January 16, 2019, 6:12pm. Second Supper time.

It’s only been three days. Three days since the four of us woke up in our pajamas, surrounded by towering stones, within a forbidding forest and bestowed with new power.

In that short period, I’ve learned an amazing amount of magic. I’ve discovered how to manipulate the elements, taken the first steps manipulating space and time and even wrestled with some of my personal demons. I’ve seen a dinosaur, dragon and giant water elemental, each one large enough to swallow me whole. Not that elementals eat. Or do they? Not important.

We explored, were forcibly split up, then reunited. Along the way I met Smoulder, my now bonded pet, and a certifiable ball o’doom in her own right. I also met Rufka, who has a penchant for the dramatic. Oh, and I witnessed the destruction of not one, but two different worlds as they were torn apart by forces which I still have a hard time comprehending.

These are my thoughts as everyone takes a moment to try a random portion from my platter. But then my mind turns back to our conversation.

A system library sounds like exactly what we need. I take a bit of a vegetable wrapped in thin layers of meat, bringing it to my mouth as I wonder how far it is. If it's related to the Lathiac Sea that Uthica was looking at, near the end of her memories, it might not be that far from the portal.

"So, this library, would it have records on things like, say, the mana-swarm?" I ask, offering Smoulder a crispy dark green veggie, which she turns down in favor of a drumstick from Josh instead.

Since Smoulder doesn’t want it, I start chewing on the surprisingly sweet veggie as Rufka responds, "probably. But like she said, the place is locked up. Hasn't been a non-Aetherium inside for over a hundred years."

"Which doesn’t even account for the fact that you're all outlanders," Tipan says, "no, the library is outside our reach. But there is another place we could go. The Pernian Academy."

Rufka looks at Tipan for a second before she starts chuckling, "You have some silver running down your spine after all, don't you skyborn?"

“It is the better choice. Unless you can think of somewhere better,” Tipan snaps at Rufka.

"I'm sorry. Could one of you please explain. What is this Pernian Academy?" Beth asks leaning back in her chair, drink in hand.

"It is an independent academy created by one of the great founders of the Aetherium," Tipan says while eyeing my plate of appetizers.

I wave her forward as Rufka speaks, "Ha. I bet that's what they say in the Aetherium. Tell me, does the Aetherium still mention that the founder was a pu'shaha?"

"What? That's not true. It was Jethico herself who established it. Everyone knows that," Tipan snaps back, her hand hovering over a particularly large meatball as she addresses Rufka.

Rufka doesn't bother responding to the point just shaking her head and laughing softly.

"She's right that it probably has answers though," Rufka says as Tipan grabs the meatball, giving Rufka a glare while she chews.

"They don't give in to the Aetherium either, so it might be safe. They're almost as independent as a proper reacher," Rufka adds.

"Interesting," Beth says, "this sounds like a possible way forward. Do we know how to get there?"

"It is far to the northwest. We would need to pass through or around Aetherium lands," Tipan replies, her composure recovered, and her meatball devoured.

"Which is the easy part. Once we're west of the Aetherium we'll need to book passage to the cauldron,” she continues. Meanwhile Smoulder decides she's done sitting at the table, nearly knocking the plate off when she launches herself into the rafters.

"Hmm, you're sure this system library can't be accessed? It sounds much closer." Beth asks while I grab the plate, saving most of my treats.

"It is much closer. But you need to be an upper copper rank Aetherium to earn access. Or be capable of subverting the magical wards," as Tipan finishes, I realize the others are all looking at me.

"What? I don't know anything about wards," I say while carefully moving the plate back into place.

"Okay, so learn more about wards and reach copper rank. Or travel across the country. Those are our only options to get more intel on mana swarms?" Beth asks.

"You could always ask the system. It likes impossible quests. Sometimes it throws in useful hints," Rufka suggests while pulling out the board game we played when I first met her.

"I will," Beth says while nodding.

"I still have more questions," I say.

"Sure. But you can ask them over a game of Astra's Stride. Or are you worried you'll lose again?" Rufka asks with a smug grin.

"Oh, you're on," I reply.

Once Rufka brings out the board, Tipan gasps.

"Is that the original? Pre-Thenum?" Tipan exclaims while sitting down, running her hand along the edge of the board.

"Uhm, yes?" Rufka answers, seeming put off by Tipan's enthusiastic reaction.

"Do you still have the essence bound playing pieces? What am I saying, of course you do, all the colours are still active. I'm stone," Tipan blurts out before remembering herself, "that is, I would prefer to play as stone, if that's alright?"

"Sure. I'm lightning. Lex?" Rufka asks while handing a dark grey bag to Tipan.

"Water," I reply as Roberts and Josh join us, Beth watches but doesn't move to join. Roberts takes fire and Josh takes earth as we return to our questions.

