Oskar pulled up the notification for Willful Synergy, but outside the odd warning at the end, it basically told him what he’d experienced.

// Willful Synergy is an improved control method for Rakiyu. The Magic Within naturally reinforces Sora and Talau, and will do so to some extent without your direction. Taking control of the magic, however, can modify your spells and abilities at the cost of more capacity, and more importantly, drastically increase the synergy between the magics. Take care, though, to maintain control… Spirit that breaks free is without purpose and direction; outside the boundary of purpose is chaos. //

Outiside the boundary of purpose is chaos? Who’s waxing poetic now?

// Dude, that’s copy and pasted from my freshly unlocked databanks. I’m so not a waxer. //

Smirking, Oskar paused his practice and helped the group clean up the area to hide their presence, and then the group prepared to move again. They’d only rested a short while, but everyone agreed they needed distance from the cavern before resting. It had taken so much effort to get used to his improved body that he hadn’t really considered the massive improvement Touwon had worked on his prosthetic. It didn’t quite bounce, but it absorbed the impact much easier than before. Touwon had checked it the moment they stopped and muttered to himself as he made some minor adjustments that Oskar couldn’t follow. It worked, and that’s all Oskar cared about.

We know that having a prosthetic here, long term, is not gonna be something I can sustain unless I can somehow make a new liner. Liners can last awhile, but if it wasn’t for the healing of the Wayspring water, this one would probably already be causing skin breakdown.

Oskar felt a headache coming on.

I guess we need to keep an eye out for smooth, durable, pliant material. That should be easy enough, right?

// No. Not at all. //

Thanks, PUBs.

// Of course! //

Still quiet, Erik kept looking up at the sky and then back down at his feet as they walked, which Oskar knew meant he was deep in thought about something. He knew his brother well enough to know he’d talk when he was ready and not a moment before.

After Oskar updated them on the World Gambit situation, Fox and Oskar talked for a bit and eventually agreed they needed a plan that was better than “get distance from the cave.” They’d spend more time talking that night when they stopped to rest. Sara-without-an-H nodded as if she agreed, and that was that; they spear back out and kept a wary eye on the sky and their surroundings.

It feels strange to have everyone look to me for answers. I think everyone here is more knowledgeable than me, maybe even the cat.

Oskar’s main takeaway from the conversation was wandering around the desert waiting on Valla to find them again was not an option at all. They needed to find and stop her. However, they couldn’t just find and attack her with no information on her location or numbers. Additionally, he didn’t know what was happening to the Kobolds under Valla’s influence, but the longer they took to stop her, the more she could hurt them.

And apparently this entire planet. We’ve run long enough. We’ve got to find a way out of this loop before we slip up and lose someone. That was a truth… as Fox would say.

Oskar’s brow furrowed as he considered.

I feel the weight of all this, like Bastet said I would. It’s probably going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, don’t get me wrong. I’m not excited about all this really… but man. I feel like, with these guys, we might just do it.

He looked around at the group- his small Collective.

More like family, now. And if I keep bulking up, I’m gonna look like Vin Deisel.

He looked down appreciatively at his shoulders and arms.

I’m gonna need new clothes soon, too. If I hadn’t lost all that weight during those… those crappy months, I wouldn’t even fit in this stuff anymore. But it’s not enough. I need to be stronger. I need to keep everyone safe.

With renewed vigor and purpose, he summoned Sora and Talau around him and marveled again at how much smoother it all worked together, even when he wasn’t using Rakiyu. It was as if he was learning how to implement some of the synergistic effects the Magic Within used.

He tried for a moment to tap into the new Cryon Concept, but backed off. That magic was going to take a lot of practice, and drained his energy much faster than he could sustain. He would need to be sitting by a Wayspring and downing water to refill his Capacity just to be able to mess around with it for more than a minute, so instead he focused again on the Magics Above and Below. When he was directly connected to their sources, open air for Sora, and touching the sand for Talau, he found that channeling the individual magic alone felt fine. Outside their source, they slowly lost potency. He considered that for a moment, working through it while trying to get used to the new way the prosthetic foot moved beneath him.

In the air, Talau feels like sand running out through my fingers. On the ground, Sora feels like a long, slow exhale of breath while walking up a mountain. Together, they anchored one another, and found he could channel either one better than before, and for longer.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Rakiyu, though…

Concentrating, he cycled his Spirit magic inside of him and pushed. The glass-like dome of Sora, spinning around him, smoothed out, and again, Talau relaxed, honeycombing around his body in a loose embrace he knew would respond to any attack. The usual pressure of maintaining both eased as Rakiyu infused them.

It’s not just infusing them, he realized. It’s saturating them!

Suddenly, Oskar realized he had way more control than previously, especially with Talau. Rakiyu acted like a control method for the other two when he fully activated Willful Synergy. He could push outward or condense the magic back into his body like a skin-tight suit of magic.

