I thought too conservatively. My vehicle, which I will henceforth not call a car anymore, as it has more in common with Luke’s land speeder than with what Benz invented, can generate air and hot water. I am currently enjoying my own whirlpool. Bubbles getting stuck on your antennae is a weird sensation.
With passive enjoyment comes contemplation. With contemplation comes doubt and a hint of guilt. I killed people. Good people. Yes, they were my enemies in the sense that their actions threatened to harm me. But they had a reason to be my enemies. What was I to do? Should I have quietly gone to prison because I had done bad things? Sorry, but no. And that leaves out the question whether the Network was waiting to get their hands on me. Too rational to just sacrifice myself for justice. Others would say too selfish. Yet I am not good at being a rebel. I am too conventional. Do I want to join the establishment, though? Sure, to turn into a hermit would mean a lonely life. However, I am the only member of my race by all accounts. I won’t have a big family with children anyway. Why do they call it race? Apparently I do not even share a phylum with man.
I do not want to be alone. In last consequence I am doing this for people who’ll want to live their own lives. Maybe they’ll visit every few weeks. Still, I don’t want to abandon them. That means that I’ll need more information. Will they tolerate foreigners? Will we be taxed to death?
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First you need to provide some information.
P: Scholar Clouns, it seems to me that you have essences though you are not a member of the Adventure Society. Have you had a relative who looted your essences?
RC: One of them actually yes. My Magic essence. But no, we bought the rest of them. My family is small, but moderately wealthy, so that we can afford cheap essences and awakening stones for some of our members who show an aptitude for rituals or a lucrative trade.
P: So there are shops selling essences in Greenstone you can just walk into and buy any essence you like?
RC: Well, not shops as such. Some brokerage houses dealing in magical goods do indeed have some common essences you can regularly buy, though they are usually open only to adventurers and a few essences are banned. Most essences are sold at auction in any case.
P: Banned? I am a bit concerned.
RC: No problem. I asked the priestess. Yours are all good. Though she said that you have foreign essences. That is most interesting.
P: Yes, indeed, the skill book for languages Knowledge provided us with has not contained a name for one of my essences. It was my first essence actually. Physically it looked like a cube of grey metal.
If getting your notebook ready were an olympic discipline, he’d be qualified.
RC: This is interesting. On this world Iron covers all metals.
P: Sorry for the confusion. It is an essence for a class of weapons. The most basic version is made out of that metal, although many people paint them, especially the more modern versions.
RC: A weapon. Could you … ?
I conjure my assault rifle.
P: I would hand it to you, but it’ll dissolve, if I do that.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
RC: A common behavior for conjurations from most essences. It’s function is, frankly, not immediately obvious.
P: It is a projectile weapon. The projectiles come out of the hole at the end of this tube.
RC: Like a blowdart? Some tribes use them.
P: Technically yes, but the handling is like a crossbow.
RC: Did you get this one from the essence?
P: No, an awakening stone of Myriad. From the essence I got the ability to use magical tools. Is that the ability you use to operate your skimmer?
RC: I don’t know. We need to test this out.
It turns out that I can operate a skimmer. I am happy that he is content for me to lift the skimmer and move it a few meters forward and backward again.
RC: Some abilities are known to occur in a number of essences.
P: Does that mean that the Adventure Society has a big list of abilities?
RC: Well, the Magic Society, but yes, there is a big list.
P: So you want to add to the list. In that case I probably should first describe my ability that comes from an awakening stone of the same essence.
I describe [Hyperkinetic Cannon] to him, with a lot of questions and explanations.
RC: So you can fire additional shots from your storage area?
P: In theory, if I had ammunition. And that ability comes from another essence.
RC: Frankly, as interesting as a new essence is, it will stay a curiosity without more essences. So your other unusual essences are also very interesting. Perhaps even more so.
P: Which one interests you most?
RC: Dimension. Your confluence is rarer, but it is usually avoided because it is seen as a waste of the essences needed to achieve it.
P: Well, I like it. Though I must say that it provides abilities that make sense only in a group of essence users. But you still want to talk about Dimension first, don’t you?
RC: Yes.
P: Very well. Though now you have awoken my interest. Which confluences do people use Dimension for?
RC: Time and Gate. Restoring earlier states. Transfering changes, …
P: I should read the list. Well, I had no choice. Dimension was my third essence and I had to rank up or I would have died with all those monsters in the forest. It allowed me to teleport. And I happened to get a few awakening stones at the same time.
RC: That explains it. Did you get [Teleport] right from the essence?
P: Yes.
RC: Not unusual for that essence, as far as our limited data allows any conclusion.
P: And I think I must disappoint you if you are looking for cool combat abilities. I have both my perception and my aura ability in Dimension.
RC: No, on the contrary, that is most interesting. I noticed your telekinetic aura.
I end up demonstrating my aura ability very thoroughly.
RC: This ability is most likely one of a set of abilities very similar at iron rank, which are usually associated with the Force confluence. Which awakening stone does it come from?
P: Dance.
RC: The most unspecific of the stones likely to awaken such an ability. How about your perception ability?
You gets the explanation quickly. It seems that it is a known ability.
RC: This is usually associated with the Zeal and Wrath confluences.
He looks it up on a device that look like a tablet of marble.
RC: At bronze you will sense magic; at silver auras – that is very conventional – and at gold you will be able to see through obstacles.
P: My other abilities are time acceleration and something that is better demonstrated than explained.
I give an unfortunate boulder a dose of frostfire.
RC: That incantation sounds odd in your mother tongue. Nevertheless that is a very characteristic ability. It is called [Wrath of the Magister].
P: The magister?
RC: Most likely a legendary figure. Which another of your abilities is also named after. Frankly, it is usually found with rather esoteric archmage confluences. You do not resemble him. And I mean not just in essences, but also in aura. Probably also not physically, though technically we have no idea what race he was.
P: Not in my aura.
RC: Well, your aura is trained. Obviously so, for you use it for telekinesis. But the training seems to be, well, for effect and strength only. You project well, but your control for retraction is quite unsophisticated.
The following discussion leads to a relevation and a promise of an introduction on the local techniques for aura control in the evening.