Mel stared into the gem’s captivating beauty. Things seemed to slither endlessly within it, like she was holding a miniaturized world in her hand.

[Serpent Aspect Gem]

(Aspect Item)

(Epic)

A distilled manifestation of Serpent Aspect in the form of a raw gem. Scaled serpents twist beneath the jagged surface, infesting a strange realm captured within crystal.

Imprint: Use to bind Serpent Aspect to an attribute.

Do you wish to bind [Serpent Aspect] to an attribute?

Mel didn’t hesitate to bind it.

For the most part, Mel would take what she could get. Besides, serpent aspect seemed plenty powerful to her.

Please select an attribute to bind: Strength, Vigor, Sense, Arcane.

Sense, Mel told the system. The snake had snuck up on her. She wanted to make sure that never happened again. With her sense stat raised to Copper, she hoped she would be able to prevent being ambushed like that again.

Are you sure you wish to bind [Serpent Aspect] to Sense? This choice cannot be undone.

“I’m sure!” she snapped.

Everybody turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?” Sabrina asked.

“Nothing,” Mel told her. “System stuff.”

“Ohh, yeah, Nathan mumbles what he’s reading aloud,” she said with a sage nod.

You bind [Serpent Aspect] to your [Sense] attribute.

Your [Sense (Serpent)] advances to [Copper Rank (Grade 0)].

You awaken the [Gaze of the Serpent] Serpent aspect skill.

The world immediately grew more vibrant and colorful. Sounds from all directions assaulted her. At first, it was overwhelming. Mel’s mind struggled to filter out the random noise.

A few seconds later, the world returned to the way it was before. When Mel focused, she could see farther, hear distant sounds, and even smell things she never would have been able to before.

The coppery scent of blood was overpowering, forcing her to immediately block out her senses again, bringing them back to ordinary human levels.

I need to get a handle on that, she thought to herself.

In the meantime, Mel glanced at her status.

[Mel Harper]

Race: Human

Standing: [#N/A] Exile (G-League) [1st Echelon]

Class: Mystic

Rank: Mundane

Next Rank: Copper (42%)

[==Attributes==]

Strength [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

Agility [Mist Aspect]: Copper (Grade 2)

Vigor [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

Sense [Serpent Aspect]: Copper (Grade 0)

Arcane [No Aspect Bound]: Mundane (Grade 0)

[==Aspects==]

[Mist Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 2)

• [Hidden Mist] (Grade 2)

[Serpent Aspect] (Copper Rank) (Grade 0)

• [Gaze of the Serpent] (Grade 0)

[==Knowledge & Traits==]

Class: [Light Armor Knowledge], [Basic Weapon Knowledge], [Novice Ritual Magic Knowledge], [Mana Hardening]

Combat Arts: [Quickstep]

[==Titles & Blessings==]

Titles: [Boss Rash (Legendary)], [Bloodseeker (Legendary)]

Blessings: [Wound Recovery (Common)]

[==Aspect Skills==]

(Mist/Agility)

[Hidden Mist]

(Mist Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Spell)

(Grade 2 [5%])

Cost: Modest Mana

Cooldown: Moderate

Shroud an area in mist, obscuring the vision of your enemies and making them easy prey.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Create a layer of obfuscating fog that you and any allies you designate can see through. Area affected by fog is considered difficult terrain. Mana cost increases as the area of fog increases. Additional mana may be expended to illuminate the fog from within.

(Serpent/Sense)

[Gaze of the Serpent]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Ability)

(Grade 0 [0%])

Cost: Low Mana

Cooldown: None

Borrow the eyes of a serpent, allowing you to view the world in gradations of colorful heat.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Grants infravision, replacing your normal eyesight with gradations of color based on the heat of surrounding objects. There is a brief delay when switching from one mode of perception to the other.

[==Racial Abilities==]

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

[Shardscript System]

[Shardrune Quests]

[Wayward Traveler]

[Adaptability]

Mel reread her new aspect skill at least three times to make sure she understood it properly.

She let out a low whistle. It was better than she hoped.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked, once the commotion over looting had settled down.

Mel looked distractedly over at her before turning her gaze back to the Shardscript. “New aspect, who dis?”

