attack. She's just... floating there as if unconcerned. Analyzing her, I confirm what I thought.

"Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 7.

Name: Minister Traxla of clan Lithania.

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

She's at least as powerful as Ivicka.

Temporarily dismissing her, I search for Genitha. I spot her crumpled form through the spiked rocks Traxla used to separate us. Roberts is picking himself up only a couple metres away from me, so I fly to him, then transport us beside Genitha, my eyes glued to Traxla.

She reacts immediately, sending a new wave of rising stone to separate us.

So, I teleport all three of us away. Keeping everyone well within the rings.

Not far though, I'm limited to line of sight on all my teleports, except for Return. But I'll need everyone together if I don't want to leave anyone behind.

I start picking up the others, warning them to stay close.

Everyone is crowded next to me. Roberts is attempting to revive Genitha while dealing with the nausea of repeated teleports. They're all feeling the effects.

Rufka is the only passenger I still need to collect.

Traxla isn't making it easy for us to reach each other. She doesn't leave me enough room to teleport everyone close to Rufka safely. Rufka insists she'll be fine, that I should get her mum out. But I can't bring myself to leave her.

So, I make a quick teleport without the group.

It's only for a second, but it was a mistake.

The second they're left without me, Traxla drives them apart, another eruption of stone violently spewing upwards. Thankfully, Beth and Tipan aren't hurt, at least not enough to worry about.

But I can't see Roberts or Genitha.

I can feel them buried somewhere under that mass of stone. With only a sliver of mana remaining digging them out is going to take time.

Should have dealt with Traxla first. It's obvious now. If I want to save Genitha, the Fallen needs to go.

Teleporting to her is easy. But she's even faster than Ivicka. She doesn't dodge much, just enough to stay several metres outside the range I can teleport her at.

She's still not shooting back.

Yet she's not grinning like Ivicka either. She's just avoiding me.

If I didn't know better I'd think she didn't want to be here. But I already encountered Fallen like that, and they were locked up.

Maybe I can try talking to her?

Worth a shot.

"Hey, any chance you'd let me heal my friend?"

She stares at me but doesn't respond. I wait five very long seconds before I square my shoulders then attempt to get close to her again. After three more teleports, I realize I'm not going to get close to her that way. She seems to be able to gauge when I'm about to teleport, moving out of the way before I can set new coordinates. I'm certain this wouldn't be a problem if my Agility was higher.

Now's not the time to be lamenting your attribute allocation Lexi, think.

Instead of continuing to harass her, I teleport away, pausing time.

Should have done this first, instead of hopping around like a crazy person. Okay, I can still reshape things. Even with no mana, I still have control in my sphere.

Plus I'm regenerating while paused. Not much, but maybe enough to do… something.

Right. I have time to look through Roberts's eyes now.

He's trapped under a rock only metres away from Genitha, his arm stretched in her direction. He's moving her closer, suspended on one of his barriers.

I don't have to do anything but keep the Fallen distracted. I can do distracted.

And as I disconnect from Roberts, even while paused, I see Beth and Tipan are in the midst of harassing the Fallen. She can't ignore Beth's shots anymore than she can ignore the danger of my teleportation. And while Tipan's crackling lightning discs don't pack the same punch, they make it harder to notice Beth's already near-invisible projectiles. It's the same problem I was having with Ivicka.

Now, before I distract her properly, I should retrieve... Ah, perfect. There's Smoulder.

Dropping out of pause, I teleport to where Smoulder's peeing on a dead treant over a thousand times larger than her.

Because, of course she is.

It's been less than a minute since we were scattered, and it's the last of the dozen that were nearby. In fact, it seems everything except Traxla is either dead or running. Much as she'd like to, Smoulder can't take credit for all the destruction.

Asking Smoulder to watch my back in case anything returns, I return to distraction duty. And just in time, Traxla is already turning towards Roberts. When I teleport next to her, Smoulder almost launches herself at Traxla despite my request to just watch my back. She constrains herself to a jet of flames which I match with a single weak torrent of wind, though she grumbles about it.

Even with all our efforts turned towards her, Traxla keeps dodging, not doing anything but deflecting our attacks.

With nothing but my weakest spells, I feel nearly useless. I'm even running low on Facet and Focus. Beth stops firing after a minute, but the rest of us continue. Even though she's not targeting us, there's enough random fire that it's still hectic. Then, after nearly two minutes of attempting to harass Traxla, Roberts informs us Genitha is stable.

But not conscious.

Yet, it's enough. Enough that we let up our, admittedly useless, assault for a second.

Traxla immediately dives towards Roberts and Genitha.

But Beth's waiting for her, her invisibility failing as she uses the last of her Umbra. This time she doesn't miss.

A puff of blue dust and a single falling shard herald Traxla's end.

But I'm already kneeling by Roberts's side, staring at the new scar on Genitha's chest. Her chest is rising and falling, but it seems shallow.

"Mum!" Rufka cries out as she comes skidding in. Damn, I should have brought her closer myself. When she sees Genitha's chest rise, she chokes.

"I thought you could heal anything," Rufka states, staring at Roberts.

Roberts meets her gaze evenly. "Maybe I can. But I need time. And so does she."

Rufka nods but doesn't say anything. I grip her shoulder to offer support.

"Rufka-," I start but she interrupts me, nearly knocking me over as she collapses against me, crying into my neck. I can't help but think I wouldn't be half this upset if my mother was hurt.

Genitha and Rufka deserve better from me.

"Hate to say it, but we're not done, people."

I stare blankly at Beth. She's standing on one of the outcroppings, staring to the east. Where Ivicka's Sanctum lies.

Then I remember the prisoners. And where they were supposed to be processed. We're lucky we fought her out here. There hasn't been a quest update, even though Ivicka's dead. There are several for taking out the Fallen, including Traxla, but nothing for Ivicka. Or the summoner. Does that mean she wasn't the summoner, or that the System needs proof that she was the summoner?

Well, it seemed to deliver on the giant weapon, might as well try asking directly again. So, I mumble my thoughts to myself.

Which Rufka hears. "You think she wasn't the Summoner?"

"I'm just thinking it's a possibility," I explain, hoping the System will update. But no such luck. Guess the giant millipede was a coincidence.

"Same as I was thinking kid. No quest update." Beth strides over to look down at Genitha. "Is it safe to move her?"

Roberts kneads his brow with one hand, standing with a sigh. "Her body was thrown around just like the rest of us. Yet the only damage was from that beam. I'm inclined to say we probably couldn't hurt her if we tried."

Genitha's body lying there unconscious doesn't look that strong. Again, I'm struck by the similarity to papa, lying in his bed after the accident.

And again, I feel like it's all my fault. If I'd thought to bring Roberts immediately, maybe she'd still be okay. Or if I hadn't hesitated with the dragon. Or if I-

"Thank you," Rufka whispers, breaking me out of my self-recriminations.

"Uhm. You're welcome?" Not really sure what she's thanking me for. But I feel like admitting that would be unwise. One of those questions that would get me called an idiot.

Or maybe that's just something my mom does.

A loud sloosh draws my attention to where a section of the dragon I bisected has tipped over, spilling pooled blood across the ground. When it starts seeping in our direction, I realize I should get on looting everything.

Right after my Facet recharges. Wow, I haven't been this low on Facet in a while.

"Did anybody see where Ivicka fell?" Beth calls out from where she clambered over the rise.

Blinking, I process what Beth's not just asking, but implying. Maybe Ivicka is the summoner but isn't dead.

Thinking back, I have an idea of where her body should have landed. If it hasn't turned to blue dust already.

"I think so," I yell back while extricating myself from Rufka's arms. "I'll go check."

Rufka holds onto my hand, making it clear I'm not going alone. Heh. Alright then.

We fly over to where her body was, indicating the location to Beth. It's buried under mountains of rubble thrown up by Traxla.

Or at least that's what I thought. As we search, shifting entire truckloads of earth and stone, we find no trace of her. Even the part of her I teleported is nowhere to be found. But we do find the rifle mostly intact. It's taken a bit of a beating from being tossed around, but it was undamaged by the teleport I thought killed Ivicka.

"She's not here," Beth states.

"There's no way she got up from that… is there?" I ask, turning to Rufka.

She tilts her head to the side staring into space, "Well, mum said…" Rufka trails off as she looks over to her mum. Then she shakes her head, continuing, "She'd need to have reached Silver. Which is nearly impossible."

"Nearly?" Beth prods.

"Yeah. Mum's Silver. But mum said the quest to unlock Silver has been sealed."

"In the same way I thought other entrances into the builder city were 'sealed'?" Tipan asks, poking Rufka in the side with her elbow.

"Oh. Vaus-damnit."

"What does this mean Rufka?" Beth prompts.

"She's alive. Probably. Which means she's in her Sanctum. Mum's made a point of explaining that's what happens to her when she gets critically injured. She gets teleported home."

We all turn to stare at where her mum is lying on the broken ground.

"Yeah…" Rufka sags so Smoulder and I move up and support her. She glances at me with a small half-smile then adds, "Look, that's what mum told me. I don't know how it works. Or why it didn't. I'd tell you to ask my mum but…"

"Like I said. We're not done, people. Just means we need to kill her properly." Beth punctuates the word kill by hefting the rifle Ivicka used on Genitha and sighting down its length. "Kid, think you can analyze this thing."

"Sure. Just give me a second," I reply. My Focus is still fine, and my Facet's recharging nicely. In fact, I can probably loot most of the area now. Which would be nice, the smell is getting offensive enough I wouldn't be surprised if it starts lowering our health soon.

When I Focus on the rifle, it actually feels as though there's resistance.

Which is a little weird, but not impossible to overcome. So, I truly Focus on it, using my improved scanning ability.

As my tendrils of Facet pierce the rifle, an understanding of its materials, construction and method of firing all fill my head, accompanied by an unwelcome System message.

"WARNING!: Reaper Paragon Genitech detected. Anti-Corruption measures deemed insufficient. Star System will be purged in twelve days. All Citizens are recommended to evacuate Star System MWVAE-22XXX prior to purging."

I'm about to tell the others about the notification when Beth says, "Well, that's not encouraging."

"Lexi," Rufka whispers at the same time, "Why do I have a notification saying the world is going to end in twelve days?"

Huh. This rifle is so badass the System wants to wipe out an entire star system to get rid of it?

That's kind of awesome.

...

Terrifying, but awesome.

I'm not sure how to respond to Rufka. I just scanned the world-ending Reaper rifle. It's not like I told the System to issue armageddon.

In fact, isn't this exactly the kind of thing we're trying to prevent?

"I don't know, I just scanned it," I finally admit after trying to figure out something better to say. And failing.

"Fuck. We did not need this. How the hell are we going to find our way off-planet in less than twelve days?" Beth snatches the rifle. "Do you at least know how to fire it?"

I nod, then take her through the firing system. It has an annoying number of switches that need to be toggled before it can be fired. It's almost like someone thought it was dangerous. Hehe.

As soon as I'm done taking Beth through how to fire the Reaper rifle, (it's probably Sab's dad talking, but I'm pretty sure it'd be better for everyone if it was a reefer rifle,) I reach out to Wyonna.

(A) "So, we just got hit with a notification saying the world's going to end in twelve days because I scanned a gun. What's up with that?"

(W) "Hahaha. Good one."

(A) "No, seriously."

(W) "Uhh. One sec. Okay, so I'm going to say you either found some restricted Creator or Reaper technology. And since you're not telling me about the new facility you have access to, I'm leaning towards Reaper."

(A) "Yeah. Some sort of Reaper Paragon Genitech."

(W) "Yep. That would do it. The System would gladly purge a planet for a chance to rid itself of a Reaper Paragon."

(A) "Seriously? Are they that much of a threat?"

(W) "To you? Not at all. To the System? Oh hell yeah. Besides, it's not like the System cares about people. It can just create a new world with a bunch of K'tharn from its genetic storage banks. But nevermind that. You can probably cancel the countdown by destroying the Reaper Paragon. Or proving it's gone."

(A) "Well, I guess that's something. I'm going to tell the others."

Relaying what I learned from Wyonna puts a smile on Beth's face. "Well, if the System wanted us to kill the bastard, why didn't it just give us a damn quest? Not like we're going to go easy on friends of Ivicka."

There's a barely audible buzz, accompanied by a quest notification the moment Beth finishes speaking.

"Quest Received: Kill the Bastard. Description: Find the Reaper Paragon that introduced their technology to Akilo. Kill them. Or prove they've left Akilo. Bonus rewards for every piece of Reaper Genitech relinquished to the System. Requirements 0/1 Reaper Paragon killed or fled. Rewards: Cancellation of Star System Purge, 1 iron-rank integration point. Time: 11 days, 23:56:22."

"Note: System Penalties for using Reaper Genitech will not apply when used against Reapers or Corrupted Entities. Normal System Penalties will apply if using Reaper Genitech against non-corrupted System Integrated Entities."

"Ha. There it is," Beth crows out in triumph, a single ray of light glinting off the glossy black of her raised fist.

Yay?

A note from Draith

Critical error? Just reformat.

Works every time.

Except all the times it doesn't.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.90 To Them The Spoils

January 26, 2019, 6:32 pm.

Seeing that we have the ability to stop the System from purging Akilo is a huge relief. Not so great having less than twelve days to do so, but still.

"It's nice to see the System wants us to save Akilo so badly it's willing to give us an entire integration point," Rufka spits out.

"Yeah, that part of the reward is pretty crap," I agree.

Tipan shrugs. "It would seem the System thinks no further incentive is needed. Personally, I'm glad it's made it clear we have some recourse. Though it's hard to believe the System wants to wipe us out over a single person."

I start connecting to the bodies lying around us, preparing to loot everything as I say, "Wouldn't surprise Demo, I bet."

Tipan nods sagely, her mohawk bobbing in the sudden wind as everything not-rock (and even some rock from the Golem creatures) turns to blue dust. And an incredible amount of essence.

"Holy Hand Grenades!" I exclaim when I see the notification. In one casting, I've gathered over a thousand mana-essence. Twelve hundred and two iron rank essences and one copper rank essence, to be precise. And there are still more bodies on the other side of the compound.

"What's the problem kid?" Beth asks, rushing over to me. But I don't respond as I'm too busy laughing in disbelief. Beth gives me a solid two seconds before she clasps my arm, physically shaking me out of it. "Alexis!"

I try to stop. I really do… but I'm only able to gasp out weak wheezes. Once my giggles finally die down, I explain how much essence we just acquired. No one else laughs, though Beth does sigh in relief. "That's all? You had me scared we had another unexpected disaster on our hands."

Smoulder is nuzzling against my cheek as I finally stop. "Sorry, it's just. Here we are complaining about only getting a single point. But we each have hundreds. And it doesn't help because we don't have the time to sit around waiting for our attributes to go up."

"Well, it'll help a little," Tipan points out. "And there's no guarantee we'll be able to finish in a day, so we may well be able to use most of the points by then." She pauses, shaking her head before she starts laughing softly, "In fact, we could make use of the prisoners as an anchor for your teleport. Then we could Return to Raz's, ensuring Genitha is safe. While there, we can use the dilation chamber to accelerate our growth and recover our depleted resources. We'd be back in an hour or two. Maybe Genitha will even recover."

My laughter dies, replaced by silence as we all stare at each other.

I distribute enough for everyone to start increasing all eight of our attributes immediately. As soon as I'm done, Beth snaps at me to get the rest of the essence gathered though I'm already moving.

It takes several minutes and three small skirmishes with remnants of the Fallen force and a grounded draco-squid to gather up the rest of the essence. By the time I'm done, we have two thousand, seven hundred and thirty-three iron rank essence, not including the ones we already spent. Including Genitha (and Demo and Josh, though we haven't decided if Rose qualifies for Josh's share) that's three hundred and forty essences for each of us, with the extra thirteen going to me at Beth's insistence. We've decided to hold onto the copper to give to Genitha when she wakes up.

Talk about a massive power spike.

We do exactly as Tipan suggested, flying back to the prisoners. We may have forgotten it took half an hour to fly out, but no one complains. In fact, despite our windfall, we're in a sombre mood. Rufka flying with Genitha draped in her arms is a constant reminder we're not fighting on a level playing field. And our newfound wealth won't negate that fact.

It should help though.

We arrive where we left the prisoners to find that one of them has managed to work her way free of her head binding. Her otherwise grey and black stripes are only interrupted by black patches surrounding her eyes. If not for the trademark physique that marks every K'tharn as a predator, she would remind me of a raccoon.

"You're back. Not to sound ungrateful, but did you find a key? Getting these things off is a serious pain." She holds up her still shackled hands, shaking them in our direction.

Crap. I didn't even think to look for a key.

Luckily, Tipan did. At least, she has a key, so I'm guessing she did the whole 'look for it' part too.

After a brief introduction, we learn the raccoon-esque K'tharn's name is Balka of Clan Pantela.

Tipan gasps out, "The clan Pantela? How did you end up in chains?"

"My cousin opposed Minister Yelthen on her proposal to introduce some sort of 'unholy abominations' into the Flights. Then my niece tells me there was news of fighting in the council. Next thing I knew, our whole family was shackled in our sleep, then shipped off like a herd of wild vhethal."

"Minister Yelthen. Did Genitha mention her?" Beth asks.

"She's the minister of Defence. I've heard talk that they were considering retiring the position," Tipan supplies while starting to unfasten Belka's chains. Another prisoner with a spotted pattern, similar to a cheetah, pushes forward when Tipan gets Belka's legs free. Behind her, the same group of K'tharn who wanted to leave the prison first, surge forwards, demanding they be freed. Or at least they mumble and growl through their muzzles while shaking their bonds in Tipan's direction.

Unlike my solution in the prison, where I admittedly caved to their demands, Beth snaps out for them to settle down. "Now, everyone's going to be released. But since you can't be bothered to behave yourselves, you'll be unlocked last."

When one of the prisoners growls something, Beth puts a round through their manacles. It does cause one of their shackles to fall away, but it also strips away her fur and skin, revealing the raw flesh underneath.

"Or we could do it the hard way. If you're in that much of a hurry."

While the suddenly much less enthusiastic group falls back, cheetah-spots takes Beth up on the offer, sticking her manacles out. Beth seems taken aback, but adjusts quickly. She gets cheetah-spots to kneel down then carefully places a blast through each of her bindings.

Though this time she ensures she doesn't draw blood.

When the mask preventing speech comes off, her mumbling becomes clear, "Please, my sister, you have to save my little sister Athice."

"Hold on. Almost done," Beth tries, but the prisoner doesn't cooperate ignoring the rest of her shackles. Seems she just wanted to be able to talk.

"Please, they took her before you arrived."

"Lutha, calm down. They took your sister days ago." The first prisoner, Balka, tries to wrap her arms around the cheetah-spotted K'tharn's shoulders.

But she's rebuffed as the distraught sister turns her fists on her, violently screaming her denial. Still, she allows herself to be led away, still partially shackled. She sobs quietly to herself as Roberts shakes his head. "It's never easy to lose family."

"Maybe we can save her," I opine quietly.

"If we're lucky, perhaps. Though I fear Ivicka has finished with her by now."

Still, I take the time to approach the distraught K'tharn, getting her description from her. Unsurprisingly, the missing K'tharn shares her sister's spotted pattern though she also has a tattooed ring on her shoulder. Lutha (who will always hold a place in my heart as cheetah-spots, the original) also shares things her sister used to like. None of these details are going to help me locate her missing sister but telling me seems to make her feel better.

Which is good, since I'm not certain I'll see her sister unless she's already been turned into a Fallen.

And speaking of Fallen, we still have three Fallen prisoners to question.

A fact Beth appreciates now that we're taking the time to 'upgrade' before assaulting Ivicka's stronghold. She and Roberts fly off to pump them for information while Tipan continues releasing the prisoners and I create a temporary underground bunker. We considered evacuating them but decided there are too many to get everything sorted in a reasonable timeframe.

The bunker isn't my best work. The chandelier is a solid piece, not even able to rotate. But it'll keep them hidden and sheltered. At Smoulder's insistence, we include what's becoming her trademark bunny symbol at the entrance.

A couple of the prisoners stop to say a few words of thanks to the bunny sculpture before investigating further inside.

Wait. Are Smoulder and I starting a religion? Smoulder reminds me it's only natural for others to want to emulate her hotness.

Chuckling quietly at Smoulder, I make my way outside to where Rufka is nestled up in one of the nearby trees keeping watch. I watch her kick her toned leg, the carefree motion contrasting with the pensive frown on her face. Every few seconds, her gaze flicks to where her mum is resting on an earthen bed Tipan made for her.

Right. Am I a jerk for being able to laugh at a time like this? Or is now the perfect time to play a prank on Rufka? Yeah, she definitely needs a distraction.

Before I can think of anything though, Smoulder preempts me by hopping her way up to Rufka. She almost slips on the second to last branch, but Rufka notices her assent and subsequent slip, extending her bow to stop Smoulder's fall. Smoulder thanks her by giving her a gentle headbutt then staring up at her, her tail waving gently behind her.

Rufka lets out a small chuckle then starts giving Smoulder head-scritches. Seeing her smile, I just stand and watch them for a few seconds. Then instead of disturbing them, I check if Tipan needs assistance. I find her just in time to see her unshackling the last of the prisoners.

Huh. I guess they're technically not prisoners anymore.

Tipan suggests we dole out some food to the ex-prisoners which turns out to be well received. While a couple of them had storage tattoos, and some small amount of food stored away, most of them were divested of their storage items. Or just didn't keep much food in their inventory. Turns out, food is readily available throughout the Aetherium. Most people only keep a couple of snacks in their inventory if anything.

Point is, they weren't fed while being held, so there's a lot of hungry K'tharn who aren't used to being hungry. Once they're fed, I talk to Belka, the ex-prisoner who partially freed herself. She readily agrees to serve as our anchor point.

By the time we've finished handing out all the food, Beth and Roberts have returned.

We gather in the special teleport room I made in the bunker. Because if I'm going to make a bunker, of course there's going to be a room set aside for teleportation. It's got several rings set into the floor, clearly delineating the safety zone.

Before we teleport, I run through everything three times before I'm sure no one's going to be leaving anything behind.

This time when we arrive at Nexus point 392, my stomach doez a little flip-flop as I reassure myself everyone made it through okay.

We file into Raz's only a couple hours after leaving. Technically, it was a victory. But with Genitha being carried in Rufka's arms and the impending countdown to the end of Akilo. Well, it certainly puts a damper on our enthusiasm. Returning to find Raz's packed full of strange beings doesn't help much either, as we have to force our way to our table. Rose and Demo aren't at the table, off in the garden.

We earn more than one sideways glance as we sit down. One particularly large avian creature with spines rising through his feathers looks like they want to challenge us, but their eyes go glassy. Then they sit down with an audible thud.

Huh, weird.

We have a brief conversation with Raz where he supplies us with an absolutely massive amount of food. If we're going to be investing three hundred points over the course of a day, our bodies are going to need fuel. And he suggests we spend an extra period inside ensuring there are no ill effects. It's unusual for any user to have so many points to spend at once.

We don't commit to it, but he manages to get us to admit to giving it some thought. The real question is whether we should take Genitha inside. Roberts doesn't want to leave her unattended, but we don't know if taking her inside will hurt her condition.

Rufka decides that Genitha should come with us, overruling Beth and Roberts discussion.

We place Genitha's hands in position then discover the entire discussion was moot. She can't accept the prompt while unconscious. It's strange watching Raz spirit her away on an invisible platform through the crowded room without drawing a glance. Rufka grumbles beside me until they vanish up the stairs.

Raz also informs us that he'll see what sort of equipment he can procure, since we're all going to have several available slots when we come out. He does have good news on the Demo front. The System granted Raz access to an item to restore his leg. And with Demo's share of the loot, he'll be able to afford it no problem. That said, we give Demo's share over to Raz. He's our System assigned representative. If he's going to go bad on us, it's probably best we find out now.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

With every matter other than whether we should give any of Josh's share to Rose addressed, we place our hands on the table.

Then we're inside.

We spend an hour talking about the battle, what went wrong, how we can improve, that sort of thing. I try to listen, but I'm more focused on how I'm going to spend my attributes. Maxing out my Intellect and Spirit are obvious. And keeping Resolve and Perception high enough I don't experience the mental imbalance again.

I'm also going to bring all my physical attributes to at least thirty.

Which leaves me with… well, let's round off to an even one hundred and seventy. That'll still leave me with plenty of essences to use for other abilities.

I want to invest some of the fortune into Smoulder, but I know I should concentrate on my own attributes.

Still, setting fifty points aside for Smoulder will give her excellent gains without hurting too much. Besides, it's not like I really need Strength and Constitution. Which will still leave me with a hundred and twenty points.

With that in mind, I decide to increase Endurance and Agility to sixty each. Though I'm tempted to push Agility further. Ivicka's ability to react is frankly terrifying. And the negative effects of imbalance are supposed to be less for physical attributes…

Okay, so let's see then. Almost forgot about the point I put into each attribute earlier. Guess I've got an extra eight points.

I could give Smoulder more points or… I could further increase Perception and Resolve… Or…

Damn, I want to cap Agility. But we're not going to have enough time for my Agility to increase to sixty as is. Unless we stay here for a double session like Raz suggested. Even then I'd only be able to increase it by seventy-two...

So… by seventy-two it is then. Which with the point from earlier would leave it at eighty-nine. I think that'll do it.

And the rest of my points can go into Perception and Resolve.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

2

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

1 > 30

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11 > 30

(+/-)

AGILITY

16 > 90

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

11 > 60

(+/-)

INTELLECT

100 > 125

(+/-)

SPIRIT

100 > 125

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

50 > 97

(+/-)

RESOLVE

50 > 97

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

Storage

4.39 > 7.54

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

2/3 > 2/6

Or Agility can reach an even ninety, since I had one odd point left over. Which I could have used for Smoulder since I need three points for each five for her, but whatever.

I wish I could peruse Raz's armours while we're locked in here.

The table where we're discussing is being taken over by food as the hunger kicks in for everyone. It doesn't take long before Beth has the recordings playing again.

It's strange looking at the compound from before our assault. It seemed so formidable, but the only real challenge was Traxla. Who stopped fighting back after Genitha was taken down.

Wait… did she stop when Genitha went down. Or when I injured Ivicka?

No one can confirm or deny it either way.

Without magic, we spend most of our time trying to relax or adjusting to our physical attributes as they change.

Once my Agility reaches thirty, I'm able to do a cartwheel for the first time in my life. Rufka asserts it was probably a lack of prior effort on my part rather than my attributes improving. Which leads to an impromptu game of tag. Which Smoulder wins.

Despite needing to investigate Ivicka's Sanctum, and this Minister Yelthen, we decide to spend the time to let our attributes finish increasing in a second session. But we're taking a break to see what Raz might have found and to check on Genitha.

Rufka and I are cuddling on a table in the command room when everyone starts gathering. Another day and a half together locked away in what's turned out to be a relatively small space has truly emphasized the importance of unlocking our personal spaces. The bedrooms are sufficient for privacy, but only barely. Plus, the beds are uncomfortable.

Returning to Raz's, we find Rose waiting for us outside, a giant grin on his face.

"So, I heard you defeated Ivicka. Congrats!" Rose says holding his paw out towards me.

I've had some time to process, but the idea of high-fiving him after slicing Ivicka in half doesn't appeal to me. Besides... "We're not actually certain she's dead. No quest update."

"Wait. You're not sure we've won? Then why're you back?"

Oh em gee, I so do not want to handle this.

How do I tell Rose we got a massive haul of loot that we're not ready to share because he might not be the real Josh?

Yeah, this sucks.

I'm starting to sweat when Roberts steps forwards, "Hey, Rose. You've watched Star Trek, correct?"

"Yeah. I love TNG. Kirk was tons of fun too. Don't get me started on Enterprise though."

"Right. Anyway. Remember when Riker was cloned by the teleporter? Which one was the real Riker?"

"Both, technically. That was a tough episode can you imagine…"

"Indeed. That's why you're only getting half of Josh's share. Until we figure out if there are two of you, that is."

Rose stares at Roberts for a second before asking, "Wait? Seriously?"

A note from Draith

Poor Rose.

I personally enjoyed many parts of Enterprise. Just not the... Time travel... Kinda funny, isn't it?

I'll share a bit of a blurb about the projects I'm thinking about for after this story with the last chapter of this arc. Which is only a couple of chapters away... Wow.

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.91 Humble Abode

January 26, 2019, 6:53 pm.

I can't help but laugh at Rose's sputtering response when Roberts informs him that, "Yes. I'm quite certain a hundred and seventy is only half of Josh's share. I'd be willing to keep some if it would make you feel better."

Rose's response of, "What?! NO! I was just surprised," doesn't allow me to recover from my laughter. A better person wouldn't be laughing right now. For the first time in a long time, I'm glad I'm not a better person, cause Rufka's laughing quietly beside me.

Now that we're out, one of the first things we need to check is whether there have been any changes with Genitha. Especially now that Roberts has had a chance to recover his resources and reflect on her condition.

I tag along for moral support, ready to be the shoulder to cry on or hand to hold. But Rufka doesn't need anything like that this time. She's pensive, but not shaken as before.

Roberts is able to confirm Genitha is stable. He's still not certain exactly what's wrong with her but he thinks the rifle caused a disruption in her being. Or her connection to her System. Whatever it is, she's getting better. Based on her current rate of recovery, he infers that she should wake in a few days. He admits he's mostly relying on what Reprieve's telling him, but Rufka is adamant with her thanks.

She even gives him a quick hug. Then Rufka sits down, regaling her unconscious mum with tales of our adventures so far. I'm pretty sure she's exaggerating, but it's not like Genitha can call her on it. I envy Rufka in that moment.

At least she knows her mum will wake up.

Now that we're done, we head for the Change Room to unlock our personal rooms. I mean, we've got keys, we might as well use them. Especially if we're going to spend another day and a half in there.

As soon as I unlock my personal room, the mirror frame warps and expands while its reflective finish turns to an opaque grey. A small pop that startles Smoulder precedes a simple push handle appearing.

"Citizen Private Room Unlocked. Note, unauthorized creatures cannot access a Private Room."

"Would you like to set this room as your default Return and Restoration point?"

Delaying the prompt for my spawn point, I step through the door. My new room is remarkably bland. The walls are that eggshell colour that's chosen to make a room as inoffensive as possible. There's a set of very boxy furniture in one corner. The chair, bed and even desk look uncomfortable to use. But at least the room's spacious. And there are options to change… well everything.

"Private room: Citizen Pandora.

- Width: 12 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Length: 12 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Height: 3 metres. Increase by 1 metre for 1 iron rank integration point, up to 144 metres.

- Theme: Default. Unlock additional themes through Achievements or by purchasing them at approved System vendors.

I can't even picture a room that size. At first, I wonder what I'd even do with that much space but then I take a quick glance at the menu. There are options for purchasing individual pieces of furniture, placing walls and all sorts of other minor customizations. Even adding partial floors.

Smoulder points out just how large I could make the obstacle course in here.

But that can all be explored once we're inside the CMCC, so I force myself to leave, but I'm stopped by a notification just before I step back into the change room.

"Would you like to set Raz's Remarkable Reststop and Repository as your default exit point? This can be changed at any time from within your Private Room. Note, the default exit can only be set to unlocked Return points. Entering your Private Room from Constrained areas will lock the exit to those locations. It will also enact any constraints imposed on the area within the room."

Not too surprising, but it looks like I can exit to any of my unlocked locations? Now I want to spend a month travelling around just to unlock more. Okay, not actually. But the ability to exit anywhere is cool. Even if it is functionally the same as casting Return or using Raz's place. It's enough to convince me to set the room as my default Return and Restoration point.

When I return to the change room, I look longingly at the bath but march out to join the others. Only to discover I'm the first one out. I can't tell where the others are with IFF when they're inside their rooms.

Interesting.

Waiting for the others at the table, they all join me in less than five minutes.

Raz seems pretty upset with most of the items he's found. But he presents several items to us anyways, grumbling about mass-produced dreck. Since none of them cost more than two essence, we buy the lot for a total of twenty.

I find his grumbling amusing. Because even though he's complaining, he only had half an hour. And he even managed to track down a cure for Demo's leg.

His solution is some sort of machine that's going to literally reweave his leg. Unfortunately, it's a process that requires drawing on ambient mana to restore it properly. Which means he's going to be stuck staying behind again. I'm beginning to think Herv, our innkeeper, was right. We really should have just cut it off then regrown it. Definitely would have been faster.

After bidding Demo luck, it's straight back in the CMCC.

Once inside, the first thing we do is sort through the gear.

Raz included several belts and pairs of boots all with the same basics stats.

The boots aren't even as good as my current boots, but they give the others an even two Edge for both Stamina and Health and only cost one point to bond.

The belts are similar, but instead, give two Edge to Mana and Focus.

There is one item that Raz was rather proud to include. A stylized firing stock which can be combined with a user's resource pool to create custom ranged weapons. It costs a shocking ten integration points to bond, but it allows one weapon to be created without any Edge cost and reduces the cost of all attacks made with any such weapon by thirty percent.

I swear I can see Beth drooling as she reads the description.

No one tries to talk her out of it.

There are two other items.

One is a necklace of brown wooden beads. It makes a pleasant 'clacking' noise as Rose hoists it up for everyone to see.

"Astra's Prayer Beads: These beads can be called upon to cast one of the inscribed spells. Each spell corresponds to one of the three inscribed beads. After being cast, each bead must recharge for thirty-six days before it is ready to be used again.

Bonuses once bonded: Ability to cast a single copper rank spell. Takes three seconds to cast. Spell selection: Heal. Sanctuary. Flare.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: three iron rank integration points."

Huh. Doesn't seem that impressive.

Tipan's gasp, causes me to reread the description. Is it the fact it's a copper rank spell?

"Those are rare spells. If I were able to copy them…" Tipan is already pulling the beads out of Rose's hand, caressing three beads in the centre. One of which has a glowing red rune that Smoulder is fascinated with. Well, I'm voting Tipan gets these. Or maybe we can share them? I'll definitely want to study them with her.

The last object Raz gave us isn't technically wearable equipment. It's a handkerchief. Which, I suppose you could wear like a mask.

"Razalin's Old Bandana: While worn, this Bandana prevents accurate results when scanned by another user.

Bonuses while worn: Hidden: Displays blank or altered Status when scanned. Can only lower apparent strength. Does not block scans conducted by Citizens, Builders or Creators.

Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: Item not bondable."

Oh, I guess it's a bandana, not a handkerchief.

Rufka plucks the bandana off the table, tugging the simple plaid fabric until it's smooth. "This would have been useful a week ago."

I snatch the bandana from her hands, waving it about. "I guess you should have asked Raz for help. Oh well. Now that you don't need it…"

Rufka attempts to grab it back, but I anticipate her movements, rolling out of reach. This improved Agility thing is soooo amazing.

It's like permanent haste but without costing any resources.

Rufka and I spend a few minutes running around the command room before she eventually tackles me, though by then I've returned the bandana to the pile in the middle of the room. All she's achieved is the satisfaction of tracking down the thief.

Considering she keeps me pinned in place while strategically tickling me, I'd guess she never even wanted the bandana.

Eventually, we make our way back to the pile of equipment. I don the belt, while Rufka experiments with the boots, eventually deciding against them. You can unbind items, destroying them in the process. But that's not what she's worried about. She just doesn't like having them on her feet. "Too bulky. Guess I'm just spoiled by mum's tattoos."

After that, we spend a couple of hours in my private room as I customize it. The first thing to go is the eggshell. The only options currently available are basic colours, but I'm able to find a nice earthen brown that's not bad. I notice that some of the options include vistas similar to the ones projected in the command centre. But those require achievements or silver rank integration points, neither of which are in reach at the moment.

Once I've finished choosing a new bed, I ask Rufka if she wants to customize her room.

"Nah. With what you've said, it'd be too frustrating. I'll wait."

With mana restricted here, I'm not able to form an obstacle course for Smoulder. But I do create partitions allowing me to section off the room. It's only after I'm finished that I realize the starting size is bigger than our apartment back on earth. It felt bigger, but I'd assumed it was similar to how an empty room feels bigger than one that's full.

When we gather again, I find out Beth actually managed to convert most of her room into an obstacle course using the available furniture. She insists everyone needs to use the course several times to help adjust to our attribute changes.

Personally, I have a blast, but I think it's wasted effort since we're able to fly everywhere.

Until I watch Roberts move through the course like flowing water. At this point, his Agility can't be more than thirty points higher than mine. But that's not how he moves.

As if to prove Roberts isn't the only one who can move like that, Rufka follows him through the course. Her movements aren't quite as fluid, but she's slightly faster.

"What the heck," I complain as she does a spinning dive before grabbing the corner of a heavy wardrobe, completely negating the set of jumbled rugs at the last corner.

Tipan shrugs next to me. "Probably has some interesting movement Skills."

Right. Skills for moving. Checking, I confirm my running has increased by a point. Guess I'll be at this for a bit still.

Even as I'm prepping for my next turn, Rufka bids me goodbye, saying she's as good as it gets.

I'd be more upset if it wasn't true.

After my workout, I realize my room is missing something very important. A shower. It's totally worth the single iron-rank point to add one to my room.

When we prepare to leave, I'm practically jumping in anticipation, though I'm unable to explain why until we return to Raz's. The second we're out, I can feel my mana flowing smoothly again. There's a moment where I almost start casting spells right inside Raz's.

Instead of waiting for the others, I hurry to the door, brushing past a startled patron that resembles a moose without antlers. I guess that would just be a female moose.

The second I'm outside, I float into the air, allowing myself to revel in the flowing mana as I send bolts of lighting and a chilling blast of frigid air into the sky.

Okay, I appear to have a bit of a problem.

Clearly, I can't spend too much time in the dilation chamber.

After spending another few minutes reacclimatizing myself to a proper amount of atmospheric mana, I prepare to head back in to join the others only to discover them waiting for me outside.

No sign of Genitha, but then I didn't expect a miraculous recovery.

I set a single foot down, going for a poised ballerina pose I never could have pulled off back home, everyone gathering around me.

No one except Rose raises an eyebrow or makes a comment, his low chuckle is good to hear though.

Damnit, this is why we need to bring Josh, I mean, Rose with us. But Beth still doesn't feel comfortable having him along. Despite the fact, we just spent a day and a half locked inside the time dilation command centre and she spent more time with him than anyone else.

Maybe she really is concerned about him.

Either way. He's standing at the door leading into Raz's. I know he's way outside the zone, but I still move another half-step back.

The glowing rings rise into place as I check everyone's position again.

I'm finally confident in everyone's position when Rose calls out "Keep your arms and legs within the vehicle, it's time for takeoff!"

"Not funny, Rose!" I yell at him as we teleport to the prisoners.

Balka is expecting us, but still jumps when we appear. We only give her a few minutes, plus some additional supplies we picked up from Raz before we start flying towards Ivicka's sanctum.

Hopefully, she won't have prepared much. If she's there. I'm really hoping she stays dead, but I've never been that kind of lucky.

Our flight is peaceful, no one wanting to break the silence. It lasts until we approach the remains of the compound. They're exactly as we left them. Not so much as a stone has shifted, abandoned bandoleers and other equipment strewn about. Collecting and sorting through all the Fallen equipment would take too long to tackle right now. Maybe we can get the prisoners to go through it after we're done.

We continue flying over, directly to the mountain that houses Ivicka's sanctum.

The entrance is a yawning mouth shaped in Vaus's image, the snarling feline face more feral than the smooth features of the K'tharn. There's an ominous orange glow emanating from guttering flames in the otherwise empty eye sockets. It's so lifelike that we maintain a constant vigil as we approach, ready for it to spring into action.

However, it doesn't react. Even as we near the entrance, there are no signs of activity from within. The more than hundred-metre cliff leading to the entrance probably serves as enough of a deterrent a wall would be kind of pointless.

The yawning opening must be at least twenty metres across. Easy access for the dragons, I'm guessing. We don't just step inside the cave. Once more Beth's going to serve as a scout while I remain with the team as she explores.

The inside of the cave is smooth rock, no stalactites or stalagmites in sight. Either sheared off or removed with earth manipulation, the passage is smooth and featureless. Beth makes it all of fifty metres before coming to a halt.

The smooth entrance comes to an end, opening up into a large interior space. There are several empty pens which I can only imagine are where the dragons resided. The fresh gouged stone certainly reminds me of Asterix's tracks back outside the church.

Beth continues forward past the empty pens into a smaller hall in the back. There are doors set into either side. She gently opens the first one on the left.

The room is full of pods from Folthka's compound. But they're all empty.

Beth continues her way forward, finding nothing but empty room after empty room.

Finally, she arrives at the end of the hall which ends in a pair of beautiful wooden doors. There are reliefs of Astra and Vaus fighting against an unending horde of horrors etched into the door. Amongst their allies, I'm able to make out Uthica and her aunt Jethico. In fact, almost every warrior I saw Uthica fighting with is represented on the K'tharn side of the battlefield. With one notable exception. There's no sign of Uthica's father, Pern.

I suppose his exclusion could be attributed to the fact he spent his time teaching, rather than fighting, but I suspect that's not it.

Beth doesn't linger at the door, pushing through into the room beyond. A grand entrance foyer, as if she stepped foot inside a mansion greets her. There are doors leading off either side, with broad curved stairways flanking both sides of the room.

Beth methodically searches every room on the ground floor, including an impressive kitchen where a meal sits half-prepared and abandoned. There are different luxuries in each room, including an entire auditorium full of what appeared to be stuffed trophies, but Beth still hasn't encountered a single living, or Fallen, creature.

She's starting down the left hallway on the second floor when a rasping cough sounds out from the end of the hall behind her. Quickly switching focus, Beth starts towards the sound. "You heard that too, right kid?"

"Yeah. Some sort of cough," I confirm. Then I tell the others, "Everyone, get ready. Beth might need us any second."

Receiving nods of assent, I reaffirm our ready status to Beth who's waiting outside of the door.

With a gentle kick, she unlatches the door, causing it to swing inwards.

The room is as outrageously furnished as the rest of the Sanctum has been. There's even a four-post bed dominating the centre. The curtains are drawn, so Beth is easily able to make out the bed's occupant.

Ivicka is sitting there, nearly as damaged as the moment I teleported away. Her arm and eyes aren't just missing, the wounds are still open, a thin black film the only thing keeping her together.

"Oh perfect. I was afraid… hurgh… afraid you weren't going to come." Ivicka doesn't turn in Beth's direction but one of her other arms does wave her closer. "That would have been a shame after all the… blurg... effort he put into keeping me alive to act as a messenger."

"Huh. Not sure who did this to you, but I feel like I should thank them." Beth prods the black film with an incense holder taken from the nearby nightstand, eliciting a pained growl from Ivicka.

When she recovers, she wheezes out a weak laugh, "Ha. If you can find him. He'll be hiding, just like a pu'shaha."

"Was he the summoner? The one who corrupted the Soulstones?"

"No. He never does anything himself. Just gives others the tools. Had me fooled. Never would have worked with him if I'd known what he was."

"What, a Reaper?"

"No… hurk... " Ivicka gasps before devolving into a coughing fit. When she recovers, she adds, "A male."

Well...

At least she's staying true to form.

A note from Draith

Only two more chapters left after this until the break. I've actually posted the last few chapters ahead of time so I can focus on my writing without the huge disruption that is publishing chapters. It's surprising just how much scheduling each chapter takes me out of my writing mindset.

I don't know how long the break will be, but it should be two months at the most. More details will be provided with the final chapter for this arc.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.92 Message in Hand

January 26, 2019, 9:41 pm.

There's a moment of silence before Ivicka descends into another coughing fit, though I'm pretty sure there's some chuckling in there too.

Beth prods Ivicka's prone form with the top of her rifle. "Hmm. I'm not sure if I should be asking her more questions or if I should end her now."

Ivicka stares at Beth, her cough subsiding. "Still… have to give you… the message…"

"Why? It's clear you don't want to."

Ivicka's smile is equal parts satisfied grin and pained grimace. "Not telling."

Beth ignores Ivicka's comment about the message for several seconds as she pokes her again. I'm not sure, but I think she's making sure Ivicka's actually stuck there. "What about the soul stones? And summoned Fallen? How many are there?"

With only the occasional cough interrupting, Beth continues interrogating Ivicka. Ivicka's surprisingly forthcoming, if hard to immediately understand at times. Though with the details she sharing, I can't help but feel she's too forthcoming, explaining exactly how she's been trying to fix the Aetherium. Most of Ivicka's information is in the form of bragging. Those she'd fooled or been smart enough to join Ivicka in her takeover.

It's clear she's proud of the people she's killed, claiming they were just making the Aetherium weak. Finding a way to use them afterwards was only icing on the cake. Not that she used that phrase.

It's hard to listen to. Yet I not only listen, I also relay everything she says to the others. Though I leave out the grisly details.

For all her disjointed rambling, Ivicka avoids mentioning whoever this 'him' is, always talking about the things she's done. Partway through, the System updates the Anti-corruption Quest.

“Quest updated - Purge Corruption. Requirements: Summoner found 1/1, Summoners neutralized 0/1, Research destroyed 0/1. Rewards: 80 iron rank integration points, 4 class progression points. Time: unlimited."

Even with the update, Ivicka's giving Beth all sorts of info on who not to trust in the Aetherium, so Beth doesn't end her immediately. Though I see her raise her rifle, as though she's tempted.

Of special interest is her mention of Minister Yelthen. The minister of defence that the prisoner Balka mentioned. She's been one of Ivicka's closest allies since the start. She didn't question where the Fallen came from, but happily made use of them. It sounds like Ivicka never informed her of the process.

And regarding the process itself, Ivicka mentions less than two percent became awakened Fallen. Obviously, they're much more capable since they retain not just their former memories but also their skills and abilities from when they were alive.

However, as we discovered, they're also capable of disagreeing with her. She spends nearly a minute complaining about how much work it was to get Traxla to comply. Apparently, her Fallen can't disobey orders, but Traxla was adroit at interpreting Ivicka's orders in ways that tended to subvert them to the point of uselessness.

She even managed to get Ivicka killed once.

That particular bit sends Ivicka into a hacking fit that continues for nearly a minute after she screams about it. Traxla's aversions explain a lot about why she held back so much when we were trying to save Genitha.

At this point, Ivicka's rambling has grown mostly incoherent but Beth keeps her going, asking weirdly specific questions about the summoning process.

Pretty sure we don't need to know this much about how the Fallen are summoned to shut everything down. Which I mention to Beth over chat. Beth informs me she's trying to catch Ivicka in a lie. And getting her to keep talking is the best way to do so.

Beth's also poking around Ivicka's room, warily watching her 'supposedly' invalid form.

She doesn't find anything dangerous, but Ivicka does have a rather impressive collection of printed books ranging across a number of topics. I can't help but notice a dark blue one labelled 'Reign of Uthica' that shows obvious signs of perusal. It's funny, even with the ability to read directly from the System interface, written text is surprisingly common.

I suppose physical books do have a certain weight to them, a sense of being the interface can't match. Wonder if they're worth much? I never did find out if there was a market for those books from the silver bullet.

Even as I'm pondering, the books disappear into Beth's inventory. Guess I'm not the only one thinking they might be worth something.

Ivicka doesn't seem to notice, ranting about how unfair it is she's been stopped when she was 'this close' to setting the Aetherium "back on course."

Ivicka is starting to repeat her complaints when Beth prompts her, "So, you said you had a message for me?"

"For whichever one of you monsters showed up, yes."

"I'm sorry, we're monsters?" Beth can't help but chuckle.

Ivicka snorts, but it turns into a wheezing cough. Spitting a disgusting lob of black phlegm towards Beth, Ivicka continues, "He said you'd understand, 'Give them the finger'."

Beth and I are both surprised when instead of flipping her off, Ivicka uncurls her hand to reveal the severed tip of a finger. I can't help but notice it's not a K'tharn finger. It's too smooth. Like, human smooth.

I can't help but analyze it, yet the only thing the System tells me through Beth is that it's a severed finger. Immediately, Beth messages me.

(B) "Kid, you got anything?"

(A) "Not yet. Seems like a severed finger. Hold on."

If I can extend attachments that let me teleport through others, surely I can copy the in-depth scanning method, right?

Reaching out, I am able to extend several tendrils towards the finger. The… severed… finger…

Why am I doing this again?

Right, could be a clue to preventing Akilo from being obliterated.

Kind of important.

"Object analyzed: Reaper Paragon Finger."

"The finger of a Reaper Paragon."

"Update: Biological signature of Reaper Paragon acquired. Initiating Scan for any matching Reaper biosignatures."

Huh, are we going to get something that leads us straight to the mysterious bad guy? But why would he leave his finger for us on purpose then?

Even as I'm musing, a golden wave of light sweeps across the room.

"What the-" Beth starts speaking, but she cuts out at the same moment as a new notification forces its way into my vision.

"Target found. Location: System MWVAE-22XXX at the outer rim of the accretion disc."

I'm sorry. Accretion disc?

"Quest updated: Kill the Bastard. Prove that the Reaper Paragon has fled System MWVAE-22XXX 1/1 as per standard Reaper Paragon observed behaviours. Rewards: 1 iron rank integration point. Cancellation of Star System Purge.

Permanent Bonus Objective Added: Tools of the Enemy. Rewards for relinquished Reaper Genitech remain in effect."

I can't stop myself from laughing. If I'm understanding correctly, the System knew he'd run away. No wonder the quest was only worth a single point.

While I'm laughing, Beth is sighing in relief.

Which Ivicka seems to notice. Or maybe it was the golden wave of light. "Wh… Coff… What?"

Either way, I can feel the smirk on Beth's face as she responds, "Not telling."

Beth's expression and my laughter falter when the black film covering Ivicka's side starts bubbling.

Then the bubbles start popping. The little black explosions don't seem threatening until I notice that everything they land on starts melting. Then they start bubbling again. They're spreading!

Beth doesn't stand around waiting, booking it straight for the door. But when she reaches the entrance, she finds a layer of the same black film blocking the hall. In the time it takes us to inspect the new film, I can hear hundreds of popping bubbles exploding throughout the room behind her.

"I'm going in," I warn the others, muting my connection to Beth for just a second. If she can't get herself out then-

A sharp pain explodes in my head, interrupting my thoughts.

As my sight returns, I realize I'm looking at my own knees. The connection to Beth is gone. "Beth!" I choke out, turning towards the cave entrance.

Roberts grabs my shoulder. "Alexis, what happened?"

"Beth finished the qu-" Tipan exclaims, but is interrupted by a loud rumble that echos from within Ivicka's Sanctum.

Roberts grasp loosens as he gets that far-off look in his eyes.

Checking my own notifications, I don't see Beth's name on my party screen.

It takes a second to remember I'm not in her party. Her name being absent from my list is normal. So, I read the notification.

"Quest Completed: Purge Corruption. Rewards: 80 iron rank integration points, 4 class progression points."

"Citizen Anti-Corruption Systems Running Final Check. Expected time until deactivation. Twelve minutes."

But it's just a quest update. It doesn't tell me anything about Beth.

"Beth?" I ask Roberts, whose forehead is creased.

"Her name just went grey and there's a countdown next to it."

"So, then she's…" I can't bring myself to say it. Even if we're able to come back, it feels… wrong.

"We should check. Just in case," Roberts suggests, flying slightly closer to the cave entrance.

"Right."

We fly in together but we only make it to the open area with the pens before we come across a pile of collapsed stone. The passage that led towards Ivicka's chambers has completely imploded.

Working together, me and Tipan attempt to recreate the passage, yet the stone is surprisingly challenging to work with. Instead of simply shaping a tunnel through, we're forced to excavate materials while placing steel support struts to reinforce the tunnel. For a moment I wonder if this is how real miners feel.

But my thoughts quickly refocus on our work.

It takes us five long minutes to reach the room where Beth found Ivicka. It takes another two to find a sign of Beth.

The bottom of her boot is only barely visible under a particularly large stone. I don't have much hope of finding her intact, but still we dig.

She's not where I last saw her, near the entrance. Instead, she's practically on top of where Ivicka used to be. Used to be, because as we pull the rubble away we find nothing but a smooth spherical gap under the rubble. As we shift the last large stone, her boot is knocked free, sliding to the bottom of the sphere, the black leather surprisingly untarnished by blood.

When we wave Roberts in, he stares at the leg for a few seconds. "I truly hope the Restoration ability works. There's nothing I can do with just her leg."

Nodding, we continue searching. The entire time, I can practically feel her leg pressing against my thoughts. It's all I can do not to look at it instead of trying to find another trace of Beth.

Which is what it is. Just a leg, Alexis.

Beth will be fine.

As I repeat my mantra, we continue to scour the room. Luckily, there are no other 'pieces'. But everything Ivicka had in the room seems to have been crushed or burned away.

Not that any of us are in the mood to scrounge for loot.

Once we've confirmed there's no chance of finding her, we gather around Beth's leg.

"Should we… bring it back for her?" Rufka asks, nudging the boot gently with the tip of her bow.

Tipan nods, levitating the boot up while holding the foot in place with a stone vice. "I'm certain she'll appreciate it."

The sucking 'glorp' when the foot comes free makes my stomach lurch. Thankfully, I don't have to handle it. Tipan wraps Beth's foot in a layer of stone then both disappear into her inventory.

We remain quiet, everyone gathering around me as I prepare to teleport directly to Raz's. We discussed sorting out the prisoners first, but we're all anxious to see Beth as soon as she's 'Restored'.

There are only four minutes left to wait when we make our way into Raz's. Roberts halts in the doorway, causing me to nearly bump into him. Glancing over his shoulder, I discover what's caused him to halt.

Sitting at the table, enthusiastically bantering with each other, are Josh and Rose. I can't hear anything they're saying, the special System aura around the table muting their volume, but Rose's sweeping gestures clearly convey his excitement.

"Well. At least we know 'Restoration' works," Roberts notes before stepping forward to greet Josh with a slap on the back.

"Wha… Roberts! Good to see you! And Lex. Welcome back!" Josh practically trips over himself in his rush to get out of his chair. He doesn't have his robe. Instead, he's wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It's so normal, it's utterly wrong.

After giving Josh a quick hug, I'm about to comment on his and Rose's conversation when he asks, "So, where's Beth?"

"She's…" my throat chokes closed before I can finish.

"Going through Restoration. Just like you did," Rufka finishes for me a few seconds later.

"Yeah. That."

"Oh. Shit. Sorry. But hey, she'll be fine. Better than fine," Josh reassures us.

"It really is good to see you're okay. And that you're getting along with Rose," Roberts remarks while directing Josh back into his chair.

"Oh yeah. I mean, who else am I going to talk about Corrie with."

"Corrie?" I can't help but ask. Was that the name of Josh's old girlfriend?

"Just a show I, uhh, we used to watch before we were brought here," Rose interjects. It's funny. Rose almost seems embarrassed but Josh is just excited. "Sorry Beth didn't make it. But you guys were successful. He got the update."

"Yeah. And check this out," Josh gushes, growing a thorn and rosepetal replica of the Eiffel tower over his hand. The moment the last thorn weaves itself into place, he passes it to Rose. Rose waves his hand over the replica, causing it to grow to twice its previous size.

"You both have powers. So cool." Glad to see at least one thing worked out. Not that I understand how.

"Yeah. I thought they were gone. But whatever you did… I'm not certain, but I think I'm a copy." Josh doesn't seem as upset about this possibility as I'd be. In fact, he seems completely unconcerned.

We continue to check with Josh on his condition, but he seems surprisingly relaxed as Roberts and I each do a thorough scan. The System is convinced that he's Citizen Rose, but my analysis does reveal a minor detail which explains why Josh thinks he's the copy. His name isn't just Citizen Rose. When I focus on it, his name comes up with an attached time-stamp labelled January 26, 13257, 22:13:05 GST.

Wow.

The fact the System has a way of handling this situation suggests it's not the first time it's happened. Glancing at Rose, I amend that. I doubt the System's had to deal with a pu'shaha gaining a core from one of its Citizens before.

After giving Josh a clean bill of health, we all settle at the table. Rose informs us that Demo's in his room, letting the device repair his leg. There's a nervous energy around the table as we wait for the timer on Beth's Restoration to count down. When there's less than a minute left we all go silent, watching the door to the change room.

Then Roberts informs us the timer has hit zero. "And her status has reappeared in the party screen."

I'm not the only one who sighs in relief. Despite having Josh sitting at the table as proof that Restoration works, I was still worried. Especially after seeing what happened to Ivicka.

We wait for over a minute but there's still no sign of Beth coming out of the change room.

"Should we check on her?" I ask.

"Yeah. We totally should," Josh states. But he doesn't make a move towards the door.

Roberts tugs at his still scraggly beard. "Can we even get inside without her letting us in? I believe we need to remain patient. She'll either respond through chat or come out on her own."

As if she heard us, Beth steps out of the change room. Like Josh, she's wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. Is there a default replacement of non-Equipment gear?

Beth seems surprisingly uncomfortable as she makes her way over, regularly pausing to look over her shoulder while rubbing her arms vigorously.

"Beth, I'm glad you're okay," I state, getting up to give her a hug before she's even reached us. This is followed by a round of similar sentiments from everyone at the table, except Josh who remains quiet.

"Thanks kid. Everyone," Beth gives us a half-smile that doesn't reach her eyes. She's avoiding looking directly at Josh who's standing at the head of the table, his posture tense.

Suddenly, I realize we shouldn't be here.

Grabbing Rufka's hand, I wave for everyone to follow. Rose is the only one who delays, looking between Beth and Josh, his ears twitching before joining us.

I'm heading straight for the garden when Raz descends the stairs, a series of jingling bells trailing behind him. "Oh good. You're back. Your friend Genitha has awoken."

"Mum!" Rufka calls out, charging up the stairs. She doesn't let go of my hand, so I find myself pulled along. Good thing I fly everywhere these days or I might have tripped over myself.

Then again, with my improved Agility, maybe I wouldn't have.

Rufka charges into her mum's room, nearly knocking me off the doorframe in her haste. Not that it would have hurt now that I've finally increased my health attributes.

"Oh. Hey, kitten."

Rufka stops as quickly as she started, staring down at her mum, her jaw opening and closing but no sound issues forth. After a couple seconds, she shakes her head before kneeling down beside her mum and giving her a big hug. She doesn't let go of my hand, pulling me into the hug with her mum, which is a little awkward. When her mum starts whispering reassurances into Rufka's ear, I extract myself. I don't go far, mentioning I'll be waiting outside the door.

I'm not sure Rufka hears me, but her mum nods in my direction.

Roberts and Tipan are waiting for me when I step into the hall. I'm about to address them when one of the beetle-like patrons aggressively pushes me to the side before heading towards the pub. In fact, I think it's the same one who bumped into me before. Back before she went to Aethire to find her mum when Rufka and I were going to bed.

"Wow. Some outlanders are so rude," Tipan remarks at the beetle's back as it retreats down the stairs.

"A different culture, perhaps. They don't seem to be bothered when others bump into them," Roberts observes before asking, "How did she look?"

"She seems okay. I didn't scan her or anything though." Which I suddenly wish I had. Just to make sure she's okay.

Roberts steeples his fingers, tapping the peak against his nose for a second. "I'll give Rufka another minute then I'll check on her. I'm frankly surprised at how often my training has been useful here. Especially, considering I have magic capable of literally knitting together a life-threatening wound in seconds."

I can't help but give a nervous chuckle as we wait in otherwise comfortable silence. Just as Roberts is about to go in, Rufka emerges. She waves him in then leans her head on my shoulder.

"She's going to be fine. Apparently, she wasn't hurt bad enough to return home." There's a sense of disbelief in Rufka's voice.

"Well, that's good," I offer.

"Yep. Anyway. Let's go make sure Josh and Beth are okay. I don't know about you, but I could use a break. And then I can't wait to hit the change room."

Oh yeah.

We have levels to gain and points to spend.

A note from Draith

Can you imagine if I'd ended here without doing the level up process?

Good thing there's one more update before the break. Also, there will be at least one interlude about two weeks into the break.

Draith's blurb 0.07

Spoiler: Spoiler

Welcome to Akilo, here's a map.

Discord link here. Raz is listening.

1.93 Ring-a-ding!

January 26, 2019, 10:40 pm.

I feel both excited and guilty at the idea of spending my Progression points to level my class. If our final interaction with Ivicka hadn't cost Beth her Restoration, or even if I'd been the one to 'die', I'm certain I wouldn't feel guilty.

But it wasn't me.

Beth and Josh are still talking when we reach the pub, so we decide to sit at another table. Rose is staring, so I kick him gently, while asking if everyone wants to play a round of Astra's Stride.

"Actually, since they're still busy, I'm going to proceed with 'leveling up'," Roberts decides, going so far as to use air quotes before turning back towards the change rooms. As if Roberts deciding to go was a signal, we turn and follow him, making our way into the change room one at a time.

When Smoulder and I finally enter the room, she butts up against me. At first, I expect her to want me to build her an obstacle course. But instead, she directs me towards the bath. She doesn't get in, because she's already purified herself with fire. But she's insistent that I need to relax.

I don't fight her on it. Won't be the first time I've levelled while luxuriating in the bath.

Actually, I guess I got out last time for the actual levelling process.

As the bath fills, I run my hand in circles, watching how the water trails behind it. Of course, I can't stop there. Soon I have arches of water twisting over the bath. Which are soon joined by complimentary arches of each of the other elements until I have a lotus of twisting elemental power floating next to the bath.

Creating the lotus is almost as relaxing as slipping into the tub itself. Almost.

Despite the calming effect of the water, I find myself creating churning whirlpools as I excitedly make my way to the class advancement option.

Despite my excitement, I pace myself, only spending one Progression point at a time.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed has progressed to Iron Rank - level 3."

- +1 Class Ability Point

- New Ability unlocked: Lingering Bonds

- Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

- Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

- Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour).

- Lingering Bonds: 0/2 Doubles/Triples status disability duration.

The first unlock is as unremarkable as last time, though the ability itself catches my attention. Too bad most of my opponents are either so strong they basically ignore any disabling conditions or they're too weak for it to matter.

I continue to unlock each level, the only difference between them the abilities I unlock.

- Shifting Tides 0/1 Teleport any targets caught within a single ability, swapping their position with any other target within the effect or any linked target within 120 metres.

- Echo of Agony 0/2 All elemental damage inflicted is applied again over a period of a minute while also increasing the target's age by a year.

- Entropic Shift 0/1 Allows instant shifting of elemental mana type within active spells. All favourited spells can be used with any element.

They're all kind of interesting, but except for Shifting Tides, none of them seem that important. Just minor quality of life improvements. Though Echo of Agony is kind of insidious. It doesn't list a minimum amount of damage to trigger the ageing effect.

I spend a solid five minutes looking over my new options before deciding to talk it over with Tipan and Rufka first. Maybe I'll even ask Genitha. She'd probably have all sorts of insights about what sort of Class Abilities might be more powerful than others.

Since I'm here, I also invest half the integration points we received bringing my Strength and Constitution to fifty each.

I give twenty-one of the points to Smoulder. It's kind of funny that I have to give her points but she has full control of where they're invested. It's a shame there aren't more opportunities like the training areas that grant pets their own points.

Smoulder doesn't disappoint, putting all her attribute points into increasing Stamina as much as she can. Her mental attributes are… well, at least they're balanced.

Then I browse through the store, checking to see what options I might be interested in. The Anti-Corruption submenu is still there. Guess the System's decided we might still need them. "Though if the System really wants us to use the anti-corruption measures, it'd give us an Advancement point to buy them with."

…

Oh well, didn't really expect an answer.

Since it's only one iron integration point, I decide to purchase the Analyze ability. I want to test it compared to my already formidable ability to analyze things. But I also wanted to see if purchasing it unlocks an advanced version.

The second I purchase the ability, there's a slight tingle in the tip of my fingers, but it's gone as soon as I notice it. Way smoother than the Restoration upgrade.

Checking the menu, I find that Analyze is still listed, but instead of a range of Touch and only being able to Analyze mortal objects, I can purchase the upgraded version which would allow me to Analyze iron-rank targets at a range of up to two metres. All for a single iron Progression point.

That's not happening any time soon.

Finished with my browsing, I luxuriate in the bath watching the lotus as I make it pulse. I cycle through each of the elements, watching to see how each reacts when they're in the presence of so many other elements.

Most of them seem to weaken whenever I flare the other elements. The only exception is when I tweak Twilight. For some reason, when I increase its 'brightness', every element gets 'stronger' as well.

I continue playing with the elements until I get a message from Beth asking me and the others to join her at the table.

Begrudgingly, I inform her I'll be out shortly before getting redressed. As I'm pulling my jacket on, I glance in the mirror. I almost don't recognize myself.

It's not the jacket or other equipment I've acquired though.

The way I stand has changed. In the past, even when I was trying to strike a confident pose, I've always had a bit of a slouch. Now my feet don't even touch the ground. And it's not that I'm flying. I'm flying with a poise I've never known before.

Is this a result of my increased attributes? Or acceptance of the power that imbues my every movement?

Either way, I like it.

With one last glance at my reflection, Smoulder and I step into the busy bar. The first one I notice is Demo, who's leaned over the table his tails wound tightly around each other. My eyes dart to his leg. There's a massive metal case wrapped around it, with flickering blue lights on the casing. Looks like he's still healing then.

"Yeh're not upset?" Demo asks Josh, who's leaning back in his chair, his pink robe nearly touching the floor.

"Nah. System brought me back just fine. I lost more time the first time Ivicka captured me. Even healed a few injuries from when I was younger. Pretty sure the pin in my knee from football isn't there anymore. . . oh, and it turns out that I'm not circumcised either."

Rose interjects, "Oh, you want to talk about genitals, do you…"

Demo throws his hands up disrupting whatever Rose was about to say as he turns away from Josh. Which is when he spots me.

His snarl disappears, morphing into a wry smile as he congratulates me. "Good job chasing off the Reaper. They're bad news. Only thing the System gets right."

"Uh. I didn't do much," I counter.

"Really? I heard yeh're the one that got Ivicka."

"Oh. That. Yeah, that was me."

"Nasty bit of business. But at least yeh're done."

Beth's voice carries from the far side of the table where she's sitting between Josh and Roberts, "There are still Fallen out there. And we never found Folthka."

"Indeed. And we still need to return the prisoners to their homes," Roberts adds.

"Which isn't to mention needing to find a way home. After we figure out a way to save Earth from the incoming mana-swarm," I grunt out.

"I might be able to help with that," Demo volunteers. But before we can get excited he holds up his hands, adding, "If we can find my ship."

Beth nods, "We'll ask Genitha and check the cameras. There's a chance we can find the swamp you mentioned."

As I listen to the others, I realize we're making plans for the future. Without Ivicka chasing us, maybe we'll finally have an opportunity to explore Akilo.

I wonder if I'll finally have an opportunity to work on my crafting skills?

I'm drawn out of my thoughts when Rufka hip-checks me hard enough to push me out of the chair I was just settling into. Before I can retaliate, she pulls me into her lap, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She's so short that she rests her head against my back since she can't see over my shoulder.

"Jerk," I mumble as I let her hold me.

"You too."

As Tipan sits down next to us, Smoulder hopping into her lap, I look over the table. Rose is pestering Demo about his leg, asking if he can see the process because 'he has an idea' while Roberts and Beth argue with Josh about what we should be doing first. Or more accurately, second.

Everyone agrees that getting the prisoners squared away is first.

When Genitha joins us a minute later, we take the discussion inside the table.

This time, something is different.

When I arrive, I'm alone. None of the others are with me.

Thinking maybe I just spaced out again, I make my way to the central chamber.

When I emerge, the viewscreen isn't showing any of the varied vistas of Akilo.

Instead, there's a view of a dark structure, the black panelling glinting in the starlight. Above the panelling, a thick golden disk hangs in the sky, blocking out the stars. In the lower right corner, the label reads System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station, Accretion Camera 12.

I'm so busy staring at the view, that I almost miss it when a figure with a beautiful rainbow coloured Mohawk, jean jacket over a Johnny Rotten t-shirt, pair of strategically ripped blue jeans and a pair of painful-looking high heeled boots appears.

"Hey, Lexi."

"Hi, Wyonna. What's going on?"

"Oh, you know, just pre-empting the System to bring you here so you could have a one-on-one."

"Don't you mean, so we can have'?"

"Yeah. About that. Turns out things have gone sideways since I was sent to Earth. There's someone who needs to talk to you." As Wyonna finishes speaking, another form flickers into existence next to her even as Wyonna herself fades, a mocking salute frozen in place on her face.

Her replacement is wearing an elaborate set of overlapping wraps, a cacophony of colour that obscures most of her features. I barely make out hands with the rough consistency of tree bark and deep blue eyes with no iris or sclera. They're even faceted, like a gemstone.

"Hello, Forerunner Pandora. My name is Theglia."

"Uh hi. Your name sounds familiar, who are you?'

The being pauses, as if judging me. After several long seconds, Theglia finally speaks.

"A question with a long and complicated answer. But the most salient fact is, I'm the one who launched the Forerunner Initiative."

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

6

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

50

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

50

(+/-)

AGILITY

90

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

60

(+/-)

INTELLECT

125

(+/-)

SPIRIT

125

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

97

(+/-)

RESOLVE

97

(+/-)

Integration Points

0

Progression Points

0

Storage

7.94

Cubic meters

Bonded Armour

3/6

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

464/464

[31.4]

(334)/d

Stamina

475/475

[36.5]

(372)/d

Mana

1070/1070

[83.2]

(1006)/d

Focus

1050/1050

[73.2]

(931)/d

Matrix

Facet

290/290

[20.7]

(265)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[143]

Elemental

[143]

Temporal

[171]

Spatial

[171]

A note from Draith

For the record, I am not, in fact, a bastard. I was born in wedlock.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible that I am cruel and vicious.

....

While this is the last of this story arc, there will be an interlude in a couple of weeks with another about two weeks after that.

With that clarified, I'd like to give a huge shoutout to my prereaders Codeki and Bryson283. Their help and feedback have been amazing!

Now, I mentioned I'd post some of the ideas I have for other potential stories with this chapter. If you're curious, they're in this handy dandy spoiler. If you want to influence which one I'll choose next, feel free let me know on discord

Spoiler: Spoiler

Me and My Truck - A humorous(in theory) style story of a man who gets isekai'd with his semi-truck and trailer into a world where the vehicles have character sheets, but the people don't. These people are entered into deathmatch races (with respawns) trying to earn their way into reincarnation. Expect many blatant references to other popular webserials in the form of their major characters and their vehiclized companions/mounts.

Heavy Metal Farming - A story of an office worker turned 'farmer' in a far-future world where giant aliens are kept as 'livestock' for their special properties. They are handled by the 'farmers' using giant mech suits that bond with their owners. The story will be about him trying to adjust to life as a 'mech-farmer' on his aunt's farm.

Westwood - Western-themed revenge story of a daughter of an isekai'd hero and villain couple.Lit-rpg light.

Mother's Favour - A standard post-System apocalypse story, except with a mother who's lost her children. As she searches for them, she collects other children who've been estranged or abandoned.

Wasteland Scavenger - AI-enabled System in a post-nuclear apocalyptic earth. Slave who likes her master witnesses them murdered by 'a hero'. Kills the hero when they try to tell her she's free. The AI transfers over to her.

These have all had some work put into them as far as storyboarding goes. Technically I've already put more work into them than I had into TPWM when I started it...

TPWM was only supposed to be a starter project to get me writing. Didn't expect it to be so popular.

So, yeah.

My focus shall remain on TPWM until Alexis makes her way back to Earth.

And I'll do all I can to make sure it's an excellent journey.

Thanks for reading!

1.94 Epilogue 1 - The Few Who Stand

January 11, 13247, 21:29 GST. A long time ago. Specifically, five minutes after the Forerunner Initiative began.

System Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009- Monocerotis Station.

Theglia couldn't believe it. She was alive. The System had updated, but it didn't remove her. It didn't send System avatars to hunt her down. It was like it didn't consider her a threat any longer. Fighting against it for years then suddenly it gives up.

It didn't make sense.

She supposed she should be grateful, but she'd been ready to die. They all had. No one had been chosen who hadn't lived for at least five centuries. That was the cutoff. Because no one made six. To live longer, you had to advance past Gold. Whatever came after Gold was off-limits. Unless you were a Citizen. And she hadn't seen a Citizen in decades.

It's possible there had been others, before, but the System controlled access to all reliable long term record storage. And only Citizens or Builders were allowed access to files from before they were born.

And it's not like you could ask a Creator. They're notorious for ignoring the 'lesser species'.

Unless they were hunting them to extinction or playing with them. Safer not to draw their attention.

Theglia shook her head and stood up. Sitting here ruminating on the state of the galaxy wasn't going to help anything. For a second she considered contacting the artificial intelligence, but it was already surfing the mana-swarm. She wouldn't be able to get a clear connection for decades at a minimum. But she could report back, let the remaining Forerunners know her team has done the impossible. She could practically hear their cheers. There'd be a party to celebrate her success and return from the dead.

There'd be no mourning for her dead friends. They'd said their goodbyes and shed their tears before slipping aboard the supply cog. Savagamus, the rite of before and after, had been held instead of a funeral.

I guess I'll get to watch little Barthelm gain his class after all. He's been so excited to join the team. I'll have to keep my eye on him, make sure he grows up strong, like his mother.

Her eyes turned to her sister's body.

It should be you watching over him as he earns his place Belthar. I've always been better with machines than people.

Stepping carefully, Theglia picked her way back towards the supply dock, her way illuminated by her glowing blue eyes. A necessary modification to complete her work. One of many she'd made.

The cog would be gone by now but another would arrive soon enough. The System could transport small objects instantaneously, but it relied on cogs, massive freighters to handle raw material shipments.

And every primary Nexus used substantial amounts of raw materials. The Forerunners theorized that System rewards were created in the primary Nexuses, but no one had ever found proof. The fact that non-Citizens tended to be vaporized if they tried to teleport into a primary Nexus tended to discourage exploration. As did the fact that the supply cogs were actively hostile to integrated civilians. Unintegrated too. Everyone really.

Theglia sighed when she saw Duluth lying at the entrance to the docking bay. It had been his idea to use the temporal matrix as a cloaking device. After all, how do you detect something outside of time? That had been an unsettling experience. One moment cowering in a crate, the next awakening inside the station. But it had worked, they'd remained hidden. Right until they'd needed to step off the cog. Then the System detected them, initiating its emergency counter-insurgency routines.

Routines which hadn't been as overwhelming as Theglia had feared. Yet they'd still been horrible.

Duluth had been the first to fall, forcing the System to focus all its efforts on him. He'd bought them the time to make the hallway. Theglia liked Duluth. They'd taken a tumble more than once, though it'd never been serious. He had the same tendency to disappear into his projects that got Theglia into trouble with her own family.

As they'd made their way up the hall, Juthd had been the next to fall. Theglia hadn't really known Juthd well. She'd been a Forerunner for less than two decades, as green as they came. She'd only joined after losing her entire family to a creator's fanatical purging of her home continent trying to kill a Reaper. Her sacrifice got them to the first door.

Joth got them through that door. He'd volunteered for this mission because he couldn't do anything but fight anymore. Something had broken upstairs. On his good days, he knew it. He'd been glad to have a chance to die helping the cause.

If we'd only realized all those damn puzzle doors would be here, half the team would have survived instead of just me. But no one thought we'd need a dungeon guru in a primary Nexus. I'm just glad I used to run dungeons back when I was young and foolish. I might not be a guru, but at least we weren't stopped for long.

Kithtoper and Amathla got them to the command centre where another door awaited them. It had taken the sacrifice of Thabita and Simoth to make it inside. Which had only left Belthar and Theglia.

I expected we'd have to cut down at least one of our Other Selves the System is so fond of, but the doors were the only obstacle. Other than the System itself of course.

Stepping forward, Theglia removed Duluth's flask from his belt.

"Thanks," she gestured to him as she took a swig. Duluth never went on a mission without his lucky flask filled with Gathenite whiskey. It was awful stuff, but that didn't matter. It was a tradition he'd followed since his first dungeon. Said it saved his life at least once a decade. Theglia had heard a dozen different versions of the story, but there was always a bit involving a bristleback boar, a freet-shooter and a parachute.

She never did find out what a freet-shooter was.

Taking another swig, Theglia stood then walked over to the loading dock window. She didn't know why there were windows in the primary Nexus. She'd never heard of anyone visiting one. She couldn't imagine a creator coming to one of these utilitarian outposts. When they weren't disrupting the Core Worlds, they were either on their paradise worlds or busy playing out their 'little' apocalypse events.

She was about to turn away when she realized she had a notification.

Theglia's hearts froze in shock.

She hadn't had a System notification in nearly a century. Not since she'd started work on the first of the specialized matrices.

Warily she brought the notification up in her vision.

"Hidden Quest completed. Proving your worth V. Requirements: Make a significant contribution to the System. Incorporate a unique matrix into the System 9/1. Exceptional performance effect: Citizen status granted to recipients of all Astral Grade matrices. Reward: Citizen status. Return of System interface. Quest: Another Time unlocked. Quest: Restoring The Lost unlocked."

"Achievement unlocked: The Few Who Stand."

"Welcome to Primary Nexus Outpost MWVAE-22009, Citizen Theglia Yhodlath."

"Would you like to know more?"

A note from Draith

Just a short interlude.

1.95 Epilogue 2 - Playtime

A note from Draith

Hmm. Probably don't read this at night, in the dark, right before bed. Or do.

I'm not your dad.

After the defeat of Ivicka. Exact time and location unknown.

……....TPWM……....

When Folthka woke it was with a start, a chill running up her spine with such a force it sent her entire body into spasms.

If she'd been thinking clearly, that she could feel a chill would have left her puzzled. It'd been decades since the last time she'd been cold, back when she was only a low Copper-Rank user.

However, Folthka wasn't thinking clearly. In truth, she was having a hard time stringing a single question together.

"What happened?"

The words filled her head as she tried to remember where she was. Her last clear memory was the cold snap of one of her own control collars being locked in place from behind followed by a familiar voice commanding her to sleep. After that there had been voices. And pain. A heat unlike any she'd ever experienced. But it was all hazy.

The darkness… Folthka realized she'd opened her eyes at some point, but the darkness hadn't faded. When she attempted to call on her magic to pierce the darkness, not so much as a single mote answered her call.

Which is when Foltka realized the chill in her spine had nothing to do with the cold fluid she floated within.

Bereft of her System-enhanced eyesight, Folthka groped about blindly, trying to make sense of her situation. The first thing she discovered was that the fluid surrounding her only came up to her shoulders. There wasn't enough room for her to drown, the sides of her containment close enough to hold her upright. If that wasn't enough, the harness that held her back firmly in place certainly was. There didn't seem to be any release for the harness, so she started feeling out the edge of her container, seeking something, anything that might provide her escape.

It only took her a moment to pull her hand back, cursing at an unexpected twinge when her hand crossed over a jagged edge. Touching the end of her finger gingerly, her hand came away with a sticky wet substance.

"Did I just cut myself? By brushing against something? What's my health?" Folthka wondered to herself.

Folthka could feel her panic rising, her breath going out of control as she realized her interface was completely missing.

She tried to fight it down, but her inner strength had diminished. She felt as though she were a cub again. Her soft cries echoed around her as she struggled to bring herself under control.

"It would seem this one is sad," An unsettlingly sweet cub-like voice said from the darkness. Folthka was finally able to stop crying, her fear causing the cursed tears to freeze in place.

As Folthka was struggling with this new wave of unwelcome emotion, another voice spoke, sharp and hissing with pronounced clicking. "It's also afraid. Perhaps it suspects it's fate."

"Unlikely. It has only demonstrated marginal imagination. It is unlikely it even knows where it is."

"I…" Folthka stopped at the sound of her voice. It sounded cub-like. "I can hear you!" she screamed defiantly at the darkness. To her shock, the shrill pitch at the end reminded Folthka of her daughter Celthi when she had night terrors.

"It speaks," The hissing voice observed. A second later a wave of blinding light washed over her.

"Unimportant. Are the reagents ready?"

"Nearly. Our new supplier is less reliable. They claim the war has-"

"Irrelevant. You indulge these beings in their need for gossip far too often X-23." Folthka was almost able to make out a pair of dark grey splotches as her vision cleared. The shorter one didn't even come up to her waist while the taller one might reach her chin.

"Yes, Overseer," the tall shape grumbled with several angry sounding clicks.

The smaller shape gained definition as it moved closer to Folthka. It was as if, with each step, another layer of thin gauze was stripped away. Finally, as it drew close, Folthka saw she was suspended within a tank. However, unlike the sealed tanks she used in her trials, this one was open at the top, the edges broken away. With a final step, the shape pressed a dull brown hand up against the glass, allowing Folthka to see it clearly.

She wished she hadn't.

A howl broke free of her lips as the small doll-monster stared up at her.

Her dread spiked even higher when Folthka recognized this particular doll. The braided mane of fiery orange and tawny brown fur could have been any of a thousand 'Jethico the Just' dolls given to cubs as part of the winter Wilved Festival.

"And if her captor was a doll that meant…" Folthka didn't understand how, but it seemed she'd ended up in the hands of Aethop's Daughters.

Even as Folthka tried to calm herself, to think of some way to escape, the doll thrummed her fingers on the glass. Folthka's feeble efforts and calming herself were shattered. She flailed about, straining against her harness to escape, but her Silver-rank strength had been stolen from her. She'd lost her partner to these monsters a decade ago, and seeing one so casually inspecting her tore her resolve to pieces.

She'd taken her children, leaving her partner Beltha to fend them off as she ran like a coward.

"Calm it," the doll commanded, her child-like voice strangely firm.

A low grumble that could generously be referred to as an affirmation sounded out from the larger figure as it stepped forward into the light. Instead of the doll-like features of the first, this creature was as alien to Folthka as the Outlanders who invaded her home. If anything, she would have compared it to a methis beetle that stood on only four legs.

It's forelimbs ended in bladed cleavers. She was certain a single swing could slice a Vhethen herdbeast in half. As one of the blades approached Folthka's tube, it split open, revealing a cluster of tendrils that grasped a small valve. With a painful screech, the valve turned. Folthka felt pressure against her back.

Her thoughts calmed as she focused on the sensation of the strange fluid on her back. The part of her mind that screamed that the liquid wasn't important, the part that knew she was in danger and needed to escape?

Well, it found itself locked away, the metaphorical key destroyed.

The rest of Folthka focused on the warmth spreading from the centre of her back, marvelling at how soothing, how wonderful it felt. As though she were being wrapped in a cocoon of peace.

She barely registered the words as Stitches spoke. "Much better. Why was she awake?"

"It happens sometimes. The occasional prospect regains consciousness once their mana has been fully drained." Folthka couldn't tell if the voices were getting farther away, but it seemed like they were getting quieter.

Why is the room spinning?

"As long as it doesn't affect the Weaving."

"It will not, Overseer."

Folthka wasn't able to understand their response, her focus was on her own body and the incredibly fluffy feeling infusing her being.

Then she lost consciousness.

……....TPWM……....

This time when Folthka awoke, there was no chill.

In fact, she was tucked into a comfortable bed. A familiar bed.

It took her several minutes as her mind tried to understand what had happened before she realized where she knew the bed from. It was her daughter's old bed when they'd lived in Wilved.

While her daughter's bed had seemed small when they'd lived there, now Folthka found it expansive. That the room and bed seemed to remain the same size, indicated it was Folthka who had changed. Had she shrunk?

When she pushed herself out of the bed, she discovered her fur was lustrous, as though she'd spent a day at Satha's salon back in Aethire.

Folthka's inspection of the changes to her body were interrupted by a scuffing noise from beneath the door.

A moment later a furry face popped into view, pushing the door open. It was an uncomfortably familiar face yet the features weren't quite right. It had the right general colouring to be her lost partner Beltha. The dark black star over one eye especially stood out. But her proportions were wrong. As were other little details, such as the fur. Much like her own, the doll who stood before her was far too lustrous to be mistaken for a living k'tharn.

"Hello my love," the doll said.

But not in words. There was no sickly-sweet cublike voice. Instead, her mind was filled with the familiar voice she'd last heard two months before Qern was born.

Despite her terror, something else flickered inside Folthka. A feeling she'd almost forgotten.

But she hadn't survived three centuries, hundreds of mana-storms and losing her first two children only to surrender to it now.

"Who are you?" Folthka tried to respond, but the sound that emerged from her throat was only a soft rustling. Like the discarded wrappings for meat-bites crinkling underfoot.

"You can no longer speak as a mortal, my love," the thing that resembled Beltha informed her as it padded it's way across the room until it was standing directly before her.

Folthka tried to ask again, who the doll was, her voice again producing the same useless sound.

"Try to send your words to me as though you were sending a message through the System."

Folthka tried to focus on her interface, but it remained absent. She didn't understand how she was supposed to message this… thing… if she wasn't able to access her messages.

But then. It hadn't said she needed to use the System's messaging. It said to send the message in the same way.

Folthka thought her message was very clear. "Who are you? What have you done to me?"

"Oh, my love. You know who I am. It's your dearest, Beltha. And all I've done is keep the others from using you as a soldier."

"No. You can't be Beltha. I saw her die when she was only copper-rank. There's no surviving that."

"You're right. In a way I didn't. But I'm still her."

"Prove it."

"Do you remember the night we decided to have Kallim?"

"Of course."

"Well, I was understandably nervous about the idea of having a male. But you reassured me. You told me that no matter what gender our child was, we'd love them either way."

"Anyone could deduce that."

"But not anyone would know that I spit Blue Treshire juice in your fur when you told me you'd already chosen his name."

"Beltha? How is this possible?"

Beltha caressed Folthka's face softly as she said, "In time, my love. But first, I have an important question... How is Kallim?"

A note from Draith

Just in case anyone was wondering what happened to Folthka, the mad researcher.

The prologue for Arc 2 will be posted in a couple weeks and after that we'll be back into the story full swing. Maybe at that time I'll do a plug for Patreon...

Thanks for reading!

Draith

Mar 26, 2021 update.

The story is being worked on. Had an issue that kept me from writing for several months. It's now resolved. I have the bones of the next arc written, but I've decided I'm going to finish up the rest of the story and do a massive edit pass to everything (including published chapters, especially early chapters and Glimmering Sands) before posting the rest of the story.

Also, may post a side chapter or two alongside some update notes in the near future.

June 4, 2021 update.

Finished the core of the next two arcs and I'm writing the actual final arc now.... but I may also introduce a fourth arc between the existing story and the ones I have written. And then I'm still going to finish the story and do an editing pass.

Also, I give updates a little more frequently on discord, and will always respond if you ping me.

Thanks for your patience.

Draith.

Aug 14, 2021 update.

How the heck has it been two months already. Sheesh. I blame summer. So, good news. I'm super close to the end. Like, the actual super-duper I wrote it end.

Which means I should be starting on the editing pass. I hesitate to give a timeline, cause well... I've pushed past my estimates more than once before. Still, I can almost taste it. Or maybe that's just all the ash in the air.

Regards,

Draith.

Aug 26, 2021 update.

I did it. I reached my conclusion. I've finished the first great arc of Alexis' story. And now that I'm at the end of "The Forerunner Initiative" I'm looking back and realizing I have a whole boatload of editing to do. That said, I'm hoping the editing is much quicker than the writing has been. Still not gonna give a proposed date, but there will be a full on 'Bonus chapter' update with announcements next time I have real news. There's a high chance I'll leave TPWM up and be relaunching the story as The Forerunner Initiative.

Whatever I do, it's not over. Not yet.

Regards,

Draith.

Huh, okay, Mar 21, 2022 update.

Set story to complete, but still working on the next part. Am I getting close to the next? I think so. Might even start posting chapters without editing so y'all can see it. Feeling crazy, but a good crazy. Missing feedback. All that cool stuff.

So, yeah. Maybe I'll be posting chapters here soon. Even if I'm not totally done everything.

Regards, hopefully for the last time before you get a chapter,

Draith.

Not-a-Chapter: Recap and Why I Stopped Posting Rant

A note from Draith

Like it says on the tin, this is mostly a quick recap... since it's been like a year and a half since I last posted anything. A reasonable amount of time in the rest of the writing world, but practically a lifetime on RR.

Actual Chapter to follow in an hour. Assuming nothing breaks. I'm actually asleep right now. I love automation.

I'm going to let Wyonna take it from here.

Hey, hey. Welcome back.

What a temporal pause, don't you think? Author definitely got how that's supposed to work backwards. You should probably complain to him. I know I did.

Where were we before he went dark. Right.

My friends had just returned from fighting Ivicka. Who had pulled the super-jerk move of blowing up her lair when Beth went in to question her. Jerk.

Luckily, Beth purchased the super-handy, resurrection ability and was back a mere 36 minutes after she died. Boy was she in a bad mood though. And Genitha had recovered, which was a huge relief for Rufka, let me tell you. Meanwhile, Josh was having a merry time with his half-clone, half-pu'shaha Rose. Tipan's still fretting over all the rescuees and Fallen we left behind, and Roberts... is Roberts.

Not wanting to waste time, they head into the CMCC. You remember that? That fancy command centre with the time-dilation effect?

Except, when they step inside, my dear Alexis, uber-magus supremo (in training) was ambushed! By me!

Kinda. Wasn't really my idea.

It was actually, Theglia (that person who's entire team died at the start of the story [Author's interjection: and then showed up again in chapter 1.94]) who appeared in front of her to totally ambush her.

That's most of the recent stuff, though I'm pretty sure there's some other stuff too.

Good thing Lexi's got a quest log, right?

That's all for now.

See you next time, cowboys!

[Author's interjection: wrong series Wyonna]

Fine... later RReaders!

A note from Draith

Okay, so yeah. Basic recap complete. Yay.

Now, Rant time. Which might not be a completely accurate description, but it's going to be a big wall of barely edited text. We'll see.

I want to get out that there were some big reasons for my 'break'. Which I want to preface by saying, the one thing that's never been a negative factor has been comments and feedback from you guys. I love hearing from you, even if it's to tell me what you think sucked. It's part of what makes posting on RR so worthwhile.

First reason for my break. Posting advance chapters to Patreon. Patreon is an awful interface that sucks the joy out of everything. I hate using Patreon, despite the obvious money that I could be making by providing advance chapters through it. Ironically, RR makes this worse, because RR's interface is so good. I say this both as a writer and a reader.

Seriously, I've used a lot of websites at this point, and while RR's not perfect, it's the closest I've come.

Second reason. Reviews. Yeah, I know I shouldn't have let a couple of reviews get to me. But they seemed so reasonable, that I did. This was a MAJOR factor. Hiccup's review was especially bad. Combined with two other reviews that were once glowing but shifted to being... 'it was good, but now it's crap'. I lost a lot of my love for TPWM. It became a chore to write. Luckily I have a bunch of other writer friends now, and I no longer suffer alone.

Third. Table fatigue. Holy crap, never knew how much of a thing this was until talking with other litRPG writers. And it makes sense. It often took me longer to format and mess with tables than it did to write a chapter. Pretty crazy, right? That, and the absolute mess it creates when trying to format it for epubs means I'm going to move away from tables. I'm not going back to fix them yet, but when I get to the rewrite (which is still happening. Eventually), I'll be removing them. (Edit: Still going to be a litrpg, it's just the table format I don't intend to keep)

Fourth. I alluded to it above, but... I don't have much of a support network. Especially when it comes to writing. At least, I didn't. Not when I stopped. I've managed to write more words than I've got posted while I've been away. And a lot of that is thanks to the friends I've made online. Several of whom I'll be shouting out in the following chapters. When I've read their works, I'll mention it. And what I enjoyed about it. When I haven't read it, I'll mention that too.

Fifth. Self-imposed chapter wordcount minimums. I've done away with these. But I used to have a hard minimum of 3k words per chapter. And I'd be too focused on that to just... write at times. Now I write the story as best I can as I'm writing, then come back and decide where good scene and chapter breaks might be. Or I end a chapter early. This means some of my chapters will be a bit shorter than they used to be. Some of them might even be less than 2k words. A sin, I know. But one I'll make in the name of getting the story finished.

Sixth... uhm... there's probably a sixth reason, but I'm feeling all ranted out. Wait... that's kind of the fifth reason. It can be creatively exhausting focusing on just a single series. Not that I'll ever write 8 series at once or anything. (Seriously, how does Ravensdagger do it?) Again, this is one of those things I'm adjusting to. I do lots of other little writing on the side now. I have several other little things I'm working on. And just doing those helps keep the creativity flowing.

Okay, I think that's everything. All my rants done and over with.

As I mentioned in the pre-chapter notes, the first chapter of TPWM arc 2 will be live in about an hour.

One super grateful writer,

Draith

...Chapter 2.00, A Meeting Between Moments...

A note from Draith

If you missed it and want a reminder of where we left off, (or to read my ranty rant) there's an update and recap chapter immediately before this one.

Theglia's hand fiddled with the empty flask at her waist as she waited. Soon the messenger would appear. That's what the System had promised.

As to whether it would deliver… Theglia had reason to distrust the System. More reasons than most. But in the last two decades… things had changed. She’d been sent halfway across the galaxy. The quests… she never would have expected the System to seek to preserve…

But the results spoke for themselves. Twelve worlds that would never be enslaved. Never to be entered into the System’s official registry. Small worlds. Weak. Places that would've been crushed beneath one of the Consortium’s Mercantile Expeditions or a Ploxid Crusade.

Never mind the direct attention of a Creator.

And now it had led her here. To speak with the System's chosen champion, the child her AI had bound to Theglia’s greatest achievement.

Her diamond-like eyes crinkled at that thought. She still didn’t understand why the AI had chosen a child of all things to-

Brilliant rainbow-hued light interrupted Theglia’s musings as the child appeared. An elvenoid with rounded ears, pale skin, dark brown hair and equally dark eyes.

Theglia introduced herself quickly, ready to move on to business.

Then the child turned those eyes on her with a small smile. “Hi, my name’s Alexis.”

A chill colder than the galactic core wormed its way up Theglia's spine. Even now, in a System created mana-void, Theglia could feel the mana wafting off the child.

Maybe there was still a chance.

January 26, 2019, 11:47 pm.

Theglia stands in front of me, her thick and colourful wrappings barely moving as she weighs my response. I can’t believe Wyonna tore me away from the others for a private conversation, then left me alone with her creator. And I can't believe I spoke before thinking.

Not sure I’m ready for this so soon after everything we’ve been through. I definitely don’t feel ready to have a secret meeting with the person who sent us to Akilo. Still, I need to say something.

“You’re the founder of the Forerunner Initiative? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to ask for your help.”

I can’t stop the laughter that bursts out. She tries saying something, but I can’t hear her over my hysterical cacophony.

“Are you okay? I’m unaware of what is so amusing.”

“You… you sent me to another world. Gave me the power to warp Space-Time. Stuck an AI in my head. And now you want my help?” I gasp once I’ve calmed slightly. Why did she have to appear inside the temporal space, where I have such limited access to the reassuring feeling of mana. Wyonna didn’t even leave Smoulder for support. My fluffy little manahare better be okay.

“Yes.”

“Seriously? What can I even do for someone like you?”

Theglia doesn’t answer immediately, instead, making her way to the table we’ve been using for meetings when in the CMCC. Her wrappings are surprisingly tight, accentuating her movements with flowing undulations. She gestures to the seat across from her at the table, folding her hands in her lap, waiting.

I don’t know if there’s a point to this, but I decide to oblige her. The moment I’ve sat, she speaks, “There are things you can do. Things I can’t. Things that no one can. Well, no user can.”

“Yeah? And I’m supposed to... what? Help you just because you gave me these powers? I’ve learned some unpleasant truths about the Forerunners. Like you’ll experiment on children and innocent people.”

It’s hard to tell, since all I can see are her sapphire-esque eyes, but Theglia doesn’t seem upset by my accusation.

“I’ve made many lamentable choices. Choices made to achieve the impossible.”

“Not impossible. Just highly improbable,” I respond, borrowing a line from Rose. Who’d have thought that once the K’tharn Kalim fused their memories with my neighbour Josh, he’d be such an inspiration?

“Yes. Well… Look, what do you want?” she asks, leaning forward as her voice climbs an octave.

“I’m sorry?” I reply, keeping my face as still as possible. Is she trying to confuse me?

“For your help? What do you want from me?” Her eyes blink repeatedly like flashing LEDs.

“Uhm…”

“Essence? Equipment? Anything!”

“A way to save Earth from the mana-swarm?” I ask. I mean, if she’s offering, it’d be great to solve the problem.

She leans back, her eyes dimming as the flickering stops.

There’s no other response, so I sit waiting patiently. After a few minutes, I’m starting to worry I broke her. I’m about to poke her when she lets out a rather human-sounding sigh. “I might be able to help you with that. But you’d need to do most of the work. All I can do is provide you with guidance.”

“Wait. You can actually help?”

“Yes. But it will take a veritable fortune in Essence. Billions.”

I choke on nothing, before asking, “Billions of iron-grade essence?”

“What? Iron-grade. Of course not.”

Sighing in relief, I try to imagine how much effort it would take to gather a billion mortal essence. Technically one-tenth as much work as gathering iron-grade. As I’m calculating how many battles like the one against Ivicka it would take, Theglia interrupts me.

“If you want to protect the entire planet, they’d need to be copper-grade mana essence.”

I stare at her as my calculations grind to a halt.

She looks away from me, waving her hand in the air as if typing on an invisible worksurface while she rambles out, “Of course, Sanctuaries would be more feasible. There are even several that could be used. And she’d be able to help me in the course of wresting them free. Still need thousands of essence but-”

“Sanctuaries?” I interrupt, reminding Theglia that I’m here.

Her eyes flash once before she turns her gaze back on me. “The Builders' toy cities. They’ll need to be broken free of the System. But each would allow you to shelter large numbers of your people through the initial turmoil. They may even offer some measure of protection from the Creators' experiments.”

“Uhm. So you want me to steal Builder cities?”

“No. I have no need for their cities. I only need the archives. And while you’re retrieving the records, I can have the AI help you salvage the Builders' abandoned cities.”

“Is that why you sent us here? To get access to a bunch of abandoned records?”

“What? No.”

“Then… why?”

Theglia looks away, her eyes blinking rapidly again. It takes ten seconds of silence for me to realize she’s not going to answer. In fact, other than the blinking of her eyes, Theglia remains rigid. Deciding I don’t want to continue sitting in silence, I decide to move the conversation forward, “Okay. Fine, so you need access to the archives. And in exchange, you’ll allow Wyonna to help us. Even though she probably would have anyway?”

As if the change of topic has reanimated her, Theglia leans away, tapping her chin. “Wyonna? Oh. You’ve named the Artificial Intelligence. But no, I will give you all the aid I can. All I ask, is if you find the records, you have the AI archive them until we can meet again. I’ll train you to make the changes. I do have some skill with rewriting System permissions.”

“Why don’t you get these records yourself?”

There’s another long pause as she goes rigid again. I’m certain this is going to be another question she won’t answer, so I’m about to ask something else when she finally speaks, “I can’t travel to Akilo. Or any Sanctuary world for that matter.”

“Why not?”

“The System prevents it.”

“Really? Didn’t you just say you were good at changing the rules?”

Her eyes flash unusually bright, the brilliant blue light casting the room in stark relief. Then the light fades as she shakes her head. “The rules can be bent, not broken. I’m not allowed on Akilo.”

“Not allowed, huh,” I mumble to myself. I wonder if she means world-ending not-allowed like what the System was going to do before we proved the Reaper ran away. Well... proved seems a bit strong. The Reaper was able to hide from the System before, maybe he tricked it again.

I wouldn’t be surprised.

“If I were, then Phrasis might still… No. Too late to change the past. Though I suppose you might… But then you’d… No, better not to consider it.” Despite her back and forth with herself, Theglia sounds remarkably certain.

“Consider what?“

“Nothing. You know, I didn’t expect you to be so elvenoid in appearance.“

“Me? An elf?” I snort.

“Very much so. Same colourations, muscle distribution and general size. There are some minor aesthetic differences.“

“Ha. Like the fact I don’t have pointy ears?“

“Hmm. And your chin isn’t as sharp. Still, compared to the difference between most species, you’re essentially the same. A shared genetic ancestor perhaps? That would be a remarkable discovery. I can’t imagine the Calum Discordia would be pleased.“

“Calum Discordia?” I ask then I realize we’re getting off track. “These builder cities, you really think we can take them to Earth?“

“Of course. With suitable preparations. It’s far easier to leave a Sanctuary world than it is to enter.”

“So, what do I need to do?“

“Ah yes,” Theglia starts placing several crystals on the table. At first, I think she's placing them there for me to take, but when I reach for one, she lightly slaps my hand away. Once she's placed over two dozen crystals on the table, she feeds energy into them. A moment later, I receive a notification.

"Citizen Theglia has requested access to your interface."

"Warning. Granting Access to your interface will allow Citizen Theglia to see your Status Screen."

"You want access to my interface? Seems kind of personal. Why should I trust you?"

Theglia halts again. "It's required. How else am I supposed to instruct you?"

"How about through Wyonna? You can do that, right?"

"You'd rather have my instructions passed through the AI?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No. In fact, it should make things a great deal easier." Theglia goes silent for several seconds as the crystals flash again. I didn't notice the first time, but her eyes are blinking in sync with the crystals.

"What have you done to it?" she demands after ten quiet seconds.

"Sorry. What do you mean?"

"I can't access its code. I'm completely locked out."

"Wait. You're saying you can't change Wyonna?" A swell of relief spreads through my chest at the thought. Suddenly, it occurs to me that I can ask Theglia about Wyonna's hidden protocols. "And what did you order her to do in the first place? She won't tell me."

"After you were sent to the planet, it needed to ensure you made contact with Forerunner command. Which is what this is." She waves to both of us. "I never expected to be the one handling the call personally."

"That's it?"

"No."

I wait for her to elaborate, but once more, she remains silent.

"Can you tell me what else she's been ordered to do?" I press, my voice hitching near the end.

"I'm sorry. The AI was a collaborative effort, but Duluth handled most of its programming. The only part I had in the AI's design was ensuring it would interact properly with the Matrixes."

"You could ask him."

"He's dead."

"Damn," I sigh. I don't know if she's telling the truth, but even if she's lying, it doesn't look like I'm getting any easy answers out of her. At least she can't make any more changes to Wyonna.

I just hope whatever programming remains isn't going to hurt us. Or Wyonna.

Theglia breaks me out of my thoughts with another flash of the crystals. Before I can ask what she's doing, she says, "It would appear I can still send the AI data packages. It's not as efficient, but I should be able to teach her what you need. However, I can’t guarantee it’ll work."

"Right." I wonder if Beth's going to be happy that I found a way to save Earth. Well, the people. It's not ideal, but it's better than anything I've come up with.

Since she's here, there are probably some other questions I should ask her. Little things. Like...

"Why me?"

"What?" Theglia asks, because of course I mumbled.

"Why me? Why did you choose to send me here?" I repeat, stating it as clearly as possible as I meet her glowing eyes.

"I didn't. All I did was give the AI parameters. You must have been the best candidate."

"What kind of parameters."

"A full explanation would require hours, and I'm afraid we don't have that much time. Suffice to say that if you were chosen for the Endless Matrix, you have excellent dimensional affinity."

“Okay,” I mumble. “So, I’m compatible. Great.”

“It’s wonderful. Oh, to be able to study your abilities. But again, not enough time. Never enough. A problem you don't share, do you?” Theglia asks, her eyes flashing rapidly. “And the transfer is complete. The AI should be able to assist you now.”

“Hey,” I interject, grabbing her arm as she turns away. She pauses, looking down at my hand before tracking my arm up to my eyes. It’s almost enough to make me freeze, but I shake it off, meeting her unblinking gaze. Despite everything that could have gone wrong... Looking at her now. Being sent to Akilo. Being given a chance to rediscover my magic. Rufka.... “Thank you. For everything.”

“Oh. Well, you’re welcome. It was… we did all we could with what we had.”

“And I appreciate-“

The rest of my words are lost as she blinks out of existence, the rest of the party appearing behind me in a cacophony of noise.

Taking a deep breath, I run a hand through my hair as I brace myself. Then, turning around, I smile at everyone.

“So, there's the good news, and there's the other news.”

A note from Draith

We're baaaaaaaaackkkk!

Two times a week, Monday and Thursday at 7am PST, right here on RR. Other than that year and a half without posting, it's totally like I never even left.

(sweats)

New thing I'll be doing. Shoutouts. I'll keep most of my thoughts for shoutouts in spoilers, going forwards. There's gonna be a bunch of these as I thank the authors who helped me get posting again. As I mentioned in my Recap and Rant, if I've read their work, I'll say what I thought. If not, I'll let you know why I'm shouting them out and link their work.

Okay, so gonna give a shoutout to the Author MelasD.

Good chance you've seen some of his work. His most recognized work is Salvos. A fun story about a slug-demon that becomes a demon-girl. I only read the first book, but it was a blast.

But I'm not shouting out Salvos here, (Okay, I am a little) I'm shouting out Melas. He's been awesome. He is continually supporting authors, giving us shoutouts and helps out wherever he can. He doesn't even know I'm giving him this shoutout.

I haven't read it, but he just published Tian to amazon, last week. If you want to help me thank him, maybe check out the stub on RR or pick up the book from amazon. If you've already read and enjoyed it, maybe drop him a review.

Anyway, thanks for all your patience, and I'm glad to be back to posting on RR.

Draith

…TPWM 2.01, I have a… no? Later then? Okay…

A note from Draith

Short chapters today, so chapter 1 of 2

…TPWM 2.01 I have a… no? Later then? Okay…

January 27, 2019, 10:05 am.

As the flame’s last traces disappear and everyone’s eyes turn toward me, Beth holds up her hand. “Kid, can it wait?”

Crinkling my brow, I look around the command centre. Time is going pretty slowly. So I nod, biting the inside of my lip as Beth sighs, casting me a small smile.

“Okay, good. I need some rest. It’s been… a day,” Beth says, waving as she marches toward her room.

Roberts hums as Beth starts walking away, Josh following close behind. Roberts places his hand on my shoulder. “We don't need to wait for her, if you’d like to discuss it now?”

“No,” I say, my shoulders slumping as I watch Beth walk away. “It… it can wait.”

Wyonna buzzes in my head even as I answer. “It might need to! What is all this? Where did… Theglia?"

“If you’re sure,” Roberts says, only stepping away when I nod to him.

As he’s walking toward his room, Rufka comes up to me, throwing her arm over my shoulder and leading me away. I glance back at the meeting room as Wyonna beeps in my ear. “You guys definitely need to give me time. It’s gonna take me hours to sort through this mess.”

“Sure,” I reply, taking one of Rufka’s hands as we slip into my room. “Take all the time you need.”

…TPWM 2.01 I have a… no? Later then? Okay…

January 27, 2019, 10:13 am.

The soft covers of my private room lay in a pile at the foot of my bed as I attempt to extract myself without waking Smoulder or Rufka.

Beth’s insistence to rest turned out to be a good idea. I hadn’t realized how tired I was. Not until we’d reached our room and I passed out with barely a peck on Rufka’s cheek. The remnants of the morning pass in a blur as we continue to enjoy more mandatory rest time. Wyonna’s still chomping through Theglia’s download and Beth hasn’t emerged from her room yet.

Nearly a day and a half of dilated time later, we’re finally gathered in the observation room of the CMCC (Citizen Mission Control Centre) again. And I’m chomping at the bit to get out. The lack of mana is driving me crazy.

Still, now that we’re assembled, Wyonna is ready to divest the relevant bits of Theglia’s gift. Her face dominates the central screen as she brings up a map of Akilo, several glowing red dots shining over the room. Wyonna waves a hand at the screen to her side as she says, “These little blips should be familiar to those who’ve been paying attention.”

“The Sanctuaries?” Rose asks, a robe similar to Josh’s around his shoulders,. But his is a deep blue that’s surprisingly striking with his orange and black striped fur.

“Yep. Those are the good news. Sorta. Really, they’re like the golden apple. Don’t take a bite unless you’ve got good teeth.” Wyonna accompanies her statement with a picture of a stick figure losing all its teeth.

Setting a plate on the table, Josh takes a seat next to Rose as he asks, “So they’re defended?”

“By Sentinels. Creator anti-theft measures.” Wyonna flashes a picture of a statue on the screen. It’s only as I see the ‘Alexis for scale’ that I realize the thing is at least ten stories tall.

“-won’t be enough to protect most of earth. A few Australias max.” Wyonna says in response to a question I missed.

“Better than we had,” Beth says, rapping her fingers on the table. “How tough are these sentinels?”

Wyonna shrugs her digital shoulders as she flicks the camera view to show the cracks splayed across the statue’s surface. “Tough enough to withstand everything Akilo could throw at them. They’re all standing.”

“Except the one in the dungeon,” Roberts points out, leaning forward while tapping his chin with steepled fingers. “Though I suspect it was under different rules.”

“Yep. Not sure what was going on there. Creator cities aren’t usually rezoned as dungeons.” Wyonna’s display flips to a view of one of the Sanctuaries from a hilltop. Not one I recognize. But the statue is visible in front of the silver spire at the centre of the Builder city.

With a smile, Wyonna turns her eyes to Beth then to me. “Anyway, you two might be able to take one down. There isn’t much that can stand against your devastating attacks.”

With a tap of her staff, Tipan draws our attention, her mohawk hanging to the side as she blows at it. A new style Wyonna suggested. “We can attempt it. Without Ivicka, we should be able to make a quick incursion.”

Turning to Genitha, Beth says, “Speaking of which, any word on the-“

Genitha raises her left eyebrows as she leans back in her chair, her feet on the table with all four of her arms behind her head. “No. My friend hasn’t responded yet. I intend to visit Aethire to find her.”

The skip-skap of a rolling ball draws my attention to the side where Demo is standing away from the table, rolling one of his grenades back and forth. He gives me a slanted smile, his toothpick flicking as he sets the grenade on his belt.

Then Rufka pulls me forward as she leans toward her mum. “You’re not going alone this time. We just got you back.”

“Kitten, I’ll be fine.”

“Yep. Cause we’re going with you.” Rufka crosses her arms while glaring at her mum, Smoulder hopping on the table next to her, adding her own glare to Rufka’s. Though I get the impression Smoulder’s just being supportive and has no idea why she’s glaring at Genitha.

A loud crack sounds through the room, Genitha’s chair slamming into the floor as she rolls forward, suddenly looming over Rufka and I. The only sound in the room is Smoulder rustling her fur as Genitha stares down at us. Then her face relaxes into a smile. One I’m familiar with. Rufka’s face is the same when she manages to get something by me. “Excellent kitten. I’d love to get to know your new thiani.”

With a groan, Rufka places her face in all four of her hands.

“Hmm. While you’re doing that, I think the rest of us should start sorting out the prisoners,” Beth says, pushing away from the table. “We’re gonna have a lot of work for you once you get back, kid. Don’t take too long.”

“We won’t,” I promise.

“I’ll make sure of it. Someone has to keep these earthbound in line,” Tipan says as she joins us, standing at my elbow.

Genitha raises a single eyebrow at Tipan, causing her to wilt slightly before shifting to me, extending her hand. I take it with some trepidation as she pulls me into a side-hug, leaving me looking down at where Smoulder is nuzzling against Rufka’s still table-side head.

“This’ll be a fun little adventure. Tell me, Alexis, has my daughter taught you how to play Astra’s Stride?”

A note from Draith

Second chapter of the day in an hour. Thought about just combining them, but that throws off all my numbering.

…TPWM 2.02, Living Dead Guards…

A note from Draith

Chapter 2 of 2 for today. If you missed the other one, hit that back button!

January 27, 2019, 11:33 am.

Finally exiting the CMCC is like stepping into an air-conditioned room after being in a desert during a heatwave. I almost let my mana swirl out to fill the area around me with elemental energies as we emerge, but I manage to constrain myself. Though not entirely. A small blob of molten metal forms, accompanied by small shards of ice and a lick of fire.

Making our way outside, I deliver the others to the temporary prisoner camp, staying inside the teleportation room as I add even more protections to it. Like not having a door, so people can’t wander inside.

Once I’ve ensured I won’t be teleporting into a room full of people in the future, it’s off to Aethire.

Arriving in Rufka’s little apartment in Aethire is far smoother than our first trip, no stumbling over chairs or tripping over the bed hosting the rest of the furniture. It helps that there are only four of us. Genitha runs a hand down one of her arms as we arrive, looking toward me. “That is remarkably smooth. Almost as smooth as the System’s transportation.”

“That’s what it’s based on,” I admit, turning away. “Basically just copied it.”

A rich rolling laugh echoes out of Genitha as she takes us by the shoulders. “Never underestimate the power of copying something that works. The Aetherium would be skies better if the ministers didn’t insist on being as independent as possible.”

"Mum, not this-”

With a chuckle and shake of her thick mane, Genitha interrupts Rufka before extending her right hands toward her daughter then offering me a pair of crooked elbows. “Sorry, kitten.”

As I link my arm with Genitha’s, a nervous flutter fills my belly. Exploring Aethire while on the arm of my thiani’s mum. It’s not the most normal date I’ve ever had.

Actually…

It probably is.

“It’s fine. Why don’t we… change?” Rufka gestures downward at herself, running a hand over her tawny-brown fur and tracing over one of the darker sections where her tattoo is hidden. And then the colour of her fur starts to shift. Not drastically. But enough that the patterns in her fur are different. And her eyes are closer together. Genitha’s image shifts in a similar manner, her own disguise dropping into place.

Tipan’s transformation is far more drastic, her staff changing from it’s normal white to a dark brown and her fur following suit. It sweeps over her in an instant, but only because she’s using a trinket Genitha had on hand for such transformations. One that only works on K’tharn. She holds one of her arms out, turning it back and forth. “I’ve… this is magnificent. Thanks you so much Genitha!”

Waving her off, Genitha smiles, “It’s nothing. A small trinket for my Rufka’s friend.”

The tears in Tipan’s eyes say otherwise, but she just gives a small nod as she adjusts her hair to a different style of mohawk. One that’s not so neat and organized, hanging loosely over her eyes.

Which only leaves me. I could just go invisible, but Rufka wants to go shopping. And Genitha insists I should practice my illusion magic. Most people won’t pry if they notice a bad illusion. Or so Genitha reassures me. Especially since most practitioners are Agents of the Deep or one of Aethire’s not-so-secret, secret police, the Taken.

The magic to cover my body comes easily. But it only allows me to disappear. I need to make changes that will allow me to look like a k’tharn. Thankfully, I don’t have to produce such a spell on my own. Genitha’s given me a spell form. And the System allowed me to add it to my spellbook for the low cost of five iron integration points.

Which I’m thankful for. The complexity of the spell is amazing. Thousands of little runes interwoven together as they spread across my skin. Even with the benefit of having the spell in my book, it takes me an hour of fiddling with my new ‘fur’ to get it right. My new fur isn’t too complex, a nice light brown based roughly on my hair. A detail that gives me an anchor to base it on. Luckily I don’t have to address the issue of the extra set of eyes or arms. The System provided the basics for both. I do need to make several adjustments to the colour and shape of my eyes though. When I’m finished, the others are playing a game of Astra’s Stride at one of the little tables. Most of the room has been rearranged while I worked.

…

Did I just spend an hour in character creation? Sab would never let me hear the end of it. Damn. Sab. Wish you were here. There’s so much here you’d love.

Rufka’s arm slips over my shoulder as I sigh. She says, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to get the illusion perfect.”

“It’s not… I miss my friend,” I reply, leaning my head on her shoulder as Smoulder pops out of my pocket.

“You know what I think, kittens?” Gentiha asks, all four hands on her hips as her eyes glint with mischief. “Time to put your disguises to the test. Let’s visit the World Dungeon.”

“Mum. Don’t you think-“

“It’s fine. She’s right. Let’s go. I want to know what a World Dungeon looks like,” I interrupt with a quick squeeze before standing.

“I thought it’d be a decade before I’d be ready to enter,” Tipan says, holding her staff against her chin. “And now it feels like we’ll be ready to enter in a week or two.”

With a nod, Rufka jumps to her feet beside me. “Just don’t be too disappointed. We probably won’t be able to see the dungeon itself.”

“Now, kitten. The World’s End Palace is worth seeing on its own. And I have friends. They’ll get us inside.” Genitha doesn’t give Rufka a chance to refute her words, striding out of Rufka’s little cabin. I turn to Smoulder, whose form remains unaltered. I try to impress on her that going ‘flame on’ will mean less treats. She nods in response, her nose raised in the air while broadcasting deep solemnity across our bond.

Which is ruined the moment I boop her snoot. Smoulder wiggles it furiously, nearly falling off my shoulder as she rubs against my cheek. I chuckle softly as we follow Genitha outside.

We’re greeted by a scree from a bird overhead. A motley of grey and white feathers, it circles a nearby bridge, chasing after some unseen target before flitting out of sight itself.

“Damn Ackels are getting bolder,” Genitha says, shaking her head as she leads the way up the narrow ladder from Rufka’s balcony to the main thoroughfare above.

“Never understood why you hate them so much,” Rufka says, offering me a hand as I reach the top step. It’s strange to walk when we could fly. But it’s better cover.

A snort from Genitha seems like the only answer Rufka’s going to get as Genitha saunters away. I give a small shrug as I move to follow. But Genitha’s stopped at the edge of the bridge, and is pointing to the bindings. “See these? They attract all sorts of lesser mana-insects. And the Ackels feed on them.”

“Doesn’t that mean you should like them,” Rufka asks, not bothering to follow her mum’s outstretched arm.

Tipan on the other hand, leans halfway over the bone rail. Even with flight only a single cast away, it still sets my heart beating faster. She points to a number of glowing bugs hidden in the shadows. “Oh, there are glimmerlings. I thought they only came out at night.”

Shaking her head, Genitha waves us along. “The insects are harmless. But the Ackels can damage enchantments. They shouldn’t even be allowed in the city.”

Even as Genitha finishes speaking, another “Scree” sounds out from the far side of the bridge. A moment later, the Ackle reappears, flapping directly toward us. I can feel Smoulder perched on my shoulder, preparing to leap at it. I caution her to stay still. Even as I’m issuing my instructions, the bird explodes in a burst of flame, plummeting to the side of the bridge into the abyss below. I watch it disappear as Smoulder sends me a wave of disappointment mixed with a demand as to why someone else was allowed to fry the offensive creature.

A good question. And one I’m about to ask Genitha when Tipan pulls me to the side. A pair of Fallen dash past us, their matted fur and red eyes gleaming. And one of them has their hand on a still smoking wand. I nearly fling them away from us when they turn in our direction. But I stop when another K’tharn jogs up, swearing at them. “Vaus’s tits. I told you to get rid of the Ackle, not explode it!”

The K’tharn turns to us, her face otherwise black fur marked by a white patch over her lower left eye. On her sash is a burnished bronze medallion with a spiderweb pattern engraved on it. “I’m sorry about that. New recruits are…”

Not only does she not finish her sentence, she starts dashing toward the Fallen. The one with the wand is holding it up with two hands. They glance at their companion, then at the empty pit where the Ackle fell. And then they throw the wand into the pit.

“Hey! Do you know how expensive those are?” With a gust of air, the wand is blasted up into the air before floating back down to her hand. Turning back to us, the K’tharn with the white patch says, “Sorry again. If you have a complaint, please, make sure to file it with your local matriarch.”

With that, she takes off, leading the pair of Fallen away. And leaves me staring after them.

“Did you see the crest on their bandoleers?” Genitha asks, stroking her chin.

“Yep. It’s weird seeing Fallen serving in the Thiren. Better than the Stormguard though,” Rufka says as we start moving in the opposite direction of the Fallen and their supervisor.

“Thiren?” I ask, scritching Smoulder in an attempt to keep her from going after another Ackle in the distance.

“They patrol Aethire, do repairs or respond to System requests. They’re like a Flight, only without the ability to fly. An honorable profession that many look down on,” Tipan answers while Rufka calms Smoulder with a piece of charred… something.

We cross through a round gate at the end of the bridge, the bone arch worked so smoothly it looks like a single piece as it merges with the rest of the building beneath us. Genitha pauses for a second before striding towards one of the much larger bridge-tunnels where I can already see dozens of K’tharn. She wasn’t kidding about putting our disguises to the test.

As we move beneath another bone arch, Genitha glances over her shoulder. “The Thiren aren’t allowed to leave Aethire either. Keeping the Fallen out of the Flights should give the council more control over them. Nice to know they aren’t all idiots.”

“Would they even be able to join a Flight? Wouldn’t the System kick them out?” I ask as we join the flow of K’tharns moving North.

“Hmm. Don’t see why. It’d be easy enough to-“ I nearly bump into Genitha’s back as she comes to a sudden halt. Which is impressive. A week ago, I would’ve slammed into her. And probably taken her to the ground with me.

Peeking over her shoulder, I realize she’s watching a K’tharn in the distance.

With a loud ‘humph’ Genitha turns back to us. “Change of plans. You three go shopping. I’ll meet you at Vethala’s.”

“Mum,” Rufka says, her eyes narrowing.

“It’ll be fine kitten. Just some… personal business. I’ll see you in a few hours. Or I’ll send a message.” Genitha doesn’t give Rufka time to argue, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before striding away at twice the pace we’d just been walking at before disappearing behind a small crowd of other K'tharn.

Rufka grumbles as her mum strides away, rubbing at her cheek as she watches her leave. But I slip my arm around hers, pulling her attention back. “You heard her, she’ll be fine. Besides, didn’t you want to take us shopping?”

Patting Rufka’s other shoulder, Tipan says, “And you promised to show me ‘A side of Aethire I’ve never seen before.’”

A smile slowly creeps across Rufka’s face as she glances after her mum before looking back at me. “Yeah. I did.”

“Also,” I say as I match Rufka’s casual stroll in the direction we’d been heading before stopping. With a glance at Tipan, I double check my connection to Genitha. Ensured it’s still in place, I turn to Rufka with a smile. “I know exactly where she is.”

A note from Draith

Hmm. Deciding to post again right as I work nine days in a row was not my best plan ever. (so mentally exhausted, blech) But somehow, I shall surviveth.

Anyway, more important. It's time to shoutout one of my favorite stories. WIAFTTTTA.

Yeah, that's just the acronym. When Immortal Ascension Fails, Time Travel To Try Again, is written by my wonderful friend Dragon Of Rochester. It's a fun story that has a strong female protag who goes back in time (got that from the title, didn't ya?) and ends up decides to take her former antagonist under her wing. It's a lot of fun, takes aim at a lot of overused harem tropes, and tends to have several heartwarming moments as well. Is it for everyone?

Probably not. Cause those people are allergic to my kinda fun.

Also, despite Fairy Lin's objections, there seem to be a lot of "Twin Peaks without equal" showing up.

Oh, also, Fuyu did an art thing that has Alexis in it. Along with a lot of other big characters on RR. (Jin, Selkie and Salvos... like, whoa)

You can find it in my discord.

…TPWM 2.03, What Stays Up…

January 27, 2019, 1:07 pm.

Rufka leads us through Aethire with a clear goal in mind, her stride not faltering as she walks past a bazaar large enough to dominate an entire set of the bone-structured bridges. And not just the bridges, most of the space between is filled with what look like temporary shops floated into place.

Her stride might not falter, but both Tipan and I do. It’s the most diverse and alive place I’ve seen on Akilo. There are thousands of K’tharn browsing through the hundreds of floating stalls. We pass between several as Rufka takes me by the elbow. The leather walls offer some brief respite from Aethire’s constant winds as I look around. Are they enchanted to redirect the wind over and above? It looks like it. But most only protect their own shopping area, causing small whirlwinds to form in the open areas between them. It creates an area I find almost playful to move through, dancing around the gusts of wind as we walk. I can feel Smoulder poking her head out as I dash between the whirlwinds. Her desire to play with me wars with my instruction to stay put, and thankfully she listens.

The K’tharn around us don’t even turn their heads at the small whirlwinds, side-stepping them as they go about their business. They're far more efficient about it than I'm being. Except for a group of children who’re throwing scraps of cloth into the whirlwinds and giggling as the leather goes flying into the air. I pause to watch them as they go running after the scraps, shoving at each other to gather the most pieces. From what I can see, a short girl with a grey and black zig zag pattern on her head is in the lead when I'm finally cajoled away from them by Rufka wrapping an arm around me.

“Did you ever play ‘tufts’ when you were a cub?” Tipan asks Rufka while gesturing back at the playing children.

“Once. Wasn’t very good,” Rufka says, her voice more grumbly than usual as she stops to look back. “I… may have tried challenging one of the other cubs for their tufts instead of collecting them. Turns out that was against the rules.”

"The rules are as changing as the wind." Tipan giggles.

Which makes Rufka grunt, staring back at where the kids are playing. Deciding that maybe we should move on, I make use of Rufka’s arms around me, leading her away.

We make it all of three steps before I remember… I have no clue where we’re going. Not that I let it show until Rufka starts chuckling.

“What?” I ask as I attempt to step onto a ramp leading upward.

She holds me back with a single tug, shaking her head. “You don’t know where you’re going.”

“Well… no.”

“You know, you should watch your step,” Rufka says, taking the lead again while pulling me away from the narrow ramp. “It’d be a shame if you fell off, plummeting to your death in the great mana pools below, gasping out my name as you choked on mana.”

I roll my eyes, poking her in the side. “I can fly, silly.”

“Yep.” Rufka nods, not uttering another word as she takes giant strides forward while Tipan’s laughter grows louder behind us.

Another three bridges, two markets and several patrols of Fallen later, we reach a corridor that’s different from most we’ve been walking along. Instead of a solid bridge, it’s a wide tunnel with large airships moving back and forth along the passageway. Ships that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the city. Unlike the floating stalls, these look like they're designed to be moved quickly.

“The grand corridor,” Tipan says as we step out onto a platform one of the large ships is stopped at. Larger than a schoolbus, it’s frame reminds me of an old wood sailing ship, though one carved of bone. It even has a pair of skulls mounted as… uh the things that are normally put on the front of a ship. Mast heads? Moor heads? Something like that.

But it has one on each end.

The front is clearly a dragon, or something very dragon-like. But the back is of a creature I don’t recognize, the bulbous shape making me think of a chipmunk with it’s cheeks stuffed. Except, more skull, less fluffy rodent.

Several K’tharn and a very ant-like individual wait in line as more Fallen stand ready behind a pair of guards who’re stopping people. Each passenger hands over a small amount of essence before being waved on board. They pass quickly, and when our turn arrives, the shorter of the pair turns to us.

“Physical payment?” Rufka asks, even as she pulls the essence from her inventory.

The guard shrugs. “New policy for the tour-skiffs. If you have a problem, talk to your matriarch.”

“Why does every-user keep saying that?” Rufka asks as we step aboard the ivory planks of the airship. It bobs slightly beneath my feet as I cross to the far railing, the planks having more give than I expected. Moving to the railing, my hand runs over the incredibly polished surface. While I know it’s made of bone, it’s so smoothly fused that I can’t tell where the railing ends and the supports begin.

Several more bone-ships float up and down the corridor, but each is different. The one we’re on has only a single open deck. But there’s one across the way that has five different platforms, each one barely large enough for a group of six if they squeezed in tight. Such as one such group of K'tharn on the uppermost platform. Unlike ours, it’s not stopping at any of the nearby piers. Instead, there are people hopping on and off. One k’tharn leaps twenty metres to land on the backmost platform as it zooms away.

In fact, as I watch I realize most of the other ships don’t stop. The leaping on and off seems to be the standard method of travel.

“How come we’re not taking one of those?” I ask, pointing at a ship that resembles a three-pronged fork laying on its side as Tipan joins me at the rail.

She glances up, watching the ship cruise away from us before turning to me with a smile. “Because you need to be linked into Aethire’s central accounts to ride those.”

“Ha. No you don’t,” Rufka laughs, leaning on the railing on the other side of me. “Anyuser can use one, if they have a pass.”

“That’s the same thing!” Tipan shoots back, rolling all four eyes as she turns away.

“Nah. See? Pass is a real physical object,” Rufka says, holding up a square piece of bone with deep etching on it. “You just never needed one, skyborn.”

“I… well, I guess not,” Tipan admits, slumping slightly.

“Could I get one?” I ask Rufka, staring at the bone plate as she twirls it in her fingers. The lines remind me of something, a pattern I swear I’ve seen before but I’m unable to place it.

“Mum’d be able to get one. They’re not very expensive.” As Rufka tosses it up, a gust of wind almost knocks the pass overboard before Rufka snags it out of the air. “A hassle to replace though.”

The ship shifts beneath our feet as a chime sounds out. Then a System notification pops up, listing the route and any interesting stops. While looking over the list, I notice that the World’s End Palace is at the very bottom. More than twenty stops away. And according to the schedule, more than an hour. So I go back to observing the other vessels travelling along the corridor. “You know, I’m surprised there are so many airships here. I didn’t think the Aetherium used airships.”

“Airships aren’t liked by skyborn,” Rufka says, while tucking the plate into her inventory. “They’re only used by the trading consortium.”

“It is an honour to earn one’s own right to fly,” Tipan agrees with a nod. “Taking a skiff or skimmer is fine. But to venture beyond Aethire under the power of a machine instead of your own magic? It’s not done.”

“Unless you work the barges,” Rufka points out as the skiff floats toward the top of the open corridor. It stays on the edge of the corridor as it drifts upward, out of the path of the much faster skimmers. Once it’s reached the apex, it passes between a pair of dark beams to float above the corridor, granting us a view out over Aethire. Ahead of us, its dark black towers scraping the sky, is what can only be the World’s End Palace, the home of the council. And the World Dungeon.

Unlike everything else in Aethire, the Palace is constructed of stone, with clear lines that give the impression of giant stacked blocks. But I suspect it’s just a facade. I can’t imagine them not fusing the blocks together using magic.

“Look, there’s a barge,” Rufka says, nudging my shoulder and getting me to turn to the side. Which is when I realize Aethire isn’t a flat city. There’s another channel, much like the one we’re traveling along to the southeast. And it sticks above the rest of the city like a mountain ridge. And both channels slowly climb upward until they reach the Palace. At the southernmost end of the other ridge, I’m able to make out a dot that’s barely visible, rising above the city. With a quick enhancement of twilight, I zoom in to find a full blown airship. It’s hard to tell the size, but the k’tharn crew on deck make me realize it must be at least as large as the container ships from earth. Probably bigger.

“That’s… bigger than I expected,” I admit, rubbing my jaw as I Focus on the barge.

“Jethico-Class cargo transport.”

“Used for transporting cargo within the remaining settlements of the Aetherium, the Jethico-Class cargo transport once carried goods and people across all of Akilo.”

[Wyonna]: "The Aetherium used to have thousands of these barges. Now they have twenty-six. Most were abandoned as the Aetherium dwindled in size."

“Indeed. One barge can bring back an entire herd of valka in a single trip,” Tipan informs me, nodding with a small smile. “My mother used to bring us fresh valka everytime she returned home after docking.”

“Wait, your mum used to work the barges?” Rufka asks, tilting her head to the side as she stares as Tipan. “You’re a barge-rat?”

Tipan’s ears flatten against her head as she looks away, her shoulders slumping.

“Hey, I didn’t mean… I just…” Rufka trails off as Tipan shakes her head.

Then Tipan looks up, staring out at the barge. “No. My mother is in charge of inspections. She never… worked the barges.”

“Oh,” Rufka says, glancing at me. But I can only shrug.

“You know that’s a very impolite term,” Tipan adds a moment later.

“What? Barge?” Rufka asks while elbowing me and pointing toward a cluster of buildings. The market we passed through earlier. The kids are still playing their game of tufts, the only reason I’m able to tell it apart from any other cluster of buildings. Despite the high quality of craftsmanship, most of the floating stalls are very similar on the outside.

“No. Rat. Don’t you know that it refers to…” Tipan glances at me, her tone going low as she finishes. “A furless k’tharn?”

Rufka’s laughter echoes out as she reaches over me to clap Tipan on the shoulder. “Did I ever tell you about the time I had a Felk outlander pop out of one of the storms? I ended up losing most my fur to an angry water elemental getting him to safety.”

“No. And I have no idea what a Felk even is.”

“Oh, well, they’re a bird-like outlander, stands nearly three meters high. Anyway, this guy, he…” Even as Rufka continues, I tune her out. Unlike Tipan, I've heard this story before. I look out over the city, watching as hundreds of k’tharn move beneath us and my eyes are slowly drawn towards our eventual destination. The World’s End Palace stands high above everything else in Aethire, a beacon of everything the k’tharn can achieve when they work together.

“You what!?” Tipan demands, sputtering as Rufka continues her story, not bothering to repeat herself. Instead, she starts talking about how it’s the Felk’s fault she’s completely defurred only steps away from Theria’s tower.

My eyes move back to the palace as Rufka continues. Yep. Amazing what you can do when working together.

…TPWM 2.04, Something Rotten…

January 27, 2019, 3:01 pm

As the ship floats further into the heart of the city, I take a moment to look over my Status.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-6

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50

Agility: 90

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 97.

Resolve: 97.

Integration Points: 0

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

Storage: 7.94 Cubic Meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 454/464

Edge: [31.4]

Regen: (334/day)

Stamina

Pool: 475/475

Edge: [36.5]

Regen: (372/day)

Mana

Pool: 1070/1070

Edge: [83.1]

Regen: (1006/day)

Focus

Pool: 1050/1050

Edge: [75.2]

Regen: (931/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 338/338

Edge: [23.1]

Regen: (289/hour)

I've grown a lot since I came to Akilo. Almost a different person. But I didn't come into my Status to reflect on my growth. I've been holding off picking my abilities, since none of them call to me. Except the teleport swap, Shifting Tides. I took that one immediately after talking it over with the others.

There's something about the aging one, Echo of Agony, that seems… evil. When I Focus on it, I can tell that it works on System-integrated people too. And it doesn't seem to have an off switch. Which would mean if I accidentally struck someone with one of my spells, I'd rip life away from them. I can't bring myself to do that.

Which leaves me with Lingering Bonds and Entropic Shift, neither of which are amazing. But they're both solid upgrades. Even if Lingering Bonds extra duration isn't very noticeable, in the middle of a Pause, maybe it'll matter? And Entropic Shift… will let me keep more spells in my spellbook. Or at least less elemental copies. It would be much more useful if I couldn't craft whatever spell I need inside frozen time.

Which is perhaps a good reason to take it. I don't have an unlimited supply of Facet.

Nodding to myself, I put a point into Entropic shift and two into Lingering Bonds. The second point in Lingering Bonds makes me raise an eyebrow. Instead of the triple duration I'd been expecting, it increases the duration of Ailments to six times the original. Do… all the multi-rank abilities work like that?

A quick question to Tipan and Rufka later negates that idea. Most are linear increases, though drastic jumps aren't unheard of.

With a flick of my fingers, I summon a crackling bolt at my fingertips. Holding it out, I pause time then tap Rufka on the back. It's not enough to overcome her Health Edge, but it still makes her fur stand on end. And she's shocked long enough for me to time it. It's still less than even a fraction of my Pause, but it's much longer than such a weak zap should be.

"What was that?" Rufka asks, looking over her shoulder at me when time resumes.

"Just testing one of my new abilities," I answer, smirking at her as I tap her nose, this time without pause.

She wriggles her nose, before bopping me back despite my attempt to dodge. If not from a 'harrumph' from Tipan, it may have turned into a wrestling match. Instead, Rufka pulls me to her side, holding me trapped as she continues the story she was sharing with Tipan before I interrupted.

"And when I landed, Felk was still staring. He couldn't bring himself to turn away. Not that I can blame him. I am pretty amazing."

Tipan laughs, shaking her head. "You ever thought of playing Desh'mersa?

"Nah. You need to take a subclass just to play, don't you?" Rufka asks as the barge drifts down to one of the docking stations to exchange passengers before continuing deeper into Aethire.

With a shrug, Tipan says, "Not all Desh'mersa players take the air jockey subclass. Not everyone needs it. I doubt you would."

"Really? I thought it was in the rules or something," Rufka says.

"There's a test required to prove competency, but that's all," Tipan replies, "Lethana tested through. It's why she's one of my favourite players. That and the Silva Pennites are amazing. Mom and I used to watch their games every year. Ivicka would…"

Tipan's enthusiasm disappears, her entire face drooping as she stops. Then she shakes her head, a slight smile appearing. "She used to put me on her shoulders so I could see better. Despite the protests of those sitting behind us. Even then she'd look out for me. I… I still don't understand what happened to her."

Before I can offer my sympathies, Rufka's placed her own paw on Tipan's shoulder. "Hey. I'm… uh… Well, I'm not sorry. She did try to kill us. Repeatedly. So… I guess I'm sorry she changed?"

I can't stop myself from snorting out a laugh, and even Tipan chuckles. She nods, patting Rufka's hand. "Thank you."

