Queltsom:
After Brel dragged Kerrio all the way back home and into the bedroom, Lady Eileen felt like she would burst into rage before Brel explained the situation. We headed out again, passing by the rolling wagons once more. I sensed pressures moving to and fro and heard the hustle of the crowd and their footsteps on grass and dirt, as well as the clinking and clacking of wooden, plastic, and metallic objects. All the while, something within me wanted to get out and show itself. I was angry. I was very angry. I was so angry that it almost hurt! I could barely control myself, and there was nothing to let it out on! I knew I shouldn't be angry at Jane (even thinking of her name made my blood boil), and I almost wanted to raise my head and scream at the top of my lungs. I knew I shouldn't be angry at her in particular. Based on what Linda told me and what I felt from the pressure, Jane was mentally controlled by something that forced her to attack me like that. Until I knew what or who did that to her, however, I had to hold back my anger at her until I could explode all I wanted on the one who caused it. I can't keep up my calm disguise for much longer now. I had developed it without realizing it when dealing with the pain for the first time back in Dolven, to avoid troubling Dragnoria, but this anger, in addition to said pain, would drain me quickly. I have to fight something. If only there were beasts somewhere far from Elva that I could hunt, I'd be rid of my anger in time, but alas, until I knew more about the world, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I wasn't stupid enough to think that I could leave the village, fight beasts, and come back without getting lost. Being able to stop bumping into things and sensing living creatures isn't and wouldn't be enough to guide me from place to place when I don't even know where to go! Even then, stumbling upon a close settlement will be almost unlikely to happen unless I know the way perfectly and have landmarks I can actually sense to navigate by.
When I finish with Jane, I'll go back home and talk about the attribute stuff with Kerrio. He didn't have enough time to tell me my stats yesterday, and I wanted to know how strong Kerrio saw me.
Jane Silverstar:
Jane sat in her office, finally done with all the grueling paperwork. She was waiting for Queltsom to come, so she could start teaching him about this world. But before that, Linda was coming to talk to her. There was a knock on the door, and Jane gave her sister permission to enter. The door swung open, and Linda walked in, her face no longer goofy as usual.
"Hey sis,", she said in a low voice. "How are you handling that issue?"
"I think I have dealt with it. When the time comes, everyone who was hurt by it will participate in its death, including the boy,", she said confidently.
"Does that include me?", Linda asked.
"Yes. Me, you, Brel, and Queltsom. Speaking of Queltsom, how is he? Did you use the emotional sensor?", Jane asked, desperately changing the topic.
"Crimson 104,", Linda answered solemnly.
"Crimson 104? No way!", she gasped, her face pale.
"Yes, it's that bad. He is very angry at you. He doesn't know about the Edaptilium Kagila yet, so his anger is centered directly on you, I presume. His aura starts to have that bloodlust when the emotion counter reaches crimson 110, which means he is constantly on edge. His counter was at crimson 90 when he was sleeping and 192 when I was in there yesterday. Your session with him is canceled until that anger is gone. He won't be able to think clearly if he comes here and hears your voice,", Linda declared with a voice that brooked no argument.
"But I don't understand! How could someone have that much fury against someone else?", Jane asked in bewilderment. "The maximum anger counter should have been 60, maybe 70. But the minimum reading of that boy was near 50% higher?"
"You busted his mind,", Linda said bluntly.
"I didn't; it wasn't me!", Jane screamed.
"I know, but think of it from his perspective. Someone named Jane Silverstar ordered that he get captured. He fights back but loses his energy in the process. He falls unconscious and wakes up in chains, which the same Jane trapped him in. Then he encounters some random farmer lady who frees him. After a while, he wakes up, and the first thing he hears is the voice of the evil noble Jane, who tortures him and then breaks his mind. How could he not be that furious at you, sis?", Linda said.
"That's wrong, Linda! He knew I was mind-controlled. I don't know how, but he did. He saved me. I saw him in my dreams, and I gradually came free again. So it couldn't all be directed at me,", Jane argued.
"Oh, good point. I guess I'll pretend to be you and keep sparring with him until he stops being angry at you, at which point I'll tell him about the Edaptilium Kagila. That will further defuse his rage, I think,", Linda suggested.
"No! That's dangerous, Linda! What if he discovers your deception?", Jane interjected.
"Deception? Pff! Relax, big sis! He won't know. I'll nullify all sound, so he couldn't possibly tell! He's blind, and he couldn't know it's not you if he doesn't hear a voice, after all!", Linda said confidently.
"Good luck then, impostor!", Jane said with a grin.
