You overdid it again.

Show me logs. What happened?

Power +1

Critical failure: Focus dropped below 8%

Power +5

Bending successful.

New stat: physical power 1 -> 2

I did it.

Albert pushed himself up to his feet. He needed to stop fainting so much. It wasn’t healthy, nor was it safe. A quick glance at the corner of his vision told him all he needed to know. His Focus was full, and his lingering headache completed the picture. He had been unconscious for several hours.

Luckily no monster found me.

Jeff did not reply. Albert could feel the irritation in his AI companion. Perhaps a monster did find them, and Jeff was not as useless as he claimed to be when Albert was incapacitated?

Despite everything, Albert felt better than ever. Going from a physical power of one to a power of two meant that he was twice as strong, fast and durable as before. It was still a long shot from how he used to be back when he had a system, but it was a step in the right direction. No longer did he feel fragile and weak, and his steps were steadier and his balance better.

All that was left was the headache. He sat at the mouth of the cave leading to the tunnel system, waiting for the worst of the symptoms to pass. As he waited, he thought. He thought about how, once again, the world was about to end. He had a timer before the apocalypse, and in less than a year the runaway energies of the Alignment, along with the accumulation of mana in the world, would make the planet so unstable as to be utterly uninhabitable.

He also thought about the fact that he had no intention to save this world. What he wanted was his old world back, and he was prepared to kill every single person living in this timeline so that he could, somehow, restore the past. He didn’t even feel a hint of remorse. He wanted his old life back.

Whether the same conviction would hold once he finally had the means to do it was another matter altogether.

A large piece of meat sizzled over a fire, the smell making his mouth water. His improved body had allowed him to catch a small animal without much effort, and he couldn’t wait to eat it. He wondered, briefly, whether to invest some Focus to create salt and seasoning for the meat.

I don’t like it here. Not safe enough.

Agreed.

Albert took a bite of meat. He shook his head, and a tiny headache made itself known as Focus dropped by ten percent. The next bite of meat was much better. Since he was at it, not only did he season the meat, he also adjusted the taste and texture to make it more palatable.

Food and water we have. The basics are covered…

He opened the map. We need to figure out where the fuck we ended up and how to get back to Sitea. Ah, let’s not forget, in the meantime we need to figure out the Kirkesis core as well. It’s the whole reason we are even here. ‘Fucks sake. I hope having it will change things. Sitea’s shield is impenetrable, and I wonder if my Reality Bending will be enough.

Albert shook his head in thought, mulling over many things as he ate. After he was done, he sat in the shade for a few minutes, trying to still his mind and keep it from racing. He wasn’t successful.

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He waved his hands, and Focus dropped. The air changed, its refraction index modified to the point of allowing true reflection in a small area. Looking in the mirror he made, Albert adjusted his hair and ran a finger on the tip of his elven ears. Then he traced the shape of his face. It was angular and hollowed out, but the features were those of an adult, not of a teenager. With a wave of his hand the beard became stubble. There was white in it and it made no sense for it to be there at all, but for some reason Albert chose to keep it. Then his finger returned to his ears. They were sensitive, and the sensation was ticklish.

Problematic.

Albert’s face contorted. He stared at his ears, thinking many things. They might have been part of the reason why Chief had reacted like he did upon seeing Albert. They were also leftovers from the system. Albert wasn’t even sure whether they were part of him, whether they were part of his nature anymore, or whether they were purely cosmetic.

He did not alter them. He didn’t know how to make such alterations, nor did he know the cost. Even if he did, he did not really know if he wanted to, and thinking about it quickly soured his mood.

He stood up, looking at himself. He was quite tall, powerfully built. Surely due to the system and its attributes filling him up, although the overuse of Focus these last few days had resulted in a hollowing out of his whole body to the point of malnourishment. There was no doubt, however. With his tattered clothes, mismatched and odd, his stubble and his frame… no wonder Chief had thought him dangerous enough to use the scroll.

With a snarl, he punched the air, and the tree trunk next to him exploded in a shower of splinters.

Proficiency increase. Reality Bending Power: 25 -> 28

An eyebrow shot up. There was no headache, and Focus was well within acceptable parameters.

What happened?

Your control over Bending suddenly improved by a large margin.

I managed to improve… In a fit of rage?

Unfortunately, yes.

Albert took a deep breath. He wasn’t willing to Bend himself calmer, but he felt that he was quite close to requiring such exploits to fix his mood. In an effort not to think about anything, he took out the scroll he stole from the dead Chief’s bar. What could only be described as squiggly lines filled the whole parchment.

What the hell is this stuff?

It’s a spell framework. Jeff said, sounding quite enthusiastic.

Albert latched onto the enthusiasm easily. Can you learn it?

I have never seen it in action and, apparently, I am not sapient enough to activate it. I’m sorry. There was disappointment in the AI’s voice. And a longing.

Hey. Could be about sentience not sapience. Albert grinned.

Do you know the difference?

Eh. He shook his head. Can I cast it?

If you find a way to power it, then yes.

Right. No mana of my own.

You should also appraise it first.

Do it.

[Magical scroll.]

With a slight effort, Albert invested some Focus and created a zone of higher mana density. Thanks to the effects of the Alignment Energy anomaly, the atmosphere was quickly getting saturated with mana, and while on one hand the presence of magic made Bending harder, on the other it meant that the mana was readily available already.

The scroll activated, trying to connect to Albert’s mind for directions and failing upon finding a magicless body. Without direction, the spell defaulted to its original settings.

A spear of ice shot out of the parchment, embedding itself into a tree. Albert whistled and walked up to it, examining the compressed blue ice and the thin fog it produced as it sublimated.

Can you replicate it now?

If you show me ten or twelve more times.

Useless.

Albert thought about Bending the scroll back to usability but before he even begun, he got a feeling that the Focus cost would be too high.

Albert frowned, and got to his feet.

There was work to do.

The next day, Albert was finally in decent enough shape, both physically and mentally, to travel again. He left the mountain and the cave system behind, searching for signs of civilization in the valley that ran along what the people of Tulebord called Spinetree mountains.

After a few hours of quick travel, courtesy of a twice-as-strong body and some clever use of Bending, the sight of a walled city came to view. He killed some monsters in the way there, but they became more powerful the closer he got to the city. Since he didn’t gain any power from killing them, and they were becoming a significant threat, he left them alone and avoided them whenever he could. Later, perhaps, he could use the pressure of a fight to grow.

Albert closed his eyes. His Focus dropped by a few points. His Intent, drawing upon the determination that allowed him to survive until here, sharpened to a single point. Name of the city?

[Bastion.]