Tercius blinked the sleep out of his eyes and his vision sharpened, his mind slowly shedding the vestiges of dreamland as a state of awareness replaced it.
Monday, he thought as he stretched on his blanket, a surge of anticipation building inside of him. "Finally," he murmured with a smile.
While the Empire's Common did not have names for days or months, the ancient language called Magik most certainly did. The first day of the week, Alf'an, was usually written with two rather simple, tier one, non-coded Runes, joined by a single upwards curve, and spoken with an emphasis on the 'f', followed by a light click of the tongue, as a way to signify the joining between the simple Rurds that actually counted as a single one.
Magik was needlessly complicated, Tercius shook his head as he rolled to the side and pulled himself off the floor. A snort, a brief startled inhale really, that Tercius grew to know the meaning of made him turn to the drowsy J'ro, as his bushy head jumped from the pillow to see who was moving about.
"I'm going to work on my Well," he whispered and pointed his finger to the window and the hours of dawn outside.
With another similar snort, this one carrying acknowledgment, J'ro's eyes closed and his head sank back into his pillow. To the side, on Tercius's bed, Eunim was soundly asleep. Shaking his head in marvel at their individual sleeping abilities, he suddenly grew worried if instead of Mana Metamorphosis, he gained a skill called Undisturbed Sleep, or something similar to aid his lackluster ability to stay asleep under the weakest of noises or possibly to return to sleep once he awoke. Either would be wanted, in his book.
He walked to the door and grabbed Amber along with the nest she made out of his clothes and headed downstairs. After he got dressed he went to the pantry and there he grabbed two brown root-like vegetables called pyuo. Using his knife he just scraped off a small layer of the outer skin and ate the sweet ingredients raw, as he prodded Amber to wake with a few of her favorite juicy leaves. As he waited for her to finish nibbling on her breakfast, he observed how much she had grown. Over six months had passed since they met, and in that time Amber had grown by an estimate of at least twenty percent. Barely able to fit onto his palm, she was both longer and taller, but still retained a slim feline physique, even if her grayish scales and golden eyes gave off a certain snake vibe.
The number of leaves he gave her to eat proved a challenge, especially since she just woke up, so he left and finished his preparations. Teeth, amulet, shoes, and finally his backpack packed with vegetables he was able to eat raw, fruits, water, books, and a few other supplies he considered essential. Suitably prepared, he grabbed Amber and locked the door behind him.
The sun had just broken over the eastern mountains, dividing the land in two, the light and darkness. Shivering from the cold, he stepped forth and went beyond the gate of Seliana's property. In an hour or two, the summer sun would give a pleasant warmup to the environment, but before then Tercius had to fend for himself. Running down the long stone road, and turning right as soon as an opportunity presented itself, led him deeper into the heavily pregnant fields. He ran past early rising folk who carried the tools of their trade, dressed in clothes that were meant to get dirty.
"A good day to you, Neophyte," the elderly man said, tipping his large straw hat a little.
"And to all of you," he said in passing, giving a nod to the man and his friends.
The brief greeting flowed naturally, the past few days giving both them and him some shared history.
Once he realized how sneaking off in the middle of the night would look like if someone saw him do it, he questioned the need for it in the first place. The best cover-up is something that didn't look like a cover-up at all, he knew, but rather something normal. Something usual and commonplace, something easy to understand and overlook. People who saw him sitting on a meadow, under the green boughs of a solitary tree, while holding a book in his lap would most likely conclude that he was just a kid in the middle of his studies. If anyone came close and spotted his closed eyes and unresponsive body, and decided to investigate, his Well gave him an almost perfect cover.
Tercius talked to the elderly farmer in charge, explained his need for a quiet place to study, and the old man assured him that no one would intrude. Studies were important.
So, for the past few days, Tercius had risen early and gone out to develop his Well, and study Magik and its rules, only to return to Seliana's home around noon to help with lunch.
Today, he intended to include one more item on his schedule, one that would hopefully be masked by his other activities. Mistress Kalina had mentioned that the reason as to why she discovered him was due to proximity, and as he sat on the grass and leaned his back on the tree trunk, he knew that the nearest person was around two kilometers away.
He brought Amber near his face so that she looked straight into his eyes, and he focused on that strange skill he had. "Amber, you can guard the perimeter. Guard. If someone comes near, call me. Call," he said.
A high-pitched meow was his answer, followed by warmth and a physical cover that settled on his back and shoulders. I have your back, she seemingly sent.
“Good girl,” he said as he scratched her head.
As soon as he let her down onto the grass she scampered off, sniffing the grass and running around the tree, seemingly assessing the state of the security of the surroundings.
