“That should do it, sir,” Serra tiredly announced as she lifted her hands from Eric’s arm, the soft yellow glow of her healing magic fading from them. Eric looked on with wonder and appreciation as his already barely discernable wound faded into normal, healthy skin.
“Thank you, Serra.” He said, running his own fingers over the now-healed area, not feeling even a twinge of residual pain. "I owe you a big one."
“I’ll put on the tally, sir.” The scarred woman said with a smile as she turned and walked over to the table where Osar had placed a few food items so everyone could eat and replenish their energy after the rigors of their last encounter. The Urgan had given Eric a chair and placed him a little way from the spread to give him some privacy as Serra had worked on his wounds.
“Bone to bone connection has been seamlessly achieved sir,” Pig reported as Eric stripped away the last of the bloody cloth bandage he had tried to use to staunch his wound’s bleeding. “No sign of callus formation or even a fracture line. Diaphysis integrity is at normal for someone with your augmentations, sir: It’s as if the break never happened.”
The shardlings final attack on Eric had shattered the protective armor plating over Eric’s upper arm and continued on with enough force to cut deep into the bone in two places, nearly severing Eric’s right arm. Only by drinking up a couple of healing potions and the quick directed healing provided by Serra had saved the appendage. It was a sobering reminder of how quickly even System-augmented adepts could be crippled or killed if they got careless.
“You have no other discernable injuries or defects at the moment, sir.”
That statement piqued Eric’s interest.
“Pig, I thought my nanite nests were all inactivated,” He asked as he rubbed away the last remnants of dried blood from his arm. “How are you able to sense all this?”
“Your integration with the Gens has somehow allowed me to carry out personal diagnostics and monitoring somewhat similar to what I would have done had the nanites still been active in your system, sir.” The AI replied as if it had just now been made aware of what it had already been automatically doing. “Pending further testing, it is even likely that the monitoring function has been upgraded since I can now also detect aether channels, localized aether depositions, and even active and potential flows.”
“That should be a positive development, Pig,” Eric stated as he stood up and picked up the chair he had been sitting on. “Try to figure out how we can use your new functionality to our advantage.”
“Wilco, sir.”
[The Redoubt Shield has been activated, Commander,] Luna reported as Eric placed the chair down at the table where his companions were eating. Everyone looked over to where several drones were clustered around the conduit pillar, which was now glowing with active aether channels. [Still existing functions within the Fortress are being reactivated while necessary repairs are being assessed and assigned priority. However, defense options will necessarily be limited due to manpower limitations.]
“She’s saying we need more people, Captain.” Cid commented loudly from where he sat, already looking flushed from drinking more of those beer bulbs that Osar seemed to have an endless supply of. The scientist had received quite a confidence boost after dealing with the shardling, and Eric was glad to see him taking a more confident and active role within the group.
“Luna, will we have any problems with the increased aether load?”
[Not at the moment Commander,] The Vessel Interface actually sounded happy as she spoke. [The integument collectors are all active at the moment and absorbing aether by the minute. Barring any significant expenditures in the near future, their contributions, supplemented by other methods of aether accumulation, should ensure that the Obsidian Moon’s reserves will remain sufficient for all our current needs.]
“That is good to hear, Luna.”
[Which leads me to the next step, Commander…]
“Stop.” Eric said firmly, forestalling any other words the Interface was intending to voice. “If it isn’t urgent-black, Luna, I would appreciate some time for me and my crew to get a little food and rest for a few hours.”
[There is no urgency, Commander… We can speak of it at a later time.]
“Thank you.” Eric said with a relieved sigh. By his estimation, he and Serra had been awake and active for roughly eighteen hours so far, with intense physical activity in between. He was mentally tired, even if his new and improved body seemed impervious to fatigue, and he knew from experience that prolonged stretches without rest could lead to fatal mistakes of judgement in the future. Avoidable mistakes which his recent injuries had just made clear were not something any of them could afford to make.
Hellfire! If anything, he figured he and the other Terrans had done enough for their first day!
It was time to rest, recharge, and relax for a moment.
Tomorrow they would need to inventory their resources, familiarize themselves with the System, identify and set long-term goals: In essence all of them needed to get together and lay out a strategy-plan for their future in this new world. The truth was, although circumstances might have pushed them to go about things in a madcap, even reckless manner, there truly was no urgent need to throw themselves headlong into anything immediately: They were newcomers in an alien universe, rudely introduced to a System they barely understood, they truly had no stakes in anyone else’s game but their own. For all three Terrans, and maybe Osar as well, this truly was a fresh start. There would be no true benefit, or sense even, in madly dashing around from crisis to crisis.
They would take a short breather and get their bearings.
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And only then would they decide which way to move forward.
Eric nodded to himself, his resolve firm, before a growling sound reminded him of more immediate matters.
First… Food!
Osar had settled into his secondary role as provider of sustenance, placing several dishes of still-hot food in front of them. In the future, Eric would like some time to actually have a hand in preparing meals, but for now he was just glad that the big Urgan had these dishes ready for all of them to eat, given the circumstances.
“You need to eat Jad Eric,” Osar said as he set a big sampler plate in front of him. “The magic that drives the healing takes both energy and material from your body, which you must replenish with food. Try the Skiarapa Sandwich first, and then the Blovoten Dinner Moseq”
Eric murmured a thank you, looking with interest at the food Osar had placed before him, wondering at the names that the System did not or could not translate.
The Skiarapa was easily recognizable as a sandwich, a type of preparation that the Urgan clearly seemed to prefer, made of a generous helping of shredded meat and strips of green, white, and purple vegetables slathered in between two thick cut slabs of dark brown bread. A thick red paste was provided on the side as an optional condiment.
