⁠"So, thoughts?"

Yse and I had tried looking into the Path, but the door was sealed. Now we were in the manor, and I was cooking supper as I explained my experience.

"I'm really not sure what to say." Yse was magically cutting off tiny pieces of steak and eating them daintily. "For what it's worth, I think you chose correctly - if your goal was to further your Lord class. Have you checked it since?"

"No… I should do that." I finished chopping the greens and poured them into the pan. "Voice, visible. Show class: Lord of the Land."

Skimming through the information, I found two things that hadn't been there before. The first was a list of my Regalia.

Regalia

The Glass Dagger

Deals extra damage against ice-aligned creatures. Wielding it grants the ability Shadow Bind. Represents Growth.

Tears of Tonalzinti

Seeds of the Sun Tree. Consuming twenty of them grants the basic statistic Spirit. Represents Fire. The Aspect is preserved, even with consumption.

And the second was a class quest.

Quests

Dream of the Sun Tree

Tonalzinti gave up its fruit in hopes of sheltering its friend from the woes of the world. You have agreed to inherit this.

"Hmm." I read them out loud as as I stirred the vegetables. "So, first, it says I can eat the seeds for the Spirit stat - well, twenty of them - and still retain their Aspect as Regalia. I… probably should have considered that beforehand, but I'm glad it's not an issue."

"Mmm." Yse picked up a knife, comically oversized to her, and began slicing the meat I had chosen from the cold room. How did she even hold that? "Do you think the quest has to do with that mental pressure you mentioned?"

"Hmm." I frowned. "I'm still not sure 'mental pressure' is quite right for that. It's like the vision I had nags at my mind, even when I'm not thinking about it. I've never had a quest before, so maybe that's part of it? Hopefully I can figure it out, because it's already getting annoying."

"So... do you know how to complete it?" The spider pushed a stack of thin-cut steak to me, and I threw it to pan. We were basically making what Coatli had cooked before, but scaled up for eight.

"I'm considering that." I furrowed my brow. "The tree - Tonalzinti, I guess - wanted to 'shelter and protect'. I can probably do that, but I'm not sure I want to. Or not in the same way. I'm not really altruistic."

"Well, you might have to be." Yse said, a bit plaintive. "You've accepted the responsibility, and with the quest pressing on your mind, you may not have much choice."

"No, I don't believe that." I shook my head. "The Voice doesn't lock people onto paths. I bet I could renounce the quest right now by marking the seeds."

"There's always a choice, huh?" Yse snatched a vegetable from the pan and crunched through it. "Well, you're right. Anyways, this is done. We should call Coatli in."

"The meat needs a moment longer, but go on." I kept stirring, lost in thought as she zipped away. I did believe there was always a choice, but I also knew that some choices were bad.

Ideas tumbled through my mind as I started setting the table. If I rejected the quest, I'd lose out on the completion rewards. And there would be rewards. Quests weren't lightly given, and finishing always brought benefits. How much and what sort, though, depended on how it was done.

Unfortunately, the method of judging that was… cryptic, at best. Say the quest was saving a village from a Dragon. Killing the Dragon would always work, and would usually give good rewards. However, negotiating with the Dragon was an option, as was scaring it away. Building a barrier too, or, hell, moving the whole village. The rewards would differ for each, and whether they were 'better' would, in some respects, depend on the view of the person who did it.

The best advice I'd heard was that quests should always be completed how you thought was best, because a solution you disagreed with would give rewards you disliked. Examining all the options was especially important because anyone who set out with a sword after hearing they needed to save the village would definitely get burned, even if they succeeded.

So, how should I go about this?

I sat at the table, chin in my hand, until the doors opened and Coatli led in my small army. I put my thoughts aside. There would be time to ponder later.

After the meal and dishes were cleared away, Yse, Coatli and I retired to one of the small sitting rooms scattered around the manor. I was packing my pipe, Coatli had some sort of seed to chew, and Yse was on the table, counting the Tears and giving them a thorough magical inspection.

"So what's the verdict?" I summoned a burning splint and lit my pipe.

"There are twenty-three." Yse had made one pile of twenty, and dropped the extras back into the vial. "Enough for your use, and a few extra."

