Unlike the last time I almost died, which I unfortunately recall was less than a week ago, I woke up in an actual hospital. There was a drip feed connected to my blood vessels, with a glowing magical array on the bag that I believe keeps whatever’s inside fresh. In this case, it’s probably related to my malnutrition.

… A lot happened yesterday. Or at least, I hope it was yesterday, I don’t want to have ended up in a coma for a few days, once is enough.

Yes, a coma. That’s not exactly what happened, but it was probably close enough. From what I could tell that presence, I’ll call them Ghost for now based on their Skill, Ghostly Tendrils, somehow detected me reading about Enhance, and then was made to act on it by the rest of the Elite. This person, likely the very same that was causing susceptibility to mental Skills. I don’t know if it was to get an information network, to practice, or just because they found it fun, but regardless that’s what happened. I’m sure of it.

Their Skill seemed strange. It uses a different colour, just like the Quest Skill is purple this one seemed to be a mixture of pink and grey. Not only that, but it’s effects were far too powerful given the fact that it just… wasn’t powerful. With just a few tricks I was able to beat it, albeit on what was apparently not my first attempt. Even now I can’t remember anything that happened between when the Skill started to work, and my final attempt began.

What I don’t understand is why the Guild couldn’t get into my room, surely they have some way of opening the doors in an emergency? The only thing I can imagine is that the Elite have someone that can.. I don’t know, hack magic?

With a start I realised that I didn’t look at my surroundings at all, other than to acknowledge that I was in a hospital. Under ordinary circumstances my instincts would have had me glancing around fitfully by now, or at least ordinary circumstances in more recent times. Ever since I got Proficiency it’s been reaching into my mind to hand over Skill whenever I need it, almost seeming to actively remind me when I needed to do things, or when I did them wrong. Now though…

I closed my eyes and tried to think. It’s like… I’ve been distanced from Proficiency somehow. Or maybe I’m no longer as close? I remember one example in particular of someone affected by what I now know to be Ghostly Tendrils, someone who had a strangely effective version of a thought speed Skill. Was Ghost enhancing that? I believe that Enhance was supposed to affect one category of Skills, or something along those lines, wasn’t it? Maybe it was effecting Mind Skills then.

But It couldn’t have effected the Skills I gain from Proficiency, I can already tell that I’m just as good with them as before…

I realise that at some point during my thinking Proficiency activated, and that’s how I figured it out. Proficiency isn’t a passive Skill, it’s an active. One that can theoretically be active near constantly, sure, but still active nonetheless.

I look around, seeing that as expected I have a table to the side of my hospital bed. On it, I see a sunflower, a strange plant choice, a get well card, and as I’d hoped, a plate of food. I pick up the fork and knife and make an attempt at juggling them. As expected, I failed. I still did much better than someone who’d never juggled should, but still not good.

I close my eyes, trying to find that state I was in during the battle, if it could be called a battle anyway. The one where I wasn’t seeing things so much as I was seeing them, a phrase which only made sense to me when I could barely think straight, and as a result only thought in loops. Does that make sense? I’d imagine not.

Unfortunately I can’t find it, but I can find something else. I’ve become much more familiar with the inside of my mind, I can still feel the creases from when I folded it into that offensive array. How did I do that, I wonder? There’s no chance of me forming an array using only the guidance of Proficiency now, and certainly not one that complex, constructed only of what I guess is my thoughts.

Using the remnants of that array to guide me, I’m able to find it. Proficiency.

Not the whole thing of course, there’s no chance of that fitting in my head. No, what I find is a hint of it, the length of rope that connects me to it. Or, is it a chain? A string? It’s form shifts in my mind, like I don’t know what to make of it. Probably because I don’t.

But regardless I know that if I just tug it a little…

Immediately, a familiar sensation fills my mind, as something prods me to look around. With my success I ‘let go’ of the mental twine, only for the sensation to quickly fade. I grab back onto it, feeling a slight strain from having to focus on two things at once. As I’d suspected however, I have multiple mental Skills helping me to split my focus, and the very effort put in to maintain the Skill also reduces the effort I need. One day soon, it may even be effortless.

I take a cursory glance around the room, noticing that though there were a few other beds, there was no one else here. There was a clock on the wall that told me that it was quarter to midnight. I glanced at the bedside table, looking again at the sunflower. More specifically, the thing sticking out of it’s stem, just over the line of the water that’s keeping it alive.

I carefully remove the sunflower and slip out the paper, before dropping it back into the glass. Unfolding the slightly damp paper, I read it.

Action,

I’ve received the update on your quest. I’ve met with Mask. Expect another meeting the next midnight after you wake, in your hospital room.

I’m sorry

Bronze

And that was it. I glanced at the clock again, noticing that five minutes had passed since I last checked it, meaning only ten minutes left.

…

I…

I killed someone.

It didn’t really set in. I didn’t even just let them die, I killed them. And by killing them, I weakened the elite, which will make it easier for more to die. An objectively good thing. But…

I realise that my grip on Proficiency has slipped, and quickly tug it back into place. Immediately I feel the pressing need to breath deeply in, which I follow. And then out.

The breathing itself wasn’t the most helpful, but it was nice to not focus on it for a few seconds, process it in the background without those pesky emotions getting in the way.

I accept that I killed someone. It’s… it’ll be fine. Someday, when there aren’t more people to kill. When did I become the mercenary type though, eh?

I look at the clock. Five minutes left. Is she really going to show up? I mean, I woke up less than half an hour ago. It would explain the empty room though. How did they empty it? Doesn’t the hospital need these beds?

