August pulled back from the conversation after that, focusing on finishing his food and making a list of the things he’d been putting off for one reason or another. Dumping his current mana into picking up a few more runes was one of them, but the one that was really burning a hole in the back of his mind was the three unspent skill points.

It had become pretty clear to him that continuing to hold onto them because there might be a future where Kalter changed her mind was a complete waste of time. It was far better to get the benefit out of the early and make her wait a few days while he farmed up another level if she ever did change her mind. Haiko hadn’t made it known whether or not she wanted to join the Faction either, but there was a chance that whoever they summoned tomorrow might—so one of his points was going into [Ruler I] to open up a free slot, just in case.

That left two more—he’d considered placing both of them into [Replenishment], but it seemed to be doing a good job of keeping him healthy at its current level. The one he was most interested in was [It’s Like This]; the ability to gift the knowledge of a blueprint to Rittan seemed pretty invaluable. Rather than attempt to teach him the slow way, he’d be able to teach him in a fraction of the time—that was where the second point was going to go.

The third point he was torn on—[Morale] looked good on the surface, but even after reading the description, there was no real way for him to quantify what it did or how it worked. Would he be brainwashing himself somehow or directing this system to actively steer his thoughts away from things that were negative? Or maybe it would dump a bunch of serotonin into his brain whenever he was feeling down? The description seemed to indicate it worked on every member of the Faction simultaneously—so it wasn’t just him either; it would be Rittan and any other Voithos that decided to join. He would either have to never mention it to anyone at all or inform all of them when they joined. August was sure that if he’d found out someone had done something to affect his mind without his permission or consent, he would have probably lost his shit—overall positive effect or not.

August went ahead and put a point into his first two choices.

1/10 – Ruler I

Others are more willing to follow you. +1 Population limit.

1/1 – It’s Like This

You can pass on an understanding of a blueprint to a member of your Faction on touch.

Then he exited the [Leadership] menu and moved over to the [Suvival] one. The Health, Mana and Stamina regeneration skills were already at [1/1], so he ignored them and focused on the remaining three.

[Animalistic Charima] made things easier to tame, but that hadn’t been a problem so long as he could actually lock something down long enough to use the skill safely—[+1 Taming Effectiveness] wasn’t going to save him from getting murdered by an Efkini. [Prey] and [Predator], however, seemed like a much better place to spend his last point. The first increased his ability to hide when he wasn’t moving, while the second would give him passive lifeform detection. Both were useful, and he wasn’t sure which he should actually invest in, but rather than stay paralysed by the decision, he decided to just pick one now and then promise his next point towards the other—August made his choice.

1/5 – Predator I

Analysis passively detects lifeforms within 2 meters; +2 meters per level.

August lifted his head as four signatures rendered themselves inside his mind—three Voithos inside the hut and Ladybug sitting down just outside of the entrance. The exact outline of each Voithos was painfully clear to him and invasively detailed. It included hair, but not clothing or anything else they seemed to be holding.

The shape of Ladybug, however, was entirely wrong; the skill completely ignored the outer shell of her body. Instead, a solid cube sat about a foot off the ground, chains partially emerging from its surface and tipped with spikes—Ladybug was the cube?

“August, are you alright?” Rittan said, the outline of his body facing towards him.

“Yeah,” August said, pulling his eyes away from the entrance. “Sorry—I just spent the rest of my points.”

August caught what felt like a dozen minor shifts in the other two without even looking in their direction as their attention fell on him. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as the far too detailed rendering of them moved inside his mind—this was going to become a problem.

“I put one of the points into population size,” August said, trying to focus on the pressure of his fingers against his skin. “In case we end up summoning someone who actually does want to join.”

Kalter’s render turned away slightly, and her right leg pulled up before her elbow came to a rest on her knee—August opened his eyes, abandoning his attempt at controlling it, and tried pushing it to the back of his mind instead.

“I put one of them into a skill that lets me share blueprint knowledge with someone in the faction,” August said, moving his eyes over the branches that made up the wall of the hut. “So I should be able to give you the tool blueprints, or anything else you want for that matter.”

There was some success there, the focused visual stimuli enough to drown out some of the detection, and the more his vision began to tunnel, the less attention he had to spare.

“That sounds particularly useful,” Rittan said, four of his arms shifting around as he changed his balance. “Is there a limit on what you can share?”

The question ruined his focus, and then everything came straight back again—four of Rittan’s arms shifted around against his legs as he picked at the leaf that stretched against his thigh. Haiko slid one of her legs out beside the fire, and the rest of her body moved to compensate for the change in balance; she locked her elbow and then her torso twisted to the side—August shifted up onto one knee, facing the entrance, and attempted to steady himself.

“August?” Rittan asked.

Rittan’s head tilted to one side, and he straightened, four arms lifting up off his leg while two of them gripped his knees.

“I—we will have to figure that out tomorrow,” August managed, finding the presence of mind to answer the question. “I’m suddenly not feeling so good, so—I’m going to go to the other hut.”

“Are you unwell?” Haiko asked.

Haiko moved, placing two of her left hands down against the ground to catch her weight, and then leaned forwards—Kalter turned to watch him better, her head moving to track him as he forced himself to get to his feet.

“No,” August managed, taking hold of the shade and pulling it open. “I’m okay—goodnight.”

August dropped the shade behind him as he stepped out and then away from the hut. The mental renders fell away as he made it out of the two-meter range, and he was left standing in the dark by himself. Without his attention split so many ways, the rest of his body reasserted itself at the forefront of his mind—his body felt hot, and the scratchy leaves that made up his clothing felt far too tight against his skin.

The waddling cube that was Ladybug re-rendered itself in his mind as she wandered over the threshold, and then his attention split once more—what an incredibly distracting skill. Every single movement inside the area of effect pulled at his attention, his mind’s eye flittering between all the stimuli one after another. He couldn’t imagine what it would have been like inside a crowd of people, probably enough to turn him insensate or worse.

He planted his hands behind his head, like he was trying to cool down after a run, and breathed in the cool air until some stability returned to him. The cube came to stand beside him, and the feeling of fur brushed against his leg.

“This one might have been a mistake, Ladybug,” August said, drawing in a big breath. “I don’t think I’m built for that.”

Ladybug trilled in response, and he breathed out again, watching the stars reflected on the surface of the lake. There was a sound near the entrance of the hut, and fearing someone would come out to speak with him, he turned and headed towards the unoccupied one. Haiko’s signature returned as he got close, and he flinched before ducking under the shade and moving to the far wall—her signature vanished as he tucked himself up against branches.

Thankfully, the motionless cube guarding the entrance had either fallen asleep or was content to remain still. If he was lucky, he might eventually learn how to ignore things; hell, he’d even be happy to just dampen the input to some degree. There was no reason he needed a full-scale replica of something right next to him being jammed into his mind—his eyes worked well enough to handle that.

The sound of voices passed through the walls to some degree, but the words weren’t directed towards him, so they came to him oddly, with only Rittan’s voice really clear enough to make out. Likewise, the light from the fire was obstructed by two walls, so only a few threads of horizontal light made it across. It wasn’t too cold without it, but he was definitely going to build another fire tomorrow, for his own sanity, if nothing else—Haiko’s complete render burst back into existence as she moved to lay down between the fire and the wall.

It would be hours before sleep finally took him.