Andrew let out a frustrated sigh as he glared at his status screen. Even with the help of his other self, his Essence Manipulation and Energy Control were both stuck at level fifty! Well, they probably weren't stuck stuck, but if he wanted to raise them, it was going to take more than just a few days of practice. He'd even had his other self advance the skills to see if it'd help him raise them any further, but the only change was that instead of having two tier one skills at level fifty, he had two tier three skills at level ten. Not exactly an improvement. Andrew shook his head. He couldn't justify the time it'd take to get the skills up to sixty before he advanced his Class, particularly since with all the practice, he'd already hit level ten. It was time to advance the skills, merge them, and see what he got.

Energy Control advanced into Energy Manipulation, just as it should, while Essence Manipulation advanced into… Essence Control. Andrew wasn't sure who was naming this shit, but the lack of consistency irked him. Does Control come before Manipulation? Or does Manipulation come before Control? Make up your damn mind! Andrew let out an irritated huff, before refocusing on the skills and spending the skill point to merge them into…

[Unique skill combination detected. Analyzing…]

Andrew blinked. Well he hadn't expected that…

[Potential qualities:

-Increased Essence manipulation

-Increased Energy manipulation

-Combined Essence and Energy manipulation]

[Focus set to combined Essence and Energy manipulation.]

[Determining nature of combined manipulation…]

[Essence can be manipulated to bind Energy to a form.]

[Skill group Essence-Energy Constructs propagating…]

Suddenly a list of options appeared in front of Andrew.

[Advanced Essence-Energy Constructs - +4 Intellect, +4 Will

Powerful Essence-Energy Constructs - +3 Intellect, +5 Will

Precise Essence-Energy Constructs - +5 Intellect, +3 Will]

There were a few other options, but they were all inferior to the first three, so Andrew ignored them. He debated between Advanced and Precise for a moment, before ultimately choosing Advanced. He didn't want to limit himself one way or the other. As he made his selection, another notification appeared.

[Trait gained: Skill Pioneer - minor increase in Class Skill support, moderate increase in Pioneer Skill support.]

Andrew's eyes widened. "Wha- you can get traits for doing shit?!?" He jumped to his feet, marching through the base and barging into Quinn's room. "You can get traits for-" Andrew froze, eyes widening as he caught sight of Quinn having an intimate moment with a complicated looking device.

Quinn yelped, quickly covering herself with her blankets as she flushed in embarrassment. "Knock, you ass!" She snapped angrily.

"S-sorry!" Andrew stammered, slamming the door closed, standing there for a few minutes as he watched Quimm scramble to get dressed using his aura vision, flushing furiously, before hesitantly knocking as she finished.

"Come in!" Quinn growled, glaring at Andrew as he entered. "Now what was so important that you decided you needed to barge into my personal space without even knocking?!?"

"Uh… did- did you know people could earn traits? Like, by doing things?" Andrew asked, the question feeling a whole lot less important than before.

Quinn frowned. "That's what you wanted to talk about?!? Yes, you can earn traits through certain accomplishments, but they're rare. You have to do something like found a kingdom, destroy a Ruin all by yourself, or be the first person to do something. Not exactly a thing most people need to worry about. And something that could have definitely waited until tomorrow!"

Andrew flushed. "Sorry… it just- felt more important in the moment." He mumbled.

Quinn continued to glare at him for a moment, before snorting and shaking her head. "Why are you bringing this up, anyway? Did you do something to get a trait?"

Andrew nodded. "Apparently no one has ever combined Essence Control and Energy Manipulation before, so I got the Skill Pioneer trait."

Quinn frowned. "What kind of skill would that even make?"

"Essence-Energy Constructs, apparently." Andrew replied. "It said something about connecting Energy to something using Essence. I'm not sure what that means exactly, and I haven't had time to experiment yet, since… I kinda rushed over here." He coughed awkwardly.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "What does the trait do?" She asked, really not wanting to talk or even think about what Andrew had caught her doing.

"Enhanced support for skills. It's-" Andrew began.

"Wait, what?!?" Quinn exclaimed. "For which skills!?! How much support!?!"

"Uh, minor for my Class skills, then-" Andrew continued.

"All Class skills or just your current ones?" Quinn asked insistently.

Andrew paused. "All? I think? And then it gives me moderate support for my pioneered skills."

"Fuck!" Quinn cursed, before glaring at him. "Do you even know what this means?!?"

Andrew frowned. "That- the system will help out with my skills more?"

"Exactly!" Quinn exclaimed. "Do you know how many people would kill for that kind of trait?!? And you just have it fucking handed to you! Mother fuck!"

"I guess… but with Thomas's syst-" Andrew froze, his eyes going wide. "Thomas's system… which I could have been using to help me increase my fucking skills, fucking- damn it!" Andrew groaned, clutching his head in frustration. He'd gotten so used to just dumping his points into stats that he'd completely forgotten he could use the system to increase his skills! He probably could have easily gotten the two skills over sixty! Well, maybe not easily… but it definitely would have fucking helped!

