Hello, It's me again. Except this time I'm in the journal that's inside my new spacious inter-dimensional memory space. Combining the best of organic flexibly and inorganic stability and expansion, it will be available to a store near you in probably never. If it makes you feel better, future inheritor, the offline version of the journal doesn't start off as high spec as the online one but it is sooo much more secure. Not only does it take a director level to access it but they have to be in proximity too. But if an entity that world level deities call boss is that close to me, and curious, I would be so far beyond fucked that it really wouldn't matter that much.

So if you're not into drama as much as I'm not then the last few days that I've went through would be much more enjoyable as cliff's notes here than living through them or viewing them in HD memory vision. I mean, I'd rather drill extra ventilation in my head than sit through a day-time soap back home. And believe me when I say that this level of drama is neither a spectator nor participant sport.

After getting the approval to use Rabas as a lab rat I wasted no time getting that show on the road. To be honest, I was actually really looking forward to digging though someone's innermost intimate parts and rummaging around. I mean, imagine it's like those estate sales but you're the first one that gets to dig through the really mysterious chest over in the corner of the attic. Well, I imagined it to be something like that except your spirit is your hands, your intuition is your arms and your psychic impression are your eyes. Lets not forget that the treasures you're digging for are latent powers because, how cool is that?

After exchanging hands a couple times I was in the protectors' wing of the manor and let me tell you, what nature had made huge, generations of inhabitants had made colossal and labyrinthine. It really illustrated how far this family had fallen too because it was mostly empty with a single runner's personal household, of anywhere from three to six peeps, managing personal complexes capable of housing ten times that spaciously, twenty comfortable. Apparently, a familiar chubby maid informed me, the only wing of the manor even close to it's original capacity was the laborers wing and it was still only at around a third and that was after graciously allowing the brown caste to all house themselves there. Their original bee hive complexes were now expanded livestock and mushroom cultivation chambers.

Now I don't want to harp on it for too long. Because I can't imagine my inheritor caring too much about a race of people who they may not even meet but you never know. In all honesty, I'm staying here right now and I don't care that much but it is kinda important to know as much about the bloodlines of people you want to kindle, awaken, whatnot.

So, here goes:

* The purple caste, up to an arbitrary bloodline limit, are considered to be the descendants of the Delvers-a varying combination of the last of the dark elves (cool), the last of a bat-kin race with some weird abyssal heritage(scary, also the original owners of this cave cluster-fuck) and their gloaming fae forefather(yea, nothing to do with water. Makes me think that Glaucous' family tree is pretty complicated too.)

* The red caste, descendants of the above mixed with a dominant amount of the blood of a large group of human refugees they took in around 700 years ago (back then, a couple of people still knew how to fully utilize the Kyter PULSE to keep the human expression of genes in utero repressed for a couple generations, swelling the dwindling original populace, probably making Glaucous cry tears of blood)

* The brown caste,originally goblin slaves that were upgraded to breeding stock when fertility and low female birth and survival became an issue because, if nothing else, they are fertile (even without someone to control it the Kyter Pulse won't let the naturally dominant goblin genes express anymore than necessary, which ironically canceled out their superior fertility inheritance after a handful of generations)

Now here's the cool list, the things I could find:

* Dark Elf: AE potential, magic tricks (practically worthless[compared to real magic] abilities that act like beginner magic), ridiculously long lifespan potential (got watered down quick, hot granny's prolly got a small dose of this)

* Bat peeps who don't have an official name in the records:telepathy(oh shit, really!?), celerity(supernatural speed,)sonar(more genetic than supernatural really,) dirty mix all essence pool magic(gonna call it warlock potential, better than calling it weak as shit demon magic)

* Gloaming Fae: low EE pool potential(pretty much a default with the other stuff,) shadow walk(Little Gray's got a weak blend of this and celerity,)shadow conjure(this has a branch that lets people peep through shadows, creepy,)longer lifespan (was only documented in first and second generations)

