Russell Clouns doesn’t mind mind being teleported, if there is a publication coming out of it. If there is multiple publications coming out of it, he is not comfortable with exploring how far he’d go for that.

L: Do you see any difference to the powers you know?

RC: No. When did you say did you gain this power?

L: After arriving in this world. Do you want me to use a power I gained on our home world?

RC: Yes.

L: Very well, I can do so, but I would like to learn how to use this ability in combat.

RC: Very well, I can see that. But you have to be aware that your confluence is very much geared towards cooperation in a team. This very ability demonstrates that. You teleported me.

L: So what conclusion do you draw from that?

RC: We should first go through all of your abilities at least and then look for synergies.

Z: Perhaps we can come to a compromise and first go through a bit more quickly through the abilities we gained in this world?

L: Very well, let’s start with mine.

Russell is not entirely happy, but agrees.

RC: I am afraid I must correct myself. Your perception ability is known, just not from this essence, altough it is a rare one. We have records of it only up to silver rank. It is unusual in that it develops aura senses before magic senses.

L: What do you mean by that?

RC: Sorry, I keep forgetting. Up to silver rank, perception abilities are operating under a standard scheme. They provide aura senses, magic senses and usually an effect unique to the ability. All six different sequences are known, though not in equal rates of occurence.

Z: So our perception abilities have no direct application in combat for the forseeable future?

RC: Correct, though knowing that an enemy is present is essential in combat.

P: Very well, could we finish Lidija before we move on to everybody else? In fact in a few cases you instantly recognised her ability, didn’t you?

RC: Yes, your abilities in the shield and renewal essences are well known, although one of them is again rare, but known in that essence.

L: Why is an ability gathering mana a product of the shield essence?

RC: It gains shielding abilities at higher ranks.

Z: Are you saying that we need to relearn our abilities at each rank?

RC: I am afraid so. Take Lidija’s ability we looked at first. At iron rank, the illusion she leaves behind is merely that, an illusion. At higher ranks it gains offensive abilities. Then you can treat it as a kind of summons. Now you cannot. At iron rank the ability, aside from an escape if something goes wrong, is commonly used to facilitate attacks that would ordinarily be suicidial.

Z: I think this is giving me ideas.

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The rocks around our camp do not deserve this. Zora doesn’t care. At first she just experimented with placing an explosive rune right next to the illusion she was leaving behind when Lidija evacuated her. Now she has extended her scheme to dropping from the sky onto a rock, while giving it an explosive punch and then leaving it an explosive surprise as she is being evacuated.

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RC: Let’s recapitulate. You started out as human and reached iron rank as human.

P: That is correct. I had three ability slots free when I transformed.

RC: And you filled them all on your home world.

P: Exactly.

RC: You said you looted two of your essences and the government gave you your first essence.

P: Yes.

RC: Hence you developed your looting power from your first essence?

P: No, I developd it from my confluence. My essences I looted conventionally with a ritual.

He is taking notes in some kind of shorthand.

RC: When did you become a ritualist?

P: Years before I got my first essence. I actually did the ritual for it myself.

More notes.

P: Why does it matter?

RC: We have found that certain abilities that involve rituals require the essence user to know rituals to be acquired.

P: Interesting. What happens if you give sixteen stones of the Rune to somebody who has never heard of rituals?

RC: Interesting question. I am afraid the costs have ruled out doing the experiment on a statistically signficant set of recipients.

P: That I am afraid will also apply in my case.

RC: Yes, but there’s nothing wrong with doing a case study.

P: I absolutely understand. Though a question: Which awakening stones would you use to give somebody a teleport ability?

RC: Dimension or Reach. If you don’t have one of them Adventure, Void or Magus. Why do you ask?

P: When I gained my third essence I was hired by people, who could control me via blackmail. They sent me a representative, who gave me some awakening stones.

RC: I though you looted the essence?

P: I did. But only the essence. In fact he showed me an extremely complex looting ritual. I only had to execute it. They outright gave me a few awakening stones. Signing on bonus, if you will. Among them was a stone of the Reach. He commented on that that he was paid to deliver it, even if the primary goal had already been achieved.

RC: Primary goal?

P: I got Teleport straight from the essence.

RC: Unusual, well, we are talking about Dimension. Yes, I see what you are getting at. An awakening stone of Reach on somebody with a Dimension essence, that is as close as you can get to a guarantee of a teleport ability. They really wanted you to be able to teleport. Didn’t you tell me that you needed to teleport out of an astral space into the astral, which in turn triggered the outworlder effect?

P: Yes, I did.

I hesitate.

P: Could I ask you to keep quiet about that? These people may be around here.

Promptly he looks around. And then he nods. I probably need to give him something juicy. I conjure my sniper rifle.

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KN: You want us to use an attenuated vaccine without trials? Old style variolation. Do you know the death rate of that procedure?

P: More or less. What is the alternative?

KN: We heal them!

Z: We have gone over the math. Three times. It does not work out.

Karolina gets up and storms off. I start rising. Zora grabs my antenna. Damn, she knows where it would hurt.

Z: Don’t. She’ll return. Being a rationalist is a point of pride to her. Let the math do its work.