When coming back, we may notice we have changed because others haven’t.

Pre-Fall writer.

They set camp in one of the houses, the one they’d found the collection of books.

“I think it’s time you explain… all of this,” Miles asked.

“It’s a bit complicated. Remember, I said we were looking to build an expedition to the East Coast.”

“Ulrich and I were speculating about why, since you have massive powers.”

“We do, but they have their limits.”

“Duration, right?” Ulrich asked.

“Yes. Compared to any Talented you’ve heard of, it’s much, much higher. Your grand-uncle was tier 1 if I remember? About 12-15 minutes of sustained Dark Flame before it reverts to bright?”

“Correct. You?”

“I don’t fit into tiers. The highest known is tier 6, over one hour and a half. The last time I checked, I could sustain my flame in hand for more than five hours.”

Ulrich whistled.

“Then you run dry and have to wait,” he said. “A long time,” he speculated.

“An entire night. If I use two Talents at the same time, it’s draining even faster. Those fireballs, they use a lot of my mana. Same for Petra, Laura, everyone else.”

“That’s why you’re recruiting,” Miles said.

“If we lose access to our Talents because we don’t have mana or stamina to fuel them… that would be bad. We better have people in reserve who can do some of what we do. Like… well, like you do now.”

“Using those Ancient books,” he said, looking at the stack of partially destroyed books.

“But you’re not in charge,” Ulrich said.

“What do you mean, I’m not in charge?” she asked.

“It’s obvious. You made those parchments, but you had no idea how many were coming, what they would do. You were even unsure if you had finished giving me the last Talent. You have no idea how everything works together, yet it does.”

“And so?”

“You may not know how it works, but someone does. It’s all… directed.”

“You’re correct,” she admitted.

“Who is it?”

“An Ancient.”

Both men stared.

“So, this dead Ancient is still hanging around fifteen decades after the Fall. And he watches through you and can act on Talents. On you and through you.”

“Essentially yes.”

Ulrich picked a small thimble and swallowed. Then he stood up and saluted.

“What?”

“Saying hello to your patron. I am honored to meet you, sir?” he bowed slightly before sitting back.

I need to learn how to read lips, Moore thought for the umpteenth time. He had no idea what Johanna and Mr. Vampire Sengfield were discussing when he’d just saluted her out of nowhere.

“So that’s how you know about that Ancient library back east,” Miles said.

“The vision was precise. A clarity you wouldn’t get in a dream, anyway. It had some damage, but the set of buildings it’s in was in good condition. It looks like the excess mana kept them relatively intact, at least so far.”

“Millions of Ancient books. And you can change them into… parchments.”

“We’ve seen right here that even if the building is intact, not all books might be, but yes. It’s all there. The Power the World needs.”

“His words?”

“Yes. They were a bit strange… and after having experienced Telepathy, I think that’s what they were. A telepathic sending.”

“Telepathy? Is that a Talent of yours?”

“Artifact. We didn’t bring it here as it’s a bit bulky, but Peter will use it to scout on the main expedition. It allows you to speak ‘silently’ across long distances. It’s your voice, but if you pay attention, it’s a voice that is not a sound. That is how it felt when the skeleton was speaking to me.”

“If it was a dream projection, it’s probably more involved than that…” Ulrich stopped as Miles raised his hand, and interrupted.

“This phrase. The Power the World needs. What does it mean?”

“We don’t truly know. But I have an idea.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

She started sketching her idea, of empowered teams of guards and scouring mana zones. Both men stayed silent for a while once she finished.

“You want to change the world.”

“That’s what the world truly needs. That was a shock, seeing cities in the central states abandoning fortifications… and I knew this should be every city. Every farm. And the only way this will happen is if there are people that can take the fight to the mana zones. The places where the Changed beasts breed, grow, and then come at us people. We can clean them.”

She stopped, as she realized she was starting to sound like a madwoman.

“That’s what the Talents are for,” she finished.

“I can think of a dozen uses for Talents, but that one is… well, noble,” Miles noted, and Ulrich laughed.

“I see why you would need such a library,” the thirster added.

“It’s going to be a buttload of books to carry,” Miles speculated.

“Unless we convert them first. That’s more manageable. You’ve seen how the parchments are, compared to the source material.”

“You can do that in advance?”

“The Ancient can. Back in the northwest, we made a set for someone who wasn’t there in the room. And later, he made some simple parchments, enough to track some things.”

Ulrich gestured toward the stack of books.

“So, you could change them right now?”

“There’s only one I haven’t handled yet. But Tom, Peter, or Laura could do for the ones I already did.”

“Uh?” “Why?” they both exclaimed at nearly the same time.

“We don’t know. But it looks like each of us can create only one parchment out of a given book, for some reason.”

“But how do you know who to use the parchment for?”

“We don’t. We check who can use the first one, the one with the Talent and the name of the set of Talents you have. Like Earth Shaper, Guardian, or similar names. You want us to try?”

The only book that had not been converted yet was obvious since it was the only one intact after she had made the sets for both veterans.

This time, the familiar cold started and she breathed more easily. That was the little tingle of fear with those conversions, as she was not in charge, and couldn’t know what was coming.

Dexterity and Popping Rocks.

“Well, as I said, we don’t fully control the process,” she admitted.