* Mixed bag (I blame this mess on Glaucous and the human blood): telekinesis, aquakinesis (all three of Glaucous' kids, the water is strong with this one,) water shifting (mix with and travel fast in water, just Jaden and just after Glaucous taught him the trick as a reward for successful courtship [anyone else see this as kinda screwed up?] It did cost him his bat ears though, fair trade,) sound manipulation (actually pretty versatile) supernatural charm and addictive body fluids (like WTF!? They were a set and occasionally popped up till around 200 years ago,) Weird magic (I'll blame this on people who likely opened sufficiently large essence pools and self taught a few tricks without killing themselves)

* and the goblins said 'we make babies easy', so sad

Now back to Rabas, the silent time-bomb (that will make sense later, I promise.) After an oath upon my family that I meant him no harm (I really didn't, I just didn't care if I did) and that he had a good chance to get something awesome out of the deal or, at the very least, get rid of the road map of scars on his face and neck he agreed to my experiment. How very accommodating of him.

I placed one hand on the crown of his head and the other on the spot below the navel and above the business(sacral chakra, coincides with the lower dantian) so yeah, awkward and not comfy but it's important for organic circuitry reasons (Lucky for both of us, the end path of this particular bio energy cycle doesn't include the root chakra, seriously.) not wanting this to last a second longer than necessary, I initiated and closed the circuit (essentially running a trickle of each type of essence you got from the crown hand to the sacral hand) , the more the clearer you can see which gives me one hell of an advantage since I have five types(yes, five when you count stamina which is actually bio-energy and paired with a decent spirit it can be manipulated too,) when people are lucky to have more than one. Hey, if I'm doin it I'm goin full pokemon, I wanna catch em' all.

Okay, if you remember what I said earlier about what I expected it to be like, this is the part where I tell you it's bullshit. You start off blindfolded, sticking your hand into scummy pond water, then (if you have spacial calculation and 3.5 mind) you start seeing way more than you want to as the other hand joins you in canoodling for slimy catfish and finish with wanting to cry yourself to sleep in a hot shower. I didn't find out until later that it's only like that with people you're not too fond of. Everything was pretty bearable at first. I was finding all kinds of catfish. One was even close to the surface of the pond already and it felt fast. Then, I channeled the life essence. All the catfish lit up like Christmas lights and I could feel each (but not all,) of their meanings a lot more clearly, could feel which catfish I could raise to the top without making him genetically unstable and which ones would sink into the muddy bottom in response to that. I felt a lot of other things too, like how 'happy' all those energy strands (over 9000 for the life essence) were making him feel, like how he'd be willing to forgive me all trespasses (past, present, and future,) if I'd just let my sweat slicked hand slip lower (yup, Crying Game level cringe.)I would have obliged him too, for about three seconds before ripping that shit off and choking him to death with it if it weren't for my oath and the presence of the Matron and Rohn, who showed up around five minutes after I started doing the heavy work, keeping me on my best behavior. The worst part was the knowledge and sight, that on a micro-biological and atomic level, we were exchanging all kinds of particles and organisms. You can't just un-see that kind of shit. To sum it up, I felt waaay too close to the guy who tried to turn me into a eunuch.

I vowed, at that moment, to never again use life essence during this process on anyone I wasn't willing to share my last cold beer with or, at the very least, willing to fuck. Besides those two categories of people, who would you be okay knowing everything there was to know about what was under the hood of much less give a jump-start to. Hell, I could close one eye and pick his next of kin out of a crowded club on wet t-shirt night.

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

But I digress.

What I really wanted to do was grab the dinky catfish that actually felt like a Christmas light but that would mean touching him a minute or two longer so I hauled the fast fish up to break the surface, slapped the small strand of life essence and stamina towards his face (didn't even want them back,) and broke contact. Moving back at the speed of smell, because I was a little dizzy from the sudden withdraw, the asshole grabbed at my arm faster than I could follow and looked at me with frustration and need. Lucky for him, Rohn was there to handle my light work and squeezed Rabas' wrist till it creaked, forcing him to let go. Not really on me, Rabas had the impulse control of a lemur, at least when it came to those urges. Leaving the matron to inspect my handiwork and judging by the spark of interest, likely to put in some of her own, that put the final nail in the coffin of just how little a chance I had with her from the git-go.

After a couple of hours and a midday meal break in one of the many spare rooms of Rohn's private quarters, which passed in comfortable silence, I was reasonably ready for case study number two and quite convinced Rohn would make the best hunting buddy ever. Not that I ever really liked hunting. Damn, I could use a rifle though. File that thought.