Rufka just shrugs as I ask about this game that Tipan seems so excited about, the view obscured by great ridges of bone, arcing up on either side as we get closer to the palace. We spend a few minutes as Tipan and Rufka both try to describe the game to me. A more advanced version of the racing we've done. It almost sounds like air-basketball, with dribbling and everything. If dribbling was done by bouncing off transparent spheres scattered throughout the 'court'.

There's other stuff too, like alternate ways to score points, other than just getting it through the goal. In fact, it might be better to compare it to pinball.

"Oh, hey, we should make a stop here. There's a shop I want to visit," Rufka says, leaning against the rail as we float over an empty platform.

"Sure. Your mum already went off-" Upon receiving my confirmation, Rufka barely gives me enough time to stand before yanking me over the railing. Even as we dive toward the platform, I can hear Tipan laughing from just behind us. When we land, I look back up. We just jumped from higher than my apartment building, and with just a small gust of wind magic, it was less painful than stepping off the porch wrong. As in, painless.

"You're getting better," Rufka remarks, throwing her arm over my shoulder while escorting me up a flight of stairs worked into the side of the hall. It lets out into a bustling area that makes the market from earlier feel like an empty field. I can't take a single step without running into an elbow. Which is especially awkward given the extras the K'tharn bring with them.

Tipan takes the lead, slipping through the crowd like its water. Rufka follows behind her, managing to guide me with only a few bumps and one mumbled apology. It's a scant few minutes later and we're standing at a rise, the rest of the bustling crowd sliding around below us. And I'm finally able to see what everyone is doing here. It's almost immediately next to one of the arenas that Tipan was pointing to earlier. Everyone is milling about, visiting booths with merch or food. Or watching one of the holographic projections.

"Forgot they added the arena," Rufka grouses, wiggling her nose in irritation. "We should've come later."

"But then we would've missed the game," Tipan counters, her eyes glued to one of the holographic displays.

"Eh, any-user could watch it later," Rufka waves it off, her eyes squinting as she peers at a merch stand that is loaded with sashes and skirts all emblazoned with one of the playing team's colours. Or… not at the booth, but at the sunken pit behind it.

"Is that?" I start, but Rufka's already pushing towards the booth, her hand still in mine. There's a sudden surge from the crowd, their voices ringing out in a deep roar. Even Tipan. I flick my eyes toward the display, but it's obscured by the surrounding crowd. Turning to Tipan, I try to ask what happened, but then there's another deafening roar. K'tharn are moving back and forth, yelling at each other and I'm seriously tempted to pause time to make my way through the crowd. But then we emerge, the thick press of bodies left behind.

"You coming Tipan?" Rufka asks, pausing at the top of the pit which I see is more of a long ditch with grates along the side peeking down into the abyss. Wisps of green mist float out of a pair of vents near the far end of the ditch, pooling along the bottom of the ditch outside a hatch that looks to lead even further down.

I glance back to see Tipan standing at the edge of the crowd, floating slightly off the ground while peering back toward the game. She keeps staring until Rufka repeats her question, at which point Tipan turns back to us with a shake of her head. "My apologies. Keeltha pulled off a tri-crispy while being hocked by two blockers."

I stare at Tipan for several seconds, waiting for her words to make sense. When I look to Rufka, her scrunched brow and tilted head tell me she's as confused as I am. "Sure, so that a yes?"

"Yes. Again, sorry for allowing myself to get drawn in."

"Nah, it's nice. Good to know you're like any-user else when there's something you care about," Rufka says, throwing her arm over Tipan's shoulder before leading us down the alley.

"Yeah," I agree, shooting Tipan a smile. "Nice to see you excited."

Tipan just smiles back as we step directly toward the pooling green mist. I can sense the higher concentration of wind mana in the lackadaisical green mana. But there's something else to it as well. Something I don't recognize.

"Don't step in it," Rufka warns as we get close. "Tathia's a Caustic mage. Best cheese in the city but, nasty byproducts."

"Why's she so close to the stadium then?" I ask, as I send a gust of wind to wash the pooling mist out of our path. It takes a great deal more effort than I'm expecting, like it's a barrier instead of simple mist. I end up having to switch to ice manipulation to push the caustic mist to the side.

"Her family's been here longer than the stadium's been around. History still has some value in Aethire," Tipan answers, though I can hear her drop in tone.

"Yep. Tathia don't get involved in Aethire politics either. Keeps to herself and her experiments. Mostly." As Rufka speaks, she gingerly reaches over to the door, pulling it open with the tip of an arrow before stepping back. More of the green mist comes pouring out, pooling near her feet even as I use more panes of ice to push it away.

"We're closed! Can't you read the sign!" a rich voice bellows from inside. Even at such a volume it sounds almost soothing.

"You didn't put your sign out, you fetid swamp-rat!" Rufka yells into the shop, prompting a small gasp from Tipan.

"Is that my least-favourite, tree-pounder? What're you doing back here so soon?" A voice calls, emerging from amongst the green mist that fills the shop like a whale rising from the sea. She's the most… uhh… curvy… K'tharn I've ever seen. I think. It's hard to tell if that's her natural shape or the shape of the thick outer layer of leather covering every inch of her.

"Ha, I think you meant your most favourite," Rufka counters, taking a step back as another gust of mist wafts by.

"So, you finally admit, you are a tree-pounder," Tathia states, pointing at Rufka with a pair of tongs. "I always knew you had too much love for your damn trees."

"No more than you love your cheese," Rufka shoots back.

"About that," I say, looking down at the green mist in concern. "All this mist… it's not connected to the cheese, right?"

Both Rufka and the heavy leather outfit containing Tathia turn toward me at my remark, Rufka snickering and… well, I can't really read the expression of a pair of goggles or leather helmet.

After a couple seconds, Tathia shakes her head. "No. This has nothing to do with cheese. What sort of shop do you take this for?"

"I don't know, I just… well, where I come from, cheese can be made with some pretty… uhh… intense smells. And I just…"

"Oh, yes. Cheese can definitely get smelly. But this is all Subclass related. Been working on breaking my Brewing through to Copper," Tathia grumbles, her rich voice settling into a smooth cadence. "That's why I put up the damn…"

Her words drift away as my eyes follow hers to where a thick wooden sign rests just inside her doorway. In big Vausian words, the words are clearly marked, "CLOSED! Subclass trials in progress."

Her thick form starts shaking for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Well, guess I did forget to put up the damn sign."

"So, does this mean we can't get any cheese?" Rufka asks even as Tathia hefts the sign onto her shoulder and steps up the stairs out of her shop.

Tathia doesn't even slow as she hops up the side of the ditch-like alley to grab a thick strut protruding above her shop. Her voice rumbles out as she slides the sign into place. "Not today, tree-pounder. Stop by next week."

Rufka lets out a deep sigh, nodding as Tathia releases the strut and lands next to us with a surprisingly loud thud. Enough that Smoulder pops her head out, ready to help defend me.

Which is right when Tathia looks in my direction, her goggles locked onto my jacket pocket as she asks with a hard edge to her voice, "Is that a mana-warped mana-hare outside my shop?"

Uhm… oops?

A note from Draith

What a time to decide to start posting again when I have to be away from my pc for two weeks. Much harder to do this stuff on your phone.

Today's shoutout is KrazeKode. He did a bunch of character art which you can find on Discord.

I also helped him edit his story Mark of Time. Previously known as Truthseeker, it follows Jen who gains the ability to timeloop, getting stronger as she deals with an invasion of her home city while growing in power. Sounds familiar, right? Yet it's definitely its own story, separate from mother of learning. For one thing, Jen isn't nearly the stick in the mud Zorian starts out as. (disclaimer, I love Zorian too).

Only thing I had to do with his other story, Qi= mc2, was encourage him to keep having fun. Not sure how that turned into a pill popping labrat, but whatever.

Thanks for reading

…TPWM 2.05, Living on the Edge…

January 27, 2019, 3:45pm

With Rufka's… friend, Tathia, staring at Smoulder, I take a step back, putting distance between us while urging Smoulder to calm down. Cause from her spike of anger, I could tell she almost launched herself directly at Tathia.

"It's okay, Tathia," Rufka says, stepping between us. "She's not warped. Not mana-warped at least."

Tathia's helmet remains motionless, then tilts slightly as she turns toward Rufka. "Fine," her deep voice rumbles, "So long as she doesn't get near me, fine. Anyway, I should get back to it. Unless you have some other Vaus-twisted thing to shove in my face?"

"Uh. No, sorry," Rufka apologizes, stepping back.

Tathia just huffs, turning back and stepping into her shop, leaving us alone with a slam.

"Well, that was almost as interesting as Keeltha's tri-crispy," Tipan says, putting her arm over Rufka's shoulders. "Seemed like it was about to be almost as violent too."

"Nah, Tathia wouldn't go that far…" Rufka trails off as a loud boom resounds from behind the closed door of the shop, and more of the caustic mist leaks into the alley. "Still, we should probably leave her in peace."

"We do still want to visit the palace. And since we'll be so close, we can visit my mother as well," Tipan says, releasing Rufka's shoulder as she looks back toward the packed area around the arena. "But perhaps we should take another route."

Rufka nods, waving us forward as she hops over the pool of caustic mist. The rest of us follow, likewise making our own little leaps to keep clear as Rufka leads us out of the alley through a few short turns until we emerge onto another corridor-bridge. Considering the packed streets of the arena a short distance behind us, the emptiness of the street we emerge onto is… eerie.

"Where is everyone?" I ask, as I look around at the empty passageway.

"We're getting close to the Edge. People don't like to live near the Edge. Not eastward anyway," Rufka states as she picks her way across the bridge with surprising care. "Watch your step. Maintenance isn't as thorough out here."

"Why'd we come…" my words fail me as I glance up through a break in the clustered pod buildings along the edge of the street. Or maybe the Edge. Either way, beyond those ponds sits a castle straight out of a disney movie. Then the bridge shifts slightly, and the view is gone. I almost fly up to get a better perspective, but Rufka's urging us along.

Another few streets later and we are definitely at the Edge. And my view of the castle is completely unobstructed. Dark towers of obsidian stone rise from the depths of the abyss. As far down as I can see, there isn't a single bit of unworked stone. And it's not a tiny little thing either. The castle fills half the horizon, and we're still several kilometers away from it.

But as I look closer, I can see signs of neglect. Not in the upper levels, where everything seems to be in perfect shape. But lower down. There are passages open to the air that were clearly never designed to be. And staircases missing entire steps.

Still, it's a very impressive castle.

"Hard to get a proper view if you just go straight in," Rufka says, walking over to the edge of the bridge where there isn't so much as a single home attached.

"I've… it's different from here," Tipan mumbles as she kneels down next to Rufka, peering over the ledge. "I've visited the palace dozens of times. Maybe hundreds. I never realized… do you see the decay?"

Tipan's not looking at me, she's staring at Rufka.

"Yep. It's a big place. Can't be easy to maintain."

"Not with our disdain for terramancers. But still, it would only take a pair of them a month to restore the palace. To leave it like this…"

"No-user cares. They don't come out here. Not from the council, anyway." At Rufka's last words, I notice a shape moving further down the bridge. Another K'tharn, shorter than most. They're kneeled much like Tipan is, though they have several items spread out in front of them and their head is bowed.

Rufka must've noticed my interest, cause she says, "Ah. Yeah, some come here to pray. Think being so close to the End'll make it easier for Astria to hear em. Carried to the sky on the mana-currents and all that."

None of us say anything as we watch the distant K'tharn for another few moments. They remain on their knees, their lips moving, but their words inaudible. As I turn away, realizing I'm basically spying on someone when they're trying to have a private moment, Tipan clears her throat.

Glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the palace, she says, "The view is… amazing from here. But as I mentioned, I would like to visit my mother."

"Right. We should do that," I agree, standing up and pointedly turning away from the K'tharn who's praying behind us. Which leaves me staring in the direction Tipan was glancing. The district just outside the World's End Palace.

While not as grand as the palace, even from here, I can tell it's better maintained. Well, better than the lower palace. Which… is kinda the mountain it's built on too. Nevermind, not important. What is important is that we're walking towards this fancier section of the city. And it's not just the better quality of care.

As we get closer, the materials around us take on more interesting patterns. A bright red hide, striped through with orange is framed by nearly black bone on one side, while across the way, a building of yellow hide is suspended amongst bright green bonework. And their density… unlike many of the outer areas, the walls here feel solid to my mana.

Tipan continues to lead us forward, passing over where the channel leads to the courtyard surrounding the World's End palace and taking us down to a smaller cluster of homes with a single bridge leading to them. The end of the bridge is sealed with a steel and gold gate, guarded by a single K'tharn.

When they step forward, Tipan greets them, spending a moment talking before they let us by. The K'tharn's eyes flick over each of us as we pass, but goes back to sitting at the gate without mention.

Inside the gate is a small courtyard with small plots of carefully tended flowers planted in front of each of the dwellings. Tipan leads us to a dwelling whose flowers are a mix of light green and bright white. Glancing at the colours of the flowers in front of the other buildings, I can't help but notice this is the only one with any white flowers.

Tipan reaches out as if to push the curtain aside and stroll in, but then seems to change her mind, knocking on the frame next to the canvas flap. As we wait, I flick a quick inspection at the closest flower.

"Sky's Bloom."

"Chosen for their inherent bond to wind and water mana, these flowers are tended in many alchemists' gardens. Due to their finicky nature, they're rarely used as ornamentation. The sole exception is when a house gives birth to a Skyborne."

Well, I guess that explains why they're the only white flowers. Funny that they're probably there for Tipan yet she's not even her usual all-white self at the moment.

As we wait, I notice Tipan standing with her lower arms behind her back, tapping her thumbs together. A motion that would be completely out of sight of anyone within the pod-home. More of a pod-mansion, really, with its size. Upon closer inspection, I realize it's not just the flowers that set this home apart from its neighbours. It has twice as many trophies mounted above the door, a pair of monstrous skulls staring down at any guest.

After more than a minute of waiting beneath the empty stare of those defeated beasts, Tipan turns to us with a frown. "I suppose mother isn't home."

"Do you want to come back later?" I ask, shifting slightly to move away from the empty gaze of the skulls.

"It might be for the…" Tipan's eyes move past me, tracking someone behind me. The corners of her mouth tug up into a smile for a moment before settling back into a neutral expression.

"You! Who gave you permission to stomp about my den!" A deep voice calls from behind us. I turn just in time to see Ivicka bearing down on me.

A note from Draith

Tried to check for things properly this time. But I'm still doing this on my phone. Sometimes it creates random errors while I'm trying to check them. So... Appreciate all you awesome people who point them out.

…TPWM 2.06, Not Ivicka…

January 27, 2019, 4:33pm

As the tiger striped K'tharn steps closer, the evening sun catches her fur and I realize there's no way this is Ivicka. For one, she's too short. Ivicka towered over… well, everyone. This K'tharn isn't even as tall as I am. Teenie tiny Ivicka, hehe.

But there is a family resemblance. As I'm trying to parse what, (or more like, who) I'm seeing, Tipan bows, taking a step forward to place herself between the K'tharn and the rest of us.

"Greetings. I have news of your daughter," Tipan says, reminding me that her mother wouldn't have much reason to recognize her.

And I'm sure that must be who this K'tharn is. Ivicka and Tipan's mother. Not many other tiger striped K'tharn running around. And after our little tour today, I've seen thousands. Tiger-striped is very distinct.

Their mother folds all four arms across her chest at Tipan's words, squinting at her. "You're not one of the council's lackeys. Not from my youngest's flight either, I know those cubs. So… not terrible news, but I doubt it'll be pleasant. Alright, you can come in. I'll put on some tea and you can give me your news."

"Thank you," Tipan says, bowing slightly again, clasping her lower hands tightly behind her back as she does so. Is she always so formal with her mom?

Her mother just nods, stepping past us to the tight door flap, which lights up after a moment, the flap losing rigidity. Then she pushes inside and we follow. Inside, I pause, afraid to step on anything. We're greeted to a beautiful, but austere wooden interior, a stark contrast to the outside. A pair of beautiful paintings hung in bone frames flank the hall past the entryway, but not a single other decoration occupies the space. Not even a shoe rack. Which kinda makes sense since K'tharn don't often wear shoes… but still. It's so empty.

Even as Tipan's mother is stepping towards the hallway, Tipan's form flickers, her brown illusion disappearing as she pulls off the ring Genitha gave her. "Mother."

The single word makes the woman pause as she turns and looks Tipan over, her eyes scanning from head to toe. She takes a single step towards Tipan before her eyes flick towards Rufka then me. Halting in place, she smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Tipan. I'm glad you're home. We have much to talk about."

"I… yes, mother," Tipan agrees, inclining her head fractionally.

"But first, I believe introductions are in order. Or do you intend to bring strangers into our home."

"Sorry mother. This is my friend Rufka of clan Plethesa and this is Alexis of clan Everette. Alexis, Rufka, this is my mother, Tithan of clan Lithania."

"Nice to meet ya," Rufka says, stepping forward with her hand held out for a fist bump. I manage to keep from face palming as Tipan's mother gives Rufka's outstretched hand a once over, raising an eyebrow towards Tipan. Tipan isn't as successful as I am, her whole body slumping as she sighs.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Tithan replies, tapping Rufka's fist with a single finger.

"We'll just wait here," I offer, hoping to extricate myself before Rufka and I ruin Tipan's reunion, but Tipan's mother shakes her head.

"Nonsense, you can join us in the Astrarium," Tipan's mother says, waving for us to follow her as she strolls down the hall.

Tipan doesn't immediately follow, glancing at us before stepping after her mother. Before she can say anything, her mother adds, "Best to let Outworlders feel as comfortable as possible."

I stop in place, narrowing my eyes as Tipan gasps.

"So, you did bring an Outworlder into my home," Tathia says, turning back to lock all four eyes on Tipan. We all stand there for a few seconds as Tipan works her mouth, but no sound comes out.

Finally, Tithan waves it off, moving away and stopping next to the first door down the hall. She pushes the door open, then turns back to look toward where we're all still standing. "Through here. Tipan, can you prepare the tea?"

"Of course, Mother."

"Aged daydrop, I think, dear."

Tipan only nods before stepping further down the hall while Tathia leads us into a room that is several steps lower than the hall leading in. The walls are mostly dark, displaying a starscape that's entirely different from the night sky I'm used to seeing on Akilo.

As I'm looking over the impressive display, Tathia says, "So, how did you turn my daughters against each other?"

"I… uhm," I close up as I turn back to where Tathia is glaring at me with her upper eyes closed.

While I'm trying desperately to think of what to say, Rufka replies, "Lexi didn't do anything. It was all Ivicka."

"I mean… I… Uhm." How exactly do you tell someone that you may have killed her daughter. Even as Tathia turns back to me after Rufka's interjection, I breathe a sigh of relief as Tipan comes back into the room with a small levitating cart. After a short Pause to consider how to respond to Targus, I take the opportunity to switch topics. "That's a cool cart."

Smooth.

"Thank you. It was a gift from the matriarch of Clan Tel'thost after I resolved the Zanbia incursion," Tipan's mother says as she waves a hand, several leather chairs unfolding themselves from an alcove next to the door.

I take one of the chairs and Tathia starts grilling Tipan with rapidfire questions, pressing her on where she's been, why she didn't message her, what did Ivicka do this time.

Tipan begins fielding her questions while pouring each of us a cup of tea, her words slow and deliberate.

Thankful not to be Tathia's focus, I listen, taking a sip of the honey flavored tea as I inspect the Astrarium's ceiling. There are faint lines running between the stars, illustrating the old constellations. Back when Akilo's sky had stars.

As Tipan begins telling her mother about everything Ivicka's done, my eyes return to them. Her mother's barely moved since Tipan began her story, only taking an occasional sip of her tea. It's only as Tipan reaches the end, explaining that Ivicka's dead, that Tathia speaks. "So, we won't be seeing your sister for a while then."

Tipan blinks, turning to me, then Rufka, before finally looking back to her mother. "Mother, I… I don't think Ivicka's coming back this time."

Shaking her head, her mother gives Tipan a small smile. "This isn't the first time your sister's 'died'. It might take her a month or two, but I'm sure she'll recover. Only this time, I fear the Taken will be waiting for her."

Tipan's sharp inhale is followed by a shake of her head and a rueful smile. "Maybe."

"So, is this why you brought the Outworlder into my home? To tell me of my daughter's defeat at her hands?" Tathia asks, her eyes moving towards me. Yep, Tipan didn't spare her mother from the fact I was the one who killed Ivicka. Spared me from having to tell her though.

"Yes. No. I brought her here because she's my friend. And I needed to tell you. But… I didn't think I could do it alone," Tipan says, wringing her hands. I reach over, giving Tipan's shoulder a squeeze. Least I can do after she told her mom for me.

A smile stretches across Tathia's face at the same time, as she reaches forward and squeezes Tipan's hand, bringing it to rest. "It's hardly the first time your sister has died. And if somehow this is the last… Well, I've accepted that she'd change our world or die trying. My tears have all been shed. I'm just glad you're still well."

I try to turn away as I see the moisture building in Tipan's eyes. And then she's hugging her mother, eliciting a 'woof' as she clasps her tightly.

Tathia chuckles while stroking Tipan's back. "You've grown a great deal in the last few weeks I see. At least that went according to plan."

Nodding, Tipan pulls back from her mother. "Like I said. A lot happened."

Releasing Tipan, Tathia pats down her fur before picking up the tea kettle and pouring herself another cup. Then she holds the kettle towards us, offering the rest of us another cup. Once finished she returns to her seat, shifting for a second until saying, "As I said, I'm just glad you're safe. Especially with all these Fallen running about in the streets. I can't believe your sister was involved… actually… I can."

Tipan's grimace matches my own at that. Though likely for different reasons. I can't help but wonder how many of the Fallen are victims in all this. It's not like they asked to be twisted around and turned into soldiers.

"Not just involved," Rufka points out. "She was the user behind it. Her and Folthka."

"That is harder to believe," Tathia replies, shaking her head. "Folthka was always striving to make things better for the Aetherium. One of the only ministers I respected."

"Mother, why are the Fallen patrolling the streets?"

Tathia doesn't answer immediately, instead standing and turning toward the tapestry of stars along the walls of the Astrarium. "You know the Aetherium once claimed the entire eastern continent? We protected our people as far north as the Frozen Wastes and to the southernmost shores of the Pelthian jungle."

"I don't…" Tipan says, turning to look to us as if we might understand her mother's tangent. I certainly don't know where she's going, so all I can offer is a shrug.

"We don't even protect the eastern reaches anymore. We can hardly protect Aethire and the corridor to the west." Tathia turns back to us, her eyes passing over each of us in turn. "We're dying, Tipan. The Aetherium. The K'tharn. There are less of us each year. Less of us being given quests to have children. Did you know there are less than a million K'tharn in Aethire? A century ago there were over ten. And over fifty a century before that. The System is killing us, one generation at a time."

"What? That… how come you never told me?" Tipan asks, her tea sitting at her side.

Tithan continues as though she didn't hear Tipan, her eyes distant. "Did you know I'd hoped that Ivicka would give me grandchildren? A silver! And so young. She had the quests. But… she refused. We got into more than one argument about it."

Tipan nods, looking away. "I know."

"Uhm, not to be rude, but what does this have to do with the Fallen?" I ask, getting Tathia's eyes to focus on me.

"The Fallen are Minister Yelthen's solution. Though it sounds like they were Folthka and Ivicka's first." Tathia turns back to Tipan. "They might even help. For a few years."

"Uhm." Rufka says, drawing everyone's attention. "Mum says it's only the Aetherium having these problems. That it's your own…" she stops, shrugging instead of finishing.

Instead of pushing Rufka to finish, Tathia faces Tipan, asking, "How long are you home for? Should I prepare the guest rooms?"

"No, but thank you, mother. We have a place."

Ha, we could have rooms on both coasts and be home in time for dinner. Even as I'm thinking that, Tipan adds, "In fact, we have a lot to do today. We should probably be going."

Tathia seems flustered at Tipan's words, nearly dropping her cup before straightening it out. "So soon? You just got home?"

Tipan gives her mother a smile that doesn't reach all the way to her eyes, but she does reach across the cart and squeeze her mother's hand. "I'll be back soon. And we can take a walk through the gardens."

"Oh. Oh good. Well, in that case." Tathia pushes herself to her feet, bowing slightly to Rufka and I. "It has been this matriarch's pleasure to meet you, Alexis of clan Everette. Rufka of clan Plethesa. May your Essence be varied and your Quests within reach."

Rufka and I mimic her bow, and repeat her farewell.

"Now, if you don't mind. I'd like to have a few minutes with my daughter before she leaves," Tathia requests, her lower eyes flicking towards Tipan who nods.

"Of course. We'll see ourselves out," I reply, pulling Rufka away by her elbow.

Once we're outside, I turn back, looking at the door.

"Huh. That went better than I expected," Rufka notes.

"Oh? What were you expecting? Another Ivicka?" I ask, elbowing Rufka.

"Kinda. Especially after seeing her." Rufka strokes her chin while staring back towards the building. "You notice how Tipan kept us out of her room? Didn't even offer a tour."

"And?" I ask, not sure what Rufka's implying.

"Well, how are we supposed to judge her bedroom if she doesn't let us see it?"

"Pretty sure I've never seen your bedroom either," I note, stepping away from the building, looking toward the setting sun. We were inside longer than I'd expected. But Tipan did end up telling her mother a lot of her story.

"Your bedroom is my bedroom," Rufka states, her arms slipping around me. "I don't need any more than that."

Looking over at Rufka, I can't stop the smile from creeping across my face as I lay my head on her shoulder.

As I hear Tipan opening the front curtain-door behind us, I whisper, "me neither."

A note from Draith

Words... Need more... Words. Giveth them unto me.

Today's shoutout is my friend Astra Loka.

Currently their focus is on the story, RE: SYSTEM // SUMMONER. It's a redo story where the main character decides to take a completely new path. While he was once a swordsman, now he attempts to follow in the footsteps of the mightiest og poke-masters. Too bad he's stuck with a gremlin.

…TPWM 2.07, World's End Palace…

January 27, 2019, 6:10 pm

Tipan's white fur is dappled with oranges and yellows from the setting sun as she steps out of her house, and the colouring almost reminds me of her mother. She has a half-smile fixed on her face and there's a slight stiffness to her movement as she joins us, but neither Rufka or I say anything. What would we say? Your mom’s nice, we should visit again?

Deciding to avoid that awkwardness, we turn away from her home. Directly towards Genitha. I knew she was coming closer, but somehow I'm still surprised to see how close she's gotten.

Unlike Tipan, Genitha's smile feels full and genuine as she strides across the open area of the compound.

"Hey mum," Rufka says, her waving arms managing to shake me enough to almost cause me to stumble as her mother approaches. This could be considered a downside of being so close to Rufka. Worth it.

"Rufka!" Genitha exclaims, stopping a few feet away and reaching out to hug her daughter. Which catches me in the embrace as well.

Her mother's arms are strong, squeezing tight, and I'm reminded again of how much taller she is than her daughter. Which is exactly not at all. Genitha's voice is warm as she releases us, "You didn't tell me you knew people in the Colmb district."

"We were visiting Tipan's mum," Rufka says, motioning over her shoulder.

Genitha's eyes flick between Rufka and I before settling on Tipan, her smile still warm. "This is your home?"

"It... was," Tipan says, with a slight nod of her head. I barely notice the way her voice hitches as Tipan continues, but it’s definitely there. "Anyway, we wanted to see the palace today, correct?"

"Yep. I want to see this courtyard you mentioned," I reply, accepting her choice to change the subject and starting us away from Tipan's home. This prompts Tipan and Rufka to start talking over each other about their favourite features in the courtyard one of which is a specially curated garden that the nearby vendors all use spices from for their food.

As we move towards the centre of the city, I listen, but my attention is drawn to the flows of magic running beneath our feet. As we draw closer to the palace, it becomes more noticeable. Just the street we’re walking down has more magic flowing through it than I might channel in a day. It's a little overwhelming. Like walking on a high voltage power line.

When we first arrive in the courtyard, I almost don't notice, I'm so lost in tracking the mana. But doing so leads me to stare directly at the… transfer point? Source? The spot where most of it passes through, at least. It’s a great stone carved with runes, standing taller than my old apartment building, an obelisk that dominates the centre of the courtyard. In a way, it reminds me of the standing stones. The glowing glyphs carved into its surface are certainly similar. But instead of a circle of complementing rune-carved stone, this Nexus stands alone. It would be a mistake to think that means it's less complex though. Even a cursory inspection has me amazed at the number of glyphs overlapping each other.

There are a pair of Fallen in the courtyard standing in front of the obelisk, one of them wearing a set of leather armour that looks like it was designed for someone much shorter than her. Her companion is more suited to a battlefield, her thick armour painted in dark colours and adorned with what looks like skulls. They don’t seem to notice us, which isn’t a total surprise with all the other traffic in the area.

My eyes wander away from the two Fallen as I take in the rest of the courtyard. There's several small waterfalls and a series of steps leading up to the obelisk itself. The walls surrounding the courtyard are made of white marble engraved with gold leaf. No magic running through that though. Pure ornamentation.

As we move through the courtyard, we pass the Fallen. I look back at them, finding both of them watching the crowd. They don't seem particularly threatening, but then again, they're Fallen. It's been a long time since I've been afraid of Fallen. Even if I hadn't had a shot of moonshine this morning, I'd probably be fine.

"What do you think?" Rufka asks, catching my attention. Her smile makes my breath catch for a second.

Then I lean forward, giving her a peck on the lips. "It's amazing."

Rufka's smile is almost as bright as the sun setting behind us as she sneaks another kiss. Then she glances over at the obelisk. "You'll have to tell me how it works when we get inside."

"Oh? You think I've figured it out already?"

Rufka elbows me, chuckling as she asks, "You mean you haven't?"

Shaking my head, I give her a half smile as I reply, "Not even close." Not that I'm not interested. And now that she’s basically given me an excuse, I pause time, taking notes for later examination. Considering what I learned from the standing stones, I can only imagine what secrets the obelisk in front of me holds. After half a minute of real time, I've recorded everything I can from the obelisk. Which feels like nowhere near enough. There are depths I can’t reach with my current skills, buried under the complex web that makes up the surface.

Time to investigate it on the System side. As I connect to the Obelisk, I find most of the usual Nexus options, though notably it lists transport as restricted to Aetherium citizens. Which is different from System Citizens. Which would be inconvenient if I couldn't just teleport wherever I want.

Once I'm finished poking at the rather boring System functions of the obelisk, we take a short tour of the area. Genitha and Tipan work together as tour guides, as they coax us into the first alcove on the side of the courtyard. They take us past a dozen different landmarks, each with a System message attached, describing their significance. Mostly incidents with mana-warped beast swarms or old incursion threats, uncovered by someone stumbling across a ship buried for centuries. At every landmark, Genitha informs us of how it actually happened, and what was changed to keep people calm. And Tipan explains how she was taught, which is completely different from Genitha and the plaques. It's rather entertaining, and Rufka and I remain as mostly passive observers, snuggling as we learn about the history of the Aetherium. All three versions of it.

After having gone through dozens of exhibits, Genitha and Tipan are arguing back and forth as Genitha leads us to an open food court though there's no real heat in it. But once Tipan realizes where we’re going, she interjects. “I know a better spot.”

There’s almost a note of triumph in Tipan’s smile when Genitha bows her head, allowing Tipan to lead the way.

She takes us to a hidden food cart parked along a narrow walkway that runs towards the top of the outer palace wall. There's a long line but I'm so relaxed, I’m able to just enjoy my time with Rufka as we listen to Tipan elaborate on the logistics of getting enough fresh meat into the city for the entirety of Aethire's million plus population. Something Tipan's mother used to play a large role in before her most recent promotion. And apparently a lot of the rest of her family before her. It's nice to hear Tipan talking about Aethire. She's proud of the work her family's done here, and I can understand why.

When we're leaving the plaza, we come across a K'tharn who moves to block our path. She's short. And if not for the brace of daggers and unfamiliar symbol pinned to her bandoleer, I'd probably have guessed she was a child. Then again, maybe she is.

"Archmage," the K’tharn says, bowing slightly towards Genitha. Who just raises an eyebrow and steps to the side. I move to follow, but the K’tharn is already backpedaling, attempting to stay in front of Genitha.

"Archmage, I'm sorry to disturb you, but the K'mintar has requested your presence," the K'tharn manages to get out, all while shuffling backwards. That she does so without seeming awkward impresses me more than a little.

While I'm trying to figure out how exactly she's shuffling like that, Genitha asks, "And has the K'mintar forgotten the last time we spoke? She never did apologize."

The K'tharn doesn't miss a step, even when another pair of K'tharn come from the bridge, carrying a crate taller than they are and nearly walk into her. Instead, she just sidles to the other side of Genitha as she responds, "If you've spoken with the K'mintar, you know she doesn't apologize. You also know, I can't go back to her until you agree to come with me." I can hear the frustration in her voice as she says that, her ears flicking forward as she closes her upper eyes.

"Hmm. You're correct. What is your name?" Genitha asks as she leads us onto the bridge.

"My name?" the K'tharn asks, stumbling for the first time as she narrows all four eyes.

"Yes. Your name."

"I am Kellica of clan Pelmor," she says through clenched teeth. "Now, if you could come with me, please archmage?"

"Kellica? That's a beautiful name."

"Uhm. Thank you?" Kellica says, clearly confused at this point. I'm already chuckling though.

"So, Kellica of clan Pelmor. You said that you can't return without me, correct?" Genitha asks, stopping as we reach the far end of the bridge, allowing Kellica to stop dodging other K'tharn.

Instead of answering immediately, Kellica stares at Genitha for a few seconds. Then she nods slowly as she responds, "Yes. I can't return without you."

"It is unfortunate for you that we both know you can't force me to attend, isn't it? So, I suppose you had best inform your superior that you'll be going on a trip. If you perform well enough, I may even meet with your K'mintar," Genitha says, nodding as she reaches out and hands something to Kellica. "Meet my daughter here in two hours. Alone, please. No need for all your friends to join us."

As Genitha says this, a wave of mana passes through the area. It slips right over my glamour, but it disrupts no less than twelve other K'tharn who were in the area. All of whom jump as if they've been stung. Not that I don’t also jump at their sudden change.

Kellica's ears go flat as she crouches, all four hands reaching for daggers. So do several of the K'tharn who surround us. While I prepare to stop time, just in case, Genitha just raises her eyebrow at Kellica in response.

I have to stifle my chuckle when Kellica growls at one of the others, waving them closer. She steps away from us and we continue on our way. When we've made it to a familiar cross-street near Tipan's, Rufka turns to her mom. "Mum, why is she reporting to me."

At this, Genitha frowns. "If the K'mintar is trying to talk to me instead of sending someone to kidnap me... something serious is going on. And I'll need to talk to her. But not without some preparation."

"Okay... but that doesn't explain why she's reporting to me. She's just going to get in the way. I don't want a Taken following us around."

"Of course, you don't, kitten. But I forced her to follow you around anyway. Why?"

As Rufka narrows her eyes, I try to imagine what reason Genitha might have. Does she want us to befriend the Taken? Maybe learn her secrets? Does she want us to convince her to help us with something?

While I'm pondering, Rufka claps a hand over her face, dragging it downward over her eyes. Then she looks up at her mom. "You're kidding."

Genitha's smile gives me zero clue as to what Rufka's figured out.

Sighing, Rufka turns to me with her 'I'm sorry I stepped on your foot' smile. The one she used this morning when we were rising from bed. Morning's really not her best time of day. "So, I'm being punished."

"Ahem.”

"Sorry," Rufka rolls all four eyes, glaring at her mom for a second. "I'm being given an opportunity to learn a crucial life skill."

"Much better," Genitha says, squeezing Rufka's shoulder which earns her a grimace from Rufka. "And?"

Rolling her eyes, Rufka turns to me. "And I'd appreciate your help."

Genitha tilts her head to the side, regarding Rufka. "Not what I was going for, but... it's an excellent idea kitten."

"Mum, I'm not a kitten," Rufka complains even as she leans into Genitha's scratching behind her ears.

Trying not to let my smile show (and failing horribly) I clasp Rufka's hand in mine. "I'd love to help."

It's not like I was going to ignore the super spy that had been thrust into our lives anyway.

Absolutely no way this could all go wrong.

Nope. None at all.

A note from Draith

Were there supposed to be words here?

Ravensdagger has werds. Lots and lots of words. Probably too many.

One of my absolute favourite stories is Stray Cat Strut, by Ravensdagger. It's about a one-armed, one-eyed crippled orphan girl in a dystopian Cyberpunk future who gets an AI in her head that lets her buy all sorts of goodies by killing oodles of plant-aliens that are invading earth.

It's fun, funny, action-packed and generally just tickles my joy-bones. Joy-bones are like funny bones, but better, because they don't make you feel any bad tinglies.

...TPWM 2.08, The Taken known as...

January 27, 2019, 10:22 pm

With a new companion joining us, we're not able to leave as I'd kinda been planning once we were finished with our tour of the palace. So, instead, we head to a late-night market. The same one that was overcrowded with Desh'mersa fans earlier. This time, when we arrive, the crowd is much calmer, though there's still a decent amount of themed trinkets for sale. Even a little hat that looks like a toque from home. Except the headwear has two little ear flaps on it. I suspect those are more functional than purely decorative like they'd be on earth. I'm almost tempted to buy it for Rufka to see if it works.

Hmmm.

A few seconds later, I find myself talking with the owner of the stall. It costs me an entire iron rank essence, but I'm soon the proud owner of one Desh'mersa themed toque.

While I'm making my purchase, Rufka's eyes keep sweeping the area. On guard for Kellica, I imagine. Or other Taken. Either way, it makes it much easier for me to plop her new toque straight on her head. The jump and spin is almost as funny as the way she gasps when she realizes it was me.

She's not usually such an easy target.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up," Rufka says, reaching up to remove the toque.

But I step forward, tugging it down. Which earns me a look, Rufka focusing her lower eyes on me. It's adorable, so I give her a peck on the lips and finish my adjustments. "There, all sports teamed up."

Her hands drift up to tug on the ears, and a few seconds later, I see the left one flick. Then the right.

It really is designed for K'tharn ears.

"Ugh. I hate these," Rufka says, reaching up to tug at her ears again.

"Well, I think it's cute," I say, holding one of the earpieces out for her to get it fitted properly.

As if agreeing with me, Smoulder emerges from her pocket to leap directly atop Rufka's head. Rufka runs a hand down her face as Smoulder settles in, locking the hat firmly in place.

Failing to hide my smile, I turn away only to notice Kellica approaching. She's staring at Rufka, cause of course she is. Rufka's damn adorable.

Sliding my arm into Rufka's, I turn her towards the Taken agent. Rufka doesn't even flinch, smiling at Kellica as she approaches.

"What?" Kellica starts to ask but she trails off.

Not bothering to give her time to think about it, Rufka reaches a hand forward. "Since we're officially going to be working together, what should I call you? I'm Rufka."

Instead of taking Rufka's hand, Kellica stares at her headwear for another second. When she finally recovers, she states, with the most serious expression I've seen today, "You may use my agent name. The Darkest Arrow to Pierce the Night."

Thankful I was already laughing before she approached, I giggle again.

Rufka's even more amused than I am, given the way her eyes angle and mouth twitches. "Yeah... that's not happening."

"Fine. Then you may refer to me as Kellica of clan Pelmor," Kellica tries, finally realizing she's been ignoring Rufka's hand and reaching to shake it.

When they grasp hands, Rufka pulls Kellica forward a step. "Nah. I think I'll just call you Kell. That's okay, right?"

The taken agent seems startled by Rufka's approach, but I'm still fighting back laughter, so I doubt I'm the best judge.

Rufka continues to interrogate Kellica about her expectations and skills while I sit back. Shortly after it's revealed that Kellica's good at invisibility and... cooking.

Even as Genitha and Tipan are walking up from where they were shopping, Kellica is frowning at Rufka, her lip twitching as she says, "I'm serious. Look, put me in a kitchen with a three-elements burner and I'll make you the best Kultori you've ever had."

"Uhm. What's Kultori?" Rufka asks, glancing in my direction. Though I note she doesn't move her head much, keeping Smoulder properly balanced.

Responding with a shrug, I decide Smoulder needs some scritches. So, while Rufka turns back to Kellica, I float up just high enough to pet Smoulder. She leans into my hand as Kellica explains the dish, "It's a traditional mix of smoked condor meat, veltha root and spices served in a long-bowl. You've seriously never had Kultori?"

Kellica seems legitimately upset by this. More upset than when Genitha told her that she'd have to work for Rufka for two weeks to get a meeting.

In response, Rufka just shrugs. "Nope."

And with that she turns to me. "So, I guess we're not going back to Raz's."

"We're not?" I reply, my attention diverted from Smoulder as I look at Rufka, then over to Kellica.

"Don't really want to spoil the place by bringing a Taken there," Rufka explains, one of her hands coming up to tug slightly at the toque.

Personally, I'm not worried about taking her to Raz's. But I guess if Rufka doesn't want her there, we can always teleport somewhere else... or stay at Tipan's. As I look toward Tipan, she gives me a short shake of her head. Okay, not Tipan's.

"We can take her to Theria's," Genitha states, pointing with a carved object that has spinning bits on it. I'm not sure if it's an attempt at misdirection, cause she's pointing in a direction more south than towards where I thought Theria lives. "In fact, that will work quite well. Perhaps we should arrange for Beth to meet us there?"

"I can just pick them up," I reply even as Genitha starts strolling in the direction she was pointing.

"At a later date, perhaps. We wouldn't want you getting exhausted," she says, turning her head just enough to wink at me.

It takes me longer than it should to realize she's trying to hide my capabilities from Kellica. For some reason, I feel at ease around Kellica. Hmm. Wonder if she has some special ability.

I narrow my eyes, staring at Kellica while trying to discern if there's any magic affecting me. But my mana-sense can't pick up anything. Not that I'm perfect. But even pausing time and inspecting carefully reveals nothing.

As insurance, I decide to attach an IFF tether to her. This way she won't be able to disappear without me knowing where she is. It'll make her easier to teleport anyway. Even as I'm establishing the link, Rufka is talking to the same merchant I bought her hat off. A minute later, she turns around, her grin stretched out to dangerous territory.

With a lightning-fast lunge, Rufka strikes, her hands bringing a warm fuzzy material down over my ears. As I recover from her assault, I reach up to discover a hat that I'm sure is much like her own. Rufka's face droops slightly as she looks at me, reaching up to play with one of the ears.

"Vaus' tits. I forgot... the ears," Rufka says, stepping to the side.

Right. Cause I don't have any. But that doesn't mean they have to stay that way. It only takes a tiny amount of wind magic to fill the hat's ears. But I don't stop there, sending my new cat ears flopping in every direction. Including several that normal K'tharn ears couldn't pull off.

"That's just weird," Rufka states, pulling me in for a quick kiss. She plays with my hat's ear for a moment, trying to twist it away from me. We spend a few seconds playing tug of war with my hat-ear before Rufka chuckles. "But then, that's why're you're not like any-user else."

Unable to keep myself from blushing, I look down to see that her lower hands are holding another of the hats. "What's the second one for?" I ask, using the hat as a diversion.

"Oh, right." Rufka turns toward Kellica, holding the hat menacingly.

Kellica just raises an eyebrow, taking the hat from Rufka and setting it on her head with a couple quick tugs.

I'm unable to hold in my laughter at the way Rufka goes slack jawed in response. She recovers quickly, nodding at Kellica as she paces around her, humming while rubbing her chin. Kellica just stands in place as Rufka continues her inspection. While they're doing that, Tipan returns from making her own purchase. She has a similar hat, though hers has a different team on it.

"Wanted to get in on the fun?" I tease, elbowing Tipan lightly.

"I did. Though I had to search to find one with the South Tribune's logo. They're not as popular here," Tipan replies, showing me the embroidered symbol of three triangles on a circle, all pointed down. "Cost twice as much, but it was worth it. I also got this." She holds up a ring with the same symbol.

"A ring? Didn't know they did rings," I reply, my eyes drifting over to where Rufka is searching through the vendors while Kellica stands just behind her. Pretty sure Rufka is trying to find something that Kellica will be embarrassed by.

"Not just a ring. It's a team spirit ring!"

Tipan's bold statement gets me to turn back to her right as she's slipping the ring on. There's a half second where the colour of her disguise flickers white, almost going out, but then it's replaced by a bright neon-pink and green combination. It's incredibly flashy. And it gets everyone's attention.

Including Genitha's.

"Okay kittens, I think that's enough playing around. We should get going."

Genitha's proclamation stops Rufka who was only two steps away from Tipan with a massive grin on her face. The grin fades as we turn to follow her mum. I slip my arm around her, and a bit of her smile returns as she gives me a quick peck on the cheek.

Genitha leads us towards the Edge, and while Tipan tells us about the Southern Tribune's great win four years ago, I receive a message from Rufka reminding me we shouldn't take Kellica back to Raz's and that her mum thinks we should go to Theria's. Sending her a confirmation, I follow Genitha into a small, abandoned cabin that's perched right at the edge. Once inside, everyone gathers in a circle. Except Kellica, who's standing off to the side, looking at an abandoned mirror that someone left behind.

"Who do you think-"

Kellica is cut off by Rufka who huffs out, "Get your sneaky ass over here."

Setting down the mirror, Kellica walks closer, her eyes darting around the room. "Why are we here? Is this location-"

Before I can get distracted, I pause time, using the moment to check, then re-check my spell. Then once I'm sure everyone is close enough, and everything is safe... I check it again. Twice.

Mostly sure of myself, I send us off to the Standing Stones. The same Standing Stones where we first arrived on Akilo.

The spell goes through without a problem, each of us arriving safe and sound.

I look out past us, and I can't help but smile when I see the giant dinosaur munching on leaves in the distance. My peaceful moment is ruined, by the sound of Kellica losing her lunch.

Ah, well. Not everyone can handle nature.

A note from Draith

Apparently, I forgot to schedule the chapter. I blame this on forgetting that yesterday was Wednesday. And that today is Thursday. Whoops.

Today's shoutout is from my friend Eligos. It's the kindle release of re:Monarch a timeloop dark(ish) fantasy story without a fixed loop. And without the main character ever being in control of the loop. I enjoyed the crap out of it when it was on RR. It's also on audiobook. It's good stuff.

If you're into that kind of thing.

...TPWM 2.09, Higher Heights...

January 28, 2019, 1:03 am.

While we wait for Kellica to recover, I continue to look around the clearing, dropping my glamour. The grass inside the circle of standing stones is still a lively green, but outside the stones, the grass has been replaced by a thin layer of snow. Guess winter's come to the Reaches. That doesn't seem to bother the Zanbia outside, it's long neck stretching to shake loose the snow from a nearby tree as it takes in another mouthful of covered leaves.

Leaves that I realize probably should've fallen by now. I guess trees handle snow differently here. Maybe they're magical?

Before I have time to investigate the nature of the trees, Genitha floats into the air, lifting us with her. Even Kellica, who hasn't recovered from the teleportation is hoisted alongside us. Then we're soaring over the forest towards a spire of rock on the north side of the river.

It doesn't interfere too much, and I'm able to analyze the tree the Zanbia is using for it's snack.

“Plant analyzed: Unnamed marcesceen tree. Gene seed D. A tree with passing similarities to trees from earth that uses mana to protect it's leaves from the cold. It can be used for mortal and iron grade crafting. Resistant to ice magics. Grants limited resistance to ice-derived concepts. Makes excellent firewood once dried."

"Unfortunately, it's defences are useless against the Zanbia."

I was right! It does use mana. And it's resistant to ice! Ha! Point for Alexis, which leaves me at... I've lost count, but another point for me! Nature's probably still winning.

The journey to Theria's is smooth, and I lose myself in memories as I look over the area we arrived in a mere two weeks earlier. Special attention is given to the church. It was my first attempts to change things with my stoneworking powers... and it shows. Definitely going to have to revisit it. Maybe fix it up a bit. Oh, and check out the door.

My main focus though is definitely going to be fixing up the church.

The edifice that houses Theria's home soon fills my vision, and I'm brought back to the present. It's one of those stacks of rock that stick out of the earth. A... yeah, I don't remember the word. Right, it's an atoll. I think. And if this was earth, I'd be worried about the whole thing falling over. But I can see traces of mana flowing out of vents along the sides of the tower. I wonder if the mana formed the tower. Like a volcano, but instead of tectonic forces, it's all earth and stone mana.

I haven't seen mana act like that on it's own. But maybe there's a creature or something? I'll need to ask Genitha later.

Speaking of Genitha, she's shouting something about the time Rufka lost all her fur on the right side of her body when she was a cub. Honestly, it seems Rufka's lost her fur a lot.

The tale continues, telling us of Rufka's decision to tame a fire elemental. And her refusing to give up just because she'd 'lost some fur'. I can't help but look over at her with a smile. But her ears are back and she's looking away from everyone. Overriding Genitha's spell, I float closer to Rufka and take her hand, giving it a squeeze. She shakes, then glances over at me. When she see me, Rufka squeezes back, her ears standing up.

Just in time for her mom to tell us that Rufka succeeded in taming the fire elemental. By letting her fur get burned off while spraying it with water. Repeatedly.

"What happened to it?" I ask Rufka, noting that I haven't seen a pet fire elemental.

"Squish is living in a mana-vent a few hours north of here," Rufka answers, her eyes gazing off into the distance.

"Squish?"

"I was five..."

"Still. Squish?"

Rufka just shrugs and I pull her closer to give her a quick peck on the cheek as I chuckle. Then we remain close as Genitha guides us in to land on a clearing halfway up the jagged tower of rock. It feels sturdier than the outside structure made it look. And for some reason, despite having just spent a day in a city suspended by nothing but bone and magic, part of me is worried it could collapse at any moment. Maybe that's why, when Genitha sets us down, I continue floating just a touch off the surface.

Which is when Kellica turns to stare at me. Not sure if it's cause I'm floating or just cause I dropped my disguise. Either way, I just wave at her before following Genitha towards a blank wall. As I step closer, the wall shimmers and fades. On the other side is a valley that must fill the entire structure. In fact, it looks like it extends through several levels. On the sides are terraced plots, with all sorts of greenery growing on them. Unlike outside, they're completely unaffected by the winter cold.

It's much warmer inside the glimmering illusion that hides the valley, and I'm suspecting it does more than prevent a casual eye from noticing the valley. Despite that, none of the stonework in the valley seems to have been crafted using magic.

Gentiha has us wait on a small circle of stone near the illusion until another K'tharn makes their way toward us. They're not flying. In fact, they're walking slowly, pausing to inspect one of the terraced fields next to the path before they continue towards us. Eventually, they reach the top, taking a moment to look us all over before stretching their arms wide towards Rufka.

Stepping forward, Rufka wraps her arms around the dark brown K'tharn, mumbling something. The only words I catch are 'good' and 'Theria'. Then they break their hug and Rufka begins introductions. And the K'tharn is indeed Rufka's friend Theria. As they continue talking, I notice that Genitha's usual levity is missing when she addresses Theria.

I'm not sure if she's being more respectful, or if it's something else.

No matter the reason, I decide it's not important. What's important is that Theria is giving us a tour of her place, pointing out the hard work she and her guests put in to her home. I feel kind of singled out when she says, "Everything here was built by hand, free of the System and Mana."

"You still use mana for your wards," Genitha notes, and I hear the same edge Rufka uses when she disagrees with someone, but doesn't want to completely call them out.

Something she doesn't use on me. She tried it once after we'd been cuddling and I told her to just tell me what was wrong. And that's why I don't... actually, that's kinda private.

"Of course we use mana for wards," Theria says, not pausing. "For a lot of things. Mana is a tool to be used. But you know the valley's not just for growing food."

This seems to catch Kellica's attention, because she asks, "Then what is it for?"

At this, Theria smiles, showing enough teeth she could be challenging an old clan matriarch for domination of their clan. "Excellent question. What could a hidden valley where we don't use mana be for?"

Kellica starts answering, throwing out theories. Theria lets her talk, but only hums in response. I can hear Kellica's frustration growing. And I can hear Rufka's soft chuckling. I elbow her softly and Rufka messages me.

[R] "Theria does this to everyone. It's like an initiation."

[A] "She's not doing it to me."

[R] "Cause you're my thiani."

I can feel my cheeks warming as Rufka pulls me into a kiss when she sends the last message.

We make it down to a central fire as Theria plays Kellica along. They're not just talking about mana usage, but the nature of plants and the meaning of life. Which somehow has something to do with mangos? Seems weird to me.

The fire is being tended by a chitinous creature with four legs, it's upper body set in the middle of the legs. Like one of those cranes that unfold for stability. It looks armed for war, the upper limbs boasting serrated edges and each of it's joints having massive spikes. It turns it's surprisingly soft looking eyes towards us, blinking as we get closer. It's focused on me, I realize as we stop.

I give it a timid wave.

As if I poked it with a stick, the murder-bug jumps away. Then runs into a long low building not far away.

"Ah. You'll have to forgive Ckichik. He's had some bad experiences with mancers," Theria says, giving a small nod in my direction.

How did he... looking down, I realize I'm still floating. With a blush, I allow myself to set foot on the packed stone surrounding the fireplace. Another person comes by, though they keep their distance from the burning fire. Which makes sense, given that they look more bark than flesh. In a way completely different from Theria.

They talk to Theria for a moment. At least, I think it's talking. It sounds more like wind blowing through the trees than any words I can pick out. But Theria responds in Vausian. "Thank you, Thistle. We have a mage here who might be able to help with your blockage in the morning, if you'd like."

There's some more rustling from the plant-person, who I guess is named Thistle.

"Very good. Tomorrow then." At this, the plant person bows towards Theria, then steps off to the side, still well away form the fire.

"Thistle has prepared beds for you. Genitha, tea?"

At that, Genitha nods, then turns back to us. "We'll talk in the morning. But for tonight, rest."

She and Theria go around the far side of the fire, leaving us with Thistle. She makes a warm sound and waves us to follow. At least, that's the best interpretation I can make of the way her fronds bend.

After guiding us inside a nearby lean-to, which is actually more sturdy looking than the tower this whole valley is resting inside, Thistle waves goodbye. Left to our own devices, Smoulder emerges as I claim one of the bigger hammocks set in the shade of the lean-to.

Tipan grabs the hammock next to me, which causes Rufka and I to look at her. But she's already turned over, her pulling her floppy hat over her eyes.

Kellica takes the hammock on her other side, her eyes fixed on us as she settles down. Her glare is undercut by the fact she's still wearing her hat from earlier. In fact, we're all still wearing our hats. Pulling mine off, I stop as Rufka pouts at me. Rolling my eyes, I put my hat back on, then settle in. But it's not that easy.

"What are you?" Kellica asks.

"Me? I'm an elvenoid, can't you tell?"

"Not that. Your class. I can't read it."

This gets Tipan's attention as she pulls the hat away before sitting up. "You can read classes? Isn't that... right. Taken."

"What?" I ask.

Tipan shifts enough to smile our way as she responds, "The ability to read classes is restricted. Which clearly the Taken aren't affected by."

"Wait, so you can read their classes?" I ask, tilting my head as I stare at Kellica.

Instead of answering, Kellica squints at me, closing her upper eyes. Then she shakes her head and leans back.

But Rufka's not having that. "Hey, Lexi asked you a question."

"Yes. I can see your class, Astra's Chosen," Kellica answers, turning to Rufka. "Yours and the Stormcallers. But your thiani's is just a bunch of nonsense symbols."

"Cause she's special," Rufka states, pulling me tight against her.

"Uhh. Astra's Chosen sounds pretty special," I note, looking at Rufka.

"It is," Tipan says, staring at Rufka. "There's only ever one Astra's Chosen."

"It's not that great," Rufka says, waving Tipan away.

Kellica comes closer, sitting on Tipan's hammock, which Tipan grumbles at but otherwise just pulls her feet to the side. "It's pretty strong. But not specialized. It basically guarantees you'll get a truly unique class if you can progress it."

"Tell you what. You tell us your class, and I'll tell you mine," I offer, crossing my arms and staring at Kellica.

"Wait, really?" Kellica glances between us. "Just like that?"

"It's just a class name," I say, shrugging.

"Yes... but..." Kellica squints again, looking between us.

"Look, you're going to be spending the next two weeks with us. And I doubt we'll be sitting still for most of that. Knowing more about each other is going to be important," I say. I don't mention that my class's name isn't going to tell her anything about me she doesn't already know.

Her fingers curl into fists before straightening out while Kellica looks away. Finally she balls them up, turning to look directly in my eyes with her lower ones. "Fine. I'm a venom mage."

She sits there with her hands curled into balls, like she's expecting us to attack her.

"Huh. Neat." Not sure why she's so tense.

"Really?" Tipan asks, making Kellica twitch. Then Tipan reaches over and takes Kellica's hand. "That must be tough."

Whatever reaction I expected the Taken agent to have to Tipan's comment, I did not expect her to start crying.

Guess sleep's going to wait.

A note from Draith

Author's notes for the win! Life and stuff! Also things!

Oh right. This week's shoutout

This weeks shoutout is gonna be quick. Unlike the story, which for a speedrun, is surprisingly in-depth.

And barely uses any movement glitches.

Hate the MC, love everything else.

Yep. This weeks shoutout is for Speedrunning the Multiverse

...TPWM 2.10, How Do You Like Them Poisoned Apples...

January 28, 2019, 2:16 am.

In the hammock just in front of Rufka and I, Tipan holds Kellica as the Taken agent wipes her eyes. Her tears didn't last long, but she seems embarrassed that we saw them, if the flatness of her ears is anything to go by. Or maybe she's angry we saw. Could be both. Either way, she's not shrugging out of Tipan's arms, so I'm sure she'll be okay.

"Sorry," Kellica says, looking at Tipan. "That's... no one's..."

Tipan just nods as I look to Rufka in confusion. Rufka's shrug isn't very helpful. But it does prompt Kellica to say more. "Venom mages are... it's assumed we're all evil. Even in the Taken, those with a Venom class are shunned."

"And they'd all know," Rufka states, nodding in understanding.

"Worst part is the Taken insist that some of us become Venom Mages," Kellica spits, then she shakes her head. "Anyway. I'm sorry, I... think I need to get some sleep."

"Didn't you want to know about my class?"

Kellica pauses, her hand on the pole holding Tipan's hammock in place as she looks back at me. Then she shakes her head. "It can wait till tomorrow."

With that Kellica returns to her hammock, turned away from us. As I turn away, I notice her take the hat Rufka bought and pull it into her arms.

I do the same, except instead of a hat, I pull Rufka close. Wishing her goodnight, I pass into sleep the moment I've leaned back.

...TPWM...

I wake to terror and flames.

Rufka is lying next to me, screaming as half her fur burns away. Tipan's lying metres away, picking herself up as she looks around. I follow her cue, pausing time as I search for our attacker. I'm not able to see anyone. The only people here are the same people who went to bed last night. Kellica is struggling to get free of her hammock as the lean-to burns above us.

At least that's easily dealt with. A minor flex of mana douses the flames.

When I drop out of pause, I slip down next to Rufka, who's screams pierce me to my core. I want to pull her close to me... but the burns along her side are-

Before I can process what happened, Rufka stops screaming. She's still burned, but now she's just shaking her head. Then she smiles at me. Which isn't quite as charming as normal, what with the melted flesh. "Well, that was unpleasant."

Then she slumps down.

I just about have a heart attack, preparing to teleport her directly to Roberts when white light washes over her body. When the light fades, she's coughing, but the burns and melted flesh have all returned to normal. I kneel down, tentatively touching her, just to confirm she's okay. And thanking whatever just happened that she's not pained by my touch.

"Well. That was unpleasant," Rufka notes, trying to give me a smile. But it's broken by another cough. "Remind me not to poke you when you're sleeping."

...

"What?" I ask, my face going cold. "Are you... I did this? To you?"

"It's no big deal. I'm fine. See? My furs back and everything." Even as she's speaking, her fur starts filling in. Leaving her just as I saw her before bed.

"How... what... how..." despite all my supposed Intellect, I'm unable to process Rufka's response to what just happened.

"That's some impressive healing magic. How'd you do that?" Kellica asks while stomping on a small ember I missed.

"One of mum's tattoos. Required the blood of a trugunta, I think? Only works once a day, but it's pretty great, right?"

Kellica nods in agreement while I'm still fixated on the source of this mess. Me.

There's a conversation in the background as I wander away. I'm halfway out of the valley before a hand lands on my arm. It's Rufka. I flinch away from her.

Immediately, I regret it, her eyes widening at my response. Then she shakes her head. "First time blowing up your thiani in your sleep, huh?"

That manages to get my attention.

"You say that like you've done it too," I observe, still not trusting myself to get too close to her.

"Not me. But Dhanni did it to me three times before she got used to sleeping next to someone."

"This never happened before," I point out. "Not with us. And I didn't wake up throwing spells. I woke up to you screaming."

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Are you... Apologizing for screaming after I burnt half your face off?"

"Yep. I normally have better control. You just surprised me."

"Rufka. That's... That's not normal."

"I know! I'm just that awesome!"

At this point, I can't stop myself from face-palming. On the plus side Rufka has somehow made me feel better about setting her on fire. Guess she really is that awesome.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you," I say, giving her a long side look.

"Did what? Got blown up by you? Total accident," Rufka says, all four of her hands interwoven behind her head.

This time, I decide to poke her. Just to see if she'll explode. But the only explosion I get from her, is an explosion of laughter. Probably for the best.

When I look around, I realize we've walked all the way to the outer edge of the valley. I can see the smoldering remains of the lean-to. And Tipan and Kellica working to set up a new one. Without using magic.

"We should probably help," I suggest, gesturing at the others.

"Probably. Let's walk instead," Rufka says, turning along a path that runs along the upper rim of the valley. And then ignoring it as she leaps to the top of a stone post. Then to a wooden railing that shakes under her as she glances back at me.

I smile at her, embracing the challenge of following in her wake. Without using magic. A task that would have been impossible to do two weeks ago. Before I've landed on the log behind her, she's shot off, leading me around the rim. And then Smoulder's running beside us. She doesn't follow Rufka's trail, making her own way. I don't use magic as I follow behind, counting on my increased attributes to carry me. For all of a minute.

Smoulder and Rufka keep having to stop to wait for me, so I start cheating. Just a little. A slight lift with wind manipulation while dancing across a field of rocky outcroppings. Or making the mud patch grip my foot so I can't slide off the slimy log.

We've circled the valley twice before Rufka changes tack, and turns it into a game of tag.

This time I have to cheat to even get close to her. And once I've finally tagged her, she calls a timeout by drawing me into a kiss. One that's interrupted by Smoulder landing on my head.

"Feel better?" Rufka asks, resting her head on my shoulder. "Not afraid to hold me, right?"

"I... no, I guess not," I reply, realizing she'd managed to make me use my magic just to catch up to her. And now I was holding her like I hadn't just...

"It was an accident Lexi. These things happen when users get sudden spikes of power. And we've had lots of those lately. We just need to be prepared. We need some healing talismans. Maybe mum has extras. Or we can go shopping for some. I've got a bunch of essence left over."

I'm unable to respond, my throat tight as I rest my head on Rufka's shoulder, matching her stance. Which sets Smoulder tumbling. She looks up at me, but instead of the indignation I expect, I can feel Smoulder's worry.

It makes me smile as I release Rufka, kneeling down to apologize to Smoulder. "Sorry, Smoulder. Set something on fire I shouldn't have."

Smoulder sends me reassurance. I don't think she understands why, but she knows I'm upset. And that's all that's important. Yet somehow, her action jogs loose the memory of when I'd woken up to her trying to burn down our room. And failing utterly to hurt me.

Rufka kneels down next to me, holding a snack for Smoulder. Smoulder accepts her tribute, and I can feel her smugness return as Rufka fawns over her.

While Smoulder and Rufka play, I hop down to the lean-to, copying Rufka's earlier leaping. I do it poorly, but flying feels wrong here. Or maybe I'm just not in that much of a hurry.

Either way, I arrive to find Tipan and Kellica have already sorted out the remains. As I step closer, Kellica looks at me with a smirk fixed in place as she says, "I guess I should've asked for your class name if this is what happens when you keep things pent up."

Tipan barks out a laugh, covering her mouth as she looks to Kellica. Who, I realize, is still wearing the hat from last night.

"You know," I start, kicking lightly at a piece of charred wood that escaped most of... whatever happened. "You might have a point there."

That stops Kellica's grin.

I can't fight the smile as I turn to her, arms spread wide. "After all. I am a Cataclysm Seed!"

The way her jaw drops, almost makes up for not having a place to sleep for the rest of the night.

Right as Kellica is about to respond, a stray ray of light breaks into the valley, causing her to turn away swearing. When I look to the source, expecting to maybe see Rufka or Genitha, I instead discover that the eastern wall is a mosaic of crystal, with each part of it directing light to different parts of the valley. Where Kellica has been standing would've been the side of our lean-to. And based on the way the light is striking some of the other buildings, it was probably supposed to function as an internal light source. The design is really cool. And would be super impractical if you couldn't form mirrors with a wave of your hand.

Even as Kellica is recovering, I begin playing with creating a light tower to scatter the incoming beam of light. I get a little lost in the process, forgetting entirely that we're not supposed to use magic here. Until a hand lands on my shoulder.

Looking up, I find Theria staring at me with her right eyebrows raised. Then my eyes drift to the tower I've erected where the lean-to once stood. It's already a dozen meters tall. Maybe more.

"Sorry, got carried away," I say, stretching out to take the tower back down. But Theria's grip on my shoulder tightens, stopping me.

"It's quite alright. Using magic for art is one of the few things I encourage here."

Looking at the tower, I tilt my head to the side. I suppose it could be considered art. The pair of Smoulder statues at the base were the only real flourish I put into the tower though. The rest was mostly just playing with different ways I could reflect the light. Turns out that when you can generate pretty much any metal, stone or other mineral, you can make lots of different reflective surfaces.

Which is good. Cause I have zero idea how mirrors were made back on Earth.

"Your mum wanted me to remind you that you need to pick up your companions for a meeting," Theria says, and for a second I'm confused. My mom shouldn't be anywhere within a hundred lightyears of us. Then I realize she's talking about Genitha.

"She's not my... I'm not even a K'tharn," I mutter.

"She's already calling you her kitten. You might as well accept it," Theria says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "I've rarely met a woman as stubborn as her."

As she releases me, she gets a far off look in her eye as she mumbles, "Or one so vigorous."

If I wasn't embarrassed before, I am now. I let Rufka know I'm going to collect the others through a quick text, and with only the minimum triple checks to ensure safety, I teleport away.

Arriving beneath the tree of Nexus point 392, I take a moment to ready myself. Then I access the Nexus, calling for Raz's door.

When I step through, I'm greeted by the familiar sound of Raz's guitar. Then, as I'm turning towards our table, I'm stopped by a familiar bug. The same one who's been bumping me every time we've passed each other.

I'm not familiar with his species body language. But I feel that having several friends around him, all with their weapons drawn and pointed in my general direction indicates some level of hostility towards me.

Not exactly the welcome I'd been expecting.

A note from Draith

Werds and stuff. 14 hour work days are hard. Do not recommend. By the time you read this, I'll be starting on the next round. Assuming you read it immediately.

...TPWM 2.11, Tabled Meetings...

January 29, 2019, 8:11am. Three seconds after meeting big and ugly, face to face.

Thanks to my ability to pause time, I have more than enough time to start building up three different levels of hurt. Then I take a look around. There are a lot of people here. I can't exactly unload. As I'm inspecting the scenario further, I realize most of the other bug people aren't with big and ugly.

Their eyes are locked on the door.

When I allow time to resume, the bug person barks something at me I don't understand. We stand there for a moment. Then he takes a swing. Hasting myself lets me easily dodge out of the way with a blast of wind magic. But he manages to catch me across the face with one of his outstretched hands, shaving off a few health. Throwing up a basic shield, I toss out a crackling arrow of lightning which only causes him to stutter for a second before reaching forward and smashing straight through my shield to knock me down to half health. I'm about to conjure a wall of titanium when the tentacled waitress, Amanana, shows up, waving a pair of tentacles in the bug person's face while spotting more of the sharp hisses and clicks back at them.

Then she turns to me, my arm already coated in a thick layer of titanium. "Terribly sorry about that Alexis. There's been some trouble and Raz has needed to..." she trails off, glancing at the bug people behind her. "Thekill's being overprotective. Not everyone's been as polite as they should be. And… he might have a thing against elvenoids. Raz will compensate you for the trouble."

"It's fine," I say, though I glare at the bugman. Still, I understand she's not responsible, so I follow her towards our table. Where I'm surprised to find everyone else waiting for me. They're not even facsimiles generated by the table. Because for some reason, they're not sitting at the CMCC System table.

And when I get closer, it's apparent they're arguing.

Which thankfully, Roberts explains in a single sentence, though its directed at Beth, "we don't have a choice. You read the System notification. The table's been confiscated."

"I... Oh, hey kid, when did you get here?" Beth asks, glancing over from where she's squeezing the edge of the replacement table.

"Uh. Just arrived. Feels like I missed something. What happened to our table?"

Beth turns away, but I can hear her grinding her teeth as Roberts answers, "The System said the table had been confiscated. By order of someone named Doloth, in accordance with some Creator mandate. You didn't get the notification?"

"Not so much, no."

"That's okay, I didn't get a notification either," Rose says, leaning forward on the table from his spot next to Josh. It's a little hard to take him seriously, he's just so cute. He's even got his fur done up in little braids along either side of his face.

"We've established that your System's not working right, though," Josh observes. "The rest of us got the notification. I wonder why-"

I hold up my hand as I feel a notification pop up.

"By order of Doloth, the CMCC has been confiscated, under Creator mandate KED-717. As this was a reward for a System Citizen quest, compensation has been determined to be ten iron-rank integration points. Or one of the System generated options of similar value, claimable at any System Nexus."

"Wow. Only ten integration points?" I ask, reading the notification again.

"Yeah. But you should read what the 'equivalent options' are," Josh says, unable to keep the grin off his face.

Raising an eyebrow, I pop open the linked list. The very first choice in the list is a plus ten to physical Edge. Not health. Physical. And the choices get stranger from there.

"What the hell is plus one-hundred resistance to System influence even supposed to mean?" I ask as I sit down at the end of the table.

"What? Did anyone understand what Alexis just said?" Beth asks, waving her arm in my direction.

"I said-" but that's as far as I get before Beth holds her hand up. "Don't bother. I won't understand you anyway. This is what I'm talking about. First it takes the table away. Now it won't let us discuss our options. Doesn't that seem strange?"

Roberts steeple his fingers, tapping then against his chin as he meets Beth's glare. "Strange. Yes. But you didn't say strange. You said it was attacking us."

Beth continues glaring at Roberts for another few seconds before slumping down in her chair.

Even as she's doing so, I've already selected the plus one-hundred resistance to System Influence. Cause I'm pretty sure that's what just happened. And I suspect it's not each other that the System is trying to keep us from informing. As I expected, the resistance doesn't show up on my Status.

"Right. So, losing the table sucks," I say drawing everyone's attention. "But Genitha's got those dungeon locations you wanted."

"Finally, some good news. That's what she wants us to meet about?" Beth asks as she accepts a glass of blue juice from Amanana.

"Yep. I was just supposed to swing by to pick you guys up. But it seems like there's been some excitement on this end."

"Not as exciting as going to Aethire. What was it like?" Rose asks, popping the question immediately after being handed his own drink.

"Uhm. Pretty cool. I'll tell you about it later. Everyone's kinda waiting on us."

"The kid's right. Let's get moving people. We can... I guess we can't talk about the table later. Fuck. Whatever."

Beth slams her drink back, leaving the glass to wobble on the table as she pushes out of her seat. The others follow suit, finishing their own drinks, though none in quite as dramatic a fashion.

Before I know it, we're back at the exit. Amanana is there as we leave, ushering us past the guards as she says, "Uhm. If the next time you try to connect, it doesn't go through, wait a few minutes then try again. We're aware of the issue and we're working on it. Okay, bye!"

Before any of us can respond, she's gone, disappearing behind the wall of bug flesh and chitin.

"Well, that's not worrying. First the bar fight, then the table, now Raz's itself," Roberts says, shaking his head as we step out amongst the roots of Nexus Point 392.

"Plus we haven't seen Raz since this all started," Josh points out.

"Are you sure Aethire was more exciting," I ask Rose as everyone takes their positions around me.

"I mean, I didn't even get to see the bar fight. Heard Beth just about killed a few people though," Rose replies with a shrug.

"They were fine. Just a few broken bones. And they started it. Should've left me-" Beth's words are lost to whatever lies between spaces as I complete my preparations and we appear in the clearing at the edge of Theria's valley.

Didn't feel right teleporting them to the center of the valley, so Rufka is waiting close to where we arrived. Three of her. Two of which I'm able to determine are just glamours. When I pull the real Rufka close without a second's hesitation, she pouts for a moment before saying, "Welcome back. Mum's waiting with Theria." To me, she adds in a low voice, "you could've at least played along."

Booping her nose, I can't help but give her a kiss on the cheek as she wiggles her nose before I respond. "Beth'd probably kill us if we mess around too much right now. Sorry."

"Ah," Rufka says, glancing over at where Beth is arguing with Josh in hushed tones. I can't help but notice that they haven't held hands once since I showed up.

Still, that's not my place. They're adults. I'm sure they have a better idea of how to handle their relationship than I do. My last relationship ended with my boyfriend cheating on me, afterall.

Genitha is waiting for us in a small clearing near the firepit. Far enough away that my ruinous moment is out of sight. Or maybe they've just covered it up already. The clearing has three small stone tables set to one side, each with three seats. As we arrive, Theria walks around, handing out cups of tea and lightly spiced meat crisps while Thistle directs us to our seats with her leafy fronds.

It's a little weird, being instructed where to sit when the setting otherwise feels so casual. But since I'm sitting between Rufka and Tipan, I don't feel like I have room to complain. I feel bad for Roberts being placed with Josh and Beth though. Even as we sit down, they continue arguing. Until Roberts switches places with Rose.

That manages to quiet them, right as Theria finishes handing out the tea. Then she and Thistle disappear into the house. Which leaves us at the three tables, each with three people looking inward to a central point. Genitha is flanked by Roberts and Kellica as she turns to Beth, who is likewise sitting in the central, and now that I'm looking, higher seat.

Checking my own chair, I'm able to confirm that the middle chair is the highest chair at all three tables. Did Theria do that on purpose? If so, why would she give me one of the high seats instead of Roberts.

Before I can ponder it more, Genitha clears her throat, then takes a sip of her tea. As soon as she does so, I notice Rufka tense up beside me, clenching my hand so tight that she manages to knock a few points off my health. And that's not as easy as it would've been two weeks ago. Heck, even the bug knocking off half my health probably would've killed me then.

A message from Rufka informs me to take a sip from my tea. Immediately.

Confused, I do as instructed. It's a pleasant blend, and if Rufka hadn't insisted I take only a single sip, I might have had a longer draw. Scratch that. I definitely would've had more.

Instead, I place my cup down after my single sip and turn to Beth. She's staring at Genitha. Then she looks at the cup. Then back up to Genitha.

"Okay. What the hell kind of game are you playing?" Beth asks, picking the cup up and taking the long draw I denied myself. She's also asking a question I'd like answered. When I message Rufka about it, she informs me it's a ritual of Theria's. And not knowing the ritual is part of the point. Technically, she wasn't supposed to advise me about anything.

But she's never seen her mother take the ritual seriously before. And that's set her on edge.

While I'm getting all this from Rufka, Genitha takes another sip of her tea. Then she offers meat crisps to Roberts and Kellica. After accepting the snack, Roberts takes a single sip of his own tea. As does Kellica. Again, I mirror Genitha's actions. Though I take a longer sip of my tea. It's damn good. And I offer both Rufka and Tipan the meat crisps but take two for myself. Rufka and Tipan both play along, copying me.

Meanwhile Beth leans back and crosses her arms, throwing a meat crisp in the air before catching it in her teeth. Then she places them on the table, in ready reach of Josh and Rose, saying, "Dig in."

Unlike Beth, Josh and Rose pick up on the mood Genitha is setting. Instead of following Beth's example, they follow... Mine.

What?

But as I replay their actions in my head, I confirm it. They followed my lead instead of Genitha's. Or Beth's. Longer sips. Two meat crisps each.

While I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, Genitha starts a third round. This time, I don't wait for Roberts and Kellica to mirror her. I copy her with small variations of my own. And before Beth has done anything, everyone else moves to follow me.

Which is when I pause time. Cause seriously.

What in Vaus' name is going on here?

I interrupted so Genitha wouldn't think I was trying to upstage her. Then everyone copied me. Why? Are they seeing something I don't.

When I ask Wyonna, she's as lost as I am. And Rufka can't help during a pause. I still send her a message, and wait anxiously as everyone sets their tea down and looks to Beth.

Beth looks around at everyone. Then she looks at me. The smile that stretches across her face is so wide and genuine it shocks me. Then she turns back to Genitha. "So. I'm guessing the kid passed?"

Genitha inclines her head slightly. Barely enough I'd call it a nod.

"Fuck... This is another of your jokes, isn't it? But one with consequences."

At this, Genitha cracks the smallest of smiles. But otherwise only inclines her head in that narrowest of nods.

"And I screwed myself cause of my impatience, didn't I? The dungeon has some kind of special condition?"

At this, Genitha's facade completely cracks as she smiles widely, shaking her head. "So stubborn. Saw right through the problem, but assumed it was designed to be the test, instead of preparing you for the future."

"Better ways to prep people," Beth says, shaking her head. "But this is your world, so I'll play along. What're the consequences?"

"You won't be able to enter the first dungeon I picked out for you. The others have chosen Alexis as the leader over you."

"Wait, what?" I object, slamming my chair back.

"Vaus' tits," Rufka mutters as she stares at her mum. "You got the location of Elementalist Peak?"

Genitha returns her daughter's gaze, giving her a gentle smile. "I did. And you have the opportunity to go. All seven of you do."

"Wait. Does this mean I might not have gotten to go if Beth had been chosen?" I ask, glancing over at Beth.

"No. If at least two people had followed your lead, you could enter as a team of three. I'll admit, I was tempted to keep Rufka and Kellica at my side to give myself a chance as well. I certainly didn't expect you to swing the Taken."

Kellica mumbles something into her cup, but I'm unable to hear her words. Genitha reaches down and ruffles Kellica's hair before turning back to us.

"I have the list of other dungeons for you. But Elementalist Peak is on a time limit. You need to reach it in the next three days or your chance to enter will have passed for the next decade."

"Wait," Rufka interrupts. "Theria's been having us do this ritual for years. Did she know where Elementalist Peak was this whole time."

When Genitha turns towards the house, her upper eyes are closed as she sighs. Then she turns back to her daughter. "I believe so. There are many things she refuses to talk about. You know that."

"Not like you," Rufka says with a shake of her head.

"Oh. I have a few secrets. I don't tell you everything."

"Mum, you told me your favourite..." Rufka stutters to a stop as she slowly rotates to look at the rest of us before adding, "uhm, spells."

The way Rufka glances in my direction, I get the impression that's not what she was going to say. Genitha's deep bellied laugh further reinforces the thought, but before I can wonder what she meant, Beth says, "So, you have the other dungeon locations for me then?"

"I do. Why don't you and Alexis join me and I'll share them with you."

"Mum, behave," Rufka says, kissing the top of my head before waving me away.

Which leaves me confused as I move to Genitha's table. And a little nervous when Genitha throws a barrier up around us. Nervous enough, I reach for a sip of Rufka's moonshine. Only to find the flask she gave me is empty.

As I sit under a magical barrier with Beth and Genitha, sealed off from everyone else, I can't help but feel a chill run up my spine.

Then Genitha turns to me with a smile, squeezing my shoulder. And a moment later, Beth does the same. "Good job kid. That should keep them from asking questions."

"Uhm. Asking questions about what?" I ask, looking between Genitha and Beth.

"About why I can't go into the next dungeon with you," Beth says before placing a book on the table in front of me. A book I saw on Ivicka's shelf shortly before she blew herself up. I only caught a glimpse of it at the time, but now the cover is laid out in front of me, a single eyed being with the words 'Reaper's Guide to Breaking the System. Notes and Translations by Ivicka of clan Lithania,' across the front.

Damn. Now I want that moonshine even more.

A note from Draith

Unless a miracle happens, I seriously doubt there will be a chapter Thursday. Fifteen hour workdays aren't super conducive to writing... blech.

Oh, shoutout to... you?

Yeah! Shoutout to my readers. You guys are awesome.

Also, the list.

Plus 10 to Physical Edge

Plus 7 to Mental Edge

Plus 3 to Loot Index Rating

Plus 5 to Essence Rehabilitation

Plus 1 to System Compatibility Rating

Plus 100 Resistance to System Influence

...TPWM 2.12, Forbidden Knowledge, Denied...

A note from Draith

Edited chapter 2.04 to have a quick Status review.

January 29, 2019, 9:09 am. Just after having Beth and Genitha drop the anti-System book on the table.

Staring at the book, I tear my gaze away to the two women sealed inside Genitha's magical dome with me.

"What... why... I don't..."

"Look, kid. We didn't want to have to drag you into this-"

"Yes, you did," Genitha interrupts. "You insisted she should be here."

Beth blinks twice before turning to Genitha. "You're not going to let me do anything my way today, are you?"

The answering grin on Genitha's face tells me that Genitha is totally going to interfere with Beth every chance she gets. Beth's choice of swear words kinda implies she agrees with me. Also, I'm pretty sure that without magic, doing that with a pepper shaker would be impossible.

Shaking her head, Beth turns to me. "Okay, I did want you here. You and Wyonna."

I sit, attentively listening as Beth takes me through what she's found in the book. And... it's a lot. Like, some of it we already knew, such as the Forerunners and the Phothens fighting against the System. But there are other factions listed, such as the Reapers and the Reavers. Who are different. It also spells out ways to play different parts of the System against itself. Specifically the Creators and their Chosen. There's plenty of trouble in paradise, it seems.

There's also a few sections that seem to be written in code. And others where the words are obfuscated. Blobs of grey on the page that resist my attempt to read. And Beth and Genitha's. But for them it's even harder to read. I can at least tell there are words behind the blobs of grey.

"See, this is why I though you should join us kid," Beth says as we look at the first of the blobs. "It just looks like a blank page to me."

"Hmm. Powerful Illusion magic. Or possibly Mental. I wonder why you can see through it when we cannot," Genitha ponders, tapping her chin as she runs a finger through the grey blob. It kind of looks like she's running her finger through the world's most disgusting pudding.

Blinking, I prepare to inspect the blob using Focus. But then I reconsider. Would that alert the System? And if so... which part of the System?

Luckily, Focus isn't my only trick. First, I try messaging Wyonna but she's not much more help. Not without using the same mechanisms I'm avoiding. She does suggest I pause time, but I'd already been planning to do that. We fire through a few more thoughts, but none are particularly revolutionary. I still add each to my list to try.

Pausing time, I send small strands of Facet out. The obfuscation is less like a fog now that time is paused and more solid. Still a blob though. A blob that resists any attempt to pierce it. So, I try working around it instead. Or pulling it apart. Hitting it with strands of each type of mana instead of Facet. Basically everything Wyonna and I could think of. None of my attempts manage to do anything more than leave small indentations on the blob. Indentations which snap back into place the moment my Pause ends.

"Hmm. You did something, didn't you?" Genitha asks, glancing in my direction.

"Paused time and poked at it a bunch. Barely scratched it. And it all came undone once my pause ended."

Beth pushes away from the book, looking at me instead. "Think you could pause time for longer? Get more time to spend inspecting it?"

"I... maybe. But I'd want to practice that before trying it in conjunction with... whatever we're doing here," I answer, trying to poke it with mana now that it's not frozen in time. But it's just like Genitha running her finger through it. It deforms and bounces back. "I think I could blast the glamour away. But I'd probably destroy the book. Gotta be something we're missing."

"Or someone. This was written by Ivicka. It would make sense that she sealed it for those she trusted," Beth states, flipping the book to another blank page, which I confirm has the same grey blob over it.

"Of those Ivicka trusted, there are few I would feel comfortable letting see this book," Genitha adds, moving to stand next to me. "Though I would have your opinion on one of them."

"We would," Beth interjects, closing the book and stepping up next to Genitha, giving Genitha a glare before turning her eyes on me. "You've spent a lot more time with Tipan than I have. Do you think we could trust her with the book?"

"I..." I take a moment to process the question. Do I think we can trust Tipan with her sister's diary slash book of anti-Systemness. Yes. Do I think it's a good idea to expose Tipan to the book, though. "Could it be dangerous for her?"

"Hmm. It could be. We're unaware of what lies on the glamoured pages."

Beth snaps her fingers between Genitha and I. "Anything could be dangerous."

"Right. I think we should show it to her," I decide. "But maybe warn her about what could be inside? Let her choose?"

Genitha is nodding, and Beth shakes her head once before she nods as well. "Fine. We'll show it to Tipan. After your trip to the dungeon."

"Uhm. Why after?"

Genitha steeples her fingers. Almost exactly like Roberts would. It surprises me until I notice how Beth is glaring at her. Then I suppress a chuckle as Genitha says, "We're going to consult with my friend. They may be able to pierce the glamour. And detect any traps Ivicka or her guide may have left behind. However, I can't bring a whole veltha herd of outlanders to visit them. And I'd like to remind both of you, it would be best to keep the existence of this book to ourselves until we can vet its contents."

"Okay. Still not getting why we're not showing Tipan. And... why tell me?" I ask, looking between them. "Wouldn't it have been better to keep it completely secret? Wait, is your friend dangerous?"

"Told you the kid's smart," Beth states, crossing her arms while looking at Genitha with a smug smile.

Genitha just waves her right arms at Beth as she responds, "Yes, yes, very clever. My friend can be... moody. So, yes. There is an element of danger. But it's also going to be a several day trip. It… would be difficult to get Tipan alone without having to inform my daughter of the book. As for your involvement, if you were able to find anything useful... well, it would've been convenient."

"Wait, so now I have to keep a secret from your daughter instead? How's that fair?" I ask, crossing my arms as I glare at Genitha.

"It isn't. And it's not an order. Merely advice," Genitha replies with a shrug. "You'll have other things to occupy your time while we're on our trip."

"Speaking of, we should start preparing you for your dungeon run," Beth says, pushing the book, and the conversation, to the side as we gather around the table again.

The next half hour is spent with Genitha giving me the rundown on everything I'll need to know about Elementalist Peak. Which turns out to be a lot. My notes are extensive by the time we finish. The dome drops, and Beth and Genitha both pat me on the back, making me feel like when Sab and I would spend the evening with her dad and he'd let us get away with something. Except somehow more condescending.

The book has been stored in Beth's inventory long before this point, and there's no mention of it as we greet the others. The second Beth and Genitha leave, I'm assaulted from all sides about what happened. I give a short version of everything I learned about the Elementalist Peak, omitting any mention of the book. I even mention that part of it was just Genitha messing with Beth. But I can't help but feel guilty about keeping the book's existence from them.

I trust all of them with my life. Beth and Genitha's decision to keep the book secret... feels wrong.

But if the System could take it away at any time...

I'm brought out of my thoughts by Rufka hugging her mother goodbye.

"I'll see you soon, kittens. We'll be here when you return. But in the meantime, Beth and I will run some errands. It's been far too long since I inspected the wards at the cabin. And we need to check on how the free Awoken are doing."

After a much shorter goodbye with Beth, Rufka tugs me up the hill, where Thistle has prepared a goodbye breakfast for us with way more grains and vegetables than I'm used to seeing on Akilo. There's hardly any meat. A fact Rufka complains about despite enjoying a generous portion of soft vegetable pie with a rich gravy. And going back for seconds.

While we're eating, I relay more about Elementalist's Peak. Including the fact we need to leave as soon as breakfast is over.

"I'm looking forward to spending more time here once we're done. This valley is truly serene," Roberts says as he collects my plate, washing it with his limited water magic before returning it to Thistle. "And I don't have to feel bad about my limited magical talents."

"My understanding is that everyone's magical talents are probably going to improve during this dungeon," I point out, stealing the last bite of pie off Rufka's plate to give to Smoulder. As Smoulder ignites the pie and starts munching on its charred remains, I continue, "It's why it's seen so valuable. Completing it guarantees an upgrade to an Elementalist class variant for most users."

"So, powerful. But less useful for you?" Tipan asks, leaning on her staff as Roberts collects the last of the plates.

"Mhmm. But still useful. At least, Genitha thinks it'll help me too."

"Mum's wanted to go since before I was born. Surprised she let it pass," Rufka says, shaking her head. I almost tell her that Genitha has a reason she doesn't want to go. But I bite my tongue at the last second. Literally. And thanks to my Health, it doesn't even hurt.

Rufka raises her right eyebrows at me, but then smiles, reaching out and ruffling my hair. "Still, it'll be more fun with you. Mum would just do everything for us."

"Uhm. From the notes I was given, I don't think that's an option," I reply. Then I spend a half hour taking them through a quick debrief, making a few tactical uses of Pause to give myself time to think before answering their questions. For some reason, we don't get through a third of what I covered with Beth and Genitha.

Deciding we've delayed long enough, I call a temporary halt to the questions.

"I'm surprised you're allowing me to join you in this venture," Kellica observes as everyone gathers around me in preparation for a teleportation back to Aethire where Genitha's waiting.

I pause my preparations as I smile at her. "Hey, we've shared tears and lost living spaces."

"Besides, mum wouldn't have let me leave you behind, since you passed the test."

Rufka's comment causes Kellica to frown. But before anyone else can say anything, I whisk us away.

When we arrive, it's not in Rufka's tiny cabin, but in a much larger space, full of bundles bound in fur and bone. Along one wall stands shelves filled with various ingredients neatly sorted into cupboards that curve along the bone struts supporting the room. Several of the ingredients are glowing from inside their sealed jars. Or maybe that's the jars themselves? Whichever is the source, the room is lit in a soft rainbow of light. It's especially striking on Tipan's white fur, and I elbow Rufka to point it out.

Tipan notices our attention and twists to try to look at herself, "Did I spill something?"

"Nah. Lexi was just pointing out how striking you are under the enchanted light," Rufka states, patting Tipan's shoulder with a smile. I shoot Tipan one of my own as we make our way out of the storeroom even as Genitha starts casting her much longer teleport spell. I'm tempted to stay and watch, but we're on a time limit.

It doesn't take us long to acquire a few more healing charms. And some cheese from Rufka's friend. She's much friendlier now that she's finished her subclass advancement, but still rushes us out of her shop.

Then I teleport us north, out over the abyss, at the limit of my vision. For a terrifying minute there's nothing around us except the barest shape of the World's End Palace to the south. And the blur of the rim to the north. And that's with me using my Twilight-enhanced vision. I almost don't bother with my double checks, never mind the triples before teleporting us away.

This time, we emerge near the rim. And for the first time, I'm able to see some of the enchantments that Genitha is so proud of. A giant metal structure is imprinted into the side of the rim. And a mere hundred meters down, another similar structure rests. There must be thousands of the mega-runes. And each one is different. Yet they all have one feature in common. They all draw enormous amounts of mana from the currents that rise from the abyss below us. Enough that it almost feels like we're in a mana-less area. This time, I take extra care with extending the teleport. Because even though we're on the friendly side of the runes, Genitha's warned me that the glamour can affect what we see outside.

It takes me five minutes, and one fully intact practice dummy, to be certain that we'll be able to cross safely.

As soon as we're through, I turn north, towards the frozen sea.

Because of course Elementalist's Peak is a volcano situated in the coldest part of Akilo.

A note from Draith

So yeah. Was totally right. 15 hour days was murder on writing time. And then the recovery was also super harsh. My neck is still super cramped. Do not advise. Wyonna has informed me that I'm overdoing it. Too bad I can't generate gold out of thin air, like Lexi.

Anyway, double shoutout today, both evil 'zon shouts. Yeh've been warned.

First is Unbound. This is written by my friend Necariin. Who actually hit rising stars at the same time as TPWM way back in the day. I quite enjoyed this lucky cat's adventures. (Cause he's Felix, get it? Nah, you're probably all too young.) He just took the first book to the evil zon'. Also put it on audible.

Second is Wizard's Tower. There's much ado about tea and architectural raising a tower in the swamp. He's also taken it to the zon. I'm starting to detect a pattern here. Obviously, there's also an audible link.

...TPWM 2.13, Hottest Spot Around...

January 29, 2019, 11:44 am. Five minutes north of Aethire's outermost defensive Freeze Rays. And other, less interesting, defensive measures.

After arriving outside of Aethire, I confirm everyone's safe before teleporting us to the horizon again. We spend the entire day teleporting, only flying whenever my Facet dips under half. We stop to rest as I raise another shelter. Then we continue the next day until we're finally in sight of Elementalist's peak. The volcanic dungeon is oozing lava down its side, which then drips down hundreds of meters to strike the frozen sheet of ice below. Because of course it's a floating island. It also has lightning striking it every few seconds. Somehow, Genitha managed to leave that little fact out.

Not that we'll have trouble reaching it. Kellica's the only one without an easy method of flight, stuck with her basic glider. But that's more than enough that she's been able to keep up with only a little assistance from Tipan and I. Heck, we could probably have carried her without it.

While we've arrived at the volcano, we technically haven't gained access to Elementalist's Peak.

"So, somewhere in all that lava, is a dungeon entrance?" Tipan asks, running one of her hands through her mohawk, making it flop despite the frigid winds being stopped by our barrier.

"That's what I was told," I respond, searching for a clue as to where the entrance might be hidden. "An onyx gate, two K'tharn tall. Or so the notes say."

"That shouldn't be too hard to find," Rufka says, floating directly above Tipan and looking down.

Tipan just rolls her eyes, before sending a large bolt of wind in the direction of the island. It only takes me a second to realize it's the same height as her and Rufka. As the bolt gets closer to the floating volcano, its scale gets clearer.

"Oh," Rufka says as the brilliant green bolt finally impacts the side of the island. It was barely visible. And couldn't have been more than a hundredth the height of the volcano. "So, best get started then?"

"Unfortunately, it'll just be me and Smoulder doing most of the searching," I say, staring at the island. "The rest of you don't have enough resistance to stay close for long."

"We may not have resistance, but I can still help," Roberts says, floating closer. "My shields should be able to weather a fair amount of heat without any real damage."

"I... didn't think of that," I admit, watching as Roberts creates a dome large enough to encompass the rest of the party.

"And I'm actually not terrible with fire," Rose declares, holding his hand out in front of him. And having a small lick of flame no larger than the tip of my pinkie pop into existence. And then flutter and die out.

It's not much, but considering Josh can't summon even that much yet, it's not bad.

"Yeah. I'd just be a liability," Josh states, eyeing the volcano warily. "Most of my powers aren't going to be useful when dealing with fire. Maybe I should sit this dungeon out."

"It's called the Elementalist's Peak, Josh. Not the Firemancer's Peak. Where's your sense of adventure?" Rose asks, elbowing Josh.

"Left it in my other pants," Josh replies, but there's a slight smile on his lips. It's good to see him smile. He hasn't done that much since he and Beth started arguing after his... return. Rebirth? The time when he came back from the dead. Right, Resurrection.

"Well, guess you'll just have to make do with these pants," I say, which earns me a smile of my own. Good.

"Indeed. This is hardly the time for changing pants. Though I do have some rather dapper ones that would suit you," Roberts says from slightly above me.

"Thanks guys. I get the point, I'll stay," Josh says with a light chuckle. "But I still don't think I'm our best bet for exploring."

"Nope. But that's why I sent Smoulder ahead," I say, looking over at where a small blob of lava was just displaced. "She's been searching since we started talking."

Roberts’ laugh drowns out any other response until he recovers.

"Something wrong?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Nothing. Nothing. Good thinking Lexi."

"Uh, thanks?" I reply, arching my eyebrow at him before turning back to the glowing mountain. Smoulder's already feeling satisfied. But there's no sense of accomplishment so I'm pretty sure she hasn't found the arch yet.

Instead of joining her, I fly to the far side of the island. As I approach the lava, I'm amazed at how not even my bound clothing is getting seared. My elemental resistances are kind of amazing. Roberts and the others take another point, closer to Smoulder. They work as a group, and while it's slower than either Smoulder or I on our own, I admit that they are at least covering a fair portion of the volcano.

I'm still the one to find the gate. It's buried a third of the way down, completely covered in hardened magma. It was only the subtle tug of several types of mana that gave it away.

Guess that's appropriate for Elementalist's peak.

It takes an hour to clear a path I feel is safe enough to get the others inside. A path that might possibly have a couple Smoulder statues at the entrance. And more light fixtures than are necessary. Since the required number is basically zero.

Still, it looks like an appropriately dungeon-esqe entrance instead of a random hole in the ground.

Which no one except Rufka seems to appreciate, as they all just fly past me to the entrance once I alert them I've found it. But Rufka indulges me, allowing me to explain the flourishes I incorporated. It's a small thing, but it reminds me of how great she is.

We approach the Onyx gate together. Unlike with the last dungeon, there's no visible city or anything like that on the other side. Instead, the entrance is a swirling mass of colours. Which I'm pretty sure are representations of the elements. Green for wind. Purple for lightning. Light and dark blue for Water and Ice respectively. Going around, I confirm they're all there. And in the gaps is the yellowish dusk of twilight.

"It's... prettier than I expected," Rose says, holding his hand out towards it.

"Hmm. So, who goes through first?" Roberts asks, pulling Rose back before he can get too close.

"I should," I say, stepping forward. "If there's anything on the other side, it shouldn't be able to hurt me."

What I don't mention is that if no one else is there, if I have to use teleportation offensively, that just means there's no risk of hurting them. Before anyone can put a hand on my shoulder, I step inside, Hasting myself.

Passing through the gate has a similar feeling to entering Raz's, but the passage itself is different. The actual building blocks are more complex, but the mechanism is simpler.

Then I'm through, and I'm left standing on a small island barely ten meters across. The gate stands behind me, firmly in the middle of the island. The edge of the island drops away, revealing choppy water far below. Ringing the island are eight bridges, stretching out around it. They're each marked by a faint tinge of elemental mana, but the far end is obscured in the dusky haze of twilight mixed with their element colour. I check the island for danger, but other than the gate it's completely unoccupied. Figuring they should be safe, I send the all-clear through party chat.

As everyone joins me on the island, I read through the System notification I received on arrival.

"Iron rank training challenge Elementalist's Peak joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to Elementalist's Peak training zone."

"Zone Quest received: Complete the basics. Requirements 0/8 Basic Elementalist Challenges Completed. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. Time: 12/12 days remaining."

Okay, well, that's nice and standard. Though twelve days seems like a lot of time. Wonder if there are hidden challenges here like there were in the Builder City dungeon. Gotta be, right?

"Hmm, that's a pleasant aroma," Tipan says, stepping up on my right.

"Huh. Yeah, kinda fruity," Rufka agrees as she joins me on the left. "Where's it coming from?"

The three of us only take a minute to discover it's coming from the island of Earth.

"That's weird, right?" Rose asks. "Like, that's a basic element. Should it smell like fruit?"

"Did Genitha not say this is a rare dungeon? I'd be surprised if it was boring," Roberts says, stepping up next to the bridge leading towards the blob of brown. As he steps closer, the blob resolves itself slightly. Instead of being completely formless, it now looks like a stack of rough bricks, though they flow at the edges. When Roberts sets his foot on the bridge, a notification next to it pops up, warning that the trial is in use. As he steps back, the notification disappears. And the bricks drift back to their formless shape. "Interesting."

"Okay. Like I said earlier," I begin, getting everyone's attention. Which makes me gulp for a second. But then I remember that Beth believed I could do this. It's an easy dungeon, and it's not like I'm their leader. Just the person relaying information. "We'll each need to complete the trials individually. And then there will be a group challenge. Which should unlock the rest area once we complete it."

There's a round of nods then Josh and Rose both walk towards the Earth trial. When Rose steps onto the bridge, the notification fails to pop up. Then Josh joins him and they nod at each other before walking down the bridge.

"Pretty sure that's cheating," I mumble as I watch them cross together. Then I notice Roberts stepping onto the trial for fire. Which surprises me. He's had more trouble learning fire than any other element.

When he turns back, he notices my gaze. He gives me a smile, while wagging his bushy eyebrows in my direction. "It's best to challenge yourself, when you can." Then he turns back and strolls towards the giant ball of fire that resolves itself into a platform with glowing torches.

"I suppose I should try my hand at lightning?" Kellica asks, taking a single step towards the glowing ball of purple before looking towards me. And I know she's not looking towards Rufka, cause Rufka's dangling her feet off the edge by the Earth bridge, playing with Smoulder.

"I don't see why not," I reply, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. That's what a team leader would do, right?

"Right. I'll conquer this trial shortly then return!" Kellica declares before charging across the bridge, her ponytail flailing in the wind behind her.

"She's rather... enthusiastic," Tipan comments from beside me, brushing her mohawk out of her eyes as we gaze after Kellica’s retreating form.

I shrug, my gaze shifting to where Rufka and Smoulder are playing. Rufka has managed to capture Smoulder in her arms and is getting my mana-hare companion to kick at a little ball of water. Then I focus back on Tipan. "Did you have a preference?"

"I think I'll start with wind. Should be simple enough for me. And will allow me to evaluate what sort of tests we're being put through. You?"

"Figured I'd let everyone else choose first. Doubt any of the elements are going to be much of a challenge."

"True. Well, wish me luck," Tipan says, taking her staff in both hands as she steps toward the wind bridge.

"Good luck. And may Astra guide you," I say, trying to offer the encouragement a team leader should. Like Beth would. Maybe?

"Thank you. You as well," Tipan replies before starting across the bridge to the wind blob. Which resolves to a small valley surrounded by thin reeds that whistle as she gets further away.

"Just you and me," Rufka states from behind me, making me jump. She ambushes me with a flurry of kisses before pulling away. "Guess I should get started. Was thinking I'd do Stone."

"Oh yeah?" I reply, stopping her as she moves to take a step towards the floating grey island.

"Yep. Wanted something challenging," Rufka says with a wink as she spins out of my grasp. “But decided to go somewhere hard instead.”

It takes me a second, but then I can't help but groan at her pun as she walks across the bridge. Ahead of her, the grey blob resolves into a shape reminiscent of a spoked wheel. If the wheel also had jagged ridges along each spoke.

Smoulder hops over to me, landing on my shoulder as I consider my options. I look to her as I say, "You know, we're going to have to do all of these. Hope you don't mind starting with ice?"

Smoulder's return smugness ensures me that anything I can handle she can too. Which… fair.

With that decided, I take my first step towards the first challenge, the dark blue blob resolving into a frozen palace twice the size of any of any of my companions' challenges.

As if noticing my surprise, Smoulder rises up on my shoulder, igniting herself and glaring at the castle as I walk closer.

Despite the icy building ahead, it's with a warm shoulder, and an equally warm heart, that I start the first challenge of Elementalist's Peak.

A note from Draith

Words have arrived. Till the next of days. Monday, it will be.

...TPWM 2.14, Challenge Requested...

January 30, 2019, 1:44 pm. Seconds before Ice capades begin.

The ice castle rises above me, seeming to get larger with every step I take. Which is totally possible. It did just form out of mana.

Inside, the castle is decorated with empty ice paintings, and ice sculptures with no faces. They're vaguely human in form though. Only two arms, and no sign of claws. It's weird how much more creepy that makes them than if they'd been K'tharn-like. The rooms are all sealed behind thin doors of ice, and I continue following the main hall until I enter a ballroom. Inside are several tables, set back from the grand staircase that leads down. It all seems a bit much for what's supposed to be a simple challenge.

Following the staircase, I notice one of the tables has a wavering flame over it. Even if it hadn't been the only thing of note, Smoulder's interest would've ensured it was the first thing I investigated. As we get close, the flame flickers, growing brighter for a second before returning to normal.

I'm less than three paces away when I get a notification.

"Would you like to start the basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Control-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Unable to help myself, I snicker at the Focus cost. Then I accept the prompt. The flame refocuses into a little round circle, a small cube of ice forming on a plate on the table as I get a new notification.

"Move the cube of Ice through the flame without letting it melt."

I glance at the cube, then back at the circle. Then back at the cube.

With a shrug, I lift the cube into the air and send it through the circle.

"Congratulations! Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Control-1 complete. Would you like to start Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Power-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

That... was it? Seriously? I didn't even...

Right, no looking gift horses in the mouth. Accepting the second prompt, the flame shifts to a solid orb.

"Suppress the flame orb with the cube of Ice provided."

Waving my hand for effect, I move the cube of ice around the flame. I don't use it directly, instead letting it form a perfect airtight cube. And I almost fail the test when Smoulder glares at me. But then the flame puffs out. Smoulder huffs as the notification dings, but settles down when the flame pops back into existence.

"Congratulations! Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Power-1 complete. Would you like to start Basic Ice Manipulation Challenge, Flexibilty-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Again, I confirm the prompt. This time the flame splits into eight different flames. Then they start moving in a circle. Very, very slowly.

Instead of a cube, this time I'm given a spoked wheel, similar to the trial that Rufka ended up in. And the notification informs me I just need to keep it moving between the flames. I follow the instructions, and soon I get a notification telling me I've completed the challenge. And get a new notification asking if I'd like to try the test for Control-2. Which is the same as Control-1, except there are two flaming circles.

The entire sequence repeats, with only tiny increases in difficulty until I complete Flexibility-3.

As soon as I'm done, I get a new notification.

"Congratulations! You've completed all Basic Ice Manipulation Challenges!"

"Rewards: 0.1 Mana Edge. 1 Iron Rank Integration point."

"Zone Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements 1/8 Basic Elementalist Challenge Areas Completed. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. Time: 12/12 days remaining."

I stare at the update, squinting my eyes. "There's no way it's that easy. Where's the challenge?"

Waiting, I glance around the ice ballroom. But the System doesn't respond by throwing another challenge my way. Sighing, I walk out of the ice castle, back to the centre island. Tipan is making her way back from the wind island, and I decide to do it next. It's just as easy.

It only takes me an hour to make it through every challenge except the fire trial. And that's only because I have to wait for Josh and Rose to finish. Who are still doing all the trials together. When they finally make their way back to the island, I cross with Smoulder. While it's as easy as the rest of the islands, it's a lot more fun with Smoulder taking an active part. Which nearly causes me to fail the first of the control challenges when she dashes through the flame I'm controlling.

But then she gets distracted by the other decorative flames, and I'm able to complete the rest of the challenges with ease, getting the usual notifications, including the quest update. And one notification I didn't expect.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Complete the Basics. Hidden requirement: Complete all Basic Challenges without failing. Rewards: 1.0 Mana Edge."

"Zone Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Basic Elementals with your party. Time until start: 1 hour after all party members have completed the Basic Manipulation Challenges. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. 12/12 days remaining."

The extra mana edge is cool, but looking at my Status, it's barely a bump up. Nice to have though for such an easy quest. And if there are more dungeons like this one, they could really add up.

Collecting Smoulder from where she's batting around a flaming rock, I make my way back to the central island. Tipan joins me soon after. Rufka is the next to join us, plopping down in the grass, completely soaked.

"I hate Water manipulation. I ever mention that?" Rufka huffs while staring at the empty sky above.

"Don't think you have," I reply, whisking the water right out of her fur while depositing the dirt to the side. "And aren't you good at it?"

"Normally, sure. But normally, I don't have to weave a stream of water through a pile of dirt without turning it into mud."

"I thought that was rather easy," Tipan remarks even as she sets a folding table between us.

"No disagreement here. It even had holes in the dirt," I say as I motion for Rufka to sit up. And more importantly, to pull out Astra's stride. Kellica just left, and she's only done four of the challenges so far.

Rufka grunts as she pushes herself up, placing the board in its usual position. "Who needs to weave water like that though? Water's for getting rid of dirt, not avoiding it."

We continue bantering, and playing Astra's stride as the others finish their trials. When Josh and Rose pass through on their way to the metal challenge, Rose mentions that he's not getting any of the quest notifications, but he is getting the Mana Edge if he completes the challenges.

I look at Smoulder, and wonder if I can get her rewards by getting her to complete the challenges. But the thought of trying to convince her to do them immediately makes me drop the idea. Smoulder will be fine without a tiny boost to her mana-edge.

When Kellica comes back from her fifth trial, the Ice Castle (which is half the size for everyone else that it was for me), she sees us playing Astra's Stride and charges over. She spends a few seconds, pointing and gasping before she plops down next to the board, peering at it intensely. "It is real, isn't it?"

"Yep. Genuine Astra's Stride," Rufka declares proudly, crossing all four arms over her chest.

"No wonder you've all been finishing these trials so quickly! You already have your manipulation skills unlocked!"

"Wait," I say, leaning across the table to stare at Kellica. "You mean you didn't? How've you been finishing the challenges?"

Should I have addressed this before we started? Have I failed as a leader already?

Kellica mumbles something I can't understand, and out of reflex, I ask, "What?"

"I... did the ones I had the skills for first. And there's a training section that lets you unlock the skill if you don't have it. But it takes half an hour," she says, staring at the ground so hard I swear she's trying to light it on fire with her mind. Which would be possible, but I don't think she's done that challenge yet.

"Hmm. Faster than getting the skills through Astra's stride," Rufka notes, moving her piece... into a space that lets Tipan skip right over her.

"Well, at least you're unlocking all the skills, right?" I ask, trying to rouse Kellica's spirits. "So it's not like it's a waste of time. And we're not in a hurry. We do have twelve days."

"Right. I'll just," Kellica turns, not looking up at any of us as she charges towards the bridge to the metal challenge. Only to slam into an invisible barrier since Josh and Rose are inside.

She shakes herself off, glancing back to catch me looking at her before dashing towards the fire challenge. As she's running, Tipan calls out, "May Astra guide you!" Rufka and I join our encouragement to Tipan's but Kellica doesn't look back as she runs across the bridge, disappearing in the haze that surrounds the challenges.

"I'm starting to think mum did her a favour," Rufka says, finally looking in Kellica's direction. And managing to give Tipan another excellent move. I'm starting to think she's doing that on purpose.

As I contemplate my own move, I ask, "Oh, what makes you say that?"

Rufka's gaze moves back to me, as she raises her right eyebrows. "Other than her obvious lack of real world experience? And apparent ostracization from other users?"

"Yeah, other than that," I reply, trying not to blush as Rufka points it out to me.

"Oh, well, the fact she doesn't have all her elemental skills unlocked. And she's one of the Taken. Either someuser really liked her or... well, like she said. They make some users become Venom mages. Disposable tool, I'd guess," Rufka says while managing to set Tipan up for a third excellent move.

Luckily, this time I planned for it, and when Tipan takes her move, I follow up with my own. Which leads to me leaving myself completely open to Rufka's next move which gets her piece all the way into its final spot. Blinking, I return my attention to the conversation. "Disposable? Why train a Venom mage at all then?"

"Interrogations," Tipan says, holding her piece but not committing to a move. "She's being trained to produce the Venoms they use in interrogations. But if she's not properly trained..."

"They're only using her for the Venom," Rufka says, leaning back from the board while shooting me a wide grin. "Which means they're not treating her properly."

"I'm glad your mum assigned her to us then," I say, realizing that Rufka has successfully gutted my next few moves. "Maybe we can... you know, be her friends."

I'm not sure if my comment distracts her, or if Rufka is playing another mind game, but her next move is worse than the ones I thought were bad earlier. "You want to be friends with her?" There's an edge to her voice, causing me to look up at her instead of the game. She has her upper eyes closed, and her lower eyes are narrowed, staring at me.

"I mean... shouldn't we? It sounds like she could use some friends," I suggest, not paying attention as I make my move. Pretty sure Rufka's got me beat anyway.

"I'd be amenable to that. She seems like a decent person. If a little naive," Tipan says as she takes her turn.

"Ha!" Rufka declares, pointing her piece at Tipan. "You calling someone naive. That's funny, Skyborne."

"I'm sorry not all of us have the same breadth of experience wallowing in the mud as you," Tipan replies, lifting her nose slightly while giving me a wink that Rufka can't see.

"Wallowing? It's called training. And not so long ago, you were the one who had no idea what was beyond... Oh," Rufka says, shaking her head as she grins at us. "Well played, Skyborne. Well played."

Tipan follows up by moving her final piece across the board, managing to win the game as she says, "I rather thought so."

Laughter fills our little island as I reset the board. It's another three hours before Kellica finishes her final trial and comes running back. A new bridge forms, accompanied by a notification we've all been waiting for.

"Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Minor Elementals with your party. Time until start: 59:09. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. 12/12 days remaining."

Watching the shapes form at the edge of the floating disc, I stand up walking towards it.

The others follow until we're all standing on the platform, surrounded by glowing elemental energy. Once we're all on the island, a new prompt appears, asking if we'd like to start the challenge early.

Accepting, we all get ready. Then the elementals attack.

I pause time, shooting off an elemental arrow at each of them. Just a test, to see how strong they are.

The answer... not even strong enough for a single arrow.

Less than a second after the challenge begins, it ends, a new notification popping up.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Complete the Basics. Hidden requirement: Defeat Basic Elementals in less than a minute. Rewards: 1.0 Mana Edge."

"Quest updated: Complete the Basics. Requirements: Defeat the Basic Elementals with your party. Time until start: 59:09. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. 12/12 days remaining."

"Rest area unlocked."

"Quest received: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Complete the remainder of Elementalist's Peak in less than five days 0/1. Rewards: Variable. 5/5 days remaining."

Reading through it, I look around at the rest of my party before grumbling under my breath.

Cause I'm pretty sure the tighter deadline is my fault.

A note from Draith

Totally missed Monday's chapter cause... 12 hour workdays and stuff.

Almost missed today's chapter too. Hoping to be able to write at work for the next few days, but that's always a crapshoot.

Total gains for chapter 2.14 (this one) should be 2.8 Mana Edge, 18 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. I think.

...TPWM 2.15, High Voltage, Rock and... Twilight?...

January 30, 2019, 9:03 pm.

As the last wisps of the elementals fade, I cast out, gathering a handful of essence from them. Not even enough to add up to a single integration point. The island we fought them on remains, and as I finish reading through the notification, a staircase appears along the edge, leading down to the underside.

We make our way down, and sure enough, there's a link to a rest area. I use Raz's device to connect his place, but when we try to go through, it fails to connect. But we're able to use the default rest area. It turns out to be a simple room, with a System-only menu of a dozen simple options. At least it allows us to access our private rooms.

Which Kellica doesn't have. She's able to sleep in the System provided rest room, and the rest of us spend an hour visiting and eating food we brought from Raz's before turning in.

Chomping down on a thick leg of seasoned bird-leg, I open my menu and invest my integration points into Perception and Resolve. Then I spend my class Progression Point, eagerly inspecting the new ability.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed - has progressed to Iron Rank - level 7."

+1 Class Ability Point

New Ability unlocked: Sympathetic Overflow

Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour)."

"Sympathetic Overflow: Increases target's status disability chance after being affected by your spells. Doubles/Triples Status effect chance."

Oh. Wow, that works well with Lingering Bonds. Which... yeah, I guess it makes sense my class would have synergy between Abilities.

After putting a point into Sympathetic Overflow, I look over my Status one last time.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-7

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50

Agility: 90

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 97 > 106.

Resolve: 97 > 106.

Integration Points: 0

Progression Points: 1 > 0

Advancement Points: 0

Storage: 7.94 > 8.12 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6 > 3/7

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 454/464 > 454/470

Edge: [31.4]

Regen: (334/day) > (337/day)

Stamina

Pool: 475/475 > 475/481

Edge: [36.5]

Regen: (376/day)

Mana

Pool: 1070/1070 > 1070/1099

Edge: [83.1] > [84.6]

Regen: (1006/day) > (1044/day)

Focus

Pool: 1050/1050 > 1050/1093

Edge: [75.2] > [79.5]

Regen: (931/day) > (999/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 338/338 > 338/346

Edge: [23.1] > [23.8]

Regen: (289/hour) > (298/hour)

Only need eight more points to cap out my mental attributes. Which I'm not even sure if we'll get here, with the unknown rewards for the rest of the dungeon. Not that there are many rewards that don't give integration points. Maybe I could work on some crafting quests? If tomorrow is like today, I'll be done way before everyone else.

Closing my Status, Rufka and I are the only ones still at the table. Kellica is on her bunk, and everyone else seems to have retreated to their rooms. Taking their cue, I tug Rufka to her feet, wishing Kellica goodnight as we pass.

The next day I let everyone else pick ahead of me again and end up tackling the lightning challenge first. The ball of energy reforms into the same shape as it took yesterday, a shallow valley with a pair of massive trees at either end, lightning flickering between them and several smaller trees scattered around the plain. As I start, I quickly go through a set of slightly more advanced tests than the ones I completed yesterday. However, when I complete the third, a matter of directing sparks to hit small branches instead of the metal rods that are spaced between them, a new notification appears.

"Congratulations! Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Flexibility-1 complete. Would you like to start Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Channelling-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Accepting the prompt, a new message appears next to my little ball of crackling electricity as it's surrounded by a small circle of metal orbs.

"Prevent the orbs from getting too close for five minutes."

At first, I don't understand how I'm supposed to pass the challenge. Then one of the orbs gets closer, and the ball of lightning shoots out, freezing it in place. But the ball of lightning also gets smaller. Then the ball begins to drop. Before it's able to, I use my mana to prop it up. And then I understand, as another few sparks fly out to strike the surrounding spheres. But only as long as I keep the ball directly over its pedestal. I'm forced to continually push mana into the lightning orb, though it's such a small amount I hardly notice. Still, at the end of the five minutes, I realize I've invested roughly thirty mana into the little orb.

On my second round through, I try to crank extra mana into the orb, and am rewarded by pushing the balls even further back. But they return faster, so it's a net loss in mana compared to the regular method. I try several other methods to not have to channel continually, but none of them are as efficient.

Much more interesting though.

On the third try through, I decide to dump triple the total mana I used on the previous channel into the trial. One of the metal balls punches through my sleeve, shaving off a dozen health as they all rocket away from the small ball of lightning. And then they come back just as fast. A second pulse stops them from slamming into the ball, but it takes me three minutes just to get them back to a stable state, almost failing several times. When the challenge finally finishes, I swear not to mess around while doing the challenges anymore.

No matter how boring they are.

Despite my minor mishap with the lightning ball, the rest of the day proceeds as I expected, only with the new channelling challenges providing even more difficulty for the others. After each of us finish the first challenge, I wait for the others, trading advice. I stay as everyone else moves onto the next challenge, ensuring everyone gets a proper chance, now that we realize there are bonuses for not failing.

Yet in spite of my time spent waiting after the lightning area, I still finish the rest of the challenges first. With the metal factory-esque building collapsing into a ball behind me, I stroll to the middle of the main island, pulling up my quest log to review my crafting quests.

Hmm. Only need to create iron-grade tools for 'Metal in the Making'. I've already got my Metal Shaping up to the required one hundred just from using it as part of my buildings. Similar for 'If you Build it, They Won't Come,' except I need to create an iron-grade structure. Which might be a waste inside the dungeon since an iron-grade Stone structure is going to be more durable once I infuse it with Essence. And not very moveable.

'Plenty of Pots'... I'm almost tempted to pass on. Ceramics are interesting, but not terribly fun. Which is probably why I haven't leveled the skill much since I unlocked the quest. Ten iron-grade ceramics doesn't sound too challenging though.

I'll leave it for last.

While I'm tempted to start on the structure quest, I decide to postpone it. Because I know I could spend the rest of the day just tweaking it until it's perfect.

Making another set of utensils is easy. Reinforcing them with Essence? A little trickier. The metal objects are obviously best reinforced with metal Essence. Which I have a fair bit of lying around. Just merging it with them after they're formed was a mistake. Which I vaguely remember Tipan and Rufka mentioning at some point. Whoops.

Starting over, I shape the utensils with the Essence, pulling it into place alongside each prong of the fork I chose as my test unit. When I'm finally done, the Essence flickers slightly, before settling into place. Hefting the fork, it feels more solid than a regular fork. Less prone to manipulation, if only slightly. But it doesn't count as an update for the quest.

"What, not tool enough for you?" I ask the empty air, earning myself a snort from Smoulder. Reaching over and giving her a vigorous head-scritching, I end up chasing her for a few minutes before returning my attention to the quest.

Unfortunately, I can't recover the Essence from my first attempt. It's bonded with the new form and reshaping it will reduce its strength. Besides, even if the System doesn't think it counts, I think a tougher fork is going to prove worth having. Especially the next time someone tries to plunder my dinner plate.

Cackling, I decide I could use a new set of tools for burying... loot. So, I start working on a spade-head shovel. Again, I push the Essence through the metal, but this time the larger object causes me to fail. It's not even immediately apparent it's happening. Everything was going smoothly, and then... the essence... crumbled.

On my second attempt, I pay closer attention to the Essence as I push it with the metal. Only to realize it's getting stretched too thin right as it fails. With my third try, I use two Essence. Which turns out to be much harder to control. It goes fine at first, but when I'm almost three-quarters finished, it splits apart, leaving me with two halves of the shovel. Which I can weld together, but I can detect the weakness in the joint. The system doesn't count it either. Instead of starting over again, I redo the weld, only adding in a metal Essence as I do so. As the quest dings I inspect my new tool.

"Object analyzed - Spade-head Shovel, Iron-grade. This shovel has been crafted by user Pandora."

"That's not going to dig-dug you very far compared to your magic."

"What does that even mean?" I mumble at Wyonna as I give the shovel a good swing. And hear the air whistle as I slam it into the ground. Hard. I stare at the embedded shovel for a second before opening my Status back up. Yep. Fifty Strength. Kinda forgot about that.

Levering the shovel back out of the island, I give it another couple test swings before storing it in my inventory. Never know when I might need a shovel. Deciding to stay on theme, I create a rake, a flat-head shovel, a bucket and... a crowbar. Because it's the most versatile tool that I'll never use.

It's as I'm crafting the crowbar that Rufka returns, having completed all her challenges. I wave at her but remain focused on my work. When I'm finished, I notice Rufka and Tipan coming back from the rest area. Guess Tipan's done too.

I wave to them as I read the notification.

"Quest objective completed: Metal in the Making. Rewards: 7 iron rank integration points."

"Quest updated: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will endure for ages. Requirements: Create 0/25 copper grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 100/200. Reward: 21 copper-rank integration points. Variable."

Nice. Only need one more point to get Perception and Resolve to 110 each. I could use Essence, but I feel like all my extra Essence would be more useful for crafting. Kinda regretting dumping so many of the ones we got from the battle with Ivicka into...

Just thinking about the battle ruins my mood.

Luckily, I'm shaken out of it when Tipan sets up the table for Astra's Stride again. I'm tempted to join them when Rufka motions me over, but I shake my head, a smile practically cracking it in half as I consider my next quest.

I have an iron-grade building to sculpt.

The first step is making sure the area will work for the building. So, I spend time shooing Rufka and Tipan to one side before pacing out where I intend to place the foundation. Then I shape several blocks into place. Now that I know I can meld things together after forming the building blocks, I'm going to take advantage of that.

"What're you doing?" Rufka asks as I finish creating the last of the slabs.

I brush my hands off as I turn to her, despite the fact I haven't been doing any of this with something so mundane as hands. "Building an iron-grade structure for my crafting quest."

"In... a dungeon?" Rufka asks, tilting her head to the side as she squints at me with her lower eyes. "You do know, it'll probably disappear when we leave, right?"

"So?" I ask, tilting my head to match and squinting right back at her. "I want to complete the quest. Not live here."

Rufka holds her hands up, stepping back. "Just curious."

Grumbling to myself, I turn back to my work. Then I take a deep breath, taking several quick steps before wrapping Rufka in a hug. "Sorry."

"I... apology accepted?" Rufka says, ruffling my hair as she pats my head. Smoulder decides this is the perfect time to abandon me. Taking it as my cue, I explain myself.

"I thought the same thing earlier, then I snapped at you for pointing it out. Cause let's be honest, it's wasteful if I build it here," I say, leaning into her back so she can't turn around. "... I'm still gonna do it though."

Rufka's rich laugh makes me smile, and I release her enough she's able to turn around. Over her shoulder, I notice Tipan's hand is covering her mouth as she looks away from us. Their laughter makes me feel better about my choice, and I don't hesitate to move back to my work area. Soon I have the pieces for the small building ready. Then I begin fusing them together. It's... different than with the metal. The Essence feels like there's less chance of it shearing off. But it also doesn't spread as evenly as when I use it in the metal. It's when I activate my Twilight-enhanced sight to inspect what’s physically happening, that I happen to get some inspiration. Just activating my vision causes the area I was looking at to become smoother.

I toggle my vision several times, and each time I turn it on, it smooths out the Essence. So long as I’m actively working on it. Does... being able to see it better make my Essence distribution improve?

Taking a break, I go to ask Rufka and Tipan, who've been joined by Kellica, to my surprise.

"I'm... just taking a lunch break," Kellica explains at my raised eyebrow.

"Totally understandable," I reply, squeezing her shoulder. "How've the trials been today? Any trouble?"

Kellica squints up at me, then glances over to the others before answering. "No. But I've been holding off on doing the lightning trial. I... I do not fare well with lightning magic."

"I can help you practice after lunch. If you want," I suggest. That's the sort of thing a leader would do, right? "It won't be perfect, but I can simulate what you'll need to beat."

"I... you don't have to do that," Kellica sputters, shaking her head.

"I don't, no. But I will, if you want," I agree. "But only if you want. While you decide, I'll be working on..." I wave my hand in the direction of my half-finished building, "that."

Receiving another set of chuckles from the other two, I ask them about stone crafting. Of course, they both admit it's not their area of expertise. Though when I mention how looking more closely seems to help, Tipan says, "That... is strange. I know it can help with healing magic, to see the wound properly. But I'm not aware of augmented vision helping any other magic except illusion."

"Might be the Twilight," Rufka says, peering off towards where the earth challenge is turning back into a brown ball as Roberts strides closer. "Twilight is important in enchanting. Especially anything complicated. It's kinda like glue."

"I... hmm," I reply, then turn back to my quarter completed building. It looks more like a flopped over lettuce leaf than anything more. But it’s a work in progress.

As I experiment, I discover Rufka was right. Just a tiny amount of Twilight mana woven in more than doubles the efficiency of each Essence I use. And the material feels stronger as well. I end up having to redo the first quarter of the building, just to meet my new standards, but I soon have it all but completed. I just need to put the finishing touches on the door.

No one is surprised when I put Smoulder at the top of the door. But there's a gasp when I step back to reveal the rest. Figuring that it was a shame we didn't have any good photos, I decided to do a rendering of everyone that had come with us. Plus, the door’s removable. The gasp had come from Kellica, since I'd decided to include her.

I'll admit, I didn't think I'd make her cry again.

A note from Draith

Editing tables on phone, extra not fun. Here's today's chappie. I know Monday's was missing, hoping to get time to write, but been working 12 hour days for the last... huh, 12 days. That's kinda funny.

…Author's note…

Total gains AFTER the status update should be 2.4 Mana edge (not mentioned, from the challenge completions. Hmm. should probably edit that in somewhere), 7 iron rank integration points

...TPWM 2.16, Taken Tears…

January 31, 2019, 1:11 pm. Shortly before being drowned in a grown K'tharn's tears.

Luckily, Kellica's tears are short lived as she wipes them away, saying, "Thank you. I... Sorry, I didn't think you'd include me."

Not the reaction I expected. Didn't even occur to me that it'd matter. I'll admit, despite my mom's attempts, I never felt like the odd kid out when it came to group activities. Was always more worried about her than what anybody else thought of me.

Yay, fringe benefits?

"No problem. You're here and part of the team," I say, waving my hand at the rest of the building. "But I didn't even get to the cool part."

"Oh?" Roberts asks, setting aside a book he was paging through.

"Yeah, I made a bathhouse! Even has showers, just add water. And heat, if you want it. Okay, so it's not perfect," I say, waving that away. "But it's private. And we all have magic now anyway."

"Hmm. Love it," Rufka says, stepping up and pulling me against her. Then she whispers so quietly it sends a chill down my spine. "Perfect size for two."

I... that hadn't been something I'd considered when designing the baths. I just wanted it to be big enough to stretch out in. But I don't tell Rufka that, snuggling against her instead.

Our inspection of the bathhouse is cut short when Smoulder decides to test how well it will work as an obstacle course. Instead of trying to convince her otherwise, I just create more of a course off to the side that's actually a challenge for her, using as many elements as she can handle. Which at this point is most of them. Right as I create a veil of twilight to make it harder for her to see the waterslicked ice near the peak, I get a notification.

"Hidden Objective completed. Requirement: Use all nine elements at once. Rewards: 9 iron rank integration points, 9 Mana edge."

Unlike the previous rewards, I can actually feel the difference this time. A small reduction in the amount of mana it takes me to finish Smoulder's obstacle course.

Analyzing the bathhouse, I get the notification I was waiting for.

"Object analyzed: Bathhouse. Iron-grade structure. Built by user Pandora."

"Quest objective completed: If You Build It, They Won't Come. Rewards: 7 iron rank integration points."

"Quest updated: If You Build It, They Won't Come. Description: Create structures that will endure for ages. Requirements: Create 0/5 copper grade structures using Stone Manipulation, raise Stone Shaping skill 100/200. Reward: 21 copper-rank integration points. Variable."

Nice. More than enough points to get my Resolve all the way to 110. And I can max Agility too, since it only goes to 100. Which is still way more than I would've expected back on earth.

Turning to the others, I tell them about the hidden quest objective, which leads to several of them starting experiments. And shows me how much harder it is for other people to use more than one element at a time. Well, more than four. It's pretty easy to use elements that have some kind of synergy, like ice and water. Or even water and lightning. But using water and fire at the same time?

Apparently, not so easy.

So, while Kellica leaves to continue her unfinished trials, I start trying to teach the others how to use all nine elements at once. Which leads back into me trying to teach them how to use Twilight.

"This should be handled by the ring," Rufka says, not for the first time as I try to help her get the basics by adjusting the colour of her disguise ring's fur. But it's not working.

"Perhaps something smaller in scope?" Roberts suggests while tapping his steepled fingers against his chin.

"Oh! Good idea. I just did my eyes the first time I experimented with Twilight," I say, causing Rufka to squint at me. I blush, but wave it off with a smile.

Rufka closes all four of her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opens them, they're the same dusky yellow I associate with Twilight.

"Good job," I tell her, squeezing her shoulder. "You made your eyes Twilight!"

"I... That doesn't sound like they're blue. I wanted blue," Rufka states, crossing her arms as she closes her eyes again. Tilting my head to the side, I hear Tipan giggling behind me as Rufka waves me away.

She remains like that, her eyes Flashing between colours as I work with Tipan and Roberts to use multiple elements at once, now that they've also unlocked Twilight by altering Tipan's disguise ring.

Which turns out to be easy. Just add a touch of Twilight. As long as there's a little bit of Twilight mana in the working, they're able to hold different elements in place longer.

By the time Kellica has finished her trials, everyone has completed the hidden objective. Even Rose, despite his wonky System. Not Smoulder, of course. That would be wrong. Or that's the impression I get from her anyway.

We don't have time to finish teaching Kellica before the next boss fight triggers. Again, we're surrounded by a bunch of elementals. These ones are strong enough that the single blast doesn't completely destroy all of them. The Ice and metal ones each take two shots.

As I drop out of pause, Roberts chuckles. "I expected this to be much harder."

I nod as I read the system notification.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Hidden requirement: Complete all Lesser Challenges without failing. Rewards: 2.4 Mana Edge."

Okay, the Mana Edge reward is going up. That's good. We're going to have a lot of Mana Edge by the time we finish.

"Objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Defeat the Lesser Elementals. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point."

"Quest updated: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: 3/3 days remaining."

Wait, did it... It reduced our remaining time available. Again.

I can't help but squint at Roberts even as I move to open my status. Pretty sure this one's on him.

With my status open, I drop the point into my class and look at my new ability.

"Limits of Mortality: Each different element used against a target will reduce their resistance against spells of all other elements. This effect can be applied once using each element."

Yep. Absolutely taking that.

Then I drop the rest of my points into Endurance... But I pause before I confirm, then move them over to Strength and Constitution. More health is good for keeping Alexis alive.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-8

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50 > 55

Constitution: 50 > 60

Agility: 90 > 100

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 106. > 110.

Resolve: 106. > 110.

Integration Points: 0

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

Storage: 7.94 > 8.45 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6 > 3/7

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 454/474 > 454/514

Edge: [31.6] > [34.3]

Regen: (339/day) > (381/day)

Stamina

Pool: 475/485 > 475/514

Edge: [36.7] > [39.8]

Regen: (401/day) > (415/day)

Mana

Pool: 1070/1123 > 1070/1144

Edge: [85.8] > [103]

Regen: (1056/day) > (1080/day)

Focus

Pool: 1050/1117 > 1050/1149

Edge: [80.7] > [82.6]

Regen: (1011/day) > (1053/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 338/370 > 338/376

Edge: [25] > [25.3]

Regen: (312/hour) > (320/hour)

Yep. Nice to see that go up. Not at all regretting that my cap is lower than it would be with most other classes. Nope.

Wonder if I could set up a reflexive time stop for if I get reduced to less than half health? I've found other ways to interact with the interface. I should talk to Wyonna. And Genitha.

I've only just messaged Wyonna when Rufka collapses on the lawn, clutching her stomach while letting out great peals of laughter.

Even as Wyonna tells me she'll think about how we might execute the emergency time-pause, I move over to Rufka.

Kneeling down, I look around as I ask her, "Uhm, did I miss the joke?"

"I..." Rufka tries to respond, but then starts laughing again. It takes her three minutes and twenty-two seconds to calm down enough to finally get out the words, "I did it. Finally, did it."

"Did... What?" I ask, her hand held in mine.

"I finally unlocked an upgrade for my class!"

Pulling Rufka off the grassy surface of the floating Island, I brush a strand out of her hair as I ask, "What sort of class upgrade did you unlock? Are you taking it?"

She pulls me into a hug, answering my questions over my shoulder. "Astra's Sheath. And no, I'm not taking it. At least, not yet. But it lets me see the conditions. And now maybe I'll be able to figure out some more upgrade paths. Then I'll finally be rid of this Vaus-damned class."

There's something special about her swearing about a god-named class using another god's name. But I don't comment on it.

For all of two seconds.

"Vaus-damned Chosen of Astra, huh?" I tease, tweaking her nose while referring to her unupgraded class.

Rufka just rolls her eyes, which is far more forgiving than she should be.

She spends the next few minutes fielding questions from the rest of the party while I help Kellica. Though I do listen in. Turns out that completing ten hidden objectives was the main requirement. But one of the others was completing a specific dungeon that's not even there anymore.

"Does that happen often? Dungeons disappearing, I mean?" I ask as Kellica squeezes her eyes closed for the seventh time.

I meant it for Rufka, but Kellica answers instead. "It's not actually gone. We just don't know the entrance requirements. Just like with Elementalist’s Peak."

Her eyes open, and she's frowning as she looks over to the others. "There are a lot of dungeons like that. Usually they're more dangerous. A lot of K'tharn don't come back from hidden dungeons."

"Oh?" I reply, watching as Kellica manages to lose her focus again.

"Of course. Every Taken is taught which myths to avoid," Kellica says, even as she closes her eyes to try again. I'll say this for her, she does have a good work ethic.

We continue working for another few minutes, and it's only when I decide to take a different approach that we're able to make any progress. Instead of just having her make the changes herself, I start doing it for her, while being wasteful with the mana so she can detect it. Well, I'm wasteful on the third attempt. My first two were so subtle and efficient she didn't even notice.

It works, Kellica managing to complete a small orb of disparate elemental energy. Her eyes take on that distant stare of notification reading for all of 0.1 seconds before she whoops out a cheer. Then she schools her face as she turns, bowing to me. "Thank you for your instruction, tel'thoni."

Welp, there's a word I never expected to be heard applied to me. Pretty sure Tipan would die to have Genitha as her great teacher. But only cause she can come back to life now that she's purchased the Resurrection ability. First thing her and Rufka did after they became Citizens.

"Uhh. You're welcome," I say, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

Before I can say more, Rufka's nabbed me away, pulling me towards the bathhouse. "Bout time you're done. We need to break in the bath."

Glancing back at the entire rest of the party, who are all watching as Rufka steers me towards the relative privacy of the bath, I can't help but have my face go red.

Maybe I can make the walls thicker.

That might not help with my embarrassment, but it'll keep anyone from overhearing us.

A note from Draith

Whee, able to actually schedule this one. It's the little victories sometimes.

