Flattened mountains [an unknown location in the new world], local time [1793.05.13 11]

If this is a Talpa, then I am a goblin, he thought looking at the body. Its limbs were extremely long for an animal of its size. Indeed, it reminded him of a black bear. Just with a rat’s snout, longer limbs, and larger claws. Gross!

Firstly, he tried to check if his artery wasn’t damaged, but his blood was already clotted under a layer of green Phleya. He ignored it for now. There was one waiting notification about Garuan, but he ignored it, too.

With some problems, he stood up. He looked around and found another Talpa a good 50 meters downstairs. It wasn’t looking at him, though, just sniffing around. Bad eyesight, noted, he thought while silently moving back. He was happy to have a primitive camouflage in the form of his black armor; it was blending in with the rock. But no wonder it’s here, we made so much noise. I must get out of here before something else comes.

He was afraid to go directly by the cave entrance, but there was no other way. He walked crouching, ready to jump at a moment’s notice. The weapon was in his right hand, at the ready. His wounded arm was hampering him, but the pain was strangely dulled. He suspected the adrenaline.

Nothing attacked him this time, but he could hear distant scraping noises, giving him chills. Thankfully, it didn’t sound like anything was rushing to the entrance. They don’t hurry, probably thinking I am dead, especially after my screaming. If those things are intelligent enough to think, anyway.

After he got some distance, nervously looking over his shoulder, he sped up his ascend.

I miscalculated. Badly, he thought, again looking back. In the case of Fissure worlds, we depended on our ‘Mana invisibility’. We also used Mana scanners for a few past years. I got used to it to the point that I treated this case almost like a normal hazard on Earth. I forgot about the Mana detection ability of these animals! Short-range as it is, it’s still a basic of the basics! We have gained dangerous habits. I even assumed it was a solitary hunter, similar to a bear, he analyzed to keep his mind occupied. He wasn’t in danger of panicking, but his fight-or-flight instinct was messing with his judgment. For many reasons, he shouldn’t run, not yet.

“Grrrra?” his chest vibrated, but he wasn’t paying attention, straining his senses in search of a possible pursuit, and thinking.

They are herd animals, with a sentry near the entrance to the burrow, or nest, he summarized.

There was nothing for them to hunt on the plateau, a reason Zeph didn’t find more traces.

Instead of sleeping, hunting somewhere in the caves or lower mountainside, or relaxing, as a good solitary hunter should, it was guarding its pack.

He once again looked back, the cave already disappeared behind a cliff wall, he stopped and listened for a moment. Then started to jog, as fast as he could without hurting his shoulder more, which wasn’t fast at all. I don’t believe they can feel tremors from this distance, even if they share their sensibility with a real Talpa. But I am almost certain their sense of smell is very strong. They can follow me easily. I need to hurry. And I will need to better assess my—

“GRRRA?!” his chest vibrated almost violently, breaking his focus.

“Huh… Sorry, Gru. Yes, I am good… Mostly. I was just trying to get my mind in order,” he silently answered.

“GRA!” his chest sang victoriously.

“Um… you found what?” he asked confused.

“Grrreru!” it answered, somewhat irritated.

“Oh, O”—he stopped himself from exclaiming and lowered his voice again—“ahem. Forgive me, but I almost forgot, you were out of it for almost two days. And, you know, the whole life-and-death situation just happened.”

“Gru?”

“Yes, two. Well, not exactly, more like one and a half. Anyway, how did you manage to wake up in time and even try it?” he was confused slightly.

“Graaaaraaarr,” it sent as somewhat complicated vibrations.

“Good to know you can discern when I am in danger, but I don’t really understand what you mean by ‘the occasion’. We can talk about it later, right now isn’t the best time,” he said.

“Grum,” it confirmed.

The way up took only a few minutes, now that he was moving fast. He still checked the back before every major turn of the oversized stairs, but nothing chased him. On the way, he tried to devise any plan to minimalize his scent trace but came up empty. He decided to go directly to the towers. At the plains, he should be able to see if something followed him. At least during the day. With the speed he could muster now, he was sure to not make it back before the night.

His spear was helping him slightly in balancing during a slow jog. After moving at least 10 km from the pass and making sure nothing followed him, he resumed the talk with Garuan and finally checked the notification.

