A few things happen all at once. The surprise at a block of grout becoming a single seared brick, the fact that my arm is still somehow heating up, and the resulting depletion of my coolant all come together into a bit of panic. What the FUCK is happening to me? Was the furnace chip a mistake? Should I have made a physical furnace instead? Would the one I created via the system have even worked?
The reddish light slowly diminishes once the flame icon stop glowing. What the fuck was that? I mean I know what it was but Trio almighty that scared me a bit here. And the results are in, I have eaten a fifth of my coolant for a single seared brick. Mewtwo is a bit farther away from me than before and I cannot really blame him. Unable to get away from my left arm, I had to endure the heat, and it was quite a lot of it.
I take out one of the water gourds the villagers gave us, and take a swing, topping back my coolant. So, what did we learn? That your arm operations might be a bit more 'real' than we both gave it credit for?
Yeah... that... Also coolant has a bit more use than just keeping my body from overheating. Although that much I could have guessed. Also, seared brick. I have one, and I need... I look up the recipe we had narrowed as a possible portable smeltery or part of it at least. Sure enough, I need five seared bricks to make the thing, as well as yet another unknown block that... Hold on a second. "Mewtwo, did we unlock some sort of upgrades for the recipes?" I ask the him, pointing at the fact we can traverse from recipes to recipes quite easily now.
Not that I know of... How did we not catch that?
Maybe a deliberate act? Or we were just too happy for the inconvenience to be gone to notice it? For some reason or other... Wait. I open my main menue screen and look through it. And I catch it. Something changed, a lot of things changed actually. The screen itself remains the same, however a tiny mention has changed. I clearly remember the version being labeled as 3 point something. It is now labelled the version 4.001b. Did it update after my coma? What else changed then? Mewtwo and I immediately dive into the submenues and secondary windows. The quests are the same, the rewards too, nothing new to claim. There is more information into the different submenues under the 'exploration & survival' list. The biggest difference come from the tutorials, there is now a massive list of them. No longer is it a list of question marks, some are simply inaccessible with little lock before them, but just the name could steer us toward unlocking them. Was that what they meant by taking a more active role?
It seems they want us to succeed in the end. Even if it is merely for their own selfish reasons.
Yeah... Well if that can help us survive, we might as well play along. We will survive and make that dumb marble the quests supposedly lead to. But for now, we need that portable smeltery. I touch the mystery block and am rewarded by more seared brick requirement. Fuck... Clay might be the limiting factor here. A growl has us both sigh as a single zombie turns up from the other side of the tunnel we are in. I get my sword out as Mewtwo restrains it. A couple of slices later and the zombie falls down. We both get a small bit of experience and I quickly spend mine to boost my coolant efficiency. That little perk has become quite vital now, even more than power or my own strengths. A nice six and a half percent boost now. I wonder how that will translate in action. And I might see it faster than I think. The new block I am missing is made of a combination of four seared bricks and yet another new, seemingly transparent block, which is made by cooking sand in a furnace.
I sigh and get to crafting. I have enough stones to create the necessary grout from sand and gravel, and soon enough I have eight more pieces of grout ready to be cooked, making it a total of nine. Four to join the already cooked brick and four more to create the mix of cooked sand as seared bricks. And one left over...
"I'm going to light up again." I warn Mewtwo, and this time he comes closer instead. He takes the ignis crystal in his hand, his three fingers closing around the red crystal, and put his other one on my arm. Ready. he answers. I look at him in worry and curiosity? Ready for what? You literally radiates heat, I am going to try and channel it. I look at him in almost bewilderment. "Don't burn yourself, we have no way to heal that." He nods and I put the grout into the cooking slot, as well as another piece of coal into the fuel slot. My arm heat up once more, and I look at the speed at which my coolant disappears. It is slower. Far slower than a mere four percent increase should give. I had felt something wrong with these upgrades, but now I have actual concrete proof. I was at 2.5% before dumping forty experience point into the upgrade, and I lost two entire squares of coolant from a piece of coal being consumed. Now, as the grout cooks, I can already see I will consume far less. Maybe a full square and a fourth of a second one? This does not checks out. Not at all.
Also, I discovered something else. I can put entire piles of items into the cooking slot. It is not a piece of coal for one operation. Those nine pieces of grout? Yeah one piece of coal was enough for eight of them. Now to cook the sand. Five of them. I will have some residual heat... Wonder if I could use it in any ways...
Mewtwo still has his hand on my left arm, and his face is scrunched in deep concentration. His large eyes are held close and twitch from time to time. I let him, his hand is a bit more colored than normal, but I do not think this is a burn. At least I hope so.
