Tercius shivered.

Nothing felt right. Each breath was difficult, as darkness came and it went to his closed eyes. Half-formed thoughts unraveled like the first creation of an apprentice weaver, a string pulled and creation came undone. At some point white words of bold letters were glaring at him, but then his mired mind fell back into that deep well of weakness.

Don’t fight it, his body said. Rest. It will pass.

And so it did.

Time was a tricky concept to keep track of in the realms of the unconscious, but the last time this happened he knew that he wasn't out for long. Around an hour, maybe. While he was not sure of the exact time spent in unconsciousness, one thing was the same— he was spent. His chest rose with labored breaths and trying to move his limbs… he wasn't sure if it worked. He felt no limbs. But he knew that trying to keep his eyes open proved a task that required more energy than he had. His was a small world, one that was rapidly shrinking.

The call of darkness invited him back into the sweet oblivion of sleep and rest, but he figured that before he gave in, he would try another route.

He had a little bit of mana in him, so it was worth having a go.

Meditation responded to his call immediately, and he replaced one encroaching dark place for another. He felt his mind detach from his body, rapidly becoming a solitary existence of pure thoughts, leaving behind the plagues of bodily weakness. But even in Meditation, even after he let some time pass, he still felt worse for wear. The improvement was noticeable, but not enough to completely remove the overpowering symptoms.

At least here I can read, Tercius thought.

You have learned the skill: Spring of Crystal Thoughts! Obtain Yes/No

There they were, white letters of a new skill. A skill that was sure to be uncommon, just based on the name.

He did it. I did it…

But… he had passed out before he got to imagining how the telekinetic reactions should manifest… Hells, he didn’t even get to finish imagining the added barriers…

He had talked to Mistress Helfira about telekinesis and its uses and her one repeating complaint of telekinetic spells was how mentally draining they were. There was a pressure that was slowly built up, she had claimed, only to slowly fall over time. Tercius had figured that this had to do with the law of action and reaction. Since he was using his mind to move things, his mind was also the one that was receiving the feedback of those actions.

So would this skill that he barely finished a third of mush his brain into paste?

After barely a moment of thought, he knew that it wouldn't. He had known of the problem for a while now, and he had had a genuine fear of it happening to him. From that fear, a strong desire to make it otherwise was born so, per his skill making theory, from the first moment when that idea had popped into his mind, months ago, and that skill had started making itself, somewhere deep inside of it were a few small functions. Some would redirect and disperse, and when it was overcome the other function would start resisting that telekinetic reaction to the best of its ability, while alerting him of the encroaching danger with a sense of mental pressure. Hells, he even had a wild thought to place the pressure onto a crystal of some kind…

He had wanted those functions to be more pronounced, but now…

Tercius realized that rather than calling what he did ‘active skill creation’ it might be better to equate it to adding enormous amounts of growth hormone and guidance to particular parts of the little seedling of a skill. Some parts of that seedling had grown just now, those that he had actively thought about, but some had probably stayed the same like they were before. Which was… unfortunate.

Other than that function he also didn’t get to truly focus on the improved enhanced skill description that he had envisioned, which if successful was supposed to serve as a minor test and a preview of sorts for the Interface skill…

He had plans for a shrouding function that would make his skill manifestation invisible even to mana senses, something that he planned to add to Stealth as soon as he saw it in action…

Tercius shook his head. He might have gone for too many ingredients for the first try.

While his Meditation might have had trouble pushing away the encroaching weakness, it blunted the brief joy of success and the major disappointment of missed opportunities with ease.

But… Did I truly miss the opportunity?

He knew that the skill was technically still attached to that giant sphere he called Garden of Skills and he knew that it would stay that way until he accepted. Maybe he still had a chance to add one or two last updates before the big launch?

A mental stab of decay ran through him, a weakness so inhibiting, and cold that bit straight into his core, and he almost let Meditation go off. Even here, his body demanded his mind to sleep, battering against the walls of the mental skill.

