Nicolas Winterhome. Promising candidate for the Marchesa’s Legion. The last snapshot we have of you via a dream-realm shows a talented combatant, albeit below the Legion’s standards.

A day ago you came under our surveillance again. At this point, we witnessed your near death. Twice.

On City Layer d23, you threw yourself into a fight you couldn’t win with the hope of serving as a distraction for your friend. Your plan worked…

But you failed to account for simple possibilities. You spat the pill out. You could’ve been killed outright before you could consume it or swear the oath.

Nicolas floated in the void. He liked the void. The dark was warm and comfortable. The dark was his friend. The only problem was somebody had turned the lights on, and now images of his fight with the thugs on the steps of the temple were playing. It was like a projector image being cast onto the inside of his skull. Huge, warped screens of light showed a dozen angles of the same bloody brawl.

Further, in the New World you risked life and limb for a plan that could’ve gone wrong at any number of stages. The medicine could have negated the poison. Or the poison could have failed to finish off the wounded.

Even then, without my intervention you would have been crippled, if not dead.

It is my regret that I have to reward your reckless behavior by giving you a Moonseal Credit. This credit can be used to unlock additional features-

“Wait. Wait. Who are you?” He called out, and his voice echoed.

I am Sofia, or Sophont. The child of Pathos, created as an artificial mind sent to watch over and guide the most promising challengers of the New World.

So far 11,352 Sophonts have been distributed among the Invaders, and over a hundred thousand to the Aborigines.

“Aborigines?” This was all so disorienting. Nic tried to make his mind move, to follow what was happening. This was a gift from Pathos. Like the Shards of the temple.

She was a guide. She was trying to teach him a lesson in caution.

Poor girl.

Nic never learned a damn thing.

By another name, the natives of this realm.

My conclusion about you, Nicolas Winterhome, is that you are reckless. You are used to operating in a group with others who hold you back from self-destruction, and to restraining yourself to protect them. Without that social structure you are a blade with no handle.

For this reason I am offering you an additional Moonseal Credit, redeemable for various upgrades to your Sophont model, if you can go a week without reckless self-endangerment.

Unless he was bribed.

“Alright, alright. So you’re telling me that if I go a week cultivating peacefully and building up strength, you’ll pay me for not putting my pretty little tail at risk?” He swam through the black now. It was surprisingly easy to drift through his dream-realm, and he shot close to one of the images of the fight, brushing his hand through it so the colors dissolved into static. “That seems like a pretty great deal. In fact, I’m looking for the catch.”

“Can you take a form that’s easier to talk to?”

She appeared in front of him so suddenly it was frightening. She had a body of cast iron, like an empty suit of platemail covered in thorns. Her head was a blot of pale blue flame with a stone mask floating at the center. It was beautiful, with angelic cheeks and wise eyes, but clearly inhuman.

Her voice changed. She no longer spoke in the announcements of the System, but in a strong, cold tone like a strict teacher.

“Yes. The catch is not there, no matter how hard you look, I’m afraid. This is kindness. Pathos selects a few every year to favor with special attention and training. You - after failing your exams - are finally among those few.”

Nic’s smile faltered. Just for a second. To hide it he kicked off like a dolphin, swimming agile circles around her in the weightless sea of darkness. “Why do you keep mentioning that?”

“Your exams? They’re one of the few things I truly know about you. Before you became a Lottery winner, I only have information captured from the moments of your life where you entered a dream-realm to train. This is why all children must attend educational realms every few years. It allows us to assemble profiles on them through key snapshots of developmental phases.”

“That-” He paused. The last bit was hard to follow, but what caught his attention was the clear happiness in her voice. The usual dull monotone sparkled when she talked about ‘key snapshots’ and right then, Nic knew he could win here. He could get his hooks into her. “You enjoy this work, huh? Beldam Winters used to light up the same way when she thought nobody could see her watching us play. Tough on the outside, but...”

“I don’t know what you mean. Artificial entities do not enjoy anything, thank you.”

“No it’s fine. I feel the same way. I like being good at what I do.” Flattery. A touch of the old knowing smile. She didn’t seem to be falling for it. Maybe it was the fact his new smile didn’t have any teeth. “Anyway, what can I spend this Credit on?”