Holding them tight to his body, he felt stronger and more protected by both. The magic changed when he pushed it outward. It wasn’t reinforcing his own magic as much, but felt like it was seeking something else. He pushed it outward further, straining as far as he dared until a familiar, unwelcome pressure tingled at the base of his skull and threatened his concentration. He stopped pushing immediately and instead tried to pinpoint exactly what the magic was doing.

The entire group turned and looked at him, even Sara, still sitting atop Touwon’s neato bag. Oskar froze, his eyes scanning the faces of the group.

“Uh, what? What’s that doing?”

Fox was the first to answer. Her head tilted and the Kobold’s intelligent green eyes were full of curiosity. “You completely vanished from my perception. Do you know how you did this? Is something you could envelop the entire group in?”

Oskar considered for a moment and said, “I’m not sure if I could cover everyone. The magic wants to be free, so I’ve got to concentrate to keep it flowing around me.” He pushed outward, and Fox’s eyes widened further.

“It feels like a weaker version of drinking water from a Wayspring. I am revitalized.” Fox said, her voice carrying over to Touwon and Erik, who were making their way over to them. Penny poked her head up from the sand, having surfaced likely because she could apparently no longer feel Oskar above her.

// Oh man, this is so cool. I’ll shut up, I’m just excited. //

Ignoring the PUB, Oskar considered his class name, Wayspring Wanderer. He realized the name might not have meant what he’d previously assumed. He was no longer wandering between Waysprings, using his strange druidic powers to find them. They felt like a part of him.

I can’t do this forever, though. This is tough; each step feels like trudging through quicksand when I’m tired. Add in giving 90% of my concentration to channeling magic, and I can’t do this for long. The healing properties of the springs are the only reason I can even withstand walking in this unbearable heat for more than a day or two. But… if I can master this, could we survive without constantly drinking Wayspring water?

The Magic Within didn’t act like Sora or Talau at all. Those two felt like separate powers he could call on, direct, and manipulate. Instead, Rakiyu felt like a part of him he needed to tame.

Oskar wondered if it might be easier to think of it as closer to eastern cultivation, but that didn’t seem quite right either. However, he had to condense it back into himself to contain it, a loosely similar concept. He didn’t have a core or anything, but the magic constantly fought to be free, to flitter out of his control in tiny purple sparks and disappear.

So, either I allow it to do its thing and weakly infuse Sora and Talau, or I take control of it and fight it nonstop.

He continued to familiarize himself with the Rakiyu around him, careful to keep it on a tight leash. Though it got easier to do so, he couldn’t extend the aura further noticeably.

Eventually- noticably slower than with the water- his weariness faded. The familiar, growing friction on his stump from his prosthetic died away. Feeling the aura’s effects as well, Erik stood a little straighter as he walked right beside him.

“This is nice,” Erik said, stretching. “You’re OP, dude.”

Oskar laughed and almost lost the weaving. It was taking a little less time to concentrate as he used it, but the initial casting of what he was currently calling his Wayspring Aura seemed like it took forever. He needed to stabilize each magic separately before he could move on. The only one that felt natural was Sora, but as soon as he channeled Talau, it took a few seconds before the whole thing smoothed out.

I’ll get it. I just need more time. Maybe I’ll even be able to infuse them with Isother.

Even considering that gave him a headache. His lagging Spirit rank had bottlenecked his abilities before, and realized he might need to progress further in his body stats before he could push much further in his magic stats.

He pulled them both up, and the PUB happily obliged, still excited about Oskar’s progress.

Mind D+ Rank

Body

D Peak Rank Spirit D- Rank

Sora 86% (C+ Rank)

Talau

61% (D Rank) Rakiyu 45% (F+ Rank)

For once, it was his body that was his strongest stat. Spirit was still lacking, comparatively, but Oskar had a feeling that with more Mind, he could juggle the three magics without quite as much strain. Maybe Spirit played a part in that as well, but, frustratingly enough, the tooltips were just the same, generic ones he’d read when he first put on his PUB.

// I hear you getting sassy. Don’t get sassy. You know what I know. Perks of being a trendsetter. This stuff affects every class differently. //

I was only getting a little sassy. I never doubt that you’re on my team, PUBs.

// Don’t get sweet on me either. I’m a very emo PUB. //

Oskar sighed as the PUB obscured the entire left side of his vision stringy, black lines that looked like… hair?

Did you… did you just waste energy to give me emo hair?!

// *Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you! Over agaaaain…* //

Oh God, please, no. How did you even know about that?

// You should be as careful what you consume with your eyes as you are with your mouth. *Don’t make me change my miiiind.* //

I wouldn’t wish your friendship on my worst enemy.

// You are your own worst enemy. //

Damn it.