I didn't spend much longer within Hec's whitespace after that. We spent a few minutes discussing how fastest to establish the connections to their missing fragments and how capable of providing Implants the Entity would be. Hec was still working on solidifying the connections they had to their splintered self, but it was clear that as long as an Implant with their energy signature got within range the connection could be established. Since the Implants had meager range, it would still be risky regardless but it was better than what Billy had been doing by directly entering whitespaces.

Unsurprisingly, Hec was more than excited for the part of my plan that involved getting as many Wards linked back together as possible. Primarily, the one that had been avoiding our access by nature of how Ocala had been politically structured. No one was allowed near Hec's original body, which sat almost center of the city, at the risk of starting an interfaction war. The Entity's bulkiest body was under guard by a team from the Zebelos, Nash, Breakers and Clansmen at all times lest one of the others fragment the Metier Crystal for their own expansion without approval.

Unluckily for our opposition, that was also the place considered neutral ground for faction parleys. Jolene and Billy had confirmed that when the Conference of Ocala was finalized, it would be held at the foot of the great Metier Crystal. It was possible that someone would try to oppose that, but it was a tradition that would raise suspicion if broken.

Even with all that was yet to come, there was only so much that could be accomplished in a single day. The rest of the afternoon went by in a flash. Everyone went their separate ways, making sure to have one or two buddies if they left the building, but the Embassy was our point of contact. As such, for the rest of the afternoon it was Samuel and the Tendril siblings that remained along with me. They obviously didn't want to ask for anything, but Sam easily explained that they'd been sleeping in the common room of the Embassy since the rooms I'd created were taken up.

With an almost dismissive bit of effort, created extra rooms at the second story level. A few applications formed the general cube of stone, while a and combination formed columns to support the structure. A quick pulse of formed thin vertical windows that allowed Hec's light to filter into the room like I'd done for the others staying at the Embassy.

The effort of feeding mana to the Amplitude Amulet while continuing to feed Fievil's reserves was brain-bendingly difficult, like trying to thread needles with both hands simultaneously, but the amounts of mana weren't enough to worsen my recovery so I took it well in stride. Even without boosting my Containment, I was more than up to the task. While Blobby provided a moving chair that screamed 'evil overlord' as it hoovered around the Embassy, I refined my use of my mana as much as possible. Pinpoint efficiency was never my preferred avenue for solving problems, but I knew inherently that a single blow to a rock's failure plane was thousands of times more effective than a strike elsewhere. The same concept applied to magic, and I took the time without constantly harassing elementals to work on that facet of my magic. Progress was slow, but it was better than nothing.

Since it barely took me an hour to give the new arrivals individual rooms that Samuel immediately started to work on furnishing, I aimed my mana control training towards the outside of the building. Thanks to Diffracting Tissue and Harmonic Sinews, I could get a picture perfect idea of the whole Embassy. I was more than pleased with the architectural arrangement of the once-empty building. The structural and magical resistance... not so much. Considering the threats I knew were looming around us, I wished we could just copy the Bunker makers instead of having a building above ground at all.

So, to ease my worries just a bit, I wove a lattice of quarter powered within the foot-thick walls I'd reformed for the building. Each time I used the Skill, divots were formed around the base of even the skinnier spikes but I just as quickly filled them with after Fievil materialized more of the sandstone material with . The mana cost reduction for using my Amulet Amplified Skills was yet another factor we tested. Just because it worked for myself, didn't mean that Fievil's influenced would have allowed me to push its materialized products into to subsidize its cost.

Thankfully, either the soulbond or the compatible nature of my magic made the process near flawless. There was still a lot of expenditure, but I was glad to know my Amplified magic would be a little more usable with Fievil contributing to the cost up front. For all that my Skills had uncountable flexibility, my Amplified Skills just had more... oomph.

Even so, eventually I found myself laying atop one of Sam's vine cots. It was more hammock than bed, but I had no plans to complain. That the healer had taken the time to create the furnishings as much as he had while he was working on refining his own Skills and knowledge was a praiseworthy endeavor. Apart from jamming as much mana into Fievil as I could manage, there wasn't a whole lot I could actually do. My body wasn't in good enough shape to burn off energy and despite how much I'd been flexing my magic it wasn't nearly enough to drain me.

There was, however, one final thing I could and needed to do.

