After sleeping for what felt, honestly, like I hadn't slept at all, I opened my eyes to a room that was fully in the dark. ‘’Damn, i must’ve slept like 8 hours if it’s this dark.’’ I say to myself, moving to check my phone to make sure i hadn’t slept through several days somehow.
Confirming that it really had only been just shy of 8 hours, I went straight to my messenger and started writing my mother and sister a message. ‘’Is it a… problem if… I come over to stay for… a while?’’ I vocalise as I write the message, wanting to be sure that it doesn’t only sound right in my mind.
Staring at it for a few seconds, I eventually press send. Waiting several moments more to see if it arrives before closing the application, I start to ponder. ‘What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I acting so recklessly?’
Properly sitting up on my couch, I turn on the television to the local news to kill the silence that pervades my house. ‘Alright so, I tried to instil ether with a concept through the persuasion method… I think.’ I sigh audibly.
‘It’s all a bit of a blur from the moment I left the Liminal Library, but from context I believe interacting with ether so deeply for the first time meant I went and inflicted myself with ether madness. Ether madness, and I wish I had somebody to correct me on this, seems to latch onto the most recent emotionally relevant concept and run with it. Meaning i ran the risk of killing myself if i had thought of fires and explosions just moments prior, because for most people interacting with ether that deeply only ranks them up from 0,5 to 1… I presume.’
Frustrated by the lack of confirmation, I begin to rap my fingers on the table impatiently. ‘Reaching rank 1 seems to involve forming a core of sorts at the centre of my body after my supposed ether quality improves somehow, and by the sounds of it my core probably isn’t normal just like ether madness shouldn’t have affected a first-timer.’
Stopping that train of thought to idly ponder, I pull up my full status to see what has changed, not fully remembering the details from before I went to sleep.
[Name]
[Age]
[Sex]
[Rank]
Nicholas Alverton
21
Male
1
[Skills]
[Etheric Knowledge] [Inner Beacon]
[Abilities]
[Ether communication(Developing 30%)] [Ether perception(0%)]
Recognising [Inner Beacon] from the night before, I decided I might as well check it first since it’s the newest addition to my status.
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.
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‘’So this is what my ether madness led to i guess?’’ I ask myself aloud, fairly sure nobody can hear me in my own home. ‘Turns out my connection to ether is not entirely a good thing, if it leads to things like this.’ Turning my eyes to the next part, I near immediately notice something interesting
‘Does everyone infuse their core with a concept at [Rank] 1 or is that unique to me? Do other people even have cores? I’d wager they do unless I stumbled upon something super mega ultra hidden in my stupidity…’ Thinking this I make a mental note to tell anyone I inform of all this to, firmly, have a safe concept in mind when they first interact with ether.
Ignoring the second part of the skill for a moment so as to not have to pull up another prompt, I go straight to the skill effect. ‘Anchoring locations, eh? And informing me I can change and improve skills somehow, interesting to be sure! Also a clear benefit to [Rank]ing up, since I can anchor more locations every [Rank]’
Remembering the information from [Ether key] for the most part, I still pull the prompt up for good measure. Just to make sure I don’t miss any information regarding manipulating the fabric of space, considering that sounds mighty dangerous. Taking a moment to focus, I soon have the [Ether key] prompt.
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.
‘So by the looks of it, if I anchor my home I can get back here from any location I want? Or at the least from places with doors that have key locks by the sounds of it, unless just turning the key in the air like it is in a lock works? Something to try later’
I make a second mental note to anchor my home to the first anchor slot, but still having no idea where I would anchor my second one right now I resolve myself to save it for a rainy day, moving onto [Ether sense] which changed into [Ether perception] during the [Rank]-up.
Ether perception (Developing 0%) {Rare}
You are ether, and the ether is you…
…In a 360 degree sphere around you. You can perceive ether using mortal senses along with using ether to substitute those senses should you be deprived of them.
Develop this skill to increase the space you can perceive at once.
Reading the description leaves me confused as it seems like I should be perceiving ether in my surroundings right this moment, yet the area around me is barren of it. Even if I visualise the space, it still lacks ether.
Moments before I stop trying I get a weird feeling in the back of my mind, one unlike the pull for a prompt. The feeling multiplies on every side of me, slowly trickling in. Looking in the direction of the first sensation I see a familiar sight; an ether particle!
‘I must have drained the ether in my direct surroundings last night, to the point it still hasn’t recovered.’ I think to myself before returning to my sphere of perception, because as soon as my surroundings populate with ether again I notice the second aspect of [Ether perception].
The moment ether started propagating throughout the room again, I started to get a view of my surroundings not dissimilar to how echolocation is usually portrayed in fiction. It more or less seems to work by letting me see where ether isn’t or rather the solids in my environment along with their outlines and the various nooks that ether supposedly pools in.
‘’God this is giving me a mighty headache, can I turn this off? Ah, yeah I can. Good.’’ Closing all the prompts I decide to finish by checking Nick’s desire, specifically the previously empty pages that are now filled with the skill text from [Etheric Knowledge].
‘’It’s… exactly the same. Good to know that incorporating doesn’t negatively affect the contents then!’’ Not wanting to mess with Liminal Library stuff any time soon I close the book and put it to the side.
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VVRRT
Due to the noise I look to my side where I had left my phone, after a second or so I notice my phone lighting up blue indicating an incoming message.
Click
‘’Ah Les got back to me, what did she say… lemme see.’’
Not wanting her to worry more than she already is, I quickly text back that i’m fine and elaborate on why I want to come over.
Pressing send, it doesn’t take long to get an answer back from Leslie.
‘’God damn it Leslie, you’re right but there is still no need to freak out! …I hope.’’ Not wanting to give my sister any more time or reason to freak out I start to get ready to leave, grabbing Nick’s desire, my coat, keys and a couple changes of clothes in a suitcase filled with other I’m not sleeping at home supplies.
Packing my stuff in record time, I start my car and start driving. ‘I hope I get home before they put their minds to doing anything drastic…‘
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