“It’s Sabrina.”

“I know, it’s–never mind.”

Mel still had plenty of mana from the fight. [Quickstep] only consumed stamina, and she used her [Hidden Mist] very much.

“Nobody freak out,” Mel told them. “I’m going to try this out.”

The gasps surrounding her would have been enough of an indication that she had used [Gaze of the Serpent] properly on the first try.

Aspect Skill: [Gaze of the Serpent]

Everything shifted from clearly defined shapes to blobs of color ranging from black to white-hot and everything in between. Faces and features resolved in shades of reds, oranges, and pinks.

The detail slowly increased second by second until Mel could have easily picked out who was who by facial recognition alone. Wounds were easily visible because of the added heat being vented into the air.

Creatures that she had missed before were sharply visible, clinging to branches up above or hiding with optical camouflage in the underbrush at ground level.

Mel couldn’t have seen them better if they had neon arrows pointing to them.

It was a lot to get used to. And yet, it was more useful than Mel thought possible.

It was a perfect match for Mel’s sense attribute. She wondered what the aspect skill might have been if she bound Serpent aspect to a different stat like strength or arcane.

Her choice seemed to influence what aspect skill she awakened, but she couldn’t be sure.

Not without finding more aspects.

“Your eyes are glowing,” Nathan said.

“What color?” Mel asked absently, watching a small bird nesting in the branches high above. She had noticed the rare animal before, but now she was seeing the world through a new pair of eyes. Quite literally.

There was so much motion, so much life all around her. She never would have guessed.

“They’re faintly glowing with a strange emerald light, kind of like a cat’s eyes if you shine a light at them at night.”

“Are they slitted?” Mel asked.

“Looks normal to me.”

“Sweet.”

“So about looting,” Nathan asked. “How did you do that?”

Mel looked at him. His face was glowing red hot. Was he ashamed or embarrassed to ask her?

Oh, this is going to be way more useful than I first thought.

Blinking, Mel switched back to her standard vision, letting her mana slowly refill. Her serpent gaze didn’t immediately switch over. There was a delay of several seconds as the beautiful colors of heat washed away to reveal the world as she had always known it.

Though it lacked the comfortable palette that her human eyes were used to, there was something uniquely beautiful about that other world.

“All you need to do is touch the creature,” Mel told him. “You should get a notification asking if you want to loot it. Might have to think about it, but it should pop up. All you have to do is agree when it does. The items go straight into your inventory if you have room.”

“Our what?” Maddie asked, looking up from where the snake had been. She had clearly been curious about where it went.

In all the excitement over Mel’s new aspect skill, she had briefly forgotten about the pants and gloves on the ground. Considering everyone else appeared to have a full set of clothing or armor, she didn’t feel too obliged to offer them to anyone.

Though most of them wore a hodgepodge of armor and old-world clothes. They at least all had clothes. Mel still had no pants, and the cold morning breeze blowing through the trees and her tattered coat made her abundantly aware of that fact.

Without caring what anybody thought or said, she slipped on the serpent skin trousers. Like the snake she had killed, they were a gorgeous emerald green. They fit snugly, just like the gloves.

[Pair of Scalebane Trousers]

(Copper Rank, Armor)

(Rare)

Deep emerald trousers found from a young, yet no less vicious Verdigrand Python. The hardened scales grant protection against physical and magical attacks in equal measure.

Imprint: Raises wearer’s physical and magical defense with increased effectiveness against serpent family monsters. Resists poison. Slightly raises cold insulation.

[Pair of Scalebane Gloves]

(Copper Rank, Armor)

(Uncommon)

Deep emerald gloves found from a young, yet no less vicious Verdigrand Python. The hardened scales grant protection against physical and magical attacks in equal measure.

Imprint: Raises wearer’s physical and magical defense with increased effectiveness against serpent family monsters. Resists poison. Slightly raises cold insulation.

Instantly, she felt significantly warmer than she could remember. It was like being in front of a crackling fire. What was more interesting, she could feel through the palms of her gloves as if they were her skin.

No more fumbling keys or coins because I can’t feel through my gloves, Mel thought to herself.

