It was nearly two hours before the woman woke again, and then over half an hour before she spoke. Tristan had taken up station in the cell across from hers. A guard had brought him a change of clothes and he’d taken some time to freshen up while he waited for his new charge to wake. Both the prison’s doctor and wizard had stopped by to check on the woman, but nothing was physically or magically wrong with her other than exhaustion.
Abelar Toury, the master wizard, had used several identification and examination skills on the woman in his attempt to both answer Tristan’s questions and to help her recover. Toury had confirmed the woman’s name, Corona, and divined her species and class. She was an Ethereal, a humanoid species Tristan had heard of but never seen. They were supposedly native to an island half a world away that had a leyline directly on top of it. Her class was even stranger, it was called Essence Weaver, and neither Tristan nor Toury had ever heard of it. Even stranger though was that she was only level one in both her species and class, as though she were a newborn that had somehow managed to gain a class.
Tristan’s petition to Astraea had gone unanswered, a fact that was worrying him considerably. The petitions of Arbiters did not go unanswered. Each of them was one of Astraea’s chosen. The only reason she would not have replied was if she had been prevented from doing so, likely through an agreement with another god. That in itself was a warning.
He had given up trying to understand what was happening here. He had too many questions that couldn’t be answered by anyone but the woman in the cell across from him. Now that he believed her to be somehow a pawn of the gods, and possibly even a victim in this mess, he needed her willing cooperation. He’d been wrong to use Compelled Testament on her in the first place, he hadn’t properly understood the situation, and hadn’t known what questions to ask.
When he noticed she was awake, Tristan sent for food and water. When it arrived Tristan dismissed the attending guard and opened the woman’s cell, bringing in her food and setting it on the bunk across from hers. Tristan took up station there as well, leaving the cell door open. It had already been unlocked but he wanted to make it as clear as possible that she was no longer a prisoner.
When she finally sat up and looked at him, Tristan noted the red swelling of her eyes. He had watched with some fascination as she wept, rather than tears her eyes had produced small beads of bluish light that flowed like water and evaporated into the air not long after leaving her body.
He silently handed her a handcloth that had been dampened with warm water, and she accepted it gratefully, using it to clean and sooth her swollen eyes.
“This… isn't a game is it?” She asked, her voice breaking slightly. “I can’t log out, and no game would ever do… that… to me.”
Tristan shook his head and handed her a cup of hot tea from the meal tray. “If it is a game, then we are not the players, merely pieces moved by the gods. I apologize for putting you through that, it is never pleasant but this one was particularly bad… Do you remember what you said?”
She shuddered, then nodded. “Yes, but why did I say those things? I didn’t even know most of those things until I said them, but now…” She trailed off, unable to articulate what she was feeling.
Fortunately, Tristan knew this exact feeling. “A truth-speaking often forces you to make connections you weren’t consciously aware of. It scans your logs, reads your memories, and even examines your spiritual makeup… Are you familiar with the Triune? How your spirit works specifically.”
Corona blinked at him and looked like she might say something, then seemed to reconsider. “No. I’ve heard the word before, but not in this context.”
“It’s a complex topic, but the short version is that most creatures are made of three things, a body, a spirit, and a soul. Among other things, the spirit is the interface between the soul and the body. Our identity lives in our soul, but our souls cannot interact with the physical world directly. Our spirits are both an interface and an imprint, our skills, levels, and to some extent even our memories are part of our spirits. Just as physical exercise can make your body grow stronger, spiritual exercise can make your spirit grow in power.” He told her.
Tristan rubbed his forehead as he thought about how to explain this. As an Arbiter he’d been instructed on this topic in depth, but he didn’t have time to teach a class on Triune-theory right now. “To work, the magic I used on you partially disconnects your spirit from your body, placing itself between them and acting as an extra layer. It’s one of four known ways to compel a creature, and it’s by far the most powerful and invasive. It is capable of commanding you not only to speak, but to think.”
“What you are feeling now is caused by that intrusion of the spirit, your body acted while partially detached from your spiritual half, and now your spirit is trying to assimilate those changes while also rebelling against the violation of your will. It will fade, but for a time you may feel disassociated from your own thoughts and some thoughts may feel external or intrusive because your body and spirit are currently in disagreement over the state of your mind.”
Corona sipped her tea, a faraway look in her eyes. Tristan gave her a few minutes to process things as he observed her. Her manner had changed somewhat, where before she had been unnaturally calm, Tristan could now see signs of tension and anxiety in her every movement.
