January 18, 2019, 6:56 am.

Yawning, I kick the soft covers off the bed, rubbing sleep from my eyes while gathering Smoulder into a tight hug. Good morning, you little floofball.

Okay, morning checklist. Freshen up a little, check the general ability store, grab breakfast then try to teach Tipan how to use runic channelling.

Rufka and I had been talking excitedly about our race last night when Tipan mentioned that most users in the Aetherium didn't have runic channelling. Most didn’t even have a spell for flight. Tipan added that runic channelling is a controlled skill in the Aetherium, only taught to select enforcers. So, I’d offered to give Tipan what advice I could. Which would give her a skill not even her sister had. Even though Ivicka was a Dragon Scion, she wouldn’t be given permission.

None of which makes any sense to me considering how easy it was to learn. But maybe I had a distorted perception of the difficulty due to more of Wyonna's shenanigans.

"Miss you, Wyonna," I mumble, continuing to think while starting to scrub myself down using water with a touch of fire woven in for warmth. If a user in the Aetherium had personal flight, it was by purchasing an ability in the general store. This ability is unlocked by completing a certain type of challenge in any wind-aspected dungeon and also has a level six requirement. While talking about level requirements, we'd ended up discussing getting to copper rank and why it was so dangerous.

"You need an advancement point. Those are rare. The only method that's guaranteed to grant an advancement point is completion of the Great Dungeon," Tipan informed me while we were playing a version of billiards Tipan called red vs yellow. It was a simple game, but I was pretty bad at it. At least compared to everyone else.

"Yep. Mum says there are other quests too. But they're never easier than the Great Dungeon," Rufka added while readily sinking her shot. After the first game where she and Roberts had decimated us without Tipan and I sinking more than two balls, we'd quickly re-adjusted the teams.

"Progression points are easy to find. Every unique dungeon you complete will reward at least one. More if you can complete the hidden challenges. Ha!" Tipan explained right before I fouled my shot, giving the turn over to her and Roberts. We continued playing, the conversation dying out when Tipan managed to sink three yellow in short succession.

Finishing my morning scrub-down, I pull all my clothes out. After pulling on a blue and black plaid sweater with a pair of dark blue trousers, which I quickly trim then fasten to fit, I make my way downstairs with Smoulder blasting ahead.

The common room is empty upon our arrival. Am I the first one up today? I would have thought Beth or Josh would have been here first. Oh well, breakfast time.

Ordering breakfast, I share it with Smoulder while I check over my newly increased attributes.

Class

Cataclysm Seed

Level

Iron

1

ATTRIBUTE

VALUE

ADJUST

STRENGTH

-9

(+/-)

CONSTITUTION

11

(+/-)

AGILITY

12

(+/-)

ENDURANCE

5

(+/-)

INTELLECT

86

(+/-)

SPIRIT

86

(+/-)

PERCEPTION

33

(+/-)

RESOLVE

21

(+/-)

Integration Points

4

Progression Points

0

RESOURCE

CURRENT/MAX

[EDGE]

(REGEN)

Health

94/94

[6.3]

(47)/d

Stamina

94/94

[7.4]

(50)/d

Mana

524/524

[48.2]

(408)/d

Focus

410/410

[31.3]

(274)/d

Matrix

Facet

138/138

[11.2]

(102)/h

Resistance

[EDGE]

Mana

[40.75]

Elemental

[40.75]

Temporal

[63.5]

Spatial

[63.5]

Nothing major, but it's nice to see those points in Resolve bringing my resistances higher. Hopefully, the increased Resolve will help the bursts of anger too. Though if Rufka's right, it's going to take a lot more.

Even after I’ve finished my breakfast, no one else has joined me in the common room. Since everyone is taking their time, I decide to hit the change room to check out the ability shop.

When I open the shop menu, the first thing I find is a list of abbreviations at the top.

General Ability Shop price abbreviations:

INP: Integration points PRP: Progression points ADP: Advancement points

It’s nice to see it plainly laid out that advancement points aren't the same thing as progression points. While I'm focusing on the menu, I'm able to discern that I can convert a progression point to ten integration points. One-way process though. No buying levels with integration points. I can also convert advancement points into thirty integration points, but given how rare they are, I'll probably hold off on that for… I don't know, maybe forever?

To the side of abbreviations is the list of General Ability Categories.