Not important.

I’m sure she’ll show up. I don’t know why, she just seems the type to always keep her promises. I wonder if she would have showed up anyway? I would have arrived every midnight until I woke up, to seem all knowing.

1 minute.

Am I ready to talk about this? I feel… depleted. Drained. Was that from the conceptual array I made?

Yes, probably.

I don’t feel like doing the meeting. But. I’m not against it. I don’t feel any strong emotion in either direction.

As the seconds tick by closer to midnight, I feel a presence on the edge of my mind. Unfamiliar, and yet something I’ve probably seen before. As midnight hits, the door opens silently, and a green-cloaked form enters.

“You’re awake.” The Guild Leader spoke, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Was that from Ghostly Tendrils too?

I know what that presence is now at least, it’s that therapy Skill she mentioned. The dubious one. I can feeling it prodding the edge of my mind, wondering whether it should enter. Though, it wasn’t alive of course. No true wonder.

I let it in, and immediately my emotions seem to return, just a little bit, like it’s pushing pure energy into me. It’s not, I can feel it fiddling away at each emotion individually. Tweaking values upwards unilaterally.

“Action? You’re looking at me strange.”

I realise I was, lost in my own thoughts as I was.

“Ah. Apologies.” We stare at each other for a moment.

“…Why were you looking at me strange?”

I shake my head. Right, I need to focus. I tug Proficiency a little further into my mind, and feel my thoughts clear as they work around the dullness. Though, I can feel my energy returning already.

“Sorry, it’s just a remnant of my conceptual array.” If I focus, I think I can feel either confusion or concern from the Guild Leader. Maybe both.

“Right… Later. For now, I have to inform you of a few things. First, a thank you for successfully completing the first portion of the quest. You’ll be explaining how they found you if you can, of course. Second, as far as this hospital is concerned you’re a wealthy Guilder who wanted a private room, and gave Healing potions to everyone else until they could leave. Finally, during any future meanings I will be referring to you by the codename Action, as a last ditch effort at information security.”

I stare at her for a few moments, before what she said actually sunk in. I could practically see Proficiency guiding the words into my head. Is Action a good name? Probably not, but it’s already been done. I nod vaguely, face still distant.

“Ghostly Tendrils found me because he already had his tendrils in my mind of course. He had an alarm set for if anyone read of his old Skill, Enhance. How long was I out?”

The Guild Leader emanated recognition for a brief moment.

“Old Skill? But Splicer should be… No, I shouldn’t say. You were out for approximately,” She glanced at the clock, “11 hours. You were in the… tendrils of the Elite for three days. There were multiple attempts to get you out, but the door was sealed somehow. The day after I met with Mask he wouldn’t stop knocking on your door for an hour, before someone removed him momentarily. Do you have any more information about the one you call Ghostly Tendrils.”

I’m feeling back to normal, for the most part, so I hope I can answer coherently. Of course, I thought I was lucid earlier but apparently not so I’ll have to wait to be sure.

“I remember… it’s presence felt like an eyeball with wings apparently? It’s Skill was a strange colour, a pinkish-grey. It felt like two things put together actually. It wasn’t very good with it’s Skill either, it actually ended up copying my conceptual array when I made it. Umm. I think it mentioned someone or something called Two Way? I think that was one of the things that made up it’s Skill, Ghostly Tendrils felt rather… cobbled together.”

Saying it out loud, a lot of that felt far stranger than I thought with it just in my head. The Guild Leader seemed to agree, based on the expression on her face. Or… I can’t see her face. I need to sleep.

“A few questions. You’re unsure about it’s presence? You referenced multiple things put together, for the Skill and for the colour. What is a conceptual array?”

She seemed far more serious than last time, though this was important so that makes sense I suppose. I’d say it’s horrible luck that I fought a member of the Elite right after meeting with her, but if knowing about Enhance was the trigger that makes sense.

“It’s Skill got way more intense as the battle went on. I… don’t remember most of it. I could hardly think at all, it’s a miracle that my Skill was able to pull me through. Something about it’s Skill made Proficiency easier to use, and put me into this weird state where normal things didn’t make sense, and weird things did. That’s how I knew the Skill was different, worse. It also directed me to make the conceptual array, which… used my thoughts as substance and my emotions as fuel? Or something? I don’t remember it… and I’m still feeling it’s effects. I feel drained.”

And that reminds me. My Skill barely levelled for three days of use. I suppose I wasn’t aware for most of that time though, could that be the problem?

“Thank you. Again, speak to Privacy for anything further. She and Max will be by in the morning. I’ll leave you to sleep, and experiment with Action Multiplier. Good night.” And then she left, taking the helpful presence of her weird therapy Skill with her. My mind felt clearer now, and Proficiency was telling me I’d feel better in the morning.

But who’s Privacy? Oh, wait, Privacy Bubble. That must be Anehlia. And Mask is Max. I wonder if Max got a quest?

I’m sure I’ll find out in the morning. In the mean time though… I better get to sleep.

I dreamt of a myriad of colours.

-----------

The next morning I woke up at only 7 am, not having gotten nearly enough sleep and feeling like I got even less. I sleepily tugged Proficiency back in place, which shocked me into wakefulness like a shot of caffeine. Or more likely, helped me ignore the fact that I was tired.

I anxiously tapped the bedframe whilst I wondered what I should do whilst I wait for them to arrive. There’s no food, and in fact I’m pretty hungry right now. I get the feeling that, given the circumstances, there won’t be any doctors or healers coming to see me very often if at all. Technically I doubt I’m even hurt any more, if the guild could give healing potions to everyone else in the room I’m sure I could have gotten one too. Why even put me in a public hospital at all then? To keep up appearances?

