I didn’t immediately bind to the Aspect of Tempests even though all of my instincts were desperate for me to. I had experienced more than enough bursts of alien mana through my system at the hands of the System and I wasn’t keen to dive headfirst into another one. The allure of the power which a second legendary Aspect would give me itched at the back of my mind, but I ignored it.

I was plenty powerful enough as it was. The Dungeon might rearrange if I jumped in power too far, so I felt more comfortable getting to grips with my new body. The strange interactions between the Aspect of Water and the Hurricane Heart which led to my race upgrade had subsided but there was still some work to do.

There was a dragon roaming around my soul which I needed to tame. I would do so with action rather than meditation, so I set off. My plan was to jog to the sands of the desert and avoid the paths entirely. I had unconsciously avoided walking on the loose ground below the raised paths to the towers. Some quiet whisper inside had always told me it would be a bad idea. An aversion which had flipped on its head. Now, I wanted to tempt the danger which had tickled my instincts before.

Before I went to the desert, getting used to the changes in my body took precedence. When my race had changed from human to stormborn, I had been assaulted by the confusing input of a new sixth sense. This mana sense placed a new layer over the world, not dissimilar to having a UV filter on a camera. It was both always active and quite easy to ignore once I got used to it.

As with my race change, my second evolution was much the same. The clarity with which I viewed the world had taken another quantitative leap. I expected the new ability to shine in battle but the peaceful parkland reminded me of something I was at risk of forgetting.

Magic is beautiful.

Every leaf, blade of grass, insect and bird which caught my eye had its own colours and rhythm. With each footfall, my own energy became more a part of the natural world. Instead of heading straight into combat, I took a while to just exist. I became a part of the song the mana was singing, adding my voice to the choir. I had spent too much time visualising and overthinking my magic when all I really needed to do was live it.

My inner world, chaotic and fractured in form since the first battering by the Hurricane Heart, was reforged easily. I could tell there were new layers of understanding and form waiting within my conceptualisations but for now, I put things back where they were. The mostly calm world returned. The rivers and flowers, storms and the volcano were as I remembered them. Within the volcano, the dragon grumbled at being held back but I ignored it.

The power my soul had been able to wield against the Hurricane Heart was something similar to hysterical strength. The phantasmal dragon made of both Dao and magic still existed but I wasn’t ready to wield its power. However, even though I could sense the Dao’s complaints at being caged once more, I couldn’t handle the power yet. A fair chunk of the damage my evolution repaired was from the overexertion in the moment.

I continued pushing my body, struggling to reach my limits within the small area I contained myself. Extending my range, I began running to the trial towers. The paths were winding and a little thin but maintaining my pace and balance against those conditions was a welcome challenge.

It was hard not to marvel at the whole situation. My profession was definitely dead in the water, I realised with a wry smirk. The evolution had not just remade my body, it had reinvigorated my soul beyond its old bounds. The damage to my soul had presented in doubts, anxieties and negative thoughts. Now, those dark shadows behind my emotions were gone.

It had been early morning when my mad race around the Dungeon began. Any plans I had of assaulting the mysteries of the desert beyond the towers were cast aside. By the time I collapsed, drenched in sweat and all my energy spent for the day, the sun was lazily dipping below the treeline in the vague distance. It would get cold and dark soon.

Neither affected me much, but I began a slow traipsing back towards Home Base. Naea had been increasingly tugging on our connection, letting me know she was bored. I decided to play a prank while indulging myself a little and opened up the faction page. Spending eight hundred coins, I purchased a completely unnecessary addition to Home Base.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Naea’s following emotions were fear, annoyance, confusion and then glee in that order. She began to explore the changes and her weight on our connection lessened, her attention elsewhere. I smiled, excited to see the place myself. Placing it from my mind, I decided it was time. My mana agreed, leaping to attention.

I activated Infusion, my first skill activation since my evolution.

The skill was as simple as could be. My mana already moved around my body a little like blood, Infusion simply concentrated the energy. The effect of the skill was always partially active due to my unconscious cycling of mana through my pathways. Instead of passively saturating my body, a use of Infusion caused the mana to be expended, essentially burning the fuel and revving up my engine.