“When you feel up to it, I would appreciate it if you'd answer a few more questions. Without compulsion this time.” Tristan quickly added upon seeing her horrified expression. “You are no longer a prisoner, but you can rest here as long as you need.”
She looked up at that, surprised. “I’m not a prisoner? But I… I killed a man. Didn’t I?”
“Did you intend to?” Tristan asked her. “Did you take an action that was negligent or malicious? By your own words this was an act of the gods - I do not yet understand why or how but if you have any insights I would like to hear them. You also told me that you are Valen Armeias, the man you killed, and you could not have lied. How am I to charge you with killing yourself? There are no provisions under Law nor Justice for taking one’s own life.”
Corona pondered that silently for a time, sipping her tea and poking at the food Tristan proffered her. Outwardly Tristan projected calm, patience, and support. Inwardly his mind was on fire, ready to consume any information this woman could provide him. “I find myself in a predicament.” He told her. “I need your help, but Justice demands that I make amends for putting an innocent through that ordeal. I would ask that you name a boon you’d have of me that might repay the injury I have done you.”
Anger flashed through her eyes for a moment, but was quickly suppressed. Corona sighed and closed her eyes, and when she reopened them Tristan felt as if he were both seeing her, and being seen by her, for the first time. “You want to pay me back for putting me through hell? Fine, you can start by telling me your name.”
“I’m Tristan d’Etrona, Arbiter of Astraea.”
“What is it you want for me, and why?” She demanded.
“I want to know, in your own words, how you came to be here, what you know of what is happening, and how we can stop it.”
In the hours since Tristan had arrived here, he’d been receiving regular reports from across the city. Red lights continued to rain from the sky, becoming more and more obvious the darker it got. Most weren’t landing in the city, but out in the wilds beyond the walls, many were so distant that they were indistinguishable from normal shooting stars except for their distinct color. Still enough were falling within the city walls to cause panic. People were hiding in cellars and under bridges, which only resulted in tragic losses of life as structures collapsed on the heads of sheltering victims.
There had been more reports of transformations like the one Tristan had witnessed, but few answers. Many of the transformed were attacked and killed by their horrified former loved ones. The Duke had taken personal command of the situation, if only to be seen doing something, and had apparently taken some of the transformed captive. Tristan had sent word to the Duke asking that his captives be brought to the prison for their own safety, but he had received no reply and no other transformed had appeared.
Corona searched his face for a moment, and Tristan wondered if his long practiced mask of calm had begun to slip. Whatever she saw there, her words gave him hope. “You’re nearly as fucked up about this as I am, aren’t you? Well, settle in ‘cause I’m about to blow your mind some more here.” Then she told him the story of her day. A story that started with her waking up in her bed in another world, and ended in a storm of divine fire.
***
When Corona finished speaking Tristan pulled a pen and message scroll from his belt pouch and quickly scrawled a brief message to the Duke, informing him of the origin of the “Travelers” as they were called. That done, he summoned a guard and charged the man to hand-deliver it. Tristan still had questions, but this information needed to be placed in the Duke’s hands as quickly as possible.
“I have two questions.” Tristan said to Corona once the guard was on his way.
“Only two? I’ve got a lot more than that, so you go first.” she said.
“First, what god did you select as your patron? You said there were hundreds of them present, including the prime deities, so who did you choose to serve?”
“Oh, I talked to some of the lower down gods but then I got curious and headed up into the clouds. I climbed for what felt like an hour and eventually broke through the cloud cover. It was pretty wild up there, like standing on the stairs of an IMAX theater showing a scene from space… Sorry, that probably doesn’t make sense to you, but trust me it was awe-inspiring. The stairs kept going, maybe forever, but they were mostly empty.” She told him.
“I finally found this pair of twins sitting next to each other, they did that whole thing where they complete each other’s sentences - told me their names were Matter and Energy. I'm a physics professor and so I thought that was pretty funny. It got even better when they told me their boon was a skill to turn matter into energy or vice versa. I’m not sure you’d understand why I find that funny, but suffice it to say that where I come from energy to matter is damn near impossible, and the other way around could constitute anything from lighting a match to ending the fucking world. So yeah of course I told them to sign me up.”
Tristan suspected he knew where this was going, and so interjected into the story. “Let me guess, it converts to and from spiritual energy, and requires mana for one and stamina for the other.”
Corona blinked at him. “Yeah, how’d you know? What does spiritual energy even mean?”