I should solve my Energy deficient state first, per the initial plan.

With a thought, he moved towards the Energy Manipulation Effigy and through it, he made his way into the World of Skills. A familiar weight settled on him, sapping his mental and physical faculties to rest at bare scraps. He felt himself start to shut down, his mind once more desiring to shut down, but unlike the world out there, here he had more options and fewer restrictions.

Ponderously, he rose to float and tried to catch up to Flu, the wisp that floated around the Core of the skill. Even floating proved difficult when every second his brain just wanted some downtime and it was not afraid to demand its due.

Come here, Tercius thought as he tried to catch up to the moving wisp. It didn’t work. The chained wisp used loops and twirls to move around, yet even when moving in a straight line, Tercius didn’t seem to be able to gain proximity no matter what he did. He just wanted to close his eyes for a moment, but he couldn’t, not until he got some Energy into his system…

*********

He woke up with a start, his body still shivering. But it was not as bad as it used to be the first time he woke up. He glanced at the door. Still in one piece. No one had come for him. He probably had some more time to spare for this…

Without wasting that precious time, as soon as his mind was clear enough, he headed over to Flu and grasped at the Energy chains. With a feral scream, the chains came undone and he felt his body and mind being restored to proper function. One thing that he was sure of was that Energy was a seemingly integral part of life in this universe. Well, maybe life is too broad. Anything that has skills? Yea, that sounds fine.

As soon as he felt better, he stopped harvesting Energy and headed back into the healing space of Meditation. Slowly, the pain of harvesting slipped away from him leaving him in tip-top shape. Mentally and physically, he was restored to continue.

I should have left a little bit of Energy somewhere near me, Tercius thought and then he shook his head.

The Spirit wouldn't leave an unclaimed treat alone. As soon as Energy was claimed by someone from the family, it was safe, but the unnamed creature was always on the prowl for unbound Energy and the house was its playground. It especially liked to linger around Amber, mostly because Amber took neutral Energy from him through their bond and then claimed it on her end. In that brief moment before she claimed it, however, the Spirit liked to jump and 'phase' through Amber, stealing a bit of that neutral Energy in the process.

One good thing was that as a result of the thieving Spirit, Amber had learned how to claim Energy with frightening speeds. While Tercius and Ciron had to focus for a few seconds, Amber seemed to use some smaller units of measurement that were closer to instantly.

The Spirit never attempted going after any Energy in Ciron, or him, which went to show that Mistress Kalina was right. The Spirit considered all family members off-limits in his search for more Energy, and according to the mage even if the Spirit was starving it would not attempt going after those who it was supposed to protect. Its creation was rigid that way and that rigidity had both good and bad sides.

Tercius had a vague notion to try giving a little bit of neutral Energy to Portia, to check if the Spirit considered the newest addition a part of the family or not, but he was hesitant to do it. Extremely so. It was one of the things he wanted to check with Mistress Kalina first, and have her there when he did it.

Placing himself in new and untested territories was in a completely different branch from doing it to others, especially to a baby.

Leaving that for later, he turned back to his current issue. He wanted to continue with his experiment, but he hesitated to do that again. He had no idea how long he was out.

Maybe I can convince Amber to leave the house and save some neutral Energy for me at her end? Tercius thought. But even that wouldn’t work, he knew. The little creature had gone a long way lately, but Amber’s animal urges towards Energy were strong, far stronger than any behavior he had tried to teach her. It was a possibility for the future, however.

He could ask his grandfather to save him some Energy, but that would mean involving the old man to see the fainting and shivering… It was not something he wanted the old man to know of. For his family, it would be a pointless worry to have, one in which they had no way of helping him, and for him a lot of words that he would have to endure… His family didn't even know that harvesting Energy meant enduring mind-numbing pain. No one did. Not even Amber.

I can ask Mistress Kalina to keep me a little Energy on the side…

Of all the options, that one seemed like the one that checked a lot of boxes, far more than the rest of them. He was sure that the woman was aware of his Energy shenanigans, considering his blazingly bright footprint, and he did not mind her knowing of the shivers and the whole package. A mage like her had to know of those symptoms, surely.