General Ability Categories:

Communication Essence Gathering Interface Material Gathering Node Management Pet Safety Storage Training Transport

Impressive. Ten different categories, this might take longer than I thought.

Focusing on each option expands the menu further. Letting me see the ability options available, their price. If I focus a second longer, the description even appears directly in the menu.

General Ability Shop Abilities:

Communication Contacts, 1 iron INP. Allows adding users to a basic contact list. Users in the contact list can send and receive system mail and party invites through any Nexus. Party Voice, 2 iron INP. Provides party voice chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled. Party Text, 2 iron INP. Provides party text chat between all members who have the ability unlocked and enabled.

Okay. The contact list seems kind of useful. It's neat that you can send mail or invite people to a party at a distance. Too bad it's limited to being at a Nexus.

Party text would be excellent for silent communication. I wonder if we can just shoot thoughts as text. That'd be great.

Essence Gathering Autoloot - Touch - Mortal, 1 iron INP. Allows automatic gathering of any mortal-grade manaborne or mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

Well, that seems weak. Limited to touch and only mortal-grade creatures. I'm hoping there's an upgrade I can't see. Tipan did mention the shop only shows abilities you have unlocked. Either way, it's unlikely I'll be taking this or any of its upgrades, not with my amazing aoe looting option.

Interface Analyze - Touch - Mortal, 1 iron INP. Allows automatic analysis of any mortal-grade object or creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off. Citizen Class Training Area, 1 iron ADP. Allows access to a mental space training area. It can be linked to any other citizen who has their own training area unlocked. Requires a Nexus. Journal - Spellbook upgrade- Copper-grade, 2 copper PRP. Allows recording and refinement of spell runes of copper grade. It has lesser quality when copying runes of silver-grade or above. Remote System Access, 1 iron ADP. Allows remote access to any unlocked system Nexus menu on the local network. Charges 1/1. Cooldown 36 hours. Remote System Access recharge, 1 iron INP. Recharges the remote access ability. Threat Tracking, 2 iron PRP. Creates a heads up overlay of confirmed threats based on a user's ability to perceive them.

There's a lot more options under interface. Most of them are interesting. Remote System Access and Threat tracking? Yes please. Too bad they're so expensive. Threat tracking costs the equivalent of two levels by itself.

Wish I could get the ADP for the citizen training room. Wyonna said she was there, so maybe if I get access, I'll be able to talk to her again. Maybe. Damn, I don't actually know.

Material Gathering Autoclaim - Touch, 1 iron PRP Allows automatic claiming of any mortal-grade manaborne or mana-infused creature with a touch. Can be toggled on/off.

I'm not even sure how useful this is. What does it mean by auto-claim? And how is that worth more than auto-looting? More questions for later.

Node Management Basic Access - Nexus, 1 iron ADP Allows Basic Access to Nexus Node Management Features.

Another category with a single entry. Even the description doesn't tell me much.

Pet Basic - Development Menu, 5 iron INP Provides additional options for developing bound pets.

I'm going to need to get this for Smoulder! Because I don't have enough things to spend integration points on. Still, I think this will be my first major purchase here.

Safety Protection - iron grade, 4 iron INP, Cooldown 36 hours. Upon receiving critical damage that would render a user dead, receive a linked condition instead. Less effective against copper rank or higher sources of damage. Protection - recharge, 1 iron INP. Recharges the Protection ability. Restoration, (Citizen) 1 iron PRP. Upon death, this ability will restore an iron-grade citizen to their last assigned return point 36 minutes later if they have not been revived. Cooldown: 36 days. Restoration - recharge, 1 iron INP. Recharges the Restoration ability.

Hmm, protection. I might need to get that. Okay, next is restoration. Wait…. I can't be reading this right. Upon death? As in, if we die, we can come back to life? A single level to have that kind of backup seems way too cheap.

I stop reading through the general abilities as I turn to Smoulder.

"So, there's an ability that lets us come back to life. How crazy is that?" I ask my furry friend. She just looks at me wondering if we're done staring at the mirror yet. She knows she's pretty, but there's only so much self-admiring she can do before lunch.

Right. Finish reading through the abilities. Be astounded by their life-changing (and apparently 'life-restoring') abilities later when I talk to the others.