My foot tapped the end of the mattress, filled with nervous energy. I have to do something, right? I don’t have my phone, or any phone at the moment actually. Nothing to read, can’t do magic in a hospital. There must be something… hold on.

Skills

Skilled Lv MAX

Proficiency Lv 32

Action Multiplier Lv 1

Of course, how could I have forgotten? My new Skill, shown in a startling purple on my status screen.

Action Multiplier Lv 1

Can create a duplicate of an action a second or more after doing it, thereby multiplying the effects of that action. The total multiplier increases by 0.01 every level, and range is based on your Theoretical Mana Control Limit. Minimum value of [x1.05 at 1m]

Current effect: x1.013 (x1.065) at 5m

When I pulled up the description of the Skill on it’s own, strangely, the box was purple. I’m sure that when it’s in the screen with all the Skills the box is the usual blue. I take a moment to wonder on why this could be, but I of course have nowhere close to the amount of information that would be needed to figure that out, so I drop it.

Instead I look at the Skill. As expected the Skill is strange, in it’s function. Why is that how it chooses to ‘duplicate my actions’? A standard Skill would just increase the effects your actions create. I have to admit, it does have some more versatility though. There’s no limit to how far in the future it can be triggered for, and I’m picturing stacking a dozen attacks on someone all at once by timing it perfectly. Of course, I’d have to swing at the air a dozen times beforehand, so who can say whether it’s worth it.

There’s also the factor of it’s range. Is this to stop me from moving away from the action after duplicating it? And what’s a theoretical mana control limit? It sounds strangely familiar… I’ll have to do some research on it later, either that or ask Anehlia.

Fortunately it looks like it’s effected by Skilled, although the range isn’t. The minimum effect is 1.05, so the current effect should be the same, but instead is thirty percent more. With no way of levelling the Skill efficiently, Skilled is a godsend.

I guess I should stop just thinking about it though, right?

I decide to just activate the Skill on an action that doesn’t do anything, just to test whether or not there’s a mana cost, or a visual effect. Actually, I guess that I’ve never activated a Skill before, have I? Well, Proficiency has apparently been active this entire time but it’s also concentration. It’s different.

I swiped my hand through the air, focusing on Action Multiplier as I did so. As my hand moved, an orange fire in the shape of it was left behind. The fire seemed to morph between a rainbow of strange colours, before settling on the purple of the Skill description. For one second I felt it in my head, locked in place, before I was able to release it. It followed the exact same path as my hand, before dissipating into a cloud of purple sparks.

So it does have a visual effect then? But that fire looked really similar to my Sun mana…

Experimentally I pushed out a thin cloud of Sun mana, making sure it wasn’t anywhere near close enough to spark into fire. As I’d hoped, I could see it as a faintly-burning cloud. In spite of the incredible stress of yet another near-death experience, one that I logically shouldn’t have survived, yet another good thing prevents me from wishing it didn’t happen. I somehow learnt to see mana.

I still didn’t fully understand what happened over those three days, or how it let me sense mana. I doubted that I ever would, even with Proficiency being one of the best Skills I could hope for when researching such an obscure, multi-faceted topic. I guess all that matters is that I survived, and came out stronger for it.

It was at that moment that Max and Anehlia burst into the room.

“Nathan!” Max charged over to the side of my bed, suddenly shifting from a run to standing perfectly still when he reached it, as though afraid to touch me. Anehlia took a more measured pace, though her much greater size, and therefore larger strides, meant that it took her no time at all to reach me as well.

“Nathan, yer awake.” She smiled, I realised then a more genuine smile than any other I’d seen from her up until that point. I would never tell her, but I thought that it looked out of place on her intimidating face. I wouldn’t have to tell her, because from the way her expression shifted to anger a few moments later makes me think she figured it out somehow. Fortunately for me she didn’t get the chance to, most likely, berate me, because Max chose that moment to speak. Not that I was worried, I could tell she was at least partially joking.

“I can’t believe you’re okay! When you didn’t come out of your room I… well I wasn’t worried at all for the first two days honestly. I mean, it’s not like I could call you because I broke your phone, so I couldn’t send any messages for you to miss. Except for the notes I posted under your door, but I didn’t expect a response anyway. I’m sorry I didn’t come check on you earlier! I swear I’ll never leave you alone for more than a day again!”

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t think he had anything to apologise for, there was genuinely nothing he could have done. Perhaps if he were also being attacked he would have been able to take some of the pressure off of me, but I’m certain that the Guild was aware of the situation well before him, and already trying to fix it past whatever sealed the doors.

I was a little worried about how earnest he was with that last statement however.

“You know, you don’t have t-“ He interrupted me, thrusting a box into my chest.

“I almost forgot, I finally replaced your phone! I had to use some of my savings, and I know that you were just gonna take some money and buy your own, but I thought that it would make for a nice gift. Do you… like it?” He seemed really nervous about my response to his gift for some reason. Though, he doesn’t know me that well all things considered, for all he knows I might be extremely particular about my phones, though in truth it’s quite the opposite. It makes me wonder why he seems so attached to me, maybe because I’m the only person he knows? There’s another theory I have from Proficiency, but I disregard it. That Skill can’t always be right I suppose, and it’s not even worth thinking about.

Anehlia watches the two of us interacting with a smile on her face, reminiscent of an older sister watching her siblings interact. In this analogy I’m imagining the older sister as like 20, and the siblings as 5, so I hope that I misread that.

