"Tercius."

His mind slowly drifted back from a fog-like state to the sound of a concerned voice. Tercius recognized the voice belonged to Seliana, and at the same time, he noticed that someone was gently caressing his cheeks and forehead.

"What were you thinking you old muscle-brained lout, making a child so seasick take a ship. He barely moved these last few days." Seliana said somewhere above him.

"It’s not that, you fume-addled woman, the boy is merely tired. He needs some time to rest, preferably away from your screeching voice. It could wake the dead, to say nothing of the tired." Lux opined reasonably.

Seliana snorted, the ejection of air so strong it lifted some of the hairs on Tercius’s head. "You think this is screeching? I should..."

Tercius groaned audibly, even he didn’t know the exact reason. Take a pick. he complained internally. A pseudo-pet is presumably missing, my source of Energy is dried up until I manage to find my way back, my experiment failed, and now these elders are bickering. Right above me.

"I'm fine Seliana if someone could just get me something to eat, and please leave me alone for a bit," he said. As the influence of Meditation left him, the emotional impacts of his actions came.

"Listen to him." Lux counseled. "Penelope, go fetch him a bowl of whatever they have. Seliana, how about we show these sailors one more time how the games are played?"

"If you're not worried about the boy then why should I care? But I do like the sound of that, every dweta will be useful."

Everyone shuffled out of the small cabin, leaving him alone with Amber, who started rumbling in contentment as he scratched her scales. A lazy yawn escaped her, and Tercius had to smile at the sight.

"Don't grow up too quickly," he whispered.

***

The ship was supposed to arrive on the docks of Lissea in some 2 to 3 hours, and Tercius took the opportunity of an empty cabin to try something. In hindsight, it seemed such an oversight on his part to not try it.

But first things first. I need a proper name for these representations. he thought, and mulled over one. An effigy. Yes, that’s it. Since a representation merely offered a connection, a way, a door to the actual inner world of the skill, an effigy seemed appropriate. The inner world of a skill, I will call The Core, or just Core.

Entering Meditation, because the effects of the skill somehow made the whole thing possible, he tried to conjure the effigy he made for Meditation and, after a mere second, it worked. The effigy in the shape of a small marble with a Buddha in it appeared, and he got his confirmation that the process still worked. Trying any sort of interaction with the small effigy proved futile, as if the effigy existed on some other plane. Visible yet, to the current him, unreachable.

Calling out to the wisps also proved futile, but he was not worried. They came and went, sometimes answering his calls, at other times ignoring him. He had long ago stopped trying to guess the reason why things were as they were, simply because any attempt from him would be a pure guess.

Dismissing the Meditation effigy, he once more tried the effigy he made for Energy Sight, that of a magnifying glass, and gave up after a few failed tries. Trying to conjure the Visualization effigy also worked, and then he set out to try a few that came after Visualization, but before Energy Sight. The list of his skills easily came to mind.

1. Language Acquisition (40)

2. Visualization (40)

3. Meditation (60)

4. Stone Shaping (40)

5. Gardening (40)

6. Mathematics (41)

7. Running (41)

8. Precision (33)

9. Stone Sight (20)

10. Teaching (20)

11. Mana Manipulation (20)

12. Mana Sight (20)

13. Sword Mastery (20)

14. Shield Mastery (20)

15. Energy Manipulation (20)

16. Energy Sight (20)

Both Stone Sight and Mana Sight seemed like decent candidates since he decided to use a magnifying glass for all of his Sight skills.

Stone Sight was a skill he created in an attempt to mimic a skill his grandfather has, called Stone Sense. Since he didn't like how his grandfather's skill merely gave a vague sense of what was inside, Tercius had a brilliant decision to replace that vague sense with visual confirmation. With a guide in the form of an x-ray image kept at all times at the forefront of his mind, every time he worked with a stone he would spend hours trying and gaze into his work.

During those times, his grandfather would often ask him if he had constipation.