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He can feel it. The heat, the path of fire. Heat and fire, a single path that lead to mastery of flames. As he concentrates, he can feel both his hands heating up. At first he worries, should he remove his hand from Astra's arm? Yet that worry is dashed as he feels his friend's arm cool off. He is done using heat. And with the cool sensation, the heat in both his palms become that much noticeable. He pushes toward it, and he feels the path open. There is... no limit there. He can feel the energy of the crystal in his hand answer his will. He let it go, he knows what he is looking for now.
As the Ignis crystal joins the other two behind him, he let go of Astra's arm and float a bit away. When he opens his eyes, he is treated to an incredible sight. Both his hands are surrounded by an orange-red glow. He can feel the heat radiating from them, the physical sensation surreal. He knows the heat should be melting his skin, yet he knows it will not. He is the one emanating the heat. He controls it. He approaches the closest wall and touches it. At first, nothing much happens, but soon the rock beneath his hand start to glow. Then slowly, it turns soft and little rivulet of molten material start to flow along. Mewtwo jumps back at the result, a single drop of the liquefied rock would have left an actual burn upon him. Yet with this single action, he can also feel something else. Another path, similar to the path of stone, yet different, a more grounded path. He blinks as the heat bleeds off his hand, the glow lowering before fully disappearing. He... He checks the quest. He has done it. He has unlocked one of the paths the trio was hinting at. He even has a new move listed on his own menue screen: Fire punch. The path of fire is now unlocked. And with it, a stark realization. His paths, those he already have access to, are locked. Not fully, but branches of them are unattainable for some reasons.
The path of fire, he can see how far he can take it... more or less. But the path of the mind, he can almost feel the moment his thoughs just stop. Just like with the Psycho cut, the blade of the mind. He could feel the path, but it constantly eluded him, until Astra returned, and gifted him with more experience.
Mewtwo blinks. Experience, levels. Is that? The realization hits him like a truck. It is an absolute confirmation to his earlier assumption. He is not growing with each levels, he is merely reclaiming what has always been there.
But then what about this new path? Why is it almost free of restraints? Why does he feels another path from it, a path that also feels free of restraints? What does it all mean? And more importantly? Is Astra the same? Mewtwo caught upon Astra's earlier realization about his own upgrades not working in a linear fashion. Maybe there are more informations somewhere?
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
As Astra sigh for the umpteenth time at yet another contraption to build, Mewtwo opens the tutorial section once more. Every single ones are now titled. Some are still locked, clearly to be unlocked at a later time, but it is deep within the lower ones that he finds it. Just as Astra gets two cubic contraption on top of each others, Mewtwo nudges him.
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I have now... a portable smeltery. Or at least both main parts? I hope. The moment I created the upper part, the melter, I got a little notification about a little tutorial. Said tutorial leads me to realize I would need a couple more items to complete the portable smeltery structure. For it is an assembly of multiple things. The melter goes on top of a seared heater, which made by surrounding a furnace with eight seared bricks. My water supplies will not last at this rate. But of course, this is not over yet. Because I also need two faucets, which are six more seared bricks, a casting table, seven more seared bricks, and a casting basin, ANOTHER SEVEN SEARED BRICKS! I am going to sweat bullets by the end of all that crafting.
I have already completed the melter and seared heater. The moment I take them out, I can only whistle at the size of the things. The seared heater is a cube of black bricks, a meter tall, with a gaping opening on one side. I assume I will put fuel there. The melter is as large as the seared heater, it looks like a large square plate made of black bricks, topped by a graduated glass cover. Together, the ensemble is taller than me, and Mewtwo would barely stay above it. But... Here it is. Also, the glass? Turns out you can cook sand into glass. Don't ask me how, crushing stone into gravel and then into sand and then cooking said sand makes almost perfectly clear glass, I have not the slightest of clue.
I am about to go into the next part of the smeltery when Mewtwo interrupts me. Him being so close to me confirms my thoughts, Mewtwo is a tall one. I knew that already, but using the partly assembled smeltery I can confirm, Mewtwo is above two meters. You are a tall one mister upright psychic cat. Also your tail is as long as your body... funny... eheh...
And you are starting to get delirious mister dehydrated human machine. Mewtwo answers back with a chuckle. I am not mind you, I still have a good... Oh... Okay maybe I am starting to heat up a little... Another swing of a water pouch, and I can fill my mind stop swinging left and right. I forgot to refill the coolant tank. Good to know I start to ramble and spout nonsense the moment I reach two and a half square left.
Anyway, yes Mewtwo, what is the matter? You need to read this. I blink as he opens one of the tutorials, one that was buried deep beneath dozens of others.
> An apology from your sponsors.
>
>
>
> Greetings young ones, if you are reading this, it means the situation has escalated faster than we expected.
>
> Your experience here was meant to be hard, harsh and challenging, that much we will not hide. However the presence of this text means the other side decided to make it impossible, or at least close enough to impossible for us to act further. We are sure the both of you are starting to see some discrepancies between what the system tells you and what results you experience. There are reasons for this, reasons we cannot explain and that are not important to you in the short term. Your theories might be closer to the truth than you think. However, what we can assure you is that your growth will be exponential, at first.