Regardless, it’s time I turn my focus to the gift Max gave me. It looks like he hastily wrapped it, probably a last minute job that he did before coming here. Not wanting to tear the wrapping paper, I carefully peel the tape off, leaving me with a phone box sitting on a square of paper. The phone itself looks like… a phone. From the only company that makes phone’s with arrays in them, Real Active or RA. Funnily enough, they were called that well before they started using arrays.

“Thanks, Max. It’s a good phone I would assume. You didn’t spend too much money on this did you?”

“No, it was only a little bit more expensive than your old phone. I didn’t want to get something that was too different to your old phone, I know that the one time my parents skipped a generation on mine I could barely understand it. In hindsight it was still almost identical, I don’t know what happened.” He laughed sheepishly, scratching his arm nervously. I tapped the phone nervously, though I don’t feel nervous so I’m not sure why, whilst I formulated a response.

“I appreciate the thought that you put into this. For future reference, it would have been fine. It’s good that you at least didn’t spend very much money though. I should add your number to it, shouldn’t I? And, Anehlia, could I have yours as well if you don’t mind? It’s probably not the most secure, but I could at least let you know that I want to talk to you.”

“We actually, uh, already added our numbers to it.”

“Oh, ok.”

I feel the conversation about to slip into an awkward silence so, in an attempt to stop this, I quickly think up a question.

“So did you get a Quest then, Max? Oh, first, Anehlia could you…?” I turn to Anehlia. She nods, letting me know that Privacy Bubble is in fact up. I would have expected to see it, because I can now see mana, but apparently not. It must be related to the fact that it’s supposed to be secretive. I look to Max for his answer.

“I did, yeah. I got a Quest to kill Awakened monsters. I actually got the Skill from it immediately as well, Domino. It makes my Skills more effective whilst I’m hidden and for one second per my overall level after becoming visible, which I guess just means it evolves them temporarily. Mask changes to let me change my form as well, which doesn’t go away unless I tell it to even after becoming found, and Capability let’s me increase a stat by one if I kill something of ‘sufficient strength’. What did you get?”

I look at my hand, remembering the feeling of using Action Multiplier. It felt… well, not very impressive. Meanwhile, his seems so powerful. I suppose this feels the same as when I first found out about his Skill. He does get more power than me, but I get the Skill to use it, and I shouldn’t compare such blatantly different Skill sets like that.

“I got Action Multiplier. It lets me duplicate an action at reduced effectiveness,” I demonstrate, feeling a drain of mana as I copy the same thing as I did when I tested it, “Eventually it’ll become more effective than the original action though, especially because it’s effected by… did I ever tell you about Skilled?”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Anehlia seemed shocked at how much we were sharing with each other, especially with her there as well. I find that nearly dying to a weird conspiracy makes it easier to trust the people that you already trust though. Or, that’s what it does for me. Max… well he’s done this before for some reason. At least this time he has relief at my still being alive as an excuse.

“Hmm? I don’t think so, unless I forgot somehow. What is it?”

“It’s pretty simple, but effective. It multiplies the effects of all my other Skills relative to my level. Without it Proficiency sort of stops being any good. I could still have made a life out of it I guess, now that I think about it I was probably underestimating it a good bit. But that’s not important I guess.”

“Really? That seems way better than mine!”

“Are you kidding? You can genuinely get stronger just by killing things. Not from the life or death experience or however it works, but a direct conversion of monsters to power. Plus, no-one I’ve found has ever gotten a Skill like Mask. They would have hidden it, sure, but that just makes it even more effective.”

We continue to talk about our Skills, and which is better. Anehlia doesn’t seem to talk much, not nearly as much as during our more intellectual conversations, but she doesn’t seem upset to be here at least. It was nice to not have to worry as much about anything for a little while.

-----------

As nice as our conversation was, it had to come to an end eventually. Not quite as soon as I thought of course, I was in good physical health and therefore allowed to leave whenever I wanted to. We ended up separating in the Guild however, Anehlia going back to what I presume was her room, and me and Max going to different sections of the training hall. I considered going back to my room to decompress, but opted not to because of the nervous energy I could feel twitching in my limbs, driving me into action. I’d never felt this active before, I guess something about the Elite is spurring me onwards.

Well, it could also just be that I don’t really want to go back to the place where that whole… thing, happened.

Regardless of all that, it was time to properly test Action Multiplier, starting with the cost. My Sun mana was completely full at that point, so I used that to try and judge how intensive it was. With my bare hand, I punched at the wooden dummy I had in front of me. The same one I was using a few days ago actually, although the scorch marks seem much smaller than I recall. I think regenerating dummies sound familiar…

Regardless, duplicating that action as soon as possible cost about as much as… I’d say 30 seconds of flamethrower? I don’t know exactly, but I think that at the moment I can hold flamethrower for about 3 minutes, so not very much mana although seemingly more than it’s really worth. My original punch boused the dummy back a little, but the follow up did almost nothing in comparison. Fortunately, Skills don’t often get more expensive as they level up, they just get better. Plus, with my mana recovery I could get that much back in about… 4-ish minutes maybe? So if I can drag a battle on a little, I can always cast another.

So, not a bad cost I guess. Still more than I would like, although my next test will really determine whether it’s worth it. My own sword is in my room, so I just use a practice sword from the weapon’s rack. I perform a diagonal slash on the dummy with Action Multiplier active, watching as an ethereal purple sword of mana followed it. The practice swords are of course blunted, so it doesn’t cut into it at all, but that’s fine. More importantly, I was right. It costs the same as if I used the Skill barehanded.