"Thank you; I think I'll have fun playing silent Jane with him!", Linda grinned back.
Queltsom:
"Never mind, disciple. Jane seems to be a bit busy and can't teach you right now. I think it'll have to be after a long while,", Brel said.
"Oh really? How do you know? I didn't hear you speak with anyone, and I don't feel any other person near us,", I asked. I was truly curious to know how he knew. It's nice that he stopped me from thinking about things that made me mad.
"A talented scientist made a magical creation called the Elva Net, which allows whoever has a suitable item to communicate with others who have the same type of item. I just spoke with Linda through the Elva net, and she told me the news,", he answered. Oh, an item? This scientist must be really smart to make something like that.
"We use it for our spying operations and to coordinate from far distances,", he added. Ah, interesting. So it's like a communication stone, but it works from afar? I really thought it was cool.
"So, we'll go back to the forest, where you'll practice your stance and charge, as well as your combat moves, and then you'll sit under the trees and do whatever you like until I return to take you home. So don't you dare move anywhere until I come back, you hear me? If anyone comes and tries to take you somewhere, deal with them,", Brel said. We changed directions and walked for some time, until the sounds gradually changed from village ambiance to bird chirps, refreshing air, and the countless unmoving pressures of trees nearby. He took me to a familiar set of trees that were stronger than the rest of the forest—the same ones I had sat under last time. I ignored his pressure and went closer to the trees.
"Hey, can you correct my stance before you go?", I asked, performing the Tree Root stance. He poked and prodded different areas of my body until I corrected them, and he spoke once more.
"I can't keep adjusting your stance all the time, so don't forget how to do it!". I sensed him go and started running.
I ran in circles around the strong trees, increasing my speed with each lap. I started breathing in a constant rhythm while running, just like Dragnoria and Gelrahq had taught me. I swung my hand, punching the air with Punchstorm, then followed it with a Titan's Fist, causing light whooshes to sound out. I spun on my heels, using the momentum I gained from my running. I propelled myself closer, then I leaped, searching for a handhold to climb one of the trees. I found a branch and gripped it tightly, pulling myself up and standing on it. The tree felt big enough for me to play my game. I searched for another branch with my hands but found none yet. I leaped again, risking a fall, and my hand brushed against another branch. I almost fell backwards, but I found the branch I stood on at the last moment. Regaining my balance, I lept again, expecting the branch above me. Gripping it with both of my hands, I pulled myself up the branch once more. I kept up the same process until I found no branch above me. I knew I was high up in the tree, and I could at last sense the treetop. Not risking the dissatisfaction of failing at my game, I pivotted, my hand outstretched, and then I jumped. The wind wipped at my face as I fell, and I yelled, "Weeeeeeeeeeee!". I fell face first on the ground with a thud, but I didn't regret the fun I had.
"Thanks for the fun, tree!", I said happily, knowing that it couldn't actually answer me but not caring. I gave it some of my life force, just like yesterday, and then connected with the pressures of the other 4 trees and gave them some of my life force as well. Then I fell down, sitting cross-legged on the grass, meditating.
I started to connect with the five trees around me and draw on their energy. It was similar to Kota, but it felt stronger and more tree-like. I couldn't exactly describe it, but it felt like a tree's power, calming and relaxing my mind. Instead of soking my body with it and letting my sells absorb and integrate the energy into themselves to perpetually improve my body like I did with Kota, I just let it roam free inside my body. When I thought about strengthening my body with this tree-flavored Kota, my senses screamed with warning. I trusted those weird senses of mine, and discarded that idea immediately. The energy entered me, and I felt some of my anger just melt away like it didn't exist. I loved this feeling, so I kept drawing on the tree's power. I knew that it wasn't Kota because my Kota conductors were destroyed when I failed to use my Diamond Tornado back when I had woken up here the first time, and I'd have to make new ones if I wanted to restart my Kota cultivation for my mind and spirit since the body cultivation was pretty much done. But this power was somehow influenced by Kota. It was stronger and purer, but it had a hint of Kota in it. For each breath of tree energy I drew to myself, I gave back a portion of my life force to the trees. This was like a cycle. I was never really full, nor was I running out of life force, so I kept drawing on the energy for a long period of time. The tree energy replenished the life force I already gave to the trees, converting it into life force that rejoined my body, and I gave the same converted life force back after benefiting from the calming effect it still carried even after being converted. Even though it sounded like a waste of energy and time, it actually helped me manage my anger. Further, I sensed that the tree pressures were actually getting stronger with every revolution of the cycle. It was very slight, but when I meditate, I can easily notice slight things like that. Even I felt my muscles, my mind, and everything else start to expand and gain depth, and my cultivation itself was actually advancing even though I wasn't drawing Kota at all.