Today's Shoutout is for

... a friend who likes his alts. The story is The Armourer and the infinite dungeon. I haven't read it yet, but I've enjoyed their other stuff. And I'll be reading it in the next week or so. Might have read it by the time this goes live.

Total mana edge should be 16.6 from quests as of the end of chapter 2.16. (1.0 from basic magic quest, 1.8 first level EmPk, 4.8 second round EmPk, 9.0 from using all elements at once quest)

...TPWM 2.17, After Earth Magic...

January 31, 2019, 3:57 pm. The moment the door closes.

Rufka is already conjuring water as the door closes behind us. And I'm already working to enhance the walls with a second layer, increasing the soundproofing. As the tub fills, I can't help but watch Rufka, admiring her form as she slips inside. I'm knocked free of my daze when she pats the side of the tub. Undressing quickly, I follow her in, snuggling into her side as we conjure the water together.

"So," Rufka says as the tub fills, leaving the warm water swirling around us.

"So?" I ask, her tone causing me to look up at her face. She's looking at the roof of the bathhouse, which I realize is far too blank. I should put some sort of mural there too.

When I start to do so, she sighs, rubbing my head. So I stop.

"Didn't say you had to stop," Rufka says, giving the top of my head a kiss.

"Yeah... but you did sigh," I point out despite the part of me that wants to keep adjusting the ceiling.

Rufka shifts slightly, bringing my face towards hers. "I do love your fascination with magic. Just... sometimes I want it to be just us. And... maybe I'm a little jealous. Of you spending time with Kellica."

"Oh," I say. Then I look at the closed door. Not even Smoulder is with us, outside with the others. She didn't have time to join us. And now I realize that was probably intentional. Leaning against Rufka, I can't help but repeat myself. "Oh. Guess we should schedule time together? Just us time."

Which produces a rich laugh from Rufka, prompting me to glare up at her.

"Sorry. If you were anyuser else, that wouldn't be so funny," she says, giving me a kiss on the lips. Then we get lost in each other for a while. Long enough there's a knock from the door. Well, more of a thump. Smoulder's the only one brazen enough to interrupt. When I send her a pulse letting her know I'm busy and would appreciate alone time, I'm surprised when she sends back a simple acknowledgement.

I'd been worried about hurting Smoulder's feelings for a week, and that's all it took?

I...

Don't think about it, cause Rufka quickly distracts me again.

She's really good at that.

When Rufka and I finally emerge, no one else is in the clearing. Which... not surprising. When we seek them out, we find them gathered around a table in the rest area.

Rose starts to raise his voice, but barely manages to get out, "Hey, Lex. What do you-" before he's elbowed by Josh.

I raise my eyebrow as they fall away from the table, wrestling on the ground. Josh mutters something about original as he puts Rose in a chokehold. Rose manages to escape Josh's hold with the full application of all four arms to pry his way free as he says, "No way. Atlantis."

Turning to Roberts, I ask, "What's that about?"

"They've been arguing about Stargate all morning. Rose was going to get your opinion," Roberts replies as he raises a delicate tea cup to his lips. "Josh wants to keep you out of it."

"And... they're fighting over that?"

"I believe it's the same as you wrestling with Tipan and Rufka after your little races," Roberts observes.

"Right. Makes sense," I agree, sitting down next to the recently mentioned Tipan who's having a quiet conversation with Kellica. Something about different flavorings of meat-crisps at Desh'mersa games.

"Sorry bout running off like that. Are we going to start on the next set of challenges?"

"Actually," Tipan says, turning away from Kellica halfway through her sentence. "We were talking about it. And we thought it might be better if we let you do the challenges first, then showed us what we'd be up against. Some of us didn't get the bonus for completing without failing last time."

"It was Tipan's idea," Kellica states. "And she's talking about me. I'm the only one who didn't get the bonus quest completion."

"Hey, I don't mind," I reply, already pushing myself to my feet. As I'm rising, Smoulder emerges from where she was resting on Tipan's lap, jumping to my shoulder with enough force to make me have to consciously catch myself.

"Excellent. While I may not have failed, I came close a couple times," Roberts says before taking another sip from his tiny little cup. "Having some forewarning would be most helpful."

With that decided, I give Rufka a peck on the head then head out. This time, I decide to head straight to the metal challenges. The blob resolves itself into the open sphere of overlapping rails that it's taken every time before. Like a wireframe globe. The trials are held at the core of the sphere, and if I was a regular mortal, I'd think getting to the trial area was almost part of the test. But with my capped Agility, it's a cakewalk to balance on the thin beams leading up to the testing area.

The thick metal book appears when I accept the prompt for the Control challenge, asking me to turn a single page. Which is a lot trickier than the initial challenge of just opening the book without breaking it. Which is part of Power's challenge, except I have to overcome the stone lock wrapped around it. Then Flexibility requires me to dog ear pages. Which feels weird, since all the pages are blank. Channelling used to require adding pages. But this time, the challenge requires me to replicate the entire book.

None of it is especially tricky, and I'm back to the others less than twenty minutes after I left.

I have to re-examine my estimation of how challenging it was as I work with the others. Luckily, Tipan picked it up immediately, and is able to help. Cause she's much better at teaching than I am. I follow her lead, showing the others how to guide mana to each task without blowing things up. Or creating random spurs of metal. Or twisting them into weird shapes.

None of these are problems I've faced, but everyone else except Tipan has at least one mishap.

Once everyone has it, I head off to the next trial. And we repeat the process again. And again. By the time we've finished the first seven, I have a headache. Not an actual physical headache, but I'm starting to get annoyed at how bad a teacher I am. Tipan is ten times the teacher I am, and... I'm kinda jealous. I don't mention it, but instead of staying to help the others as she starts teaching them what to do, I head straight for the eighth trial.

Saved fire for last, since Smoulder wanted to play. The stone platform is covered in torches again, though the subtle little furnaces and pools of glowing magma tucked in corners are both more prevalent than the early platform. The challenges are the same as usual, a little bit of avoiding burning things for Control. Then Smoulder's favourite, burning things that are resistant to being burned. We're all the way up to some sort of dark stone. And we don't burn it so much as melt it. But that's still a success. The pattern for fire's flexibility test is reminiscent of the sphere we do the metal challenges in. At least in the expanded form. More of a ball when it's collapsed.

Finally, Smoulder's second favourite part is increasing the fire's flames to the point where the light would've been blinding before we came here. Now it just shaves a few fractions of health off every second.

As I wait for Smoulder complete the challenge, I look out into the open air. It's a little strange how the islands are all floating without anything to anchor them against. The dungeon doesn't even try to hide its nature. No fog or mountains or cave walls. Just sky for as far as I can see in any direction.

Instead of heading back once we're finished, I plop down on the edge of the island and just stare into the distance. I can hear Smoulder playing in the background as I think about how everything's gone today. Technically, it's going well. Tipan's been teaching everyone everything, and no one's failed a challenge. I just... it feels like I'm barely contributing.

With a dramatic plop, I lay down on my back staring up into the sky. As I'm staring into nothing, Smoulder pops her head into view, blinking down at me, her paws on my cheek. Then she reaches forward to bop my nose with her own, a sense of silliness being transmitted over the bond. Specifically, that I'm being silly.

Chuckling, I grab her and hold her over me.

"You know Smoulder, you're right."

Her usual smugness returns over the bond. She might not understand most of the things I say, but somehow, I think she knows what those words mean.

"I am being silly. Tipan's a better teacher than I am. But I can watch her and maybe that'll help me be better too."

Smoulder doesn't have a response to this, other than to continue broadcasting her smugness. Which is interrupted when I bop her on the nose then dump her as I leap up to race across the bridge, sending back my own sense of smugness. We spend a few minutes chasing each other around the central island before I return to the rest area. Only Roberts and Tipan are in the central area when I walk in, and they both look up from their... card game?

As I sit down, I recognize the metallic cards. They're regular playing cards from earth. Sab and I went through so many decks of those cards. Rarely playing card games though. More often they'd be used for... well, pretty much anything we could think to use a small cardboard rectangle for. The sailboats were a fun but ultimately flawed premise. Probably be even worse with these metal cards.

"Roberts is teaching me... what was it called, poke her?" Tipan asks, enunciating the English words. Rather poorly.

I can't hold back a small snort as Roberts just smiles and corrects her, "Poker. One word."

"Poker. It reminds me of a game my mother and I used to play when she spent her days at the barge-docks. Though we used System enhanced disks instead," Tipan says, almost lowering her cards so Roberts can see them.

He corrects her grip with a single metal card from his own hand. She smiles as she pulls the cards close. "Though I'm having trouble remembering not to show my cards. With the System disks, it's impossible to accidentally reveal your hand."

"I see that," I say, sitting down next to them. As they play out a hand, I find out they've both completed the previous trial and Rose and Josh are completing it now.

This time, when I teach them how to do the fire challenge, I watch Tipan as she instructs Roberts. And I realize the big difference. She doesn't tell him how to do things. She just asks questions. As the others pass through, she does the same with them. Or breaks down what they're doing and gets them to try it with a different approach. As Rufka, this time choosing to go last, walks off to complete the Fire trial, I turn to Tipan. "You're really good at that, you know?"

"Hardly. I don't have half the skill with Fire manipulation you do," Tipan replies, though her ears do flick slightly at the compliment.

"I meant teaching. You're good at it," I say as Kellica takes a place across the table from us.

Tipan acknowledges my clarification with a small nod, and the barest hint of her ears laying back. But then my attention is diverted as Kellica leans forward, her eyes shifting back and forth as she takes a deep breath.

Tipan and I trade a glance as Kellica mumbles something low enough I can't make it out, even with my enhanced Perception.

"Pardon, what was that?" Tipan asks as we both lean toward Kellica.

With a grimace, Kellica straightens herself out, glancing over her shoulder at where the others are playing cards before turning back to us. "I said. I'm sorry."

Again, Tipan and I exchange looks before I ask, "Sorry for what?"

"I... you know I'm a Taken, yes?"

"Yes..."

"And that we are spies for the Aetherium?" Kellica presses, her eyes boring into mine.

"I mean... sure," I reply. Wasn't exactly a secret.

"I... I just got a quest update. A hidden objective."

"Isn't that a good thing? That's why we've all been putting in all this work."

"I don't think she means relating to the dungeon," Tipan observes, frowning at Kellica.

Shaking her head, Kellica points at Tipan. "She's right. Before... when we were preparing to come here. I sent in a report."

"Okay," I say, squinting at her as if I could extract what she's trying to say faster by looking at her harder.

"My hidden objective? It was to assist in stealing from a Silver-rank user's stronghold," Kellica hisses, looking at the entrance that Rufka walked through just before she sat down. "They stole something from the Crimson Archmage, and it's all my fault!"

As Kellica flicks her ears back and forth continually, I can't help but blink at her. Did she really help them steal from Genitha? And how is that even possible? The one part I don't doubt is that something was stolen. Unless...

She's lying to us about that.

When I glance at Tipan, I can just barely see the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

Which prompts my own smile.

"What?" Kellica asks, her brow furrowing as she looks between us. "What's so funny?"

"Oh... just the idea that someone stole from the Crimson Archmage... without her letting them," Tipan says, glancing at me.

I nod, smiling along. "What did you tell them?"

Kellica squints at us, her upper eyes closed as she flicks her lower eyes between me and Tipan. Finally, with a sigh, she says, "I... may have listened in when you went into the dome with the Archmage."

"You... I didn't know you could do that," I say, now feeling unsettled. If Kellica was able to listen in, then none of that protection was worth anything. And that's not even to mention that I still haven't told Tipan about Ivicka's book.

"It's not perfect. But I was able to confirm that the Archmage was going to be away from her stronghold for a few days," Kellica says, her eyes flicking towards Tipan. "And that she was taking some book to get inspected."

"A book?" Tipan asks, raising her eyebrows as she glances at me. But she doesn't press, turning back to Kellica. "Is this a class skill of Venom mages? I'm not aware of many ways to pierce a privacy barrier."

Kellica shakes her head. "No. It's... oh Vaus, I shouldn't be telling you this..."

Again, she looks over her shoulder. This time, I can't help but wonder if maybe it's not the others she's worried about. Maybe she's concerned the other Taken will follow her here somehow.

Afterall, Ivicka's found a way around dungeon limitations before.

"Look. It's fine," I say, reaching across to pat Kellica's hand.

"It is?" she asks. Which is closely echoed by Tipan.

"We knew you were a spy. And Genitha is the one who invited you to come with us. It's kinda her own fault if she underestimated you," I say as I lean back.

This draws a snort from Tipan, who nods along. "Indeed. I don't think even she will be upset with you for doing your job."

"Mhm. But uhm." This time, it's my turn to cast a look over my shoulder, looking at the door Rufka left through. "We should probably figure out how we want to tell Rufka."

A note from Draith

Away from computer for a few weeks. Hoping things get posted properly... will try to keep the updates coming but might be disruptions.

…TPWM 2.18, Petting the Pussy-cat…

January 31, 2019, 11:02 pm. So close to February I can taste it.

Before telling Rufka, I inform the rest of the party about what Kellica shared with us. Which results in a soft chuckle from Roberts and Rose, while Josh just rubs his head.

"I'm less worried about Rufka, and more worried about Beth," Josh states, looking around at us. "She's been getting more and more... I... she's not taking the whole dying thing well."

"What does that have to do with the Taken stealing from Genitha?" I ask, watching as Roberts gathers up his cards.

"I... nothing. I'm just worried about her," Josh says, rubbing his forehead and catching some of his dark curls between his fingers as he pauses.

We all remain silent, waiting for him to add more. But when he lowers his head into his hands, all he does is repeat himself once more.

"I'll keep it in mind," I say. Wonder if Beth ever has to deal with us constantly going off topic... yeah, of course she does.

"Keep what in mind?" Rufka asks as she slips through the entrance before striding to join us at the table.

Tapping his deck of cards against the desk, Roberts says, "That Beth is having some trouble after her recent resurrection."

"Oh. Yeah, mum says the first one's the hardest. Good thing they're spending time together. Mum's got experience with helping cubs through that," Rufka says as she takes a seat next to me. "We ready to wash out the next wave of elementals? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hoping Lexi leaves a couple for the rest of us."

I can't help but chuckle nervously as I glance at the quest notification.

"Zone Quest updated: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Subdue the Primal Elementals with your party. Time until start: 08:09. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point. 2/3 days remaining."

Huh. Much shorter warmup period for this one.

Pushing to my feet, I start heading out. I'm at the entrance when I realize no one else has moved. "You guys coming?"

"We still have... oh shit," Josh says, pushing to his feet. "Only ten minutes to prepare this time?"

"Guess it doesn't want us waiting around," Roberts says, though it's almost lost as everyone starts moving to join me.

Now that I have them with me, I head outside to the boss area. Shortly after we're all out, everyone confirms they're ready and I accept the prompt to start the encounter early. This time, the elementals that form are more than just blobs of their respective element. They all take vaguely animal-like shapes, though most aren't upright and they all have extra limbs. When I drop into time stop and shoot off my opening blast, I discover that these are the first real obstacle since we've arrived here. Not a single one of my Piercing Arrows does more than chip off a piece of the elemental. Chips that start to reform as soon as they're struck.

Snapping out an analyze on the elemental fire-cat glaring at Rufka, I hope to find out why.

“Creature analyzed: Primal Fire Elemental. Mana seed: 2.

A fire spirit bound to Elementalist's Peak. This elemental has been working with its counterparts to challenge the best Elementalists of Akilo since before the rise of the Aetherium. Unlikely to kill you, it has no compunctions with searing your flesh.

Name: Ineesis

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; High.

Attacks: Flame Dash, Engulfing presence, Flame blast, Purge Conditions.

Defences: High physical resistance, medium magic resistance. Immunity to fire. High Resistance to all other base elements."

[Wyonna] "These are old elementals. Didn't think they could even get this old. And this isn't even their final form! Something super duper special about this dungeon. Anyway, this is a good sign you're getting to the interesting parts of the dungeon."

Not... okay, not encouraging. But also not terrible. It's just... resistant to everything. Snapping off a couple more analyzes confirms it's not just the fire-cat. They're all highly resistant.

As I let my time-stop come to an end, I attempt to teleport myself to the side to dodge the deluge of return fire I earned from my initial burst. But it refuses to activate. The others are protected inside Roberts' barriers, firing their own projectiles outward as I catch a face full of molten dirt. It manages to get past my resistances, the combined attacks shaving off over a hundred health.

When I look around, I discover that, except for Josh and Kellica, everyone else seems to be having as much trouble damaging the elementals as I am. A single toss of Josh's spear tears a hole in the earth-bear elemental's shoulder as I start shifting my weight manually, cursing the teleportation lockout. At the same time, one of Kellica's blobs of dark-green fluid splashes against the water elemental, causing it to slump.

I throw out a variety of attacks as I pause time again, trying to get a fraction of their success. Torrents, sprays and any other form of elemental attack are all nearly ignored. I'm not even sure if my new Ability to reduce resistances is doing anything. If I keep at it, I can probably knock them down by attrition. As long as I can get behind Roberts shields, I'll do that, if I can't think of something better.

But the elementals have separated me from everyone else. We've barely been fighting them for five seconds, and they've already worked to surround me. If not for the solid beating Josh was dishing out to the earth elemental, I wouldn't even be able to escape by flying away.

Still, his efforts are enough for me to flit out from between the other elementals, leaving me dangling over... nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. Not sure if being able to see forever is better or worse than the Abyss under Aethire.

Also, now's not really the time to worry about that. Dropping down, I'm pursued by the wind-bird and fire-cat elementals, neither having any trouble following me. I fly directly under the island. Right as I pass the deepest point, where I'm about to reverse direction to use the island as cover, my flight spell cuts out.

As I bring time to a stop, I look up. There's... something on the bottom of the island sucking up the remains of my flight spell. I can barely see the faint aftereffects, the lines of my spell twisting as they're drawn in.

Note to self, avoid spell vacuum.

Recasting my flight spell, I'm able to twist out of the way of a pair of fiery orbs as they rocket past me but I'm hit by an invisible blade of wind. Luckily, it's only a glancing hit, so I only drop a couple Health. Looking back, I wonder if the spell vacuum is what we need. Then the fire elemental flies straight through it, dashing my hopes before they're fully formed.

The next few minutes are mostly the same, taking an occasional fireball or windblade as I dodge around the bottom of the island. Every time I start to get close to the others, the elementals team up to keep me away. Otherwise, only the wind and fire elementals follow me.

In a moment of frustration, I shoot my most basic spell at the fire-cat elemental. A pure, non-aspected Pierce spell. To my shock, it disrupts the fire-cat enough to throw off the aim of their next pair of fireballs.

Grinning, I pause time and unleash a small storm of Pierce at the fire-cat. It manages to dodge half of them, but the rest land, scattering it's flames wide. Yet the wind elemental manages to land another invisible blow, shaving off more of my health.

I'm willing to accept the blow as I repeat my attack against the fire elemental from close range. The wind elemental's been too hard to even hit unless I'm close, and I feel grim satisfaction as ten separate Pierce spells find their mark.

Going to help the others, I make it to the top of the island and have unleashed another wave of Pierce spells when I see the fire-cat emerge on the other side of the island. Even as my Pierce spells land among my allies, scattering the elementals around them, the wind-bird elemental rejoins the fire-cat.

With the elementals finally giving me room, I land inside Roberts shield and take a look at everyone's status. No one else has even lost any Health. Roberts shields are just that good, I guess. Still, he's running low on Reprieve, and I haven't figured out how to beat these things yet.

"Nothing is doing permanent damage," Josh observes, looking out the barrier where the elementals are already reforming. I watch as the lightning elemental, in the form of a lizard, strikes Roberts' shield.

"I noticed," I reply. "There has to be something we've missed."

"We've hit them with every spell in our repertoire," Tipan says, even as she traces a shape with the tip of her staff. Then she releases a burning disc of screaming fury. It splashes harmlessly off the metal-monkey as it dashes forward to slam against the barrier. "And I'm running out of variations."

"Maybe it's..." Kellica starts, pausing as she throws out a blob of dark black fluid on a wave of wind. It catches the metal-monkey, causing the metal to deform but it just falls back and sheds its skin before moving to wail on the barrier again. "Maybe it has something to do with the challenges?"

As I release another wave of unaspected Pierces to clear the elementals, I step back. The others are all watching with me as the elementals fall back to reform.

"She may have a point," Roberts agrees as half of his barriers disappear for a second. They reappear before the elementals can attack, but they're even more transparent now. And we're packed more tightly together.

"Yeah," I agree, squinting at where the primals elementals are gathering on the other side of the barrier. "But... what are we supposed to do, channel mana into them until they pop?"

"Perhaps? Or perhaps we can manipulate them... if we get close enough," Roberts says with a shrug.

"Might be able to do it while they're dispersed," Josh says, throwing a spear that splits into three the second it's in the air, catching the earth elemental as it barely gets its shape back, reducing it to pieces again. "But I can't fight them and manipulate at the same time."

"I believe we will need to rely on Rufka and Tipan to do that while the rest of us keep them dispersed," Roberts says as one of his barriers collapses.

"I can do both," I note, grinning now that we have a plan.

Now that I'm looking for it, I can almost swear the elementals have little magical siphons in them. They're kind of similar to the mana-vacuum on the bottom of the island, actually. With Roberts Reprieve so low, he's forced to drop his shields. I throw up a metal shield as I grab the fire-cat's attention again, channelling mana into it. Which immediately triggers a change inside it. Its channels open, and it slows down, the orb of fire it was about to throw disappearing with a small pop. Not that I can hear it, with everything else that's going on. That's not the important part anyway. The important change is the internal structure, which now has visible striations that I'm able to grasp and shift the channeled mana to match. It takes me several seconds, but I'm able to realign them.

As soon as I've finished, the cat sits back, licking its paw then drawing it over its head. I'm about to inform the others of my success when the wind and lightning elementals interrupt me with tag team attacks.

I take another hundred health damage as payment for my inattention, but then I'm taking cover behind a bramble shield woven by Josh with the others. They've managed to cool the heels of the earth and metal elementals, and as I join them, I finish adjusting the lightning elemental. Multitasking at its finest.

I trade high fives with Rufka as I speed past, linking to the wind elemental this time. I get buffeted about a little, but without another elemental to distract me, its unable to land any of it's bursts before I've got it lined up as well. When I look for my next target, I realize we're finished. The notification that appears a second later confirms it.

"Zone Quest Hidden objective completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Hidden requirement: Complete all Expert Challenges without failing. Rewards: 9.0 Mana Edge."

That's a pretty sizable chunk of Mana Edge, considering each of the challenges was only giving 0.5 per completion. Glad we took the time to ensure everyone got the reward.

"Zone Quest completed: Challenge Requested, Challenge Given. Requirements: Subdue the Primal Elementals with your party. Rewards: 10 iron rank integration points, 1 iron rank class progression point."

"Zone Quest received: The Final Challenge. Description: Complete one of the final challenges. Every participant can only complete a single final challenge. Requirements: 0/1 final challenges complete. Rewards: Increased Matrix Edge and Regen. One piece of bondable gear. Rewards quality will scale based on number of participants who complete their challenge. 2/2 days remaining."

Blinking a couple times, I reread the notice as the elementals gather around us. In the distance, there's a roar as each of the floating blobs shifts, turning into portals of dusky yellow rimmed by flowing elemental materials.

As I'm reaching down to offer Smoulder head-scritches the fire-cat sneaks it's head in, instead.

Despite all the health I just lost to the fight with the elementals, there's zero doubt in my mind that the look Smoulder gives it is the most dangerous thing I've seen since we entered Elementalist's peak.

It's with all due haste that I transfer my hand to Smoulder's head, leaving the fire-cat tilting its head as I stand up with Smoulder properly secured as it rubs against my leg. But I don't give in to its meows.

An elder elemental the fire-cat may be, but Smoulder's my ball o'doom.

A note from Draith

Another pre-scheduled chapter. Wonder where I am right now? Or if I got those extra chapters I was hoping to write done.

...TPWM 2.19, Elementary Spell-craft ...

January 31, 2019, 11:55 pm. Somehow, not February.

Tucking Smoulder into my arms, I look down at the fire-cat. It looks back, rubbing a paw over its ears as though it were any other cat not made of fire. And like it hasn't been trying to explode me all over the place for the last couple minutes.

I narrow my eyes at it, Focusing again. Its description remains unchanged. Not sure if I was expecting it to say it was my pet now, or just to say it was an ally, but for some reason, I did expect it to update.

It didn't. It's still a primal fire-elemental named Ineesis.

A crackling meow as it rubs against my leg draws me out of my analysis. Looking around, I notice that the other primal animals are investigating the rest of my party. The way Kellica and the Earth-boar are staring at each other almost makes me snort. And no one can prove the sound I made when I saw them was any such thing.

When we retreat into the rest area, we get another surprise. The elementals follow us. They don't hang out though, instead moving to the wall. The formerly boring surface shifts as the elementals approach. The walls fill with arrays of runes, simple shapes at the top, working down to more and more complex designs towards the bottom.

"Are these... Spells," Tipan asks, stepping towards the wind-bird's mosaic of runes, pointing to an array about a third of the way down. "I recognize this. This is the Aethirium's mass-flight spell. And this is... There are dozens of spells here I don't recognize."

We spend the next hour looking over the spells, and the entire time, I'm copying them into my notebook. We'd barely have time to test the easy half of these spells, but I suspect we'll be needing them.

The others agree, and we set to deciding who will tackle which portal. There's some discussion about which spells to practice, with each of us starting with the spells directly aligned with our portals. And several spells that might be aligned opposite.

I was going to let the others decide on their portals first, but Smoulder kinda stopped me from doing so. Between the way her and the flame-cat chased each other around the rest area and the fact that Smoulder sat down to learn the basic fire spells with me, I think we might have the most to gain from the fire portal.

Which is fine, since Rufka's got a preference for lightning, Tipan loves her wind and Roberts is still most comfortable with water. The only real contention is who gets earth, since both Josh and Kellica want it. Though for very different reasons.

"Not sure that being able to tear chunks out of the elemental is the best reason to want to go into the earth-portal," I weigh in when they start on their third round of 'discussion'.

Kellica uncrosses her arms, her silent glare at Josh fading into a softer expression as she turns to me. "I... What do you think I should take, tel'thoni?"

Whoops, put myself on the spot. "Well, we still have Stone, Metal and Ice," I say, buying time to Pause. A Pause that should be a little longer than normal, as I invested extra Facet into it. Might as well start testing extending my Pauses while I think about what advice to give to Kellica.

Thinking back, I go over each of her practice sessions. She wasn't bad with Ice or Stone, not like she was with Twilight and lightning. But Metal was the one she seemed to understand the best. Which... Yeah, I didn't really need an extra length pause to think that through.

And it is longer, though only a few extra seconds.

When I return to the normal flow of time, I keep it simple, "You should go with Metal."

Kellica taps her wrist once as she looks off into the distance, whispering, "The strongest arrow bends but doesn't break." Then she turns to me with a nod. "I'll do it."

Well, that was easy. I should've stepped in ten minutes earlier.

"Thanks Lex," Josh says as Kellica walks away, still tapping her wrist as she moves to the mosaic of Metal spells. "I really... These spells call to me, you know?"

"You just wanna plant your seed," Rose says, elbowing Josh now that Kellica has moved away. "You can't see past the fertile valleys."

Josh sputters for a half a second before retorting, but I've already stepped away. I move over to Roberts, who I notice is attempting one of the easier water spells and having some trouble. It's a simple water-jet, one that could cut through stone back on earth.

We spend the next few hours like that. And despite my plan to focus on the fire spells, I instead spend my time moving between the others, helping them as they get stuck. There's less banter than we usually have, everyone focusing on their chosen spell tree. It carries over into the next day, each of them making it further down the mosaic. After a quiet night's sleep, they've each made it to the final spell nearly a day after we started.

And I've picked up most of the spells along the way. There's a lot more utility than I was expecting. We have three different ways to turn invisible now, for one thing. Turns out it's not just the domain of Twilight, but water and wind each have their own versions, with very different spell forms.

Now that they're on their final spells, I spend a couple hours with Smoulder, working our way through the fire spells. It's a lot faster than the others, but it still takes the better part of an hour, despite abusing Pause heavily. By the end of it, Smoulder and I have dozens of new ways to light things on fire, several crafting specific heat-regulation spells and a heat haze camouflage spell.

Which only leaves us with the final spell. If I'm able to interpret it correctly, it's a massive siege level spell that uses ambient mana to literally consume enchantments and matter. However, forming it might take more mana than I have. It's at least an order of magnitude more complex than any of the other spells, taking up almost a quarter of the mosaic all on its own.

After an hour spent studying the siege-inferno, I take a break to talk with Rufka. She practically knocks me over when she thumps her head against me. "Mum woulda got this in less than an hour," Rufka mumbles while glancing back at the lightning spell. It's a sort of area control spell, transforming several hundred square meters of terrain into a lightning field, which the caster can move through at will. Rufka thinks there might even be a component for tagging multiple people to be included in the effect, though as she hasn't mastered the spell yet, she can't be sure.

"You'll figure it out. We still have time," I say, turning her around to massage her shoulders.

"Did you figure yours out?" Rufka asks while glaring at the spell-form as though she can scare it into submission. Which... I'm not entirely sure she can't.

I shake my head. "Nope. Not even sure I can cast it. It takes a lot of mana just to create the framework."

Rufka nods. "First cast is always the hardest. You know, I think-"

Whatever Rufka was saying is lost as a thunderous boom throws us toward the wall. I've paused time and am scanning the room before I've had time to make contact.

My eyes lock on the green form of a K'tharn, her form completely transmuted to wind-aspected energy.

Oh.

Looks like Tipan managed to finish her Embodiment of the Wind spell.

As I drop out of pause, we all watch Tipan wave her hand back and forth. The wind cascades away from her, gentler gusts sweeping my hair back as she experiments. Eventually she looks up. If she was human I'm sure I wouldn't be able to see her blush yet, since she's a K'tharn, it's easy to see her embarrassment in the way she folds her ears back.

"Congrats Tipan," I say as she holds herself still. Even her ears flicking back sent small flurries racing away from her.

"Indeed, congratulations. That appears to be a rather dramatic spell," Roberts notes, looking around the room. "Perhaps we should move our testing outside though. We wouldn't want these spells triggering while we're all in close proximity."

With a murmur of consent, we all start moving outside. My eyes remain fixed on Tipan's form though, looking over the spell-form in my notebook. I knew it had a transformative component, but I didn't expect the final product to be so… drastic. Even as we step outside, Tipan remains a living embodiment of wind. Once outside, her motions are far less disruptive. And most of our personal spell progress is delayed as she experiments and we all ask questions.

Tipan shares several minor insights on how she completed the spell, which will likely be important for when the rest of us make an attempt. But more importantly, she adds, "There seems to be a hidden condition when learning the spells. I received a notification informing me that I'd used up my elemental guidance after I… well…" Tipan trails off as she gestures down at her still wind-augmented body.

After some more comparison of notes, we go back in to inspect the spells again. Knowing that we're receiving guidance, even if it's just gentle nudges, we all reconsider the spells we're learning. However, considering the limited time we have remaining, we're not exactly able to change track.

Except for me. I could learn a different spell than Inferno. And the Ice Castle spell is a little tempting.

But when I glance down at Smoulder, and see her dutifully tracing out the spell lines of the siege-inferno spell-form, I can't help but smile. The fire-cat is sitting nearby, watching us work. When I notice it, I glance over to Tipan. She's had the wind-bird on her shoulder the entire time…

It can't be that simple, can it?

Reaching out towards the fire-cat, it meets me halfway, walking up to rub against my leg. As I consider the siege-inferno spell, I can almost feel it coalescing. The little issues I was having, sorting themselves out for me.

Before it can finish, I send as clear an image over my bond to Smoulder as I can, stressing that the fire-cat can help her burn things better. There's a moment of indignation when I set the fire-cat next to her. But then as it rubs up against her, I feel the indignation turn to… well, not shock, but mild surprise, followed by excitement.

"Not on the island!" I can't stop myself from shouting. And I feel like it's just in time as Smoulder turns away from the island, a tiny dot of fire shooting into the distance. It's nearly out of sight, even with my augmented vision, when it expands. From several kilometers away, I can feel the heat of the expanding spell against my skin. Even with nothing but the air around it for fuel, it burns for over a minute.

Smoulder tilts her head up at me, and I can feel her pride radiating through our bond as I reach down to pick her up. "Good job," I tell her as I give her head-scritches. The fire-cat rubs against my leg, and I add, "Yeah, you too."

Even as the fire-cat continues, I think about the siege-inferno spell again. And as I suspected, the learning boon is gone. Even the connections I had made are harder to understand. Luckily, I'm able to partially bypass that by spending a few points of Facet for perfect recall. I'll still have to piece together the rest of the spell on my own.

But that's fine.

I've never considered myself a princess, but now that I get to create my very own ice castle.

Well, it's time to play.

With Smoulder still playing with Inferno, and a quick discussion where I inform everyone how to access the guidance, I turn to the ice-primal, a frozen wolfadillo like creature. Unlike the fire-cat, there's no friendliness here. Instead, I'm met by cold, empty eyes. Which… ice, so fair.

As I place my hands on its… shoulder? Or upper hip? The part just behind its head, I wait for a second, not opening the spell yet. It doesn't react, other than to tilt its head slightly to look into my eyes. At least, I think that's where it's looking. Its gaze remains just as empty as before.

Doing my best not to get put off by the wolf, I allow myself to think about the spell. And I realize… it's not just an ice-castle. It's a temporary Nexus. Casting the spell will allow me to create a Nexus that lasts for up to… okay, I'm not sure how long it'll last. Not off the runes I can decipher. At least a day, I think. Depends on ambient mana. And if I continue channelling mana into it. And how neatly I do the runes…

There's a lot to consider, honestly.

But I can feel the ice-wolf's help as I start building the spell-form. The process is… different from System imbued knowledge. It's less, download and done, and more, subtle nudging. It feels more natural, like a hand on mine tracing out the patterns with me.

Except, you know, in mana floating invisibly in the air in front of me. Totally natural.

I follow its guidance, but purposely mess up at several points. Just to test what it would do. It doesn't force me back, instead giving me other suggestions on how to complete the spell-form. And as I go, I realize that some components are very customizable. Such as the shape of the castle. Other components have almost no room for change. Such as the Nexus link. Any change to the link causes that part of the spell-form to simply cease functioning. It takes me two hours before I feel ready to cast the spell. But when I do, I feel confident that I understand most of what goes into it.

The others have all managed to cast their chosen spells, Rose having to take Stone since the elemental only granted the Earth guidance to Josh. Rufka sits behind me, Smoulder curled in her lap as they both wait for their mana to recharge. While these spells are impressive, they're not cheap.

The spell-form for the ice-castle is almost a miniature of the same, reflected in front of me. The key difference is the Nexus access point and the interwoven strengthening runes. Unlike a regular ice sculpture, my castle will have a degree of resistance to physical damage. And melting. Which is going to be important if I ever take it somewhere really warm. Like a desert… or anywhere I bring Smoulder.

Completing the spell-form, it takes fifteen minutes of slowly feeding my mana into it as the ice castle takes shape. I could empty my mana to speed up the formation of the castle, but I'm pretty sure it'd only shave off a minute or so. The mana cost is immense, and the spell-form is designed to allow mana to 'settle', so I'm not sure it'd even do much good.

So, I don't force it. I let it go.

The castle starts by forming a bridge, leading off the central island. Thankfully, that's all the anchor it needs to stay floating as I cross into the middle of the emerging castle, guiding the spell-form to completion. For some reason, the spell is designed to be cast in stages, with the final stage being…

As the central podium rises beneath my feet, I admit that, yes, this is worth having a spell that takes fifteen minutes to cast and is cast in phases. I'm standing at the tallest tower in my very own ice castle.

I may not be a princess but that doesn't matter.

I'm the queen of my castle.

A note from Draith

This took way too long to write. Between all the driving and graduating (by others) and working, I've had so little time to sit down and write so most of this was done on my phone.

Work is waking me up at all sorts of weird hours and having hard time focusing on writing when not. But I have a friend who released a book, so I had to get a chapter out so I could shout him out. Good chance you've already heard of it if you like sneks or monster MC stories. A little book called Paradox Core. Also, in audio I guess.

Anyway, I intend to have another chapter for next Thursday at the minimum.

…TPWM 2.20, Ineesis' Trial by Fire…

February 2, 2019, 10:59 am.

Even as my spell completes, the final turrets of my castle tinkling into place with soft chimes, I get a notification.

"Hidden Reward claimed: Spell: Annella's Solitude. No other Extreme complexity Spells will receive guidance."

There aren't any other rewards for learning the spell, but that's okay.

I slip down the tower to the grand entrance, twin staircases spiralling up on either side. In the centre, there's a fountain that sprays near freezing water into the air, causing snowflakes to drift down instead. My castle is lacking in Smoulder decorations because... that would be kind of wrong.

And she doesn't seem to mind their absence, leaping from Rufka's shoulder to mine as Rufka joins me in the entrance. She places a hand on the fountain, tracing a hand along it before turning to me. "It really does let you access all the Nexus functions. Mum's gonna love this."

"I'm kinda loving it myself," I admit. Which has nothing to do with the Nexus access that's tied to the fountain. That's nice, but it's secondary compared to the castle. Which... I probably won't use much, since it's so freaking huge. Pretty sure it's bigger than a stadium, and that's just its footprint. It's at least as tall as it is wide.

Turning away from the fountain, I inspect the rest of the grand entrance. It's spacious, but if I'm going to summon it with any regularity, I'm going to need to fill in some of the blank spaces on the walls. Creating mental copies of monsters from tabletop games as art counts as fair use, right?

Hmm. Maybe I could decorate with some of the ship designs that are rattling around inside my skull.

Shifting my attention away from my castle, I realize it's time to head for the final portal. Well, almost. We agreed we'd have one last meeting first. Ensure everyone's ready before we step through the big shiny portals.

Which leads to me spending another couple hours with Kellica. She's still struggling to finish the final steps of the Metal Snake spell. Working together and breaking it down in a series of hastily formed metal sculptures, we decipher a sneaky set of runes hidden inside a box that basically powers the spell. The box is super reinforced. And if we're reading it right, that's cause if the internals are damaged, the spell is disrupted.

Once we have that figured out, the System magic practically takes over as Kellica suddenly transforms into a heavy metal cat ninja.

Literally.

Even though she's now formed entirely of... I'm not sure what metals she's using. It's dark and has a matte finish. It's also spiky. It reminds me slightly of Josh's thorn-armor, but more... Metal. Figuratively.

"So, how customizable is it?" I ask, running my finger along one of the jagged spikes, several points of health disappearing while my finger remains undamaged.

"Very," Kellica responds, then the spike next to me retracts to a more delicate point. One that almost looks thin enough to snap off in a breeze. "I… it's designed to be adaptive during a fight."

"No bow?" Josh asks as he and Rose stop practicing their own spells. "I thought you'd want a bow, as the Arrow That Pierces The Night."

He says it with a straight face. I'm mostly sure he's being serious. At least, I'm not able to pick up any hint he's mocking her.

"I… well, I am the arrow. So it'd need to be a big bow," Kellica turns away at this, as if to hide her reaction. Which is amusing, since we can't see her ears or her face through the metal suit she's wearing.

Josh claps her metal shoulder as he says, "Right. That makes sense. Guess you'll be an even better arrow now."

Kellica nods, slowly, as if waiting for something more. But Josh is finished, turning back to Rose as they sit to the side.

With Kellica's spell unlocked, we're finally ready to step through the portals. It only takes us a minute to exchange quick farewells. And half of that was me and Rufka.

Then I'm walking across the bridge towards the fire portal. It's similar in structure to the only other portal I've seen, the one from Uthica's memories, leading to another world. Instead of the silver of the world portal, this one is rimmed in bands of twisting orange and red, specks of dusky Twilight floating amongst the otherwise featureless black surface. With a deep breath, I push my hand through. There's a distinct warmth, and I get a sense of excitement from Smoulder as my shoulder passes through, but otherwise, it's rather uneventful. Kind of like walking through a wave of smoke.

It takes me a dozen steps through featureless smoke before I emerge into what is a castle that bears a passing resemblance to my own, except writ in fire instead of ice. And if mine was a toy model inspired by a real-world monument. It's impossible to tell how big it is from where Smoulder and I stand at the edge, but it's clear that wandering through the castle would take a long time. So, I float up, looking for any points of interest. Or anything looking to fight me.

I'm able to ascend all of three meters before bumping into an invisible ceiling that domes in the entrance courtyard.

Which isn't a total shock. I'd be more surprised if I was allowed to fly everywhere. But between the closed in ceiling and the lack of notifications, it means Smoulder and I need to figure out our purpose here the hard way. I can't keep myself from trailing my hand on the hard flame of the railing as I ascend the grand staircase at the far side of the courtyard. Despite its warmth, it doesn't feel like it would be hot enough to burn me, even before I raised my health. And it's solid. As solid as if it had been made of ice.

Part of me is kind of jealous. Ice castle. Definitely cool.

But a castle wrought out of flame? That's next level hell yeah. Maybe I could modify the ice-castle spell?

I continue pondering even as I continue wandering. Despite the apparent size of the hall, there aren't any choices. Taking the corridor at the far end, I arrive at the next point of interest, a cozy courtyard with four crimson trees stationed around a low table. Sitting on the far side of the table is the fire-cat, Ineesis. Who I know didn't step through the portal with me.

Yet him being here doesn't surprise me. If the dungeon wasn't locked down, I could easily have accomplished the same thing. And he's the one in control. At least, I think so.

Ineesis flicks his tail back and forth twice before laying a paw on the table. A small tea set appears on the right with swirling flame stretching up the side. A gameboard with a matching flame motif pops into existence on the left, its arrival heralded by a notification informing me I've started the first task of the final trial. Even as I'm inspecting the flaming pieces, the cat nods his head in my direction.

With no reason to refuse, I accept his quiet offer, sitting across from him as the gameboard slides into place between us. Then a cup of warm tea floats into my hand. A quick analyze confirms it isn't poisoned. Nor does it have any cool magic properties. It's just tea.

Hmm. Peach flavoured. Glad it's not mango. I don't think I could trust anyone who likes mango flavoured tea. No matter how much they may like mangos.

Watching the fire-cat lap at its own tea as the boardgame sets itself up, I stifle a chuckle as some of the tea drips down its glowing cheek. When I turn my attention back to the game, I realize I don't recognize it. The game is played on a series of hexes, but none of the pieces are familiar. Ineesis doesn't give me time to figure out what they're for. Or what the rules are. He simply moves the first piece, then looks at me.

Since I have no idea what I'm doing here, I do the only thing I can. I ask, "Don't suppose you could give me a copy of the rules?"

The fire-cat tilts its head at me before returning its gaze to the board. Sighing, I Focus on the piece that moved forward under its obviously magical gaze.

"Object analyzed. Ineesis's Flagrant Overflow Tower."

"This board-piece is bound by spell runes, granting increased mana-flow to all adjacent pieces of the spell-crafter. If disrupted by the counter-speller, this piece reduces the strength of the surrounding pieces instead."

[Wyonna] "These are pieces from an old System-based game called Undu. Grumpy old wizards used it for teaching counter-spelling. Like, really old. It was out of fashion before Akilo was integrated. Still, it's more in style than fedoras."

Hmm. After reading through the analysis, I look more closely at the pieces. There are runes worked into the bottom of each of the pieces. They're not all familiar, but a lot of them were used in the spells we learned in the trial. And it doesn't take me long to piece together most of their basic functions.

Even as I'm considering, the fire-cat moves another piece.

"Hey!" I protest, even as Wyonna sends me another message.

"Turns are timed. You snooze, you lose."

"Yeah. I got that," I reply as I take a piece and move it into place mostly on instinct. It doesn't seem to do anything, and before I can miss out on yet another turn, I pause time to inspect the rest of the pieces. It takes me two full pauses to read through everything, and even once I'm done, I'm not certain how I'm going to win.

Several moves later, and I've accumulated my first loss. But there's no notification for failure, and the board resets. And the fire-cat starts again, using a different piece.

I end up playing nine games against Ineesis before I'm able to win the last. But not through proper understanding of the game. Instead, I win by following the flow of mana.

Upon my victory, a notification informs me that winning five times is the first of four tasks Ineesis has set for me. Even as I start the next game, I can't help but wonder why I'm playing a boardgame instead of something more... Well, just more.

"So... magic chess, huh?" I ask while considering my opening move.

Ineesis doesn't deign to respond, flicking his tail back and forth while his piece moves into place.

I keep asking inane questions as I learn the game, Ineesis ignoring my banter as I learn the rules through prodigious abuse of Pause. Fifteen moves and two games later, I figure out that he's following pre-established patterns. After that little discovery, it only takes me another two games to get my next win. And then four more to get the rest.

As I place my last piece, earning my final victory, Ineesis gives me a small nod, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Grinning at his dramatic disappearance, I stand up as a wall morphs into a new doorway on the far side of the courtyard.

Deciding not to dwell on the fact that he can teleport, and I can't, I move on. I don't use flame manipulation to make crude drawings of him with a butt-face in the walls. Cause I'm mature.

However, I don't pretend to hide my snicker as Smoulder picks up on my thoughts then does exactly what I was thinking, leaving a rather unflattering picture of Ineesis engraved in the wall. It doesn't match the surrounding decor, but that's part of its charm.

We move up an exposed spiraling staircase that gives a magnificent view of the castle until we arrive at the top of a tower, a wraparound balcony with several sets of flaming shoes waiting for us, different hues and patterns of flame. There’re even several sets sized perfectly for Smoulder. Ineesis stands beside the shoes, flicking his tail as he waits.

Smoulder and I spend longer experimenting with the shoes than it takes us to complete the challenge. Once we've finished modeling for each other, Ineesis takes off, leaving smoke trails behind. Dancing across barely visible lines of smoke in my new electric blue flame shoes, Smoulder and I reach the far tower with a shared sense of amusement. Ineesis is waiting on the far tower. When we arrive, he gives us another nod and poof combo. As the new staircase appears, I turn to Smoulder. "This guy doesn't have much to say, does he?"

Tilting her head, Smoulder sends a feeling of indifference over the bond before hopping to the top of the staircase.

With a shake of my own, I follow.

Ineesis is sitting just inside the tower, which immediately sets me on edge. We're only a few paces down when the next challenge starts, the steps flickering in different hues of intensity. The step I'm on shifts to a blue that's hot enough to make my Health tick down by several points. When I move to the next step, I realize it's not that dangerous, not even being warm enough to do damage. Testing the next few, I'm gaining confidence when Ineesis decides to rub up against my leg as I'm stepping.

I fall forward several steps, barely catching myself before the next blue, giving him my best withering glare. He continues rubbing up against my leg, but now that I'm on guard for it, it's not that dangerous. Neither are the stairs, once I realize I can use Fire Manipulation to shape a safe passage through the more extreme steps.

We're six steps down when the steps start rotating through cycles. Each colour has its own pattern, and instead of solving them, I just blast through to the bottom. Ineesis leaps up on the rotating fire-sculpture that dominates the centre of the new courtyard we find ourselves in. Squinting at it, I wonder what he's perched on. The burning nature makes it tough to discern what it's supposed to be. An octopus, maybe?

Once more, with his nod and poof routine, he moves on to the next, and what should be my final task. When I step forward to find our path, the sculpture he was sitting on starts moving, its limbs twisting inward.

Smoulder and I spread out, ready to stomp this thing. Is it weird that I'm relieved that at least one part of this trial is combat?

But instead of the fight I'm expecting, the fire-octopus continues folding inwards before contorting into an entranceway of a great spiral staircase, leading a long ways down, far beneath the fire-castle. Standing at the top, looking down, I'm surprised to see what looks like dark stone, etched with runes. Runes so complex, they make the Siege-Inferno and Ice-Castle spells look as simple as the basic arrow rune I used in my first spell.

Despite having no idea what any of them do, I take copious notes while searching for any sign of a trap. They pulse faintly, their lines filled with fire mana as I send probing magic down the well. After a few minutes of them not exploding, we descend, Smoulder hopping along the floor and sniffing at the runes.

Waiting for us beyond the dark staircase is a small room, cluttered with what appears to be broken toy cats. Upon closer inspection, I discover that several of them are just scuffed. But that doesn't take away from how worn in the room feels. How very… plain it is, compared to the castle above. It's not just the toys. There's a bed in the corner, with simple, well-worn sheets and a table nearby with a clean but dull bowl atop it. And next to the bowl is Ineesis. His eyes track us as we enter the room.

As I glance around the room, I can't help but wonder what comes next. Are we going to use fire to power some of these toys? Maybe we'll need to repair them? Or-

My thoughts are cut off as a notification appears.

"Zone Quest Object-"

Before I can even read it, the notification is disrupted by another, though this one has a strange intangibility to it.

"Quest update override. Dungeon Administrator privileges: User: Ineesis."

I'm barely able to catch this one before it's replaced once more.

"Zone Quest Objective Updated: The Final Challenge. Description: Complete the Citadel of Fire. Requirements: 3/4 tasks complete."

"Zone Quest Objective: Pet Ineesis for an hour."

I'm sorry...

Seriously? My final task in the dungeon is going to be petting a fire-elemental for an hour?

Even as I'm staring at the notification, Ineesis hops from the table to his bed. Shaking my head, I take a step towards him. I might as well get it over with.

Before I make it to the bed though, Smoulder has placed herself between us, glaring at Ineesis.

I'm not sure how she knows, but I can feel Smoulder's displeasure radiating through our link.

Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought.

Smoulder keeps glaring at Ineesis until he shifts slightly. As if this is some invisible signal, Smoulder hops forward to join him. And my quest updates again.

Now I need to pet both of them for an hour.

Squinting at the text log for a second, I shrug before moving to sit on the bed next to them. Then, instead of petting them where the little stinkers are laying together, I scoop them up and deposit them in my lap. They both turn to glare at me, but I ignore it. If I'm going to be sitting here petting them for an entire hour, I'm going to be comfortable while I do it.

Though my Health Edge does prevent the worst side-effects of sitting in place.

It's a strangely peaceful hour as Smoulder and Ineesis remain in my lap while I continue petting them. It's long enough that despite my now-hefty Stamina edge, I lose a few fractions of a point near the end.

Even as my Stamina starts ticking down, the quest completes.

"Zone Quest Objective Completed: The Final Challenge. Requirements: 4/4 tasks complete. Rewards: 10 Iron-Rank Integration Points. 30 Iron-Rank Pet-Only Integration Points. 3 Pet-Only Ability Points. 1 Armor Upgrade."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective Completed: Complete All Hidden Zone Quests. Rewards: Additional Training Dungeon Progress Toward Class Advancement. 1 Copper Grade Mana Essence. 1 Elementalist Peak Unique Armor."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

Huh. Wonder if I'll be able to claim those at my castle. It counts as a Nexus, right?

Not that I can summon it here.

With my rewards claimed, and a new portal forming at the far side of the room, I gently push Ineesis off my lap while transferring Smoulder to my head. He takes it with typical cat aplomb, mewling at me before settling back into place and watching me approach the exit. No more poofing. At least from him.

I step through the dark portal, back into the world.

A note from Draith

So... I'm back. And been doing writathon. Just haven't been posting. But... I've already written almost enough to complete the challenge. And I intend to finish the rest of the missing chapters over the rest of writathon. Which should put me WAY over the 55k words required.

Author's Note. Gains: 10 Iron Rank integration Points 30 pet points. 3 pet ability points. 1 armor upgrade. 1 copper mana essence. 1 unique armour.

Shoutouts for today for a few friends.

First shoutout is for a little story called Mark of the Fool who launched his first book on amazon and Audible. I love this story, especially the first two books. If you somehow missed it while it was on RR, you should check it out.

Second shoutout... is also for a friend who's launching a book. I feel like I'm slackin here. Mark of the Crijik is another story I love, though it's more character driven in the early pages. But I really enjoyed those characters. And the fun world-building. Oh right. Links. Amazon and Audible.

...TPWM 2.21, Hero Pose...

February 2, 2019, 3:02 pm. Not long enough to get all the cat hair off.

As I step out of my trial, I find the little island empty. When I check party chat, I discover no one else is finished with their tasks yet. I'm not surprised that indulging a cat in playtime took less time than what I suspect were more serious trials. But who knows. Maybe Josh is grooming the earth-bear. I could see that taking longer than playing with Ineesis.

While I wait for the others, I summon the Ice Castle again. Might as well claim my rewards.

"Item received: Armour Upgrade: Cat's Favour.

"Cat's Favour: When used on existing armour, adds the Cat's Favour modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Stamina Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you have a much higher likelihood of landing on your feet when you fall."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Doesn't do much about actual falling damage though."

The Armour Upgrade adds a new option to the Equipment Management submenu, Upgrade Armour. Pretty on the nose there. Selecting it, I'm given the option to select one of my existing Soul-Bound items. Given my attachment to my Aunt Sharon's jacket, I select it to be upgraded. Then the menu reveals that it costs three Iron-Rank mana Essence to upgrade it.

Honestly, for an extra ten Stamina Edge that would already be cheap. But doubling the existing bonuses too? If I had that much on hand, I'd spend it. Only problem with this dungeon not having any mobs in it. Haven't had a chance to replenish our stock. I'm actually kinda broke, other than the Copper Essence it just gave me. Which I could use, but it doesn't look like it would refund me the extra essence. Might have to spend some time hunting once we're finished. Or maybe just borrow some.

Shaking my head, I move onto the last reward, the new armour.

It appears in my hands, and for a moment I'm confused at the strip of cloth. Is it a scarf? Then I Focus on it.

"Wrap of Ineesis. After having completed his trial to a satisfactory level, Ineesis has deigned to bestow upon you his second-favourite flutter toy."

"Originally used by the elemental as a plaything, this wrap can be secured around the hand to protect the wearer from all heat damage, granting a twenty percent resistance to heat or cold effects before Edge is applied. Focused. Improves Mana Edge by 1.0 and Focus Edge by 2.0 when equipped."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

Huh. That's new. No cost to bond. Might as well.

When I accept the bond, a small burst of information accompanies the bonding, like a mini-codex. All it is, is a suggested method of wrapping that I can't help but notice would leave a bit of cloth dangling free where it would be easily swatable.

Deciding to at least test it out, I pose for Smoulder with the wrap, my hands on my hips as I take a classic 'hero' pose. Which is of course when Josh and Rose return. Luckily, I feel them through my IFF before they're able to get close to the bridge to my castle. Though the muffled laughter has me wondering if they noticed me despite the walls in the way.

Not that either of them have any sort of scrying that I'm aware of.

After a quick message through party chat, they join me in the castle, looking around. I wait as they take advantage of the built in Nexus to claim their own rewards. They both get new gloves. Rose's are the same emerald green his mother used to wear, complimenting his golden fur nicely.

Josh's are not pink.

I know that not everything Josh wears has to be pink. I know this. But somehow, the gloves offend me. They're brown. The sort of brown I'd typically see on a workman's gloves. Oh Josh, how far my image of you has come. While I'm lost in thought, Josh holds his new gloves out, dangling from a single hand while his mouth twists sideways. "These..."

Preparing myself to console him, I step forward to pat his shoulder.

"These are perfect!" Josh exclaims, pulling the gloves close and hugging them to his chest.

I blink slowly, as Rose looks over. Josh is beaming as he says, "They let me create dirt. Like, proper fertile dirt. Plus they're great for zapping bugs!"

They're gardening gloves. They're even called Gardening Gloves when I Focus on them.

"I... congrats?" I say, my consolation pat on his shoulder turning into congratulations.

"Thanks Lexi. What'd you get?"

Showing them my new wrap, I discover that the loose end is indeed swattable as Smoulder takes a swipe at it, bouncing off Josh's leg in the process. And nearly knocking him over.

"Whoa. She's really got some oomph to her now."

Looking at Smoulder, I pop open her status to discover she put her points into Strength. And apparently the points she was awarded were before the conversion value. Smoulder's Strength has skyrocketed.

And she has some new class options. One of them she's even considering taking.

Class selection available:

Infernal Sun God (Unique):

Attributes: Minor increase to Strength, Constitution, Intellect and Perception. Moderate increase to Agility and Endurance. Large Increase to Spirit and Resolve.

Resources: Small increase to Health, Stamina, Mana and Focus. Pool evolution: Ignis to Infernis. Immense increase.

Abilities: Epic. Infernal. Sun.”

I have to double check my memory, cause I think the class is as strong as Cataclysm Seed. And by the time I've replayed the memory, it's a moot point. Smoulder's already accepted her class.

Looking down at her, I search her for changes. But there aren't any. Except maybe a bit more of a gleam in her eyes.

Now that she's chosen a class, she could look at a species upgrade too. But even with her amazing new class, she's not satisfied with the options. Not even the Hare-eld of the Apocalypse. I can't help but giggle at the spelling.

As Smoulder snuggles up on my shoulder, I can feel her warmth pressing against me. And I realize that if I hadn't just equipped the wrap, she'd probably be damaging me.

Even Josh and Rose take a step back. When I check her status, I realize she's not even using mana. She just passively radiates that much heat now.

Which is causing slight issues with the frozen castle, the floor getting melty underneath us. So we relocate to the central island right as a fully metal clad Kellica stomps out of her trial, the clanging of her steps announcing her presence.

Before she makes it to the island, I can feel Roberts emerge from his trial. Which only leaves Tipan and Rufka.

Before they join us, I take Smoulder to the far end of the island, the magical grass that doesn't break even under Kellica's metal steps wilting around us.

She's purring contentedly as I give her head-scritches, but that only seems to be increasing the amount of heat she's throwing off. Sighing, I pull her from my shoulder and look into her eyes. "Look, Smoulder. I know you have fancy new powers now, but we're gonna need to dial it down a notch."

Smoulder just looks at me as she dangles there, then leans to the side to push her head against my thumb for more scritches. Sighing, I push the image of her radiating less heat through our bond.

Which doesn't seem to help, as she immediately raises the temperature to a point that makes me start sweating, even with my new wraps and my high resistance. The distorted air around us probably isn't a good sign either.

It takes several more attempts to get through to her, and it's only once I point out that she's not going to be able to get head-scritches from anyone else that she finally starts trying to pull her aura in. Which takes us at least an hour.

By the time we're finished, Tipan has joined the others at the far end of the island, near the bridge to my ice castle.

As I walk up to the little table they're playing cards on, Smoulder's heat completely dissipates. There is a flickering flame on the tip of her tail, but seeing as it's not lighting my clothes on fire, I choose to ignore it as I let Roberts explain the game they're playing. Something he calls Sevens. I listen half-heartedly, but my attention keeps drifting towards the crackling energy of the portal to the Lightning trial. Rufka's still not back. I know she's alive, cause I can feel that my tether's still connected. But her status in the party screen is grayed out, so I don't know if she's alive and doing well or...

Shaking my head, I ask about the other trials, and I'm relieved since no one had anything deadly. Though nobody else was expected to pamper their elemental either.

Just me.

We've finished playing a round of Sevens and put the cards away, discussing our plans for returning home when Rufka finally emerges from her trial. We all notice, because her return isn't subtle. It splits the sky with a bolt of lightning that leaves my hair standing on end. Rufka's standing in the middle of ground zero, a cheeky grin on her face as she poses with her left hands on her hips her right arms in the air.

Just like Sab always used to.

A sudden wave of nostalgia washes over me, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I blink them away before going to congratulate Rufka on her completion, but I'm interrupted by a notification.

"Zone Quest completed: Ascend The Peak. Requirements: Complete all Challenges. Reward: Channeled Casting added to Class Abilities. Receive the first level at no cost. *Due to completing all Hidden Challenges, you receive the first two levels at no cost. Return to a Nexus to update your abilities."

"Rest areas have been disabled. Training completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit."

We don't wait for the dungeon to kick us out, everyone gathering together instead. Thankfully Kellica has stowed her armour and Tipan's not floating around in wind-avatar form as I prepare the spell-form for teleporting us back to Theria's.

Thankfully, no last minute interruptions arise, and the spell transports us safely to her hidden valley. Well, technically, it's just outside the valley, in a little alcove I shaped specifically for this purpose. Since Theria didn't want us performing magic inside her valley, and I wanted a safe space I knew would be clear, it had been an easy compromise.

"We should check on the cabin," Rufka reminds me the moment we step out into the twisted canyon that leads between Theria's valley and the rest of the Reach.

"You shouldn't need everyone for that," Roberts says before I can reply. "I'm going to check with Theria to see if there's been any word from Beth."

I nod, and everyone except Rufka and Kellica go with Roberts.

Glancing towards Kellica, she shifts her gaze away. "I... need to see what they... what happened because of me."

When Rufka doesn't object, we make our way out of the canyon to the edge of the promontory Theria's valley is hidden inside. For a moment, we all just stop and stare at the incredible sunrise. Even with my timesense, I hadn't realized we'd be arriving in time to catch the rays of light as their sun crested the rise. And if it was just that, we may not have all stopped. But Ukila hangs low in the sky, its surface reflecting against the ocean in the distance. And in the distance, only barely visible, a mana-storm roams the surface of the ocean, moving towards the Reach.

"So beautiful," Kellica murmurs, her voice barely louder than the gentle wind in our still sheltered alcove.

"Yep. Mum said the sunrise was one of the reasons she settled in the Reach," Rufka says, patting Kellica's shoulder. "Though the frequent mana-storms help too. Most users are afraid of them."

"I suspect there's a good reason for that," I say drily, giving Rufka the side-eye.

She rolls her shoulders and grins back at me. "Sure. They're not as awesome as me and mum."

Thankfully, a gust of wind covers most of my undignified snort. And before anyone can comment, I leap off the edge of the cliff. I let myself fall for a second, just enjoying the sensation of freefall before flaring my magic out to catch me. As I come up above the river, I realize how... absolutely insane that was. Sure, I'd done things like that before. But I'd always been fortified by Rufka's moonshine. Now... I just trusted my magic would catch me.

The absolute feeling of freedom I feel in this moment is unlike anything I can remember.

Then Rufka catches up to me, and I feel Smoulder's discomfort at being so high up and out in the open. Which isn't helped by her precarious position on Rufka's shoulder.

Oops.

I fly closer, collecting Smoulder and putting her in her pocket where she's properly secured. Kellica comes up behind, slower than either of us under the effect of a new flight spell, metal wings stretched wide.

It doesn't take long until we're circling over Rufka's cabin. It looks intact, not so much as scuffed grass.

After a quick check of the area, Rufka glides in to investigate while Kellica and I remain overhead.

"I... thought it would be worse. You think she'll find anything?" Kellica asks as Rufka lands in the clearing below, taking her time to inspect the edges before moving toward the cabin.

Bobbing slightly as I shrug, I squint as Rufka stops on the porch. But she shakes her head before turning to us and gesturing us down. "Guess not," I reply while moving to join her.

"Someone was definitely here," Rufka says as we land, proving me wrong immediately. "Mum's major wards are intact, but they trampled through the subtle ones."

"Oh?"

"Vaus-sucking voidbrains don't even realize that I can just..." Rufka's hand glows as she spins what I thought was an ornamental carving of a flower next to the door. The entire yard lights up, thin lines of lavender criss-crossing it. And clearly illuminating three forms crouched near the creek at the edge of the clearing.

Even after we've all turned to stare at them, the figures remain crouched. Do they not realize we can see them? Now that I'm looking, their invisibility isn't even that good. They're barely translucent. I can even see some of the middle one's fur.

"You know we can see you, right?" I ask as I take a seat on the edge of Rufka's porch.

This finally prompts a reaction out of the three, all three standing up.

"What're you doing here, burner?" The middle voice asks, leaving me utterly confused. Who is he talking to? And is that supposed to be an insult? The tone kinda implies it is.

"I'm not..." Kellica starts before choking off, looking down at the ground.

"What did you just call her?" Rufka demands, sparks dancing across her fingers as she approaches the three invisible figures.

Oh. Guess we're doing things that way. I Focus on the three of them, preparing to drop into Pause while hopping off the porch. I blink twice after a quick scan of their strength reveals that none of them are a threat to us.

Even as I'm thinking that, Wyonna messages us, "Wow. I've seen paper lanterns that were less flimsy than these three."

"We were told not to engage," one of the invisible shapes hisses at the one who spoke.

"It's just the burner," the other shape says, letting their invisibility drop. She's a K'tharn with muted greys and blacks whose eyes flick over us as she starts to step forward. "Besides, we know the Archmage is busy. And they're barely iron."

An invisible hand partially obscures their shoulder, halting them before they can take another step forward but it's the voice on the other side that speaks. "Is this how the Taken normally operate?"

"No," hisses the other voice again, trying to pull on the shoulder of the K'tharn who's revealed herself to us. But she doesn't get a chance, cause while they've been arguing, Rufka strode across the lawn and is now standing directly in front of them. Kellica and I are just behind her, and I've already managed to secure tethers to each of them. Though there's something weird about the way my tether attaches to the third presence. A quick double check reveals that his powers are web based and his name is Pogell, which almost makes me laugh.

Rufka flexes her hand and their remaining illusions shatter, revealing that neither of the others are K'tharn. The one on the left, who's been hissing is covered in scales, similar to Raz though nearly twice his height and with mottled green scales and their name is Lik'tik. And the one on the right is so fluffy, it's hard to make out more than their vaguely humanoid shape, though they only have two arms and according to my analysis, their race reads as Melkog. Though it should probably read as 'big fluffy puppy who stands on two legs with an incredibly boopable black nose.'

"Apologize," Rufka states, staring at the one in the centre. I can't help but wonder if she's asking them to apologize for trespassing, stealing from her mum, or the burner comment. Maybe all three?

The K'tharn, whose name is Ael'thani according to my analysis, draws her eyes together as she takes Rufka in. "To you? For what?"

I'm considering how to point out all the things they could be apologizing for when Kellica speaks. "For breaking into her home!"

The K'tharn's eyes flick to Kellica for a moment and Kellica kinda just... deflates, her shoulders hunching in while her eyes fixate on an empty spot near Rufka's feet.

"No," Rufka growls out, sparks surging up and down her arms. "For calling her a burner."

This gets the K'tharn to scoff, lifting her head to the side as she affects the almost same hero pose I was in earlier. "Why would I apologize for calling her what she is?"

Suddenly, Rufka's display stops as she laughs, turning away from them and clapping Kellica on the shoulder. It makes Kellica flinch but she meets Rufka's eyes. "She has a point, friend. Why don't you show this vethka stain who you really are?"

I'm at a loss, but something seems to pass between Rufka and Kellica as Kellica gives Rufka a small nod before squaring her shoulders. Rufka still has one hand clenching and unclenching. But it's behind her back as she keeps her lower arms folded and her other arm on Kellica's shoulder. Taking her cue, I move to the other side of Kellica.

Kellica glares at Ael'thani for a second but instead turns to the Lik'tik, who is still partially camouflaged, their skin mottled in a pattern similar to the trees behind them. Though with their yellow eyes staring back at us, they're not particularly hard to spot. "Please inform the K'mintar that I am invoking the Vigil of Eyes. Ael'thani shall cast no shadow."

"What? You can't do that!" Ael'thani sputters, turning to their companion. "Can she?"

"As you have so tastefully pointed out, she is a Truth Searer. It is within her rights to invoke a Vigil. No matter how disfavored she may be. And she has the right to make you her Light," Lik'tik replies, running a hand over their scaly ridgeline while letting out a low grumble.

"These are the ones the K'mintar wants, are they not?" Pogell asks, his fluffy fur not moving nearly as much as I feel it should when he shifts to look towards Lik'tik.

"No. These are just her subordinates," Lik'tik answers, their yellow eyes fluttering as they look back at us.

"Perhaps we should take them? Would that not get the Archmage to come to us?" Pogell asks.

Okay. Despite how adorable he looks, I'm starting to think Pogell isn't a nice puppy. Also, not that smart, if he thinks they can handle us. We're right outside Rufka's home for crying out loud.

"Yeah. We should just take them," Ael'thani agrees. "Then we-"

Lik'tik hisses, cutting Ael'thani off as the lizard-person takes a step back. "I will have no part in such idiocy. I shall relay your message to the K'mintar." Before we can respond, they leap away, bounding into the jungle.

"Hmm. If Lik'tik believes it is a bad idea," Pogell mumbles before stepping towards the bushes.

"What? But you said..." Ael'thani starts before realizing she's been left alone. She stands there for three more seconds, her eyes locked on Kellica for the entire time before spinning around and darting into the forest. Much less smoothly than Lik'tik did. It's almost as bad as when I first ran through the forest before meeting Rufka.

"So..." I say as the three Taken disappear into the woods. "The Vigil of Eyes?"

"I... it's for resolving internal disputes. We'll be expected to prove our skills. And then we'll be given a chance to air our grievances," Kellica explains, "It will be a private matter, though I suspect the K'mintar will not approve the Vigil until after I have completed my time with you. She was rather insistent about the meeting with your... with the Archmage."

"I'm proud of you," Rufka says, squeezing Kellica's shoulder. "Even if you never should've let them call you a burner in the first place."

"I... Ael'thani isn't that bad," Kellica mumbles.

Rufka and I both stare at her for a second before Kellica tilts her head back. "She wasn't... I mean, yes. She called me a burner. But there are others who are much worse."

"What about the other two? The outlanders?" Rufka asks with a glance towards me.

"Lik'tik doesn't get involved in anyone's business. They're not big on socializing. And the other one is new. I've never seen them before."

"Should we stop them?" I ask Rufka, pointing in the direction they ran off.

"Nah. Looks like they didn't get into anything important. And you tagged them, right?"

I nod, shuffling the tethers to be lower priority. I don't really want to keep them in mind unless they're close. Wonder if I can figure out a way to do that automatically?

Looking into the forest, I can't help but wonder. If they didn't take anything important... what were they looking for?

A note from Draith

Gonna be chapters Mon thru Fri for a week or two. Don't get too used to it. Never know then that horrible thing called life grabs me by the ear and doesn't let go again. But I have at least that much.

Another huge shoutout to my Pre-reader Codeki, for all the feedback.

Loot Notice:

Rewards: Armour upgrade. Doubles base and +10 Stamina. Handwraps. Smoulder gets racial upgrade. Unlocked Channelled Casting Ability first and second rank.

...TPWM 2.22, When One Door Opens...

February 2, 2019, 7:46 pm. Forty five seconds after the walking puppy disappeared into the forest.

With the Taken gone, and Rufka finishing her inspection of the cabin, I take a moment to open my ability screen. While wondering about how messy those Web abilities might be for the very fluffy Poolegg, I realize I'd been so distracted by my physical rewards, I'd forgotten to look at what Channelled Casting does. So I open it up to take a look.

"Allows 2 channeled Spells or Abilities to be maintained at the same time without Focus costs."

Focusing on it slightly, I'm able to determine that it has three ranks maximum, and if I invest another point, it'll go up to three channeled Spells or abilities.

When Rufka comes back, confirming that nothing important is missing, I convince them to join me for a quick stop. There's a door I visited a long time ago that I've been meaning to return to.

As I fly into the clearing near the church where the others were taken on the day we arrived, I can't help but frown at it. It's... kinda hideous. My early work shows how little I knew about crafting with stone. And the less said about the plumbing, the better.

I'm tempted to make changes, but...

"I still can't believe you desecrated a two-hundred year old temple," Rufka says with a chuckle.

Even as I'm about to object, Rufka raises her hands.

"I know, I know. You told me. Still, it's funny to see."

"Was busy worrying about my life," I grumble to myself as we descend through the poorly fortified turret, since it's the most easily accessible route from the sky.

"You did this, tel'thoni?" Kellica asks, running a hand along one of the steps I left jutting out of the temple's walls. "After only a day of knowing how to use magic?"

"Kinda," I answer, frowning at the steps. They're practical but ugly. So ugly. They don't have any extra traction, nevermind artistic flourishes. "Technically, I started using magic a long time before I came to Akilo."

"Oh?" Kellica asks, tilting her head in my direction. Which leads to me explaining about my childhood. An explanation that's soon interrupted, since we're soon standing before the rune-covered door in the basement.

As my eyes trace over the runes, I follow the flow of mana through them as I read out the words, my voice rising in pitch halfway through. “This node has been claimed and sealed by Uthica of clan Halterin in accordance with directive 24.1 of the Lathian Conclave.”

"This is related to Uthica!" I practically shout, turning to Rufka who's smiling at me.

"Registered user detected. Access granted."

“Quest updated: Knock knock. Description: Open Uthica’s door in the Goddess Vaus’ temple basement on Akilo. Requirements: open 1/1 doors. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points.”

Even as the messages appear, the door slides open, revealing...

An empty room?

Stepping forward, I stop myself just before I cross the threshold. I inspect the room for magic or traps or... anything. Rufka and Kellica stand beside me. But the only thing I see inside is a single piece of broken pottery.

"Looks clear," Rufka says after more than a minute standing at the door.

"Uhm. Agreed. But it might just be too subtle for me to detect," Kellica says, from where she's kneeling by the edge of the door.

"Nah. You saw how bright it was before Lexi stepped up to it. Now it's as dim as Ael'thoni," Rufka replies, drawing a soft chuckle from Kellica while taking a step through the door. Before she crosses, I Pause time. Just in case. But nothing happens. Other than her taking a step into the room, of course. I definitely don't Pause a second time just to admire her form.

Nope.

She strolls around the room, her hand on the wall until coming to a stop above the broken piece of pottery. She holds it up, flipping it over then grins in our direction, waving us closer. Remaining ready to drop into Pause again, I join Rufka, accepting the offered pottery shard from her. Our prize for opening what doesn't seem to have been a particularly secure door.

It's similar in style to the patterns on the side of the building, a depiction of Vaus and Astra, though this is more intact, showing them standing across from each other. The colours are faded, but part of me knows that Astra was once white and Vaus had been midnight-black with a golden circle between them. The gold is the only part of the relief that hasn't faded. The piece of pottery, our only real loot, isn't even magical. Well, not any more magical than everything else surrounding us. Even so, I feel a sort of connection to it. Something less to do with the magic, and more to do with… a feeling of familiarity.

"This is pre-integration," Rufka mumbles, her hand caressing the faded imagery. "Mum's gonna flip."

"You're sure?" Kellica asks while stepping past me.

"Mhm. See the way the edges have faded. After integration, the artist subclass let users figure out how to avoid the uneven fading. And the mana-signature is too uneven."

Focusing more closely on the mana, I think I can make out what Rufka's talking about. There are... clumps of different elemental affinities. But it's so subtle I missed it on my first inspection. Well, I'm glad we found something. Cause I was feeling pretty bummed about the empty room.

We don't bother going upstairs as I teleport us directly to Theria's again.

The others are gathered near Theria's eating, and Theria gets up as we approach, coming to meet us. We've barely finished our greetings when she hands me a letter from Beth. Actual physical paper and everything. She hands a similar one to Rufka.

"Hey kid,

Looks like we're going to be a little longer than planned. Genitha's 'friend' needs us to take care of some stuff for them. Nothing too challenging, but we'll be a few days. In the meantime, you should head to Glimmering Sands. We've arranged for transport to the next dungeon. It's a combat dungeon that Genitha says has much higher than normal rewards. I'll tell you the details in person. If she's right, it'll be more than worth the extra travel time. Plus, it's outside the Aetherium and the M'tari's territories. Which is important for other reasons.

Not sure if you heard about it yet, but we're also tracking down Genitha's missing property.

Tell Josh... well, tell him I'm... even if I'm not the original... I still... you know.

Anyway, take care of our tribe. I know you can.

Beth."

Huh. I'll admit, I'm a little surprised they're not ready to meet up. We spent nearly a week doing Elementalist's Peak. Attached to the letter is the estimated arrival time of the ship in Glimmering sands. I glance over at Rufka and she gives me a half-smile, her ears twitching slightly. "Guess we're headed back to the beach."

"Looks like," I agree. I gather the others and discover Beth sent most of us a letter. Not Kellica, of course. Unsurprising, since Beth didn't even know her when we left.

It doesn't take long to agree to depart for Glimmering Sands, and with a brief thank you to Theria, we teleport beneath the empty tree of Nexus point 392, spending the night at Raz's.

He's not able to see us, busy with other tasks for the System. Then we spend a day just flying closer, mostly to avoid the attention that popping out of nowhere might bring. In the evening, I set up a new underground bunker, but instead of a temporary residence, I create another teleportation room and we return to Raz's, who's still unavailable. Then in the morning I teleport us back, leaving another rabbit themed hole in the ground. We considered using the castle, but it stands out to such a degree we decided it was best to keep a low profile.

Our return to Glimmering Sands is quiet, at least between Rufka and I, as the settlement appears on the horizon with the sun high above us. The residents haven't been idle. Most of the bricks from the falling tower have already been cleared away, and the buildings look rebuilt. The tower itself hasn't been restored, but it has been redesigned, a new open air garden running up one side.

We land at the designated landing platform. Instead of the casual greeting we got last time, this time there are a pair of K'tharn who look us over. They glower but wave us through once they notice Tipan. Once on the ground, I can see signs of where the blocks fell. But only because I'm looking for them. The holes in buildings have already been patched over, and it's only the change in designs on some of them that even show there was damage. Also, there are still a couple of the blocks resting between some of the buildings, but I notice one of them has already been converted into a patio.

There are a lot of K'tharn in the streets, and it's only as we're making the way up the steps to the Inn they stayed at last time that I remember that they were going to have a festival soon. The Great Tidal Festival. And as I check again, I confirm that there are indeed decorations praising the Deepest Court. Whoever that is.

Focusing on the decorations doesn't reveal anything, but when we make it through the doors of The Ocean's Breeze, where a familiar black and white K'tharn is fiddling with a new set of ornaments, I Focus on a sculpture not unlike the yin-yang symbol hanging in the center of the room.

"Object Analyzed: Ward of the Depths."

"This talisman is created in the deepest parts of the M'tari Acendancy to pay homage to the Deepest Court. The secrets to its creation are well hidden, while its effects are equally well known. Any who spend eight hours within thirty-three meters of this talisman will gain the ability to breath water and improve any water-based skills at an increased rate for twenty-four hours."

[Wyonna]: "That is one heck of an essence-hungry enchantment. It looks like it takes an iron-rank water essence every two hours or so. Pefe must be spending a McDuck's ransom to keep it running."

"A what's ransom?" I ask, squinting at Wyonna's last comment but then hold my hand up to forestall her explanation.

"Oh! Hello there. Didn't expect to see you back so soon after how your last visit went," Pefe says as she spins around, smiling at Roberts before looking to the rest of us. "I'm afraid we don't have anything but hammocks available. All my rooms are booked."

"Hammocks?" Roberts asks while I look more closely at the ornaments. In just two weeks, she's managed to change out almost every one of them.

"Mhm. Just for the festival, like you suggested," Pefe agrees, nodding vigorously. "I kept a few just in case you came back."

"Thank you. That was quite considerate of you," Roberts replies, bowing slightly towards Pefe.

She laughs. "They're cheap and take up hardly any Storage space. It was no trouble. And I'm afraid you'll need to set up near the North beach. It's our designated mana-form zone this year."

"Of course. And the North beach is?"

Pefe pauses in her adjustment of one of the ornaments, then laughs before giving us directions to a location nearby. Then she pulls several hammocks out of her Inn's storage space, which she explains to Roberts is quite separate from her personal storage space. As Roberts offers to pay for them, Pefe leans forward, patting his hand. "I'll have none of that. These aren't even enchanted."

And so, with a bunch of hammocks woven out of what appears to be a green fibrous material I suspect is the local equivalent of seaweed, we walk to the North beach.

Before we even get there, we're greeted by a throng of K'tharn. Even in Aethire, the only time I saw K'tharn packed this tight was when we visited the Desh'mersa stadium.

"I don't see anywhere to set up our hammocks," I note, looking over the packed crowd.

"Well I can't even see the water," Rose grumbles, causing me to look back at him. It's easy to forget when we're all flying around, but his diminutive stature does make it hard for him to see. Honestly, it's a little weird that I can see over most of the K'tharn. But they tend to be around my height, and I only barely need to go up on my tip toes. While testing just how far I can see, I happen to see an area further up the beach where the K'tharn aren't packed in as tight. And where there are multiple pillars with hammocks strung between them

Pointing it out, we set off through the crowd, nearly getting separated several times despite a conscious effort to stay together. There's a different feel to the K'tharn here than the ones in Aethire. More... vibrant. Again, not counting the Desh'mersa fans.

They also have a lot more tattoos, which are clearly visible to my mana-sight despite being hidden beneath their fur. They seem to be temporary, given how much mana they're throwing off. When I ask Rufka about it, she leans closer and whispers, "They're letting users know their... preferences. The one with a half-circle and dozens of curving lines, she likes group recreation. And see her, with the closed circle with only two lines inside? She prefers only one thiani. Preferably with a long-term commitment."

As I look around, I realize there are at least a dozen different patterns. And even then, most of them have variations in addition to the core shapes Rufka points out.

"Is this a mating festival?" I ask as we finally break free of the crowd and near the pillars.

"It's unlikely that most of these K'tharn have unlocked the right to bear children," Tipan says with a shake of her head. "If only it was so easy."

Right. Somehow, I managed to forget that I need the System to give me permission to have kids. Shuddering, we make our way further up the beach to an empty set of pillars. We could just stay at Raz's, but everyone seems to be in agreement about a change of scenery. The pillars are all marked with signs that indicate that users are only to manipulate enough stone to secure their hammocks. Looking around, I see that there are minor flourishes on the anchors, but otherwise, everyone else has followed the guidelines.

So I do the same, securing each end with small anchors that are perfect replicas of Smoulder in full 'flame-on' mode. I consider having her hold the ends in her mouth, but decide to go with her sitting on it instead. Rather not have her get miffed at the art and destroy it in the middle of the night.

As I'm testing the strength of the hammock, Rufka plops down next to me. Looking to where she was setting her hammock up next to mine, I see she skipped any sort of artistic flourish beyond imprinting her name over the anchor. My inspection of everyone else's work is cut short before it can begin when Rufka pulls me up against her. "Cuddle time."

I laugh, snuggling in tight.

This visit's already looking a lot better than our last.

A note from Draith

Thanks for all the comments and welcomes back. They really do fuel the fire, as it were. See you tomorrow.

Author's note: Rewards gained: 5 Iron integration points. 1 piece of pre-integration pottery.

Today's shoutout (and thoughts) is The Armorer and the Infinite Dungeon

While I really enjoy this story, I feel the name does it a disservice. The main character is much more of a soul mage, than an armorer, though she does do a bit of that too. Still, good story, and definitely worth reading.

...TPWM 2.23, Another Gets Blown-off its Hinges...

February 4, 2019, 2:02 pm. Not enough cuddle-time.

After cuddling and chatting with Rufka for half an hour, Roberts stops by to check how we're doing. I ask him about the hammocks, and he explains they were an offhand comment, but they've clearly become popular. An understatement, given the forest of them on this section of the beach alone. Then he gets up, saying he's looking forward to enjoying our thirty hours of free time before the ship is supposed to arrive.

"Hey, if we have a whole day off," Tipan calls from out of sight, "That means we can go to a Desh'mersa game tomorrow! If you'll take me, Lexi?"

"Only if I get one of those giant hats!" I call back, earning a soft chuckle from Rufka.

"Yes! Wait. I need to check the schedule, are the…" Tipan's voice trails off as she paces closer, her eyes gazing into the distance.

"Since we are already here, I would like to visit this healer you mentioned," Roberts says, looking over the crowd of K'tharn towards the alabaster tower to the south. "Perhaps she would be interested in an exchange of knowledge."

"Oh, that's an excellent idea," Tipan agrees, blinking as she refocuses on Roberts. "I meant to talk to her about an apprenticeship."

"Didn't they have figurines of us at a nearby shop?" Josh asks while rising from where he'd been partially buried by Smoulder's attempts at earth manipulation. Which amounts to her blasting the sand with fire, getting it to fly in the direction she wants. It's going exactly as well as it sounds. "I'd love to pick up a few, if they still have any."

"That sounds like a great idea. In fact, Rose, why don't you and Smoulder join them. Lexi and I would like to take a walk," Rufka says, giving Rose a wink with both her left eyes.

I don't remember deciding we wanted to take a walk, but I'm not dense enough to ignore Rufka's hint. Rose grumbles about being assigned pet watching duties as he reaches down to collect Smoulder. But she just uses his arm as a platform, leaping from him to Josh's elbow until settling on Tipan's shoulder.

"Should I?" Kellica asks, glancing between Rufka and everyone else.

Placing a hand on Kellica's shoulder, Rufka says, "Go, have some fun. Despite what mum said, you're not my servant."

As they push their way through the crowd, Rufka and I turn north, heading away from the action. But even here, there are K'tharn setting up stands and games. Some of them even have System plates floating over them, listing out their prices. We stop and grab some slushed ice cones that are advertised as 'genuine Stormbringer Ice Flurries,' which are a pleasant contrast to the heat of the day. Not that the heat is bothering me. It's nice that resistances don't take away the pleasant feeling of basking in the sun but they negate sunburn and heatstroke. At least, from normal sources.

With the last remnants of my cone, I flick a tiny bit of ice at Rufka. Not even using magic, just my enhanced agility. Which she dodges without even looking at it. Then retaliates with the rest of her slush, to equally unimpressive results.

Still, it is a crime most foul, and I leap forward to prevent her from taking advantage. Which devolves into us wrestling on the beach, which is going swimmingly until we hear someone cough from nearby.

Looking up from our tangle of limbs, we find a K'tharn looking down on us. Actually, on closer inspection I realize she's an Awakened Fallen. One of the ones we rescued from Ivicka.

"Sorry to interrupt. But we were wondering if we could talk?" she asks. As I look past her, I realize there are two more Fallen standing further up the beach.

Rufka's glare is almost strong enough to set the poor Fallen on fire as she leans back in the sand. I squeeze her shoulder before turning back to the Fallen. "Sure, what's up?"

For a second, she just shuffles back and forth before taking a deep breath I'm not entirely sure she needs. Do Fallen still breathe? Then she says, "We... I... Thetilda will explain."

I glance over at Rufka. She meets my gaze for a few seconds before flopping back, throwing all four arms out to the side. "Fine. Let's go help." Then, in a voice so low I can barely hear it, she adds, "not like we were enjoying our private time or anything."

"I'll make it up to you later," I whisper back, pulling Rufka to her feet. "I'll even do that thing with your ears you like."

The way Rufka's ears twitch back and forth lets me know that my words had the desired effect as we join the Fallen. I take her hand as they lead us back to where they're camped, squeezing it. When we arrive, I realize it's less of a camp, and more of a secondary settlement, with stone-shaped huts in neat rows and a waist high wall that traces out the perimeter.

It's practically an island amidst the rest of the settlement. There aren't any stalls here. Nor are there many K'tharn. There are nearly twenty Fallen though, all Awakened if the way their eyes track us is any indication. The weight of their gazes feels heavy, accusatory. As if they're judging us. Expecting us to make things worse.

We're led to the second hut on the right, a simple carving of the name "Thetilda," being the only thing that sets it apart from any of the other huts. There are two Fallen inside, one of whom is stretched out on a slab that serves as a bed. The other is on a folding chair next to her. The second looks up when we enter, her eyes flicking to our escort then back to me and Rufka.

"So you are the ones who rescued us from Ivicka's control?" she asks, standing up and bowing slightly in our direction. "I am Thetilda, the unlikely leader of this little enclave. I understand our freedom is due to your intervention. Thank you."

"I... you're welcome?" I say, not sure how to respond. It's not like we knew how to free them from Ivicka's control. Or that it was even possible.

"Would you like some tea? I find my appetite isn't what it used to be, but the aroma is as pleasant as ever," Thetilda asks while moving to a small kettle set to one side of the room.

"Uhm, sure," I say as we stand awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh, where are my manners. I swear, the decay is getting worse every day, no matter what that fool girl says. Felicka, fetch some chairs, would you dear? And get my daughter." The Fallen who was standing at the entrance nods and soon returns with a trio of folding chairs before stepping back to the door.

"Please, sit," Thetilda says even as she continues fussing with the tea. "And please forgive me if... if I forget what we're talking about. The decay is unforgiving, even if I suffer from it less than the others."

"The decay?" Rufka asks while taking one of the folding chairs and setting it against the wall where she can keep an eye on the entrance and our host. I place my seat next to her, technically blocking off said entrance a bit.

Before she can respond, another Fallen enters the tent. "Mother, you- who are these people?"

As she turns to stare at us, I realize that she's not a Fallen. She's just a K'tharn, one with very messy fur and eyes that have a kind of strain I'm familiar seeing in my mother, but haven't seen much of on Akilo.

A weary sigh resonates from Thetilda as she addresses her daughter, "These are the ones who rescued us from Ivicka, Trellani. Please show them some respect."

"Huh. Thought you'd be taller," Trellani says while taking one of the folding stools then setting it next to her mother while glowering at us.

"Now. As I was saying. The decay-"

"Wait, you're talking to them about the decay? Why should they care? They brought you here then dumped you?" Trellani protests, bumping into her mother and nearly spilling her tea as she turns.

"It seems that being free of our bonds is bad for our condition," Thetilda says with a soft sigh, ignoring her daughter and instead looking over to the Fallen who lies on the bed. Upon closer inspection, I realize the Fallen's eyes are open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Felicka here discovered a way to use our mana to stave it off."

"For all the good it's done," Felicka grumbles from the doorway.

"It has allowed us to hold onto our minds, and that's not nothing," Thetilda replies, looking past us to where the other Fallen shifts back and forth. "And it has kept us free."

"Kept you free?" Rufka asks, leaning forward slightly. "Free from what?"

"The Aetherium have a solution."

"That's not a solution! It's slavery to a new master!" Trellani interjects.

Thetilda waves her daughter down with two hands while lifting her tea to inhale. "We could bind ourselves to their matrix and be sustained. And it would be a solution of a sort. But we have no desire to serve a new master. We would rather end ourselves than return to slavery."

"Mom. No, it… it won't come to that. I'll figure something out."

"I... I'm not sure what you're asking us to do?" I say, finally taking a sip of my own tea.

"We're asking you to stop the Decay. No more, no less," she says, squeezing the hand of the vacant-eyed Fallen behind her, which prompts me to Focus on her.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 11.

A mana-warped version of K'tharn. This Fallen has been Awakened through a corrupted summoning ritual. The bound matrix has been destroyed, and this Fallen is degrading into a standard Fallen.

"Name: Pelthica of clan Atheidies.

Attributes: Physical; Very Low, Mobility; Very Low, Magic; Very Low, Awareness; Very Low.

Attacks: This Fallen is incapable of remembering any of their skills.

Defences: This Fallen has a weakness to any mana-based attacks."

Even as I'm looking over the analysis, my System sends several more notifications.

“Quest updated - Purge Corruption. Hidden Objective completed. Requirements: Decaying Awakened Fallen scanned 1/1. Rewards: 3 Iron rank Integration Points. Schematics for Awakened Fallen Purification and Revival chamber."

"Quest received. Cleanse the Fallen. Cleanse a single Fallen of their corruption. 0/1 Fallen cleansed. Rewards: Structure: Tracking Array. Focus: Corrupted Soul Matrix. 5 Iron rank integration points. 1 Iron rank Progression Point."

"Quest received. Purge the Matrix. Find and destroy the new Matrix the Aetherium is using to Enslave the Awakened Fallen. 0/1 Matrix destroyed. Rewards: Soul Crystal Purification Work Station."

"Oh, wow," Rufka mutters from next to me. "Guess we still need to clean up after Ivicka."

"We do not intend for you to do this for free. We are not entirely destitute. Not yet. Will you help us?" Thetilda asks, clasping her hands together in a way that jostles a piece of her loose fur to swing wildly. She grabs it quickly, turning her head away while her ears fold back.

Trellani steps next to her, and I can feel a small swirl of earth and water magic before she looks towards us again.

"I... think we might be able to," I say as I open the schematic for the Purification chamber, displaying a copy in the center of the room. The only part I recognize is the thirty-two Iron-rank Mana Essence the blueprint requires. Though I'm able to guess that a 'Water-Essence mana-regulator' is used to control the flow of water essence. There are several parts like that, including one for Twilight.

"What… how?" Trellani stutters, her eyes darting across the diagram.

"This is half-Enchanter, half-Artisan work," Rufka says as she looks over the plans. "Pretty sure mum has most of this stuff. Not sure where we'd get a mana de-condenser though."

Thetilda's ears perk up at this. "A mana de-condenser? As in, to pull mana apart? I heard Ivicka talking about salvaging one from the Builder city." Then her ears droop. "But all of her equipment was destroyed."

"Guess we should check, at least," I say before pushing to my feet with only a tiny bit of wind magic. "No time like the present."

"Should bring the others," Rufka says, sending a message to them in party chat even as she nods to Thetilda. "Hopefully, we'll have something soon."

"Wait," Trellani says before we can make it through the door. She closes her upper eyes, her lower eyes locked on me as though trying to tear my secrets free. Then she lunges forward and wraps me in a hug, whispering, "Thank you."

I pat her back, looking awkwardly to Rufka who just gives me a small smile.

As we step out, I feel the collected gazes of the Awakened on us once more. Nothing has changed except what we learned inside the hut. But that's enough. Cause now I know they're not judging us, afraid we'll make things worse.

It's so much worse than that.

They're hoping we succeed.

A note from Draith

No pressure Lexi, no pressure.

Edit. Welp, guess this got posted today instead of tomorrow morning... No chappie tomorrow!

Today's shoutout is for Modern Patriarch.

Decent prose with OP MC who acknowledges the value of raising everyone while not throwing out existing structures that have value. Good read thus far.

...TPWM 2.24, Oh Mighty Rabbit Queen ...

February 4, 2019, 3:18 pm. Moments after walking out of the Fallen village within a village.

Leaving the Fallen cloister behind, we choose to head north as Rufka flops her head against my shoulder. "Much as I appreciate the System giving us a new quest, think we can get some us time now?"

"Absolutely," I reply, messaging the party about the quest. Roberts sends a quick reply asking to be filled in later, but indicates they're going to be busy for a while.

Which gets a whoop out of Rufka that quickly dies out when she looks back over her shoulder.

Navigating away from the crowd, we climb atop an isolated spear of rock that juts out over the water. As we settle down and cuddle together, looking out over the gently rolling waves, I add, "Do you think we should delay the dungeon? Try to get the chamber built?"

"Yeah," Rufka sighs. "Gonna need to talk about it with everyuserrrrrrrrrRRR...." Rufka trills as I trace my finger up and down her ear. She shakes her head, flicking her ears before punching me softly in the side. "Not out here!"

"Sorry," I reply, unable to keep the grin off my face. "Couldn't resist."

Suddenly I find myself falling forward off the rock, barely able to twist around to land smoothly on the sand below. Even as I'm about to right myself, a weight lands on my back, forcing me to one knee.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Rufka says from where she sits atop my back.

"Oh, it's on!" I declare, wrapping my arms around her legs. Then, with a display of Strength I couldn't have achieved two weeks ago, I stand up, hoisting her into the air without using any magical assistance before charging straight at the waves.

Rufka squeals and then it devolves into a battle of dunking and chasing each other. By the time we're finished, the sun is starting to dip low in the sky. We make our way back to the others with equally silly grins on our faces. Which might be related to our post water games timeout.

Being able to make a private spot in seconds no matter where we are will never get old.

Upon our return to the hammocks, Smoulder immediately rockets towards me, successfully doing what Rufka failed to do for several hours and knocking me on my ass. I give her her tithe of head-scritches then settle her on my shoulder before going to talk to the others. And discovering that there's a Nexus point we can use for teleportation inside the Tower.

Can't believe we missed it, but we were kinda interrupted last time we visited, what with the whole Ivicka attacking their Lord of the Deep and bringing the tower down and all that. Oh. And being chased by a dragon. Much fun.

With only a little daylight left, Tipan and Kellica guide us to the Tower. As we get close, the surrounding K'tharn once again get so thick we have to practically force our way through. Kellica proves to be rather good at this once she clads herself in her metal form. For some reason, people respect a seven foot tall, full metal K'tharn.

Following in her wake, we make our way inside. The water-elevator still dominates the centre of the chamber. Tipan leads us to one of the side elevators, descending to the lowest level. The Nexus itself is off to the side, in a quiet garden of bright coral, most of which is underwater. The garden's sole illumination comes from long glowing eels that swarm beneath the surface. They're clearly not a threat, seeing as there are several K'tharn walking amongst them while tending the coral.

As Kellica drops her armor, a process that reminds me of the first Transformers movie, Tipan directs us to a cluster of rock that's almost lost beneath the coral. And then we're registered with Glimmering Sands's official Nexus point. I notice that we're unable to access Raz's from here. And that we have to pay to Return here. Both restrictions that would be lifted if we were official dwellers of the M'tari Ascendancy. Which seems to be the official name of the Lords of the Deep.

Once we're registered, Tipan leads us to a performance where a troupe of K'tharn are enacting a rendition of the Last Stand of Queen Bellathiva. Which turns out to be a love triangle that leads to war between her jealous lovers before she convinces them that she's more than woman enough to satisfy them both. It's... quite a bit raunchier than I'd envisioned.

"That's probably my favourite play by Lady Ruffem," Tipan says as we leave the Tower.

"Never would've taken you for the kind of user who likes Ruffem," Rufka replies as she tears a piece of glowing pink fluff off a treat we found on our way out. It's remarkably similar to cotton candy, even tasting vaguely like cherry.

"Is it just me, or did it seem like they were real thiani?" Kellica asks, accepting a clump of the fluffy treat as Rufka waves the wand in her direction.

Tipan nods vigorously, before looking up into the sky. "The Handsome group prides themselves on having recruited real Triads to play the roles. It's in their fliers."

"That certainly explains some things," I say, glancing at Rufka. My ears are burning just imagining doing some of the flirting they did on a stage in front of hundreds of people. Nevermind the kissing and groping at the end.

"So... does that mean you're into Triples?" Rufka asks, elbowing Tipan.

Tipan coughs, her ears going flat as she continues looking at the sky, "I'm not against it. But it would have to feel natural, you know? It's not something you can force."

"Mhm. Mum says any relationship is a lot of work, but Triples are nine times as much. I know I prefer a single partner."

"But... it could be fun to be a triple," Kellica adds, her voice barely audible. "At least... to try."

"Maybe if I didn't already have the best thiani on Akilo," Rufka states, tossing the candy wand to Kellica and wrapping her arms around me.

I try to fight down the blush as several nearby K'tharn glance in our direction with knowing smiles. And I fail utterly.

"Eh, she's alright," Tipan says, waving her hand dismissively at us. "Get back to us when she can do act three."

At this, Rufka's grin gets far too wide and I clamp my hand over her mouth before she can reveal just how much we've been experimenting together. Thankfully, she takes the hint, and the topic shifts as we make our way back to camp. Unfortunately, that shift includes talking about the Fallen, and what we can do to help. At which point, Tipan points out that we're going to need to visit Ivicka's fallen stronghold or loot a mana de-condenser from one of the Builder's cities. And seeing as we need to reclaim the cities anyway...

The topic is put on hold until tomorrow, and we spend the rest of the evening singing songs around a small bonfire. We take turns introducing songs, with mine being a song Seb and I made up during space camp about one day going into space and touching the stars. A goal I haven't really reached, despite being on a distant planet. Tipan's contribution is a haunting poem of lost summers while Kellica shares a sailor's song that her old caretaker taught her before Kellica was sold to the Taken.

With Rufka snuggled up beside me, Smoulder purring away under my chin, and the sound of my friends singing in the background, I end up falling asleep on the beach staring out over the ocean waves.

...TPWM...

February 5, 2019, 6:02 am.

The smell of bacon wakes me, the morning light falling over where Rufka and I are still snuggled together on the sand, our hammocks less than ten metres away.

Oops.

Smoulder isn't in her spot on my chest, and when I look around, I find her collecting head-scritches from Kellica. Even in the early morning light, Kellica has a fire going, and over it is the source of the heavenly smell. A rather prodigious collection of meat is neatly laid out on a thin sheet of metal that floats above the open flames of the fire.

As I watch, the sheet moves, flipping what must be over a hundred strips of bacon in a single shift of the pan. Now that's magic.

Once the others start moving, Kellica reveals she also has biscuits and a light syrup that pair well with the close-enough-to-bacon.

While we're eating breakfast, Roberts informs us that Beth is expecting to arrive in the evening, which Tipan uses as a chance to ask about going to the Desh'mersa game. And suggesting we can check with her mother about parts for the purification chamber. Though we don't need any mana-essence, as almost everyone else still has a bunch left over.

"We're going with Tipan," Rufka declares as she licks a drop of syrup off her biscuit. "I haven't seen a Desh'mersa game in years."

"Well, most of us haven't seen one at all," Roberts points out as he neatly slices his biscuit open while carefully folding bacon inside. "I think it would be marvelous."

"Good, then it's settled. We'll get everything we can before the game. Maybe even find a de-condenser," Tipan nods.

With that settled, we finish breakfast while Tipan regales us with a story of going to a Desh'mersa game with her Father.

"So, I'd been watching the game when one of the grunters nearly obliterated the other team's grunter, and I lost my snack over the seats as I jumped up in shock when the blood hit us. My father just handed her snacks to me and wiped the blood off. We continued watching, and I dropped my snack again, only for her to pull another one out. This was before I knew about inventories, so I thought my father was performing magic. So, of course, I dropped a third snack. Which is when the people in front of us finally spoke up," Tipan admits with a smirk.

"You know, you don't talk about your father much," I say as we're getting ready to head to Aethire, cleaning up the beach.

"I... don't see her often. She doesn't live in the Aetherium," Tipan admits with a small shrug. "She takes her responsibility to the Stormguard very seriously."

"Stormguard?" I ask while we both pause to watch Smoulder and Kellica chase Rufka down into the water.

"They deal with damage and beasts from mana-swarms. They're mostly neutral, working anywhere disaster strikes," Tipan says with a smile while standing a little straighter. She's about to continue when there's a loud crash down by the water. I shake my head as a cloud of superheated steam expands to cover the nearby ocean.

"That sounds kind a like our emergency services back home," I reply as our three companions are approached by another K'tharn who dictates some sort of fine for overuse of magic, if I'm hearing them correctly. While Rufka sorts out the fine, Tipan and I compare notes on earth's emergency response and the Stormguard. And I come to realize the Stormguard do a lot more combat than a regular Search and Rescue, but are otherwise pretty similar. Except instead of first aid, they have actual healing magic to assist them.

"Which is part of why I want to study here," Tipan says, tilting her head towards the tower. "There aren't many healers willing to take on apprentices from outside their organization."

"Couldn't you just get your father to arrange something with the Stormguards?"

"I... I can't join the Stormguards," Tipan replies, running a hand along her mohawk.

"Why not?"

"Cause Father and I don't get along," Tipan says, slumping her shoulders while giving me a weak smile. Then she takes a deep breath, "Plus, she's commander of the Stormguards."

"Oh," I reply softly, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze. "Sorry 'bout that. I know what it's like, having a parent you don't... get along with."

Kinda feel like I'm underselling me and mom, but that's okay. This isn't really about me.

"Not your fault." Tipan gives me another half-smile before turning and waving to the others. "Are we doing this or what? Let's get going!"

Before I know it, we've all gathered inside the Tower, which is somehow even busier than the night before, standing at the teleportation point. I reach out, make sure everyone is secure, and then we're in Aethire. Nice and smooth. I'm almost feeling comfortable teleporting people again.

Even as we're materializing at the beacon in Rufka's now empty cabin, Rose says his goodbyes, having arranged to visit his pu'shaha, Bem, and his siblings instead of 'wasting time watching a bunch of skyjocks throw rocks at each other'. I give him a quick hug before he leaves. Then we all don our disguises before slipping off towards the Desh'mersa arena. We go to the same one as before, but this time Rufka hails a charter ship to take us directly, a ship that looks a bit like a zeppelin, except it's mostly windows and we sit inside the blimp. It costs more, but it's definitely faster as it rockets along above the city. From above, the city looks a bit like a spider's web, with the World's End Palace right in the centre.

I barely have time to make the observation before we're descending again. Our transport opens one of the windows, floating next to one of the small platforms near the stadium for loading and unloading passengers.

"Okay. Everyone stick with me," Tipan yells to be heard over the sudden wave of noise that greets us once we're down near the stadium. I swear, it's as busy as Glimmering Sands.

Tipan leads us directly into the stadium, and shortly after we get inside, she stops and taps a map. A second later, I get a notification that says I'm now a registered guest for booth Blue-42 for the next 24 hours. While I'm reading, Tipan leads us to a shaft that is full of constantly cycling air. It reminds me of the water tube they use in the Tower. And sure enough, the K'tharn in front of us jumps inside and is swept up and over the side of the stadium. After only a moment, they slow down and step out on a platform halfway up the dome.

"Okay. That's awesome," Josh says as we stand next to it. "But how do we know where to stop?"

"We have booth Blue-42," Tipan replies, "So. Lift 42," she points at the System number floating above the tube then her eyes roam upwards along the dome before stopping as she points. "And the blue landing."

She's pointing to a spot that's most of the way up. Easily visible, as it's the only blue patch on this particular... air lift? Wind-evator?

"So, can we get snacks up there? Or do we buy them down here?"

"Every booth has a System shop. You only buy snacks outside if you're in the blood seats," Tipan says as she turns around and backs into the tube with her arms held wide. "Come onnnnnn."

And then she's gone, zipping away to our booth. Shrugging, I follow her in, spreading my arms just like she did. In a way, it feels like falling up.

Landing is even easier than if we were flying, the air tube slowing me then depositing me on the landing outside our booth. That's some smooth System integration.

Tipan's grin is almost wide enough to split her face as she says, "I always loved doing that as a kid. Drove my father crazy when I figured out how to go to other landings."

"You can go to other landings?" I ask as the others arrive.

"Oh yeah. It's not even hard, you just can't get into other booths," Tipan replies as she turns around and walks directly towards the stone doors of booth Blue-42. The doors grind open with more noise than I'm used to hearing from magical doors. I imagine that in a place like this, that must be intentional. Tipan doesn't comment on it as she leads us to what are some very comfortable looking chairs.

As I'm taking a seat in a large double wide chair that reminds me of a beanbag as much as a loveseat, I realize there must be gravity magic at work. Cause even though we're way up the dome, the chairs are facing downward, giving us a complete view of the arena. As we're getting comfortable, Tipan starts explaining the game, including the Blood seats, which are the seats that ring the arena at the main playing level. Which is where her father prefers to watch the game from.

"After mother found out, she forbade father from letting me watch from the blood seats. I'm pretty sure it was because father didn't make sure to get the blood out of my fur before taking me home after the Southern Tribunes beat the crap out of the Celestial Screamers in the cup game. Shame they lost the cup," Tipan says while tearing at a piece of jerky.

Once the game starts, it's actually less magical than I was expecting. I mean, yes, they're all flying. And they're shooting a projectile back and forth. But it's almost like hockey. Except in the air. With floating obstacles that can be used to change momentum or slam people into. But very few spells, only occasional shields that flicker near the goalie. Or as Tipan insists they're called, the desh.

As we watch, I quickly see how the blood seats earned their name. While all the booths, such as the one we're watching the game from, are out of the main playing field, and covered besides, the blood seats are right next to the actual goals. And instead of a transparent window, they're only separated from the players by a thin mesh that does nothing to stop the blood..

At several points, Tipan jumps out of her seat, screaming at the players below before sitting down and calmly explaining what happened. During the intermission, which comes after they've played for two Honors (which are basically just rounds from what I can tell), Josh is browsing through the System store and pulls out a tiara with bunny ears.

"It's perfect for you," he says without a hint of sarcasm. Taking it from him, I inspect the shining diamonds and not so floppy ears. Feeling Smoulder radiate her approval, I sigh before putting it on.

"How's it look?" I ask, tilting my head up and to the side slightly.

"I live to serve, oh mighty rabbit Queen," Josh chuckles, bowing from his seat.

Neither Tipan nor Roberts comment, though they do both smile. Rufka just gives me a peck on the cheek before turning back to her snacks. But Smoulder continues to radiate her approval, so I decide to leave it on for the rest of the game.

The game is played across four rounds, and when the fourth and final round begins, Tipan's given us a pretty complete rundown of the rules. Which is when she starts telling us about the backstories of the Southern Tribunes between each play. By the end of the game, I know more about each player of the Southern Tribunes than I do about my neighbours on the second floor of the small apartment building back home. (First floor was laundry and our building manager George's apartment. Everyone knew George and Jube.)

As we emerge from the stadium, Tipan is regaling us with the story of how Baska, one of the Tribunes, grew up working on the same ships that her mother manages. And used to get fines for getting in fights with other workers before she became a professional Desh'mersa player.

We make our way to Rufka's friend Tathia's cheese shop, since we're in the neighbourhood, while Tipan continues her story. Rufka and I split off from the others, ducking inside where we find several other K'tharn lined up. Rufka manages to convince Tathia to quadruple her order this time, since she's been sharing more than she expected and we'll probably be away from the capital for a while. As we're waiting for Rufka's friend to finish wrapping her order, a group of four Fallen enter the store, led by a rather short K'tharn with dark brown fur.

When Tathia sees them, she growls through her leather mask, "What do you want, Fiska?"

"I'm just here for the week's taxes. You know it's not personal Tathia," the short K'tharn says with a shrug while two of the Fallen move forward to flank her.

"Uh huh. You're lucky I've been doing good this week. Don't know why the council's switched to Essence, but it's a pain to convert," Tathia growls while leaning forward to glare at the short K'tharn.

Fiska just shrugs while waving for one of the Fallen to grab a small bag from Tathia. "Don't know any more than you. Just that your stink-shop is on today's list."

"You've got your Essence, go on, get out," Tathia practically yells. But she's doing it to their backs, half the Fallen already outside the shop by the time she speaks, her hands cracking the wood of the counter.

"They're taking taxes in Essence now? And weekly?" Rufka asks as Tathia finally releases her grip on the counter.

Tathia doesn't answer for a moment, her attention focused on wrapping Rufka's cheese, pulling the cords extra tight. Then she turns back with several large packages and a heavy sigh. "Yeah. Damn ministers had a hundred page rant about the benefits of a hard currency system for the purchase of 'curated food'. It's all just politics if you ask me. The law doesn't even force us to collect hard Essence. Just pay our taxes in it. Some-user pissed off one of the ministers and now the rest of us have to suffer. Anyway, here's your cheese."

"Thanks. And hope it gets better," Rufka says as we move out of the shop to where the others are waiting.

When we emerge, Roberts steps over, his voice low. "Are you okay? We heard yelling. Was there a problem with the Fallen?"

"No," I answer while looking up the street to where the Fallen are coming out of another store. "They're just collecting taxes."

"Which is so backwards. Everyone knows the System does a better job of handling taxes," Rufka states while shaking her head.

"Demo might not agree with that," I say with as straight a face as I can manage, which earns me a soft chuckle from Rufka as she throws her arm over my shoulder.

"Well, if there's no problem, we should get going. Lots to do before we head back to Glimmering Sands."

Roberts isn't wrong about there being a lot to do. With the list of items we need for the Purification chamber, we split up into three groups, visiting several different merchants before meeting at Tipan's place several hours later. Rose is waiting for us. As are Bem and his siblings.

When we approach, Bem stands up, brushing himself off.

As soon as he sees me, he says, "I want you to scan us."

Well, I guess that's one way to say hello.

A note from Draith

For those who forgot (since it was literal years ago) Lexi got a quest to scan the other pu'shaha after she scanned Kalim.

In other news,

Have y'all read Shipcore yet? Cause damn I was surprised by how much fun I had with it. Not quite a litrpg, but it's pretty close. And fun scifi too.

...TPWM 2.25, Population Limits...

February 5, 2019, 3:55 pm. A few minutes before a little light scanning.

"Dad!" Rose immediately protests as he stands up from the bench they were sitting on in front of Tipan's home, his younger brother hanging on his side. His father ignores him, standing straight, his hands clasped behind his back as he meets my gaze. Rose's sister, Celthi, ruins his stoic stance by clutching his side and waving at us.

"Hi Bem. Didn't expect to see you today," I reply, which I think shows how much I've grown. I didn't even drop into Pause to think about how to respond. I'm not shocked he knows about the quest to scan them either. I did let Rose know about it weeks ago. Though I can't help but wonder... "What changed your mind? Rose said you declined."

The pu'shaha looks up to me, managing to scoop Celthi up without breaking eye contact before saying, "I know that when Kalim first told me about it, I was a little skeptical."

"You threatened to light Aethire on fire, dad. I'd say that's a more than a little skeptical," Rose notes while bouncing

"Fine. I was very skeptical. But I was grieving your mother. And I thought I'd lost you too. You can forgive an old pu'shaha for not thinking clearly," Bem says, frowning at Rose. Then he turns back to me, hefting Celthi up against his side. "So, will you do it outlander? Will you scan us?"

"Of course," I answer, starting to Focus on Bem while directing my tendrils of Facet to scan him. Time to change Akilo.

A complete breakdown of his body fills my mind, adding to the codex that was started with Rose. Then I shift my attention to Qern. Once more, my tendrils reach out, encompassing the young pu'shaha as I tease out everything about him.

"Quest completed: A New Normal? Requirements: Perform a thorough scan of pu'shaha Bem and Qern. Requirements: 1/1 Bem scanned. 1/1 Qern Scanned. Reward: 5 iron rank integration points."

I blink at the notice in my vision, a little underwhelmed. That's it, huh. I guess I built that up in my-

"Vaus's palace of playtoys," Tipan mutters which is soon followed by both of our K'tharn companions with their own interesting curses.

Then Bem turns, grabbing his sons and pulling them into a hug.

"Okay. So, I'm guessing that did more than just give me a few integration points."

"Integration points?" Tipan asks, her eyes not even focusing on me. "I... this..."

"I'd say you are correct, Alexis. Perhaps we should give our friends a moment," Roberts says, clasping my shoulder.

"It's fine," Rufka says a second later. "But this is big. Like, bigger than mum sinking a city big."

"I'm sorry, your mum did what?" I ask.

Rufka doesn't answer, waving her hand as she adds, "Here, you should see."

"Congratulations! Due to recent scans by user Pandora, your species has been proven to have more than one sapient gender! In accordance with System Statute 4.10032.2, Akilo's population limit has been increased from 1,048,576 to 4,194,304. Please note, this will not increase your personal limit. Additional Subclasses will receive child limit increases as possible rewards. As always, unused child limits after your first will not be counted against this limit. Non-resident users child limit remains separate and capped at 1,024 per species."

Oh. Okay then. Guess it did do something. That's a pretty massive increase too. Literally four times as many people. But at the same time...

"Well then," Roberts says, rubbing his chin. "That's not very many people."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that. Do you think that's a hard limit?" I ask, biting my lip before pointing a finger at Rufka. "Also, don't think I forgot about that sinking a city thing."

Ignoring my aside, Roberts steeples his fingers against his nose. "Impossible to say. From what we've heard, most people in the Aetherium didn't know there was a limit."

"Well, they know now," Josh says, looking over his shoulder at where some of Tipan's neighbours have gathered across the plaza from us. Several are glancing in our direction. Correction, they're not glancing at everyone. Their gazes are locked onto me.

"Uhm. Why are they all looking at me?"

"Oh. There's a picture attached," Rufka mumbles, displaying the image on the screen. It doesn't just show my original face. It shows my carefully constructed K'tharn avatar as well.

"Uhm. Well, we should probably go," I say as the K'tharn from across the courtyard start striding towards us.

Tipan barely responds as I push her towards her house, still staring off into space until I try to step past the entrance foyer. At which point, some sort of instinct kicks in and she guides us to the same room I met her mother in. But she remains distant, tapping her chin as she stares blankly ahead. Right until there's a knock on the door.

She sighs, before squeezing my shoulder and walking past us to deal with her neighbours.

The second she leaves the room, her mother walks in. Tithan stops, her upper eyes closed and her lower eyes focused on me as her lips crack into a small smile.

I'd just taken a seat, but I immediately rise to greet her, giving her a shallow bow. She returns it before passing her gaze over everyone else. "My. This is quite the gathering. When Tipan said she'd be having friends over, I only expected the two. It seems she really is becoming more social."

"She's good people," Josh replies with a big grin and two thumbs up.

"Indeed. Two big surprises in one day. I'm glad my Health is full, else I might've died of shock," Tithan states as her eyes come to rest on Roberts, who's disguised not as a K'tharn, but as a Melkog. After I described them to him, he insisted that his disguise be one of the big fluffy puppies. Honestly didn't see it coming. Probably should've.

"Alright. I've convinced the neighbours that you just look similar to user Pandora. Though I'm not sure Kevama believed me," Tipan says while rubbing at her head as she returns.

"She has a nose for gossip. I suspect we will have all sorts attempting to sneak into the compound in less than an hour," Tithan says. "Best we discuss what you originally came for, before you turned the Aetherium upside down."

"You know, mum had an idea on how to do that," Rufka says while taking a seat on the edge of my seat. We all turn to look at her and she shrugs. "What? It's a floating city. And mum gets all kinds of stupid ideas."

"Is this related to her sinking a city?"

"No. That was a… a different kind of floating city. And no one lived in it. At the time. Because they'd evacuated. Look, mum's not perfect. And it wasn't all her fault."

I can't hold in my chuckle, and I'm not the only one.

Before I get carried away, I clear my throat and return to business. The tiniest expenditure of Focus, and I display the list of parts we still need to Tithan. There's only three things we weren't able to find during our earlier shopping spree, and unsurprisingly, one of them was the mana de-condenser. "Hmm. These two are no problem, I have a friend who deals in them, on occasion," she says, pointing to the other two items on the list. "And this can be built, though the process takes nearly a month."

"Really?" I can't help but ask, "we can just get someone to make it for us?"

"That is what Enchanters do, young lady. Not that anyone is likely to have one lying around. The only regular use they have outside some very specialized engines is to break apart Essence, and the System does that well enough on its own."

"That... is unfortunate," Roberts notes while steepling his fingers. "Are you able to inquire about the prices for the others?"

"Tomorrow. I'm afraid that few of my contacts will want to discuss business today. I'm thankful the System allows us to build up stores in case of emergency. I suspect we will be dealing with the disruptions of this change for years."

"I... uhm... sorry," I mutter, frowning at the back of Rufka's hand.

"Don't apologize!" Tipan practically jumps in my face, she's moving so fast. "The Aetherium is going to be growing again! A little disruption to the supply chains is a small price to pay for us to thrive again!"

"My daughter is correct. This is good news. I have simply learned to temper good news with the reality that change is seldom simple. And never as easy as we would like. Isn't that right, my dear?" Tithan asks, extending her hand up to Tipan.

Tipan nods, taking her mother's hand and squeezing it as she moves next to Tithan. Despite Tithan's tiger-striped fur, in that moment, I can see the resemblance between them. It's more about the way they hold themselves, than their appearance. A shared stance, even with one sitting and the other standing. I wonder if my mom and I are like that?

Vaus damn, I hope not.

"Now, I've not been a good host, though I'm sure you can forgive me, what with the unexpected miracle that has been dropped on our door. But I feel it would only be proper to invite you all for dinner," Tithan says, inclining her head towards Tipan. "If that would be acceptable, Tipan."

"I... of course, mother."

"Good. I should get started then. Perhaps you can show the children to the courtyard. It has been far too long since it has seen proper use," Tithan suggests with an arched eyebrow.

"Excellent idea mother. Celthi, Qern, would you like to see the courtyard where I first learned magic?" Tipan asks, while taking a step towards the door. "You're welcome to come too, Bem."

Before Bem can respond, Celthi and Qern are pulling him across the room. And Rose too, I note, his hand still clutched tightly in his little brother's. The next hour is spent in pleasant conversation, though Tipan's mother refuses to share embarrassing stories from Tipan's childhood. I swear that's against the mom code.

After a post dinner tea, we return to Glimmering Sands, arriving in the side of the coral area and immediately having the transit fee issued as a prompt.

Paying the handful of emgee, we exit the room just in time for a ship to enter the harbor below. It catches my eye not just because of its size, though it is easily ten times any other ship in the harbor, but because of its unique design. It floats on a pair of skis, its hull mostly suspended above the water as it cruises past. Unlike most of the ships I've seen on Akilo, it has a mast and furled sails. There are only three K'tharn atop its deck as it glides into its berth, and I can't help but Focus on the unusual ship.

"Elkon Class Frigate. Name: Twice Scuttled.”

“Used for transporting people to the most dangerous corners of the world, the Twice Scuttled is a bunker ship. Bunker ships are designed to withstand even the harshest of mana-storms, without being turned into pure mana. Despite the captain's choice of a name, the Twice Scuttled hasn't been scuttled once since she was rechristened.”

[Wyonna]: "Remember when you went to see whales with Seb and her dad? And the waves were taller than the boat? Well this beauty would sail right over those waves. We should get one."

"That is one fine vessel," Roberts says as the K'tharn on board start shouting at one of the guards that greet them. "Excellent lines."

"Kinda reminds me of the Enterprise. If you flipped it upside down. But mixed with Adventure Planet," Josh adds before the ship's berth's curtain closes, blocking them from view.

We make our way back to our camp, with the crowd having thinned out around the tower it's surprisingly easy. When I look towards the beach, it's easy to see where everyone went. There are thousands of K'tharn in and above the water, with colourful flags and rings floating out for over a kilometre. Some of them are playing Desh'mersa, or at least a version of it, using flags like we used to when the teacher made us play touch football. Which was always a lot more physical than it was supposed to be. Like to see Brie try that crap now.

Shaking my head, I look out to where others are racing, and even more seem to just be relaxing at the water's edge. As I'm taking in the scene, I see a wave rise up in the distance, tall enough it blots out the evening sun. But instead of crashing down on the K'tharn playing over the water, it splits, rolling to the sides along an invisible boundary.

And as I focus on it, I see K'tharn inside the wave, riding objects that are suspiciously similar to surfboards.

Back on earth, I never once considered surfing. But now, watching the K'tharn here. I want to try. Something nice and intense should be an excellent distraction from the world shaking changes I made today.

Which is why, while the others (including Smoulder) join a game of Desh'mersa, Rufka and I move to a stand selling surfboards. Or Tidal boards, as the shop attendant informs us they're called here, when I ask about them. They're not just a sport, they're part of a tradition observed during the Great Tides. An M'tari tradition, adapted for their K'tharn subjects. The last bit doesn't come from our attendant, but from the codex when I analyze one of the boards.

The helpful K'tharn from the stand is showing us several styles of boards we can purchase when a Fallen enters the shop. It's one of the Awakened from the camp, and I hardly would've noticed them if not for the other K'tharn around the open-air stand going quiet.

The Fallen stops just inside the entrance, and clears their throat. "I'd... like to participate. If that's allowed?"

And just like that, the tension seems to snap. Our attendant apologizes for the interruption, and informs the Fallen they'll be with them soon. Then they finish our sale and we're back on the beach.

Just in time to see Smoulder turn a section of sand into glass.

...TPWM...

February 5, 2019, 5:49 pm.

I walk towards where Smoulder is sitting on the edge of a now broken Desh'mersa stage. She's glaring at Josh, and Josh is glaring right back even as he turns glass back to sand.

Before I can interfere, Roberts and Tipan are there and I can feel Smoulder calming down through our bond. Then Josh huffs, turning towards us. And I notice his eyebrow is missing. A quick conversation reveals that Smoulder was remarkably good at the game. Without lighting anything on fire. But then Josh broke the rules, which he claims was an accident, and Smoulder, as Roberts puts it, overreacted.

I can't help but chuckle, which earns me a half-hearted glare from Josh.

Pulling Smoulder away from Tipan, I hold her up in front of me. "You know, if you get kicked out of the match, you can't win the game. And destroying the arena is a pretty good way to get kicked out of most games."

Smoulder just looks at me, before sending a feeling of frustration over the bond. I'm able to pick out bits of her watching the professional teams play, and now she's trying to understand why it's different.

Which makes me realize something more important. Smoulder's getting smarter. She still doesn't understand language, but she understands rules. And something as complicated as a game.

I try to reassure her over our bond. And explain the difference between playing for fun and professionally. I... think I get the general idea across, since Smoulder hops over to Josh and headbutts him gently a few times. But it's hard to tell. And the others play another game of Desh'mersa, but this time Smoulder just sits down to watch.

After ensuring Smoulder doesn't want to join us, Rufka and I hit the waves. We're taken out to our launch pod by a smaller Lord of the Deep. Or M'tari, as they explain, as only the city masters are actually Lords.

Rufka and I surf until after the sun has set, still riding the waves in as Ukila rises in the night sky. For a moment, as I'm cruising down the inside of the wave, I swear I see the glitter of distant light. And then it's gone.

Dismissing it, Rufka and I go out twice more, until the M'tari who was ferrying us out informs us they'll be taking a break until tomorrow. Deciding not to paddle out ourselves, since flying and most uses of magic are still prohibited, we return to shore in one final wave.

We find Kellica and Tipan playing a game of Astra's Stride when we come to shore, two other familiar forms sitting at a nearby campfire. Looks like Beth and Genitha are finally back.

With a nod, Rufka moves to join the game while I head towards the campfire.

"What, you didn't want us knowing you were back?" I ask as I sit down next to Beth. Wetly. There's something satisfying about the feel of ocean water. I don't think I could've enjoyed it so much if I didn't know I could clean it away in an instant.

"Didn't want to interrupt your fun, kid. Why are you so wet?" Beth asks, leaning away from me.

"Good night for it," I answer, leaning back to stare up at the sky, watching the thin wisps of clouds roll by. Faint flashes of colour are visible within, the tiniest bits of mana adding to the beauty of the night.

"We're gonna hit a Builder city tomorrow," Beth states, drawing me out of my sky-gazing. "Apparently the captain of our ship decided to get in a fight with a guard. It's not too serious, but they've delayed our departure for a day. And it'll probably be best if you're not out in public too much, given the recent announcement."

I'd almost successfully forgotten about the announcement. None of the K'tharn in Glimmering Sands even seem to notice me. When I look up, I see Genitha smiling in my direction. "Seems I owe you thanks. The council no longer has an excuse to pressure me to have more kittens."

"I... uhh, no problem," I reply while digging my toes into the sand.

"It's amazing how many of my friends have informed me of changes in their plans for the next couple decades," Genitha adds, her gaze looking down the beach. "I suspect the next couple years will be much busier than I've become accustomed to."

"Changes..." Beth grunts. "Nothing compared to what's gonna happen to Earth."

"Ah... yes. That is true. But that is part of your efforts tomorrow, is it not?"

"It is. And you're sure about... you know, the gift?"

"Yes. We'll give it to Tipan before you leave."

"Right. Guess that means I just need to..." Beth trails off, her gaze moving to where Josh, Rose and Roberts are building a tower using small bricks lifted into the air with nothing but wind. A sanctioned use of magic for the game in question. Not sure they could've played it at all without knocking the whole thing over a week ago.

Beth gets up, her quick strides carrying her to them quickly. After a short exchange, Roberts comes towards the campfire while Beth, Josh and Rose walk north.

Roberts sits down right where Beth was sitting, stretching his hands towards the fire. "I suspect that's a conversation that's long overdue," Roberts says without turning in the direction of the others.

"Probably," I agree as I finally choose to cleanse myself of the water, my eyes following them until they move over a small rise and disappear.

Before I can comment further, Smoulder lands on my lap, shortly followed by Rufka, Tipan and Kellica close behind, though luckily not choosing to lounge in my lap. Rufka complains about not getting a chance to play even as she snuggles into my side. Which prompts Genitha to tease her kitten.

I settle down, and once more, drift off to the soft sound of ocean waves and gently crackling flame, the thought of world changing announcements and Fallen refugees, blissfully far from my mind.

A note from Draith

Give me fuel, give me fire, gimme that which I desire! Boom!

Aka, thanks for all the support.

Authors Notes: Negligible rewards: 5 integration points. Increased user status and reproductive rights for the K'tharn species.

...TPWM 2.26, A Not So Honest Merchant...

February 6, 2019, 5:49 am. That special moment before you're really awake, floating on a cloud of possibility.

When I wake, I gently free myself from Rufka's arms with a careful combination of replacing myself with a sand-body double and a gentle wind to lift myself up. I can't help but stroke her chin before moving to start cooking breakfast. It's been a while since I made breakfast for everyone (ie. warmed up the food I bought from Raz's), but it doesn't take long before I have a pleasant aroma spreading through our camp. Beth is one of the first to join me, and she's got a smile on her face.

Hopefully that means their talk went well.

We go over the plans for the day, even though they boil down to 'Fly southeast, check out Builder City.' Genitha has her own plans, who she steals Rufka and Kellica for before breakfast is even over. Once Tipan is awake, she informs us her mom was able to get everything for the chamber. She even places an order for a de-condenser, just in case we can't find one.

After breakfast, it's not long before we've left the city and are flying over the nearby grasslands. As we approach the Outer Theslian Sea, I drift closer to Beth. "You think we're ready?"

She doesn't answer me immediately, her eyes fixed on the horizon as we soar along the coast. The way the sun glints off her hair, it's almost as if Smoulder had decided to light her on fire. But this fiery glory is all Beth.

Finally, Beth turns to me, and for the first time in a long time, I feel that familiar danger in her eyes as she smiles. "Kid, I think you and me are gonna reduce this guardian to spaghetti."

"Uh, spaghetti?" I ask, falling behind for a second as I try to imagine turning a giant guardian capable of defending a Builder city into… pasta. Nope, can't do it.

"Yep," Beth agrees without offering further explanation.

An hour later, we're floating at the edge of a valley that doesn't quite line up with the surroundings, the edge of the Builder's city protruding from the ground like an unevenly stacked plate from the top of the sink. If we didn't have the location from the first dungeon's maps, we would've flown past without realizing it was a Builder's City. There's no silver spire, and vegetation has covered most of the surface. I can still see the shapes of the buildings, but most of the great silver engines are missing as well. Only one on the far side of the city remains, fixed in place. But with how deep that side of the city is buried, it's gonna take even more earth-shaping than the first one to get at its entrance.

We move through the city with its mostly empty buildings. When we make it to where the tower once stood, we find a crumpled head staring at the sky, one side of its face caved in.

We float at the edge of the clearing as I Focus on it.

“Creature analyzed: Menas Sentinel. Mana seed: 1.

A Sentinel Construct deployed by the followers of the Creator Menas to prevent non-authorized Users from accessing the core functions of a Builder City. These Sentinels are incredibly durable and will destroy a Builder City rather than allow outside forces to capture one.

Name: Dominic the Vithwraner-MWVAE-20 (Rough translation: The Wrath of the Sea)

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; None, Magic; High, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Hurricane Aura, Slam, Menas’ Gaze, High Water manipulation.

Defences: Extreme physical resistance, Extreme magic resistance. Immunity to Water."

[Wyonna] "Dude's having a bad century, but he's still functional. Get too close and you're gonna get wet."

After I relay the information to everyone, Beth gets another of her dangerous grins.

"This is perfect. Kid, see if you can damage it with your teleportation. Then I'll take a few shots."

Nodding, I fly forward. Which is almost immediately met with a tug on the air around me. Deciding I shouldn't mess around, I teleport next to the face, then teleport away with my 'boundaries' pushed out. I manage to take a section of the face with me, but it's not a clean slice at the edge like it was with Ivicka. Instead, it's a thin layer of stone, almost a perfect shell of the left side of its face. A massive jet of water fills the air where I'd been standing, drilling a new hole into one of the surrounding buildings. And a couple buildings beyond.

Before it can track my new location, a ripple of darkness passes through the head.

Which isn't enough to stop it, but it does distract it from blasting at me again. It takes another dozen shots from Beth, two more teleport-cuts from me, and half the remaining city's infrastructure before it goes still. No rewards or quest progress though.

Scanning the head with Focus and Facet, I'm not able to find anything else of interest, and my codex doesn't get updated either. Shame.

Guess that just leaves the engine.

When we arrive, I start working my way down from the surface immediately. Thanks to our studies in the other city, I know the doors all face towards the centre of the city. At least, when the engine isn't torn loose of its mounts. After only a few minutes, I've built a shaft that runs adjacent to the engine, complete with a little roof to keep the rain off. And a few small Smoulder statuettes, of course.

While it's nice not having to make stairs now that we can all fly, it does mean the entrance is a little less interesting.

Despite the state of the rest of the city, the door on the engine slides open smoothly once it confirms our Citizen status. There's no skeletons just inside either, just an empty hall. We search the engine, starting from the top, but it's mostly empty. The consoles on the top floor don't even respond. When we get to the engineering deck, we discover the engine isn't as intact as it looks. Something sheared off the bottom, leaving nothing behind except a few conduits leading upwards. And a few spare parts that Rufka salvages for enchanting.

"This... was disappointing," Josh says as we make our way back to the surface.

"Indeed," Roberts agrees as everyone waits for me to reseal the passage down to the door. No point in leaving tripping hazards. "Though this close to the Aetherium, perhaps it was to be expected."

I find myself nodding, even as I look at the half-buried engine. This was supposed to be one of the cities we were going to bring to Earth. And it's useless. A ship big enough for millions of people, and it's just... dead. Are we going to find any that will help? What if they're all like this. How are we going-

A gentle headbutt against my leg draws me out of my thoughts, and I look down to find Smoulder sitting next to me. When I reach down to pick her up, she drops something into my hand. With only a small bit of char on the corner, it's not hard to recognize it as the front cover of one of the lunchboxes. Though this one has a different cover. A picture of an elvenoid girl and her pet bunny, skipping down a road.

I almost snort, but decide to give Smoulder some head-scritches instead.

She's definitely earned them.

Our return to Glimmering Sands is quiet, the light banter we'd maintained on our way out completely absent. Kellica and Rufka are waiting for us when we arrive, with no sign of Genitha. As the rest of us settle in, the surrounding celebratory atmosphere almost feels stifling. I can't help but wonder if this is how the Fallen are feeling.

We don't pick up any of our usual games, and instead sit around silently. Rufka and Kellica seem to pick up on our mood, Rufka coming over and taking my hand as she settles in the sand beside me. We remain like that for a few minutes until Beth claps her hands.

"Okay. That was... less than ideal. But we knew there'd be problems. And besides. We showed that we can disable one of their Sentinels,"

"You mean you and Lexi can. I wasn't able to dent the thing. And it was only a head," Josh says, throwing a braided strand of thorns he was holding towards the ocean.

"We're a team. A tribe!" Beth declares, though I can't help but notice a bit of an edge to her words. "None of us can do this alone."

"I'm not saying... it's..." Josh grumbles before shrugging. "We're trying to save the world. Do you even hear how arrogant that sounds? We should just try to get home as soon as possible and warn people."

Yeah, cause that'd go great. Hello officer, the world is ending on a Tuesday. Do I have proof? Uh… I saw it in a vision? I don't say any of this, frowning at the sand instead.

"Even if we could convince people of what is coming, what would you suggest we do? We still need a way to return home." Roberts reminds us, sitting down beside Josh.

"I don't know. But... there's gotta be a better plan than salvaging ancient cities that can't even fly anymore."

"Mum did mention that the cities close to the Aetherium have received a great deal of scrutiny. And the one you visited is within their borders. Not surprising they'd break it."

A soft cough draws everyone's attention, and Kellica's ear folds back for a second when we all look at her. Then she straightens herself out, clearing her throat again. "The Taken have records of extracting large amounts of machinery from one of the Builder's Cities, as you call them. Though we call them Sanctuaries. The Aetherium only ever stripped one, at least according to the histories I've read. So the others should be intact. Probably."

"Okay, so we're still good. And we have another of these Sanctuaries near our next dungeon. We'll be able to investigate it after we've finished."

"Speaking of the next dungeon, have we heard any news of our ship?" Roberts asks.

Beth's eyes go blank for a second before she responds, "The captain wants her deposit tonight, though she won't be ready to leave until the morning."

"I'd like to meet her," I say while lifting myself from the sand. Better than sitting around stewing in the impossibility of our task.

"Hmm. I think... I think I shall return to the healers. If we're to be setting out again, it'd be best to make the most of our remaining time," Roberts says while looking towards the tower.

"Mind if I join you?" Tipan asks him, to which, he nods in assent.

Josh and Rose decide to stay behind, and when Rufka sees them starting a game of Astra's Stride she gives me a peck on the cheek and tells me to have fun before moving to join them. And before Kellica can make up her mind, Rufka insists she join the game as well. Before we leave, Beth retrieves a small sack she had hidden within a cubby that is only accessible by stoneshaping the pillar supporting her hammock. I tilt my head as she fastens it to her waist but Beth just gives me a half-smile in response as she ties it to her belt instead of putting it in storage.

We make our way to the tower, with the crowd having thinned enough there's a clear line of sight. But not thin enough we don't have to push our way through on occasion. As soon as we're inside, Tipan and Roberts step into the water tube and are whisked up and away. Beth leads me to a set of stairs leading down a single level, passing by several guards clumped at the bottom. I meet the eyes of one of them, and she gives me a grin before patting her lap.

