As it turned out, the hardest part of unlocking the [Meditation] Skill was knowing how to meditate, and Malwine was… not doing great on that front.
Something told her she’d dabbled in meditation before, sometime between her pottery phase and pretending to crochet. She could only guess it had gone just as terribly that time, because Malwine was nothing if not consistent.
Laying down on her crib—what other position could she meditate in?—Malwine had spent the past something-minutes trying to think of nothing at all, yet thinking over and over again about how she was supposed to not be thinking about anything. It was a headache-inducing ouroboros of irony rather than the peaceful mindfulness she thought meditation was supposed to be.
The next attempt involved breathing in and out. Two seconds in, five seconds out. Two, five, two five, twenty five—wait, what, no. Two then five…
Of course, that meant Malwine had to keep counting, and her mind had yet to slip into the blissful void she thought meditation would promise—in no small part because her breathing fell out of sync if she didn’t focus.
…Yet focusing was keeping her from actually getting anywhere with her attempts.
She tapped her hand, the mere act of trying to force stillness upon herself a grave challenge. With a groan, Malwine reopened her eyes and summoned the [Recently Exited Stasis] buff.
…She might have fallen asleep.
The buff was down to 7 hours, and there was absolutely no way on not-Earth that she actually ‘meditated’ for that long. Malwine checked the prompt with Older-Beryl’s Skills next, but no others seemed as uncomplicated as [Meditation] should have been—or simply weren’t worth getting just to test this.
[Meditation] seemed like it could at least help her restore the mana stat she didn’t have, or something like that. But she’d failed.
She’d have loved to have confirmation as to whether she could get those Skills Older-Beryl used to have on her own. She still wanted to think she wasn’t giving them up forever. There had to be a way to get them anyway, at least the interesting ones—the defense-type ones, [Enhanced Memory], and [Meditation].
Hopefully someday…
Malwine refocused on the Epic Skills. All she had to go off on were the Skill names themselves. [Write Anything] sounded like it could somehow make her write things that she might not otherwise—Oh, who was she kidding. They just sounded like they'd let her write anything, or anywhere, exactly what it said on the tin.
She didn’t know what the limitations to writing might be, but Older-Beryl’s Skills overall confirmed the written word at least existed, as the presence of [Learning by Reading] also implied. It was good to have a second source for that, however, as she knew her own Skills were tailored to herself rather than necessarily reflective of what would work on this world.
[Write Anywhere], however, could almost be a suspiciously convenient solution for her lack of a notebook. ‘Anywhere’ was broad, and she was quite sure it had been lack of specificity that let Malwine use [Once and Forever] on ancestors she knew nothing about in the first place.
So if this would let her write anywhere, could she write in the air? It was a stretch, but maybe she could make this work.
Imagine if I get it and it doesn’t let me actually do that! That’d be embarrassing.
You have claimed [Write Anywhere]
The world is all parchment and your thoughts are a quill. You may impress the written word upon anything non-living. [Toll] is accrued by writing as well as dismissing previously imprinted text. Writing on anything that doesn’t remain static will lead to additional costs. Skill limited to the written word. You must know the script or language you intend to use.
(!) Using this Skill requires the Class to have a Root as Mana Source
Trait: None
Aspect: None
Would you like to also claim a Trait from Beryl Skrībanin?
It was even better than she had expected, even if it did mean she’d have to choose one of those Affinities as Root—whatever that’d cause. Finally, some progress for her.
Oh-ho-ho, I happen to have two of those!… Though she most definitely wasn’t picking {Foresight}, nevermind how Older-Beryl had. And it doesn’t say I have to put the Root on
Besides, if she did need one for
Malwine focused on the thought of choosing {Legacy}, and the shift happened immediately, like something distant yet close clicking into place.
You have chosen to plant a Legacy ∞
Which Class category would you like to make {Legacy} the Root of?
Available Class categories:
,If you use a Root as Mana Source for any abilities beyond the Class it was planted for, its effectiveness will be limited to 25% of what it would be within its Class.
Wait, 3? But there are 4 Class categories! Is one inevitably getting shafted with 25% effectiveness? Damn.
Yet if she let herself hesitate now, she’d probably try to postpone it indefinitely.
Malwine picked
Something dinged as it updated prior to materializing before Malwine’s eyes, and she gasped. This was her first time seeing where her Skills fit—though she admittedly hadn’t made an effort to figure out where all these Skills were being organized anyway.