She knew a lot of his secrets and yet she was still technically an outsider as far as he was concerned.

Mistress Kalina was close and remote to him in just the right amounts for this to work, he realized.

““Few things bring you closer to people as asking them for help.””

It was something that his old parents had said to him repeatedly since he was a little kid, every time the two of them tried to get him to mingle more with his peers. Now that he thought about it, them saying that line often was probably why it had always been easier for him to make deals to exchange favors than ask for or receive help. An exchange gave just enough distance and clarity for him to be comfortable about it, where with help the lines got blurry. Tercius knew that he had had a lot of unresolved parental issues— some of them evidently still going strong— but he also knew that his old parents knew their business.

The two of them had been master manipulators, after all.

Besides what some people call issues weren’t much of an issue for him. Some of them, he was actually grateful to have.

Another solution was to ask Mistress Kalina to keep some Energy with her and take say ten percent of Energy as payment and then if he ran out of Energy she could jump-start him back up. Another solution is that she can interrupt me just before I run out of Energy, Tercius thought.

Or… I try to go through the unfinished functions one at a time. That way I can do this on my own.

Tercius nodded. From all the above, the last option was the best.

Once more he returned to Flu and started harvesting Energy, gritting his teeth and simply enduring the pain. It was the price to pay and he was willing to pay it. The pain passed through him in volumes of searing heat and pressure, but Tercius pushed on.

The pain here wouldn’t damage him physically, he had learned that long ago.

He harvested close to what he did last night, and made his way back to the real world. He used Mana Metamorphosis to morph thirty mana pulses of his ordinary crystal and stone affinity mana into crystal affinity physical metaforce mana, mana that mages called telekinetic. He preferred metaphysical force or simply metaforce. The goop of mana was compressed to the best of his ability and allowed to rest on his chest. Since it was a singular mana type, the chance of explosions occurring was minimal to nonexistent, but from anatomy classes back at the Academy he knew that keeping any mana that was morphed in any other way than the natural affinity of a person, was a bad idea. It wasn't dangerous, most of the time, but bad things were known to happen from time to time and teachers had issued repeated warnings against doing it.

The compact goop of metaforce mana actually had some feel to it, almost as if someone placed a leaf on his skin. There was not much weight, but just like before he could feel that mana of his physically. That was good. That meant that he did a good job with the morphing part.

Slowly he began going over the matter of telekinetic reaction of his skill and within moments he noticed something pushing against him.

Tercius halted for a moment and the pressure disappeared. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe it's just gas… Tercius comforted himself and tried again. As soon as he continued, the mounting pressure came back even stronger.

Tercius stopped his work. With Mana Sight, he confirmed that the mana that he had specifically made for this had shrunk just a little. Some of the Energy was gone as well, an almost negligible amount.

Fuck… Tercius thought. It was working, but… before he continued doing it he had to make sure that what he was doing was not hurting the nascent skill. And to do that… Finding the Garden of Skills seems to be the only solution…

Tercius nodded to himself. He had an idea. He could do it.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Once more he went to Flu and started harvesting Energy, only instead of letting the Energy leave the Skill World to enter his Well and body like normally, Tercius took active command of that floating Energy with his Energy Manipulation [26], and like a dam he kept it bottled inside the skill's Core.

He didn't harvest much Energy, just a little something before he claimed it and stepped out into the gray fog of the Skill World.

Tercius focused on the basketball-sized orb of Energy in his hands, keeping it tightly under his control, but also slowly focusing on the functions that he had in mind for his new skill. Pressure came over him in the same instant as a wave of vibrations rippled through the fog. The Energy in his hands was vibrating despite his control and as soon as he let it go it sped off into the distance, only to be swallowed by the fog.