Blushing, I turn away quickly at her invitation. I follow Beth as she pushes through a shimmering curtain of... something that looks like silk, but when I brush my hand on it, the feeling is more like rough linen. I analyze it, then read the notification as I jog to catch up to Beth.

"Object Analyzed: Roughspun Trika Webbing."

"This durable material is produced by ovulating Trikas in vast quantities to protect their eggs while signaling to their mates that the eggs are ready for fertilization. The beauty and durability have led to it being a popular material throughout the M'tari Ascendancy, leading to large Trika hatcheries being established throughout the lesser Depths."

Huh. Neat. Wonder what a Trika looks like.

I don't have long to ponder the beautiful material before we pass through a second curtain. Before I can take in the room, I stagger from the stench. It's like someone took a barrel of fish and dumped it in cow manure. But only half as pleasant. With a light application of wind magic, I clear my face of the smell, before deciding to extend it to encompass my entire body. And Beth too, after I hear her muttered curse.

"Thanks kid," Beth says, her hand clasping my shoulder for a second before we both turn to take in the room. Along the left is a mostly open bay, with a hanging scaffold stretching between the two-skied ship we spied earlier. On our right, rows upon rows of fish hang from the ceiling, which seem to be the source of the smell. Despite the stench, they appear to be in perfect condition. In fact, if they weren't hanging so still, I'd believe they were still alive. Beneath them are long grates, and unless I'm mistaken, the worst of the odor is coming from beneath.

Through where the forest of fish meets the edge of the harbor, I can just make out a pair of K'tharn arguing. The bigger one, leaning over the desk is complaining about not being paid in hard essence, while the smaller one, who's sitting at the desk seems to be repeating what sounds like a canned apology. With no direct path, Beth and I zig-zag our way through the fish forest just in time for the larger K'tharn to turn away in a huff.

When she sees us, she stops, all four arms crossed over her chest as she takes us in. So, I decide to do the same.

“User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D. The secondary sapient species on Akilo. See K'tharn codex for more information.

Name: Tlugla e'Tell.

Attributes: Physical; Comparable, Mobility; High, Magic; Low, Awareness; Comparable.

Attacks: Swagger based abilities.

Defences: Medium physical resistance, medium magic resistance, poison immunity, disease resistance."

"Would you like to know more? Obtain the codex on the Swagger resource for 0.1 Focus and 0.1 Facet."

Wow. I haven't gotten that option in a while. Wait... could I have been expanding my codex by scanning random K'tharn? Damn.

For the moment, I hold off on accepting or declining the prompt. As I've learned, that's best done when I'm headed to bed for the night, not when meeting our potential captain.

Her inspection of us comes to an end with a huff, apparently no more impressed with us than the K'tharn she'd been arguing with when we arrived. "Are you the outlanders that want to try the dungeon in the Crown of Vaus?"

"That's right," Beth replies, her tone flat. "Are you captain of the Twice Scuttled?"

"Hmm. Might be. Or, might be I'm an honest merchant who-"

Her declaration is interrupted by a roar of laughter from the K'tharn she'd just been dealing with. "You're as honest as a Barge-rat, e'Tell. Get your dealings out of here. Our business is done."

With a rude gesture in the direction of the other K'tharn, Captain e'Tell smiles at us with a shrug before waving us towards the ship. "Come, we'll talk aboard my ship where we don't have to be surrounded by fish offal."

Beth and I settle in behind her as I exert extra effort not to step in any of the gunk on the floor. We've made it halfway across the room when she stops, raising a hand. We match her, my feet carefully placed to avoid stepping in any of the fish-gunk. Once we've halted, I hear a low rustle behind us. When I look over my shoulder, I see entire sections of fish disappearing at a time. It's so rapid it's causing a faint whooshing as the disturbance sweeps across the room. And then the fish we're standing beside vanish too.

Just like that, we're left in an empty room. Where we entered, I can make out the brown fur of the other K'tharn as they pass through the curtain. With the fish gone, I consider dropping the wind barrier, but a glance at the grates and the still present gunk makes me think I'd regret that. A lot.

There's a pressure when we cross the gangplank, (I think that's what they're called. Is it still a gangplank if it's suspended by magic?). The pressure seems to press against my sphere of pure air. Instead of trying to fight it, I let my spell drop and the pressure disappears. So does our perfectly clean air, but luckily, the ship doesn't smell like fish gunk. Just wet-K'tharn.

On the deck of the Twice-Scuttled, a table has been set out with three chairs. Two of them are simple wooden chairs, but the third is more akin to a throne, with more gems embedded in it than a royal dowry. I can't bring myself to call it pretty. It's too blatantly gaudy for that. But it is shiny. I'm not surprised, and even a little relieved, when the captain takes the throne for herself.

Beth and I sit in the wooden chairs, and I'm tempted to use a bit of earth magic to make it more comfortable. But we're guests, and that'd be rude, I think.

"Thought there'd be more of you," the captain says while hooking a leg over one arm of her chair-throne. "Not giving you a discount just cause some of your users got dry feet."

"Oh, they'll be here. But you made it clear you wanted half your payment today. And you did say we wouldn't be leaving until morning." Beth replies.

"Might not be leaving till morning, but having your team onboard tonight would make for smoother departure once we get our clearance."

"Won't be a problem," Beth states while my attention wanders to the runes carved into the mast of the ship. The entire thing seems to be a continuous enchantment, though I can't tell what it does. Even the sails seem to have runes woven into them, a special thread having been used that is only visible to my mana-sense.

My attention is drawn back to the table when Beth plops the sack she retrieved on the table. I'm surprised at the tinkling sound from within. It doesn't sound like Essence. And when captain e'Tell opens the bag, I see that there's a large number of coins with gems set in the centre inside.

"Good. None of that System garbage," e'Tell says as she takes out one of the coins before pulling a mask out of her storage.

I analyze the mask while she does the same to our payment.

"Object analyzed: Mask of Analysis. These rare constructs are highly valued for their improved ability to analyze magical objects."

[Wyonna] "It's not as good as your Facet-net, but it's on the higher end of equipment we'll see on this backwater."

When I shift my Focus to the coin, I discover they're a currency used by the Thenite Consortium, referred to as an Aurum. And they can be used for Integration points, but their worth is generally much higher than the equivalent Essence.

"Hmm. Authentic. These really are Consortium standard. Or good enough facsimiles not to matter. No trace of Spatial-stress either," captain e'Tell says, plucking the bag off the table and securing it to her waist. "And the rest is...?"

"Held by Glimmering Sands, to be released on our return."

"Then I think we're done here. Unless you'd like to be shown to your bunks?"

Beth declines, and we are soon making our way off the ship. I turn back in time to see one of the other K'tharn come out to retrieve the table and chairs. I chuckle when I see them lift the throne instead of storing it in their inventory. Seems the captain doesn't like to have her treasures put in storage for some reason.

Beth messages the others to rendezvous with us at the tower, then we head up to wait for Roberts and Tipan outside the healers. Turns out that if we're not injured or actively apprenticing, they prefer we remain outside. The rest of our crew show up, Josh and Rose arguing about a tv show again while Rufka is explaining — something about enchanting, I think — to Kellica. There's definitely mention of mana-regulation.

It's only a few minutes before Roberts and Tipan join us, then we head back to the ship together. By the time we return, the floors have been cleaned, and the grates are no longer visible. I still keep up my wind barrier though. Rather not take chances with that smell.

When we return to the ship, we're greeted by another K'tharn, who introduces herself as Second Vul'lel. Her analysis reveals that she's also an e'Tell. When she shows us to our rooms, I'm surprised when they're not bigger on the inside. There are four bunks to a room, with only enough space to squeeze between them and the bunks themselves are barely big enough for Josh to lay inside. Which is plenty of room for me, but I'm still surprised about the lack of Spatial magic. When I ask Vul'tel about it, her response is brief.

"Spatial compression is... unreliable when exposed to mana-storms. We don't use it."

With a quick glance over our group she shakes her head. "If you need anything else... ask the captain." Then she turns and leaves.

"This is so cool," Josh says with a hand on his bunk. "I always wanted to be a pirate."

"But... we're not-" I start, but Beth squeezes my shoulder.

"Let him have this," she whispers, her eyes soft as she gazes at Josh's excitement.

I nod, deciding to head up on deck, Rufka right behind me. I let Smoulder out, suspecting she's not going to have as much space to play as we've gotten used to once we're underway. As Smoulder bounces around her course, which I had to create off the side of the ship past the gangplank to escape interference, we're approached by the Captain.

"That's quite the spectacle," Captain e'Tell says as she comes up beside where Rufka and I are sitting with our legs dangling over the edge. "Not often you see such a small creature bound as a pet."

"Smoulder's a lot tougher than your average mana-hare," I reply.

"As pets tend to be. Will your pet require this sort of.... diversion, regularly?"

"Uhm... if we can?"

"While it wouldn't be advisable while underway, there should be some opportunities to... exercise, along the way."

"How much," Rufka asks, pulling away just enough to look up at Captain e'Tell.

Captain e'Tell grins. "If we were delaying for it, I'd charge ya three Aurum an hour."

Rufka snorts and I can't help but roll my eyes in agreement. I saw how much Beth paid her, and there were only eighteen Aurum. Besides, I've been testing the boundaries of the ship's 'pressure' and I think I'll be able to construct obstacles for Smoulder alongside. It'll just mean she runs around the ship instead of above the deck. And it'll only be a couple dozen obstacles. Better than nothing though.

"Tis an impressive display though. You working together on that?" the captain asks, turning back to the obstacle course.

I blink at her for a second before turning to Rufka. "You wanna?"

The way Rufka narrows her eyes, with just a small twist of her lips tells me that I should've asked her this earlier. Cause she's clearly looking forward to helping me put Smoulder through her paces.

An hour later, a rather exhausted mana-hare sleeps snuggly in my pocket. With Rufka's help, we were able to incorporate a lot more moving elements in the design. But it also made me realize how much is involved in working with others. If we're not careful, it's easy for our magic to cancel or merge with each other, when it's that far away from us.

We return to our bunks, Rufka and I deciding to cuddle despite the limited space.

Thus, snugly entombed within my bunk, I dream of magic.

A note from Draith

It's so weird to be posting and writing so much. But a good weird, you know?

Anyway, this is (probably) the last chapter for the week, see you Monday!

...TPWM 2.27, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea...

February 7, 2019, 5:05 am. The morning before setting off into the great blue yonder.

As I wake in the morning, I find that Smoulder and Rufka have somehow found a way to smother me even further into the corner. I suspect the extra blankets are helping with that. Not sure where they grabbed those from, but our bunk now extends a few feet past the edge due to pure girth.

I doze until Rufka finally shows signs of life. Then I subtly let her know I'm ready to get up. By dumping her on the floor. Smoulder is spared from this fate by virtue of using Rufka as a landing pad. While they're still wrestling their way free of the blankets they used to ensnare me, I escape to the deck. Rufka's curses are probably going to wake up the others, so I go to see if there's any food. It's a pirate ship, so they should have food, right?

I find what might be a galley down the hall, a long table with over a dozen chairs along the sides. No sign of the throne, so I suspect the captain doesn't eat here. Or maybe she only brings out the throne for visitors?

Unfortunately, there's no obvious food. There is an enchanted station at one end of the room, and my scan does reveal that it's a food preparation unit. But nothing that's prepared. I'm tempted to give it a try, but spot Rufka stomping towards me, sparks dancing over her hands.

I laugh as I escape out the far end of the galley, darting up a ladder that... doesn't lead to the deck, but to a subdeck that's barely tall enough to crawl through. If it wasn't also jammed full of crates. Dropping down the ladder, I come face to face with Rufka.

Several minutes later, our tickle fight is interrupted by Vul'tel, the captain's second. They maintain the same blank look they had when showing us our room yesterday as they say, "The captain would like all guests to attend her in the navigation lounge."

"There's a navigation lounge?" I ask while elbowing Rufka out of my face until I get enough room to sit up.

"Yes."

"Can you show us where it is?"

"Yes." Before I can escape Rufka's grasp, Vul'tel turns around and starts walking away. Rufka and I scramble to our feet, and I only kick her once before we are standing behind Vul'tel. She leads us back on deck, then into the raised back part of the ship where I'd assumed the captain's quarters would be. Inside is a room that stretches across the entire width of the ship, surrounding a table that has several physical maps on it. Not a single holographic map to be seen.

Along with the captain are three familiar faces. The Taken we encountered outside Rufka's cabin are standing to one side, Ael'thani smirking with all four of her arms crossed. Neither of her companions share her smirk, standing quietly behind her.

Next to Kellica, Beth is arguing in low tones with the Captain, who maintains her steady grin as she cuts Beth off, "You did not ask for exclusive travel arrangements. And they have paid for their passage. In full."

I can't help but squint at the Taken at this. They're coming with us? Does this mean... I might get a chance to pet the super-fluffy puppy?!

There are far worse traveling companions.

...TPWM...

"So," I say as I sidle up next to Kellica. "What's going on?"

"The K'mintar has granted me my Vigil. However, she has insisted that since I named Ael'thani as my shadow, she needs to travel with me. And the others are here as witnesses to make sure neither of us act… overtly."

"A waste of our time," Liktik complains, flicking their tongue out. "There are problems within Aethire we should be addressing."

This earns a glare from Ael'thoni, "Are you saying you disagree with our duty?"

"No. I disagree with the K'mintar's belief the Truth Seeker would run off."

"At least one of you respect her," Rufka says, patting Kellica's shoulder in what I'm sure is supposed to be a sign of support, even if it does make her stumble a step.

"Yes, yes. You all have history. But you are all to be good friends on this trip," Captain e'Tell declares, placing a hand on Rufka and Ael'thoni's shoulders. "You are all to behave. No violence, or you will find yourselves swimming back to shore."

For a moment, everyone goes silent. Then I ask, "Does that count for when we stop?"

Instead of answering, e'Tell lets loose a deep laugh, turning back to her map and explaining our route south, and where we'll be stopping. Only a couple short breaks along the coast at Strongholds that only have a few K'tharn in each.

The first day of our journey is quiet, the captain's reminder hanging everyone after we leave the navigation room. Later in the day, Tipan explains that thinks the ship counts as the captain's stronghold, which means her rules are more than just guidelines. They're System enforced.

Which Beth is relieved by, if the way her shoulders slacken once Tipan informs us at dinner. I don't really share her relief, but then, I've been more concerned about the etiquette of asking to run my hands through Pogell's super fluffy fur.

Seriously, he would make the best pillow ever.

Shortly before dusk, Beth brings Tipan and I below decks, to a private room she's acquired for our use. It's only a little larger than our bunk rooms, but it has a desk along one side, with a bench that's secured to the floor by a railing of all things. The mounting is so mechanical, I can't help but inspect it further. And other than reinforcement runes, I confirm that it relies on regular physics to keep it in place. After securing the door, Beth pulls out a thin stand that more than makes up for the lack of other magic in the room. It may look like little more than the frame of an umbrella glued to a tripod, but every millimeter of its surface is engraved with runes.

"Okay, now Genitha said I need to…" Beth mumbles, tugging at the stand for a second until it unfolds, the arms securing themselves to the ceiling before stretching around the room. When they link again at the stand, the entire room is cut off from outside mana. Even my tethers are suppressed, though I can still feel them if I focus on one at a time.

"For privacy. A gift from Genitha," Beth explains as she pulls a book out of storage. A familiar book, that she and Genitha showed me shortly before we went into Elementalist's Peak. Beth explains the general concepts laid out inside to Tipan, including the anit-System nature of it. Then Beth pauses for a second before locking her emerald green eyes on Tipan. "Tipan, we think your sister left you this for as-"

"That's Iviicka's?" Tipan asks, stepping away from Beth and bumping into me. I quickly grab her hand as she breathes heavily. "And... you think she left it for me?"

Beth's gaze weighs Tipan for a few moments before she nods. "We do. We're not sure why, but Genitha's friend thinks it's been... keyed to you."

"I..." at this, Tipan steps forward, laying a hand on the book. "I didn't think she still cared."

Beth glances at me for a second, then back to Tipan. "Well, seems she did. We're pretty sure there are no traps on it at this point, but it could still be a risk. But if you don't want to chance-"

"No!" Tipan cries as Beth reaches for the book. Then she runs a hand upward, straightening her back and her mohawk at the same time. "No. If Ivicka left me a message, I want to read it. Though..."

"Though?" I prompt softly, still holding her hand.

Tipan turns to me with a half-smile. "I would prefer to have you here when I do. And Roberts. Just in case."

"Sure. I'd be happy to."

"I'll get Roberts. And hope you can get some bloody answers out of this book," Beth grumbles, reaching for the book. But Tipan's hand comes down on top of the book.

"I... believe it would be best if I held on to the book, for now. If it was meant for me..."

"Right. You do that," Beth agrees, nodding then placing her hand on the empty umbrella frame before looking back to Tipan. "Come here. You shouldn't be bringing the book out without this. Genitha suspects it's what the Taken are after."

Tipan steps forward, and Beth guides her through the activation and deactivation of the mana-blocker. I'm pretty sure the function is similar to the mana-gathering devices, though it affects a much smaller area. And it blocks magic, obviously.

Once Beth is done showing us how to activate the mana-stand, she leaves the room and Tipan looks to me. "Thank you. I know she was... awful, at the end. But maybe this will let me know what happened to her."

"I hope so," I reply. Despite having stood up to Ivicka's madness, I never hated her. And if reading her last words can help Tipan, I'll be here for her. And if Ivicka left a trap... well, I'll be here for that too. Hopefully.

Roberts returns alone. Which is probably a good thing. Once we close the door again, I realize just how cramped the space is. Tipan deploys the mana-blocker again then lays the book out on the table. She starts paging through it, stopping at the first of the obscured pages with a small gasp. I'm watching for any sign of harm, ready to Pause. But Tipan's eyes just fill with tears as she reads down the page. Then she turns to me. "She... knew she was going crazy. Or suspected, at least."

"Oh, what's it say?"

Tipan shakes her head for a moment before turning back to the book with a small frown. "It... talks about her work with Folthka. And an experiment. An early attempt at what they did to Josh and Rose. But they didn't use another user... they used an old core that Folthka had recovered. According to this, they didn't know who it was from. But this was... she talks about bursts of anger just seeing Kalim. Or Bem. It's why she suddenly started serving on distant flights. Oh, I have to tell mother."

"You sure about that?" I ask, as I remember what it was like when I discovered what really happened to papa.

"What? Why wouldn't I tell her?" Tipan demands, glaring at me. I stutter, unsure of how to reassure her.

At this, Roberts clears his throat, getting us to look at him, "I believe Alexis is just worried about how your mother may react."

I point a finger at Roberts while nodding. "That. That's what I meant."

"I... I'll think about it. But for now... I'd like to continue."

Roberts and I share a nod, and Tipan turns away from us. I can't help but notice that she shifts slightly away from me as she continues reading. And that she's no longer sharing what she finds. Part of me is relieved she can get closure, even if only a little. Another part is hurt that she's not sharing anymore. Which I guess is my fault.

I remain lost in my thoughts for another half-hour before Tipan snaps the book closed.

"That's enough of that," Tipan declares as she pushes to her feet, the book disappearing into her storage. Then she reaches over and deactivates the mana-blocker. "Thank you both, for being here in case... in case something went wrong."

"Of course," Roberts says, angling his head toward Tipan slightly before leaving the room.

I shuffle after him, but Tipan grabs my hand just before I'm out of the room. "I do appreciate you being here. And... if it's okay with you..." she pauses, chewing her lip as our eyes meet, "I'd like it if you were here next time I read as well."

There's no stopping the smile that creeps across my face, and I don't even try, nodding to Tipan. "Of course. Might have to bring Rufka if it's going to be a regular thing though."

The corner of her mouth crinkles upwards as she chuckles softly. "I suppose I could live with that. Long as she sits still and remains quiet."

"Oh. Is that all?" I ask, trying to imagine Rufka sitting still for half an hour. And realizing that she'd totally do that. As long as we're cuddling. "I'm sure we can manage."

After all. I do love my cuddles.

...TPWM...

The next few days pass quickly, as the Twice Scuttled cruises south along the coast. The Taken agents mostly keep to themselves, though I do manage to pet Pogell. His fur is as silky as it looks. I also find Ael'thoni harassing Kellica on more than one occasion. Harassment that's quickly dropped when Rufka or I show up. It gets to the point that Rufka and I take turns keeping Kellica company.

It's while Rufka is keeping Kellica company, that Tipan asks me to read with her again. She's been through the entire book by this point, but sometimes she'll go back to a previous page and swear she's discovered something that wasn't there before.

Which, if it wasn't a magic book with words that literally hide themselves from my vision, might've had me doubting her. But with that as a baseline, who am I to judge.

As Tipan mutters to herself, I close my eyes and work on testing Pause. I've been performing experiments for the last couple days, testing to see how long I can extend it by spending more and more Facet. I've also been combining it with my new Channeling ability, which I'd dismissed as a cheaper way to maintain multiple spells when I first acquired it. But I'm starting to suspect it's more useful than that.

Simply dumping extra Facet in hasn't been very impressive. It takes nearly my entire pool just to increase the duration by half. However, when using channeling, I've discovered I can keep it going much longer. But it comes with a major downside. I can't cast spells. Which isn't to say I can't use magic. I can still use the instinctive magic that occurs within a small area around me, my magical presence or aura. But I can't form the runes that give greater direction to mana while I'm channelling my Pause. Not even a second channeled ability.

Which would make it extra boring to practice, if I wasn't also learning how to expand and contract my aura. Theria implied my aura was what set Rufka on fire, so working on it is kinda important. And inside the mana-blocked area, it's a lot easier to tell where my aura ends.

Not that it makes it easier to control. Controlling my aura is like trying to adjust the skirts of one of those big flouncy dresses that aunt Sharon loves by pulling it into place using spaghetti noodles. Still, I think I'm making progress. My aura used to just butt up against the edge of the mana-block, but now I can pull it back a few millimetres. On one edge. Over less than a metre of the perimetre. It's a lot harder than controlling my actual magic.

But since I'm not doing anything else while waiting with Tipan, I continue my efforts.

When she calls our reading session to a close, we make our way above decks to enjoy the scenery. The south tip of the Aetherian continent passes on our left (which Roberts has informed me a couple times is the port side, but I still think of it as left) while ahead of us is the main reason we've come on the Twice Scuttled instead of flying. Ahead, the ocean stops following the rules of physics. Or at least, the rules as I've always known them.

Instead of the smooth curve of the horizon, the ocean lifts up. A shiver runs down my spine at what would be a city destroying wave, rising like a mountain. But it's so much more than that. It's dominated the horizon since the morning, and it stretches up into space, towards Ukila. This is the ultimate point of the Great Tide. A water-spout bigger than any mountain on earth, surrounded by constant mana-storms. And apparently, it's always like this, just usually to a lesser degree.

Somewhere inside that maelstrom, is the dungeon we're here to complete.

We could've chosen an easier one to get to, but the rewards...

The Twice Scuttled pierces through a wave, the water crashing down around us, but not hitting us. Not through enchantments, but careful management of the ship's stronghold boundaries. Captain e'Tell is using the System's stronghold effect as a shield. Because where we're going, enchantments have a habit of being torn apart.

Which makes me wonder at the difference. Why is the System able to create a magical effect enchantments can't?

Another thing to study.

The captain is at the rear of the ship, at the wheel, which she's revealed is mostly symbolic. She can command the Twice Scuttled without even being aboard, though she remains cagey about the range. Not that I blame her.

Beside the captain on one side is Beth, who's enjoying the 'relaxed' shielding of the uppermost deck, her hair flowing in the wind. The relaxed shielding is a feature, as far as the captain is concerned. Makes the experience more authentic. On her other side, looking far less pleased, Ael'thani glowers at both the captain and Beth while clutching tightly to the nearby railing, water dripping from her fur.

I move up to join Rufka and Kellica, who are at the front of the ship in the other part where the shielding is relaxed. It's so loud, that even yelling I wouldn't be able to hear the sound of my own voice. Not without using magic. Which would defeat the purpose of the relaxed shielding. So when I slide up next to Rufka, I just give her a smile while wrapping my hands around the rail. The ship crashes through another wave, and the water washes over us again. But here, enough is let through to soak us.

Not a typical design feature, but the Captain assured us it's safe. Mostly. If we see dark shapes in the water, we're supposed to retreat to the central deck. It's only happened once so far, and turned out to be nothing.

We stay there for ten minutes before I decide to leave. Rufka follows, which means Kellica also tags along. I find Smoulder sitting in the middle of the safe, and dry, zone. She doesn't mind looking out at the surrounding ocean, but she is definitely not a fan of the wet zones.

Wicking the water soaking me away with a wave of my hand, I return to the galley, where we've been spending a lot of time talking. And playing games. And generally just spending time when we don't want to be wet or cramped.

Roberts, Josh and Rose are talking with one of the Taken when we arrive, the lizard-like one, Lik'tik. Josh is nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah, just like that. We have a bunch of words in our language that sound like other words in Vausian. For example, bell in Vausian sounds like sausage."

"And Reaper sounds like 'Oh damn'," Rose adds.

"My personal favorite is how close the Vausian phrase for please sounds like 'au contraire'," Roberts chimes in.

"That's not even English," I say as I take a seat next to them.

"It's close enough," Roberts counters while pushing a plate of steaming... sausages towards me. I stab one with my fork, holding it up as I raise an eyebrow at him while the others go off on several other words they've noticed, with Rufka joining in with words I pretend not to hear.

"It's how the conversation started. Lik'tik here was commenting on how similar the word sausage in Vausian was to idiot. I believe there was an implication that Ael'thani was occasionally sausage-like," he informs me with the smallest trace of a smile.

I can't help but smile while taking a bite of the sausage.

Then I almost choke, as the heat hits me.

Gah! Why can't elemental resistance work on spicy food!

A note from Draith

Hi and stuff. Have some werds. Sea ya tomorrow.

...TPWM 2.28, The Isle of the Vale of the Tomb of Desh Atun...

February 10, 2019, 9:12 am. Not in time to prevent heartburn.

Cleansing my palate with a judicious application of water, I glare at Roberts who just chuckles at my misfortune. Note to self, Health Edge doesn't work on food. Or I don't have enough of it. Hmm. Would that have killed me before?

My thoughts on the relationship between food and Health Edge are derailed by Beth coming into the galley. She's reaching for a sausage, and while I'm tempted to warn her, I can't help but share a smile with Roberts instead. However, Beth doesn't gasp in shock. Instead she licks her lips before saying, "Now that's what this world's been missing. Haven't had anything with decent kick since we got here."

I watch, my mouth hanging open as Beth spears another sausage then sits next to Josh throwing an arm over his shoulder. Josh doesn't seem to notice, still caught up in his conversation with Rose and Lik'tik. Somehow they've shifted to the topic of how honey is produced on earth.

With the sausages off-limits, I move to grab some of the other food kept ready in the kitchenette. Preferably something that won't cause me to feel like I'm breathing fire without the flames. I prefer doing it with flames these days. The Twice Scuttled's pantry is more robust than the average K'tharn's, and I'm able to make something resembling pancakes, though I have to use a light bacon gravy since there's no syrup... or honey.

It's still amazing. Rufka agrees, giving it four thumbs up.

Take that, cooking skill of zero.

...TPWM...

A few hours later, while doing a basic obstacle course with Smoulder in the centre of the main deck, I notice we're not on the flat of the ocean anymore. We're still piercing through waves regularly, but when I look to the side, there's a tilt to the mainland behind us. Smoulder forgives my inattention, snuggling close as I move up to where captain e'Tell is singing a song that would've made me blush before I met Rufka. Now it just makes me smile. Okay, I still blush, but it's not nearly as noticeable.

Shaking my head, I make my way to the rear rail with Smoulder. The waves directly behind us make it harder to notice, but again, looking to the sides, I can confirm we're travelling up the side of the mountainous water-spout. It wouldn't feel so weird if not for the way I still feel like gravity is pulling me down in relation to the ship.

Captain e'Tell seems to notice my discomfort. "It's a side effect of making my ship my Stronghold. I have absolute dominion, so down is down. Would make this journey a lot trickier otherwise. Navigating the Depths round here are almost as tough as navigating through that," she states, one hand waving towards the mana-storms that are getting closer to blocking the horizon. "You're lucky I love making this run, otherwise you'd never have been able to get me so cheap."

Before I can comment on that fact that a price of hundreds of Essence isn't exactly cheap, a shape emerges from beside us, swimming up the spout. I blink before moving closer.

Over the side is a school of not-quite-dolphins. They're the right shape, but instead of the blue-grey I'm used to, these have shorter jaws crammed full of teeth and the black and white patterning of killer whales. They leap and sing next to the Twice Scuttled, their cries reminding me of birdsong, Captain e'Tell laughing in a sort of counterpoint in the background.

There's something about the beauty of the killer-dolphins that keeps me from Focusing on them. Part of me doesn't want to have the moment ruined if they have an ugly name, or some horrid history. So I just watch them instead. The others make their way on deck shortly after, Wyonna having informed them over party chat. Even the Taken emerge and watch in silence.

Once the killer dolphins leave, I return to practice and continue to wait. It won't be long now. The captain informed us that it should be less than a day once we started up the side of the spout. Not that the time of day is as clear a concept when you're travelling up the side of a massive waterspout where the sun never stops shining.

Still, a dozen hours later Beth lets us know to get ready.

We're almost there.

The isle of Desh Atun is ahead.

...TPWM,...

February 10, 2019, 11:12 pm.

On the horizon is a tiny dot. It almost seems to bob in the chaotic swirl of the waters this high up the spout. But I've been informed that's an illusion. The dot is actually the island the vale resides inside of. Kinda. Island isn't a great word, since the only land on the 'surface' of the spout is a thin strip of rock that shields what basically sounds like a giant tunnel that descends deep into the spout.

Even from our distance, I can detect the air and water mana emerging from within. A 'minor' release mechanism that bathes the area in more mana than Aethire uses to stay aloft.

We're all on deck watching as the dot gets closer. The Taken won't be getting off at the island. Turns out they really are just here to keep an eye on us.

The Twice Scuttled is forced to swing around the island amongst waves tall enough to blot out the sky, circling twice before Captain e'Tell crashes us down beneath the surface. The relaxed shielding is no longer in effect, yet water still seeps past the Stronghold's barriers, soaking the deck. A sign of the incredible pressures outside, both mundane and mana. The ship shudders several times, dark shapes swimming around us for over a minute.

And then we're through, the water exploding out as the Twice Scuttled comes to rest in a sheltered... space. I want to call it a cove, but the way we emerge from beneath the water, before coming to rest on its surface... and the stillness of the surrounding water. It feels like I need a bigger word, but cove is close enough.

To one side, light pours in the tunnel, illuminating the length of the tunnel as far as I can see, vast stretches of green, with ribbons of dark blue waters. And while I call it a tunnel, the scope of it... There must be more than ten kilometres from where I stand looking up to the far side above us. As I turn away, I realize the light reaches far deeper than I would've expected, the tunnel illuminated far into the distance until it curves upwards, out of sight..

This is the Vale of Desh Atun. And somewhere in this mess, is the actual Dungeon. The Ring of Desh Atun. Or tomb, according to the Taken. Trying to find it on our own would take months, even with our ability to fly and teleport. Luckily, Genitha left Beth with a tool that will lead us straight there. A map.

"This..." Tipan breathes out next to me as the Twice Scuttled drifts slowly towards the shore.

"Yeah," I agree, my eyes tracking the abundant wildlife moving amongst the trees.

"This is unclaimed land. Even the bravest Archmage knows better than to set up here," e'Tell calls from above. "Not that the System would allow any-user to establish a Stronghold here."

"It has a dungeon though," I point out.

"Yep. A dungeon that only gets a few users every other decade," e'Tell agrees with a nod. "You're the first group I've brought here since Genitha and I first came."

"Wait," Rufka says, looking over her shoulder at the captain. "You know mum?"

"Might be I do," e'Tell answers with a wink of both her left eyes and a flick of her ear. "Might be I know your mum real well, if you catch my meaning."

The way Rufka's ears fold back as she quickly turns away almost has me chuckling. But I content myself with a soft smile as I pull her close and look back out over the water. We don't make landfall, the abundant air-mana in the area making flight so cheap it practically increases our regen rate. Though not actually.

I wonder if there's a way to do that.

Leaving the ship behind is... weird. They're just going to wait for us to complete the dungeon, which I suppose is the real reason it cost so much to get them to bring us here. Especially since we're planning to be inside so long.

"So, kid. What next?" Beth asks, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" I ask, then realize everyone is formed up behind me.

"You're in charge. What next?" Beth says, her arms crossed. "Don't you remember? Everyone chose you."

"But that was just for..." I trail off at her smirk. "You're just teasing me."

"Only kinda," Beth says as she floats forward, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "We're going to be practicing lots of stuff in this dungeon, if it's like Genitha says it is. And part of that is going to be your leadership skills."

"Oh. Right," I reply. We did talk about this, but I figured we'd wait until we were inside the dungeon.

"So, what next?" Beth asks again, raising one eyebrow.

"Next... Tipan uses her map to guide us to the dungeon while the rest of us keep a watch on the forest?" I ask more than order.

"Not bad. Though we need to work on your firmness. Can't be soft in combat."

"Except... we're not in combat, so that wouldn't apply," I state.

"There you go kid, getting the hang of it already."

I can't stop the grin as I turn to the others, lowering my voice as I say, "Alright people, you heard her. Let's move."

Roberts chuckles as he pats my shoulder. "Excellent Beth impression."

"What?" Beth protests as everyone floats forward, Tipan's map flickering into existence in our midst. "I don't sound like that."

"Definitely not," Roberts agrees, though he doesn't stop chuckling.

I can't stop smiling as we float above the trees. There are zambias here, the giant herbivores easy to spot when they poke their heads above the foliage to take a look at us. They have different patterns than the one I saw when I first arrived, jagged cracks of gold spreading across their otherwise dark brown skin. There seems to be a soft breeze that brings the leaves towards their mouth with every bite.

Huge dinosaurs that use mana to eat. Awesome.

The map leads us through the jungle, and while there's an abundance of life here, none of the creatures are mana-warped. Considering the huge amounts of air and water mana in the area, it's a little surprising. Then again, everything I've seen so far seems to have water or air based abilities. Maybe mana-warping only affects elements that are different from the normal species?

When I ask Tipan, she shrugs, and agrees that's how it usually works. But not always.

Another half hour of flying just above the canopy brings us close to our destination. At least, according to Tipan's map. Once we're there, it takes us another hour of flying through the actual jungle to find the Dungeon. When we do, I'm almost surprised we missed it. The Ring of Desh Atun is actually more of a dome, at least from the outside. And despite the barrier preventing plants from getting inside the dungeon, nothing has prevented them from growing on top. Still, the top of the dome is sticking out of the canopy, even if it is covered in vines.

With the dungeon located, it only takes us another five minutes before Roberts and Beth find the entrance.

When Rufka and I slip through the canopy near them, we're greeted by more vines. Right up until Beth unleashes a rapid stream of void, the dark bullets slicing through the vegetation and causing the structure underneath to shimmer. There are even some small gouges where a couple of her shots landed, though most of the vegetation itself remains stubbornly in place.

"Heh, whoops," Beth says as she shoulders her rifle. "Guess I could let someone else clear it."

"We've all been cooped up on the ship for days. It's understandable that you want to... express yourself a bit," Roberts says while flicking bits of fallen vegetation away with transparent barriers.

"She definitely expressed herself all over that entrance," I say before clapping a hand over my mouth.

"That's what she said?" Kellica adds, though her tone makes it clear she's not sure if she's using it right. Josh and Rose give her a thumbs up, and she stands a little straighter.

"That is indeed what she said," Roberts agrees, though he has a hint of a smile.

Our attention turns back to the entrance when Smoulder decides the vegetation needs to have its day completely ruined, as she deploys enough heat that Roberts re-deploys his shields to keep it off us. When the heat haze passes, an area over a hundred metres in diameter has been cleared. The jungle outside has come alive, a cacophony of movement and screeching arising behind us as Smoulder sits smugly outside the now fully revealed ring of Desh Atun. And it is a ring, similar in form to the standing stones. Though much taller, made of a golden sandstone and with no gaps except the entrance.

An entrance that seems to be made entirely of bone. Pleasant.

"Guess I wasn't the only one who needed to let off some steam," Beth says while stepping out of Roberts's protective circle.

As the ground hisses and puffs around us, I can't help but raise my eyebrow. Did Beth just make a... pun?

With the entrance (and a sizeable portion of the jungle) cleared, we step inside.

"Iron rank training challenge Ring of Desh Atun joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to Ring of Desh Atun combat zone."

"Zone Quest received: Desh Atun. Requirements 0/1 Desh Atun defeated. Rewards: 25 Edge. Time: No limit."

And there it is. The reason we came all this way.

A bonus of twenty-five Edge. To everything.

A note from Draith

Not an actual Tomb! No refunds!

Today's shoutout is... in a spoiler. Cause there's a trigger warning. Also cause long authors notes when binging is ew.

TLDR: Tonal whiplash, great characters, mostly recommend.

This is a new story that doesn't have much meat on it's bones yet, but tackles the fun concept of "What if the eldritch beings who live beyond space and time are actually kinda chill?" and merges it with your prototypical isekai adventure. It uses two separate povs to do that though, and while I'd enjoy following the sole adventures of either, this is one of those examples where I don't feel that was as much. Still, they're both well written, I'd just like to only follow one story at a time. If only the author used hand numbering conventions on their chapters like 1, 2, III, IV to... wait. They did do that.

The grammar is a bit weird with the use of tenses in some places, but I was really enjoying it until the start of chapter III.

The tonal whiplash from the first POV to the second was intense, and this is the trigger warning for those sensitive to suicide.

All in all, I do recommend And (N)one Shall Remain if my complaints haven't thrown you off.

...TPWM 2.29, So Edgy, it Must be Emo...

February 11, 2019, 2:03 am. One small second after stepping into the Ring of Desh Atun.

With the quest reward confirmed, I can't stop a sigh of relief from escaping. We'd avoided talking about it, almost as if we were afraid we'd jinx it, but the zone quest really does have a 25 Edge reward. And if Genitha is to be believed, it doesn't just apply to our existing resources. It'll apply to resistances we don't even have in our Status sheet. Which makes it unique amongst Iron-rank dungeons on Akilo, as far as Genitha's aware.

The entrance is also distinct from the other two dungeons we've visited, existing as a sort of staging area that allows for multiple parties to enter at once, as long as we're all in the same Overparty. The System's version of raid groups from what I can tell. On either side are hallways which will lead to several barracks, a shop, a park with a fountain that serves as a partial Nexus and even a fully functional kitchen. Once they're unlocked. On the other side of the console are the six sets of stairs to the various instances of the arena itself.

The interface that sits on a pedestal in the center of the room only has the lightest of System touches, with translation for the various functions hovering directly above a control panel that would look more at home in an Egyptian pyramid. Probably. There are a lot of hieroglyphics anyway. Even the System translations match the look as best they can. Along the left, a set of images shows different beasts. The right displays groups of K'tharn holding different weapons.

Going through the list, I confirm the breakdown Genitha gave Beth. Dozens of different monsters to choose from on the left. On the right, ritual combat against the System's best impression of the K'tharn warriors who once called this place home. In the middle are the selections for group size and difficulty. At the moment, the only opponent whose icon is properly filled in with details is the first beast, a more durable version of a camel. Luckily with nothing interesting. No laser eyes or flaming spit.

All the other challenges need to be unlocked.

In addition to additional challenges, the other upgrades we can purchase are arranged along the bottom. Including the kitchen and the arena shop. The shop is the second reason we came here. We'll all be able to max out our attributes and levels in this single dungeon, just by farming enough Arena points. Something Genitha discovered after she'd already been level ten.

Glancing back, the entrance remains open, allowing us to leave at any time. And unable to return if we do.

We split up to settle in, choosing rooms and checking for any oddities. Just cause Genitha didn't encounter danger in the dorms during her visit doesn't mean we're assuming the same will be true for us. After looking through the complex and confirming most of the features simply don't exist yet, we settle in a series of rooms that are close enough to each other we can respond quickly but are still able to maintain our privacy. They're also close to where the kitchen should show up. Complete coincidence.

Given the long day we've had, once we've ensured we're reasonably secure, we head to bed in the spartan rooms. The morning finds Rufka and I in the challenge room before anyone else.

"Can't believe I'm finally here. It's crazy that mum might've been one of the last users to come here," Rufka says, running her hand over the challenge pedestal.

Nodding, I step up next to her, looking down at the console. "Think we'd be okay to take on the, what was it called, jexel?"

Rufka shifts, giving me a smile as she waves my concern away with her left hands. "A jexel? Easy as falling. Mum's drilled me about everything we might face here. Was always planning to bring me here, once I felt ready."

"You did mention that," I reply, shooting a smile back at her. Then I select the jexel symbol, dual combat and the basic difficulty. Not that the harder difficulties are available yet.

"Quest Received: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatants: Jexel. 0/1 jexels defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 25 Arena points. Unlocks: Jexel - level 3. Rewards: Subsequent Clears: 5 Arena points."

The door beside the pedestal grinds open, the material separating from itself like great jagged teeth, leaving a path of polished bone leading up. Rufka and I exchange a glance before starting up the stairs while Smoulder peeks out of my pocket to investigate the noise. When she realizes we're moving into combat, she bounces off Rufka to land back on my shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from my thiani.

When we get to the top of the stairs, they let out into an open arena of hard packed dirt surrounded by a crowd of roaring K'tharn. A quick analysis shows that they're all 'dungeon facsimiles'. As the roaring dies down, a curtain at the far end lifts, revealing not just a cage with our chosen combatant, but the Queen herself. She sits above the crowd on a throne of crudely bound bone, but she's no less majestic for the shoddy craftsmanship. Easily as large as Ivicka, the Queen has a great golden mane that cascades down behind her. Mounted above her rest a pair of weapons that vaguely resemble scimitars. If scimitars were as thick as their wielder, and just as tall with a long knotted grip set in their middle.

Then she stands up, and the surrounding crowd roars again. Though this time they cry a name. Atun.

Unlike the others, when I pause time and analyze her, I discover she's not a facsimile.

“Creature analyzed: K'tharn. Gene-seed D."

"Name: Atun of clan Okerren."

"Atun was once one of the greatest Desh (Rough translation, warrior-queen) to walk the face of Akilo. Once she conquered the entirety of the Aetherian continent, she settled in the harsh southern regions, the weather the only thing she was unable to claim. From atop her throne of skulls, she pitted warriors against vicious beasts to earn the right to challenge her in personal combat. While she had many contenders, few were able to challenge the Desh themselves. And of the few who did, none survived."

"Attributes: Physical; Very High, Mobility; High, Magic; Comparable, Awareness; Comparable."

"Attacks: Desh Mandate-Abilities. Multiweapon fighting."

"Defences: Physical: High. Magical: Comparable."

"Special: Disruption Field, Integral Being."

[Wyonna] "One of the ancient warrior queens herself. Well, a good copy of one."

She... doesn't look as challenging as Genitha made her sound. At least, not from base attributes. Focusing further, I discover that the Disruption field prevents mana from interfering within fifty-seven meters of her. Which covers over half of the arena, and a good portion of the stands too. Is that going to affect our other fights? It's definitely going to make fighting her tricky. Switching to Integral Being, I can't help but feel disappointed. The only thing my Focus tells me is that her being is integral. Maybe that's the source of the elemental resistances Genitha was talking about? I suppose it makes sense for the boss of a dungeon that gives a flat Edge bonus to have a similar ability.

Having inspected the queen, and the crowd, my gaze finally rests on our opponent. But a quick scan of the jexel reveals it's pathetic across the board. Its only special ability is its low water resistance.

I almost laugh as Pause comes to an end and it snarls at us from within the cage.

Before it's released, Atun speaks and despite not raising her voice, she's easily audible over the crowd. "After many years, challengers have come to my mersa! Let us see if they are worthy!"

At Atun's final word, the front of the cage drops down and the jexel jumps out. This time, I do laugh as its uneven gait carries it towards us. A single arrow from Rufka lays it down, the crackling energy tearing through it like it was made of wet paper.

"Huh," Rufka says as she lowers her bow. "That... was easy."

"Yep. Somehow, this managed to be even less of a challenge than I expected."

Across the arena, Atun has barely finished retaking her seat before standing again. "Looks like we have new contenders. I pray you survive long enough to whet my blades."

"Quest completed: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatant: Jexel. 1/1 jexels defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 25 Arena points. Unlocks: Jexel - Lesser."

With that notification, the crowd roars again and Atun returns to her seat, the curtain already closing around her. Even as it does, she keeps her eyes on us until it hides us from sight.

"Vaus damn. That was even easier than I expected," Rufka says, staring at where the jexel is already breaking apart into blue dust. Which is a lot faster than it usually happens.

"Yeah... I didn't even get to do anything," I note as we start back down the stairs.

"Might be a while before you need to," Rufka says, throwing her arms around me. "Think I can take it down with only left hands?"

"That one? You could take it down with no hands. Probably with your eyes closed too."

"Ha! Challenge accepted, come on, let's get as many of these easy ones done as we can before the others are up."

So Rufka and I start working our way through the challenges. She takes down the lesser jexel without any hands and with her eyes closed. We still do the challenges as a pair, just in case. Also, cause we're enjoying having time just to ourselves, Smoulder having decided that none of these opponents were worth burninating, and sleeping instead. By the time the others come to find us, we've unlocked the jexel's hardest difficulty and have enough points to purchase one of the other basic creatures. Or buy the kitchen.

It's only been ten minutes.

The most tedious part is waiting for Atun to start and end each performance. Her words have little variation, though after the first, she no longer mentions how long it's been or calls us new contenders. Her fixed dialogue is almost disappointing. For how alive every other dungeon has been (all two of them), this one feels the most fake.

"Good initiative, kid," Beth says as Rufka and I walk down from defeating the Extreme jexel. This one had finally had an active attack, a spike of frozen water that had surprised Rufka enough she opened her eyes when it struck. Not that it had been enough for her to need my help.

"Thanks. Guess it's time to start group combat?" I ask, glancing towards the console and the max party size of six. I'm glad it allows us to run several 'Mersas' at once. With the small groups available, even with our small party, it would get busy quick. I couldn't imagine coming here with a full Overparty only to have most of them sit around.

Beth waves my question off while inspecting the console. "Nah. You guys have the right idea. Let's unlock as much as we can first. We'll move on to group combat once there's something worth practicing against."

With a couple flicks of a button, she taps in solo combat against the jexel then moves to the staircase on the left before giving the rest of us a quick salute. Rufka and I spend a few minutes answering questions from the others before we find ourselves moving on to the next creature. We spend most of the day listening to Atun praise our worthiness and fighting monsters that are little more than pin-cushions for Rufka's arrows until we encounter the first who survives her opening salvo.

A turtle-shelled creature sits in a cage on the far side from us. On its back are a pair of thick bone tubes, each bigger than my... well, me. Analysis tells me it's called a Blast-turtle.

It's impressive that this least variant is capable of withstanding Rufka's arrows. So long as they hit its thick shell.

"Oh," I remark with a smirk. "We should let Smoulder have a go. We've kinda been hogging all the fun."

Rufka smiles back, waving forward. When I prod Smoulder, she sends a wave of eagerness back. So I let Smoulder play.

She charges across the arena, each pounce leaving the ground behind her more and more scorched until her last leaves behind broken glass. She's totally messing around. She could have made it across in a single leap. Her final leap takes her straight up and into the turtle's face. And then she's through, emerging out the far side of the poor Blast-turtle.

Guess they're not as tough on the inside. Rufka and I are delayed from leaving as Smoulder decides to explore the stands, leaping around until she smacks into the closed curtain. It brings her to a complete stop, with a solid twang echoing through the arena.

Even though I know she's okay according to my Status, I run towards Smoulder. But I stop when I find her glaring at the curtain. Then she unleashes a wave of pure fire. It's hot enough, I grab Rufka and teleport both of us to the far side of the arena before I have time to think.

The curtain remains undamaged, though Smoulder has incinerated the arena seats, revealing smooth stone buried beneath. Retrieving a still grumpy Smoulder, I give her plenty of head scritches while Rufka and I move on to the next challenge. Which we again let Smoulder take.

Instead of focusing on the Blast-turtle, Smoulder attempts to smash Atun. But she's knocked back by an invisible barrier, where the curtain normally falls closed. Which only makes Smoulder angrier. The Blast-turtle ends up being incinerated as a mere side-effect of Smoulder attempting to get at the queen. Rufka and I are eating snacks and watching from the far side, where we're maintaining ice-walls as simple counters to Smoulder's struggles.

Smoulder spends almost an hour trying to get to the queen before she gives up. At this point, even the stone near the queen's resting place has been cracked and warped, revealing a solid black surface beneath. A surface that isn't even slightly affected by Smoulder's best attempts.

While interesting, probing it with Facet reveals it's simply the boundary of the training space we're in. Hmm.

After her frustrating performance, Smoulder needs almost an equal amount of time receiving head-scritches. Luckily, Rufka and I are able to continue moving through the challenges while I oblige her.

It's nearly the end of the day by the time we've completed all the beast challenges as a pair. At this point, we have 4,525 Arena points each. More than enough to unlock access to the arena shop, park and kitchen for a hundred points each, which we have to pay for separately. Despite our success, we still haven't accumulated enough points to unlock the ritual combat side of the arena. The cheapest costs ten thousand points. And even with all the first time bonuses, we don't have enough. I'm glad the first time bonuses are available for every mode, so we should be able to unlock ritual combat early tomorrow. Hopefully, some will be interesting.

Today was lucrative, but if I hadn't spent the day with Rufka and Smoulder, it would've been tedious. Not looking forward to doing the solos.

As Rufka and I enter the arena shop, my attention is drawn to the array of items available. Instead of a simple list, everything is presented as a physical item. Next to an elderly looking K'tharn, whose fur is grey and sagging in places, Integration Points sit in a bowl. They're small black chits with swirls of colour beneath the surface, similar to Mana Essence but more solid. There is a set of slates next to them, ten black disks carved with branching paths with the same colour scheme which the System informs me are Progression Points. None of the prices are listed in the System, instead, displayed on little wooden signs scattered amongst the merchandise.

I find it interesting that the most immersive part of the arena is the shop. And that's despite the fact that not a single item in here is a physical object. There's a collection of red feathers woven into a headdress on one side and according to my analysis, buying it will grant increased fire resistance. There are dozens of similar items throughout the shop, all intangible, but permanent improvements. And the plan is to buy them all. Luckily, we each have our own 'inventory', so whatever I purchase won't affect the others. Not that I can afford much yet. The headdress alone is a hundred thousand points. The only thing in our price range, would be Integration Points at a thousand arena points per.

"Huh. More expensive than I expected," Rufka says while looking around. "Mum did say we'd be here a while though."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to save my points for tomorrow. The ritual combat's worth more, right?"

"Mhm. Though Mum said most of our points are going to come from beating the Queen," Rufka says while hefting a spear that represents an increase to Metal-based damage by ten percent. Only a quarter million Arena points.

My gaze flicks to the old k'tharn behind the counter, but he just smiles as we continue inspecting the available upgrades.

Once we're finished drooling over all the upgrades we can't afford, we make our way to the kitchen. Inside, we find that while the upgrades are expensive, food is cheap. We can purchase complete meals for a single point. Or meals that give long lasting buffs for ten.

"Mum mentioned the food was good, but she forgot to mention the buffs," Rufka half-complains while devouring a giant bowl of rolled meat in a soft fluffy pastry.

I don't respond, too busy with my own meal. There's a brief greeting when the others come in before we retire for the night.

The next morning is spent getting the rest of the points we need to unlock ritual combat. Without having to spend points on unlocking new creatures, it doesn't even take us that long.

When we spend the points on the first of the ritual combat scenarios the outline of the figures fills in with details. A pair of K'tharn, one with a pen and paper, the other with a giant chain. Once we have it locked in, Rufka and I head up to our arena.

Once more, Atun rises as we enter. But this time her voice sounds different, the cadence less artificial.

"Welcome, challengers. You have learned the beasts of our world are but stepping stones for true warriors. Now you shall face our most deadly foe, fellow K'tharn."

"Quest Received: Mersa of Desh Atun. Defeat combatants: K'tharn Scrivener, K'tharn Atoner. 0/2 K'tharn defeated. Rewards: First Clear: 1000 Arena points. Unlocks: K'tharn Scrivener and Atoner - Lesser. Rewards: Subsequent Clears: 50 Arena points."

Huh. Decent uptick in the first clear rewards. More than double what the toughest of the Extreme beasts were giving us.

The arena itself is also different. Instead of an open field, there are platforms scattered throughout. As I look closer, I realize I recognize the platforms. They're similar to the floating platforms used in desh'mersa.

Smacking my forehead, I can't help but chuckle. Desh Atun. Mersas. Ritual combat. So obvious I can't believe I missed it. I blame Rufka for being so distracting. Yep, it's definitely her fault.

"What's so funny?" Rufka asks while watching the two on the far side of the room.

"We're playing desh'mersa," I reply, stepping to the side as a feather whistles through the air beside me.

"Not..." Rufka pauses as she fires an arrow across the ring at the opposing K'tharn who both manage to dodge, despite the arrow's curving trajectory. Already they're proving more interesting than the strongest of the beasts. "Not really. Not yet."

I nod as I step out of the way of another whistling quill, which blows a hole in the stand behind me. The desh'mersa game we watched with Tipan was a little more structured than our current challenge. Really, the only similarity is the shape of the arena.

Not wanting to ruin Rufka's fun, I continue stepping to the side without using Pause, shooting weak blasts of fire at the Scrivener to keep its attention. Despite my minimal assistance, it only takes Rufka half a minute to defeat them both.

"Flawless Victory!" Atun declares from her throne, throwing her head back and laughing as the blue dust of our opponents swirls up towards her. It… She hasn't done that before. The curtain doesn't close as the exit appears behind us. Atun leans back in her chair as if dismissing us, I turn to go when a faint system notice appears, not even fully displaying its full message before flickering away.

"Primary Dungeon Sapience engag-"

A chill goes down my spine as I turn back to look at Desh Atun.

Her eyes meet mine.

A note from Draith

Wednesday!

...TPWM 2.30, Immortal Kombat...

February 12, 2019, 11:05:02 am.

For several long seconds, Desh Atun and I stare at each other, neither of us blinking. Then Rufka calls to me from the exit and I reflexively flick my eyes in her direction. When I look back to Atun, she's lounging across the throne, collecting food from a tray that wasn't there a second ago. I remain looking at her for another few seconds, and even snap off a second analysis. But nothing's changed. Whatever intelligence I saw before seems to have disappeared.

With a displeased frown, I tell Rufka what I saw. She glances over, but shrugs when she doesn't see anything. When the quest notification pops up, I'm pleased to see there's a bonus reward for a flawless victory, doubling both of the other rewards. The beast mode didn't have that.

We continue through four more matches, with Atun declaring our flawless victory each time but no sign of that intelligence. When we defeat the sixth and most difficult version, I've almost convinced myself that it wasn't real. Rufka and I are talking about what we might have for lunch when we notice the exit hasn't opened yet.

Behind us, Atun's voice shakes the arena, the crowd going silent, "Today we have true contenders. Six flawless victories in a row. Foes worthy of your Desh!"

Rufka and I pause, glancing at each other before turning towards her throne. Atun stands at the front, one foot on the short wall just inside the invisible barrier Smoulder was throwing herself against. Then she leaps forward, landing on the far side of the arena with a slam.

"Mum never mentioned this," Rufka says while drawing her bow.

"Uhm. I don't think this is normal," I reply while analyzing Atun again. Her stats still haven't changed.

I rouse Smoulder from her pocket, and her excitement at the annoying K'tharn not being locked away is obvious the moment she lays eyes on Atun.

Okay, three vs one. We can do this.

I pause time, sending nine piercing arrows at Atun. A cheap and simple test of her defences. None of them land, the mana collapsing before it gets close to her. Rufka's arrows meet slightly more success, only robbed of their crackling lightning as they soar past Atun, one drawing a thin line of blood across her cheek.

Not a promising start, but I just need to think. As Atun runs towards me, I drop into Pause.

Let's see. Attacking her directly with magic is out, so maybe-

After less than a second of Paused time, the effect collapses and I feel tearing inside me. Then I realize that Atun is still charging towards me. With a gasp, I lurch to the side as her foot slams down on where I'd been standing. I'm staring up at the calloused bottom of her foot as Smoulder hurtles into her. Smoulder's flames are smothered, but I can still feel the pure heat rolling off her as she smashes into Atun.

Atun flinches, but only barely. But Smoulder buys me enough time to retreat a single step. All my usual tools aren't working. This close to Atun, my magic is useless, worse than on the ship, even my aura is suppressed. I need to get away. Before I can make it two more steps, I feel something wrap around me from behind. I'm just able to make out the golden fur that lines Atun's fist and Rufka's scream in the background before my head is smashed into the stone beneath the stands. In that single blow, my health is drained to a few points. Before I can react, I'm slammed again even as a familiar heat surges above me.

For the first time in weeks, I'm knocked unconscious.

...TPWM...

I come to in the challenge room, without so much as a headache. My resting spot turns out to be one of the stone slabs between the stairwells.

"Well, that was bad," I say as I sit up, finding Rufka rising on the slab next to mine. And Smoulder shaking her head on the furthest. "What the hell happened?"

"You..." Rufka doesn't speak so much as lurch forward and wrap her arms around me.

She manages to squeeze tight enough that my Health starts ticking down. I give her a few moments while rubbing circles on her back. It only takes ten more health before she eases her grip.

"You... we died. I think," Rufka says, her hand brushing my cheek before kissing me.

When we break the kiss, I check my Restoration ability and find that it's still charged. So we didn't actually die then. I don't even have any new conditions. Her mom did tell us it would be safe.

When I mention this to Rufka, she laughs, but it sounds strained. "It's... a lot easier to know that than to believe it when you see the body of... when I saw you..."

"Hey, hey, I'm okay," I remind her, pulling Rufka into a hug again. Rufka just nods into my shoulder as Smoulder arrives and snuggles in between us. I can feel the reassurance wafting off her. We sit there for a while before Beth comes out of her own arena. She notices us immediately, but doesn't say anything taking a seat on another of the slabs until Rufka finally pulls away.

There's a small burst of magic as she dries her tears, leaving only a smile as she turns to face Beth. "So, good news. We found out you can't die!" Rufka says with far too much exuberance.

Beth glances at me, and I nod before she looks back to Rufka who's still talking.

"And we found out that if you get six Flawless Victories in a row, Desh Atun will come out of her throne and bring Vaus's own judgement on you," Rufka adds with an almost perfectly faked smile. Other than it being too tight. And not quite reaching her eyes.

"Good to know," Beth acknowledges, giving Rufka a nod. Then she stands up and walks over to the pedestal. She glances back at Rufka for a second, then punches in a new combination. As she reaches the stairs, she looks back at us. "It's hard to lose the people you love. Even if they come back."

Before Rufka or I can respond, Beth hustles up the stairs, disappearing into her next challenge.

"I think... I think I want to have lunch. And maybe... give you that massage?" Rufka says, leaning against me.

"Sure," I reply as we stand up together, Smoulder staying in Rufka's arms.

As we turn to leave the room, I glance back at the challenge pedestal. A new hieroglyph has been partially filled in, though it has less detail than the rest. In the center of the console is the form of Atun, only her eyes and smile visible.

...TPWM...

After a very relaxing massage, and at least as much time spent relaxing in... other ways, Rufka and I return to the challenge room. Despite our 'defeat' at the hands of Atun, we still got the full payout for our flawless victory. With nine more sets of challengers, Rufka and I resume our grind.

When we defeat the sixth team for the second set of challengers, we stand ready. We watch the swirling mana-dust collect in Atun's hand this time, and even with Pause and Twilight-enhanced eyesight, I still almost miss when it collapses into a single bead of mana that sinks into her skin.

"Once more, our contenders stand before us! Another six flawless victories, and another opportunity to prove their worth!"

Before she's done speaking, we're moving. As she demonstrated last time, the stands are a valid part of the arena. Which means I can stay out of her aura by skirting around the-

"Attend me!" Atun cries, and it feels as if the entire room shrinks for a fraction of a second. When it returns to its original size, I find myself standing within immediate striking range. Not part of the plan, but we did discuss what I should do if she somehow cornered me. So instead of dodging away, I dive between her legs.

The deep-bellied laughter from Atun isn't exactly reassuring. Nor is the sudden tug on my leg as I'm hoisted upward. I catch a glimpse of Rufka being flung by Atun's other arm before I'm smashed into the stone beneath the stands once more. This time, I don't just let her slam me down, using the brief pause to kick at her hand. She doesn't even flinch.

As she slams me down again, I realize something obvious. I should really have a weapon.

Smoulder dashing forward in a bundle of fur and heat prevents Atun from slamming me a third time, which is fortunate, since the first two have already drained my health to nothing. Then I see Rufka. Or what remains of her.

I don't have time to fully process it before Atun uses me as a club to smack something small and extremely hot. This time, I realize it's not unconsciousness that takes me.

...TPWM...

When I wake on the stone slab, I practically throw myself off the slab to find Rufka. When I see she's okay, I can't help but gulp in relief as I react much like she did. I... understand better now, what she meant. What Beth meant. It's like a waking nightmare, seeing someone you care about like that.

"How..." Rufka says as I sit next to her, holding her tight. "How did we manage to do even worse on our second attempt?"

"She didn't use that space-shrinking ability the first time. What even was that?" I ask, still not wanting to let go of Rufka.

"Pretty sure that was one of her Mandate abilities. Mum said she couldn't do it often," Rufka says, rubbing her head. "Mum also said that she only did it when she was losing. We didn't even scratch her."

"Pretty sure Smoulder did, actually," I say, reaching down to give her some well deserved head-scritches. Despite our defeat, Smoulder remains certain of our eventual victory. Which, I mean... fair. We do get to keep coming back.

Rufka lets out a deep breath before pushing to her feet, dragging me with her. "Mum did warn us she was challenging."

Even as I nod in agreement, a swirl of dark energy appears over a distant slab. As Rufka and I watch, the dark energy coalesces into Beth, who sits up with a gasp. "Holy shit!"

Rufka and I share a chuckle at Beth's reaction, though neither of us can maintain it.

"Take it you fought Atun," I state more than ask while looking over at the pedestal before shaking my head. I don't think I'm as bad as Rufka was earlier, but I still feel like I need a few minutes.

"That was as much a fight as I'm a virgin," Beth says, shaking her head hard enough to set her fiery red hair floating above her for a second. "Fuck."

We remain silent for a minute before Roberts appears from the other side. When he sees us all standing together, he raises one of his bushy eyebrows. "Problems?"

"Could say that," Beth says, flopping back onto the stone slab in a way that would've stung before we had Health Edge. "You saw my message, right?"

"About us reviving if we die. And facing Atun if we had six flawless victories in a row? This is related?"

"Yep. I just got stomped by her. Not a fun experience. Her damn aura prevents me from shooting her."

"Ah, yes. That would be troubling," Roberts agrees, tapping a thin loop of wire against his chin. "I haven't encountered her yet myself. After your warning, I decided to only proceed to the fifth stage of each challenge. It seems to have work-"

Roberts is interrupted by another pair of swirls, one is emerald and gold, the other pink and dark brown. The former resolves into a prone Rose while the latter coalesces into Josh. Without even sitting up, Josh throws a clump of thorns at the wall beside him before flopping his arms out to the side.

While Josh is decompressing, Rose sits up next to him with a huff. Then he notices the rest of us. "Meeting time?"

"Wasn't the plan, but since we're all here, why don't we discuss," Beth agrees.

Which leads into us exchanging notes on everything we've fought so far, including our experiences with Akun. Something about the way everyone describes entering the mersas gets my attention, and I can't help but replay our entrance and exit in my mind. By the time everyone's done, Tipan and Kellica have joined us and we end up having to repeat things for a third time, though I'm still lost in thought, only paying partial attention.

Beth leans on the pedestal while addressing the rest of us, her hands folded over the butt of her rifle. "Okay. Maybe we've officially found an opponent that's worth group combat. Too bad we have to go through an entire round of Flawless Victories to encounter her."

"Are we aware if she triggers on a subsequent run?" Roberts asks.

"Probably triggers on a rainy day, just to make it worse," Josh complains, throwing a ball of thorns at the wall again.

"Can we check later? Taking her on isn't urgent, right?" Rose asks, grabbing the ball of thorns out of the air the next time Josh throws it. Josh just scowls before laying back against the slab. "Dying like that sucks."

"I don't think we're really dying. It's just temporary constructs," I say as I finally figure out what's been bugging me. The tethers haven't been moving beyond the entrances.

Everyone turns to stare at me and I blink, before smiling. "Right. None of you can... anyway, I'm not totally certain, but I think we're being put in stasis whenever we reach the tenth step, where the portal is. It's not like entering a private room at Raz's. Next time we go in, I'm going to scan myself, just to be sure but..."

"Thanks kid. That... that actually makes me feel better. And Genitha mentioned we'd get to the point where we could unlock her with points."

"Mum left out the Flawless victory part," Rufka grumbles, pulling me to my feet.

"Maybe your mum never got that far?" I suggest.

"Or she was already so powerful it didn't bother her. Seriously, your mother is crazy OP," Josh says.

"Thanks, I think," Rufka replies as she pulls me towards the pedestal. "Now, I'm ready to go kick some more ass. Lexi?"

"Yeah, let's do this," I reply as she punches in the next challengers.

Even if I don't have my magic, we'll figure something out.

Though if I'm honest...

Not using magic?

Not gonna happen.

A note from Draith

Hmm. Not sure I'll get to that glorious 55k on just the Mon to Fri chapters. Might just need to post a couple extras. Oh, however will y'all manage.

Man, I really dig Cyber Dreams & Electric Angels

Too bad that title really doesn't sell you on the otherwise incredible Cyberpunk story it has to offer. Much fun.

...TPWM 2.31, Sweetest Things ...

February 12, 2019, 3:04 pm. Immediately after deciding to charge back into the arena.

Our next set of opponents are both wielding ridiculous weapons. One of them has an axe with a head the size of a smart-car while the other has a whip with a studded ball at the end. Neither of them are able to hit us, but every swing from the ax leaves a wind blade that flows outward. It's enough that I have to actively counter the effect. Though part of me is tempted to let them hit us. There's no reason we need to face Atun.

Ah, if only Rufka or I were able to humble ourselves like that. Didn't realize I was so proud of my abilities. But there's certainly that feeling as I teleport around the ax-wielder to crack them over the head with a summoned club of steel. Even as they collapse, I glance up towards Atun. No noticeable change, though I'm not expecting one.

But I wasn't expecting her to jump in and kick our asses the first time either.

Rufka and I work through the rest of the round, and the pair is challenging enough, I have to Pause on the final round, as much to position myself near the outer edge of Atun's aura as anything. This time, we're going to test if stepping out of her aura triggers the pull ability she used.

Smoulder is already wiggling, prepared to pounce as Rufka defeats the whip wielder. Atun steps up to the edge of the balcony, proclaiming our third round of flawless victories. Nice of her not to count the curb-stomping she's been giving us in there.

Before she has time to set foot in the arena, Smoulder smashes into her then leaps away. At the same time, I pedal back several steps until I'm out of her aura. The second I'm outside, I start channeling Pause while creating compacted Stone walls, sucking as much mana out of them as possible. The walls of the arena don't seem to be affected by her ability, so this is our first real-

"Attend me!" Atun bellows, and despite the wall I threw up, I find myself in her face again. I drop to the ground, rolling to the side, and this time she misses in her attempt to grab me. A slash at her with the crude blade of steel I made, and am gratified when it doesn't crumble when I hit her. But then she grabs it, flipping it around and backhanding me with a laugh. I crash through the stands, pushing my way back out of the benches I crashed through only to come face to sword with my blade.

It still doesn't manage to take me to zero health, though it does send me spinning. I attempt to Pause on reflex, and discover it works for nearly a full second before her field disrupts it. That second is just enough time for me to realize she wasn't wielding my sword, and simply used it as a projectile. Grabbing my fancy club off the ground, I charge back towards her, Pausing again right as I'm striking. It gives me a single second of time where I can manipulate the sword to swing even faster. And I have the satisfaction of knocking her back half a step.

I don't see what knocks me out after.

Waking on the stone slab outside, I can't help but pump my fist. That was way better than our first two attempts. When I sit up, I find Rufka staring out the open door at where the jungle is already starting to creep back in. If we stay as long as Beth expects, Smoulder might have to blast our way out too. Not that she'll mind.

"So, that went well," I say, sitting up and slinging my feet over the side of my slab.

Rufka sits up, leaning on her left elbows as she meets my gaze. "I messed up. She shouldn't have had time to get you, but I was more worried about you than..."

"Hey. It's fine. We're learning here. And... you avoided looking, right? Like we agreed?"

"Yeah. And... it did help," Rufka says, nodding.

"Kinda glad bodies poof quickly. Be a lot tougher to avoid looking otherwise," I say, pulling her to her feet. "Now, come on. We've got a lot more of these jerks to get through. And we're doing better."

"Yeah... Yeah, let's kick her Vaus damn ass," Rufka shouts right as Roberts is walking down from his most recent challenge. He just raises an eyebrow at us as we select our next opponent and very casually run up the stairs at full speed. Super chill.

We blast through the next few rounds, our opponents barely able to hamper us with the sword and spear combo. When we're fighting the final pair, we spend more time prepping the arena. Several metal traps that we can easily dive through but will require Atun to go around or get beaten up breaking through.

Thwacking the sword-K'tharn over the head with a new metal club, I check my positioning, hoisting my shield up. Rufka takes her opponent down with a roar, riding the spear-K'tharn several meters towards one of our tangles of steel. I tried doing titanium, but it's crazy mana intensive.

"Congratulations, Citizen Pandora and Citizen Ashkaban, on achieving twenty-four consecutive Flawless Victories," Atun calls, keeping one leg on the wall of bone separating us, instead of immediately jumping into the arena.

"This is new, I hate it when she does new stuff," I grumble while hefting my shield.

"Not loving it either," Rufka agrees, her bow held at the ready.

"Three times you have fought my least avatar, and already, you start to improve. I wish you luck, in this fourth... and final, attempt." At the end of her speech, Atun launches herself into the arena. I've already paused time, and shot several thick metal nets in her direction. Smoulder leaps forward, trailing a net of her own, one that's heated to temperatures that mostly negate the net's structure as it crashes into what is apparently Atun's weakest version.

I don't have time to worry about that, diving to the side through the metal tangle as Atun attempts to grab me. Thanks to the nets and the constrictive passage, I manage to get away, slipping into the next tangle before she pulls herself free. Then Rufka hits her from behind. We continue to harass her, neither of us getting too close or too far away. Then I see a fleck of blood go flying. Which is when she cries out, "Attend me!"

When we're drawn forth, I'm already swinging my club. It bounces off, barely staggering Atun's giant frame. But when Smoulder follows up a second later, it's enough to knock Atun to one knee. Then Rufka manages to take a gouge out of her cheek with an arrow.

Not willing to give Atun time to recover, I grab one of the nets that missed her earlier, then Pause, gaining just enough time to throw the net with metal manipulation. Atun jabs a hand out, catching the net and wrapping it around her hand until it looks like a mitten. A solid steel mitten that is speeding towards me. My shield absorbs most of the blow, but crumbles in half, nearly useless.

Even so, I'm feeling pretty good about our chances until I look up and see that Atun's wounds are healing before my eyes.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I yell as I get caught in the shoulder by her mailed fist before my head slams into one of our tangles.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up from unconsciousness. Though this time, I'm still in the arena. I only blanked out for a second, though my health is still at zero. Rufka is still peppering Atun with arrows, and Smoulder is spending more time avoiding Atun's strikes than attacking. Atun is close, no more than five meters from me. And I have a handy projectile right over my head. I Pause, accelerating the entire tangle into Atun's back. Despite her fast healing, it doesn't seem like her Health is back, and the projectile tears something that was keeping her standing. Once Atun goes down on one knee, Rufka and Smoulder become relentless, striking her over and over.

I'm barely able to stand with the assistance of my club turned oversized walking stick. Rufka practically cackles as Atun collapses forward.

Our moment of triumph is cut short when she bursts into blue dust. I cough on the thick sweet cloud as it swirls back to her throne, reforming into Atun. She laughs, then as we glare up at her she starts clapping which is accompanied by a notification.

"Hidden Objective Complete: Defeat the Least Avatar of Desh Atun before purchasing the final ritual combat. 1/1. Rewards: 10000 Arena Points. Counts as one Arena Achievement for purposes of unique gear and unlocks."

"Really doesn't feel that hidden when she comes in to kick our ass after the fight," I mutter, my eyes still fixed on Desh Atun. Finished with her clapping, she lazily plucks a still-sizzling piece of meat from a tray and pops it into her mouth, with a raised eyebrow in our direction.

"Nope," Rufka agrees. "But I've had enough of her for today. Let's go spend some points. Pretty sure we've got enough for a couple levels."

I throw one last glance at Atun before following Rufka out. She gives me a casual wave before tossing another piece of meat into the air. I don't watch to see if she catches it, already following behind Rufka. We stop once we're down the ramp, and Rufka leans over, hugging against my side.

"We did it," I say, now that we're not in the arena.

"Yep," Rufka agrees into my shoulder.

"I honestly didn't think we'd pull it off."

"Liar."

"Okay. Didn't think we'd get it this early."

"Did too."

"You know I-"

"Yep."

"You don't want to talk about it do you?" I ask, finally turning to Rufka.

"Nope," she replies, tilting her head to the side with a grin. "Let's go spend our points."

"Right," I chuckle, following her as we return to the arena shop. Today was decently productive, especially with the bonus points from defeating Atun. Not enough to buy the truly exorbitant items, but more than enough for the last two advancement points I need, plus ten integration points. And that's while keeping enough points to unlock our next challenge. Those bonuses from our flawless victories really added up.

Once Rufka's done buying basically the same stuff, we return to the kitchen. While making dinner together, we remain quiet as we each look over our new class unlocks.

Surprisingly, each of my levels gives me two new abilities to choose from. Meaning that I'll need even more progression points if I want to buy them both. Since there are still eight points left for purchase, it doesn't seem like a particularly daunting task.

"Eye of the Storm: Grants passive flight speed. Improved defence and maneuverability while flying if channelling at least two elements at once."

While passing Rufka a spice mix I'm still not sure of the contents of, despite analyzing it, I almost drop it when I read my first ability. Straight up flight. I suspected it was coming, but this is... I should probably read my other options first. That's what I should do. As a responsible adult.

I don't.

Humming happily to myself, I start reading the next ability.

"Anchor: Allows casting an anchor in the tides of time, allowing momentary reruns through local space time. Does not account for outside forces interfering. Can not use best result. Must end the result to resume the flow of time."

This time I do drop the honey for the glazed yams.

Taking a deep breath, I lean against the counter as I reread the description. Okay. Not actual time travel. I... think? Still, it's... that's still... It's my level nine ability. Sitting down I run my hand through my hair, frowning as my hand gets caught on a knot until I use a short blast of wind to untangle the offending strands.

"Good stuff?" Rufka asks as she picks up the dropped spice mix.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah, you could definitely say that," I reply. For a second I consider dropping my second point into Anchor. But I was already hasty once.

"Lesser Cataclysm: Area effect ability that rips into every non-linked creature within a 1km diameter OR every linked creature within a 1km radius. Deals Immense spatial damage to all targets."

That doesn't seem as... wait a Facet-enhanced second. Does every creature mean even the bugs? Would that wipe out every living creature in the jungle outside? That's... terrifying. Focusing on it, I'm able to determine that the links the spell is describing are related to my IFF. And it technically includes an upgrade to the IFF that allows me to set specific targets to be targeted by the ability. That's a lot less worrying. And... very powerful. I wonder if it would work through Atun's disruption effect.

...

Nah. That'd be too...

Sigh, that's going on the short list too.

As Rufka sets a plate down in front of me, I read my last ability.

"Seed: Gestates a System Seed."

Huh. Going the opposite direction on this one, I see. Focusing on the description is-

Focusing on the desc-

The room wavers as equations start bombarding me. I feel the faint ding of a System notification, but it's lost in the sea of confusion. Then Wyonna's there.

[Wyonna] "What just happened?" Wyonna asks as the numbers go away, my head still aching.

"I... just tried to read one of my class abilities," I explain while rubbing my head.

"Which one?" Wyonna prompts as Rufka's hand lands on my shoulder.

"Seed," I reply, giving Rufka a small smile to let her know I'm okay. Mostly.

[Wyonna] "Sorry. Whatever you just said isn't translating."

I blink slowly, then try sending the name directly.

[Wyonna] "Okay. Well, good news. I saw that you sent that message. Bad news. I still can't read it."

"It's... one word. It's not even an uncommon word. Like, apple seed," I say. But even as I say it... there's something different about the way I was saying the ability's name.

"What are you doing?" Rufka asks me as I say Seed aloud several times in a row.

"Saying my new ability name," I tell her even as I start switching between lower-case, regular seed and upper-case Seed.

"Your ability name is seed?" Rufka asks with a chuckle. "Isn't that your class name?"

"I... uhm, kinda forgot that," I admit. Despite it being at the top of my character sheet, I don't actually look at my class name very often.

Opening my status, I drop my twenty Integration points, including the ones I'd been saving, equally into Strength and Constitution. Atun being able to take me down so quick is a reminder that every bit of Health helps. Which is why I also bug Rufka to lend me three mana essence so I can bond the armour upgrade I got from Ineesis. Then I review my status again.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 55 > 65

Constitution: 60 > 70

Agility: 100

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 110

Resolve: 110

Integration Points: 0

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

Storage: 7.94 > 8.65 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6 > 4/7

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 518/518 > 518/551

Edge: [34.5] > [41.8]

Regen: (383/day) > (424/day)

Stamina

Pool: 518/518 > 518/540

Edge: [40] > [51.1]

Regen: (435/day) > (440/day)

Mana

Pool: 1168/1168 > 1168/1176

Edge: [87.6] > [107.2]

Regen: (1092/day) > (1100/day)

Focus

Pool: 1173/1173 > 1173/1181

Edge: [83.8] > [87.8]

Regen: (1065/day) > (1072/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 68/400 > 68/403

Edge: [26.5]

Regen: (332/hour) > (334/hour)

Reading the Seed in my class name feels almost identical to the way I'm saying Seed now. Except everyone can hear it when I say it as part of my class name. Which prompts me to make a rather erudite remark, "Weeeeeeird."

"Mhm," Rufka agrees before stealing one of the glazed yams off my plate. Which distracts me for several seconds as I fight to regain my honour. And my yam.

Then I turn my attention back to my abilities. I... well, I don't feel like Seed is critical. At least, not in the short term. At the same time, it does feel significant.

Still, with the current abilities available, I decide to pick up Lesser Cataclysm. Anchor feels more useful in the long term, especially in social situations, but I intend to buy it tomorrow, once I have enough points. And the same for Seed.

But that can wait for after I get my hands on Rufka for stealing my last piece of glazed yam!

A note from Draith

Uhh. Super short note. Thanks for ratings, comments and reviews. They all help keep me writing. Kay, definitely gonna be a chapter tomorrow.

...TPWM 2.32, Thirty Days and Nights...

February 13, 2019, 6:03 am. The morning after tickling Rufka into submission after she ate my last glazed yam.

After a not-so-productive, but definitely enjoyable night, Rufka and I are back on our way back to the challenges when I get a notification I was half-expecting, but had kind of lost track of.

"Quest Completed: Survival. Requirements: Survive for 30 days. Calculating Rewards."

I stop in the middle of my explanation about the difference between an animated character and CGI, a topic prompted by Josh and Rose's argument about the best Disney princess during breakfast. (Elsa, obviously.)

"We completed our Survival Quest," I inform Rufka. Her ears perk up as she takes me by the elbow and guides me to one of the stone benches in the challenge room.

"Rewards calculated. Base rewards: "Quest unlocked: More than One; System Features Unlocked: Subclasses, Class Advancement."

Knew those were coming, but it's still nice to see. Now, there should be some bonus-

My eyes trail down the long list of bonus rewards. Most are subclass unlocks, such as Explorer. Or mechanic, engineer or clockmaker. I've also earned sufficient contributions to unlock the first two stages of the More than One quest. The prompt floating there asking if I'd like to begin gestating a child is more than a little surreal. At least I know that when I close it, the option will remain available in my Quest menu.

A thought that feels a little too heavy.

So I continue looking through the subclasses. Teacher, Tel'thoni, Instructor. Similar, but all different subclasses. For a second, I wonder if Tipan swapped her subclass out while we were teaching the others in Elementalist's peak.

Probably not.

Part of me is offended that there are no cooking subclasses available. I know they exist. Rufka has at least three unlocked.

Cooking isn't the only missing subclass. For some reason, despite my study of Rufka's enchanting, and my general knowledge of runework, I don't have any enchanting subclasses unlocked.

At the bottom of the list of bonus rewards are an upgrade of two cubic meters to my spatial storage, a coupon for one free meal at Raz's that I was totally going to abuse and a pair of socks. A special pair of socks.

Going to the park, I claim the socks.

"Sab's Favourite Socks. A perfect replica of the socks Forerunner Pandora borrowed from her friend after a sudden winter shower left her feet soaking. Now both friends can wear the same socks, depriving neither of their comfort."

"Bonuses once bonded: Warm and Cozy: Improves Health Edge by 1.0 and Stamina Edge by 3.0 while equipped. Nostalgic: Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped."

"Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: two iron rank integration points."

I hold the black socks with their little tuft of black fluff at the top, a smile fixed on my face even as tears bead in the corner of my eyes.

Rufka's hand on mine draws my eyes towards her. "These are Sab's socks. She lent them to me before we were whisked away. Not even a month before our unannounced departure. Sab and I had been wandering around, looking for apartments together. Cause we knew we'd need to find a place soon. We were looking at this horrible old place that looked like it might topple over if the wind blew too hard."

"But they had cheap rooms, so Sab and I were there to check it out. She didn't need to; did I ever mention that?"

"Mhm," Rufka answers as Smoulder climbs into my lap.

"Anyway, Sab and I go inside, it's still a bright and sunny day. When we come out, sudden downpour. So, we made our way back to Sab's place. Right outside, I get distracted by this truck driving by. Semi-truck, you know, the big vehicles like non-flying airships."

"I remember."

"Right. Anyway, I stepped away, lost my footing and stumbled back into this puddle that was the size of a lake," I say, stretching my arms out to my side.

Rufka arches her eyebrows at my exaggeration but doesn't comment as I continue. "So, what does Sab do? She hauls me out of the puddle, getting herself soaked in the process, then takes me up to her place, and immediately sends me into the shower. By the time I came out, she had a change of clothes laid out for me. Sent me home with my wet clothes in a bag, telling me I could keep everything I was wearing. Including these socks."

"She never told me they were her favourites," I mumble at the end, running my hand over the sock.

"You are lucky to have such a good friend," Rufka states,

"Yeah. Yeah, I always knew it too. Told her I didn't deserve her."

"On that, I disagree," Rufka says, pulling away and turning me to face her, tenderly brushing the tears away from my eyes. "You were her friend. There is no deserving when it comes to friendship."

I give Rufka a small half-smile, then pull her towards me into a hug. Smoulder's warmth soon joins us and I take a deep breath.

"Okay. We should... we should get back to it. I've got new gear, and a subclass to equip and-"

Rufka holds a single finger to my lips, not releasing me from the hug. "I think we can afford to wait a few minutes more."

Nodding, I hold the sock in my hand as my heart reaches out for my missing friend.

...TPWM...

February 13, 2019, 6:52 am.

After I've recovered, and bonded the socks, which are just as comfy as I remember, Rufka and I begin the challenges for the day.

On our very first round, I tag Atun with my new ability. Which sends IFF into a weird fit for a second as it registers her location in six different places at once until resetting to only the one in front of us. Even as I've been setting my IFF in place, Rufka has been distracting our opponents. And by distracting, I mean knocking the first one out of the fight while peppering the one carrying a three handed shield with arrows.

While they're still focused on Rufka, Smoulder decides to stretch her legs and knock them out of the fight. And the arena. Discovering that Smoulder has also been getting all the arena rewards for all this was... kinda shocking. Not as shocking as the fact that Rose has access to two shops though. Apparently he still counts as a pet as well as a properly integrated user.

Shaking my head, I watch as the body disperses into blue mana, floating up to Atun. She gives us a wink as the mana slips beneath her skin, calling out our victory and laughing. Then it's onto the next round. When we finish our string of flawless victories, Atun leaps down into the arena. Before she has a chance to use her ability to draw me closer, I open with Lesser Cataclysm.

It drains all my Facet, as the entire arena seems to flicker for a second, cracks spreading out like shattered glass. The cracks are the worst around Atun's avatar, shattering her to pieces.

When reality reasserts itself, Atun is back on her throne... and her corpse is still lying defeated on the arena floor. We get the quest victory notification, much like the last one but Atun isn't smiling or laughing as she leans forward on her throne, staring at me.

I can't help myself as I smirk and give her a little wave.

After the amount she's been cracking my head against the stone? It feels good to one shot her.

"Not sure what happened, but we won, right?" Rufka asks as she steps up beside me.

"Oh yeah," I reply, still grinning at Atun.

"Cool. Let's hit the shop. And it's my turn next!" Rufka says, leading me out under Atun's watchful eye. As we step out of the arena, we get a new update.

"Bonus quest. Defeat Desh Atun's remaining avatars without using the Ability Lesser Cataclysm. Rewards: 10,000,000 Arena Points. 1 Armour Upgrade. 1 Personalized Armour."

"Guess she didn't like you smashing her that hard," Rufka says as I stare at the last reward for a second before dismissing the message.

"Guess not. Worth fighting her without it, you think?"

Rufka just looks at me, blinking all four of her eyes for several seconds before grinning. "Of course, it's worth it. How boring would it be if you one shot her every fight?"

I chuckle as we make our way to the shop, both of us picking up another two of the Progression Points. Smoulder spends all her points on Integration points, and when I check her Status, I notice she's maxed out her physical attributes already and is bringing her mental up as well. I pick up Anchor immediately and given the strength of the rest of my Abilities, I decide to purchase Seed as well.

Testing Anchor, I use it then start teasing Rufka by asking her questions, then repeating the question only to answer it for her. With the minimum Facet, I'm able to loop three times before I become 'unanchored', each attempt lasting a maximum of thirteen and a half seconds. More than enough to be useful, though I notice it creates a kind of field that limits the effect to the shop when I use it. Further tests confirm that it has a rather small range. Which I can increase if I pump Facet into it, but it gets expensive fast. It also feels like a stronger version of my Pause, since it seems to freeze time outside the anchored zone while I run the loops. My time-sense assures me time is still passing, just at a very low rate.

Even better, I can activate it when I already have time Paused, though it ends the regular Pause the moment I do so. Still, it means I can have three attempts to do things after a full Pause. At least, when not dealing with Atun's weird field. Unfortunately, it also has a cooldown equal to however long I spend in all three loops.

Satisfied with Anchor, I attempt to activate Seed and... nothing happens, other than getting a sensation in my gut that I did, in fact, activate it.

"Weird," I mumble as Rufka flexes her bow several times.

"Did you grab that seed ability?" Rufka asks as a bolt of blinding energy forms on her bow.

"I... yeah. Is that plasma?" I ask, the energy like something out of the YouTube videos Sab would make me watch. It's a lot more impressive when it's right in front of you. And not held in place by anything but my thiani's hands.

"Think so. It's Arcane Bolt," Rufka replies, sucking the energy out of existence instead of firing. "Creating it takes half my Blitz. Firing it would take the rest."

"You know what that sounds like?"

"What?"

"A good excuse to make breakfast. I'm out of Facet anyway," I add after a second. Then I start heading for the kitchen as I consider my abilities. Anchor is going to be useful, though the fact I can't keep any of the loops does limit it somewhat. And Lesser Cataclysm... It honestly feels more powerful than anything I've ever heard about. And I want to test it outside the dungeon and whatever the weird dungeon space is that we're inside when we're in the arena.

Once Rufka and I finish breakfast, we tackle our next set of opponents. Then face Atun without my Lesser Cataclysm. Despite Rufka's new arrow working through Atun's field, we lose, though it takes her several minutes to pin me down. The next round is similar, though I get defeated much quicker, Rufka claims she almost had her.

On our third attempt, we make the arena almost completely impassable, cluttered with solid chunks of metal anchored to each of the tiered platforms that felt more like flavour than significant battlefield hindrances until we made our changes. Our opponents are still alive, trapped in a forest of reflective surfaces too blunt for them to easily kill themselves until we're ready. With passages through most of the arena that will only allow Atun through if she hunches, Rufka and I finish the final combatants. Atun laughs as she leaps forward, the metal structure shaking as she lands. But it holds.

Then there's a flurry of action as Atun charges through a passage to get to me. Anchor lets me see three different versions of how she's coming at me and gives me a solid chance to avoid her.

I follow the guidance of my best course of action, taking a half-step backwards as a now-us sized Atun roars up the tunnel. Should've known that a little thing like battlefield preparation wouldn't stop her. I fire off another Anchor, thankful that it doesn't seem to be affected by Atun's disruption effect. None of my three attempts to dodge her succeed, so I decide to punch her instead. To my surprise, my punch lands, and even knocks her back.

"She's not as heavy," I call even as I dive out of the way of an incoming Smoulder. Smoulder's impact throws Atun into the nearby post, causing it to bend under the impact.

A bright pulse hits Atun before she can recover, exploding and sending me flying. I can vaguely make out loud noises as I'm tossed around through our metal cage. When I come to a rest, I realize something's broken. Probably a lot of somethings. And my eyes have bright spots that are nearly impossible to see through.

I notice something furry come up along the edge of my vision even as we get a victory notification for defeating Atun. Then I'm hoisted up by soft arms. When I'm carried across the portal threshold, my injuries vanish and I feel completely fine. Not that I don't milk being in Rufka's arms until she reaches a bench and sits down.

"That... was terrifying," Rufka says, stroking my hair.

"Hmm," I reply, leaning my head into her hand.

"Didn't expect it to be so.... explosive."

"Contained area. Nowhere for the concussive force to go except through us," I say before stopping myself. "At least, I think that's what happened. I don't really remember it that well."

"Sorry."

"No problem. Much better than when I nearly burned you in my sleep," I say, kissing Rufka's cheek.

"I don't deserve you," Rufka replies, making me blush for a second.

Then my eyes narrow. "You said that doesn't apply."

"As Roberts is fond of saying, all's fair in love and cuddling," Rufka replies as Smoulder nods sagely from her shoulder. Pretty sure the little traitor doesn't even understand what Rufka's saying.

"That's not... it's love and war," I complain, though not with any great amount of effort.

"Are you sure?" Rufka asks, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"I... This feels like an argument that it would be foolish to win," I admit as Rufka steers me towards the kitchen for lunch.

"Good," Rufka says with a serious nod. Then as we reach the kitchen she adds, "Also, I totally deserve you. I'm just that awesome."

My retort is lost as she silences me in that, oh so effective, way that lovers do.

And I can't help but agree. She really is.

A note from Draith

Every twelve hours or so, new chappie till the end of writathon. Probably be a couple day break after, but we'll see.

...TPWM 2.33, Grinding Atun...

February 13, 2019, 1:01 pm.

With lunch... and other things... out of the way, Rufka and I return to the challenges. This time when we get to the final fight, despite having completely rearranged the arena again, Atun ignores our efforts by using her ability to suck things closer to turn it all into a metal ball. Which she uses to bash us to pulp.

Then we fight her with only a few small preparations and manage to take her out with a lucky arrow from Rufka when Atun is focusing on finishing me off. For some reason, she prefers to go for me first. This time, Rufka is ready for her. Unfortunately, it leads to me being nearly blind again. On the plus side, it means Rufka carries me out in her arms again.

The next fight, Atun doesn't leap down to challenge us. She just watches us from her throne, smiling the whole time. Which prompts Smoulder to attempt to break through again. She doesn't get any further than the first time, though she does get a smile out of Atun.

After letting Smoulder smack into the barrier for half an hour, we continue to the next challenge. Again, Atun doesn't descend to fight us.

Worried that she's getting ready for something, Rufka and I take a break, going to spend our points. At this point, I have enough saved up to buy another thirty-two integration points. But I only buy twenty-five, to get my numbers even. It's enough to bring my Strength and Constitution to eighty each. When I test my new strength by lifting Rufka off the ground with one arm around her waist, she laughs before smacking my arm.

When we head into our next set of challenges, the difference is immediately noticeable. Atun is no longer leaning back in her throne. Instead, she's kneeling at the front of her booth, her eyes fixed on us as we ascend.

I analyze her again, and her status doesn't seem to have changed. No new abilities. But the way she watches us as we fight is a little unsettling. When the K'tharn who was wielding some sort of club with fancy metal ridges on the end swirls into dust, Atun doesn't declare a flawless victory. Which makes Rufka and I check our status. But there's nothing there. When I glance up at Atun, her smile widens as she makes a shooing gesture with one hand.

Several rounds later, I hold down the club wielder while we stare up at Atun.

We don't have any tricks left. And I've run through Anchor twice, killing the K'tharn underfoot. And each time, Atun is able to get a serious hit on me before Rufka or Smoulder can retaliate.

I need to take the hit, but keep the effect as light as possible. Which is when I realize I haven't been using my new ability to fly. Maybe I'm not out of tricks. If it's like Anchor, and not affected by her disruption effect then... well, at least I might not get one shot.

Waiting the extra time for my next Anchor to be ready, I let it run through. And two out of three attempts, I'm able to get away. Kinda wish I'd practiced with the ability first, but trial by fire I suppose.

"Hey Rufka," I call, smiling up at Atun.

"Yeah Lex?" she replies, picking up on my hand signal.

"You haven't forgotten about any of your new abilities, have you?" I ask, even as I finish off the fancy club bearer underfoot.

Atun is in the air before Rufka can reply, leaping toward me with one of her massive blades in hand. I swirl up and to the right as I pull on the strange 'muscle' that is my new flight ability. The edge of Atun's blade whistling through the air behind me is close enough to knock a single point off my health and send me spinning. But Smoulder manages to catch her, setting up the combo for Rufka's arrow to strike. When I reorient, Atun is still standing, though her blade is partially slagged.

Before I can take the scene in, Atun shouts, "Attend me!"

This time, I can't escape in time, and Rufka and I wake up in the chamber outside.

"So, forgot you could fly, huh?" Rufka asks from her own slab.

"Yep," I answer, not getting up from my slab.

"Me too," she chuckles. "Wanna go practice?"

This time, I don't answer, rolling off the slab and walking backwards towards the park before drifting up slightly. "You coming?"

She doesn't bother standing, letting herself be pulled towards me by her flight effect. Which leaves her hair falling into her eyes causing her to nearly crash into the doorway. Once we begin practicing in the park, I finally stop laughing.

...TPWM...

February 13, 2019, 6:25 pm.

The next fight against Atun ends quickly. Now that we can't one shot her with Rufka's ability, we're relying on flight even more. But Atun's ability to draw us in, combined with her disruption is... tricky.

We sit at the table with the others and discover that we're the only ones who've had success with Atun after the least version. Though Roberts doesn't count, since he hasn't fought her at all yet.

"She's too fast," Josh notes, shaking his head. "If she wasn't able to smash through my Brambleback walls so easily, I might last more than a dozen hits."

I choke on my burrito as I hear that.

"A dozen hits?" Rufka asks, leaning forward. "You can take a dozen hits?"

"Man's good at taking a beating," Beth says with a completely straight face as she takes another bite of her own burrito.

While Josh goes red, we continue talking about Atun. And discussing what's worked for Rufka and I. Tipan reveals that as long as she gets Flawless victories on any of the first four challenges she tried, she can fight against the weak version of Atun again. Which prompts me to record which of the groups of K'tharn Rufka and I have unlocked Atun with.

Our comparison reveals that Atun isn't as powerful when only one person is fighting her. And even Josh and Rose, who've been doing most of their challenges together, don't seem to be fighting an Atun as strong as ours.

Whether that's because of Smoulder or something else, we can’t determine. And I don't intend to fight Atun solo. At least, not yet.

As an experiment, Rufka and I go back and challenge the first set of K'tharn that triggered our fight against Atun. And just like Tipan said, she's back to her slower and weaker version. She also gives way less points than the first time we fought her. On the other hand, we only had to go through a single set of K'tharn to trigger her.

So we spend the day fighting her without using Rufka's plasma arrow, until we can reliably defeat her weakest form. I even gain two ranks in a new skill, Melee Weapons. Then we move on to her next form, until we can defeat her without turning the arena into a tripping ground. By that point, we collapse into bed, too tired to hold hands.

The next day is similar, with Rufka and I taking a break to train hand to hand skills with Beth. And then staff combat skills from Tipan. Kellica teaches me the basics of using bladed gauntlets.

I hate it. It's so much worse than magic. But it turns out to be far more effective against Atun, when used in combination with our abilities. I choose to focus on the staff, since it feels the most natural. And gives me range to boot.

Throughout our training, Atun no longer calls out the beginning or end of each match, instead watching us with a small smile. A smile that morphs into a ferocious grin when she's able to leap into the arena.

It takes us two more days before we feel ready to challenge Atun properly again. When we walk into the arena, she steps up, calling, "Our contenders return! After days of grueling training, they feel fit to test themselves once more. May the mersa, begin!"

After we handily defeat the pair of K'tharn, Atun roars out our citizen names, and the crowd joins her. Even knowing they're all simple facsimiles, a blush crawls up my cheeks as we leave the arena.

"Now she's using psychological warfare. Not fair," I say, leaning against the wall.

Rufka leans against the wall across the way from me while Smoulder pokes her head out of her pocket with a yawn. "By cheering our names?"

"I... yeah?" I shrug while pushing away from the wall. "Not used to fighting so much."

"Hmm. We could take a break. Play Astra's Stride," Rufka suggests, which gets a chuckle from me.

"Nah. We got this," I reply, shaking my head. And we do, though we slow down a touch, spending more time talking between each match. We take an extra few minutes before the final match talking about our plan. When we march into the ring, Rufka already has her bow drawn, and I whip shards of molten metal across before they've even started moving. By the time we step fully into the arena, they're already collapsing into blue dust.

This earns us a mighty laugh from Atun as she dives forwards into the ring. When she attacks, I'm able to hold off her attacks with my modified quarterstaff while dodging with flight. At the same time, Smoulder is able to smash into her repeatedly, warming the arena while Rufka circles around, chipping away at her Health. When Atun cries, "Attend me!" it hardly breaks our flow, repeated practice allowing us to adjust to the drastic location change easily.

The edge of Atun's blade is sliding along the edge of my staff when Rufka's plasma bolt strikes her, causing her to collapse.

With a sigh, we back up, Atun returning to her ledge.

She bows to us, leading the crowd to follow suit as we get a notification with our latest rewards. Then I get another ghost message as Atun rises on her throne.

"Zone Hidden Quest requir-"

"Arena Hidden requirement override. Dungeon Administrator privileges: User: Atun."

Before I'm done reading, Atun silences the crowd. "The contenders have proven worthy. Let them participate in Desh'mersa!"

As the crowd roars, loud enough I swear the others must be able to hear them in their own arenas, I trade a glance with Rufka.

Now this, her mum definitely didn't mention.

A note from Draith

Glad this short one is only 12 hours away from other chappies.

...TPWM 2.34, Desh'mersa...

February 18, 2019, 11:25 am.

The exit doesn't open as Atun waits for the crowd to quiet. "Are there any here who would stand with these brave warriors, that they may compete?"

Even as she speaks, every one of the K'tharn we've defeated jumps forward, out of the crowd. Despite her words, for a second I expect them to attack us. Then I realize we're being given the opportunity to pick our teammate. We can use non-user teammates.

Rufka and I glance at each other, then we point to the K'tharn with the claw and shield combination. She was tough enough to tank a plasma bolt, and almost fast enough to hit us. More importantly, if this is anything like the Desh’mersa we watched with Tipan, we're going to need a grunter. Someone who can actually survive taking a solid hit.

The soldier steps forward, Atun clapping behind him. The others remain standing there. So Rufka and I talk for a bit, then settle on another who was annoying to track down, usually requiring three arrows or spells to defeat.

There's not a lot to work with, really.

Again, Atun claps her hands. This time, all the others step back, collapsing back into blue dust as a prompt appears.

"Select K'tharn Bulwark and K'tharn Runner as your third and fourth team members? Unanimous vote is required."

I confirm with Rufka that we want the bulwark and we both vote yes.

"Congratulations on forming team Mud-dollops. Please note, to earn the right to change your team’s name, you must survive a full season of Desh'mersa."

After that notification is a long list of the rules. It's not quite the same as the game Tipan took us to. For one thing, lethal combat is expected. Though there's a penalty for the opposing team if the person who dies isn't holding the Theet. Which is the name of the fancy frisbee from Tipan's original explanation. Another change is that it prohibits flying. And all magic except shields. The shields are a surprise, but I suppose even here the game's been adjusted from what it used to be.

I also note the literal pages of rules for substituting new team members. Most seem to be flavor text, describing how their families will be contacted once they die. Amidst that, I come across a passage stating pets can't participate. Now I'm sure these are System modified rules, since I doubt anyone would've tried to play with a pet before integration.

As I scan over the rules, Atun speaks again. "As is customary, the Mud-dollops shall have an entire day before their inauguration. May they make peace with their gods."

Once she's finished, the exit opens and the crowd starts to fade. Rufka and I exit the arena, not speaking until we're back at the pedestal. Hovering above the pedestal is a new display, showing a list of team names. I can't help but note that Mud-dollops is far from the worst. I think that honour might go to Zabian-dung. Above the list of team names is a counter, just over twenty-four hours. The display below it remains the same, though Atun's features in the middle are almost filled out. Only her head remains blank.

"So... Tipan's gonna love this," I say, looking up at the team names and noticing that they're all slated to resolve tomorrow.

"She's going to need to unlock it herself," Rufka points out.

"Mhm. You think that's gonna stop her?"

"Course not. Little sky-rat's better than that," Rufka laughs. "She'll probably have it unlocked by the end of the day."

"She is getting pretty close, isn't she?"

"Mhm. This'll be the last push she needs. Speaking of last though," Rufka looks at the remaining set of challenges. "Do we want to try Atun's next difficulty?"

"I... lunch first? But then? Hell yeah."

"Good. Smoulder would never let me hear the end of it if we gave up now," Rufka says, looking at where Smoulder is sitting on my shoulder. Smoulder nods slowly, though I can tell through the bond that she's confused and is just mirroring Rufka. Even so, Rufka is probably right, even if Smoulder doesn't understand.

After a quick lunch of tangy chicken, we enter the next stage. Atun doesn't challenge us after the fight. Nor the one after. Even as we complete the final set of K'tharn challengers, she simply sits atop her throne watching us with her ever present smile. As the exit opens, she waves us off.

"That... was a little disappointing," Rufka says as we leave the arena.

"Little bit," I agree. "But... we've finished every challenge we can. You know what that means?"

"Yep. 'hardcore mode' time," Rufka says, using the English word as she runs her hand across the console, punching in one of the more challenging sets of opponents. "No magic, solo. I think it was your turn."

"You've been talking to Josh and Rose about video games too much," I say, shaking my head. "I was thinking cuddles."

"Uhhhh. Tempting," Rufka admits before shaking her head. "But no. We can cuddle on Smoulder's turns."

"Fine," I reply, spinning my staff once in a way that Tipan instructed me I absolutely was not to do in combat. No matter how cool it is.

Thus, Rufka and I spend the rest of the day practicing while grinding more points. At the end of the day, I'm able to purchase enough points to cap my Strength and Constitution at 90 each, and Endurance at 100. I could afford to bring my Perception and Resolve to 125, but I hesitate as I look over my class abilities. I'm tempted to pick up the Elemental Chakrams I unlocked when I first levelled my class. As a class ability, there's a good chance they'd work inside Atun's disruption field. And we've confirmed she still comes into combat as long as we fight against one of the sets of challengers that originally triggered her.

Deciding it'd be best to start training with a new weapon sooner as opposed to later, I buy a Progression point but save the rest of my Arena points as we head to the park. Taking the full ten minutes, I summon the Chakram, my attention focused as the ability guides my efforts to create a more stable form of condensed mana than I've seen anywhere than in the actual Mana Essences. Far more stable. An inspection with Facet gives me ideas about how I might be able to reinforce other constructs too. But it's a slow process without the System providing its assistance.

Then I stand up, Chakram in hand. I can't stop the smile as I give it a practice swing. It feels more right than any of the weapons we've been practicing. And after several swings, I can feel my Melee Weapons skill giving me feedback about what I'm doing wrong. A sort of shadow Lexi that tugs at my movements. Something it wasn't doing with any of the other weapons. When I look closer at the form, it seems to be more of an image of a taller amazonian warrior princess. Does having proficiency make me more like Xena? And does that mean I'll be even better with more points? Or does it just give better guidance?

"Oh. You never mentioned you had a class weapon," Rufka says, staring at the solidified fire I hold in my hand.

"I... uh, kinda forgot about it," I admit as I shift into a blocking stance Melee Weapon Xena is whispering to me. "You know I prefer my spells."

"Sure," Rufka agrees, squeezing my shoulder. "What do you say we practice a bit?"

"Uh. One second," I reply, running back to the shop to buy another Progression point, buying the second rank of Chakram as soon as I return to the park. Rufka and Smoulder are already flying around on the far side, away from the entrance. While they dance and dodge, I start following the guidance of my Melee Weapon skill. Even as I work, the skill goes up, feeding back into my steps. After an hour, I already feel more comfortable with the Chakram than I am with my staff.

Then I throw it for the first time.

As the flaming ring soars across the park, I can still feel the connection. There's guidance from my Throwing skill, similar to when using it as a melee weapon. And what the description fails to mention is my ability to control it in flight, even outside of my normal aura. Further testing reveals that it being out of sight greatly degrades my control, but I can re-establish it the second it comes back into sight. After several minutes of flying my chakram around like a drone, I bring it back. At this point, Smoulder and Rufka are done for the night. I'm tempted to keep playing, but cede to their desire for dinner.

The night goes by in usual fashion, Tipan proving Rufka right, defeating Atun and unlocking Desh'mersa shortly after we tell her about it. Most of the evening is spent listening to Tipan gush about having a dungeon where she gets to play. She's even able to join our team, replacing the NPC runner. Kellica also manages to solo Atun, though she didn't care about unlocking Desh'mersa. It helps that her metal armor blocks most of Atun's damage. Only after we're talking about the newly ulocked Desh'mersa does she reveal that she's been fighting the harder version of Atun. But as soon as we unlocked the game, the harder version was locked to her. To say she's excited when we ask her to join our team is understating the amount of damage she does to the kitchen.

While they're not as excited as Tipan or as dominating as Kellica, the others manage to complete the challenge as a four-person party. Roberts still hasn't faced Atun in single combat and he just chuckles when asked about it. They get the dubious honour of receiving the team-name paw-sludge.

I'm unable to keep a straight face when I try to tell Josh it could be worse.

Of course, this means we're all waiting in the challenge room the next day, chatting as we wait for the timer to count down. The second it does, we get a new quest.

"Quest received: Complete a full Desh'mersa tournament as the victors. Rewards: First place: 1,000,000 Arena Points. Second place: 500,000 Arena points. Third: 100,000 Arena Points. Unlocks: Desh Atun combat."

There's a moment of silence as the team names reshuffle before flashing into place in pairs. Of course, we're listed at the top of the board. And our first opponents?

Paw-sludge.

"Oh. We are so going to kick your ass," Josh says as their team slots into place next to ours.

"You're just saying that cause I can't use magic," I grouse, glaring at him.

"Yep," he agrees, crossing his arms as he grins down at me, his stupid curls flopping down.

"This'll be a good training opportunity people," Beth says. "We've been getting sloppy on teamwork lately."

Josh and I both turn towards her and she smiles back as she adds, "Plus, we're totally going to kick your ass, kid."

"Oh, it's on," I reply, grabbing Rufka by the elbow and inclining my head towards the kitchen where we can make battle plans in private. Which we immediately defer to Tipan, though Kellica has a few ideas of her own.

We enter the arena across from the others a few minutes later, before the forfeit timer can count down. I'm positioned as our goalie, and while most magic is against the rules, a blanket statement that prohibits everything except shields, this is the one position where my proficiency will give us an edge.

Of course, Roberts is guarding their goal as well.

Just glad he doesn't get to use his special barriers.

The game starts quick, and it's not long before I have to get my hands dirty, grabbing the Theet. Before Josh can smash into me at mach-9, I toss it to Kellica who takes it on the counter offensive. I quickly lose track of the number of times it crosses the arena before it comes back, launched at me by Beth. When I go to grab it, it curves at the last second, bouncing off my hand and giving them the first goal.

I stare at where the frisbee like object floats inside the net for several seconds before pulling it free and watching it reform in the centre.

It's the last goal either team scores for the rest of the game.

There's lots of cheers from Beth's side after while our team moves directly onto the next match. Thankfully it's not an elimination tournament. Instead, we're granted points for each victory, and we're going up against every other team twice. Which means we'll have a rematch eventually.

Our first matches with the non-user teams are surprisingly brutal, their attributes letting them mostly keep up with us in a way they couldn’t in regular combat. Doesn't keep us from winning three games in a row, until we're matched against Zabian-dung. The match seems to be going well until one of them kills me with the Theet.

It's so sudden, it's not until I'm reforming on the slab outside, that I even realize what happened. Staring up at the ceiling, I play back the sequence in my head. Kellica was blocking two of their team. Rufka was still near their goalie after a failed shot. Tipan had a solid grip on the Theet. Or so I thought when I flicked my attention back to the two Kellica was wrestling with. Next thing I knew, I had taken a Theet to the forehead several times.

Embarrassing.

Thankfully, the screen updates with a victory a short time later and I see my friends come out.

"Guess you guys didn't even need me," I say as Rufka hops over the pedestal to get to me.

"Rufka kinda unloaded on them after you went down. I forgot that this version allows you to..." Tipan waves her hand in my direction even as Rufka plops down beside me.

"I'm sorry I failed Tel'thoni," Kellica says, nodding in my direction.

"Uh. You didn't? I'm the one that let myself get brained," I reply, waving off Kellica's concern.

"But it was my duty to keep them away from you."

"Not like you have your armor," Rufka says from beside me. "Sides, Lexi is right. She needs to be more careful."

"Thanks. I think," I say as Rufka gives me a kiss on the cheek before pulling me to my feet.

"You're welcome. Now, come on. We can't let this slow us down. We're already a game behind," Rufka says, waving at the projection. I nod, then follow her inside. The rest of our games go much better now that I take our opponents more seriously. It also helps that we know we can beat them with the Theet to take them out of the game without penalty. I feel like that's a flaw in the rules, but don't question it.

Our very last match is against our friends. After another round of trash talk, we return to the arena. Unlike with the non-players, none of us feel comfortable taking the others down with the Theet. Until Beth almost takes Rufka's head off with it.

That's when things get... messy. I'm not able to track half of the fight as the others smash into each other, but I find myself yelling at them to focus on the game. At some point, we score a goal, and when the game ends, we get our victory.

But when everyone else exits the arena, only Roberts and I are on speaking terms with our opposing teams. Instead of leaving, I turn my gaze towards Atun, who has remained silent throughout these matches.

She meets my eyes and smiles back.

A note from Draith

Will I remember to update this author's note later, or will I be busy slaving away in the werdmine. Who knows.

Author's notes: Chakram was unlocked in chapter 1.62

Elemental Chakram: 0/3, Grants Proficiency (1/3)/Expertise (2/3)/Mastery (3/3) with Chakram and Elemental Chakram. Taking ten minutes, a user can create a chakram from any element. The chakram can be used as a melee or ranged weapon. A user can channel their spells through their chakram for an increase to the spell's damage. The maximum number of chakram is equal to the number of ranks in this ability.

...TPWM 2.35, Round One, Fight?...

February 18, 2019, 5:52 pm. That empty moment after you see your friends snarling at each others’ throats.

As I walk out of the arena, I find Beth, Josh and Rose talking in hushed tones on the far side of the room, casting glances at where Tipan, Rufka and Kellica are gathered. Despite not taking part, Smoulder is sitting with them, confusion radiating through her bond as she nudges Rufka's shoulder. Roberts is standing to my side, frowning at everyone with his hands clenched into balls instead of his usual steepling.

After looking over everyone, my eyes drift up towards the floating text. It wants us to play a tie-breaking match.

When I look down to the two groups of people, both filled with people I care about, I shake my head.

"No."

"What was that, Alexis?" Roberts asks, turning towards me. His question is soft but solid. Loud enough to carry to the rest of the room. The mumbling stops as everyone looks in our direction.

"No. This isn't... this can't..." I take a deep breath before Pausing. I've been growing used to not needing to Pause at every little thing. But this, this needs calm. I can't see my friends get torn apart just because of... a game. And... as I take in their frozen countenances, I know I don't have to. I could walk away. Let my team use one of the NPC replacements.

But I won't. Because that's just like... it's like how I ran away from what I did to papa. We don't even need to be like this. We could be letting one of our teams win. And we're not because... pride?

Or because... because we've been fighting non-stop for days. And winning. All of us.

After several more seconds of considering how to approach the problem, my pause ends. I still remain quiet for another couple seconds, everyone's eyes locked on me. Then I look at Beth, locking my gaze with hers. Then Rufka. Then every one of them for a solid second.

"Okay," I say, letting the word sit there for five seconds. "Okay, that was... bad."

"Bad, she just about took Rufka's-" Kellica starts, jumping to her feet.

I hold up a hand and to my amazement, she goes quiet. Not dwelling on my surprise, I continue. "I think we all got carried away."

Roberts arches his eyebrow, but thankfully, he remains silent as I continue. "There was no reason to even contest it that hard. It was a game. And... I think it was a game that was set up to create this division."

At this, I notice Beth and Rufka both frown immediately, though the others just seem confused.

"Roberts. Did one of the players attack you with the Theet at any point? Maybe knock you out of the match?" I ask, crossing streams of mana behind my back instead of fingers.

"They did. It was decidedly unpleasant."

"And it was early on? And realizing you could use the Theet as a weapon made the rest of the matches easier?"

"Indeed," Roberts agrees, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Beth says as she sits down on the bench, hard, her head in her hands. "Fucking again."

My growing sense of relief collapses at her reaction.

"Oh. Wow," Rufka says on the other side. "Wow. I really..." Then she turns towards the others. "I apologize. Never was much of one for team sports. Guess this proves I should probably avoid them."

"We... should've known better too," Josh says, sharing a glance with Rose who nods back.

Most of the others apologize, going so far as to move forward and clasp hands or give hugs, though Beth remains on the bench with her head in her hands. I glance desperately at Roberts, hoping he'll be able to help, but he gives me a sad little shrug as he places a hand on my shoulder, "I'd only make it worse. Best you talk to her. In private."

Nodding, I sit down next to Beth. I could try to lead her away, but it's honestly easier to create a private space around us. Roberts subtly guides the group to the far side of the room as I erect a stone chamber, only including Beth and myself.

"So," I draw out the word as I sit down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?"

There's a small snort as Beth looks up from her hands. Then another as she notices the stone enclosure. "Wow, kid. You worried I'm gonna hurt them for real?"

"Uh... I wasn't, no," I reply, looking around at the stone walls. Pretty sure they wouldn't be enough to stop her, but that doesn't feel like the right thing to say. "Just thought you might like a little privacy."

"Oh," Beth gives me a half-smile that crumbles almost immediately. "This..." Beth waves her hand at the wall of stone, roughly in the direction of our party. "This whole group thing. I told Wyonna I wasn't good at leading groups on extended missions. Solo operative."

"But... I have memories of you leading people before," I reply.

"Yeah. Didn't end well. Never ends well. Pull shit like I did today. Too easy to get lost in the moment once blood starts flying," Beth sighs as she looks up at the stone figurine of Smoulder etched in one corner. A ghost of a smile flits across her face before she turns back to me. "There's a reason I've been pushing you to take the reins, kid. Out of all of us, you're the most level-headed."

I blink at her, crossing my arms as I respond with a single name, "Tipan."

"I... okay, out of us going back to earth," Beth chuckles. "Kid does have a good head on her shoulders."

"Roberts is-"

"You know he won't. He'll give advice. Or argue till he's blue in the face. But he won't lead. Not if he doesn't have to. I'm not the only one with a past," Beth says, staring at the back of her hands as she slowly flexes them. "Ever tell you about the first time I saw him?"

"Uh, no."

"He was out shopping with his daughter and grandson. Cute kid. Polite too. Roberts was pushing him around in a wheelchair. And that was how I knew we had him. Cared too much about the boy not to accept a chance to save him."

"Ethan, right?"

"Yeah. How fucked up is it that I didn't care that he might not ever see his grandpa again?"

"Do you now?" I ask instead of replying.

Beth laughs, but it's short with a small choking sound at the end. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. Getting him back to that kid is... it's more important than making it back myself."

"You know... we don't have to play her game," I say, gesturing in the direction of the arena we came out of.

"We do if we don't want to be stuck farming points for weeks," Beth spits to the side.

"I... okay, yes, we have to finish the quest. But we don't have to hurt each other. We've done lots of sparring that wasn't half as brutal as what you were doing today. And we could literally let one team score then wait out the clock."

"That's..."

"Smart?"

"Feels like cheating," Beth says, with a grin on her face. "I love it."

"Good. Now I need you to apologize to my girlfriend for almost cutting her head off," I say, clapping my hands as I stand up, earning a groan from Beth as she puts her head in her hands.

"Can you just kill me instead?" she asks without looking up.

"Nope," I reply with as much forced cheer as I can. And not a small amount of petty satisfaction in Beth's discomfort. "What sort of leader would let their co-captain off the hook that easily?"

"A benevolent one?" Beth asks as she shakes her head. But there's a trace of a smile as she stands up.

Instead of replying, I do my best cackle.

The way Beth shudders as I bring down the stone barrier tells me I'm improving.

Beth shakes her frown off once the wall comes down, and immediately strides over to Rufka. Once Rufka notices Beth's approach, she glances at me for a second before turning to face Beth.

"I... sorry about hitting you in the face with a metal disk," Beth says, her back stiff as she tries to burn a hole through my thiani using nothing but the power of her gaze.

"Hmm," Rufka stares back at Beth for several seconds, turning enough to give me a hidden wink before she steps forward and hugs Beth. "Apology accepted. But try not to do it again. Felt like I got kicked by a Zanbia."

There's a moment where Beth doesn't seem to know how to react before she pats Rufka gently with one hand on her back. Then she's released, and there are more apologies throughout the group. Roberts comes over and squeezes my shoulder. "Well done, Alexis. I... thought this was going to be much worse."

As everyone shuffles around, I shake my head. There's still a nervous tension. "Didn't fix it, just made it... better."

"You don't fix people. You can only give them support," Roberts says, nodding towards the others. "Now I hear Beth saying something about cheating our way through the last round. What do you say we join them?"

"Sure," I reply, a smile tugging at my lips as I move forward.

"Ah, kid. Good. I was just telling them about your blindingly obvious solution the rest of us overlooked," Beth says in way of greeting. "And we've decided your team gets to win."

"Based on?"

"Based on, if we can do the tournament again, you'll let us win. And if not, then well..."

"We were jerks," Rose says, stepping forward. "And you and Roberts weren't."

"I feel obliged to point out, I'm on your team," Roberts says with a light chuckle.

"Yeah. Well, the rules allow us to change that. So, Kellica's going to drop from your team and join ours."

"I... we can do that?" I ask, squinting at Rose. "That seems... broken."

"Oh. It's totally broken. But who cares?" Josh says with a little too much cheer.

"Okay then. We're decided," Beth states, to a general round of nods.

It's a quick process to remove Kellica from our party and add Roberts. With Roberts' addition, I'm no longer the goalie, though it doesn't really matter. When we go in, I'm given the honour of tossing the Theet past Kellica, who simply stands to the side. Then we all wait out the clock.

As it counts down to zero, without a single one of us having so much as bumped each other, I can't help but watch Atun. Her frown causes a smile to blossom on my face.

When we win, she stands up, holding her blade in one hand. Even as she stands, a third team appears from amongst the crowd. Team Zabian-dung, who took third place. As they enter the arena, Atun draws my attention back to her with a flourish of her blade. "Through a show of strength and wit, these contenders have proven their worth. Know that they stand before you as testaments to the true spirit of the Belkavan Queendom."

"The who?" Rufka asks from beside me.

I shrug as the quest completes, granting us our million arena points. Despite her words, Atun's eyes remain locked on me as we shuffle out of the arena. I smile and wave.

When I get outside, the Desh’mersa graphic has a timer above it, just like it did yesterday.

I barely notice.

In the center of the console, fully filled in, and raised several centimetres above the surrounding tiles, Atun's sigil awaits.

A note from Draith

This chapter brought to you by Peach Cider and a late, late night.

...TPWM 2.36, Desh Atun....

February 18, 2019, 6:31 pm. A time to reflect, and a time to shop.

Instead of heading back in, I guide Rufka to the shop while Beth takes Josh for a walk in the park and the others head back to the kitchen. Despite our massive influx of points, there's no celebration.

Shaking my head, the first thing I do is buy enough Integration points to cap my Perception and Resolve at 125 each. With all my attributes capped, I glance at Smoulder's status. She's doing well, but it's only a hundred thousand to buy enough Integration points to bring her nearly to max. I also buy the rest of the Progression points. Which still leaves me with over eight-hundred thousand to spend. I start looking through some of the other upgrades, eventually settling on increased damage when using fire, lightning, metal and ice alongside their matching resistances.

My investigation also reveals there is no damage bonus for Twilight. Not a total surprise.

Once Rufka finishes making her selection, we move to the park and I buy the last point in Elemental Chakram. Again, the guidance I receive is improved, and despite our day so far, I find myself grinning as I craft a second Chakram out of a tough metal alloy and a third of lightning. With each one, I feel I get a better grasp of the process. I'm considering changing the third to ice when Rufka indicates she wants to practice.

So, for the last few hours of the day, Rufka and I test our abilities against each other until she calls for a break after a particularly rough trade. As she picks herself out of the new furrow in the ground, I step away, letting my non-metal chakrams drift into a lazy orbit. We're both smiling. Despite knocking more than a few Health off each other, our vigorous training hasn't once taken on the sort of edge that arose in the arena.

"I'm done," Rufka calls as she picks blades of grass out of her fur.

I nod, saving her more effort by whisking the grass away.

"Those extra points over a hundred really make a difference," Rufka says, waving to the ball of condensed grass I stripped from her fur.

Shrugging, we make our way off the mound. Thankfully, the others have already turned in by the time we get to the kitchen. Or they're doing challenges. Either way, Rufka, Smoulder and I have the kitchen to ourselves as we talk about our plans for the morning. Which we've decided is going to involve a lot of not getting out of bed.

We follow through on our plan, only joining the others in the kitchen at lunch. Beth isn't there, but she's the only one missing as Roberts prepares an 'old family recipe' that seems to involve a lot of green vegetables I don't think we have on earth.

It doesn't stop it from being delicious.

As I'm dragging a slab of flatbread through the last of the creamy sauce from Roberts' stir-fry, Beth storms into the room. No one else seems to notice as she stomps over and takes a bowl for herself. It's only as she takes a bite that her expression changes. When she looks up, I'm already sliding into the seat across from her.

"Rough morning?" I ask, twirling a strand of hair around my finger as I sit.

"One way to put it. Atun's final form is a... very big step up."

"Oh? You've been fighting her?"

Beth nods as she takes another bite. As I wait, Kellica comes over, speaking as she takes a seat, "We've all given her a try. Except Roberts, of course."

"Tipan almost beat her by using her wind-form and her new class ability. But apparently she's highly resistant to status effects now."

"Now? I haven't seen her more than a little staggered or stunned," I say, looking towards the steaming pan of stir-fry and gauging whether I want another bowl.

As I give in to my desire for 'moar fudz', Kellica confirms Atun's increased resistance. Apparently, it's almost impossible to move Atun now. The others come over, and soon everyone is comparing notes. I'm surprised when Beth mentions it might be easier if we could fight in groups instead of just pairs. I thought she'd enjoy the challenge.

After our group's thorough analysis of Atun's new combat abilities, Rufka and I find ourselves standing in front of the challenge console.

"So. Ready to get thrashed like newborn Zanbia?" Rufka asks with a smile.

"Hell yeah," I reply as we reach forward and press Atun's symbol together. Like Beth mentioned, only the single combat and pair options light up.

"I'm kinda gonna miss this," Rufka says as we walk towards the arena.

"Fighting Atun?" I ask as we pause in front of the portal. We both know exactly where the invisible portal is at this point, with how often I've stopped to inspect the boundary.

"That too," Rufka says as she takes my hand. "But no. We've had so much time, just you, me and Smoulder. It's been... nice."

I nod. It has been.

"Anyway, let's go kick this Vaus-damned Desh's ass," Rufka says, squeezing my hand while shooting me a smile.

I shoot one right back, following her inside. We emerge in the arena with Atun already waiting in the arena for us. I snap another analyze on her, almost expecting the results to be the same. When they're not, I drop into Pause to read them properly.

“Creature analyzed: K'tharn. Gene-seed D."

"Name: Desh Atun of clan Okerren."

"Desh Atun is the living remnant of the former warrior queen. When integration came, she was offered a chance to continue her trials for as long as the System remained. After eagerly accepting, Desh Atun's arena became the premier dungeon on Akilo until a great mana-shift reshaped the surface. Now, she slumbers for long periods until worthy contenders awaken her."

"Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Very High, Magic; High, Awareness; High."

"Attacks: Desh Mandate-Abilities. Multiweapon Mastery."

"Defences: Physical: Very High. Magical: High."

"Special: Disruption Field, Integral Being."

[Wyonna] "Oh, sweet. She's not just a copy. Betcha she learns your moves as fast as you learn hers."

My eyes move back to Atun, registering the way she stands with both of her blades out. The grip seems more natural. As if the weapon is an extension of her arm.

Stepping forward as my Pause ends, Atun raises both her weapons out and to the sides, leading the artificial crowd to roar. "Finally, our contenders Citizen Pandora and Citizen Ashkaban have chosen to face me. Let their courage be known to all in attendance. And may their screams be sweet."

Before she finishes, Rufka and I are already moving, splitting out to the sides. Our discussion with the others gave us the heads up. Atun likes to charge the moment she finishes speaking. No reason to let her catch us together. As she usually does when we split, Atun chooses to focus on me. My metal chakram meets her blade, still several steps out of melee range, redirecting Atun. Or at least, that was the plan. Instead, Atun adjusts, sliding under the chakram, somehow using it as a support for a twisting uppercut.

I prevent her from doing more than a few health damage by blocking with my lightning and fire chakram, then it's a frenzy of twisting, blocks, parries and attempts to escape her oppression with Anchor.

Thirteen point three seconds go by before Rufka is able to land an arrow of plasma, hitting Atun in the leg. I break away, attempting to move to a safe middle ground. But then Atun reminds me we're not against the lesser versions of herself, that follow standard patterns as she calls out, "Attend me!"

The unexpected usage is enough for her to clip me with a backhanded strike. I'm only able to recover by using Anchor, and even then, I use an entire 'path' just to recover from the shift in battle.

Then Rufka is there, and I move to support her. Our actions are in sync, despite having mostly been practiced on the lesser versions, Atun still has a lot of the same motions. I'd say it's muscle memory, but since she's an avatar made by the System, I'm not sure it applies.

Three point one seconds after we begin the latest exchange, Smoulder arrives. She's able to maintain her heat even better now, storing it close to her until just before she strikes. It still only singes Atun's shoulder. Which is fine. That means we're through her Health.

Now we just need to deal with her body’s insane resilience.

"Acknowledge me!" Atun cries as I'm dodging a two handed overhead chop that probably would have split me in two if it had hit dead on. The crowd roars back, and suddenly Atun is moving faster. I take three hits, shredding my armored jacket and my Health before I'm able to adjust to the new tempo.

And then, we're being pushed back.

Three on one, and we're being pushed back.

Even so, I can't help but smile. Because we're not being thrown to the ground. This is her strongest form, and she's still not able to run us into the ground. If she beats us now, we'll be able to keep coming back until we win.

Then I see an opportunity. I don't need Anchor or Pause, laughing as I roll to the side, one foot on the back of Atun's blade. Using the momentum of her swing, I fling myself away from her. I'm able to get outside her disruption field, and the cackle rises up as I Channel every element I can into a storm. I don't unleash it on Atun.

Instead, I send the whirling ball of death at the crowd. The figures barely have time to notice before most of them are dead. As the last falls, Atun's speed returns to normal. The sudden loss of speed costs her, as Rufka drives an arrow into one of her eyes.

Atun roars, but before she can speak, my fire chakram smashes into her mouth. A second later, Smoulder hits her behind the knee.

In a flurry of elemental violence, we bring her down, until her body finally collapses into a wave of blue dust.

My eyes flick towards her throne, but she doesn't reform.

There's nothing but silence in the arena as Rufka and I receive a pair of notifications.

Then we laugh.

As Smoulder climbs up on my shoulder I can feel her smug surety mixed with a sense of disappointment. It takes me a moment to realize she's upset she didn't get to mark her defeated foe. Luckily, her smug satisfaction at winning outweighs her disappointment.

The arena is a wreck, the only thing not turned to glass or stripped away is the throne and the exit. It's a little weird to not have Atun watching us as we walk towards it. But as we're about to leave I stop, grabbing Rufka's hand.

"Lex?"

Pulling her with me, I can't wipe the goofy grin off my face as I fly to Atun's throne. And just like I suspected, it's no longer protected. So, with Rufka in my arms, I plop down in Atun's throne.

And then we celebrate.

...TPWM...

February 19, 2019, 1:22 pm.

After Rufka and I are done celebrating in Atun's throne, I finally look at the notifications.

"Bonus quest. Defeat Desh Atun's remaining avatars without using the Ability Lesser Cataclysm, 1/1. Rewards: 10,000,000 Arena Points. 1 armor upgrade. 1 personalized armor."

"Zone Quest completed: The Queen Atun. Requirements 1/1 Queen Atun defeated. Rewards: 25 Edge."

I can't stop from chuckling. "Guess we're done here, huh?"

"Yeah... I mean, I don't know why it's so many points. Can we even spend that many?" Rufka asks as we hop down from Atun's throne, Smoulder rousing from where she was napping in the groove where Atun fell.

"Not from what I saw. Guess we're just going to have to pig out in the kitchen," I reply as we return to the challenge room. Beth is there, splayed out over one of the stone benches. For some reason, I'm struck by the urge to sneak up and tickle her.

Probably cause if I saw Rufka like that, that's exactly what I'd do.

"Another rough fight?" Rufka asks as Beth sits up. Beth waves as we get close, but now I see a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. But I almost had her. And you know what I just realized? I didn't reset my class. Was gonna do it after I had enough points to max out the temporary class, but I forgot after my fuckup yesterday. How're you guys doing?"

"Oh... it was pretty close," I say, then I can't help but glance at the entrance that we walked down.

"But... you won? Wasn't that your first attempt?" Beth asks, and despite the smile, I can't help but hear an edge to her voice.

"Yeah. But we were fighting her together. Don't think I could win solo," I reply, trying to reassure her.

But Beth surprises me, flipping onto her feet then wrapping me in a hug. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. You guys did good. I'm proud of you."

I'm not able to speak as I return the hug. A lump the size of Smoulder seems to have climbed up my throat.

Even when Beth releases me, I'm still unable to talk, so I just nod as Beth squeezes my shoulder before jogging towards the park and telling us to wish her luck.

Rufka steers me towards the shop, her hand in mine as we enter. And it's only as my eyes fall on the material representations of power that I turn towards Rufka and start sobbing into her shoulder.

And I don't know why.

...TPWM 2.37, Exit to Your Left...

February 19, 2019, 1:37 pm. Shortly after using Rufka's shoulder as a tear rag.

After I'm done crying, Rufka and I buy everything in the store. It's fun at first, pulling the expensive looking metal pauldrons from the shelf and placing them on my shoulders as I model them for Rufka. But then it becomes a chore as we pick everything up, putting it on and purchasing it piece by piece. Luckily, I'm able to just pick up the jug of integration points and buy them all at once. Which leave me with hundreds of unspent Iron-rank Integration points. That I guess I can use to bond armour? Or spend on staying in a Sanctuary? Other than the Integration points, all my elemental resistances are boosted by ten percent, as is the damage from every element except Twilight. Instead, the collection of seven star-forged (according to the sign) bracelets boosts the effectiveness of Twilight by seven percent.

The Arena achievement point allows us to unlock one additional bonus to an edge of our choice. Including our special resources. I pull the 'unstuck' stopwatch up, looking at it for a few moments before buying it. Once I strap it on, it becomes part of me, granting an additional 5.0 Facet Edge for the low price of a million points. Shame we only got one Achievement.

When we go back to the Nexus, Rufka laughs as she says, "I'm going to buy every ability I can. Mum's always bragging about having all of them. Now I'll get to brag about getting them all younger than she did."

Her excitement makes me smile. It also makes me lean over and kiss her, drawing her out of her shopping spree for a minute. With the reminder that we can use points on abilities, I flop back staring at the fake sky as I explore the options. Can't believe I forgot how many other uses for Integration points there are besides just spending them on attributes. While laying in the grass together, soaking up the fake rays, from the fake sun, I browse through the menus. After picking up the System's version of auto-loot and a few other silly goodies, I sit up.

"We still need to claim the physical rewards," I say, then notice Rufka is already playing with a new set of gloves. "Or maybe that's just me."

"Yep, totally just you," Rufka says, standing up and punching upward at the empty air.

Rolling my eyes, I prompt the System to give me my goodies.

"Item received: Armour Upgrade: Desh's Mandate."

"Desh's Mandate: When used on existing armour, adds the Desh's Mandate modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Health Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you will heal physical conditions at double speed."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Hmm. That's interesting. I'm not saying you should go get smacked around, but it would help me figure out how to copy the effect."

I give a half chuckle. Too bad I didn't get it before the dungeon. I certainly would've finished Wyonna's request by now.

"Circlet of Atun. Having defeated Desh Atun in a single attempt, you have been judged a worthy successor, and she bestows this circlet as recognition of your valor."

"Once belonging to a rival queen, Atun recognized the simple elegance of this circlet as she did the elegance of the queen who wore it. In a battle that took hours, she eventually took her opponent's life. Atun kept the circlet in memory of her opponent, until recognizing a similar spirit in you. This circlet supports your claim to the now defunct Belkavan Queendom, should Atun's spirit ever be freed from her duty within the Ring of Desh Atun. Courageous. Improves Edge by 3.0 when equipped."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

"Note. Additional item bonding option available: Engrained Tattoo."

The simple metal loop is... almost disappointing. If it didn't give a flat three edge to everything, I'm not sure I'd want to keep it. Also...

"Hey Rufka, do you know anything about this Engrained Tattoo option?" I ask, as I run my finger over the circlet's single sapphire.

"Sure. Mom used em for a couple of mine. Takes a lot longer to craft, but then she didn't have to do the tattoo by hand. Still hurt though," Rufka replies from next to me, her voice echoing slightly.

"Huh," I grunt out, holding the circlet up in front of me. "More or less than getting our head smashed by Atun?"

"Less. Though it lasted longer. Why?" Rufka asks, finally looking over at the circlet I'm holding. "Oh, nice. That'll make a sweet tattoo."

"I guess." The thought of getting a tattoo that doesn't have any real meaning to me is... not great. But at the same time, the constant battle of the last week has shown me that I don't want anything on my head that could offer a grip.

"So... wanna help me choose a spot?" I finally ask, which gets a good guffaw out of Rufka. Then she runs a finger along my thigh.

Nodding, I bring the circlet next to my thigh then I pause.

"Hey, can tattoos be upgraded after they're uhm... attached?"

"Yep. Has to be after. Doesn't work otherwise," she replies, still running her finger back and forth across my leg. It's rather distracting.

Still, I place the circlet next to my thigh again, Focusing on the tattoo prompt. Which makes me sigh when it opens up a separate screen for selecting the tattoo's location. Using the screen to roughly match Rufka's preference? Suggestion? Suggestion.

I Pause right as I confirm the prompt, sweeping Facet through my leg as the System takes over. It starts by deconstructing the circlet, and I can see it holding the mana in a steady pattern, but the runes and mechanisms it's using are too complex to understand. So, like everything else I don't understand, I record what I can for later study.