Despite a hell of a lot more convincing, and a promise from Rohn that if I hurt her I'd be punished (probably with a cake that had too many candles judging by Rohn's conspiratorial wink,) Jesni let me get down to business. Quick and dirty business it was too. The scum at the top of her pool was a lot thicker (think this is like quality of character,) and nearly all of her catfish were small so I just grabbed the one closest to the top that wouldn't screw her up and yanked that sucker to the top. It felt eager to please. Being so abrupt made her queasy, though, as she vomited up the first use of her new knack. A five foot tall shadow man started cleaning her up. At first she was really excited thinking that I had awoken the legendary shadow conjurer ability but alas she couldn't do anything else but the shadow man. He could stay out for a long time though, about four hours, one if he was max effort, before Jesni started feeling weak.

When I left her room and was well on my way out of Rohn's private quarters, takes a good couple of minuets, he stopped me to ask if I would like any more practice before I 'enriched' the children. Now, I swear I didn't see any hint of greed or eagerness, just the look of a dad who wanted for his kids to get the very best they could get. That just sat so frickin well with me, what could I say but sure thing. Damn me if I didn't want to see this guy get the best I could offer. So I said I'd like to take the rest of the day to scrub a layer of skin off, reflect on what more I'd learned and get myself up to full snuff.

Of course, he was a total dick about it; begrudgingly nodding and giving me a look of gratitude, snobbishly fixing up only the second best room in his quarters with everything I might need and quite a few things I didn't, intrusively bothering me with with the most competent attendant he had, offhandedly giving me free run of the second and third floors of his three floor suite (Jesni and the kids had the first) and most galling of all was his promise to personally see to any problems or concerns I might have, starting with keeping the kids and his wife from bothering me and ending with fending off the Matron later in the evening. What a douche.

Don't ask me why but right before I was getting ready to slap some witch doctoring on ol Rohn, I got a sudden case of the paranoids. I didn't want anyone or anything to mess me up. I'm thinking it must have been a combo of the slight icky feeling still on me and my previous track record here and on Earth. You, know how it goes. Don't give a shit and everything is aces but as soon as you wanna do something right, karma starts looking for ways to make you drop F-bombs. So, with Rohn's full approval I get Lilly, Jaden and even Troy standing out in Rohn's anti-chamber, striking it in that not even the Matriarch is to come in till I'm finished. Whatever was freaking me seemed to be contagious as the tension ratcheted up a couple of degrees in everyone and Rohn wanted to know if we should just call the whole thing off. It was tough to put into words but I tried my best to explain it was because of how important I thought it was nothing goes wrong that I was acting like this.

I took a moment to collect myself before beginning, looking calm, but still edgy as hell. It wasn't until I was walking over to the bedside, seeing Rohn leisurely sprawled out with his cash and prizes tastefully covered by a bed sheet, looking for all the world like a well done but ultimately generic cover of a woman's supernatural romance novel, that everything seemed rightly aligned again. I was laughing my ass off and judging by the look of bruised pride on Rohn's face, that was not the reaction he was used to getting, not even from his happily married subordinates. Easy to see why. I'd trade body types with him in a heartbeat. Even so, being the softy that I am towards people that don't treat me like shit, I tried to explain myself for the second time and though he didn't get it, at least he didn't look like someone pissed in his Cheerios.

Not a stranger to the drill at this point, I jumped right into it, noticing right off the bat (genetic inheritance joke not intended,)That this wasn't going to be the cringe fest the other two had been. The surface edges of his pond was more like java moss than scummy, half dead algae (signifying the willingness to take blame/shoulder responsibility rather than pass it on? Deep metaphor gets existential,) There was a huge but healthy looking goldfish about midway down and after gritting my teeth and running a line of life essence through him, I knew it was the one I wanted. Yeah, I still got all the crazy over-info but when it got to what was going through his head it was more like 'hope he doesn't think less of me but it just feels too good' and 'feeling a bit bad for taking advantage of the situation to enjoy the rush'. I can live with that. To get the goldfish I had to play a round of whack-a-mole with a lot of other fishes to keep things stable and right before I breached the surface of the pond I saw a nasty little leach I missed, clinging to the side of the goldfish.

