January 30, 2019, 9:03 pm.

As the last wisps of the elementals fade, I cast out, gathering a handful of essence from them. Not even enough to add up to a single integration point. The island we fought them on remains, and as I finish reading through the notification, a staircase appears along the edge, leading down to the underside.

We make our way down, and sure enough, there's a link to a rest area. I use Raz's device to connect his place, but when we try to go through, it fails to connect. But we're able to use the default rest area. It turns out to be a simple room, with a System-only menu of a dozen simple options. At least it allows us to access our private rooms.

Which Kellica doesn't have. She's able to sleep in the System provided rest room, and the rest of us spend an hour visiting and eating food we brought from Raz's before turning in.

Chomping down on a thick leg of seasoned bird-leg, I open my menu and invest my integration points into Perception and Resolve. Then I spend my class Progression Token, eagerly inspecting the new ability.

"Your Class - Cataclysm Seed - has progressed to Iron Rank - level 7."

+1 Class Ability Point

New Ability unlocked: Sympathetic Overflow

Health and Stamina have increased: +2 pool, [+0.1 edge], (+1 regen/day).

Mana and Focus have increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+6 regen/day).

Facet has increased: +12 pool, [+0.6 edge], (+3 regen/hour)."

"Sympathetic Overflow: Increases target's status disability chance after being affected by your spells. Doubles/Triples Status effect chance."

Oh. Wow, that works well with Lingering Bonds. Which... yeah, I guess it makes sense my class would have synergy between Abilities.

After putting a point into Sympathetic Overflow, I look over my Status one last time.

STATUS

Class: Cataclysm Seed

Level: Iron-7

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 50

Constitution: 50

Agility: 90

Endurance: 60

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 97 > 106.

Resolve: 97 > 106.

Integration Points: 0

Progression Tokens: 1 > 0

Advancement Crests: 0

Storage: 7.94 > 8.12 Cubic meters

Bonded Armour: 3/6 > 3/7

RESOURCES

Health

Pool: 454/464 > 454/470

Edge: [31.4]

Regen: (334/day) > (337/day)

Stamina

Pool: 475/475 > 475/481

Edge: [36.5]

Regen: (376/day)

Mana

Pool: 1070/1070 > 1070/1099

Edge: [83.1] > [84.6]

Regen: (1006/day) > (1044/day)

Focus

Pool: 1050/1050 > 1050/1093

Edge: [75.2] > [79.5]

Regen: (931/day) > (999/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 338/338 > 338/346

Edge: [23.1] > [23.8]

Regen: (289/hour) > (298/hour)

Only need eight more points to cap out my mental attributes. Which I'm not even sure if we'll get here, with the unknown rewards for the rest of the dungeon. Not that there are many rewards that don't give integration points. Maybe I could work on some crafting quests? If tomorrow is like today, I'll be done way before everyone else.

Closing my Status, Rufka and I are the only ones still at the table. Kellica is on her bunk, and everyone else seems to have retreated to their rooms. Taking their cue, I tug Rufka to her feet, wishing Kellica goodnight as we pass.

The next day I let everyone else pick ahead of me again and end up tackling the lightning challenge first. The ball of energy reforms into the same shape as it took yesterday, a shallow valley with a pair of massive trees at either end, lightning flickering between them and several smaller trees scattered around the plain. As I start, I quickly go through a set of slightly more advanced tests than the ones I completed yesterday. However, when I complete the third, a matter of directing sparks to hit small branches instead of the metal rods that are spaced between them, a new notification appears.

"Congratulations! Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Flexibility-1 complete. Would you like to start Standard Lightning Manipulation Challenge, Channelling-1 for 0.1 Focus?"

Accepting the prompt, a new message appears next to my little ball of crackling electricity as it's surrounded by a small circle of metal orbs.

"Prevent the orbs from getting too close for five minutes."

At first, I don't understand how I'm supposed to pass the challenge. Then one of the orbs gets closer, and the ball of lightning shoots out, freezing it in place. But the ball of lightning also gets smaller. Then the ball begins to drop. Before it's able to, I use my mana to prop it up. And then I understand, as another few sparks fly out to strike the surrounding spheres. But only as long as I keep the ball directly over its pedestal. I'm forced to continually push mana into the lightning orb, though it's such a small amount I hardly notice. Still, at the end of the five minutes, I realize I've invested roughly thirty mana into the little orb.

On my second round through, I try to crank extra mana into the orb, and am rewarded by pushing the balls even further back. But they return faster, so it's a net loss in mana compared to the regular method. I try several other methods to not have to channel continually, but none of them are as efficient.

Much more interesting though.

