Theo Spencer,

49th Day, Season of Blooms,

873rd Year of Balkor’s Betrayal

I’ve switched to English for this one. With Zarali in the town, I can’t count on the old Drogramathi script, so this seems like the best idea I have. If there’s someone on this planet that can read English, then they can read anything else I write. What’s the point in that?

Things have taken more turns in the past few weeks than I care to write here, but I suppose that’s the point. I had a lot of problems dealing with the sudden rush of emotions—emotions that weren’t mine—but I’ve dealt with them. The Dreamwalk has been more than a little helpful in healing old wounds, but it’s slow. I’ve raised my stats enough to recognize my failings and now I’m working to improve them.

That’s the first thing I’d like to write about. Cores are, as far as I can understand, links. You could think of them as pieces of a realm, or house. Some aren’t aligned, and others are. Resting in my chest are three cores. Two go to Drogramath and one goes to something else entirely. The Tara’hek is my single most important core, I realize that now. Without it, I’m like a rudderless ship.

The Tara’hek is at war with my Drogramath cores, and it’s winning. It’s like a pocket realm that envelops Tresk and I. If I take more cores, I need to do research on them. I need to know that they’re not aligned with someone else, because if that’s the case… Well, I’d rather not think about that.

So, think of it like this. I started my journey with whatever “stats” I had back on Earth. Beaten, bruised, and forced into a cause I never wanted had stunted my intelligence. My view of the world had only recently expanded, but my Drogramath cores helped cover up my lacking wisdom. Then here I am. In Broken Tusk, getting more experience than should be possible. A sudden growth in both intelligence and wisdom. Your brain changes when that happens. Your thoughts change. I can see all that stuff back on Earth without breaking down, now. Hell, I can even look at Berlin again.

I’m smarter. I’m more wise. I’m stronger, faster, more durable. Those physical attributes make sense, and they wouldn’t change your thought process. But intelligence and wisdom? Those are dangerous. And it’s not really “intelligence”. It doesn’t make me smarter to have a higher score. It makes me think faster, and have better logical deduction. Wisdom doesn’t make me more wise, it increases my intuition. I think it also increases something related to spellcraft, but I’ve never cast a spell in my life. Only now am I experimenting with mana, and that has been strange enough.

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Breaking into 20 intelligence is going to make me pretty quick on my feet. That leads to a question I have about this entire system. My thought process has already been altered enough by stats, let alone cores. Thinking about Sulvan gives me the chills. He doesn’t act like a normal person. He’s more like a bird of prey, always looking around for the next thing to grab. His stats have gone high enough to turn him into something else, and that scares the hell out of me. What happens when I hit level 100? The Theo Spencer everyone knew back on Earth is already dead several times over. What will he be like in the future?

Well, that’s a bit too heady for this journal. You really have to take things one at a time, you know? Hey, reader. You there. Strange being from another universe. Take it easy. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, and stop thinking that you have to do everything. That’s something I learned about, make no mistake. The deal with Rivers and Daub was orchestrated to assassinate me, but guess what? My town is filled with badass adventurers who are looking out for me.

To anyone looking to attack my town: come at me. It seems like anyone who is strong enough to take the town has their sights elsewhere. I guess you get to a level where material things just aren’t where it's at.

Since my last entry, a lot of things have changed. We have several new citizens to start. I lifted a few that already lived here, so that’s good. Gridgen is running the mine. Oh, we have a mine and a smelter now. Xol’sa is a wizard who has a tower outside of town (he’s incredibly important to the town). Nira smelts our metal, and Alise is my new assistant. They’re all very interesting people, but Zarali stands out among all the new arrivals.

Imagine losing your sibling. Roving the planet to find answers, since he disappeared leaving you nothing to remember him by, and the pop. There he is. Doing alchemy in some podunk town in the southlands. I can’t imagine the emotional toll it took on her, but I think she’s happy to have anyone. Even if it’s just an imposter. That’s what I am, after all. Living a stolen life.

Don’t worry, mysterious reader. I’m already over that. You are very mysterious though, aren’t you? I’m certainly not going to go back and read this crap. That makes me wonder if anyone will ever read this. But that’s not important.

I’m sure I can break through my next barrier. Something tells me the level 20 barrier relates to infusing things with mana. Another baby step toward real alchemy. The things these alchemists have been doing will pale compared to what I’m going to do. That’s right. I’m slightly ambitious about my prowess. The other Drogramath Dronon made mistakes. They kept to the shadows when they should have been in the light.

I wrote this a lot faster than last time. Even with a quill and ink, if you can imagine that. This is enough writing for a few weeks. My hand is cramping.

Farewell, strange reader. Until next time…