Jan 15, 2019. That peaceful period in the afternoon, when the day is at its warmest, right around 3 pm.

Our next stop isn't because of an obstacle. No, it's much better than that. There's a beautiful bush of blueberries with little red spots on them. We don't eat them of course, since I have no idea if they'd be safe for consumption. Except I can cheat. I focus on them, their codex entry and biological data entering my mind. Also a recipe for turning them into jam.

Now that I know they're okay, I pop a big juicy berry in my mouth, I then prepare to create a mental bridge to Beth. Since she hasn't been tied up, she's my best bet for surveillance. Until they're all free and clear, I'll be linking to her the most.

When establishing the link I don't go through the interface. I no longer need to. I can feel where the pulse connects if I close my eyes.

As my senses switch, my vision is obstructed by a large furry rug. Which I realize is the back of a large furry creature. It appears Beth's staring at its back. I'm tracing the tiger-like stripes that run up and down its body when Beth whispers, "Alexis? Is that you?" In response I see the creature turn all four of their dark eyes in her direction, which raises the hackles on the back of my neck. Right before the connection ends, I see claws flash as the monster moves closer to Beth.

I'm not certain, but I think that was a K'tharn. And it was huge. The damn thing was at least as tall as the statue back in the village.

The idea of vicious cat people tormenting my companions urges me onwards. The mountains are still a long way off, but I'm getting closer. Once again, I'm reminded that I need to remain alert, watching for what lurks in the shadow.

When I was atop the ridge I'd been concerned about the terrain ahead. It appears my worry was well-founded. I've reached a ten-meter cliff that seems like it was ripped straight from the ground. It stretches most of the way across the river, creating an impressive waterfall. The cliff feels more like an interruption than natural terrain, it's so abrupt and even.

There's a thin layer of frost covering the surface, which strikes me as weird. While it's been chilly all day, it hasn't been that cold. There's something strange going on.

Getting closer I see dark thin lines running through the frost. Inspecting the wall carefully I realize the frost radiates out from the lines. I almost reach out to touch it when I swear I hear Beth in my head, "Don't go touching strange things on a strange planet, Alexis Wyonna Everette."

Okay, maybe not quite how she'd say it, but the point still stands. I should be careful.

I step back, then focus on the wall but instead of a code or knowledge, I watch as the frost detaches from the wall then slams into my head. I can feel the chill spread through my skull, then with a spike of pain, I collapse to the ground screaming.

I don't know how long I spend like that, but when the pain dies down to what I will generously refer to as a mild migraine, I open my eyes. Looking back at me, Smoulder sits there, bathing the area in heat. I can see the distortions in the air.

Checking my conditions I see a new status.

Mana Poisoning.

"You have been afflicted with mana poisoning. Increased sensitivity to mana. Users are advised to select a class to manage their mana radiation. Continued exposure will result in mana over-saturation, then death."

Well.

That's not good.

I lay there for a second cursing my idiotic self for not getting my class when I had the chance. If I wanted to get it now, it'd cost me at least a day's travel.

I think about my choices for all of three seconds. I already know what I'm going to do. Every step I take out here could lead to death. This isn't any different. I made my choice this morning. When I set out to help the others instead of holing up in the church, I knew there was a chance I wouldn't make it.

Sitting up, I look at the cliff. There's a clear spot all the way to the top now. It'll be easy to climb with a little stone shaping.

But before I do so there's something I need to do first.

Moving closer to the river, I use water manipulation to pluck a piece of ice out, setting it in my hand. Instantly my migraine disappears as my mana shifts to match the cold touch of death I now cradle. A sensation I've felt once before, on the day after the ugly tree incident.

I was home alone and it was especially cold outside. I found out a couple of years later when my mother was laughing at her 'idiot daughter' that it had been minus sixty degrees Celsius.

See, I knew my papa was in the hospital nearby. Plus, I'd walked to the hospital before. Mother had always made us go for flu shots as a family in the fall. It was only fifteen minutes away. So I bundled myself up then started walking.

Breathing was painful the second I stepped outside the door, but by the time I was halfway, I was feeling comfy and sleepy. I just wanted to lay down to have a nap.

But papa was waiting for me. If I could make it to him, he'd be all right. He would!

So I kept plodding forwards until I emerged into the hospital. I caused a pretty big disturbance when they realized I'd been out walking by myself. In all the years since I don't think my mother has ever held me so tight.

There's a reason I've avoided such an obvious possibility for elemental manipulation. Even as I watch the flakes swirl around my hand I know it's going to be a challenge to practice with ice.

"Skill unlocked: Ice Manipulation (1)"

Dismissing the ice, I set my shoulders then begin to climb.

It's nearly dark when we reach the bend in the river. Across the water I see the rocky shore stretched below a jagged cliff. I was hoping to come across rapids by this point, but we've had no such luck.

Chewing on some of the berries from earlier, I sit down. I feed a couple to Smoulder while reaching into my backpack. From inside my pack, I proceed to pull out nearly a cubic meter of stone. About halfway through the day, I started collecting rocks. I kept going until the pack was full, all for this moment.

