Just when he thought that the worst had passed, another groan split the world. The biggest so far.

You have learned the skill: Familiar Bond! Obtain Yes/No

A brief flicker of light pulsed in the distance and then the fog settled again, obscuring it. Tercius noted the position of the Core of Energy Sight. The handle of the magnifying glass was pointing some twenty degrees to the left of where he saw that light flash— twice by his count.

It seemed important, so Tercius noted it for a later date.

After a few minutes of anticipation, Tercius was tentatively certain that the shaking had passed. For now. Does that happen every time I gain a skill?

He looked at the options that crowded his view and refused to leave. Messages would only go away when you accepted or declined. Years ago, Tercius had tried minimizing the message, then moving it to the side. He tried thinking about it, commanding it… anything that had come to his mind he had tried. Anything just to move it away from the center of his field of vision. Nothing ever worked.

Tercius focused on the first skill. It was familiar to him.

Quick Learner was a skill Perdinar mentioned as a paramount skill for any serious scholar. A skill that improved memory across the charts! Collection, retention, and recollection of information were all improved by a small amount with every level.

"Get it to level forty and even if you forget a specific information you learned while it was used, you will most likely remember where you got that information in the first place, years later." Perdinar had said with his usual light smile. "A useful skill to have, yes?"

The skill was like his Visualization, but more general about information types it had an influence on.

He had learned of the skill around the same time he got Energy Manipulation, now that he thought about it, and that had put a dent in his plans of getting it.

Tercius had spent months following Perdinar's tips on how to get it, and then Energy Sight showed up. The skill had seemed so useful to let it pass by him, so he took it— and Quick Learner had been postponed.

He had gunned for the skill up until his tenth birthday when that eagle changed his trajectory. He had to admit that he had forgotten about it, up until Lux mentioned the information about the strata of skills. After that, he did not want to think about it.

Small Blades Mastery was Lux's work, no doubt about it. When they were practicing, Lux had brought for Tercius swords of all shapes and sizes. Even daggers and small throwing knives were included, just because Lux said so.

"Why let your opponent get near you when you can solve him from range?" Tercius heard the words spoken by Lux's voice as if the older man voiced them from beside him. "This way you spend less energy."

While it wasn't something they practiced for long, Tercius did remember the feeling of throwing small knives and how they kept hitting the marks with Precision. He had enjoyed it greatly, short that it lasted.

Dexterity was THE skill Lux and even Septimus had wanted to impart to Tercius. The Holy Grail of the family skills, as Tercius dubbed it considering the praise his teachers heaped on the skill.

From his point of view— based on what Lux and Septimus told him— Dexterity was a skill similar to Precision. Where Precision was a skill that was general in improvement of the extremities, Dexterity focused, in large part, on hands and fingers.

Lux had exercises for fingers and wrists that he had done to Tercius— a few seemingly pleasant massages, followed by painful, tear-inducing, stretching, bending, and twisting. On a few occasions, Tercius had thought that a bone had been broken, but he was wrong every time. Lux knew his business.

His uncle was the kind of man that knew where to hit for maximal pain and minimal damage, the reverse of that, and then all in between.

Many a time Tercius had returned home feeling like someone used a hydraulic press on his hands— yet no visual evidence of any damage existed. It was maddening.

Months of training to get the skill and Tercius's inability to get it had led to Tercius seeing Lux being disappointed with him.

Tercius chuckled when he remembered his reaction to that disappointment. He had trained harder and longer than ever.

Even when he became aware, consciously, that he tended to react a certain way, in response to the disappointment of individuals whose opinion he valued, was not enough to prevent the very thing from happening.

Seeing Stealth there, Tercius once more remembered the training Lux gave him. How to step and where to step in such a way that ideally no sound was produced, and where to move, how to use the environment to hide…

Then there was that night in Spheros, Tercius reflected. Lux showed me a few practical tricks, didn't he?

Tercius read the next one.

