Adam was working with his newest skill when he felt the tugging. He’d felt it before, but this time is seemed to have an actual message to its demanding nature. Ignoring the slightly changed nature that he attributed to Organization, he smiled knowing he could finally wake up again. Following his skills demands, he cleared up his work, returning all the thoughts to the drawer in correct order, and sent the drawer back to its proper location before moving to anything else. A quick double check of his Sky Tome to ascertain any other changes that he might have missed, and a poke at Szellem to make sure the strange old man was still in his proper place. That place now appeared to be hovering near the dais he still refused to approach, while glaring at the desk. The glare may or may not have something to do with every drawer he had perused having attempted to fly straight through the man’s skull. Or whatever passed for a skull in a ghostly guide.

With one more quick check of the area, a tug to straighten the cloth on top of the small table so that the corners correctly matched instead of dangling off the sides, and one, OK, two, last peaks at the Sky Tome, Adam let himself drop out of his mindscape and back into consciousness. He would miss the simplicity of the void empty of everything but the table, the Sky Tome, the wall of drawers, and the orderliness of his desk. Oh, and one old weirdo. He still hadn’t quite managed to categorize Szellem correctly.

Opening his eyes, he immediately recognized the room he was in. They were back at the way station. A quick perusal of his person confirmed that his major injuries had faded, but he still had a bit of the toxin in him, as well as some minor wounds. It was nothing a cookie or two wouldn’t clear up, if he had any. His mind immediately started cataloguing what ingredients he had available. He would need to check with any merchants staying at the way station, there were a few things he needed. There was a tingle in his head, a feeling that was beginning to grow, if not familiar, then greatly anticipated. It wasn’t a level up, but a new skill. Going back over his recent thoughts and actions, he guessed that it was something to do with Organization and Cooking, although he couldn’t yet tell if it was a free skill based in Cooking or one he’d have to unlock in his class. He was about to duck back into his mindscape when he saw Martin and Jay watching him.

He could almost feel his aura, Mother’s Love, lurch at the sight of Jay, surging forth to do battle against all that could have ailed the boy while he was indisposed. His eyes flickered over every stain, tear, and spot of his clothing, searching for anything that could indicate harm done to the boy. He also kept track of the damage to the clothing, as it would be necessary later. After a moment he did the same to Martin, couldn’t be too careful after all.

His perusal of their and their clothes’ conditions was interrupted by Martin. “What are you doing?”

Briefly he glanced at Martin’s face, then back to what he was doing. “Checking for damage.” His answer was curt, he had things to do.

A chuckle from the man, then, “To us or our clothes?”

“Both.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Jay asked.

Another laugh. “At a guess, he got a new skill, and wasn’t expecting this kind of behavior from it. He’ll need a moment to adjust.” A cough that tried to hide and strangle a larger laugh. “If he adjusts.”

That comment took a while to get through the filters, but when it did it was electric. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard the comment, he couldn’t connect it immediately. His filters had to sort through the drawers that had been marked obsolete before he realized what the man was actually saying. Realization caused a stuttering in his behavior, stopping and starting his categorization of the items in the room. Over the next minute he paused for longer and longer times until eventually he just stopped, staring blankly at the floor. It took another minute for him to blink away the haze in his mind and his eyes.

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He looked up again, looking both Martin and Jay in the eyes to see how they felt rather than how they appeared. It was disconcerting to have to focus on not falling back into that state again. He had thought it was fine when he was in the mindscape, but seeing the fear and concern on their faces was an abrupt awakening. He blinked a few times, then shook his head. The sudden spike of pain was unexpected, but it brought his awareness to the dull ache that seemed to define the existence of his head. Groaning he clasped both hands to his skull, trying to squeeze it all back into the right shape and size. He knew it hadn’t changed, but it felt like it was trying to.

Martin’s bark of laughter echoed in his ears, each bounce around the inside of his skull feeling like someone hit him with a hammer. “Ugh. Stop laughing. Hurts.” His begging had no effect on the boisterous, old bastard.

“You look like you just got off a three week bender with the priests of Boukha! And you didn’t even get to enjoy it!” His voice was crushing Adam’s brain, even as the feeling was trying to fade. He really wished he had a cookie to make use of his skill.

Martin ignored him, and decided to explain everything to Jay. At a level of volume that could only be a personal choice. He started by gesturing at Adam, saying, “This is what happens if you over use a Passive skill that affects your mind. Most skills that have passive effects just are. Like his aura. That takes no thought, not purpose, no cost, it is just always on. That’s not to say that he can’t push it to do a bit more, and over time he will be able to do significantly more with it as he grows more comfortable with the skill.”

Adam spotted Jay nodding studiously, while listening intently. He felt a portion of his mind try and sort each separate data point that could then be studied to be- He cut that off before it could drag him back down the hole he had only just escaped. Or was trying to escape anyways.

“Whatever skill he bought is a bit different. Most folks refer to them as Passively Active skills. Sure, like all passive styled skills it just is. But! This one’s natural state is very hard on the mind. It’s the opposite of most passive skills in that instead of pushing it to do more, he needs to push it to do less. The toughest part is that it takes constant vigilance to keep him from falling down into that pit again as he learns to exist with that constant need pulling him down.”

The man’s tone was serious, but Adam could see the sly grin on his face, and he knew why it was there. During the search for weapons, Martin had actually explained a fair bit about certain pitfalls offered by the System, one of which had been the Passively Active skills, and how to spot them. He wanted to beat the irony with a stick as Organization zipped off to find the exact drawer that conversation had been stored in. As it came to the forefront of his mind he glared even harder. This wasn’t going to be pretty. And very bad for his ego.

Martin saw the glare and correctly deduced its intent. His smile nearly swallowed his face as great booming laughter rolled out of it. Each laugh was like a sledgehammer to Adam, physically, mentally, and emotionally. He had walked right into that one.

He remembered the conversation clearly.

“Passively Active skills are actually one of the easiest traps to spot in the System. Any skill that has a description that feels a little on the obsessive side has a good chance to be one, but the worst of them all have one big give away. The more times in the description where it uses the words all, nothing, whole, or every the more dangerous it is. Even words that have these words as part of them, like always or everywhere are big signs screaming trouble.” Martin was in fine form as he explained the simple dangers that could be easily avoided, waving his arms around and making a big display. Even the nearby guards who could easily overhear the loud explanation were nodding agreement.

“I think I have a skill with a description like that, but I’ll be sure to avoid it,” he remembered himself saying. He could still hear how earnest he was. Martin had completely sold him on avoiding anything that seemed similar to what he had described.

The pain in his head nearly doubled from shame alone, as the same skill eagerly brought its own description to the front of his mind again. It even underlined the offending words to make it easier to find each and every one.

Organization: To a Mother, nothing is as important as Organization. How else can they get everything done as fast as they do? Organization is how Mothers achieve the efficiency necessary to manage a family, house, and a spouse all at once. Toys, schedules, children, clothes, nothing is immune to Organization.

A place for everything, and everything in its place. Or everyone. Everywhere. Everyday.

If his head didn’t hurt so bad, he’d be pounding it into the wall.