Skills
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
UNUSED
Home Sweet Home
50
Homeward Roads
UNUSED
Cool Head on Your Shoulders
50
Expressed Reversal
UNUSED
Unpacifiable
50
Implacable
Locked
Learning By Reading
50
Remote Reading
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot
Locked
UNUSED
Write Anywhere
0
Undeveloped Aspect
UNUSED
Once and Forever
50
Mana Reclaimer
Locked
Situational Autopilot
50
True Autopilot
Locked
Nosy Old Lady
50
Purpose
UNUSED
Close to my Chest
50
Reveal Nothing
Even being as ‘unforged’ as the rest, the Class category now felt almost… palpable. Like it was becoming a part of her being rather than mere words on a floating screen. Something had shifted within Malwine, and for the first time, she saw her level go up without a Skill being redeemed.
You have reached Level 30 [Banked levels: 15]!
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
It caught her off-guard, so much that it took her a moment to understand why, despite the notification being right there.
Your core has advanced to the Fifth Stage of the Early Esse.
Name: Malwine Rīsanin ⊛
Kind: Human
Inherent Aptitude: The Weight of Legacy | Inherent Flaw: The Fog of Lore
Age: 18 months (+1297)
Fifth Stage of the Early Esse | Level 30 (5+25+0*) [Banked levels: 15]
Lifetime Skill levels: 400 (+1253) (S)
Planting a Root did that? Not an unwelcome surprise. Malwine had been expecting only introspection and the dreaded meditation would increase that. How far can I level up without actually cultivating, I wonder.
…Probably not that far. The way levels were differentiated when she viewed her full status told her as much. Unless there was a way to increase her capacity, she’d have ‘only’ 140 potential levels from Skills. It would likely be a long while from now, but she’d eventually need to intentionally increase her core stage for levels.
Malwine looked back at the Skills panel. Even the Skills she hadn’t redeemed were there, just still banked along the levels. Only then did it truly strike her that she had quite the advantage with 2 bonus Skills per category.
Unused Skill slots have the same color as the stage, she further noted. Perhaps unlocking more Skills was possible at higher levels of advancement, then. If everyone started on the Early Esse and with only 5 Skill slots, she might be ahead of the curve even with the curse tanking her attributes.
The one thing she wasn’t quite sure of yet was the relevance of Lifetime Skill levels. If it was listed so directly, there had to be something it affected. Whatever S means there. Yet another sort of tier?
With a Root planted, Malwine could also now view her Mana Sources panel.
Mana Sources
Root
Acclimation
Control
Legacy ∞
0
0
Available
-
-
Available
-
-
Locked
-
-
Locked
-
-
Locked
-
-
Locked
-
-
Other Affinities: Foresight II
No way she was planting the trash that was {Foresight}, so that’d stay nice and pretty under the Roots. Its Legendary rarity might as well exist just to taunt her.
At least seeing the panel answered her question about having less available Root slots than she did potential Classes. I have to unlock at least one more slot… OH, RIGHT. To-do list, here I come!
Malwine’s list did not materialize in the air before her. She had… an inkling as to how the Skill was meant to work, but nothing would happen when she tried. It was like waving her hand in front of an automatic door, only for it not to open despite the door being undoubtedly functional. She understood at some deep level that she now had everything the Skill required to function, yet it simply wasn’t responding.
Is it the mana?
She had about as much knowledge on how to use mana as she did on meditation.
Dammit, I’ve already gotten this far!
There was nothing left to do but to backtrack, hoping revisiting the question after the topic change might make her understand what she was missing. It had helped her with noticing how [Once and Forever] wasn’t as immediately useless as her first reaction had told her it would be and—right, [Once and Forever]. A Trait from Older-Beryl.
She wasn’t sure what the difference between Traits and Aspects was, beyond the implication that she had more control over former than the latter. She could use Trait slots, but Aspects apparently had to be developed. Somehow.
You may inherit 2 Traits from Beryl Skrībanin.
: [Flawless Ink], [Faster]…Definitely a scribe.
And wow, she had a freaking [Calculator]. I wonder if it was literally a calculator? The naming scheme of Skills and Aspects seemed to be all over the place, so she couldn’t be sure.
Malwine looked over the list, thinking over what little she’d learned of Older-Beryl, if only from what Skills the woman once possessed.
Just noticed Older-Beryl had 6 Skills per category. A higher rank than Early Esse, perhaps? That'd line up with Malwine's theories. So far, the ordering of the categories had been consistent—
thenIt would be something she could only guess for the
She still hadn’t dismissed the now grayed-out panel of Older-Beryl’s Skills, so if she was right, she could guess which Traits had been attached to Older-Beryl’s best Skills on those. Best rarity-wise, anyway.
Aside from the blatant parallel between [Calculator] and [Mathematics], [Mind Shield] would make perfect sense as a Trait to attach to [Mental Defense], which only solidified Malwine's confidence.