The second dish, a Moseq the Urgan had called it, looked like some sort of stew, chunky with cubes of meat and vegetables, the steam rising from it redolent with the scent of citrus and peppers. The bowl it was placed in was simple but beautiful, made of red clay marked with a repeating pattern of what looked like fish.
Eric gathered up the sandwich, dropped a bit of the red paste on it to try out the taste, and then bit in. Exotic, yet somehow familiar flavors, filled Eric’s tongue, followed by a spicy finish that complemented the salty, perfectly braised meat perfectly.
Eric hummed with pleasure, taking another bite, as a window popped up in front of him.
Skiarapa Sandwich
Cuisine: ???
Recipe: Unknown
Main Ingredient (1): ???
Other Ingredients (12): ???
“My apologies, sir,” Pig said as the window disappeared. “Tasting the food triggered your God-Tongue Ability before I could suppress it.”
“Wait!” Eric swallowed hurriedly. “Has that ability been going off every time I ate?”
“Yes sir,” Pig answered. “It also did so when you drank that healing potion.”
“What is it Jad-Os?” Osar butted in, a concerned look on his face. “Is the Jinjen paste too much for you?”
“No,” Eric assured the Urgan hurriedly. “God-Tongue, which is one of my abilities, has been activating every time I tasted something, although so far it doesn’t seem to have any useful information to give.”
“You have a taste ability?” Osar asked, his expression curious and interested. “I have wanted to get one, but could never justify the use of an ability slot.”
“What do you mean?” Cid asked from where he sat.
“At each Stage, there are only a limited number of ability slots which adept may have. As I usually work alone, I couldn’t justify taking up a slot with a non-combat or non-augmentative utility ability.”
“So, taking God-Tongue was a mistake?” Eric asked worriedly.
“Not at all Jad-Os,” Osar laughed heartily. Eric liked the way the xenoform’s face transformed when he laughed, the normally fierce and frightful Urgan features softening considerably. “Being in a regular team gives you a certain leeway in these sort of matters… and besides, life is not all combat and destruction. Utility abilities can greatly increase one’s value and output to a Family or Clan. Many very successful adepts have leveraged sense abilities like God-Tongue and Expert Touch to gain certain advantages they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
At Eric’s skeptical expression, the big Urgan gave another bark of laughter.
“Take the person who prepared this food as an example,” Osar continued, taking a big bite off his own sandwich. “Edomar Blacktongue has used a combination of several sense abilities to become one of the most sought-after cooks and butchers specializing in beast meat and ingredients anywhere on Carasus Station, and he makes a damn good living off of that!”
“But the ability doesn’t give me much information at all.” Eric groused as he subvocally asked Pig to display the window once again. He glared at the series of question marks as he chewed, wondering what else he needed to do to gain more information. “All it gives me is a bunch of question marks.”
“Sometimes, what you lack is simple information,” Osar assured Eric. “For example, the meat in that Skiarapa comes from a Banded Jewel Turtle, a beast native to the ocean world called Pavarla-Pavarli. Edomar sources his stock from Garamar Seafood, a small, but growing gourmet ingredients business with several void seafood farms.”
“The window has changed, sir.” Pig suddenly said.
Eric looked, and indeed the readout on the sandwich had changed.
Skiarapa Sandwich
Cuisine: ???
Recipe: Unknown
Main Ingredient (1): Farmed Banded Jewel Turtle meat
Other Ingredients (12): ???
“It now lists Farmed Banded Jewel Turtle meat as an ingredient,” Eric informed everyone.
“I thought that might have an effect,” Osar said with a satisfied smile. “Sense abilities grow more effective over time the more you know and purposefully learn, and they automatically incorporate that knowledge into the message windows they generate.”
“So, I should just taste more things?”
“Purposefully is the keyword I used Jad-Os.” Osar said, pulling out a small bound book and several packets of spices. “Read the book, and then taste these fairly common ingredients and you should see some growth in your ability. The reason why Edomar got the moniker Blacktongue was because he tastes everything he encounters that he does not recognize, and some of those things have unfortunate… let’s call them effects.”
“Fascinating,” Cid said softly, looking on as Eric took the book and ingredients from Osar’s hands.
“Does that hold true for all abilities?” Serra asked as she spooned up a mouthful of stew. “I mean, does our level of knowledge affect our abilities?”
“Of course!” Osar exclaimed. “How can they not? If you take a close look at the listed abilities on your Gens Profile you should see a small percentage number. That is how much you have advanced your use and knowledge regarding that ability. Generally, the more you use an ability, the more you understand it, and eventually that understanding would be enough to trigger an evolution.”
“And that is a good thing?” Eric asked as he put the book, which was entitled Common Ingredients for the Beginner Cook, and the ingredient packets into his ring.
“Most of the time an evolution will be a straight upgrade from the previous ability, but various factors do come into play, like what aspects you might have, what spells you often use with that ability and many, many others. What you must not forget, whatever abilities you choose to take, one of the most important things you must ensure is that all of them are maxed out before you advance a Stage."
“What’s that?” Cid asked.
Osar was surprised by the question before he recalled that his companions were aliens in this Universe: They lacked even the knowledge a young Urgan child would have known before it entered its fifth Cycle.
“That is a long and convoluted conversation friend Cid,” Osar replied as he rubbed at his temples. “Maybe we should discuss it some other time.”
“Sure.” Cid said, letting the matter go.
“You need to teach all of us about the System, Osar.” Serra said. “Sooner rather than later.”
Osar looked at Eric, who gave him a single solemn nod. Sighing softly, the big Urgan nodded to all of them.
“Tomorrow, I’ll give you a quick and dirty rundown on the System.”