Quinn froze. "I- forgot you could do that."

"Me too." Andrew sighed. "Fuck!" Andrew glared at the ground, seriously considering killing himself so he could start again, before sighing and shaking his head. "I guess tier three isn't that bad."

"Threes'll get ya." Quinn nodded as if she was quoting something. "Three is the minimum requirement for a lot of Classes, so tier three is what most people shoot for. Tier four is nice, since it gives you the extra trait point, but it isn't necessary, while tier five just takes too much work, so it isn't really worth it. At least, not for normal people. Maybe people in the elite Academies shoot for fives, but they have a lot more support than the average person, like access to specialized equipment and high level Instructors."

"I mean, I get that, but… all my skills have been at tier four so far." Andrew explained, his expression twisting slightly. "Three just feels… lacking in comparison."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Oh no, you only managed to do average on something. How horrible. You know, for a Multiversal god, you can be a real bitch sometimes."

"I'm not a bitch, I just have high expectations for myself!" Andrew protested.

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"See that? That's bitch talk. Don't be a bitch, Drew." Quinn smirked.

"How is being disappointed you didn't do as well as you could being a bitch?!?" Andrew complained.

"That isn't being a bitch." Quinn shook her head. "But you didn't make a mistake or not put in enough effort, you did as well as you could, you just didn't do as well as you wanted to. You have the idea that you should be better than you are and you bitch about it when you aren't. That makes you a bitch."

Andrew scowled. "So I should just be satisfied with mediocrity?"

"Sure, why not?" Quinn shrugged. "Most people are mediocre. That's how we define mediocre. Expecting yourself to not be mediocre is pretty arrogant."

"Well… I am a Multiversal god." Andrew pointed out.

"But you're still a person." Quinn retorted. "Maybe in a thousand years, you can kick yourself over a mediocre skill, but you're sixteen right now! No matter what your future holds, now is the time for you to be average! Save your high expectations for when you're a crotchety old man who's seen too much."

"But if I don't work to improve now, then I'll keep being mediocre, no matter how long I live!" Andrew protested.

Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not saying you shouldn't keep trying to be better, I'm saying it's arrogant to be disappointed when you aren't! Just do your best and stop bitching about everything!"

"But if I'm not disappointed when I don't meet my expectations, then how am I supposed to motivate myself to do better?!?" Andrew countered.

"You just- being better is the motivation! You want to be better to be better, not because you think you should be better!" Quinn exclaimed.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Andrew protested.

Quinn groaned. "Look, you don't improve to meet some standard, you improve to improve. Improving is its own motivation!"

"But- why should I improve if not so I can reach my goal?" Andrew replied, legitimately confused. "And if I set a goal, and I don't reach it, how can I not be disappointed?" That was how things worked. You set a goal, and then you worked at it until you either accomplished that goal, or failed. If you didn't have a goal, how would you even know what you were working towards?

Quinn sighed, shaking her head. "You're just not getting it, and I don't know how to explain it any better. It's just- look, if you keep getting caught up in arbitrary goals, you're going to keep disappointing yourself. You shouldn't focus on whether or not you hit some imaginary benchmark, you should focus on the progress you did make. Celebrate your accomplishments and don't agonize over imaginary failures. And that's all I'm going to say on the matter, so would you please let me get back to bed?"

Andrew hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Okay, fine." He agreed, heading to the door. "Goodnight, Quinn."

"Goodnight, Drew." Quinn sighed, closing the door behind him, before pausing, biting her lower lip as she locked the door with a click. "Now where was I?" She muttered to herself, flushing slightly as she headed back to the bed, stripping off her clothes.

*

Andrew made his way back to his own room, considering what he'd discussed with Quinn. He knew it was important to have goals, but… Quinn did have a point. If he'd done all he could, then it didn't make sense to complain, because there was nothing more he could have done. But then again, it was disappointing to have done everything you could and not reach your goal… Andrew groaned slightly, rubbing his temple in frustration. He just was not getting this! He needed something to take his mind off this… he paused. He was ready to Advance his Class, wasn't he? Yeah, that would help him forget about all this. Once he got to his room, he quickly hopped in bed before pulling up his status and selecting the Advancement option, closing his eyes as he was sent to his inner world for the third time.

*I'm usually not one to judge, but as this is your third attempt at your first Class Advancement, I believe you may need to rethink your current life choices.* The crow commented dryly as Andrew arrived. *Though I must say, you have some interesting options available to you this time.*

Andrew flushed. "I didn't really have a lot of choices to make." He grumbled, before letting out a sigh. "What are my options?"

The crow waved his wing and an Andrew wearing an apron full of odd tools and a weird pair of goggles appeared. *The first is Essence Enchanter. Using Essence to imbue objects with Energy and life, usually a feat reserved for extremely specialized Enchanters at very high levels.*

Andrew frowned. "I dunno… it sounds like a crafting Class and that's more Greg's thing."