As Smoulder and I continue to snack, I start shaping the rocks into a stone dome. Presto, instant shelter. Faster than I could put up a tent too. Not necessarily faster than a competent person could do so, but definitely faster than I could. When I release the magic, the dome presses down into the soft forest floor a little, but otherwise seems stable.

I leave a couple of small holes for airflow then summon a small orb of fire.

Plus an exit of course. Not that either of us needs a very large one.

With my shelter in place, I use some spare rock to form a basic toilet. Finishing with my waste, I collapse the toilet, sealing everything inside before propelling it into the bush.

Now that our camp is set, there's one last spell I want to try before we crawl inside for the night.

Fire torrent.

The antithesis of ice. Ever since earlier, I haven't been able to chase the chill away.

Gathering my fire mana in great quantities, the heat builds rapidly. It feels as though I'm standing next to an oven, warming me to the bone.

Before it overwhelms me I release the spell. The blues, oranges and reds are beautiful as they spin away from me. It's such a blazing rush of heat, that it leaves the ground scorched for a hundred meters. It might have gone further still, but I aimed it towards the river. Now a giant cloud of steam rises from where it dissipated. Even with the torrent dispersed, the heat from the scorched earth is uncomfortable to stand near. As I watch, I see a couple of fires start on the edges. I spend a minute putting out fires with water until I finally cast a couple earth torrents to bury it instead.

Fire torrent was the quietest of the torrent spells, but it was still pretty loud. Plus, incredibly bright. All things considered, I probably shouldn't have cast it so close to camp.

The thought is enough for me to pack up my dome before continuing another fifteen minutes south, following the river. Once we're far enough from my (totally intentional) distraction, the sun has well and truly set.

Slipping into my new dome, I close the entrance, only leaving enough room for Smoulder to move in and out. I'm sure I'd regret it if she had to use the bathroom but couldn't get out.

Now that we're secure in the dome I remove my ankle brace. The status said my ankle was better a couple hours ago, but I decided to keep moving. It wasn't impeding me at all. In fact, I might make two boots for tomorrow. Maybe it'll help with the health loss.

Next, I check my bandage covering the hole in my arm. It doesn't look any different than it did this morning, which I think is a good thing. Gently, I use some water to wash the wound and the bandage.

Once I'm satisfied with the cleanliness of my bandage, I retie it before checking over the status of my onesie.

It's being held together by even more loops of metal at this point. At the rate I'm going my onesie will consist of more metal than fabric by the end of tomorrow. I might have to start making the hoops out of stone. Or creating more metal. Taking all the metal hoops out, I put them in my pack with my former boot. When I put my pack on the ground, a realization dawns on me. My pack will make a decent pillow. They should have included that in the description.

As I ready my bed, I think back over my progress for the day. I've managed to get halfway to the others, so it doesn't seem like they're moving. Practiced my spells while shaping a whole bunch. By the end of the day, I was able to take all of my mana through the alphabet, cast most of my torrent spells and cycled through every element in each of my basic runes. I made a bridge then flattened a grove of evil plant things. All in all, it's been a good day.

I held off on experimenting with metal torrent. It's going to be super expensive. Tomorrow maybe.

With that finished, I allow myself the time to check over my notifications for the day. I'm glad I'm able to get my log to summarize everything so easily. I swear my notifications keep changing based on my desires.

After earth torrent reminded me that spells are much cheaper when I'm redirecting material rather than creating it, I realized that I could lower the mana costs significantly. This allowed me to add metal and stone spells to my practice repertoire at nearly no cost. As a result, my spell list has grown quite a bit.

"Spells discovered:

Tidal Wave Cyclone Blast Avalanche Earth Tremor Blazing Torrent Water Arrow Metal Arrow Earth Arrow Stone Arrow Water Barrier Stone Barrier Metal Barrier Fire Barrier Lightning Barrier Water Spray Fire Spray Earth Spray Stone Spray

All said, my improvements add up to satisfactory gains across the board.

"Skills increased:

Mana Manipulation* (53 to 78) Lightning Manipulation (17 to 27) Water Manipulation (23 to 27) Stone Manipulation (43 to 49) Earth Manipulation (13 to 27) Metal Manipulation (30 to 32) Wind Manipulation (17 to 27) Fire Manipulation (17 to 27) Spatial Manipulation (11 to 12) Temporal Manipulation (7 to 8) Cleaning (39 to 40) Engineering (22 to 25)

It's not just numbers either. I can feel how much easier it's become to work with each element. Not just externally, it takes less time to gather them to my fingers as well. My aim is also improving. At least on stationary targets. I think that's just a result of my practice though.

I'm planning to spend some time running tomorrow to see if that gets easier too. If it works, it might save my life.

While I'm checking over the skill increases for a second time, basking in the clearly recorded progress, I notice the asterisk next to Mana Manipulation. Focusing on it, a new notification appears.

"Skill at maximum. Please increase governing attributes Spirit and Intellect to increase."

Interesting. I guess I have another reason to increase my spell casting attributes. Not that I needed more. I really need more integration points. Oh well. Now's not the time to worry about it.