Acting. In a way, he had 'acted' his whole new life. Playing the role of a baby, then a toddler, and now a kid. Acting of that kind left a bitter aftertaste. A laugh escaped him when a few pieces of a puzzle fell into place. Even in this life, I want to be an adult… Life truly has a sense of humor.

Tercius remembered doing that 'young master' stunt in Spheros and then he played a servant of Seliana's in Tripatis. Those times he had truly enjoyed doing it with no lingering bitterness.

His eyes moved to the last entry of the list. Last but certainly not least.

Familiar Bond.

Amber.

The little kitten he picked up a quarter of a seasonal cycle ago. A species that the locals of its native habitat considered a delicacy, while it was under half a cycle of growth, and then a pest when its meat got too chewy.

Tercius did not know how old she was, exactly, but he placed her current age around nine to twelve months. The travelers on that barge had given him a few useful information amongst all that crap, after all. With proper care, Lux had told him from personal experience, a river lion could live up to twenty years.

The little river lioness had changed considerably. For one, she had developed a skill for manipulating water, while still barely a … hatchling … cub. Whatever.

Her gray, blue, and green colored scales that allowed her to blend into her natural environment were the biggest visual change about her— the blue and green leaving a trace of wavy patterns over the scales, while the dominant stone gray color gradually paled. The shape of the scales, especially on her underside, had somewhat changed. Not much, but with Visualization, he was able to see the difference the passage of time had made.

Considering his new knowledge of mana channels— the physical and metaphysical— he was sure that both had grown.

Do animals have a Well equivalent? How do they open it? Tercius went briefly on a tangent. The mana outline of a certain eagle appeared before his eyes and he was left with the conclusion that they did. Not as large as Master Lazarus's and not even a spec of Mistress Lovela's but it's there.

What had not changed about the little creature was Amber's inquisitive and fearless nature, which filled Tercius with an odd mix of happiness, pride, fear, and at times frustration. He fondly remembered how she approached him that morning three months ago, how she inspected his fingers when he started wiggling them for her— even when he had picked her up, she had just observed the world from a new view without any fear in her eyes.

As he considered the skill he suddenly felt as if he was forgetting something. Something important… Tercius rubbed his smooth chin with his hand, his eyes narrowed in thought. Those narrowed eyes went wide with realization. The remains of the Energy from pacification! Dammit!

He had let it slip from his control somewhere in between those quakes. By now it was probably in his body and slowly spreading outwards!

I should have weaved it. Oh, my gods! Tercius thought with wide eyes as he swiped at the annoying messages in front of him. I should have weaved the Energy and kept it here, in the Core! I mean, I would have to tighten the weave every day, but… it could work. It should work?

He left the Core world as he considered the merits of his new idea. He released a content sigh as Meditation started affecting him. The skill messages followed him like persistent salesmen, occupying the center of his field of view even under the effects of Meditation.

When he released the skill, sunlight greeted him. Morning.

Tercius did not have to use any skill to know where the Energy was. His body was vibrant. It's as if I didn't pull an allnighter, he thought as he manipulated the Energy into a weaved lump. Tercius considered transferring it to Seliana, in small increments.

Is that wise? What if I put Seliana in danger by doing it? Tercius questioned, as he read the persistent skill messages one more time. Then… should I let it out, to fade? But… Energy is too slow at fading, it can take days… I guess I should spend it…

Tercius observed the messages that asked him insistently did he want to obtain the skills. Of course he did.

But he also wanted Mana Metamorphosis and some kind of a skill to protect his mind. Those two were paramount, at the moment. If he took these skills, he would have to pacify them and that would take time and opportunities such as the one he was in, right now.

Then he realized the uniqueness of the opportunity that came upon his hands and suddenly he knew what he had to do.

He went out of his room in search of those awake. His impaired vision made a previously trivial task much more complicated. When he neared the kitchen he spotted Seliana's dark hair move around the corner. "Seliana," he called.