“I said, our what?” Maddie prompted.

“Oh, right. Your inventory.”

“We’re not shop owners,” Maddie told her. “We don’t have inventory.”

Mel looked at the silversteel ring that appeared on the outside of her glove. Odd fashion statement, but I can live with that. She looked back at the rest of them. “None of you got an item that gave you an inventory? Like in a game, y’know. A place where you can store items.”

They collectively shook their heads.

She motioned to the bottles of poison on the ground and lifted them up. “Then I guess whenever you loot something, it’ll go on the ground like these did.”

Part of Mel worried that being able to loot something was a power they lacked for some inexplicable reason. Just like summoning and desummoning weapons.

Now wasn’t the time to get into that.

“Let’s get back to my campsite and finally get some rest,” Mel said.

“You’ll take us?” Maddie asked in a small, quiet voice.

Mel nodded tiredly. “You didn’t need to come looking for me, and you sure as hell didn’t need to put your lives on the line to help me. If you’re willing to learn, I’m willing to teach. I can’t promise more than that.”

The others nodded.

Mel wanted to ask what they had decided to do about Travis, but she figured some questions were better left unasked. Even if they had managed to bury him, it wouldn’t do anything but bring up more grief.

His death was best left in the past.

Mel led the way back to her campsite. She kept a watch out with [Gaze of the Serpent]. It had the added bonus of revealing the heat signature of the camp long before she would have otherwise seen it. Smoldering coals were easily picked out against the relatively cool morning air.

The way back was longer and more circuitous than she remembered. With her enhanced sense, she could easily pick out familiar sounds like the stream she had followed.

Soon enough, they were back at her camp. The fire had burned out, and a few animals had clearly come to investigate, but nothing else seemed amiss to Mel.

“Holy smokes,” Maddie said, stepping up to the edge of the plateau.

For a brief moment, Mel worried that the grieving mother might jump, but she held herself back as the older woman gazed out across the magical landscape.

“I can’t believe this was all right here, and I never saw it.”

“It’s beautiful!” Sabrina cried. “And…well, terrifying.”

“We really are somewhere other than Earth,” Bernard said softly.

Shane let out a long whistle. “Boy, I’d hate to be in that area right there. Look at it! There’s got to be a thousand lightning strikes going on every minute.”

“Strange,” Bernard said, cocking his head to the side. “I can’t hear the thunder.”

“Bet it has some good aspects,” Mel said, eyeing that stormy plateau with interest.

They all turned to her as if the thought never occurred to them.

Mel grinned and motioned. “From what I can tell, every aspect is tied to powerful symbols.” She held up two fingers. “The two I’ve got are Mist and Serpent. Each came from a creature or quest that was highly associated with their respective elements. I’m guessing that plateau over there would have some cool lightning aspects.”

“I would love to have Storm aspect!” Nathan said excitedly. “Imagine running around with lightning arcing across your body as you move too fast for people to see you!”

“That would be pretty cool,” Sabrina said, clutching her wand. “I wonder if I could cast lightning magic spells.”

Mel motioned to the rest of the campsite. “Have a seat. I’ll take a few volunteers out into the woods to find some more kindling, and then we’ll set up a guard rotation.”

“What’s that?” Sabrina asked.

“Some of us will stay up on guard duty while the others sleep,” Shane answered. “Nobody wants anything to sneak up on us, so it’s the job of the guards to keep watch and wake everybody if there’s trouble.”

Mel pointed at Maddie and Bernard. “You two, come with me. I’ll show you what you want to look for. We’ll start with kindling.”

Despite her earlier misgivings about Maddie, the older woman proved to be surprisingly good at woodcraft. She could spot herbs that even Mel missed, and was able to gather some edible berries and mushrooms that Mel hadn’t been sure were safe.

“My family grew up in the smokies,” she told Mel with an armload of kindling on the way back to the camp. “I had three sisters and four brothers. You learn to be self-sufficient and to pitch in to help the family.” Her voice broke at the end, but she tilted her chin up, refusing to cry.

“I’m sure there’s a thing or two you can teach me then,” Mel said.

“It’s the least I could do.”