[Garuan] gains new [General Skills]: [Will-powered Soul manipulation] and [Will-powered Soul perception] from the [Knowledge Base]!

It took some time to understand what it wanted to communicate, but thanks to reading on the topic in the mental space, he was able to decipher it. The Garuan, of course, understood it more instinctively, but the source of its knowledge was the same, so Zeph could empathize the reasoning.

Almost all Soul-wounded entities scatter some additional Soul fragments when dying. For the Will-depletion Soul wounds caused by traumatic experiences, the System was managing these additional fragments. They were released because they were not wanted by the Soul, basically giving a bonus Soul fragments to the killer.

But as for Will-depletion wounds caused by internal struggle? The ‘positive changes’, as he called them? Those fragments were something a departing Soul wants to impregnate into the cause of the ‘positive change’. The Garuan tried to explain why it doesn’t work in most cases, but it was over his head. What he did understand was the fact that the System was allowing those fragments to naturally dissipate into normal ones, before gathering them. For itself.

So, I can become a sadist, breaking the minds and depleting the Wills of my enemies before killing them. I can also allow Garuan to gather the ‘positive’ fragments. The first option sounds like the exact reason to get a Skill like the Tabu. Though, the second one isn’t that far behind. That makes me curious…

“Um, Gru, how high is your Tabu Skill?”

“Grrrreewwi,” it answered, a little impatient because of the interruption.

“F-fifty?!” he exclaimed. “You know… Tabu doesn’t sound like a Skill we want to level up. Are you sure this is safe?”

“Graaa!”

“Ah, sorry for that. Please continue,” he said embarrassedly.

It was, indeed, dangerous.

The first method wasn’t something the Garuan wanted to even try. There was a variation of that idea it tried, though. It was in the middle of reading the information about Will when it felt Zeph was in danger and awakened from its meditation. Gru already had a good idea of what to try, so it immediately attacked the beast’s Soul, using its Soul manipulation in concert with Will. Gru tried to pry a fragment of the Soul out of it. The results were… very confusing for Zeph. He was unable to even start trying to understand. But Gru got 20 levels of Tabu for it, which was ridiculous, and felt very drained. Something potentially very dangerous happened back then.

The second method should be safe. Gru used it on the fleeing Soul fragment after the animal died, and it worked. Gru was able to consume it without problems and share the spoils.

But Zeph wasn’t so sure, so he asked some more questions. It was a long debate. He even risked and allowed the Garuan to send him Soul memories, to be able to understand.

Congratulations! [Soul] [T1][L41] is now [T1][L44]! (+3)

[Interface] is now [Level 3]. (+2)

The headache didn’t show up in the same intensity as before, thankfully. After analyzing everything, his standing theory was that it worked only because of Gru. It didn’t understand most parts of the ‘positive’ Soul fragment, effectively filtering all emotions and memories recorded in it. Probably something similar to what the System was doing before assigning Soul fragments.

In the end, they decided to use the second method. Gru would be the catch-master, but Zeph also wanted to, at least, learn the Skills. Even if it will cause his Tabu to rise again, he at least would be able to read related information from his Interface.

Gru was almighty pleased with taking a role of a teacher. The constant vibrations were intense, but to Zeph’s surprise helped with the pain in his shoulder.

They arrived at the towers around midnight, according to Zeph’s estimations. He was spent and hungry like never before. He ate some rations on the way, but it wasn’t even close to satiating him.

He evaluated his options. It was impossible for him to search for a better hiding spot except for the ruined houses. He would like to check the towers for another entrance, but it was night. If the pack was nocturnal, which was a very probable outcome seeing as they lived in the caves, they could get here before dawn by tracking his scent. He had no idea if they would, or even if this was possible. How long a scent can even linger on a surface? My armor is scentless, and my bleeding stopped long ago. But I am still worried…

In the end, he decided on a simple solution.

Firstly, he ate his fill, which exhausted most of his prepared rations. Then, he checked his arm. It was better now, but he could only barely move it. After taking off his armor’s arm, keeping it on his lap as he still didn’t know how far the Phleya could be from him, he saw an ugly dark violet around the shoulder and on his biceps. Only white, dry flecks were left from the Phleya that covered his wound’s scab.