On the third try through, I decide to dump triple the total mana I used on the previous channel into the trial. One of the metal balls punches through my sleeve, shaving off a dozen health as they all rocket away from the small ball of lightning. And then they come back just as fast. A second pulse stops them from slamming into the ball, but it takes me three minutes just to get them back to a stable state, almost failing several times. When the challenge finally finishes, I swear not to mess around while doing the challenges anymore.

No matter how boring they are.

Despite my minor mishap with the lightning ball, the rest of the day proceeds as I expected, only with the new channelling challenges providing even more difficulty for the others. After each of us finish the first challenge, I wait for the others, trading advice. I stay as everyone else moves onto the next challenge, ensuring everyone gets a proper chance, now that we realize there are bonuses for not failing.

Yet in spite of my time spent waiting after the lightning area, I still finish the rest of the challenges first. With the metal factory-esque building collapsing into a ball behind me, I stroll to the middle of the main island, pulling up my quest log to review my crafting quests.

Hmm. Only need to create iron-grade tools for 'Metal in the Making'. I've already got my Metal Shaping up to the required one hundred just from using it as part of my buildings. Similar for 'If you Build it, They Won't Come,' except I need to create an iron-grade structure. Which might be a waste inside the dungeon since an iron-grade Stone structure is going to be more durable once I infuse it with Essence. And not very moveable.

'Plenty of Pots'... I'm almost tempted to pass on. Ceramics are interesting, but not terribly fun. Which is probably why I haven't leveled the skill much since I unlocked the quest. Ten iron-grade ceramics doesn't sound too challenging though.

I'll leave it for last.

While I'm tempted to start on the structure quest, I decide to postpone it. Because I know I could spend the rest of the day just tweaking it until it's perfect.

Making another set of utensils is easy. Reinforcing them with Essence? A little trickier. The metal objects are obviously best reinforced with metal Essence. Which I have a fair bit of lying around. Just merging it with them after they're formed was a mistake. Which I vaguely remember Tipan and Rufka mentioning at some point. Whoops.

Starting over, I shape the utensils with the Essence, pulling it into place alongside each prong of the fork I chose as my test unit. When I'm finally done, the Essence flickers slightly, before settling into place. Hefting the fork, it feels more solid than a regular fork. Less prone to manipulation, if only slightly. But it doesn't count as an update for the quest.

"What, not tool enough for you?" I ask the empty air, earning myself a snort from Smoulder. Reaching over and giving her a vigorous head-scritching, I end up chasing her for a few minutes before returning my attention to the quest.

Unfortunately, I can't recover the Essence from my first attempt. It's bonded with the new form and reshaping it will reduce its strength. Besides, even if the System doesn't think it counts, I think a tougher fork is going to prove worth having. Especially the next time someone tries to plunder my dinner plate.

Cackling, I decide I could use a new set of tools for burying... loot. So, I start working on a spade-head shovel. Again, I push the Essence through the metal, but this time the larger object causes me to fail. It's not even immediately apparent it's happening. Everything was going smoothly, and then... the essence... crumbled.

On my second attempt, I pay closer attention to the Essence as I push it with the metal. Only to realize it's getting stretched too thin right as it fails. With my third try, I use two Essence. Which turns out to be much harder to control. It goes fine at first, but when I'm almost three-quarters finished, it splits apart, leaving me with two halves of the shovel. Which I can weld together, but I can detect the weakness in the joint. The system doesn't count it either. Instead of starting over again, I redo the weld, only adding in a metal Essence as I do so. As the quest dings I inspect my new tool.

"Object analyzed - Spade-head Shovel, Iron-grade. This shovel has been crafted by user Pandora."

"That's not going to dig-dug you very far compared to your magic."

"What does that even mean?" I mumble at Wyonna as I give the shovel a good swing. And hear the air whistle as I slam it into the ground. Hard. I stare at the embedded shovel for a second before opening my Status back up. Yep. Fifty Strength. Kinda forgot about that.

Levering the shovel back out of the island, I give it another couple test swings before storing it in my inventory. Never know when I might need a shovel. Deciding to stay on theme, I create a rake, a flat-head shovel, a bucket and... a crowbar. Because it's the most versatile tool that I'll never use.

It's as I'm crafting the crowbar that Rufka returns, having completed all her challenges. I wave at her but remain focused on my work. When I'm finished, I notice Rufka and Tipan coming back from the rest area. Guess Tipan's done too.

I wave to them as I read the notification.

"Quest objective completed: Metal in the Making. Rewards: 7 iron rank integration points."

"Quest updated: Metal in the Making. Description: Create tools that will endure for ages. Requirements: Create 0/25 copper grade tools using Metal Manipulation, raise Metal Shaping skill 100/200. Reward: 21 copper-rank integration points. Variable."