Even as I'm thinking that, I can't help but skim the rest of the options, only giving them a cursory glance.

Storage Personal Repository, 1 iron PRP. Training Citizen Dungeon Training subsystems, Iron-grade, 5 iron INP. Transport Citizen Teleport, 2 iron PRP. Cooldown 36 hours. Teleport to any unlocked return point. Teleport, 2 copper PRP. Cooldown 36 hours. Teleport to any unlocked return point. Teleport - recharge, 1 iron INP. Recharges Teleport or Citizen Teleport ability. Return, 1 iron PRP. Cooldown 36 minutes. Return to your designated return point.

When I get to the bottom of the list, it takes me a second to realize I've finished before exiting out of the menu, grabbing Smoulder then rushing out of the change room.

Most of the others are still in bed but Roberts is eating breakfast at the new larger table when I run over.

"Dr Roberts!" I exclaim, startling him as I get close, causing him to drop his sausage.

"Good morning, Alexis. You're certainly excited this morning. Discover something interesting?" he asks, before trying to take a bite of the sausage of unknown origin. I know better than to ask. They're too tasty to wonder what they're from.

"Yeah. That's an understatement. Dr Roberts," I reply, practically dropping into the chair across from him.

"Alexis, you really don't need to call me doctor or Roberts. Westley or Wes will do just fine."

"Wait. Westley? Really?" I ask, momentarily distracted.

"Or Wes. Yes," he offers while dabbing his chin with a napkin.

"Okay then, Wes," I start slowly, "There's an ability in the general ability shop that lets you, get this, come back to life!" I end up blurting out excitedly.

"Interesting. I wonder what that would entail precisely," Roberts or… Wes replies, leaning forward while steepling his fingers before his face.

"Uhm. I don't know. I guess it's not that clear. It says it restores a citizen 36 minutes after death at their last return point," I supply as I start thinking about it myself. How does the system bring us back to life? Are there limits?

"A citizen you say? So, this isn't available to everyone then. An unexpected perk. And likely a contentious one as well. There are many who would pay dearly for such a thing."

"I didn't think of that. Besides, with a cooldown of 36 days, it's not like it'll come up that often, right?"

"That is quite a short amount of time. Especially to return to life, I'd say. And any who witnessed your death would likely be very surprised to find you alive after," Roberts (it's tough to think of him as Wes) points out as the familiar tapping of Tipan's staff echoes from the stairs.

“Yeah. That would be kind of freaky, wouldn’t it?” I admit, thinking of what would happen if I had to watch Sab die then have her pop back up. “Do you think that’s similar to what happens with the Fallen?"

"Good morning," Tipan greets while Roberts taps his fingers together in thought.

"Good morning, Tipan," Roberts responds while I give her a friendly, "morning," and a welcoming smile when she joins us, unknowingly interrupting our conversation.

"I'm quite looking forward to learning about Runic channelling. Thank you for offering to teach me," Tipan says, dipping her head slightly in my direction.

"No problem," I shrug, "though I'm not certain how much I'll be able to help. I'm not that good at it and it did come sort of naturally to me."

"It's such a rare skill that any guidance will be useful," Tipan disagrees, shaking her head as her breakfast floats out from behind the bar.

“Alexis will be a fine instructor, I’m sure,” Roberts offers, starting back into his meal.

I just shrug with a helpless smile, as I warn, "just don't say I didn't warn you if this doesn't help."

"I would never," Tipan gasps in distress.

"It's okay. It's just an expression from home," I calm her quickly while Roberts chuckles quietly. Conversation putters out after that as they both eat while I inspect the two runes I haven't experimented with yet.

The first is similar to my torrent spells in that it's a helix. But the helix is twisted into an infinity symbol. Since it's three dimensional it doesn't quite cross back over itself in the middle. I'm not certain what it's for, but it's the first full rune I've found that has two connection points built into it.

The second rune is a box. Not like a cube, but as if I'd taken a cardboard box, cut all the flaps loose then splayed them outwards. Again, no idea what this one is going to do, but I figure I can test both my new runes today. Especially since I seem to be up early. It's already eight though, I've been up earlier than this every day since we've arrived. Which is weird, when I think about it, but there's always more I want to do.

There's still no sign of Josh, Rufka or Beth by the time Tipan has finished her breakfast. So, letting Roberts know that we're headed into the garden, Tipan and I begin her training.