It makes the mechanics of the Skill more questionable, what lets it do the same thing for the same cost no matter the size? Of course, there might be a limit, but that’s besides the point.

I perform flurry of blows on the dummy, wasting well over half of my remaining mana on three more blades. I delayed all of them by much more than a second, using Proficiency to help my time it so that they each hit the dummy at the same time.

I realise just before they activate that my attacks of course buffeted the light wooden dummy, and now one of them was off course. I reached out mentally in a state of mild worry, instinctively trying to shove it closer. To my surprise, it actually moved, leading to the dummy getting combed by three purple swords in a row.

So I can move them? Good to know. Unfortunately, my mana is far lower than I know I should keep it, and I decide to settle into practicing with my sword again for a little while. After a little bit of running through the only sword strikes I know, I feel the recovery of my mana kick up a little bit. I tilt my head puzzled, stopping mid swing.

It doesn’t look like anyone else noticed anything, which makes sense because I’m the only one with Sun mana. Could it be something about Swordfighting the helps it recover, perhaps? I’m about to go back to practicing to test this theory, when everything goes black, and I hear the sound of a bunch of heavy things hitting the ground. A blue notification with orange text shows up for a fraction of a second, barely long enough for me to read it.

*System Update!*

…

What.

-----------

Logically, this must be another mana surge, right? Except, the others all led to an overload in magical equipment, not a complete shut-down. After I took a few minutes to make sure nothing bad happened to me, I tried to find Max. Unfortunately, the training hall is pretty big, certainly too big to navigate in the dark. Anytime I tried to call for Max he didn’t respond and, in fact, no-one was making any noise. I did hear a lot of things hitting the ground… could they have passed out for some reason?

But why? I’m fine, which I guess is either related to my Sun mana, or whatever allowed me to get Sun mana.

I’ve been fumbling around in the darkness for a little while now, but thinking about Sun mana reminded my of something obvious. I reformed my Mage’s Orb, the version with the rings surrounding it rather than running through it. Unlike a more practiced Mage I have to hold it over my hand, keeping my hand held upwards the entire time. It’s surprisingly difficult, not because it’s tiring or something, but rather I feel really restless. The situation has me on edge, and it makes my fingers instinctively start tapping things.

Which, thinking about it, I don’t think that I usually do…

Regardless, with the Sun up now, I’m able to see the room. It was, unfortunately, as I expected. Everyone was passed out. Fortunately a little head trauma isn’t enough to hurt most high level adventurers much, or even a lot of high level civilians. Blood loss can kill anyone if left long enough however, so I did a quick scan of the room to see if anyone was hurt by the fall.

There weren’t too many people in here in the first place thankfully, I’m beginning to think I overestimated the amount of people that would be using it actually, so it didn’t take long to determine that everyone was alright. In the lobby is a different story however.

When I don’t see anyone standing at the receptionist’s desk I confirm that even people at Lv 70 like Aiden. I casually check on him, only to realise that they hit their forehead on the corner of the desk as they fell when I got close enough.

“Aiden!”

I quickly rush over, crouching down next to them. It looks like they’re bleeding pretty badly, although I believe that that’s normal for head wounds, as normal as head wounds can be anyway. I look under the receptionist’s desk, finding a first aid kit as I expected. I see a clear bottle, filled with the cloudy pink liquid that most weaker healing potions look like. Reading the label, I see that it says that only a few drops of it are needed for most wounds, although it doesn’t provide any specific parameters.

I follow the instructions, using a pipette to soak a few drops into a square of gauze, though I put a little extra just to be safe, which is then applied directly to the wound. Worryingly, he doesn’t react at all. The alcohol in the gauze should sting, are unconscious people supposed to react to pain? I can tell that he’s at least alive, every body I’ve seen has at least been breathing.

I don’t have time to worry about this however, taking a bandage and tying it around his forehead to keep the gauze in place. Only a little bit of blood soaks through the gauze into the bandage, though it fortunately stopped pretty soon, leaving only a very small patch of blood.

I carefully made sure that they were as comfortable as I could make them on the floor, and then headed out. I couldn’t help any people that may be in the rest of the Guild, all that was left were the staff only area and the private rooms, neither of which I can enter. As in, I physically can’t enter them, because of a barrier array.

So instead, I go outside into the streets to see if there was anyone that needed help out there. I opted to take the first aid kit with me, the Guild must have spares even if I don’t know where they are, and this could save lives. It was a small green box, with only gauze, the plastic bottle of healing potion, and two rolls of bandages. There wasn’t much more that was needed, though, really. Potions are expensive, but they’re also effective.

It’s only as I was leaving the guild that I realised that I still have the training broadsword on my hip, having sheathed it in a belt loop on my trousers at some point. I decided to leave it there, not seeing it as particularly important that I take it back. I supposed that a little extra protection didn’t hurt either, although it was unlikely that I’ll need it. There were no monsters in the city after all, and everyone nearby was unconscious, to my knowledge.

When I make it into the street I encountered the reason I never call anything certain.

Filling the streets were monsters of all kinds. Hounds, Salamanders, so many different birds and rodents. There were two things that they all had in common. One, they were all spewing or controlling fire in some way, like the Hounds with fire in their mouths, or the birds using it to create an updraft and fly higher. The second thing was worse. They were all looking right at me.

I was about to make the logical decision and run into the Guild, until I saw what else was in the street. People were lying unconscious in the streets, unable to defend themselves as these monsters tore into them. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that most people weren’t unconscious, however, considering all the blood.

As the bile rose in my throat I reached for the comforting grasp of Proficiency, instead finding nothing in my mind but air. Metaphorically speaking anyway.

