A few more attempts and another level up to the skill of Tailoring had me quite confident in the sturdiness of my new shoes. I had even made socks out of some repurposed Clive’s Café t-shirts, and I flexed my feet, the skin happily covered by cloth and shoddy leather. The skin from the Sundercat wasn’t ready for use yet, but the tacky material from the café’s chairs was. While they would never suit a catwalk, they were a true sign that I could take from the dungeon and not only have it take from me.
Though I would argue that me having comfortable boots was just as important, I had also levelled up midway through my crafting session. Naea had burst into explanation about how rare it was for someone to gain a level due to creation so early in the Shift. She was exceptionally excited but I struggled to understand the consequences. It wasn’t as fast as combat levelling and I would run out of materials eventually.
“It’s about mentality,” Naea had sighed, and shook her head like I was a disappointment. Unable to be upset thanks to no longer having to walk through mud with my bare feet, I brushed it off. The journey to the desert area would have been a good chance to train my combat skills if I had encountered anything which wanted a fight. Except, I didn’t. I wasn’t hunting, so I didn’t activate Tracking much but nor did I use Stealth. Itching for a chance to gain some more strength, I was left bemused as it seemed the natives were either bunkering down to sleep, or just avoiding me specifically.
A few of my skills ticked up their progress, noticeably though. Construction and Tailoring reached level two and three respectively. Sprint and Tracking both rose a level while the largest gain was in Meditate which I naturally used the most and longest of my skills. Stealth had nearly grown, too. Thanks to the influx of experience in this arena, I was getting better and better at understanding the nuance involved in my skills. At level four Meditate, which was my best example, the effect had increased to around three times faster recovery as opposed to the two times I had been at level one.
I could only imagine what a skill at level one hundred would be capable of.
By the time I dropped down into the desert again, the sun was definitely on its last legs for the day. With my heightened Perception and Manasight, the darkness of the evening should pose little issue, but my instincts told me the night would hold more dangers than just dim lighting. Still, I had the worry of the dungeon getting stronger around me and couldn’t sit on my laurels.
Taking a sip from my dwindling but decent supply of water, I sighed. I hadn’t found any water sources in the forest, despite its humidity and healthy foliage. Cleaning myself was an expenditure I had only done once, before I realised how dangerous it could be to have nothing to drink. I could be here for a long time, after all. That train of thought was a dangerous one I pushed away, striding into the sands and enjoying the dry warmth of the very late afternoon.
I had to admit, it was a gorgeous view.
As far as I could see, the sand stretched like a comfortable ginger cat. Slashes of shade cut across vast areas of the expanse as the sun’s light dipped below some of the massive piles of sand. The shadows extended, the duochrome of the new area taking my breath away with its beautiful gold and navy tones. The dunes and hills were vast and beautiful. I had no doubt there were dangers lurking within these dry, flaxen fields.
I wasn’t excited to try climbing the hills once I got to the base of one. My opinion on the desert was quickly settled. Despite all of its natural wonder? Walking through the desert sucked. The sand was still uncomfortably hot where the sun hit and it quickly got into my new shoes. I said nothing to Naea and refused to admit I had chosen the wrong design. The leather was hot and breaking in the heat. My stupid white self hadn’t even considered the obvious. Sandals for the sand, right? Trips abroad weren’t common for my family, and less common for myself, so it was a learning experience.
As I began to slowly trudge up the shifting hill, I continued trying to learn. My first skill had come early, when I was much less capable. Mana Bolt had served me very well but was little help here. What I needed was a way to create more stable mana. As I began to experiment, I asked Naea “is sandwalking a skill?” With my mana being spent a little quicker than I recovered it, the skill would appear sooner or later.
“No.” The surety of her answer gave me pause. Naea said she never lied, which itself must be a lie but I had yet to catch her in one. With a clever way of phrasing, keeping secrets and telling lies was more than possible for the fairy.
“Maybe you’ve just never heard of it.”
“Maybe that’s it, Grant. Maybe that’s it.”
Disheartened but not willing to give up on making this trek less awful, now and in the future, I kept trying. For the few hours it took to scale the huge dune, I expended mana in an aimless way. I was a generator and the System would guide the skill creation using the energy I expelled into the air. Or so I hoped. The reality was that by the time I arrived at the top of the
I watched Naea float like a leaf, pretending to sleep in the air as she hovered next to me and an idea sparked. Instead of passively burning mana, I directed the flow to the soles of my feet. When I received a little positive feedback from the mana, I had to take the boots off. It had cooled down enough that I wouldn't be melted by the sands, at least. I could do nothing but roll my eyes and take Naea’s harassment. “Something wrong with your lovely shoes?” She asked, sweet as poison.
“Only if you don’t like struggling. It would be hard to argue I don’t like it at this point, but I’m not going down that road of self-hate. I’m going to steal from you, instead.” Naea gasped and turned invisible. I could actually follow her movements a little as I knew what to look for and my improved vision’s focus on mana. I chuckled and flicked a very weak Mana Bolt towards her which she was forced to dodge. “Just your techniques, loser. You use mana in a much more sophisticated way than I do.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The trees blocked my view of the desert when I was on the ground there but from this high up, I could see all the way back to Clive’s. The forest area looked quite small from here, even. That tiny place had kept me bound for days on the edge of death. Facing the desert, with my face to the sun, I sat and began to Meditate.