The crow nodded and a new Andrew appeared, bare chested and covered in glowing tattoos. *How about the Essence Shaman? Similar to the Enchanter, but instead of enchanting objects, you'd be enchanting people, giving them extra stats or simple abilities.*

Andrew considered the Shaman for a moment. "Maybe… What other options do I have?"

The crow waved his wing and a third Andrew appeared, wearing robes and a pointy hat. *The Essence Magister. A mix of Mage and Essence Master, focused on using Essence to store spells rather than enchantments.*

Andrew frowned. "How is storing spells different from an enchantment?"

*An enchantment holds Energy to power a function, which can be incredibly simple or magnificently complex, while stored spells are simply that: stored. They are held in stasis until they are activated and the spell goes off. Nothing more, nothing less.* The crow explained.

"So… they're like traps?" Andrew frowned.

*That is one way to look at it, yes.* The crow nodded. *They are also much easier to create than enchantments. It might take you a minute or so to store a spell, but even simple enchantments take time to create, because an enchantment is an investment.*

"Okay… but it still just kinda seems like a worse Enchanter, doesn't it? It doesn't take as much skill, and the products are crappier. You're just trading quality for something quick and dirty." Andrew frowned.

The crow chuckled. *You misunderstand. The Essence Magister is not a crafting Class, it is a spellcasting Class. Spell storage is not the Classes main ability, it is simply a way to make your spellcasting more versatile, allowing you to prepare your spells in advance, mitigating the main weakness of mages, which is their limited Energy pool.*

Andrew blinked. "Ah…" Then he frowned. "Wait, can't Shamans cast spells, too?"

*Shamans have some limited spellcasting abilities, yes.* The crow nodded. *Just as they also possess some limited enchanting abilities. The Essence Shaman provides a middle ground between the other two, allowing you to dabble in both but lacking the focus required to excel at either.*

Andrew frowned, considering his options. He'd already dismissed the Enchanter, and he hadn't changed his mind, but he was torn between the Shaman and the Magister. The ability to strengthen himself and others with enchantments sounded useful, but was it worth limiting his spellcasting ability? He went back and forth on it a few times, before pausing. What was his goal here? "Which one of these Classes is best suited to destroy a Ruin? Using Essence abilities." He quickly added. The Enchanter could probably make some kind of bomb, but pure destruction wasn't going to cut it. He needed something to attack the Ruin's core.

The crow paused, considering the question. *If you wish to turn your Essence into a weapon, then I believe the Essence Magister is the most ideal path. The Enchanter focuses on using Essence to empower and support, and while the Shaman is capable of using Essence for destruction, it does not have the potential the Magister does in that department.*

Andrew grimaced slightly at the idea of his Essence being a weapon, but if he was ever going to kill this Ruin, that's what he needed it to be. Maybe after he hit level twenty-five he could use one of his extra Class slots for the Shaman… Andrew paused. That actually wasn't a bad idea… if he used the Magister as his main combat Class, then filled his other slots with Classes built around support… the Shaman to empower him with tattoos, the Enchanter to create his weapons… the Voidwalker for travel, though that seemed more than a little irrelevant with Chris around. "Okay, I'll be an Essence Magister." Andrew nodded, approaching his robed self and pulling up his options.

Had had a tier five inner sight skill, giving him five trait points for affinities. The Essence Magister was rank three, so that meant an advanced affinity was three points, an intermediate was one, and he could get two basics for a point. He wanted to take Lightning and Shadow again, particularly since he'd barely gotten to do anything with them when he took them before… Maybe the crow had a point. He did seem to keep getting reset right after he Advanced his Class. Anyway, that was two points down… man, rank three Classes really opened up your options. He considered an advanced affinity for a moment, before shaking his head. The Magister was a spellcasting Class, so he needed to focus on what would be good for spells, not just for power. So instead he took Light, Dark, Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire. They were the basics, and theoretically you could build up to any affinity by combining them. Realistically, doing so would be a bitch and a half, particularly if you wanted to get to advanced or higher, but theoretically you could do it. Plus almost everyone had at least a few basic affinities, so the vast majority of the commonly available spells used them as a base.

With his inner sight traits set, Andrew turned to his Essence-Energy Constructs skill, not even sure what to expect. The first thing he noticed was that one trait was already taken for Essence Spell Storage, which… yeah, okay. That was the main ability of the Class after all. Other than that, he also picked up Essence Spell Mark, which would let him mark something with Essence and have his spells automatically target it, like homing missiles, and Essence Spell Delivery, which would let him cast a spell and package it in Essence so that it would only go off when it hit the target. Not only did it make the spell harder to detect, but it also let the spell travel through objects, as long as they weren't too Energy dense. Combined with the mark, he could pretty much just sit behind a wall and bombard people like some kind of hacker in a first-person shooter!

Andrew chuckled as he finalized his selections. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy this new Class. Hopefully he could keep it for more than a few days this time…