"What are the actual bonuses of having a class," Beth asks. Which is funny since I think she's the only one of us with a class.

"Well it depends. There are per level increases that raise your base resources," Tipan says as she takes the first move.

"Yeah. They're fixed, but at least the fixed bonuses are always positive," Rufka adds watching Josh's first move carefully, "not like the initial class integration. One of Theria's wards ended up with a negative health edge that almost killed her when she took a protector class with a particularly low strength."

"Really, who would let their daughter do such a foolish thing?" Tipan asks.

"We're not too big on forcing users to do things in the reaches," Rufka replies taking her turn, "besides she was fine. Just had to drink a little of Muthika’s best until she got her strength and constitution up."

"Muthika’s best," Roberts asks, looking up from the game.

While Rufka explains her awful, but useful, health edge liquor to the others I turn to Raz. Even while Rufka is explaining the benefits of her mixture, Raz is bring us all a round of something blue and fizzy. Before he can leave, I ask, "you mentioned earlier that we could stay overnight. How many essence does it cost?"

"One per night," Raz answers, setting the drinks floating in the air next to each of us.

"Really?" I ask, surprised by how cheap it is. Each of the drinks he's serving costs the same.

"Yes. This is a rest area after all," Raz replies, his teeth flashing.

"It just seems wrong to pay more for food than shelter," I say as I take my turn.

"Well, food takes more effort than shelter. Makes sense to me," Raz says shrugging as he moves away.

Huh, I guess with magic available he's got a point.

"What about the maximum attribute increases?" I hear Beth ask as I return my attention to the general conversation.

"They allow specialization without having to advance your tier. Pretty huge if you're near the cap, which most people make eventually," Tipan says while taking a moment to consider her next move.

"Mum says it affects each tier, so if you have an increase in iron rank max, you'll have the same increase in copper. Since we don't have silvers, no clue if it continues."

"Interesting," Beth says while scanning everyone at the table.

"I guess," Rufka replies, as she gets her seventh piece into Roberts starting area.

"How common is it to have, say, an epic class?" Beth moves the conversation along while I watch Tipan get her 8th mana into Josh's starting area, which triggers her stone mana effect. A small pebble materializes in front of each of us, hitting us all with a gentle flick, before fading away.

"About one in a thousand are able to upgrade their class to epic by the time they make copper tier," Raz answers unexpectedly, "most start with an uncommon class of one type or another then complete the quests to improve it. I even know one individual who started as a common class, working their way up to legendary. But they're the exception, not the rule. Literally one in a million ever unlock a legendary class."

"And there is a proper way to find out the strength of a unique class," he continues.

"Really," Rufka says looking up with intense focus, her piece still in hand.

"Yes. I can initiate the quest, but the specifics will be determined by the system."

"Does that do anything? I mean, if it's an uncommon or rare class, why does it matter? Can't you just read the attribute and resource increases to gauge the class strength?" I ask as I get my seventh piece across.

"Abilities," Rufka says at the same time Tipan says, "Their abilities."

"Mum says there are unique classes that get worse abilities but have better attributes and resources. Or the opposite."

"That's evil," Josh declares as he gets his fifth piece across. He's having about as much luck as I did in my first game with Rufka.

"They're correct, ability strength can move a class up or down a tier relative to the bonuses," Raz says as he steps away.

I manage to get my eighth piece in place, sitting back and watching everyone get sprayed with a mini spray of water.

Glancing at my notifications when I sit back, I notice my water manipulation has increased by 1.

"One second, just a quick aside," I say as I gesture at the game, "does this increase our elemental manipulation skills?"

"Yep. If there are enough players. And you haven't won with that element before. That's why mum made them. She figured it was a lot easier than training every amped up cub who wanted to learn magic," Rufka replies.

Tipan practically falls out of her chair before gasping out, "Your mother is the Crimson Archmage?"

"Yeah, so?" Rufka asks leaning back, crossing all four arms and flexing at the same time.

"Your mother is the reason I became an enchanter," Tipan exclaims excitedly, "her work with the Aetherium's self-healing defense network is incredible."

"Probably. Though I'm pretty sure she left backdoors. It's not like she wanted to improve their network," Rufka says while glowering at the board in front of her.

"Backdoors could be useful," Beth says.

"Sure. But they have my mum locked up. We'd need to get by their defenses to get to her anyway."

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind, and seriously Alexis?" Beth asks when Raz brings me a plate with steak and potatoes on it.

"What? I'm hungry." I reply defensively.

"Uh Lex, how many attribute points have you increased lately," Rufka asks, an unusual look of concern replacing her glower.