It took him 158 days from his first try to get the skill. At approximately 3 hours almost every day, that came up to just under 20 whole days of work with no eating, no sleeping, no break of any kind. Almost three weeks of constant effort. It almost did not seem like a long time when he thought of it that way.

Before he came clean to his family about his abilities, Stone Sight was a skill he only leveled the usual way, making sure to never have Energy coursing through his body. That changed as soon as he told them, the skill gaining its final level in a matter of days. A year has passed since then. Occasionally he would try to think of some new way to use these Sight skill, to finally get them over the barrier, but nothing he tried worked. Even Mana Sight and Energy Sight, which were stuck even longer at level 20, were no different.

The skills were so straightforward in their use, that he was stumped about how to flex them to make them move forward. And he was sure that he was overlooking some detail, that would enable him to move forward. In hindsight, that detail would probably be painfully obvious. The mere thought of it frustrated him to no end.

For Stone Sight, Tercius finally decided to use a gray stone for the frame of the magnifying glass. Craggy and cracked, yet somehow still holding itself together, if someone were to take the handle in hand, Tercius was sure that blood would be drawn. For the lens, he went with a thin sheet of white marble, the edges that were near the frame almost see-through, while the center was transparent as high-quality glass.

Nodding in satisfaction, he tried conjuring the skill effigy. It was nowhere near as fast as Meditation or Visualization, but the effigy of Stone Sight appeared after just a minute of concentrated focus.

Once the skill appeared he mustered all of his abilities of observation and surveyed the skill, making mental notes of any and all details that he spotted, no matter how minor they seemed. From the way it looked to its size, to the way it behaved.

After Stone Sight, Mana Sight took its turn at the examination.

For this skill, he was not quite sure how to proceed. On one hand, the Mana outline of living beings was always red, and Mana in plants was always green. The amount of Mana a plant or a being had was measured in shades of a color, where lighter was always less and darker more.

He tried a few different ideas but not a single one resonated with this faint idea he had in mind. What if the frame changed color from ultraviolet to infrared? What do I use for a lens?

Since his time, at the moment, was limited, he decided to leave the creation of that particular effigy for a later date.

Instead of Mana Sight, he focused his efforts on Shield Mastery.

For his first shield, his father got him a round one, made of wood. Tercius was honestly surprised when he learned that the vast majority of shields were wooden made. Some were covered in a very thin plating of metal, but those were largely ornamental, rarely used in fighting.

There were other materials used for shield construction, but the two primary guidelines for makers of shields were that they are as durable as they can while staying as light as they could be. Most of the shields made for adult males were made with a maximum weight of 7.5 kg. Some exceptions could be made if the wielder showed the ability to handle more, but generally, this was a golden rule all shield makers adhered to.

But when Tercius thought of a shield, a triangular one was the first that came to mind. Not wanting to resist his instincts, he went with that idea. And a great shield has to have an emblem on the front. he thought. A symbol of who I am or maybe who I want to become. My name, both now and in the past, has had a connection to the number three. So that can be one motive. A perfect triangle? Nope, too similar to a pyramid. I need something that’s mine.

On and on, Tercius lead a discussion with himself. Back and forth he made a proposition and then found reasons for its dismissal.

Amber. he thought with some finality. The thought appealed to him. A lion is a common enough symbol, so maybe spice it up a bit. Just the head?

A dark metallic green, a color representing tranquility and luck, and new beginnings ended up being his choice for the background. On one such triangular shield, right in the center, was a frontal view of a head of a certain little creature, her golden eyes piercing the viewer. Her scales were painted vividly in shades of blue, green, and most of all gray. Her small sharp ears pointing up.

Further symbols can be added later. he thought.

Tercius focused, picturing what he came up with. From the shield itself, the color, Amber's features, everything. Time flew by, and his effort bore fruit. The skill effigy manifested.

Once more he tried the effigy for Energy Sight, and nothing happened.