At least the direction of the Garden didn’t change… Tercius thought as he went back to harvesting more Energy. Every once in a while he claimed the Energy for himself, and then continued harvesting more and weaving it into a rope and then spun that rope into a sphere. He didn’t know how much Energy he would need for this— or if he would need any at all, considering that it was possible that he had blown his chance— and he knew that he had no way to access all of the Energy that he had outside, in his body and Well, so he had planned on taking with him as much as he could. Hells, this might not even work without that telekinetic mana, but… he had to try.

Energy Manipulation [26] is now Energy Manipulation [27]

A part of the Energy from the pool that he was collecting above him was separated from his control only to rush downwards and integrate itself into the Core, everywhere. The Core expanded, the colored area spreading itself to claim a little more space from the gray fog.

He recovered from the sudden loss of Energy quickly and pushed ahead. One hand was claw-like and pointing at the pool of Energy, holding it in place, while the other hand kept ripping more and more chains. The pain was there, but Tercius kept moving past it. It was someone else’s pain and he was experiencing it as he imagined empaths were able to experience the feelings of others. It hurt, but not personally. There was a level of distance.

What he realized pretty quickly was that he struggled to get the quantity of Energy that he had initially planned to get. Out there, he had his body and Well as vessels to hold all of that Energy, something they did naturally and without any help from him, but here he only had his skill to use as a vessel and it was straining to hold that same capacity. As he passed a certain point Energy started leaking over the top, so to speak, despite his best effort to hold onto it and so he stopped harvesting.

That will have to do, I guess.

He didn’t want to have to repeat the journey through the fog twice or more, not if he had any say in it. It would be just a waste of his time, a resource more precious than Energy at this point—

Energy Manipulation [27] is now Energy Manipulation [28]

Just like before, a part of the Energy was ripped away from his control and rapidly used to expand the Core in every direction. The strain of keeping Energy under control lessened as if someone opened a pressure valve somewhere.

Buzz off, you Energy thief of a skill. I don’t have time for you now, Tercius thought and went to recover the lost quantity.

As he harvested he noticed that the amount of Energy that he was able to hold had increased a little bit, but when he thought about it he concluded that it was to be expected. The skill did gain a level. As soon as he hit the new straining point, instead of allowing more Energy to leak and escape into his already bloating body and Well, he stopped and left the Core, in search of the Garden.

Energy Manipulation [28] is now Energy Manipulation [29]

Moving inside the gray fog, a giant sphere of Energy tailing him, the skill abruptly leveled again. The pressure on him lessened as his Energy sphere shrunk itself, fueling the growth of the skill Core behind him. Tercius slowly turned back to the distant Core of Energy Manipulation and his eyes narrowed at it.

Are you messing with me, Core?

That was too many levels, too quickly. It was true that the Energy that he had harvested had been tainted with his signature, but… That was not a good enough reason for TWO skill levels of a skill like Energy Manipulation in close to as many minutes. Three levels, if he counted [27]. And I should. That one was like ten or twenty minutes ago… Three levels in twenty minutes… this isn’t a skill from some lower strata… What’s going on?

Tercius glanced back in the direction where the Garden should be. He glanced at the Core of Energy Manipulation.

The new skill notification was still in the center of his vision, a constant reminder that he had to choose.

Continue to the Garden or turn back to the Core and see what was this about?

A pro was that something was going on here and that if he managed to repeat this feat it would lead to an even faster-leveling speed than the one that he had just got used to. If he increased his skill to a higher level he could bring more Energy with him to the Garden. That was another pro.

Con was the additional loss of time in unknown amounts. Time that he had barely been keeping properly, as things stood. His family might be searching for him right now. Mistress Kalina was supposed to arrive as well if she hadn't already.

Could he keep seeing You have learned the skill: Spring of Crystal Thoughts! Obtain Yes/No for the rest of the day or even longer?

Well, he could certainly try. Besides, there was no guarantee that he would be able to do anything, or if he was able to do it, would he be able to figure out how to do it quickly and in time?