She waved her hand and dozens of crystal screens appeared, all of them full of scrolling texts. “Expanding and upgrading my functions. Inexpensive uses could be translation, personalized training, or harvesting battle recordings for review, while expensive options include granting your Sophont access to your cultivation base to gain the benefits of active cultivation at all times.

With a flick of her hand she dismissed all options but one. “But I’d recommend purchasing the Archive Recall function.”

“And what wouldn’t you recommend?” Nic asked, betting on something. He’d be very surprised if a divine guide could lie. Maybe there were some messengers of the gods who went around telling lies, but this Sofie seemed like she’d have a nervous breakdown if she accidentally gave the wrong directions.

“I-” His bet came true as her metal lips curled in distaste. “I was going to recommend your second purchase be a Personality Matrix. It would infuse my intellect with the persona of a friend of yours, allowing us to work together more compatibly. I would have to recommend your Tarquin of course.”

“We’re plenty compatible. For instance, I already know when you’re dodging a question. That’s what you would recommend second. What wouldn’t you tell me about at all?”

The frown deepened several notches, growing intense. “There are complex tools for developing new techniques that allow precise control over Essence. You would likely be attracted to them due to your desire to become a Rune-Scribe. You would also, without a shadow of a doubt, kill yourself with them. Immediately.”

Nic held up his hands. Defeated. Floating backwards away from her. “Alright, alright. Out of curiosity what would stop Tarquin, if you were Tarquin, just giving me endless Credits to spend?”

The question seemed to placate her. She liked questions, clearly, and she wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. “There is a review process. Each gift must be justified, and you have already expended a great deal of the heaven’s favor towards you on the emergency instruction in regeneration.”

“And she’s probably pretty good at getting through reviews. Better than Tarquin.” He thought, carefully watching her for a sign of reaction.

None. So she couldn’t hear his thoughts when he didn’t want her to. Either that or she was a master of deception and had been manipulating him from the start.

"Alright. Spend the Credit on Archive Recall. And wake me up, I can't spend forever down here." He conceded the battle gracefully, enjoying the surprise on her face as he gave in. Once people expected trouble they began to see you acting reasonably as a favor to them.

"Alright. There may be a slight…"

Everything turned to pain and overstimulation.

---

Nic gasped like a dying fish. His whole body ached. If he had to give the sensation a name, it was being spat out of a meat grinder. But his right hand was where it should be- on the end of a whole, intact right arm and aching like a devil.

He curled the fingers into a fist of newt-y triumph.

“System. Cultivation map”

Essence 11,239.5 / 5,000

+ 6.37 per Minute

(1.062 Base)

300% Local Modifier

+ Devoured an F-Class enemy (200%)

+ Consumed a G-Class treasure (100%)

+ Rested in toxic environment (100%)

Cultivation Base (Unranked)

Physical Strength (743/1,000)

Mental Acuity (266/500)

Spiritual Clarity (2/500)

Regeneration (454/10,000)

Poison Mist Shard (F)

Creates and controls poisonous mist from Aura.

Base Enhancement (470/5,000)

Poison Devouring (0/10,000)

Mist Armor (0/50,000)

Secondary Slot (0/50,000)

Adhesive Touch (G)

Creates adhesive threads of pure Aura.

Base Enhancement (22/1,000)

Secondary Slot (0/10,000)

Permanency (0/10,000)

Toxic Binding (0/50,000)

Hunter-Gatherer Petroglyphs (G)

Creates crude tools from bone, rock, and wood, using Essence to bind them.

II Base Enhancement (126/1,500)

Secondary Slot (0/10,000)

Metallurgy (0/100,000)

He frowned. He’d actually lost a level in Physical Strength. He knew even high class warriors could be crippled by the loss of an arm, and apparently that held true at the lower levels. Nevermind. He should feel lucky even to have survived- whining about some lost Essence was better than mourning a lost limb.

And more importantly- he had gained an insane amount of Essence in exchange. Even as he watched his massive overflow slowly ticked down, points bleeding away. The result of being well over his body’s capacity. It had been ticking down for hours while he was unconscious.

