Obsession was quite a real problem with my current predicament. I was beating off claustrophobia by virtue of the fact I hadn’t actually reached a true boundary line I couldn’t cross. There was just a particularly nasty ratman I needed to deal with to feel truly safe in my surroundings. Each time I left my home base of Clive’s Café, it was with one wary eye over my shoulder while I hunted for supplies.

But obsession…

The sun was well and truly starting to dip now as I reached what my body told me was my fifth day in the dungeon. It was impossible to know for sure, especially when taking into account my lack of sleep. That was where my worry about obsession appeared from. I had actually fallen asleep working, which was surprising considering my current Recovery. The reason was twofold. The first reason, and the likely culprit if I were pointing fingers was the mana expenditure of my chosen task.

The second reason, which made the first irrelevant, was that I realised I absolutely loved crafting.

My desire was simple enough. I wanted some boots. I had variously stubbed my toe, cut the sole of my foot, burned my feet, had them chewed on and stepped into things I would rather never think about again. The idea of keeping my feet on show to the world for a single moment longer was an abhorrence I could no longer abide. I hadn’t realised I would get so lost in it, though.

To start, I needed a few things. Fabric of some kind, a needle and some thread. Thankfully, two could be fairly easily found from the same enemies. I even had the fangs which would become needles in my inventory, and the knife to slice away the skin which would become leather. The gory work turned my stomach more than I expected, even ignoring Naea’s attempts to intentionally make me gag by pretending to gag herself. She was annoyed I was taking her “snack.” Intentionally avoiding imagining how Naea ate the creatures of the dungeon. I also made sure to collect everything I reasonably could from the large leopard Sundercat which I made into my bounty.

The Xaverweave Pouch was more than happy to take the grisly bounty off my filthy hands. The lumber I had gathered from the Ents I had faced was piling up at Clive’s, and I wondered if there were any metal creatures which I could turn into nails. Realising I was wishing almost certain death on myself, I rejected that possibility. Maybe I could mine? My plans were running away from me, though. First, boots.

Naea had explained the skill Prestidigitation to me before but its limitations were nearly non-existent. If Naea expected the “small magic” to work, it just would. As long as it was within the purview of “keeping the dungeon clean,” she could do it. Her explanation, or lack thereof, bothered me to no end but her ability to fix things was of great use. It even extended to returning the lining of the booth chairs, so I had a massive supply of thread and even some shoddy leather from the uncomfortable seats to practise on.

My stockpile ready, I got to work. The first of my thread was used before any real crafting could begin as I constructed a tanning rack. The lumber finally came in useful as I built three large frames and set them facing the sun. I knew that there were other important factors in the creation of leather, but considering my knowledge went as far as what it should look like, I was at a loss for how to improve the process at this point. The best I could manage was taking all the hairs and loose flesh from the skin and hoping for the best.

While the skins dried, I made my first attempts at creating boots. These abominations were destroyed with Mana Bolts as crimes against nature should be. I soon worked out the amounts of material I would need, after the third shoe, which was at least the right shape, would have fit Naea better than myself. She had cackled and demanded to keep that one and I begrudged her. They didn’t fit, but she carried them around like a tired bride after a wedding might carry her heels.

A pair I had made, which were the right size and I thought were stitched correctly, completely ripped after two steps. Predictable, but it was in the destruction that I realised something. I almost wanted to punch myself when I realised my eyes had been glazing over an important item in the pouch. I removed the small gold and silver orb and rolled it around on my palm. Naea gasped from behind me and I closed my hand. “Was that a Guidance Stone?” She asked with interest, pressing her face against my fist.

“Maybe. Why?” I wasn’t really suspicious of Naea, but after she had judged the Aspect of the Dragon, I wasn’t sure I wanted her to see the Guidance Stone of Mastery.

“It’s a pure skill! The ones you learned are anyone’s toys but a Guidance Stone is special.” Naea’s eyes were literally glittering as I opened my fingers. She fluttered around my hand, never actually touching the orb or me. “It binds to an Aspect like an Aspect binds to you.” I had assumed as much when the requirement to use the Stone was having a bound Aspect.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“So, it’ll be a skill of Dragon Mastery?” I didn’t even know what that would look like. Was it the right choice, or should I wait for another Aspect? That seemed both ambitious and hopeful. I opened my rarely viewed Aspect Window.

Aspects 1/4

Guidance

Dragon (Bound)

0/3 available slots

Unbound

Unbound

Unbound

“No, not like that. The Stone has most of what it wants to do inside of it already, so it's a skill involving Mastery. You must have at least two slots with an Aspect like that.”