"Hmm, I don't know exactly. About a hundred since we got here three days ago. One second, I'll check. Hmm. A hundred and thirteen including the ones I invested after the fight with the V'troll."

"How are you not fur and bones?" Rufka asks while handing me her drink.

"Uhm. Why would I be? I've eaten like half a wolfadillo in the last couple days alone. I swear I'm hungrier than ever, since I got here. Speaking of integration points, how hard are they to get?" I ask, as I take a big, for me, cut of steak, eagerly chewing it down before washing it down with Rufka's drink.

"Well, that depends on how adventurous you are. Exploration and encountering new things tend to reward more points. But you need to eat to sustain the changes. A hundred points in three days? She's going to need more food," Tipan says while looking to Beth.

"This seems like a significant danger. Why didn't the system warn us?" Roberts asks as he places his eighth piece.

"Mum says you can't actually die from integration hunger, you just stop improving," Rufka says as she snags some of my potatoes, licking them off her finger with a thoughtful expression.

"So, what I'm hearing," Josh says, looking at Beth, Rufka, then me, "is that we can eat all we want?

When no one immediately responds, he smiles, getting that far off look while saying, "Awesome."

The next fifteen minutes are spent establishing that, yes, we need to fuel the system with food as well as integration points. No, I can't just eat nachos. (According to Beth) And maybe, just maybe, the four of us might have received a pretty significant starting bonus.

"Fifty-three points," Tipan says disbelievingly, shaking her head back and forth, "I started with eight and my mother threw a party that lasted for three days, she was so excited."

"Really?" Rufka asks, "I had fourteen when the system forced me to take my class. And my mum was disappointed. Thought I was better than that."

"This is fascinating and all, but I feel like we've gotten off track here people," Beth says as we're all settling around for another game of Astra's Stride.

We spend the next half hour discussing classes, which reveals a few interesting details. As Rufka and Tipan explain the specific bonuses for leveling, I create a mental chart to keep track. As Rufka implied earlier, I confirm that when you get your class, all your non-class resources are multiplied by your “Integration Modifier” once you confirm. It also applies to all future attribute increases but not the per level bonuses.

That means my health edge would have gotten even lower if I’d taken my class when I'd originally intended. Even with a minor health 'boost' my -3.2 would have become - 3.5 or so.

Shuddering, I look over my mental chart.

Integration Modifier

Pool / Level

Edge / Level

Regen / Level

Special Resource Regen

Minor

1.1

2

0.1

1

0.5

Small

1.2

4

0.2

2

1

Moderate

1.3

6

0.3

3

1.5

Substantial

1.4

8

0.4

4

?2?

Large

1.5

10

0.5

5

?2.5?

Huge

1.6

12

0.6

6

?3?

?Massive?

?1.7?

?14?

?0.7?

?7?

?3.5?

?Immense?

?1.8?

?16?

?0.8?

?8?

?4?

I had to extrapolate some parts, but given how linear everything looks, I’m reasonably confident my table is correct. Apparently, there’s a difference between iron rank classes and copper rank as well, but neither Rufka nor Tipan are able to give us more specific details than “more everything.”

While they’re explaining the modifiers, they also reiterate that class abilities are incredibly varied. They're also the real benefit of having a class.

We also discuss how any archetype can unlock abilities which use the elements, though their application of those abilities will vary. A lightning focused skirmisher, (which is what Rufka is, though she won’t tell us her class,) can empower their movement, leaving a trail of lightning that's damaging to cross. A protector could create lightning armor that shocks anyone who strikes them. Tipan says my lightning torrent is in truth more like a destroyer's typical ability than a controller’s, though the flame torrent is more of a controller ability since it "controls" the battlefield.

Higher concepts like healing require proficiency in multiple elements. For healing specifically, those are water, earth, wind, metal and lightning. If a person is willing to practice, most people can eventually learn how to manipulate all the elements. However not everyone has the same proficiency with every element.

As Rufka so eloquently puts it, "Vaus destroyed the world with lightning, but she couldn't chill your tufts to save her life." Tufts are the little bits of fur on the end of every K'tharn's ears.

With all this established, we're all sitting around the table talking amicably. The game has been put away and instead of classes, points or the impending apocalypse, the topic has somehow drifted around to baseball.

"No, the point is to get back to home base," Roberts repeats to Rufka while pointing at a rough diagram made of utensils.

"I don't understand. Why would a user leave in the first place?" she asks, running her paw under her chin.

"Because you need to leave before you can return. Baseball is as much about the journey as the destination," Roberts answers with a giant smile. While I'm listening to Roberts impassioned speech about baseball, Beth squeezes my shoulder then gestures to another table across the room.

