We were flying above the skies of the [Nexus], so that we could safely travel from the [Nymph Isle] to the [Wild Area].

How I got to travel with the [Banished Princess] of the [Heliokans] still baffles me, since she isn’t connected to either of the territories. Not that I’m complaining about having this absolute stunner of a woman in front of me, but something smelled fishy in here.

Also, I got the permission to [Inspect] her (And yes, apparently you have to ask for permission, or you’ll be practically invading someone’s privacy… the fact that nobody told me until now was kind of a ‘dick-move’):

Name:

Sheeno Fyratta

Class:

Cryotic Axe-Maiden (lvl 16)

Race:

Heliokan (Anomalous)

Status:

Friendly

“Cool, pun intended, now it tells me the [Race]; that’s new…”

It is a sign that [Inspect] is close to [Evolving], so you better start thinking about what qualities you want it to acquire.

“Finally, I was starting to think that it was ‘bugged’, or something!”

“Ready to start talking about tactics, partner?” The beautiful giants asked me.

This wasn’t the first time she had asked, after pulling out the [Spyre of truth], but I had to embarrassingly ask to use the restroom before the discussion could go on.

“Like, positioning, roles, and such? Sure”, I replied.

“Ok, then I’ll start: To begin with, even though my [Class] has ‘maiden’ in it don’t expect any finesse from me during combat, I fight like a maddened [Berserker], and my people are proud of that fighting style; also, if I hear you calling me a ‘maiden’, I’ll destroy you, and not in a fun way. Moving on from that then, I fight by creating thickened [Ice Weapons], normally four axes, one for each hand, but I also have a preference for throwing [Ice Walls] around to shield me from attacks, so I best work alone on the front. As per ranged attacks, I just use [Ice Spells], or throw the weapons generated by my [Skill] at the adversary. And as utility, I have a minor way to influence the weather, mostly in the way of causing hails.”

“Wait, what about survivability, or scouting?” I asked, once I noticed that she didn’t intend to continue.

“What about them? It isn’t my role, and I don’t have the [Affinities] for them, so the best I could do is something that recovers me a bit of [Fatigue], or something that conjures a slow [Ice Wisp] to look from above.” She simply replied.

“I mean, how? At the [Temple] we were taught-“

“Ok, no, stop. I see the problem now: What you were taught was a generalization to help you find your spot in the world, what I have is training for the role that my family knew I would fit best. So you better stop thinking right now that everybody else has a similar background to you.” She reprimanded me.

“Ok, I guess that’s true… So you’re a mix of [Guardian] and [Damager]?”

“Sure, but I’m much more of a [Damager], than a [Guardian], with a focus on ‘Area Of Effect’.”

“I think that fits pretty well with my kit, since I work best as a [Healer] and [Scout], and while still capable of dishing out some damage, if I focus too much in that area I tend to start lacking in the others. As per ‘fighting style’: Definitely long range, with light attacks from my staff, and various [constructs], including a [familiar], that works the same way; for the ‘healing’ I rely on [Spells] and [constructs] to both protect and heal allies. Talking about my [familiar], it’s a floating lantern, so it’s useful for scouting when it kills the light; but I also have a very strong and effective version of [Detection], so I cover the [Scout] role well enough.

… I guess I’m a mix of [Scout] and [Healer], with a focus on [Summoning] and protection? I actually never had to put it into words, and I think that’s a pretty weird ‘build’ to have in a party.” I said.

“To me, it sounds like exactly what I needed in a partner: you make disposable [constructs] that don’t get in the way of my fighting, and are capable of shielding both of us, permitting me to focus solely on smashing and rending? You’re like a dream come true~” By her tone, it was obvious that she was teasing me.

“Arr, Arr, very funny; but going back to tactics: do you prefer to be shielded, or healed?”

“Shield, obviously”, and she said that looking at me like I was stupid, or something.

“Don’t look at me like that! You’re the one that said you fought like a [Berserker], so I thought you also had the relative ‘passives’, like getting more powerful the more hits you take!” I argued.

“Fine, fine. No, I don’t have anything of the like, so if you kept me in tip-top shape, that would be lovely, but a quality that I do share with a [Berserker] is that the longer the fight lasts, the stronger I get, and the more I start resembling an angry typhoon”, she conceded, waving away my assumption.

“Is that why you said that ‘you work best if left alone in the front’?”

“Yep, that’s about right.”

From there we talked about minor adjustments to our tactics, like how I’m supposed to distribute my [constructs] further out from the fight, while Sheeno has to be mindful of not standing in front of one of my [turrets], or how I’m not supposed to directly cure her after every minor hit, but only grievous ones, or how we need to pay attention to her [Ice Walls] so to avoid catching me in the crossfire.

The most amazing thing maybe was that the [Spire of Truth], the [Artifact] that she had activated when I stated that I doubted her honesty, remained white the entire time.

The discussion then devolved into us blabbering about the [Enchantments] I could apply to our equipment, both mine and hers, which ultimately I won by demonstrating the efficiency of my creation, but she refused to have her ‘royal garbs’ altered until I was more proficient in the ‘art’.

And then we slipped into a pleasant lull, which started feeling like an awkward silence between us, where I kept stealing glances at her and she smirked at me every time she caught them, which was becoming more and more frequent.

“So, you want to talk about being a [Banished Princess], or not?” I finally asked, trying to break the ice (pun intended).

“That’s… not really a topic I want to touch right now, and don’t take this the wrong way, but we barely know each other… and I’m not really the ‘sharing type’”, she responded, making quotation marks with two of her hands, while the other two curled defensively in front of her.