Either sinew or muscle damage… Maybe even neural, he concluded. I only have some Medic and human anatomy knowledge… There is no way I can do anything with it, it’s a work for a surgeon, he lamented.

He cleaned the wound as best as he could with clean water, but that was the extent of what he dared to do. If only any herbs were growing here…

“Grrru,” it consoled him.

“Thanks, I really hope so. But one in Regeneration isn’t that much, and it will take a while to get to the next level. Recovering will take time,” he answered.

“Gruuaaa,” it guaranteed.

“Really? Yea, you can grow some more. It’s only helpful…” he paused for a moment, remembering one important detail. “Just remember we are partners. We are not to become one, understand?!”

“Graa, Graa.” He could feel its eyes rolling. Too many eyes…

“Haaah, whatever. Thanks, anyway. Let’s prepare to sleep,” he said, securing his armor again.

He set up a dry bush in the entrance to his boulder from outside, then went to his camp nearby. Not far from it a plant called Greenhound, according to his herbarium, was growing. They had a strong scent, similar to mint but more spicy. He got there and picked up a few to scrub on his armor, especially the boots. He then went in the direction of a hiding spot he scouted a week earlier, picking up more of the plants along the way. The spot was inside a ruined house without a roof. A large tree was growing around it, its roots a few meters high above the ground. He used a half-destroyed wall to move between them, moving to a spot with many tight escape routes. The plants, he left between the roots at regular intervals in hopes of masking his own scent.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Laying his weapons close, he chose the softest stone block in the vicinity and immediately fell asleep.

===============================

The next day welcomed him with a vivid pain in his shoulder and abdomen. He wasn’t able to keep the ‘Lesser metabolic enhancement’ when sleeping, so new areas of his body screamed with a newfound vigor about unequal and rough treatment.

“I feel like shit,” he commented.

“Gru,” came a tired vibration.

“I know I said that not long ago. Anyway, good morning to you, too. Seems like we are accomplices in the suffering,” he answered.

“Gaaaa.”

“Ye ye, less speaking, more hunting.”

There was much to do that day. Firstly, Zeph scouted the vicinity for any traces of Talpa.

“Oi, System,” he spoke, from the sheer boredom of this exercise. “How could you even translate that thing as Talpa? Wouldn’t a Bearat, or something like that, be more appropriate? Seriously, it’s just in a bad taste.”

“Gre…”

“What? No! Of course, I would read the animal description before assuming anything!”

“Gra?”

“I-I did it with… with… Okay, you win,” he sighed. He assumed a lot of things because they were named the ‘Talpa’, not because he was reading about it from his Skill and notifications.

There was a lot to improve on, indeed.

There were no traces of any big animal, not to mention the Talpa’s. He wondered if he should just continue like always, but he didn’t feel safe on the ground anymore. He decided to spend the next two days in the ruined houses, just to be sure, then to find a better spot to sleep in.

On that note, he finally scouted the towers for another entrance. He found something that could be an entrance on the Alex’s side, but it was quite high up. He had only one working arm, it would be a chore, to say the least. He decided to leave the relocation for another, better day. Better for his arm, that is.

That reminded him, that a makeshift splint would surely help his recovery. Good thing he still had bandages.

Next, he concentrated on refilling his food supplies. He already knew that increased ‘stats’ were responsible for his increased hunger, but only after yesterday’s events he fully understood the scope of the changes.

Running for half a day, getting seriously wounded, losing blood, faster metabolism… All of that needs to be fueled. And I was blind to it, he berated himself, again.

Hunting with a crossbow with only one good hand was not the easiest thing, but doable. It was just slow. Butchering and preparing the game was even slower. Getting water was, well, impossible. His water condenser was working, of course, but he could forget about a soup, bath, or scalding the birds.

Unable to do much physically, he decided to concentrate on the mental and mystical parts of his arsenal.

It was too late today to do anything of the essence, but he made himself a list of goals, engraved on a big piece of tree bark:

“MAIN GOAL: Solve problems pertaining to fighting the Talpa:

* Effective tactic against stronger and much faster enemies fighting in packs

* Night vision or reliable source of light in the caves

* Devise other detection methods

* Disable their tremor sense and strong sense of smell (possible stun exploit)

* Devise more reliable offensive weapon or method”

Indeed, he planned to fight the Talpa. He didn’t want to be surrounded on the pass. Also, he was positive they were hunting or feeding in the caves. Probably even expanding the tunnels themselves, so it was very probable for the tunnels to go all the way down, beyond the cloud line. He really didn’t want to try trespassing the storm clouds on foot.