He should be able to get some free time for himself sometime in the afternoon, so maybe leaving fixing this new skill for then was a wiser idea? Besides, maybe after he accepted Mistress Kalina’s offer of Mentorship she would share a few tidbits about skills that could turn out to be useful to him? He never asked so far because he figured that like most truly important matters the information about skills was restricted and… he had wanted to keep the existence of the new skill to himself.

And now I’m losing time by diving too deeply… Tercius sighed as he looked back at the Core of Energy Manipulation. That’s a distraction. A potentially extremely useful distraction, but a distraction nonetheless.

Tercius oriented himself in the direction where the Garden had been the last time and he started running, the Energy closely following behind him. At times he would use a small ball of Energy to make corrections to his route and each time he did that a small amount of resistance was felt, along with a vibration in the surrounding fog.

Somewhere along the path, his Energy compass became obsolete once he spotted a distant white star. That star became bigger and bigger as he ran towards it, and soon he started seeing other colors of the rainbow.

But compared to those dull colors and small sizes, the crystal of the skill Spring of Crystal Thoughts was absolutely monstrous. It was a lighthouse of silver light and towering crystal.

The majority of Spring of Crystal Thoughts consisted of white hexagonal-shaped pillars all clearly coming from one source, yet they had ended up diverging in the growth direction. Each was larger than any of the mature skill crystals that he saw before. But it had smaller growth of white crystals around the big ones in abundance, different in shapes and sizes. It was here that he saw some of the crystals of similar size to those of Dexterity and Familiar Bond. Inside every major pillar were smaller crystals, which were swimming in some kind of a dense liquid. Energy, probably.

The whole thing glowed with a tranquilizing, silver-white light that somehow set his mind at ease simply by looking at it.

Tercius settled close to the crystal and while one hand held the entirety of the Energy the other took a small amount and brought it close to the skill crystal. He started imagining the same function that he tried and a barely audible screeching was heard. Tercius noticed that one of the little crystals was vibrating and disturbing the fog around it. Tercius approached it only to resume his test.

So that’s why…

The little crystal was trying to burrow into one of the major crystals, and in doing so it was creating the sound and the vibrations.

One by one, he went over a long list of how he imagined this skill to work, and any crystal that had an impediment showed resistance to further growth. Some grew a little, those which had clear space to grow, but the growth was minimal… Is it because I only have Energy and lack the Mana, or that the growth is over?

Tercius tinkered with the growth of those crystals until he concluded that he did what he could. One thing he noticed immediately was that the number of crystals on the skill did not correspond to the number of functions that he imagined. The number of smallest crystals was in the upper dozens…

Tercius looked at the remaining Energy by his side. He had barely spent any Energy that he brought over with him. Since he was already here, maybe he could try and see how skills that weren't tied to his mana affinity reacted to feeding them Energy and maybe identify a few skills for later…

That shouldn’t take long…

*********

Before he started using the Energy, Tercius inspected the Garden of Skill and tried to compare the images of the last visit to this one.

A few anomalies captured his attention.

The first was that the number of new skill crystals was maybe even double what he saw the first time around. Like before, most of these were minuscule— they had barely grown past their crystal moss cover.

Another thing he noticed was that while crystal moss cover was present around and under the majority of skill crystals, that was not true in the case of a few exceptions. Some crystals had no visible moss around them, and they ranged in size, shape, and color…

After that he started comparing the size of moss around the crystals and immediately noticed that some had a rather large moss carpet, others had the equivalent of a ripped-off piece of a handkerchief.

The moss cover under Spring of Crystal Thoughts was non-existent, but the base of the skill crystal was gigantic, so he could only guess as to the moss-covered under it…

But this raised an interesting question. Why did some skills have no crystal moss around the base, some had a little, and some had quite a lot? What was the role crystal moss played in creating skills?