“Three,” I admitted, opening the System Prompt for the Stone. Naea made a choked sound of surprise which I assumed was a good thing. Three didn’t feel like a lot, but maybe it was. It would depend on the usefulness. The Aspect had given me my most impressive skill by far, so I was excited to let the Stone do its work. Before I did, I gave it another look.

My eyes were no longer completely natural, and to the slightly draconic sight I now had, the Guidance Stone was intense. I didn’t see more, but I saw with increased intensity. I felt as though I could see through the thick, swirling mists.

I closed my hand around it again and felt it crumble into the finest of dusts before vanishing completely into my mana channels.

Item - Guidance Stone of Mastery

Guidance stones are sometimes called the lesser variant of Aspects. Each Aspect has a set amount of spaces to absorb a Guidance Stone. They can only be used by Aspect wielders.

Aspect of the Dragon available.

Use Guidance Stone of Mastery? This will consume one Guidance slot from your available Aspects.

I felt the gold and silver energy coursing through my whole body, rushing towards my core. Like a comet orbiting the sun, the magic sped up over and over, slingshotted by the power of my core. As the feeling of acceleration increased, the power began to spin like a helix, tighter and tighter until there was a pure point at the head. There was nothing to brace, but I still tried, as the meteoric drill punched into the world of the Dragon, the Aspect. From deep within my soul, a satisfied roar resounded.

Guidance Skill (Mastery) Unlocked! - Mana Savant (Legendary)

There are those who are born with untouchable talent in ventures which others trade their entire lives to master. You are one such being, though your talent is filtered through the nourishing power of mana. Any task which you complete while channelling mana has a massively increased chance to result in a skill or large gains towards skill levels.

I almost choked on my own tongue as I took in the implications of the words before me and the knowledge which appeared in my mind. I had learned skills by using mana while performing tasks, and the process was arduous and random enough I hadn’t truly thought about others. While I mostly blocked it from my mind, my hands still shook with phantom pain when I swung the Sorehammer enough times.

It wasn’t surprising to see the Legendary title for the skill once I felt around the new shape of it. Wide, intricate and completely beyond anything I could understand, my new Guidance Skill was a thing of magical beauty.

Naea was pestering me to explain my new skill, but I just had to tell her the name for her to start swooning in the air. While she waxed lyrical about the potential and all of the skills she would try to learn, I ran outside to my tanning station. Lamenting only the wasted time, I chopped one apart quickly. Then, slowly and methodically, I rebuilt the frame. The whole time, I left myself awash with mana but even I couldn’t have expected the result.

Before I had even finished one attempt, the prompt appeared.

New Skill Unlocked - Construction (Common)

We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us. There is nothing created which was not first built upon the belief it could be made.

My first passive skill, this one floated around my spine, near the top. I couldn’t send any mana into it, unsurprisingly. Quick and simple, another bundle of information arrived in my head. This one was not as detailed as the Mana Savant skill, but it immediately let me understand where I had gone wrong with the tanning racks. As I fixed them, I gained another level in the skill and once more saw where I could improve the design with a few more materials.

This was… “Incredible,” Naea finished my thought aloud for me, looking at the speed I was improving. She didn’t even need to hear me speak it to know what I was thinking. I nodded at her, moving inside and sitting at my makeshift sewing table. A few quick glances around the table reminded me construction had nothing to do with shoe-making and that I was still as useless as before. That was okay, though.

I would improve.

Two rushed, tiny pairs of shoes and eighty mana later and I was left in disbelief again. I had half-expected the System to give me the finger when I was clearly trying to cut corners by half-assing my attempts but it didn’t seem to matter.

New Skill Unlocked - Tailoring (Common)

You cannot tailor life to fit you, but you can tailor your fit to be ready for life.

“That is an incredible skill, Grant.” Naea said seriously as I pulled on my first workable pair of shoes, earning me my second level in Tailoring. These weren’t good enough to walk around in either, but they were starting to look convincingly shoe-shaped. They would last for a quick walk around, though.

“Nah, it’s just making some clothes,” I deflected, knowing exactly what she was talking about. I didn’t want to get my head too full of possibilities, but I was ecstatic with how the Guidance Stone had worked. It promised to only get more and more potent, too, as I added more abilities to my repertoire. I had considered the problem of obsession earlier. As I could already feel my plans running away from me, I realised I needed to stay focused. “Let’s go have a look at the desert before the sun sets.”