“I hate you,” Brock called out to the form of Mio as he crested the cave mouth, webbing clinging to his bloody body and his face marred by a scowl. He had to admit, the experience of walking through a spider’s nest in the dark made him markedly less scared of spiders, but still, “I really hate you.”

Lounging in a chair formed of twisted tentacles of shadow, Mio chuckled, her eyes focused on the blue sky above and the shifting clouds that drifted through it, “That’s nice.”

Fucking asshole. While Brock wanted to grumble and complain, there was no denying that she had absolved his arachnophobia somewhat. The only thing keeping him from thanking her, however, was the fact he knew she had done it to terrorised him, not help him. I need a new shadow scout. This one’s a bully.

“So,” the voice of the woman in question reached his ears, and he glanced at her, unimpressed. She grinned, “are you gonna show me that new Technique of yours?”

She jogged his memory. Amidst the terror, Brock had actually forgotten that he’d received a new Technique, not that he felt it could have helped him back then. Then there was also the matter of the Aetherweb that he’d planned to access. May as well do that now.

“Gimme a sec.” he snorted and opened his Aetherweb. A list of options appeared before him, some new, some old.

[Aetherweb: Fetters of the Bound.]

[Stars of Ascension: 38]

Extra RAM (0/5) Aurous Reserves (0/10) Fury of the Bound (0/15) Aurous Intensity II (0/20) Aethereal Origin (0/50) Wyvern Slayer (0/10) Treasure Hunter (0/5) Slow Decay (0/15)

Hmmm.

The first five had been there since the last time he’d checked his Aetherweb, while the final three were clearly new addition. They look like they’re related to my actions recently.

Wyvern Slayer was obviously a direct call back to his lucky killing of Gor’eth Kung, Treasure Hunter seemed to be related to his recent consumption of quite a few Treasures, and Slow Decay probably was a reference to his slow and eventual death from his lacking lifeforce. Despite all that, none of them really interested him all that much.

His eyes settled on three of his initial options. Aethereal Origin was quite clearly out of his reach as of current, perhaps even in F Grade if he spent any of his Stars, and it intrigued him immensely. Aethereal might be a call back to his Ethereal Shackles, or even some other dimension, and Origin probably meant original or origination. The potential origin of his powers - his Techniques and Ascendancy - so to speak.

Brock had no idea how that might translate into a reward from the Aetherweb, and while he was certainly curious, he felt that he didn’t really need to know the origin of that other stuff, as he doubted it’d directly assist him. Instead, Brock focused on Aurous Reserves and Aurous Intensity II.

Recently, he’d been indulging in the use of his aura more and more, and since he knew it’d be a fair while more until he once again could use his Augments and Techniques, he felt that choosing one or both was a good decision. Let’s… try… Reserves.

With a thought, Brock drained 10 Stars of Ascension and deposited them into his Aurous Reserves option. A second afterwards, a prompt appeared, and he felt power surge through him amongst his Ascendancy’s next heartbeat.

[You have completed Aetherweb: Aurous Reserves.]

[To hoard aura is to ready oneself for the weathering to come. Possess an ocean to quell the tide of blood, and possess the means needed to control it. +10% aura volume.]

Damn…

Brock felt his aura immediately multiply, and just as the prompt had said, it finally stopped when he reached an increase of ten percent of his previous maximum. Ahead of him, Mio’s eyes narrowed, and he savoured the feeling of power the sensations within afforded him.

“Did you just rise by a few levels?” she asked, her voice strangely low, more cautious than anything else.

Opening his eyes, Brock glanced at his Aetherweb, noting that Aurous Reserves II had replaced the previous option, and he furrowed his brows. Now that she had mentioned it, his aura did feel a few levels above what it had been before. A quick check on his status menu showed he was still level 61.

He frowned, “No, I didn’t. What the…”

Wait… oh…?

Curious, he dug deep into his aura, eventually finding the reason for the strange illusion of his increased ‘level’. The System seemed to have grafted a section of aura onto his current one. While the aura felt undoubtedly the same as his previous volume, if one looked deeper, the grafting was pretty evident. What happens when I deplete my aura fully though?

A question for another time he supposed. He glanced at Mio, “It was an option from the Aetherweb. Extra aura volume, but same level. Dunno how it works.”

“Right.” She narrowed her eyes, before reaching into the shadow of her chair and choosing to read a book, “Tell me when you’re gonna use your new Technique.”

Brock grunted and returned his attention to his Aetherweb. He still had 28 Stars left, and both Aurous options were now at the second tier and cost 20 each. He licked his lips. Either Reserves again, or Intensity…

If he considered the benefit of the intimidation factor of Reserves, as well as the extra amount he could bring to bare, Reserves seemed like the obvious choice. As his Stars funnelled into the option, he felt himself compelled to keep spending, and he quickly dumped the rest into Extra RAM, leaving him with 3 Stars left. I’m… addicted to spending… shit…

Two prompts appeared, followed by a surge of power.

[You have completed Aetherweb: Aurous Reserves II.]

[As your aura grows, so does your power. To chase the Path of Aura is to pursue versatility and skill. Pursue this power and claim your rightful throne upon the Apex. A branching path approaches. +20% aura volume.]

[You have completed Aetherweb: Extra RAM.]

[The first of seven stat modifiers. Choose wisely. Select one stat to add a +5% increase to.]

Woah…

At first, the section about the Path of Aura, the Apex and the branching path stole his attention and stoked his interest as he wondered what all three of them meant. All the Aetherweb descriptions had been yet to provide him with anything resembling lore, but this one was different.