Then it... bonds the circlet with my leg. But it's not just my leg. It also bonds it into my aura. Does it do the same-

The sudden spike of pain isn't mitigated by Pause in the slightest. And it ruins my ability to concentrate. I drop Pause, but the pain continues. It takes almost a minute for it to clear, leaving me gasping for breath.

"That... was way worse than anything Atun did," I gulp, only realizing Rufka is holding me as the air fills my lungs. Was I screaming? I can't remember.

"Sorry. It was never like that with mum. I don't..." Rufka bites her lip as she frowns down at me.

I reach up to pat her cheek. "Pretty sure it's my fault. I was... uhm, trying to watch."

"Oh," Rufka says, her frown deepening. "You could've warned me."

"Didn't expect it to hurt," I shrug. "And it only kind of tingles now."

"So you're all better?" Rufka asks with a slight lilt to her voice.

"Yes?"

"Good," she states as she attacks my sides.

Four arms give her far too much of an advantage in a tickle fight, and for the second time in five minutes I find myself gulping for air.

Then we're back to the business of upgrading our class abilities. I could spend my remaining five progression points to upgrade my Facet. Or to gain one of the abilities I skipped. But nothing jumps out to me, so I put it off, staring upward as Rufka continues her shopping.

"Oh. I unlocked another class upgrade when we beat Atun. I think I'm going to take it," Rufka says, breaking me out of my daydreaming.

"Yeah? What's it called?"

"Unshackled Champion," Rufka answers in that way that tells me she's only partially paying attention to me. I don't mind. If she's looking at a class upgrade, that's a serious decision.

"Sounds cool," I say, just to let her know I'm listening if she wants to tell me more. But she remains quiet.

A few minutes later she pushes up onto her elbows, grinning at me. "What do you say we run another couple?"

"I take it you have some new abilities you want to try?"

"Yep. Plus you never got to play with your Cataclysm ability either."

"True," I agree with a smile, pushing to my feet. "Not that I can use it much. It has a nasty tendency to suck me dry."

"Yeah. Little weird, but not as weird as your seed."

With that reminder, I prod Seed again. Whatever I did when I first activated it, it hasn't repeated since. "Yep. Still just sitting there."

"Guess your class has a dud too," Rufka says as we make our way to the challenge room. We end up waiting as Josh and Tipan are there, punching in their own challenge. They wave at us before going in to face Desh Atun.

Once they're gone, Rufka and I choose one of the runs that ends with a lesser version of Atun. Inside, Rufka dives forward, swinging. For a second, I think she's using her bow as a club, but as I step around the other K'tharn's errant arrow, I realize her fist is covered in sparkling plasma. The second she strikes the first K'tharn, she disappears, reappearing in a flash of lightning that strikes the second one down.

Neat.

The next few fights are similar, with Rufka testing her new abilities. To my surprise, Rufka is able to attack Atun with impunity. Then again, I guess all my class abilities worked. Rufka just didn't have as many to work with. We do two more runs before Rufka is satisfied. When we come up against Atun, I unleash Lesser Cataclysm again, but this time, I try to limit it to half my Facet.

It doesn't work.

It's like trying to hold in a sneeze when I'm already sneezing. Actually, I don't think I've had to sneeze much on Akilo, so not sure that applies anymore. But it's definitely like that.

As I sneeze-Cataclysm all over Atun, I get a headache, which I suspect is linked to trying to hold my Facet in. It also does a perfect job of defeating her, but I hardly notice that part as I clutch at my head. It's only as the pain starts to fade that I realize it was more than just my head, just to a lesser degree.

"Okay. Note to self. Lesser Cataclysm really doesn't like being cast at half power."

"Like, with only half your pool full? Or using half your pool?" Rufka asks, kneeling next to me. Which is how I discover I also collapsed.

"Trying to use only half my full pool," I reply, still rubbing at my head even as the pain becomes a dull ache. When I check my conditions, I find that I have a temporal disruption, but it'll be gone in a few minutes. When Rufka and I walk out of the arena, my headache remains. Which...

"Second note to self. That damaged the real me, not my copy," I say as we sit on a nearby bench.

"Don't do it again. Got it," Rufka says, pretending to write in the air. Or maybe she really is recording it in her System. She probably has the notebook feature now if she didn't before.

"Actually," I say, as I think about her earlier question. "There's one more thing I need to try."

Once I've recovered, we go through one more round. This time, I only have a quarter of my Facet pool. But that's still over a hundred points. And when I hit Atun with Lesser Cataclysm, it works. And best of all, no headache.

"Looks like it's a good finishing move," I say as we walk out of the arena.

"Didn't you say it was capable of doing multiple targets too?" Rufka asks as we head back to the kitchen. There's not much left for us to do other than experiment with our abilities while we wait for the others to grind out their points. We're the only ones who got a quest reward of ten million points, afterall. I was surprised Smoulder got it too, which is... convenient. Like, super convenient. She just got her class and is already level ten. Totally awesome.

Now if only the little ball o'doom wasn't so smug about it.

Ignoring Smoulder's aura of 'I am the most incrediblest mana-hare ever' as best I can, Rufka and I prepare a proper buff-based dinner for the rest of the party, to help them finish just a little faster. They come through in pairs, everyone working on Desh Atun, even Roberts, until the tournament opens again. Which makes Kellica super popular, since she can't lose.

"It's not that I'm skilled, it's just that my Venom mage class is really potent," Kellica explains as she's dipping one of the rolled meat in biscuits we made into a thick gravy. "I spent so much time making Truth venoms and paralytics for the Taken to use later, I forgot I could apply the paralytics to my own weapons. Even though her resistances prevent total paralysis, they still slow her down. Combined with my armor, it's not hard to contain her. Does take me a few minutes to create enough paralytic to keep her slowed though."

"That's gonna save some time," Rufka says, patting Kellica on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping everyone."

Kellica tries to hide her smile, but she's not super successful. Even as she leaves with Tipan, talking about their strategy for their next attempt, she's still smiling.

"You done good," I say to Rufka once we're alone in the kitchen.

"I know," Rufka replies as she pulls out the board for Astra's Stride, setting Smoulder on the opposite end. "But... uh, maybe you could clarify what I did?"

"Hehe. You made Kellica feel better about herself. And everyone's been working together to take down Desh Atun. I'm glad no one's hung up about yesterday," I say as I sit beside Smoulder.

For a few minutes, I watch Rufka try to explain the game to Smoulder. But Smoulder eventually yawns, before coming over to me and snuggling into my pocket. Apparently maximum mental attributes doesn't mean she wants to play games.

With her opponent having forfeited, Rufka does a little victory wiggle before turning to me. "Yesterday was... I don't know, exactly. But I don't think anyone meant to go so far."

"Me either. So, what do you say we play a game?"

The way Rufka's eyes light up almost makes up for how terribly she stomps me.

Hmm. On second thought, it totally does.

...TWPM...

February 21, 2019, 11:02 am

It takes the others another day and a half to clear out their stores to their satisfaction. Roberts finally fought Atun solo and had no problem dismantling her. Helps that his barrier armor wasn't disruptable once he got it as a class ability. Even after everyone has all their points, we still spend a couple hours getting ready to leave. After being here for a week and a half, we're all feeling excited to get back to the ship, but we also spread out a bit. It's been a very productive period, but being trapped inside the arena is starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

"Once we get away from the spout, we need to have a race," Tipan says, as we stand just inside the entrance, waiting for Smoulder to burn away the jungle that did indeed grow back over the entrance.

"Oh, yeah. Now that everyone's got innate flight, that'll be awesome," I say, rubbing my hands together as I float out over the still molten sand. It seems she went a little overboard, since it's warm enough it's causing my Health to tick down just flying over it, even through my enhanced resistances. "Actually, we could do that now, couldn't we?"

"Uh... the subsystem doesn't work in here," Tipan replies, her eyes looking up as the others come out of the chamber behind us, everyone floating up to get away from the molten ground. "I think there's too much interference."

"Yeah, the mana here is kinda-"

I don't get to finish my sentence, something striking from the bush. I've paused time and am already analyzing the giant lizard before I know what's happening. The analysis reveals it's a young Ravnor, though it's not much of a threat. However, its physical stat is still very high, so it's strong enough it could do some damage. Not at the level of Atun thankfully.

Considering it's as much mouth as anything, and that mouth is currently stretching forward to snap closed over our party, letting it finish its attack seems like a bad idea. So I blast it away with a spinning torrent of molten metal lifted from beneath us.

The combination smacks it backwards as my Pause ends, and its roar manages to announce our location to everything within a ten kilometre radius.

"Maybe holding off until we get back to the mainland is a good idea," I say as the beast collapses backward into the jungle with several other projectiles through its head. "According to my analysis, that was just a young one."

From the back, where she's scanning the jungle behind us, Beth calls, "You heard her people, let's-"

Again, we're interrupted, this time right as we're flying over the canopy. Metal objects emerge from the underbrush, and when I reach out to stop them, they ignore my metal manipulation. Pausing time, they tear through my wind and earth shields. When I spot a thin grey line running back from them, I attempt to burn the connection. But the lines remain strong, the forces I can bring to bear during a Pause, insufficient to overcome more than a couple.

I attempt to use Anchor the moment my pause runs out, but all three paths end up with everyone getting struck then collapsing. Whoever is attacking came prepared. Out of options, I teleport away, afraid to move the others without having a proper boundary established. By the time I fly back, I see Pogell standing over Tipan. Somehow he has the book. I don't hesitate, focusing on the tether that should be connecting us. But it says Pogell is still back at the ship. Pogell glances up at me, and instead of the fluffy face and black spot I'm expecting, there is a chitinous surface with eight dark eyes staring up at me.

Before I can establish a new tether, the thing I called Pogell disappears into the surrounding jungle. I spend an entire half-second debating if I should follow it before turning to my friends. At that moment, Rufka bursts out of the bush, then disappears after Pogell. Smoulder emerges a second later, right behind. As tempted as I am to follow, I need to make sure the others are alright. Most landed in the jungle, and my party screen confirms that Tipan and Kellica are all fine, just paralyzed. So I search for the others, following their tethers. Josh and Roberts are tangled in a heap near Tipan, but they're fine other than the awkward position. I find Rose on the edge of the molten field and pull him out with only some mild smoke rising from the attached slag. Then I realize my tether for Beth is pointing at the middle of the molten pool.

Point two seconds later, as I'm still flying across the molten sand to where I can see the back of her head, her tether disappears.

...TPWM 2.38, Yeah, They Had Something to do With It...

February 21, 2019, 11:07:02:23 am. Point two seconds too late.

I pull Beth out of the pool, cooling her instantly with a flash freeze.

Channeling healing through my artifact as I fly towards Roberts, I swear when it doesn't catch on anything. Then I'm next to him and I switch the healing from Beth to him, hoping to make up for my completely inability to manipulate healing energy with pure mana. It's enough that Roberts starts twitching his eye. Then a second later, I feel his energy overlap the healing I'm pumping into him and he's able to move. He steps over to Beth immediately, not asking questions as he sends energy into her.

Her body is restored instantly, pristine. But she doesn't open her eyes.

Roberts doesn't stop, and I see her chest rise. Once. Twice.

Then it goes still.

"What's..."

"The System took her. I can't bring her back." There's an odd lilt to his voice I haven't heard before. A kind of raised pitch as he clenches and unclenches his hands over her chest. "I can restore her body to perfect condition, but I can't bring her back because the System decided..."

I stare at Beth's body for another second before my attention returns to the one who caused this. I teleport to Rufka who's still moving further up the tunnel using the tether.

Even as I appear, I almost immediately fall behind as she teleports away amidst a lightning bolt. I continue following her, scanning the jungle for any sign of Pogell. It takes three hops before I notice Rufka is following small strings spread between the trees. Now that I know what she's tracking, I'm able to catch up to her. A second later, I leave her in the dust as I search for the little mongrel.

The strand continues all the way to the outer edge of the ring, leading us to a rocky promontory jutting out over the edge. Pogell is above us, climbing into a contraption that looks like little more than a bubble strapped to a glider. There are four thin strands of that same thread keeping it tethered at least a hundred meters above the edge of the ring, and getting further every second. He's reeling himself out. I'm about to teleport up to him when Rufka puts a hand on my shoulder.

"The storm," Rufka says, and a second later, a bolt of... nothing splits the sky. The threads holding Pogell in place are severed, his glider immediately lost from sight. Despite watching him closely, I barely notice his frantic movements before he disappears into the maelstrom.

That doesn't stop me from throwing a storm of destructive energies in his wake.

My vision is blurry when I turn back to Rufka. "Beth..."

"Hey. It'll be okay. She'll be okay," Rufka says, pulling me into a hug. A few seconds later, Smoulder arrives. She keeps back from us and the edge of the world where we're standing, but I can feel her concern through our bond.

Which is what gets me moving. Returning to the others only requires a single teleport. And as we reappear, I realize that if I'd just thought for a second about where Pogell was going, I could've beat him to his glider. Just like if I'd gone to Beth first, who was obviously in-

"Hey, I don't know what you're thinking, but stop," Rufka says, shaking my shoulder.

I look up at her, and she nods, no trace of her usual smirk in sight. "Things like this happen. We all should've been waiting for a Taken trap. We got complacent."

"Wasn't..." Kellica trails off as we all turn towards her. When I nod in her direction, she clears her throat before continuing. "Wasn't the Taken. At least, not all of them. Lik'tik would never have been part of this, not while he's my shadow. I'm sure of it."

"Doesn't matter. We need to get my book back," Tipan snarls, turning towards me. "How could you let her get away?"

"I..." I take a step back, caught off guard by Tipan's reaction.

"Sorry," Tipan says, shaking her head as she closes all four eyes before turning towards where Roberts is still leaning over Beth. "Sorry. I know we have more important problems. I just..."

"What even happened?" Josh asks, his eyes fixed on Beth's unmoving body. "One second we were flying, then blam, jungle fever and..."

"Pogell. Turns out he wasn't a friendly puppy," I reply, looking around. "We can't stay here. We should get back to the ship. And find out if this treachery extends to the captain. But keep your eyes open. And..."

My last words are lost as everyone slips into their battle-forms. Looking around, I realize that with her new class, even Rufka has armor now, forged of hardened plasma. Which I'm pretty sure shouldn't be possible, even with mana, but what do I know. Then my eyes land on Rose, who is just as unarmored as I am. He shrugs at me with a small smile. "No good class yet."

I snort as I lift Beth's body on a wave of air behind us. Rose and I remain in the centre of the formation as we fly back to the ship. It's exactly where we left it, and only one of the crewmen is on deck. Everyone else is in a small basecamp they've built at the edge of the cove.

When we land, there's a litany of swear words from captain e'Tell as we smash into the nearby sand. A lot of them seem to have to do with my mother's breeding habits. If she's trying to offend me, she could've chosen a better target. As finally ends her litany of pointless cursing, she storms towards us, "What's with the..."

I stop paying attention to e'Tell, because as she started towards me, I felt the weight of Beth's body diminish.

"No. No, no, no," I say as I turn to where I'm supporting her body. I find it breaking apart, the blue dust of the deceased filling the air with an insultingly sweet odor even as I blast through it, trying to force it back together.

Despite my efforts, it continues to disappear. Just like that, even her body is gone.

A crack echoes through the camp, and it takes me a second to realize I caused it. A tree is knocked over, hanging from the canopy, the trunk where I punched it severed by the force of a blow I barely felt. I stare at the destruction and can't help but feel numb at how useless such destructive power feels.

"Alexis," Roberts says, drawing my attention back to the present. He's standing in front of the others, all of whom look as lost as I feel. Except Roberts. I can still rely on him. And they can rely on me.

"Right. We need to move," I say, shaking splinters off my undamaged skin. Instead of marveling at that, I turn towards e’Tell who is standing nearby, frowning at our group. Stepping forward, I ask, "How long until the Twice-Scuttled is ready?"

"She's ready now. Only need a few minutes to pack up camp. Though I have a few questions," the captain replies, turning around and signaling to her first mate. "They'll wait a few minutes, but once we're heading down-spout, I expect some answers."

"Fine," I agree, glancing at where the perpetual mana-storm whirls in the distance. There's a chance I could make it through, teleport myself to the bottom. But not a good one.

Focusing on Pogell's tether again, I realize it's pointing to a spot here in camp. Walking towards it, I find a small figurine in the sand. It's a perfect copy of how Pogell looked before he revealed himself. Turning it in my hand, I frown. My tether is definitely attached to the figurine. I almost crush it, but stop myself. I should study it instead. Figure out why it fooled my ability.

Turning, I spot Lik'tik and Ael'thani standing together near the shore, I start towards them. Only to realize Kellica and Rufka got to them first. Rufka and Ael'thani are in the middle of a yelling match when I arrive, neither of them so much speaking as hurling insults at each other. Lik'tik and Kellica are both standing back, so I turn my attention to the unoccupied Taken, waving them away from my thiani and her venting. Much as I love her, I know sometimes the only thing that will help is a chance to scream expletives at someone.

"So, how much did you get before they started escalating?" I ask as Lik'tik follows me a few paces away from Rufka.

"That your friend died due to a... spider, I believe," Lik'tik replies with a glance towards Rufka. "Though I suspect that between your friend's anger, and our missing compatriot, Pogell had something to do with it."

"If by 'had something to do with', you mean ambushed us, stole from us, then left us in a position to die. A position where one of us did, in fact, die, then yeah," I reply, my strands of Facet tightly wound around Lik'tik as I study them for their reaction. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with lizard-person biology, so their lack of external reaction doesn't really tell me anything. "Yeah, they had something to do with it."

"I... hmm. That certainly explains your friend's reaction upon seeing us. I doubt it will mean much, but I assure you, we had no part in this. I can only assume their mission was separate from our own," Lik'tik follows his statement by leaning forward, bowing deep enough that he exposes his neck to me. I feel like it's some form of sign of submission or request for forgiveness.

But that's not what I'm focused on. "But you would've helped, if it had been part of your mission?" I ask, my hand wrapping around the metal chakram at my side as I weigh the threat.

"Of course. It would have been my duty," Lik'tik replies, blinking their eyes once, slowly.

"I..." I'm not actually sure what to do with that. Lik'tik basically just admitted he would've done what Pogell did. Openly.

As I'm staring at him, I realize the yelling between Rufka and Ael'thani has died down. When I glance over, I find them glaring at each other, both with their arms crossed. But it looks like no one jumped straight to violence, so... Rufka's decided that they're not to blame. Or she's waiting for me to make the call.

"Where would Pogell be headed?" Roberts asks as he approaches from behind us. I get to see Ael'thani jump in surprise at his quiet appearance, which gives me a small twinge of satisfaction before I focus on Lik'tik.

"That would depend on his mission. And even if I knew, I'm sure you can understand why I can't tell you," Lik'tik bows his head slightly in our direction. This is different from his earlier bow, but I think I'm already starting to understand his body language. At least a little. I wish I'd spend more time watching the Taken on our way here.

"He'll have a Return pod set up near the bottom of the spout, Tel'thoni" Kellica says, earning a frown from Lik'tik. "Assuming he survives his suicide dive through the storm."

"So, chances of us finding Pogell by chasing him down are basically zilch," I say, squeezing my eyes shut. "Okay. First thing is getting moving. Then... fuck, I hate this. Then we ignore Pogell for the moment. We're near, which Builder City was it, Burnesq?"

"That's correct," Roberts confirms, his voice flat.

When I open my eyes, I notice everyone has gathered around me. I can't help but look towards Josh, who's clenching and unclenching his fists. But when he meets my eyes, he nods.

"Okay, then we're going there first. Just like we planned. Beth isn't dead. Not really. Just gone for a while. A couple weeks, and she'll be back. Until then, we still need to get things done. And that means going to Burnesq. And hopefully finding a way to convert it into an operational spaceship. And failing that, at least finding a damn mana-decondenser."

When I turn, I see Tipan glaring at me, but I meet her gaze. After several long seconds she shakes her head twice before nodding. "Right. That makes sense. I just... when we find him, I'm going to feed him his teeth."

Blinking at Tipan's exuberant endorsement of violence, I turn to the others, receiving similar gestures of agreement.

"I... once we are out of the spout, I have to return to the Taken," Kellica says, raising her still metal-clad hand.

"But-" I start, only to be interrupted.

"The Seeker is correct. As soon as we're clear of the spout, we must Return together," Lik'tik agrees. "She has fulfilled her part of the bargain, and thus the Archmage will be obliged to fulfill hers. The Vigil must begin."

"Oh, mum'll be visiting the K'mintar, I can guarantee that," Rufka practically snarls at Lik'tik.

"Then our task is nearly complete," Lik’tik says, nodding in our direction, before turning away. They collect Ael'thani, and both board the Twice-Scuttled as I turn back to Kellica.

"So, you're leaving us then?"

"I... my duty is to the Taken. At least for the moment. I made a commitment and I will see it through. I still adhere to the tenets," Kellica says, straightening in her armor. "Also, I believe I will be able to learn more of what Pogell was up to by being part of the Taken than as an outsider."

Rufka sighs, hitting Kellica on her shoulder hard enough to make her take a half-step back, despite the metal encasing her. "Don't do anything Lexi wouldn't do, you understand?"

"Don't you mean you?" Kellica asks, blinking at Rufka.

"What? Hell no, don't you dare try to use me as a guide. Any-user would tell you that's a bad idea," Rufka denies with a grin.

Before any further sentiments can be shared, e'Tell calls out that she's ready to depart. When I turn around, I see everything except the basic shape of the camp has already been loaded. Nodding to the others, we fly over, landing on the deck.

The moment we're on board, captain e'Tell spins her wheel and the entire ship slips to the side, cutting through the surface with the same ease as Smoulder melts through the jungle. We remain quiet as the ship passes to the outside of the spout. As soon as we're clear, my eyes lock on the sky. Just because the chance of spotting Pogell is low, doesn't make it none.

"You're not going to spot him," Rufka says from beside me, at the front of the ship.

"Probably not," I admit, squeezing the railing. "But... I don't know. There's a chance, so I should at least try."

"Not your fault. You know that, right?" Rufka asks as she lays her hand overtop mine.

"Up here, sure," I say, tapping my head, "But not so much here," I finish, tapping my heart.

"That... is such a strange expression," Rufka says, elbowing me. "None of your emotions are regulated in your chest, from what I understand."

"I... you've been talking to Roberts," I reply, my eyes still searching the horizon.

"Rose actually. For some strange reason, he's fascinated by the differences between pu'shaha and humans," Rufka says with a playful nudge.

I give her a weak half-smile, and allow her to draw me out of my fruitless search. Soon, we've descended the spout, down-spout journey being somewhat similar to going downhill. Though not entirely, due to the weird distortion of gravity. As we clear the last of the mana-storm, Kellica and the other Taken come on deck.

Kellica comes over to me, giving me a bow, which I return. "Thank you for all you've done for me Tel’thoni. I have grown and learned more over these past few weeks than I could've imagined."

As she stands up, I can't help myself and draw her into a hug, earning a squeak before she returns it. "Take care of yourself Kellica. You're not going to have us to watch your back, you know."

"I know. But I believe I can rely on Lik'tik. They believe in the tenets. As do I."

"You never did tell me what those were," I note as she releases me, only for her to be caught in a hug by Rufka.

Kellica glances in my direction once she's released. Then she smiles, giving me a wink. "I'm afraid telling you about the tenets would violate them."

And with that, Kellica vanishes from the surface of the deck, Ael'thani and Lik'tik disappearing immediately after.

Huh. Respect for the dramatic exit. Gonna miss her.

Rufka squeezes my shoulder, and my eyes turn back towards the horizon, the southern tip of the continent growing closer.

I set my anxiousness to the side. And the pangs of loss.

Ahead waits the Builder City. And with some amount of luck, our way home.

A note from Draith

End of writathon rush.... wowza. Okay, gonna take two days off. But then should have a chapter Friday and Saturday and we'll see what the schedule is after that.

...TPWM 2.39, One Small Step...

February 21, 2019, 4:52 pm. The quiet moment when you prepare to disembark.

The Twice-Scuttled carries us into an unnamed bay near the south coast. We part ways with the captain, and I assure her that she will be paid upon her return to Glimmering Sands. Beth made sure I knew the password in case anything happened to her. I thought she was just being paranoid. Being over-prepared is better than under-prepared, as seems to be her motto.

Watching the ship float over the waves, I look north. Now that we're back on the mainland, free of interference, returning to Glimmering Sands would only take a simple teleport.

Shaking my head, I launch myself above the thick temperate rainforest near the coast, joining the others as we fly in the direction of Burnesq. Our flight is mostly quiet, stopping late in the evening after tracking our way to a nearby Nexus point. When we're able to add it to our network, and open a door to Raz's, there's a collective sigh of relief.

Then we're through the door, into the waiting lobby. An unknown beetle-person shows up, though they seem to recognize us immediately and show us in. Amazingly, Raz shows up as we're seated.

"I was getting worried," he says as he brings us drinks we didn't have time to order.

I pick up the blue-fruit juice, taking a sip, and I sigh. "We had a good couple weeks. Then a rough five minutes."

"Well, you'll have to tell me all about it over dinner. It's amazing how much more free time I have now that I have good help," Raz says as he pulls up a chair. "Hired a manager, and let me tell you, she's..." Raz pauses, looking over his shoulders before leaning forward over the table, when he seems certain we're alone, he continues, "terrifying. But amazing with the staff. And keeping things ordered. And pretty much everything."

There's a silence that sets over the table as I take another sip, and I glance over my shoulder. Standing there, with her dark-green arms crossed, is a dracanoid around Raz's size. And she's clearly a her, the breasts giving it away before I even Focus on her.

Even as I give Alzanin's analysis a quick once over, she speaks. "Razalin Crancoid. I do believe that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. Terrifying, am I?"

"Alzanin. Should I not be terrified of anyone who can do paperwork as fast as you?" Razalin says, flashing a grin full of razor-sharp teeth.

Before any of us can respond, Alzanin turns away, her wings flaring behind her as she disappears into the crowd.

"Well. It appears your story must wait. If I don't appease her, she might kill me in my sleep. Or worse, close the bar," Razalin says, practically leaping over his chair as he dashes after Alzanin.

"Damn. I missed this place," Josh says as he takes a long pull on his drink.

Which he immediately spits up when he discovers the bug-shaped berry I teleported into it.

It really is good to be back.

...TPWM...

February 22, 2019, 6:13 am.

We don't spend much time at Raz's in the morning, having completed most of our business the night before. There's even a message from Demo. Apparently, he's established contact with the Daughters. He's negotiating with the doll-mercenaries for the location of his ship, though he indicates that the things they want are truly non-standard. He doesn't say how long he'll be, but he mentions that he'll be sending messages daily, and if we don't get one, assume the worst has happened.

As I relay that unexpected news, we grab a hot breakfast, then head out just in time to witness Raz and Alzanin bickering. Though with the way they’re smiling at each other, I think they’re enjoying it. That or one of them will be missing next time we visit.

As we step back onto Akilo, my eyes are drawn upwards. From this far south, Ukila almost hangs in the sky. Even from hundreds of kilometres away, the spout is visible, reaching upwards toward Akilo's partner. No one has ever sailed between them, from what e'Tell told me, but she's given it a shot. Unfortunately, there's a point where the mana-storm and the ocean become one and the same. Add on that the storm doesn’t actually reach Ukila, and it makes the journey a bit tricky.

The morning passes quickly, and we're getting close to the Builder's city when I notice a small herd of Zanbia fording a river. Well, there are only five of them, but given the size of the Zanbia, that small herd is big enough to occupy a football stadium. I find myself smiling at their smaller fifth member as he struggles to climb up the shore, one of the other Zanbia reaching back to scoot him upwards with their head.

Even as the larger one is stretching downward; a small form emerges from the bushes. Then more and more stream out. There are dozens of the shapes, and when I zoom in with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I recognize them. They're Pothlin, the twisted fake-pu'shaha that chased me just before I met Rufka, and they're snarling as they leap on the smaller Zanbia.

We could keep flying. The Zanbia are strong. Probably strong enough that they'll swat these pests like the nothing they are.

But...

I don't hesitate to teleport closer, dozens of tethers lashing out in an instant as I drop into Pause. Once I'm certain I have them all, I release Lesser Cataclysm. It's my first time using it since inside the dungeon, and the result feels different. Instead of space around me shattering, there are small distortions around each of the Pothlin. Amazingly, Lesser Cataclysm doesn't pull me out of Pause, though it does suck away all my Facet. I watch the distortions spread as the features of the Pothlin are distorted. Then they collapse into small balls, before puffing outwards in swirls of blue dust and tinkling essence.

When Pause comes to an end, the Zanbia, who were just starting to react to the Pothlin... keep reacting to the Pothlin for several long seconds before realizing the threat is gone, stomping down, and flailing their tails about. One of them even snaps its massive jaw in my direction, though it draws up short. When they've settled, they turn away, two of them keeping themselves between me and the smaller one.

Unable to help myself, I wave at them as they retreat. "Stay safe! Don't let the Pothlin bite!"

As I lift into the air, moving towards the others, I run into Rufka whose expression is twitching as she attempts to keep a smile off her face. "That was reckless."

"It was just Pothlin," I reply, taking her elbow as I turn towards where the others are waiting higher up.

"Not that. You used your ability. The one that leaves you empty."

"Ah. Right," I acknowledge. That was probably... "Yeah, I didn't need to do that."

"Good."

"But you have to admit, it was pretty awesome," I say, unable to keep the smile off my face. Especially since that was totally worth it to experiment with my ability.

"Do I?" Rufka asks, tapping her chin. Then she smiles. "I do, don't I."

Chuckling, I watch the herd of Zanbia as they move towards the forest north of the river, the little one stopping regularly to glance back in our direction. I wave at it again, even though I doubt it can see me. Then we continue on our way towards the Builder City.

An hour later, we see it on the horizon, the glint of silver visible even without Twilight enhanced vision. When I zoom in, I grimace. The engines look intact, but I don't see any trace of the central spire. Floating closer, I note that most of the buildings are also intact, which is promising. Even the engines are all in their proper positions. Where the spire should be, waiting in the centre of the city, facing away from us, is another of the Sentinels. It's missing the fist on one hand but is otherwise intact. The damn thing is taller than most of the buildings around it. A quick analysis confirms its stats are similar to the last, though it has wind affinity.

Luckily, my Facet has recharged. I could try hitting it with Lesser Cataclysm. However, the strange resistance the other one had to my teleport-shear attack makes me wary. That was just a head. And I’d rather not go straight to empty.

"So, what do we think?" I ask after telling the others everything I've observed.

"We’re much stronger than against the last one," Roberts says, but the tone makes me think he's not advocating we fight.

Tipan is distracted, much like she's been since Pelogg stole the book. But she still turns back, looking in the direction of the Sentinel. Then her form changes, wind infusing her body. "I vote we fight. And be ready to run. Wyonna says they won't chase us."

"A fight sounds good," Josh agrees, clenching his fists while glaring at the statue. Rose nods silently beside him.

I don't need to bother asking Smoulder if she’s ready for a fight. Cause, duh. And Rufka just nods to me, not in agreement with the others, but an acknowledgement that she'll go with whatever I choose. I squeeze her hand, looking back to the Sentinel. "Okay. We fight. But first, let's review our options. And our fallback conditions."

The next few minutes are discussions of the tactics we've been learning from Beth, tactics that are outdated, when accounting for our new abilities. I realize as we talk that this is something we could've discussed at any point on our way. And we would've if Beth had been here. We spend half an hour adjusting the three most likely plans before confirming we’re ready to fight the Sentinel.

Beginning the fight is an exercise in rapid assault. As the others armor up, preparing their attack spells, I wrap us together and teleport us almost on top of the Sentinel. Before it has a chance to register our presence, it's hit with an avalanche of attacks. Given the giant hand of Earth Josh summons, the avalanche is almost literal. Then we're away, to a nearby rooftop. My entire focus is on providing mobility.

We strike twice more before the Sentinel ruins the tactic by summoning several whirlwinds. While they don't do any damage, they're enough to tear our formation apart, pushing the others outside the area I feel safe teleporting. "Scatter!" I yell, moving to plan C.

The others are moving even as I teleport away, unleashing Smoulder on another rooftop before hopping to the next. Even as I throw a barrage of my own piercing arrows at the Sentinel, Smoulder smashes into its side. It staggers slightly as the mana-hare that's not even the size of its nostril slams into it. Which gives me another idea. Sending it through the bond, Smoulder is soon leaping towards its face and manages to get inside its nose. Unfortunately, when she detonates inside, it just knocks the nose off.

It doesn’t even acknowledge the damage, bashing down into a flurry of gusts, which should be Tipan harassing it in her wind-form. But its fist just passes through, less effective than Smoulder’s assault on its schnoz.

With the others taken care of, I start using the occasional teleport shear, shaving away slightly larger chunks than before, though it’s still dangerous. A single glancing blow reduced my Health by a third.

It takes us several long minutes but eventually we get it to fall sideways, its left leg rendered useless. Even then, it continues to fight us, blasting at us with jets of air that leave nickel-sized holes in anything they strike. It takes half an hour to reduce it to a point it stops fighting. As I inspect its fallen form, I realize that somehow, it's still functioning.

"The hell," I mutter as I kick the pieces apart, searching its insides for anything that might be keeping it functional. My attention is drawn to a twist of mana in the center of what used to be its chest. Finally, I find it, a small silver orb barely as large as the tip of my finger. When I pluck it out of the stone it was embedded in, the rest of the body just collapses. When I scan it, the analysis still reads the same. "Huh. Wonder if you can reuse these."

[Wyonna] "These are locked to Citizen control. I believe you'd need to be a Creator to adjust their settings. Possibly Creator Menas himself."

"That's some access level. You can't crack it?"

[Wyonna] "I’m good. But there’s nothing to crack. You can’t hack the sun, Lex."

"Well, good thing the cities themselves aren't like that. Any chance we can fly this thing?"

[Wyonna] "Unlikely. Looks like the controls have been thrashed. With concerted effort, some good old fashioned elbow grease, and a little spit, it might be possible to repair it. I'd have to see more, but my projections put it at a week, at least."

"Bad news?" Roberts asks as I'm frowning into space.

“Not terrible,” I inform him, then tell everyone Wyonna’s analysis, my eyes drifting to the silver engines. With the knowledge from my codexes, I'm certain we could retrofit one to return to earth. But that would be pointless. We need the cities to get people out.

"Well. This isn't a total waste at least," Josh says, tossing the little ball of silver to Rose. "If it only needs a week of repairs, that's not too bad. Especially if we can get help."

"Indeed. And we know we can take down a Sentinel while limiting the damage to only the inner city," Roberts agrees, his eyes drifting to the nearby building that was caught in an explosion of force when the Sentinel almost caught Rose.

"You know, I think it looks better this way," Rose says, holding all four hands up to form a box as he pretends to take a picture of the busted plaza. Somehow, the already awkward gesture looks even more awkward with four hands.

"Now that we're done here, can we return to the Aetherium?" Tipan asks, breaking me out of my contemplation.

"Not quite. There's a Nexus point an hour outside the city we should hit first. And we need to check for a de-condenser," I remind her.

"Yes, yes. But then we'll head back?"

Looking at the others, I receive a round of agreement. Even then, we take our time leaving the city, Tipan circling above us as we split up to each visit one of the silver engines. When I head downstairs, and the entire compartment is full of tubes, flow regulators and other components, I let out a sigh of relief. There’s some minor damage, but most of the engine's functional bits are intact. Following the knowledge of my codex, and combining it with the image from the quest, I even find a small object that analyze confirms is a mana-condenser. It doesn't match up to either the codex or the image, not exactly. But it's close enough. I'm pretty sure that Rufka will be able to make any adjustments we need.

With the de-condenser in hand, I return to the surface victorious. Wyonna informs me that the other engines are in even better shape. Having confirmed the state of the ship, we fly toward the Nexus point.

I spot an unusual star pattern of pink flowers I suspect are the Nexus point when a wave of mana-pressure presses against me, throwing me hundreds of metres higher. When I readjust, I see the others floating above me. Looking down, I orient myself on the pink star. Then I look to the horizon and realize... there's a new cliff face a few kilometres to the north. Bits of the edge tumble down as I stare at the hundred plus meter cliff that just... pushed its way up. It stretches from horizon to horizon, and as I inspect it, I realize we're near a low stretch.

"That's one hell of an earthquake," Roberts says, his eyes locked on a void in the distance. As I follow his gaze, zooming in, I realize it's a mana-vent, spewing huge amounts of mana into the air.

It seems Akilo is having one of those days.

"It happens. The farther you are away from one of the major vents, the less stable the surface is," Tipan says, her voice low as she clutches her staff with all four hands, her ears flicked back. "I've heard the Lords of the Deep are able to prevent it in their territory."

"Mum knows how to prevent it too," Rufka says as she floats down. As she does, I realize I was least affected by the concussive blast. Least, I'm guessing that's what it was.

"Your mother knows how to prevent mana-swells?" Tipan asks, turning to Rufka, her upper eyes twitching. "And she hasn't told anyone?"

"What? No," Rufka says, waving her hand in Tipan's direction. "She shared it with the Aetherium when I was a kitten. Apparently, they already knew how to do it."

If Rufka thought that was going to calm Tipan, I think she miscalculated, as Tipan’s staff makes an audible crack. Then Tipan takes a deep breath, closing all four eyes. After a long exhale, she smiles, a smile that reminds me of Beth. There’s a glint in Tipan's lower eyes as she looks north in the direction of the Aetherium. "Of course, they do."

"So, how often does this happen?" Josh asks, chewing on his lip as he takes in the newborn cliff.

"They don't really know. My mother theorized they happen several times a year," Rose says, "They're about as common as earthquakes on Earth, but as you can see, they tend to be more violent. If the mana flow changes, this could actually be drawn back down."

"Folthka studied mana-swells?" Tipan asks, turning towards the diminutive pu'shaha.

"Mother studied many things. Especially if they were related to the natural behaviour of mana or its interactions with the System," Rose answers with a shrug.

"This is all fascinating, but I kinda want to take a closer look," I say, waving towards the distant mana-vent.

"But we were about to- Actually, I'd like to take a closer look as well," Tipan says, squinting at the vent.

"Excellent, let us investigate this phenomenon," Roberts says, clapping a hand on our shoulders.

Nodding, I gather the others together, then teleport us a short distance from the vent. I might have miscalculated the safe distance, as we’re close enough, I can feel it pressing against us.

"Best we don't get too close. While it's uncommon, it is possible to get mana-poisoning from being exposed to a fresh mana-vent," Rose warns us as Tipan and I were taking our first step forward. Glancing back, I give him a nod, then push out, using my own mana, bound into a wind sphere, to keep the ambient mana back. It presses in with enough force that even my aura starts to shrink. Which I take the time to study, trying to simulate the feeling. Not too different from having a bath in jello.

I wonder if Sab's dad is still angry about that?

Trying to pull my aura back while it's under pressure is easier than before. Not exactly controllable though, seeing as it kinda collapses then bubbles back outward. But it gives me a chance to practice. So while we inspect the cavern, I continue to flex the edges of my aura. There are shards of essence lodged into the sides of the vent, and even as we creep closer, I lock onto several, drawing them into my inventory. Most seem to be earth and wind, but there's a smattering of almost every element mixed in.

"Do people mine mana-vents?" I ask as I continue sweeping the far side.

"Not often. It's dangerous to be this close. And auto-loot doesn't work," Rose says, peaking around the corner, projecting his own bubble of wind. I can't help but note it's not even a tenth the size of mine. Guess he needs to work on his aura even more than I do.

"Mum strips any that pop up in the reaches," Rufka adds. "It's pretty easy for her."

"Okay, dangerous for most people. Not everyone is like your mother," Rose says, rolling all four of his eyes.

With the essence on the far side of the cavern stripped, I switch my attention to closer nodes.

"I think... Lexi, are you looting essence?" Tipan asks, squinting at the disappearing essence while leaning on her staff.

"Totally," I reply, working my way deeper.

Tipan nods, though she's not looking at me. "You may want to be careful. We don't know what looting all that essence might do."

"Collapse the vent, if she takes enough," Rufka answers with a shrug. Which is enough for me to stop. I've already removed every bit of essence in sight anyway. We're now thousands of mortal essence shards richer. Fair number of Iron shards too. No mana essence though.

"Fascinating as this is, perhaps we should be on with our day," Roberts suggests, stepping away from the opening. I follow him, the others close behind. Except Rose, who passes outside my aura, his own almost collapsing once it's left to fend off the ambient mana on its own. Then it stabilizes just over his golden fur.

He shakes his head, then takes several slow purposeful steps towards us until he moves back into my aura. He glances at me for a second and I just give him a quick shrug.

Then we continue, landing at the pink star-flower, triggering the Nexus point access. With a thought, we're back in Glimmering Sands, where I gleefully pay our fees out of my sudden glut of elemental shards.

With our fees paid, we make our way to the surface, which feels empty now that the festival is over. The others make their way towards the inn, hoping to secure rooms for the night while Rufka, Tipan and I head north.

There're Fallen to cleanse.

A note from Draith

I'll be back.

To do this author's note later. Probably. (I did not)

...TPWM 2.40, One Giant Teleport for Lexi...

February 22, 2019, 3:35 pm.

Our return to the Fallen compound is mostly quiet, only Rose and Josh bantering at the back of the party. The streets of Glimmering Sands have less people than I'm used to seeing in the late afternoon. Part of me misses the festive atmosphere. Another part of me is looking forward to the quiet. But most of me is worried about having been gone so long.

As we get closer, I see a new structure in the centre of their camp. It's tall enough it protrudes above the huts the Fallen are staying in, a thin spire of exposed tubes, bone and...

I blink twice, going so far as to analyze the fleshy component. It's a heart. A Zanbia heart. Which is apparently functioning as a mana-pump. Staring at it, I compare it to the diagram for the Awakened Fallen Purification and Revival chamber. Yep. That's it. Bigger than I expected. A little more organic looking than the diagram too. Which I suppose is an Aetherium thing. Even as we approach, I see the one non-Fallen K'tharn who seems to spend time in the camp. The other Fallen aren't present, but Trellani is kicking at a protruding tube for redirecting thick flows of mana when we stop behind her. I can't help but notice that her fur is cleaner than on our last visit. Still, messy, but without clumps of dirt in it. Well, excepting the foot she's kicking the tube with. That has a large clump of mud running up the side.

"Ahem," I cough, causing Trellani to do an impressive spin, landing facing us in a crouch. Then her eyes go wide as she seems to recognize us.

"You're back! Mum said... do you have the de-condenser?" Trellani asks, standing from her crouch and taking a step forward.

"We do," I say, pulling the small cube out of my inventory and holding it up.

"Thanks," Trellani says, plucking it from my hand. I smile, trying not to laugh at her presumption as she runs inside the spire, only her legs visible as she grunts while squeezing past a chair dominating the centre.

"You think we should..." I start, but Rufka and Tipan are already stepping forward to inspect the spire. I follow along, and Rufka starts explaining the enchanting to me. The basic function of different parts, and the adjustments that Trellani has made to adjust for the parts she's using. It's an impressive feat of enchanting work, from the way Rufka describes it.

"I'm not sure I could've put it together this fast," Rufka admits with a grumble.

"Well, she does have strong motivation," Tipan observes, her hand tracing a ribbed tube that has an uncomfortable similarity to a spine.

"Speaking of. Where are the Fallen?" I wonder, looking at the empty compound.

"They're conserving mana," Trellani's voice echoes from where she's working inside. "Can one of you hand me the number three mana-scriber?"

"Got it," Rufka replies, picking up a thin tool from near the spire's entrance, passing it inside.

"Thanks. Anyway, Fallen don't regen mana very quickly when they're not controlled by a Matrix. And mum figured out that it was mostly cause they were moving around. After all, they don't eat, so gotta get their energy from somewhere. So, they're all meditating or whatever to keep themselves in stasis," Trellani says, pausing as there's a series of small popping noises. I glance at Rufka in worry, but she just waves me away.

"How long do you think you'll need?" I ask, kneeling so I can see what she's doing. Trellani has two hands holding the de-condenser in place with another braced against the ceiling. She's holding herself locked in place atop the luxurious chair that dominates the space as she traces lines into the decondenser. With a quick inspection, she pulls a tube down, setting it against the lines. The tube seals in place with another series of small pops.

Once it’s done popping, she looks over at me, then back to the cube in her hand. "About an hour? Then half an hour of testing to make sure nothing's going to blow up."

"Is that a common concern?" I ask, not just Trellani, turning towards Rufka and Tipan as well.

"Not if you test things properly!" Trellani declares happily, whistling to herself as she starts etching another set of lines in the side of the cube. Tipan and Rufka both nod in agreement, though Tipan's is a little slow.

So, for the next hour, Rufka gives me an impromptu lesson in enchanting. Part of it I understand from the codexes, but there's a lot involved when doing enchanting with non-standardized components. And apparently, that's the only kind of enchanting on Akilo. Even the invading fleets from Uthica's days had to fall back on custom enchanting. My lessons are often interrupted as Tipan or Trellani interject, disagreeing with Rufka whenever she ventures into theory. They spend ten minutes arguing whether organic components work better because of the soul, System-bias, or evolution. Smoulder and I just sit and watch while I give the sweet little bundle of fur head-scritches. When Rufka points out that her mum has used Forerunner components that are better than natural parts, it ends with the others grunting and agreeing that those are master tier components that most people can't copy. Trellani mumbles that they probably stole someone’s soul to make them.

But they let the matter drop as we resume our lesson. Which has Rufka asking me to repeat what she’s told me so far.

Finally, Trellani calls out in triumph, "Done. Now, let's do a system check."

Assuming she means an analysis, I scan the spire with Facet. I can't help but grin, as my scan reveals a few possible flaws. "There's a blockage here," I start, pointing to a tube just over my head. One that's hard to reach with Glimmering Sands’ ban on flying. Smoulder surprises me by understanding my intent, hopping up on my hand and flicking her ears forward, pointing to the spot for me. Then I move on to the others, pointing the rest out with her continued assistance, though I don't technically need it after the first.

"Astra's bountiful bosom," Trellani says as she checks the first tube with a round device made of a giant wishbone and inlaid essence. "That's a handy enchanting ability you've got."

"It's..." I'm about to deny her... but can I use it for enchanting? Maybe even cleaning out the clogs on the chamber with a little tactical teleportation?

Deciding not to risk breaking it, I instead stand back while Trellani runs through all the problem spots I pointed out, using another tool to 'break up' the clogs. Then she turns sections on, cycling mana through them before stopping in front of the de-condenser.

"Don't suppose anyone has a Mana Essence they can spare?" Trellani asks, frowning back at us from where she's crouched inside the chamber.

"Sure," I reply, combining one out of the essence I collected from the cavern. Rufka raises her eyebrow, a small smile on her face. Right. I should pay her back the essence I borrowed. Adding that to my literal to-do list, I hand the newly formed Mana Essence to Trellani.

She plucks it out of my hand with a high-pitched, "Thanks!"

With a little wiggling, she threads it into the top of a stand of mana-less bone, directly below the mana de-condenser. Then she steps back, flicking several buttons that initiate… something. The Mana Essence collapses into blue powder then the dust is sucked upward before being pumped through the rest of the chamber. Several of the exterior tubes light up as the heart pumps with solid thuds every half-second. Then the entire chamber goes dark a few seconds later.

"That's good, right?" I ask, giving it another scan. Nothing seems broken or clogged. But I have no idea what we're doing next. While the chamber did come with instructions on building it (using standardized parts), it didn't have any instructions on using it. I'm glad we have several enchanters here.

"Yep," Trellani replies, stepping back to look at the chamber, her hands on her hips. "I think it's ready. Now... Now we just need to put mom inside." She keeps her smile locked in place, but there's a tear beading at the edge of her eye.

I turn away, looking towards the hut her mother was in before. "Do you need help getting her inside?"

"I... no, I've got it," Trellani says, stepping past me to a different hut. A few seconds later, she emerges, her mother draped in her arms.

We stand silently as Trellani walks past. She lays her mother inside the chamber with a great deal of care, pausing to press a kiss into her forehead. Then she steps back, her hand hesitating over the panel for several seconds. Then she nods, punching in several commands. The chamber lights up, filling with a thin blue mist. Then the entrance is sealed over, and we can only watch the machine as it works. For several long minutes, the thudding of the heart filling the compound is the only sound, a myriad of colours pulsing through the tubing. It's far more colourful than when it broke apart the Mana Essence.

Finally, the colours begin to grow faint, and a few beats later, the heart stops pumping. Then the entrance flickers but doesn't open.

"What..." Trellani starts, then she steps forward. She spends a minute looking over the small display before taking a step back. Then she leans forward and slams her foot into the chamber door.

Before I can object, there's a hiss and the door slides open, revealing her unconscious mother. Scanning her reveals that the chamber worked, which is confirmed a second later by a notification.

"Quest updated. Cleanse the Fallen. Cleanse a single Fallen of their corruption. 1/1 Fallen cleansed. Rewards: Structure: Tracking Array. Focus: Corrupted Soul Matrix. 5 Iron rank integration points. 1 Iron rank Progression Point."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

While Trellani hugs her mother, I look to Rufka and Tipan. They're both smiling, and I pull them into side-hugs as we wait for Trellani.

"It's a start," Tipan says, wiping a tear away.

We wait until Trellani's mother has recovered. After spending a minute hugging her daughter, Thetilda attempts to sit up, only to realize she's still strapped in place. After Trellani helps her mother out of the straps, they climb out and Thetilda turns to us. "Thank you for your assistance. It is good to be... alive again. Though it seems we will be starting over."

"Oh?" I ask, scanning her again. She seems totally healthy. And… young.

"My System thinks I'm a young K'tharn. Hmm. This may be a favor from Astra veiled by Vaus," Thetilda says, "Though... being so weak will take some getting used to." To punctuate her words, Thetilda sits down, leaning against the wall. "That really took a lot out of me, it seems."

"Should we start on the next-"

I don't get to finish my question, Thetilda nodding and grabbing her daughter's hand. "Take care of them, Trellani. I'll be okay."

Trellani hesitates over her mother, but finally she nods, leading me to the next Fallen while she returns to the chamber, resetting it. While I carry out the next Fallen, Rufka shares some food with Thetilda. No one realized they’d be starving after the cleansing process. We remain for the next few cycles. At that point, Thetilda and a couple of the other former Fallen have regained their strength and are able to take over. I deplete most of my extra food stores, leaving them with a feast that should be more than enough.

After saying goodbye to a distracted Thetilda and Trellani, we move to the edge of the compound.

Looking back at them, Tipan asks, "Now... what was next?"

"Pretty sure we need to see a Taken about a book," I reply, my eyes drifting towards the schematic we just unlocked. "And if they don't want to talk, well, we'll just have to track them down."

...TPWM...

February 22, 2019, 6:16 pm.

As we walk back to the Inn where the others are waiting, we review the design for the tracking array. Tipan and Rufka confirm that we shouldn't have a problem getting the components, though it might be more expensive than the chamber. Still affordable, especially with our recent windfall. We also figure out that the Focus reward is required to use the array. With that in mind, Rufka and I split off from Tipan, heading directly to the Nexus. We both get a copy of the Focus, which I suppose will be useful if we decide to build more than one of the arrays.

Instead of heading straight back, Rufka and I take a slow tour around the tower. We're on the third level when a familiar K'tharn approaches us. Vethel, the Lordite guard who arrested us when we first visited Glimmering Sands. The frown on her face tells me she remembers me. Still, Beth already made arrangements for us to be back, so I’m not worried about being arrested. Plus, she only has one other guard with her. She stops in front of me, looking me over, her hands still wrapped around her staff. Since I never got a chance to scan her the first time, with my abilities broken, I take the time to find out how strong she is.

My scan reveals that she's still stronger than me, but only physically. Lucky for her, she doesn't seem to be here for a fight.

Wait...

Did I just...

Before I have time to consider my newfound confidence, Vethel speaks. "Lord Hansome has requested your presence. And this is merely a request," she stresses the last part as she speaks.

"I heard..." I start, about to mention that Beth had told me he didn't survive the attack. But then... Beth is undergoing Restoration right now. He might be doing the same. Which would mean Lord Hansome is either a Citizen or Silver rank. Unless the Lords of the Deep have another way of unlocking the ability. And honestly, they might. Instead of my original statement, I ask, "Did he want to see us now?"

"If you have a few minutes, yes," Vethel says, giving us a small bow. I glance towards Rufka and she gives me the shrug that tells me it's my choice.

"Are you sure he actually wants to see us? Last time, he seemed..." I wasn't sure how to describe the absent-minded ruler without seeming rude.

"I... he's young, and easily distracted. But he remembers you quite vividly," Vethel attempts to reassure me. Except none of those words make me want to get closer to a potentially Silver-ranked child-murder-squid person.

Unable to school her reaction as well as me, Rufka lets out a loud snort. "So, he remembers we were brought in with the same K'tharn who killed him?"

Vethel glances at the guard beside her, then turns back, rubbing her forehead, all her eyes closed. "I vow on the M'tari Ascendancy that you will be safe until you next leave Glimmering Sands."

About to respond with scepticism, I stop when I receive a notification informing me I've been granted diplomatic immunity in the territory of Glimmering Sands. When I check my conditions, I discover it's not just an idle promise. As long as we don't leave Glimmering Sands, for the next twenty-four hours, the System itself will instantly incarcerate anyone who attacks me.

"Okay. You've convinced me," I say, giving her a slight bow and gesture for her to lead the way. "Why didn't you have protections like this on your boss last time?"

Vethel looks to the side at her companion but doesn't answer. Which... less than reassuring.

A few more steps and we reach the platform going up. When we're nearly to the long stairway that leads up to Lord Hansome's chamber, the other guard nods at Vethel and steps away. Instead of immediately leading us up, Vethel waits for them to leave the landing. Once the door shuts behind them, she mutters a few words, and a spell rises into place around the landing. I can only barely see the edges of the spell, but the second it snapped into place, my tethers became muted. They're still there, but it takes actual Focus to concentrate on any other than the one connecting me to Rufka. And the one I now attach to Vethel.

That did not feel like a harmless act, and I'm suddenly wondering what sort of actions can be taken against us that wouldn't trigger the diplomatic immunity condition.

Vethel doesn't cast any additional spells though. Instead, her hand twists a small octopus in the décor along the wall and a door, which was seamlessly hidden, drifts open. She stands next to it, waving us in. Inside I see a cozy looking room, with a desk stacked with reams of actual paper. The three chairs facing a fireplace are a nice touch, and I wonder if the room was set up for us, or if Vethel normally has other people over.

Trading a glance with Rufka, I confirm I have a strong enough tether I could teleport us away, if need be, then move into the room. I immediately take the chair with the bright red cushioning. Vethel freezes at the door before moving to sit in the chair across from me, leaving Rufka in the middle.

"Let me start by saying, I'm sorry for lying to you. Lord Hansome doesn't want to see you," Vethel says, as I watch the hidden door slide shut behind her. On its surface are views of several parts of the building. Including the hall, the far side of the door, and the stairs above. None of which Vethel can see from where she's sitting. Nice.

"I'd gathered as much when you snuck us into a secret meeting room," I reply, noting that there's even a view of the old throne room, though it looks like that's part of the new garden renovations. One of the screens seems to have a bunch of thick tubes on it, and it takes me half a second to realize it's probably Lord Hansome. She's spying on her own boss. "Does your boss even know we're here?"

"He does not. Lord Hansome is... meditating on his defeat," Vethel says, leaning back in her chair. She doesn't sigh, but the way she sits stiffly makes me think she wants to.

"Sulking, you mean," Rufka says, sipping on a drink she didn't have a second ago.

Making a gimme motion at Rufka, I receive a blue-fruit juice of my own, causing Vethel to pause for a second before speaking. "Lord Hansome isn't why I wanted to talk to you. Not directly anyway."

I nod for her to continue as I draw Smoulder out of her pocket so I can give her head-scritches. Since we're lounging around anyway.

"I received word of what you did with the Fallen," Vethel says, her eyes only flickering towards Smoulder for an instant. "Can I take it this means you're in opposition to the Aetherium's plans to deploy Fallen forces?"

"I mean... I'm not exactly for it, especially if they're enslaving them," I reply, shifting in my seat. Not the direction I expected this conversation to go. Though maybe I should've? It's clear she has eyes on most of Glimmering Sands. Even her own boss.

"Plus, they smell awful," Rufka adds, reaching over to give Smoulder some more head-scritches.

Vethel nods but doesn't comment for another couple seconds. "You asked earlier why we didn't have protections on Lord Hansome. The truth is... he is not allowed such protections. The Lords are sent to the surface to learn. And their parents believe they should not be shielded from pain or failure. However, Ivicka was... unusual. She bypassed the handful of protections that should have been in place with her Fallen. We're still not sure how she did it. But if the Aetherium is bringing more of these living weapons against us, the Ascendancy will need to act."

"Oh," I reply, petting Smoulder harder than strictly necessary for several strokes before adding. "So, when we started turning Fallen back into regular K'tharn…"

"It made me realize you were more than Ivicka's pawns," Vethel says, nodding.

I can't help but blink at her several times. Then I turn to Rufka, my mouth hanging open as I point to Vethel. But Rufka's no help, her head tilted back as she shakes with silent laughter. So I reorient on Vethel. "You thought we were working for Ivicka? Us?"

"You arrived in Glimmering Sands the same day she did. You had several interactions with her before coming to the tower. You fled with her as the tower fell. And you count her sister and squad mate among your companions. Yes, I did believe you were cooperating with her," Vethel says, her brow furrowed as she studies me. "Which, I will admit, unless you have an extraordinary deception class, is rather unlikely at this point."

"Unlikely, she says."

"My point is, if you are going after the Aetherium's Fallen, I can help," Vethel says, causing me to snap out of my shock. “And we would be very willing to reward you for doing so.”

"Help how?" I ask, trying to keep a smile from creeping across my face.

"Obviously, I can't send our pledged with you. They have duties here, and besides, the Aetherium would take it as a hostile act. But I can provide Essence or resources for devices like the one you built in their camp. Also, I can allow access to Lord Hansome's dungeon. They’re all on the table."

"Wait," Rufka says, holding up a finger. "Access to a Lord's dungeon? Mum said Lords have to give permission for that."

"It is under my purview. Lord Hansome has granted me... considerable authority while he meditates," Vethel says with a small smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"Okay, so, say we are going to go after the Aetherium. And maybe even their ability to control the Fallen. What will this dungeon do for us?" I ask as Smoulder glares up at me demanding I resume petting her.

Rufka snorts, then looks at me and smiles.

"Will it grant Advancement Points? Copper rank resources?" I ask, leaning forward.

"No. It's not a World Dungeon," Vethel replies, frowning. "The Hidden Depths is a puzzle dungeon, relatively safe and quick. I was able to clear it in less than a day by myself. And its main quest grants an Enduring armour and an armor upgrade."

Huh. Okay, that might be worth it.

"And you can access it from beneath the tower," Vethel adds, seeming to know that she just needs one last tug to land her fish.

I sigh, looking to Rufka, but she's grinning like she's the cat that ate the canary.

"Yeah, okay. We were gonna do it anyway, and this sounds like it'll help. So, what can you tell us about this dungeon?"

"How much do you know about mana-beetles?" Vethel asks, leaning back in her chair and giving us what feels like the first genuine smile since she brought us into the room.

Rufka replies before I can say anything. "They eat mana and ignore most magical defences."

Vethel points a finger at Rufka. "Correct. And they're one of the Taken's favorite tools. They're also the only real enemy inside The Hidden Depths."

Damnit. Are we going to have to smash a whole bunch of bugs? When I glance over and see the excitement in Rufka's eyes, I can't help but sigh.

Maybe a kaiju will rise out of the ocean, and attempt to eat us all instead.

A girl can hope.

A note from Draith

Next chappie will be on Tuesday. Gonna Follow a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (all the TUS days) schedule for a bit as I do massive amounts of editing.

Cause I managed to get a first draft of everything up to the return to earth done. Those'll be going up on patreon... at some point.

Thanks for reading.

...TPWM 2.41, An Unusual Vigil...

February 22, 2019, 7:20 pm. A long time until we're gonna smash bugs. I hope.

When we leave Vethel's tiny little office, not only has she granted us future access to The Hidden Depths, but she’s also arranged for the materials for the tracking array. Most will be here tomorrow, and the only missing component will arrive the day after. We also get a hundred Iron-Rank Mana Essence. Each.

Makes me feel like my windfall of shards I mined was almost nothing. Honestly, I hadn't expected the windfall of Essence when I asked Vethel to throw it in. She’d even offered more if it would help get rid of Fallen.

Walking down the tower, Rufka and I remain quiet. The casual exploration we were enjoying before Vethel approached us is no longer appealing, so we make our way to a restaurant near the beach. I watch the frankly miniscule waves as they crash against the shore. With a sigh, I say, "I miss the waves.”

"We could go flying," Rufka says even as a pair of K'tharn bring our meal to the table. "We haven't raced since we got back."

I nod, but my eyes remain fixed on the ocean. I don't really taste our meal as I stare off into space, trying to figure out why the lack of waves bothers me so much. Even as Rufka and I finish dinner, I'm unable to figure it out. She pulls me out of my thoughts with an enthusiastic discussion of how much building the tracking array is going to help her subclass advance. Which reminds me that I need to set my own. Backtracking to the Nexus, I set my subclass to Explorer. I'd been hoping for an Enchanting subclass, but even with all the recent lessons from Rufka, I haven't unlocked one. Despite Wyonna denying any involvement, I'm suspecting something similar to my locked cooking skill.

Shaking my head, I focus on the subclass I do have, and just equipped as Rufka and I return to the inn.

"Subclass Equipped: Explorer."

"Partial Credit for Banked Explorer Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 3."

"Explorer Subclass Abilities Unlocked: Unerring Compass, Traveler's Socks."

I can't help but smile as I read the description of the abilities. Compass points to my current planet's rotational north. Or south. It allows me to set it to my preference. But it's the second ability that has me smiling. It prevents my feet from getting sore after long hikes, or from being too cold or wet. Between Health Edge and flight, it's almost completely useless.

And yet... just seeing it is enough to make me get over the lack of roaring waves. I take Rufka's arm, pulling her close and talking about all the things I want to see.

I wonder if I can get experience for being a tourist on earth?

When we get back to the inn, the others are in the garden area out back, gathered around the table. Everyone is there, except Beth.

Josh, Rose and Tipan are playing a game of Astra's Stride. Even as Rufka moves towards them, I step over to where Roberts is sorting small stones with the innkeeper, Pefe. She's extolling the virtues of certain patterns, and how certain stones have special meanings. I can't help but squint. Then I copy the stone she has in her paws with Stone Manipulation. Yep. It's that easy.

So, why...

"Oh, Alexis, Pefe was just telling me about a game her father played with her when she was a kitten," Roberts says, interrupting my thoughts as he motions to the bench next to them.

I accept his invitation, and Pefe explains the rules of the game. Like a lot of games on Akilo, the use of magic is restricted. For this, the goal is to find the most interesting patterns. Creating a stone is against the spirit of the game.

When I ask why, Pefe laughs, "Creating stone is fine. But it's more of an art, and not one I could play when I was a kitten, now, was it?"

Right, not everyone has the ability to use magic as a kid, even on Akilo.

I end up begging off early and find myself looking over the designs for the tracking array when Rufka joins me for the night.

Snuggling into my side while only slightly disturbing Smoulder, Rufka asks, "Is it Beth?"

"I... what?" I ask, my head lost in the diagram for a second before I turn towards her. "Is what Beth?"

"Whatever's bothering you," Rufka states, pulling away to look into my eyes, her upper eyes closed. "You've been weird since Vethel."

"I... well, Beth's part of it, sure. But also..."

Rufka doesn't push me, laying there, and waiting patiently as I search for the words. Finally, I say, "It's everything. Beth. The sudden wealth. Fallen becoming K'tharn again. It feels like we've been sprinting to catch up for weeks and suddenly we're... ahead and behind at the same time. And now I'm feeling listless. I mean, I know we're going to build the tracking array, and then we'll try to track down Pogell. It's just a feeling."

"Mhm," Rufka says, closing her eyes and laying her head across my side.

"Also... I miss the waves," I add, which earns me an amused snort.

Then Rufka pulls away, looking at me with just her lower eyes again. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you?"

"I... kinda, yeah," I reply with a helpless shrug.

Rufka shakes her head as she returns it to my chest. "You know, when we got together, I thought I was going to be the adventurous one."

"You are?" I say, kissing the top of her head.

"Mhm," Rufka mumbles. It's just a normal tone of agreement. But for some reason, I feel like I just accidentally issued a challenge. Part of me is nervous, but a bigger part is excited.

The next morning is spent putting together the basic structure of the tracking array. Vethel provides us with an unused house that was destroyed during Ivicka's attack. The exterior looks intact, but inside, it's a completely empty building. Not so much as a shoe rack. Rufka and Tipan decide that it’ll be better if we build the control centre of the tracking array in the living room, mostly to keep from being disrupted as we work. We'll need to put the actual antennas outside, but we're still waiting on most of the components for those, so for the moment we concentrate on the control centre.

It turns out we have enough to get its base features working, but it has a range of less than twenty meters without the antenna. We end up spending a few hours experimenting with different materials, and Rufka even ties it to the house's shell. Which gets a whopping range of three-hundred meters. I'm arguing with Josh about the merits of trying to create our own personal radio tower outside town when I feel three tethers suddenly jump much closer. It seems Kellica is back. And she brought Lik'tik and Ael'thani with her. Cutting off the argument with Josh by walking away in the middle of my sentence, I wave to Rufka, who was watching while petting Smoulder.

"Problem?" Rufka asks with a hint of a smile that she fails to keep off her face.

"Kellica's back," I reply, raising my voice loud enough the others can easily hear. Soon everyone is waiting on the front porch with me, watching as Kellica approaches. She stands tall, her shoulders square as she gets close. Lik'tik looks the same as always, their mottled skin even now seeking to adjust to the buildings behind them. On the other hand, Ael’thani seems... jumpy. Her eyes are flicking about, her upper and lower eyes tracking different directions at the same time. And never any one direction for long.

One direction she avoids looking is Kellica's.

"Tel'thoni," Kellica greets, bowing slightly as she reaches the lowest step.

"Hey Kellica, welcome back," I say, waving my hand at three empty folding chairs serving as our patio furniture. Temporary furniture just felt appropriate. Plus, it's a lot comfier than it looks.

"Thank you," Kellica says, taking a seat across from me and Rufka. The others are also here, but they're having their own conversation on the other side of the porch. Kellica acknowledges them with a short wave before turning back to me. "The K'mintar has... given me an unusual task for my Vigil."

"Hah, unusual," Ael'thani huffs, throwing herself into the chair next to Kellica. "Unusual she says."

"She is correct. It is unusual," Lik'tik says, inspecting their own chair as if afraid it will collapse if they attempt to sit in it. They decide not to risk it, taking a position at Kellica's shoulder instead.

"Pogell has gone rogue," Kellica says, drawing my attention back to her. "And she has supporters. The Taken are... compromised."

"Many drift from the tenets," Lik'tik says, nodding as if this implies their agreement with Kellica. Which, maybe it does.

"Compromised, huh?" I ask, mostly as acknowledgement.

Drawing in a deep breath, Kellica nods. "And the K'mintar believes it would be best if we can prove our innocence. We are to complete the Vigil by returning a lost outpost to the fold."

"And you're allowed to get help from us?" Rufka asks, crossing her arms as she leans back.

With a short nod, Kellica taps the table as she continues, "I'm allowed to use any personal resources. But Lik'tik and Ael'thani are the only Taken assets I have been permitted."

Ael'thani stops her frantic searching to stare at Kellica for a second but doesn't say anything before looking outward, resuming her scan.

"Okay. So what can we do to help?" I ask, leaning forward.

"There... is an outpost. A training centre. Pogell was last seen heading there before they implemented isolation measures. We need to infiltrate the compound without hurting anyone."

I nod, looking to Rufka before glancing to the others. "Well, I'll help. But why don't we pull the tables together, and you can ask the others."

At my confirmation, Kellica's shoulders slump, a smile sneaking onto her face for the first time since she sat down. "Thank you, Tel’thoni."

I also get a notification, but I ignore it for the moment, waving the others over. As they're pulling the tables together, I look at the message.

"Quest Received: Upholding the Long Night's Vigil of Eyes. Capture the Taken Agents at Outpost S-232. Rewards: Reduce Citizen Beth's Restoration Timer by thirty-six days (Exclusive to Citizen Pandora). 1 Iron-rank Progression Point. 1 Copper Mana-Essence."

Well, that's... unexpected. Welcome, but unexpected.

I'm not surprised when everyone agrees to help. And they do so before I even get a chance to mention the rewards. We were planning to go after Pogell anyway. When I mention that it'll let us bring Beth back quicker, it doesn't change anything. Except for the massive surge of relief that passes through us. There's a new fire in Josh as we start planning, even though we decide to do most of it on the way. The outpost is a few hours south of the twisted tree Nexus point where we met Demo, and Kellica wants to leave as soon as possible. After distributing doses of Kellica's paralytic venom to everyone, we depart.

Teleporting everyone is more comfortable than ever with my recent insights into my aura. It allows me to understand exactly how close people need to be to safely teleport them. Which makes it even more embarrassing when we arrive, and Tipan loses a few strands off her mohawk. I don't think anyone else even notices, but I stare at the tiny divot while checking the boundaries of my teleport against my aura... and it's not totally steady. The top of my aura bubble wavers a bit. Okay. Still need a bit of a safety margin. And to not let Tipan stand at the outer edge. Welp, better hair than a body part.

Even while I'm reflecting on my slightly imperfect teleport, we're already taking to the air and heading south. My new compass insists we're heading a few degrees west of south. Glad I can turn it off. I don't need to know what direction we're heading at all times. Least, not yet.

We discuss several plans and approaches, as we get closer, though we won't commit to anything until we can see what we’re dealing with. The outpost is in the middle of the Desert of Drowned Souls, which has some pretty unique flora. Instead of cactuses and other such plants deserts on earth might have, the surface of the desert is covered in thin strands of tough fiber. The drowned souls are a reference to the noise the desert makes when wind blows over these strings, which Tipan says sounds like a drowning K'tharn. Which apparently sounds like a lot of high-pitched squealing interspersed with low rasping.

When we're just out of sight, Kellica calls a stop. Tipan brings out her map, and Kellica points to a pair of coordinates high above the flat desert. Our team's insertion point. After everyone confirms we know what we're doing, Lik'tik, Josh, Rose and Roberts continue on their southern trajectory. They're going to be the initial point of contact. And if that fails, they'll serve as a distraction. Looking up, I do my best to approximate where Kellica was pointing.

Once everyone is in formation, I teleport us above the outpost. It's perfectly visible from here, though I was off by a few hundred metres. Zooming in, I inspect our target. It's a squat ugly stone building, thrown together like the earth mage responsible was offended by having to put it here. There isn't a single artistic flourish. I'm almost offended. When I unzoom, I'm reminded just how high we are. We're a couple kilometres up, but with a sphere of wind mana around us, it isn't even uncomfortable. For a second, I forget about our mission and look into the sky... I wonder just how high I could go? Then the others shift around me, Lik’tik approaching the gate.

It's go time.

We drop towards the outpost, most of the guards hidden from sight. The few who are visible are reacting to Lik'tik already. They're talking to him, which makes me wonder if we might not need-

And they just attacked him.

I teleport us a few hundred meters closer, bypassing the shimmer of the shield protecting the outpost. I'm thankful it's not a Stronghold, or that might not have worked.

As soon as we're inside the shield, we shoot out dozens of small shards. They're similar to the shards Pogell used on us, coated in Kellica's paralytic venom. Except they're not attached to the thin thread he used to guide them. We’re making up for poor aim by using a lot more of them. The guards attacking Lik’tik collapse under the assault, as do the ones who were waiting behind them. A second barrier pops up, closing off access to the interior. But it's a barrier of barely reinforced stone. When I get closer, I can see where it’s weak, and it only slows us a little. With Kellica and I combining our efforts, we break through the copper-rank walls in less than a minute.

"Okay, we're inside. Three minutes to take full control," Kellica says, the first words any of us have breathed since we started. We split up, Kellica heading towards the command centre of the hub with Ael'thani to prevent the outpost from destroying itself.

Smoulder and I go towards the trainee quarters while Rufka and Tipan move towards the entrance to ensure all the guards who were hit with the first wave of attacks are down. And that none of them are in danger from the sudden assault.

There are a few Taken coming down the stairs from the shielded quarters, but a flick of my wrist has Kellica's metal shards in their necks before they can blink...

I think I'm going to need more of this paralytic.

It'd be nice to have such a safe and easy way to disable people. It doesn't even care about how much Health they have, just their Focus. It helps that it basically punches up a level, doing enough Focus damage that a Copper-Rank can't take more than a couple hits. Unlike Pogell, I make sure none of the K'tharn are at risk of being injured, setting them back in their beds before moving on.

Smoulder and I complete our sweep with two minutes and twelve seconds left. We're back at the stairs when a loud 'wuff' echoes up from below.

That... wasn't part of the plan.

A note from Draith

Giving a shout to my friend Asviloka, who's helped me out with a bunch of stuff in the past, including some of my old covers. She released a book on Kindle, Trickster's Luck,if you're into the slow burn styel. Synopsis and some of her thoughts below.

Not all luck is good luck.

300 years after her death, Maya is uploaded into the Otherworlds database, a virtual universe shared by the living and long dead. After selecting a world at random and creating her character, she's offered the option of a rare luck-based starting class in place of the standard options.

Overseen by the capricious Trickster deity, she'll set out to explore long-hidden secrets of the magical land she now calls home.

But though this ancient world seems calm and simple on the surface, two famous players have chosen it as their battleground. Behind the scenes, deities plot and older powers scheme.

And as Maya is about to discover, not all luck is good luck.

A slow burn litrpg epic about a deeply flawed character who stubbornly refuses to back down. Follow the progression of Maya's new life as a fantasy adventurer and aspiring mage as she slowly delves deeper into the secrets and mysteries of World 9352, and through good luck and misfortune alike takes her first steps towards becoming a legend.

---

I'm absolutely thrilled to finally have this out there! It's my personal love letter to litrpg, with the virtual metaverse as I would envision. It's also the home to many of the questions I've always asked myself while reading:

If there's an exploit for a special class, why hasn't someone else found it yet? Special doesn't mean unique.

Why do all these 'luck-based' classes only ever get good luck? If you're basing your class on the whims of fortune, there should be some drawbacks.

If so much time has passed and technology has advanced so much, why is there still no save/load feature? There should definitely be a way to have an MMO without locking you into only a single forward path. There should be a way to try different routes and see what happens without starting over entirely.

So if you've ever asked yourself these questions, or if you'd like to try something a bit outside the ordinary formulas, something a bit slower, with more focus on exploration than relentless advancement, give it a try!

...TPWM 2.42, I’ll Show you a Sacred Tool...

February 23, 2019, 2:20 pm. Ominous wuff-o-clock.

It takes me less than two seconds to make it to the central room using quick teleport-hops. My party screen tells me that Rufka and Tipan are safe. So, I follow the Tether towards Kellica, rapidly teleporting through the outpost until I'm outside the command centre. Ael'thani is climbing to her feet, but Kellica is on the far side of the wall separated from us. I reach through to the tether, and the connection feels... frazzled. Deciding not to risk a group teleport, I use Kellica as a jump point, and move inside, Pausing the second I appear.

Kellica is on the ground, fully enclosed in her metal form with a burly K'tharn atop her. Several of the little nubs of metal we've been using to knock people out are sticking out of the second K'tharn's fur. Guess she's immune to their effects. Which means she's probably a venom mage too. A quick analysis confirms she is, and that her name is Petra. Her mouth is frozen open in a nearly silent scream, which I ignore as I direct metal bracers to form around her wrists and ankles. When Pause ends, I yoink her up. I can feel her contesting my control but a quick use of Anchor shows that she's not breaking out right away.

While I'm holding Petra in the air, Kellica quickly flips to her feet. She spares Petra a quick glance but runs forward to a stone block in the centre of the room. The second she lays her hand on it, a pulse shoots out.

"Self-destruct deactivated. Communications re-established," Kellica breathes out as our quest pings with a completion. Then she glances at me, "Any casualties?"

"Not on our end," I reply, having already been informed through party chat that none of the entrance guards had been hurt. "No sign of Pogell though."

The venom mage manages to get one of her hands to swing forward at that, and I look towards her. "Petra, right?" I ask, stepping closer. "Any chance you know where Pogell has gone?"

Petra just glowers in response, struggling against her bonds.

"You know, I never asked, what are you guys doing out here anyway?" I direct this question toward Kellica, stepping around Petra to look at the controls. But she's talking to the K'mintar through the console. I think. I don't actually know who she's talking to.

This question Petra deigns to answer, which is nice of her. "This is a training facility. You put my doshni in harm's way without even knowing you were coming here. If so much as a hair on their heads is out of place, I'll-"

"That's enough of that," I say, muffling the sound of her threats with a sphere of wind. Her concerns are understandable. And honestly if the guards hadn't attacked, we wouldn’t have invaded by force.

"Vaus-damned burner," Ael'thani says as she steps into the room. Then with a glance towards Kellica, she grimaces. "I mean, Vaus-damned Zanbia-fucker."

I... is she trying to be nice towards Kellica?

Deciding we have more important things to focus on, I ask, "Did you find any sign of Pogell?"

"Yeah, he was here. She said as much before going ballistic on Kellica," Ael'thani replies, nodding her head in the direction of Petra. "What even was that?" She asks, though this time she's looking at Petra.

"She... uh, can't hear you. Wind sphere," I say even as I drop the effect. Which leads to the room quickly being filled with more of Petra's ranting.

"Hey, you, shut-up!" Ael'thani yells at Petra, which earns her a glare, but does get our prisoner to quiet down. "What in Astra's name was that traitor doing here?"

"Pogell is no traitor. She serves the true will of the Weavers," Petra replies, attempting to spit on Ael'thani. But I catch it and send it straight back home.

While Petra chokes on her own spit, I turn to Ael'thani. "Ever heard of the Weavers before? I mean, I know about Reapers. And... lots of other factions, actually. But this one is new. Is it related to the Taken?"

"It's another name for Reapers. Bio-weavers," Ael'thani replies, glaring at Petra. "One of the threats we're supposed to be protecting the Aetherium from."

"Damn. You guys really suck at your job then," I say, while looking back at where Petra is finally recovering. "Their influence seems to keep popping up everywhere."

"Hey!" Ael'thani protests, turning her glare on me. I just raise an eyebrow in response, waving at the floating Petra. I don't even bother mentioning the whole Ivicka incident. Partially cause we haven't told anyone about the Reaper involvement there. Considering the System was ready to wipe out the entire planet at the hint of one being present, we've kept our Reaper discussions to a minimum.

As Ael'thani glances at Petra, she grimaces again. "Okay, you're right. But that's not really my fault. I've only been out of training for a few weeks."

"Just saying," I reply, looking towards Kellica who's finally finishing whatever she was doing on the console. "So?"

"Pogell was here. This giant heap of Zanbia dung gave her full access to the capital's network. She's gone to Aethire," Kellica says, then before I can register exactly what she's doing, Kellica spins towards Petra.

A spike now protrudes from Petra's chest, and she starts gasping.

"What the fuck?" I say, stepping forward to pull the spike out, only to be stopped by Kellica's hand.

"It's required to subdue her. As a venom mage, she can't be brought to the K'mintar without being drained first," Kellica says, waving at the spike. As if in answer, blue dust starts emanating from the end of the spike, filling the air before fading away. Almost instantly, Petra stops struggling against the shackles I've been using to hold her in place.

"You failed to mention that you needed to drive the mana-spike into her chest when we were going over the plan," I grouse, but hold off any further objections. She had mentioned that she might need to use the mana-spike if the venom mage wasn't cooperative, but still...

"I... may have been feeling a little spiteful," Kellica admits, looking at Petra. "She always insisted that being isolated from the others was a good thing. And that we deserved the insults."

Oh. I never even thought about... of course Kellica would know the venom mage trainer personally. "Not a great mentor, then."

"No, Tel’thoni. Not great," Kellica says, shaking her head before turning away from Petra. "The K'mintar has declared our Vigil a success. And as a reward has made me team leader. Ael'thani, Lik'tik and I are to report to Aethire as soon as possible. She has warned me that you Outlanders and Rufka are tagged, however. There have been... riots. And the ministers are placing the blame on your shoulders."

"I'm going with you," Tipan says from the doorway, where Rufka is standing just behind her. "The ministers won't be able to declare me a criminal without invoking my father's wrath. And if Pogell still has my book..."

"I take it that means you didn't find it," I state more than ask, turning towards Petra. "How about you? Did you see Pogell with a book?"

Petra's eyes light up, though not in a magical way. No, it's far creepier than that. Those are the eyes of a believer. "Yes. Pogell was here with the sacred text. The work of the Weavers was open to her, though it remained concealed to my unworthy eyes."

"Don't suppose she left it behind?" I ask, not expecting her to answer.

"Why would the prophet leave behind her most sacred tool?" Petra asks, twisting to stare at me as if I was the crazy one here. Which, fair.

"Yeah, didn't think so," I reply, shrugging at Tipan.

She and Kellica start talking about where to go.

"I'm coming too," I decide, "Might need to keep..."

Rufka is shaking her head, a sad smile on her face. "Mum set up those defences. If we're tagged users, we'll be caught in seconds. Unless we want to fight our way through, we're not going to be able to return."

"I... that's stupid," I grumble crossing my arms. Smoulder, who was contemplating the floating Petra notices my grouching and gives up on her task to comfort me instead. "Well, at least I can teleport you to Betheryne. Save you travel time."

"Oh. That'll work out great. Mum's there, and you can take her to the K'mintar," Rufka adds, nodding.

"How are we on the no-go list but your mum isn't?" I grumble.

"She left herself a backdoor so she can ignore it," Rufka replies, as if it's obvious.

"And... couldn't she do the same for us?" I ask, staring at my thiani, pulling her away from the others.

"Uh? Probably? But I know she didn't include me cause..." as Rufka trails off, she turns to the side, her ears laying back.

"Cause?" I press, squeezing her shoulder to let her know she doesn't have to answer despite my curiosity.

"Cause I wandered off when I was a cub, and she used the network to track me down. And decided it would be best if it always worked," Rufka admits with a low grumble.

I can't help but blink a couple times before I start laughing. The others look over at us, but I wave them off.

"Okay then. We can't go into Aethire until your mum fixes the network or they rescind our crime-lord status," I squint upwards at the plain stone roof. "Guess that means we're back to building the tracking array. If it points to Aethire... well, I guess we'll need you guys to deal with it."

"Mum'll help," Rufka says, squeezing my shoulder. "She's very anti-slavery."

"You do remember that we found her working in shackles, right?" I ask, amused despite myself.

"Bah, those were decorative," Rufka disagrees, scrunching up her face. "She wasn't any more held than I was last-"

Clamping a hand over Rufka's mouth, I nod. "I get it." She smiles through my hand, but otherwise remains silent.

"Tel'thoni, if you're ready?" Kellica says, stepping forward with the other Taken and Tipan behind her.

"Don't do anything too crazy. I know Genitha is powerful, but she gets distracted," I say even as I wave everyone in. Including Petra, who Kellica keeps held in one hand.

Then we teleport to the Nexus point in the Builder's city of Betheryne. I'm half expecting the mini-minotaur to be waiting for us, but instead we arrive in an empty courtyard beneath the silver control spire. I feel an irrational burst of annoyance that there's a fully functional tower right here but press it down. Besides... maybe I can scan it and we can copy it in Burnesq. Though it would probably require large amounts of enchanting.

Bah.

Genitha is having drinks with the mini-taur when we arrive. And dancing. There's ghostly music playing, and the Geral's feet rest on Genitha's thighs as they move about in a dance that reminds me somehow of that time mom got us both ballet lessons. Except they have the grace that me and mom utterly lacked. Same amount of stepping on each other though.

We all wait in silence until they finish, at which point there's a light round of applause from us earthlings. And Rufka.

Then we're updating Genitha and she's saying goodbye to Geral.

As I'm giving hugs to Tipan and Kellica, Genitha steps forward. "What no hug for your thiani's mother?"

I glance at Rufka, and she gives me a small nod. So I step forward and give Genitha a hug. Which she turns into a tight squeeze, while whispering, "You take care of my kitten, understand?"

I find myself nodding as Genitha moves on, giving Rufka a tight hug. Something about the way she said that has me frowning. As Rufka comes up next to me, throwing her arm over my shoulder, she asks, "What's wrong?"

Before I can answer, Genitha calls out, waving goodbye to us before teleporting away with Tipan and the Taken.

I stare at the empty spot for a moment before turning to Rufka to answer. Which is when Josh asks, "So, back to Glimmering Sands? Or do we go to Raz's? Beth kept waffling between them as respawn points."

Oh. I forgot. Looking at my notification, I confirm that Beth's cooldown has been reset.

Beth is back.

...TPWM...

February 23, 2019, 7:06 pm. The first hour of Beth's third life.

After a minute of discussion, we decide to return to Glimmering Sands. If Beth revived in Raz's, she can always return here. When we arrive in Glimmering Sands and there's no sign of her near the Nexus point, I check access to Raz's. But it's not available, a countdown saying it'll be back in range in twelve hours. And there’s no messages yet.

Even more reason to think Beth is at Raz's.

Still, Josh and Rose aren't arguing about tv. Or anything else. We're all quiet as we move to the inn. Pefe greets us with a giant smile, and soon has a warm meal ready. My mind returns to Genitha's strange request before teleporting away.

"Rufka, is there any reason your mum might be worried about meeting the K'mintar?" I ask, pulling her back from joining the game of Astra's Stride Roberts suggests after dinner. An attempt to distract Josh and Rose, I think.

"No, why?" Rufka asks, her eyes drifting towards where they're pulling out the board and placing the pieces.

A small smile tugs at my lips for a moment before a frown replaces it. "She asked me to take care of you before she left."

This manages to get Rufka's attention, and she turns to look at me with just her lower eyes. "What did she say, exactly?"

I repeat Genitha's words for her and Rufka half-jumps out of her chair as she spits out, "Ukila above, mum. You promised!"

"What did she promise?" I ask, suddenly worried. And not just for Genitha. Tipan and Kellica are with her.

"That she wouldn't..." Rufka trails off, her eyes closing as she settles back into the chair. "Vaus take me. This is my fault."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," I point out, starting to feel a little annoyed.

"We're going after the Aetherium. Maybe not directly, but this Fallen thing? That's being controlled by one of the ministers, no doubt about it," Rufka says, leaning back in the chair as she stares upward. "And we're enemies of the state. Mum's gonna confront them. Maybe the K'mintar. Maybe the council. And she's planning to spend her life to do so. At least twice."

"You're sure?" I ask, suddenly feeling much more worried. I can still feel the tether connecting me to Genitha and the others. I could Focus on them and see what they're doing. Maybe even teleport into the city in time to get Tipan out.

"No," Rufka admits, taking a lot of the wind out of my sails. "I don't know what she's doing. Because she didn't tell me. Again."

"I can check," I say, though I hesitate. It's been a while since I last looked through someone's eyes. Maybe it'd be better to send a message to Tipan through the Nexus.

"Please," Rufka says, squeezing my hand.

I nod, discarding my previous train of thought when I see her worry. When I attempt to Focus on Genitha, there's resistance. My Focus starts draining rapidly, but I can't seem to stabilize a connection. So, I take a breath, then switch to Tipan. This time, I'm able to connect almost instantly.

When I make the connection, Tipan stumbles, but she looks around, then whispers, "Lexi?"

I nod, then realizing how silly that is, I say, "Yes."

Back in my real body, I can barely feel Rufka squeeze my hand. Which surprises me. I didn't have any sense of my body when I did this last.

Instead of speaking, Tipan gives a subtle nod as she walks behind Genitha and Kellica down an ornate marble hall. The walls have bright tapestries hung along the walls, with detailed busts carved out of gold. Wherever they are, it's as ostentatious as any mansion I've seen on tv.

When they get to the end of the hall, they're stopped by a pair of guards who are more shadow than visible form. Their crossed swords are visible enough though.

"I'm here to see the K'mintar," Genitha says, her voice flat and cold. "Liz is expecting me."

The guards hesitate, but after a second, they pull their swords back, one of them pushing the door open with a shadow-dappled arm. Pretty sure they could've just used magic, but I'm starting to suspect a lot of people do things physically for the ceremony of it.

"You're meeting the K'mintar already?" I ask, and I can feel Rufka squeezing my hand again. I must be speaking in my real body as well.

Tipan nods again but remains silent as they step into a room that looks half-office and half-armory. At the desk set against one wall, is one of the shortest K'tharn I've ever seen. She's almost as small as a pu'shaha. Her brilliant orange and red fur purge any hope of her going unnoticed though. At least, not without magic. When Genitha enters, the small K'tharn turns towards her, the beads woven in her brace of short braids clattering.

"Of course, you choose to visit now," the K'mintar grunts, pushing her chair back. "And did you really have to put little Kellica through two weeks with your daughter?"

I feel Tipan suppress a snort, and I can't help but share her amusement at this diminutive K'tharn referring to Kellica as little when she's at least two heads shorter.

"You know that those weeks were good for her," Genitha replies, crossing her arms and glaring at the K'mintar. "And my visit wouldn't be as ill-timed if not for the traitor in your midst."

"Yes, yes, unpleasantness for all of us. Did you bring it?" the K'mintar asks.

"Bring what?" I can't help but ask, and Tipan gives a small shrug. Not that I expected her to know.

"Of course. I promised, didn't I?" Genitha replies, handing over an ornate box of white wood and gold filigree. The K'mintar opens the box, takes a deep breath, then smiles before closing it and putting it on the crowded desk behind her. Despite Tipan tilting her head and closing her upper eyes to focus better, she's unable to catch what's in the box.

"Now that, that's dealt with, we just have the matter of the-"

The door slams open, making Tipan jump slightly. Not enough I would've seen it, but enough I definitely felt it. Doesn't help that her boobs are apparently very bouncy. Does she use magic to keep them from visibly bouncing? Smart.

"K'mintar," one of the guards interrupts my thoughts about Tipan's breasts. "Someone has breached the cells."

The short K'tharn, doesn't hesitate. Faster than Tipan can track, she disappears. When Tipan turns to Genitha, it turns out she's gone too. Kellica is standing there with her mouth open, and Tipan steps forward, grabbing her by the shoulder. "What's going on? What cells?"

Tipan's question shakes Kellica out of her stupor. "The stasis cells. Where we keep the prisoners the council declares too dangerous to be allowed free."

"What? You keep prisoners here?" Tipan asks, following as Kellica finally starts moving.

"No. Not here, they're in a complex-"

Whatever Kellica was going to say is lost as something washes over them, shattering the connection. The last thing I see is a blue tinge.

...TPWM 2.43, There's Always Another Bug...

February 8, 2019, 11:03 am. Two weeks earlier.

Tipan watched as Alexis and Rufka cuddled together, unbothered by the rolling waves while looking out over the rolling ocean. She fought down a surge of jealousy but reminded herself that it was only for another few days. Then she wouldn't be stuck on this horrible deathtrap that threatened to upend her lunch at every unexpected swell.

Shit, shit, shit. Going through her memory at a time like this?

Kellica came onto deck, and as if planned, Rufka split off from Alexis, moving to join her. Tipan felt a wave of relief when Lexi waved at her. They'd be able to read soon. Even now, Tipan didn't trust herself to read alone. Without Lexi's steadying presence, she was worried she'd get drawn in, and forget that the voice wasn't actually her sister.

As Alexis came over, Tipan constrained herself, giving a polite nod instead of grabbing the girl's arm and dragging her downstairs.

"You want to take another crack at the book?" Lexi asked.

Wait, do I really sound like that? Oh my god. I'm perky?

"If you'd be so inclined," Tipan replied, instead of screaming out 'of course, you lovely fool'.

"Cool, I think I've figured out how to constrain my aura," Lexi said, leading the way as Tipan fought down the urge to shake her head, though she wasn't able to suppress her smile.

Huh. Yeah, can't believe I was so cheerful about that. Boyza was I wrong.

Tipan joined Alexis in the room that Beth had sequestered for this purpose. Once she put up the mana-blocking stand, Tipan took a breath of relief. The motion of the boat wasn't as bad when she couldn't feel the sudden changes in mana that clashed with the boat's actual movements. Lexi was already seated in the corner, slouched against the wall instead of the crossed legs she sometimes preferred. A soft smile tugged at Tipan's lips, and she suppressed the urge to reach over and ruffle her friend's hair.

Then she drew out The Book. It had been getting harder to go without reading it. Without hearing her sister's voice.

As Tipan opened it to the first locked passage, running her finger along the text, the low rumble that was Ivicka sounded in her ears, "Welcome back sister. Where were we? Ah, yes."

A tear threatened to form, but Tipan whisked it away with a small burst of fire. She'd heard the words before; it wasn't her sister. Not really.

"My mistake was in thinking that Folthka could be trusted to know what she was doing. Merging two cores. The next stage of K'tharn development, she promised. It was... I was… less confused those days. More myself."

Tipan took a deep breath. These pauses happened at times. Sometimes Ivicka would shift tone suddenly. Tipan was pretty sure these were interruptions to whatever recording process Ivicka had used. This pause wasn't like that though. This was just her sister being lost in thought.

"I was more myself, but I was more a fool too. Do not be like me, sister. Don't let them use you," Ivicka said, her conviction sending a thrill up Tipan's spine. "The merging of our cores seemed to work perfectly, at first. I had access to a second Resource. With Storm and Swagger, I was twice the K'tharn."

A long sigh, and Tipan moved to the next section of the book. Running her finger down it, her sister's voice continued. "It turned out, I really was two K'tharn. I first realized something was wrong when I was going to spend an afternoon with you, then the next thing I knew, I was on the southside of Aethire, holding some K'tharn I didn't even know by the throat. I almost miss those days. At least then..."

"It took her three months before her voice started influencing my waking thoughts. And when she took control... I saw everything. And now… My moments of clarity are fading. More and more, I am a passenger. This... this is the only time she doesn't fight me, a recording I’ll never give you. And she only allows it because she knows it's pointless. Afterall, this is her most prized possession. You'd have to kill us to get this book."

Well, that... kinda happened.

Tipan squeezed her eyes shut and glanced over at Lexi. Tipan had been there when it happened. She’d seen the horror in Lexi's eyes when she'd realized what she'd done to Ivicka. Tipan hadn't been able to hold it against her friend.

Wow. Uhm, thanks Tipan.

Tipan held her hand away from the text. The next passage would be hard to hear. But the way the records worked, she had to listen through them in order. Either that or they'd restart. Tipan considered restarting again. Some of the earlier messages were Ivicka reminiscing about memories from their childhood. They were special moments.

"Ah, the sister," the voice that wasn't Ivicka said, making Tipan's spine shiver. She once more glanced to the side where Lexi sat, her face scrunched up in concentration. A small smile tugged at Tipan's lips as she firmed her resolve and continued running her finger down the text. "I've decided these messages should serve a purpose. If, for some reason, this book does pass into your hands, who better to ensure my mission continues. Afterall, your sister has been so useful."

Twice, Tipan had closed the book at this point, restarting the messages. But she owed it to Ivicka to find out everything she could. So, Tipan moved to the next section, running her finger down the text.

"Good. A good student. Now, I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is Jethico. Though you likely know me as the great Empress."

Tipan shuddered as the voice continued to speak, extolling her own virtues. Because she did know who Jethico was. She was Uthica's aunt, the one who remained to rule the Aetherium after Uthica left. She was the start of the lies Tipan had held close all her life.

With one last glance at Lexi, Tipan straightened her shoulders and returned her attention to the book. She'd get everything she could out of it. And then she'd tell Lexi everything. But first... first she had to know.

She had to know the truth.

...TPWM...

February 23, 2019, 8:33 pm.

I snap back to my body, and I know that less than a second has passed since I was in the K'mintar's office, viewing everything through Tipan's eyes. The playback hasn't cost me any time.

"Your mum was visiting the K'mintar, just like planned. But something happened in... the cells? And my tethers..." I attempt to find the tethers leading to the others, but they're all gone. "I can't feel them!"

"The cells?" Rufka asks, squinting while pulling back. "I feel like mum's mentioned something about Taken cells but..."

"They're stasis chambers, for storing dangerous prisoners," I say, looking towards the other table. Raising my voice, I call, "We need to get that tracking array online. Come on."

The others look over at me, but I'm already moving. Vethel said the rest of the parts would be coming in tomorrow. But there's another source of parts, and they should be done using them.

With a plan in mind, I set off through town, jogging as I grumble about the stronghold's restriction on flight and all-out running. On the plus side, it makes it easy for Rufka and Smoulder to catch up to me.

"Uhm, the array is that way," Rufka notes, pointing south towards the house where we're building the array is.

"Yep. But we need the rest of the parts first," I say, my eyes locking on the spire in the distance.

"Oh... oh, yeah, that could work," Rufka agrees, nodding as we run up to the former Fallen's compound.

There are groups of K'tharn around, slightly scruffy but leagues better than they were before. As I scan for Trellani or Thetilda, a K'tharn ducks into a hut. Which I notice is already looking a lot better than it was, with a few artistic flourishes over the entrance. A moment later, Trellani emerges from the same hut. She turns towards us with a smile as we approach, and I nod my head in the direction of the Cleansing chamber. "Any chance I could borrow some parts?"

Trellani frowns, but as I explain the situation, her eyes light up. "Of course, we'll help." Then, before I can explain we just need a few parts, Trellani starts calling orders. I share the actual list with her before she tears the whole spire apart. But she tells me it'll have to be rebuilt from scratch anyway. I watch in bemusement as several K'tharn come over and help Trellani break the spire down. Less than five minutes after we walked into camp, Trellani is nodding in satisfaction. "Lead the way."

Turning, I start off at a jog back towards the house. Roberts is waiting on the steps when I arrive, his chin resting on interwoven fingers as he takes in the entourage following us. "You believe this is necessary?"

"I do," I reply as we make our way up the steps.

"Very well," Roberts says, holding the door open for the following K'tharn.

I share the plans with Trellani, and she directs the accompanying K'tharn to drop off the parts, then shoos them away. The next hour is spent with Rufka and Trellani calling back and forth while Roberts and I help where we can. Josh and Rose are standing nearby, watching, but no longer underfoot.

Finally, the array is complete. However, the only focus we have for it is the quest one.

"It's fine. We can use that to test it, then Rufka can put in something personal that's tied to her mum," Trellani reassures us as she settles the focus in place.

"I... just what level enchanter are you?" Rufka asks, squinting at Trellani.

"Didn't your mum ever tell you it's not polite to ask an Enchanter her tier?" Trellani laughs as she makes another adjustment.

"I didn't ask... you're copper?" Rufka sounds shocked. And I don't blame her. Trellani's not copper ranked according to her status. Or... at least, I don't think she is. It's not like my analysis tells me anyone's tier. But her stats are all lower.

"Hmm. Could be," Trellani replies before asking for another tool, adjusting the focus until it starts glowing. "Okay, let's try it out."

When she activates the controls, there's no fancy effect like with the cleansing chamber. Instead, the interface just lists off a few numbers.

"Oh... it's going to take a few minutes to calibrate," Trellani says, frowning at the display. Then she turns around, looking over everyone. After a second, she steps forward, holding her hand out to Roberts. "I don't think we've been introduced."

Roberts chuckles as he takes the time to introduce not just himself, but Josh and Rose as well. When she shakes Rose's hand, her grip lingers as she looks him up and down, her eyes narrowing.

Then there's a ping from the console and we all return to the tracking array.

"Okay. So... this is... hmm, that's weird. It's across the river?" Trellani says, squinting at the readout. I look at the coordinates and recognize them from when we crossed the river earlier. They're in the empty Builder's City. "Hold on, I'll go make sure the antenna's adjusted correctly."

As she leaves, I trade a look with Roberts and Rufka. I don't know why the control module might be there, but I suspect Trellani isn't going to find anything.

Still, we let her run a diagnostic, then we run it again and the results come up the same. We put that discovery off for the moment, as Rufka places her mother's locket in the machine. Trellani explains the adjustments she's making, and how it relies on the intrinsic System link between a mother and daughter. Rufka gets excited as they continue, and all I'm able to confirm is that this will probably work. And it'll probably destroy Rufka's locket in the process.

"Okay, only gonna get one... maybe two chances at this," Trellani says once they have the locket in place. There's an entire second set of enchantments holding it in place, all forged from metal summoned by Rufka.

"My mum would love to talk to you," Rufka says, as she double checks the enchantments.

"Sure. I love talking about enchantment," Trellani replies, her hands hovering over the controls. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's find her," Rufka replies.

Again, there's almost no noticeable result. Other than the small string of coordinates.

"That's not in Aethire," I say, and I realize that my Explorer subclass is helping me pinpoint the location. "It's... in Betheryne?"

Rufka is nodding as Roberts claps his hands. "Makes sense. Free security and close to the Aetherium."

"Kay, gather round. Thanks for the help Trellani," I say. Technically, I'm supposed to use the Nexus for teleporting out of the city. But since we have Vethel's support, I'm sure she'll forgive us this little indiscretion.

"Yeah, no prob-" I don't catch the last of her words as I whisk everyone away to Betheryne.

Turning, I place the rough location of the coordinates in comparison to my mental map of Betheryne. They're on the opposite side of the city from where Folthka's lab was. I lead the way, flying over the city’s neat stone buildings. Our destination appears to be a low domed building, with several tiered gardens along the sides.

When I get closer, I see the entrance has been blown in.

"Looks like the right place," Roberts observes, his barrier armor shimmering into place as we land.

"Me and Roberts first," Josh says, as Petals fold into place over his head. "Assault formation JR."

Rose and I move to the middle while Rufka takes the rear. Then we move inside. I'm throwing out thin webs of Facet, hoping to catch the edge of someone. Immediately inside the door, I get a response. Buried under a collapsed wall is the battered form of Lik'tik.

"Alive," Roberts says, energy flowing out of him as Lik'tik's wounds heal. "And they're stable."

Nodding, I motion us forward. We make it another two halls, following the destruction. We find Ael'thani and Kellica flanking a staircase. Neither of them appear injured, and I retether to both.

"What's happening?" I ask when Kellica glances over.

She sags against the wall for a second then straightens out. "Unknown forces have breached the lower cells. The K'mintar ordered us to remain here. Tipan..."

Her eyes drift down the stairs, and the meaning is clear enough. Tipan followed them.

"Got it. I'm going to get her. Alone," I say, turning to Rufka to stop her from objecting. But she just nods. Then she points to Smoulder's pocket with a smile. I smile back, adding, "Okay, not totally alone."

"You know it's dangerous down there, right? The K'mintar doesn't think she'll be safe," Ael'thani asks, looking at me like I'm... well, like I'm me.

"Yeah, and Tipan's down there. Be right back," I say, channelling Pause as I throw myself down the stairs. As I come around the bottom step, I dodge an errant spike of metal, a twisting silver-grey shard the size of my arm. It impales the wall and keeps going. Flicking my attention back to the hall, I spot a flash of red fur as it crosses a distant hall. Then I see a flash of white.

I tag them both with tethers before moving forward. Another shard of metal emerges, and I realize there's some sort of wolfadillo in the hall, nearly perfectly blended with the collapsed stone. But it's twisted, the face half the size it should be compared to the oversized body. A quick analysis reveals that it's an immortal mana-warped wolfadillo. Its physical resistance is listed as infinite.

So, I do what any totally rational person who isn't terrified for their friend would do. I teleport next to it, then wrap half of it in my aura and teleport blindly ten kilometers up.

It slices cleanly, and I teleport upward again, carrying my half of the wolfadillo with me.

This time, the air is too thin. Even the mana is thin.

I'm not even sure how high I went. But it's high enough that Akilo doesn't seem to be getting closer. And the air in my lungs is fighting against my increased Strength to try and escape. I don't wait for it to get worse, locking onto Tipan's tether and using it to return to the action, activating Anchor the second I reappear. My first loop, I get smashed to the side by something I don't even see. The second time, I duck, and discover the wolfadillo had a friend. The chitinous form of Pogell is standing in front of me, bereft of his fur. Except... analysis says it's not him. It's another Malkog. This one wields a pair of thick blades of dark blood. I don't use the third loop of my Anchor, ending the ability early. Ducking again, I lash out at the unknown Malkog with a combination Torrent of metal and fire.

It's more effective than I expected, the molten metal trapping him in place as he screams.

His scream is cut short a second later as the K'mintar removes his head from his shoulders. She nods in my direction as I blanche. A quick turn reveals an uninjured Tipan next to me. She pulls me into a brief hug, which I return before pushing her away. "Tipan, we should-"

Tipan nods, then dashes after the K'mintar.

"Not what I meant," I hiss as I teleport after her. As she takes her third step, she transforms into a being of wind. Between that and the rate she's moving, I don't feel comfortable teleporting her.

I follow, making sure Smoulder is awake and ready to move. We round another corner, and I immediately Pause before I've finished flying out.

Which is great, cause it lets me blast Tipan to the side, preventing both of us from being bisected by a.... razor sharp cog?

Down the corridor is another of the Malkog, this one wearing a suit of gears. A quick scan reveals this guy's a cog-knight. I'm reluctant to trap him in place after what the K'mintar did to the last one. But then he shoots another blade in our direction. Two, while we're in Pause. And those things look sharp. I return fire with a full set of Piercing arrows while pulling Tipan down with me. Then the Pause ends, and she gusts forward, slamming the cog-knight into the ceiling. The K'mintar ends this one's life as fast as the first, beheading him while he's still plastered to the ceiling.

"Tipan!" I yell, my frustration mounting. I don't even know what's happening here, other than the obvious fight for our lives. "What's going on?"

"They're trying to break out a Reaper!" Tipan yells back and my blood goes cold. Why hasn't the System gone off?

Instead of questioning, I inform the others of the stakes. And I override the K'mintar's orders. I want my friends here. Hopefully we can stop them without more...

But neither Tipan nor the K'mintar are waiting around, already moving deeper into the compound. "Where's Genitha?"

"Dead," Tipan snarls, and the answer almost causes me to stop in shock.

"I... what?" I can't help but ask but Tipan is already around the corner. The next corner is another set of stairs, and when I reach the bottom, I see collapsed rubble filling the entire hall. There are several dead corpses and another of the Malkog. This one is already missing both arms but hasn't collapsed yet. It hisses at the K'mintar, but that's its last action, the K'mintar driving one of its lost arms through its head. "What do you mean Genitha's dead?"

"Pogell was waiting for us. He knocked us all out, they killed Genitha before..." Tipan trails off as she and the K’mintar start moving again. "Anyway, Pogell extracted the location from the K'mintar's mind. But then a pulse of energy hit Genitha’s body and triggered an explosion. Which disrupted the paralysis."

"And now we need to stop them before they destroy Akilo," The K'mintar adds, hesitating before dashing across a ruined section of hall. She stops a second later, looking into a side alcove like dozens we've already passed. She nods at us, spinning around the corner. Before she's stepped out, I've Paused time, and am moving across the opening. Pogell is at the far end, a web of thin strands blocking the entrance. He's working at a console. I see sparks from it even as I teleport past his hallway of webs.

But then... time passes. I watch it as though I'm stuck outside, my time sense telling me that 7.32 seconds will pass before I'm able to return to the flow. In that time, the K'mintar comes around the corner, slashing down at the webs. They oblige her, snapping. And triggering an explosion that knocks her and Tipan away. Rufka and Roberts appear atop the rubble, Roberts already moving to Tipan. Rufka is a blazing ball of plasma, and suddenly the hallway is filled with burning light. Then she reaches Pogell, and her form is sucked into a cube at his feet. I can see singe marks on his chitin. A shudder passes through the tunnel, and Rose throws up earthen pillars, keeping the roof from coming down. Josh joins him, a thin layer of roots wrapping the earth and reinforcing it.

Then Pogell makes a high-pitched cry, and the blank wall in front of him shimmers and reveals a creature of black chitin. While it could be said to resemble the Malkog, that would be like saying a killer whale resembles a guppy. It is four meters of pure lethality, glistening arms ending in claws that look like they can pierce steel, a maw of equally nasty looking teeth and dark ridges in place of its eyes. I can practically feel the malice rolling off it in waves.

And it’s not even standing up.

Then I'm back in the flow of time, right as this horror wakes up.

I Pause as its arm reaches out, grabbing Pogell.

And snaps his neck.

...TPWM 2.44, Not Ugly Enough to Save...

February 23, 2019, 10:10 pm. Too late to save Pogell. Too early to care.

The beast, the Reaper, draws Pogell towards its jagged mouth as I push myself away while I consider my next course of action. I don't want to scan it, since that could bring the System down on us. Instead, I release a series of pierce arrows, just to test if it has any obvious weaknesses. The way my arrows leave only the tiniest of blemishes on its shell makes me want to frown. That's not System resistance.

Even as my spells hit it, it lifts Pogell to its mouth, and three lashing tongues emerge. They tear apart his shell like he's made of paper. Even as Pogell is serving as this thing's first meal, I reach the hallway. I can't just run. I note Roberts helping the K'mintar up. That's good. We're probably going to-

The effect keeping Rufka in the cube ends, and a brilliant ball of plasma erupts in the Reaper's face. It stuns it for a second, and chars one of the tongues, causing it to fall out. Then Rufka flashes away as the Reaper swipes at where she emerged. Right as my Pause ends, she appears in a flash at my side. "Ugly one, isn't he?" Rufka asks with entirely too much smile in her voice.

I curse my own traitorous smile as I reply, "But is he ugly enough to save him?"

We both laugh as I channel Pause and she disappears in another flash. The fact she was able to char his tongue so easily proves he's not protected by Health. Rufka knocks him to the side as he takes a step towards us. Then I attach a tether. It meets the same sort of resistance I had when I first attached one to Pogell. If it was the first time I'd encountered it, it would've fooled me. But thanks to Pogell's treachery, I'm able to bypass the secondary mana signature to lock onto the Reaper itself.

I cast Lesser Cataclysm.

The air around the Reaper ripples. I get half a dozen System notifications, most of them intangible and cut off.

"Warning: Reaper detect-"

"Warning: System-"

"Warning: Setting count-"

"Update: Presence Lost. Initiating-"

"Secondary-"

"Hidden Objective Completed. Purge the Reapers. 1/1 Reaper Warform destroyed. Rewards: Processing."

I barely glance at them, but the death confirmation is worth the distraction.

"What?" The K'mintar asks as the Reaper collapses, its body sloughing apart into twelve different pieces.

Now that it's dead, I scan it. The analysis is completely different, hundreds of different lines of data. None of it matches up to the System's normal stats. Even as I'm scanning it, my System pings me, informing we've received twenty integration points, and another progression point.

"Damn Lexi, that's messy," Rufka says as she flashes back to my side.

"My book," Tipan says, pulling the book from beneath Pogell's corpse, completely ignoring the dead Reaper. "Thank you, Lexi."

"How about we get out of here?" Josh asks, "This building doesn't feel very stable. Also, I thought this city was a Sanctuary. How did we even get in a fight down here?"

"We're not in the city anymore," the K'mintar answers, frowning at the dead Reaper before turning towards me. "Can you do... that… again?"

I narrow my eyes at the K'mintar, not liking the implication of her question. To my surprise, she flinches away.

"Right. Of course, you can. Well, if you'd like to earn some easy Essence, there are more mana-warped beasts in the upper levels that are nigh impossible to kill. If you're able to do that to them, then we can reduce our overhead," The K'mintar says, completely misunderstanding my displeasure.

She starts walking away, and the rest of us follow. I consider teleporting up, but when I hear the K'mintar grumble about making sure nothing is still loose, I decide to follow her. We spend half an hour working through the facility. I end up killing two more immortal mana-warped, a suicidal (if it wasn't immortal) mana-hare and a beast that looks like a mix of a loading ramp and a wolf. The warping effect was not kind to that one. Neither requires Lesser Cataclysm. Simply bisecting them with regular teleports is enough, though it does take several teleports for each of them. There is something about my teleport that disrupts mana-flows in addition to its physical displacement.

Which I put into my notebook as another subject to study.

Once we're finished, we emerge to find the mini-taur waiting for us. Next to him is Genitha, who looks a little annoyed but otherwise fine.

Seriously, I'm starting to worry that I'm getting too used to people dying and coming back. I barely blink at her return. Her hug on the other hand takes my breath away.

"You kids did great, Geral showed me the feeds," Genitha says, squeezing us tight enough I'm able to see my Health dropping rapidly.

"Mum, Health," Rufka objects as Smoulder jumps up and joins the hug.

"Oh, sorry kitten. I'm just so proud of you. Taking on a Reaper! And a warform at that," Genitha doesn't release us, keeping her arms over our shoulders. "Now, what say we celebrate your first world-killer kill?"

Then Genitha's eyes fall on the rest of our party. "Well? You're all invited too! Let's get our dance on."

"Uhm. We're actually..." I was going to say we're busy. But then I realize... we're waiting for Beth to get out of Raz’s. And the Aetherium's controller isn't going anywhere. Neither is the puzzle dungeon. "Actually, dancing sounds great."

Tipan agrees, putting the book in her inventory for the first time since she got it, with a giant smile. The others shrug, not entirely on board, but with only a little cajoling, and explaining my thought process, Roberts and the Taken agree. Josh and Rose remain adamant about returning to Glimmering Sands, wanting to be there when Beth shows up. I teleport them over myself, only staying long enough to promise that I'll be back in the morning. Then it's back to Betheryne and Garel's dance hall. Which is packed with K'tharn from the Aetherium.

Part of me is amused that they're able to lock me out of the capital but here we are, celebrating in its shadow.

The night goes long, and Roberts ends up teaching us all new moves on the dance floor.

When the morning arrives, we don't notice. It's not until the next afternoon that we make it back to Glimmering Sands. We bid goodbye to Kellica, and she promises to stay in touch. But she's needed in the Taken, now that their numbers are so greatly diminished. She was rather flustered when Ael'thani recommended that she should teach the new trainees. The K'mintar shot that down, saying it wouldn't be fair to inflict that sort of punishment on someone who'd served so well.

We're still in a good mood as we make our way to the inn, where I can feel Rose's tether. Josh's is... distorted, leading into the Nexus point then disappearing. Which is what I'm used to when someone is at Raz's. Usually, it's pointed at Nexus point 392, but the feeling is the same. As we come inside, Rose gets up off one of the giant couches in the lobby, almost knocking over one of Pefe's art displays. A selection of wolf-like figurines running on their hind legs.

"Morning," I greet him, reaching out to pull him into a hug.

I'm definitely still riding last night's good mood.

Rose's next words send it crashing down. "Beth won't come out of Raz's."

...TPWM...

February 24, 2019, 2:19 pm.

Walking into Raz's, I turn towards where Josh is sitting alone at a table. He raises his drink towards us as I walk over.

"Where's Beth?" I ask, glancing towards the stairs leading up to the private rooms. Instead, Josh motions over his shoulder towards the park. I nod, then start walking away, pausing at his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, squeezing his shoulder.

He gives me a small smile and an equally small shrug. "Woman I love doesn't want to talk to me. Hurts. I understand, but ya know…"

I nod, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before walking towards the park while the others join Josh at the table. Even Smoulder stays behind.

When I step inside the park, I take a deep breath. There's something different about the garden air here. It reminds me of earth in a way that nature on Akilo doesn't. I wonder if it's because it's all fake.

It doesn't take me long to find Beth, though she is parked on a bench that's off any of the walking paths, staring out at the fake sky that stretches into the distance.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" I ask as I stop next to her bench.

Beth looks up, staring blankly at me for several seconds before she blinks. "Oh. Hey kid. No, you can sit."

I accept her offer, and instead of saying anything I stare out into the fake distance with her for a while. Despite everything, I can't understand what she's going through. I'm still in my first body... probably. Part of me thinks I might've died when I first got the Restoration ability and I've just been walking around in a shell since then. Which... doesn't really bother me. Just one more reason why I remain quiet. Sab and I used to talk about how our minds were the only part of us that were really us. I hadn't been convinced at first. It was when she pointed out that our bodies do shape our experiences that I almost squawked in triumph. And then she continued.

Closing my eyes, I can almost hear her.

"It's not just what we experience ourselves, Lex. The human experience is about stories. Our minds are shaped by what we watch, and what we read. Is that less real? I don't think it is. I think that anything that can change us is real. But our bodies? They're just the first experience. The one we all start with. I don't believe for a second it's the one we'll end with."

I take a deep breath, as the wave of nostalgia washes through me.

"I miss Sab," I say, wiping tears from my eyes.

Beth doesn't say anything for a while, and I go back to staring. Then she says, "I miss barbeque sauce. They just don't get it right without tomatoes."

I can't stop the laugh as Beth turns towards me slightly. "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good, actually. Like, real good. How're you?"

"I... Josh loves me. You know that? And I..."

"You don't love him?" I ask, feeling a sad weight settle in my chest.

"No, that's not it. I do. Every one of us, of me, has. I just... I was just... gone. For almost a week this time. Like I didn't exist. It takes some adjustment."

"Yeah... kinda like a really long nap," I reply, a small smile creeping onto my face. I create a small rock, then throw it towards the fake horizon. Just before it strikes, I teleport it back into my hand.

"I... yeah, kinda like a really long nap," Beth chuckles. "Did I tell you about how our talk went?"

"You, in fact, did not," I inform her with a smile, tossing and teleporting the rock again. "I figured it went well though."

"It did. And... it went in unexpected directions. It was a very vigorous night. I'm sure I don't have to tell you about all the benefits of Stamina in the bedroom."

"Beth!" I protest, hitting her shoulder as a blush climbs my cheeks, the rock smacking into the fake horizon with a thud.

"Mhm. A woman can get used to that sort of... staying power," Beth says, a dreamy look in her eye as I decide to abandon the rock. And almost the bench too.

"So... if you have that waiting for you out there... why are you in here. Alone?" I ask, waving in the direction of the entrance.

"Ah. Well, I fucked up again. I'm just glad I'm the only one that paid for it," Beth says, shrugging as she looks back at the wall. "I don't deserve him."

I stare at Beth for several seconds before I start cackling. It's a good proper cackle, equal parts hysterical and condescending amusement. I throw in some swirling balls of elemental energy for effect in the background. As is only natural.

By the time I've finished Beth is staring at me with her eyebrows raised.

"Man, I knew you were arrogant," I say as I get to my feet. "Just didn't think you were that arrogant. Vaus-damn, I was worried about you."

"I... what?" Beth asks, clearly not following.

"Arrogant. Rufka and I talked about not deserving someone. And I’ve been thinking about it. It was arrogant of me to think I didn't deserve my friend Sab. It was arrogant of me to think my opinion of myself was more important than Sab's opinion of me."

"Kid... you sure I was only gone for a week?" Beth chuckles as she pushes to her feet.

"Why?" I ask, crossing my arms. letting the elemental energies disappear.

"Because Alexis, it seems like I blinked and you grew into yourself. Looks good on you," Beth says, pulling me into a hug. "I really am proud of you."

"Oh," I reply.

As she holds me, I start crying again. For absolutely no good reason. She joins me.

Stupid feelings.

...TPWM...

February 24, 2019, 2:55 pm.

A few minutes later, I use a conjured mirror of polished chrome as I wash myself down. Luckily, it doesn't take much. I was always pretty low maintenance and being on Akilo only emphasizes that. Besides, I have illusions if I want to adjust my appearance.

Beth and I walk back into the main room together, and she moves over to Josh, apologizing to him in front of everyone. Then she pulls him into a rather passionate kiss.

We end up leaving Raz's not much later, making our way to the coordinates of the Aetherium's control matrix. We bring Trellani, who had just finished rebuilding the Fallen Cleansing chamber. Which is pretty much perfect, cause we're going to need it if this works.

"You're sure I'm not crazy?" I ask Wyonna.

[Wyonna] "We'll need to inspect the matrix first. But the idea is sound."

I nod as Rufka and I poke through the half-collapsed building, searching for anything that might hint at a hidden control matrix. We search for half an hour before Tipan messages me, letting us know she and Roberts have found something. It takes a couple minutes to find the mostly missing building where they're hiding, despite the tether leading to them. The entrance they went through is barely wider than my shoulders and is little more than a hole in the ground. I drop nearly ten meters, my flight allowing me to nail a perfect superhero landing without damaging anything. The stairs that once led down into this section lie in a twisted heap nearby.

On the other side of the room is something that very much doesn't match the ruined decor that dominates the rest of the ruined city. A pulsing network of thin tubes covers half the wall, with a pair of much larger ones going directly into the floor. In the center is a cluster of semi-organic parts mixed with mechanical components. Due to the level of care put into it, it only looks half as horrifying as I'm sure it would otherwise.

I begin scanning the entire device, building a full model that I can share with the others. I've been working on it for a few minutes when Trellani and Rose show up in a small avalanche of falling dust. They're followed by Beth and Josh, who don't make even a quarter of the mess.

"So, what do you guys think?" I ask, as the diagram is filled in. The matrix is connected to the Builder City’s network, which explains why they put it here. They’re piggybacking on the network to maintain wide-area control.

"You're sure you can hijack these?" Trellani asks, gesturing to the links I detected leading away from the matrix. Links similar to the connections I traced through my party interface when we first arrived on Akilo.

"Wyonna?" I ask, waiting for her to finish her own analysis.

[Wyonna] "Should be easier than giving a cat a bath."

"That's... okay, Wyonna says building the components we'll need is challenging, but not impossible." As if she was waiting for me to finish, Wyonna overlays her designs on my vision, allowing me to copy them for the others. Actually... she was totally waiting for me to finish, wasn't she?

"Hmm. It'll take a few hours, but I'd say this is doable. Disabling the traps is gonna be the fun bit," Trellani says, rubbing her upper hands together, while her lower hands continue to trace patterns along the enchantment. "Still not sure how you're going to do the last stage, but the secondary overlay is gonna work."

I nod, accepting that I still can't explain being able to see the inner workings of the System. And not wanting to share just how much of the System Wyonna can hack.

"How much Essence you think this is going to take?" Rufka asks as she steps over, her eyes still locked on the enchanting design.

"How many Awakened Fallen do you think the Aetherium has?" I reply with a giant grin.

"You know, if this works, we're going to have earned our place as enemies of the Aetherium, right?"

"It'll be worth it," I reply, watching as Trellani brings out a bunch of the components Wyonna figured we'd need. And a whole bunch more that Trellani brought along, 'just in case'.

Then we get to work. It's mostly Tipan, Rufka and Trellani doing the work, though I'm there to hand over tools. By the time they're done, almost every part of the matrix has extra tubes, little organelles or glowing lights attached to it. I'm pretty sure the lights are just for Trellani's satisfaction, but I can't say that with certainty.

"So, no test runs on this thing. Not unless you wanna spend hundreds of Essence twice," Trellani says as we stare at the matrix. "And I'm sure that once we activate it, whoever built it is going to come running. No matter how much they're trying to sneak under the M'tari's noses. Oh, is that part of the plan?"

"I... it wasn't, but maybe it should be," I say, looking towards Beth, who nods. "We know it's someone on the council. The K'mintar was able to confirm that much."

"Typical council arrogance," Trellani says as she flips open a very physical chute. That I'm pretty sure we didn't need. "So, just dump in... I can't tell how many strands there are. At least a hundred."

[Wyonna] "There's, oh, 142 strands there. Which means we're gonna need a minimum of 156 Iron Rank Mana-Essence. Preferably a few extra unless you want to chance overbooking tickets like everyone’s favorite airlines."

"Got it," I say, relaying the total needed. Rufka and I both pitch in most of it from our recent windfall from Vethel. Afterall, she did want us to use it to cripple the Aetherium's new Fallen contingent.

[Wyonna] "Okay. Concentrate on the connection while I show you how a real girl does things."

Nodding, I link into the bypass we've created with the enchantment. A vague awareness of over a hundred other minds blossoms on the other end. Expending Focus, I keep the awareness vague while struggling to keep the connection strong. There are hundreds of ghost images flashing by, and I try to relay any important ones I spot to Wyonna to let her know how she's doing. But my attention mostly remains on the matrix's tethers.

It takes Wyonna nearly five minutes, but then she chimes out a simple, "And done."

I get one last set of ghost messages, these ones fully formed and easy to read, though they're not for me. They're for all the Awakened Fallen connected to the matrix.

"Quest received: A Real Choice. You have been given the option of remaining with the Aetherium in exchange for staying alive. Another option is available to you. Return to your life as a K'tharn, resetting your System status. Accept Teleport: 0/1. Rewards: A clear Status, allowing you to reset your class and complete quests again, including a second chance at the More Than One quest line. Freedom from the Aetherium's control. A second chance to be alive. Time remaining: 72 hours."

"Would you like to know more? Y/N?"

"Teleport Pending. Accept? Y/N?"

We've given them the choice... now all we can do is wait.

...TPWM 2.45, A Hundred and One Fallen...

February 24, 2019, 8:59 pm. Just your typical Sunday.

We don't wait at the transmitter, cause that's not where the cleansing chamber is set up. To my surprise, not even five minutes after the quest is sent out, I have more than twenty Fallen who've accepted the teleport. They arrive in the former Fallen's compound, one in each of the huts with a former Fallen waiting for them. For safety, I only bring in one at a time. It slows things down, but seriously, I wasn't expecting this much of a rush.

Smoulder helps simply by being present, pressing her head against my cheek whenever I'm starting to worry or lose focus. And I have to keep an active focus on the connection to the matrix to teleport them in. A process I can’t augment with Focus if I want to have enough to teleport everyone.

By the time we're done processing the initial respondents, nearly forty Fallen are in the compound. Trellani is running checks on the Cleansing chamber and there's some amount of nervous chatter from the current Fallen as they wait. When Trellani asks for a volunteer, it takes a minute before a smaller Fallen steps forward. Their body is in worse shape than most Fallen, their left leg showing clear bone and both of their right arms just... missing. Trellani takes her time escorting the Fallen inside the chamber, having to adjust the stabilizing straps to make up for the Fallen's missing arms.

Then she climbs out and throws the switch. When the mana-dust clears, and the former Fallen emerges completely restored, with all four arms and a healthy leg, the reticence of the crowd is replaced by several Fallen trying to rush forward at once.

Which is when I step in. "Alright," my voice booms, thanks to a slight amplification using Twilight and Wind magic. "We're doing this based on your remaining ambient mana. I'll be pointing you out, and then you'll go in order. This is to make sure you're all as healthy as possible when we finish. Understand?"

There's some grumbling, and one Fallen looks like they're about to object, so... I crack the sky. Only a little. But I teleport a small area above me away, not making it neat. Which leaves an effect similar to a mana-storm strike, if a fair bit weaker.

In a level voice, I ask again, "Understand?"

This time, everyone lines up as directed, a few glances thrown my way, but no more objections. Smoulder nods in smug satisfaction as they get cleansed. I'm only paying partial attention, as another few requests for teleportation come through. When they emerge to see Fallen being actively cleansed, it makes things go a lot smoother.

The next twelve hours go by without much incident. I am starting to feel a little tired, but I've stayed up for 72 hours before I was superhuman, so I know I can manage it. Especially with Rufka bringing me tea that'll keep me awake. Too bad it doesn't function as a replacement for sleep.

Once I reach twenty-four hours from the time I woke up, the condition sleep-deprived is added, halving all my base pool regenerations, and requiring seven hours of sleep to clear. Doesn't affect Facet, at least. When Roberts attempts to heal it, he reduces the time required to clear it down to four hours but can’t get rid of the condition itself.

It's around hour thirty-five that we get our first real problem. The Fallen arrives simply enough, but they demand to be shown to our leader. Thankfully, Beth takes on the role, since I'm kinda tired, and still distracted. When he tries to attack her, I barely notice until he's slumping down at her feet.

A couple hours later, Vethel shows up, and demands to know what exactly we're doing in her Stronghold. Again, someone else answers her. Rufka this time, though I am standing nearby and nodding when appropriate. There's a moment of stunned silence followed by harsh laughter. Then a sad shake of her head as she walks away.

After she leaves, I return to playing with my aura, testing my ability to expand and contract it. Two hours of practice later, Tipan reports that someone visited the control matrix. But they can’t disable our modifications. Which makes sense, they'd have to be willing to shut it down or replace it to get rid of everything we've done. And it wouldn't even matter. We have the connections already.

Tipan was able to confirm it was an agent of the council, and we've passed the information to the K'mintar, but I learn nothing more.

When I hit hour forty-eight, my condition worsens to sleep exhaustion. Which reduces my regeneration of my main resources by ninety percent. Amusingly, it boosts my Facet regeneration by ten percent for some reason. When I mention that to Tipan, she asks for specific details. Then she says she needs to check some books. I've forgotten about it, playing a simple game of Astra's stride with Smoulder, pretty much at the limit of my processing ability, when Tipan comes back.

"There are a few similar records of sleep exhaustion increasing resource regeneration. The Dream, Sleep and Wisdom resources are all confirmed to be linked to having increased regeneration from exhaustion."

"That's funny," I slur out. "Being exhausted makes Sleep."

"I... Lexi, how many more are there?" Tipan asks, and it takes me a second to realize she's asking how many Fallen haven't accepted the teleport yet.

"Uhm... forty-two? No, forty-one," I say, as I realize there's a pending teleport waiting. As they appear in the designated shack, I turn my attention back to Tipan. She said something, but I missed it.

"What was that?" I ask. I could replay the memory, but that would require Focus. And that's not regenerating so fast at the moment.

"You only need to last another twelve hours Lexi. Then you can sleep," Tipan says, squeezing my shoulder before getting up.

I nod at her, closing my eyes for a second, before forcing them back open. Going without sleep is hard without caffeine. Even the teas Rufka was giving me stopped working after forty-eight hours. The System doesn't like people going without sleep, it seems. When I reach seventy-two hours without sleep, my primary resources stop regenerating. And my Facet's regeneration rate is doubled. Tipan seems fascinated by this, taking notes as I gaze into the distance.

The remaining hours are mostly spent on my feet, with Rufka at my side. Or Roberts. Josh and Beth too. Tipan... I still need to talk to her about the book, and while we're pacing, I attempt to do exactly that. But somehow, she misunderstands my question, and I end up learning about how Ivicka taught her to read when she was a cub.

Then Rufka is back, and I get another couple dozen acceptances. One of whom attacks the former Fallen who greets them. But after the first attack, we're prepared, and Roberts' barrier stops them in their tracks. They're detained, using one of the K'mintar's mana-spikes to drain them before attaching mana-blocking shackles. They'll receive just enough mana to keep them alive... I think. It's hard to remember Trellani's explanation.

She was pretty excited; I do remember that.

Less than ten minutes after the one who attacked, we get another desperate Fallen. But this one wants us to return with her to save her sister. She's been providing her sister her own mana. I recognize her, even through the fog of memory. She was one of the original three Fallen we saved. The ones who didn't bend under Ivicka's rule. Sad to see she wasn’t able to stay free.

Is that our fault?

Unfortunately, she was stationed in Aethire, so I can't teleport her sister out. I'm still apologizing to her when Rufka pulls me away and Beth explains that her sister is being extracted. It makes me realize there are other Fallen who might not know.

"We failed," I say, staring out at the ocean. There are still no waves. It feels like there should be waves.

"No," Rufka says, squeezing my hand. "We just haven't finished succeeding yet."

"Oh," I reply, nodding into her shoulder. "That makes sense."

At ten minutes, there are less than twice that in Fallen who didn't accept the teleport. There are few enough of them, that if I was still well-rested, I could Focus on them, and determine how they're doing. But I don't have the spare Focus for that. I barely have enough Focus to teleport all the Fallen, should they choose to accept at the last minute.

Somehow, the last ten minutes stretch out to feel like they're longer than the six hours before. It probably doesn't help that instead of walking the perimeter, I'm sitting and staring at the cleansing chamber.

But I can't shake the feeling that there's one more emergency I need to be ready for.

It never comes. My self-imposed countdown passes, and I release the strands.

The moment I let go, my mind snaps back to clarity. Rufka and Smoulder are with me. Tipan is sitting nearby, talking quietly with a far less quiet Trellani.

"Hey, you did it," Rufka says, squeezing my hand. I nod, accepting a long thin container full of a red juice. I take a long pull of the too-sweet drink, finishing it in one motion. At some point, I stopped eating. That was foolish of me.

"I should sleep," I say, looking around the compound. "But not here."

I don't wait for anyone to say anything. I've spent the last three days pulling people closer to me from across the continent. The effort it takes to bring my friends closer then teleport us all to Nexus point 392 is negligible in comparison. Then I open the door to Raz's. It says it's still another three hours before it'll be in proper alignment. But I follow the tether that still exists. And I push through it, teleporting us into Raz's lobby. Then I order one of Raz's ready meals, taking large bites out of some fresh stew while pulling Rufka after me up the stairs. I barely finish the large bowl before pushing into my personal room.

When I see the bed, I forget everything else, moving over and collapsing.

At the last second, I realize I've committed a horrible sin.

For the second time in a year, I've gone to sleep without cleaning my teeth.

...TPWM...

February 28, 2019, 9:17 am. The last day of February. At least in 2019.

The morning comes earlier than I expected, and it greets me alongside Rufka's fur covered... leg? Looking down, Rufka is reading a book, her leg sprawled across my chest. Smoulder is parked in her lap as she leans her head back over the side, tilted at an angle she's going to regret. Right as soon as I figure out how to-

My plans are derailed when Rufka sticks her foot in my face, causing me to panic and flip them both off the bed.

"Sorry Smoulder," I apologize as she hops free of my thiani, who is struggling to free herself from the bedsheet without tearing it. Which is when I strike.

After a good morning wrestle, we take a long bath together. Once I feel properly relaxed and clean, we join the others for... lunch. Wow, that really was a long bath. Yep, it was all the bath.

"Morning, didn't expect to see you up so soon," Beth says as we join them. "We've been talking about what to do now. Now that we're all level ten, we're going to need advancement points if we want to hit Copper. But we're not certain that's required. You took out a Sentinel without me. Congrats on that, by the way. And from what Wyonna's said, we don't need to be Copper to fly the Sanctuaries."

I blink at her, then hold up a finger, opening the menu and ordering food. I close it, then think again, and add another two meals to my order. And a drink with some kick.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I say once my breakfast that is totally not brunch is on the way.

"She was saying, we're ready to focus on going home," Josh says, smiling over the table at me. "There's some other stuff we can do while working towards that goal. But it's time to get off Akilo."

"Won't be that simple," Roberts says as he sets down his fork. "We've interfered with the Aetherium. They won't forget about it."

"Which means we do have reason to get stronger," Rose says, elbowing Josh. "If only to make sure everyone survives long enough to get off Akilo."

"Mhm. Mum's not great at protecting people either. No attention span," Rufka notes stealing bacon off my plate before Raz is even able to place it on my table.

As I'm attempting to steal some of her green fruit in a pale imitation of revenge, Raz adds. "Copper-rank means your subclasses will be stronger too. Which will help if you need to make repairs."

This last is directed at Tipan and Rufka, who're the only ones who've had time to become competent Enchanters. That's the only reason I can think of as to why the subclass isn't offered to me. Maybe I should try to level one of the engineering subclasses? Might be useful for repairs.

Leaving the others to the meeting, I wander into the bathroom, my plate with bacon in hand to prevent idle theft. Inside, I double check and I still don't have any enchanting subclasses available, so I search through the engineering ones instead.

When I see Voidtech Engineer, I have to double back. That can't be... it's under the engineering category. There's no way... hmm. It's not like I can't equip each of the subclasses to see what they do.

"Subclass Equipped: Voidtech Engineer."

"Partial Credit for Banked Engineer Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 11. Partial Credit for Banked Enchanting Experience has advanced the subclass to Level 12."

"Voidtech Engineer Subclass Abilities Unlocked: 'Basic Enchantment Guide', 'Voidcraft, Rippledrives and You', 'Never in the Dark', 'The Wrong Tool for the Job is Better than No Tool', 'There and Back Again', "Fake it Till you Make it'."

I just stare at the second line. Then down to the first ability, blinking rapidly. It really is... I had an enchanting subclass all this time.

The first ability is pretty much what it says. It gives me guidance when I'm doing basic enchanting. Little nudges, similar to the [Melee Weapon] skill when I'm using my chakrams, sans warrior princess. Voidcraft, Rippledrives and you, is similar providing a lot more insight but only applies to anything related to interstellar ships. Or stations. And it's tied directly to the codexes I've had rattling around in my brain forever. Never in the Dark is...

I snap my fingers, and my forehead lights up, flooding the bathroom with a warm blue light. Guess they can't all be winners.

