I wake up and strech like a cat. Arch your back for that good stretch. Mew. I'm ready for the day!
Can I just say, I’m so glad I never got an addiction to coffee. I can’t imagine not being able to wake up without drugs.
Speaking of drugs, a certain helper is staring at me from the foot of my bed. This is why we need a house. Privacy. Come on shoo, I’ll give you a sugarcube after your chores. Go on. Git.
Rushing through my morning routine – including half an hour of meditation and 4 mana pearls towards my debt – I stand and think.
What do I want to start on today?
I’m feeling so much better than I have been the past few days. Mentally I'm less scattered if that makes sense.
I feel almost like I can do anything. I don’t even need a new skill held back as motivation – In fact I think I’ve been going about this wrong. What if the new skill helps me build a house? Wouldn’t I be dumb not to take it yet?
Partly to see if I want to go through with it, I check the divine shop and go to the automated section for skill removal.
Mr Wizard pulls information from my status and lets me select my frustration affinity to remove – I positive I want to try again with this one.
If I select this…moving about I watch how the cost flips about with different options. No matter what I do it doesn’t seem to get too high. The goddess is right about this not costing her anything other than effort and time. Bargan!
It’s nice to know I can remove any of my skills and try again – although deep down I know I’ll probably never remove Triboadhesion or mana crystal creation. I’d have to have a very good reason to give up on eventual flight as well. Something like getting better flight. Flight 2.0.
I select earliest convenience and see the cost.
One tier 2 pearl.
I feel kind of dumb staring at the cost. It’s like the goddess is kicking me into gear. I’ve probably made over 100 “pearls” now and yet I haven’t tried going further…this is the pearl that goes beyond pearls!
I've been slacking. I haven’t kept going, never attempted to make a better one. I worked harder not smarter.
That’s probably why I haven’t reached level 4 no matter how much I’ve done right?
Yeah I’m definitely going to do this today.
I send the request off and almost immediately receive a response stating she can do it now.
I wasn’t expecting it to be so quick.
Okay…calm yourself down it’s not that big of a deal. You got this!
Preparing myself, I suddenly feel a presence stifle the area in its loving hugs. The closest description I can use to describe this is what happened when I got good old mana crystal creation. It’s like the goddess is hugging me from behind. I feel nice and comfortable. The surroundings are being cuddled too it’s a whole thing.
I start giggling hysterically. “You’re rubber I’m glue, if you give me a hug I’ll stick to youuuuuuuuuuu-ack”
Slowly I feel like someone’s reaching inside of me, my insides shifting. Instinctively I tense up and the invasive feeling halts.
That’s right. I asked for this. It’s a medical procedure.
The goddess is patient and waits – and slowly I untense once more.
She’s strong enough she can probably do this without my consent – I’ve seen what she did to the land around me – and yet for some reason the way she doesn’t force past my defenses makes me feel warm and cared for. The goddess is good people.
Slowly the intrusion begins once more and a tight feeling crosses my chest. Her touch slowly moves about my insides and I try to track where she's headed. I think...I think somewhere by my heart?
Theres a faint…I know it’s probably tugging or ripping but I don’t have the senses to describe it. I just feel like something is maybe moving and jerking repeatedly because of the way the surroundings feel. Like a dentist is tugging my tooth after numbing my whole mouth? That’s probably the closest feeling to this.
Suddenly I’m hit with an incredibly empty woosh and two things happen. The air in front of me warps in a haze as something is pushed away and the feeling of the goddess’s embrace disappears.
Come back! I wanted more hugs.
In front of my head I watch the warp fade and begin curling away into nothing. Without fully realizing it I find myself reaching out. My hands curl as if I’m trying to grasp the fleeting cloud. Swipe. As my fingers tear through the smoke I barely feel a tingle and see the warp drop even faster.
I really want to say I was smart enough to think of it right away but the next bit was all subconscious. Pure instinct baby! I activate mana crystal creation on the area grasping and grabbing the surroundings the motion of my hand activating my skill. It takes almost five seconds for me to realize what my subconscious is doing – decide my instincts might be interesting – and consciously finish the job.
The fading remnants of my level 1 skill immediately stop disapearing but it takes a while for it to feel like I’m gathering up mana once again.
I can feel new mana joining it but it’s taking all my focus just to keep this "skill" mana in the area without trying to prevent it from being filled with "contaminants". Slowly – feeling like I’m packing a suitcase and trying to zip it up – I push and press the skill remnants into a lumpy pearl.
Get…In…there…gahhhh!
I have no clue how long that took – it actually feels like it fought me as I went – but finally it's done. I succeeded! I cheer an appropriate amount – go me – then stare down at the stone in front of me. It looks almost like its inside is liquid? Theres a solid outer shell and inside small sparkles float about as I shake the darned thing.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Kind of like a crystal snow-globe filled with glitter.
I kept packing mana in but its stopped feeling like I’m doing much minutes ago so I have to say it's complete now.
Placing the pearl into my inventory I’m not surprised by the description.
Tier 2 frustration bent mana pearl.
…the cost of the skill removal. I could be suspicious of the goddess or…I could try and make one again in a more sustainable way. I’m pretty sure I just finally ranked up mana crystal creation and technically if I give her this pearl the removal was free.
Yep…I just checked, and it seems to have worked. Finally!
Self status (click to expand)
Tier 13
Status: Healthy
Skills 3/4 ->
[Triboadhesion] Tier 7
[Mana Crystal Creation] Tier 4
[The wings of fell] Tier 2
I still have some time to try and make a replacement for the cost. I kind of want to keep this pearl in case it’s harder to make than others or as a memento. Maybe I could use it myself? Figure out how to turn it into something? The goddess and people in the store I was given access, to seem to like them, so they must have some use.