Slurry Ichor (8%) > (8 [88]%)

It was the last true trump card I would be able to manage before the Conference and it was the final proof that progressing in the Quotients didn't strictly require that everyone turn into a murderhobo with the wildlife --even if that was a fast track. I wasn't going to judge someone for taking that route considering where the bulk of my Pith and Dreg came from. While it was true that channeling mana into a Gift or Skill to overdraw on their mana pool was difficult in the way that purposefully dropping a rock on your toes with the intention of breaking them was difficult, I had the perfect lightning rods for that effort.

"You ready, guys?" I asked, glancing to the left. The avian Totem bracelet was hung from the femur of Fievil's haft while the weapon itself was secured in the crook of my elbow. Both roared their agreement, their pitches surprisingly complementary even if Fievil was a tuba to the avian Totem's flute. Alright, that's enough of that. I need to fix this before I follow through on my plan.

With a mental nudge, I found myself within my whitespace. It hadn't been very long since I'd entered the space, but things had already changed drastically. The most obvious change was the 'realness' of everything around me. Where before there was nothing to anchor myself to, and I felt distinctly like a disembodied soul, now the roads to my Traits were neatly paved with smooth sandstone. One of the paths, the bass to the orchestra of my soul, had veins of silver leading towards Harmonic Sinew's Trait Paradigm. One didn't need to be an Alan 'The Purger' Bennet level savant to know that the change was linked to my 'Corporeal Tribulation'.

While the specifics of that wasn't something I was really ready to dive into, it had nothing to do with the first task for my evening.

Turning from the foundation of my whitespace, I glanced up at the firmament where my ephemeral companions resided. Like a lazy caramel sun, Fievil floated through the sky. Soft brown light radiated in a smooth gradient that was closer to the 'earth' of my whitespace than ever before. That wasn't the only change however, as a silver comet maintained a violent orbit around him, the sky in general and just about everything that existed in my soul. When the avian Totem spotted me, it dove and looped around the avenues that led to my Trait Paradigms in tight spirals only to stop inches from my face.

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"Impressive! I didn't even know you could go under those," I said, chuckling as the Totem started doing loops around me before settling on my head. "Why aren't you this welcoming, Fievil?"

The mole Totem in question snorted, rolling over and caressing the air with his oversized claws. The brown gradient rippled and crashed against me like a breaking wave. It was a strange not-feeling because I didn't move but it felt like I'd been drenched in muddy water. Sputtering, I glared at the mole who just snickered in response.

"She's my new favorite," I declared, gently scratching at the ephemeral birdie on my head. Fievil cracked an eye, bringing up a claw to release another ripple in annoyance before the avian Totem chirped. The note warning was clear, and a spark of silver flashed over Fievil's head before she teleported. The avian Totem leaned down, going dime-sized eye to apple-sized eye with the stronger mole Totem... And winning?

Fievil lowered his claw most of the way... Before flicking a finger. Another weaker wave of energy struck me, but he got a peck to the head for his troubles. As Fievil tried to dodge, I couldn't help the smile that took over my face.

It wasn't that my soul had felt empty before, but with the addition of the avian Totem things felt more... Balanced. A little sister to keep the grumpy older brother that was Fievil. A little sister in need of a name.

"Come here please," I said, holding my hand out as the avian Totem dodged a snapping bite from Fievil. She seemed to get my meaning, reorienting her flight to me before landing on my palm. "Can you answer a question for me, little one?"

The bird tilted its head, clearly understanding me but without a clear means of answering.

"How's this, two chirps for yes, one for no?"

Chirp Chirp.

"Wonderful. So, I can't keep calling you avian Totem in my head, or out loud. That means you need a name. Fievil got his name before I really knew that the Totems were a bit more... alive than I originally assumed. I would ask him if he wants to change his name, but all I need to do is think about the prospect and the little turd puts up a wall of refusal. You and I, on the other hand, don't know each other as well. Before I come up with something that you don't like, do you have a name you'd like to go with?"

The little Totem teetered her head side to side as if considering my questions. Chirp.

"Okay, so you'd like me to pick?" Chirp Chirp. "Great, how's... Rose?" Chirp. "Hmmmm. Melanie?" Chirp... Chirp chirp. "Is that... maybe?" Chirp chirp.

"Okay, so perhaps something close to that." It was a bit embarrassing that I blanked on names for the little Totem. Picking names out of the blue was hard, even if I was sure that hundreds lurked in my brain. Perhaps only a dozen that sounded like Melanie, but... I did a bit of mental shuffling and grinned at the name that surfaced. It wasn't exactly like Melanie but it was made up of most of the letters. "How about Amelia?"