The Wrong Tool lets me create enchanting and engineering tools out of mana. They're temporary, and incredibly expensive. Just creating a basic scrivener, the tool Trellani uses for the most basic tracing, costs nearly a thousand mana. And only lasts for, okay, twelve hours isn't bad. But still, that's more mana than I'd regenerate in that amount of time. And using it reduces the amount of time it stays effective for. Pretty much a last-ditch ability.

There and back again... I collapse, laughing. It lets me build devices to grant me short range teleports. Theoretically, if I could get my hands on enough Copper-rank essence, it would allow longer range teleportation too. Up to a kilometre away. And they're only good for my personal use. I can't even make them for others. Though... I can share the design, so maybe not a complete loss.

Fake it is... it lets me create permanent Voidcraft enchanting components out of mana. Which is basically... everything. Every part we used in the chamber and the array is used in Voidcraft too.

When I check the cost, I almost faint. Creating a simple single direction mana-flow tube would cost ten-thousand mana. The ability isn't totally useless though. I can invest mana in chunks, slowly building up the parts. Also, I could create the parts to build a permanent scrivener. Only sixty-five thousand mana, total. With my current regen rate that's... only like, fifty-three days.

So, longer than I've been on Akilo.

Still, it should get cheaper as the subclass gains levels. And if we advance to copper-rank, my mana should shoot up. This could be very useful for getting the Sanctuaries repaired. Especially for rare parts.

Deciding to explore my other options while I’m here, I switch over to the regular engineering class. Which doesn't benefit from the banked experience bonus and begins at level 1.

Glad I chose the Voidcraft Engineer as my first option. I go through the rest of my subclasses, paying closer attention to special sounding subclass names.

I have one for Zanbia Friend, which goes to level three and is a wilderness survival subclass. It also increases my ability to communicate with Zanbia, which is pretty niche, but also pretty cool.

Then there's a subclass called Vigil's Shadow, which I can only assume is related to the Taken. When I select it, I get banked experience for being covert, which gets the subclass to level two. Its only ability is guidance on how to craft better magical and mundane disguises. Which for a basic level ability seems useful.

The final special subclass is Desh'mersa jockey. Which I decide not to unlock. Tipan's explained it to me before, and it's mostly focused on improved flight and toughness. But only inside a Desh'mersa ring. Probably could've used it back in the arena, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have it unlocked yet.

Smiling at myself, I switch my class back to Voidcraft Engineer. As I get to my feet, I glance over to the mirror and freeze. Then I take a few steps closer. I haven't taken a close look at myself in... weeks. Since the last time I stood in front of this mirror without Rufka to distract me.

I'm... sturdy. There's a weight to my stance I would normally associate with someone like Beth. Flexing my hands, I note the wraps look... good. Right in a way they wouldn't have a month ago. Like... I know how to hit someone and make them stay down.

But... that's just arrogance talking, I'm pretty sure.

I'm still no warrior princess.

...

Then again... I do have my own castle.

...TPWM 2.46, Down Where it's Wetter...

A note from Draith

Minor edit to chapter 2.44 to add rewards for Reaper.

Rewards: 20 iron rank integration points, 1 class progression point.

February 28, 2019, 11:17 am. The reign of the rabbit princess continues!

When I rejoin the party in Raz’s common room, there's a flurry of motion. We're clearly getting ready to head out, and I catch the words, 'moving out of alignment', and realize what the hurry is about. Not wanting to be trapped here anymore than the rest, I jog over to the lobby. I'm there before Roberts and Tipan, both of whom are still conducting business with Raz.

When they arrive, we dial our exit directly to Glimmering Sands instead of using Nexus point 392. No point in teleporting twice.

The next hour is spent checking in on the former Fallen and meeting up with Vethel. While I was off experimenting with my new subclass, the others decided on some short- and long-term goals, which I agreed to after Wyonna filled me in. Top of the list for our short-term goals? Head into the mana-beetle puzzle-dungeon and clear it for the easy rewards. Tipan will be sitting it out, something about visiting her mother.

Which reminds me I need to talk with her.

Taking her aside, I let Rufka know we'll be back in half an hour or so then guide Tipan up the beach. Which is still lacking the amazing waves from the festival.

"Hey. So... remember when you were in the crazy place with the K'mintar, trying to throw your life away to get a book back?" I ask, nice and subtle-like as I link my arm with hers to prevent her from escaping.

"I... that place was rather mind-wrenching, wasn't it? The ghastly monsters? And the spider-beings," Tipan shudders, shaking her head.

"Ha. Nice try," I reply, pointing at where the book is again strapped to her waist. "I'm talking about that. And the crazy place was where your head was, not your body."

"I... you wouldn't... you can’t…" Tipan looks away, staring at a particularly interesting patch of smooth stone wall.

"Can’t what? Understand why you've been keeping it from everyone that you're hearing Ivicka's voice when you read the book?" I ask, pulling Tipan to a stop as a wave laps gently at our feet. "Or are you more worried about whatever you learned once Jethico took over?"

Tipan stares at me, her mouth hanging open.

So, I tap her forehead. "My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts." When she doesn't get it, I sigh. "Even Beth would've got that one, such a wasted opportunity. I connected to you when you were visiting the K'mintar, and the connection broke, remember? Some of your memories came with. Remember how I mentioned that happening with Beth? Same thing."

"I... it's one thing to hear about, another to... you heard her voice? I haven't lost my mind?" Tipan grabs me, and stares into my eyes, squeezing my arms as if seeking reassurance I’m real.

"Uhm. Well, you did charge into the K'mintar's secret complex of impossible to kill beasts. So, we're not ruling crazy out quite yet. But that's more Rufka style crazy than... I'm not helping, am I?"

Tipan smiles, releasing my arms before breaking into a laugh. She returns to my side, shoving against my hip. "Actually, that was rather refreshing. Rufka style crazy?"

"Mhm. Jumping off a cliff without a flight spell. Fighting a ten-story dinosaur with nothing but an unenchanted bow and her arrows. Sleeping next to a firebomb that could explode at any second," I say, pulling her further north and away from a group of K'tharn who are coming down the beach with what looks like a Desh’mersa setup. I'm good on that game for a long time.

"Smoulder's not that unstable," Tipan replies as her eyes dart towards the K'tharn who are setting up their goal posts. But she continues walking without mentioning them.

"Wasn't talking about Smoulder," I chuckle. "Rufka just... accepting that I might explode like it's no big deal has been huge."

"Ah. It must be... nice. To have a thiani you're so close to," Tipan says, her eyes looking towards the tower where her former thiani still works. The one who carves figurines of us… Hmm.

"She did say sorry," I remind Tipan, thinking back to the brief conversation we had about her ex.

"Through you," Tipan replies. "I've thought about going to talk to her... it's just. Never felt like the right time. I'm not who I was back then."

"Fair. I'm not who you were back then either."

"I... what?" Tipan asks, staring at me for a second before chuckling.

We make our way back to the main road, and I turn us south. "Nothing. But we got off-topic again. The book. Are you... okay? Did you learn what Jethico wanted?"

"Oh... yes. It's rather obvious, isn't it?" Tipan says with a heavy sigh.

"Hmm... to protect the Aetherium?" I guess, with a small shrug.

"No. She wanted to purge all males from the Aetherium."

"I... wait, so that weird hangup... That was all her, huh?"

"I think... I don't expect that Ivicka was herself for years. I'm not certain there was anything left... except for what she left in here,” Tipan says, tapping the book on her waist.

"Damn. Well, if you ever want to talk about it..." I leave it open, and Tipan smiles, giving me a small nod.

"That's why I needed to recover it. I couldn't let her be taken away again."

"Memories of those we love are important," I agree, tugging at the replica of my Aunt Sharon's jacket I'm still wearing.

We lapse into silence for a few minutes, only a little ways away from the inn when Tipan asks, "The... memory thing. Are you able to do it... on purpose?"

"You know... I mean, I can share codexes... but I'm not sure," I reply as we come to a stop.

"Well, if you want to experiment. I wouldn't... there aren't any memories I'd be too embarrassed if you saw. And then you could learn more about the real Ivicka."

"You know, you could just tell me," I point out with a gentle shove, but it only gets a small smile out of her. "I... sure, we'll try."

"Good."

"Hey Tipan."

"Yes Lexi?"

"Are you gonna tell Rose?"

"I... don't know how."

"Hmm. Pretty sure you just use words. Even the wrong ones can get you to the right place. Least, that's mostly what I do."

Tipan's laugh is deep and long, and I can't tell if I'm being laughed at or with. Finally, she recovers, straightening her mohawk with one hand. "I shall take your suggestion under advisement."

"You do that," I grump back, but am unable to maintain it when she giggles again.

Giggling back, we join the others inside, where Pefe has somehow managed to replace most of the available knickknacks yet again. I pick up one that's suspiciously similar to me and Smoulder riding... It is me and Smoulder riding a surfboard. There's one of Rufka too. Maybe Tipan isn’t the only one who should talk to her ex.

Then again…

Despite my displeasure at being carved without permission, I end up buying both from Pefe. Then I promptly gift the statuette of myself to Rufka. And she gives me a copy of the one I just bought of her.

Not that I mention that of course.

Tipan leaves for Aethire shortly after, but not before I give her a quick hug and a reminder not to get too caught up with the book. Once she's gone, the rest of us spend the next few hours relaxing, having to wait for Vethel to have time to escort us to the dungeon personally. Smoulder has refused to come to the underwater dungeon, choosing to wait for me in the inn. Trying to make it up to her, I take her through a small obstacle course on the beach as we wait.

Finally, I get a message that Vethel is ready, and we make our way into the tower. Instead of going up, Vethel takes us down the central shaft of shimmering water. While it's the same in feel and function as the smaller water-elevators that run along the sides, the sheer scale of the central shaft is impressive. And somehow feels bigger on the inside. It's not, but it certainly feels that way.

The central elevator takes us deep beneath the surface. Far deeper than I realized the bay inside the tower was. As we go down, an entire second city is revealed. As is the fact that most of the surface city sits atop a giant empty arch. Around us are thousands of horizontal elevators similar to the one we ride, weaving through ten times as many buildings. Most are lit with gentle purple or blue light, making the entire city seem like something out of a fairy-tale. Zooming in with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I notice that only half of the residents seem to be K'tharn. The rest are a mix of dozens of Outworlder species. All of them are traversing the underwater city with no regard for the need to breathe. At least, no regard I can see. I suspect there's a brisk market for water-breathing enchantments.

When we reach a floating platform that seems to connect our elevator to a far larger one leading out to sea, Vethel leads us to the side. The elevator's protection continues to provide a breathable atmosphere as we move to a much smaller horizontal shaft. Not stopping to make sure we're following, Vethel dives into the shaft, leaving us to follow in her literal wake.

It only takes a minute before she pushes her way out of the shaft in front of the single most dungeon-like entrance I've seen on Akilo. It's a marble arch set into a rough stone wall with a pair of heavy wooden doors set in the middle. There are a couple differences, likely due to its underwater location. For one, the arch is technically more of a complete circle. Also, the 'apparent' wood, is in fact mana-infused coral. A fact I only discover after analyzing it.

Once we're all floating in front of the door, I push the water back from our heads, giving us a bubble of fresh air to speak in.

"Convenient," Vethel says, then immediately leaves the bubble. Which reminds me how useful it isn't when we need to be moving. While our party activates the collection of water breathing enchantments Rufka and Tipan put together, the bracelets wrapped tightly around our wrists, Vethel floats down to the centre of the door, pressing a squid-shaped object into the center. The doors shudder, then slowly swing open, revealing a smooth tunnel sloping downward. Along the side, just barely visible in the glow from the city are shining runes. These don't feel like magical runes. In fact, the knowledge I downloaded from Uthica informs me that these are probably a version of M'tari. As my eyes play across them, my System pings, asking me if I'd like to download a codex for the Abyssean language. Deciding not to risk it just yet, I ignore the prompt, floating forward with the others.

Vethel waves us in. Then, once we're through the doors, she pushes them closed. Just as they seal, I see her give us a short bow.

"Iron rank training challenge The Hidden Depths joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to The Hidden Depths combat zone. Flight spells and abilities have been disabled."

"Zone Quest received: Reach the Hidden Depths. Rewards: Variable. 1 Armor Upgrade. Time: 24 hours."

Nothing surprising there.

Activating my new Voidcraft Engineer ability, I'm unable to keep the smile off my face as I look around. Rufka silently chuckles as we move into formation Exploration B, which leaves Roberts and I in the centre with everyone else spread out. It's weird having Rose at the back instead of Tipan, but not as weird as having to talk through group chat.

With our preparations complete, we dive into the Hidden Depths.

Would be a lot cooler if I didn't know about the bugs.

A note from Draith

Next chapter is the last in the current 'arc', and it's a bit longer. There won't be any breaks before we start on the next chapters.

…TPWM 2.47, You Know that It's Better…

February 28, 2019, 4:21 pm.

The first mana-beetle is encountered before we've even made it to the first junction. According to analyze, it's actually called a Cricken. Barely the size of my thumbnail, it crawls across the ceiling towards us in the bright light of my new Voidcraft Engineer ability. A test of several Piercing Arrows confirms it's mostly immune to magic. I say mostly, because just like with Atun, if I create a metal shard with no mana inside, it can still be hit by it. Its Health shrugs that off like nothing though.

A single shot from Beth kills it.

Even as the first one crumbles, floating near the ceiling more follow. They arrive in small packs as we move deeper, the others testing their abilities. Only Beth can kill them at range, the rest of us have to smash them up close. Even my chakrams don't work. When I hit one with a wind chakram, created just for the dungeon, the beetle still absorbs it. They even absorb Roberts' barriers. Or maybe devour is a better word. Cause every time we hit them with something, or they crawl on it, the little bastards get faster.

Thankfully, they're easy to kill with my staff. Unfortunately, smashing them apart leaves their remains clogging up the tunnel. Even their remains don't like to play nice with water manipulation. Nor do they have the good grace to disintegrate into blue dust. When we reach the first puzzle room, I'm relieved that Beth is taking over beetle duty.

The entire room appears to be part of the puzzle. There are several clunky looking weights scattered about the room, in the centre is a giant lever that might act as a bridge if we couldn't just swim over it. In theory, this should be the easiest version of a puzzle door, relying on basic arithmetic and placing the weights correctly to trigger the door. As my eyes roam over the words along the walls, I pause. Vethel didn't mention anything about the possible hidden objectives here. But if there were any, I wouldn't be surprised if they're hinted at in the writing on the walls.

When I message the party, suggesting I take the codex, the others agree it's worth the risk.

"We're basically carrying you through either way," Rufka says in the chat, her arm around my shoulder as she gives me a peck on the cheek.

Giving her a proper Smoulder-level glare for all of two seconds, I accept the prompt. The knowledge of the language blossoms in my mind, and with it, a memory of Uthica negotiating with a M'tari large enough that four Uthica stacked on top of each other would've barely crossed its eye. Its hide is riddled with tapestries worth of tattoos, showing more history than some museums I've visited. This, my new memory informs me, is a true Lord of the Deep. One so old, it predates human civilization. Yet Uthica stands before it, arguing terms as though they're equals. One of her terms is to maintain a library on an island not far from Glimmering Sands. Another is in establishing caches of knowledge and history. After her interactions with the Lord of the Deep, it takes a few more minutes to play through several memories of Uthica interacting with other, lesser, Lords of the Deep before I'm returned to myself.

That was one helluva squid.

Reading the text around me, I realize it's a story. And part of the story is at the top of the ramp. Informing the others, I ask if we want to head back. With the dungeon offering such good base rewards, it's quickly agreed we should at least attempt to find any hidden objectives. There's some grumbling from Josh, who swears he's solved the door, but then we move back up the hall. The beetles are back. And the swarms seem to keep getting larger. That's not my concern though. I'm just keeping the light on and reading the story. As I read, I realize there are outlines of the scenes carved beneath the runes, a second set of lines that are so faint they're almost invisible.

"This is a story of a young M'tari," I start, waving some beetle parts out of my face. "He doesn't yet have his first tattoo. The young one hasn't yet proven himself worthy. Most of his fellow M'tari sought out known prey, such as the great Bluhga, working in packs to bring them down."

"But this young M'tari has no interest in that. Instead, he heads to where few M'tari dare roam. Near the edge. The boundary between their watery domain and the great nothing above. While the water feels thin here, it doesn't affect the young M'tari as it would if he were older. He spends weeks just exploring the strange colours and creatures near the edge. There's a great deal more variety than he's used to in the depths. Many interesting new tastes, sights and sounds. Then one day, he comes across a death-beast of steel and pain. As had become his habit, he'd studied it for a time, not yet knowing its dark nature. He suspected it might be dangerous, for why else would it so loudly declare its presence, thrashing through the water with all the elegance of a dead Bluhga. No, even a dead Bluhga wouldn't have disrupted the water as much."

"He'd extended a tentacle in curiosity, wondering how the death-beast might react. And it reacted with pain. In a battle of desperation, it managed to rip off the death-beast's antennas, which blinded the beast, as the pain-stopped." I pause as I inspect the image engraved into the wall here. The death-beast is a long smooth cylinder, and the antenna is a thin rod poking off the front like a horn with multiple spikes to either side. Kinda like a submarine, but not quite right.

"The M'tari continued thrashing with the death-beast until it smashed the shell on a great rock he normally used to lie and rest upon while watching his edge pond. As the death-beast cracked in half, several smaller beasts were released. He ignored them, only crushing one when it stung him. When he returned the shell of the beast to the depths a few days later, his triumph earned him the name, Shell-smasher."

I stop reading, having relayed everything there is on this side of the door. Josh and Roberts wrestle the weights into place, according to Josh's solution, but the door doesn't open. It takes us a few minutes to figure out that the weights need to be put in on opposite sides from the way Josh had solved it. For no reason that any of us can discern.

When the door opens, the story continues.

"The young M'tari, now named Shell-smasher, returned to life among his people for a time. But despite his great deed and the accolades he received, he missed exploring near the edge. Thus, he returned near where he met the death-beast. His explorations carried him far, and he saw even more of the resplendent life that dwelled close to the edge. He marveled that they flourished here, so close to disaster. Though he supposed he was not so different, for he found he too flourished here, near the edge. A few great swells of the tides later, he came across another of the death-beasts, patrolling near where he defeated the first. Again, he studied it. And when they came closer, he attempted to communicate, flexing his mantle to send the deep waves that allowed his kind to communicate across great distances. Something he tried with most of the deep life, which he suspected might be a sign he needed to return to talk with his people more. Normal M'tari didn't attempt to talk to animals. In response, a thin metal shell, like the ones the great Forgers produced for use in the depths, shot forward, scouring his left eye."

"In his pain, Shell-smasher crushed another of the death-beasts. Again, in his benevolence, he allowed the smaller death-beasts to flee, not bothering to respond when one tried to sting him."

Uh huh. Definitely not cause of anything else.

"This time, when he returned, and brought the much more intact death-beast shell with him, he was summoned before the Lords of the Deep. They questioned Shell-smasher for hours before letting him go. And they insisted that if he found another of these 'death-beasts' as he called them, he was to bring it to them alive. As Shell-smasher left the meeting with the Lords of the Deep, he was greeted by an old friend."

The story again ends at a puzzle room.

"You know, story time is nice and all. But I'm starting to wish you could just zap all these bugs, Lex," Josh says, stabbing forward with a blunt ended staff of thorns to crush a few dozen beetles. Even as it makes contact, it starts wilting away.

"Indeed. They are rather-" Roberts stops, stomping a small cluster that made it past Josh. "Persistent."

"They're slowing down," Beth says, firing rapid shots into the swarms crawling in from the tunnel we just left. I shudder at the sheer mass of them. Pulling out my staff, I lay into a nearby swarm, helping clear Cricken until only a few remain in the room.

I pick one out of my hair, glaring at the little beetle that managed to reduce my health by eleven points with a single bite before crushing it between my fingers. Then I flick its body away.

Once we're certain we've gotten all of them, we turn our attention towards the room. This one is such an obvious one, that I don't even have to think. Stepping forward, I rearrange the different structural elements scattered throughout the room before dropping the keystone into the top of the newly formed arch. Then I take the pieces that were serving as temporary scaffolding and lay them across the top, finishing the puzzle.

"Huh. It's an actual bridge," Rose says as the door swings open. "Didn't expect that here."

As we step through, I help clear the initial wave of Cricken before I continue reading.

"After his meeting with the Lords of the Deep, Shell-smasher found his status greatly elevated. He'd been sworn to secrecy, but just the fact he'd met one of the famous Lords behind closed doors implied he was destined for great things. For a few months, Shell-smasher simply enjoyed his increased status. He even ventured out with several other young but promising M'tari and hunted one of the great Bluhga, though more to see if he'd been missing out on anything."

I stop to inspect the picture that looks suspiciously like a whale. Then I help clear out the Cricken again. At least that's my intent. Getting fed up, I try hiding from them using invisibility, and to my surprise it works. They stop targeting me. Which just means the others have to fight off more. Dropping my invisibility, we finally beat them back. Which is when I discover Roberts has gone through half his Reprieve already. They've really been doing a good job keeping them off me, since none of that healing has been coming to me.

"Vethel did this on her own? In one day?" Josh says, huffing despite the lack of air to carry the sound. His condition makes me glance at the rest of the party's Resources and I'm shocked to see they're all running low on Stamina except Beth. And Josh is completely out.

"We know the dungeons can scale for party size," Beth reminds us. "Though I feel like we need a better solution. If they keep getting thicker..."

"I have half of an idea," I say, activating my invisibility. Then I push it outwards, building a framework that covers just inside the limits of my aura. It collapses a few times before I increase the mana going into the framework. I'm granted a new spell, sphere of invisibility and pull everyone closer. When we descend through the hall, the beetles mostly let us pass unaccosted. Until one wanders inside and dies part-way through the shield, disrupting the entire spell. That leads to a mad scramble as we kill off the beetles encroaching from every direction.

Half an hour later, with Roberts' Reprieve completely bottomed out, alongside most of our Health and mana, used mostly to restore our Health, we sit in the centre of a new and improved sphere of invisibility. One that lets Beth shoot out of it without giving away our position.

This time, we test it thoroughly before moving forward. Beth sweeps the area free of Cricken, and our progress is slow but safe. Which allows me to start reading again.

"After several successful whale hunts, Shell-smasher spots one of the strange death-beasts. He once more greets it in the way of his people, warbling his upper dome to transmit signals through the depths, though this time he does it from much further away. It doesn't attack, and he's contemplating how to haul it back without breaking it when it responds, repeating his words. Which he would have taken as an insult if another M'tari had ignored tradition so blatantly. It was just rude. Yet the Lord had warned him this might happen. And if so, to continue talking while leading it back towards the enclave."

"Which is what Shell-smasher did. At first, the death-beast didn't want to follow him, but eventually, after he fought off a Bluhga that tried to swallow the death-beast, he succeeded. He hoped the elder appreciated how much work Shell-smasher had put into bringing the death-beast back alive and allowed him to be part of whatever plan they had for it. The elder was very pleased when Shell-smasher returned, and even met him at the outer edge of the enclave. But then Shell-smasher was dismissed."

The scene of Shell-smasher's dismissal takes up the entire ceiling of the chamber with the third door. Inside, a pyramid dominates the chamber, barely leaving room to walk around its sides. In the center is a pole, twice as tall as the pyramid, and at the base are several tabs, labeled with numbers, which I translate for the others. Each of the tabs seems to allow a different one of the layers of the pyramid to rotate. Roberts quickly figures out the trick to the puzzle, and we decide to rest before solving it. Once everyone's Class resources are full, we work together to shift the layers upward. There's a pattern that has to be followed, and it ends up taking us nearly an hour to shift all the pieces into the correct position.

When we're done, the door opens, a flood of Cricken pouring in as the story in the chamber shifts.

While Beth methodically picks off the new wave of Cricken, hidden safely inside my sphere of invisibility, I study the new writing.

"While Shell-smasher was sent away, Lord Bridge-Forger of Third Deep learned the language of the surfacers. While they'd known of the strange creatures for ages, it had long been thought they were too frail to traverse the depths, even near the edge. Shell-smasher's discovery had shaken the Greatest Council. Young M'tari had been sent searching for more of the surfacers, though none had found them. Except Shell-smasher. Lord Bridge-Forger discovered that these surfacers were not the ones from the sphere they knew. They came from a distant sphere, far beyond the surface, what Shell-smasher had always known as the edge of the world. At the time, many of these concepts were new to not just Shell-smasher, but the entire M'tari civilization."

The story ends there, and we sit waiting for Beth to clear the way.

Finally, we move on. The Cricken are getting thinner, and we're able to pick up our pace as I resume sharing Shell-smasher's tale.

"Shell-smasher was summoned once more by the Lord of the Deep. The Lord informs him that the name Shell-smasher no longer suits him. Instead, he shall be known as Edge-Treader. A great tattoo is commissioned, one superior to any a M'tari of Edge-Treader's age had received before. He was introduced to the surfacers, as the Lord called them, taught their language, and then sent to the edge. In the shallow waters, Edge-Treader spent years learning from the surfacers. And they learned from him, as he shared the secrets the Lords had gifted him for just such a purpose. The forging methods possible only in the deepest depths, where the vents would sear any who approached without proper woven mats for their tentacles."

"One day, the surfacers offered to take him beyond the edge, to their sphere. When he conferred with his elders, they approved of this journey. He was even given a chance to spread his seed in case he never returned."

"The M'tari known as Edge-Treader truly earned that name when the surfacers took him above the edge that had limited him all his life. While he'd seen pictures, when the great skyship the surfacers had created breached the surface, he knew it was a moment he'd remember for the rest of his life. They travelled then, far beyond the surface, to the other sphere. One with far more land and shallower oceans. He was taken to a palace under the waves, where an entire civilization of surfacers greeted him. There he learned that a great disaster was coming but that they were doing all they could to help. Such was their way."

We arrive at the fourth room to find the door already open. I almost continue reading before I realize why we've stopped. The puzzle that sits in the centre of this room is a model of two spheres, orbiting around each other. Both of which I'm familiar with at this point. Beneath them are hundreds of figures of K'tharn, with several M'tari standing amongst them as well. Rufka steps closer, squinting at the spheres. "This is... wrong, most of Akilo is shaped weird. But Ukila looks almost exactly the same."

"It's pre-integration," Rose says, somehow managing to convey his disbelief through the chat.

"Is this even a puzzle?" Beth asks, sweeping her rifle around the room, searching for more Cricken.

Roberts reaches down and plucks a figurine from beneath the globes. Holding up the carved M'tari figurine, I notice that its eye is scarred, just like Edge-Treader. Then he places it in the only sizeable body of water on Ukila. The figurine sinks beneath the surface, creating tiny ripples.

The door in front of us shifts, the ramp that was leading further down, moving to slope upwards instead.

"I think it might have been," Roberts says, smiling as he steeples his fingers.

"Let's see how this story ends, shall we?" Beth says, leading the way up the stairs.

"Edge-Treader travelled between the spheres many times over the following years. He added many deeds of honour to his skin, great battles, and discoveries both. Then one day, he grew too large, and the Ukilans (the surfacers' name for themselves,) were no longer able to carry him to their world. Not without poisoning the oceans. He took solace in their aid as they strove to protect both worlds from the incoming disaster. And the M'tari helped, using the great depths to create parts that were challenging for the Ukilans to create on their own. Great spheres and shields were put into orbit. Shelters were created in the depths. The Ukilans even helped the Lords of the Deep create a buried vault where they could store records of their achievements."

"When the sky split, Edge-Treader wasn't aware. Not for several days, when one of the young returned to the now elder M'tari, (though not Lord,) bringing news of great fires beyond the edge. Edge-Treader prayed for his old friends’ safety, even as new and true death-beasts emerged beneath the waves. Even perversions of the great M'tari themselves. Edge-Treader fought hundreds of these great beasts, his skin no longer had room for his valiant deeds. Nor did they have time to etch them. Then the System had arrived, and for the first time, the M'tari were able to move beyond the edge without the assistance of the Ukilans. But Edge-Treader was occupied with keeping his people safe. Finally, the seas and skies grew calm again, and Edge-Treader was able to ascend to the distant sphere, using nothing but the newly granted magic of the System. But when he returned to the great underwater city where he'd learned from his friends, he found it destroyed. He searched the entire sphere, knowing the Ukilans had many cities spread across it. But his search was fruitless."

Having read the last of the runes in the hall, I step into the fifth chamber. On the walls are pictures of the entire story. But unlike the simple engravings we saw below, here the images are crisp and complete. K'tharn stand next to a giant M'tari, showing him physics, chemistry, and ship-design. On the far wall, a video plays, scrolling runes running beneath it, which I read as we file in.

"Finally, Edge-Treader returned home. When he arrived, he went to the Lords of the Deep, and he proposed an idea. One inspired by the Ukilans who had saved them. They would create a society to replace the lost Ukilans. And they would shelter the scattered surfacers he'd found as the Ukilans sheltered them. They would create the M'tari Ascendancy."

As I speak the last words, a set of notifications appear.

"Zone Quest completed: Reach the Hidden Depths. Rewards: 1 Unique Armor. 1 Armor Upgrade. 1 Armor Customization Module."

"Zone Quest Hidden Objective completed: Requirements 1/1 Story of Edge-Treader uncovered. Rewards: +1 current Attributes, 10 Iron-Rank Integration points, 5 Iron-Rank Mana Essence."

"Teleportation abilities have been unlocked. Flight spells and abilities have been enabled."

"Please return to your closest available Nexus to retrieve your items."

We all remain silent, looking around the room for a few moments before my attention drifts back to the video on the far wall.

"You know what this means?" Rufka asks,

"The K'tharn are originally from Ukila?" I reply, walking around the room, staring at the pictures and comparing the K'tharn I see with the ones I've come to know. There's no noticeable difference.

"No. It means my grandmum Melcia really did cross the boundary to Ukila!" Rufka says, spinning around. "Mum was right. We really did touch the stars. They really did exist."

"And the mana-storm destroyed them," I add, staring at what they'd built. "They're clearly beyond what earth is capable of. They had spaceships capable of carrying a giant squid, and they were still erased."

"Maybe they ran," Rose says, getting closer. "From the story, it sounds like they knew it was coming hundreds of years before it got here. Maybe they built a bunch of spaceships and just... flew away."

"I... huh. And they just left people behind?"

"You think there wouldn't be people on earth who would stay behind, no matter what someone told them about an incoming apocalypse?" Roberts asks, his chin shaking with a soft chuckle, which the channel fails to transmit.

"More than half, I'd wager," Beth says, studying the walls. "But you know what else this means?"

"Hmm?" I ask, looking at the same picture as her. A wall that shows a massive spaceport, full of spaceships.

"Maybe there's more to salvage than just a handful of Sanctuaries."

Looking back at the wall, my jaw hangs open. If it's still there. And usable...

Well, it would almost make all the bug bites I got today worth it.

Almost.

...TPWM...

February 28, 2019, 8:57 pm.

When we leave the dungeon, we don't immediately return to the surface. Instead, we attempt to explore the underwater city. But we're stopped by a pair of waiting K'tharn, who politely request we speak to Vethel before exploring.

So, we head to the surface, where we find Tipan and Smoulder waiting. The moment I barely make it out of the water elevator when Smoulder slams into my shoulder. With Tipan greeting us, and telling us about her visit with her mom and Smoulder snuggling into my chin, we make a quick stop by the Nexus to pick up our rewards.

The first is a thin push-tube that serves as an armour upgrade.

"Breath of the Depths: When used on existing armour, adds the Never Breathless modifier. Grants a bonus of 10.0 Stamina Edge, doubles existing bonuses and you will absorb oxygen through your skin, so long as there is any in your environment."

"Note. Armour upgrades will become a permanent part of armour once used. Applying a new armour upgrade will replace the old upgrade."

[Wyonna] "Congrats. You're now as cool as Aquaman. Nah, scratch that. I can't even pretend to insult you like that. Though the 2018 version was pretty badass. Jason Momoa, much yum."

"Thanks Wyonna. Love you too," I mutter before turning to the delicate looking set of string that came in a small bag.

"Armor Customization Module. This rare item allows one piece of armour to be customized to have additional forms. Note, each additional form will consume a mundane version of the new form and increased Integration Point Costs."

"Cost to attach to armor. 1 Iron-Rank Integration Point."

That's... well, that's awesome. I don't even hesitate to bind it to my Aunt Sharon's jacket. Much as I love her jacket, being able to keep the protection while also having other stuff to wear? Yeah, pretty killer.

Then I move on to the piece of cloth that the tube and bag were folded inside.

"Edge-Treader's Private Protectors. Having empathized with the pain Edge-Treader endured in his youth, you have received protection to help ensure such a thing will never happen to you."

"Protects your crotch. Comfortable. Silky. Smooth. Improves Health and Stamina Edge by 5.0 when equipped. Doubles the effect of Edge when applied to your crotch region."

"Current Bond: Citizen Pandora, pending acceptance."

"Note. Additional item bonding option available: Engrained Tattoo."

I... they're magical panties. Quickly looking around, I confirm that no one else seems to have gotten magical panties. I store them in my inventory before anyone can ask. And then realize how stupid I'm being. I can just turn them into a tattoo. Not sure how that works with the protection bit, but I figure I probably shouldn't risk putting it elsewhere if I want the benefit. Only problem is... I do not want to go through the sort of pain I went through the first time with these.

When Rufka asks what I got, I simply redirect by saying I'll show her later and ask what she received. She shows off her new cloak that can split apart into tentacles to grasp things. It's funny watching her fail to pick up Smoulder, who just steps slightly to the side, tilting her head at Rufka.

We head back to the inn, and the attitude is positive as we discuss our next steps. Slipping away with Rufka, I add another tattoo, which thankfully stings less than a beetle bite now that I'm not trying to focus on it. When we emerge, the others have set up a tour of the sunken side of Glimmering Sands.

Vethal herself is there to guide us, explaining that most parts of the city are off-limits to non-residents. She takes us into a giant market, with stalls stacked above each other and people of all forms flitting up and down. There's an equipment shop, where I manage to acquire some sturdy clothes, adding some proper diversity to my wardrobe. It's kinda sad that the first place we find with a wide assortment of clothing for an 'elvenoid' shape is hundreds of meters under the ocean. In between modeling outfits for Rufka, I use my armour upgrade on panties-turned tattoo, having used the former one on the edge increasing tattoo from Atun. Because… duh?

Looking over my improved Status, I nod to myself, pretending that I held off on increasing my Agility and Endurance on purpose. Totally didn't forget my class increased the cap on those until Rufka reminded me. Nope.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 65 > 90

Constitution: 70 > 90

Agility: 100 > 105

Endurance: 60 > 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 115 > 125

Resolve: 115 > 125

Storage: 11.8 > 11.9 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 4/7 > 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0 > 627

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 554/554 > 554/686

Edge: [41.8] > [103.3]

Regen: (426/day) > (592/day)

Stamina

Pool: 543/543 > 543/702

Edge: [77.1] > [110.6]

Regen: (575/day) > (627/day)

Mana

Pool: 1192/1192 > 1192/1277

Edge: [114] > [140.6]

Regen: (1121/day) > (1216/day)

Focus

Pool: 1205/1205 > 1205/1277

Edge: [96.2] > [126]

Regen: (1111/day) > (1216/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 408/408 > 408/434

Edge: [26.8] > [58.6]

Regen: (345/hour) > (372/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

I've really grown a lot from the day I landed here with negative twenty Strength. I'm pulled out of my Status by Rufka coming out in a sundress. I blink several times before pouncing on her and making sure she buys it.

We end up having dinner at a restaurant set inside a living reef, colourful fish flitting by. Despite the location, the local delicacy is an aquatic bird, which leads to us ordering a delicious feast that has more bird than I know what to do with. Hmm. Not true.

After a ravenous devouring of much good food, we head back to the inn.

Even as we're heading to bed, I can't help but smile. Starting tomorrow, we're going to split up. Beth wants to take Trellani to Burnesq to see if she can help with the repairs. And assess if repairs are even possible.

While they're doing that, I'm headed north. During Tipan's visit with her mother, she mentioned our interest in the Sanctuaries. According to Tithan, Sanctuary Pelwerd is completely intact. Rufka, Rose and I are going to visit the last Builder's City on the continent.

And with a little luck, bring it online.

A note from Draith

Bonus chapter cause Christmas is a holiday here!

End of Book 2

Thank you Astrael for you kind review. (Taking off 0.5 a star for style since I stopped using blue boxes, totally fair) And Goldir for your feedback and review.

If you want to join them, I always appreciate new reviews, even if they're not all 5 stars. Even giving little thumbs ups on the reviews you find helpful is appreciated.

Thanks for reading, and next chapter will be up on Tuesday!

…TPWM 3.00, A Light Second Away…

A note from Draith

This chapter is a gap chapter that is just for renumbering volumes into what will be the 'proper' arcs when I go back to edit properly. The next chapter will perform the same atrocious purpose.

I'm a monster. I know.

Also, correction to last chapter's character sheet.

Looking over my improved Status, I nod to myself, pretending that I held off on increasing my Agility and Endurance on purpose. Totally didn't forget my class increased the cap on those until Rufka reminded me. Nope.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 65 > 90

Constitution: 70 > 90

Agility: 100 > 105

Endurance: 60 > 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 115 > 125

Resolve: 115 > 125

Storage: 11.8 > 11.9 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 4/7 > 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0 > 637

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 554/554 > 554/686

Edge: [41.8] > [103.3]

Regen: (426/day) > (592/day)

Stamina

Pool: 543/543 > 543/702

Edge: [77.1] > [110.6]

Regen: (575/day) > (627/day)

Mana

Pool: 1192/1192 > 1192/1277

Edge: [114] > [140.6]

Regen: (1121/day) > (1216/day)

Focus

Pool: 1205/1205 > 1205/1277

Edge: [96.2] > [126]

Regen: (1111/day) > (1216/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 408/408 > 408/434

Edge: [26.8] > [58.6]

Regen: (345/hour) > (372/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 0/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Credit to Death Threat Collector for catching the missed increase to Lexi's Agi and End maximums. Credit to Insoluble for pointing out equipment wasn't being added properly. (There was a broken part of the spreadsheet)

March 3, 2019, 3:55 pm, Nearly a month after Ivicka's defeat.

…TPWM…

Talkith's fur ruffled in the ever-present wind of the Great Abyss as she waited on a terraced balcony on the north side of the World’s End Palace. The way she stood, with her four arms crossed and the casual turn of her hand as she inspected her claw with a single lower eye, would understandably lead most to believe she was distracted.

Yet they'd be mistaken. And any who attempted to take advantage of her apparent state of rest would meet a quick and violent end. It wouldn't be the first time.

Even in her ease, Talkith was monitoring her surroundings. She could place all six of the ministers arguing with each other in the meeting, though only two of them were familiar to her. Most of the ministers were new, having replaced their predecessors after what was being called the 'Vothborean Incident'. Talkith had been absent, scouring through the copper-rank dungeon of Astra's Tears, searching for a supposed hidden objective. But she understood there'd been discord. Not that she paid the meeting much attention. The ministers were always fighting with each other over something.

Which is why she usually stayed as far from Aethire as possible.

However, her friend, Minister Yelthen, had invited her once it became clear the war with the squids was getting worse. Most of the ministers were alone, with the exception of the invisible Taken standing at the shoulder of Minister Jothin. Other than the ministers inside the room, there was a young rune-tech doing maintenance work two floors down whose ears were twitching. That wasn't unusual. Most who visited the World's End palace felt uneasy while they were inside. It had been designed to instill reverence.

All were pure K'tharn, of course. The Fallen may serve the Aetherium, but none were allowed in these hallowed halls.

As her thoughts did so often of late, she wondered how her daughter was doing. She'd likely completed her training by now. It would be nice to see her more often, but Talkith's position didn't leave much time to check on her.

Perhaps she should get her friend in recruitment to update her on her daughter. Talkith was aware minister Yelthen could find out in minutes. But she'd never dream of asking the minister to intervene on her behalf. It would be dishonourable to use her professional advantages for personal interests. Any concerned parent could inquire with the recruitment division.

Talkith knew her beliefs were unusual, adhering to her clan's historic code of honour despite the changes the System had brought. But they were the same tenets her mother had taught her. She'd tried to pass them on, but her Thiani, Tithan, had insisted on raising their daughter under the new ways. That had only been one of the disagreements she’d had with her partner about their daughter.

However, it had also been the last. Talkith was now forced to observe her daughter through intermediaries or while lurking in the shadows like a thief.

Talkith was drawn out of her musings when a dark object fell from the sky above. Even as she prepared to dodge the incoming strike, it smashed into the neighbouring room, the explosion resounding through the walls of the council chamber. Not waiting, Talkith activated one of her oldest abilities, Star's Path, turning into a beam of light. Using the faceted surface of the lights embedded in the ceiling of the hallway, she reached the chamber while the rumble was still spreading through the palace. The room was mostly intact, only a few clouds of dust drifting from small cracks between the web of rune-work glowing brightly on the ceiling. The occupants hadn't fared as well.

Minister Yelthen was sprawled next to the minister of Essence. Talkith couldn't remember her name. Something that reminded her of tulliberry.

Yelthen had been injured, all but her lower left eye damaged. And of her four arms, only one wasn't bent at an unnatural angle. At least she seemed able to stand. Talkith imagined that if this were pre-integration, minister Yelthen would be doomed. But her current injuries would be an inconvenience at most. The thuds and professional whispers of the emergency response team were already echoing from the nearby stairs.

The team's healers would take care of the injured. Which meant she could focus her attention on discovering what had managed to cause such havoc in one of the most heavily enchanted locations in the entire Aetherium.

As Talkith investigated the room, she realized minister Yelthen had been lucky. Three of the other ministers had perished in the explosion. There'd be some angry howling when their System Restoration completed in thirty-six hours. She didn't envy the attendants who'd be filling them in on their missed time.

It didn't take long for Talkith to find the source of the explosion, a large orb with a pock-marked surface. The orb was resting partially embedded in the remains of the large stone table that once dominated the centre of the room. The surface of the orb was a dark stone that reminded her of obsidian, with essence etchings providing a barely visible golden contrast.

The giant hole in the outer wall was still choked with cloying dust as Talkith kneeled next to the expended Essence construct. There were only the faintest traces of runework remaining, but she could feel the Twilight mana as it faded. Which meant this wasn't made by a regular dissident. Twilight magic wasn't obscure by any means, but few understood how to turn it to offensive ends. It also explained how the projectile made it past the enchantments.

Talkith was inspecting the impact damage where the strange bomb had blasted its way through the wall when she heard the emergency response team arrive. Glancing over, she was mildly surprised to see the dust still obscuring her vision. Assuming the dust in the air was an intentional aftereffect of the bomb, she started directing it out of the room.

Or at least she attempted to direct it out of the room. Even as Talkith attempted to exert control over the cloying dust, it expanded in a wave of force that threw her through the hole in the wall, slamming her about as though she was still a kitten.

She hurtled away for an entire second before she realized what had happened. Exerting her will to provide a lifting gust to carry her back to the palace, she glanced up. The dust wasn't done. Even now, it remained fastened to her fur, preventing her from directing her mana. She wasn't even able to transform.

Talkith felt a genuine spike of panic before she calmed herself, the wind whistling in her ears. It was an almost novel experience, being in freefall without so much as a wind-barrier protecting her. Not novel enough to stop her from picking the dust off using a careful application of Twilight. Still, it was a reminder that she didn't know every magic available within the System.

The air was starting to get uncomfortably warm by the time she'd picked enough of the dust off to halt her fall. Considering the incredible toughness of her Copper-rank existence, that meant the ambient temperature was hot enough to flash-boil a mortal's flesh.

“Best I leave before I get closer to the core,” she mumbled to herself as she flicked another fleck of infused dust from her fur. Despite her partial success, gaining altitude proved to be impossible until she completely eliminated the remaining flecks. As she was removing the last of them, she brought it closer for inspection.

It was a small hexagon, barely discernible to her copper-rank vision. Its structure reminded her of a snowflake, though it was a dusky yellow.

Dropping it into the abyss, Talkith flew back to the gaping hole in the side of the palace. It had expanded since she left.

As she approached, she secured several flakes for study, using drained stone nets to ensure she didn't accidentally bog herself down again. However, it seemed the threat had passed, most of the dust cleared away.

Inside, the remains hadn't yet turned into the blue powder that would precede their Restoration but the injured ministers had been vacated. With one exception.

"Talkith, you're alive," A remarkably improved minister Yelthen greeted her, waving one of her upper arms to indicate Talkith should come closer. Which caused a weary sounding healer to remind the minister she was still recovering.

"So it would appear. We need to talk. In private," Talkith stated, staring at the healer with all four eyes.

The healer's ears drooped and not one of her four eyes dared meet Talkith's, but it was only after Yelthen assured the healer she'd be out shortly, that the healer took her leave. Talkith marked the healer's dark brown fur and grey streaks for later investigation. Perhaps she was related to this incident.

"Well?" the minister asked while shifting in her chair, a hiss of pain escaping her lips.

"This was meant to serve as a reminder. War with the squids will be more than an inconvenience," Talkith stated. They were the only ones with a mastery to rival the Aetherium’s own.

"We knew that. But what can we do? They refuse to believe the attack on their tower was a rogue element."

"Then we prove it. The Outlanders responsible should be apprehended."

Ylethen drummed her fingers on the broken table before responding, "We've tried. But they're like Phlan-gossamer, rarely visible before fading."

"Then send me. There are none who can escape my reach."

"Ah, I would my friend. But there is… an issue."

"One that will prevent us from restoring our honour?"

"No. It's just that…" Ylethen paused as she inspected Talkith, her eyes lingering on the jagged scar that marred Talkith's fur.

"I have reports stating your daughter is with them. Not only that, I believe they were responsible for her half-sister's death. I've commissioned a statue for Ivicka, by the way."

The words caused Talkith to freeze in place as she stared at Ylethen. Surely, she'd misheard. There was no way her daughter could have done something so dishonourable. It was only with some difficulty that Talkith realized Ylethen was still speaking.

"Of course, there's no question of your honour. But I'd never force a friend to apprehend her only daughter."

At this, Talkith knew she had to respond, "No. It is best I do this. Perhaps she has been misled by the Outlanders."

"Perhaps," Ylethen conceded, her eyes playing over the room. "But if the squids demand we hand her over, what then? Should we surrender your daughter to appease them?"

Talkith didn't immediately respond as she stared out through the cracked facade of the palace. Even now, she could see a stone lifting from the floor, the walls repairing themselves as the runes restored the damage.

As Talkith watched the wall reclaim its strength with a fresh infusion of mana, she wished her own dilemma could be fixed so simply.

But then, it could, couldn't it?

"Of course. It is the least owed to their people."

Ylethen's eyes drew together, as she forced herself to her feet, placing a hand on Talkith's shoulder. "You're sure?"

"It is my duty. Tipan will pay the price for peace."

"Well, in that case, you should talk to Jethia, she's been handling the search. And Talkith…" She shuffled sideways until she was looking directly in Talkith's eyes, her hand clasped around Talkith's snow-white paw. "Thank you."

Talkith only nodded before turning to leave, hurrying up the stairs to where Jethia of the Stormguard waited.

Had she lingered outside for but a moment, she'd have noticed the smile that crept onto her oldest friend's face.

Likewise, she'd have heard the gentle words, words spoken so softly they were no more than the barest whisper as Yelthen eyed the still present bodies of the other ministers, "Well, this all worked out better than expected. Excellent."

If she had, perhaps she'd have chosen another course.

But she hadn't, so it was with a heavy heart that Talkith of clan Lithania set out to ensnare the Outlanders who had corrupted her daughter.

And if her daughter did not survive to be turned over to the squids who squirmed and plotted beneath the waves.

Well… better death than dishonour.

That was Talkith's way.

A note from Draith

So... much... editing...

See ya Thursday.

…TPWM 4.00, Important Studies…

A note from Draith

This is a tiny chapter, and I should probably have included it with the last one but it helps with the renumbering. Since it's so short, the regular chapter will be posted in an hour. Ish.

The stars returned to normal as Pelsiar dropped his capsule out of Ripple-space. As the Primary System Research Agent for Sector MWVAE, he was responsible for investigating oddities. As his display flashed with a notification about a space-time matrix being detected within an isolated System, he paused in the contraction of his lesser grasping tentacles to look over. He considered the notification for several seconds before initiating a call with his 'partner' Trokk Elnite.

"What do you want, Pelsiar?" The male voice on the other end of the connection said coolly as his image snapped into place.

"I've found something," Pelsiar replied, glad that he no longer struggled to repress his revulsion at the flapping lips of the elvenoid. He'd truly become a more tolerant being.

"Wonderful," Trokk replied, his bulbous eyes rolling as he crinkled his soft face at Pelsiar. "What is it?"

Pelsiar undulated his grasping tentacles for a second before shaking his abdomen. "The System has flagged a possible Black in system MWVAE-22. A space-time matrix," he reported while sending the relevant files to his partner.

"That's a Dark system, and the residents are classified as mortal tier. How did they develop a Black level space-time matrix?" Trokk asked, though Pelsiar was familiar enough with the fool to know he wasn't actually talking to him.

"Shall I track them down?" Pelsiar asked, knowing that Trokk preferred to handle trouble like this himself. Even if he had to come across the sector.

"That... that might be best," Trokk replied, setting Pelsiar momentarily off balance.

"Shame. I was about to stop by MWVAE-20. I was hoping to recruit some of the locals," Pelsiar said. While he really had been planning to stop by MWVAE-20, it had been because his personal scans had revealed the presence of Phothens in the system. That Trokk had a biological preference for the natives was simply a fact he hoped to exploit.

"I... it's probably not an emergency," Trokk said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at something Pelsiar couldn't see.

"Still, a space-time matrix might well escape. It is best that I go immediately," Pelsiar said with a vibration of his body that he knew Trokk would interpret as one of the elvenoid's sighs.

"Hold on a second," Trokk interrupted, holding one hand towards the screen while tapping away with the other. If Pelsiar had the same bulbous eyes instead of his faceted perfection, he would have rolled them at Trokk's predictable response. "Okay, I've instructed the System to initiate procedure Spatial VEX-332. That should give you some time. Hate for you to waste the trip."

"Hmm. Excellent idea," Pelsiar said, playing to the elvenoid's ego. "I'm sure my new assistants will be most useful."

"Don't take too long, getting those assistants," Trokk said, his eyes narrowing in that way he did when he suspected Pelsiar of being less than truthful.

"Of course not. The System will have already prepared a proper selection of assistants. Though if you have any recommendations, I'm sure I could accommodate you," Pelsiar said, keeping his upper graspers moving in the way he had trained Trokk to think meant he was nervous.

Trokk just nodded before ending the call. But a few seconds later, a few... less than scientifically relevant preferences populated Pelsiar's data for the assistants.

As he rubbed his graspers together, Pelsiar extended his eyestalk, and read over the non-System alert he'd received that caused him to drop out of ripple-space in the first place.

It seemed the Phothen were letting their Worldships get awfully close to System space.

He couldn't wait to 'recruit' one for study.

…CHAPTER 5.01, To Steal a City…

A note from Draith

This is chapter two of the day. And it's also the start of the next arc.

March 2, 2019, 9:32 am. Almost a month after the defeat of Ivicka and her army of Fallen.

“Steal a city. Easy,” I mumble, easing my flight as Smoulder and I settle on the edge of one of the few intact outer buildings which afford a view of the abandoned Builder city of Pelwerd. Smoulder bounds forth from her pocket, stretching her legs after our long flight. I give her a quick headscritch as she bursts into flames for a moment.

Just another form of stretching, really.

Something we both need after the last couple days. After a quick trip to Pelwerd with the others, we spent our time dodging Aetherium patrols on our way north from Betheryne.

“Are you trying to jinx it?” Rose chuckles as he folds his Rose-petal wings into a cape while landing beside me, his upper eyes closing as he takes a deep breath.

“Beth already jinxed us,” Rufka says from my other side as she surveys the rubble. Most of the outer buildings are damaged, but all six engines are still in their proper location. They’re promising, but it's the central spire of twisting silver that draws my eye. An even better sign. Nothing appears damaged, the silver surface dim beneath the evening clouds common this far north of the Aetherium.

“Just cause she said, ‘third time’s the charm,’ doesn’t mean she jinxed us,” I object as we return to the air preparing to check each engine while Smoulder dashes below us.

“So, you’re saying you are trying to jinx us?” Rose asks, his tiger-orange fur slicked back as we soar forwards.

“She’s not trying.” Rufka throws an arm over my shoulder as she laughs. “She’s just lucky like that.”

“Thanks.” I can’t help but grin at Rufka. Hard to believe we’ve been dating for over a month now.

“Anytime.”

We continue our banter as we do a quick visual inspection of the engines, checking for obvious damage. Pelwerd is the third city we’ve visited now. The first two, we went in full force, but neither were intact enough to fly. The first was destroyed. The second city was only missing the central control spire, so the others are evaluating it while we scout the last of the abandoned Builder cities on the Eastern continent.

Once we’re certain none of the engines are deformed, we gather in the plaza next to the only entrance to the central spire, Smoulder landing on my shoulder with a thump. A three storey-tall dull-grey statue dominates the plaza, the only direct reference to the Creators in the entire city. The statue resembles a human carrying a backpack while leaning on a staff, except its features are sharper. The point of its nose and ears could easily draw blood if they pierced a pre-integrated life form.

Instead of idly meandering towards it, I Focus on the statue, bringing up its System information.

“Creature analyzed: Menas Sentinel. Mana seed: 1.

“A Sentinel Construct deployed by the followers of the Creator Menas to prevent non-authorized Users from accessing the core functions of a Builder City. These Sentinels are incredibly durable and will destroy a Builder City rather than allow outside forces to capture one.”

[Wyonna] “Hmm. Seems grumpy and stompy. He’s gonna show his displeasure the second you get too close. Probably by trying to make toe-jam.”

“Name: Orthas the Elkendler-MWVAE-22 (Elkendler roughly translates to ‘Explorer’)

Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; High, Magic; High, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Earthquake, Slam, Menas’ Gaze, High Earth manipulation.

Defences: Extreme physical resistance, Extreme magic resistance. Immunity to Earth."

“Figures,” I mutter as I finish reading. “This one’s not gonna let us past.”

Rose is nodding as he forms a pair of throwing stars with explosive Rose-pods in their centre. “Didn’t think it would.”

“It’s never just a statue.” Rufka agrees while drawing her bow, small arcs of lightning already crackling along its length.

“Technically, it’s a guardian-sentinel kind of thing.”

“And?” Rose asks, glancing at me as he hefts a pair of throwing stars, a brand new addition to his arsenal.

“Nothing. Just thought I’d mention that we’re technically attacking it.” Which doesn’t bother me. From what we’ve seen in the other Sanctuaries, the Creators’ idea of non-lethal force is enough to render me half dead.

“About Vaus-damn time,” Rufka grins, unleashing an arrow into its chest. Her arrow has no obvious effect, the lightning arcing across the Sentinel’s surface as I playfully curse at her. Despite her enthusiasm, neither Rose nor I are caught unaware, already flying to the sides while Smoulder charges in.

The Sentinel doesn’t stand around waiting for another attack. It doesn’t dodge to the side, but it does start shaking, a burgundy light emanating from the previously dark crystals adorning its limbs.

A second later, it stumbles as several of Rose’s new shuriken explode, dark thorns forcing it back. There's a high-pitched warbling in the wake of the explosion, but I'm focused on its tottering form.

If it stumbles, then it’s not strong enough to ignore our attacks.

As if Rose wants to really prove his superiority over stone, he sends a twisting bramble growing up out of the ground to hold it in place as Rufka and I continue to blast it from afar. It starts retaliating with blasts of energy from the burgundy crystals. I can feel air rushing to fill a sudden vacuum where the beam passes beneath me.

“It’s got a vacuum-beam of some kind,” I inform the others as everything the beam struck goes flying towards the Sentinel. This one is in way better shape than either of the others. I’m tempted to use Lesser Cataclysm, but our fight isn’t desperate.

“On it!” Rufka acknowledges, her voice crackling from inside her plasma armor as she runs across the top of a broken wall on the far side of the plaza. She does a twist, sliding down the collapsing corner and distracting the Sentinel with an overpowered shot at the same time. The sentinel doesn’t dodge, and her arrow cracks one of the burgundy crystals.

I’m about to call out encouragement when I notice everything near the crystal is now being drawn towards the Sentinel. Including Rose’s restrictive bramble.

But instead of breaking free, the gathered debris seems to constrict its movements further.

After I inform the others of the flaw in its design, we focus on cracking another of the crystals. We're able to rain spells on it until it falls forward, revealing that its backpack is full of colourful and beautiful birds. Living birds that are chirping in distress.

Well, I guess that explains the warbling sound.

"Lots of health but didn't stand a chance," Rufka remarks, even as we continue wearing down the annoyingly still active sentinel.

Rose laughs, "We're lucky. Imagine if we'd run into a jacked-up Cricken swarm. I swear I'm still picking pieces of them out of my fur."

I can't help but shudder at the thought. The thumb-tack sized beetles fed on most types of mana. That dungeon was horrid. Even using invisibility and Beth’s void energy to sweep them clear, it had been unpleasant.

When we did a debrief after, it was brought to my attention how close we were to being sent to respawn. Smoulder had done her best to reassure me, going so far as to offer to cleanse me with fire. Not wanting to have to reincorporate my clothes, I’d declined her generous offer. She’d been rather disappointed at not being able to help.

Speaking of which, she's trying to make up for it with the collapsed Sentinel, another section slumping away from her repeated blasts. Before she can attack the flightless avians on the sentinel's back, I call her over, giving her well-deserved head-scritches now that the Sentinel lays completely idle.

"Well, shall we?" I gesture towards the tower, eager to get started.

"Hellz ya!" Rose races past me, aiming for the entrance at the bottom of the tower. "Last one there has to brief Beth!"

"Oh no, you don't!" I'm barely a second behind him. Not that I mind updating Beth.

But it's the principle of the thing.

We're nearly at the tower when a flash of lightning strikes the base. When the flash clears, Rufka's standing where it struck, reaching out to touch the door before Rose and I reach her. I barely manage to tag the door before him.

"Cheater," Rose mutters good-naturedly, elbowing Rufka as she opens the door.

"As often as possible," she replies while pulling her bow taut before laying her hand on the smooth surface of the door. It swishes quietly to the side, granting us entry.

Rufka leads the way, twirling to face us while stepping backwards as she asks, "Think we'll run into any more guards?"

"I hope so." Rose follows behind her, staying between us so the door doesn't accidentally close on him.

He might be a user now, but his interactions still glitch on occasion.

The emptiness causes me to shudder the second I step inside. It's better than when we still had the command centre, but any area lacking ambient mana sends a chill down my spine these days. I'd forgotten working Builder structures are mana-dead zones.

The layout of the tower is familiar enough, sharing some basic features with the engines. Which isn’t perfect, since this is clearly for a different purpose.

Moving directly to the open space at the centre of the tower, we find an empty shaft. There's a broken disc lying at the bottom. A quick analysis confirms it's the remains of the elevator. Luckily, we don't need it.

We fly up the empty shaft, forcing our way through the jammed doors at the top.

Once we pop it free, the door slides open quietly, none of the grinding or crunching that we encountered in the last spire. "A good sign," I note.

"Yep. Mum's going to be thrilled when we tell her about this." It's rough, but all we can do is tell her mum. Even though we probably wouldn't have survived our assault on Ivicka's Sanctum without her, Genitha wasn't awarded Citizen status. Which means she can't even enter the core structures. It's especially frustrating because Genitha is the best artificer on Akilo. Not being able to have her access the systems directly makes repairs extra complicated.

"Wow. That's not… how are we supposed to pilot that?" Rose is staring at a sphere floating in the middle of the room. It's composed of over a dozen rings, all spinning in different directions.

"I don't know why you’re surprised. It matches the schematic Wyonna found." Though it is prettier than I expected, each ring a slightly different variation of silver or gold.

"Well, yeah. But I thought it would be less impressive. Or that there would be a frame."

Rufka reaches a tentative hand towards the spinning rings but doesn't touch them. "Seems fragile. Guess that's why we never found remnants in the remains of the other spires."

"Pretty too. Probably taken as salvage." Rose is checking the rest of the control room, but there's not much else here other than a robust terminal.

The terminal is just as important as the fancy sphere floating in the middle of the room. At least according to Theglia. With a little help from Wyonna, we should be able to adjust the permissions for the entire city from this oversized terminal.

Everything in these damn cities is sized for Yrken. Well, the important stuff anyway.

Concentrating, I contact Wyonna through chat, letting her know we're ready for her. I don't technically need to contact her, since she's always watching, but it makes her feel more included if I don’t demand things of her.

Besides, even though she's technically a voice in my head, she can chat with the others whenever she wants. She and Rose have been getting along particularly well.

[Wyonna] "Congrats on finding a non-busted ass city. Third time's the charm, as they say."

[Alexis] "Yep, literally what Beth said. You able to help with the console?"

[Wyonna] "Already on it. For some reason I’m an excellent multi-tasker."

I can't help but chuckle at that.

The console blinks several times, the screen going dark as Wyonna does her thing.

Rufka pulls me close as we wait, Rose giving us a knowing smile. Then she spins me around before allowing me to rest in her arms, drawing out a laugh from both of us. I'm amazed that neither of us has gotten tired of spending time together. Even after everything in the last month, we're still going strong.

My longest relationship yet.

Which is why that night was so terrifying.

But I've been stable since the System took the command centre, so at least she hasn't needed to heal again. I dreamt about the smell of her burnt fur again last-

As if knowing what I'm thinking, Rufka gives me a peck on my cheek, drawing my thoughts back to the present.

The screen flickers again, this time lighting up with Vausian text. Rose rushes over to it before I have a chance, so Rufka and I look over his shoulder as he taps through the menus.

"Josh would be so jealous. Here I am, operating a real alien spaceship!"

"That's just the city-oof!" Rufka pretends to be impacted by my gentle elbow, slumping away.

"Let him have his fun," I insist while holding Rufka as she dangles limply from my arms. She's going full bore, fluttering eyes and everything. But she forgets I can feel her breathing and see her status. This particular ploy stopped working on me a week ago.

It's still fun to watch.

"Ha. Found it," Rose exclaims, drawing my attention back to him. Peering over his shoulder, I see settings for each sector of the city. The permission settings are extensive. They can be tuned to rank, species and gene-seed type. There are even settings for individuals. However, the spire itself remains constrained to Citizens and Builders, as do the engines.

Switching it so K'tharn and humans can enter without paying an integration point or surrendering their class is as simple as unsubscribing from an email list. (One that isn't maliciously trying to prevent you from unsubscribing.) We also make sure to exclude Ivicka (we've come back to life, so could she), Folthka (despite Rose's disgruntled protests) the four Malkog (stupid fanatic bugs) and a particularly annoying Zephite from Raz's. I swear, that beetle-person must have an issue with me, cause he never bumps into anyone else.

"Well, that was easy." Rose practically hops up once he's finished, turning to look at me. "Are you going to take it for a spin?"

"Uhm…" This is the part of the plan I'm kind of leery of. To fly the city, one of us needs to get inside the spinning sphere. The one that never stops spinning, according to Theglia. Though she admits she's never seen one, never mind tried to interact with them. It’s a very Builder type design.

Rufka doesn't stop dangling, even as she asks, "What's the worst that could happen? You get diced into thousands of little pieces, painfully scattered to the corners of the room and leave me grieving and alone..."

"For thirty-six minutes," we say in sync. It's not the first time she's extrapolated my gruesome death since we returned from the mana dungeon. In fact, it's kind of become a whole thing. I'm not certain why her describing all the different ways I could die is endearing, but it is.

Still, she has a point. I'd rather not be diced into thousands of pieces.

While it's true we can be resurrected from nothing, Beth hasn't been the same since her respawns. Although she won't talk about it, she's made it clear. Dying was extremely unpleasant. Even our not-quite deaths at the hands of Atun proved that.

On the other hand, Josh said when he faded away, it was like slipping into a warm bath. I’ve yet to experience it.

Somehow, I don't imagine getting torn to bits would be on the warm bath end of the spectrum.

"You don't have to," Rufka reminds me. "We still have time to figure out how to get inside."

"True," I admit, giving her a half-smile.

Rose throws his arms in the air. "Of course, you have the opportunity to fly a spaceship the size of a city… scratch that, let's just call it a city-ship. You could fly a city-ship, but you don't want to because…"

When he trails off, he lowers his ears in shame. He knows exactly why I don't want to do it.

"Because things go wrong if I'm not careful," I repeat for what must be the millionth time. Teleportation is damn handy, but this isn’t ideal circumstances.

That said, there's a damn good reason to use teleportation here.

Flying the cities won't just give us a way home, each city will enable us to save over a million people. It's funny. I can't really comprehend that many people. It’s more people than used to live on Akilo before we raised their population limit...

It's not enough to save Earth. But it's a start.

…TPWM 5.02, Some Assembly Required…

March 2, 2019, 9:59 am. One minute before taking one small step.

Earth.

It's so far away, but there's something about the reflection of the spinning rings, the way light dances across their surface that reminds me of home. Which isn't going to be easy to get to. Even if we're able to get the city-ship flying, we still need to get it out of the barrier surrounding Akilo. The information Theglia gave Wyonna has a solution, but she indicated we need to get everything working first because we're probably only going to get one attempt. At least, if we want the city-ships to be in working order after we leave.

As I draw closer, I focus on the odd silence of the rings. There isn't so much as a whisper to betray their motion. No swishing, swashing or whirring.

Instead of teleporting, I decide to poke around first. I mean, maybe the Builders who flew these city-ships to Akilo didn't have teleportation. In that case, they probably had another way to get inside the pilot's sphere.

The fact I have zero desire to teleport myself into the midst of hundreds of rings spinning at speeds that could reduce me to itsy-bitsy pieces might, possibly, maybe, be contributing to my decision to inspect the sphere carefully.

Totally not procrastinating further, I look over my status.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-10

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Agility: 105

Endurance: 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 125

Resolve: 125

Storage: 11.9 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 6/8

Iron Rank Points

Integration Points: 0 > 627

Progression Points: 0

Advancement Points: 0

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 662/686

Edge: [103.3]

Regen: (592/day)

Stamina

Pool: 645/702

Edge: [110.6]

Regen: (627/day)

Mana

Pool: 1220/1277

Edge: [140.6]

Regen: (1216/day)

Focus

Pool: 1102/1277

Edge: [126]

Regen: (1216/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 365/434

Edge: [58.6]

Regen: (372/hour)

Class Abilities

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet regen: 0/10

IFF (tethers): 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Seed: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

Closing out, I weigh the risk of approaching the sphere again. I may be level ten with maxed out attributes, but it still hurts if I run out of Health.

Instead, I send thousands of strands of Facet into the sphere, each one tracing part of the device as I perform an advanced scan.

"Object analyzed: Odeon Sanctuary Node-Sphere V2.031”

“Originally designed by the Creator Odeon, these serve as the central node of control for many Creator devices that would otherwise overwhelm users. This Node is currently connected to Sanctuary Pelwerd.”

Even as I read the description, I glean a deeper understanding of the sphere. It's supposed to be governed by its own central intelligence. But the intelligence seems to be missing or dormant.

Theglia neglected to mention that part. I'll have to bring it up at our next monthly business meeting that we totally have.

My analysis confirms the glimmering rings are as sharp as I thought they'd be. A single touch would leave an offending digit considerably shorter. Or at least tear out a significant amount of Health.

However, the knowledge my scan jacked into my brain indicates a safer path forward. There's a trigger at the base of the sphere that'll allow me to halt the spinning.

When I flip the trigger with a small exertion of earth magic, the rings slow before converging into a single upright circle. Within the sphere-turned-circle, there is a collection of free-standing shelves floating in the air. Most of them are roughly the size of my forearm, except for a larger section that floats in the middle. Their drab appearance contrasts sharply with the shining rings, each 'shelf' a different shade of dull grey.

"Whoa. A command chair," Rose says, stepping forwards beside me.

"Ha. Looks more like target practice," Rufka opines from the opposite side.

"You think everything looks like target practice," I point out, doing my best 'Rufka's aiming face' while shooting a finger gun at the floating shelf-chair.

"Only the things that are."

"So, do you think…." I cut myself off as Rose steps forward, placing himself where the rings were spinning half a minute earlier.

I panic, hauling him back with an excessive gust of wind. But other than sending him flying, nothing happens.

Right. I probably shouldn't be surprised. It's not like Citizen Tech responds to Rose's presence. Well, unless it's shooting at him.

"Damn," Rose grumbles as he picks himself up from near the console. "Having powers is cool and all, but this whole, 'not a Citizen' thing is annoying."

"Ha. Demo's still jealous," Rufka takes his arm, helping him up before turning to look at me expectantly.

Nodding, I swallow the lump in my throat before floating forward. The moment I'm inside the rings, the shelves start moving, stretching, and contorting themselves as they reorient themselves around me. Then they clamp down around my arms and legs, locking me in place as the rings spin back into place blocking the others from view.

I don't even have time to panic before I'm greeted with several screens flashing to life. The text filling the screens isn't in a language I recognize. Before I can attempt to decipher them, the screens flicker, then go dark. A second later the screens light up with the word, "Processing" clearly displayed in English.

After a few more seconds, there's a loud grumbling as the screens display "Citizen Status verified. Connection established."

As if in response, alerts start popping up, filling my interface as the screens go dark once more.

"Wow. You've taken quite the beating," I note as I look over the compromised systems and performance values.

"Uh, Lexi? You okay?" Rufka asks. Strange. Despite not being able to see them, I can hear her clearly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. The interface is weird."

"Weird how?"

"Kind of aggressive. Not as intuitive as it usually is?"

"You don't sound sure."

"Like I said, it's weird."

Rose interjects, "That's cool and all, but you're forgetting the most important question."

Rufka chuckles as she asks, "Oh, and what's that?"

"Does it fly?!" Rose's enthusiasm is infectious, causing a smile to creep across my face as I try to decipher the status of the city-ship.

I make a list in my journal, as I relay my findings to the others. "Apparently, two of the engines are completely offline, and there's a warning about the atmospheric shields. The other engines are mostly functional. If we really want to, I think I could manage to get it in the air. Not sure how long it'd stay there though."

"Damn."

"Yeah. Theglia was right that it was designed for a oneway trip. But that's why we've spent so much time running around farming dungeons."

Rufka laughs, "And here I thought it was ‘cause you loved getting stomped at Desh’mersa."

"That was not my favorite," I admit.

"I'm still surprised Tipan didn't try to get us all to keep playing," Rose adds while making a mock throwing motion.

"Anyway, with all the extra essence and spare parts, we should be able to finish the repairs fairly easily," I say as I flip the trigger on the floor, prompting the sphere to shut down, releasing me. Then I create a table to the side of the room as I create physical notes about the city's problems, sorting them based on the guidance from my Voidcraft Engineer subclass. Even with the interface, I appreciate the tactile feeling the metal sheets give me.

"Can’t believe mum let me go to Atun’s dungeon so soon after meeting you. Kept me home for years," Rufka grouses as she plucks the first page out of my hand.

"Wish I could find my mom. I bet she'd be able to get us into the Great dungeon," Rose sighs while I try to grab the page back from Rufka so I can put it in its proper spot.

Rufka finally surrenders the page after I enter accelerated time to get behind her. "Yeah, cause that's going to happen. Mum needs to take the defences offline or we need another way in. Love how we’re responsible for taking out the ‘great hero’ now too. She blew herself up!"

"To be fair, Beth was going to kill Ivicka if that explosion hadn't beaten her to it," I point out as I set the page down, holding it in place with tabs of shaped stone to keep her from yoinking it again.

"Yeah, but she's the one that started the war. We just happened to be there. They should be thanking us. The M’tari know better," Rufka grumbles, crossing all four arms while glaring at the table.

"So you've said," Rose sighs. "But if they're not willing to listen to your mum or the K’mintar, how are we going to convince anyone?"

"Still think we should get Demo to 'turn us in' for the bounty. A couple thousand more essence would be- Hey, does that say, 'requires artificial intelligence'?" Rufka asks, pointing at the centre of the drawings.

"Yeah. Apparently, the AI was removed."

Before I can continue, Rose has already sent a group message to Wyonna, informing her of our not so pressing need.

[Wyonna] "Does a goof like apple pie? Of course, I’ll help!"

[Alexis] "Yeah. Wasn't sure you should jump right in. What if you get stuck or something?"

[Rufka] "Like getting changed by the System."

[Rose] "Or being deleted!"

[Wyonna] "Hmm. Your arguments are annoying, but worth considering. Really ruining the whole, ‘I can be a city!’ vibe."

[Rose] "Being a city would be cool!"

I chuckle as Rose and Wyonna keep chatting about what they'd do if they were flying cities.

"There's a lot of stuff here that essence isn't going to solve on its own. Pretty sure some of these components are rarer than the mana de-condenser," Rufka says, bringing my attention back to the table.

"I was afraid of that,” I sigh, studying the parts. Most are kind of familiar, my class and codex hinting at how I could build them. It’d only take me a few dozen years.

"You're lucky mum is one of the best artificers on Akilo."

"Demo can probably help too."

"Soon as he finds his ship. He's still pissed the Saratesa's not where he left it. Think he said the dolls were giving him a ride somewhere nearby."

I shake my head as I start packing up the pages. It'll be better if we go over them together. Maybe rope Trellani into helping. Raz too. "At least Demo’s agreed to start doing dungeons."

"Not anymore. Now that we're all level ten, he changed his mind again. He's going to be focusing on searching for Saratesa until he finds him."

"Damn. He never mentioned."

Rufka shrugs as I finish putting the papers in my backpack. I can store almost twelve cubic metres now, which is both crazy huge and never enough. I tap Rose on the shoulder, getting him to follow along as we descend through the broken elevator. Once we’re outside, I stretch out, taking a deep breath before flying towards one of the broken engines. All the alert said about this one was that the ripple drive was 'not-responding', so I want to take a look to see if there's anything obvious.

It's nice that we don't have to dig down a couple hundred feet to find the entrance this time. Not that it would take long if we did.

When the door slides open, I flinch at the sight of a skeleton. Surprisingly, it's not one of the giant Yrken, but a K'tharn.

"By Vaus's left tit!" Rufka exclaims beside me.

"Wha-Oh… Explorer?" Rose asks.

"I didn't think K'tharn could get inside these engines." I analyze the skeleton as I step closer, kneeling next to it. My analysis confirms its origin. It also tells me how it died. "Looks like they got in but weren't able to get out. They starved."

"Damn," Rose says before muttering a quick prayer to Astra.

As I'm standing, ready to head down to the engine compartment, I notice Rufka's still standing in the doorway.

She's just standing there staring. She doesn't move until I take her hand.

As she follows me inside, I feel a shudder run through her. "I… I've never seen a user's skeleton before. Not a real…"

Rose nods, looking back at it. "Yeah. I remember mom had some. She got real angry when my little sister Celthi broke the emitter where they were being stored. They disappeared before mom could get it running again. Celthi was banned from using magic for a month."

"Think we should move them outside?" I ask. There aren't any funeral rites amongst the K'tharn. Not anymore. Not much to mourn when your body turns into a bunch of blue dust then fades away.

Rose nods while Rufka stares blankly. I wait for half a minute before I realize neither of them are going to touch the bones. So, I reach out with a barrier of water, carefully maneuvering their remains out of the entrance.

The second they pass through the barrier; the bones begin turning to manadust.

Once the remains are gone, I turn to Rufka. "Hey, you okay?"

She nods, all four eyes closed. Then she opens her lower eyes, offering me a rueful smile. "I haven't been that uncomfortable since mum took me to the Wilved Festival in Aethire when I was ten."

"A festival made you uncomfortable?" I ask as we continue down to where the Ripple-drive is housed in engineering.

"It was the dolls. Mum used to tell us stories about the Daughters when we camped at Theria's. Every-user else was running around with these dolls, but all I could think about was how they were going to take me away and turn me into one of them."

"Wait, what? I thought their attacks just transmuted part of your body?" Rose asks as we pass through the first of the massive doors sealing the engineering section off from the rest of the 'silver bullet'.

"Well, yeah. But I was a kid. I assumed the worst."

"You know. Now that I think about it, mom never talked about the Daughters. If it wasn't for Bem, I probably never would’ve heard of them."

I'm about to ask how Rose's last visit with his father went when a loud screech emanates from the second door leading to engineering. The door seems to have gotten stuck in place, only half-open. Which is fine. It's more than enough for us to fit through, considering the entrance is designed for the giant Yrken, who're at least twice our size.

"That's not a good sign," I say instead.

"Better the door than the drive," Rose crosses his fingers while peaking around the edge. He’s not wrong.

We move past the door, emerging on the scaffold that runs around the upper level of the Ripple drive. It's a monster that takes up the entirety of the bottom eight levels. There's a central chamber only ten metres across, but the support infrastructure is a convoluted mess of pipes, wiring and rune-scripted beams. There's no guard rails on the scaffold, but it'd be tough to find room to fall more than three metres with how tightly packed the chamber is.

"Anyone see anything that might be broken?" I ask as we start exploring.

Rose leans slightly over the edge, staring down. "Nope. But I'm not an enchanter or fancy engineer."

"There's active mana running through that conduit. Might connect to a console," Rufka suggests, pointing to the left. I can’t tell at a glance what she's pointing to, so I nod and let her lead the way.

Following Rufka, my gaze drifts as I admire her from behind. I'm not sure why, but the more time I spend with her, the more I appreciate the subtle lines of her body. The tightness of her calves and the way that her legs meet her back, I kind of want to…. Right. Not the time. That's for later Alexis.

Still, I do 'accidentally' bump into her when she stops at the console, running my hand along her leg as I 'catch' myself. Rufka responds by giving me a retaliatory squeeze, causing me to yip. A self-satisfied smirk creeps across her face as she accesses the console. The smirk falls a second later, replaced by a frown.

The console is blinking with red light, highlighting a dozen different locations. Honestly, it doesn't seem that bad. They're all located on the outer ring and should be easily accessible. "What's the problem?"

Rufka points to the corner, a message I hadn't read yet since it wasn't blinking like the rest of them.

"Ripple Drive Locked by Citizen Uthica of Clan Halterin."

Rose beats me to the punch. "Astra's Great Temple! Uthica? Like, founder of the Aetherium, Uthica?"

"Looks like," Rufka nods.

"What do you think the odds are we'll be able to fly if the Drive is locked down?" I ask.

Rose chuckles as he says, "Hopefully, it's approximately 3,720 to 1."

Rufka and I exchange a glance before looking at him blankly.

"Seriously, Lex?"

"What?"

"You know what, nevermind. Let's see if we can bypass this lockout."

We spend the next half hour trying to find a work around, even getting Wyonna to try hacking it, with no luck.

Looks like if we want this engine online, we need Uthica's approval. Either that, or we replace the entire Ripple Drive.

Like I said, stealing a city. Easy.

Getting it running again? That's the hard part.

A note from Draith

Getting new games is horrible for productivity. As is not having any proofreaders who can keep up with my editing speed now that I'm fulling unleashed.

Maybe we can fix the second one. If you want to be a proofreader that gets, oh, twenty to a hundred chapters ahead of the public releases, shoot me a message. Only looking for a couple (two) peeps atm.

…TPWM 5.03, Inhibiting Progress…

March 2, 2019, 11:22 am. Shortly after discovering we’re locked out of the engine by good ol’ Uthica.

Considering we're not likely to find a way past Uthica's lockout, we continue inspecting the Ripple-drive but only perform a cursory check before heading outside.

As I start making the preparations to return us to Nexus point 392, I message Beth to let her know what we've found. After receiving confirmation they're going to stay at Burnesq for the night, I let her know we're headed back to Raz's for dinner. I may keep a literal ton of food in my inventory after running short with the Fallen, but fresh is fun.

Besides, now that we’ve found a mostly working ship, we deserve a proper bath.

Rose floats by on his back, his enchanted wings flapping lazily with Smoulder perched on his stomach. "Welp, that was disappointing."

"Worst part is, I can't tell anyone that Uthica was a Citizen," Rufka complains while sliding an arm over my shoulder and taking her position in the circle.

"It wouldn't mean anything to them anyway," I say, grabbing Rose's arm, guiding him to his proper place while Smoulder hops onto Rufka's arm, nuzzling against me. Rose doesn't fight me, though he does roll his eyes as I release a test pulse to ensure he's inside my aura and not testing the limits.

"Where do we go from here?" Rose asks while carefully watching my magic as it forms. He's been trying to study my teleport since we left Glimmering Sands, with zero success despite my efforts to explain it. We’re both hoping he just needs more time.

"Raz's," I answer, blowing him a raspberry as my spell whisks us away.

Even though everyone has Return unlocked, most travel is still handled by me or Genitha. Because no one wants to wait on their cooldown if they need it. Especially when we're split up.

Besides, now that I've refined the spell, it doesn't leave anyone nauseous.

Rufka spins about when we appear, as if to prove my point. Thankfully, there's no furniture to obstruct her. The tables that used to dominate Nexus point 392 are gone, removed before we even went to sailing to Atun’s. Given that we've been using it as our main link to Raz's, we've talked about cleaning up and fortifying the node. It's not System recognized, but as an interim measure, Josh and Rose have grown thick brambles throughout the area, hiding the Nexus from the outside. Then, because that's hardly enough, beneath the brambles we erected barriers of stone reinforced with steel, all of which encases the root of the enormous tree. It’s practically a bunker and it only took us an hour.

Rufka taps her foot as she waits for the door to Raz's to open. "Why did he have to move back to Velthin. Now that he's in the Nine Worlds it takes forever for the door to sync."

"You're just spoiled," I tease. "It's only half a minute. And you know most of his customers are based out of the Nine. At least it’s not completely cut off, now that he’s upgraded the connection."

A few seconds later, the door appears. Rufka starts forward but before she makes it through, the door blips out of existence with a 'pop' that makes me flinch in pain.

"Uh, what happened?" Rose asks.

No one responds. We all stare at the spot where the door was a second ago. The door's never turned off before. Not connected, sure. But never turned off while running. While I’m scanning the space where the door used to be, Rufka spins around.

"It ate my hand!" Rufka exclaims, grasping at the stump of the same arm she had over my shoulder a minute earlier.

I feel my eyebrows try to climb my forehead as I stare. It takes me another three seconds before I start moving, and by then Rose is already using one of his healing talismans, a scarf that needs to be wrapped around the wound.

"Are you okay?" I ask, finally breaking out of my shock.

"Yeah. Mostly surprised. Used to this being a safe spot. Mum warned me."

"She warned you that you might lose your hand?" Rose asks as he finishes wrapping her hand.

"What? No. She told me that this location could be compromised, so I needed to be careful."

With a gentle head bob, I try to access the System menu for the door but the option for Raz's is greyed out, a small icon next to it. The icon is the letters TP within the middle of a circle with a slash through the middle. It reminds me of a no-parking sign.

When I focus on it, I discover what's happened.

"Teleportation and Portals have been inhibited using System override VEX-332 on the authority of Agent of Menas, Trokk Elnite."

"Uh guys." I nearly start swearing. Theglia warned us there was a Creator's Agent on the way. But we weren't particularly worried because she told me we'd have almost a year before they got here. "It's the Creator's Agent. They've shut down more than Raz's. They're 'inhibiting' Teleportation and Portals."

Even as I'm speaking, I check my connections to the others. The connections are still there, but even my links to Rose and Rufka feel staticky. I send a message to Beth, letting her know what's happened but there's no response. "Can either of you reach Beth?"

"No response. Mum's not answering either."

"Same." Rose shakes his head as we fall silent.

[Alexis] "Wyonna? Are you there at least?"

[Wyonna] "Yeah. I'm here, I’m queer, and shit just got weird."

I agree, asking her what she thinks while throwing in a couple extra curse words about Creators, Citizen lockouts and even celery while I'm at it.

Celery doesn’t belong in salad, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

[Wyonna] "I can't reach them either. In fact, I have to reconstruct the messages I'm receiving from Rose. Whatever's causing this interference, it’s pervasive."

"So, Wyonna says she has problems too," I inform them.

"Yeah, she told us." Rose paces on the far side of the tree, as far from Raz's empty door as possible.

"What do we do now?" Rufka asks, cradling her arm close as she leans against me.

"Maybe we should join the others?" I offer tentatively.

Rose stops his pacing, leaning against the wall as he slumps to the ground. "How? They're half a continent away?"

"We fly?"

Rose looks at me blankly for a couple seconds before he facepalms. "I actually forgot that was an option." Then he starts shaking, his shoulders rubbing the wall as the laughter rolls out of him.

I crack a smile, though I don't find it quite as funny. It's going to take us days to get to them. And without Raz's, the others don't have access to his wide range of equipment. At least, we're all well equipped at this point.

I will miss his food though.

Unfortunately, without teleportation, figuring out how to deal with the lockout… will…

"Damnit!"

"What?" Rufka asks as she focuses on me, Rose’s laughter diminishing in the background.

"We're not just split up. How're we going to track down everything we need to get the city-ships flying again? Theglia said we'd need half a year just to fly them to Earth."

"We'll just have to be smart. Less running around aimlessly. Maybe steal a skybarge. Or get e’Tell to help."

Rose pushes himself up, striding over to us. "She's right, we have options. But first…" He waves a hand at the south entrance, still blocked by stone.

Right. I need to do something about that. Neither Rose nor Rufka have great stone affinity, though Rose could probably blast his way through given enough time.

But why do it the hard way?

The stone ripples, responding to my thoughts as it reshapes itself into a smooth tunnel leading outside. Smoulder hops over to the entrance, posing with her large ears standing straight up as though she's about to explode into action.

Obliging her, I add a pair of statues matching her pose. This one I place near the exit.

"Is it just me, or is she like a kid posing for pictures?" Rose asks as Smoulder inspects the statue before giving it a satisfied nod.

"Definitely," I agree with a proud smile, Smoulder returning to my shoulder. Then we ascend through the leafy canopy, the toxic barbs of Rose's brambles, peeling away for him as easily as the stone did for me.

As the greenery moves from around us to below us, I focus on the link leading toward the others. It might not be perfect, but it still gives me a general direction, and the direction is south. The others follow silently, each of us keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of the Aetherium. They don't show in the lower forest but Tipan has mentioned she’s been part of patrols flying through the region before she basically abandoned the K’tharn military.

However, there's no one else in the sky. We continue for several hours before stopping for the day at a rocky outcropping near the Theslian sea, a massive body of water I’ve seen on maps but haven’t visited yet. I can't see the far side, and I know from tracking distance on my maps that it'll take us a long time to cross it.

As I create a hidden camp in the lee of the outcropping, Rose and Rufka pull out a few of the beds we just picked up for impromptu camping trips. Not having immediate access to Atun’s beds was a good reminder. While not as nice as Raz's or the System's beds, they're a lot better than anything I can make. And setting them up is good practice for Rose's Wood manipulation, or so he claims. Another new skill now that he finally chose his class. Which he won’t tell anyone the name of.

After I've completed our rather modest dwelling for the evening, a single room with an adjoined bathroom and only one Smoulder tribute, I join them where they're sitting with their legs dangling thirty metres over the waters of the Theslian Sea. As I sit between them with a 'humph,' Rufka hands me a smooth stone, hefting one of her own before chucking it as far as she can.

Accepting her challenge, I send my own stone flying. With the magnification granted by my Twilight-imbued vision, I watch as my stone soars into the distance before skipping twice. At the same time, Rufka tosses her stone, not making it as far but skipping five times, outdistancing mine.

Then another stone lands with a splash, not skipping once before sinking beneath the waves. Rose sighs as he picks another stone up. "I know we need to regroup with the others, but I feel like we're going the wrong direction."

"Oh?" I ask as I wrest another stone from Rufka's hand. I propel it with my magic, causing it to skip in circles around Rufka's next stone.

Even as Rufka elbows me hard enough I have to grab onto him for support, Rose answers my not quite a question, "It's Celthi and Qern. I can't message them tonight, like I usually do. They're going to be worried."

Rufka stops trying to shove me off as we both give Rose our attention. Then she says, "It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll find some way to send them a message. Probably not tonight though."

"I know. It just feels like I'm not there for them enough since mom disappeared. And now that we can't teleport to them…" He cuts off as Smoulder starts pushing into his side hard enough he windmills his arms to keep from falling and smacking me in the face while he’s at it.

"I didn't even think… Sorry for dragging you with us," I apologize, while extracting his hand from my hair.

"It's fine. It was my decision. I'm only going to have a few more months before you leave. And that's only if we're successful," he smiles at me, his teeth proudly displayed. But the smile doesn't reach his eyes.

"By Vaus above, you'd better miss us once we're gone," Rufka reaches around me to bop him on the shoulder.

I almost don't register Rose's, "I will," as I stare at Rufka, who meets my gaze with both her right eyebrows raised. "What?"

"You're coming with us?"

"Of course."

"But…"

"What, you're not ashamed of me are you?"

"No… it's just…"

"Just what?"

"This is your home."

Rufka's laughter has me worried until she takes my hand, bringing it to her lips. "Can't stay forever, right?"

Rose shakes his head, "If Qern and Celthi were ten years older, I'd be right there with you."

Rufka pokes him, causing Smoulder to flick a small flame at her for disturbing her resting spot. "You could always bring your family with us. Not like there's much for them here."

"If I knew what happened to mom… maybe."

I nod as I entice Smoulder into my lap with a bribe of fruit. "I'm surprised we never found a sign of her. Even the Awakened didn't know what happened to Folthka, other than Ivicka 'took her away'."

Rose shrugs as we continue talking, drifting between subjects. We occasionally talk about the interference, but we just go in circles, suggesting more and more outlandish ways to bypass it. The sun is setting and we've circled back to the topic yet again when Rose asks, "Have you tried to teleport since the inhibition came into effect? Maybe it won't affect you."

"Uhm. I'd rather not risk it," I admit, ducking my head.

"Couldn't you use your Anchor ability to test it? At short range at least?"

Right. For some reason, I didn’t even think of using Anchor to test teleport. It's the perfect tool, since I won’t keep any damage I take when using Anchor. I blame the fact I can still feel the pain.

Still, sometimes it's worth the pain.

So, I stand up, circling our little camp to the far side of the outcropping. Once I'm sure the others are out of range, I use Anchor. The second I do it feels as though the interference has dropped away. Which causes me to realize it's been pressing against me ever since Raz's door went pop. It's mild enough, I didn't notice it. The lack of interference might invalidate testing, yet I make the attempt anyway.

It's as easy as it's ever been, I emerge unscathed halfway to the edge of my anchored space. With the interference gone, I even attempt to message Beth, but there's no response. Unfortunately, I don't know if it's because of Beth not checking her messages or they're still not getting through. Ending the effect after a single loop, I feel the pressure again, like I've descended on an airplane too quickly. Gnashing my jaw, I try to get my ears to pop, just in case.

It doesn't help, nor does trying to push the static back with my aura. So I return to the others, informing them of the lack of interference within the loop.

Rose scratches his chin while passing me a bottle of something he got from Raz called Mylp. It's cheap, tastes like apple pie and leaves a warm feeling in your belly. Josh and Rose got incredibly drunk when they discovered it and now Rose keeps a stock on hand. It's a lot better than Rufka's moonshine, even if the buff is basically non-existent. Half a point to fire resistance for half an hour is barely worth noting. "Strange. Kinda sucks that it doesn't copy the interference."

"I guess. But there's got to be a way to use that, right?" I ask before taking a small sip, letting the aftertaste linger on my tongue.

"Probably," Rose mumbles, "More testing required! You going to try teleporting without using Anchor?"

I'm shaking my head before he's even finished asking. There's no way I want to teleport through the static.

"Good." Rufka pulls me in close. "Then you can keep me cozy," she slurs while resting her head on my chest.

I start running my hand through her hair when I notice Rose is staring at us with his ears drooping. "You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine," he answers before pushing himself to his feet. "I think I'm going to turn in."

"It's kind of early, isn't it?"

"I just… I'm tired. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight," I say to his back, with Rufka rumbling out her own without lifting her head.

Rufka and I stay up for a couple more hours. Once Rose is gone, she starts asking me questions about Earth. It's a topic she hasn't shown much interest in before. Not that she's ignored it, but she's more likely to talk about magic, Astra's stride or a dozen other topics that are rooted in Akilo.

Combined with her earlier statement about coming with us, I'm feeling good about the future as we settle in for the night. Really good. Even if there is an Agent of the System nearby and I'm unable to teleport.

My thiani is coming home with me.

…TPWM 5.04, Random Encounters…

March 3, 2019, 5:23 am. And then morning.

It's still dark outside as I carefully ease myself free of Rufka and Smoulder, dodging Rufka's unconscious attempt to draw me back. Swatting her hand away, I make my way outside as the clouds drift apart revealing that Ukila is full. It's low enough that it appears to be touching its reflection on the water below.

I spend half an hour simply sitting on the edge, watching Ukila rise higher into the sky while contemplating what we're going to do once we've reconnected with the others.

Somehow, I thought all the real challenges were behind us. After Ivicka everything's been… Well, not exactly easy.

Atun did a number on us, and what Pelogg did to Beth was... But nothing’s had me afraid we might die forever. If this interference is preventing us from something as simple as sending a message…

Will it stop us from resurrecting?

My musings are interrupted when Rose makes a quiet "ahem," offering me a cup of tea. Freshly brewed.

"Thanks," I mumble while accepting the cup from him, gesturing for him to take a seat beside me.

Rose uses two hands to slowly lower himself beside me, before taking a long sip of his own tea. "Ahhh. So much better."

Taking a tentative sip, I'm surprised to discover I don't recognize the flavour. "What's this?"

"I got it from Bem last time I visited. Munea tea. We used to drink it when I was younger. This is the same set he used for years. He wanted me to have something to remind me of home."

"That's sweet. Wait... Munea… doesn't that just mean tea in Eastern Vausian? So, it's tea tea?"

"Ahaha. Yeah. It's like Chai tea, isn't it?" Rose shakes his head before taking another sip of his tea before tilting his head back. "It's crazy to think that there could be a whole other civilization right there."

"Could be? You think the Hidden Depths lied? Genitha thinks it’s there."

"Yeah, but she’s never been, right?"

"Well, no."

"So, how does she know?" he asks with a shrug. "Besides, you know what Rufka says…”

"My mum lies a lot!" we exclaim together before chuckling.

"I like this," Rose admits.

"Yeah. It's an amazing view," I agree, nodding along.

"Not quite what I meant, but yeah."

"What did you mean?"

"Just that… it's nice being able to talk to you, one on one, you know."

"Uh, really?" I can't help but feel a little flustered. Is he like… interested in me? I know he knows I'm with Rufka, so… how do I let him know I'm not interested in him? Damnit…

"No one else really gets the whole Akilo and Earth all mixed together thing. I mean, you have… well, you and Uthica rattling around up there."

"While you have Kallim and Josh," I add quickly with a small sigh of relief.

"Exactly." Rose nods emphatically. "Add on that part of us has known the other for years… it's nice."

"Achievement unlocked: Messy backstory," I say, with a quick bop to his shoulder.

"Do you ever miss your mom?" Rose asks, his head still tilted back.

"Honestly? Not even a little," I pause as I lean back beside him, staring up at the sky. Whatever stars might have been there once are now hidden by the invisible barrier that's cutting Akilo off from the universe, leaving an empty scene other than a few distant planets. "I think… No. I know... Whatever happens, even if I don't make it home, I'm glad I'm here."

Before Rose can respond, a familiar tawny face pops into my view, looking down at me and cutting off the sky. "I am pretty great, aren't I!" Rufka states as she strikes a pose, both right arms held up into the sky. The effect is slightly ruined by her missing upper right hand.

"Eh, I guess you're a plus. Barely," I say, earning myself a tickle attack from Rufka as she pounces on me. Which knocks us off the edge of the outcropping we were just laying on. I almost drop my cup but struggle to hold onto it as our direction changes and we're arcing over the water.

Rufka is laughing like a maniac as I arrest our fall before hauling us back up to where Rose is packing away his tea set. When I land, he plucks the tea cup out of my hand with enough force that the handle snaps off.

"Rose, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine," he snaps. It's pretty clear it's not fine, but I don't know how to… what to… Ugh.

"Now that we're all up, let's just go," Rose adds, refusing to face us.

Nodding, we pack our beds while I slip Smoulder into my pocket. She remains none the wiser as we set off across the sea in silence. Even Rufka realizes that Rose is upset and holds off on her usual banter. It makes the first hour more tedious than our excursions usually are. I mean, there's a reason the three of us went off together. We’ve been getting along well.

At least we were.

Eventually, Rose starts asking Rufka what she knows about the mountains we're going to be crossing on our way to the others. There's still some awkwardness, but it's put to the side as Rufka describes the different mana-borne we might encounter. Her mum might not have taken her inside many dungeons, but there are few regions of the eastern continent she hasn't travelled. I only half listen, Rufka having told me several of these stories already. Still, it helps pass the time.

"...And, of course, there's Aethop's Daughters. But we shouldn't encounter them unless we end up in the deep South."

Rose twitches at the mention, but otherwise just nods. I'm pretty sure he's heard all this before too. Rufka enjoys sharing her stories.

The crazy thing isn't how outlandish her childhood stories sound. It's that the details are always the same. She never changes anything.

Somehow, it makes them seem more real.

As we fly through a low-hanging cloud, Rufka gets Rose to start telling his own story of when he was younger and Celthi first came along. Normally we'd take the opportunity for a quick game of sky-tag, Smoulder's favourite since she chose her class. But between the interference and Rose's demeanour… not really the time.

"I was really excited at first. A new sister? But then mom was always busy, and Celthi was… well, you know how cubs are."

Rufka raises her eyebrows, "Not really. How are cubs?"

"Needy. And messy. And rude. It was a chore. I was jealous of her for the first year," Rose says, grabbing a handful of cloud-stuff then turning it to dew on his paw.

"And then?" Rufka prompts him.

Rose smiles before disappearing into a cloud bank, his voice echoing from within, "Then mom left her with me for a few days. Stuff happened and I realized how hard it must be for mom to handle it all on her own all the time. Stopped being jealous and helped more. Well, I tried to. Looking back, I probably got in the way more often than not. But mom appreciated it."

Even though he's out of sight, I can hear the pride in his voice. It'd be hard not to agree with it. I tried babysitting once. Was not able to handle it. At all. Nice clean, boring, paperwork, thank you.

The next couple hours are spent listening to Rose tell stories about his younger siblings… which gets kind of confusing when he starts talking about his and Josh's sister Ariane. He stops talking at the end of a story where she hid his guitar as revenge, his voice trailing off for a few seconds before he adds, "I might not see her again."

"Or maybe you will. Reality is flexible once mana's involved," Rufka points ahead at a wondrous display of water shooting up in vast arcs.

These aren't giant waves, but small bursts of scintillating beauty dotting the air with splashes of rainbow-hued colour dancing in the air. Even on closer inspection with my Twilight-enhanced vision, I don't see anything within or below.

But I've seen something similar before. "Elementals?" I ask while creating small arcs over my hand, mimicking their actions.

Rufka shields her eyes as she focuses. "Probably. Might be a mana-borne hiding beneath the surface."

Rose gestures away from them. "Either way, we should go around. Best not to disturb them."

We fly around, but the arcs of water accompany us for the next half hour until the far shore comes into view. They continue their display behind us but are soon lost in the distance.

We set down for a late lunch, my eyes fixed on the horizon as we eat. I'm pretty sure it's an illusion, but I swear I can make out the mountains to the East.

Then I see the 'mountains' move.

"Uhh peeps? You seeing this?"

"Whatsat?" Rose asks around his mouthful of sausage.

Rufka's eyes narrow, an almost invisible spark the only sign of her ability. Similar to my twilight 'binoculars' but quicker and easier to use. "Dragon. Big one too. Chasing something."

"Is it getting closer?"

"Yeah. It's flying almost straight at us. I'd guess… twenty minutes at their current speed?"

Rose squints, but he doesn't even have the basic enhancement of my twilight-enhanced vision, so I doubt he can make much out. "Go around?"

"Hmmm. I think it's mana-warped. And it appears to be chasing K'tharn."

"Nevermind. Standard behemoth-flier tactics?" Rose asks as his armor 'fwips' into place, the much darker petals more burgundy than rose.

Rufka and I nod as we move to intercept the mana-warped dragon.

As we get closer, I make out the familiar shape of gliders used by the Aetherium's Flights, but they're getting close to the ground. Considering the area is nothing but gentle hills with sparse trees, there's not much for them to use for cover, so unless they have some incredible earth-shapers, something must be wrong.

Then again, they are fighting a mana-warped dragon, so that's not exactly a great starting point.

I'm able to count four gliders. Normally there are twelve soldiers and one officer in each flight, though those numbers might’ve changed since they started using Fallen. But that should’ve been an increase in numbers. Maybe some of them were Fallen and accepted the quest to come to Glimmering Sands to be Cleansed? That there are only four still flying implies they've already lost two-thirds of their squad.

I almost don't bother scanning the dragon, but their decimated squad has me worried. A quick scan doesn't reveal anything that surprises me, though I skip over its description going straight for its stats. It's definitely mana-warped, but the fact its wings are tattered wrecks and the fang sticking out of where it's right eye should be, both hinted at that anyway.

The scan does inform me the dragon is weak against metal attacks, specifically copper, so at least scanning it was slightly useful. I don't think we've fought anything weak against metals before. Too bad Rufka is basically a one-element girl, so far as her class is concerned.

Still, I pass the information along, combined with the fact it's immune to fire. Luckily, that won't stop Smoulder. She's been working on using her flames to turn her into a flaming bullet. After Atun, she’s started figuring out how to apply her heat more creatively. So, I give her a copper helmet, and send her on her way.

While the others start engaging the dragon, drawing its attention, I begin creating several reusable copper discuses… disci? Multiple round disks that I can tear it apart with.

I'm expecting another drawn-out fight, but as the disks pierce its hide, its flesh sloughs away like soft butter left out in the sun. We all stare in shock for a second until the dragon roars in pain, turning towards me, its mouth open to breathe elemental fury on me.

It never gets the chance.

Smoulder smashes straight through its head. The shower of viscera is so large I can't pick her out of the mess until she smashes against one of her flaming platforms before leaping towards me.

"Wow. When you said it was weak to copper…" Rose trails off as we watch the body fall towards the ground.

"Vaus-above, that was great."

"Easier than… oof," Smoulder lands on my shoulder at full speed. Once I've recovered, I continue, "Easier than I expected, that's for sure."

"Should we check on them?" Rose waves at the gliders below, who are congregating on a nearby hill now that the dragon has been defeated.

When I glance at Rufka, she just shrugs. Now that they're out of danger, I'm not certain I want to talk to them. I’d rather not be put in a position where the Aetherium is trying to arrest me again. But since Rose has clearly been feeling left out, I decide to put it to him. "I don't know. Do you think we should?"

Rose only glances at them for a second before nodding, "For sure. They could be hurt."

"Okay then. Lead the way." I wave him forward, not sure if this is helping. At least I'm trying, right? "We're right behind you."

Even as we land, three of the four K'tharn draw themselves up, hands straying to weapons. Two step forwards, the other staying behind them. Of the two who came forward, one with grey fur spattered with occasional black patches whispers, "Mothey, it's her. It’s the-."

"Shut up, Curthy," the one in the lead snarls back. Her fur is similar to Rose's golden colour. But instead of his tiger-like stripes, her golden fur is covered in small black dots. She's also holding a staff, like the one Tipan uses. While Curthy is ducking her head, her ears laid flat, the one referred to as Mothey yells, "That's close enough strangers."

Rose holds his upper two hands up with his lower arms crossed in the Eastern Vausian sign for surrender. "We're just here to see if you need help. We can provide limited healing. Maybe fix up your gliders so you can get home."

Curthy grabs at Mothey's arm, "We can't trust them Mothey! I think that one's male! They'll turn Cinther into a doll and eat her."

"I told you to shut it, Curthy," she hisses, shaking her arm free of Curthy's grip. "Apologies strangers, Curthy doesn't get out of Aethire much. She hasn’t taken the recent… changes well."

"That's fine," Rose reassures her, not changing his posture. I consider copying him, but should I go for crossed arms or arms in the air? Despite having the occasional Outlander cross her path, this surrender etiquette didn't come up that often in Uthica’s memories. Glancing to the side, I notice Rufka's not taking the stance, her hands behind her instead. I'll just copy her then.

"Look, I appreciate the assistance with our poor Obelix, but…" Her eyes wander over Rufka and I, "I'm not sure accepting help from the daughter of Crimson Death or one of the Voidborne would go over well."

Uhh, Voidborne?

Wait, is she talking about me?

"You don't have to tell anyone. We're not looking for credit. We just want to help," Rose offers, his voice pitched higher than usual.

Mothey shuffles in place, glancing over her shoulder, "Look, like I said. We appreciate the offer, but I don't-"

Suddenly, the third K'tharn who'd stood storms up, grabbing Mothey's arm, "What in Vaus' name are you saying? You'd let Cinther die rather than let these people help her?"

"It's not that simple, Lathry. We have to-"

"Vaus's left testicle. We can't let her die. We've already lost… And she's our thiani. Or does that mean nothing to you?"

"Of course it does!" Mothey shouts in Lathry's face. "It's just… just…"

In a gentler voice, barely at the edge of my hearing, Lathry says, "Let's just see if they can help Cinther first. We can worry about the rest after, okay?"

"Okay," Mothey concedes, her voice cracking a bit. Then she nods again, stating clearly, "Okay. Please heal our… heal Cinther."

"Are you crazy Mothey, what if-" Curthy starts but flinches back when Mothey whirls on her, roaring out, "I SAID SHUT IT CURTHY!"

"Good lungs on that one," Rufka notes as Rose flags me forward. For a moment I wonder why he's flagging me forward, but then I realize I'm the only one with a healing item that doesn't have charges. Instead, out comes the wooden circle, a symbol of Vaus etched into its ring. It has a much steeper mana cost coupled with a less pleasant experience.

As I step past the cowering Curthy, I take in the busted body of their fourth member.

She looks up at me with one good lower eye, her upper eyes squeezed shut and her other eye missing. Her beautiful tawny fur is matted with enough blood that if we were on Earth, I'd never imagine we'd be able to save her.

Luckily, we're not on Earth.

And I may not be a healer, but thanks to artifacts like this one, I can do amazing things.

So I lay the circle on her chest then begin to channel as I take her hand and whisper, "This will hurt. Probably a lot. I'm sorry."

She just nods, giving me a weary smile. Even her teeth are cracked and coated in blood, "All the best healing does."

"Ain't that the truth," I mutter in English.

Then the artifact reaches its saturation point and the screaming begins.

I should probably have given her something to bite down on.

…TPWM 5.05, That Which Binds…

March 3, 2019, 3:47 pm. Between two nerve-racking screams.

Even as the poor K'tharn screams, I can see the broken bones in her arms shifting, each one moving under the circle's power. There's an audible snap as one returns to its proper position. It's at that point when her screams cut off. Not because the pain is gone, but because Cinther's passed out.

When we acquired the circle from the old healer, we'd been told the pain could be alleviated. 'It's possible to use without causing pain, but that requires training. If you serve as my apprentice, that's only one of the things I'll teach you.' Considering everything else we have to do, there was no way I could accept her offer. We did agree to help where we could, though. And Tipan told me she's considering taking the healer's offer. But only after the rest of us are safely on our way home.

"What've you done to her, Voidbrat!?" Curthy demands, tearing my attention away from my crude healing. But she's held back by the other two while Smoulder stands guard on my shoulder, staring her down. I can see the doubt in their eyes as Cinther writhes on the ground, even unconscious. There's no time to reassure them, I need to focus on Cinther. If I don't maintain the transfer, the healing won't finish properly. I'd rather not leave her with anything in the wrong place.

Once most of her injuries have been addressed, I sigh in relief as I check my mana. Almost half of my over twelve-hundred mana expended in little over a minute. I've gone days without letting my mana get this low.

"Okay. She should be fine," I say, inclining my head to the three K'tharn behind me. Despite the fact they were the ones holding Curthey back, she stays where she was struggling while the other two squat at my side. I move away as they check her over. "It might be a few minutes before she wakes up. It's a stressful experience."

"Thank you. Without Zetha, we didn't have any-" Mothey's words are cut off when Cinther's eyes flutter open with a cough, rolling to her side to heave silently.

"We're glad we could help," Rose says from somewhere over my shoulder as I’m putting the healing circle away only to discover it’s cracked. Damn. I must have channelled my mana through too quickly.

"Okay. They healed Cinther. Now what? We're here to arrest them, Mothey!" Curthey is pulling at her fur with all four arms while pacing back and forth with long strides.

Mothey answers without bothering to look away from where she's holding Cinther's shoulders, "They healed Cinther, Curthey. Besides, you saw them against Obelix. They destroyed him in seconds. What chance do you think we have?"

Curthey sputters as she spins back and forth, "There's no way Nightstar will forgive us if we let them go!"

I shuffle away from them, taking Rufka's hand, Smoulder still in place. I hope they don't try to fight, but if it comes to it, we can easily escape. As Rose takes my other hand, Mothey steps away from where she was checking on Cinther, grabbing Curthey, forcing her to meet her eyes. "Nightstar won't need to forgive us, because we never saw them."

"What are you talking about? They're right there."

"Are they? Those look like helpful travellers. They certainly don't look like Voidborne terrorists."

"But… they..."

"They what?"

"They didn't…" Curthey stares at Mothey for a second then looks at where Obelix's body fell. Finally, she directs her gaze to where Cinther is hugging Lathry. Something seems to go out of her as she slumps slightly before bobbing her head slightly. "They… they're travellers. Just helpful people we happened upon."

"Good. Now, what say we gather up our gliders, see if we can't figure out what went wrong." Mothey follows this up by clasping Curthey on the shoulder, before starting down the nearby slope, pulling Curthey along with her.

"Huh. Kinda didn't expect them to be reasonable," Rufka admits as they move away.

I don't make out Rose's response, as my attention is elsewhere, watching Lathry help Cinther to her feet. Cinther wavers slightly. Once she recovers, she takes several steps towards us before stopping directly in front of me. She takes a deep breath, then says, "I wanted to thank you. You're probably not Astrean, but I wanted to say a prayer. If that's okay?"

"Uhm sure?" Despite Astra's dominant role in their culture, I haven't met a single practicing worshiper since I've arrived on Akilo.

She starts reciting a short but unfamiliar prayer, asking that all our families remain safe and that those we deal with treat us with honour. To my surprise, Rufka joins her in the prayer. Is Rufka an Astrean? It occurs to me that I never asked. Honestly, I thought that if she worshipped a god, it would be Vaus. She certainly uses her name often enough.

When they finish, I thank Cinther politely while observing Rufka out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to take the prayer with a seriousness I've only seen her display when she feels the need for a 'real talk'. Her words.

As we wait for their companions, Lathry and Cinther properly introduce themselves as well as their erstwhile companions. During the introductions, I create temporary furniture, startling them slightly. Despite being briefed on our abilities, apparently there's some gaps in their intel. Which I find reassuring.

Once we’re settled in, Cinther discloses the whole reason they're in the area in the first place is because they were searching for us. "There are only two kinds of orders coming out of command these days. Find the Voidborne Outlanders and evacuate civilians to Aethire. There hasn't been a single mention of striking back at the Lords, even though they've killed hundreds."

"What do you mean killed hundreds? The M’tari are attacking? And what does Voidborne even mean?" I ask, the news ruining my attempt to lounge in one of our chairs right as I’d thought everything was kosher. Rufka is inspecting one of their gliders, already setting out her tools so they can get home at a reasonable speed. I want to watch, maybe even take a crack at helping her, but my attention remains on Cinther.

"I'm not entirely certain. Curthey could probably explain it better. She was always closer to Zetha than the rest of us. Zetha is...was our Flight-Captain."

"Oh. I take it she didn't…"

Lathry grits her teeth before answering, "She was on Obelix's back when he… changed. I've heard of it happening to those who descend into the rifts. But I've never heard of a bonded dragon becoming warped on the surface. It caught us all off guard. He's been serving longer than I've been alive."

I pat her hand, not sure what to say.

Cinther shifts in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. "We should have expected something when the System blocked our messages. But Zetha insisted we had a duty."

"She was worried about what Nightstar would do if we returned against orders. Especially without word of the Voidborne," Curthey interjects, dropping her end of the makeshift stretcher she'd been carrying behind her, causing several of the gliders to bounce out messily across the dark blue-green grass of the hill.

"Why're you so afraid of this Nightstar?" Rose asks as Mothey cries out before chasing one of the loose gliders that caught the wind. It flips and nearly escapes her as she chases after it. But she leaps a dozen feet in the air, successfully wrestling it around before guiding it down.

Curthey doesn't even glance in her direction, all four hands pressed against the table as she meets each of our eyes in turn. "If Nightstar finds out we're keeping you from her, she won't just kill us. She'll turn us into light-bound. Then, not only will we have no choice but to tell her everything we know, we'll be forced to serve her, following in her shadow until she's decided we've fulfilled our duty. And even then, once she's satisfied we've done our part, she won’t free us. She’ll just allow us to die for the good of all K’tharn."

"Harsh," Rose says, leaning away as Curthey deflates.

Lathry hits the table, "Doesn't matter what the Nightstar wants. Not anymore. Now that we've lost our dragon, our captain and more than half our squad… Command's not going to question us. We've already lost too many sisters."

"At least we don't have to fly home with any Fallen," Cinther offers with a weak smile reaching out to Curthey.

"Heh, yeah," Curthey agrees, taking the offered hand.

Rose continues talking with the others as I join Rufka. Now that she's ready to start, I'm going to assist her.

Well, I'm going to hand her tools while watching her work. While I do have an enchanting class now, the skills don’t allow me to do the sort of fine work she’s doing here. Mostly. She does get me to do a couple simple enchantments. Which she has to touch up, but she assures me it’s faster than doing them entirely herself.

Even as I ponder the usefulness of my subclass, I hand Rufka a small tool that's like a flathead screwdriver but with three sharp bends in it. Somehow, each bend restricts her personal mana, allowing her to redirect the flow of the enchantment without contaminating its core structure.

I watch her work, listening as she describes what she's doing, taking notes in my Journal tab the entire time. Unfortunately, I already know most of this. What I really need is to spend time practicing in a proper crafting room.

Rufka's final touch is creating a cradle where anyone can set a mana essence to power the glider. She doesn't say it, but she doesn't want them to be able to charge it with their own mana. I know enough to know she could have set it up that way.

"All finished. You're probably going to want to get rid of these once you get back to the Aetherium. They've got my pawmarks all over them," Rufka advises Mothey as she hands the last of the modified gliders over.

Cinther gives Rufka a half-hug in thanks, provoking a surprised squeak. Smiling in their direction, Mothey extends her hand in a less intimate gesture. "Thank you again for all your help. I'm starting to think that what command's been saying about you isn't true. Either way, the Nightstar is hunting you. I hope she never gets her paws on you."

"Let me guess. That we started the war with the Lords of the Deep? No mention of Ivicka and her Fallen attacking Lord Thansome?" I ask while pulling Smoulder from where she was about to leap onto Curthey.

"Uh. Not exactly," Mothey says, floundering.

"Ivicka's a hero. Everyone knows that," Curthey states, not noticing the way Rose shifts. Rufka and I both tense, prepared to stop him. It wouldn't be the first time he acted out in response to that statement. He and Tipan got into an argument about it just before we left. She still hasn’t told him about what she’s read in the book.

Rose draws himself up but releases a slow hiss before saying, "Maybe she used to be. I doubt it. But those Fallen serving with the Flights? They're no better off than the Nightstar's Light-bound. They used to be normal people, like you and me. Then Ivicka stole another's research, turning it to evil. She turned them into those monsters to serve her."

"What? Ivicka would never do that. Look, you might not be as bad as command says, but you're wrong about Ivicka," Curthey declares before stomping away.

Mothey crinkles her whiskers, glancing after Curthey, "Forgive her. She was saved by Ivicka. Ivicka's the one who inspired her to sign up."

"Me too," Cinther says, with a helpless smile. "She was so cool. Everything I ever wanted to be."

"I'm sorry, I can't forgive her. But it doesn't matter. We'll be gone soon," Rose pauses as he sits, before adding, "She was like a sister to me. Ivicka, I mean. She used to take me into Aethire during the Wilved festival. She'd bring Ablabix, and we'd enter the races as a team. She'd even let me guide Ablabix. Not that I was any good. The last festival, right before Celthi was born, we even won first place. I remember her swearing that she'd never let anything hurt me… And then she betrayed my family."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Cinther exclaims, reaching over to take two of Rose's hands in her own which causes him to go still. "It's hard enough when you lose family. But to have them turn on you. That's the worst."

"Uh... yeah," Rose tilts his head in a barely perceptible nod. Is he scared of Cinther?

"We should be going. Places to be. Users to avoid," Rufka says, grabbing mine and Rose's shoulders.

"Totally. We, uh, need to go," Rose agrees.

"It was nice to meet you, Rose." I hear Cinther say as Rufka and I pack away our luxuries.

"It was nice to meet you too, Cinther." Rose blinks several times.

"I'd say the same, but we never met." Mothey winks then sticks her hand out to me again. Distracted, I take it while trying to figure out what's going on with Rose. Which leaves me extra startled when she pulls me in for a half hug. "Thank you again for saving Cinther. She'd never admit it, but she really is the best of us."

"Uhm. Best is best," I respond while slowly patting her on the back. I guess it's my turn to be tongue-tied.

Then we're in the air, waving goodbye to an Aetherium flight.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Rufka pulls me towards the defeated dragon.

Nodding, I loot the dragon, netting us a handful of mana Essence while cleaning up any sign of our involvement. As the dragon turns into blue dust, several small lizards run away, their long hind legs chewing through the churned earth, chunks of dragon flesh clutched possessively in their foreclaws. They disappear into the surrounding terrain quickly, their dark hides blending easily amongst the low scrub and rock of the foothills.

I shiver at the idea of eating raw warped dragon.

Just… no.

After our encounter with the Aetherium Flight, conversation is surprisingly light. Rose and Rufka are both joking again. Maybe we needed a break from each other, if only for a bit.

A few minutes later, Rose looks back, then turns to us. "So, I didn't want to mention it while we were with the Aetherium. But the Nightstar, she's not some random K'tharn."

"Yeah. Mum says she's dangerous, even to her. Hard to defend against."

"Well, yeah. There's that. But that's not what I meant. I'm pretty sure she's Tipan's father."

It takes my brain a second to wrap around that sentence until I remember that when K'tharn use the word father, it's to mean the other parent who might have also been their teacher. It's not a word that fits neatly in their language.

"Mum never told me the Nightstar had children."

"It's not widely known. She was forbidden from interacting with her," Rose informs us.

"Figures. People never get that powerful without going crazy in some way or other."

"Are you calling your mum crazy?"

"Have you met her?" Rufka asks.

"Yes," Rose and I answer together.

"There's your answer," Rufka laughs, deep and full. It probably echoes for kilometres. Even as I join in, it occurs to me that now that we can't escape via teleport, perhaps we should be using more caution.

So, as the conversation continues, both of them speculating on what sort of powers the Nightstar has, I wrap us in a bubble of invisibility. It's less perfect than turning each person invisible, but it allows us to see and hear each other without any other spells. As they discuss the Nightstar, one thing becomes clear. The only things they know are that the Nightstar is fast, she uses light, and, not counting any Light-bound, she always works alone.

The discussion peters out as we fly higher into the mountains. As the sun is starting to set, Rufka calls for a halt. "Do you feel that?"

Rose is nodding at the same time I ask, "Feel what?"

"The cold. It's stronger here. I'm taking health damage."

"Well, I can fix that," I say as I extend a gentle flame, infusing my aura with warmth inside the stealth sphere.

"Thanks, Lex," Rose rubs his hands together before holding them out towards me even though he's inside the sphere.

"No problem. Let's stay close together though, keep the mana cost down."

"Sounds good," Rufka exclaims, throwing her arms over each of our shoulders then sags as she weakens her flight, forcing us to hold her up.

I roll my eyes, but don't let her pull us down as we continue through the broken peaks of the Southern Upheaval. Most of the mountains here were never named. At least, not by anyone with the Explorer subclass.

It might be a good opportunity.

We're here anyway.

Why not do a little exploring?

…TPWM 5.06, Beyond the Rise…

A note from Draith

Weird scheduling glitch. Apparently I accidentally selected next Tuesday for this chapter...

March 3, 2019, 5:13 pm. The end of a long day's flight.

While I'm keen to explore, and thus level my Explorer subclass, it can wait until tomorrow.

I mean, I'm still going to keep my eyes open for anything interesting. And if the sheltered valley we're descending into happens to be unnamed, what's going to stop me from naming it after Papa?

Not much.

Especially since Rufka doesn't use the Explorer subclass and Rose's new status means he doesn’t have a subclass yet. Neither of them are certain exactly how it works. To be fair, that's true for every subclass. While Tipan's explained that investigating areas new to me will slowly level Explorer and Raz insists that preparing meals can level any number of hospitality subclasses, there's no consensus on how much any action contributes. It doesn't help that there's no clear tracking mechanism such as Skill levels or Integration points.

As we enter the sheltering walls of the valley, the flame I've been using to keep them warm flares, a sudden burst of fire that fills our invisible sphere.

I panic as I cut off all my magic, letting our invisibility drop. And my flight.

Rufka catches me before I've fallen more than a couple of metres, but I'm barely moving.

"Wow. You okay Lex?" Rose asks as he follows us.

They're not hurt. Well, not badly. Only a couple points of health… but I know how much worse it could have been. If not for the contingencies when I burned Rufka…

Smoulder boops me in the cheek from her spot on my shoulder, breaking me free of my thoughts. Rufka's also still holding me, not saying anything, simply being there.

Thanking them, I take a deep breath before answering Rose, "I think so. Just had an unexpected change."

"What happened?" he asks.

"I don't know. I think…" I take a moment, thinking about it. What did happen? Replaying the event in my mind using Facet, I'm able to accurately break down what happened. The cold I was negating suddenly disappeared. The flare was my flame operating at the same strength but without the opposing force. "I think the cold disappeared. It was like pushing against a door that was suddenly flung open."

"Huh. You're right. The cold's gone. Well, it's still cold. But it's not causing Health damage. It's normal cold."

We pass into silence as we approach a pool at the bottom of a small cascading waterfall, both of which are frozen over. Even the rock I shape our shelter for the night out of is frozen, requiring me to use Ice manipulation in addition to Stone and Earth.

As I stack the extra ice I've separated from the building behind the house, I reflect on the fact that my power’s never created an explosion of ice when it's flared up. In fact, it's almost always been fire. Is it the nature of fire that's causing the problem?

The evening is less animated, each of us feeling the weight of being cut off from the others. Being able to message people anytime I want has really been spoiling me.

And somehow, it's worse than when we were brought from Earth. I hardly missed my cellphone. It's probably because this time, I don't have a whole new world, full of mystery and magic to distract me. Or maybe it's cause Sab was the only one I interacted with and missing her is different than my cell.

Rose and Rufka start playing a game of cards inside the shelter as I go outside to stretch my magical legs. My power hasn't been growing in crazy strides lately despite the fact I haven't stopped using it. Revelling in it even. If not for my practice with my aura, I’d be worried I’m stagnating.

As I start sculpting a literal ice-castle, similar to the one I can form with my spell, from the frozen pond, I continue to think about how I could have avoided the flare. Was there a way to detect the sudden drop in external pressure?

Looking up, I can see a veritable sheet of snow being blown sideways over our sheltered valley. Huh. Yeah, I'm going to say I probably should have predicted leaving a snowstorm would reduce how much power I needed to keep them warm. It didn't seem that strong when we were in it.

I settle in, watching the snowstorm overhead with Smoulder curled in my lap. Then I see a flash, lightning splitting the air as I feel the mana-pressure intensify.

Damn. Looks like it's not just a regular snowstorm.

Running inside, I start delving deeper as I tell the others we have a mana-storm coming. They both jump up, running outside, as much to get out of my way as to verify my claim. Discussion about creating effective mana-shelters with Tipan leads me to create a chamber a hundred metres below the surface connected by a zigzagging shaft.

I run back out to the others to tell them I'm done but they're staring up.

Following their gaze, I discover the mana-storm is passing over us. Other than a smattering of snow drifting over the edge of the valley, we're completely untouched. "What the…"

Rufka shrugs.

Rose offers me a broad grin, "My guess is the valley's a lost Stronghold. Claimed by someone who wasn't interested in building a city. Or didn't want to stay."

"Shouldn't there be a notice or something?"

Rose shakes his head, "Not if it's completely open. Don't know why they'd leave it open without charging a fee though. Maybe they didn't expect visitors this far out."

"Huh. I've never seen an Ice-themed mana-storm before."

"Should be interesting. It's a lot closer than it was back in the first dungeon, isn't it?"

I'm about to answer when I feel a thud followed by slush and liquid dribbling down my back. Rose is wiping the remains of a snowball off his back as well, while I can feel Rufka behind me in the direction the snowballs came from. Turning around, I find Rufka hefting a new set of snowballs, already in the process of unleashing them on us. The snowstorm above is temporarily forgotten as we engage in my first snowball fight on Akilo.

We spend half an hour chasing Rufka down before I decide to cheat. Imprisoning her in a cage of Ice, Rose and I take our revenge before settling down to stare at the storm again.

"Mum said she created a few shelters like this when she was young. Places for people to recover, far from home." Rufka tests the strength of her cage, cracking one of the walls with a well-placed kick.

"Oh. Do you think this is one of hers?" I ask, reinforcing the wall without getting rid of the crack.

"Nope. We would’ve got a notification that said something like, 'You owe this respite to Genitha, the Crimson Archmage,' or 'This shelter provided by the Crimson Death.' She's not exactly humble." Rufka winds up, repeating her kick. Now that I've reinforced the wall, the crack only expands slightly. But with the amount of force she put into it, Rufka sends herself flying into the wall behind her, cracking it as well. It didn't even damage her Health.

Rose and I exchange a knowing glance at Rufka's last comment before I say, "Noooo. Really?"

She just rolls her lower eyes before returning to her escape attempt.

By the time she's broken through, Rose and I are back in the temporary shelter. I'm chatting with him, ready to turn in for the night, when she pushes through the inner door. I can't help but laugh when I notice her fur is frozen around her feet. I take pity on her, thawing her out before she can track all that ice into bed with me. Instead of seeking revenge, she draws me down next to her before passing out.

Huh. Guess that took more out of her than I expected.

With a helpless shrug and a quick goodnight to Rose, I follow her into dreamland.

When we wake in the morning, we try to find the Nexus point that should be located somewhere in the valley to add it to our destination list (for when teleportation is working again). Unfortunately, after half an hour of searching, we haven't found it. And my map of Nexus points doesn't help much either. There's one in the valley, but the map doesn't pinpoint where.

Deciding to mark it on our map, we ascend to survey the aftermath of the mana-storm. Not much has changed, though there are a few trees missing. And a new bush.

The rest of the morning is uneventful. Even as I try to name the mountains, I keep getting informed they've already been named. I guess this isn't as 'middle of nowhere' as I'd been hoping.

It's nearly sunset when I spot something that stands out in the mountains. "Is that… a skyscraper?"

"What? Where?!" Rose turns in place, following my arm. But, of course, he can't see it.

"Looks like it's scraping the sky, alright." Rufka immediately changes course, taking Rose's hand and spinning about in a circle with him twice before releasing his hand and flying off toward the tower.

"She's on target, at least," I mumble to myself.

"Right behind you," Rose says while straightening himself out.

As we get closer, it becomes apparent that the towering object I saw wasn't a skyscraper. At least, not as I'd imagined it. Instead, it's a massive slab of stone that stretches a couple hundred metres from the top of the mountain where it rests.

Still, it's the most interesting thing we've seen since this morning, so we decide it's worth checking out.

Once we're a hundred metres out, Rufka notes, "It's covered in writing. Names, I think."

Upon closer inspection, we confirm Rufka's first observation. Analyzing it only indicates that it's a stone with writing. Physical inspection reveals a plaque on the face which explains exactly what we're looking at.

"Our lives forever changed when Vaus' judgement struck Akilo. This monument stands as testament to those who did not survive the change. May their loss not break us but be the fire in which we forge our future. Gone, but never forgotten."

"A memorial. I didn't think K'tharn made memorials."

"We… don't. Not public ones." Rufka runs her paw over the surface, walking around the corner of the memorial.

"Who do you think made it?" Rose asks, staring toward the peak.

"Someone who couldn't do more." Even if we're successful at bringing the Builder's abandoned cities home, this will be nothing compared to the lives lost on earth.

"They created a monument with millions of names on it. How'd they even know them all?" Rose wonders.

"No clue. The System, maybe? You think-"

"Hey Lexi, Rose. You need to see this!" Rufka calls from somewhere on the far side of the memorial.

Neither of us delay, racing around the memorial, ready to fight. Though Rufka probably would have led with a thundering attack instead of revealing her position to get our attention.

She's standing a short distance from the memorial peering off the edge of the mountain.

Joining her, it only takes me a second to see what got her attention. There are a few buildings in the furthest depths of the valley. They're not the current style of Aetherium buildings, built of monster skin and bone, but a dull white stone with pink veins running throughout, each standing a dozen stories over the empty streets. They're partially overgrown, but there's a solid city block that looks to have been scoured clean. Then I discern the shape of more buildings, stretching along the valley. They even stretch halfway up the mountain on the far slope. There are a couple other places where the foliage has been stripped away, but only grey stone buildings lay beneath.

As I take in the scope of the city below us, Rose mutters, "Could it be K'letta?"

"No way. Mum says K'letta was destroyed."

I point at the memorial behind us. "It was."

Rufka looks back then nods. "We have to look closer. Mum's going to be so jealous if it is K'letta."

"So, what's K'letta?" I ask as we descend. Slowly.

Rufka tries to answer, starting several times before Rose says, "It's like Rome back during the Roman Empire on Earth. The centre of civilization before the barbarians destroyed it. Or mana-swarm in this case."

"Close enough," Rufka agrees, her bow pulled taut as we fly over the exposed buildings.

We're passing by a building that reminds me of a town hall with a statue out front when I do a double take. Is that?

"Hold on. I think that's Uthica!" I don't wait for them to acknowledge me, already moving to inspect the statue. Uthica's crouched, one hand reaching down, two holding a spear and the last a shield. I feel like I'm staring at a statue of a sister I've never known. Analyze only says 'Statue of a K'tharn' and there's no plaque to tell me why there's a statue of Uthica in a city that fell before she became powerful.

I can't help but grip her hand, pausing time to give myself an extra moment before the others intrude. Suddenly, I wish she were here.

Uthica is the kind of person we need. Someone who faced the end of her world before building a new one from the ashes.

Who am I compared to her? I've barely had to struggle for my strength. I've just been lucky.

Rufka arrives right as my Pause ends.

I'm still holding Uthica's hand but suddenly I feel like a massive dork. I'm holding the hand of a statue!

I tear my hand away, causing the statue's hand to move.

At first, I expect the statue to shift into a combat stance before attacking us. But the statue doesn't go Creator Sentinel on us. It remains still.

"Did you see that?" I ask, not sure if I was imagining it. It was only a couple millimetres.

"Yeah. You didn't do that on purpose?" Rufka asks.

"Not exactly," I don't want to admit I was holding the statue's hand for comfort. That's supposed to be Rufka's job.

"Maybe it's a hidden door!" Rose exclaims, his hand reaching for the statue’s. I feel oddly jealous when he takes its hand. Then he starts twisting and pushing it, but it doesn't move. He even hangs off it, his feet dangling gracelessly.

I can't help but snicker as he kicks his feet.

"Maybe it's a System thing," He grouses, letting go.

There was no notification. But maybe he's right?

I grab hold of the hand, pulling with far less force than he was using. But it moves immediately. A few more millimetres are all it takes to trigger a clicking sound from the base where Rose is staring up at me.

"What the-" Rose stumbles back as the stone disappears from beneath his feet, revealing a staircase leading directly between the legs of the statue.

"Looks like you were right," Rufka congratulates Rose with a pat on the back before stepping forward.

"Maybe we should…" I start but she's already ducked out of sight.

"Guess we're going in." Rose shrugs, following right behind her.

Damn. I rub Smoulder's sleepy head, waking her enough she knows we're going into potential danger as I charge after the others. If this is related to Uthica, there's no way I'm getting left behind.

However, they've halted at the bottom of the stairs, inspecting a familiar door.

It's not exactly the same as the door in the basement of the church, but the message is: “This node has been claimed and sealed by Uthica of clan Halterin in accordance with directive 24.1 of the Lathian Conclave.”

Even as I read the first notification, I'm met by an unexpected follow-up.

"Explorer Subclass has received enough experience to level. Equip subclass to check its progress."

As excited as I am that I've managed to level my Subclass without even having it equipped, the System doesn't stop there.

"Hidden quest completed. Discover 3/3 of Citizen Uthica's hidden contingencies, have proficiency in Eastern Vausian, Lower Methian and Astreum."

Uhm. Okay. So, no reward? That seems weird. Also, I've never needed Lower Methian. I'm pretty sure no-one in the Aetherium speaks it these days.

"Hey Rufka, you ever have a quest complete that doesn't give a reward?"

"I've had a couple where they just gave useless unlocks or other quests. Like that?"

"No. I mean that there's no reward. Wyonna, do you know what's going on?"

[Wyonna] "Not sure. Maybe the interference is getting in the way? Or maybe the subclass levelling was the reward?"

"Huh. So, Wyonna doesn't…" I waver as my vision gets blurry.

"Lexi. Are you-" Rufka's voice fades as my vision goes dark, nearly invisible words flash past as I lose consciousness.

"Quest Reward: Loaded. Would you like to-"

"Confirmation received. Citizen Uthica's Legacy Primer Downloading."

A note from Draith

My friend just released the second book in his series, The Mark of the Fool. Check it out on Amazon or Audible if you want to help support him.

…TPWM 5.07, Testing, Testing, 1,2,3…

June 12, 1429 AD, a hundred years after Akilo was first integrated.

Uthica watched from dragonback, squinting against the evening sun as the last of the Thenite Cruisers crashed into the Isle of Kyosis, its long thin frame twisting under the stress. The quest update confirmed the war was almost over. The latest wave of invaders had been brought down.

Where am I? Wow, that's a big ship.

She relished in the sight of the Droneship, burning as her advisor Pelthin reported on the status of the other teams. She flinched internally when Pelthin mentioned that Thalis had been lost. Young, with a rare class and bright future ahead of her. Even after decades of fighting, it still weighed on Uthica that she couldn't keep the young away from danger.

"Not that young, my queen," her advisor reminded her when Uthica commented on it. "She was fifty-three with two grown daughters."

Uthica couldn't help but laugh even as her eyes grew moist. Had it been so long? She still remembered Thalis when she'd been a cub, playing in the great gardens. "I'm getting old, Pelthin."

"It only happens to the best of us, my queen."

Uthica sighed at Pelthin's continued use of her title. Trying to convince her otherwise was a lost cause.

Well, she's not wrong, Uthica.

Uthica glanced around for a second. She'd heard something. Something familiar. "Did you hear that?"

Pelthin nodded, "The new riders are rather excited, aren't they, my queen?"

Uthica turned her head to the dragonriders to the south. Three full Flights of riders and their dragons flew with whoops, cheers and the occasional burst of dragonfire. Uthica was tempted to let them celebrate, and once they were finished with the cleanup, she might even join them. But for the moment, they had a job to do. Turning to her other companion, her aunt Jethico, she instructed her to get the Flights ready. "Hopefully, the drives aren't completely ruined. There's still much to learn."

Wait, you're studying the drives?

Uthica led her people in, personally dealing with the Thenite Freedom Fighter, disintegrating the walking insect, a species she hadn't seen before, with a prepared void rune. It was expensive and represented over a month of work, but actually fighting the idiot would have damaged the ship more than knocking it out of the sky had. Thenite Freedom Fighters were notoriously hard to defeat without collateral damage. Which is why the other teams had brought their ships down over deep ocean where the Lords of the Deep could deal with them. It was an uneasy alliance, but Uthica found their Deepest Lord Helthome easier to get along with than some of the members of her own court. Such as her Aunt Jethico.

"Do we really have to do this? You've already established a Stronghold. This flying city idea of yours defies belief," her aunt asked as they made their way through the now-defunct hangar bays for the Thenite Skyscreamers.

That’s the crazy woman who took over Ivicka! Her voice is practically identical.

Uthica was impressed she'd waited this long to complain. Jethico had never been one for understanding how magic worked, her focus was on the fights themselves. And she was an exceptional warrior, Uthica admitted that. It was why she still served as Uthica's strong upper hands despite their frequent disagreements. Besides, it was important to have someone who offered a different point of view. Or so her father liked to remind her.