Then, all those wonders were washed away as the description of Extra RAM appeared. His brain almost short circuited then and there. Are you serious?! A 5% increase?! And it’s only one of sev-

Excitedly, Brock glanced at his Aetherweb once more. Then his face fell. Extra RAM had been replaced by Codex Matrix, which cost 100 Stars. He blinked, then he blinked once more.

“Huh.”

Righto then.

With his dreams of empowering his stats massively out the window, he eyed the replacement of Aurous Reserves, now possessing ‘III’ at the end of it. Then, he returned his attention to the description of Extra RAM. Briefly, he considering placing it onto Agility or Intelligence, but a better idea nagged at him.

He placed it on Dexterity.

Dexterity: 350 [+40%][Base: 250]

While it wasn’t exactly halfway of his Agility, the extra percentage increase would certainly help to even it out somewhat. At least, that was what he hoped. If not, I’ve just wasted a very important fucking chance.

As for his aura, he felt his new volume made him appear to be level 80 at a passing glance or to the untrained aura senses. It was certainly something quite significant, and if it was a bonus that was retroactive like his stat bonuses, it would be invaluable. I might even be able to intimidate Zin with it if I get high level enough.

While he was curious about his branching paths and whatnot, he decided to discard that all and focus upon other matters for the moment. Like finally testing his fourth Technique.

“Hey,” he called out, “Mio.”

The woman’s eyes flicked up from her book, something with a cover too worn for him to distinguish, and interest flared in her gaze. She didn’t say anything, but Brock could tell from her continued eye contact that she was waiting.

Breathing out, Brock took a stance and aimed his attention away from them, off at the edge of the forestry that led to the cave. Slowly, almost too carefully, he fed aura into his new node, and instantly he felt it empower his already Oppressive Might empowered aura.

Nothing happened. Not even a visual change. Ok, now I’m getting tired of this.

What was weird, however, was the fact that he quite clearly felt it imbued with in aura. Furrowing his brows, he scanned it, both with his eyes and senses, but he found nothin-

The ground flickered in a way reminiscent of the sun shining through fog. Brock glanced at his aura with narrowed eyes. It gives my aura a shadow? Or is it something else?

Humming to himself and noticing Mio’s waning attention, Brock focused on that shadow aspect of the Technique. Strangely enough, he felt like he possessed some influence over the shadows cast by his dark aura. Closing his eyes, he zoned his attention on them, feeling them out like they were another limb.

And slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled. His eyes inched open, and he found that the shadows cast were darkening. Hmmm. This Technique has some sort of gimmick here…

“You know I’ve been able to do that since I got my Ascendancy,” Mio called out, the distraction in her voice portraying that she was now once again reading, “And I can do it better to.”

“Shut up.” Brock growled. The shadows darkened further, yet his aura stayed just as dim.

He took a moment to consider what he could see. So it seems to give my aura some sort of property. Density maybe? No, I’m pretty sure Oppressive Might already does that. Solidity? Conductivity? What could it…

Wait. Conductivity.

Immediately, Brock funnelled some of his aura into Ethereal Shackles. His breath caught. Instead of travelling through his pathways, the DNA shell of the Technique was instantly diffused into his aura. A prompt from his mind allowed him to rise up chains from any shadow encapsulated within his aura’s range. Including those created by his aura.

Without purpose, chains rose up, wriggled around, then slid back into the darkness. In her chair, Mio flinched in surprise. It’s conductivity. I can alter my aura’s conductivity. That’s why it was creating shadows. I was making it less conductive to light… or something like that.

Overcome by joy, Brock didn’t exactly know how to feel. He could use his Techniques again, after all this time. Maybe even his Augments if he tried them. He had regained the bulk of his powers with a single click. To top it off, the Technique didn’t even seem to use any aura, only increase the usage of the other Techniques, Oppressive Might included.

Good thing I got Reserves.

Now, Brock felt he could do it all. He could use Techniques with his aura, he could enhance himself, use telekinesis. Most probably, he could even make force constructs with it, like shields, tentacles, and whatever else he needed. It was… liberating.

“Fuck YES!” Brock pumped his fist, jumping up and down, and all around.

Mio stared at him, “Your pathways are fixed?”

Grinning toothily, he shook his head, “New Technique increasing conductivity to energy or something. I can use them through my aura now.”

Mio’s brows climbed up her forehead, though she remained silent, seeming to contemplate on the working behind it. Her book was placed face down firmly within her lap. Brock, on the other hand, couldn’t get over himself. He had finally done it. He had restored his powers. He had dis-

[Synergy between two Techniques detected.]

“Huh?”

What does that mea-

[Oppressive Might [F] and Whispers of the Void [F] have been deemed fusion compatible.]

[Isolating Techniques…]

Immediately, Brock felt a bout of weakness overcome him as he felt two of the nodes upon his Ascendancy disappear. The surroundings lightened as Oppressive Might deactivated, and a surge of panic filled his gut.

Fortunately, another prompt stole his attention.

[Isolation successful…]

[Fusing Techniques…]

Brock lurched as a sensation akin to heartburn assaulted him. He doubled over, and Mio called out to him as he looked inward and watched energy swirl and coalesce into a singular, larger node and replace his previous two Techniques. What the hell…?

[Oppressive Might and Whispers of the Void have fused.]

[You have mutated Technique: Silence of the Abyss [F].]

[Technique has automatically upgraded to Tier IV. All mutation points have been reset.]

Brock blinked, reading over the wall of prompts once. Then twice. Mio tapped him on the forehead, but he ignored her. He read over the notifications one last time. He furrowed his brows.

“What the fuck?”