A Cabin in the Forest – Year 1344, Month 1, Morning of the 10th. Spring

Olea Munroe

“So, captain stingy… Would you be willing to share with the class? What do these skills do and how long have you known?” I was beginning to dislike the slow trickle of information I was getting before I realized that my friend was still missing some knowledge and such and had explained that his knowledge and power was limited to my own growth. Meh, I can still tease!

‘I have known for approximately a day, I may have said something sooner, but you were being lazy.’

“I was asleep?! I was unconscious, you know that.” As I began to ramp up my indignation skill, I got a new notification.

Soul Skill:

Vessel of Souls – You may serve as a Vessel of Souls.

Soul Link – Link the soul of another willing creature to your own. In most cases this will result in a strengthening of the soul, the entity you select will have limited access to the benefits of a Progenitor.

Dowsing – Concentrate and attempt to Divine the location of an entity or object. The target must be something linked to the user or to someone with whom the user has a connection. You cannot dowse undiscovered caches of riches or great beasts, unless those things have a connection to you. Caution: Using this skill to Divine threats to oneself will most often lead to paranoia and confusion.

Forum – Open a forum to converse with others connected to your soul, be they astral entities or people from across town. This spell will have no effect if there is no one willing to listen. By marking people with Soul Link, you will be including them in this group of beings, be wary of those you trust. Distance has no bearing on communication via this ability.

Shared Senses – You can share the senses of another person linked to your soul. You will feel, hear, taste, smell, and see what they are experiencing. Other senses enabled via spells such as Detect Magic will be applied to the user if they possess them, and they are active at the time. Others may catch a subtle sense of observation when you are using this skill on them, but it is suggested not to eavesdrop as this can lead to distrust. This skill is not shared with others via Soul Link.

“Ok, well. Wow?” The list of skills seemed impressive, though since it was my soul, we were seeing the skills of I had no doubt as to the power of the skills. I am awesome. Usually.

Vessel of souls seemed a little weird and unhelpful with its description. Would I be someone’s phylactery or a soul trap for wayward spirits? I did not like the idea of having ghostly beings stuck in my noggin’ making a ruckus and interrupting my limited balance of sanity.

Soul link seemed cool. Giving people access to more skills and having a tangible bond with the people of this world did make my imagination stir somewhat. I was wondering what benefits they would get from the bond and what it would mean to have my own soul strengthened. When I hit a threshold, I did see a blurb of my own soul strengthening and I assumed that it was the reason my Soul Skills were unlocked in the first place.

That last part though, who was the progenitor? I wondered briefly about strangers in the dark funneling power and influence through me into the world, was it some greater being of the cosmos, or mayhap it was me. Future me thoughts again, moving on!

Dowsing kind of did what I had thought it would from an earlier explanation, I could sense even now a small pull in multiple directions. It felt like a tether on my consciousness. One string led outside and away, but not far. I had a good idea of who that was. Two others were also present, and they seemed to be somewhere to the north, I had felt them before but not quite so strong before, again it could be an effect of the stronger soul.

The Forum skill looked somewhat cool, I could almost sense that it was a global kind of chat room. A telecommunications skill if you will. I wondered if I could get video conference calls in with people after exploring the world, it would be nice to be able to gather information from global assets and maybe form a spy ring of sorts… Yeah, I could see this skill leading me to spearhead a news network for the people. It might even put Camilla out of business as a messenger, she would probably kill me for losing that job.

Next up, Shared Senses. I was not quite sure about this one. Sure, it would be nifty to be able to see through the eyes of another so to speak, but this skill seemed to be on a whole other level. I was thinking Big Brother kind of stalker skills, I would need to be careful about using it, so I did not fall into some bad stalker habits, but I was curious as to the limit of the senses. Would I have a sense of using a third of fourth arm if the person I was eavesdropping on or rather checking in on wasn’t human. I wonder.

I invoked the skill, and I was almost overwhelmed by the sudden shift in perspective. I was now looking down at a small cabin built off the ground, almost nestled in the trees with a spiraling staircase descending around the trunk of a large oak. Light streamed down all around me through the canopy above as the sounds of nature blossomed in every direction. I could feel the wind against my face and the gnarled branch gripped between my toes. The whole of the image was cast with a slightly gray tone, as if using an old-timey photo lens on a landscape image. It was so very odd, yet so very clear. I could detect the movement of small insects, animals, and swaying bushes over a very long distance.

The most disconcerting part of this was that I had no control, I could see, hear, feel, smell, and otherwise sense the world around me in so many ways but anytime I heard a sound I would instinctively want to turn my head only for nothing to happen. It was this lack of control over my what and where my senses were directed that made me back right out of there, thoroughly done with the experiment.

“Okay, that was neat. Question.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

‘No.’

“No, what? You had no idea what I was going to ask!” Was there no trust in the world?

‘You were going to attempt to try your new Soul Link skill on me, were you not?’

“… No?” I really needed to keep a memo about his ability to read surface thoughts and intent. “Also, why not?”

‘As much as I would love to link my soul to a being who never shows me proper respect and is flippant in the face of imminent death, for no reason other than ignorance I cannot commit to this act. This skill requires access to my soul. I am only here as an intellect; my soul is still bound to the location of my body.’

“What does that mean exactly, you are either here or not, right?”

‘Unfortunately, no. My true self and my true intellect, my mind, is inside my soul. This version of me is a copy of my true mind projected and tied into your body for the time being. When I wish to know something, I do not have knowledge of it, I must query my true mind residing in my soul to gain the knowledge. And so, without that direct link to my soul as it is elsewhere, we cannot perform this sacred rite as frivolously as you would like. On that note, please refrain from linking your soul to the soul of others so casually.’