Nice. Only need one more point to max out Resolve. I could use Essence, but I feel like all my extra Essence would be more useful for crafting. Kinda regretting dumping so many of the ones we got from the battle with Ivicka into...

Just thinking about the battle ruins my mood.

Luckily, I'm shaken out of it when Tipan sets up the table for Astra's Stride again. I'm tempted to join them when Rufka motions me over, but I shake my head, a smile practically cracking it in half as I consider my next quest.

I have an iron-grade building to sculpt.

The first step is making sure the area will work for the building. So, I spend time shooing Rufka and Tipan to one side before pacing out where I intend to place the foundation. Then I shape several blocks into place. Now that I know I can meld things together after forming the building blocks, I'm going to take advantage of that.

"What're you doing?" Rufka asks as I finish creating the last of the slabs.

I brush my hands off as I turn to her, despite the fact I haven't been doing any of this with something so mundane as hands. "Building an iron-grade structure for my crafting quest."

"In... a dungeon?" Rufka asks, tilting her head to the side as she squints at me with her lower eyes. "You do know, it'll probably disappear when we leave, right?"

"So?" I ask, tilting my head to match and squinting right back at her. "I want to complete the quest. Not live here."

Rufka holds her hands up, stepping back. "Just curious."

Grumbling to myself, I turn back to my work. Then I take a deep breath, taking several quick steps before wrapping Rufka in a hug. "Sorry."

"I... apology accepted?" Rufka says, ruffling my hair as she pats my head. Smoulder decides this is the perfect time to abandon me. Taking it as my cue, I explain myself.

"I thought the same thing earlier, then I snapped at you for pointing it out. Cause let's be honest, it's wasteful if I build it here," I say, leaning into her back so she can't turn around. "... I'm still gonna do it though."

Rufka's rich laugh makes me smile, and I release her enough she's able to turn around. Over her shoulder, I notice Tipan's hand is covering her mouth as she looks away from us. Their laughter makes me feel better about my choice, and I don't hesitate to move back to my work area. Soon I have the pieces for the small building ready. Then I begin fusing them together. It's... different than with the metal. The Essence feels like there's less chance of it shearing off. But it also doesn't spread as evenly as when I use it in the metal. It's when I activate my Twilight-enhanced sight to inspect what’s physically happening, that I happen to get some inspiration. Just activating my vision causes the area I was looking at to become smoother.

I toggle my vision several times, and each time I turn it on, it smooths out the Essence. So long as I’m actively working on it. Does... being able to see it better make my Essence distribution improve?

Taking a break, I go to ask Rufka and Tipan, who've been joined by Kellica, to my surprise.

"I'm... just taking a lunch break," Kellica explains at my raised eyebrow.

"Totally understandable," I reply, squeezing her shoulder. "How've the trials been today? Any trouble?"

Kellica squints up at me, then glances over to the others before answering. "No. But I've been holding off on doing the lightning trial. I... I do not fare well with lightning magic."

"I can help you practice after lunch. If you want," I suggest. That's the sort of thing a leader would do, right? "It won't be perfect, but I can simulate what you'll need to beat."

"I... you don't have to do that," Kellica sputters, shaking her head.

"I don't, no. But I will, if you want," I agree. "But only if you want. While you decide, I'll be working on..." I wave my hand in the direction of my half-finished building, "that."

Receiving another set of chuckles from the other two, I ask them about stone crafting. Of course, they both admit it's not their area of expertise. Though when I mention how looking more closely seems to help, Tipan says, "That... is strange. I know it can help with healing magic, to see the wound properly. But I'm not aware of augmented vision helping any other magic except illusion."

"Might be the Twilight," Rufka says, peering off towards where the earth challenge is turning back into a brown ball as Roberts strides closer. "Twilight is important in enchanting. Especially anything complicated. It's kinda like glue."

"I... hmm," I reply, then turn back to my quarter completed building. It looks more like a flopped over lettuce leaf than anything more. But it’s a work in progress.

As I experiment, I discover Rufka was right. Just a tiny amount of Twilight mana woven in more than doubles the efficiency of each Essence I use. And the material feels stronger as well. I end up having to redo the first quarter of the building, just to meet my new standards, but I soon have it all but completed. I just need to put the finishing touches on the door.

No one is surprised when I put Smoulder at the top of the door. But there's a gasp when I step back to reveal the rest. Figuring that it was a shame we didn't have any good photos, I decided to do a rendering of everyone that had come with us. Plus, the door’s removable. The gasp had come from Kellica, since I'd decided to include her.

I'll admit, I didn't think I'd make her cry again.