The Gathering.

I floated in the Ethereal Sea.

I was a ghost, my body left behind in the Bone Wastes.

I let the cool currents swirl around me, eddies spinning through my loose spectral fingers.

It was more peaceful than I had hoped.

i desperately wished I wouldn't be back anytime soon.

My Codex materialised into my ghostly hand and flipped to a page near the back.

Congratulations

You have accumulated enough Cassa to be in the top one million of humanities challengers

You are now a Delegati

You have a final chance to spend any Cassa you accrued in the Eligere before you are moved to the lowest level of Potestas.

You may not start your Struggle above level 10

you may not carry unspent Cassa to Potestas.

I willed my Codex to flip to the first page and had a cursory look, my purchases were already finished.

Name:

Class:

Level: 1

Cassa: 000

Attributes:

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 1

Vitality: 4

Attunement: 4

Presence: 4

Spirit: 6

Luck: 1

Traits:

[Ethereal Heart] – your heart glows with Ether souls are drawn to you. Gain 5 Spirit per level. Increases your affinity for the Ethereal Sea.

[Spiritual Self] – your Vitality grows with your Spirit every 2 Spirit gives 1 Vitality

[Spiritual Connection] – your Attunement is rooted more deeply to your Spirit every 2 Spirit gives 1 Attunement.

[Spiritual Shadow] – Your Presence gathers along side your Spirit in addition to your Presence. Every 1 Spirit adds 2 Presence.

Spells:

[Spiritualism]

[Spirit Totem]

[Find Familiar]

[Cure Wounds]

Skills

[Carving]

[Survival]

Soul-bound Items:

[Ancestor Spirits Embrace] – Necklace created with [Spirit Totem] sub spell.

Accolades:

[Delegati of Terra] – You have passed through the Eligere and become chosen to Struggle. You are an exemplary member of your species, you understand all human languages.

Strength increased muscle mass and power, Dexterity increased motor control and reaction speed and Vitality increased survivability and toughness.

Too much Strength no Dexterity you wouldn’t be able to control your strikes. Same with Dexterity too much without Strength and you wouldn’t be able to move your arm, your nerves firing too fast for your muscles to keep up. You needed a balance between the two and enough Vitality to handle the strain.

Didn’t want to break my own ribs just breathing with high Strength!

The magic attributes were a little less easy to define they sort of bleed into each other.

Attunement generally influenced the strength of the effect like making the fire in your fireball hotter. Presence mostly changes how much you can bend the effects of a spell, a fire ball into a fire disk for example although your skill level and experience tend to make a bigger difference in altering your control.

Spirit was your magical toughness for example how much mana you could use at a time, but there is a cross over between the three. Attunement can make the pool bigger and Presence can help re-fill the pool faster. Spirit mostly does both, it also seemed to affect the Ethereal Sea in some way, there was a noticeable effect but my Codex couldn't seem to describe it.

Luck was an outlier.

And it was fairly nebulous in how it worked. It seems to help give low probability events more likelihood of coming to fruition.

It is not a safe attribute to have low, however its also not a safe attribute to have too high, it doesn’t distinguish between good and bad events after all.

I nearly focused Luck over Spirit until i spoke with a ghost of a former Delegati. She was from a species that looked like a smallish bipedal elephant, her name was Vrajodam she told me about Luck.

She climbed Potestas with a Luck based build that sounded extremely powerful. She conquered all the way to the latter stages of Potestas alone. When she came to a trapped temple with a powerful artifact protected inside. Flooding chambers sprung leaks, arrow traps missed and poisoned spears didn’t fire because the gears slipped. When she eventually picked up the artifact, hidden in the center of the temple Vrajodam slipped too.

She died by tripping on a loose paving stone...all her good luck spent.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

No I’ll make my own Luck. I had my build in mind, I had the basic prerequisites for my class picked out.

I just needed to get in there and get the Accolades needed.

I sighed as I looked at my anemic skills and spells. I could only afford four low leveled spells no better than cantrips, and two skills. My traits were where all my hard earned Cassa went. By level ten I would have fifty one Spirit and twenty six in three other attributes even without a class.

It was an extremely powerful foundation to build up from. My raw attributes and my magic would be strong but it cost me an arm and a leg... Literally in some cases.

I absolutely needed [Ethereal Heart] it was going to be the linchpin of my whole build.

I closed my Codex. No going back now. i closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, I inspected my surroundings.

I saw a steaming and humid jungle, I was in a clearing around twenty meters across. Carved into the dirt was glowing circle full of incomprehensible letters and symbols, I looked up at my hands and felt like I saw them for the first time, they were young and strong. My knuckles no longer broken and swollen, I was back to the start.