But those points were easy come and easy go.

Without hesitation he began to feed the Essence down into Physical Strength.

1,000... 1,500... 2,000... 2,500… 3,000.

As he broke through barrier after barrier his skin seethed with so much energy it began to crackle and hiss like a hot skillet. The ache of pain was swiftly replaced by the good, exciting ache of his muscles being reforged. Resonant tones sung through his entire body.

Finally, after pouring ten thousand Essence away like water he felt satisfied. And for that matter Physical Strength was locked at V, refusing to take even mote more. It looked like he’d need to evolve or make some other breakthrough before he could become stronger still.

As it was?

He stood up like a drunken man, surprised by how weightless and yet powerful his limbs felt. By the added force behind every movement. Every motion followed through with a newfound force, easily twenty percent more than he’d started out with.

It was good. It was also the most exhausted he’d ever felt.

As he climbed out of the cauldron, a horde of lizards lifted their heads to spit and hiss at him. They had broad blue crests around their neck like the petals of giant flowers, and their mouths had a second hinge down the bottom, causing them to open up into fangs and pink gullet. Bright red tongues covered in barbs lashed the air.

He advanced and spat a spray of poison into the crowd. They immediately fell back and thought twice about fighting with him.

Carrion Lickers. Unranked // Mindless. Often found on battlefields or where enormous beasts have fought, these small and vicious creatures lap up blood wherever they can find it with their hollow tongues.

Nic clutched his head. “What?”

“This feature is Archive Recall.” Sofia’s cool, calculated voice answered. “It provides information on flora and fauna you encounter. The clarity of the information will increase with your Mental Acuity.”

“Huh. That is… genuinely amazing. Tell me about him.” Nic jabbed a finger towards the dead healer. Instantly the lizards draining the corpse began to flap their head-crests and hiss menacingly to defend their prize. “Relax. I would eat you before him.”

Torrelon Elf. F-Class // Dead. Hailing from an artificial world built in the shape of a mobius strip around a sun of cold fire, the Torrelon Elves possess a surprising resilience despite their frail bodies, and an innate skill for Alchemystry, the power of transmutation. Their civilization on the whole possesses great talent for Runes and the Art.

“Alright, this could be addictive. Tell me about…”

And it finally sunk in that all the beasts who had died alongside him were gone. There were a few small caracasses left behind for the flies and the carrion lickers but the field of bodies had been cleared away. He could still see the patches on the ground where the blood had soaked in, leaving the impression of a dead monstrosity.

If the sight of the falling star chasing him down to cut away his arm had impressed the power of the Invaders into Nic’s soul, the sight of an entire battlefield stripped of corpses showed him how ruthlessly cold they were.

Those bodies would be cut up for meat and flayed for hides. The Shards would be sold or consumed by the footsoldiers. This war was a business. Distaste filled Nic’s soul.

He had to get strong- and faster than they did. Leaning down he picked up a lone claw the size of his hand. It was weighty and smooth, with a serrated inner edge. It would do.

---

Nic wove a backpack as he walked. His Hunter-Gatherer Petroglyphs made the task easy, telling him which saplings were suitable and which had poisonous sap. Stabbing holes in enormous fern leaves with his makeshift knife-tooth, he threaded them onto the sticks before bending the pliable greenwood to form a cage and slinging it over his back.

And everywhere he went he was asking the question. “What is that?”

Pestle Fern. Unranked // Flora. First seeded in ancient climes attuned to the concepts of primordial earth, this degenerated species of giant fern is characterized by tall, pestle-shaped stalks. It contains minor healing properties and an iota of Essence.

The forest was a treasure box. Most of the truly rich prizes were sealed away, but there were plenty of small medicines and Essence-bearing fruits to collect. His fingers were sticky with sap and clinging, tufted seeds as he collected them into his new pack, eating to keep his Essence pool growing.

Thanks to Archive Recall he could instantly tell the difference between poison and treasure, allowing him to collect clusters of rich food that other creatures had abandoned as risky.