Previously Tercius thought that it was the equivalent of fertile ground to the polished sphere's barren rock, but now that he saw that crystals could grow on bare rock…

Another thing that he saw was that some skill crystals had these beautiful tar-like growths on them. The abnormalities were obviously crystals themselves with their sharp edges and glossy surfaces, but looking at them Tercius was somehow reminded of blood-engorged leeches…

The skill crystals to which these growths were attached were among the biggest ones, close in size to the crystals that Dexterity and Acting had been.

What are they? What are they doing? Are they… preventing these skills from maturing? Why?

He became so focused on the issues at hand that some of the Energy he carried started slipping past him.

I should hurry… I really should… Tercius thought.

Trying to push the Energy he carried with him into crystals or the moss proved futile, but when he tried focusing on a certain skill name or a function in his mind the Energy arrow, that he crafted, responded to his thoughts. He just followed it to the crystal.

When he found Interface it was a medium-sized crystal of the lightest sky blue color, with no crystal moss under it whatsoever. When it took his Energy, it grew rapidly to double its previous size and then stopped, seemingly unwilling to take any more. After some forceful trying, Tercius guessed that it was missing mana of some specific kind to complete the skill. Since the crystal was blue, he figured that maybe a mind spell of some kind would finally tide over the skill.

It could also be that Interface was missing some combination of ‘knowledge’, ‘instinct’ or ‘wishful thinking’ parts, but considering how many interfaces he had seen in his past life…

Willpower was his next focus and it turned out to be another surprise. The skill had a tiny bit of crystal moss under it, but it was also one of the rare crystals covered in those tar-like growths. As soon as his Energy entered the crystal, those growths started shining and absorbing his Energy. Immediately, the Energy they took was ejected out of their backs and the surrounding gray fog had a feast.

What the Hells?

With some hesitation, Tercius touched one of those growths with the tip of his finger. It was smooth like glass and rock hard.

So these things are preventing the maturation of my skills? Tercius thought, fascinated by the discovery. How are they doing it? What are they? Why are they tampering with my skills?

Tercius lingered around that crystal for a while, but once he realized that time was not stopping for him he started to search for a few skills he planned or knew of. It didn’t have to be a name, he could even just think of what a skill was supposed to do and the Energy led him to the crystal. First of all, there was not a single miss. Whatever skill or function he thought of, a tiny Energy arrow led him to a crystal. The majority of those were tiny crystals that suddenly doubled in size when the Energy reached them.

A few skills that he had tried feeding Energy ate all that he offered without stopping, and yet for the amount of Energy he was feeding them, their growth left a lot to desire. All of those gluttonous crystals were of a completely pure white color, a few tones paler than those housing skills of crystal affinity, and all of those pale crystals were holders of skills that dealt with Energy, in some way.

One crystal was a skill that would drain Energy from other beings and turn it into his own. Another crystal was a skill that would take any kind of Energy and turn it into a neutral, taintless position. A skill that would 'clean' anyone's 'Garden', and then another skill that would be able to actively allocate naturally harvested Energy to any field he wanted. If he wanted skills to be pacified, all Energy would go there. If he wanted to enhance his Mana regeneration rate, all Energy would go to his body… the options were broad.

All of these Energy skill crystals had no visible moss around them

, he noticed, and so one pale skill crystal stood out.

A single crystal whose name he guessed without much trouble.

Energy Metamorphosis was both the biggest one of those slow-growing bottomless holes he identified and the only pale skill crystal with a tiny visible patch of moss at its base.

After that, he tried a few more commonly known skills like Strength, which his grandfather had, and Agility, which he knew most soldiers tried to get. He had both skill crystals and while their size differed, the similarity was that each had a rather large crystal moss carpet under them.

And then soon enough he found another skill with black growths on it. It was a nameless skill crystal, the size that Dexterity had been when it had matured, that was supposed to help him cope with the pain of all kinds. Pain Management, he supposed it would be called. All Energy sent into it was just… ejected back out.

Fascinated, Tercius leaned in.

*********

Time had flown by and Tercius had barely felt it go past him.

As the hold of Meditation returned to him his senses before he even opened his eyes the first thing that Tercius registered were familiar notes in the air…

Music.