I quickly called up my Status, hoping to figure out what was wrong, only for it to be unresponsive.

I clutched the blunted training sword, made out of a wood far too flammable considering my opposition. I again considered running away, but… there were people out here, and not all of them could be dead. As the monsters continued to stare me down, likely more worried about there opposition in catching moving prey rather than the prey himself, I drew as large of a Force Ring array as I could. I started pumping mana into it, knowing that this and my Mage Orb were the only spells I felt confident with using in battle, and that Action Multiplier will be unusable unless the system comes online again.

The sphere from Force Ring formed further than last time, around 5 metres away. So I’ve got a mid-ranged option, a shield that only works on fire, and a practice sword. I have to hold the sword in the same hand as the Force Ring array, the handle now feeling somewhat comfortable in my grip without Proficiency. I readjust until I think I’m holding it in the same way as I have in the past.

One of the rats approaches. It’s tail is on fire, and I can see where the fire extends past the end of it’s tail to form a whip. I grimace and start pushing more mana into the orb, though hopefully not too much.

Suddenly, the rat lunges. I swing my sword horizontally and manage to clip it on it’s snout, sending it slightly off course. Dodging with the blow put me out of the path of it’s body. It’s tail however, was a different story entirely. It flew towards me unerringly, and I was just able to put my Orb in the way to absorb it. I draw some of the mana out of it, hoping to avoid it collapsing like before.

The rat continues it’s path past me and impacts the door to the Guild hall. To my surprise, a complex series of blue arrays appeared at the area the rat impacted, and I could tell as this caused the doors and windows to be sealed completely. I won’t be going back inside to safety for a while, then. That’s fine.

Before the rat could react, I lunged forward and plunged my sword into it’s neck. It may not be as sharp as a usual sword, but I still crushed it’s windpipe. I left it on the ground for now, turning to the rest of the monsters.

Everything felt… eerily quiet, with none of the ambient noise I’d grown used to. Although, it looks like that might change soon.

I saw a bird, possibly a pigeon in the past, although it’s monstrous appearance makes it understandably difficult to tell. I lift my sword in preparation to intercept it’s swoop, only to watch as it moves to fly directly above me.

It was slower to come into my mind without the assistance of Proficiency, but I managed to remember watching the birds use their fire mana, creating blazing inferno’s directly below them in order to buoy their wings.

I backpedal quickly. From what I recall the fire just appears spontaneously, no projectile launched, so it’s unlikely that I can block it from above. I swing up my sword aim, aiming to hit the bird out of the air using the sphere from Force Ring. Unfortunately I misjudge the distance, and it actually sails right over the bird. I have no way to adjust the distance the sphere is from me now that the spell is cast, not with my current abilities, so as I take another step back I also take another swing. It hit the bird dead on in it’s wing.

It didn’t seem to be too well adapted to using Sun mana, as just that was enough to charr a few feathers to uselessness. It became unsteady and aimed for a landing on the pavement, succeeding in more of a crash. I immediately step towards it and stab at it’s head, killing it before it can get an attack off on me.

As I stared back a the crowd, I saw more of them approaching me at once now that they saw me as enough of a threat to work together. Good, that’ll make things go faster.

I enter something of a trance at that point, stabbing, slashing, parrying, and blocking innumerable times. I take more than my fair share of hits, each one making it just a little harder to continue to fight. It’s fortunate then that they never attacked me in groups of larger than four, or I would have certainly been a goner. By the time I’m done, I have just over a dozen monster corpses piled up at my feet

I stood there expectantly, panting in an effort to catch my breath quickly. When I realised there were no more monsters, I dropped my bloodied training sword, and fell to my knees. I had no idea how, but I managed to survive, if only barely. I wince as I gingerly touch a bite mark on my shoulder from a Hound that was able to catch me from behind. Or, one of them anyway. My back is peppered burns that, based on how much they hurt, I can only describe as gruesome.

I clicked the first aid kit open and tried to figure out how to do this. There was no need to take my shirt off, the fire did that job nicely. I was able to keep my modesty at least, monsters don’t typically go for the lower body unless they’re particularly smart, preferring to take more immediate kills.

I definitely didn’t have enough gauze to cover all of my wounds. Do I even need it for burns? Well, obviously I need it, but do I need it? The fire should have killed off a lot of the bacteria anyway, right.

Fire…

I sigh, packing away the gauze and taking out the healing potion and the bandages. I apply drops of the potion directly to a section of the roll of bandages, about one every few centimetres. The main, but not only, purpose of gauze is to disinfect the wound, and I was certain that if anyone in the streets was alive they would need it more than me. And… I can just use fire to replace it.

I dissipate both my spells and take a small portion of Sun mana, forming it into a small ball over the palm of my hand. I push mana into it until it starts crackling, and then even more until it fully bursts into flame. Experimentally, I try to pull it closer to my skin, finding that I’m able to bring it into contact with my skin, and that it quickly becomes painful as it does. It looks like the innate resistance people have to their own spells won’t be helping me much here, unfortunately.

I hesitate to start moving this into my wounds, with such a simple and low-mana spell I’m able to control it anywhere near my body using just mana manipulation.

Without Proficiency, I don’t have anyway to help me resist the pain. But then, shouldn’t I be feeling pain now?

How could I forget about adrenaline. For a short while longer I’ll be feeling substantially less pain. That makes now the perfect time.