I was like before all the all the years trapped in the cursed Eligere. My knees didn't hurt and the scars that nearly bisected my hip were gone, I felt like a young man again. I was a young man again! Almost wish I had a mirror.

I saw that there were nine other circles arrayed around me making something like a complicated ten pointed star, so complex and detailed I could guarantee no mortal had drawn it.

The circles were empty, it seems I’m the first to arrive.

I couldn’t move from my circle, I suppose I had to wait for everyone else to spend their Cassa. I knew from my spiritual friends that no matter how many years each individual took in the Eligere, you all arrived in Potestas at the same time.

Not knowing how long I had, I started casting...Preparation was key in Potestas, more so now than ever.

I was physically at my weakest point after all.

I started the 5 second channel for [Spirit Totem] it was my most fundamental skill. I loaded the still forming totem with [Cure Wounds] and [Spiritualism].

At my level of mana I shouldn’t put more than 2 spells into my totems at a time, the costs would rapidly get too high. After five seconds I pulled the wispy shell of totem into my hand before it could complete and touched it to my necklace.

The only thing I was wearing.

It looked like a twisted ring of hemp rope with no knots or joins, stained with age and wear. As my fingers made contact, a small carved charm appeared it looked like two coiled snakes tied in a knot.

It was the representation of the totem i had just made, ready to be deployed at a moments notice.

I saw a bright flash of light, and I watched as a man appeared in the circle directly across from me. He was tall and lithe 6’2’’ with the build of a long distance runner or swimmer. Broad shoulders were brushed by his loose dreadlocks.

He was wearing dark brown hempen shirt and nearly black pants. I couldn’t see a weapon. He turned his eyes to me and I saw they were so dark they were nearly black, he had a wide mouth and incredibly white teeth that he showed off with a beaming smile.

He had immediately burst into laughter...

I cocked my head in confusion and gave a shy wave…

I focused on my job and channeled another totem, this time I loaded [Carve] and [Find Familiar] it wasn't my first choice for damage...too indirect...but it would do till I could get an elemental manipulation spell. I grabbed the totem before it could form and touched it to my necklace. It was in the shape of a raptor with its talons out and wings flared.

I needed a break while my mana filled up a bit so I looked at the man again, he was shaking his head and I could see his mouth moving and his hands gesturing animatedly, but couldn’t hear the words...Guess we couldn’t talk, he must be as happy to see another human face as I was...I waved again and pointed to my ears, shaking my head.

Another flash of light, and 2 more circles were filled. A small dark haired man, with an average build. Wearing simple hemp clothes like the laughing man, he was short 5’5’’ maybe. He had a dangerous look in his slate grey eyes as he scanned the treeline his eyes darted to the laughing man who waved then pointed at me.

I gave another small wave as the dangerous look slipped for a moment into something like incredulity, then he went back to scanning.

Opposite him was a woman she was tall and muscular with short dark hair, she had a solidity to her that spoke of dependability and strength. She looked around and saw the others, assessing them as they assessed her in turn. When she turned her pale green eyes on me, she gave a wide smile and covered her mouth with her hand.

I gave another small wave.

A few moments went by as I waited for my mana to refill, I closed my eyes and opened them I knew the normal amber flecked blue was now a glowing ethereal green. I looked at and through the forest, it positively glowed with life...From the towering trees, to the scuttling insects...I couldn’t pinpoint any real creatures, just the wakes of things as their physical bodies passed above the Ethereal Sea. I could see across from me, behind the laughing man that the currents around us looked disturbed. I closed my eyes and they stopped glowing.

I started an important totem, [Survival] and [Find Familiar] better safe than sorry... An animal almost like a meerkat with its eyes wide open looking vigilant, popped onto my necklace.

I saw another person turn up and saw an average looking Asian man his hair was long and messy but his eyes were clear. He stood as if he was rooted to the ground.

He had a Rough spun kimono and bare feet, as soon as he looked up he held his hand out.

His eyes were calm as he gazed at the rest of us, and I felt a pull on [Spirituality]. I opened my eyes again to the Ethereal Sea and saw a ghostly woman. She was adorned like a geisha, her hair in an intricate bun held with jeweled hairpins that had small chimes that rang in the current of the Sea. Her kimono was silky and patterned with swallows darting around a lotus filled lake.

She was beautiful.

She stood in the Ethereal Sea, taking the space beside the man like a retainer would a lord. She was offering up an amazingly intricate white scabbard, capped in gold with a lifelike swallow embossed on the side. I closed my eyes and looked at the real world seeing the blade itself.