With my status reviewed and my injuries addressed, I'm almost ready to settle in for the night. There are just a couple things left.

First, I reach out, preparing myself to connect to Beth once more. Letting the first pulse go by me, I count as I wait for the next.

1, 2, ....

..., 88, 89, Pulse.

As soon as I connect, I start speaking, "I'm safe. I'm coming."

I've had two hours to come up with something yet that's the best I had.

I don't process much on Beth's end as wherever she is it's dark. However, I think I hear her say, "good," right as I disconnect.

It's not much, but if I'm right, we can communicate. At least I know Beth is still okay. Also, whatever she's laying on is super comfy.

Ruefully patting the forest floor that will serve as my mattress tonight, I wait for my facet to tick up so I can complete my last task for the night. Once it reaches nineteen I purchase the codex for facet.

"Codex obtained: Resource - Facet."

Description: Astral grade higher concept resource.

Current known users: Forerunner Pandora. Drawing on extensive knowledge of the system’s understanding of time and space, Facet grants the user the ability to change the fabric of reality. With Facet a user may travel incredible distances instantly, alter the flow of time, access locked interface options or perceive another's senses. Please note these effects can also be achieved using quest rewards, rituals or artifacts. With sufficient stores of Facet, a user may view events that occurred in the past. The cost of viewing past events increases based on distance from the user's personal temporal thread.

Hmm, okay. Most of this I've already figured out. Past viewing is interesting. I wonder what it means by temporal thread though?

Facet’s primary linked attributes are Intellect and Spirit, with a lesser gain from Perception and Resolve and a minor gain from Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Endurance.

Unlike most higher concept resources, Facet may not be fashioned into armour.

Figures I get one of the only HCR (higher concept resources) that can't make armour.

Facet is a new resource and as such all possible applications have not necessarily been recorded in this codex. Good luck Alexis.”

Okay, that's it. My interface is officially talking to me. I laugh nervously as I say, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

I don't get a response, but that doesn't surprise me. If my system can talk to me, it hasn't been very chatty. But now I know it's not just an automated system. Not sure what I can do with that fact though.

"Uhm, I'm going to purchase the codex for K'tharn as soon as my facet recharges, so if you can hear me, maybe send a message that includes bananas," I say to the air. I wasn't planning on purchasing the codex. It didn't seem that important. But then I saw Beth with that giant creature.

It takes sixteen minutes for my facet to tick back up to nineteen, at which point I send my mental confirmation to purchase the codex for K'tharn.

"Codex obtained: System Species - K'tharn. Gene seed D.

Description: K'tharn are a highly dimorphous species. The females are approximately 1.5 to 1.7 meters tall, are highly intelligent and incredibly dangerous. The females have litters of approximately six to eight, which the males then tend. The males are smaller generally between 1.1 to 1.3 meters tall. They are weak and have severely stunted Intellect but are excellent caregivers of their young. Due to not meeting the minimum sapience threshold, K'tharn males are not recognized as valid users.

That seems way too small. The one I saw in front of Beth was easily 2.5 meters tall.

On the Eastern continent, K'tharn society at the time of integration was composed of warrior queens whose reach was as far as they could travel in a week. Post integration this trend continues, though a single warrior queen rules over far larger territories. Most K'tharn who have left their homeworld have adopted their new cultures, with exceptions for their dimorphous biology.

K'tharn don't particularly care for anything resembling a banana, as they are primarily carnivores. They do utilize a wide variety of herbs and roots to season their meals, however. They even make a mean chilli.

Hehe. Cats don't like bananas. Go figure.

There is a limit to how much I can add to a system message. You may call me Wyonna.

Using my middle name. I guess they don't want to give me their real name.

K'tharn languages primer is available for 34.7 focus and 19.1 facet. Warning, multiple language primers in a month may cause headaches."

Similar to when I analyze objects, I feel a detailed understanding of K'tharn biology fill my head when I finish reading the codex. Once it finishes, I realize I know more about K'tharn biology than I do about humans. I'm also far too familiar with the mechanics of their sex drives.

If there are K'tharn here and I can learn their language by downloading it, I don't see why I shouldn't. I'd like to be at full focus when I set out tomorrow so it seems I'm staying up for another fifteen minutes. Plus maybe this Wyonna character will have something else to say.

"Nice to meet you Wyonna. You obviously know my name. Are you reading my thoughts?" I ask, before trying to project the words 'if so you should work bananas into the next message. Then I'll know I don't have to speak to reach you.'

Spinning several elements around in the dome as I wait, my facet reaches nineteen. I immediately purchase the language prompt.

"Language primer downloading.

Haha. Nope. That's against the rules. Uhm. One sec.

Uh oh, something weird is happening here. It's a good thing you're ready for bed. Good night Alexis."

I barely have time to register the last notification before I find myself rapidly losing consciousness.

My last thought as I fade isn't that I've been betrayed. Or that I'm being knocked unconscious again. No. My last thought as I fade into the abyss is far worse.

I didn't remember to wash before going to bed.