Levelling the skill had not only increased the rate I regained mana, but the less numerical portions of the technique were heightened also. I slipped easily into my imagined cosmic ecosystem of core, Aspect and Guidance Stone. With its addition, the empty universe around my inner world was being pin pricked with light. Miniscule, but blazing compared to the nothingness around them, these were my skills. With Mana Savant’s touch, they had become prominent in this place too, taking new importance within my mentality.
With a small brushing of Willpower, I gave myself a form and landed upon the world of the Dragon. Barren, in many ways, this world was also full of potential. Deep within the rocky celestial body was an intense and passionate magic that stroked against my own desires and pushed me onwards. I fueled the world, and in turn, the world charged me with power and resolve. This give and take was mostly a visualisation of the effects of Meditate, increasing my healing and mana regeneration, but it held significance too.
I looked to the stars, focusing on the one I knew to be Sprint. This world was silent and cold, but I could change one of those things for now. I brought my Willpower to bear once more and grasped the concept of momentum from Sprint and gave it to the world of the Dragon. A wind picked up and ruffled my hair. I smiled. The breeze whistled deep into the caverns and tunnels that were the veins and arteries of this rocky world. That was enough for now.
My eyes still closed, I activated Sprint. The skill burned some mana but I wasn’t trying to move right now. I pushed against the boundary which had been woven into the fabric of the ability. It was a useful skill, but it wasn’t what I wanted. As it stood, all it did was make me move faster when running. It was unwieldy and specific. The winds of the Dragon world began to howl in the gale, and I felt the Dragon twitch in response. Go on then, it seemed to say, and I took the hint.
Dragonburn.
The purple light of the Dragonburn star bathed my soul with transformative power. Brighter than any of the others, though still distant and small, the purple light of the skill gave vibrancy to the winds of Sprint. The process mostly automatic now, I simply guided with a gentle hand as the air itself began to hold wisps of that purple energy. The hurricane forces built to a crescendo and I smashed as much mana as I could into the skill structure of Sprint. It had been a whim to alter the skill but now that the Dragon was involved in the working all I could do was try to add my influence.
I focused on what I wanted from the ability. Master thorn was a growing anxiety in my mind, his speed always greater than mine in my imagination. I wanted to be able to make the ratman’s strengths irrelevant. By becoming so fast myself that it would be the one left standing slack jawed. My Willpower flagged as the situation dragged on. I could feel myself spending something which wasn’t health or mana, but just as important. My thoughts became sluggish, and the wind froze for a moment. What was I doing?
With a roar that shook the stars, vibrating the sun which was my core, the Dragon gave me the final nudge needed. There was an imperceptible click as the old form of Sprint broke apart and was replaced by something greater. I was flung from the soul world and back into my body as the mana channels around my ankles extended up my skins with glorious new form. I inspected it with wonder, figuring out all of the modulations made that I could before letting the System fill in the gaps.
Congratulations! Skill upgraded due to cohesion with your Aspect!
Sprint -> Haste
Faster. Faster. Until fear itself can no longer stop you. Until thrill exceeds doubt.
The sun had finally lost its battle as I cleared away with System Prompt and took a deep breathe. The lightest of breezes touched my face as I looked up into the purple sky. As within, so without. I smirked to myself, opening my status screens to admire the progress I had made. I was becoming truly strong.
Skills
Mana Bolt (Level 2)
Common
Manasight (Level 2)
Common
Heavy Blow (Level 2)
Common
Haste (Level 1)
Common
Meditate (Level 4)
Common
Stealth (Level 2)
Common
Tracking (Level 3)
Common
Mental Fortress (Level 1)
Uncommon
Dragonburn (Level 1)
Rare
Construction (Level 2)
Common
Tailoring (Level 3)
Common
Mana Savant (Max)
Unique
I still had seven points to place from the level up I received while crafting, but as I considered my options for placement, the sand beneath me shifted. In fact, the sand all across the dune started to fall like golden waterfalls. Naea gasped and there was enough fright in the sound for me to panic, even before the dark shapes began to appear. I allowed the System cost for analysis and felt my mana drain uncomfortably fast. There were just so many nameplates…
Within seconds, my mana bottomed out. There were still many of the approaching black shapes which weren’t analysed, their forms amorphous due to the shadows cast by the impending night. “Run!” I shouted to Naea, pointless as she had already taken off, a mirage over the sand. Planning to join her, I put all seven of my loose attribute points into Agility. I lost my footing as the attributes took hold, rolling down the massive sandy hill like a loose stone.
All the while, the chittering and clattering approach of the scorpion horde threatened to freeze my muscles with fright.
Monster - Giant Scorpion - Level 12
Monster - Giant Grey Scorpion - Level 16
Monster - Giant Scorpion - Level 11
Monster - Giant Grey Scorpion - Level 15
Monster - Giant Scorpion - Level 10
Monster - Giant Ochre Scorpion - Level 18
Monster - Giant Ochre Scorpion - Level 18
I spat out a mouthful of sand and began sprinting, wishing I hadn’t messed with the skill at all, every ounce of accomplishment robbed by my terror. As fast as my System-powered legs would take me, I bolted for the forest. “Fuck this!”