Jeff stalked through the darkening forest. The last monster for the quest had eluded him for a while now. It seemed like the typical activity had stopped as the sun began to set. His new Navigation ability and map gave him the confidence to at least stay till dusk. He wanted to get his thirtieth kill and was willing to trek back through the darkness so long as he got his new weapon from the reward.

He kept his tracking skill activated and followed the path it created. The skill had been invaluable with his senses on the fritz. His sense field was going haywire with all the trees waking up from their dormant state. The only reason it had worked so well before was because he could feel the difference when a monster entered within the zone of his senses. Now every tree that entered felt like a monster. The trees didn’t exactly feel like a monster. They didn’t feel as vile to his spirits touch, but it was distracting enough that he couldn’t really on his spiritual senses as much.

Turning back was probably the smartest choice, but Jeff was driven. His 360 Vision and Anticipate abilities had helped him immensely. His mind was still not strong enough to process all the data that came in from his 360 Vision, but the Anticipate ability seemed to help him process the most important things and predict an attack.

He had been attacked ambushed once more and Anticipate activated. It seemed to make the world slow down and he knew exactly where the level 4 caterpillar would strike. He was able to use his halberd to skewer the bug. That injured and slowed the monster enough that he could throw a disc from close range and dispatch the caterpillar quickly.

The threshold to level 6 seemed forever away. He didn’t have any exact numbers to go off of for his experience, but he could tell that each level grew exponentially. Each new level made him feel a little more in tuned with the Myst. Kazi said that feeling was due to his Depth stat and his Myst level was growing to match it. Jeff’s overall connection to the Myst was improving. That would let him gain more connections and, more importantly, improve his mastery.

Is it better to go wide with my connections or should I limit my abilities to focus more on mastery? Jeff asked with a thought as he continued to track the monster beetle.

“That’s a tough question to answer, because it mostly depends on the Suit.”

What exactly is a Suit?

That led to a long lecture from Kazi about what a Suit was. Apparently all creatures who connected to the Myst were called Mystlings. Suits were Mystlings that had joined in with the Boschyan Systems main force. As a Chosen he was automatically shoehorned in as a Suit in the Boschyan Army.

Kazi eventually got back around to the original question. “As a Chosen it is better for you to gain as many connections as you can during your first levels. Growth in an ability depends on your affinity with it. Due to your life experience you have a high natural affinity with some connections already, but that won’t always continue. You may have connected with throwing discs in your past, but mastery of an ability depends on continued affinity to your actions.”

Jeff continued to think his questions toward Kazi. He didn’t want to be too loud while tracking. So I have to continue to like throwing discs for it to grow in mastery?

“Kind of. Liking it doesn’t matter so much as feeling a sense of accordance with the ability. And while you might feel that compatibility or connection with throwing discs, you may not feel it with the other Discs associated abilities.”

Like Energy Shield?

“Exactly. You have connected with it so far because you have associated it with being a Disc. When it improves it’s Mastery it may change enough that it won’t feel like a disc to you anymore. There are so many unpredictable variables when it comes to growth as a Suit that it’s hard to say that the Myst Connections you have now will still be the ones you use in the future.”

Alright, that make sense. So I need to try to gain more connections now so I can find which ones I’ll continue to relate with in the future. And I’m only limited in my connections based on my Depth stat, right? What about abilities? Is there a limit to the number of abilities?

“The number of abilities you connect with is based on your Myst Connections mastery level. The general rule is three abilities per mastery level. So three abilities at Low Mastery and six and Middle mastery. Also yes, the number of connections you have is based on your depth stat. Ours is still too low to really shoot for a fourth connection. ”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Okay. How do I improved my connection mastery? Should I be spending time each night meditating and remembering throwing frisbees or something?

“No, that won’t improve mastery. Although doing that could help you find more abilities once your mastery improves. Once I have built a connection between you, the Myst, and the System it is mostly up to the System to determine when you have improved your mastery. I can no longer improve the connection once it’s built. That’s also why I try to build connections with ideals that you have a strong affinity with.”