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Eventually, though, something broke my meditation and started pulsing. I groaned and inspected the pulse. It was the background pressure present everywhere in Elva. Kor wanted to say something. I regretted grumbling because I knew that she wouldn't stop my meditation if she didn't want to talk to me.
"Oh God, Queltsom! You're insane! Do you know that?", she said while cackling.
"No? What's wrong?", I asked uncertainly.
"You can use converted mana! Did you hear me? You can use converted mana! Oh god, I've never seen anyone draw upon mana-derived energy before!", she said, still cackling.
"What's so funney, and what's mana?", I asked, not getting whatever joke she was making.
"It's so delightful! You're full of surprises, boy!", she said.
"You aren't answering my question,", I said, almost running out of patience.
"Sorry, I just couldn't stop myself! First you give your life energy to the trees, which is very absurd, and then you draw upon their power, which is derived from mana, my mana! Do you know how ridiculous that is", she kept saying.
"No, Kor, I don't know. Now, can you explain to me what in the Void this mana is? I've literally never heard of it before. Is it the tree's power? The one that makes me less angry and more relaxed?", I asked.
"Mana is the energy core spirits use. And before you ask, let me explain. I am a core spirit. It means that I'm a spirit that lives in a crystalline orb underground. My kind builds ecosystems, and sometimes entirely new dimensions, by carving the earth and collecting and contracting with plants, animals, and beasts. We feed those creatures and allow them to grow in exchange for their services. We contract with beasts, then provide them the energy they need to evolve, and they in turn do what we command them. They fight for and protect the domain the core spirit made, and we do our best to protect them as well. There are two different types of core spirits: dungeon cores and domain cores, but domain cores can also be called dungeon cores. "Did you follow until now?", she said. I thought about it for a moment.
"I think so. So you're a spirit that builds places and invites plants and beasts to live in the places you make. Then you tell those beasts that they should protect what you built, and you give them power so they get stronger. That way, they get what they want, which is power and growth, and the cores get what they want, which is protection, right?", I recapped.
"Yes, that's right! Now, domain cores build settlements for sapient creatures to live in, like humans, elves, dwarves, and beastfoke. Those creatures are given enough energy to advance their cultivation and otherwise live their lives. These cores are usually peaceful, and they protect their enhabitants against beast assaults, sometimes preventing the beasts from nearing the settlements all together. I am an example of a domain core. I built the beginnings of this village when I was summoned from the outer planes and have drawn humans from different ethnicities throughout the ages. But they do not know what I am, unfortunately, and I was forced to deal with them in ways that are... strange. They kept constantly ruining my creations, forcing me to remake them. But over time, I understood what houses were and indirectly helped them build their domiciles, lest they think that the village is haunted by evil spirits,", she added with a chuckle.
"Dungeon cores, however, wish to expand and grow. A dungeon core builds an environment, just like a domain core would, but their goal is to grow and feed on adventurers. The core absorbs valuables and uses them to create loot for the delvers. This loot serves to lure in more adventurers to feed the dungeon core and its contracted beasts even further. Not all of them are that nefarious, though; some of them make pacts with the nearby settlements, sometimes entire kingdoms or empires, that allow them to feed and grow while providing the settlements in question with powerful items to sell and use without sacrificing the lives of sapients, letting these nations base their entire economies around the dungeon's items. Some dungeons also do this to gain leverage over the nations, cutting off the supply of loot if they have an excuse to do so,", she continued.
"I get it, Kor. Thanks for the information!", I told her.
"No problem. Now you know what I am,", she announced.
"Yeah, I do,", I replied.
"So, as to your question, mana is what we use to grow, as well as reinforce the structures and items we make and strengthen the bodies of the beasts we contract. We also give mana to the plants inside our domains. They turn it into their own energy. Strangely enough, you are able to heal yourself by drawing the converted mana of those trees and somehow recover your own life force while doing so. It's an endless mutual regeneration!", she summed up.
"Alright, thanks for explaining this, Kor! I'll continue meditating while I wait for Brel to come get me so I can go back home. Let's talk more about this later, ok, Kor?", I asked.
"Goodbye, Queltsom. It's been nice talking to you once more,", she said, closing the connection. I restarted my meditation, quickly falling into my previous rhythm of cycling tree Kota (mana, I reminded myself), and I quickly lost track of time.