“Fine. That’s still weird though.” I was nonplussed about the whole thing; I had new skills and knowledge of them, but I had no way to assess them yet. Blah. That reminds me I never checked on the updated version of my older spells. “Help-chan?”

‘On it.’ Came the terse reply.

Water Walk: You gain the ability to walk upon the surface of water. You will be able to climb upon the water’s surface using your hands and other extremities with intent. This spell will not cancel the momentum of a fall onto water. Effects enhanced with greater Wisdom and Intelligence.

Rank Two: Spell duration of Water Walk is increased. Increases the tension of the water you stand upon for greater control and stability. Adds a passive effect to help keep you dry. This can be circumvented by outside forces with intent.

Vigor: This spell allows the user to bestow a boost to the target’s stamina, increasing their ability to push through tough tasks with more ease as they are lifted out of exhaustion. Walk further and be refreshed. While this spell can alleviate Stamina overuse it can compound the issue if overused. All things in moderation.

Rank Two: This spell now alleviates the need for sleep to a small degree, recovering the body from both mental and physical exhaustion. A passive is applied to the user upon reaching this rank which reduces the Stamina required for strenuous activity by an amount directly related to Constitution and Wisdom. Targets of this spell will recover Stamina immediately while also receiving a reduced restoration of Stamina over time.

Wind Walk: This spell creates a field of moderate wind control for use by the wielder. It can be subtly altered by the target of the spell to shift the winds and allow for faster movement while lowering stamina consumption. Unlike other spells you will benefit from both Intelligence and Wisdom while receiving minor bonuses from your overall Dexterity and Constitution.

Rank Two: Your skill now invokes a passive benefit whereas you may expend a portion of your mana regeneration to maintain a lessening of your weight. Not unlike gravity magic, this will allow you to somewhat alleviate the pull on your body by external forces, be they natural or other. Further decreases the Stamina cost of many actions. Passively increases control over the magics of Wind and Air.

Rank Three: You spell now has a greater duration and shall consume less of your Mana and Stamina while in affect. Weight is further decreased as you become less bound by external forces. You may now construct a thin membrane of air to use as a temporary contact point.

I must confess I did not really want to spend the points on upgrading what I thought of as lesser spells, but it seems the investment did pay off. I wouldn’t need to sleep as much, or get wet while walking in the rain? Yes, please.

As to Wind Walk and its changes, that mana drain being reduced is impressive. Also, I can now make jumping platforms, this spell would require extensive testing in the very near future. One more thought was in the back of my mind, I’ve upgraded Piety twice now.

Piety: With this skill you are granted the knowledge required to work miracles in the world, from healing wounds to banishing evil. This knowledge will aid any who wishes to seek solace in serving a higher calling. Come join the ranks of Healers across the world, you will unlock skills such as: Cure Wounds, Heal, Major Heal, Dispel Evil, Cure Sickness, and maybe someday the fabled Resurrection skill will be yours, who doesn’t want to revive the recently deceased and gain their undying loyalty!

Rank Two: You have progressed further in your devotion and shall be rewarded! Passive increase to mana regeneration, as well as slightly faster casting of spells in any school. Your ability to sense the spiritual as well as the divine has increased. New spells unlocked.

Rank Three: Do you wish to become a Champion to the gods? Keep advancing in your pursuit of heaven-sent powers. The gods appreciate your dedication and have given you another small boost to your mana regeneration. Your ability to sense both the spiritual and divine has increased by a larger degree, hold tight to your sanity. Ancient beings of the world may spare your life upon detecting your connection to the gods, should you chance upon them.

“Thanks a bunch, Help-chan!”

‘I listed the details why don’t you parse through them and try to understand what they mean.’

“I did read through them; it seems like a hard sell to a soft client. The description makes it seems like the gods hired salesmen to enlist people to the cause with random infomercial tactics.” It really did read like a good parody of commercials in fifties americana.

There was a little to take note of though, more mana regeneration not least among them. I wondered what the past three levels did for me resource pools. “Help-chan, do you remember what my old health and mana were, before I leveled?

’You had seventy-five health, eighty-one mana and eighty-one stamina.’

So, it seems I gained roughly twenty-five health while also gaining thirty to my mana and stamina pools. Sweet.

Sidetracked there again… Faster cast time seemed cool; I wonder if that applied to my channeling of spells. Would I get the added hits of healing more frequently while channeling Cure Wounds or would it just take less time for the initial effect while not changing the phases of the channeled effect? Also, I had forgotten about resurrection magic bringing back gram-gram would be swell though I am sure there are limitations the spells usage conditions.

And then, that part about ancient beings sparing my life. All because of my godly connections and devotion to the beings up above, meh. With my luck I would encounter the one ancient being who got shafted by god’s third cousin and be killed in a very slow and agonizing way.

“Future me concerns. I think I am going to go test my new skills!”

I began shuffling off of my little plank of wood, blanket tossed to the side, though I did fold it up in a passable ‘I cleaned my room’ kind of way. It was as I finished tucking my feet into my leather shoes and fixed my now-holey shirt that the sound of the wind caught my attention.

My raven pressed the door open with its beak and then launched itself into the air for a brief beat before taking a roost on the bed opposite me.

It was in this time that seemed to stretch in some way like seeing someone you recognize but cannot place. That moment that pulls in an uncomfortable way as you scour your mind for their name and placing, just short of stalker level creepy in your encounter.

We have all been there! Yes, in this long moment something clicked into place, and I heard a firm male voice come from the frame of this tiny animal.

“You are awake! Good, good!”

“What the actual -.”