Sinfall Sporecap. Unranked // Flora. Saturated with Essence attuned to concepts of heaven and hell, this white mushroom sports red spots of jelly ooze and causes the eater to hallucinate the descent of an angel sent to judge them for their sins.

All the while he kept working his way towards the distant shadow of an enormous tree that dominated the forest canopy. It towered into the sky until its upper branches touched against the clouds, and vines of glowing blue-white flesh wrapped around its trunk to anchor three enormous flowers, each the size of an apartment building. Their petals were full of mottled, changing color, and pulsed constantly with an eerie light that traveled from the outer edges into the waving tendrils of pistil and stamen that reached out into the air.

Speaking of which, he finally understood the meaning of the blue flowers.

Lumenarch Blossom. F-Class // Flora. This beautiful and generous flower is rich with Essences to consume, and has no natural defense mechanisms. However. Those who eat of the Lumenarch quickly discover it has a corruptive effect on their body that prevents them from receiving other sources of sustenance, and a narcotic dependance, forcing them to become defenders and gardeners of the plant in order to survive.

The entire forest was addictive. Even the pollen probably had a mild effect.

It was less outwardly deadly than the poison spore flowers but would likely claim far more victims in the long run. By the time the denizens of the forest realized they were becoming addicted, it would be too late and many of them would be trapped within, forced to serve as the forest’s puppets.

It made the walk far more eerie. For long stretches the only light in the forest was the faint glow of the luminescent vines snaking across the earth. It was like being at the bottom of the sea, the abyssal dark lit up by the bodies of glowing fish.

Every now and then there’d be a break in the canopy and he’d reorient himself towards the vast tree.

Until, somewhere around dusk, he made it. The lesser trees drew back as the massive roots sank into the earth, towering up like steep hillsides slippery with moss.

Something was pulling Nic forward. Pure instinct led him to coat his hands in sticky aura, slinging his spear over his shoulder by its new strap, and begin to climb. His newfound strength let him ascend easily and smoothly-

But it was a long way up.

About fifteen minutes of solid, grueling climb later he reached a layer where the bark had been sawed away by enormous trap-jawed ants. They scuttled towards him angrily as he clambered into their caves, but he simply edged away, leaping from one bore-hole to the next before they could catch him.

So long as he paused every now and then to cycle his cultivation base, he could draw in aura faster than maintaining the sticky area around his hands consumed it. That way he could hang on to the tree’s side indefinitely.

Thirty minutes.

“Sofia, if you already know what’s at the top, just tell me.” He finally snapped, clinging to the bark like a limpet.

“I cannot. Prescient information is strictly forbidden. You must discover the world on your own.”

Growling, he continued forward.

Forty minutes.

The last of the sun bled away over the horizon and the red dusk turned into a blue, moonlit night. Stars glimmered overhead and Nic was lost in the dreamlike beauty as he continued to climb.

Fifty.

Until he reached the first branch and hauled himself over. Halfway up the tree, the forest was tiny beneath him. All his muscles burned and his body was slick with a reptilian wetness that wasn’t quite sweat. Long swaying rope bridges connected the lower branches, their undersides hung with swaying bells.

Cautious, ready to meet humans at any moment and have to fight for his life, Nic crept forward with his spear in hand.

Nobody was there.

He arrived on a wicker platform perched on the outer point of a broken branch, staring down over the forest. Written below in the treetops was a single enormous rune. It had been made by planting autumn-red trees hidden in the greenery, a secret message only seen from on high.

As he stepped to the very edge and climbed onto the railing, it began to glow with a faint light that seemed meant only for his eyes.

Peregrine Rune Uncovered

200 Essence awarded.

While at the vantage point, all perceptions will be massively increased.

A faint shock pulsed through Nic’s eyes, forcing him to blink. When he opened his eyes again…

His sight was magnificent. Every leaf of the trees below was crystal clear as it turned in the wind, forming waves of tossing green motion as breezes and zephyrs passed through the canopy. He could see tiny birds nesting in the branches. Beasts passing through the clearings.

His vision was magnified until the whole forest was laid out before him like a massive banquet table. He could see everything.

And sense the places of hidden power beneath the green canopy.