Tristan sighed. “It’s what mana and stamina are based on, other things as well… Let’s set that aside for now, it’s complicated and you are lacking the required context. My other question was about your species and class - you say you were human on your home world, is your class a gift of the gods as well or did you bring that from your world? I haven’t heard of it before.”
Corona chewed on her answer for a moment before responding. “The class is new. I told you how I got to make a new body for myself right? Well that kind of thing is really common in games from my world, you make a character that looks however you want then you play as that character in the game. Outside of games we don’t have things like classes, and everybody is human. Games like this… Sorry, nVR games are kinda like lucid dreaming that you’re a different person in a fantasy world. I guess your gods made this System thing based on our games? Maybe that’s why they abducted us?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out. One more question, and you don’t need to answer this if you don’t want to - it’s considered a private subject and normally I wouldn’t ask. What does your class do exactly?” Tristan had been curious about this since hearing about it, and now that he knew about her divine boon skill he had a suspicion that he wanted to confirm.
“Oh I have no problem telling you about all my stuff.” Corona smirked at him. “First though let me tell you how you can pay me back for that torture you put me through earlier, not to mention how helpful I’ve been here.”
Tristan cocked an eyebrow at her, but remained silent. “I’m stuck here, I’ve got nothing but prison clothes to my name. Here’s the deal, I want you to power level me, get me some decent equipment, and teach me all the stuff I need to know to not end up as monster kibble or back in an office job. I want to do magic and make cool shit. I want to see all the crazy things that this world has to offer, and eat all your weird alien food. Most of all I don’t want to fucking die before I turn 50.” Corona finished her speech and glared at Tristan, as if daring him to say no but also expecting to be denied.
“Very well.” Tristan told her.
“That’s it? You’re just going to do it? No hedging?” She asked.
“I’ll admit, I’m not entirely sure what all of that means, but if that is what you deem to be just compensation for your service and tribulation then I shall endeavor to provide it. My only qualification is that I must continue in my service to Astraea as her Arbiter, but these duties can overlap without conflict. Astraea would want me to right this wrong, so it is effectively part of my duty as Arbiter.”
“Huh. I didn’t expect it to be that easy.”
“Would you like to tell me about your class now?” Tristan reminded her.
“Oh, right. It’s called Essence Weaver, it’s supposed to be a mage class with a focus on energy manipulation and illusions. Valera said it’d be a good fit for me. My species gets a big boost to our maximum mana, our Inner Light skill boosts maximum mana by 50% per-rank, and has a maximum of 5 ranks, so I could end up with a 250% boost to my mana pool. The downside is we don’t regenerate mana naturally so I have to find ambient sources. Ultimately I picked this class because I wanted to see how it would mesh with my ability to turn energy into matter. I figured there was a chance it’d let me make illusions solid.”
Tristan stood up and walked to the open cell door. “I’m sure your questions mostly revolve around how things work here, yes?” When she confirmed with a nod he continued. “Good, I’m appointing you as my adjunct, we will begin your training immediately. There are people in this city who need help and rendering them aid will provide an excellent way to learn your skills with minimal risk to yourself.”
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The two of them were in an otherwise empty cellblock, but there was a guard on duty at the checkpoint anyway, likely stationed there by the warden as a spy to keep him informed of Tristan's actions. Tristan couldn’t blame the man, he’d want to know what was going on here too had their positions been reversed. Now Tristan commandeered the guard for his own use, instructing him to fetch the warden and have him meet Tristan at the prison armory.
Corona observed his handling of the guards they encountered with some interest, and when they waited before the locked armory she asked him about it. “So it’s obvious you’re some sort of big shot around here, but what exactly is an Arbiter of Astraea? Astraea is one of the gods, right? I don’t think I spoke to her.”
“Astraea is the goddess of Justice, Purity, and Innocence. Arbiters are her chosen champions, I’m the only one of us in the entire city and there are no more than twenty in the entire kingdom. We are charged with delivering justice to both the innocent and the guilty. Our ability to do so is enshrined in The Law, but in some ways we are outside it. While the priests of Astraea act as judges and jurists, our job is to see justice done even when The Law fails.” He told her.
“So you’re some kind of super-cop that’s above the law? Judge, jury and executioner all in one?” She said, doubt lacing her voice.
Tristan sometimes had trouble interpreting her words, even though they were speaking the same language she would occasionally use words in context he didn’t quite understand. He thought she might be using idiomatic language that wasn’t translating well from her homeworld. None-the-less, he was able to figure out her meaning here, and correctly interpreted the sentiment with which it was said.