So I can make a connection to all of the older skills, but Energy Sight is proving to be a difficult one. Is it because of this strata business? I must try Energy Manipulation to be sure. he thought. But my time, for now, is up.

***

Getting off the bunk bed, Tercius stretched. A few thoughts started drifting about how he should not have done what he did, but he squashed them as soon as they appeared. It was so much easier to spend time in Meditation where the skill influenced him to a neutral zone, and none of his emotions got in the way.

"Oh good, I thought I would have to wake you up," Penelope said as she entered the cabin. "Take your things, we are almost there."

"Be right there, just let me take my backpack and cloak," he said. Once everything was in the place it should be, he checked the cabin for anything his fellow passengers might have missed. Finally, he took Amber in the crook of his left arm, where she made herself comfortable. With his body to provide heat and his cloak to keep that heat contained, Amber had a perfect spot to sleep.

On the deck, he found Seliana, Penelope, and Lux, all of them ready to ditch the ship as soon as it made a stop. His uncle was pointing at some of the larger edifices that were seen from where they were, naming them, and giving a brief note on each. Even though Tercius found the topic interesting, something else preoccupied his mind.

Something he did not see for a long time. Over 11 years to be precise.

Glittering downwards were small white constructs, a product of water and of cold weather.

Snow.

It was just a few snowflakes drifting about, nothing even close to the amount of snow he was used to, ages ago, but... it was snowing.

Tercius raised a hand to catch one that came near him, and as soon as the snowflake landed, it turned to water.

"This must be your first time to see the snow?" Penelope asked. She had a small smile for the expression she witnessed on the face of her new friend.

It took a great effort to resist saying "No", then an even greater one to not say "Yes". Tercius knew of the skill his uncle had, and no matter what answer he said, it would be a wrong one. He felt lucky that the skill worked only when his uncle heard the answer.

From an honest moment of surprise, it turned into an act to preserve his secret. The secret.

Tercius merely nodded and forced his gaze forward, leaving the question without a verbal answer. The city grew near with each moment, sights that were small gained more in each dimension, and Tercius observed it all.

A chilly wind was heard howling somewhere high up in the mountains peaks above Lissea.

***

"When do you want to go to the Library?" Lux asked Tercius that evening. All four of them were having a meal, and the topic of the Academy turned up.

"We are ahead of schedule, so there is no rush," Tercius said.

"Actually, there is. You may not be in one, but I am. It was quite some time since I went back home." Lux said.

"Oh." Tercius dumbly said. It did not even cross his mind that Lux was soon to leave."Well, I guess you must."

Lux observed the downcast smile of his nephew and added. "Of course, I will stay until you leave for the Academy."

"Maybe we can try this mountain path, I mean, how hard can it really be?" Tercius threw out the sudden thought.

"Do not be silly Tercius, if you can go without a 15-day hike, up the mountains, during winter, do so," Lux advised, although the sentiment behind his nephew's words was well received. "Blisters, sore muscles, cold, all of that and more, it would drain a trained soldier who is at the peak of strength."

"How about we stay in the city until the 26th and then we try this clue hunt?" Tercius proposed the matter for consideration. "In the book it said that it has a five-day limit."

"I will try and find out where would be a good place to live up there," Seliana said and made a gesture to indicate the mountains above them. "I never saw any map that went much north of Lissea."

"That is by design," Lux said. "But try the Library here, they should have some. Especially if you go to the same one these two are going to."

"So what do we do with all this free time?" Penelope asked.

"We will figure something out," Seliana assured her starry-eyed daughter. "And what of our possessions?"

"They should be here within a week, I will see to it that news reaches us as soon as the ship that carries them arrives," Lux assured her.

They made small talk well into the night, then filled with good food and new plans for the days to come they retired to sleep.

Most of them, that is.

Tercius had other plans.

***

Tercius couldn't go to sleep before he attempted to see if Energy Manipulation would act like all of the others and appear, or act like Energy Sight.