Chirp chirp! The avian Totem nodded her head vigorously, certainly liking the name. She even went so far as to jump, backflip in the air and land on my arm with a gentle flap of her wings. The moment she did, I felt a shock run through my arm. The stark silver streaks that the Totem left in the air softened, turning into the slightest of gradients much like Fievil's. In addition to that, Amelia's body grew more distinct. Instead of the vague pair of wings with beak and flaring tail, the Totem's hawk-origins came into sharper relief.

Amelia's beak widened and grew hooked at the end. Her wings grew outwards along with her general size, but that wasn't where the changes stopped. A secondary set of much more delicate wings formed below the larger hawk wings. I hadn't spent a lot of time birdwatching since coming to the surface, but I easily recognized the sharp triangular form of hummingbird wings. As I watched, the larger hawk wings beat strongly while the smaller pair adjusted the Totem. Due to the combination, I saw the omnidirectionality of the hummingbird combine with the strong speed of the hawk in perfect harmony. The feet holding on to my arm were definitely pointier, as inch long talons now graced them instead of the indistinct numbs.

As if greeting the world in her new shape, Amelia let out a screeching buzz that reverberated through the air.

"Ha! Well, I'm glad you like the name. There was a famous aviator from the old world with that name, and from what I've read you sound just as adventurous as her," I said, chuckling as Amelia took off to test her new form. Of course, the whitespace let all three of us 'float' about but that didn't seem to deter the newly christened Totem. I spent a few minutes watching Amelia pester Fievil, the smaller Totem using her silver domain much more precisely than Fievil's sweeping control. It wasn't that one was better than the other, but it spoke of their Attunements in a way that was soul deep. Just because something was strong didn't mean you had to sacrifice accuracy and vice versa, but I could see in their celestial dance that doing the opposite of what came natural took more effort. Fievil, by the end of it, had a frown on his face that had each of his nose feelers curled in frustration.

While their interactions were amusing, and strangely enlightening, I turned my attention to what I'd planned for the evening. With a deep breath that I knew my body mirrored in reality, I tightened my grip on Fievil's axe-hammer. A burst of intent was followed by the precipitous drop of my mana pool from half full to quarter, tenth and then to the cliff edge of 1%. Clenching my body in anticipation, I overdrew my mana while keeping a close eye on my Status.

Dreg Accumulation: 0%

Dreg Accumulation: 1%

Dreg Accumulation: 3%

The uptick ground to a halt faster than I expected. A grunt escaped my lips as I tightened my draw as much as possible. My whole soul was vibrating. I was vaguely aware of Fievil and Amelia stopping their flight to hover over my shoulders. The strengths of their Domains-- especially Fievil's stronger and growing with each bit of mana I sent his way-- soothed some of the side effects locking up my body. The atmospheric mana was all but spent but I held on. It was an ambitious thing to try to progress as much as I was when there clearly was no more mana to give, but I wasn't ready to wait.

The pathways in my soul cracked as I drew in the last bits of Dreg I needed. The moment my Accumulation hit 4% I turned my focus to fishing all that energy. I needn't have bothered. I was in range of Hec. I got the pleasure of watching the purging process as a wall of blinding white encroached on my own corner of reality. The moment the wall touched upon the Dreg hovering around me, it turned into a very pale grey before pressing it against the boundaries of my own whitespace. The more pressed in the more diluted the grey became until it was nigh imperceptible from the brown gradient Fievil emanated.

With a gentle pop the energy was Banked within my soul.

I knew my hold on consciousness was slipping. There wasn't a moment to waste as I asked Fievil to lend me some mana to help contain the new bits of energy and shuttle them down Slurry Ichor's pathway into the grinding Paradigm. The sight of my cardiovascular system was as unnerving as I remembered, but I didn't dwell on it as I released my spell chains and fed the Trait. Yet another pop reached my non-ears, and pressure washed out of the Trait Paradigm with enough force to boot me out of the pocket in which it existed and back to the center of my whitespace. When I reached it, I let go of my death grip on my soul and ejected to reality.

I didn't know that your eyelid muscles could lock up, but they could. They, along with every muscle I knew I had and had forgotten about, were frozen solid. My breath came in short pants while my regeneration tried to process the abuse I'd put my body under because I lacked an ounce of patience. It wasn't an easy night, but the satisfaction of the Status notification that flashed in my vision made it worth it.

Slurry Ichor (8%) > (8 [92]%)

Now to figure out how to advance that Trait and finally break into Q7.