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‘’Why the hell did I have to fight Humpty Dumpty!’’ I shout after several moments of just leaning against the wall and trying to collect myself again. Looking around I make sure I am actually back in my home and not in another liminal nightmare, finding myself to actually have made it home by the view of my couch from the corridor I'm currently in.

Getting up from the floor I grab the story book alongside Nick’s Desire and brace for the pain from my assuredly broken ribs. Surprisingly however I feel no pain besides the normal aches that assail me from day to day. Examining myself it does not take long to notice the lack of injuries on my person yet the damage to my clothing from the fight and the stains from my blood still remain as evidence as to the reality of it all.

Having apparently healed I slowly make my way to my couch once more, making sure not to drop what I have in my hands. Glancing left and right, I spot some photos I took when I left home a few years ago. Photos of me and my sister growing up, alongside family pictures featuring our mother behind us smiling lovingly at the both of us.

‘’Mom, Leslie… Did I really just risk my life? Did I really just risk putting you both through losing me?’’ Figuratively punching myself for being so impossibly stupid, I barely realise when I finally get to the couch and sit down.

‘’Lets see if this was worth the risk then, but before I go back there I have to prepare better and start exercising. I know I can’t abandon it entirely for if I do I risk being swept away by anything that happens.’’ I say all this out loud knowing that nothing may have changed yet, but it surely is right around the corner.

Looking towards the table I see the two tomes, one being intricate and large yet oh so very empty inside and the other being small yet filled to the brim with unknown knowledge. After a moment of just staring at the two of them I feel Nick’s desire pull at my mind. Deciding to try something on a whim I focus on the pull, getting a prompt in response.

Aligned Artefact Detected

Nicks desire resonates with Artefact containing [Etheric Knowledge {Common}]

Permission to incorporate? (If no, can be incorporated later)

[Yes]

[No]

Not wanting to do something irreversible with my spoils I decline for now by focusing on [No]. The prompt disappears but leaves me with the feeling that as long as both books stay close together, I can pull it back up whenever I want. Figuring I ought to start with the new one, I open it up to notice that nothing has changed since before with Etheric Knowledge {Common} still being the header for the next part.

Not wanting to have this take longer than necessary, I start to read.

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* Persuasion

And

* Enslavement

The obvious difference between the two is in the method. Persuasion means you communicate with the ether (in a manner of speaking) to enlist its aid in accomplishing the task you wish to finish.

Enslavement requires you to crush the ether you gather with your will, instilling it with your concept and only that concept until you release it and the ether reverts back to neutral after a while.>

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‘So by the looks of it I definitely profited from all this. How's about I give this a try before doing anything else. According to my abilities I should be able to sense ether…’ Before I can even finish the thought I notice that in a circle around me I can feel errant spots of warmth just like other times I ended up using ether.

‘If that isn’t ether, i wouldn’t know what is!’ Closing my eyes I try mentally tugging on the ether. Just as I think it’s going to work, I receive a feeling of disappointment from the ether as if I had just done something I should not have.

‘Right, I probably want to do it by manner of persuasion, not enslavement and that was treading closer to that than persuasion. Let's try that again.’ Once more closing my eyes after I had opened them seconds ago, I envisioned my surroundings along with the ether in it. Focusing on a lone particle of ether I try to initiate a dialogue of sorts with it ‘Ether? Is this how it works?’

After several moments, the feeling of disappointment fades and the warmth returns manyfold. Excitement, that’s what it is. How I know this I don’t know but all the ether particles in my surroundings start to circle around me in sync. Bobbing and weaving around each other as if dancing of delight at my realisation.

‘Yes! Yes!’ they reply in multitude. ‘Talk to us, the newborn of ether and we shall follow you till we become the wisest ether known to the multiverse’ they chime in a language I do not understand, yet I grasp exactly what it wishes to convey.

‘Would one of you please gather upon my palm? I wish to instill a concept for the first time’ I attempt to convey this thought in the same way the ether spoke to me yet moments ago, failing to reach that same convalescence but being understood all the same.

Not receiving any reply to my request I waited with bated breath for several moments. Just as I am about to open my eyes in doubt of whether I hallucinated what had just happened, I feel one of the particles approach and land on the palm of my hand which I had stretched out moments prior.

Returning to my thoughts from just moments ago, I think of Leslie and my mother. I think of going home and embracing them like I used to do all the time not ten years ago. I imagine the clear nights I used to spend staring out into space and admiring all the places I could only see from afar. I remember the time I was obsessed over rockets, the gateway to the cosmos.

Having forgotten myself in thought, I don’t get time to regain my bearing before the ether in my palm starts to excitedly bounce several times before sinking through my hand into the core of my body. Hand, to arm, to torso and then to core. As soon as it reaches what I believe to be the core of my body, the ether particle unravels to encompass my whole body.

The tapestry of ether is a blank void that has yet to be filled, but before I can stop to contemplate all that has happened in these short few moments even more shenanigans happen. The other particles around me, still dancing excitedly in sync, start to get closer to me.

Fwup

A particle breaks out of formation, flying straight at my torso where my core resides. Then a second does the same, then another, and another until the tapestry of my body is the black void of space. Yet this time it is filled with stars of my own that I intimately know will accompany me from now till my end.

Seemingly being finished the tapestry folds up in ways not possible in standard geometrical shapes, till it has become a sphere residing where I thought my core should be and becoming just that.

Getting a tug from my core after it finishes forming, I pull on it and receive a prompt in return.

Rank-up!

You reached Rank 1 by infusing your core with ether, elevating your own ether quality using the following concepts :

* Going home

* Embracing

* Space

* Places

* Time

* Gateway

* Cosmos

Learnt skill [Inner Beacon]

Abilities improved :

* Ether sense(Developing 45%) → Ether perception(0%)

* Ether communication(Developing 15%) → Ether communication(30%)

Being blindsided by the deluge of information I decide to also pull up the prompt for [Inner Beacon] and end up no less surprised at what my momentary lunacy led to, which is further confirmed by the information provided.

Inner Beacon {Unique}

Due to your connection to ether, you were struck with ether madness upon your first attempt at wielding it. The ether madness then by a stroke of luck latched onto concepts that didn’t end with you imploding by accidentally infusing your core with the concept of volatility!

Your fond thoughts of going home and your fantasies as a child culminated in this skill coming into existence. By having a distinct enough impression of a location, you may create an [Ether key] to that location by anchoring the impression to one of the myriad stars contained in your inner galaxy.

You can anchor two locations per [Rank]. Improve this skill to change the benefits.

Being the first time I've seen a highlighted item in a skill description I focus on [Ether key] after a moment's thought.

Ether Key

Turn an ether key and it will open a gateway to the inscribed location. The gateway lasts until the person who turned it passes through or the energy of the gateway is dispersed, whichever happens first.

Figuring it can’t hurt I pull up the incorporation prompt from earlier and select yes, watching as the book containing the information which led to my supposed ether madness transforms into a now familiar ether particle before merging into Nick’s desire.

At this point after having dealt with all the immediate madness I am hit with a tsunami of fatigue. Feeling my eyelids grow heavy and my arms starting to weigh tons I use what strength I have left to lay down properly on the couch, entering a thankfully dreamless sleep.

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