"Mmm." I puffed a smoke ring, and pinched a few from the heap. They were maybe the size of barleycorns, and a soft, translucent gold. I felt them flex in my fingers. "Should I, I dunno, prepare in some way before eating them?"

"Should be fine." Coatli shrugged. "It just says 'consume' them, right? Chewing is probably a good idea, though, to help release the pneuma."

"Alright." I popped them in my mouth and bit down with a crunch. I'd expected them to be bitter or something, but instead it was like eating ice, cold and crisp. There was a hint of freshness, something like mint, but it vanished quickly.

The pneuma, however, I could sense more strongly. It flowed out of the seeds, curling around my throat as I swallowed and heading deep into my body. It gathered in my chest, and I felt my heart pump powerfully, almost painfully, as it settled in.

"Wow." I thumped a fist against my sternum. "That's weird."

"Keep going." Yse passed me a few more. "Finish the dose quickly, so the effects don't dissipate or something."

I wordlessly accepted the next few, and repeated the procedure.

"Seeds of the Sun Tree have been added to your Archive."

After I'd finished the pile, there was a roiling, churning knot of pneuma in my chest. My heart was steady, but I could feel it growing stronger with each beat, drumming out a steady pulse.

"So?" Yse asked, after I'd sat in silence for a long moment.

"I think I'm going to need to sleep on this." I shook my head. "Also, they were added to my Archive. But I'm a bit hesitant to try making any."

"Good call." She nodded. "They likely need more magic than you have."

"Well, I'm going to bed." Coatli stood. "Be ready early, Edmon. We've got a lot to do."

"Yeah." I picked up my half-finished pipe and re-lit it. "I'll be there."

The next day found us deep in the heart of the jungle.

We were on the north side, where Coatli used to roam. I'd made careful notes from the lectern map on where the old marks were, and Coatli and Yse had added what they remembered. Now we were out, seeing what we could repair.

Also, my new stat had finished crystalizing.

It was a pulsing node of power right behind my breastbone. Checking with the Voice had confirmed it was Spirit, and when I'd woken up, it was at 'stable'. I'd been checking regularly since then, and it seemed to fluctuate randomly; it had yet to drop below 'fading', or rise above 'firm', but it varied for reasons I'd yet to discern.

It was definitely useful, though.

"Alright, Ed. Do your thing." Yse backed away from the runes she had been repairing, and I began filling them with magic.

The drain was… well, it wasn't less, and I didn't have any more magic, but it was still somehow easier. It felt like when I'd been sailing; the first few weeks I'd been hesitant and uncertain, wary of any small storm and worried whenever the wind died. After a few months, I'd settled in. The job wasn't easier, and I'd only been marginally more fit, but the mental pressure was gone. I knew I could weather squalls when they came, and when the wind died, I knew I could wait out the doldrums.

The magic flowed easily and the engraving began to glow. Although I'd put in the same amount as yesterday, it seemed like my pool had decreased less.

I could feel my heart thumping away, strong and steady. I began on the next rune.

"Incoming!" Coatli called. The three Draconians guarding me raised their spears, and I looked up.

"Focus," Yse reminded me. "Leave the guarding to the guards. They'll let you know if we need to run."

I nodded, and turned back to my task.

Although moving through the jungle was much easier with guards, both because they actually knew what to watch for and because they could scout, this was still the fiercest Monster Zone I'd ever seen. We fought several times coming here, and would fight more before we finished. Hopefully we wouldn't find a monster directly on top of the mark, like the bayonette blob had been.

I kept my head down, and focused as the sounds of combat rose around me. It quieted soon, and when I finished, one of the Draconians approached, holding out a core.

I accepted it. "Thanks, uh…"

"Kriss," he offered in a quiet voice.

"Right." I nodded, and tried to commit the name to memory. He had dark scales, patterned in a green-brown that faded into the jungle gloom.

"Mark," I mumbled.

"Walking Jaderoot added to Archive."

"I think I'm getting the hang of Spirit."

I lowered my smoking pistol, giving it a minute to cool before re-holstering it. My gun was definitely getting a workout today. I unconciously touched my bandolier, checking how many full magazines I had left.

