Once the fight was over, I opened the icons and System messages that had been ignored and minimized during battle. Sometimes ignoring those messages meant I missed important information during a battle, but it was better than being distracted and flooded with visual prompts when I could least afford to be distracted.

The changes I was able to make to my System settings were effortless, a moment of concentrated thought all that was needed to adopt the changes I wanted. I thought I should further to fine-tune my System interface so that messages and notifications could be given different permissions, and those that were important enough to warrant distraction during a fight could be displayed.

One of the messages I had received would have been nice to know while I was fighting.

[You have learned a new skill. [Backstab (B) 0/20].]

It might not have changed my actions during this fight, with this many mobs attacking at once, I probably wouldn't have taken the time or risk to make use of the skill, but, in the future, there might be some prompt that I would need to act on.

I did find it satisfying that skills could be learned that easily. It probably had something to do with our level and with System adapting and learning. But the ease which I'd learned that skill was something that simply wasn't done on Talahm.

The Sidhe gained skills only after much effort and training. Some skills, like illusion, were inherited, part of a bloodline that was racial and limited. But for most, skills were learned as part of an apprenticeship, a study done under the tutelage of an experienced Master.

The other messages had to do with the damage done, Beag's contribution, the completion of the two quests I had, and a level up.

[Quest Complete: Document local animal life 10/10]

[Reward: Bestiary Unlocked]

[Exp: 100]

[Quest Complete: Kill 10 level 1 enemies. 10/10]

[Reward: Exp 100]

[Level Up]

I found it interesting that the experience rewards from killing and quests was enough to award me my first level up. I wondered if that was by design or simply happenstance. We had killed a level five wolf-bug; I wondered why that hadn't given us more experience, at least enough to level up twice.

Paying attention to the numbers and trying to understand if and how System limited our progress was something Grandfather had asked me to do. The Social System that had been implemented allowed me to compose and send messages, but one of the nice features was that it allowed drafts.

So, as events happened, I would send an update for grandfather with the information I had codified for him and his people. I didn't want to swamp him with unnecessary minutia, so I had tried to separate what pieces of knowledge I gleaned into different subjects, making clear what was supposition and what was a fact.

I was sending messages as the event's occurred, but I realized that this needed to change. With this latest missive to Grandfather, I mentioned that I would only be sending messages daily from this point unless something of an emergency needed to be resolved.

The math behind the numbers was what I was trying to understand at the moment, if I could figure out how System increased attributes and levels, it would allow the next people to integrate using this method a starting point to build on. The bestiary that I had just received would be helpful and allow me to save information on animals, monsters, fauna, minerals, and gems to a database that could be downloaded by everyone. But what grandfather was mostly interested in was any signs of intelligent life.

The planet had been discovered by the Senate and claimed by System, there was no turning back the clock. If the Sidhe did not claim this planet, then some other Pantheon would. But grandfather was a fanatic when it came to equality and fairness. If intelligent life did exist here, they would be welcomed, given a place and lands to rule, and shown the ways of System.

The Cernunnos would be part of the next group to travel to this world. As tied to nature as the Sidhe were, the Cernunnos and Volar-fey were, even more, a part of the fabric of Fairy that protected the world's energies. They would conduct a ceremony that would integrate this planet with Danu, not exactly creating two Goddesses, but borrowing a bit of the Divine, a spark that would expand her awareness.

In Sleep she would spread out tendrils, following the inter-connecting ley-lines that claiming this world would establish and subsume the planet as hers. The planet would be alive. A breathing, thriving entity that was Danu. Talahm and Ijal would create a river in the Universal constant, a bridge between that would work like a Divine inter-galactic circulatory system, sharing and renewing energies in a constant tide, an ebb of give and take.

The energies between each planet would harmonize and could be used to support each other. The life-forms from both would begin to migrate and proliferate. The eco-systems of both planets would adapt. Life and evolution would progress in a frenzied orgy as System tested environmental factors and discarded those plants, animals, and monsters that were not suitable.

One of the reasons the other Pantheons were so much stronger than the Sidhe, at the moment, was this adaption, this ability to evolve. Olympus and Asgard had learned this lesson early and moved to take advantage that the variety of life, and the strength their populations gained from learning to embrace those adaptations offered.

The weave of energies between Talahm and Ijal will be more potent than any of the consecutive planets that the Sidhe might claim. This first link would create the pattern that all the following planets would follow. System would continue to evolve, with each new planet we claimed, but this first evolution would be a major change in the status quo. Large changes would occur, changes that would have a ripple effect across every iteration of System.

As I checked my system messages, Sieph went around looting the bodies. We didn't gain much, some carapace armor pieces, meat, and coins. I would need to follow her to skin the animals, to gather the rest of the carapace that System ignored. We had decided not to duplicate talents if when it wasn't necessary. I would concentrate on any gathering skills that might crop up, Sieph on crafting skills using metals and enchanting items using runes.

Bob's unique physiology didn't allow for much, but his tentacles were surprisingly nimble and his dexterity and ability to manipulate his tentacles made him helpful when it came to fine detail work. His dexterity would come in handy when Sieph needed help with engraving runic arrays or enchantments. In the meantime, his task was mainly geared toward exploration and identification.

"Do you think that group was a fluke or are we moving towards a higher-level territory?" Sieph asked as she watched me finish removing the claws from the last beast.

"Yes," Thutmose answered before I could.

"The closer we get to the ley-line the more powerful any animal or monsters we discover will get. They will be absorbing mana faster because of the density that can be found in those areas. It is why Dungeons almost always spawn near a nexus of ley-lines. It is the accumulation of magical energy that creates a rift that opens a Dungeon portal."

"That is the information, King Teigh was able to gather too," I said agreeing with him. "From this point forward, fights will become harder, but encounters should decrease as the animals fight between themselves for territory."

"Should I adjust my search patterns again?" Bob asked, his voice filled with whistles and piercing shrills.

"I don't think so," I replied. "The area you are scouting is large enough that it clears some of the fog of war from the mini-maps, but you weren't so far you weren't able to return in time to help with this last battle."

Talking with Bob was soothing despite his monstrous appearance, his nature and instinct was to follow. He didn't argue or resent the orders he was given. He simply performed to the best of his abilities. It made me overly cautious, and I tended to over-explain my reasons when I was speaking with him. I wanted him to know there was a method to my decision, and that I wasn't acting in a capricious manner.

"Bob. Sieph. Go over your status window and send me a text on what increases you gained, I want to send that information to Grandfather," I said as I opened my status menu, looking to see what I had gained with this first level up.

[Name: Rye de Teigh y Cyronax]

[Race: Hybrid Cu-sith/Volar-fey/Unseelie]

[Class: Shadow Druid]

[Level: 2] [Exp 180/1270]

[Attributes]

[HP: 94] [MP: 54] [Sta: 86]

[Strength: 20] [Agility: 27]

[Constitution: 22] [Dexterity: 21]

[Intellect: 14] [Will: 13]

[Skills]

[Dagger: (L-3) 8/20] [Backstab: (L-1) 0/20] [Inspect:- (L-1) 8/10]

[Shadow Blend: (L-1) 20/100] [Shadow Passage: (L-2) 50/100]

[Language: Talahm - Expert] [Language: Universal Common - Advanced]

[Spells]

[Shadow Blade- (L-2) 8/100] [Death's Icy Breath (L-1) 0/25]

[Portal: Summerlands]

[Portal: Bind Point]

[Shapeshift: Cu-Sith]

[Pets]

[Beag: Cu-sith (Level 2)]