206. A SIMPLE SIGNATURE: WIREMU

I acquired two extra monster cores from a safe in Marquess Onslo’s place. Nobody was home when I visited, but I couldn’t find anything else of value. Mayakku and I experimented with identifying what type they were. We discovered gasses could be in a sealed container as long as the container wasn’t Spiritual in nature, as that confused it, like my stone darts and the piercing aspect. I still wasn’t sure about the piercing as an affinity.

One of the Monster Cores was an air affinity, but we needed to figure out what type. It was a specific type, and both Mayakku and I agreed on that. We just couldn’t get samples to test it against. If we knew what monster it came from and what environment it was in, that would have helped.

We tested shadows as well. We needed Tabitha or Nyx to create and hold shadows while we did the ritual. None of the cores were shadows, but that wasn’t the point. Using my Analyse Bond on Nyx and Tabitha, I was getting more detail as the skill levelled. At novice, it was giving me one or two impressions. Wispy shadows, or fast shadows etc. Now, things were getting more nuanced, which actually confused things for me. Mayakku and Cōmpēṟi had Sharp piercing and gentle precision when the skill was low Apprentice. Two more levels and I am also getting quietness and soft fur. I have no idea what that means. The first ones are still the strongest.

We put Mayakku in the ritual circle as well as Cōmpēṟi. Mayakku was really mixed and had no clear affinity. Cōmpēṟi reacted more to the tooth and claw than other things. The risk is we are only testing against items we have available. Maybe they have a strong affinity for something we haven’t rested.

Mayakku tested me. I reacted to a lot of stone, metal and to a lesser extent, poisons. I had almost zero reactions to other things. That contrasted with Mayakku, who had a low to middling reaction to almost everything.

I read Otto’s changes to the ritual and the results he had, which were mostly failures. He was trying to change the ritual to force an affinity rather than identify it. I am not sure how helpful that would be. I have seen the damage a wrong affinity causes. If it doesn’t kill you, then you want to die to escape the effects.

“I think I have got it,” Mayakku said. “Comparing these three cores has shown me the difference between them. The Bonedog, with a sharp piercing flavour. This air one is a constant presence of a type of air, and this third one that we haven’t tested yet. I am starting to get a sense of it without the ritual.”

“What are you sensing?”

“The flavour seems to be of a rotting swamp. Can we test that?”

“Ruku’s poison water is one ingredient. His bond, Wai, lived in a swamp. I wonder if his excrement is spiritually enhanced. It probably is because he has eaten enough spiritual food.” I pulled a leaf from our collection of spiritual ingredients. “Plant Lore says this grows in swampy areas. If we add a piece of granite as a random test and see what we get?”

We organised the ritual, and I let Mayakku run it. From looking from the outside, Wai’s excrement and the plant seemed to be the highest. Mayakku confirmed this, but neither was quite right. The excrement was closest. Mayakku thought it was more about the rot or decay of things combined with water.

“I have just got a new Skill!” Mayakku exclaimed. “Analyse Core. It is low level, but it tells me the basis or flavour of the core without a ritual.” She pointed to each core in turn, “Sharpness, Air, Water. It has none of the piercing or rot, but it is a start without using a ritual. This means I can start altering the enchanting runes without a ritual.”

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It sounded to me like this was a key skill for core enchanting. The skill should reveal more nuances as it levels. I think Mayakku has almost cracked Core Enchanting. But what does this mean for me? I don’t have the Analyse Core skill. I have Analyse Bond Skill, which gives me a sense of some of the same flavours. Analyse Core is analysing a single item, and the accuracy will grow as it levels. Analyse Bond is different. There are two sources of flavours and the interaction between them.

The Skill had levelled since I last analysed the bonds of Appā and Mutalil. I checked again. Appā and Ṭirākkar had watchful guardians as a flavour. Back then, he was a specialised warrior and a brand-new hunter. Where was the hunter aspect, and where was Ṭirākkar’s flavour? The new levelled Skill had watchful guardian as the strongest flavour, but underlying that was a patient stalker. This was probably from Ṭirākkar or Appā’s Hunter Class. Possibly both.

Mutalil and Āṟṟal have a strong flavour of fierce fighting, but now there were hints of swift pursuit. I think the journeyman-level warrior class dominates the bond, but as the bond grows, it more easily flows both ways, and the hunter-class influence appears. This seems a logical theory, but how do I test it?

I have five basic Classes: Hunter, Quarry Worker, Metal Worker and Spy, which are all Journeyman level. Warrior is now level two, yet when I first tested our bond, the affinities dominated it. Poisonous rock and creeping rock. This was the case with Tabitha and her shadows as well. I analysed Tāoke and my bond again, and still strongly Poisonous Rock. There might have been hints of other things, but they might have also been wishful thinking. Where is the hunter's influence? I was a hunter long before anything else. The Class and personal flavours must be there. I need to level the skill. I need to test Ruku, Modrica and Kelda’s bonds.

Ruku had taken the role of bodyguard to the Countess Auditor. He was the most visible Knight. He let me analyse his and Wai’s bond, which was water-dominated. From Ruku, it was strong supporting water, but there were hints of poison. Where was his Warrior Class? His water was partially used in supporting and movement ways. I expected more aggression.

Ruku wasn’t surprised. “An affinity will always dominate, regardless of how long you have had it. I don’t have the Skills you have, but I have been around a lot of people. Very few have an affinity, and you are concentrating on the few rather than helping the many. Classes always affect people. I spent several months learning to be a Trainer. One of the things we are taught is to be sensitive to how people interact with their class. Those who are matched with the right class learn and level faster. It is similar with Skills. My Coach Skill gives me a feeling of compatibility. Does your Tutor Skill do the same?”

Now that he mentioned it, it became very clear that was the case. I nodded, deep in thought. These feelings of compatibility were similar to Bond Care as to match the right bonds.

Then it clicked, “All these skills are reading our Spiritual Signatures.”

“That's what I was taught. Your Analyse Bonds is a bit different as two signatures are interacting. My Coach and your Tutor are sensing people's Spiritual Signatures. Your Bond Care is also reading the signatures of animals. Mayakku’s Analyse Core is reading the signature of the monster cores. This is also the key to learning an Interrogate Status Skill. You must be more sensitive to a person’s signature,” Ruku explained.

“So a signature changes with a class?”

“Yes, to some degree. The more compatible the class, the easier it is to assimilate into your spirit.”

A whole world was opening up to me. “So that is why you need a class at Journeyman Level to teach or specialise. It must be part of your spirit.” Ruku nodded. I went on, “So these rituals I have been reading about need journeyman-level people running them because they are influencing the Spiritual flows.”

“You lost me on that one,” Ruku said.

“That’s OK. It has been bugging me for a while why the advanced classes needed rituals run by Jouneyman-level practitioners. Now I have a better understanding.”

Ruku understood which advanced Class I was talking about. We were in a public space here, so I couldn’t expand on it. Now, I needed to figure out how to get around the problem. Either I needed to alter the ritual or alter the Spiritual flow. The other option was to coerce a Journeyman-level Slave Taskmaster to work for me. That sounded a lot like slavery.

I looked at Ruku, “Interrogate Status, huh? I have been wanting to learn a skill like that.”