Dropping the metaphor, the moderate shaping power with additional moderate raw power application in the nice AE/decent EE dual but clearly divided pool had a flaw in it that would dirty and mix the two which would make using either power hard and the results weak. It was the result of late awakening and the hybrid power's halves not wanting to cooperate with each other. The fast solutions would either cause a leak which may not heal, possibly rupture the membrane of the pool or close off the EE side, losing the raw power application completely and limiting shaping to energy structures only. I could have bonded him, let the energy portion of the sub-space substitute his flawed container, but that seemed like a bad idea. It did give me a better one though.

I used the same principle I use to make a bond to just form the line instead. I wrapped up the flaw like a rubber band around a hemorrhoid (as analogies go it wasn't pretty but apt,) and plugged the longer piece into the EE side and the shorter into the AE. I manged to strengthen, expand and even somewhat balance them out at the low price of 1% of my LE (sob). Rohn, who could sense I made some sort of sacrifice to net the best prey, managed to send some concern and heavily guilt laced appreciation my way as he struggled with steel willpower not to make a big sticky spot on his bed.

The time, struggle and expenditure hit me like a ton of bricks as I carefully retracted and disconnected. It wasn't edge of diabetic coma bad but it was end of the triathlon bad. As I collapsed face first into his unforgiving abs, I blew a big wet fart raspberry into them to take back some of my dignity. The momentary child-like giggle (worth it) lead to a stunned silence before he figured out I didn't fall on him purposefully and needed help. Hey, at least I didn't pass out. This was just over-tapped stamina. If I ever have a choice the next time I bottom out a tank it'll be this one. After all, LE=dead, EE=crippled and AE= the same symptoms as convenience store sushi, give or take the runs. I don't know a damn thing about over-taxing PE but I have a sneaking suspicion it'd probably be any combination of the above with a migraine on top.

As we finally slipped out of the two person comedy routine, unhappy sounds were filtering in from outside. It likely had been going on for a bit but we were kinda in the middle of delicate shit so I think it's excusable we missed it. Rohn was energized, galvanized, and halfway decent for company in under five seconds and out the door. I just chilled, face down, in his sweaty bed sheets. I get it, it's cool (not cool!) Up side to this? Whatever was going on out there wasn't my problem.

Turns out it wasn't anything big. Just a maid with a censer filled with 'calming herbs' (knock out drugs) followed by an understandably concerned (my ass) Jesni a few minutes later, seeing how everything was going. Likely surprised to see that nobody was actually that 'calm', she tried to excuse herself before Jaden gave her a friendly but firm invitation to stay.

The cherry on the top was Rabas showing up with three other runners with the suspicion that I was 'attempting to ensorcell their eldest'. Rabas wildly claimed that since I had failed to kill him that I tried to seduce him with power that had rightfully belonged to him to begin with and failed to ensnare his mind due to the intervention of the eldest before I succeeded. He feared that if no one was to do the same for the eldest that he would be lost. Considering the tacit approval of the Matron, if she wasn't actively involved in this witch hunt herself, I knew the direction things were headed. And I only knew one solution that would allow me to finish my goals before I blew this fucking leaky Popsicle stand. That's right, he likes it when you call him Big Poppa! Well, he probably didn't but it sounded good in my head.

I got on the psychic phone and dialed up Glaucous, though, outside of my own bonded he's the only one who can hear me, (Prolly cause he's always spying.) After giving him the breakdown as Rohn ran interference by keeping the shitty little gecko (Rabas,) pinned to the floor with shadow chains (Aww, so proud, so proud!) and booming at his men to stand down, promising to explain everything rationally once this situation calmed down. With a heavy sigh to illustrate how put out Glaucous was feeling, I found myself on a scary as shit water slide through secret and dark places so fast my spacial calculations couldn't even give me a clear picture of what the hell was going on.

Lesson learned. It's so simple it pisses me off but pardon me for thinking that a group of people who's lives are hanging in the balance wouldn't still keep trying to play games of intrigue. It seemed I underestimated the greed and opportunistic nature of my host and her followers. If not for Glaucous, I'd likely be spending the rest of my short life in a comfortable cage. I'm so done with this place but I still got shit to do and that means this place isn't done with me.