“No, we are not above The Law, in fact more laws govern my conduct than almost any other class. Despite this, we are charged with righting wrongs where The Law has failed, and we are given tools to do this both under The Law and of our own power. That includes an effective military rank in nearly any force or nation.” Tristan nodded towards a man who was currently approaching them, two guards in tow. “While I’m not in the chain of command, I am considered to have equal authority to the warden here in most contexts. I can command those below me, but cannot be commanded by those above me. This allows me to act independently when conducting investigations.”
The warden and his two guards came to a halt a few paces away. All three looked with unconcealed interest at Corona. “Arbiter Tristan.” The warden acknowledged him with a nod. “What is this about? Why has the prisoner been released from her cell?”
Tristan had already informed the guards that Corona was not to be considered a prisoner, so the warden was obviously hoping to get Tristan to reveal more information by correcting him. Tristan had little patience for these sorts of games but knew that not playing along would inevitably lead to bureaucratic obstacles being put in his way. It was ultimately faster just to humor the man.
“Warden,” Tristan returned the other man’s nod. “This woman is Corona, and I have administered a truth-speaking to her. I have judged her innocent of any crime. Further, I have deputized her as my aid, as her knowledge of the current situation is first-hand. I require the use of your armory to appropriately outfit her during the current crisis - I will see to it that any borrowed equipment is replaced later when there is time. If you wish I will give you a more detailed briefing while she is equipping herself.”
The warden’s eyebrows shot up at this, but the promise of more information got him moving. He had one guard open the armory and light the lanterns inside, while the other guard was sent to fetch a few items that couldn’t be found within. As soon as that was done Corona disappeared inside and Tristan began to quietly bring the warden up to speed on his investigation.
***
When Corona emerged ten minutes later she wore an eclectic mix of boiled leather armor and her simple cloth prison garb. She’d put on Tristan’s old cloak and strapped two daggers to her waist. “I have to ask, why does this jail have an armory right next to its cafeteria? And why do they have things like climbing gear?”.
Tristan was eating a quick snack while he waited. The warden had left a few minutes ago, and Tristan had taken advantage of the mess hall’s proximity to the kitchens to grab a bite to eat. He looked over Corona’s gear as she walked up to him, noting that her armor was covering most but not all of her strange glowing markings. That was good as she was already going to stick out like a sore thumb, but being a lit target at night wasn’t going to help her survive.
“This place was built over a dungeon. That armory isn’t for the guards, it's for the prisoners. They spend most of their days in the dungeon hunting for treasures, and if they find any they can turn them in for reductions in their sentence or special treatment. It’s dangerous work but we don’t send them in unequipped, it’s best for everyone if they succeed.” Tristan told her as he stood and began leading the way towards the exit.
Corona looked back over her shoulder as they walked, as if trying to see the dungeon entrance. “You send prisoners into dangerous forced labor? That’s justice in your mind?” She asked.
Tristan looked at her curiously. “It’s not ideal, no. If the church of Astraea had its way we’d offer it as an option for prisoners rather than forcing participation. We don’t run the prison system though, that dubious honor goes to followers of Reign in this kingdom.” Tristan told her.
The two of them passed out the front doors of the prison as Tristan continued to explain. “Many of our nobles, including the Duke of Altria, are followers of Reign. It’s led to issues with prisons across the kingdom, but none more so than here. The Lawpriests currently side with the Duke on this, so my order has little influence, but we hope to convince them that exploitive sentencing requirements are perversions of The Law. It’s quite the debate in the capital right now.”
Corona shook her head. “Man, that figures. You have an actual goddess of justice here and she’s not even in charge of the laws or the prisons. Reign is the bloody skeleton guy right? I’m guessing he’s in control of the cops too?”
“If by cops you mean the guards, then yes. His domain includes all those who accept coin to act as a weapon on behalf of another.” Tristan confirmed.
Tristan led the way through the city. He took them across the river and back to the cathedral ruins. This was one of the highest points in the city other than the bluff the Duke’s castle stood upon. Altria had been built in the foothills between a mountain range and a vast wilderness, though the original settlers had picked out a spot that was flatter than its surroundings. Even so, the city had long since outgrown its original planning, and while the area within the inner walls was mostly level, the outer parts of the city were built on a riot of shifting elevations.