So she'd have set [Solidify] for [Write Anything] and [Blank Panel] for [Write Anywhere]?
I'll trust her judgment, Malwine decided, in part to avoid having to overthink the decision herself.
Malwine had been somewhat worried about not having Traits for all her Skills nor knowing how to get them, but Older-Beryl had had more Skills. Perhaps all the Skills her slots afforded.
Yet she hadn’t had Traits for every single one. Interesting. Malwine shook her head lightly and confirmed her first choice.
Select a Skill to attach [Blank Panel] to. Trait may be influenced by the chosen Skill and its Aspect, if applicable.
[Write Anywhere].
Her newest Skill repeated itself to her, now changed.
[Write Anywhere]
The world is all parchment and your thoughts are a quill. You may impress the written word upon anything non-living. [Toll] is accrued by writing as well as dismissing previously imprinted text. Writing on anything that doesn’t remain static will lead to additional costs. Skill limited to the written word. You must know the script or language you intend to use.
Trait: [Blank Panel]. Generate an empty panel the size of your head. This panel is persistent and may be toggled to invisibility. You may have as many panels as the level of the Skill this Trait is attached to.
Aspect: None
Oh. YES!
There was still the tiny issue of Malwine not knowing how to actually use mana to activate the Skill, but it was perfect now. Older-Beryl did indeed have excellent judgment. Now I just wonder how developing the Aspect works…
But Malwine knew that wasn’t an answer she’d get right now, so she returned to select the second Trait.
None of the other
That left the
Right now, her only actual Skill under
So she went for it.
Select a Skill to attach [Identify] to. Trait may be influenced by the chosen Skill and its Aspect, if applicable.
[Cool Head on Your Shoulders]
You are “blessed” with a peculiar mind, capable of isolating itself from distractions—though only of the emotional kind. Push past inner turmoil to focus on the things that truly matter, though empathy may take a hit regardless of whether this Skill is active. Not that you’ll notice the difference. Applies to Status Effects that affect your emotional state.
Trait: [Identify]. Using this or [Expressed Reversal] on an individual will have the effects and costs of [Expressed Reversal] as well as tell you their name, kind, and level so long as said details aren’t masked. You may see the level of anyone under your total level, or over your level up to a margin equaling your current Skill-based level. Depending on the Perception and Presence attributes of both yourself and your target, the usage of [Identify] may be detected.
Aspect: [Expressed Reversal]. So long as an individual’s emotional state isn’t masked, you may attempt to peek into their current visible Status Effects at a fixed cost of 5 [Integrity] per attempt. Success chance increases with the level of the Skill this Aspect is attached to, for a maximum of 50%.
That was… neat. It basically merged itself with the Aspect. So if Malwine targeted someone with either [Identify] or [Expressed Reversal], she’d get the equivalent of hovering the mouse over something in a game. It had a cost, but that wasn’t exactly a deal-breaker. Not to mention thinking [Identify] was easier than [Expressed Reversal]… Now I just need someone to show up so I can use this on them… Wait, [Identify] says it's detectable but [Expressed Reversal] doesn't? I'm going to have to stick with the longer one, aren't I?
Still, there it was, the first Skill she had with both a Trait and an Aspect. Malwine wasn’t quite sure what that represented, but the sense of completion—however minor—soothed her.
Skills
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x5)
Locked
UNUSED
Home Sweet Home
50
Homeward Roads
Identify
Cool Head on Your Shoulders
50
Expressed Reversal
UNUSED
Unpacifiable
50
Implacable
Locked
Learning By Reading
50
Remote Reading
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot (x4)
Locked
Locked
Unused Skill Slot
Locked
Blank Panel
Write Anywhere
0
Undeveloped Aspect
UNUSED
Once and Forever
50
Mana Reclaimer
Locked
Situational Autopilot
50
True Autopilot
Locked
Nosy Old Lady
50
Purpose
UNUSED
Close to my Chest
50
Reveal Nothing
As she reviewed her Skills panel again, a fresh concern reached her. Do I have to use all Skill slots while at Early Esse, if they’re from Early Esse?
[Cool Head on Your Shoulders] served as a good crutch to suppress the more overt signs of concern-induced stress, but Malwine couldn’t dismiss this. She frankly doubted she could get herself some 19 Skills anytime soon.
Think about that later, think about that later…
And of course, the first step towards responsible procrastination was having a to-do list she could refer to. Soon. Malwine understood she just had to figure out how to use mana. It couldn’t possibly be that hard. Her ancestor here had been using it with {Foresight} of all things, and that looked utterly useless to Malwine.
It’d be a walk in the park—she just knew it.
Oh, who am I kidding…