It was unadorned, just rippling steel with a wave like hamon. On its handle was white sharkskin wrapping, with a lacquered guard in the shape of an open lotus.

I could feel the woman standing guard over him, clearly she was some kind of spiritual weapon.

He held her by his side calmly, he looked like he knew how to use her.

The next were four nearly all at once, two women and two men, the first man was pale and sweaty he looked slightly unhinged with a thin face and high cheekbones, he had average height and was whip thin. He had a wild look in his eyes and a shaved head.

When he saw the jungle sparks shot from his fingertips and smoke began billowing from his palm. Some kind of elemental magic user maybe, he looked almost scared.

The second man was a heavyset middle eastern man with deep set green eyes and dark hair he was very still, only his eyes moved while the rest of his face was blank. He was leaning on a shoulder height stave that looked almost like a shepherd's crook. His face didn't give much away.

The woman who was closest was Mediterranean, she was fairly tall and had wide shoulders. She had a cylindrical leather case on her back that was full of short spears, or maybe javelins. She wore the same hemp clothing as the rest, but her sleeves were very short showing off long powerful arms. Clearly she was a long distance javelin thrower of some kind. Good. she would be handy soon.

The other woman was very different, she was stout and on the short side. You could see a kind light in her eyes...in the way she looked at the others...in the way she put one hand on her hip..She was matronly. Her skin was dark coffee and her hair was barely being held back by a cloth bandanna, shooting out into a thick Afro behind her ears. She was wearing swathes of pale cloth, it wrapped around her like a toga and shimmered with what looked like runes.

She was laughing at me as well and I finally twigged what was so funny, I was still nude…

I shrugged and gave the new members a wave, thinking about my next totem. We had an elemental mage in the sweaty skin headed man and some kind of runic caster in the motherly toga lady. So maybe [Spiritualism] and [Find Familiar]? As I touched my neck a Fairy like fish creature surrounded by swirling carved waters appeared.

My nakedness didn’t really bother me that much, I was kind of stumped that I hadn't realised it sooner...It would be uncomfortable for a short time, but I would scrape some clothes together soon enough. I had been far worse off than merely naked before anyways.

Hopefully my new friends wouldn't mind too much.

I had four of my totems made and was feeling confident that we could survive whatever ambush was waiting for us. I wanted to save a bit of mana for emergencies so decided against making another. I waved across to the laughing man and the swordsman. When they looked over at me, I flashed my eyes green then made a clawing gesture across my bare chest. Pointing behind them at the trees, the laughing man nodded and slapped his thigh still laughing, while the swordsman didn’t react.

Hold on a tic we couldn’t hear each other but what about the geisha lady? I quickly looked over into the Ethereal Sea again and called out in the spirit tongue.

"G’day there darlin', can you hear me?" The geisha looked over at me gave a demure smile and bowed.

"Greetings honored Sir." she replied.

"Uh... Can you tell your mate there that there's trouble behind him, just passed the trees. I can’t see what it is but we’re gonna be ambushed." I pointed to the swirling wake in the current, it was small and difficult to see now clearly some kind of ambush predator.

"My most gracious thanks honored Sir, but I have told him already."

"Ah...Right then." I closed my eyes, not feeling much like an honored Sir and looked around. Seeing the last spot finally taken.

He was a large Slavic man with shaved dirty blonde hair and dense muscles on a wide frame, he had a large sloping forehead and a flat nose. A scrapper then...

He was wearing a backpack with no shirt and had a cheap looking knife strapped to his thigh over his cheap hemp trousers and no shoes. I sighed and shook my head, hoping whatever was in the bag was worth the cost. Didn't look like he could even afford a shirt, poor bloke...

Before I had a chance, everyone in the circles Codex appeared and flipped to a back page.

Goals

Survive with your Secta in the Mah’raxian Jungle

Join up with other human groups and find the path upwards.

Struggle.

So our group of ten was called a Secta then… Latin for team or group...I wonder if the non Romantic based languages get Latin?

As I pondered on our group, and the frustrating amount of information in the message...My Codex abruptly disappeared and then a second later so did the glowing circles at our feet. My eyes darted to the trees opposite me as I crouched down.

I placed the meerkat totem just behind my feet.

[Sentry Ward Totem]

The prey always watches carefully.

All allies within range can automatically sense the direction of hostile creatures that are also within range.

Durability: extremely low

Radius: 35 meters

Duration: 3 minutes

There was a quiet rustle in the thick undergrowth.

Then all hell broke loose.