Taking her hint, I stand up, following her over while ordering even more food. With the number of points I've been spending, it'll take a fair amount of food before I'm caught up. Like, I'm having second breakfast before we head out tomorrow, amounts of food. And I still have points sitting in the bank, ready to go.

"What's up?" I ask Beth as I take my place at the table. Smoulder found her way back to me a few minutes ago and has been snuggling at maximum ever since. It's pretty great.

Honestly, this whole evening has been pretty great. After the last couple days, it's been exactly the kind of socializing I needed. Not to mention the food.

"You said earlier that you knew when the apocalypse was going to hit. How the hell did you discover that?" Beth asks, locking me in her sights.

"Oh, I just had a vision of the future. You know, like an oracle," I reply, while smiling back at her.

"A vision."

There's a pause as she looks at me, waiting to see if I have any more to say. When I stay quiet, she continues.

"Kid, you know that a vision of the future isn't exactly actionable intel, right? I mean, it's something to go on, sure. But it's hard to verify a vision," Beth says, taking the wind out of my sails. I didn't even think about it, but she's right. And what good is knowing when it happens anyway? We're not even on the right planet.

"Yeah. I guess I was just excited. And it felt so real," I respond, running Smoulder's tail through my fingers.

"Listen, why don't you tell me what you saw. Just because we can't verify it yet, doesn't mean we won't later. Besides," Beth pauses as a grin spreads across her face, "I intend to stop the party."

So, I spend the next few minutes taking Beth through everything I remember. Somehow, I end up telling her about Uthica's vision as well, which none of the others experienced when they got their language primers. This of course, leads into me telling her about having seen into her past. It's as I'm apologizing, that Beth interrupts me.

"Kid, it's fine," she says while holding her hand up in my direction.

"Better that, than the memories of my time in Barranquilla. Let me tell you, not everyone can handle….”

“Actually, maybe I'll tell you when you're older, kid," she says with a smirk.

I'm not sure of the exact reason, but I can feel my ears burning while Beth looks at me, running one finger around the rim of her glass.

"Today didn't go how I expected it to," I say as Beth's hand grows still.

"Kid, nothing has gone the way I thought it would since we woke up in that grass circle surrounded by dinosaurs and dragons," Beth replies before looking up into the rafters overhead.

"Ha. When you put it like that, I'm just glad we're all okay," I say, joining her in rafter watching.

It's amazingly relaxing.

Everyone should try it. It's so relaxing, I decide to try freezing time. For the shortest interval I can. Which with my current abilities appears to be four minutes of pause for one second of real time. For only 3.6 facet and 0.1 focus, this has just become invaluable.

Since I'm just sitting here paused, I decide it's a good time to bring up my attributes.

STRENGTH

-15 > -9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

5 > 11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

85

(+/-)

SPIRIT

85

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

32

(+/-)

RESOLVE

11

(+/-)

Integration Points

10

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

45/60 > 45/78

[-1.7] > [0.2}

[8.3] > [10.2]

(29)/d > (39)/d

Stamina

52/71 > 52/83

[2.4] > [3.0]

(37)/d > (44)/d

Mana

43/303 > 43/306

[27.7]

(235)/d > (238)/d

Focus

91/223 > 91/226

[16]

(147)/d > (149)/d

Matrix

Facet

70/74 > 70/75

[6.4]

(55)/h > (56)/h

I really blew through a lot of resources during my escape from Ivicka. I probably didn't need to use quite so many water torrents. But better safe than captured.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my class yet. I want to talk about it with Beth and the others, but there’s been so much to learn we haven’t made it there yet. At least I know more about classes now. I feel the barrier fade away as the other’s distant conversation drifts over, but I’m still staring up into the rafters wondering over just how much has happened since I woke up on the grass a couple days ago.

"We're going to be up to our ears in hostiles if we're not careful tomorrow," Beth supplies shortly after I unpause, pulling me out of my contemplative state.

"Is that a bad thing? Defeating monsters has been a major source of integration points so far," I say, turning to Beth.

"Sure. If you have a clean line of fire with no friendlies to worry about, I can see it being useful to you. Don't forget that if it hadn't been for Roberts you might have roasted us seconds after you showed up," Beth replies seriously.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't aiming at you guys but the wolf-," I start but Beth's already shaking her head.

"It's fine kid. Battle can be like that. Honestly, with this health resource, I'm feeling a little confused. You're not supposed to take hits like that without it messing you up bad. But we probably would've been okay, even if you had hit us. I'm having to learn how to fight all over again," Beth says, staring off into the rafters again.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe it would be a good thing if we encounter a lot of hostiles tomorrow. Tipan says they're limited in strength, due to the nature of the area. So maybe…." Beth trails off before turning to look at me.

“Maybe?” I prompt while meeting her emerald eyes.

“Maybe it’s time we learn to fight as a team.”