"You don't have to be here," Uthica reminded her aunt.

Jethico grimaced as she wiped off an unknown slime from her armour. It was probably what had compelled her to complain, Uthica realized.

Jethico shook her head. "I'm not leaving you alone in the heart of a Thenite Droneship. Who knows what sort of traps they have waiting. And since your pu… father isn't here, you need someone to watch your back as you work."

Uthica nodded, not slowing. She'd expected as much. Her aunt might be cranky and disagreeable, but she was loyal.

However, they didn't encounter any further resistance. The engineers in the Drive chamber practically threw themselves on her mercy. It was a unique experience for Uthica. They'd never managed to bring a Droneship down with the crew alive before. And Thenite soldiers tended to choose death before surrender. As she understood it, they even had suicide upgrades in their interface.

It was remarkably annoying.

The next few hours were an astounding lesson on the principles of the mana-navigating principles of Ripple drives.

Apparently, mana-infused space was lumpy and the Ripple-drive took advantage of that?

Uthica had a general understanding of space, and their solar system, but it was all academic. She needed specific knowledge.

At this rate Uthica, we're both going to be able to build a Ripple drive from scratch.

Once more Uthica looked around, searching. She swore she'd heard it again. She spent several seconds searching for the sound.

Wait. Can you hear me Uthica?

One of the engineers came running up to Uthica, a pad filled with information held out to her. Already, they were proving that they were willing to teach her in exchange for their lives.

Wait, no! Don't fade to black!

Uthica was starting to like engineers.

……...TPWM……...

Uthica hated engineers.

Oh, they were all very useful if she needed to understand anything related to Ripple-drives or how to build deep space mines (which had made repelling invasions simpler). But they were worse than a dragon in its hoarding phase when it came to collecting useful materials, 'just in case' or because they 'wanted to see what would happen.'

A habit she allowed in reasonable doses, but this time they'd gone too far.

What? What did they do? Can you hear me Uthica?

Uthica stomped into the engineer's quarters, headed straight for Fethix. Fethix had been their unofficial representative when Uthica had met them aboard the crashed Droneship. Uthica had decided she'd liked Fethix enough that she'd appointed her as the head engineer once they'd worked out terms.

Fethix was a slender elvenoid that stood at slightly less than a metre tall with bright pink hair instead of a mane. The rest of her body was completely furless, a fact that was readily apparent given her adoption of K'tharn clothing practices. Uthica had found the sight disturbing at first but had grown used to it over the years. Outlanders had all sorts of strange forms.

Holy crap, it's a Christmas elf. Except those are not PG-rated overalls.

"Uthica, sweetums. To what do we owe- urck," Fethix's question was cut short by Uthica lifting the elvenoid by the straps of her overalls as Uthica locked the other engineers in place with nothing but a grin.

"Where's my locket?"

"What? I don't know- glurk."

"Small object. About this big around. Has a power output equivalent to the sun. And is in this room!" Uthica snarled the last part, carefully watching each of the other engineers with her upper eyes while not letting her lower eyes leave Fethix's face.

Seems like a dangerous locket to leave lying around.

"Oh, that locket!" Fethix chuckled nervously, waving one of her engineers forward. An elvenoid with green hair that Uthica thought might be male. It was hard to tell under the thick brown work robes he was wearing.

He looked nervous as he stepped forward, but Uthica didn't see her locket.

"Get me my chest. No, not the gold one. The other one," Fethix squirmed as Uthica relaxed her grip slightly.

The green-haired elvenoid approached with a small black box, inlaid with silver runes. He handed it to Fethix who proffered it to Uthica.

Uthica snorted, "Open it."

Fethix nodded quickly, shifting in her harness uncomfortably. She retrieved the locket from within, the glowing blue seashell a perfect replica of the one Uthica's mother gave her when she was a cub.

Uthica almost grabbed it but thought better of it. She'd been burned by these engineers' 'practical jokes' before. She pointed at the green-haired elvenoid who was trying to slink away. "You. Take it from her."

Fethix's eyes widened in shock, snatching the locket away as she clamored, "Are you trying to kill- I mean, I put a ward on it. One moment."

Uthica almost sighed as she finally took the locket from Fethix, not receiving so much as a shock. With the locket back in her possession, Uthica could admit this was partially her own fault. She shouldn't have left it on her bedside instead of storing it in her inventory. But in her defence, she'd been up for five days straight, and it'd slipped her mind. She'd also been too lenient with the engineers, not punishing them for the many other objects they appropriated.

But then, they'd never stolen anything from her private quarters before.

You didn't sleep for five days? You need to take better care of yourself.

"You didn't know better, so I'm going to tell you this once. Next time one of your engineers steals something from my bedchamber, one of you dies. Understood?" Uthica informed them, her tone pleasant now that her locket was secure. A simple promise they'd be able to remember.

Fethix nodded, sweat dripping from her forehead as she clumsily tossed the box at her companion. "Understood, my queen."

Uthica nodded as she turned away, then paused and turned back causing Fethix to straighten herself. "Oh, and Fethix."

"Yes, my queen?"

"Good work on the Stabilizers. Exactly what we needed. You'll have the mana-essence and infused uranium you asked for in a couple days." Uthica watched as Fethix's face went from sweating to blank to a small smile.

"Thank you, my queen."

"With a deduction to cover the inconvenience of having to retrieve my locket of course," Uthica finished before leaving Fethix behind.

She could practically see the steam rising from Fethix's ears as Uthica chuckled happily while stroking the locket that was once more around her neck.

Nice moves Uthica. Totally had me convinced.

Uthica paused halfway to her quarters. "Are you there?"

Holy crap. You can hear me!

"Damn. I was certain…"

Wait, no… not…

……...TPWM……...

Uthica took a deep breath as she stared up at her statue.

She hated it. It was a prime example of useless vanity. She was tempted to smash it.

But she'd made a promise.

And the Stranger had earned more than a statue. Still, Uthica couldn't help but wonder what the Stranger's real motives were. It would be easier if Uthica could just talk to them.

Hey, again Uthica. Please hear me?!

Uthica felt the presence. She glanced around the empty square, nodding as her long-time companion and advisor Pelthin joined her.

"It's a striking pose, my Queen. It captures your essence," Pelthin offered with only the barest twitch of her lip. Uthica stared at her for a second, trying to discern whether Pelthin was teasing her or trying to suppress her satisfaction. She'd wanted to erect dozens of the horrendous things.

Thankfully, Uthica hadn't needed to indulge her. This statue was the only one she'd promised to build. She didn't understand why this was so important to the Stranger, especially with the powers they'd displayed during the Thenite Incursion. "I suppose we should all have one. I'm sure father wouldn't mind."

Pelthin’s eyes flared open, as she shook her head. "I could never. It would be inappropriate, my queen."

Uthica, why can't you hear me!? Gah, this is so annoying.

Uthica slapped Pelthin's shoulder, chuckling as she turned away, searching for the presence. But it looked like there wasn't a physical manifestation this time.

This time? Wait, are you saying there was a time when I appeared?

"My queen?"

"Nothing." Uthica hadn't revealed the Stranger who visited her occasionally. The visits were… personal. As if spending time with an old friend. She didn't allow herself many indulgences, but she spent several seconds basking in the Stranger's silent presence before returning to the moment.

Wait. So, you can feel me.

Once she was certain this wasn't one of those passing visits where the Stranger only brushed against her mind for a second or three, Uthica tugged on the hand of the statue. The hand moved only a fraction of a degree, but it triggered hidden Runework to capture the Stranger's mana-signature. She was hoping it would allow her to establish a clearer connection. The hand also opened the stairway to the Node they'd been preparing to Seal. This was the fifth such cache of information and equipment they'd produced, though it had a great deal of extra preparations. The Stranger had indicated this location was important.

"Wait here," Uthica instructed Pelthin as she descended to the room below, sealing the entrance behind her.

The room wasn't large, a dozen paces deep and half that across. But it was filled with books and scrolls. Physical copies of the old histories, records of the Integration, maps of the world before and after. And everything they'd been able to learn about the System. It was inspired by a discussion with an Outlander who hadn't known they were talking to the Queen of Akilo. He'd been cute and Uthica hadn't wanted to spoil it. He'd been proudly proclaiming the benefits of having everything recorded by the System, talking about how his family's history went back for thousands of years. How the System ensured nothing was lost.

Except as Uthica's curiosity got the better of her, she'd pressed him for more details. He'd admitted they had no knowledge of the time before Integration. And even the records that came after implied they'd always been integrated. It was as if their culture had been systematically replaced with the System's. When Uthica had her followers surreptitiously question other Outlanders, it was discovered that none had records of their pre-System origins.

Uthica couldn't allow such a thing to happen to her people. While many of her people had once scorned the written word, they'd still kept records.

"Now this is a Legacy worth leaving behind," Uthica said as she set the final runework on the door, completing the Seal. It would keep the contents in stasis until opened. Even then, the contents would be locked to the chamber. Unless her Runework was destroyed, the contents would be preserved for thousands of years.

That's a lot of books.

"Well, I think it's working. Hello Stranger."

Uthica, you can hear me?

"So it would seem. I'm not certain if it's the location, or if capturing your mana signature and imprinting it on my locket was the key. Either way, it's best to be as prepared as possible."

Uhm. Totally.

"If it wouldn't inconvenience you, I was wondering if I might know your name. You clearly know mine, and I feel as though I've known you for years. It's rather off-putting, simply thinking of you as the Stranger."

Right. My name is Alexis. But you can call me Lex. Or Lexi.

"As you wish, Lexi. With that addressed, I believe we have time. And I have many questions for you."

Oh, cool. I have questions for you too!

"We'll get to them, but first I have one that has been haunting me since I was a cub."

Go for it.

Uthica paused as she considered her words. Eventually she decided to ask as simply as possible, "What is ice-cream? And how do I make it?"

Uhm, that's your first question?

"Yes. I sincerely hope you can help. I've had a craving for as long as I can remember. I've questioned hundreds of Outlanders, but no one knows what it is. It's rather maddening."

Uthica sat calmly as she started noting down what the Stran- Lexi knew about ice-cream. Even as they talked, Uthica knew something had changed. The craving she'd been feeling receded.

Perhaps it hadn't been the ice-cream she'd desired.

…TPWM 5.08, Where Have You Been…

December 22, 1502 AD. Divulging the secrets of ice-cream.

Being in Uthica's head changed the moment she activated the runes in the hidden chamber beneath the stairs. I went from being a helpless passenger to being a guest. I can still see through her eyes and hear through her ears, but her thoughts no longer overlay my own.

And more importantly, she can hear me!

Once Uthica informs me that we should be able to visit for a couple days, I can't stop telling her everything I know about making ice-cream, which turns out to be more than I expected. When I concentrate on it, I'm able to recall everything I've ever watched online or read on a wiki. Am I using Facet or Focus to enhance my memory, like I would when I'm trying to recall a memory clearly?

When I attempt to access my Status to check, nothing happens. Not that I expected it to. Seeing my Status while I'm a voice in Uthica's head would be weirder than being in her head.

As Uthica finishes her notes, we end up chatting. Just chatting. About nothing more important than rain and how it feels when it drenches hair, or fur whichever the case may be.

And it's natural. As natural as shooting the breeze with Sab or roughhousing with Rufka.

Several hours later, we’re discussing the required energy phase of a quantum Ripple generator (a topic I knew about only in the abstract from some of my codices when we started) when a bong emanates from the closed door.

Uthica keeps explaining the importance of the seventh parallel’s linkage while I try to shake my non-existent head. Another bong shakes the room, but Uthica still doesn't notice, asking me if she needs to break the concept down. Interrupting her, I ask, "Do you not hear that?"

In response, I feel her ears perk up, as she looks around before asking, "Hear what?"

"That bonging sound?" I'm not even finished asking my question when it happens again.

Uthica shakes her head. "I hear nothing. Perhaps we're experiencing-"

BONG!

Okay, it's getting louder. I don't know what Uthica said, and I'm literally in her head.

I'm trying to figure out if there's something happening that only I can see when I feel my insides twist. A second later and it's gone but everything seems hazy.

"Uh, something's happening to…" Uthica stands up and wrenches at the door as the next bong hits. There's a moment of confusion as the door remains shut. I lose track of what's happening after that until Uthica is back in front of the statue.

…TPWM…

Uthica was unsure of what happened. She only knew that the stranger, no Lexi, had started talking in nonsense words before starting to scream. She'd exited the room as quickly as possible, afraid the field had broken something important.

Even as she turned, searching for any sign of her missing companions, she heard a scraping sound behind her.

Turning, Uthica's eyes went wide as her advisor Pelthin drove a spear sparkling with purple and black lightning through her chest. Uthica stared blankly at Pelthin who stood with tears in her eyes as she mumbled, “I’m sorry my queen.”

Uthica wasn’t sure if it was Pelthin’s betrayal or the spear in her chest that hurt more as she lost consciousness.

…TPWM…

I gasp awake, the feeling of the spear in Uthica’s chest causing me to clutch my chest, trying fruitlessly to pull it out. The pain doesn’t fade as I realize Rufka and Rose are both hovering over me.

I feel Rufka pull me into a rough hug and I can’t help but flinch at the pain.

“Where have you been?” Rufka demands, tears in her eyes as she pulls back to look in my eyes.

“Uh? Right here?” I try, rubbing awkwardly at my breast to try to get the pain to diminish with no luck.

“Nope.” Rose shakes his head. “You kind of… cracked?”

“And floated away in pieces.” Rufka pulls me back into her arms.

“I have no recollection of the event in question?” I manage to squeeze out before I cringe as the pain spikes. “Uh. How long was I gone?”

Even as I ask the question, I realize my time sense is messed up. I don’t even know what day it is. After having such an innate sense of time for the last couple months, the loss is almost as disorienting as the pain.

“Three days, give or take,” Rose supplies. “Rufka refused to leave. Even to get the others.”

“What if we hadn’t been here when she came back?” Rufka demands, glaring at Rose who holds his hands up in surrender.

“Hey, I agreed. Just thought she’d like to know.”

I nod my head which turns out to be a mistake, as it causes the pain in my chest to spike again. Which also causes me to hiss through clenched teeth.

“Lexi? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Rufka asks in a half-scream while scrambling away from me in a panicked flailing of limbs.

If I couldn’t see how worried she was, it’d almost be funny.

“I visited Uthica. Like, actually met her and talked to her. Then something went wrong. I’m not entirely sure of everything that happened, but she was stabbed. Right here?” I wince as I poke myself in the chest, but this time it doesn’t make it worse.

“That doesn’t make sense. You’re at full health? You’re not able to be hurt when you’re at full health,” Rufka states while closing all her eyes and scrunching her forehead together in thought. She’s so adorable I just want to ruffle her ears.

Speaking of ruffling ears. “Where’s Smoulder?”

“She disappeared when you did,” Rose answers, his eyes narrowed as he stares at my chest. Then he realizes where he’s staring and quickly turns away.

Reaching for my bond with Smoulder, I find it… weak. Incredibly weak, as though she’s on the other side of the world.

“The hell is going on!” I swear as I attempt to stand. Only my legs don’t support me, turning to jelly as another spike of pain stabs out of my chest.

Even as Rose suggests I check my status, I grab my chest in pain again.

When I do check my status, none of my resources are low except Facet, but that makes sense. Maybe I have a condition?

Current Conditions: Temporal Resonance

"Temporal Resonance: A strong Resonance linking you to another object or entity. May have additional side effects."

Wait, so does that mean I’m still connected to Uthica?

[Alexis] “Wyonna? You.. Ugh… You there?”

[Wyonna] “Yes, Alexis, I’m here.”

[Alexis] “Any clue what’s going on here?”

[Wyonna] “Not yet. All I’m able to determine is that there’s a rupture that seems to be leaking Facet almost as fast as you’re regenerating it.”

[Alexis] “Seriously? I’m leaking Facet?”

[Wyonna] “I think so. Or perhaps you’re just using it to maintain the bond? I suggest you explore the connection.”

Taking a deep breath, I almost nod at Wyonna before thinking better of it.

“Okay. I’m going to try to figure out what’s going on,” I tell the others before closing my eyes then focusing on the status condition. Once more, I cheat by using my Status as a guide to the actual bond. Which surprisingly isn’t centred on my chest. It’s attached directly to my soul in a similar fashion as my interface itself, pervading every aspect of my being.

When I attempt to follow the link, there’s a restriction in my chest. I’m back with Uthica, the spear still protruding from her chest. The pain causes me to lose focus, snapping my eyes open with a scream. I’m with the others, yet I can almost make out the outline of Pelthin moving in the background.

The vision wanes, and the pain fades slightly. I’m about to try closing the connection when I see Pelthin smashed backwards by a tiny ball of furious fire. Then I see Smoulder’s face, looking into Uthica’s eyes.

I can feel her worry and satisfaction for a moment but then the vision fades entirely.

“Wha… Smoulder?”

“Where?” Rufka asks, her voice gentle beside me. When did she get there?

“With Uthica… in the past.”

“Ho boy. Here’s hoping that we don’t blink out of existence.” Rose frowns as he starts pacing.

I nod, and this time there’s no spike of pain. The pain is even receding. I don’t have enough Facet to attempt to reinforce the connection again, so I don’t know what’s going on. But at least I know Smoulder’s okay. For now… for then? Ugh.

The pain keeps diminishing and I sigh in relief until I realize that the bond has almost closed. Which would be good, except the already weak connection to Smoulder is likewise almost gone. If I let the bond close, am I going to lose Smoulder?

I attempt to reinforce the connection. But I don’t have the Facet.

After a few seconds, the pain is completely gone.

And so is Smoulder.

…TPWM 5.09, Smo No Mo…

March 6, 2019, 3:17 pm. Emptiness.

I scramble to re-establish my connection to Smoulder, but there’s nothing to connect to. Nothing but emptiness. I can’t sense the link, and the Temporal Resonance condition has disappeared from my Status.

Screaming doesn’t help but it does express my frustration. The echo also reminds me that we’re in a small room under the statue of Uthica. I take a deep breath, getting to my feet. There's no sense of weakness this time, though Rufka’s arms which are fastened to me securely do hamper the effort slightly. She’s helping as much as hindering, so it’s not so bad.

“I need… I need…” I’m not sure what I need. I just want Smoulder back.

Rufka soothes me as we stand there for a minute, until I notice Rose standing awkwardly by himself. I gesture him closer and pull him into the hug, Rufka shifting to accommodate him. I lean my head against them as I mutter, “I think I just left Smoulder in the past with Uthica.”

Rose stiffens, not breathing for a couple seconds until he says, “Well… if you created an alternate universe… I call dibs on the goatee. Besides we haven't gone full McFly and been deleted from the timeline yet… so at least there’s that.”

I give a choked half-laugh as I finally pull away. “Yeah. At least there’s that.”

Rufka stares at Rose, clearly unimpressed, “Not funny. I just got her back.”

“I think you mean ‘we’ just got her back.”

Rufka huffs, but she does nod.

“So… did you guys check inside the door?” I ask, desperately trying to change the subject.

At this, Rose walks to the door and holds his hand against it, flashing the same message we saw before. I totally should have asked Uthica about the door. It was on the list, but there was just so much I wanted to ask her about. I probably didn’t need to know about her favourite books, but she was so eager to talk without being judged, I could hardly resist.

“It doesn’t seem to want to open. No matter what we try…” Even as he's talking, I lay my hands on it, and it opens minutely with a creak.

Surprised, I look through the dark crack, wrapping my eyes in twilight.

“What the?” I wonder as I push the door further, revealing an empty room. Everything Uthica gathered is gone. There are no maps of old Akilo, no tombs of clan warfare. Not even the trade invoices of the pu’shaha tea commune remained. Are all her caches empty?

“Huh. All this for one measly crystal?” Rose remarks as he reaches for something I missed. I look closely at the dark crystal as he plucks it from the floor. It’s unremarkable. It almost reminds me of an essence crystal, but there’s no energy inside. Then Rose turns it and I see a marking on its side that makes me realize it’s a recording crystal. Like the ones Uthica used.

“Guess someone beat us to it.” Rufka scoots past me, tapping her fingers on the wall as she inspects the empty room. “Unless there’s another hidden passage.”

“Could try to stone-shape the walls. See if anything happens,” Rose suggests, handing me the crystal before moving to the opposite side of the room from Rufka and knocking on the wall.

“Hmm. Might need my mum for that. These are solid.” Rufka leans against the wall, closing her eyes as she searches with her mana-sense.

Since they’ve already got the room covered, I Focus on the crystal.

"Object analyzed - Resonance Crystal - *&#@. This crystal is a recording of the period *&#@

….

…

Error. Date not found.“

I stare at the burgundy surface of the crystal while wondering if I should try to access it. Doesn’t seem like a great idea. But it’s a possible link to Smoulder.

“I don’t think there’s anything else,” Rose notes as he returns from his inspection of the room, Rufka close behind him.

Rufka nods as she looks at the crystal I’m still turning in my hand, “We should get my mum to look at that. Looks like a damaged recording crystal.”

“I’m just gonna, ya know,” I say, motioning at the room as my throat tightens. I move inside, brushing past Rufka with a squeeze of her shoulder. Then I turn my own mana-sight on the walls. I’m not expecting to find anything. At this point, I’ve come to accept that Rufka’s mana-sense is as good as mine. But there are times when I catch things she missed, especially if it’s related to temporal magic. And just the chance they might’ve missed something… Some clue as to what happened with Uthica or how I can get Smoulder home…

I resolutely search the room, grasping at every minor oddity. But after half an hour, the only thing I’ve discovered is that the stonework is incredibly strong. I have the crystal in my hand again, and I’m thinking about accessing it when Rufka pulls me into a hug, forcing me to stop. After a minute of dampening her shoulder, I’m forced to admit that there’s nothing to find.

So we make our way back to the surface, where I turn to stare at the statue. The statue! That’s what started all this. If I remember correctly Uthica took her own hand, and pulsed it with magic, then…

Infusing the statue with a combination of Twilight and Facet, I wait, hoping to re-establish the resonance.

But nothing.

Standing there, I can’t help but ask, “Do you think Uthica is going to be okay? I mean, Smoulder’s there to help but… How did that even happen?”

“We should… go to the others,” Rufka suggests, pulling me away.

“Yeah. We should. I just… Ya know?” I respond with a helpless wave at Uthica’s statue.

Rufka only nods as she lifts off the ground, prompting me to follow her. As we ascend from between the buildings, Ukila dominates the horizon, the green and blue, a brilliant contrast against the dark mountains ahead.

Which means we're flying directly east. We adjust course, rising in the proper south-easterly direction, as directed by my tether.

The next couple days are quiet and uneventful other than the number of mana-swarms we have to avoid. Which is unfortunate because it gives me time to think. Too much time.

While secured within our latest underground bunker, I sit, staring at the damaged recording crystal. Rufka’s leaning against my back, playing a game of Astra’s Stride with Rose. As she shifts, I feel my mana begin to surge. Again.

Ever since I lost Smoulder, it’s been doing that more. So far, I’ve mostly been able to keep it in check, but at our last stop I lost control. It was only a small spark, and the others didn’t even notice, what with how often I’m playing with my magic. But I hadn’t been doing anything. It’d just happened.

Sighing, I turn the crystal in my hand, studying it. There are layers upon layers of runes inside, all interacting with each other. And several are broken. My studies aren’t particularly useful. It’s not like I can figure out how to fix it. I have a basic understanding of runecraft now, even expanded it somewhere, thanks to Rufka and Tipan’s efforts, but that’s like saying a person who knows how to change their oil knows how to… I don’t know, fix a broken engine?

Bad analogy since I know less about cars than I do runecraft. Also, I think runecraft might be closer to quantum mechanics in terms of complexity. At least on the challenging end.

Even as I’m gazing into the crystal, I relax, passing into sleep.

I wake with a start, my mana churning within me and the smell of burnt fur and roasted meat in the air. Spinning around, I find Rufka and Rose are eating some seasoned vhethal. But they’re both fine.

“You okay Lex?” Rufka asks, patting the bench beside her.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, slipping in next to her while calming my mana.

With a satisfied grunt, Rose finishes his portion before looking at me. “You sure? You’ve been distracted the last couple days. More distracted than usual, I mean.”

“Yeah, it’s fine I’ve just been worr… wait, what do you mean more distracted than usual?” I glare at Rose.

Rufka laughs, slipping both her left arms around me. “You know how you get.” She tempers her words with a kiss on my cheek. While she has earned a reprieve with her sweetness, I maintain my glare at Rose. Which has zero effect.

“If you’re feeling good enough to glare, then you’re finally feeling better. And I think the storm’s passed.” Rose punctuates his sentence by standing then placing his hand on the stone wall above us.

At this, we continue.

Since we’ve spent so much time resting during the mana-storms, we’ve been trying to make up time by flying at night, which means that even as we emerge it’s still dark. It's just before dawn when we finally come into view of Burnesq. The Builder’s city remains mostly as we left it, the towering silver engines the only easily visible landmarks from this far out. Rufka and I are holding hands as we approach when I notice something seems to be off.

There are waves of movement beneath the towers. Giant undulations, swelling and waning.

At first, I think Josh has been playing with his powers, causing the local vegetation to grow out of proportion. But as I watch, part of the wave separates, soaring into the air. Thin translucent horns trace back from the nose of a sinuous creature that glitters under the effects of my twilight-sight. It has no legs, instead propelled forward by fluffy white fins. Flying above the others, it emits a keening wail as it crests one of the dull grey buildings. The wail is answered by a warbling crackle as the entire herd filters through the city. The wail and warbling resonate with each other, achieving a counterpoint, as though there’s a message I can’t quite understand beneath the surface. “It’s beautiful.”

“A Ralshid occurrence,” Rufka mutters, barely audible. For once, my understanding of Vausian fails me. When I turn to the System, the creature identifies as an Elswyrm. I have no idea what Ralshid means.

“Are you sure?” Rose asks, “I thought that only happened in the north.”

Even as we fly over the undulating herd, Rufka answers, “Mum says it can happen anywhere. There are just more users living in the North.”

“Uh. ‘Scuse me. What’s a Ralshid?”

“Ralshid occurrence,” Rose clarifies, “is when a bunch of mana-mutations occur at once.”

Rufka shakes her head, denying his explanation before he’s even finished. “They’re nothing like a mana-mutation. Mana-mutations are dangerous.”

“Okay, so not dangerous. That’s good.”

Rose flips about, flying directly in front of us as he objects, “Not dangerous? Strongholds have been destroyed in the wake of a Ralshid occurrence.”

“Well, they can be dangerous. If a user disturbs the affected creatures,” Rufka admits as she pulls to the side, my hand firmly in hers as she flies us around Rose, closer to the herd.

“Didn’t you just say they can be dangerous if we disturb them?” I don’t fight her, instead watching as the herd continues their journey through the city, swimming through the air together.

Rufka gives me a wink and a quick squeeze of my hand but doesn’t change course. Rose attempts to interpose himself again, but Rufka just grabs him with another hand, tugging him about instead. “Best we don’t get separated.”

When we’re only a few metres above the herd, Rufka sparks lightning over her upper hands. But she doesn’t attack or discharge the magic. Instead, she causes it to crackle in time to their warbling. In response, several members of the herd spread apart, leaving a small gap. Rufka guides us into place, maintaining her crackling warble. We drift further into the city, surrounded on all sides by the sky-snakes. The air tastes metallic, a tang of power in every breath.

The nearest Elswyrm drifts closer, a dull grey sky-snake, large enough it could swallow me with a single bite. It turns a single eye on me as blue lightning sparks beneath its grey skin, running up and down its body in time with its warbling.

Despite myself, I reach out to it. It’s so magnificent.

It floats just a little closer, and I watch as a spark leaps from its skin, running up my arm. It’s barely a tingle, not enough to hurt, but it seems to scare the Elswyrm away.

As it draws back, I turn my attention ahead, where we’re flying over the edge of the building. The rest of the herd (flock?) is splitting around the centre of the city. The ruined tower lies there, and at its base is a familiar transparent barrier. Roberts is standing calmly, observing the Elswyrms as they flow around his shield. I can tell when he notices us because he starts waving enthusiastically.

I wave back, but then I realize the only person with him is Trellani, the daughter of one of the Fallen we cleansed.

With Rufka still flashing at the surrounding Elswyrms, we land just outside his glowing dome.

“Isn’t this amazing?” I ask him, the light flickering as he reshapes his barriers to bring us inside. Their bonds are still pointing to the centre of the city. In fact, even my bond to Roberts is still pointing toward the city centre. When I focus on this fact, I realize I can’t feel a bond to Roberts where he’s standing.

If it weren’t for the barriers, I’d be worried this wasn’t the real Roberts. Also, the fact that his name is no longer greyed out in the party interface.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, Lex.” Roberts quirks his eyebrow as the last of the barriers separating us dissipates into nothing.

“Oh, right. Hi. Good to see you. Where’s, uhm, everyone?” I don’t need a mirror to know that my cheeks are super red.

“Your friends have gone to find Demo. They think his ship’ll be helpful now that the System’s busted teleportation and messaging.” Her voice is low, her eyes scanning the surrounding Elswyrms even as she answers. Can’t really blame her.

“Really?” Rose asks, squinting all four eyes at her even as she continues to ignore us.

Roberts nods as he starts preparing tea on a table hidden behind his barriers. “They’ve been gone for a couple days now. I was starting to get worried you weren’t coming.”

“Only starting?” Rufka asks, giving Roberts a playful push.

Roberts raises a single eyebrow. “Starting. None of you are known for your punctuality.”

“Ouch,” Rose mutters, and I find myself nodding alongside.

We spend a few minutes in quiet conversation before Roberts turns to me, saying, “Now that you’re back, there’s something I need your help with.”

“Oh?”

Roberts smirks at me, his bushy eyebrows rising and falling as his grin widens. “We think we’ve found the remnants of a control console.”

…TPWM 5.10, Throwing Down…

March 9, 2019. 4:20 am.

“Control console?” I ask, staring at Roberts for a second. Then I remember where we are and what we’ve been doing for the last week. “Right. The city. Sorry, it’s been a crazy few days.”

“Oh? Something to share?”

“Definitely, but I’m kinda enjoying the view,” I gesture outward, still entranced by the surrounding Elswyrms. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they were… Wait, they are coming around again. “How long have they been here?”

“The Elswyrms’ve been basking the area in their beauty for the last three nights,” Trellani informs us, finally looking away to join us.

“But they’re leaving us alone, so that’s not a big deal, right?” Rose asks.

“Not for us,” Rufka agrees.

“So, where is this console?” I eventually ask Roberts after watching the Elswyrms dance for a few minutes.

“Not far. But I was hoping the Elswyrms would ease off. They leave my barriers alone when we’re sitting still, but the second I move, they treat it like a game, smashing into them with tremendous force. I’ve already healed Trellani twice.”

“Hey, I was just investigating. And if I’d listened to you, we’d still be trapped beneath the surface.”

Roberts nods, smoothing his brown suit, though there are no visible wrinkles. “And then we wouldn’t have gotten caught out in this in the middle of the night, would we?”

“Nope. But I’ve spent too much time underground the last couple years. It was… uncomfortable.”

“Which is why I don’t blame you. I’m just informing them that these Elswyrms are dangerous.”

“Yeah, we kinda figured they would be,” Rose interjects, drawing Roberts’ attention. “I mean, they’re literally throwing off sparks.”

“Yes. Regardless, it would be less of a hassle to wait for dawn.”

“Which means, we have time for a game of Astra’s Stride,” Rufka exclaims, pulling out her board before anyone has time to object. It's as good a thought as any, so we settle in to play while I fill in Roberts on everything that's happened since we last spoke.

After being beaten by Roberts twice in a row, Rufka puts her board away with a surprisingly upbeat smile. Probably because she did better than me both games. I did even worse than usual, unable to focus. Even while talking to Roberts, I kept brushing my hand over the recording crystal, thinking about the fact we have only the vaguest sense of where the others are. And my connection still tells me they’re nearby despite having left the area days ago. Another glitch due to the System's interference.

“Lex?” Rose is standing in front of me, his eyes drawn together. It takes a second before my brain clues me in to the fact that he was talking to me. Unfortunately, it (rather unhelpfully) doesn't tell me what he said.

“Sorry. Was thinking. What’d you say?”

“Oh, nothing," Rose starts, then at my raised eyebrow, he adds, "I just asked if you wanted Trellani to look at the crystal. But Rufka already shot the idea down.”

“Oh,” I mumble, getting to my feet, whisking dust off my pants with a swirl of earth-manipulation. Without thinking, I start shaping it into a small figurine of Smoulder, only realizing what I’ve done when it’s sitting there in front of me.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure-”

Rose is cut off by a sudden swell in the Elswyrms’ song. The rising pitch draws our attention to where they’re moving out of the city, their strange swimming motions carrying them east, lost amidst the glare of the rising sun.

As my eyes adjust, I try to follow their path. Instead, I notice a figure emerging where they passed over the rise. With several thin blades reflecting the growing light, details are difficult to discern. Then as if they timed it, the sun breaks over the horizon at their back as they approach. It’s only once she’s within a dozen metres that I’m able to distinguish the colour of her fur. At first, I’d thought it was red. But now I realize that was a trick of the morning light. If not for seeing the same effect with Tipan, I might not have realized that the approaching K’tharn’s fur is white.

Have to say, if she’s trying to impress, it’s working.

She stops five metres away, her eyes playing over each of us, the tattoos etched over her eyes emphasizing an otherwise slight narrowing of her upper eyes. She has a short, rigid mohawk, reminding me more of a military cut than Tipan’s. After several seconds of silence, she asks, “Do any of you know the one named Tipan?”

“What do you want with Tipan?” I ask, before I can help myself.

She shifts her stance, turning toward me. Something in her gaze makes me feel as though she’s not impressed with what she sees. “So, you do know her. One of the Outlanders, I suppose.”

I can’t help but squirm under her attention, taking a step back. My step is interrupted by Rufka, who isn’t smiling as she keeps me from stumbling over her with a firm grip. “And what does a Stormguard want with Tipan of clan Lithania?” Rufka demands, her voice in the low growl she only uses when someone’s made her angry.

“She’s not here. Do you know where she went?” the Stormguard asks, ignoring Rufka, remaining focused on me at the same time as I analyze her.

“User analyzed: K'tharn. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Restricted.”

“Attributes: Physical; Extreme, Mobility; Extreme, Magic; Extreme, Awareness; Extreme.

Attacks: Restricted.

Defences: Restricted."

I’m not entirely shocked to see her attributes are so high. It’s worrying though. The only other person I’ve met that still registers as Extreme is Genitha. This Stormguard could probably crush me into a crumpled ball.

Even as I'm reviewing her status, my mouth decides to work on its own. I release a brilliant, “Uhhh?”

Starting to worry this constant static is getting to me.

“No? Was she well the last time you saw her?”

I nod, thinking about the last time I saw Tipan. She was worried about her mother, and the Aetherium but otherwise okay.

“And?”

“Uh. She was fine. Totally healthy.” I respond, trying to figure out what exactly she expects me to say.

“Has she maintained her training?” The Stormguard flicks her blades slightly at this question. As if she’s expecting me to attack her. Is she worried I’ll say no, or is she worried about something else?

“I think so?” I answer, trying to be as vague as possible. It’s not entirely honest. Tipan did slack off for a day, but she was visiting her mom. But we all advanced a lot while in Atun’s dungeon. And she’s been kind of distracted by the Reaper guide turned journal.

She stares at me for a second, her upper eyes blazing with emerald light before she relaxes her grip slightly, sheathing her swords.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Roberts asks as her swords slide into place.

Once more, she focuses on me while not answering his question, "What do you know of Glimmering Sands?"

I glance at the others, but they look as confused at the non-sequitar as I am. Which is when I realize Roberts and Rufka are the only ones in plain sight.

"It's a resort town?" I ask, having less and less understanding about where this conversation is going.

She stares at me for a few more seconds, then says, "And?"

"And it was massively wrecked by Ivicka a month ago? Oh, and it has a killer Tidal festival," I try.

She doesn't quite drop her jaw at my statement, but I can see the tight control of her face go slack for a second as she spares Rufka and Roberts their first glance. Then she focuses on me again, her eyes once more flashing emerald.

"Say that again."

"Uhh. Glimmering Sands has a killer Tidal festival?”

She shakes her head, “No, the other part.”

“Glimmering Sands was massively wrecked by Ivicka?"

"You believe it. Strange."

Okay, what the heck. Is she reading my mind? Crap, is she like the dolls? I focus inward, trying to detect any intrusions while mentally screaming ‘Get out of my head!’ I don’t notice anything, and by the time I’m done, I realize Roberts is speaking.

“As you can see, Tipan’s not here. If you have a message you’d like to pass on to her, you can leave it with us and we’ll make sure she gets it.” He crosses his arms, the smooth lines of his dark suit lending strength to his pose.

Her eyes flick back and forth across us, until resting on me again. “Yes. Tell her that her father, Talkith of clan Lithania needs to talk to her. Urgently."

"And you… you should be more careful of who you analyze," she adds, pointing at me with one hand.

Then she snaps her fingers and a blinding flash fills the air, collapsing Roberts’ shields and causing several hundred points of damage. I blink at the unexpected spots, shaking my head. I haven’t had that sort of feedback in months. I almost forgot I could get spots in my eyes. When my vision clears, the Stormguard is gone.

“Well, that could have been worse,” Rose says, poking his head up from behind a large boulder.

“Why would Tipan’s father want to talk to her now?” I ask, staring at the spot the Stormguard was just standing. Did she teleport, or just run away really fast? Maybe I should be testing my teleportation more.

“Not sure. But I think that might have been the aforementioned father,” Rose answers, while blinking rapidly.

Wait… White fur. Obvious first clue. Mohawk, different, but rare among K’tharn, like Tipan’s. But the swords and… well, lack of manners.

“Yeah, I guess I could see it,” I admit as Roberts’ barrier springs back into place above us.

“She gave up too easily. Like she didn’t even want to talk to us,” Rufka comments.

“Then why come strolling in like that? If she didn’t want to talk to us, why bother?” Rose wonders.

And why did she only show up when we were getting ready to leave? Was she afraid of the Elswyrms? Or was it something else?

“Stormguards do all sorts of strange things.” Rufka suggests with a shrug. “It’s all that time in the clouds. Makes them loopy.”

“Doesn’t most of the Aetherium live in the clouds?” I ask, arching an eyebrow at Rufka.

“Perhaps we should continue this discussion on the way,” Roberts interjects, gesturing for us to follow him as Rufka grins at us. Trellani pops out from beneath the table, and I blink at the way she was just… gone.

“Right. We should look at the console,” I acknowledge, giving Trellani a proper inspection as we make our way further into the city, towards where the silver spire once stood. Still nothing weird there. Maybe she used an enchantment?

There’s a lot of twisted wreckage as we move deeper. There are entire lengths of twisted Silver longer than a city bus lying around us. When we mentioned the city to Kellica, she’d checked the Taken’s records. The Taken tried to take control of this city at some point hundreds of years ago. They’d almost succeeded, but then the spire exploded, killing every agent involved. And none of them came back.

To be fair, resurrection is normally a Silver-rank ability. If we weren’t Citizens, there’s a lot of things that would be much harder to purchase.

We’re making our way down a partially collapsed staircase when everything seems to blur. For a second, I think the Stormguard’s come back, but then I see the tower as it was before it exploded. There’s a scaffold of glowing bone and hide encircling it with several vague shapes making their way along it. For a second everything becomes clear, the K’tharn bursting into incredible detail. But I hardly notice, because Smoulder is there, hopping towards the twisted tower. There’s a short moment where I feel her usual smugness as she turns toward me.

Then the moment is lost, and I’m back with the others.

For the second time in less than five minutes I stumble. You’d think that with an Agility of a hundred I’d be less clumsy. But even with my vision of the past gone, I’m still disoriented. It was good to see Smoulder again, but the experience has taken something out of me.

The others don’t mention it, though Rufka takes my hand as we continue to walk to the excavation site where Roberts found the console. The hole is nearly fifteen metres down, located in what was once the bowels of the control tower. Now it’s just a simple hole in the ground, with a set of crude steps stone-shaped into the side.

When we reach the console, I attempt to bring up the screen, but it gives a different message than the one in Pelwerd.

“Error. Connection to Network unavailable. Local operations only.”

“Holy crap,” I mutter.

“What? Can you read it?” Roberts asks, stepping next to me.

“Yeah. Says it’s disconnected from the network. But it’s not locked like the last one. One sec,” I answer, tapping the screen. The interface is similar to the control room, but it kind of feels like an old version. Like, this is what I would’ve had if it didn’t update to version 1.0.

The screen fills with new commands. Engines, shields, communications. Obviously, the communications are offline. Shields too. But when I hit the engines, it fills with a long list of functions, most of which are in the green. However, the one important item, the Ripple drive, is listed in red. Offline.

“So, good news and bad,” I tell the others. “Good news is that the engines are mostly functional.”

“Really? That’s amazing Alexis!” Roberts proclaims, holding up his hand for a fist bump. I giggle a little as I return it. It is kind of amazing.

“Bad news, everything else is offline. And without the shields, we’re not going to be able to take this thing into space. Never mind get it back to Earth.”

“One thing at a time Lex,” Roberts replies, still smiling. “Do you think we can get it in the air? Can we take the city to the others?”

I stare at him for a second, blinking my eyes as I think before turning back to the console. Energy levels are good. Stability is nominal. There’s even a subsystem called Momentum Inclusion. It indicates that it keeps everyone in ‘sync’ with the platform while it’s in motion.

“I… think we can do it. We can actually fly the city after the others.” I turn back to Roberts, a grin pushing itself across my face, “At least, I think so.”

Rufka grabs me and shakes me excitedly, “We’re going to fly one of the Builder’s cities! Mum is gonna be so jealous.”

“Hold on. Shouldn’t we-” Rose starts but I’m already working the controls, shifting power to the engines. It’s a good thing I spent time with Uthica. Manipulating the engines is practically child’s play now that she’s filled in all the gaps in my Voidcraft Engineer subclass’ knowledge.

A second later a loud thrum fills the air, followed by cracking and popping from the distance. Then the whole city lurches, and we’re airborne. I grab hold of the console to steady myself before remembering I can fly without it. Guess that Momentum Inclusion feature isn’t perfect.

Even as we’re rising, I hear the keening wail of the Elswyrms in the background. For the moment, I don’t pay them any attention. It’s surprisingly annoying to set the course for the city. It’s not really meant to be operated from a console. It takes me five minutes before I’m able to coax it forward. And by forward, I mean south, which is only ninety degrees off course of where we want to go. Roughly.

“Uh Lexi, you’re going-” Rufka starts but I cut her off.

“I know, I know.” I keep messing with the settings, attempting to route the thrusters. But half the thrusters are offline, a status that only updated after we launched. Meaning it isn’t a simple matter to change the city’s direction.

I’m experimenting with varying their thrust when Roberts calls from above, “Lex, you might want to put on the brakes. I think we’re about to run into a hill.”

That’s not what I want to hear. I’m not even sure this city has brakes. The decision to launch the city may have been a little rash. It just felt like we were finally moving forward.

I disable all the thrusters, killing our acceleration, but it doesn’t help with slowing us down. It just stops it from getting worse. The keening of the Elswyrms seems to pick up in volume, causing me to look up. But I can’t see anything cause I’m in the bottom of the pit. Which is when I realize, I’m the only one in the pit. Everybody else is on the rim. They’re not just standing there either. Roberts is throwing up shields and Rufka is using the same thunder-crackle method she was using when we were swimming with the Elswyrms. I can’t tell what the others are doing, but it would seem I’ve upset the locals.

I don’t want to imagine how they’d feel if I crashed the city.

So, I look over the console again, trying to figure out what I’m missing. My eyes lock on the power controls for the First through Sixth Levitation Engines. It’s so obvious. If we’re going to run into something, just go over it.

But of course, it isn’t that easy. When I attempt to increase the power, the console informs me going so high would be over safety limits while the shield is offline. I end up spending half a minute finding the override, which is in the communications menu of all places. Once I enter the new energy input, confirming the override, I’m slammed into the ground, knocking another hundred points off my health.

I’ve lost as much Health today as in our trip through the Cricken.

It only takes a second for the city to stabilize at its new height. Even as it does, the Elswyrms go silent.

Well, one minor crisis averted. Now, let’s see if I can figure out how to steer this thing.

“Lex. Hey Lex,” Rose calls, forcing me to glare up at him.

“Yeah?”

“I think we have a problem.”

“Another one?” I ask, turning back to the console.

“Uh yeah. I think we’re running out of air.”

What? That’s never been a problem before. I mean, we’d have to be like, what was it, six kilometres up, before air became an issue. Flying up beside Rose, I looked around the city. I could barely see the tip of a single mountain to the North and on every other side there was only sky.

Okay, yeah. I might have overdone it a little.

Flying back to the control console, I attempt to lower the power to the Levitation Engines. But instead of decreasing in power levels, it indicates I need to wait. Reading through all the text I skipped earlier, I find out that to prevent damage to the Levitation Engines, they need time to adjust to their new setting before I can change them. After five minutes of searching, I find a table that indicates I need to wait for about five hours before I can adjust them again.

Okay, that’s annoying, but not so bad. We can just fly away then come back. Or create our own air.

As I fly up to relay the annoying -it’s not really that bad- news to the others, I discover them gathered around a nearby collapsed building. Getting closer to them, I hear them talking in urgent tones before Roberts turns to me.

“Ah. Alexis. Are we able to lower the city?”

“Uh, yeah. About that. It looks like we need to wait a few hours. But hey, we’re fine, right?” I demonstrate by creating a bubble of air over us.

Roberts and Rose trade a glance while Rufka just comes over to me, pulling me to the hole in the wall. Inside I see why the Elswyrms were so loud earlier.

There’s a small clutch of eggs, three to be precise. And atop the eggs are two Elswyrms that seem to be gasping for breath.

…

Oops.

A note from Draith

Thanks to wjaguar for the help with editing out runic channelling.

…TPWM 5.11, Elswyrms to Elsewhere…

March 9, 2019. 6:11 am. Holding our breath at the top of the world.

I didn’t want to add ‘endanger the local wildlife’ to my list of things I did today. I really didn’t. In fact, this is something I absolutely refuse to let stand.

Even as Rufka is pulling me into a side hug, I start pushing away. There must be something we can do. The first thing I do is spin up fresh air next to them. It seems to help, but they’re still wheezing.

Asking Rose to maintain the effect, I fly directly to the console, opening up the menu. I push through the options but I’m unable to find anything. Several minutes later, I feel Rufka’s hand on my shoulder. When I look over, I see Rufka and Roberts behind me. Above, Trellani sits at the edge of the pit, looking in the direction of the Elswyrms.

“Maybe you should let someone else have a look? Or at least explain what you’re doing,” Roberts suggests, pulling me away from the console. As I sit, I realize I’m still creating a sphere of air to maintain the comfortable atmosphere despite the lower pressure. I didn’t even have to think to set it on autopilot, using my Channelling ability on reflex.

Taking his advice, I tell the others what I’ve done so far. But I can tell none of them understand. Rufka is an amazing rune-crafter, but the design of the System built city-ships is so divergent, it’s like… the difference between properly removing blood from a carpet without ruining it and cleaning your chin with a paper napkin. They're both technically cleaning, but they're not remotely similar.

Still, I do show them what I’ve figured out.

"So, why don't you bleed the excess mana to another System?" Rufka asks, "Then maybe these engines'll stop spitting us into the air so hard."

Face-palming, I turn back to the console, opening the thrusters back up. But when I try to adjust their power levels, the same warning message pops up. Looks like the whole console is locked.

“No good,” I respond, shaking my head.

“It was worth the attempt,” Roberts notes while pacing back and forth.

“Yeah. I guess we’re going to have to try something else.” I squint upward, staring at the empty sky. It’s weird being so high up that there are no clouds.

“Well, if we’re done down here, what say we bring this discussion to somewhere more interesting,” Rufka suggests, tugging me with her.

I give her a half-smile, as she pulls me toward the edge of the city. She stops a few metres from where the edge disappears.

There are several Elswyrms below us, following at a much lower altitude. I can see their sparks, but we’re far enough away that I can’t hear them. We spend a minute peering over the edge as I try to discern if there’s a way we can use the Elswyrms to fix this. A scuffing sound behind me, causes me to turn.

Everyone’s followed us, except Trellani. Roberts is pacing back and forth, his fingers steepled as he frowns at the ground. “I don’t understand how the engines work, but couldn’t you access them directly instead of using the console?”

I’m about to object, but… maybe he’s right. I mean, they didn’t have a proper readout before, but now that the city is flying, maybe things will be different. Nodding in his direction, I start flying toward the nearest engine. Approaching the engine, I set down on a thin layer of frost which melts in a large radius the second I land. It’s a clear visualization of how large an area my aura is passively affecting at this point. Definitely recording the details once we’ve staved off the disaster I accidentally inflicted on the Elswyrm family.

We make our way inside, working our way down to the engine room. Even after the initial work the others put in to get this city properly repaired and operational, the corridors are still choked with debris. With the limits on our magic when we’re inside, we’d have to cart everything out by hand. Or take long breaks for our mana to regenerate after using it inside. It’s simpler to leave everything where it is. Well, most of it.

I pocket a reflective shard that's broken off the inside of the tower, to play with later. Maybe I’ll use it in Smoulder’s next training course. Once I figure out how to get her back.

Crackling energy greets us when we get to the door to the Ripple drive. The door itself is jammed half-closed, forcing us to squeeze through sideways. I find myself watching Rufka pull herself through before turning back to consider the Drive itself. I realize there must still be some form of shielding in place, because inside the room is louder than outside. And there’s more than enough air to breathe easily.

The core of the drive remains dormant, but there are housings along the outer edges that thrum with power. Housings I’ve barely paid attention to before. They’d seemed like part of the support structure. “Huh, I didn’t know these did anything.”

“It’d explain why mum couldn’t figure anything out.” Rufka holds her hand near it, sending my heart to my throat as the thought of her being zapped fills my mind. But before I can pull her away, she stops. “The mana feels off. Empty almost.”

Standing beside her, I extend my own mana senses, though I don’t bring my hand any closer to the housing. She’s right. The mana feels as though it’s been stripped of any elemental properties. It’s the opposite of an essence shard. Almost… more like mana-dust?

Still, I’m not sure if we can use this. So I move toward the console where Roberts and Rose are already tapping away. “Anything?”

Roberts shakes his head, “There’s a new message, but it’s not responding to our input.”

“Not that being ignored is new to me,” Rose mumbles under his breath. I almost question him about it, but now’s not the time.

Reading over Rose’s shoulder, the message says, “Ripple drive - Levitation Engines engaged. Corrupted mana detected. Purging mana storage. 4:12.”

Well, at least there’s a timer.

We spend another few minutes taking turns at the console, but we’re still unable to make any progress. I’m sitting on the catwalk, kicking my feet while staring down at the inactive Ripple Drive when Rufka sits beside me. I’ve spent almost a half an hour of real time, thinking in Pause, but I haven’t come up with anything.

“Given up?”

“No!” I deny, “But… I can’t think of anything we can do. I mean, I could try to pull the entire island down, but I don’t think I’ve got that much power. Or we could move them manually, but I know how dangerous that can be.”

“Well, I was thinking. I might be able to create runescript that would bleed power. But I’ll need your help.”

I jump to my feet, nearly banging my knees as I clamber up. I know that would’ve been a solid thwack before I raised my Agility. Luckily, instead of losing health, I turn it into a slight bow. Rufka doesn’t even chuckle, instead leading me outside where we start gathering materials. She has me focus on retrieving several metre long sections from the collapsed spire. We also get Rose to send Trellani to help. He grumbles but agrees, taking over keep the Elswyrms breathing duty.

Once we have the sections of the spire laid out, Rufka begins inscribing runework that’s so crude I could probably have done it myself. Once she’s finished inscribing basic power channels, she adds several offshoots that don’t have any obvious effect. She gets me and Trellani to copy her pattern, inlaying hundreds of pieces all with the same effect.

It takes us nearly half an hour to finish getting the plates in place. Each one is leaned against the thrumming housings. No housing has less than ten of these crude fins secured to them. With the fins in place, Rufka places a small black block at their base then directs us to the surface with a giant grin on her face.

“Come on, faster,” She urges while pushing me from behind as we leave.

“Uh... Rufka? What’d you do?” I ask, glancing in the direction of the… magicky thingie she’s created where I can hear it buzzing.

“Something fun!” Trellani declares, grinning madly as she races toward the nearest engine’s door.

“Well, you know how essence stones can be formed from raw mana?” As I nod, Rufka continues pulling me to the same engine. “I figured we could try to create some from all the extra mana that’s going to-” She doesn’t have time to finish, as the city shifts beneath our feet. It stops a second later, with the street now leaning at a slight angle. I look to the North, past the edge of the city. I can see the mountains now. It’s hard to tell from our elevation, but I think we’re moving toward them.

Even as I’m considering how this might be exactly what we need for steering, we make it to the entrance. Rufka pauses, scratching at her chin. “Uh, Lexi. I might’ve messed up.”

“What do you… Oh.” When I poke my head past her, I note the chaotic mess of twisted metal inside. None of the catwalks or access ladders appear to be intact. Instead, they’ve been sucked against the walls. In fact, they match up with each spot she placed one of her black bricks.

It’s funny. If she’d done this outside of the engines, I’d be able to just twist the metal back into shape in a minute.

“We’re descending,” Roberts informs us through the open door while I’m staring at the twisted metal. I can still hear the thrumming from the engines, but part of me can’t help but worry. What if we don’t stop? What if we keep descending, crashing the city and ruining it? Before I’m able to go too far, Roberts adds, “I think we’ve stabilized.”

When I hear that, I plop down on the spot, rubbing my forehead. Well, at least that’s kind of solved. Now we just need to aim ourselves toward the others. After carefully divesting ourselves of the Elswyrms.

Rufka lets me sit for a couple minutes; time I wisely invest in staring at the mess. Then she grabs my arm and leads me outside, at which point we go check on the nest of Elswyrms. The majestic creatures' scales almost keep me from entering the building, having shifted to block most of the entrance. But they’ve grown quiet. I’m worried for a minute, but I’m able to confirm they’re breathing. Besides, if they’d been dead, they would’ve just blown away in the wind.

Even as I’m trying to spy on the eggs, the Elswyrm shifts again, slithering until one of its eyes is staring directly at me. It sits there, inspecting me, the lid blinking slowly. I step away from it, the eye dilating as it tracks me. Then with a sigh, it closes the eye, settling in place.

Swallowing, I float away from the stone building they’re using as a nest. I keep floating until I’m sure I won’t disturb them again. Turning to Rufka, I ask “Think we can do that again? But with less explosions?”

“Sure. We can do less explosions,” Rufka elbows me, pulling me toward another engine where the others are waiting. Just outside is a building that’s in considerably better shape than most of the city. It’s easy to recognize my own work, the pair of Smoulder statues flanking the entrance are only the most obvious clue. Inside what I had intended to serve as an entrance hall are stacks of silver scrap.

“Why is all this scrap here? I made storage rooms!” I cry, focusing on Roberts, definitely not overreacting at seeing a reminder of Smoulder out front.

He smiles, with a shrug. “I don’t have very good metal manipulation. Moving all this to your storage rooms would’ve taken me another day or two. You didn’t exactly make them easy to get to.”

I raise a finger, but then reflect on my design. He’s right. I didn’t think they were important because personal inventory. And everything else. Honestly, I hadn’t really planned on using them, but the design didn’t feel complete without them. Which is why they were below the basement. A basement with a swimming pool that had probably spilled over its edges, possibly filling those very storage rooms. “Uh. Right,” I half-cough, “Anyway, Rufka had an idea.”

Rufka nods taking over as she explains the details of how to create the panels to steer. We’ve only started on the first set of panels when Rufka asks, “Why don’t we make it interesting?”

“What did you have in mind?” Roberts asks, inspecting the first panel that Rufka created, running his fingers over it.

“A race. See who can inscribe the most panels in the next thirty minutes.”

“Nope,” I interject, with similar replies from the others. “You and Trellani would probably each finish more by yourselves than the rest of us combined.”

“You know,” Roberts says, setting a panel he’s just finished next to him. His first panel where Rufka’s already finished four. “That might be a fair race.”

“What? All three of us against Rufka and Trellani? Sounds like fun,” Rose agrees.

Rufka looks around at us, her eyes squinting, “Wait, how… you know what, fine. It’s on.”

“Totally,” Trellani agrees, pumping two fists in the air even as she spins her own scrivener.

We don’t wait for a starting signal. Everyone focuses on their task. After five minutes, I realize we might have a chance. Not a good chance, cause it’s taking me far too long to inscribe properly. Meanwhile, Trellani is a freaking inscription wizard. By herself, she’s doing nearly as many as Rufka.

Which I guess makes Rufka the inscription Arch-wizard? Even as I’m chuckling to myself, I mess up the inscription I’m working on. I really should be better at inscription, but for some reason, I still haven’t unlocked the skill. Everyone else has it, but even with Rufka’s guidance and my Voidcraft Engineer subclass, mine remains locked. Which means little gaps in concentration ruin my attempts. Like the slab of silver scrap that I’m currently reshaping so I can start over.

Even as I’m finishing my first piece, Roberts lays down his fourth. And while I improve slightly, even between the three of us, I don’t think we’re as fast as Rufka or Trellani. But still, the plates are piling up faster and faster.

Eventually, the half-hour passes, and we gather the plates together, counting them out.

“Okay, it looks like Rufka managed to inscribe… 33. Trellani has… 32,” Roberts says, carefully setting theirs on either side of the door outside. “And we managed…” he stops as he double checks his count again, walking his fingers up the stacks. “34.”

We start hi-fiving each other, and I'm giving Roberts a fist bump when Rufka speaks up. "Ahem."

Turning we all look at where Rufka is pointing towards my pile of inscribed fins. She holds one up, channelling mana through it only for it to spark and warp. I feel a growing sense of dread growing in my belly when she takes the next fin out of my pile with the same result. She then demonstrates that neither her fins, nor any of the ones worked by the others have the same flaw.

"Well. It looks like Rufka wins with 33 to Trellani’s 32 and our 30," Roberts accedes with a polite bow.

The moment the words are out of his mouth, Rufka plucks two of her fins off a pile then starts strutting back and forth as she yells out, “I am the champ-lion! I am the champ-lion!” Rose tries to correct her, but Rufka just doubles down. “No time for losers! I am the champ-lion!”

Even as Rufka continues her victory dance, we return to work. We’re going to need a lot more plates to properly rig the engine in place.

Hours later, we’re ready to install the fins in a second engine. With fins of better quality, the reaction is much smoother, though it’s still weird to have an entire city dozens of kilometres across shift under your feet.

An awesome weird that makes me glad I wasn’t flying under my own power when it happened.

And after all the work we’ve put in, we’ll be able to replicate this whenever we want.

Despite only being partially responsible, it still feels like a win.

I’ll take it.

…TPWM 5.12, Into The Mire…

March 9, 2019. 8:05 am.

Rufka and I float over the city as we try to gauge its speed. It’s great that we got it flying, but we still need to link up with the others, and a floating city nearly a hundred kilometres across isn’t precisely subtle. Not sure what I was thinking when I activated it.

Actually, that’s not true. I was thinking having a floating city to fly around on would be awesome.

Flying cities. Better in theory than practice.

“So, we’re agreed? We should leave the city behind?” Rufka asks.

I sigh, putting extra emphasis into it. “Yeah. I guess I should just be happy that we got one flying.”

“You’re Vaus-damn right. This is a Silver-tier accomplishment.”

“Well, it looks cool.”

“And it’ll help get the others running. Being able to use it to get supplies around will save tons of time. Back to the others?” Rufka asks, glancing down at the glow that emanates from the campfire set near our warehouse. It’s amazing how often we still build campfires considering we don’t technically need them. But there’s comfort in it. Besides, it’s not like a small fire is going to give us away. Not when the city is once more swimming with Elswyrms.

“Nah. Let’s stay here for a while,” I decide while pulling her close for a mid-air snuggle. I haven’t been giving her enough attention lately. So, for the rest of the evening, I don’t do anything but spend time with her. It’s probably not as much as she deserves, but we do have a fun night. And without Smoulder around, we end up getting a lot less sleep than usual. Because… reasons.

In the morning we join the others for breakfast, who’re chatting about our plan to leave the city behind. While they’re talking, I pluck a skewer from my inventory. Hmm, teriyaki.

“I wish we could set the city back down. It’s going to stand out like this,” Roberts observes, changed from his casual brown suit to his more robust set of dark leathers. Crafted from the hide of a mana-beast called a Peither, they provide him with a significant Health edge at the cost of Stamina. Even better, it stacks with his self-armor ability, allowing him to achieve the fully-leathered biker with batwings look. Well, except he doesn’t have the long hair or tattoos I’m used to seeing on bikers.

“Yeah, but we’d lose half a day just turning it back. We’ve got everything set up to stop it. Let’s just park it here. It’s not like Burnesq is even in the best condition. There are tons of better choices,” Rose points out.

“True, but we’ll need every ship we can get,” Roberts says.

“We’ve been over this,” I interject, bobbing my hand in the water-blob I’m using for cleanup. “We’re focusing on the cities in better condition. Now that we’ve got one up and running, it should be easier to do the same with the rest. We’ve got it parked well enough it’s not going to crash into anything, the Elswyrms aren’t having a problem boarding and we need to find the others. Hopefully, they’ll have found Demo and he can carry us to the Western continent where the rest of the Sanctuaries should be more intact.”

“Didn’t Beth still want to visit the Pernian academy?” Rufka asks, plunging her hands into the ball of water after me.

“It’s on the way. Plus, there’s supposed to be a closed builder city nearby,” Roberts answers, snuffing the fire.

“Huh. Must have missed that part,” Rufka says, winking at me while Roberts isn’t looking.

“I wonder if there’s a better way? Like, do you really need the Sanctuaries to save Earth?” Rose ponders, barely loud enough for me to hear him.

“If we haven’t thought of one after two months, why would we find one now?” Rufka chides gently.

“If we’re going to find Beth and the others, we’d best get started,” Roberts says.

We only spend a few more minutes in the city, double-checking the adjustments to the levitation engines. With the controls unlocked and Rufka’s modifications in place, it’s a relatively simple matter to lower the city over a nearby valley. It’s still floating nearly a kilometre off the ground, but it’s not nearly as big of a mess as it was. And it barely sticks over the nearby ridgelines.

With the city secured, I seal the console in a solid stone building, obscuring it from a casual inspection. If someone wants to steal the city from us, they’re going to have to find it first.

The flight after that is mostly quiet. For me at least. Roberts and Rose are discussing the variety of flora here, comparing it to earth. I mostly zone out, concentrating on my issues with my tethers. Even now, with three people who I have strong tethers to within several metres distance, I find the connection grow faded. My other tethers are completely gone. The second I approached the remains in Pelwerd, they’d disappeared. It was like they’d been frozen in place and once I got close enough they ‘refreshed’ but were unable to find their target’s new location.

I keep experimenting with the tethers, Anchor and teleporting. I can’t help but feel like there’s something about the static. Some way I can use my aura to counteract it.

The next couple days pass quickly, most of our time spent trying to figure out where the others have gone or dodging mana-storms. Thankfully, most are preceded by brilliant flashes of light as they make their way across the sky.

“I’ve never seen so many mana-storms in a season before,” Rufka comments as we wait in the latest bunker. It’s barely decorated. Between the number of bunkers I’ve been creating to avoid the storms and the fact that Smoulder isn’t around, I’m feeling less inclined than ever to create anything original. There’s still a table for playing Astra’s stride of course. We’re not savages.

“I’d never seen a mana-storm before mom became… you know,” Trellani says, breaking what had been nearly fifteen minutes of silence as she stared outward, only now coming to join the game.

“Mum told me Aethire was protected from them.”

“I’d heard we were protected from the worst weather, but I had no idea just… They’re so... Terrifying… But beautiful.”

“Indeed,” Roberts agrees.

“They’ve always made my skin crawl,” Rose notes.

“Mine too,” Rufka nods.

“Pretty sure they make everyone’s skin crawl,” I say, moving my piece to capture a large portion of Rose’s territory.

Rufka chuckles, “Not mum. She says they’re invigorating. All that raw mana, just waiting to be shaped. Course, she doesn’t spend time in them unless she has a good reason. No desire to be blipped outta existence, after all.”

“See, I never understood that. Where do people go? From what I understand, the System doesn’t have anything to do with mana-storms. So where are the people the storms take?” Rose asks, making distressing progress into my territory.

“The storms never die. No new ones either. Least, that’s what mum says.”

“Wait, does that mean we’re being hit by the same storms?” I ask, staring uselessly up at the sky, my vision blocked by metres of rock.

“Uh? Don’t know. Maybe?” Rufka shrugs.

“Does it matter?” Rose asks.

“I guess not,” I reply, taking my next turn. “Wait, I didn’t mean to-”

But my words are cut off as Rufka cackles, using my mistake to make it across most of the board.

The rest of the game passes quickly after that with the storm passing just as quickly. As we re-emerge, I ask, “Is it just me, or are these storms getting shorter?”

Rufka’s already shaking her head, “It's not you. They’re definitely shorter. Guess they’re not just coming more frequently.”

We continue discussing the details of the mana-storms as we travel, yet there are no new revelations. We have six more storms pass over us in the next day before we arrive in the general area the others were headed.

There aren’t many landmarks in the area. Mostly it’s a vast tepid swamp, filled with gnarled trees and twisted vines. However, far in the distance an atoll stands, protruding from the mess below. It reminds me of the atolls I first saw when I was journeying to find the others back when they’d been kidnapped. The same atoll where we later met Theria.

This one has the same inaccessible walls, thrusting it above the swamp. If Demo hadn’t already told Roberts it was unclaimed by the System, I’d have thought it was a Stronghold.

Even though it isn’t a Stronghold, it’s where the others should be conducting their search from. And even if they’re not, they should’ve left an indication of where they went.

Luckily, we don’t have to set foot in the swamp. Just floating over it leaves me feeling defiled. I end up spending more attention than usual keeping the stench from filling my nose.

Even so, by the time we reach the atoll, I’m practically ready to soak in a tub.

There’s nobody on the island to greet us, but there are signs they’ve been here recently. There are several stone structures arranged in a circle around a central clearing. The buildings are different than I’m used to. Even though they’re made of stone, they’re carved with such intricate detail, I could mistake them for Bone and Hide. Each entrance is marked by a column with a name. There’s one for each of us, even though we weren’t even here.

Typical Tipan thoughtfulness.

Searching around, we find one of the buildings is clearly serving as their command. In addition to the clearly marked entrance, there are several stone maps scattered throughout the room. Most of the maps are covered with stone markers in the shape of an X. Only one map hasn’t been completely covered. From what I can tell, it’s just another expanse of swamp, though there are markings along the edge that align with another nearby map.

“It looks like they’re systematically searching the swamp. That’s not a good sign,” Roberts notes.

“Guess they haven’t found it yet,” Rufka grunts, picking up one of the stone markers, spinning it by the stand as she stares at the map.

“There’s a lot of swamp out there. What if his ship sank and only the force will get it out?” Rose asks.

I raise an eyebrow at him, then glance around the chamber where literally everything was crafted with magic.

“Okay, I know. It’s not that impressive compared to what we can do.”

Roberts steeples his fingers, tapping them against his chin as he thinks. “I think we should wait for them to return. They clearly have a system, but I can’t make sense of it. There doesn’t seem to be a point of reference.”

Looking over the stone maps, I have to agree with him. Maybe if one of the maps had the atoll on it, we’d be able to figure out the rest. But none do. Besides, it’s getting late in the day, and I want to explore what Tipan built for us.

“Let’s go see our rooms,” snagging Rufka’s hand before running back outside.

Just the vestibule is enough to make me gasp. Tipan formed dozens of thin stone flaps, creating a literal curtain of stone. Despite the weight of the material, it’s easy to push aside, making my way inside. But I don’t because I’m inspecting the mural she’s incorporated above the bench. Not only does the bench look perfectly sized for my height, Tipan’s worked images of everyone into the mural above it. In one image, Smoulder is sitting on my shoulder, with Rufka close at my side. Another has Rose, Josh and I all standing over a pool table yelling at each other. I only realize I’m crying when Rufka touches my cheek, wiping a tear away.

“Sorry. It’s just that-”

“Shhh. It’s fine,” Rufka says, giving me a light peck on the cheek.

Nodding, I turn away from the mural, pushing through the curtain into the rest of the home Tipan’s crafted. And it is a home. I don’t know why she put this much effort into something that should be temporary, but I’m unable to speak as we make our way inside. Immediately, we find an incredibly steep set of steps leading underground. Other than the entryway, the entirety of the building is underground. Yet there’s an abundance of light, massive skylights of quartz filtering the evening sun’s light down while providing ample protection from mana-storms.

With the ability to fly, Rufka and I could avoid using the steps, but I find myself trying them out. Each handhold is a different creature. Most are forms of mana-beast I’ve heard about, but have never seen, though I recognize the dragon easily enough. I have to turn around to use the steps properly, but I find they’re cleverly shaped, holding my foot in place with little effort while enabling me to descend quickly. Despite the fact the climb is almost vertical, I never once feel the need to steady myself with any of the many handholds. I still end up running my hands over them, however.

I barely notice when we reach the chamber at the bottom of the stairs, lost in inspecting each of the beasts Tipan has carved. So, it’s with some surprise when my foot reaches the bottom. Turning about, I inspect the next room, a dining area with such elegance I choke. Each chair is distinct yet shares a common curved arches theme with the table. And I can tell that there are enough chairs for everyone. There are also more murals, more images of our shared memories.

At this point, I almost can’t wait to see what else she’s done. So I charge through, gasping and gaping at everything. It’s all so beautiful. The rooms follow a curved design, spiralling around the outside until finally reaching a room that sits in the centre. Given the lack of sleeping spaces, this is most likely the bedroom.

Unlike all the rooms that came before, the bedroom is almost disappointing. There’s an obvious place for a bed, a beautiful wardrobe, and a surprisingly perfect dresser but the walls are blank.

I huff slightly, looking around. I’m glad Tipan’s not here to see my disappointment. And then I slap my cheeks. She wasn’t here to see my excitement either. She went through all this work, and she didn’t get to see my reaction.

“So, uh… Wow,” Rufka notes from behind me.

“Ha! No kidding,” I agree, turning to her.

She’s not looking at the room, she’s grinning at me. She runs a single finger down from my eye, along my cheek as she pulls closer. “What say we throw our bedrolls down, and make ourselves at home?”

Looking around the room one last time, I’m suddenly glad there are no murals watching as I pull Rufka in for a kiss. I barely remember to pull my bedroll from my inventory before we fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

…TPWM…

After spending time breaking in our new home, followed by a luxurious bath in the just as fancy as everything else bathroom, I’m feeling pretty good about life. Sure, my magic’s wonky, Smoulder is stuck in another time and none of us can communicate or teleport anywhere, but we’re still alive and together. And the others are clearly nearby.

I could worry about everything I can’t control, or I can put my head down and start fixing it.

I mean, we’ve been through worse. Now, how do I...

…TPWM…

When Rufka and I decide to join the others for dinner, we find them gathered around a large open grill in the centre of the clearing. One I’m pretty sure wasn’t there when we went inside. Sometimes it’s crazy how quickly things can change when using magic. I know if anyone should be used to it, it should be me, but sometimes I’m still surprised. Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of Tipan or Beth, nevermind Demo.

“Oh, hey you two. I wasn’t sure if we were going to see you again tonight,” Roberts comments from where he’s frying up some of the cow-like mana-beast we hunted a couple of days ago. I know that once he's finished, even with only a little bit of seasoning, the taste is going to be decadent and the meat's going to melt in my mouth. At least, when Roberts is the one cooking anyway.

Despite the smell of the meat causing me to drool, I still find myself blushing at Roberts' offhand remark. I mean, I know there’s nothing to be ashamed of, but still.

“Much as I love Lexi, there’s no way I’m missing any of that,” Rufka says, pointing at a slab that Roberts is plating.

“Hey,” I object, elbowing her in the belly, “I’m totally getting mine first.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll race you for it.”

“You’re on.”

Immediately the racing interface pops into view, asking me to confirm the stakes: Winner receives first access to the steak. Nevermind that we'd both get our steak sooner if we didn't race.

The second the countdown completes; we blast off over the swamp. Our race is close. There’s not much difference between us with all our attributes maxed, but I have a slight edge in speed. Yet not enough to matter. Most of the race comes down to who can nudge the other person into making a mistake.

Given how much we ‘nudge’ each other, it’s not surprising that we end up plunging into the swamp on the first major turn. As I pull myself from the swamp, we’re attacked by the vines themselves. It doesn’t take us long to put them down, but it does mean the race is over. I’m laughing at Rufka’s swamp-cat appearance as we fly back into the complex. She's wrapping a large vine around her shoulders as a scarf when we’re greeted by a familiar voice from the west.

Turning, I see Tipan and Beth flying toward us, Demo a short distance behind. I raise my hand, waving at them when there’s a loud plop, a piece of vine that had been firmly stuck to the back of my hand landing on my face.

I’m still gagging at the offending taste when the others land nearby.

“Hey kid, good to see you,” Beth greets, her laughter masked by a tight smile. I appreciate the effort.

Beside her, Tipan is having slightly less success, small hiccups of laughter ruining her dignified facade.

Demo however, lets me know exactly where we stand, “Yer about as fragrant as a Celix’s rear on Treller’s Eve.”

I’m about to respond, holding up a single finger. Then I lower my finger, stepping forward and wrapping him in a hug. A crusty, still covered in swamp gunk hug.

Now he knows where he stands too.

A note from Draith

Shoutout time. A farmer gets reincarnated into a minotaur berzerker and quits to start his own farm. The start is reminiscent of BoC, but its litrpg instead of cultivation and very quickly becomes it's own thing.

Check out One Moo'r Plow

…TPWM 5.13, Talmaskan Tea…

March 12, 2019, 5:24 pm.

Roberts had plenty of steaks ready by the time we were done greeting the others, but Rufka and I were firmly informed that we needed to take a bath before we’d be allowed to partake. Which meant we were the last ones to eat. Thanks to my heroic level hug, Demo had to take a bath too, but he hadn’t been as distracted as we were.

Worth.

Rufka’s still dripping water everywhere when we emerge, having lost the waterwar and therefore denied drying magic, as per our terms of engagement. Settling in around the campfire, she keeps trying to press her wet fur up against me, but I hold her off by simply scooting to the side.

Even as Rufka and I play keep-a-dry, we catch up on what’s happened since the teleportation network went offline.

“You actually showed up at the perfect time,” Beth notes after we’ve finished swapping stories.

“Oh?” I mumble around a mouthful of steaming meat, Rufka’s head in my lap, serving as a table while she snuggles.

“Yeah. We found Demo’s ship today, but we don’t have the ‘oomph’ to get it out of the swamp ourselves.”

“Can’t you just, you know, get inside and fly it out?” I ask, feeding a bite to Rufka, who carefully chews so as not to disturb the plate.

Demo trills in what I’m pretty sure is his native tongue. I don’t know what it means, but he’s used it before. It’s a rather beautiful sound. When I told him it was beautiful, the first time I heard it, he explained it’s one of the greatest insults a Phothean can use. Which is why it can’t be translated. Despite his explanation, I still think it's pretty. “Sara’s engines aren’t functional. And something in the swamp's draining her shields. If we don’t get her out quick, she’s going to get gummed up bad.”

“How quick are we talking here?” I ask, wondering if we should be heading out right away.

“Well, since yeh’re here, I think-” Demo starts.

“I think it’ll be fine if we go in the morning,” Beth interrupts. “Demo said it’d be fine for another few days.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if we did it right away?” I ask.

“Aye. Much better. It’ll mean less stress on the shields,” Demo confirms, nodding enthusiastically, his multitude of tails bobbing in rhythm with his head.

Beth looks at me, then at Demo. She sits silently for a few seconds before sighing. “If you think it’s the right call, kid. There’s not much harm in it. But we’re going as a group. I don’t want us getting split up again so soon after getting back together.”

Demo lets out a small yip, pumping his hand in the air as the rest of us finish our dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re flying almost directly west over the swamp, on our mission to rescue the ship-in-distress. We fly right past it before Tipan points out a gnarled tree ahead of us that’s in the next grid.

It takes several minutes of searching the swampy terrain before we find the ship. Despite the others clearing the vines from the surface of the swamp over an hour ago, they’ve already regrown, almost completely obscuring where Saratesa sank. But the tip of a dish protrudes from a mess of vines, marking its location.

Clearing the vines again only takes us a minute with our combined firepower. With the vines clear, I work with Tipan and Roberts to clear the area of water, revealing the ship below. It’s bigger than I expected, over twenty metres wide, and at least five times as long. Once we’ve discovered its boundaries, I decide there’s an easier way to secure it than by creating a massive platform. Instead, we just go around the outside, creating a wall to keep the water and vines away. Unfortunately, I have to reinforce the wall to make it sturdy enough to hold back the aggressive vines. Keeping the vines away ends up being even more challenging, requiring us to make the wall protrude five metres above the water line before they’re no longer able to maintain a proper grip.

Seriously, talk about an invasive species.

With the vines cleared away, we're finally able to take a good look at the ship. It's a surprisingly boxy design. And not nearly as smooth as I'd expected. Every other surface has a tube or antennae sticking off it. Several of which appear to be bent or outright snapped.

“Well, the Saratesa’s secure. Should we head back?” I ask, watching as Demo inspects the outside of his ship.

“What? Head back? Now?” Demo exclaims, spinning toward me, his eyes and jaw hanging open.

“Or we could stay,” I shrug. I would like to go back to Tipan’s quarters though.

Beth rubs her forehead, before asking, “Are you able to get inside Demo?”

Demo shakes his head, before turning back to the ship, nodding. “Yeah, I should be able to. Course it’ll be easier once it dries…”

We all stare at him as he cuts out, his tails rising to hide his face from our view.

“I’m sorry, what was that? I seem to have missed the last part?” Beth asks, leaning forward.

“I said, it’ll be easier if we come back in the morning. Are yeh happy?”

Beth folds her hands behind her head, her grin as wide as her face. “Now, why would you ask that?”

Demo doesn’t say anything further, but he does join us atop the wall.

But I’m confused about something. “Why can’t I just use magic to dry it out? Actually, now that I think about it, why wasn’t it dry in the first place? We moved all the water away.”

“Cause the shields are still interfering with magic. She’ll take care of the water inside the shields by morning, but if I shut them down now, it could damage something. Like I said. Better to wait,” Demo grumbles, snapping his toothpick.

Nodding as though I understand, we return to camp. Demo insists on staying with his ship, and Rose stays behind to keep him company. And to protect him if anything happens.

When we get back, I settle into conversation with Tipan while Rufka joins Roberts and Josh for a game of Astra's Stride.

“I really did want to thank you for the amazing house,” I say, pointing at my dwelling.

“Oh, it was nothing. I was inspired by you, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re always making every shelter we stay in unique, with its own flair. Sadly, mine are all the same.”

I stare at Tipan for a second before walking over to her house. Even in the entryway, I can see that she’s used a completely different set of murals. Clearly, I need to explain how impressive they are. Even as I’m pointing at the one in the centre, a picture with four K’tharn standing together, I pause. Because I recognize all four of the K’tharn in the picture. Tipan is obvious, as is her mother, who actually looks more like the third K’tharn, Ivicka. But it’s the fourth K’tharn, that made me pause. It’s the warrior who showed up in Burnesq a few days ago.

“Who’s that?” I ask. I’d almost forgotten Rose’s theory that it had been Tipan’s father who’d visited us.

Tipan fiddles with the book at her waist, causing the enchantment to glow slightly as she draws a deep breath. “That’s my father. And I know Ivicka was corrupted in the end, but she…”

Tipan stops as I pull her into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t forget that she was… Besides, even if she wasn’t, you can’t choose your family. Believe me. I know.”

Tipan nods, slouching slightly as she hugs me back.

“Sorry. I just know how it was with you and… I don’t know, I thought it would bring back bad memories.”

Looking at the mural again, I nod. "I definitely don’t have any happy memories where Ivicka’s concerned, but I never hated her. She was just a dangerous person. And from what we’ve learned, that wasn’t entirely her. So, what say you show me around? Maybe we can take a break together. I could help you relax a little.”

Tipan giggles, “Like you help Rufka relax?”

“Hey now,” I reply, elbowing her gently, “You know I’m a one-woman kind of gal.”

Tipan’s ears lay flat in embarrassment, “I know. I was just trying to make a joke.”

Realizing she thinks I’m serious, I pat her hand. “I know. I was kidding too.”

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Tipan’s ears manage to go even flatter, matching the contour of her head, which is impressive.

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” I reassure her. “Why don’t you tell me about your father?”

“Oh. Uhm. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned the Stormguard before?”

“Not often. I think Rufka's mentioned them. Some sort of elite force in the Aetherium’s military, right?”

“Kind of? They’re a prestigious order. Founded separately from the Aetherium. They work for the good of all K’tharn.”

“And your father’s a Stormguard?” I ask, guessing where she’s going.

“Yes. But she’s not a regular Stormguard. She’s… well, she’s like Genitha. Independent. Powerful. When I was a child, she took Ivicka and I on an expedition to the Depths, to a K’mari enclave.”

“Uhh. K’mari?”

“Oh, sorry. They’re one of the M’tari Houses of the Deep. I think they’re focused on reinforcement magic? Strong Earth and Water affinities.”

“Wait, the Lords of the Deep have houses?” I ask pointing a thumb over my shoulder at the houses behind us. The word she used was definitely Vausian for house.

Tipan giggles in response, “Not like that Lex. Like a clan, I suppose. Though they’re not bound by family.”

“Oh, right. That kind of house,” I reply, taking my turn at blushing. English isn't the only language where words have more than one meaning.

“Yes. That kind of house. As I was saying, my father took us to a K’mari enclave. The K’mari are big on fighting. All sorts of rules around duelling, gladiator combat, mana-beast hunting. They have titles and honours for each category. They also normally have a separate ranking for non-K’mari.”

“Okay, big on fighting.”

“Yes. More than any other Lords of the Deep, they focus on combat. They’re the first to go to war. They’re horrible administrators though,” Tipan rolls her eyes at the last part. “They tried running one of the port cities once, only to literally give the city away to an ally after three months. All their representatives kept getting bored and wandering off for days at a time.”

“Hehehe. Guess you could say their attention swam away.”

Tipan levels her gaze on me, not one of her four eyes looking impressed.

“Not my best work,” I admit, “So, they’re bad administrators?”

“Yes. But that’s not important. What is important is my father took us there, to this place where most K’tharn are looked down upon. And she was treated with respect. More respect than if we’d been walking down the streets of Aethire.”

Tipan pauses, resting her chin on her staff while gazing up at the night sky. “I didn’t understand why at the time. I just thought they were nice umsquids.”

“Umsquids?”

“Yes. Umsquids. Ivicka kept talking about going to see the ‘dumb squids’, and I copied her. To be fair, I was young.”

“That didn’t get you in trouble?”

Tipan, looks away, but then sighs. “Not that I remember. But when I think back on it? It probably made problems for my father.”

“Anyway, father fought in a tournament. I didn’t get to watch the fights, but father brought home a prize. That was the first time Ivicka told me she was going to be like Talkith when she got older.”

“Talkith? Oh, you mean your dad?”

“Yeah. Ivicka has a different father, but Mother never told us who they were. That was the last trip we went on together. After mother found out Ivicka was planning to join the Stormguard to follow in father’s footsteps, she kicked her out. I later found out there was more to it, but that’s how it seemed at the time. Ivicka was super angry at me, saying it was my fault that she didn’t get to be a Stormguard. A year later she started working with Folthka.”

“She was right, in a way,” a new voice comments. Tipan and I both spin toward the source, finding the K’tharn from several mornings ago perched on the roof of Tipan’s house. “Your sister was forbidden from joining the Stormguard because your mother feared you’d follow in her steps. You followed her everywhere those days.”

“Father!” Tipan exclaims, bowing with both her left arms against her chest while holding her staff parallel to her body with her right.

“Tipan,” her father, Talkith responds, stepping from the rooftop to land in front of us, mirroring her bow, holding her swords in a similar position.

“I’d heard you wanted to see me?” Tipan doesn’t break her bow, but I notice her flicking her ears nervously.

Talkith rises from her bow, nodding once, at which point Tipan rises as well. Wait, should I have been bowing too?

Welp, too late now. Still, I remain quiet as Tipan’s father assesses her. At least, that’s what it feels like she’s doing. After several seconds, her father speaks, “You’ve been diligent. Not relying solely on the System. Good.”

“Thank you, father.”

“I have some unpleasant questions for you daughter. Perhaps I should ask them in private?”

I see Tipan’s ears twitch, and her lower eyes lock on me.

“Uh. I’ll stay or go. You just say the word Tipan,” I inform her, while glancing at Talkith.

Tipan nods, then realizing that I have no idea how to interpret that, she says, “Stay please. Father would you like to come inside? I have Talmaskan tea.”

At this, Talkith raises a single eyebrow, “Talmaskan? I was certain it was no longer available?”

“I uhh… I have a source. An Outlander.”

“Ah, of course. A rift-torn would have access to such treasures.”

Treasures? How come Tipan’s never offered us this tea before? In fact, I don’t think I remember her even mentioning it.

Tipan gestures down the narrow shaft leading to her dining room. They descend before me, Tipan and I flying while Talkith simply drops.

“I’m sorry for the mess. I would have cleaned had I known you were coming.” Even as Tipan apologizes, I stare at her immaculate dining room. There isn’t even a dirty dish. The only thing I could think she’s possibly referring to is that the chairs aren’t perfectly aligned with the table.

“It is fine. I did not give you warning of my arrival. Please, let us sit and perhaps you can prepare us a cup of Talmaskan tea?” I swear there’s a note of longing in Talkith’s voice.

“Of course, father. Right away,” Tipan almost trips over her staff, as she fiddles with a symbol on what I thought was a side counter. Setting a kettle on the surface, it quickly heats up. She built enchantments into the furniture? I really need to step up my temporary house building game.

We remain silent as Tipan pours her father a cup of tea, the liquid practically gliding into the cup. I note she does so without a hint of manipulation. That’s an impressive feat even with an Agility of a hundred. She hesitates for a second when she looks at me before pouring me a cup with the same fluid grace. She mouths ‘sorry’ as she leans over.

I take my tea with some confusion. I told her I was fine supporting her, drinking a cup of tea is the least I can do.

Tipan pours her own cup of tea, setting the kettle back on the counter instead of returning it to her inventory. That done she joins us at the table, sitting next to me, both of us facing her father.

“It’s been… seven years since I last had Talmaskan,” Talkith muses, holding the cup delicately in a single hand. “Ylethan gave me a single portion as a gift in exchange for… nevermind, it doesn’t matter.”

Talkith lifts her cup toward Tipan.

Tipan raises her own cup to meet her father, waiting.

As their cups hover a millimeter apart, Talkith says, “May those who value peace...”

“Study war, that peace may prevail," Tipan answers, clinking gently against her father's cup.

At this, they both drink, Talkith’s face relaxing, a hint of a smile forming on her lips for the first time. I follow their example, lifting the cup to my lips. It has a pleasant aroma, a hint of something fruity.

I notice Tipan glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, so I give her a small smile to reassure her everything is fine, taking a sip.

And then the taste hits my tongue.

…

I should’ve gone with swamp water.

…TPWM 5.14, Nightstar Rising…

March 12, 2019, 8:02 pm. Too late to pass on the tea.

Bitter. So, incredibly bitter. This tea is perhaps the single most vile concoction to have ever crossed my tongue. And that includes calamari.

I shudder as I attempt to down the single mouthful. It’s a full body effort to not just spit it out. But eventually I manage to finish. When I look up, my vision is blurry. There are tears in my eyes.

Glancing back down at my cup, I analyze it. Something I should have done in the first place. As I’m about to read the description, the taste changes. Suddenly, instead of… whatever that was, my mouth is filled with something that reminds me of maple cookies, but with a hint of apple and vanilla. It’s not enough that I’d say it was worth the torment that came before. But it is pleasant.

“Hmm. Thank you, daughter. This is a wonderful treat.” I watch Talkith closely as she takes another sip. I don’t see her so much as wince. Does being a higher rank make you more resistant to bad taste? That would be useful.

“You’re welcome father. I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again, but I acquired a full measure. I hope you’ll allow me to give it to you.”

For a second, her father pauses, and since I’m watching so closely, I see her ears flick minutely. “That… that would be most appreciated.”

Talkith and Tipan sit quietly as they sip their tea, and I take my cue from Tipan. Though I don’t drink any more of the horrendous tea. It doesn’t even give bonuses. It’s literally just an aftertaste tea.

Once Talkith has finished her tea, Tipan stands, collecting all our cups, placing them in a neat pyramid next to the kettle before returning to her seat. Then she places her upper arms on the table in a neat triangle, her father matching the gesture.

“Would you like to begin?” Talkith whispers, her upper eyes closed and her bottom focused on Tipan.

“Very well. Why are you here father? Why now?”

“Ah. Straight to it then. I’d hoped for more time, but perhaps it is best this way. Your sister is dead and won’t be returning.”

I don’t say anything, watching Talkith. But she’s schooled her expression, keeping her inner thoughts guarded while waiting for Tipan’s response.

After several measured breaths, Tipan says, “I know.”

“I thought you might. I’ve also been informed you were involved in an uprising with Lord Hansome of Glimmering Sands.”

Tipan is almost as surprised by this claim as I am. Is everyone blaming us for everything Ivicka did? Didn't they hear about us helping them?

“Father. I wish I’d been more involved in Glimmering Sands, then perhaps I could've stopped her. As it was, I was forced to flee from those who attacked Lord Hansome.”

“So, you do know more about what happened there?”

Tipan, pulls back from the table, closing all her eyes and tucking her head against her chest as she keeps her hands perfectly locked in place on the table. I can’t help but note how she keeps her hands away from the book on her waist. She takes a deep breath, her fur rustling softly. Then she unleashes her gaze on her father. “Ivicka went mad. She destroyed the tower, attacking Lord Hansome in his throne room.”

Talkith studies Tipan for several long seconds before saying, “I believe it is once more your turn.”

“Have you spoken to mother?”

At this, Talkith flinches, as if Tipan had struck her. “You know that I… that she… It’s not so simple.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the Outlanders, father, it’s that it really is that simple. It’s just not comfortable.”

Talkith shifts in her seat, but even as she almost stands, she keeps her arms locked into the triangle before settling back into place. I’m so going to get Tipan to explain what that’s all about later.

“Do you have any proof about Ivicka?” Talkith asks.

Tipan is shaking her head before her father’s even half finished, “That she’s mad. I… Not that I can show you. Not yet. If I did, I’d have brought it forward a month ago. Do you believe me?”

Talkith nods, then shakes her head, “I want to believe you. But I’ve seen reports of you sabotaging gliders, breaking out prisoners. I’ve even heard that you broke into Bethyrne and helped destroy a research lab. Not to mention the reports of your assault on the Taken training facility.”

I almost interject at this point, but a quick glance from Tipan wards me off.

“All of that is true, but lacking context," Tipan says. "And will require a great deal of explanation."

And thus, Tipan begins her long retelling to her father, a process that proceeds without interruption until Tipan asks. "And why have you been summoned father? Am I truly a threat to our people?"

"I came, because you betrayed your sister. Long before this madness with the M'tari, if I understand correctly. Why would you do this?"

"Ivicka was going to kill them. As prisoners. Just to have a chance to steal their powers. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. As for-”

“Again, you accuse your dead sister.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Or perhaps it’s because it’s convenient. You’ve blamed your sister for your own failings for years Tipan. And even now that she’s dead, you continue.”

For the first time since they started this exchange, I can see Tipan struggling to keep her arms in place. Her entire body is vibrating as she takes deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

“Perhaps she was right. Perhaps you never were worthy of the Stormguard.”

At this, Tipan’s arms finally still.

“Leave.”

“What?”

“I said, leave, father. If you don’t want to be here, I’m not forcing you.”

“Tipan. I didn’t… it’s not…” Talkith stops, glancing at me for the first time since they started. She sighs once before knocking on the table. In response, both of them lift their arms from the table, staring at each other as they stand.

“I can’t just leave Tipan. You will need to stand before the council and answer their questions much as you've answered mine. And with some luck, we will find a way to appease the M'tari.”

"Fine. I'll go. But you don't need them. They have no responsibility to the Aetherium," Tipan growls back, her hands flexing as she glares at her father.

"Your Outlander friends caused this mess. You have admitted yourself that they weakened the Aetherium at the M'tari's direction."

"Which is just another reason we should work with my friends. We have contacts inside the M'tari. They'll listen!"

"Do you not think I've tried?" Talkith snarls back. "The deep Elders have called for the end of the Aetherium, Tipan. If I do not bring your friends home in chains, then who knows how many innocent K'tharn may die."

"I…" The rigid anger in Tipan’s posture suddenly leaks out at her father’s words and she slumps back into her chair. Yeah. That doesn’t sound good. Time to pass it along.

[Alexis] “Wyonna, can you let the others know that Tipan’s father is here and she’s going to try to arrest us?”

[Wyonna] “Already on it. Demo’s hiding at his ship. Rose is going with him, just in case. But Beth says they’re going with plan C-3. With contingency WD-3.”

Right. Of course, they’re already on it. We've been here a while.

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth says she just needs another minute. Keep her talking.”

Talking. Okay, we can do… When I look at Tipan, I realize she’s collapsed into her arms, tears flowing down her cheeks.

I glare at her father. Why can't bad parents just... not.

This would be a perfect opportunity to freeze her in place. But I still haven’t gotten that working yet. At least, not with my Facet. I doubt regular elemental magic would have much effect. I’m tempted to send her flying on the tip of my Ice Castle, but that’s not actually any good against anyone who can move.

I wrack my brain for a way to delay Talkith, but then I realize she’s just standing there staring at her daughter. Maybe I won’t even have to do anything. Placing my hand on Tipan’s shoulder, I continue to watch Talkith for any sign of movement. I even hold ready to Pause at the slightest twitch, prepared to give myself as much reaction time as possible. But she doesn’t do anything other than stand there awkwardly.

It’s almost embarrassing.

[Wyonna] “Okay. Beth thinks they’re ready. You can come out whenever.”

I almost nod at Wyonna, but catch myself, kneeling slightly to whisper in Tipan’s ear. I’m certain with Talkith’s Extreme Awareness, she hears every word, “Come on, let’s go get the others. I’m sure they’ll think of something.”

Doubt I sold it, but at least I made the effort. At the very least, Tipan gives me a weak nod before standing up. Without acknowledging her father, she turns away, returning all the tea-ware to her storage space before leading the way to the surface. I follow right behind her, trying to think of what we can do. And wondering if we’re really going with WD-3.

Without the ability to Return, it’s unlikely the others will be able to escape, so it might be best.

Right as we’re reaching the surface, I get another message from Wyonna, but I don’t get time to check it before I’m shoved out of Tipan’s house. I slam into Tipan, but we catch ourselves before we go sprawling in the dirt. I attempt to throw up defences, but I realize my mana’s being blocked. It’s the same technique as Atun, except not as pervasive. I freeze time, prepared to spin about to attack Talkith with my metal chakram when a black bolt passes over my shoulder.

Even with time frozen, Beth’s attacks travel at a ridiculous speed.

Crap. Did she just kill Tipan’s father? I mean, her father’s powerful, so she probably has Restoration, right?

While still frozen in time, I manage to get myself half-turned, expecting to see a partially destroyed K’tharn. But Talkith isn’t there. Even as I keep spinning, I’m unable to find her. I see Josh moving toward us, his Rose petal armour fully deployed with Beth flickering out of sight and Roberts bunkered down behind the grill, but still no sign of Talkith. I wait for the full duration of my Pause, but she doesn’t show up.

As it ends, I hear a splat from beside me where Tipan failed to keep herself standing. That’s not like her, I spare her a quick glance, but I keep searching for her father. She must be around somewhere. Teleportation isn’t working, so it’s not like she would just leave.

“Anyone see her?” Beth calls out.

“Nothing!” Josh calls as he grows a barrier around me and Tipan, shielding us from view at the very least.

“Nothing!” I join in after expending an entire second Pause searching for her.

“Two O’clock, Med-High!” Rufka calls out as she shoots a lightning arrow from inside one of the houses. The arrow acts as a beacon, but I can barely make out the distorted shape as Talkith dodges out of the way.

I’ve entered my third Pause in as many seconds, the time dilation's effect diminishing even as I throw a veritable hurricane of elemental energy in the general direction. Whirling whips of fire and bolts of lightning, all backed by spikes of metal and boulders the size of a vee-dub with my chakrams in the middle. I’m not even trying to hurt her; I’m just hoping I’ll be able to pick her out when she blasts through.

But none of my attacks seem to make contact.

I’m still searching the sky when cold metal clasps around my throat, constricting not only my ability to breath, but my mana as well. Suddenly, it’s as if my connection to the world around me has been stripped away. In my panic, I try to fling spells from my hands, but there’s nothing. The runes refuse to form, sputtering into nothing. I’m still able to Pause, but I can’t do anything. I have no maneuverability without my magic. I’m not even able to send messages to Wyonna.

Even as I’m Paused, I watch Talkith disappear in a flash of light, reappearing instantly behind Rufka. With my eyes wide, I remain locked in place as she secures an identical collar around Rufka’s throat. She doesn’t wait either, flashing around the compound, sneaking collars onto each of us, one at a time. Josh falls next, not even able to track her. Beth tries to fight back, even scoring a hit with her automatic void rifle, but then she’s unconscious. At which point, Roberts holds his hands up in surrender.

I’m not entirely surprised to see her approaching Tipan last. Tipan’s still sitting in the mud where she fell when her father pushed us.

“Tipan. It’s time,” Talkith says, a collar held in hand. Part of me wants to grab her and try to throw her away, but she hasn’t even drawn her swords. I haven’t felt this weak since we first faced Ivicka. Even Atun’s brutal combat wasn’t this bad.

Even then, I was at least able to bump her and dodge.

Tipan shakes herself off, pushing herself to her feet, meeting Talkith’s gaze. She doesn’t say anything as her father snaps the collar into place.

With Tipan secured, I’m expecting orders or to be forced to follow Talkith, but instead, she whistles. She waits for several seconds, her ears tilted toward the sky before returning her attention to us. Josh was about to bring both of his hands down on her head when she stops him with a glance. Then she snaps a pair of cuffs around his wrists before he has time to pull back. She moves to Beth and Roberts next.

Rufka comes up next to me, taking my hand. “You could still run,” she whispers. My jaw hangs loose as I stare at her. Then I flick a meaningful glance at the swamp surrounding us, and the not inconsiderable drop the top of the atoll.

“Did you not see how fast she is?” I whisper back.

“You’re faster. If you let yourself.”

“Impossible,” I reply. And it’s not just that I’m afraid of teleporting through the interference. I don’t want to leave Rufka behind. I don’t want to leave any of them behind. Besides, that's not part of plan WD-3.

“We’d have a better chance if you're free to rescue us.”

“I’m not leaving you!” My grip tightens on her hand, and a half-smile pulls at her lips. Then it turns into a full grin.

Even as I get a horrible premonition and try to pull my hand back from hers, Rufka kisses me on the cheek and then chucks me like a piece of rolled up paper off the edge of the atoll, toward the swamp below.

My initial reaction is to scream at Rufka. Just like I would when she normally throws me. But this time, I don’t have any magic coming to my aid. And the swamp comes up fast, cutting my scream off with another mouthful of swamp water.

Seriously, my mouth is going to kill me if I keep getting crap in it. If I don’t drown first.

Luckily, even with my mana cut off, I’m still superhuman at this point. It’s easy to figure out the way to the surface. I’ve taken a handful of breaths when I realize Talkith still hasn’t come for me. Looking up, I see a pair of dragons landing at the edge of the compound.

For a second, I think they’re going to leave me, but then I see several K’tharn making their way off the top of the atoll in my general direction.

I make an honest attempt at trying to escape, scrambling through the swamp, using Pause, even through the collar, managing to teleport a rock a few hundred feet away and causing it to explode on accident and just generally being as annoying as possible. Eventually, they chase me onto a small hill that’s barely visible from the atoll. The K’tharn pursuing me are almost disappointing after Talkith. I feel like I might even have a chance, even without my magic.

But then she finally appears in a flash, a set of manacles in hand. Except unlike the ones she clapped on everyone else, these include extras for my legs.

Sorry Rufka. Looks like I’m not getting away this time.

Would've ruined the plan.

…TPWM 5.15, Economy Class…

March 13, 2019, 12:35 am. Recently captured by a living beam of light.

I’m brought back to the dragons and loaded in a cage beneath them. As I’m packed in with Rufka and Tipan, each of us with our backs to each other, the cage begins to tighten, binding us so close that we’re left with our arms and legs sticking out the sides.

In the other cage, Beth’s unconscious body is placed behind Josh. Then they load Roberts in the same fashion, to my surprise.

“What happened?” I ask as the dragons lift into the sky.

“Roberts tried to buy you time. I guess it wasn’t enough,” Rufka informs me, her voice cold.

I swallow, hard. I mean, I know it’s an act, but it still hurts. Maybe she’s upset I got caught so quickly. I tried running further. I just couldn’t bring myself to teleport. Not after the rock exploded. Besides, getting away wasn’t required for the plan. Sure, I’m captured, but how much worse would it be if I died? Or if Talkith had given up, taken the others away and I couldn’t follow?

I don’t try explaining myself to Rufka as the wind picks up around us. Not with Tipan’s father nearby. And with our chat suppressed, all I can do is shoulder her slightly. When she doesn’t respond for a few seconds, I start to worry she’s really upset. Then I feel her shoulder pressing against mine. It’s not much, but with a sigh, I look outwards with nothing to do but stew in our cage. It’s the first time I’ve flown for an extended period without my magic to make it cozy. It’s not enough to decrease my Health, but it is uncomfortable.

As is sitting in the same position for hours. At least I can work against the manacles with my aura from within, even if it’s disrupted outside my body.

Even when a mana storm appears on the horizon, Talkith keeps us locked in our cages as we land. Instead of the bunkers we utilize, one of the K’tharn has a rod they deploy that creates a small shield overhead. With lightning and small cracks in reality appearing all around, I’m able to appreciate how terrifying a mana-storm can be up close.

And how awesome.

Even as the storm is breaking, Talkith orders us onward, though she doesn't speak to us directly. In fact, she seems to be avoiding us. As the dragon we're riding beneath ascends, a few sputtering bolts of lightning draw my attention. There’s a single floating rip, winking as it floats past our cage, the inside swirling with a chaotic mix of reds and blues.

I try to peer inside it, but the cage lurches violently as the dragon carrying us veers away and I smack my face against the cage. When I recover, the rip is gone and we’re clear of the storm.

Rufka hasn’t been sitting idle. The entire time we’ve been flying, she’s been shifting against my back. Unfortunately, the cage doesn’t leave enough room for me to turn around to face her and she’s only given me grunts in response to any of my attempts to talk.

And Tipan hasn't been any more chatty.

A few hours later, Rufka freezes for a second, her shuffling finally coming to an end. Then I hear a click.

“Rufka did-” I bite my tongue to prevent myself from asking the rest of my question. I’d be willing to bet Rufka managed to get out of her collar. Or at least her manacles. A little early, but it should be fine.

However, we don’t get time to celebrate as there’s a sudden thunk from behind me, followed by Rufka going completely slack.

“Rufka? Rufka?!”

I try to turn, but all I can see is the side of her head laying listlessly against my shoulder and one of her enchanting scriveners tumbling through the air below. It takes me nearly a minute to calm down before I’m able to feel her still breathing. This… could be bad. We were counting on being able to disable the manacles.

As I sag forward, Tipan speaks for the first time, “I’m sorry Alexis. My father would never have gotten involved personally if it wasn’t for me.”

“Not your fault. We just weren’t ready. She’s too strong. If Genitha had been there…”

What would Genitha have done? Probably thrown insults around while distracting Talkith until everyone got away. Could I have done that? If I wasn't so crippled by the System's lockdown?

We sit there in silence for several minutes before Tipan says, “I missed her, you know.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She wasn’t always around. But when she was, she’d give us her undivided attention.”

“Well, I mean, she’s kind of doing that now,” I point out, indicating where her father is standing on the back of the other dragon, her eyes passing over us every few seconds.

Tipan snorts, before falling into a deep laugh that shakes the cage and elicits a call from the guards riding on the dragon above.

When her laughter finally calms down, Tipan says, “You’re right. Still, I didn’t expect for her to apprehend us for crimes against the Aetherium. It just feels… wrong.”

“It is wrong. And it’s not like we had anything to do with Ivicka blowing up the tower.”

“I wish I’d gone back.”

“What?”

“When we fled. I wish I’d gone back to check… To help people.”

“Oh.”

“I know what we were doing was important. But I just felt so… small. Like what I was doing barely mattered. The rest of you were vital. I felt like I was just following along.”

“But you weren’t. You know you were important, right?”

“Was I? I doubt a single thing would’ve changed if I’d gone straight back to Glimmering Sands. And I could’ve helped people.”

I try to reach out to pat her hand, but I can’t reach with the way we’re bound, so I end up just bumping my head against hers. “But we did go back.”

“Yeah. After we… After Ivicka.”

I don’t respond, nodding, and trusting that she understands the gesture. We continue chatting for the rest of the day, and though I check on her a few times, Rufka doesn’t wake. I’m starting to suspect these are the same collars that kept Josh and Roberts unconscious the first time they were captured.

Of course, they weren’t hauled around in cages for over a day while being restrained.

Even when the dragons set down to rest for the evening, Talkith keeps us locked in a cage. Her eyes barely make contact as she stands at the far side of the camp as the guards bring us a thin soup, possibly the blandest food I’ve had since coming to Akilo. As I’m drinking my soup, two guards rouse Rufka. She doesn’t say anything, audibly slurping her soup in a manner I know would embarrass her if she were okay.

But she doesn’t say anything, slumping against me again the second they're done. Then they repeat the process with Beth and Roberts. Them not being conscious is really going to mess things up.

Maybe I can figure out a way to wake them once they’ve got us into Aethire. Having to wake up Beth, Roberts and Rufka wasn’t in any version of the WD contingencies.

Of course, I’m pretty sure Rufka throwing me into the swamp wasn’t part of any of our plans either.

Our guards erect the storm-rod again before settling down to sleep in deployable yurts. They don’t bother moving us inside, leaving us confined to our cages. I don’t remember when I lose consciousness, but before I know it, the early morning sun is shining in my eyes as our guards move around, feeding us again.

Throughout it all, Talkith doesn’t approach us, watching from a distance. It’s as though she’s afraid to get close to Tipan.

Which, fair.

I’d be pretty upset if my father arrested me for something I didn’t do. Though if it was mom, I'd be more surprised she'd figured out how.

And with that pleasant thought front and foremost in my mind, we set off, spending another day and night eating their thin soup, being tossed around in the tailwinds of mana-storms, and just generally having a grand time.

I spend a lot of time staring off into space, cycling Anchor to test its limits more thoroughly. But I stop, when I realize practicing with it is just making the trip take even longer. Tipan and I talk occasionally, but with the wind stealing our words and not being able to so much as chat with Wyonna, it’s the most alone I’ve been since we came to Akilo. Even with Tipan and Rufka literally pressed up against me the entire time.

Which is probably why I start thinking about what I’m going to do when we get home. And that I’m going to have to face mom. I… really don’t want to do that. If not for all my stuff being in the apartment, I probably wouldn’t even go home. Maybe that’s an option? Just teleport all my stuff out?

Wonder if Sab misses me?

Oh, who am I kidding. Of course she does. Wish I’d had a chance to talk to her before we left. I’m going to give her the biggest hug when I get back. And papa too. After Roberts heals him.

And isn’t that just going to be the most amazing thing. Bringing real magic back to earth is going to be great.

Reinvigorated, I spend the rest of the day working on the tedious task of wrestling my aura against the shackles, with only the occasional thought of what life will be like on earth with my magic under control. I’m drawn out of my efforts when I see floating buildings in the distance. We’ve crossed back into the Aetherium. There are K’tharn out in fields of green pasture as we fly over, herding their large, shaggy beasts towards new lands. Several call out, pointing at us as we fly by. I guess the Stormguard don’t haul prisoners in every day.

Or maybe it’s the two distinctive dragons flying in formation with over two dozen gliders escorting them.

After that, we fly slower, and closer to the ground, turning to follow the river Lathiac toward Aethire. There are several large barges visible, even from our reduced height, the water around them seeming to bend away as they travel upriver.

Funny how much of the settled lands outside the capital we haven’t seen. One downside to teleporting everywhere, I guess. There are a lot of the floating farmhouses bobbing in the wind as we move upriver. More than I expected. There are even several buildings I’d be inclined to call mansions built along the river, their expansive estates clearly a statement. Not sure of what, but it can’t be easy to keep a place that big intact outside of a Stronghold or their capital. Especially with mana-storms and mana-swells wrecking the local infrastructure.

Seems kind of wasteful.

Then I see a pair of K’tharn smashing through walls of one. There's a flash of lightning, then another K'tharn appears. They continue skirmishing even as we pass over an empty plot of land, where another pair of K'tharn are flattening the ground and stacking rubble into cubes. In the next plot over another group of K’tharn are building an entirely new estate.

They’re… using them for practice?

Huh.

As we continue up the river, I pick out the pattern. For every twenty farmhouses or so, there’s a short stretch of land packed with estates. And each set of estates has people within putting on a no-holds-bared combat match, destroying the manor. And right behind them is another team, restoring them to their former glory. Well, not former. It's pretty obvious they're changing the styles of building while they're at it.

“Hey, Tipan?” I prompt her, realizing the wind that's been overpowering is much lower now. I loose my train of thought when I notice a K’tharn destroying a beautiful garden, full of blooming white and blue flowers, all reduced to cinders as they throw fireballs hot enough to melt stone at their opponent.

“Yeah?”

“What’re they doing?” I ask, trying to point at the duelling K’tharn.

“Huh. Oh, I’m not certain. But I think they’re being trained to join the Aegis.” As if discerning my curiosity from the way I shift to look in her direction, Tipan continues, “Civilians who step up when the Aetherium is at war. I haven’t seen them in action before.”

“So, they’re like a militia?” I ask, staring down at the fighting K’tharn throwing magic powerful enough to knock over solid stone walls. Not like any militia I’ve ever heard of, but then, magic.

“I don’t think so. I think a militia is more… organized yet weaker. Those who join the Aegis aren’t people you’d see following orders. In fact, I’d be willing to bet Genitha is registered with the Aegis.”

“You think Genitha did paperwork?”

“Ha. Well, despite her antagonism with the council, she’s a well-known figure to most of the Aetherium.”

“Like your father?” I can’t help but ask, glancing up at where the silent K’tharn stands even know, watching over us from the back of the other dragon.

“Actually, people don’t really know about my father. Most people in the Aetherium never see the Stormguard in person. Like, I said. They don’t normally get involved in politics.”

“Yeah, except to haul us in to the Aetherium apparently.”

“I… yeah. Guess that’s yet another lie. Do you ever feel as if everything you’ve ever known was… wrong?” Tipan asks, a long slow sigh slipping out as she looks back.

Pressing my shoulder against hers, I shake my head. “Not really. Sorry. I mean, unless you count discovering magic is real, but I don’t think that counts.”

“Yeah. Your world is still hard to imagine. No magic, but everyone carries around powerful artifacts and you use them for gossip and entertainment.”

“Hey now, more than half of the subclasses I’ve heard about are for entertainment,” I object.

“Well yes, but-” Tipan’s giggling objection is drowned out by a sudden shift in our momentum as the dragon veers upward without warning. The next moment, the dragon veers again. It’s only as we level out that I’m able to make out dark shapes darting through the sky around us. I’m unable to discern more than vague triangle shapes, the actual forms obscured by shadows.

“Dusk Athama!” One of our guards calls out, throwing a spear of lightning. The cry has barely reached my ears when the sky explodes, bolts of lightning and disks of tightly packed wind energy fly everywhere. As we spin, I count several strikes that should have hit us, but it appears there’s an invisible shield keeping us safe. Good to know.

The assault continues for nearly a minute before silence returns. More than half of our escort are missing, though I notice Talkith is fine. That probably would’ve been a great distraction, but we’re still not close enough to Aethire to execute contingency WD-3.

So, I twiddle my thumbs as our guards hiss and whisper back and forth for a bit, listening for any hints.

It sounds like some of them were stolen by the shadow creatures. Apparently, half of the Athama explode on contact. And now our guards are waiting for a follow-up attack. Because half the time ‘the squids’ send the Dusk Athama just to shake people up. But just as often they’re used prior to a full-scale assault. Interesting.

Given how teleportation isn’t working, I’d wager on the former. Not that it matters since we’re safely tucked away inside of a surprisingly sturdy shield. I guess if our dragon goes down it would get problematic. I rub my finger over the rough outline of my manacles, sending Facet into them. When they don't reject it, and I'm able to saturate them completely, I almost give a deep sigh. Wasn’t sure it'd work, and didn’t want to risk it until we were inside Aethire.

Guess the Athama shook me up more than I thought.

The vigilance of my guards proves warranted as another wave of darkness descends over us. It’s tempting to break free, to fight back, but… the Athama aren’t targeting us.

They’re targeting Tipan’s father.

"Get the prisoners to safety!" I hear Talkith command from above, before losing her again.

Even as the cage shakes, I wait, though I’m not left in suspense long. The darkness is torn away with a thunderous clap, revealing Talkith plummeting toward a ranch-house while wrestling with a squid twenty times her size. Did they send one of their children into combat?

Despite her bright white fur, it’s hard to track Talkith as the dragons fly away, zooming straight to Aethire at more than twice the speed they've flown at any other point so far. Another few minutes and we lose Talkith to the distance. My last sighting is a giant mushroom cloud where several of the practice estates once rested. Getting my bearings, I notice we’re crossing the rim of the endless pit over which Aethire hovers.

There’s a short delay as the guards verify with a flying patrol that we’re supposed to be moved inside the city. There's some grumbling from one of the patrols before they mention we've been cleared for entry, but that if we're not in the palace in twelve hours we'll be flagged as… something that sounds like violated? The wind makes it hard to tell, and it's not like they're talking to me.

Still, with confirmed access, and us being on the outer edges of the capital while the strongest of our captors is occupied… We’re not going to have a better opportunity.

Well, unless the others wake up. But can't count on that.

Hoping it works, I stretch my Facet out, soaking everyone’s manacles and collars. Once I’m certain I have them all completely wrapped, I test with my own manacles. I’m able to teleport a small slice out of the cuffs, causing them to malfunction. Pausing time, I repeat the process on every one of our bindings.

A second later, the manacles and collar drop away as my control of the elements reasserts itself.

Our guards begin to cry out as the remnants of our cage burn away, but they’re already too late.

In my reflections over the last couple days, it occurred to me that most users don’t have defence against their breathe being literally stolen. Just like Ivicka showed me. And as they’re all close enough, I’m able to subdue all but one of them in seconds. Wish I’d thought of that while we were assaulting the Taken.

Still, this wouldn't have worked if our guards were past Iron.

With uneven flight uncharacteristic of our guards, the sole conscious member flees in jerky motions. Making sure I have an IFF tether on them, I check on Rufka. While her status indicates she’s at full health, she refuses to wake even after I’ve removed her bindings.

Well, waking can wait.

Floating her behind me, I join Josh and Tipan who’re already carrying Beth and Roberts. Nodding, I wrest the air from the last guard, pulling them close then injecting them with Kellica's paralytic. With the prisoner secure, I float her beside Rufka before descending into the city.

It was kind of the Nightstar to bring us inside Aethire’s security network.

…TPWM 5.16, Security Bypass…

March 16, 2019, 10:14 am. Freefalling into Aethire.

The descent into the city is rapid, none of us wanting to give the Nightstar time to easily find us. After racing down several of the labyrinthine corridors under the cover of my invisibility sphere, we stop in an abandoned home. There are hundreds of similar dwellings along the outer edge of Aethire, the powerful materials preventing decay even after decades of neglect. The insides are full of furniture too heavy to easily transport, but little else. It’s enough for our immediate needs.

Restoring the guard is much easier than waking Rufka, as my attempt to shake the guard awake proves. “What’s wrong with my friends? Why aren’t they waking up?”

The guard doesn’t answer, instead launching into a hacking fit. Right, probably should've expected that. I’d heal them, but that would be more like torture.

As if reading my mind, Tipan kneels next to them, her talisman glowing with a gentle orange light. It’s not even that her talisman - a collection of small stones embedded in a thin sheet of bark - is better than mine. Tipan just has a much better affinity for using the healing talismans.

Her bedside manners are probably better too.

But bedside manner isn’t my job.

As the guard stops hacking, Josh forms a chair beneath them, putting them in what’s probably the comfiest interrogation chair in the history of Akilo, rose-petals the size of her head propping her up. I ask her again, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t our friends awake?”

The guard stares at each of us, then at our necks and wrists where our bindings are conspicuously absent. She gulps, leaning back. “Uh. I don’t know. The collars knock them out until we use the feed signal.”

Crap. I really hope we don’t have to go back for this thing.

“And you have the feed signal?” Tipan asks, prompting the Stormguard while I’m still mentally berating myself for not cluing in that they had a secondary system in place.

The Stormguard nods, perhaps a bit overenthusiastic, as she wrestles with a clasped pouch on her bandoleer. She stops when I constrict the air around her. A silent warning, to remind her that she’s not in control here.

Unfortunately, an unpleasant smell informs me I probably overdid it. I cringe internally, as I realize how much I must have scared her. I just wanted to keep her from hurting us, not terrify the poor woman.

Tipan retrieves a whistle from the poor guard’s hand, casting me a reproving glare. I remain mostly stiff, giving her a tiny nod.

While Tipan sees to the others, I make sure the guard overhears me whispering to Josh at the same time as I message everyone through Wyonna. While Wyonna’s range is limited, she’s there again, which is better than the regular message function.

Out loud, I mention that we’re going to need proper disguises before we’re able to escape the city, to which he makes a joke about nothing being in his size. Meanwhile, we discuss the route we’ll actually take to sneak to one of Rufka’s caches closer to the World Dungeon. With the guard escorting us past the security network, this is probably our best chance to hit the World Dungeon. Especially now that teleportation is offline.

The guard is rendered unconscious again, this time by Tipan using the very bindings they used on us. It’s gentler than forcing her to pass out. And it leaves her bound in the same way we’ve spent the last couple days. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t explode the second the collar came off. Maybe all that aura practice is helping.

With the guard unconscious and everyone on their feet, we slip into the city, travelling in two groups. With Rufka and Tipan as company, Rufka and I adjust our appearances, becoming just another K’tharn in the crowd. Tipan’s own disguise is even simpler, activating a common charm that makes her fur shine with a bright neon-pink and green combination. It’s not common, but the fake pattern is a sign for the South Tribunes, one of Aethire’s Desh'mersa teams.

Tipan didn’t even buy the glamour as a disguise. She already owned it. As has been established, she’s a pretty big fan. Since we’re headed for Rufka’s friend near the Desh’mersa arena, it works well.

We make our way quickly, passing beneath several Flights of Fallen patrolling the skies. I can’t tell, but I don’t think they look at us twice. Unlike several of the citizens who comment on Tipan’s outlandish style. But she’s so genuinely excited to talk to them about the latest game that most leave quickly. It’s honestly adorable.

Despite being stopped a dozen times by friendly passersby, we arrive at our destination swiftly. This close to the centre of the city, the patrols are normally thicker, but the Flights are almost all missing.

Rufka’s friend is waiting, her arms crossed as we walk up. She squints at Tipan’s brilliant form, then waves us in.

The smell of fresh cheese fills the room. I catch of something especially pungent, and it makes me realize I haven’t eaten anything except the thin soup over the last couple days. Munching on a wheel of cheddar while Rufka whispers to her friend, we slip into the back, waiting for the others to arrive. But it turns out we took longer than I thought, because the second I try to lean against one side of the small chamber, Josh lets out a grunt. I spin around to see all three of them standing there with smiles.

“Okay. We’re in Aethire. They should be expecting us to go to ground. Do we know if the World Dungeon is occupied?” Beth asks Tipan.

“It doesn’t matter. The World Dungeon always lets parties in. The real challenge is going to be making it past the Queen’s Knights.”

“Right. You’ve mentioned them. They’re like the guards of the dungeon?”

“Yes. They’ll stop anyone without a blessing from entering. Ostensibly it’s to keep people safe, but the ministers have been using it to control people for over a century,” Tipan says.

“Mum got past them.”

“Which means it can be done,” Beth nods, pushing off from her spot on the wall, pacing back and forth in the cramped room. It’s a good thing we don’t keep much in here.

“Well, mum had friends in the guard.”

“Your aunt Paltha, right?” I ask.

“Palthia,” Rufka corrects me, “Yes. She’s one of mum’s friends. But she’s not in the Queen’s Knights anymore. They didn’t appreciate her letting mum in.”

“Why are they even called that?” Josh asks, “I mean, there’s no queen, right?”

“They used to serve the last queen, Uthica,” Tipan answers offhandedly, she keeps talking, but I can’t understand her words. They’re coming through as though through thick water.

The entire room feels as though it’s underwater for a moment as my eyes grow incredibly heavy.

Then the sensation fades.

I blink furiously, but I’m not in the room any longer. I’m sitting on the back of a furious panther the size of a semi-truck as it bounds across an open field chasing a herd of vhethal. On the panther’s head sits Smoulder, her flames blazing brightly. She looks back to me and I’m hit with a wave of affection as she bounds over, scooting up Uthica’s chest to land on her shoulder, nuzzling against our cheek.

Wait. Our cheek?

“Uthica?” I ask, surprised when I speak with her voice.

Stranger. I’m surprised it worked.

“Uh, what worked?”

We flexed the bond between you and the little one. It brought you to my aid.

“Uh, her name’s Smoulder.” I mention, “Wait, Stranger, you mean you don’t know my name?”

Know your name? I’m afraid this is the first time we’ve-

Even as I feel Smoulder’s smug approval at me coming when called passing to me through the link, I feel the connection weakening, Uthica’s voice lost as I return to the present. Tipan is still giving her explanation of the Queen’s Knights to Josh. Gone for no more than three seconds that time.

I instinctively reach for Rufka’s hand only to realize she’s not next to me, leaning against the doorframe chatting with her friend, with her eyes locked on the hallway outside. Right, probably a good idea. We’re in the middle of hostile territory. Doesn’t stop me from moving over to her, causing her to shift out the door slightly.

“While that’s interesting, it’s not important,” Beth interjects when Josh asks about the change in their armour. A detail I’d completely missed.

“We just need to contact the Taken. They've got a way in, right?” Rufka says, “I’ll be back in less than half an hour. If I’m not, I’d appreciate if you came to find me.”

“I’m going with you,” I say, reaching to squeeze her hand.

But she steps away, shaking her head. “I should go alone. We’re lucky no one saw through your glamour. I’m the only one who can go out without one.”

“But I-” I begin to object but Roberts lays a hand on my arm, shaking his head.

“See you soon.” Rufka says without so much as a glance in my direction. Is she still upset about me not teleporting? But…

I plop down on a pack of unfolded boxes, rubbing my head, only to have to stand back up again to settle properly. My leg isn’t meant to go like that.

Approximately the longest fifteen minutes later, Rufka pokes her head back in. After a quick glance around the room, she gestures us to follow her. I’m about to apologize when she holds a finger up to indicate we should remain quiet.

Obliging her, we head out, though this time, Tipan is under the cover of Beth’s invisibility sphere. It makes it feel like it’s just me and Rufka walking along the grand streets of World’s End district. Towering over most of the district the edifice of chiseled stone, the World’s End palace looms. Like the Queen’s Guard, the name is a holdover from Uthica’s time. It’s still the seat of their government though. It makes a great landmark, seeing as it sits directly on top of the World Dungeon.

We make it almost all the way to the World Dungeon before we come across a scene that makes me freeze in my tracks. On the steps of the palace is a veritable army of protesters all waving signs. There are signs saying things such as, “Vaus has had her destruction! No more!” and “Leave them in the Deeps.” Along with signs that would fit in at home, like “No more war!” or “Give me back my messages!”

It’s the last one that makes me realize that they don’t know about the incoming System Agent. They think the interference is caused by the Lords of the Deep. And if the Lords think the same thing, this war just got a whole lot more complicated.

Which feels weird, cause we’re trying to not get caught in the middle of it. Even Tipan. Like, Tipan obviously doesn’t want her family dying, but after everything she’s learned about the Aetherium, she’s having a hard time defending their actions. Just before we went to Pelwerd, she suggested we try to sneak in and convince the ministers to apologize.

Which Beth promptly shot down, and the rest of us reluctantly agreed that it’d be better if the K’mintar handled that. And Genitha… Okay, maybe not Genitha.

A gentle shove from one of my invisible companions reminds me this isn’t the main attraction. I jog to catch up with Rufka, winding through the crowd. When I get close, I almost reach out for her hand again, but stop myself. She clearly wants some distance. Maybe I should just-

My thoughts are shattered when I feel a hand take mine, and my heart jumps probably two times higher than it should. “Come on,” Rufka whispers, “we should stick together.”

I nod dumbly, clearing the edge of the crowd and moving toward an elaborate stone door near the edge of the stairs leading up to the palace. The door is set with several different rules, each engraved in Vausian, illustrated with pictograms. I quickly scan over the ‘rules’ as Rufka knocks on the door, adding a new message to the System overlay. I read over them, inspecting their matching images as we wait for Rufka’s knock to be answered.

1. If you enter, you cannot exit without completing the Dungeon successfully.

Is that a K’tharn getting sucked into a black hole?

1. Beware the Calthonra.

Huh, a centaur with only one eye and a pair of scything claws.

1. Traps are not standardized. Do not rely on maps for trap locations.

Hmm, several squares, each with the Vausian equivalent of a question mark, a kind of U shape, engraved into the surface.

1. You have twelve days to complete the Dungeon. Unlike Standard dungeons, you won’t be allowed to exit if you go over the time limit.

An engraved Vausian symbol for time, basically a skinnier eight.

1. Several items will not function within the World Dungeon.

Just a flaming crossbow with a cross through it.

1. Quality of Life Abilities and the changing of subclasses can only be accessed from within the designated safe zone within the World Dungeon.

A picture of a K’tharn separated from their bag that has a sword inside it that they can’t get to, next to another image where they’re inside a house and can get to it. I guess that means inventory counts as a Quality of Life ability. Makes sense.

Some of these are really clear, but that warning about the Calthonra seems strange. It doesn’t tell us why we should worry about it.

I don’t have much time to dwell on it, the door grinding open slowly, as a familiar K’tharn emerges. Her dark fur makes her hard to pick out from the passageway, but I’m pretty sure she’s waving us in.

When Rufka steps forward, I wait several seconds until I feel an invisible tug at my hand indicating everyone should be inside.

With one last glance around the plaza, I weave twilight into night vision, following them inside.

As my foot leaves the plaza, the door starts closing. I swear as I skip forward, staring back at the closed door. If I’d tarried any longer, I would’ve been locked out. Turning back, I realize Rufka’s talking with Kellica in hushed tones.

Finally, Kellica nods and Rufka hands over a small satchel.

The satchel disappears, presumably into Kellica’s inventory, then she turns to address us, a small smile on her face. “Good to see you, Tel’thoni. Beth, I’ll need you to drop the invisibility. Then we’ll get Ael’thani to give you your blessings. Once you have your blessings, I’ll need you to stay invisible until we make it to the System entrance.”

The others reappear, Josh in the middle of a question that he snaps off once he realizes they’re visible. Ael’thani appears just behind Kellica, and I realize her personal stealth has really improved in the last few days. She moves about, a grimace fixed on her face as she presses her hand to each of us for a few seconds while muttering under her breath. When she gets to me, she lays her hand on my shoulder, her Vausian crisp and precise as she says, “By my eyes, this one is worthy.” Her proclamation is followed by a System notification indicating I’ve been granted access to the Upper Preparation area.

Even before she’s finished bestowing her ‘blessing’, the others have disappeared once more.

I jog next to Rufka, who stares at my illusionary form as I approach. “It’s still weird when you do that. Doesn’t look right.” She flicks at my illusory ear, which twitches at her contact as I pull back at the sensation. There are strands of twilight connecting my cat ears to my real ones, which improves the illusion, but also provides weird feedback.

“Anyway, ready to delve into the darkest part of Akilo?” She asks, giving me a small smile.

“Well, when you put it like that…” I pause, before taking her hand then following after Kellica who’s already walking away.

“Absolutely.”

…TPWM 5.17, The World Dungeon…

March 16, 2019, 2:22 pm. Sneaky, sneak, until the dark.

The remaining section of our trip is surprisingly boring. There’s no guards or fellow delvers in the stone passage that winds back and forth, leading us beneath the palace.

It takes a full fifteen minutes before we emerge into the Upper Preparation area. Unlike the plain passage we followed to get here, the Upper Preparation area itself is ornate to the point it feels gaudy. There is an overabundance of fancy benches, each inlaid with enough gold, silver, and gems to ruin any sense of grandeur.

“What’s with all the bling?” I ask, gesturing around.

Rufka tries to hide her snicker behind her hand as Ael’thani turns to us, her brows drawn tight. “I don’t know that word. But if you’re referring to the glorious Preparation Chamber, the trial is the most important event in a K’tharn’s life. It is only appropriate our final preparation area is as grand as in their dreams.”

I blink as I process her words, my cheeks warming at my unintentional insult to their traditions. She waves toward a fancier staircase at the far end of the room leading upward under golden light. Each step is as overdone as the benches. “Since the council banned use of the main entrance… not even honest K’tharn are able to get inside.”

Ael’thani pauses, staring at us. “But you’re not here to listen to me whine like a kitten. You’re here for your own trials, as is the right of every user. Follow me.”

When I glance towards Kellica, she just shoots us an awkward smile, before motioning us to follow Ael’thani.

Amazingly, the decor becomes more decadent as she leads us toward the downward stairway. Yet despite the décor, the stairs are simple stone, with only a minimal stripe of white lights hanging above. Ael’thani stops just outside the stairway, her eyes flicking over us. “This is where we leave you. The K’mintar… I hope you have a good trial.”

Kellica steps forward, giving me a hug. “Good luck, Tel’thoni.”

Then she pulls Rufka into a hug, “Best of luck, Rukie.”

Rufka’s clearly startled, as it takes ‘Rukie’ a couple of seconds to return the embrace. When they finally pull away, Rufka coughs lightly, but can’t stop from smiling at Kellica.

No one comments on it, passing beneath the plain stone arch into the dungeon below instead.

I glance back, but Kellica and Ael’thani have already disappeared. The second I cross the threshold, a message pops up, confirming several of the warnings were correct. It also shows the standard dungeon quest screen, though with a minor upgrade. The whole reason we’re here.

"Copper Rank Ascension Challenge: The World Dungeon joined."

"Teleportation abilities have been locked to The World Dungeon. Flight spells and abilities have been restricted."

"Zone Quest received: Rewards: Variable. 1 Copper-Rank Advancement Point. Time: 12 days."

We file down a couple of landings until the entrance is out of site before Beth drops the invisibility covering the others. “Okay, that went smoothly. Let’s get to the real preparation area, then we can make plans about how we’re going to approach this.”

Even at Beth’s directive to wait, we all start chatting about the dungeon, wondering how different it’ll be from the others we’ve visited so far.

“We’re not going to have access to Raz’s.” Josh points out while running his hand on the less flashy walls inside the actual dungeon.

“We were already planning for that. Most of them haven’t allowed easy access,” Roberts says as I test to see how flight is restricted, floating a foot into the air and not meeting any resistance.

Beth nods, as I float back down, “It’s unfortunate, but it’s less disruptive here than for any of our other objectives.”

“Wait? We have objectives other than getting the cities flying again?” I ask, watching my arm disappear as I test my invisibility.

“Kid, you know that’s just part of our overarching objective. We’re trying to save the world. All the rest is to get that done.”

“Oh. Oh, right. My bad,” I apologize as we pass another landing. “Wait, we’re in the dungeon now, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we be checking for traps?”

Beth doesn’t so much as pause as she replies, “I’ve been searching. I haven’t seen any yet.”

I nod, letting myself drift to my normalish position in the middle.

Eventually, after far too many stairs, we emerge into a small chamber filled with crisscrossing streams and tiny waterfalls. In the streams float a plant that reminds me of a lily-pad crossed with a four-leaf clover, their petals rotating slowly in the current.

Beth leads us through the room, stopping at a circle at the far end, a small area free of the abundant waterways. Whole room, and not a single monster. Not even a water spout to try to knock us to the side.

“Safe Zone: Amongst the Lilies. This safe zone will expire twelve hours after activation. May only be activated once.”

“Okay, no one activate the zone. We’ve had a few days sitting around already. If we need to, we have at least one to fall back to,” Beth instructs us. No one objects, but then we’ve been through stranger. Beth continues taking us through the same plan she laid out for us when we first discussed coming here. It’s slightly modified since we don’t have access to Raz’s or unrestricted flight, but for the most part it’s simply a refresher on party order and fall-back points. After a few minutes, she finishes with, “All right, people. Anything I missed?”

Shaking my head, along with the others, we start into what should be the real challenge of the dungeon. The labyrinth.

The dungeon’s first area is the most typical video game dungeon we’ve encountered on Akilo. Trapped rooms where we disable the traps without them triggering. Monster rooms that we take turns killing solo. There’s even a single puzzle room that involves rings and poles that’s so simple that we get the bonus prize for solving it in the minimum number of steps.

Five whole iron-rank integration points for the whole party, for putting rings on a stick.

While some of the monsters are interesting, like the crying frog that filled the room with its tears, nothing dangerous has shown up, so we decide to pick up the pace.

After several hours, hundreds of monster and trap rooms, and twelve puzzle/treasure rooms, we’ve searched the entire floor. But we haven’t found the way forward.

“Tipan, I thought you said there was an obvious staircase leading to the next level?” Beth sighs as we come back to the entrance again.

“That’s what I was told. I’ve never been here myself.”

“Mum said the same thing. She would’ve mentioned if it was hidden.”

“Then how did we miss it?” Roberts wonders, leaning against the entrance to the lily room.

“It’s probably in here,” Josh shrugs, gesturing past Roberts back at the peaceful entrance room.

Beth runs a hand through her fiery red hair before nodding. “Only place we haven’t searched. Lex, you and Rufka wanna take the right? Roberts, you and Tipan take the left? Josh and I will support. Try not to disturb the natives.”

We all move to comply, using my magic to lift entire streams of water to glance beneath them. It’s kind of fun, and if Smoulder were here, she’d be crashing through the streams, making all kinds of a mess. The thought makes me frown, ruining the moment.

Rufka and I make it halfway across our side of the room when Tipan calls out, “We found… something.”

Setting the dozen cubic metres of water and several startled fish I was levitating back into their place in the watery maze, I float over to see what they’ve discovered. It’s not an exit, instead there’s a mural with each of the puzzle rooms represented hidden beneath the stream. It shows a specific path leading between each of the puzzle rooms before finally approaching a room in the centre.

“Looks like we did it out of order,” Josh notes, “You’d think there’d be better directions. This is like exploring the entire fairgrounds only to find out the bathrooms were setup behind the main stage.”

“I’m sensing a story there,” Roberts says, drawing Josh into a retelling of his first time at an SCA festival.

I only half listen, having heard Rose tell the story before. Though Rose focused on how lively the festival was, how enthusiastic the participants were. Josh takes a more humorous approach. Less wonder, but a lot more self-deprecation. It makes for amusing listening as we return to each of the puzzle rooms resetting the puzzles, then solving them in order. The first time we went through, I thought the puzzles were just random difficulties. Now it’s obvious that the ‘correct’ path would’ve had us solving them in ascending difficulty. Still easy though.

With the last puzzle once again solved, the rapid wave of water pushed to the side instead of washing over our legs this time, we make our way to the centre of the labyrinth. Contrary to my expectations, the exit isn’t on the floor. Or the wall. It’s in the ceiling of the chamber, a set of handholds set into a shaft that wasn’t there when we first explored the room hours ago. The handholds have several different colours to them, and I realize that the dark green ones follow a route similar to the one we took through the labyrinth. It’s tough to tell if they complete the pattern because the shaft curves out of sight.