Right now I feel exhausted – both from the exertion of making this and from the feeling of the skill leaving me. There’s this massive feeling of loss that sort of sneaks up on me after I calm down.
Theres one secret to this grave affliction.
I go and find dairy to watch. Do I have a problem? No. Not at all. This is proper mental health let me tell you.
The slime is just so carefree as it explores – everywhere it moves it’s like it’s seeing for the first time. I start laughing as I watch the creature wobble and jiggle as it dives into the lake – still unable to catch a single fish.
Alright!
I think that was enough mental recuperation. I want to gain my replacement skill before I go back to ‘work’. I don’t feel as amazing as I did this morning – theres still an empty hollow feeling in my chest – but I feel much better. More than my body's weirdness is the optimism I feel for this skill selection. I have a good feeling about my next skill.
Moving back to the Mr wizard I let it start the random process.
A tight feeling – one I’m still pretty confident is the tool increasing the amount of environmental mana in my body – begins. I wait calmly. This one is going to be good. I can feel it. I can almost taste it. Still I don’t rush and I continue to sit calmly feeling the wizard get to work.
Affinity filled. You have a patience affinity.
Skill found. Phantom breath.
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Congratulations cadet. Either you were compatible with our specialized ascension room or you were recruited with a compatible unmodified affinity.
Breathe cadet.
Before anything else remember to breathe. In and out all as calmly and as carefully as you can for as long as you can stomach.
Feel that? Focus on that feeling pulling yourself further towards it as you go. This skill has deep roots in time and at low levels should let you skip past “times” you do not wish to experience. A hour can be sped through while feeling like a single moment – a day can fly past in not much more than that. Breathe and feel your connection to the world contained in your breath. Your breath is how the outside world enters you and how you enter the outside world. It’s a link you can stretch and push away from you. A tether you can grow but never snap.
Do you have the skill yet? If not, continue to practice till you do. When you finally gain it, read the rest of this page then destroy it and join your siblings.
To grow this skill your first awakening should be focused on maintaining some perception of what you are skipping by – skimming the information your breath can ‘see’. The next step around – your second awakening – is to maintain a link to what you are skipping by…while still passing through it. If you don't understand ask one of your siblings.
Focus on pushing a part of yourself through your stretched out breath while maintaining your ‘distance from time’ – you need to make sure your consciousness gets to skim through the unwanted periods while your body completes its duties. Have chores you don’t want to experience? Just time skip through them. Drills your eldest sibling is forcing upon you? Skip through them. You’ll be able to push your body harder than others, each long workout session completed with less subjective effort.
The most important part of this skill is how it effects your body. While others may imagine you are wasting days or even years of your life, you know that is time you are truly saving for yourself. While using phantom breath at this higher tier – even while still actively interacting with the world – you are aging based on your subjective time. The time in your soul. The age of your soul. Not the age of your body. Not that of the outside world. As far as the ignorant outside world is concerned you are no longer aging. At least not at as high a level as true masters are using it.
That’s time you’ve saved to live as you. To experience the truly important things and cut out the chaft.
Your final regulated awakening is your third one. By circle 16 you should be able to run your breath nearly constantly – and so the final goal is to push more of yourself through your link. You should be able to use other skills while in your phantom state and increase or decrease your perception of the outer time while continuing to dilate your soul to longer and longer lengths.
At that point you will have graduated and become one of us in a deeper way than you could imagine as you are now.
So join us young cadet. Gain your breathe skill and join the ranks of the so called immortal legion.
Join our family.
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Huh…this isn’t nearly as exciting as I was imagining – it’s useful! I don’t think I’m going to re-roll it…and yet it doesn’t quite meet up with my dreams.
It’s the ‘phantom breath’ – sounds blatantly ripped off of the phantom cigar in metal gear if I’m reading this sheet correctly.
If I get it a high enough level – or tier – I might be able to extend my lifespan a whole bunch? Not fully Immortality but close enough? Immortality isn’t something I’ve been focused on, but if my life is fun enough I can see why I’d want to continue it for as long as I can.
I can already tell I’m probably not dropping this skill. I’d sound dumb if I passed up on immortality right?
If I get it to a high enough level, maybe I can churn out mana pearls in a time skip? That would make it worth it on its own right there. It said that’s the 3rd step usually…I wonder if I can get it done in step one?
Okay, I’ve decided! I’m keeping this one – stand back for a moment while I attempt to learn it. That’s far enough. Yeah I know you’re not actually here, let me have my fun.
Breathe in and out.
I’m going to attempt to use the skill now. First off...let me glance at the page. Okay. Focus on my breathing – deep breathes and nothing else.
In and out. In and out.
You are now manually breathing. You’re welcome!
It doesn’t feel like I’m ‘skipping’ time really…and yet in between breathes I suddenly realize the sun is far higher in the sky that it was when I started. I was planning on building my house today! Thats valuable daylight I'm wasting right there!
Checking my status I see I gained the ‘free level’ for this skill – proof I used it correctly and well enough for it to count.
Self status (click to expand)
Tier 15
Status: Healthy
Skills 4/4 ->
[Triboadhesion] Tier 7
[Mana Crystal Creation] Tier 4
[The wings of fell] Tier 2
[Phantom Breath] Tier 2
It also shows something exciting. Look! 15!
One more skill needs to tier up and then I’ll be able to pick a 5th~
I can use my 5th skill as a reward for finishing my house! Woot Woot!