"Tercius," came the answer, and then the woman returned with a smile. "Good morning. Sleep well?"

Tercius took a deep breath and shook his head. "Didn't sleep a wink,"

"Oh dear," Seliana approached him and placed a hand on his forehead. "A fever? You should have woken me up,"

"It's not a fever, nothing of that sort. Just… lack of sleep," Tercius said. "I just wanted to tell you that we need to move the repotting and the branch cutting for later. I need two or three hours and I'll be as good as new,"

The woman looked at him. "We don't have to do it at all, you know. Rest. I was just about to go to my neighbor to get you those things you need. A helpful fellow but, for some reason, his wife can't stand the sight of me—"

"We will do it. Just let Penelope know that she shouldn't disturb me," Tercius said as removed the woman's hand from his forehead and looked at Seliana’s eyes through the letters of the message. "See you later,"

"I think I have a tonic somewhere if you can't fall asleep—"

"No, no. No need. Really. All I need is three more hours," Tercius said as he went up the staircase. He almost missed the first stair but managed to escape a fall by grabbing the banister. "You take care of informing Penelope and getting the materials."

Back in his room, he dived back to his bed and straight into the Core world. Let's see what happens when I accept a skill and what when I refuse one, from a very unique viewpoint.

The effigy of Energy Manipulation deposited him in the center of that skill's Core. He observed the topmost message.

You have learned the skill: Quick Learner! Obtain Yes/No

Yes, he thought, as he braced himself and focused his humble observational faculties on his surroundings.

A loud popping sound to his right captured his attention, and he caught a glimpse of familiar light in the distance with a corner of his eye. The fog swallowed the light in an instant but he marked the position of the light in comparison to the features of the Energy Manipulation he saw.

A loud rumble occurred a few moments later to his right and he noted the general area from where it came from.

Quick Learner, he thought.

Quick Learner (1)

The speed at which your body and mind absorb new information is increased by a small amount, while the skill is in use. Every skill level increases the effect by a small degree and lowers the cost of use by a small degree.

Perdinar had warned Tercius that the skill would require a lot of mana to use, especially at low levels.

With only five remaining messages left to obscure his view, he turned his attention to the light that he saw— presumably the source of that loud popping sound.

The pop was new, but… that was the third time that he saw a flashing light.

Third, that I noticed, he corrected himself. I may have missed other light shows, in all that shaking. Wait... this light might be from a different light source, then that one… I am looking at it from another Core. Let me quickly check that.

Each Core was a perfect sphere of varying dimensions. Every Core, much like every sphere, had a center. Drawing two imaginary lines from the center of the sphere onto the surface of the sphere, and applying that to both Cores— all the while keeping their respective positions in mind— gave him a basic mathematical way to check if the light source he saw from the Core of Energy Manipulation was the same one he saw from the Core of Energy Sight.

He knew in which direction the Core of Energy Sight was from where he stood, so he pointed one arm there. He pointed the other arm in the direction of that light he briefly saw. Fifty-five, sixty degrees, give or take a few, he eyeballed the angle between his pointing arms.

Now, instead of going to the Core of Energy Sight and measuring there, he remembered a few details about that Core.

Tercius knew the direction he took as he traveled through the gray fog. He knew his point of entry into that Core was, compared to the handle of the magnifying glass of that Core. The light he saw from the Core of Energy Sight had come from twenty degrees to the left of the handle. Comparing that to his point of entry into the Core, gave him approximately the same angles as before.

He checked once more and smiled. The lights had come from one source. There was more.

It's a triangle, Tercius saw, excitement bubbling in him. The Cores of Energy Sight and Energy Manipulation combined with that light source there— form a perfect triangle or one that's very close to it. A perfect triangle means… that I can get to that light in half an hour…

I can see what happens at the source, and not observe the ripples and sounds of the event, Tercius eyes gleamed, as his feet itched for a run.

The fog-filled world was no longer as alien as it used to be, the uncharted lands becoming ever more familiar.