For which I immediately was apologetic: “I-I’m sorry, that was really inconsiderate of me! Forget I even asked”.

“Me, and my stupid big mouth!”

And then there truly came to be an awkward silence between us.

Seeing that, I decided to do a bit of [Spell-Weaving].

“Is… there somewhere where I can ‘weave’ in peace on this ship?” I asked my companion.

“Uh? Sure, just past the door behind me there’s an empty room”, she replied distractedly.

“Thanks”, and with that, I squirreled out of the indicated door, where I found an empty space made to only vaguely resemble the room from before, minus the plush furniture, and in turn made me wonder whether this vehicle wasn’t bigger on the inside.

“It’s ‘weaving’ time”, I muttered to myself.

* * *

What do I need a the moment?

No, a better question yet: What does my [Party] need at the moment?

“An array of floating eyeba-“

Again with this?

“Yes, again, and you must admit that the idea is solid.”

No, I will not admit to anything. The idea is too general to actually function, and you have most of the utilities that you had previously designed for it distributed among other things you made, so there is no point in thinking about that past design.

I hated to admit it, but [Buddy] was right, and my [Beholder] was just too impractical to function, for now.

But I suddenly had a brilliant idea: Why don’t I make another turret, with the propulsion system that this ship has, and that can shoot ‘nets’ of various types (like physical, elemental, etc.) so that we have a bit more of ‘dedicated CC’ in our [Party]?

‘How am I supposed to know how to replicate that system, when I previously had said that it required further study to be comprehended?’ You may ask.

Easy, my [Demiurgic Sight] had allowed me to see the entirety of the [Spell] behind its machinations, and you don’t need comprehension when you can just ‘copy and paste’ and then let the AI of the [System] do the rest of the ‘fixing’.

So, I got to work.

First, came the concept for the [Spell]: a [turret] that shot different types of nets, allowing it to choose the most effective one, without it being ‘conscious’, but working solely with a bunch of ‘ifs’ and ‘thens’.

Let’s leave it cuboidal in shape, to maintain the theme I initiated with my [Pizza Dispenser].

While working on all of this, the rings of the [Spell] have been continuously weaved into being, shaping my creation.

“I haven’t had any problems in making my other creations use [Affinities] I didn’t have, not even with my [Enchantments] I had any of those problems, so this should work.”

It’s time for the more delicate bit of the weaving: The nets.

But I don’t want a simple net, not an actual one at least, so I once again start working on concepts:

Sealing Cage Blocking Immobilizing Trap Adaptation And obviously, Net

The [Matrix] expanded, and dozen of tiny rings are ‘hanged’ onto the newer one, creating a complexity only beaten by [Kevin]’s.

And then, the last touch, where I add four small propulsive holes on every side, all barely the size of a thumb, and once for each corner.

Because ‘floating’ isn’t enough, this is my newest, and most advanced, ‘baby, and it needs maneuverability. It needed ‘true flight’.

One last ring is added, and before snapping it into reality I observe the flow of [Eather] in it. I know that I was told to not observe it by my [Goddess], [Luck], but I always felt attracted to it, almost feeling pulled to study it, as if it was the most enticing thing this new world had to offer… maybe the second most enticing thing, second to a certain ‘awooga’.

Like I had previously observed, the [Eather] seemed to flow in patterns, and after having been playing with [Enchantments] for a while, I can definitely say that it does so naturally, with the only effort put into it being the ‘pouring’ in the desired shape.

But is it ‘the desired form’, or ‘the form that gets desired’? Which came first? The thought a being can have, or its equivalent already present in [Eather]-from? Is the so valued ‘Intent’ encouraged by the [System] little more than letting yourself be controlled by the natural flow of the [Eather]?

Am I even real? Thinking and breathing right now? Or have I died and been remade into a [constructs] built of [Eather] and [matter]? Would I know the difference? Would I even want to know the difference?

I wasn’t hyperventilating, but was definitely having an extreme case of ‘WTF case’.

That’s why I told you that you weren’t ready for messing with Eather.

“Existential Crisis” is only the first symptom when mortals mess with it, and it isn’t the worst by far.

Stop, when you still have the chance.

I snap out of it, listening to [Luck], and snap into existence the [Spell] too, to eliminate the current source of my problems.

You have successfully created a new [Spell]: [Flying Trapper]

Flying Trapper:

(Spell; Turret; Adaptability; binding)

Cuboidal flying Turret made of bone, capable of launching immobilizing structures of various types, discerning the aptest one on its own.

Durability of the material depends on Mana used during casting, and Strength of the bindings proportional to Mana infused into the Turret.

“I forget for one time to decide upon the material, and it comes out made of bone!? What the actual fuck!”

I was perplexed at the implication of it all, including the fact that I had failed to make it a [construct], but I noticed something else that gave me another bigger start.

“How in the hell have I given it one of my [Racial Traits]!?”

That shouldn’t be possible, [Spells] and [Skills] can’t have [Traits], especially not ones that are [Racial]…

But haven’t I done something similar in the past?

[Hide Presence], that ‘throw away’ [Skill] that I wanted to use as a template for [Detection], and gain some insight on how [Spell-Weaving] actually worked, it had come from a [Trait].

Nothing that I had read made mention of this happening, almost like it was so impossible that it wasn’t even conceptually theorized.

Once again, I had done something ludicrously impossible without even noticing.

And now, I had two thoughts in my mind: 1, just how broken is my [Class]? And 2, how can I exploit this?

Through your action, you have been awarded +1 [Acuity], +2 [Insight] and [Energy], and +3 [Will]

“Neat, even more gains.”