"Oh?" Yse leaped to the shoulder of a nearby Draconian, who startled, but lowered his spear once he realized who it was. "Sorry, sorry." She patted his neck with a fuzzy leg.

"Yeah, it seems like… the more I get into the flow of things, the more it boosts my abilities." The group started moving again, and I broke into a jog to keep up. My muscles were tired, but it felt good, and as I settled into the rhythm, my heart pounded strongly, sending out little scraps of Spirit. "Like when you're in top form, going up against a challenge, but you want a challenge right then and know you can take it. A little of that, all the time."

"That definitely sounds useful." Yse zipped along, jumping from branch to rock to tree in a white blur.

"Yeah, although⁠— Woop!" I stumbled as a rock shifted, throwing off my footing. The spark in my chest burned, pushing my reflexes; I turned a tumble into a cartwheel, pressing a hand against the ground and coming down clean, lunging back into a run.

I heard the Draconians laugh, but one reached out to clap my shoulder. "Nice save."

"Thanks."

"You have gained the skill Acrobatics."

"You were saying?" Yse was ahead, and I wasn't sure if she'd seen that. Well, she did have eyes in the back of her head.

"I was saying there's more to this. And since I just got a skill, I think that's a 'yes'."

Suddenly, a piercing whistle echoed through the trees in three warbling chirps. The squad shifted towards it, and I barely turned fast enough to keep up.

"That was the 'unavoidable fight' signal, right?" I asked, drawing my pistol. It felt like I had a three-quarters full magazine.

"Yup!" Yse rushed back to me in a series of leaps. "Looks like a Jagerhawk. Must have moved its territory since Coatli left."

At that, the surrounding Draconians leaped into the sky, wings snapping open as they careened through the trees. There was a deafening screech up ahead and one of the scouts appeared, tumbling out of the air with vivid claw-marks across his chest. He landed on his feet and caught the spear that fell after him, jumping into the air and darting back in.

"What's a Jagerhawk— Oh." I stumbled to a stop as the battle came into view. Coatli was up in the canopy, diving towards a giant bird. It looked vaguely hawkish, but also lizardy, and had entirely too many teeth. It gave another piercing scream as his club took it in the side, bouncing it off a nearby trunk.

It rebounded with vigor, arrowing for another Draconian who raised his spear to defend. The teeth closed on the shaft, and he flinched, but the new metal spear held.

"Vital points?" I asked Yse, raising my gun.

"Heart and brain," she replied, gathering her magic.

"Right." I squeezed off six rounds, three each at the chest and head. Only two penetrated, one spraying blood near the wing, the other leaving a jagged wound in the neck. The monster screamed, and a scout planted his spear in its side. Coatli weighed in with his club, the jagged obsidian teeth rending a giant wound near the tail. The scream redoubled, but Yse cut it short with a crackling crash of lightning.

The smoking corpse thumped down near me. I leaped backwards, feeling my new Acrobatics kick in as I grabed an overhead branch and easily swung up onto it. Everyone went quiet, listening for anything the sound of combat might have attracted. I breathed deeply, drawing pneuma into my lungs.

"Report!" Coatli called, once he was happy we hadn't called another fight in.

"Superficial wounds! I'll be fine," called out the Draconian who'd been clawed.

"Bent my spear," another shouted. There was a squeal of metal. "Fixed it!"

"Alright. Yse, grab the core for Edmon, and let's keep moving."

"Certainly." The spider leaped towards the dead monster, magic gathering around her as she arrowed in on the head. There was a snick of invisible claws and a spray of blood as the cranium fell to pieces, and she leaped towards me with a crenellated lump, shedding pieces of brain-matter.

"Yuck." I shook the remaining viscera off the core as I ran, popping open a canteen to wash blood off my hand. "Mark."

"Jagerhawk has been added to your Archive."

"The size of your Archive has increased from 'small' to 'modest'."

"Your skill with Akashic Magic has increased from 'Initiate' to 'Beginner'. You can now Archive pneuma. You can now Incarnate an Avatar. Remember to guard your Heart."

Oh-ho. I tucked the core away. I could make those little tokens now. And Coatli had mentioned avatars, hadn't he? Something about keeping me safe?

This should be interesting.