Obviously, I knew what Attunement was.
Every Blessed on the planet did, and likely every mundy too. It represented one’s familiarity with, experience with, and understanding of their own power. Gerbold’s book confirmed Hadrid’s guarantee that Attunement could also be increased by draining Entropy crystals of a sufficient level. But the report that Gerbold’s Observation gave regarding Blessings themselves was confusing.
‘Attunement: Mover 10 // Striker 7, Thinker 2.’
Confounding for multiple reasons.
Firstly, it seemed that Gerbold’s Blessing, despite being far more detailed than my own, was incapable of granting precise readouts on the names of Shards and Gifts themselves. Whereas my power told me exactly what a Blessing was, the author’s would only give roundabout descriptions of it. And even more strangely, those descriptions fell exactly in line with the terminology Blessed had created to categorize one another.
Mover, Shaker, Brute, Breaker, Master, Tinker, Blaster, Thinker, Striker, Changer, Stranger, and Trump.
Twelve classifications for twelve types of powers. They were rough ones, intended more for rapid designations during combat than true descriptions of the many nuances of one’s Blessing.
Nevertheless, Gerbold went into detail on each.
A Mover was one of the most ubiquitous types of Blessed. A great number of powers granted some manner of associated movement enhancing ability. Flight, for example. What was more, passing the Marble stage increased one’s agility to such a degree that it might as well, on its own, qualify the corresponding Blessed as a Mover. Those specialized in movement primarily were rarer, mostly comprised of speedsters and teleporters. My own Flash Step was a Mover ability.
By contrast, Shakers were rarer, but still not uncommon. A Shaker could affect an area around it with some manner of ability. Very few Blessed were primary Shakers, and those that were often displayed highly potent Blessings, such as controlling the gravity around them, slowing down or speeding up time, or even absolute telekinesis within a small range. However, many Blessed were secondary Shakers, possessing some manner of ability that functioned as an aura of sorts.
If Movers were some of the most prevalent Blessed, then Brutes were equally so. And similarly to Movers, most Blessed received an increasing Brute rating as they ascended stages. A Brute was someone who could take a hard hit and keep going, regenerate damage quickly, or both.
It was an excellent bread-and-butter Blessing, particularly for Delvers, as often the most important thing to a Blessed was simply the ability to survive. Beyond a certain point, it didn’t matter how much damage you could dish out if you died after taking any yourself.
Brute primaries were interesting because they made up the only Blessed capable of healing any injury prior to Core coalescence. Primary Brutes could live forever even before they truly became Immortals. And due to Draconic Blood, I was one of them.
Breakers and Changers, on the other hand, were both rare and difficult to describe. Similar in some aspects, yet different enough to warrant separate classifications. Both types of Blessed were able to modulate their own forms, but in distinct ways.
A Breaker was able to ‘shift’ their body into a new state of existence, becoming composed no longer of physical flesh, but of perhaps shadows or pure energy. A Changer, on the other hand, could permanently mutate and alter their physiology at will. Breaker forms would often display esoteric effects, Changers were mostly biological. Breaker states took Entropy to maintain, constantly, whereas Changers only had to spend Entropy during the change itself.
Similarly to Shakers, primary Breakers and Changers were quite powerful, but many Blessings displayed secondary Breaker or Changer effects. The ‘lightning form’ I entered during Flash Step was technically a Breaker state, despite hiding its visual cues.
Blasters and Strikers were much easier to describe, and if Brutes were the bread-and-butter damage tankers, then they were the bread-and-butter damage dealers.
Strikers fought at close range, and Blasters at long range. The vast, vast majority of Blessed were either primary Strikers or primary Blasters, not least because the designations themselves were simply so broad. Indeed, each of my own Blessings could have potentially fit into one or the other.
Soulbound Weapon was a Striker power for me, but could easily have been a Blaster power for someone else. Flash Step and Draconic Blood worked as both, due to their granted ability to control the elements of Fire, Blood and Lightning. Even ADMINISTRATION theoretically qualified, due to its potential to affect other Shards at range.
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Masters were similarly straightforward to understand, though the expression of their Blessings could vary wildly.
Put simply, Masters were Blessed who could control or create living creatures. Any ability that allowed one to summon, enslave, dominate, suggest, or ensorcel, slotted a Blessed into this category. Master effects, both primary and secondary, were quite rare, and primary Masters could be quite powerful indeed. From conjuring legions of minions to outright controlling others, few Blessed were feared quite as much as Masters. They had a bad reputation, and in life, tended to be obsessed with control.