Taking a deep breath and one final glance around the surroundings, he closed his eyes and called for Meditation, Tercius's surroundings faded rapidly, leaving him in a black void, absent of anything remotely related to the physical world. Hovering inside of him was the only thing that even had shaped in this dark space, the effigy for Energy Manipulation— a channel to the Skill world inside of him created by his imagination but made real by the passage of wisps.
Slipping inside and outside was a matter of a single thought, by this point.
Giant hands, reminiscent of his own, surrounded a globe-like sphere, connected by spidery threads of Energy. Floating around all of that was Flu, seemingly carefree of existence itself.
Narrowing his eyes, he focused on his priority list.
Step one, find an unstable skill.
He ripped off one chain and released enough Energy to last him as a compass for hours. Just to be thorough, he ripped off one more, all the while keeping them under the tightest control he was able to exercise.
Stepping off into the gray mists, he released a little bit of Energy in the form of an arrow. It changed course a few times, seemingly influenced by too many sources at once, but ultimately it gave him the direction of what he figured was the strongest pull of one of the new skills.
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He kept running, although he periodically stopped to adjust his course, and as he neared the unstable skill its pull overcame the pull of others. The churning fog parted and he found himself on a field of red. A chaotic sphere of red surrounded a single pulsing blood crystal, and he knew that this was his skill, Dexterity.
This time he didn’t form an effigy for the skill, for he wanted to find out what it looked like before it was shaped by his perception. Transfixed, yet firmly in control of the Energy he carried with him, he admired the jagged edges with which the crystal cut the space to rotate around its axis. It’s bigger than the last time I saw it, he thought. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he stepped in and saw that the skill had already started stabilizing, as over a third of its bloody sphere was calm. The Energy he carried with him went to feed the progress, while Tercius waited for Flu to show up.
And waited.
And waited.
Tercius was afraid that this would happen.
Previously Flu had shown up only after Tercius got a large dose of the chaos that went on inside the center of the skill.
A price had to be paid.
Tentatively, he extended his right hand and observed it. Five fingers and caramel skin, so similar yet somewhat different than it used to be, just a year ago. A sacrifice, in a way. A conduit for pain. No. It’s a conduit for new possibilities, he thought and suddenly pushed his hand into the boiling mess.
All of him screamed in a high pitch, the call echoing to all directions, even as his hand retracted itself and he curled into a human ball, rocking himself back and forth to let the pain pass. Time went by with a hot poker embedded into his forehead and deep focused breaths. Finally, the pain came to a manageable level and he cracked open one eye to see if his work had anything to show for it. A smile of relief ran through him as he saw a certain white ball float in the calm bloody space.
He stayed curled around his arm for a while yet, cradling it like a newborn, while taking in the outlandish sight before his eyes.
Time to work, he thought as he made his way to Flu. Chain by chain, he stabilized the space of his skill stunned by the ease with which the process occurred. Compared to quelling the wild winter storm of his Energy skills, his effort for Dexterity seemed like an effort to calm a summer breeze. Comparing the Energy requirement of pacification between the two, the difference was by a factor numbered in the upper dozens, at least.
To say that they are on different strata is apt, Tercius thought, thinking back to the words Lux told him on the streets of Tripatis. Energy skills are on a whole different level.
It took Tercius just ten minutes of work to pacify the skill to a single chaotic point in the center of the skill, right around the floating crystal itself, and then a few more minutes to snuff out that spot completely.
Dexterity [3]
Your ability to perform closely controlled and purposeful physical movements are increased by a small amount, while the skill is in use. Every skill level increases the effect by a small degree and lowers the cost of use by a small degree.
He glanced at the description of the skill, after invoking it with a single thought, and found things much the same. Not a single word about anything related to what he just did.
He glanced around the skill’s core once more, before he stepped out into the gray fog with the Energy he had remaining from the pacification.
Once more, he searched for a skill to pacify.
This time a puzzle waited for him. The arrow made out of Energy pointed right in front of him, as it disappeared into space, yet Tercius didn't see anything but the gray fog. With a grin, he realized that the best way to disappear was to blend into the surroundings. A moment of waving his hands around brought about a familiar pain and that in turn brought about a familiar wisp.
Sneaking [2] was pacified in mere twenty minutes, despite the increasingly painful experience and extended recovery time.
He left the skill world, returning to Meditation to rest and recuperate for a little while before he went about tackling the next core. Just before he returned, he checked on Amber and the position of the sun.
“Oh good. Both of you are where you should be,” he murmured, as he sank back.