To speed the process up I flattened the sphere into a rectangle, before sweeping it across my body. It hurt, of course, how could it not? But it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared, and not long later I’m hastily applying a little more healing potion to the bandages, and the applying those bandages to myself. It’s difficult to do this on my own, but I’m fortunately successful, at least as far as the front of my body is concerned. I couldn’t say whether or not the back of the bandages is done especially well, but it probably isn’t.

Unfortunately for me, I don’t currently have the luxury to care right now. All around the street I could see people laying on the ground, many so obviously already… already dead. A gasp of pain escapes me as I attempt to get up from where I’m sitting on the ground, feeling more like an old man trying to get out of his chair than any sort of adventurer.

Every step sends jolts of pain throughout my entire body. It’s unfortunate, every movement utilises muscles from the torso, and for me those muscles are scratched, bitten, and burned far more than every before. Even with the healing bandages slowly working, I’ve not noticed much improvement. Or really any, this isn’t intended to be an instant solution after all. The only reasonable way to make a potion as effective as this is to also make it much slower and in fact the sorts of potions that the general populace has access to generally take weeks, or even months to heal something, with the recommended dosage.

As I stumbled my way to the closest person, a man based entirely off appearance, I could tell he didn’t make it. I thought that the pool of blood around him wouldn’t necessarily mean that he was dead, but unfortunately it appears that I was wrong. His chest wasn’t moving, and as I painstakingly crouched down to check his pulse I found nothing.

I shivered upon realising that I’d seen, and even touched, a dead body. I had to steel my heart however. Dead people don’t need people to care about them, it’s the living that are important right now. In this entire street however, there was not a single person that was alive. I can’t imagine things being much better. Over the tops of the nearby buildings, in this less built-up part of the city, I could see fire being thrown up elsewhere.

And, I realised, is it surely not burning people’s houses down? And with the system and any magical appliances I‘ve seen offline, the fire defences likely not be working. The best case scenario is for the few defences I know of that activate automatically if they ever stop working, however they never became prevalent because fire can’t destroy magical arrays before they activate. Not many people have need for a system designed to combat meta mages.

Due to the fighting being almost entirely contained outside the Guild, which had the ancient ley line enchantments to protect it and was therefore fine, there were few fires to put out here. For the ones that were here however…

I hastily tried to recall the Water Ball array. There was no point adding propulsion to it, so the array I made was effectively just a straight line with the input, a water conversion array, and a simple output. I move over to the fires as fast as I can with my injuries, and drop globes of water on them.

It isn’t long before the fires are all put out, but now that my adrenaline is dying down I can feel myself starting to run out of energy, becoming winded with just this small bit of activity. I lean back against the nearest wall to catch my breath, only to wince and stumble forward as the burns on my back hit the wall. I fall flat on my face, on top of a Hound corpse.

It’s cold and, despite the fur, clammy. It’s incredibly uncomfortable and starting to smell. Obviously, I wouldn’t be sleeping here, or at all. I needed to- I yawn- I needed to help…

But I can close my eyes for a little while right?

Right…

-----------

A few hours later I’m sitting up on the pavement, the hurried movement of Guilders, EMT’s, and police officers around me. In my hand is the healing potion I used, which I’m reading the label of. In particular the side effects…

Unlike with non-magical medicine, the side effects of potions are much more certain, and have to be presented as such. In particular… well, drowsiness. Oftentimes this is intentional actually, to help people sleep whilst injured.

I used… a lot of this. With my injuries it wasn’t unhealthy, but it made the drowsiness so much worse.

I sigh.

I only managed to save one person, only killed not even 20 monsters. At least the system is back online, I saw the name of the person that found me passed out here. I don’t expect anything different on it, but I open my status to at least assure myself it’s back online.

Nathan Golding Lv 14

No Achievements

Skills

Skilled Lv MAX

Proficiency Lv 32

Action Multiplier Lv 1

Skilled Lv MAX

Provide a percentage increase to the effects of all skills relative to level. Minimum value of [10%]

Current bonus: 35%

Proficiency Lv 32

Provide a passing proficiency with every discipline, equal to a quarter of the level of this skill. Minimum value of [Lv 1]

Current bonus: Lv10

Action Multiplier Lv 1

Can create a duplicate of an action a second or more after doing it, thereby multiplying the effects of that action. The total multiplier increases by 0.01 every level, and range is based on your Theoretical Mana Control Limit. Minimum value of [x1.05 at 1m]

Current effect: x1.01 (x1.0675) at 5m

Feats

*Beta Tester I*

*Beta Tester I*

You were the first to use the Sun mana in this realm! As a result, you not only get naming rights, but also priority access to the next mana to be discovered, if possible. Along with a few other benefits, that aren’t for you to know.

As I expected- Wait.

At the bottom of the list of boxes, was something unexpected. Feats. Beta Tester I? I could get more of these?

And, wait, I got to name it? And… priority access? It seems far more personable than the Skill descriptions, and ambiguous.

I can tell that the box is made of Sun mana as well, the colour seems to be flickering somewhat, and unlike the usual boxes when I put something near it I can see a very small bit of light being emitted.

What… what is this?

Just then, Anehlia and Max rushed out of the Guild.

“Nathan, stop almost dying!” As is characteristic of him, Max was the first to get to me. These two approaching me whilst I’m injured like this is far too familiar given that I’ve not even known them for a week…

“Sorry, I’m trying my best.” My voice is tired, the drowsiness of the potion still effecting me whilst it continues to heal my back. “Anehlia, could you? I have something to show you both.”

“Sure, I think I migh’ know what yer talkin’ ‘bout actually.” I still didn’t sense anything, but I knew the bubble was up because of her nod. I immediately send them both the two screens for my Feat, the list and the description.

