Kalen ignored the system prompts as he laid against the shard of the first world with his eyes closed. His mind felt so much clearer and faster than before. His body a little stronger. He felt more attuned to his surroundings. He assumed that completing his 'Awakening' was the cause but he relished the moment of clarity. After going through so much in such a short amount of time, he felt a moment of quiet was sorely needed.

While he laid there he felt a connection slowly form, a small strand weave itself into existence that tethered something to himself. As the tether became stronger, he could tell that whatever it attached to was getting closer. He did not panic. There was feelings of excitement and anticipation practically radiating across the bond. He smiled, it reminded him of some kind of inquisitive puppy and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. There was faint popping sound and he opened his eyes.

The Blue wisp was dimmer and not as large as the ones he had seen within the forest with the Scion. He reached out a hand and it glided over to rest just above his palm. It felt warm. It wouldn't be enough to stave off the cold but it was comforting nonetheless. He instinctively knew that the wisp wasn't quite physically there. He attempted to push his feelings and thoughts back through the bond, just like the wisp had done. The critter started bob as it flooded the bond with more excitement though he didn't think it understood what he wanted.

After letting it settle for a moment, he tried and again and then a third time. Finally on the forth try he coaxed it to phase through his hand. The area only felt slightly strange as it did so. It wasn't comfortable but there was no harm done. The wisp soon got distracted, itching to go and explore with his permission. a part of him wanted to go through more tests but he realised there wasn't any rush and so he gave it the go ahead before turning his attention back to the status screen. He prodded the name section.

// Please enter chosen First Name :

He chose to keep the name Kalen, not particularly interested in changing it. He liked his name. When he had finished, he wasn't able to select a surname and he soon understood why:

// Name: Kalen of Riverglade

Maybe they don't use surnames? Is Riverglade the name of this fort or town? He assumed so. Next, he prodded the Heritage section and got a separate window to call forth in response.

// Human :

"Humans are one of the main sapient species that live within the realm of Lorium. Their race have been observed to be incredibly adaptable and found in variety of environments. They do not have any innate racial ability. Records show that by forgoing this racial boon however, they gain greater flexibility when it comes to tailoring their racial attributes. This allows them to better support their Vessels of Accord." - The Human race by Aurel Scribe of Valonia.

Current attributes granted: 10

- Power: 1

- Endurance: 2

- Alacrity: 1

- Will: 3

- Vitality: 2

- Presence: 1

Kalen focused on "One of the main sapient races...". He imagined elves and dwarves maybe even the less savoury races like goblins. there was no guarantee that the races he may encounter will be the same as those he knows from stories. In fact, he needed to mentally prepare himself that the next sapient he meets may not be human or even humanoid. Then there is also the question of racial relations, for all he knew elves absolutely despised humans and would kill on site.

The next bit of information he gleamed from the window was that the description was not made by the system itself but was instead written by someone. This opened up a whole other line of questioning to think about in the future. For example, was he able to trust the descriptions, could they be wrong? Who picked which description to use?

He made a mental note on the fact that people may use their profession as part of their name before finally moving on to the attribute panel at the end. He had a total of 20 attributes with ten coming from his human heritage does that mean the other 10 came from his Wisp Companion ability? After a quick prod a new window came up.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

// Wisp Companion:

// There is no information pertaining to Wisp Companion Within Riverglade's Database

Current attributes granted: 10

- Alacrity: 2

- Will: 3

- Presence: 5

The descriptions of skills were tied to this particular shard, which means that other shards may have different or more information. It does still show the amount of attributes so they might be calculated by the system itself and not written by a sapient. The distribution of attributes also seems more specialised for the wisp skill compared to his racial ones, leading him to believe that those particular attributes must be somehow more important for the use of the wisp companion than others. He focused on the attribute panel and nothing happened he even tried the rank section, vessels and the (Empty) slots and yet no new windows appeared.

so instead he focused on the Wisp companion skill itself

1. Wisp Companion 1/1 rank 1 - 0%

He guessed that the 1/1 denoted summon limit, and that he wouldn't have to cast the skill himself considering the wisp was already here. He mentally checked in on the wisp with that thought finding it somewhere not to far behind him. When he look around, he saw it had taken an interest in the plants that were fused with the wall. did the skill have a cooldown? how would I cast it, other than feeling better than before he didn't feel anything was different. He was expecting to have some sort of mana bar like you would in a game but realised he shouldn't follow that line of thinking. This wasn't a game. He did however have a rank and a percentage so he assumed that skills could grow.

The more he thought about it the more questions he had and there wasn't a lot he could do to answer them now. He decided to focus on what he needed to do next. He felt incredibly hungry and his mouth was dry. He needed to secure food and water first. There is also the fact that there should be people in this world but this town or fort for some reason is completely empty. He needed to leave as soon as possible. He could follow the road that led him here in the other direction. hopefully the next place he finds wont be the same.

Kalen looked up at the windows that surrounded the 2nd floor to see sunlight streaming through from outside, it must already be day. He got up and was amazed to find the liquid around the crystal didn't soak into his clothes. He walked out of the temple with the wisp following him from behind.

The plaza was still empty, he looked out onto the numerous entrances lined the outer edge

Kalen quickly left the temple structure waiting by the look as he looked out onto the various buildings that followed the edge of the plaza until his eyes fell onto one in particular. The building had an engraving of a sack overflowing with what looked to be fruit and vegetables. That would be his first stop.

on his way over he glanced at the various raised beds that had been planted around the edge plaza, His wisp friend zoned in on them finding anything everything, interesting. The more he looked the more on edge he become. He had missed a lot of signs in the fading light of the evening when he had arrived. There were numerous claw marks in the stone, damaged and slashed foliage amongst the beds and buildings. he tried to reason with himself that they may have been from one of the races or race that lived here had it not been for the faint red that accompanied it. He wanted to be out of here sooner rather than later.

Kalen made his way to the building to find it was a shop, though sadly a lot of the produce in its wooden bins wasn't something he recognised. He rummaged behind the counter and found a sack before promptly shoving fistfuls of some kind of purple dried fruit and some kind of jerky into it. he tried a small amount of each, hoping that they wouldn't make his stomach upset before moving on to check the doors leading out of the shop floor.

One of the doors lead to a stairwell. He walked up to the second floor to find a living space. He raided it, securing himself a large messenger bag which replaced the sack, a set of ill fitting clothes that were clearly meant for someone much larger and a canteen that he filled with water from a barrel.

It was at this moment that he felt panic from his bond.

Danger!

He quickly zeroed in on the connection to find his wisp was currently outside. He crept up to the window that faced out onto the plaza. He paused at sight before him as he felt his hair stand on end.

There were three dog-like creatures slowly moving as a unit towards the shop he was in. There was no fur, there grey skin taut over their bones. Large claws stained red clacked against the street as there mouths hung open to reveal spindly teeth that were as numerous as the leaves on a tree. they had no eyes and yet he knew they would find him. He was all but certain when one of them raised its head to the sky and released a gut wrenching screech he was all too familiar with.