“SOLUTIONS:

* Review your last fight and knowledge on the lifeforms in this world. Bad habits need to go.

* Train with the Perk.

* Train with the Spells.

* Try recreating the stun effect Gru managed to pull on the Talpa. Maybe without the Soul component. It would be a game changer.

* Learn Soul perception and Soul manipulation from Gru. Will-powered versions.

* Decipher the strange happening when Gru stunned the Bearat (it’s an official name from now on).

OTHER GOALS…”

…Shit, now I made two typos, he complained a moment later, taking another piece of bark from the pile near the fireplace to engrave the ‘final, final version 3’. It wasn’t that easy to set all goals, and in the correct order, from the beginning.

“Grrrra,” a slightly bored vibration came.

“It will irritate me to the sanity end if I will have to look every day at those typos. Bear with it.”

===============================

The day had come, three weeks later, when Zeph the Mage was born.

Or, at least, he started to understand what he was doing.

He was seating cross-legged near his boulder, palms up, eyes shut. Above his right hand, the Heat Spell from the Matrix was manifesting, which he was observing using a combination of his Greater Willpower and inflated Intuition. He was slowing the process as much as he could. Above his left palm, a similar Mana construct was forming, his Will-powered Mana Manipulation trivializing his attempts at externally manipulating his Mana.

Mana easily followed his orders, but he needed to be fast. Even if the construct only had one component, only one function, the 3D shape was very complex. There were no runes, no hexagrams, not even straight lines. The flowing shapes reminded him more of a simplified structure of proteins, irregular and full of different spirals and folds.

After almost ten seconds, and for the first time, both Spells manifested successfully, spreading ‘elemental’ Mana from his palms. The Mana started dissolving in the air, heating it in the process.

Congratulations! [Will-powered Mana Manipulation] is now [T2][L39]!

Congratulations! [Mana Perception] is now [T1][L61]!

Congratulations! [Class Skill] [Heat Spell] is now [T0][L50]!

New data derived from the learning process. [Soul fragments] awarded!

“YES!” he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air, then did a double take at the last line. “DOUBLE YES!”

“Grau!”

“Thanks, Gru! Hahahaha,” he laughed, standing up and doing a silly dance. “I finally made it work! It won’t be long, now! Haha…”

After he finally learned how to properly ‘use’ his Passive Enhancements, many unknowns became clear. He had to experiment with what he managed to read from the Interface. Because it seemed to be common knowledge, neither Perk nor Skill provided this information directly. Gru was a godsend, though.

His new General Skill, Mana perception, was similar to Mana manipulation. It was a direct use of his Soul and Will through the Passive Enhancements. It was in the domain of external Mana manipulation, which was a reason he didn’t manage to get the perception Skill earlier, concentrated as he was on internal Mana manipulation.

Willpower was used to externally manipulate and sense Mana, while Intuition enhanced this usage and overall perception. After he discovered it, he understood how much of an advantage his strange Will was giving him. He could use it directly, creating Will-powered techniques to enhance normal methods. For Mana manipulation, Willpower was used in a normal circumstances. It was a somehow degraded version of Will, but he wasn’t yet sure what was the exact difference between the two.

On the other hand, internal Mana manipulation has become a bitter topic. Because he used his Source Net to funnel Mana through his body, he was seriously handicapped. Not because it was unable to do its work properly, but because its effectiveness was diminished by 60%, as it was built from improper materials. He learned that it was also the main reason for his bad perceptibility towards the Mana inside his body, and was causing problems with internal manipulation. To add salt to the wound, Flexibility was greatly responsible for internal manipulation, for some incomprehensible reason.

“Just a few more cantrips and I can try to see what the ‘Mana highlight’ is about! Modifying it should be possible, it’s a low-tier spell. Maybe even ‘Life detection’ can be changed,” he excitedly monologued to himself.

Cantrips were perfect to learn from. It was hard to even call them Spells, they were more like the most basic components of any Spell, the Mana to ‘elemental’ Mana converters with minimal modifications to make them usable as is.