Tipan beats me to mentioning the pattern, having started relaying the discovery to the others while I’m still investigating. I fly up, confirming my suspicion that flight is suppressed within the shaft as my spell is dispelled, dropping me to the floor where I roll to my feet. Not too surprising. A dungeon putting an obvious climb zone like this and having restricted flight practically guaranteed I’d be coming down. Good thing I can fall with style these days.

“Kid, thoughts?”

“Anti-flight zone. Probably some sort of monster disguised as a handhold. Maybe just knockdown traps?” I supply, still inspecting the handholds. None of them are lighting up when I Focus on them, but it’s not perfect. “Unless there’s a drastic increase in difficulty, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”

“Good. Josh, if you would,” Beth waves upward and Josh forms a small set of thorn-stairs leading to the lowest handholds before springing upward. We watch him climb for several metres before he stops, staring down the bend.

“Opens up like Niagara Falls,” he calls, then continues out of sight.

Rufka goes next, not needing to be asked. I follow shortly behind her, the green handholds a disgusting mix of slimy and sticky. I wait until I join Josh and Rufka at the top of the shaft before I scour my hands clean. I’m about to lay into Josh for not warning us about the slime when I gaze up. And up, and up.

“No one mentioned this,” I mutter, staring at the kilometres tall complex protruding from the valley below. A valley which was obviously mined at some point, clear lines cut in the sides of the nearby mountains. Each cut seems to correlate with one of the massive cubes forming the monstrosity that dominates the centre of the apparently open-air dungeon.

“Vaus-damn,” Rufka mumbles while I marvel at the size of the behemoth before us. How long would it take me to make something that big? I start inspecting our other surroundings as everyone emerges from the tunnel.

Off to each side are four valleys, for a total of eight. Each has obvious elemental leanings. Just to our left, what I’m assuming is the fire valley, trees bathed in flame stand silent vigil over the narrow path leading inward.

Standard operating procedure would have us exploring each of the valleys, looking for hidden training zones, but then, we haven’t followed standard operating procedure before. So, I ask, “What do you guys think? Training or quick completion?”

Beth leans forward, squinting at the far valleys. “If we can afford to, training. We should investigate the entrances of each valley. See if we can find additional safe zones.”

“New produce too,” Josh notes, inspecting a flowering vine along the edge of the bluff, holding a single white blossom towards his face before sniffing it.

“Yep. Mum’s droned on about her Five Seasons Tea that she brewed from the Fire-Blossoms more times than I can count. If we can find a bunch, she’d be grateful.”

“Okay. Securing a good stock of Fire-Blossoms is on the list. Having a way to entice Genitha to help more often would be great,” Beth says, nodding with a smile at Rufka. “Especially if it means she’s not…”

The last is lost as Beth mumbles what I can’t even consider words to herself.

“There’s other stuff too. I’ll write you a list,” Rufka offers, causing Beth’s smile to return, then grow into a giant grin.

While Rufka and Beth sort through their bribe-my-mum list, Tipan and I scout the western valleys and Josh and Roberts go east.

“You think we’ll start with fire?” Tipan asks as we float in front of the burning valley, labelled helpfully by the System as Fireside. Even my elemental resistance is going to be tested if the heat I can feel from here is any indication. And is that a pack of flaming elk chasing down a hyena made of smoldering coal?

“Hard to say. If Smoulder were here, definitely,” I answer, shooting toward an outcropping of rock overlooking the valley entrance. Atop the outcropping, I find a circle carved into the stone, the runes flashing with a dull red glow. “Think I found a safe-zone.”

As I set foot inside the familiar circle, a notification appears, confirming my suspicion.

“Safe Zone: Fireside’s Respite. Requires Champion’s Trophy to activate. This safe zone will expire twelve hours after activation. May only be activated once.”

“It appears it is indeed. You know, this is the first time you’ve mentioned Smoulder since you returned. Did you want to talk about what happened?”

“Rose didn’t tell you?”

“He didn’t exactly have time. Besides, I’d rather hear it from you,” Tipan squeezes my shoulder.

I don’t respond immediately, drifting upward before flying toward the next valley entrance, a pair of thick stone pillars leaning against each other, as I think about my response. “Well, I gave you guys the short version, mentioned that we contacted Uthica directly?”

“Yes. I remember. I’ve never had such an amazing experience described with such little wonder.”

Her response kills my next words as I remember just who Uthica is to Tipan. Me meeting her is probably like if Tipan got to meet Cleopatra. I shake my head, refocusing, “Uh. I guess it’s cause she feels like a sister. It absolutely was amazing.”

“Okay,” Tipan responds, blinking rapidly before adding, “And Smoulder?”

“She got stuck in the past, with Uthica. And I keep having… visions…” I pause for a second, waiting for one to take me, but I remain grounded in the present. “Seeing her doing stuff with Uthica.”

“Wait. Smoulder? Smoulder is with Uthica? She’s…” Tipan trails off, spinning in the air, just short of the leaning pillars. Then she shakes her head, staring at me. “As in, she’s Uthica’s famous companion of fire? Smoulder is the Paragon of Flame?”

I shrug at her, “Probably. Wait, do you guys have statues of her? Once she comes back, I bet she’d love to see them.”

Tipan closes all four eyes, rubbing the ridge of her nose, “Alexis, I… this is weird. I remember her… I hate to be the one to tell you this. Smoulder’s not coming back. She sacrificed herself in the battle of Burning Skies. The Paragon’s ashes are interred within the World’s End palace.”

I’m stunned for a second until I realize something Tipan said doesn’t make sense. “Ashes? How can she have ashes? Everybody turns to blue dust when we die?”

“I read that it was from the amount of magic she used that day. She infused her body with such intense fire that it didn’t return to mana.”

…

Part of me wants to collapse to the dungeon floor, weeping.

But I don’t. Instead, I nod curtly at Tipan and continue our scouting while considering what this means.

It’s possible that Smoulder really did die. But, so what? She was sent back in time, so, clearly, she can be brought forward. And it’s not like death is permanent. Not for us.

Either way, I know I won't believe it until I see her ashes for myself.

…TPWM 5.18, Around the Rim…

March 16, 2019, 6:22 pm. After the ashes.

Tipan and I finish scouting our side of the dungeon a few minutes later, confirming all the side-valleys have similar safe-zones and each one requires a Champion’s Trophy to activate. Though I’m still lost in thought when we bump into Josh and Roberts, trying to figure out how we'll get Smoulder home. After trading off with them, we’re attacked on our way back to the entrance just outside the wind valley. Tipan’s almost struck by a wind enhanced bird of prey dropping from above. Even as I’m turning to help, she dispatches it with a flick of her staff. So, we continue on our way, hardly breaking our stride.

Now that we’re done scouting, I’m feeling more collected. Tipan’s relying on information four-hundred years out of date. There probably won’t even be any ashes in this urn of the Paragon. Another symbolic lie to bolster the Aetherium’s image.

Even as I tell myself this, there’s a twinge of doubt.

Shaking my head, I refocus. I can’t do anything about Smoulder… yet. Completing the World Dungeon takes priority. Maybe there’ll be an upgrade in Copper that’ll help. I mean… Anchor already lets me rewind time. And my Pause isn’t even a class ability.

There’s got to be more.

Tipan conveys our findings to Beth while my attention shifts to the structure dominating the center of the dungeon. There’s an obvious lack of windows and our flight around the perimeter didn’t reveal any doors or other entrances either. And the entire thing seems… weirdly familiar. Like I’ve seen it somewhere before. Shaking that off, I consider it as an obstacle. It’s clearly the end point of the dungeon, but with no obvious entrances, I suspect we need to complete at least one of the side valleys to gain access.

“Okay. No obvious door to the main dungeon. Thoughts?” I ask, turning to the others.

“Side quests,” Josh says, “We need to recover keys to use the safe-zones, so we’ll probably need something similar to get inside.”

“Might be able to enter without them, but if it’s like the Pescal puzzle dungeon, once we activate the core, we won’t be able to explore the side valleys,” Tipan observes, causing Beth to frown.

“Well, we know how keen the System is to punish completionists. Doing all the side valleys is guaranteed to kick a hidden boss into motion. That said, we should do one, at least. Get a feel for how dangerous it’s going to be. I think we should start with-”

“Fire!” Josh, Rufka and I all say in unison, with Tipan only a half-second behind.

Beth blinks a couple times, looking at each of us.

“Not fire?” She tries with a tentative smile, prompting us to burst out laughing.

I rub my cheek, wiping away the grin as Roberts says, “I believe the vote is for fire. I’m sorry Beth.”

This time even Beth lets out a little chuckle, though it’s restrained. “Fire it is then. Shall we?”

The next few minutes are busy as we prepare a fire-resistance tea Tipan picked up while visiting her mom. She’s added a whole smorgasbord of teas to her collection lately, it seems. Luckily, this one tastes way better than the one she gave her father. May that devil’s brew never cross my lips again.

Once we’ve all taken our share of the Firespitter’s blend, Josh leads the way into Fireside Valley. We don’t shy away from any of the encounters, though we pace ourselves, doing our best to conserve resources. But nothing in the valley even gets close enough for Josh or Roberts to attack, nevermind defend against. Two hours later and we’ve cleared out the entire valley, the only thing remaining is a giant tortoise sleeping in a ring of burning trees.

The tortoise is easily the size of a house, but I’m getting used to big monsters. Size isn’t nearly as important as special abilities. The tortoise’s shell appears to be a black basalt, though there are cracks through which dark glowing embers glisten. Over each of its eyes are giant spikes, forming a rough ridge of stone that resembles a heavily mascaraed eyebrow.

It’s a giant, goth fire-turtle. Or a fire-goth giant turtle?

I don’t know how it didn’t wake at our rampage through the valley, but I suspect System shenanigans.

“Creature analyzed: Ashen-Shelled Tortoise. Female. Gene seed D.”

“Name: Lebethin.”

“Attributes: Physical; Moderate, Mobility; Moderate, Magic; Moderate, Awareness; Low.

Attacks: Flame Breath. Wrecking Ball. Rending Snap.

Defences: High physical resistance. Low magic resistance. Fire immunity"

(Wyonna) ”Just your standard desert tortoise taken to extremes. She doesn’t get visitors often, so don’t take her grumpiness personally.”

Wyonna fills the others in as we fall back to gather a nearby patch of Flame Blossom Josh noticed while I was inspecting the tortoise. The ash and orange pattern almost completely blends in with the rest of the flora, so it hasn’t been as easy to find as we’d been hoping. We’ve still got several cubic metres of it at this point, since once we do find it, there tends to be a lot of it.

“This is going faster than expected,” Roberts notes, his fingers steepled as he paces outside the treeline once we’ve finished gathering the Flame Blossom. “Is anyone else concerned?”

“A little,” I agree, with nods from the others.

“Hmm. Good. Just so long as we’re agreed. Shall we?”

Josh again leads the way, stepping inside the trees. Nothing happens until Roberts, who was trailing behind the rest of us, enters the clearing. The second he crosses the threshold, the trees flare, encasing us in a dome of fire. Which is the signal for the tortoise to wake, its eyes snapping open to reveal whirling molten pools beneath. Even as I’m entering Pause, it sprays a wave of flame from its mouth, coating Josh in burning goop.

He simply sheds the outer layer of his armour, stepping out of the flaming debris while only taking a few dozen points of health damage before charging. I don’t let him act alone, unloading on its giant head with a spear of ice as he rolls beneath the snapping of its jaw. It hardly notices my attack, but I’ve already started switching elements as we engage it in full, building Elemental Cascade’s increased damage effect while studying it more closely.

After a minute, it’s starting to look like that opening attack was the most dangerous part of the fight. It is tough though, having endured a lot of spells, despite not being strong against magic. Since its opening salvo, it’s been easy to avoid its breath attacks, and even when it rolls into a ball and rampages around the arena, we’re not in any danger, thanks to Roberts’ shields.

It finally shudders to a halt when it drives itself onto a massive thorn Josh weaved while waiting out its latest rampage. When the System message appears, it doesn’t grant us integration points or drop any essence. Instead, we each receive a single spike, as though taken from its eyebrow, the tortoise bursting into blue dust in the background.

“Lebethin’s Eyespike: A trophy taken from the Ashen-Shelled Tortoise Lebethin. This item:

- can be used to activate the Fireside’s Respite Safe-zone.

- does not take up inventory space while within the World Dungeon.

- may not be discarded while within the World Dungeon.

- provides increased fire-resistance to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

- has additional effects when carried with other trophies.”

Wait, increased fire-resistance to our enemies?

Rufka bumps my shoulder as she waves her spike around. “Guess we know that each of these side-valleys is gonna make things harder. How… what’s the word… awesome? How awesome is that?”

Beth nods, inspecting her own spike. “Rufka’s right. If the System is making things harder based on how many of these valleys we clear, it’ll give us extra rewards to match. It also means we can probably head to the centre now.”

“But we’re not going to,” Josh says, smiling at the rest of us.

She smiles back at him, and I can’t help but feel warm inside. “Nope. Not when it’s this easy. It’ll get harder, but we’re not stopping now.”

Beth is right. It does get harder. When we defeat the second boss, a bronze bull that shoots thin lines of bronze that serve as nearly indestructible hazards, we gain several of its scales. Not only do they have a new line in the description, Lebethin’s Eyespike's description updates as well.

“Update to Lebethin’s Eyespike: This item’s new effects:

- provides increased Strength to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

“Xanthica’s BronzeScale: A trophy taken from the Steel-Scaled Bull Xanthica. This item’s unique effects:

- can be used to activate the Foundry’s Respite Safe-zone.

- provides increased metal-resistance to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

- provides increased Constitution to all remaining World Dungeon Denizens while the bearer remains within the World Dungeon.

And that’s just the beginning, cause the last line about having additional effects with more is still listed on both trophies.

Still, none of us have used hardly any of our resources, so we keep going. After a surprisingly fun but not particularly dangerous match with a wind-enhanced paper doll, the dungeon denizens’ Agility increases. Even with the enhanced Agility, the Earth crab is slow, but easy, its defeat increasing the remaining dwellers' Endurance.

At his point, we finally call a break, returning to Fireside’s Respite. The break is as much to sort through and store all the resources we’ve been gathering as for our need to rest. The inability to immediately store everything of use reminds me just how convenient the inventory system is.

I sit with Rufka, watching Josh as he coils several lengths of silver vines around several earth infused tree trunks. “It’s weird to me that those count as plants,” I comment, indicating the rock-hard vines.

“I don’t make the rules,” Josh shrugs, cinching the entire bulk tight before storing it in his inventory while we have access.

“Yep. You just follow em,” Rufka notes, shifting about, making it hard to use her lap as a pillow. “Such a good boy.”

Josh scowls but doesn’t rise to Rufka’s bait. Moving off to help Roberts with dinner instead.

“Why’d you do that?” I ask.

“Do what?” Rufka replies.

“Taunt him like that?”

“Cause that’s what he does? He follows the rules.”

“Sure. But he’s nice.”

“Yep. Nice. But he doesn’t do anything unless Beth asks him to.”

“So?”

“Lexi, I don’t know. It bugs me.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“Did you know that Uthica wasn’t the first K’tharn to complete the World Dungeon?” Rufka asks, causing me to blink in confusion at her rapid subject change.

“Uh, no?”

“Yep. Mum said it was actually a K’tharn named Alethan. Her entire clan entered around the same time. But she was the only one who survived. She never told anyone what happened inside but warned those who came after to only enter if they were prepared to risk everything.”

“Really?”

“Seems silly to me. Why warn people to be careful but not tell ‘em anything?”

“Maybe it was hard for her to… you know, talk about?” I suggest.

“Maybe.” Rufka grumbles, “Anyway, point is, here she is. This powerful K’tharn, reaching Copper-rank less than a year after integration. Could've saved a lot of lives by going out to help people. Left a sign to indicate the entrance with a warning. Would’ve done as much as she did. But instead, she just sat outside. Eventually Uthica came along. And she listens to Alethan, leaving only to come back a couple months later. The second time, she barely stopped to talk to Alethan before going inside. When Uthica emerged with all her companions, Alethan broke down.”

“Turned out her queen died in the fight with the last boss and Alethan hadn’t known what to do after that. So, she’d followed her queen’s last orders. Warn people not to venture inside.”

“So, she did her job?”

“Yeah. But she could’ve hung a sign and been just as effective. But Uthica, she wouldn’t let her stand around wasting her strength. She put her to work. And Alethan obeyed. She did whatever Uthica told her to. Eventually she joined the Queen’s Knights. No one really knows what happened to her after that.”

“Huh.”

“So, do you understand?” Rufka asks, leaning forward and staring down at me.

“Uh? Yes?”

“Oh? What do you understand?” Rufka teases.

“That following orders is bad?” I try.

Rufka snorts. “Not what I meant. It’s that it’s all she did. And even as one of the strongest K’tharn on Akilo, she faded away. I don’t want that.”

“Okay. But why bug Josh?”

“Cause… I guess I don’t want him to be like that either.”

“Maybe try talking to him about it?” I suggest, bopping her on the nose.

Apparently, that was the wrong move, because instead of responding, Rufka goes on the attack, attempting to tickle me into submission.

As we roll around, I eventually gain the upper hand, though she forces me to cheat. Rufka’s got two arms on me. I’m at a serious disadvantage in tickle wars. Or I would be, if I ever played fair. With Rufka held in place by two unbending arms of stone, I bop her nose again.

“Alright. I’ll try talking to him. Later,” Rufka grumbles, rolling her eyes as I let the hands drop away.

“Good,” I say, fighting to keep the smirk off my face, and failing.

We end up slipping away for a bath before dinner. When we emerge, I find we’ve started a trend, the others taking their own baths. I may have forgotten we’ve all gone without a bath for the last few days in captivity. The overwhelming smells of the dungeon combined with the others remaining under Beth’s invisibility spell are leading contributors. It’s definitely not that I just didn’t notice. Nope.

Making dinner while we wait for the others, we discuss what other changes we might expect the dungeon to undergo, but there’s no real sense of worry as we settle in for the night. The dungeon’s been kinda boring so far.

…TPWM…

Morning finds us retrieving most of our healing talismans and resistance brews from our inventory. Just in case. If the pattern holds, the next monster we defeat will raise the remaining dwellers’ intelligence. Which means they’re going to be tossing around stronger spells. At the very least.

Despite our worries, when we defeat the hoard of Drill-Stone Mice that serves as the Endless Quarry’s champion, the increase to damage is barely noticeable. They don’t seem to get any smarter either. The next two champions fall quickly, an Ice Bear that resembles a grizzly with ice-skates, who Beth takes down with a series of quick shots through its crystal eyes. And a Water-Swan that tries to drown the entire valley. But flight isn’t restricted, and we pick it off from above, not even getting our feet wet.

Thanks to our rapid pace, we’re able to store away our new loot, of which there is a lot, before our first safe zone even expires. After storing the last of our spoils from the water drenched valley, we find the trophies have changed again.

Apparently, when we defeated the Swan, it gave the remaining dwellers not one, but two attribute and resistance increases. Every one of the trophies now also has the word moderate in front of the increase.

As we prepare to face the lightning valley, the Crackling Den, I can’t help but feel this was probably the worst valley to save for last. But I was outvoted. Rufka thought it’d be more fun, changing her vote with a cackling laugh at the last second.

Low clouds crowd the bottom of the valley, as if tethered to the ground, each one crackling with electricity. The bolts above weren’t very threatening before we completed the last valley, but now they’re intense enough that the rock of the valley floor splits with every strike. They’re also the only source of light within the valley. By some trick of the dungeon, the light illuminating the rest of the World Dungeon no longer reaches here.

And so, with a still chuckling Rufka at my side, we descend into crackling darkness.

…TPWM 5.19, Grounded…

March 17, 2019, 11:49 am. Ready to rumble in the valley of thunder.

As I fly into the valley, thunder booming around us, I glance back at the fading light of what should be a noonday sun. It’s already barely visible. Even wrapping my eyes in Twilight doesn’t allow me to pierce the darkness. The only thing that works is creating balls of lightning.

For the first time since we entered the World dungeon, I find myself worried. The darkness isn’t even the worst of it. Before we defeated the Water-Swan, the valley was full of small, weak lightning beetles. They were everywhere.

Now, there’s not a single bug to be seen.

We continue forward, silent as the wind, not one of us indulging in our usual banter. I’m tempted to just use Lesser Cataclysm to kill everything. But the valley is bigger than my total range.

A particularly bright flash is the only warning I get before I’m struck, an enormous pressure tossing me to the ground. It takes several Paused seconds for me to determine what happened. Roberts and Tipan are near me, also recovering from the massive lightning strike that knocked us out of the sky. Even as I watch, another strike hits Josh as he holds his thorn-shield over Beth and Rufka.

They’re forced to the ground as we adopt our own defensive shell, prepared for further assault. But the strikes stop. We’ve barely been injured, Roberts able to restore the hundred health lost between the entire party in seconds.

“Guess they don’t like us flying,” Josh whispers.

“Guess not,” Beth’s head pivots to the sides, before motioning us forward.

The next fifteen minutes are spent scrambling over broken rock while avoiding the largest of the clouds. When we come across a small cloud blocking our way, instead of going around, Beth signals me to attack it.

Uncertain as to her reasoning, I nonetheless prepare several area attack spells, thinking about the beetles that disappeared. If there are any hiding inside, they’re going to be subjected to every element I can throw.

I don’t bother pausing time, simply smiling as I release a chaotic storm of explosive spells.

The cloud dissipates, and amongst the cloud are hundreds of beetle corpses. I shiver, glad I decided to go for overkill as even now half of the beetles are struggling toward us. But the others step in, flattening them with spells they were holding in preparation for something worse to emerge.

Still, after realizing what hid in the clouds, Beth puts us to work cutting them down. It’s slow and methodical work, and we have to work under the sole light of Rufka’s glowing ball of lightning. Which prompts me to start trying to build a spell that lets me make one of my own.

Several hours, far too many bug parts and multiple failed attempts at a permanent ball of lightning later and we’ve only cleared half the valley. No matter how many of the swarms we kill, if we jump too high, enormous bolts of lightning appear, smashing us down with increasing force. The most recent mis-step resulted in Josh taking more than nine-hundred points of damage, completely blowing through his Health, and leaving him bruised and sore. If Roberts hadn’t been here, Josh would’ve been unconscious.

It's simple to decide to walk slowly after that.

I’ve finally succeeded in building a proper sphere of lightning when there are only a few swarms of the lightning beetles left. As we blast a distant cloud, they start congregating around a dark bubble, their flickering lightning disappearing as they escape inside.

While staring at the bubble, Beth looks at us, looks back at the bubble, then back to us. “Nope. Just nope. Absolutely not.”

Even as she turns around and starts marching away, the rest of us stand there, watching her go. I clap my mouth shut with a loud smack as she disappears over a small ridge.

“Uhm,” I offer, before running after her. I almost can’t see her when I come over the rise, her dark armour blending with the rock. She’s not walking anymore, instead sitting with her head in her hands just out of sight of the others. I wave them back as I sit next to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey kid.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes, not saying anything. I can barely hear the voices of the others from over the ridge, occasionally punctuated by the boom of thunder.

Beth shifts slightly, kicking a loose rock down the side of the ridge. As it bounces, she finally lifts her head, staring at the ball of lightning I have floating over us.

“I miss Molly.”

“Uh. Molly?” I ask, completely off-guard. “Who’s Molly?”

“Molly was my cat when I was your age. Hadn’t thought of her in years before Akilo.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Smoulder reminds me of her. Just as stubborn. And as likely to show up when you need some nonjudgmental love.” Beth laughs, but there’s no smile. She presses the heels of her palms against her eyes before continuing. “Molly used to sneak into my hoodie before I went to class. Then when I tried to take her out, she’d dig in her claws. It was easier to bring her with me than it was to dislodge her.”

“Wait, so you took your cat to class?”

“Yep. She’d snuggle for hours. Made calculus much less stressful. Had to leave my hoodie at home when I took the exam though.”

“Hehe. Sounds like Molly was a great support cat.”

“Yeah. And I bet if she was here now, I wouldn’t be acting so stupid.”

“Stupid? Beth, you’re the smartest person I know.”

“Thanks kid. But this whole head in the hands thing, just from staring at a ball of darkness? That’s stupid.”

“It has to do with… dying, doesn’t it?” I ask, pulling my jacket closed against a sudden chill that has nothing to do with the cold.

Beth doesn’t answer me, staring down the edge of the ridge to where the shadows dance under the erratic rhythm of my lightning ball.

I squeeze Beth’s shoulder, pulling her into a side-hug while waiting for her.

After a few seconds Beth glances at me then chuckles.

“What?” I ask, flipping my hair so it shields my face from her laughter.

“Sorry kid. It’s just. If someone had asked me back when we came to Akilo if I’d ever feel comforted by your presence. Well, I’d have probably kicked them in the crotch.”

I stare at Beth. “You’re saying you don’t find me reassuring?”

“Kid, you’re the scariest damn thing I’ve seen. Ever.”

I open my mouth, I’m not sure if I want to object or complain, but nothing comes out. I’m still trying to figure out what to say when Beth beats me to it. “But you’re one of us. We’re on Team Scary. So, that makes you comforting. You know?”

I nod. That makes sense to me. Not the part about me being scary. But I remember how reassuring it was… how reassuring it is, to know that Beth’s on my side. “Same.”

“Same?” Beth chuckles.

“Yep. You’re the most bad-ass person I’ve ever known.”

“Damn kid. Now I have to stand up and go back down there, don’t I?”

Grinning, I offer her my hand, “You do. No choice.”

“Fine. On one condition.”

“Oh?”

“When we get out of here, we have to make time for you to teach me how to do that,” Beth states, pointing at the ball of lightning hovering over my shoulder.

“Deal.”

…TPWM…

We rejoin the others, Beth leading the way down the jagged terrain. The dark sphere at the centre of the grove hasn’t changed, an unyielding darkness that swallows even the light from mine and Rufka’s lightning orbs.

“Well, let’s get to it, shall we people!” Beth calls out, hauling Josh to his feet with a big grin. She’s able to maintain her grin until we get to the edge of the sphere, at which point I can see it falter for a second. But only a second. Then she starts signaling and we slip into battle mode.

Pressing through the shadow reveals several trees, shrouded in a fog of lightning beetles. The second we’re all inside, thunder echoes across the sphere as several lightning bolts descend on our position. But now that we’re used to the way the Champion battles start, I’m able to relocate everyone during my first Pause. It’s not as effective as teleporting, but dragging them along the ground allows everyone to easily avoid the opening salvo.

I return fire, rotating through my spells to see which are most effective only to discover the trees, labeled by the System as Crakthorns, are immune to elemental damage. All elemental damage.

That’s a new problem.

Still, the bugs aren’t immune. They’re surprisingly vulnerable to fire. They’re more vulnerable than when we fought them in the valley. While their weakness seems like a good thing, it’s only after I’ve scorched most of the beetles that I notice the Crakthorns have been draining the corpses. With the beetles and their mist gone, I’m finally able to get a good look.

Each of the Crakthorns has a different twisted face, etched into a perpetual scream. The last of the beetles flitting about are suddenly snagged by the limbs of the nearest Crakthorns, crushed even as we redouble our offensive, focusing on the closest of the tree-creatures as it begins to rip its roots free.

Crap.

Its companions don’t stop pelting us with lightning bolts as it charges forward, only to be met by Josh who throws it back with a heave of his thorn-woven shield. It only stumbles half a step before it wails. The force of the wail shudders through me, causing my ears to ring even as my health drops by a sixth. Its wail is interrupted by an explosive blast of void energy. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Beth has switched to a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. It’s the first time I’ve seen her use it in combat.

It’s super effective.

The first of the Crakthorns has already collapsed, but a quick glance at her resources tells me Beth doesn’t have enough Umbra to take all of them out with her newest toy.

But that’s okay. She’s bought the rest of us time. And as I consider unleashing Lesser Cataclysm, I scan the second Crakthorn as it struggles free, making a new discovery. “They’re only immune to fire damage while they remain rooted.” I call out, hoping everyone heard me.

I start creating an overpowered flame-lance, directing it at the second Crakthorn as it stumbles toward Josh when the world… stutters. One second, Josh is about to block its blow, the next he’s gone, thrown away and the tree-creature is reaching for Roberts. I readjust my aim, releasing my flame-lance when the world stutters again.

This time, when the stutter ends, the tree-creature is on the ground, a massive hole burning where my fire-lance must have passed through it.

I attempt to redirect my attention to the fight, but the world stutters again. I’m standing on the far side of the sphere, surrounded by three separate Crakthorn. They’re all half-incinerated, their remains already burning to ash. I attempt to turn to the others, but once more, everything stops. But this time, time doesn’t start again.

Instead, I feel a pull.

Everything goes dark.

…TPWM…

Smoulder is on my chest, her wet nose nuzzling against my furry cheek as I look about the entirely too bright leather tent. Above me is Uthica’s adviser, Pelthin. She’s dabbing at my head with a cloth. I can hear Uthica’s father, Pern whispering angrily in the background, but I can’t understand what’s being said.

“Pern. Pern, she’s awake!” I hear Pelthin cry out.

The angry whispering cuts out as Pern pushes through a leather curtain I’d thought was just part of the tent.

“Uthica?” he asks, dropping to his knees while taking both of my left hands.

I pause, about to deny his question. But then I see the hands he’s holding. They’re my hands. But they’re definitely Uthica’s hands. I’m in her body again. But where is she?

Uthica?

I wait several seconds, but there’s no response. And the whole time, her father is staring at me.

“Uhm. Not quite?” I try.

He hisses, drawing in a deep breathe as he glares at Pelthin. Which seems fair. Uthica’s chest is killing me. I’m guessing this must be after Pelthin stabbed her. Which reminds me…

“Why in Vaus’ name did you stab her?”

Between the two of us glaring at her Pelthin slumps down, crying.

Okay. Well, that’s not useful.

Pern disregards Pelthin turning back to me. “So, if you’re not Uthica, then you must be the visitor.”

“You know about me?” I ask. His upper eyes are flickering rapidly, a sign he’s been worried. Something only Uthica and I know. I have to keep myself from pulling him into a hug to reassure him that she’s fine.

Cause it’d be a lie. I’m worried about Uthica too.

“Yes. Uthica never mentioned you directly. But I know my daughter. And she’d let it slip on occasion. Which is what prompted this foolishness apparently.” His glare returns, focusing on Pelthin again.

“I didn’t… I thought it would help her,” Pelthin bawls, curling in on herself.

Pern closes his eyes, rubbing his central eye-ridge vigorously as he says, “I’m aware of that Pelthin. That, and the fact you brought her straight to me are the only reason I haven’t told the others what you did.”

“It was supposed to make her better,” Pelthin repeats to herself as she rocks back and forth to the side. I almost feel bad for her. The ache in Uthica’s chest makes that hard though.

“So, I don’t know who you are. But can you tell me why you’re inhabiting my daughter’s body?”

I glance down at where Smoulder is resting on my chest, then over at where Pelthin is curled into a ball on the floor, before finally meeting Pern’s commanding gaze. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Uthica set up some fancy ritual that let us talk to each other. Then when we were talking, that one stabbed us in the chest.”

Pelthin flinches when I mention her stabbing us, but Pern just sighs.

“And I can’t even analyze the weapon because it was destroyed. Likely a feedback loop.” He looks up at the ceiling for several seconds before adjusting his stance. “Well, nothing to do about that now. What’s your name?”

“Uh, my name’s Alexis.”

“Well, Alexis. I think Uthica and I need your help.”

“Sure. Though I was kind of in the middle of something when I was… brought here.”

“Are you able to leave? No foul intent, but if I could have my daughter back, that would be wonderful.”

Uhh. Huh. That’s a good question. Can I leave? When I search for the familiar feeling of my Facet, it’s weak. Very weak. And there’s nothing to pull on. I don’t feel a connection to my body. I spend a few minutes after that panicking, holding Smoulder tight. It’s when she nibbles my ear that I finally relax. I can feel her concern radiating through our bond, but when I look at her and laugh, it returns to her usual smugness.

And a demand to feed her.

Realizing Pern’s been sitting by my side this whole time, I apologize, “Sorry.”

“I imagine that means you’re not able to return my daughter to me.”

“Sorry,” I repeat, “I don’t know why, but my power is restricted. Maybe with more practice.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the time. There are those who have taken my daughter’s moment of weakness and seek to turn the Aetherium on its head. We need her. Now.” Pern extends an arm toward me.

I grasp it, letting him pull me up. “I told you. I can’t get her back.”

“True. But you can help me buy more time. Now, I need you to…”

I close my eyes as I listen to Pern’s instructions. “Okay. I’m not sure if I’ll be very good. But I’ll give it a try.”

“That’s all I ask. I’ll be right behind you.” Turning, he addresses Pelthin, “Pelthin. It’s time for you to make a choice.”

She stops rocking, looking up at where I’m standing next to Pern. Her voice cracks as she asks, “What choice?”

“Do you want to amend for what you’ve done to Uthica?”

Pelthin scrambles to her feet so quickly, that part of me is afraid she’s going to stab me again. But she instead clasps both of her left arms to her chest, performing a small bow as she says, “Anything. I’ll do anything to redeem myself.”

“Good. Cause my daughter’s rather heavy. Take her other side,” Pern says, shifting so I can put more of my weight on Pelthin. Smoulder glares at her as she carefully accepts my arm over her shoulder.

Pern guides us out of the tent. Even with them supporting most of my weight, the pain in Uthica’s chest even makes walking difficult. Outside the tent is a closed-in compound, leather skins stretched out to form a second layer of privacy curtain. Actually, considering the strength of infused leather, they might be fully functional walls now that I think about it.

“Don’t you have healers?” I find myself asking as a particularly bad spasm almost causes me to collapse halfway across the small space.

“Healers stay within Aethire or Betheryne. None would venture this far south.”

“No healing talismans?”

“We had several. None seemed to work except the one that brought you here.”

“Wait, you’re saying I feel like this after you used healing on her?” I ask, as we reach a leather flap that’s been secured by several thin strips of leather with bone buckles.

Pern pauses with his hand on the first of the buckles. “There was a hole in your chest. If Pelthin hadn’t expended every single healing talisman she had available, you wouldn’t be standing there now. And even now, I don’t… It’s amazing you’re even capable of limping.”

“Now remember. Once these straps are undone, you are Uthica. Only Pelthin and I can know otherwise. Understood?”

“Understood,” I nod, doing my best to remain standing through the pain, Smoulder perched on my shoulder.

“Good.” Pern finishes unbuckling the flap, then pulls it back, revealing a short hallway leading to a set of steps. At the top of those steps is a platform. And on that platform, waiting, were Uthica’s aunt Jethico with more than a thousand K’tharn beyond the platform

No big deal, Alexis. Easy peasy.

You can do this.

Time to be a Queen.

…TPWM 5.20, Stepping Up…

December 22, 1502 AD. The horrifying moment before stepping on stage.

Climbing the steps up the platform under the late day sun is one of the most painful experiences of my existence. And that’s with Pern helping me most of the way. Pelthin stands back and to my side, the very appearance of the loyal adviser she once claimed to be. While having Pern help Uthica is a concession she would’ve made, she’s never visibly relied on anyone else. Every step sends pain lancing through my left side, forcing me to stop and recenter myself.

It’s funny, if it was me, I’d probably have given up by now. But somehow, since I’m doing this for Uthica, it’s easier to endure.

Easier to take that next step that- Vaus-dammit!

Breathe.

Several more repetitions and we’re finally at the landing. There’s only a thin piece of leather between me and a thousand K’tharn waiting to see their glorious leader.

And if Uthica was here, I bet that’s what she’d give them.

Despite the pain, I almost turn away.

I’m not their queen.

But Pern insists once Uthica comes back, she’ll need the Aetherium behind her.

So, I mutter my lines to myself once more.

This elicits a chuckle from Pern. When I glance at him, he explains, “Uth-you always do the same thing before addressing a crowd. Every single time you have to give a speech, you tell me that addressing a crowd is the worst part of being the Queen.”

I grin at Pern. “That’s because the worst part of being a queen is having to address a crowd.”

“I know,” he grins back, and I find myself chuckling.

A sob from Pelthin reminds me that we’re not alone. And that Pern isn’t really my father, no matter how many memories I have of him.

Reining in my grin, I push through the leather flap. It couldn’t weigh more than a few kilos, but the weight is almost too much for me. Luckily, Pern steps up clearing the flap the rest of the way. I step onto the stage, doing my best to keep the pain from showing on Uthica’s face. Her aunt Jethico is standing to one side, her eyebrows drawn together in… shock? Relief? It’s hard to say. Uthica never trusted anyone but her father. But her aunt had always been hard for her to read. Too bad I didn’t think to warn Uthica about how treacherous Jethico would become. At least now Pern knows.

Still, it's unlikely Jethico will try anything in front of a thousand of Uthica’s loyal soldiers. So, I got up on the podium, ready to give the speech Pern had prepared for me.

Then I make the mistake of looking out across the crowd of K’tharn as their voices quiet. They’re staring at Uthica expectantly. At me. Panicking, I try to Pause time, to give myself a moment to think.

To my surprise, it works. Only for a few seconds, but it’s enough. When it ends, I take a deep breath, then I start Pern’s speech, “My warriors. As you can see, the rumours of my demise were greatly exaggerated.”

A nervous chuckle from several in the crowd.

“As you know, I have what some may call, an unhealthy habit of experimenting with things that explode.”

This time the laughter is less nervous, feels more genuine. Pern really knows them.

“And as a natural consequence of this habit, sometimes my experiments do exactly that. Now, I’m not saying it didn’t hurt. Because believe me, you would not want to be on the receiving end of that explosion.” Probably my easiest line since I can still feel the gnawing ache in my chest as I rub at it to show that it’s intact.

“But as you can see, I’ve recovered. In just a couple days we’ll be receiving our first guests from off-world. Guests who aren’t planning to wave guns in our face. What say-” I pause as the pain suddenly spikes, causing my vision to blur. “What say-” I try again, only for the floor to suddenly greet me. As I fight to keep my eyes open, I feel Smoulder rubbing her wet nose up against me. Pern is standing over me, his concern written in the wrinkles of his face.

And as my vision fails, I see Jethico behind him, a small smile tracing her lips.

…TPWM…

I stumble, in the middle of one step and the next as I return to myself.

“Alexis?” Roberts asks, my arm already around his shoulder.

“Yes?” I ask back, looking around. We’re walking through the lightning valley, picking our way across broken terrain.

“We were worried about you. You haven’t spoken since we defeated the Crakthorns.”

“I… Uhh… had a bit of an out-of-body experience.”

“Oh? Is that what you call that? I’ve never seen you stab something with a spear before.”

Uh… what?

“She was just trying to emulate me,” Josh grins, bumping my shoulder. “I was surprised when you threw up that armour around yourself though. I thought you didn’t like wearing armour.”

Wait…

If I was in Uthica’s body… was she in mine?

“Like I said, out of body,” I shrug. What was it like for Uthica to wake in my body in the middle of combat after having been stabbed through the chest? Kinda seems unfair. Would’ve rather woken to combat when I was her. Better than public speaking.

I let the others keep talking around me as we walk. It’s only after another fifteen minutes I notice I can’t tell where we are. Or where we're going.

“Uh. What happened after the fight. I’m having a hard time remembering.”

Josh practically bounces as he answers, “Beth grabbed us and started marching us straight back to the entrance the second we had the trophy. We’re not going to try to harvest anything that’s not in our path.”

“Yeah, but how does she know where the entrance is?” I ask, gesturing at the darkness all around us.

Roberts points to where Tipan is consulting with Beth at the top of a nearby ridge, Rufka waiting just below. A three-dimensional map of the valley projects over Tipan’s hand for a moment as they study it. Then they slide down the hill before waving us forward on a slightly adjusted course.

“Still no flying?” I ask.

“We decided it wasn’t worth the risk. We’ve only been inside for a day. We can afford to smell the roses,” Josh says, plucking a rose from his own armour as he does exactly that.

I nod, rubbing at an ache in my chest.

…

Wait.

I rub at my chest again and the ache is still there. Right beneath my left boob. Realizing what rubbing my boob might look like, I cross my arms to keep my hands locked in place.

Which makes it harder to walk. I quickly uncross my arms when some of the rubble we’re crossing tries to slide out from under my feet.

After that, I stop trying to figure out what the pain in my chest means, focusing on keeping my footing while maintaining several orbs of lightning to keep my mind off it.

An hour later, with only a few minor detours, we emerge into the filtered white light of the dungeon. The too-solid, pale blue sky high above is far more comforting than I expected. By this point, the pain in my chest has receded to the point I can barely feel it.

Josh is skipping down the slope, in surprisingly good spirits while the rest of us are more demure. But he stops a short ways ahead. The central valley is no longer peaceful, the cubes shifting slowly back and forth, their grinding motions creating a continuous echo. The movement of the cubes isn’t the only change. There are now packs of roaming creatures wandering the plains beneath it.

Centauric insectoids with a single eye and scything blades in place of arms. Pretty sure those are the Calthonra on the big ol' warning signs. Considering they’re the only aspect of the dungeon so far that matches any of our intel, it’s almost a relief to see them. Sure, they’re incredibly resistant to magic and physical damage, but we also know their weaknesses.

Now I just have to hope I don’t end up swapping places with Uthica in the middle of the next fight, and we’ll be great.

…TPWM…

The dungeon light is dimming as I sit with my legs dangling over the edge of the entrance platform watching Beth snipe yet another Calthonra. She’s at 253 out of 342. We tried fighting them head on, but with all the increases to their resistances, it took the rest of us working together half an hour to take down a single bug. Beth hadn’t been able to get a proper shot through the entire fight, one of their abilities allowing them to dodge all projectiles while in close proximity to any of us.

I blasted one with Lesser Cataclysm and while it was hurt, it wasn’t enough to stop it from charging us. And my ability drew in three more.

Once we finished the disaster that was that fight, we retreated so Josh could use his chemical manipulation to create armour cracking explosives, which is a thing he can do now. This is what I get for not asking about his new class abilities. While he was working on that, Beth decided to thin the herd, and it was effective enough we decided to stockpile Josh’s work for inside. So, now we’re waiting for Beth to clear out the horde before we attempt to enter the door at the base of the towering cubes.

Assuming it’s still there once she’s finished.

There’s a game of Astra’s Stride being played just behind us. After winning three games in a row, I decided to make a tactical withdrawal to maintain my winning streak. It’s the first time I’ve played so well. I could practically see everyone’s moves before they made them.

Which is also part of why I stopped playing to watch Beth instead.

When I successfully guess her 256th target correctly, I’m almost certain. I’ve gotten the last thirty targets. Some of which could be luck or reasoned guesswork as she moves to the next in her sights. But getting the exact order? Every time? When there were up to five standing close together. No.

The fact that I only knew a few seconds before she took the shot adds more supporting evidence for my thesis. I’m receiving hints from the future. Not far, and not obvious.

But this is huge. It’s a completely new aspect to my temporal manipulation. And it doesn’t seem to cost me anything. It’s like a free Anchor.

As I mentally cross out number 257, I lay back, staring up at the dungeon ceiling. It’s not as high as I’d originally thought. Clever use of colouring made it seem like it was kilometres up. But I’d flown up and discovered it was only five hundred metres or so. Still impressive. And it does extend higher in the centre where the cubes are stacked. But the dungeon could easily fit inside World’s End mountain.

I don’t really think of much as I lay there. Not that I don’t have a lot to think about.

Honestly, I have too much to think about.

But I’m taking a break. Letting my mind wander. Unwind as it were. The sound of Beth’s void-rifle ending Calthonra after Calthonra is cathartic.

Once Beth only has twelve left, I lift myself, flying over to the others while letting my body lounge on a wave of air. I’m flopped to the side with my eyes barely open as I say, “Beth’s almost done.”

“Lexi, you okay?” Rufka asks, trying to grab my hand. But I dodge it easily.

“Yep. Just trying a new look. Zombie-Lex. Do you like it?” I ask, floating toward Rufka while remaining completely at ease.

“Nope. Very creepy.”

“Dang. What bout you guys?” I ask, rotating toward everyone else. I receive two shrugs and a raised eyebrow from Roberts. Yes! Raised eyebrow. Calling that a win.

Speaking of winning. “Congrats Tipan,” I say as she picks up her piece. She then proceeds to complete her invasion of Josh’s territory. Oops. This time sense thing’s going to take some getting used to.

She grins at me as the others finish their game, Beth coming to join us when it’s down to just Rufka and Roberts.

“All done?” I ask, more out of habit that doubt.

“Yep. I could use a bit of a break though. Another game?”

I agree, along with the others, sitting down to see if my future sense can allow me to keep my winning streak. I quickly learn that while it’s useful, it’s not all powerful. A single person waiting to make their move throws my sense out of whack.

Still, I win the game easily.

“You’re really kicking ass tonight, Lex,” Josh says, holding his fist towards me for a fist bump.

Returning the bump, I decide to reveal my advantage. After all, it’s not like I’m using it on purpose. “Thanks. But I was cheating. I think. I unlocked a new ability during the fight with the tree-thingies.”

“Ha. And here I thought you’d been Pausing between turns to think things through.”

I shrug. I’ve done that before. And I still didn’t win as often as I have tonight.

“What is it kid?” Beth asks as we pack up the board.

“Limited future-sight. I can sort of tell what moves people are going to make. Or what targets you’re going to shoot.”

Beth stares at me for five seconds before asking, “Can you tell what I’m going to say?”

“I don’t think so,” I answer, furrowing my brows. I haven’t had that happen once.

“Interesting,” Roberts says.

“It is. Useful too. Especially if it works as a danger-sense,” Beth agrees.

“Almost as useful as common sense,” Josh says, elbowing me with a grin.

“Which I’ve got,” I respond, my chin held at an angle that would be difficult to achieve if I was walking instead of flying.

Josh’s only response is a chuckle.

Then our time for fooling around is over, Josh armouring up while Beth scans the valley for any strays she may have missed.

We descend less than a minute later, each of us vigilant.

The door we were planning to go through closed at some point. But flying around the base to the far side we find another. This one isn’t just a hole in the base either. It has a black door that gleams as we approach.

“I’d rather not touch that,” Josh says, waving at the door.

“Got it,” I answer, pulling rock from the valley floor, fashioning it into a three-metre pole then letting it land in Josh’s hands.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“No problem,” I respond, backing away as he pokes the door with the stone rod. The door swings inward, revealing a black corridor illuminated in the same pinks and orange as run across the surface of the cubes.

“No sign of enemies,” Josh informs us after putting his armored head through the door.

“Well people. Any bets on how high we need to go to finish this dungeon?” Beth asks while holding up three Iron-rank mana essence.

We all glance at each other. None of us need the Essence. In fact, we mostly pool our resources. Still…

“All the way to the top,” Roberts answers, causing the rest of us to groan.

“No other bets?” Beth asks to a round of shaking heads.

“Oh well, I tried. Let’s move people,” she says, directing Josh forward.

When I step inside, I notice the air is clean. The mana feels as though it’s given purpose. And that purpose is clean. Kinda like mana infused by a Roomba.

Interesting.

At first we remain paranoid about traps and ambushes. But the first floor is entirely clear of enemies. It’s also completely lacking in anything resembling loot or even rooms. It’s two perpendicular hallways that have a pair of stairwells leading up where they meet.

Ascending the stairs takes longer than I anticipated. There aren’t any hallways leading off for several hundred metres. If we weren’t flying, I’d imagine the stairs would get monotonous real quick.

We cross a line that changes the hue of the blank wall slightly. Which I think means we’ve moved to the next cube. Twenty metres later, we finally come across a hallway. But the stairs don’t stop here. Instead, they continue, reaching upward to infinity. Or the top of the cube-tower. Whichever comes first.

“Should we keep going?” Josh asks, his foot already on the next step.

“Check out the first floor at least?” Beth asks.

We all nod at that, and Josh leads us down the hallway. After a good fifty metres, the hall splits to either side. As Josh takes us to the right, I can’t help but glance behind us. But nothing dangerous pops out and the passage doesn’t close.

Weirdest dungeon ever.

When we go around the next corner, I finally understand why.

“That’s a Ripple-drive,” I mutter. The coils, tubes and trans-phasic inducers are in an unfamiliar configuration, but the principles remain consistent. In fact, I think I understand how this ship works better than the Sanctuaries.

“Lex?” Beth asks as I step toward a ladder that leads inside the giant assembly.

Inspecting several of the parts, I’m able to confirm it. This isn’t just for show.

“This is a fully functional ship,” I call out from within one of the central pylons. As I inspect the configuration, I start to question my earlier statement. It is functional, but it doesn’t seem to be setup to run between planets. Why?

“Damn rights, it’s functional!” A voice yells, echoing around the chamber. The voice sounds familiar.

When I fly out from within the pylon, I find my party readying themselves for battle, facing down Fethix, the elf that Uthica once choked for stealing her necklace.

“What is this?” I ask, waving my hand at the drive.

“This is Aethire,” Fethix declares, hands tucked into her pockets, pulling her coveralls down, revealing...

I keep my eyes locked firmly on her face as I ask, “What do you mean?"

“Aethire. The city that floats on clouds? This here’s the engine that keeps it running. What, a single decade goes by, and everyone forgets how the city stays up?” She stares at me for a second, pulling her hands out of her pockets. “Cept you ain’t a local, are ya? And unless there’s been a new integration wave I ain’t heard of, you’re not a System-bound race either.”

I don’t respond, though I notice my friends are still on alert, ready to act if this becomes a fight. Because we are still in a dungeon.

Which reminds me, “This is part of the World Dungeon, right?”

“World Dung…? Oh, fuck me sideways.” Fethix spins about, running toward a console where she starts tapping furiously.

The others look to me, and I just shrug, floating closer to Fethix. Looking over her shoulder, I see her pulling up what appear to be news articles. She only glances at them for a couple seconds before moving to the next. Finally, she comes to a stop on one that has a title about an incoming System integration. On the page is a picture of several humans next to an image of Earth from space.

She glances over her shoulder at me. “This is over twenty years ago. It says here you shouldn’t be integrated yet. So clearly something went wrong. The System hasn’t gotten an integration date wrong in millennia. But what do I flogging know. Apparently, a primitive, barely-integrated user can trick me into maintaining their floating city in the sky for centuries by associating me with their world dungeon. How did I not get any other visitors?”

The last doesn’t actually seem directed at us, but I answer anyway. “Uh. Well, it sounds like there’s another version of the World Dungeon. Most people go through that one.”

“Another? Well, I’ll be a K’tharn’s uncle. That means she must’ve arranged a parallel split. Likely running off the same mana vents that are powering this whole shebang.”

“From what I understand you can have as many parties in separate instances of the World Dungeon as you need,” I inform Fethix.

“What? No, that’s not possible. I mean, a few dozen is feasible with the size of the mana-vent we’re parked on top of, but they wouldn’t be unlimited.”

“I’m guessing the Aetherium doesn’t let that many parties in at one time,” I say, my attention moving back to the article about Earth.

Fethix catches me staring at the article and says, “So, you’re an Earther, are ya?” She eyes me up and down in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable. “Nice to see a nice healthy Elvenoid race joining the ranks. Been too long since we’ve encountered a seed world. If you know what I mean.”

“Um. Nope,” I answer before quickly asking, “Why do you think Uthica locked you in here anyway?”

“Oh, it was probably cause of… hey, how did you know it was Uthica?” her eyes narrow, causing her ears to flop as she leans forward in a move that is clearly designed to get me to look down her coveralls. But I keep my attention on the screen behind her, using a gust of wind magic to flip the page.

“Well, you worked for Uthica after you were taken from the Thenite Consortium, right?”

“How the buggins do you know I worked for Uthica, but you don’t know about… no, nevermind. Who are you people?”

“Oh, right. My name’s Alexis. What does this number represent?” I ask, staring at a number that reminds me of the way System price tags are labelled. Except this one seems to be in millions of Gold-rank mana essence.

“That’s the opening bid for System invasion rights. It’s pretty high, but then your planet’s looking to be a class 5 world. Not many of those in the System. Nine last time I had a look. Though clearly I’m a couple centuries out of date. Least my bonds will have matured.” Fethix abandons her efforts to distract me, turning back to the console to flip through a couple more pages.

“Bonds?”

“None of your business. Sheesh, some users. There,” Fethix points at the screen with a smug smile plastered on her face. On the screen is a much higher number than the one on the previous page.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the current bid for your Earth.”

I blink at her then look back at the number. 97,000,000,000,000.

That’s a lot of zeroes.

…TPWM 5.21, Bountiful Bounties…

March 17, 2019, 6:15 pm. Drowning in disbelief.

97,000,000,000,000.

Ninety-Seven Trillion Gold-rank mana essence. That’s what the current bid for first rights to invade earth is worth. More than enough to protect earth from the incoming mana-storm. Far more.

Pushing Fethix to the side with a hip check, I start paging through to check what Akilo was worth. It takes me a while to figure out the search function, Fethix grousing the whole time about ‘stupid over-powered Earthers’.

Akilo’s first invasion commenced ten years after Integration. Their highest bid was Five-hundred thousand Gold-rank mana essence.

By this point, the others have filtered over, so when I turn to ask Fethix another question, Beth beats me to it. “What does this mean for Earth?”

Fethix pulls at one of her droopy ears while staring at the ceiling. “It means… it means you’re pretty much right fucked in the pooper. The System’ll impose limits, but you’re gonna have the most powerful factions in the System bearing down on ya.”

As my papa once said, Beth’s response is about as elegant as a trucker who was just kicked in the nuts, with twice the volume. When Papa said it, he’d been describing the homeless man I’d run into, to his friend Mr Edwards. The homeless man, who had told me his name was Roger, Chris, Frank and Charmin in the space of five minutes, and normally hung around the strip club I wasn’t supposed to know about. When he saw me there, he’d waved me away before walking me home. Even as he knocked on our door, hollering for papa, he regaled me with a lot of profanity I’d never heard before. Come to think of it, that was a very educational day.

After Beth has calmed down, she commandeers the console from Fethix. Fethix doesn’t put up much of a fight, sauntering over to another display attached directly to the Ripple-drive.

“I shoulda known. That’s why we had to build it all from scratch. It’s so obvious now.”

“What’s obvious?”

Fethix jumps as though she didn’t expect company. “The whole design. It’s durable. Efficient. Powerful. This design would be envied on any of the Nine. I thought I’d had it figured out, but she co-opted the World Dungeon.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that earlier. Big deal?”

Fethix snorts. “Yeah, it’s a big deal. Damn kitten was smarter than I gave her credit for. Way smarter.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. See, she didn’t just co-opt the dungeon. She did it while not revealing to those of us building it what we were really doing. And look,” Fethix taps the screen. It shows what appears to be Fethix’s party status, but nothing else.

“So?”

“So? So, I’m the only one she locked in here. My sub-engineers? Her hundreds of workers. They’re all gone.” Fethix waves her arms around in excitement, her grin stretching so wide it makes my face ache in sympathy.

“Well, I’m glad Uthica didn’t enslave anyone else,” I nod. Honestly, I feel kind of bad for Fethix.

“What? Uthica didn’t enslave me. She tricked the System. Big difference.”

I stare at Fethix.

“A deceitful implementation of a bound System contract is an honoured tradition in the Thenite Consortium. Means you’ve outsmarted the System. I’m gonna get a huge bonus when I return alive.” Fethix is dancing in place, rubbing her hands together and I turn away before something spills out of her loose clothing.

I find Rufka standing right behind me, her grin almost as big as Fethix’s. “That sounds good,” she says, throwing her arm over my shoulder and turning me back to Fethix.

“It is. We just have to get out of this dungeon, and then I can take the Portal home in… Let’s see. Oh, that’s good luck, it’s scheduled to open soon. Just a few weeks. Hmm, it goes to a backwater, but I’m sure I can arrange transport.”

“Uh. Actually, the Aetherium sealed the portal. Apparently, no one’s gone through in over a hundred years.”

“What? Why would Uthica do that? Makes no sense.” Fethix rubs at her jaw, considering us.

“Uthica didn’t do anything. She left shortly before Akilo became a Sanctuary world.”

“Oh. Idiot locals. That makes way more sense. Well, if Uthica didn’t have anything to do with sealing the portal, it should be simple to open again.”

I can feel Rufka tilt her head to the side as she stares at Fethix. “You do know those locals could be anywhere. Even standing right in front of you.”

“What? Oh, right. Sorry. Or whatever you locals say. May your dog eat a bone,” Fethix responds as she digs through a nearby locker.

I can’t help but giggle at Rufka’s blinking face as she stares at where Fethix has half disappeared inside her locker.

“Alexis,” Beth calls out, walking over. “Does she know anything about the rest of the dungeon?”

It’s Rufka’s turn to laugh at me as I blink at Beth. It's not that I forgot we were in a dungeon or anything... But yeah, for a moment, I forgot we were in a dungeon.

“Ya know. I’m right here. You coulda just asked me,” Fethix’s voice echoes from within her locker.

“Right. My apologies. Do you know anything about the remaining challenges in this dungeon?”

“Nope. Hey, have any of you seen my pink, oh, nevermind. Found it.” Fethix pauses, poking her head out of her locker. “I don’t know what they left behind. But it’ll be thematic. Something that suits being in a spaceship. Won’t be too hard long as ya didn’t clear the wings.”

As we silently trade glances, Fethix pauses before putting her head in her hands. “Of course. The first blooming users to come along in two centuries just haveta be jumped-up, overachieving, dungeon delvers.” She waves a thin pink object in Beth’s face as she chides us, “You know, you could’ve just run the damn thing again.”

Beth looks at the elf who barely comes up to Beth’s shoulders then shrugs. “I don’t see the problem. It’s not like we have the luxury of spare time.”

“Oh? And what’re you doing that’s so important you gotta do a full-clear o' the world dungeon on your first go round?”

“We’re stealing the Builder’s cities, retrofitting them and taking them to Earth,” I answer, with a small smile.

“That’s stu…” Fethix starts waving a purple wrench at me with her other hand but stops. Then her grin returns, “Say, don’t suppose you’re looking for help? I’ll work cheap? Just need a ride on one of them cities. And full access of course.”

“I mean, we would. But you’re clearly in a hurry to get home. We’d never want to tear you away from your home,” I reply, gesturing at her bag.

“Bah. They’ve gone without me for a few hundred years. What’s another decade or two,” Fethix is practically drooling at this point, her packing forgotten.

“Well, once we’re safely out of the dungeon, I’m sure we can come up with a nice reasonable System contract,” Beth says, sticking her hand out to Fethix. Fethix stares at Beth’s hand for a second before slapping it, bumping it, slapping it back and then shaking it.

As she’s shaking Beth’s hand, Fethix says, “I really hope you don’t die. You kids aren’t half bad.”

Beth pulls her hand back, giving it a quick shake as she says, “Not planning to die. But again, if you’re able to give us any information, I’m sure it would improve our odds.”

“Like I said, I don’t know anything about the dungeon. There might be information on a console on another level. But it’d be behind a puzzle room. So, unless you’ve got a puzzle expert with you, you probably won’t be able to find anything.”

“Puzzle room huh?” Beth says with a smile.

We leave Fethix with a cordial goodbye as she lets us know she’ll be waiting to hear from us once we defeat the dungeon guardian.

As we leave and continue our climb, we find several additional Ripple-drives, each the same as the one we found Fethix in. We search through each of the consoles in case they’re different but by the fifth, I’m starting to wonder if there even is a dungeon guardian.

And then we reach the sixth cube.

The second we cross the invisible threshold, the mana changes. No longer does it carry the ‘clean’ energy it had on the previous floors. Instead, it carries a metallic tinge.

I inform the others, and we proceed cautiously. Sure enough, there are several puzzle rooms on this floor. Eight to be precise, each room elementally themed.

Once we’ve confirmed there are only puzzle rooms, we split up, each of us taking a different room. I choose the fire room, the walls made of charred ash and the puzzle itself glowing red stones. It’s a simple logic puzzle that requires me to sort the five stones based on their heat, size and density. My testing apparatus consists of several pools of ash-tainted water, a cracked bucket, a pair of warped tongs, a charred and unbalanced log and a series of different-sized jagged cracks in the side of the crackling podium the stones rest atop.

It’d be nice if I could cheat my way through, conjuring my own tools, but the quest states it will eliminate rewards for puzzles solved that way. Wonder if that has anything to do with Fethix. So instead, I submerge the stones in a pool of water one at a time, catching the steam from each in a bucket, while noting in my journal how quickly the bucket fills.

Then I spend a few minutes shifting the stones back and forth on the sea-saw log before finally rolling the stones through the jagged obstacle course on the side of the podium.

Once I’m finished, I arrange the stones on the grid on top of the podium, adjusting dials on the side to raise or lower each stone based on its density.

When I place the last stone, I wait for several seconds but the puzzle room doesn’t confirm my placement. Swearing softly under my breath, I run through all the tests again, only to realize I mixed up two of the stones after my very first steam test.

With the stones properly placed on my second attempt, the podium splits open, revealing a charred pad. Plucking the pad delicately from the podium, I receive a single integration point and a System update on a creature named Qelthonra. My pad indicates several physical features, and notes that one of its improved aspects is the ability to superheat its metal spikes.

When I regroup with Beth, Roberts and Rukfa at the stairwell, they inform me Tipan’s nearly finished a second puzzle room and Josh just started on the water room. When we combine the information rewards from each room together, we’re able to piece together a general idea of the boss we’re going to be facing.

It’s a six-legged tauric insect, much like the Calthonra. But it’s super-powered with the ability to launch sapient-seeking metal spikes that explode and a teleportation with two-second decoys and invisibility. We hope its teleportation will be restricted like ours, but none of us expects the System to be fair like that. When Tipan and Josh return, we get to add explosive caltrops and adhesive-acidic netting. Funzies.

“Damn. I’m glad we got intel on this thing before going face to face with it,” I mutter, looking up the stairwell.

Beth nods, flipping through the pads again. “Yep. I’d be surprised if it didn’t have one more surprise tucked away.”

“Like a food truck that doesn’t list their ‘Death wings’ on the menu,” Roberts agrees.

“Right… Anyway, standard Nutcracker battle plan to start. If flight’s restricted, then…” Beth begins. At this point, I think she likes taking us through the plan more than the actual planning itself. Beth continues talking as the rest of us manifest our gear or in my case, floating shields.

Once she’s done, we ascend through the last length of stairs until we emerge from a cave opening at the bottom of a grassy hill. A draft from my right carries the irritating smell of ash from flowing magma pools at the base of an active volcano. Turning to take everything in while searching for our enemy I see a frozen cliff hanging to our left, dark forms frozen beneath its surface. A splash from the far side of the room reveals a shape swimming in the lake that dominates the far side of the cube. It disappears amongst the pillars of stone jutting out of the lake when a bolt of lighting strikes a metal spire along the edge of the lake. Beneath the spire sits a plain log cabin. One that wouldn’t be out of place in the hills of my home province, British Columbia, back on Earth.

It’s a surprisingly idyllic setting for a final battle. I was expecting more doom and gloom. Also, not very spaceship themed.

When we’re not immediately attacked, we start sweeping the area, starting with the hill.

The higher vantage point reveals we’re on a strip of land sandwiched between two lakes. There’s another cabin on the far side of the hill, but it’s in worse shape, the lightning spire having collapsed on it.

We’re not given much time before the Qelthonra appears, pushing its way out of the broken cabin. It’s scythes gleam as it rubs them against each other.

Then it charges.

We split, Josh launching a handful of explosive charges protected by Rose-petal shielding as I dip behind the hill. The explosion ruffles the grass, the wind tousling my hair as Josh calls out, “It’s down.”

Which has me spinning about. It has teleportation and decoy as powers according to our tablets, so I’m waiting for it to appear out of nowhere to stab us in the back.

What I’m not prepared for is for it to step out of the magma at the foot of the volcano while also having one break free from the ice cliff while a third strikes my shield, riding a bolt of lightning.

“Add-ons!” I scream as I freeze time, barely dodging a follow-up swipe by the lightning-infused Qelthonra. I almost attempt to teleport to escape but force myself to blast it away with a Wind Torrent instead. I start reforming my shield, this time with a solid steel core as I fly up to take in the new battlefield. There are seven Qelthonra visible, in addition to the one that lies collapsed where Josh first wounded it.

A feeling of danger warns me of an incoming strike, and I move to the side just in time for a barely visible scythe to cut through the air where I was flying a half-second earlier. Even with time Paused that nearly skewered me.

I attempt to crack its shell, but I’m unable to do more than knock it away. And then the resistance is gone, and I’m dodging a bolt of lightning.

The next few seconds are a chaotic series of aerial manoeuvres as I continue to dodge ranged projectiles that shave off Health even on a near miss. It’s only as I regroup with the others that I gain a moment of respite, Roberts’ shields deflecting most of the incoming attacks with a degree of skill I can’t manage with my own cruder elemental shields. Helps that his don't decay under every hit.

Still, I start layering my shields with Roberts, reducing his load while trying to figure out a way to help with offence. Lesser Cataclysm would leave me empty, and after the weak effectiveness against the Calthonra… yeah. Even my piercing arrows hardly scratch the carapace, when they even land. Eventually I move my barriers lower as I realize I’m obscuring Roberts’ vision.

With a few additional explosions from Josh, they manage to reduce one of the Qelthonras to a single wobbling form. Its steel and gold inlaid carapace is cracked and two of its legs on its left side are missing. A single shot from Beth is enough to send it to its knees. One more and it lies still.

There are a few minutes of Beth flying about, eliminating most of the remaining Qelthonra. She holds off on the last, which was actually the first to attack. It’s still lying near the cabin, its glistening shell coated in a dark green blood that slowly leaks out as Tipan and Roberts retrieve Fethix.

“Well, that’s a right mess, isn’t it?” Fethix states as she joins us, staring at the no longer idyllic valley. Not even the volcano was spared, its side partially frozen from when I locked one of the Qelthonra in place. For less than a second.

“Now that you’re here,” Beth says, sighting her pistol at the remaining Qelthonra, before blowing its head open. “We can leave.”

“Zone Quest completed: Centre of the World. Requirements 9/9 Qelthonra defeated. Rewards: 1 Copper Rank Advancement Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Gear-Upgrade Point. Speed-run Bonus: 20 Copper Rank integration points. All Sub-dungeons completed Bonus: 1 Copper Rank Advancement Crest. 1 Copper-Rank Gear Upgrade Point.”

"Rest areas have been disabled. Instance completed. Teleportation has been unlocked. Any users who remain within the training area in ten minutes will be sent to the exit.”

The advancement Crests glow as they get added to my System interface, an icon that I’m guessing is supposed to be a seed next to the text. Despite its nature, the crest almost feels underwhelming. Almost as underwhelming as my performance in that fight. It’s a good thing I’ve got this Crest to make up for it.

Much as I want to upgrade my class this second though, we need to get to a Nexus first. Which means leaving the dungeon. Considering how far we are from the exit, it’ll be faster to wait out the timer. Unless… hmm, it’d take me most of the ten minutes to summon my castle.

Which means I totally have time to explore the cabin, which somehow remains completely intact. Its quaint round windows have bright white curtains drawn, preventing me from peeking inside, so I move directly to the door.

“Lex, wait up!” Rufka calls as she runs over. “I want to see too.”

I wait with my hand on my hip as not just Rufka, but everyone comes over to the cabin, a smile tugging at my lips. Guess I’m not the only one struck by the oddity of the cabin.

Glancing back, I receive a nod from Beth before turning the handle.

There’s a soft tug on my insides, not unlike when I’m drawn into Uthica, but my hand remains on the door handle, and I step forward. Inside is a simple home, a single table with two matching chairs, a small kitchenette and a kettle set to boil. In the chair on the left is a russet-brown, furry creature with a puffed-up tail. It turns its large, brown eyes toward me, a white stripe that splits its face wrinkling as it twitches its nose.

“Visitors. Already. I suppose it is that time. Amber, get the tea. Amber! AMBER!” the squirrel-person calls as I stare at it. It’s the least humanoid sapient I’ve encountered. Not counting the M’tari, of course.

I try to fire off an analysis, only for it to fail completely.

“What? What’s this? Keep your greedy eyes away! Or out you’ll go!” The squirrel-person shrieks at me, waving a wooden spoon in my direction that’s as long as they are tall.

“Sorry,” I apologize, glancing to Rufka for support. But Rufka isn’t there. None of them are. “Where’d-”

“Not here. Not here. They’re not you. So, not here.”

“Uh. Where is here?” I ask, as I try to feel the connection to the others. It feels like they’re close. Practically standing on top of me in fact. Is this another instanced space like at Raz’s?

“Cabin on the Shore. Obvious. Amber, where’s our- Ah, good boy. Good boy.” The squirrel-person settles back in their seat as the kettle lifts off its spot on the kitchenette then floats toward them. Two cups appear from some invisible storage space and the squirrel-person waves to the seat across from them as the kettle fills both cups. “Well? Sit down.”

“Sure,” I reply dumbly, squinting at the surroundings. As I look around the cabin, I realize it looks familiar. Very familiar. In fact, it’s almost an identical copy to the one I met Rufka in. Just with less clutter. “I think I’ve been in this cabin before. Or one just like it.”

“Hmm. Probably. Good design. Practical. Portable.”

“I’m sorry. But who are you? And what are you doing in the middle of a boss room in the deepest part of the World Dungeon?” I ask, my bemusement with the situation finally fading as she pushes one of the cups in front of me with a flourish.

“Roric. Name’s Roric. Thought you’d be quicker,” Roric says, tapping her head. “Theglia likes you. Doesn’t like many.”

“You know Theglia? How is she doing? Has she figured out a way around the teleportation restrictions?” I lean forward, trying to read Roric’s face and ignoring the cup. But her foreign features prove as impervious to understanding as my attempt to analyze her.

“She’s good. Has her System back. Strange times.” Roric pushes my cup toward me again, and I take it in my hands. Just holding it is pleasant, a calming balm.

“Kids. Theglia needs kids,” Roric says, shaking her head. “Too much ‘saving the world’. Not enough family.”

“Uh, sure,” I politely agree, turning the steaming cup about as I inhale the chocolate scent. Wait. Chocolate? Akilo doesn’t have chocolate.

Looking at my cup again, then back up at Roric, I realize her comically large eyes are focusing on me, flicking back and forth to the cup.

It’s a struggle, but I set the cup down, though I can’t help but take another whiff. Which is a mistake because it only makes me want to drink it more. But I know nothing about this Roric who suddenly appeared in the middle of a dungeon, so I hold off.

“Oh. Quick but stupid. So stupid.” Roric shakes her fluffy head, taking another sip from her own cup.

“Hey!” I object, bumping the table as I shift back and cross my arms. “I’m not stupid.”

“Course not. Never said you’re stupid.” I raise a finger to object, but she keeps talking. “Just rude. Break into home. Sit at table. But refuse drink. Yes. Rude, not stupid.”

I blink at her, glancing at the cup again. I attempt to analyze it, but just like with Roric, it fails. In an attempt to be thorough, I scan the table, the chair and the door. Not a single one gives me a reading.

“Done looking?” Roric asks, as she sets her empty cup to the side.

I nod, considering for the first time if I should just leave. But she knows Theglia. Or at least knows of Theglia. Tapping my finger on the edge of the cup, I consider.

To drink, or not to drink?

It’s obvious. Don’t drink. It could be poison. And that would be bad.

Picking up the cup, I slow time, watching the liquid quiver in slow motion. Okay, my time powers are working. And my danger-sense isn’t detecting anything. Not that it’s reliable.

If it was anything other than chocolate, I’d probably already be at the door. But it’s been so long. And hot chocolate was always my favourite. Especially after spending the day in the snow.

Besides, Health should help if there’s poison. Or if it’s too potent. I run my finger along the rim before gently lifting the cup to my lips.

I take a sip, just a little sip.

Oh, that’s smooth.

“Huh. Thought I’d failed,” Roric says, leaning back as I’m in the middle of taking a bigger sip. At her words, I spit it out, checking my Conditions. Even as I’m spitting on the floor to Roric tch’ing at me, my System buzzes with a notification.

“Quest received: None. Requirements: Say the phrase “Failure State,” while crossing the fingers on your left hand. Reward: Delete Your System.”

“What the hell?” I mutter. Okay, there’s nothing under conditions anyway, so not poisoned. But that’s a weird update. Especially the reward. Re-centring my attention on Roric, I ask, “What just happened? Why-"

“Good chocolate. Very good. Very rare. Does exactly what it needs. No more,” Roric interrupts, pulling her fluffy tail into her paws, hiding behind it so I can only see her ears bobbing as she nods to herself.

“Okay, but-”

“No more. Done all it can. Waste not to finish.”

At this point, I shrug before taking another sip. The sweet flavor on my tongue is delightful. Wonderful even. And it doesn’t trigger another update, so I take my time, slowly sipping it.

Still, before I know it, my cup is empty, and Roric is peering at me over her tail. The moment I set my cup down, Roric hops out of her chair and starts tugging at my hand. “All done. Out. Out.”

“Sheesh, I’m going. I’m going,” I say, wincing at her rough treatment. She’s surprisingly strong, moving me as though I’m no more than a crumpled-up piece of paper.

“Thanks for visiting. Come back soon. Ten years? Yes. Would be good. Ten years!” she declares as she shoves me out the door.

I don’t emerge back in the field, but instead find myself in a room similar to the beginning of the dungeon, waterways dotted with lilies all around me. Already sitting on a tasteful stone bench looking over the pond is Rufka. She checks over her shoulder at my abrupt entrance, rising when she sees my entry velocity.

“There you are. I was wondering what happened to you.”

“I take it that means you didn’t talk to Roric too?” I ask, kicking my leg to free it of a vine I managed to snag upon exiting.

“No. One second you were stepping into the cabin, the next you were gone. I went outside in case there’d been some sort of teleportation shenanigans, but I was kicked to the end of the dungeon. I think the others were going to wait for you.”

“Huh,” I reply, bumping her over so I can sit beside her. “Figures.”

“So, who’s Roric?”

“Super-cute squirrel lady. Had the best eyes for making sad puppy faces I’ve ever seen.”

“You know I don’t know what that means.”

“I know.”

We sit quietly together, holding hands until the others appear in a gentle pop.

“Oh good. What happened kid?”

“You know, the usual. Alien entity kidnapped me for no apparent reason then sent me back more confused than before.”

“You’ll give us your notes later?”

“Yep.”

“Great. Okay people, that was officially our best run through a dungeon so far. Excellent work. Now, let’s get the hell out of this city.” Beth doesn’t waver, immediately striding down the single path through the waterways.

I follow still holding hands with Rufka while ruminating on my encounter with Roric. Why would Theglia arrange for someone to give me a quest that deletes my System. I can’t help but imagine it’s important, but it makes no sense to me. Especially now that we’re ready to ascend to Copper.

Suddenly, an elf in a pair of overalls that are entirely too loose for her steps between Beth and the exit.

“What? Did y’all forget about me?” Fethix asks.

Beth just shakes her head and keeps walking.

I can't help but smile as we join her.

A note from Draith

Sometimes, it's nice to be alone. Like:  At home at sea : How a cultivator survives being shipwrecked onto a deserted island.

Better than it's title might imply. I enjoy the cultivation 'system' used in the novel so far. And despite the location, the characters are pretty great.

…TPWM 5.22, Thunderstruck…

March 17, 2019, 7:22 pm.

With Fethix joining us, I end up levitating her, so she doesn’t slow us down as we ascend. Despite her demands for a throne, I create something more akin to a motorcycle, lacking any functional parts such as wheels or an engine. The trek upward seems shorter than our descent. We reach an exterior door a mere five minutes after starting. There’s no sign of the Queen’s Knights. Or the Taken. Or any other K’tharn for that matter. Then again, it is the middle of the night.

Except… it isn’t. My time sense tells me it should be in the evening. The sun should be setting, not completely blacked out.

“Uh, guys,” I say, looking up at the overwhelming shadows. “It’s not nighttime.”

Beth follows my gaze, then looks around at the empty streets again. “Meet at rendezvous point banana-12. Josh, Roberts… Fethix, with me.” And just like that, it’s me Rufka and Tipan again. And to my slight disgruntlement, Fethix reveals she's perfectly capable of propelling the frame I built for her as she follows them.

While they disappear down a nearby back alley, we adopt our disguises then head down the main thoroughfare on high alert. I can’t even see the Fallen patrols I’m certain are flying overhead. Rufka is even more on edge than I am, her head snapping back and forth at the slightest sound. But everyone is behind closed doors. There’s nothing out here with us.

We’ve only gone half a block when I pull the others close and activate invisibility. There’s no sense making ourselves obvious targets. And with no-one else on the street, that’s exactly what I feel like, even in disguise.

Three city bridges later and we finally get our first clue as to what’s happening, a shadowy form streaking across the sky. It looks like the Dusk Athama are back. And this time it’s a full-scale assault.

As we’re scrambling toward the next bridge, a Dusk Athama the size of a dragon appears. It slams into the bridge, shattering it into a thousand pieces. An entire section of the city bobs and shakes for a second, some of the individual homes breaking loose. I can hear a child crying for help.

Turning to Rufka and Tipan, we reach a silent agreement with a single glance.

Not yet dropping my invisibility, we fly directly toward the rogue homes as a Flight responds, most of their members made up of Fallen. Did the Aetherium get more? They don’t appear to be helping the civilians but are instead attacking other dark shapes. Though they’re not faring well.

An entire squad is sent hurtling into the pit below when a single Athama explodes in their midst. Only their dragon-rider support seems unhindered, though they dash after their comrades.

We reach the spinning house, only to find that the door is barricaded. The crying from within is hushed by another voice. Instead of bothering them more, I fasten it to a nearby market with a few metal supports.

After another bridge is destroyed, I realize the city is drifting around in separate pieces. There’s no way of finding our way to the rendezvous.

“Well, this is cool,” Tipan says, though the word cool is in English.

“I don’t think you’re using ‘cool’ right,” I inform her.

“We should head to Betheryne. It’ll be safe,” Rufka suggests. Neither Tipan nor I have a better idea, so we drift to the South, avoiding battle as much as possible. It’s impossible to know how long the assault has been underway, but it seems like only the infrastructure is being targeted.

Well, and the Fallen.

Another patrol with Fallen is blown out of the air in front of us as we reach the outer city, making me wince. Surprisingly, the bridges here are more intact. It seems the M’tari have been prioritizing the inner city.

“Damn,” Tipan mutters. I follow her gaze to where a broken sphere is hanging listlessly, slowly slipping lower. It’s the same arena where we once watched Desh’mersa, the familiar logo of Tipan’s favourite Desh’mersa team, the Southern Tribunes, emblazoned on its sides. Except now it has a large jagged crack nearly splitting the dome in half, with several more scattered across the surface.

A cry from inside causes Tipan to twist in the air, zooming towards the building. We follow as she pushes herself through a partially open door, jamming the normally automatic mechanism to get through.

Inside the lights are flickering, the once steady enchantments disrupted by the damage. It only takes a moment for me to summon a ball of fire, but Tipan’s already nearly out of sight, flying down the corridor towards the cry for help. When Rufka pushes in behind me, I follow Tipan, attempting to reinforce the walls as we travel. I can’t repair the enchantments, but I can at least create steel reinforcements for the hallway.

Tipan is leaned over a dark-furred K’tharn when we enter the room, a group of other K’tharn standing around, some whispering to each other when we enter. They all look familiar. Tipan’s running her hand over her patient’s head, careful not to jostle them. The K’tharn has no obvious injuries, but Tipan remains still as the glowing circle pulses.

“Okay, I think she’ll be alright. Might take her a while to wake,” Tipan says, turning to one of the K’tharn hovering over her.

The K’tharn nods, her larger than average arms crossed, squeezing herself as she keeps her attention focused on the injured K’tharn. Another of the K’tharn, steps forward; She’s shorter than an average K’tharn, the top of her head not even coming up to my chin. Despite that, she radiates a ‘I’m in charge here’ sort of energy. Not unlike Beth. She places a hand on the burly K’tharn’s shoulders as she looks at Rufka and I. “Tipan tells us you’re all fans. Nice to meet you. I’m Advitha.”

She offers her hand, and I carefully take it, worried she might see through my new K’tharn facade. I’m still pretty infamous.

“Alexis,” I respond automatically, almost clapping myself on the forehead when I realize I forgot to give out my ‘K’tharn’ name. “What happened here?” I ask, trying to divert her attention using my most powerful weapon. Concern for something else. Their team seems mostly intact despite the structural damage, and there isn’t any debris in the room, so I’m a little surprised any of them are hurt.

“Same thing that’s happening everywhere. The depths-cursed squids have gone mad. We were fine until a couple minutes ago. Then a swarm of little shades showed up chasing one of those matted furs. We managed to barricade ourselves in here, but not before Kythee was hit,” she says, indicating the K’tharn Tipan was still balanced over. “And I still don’t know what happened to Jetho.”

“There’s someone else out there?” Rufka asks, turning back to the narrow opening.

“It was… It was the shadows,” the K’tharn Tipan’s been attending coughs out. “They took her. The shadows took Jetho.”

“Ukila above, that’s horrible,” the burly K’tharn groans. “Who’re we gonna get to play lower defence without Jetho?”

I stare at the burly K’tharn, but Advitha just sighs, “Baska, we’ve got more important problems. Like what’re the squids gonna do to Jetho.”

“Oh? You think they’re gonna hurt her?” Baska asks. “They’re always so nice when we visit.”

“Yesterday I would’ve agreed with you. But they’re destroying our home, Baska. And they hurt Kythee.” I’m feeling a little out of place, so while they continue talking, I pull Rufka into the hall. We check the rest of the building, but it looks like their team are the only people here.

Once we return, Kythee is back on her feet, talking in low tones with Tipan and her teammates. When we enter, I see Tipan glance up, before her ears fold back as she tucks away a Desh’mersa theet.

Tipan offers us a half-smile as she says, “Oh good. You’re back. Advitha was just telling me about the initial attack.”

“I was? Oh right, before we got side-tracked with the autographs,” Advitha nods, causing Tipan’s ears to practically hug her head. I choose to store that away for a more appropriate time to tease Tipan with while focusing on Advitha as she continues, “Well, it started a few hours ago with a small explosion at the south end of town. Didn’t seem important. Not even as much of a lightshow as when a mana-storm rolls up against the shield.”

“It was very pretty,” Kythee notes.

“Sure, the way the shadows crawled up the shield was definitely pretty. Not a sight you see everyday. But then the shadows disappeared and I thought it was the end of it.”

“But it wasn’t,” Rufka states, leaning against the narrow door while keeping watch outside.

Advitha shakes her head. “No. About an hour ago, the shield winked out and the city started shaking. Then the explosions hit. Thought it’d be safer to stay inside.”

Kythee nods. “Would’ve been fine if we could’ve gotten the doors to close. But the enchantments aren’t working right.”

Rufka taps my shoulder, indicating the hallway. I switch places with her as she studies the runework inside, retrieving a narrow tool before tracing it along a flickering rune. Even as I take her place, I hear Tipan ask, “What about the emplacements? They should’ve been firing.”

Baska shrugs. “Hard to tell. Defence department made a big announcement about upgrades a few years back, about how the emplacements were going to be quieter now. They’re probably working, but you’d need to be near one to find out. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be next to a two-hundred-tonne ball of death-enchantment.”

Rufka scoffs, “I doubt there are any death enchantments built into the emplacements. Too narrow a focus. More likely lightning and fire.”

“I don’t think she meant literal… nevermind,” Advitha says as light flashes across the sky outside.

I speak through the doorway, my eyes still watching for moving shadows, “Looks like lightning.”

Any response is drowned out by a crack of thunder. That had to be close.

“Uh, Rufka, you might want to hurry,” I suggest as I float closer to the exterior, another bolt of lightning splitting the sky. But it’s not coming from within the city. The most turbulent mana-storm I’ve ever seen is descending on us.

“Almost…” Rufka mumbles. I’m barely able to discern her words as the next wave of thunder rolls over us, shaking loose the far side of the hall. So much for my attempt to keep it together. As the hide and bone wall floats away, it loses any semblance of rigidity, floating into the abyss like a loose plastic bag.

“Got it!” With a thunk, the door slides shut behind me. A second later it slides open, revealing Rufka with a smile that stretches to her ears. Her smile falters when she sees the open sky and the mana-storm above us. “Well, that’s not good. It’s going to get rough.”

“Think we should stay?” I ask. The nearby buildings are enduring the storm, but the infrastructure connecting them is now completely obliterated.

“What’s the issue?” Tipan asks, staring over Rufka’s shoulder. “Oh. That could be a problem.”

I glance at the team who’re standing at the far end of the room, talking in hushed whispers then back at Tipan’s ‘disguise’. “Yeah. We should probably wait out the storm. It’s-“

There’s a cry from outside, and I barely think before jutting forward to look. There’s a falling K’tharn, their leg trapped inside a piece of bridge that’s definitely not floating.

The storm dominates the sky, flashes of lightning in every direction. “There’s someone out there,” I say, floating out as I Pause time. Then I move forward, pulling the K’tharn free. She’s barely breathing as I bring her up to the shelter. Rufka tries to wave me in, but I push the K’tharn in first, turning back to take one last look, searching for anyone else.

I’m turning back to the door-

Everything goes white.

There’s a ringing in my ears as my vision starts to clear. The first thing I see is more white, tinged with black. Tipan has me in her arms. I watch Tipan’s lips moving and I can’t hear her. Which prompts me to shake with laughter. It shouldn’t be funny, but it’s just so… silly.

She glances down at me, her eyes wide. Probably at my inane laughter. I try to wave it off, but my arm ends just below my elbow. When I see the stump of my arm, I only laugh harder.

I spend minutes laughing before I’m jerked out of it by a wave of pain.

Blurry vision but I can briefly hear Tipan muttering above me. “I can’t do anything else, something’s-” Emptiness then, “-more mana.”

“We need to get her inside.” Rufka’s voice sounds rough. Like she’s been eating too many sugared meats again. I try to reach out to her, to chastise her. But my arm’s still missing, so I miss her completely. Then her voice again. “Keep her still. She’s going to hurt herself.”

Tipan’s response is lost as I’m wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.

When I next open my eyes, my view is filled with Rufka’s tawny-brown fur. So pretty.

“Thanks,” Rufka responds, running a hand over my face. Her cheeks are matted. I’ve only seen her fur like that a couple times after she loses our water wars. Rufka doesn’t cry.

“You’ve been crying.” I’m not actually sure I say it. I can’t really hear my own voice. Which is weird. Should I be… Oh shiny.

Flailing around, I try to snatch a flashing light that’s passing between mine and Rufka’s face. It’s a shiny little snowflake. A gleaming remnant of beauty. It’s just like Rufka, but not as perfect.

“She’s really sweet when she’s…” I hear a voice. Tipan? Sounded like Tipan. But I can’t concentrate. On the voice. Or anything. The world’s getting dark again.

Pressure on my chest as the world goes black.

…TPWM…

Uthica opened her eyes. She was in her tent, fading light filtering in through the clear-silk. That meant it was either morning or evening. Last she remembered she’d been fighting in her sister spirit’s body. The power had been intoxicating. Different. More pure. Uthica pet the rumbling furball on her chest idly as she tried to understand what had happened.

Uthica? I can’t… I can’t concentrate.

Wait. Furball? Glancing down, Uthica discovered a powerful mana-hare. She knew its name was Smoulder, knowledge shared by Lex when she last visited. Smoulder nestled on Uthica’s chest in a manner that indicated a great deal of familiarity and comfort.

“Uthica?” Pern asks, rushing forward, dropping to his knees next to Uthica’s bed as he rested his hand against her head.

“Father? What happened? One second, I was visiting with the Stranger, the next… Pelthin!” Uthica sat up with a start as her eyes sought out the traitor. Uthica’d grind her up and feed her to her dragon. No, that was too good for her. She’d have her stripped of her System, then fed to the plants the herd beasts fed upon.

“Do not be too harsh with her. She saved your life as much as she endangered it,” Pern informed her, his frown informing her that he wasn’t pleased with his own words. Uthica stared at him.

“She stabbed me, Father.”

“I know.”

“She stabbed her queen. She must be punished.”

“I know.” His frown deepened, but he didn’t add anything else. Still, Uthica knew him.

“But you would advise against it? How long have I been recovering?” Uthica asked, looking for her tablet. Her chambers were empty of the usual clutter, her maps and artifact designs conspicuously absent.

“Nearly a week.”

“A week? Jethico?” Uthica asked, her fur ruffling with worry.

“Forestalled. Your friend Alexis helped convince them you were recovering.” Pern sat on her bed as Uthica paced the room, Smoulder jumping onto his lap.

I… Fuzzy bunny!

“Good. And the Beltain Clan? And the Kalpese?”

“They’re moving. Your aunt… she’s made moves to replace you.”

Uthica hung her head. It’d been a risk to contact Alexis, but she’d thought she’d mitigated them. Clearly, she’d been worried about the wrong person. She’d been certain Pelthin was loyal. At this point, Uthica was used to betrayal, but she’d hoped. She’d truly hoped that this time would be different.

Hugs Uthica. Hugs!

Uthica stopped pacing, a warm feeling washing over her as her eyes locked on the empty table before looking to her father.

“Stored away.” Pern pulled open one of the large pockets at his hip, withdrawing a book with careful motions. It bore a unique enchantment, one Uthica had developed after nearly a decade of work with spatial enchantments. With special runes to bind the space to only the book, it was a secret only her father knew of. A storage space untouched by the System.

Taking the book from her father, she set it on the table, pulling forth a single sheet at a time. A necessary compromise to maintain the spatial field without the System’s influence. And yet… just a taste of her sister's power had given her… ideas.

Before she could start going through the reports stored on top, Pern cleared his throat, causing her to look up.

“About Pelthin…” He started, pausing when Uthica clenched her fists, crumpling the reports in her hand. When she’d released her hands, smoothing the paper on the table, he continued, “She’s the only one we can trust.”

Uthica stared at her father, wondering if her latest near-death experience had been the pebble to send his mind into an avalanche of madness.

“She thought she was helping,” Pern noted as Uthica was inspecting him. “Your aunt had convinced her you were possessed, and the spear would free you.”

Uthica rubbed between her eyes, before shaking her head. “Why? Why would she believe that?”

“I… it’s my fault. She believed the facade I established that Jethico is to be trusted.”

Uthica couldn’t help but laugh at that. Despite the fact Uthica had pushed for the ruse, her father wanted to claim the guilt. “You know better than that. She’s the one who stabbed me through the chest!”

Chest. Hurts. Still hurts.

“Yes. Well, she wasn’t the only one concerned about your ‘secret stashes’ and the resources you were putting into them. I underestimated the concern.”

Uthica sighed as she turned to the reports. Pelthin was a problem for later. She’d have to deal with her, but if her father was certain she could be trusted. Well, Uthica would be increasing Pelthin’s training regimen. And it would be less than pleasant. Still, her father trusted less often than Uthica did herself…

Uthica started questioning him about other less personal, but potentially far more disastrous issues. They were discussing clan Beltain’s sudden change in meat pricing when Pelthin stepped into the tent with a tray loaded with steaming bowls.

“My-my queen,” Pelthin stuttered, nearly dropping the tray as Uthica turned towards her. Pelthin used a short burst of wind-manipulation to right the bowls before bowing all the way to the floor. In that moment it occurred to Uthica that Pelthin was going to be even more obsequious. Which seemed eminently unfair. Why did Uthica getting stabbed result in greater suffering for her. If anything, Pelthin should have to stand and face her without the ‘my queen’s’. In fact…

“Pelthin.” Uthica schooled her face, not allowing a single flick of her ear to show.

“Yes, my queen?” Pelthin asked, still bowed low, the tray held parallel to the floor in front of her.

“I’ve decided on your punishment.”

“Anything you command, my queen.” Pelthin gushed, her shoulders sagging in relief, the tray dipping perilously close to the floor. Pelthin’s reaction helped convince Uthica that her father was correct.

“You are hereforth forbidden to refer to me as ‘my queen’ while in private counsel. Furthermore, you are forbidden to bow or avert your eyes unless directed to do so.”

“My- I- but…” Pelthin rasped out, dropping the tray the short distance to the floor as she attempted to keep her head bowed and meet Uthica’s gaze at the same time. Spotting the spilled stew, Pelthin immediately gasped, “Oh no. I’ll get refills.”

With a wave of her hand, she cleansed the stew from the floor and raced out of the room.

When Uthica turned back to the reports, her father was staring at her, only a single eyebrow raised. He didn’t say anything, but his reaction still caused her to chuckle as she returned to their work. When Pelthin returned several minutes later, Uthica couldn’t hold in her laughter at Pelthin’s attempts to say her name instead of the traditional ‘my queen’. It almost made getting stabbed in the gut worth it.

Almost?

Almost. Stabbing was not pleasant.

The night passed in relative peace, the only sound the buzz-like snoring of the camp’s lone mud-thorpe. And the gentle rumble of Smoulder’s purring where she was nestled on Uthica’s chest. Despite her father technically being a pet under the System, Uthica hadn’t had a pet in decades. There was never time for one. But her father assured her that the little mana-hare was entirely self-sufficient. Which had caused a couple incidents with the camp’s quartermaster until her father had stepped in.

Uthica found herself rubbing the little hare between the ears as she drifted off to sleep.

Night night!

…TPWM…

When I wake, pain asserts itself along my arm, the blinding flash almost causing me to pass out again. What… Uthica’s memories of waking are still fresh in my mind, but I can barely remember what happened before I joined her. We were talking with the Desh’mersa team. There was a mana-storm and then…

Sitting up slowly, I stare down at the stump of my arm. It’s not even the cause of the searing pain. It takes me far too long to realize I’m only looking out of one eye. Closing my eyes, dulls the pain, so I leave them closed as I open my status to check my conditions. Instead of activating instantly, my status flickers several times before finally listing my conditions.

That’s not a good sign.

In addition to the flickering System which isn’t listed, I have over a dozen conditions. Missing right hand, three months. Melted right eye, six months. Collapsed right lung, two months. Intermittent deafness, only one. Then there are several conditions related to burns on the right side of my body all with over a week. All together, my conditions decrease my maximum health by over half and my stamina by two-thirds. Then my system glitches and half the durations change, some increasing and others decreasing. And it does it again.

A bitter laugh leaves my lips as I realize the healing items we carry won’t be able to handle these injuries. Which means I’m a cripple until we find Roberts. I certainly don’t want to attempt a Restoration while the System is glitching, even if it says I haven’t used a charge.

Even if it worked, I doubt I’d be able to return to Akilo. Besides, after Beth’s reaction, I’m not certain I want to experience dying. Guess I should’ve thought of that before flying around in a mana-storm. All the storms we’ve passed through lately made me complacent.

At least I completed the quest to immerse myself in a mana-storm. No reward, but I now have a quest to enter five more. I’ll get right on that; I chuckle to myself.

My laugh turns into a coughing fit, the wheezing of my single lung struggling for air aided when I force more air through with wind-manipulation. Inspired, I attempt to restore my collapsed lung in a similar manner, but it leads to another coughing and wheezing session.

Does inflate it though.

It’s at this point that I realize I must be alone. I’ve made more noise than Rufka when she’s launching a ‘sneak’ attack on Tipan at three in the morning. Either of them would normally have at least greeted me. Oh, right. Maybe they did and I just didn’t hear them. Stupid deafness.

[Alexis] “Hey Wyonna, what’d I miss?”

[Alexis] “Wyonna?”

Okay, that’s weird. Checking my throat with my intact hand, I don’t feel a collar, so hopefully I wasn’t arrested in the middle of the battle. I double check my conditions, but there’s no clue there. Next, I focus on my connections, but there’s nothing but static. I can’t even tell what time it is. Freaking hell, I swear everything is broken.

Pushing myself up, I crack my single working eye open, inspecting my surroundings. I’m not in the stadium anymore. In fact, I don’t appear to be in any of the familiar buildings of Aethire. My current residence consists of wood-slat flooring, walls I can’t see, knick-knacks along the side hiding them away. I haven’t been here in nearly a month. I can’t begin to guess what we’re doing at Genitha’s cabin, but at least it means I’m safe.

I shuffle across the room, glancing out the small window. No sign of anyone on the lawn. When I reach the door, I glare at the wooden bar holding the door closed. Enchanted against elemental disruption. Not normally a problem when I have two hands. If I was a better enchanter, it would be a simple matter of using a keyed item to open it. But nope.

I wrestle the bar up with my single cramping hand, stopping to curse and let my vision clear each time I bump a burn. For the first time, I’m grateful for the experience of enduring the intense conditions of the first dungeon’s hidden training scenarios. Despite my grotesque injuries, I’m somewhat familiar with using my body when it's partially mangled. Which I’m not certain is a good thing, but it is what it is.

Eventually I work the bar free. Instead of putting it to the side in its normal resting place, I let it fall to the floor with a thud. As it hits the floor, my stomach rumbles, informing me I should've stopped for a meal before going exploring. But I can eat whenever. I’ve only been awake for a few minutes but not having anyone around is starting to get to me. There’s a far greater pit than my empty stomach threatening to swallow me.

I pull the door open with a pained grunt.

With the door open, I float around the cabin, practically bumping against it. It takes me less than a minute to confirm my suspicion. I’ve been left here, alone.

Okay, Alexis. Clearly someone brought you here. You weren’t abandoned. They’re coming back, they’re coming back. I barely register the flash of pain as I collapse on the porch, my skin surprisingly loud as it cracks. Of all the sounds to hear. I spend long enough on the porch rocking back and forth that the sun peeks into the clearing from overhead.

But still, no one shows up.

And despite telling myself otherwise, I can’t help but have the same thought run through my mind on repeat.

I’m alone.

…TPWM 5.23, Not Home Alone…

March???

I don’t know when the tears started, but I’ve discovered my ruined eye still sheds the salty fluid, the sting in my cracked cheek bracing as I sit on Genitha’s porch under the midday sun waiting for someone to appear. I remain there until the sun disappears behind the canopy, the change finally shaking me out of my stupor.

Swearing as I drag myself to my feet, I roughly brush at my face with my remaining hand as I instinctively try to clear my vision. Which only results in more pain. But the pain is pleasantly bracing against the emptiness swirling inside me. There must be something more going on here. I… it was never this bad when I was alone before Akilo.

Still alone, I move inside. It should only take a few minutes to get the wood bar back in place. It takes me longer.

Accessing my inventory is the only thing that’s easy with a sole hand. At least I have plenty of food. And it’s not like I’m going to run out of water. Sitting at the table, I make my way through a lasagna-esque dish, the taste not registering. My eyes remain focused on the locked door, only leaving it to glance out the windows. It’s only as I bite at my empty fork that I realize I’ve finished.

I know I should wait for the others. Especially in my condition. They’re probably only a minute away. But I’ve been here all day. All day alone.

Which is fine. I was alone all the time back home. I was happy when I was alone.

Yeah, happy. I was… happy…

I can’t even pretend to believe it. I was miserable. I lived for the weekends with Sab and my visits with papa.

Oh god, papa.

I’ve barely thought of papa for the last month.

I guess its kinda hard to worry about him. Knowing Roberts could cure him in minutes has relieved me of my guilt but knowing that rushing home would only doom everyone else…

There’s a scraping sound from outside, and I hop to my feet, rushing to the window, glad for the company. But it’s not any of my companions. Instead, a familiar giant feathered dinosaur is stripping the tops of the nearby trees of its leaves. The red and white feathers have the same distinctive crest of the first Zanbia I met when I arrived. And the same scars. Either it’s the same one or they're very closely related and those scars are some sort of marking.

Even though it’s not one of my friends, the familiar creature is reassuring. I watch as it tears another chunk of leaves from the next tree, the chaotic feeling in my gut settling. Then there’s another crack. But this crack has nothing to do with the Zanbia. Instead, there are swarming shadows. Dusk Athama. Just like the ones from the attack on Aethire. Even as I’m struggling with the wood bar, I hear an explosion from outside.

I scream as I drop the bar on my foot. But it doesn’t matter, as I fly around the cabin as quickly as possible, pausing time the second the door is open. At least that works.

The Zanbia is still standing. It’s leaking a thick blue liquid from above it’s left eye, but is otherwise uninjured, it’s mouth open in the middle of snapping at one of the darting shapes.

It’s a simple matter to send lightning torrent forth to dispatch the dozen or so Athama that are swarming above it. But there are another three hiding amongst the forest that take longer to draw out without leaving the clearing. Much as I want to help the giant beast, I know I’m far from peak condition. It won’t do either of us any good if I collapse.

With the Athama gone, I pull free my healing talismans from my inventory. Then I stare at it. How did I forget my backup talismans?

Doesn’t matter. Taking a deep breath, I float towards the Zanbia. The blue liquid has already gone stiff. Maybe it doesn’t need healing? Which is probably better. Healing it with my mediocre healing skill would only cause it pain. But… I have three single use talismans.

Normally, I wouldn’t even consider using one of my single use healing talismans. But the swirling pit of emptiness that’s been making it impossible to think is gone. If I heal her, maybe she’ll stick around. But first I should check to see if any of my talismans will work on my existing conditions. Pulling them out, I look at my small collection. A feather with beads rests next to a bone notched with emerald slivers and a jar of healing salve. Amusingly, the salve which feels the most thematically appropriate for burns, is nearly useless. I don’t understand why, but it’s best for mending broken bones.

But the beaded feather should do something. I place the other talismans back in my pack before holding the beaded feather to my missing arm. As much as depth perception would be handy, it’s not as useful as an actual hand. Especially if I need to keep messing around with the cabin door.

I channel mana into the talisman, but… nothing seems to happen. Staring at the talisman, I can see that it’s absorbing mana. But it doesn’t heal my arm.

Maybe it has a higher mana-threshold? It’s not like I can experiment with it. I only get one shot with each of these. Maybe I should’ve used the salve first?

With a snap, the feather explodes, the beads sinking into my arm. The charred flesh becomes slightly healthier before the beads flare and disappear. That’s it? Six hundred mana and all it does is make my skin pink. Is it just a weak talisman? If I ever make it back to Glimmering Sands, I’m going to have words for the healer. She promised a lot more out of her single use talismans.

A rustle of leaves shifting from the direction of the Zanbia causes me to glance over. It’s nestling in place, one giant eye locked on me. I give it a tentative wave with my uninjured arm before pulling my other talismans from my pack again. I don’t want to use the notched bone unless I have to. It’s the most expensive healing item I have, ten of Vethal’s essence went towards it. It should heal me completely without any mana used if I understand it’s description correctly.

“What do you think?” I ask the Zanbia, whose blue scab is already cracking and breaking free. She doesn’t offer advice, not so much as flicking her eye. She just sits there breathing.

I nod, creating a soft chair formed of earth on the porch, facing the Zanbia. Even using my magic to assist me, it’s painful setting myself in place. “You’re right. It hasn’t been that long. I should wait for the others.”

With the sound of the Zanbia’s heavy breathing in my ears, I let myself slip off into sleep.

…TPWM…

Ukila is high in the night sky when I wake, its surface obscured by the silhouette of the forest canopy. The Zanbia’s breathing fills the clearing with small gusts of wind, each gentle breathe causing the grass to sway. I search my surroundings, searching for what caused me to wake.

There’s nothing obvious. Maybe I’ve just had enough sleep. My stomach grumbles and I’m forced to reassess. Probably should’ve eaten after using all that mana earlier. I pick myself up, glancing at the Zanbia before making my way inside. This time I leave the door open, not bothering to wrestle the damn bar back into place.

A plate of noodles and green sauce disappears as I consider my situation. Someone brought me here. There’s no note, so they either weren’t expecting to be gone long or… they weren’t expecting me to wake. No. If it’d been anyone in the party, we would’ve left a note. So, Genitha then? Except… she’d have left an obvious clue.

Going through the cabin, I search for a sign of what might’ve happened. But it’s only as I’m checking through my own inventory that I realize that there’s something missing that might explain what happened. Stroking my hair, my hand doesn’t find the hairpin Genitha gave me. She mentioned it could provide emergency protection. But does that mean it teleported me here?

If so, I didn’t get left here. Her contingency activated, whisking me away. And if that’s the case then teleportation might be working despite the System’s lockdown. I've known I can move tiny slivers. And the Qelthrona were teleporting too.

Simple test. Teleport an object. It’s a test I should’ve done earlier… I don’t have any of the old lunchboxes I used in my first tests, but I make a similar facsimile. As I look at the imitation lunchbox, I smile to myself. Despite the physical crippling of my body, my magic’s strong as ever.

Wrapping the box in Facet, I Focus, sliding it sideways through space within my aura. The box arrives unharmed a metre from its starting position before dropping a few centimetres before I catch it. Promising.

I repeat the test several times. Despite the static, teleportation appears to work. I’m able to send the box from one side of my aura to the other without an issue. But when I attempt to send it outside, the static overcomes my protection. The lunchbox’s battered form zooms away from me, ripping a gouge in the short grass surrounding the cabin.

The ground starts re-knitting itself as I approach the box. The lunchbox is in worse shape than any of my earliest tests. It’s not recognizable, a rough lump of metal with jagged points in a sagging U-shape.

When I poke it with a pole formed of metal, the tip of my pole melts, instantly bonding to the lump. The lumpen U resists metal-manipulation as I attempt to reform the box shape, the merged portion requiring far more mana than usual to tease apart.

Once I have the lunchbox reformed in front of me, I stare at it. It’s impossible to tell that I just twisted it into a metal monstrosity. A deep breath. Two. Then I send it sliding through space again. This time it tears apart right as it crosses the boundary of my aura. My next few tests are stable, and I’m even able to flex my aura slightly to get it to go an extra meter.

After a hundred tests, I increase the size of my test dummy to a full-size boxy robot. Lacking all the parts that make a robot do their robo thing, of course.

Another hundred tests and I’ve confirmed that size doesn’t matter. At least, not in stability. Teleporting safely within the static field does have a much higher Facet cost than normal for larger objects, even with my aura helping out.

But it's possible.

With my testing completed, I sit down to consider whether to test the next logical step. If something goes wrong during teleportation, I’ll be in even worse shape than I am now. I don’t really need to teleport. This was all just a distraction anyway. At least I’ve confirmed it’s still possible to teleport, even if the range is limited.

Yeah, I’ll save testing teleportation on myself for an emergency. Or after I'm healed.

With my tests completed I end up on the lawn, crafting an obstacle course for Smoulder. Even though she’s not here to use it, it’s still calming. I’m building the third sub-castle for the Holy-Roman Bishop of Suds when I realize I might have overdone it. Most of the clearing is occupied by miniature structures that wouldn’t even serve as much of an obstacle to Smoulder. Unless she’s trying to avoid breaking them. Even the stream that runs along the edge of the clearing has been included, providing the water the Bishop needs to produce his suds.

It makes for an impressive ‘I was here’ gesture though. Still gonna leave a note, but this’ll play its part too.

I’ll need to leave soon. Ergo the note, because no one knows where I am. I’ve been here for at least a day, and Aethire’s not that far away by air. Another twelve hours and I’ll be certain. And well rested.

Waving to the Zanbia who’s still napping away, I return to the cabin, climbing into the lower bunk. I’m not expecting to fall asleep, yet somehow, I do.

When I wake, the sun is intruding through the open door, the light a near solid triangle. It’s easier to float myself out of bed without accidentally jarring anything this time, and I have breakfast without issue. Emerging after breakfast, I find the Zanbia has left, and I feel some of the cloying emptiness pull at me. I almost fly away that second, but I remind myself that I only have to wait until midday. Which should be…?

Looking at the sun, I estimate I have several hours still. But… I’m not exactly sure. Not having my time-sense is leaving me doubting myself.

The remainder of the morning feels like it takes forever. I can’t even distract myself by playing with my magic. That’s not to say I don’t release the occasional burst of flame or lightning. It’s just not very distracting.

Not until I start reflecting on my class abilities. My chakram feels… weird to use with my busted arm. So, instead I keep thinking through them. Which brings me to my Seed. While the link to the rest of my interface is still suffering, somehow, the feeling of the Seed remains mostly the same. In fact, it might even be stronger. Further investigation reveals it has… impressions in it? I think? Vague shapes and glimpses of my memories since arriving on Akilo.

When I estimate midday has finally arrived, I lift into the sky, scanning to make sure I haven’t missed anyone’s approach, my letter neatly folded on Rufka’s table, and the door firmly closed but not barred. When I look to the east, I curse as I see a mana-storm on the horizon. Looks like I’m not going anywhere yet.

An hour later as the last of the mana-storm passes overhead, I fly to the North-east, directly to Theria’s home atop the rocky promontory. There’s a good chance Theria will have some method of contacting either Rufka or Genitha that doesn’t operate through the System’s regular methods. Honestly, there’s probably something in the cabin that would work too. Just not one I could find.

Theria is in one of her terraced gardens when I arrive, tending to a vine with large melons growing on it. She carefully shifts one of the vines to the side, changing its path so it stretches into an open field instead of crossing paths with its neighbour. Once she’s done, she turns to me, brushing her hands together as she looks me up and down. “Alexis.”

Landing next to her, I feel a sense of relief. Was kinda afraid she wasn’t going to be here. “Hi Theria. Sorry for flying in but had a rough day. Uh, I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Rufka or Genitha in the last day or two?”

As she shakes her head, I can feel my stomach drop slightly. “Fraid not. If you need to speak to Genitha, I believe I have some of our old arrays tucked away somewhere.”

“Yes please. There was a… I’m not exactly sure what happened.”

“You okay? Looks like you lost a fight with Astra herself,” Theria reaches towards me, but I pull away.

“Uh. It looks worse than it is,” I lie. If she knew how bad it was, she’d probably keep me here until Genitha came for me.

Theria stares at me for a couple seconds before shrugging. “Come along then, let’s see if I can’t find it.” Theria’s already turned away, stomping down the carefully placed stonework ramp. None of Theria’s home has been built with magic - except the runes that shield her from mana-storm’s of course - but has instead been built by either her or her wards. As we approach the large brick and mortar house, one of those very wards emerges, his arms buried beneath a stack of dirty laundry.

Ckichik’s dark carapace would be enough to mark him as an outlander, but his four splayed legs are what really set him apart. Good for stability, those. Even though most of Theria’s wards have low attributes, he has no problem carrying the awkward bundle down to the nearby stream to do their laundry.

I wave at him as Theria leads me inside, quickly pushing through the crowded central room to a small room beneath the stairs. She pulls a rug off the floor, revealing a hidden trapdoor. Hoisting the trapdoor open, she climbs down, calling up, “Well, come on. Get down here.”

Looking at the narrow opening, I edge my way down, but I still bump my charred arm against the edge. The lancing pain is momentary, but enough I end up bumping into Theria which sends another spike through my side. I bite down on it, trying not let it show on my face. But Theria’s not paying me any attention, sorting through a stack of boxes off to the side.

The room is large but has the lowest ceiling of any place I’ve been to. And not just on Akilo. The entire space is packed with crates, rolled up rugs, bags full of unknown objects and the occasional stone pillar supporting the floor above. Even the pillars seem like they were placed haphazardly. Part of me wants to reach out and reposition them, to create symmetry. But I know better. Theria’s anti-magic stance is a big part of why she lives out here.

It’s also the most common reason her wards leave, according to Rufka.

“Aha. Found… Nope, nevermind,” Theria says, slamming the crate she was sifting through closed, pushing it back into place with her hip and setting the crate above her to rocking. She casually stops it with one hand while moving deeper into the room. “Ah. Here. Come help me with this one.” Theria directs me behind a crate to a trunk with thick metal straps that’s underneath another crate.

“Okay, now pull it out while I hold this one,” she says.

I grab one of the rough leather handles with my left hand before nodding at her.

“On three. One, two, three…” I pull on the trunk which turns out to be lighter than I expected, forcing me to retreat rapidly to avoid clocking myself with it. Once it’s free, Theria sets the crate down, stepping over to release the clasps on the trunk. There’s a soft hiss and the smell of dust left too long in the dark as she pushes the chest open.

“Hmm, yep. That’s it.” She hands me a plain wooden stick from within the chest. I take the stick, glancing back at her as she struggles with the lid. Even when I analyze it, it doesn’t display any stats. What am I supposed to do with a stick? Hmm, Genitha is paranoid about using the System’s messages to communicate. Did she find a way to hide her enchantments from the System entirely? Is that why it’s so plain?

I hold the stick out in front of me, squinting at it, trying to find the hidden runes or any sign of Genitha’s hidden work.

As I’m rotating the stick, Theria plucks it from my hand, wedging it into the trunk to keep the lid from closing.

Oh.

After a few moments of searching, Theria grunts, pulling a board covered in the Vausian alphabet from the trunk. She sets the board to the side while muttering under her breath and digging for something else. Soon a pair of cups with a bit of string join the board. Then a small folded piece of wool, that she flips open, then closed.

Finally, she pulls out a small octagon with a hole in its centre. The octagon seems to be made of pure mana essence, sparks of each element swirling beneath its surface. Analyze identifies it only as a mana essence, but I’m certain it’s more than that. Setting the octagon on the top of her little pile, she turns to me, gesturing me away. “Let’s get out of here. One of these should work. Probably.”

“Don’t you need to contact Genitha frequently? These all seem… old,” I note as I half-float, half-climb out of the storage space, not willing to put myself through more pain just to avoid flying.

“Sure. She’s got a fancy transmitter in Aethire she normally uses. But something happened to it a couple days ago. Got all sparkly then went poof.”

“Don’t you mean sparky?” I ask, looking for this transmitter.

“Nope. It started shimmering like a rainbow after a mana-storm. Then a couple seconds later, it disappeared.”

“Disappeared.”

“Yep.”

“Like, it’s gone, disappeared?”

“Yep.”

“And that doesn’t concern you.”

“Nope.”

My mouth drops open as I try to respond, my hand going to my forehead. But I don’t reach cause I was trying to do it with my right hand. Staring at the space where my hand should be, I focus on the fact I have more important things to do than worry about what happened to Genitha’s communication device. Theria never stopped moving, already pushing some half-finished wood carvings on a low table to the side, clearing space to set her pile down. Then she plops down on one of the cushions scattered around the table.

Joining her, I take a closer look at the collection of communication tools.

“If it works, this would be the best one.” Theria holds up the piece of folded wool, flipping it open again. She fiddles with it for a few seconds, holding it to her chin, the top flap covering her mouth before pulling it away. She repeats the process three times before tossing it onto a pillow beside her.

“Didn’t work?” I ask, watching as she picks up the cups with string.

She places the cups upside down on the table, stretching the string taut as she answers, “Wouldn’t be playing with this garbage if it had. Summon some water, would you?”

I nod, creating a small ball of water over one of the cups. She dips her finger in the ball then runs it along the string, coating it with a thin layer. Once she’s satisfied, she starts tapping on the cups, her hands a blur despite my maxed Iron-Rank Perception. Even channelling Pause, I’m hardly able to track as she alternates between the two in a pattern I can’t decipher.

After several minutes, she stops. She doesn’t throw the cups to the side however, instead clearing more space on the table and placing the board beside them. She places the octagon on top of the board, frowning.

“How much of a hurry are you in?” Theria asks, flipping the octagon across the back of her hand as though it were an oversized coin.

Pausing to consider my answer, I shrug. “Not urgent, I guess. Still, I’d like to get this patched up,” I answer, waving my left hand at the right side of my body.

“Right. Looks uncomfortable. Sorry I don’t have anything for that.”

“It is kind of painful,” I admit.

Stopping the coin, Theria scrunches her face before turning to the side and yelling, “Thistle? Can you spare any of your tea, sweetie?”

There’s a crackling sound from the other room, before Thistle walks in, her leaf-woven hands holding a cup with steam wafting over it. She places it on the table with a few more cracking sounds from the mouth on her chest to which I respond with a simple, “thank you,” in Vausian. I can’t understand Thistle, but I know it’s not mutual. Thistle inclines her leafy canopy in my direction before retreating into her inner garden.

I still don’t know how Roberts managed to talk with her.

Picking up the cup, I take a single sip and my body relaxes. Even the pit in my stomach seems less tight. “Good tea.”

“It won’t fix anything, but I’ve found it tends to relieve pain when an elvenoid drinks it.” Theria taps the edge of the octagon on the alphabet board as she speaks, glancing at the cups, then tapping the board again.

“What’s that do?” I ask, motioning at where she’s tapping the board again.

“Huh? Oh, it doesn’t do anything. I’m just waiting,” Theria answers, smiling at me as she leans back.

“Ah. Is there some reason you aren’t trying the board? Can Genitha only respond to one method at a time?”

“No, nothing like that. Astra’s starboard is just tedious to use. Always works, but it’s tedious.”

“It always works?” I ask, leaning forward to give the board a closer inspection. The letters are spread between four curving rows, each row with different sized letters, the largest at the bottom. Each letter has a circle inscribed in the character, interrupting the otherwise perfect characters. The circle is the same size for each letter. It’s also the same size as the opening in the octagon. Does she have to spell out the words? That does seem tedious, but I can’t imagine it’s worse than the cups.

“Yes. Genitha received it from a friend after… you know, I can't quite recall. But I remember she was very impressed.”

“Do you want me to use it? It looks pretty simple.”

Theria throws her head back, laughing so hard that she nearly bumps the table. Thistle pokes her fronds in, gesturing at Theria, but I just shrug in response.

When she finally stops laughing, Theria smiles at me as she says, “I suppose it would seem like it’s simple. But perhaps I can show you why it’s not.”

Twisting the octagon between two hands, the octagon reacts with a slurp before stretching upward. It continues flipping back and forth, Theria holding it firmly within her hands the entire time until it finally comes to a rest. It’s a perfect copy of Theria, down to her current posture and scrunched up face.

With a deep breathe, Theria slowly moves the figure over the first letter. It’s the same letter as my Vausian name equivalent, but that might just be coincidence. I wait for her to move to the next letter, but she just sits in that position for several seconds. When I’m about to ask her what’s wrong, she moves to the next letter in my name. This time I start counting in my head, trying to determine how long she’s spending on each letter. I’ve reached 42 when she finally shifts to the third of eight letters in my Vausian name. At this point I’m pretty sure she’s spelling it out. And then I notice that the little sculpture is moving, tracing the characters out again and again. No wonder she doesn’t want to communicate with Genitha this way. Each letter takes longer than it took her to do the entire message when using the cups.

When she gets to the fifth letter the cups start vibrating. Theria lets go of the miniature model of herself, uttering, “Oh thank Vaus.” She starts watching the vibrating string carefully, the model reforming into a simple octagon coin.

I spend the next few minutes watching Theria tap the cups, stare at the string, write something down and then repeat the whole process over again. Finally, she pauses her frantic writing and I ask, “So? What did Genitha say?”

“Not much. Most of that was just the code making sure I’m me.”

I blink my only good eye, taking another sip of my tea as I try to retain my composure. As I’m sipping, Theria adds, “I did mention that you were injured, and she slipped in the fact that Rufka is safe.”

“Oh, well that’s good then,” I reply, my voice surprisingly level, the string starts to vibrate again as my heart sags in relief.

It takes another cup of tea and three more sessions to find out that Genitha is several days away, dealing with a situation in one of the M’tari coastal cities on the western continent, so she won’t be able to help me for almost a week. She’s sent a message informing Rufka of my situation, but she has to wait until Rufka’s able to respond to tell us more.

The entire process is painful, her message relayed to me one awkward sentence at a time. Still faster than the board would've been.

As Theria sets her pen to the side, she stretches before reading her latest notes. “Ah, Genitha mentions she should have something to address your wounds. A feather blanket you can wrap yourself in. However, she also said you'd need Rufka to get it. She also wanted me to reassure you that you’re welcome to stay in her home for as long as you need.”

She blinks, looking up from her notes before adding, “You’re quite welcome to stay here as well.”

I nod, but I don’t think I’ll be able to remain. Part of me wants to leave immediately, to try to find Rufka and the others. But the sensible thing will be to wait for a response from Genitha as to her location. To be told where she is.

That doesn’t mean I need to sit still in the meantime.

“I suspect you do not wish to stay,” Theria says, patting my hand.

“No. I mean, I’ll be in the area until Genitha can tell me where Rufka is…”

“But you need to be moving. I understand.”

I nod, then shake my head, “I’m worried about the others too. But if I find Rufka first, she’ll lead me to them.”

“Of course,” Theria says, climbing to her feet while packing up the unused tools. “It’ll be a couple hours until the next message, so if you want to go, now’s a good time.”

“Right. And Theria. Thank you.” I offer her a small bow.

She waves me off, grumbling, “It’s nothing.” She rolls the octagon across her knuckles again for a moment before stopping. Her lips curl downward as she glares at the coin, before shifting her gaze to me, poking it directly at my chest. “You need to take better care of yourself. I’ll not see little Rukie go through such loss again. Too young. Far too young.”

With that, she turns away, shuffling to the trapdoor while I fight to keep my composure. I don’t say anything, retreating past a startled Thistle before blasting out of the sheltered valley.

I’ve crossed the river to the south before I stop my aimless flight.

Taking a deep breath, I look back towards the promontory. The sheltered nature of the valley hides Theria’s home, yet I feel pressure, pushing me to… do something, anything. I follow the river, heading east, toward the sea where this all started. As I travel, I almost don’t notice the mist hanging over the river in the evening sun, but a dark shadow within draws my attention.

Flitting closer to the surface of the river, I realize it’s the Water Elemental. It’s surrounded by hundreds of small blobs. They’re all shifting through shapes, copying the forest around it.

When I get closer, it retreats, its entire eight-meter body sinking beneath the surface without a splash. I swallow hard, pulling away from it. I veer south, moving towards the church and standing stones. I haven’t been here for a while. Not since shortly after Elementalist’s peak. The tower protruding from the top of the church guides me in.

The design is still painful to look at. It’s functional. Ugly. I reach out to reshape it, to turn it into a work of art. To wipe away the shame. Then the cloud cover breaks, the evening sun casting my shadow over the entire village, my single hand grasping like a monster from the dark.

I drop my hand, inspecting the tower again.

Yes, it’s not-pretty.

But it’s a reminder. A reminder of what I was capable of a mere day after arriving on Akilo. This time when I reach out, it’s not to change, but to reminisce. Even in my first moments here, I wasn't reliant on the System for my magic. I've seen enough to know how true that is now.

The static… it interferes with my System.

So… can I ignore it?

I settle on the roof, leaning against the tower while staring into the setting sun. Turning my attention inward, I scour my interface for the hidden connections. Greyed out names float in my head, brought forward in my consciousness. Focusing on Beth’s nameplate, I tease the layers beneath apart, catching the wisp of magic as it's freed from the System’s restrictions.

With the strand in my mental grasp, I reinforce the connection, shifting my Focus.

…TPWM…

Beth’s talking with Roberts, something about the assault, when I connect. I realize I didn’t use any of my improved techniques, as a map of Akilo fills my view. Before I have a chance to adjust, she stops, closing her eyes as she whispers. “Kid? That you?”

It takes me a few seconds to remember how to control the connection. Once I’m certain I’ve got it, I respond, “Yeah, can you hear me?”

“Oh, sweet Jesus. Kid, I’m glad to hear your voice. How are you guys doing? Are you alright?” Even as Beth is speaking, I hear Roberts say my name as he shakes Beth’s shoulder. She nods at him, and he sighs, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Uh. No. I could use some healing actually,” I answer. No need to let them know how bad it is. Wait… “You guys? Rufka and Tipan aren’t with you?”

“They’re not… Shit. What happened? Where are you?”

I attempt to shrug, realize she can’t see me and say, “Not sure. I think I was hit by a mana-strike? Then I think I remember Tipan and Rufka talking. I passed out, had another Uthica flashback then woke in Genitha’s cabin.”

“Understood. We’re outside Betheryne at the moment. No sign of Tipan or Rufka. Aethire’s… it’s not good kid. Roberts is helping out where he can, but there are refugees everywhere. Not all of them can afford to get into the Sanctuary.” She opens her eyes, and steps out of the tent she was sheltering in, Roberts beside her. Her tent is set up near the edge of the Builder city with a clear view of the open fields that stretch to the foot of the mountains surrounding Aethire. Where once there were neat rows of diverse produce, now the fields closest to the Sanctuary are crushed beneath a disorganized mess of the broken floating homes that once made up Aethire.

As Beth watches, another cluster of homes is towed toward the city by two dragons struggling against their harness. One of the dragons drops, causing the entire cluster to lurch and shudder until it’s guided to an empty area by a team of K’tharn. When the cluster touches the ground, several doors snap open, and K’tharn spill out. There are cries of confusion and anger as neighbours call out to each other. I hear more than a few yelling at the tired K’tharn who are already flying off to help with the next cluster of homes.

Behind them, a flash of light appears, Talkith standing there for a moment as she lowers a K'tharn to the ground. And then she's gone.

Roberts waves to Beth, his leathery wings stretching wide as he flies towards the new arrivals.

“Don’t even know how lucky they are,” Beth mutters.

“Sorry, what?” I ask.

Beth sighs, before heading back inside her tent. “There have been hundreds of minor injuries, but from what I’ve gathered there haven’t been more than three fatalities. All of whom were from confronting M’tari directly.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Sure. But I’m sick of them complaining about the damage to their homes. Ungrateful…” Beth stops. I’m certain she had several less than generous words ready but she chooses not to deploy them. “This is going to hurt our plans.”

“I can see…” I pause as a feeling of weakness shakes me. “Uh, I have to…”

My connection to Beth snaps, the pain surging through me as I pass out.

…TPWM…

Beth cringed as she heard the sound of crashing glass on the street below. Looking outside, she saw Travis’ hands on the sill of their fourth-floor apartment. In the street below was the remains of the third television her mother had bought since he’d moved in. She continued to replace them, never questioning him when he said it’d been an accident.

Beth disliked Travis. He’d disrupted her life significantly when he’d started dating her mother six months ago. The only thing that had improved was that he was a better cook than Beth or her mom. Still, their days of bland rice or overcooked chicken were better than living with this man-shaped donkey.

Beth felt her hands closing over the aluminum bat again, wishing she could discard him as simply as he’d done with the tee-vee. The bat was a present from her father on one of his rare visits, back when he still came. She’d been glad when those visits ended. Trying to find words for such a useless man had been painful.

Not like her uncle, Samuel. How two such different men could come from the same parents, she'd never understand.

The bat had been buried in the back of her closet for years before Travis moved in. But after one too many nights of Travis coming home, then settling in front of the television only to go into a rage whenever Manchester United lost a game, he’d hit her while she was making a sandwich. She hadn’t even said anything about his stupid game. With blood still clouding her vision, she’d dug the bat out. Only after having it in hand did she clean her face, return to the kitchen, and finish her sandwich.

He'd eyed her, but stayed away.

She knew she couldn’t trust him after that. He didn’t even have the excuse of drinking, though her mother insisted that alcohol was no excuse for violence either.

Beth thought it was ironic that her mother worked as a therapist but didn’t recognize the danger Travis represented. And of course, she thought her thirteen-year-old daughter was exaggerating. Just because Beth happened to get in fights at school on occasion. Bullies were bullies, as her uncle said. And Beth was used to standing up to them, no matter how violent or big they were.

But Travis wouldn’t be a danger for long. Not because of the bat. No, the bat was reassuring. But it wasn’t important. Not unless he tried something.

He didn’t drink. That was a point of pride to Travis. Real men don’t need alcohol. He’d said it so often, Beth had wondered who he was trying to convince. Afterall, he also said real men didn’t use violence. Just like her mom.

Lies.

He didn’t drink, but he did use protein powder, claiming it was the next big thing. It was practically his religion. He sold it to everyone he could. And it wasn’t just lip service. Every day, after her mom left for work, he’d prepare a giant portion in his blender. Then he’d crash around in the den, disrupting her last hour before school with his workout.

It’d taken her a long time to figure out how to use that. She’d wanted it to be untraceable. Not all bullies backed down if you hit them. And being caught was… not ideal. The anarchist’s cookbook had been the key. So many useful bits of knowledge. Dangerous household chemicals and mixtures. The trick was to add it when his powder was low enough, he’d clean the evidence himself.

There was the sound of boots on glass outside her window as Travis emerged on the street below, lifting the tee-vee and carrying it to the dumpster.

Two more days, Beth told herself, her hands clenched on the bat when Travis turned to stare up at her through her open window.

Two more days and Travis would be dead.

…TPWM…

What… the… actual…

I throw up, my mind refusing to process Beth’s following memories for several seconds. While not as clear, I can remember moments from the next few days. The moment she left early for school, having added something to his blender and something else to the powder. Leaving early was a habit she’d established over the prior month.

Her mother’s tears when she got home from school. Her mother lamenting that if only she’d been home and gotten to him sooner, she might have been able to save him. Beth’s surprise when her mother received life-insurance. Her regret that her mother didn’t return to normal, instead throwing herself into her work to make up for her ‘failure’ with Travis.

Her disappointment when instead of ruling Travis’ death a suicide, the investigator concluded it was an accident. Beth hadn’t been aware that Travis was seeing a counsellor for suicidal thoughts and that the counsellor had stated Travis was improving.

Underneath it all was the part that still had me fighting to control myself. Beth was smug.

She’d killed a man when she was thirteen and had never felt remorse, or even disgust. Just a deep pervading sense of satisfaction.

I slide down the far side of the temple, away from my mess, catching myself in the air before hiding inside the church.

Too much.

That had been too much. I’d known Beth could be ruthless. But this is worse. And unlike my early attempts, I don’t have the luxury of doubting the truth. Josh and Beth both verified that the previous memories I experienced were accurate. And the encounter with Tipan only reinforced it.

I’m sitting at the bottom of the stairs in the basement, slumped against the wall when I feel a pull in my chest. My connection to Smoulder.

But I have no interest in living through yet another crappy memory. So, I resist.

As I resist, I stare at the far wall, focusing on the shape of the stone. Time slows to a crawl and my time-sense returns. Then I lose my grip and my mind is flung back. But it’s less real. I get a vague sense of Uthica and Smoulder fighting against a horde of mana-borne Pothlin, the twisted version of a K’tharn the only clear image in the memory. And there’s an argument with Uthica’s aunt.

But then I’m back to myself. And I’m slumped against the far wall, right beneath the stone I’d been locked on.

Did I… Did I just use teleport on accident?

Table of Contents

Title Page

0.00 Prologue

1.00 One of Those Days

1.01 Loading, please wait.

1.02 Survival

1.03 Focus Alexis, Focus.

1.04 I believe in magic

1.05 Alexis VS Nature

1.06 Hiking

1.07 What a mess

1.08 Flaming bunnies and other magic

1.09 Important decisions, delayed

1.10 Would you like to know more?

1.11 Raising Walls. Now with magic!

1.12 Working Plumbing

1.13 Not now. Maybe later.

1.14 My Shinies

1.15 Going the Distance

1.16 Chill for a moment

1.17 Uthica

1.18 When it rains

1.19 Bring Umbrellas

1.20 Watch that Step

1.21 Hospitality

1.22 Rites, Right

1.23 Connections

1.24 Reunion

1.25 Apocalypse

1.26 Time to Pause

1.27 Raz' Remarkable Reststop and Repository

1.28 Minor, Small details

1.29 I'd like to know more.

1.30 Wardrobe +1, and other upgrades

1.31 Wyonna

1.32 Easy. Super Easy.

1.33 Hitting the field

1.34 Fallen and Falling

1.35 The Moonshine Talks, and the Moonwalk Walks

1.36 Turbulence

1.37 Project Airborne 2.0

1.38 A Broader Perspective

1.39 Plans? Where we're going, we don't need plans.

1.40 All Out Elemental Action

1.41 Citizen Pandora

1.42 Tunnel Time

1.43 Unexpected Discoveries

1.44 Why You Wittle Wascal

1.45 Bright and Early

1.46 What is a father anyway?

1.47 Challenge Accepted

1.48 Fear not the Bunny!

1.49 Crew Quarters

1.50 Brainfreeze

1.51 Model Ships

1.52 Fire Drill

1.53 Enchanted, I'm sure.

1.54 Status Check

1.55 Well, that happened.

1.56 Ugh, Spiders.

1.57 A Walk in the Forest

1.58 Fly by Night

1.59 Pick me ups

1.60 Small Improvements

1.61 Demo

1.62 Sleepus interuptus.

1.63 Cross Country.

1.64 Glimmering Sands

1.65 Removable Obstacles

1.66 Unexpected Guests

1.67 Turning up the Heat

1.68 Face to Face

1.69 Now Shopping For Widgets

1.70 Holding Up

1.71 It's Raining Tower

1.72 Discouraging Pursuit

1.73 One Small Step

1.74 Wake me up

1.75 Before you Go-Go

1.76 Hell of a Drop

1.77 System Access?

1.78 Forerunner

1.79 Not so Simple

1.80 Some People's Parents

1.81 Are Not As They Appear

1.82 Breached

1.83 Little Complications

1.84 Making the List

1.85 If You Choose To Accept It

1.86 Gather Round

1.87 Rest and Remote Infiltration

1.88 Task Failed Successfully

1.89 Setting Sun

1.90 To Them The Spoils

1.91 Humble Abode

1.92 Message in Hand

1.93 Ring-a-ding!

1.94 Epilogue 1 - The Few Who Stand

1.95 Epilogue 2 - Playtime

Not-a-Chapter: Recap and Why I Stopped Posting Rant

...Chapter 2.00, A Meeting Between Moments...

…TPWM 2.01, I have a… no? Later then? Okay…

…TPWM 2.02, Living Dead Guards…

…TPWM 2.03, What Stays Up…

…TPWM 2.04, Something Rotten…

…TPWM 2.05, Living on the Edge…

…TPWM 2.06, Not Ivicka…

…TPWM 2.07, World's End Palace…

...TPWM 2.08, The Taken known as...

...TPWM 2.09, Higher Heights...

...TPWM 2.10, How Do You Like Them Poisoned Apples...

...TPWM 2.11, Tabled Meetings...

...TPWM 2.12, Forbidden Knowledge, Denied...

...TPWM 2.13, Hottest Spot Around...

...TPWM 2.14, Challenge Requested...

...TPWM 2.15, High Voltage, Rock and... Twilight?...

...TPWM 2.16, Taken Tears…

...TPWM 2.17, After Earth Magic...

…TPWM 2.18, Petting the Pussy-cat…

...TPWM 2.19, Elementary Spell-craft ...

…TPWM 2.20, Ineesis' Trial by Fire…

...TPWM 2.21, Hero Pose...

...TPWM 2.22, When One Door Opens...

...TPWM 2.23, Another Gets Blown-off its Hinges...

...TPWM 2.24, Oh Mighty Rabbit Queen ...

...TPWM 2.25, Population Limits...

...TPWM 2.26, A Not So Honest Merchant...

...TPWM 2.27, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea...

...TPWM 2.28, The Isle of the Vale of the Tomb of Desh Atun...

...TPWM 2.29, So Edgy, it Must be Emo...

...TPWM 2.30, Immortal Kombat...

...TPWM 2.31, Sweetest Things ...

...TPWM 2.32, Thirty Days and Nights...

...TPWM 2.33, Grinding Atun...

...TPWM 2.34, Desh'mersa...

...TPWM 2.35, Round One, Fight?...

...TPWM 2.36, Desh Atun....

...TPWM 2.37, Exit to Your Left...

...TPWM 2.38, Yeah, They Had Something to do With It...

...TPWM 2.39, One Small Step...

...TPWM 2.40, One Giant Teleport for Lexi...

...TPWM 2.41, An Unusual Vigil...

...TPWM 2.42, I’ll Show you a Sacred Tool...

...TPWM 2.43, There's Always Another Bug...

...TPWM 2.44, Not Ugly Enough to Save...

...TPWM 2.45, A Hundred and One Fallen...

...TPWM 2.46, Down Where it's Wetter...

…TPWM 2.47, You Know that It's Better…

…TPWM 3.00, A Light Second Away…

…TPWM 4.00, Important Studies…

…CHAPTER 5.01, To Steal a City…

…TPWM 5.02, Some Assembly Required…

…TPWM 5.03, Inhibiting Progress…

…TPWM 5.04, Random Encounters…

…TPWM 5.05, That Which Binds…

…TPWM 5.06, Beyond the Rise…

…TPWM 5.07, Testing, Testing, 1,2,3…

…TPWM 5.08, Where Have You Been…

…TPWM 5.09, Smo No Mo…

…TPWM 5.10, Throwing Down…

…TPWM 5.11, Elswyrms to Elsewhere…

…TPWM 5.12, Into The Mire…

…TPWM 5.13, Talmaskan Tea…

…TPWM 5.14, Nightstar Rising…

…TPWM 5.15, Economy Class…

…TPWM 5.16, Security Bypass…

…TPWM 5.17, The World Dungeon…

…TPWM 5.18, Around the Rim…

…TPWM 5.19, Grounded…

…TPWM 5.20, Stepping Up…

…TPWM 5.21, Bountiful Bounties…

…TPWM 5.22, Thunderstruck…

…TPWM 5.23, Not Home Alone…