"So, the first thing you're going to want to do is get a feel for your mana," I tell Tipan who's sitting in a meditative pose, her eyes closed, all of her arms and both legs crossed.

"The most basic use of mana manipulation. This is a logical starting point," Tipan comments as I continue.

"Yeah. Okay, now when your mana is within your body, it follows your direction naturally, right?"

"Correct."

"But if you try to draw it out without a rune it just dissipates?" I ask, not sure about this part.

"Yes. Unless I use my staff," Tipan confirms while nodding deeply. Which sets her Mohawk quivering. Stifling a giggle, I continue.

"Cool. The point of this is to allow you to control your unstructured mana at a distance. Or at least that's why I learned it. Anyway, if you adjust the mana beneath your skin, you can direct it to stay in place."

"Hmm. Yes. This is fairly simple so far."

"Good. I kind of thought so myself. Now, the next step is to shape your mana into channels that will direct the ambient mana. You can use focus to help hold it in place. This should create a stable zone around you where the mana behaves. Mostly."

At this point, I stop talking then settle down next to her to watch, Smoulder climbing into my lap. It took me a while to figure this part out, but I'm not sure if I can explain how I created the channels. Certain patterns worked and other ones didn't.

Oh. Maybe I should mention that part.

"Ah. I think I've-" Tipan starts to say as I'm suddenly thrown backwards by an explosive wave. Before I had time to realize what was happening, I was lifted into the air, my skin tingling fiercely. As I start processing, I smack into a nearby tree losing over half my health before falling to the ground below.

Looking up, I see Tipan is covered in glowing green and purple runes. I'm going to guess she was successful. Probably. I don't remember there being an explosion when I did it. The glowing runes are familiar at least.

Once more thanking the system for my health resource, I make my way towards Tipan while checking for Smoulder. I find her sitting on the branch I slammed into, staring at Tipan suspiciously. Tipan managed to throw us over ten metres with that little explosion. Impressive. I'm glad we did this first thing. Hopefully, Roberts can heal me before we head out for whatever Beth has planned for today.

Tipan remains sitting with her eyes closed, a smile the size of Ukila plastered to her face. Since she's having fun, I decide not to disturb her. I also try to impress on Smoulder that the explosion was an accident, which she accepts easily. I'm only confused for a second before Smoulder reminds me of how often things explode in my vicinity.

Ouch. It's a fair point.

I watch as Tipan's runes flare brighter then dim before flaring so bright that it's like staring into the sun. Which means I start taking health damage from looking at her.

Turning my eyes away, I wait until the ambient light dies down before calling out to her.

"So, I take it you've got it?"

"Oh. Oh yes. I'm sorry. I forgot you were here," Tipan exclaims, the runes dying down to a bare flicker as she looks in my direction. Then her eyes go wide as she scrambles to her feet.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asks as she approaches.

"I'm fine. Why do you… Oh," I laugh as she picks a branch out of my hair.

"You may have exploded a little," I admit with what I hope is a teasing smile.

"I did? I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I was just so focused on the channels. Everything was so easy. It was just like you said. Especially once I started using focus. And then it was working. So, I started experimenting. It was just so liberating, being able to use mana without a rune or ability. And I'm rambling. I'm…. I'm sorry," Tipan rambles adorably, her ears laying flat in embarrassment as she stumbles to a stop.

"It's fine. You're forgiven. No harm done. And you did it, right? Unlocked the skill?" I verbally forgive her, which I'd already done in my mind because it was obviously an accident.

"I did. I can't believe it took me so long. But all the lessons said to never lock… ma… na… they purposely mislead us," Tipan cries in shock, all her eyes going wide.

"I guess so?" I reply, not as surprised as Tipan. Seems like they're pretty big liars at this point.

"But this means… I have to relearn so much. What else did they teach me that's all lies? First, my sister. And now the basis for Aetherium magic itself. What if," Tipan frets, rubbing two hands through her Mohawk.

"What if Rufka is correct? What if the Pernian academy was established by a pu'shaha?"

"Then it's established by a male, not a big deal, right?" I shrug. Sure, there aren't a lot of intelligent pu'shaha, but Pern was famous in his time.

"You don't understand. We don't have any males," Tipan informs me while striding back and forth.

"The pu'shaha. They're gone."