The cathedral was on the mountainous side of the river along with the Duke’s castle. It was the older side of the city and where most of the wealthy lived. Across the river were the largest markets, as well as the most shops, craftsmen, and housing. The inner city was nicer than the outer city on both sides of the river, but there was a reason the part of the city they were in now was called the noble district.
The guards were out in force this night, but they didn’t trouble Tristan and his assistant, even if Corona did draw some odd looks. Tristan talked as they walked, explaining things he believed the Traveler would need to know. “You asked earlier what spiritual energy is, and I suppose that’s as good a place to begin as any. Have you had a look at your character sheet yet?”
“Yeah. I figured out how to equip things when I was trying to get this armor on.” She said, pulling at the leather breastplate she was now wearing.
“On your character sheet you’ll see your class and species levels, in addition to your character level, which is essentially just your total levels. Base spiritual energy is a function of your character level, it’s not shown anywhere on your sheet, but some spells can detect it which is mostly how we know about it. The higher your level, the more energy your spirit can contain. That energy powers everything you do, but your ability to wield it depends on three factors: Mana, Stamina, and Effort.”
The ruined cathedral loomed above them in the dark. The fires had been put out hours ago, and there were no street lanterns lit on the broken stretch of road that ran past the ruins on this fear-filled night. It made for an excellent view of the night sky, and they could see occasional streaks of red light cut through the air, disappearing into the distance. Tristan briefly disrupted the view with a light show of his own as he activated one of his most basic skills.
“This is The Light of Truth, one of my Arbiter skills.” He said, causing a ball of light to form in his hand and rise into the air a short distance. “It uses mana and effort, and as a spell it requires a free hand to perform the gestures needed for casting. As you can see, it produces a floating ball of light which I can control mentally. It also has a chance of dispelling low level illusions and makes concealment skills less effective.” He closed his hand and the light snuffed out, leaving them in darkness once again.
“If you look in your unlocked skills list you should see The Light of Truth listed there now. Describing a skill in sufficient detail will unlock it for anyone that overhears you, but it does not convey the ability to learn or use that skill. To learn a skill you must meet the prerequisites, and invest enough progression points for it to reach its first level. Right now you should see that this skill requires a class prerequisite of Arbiter of Astraea at first level.” He waited for her nod of confirmation before continuing. “Now if I tell you that this skill is also available to all followers of Astraea at character level forty you should see the description update.”
“It did yeah… Why didn’t it tell me that in the first place?” She asked.
“Most skills have several sets of prerequisites, sometimes dozens. You can satisfy any one set to learn the skill, but the Divine System will only reveal to you one of them by default. That method will be the one closest to however you unlocked the skill in the first place, and since I as an Arbiter revealed the skill to you, you learned the method that I used to learn the skill. When you learned a different way to learn the skill your information was updated to reflect that. You can also learn of prerequisite sets by accidentally satisfying them. If you meet a set of prerequisites that were unknown to you, the skill will still be learnable. Knowledge of them is only useful as a way to intentionally work towards qualifying for a skill.”
Corona read over the skill while Tristan waited, when she focused on him again he raised his hand for a second time and reactivated the skill. This time the ball of light conjured by the spell was nearly twice as large and the light it gave off was like a beacon in the night. Corona flinched away from him bringing a hand up to shield her eyes. Tristan let the spell end after a few moments just as he had with the first one, plunging them back into darkness.
“Do you know what I did differently that time?” He asked.
“Blinded me?!” She sputtered. “Why’d you do that?”
“That was a demonstration of Effort.” He told her. “Notice how the description of the skill only mentions that its power scales with ranks in the skill? Effort is the most direct expression of spiritual energy, it can be added to nearly any skill and functions like temporary progression points. Effort can bypass the cap on ranks in a skill as well, allowing you to effectively reach twice the normal cap on ranks. For skills with ongoing effects it can also be used to exercise control over the effect provided by that skill.”
“So you try harder and get more out of it. Seems pretty straightforward.”
“Yes, but that power has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is your spiritual body. If you run out of spiritual energy you’ll pass out until it has time to recover. Just like physical or mental exhaustion, spiritual exhaustion can take a toll on you. Remember that both Mana and Stamina ultimately are expressions of spiritual energy as well, so if you expend all your spiritual energy on Effort you will find that your efficiency with your Mana and Stamina becomes worse as their source of power diminishes.”
