Shaking off the surprise from getting EXP and, subsequently, a level from crafting, or whatever had given them to me, I focused on the item I had just completed. There was still a lot of work to do before I could head out and I wasn’t sure I would get everything done in time.

Cloak of Concealment Rarity Uncommon Type Cloak Base Protection 0 against Piercing Damage Base Protection 0 against Slashing Damage Base Protection 1 against Blunt Damage Special Effect Concealment - Allows you to blend into the darkness.

Special Effect Enshade - Channelling Astral Power into the cloak allows for Improved Stealth

A thin cloak that provides only minimal protection but greatly enhances the wearer’s stealth capabilities.

A grin flickered across my face as I read the description. It was exactly what I had hoped for, even if a little more protection would have been appreciated. But at the end of the day, it was just thin cloth, so hoping that it would provide protection above cushioning some blunt strikes was a little unrealistic. So, my best option remained not to get hit.

On the other hand, I had the two Rune Masteries I had been waiting for and there was nothing stopping me. The Sun was mostly gone, hopefully taking with it any influence it might have over the Astral River, so I could dip my toes into it. Not dive into it, I was a little afraid of that, due to the frothing, agitated state the river was in, but getting a glimpse of the runes that symbolised the concepts I was looking for should be possible.

Making myself comfortable, I closed my eyes, feeling the magic around me. It was interesting, I knew that there was more than just the strong, surging flows of power in the earth beneath me, I knew that Astral Power was infusing everything around me and yet, I could only feel those beneath. A problem of perception, of Intuition and power. I simply didn’t have the strength just yet. Remembering that I still had two points from my level-up, I put them into Intuition, sadly only bringing it up to nineteen. Twenty would have been a nice milestone, but I probably shouldn’t be greedy, getting those nine extra points from Dragon Touched was a major boost, even if it wasn’t a boost focused on my strengths. But covering my weaknesses might not be a bad idea either. Not that I could actually control that trait, so I should be grateful for what I received instead of bemoaning what might have been possible.

Regardless, even with nineteen Intuition, I was unable to feel more about the Astral Power flowing through the world around me, so the only method left was to focus deeper, into the streams of power flowing through the earth beneath me.

Just like it had been on Mundus, there was a lot of it. On Mundus, the best mental image I could draw had been the image of a placid river, similar to the Amazon or maybe the Nile, hundreds upon thousands of cubic metres of water, slowly but ceaselessly moving across the land. Here, with the Astral River I could feel beneath me, the only image I could draw was that of a flood, first the initial tidal wave that crashed across the land, the change, followed by an endless amount of water, carving through buildings, streets and everything, until, hopefully, at some point in the future the pressure lessened and both, the power and the world, found a state of rest. How long that would take, if it would even happen, I had no idea, so for now, I had to deal with the raging waters.

I didn’t dare to delve into the floods, instead, I remained adjacent, merely feeling the river while I focused on the concept I had in mind, picturing the rune that had represented it on Mundus in my mind. I was searching the Mist, countless, tiny pieces of Ice, light enough to drift through the air, before ultimately fading away, either molten by the sun or dropped to the ground as snow. It filled the air, much like a cloud on ground level, spread around corners, trying to achieve maximal dispersal while slowly sinking, unless pushed up by the wind. It was cold, clammy and chilly, wafting and billowing, creating illusions and confusing the senses.

I could easily remember all those properties of Mist, I had conjured it up dozens, maybe even hundreds of times in my time on Mundus. And now, I could feel an interaction between my memories, the Astral River beneath me and something else. Something deeper, more fundamental but also incredibly far away and faint, giving me only the vaguest idea that it existed. Or I might be imagining it, I simply couldn’t be sure.

But in the darkness behind my eyes, I could feel the rune I remembered grow clear, solidify into a shape, though if it was exactly like the rune I remembered or if it had changed just a little, I couldn’t be sure. But I knew it now, knew what it represented and knew that I could use it to conjure and command the cold Mist, just like Morgana had.

For a minute or five, I simply sat there, letting my mind relax and recover while my hands idly petted Silva’s fur. Communing with the Astral River, even if I didn’t dare to delve into it, was hard mental work and I was planning to repeat that feat as soon as I felt recovered.

Soon, I placed my hands on my knees again, as my mind was focusing outwards once more. Back towards the Astral River and towards the Darkness within. Sill not willing to enter, I drifted on its shores once more, only this time, instead of the cold Mists of Ice, Darkness and its confusing, confounding effects filled my mind.

Darkness wasn’t just the absence of light, it was what robbed so many beings of their primary sensory organ, it symbolised the loss of perception. Getting lost in the dark, unable to find your way, that was one of the fundamental fears of humans. Losing your way in the dark, confused and lost, that confusion, that loss of your way and mental faculties, that was what I was searching for. The first step to mess with others’ minds, something I had enjoyed on Mundus.

Mild vertigo started to shift my mind around, as my mind started drifting. Focusing back on the concept and on my memories, I sharpened my mind, pushing away all unnecessary thoughts. Confusion could be a wide concept, one that could be achieved in many ways, but the one that was linked to Darkness was mine, represented by the rune that slowly became clear within my mind.

Soon, the Rune was completed, no longer fuzzy and nebulous, even if it retained a shifting, somewhat confusing quality if I focused too hard. Again, there was a brief sensation of interaction and feedback, before it faded away, leaving me with a small headache and the Rune shifting around in my mind. It remained a little confusing, but given what concept it represented, that wasn’t too much of a surprise. I would be able to use it, to imbue it into my spells and that was all that mattered.

It took me a little longer to recover from my second communion with the Astral River, my mind whirling with images and sensations. Maybe I had overdone it a little, maybe I had been caught up in a flare of power, I wasn’t sure. Either way, I had gained two levels in Astral Meditation, bringing the skill to six, and, much more importantly, I was now fully capable of using those two runes.

Two runes that had been fundamental in the area of effect magic Morgana had commanded and that I would now be able to command.

“I did it, Silva,” I told my canine companion, a wide grin on my face. “Now, we can hunt those hiding in the sewers, can drive them from their burrows and slaughter them by the hundreds.”

Maybe my canine companion could fully understand me, maybe she simply picked up on my enthusiasm, but she happily jumped up from the ground where she had been relaxing and getting petted and started to bounce towards the window we had been using. Night had fallen over an hour ago, and I had places to be, and beings to kill.

Following Silva, I set out, retracing the steps I had taken the night before, moving towards that racoon-den. They would be the first to fall to my mists, and afterwards, I would start looking for the rats and clear the sewers. Large-scale pest-extermination, magic style. The idea only deepened the eager smile on my face.