Sounds good.

His next question was interrupted as he heard movement through the trees to his left.

He focused his 360 Vision in that direction and kept it there as he swiveled his head to face the charging beetle. The extra moment of vision before his head could turn helped him act in time to not be squished. The beetle didn’t charge as normal but instead leaped from fifteen meters away and nearly gored him. He jump dodged into a mostly elegant roll.

The long halberd was ripped out of his grip as his roll made it too awkward to hold on to while he continued his roll into a kneeling position. He was frustrated again at his choice on the halberd. Fortunately, it had helped him more than it had hindered him. It would probably just take more than one day to get used to a weapon. He would definitely be practicing rolling with it later on.

He used his vision ability to glance at the beetle behind him. This beetle was far larger than the ones he typically faced. It had ridges on its carapace and large mandibles. The monster had dug it’s pointy legs into the ground and turned to face him. He created a disc in his hands and whirled toward the monster twisting his body to launch the glowing projecting at the beetle point blank.

The creature ducked it’s head down just in time and the disc drove into the rounded carapace just above its spiky crowned head. The force of the blow made the beetle stagger back and the disc flew into the air. Jeff mentally grabbed the disc with his manipulation ability before it could wink out and pushed the disc higher into the dusky night sky.

The beetle regained its footing and charged at him with it’s mandibles bared. Jeff managed to create an Energy Shield just in time. The beetle slammed into it and the force launched him off his knees to skitter on the forest floor. The shield winked out as he lost focus on it. His concentration still focused on the disc in the sky.

The monster angled itself at him again and charged. Jeff scrambled to stand up and activated the glowing shield again. The abomination slammed into it and his feet slid back three meters until he slammed into a tree. The beetle stumbled a bit as it was brought to a stand-still, but it continued it’s forward advance pushing him into the creaking trunk of the tree behind him.

His body screamed at him to let the shield drop and stop the force pushing him into the wooden trunk. He strained his spirit and reached out to the descending disc. He couldn’t give it enough speed with his manipulation ability, but the gravitational force helped as the disc flew down at the beetle. He wanted the disc to strike right through the base of the monsters head, but the angle was off. The disc slammed right into the center of the beetle and disappeared through the bug before it slammed into the forest floor creating a concussive sound.

The beetle riled backward and Jeff let the shield collapse. He stood still for a moment before realizing the typical screen didn’t appear.

The beetle wasn’t done.

He saw it stamp it’s feet before angling toward him again. Jeff sprinted away from the beetle back toward his halberd. He used his 360 Vision to glance back at the advancing beetle. He had just enough time.

He grabbed the halberd and set his feet placing the butt of the long halberd to wedge against his back foot. He angled the sharp point of the spear head at the charging monster and braced himself.

The beetle charged straight into the weapon and there was a loud crack as the spear and axe head caught its head and pushed the head back into the large body. The head and halberd disappeared into the monster and Jeff’s eyes widened. The momentum of the gigantic bug continued forward and barreled into him. The beetle tipped forward and rolled onto its back with him right underneath.

You have defeated:

Horn Crowned Matriarch - Level 7

Abilities:

Winged Pounce

Hard Shell

Battle Awareness

Strong Bite

Big Body

Rewards Accepted

Jeff felt his vision darken as the massive body forced all the air out of him. Luckily the rounded shell came to rest more on his left side and arm rather than directly on his chest. His armor and helm had prevented the majority of damage to his torso and head, but his unarmored arm exploded with pain.

The monster took an excruciatingly long time to dissolve. The weight lessened bit by bit as it did so. A weight stayed on his left arm and he opened his eyes to see a large piece of spiky purple armor laying on his arm.

He breathed out a sigh of relief and slid his aching and damaged arm out from under the heavy armor. He came to his knees and was just about to examine the armor when a new screen appeared in his vision. Luckily, his new 360 Vision allowed him to keep an “eye” on his surroundings while he read the message.

Quest complete:

Kill 30 Monsters: (Complete)

Reward: New Weapon

Accept Reward: Yes/No