All of this was still true with the use of the skill in this instance. The difference which appeared wasn’t down to technique on my part, or even a much higher mana capacity. The contrast from my previous uses and current was down to the efficiency by which my mana moved. The process which used to feel like blowing water through a straw was now more like drinking that same water.

Instead of overcharging myself, my limbs were now waiting for the explosive power of Infusion to bring them to their natural level. My bones didn’t creak with the extra strength moving them, my muscles didn’t rip due to the forces contained within. Perception increased massively, but without the whiplash of too much information at once. Instead of sensory overload, it was the feeling of suddenly cleared sinuses.

This was how the evolution had changed me down the line, actually. When I had been a Grade 0, I had actively felt myself press against the limits of the container. The bottleneck was now gone, welcome to the next container. Be it the strength I could output without damaging myself in return, the amount of mana I could force through my pathways at once or the analysis I could handle from improved senses, all were massively expanded.

“Damn,” I said to myself, “I was stronger than most before my evolution but now?” I didn’t answer my own rhetorical question as I felt that was a step too far. Instead I punctuated the examination with a casual swing of the Yo Staff. Like everything else, the magic of Staff Mastery had evolved and the weapon had never felt more like it belonged. The magic in the air chanted my name as I spun, the balance changing.

I had become one with the ambient magic and mana of the Dungeon, but now I forced the magic of the world to bend for me. Nearby trees groaned and sand blown onto the grass from the desert floated in the air, glittering like motes of crystal. I concentrated and impressed my Dao upon the area. An inaudible snarl caused the world to buckle.

I felt everything snap into place and I smashed the Yo Staff into the soft earth. From deep within the core of my inner world, the dragon shifted. The Dao Pool drained by a few cupfuls. My mana latched onto the Dao in the air and rejected any truth but my own. The staff fell, daring any force in existence to challenge its descent.

The attack was the first time I had used Dao offensively instead of as a shield and the surrounding area paid the price for my experiment. I laughed wildly as the ground beneath my feet gave way. The power of Infusion made my fall almost boringly slow. I bounced from pieces of falling rocks and mounds of earth to avoid the sinkhole I created with my attack.

I landed at the edge of a wide hole, twenty five feet across easily. Looking into it, I couldn’t see the bottom but what I could see shocked me. There’s a goddamn underground to this- Dungeon. There was no one around to see my deadpan expression, but I should have known. I suspected a boss would be waiting for me at the final trial tower. Or, perhaps, one would appear once the final tower was defeated.

I had then hoped the final of the three dungeon bosses were deeper in the sands. My sense of danger in that direction felt like a clue, but now I didn’t know what to think. There was an entire subterranean level to this place I had no knowledge of until now. Were there entrances to the underground somewhere? Maybe that’s what I sensed in the desert.

This was important but, ultimately, a distraction from something much more interesting. Uncomfortably aware the ground was not as firm as it looked, I put some distance between myself and the hole. Then, I could look at my newest System prompt.

Dao Skill Unlocked - Infused Strike

Mana is the fuel by which we alter the world. Dao is the truth we enforce upon reality. Together, they are the strike which alters reality to your whim.

I was surprised to receive a burst of information from the System, shoring up my understanding at the edges. It had been silent when I created Harmony of the Storm, so I almost forgot the System seemed to be a training module first and foremost. The next time I tried to use the skill, it would come easier, without the interpretive staff dance beforehand. I hadn’t left trying to gain or learn anything, but I was over the moon with this.

My other skills were shades of the same effect, bequeathing me strength or electrical aura, but the rest was up to me. This was my first truly offensive skill and I couldn’t wait to see its effectiveness against one of the many things trying to kill me at any point. Making a note of the hole, I shrugged and turned back to Home Base.

I had bought Naea a literal fairy garden, and I was excited to see what the System had come up with for it. She was certainly happy, so I couldn’t wait. I sighed happily. My body felt tired, but like my own again. My mana moved without issue. Whistling, feeling like I didn’t have a care in the world, I made my way home.

If I had stayed to make sure the sinkhole was safe, I wouldn’t have been so carefree. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to see the creature pull itself from the dark and sniff the air, snapping its head in the direction of Home Base. I hadn’t even considered the idea of a monster which could smell the Dao, or how dangerous something like that might be.

It wouldn’t take long until I found out.