Acting [4], Small Blade Mastery [1], and Quick Learner [4] followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, joining the club of civilized skills within hours. Apparently, if you speak their language and have enough Energy to pay for such things, skills are not particularly stubborn about their state. Of Familiar Bond, he found neither crystal nor its colored field and he knew that the allocated time was drawing to a close. He didn't know if the skill would make a problem, and he hoped that it wouldn't. How would I find a single skill in that place?
That thought cast a small shadow on an otherwise perfect streak, his greed demanding completion. Pushing it away, he noted that he gained a bonus.
Energy Manipulation [22] is now Energy Manipulation [23]
Looking at the remnant Energy he held in his control, he wondered what would happen to this Energy now that he had a Well of his own. Mistress Kalina had hinted at what should happen, but he wanted to see it with his own eyes. Tercius released his hold over the Energy and saw it disappear into the surroundings, as he returned to his body.
Energy Sight engaged with no issue whatsoever, and Tercius saw that his body was empty of Energy. Checking and rechecking for traces of Energy, to the best of his ability, made him release a bark of a laugh. Then another and one more. Before Tercius knew it, he was laughing. Amber stared at him with a small tilt to her head, her ears flickering rapidly to and fro, and he couldn’t resist. He picked her up and gave her a vigorous scratching along her belly, followed by a smooch on the top of her little nose.
“We did it, little one. We did it,” he murmured.
Narrowing his eyes on his new organ, he tried to look deeper while using Energy Sight.
There was something there in his chest, Tercius's skill informed him, a light in the perpetual darkness, but no matter how hard he peered there he was unable to access it. It remained small and locked away, a distant star in its fading years only seen because of all the darkness that came around it. I need to use this Energy now.
Returning to his Skill world, he found that Flu had returned to the core of Energy Manipulation in the time Tercius was away, and he hurried to get some more Energy from those chains.
You know Flu, he thought, I have been thinking lately of what will happen when the day comes that I manage to release you from these chains. If the day comes, that is. I know that you gave me more than enough by now, but I would like it if you granted me a request if I succeed. Somehow I can’t shake away this feeling that you understand everything I say, he shook his head, alarmed at what his gut was telling him. So… Oh Hells. Please, just don't be homicidal or hellbent on some path of destruction. That's all I ask. I'm even prepared to look the other way if you end up being unreasonable, from time to time. If you talk too much… or too loudly without a real necessity, we can work on it. Just don't go on murder sprees. Oh, and let us include a no rape or mind snatching policies on the request list, just in case. I know you technically lack the parts… but all the magic and… I think I'm going to stop talking now…
Figuring that he gathered enough Energy for a first barrier, he stopped and cast one last gaze to the white light. Like always, as soon as Tercius stopped ripping the chains, the little ball of light floated away. Six years had passed since he met this alien creature, yet he knew little of it. Was it even capable of thought or instinct now? If not, would it become capable of those things later, if Tercius managed to free it? If yes, did it carry a grudge of some kind? While Tercius wouldn't go as far as to say that he had a responsibility to the creature, or for the creature, he certainly wouldn't be able to stay carefree if Flu did any of the things he mentioned.
I'm overthinking this, he thought, as his eyes narrowed. It's all those books, movies, and games about alien life forms… Blazing Hells, I've been conditioned to think such things…
Shaking his head, he left such things for the future.
Flu was neutral, leaning to friendly until proven otherwise. And he should extend the same courtesy to Mistress Kalina while he was at it, he noted, even if he had his reservations.
A brief stop in Meditation washed away the chronic pain he accumulated, and once more he used Energy Sight to observe himself. Tercius found that the blip in the center of his chest was now a firefly in the darkness.
Good, he thought.
Immediately, he started drawing basic shapes in the air, weaving them tightly while holding some control over those he finished. The sun went past the zenith, yet he didn't stop. Every once in a while he returned to the old shapes, reinforcing them by adding additional mana to replace the lost one and making sure that the red Runes hanging in the air before him stayed in a readable state.
Clicking his tongue, a new habit that he picked up while learning Magik, he waved his hands and erased everything, only to start over from scratch.
He knew that he would be able to break the barrier like this, he only had to persevere for a little while longer. He had Energy, he had desire, and most importantly he had knowledge of a way ahead. By his current theory, all three were needed. Ignoring the sun and the breeze, and even the attempts Amber made for him to play with her, he kept his focus on his fingers and his red mana. A pressure built within him, slowly, and his hope surged, rapidly overcoming Tercius's second thoughts.
All at once, the pressure in his Well went away, as a message appeared, for his eyes only.
Mana Manipulation [20] is now Mana Manipulation [21]