“Then, it will be time to prepare for the departure. The most important parts are coming along,”, he continued, remembering his successful training with Gru.

He moved away from his boulder, now a kind of workshop. It was time for dinner, so he climbed the rope to Alex’s tower and sat on his feather pillow, the ex-backpack. It was getting dark, especially within this corridor without windows, but he could see enough thanks to the luminescence of Phleya. The light was coming from behind some of the armor’s plates. His armor started glowing, as the System has said. It wasn’t strong enough to light up the room, but it was enough for him to see what he was doing.

While eating, he decided to, once more, look at the notifications showing off Gru’s teaching talents.

Congratulations! You have gained new [General Skill], [Will-powered Soul perception] from the [Knowledge Base]!

[Tabu] is now [Level 8].

Tabu was an unfortunate side effect, but he now had a second detection method beside the Mana perception. It had a longer range, and drastically strengthened Mana perception when he used both at the same time. He was almost able to distinct ambient ‘elemental’ Mana near his skin. Sadly, perceiving Mana other than his own was hard. His Mana was connected to his Soul, or Will, or both, somehow. Or rather, it was in sync. Still, he was able to distinguish huge conglomerations of foreign Mana from far enough.

Congratulations! You have gained new [General Skill], [Will-powered Soul manipulation] from the [Knowledge Base]!

[Tabu] is now [Level 15].

Warning! Unauthorized [Soul manipulation] causes insanity and premature death in 99,997% of the cases!

This one was useless. Using it in any way was like risking a limb. He had a long discussion with Gru about the dangers after he got it, but the Garuan instinctively knew all of that already. It was, indeed, a Soul specialist, with understanding on a level way beyond Zeph’s.

The skill allowed him to recreate the stun effect, though. Gru managed that first and taught him, with the patience of a growling saint.

Congratulations! You have gained new [General Skill], [Will-powered Soul whack] from the [Knowledge Base]!

It didn’t even increase the Tabu. The principle was simple, he just needed to use Will-powered Soul manipulation through his Will manipulation to make a short, but intense, contact with another Soul. The important part was ‘short’. Some kind of reaction would take place if he didn’t disengage almost immediately. It was a kind of feedback, or maybe a ‘duel of Wills’, or something like that. He wasn’t sure, but Gru confirmed it was damaging for both sides.

Now full and satisfied by looking at his progress, he got out of the tower to his workshop. There, on a primitive table, his goal list was lying. Now it became a pile of bark fragments, as he made more detailed plans every other day, but the old general list, a summary, was what he took.

After checking it, he made a cross in two places to mark his progress, then looked at it again.

“MAIN GOAL: Solve problems pertaining to fighting the Bearats:

* Effective tactic against stronger and much faster enemies fighting in packs

* Night vision or reliable source of light in the caves X

* Devise other detection methods X X

* Disable their tremor sense and a strong sense of smell (possible stun exploit)

* Devise more reliable offensive weapon or method X X

SOLUTIONS:

* Review your last fight and knowledge of the lifeforms in this world. Bad habits need to go.

* Train with the Perk. X X

* Train with the Spells. X X

* Try recreating the stun effect Gru managed to pull on the Bearat. Maybe without the Soul component. It would be a game changer.

* Learn Soul perception and Soul manipulation from Gru. Will-powered versions.

* Decipher the strange happening when Gru stunned the Bearat (it’s an official name from now on). X X

OTHER GOALS:

* Relocate to the tower

* Melee weapons tests

* Make a permanent camp

* Try speeding up the healing of your shoulder

* Talk to Gru about his Interface X X X

* Utility tools X

* Prepare to make leather clothes X”

Satisfied with his progress, he went back out and waited, relaxing for some time while watching the picturesque sunset above the ancient town alongside his companion. The yellows and reds painted the vivid vegetation in a myriad of colors, each plant reflecting a slightly different shade.

As always, when the evening came and the stars populated the sky, he started his observations of how the ‘Mana highlight’ was working.

“Graau,” it reminded him.

“Ye ye, give me a moment,” he answered and started to concentrate on his Will and Soul, trying to use the Ambient Mana channeling with just the right intensity, and to simultaneously give Gru safe access to Soul memory of what he was doing.

And so, the two continued their, almost leisure, training.