“Wait, how does my special skill work with that though? I can convert things into and from spiritual energy. Does that mean I could refill my spiritual energy with it? There has to be a downside right?” She asked, frowning. Her luminous eyes were visible in the darkness as they read text off an interface Tristan couldn’t see.
“There are probably several.” Tristan told her. “The obvious one is that you’ll need to expend Mana and Stamina to use it. You’ll need to use the skill a few times to find out how costly it is, and its costs may scale based on what you use it on. You’ll find that the more you use a skill the more you’ll be able to intuit how much Mana or Stamina it will cost you to activate, but for now you’ll just have to try it and see.”
Corona reached out and placed her hand against one of the cut stones of the broken cathedral and squinted at it. Tristan waited. Nothing happened.
Frowning, she glanced at Tristan. “I got a message that says I don’t have enough stamina to convert this into spiritual energy.”
“I want you to share the message with me so I can read it. Simply picture the message becoming visible to my eyes and I’ll receive it the same way you did. You can share nearly any System generated interface in this manner, though never rely on the information shown in a shared window as skills do exist that can forge or alter the appearance of a shared interface. Share the skill description with me as well.”
Corona squinted, and suddenly Tristan was able to see her notification.
> System Notice
>
> Insufficient Stamina
>
> You do not have enough stamina to convert “Cathedral Stone Block” into Spiritual Energy.
A moment later, her skill appeared for him as well, adding itself to his unlocked skills list in the process.
> Phase Shift
>
> Active Skill (Tier 5)
>
> Prerequisites: Chosen of the Gods (Matter & Energy)
>
> Source: Ethereal (Species)
>
> Rank: 1 / 5
>
> PP: 0 / 10
>
> Activation Cost: Mana or Stamina (Variable)
>
> Activation Type: Instant
>
> Cooldown: 5 Minutes
>
> Converts one physical object into spiritual energy, or some amount of spiritual energy into a physical object. When converting a physical object into energy Stamina is consumed. When converting spiritual energy into a physical object Mana is consumed. Each rank in this skill increases the efficiency of the conversion by 20%.
“Ah, good. I was hoping for this. Do you see how the notice mentions the name of the object you tried to convert? That means it has a conceptual component to it. Any time you attempt to use this skill it will take effect on one entire object that you conceive of as being a single thing, and if your perception shifts so will the target of the skill. It can be somewhat restrictive unless you get very good at tricking your own perception, but it’s one of the easier targeting methods most of the time.”
“I see. No converting half of something, it’s all or nothing.” Corona said, reaching down to the ground to pick up a pebble. “Let me try on something smaller.”
There was a flash as her skill activated, followed by a shockwave made of ghostly light that seemed to burst forth from her skin. Corona’s hair was blown about as if in a strong wind for a moment, and her luminous markings and eyes all glowed with an intensity that looked painful to Tristan. He watched, unconcerned, as she collapsed to the ground.
“As you can see, attempting to raise your spiritual energy beyond your capacity will result in an unpleasant release of the extra energy as your spiritual body will be unable to hold it.” Tristan told the groaning woman. “It’s harmless by itself, but not something you’ll want to happen in the middle of a fight.”
“Thanks for the warning…” She said, pushing herself to a seated position. “That took nearly all my stamina by itself, just for a pebble.” She blinked a few times to clear her eyes, then squinted as she read a new notification. “Hey, I got an achievement for that!”
Tristan’s eyebrows raised hearing that. “Really? What for? Achievements are rare. You shouldn’t be able to get one from learning a lesson hundreds before you have learned…”
Corona read the achievement over, then shared it with him.
> Achievement Unlocked
>
> Overpowered
>
> You are the first Traveler to surpass your spirit’s ability to contain spiritual energy. I suppose it’s too much to hope that you did it on purpose.
>
> Rewards:
> Unlocked Skill: Overcharge
Tristan frowned. That was odd. This achievement seemed to only be available to Travelers. All the simple achievements for being the first person to do things had been earned centuries ago by people long dead. The skills and other rewards they had unlocked had been the foundation of dynasties, and now he’d just been given reason to believe that there might be an entirely new set of these achievements available only to other-worlders like Corona.
Tristan sighed and reached a hand down to help Corona up. “Come on, we’re going to need to cut System Theory class short for now.”
“Why’s that?” She asked, taking his hand and pulling herself up.
“We’re going to have to do something I was hoping to avoid. We need to talk to the Duke.”
As he spoke, as if to punctuate his words, a streak of red light crashed through the sky above them, slamming into the ducal palace with the force of a falling star.