Kerrio:
Kerrio woke up groaning, then opened his eyes, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep off of them. He sat up, then looked at the room. Seeing that he was alone, he stood up slowly and tried to remember how he found himself sleeping. He remembered training with Quel and Brel, who told him to run; then he lost himself in thinking and running; then he was awake, thinking about the whole thing. He queried the system, and notifications flashed before his eyes.
"Achievement: determined!
You have vowed to conquer your fears and strive to gain power in order to protect those you hold dear, and to repay the injustice dealt to you by your sworn enemy. You have refused to fall prey to weakness and helplessness, and have chosen to take matters into your own hands. You have shown great determination and have therefore pushed your body beyond its limits! You have a bright future ahead of you! +3 strength! +2 toughness!
Your Arcane Will has altered your running skill, upgrading it to Arcane Stride!
Arcane Stride: extremely rare: level 1. Whether you walk, jog, run, or sprint, your stride is near flawless. Allows you to better walk on rough and hard ground, making your footing safer and more confident. Allows you to control the flow of stamina while running or sprinting, providing you the ability to either control energy, decreasing your stamina consumption at the cost of speed, or flare the energy to its maximum levels, increasing your speed and burning more energy over time, pushing your body harder and harder. Be warned, though; pushing your body too hard will destroy you. Ease of stamina control will increase with higher levels.
Congratulations, Kerriosko Valdris! You have begun to tread the path of the arcane. You have many secrets to uncover and many wonders to explore. The path of the arcane is a long one filled with hardships, so do not let your will and determination wane because of it. The arcane one is an explorer, an adventurer, and a conqueror at heart. You will either prosper and rise to the top or fall to your doom. Which one you will be is your choice to make.
He who sleeps within is pleased, biding his time with unflinching patience. He is the sworn Guardian of the Unknown, the Bane of the Tenebrius, and the Heart of the Arcana. He is the soulborn Senturian, the Bulwark who is unbound by the fetters of the physical. Let it be known that when the time comes, the Eyes of Dawn shall open, delivering protection and destruction alike!"
"Just what the heck is this all about? Weird things, and more weird things! Another influx of stats is always welcome, and even the skill is cool, but the part about this he who sleeps within gives me chills! Do I have a hungry monster inside me after all? Did it cause that system glitch back when I was pulled into the Omnis? Is it somehow influencing my actions? Is it pulling me toward this arcane stuff? No, I'm pretty sure I'm myself, and I chose to do this. Is it related to my inherent ability, which was, according to the System, prevented by my soul? These questions without answers are annoying! Why couldn't I enjoy my new stats in peace? Ugh, this is frustrating!", Kerrio thought. His mood was officially ruined for today. He tried cheering himself up anyway by thinking about happier things, like how Arcane Stride could help him achieve maximum speed in conjunction with his electricity. The synergy was nice. Electricity speeds him up, then Stride speeds him up even further when toggled to maximum stamina burn, and when his stamina runs low, he'd just convert his hair to stamina or something like that. Maybe his fingernails as well? That should replenish enough of his health, stamina, and electrical energy without fricking up his body too much, and since he wouldn't intentionally be aiming to discard those parts of his body, they should regenerate. Or, wait, the electron absorption thing could help along as well if electrical energy itself could be turned into stamina. The names of these arcane skills were a bit misleading if that was the case. He needed to stop brainstorming randomly and actually experiment and develop a good fighting style. First, though, he had to take a good shower after all that running. He wasn't looking forward to another session, but then again, it was necessary. Plus, it might give him more stats. Kerrio loved stats.
He opened the door and went to the bathroom, washing his face with warm water that was produced with magic, of course. He then slowly walked to the kitchen, finding Eileen there.
"Good afternoon, son! How are you feeling?", she asked.
"Hey! I'm well, thanks! I just needed that involuntary rest, and I'm great now,", he answered.
"Are you sure? Brel had to drag you from wherever you were training all the way here, and you looked very pale when I saw you. I could hardly stop myself from smacking the man with a wooden spoon. Sov must be rubbing off on me!", she said with a forced chuckle.
"Oh, yeah. Sov does seem like he would hit Brel if he angered him. He just gives me that vibe Queltsom has, uncaring about power desparities and just speaking his thoughts and expressing his intentions freely. "Of course I did the running myself, so Brel has nothing to do with this apart from actually telling me to run,", he said to her, chuckling back. "Anyway, I'm about to take a long bath, so see you after that!", he added cheerfully.
"Alright, see you!", she repeated.
He prepared his clothes as well as the warm water for himself, entered and closed the door, then dove into the relaxing bath.