Now to observe how this skill behaves. he thought. Since I have multiple Manipulation type skills, then like I made one mold for Sight type, I should do the same here.

Manipulation, a word that carried the meaning of handling or controlling something or someone. When Tercius thought of a manipulator, he thought of someone pulling strings from the shadows, never directly seen or heard. You could only spot the results of his actions, and by careful examination of the strings and small leads find your way to him.

A parallel could be drawn here. he thought. With only my will, I can make Energy behave in any way I want it to behave. As long as it stays within my body.

A spider body, yet each leg is a human finger. To each finger, numerous strings are attached...

No, even under the effects of Meditation, I got a slight desire to run the other way. he thought. Maybe just regular hands instead?

Two hands holding a globe between them, and from each finger, a multitude of strings emerged to connect to a spot on the globe. A finger would move just a bit and something would happen, all the while the globe kept spinning, yet the strings never tangled. The strings were thin yet resilient, they gave and could take away. Within each individual string, a world of white fog existed, and should the string twist one way the mist would leave the string. Twist the other way and it would get back inside. The effigy he imagined for Energy Manipulation was satisfactory, for now.

Even as Tercius began the process, he heard a buzzing sound. Reminding him of bees, at the start it was just one or two. As he progressed, it got to ten, a hundred, multiplying with each new detail he added. A swarm, then one more, and finally came a time where he literary could not focus anymore. He had to let go of what he was trying to achieve and the buzzing stopped in the same instant.

The change left his mind disoriented.

Under the nurture of Meditation, he quickly recovered and tried once more. The same thing happened. Only this time Tercius made much more progress in less time and managed to see the skill start to form. Yet he had to banish what he made, just to stop the pain he felt.

He never felt pain in Meditation in such a way.

If his body was hurting, he came here to rest, the pain melting away in moments, especially as his skill gained more and more levels. As soon as he was rested he tried again. And again he banished the construct as soon as it was to manifest. It was turning out to be quite a difficult endeavor.

Not because of the pain, but because it was so easy to banish it. A mere thought was enough to stop his suffering, and he acted instinctively. Over and over again, he proved that even though he wanted to experience it, his body and mind did not. And they held more power over this than he was comfortable to admit.

Carry on. he would repeat to himself, and do exactly that.

Carry on.

Carry on.

…

…

…

Carry on.

His repeated attempts of self-torture did not yield the desired result, but another interesting thing did happen. Tercius felt tired. Tired. Exhausted. That never happened. Not here.

With the new development, Tercius hesitated to continue. What if I do permanent damage?

He would have had to stop with what he was trying to do, even if he decided to go through with some more. Tercius had guests.

The wisps came for a visit.

In large numbers, they made their way all over his body. While usually, their floating would make Tercius think that they were carried by some unseen wave, now they zigzagged, making sharp turns here and there, making collisions by the millions.

Tercius tried to think a few words their way, yet they just continued as they were. Then he tried to observe them, to try to figure out what was wrong, but nothing experienced with any of his senses helped him with this mystery. The small chained beings were so alien that no way of communication existed.

He metaphorically threw his hands in the air tired of their antics when, lo and behold, they settled.

Tercius suddenly had an image of a milling anthill making a pause in the middle of a busy day. The ants were just doing their job, minding their own business, when one of them started breakdancing. Turning their heads to their fellows, they clicked their mandibles and antennae as if to ask, What is this moron doing? Is it contagious?

The wisps drifted away the next instant, leaving him alone once more, yet instead of feeling immensely proud of taming that unruly mob, he wanted to hit his head against the first available surface.

Why didn’t I try to conjure the effigy for Meditation? The wisps were just there, I should have at least tried it. he thought. He had been waiting for wisps to appear so that he could try and see if everything would work as it once did. To see if Flu was still there. To have his source of Energy once more. And now that they finally show up, he chased them away just because he was tired and their weird antics got on his worn out nerves. It might be high time I acknowledge something to myself. Tercius, you might be an idiot.