“I think there might have been more to this surge than just a system black out and a few monster awakenings.”

Neither of the two looked as surprised as I thought that they would have, for some reason. They couldn’t also have gotten Feats could they? Though, with the System online, I can now feel Proficiency once more guiding me, leading me to recall something on Max’s status. The orange text on Mask.

“I got something like that as well, although it’s a little bit weird…” Max said, before sending his own Feat to both of us.

*Unassisted S*

You were able to hide your identity within the system, without using the system! Some of our diagnostic systems are saying this is because of a glitch, but I won’t tell. ;) Add additional effects to any stealth skills, upon reaching certain thresholds of familiarity.

“Is… is tha’ a wink emoticon?”

This whole Feat deal seems a lot more… well, it’s got more personality is I guess the best way to phrase it. It would be logical to assume that the mention of diagnostic systems implies that there really was someone who made this whole thing, if it weren’t for my own feat. It specifically says that I was the first to use Sun mana, and that’s clearly what this box is made from. I now know that a box like this is what I saw on those first two surges, and I didn’t use Sun mana until a little after the first box.

Whatever made this, if anything, wasn’t any of the sapient races. Which means that either nothing it says is true except for how it pertains to the actual affects of the Feat, or the diagnostic systems just appeared naturally like the rest of the system. Of course there are a dozen other different reasons that things could have happened this way specifically, or at least one anyway, and it doesn’t make sense to say anything with certainty just yet.

I watch Anehlia heave a heavy sigh, having seen both of us give up this information so easily. I’m sure she mutters something under her breath, though I don’t hear what.

“Alrigh’, fine. Here’s mine then.”

*Sun Unfettered*

You released the Sun! Or, Sun mana anyway. This Feat was delayed until the name for Sun mana was decided. You become more adapt at manipulating mana against restrictions, particularly moving it towards you.

“It looks like my Feat is the only one that has the ‘I’ next to it, which I guess means it’s the only one that can be upgraded, for some reason. It’s hard to say which between mine and yours is the strangest. I won’t ask what yours is from though, Anehlia. Mine and Max’s are pretty self explanatory though.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t seem fair… You two actually did something and mine was just a glitch? I’m going to get a real one as soon as I can, I promise!” Max looks determined to follow that promise, although I’m not sure it’s necessary.

“In that case though, wouldn’t you have gotten a feat from being lucky? Which is an important part of your Skill set, with Capability.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way… I still don’t think I’ve levelled enough for me to call it any actual effort on my part though, anyone could get to this level in a few months. I’ve levelled faster, sure, but I doubt I’m particularly fast by Guilder standards.”

“Actually, most Guilders don’ start out as Guilders, they do somethin’ else for a while firs’, an either need some quick money, or find out they really enjoy it. Yer pace may not seem difficult, but most don’ bother with it.”

By the looks of it, that seemed to succeed in making him feel better. And thank god for that, even with Proficiency I have no idea what I should have said there.

Anehlia and Max continued to talk with each other, but I couldn’t help but get distracted. I looked around at the carnage and death just in this street here, even though I protected it. I should have paid more attention to that bottle, should have just ran out and fought even with my burns. When I turn back to the conversation I see that both of them are watching me solemnly. It looks like Max is about to say something, but I speak first, not wanting to hear someone telling me that I did my best, or whatever else he might have said.

“I… I didn’t save many people. But… is Aiden ok at least?” Aiden is the one person that I know for a fact that I helped, not only by giving him medical attention, but by accidently causing that monster to seal the Guild off. Anehlia gives me a smile filled with pity.

“Don’ worry, he’s ok. Can’ say whether he would’ve died without yer help, but chances are he would’ve. You helped one person, at least.”

I look down at the ground for a moment. I swear I felt my eye’s burning, a tear threatening to form. I blink it away. I did what I could, there’s no use wishing I could’ve done more.

“Thank you…”

“It’s no problem, Nathan.”

I turn away to look back at the street, but this time pulling on Proficiency to try a more analytical approach.

“There have to still be monsters out, right? I don’t know how long I was asleep, but a lot of that time had to be whilst everyone else was still unconscious, and there were… a lot.”

Max puffed out his chest at my observation, clearly proud of something.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I helped with taking a few of them out. The Guild Leader knows about the Skill she gave me of course, so I got to know where a bunch of the more isolated monsters were, and I tested out my new Skill. I think it’s just that anything stronger than me triggers it, because I only got a stat point after killing this fire tiger near the Zoo. I levelled up a few times as well, just like you!”

I levelled up?

Nathan Golding Lv 14

No Achievements

Huh, looks like he’s right. How didn’t I notice? I guess the new screens were pretty distracting though to be fair…

It seems that two levels weren’t enough for me to get any higher of a bonus out of Proficiency unfortunately, but it did of course give a marginal improvement to Action Multiplier. It’s good that I have a Skill that will improve with every level of Skilled, rather than just whenever I get enough of them.

I check what Max’s level is at as well.

Max Silver Lv 19

No Achievements

It looks like he levelled up twice as well. Does the experience drop off that much at higher levels though, I wonder? He must have killed a lot more monsters than me surely? Although actually, I don’t know that. I did kill quite a few after all. I’m sort of disappointed that his Feat doesn’t show up in the same way that Achievements do, but probably for the best.

I breath in deeply.

At the moment, I feel pretty anxious. I’d say that’s reasonable though. Not only do I have to face the elite, but now whatever the repercussions of this mana surge may be. I restlessly tap my finger against my leg, whilst I try to figure out what I need to do.