It was coming from the floor above him, he was sure of that. He glanced at the door and found it wide open. Someone had been coming for a visit.

The music captured his attention once more. The melodies were those of his grandmother, sounds that he had heard dozens of times, but she couldn’t be the one playing. Yet someone was playing the oud, the same instrument that he had practiced for the past few days, and…

Tercius knew only one person other than him who was taught how to play the oud by Rona.

All tension draining from him, Tercius closed his eyes to listen and a deep breath escaped him…

Neiran, his shy brother-in-stonecraft, had always had an artistic side to him. Be it sculptures of stone which he made by himself in his free time or playing the oud, something that he picked up from Rona back in the phase where his grandparents tried to get Tercius to find a friend, Neiran excelled.

Something about his sculptures just… worked, while his music was… touching, to use his grandmother’s description.

A smell of incense tickled his nose and the corners of his eyes became wet. It had been over a year since he last heard that music.

“I should finish my work first,” he said and then grunted to clear his throat.

Tercius used his ocular skills to check his resources and found that all of the Energy in his body and Well was untouched, while the mana in his hands was almost completely dissipated.

He morphed more mana into the crystal-touched metaforce and tried doing once more what he did inside. While most functions had no space for growth, some did. Going over the list one last time, Tercius focused on those that he marked while he was near the skill crystal, and he didn’t give up until each became completely unresponsive like the rest.

That’s it.

The skill was complete, to the best of his current ability. It was then that he realized something.

The pacification of this skill would most likely be a bitch, just like Energy Manipulation had been.

You have learned the skill: Spring of Crystal Thoughts! Obtain Yes/No

Time to take it, I guess, Tercius thought. Yes.

A fire was lit in him, in his chest, along his arms and legs, but mostly in his skull. His hands grasped his head and for a brief moment, there was a slight pain that was far worse because of the sudden fear that overcame him. He might have fucked up something. He should have asked Mistress Kalina for guidance, he should have waited a bit more to check— But all of that heat barely lasted a second, and then it was gone.

Tercius stared at the ceiling of the basement for a little while, clearing his mind of all the stuff that had abruptly clogged it. Neiran’s background music helped.

Slowly, he shook his head and took a deep breath as he stood up. Then he invoked the name of the new skill in his mind.

A giant smile appeared on his face as he started reading.

Spring of Crystal Thoughts [1]

Brief Skill Details:

  Level: [1]

  Mana:

    Name: [Crystal Metaforce]

    Nature: [Magical], [Physical]

  Core:

    Starting Size: [???]

    Pacification Percentage: [0]

  Barriers [0]:

    …

  Manifestation: [Fluid-like Swarm]

  Range: [???]

  Cost: [???]

Brief Skill Description:

  This skill grants you the ability to create [Crystal Metaforce], a Mana type that is simultaneously [Physical] and [Magical] in nature. Manifestation type [Fluid-like Swarm] gives the skill a high level of flexibility and versatility of application.

"It worked…" he murmured with a smile. "It worked…"

The static nature of skill description and the scarcity of information found there had always made little sense to him. That was why he wanted Interface so bloody much.

And now he finally got a taste of it.

But I have something else to taste too, don’t I?

He looked sharply around himself and searched for something that wouldn’t break from a fall. Something… like that. His eyes narrowed at some kind of a rag and without even thinking the name of the skill he just imagined the rag finding its way to his hand.

The rag flew across the room like a kite, only to leap into his hand like it was always meant to be there.

Tercius imagined it floating in front of him and it leaped to obey. Spinning, rotating, folding itself… From simple to complex, his skill worked as if he was using his hands for every action. A little spell later and some familiar daggers emerged from his amulet. All nine floated and moved as if a hand was carrying them. If he could imagine it, the skill would work its job.

Humming a familiar song to the familiar tunes of the oud Tercius sauntered out of the basement, his daggers flying back near him and disappearing into the amulet.