She heard Petra sigh and turned to look at the former bartender. Then she facepalmed.

Rocks meant earth, right?

She gestured to Petra. The Earth Shaper grinned and grabbed the parchment, then frowned when it did not activate.

“What gives?”

“I thought it might be for you. But no. So, what it’s for?”

“Who knows? Try again?” Petra replied.

“Tom?” she asked, handing the book to him.

Dexterity appeared and Petra immediately started to laugh.

“What?”

“Remember Mark?” she said.

“What about Mark? Oh…”

Petra turned to the two men, explaining for Johanna.

“A guardsman from home, one those four granted Talents to before we left. At one point, she made just a Strength parchment, and we wondered about what it was for. Then we got a Strength along with a Talent. This looks like the reverse. Much clearer, I’d say.”

She grabbed the parchment, which activated briefly before immediately vanishing. Then she picked the previous one and smiled as this time, it did light up under her touch.

“I knew it,” she laughed and the parchment sparked and vanished. “And one more!”

“Don’t start popping rocks right now,” Johanna warned her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll test that tomorrow when we head back, and with enough distance.”

Seeing the incomprehension in the faces of the two men, Petra added, “One of my Talents, Tremor, is… fairly destructive. Thankfully, all the Talents seem to have a relatively limited range.”

“And you’re discovering each Talent?”

Johanna started explaining.

“A lot of the Talents we get are unknown. I think not enough people had Talents in the past, and what they get is random, so they might get the easy ones first. I guess that the Ancient knows better, and he gives us not the easy, but the useful ones.”

“Useful for what?”

“Fighting,” she admitted. “There have been all kinds of stories about others, but…”

“But you are going to lead an interesting life. Even more so if you go to the East Coast regularly,” Miles noted.

“Regularly?”

“Well, you think you’re going to bring back a million books in just one expedition?”

“True,” she realized.

“Pop,” Petra said, and the little stone smoked, before it abruptly cracked, spewing rock fragments all over.

“It’s not spectacular, but it has its uses,” Miles said as they finally moved onto a proper road.

“Too small, and it just cracks. Too big, and it takes ages and not enough boom. There’s a trick to it, I swear,” she replied. “But I’ll figure it out. As long as I keep enough mana, in case.”

Both Miles and Ulrich shrugged. The two men were doing tests of their own, to figure out their Talents and more importantly, their limits. Johanna looked at the almost tree-like humanoid that was there and blinked once again in wonder. What must be Barkskin provided the normally albino thirster with thick, light brown bark-looking skin. It was smoother than you’d expect from cork but unmistakably tree-like, yet his features were still perfectly recognizable, much like the Metal Skin effect. Only the hair remained perfectly white and unchanged. That and his pink eyes.

“Still holding?”

“Three hours and not a hint of being empty. I’ll hold for as long as I can.”

“You know, archmages supposedly have the highest endurance of all known mages… at over an hour and a half.”

“Well, I got twice as many Talents, I sure hope to have at least twice as much endurance. You said you last five hours, after all.”

“And you, Miles?” she asked the expedition captain.

“I’ll test that skin duration on another day. Right now… I’m still trying to wrap my head around all this.”

“You tried most, except the ones that looked offensive Talents. Did you?”

“Nothing when it comes to lightning. I suppose you do need clouds for that one, but right now, the only two around are a bit too far away,” he replied, looking up at the near-empty June sky.

“And Ember Chains.”

“That one I did. I don’t know what I expected, but it is simply bizarre. I get a manacle, on whatever wrist I focus on, with a length of rough chain attached, nearly nine feet long. Blackened metal, with glowing cracks like it’s straight out of the forge and hasn’t had time to cool.”

“What kind?”

“That’s the weird thing. With that Detect Metal Talent, I can immediately know what kind of metal anything is. Like iron as the base of anything made of steel, or copper from my bronze belt buckle. But that chain? Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s like it’s not made of metal at all, despite the look.”

“Well, it does disappear when you release the Talent, right?”

Seeing as Miles nodded, she continued, “I think it’s made of solid mana. Like Petra’s jagged stone bits. They look like some form of stone, but they vanish when she ends the Talent. And we’ve tried cutting them with Swordcutter, the bits you shave instantly vanish when removed.”

“Well, I’ve tried to use them like a whip or something. It’s probably doable, but I need lots of training because so far, I’m just rattling lengths of chain. Very hot chain.”

“How hot is it?”

“It depends. With… or without holding the Burning Slasher?”

“It affects the chain?”

“I’m pretty sure it does. And that’s almost immediate. If I pick up that axe you found, the cracks immediately brighten a bit, as if they got hotter, and they dull slightly when I drop it.”

Johanna groaned.

“That’s what you wanted to test, right?” Miles asked.

“Both flames I make have the same heat, even though the flaming hand is far easier than the flaming blade. I was hoping ‘having’ a much stronger fire power, even by proxy, would count.”

“It looks like it does, then. Just if it’s not already one of your Talents.”

“At least, that axe will provide some good funds for the expedition.”

“Well, technically, we all would share in the money it will fetch.”

Johanna blinked.

“Don’t worry. I know it’s going to be needed for that plan of yours, and I can settle for the normal loot money. My chain is already hot enough as it is. And even if I wanted it, I don’t have enough money to pay for your shares of it,” he laughed.