“Listen carefully, those rings that were given to us to understand the language here, are cursed. When one of the people here gives a command it triggers an effect where you just want to obey them. I don’t know if, in the end, it can force you, but it certainly makes you want to obey.
Why did you guys think that you felt so happy about following those commands that Steven was issuing?
The problem is that since they have disappeared within our bodies there is no way to remove them.
I have a skill that allows me not to be affected by the curse. Which is how I have been able to help you, recently.”
Although I wanted to try to gain Status next, It was clear to me that if we were going to head towards something called the frontlines, It would not be good, and an effective group was my best hope of being safe. To that end, I had to remove the curse that Fanny and Robert suffered from.
“I am going to see if I can come up with a solution. I think that I have a visualization that will help with the problem. But the thing is I will become helpless while attempting this. So do you think that you can help?
What I want you to do is visualize a shield that surrounds us. Robert, we need a shield that stops anyone from sensing us physically. Your affinity with Fire makes this possible. Make an image of a fire that blocks and prevents anyone externally from seeing, or hearing us. And Fanny since healing must have an aspect of some type of spiritual power. What I want you to do is visualize a sphere that blocks any type of perception. “
Robert responded “Can you really come up with a solution, It has been confusing why I have been so willing to do things that make no sense. I should be practicing my Fire skills not using a weapon, but when Steven commands it I just have to follow.
If there’s anything that I can do that prevents him from being able to make me follow his commands then I will do it.“
Fanny started nodding rapidly. “I should be working my magic not hitting things.”
Before we go too far we need to come up with good visualizations, Let's think about what we could do individually and talk them out,
We need to gain the skill and then practice. I think that will be all that we can achieve tonight. It is important that we are sneaky as we can be about this. If Steven or worse James finds out, I truly hate to think what may happen.
I started to consider how the “remove curse” skill could be envisioned. I first considered the curse resistance that I had So I used my “Understanding” on the skill
Basic Curse Resistance
4/10
Passive - Reduce the chance that a basic curse will be able to affect the person.
Uses a small amount of power each time that a curse is activated.
Upgrade path
Common Curse Resistance
Synergies
Resistance
???
When I consider how each time that one of the instructors commands me, sometimes I was aware of the command pushing me, while at others it would have little or no impact. This actually made sense. While I had resisted the curse when it was placed on me And I suspect it had weakened because I was now aware of it. But it was still in effect.
I considered the visualization of my power. I quickly fell into the image of a flowing river with eddies. I had often felt during the day each time that Steven issued a command something was trying to respond and make me want to do the command. I needed to find the eddy that represents the curse.
I remembered previously that some of the eddies were spinning in the opposite direction from the rest. I checked each of the eddies that were available, I found one that was barely moving and was only just obstructing the flow.
While I was looking for it I noticed that the river had grown, and there were two new eddies that had formed. I smiled to myself because that made so much sense I had learned two new skills and had gained two new eddies. This reinforced my vision of what power was and how skills were represented.
I thought back to my experiences of walking the braided rivers of the upper Waiau and the Mavora Lakes. If a flood of water had rushed down the river, it would change channels and alter the flow. So if I pushed power down the channel where the curse sat It was possible that I would be able to disrupt the curse and wipe it out.
I surfaced from my trance and waited until Fanny and Robert were responsive. I said I think that I have an approach that should work. I see the curse as a spinning vortex in a river that is blocking the natural flow. By pushing a wall of water at the vortex or eddy I should be able to disrupt it and cause it to dissipate. Robert, have you worked out an image that will work for you.”
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“I think so”, he replied “In my mind, fire is bright and makes noise as the fuel is burnt. I don’t see why I cannot create an image of a large fire that encloses us that is just light and sound. This will mean that anything concealed within it will not be able to be seen or heard. I will use the command ‘Conceal’. ”
Fanny then piped up with “I may have had more problems than either of you two as first I had to consider what a spiritual sight might be like and I only have the vaguest of concepts, but what I did realize is that it did not matter. It is difficult to be aware of something when there is random noise. So static or random changes in the ether would make it difficult to even be aware of what was happening in the area. My command is ‘Static’ and will attempt to scramble the ether around us. It feels that it will be an expensive skill, I certainly will not be able to hold it long.”
“That sounds good, I am going to let you know a big secret that I have discovered is that you don’t have to ‘words’ out loud. You can say the words in the silence of your mind. What I want you both to do is work on these skills, but put as little power into each attempt. We don’t want anyone to be aware of what we are doing.”
At this point, we quickly decamped to the mess hall and started to stuff our faces with food, as we were very hungry at this point.
As soon as I had completed eating enough food for two meals I went to the ablution room and had a proper wash for the first time since arrival.
Since “Understand” was such a powerful skill, and was going to become more significant rather than less. I looked for it and “Identify” in the river of power that flowed in my mind. Unsurprisingly both were connected to the flow that I had internally labeled ‘Mind’ and were in the same channel.
Basic Regeneration
6/10
Passive - Improves natural regeneration speed. Uses a small amount of stamina when not in combat, But noticeably more when in combat.
Upgrade path
Common Regeneration
Self Heal
Synergies
Body
???
Basic Resistance
1 / 10
Use a small amount of Stamina to attempt to resist an adverse effect.
Passive
Upgrade path
Common Resistance
Synergies
Mind
?????? ? ? ?????? ???? ? ?
Common Pain Resistance
2 / 10
Able to swing a war hammer with some chance of striking your target.
Passive
Upgrade path
??? ?????
Synergies
Body
?????? ? ? ?????? ???? ? ?
Improved Senses I
1 / 10
Enables the user to be aware of subtle sounds, scents, and sights that would otherwise be missed.
Passive
Upgrade path
Improved Senses II
Synergies
Body
Mind
?? ? ? ? ????
Basic War Hammer
4 / 10
Able to swing a war hammer with some chance of striking your target.
Passive
Upgrade path
Common War Hammer
Synergies
Body
Blunt Weapons
?????? ? ? ?????? ???? ? ?
Skill improved - Basic Understanding - 5/10
And with that I examined the power river it was clear that there was just a little more flow in the stream that contained both “Identify” and “Understanding”, However, the slow spin of the Identify eddy seemed to be suppressing the further flow downstream to understanding. This lack of power most likely was why I had not seen more improvement from my exercise of the skill of Understanding. The problem was that I had not been able to identify anything since arrival. My fear of using the power on people was considerable. Looking back at that first period It was more than likely that James had used a similar but more powerful version of the skill on us when we arrived which explained his knowledge and the reaction that I had experienced.
If I was able to detect a skill was being used on me even if I was unable to identify the skill then using the skill on more powerful people was simply stupid. I seriously don’t like doing stupid things.
It was late now, and I was expecting another day of seemingly mindless activity masquerading as training. So sleep was important. Today had been a good day just the same.