>
> This new version of our system you now possess has a lot of new features and guides to help you overcome the impossible odds arrayed against you. Explore them at your leisure. Be mindful not to forget them or lose too much time experimenting with them. Time, after all, is fleeting for you both. Even this letter is a danger in that respect.
>
> This will be the last free gift from us, any more will have to be earned, that is what the trials will be for.
>
> Grow fast, and prove all wrong
>
> Knowledge, Hunt and Chaos.
>
> PS: you both got guts kids, keep going, don't be discouraged by small road blocks, or even big ones. -:]
We stare at the letter, for there is no better descriptor here. The Trio has given us an apology letter. It sheds lights, but also brings more question to the forefront. Who are they? Why are they helping us? They supposedly brought us here, made me from a man's dying soul, brought Mewtwo along. Is this really only for a bet? To see if they can make something that could overcome the god of this world? Neither Mewtwo nor I have answers. The warnings, however, are clear. The praetor was dangerous, and it will not grow easier from here on out. Only harder.
Mewtwo breaks the silence first. This changes nothing.
"It indeed does not." I agree out loud.
We keep going? He asks with a determined look.
"We keep going." I answer back. My own face radiates determination. We will keep going. The Trio seems to be somewhat caring of us, and we will make sure to use that as much as we can.
Mewtwo turns around and returns to his meditation, and I return to my crafting. I quickly assemble another load of grout and fire my internal furnace. I care not for the heat. It will be temporary and water should not be that hard to find. I quickly assemble the last components and hear the quest completing. The final contraption is... imposing somewhat. The two meter high combination of the melter and the seared heater is now flanked with a one meter square black table made of stone, and a one meter high cubic basin made of the same material. Two faucets poke just beneath the start of the glass dome of the melter. The fact that notches are already present on each sides of the melter made their installation that much easier. I can even control when they will flow and when they will not, but there also seems to be little links in both table and basin that also link to the flow gates. That should stop the flow automatically once they are full. The entire contraption is quite advanced all in all.
Also, *ding* goes the quest. I have the portable smeltery assembled. And... That's three more percent in the coolant category. And the next quest... Oh... Oh I see now.
Duplicator 10000 (the first)
Remember when we asked to hold on the tool upgrading? Yeah, that's why.
Obtain 'iron ingot': 0/20
Rewards: 30xp; 5 Exp. Candy XS.
As I read the new quest, I am already looking for recipe for the iron ingot. The one through the smeltery makes me understand quite fast why they asked me to hold off just using my furnace chip. It will be more work, but I can get more iron out of my iron by using the portable smeltery. One and a half time more. As Mewtwo seems to be experimenting with something else, I take out an iron ore block out of my inventory and put it into the smeltery. I then add coal into the seared heater and watch as nothing happen. What? Why? Does it... does it need to be lit up?
Uh... How do... You have to be kidding me. They really though of everything did they not? I turn toward Mewtwo, just in time to see him make the earth glow and spit molten and heated rocks up. It is messy, weird looking, but it seems to work. "What was that?" I ask, impressed. It looked like the start of a tiny volcano
The start to another path I seem to be able to unlock. My experiments with fire revealed it. Although I have not started its mastery yet. He answers, a bit of pride there for figuring out something ahead of the Trio's guidance.
"That's awesome. What do you think the whole path will be?"
Possibly mastery of the ground? Or something similar, it feels close to the path of stone, yet quite similar in some aspect. I will need to experiment more. It feels it could be quite destructive. But did you need something?
"Yeah I can see that, and yeah, want to try your path of fire one something non destructive?"
Oh that could be interesting. Need me to light something on fire?
"Just the coal in the heater." I say, pointing at the still unlit heater.
He nods and we both return to the small smeltery. Mewtwo's hand light up in an orange-red glow and he shoves his hand into the heater. At first, nothing much happen, and I can feel Mewtwo cranking up his heat output. The coals finally catch fire, and then fuels itself. "Wow... you are really starting to have an insane repertoire." And it's not even the end of it is it?
Mewtwo scratches the back of his hand in embarrassement, looking away from me. "What, it's true, you are starting to have a lot of possibilities to yourself, more than me right now anyway." I add quietly.
That remarks snaps him out of his embarrassement. We have different use, you and I. We both have something to give. Stop deprecating yourself. He commands, and I can feel almost pressured to answer him. You really are growing.
I sigh... he is right in the end. It feels like we are always circling back to this issue. He keeps growing stronger with each days, and I seem to barely catch up to him. We sit in silence before the portable smeltery. The Iron ore slowly melt, and I add more as space is made. This... this is nice somewhat. Wish it could last... I know it won't.