Though not as obsessed, perhaps, as Thinkers.
Though all powers varied and many displayed esoteric effects, Thinker powers were certainly the hardest to understand, to categorize and to comprehend. Any ability that warped the cognition of a Blessed, allowing them to think faster, granting them new information or senses, or even enabling them future sight fit within this category.
The most basic description the book offered was that Thinker powers were of the mind, but when they could range from the Uther gatekeeper’s ability to roughly guess someone’s intentions to the overwhelming prescience capable of turning a mundane human into the legendary Sybil, this description wasn’t particularly helpful.
Gerbold made the argument, as something of an aside, that all Blessed were technically Thinkers, due to their innate understanding of their own powers. And despite my distaste for this type of Blessed, my ability with the Shardsong was undeniably, at least in part, a Thinker power.
The book didn’t go into much detail on Tinkers, largely because there just wasn’t much to say. A Tinker’s Blessing granted them great ability with some manner of technology, from smithing weapons to crafting force fields.
Tinkers stood somewhat apart from all other Blessed, in being the only ones whose powers didn’t directly affect anyone; only their creations did. Tinkertech couldn’t be replicated by other Tinkers in normal circumstances, and often required constant upkeep. This, along with Tinkers’ perpetual need for valuable resources and advanced technology, made them, to most, the least enviable type of Blessed.
Alongside Tinker, Stranger was the only rating I didn’t really have yet. Stranger Blessings granted stealth and infiltration skills, neither of which seemed particularly appealing to me anyway, considering my disposition. Strangers often suffered an equally poor reputation to Masters, typically being associated with rogues, thieves, and assassins.
And then there was one.
Trump.
Trumps were the rarest of them all.
According to Gerbold, there were likely less than one hundred Trumps in the entire world, and for good reason. As their name suggested, Trumps were incredibly powerful. Valour was a Trump. Gregor the Undying was, as well. Many contested that the Divine Dragon, and the head of Cell Syn possessed Trump Blessings. It was difficult to say for sure, because the Trump rating was the least well defined.
Trumps Blessings modified Shards themselves.
Their own, or those of others. In a way, we were all Trumps due to our ability to gain Gifts, but genuine Trumps took this effect to the extreme. They could shore up weaknesses in their own powers, and build upon their strengths.
Blessings were thematic, specialized, often making the user weak in one area and strong in another. Blessed might fit into many secondary classifications, but they’d always have just one primary rating.
But Trumps broke this rule.
Trumps could have multiple primary ratings, be just as strong as specialists in multiple areas. People were never officially designated as Trumps. You were a Trump when enough people called you one, when enough of them recognized your power.
Except in my case.
No one needed to call me a Trump for me to know I was one. There was simply no other appropriate designation for my power. ADMINISTRATION, by its very nature, was a Trump Blessing.
It almost said as much outright in its own description; the ability to copy, merge, and evolve Shards could be nothing else. Even now, mere months after triggering, I’d achieved primary ratings in almost every category.
Draconic Blood made me a Striker, Blaster, Brute and even Shaker. Flash Step added a Mover and Breaker rating to that. Because of Fang, I was a Master as well. My main blessing, through the Shardsong, added Thinker to that list.
That only left Tinker, Stranger, and Changer, and I was fairly certain that I could use the song to accomplish the first couple of those three. After all, I could already gain an instinctive understanding of Entropic technology by hearing alone. How difficult would it be to use the song to cloak my movements?
It was a worrying prospect, to say the least.
Yet another secret to add to the growing list. I’d already decided not to show off anything more than my Draconic Blood during the Agoge, if I could help it. I’d portray myself as a Brute primary, with a secondary Mover and Striker rating. A run-of-the-mill physical enhancement package. I could claim that Fang was simply an Entropic weapon, perhaps an heirloom from my nameless, nonexistent house.
I bit my lip, anxiously running a hand through my disheveled hair. Well, there wasn’t anything more to be done. Daylight was burning, and with it, the time I had left to register. The Agoge wouldn’t wait for me. I’d better set off.
First, though, another luxurious bath. After all, I’d shortly be brushing shoulders with the cream of high society.
It wouldn’t do to be dirty.