Chapter 42: An Unexpected Rescue

The man searching the student I’m on inevitably finds me. The man holds me up to the light.

‘Is this fork made of mithril?’ He mutters to himself. ‘I’ve heard of kids born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but this is ridiculous.’

He shrugs, tossing me into a pile of random objects, the collected belongings of the class which could possibly be used as weapons or tools.

I breathe an internal sigh of relief. Safe, for now.

Once the search is complete, the students are carried into a large-ish room with no windows, and the teacher into a separate, smaller room. Both doors are, of course, locked, not that that means anything to me. The larger problem is that both rooms have magic tools installed in them: remote observation. They would know if anyone goes in or out. I wish I knew the extent of that observation, whether it’s just visual or they have audio as well.

If they don’t have audio, that leaves me with more opportunities to communicate with them. Sadly, the only way I might figure that out is if the guy watching on the other end mentions it explicitly – not likely.

Amongst the small pile of stuff, I am moved haphazardly into another, smaller room, with shelves lining the walls on all sides. A storage room, no doubt. The woman transporting me shuts the door behind her as she leaves.

After a minute, the mana in those rooms grows incredibly chaotic, so much so that I almost find it difficult to make out the people within. They seem unharmed by the maelstrom around them, so I assume it must have another purpose. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that it’s some sort of anti-magic. Makes sense that they don’t want anyone going wild.

So, I’m in this enemy facility… The hell do I do now? I’m heavily outnumbered here, with a few dozen mages much more experienced than myself in the compound. Sure, I might be able to take out one or two by surprise, but I highly doubt I’d be able to take out the majority before the others were alerted. And that’s assuming they don’t have any sorts of barriers or protection about themselves which might prevent that entirely. Impossible, or at least way too risky to try.

Bust out the rest of them? Then what? The others can’t fight, not against more experienced, learned and higher level opponents. The teacher can, but again, numbers.

The only thing I can think that could possibly work is if we all got out of here without them noticing. No clue how I’d go about that. Again, they’d notice if something started happening in the cells. If only I could somehow manipulate the feed they’re receiving, freeze it or put it on a loop like you see in those movies. But I don’t even know what type of magic these tools are based on or how they’re constructed, let alone how to modify or manipulate them in such a way.

Frankly speaking, I don’t think I can do anything here. Maybe I should just retreat, inform the academy of the situation and this location, and let them handle it?

Really wishing I knew some form of long-distance communication magic right now.

Then again, I might not even be able to get out without them noticing. They haven’t noticed me yet, but that’s because I’m a fork, doing what a fork does – absolutely nothing. There’s a skill… I haven’t learned it yet, it’ll probably be taught in the next level of mana control… It lets you sense mana around you. Don’t know how it compares to mana sight, but if that were trained to a high enough level, well, absorb is a magical skill. Maybe they could notice.

Even just flying out with telekinesis, they could have a barrier around the compound that alerts them to anything travelling in or out. I don’t know. At this moment, any action I can take has risks and possibly dire consequences.

So, for the moment, I wait. Once the teacher wakes up, I’ll communicate with them about what we should do. They’re mages, preparing specifically to counter mages. The chances that they can counter or notice psychic abilities are slim to none.

A thought occurs to me: where’s Joe in all this? I remember he was at the practical assessment, but I just can’t imagine that he was actually taken down by an attack like that. I’ve never seen anything that’s actually phased or affect him. But there wasn’t any commotion when they were going around the students, either. Let’s see… Knowing him, he’d want to be in the middle of it. Maybe he just pretended that he was affected like everyone else? Suppose I’ll find out later.

It doesn’t take long for the teacher to wake up. Perhaps they have a hardier constitution because of their level, but it’s only ten or so minutes after they are put in the cell that they wake up.

There isn’t anyone in the immediate area of the cells, perhaps assuming that the observation magic tools are sufficient surveillance. As for me, well, why would you need to guard a storage room? There isn’t even a lock on the door, just a simple latch holding it closed on the other side. Easy.

Pulling myself delicately from within the pile of students’ belongings, I float myself over to the door. For now, I’m going to assume that any fluctuation of mana from me can be sensed. That means I can only use psi and ki. Ki, for the me right now, only really has destructive capabilities, so psi will be my weapon of choice right now.

I lift the latch on the other side of the door telekinetically, and push it open just a crack; that’s all I need. Slipping out, I navigate the short distance to the entrance of our teacher’s cell. They’re currently rubbing at their neck, looking around the cell. Some mana emanates from their hand, but immediately gets caught up in the chaotic currents in the cell, wrenching it out of their control.

“Teacher.” I bridge the short distance with a telepathic link. “It’s me, Gerald. I’m psychic, communicating with telepathy.”

“Gerald? Where are you? Are the other students alright?” They reply cautiously.

“The others are fine, they’re in the cell next to yours. I’m just outside your cell. They didn’t do much research on us, so they didn’t know about me. I hitched a ride in someone’s pocket, but now I don’t know what to do. There’s too many of them even if I were to break everyone out, and I don’t even know if I’d be able to leave safely to tell the academy what’s happened.” I explain quickly.

“Don’t worry.” The teacher sighs. “The academy should already know where we are and be on their way. We don’t need to do anything but wait.”

“There’s nothing I can do?” I repeat.

“Just stay safe and wait.” They say again, sitting down into a meditative pose. “Although if you could get rid of this anti-magic device it would be nice.”

“Wouldn’t they notice if I did that, though?” I ask quizzically.

“I’m not sure, to be honest.” They reply. “Maybe you could ask Simon. Neat clothing, always wears white gloves. He probably knows a lot more about magical tools than me.”

Let’s see… Yep. I notice a mage coming in this direction, still a couple corridors away but not far. “One last thing. I’ve heard about mana sense, but I don’t know particulars. Would they be able to notice if I use some small magic?”

“I doubt it, not unless they have some master actively paying attention.” They reply. “You’d be like a firefly dancing around a bonfire to their senses with all these magic tools and mages around. But still, be careful.”

“Thank you. Hopefully the next time we talk will be face to face.” I say.

“Good luck.” They say as I cut off the link.

Magic ban lifted. Manipulating my shape to a thin needle, I absorb my way into the wall between the two cells. As we were talking, some of the students have started to wake up, mostly the ones who were just knocked unconscious. Simon… Simon… Yes, there he is. He isn’t one of the people awake.

So I wait, maybe another five minutes before he wakes up. Most of the students are panicking, some crying, even among the ones who were knocked unconscious. A few have just retreated into themselves, curled up against the wall silently.

Once Simon has fully woken up and realised the situation to a degree, I reach out with a telepathic link… Only for it to slide off an invisible barrier around him.

What?

I try again, with the same result: nothing.

Well, there goes that idea. I’ll have to get someone else to act as a go-between. Let’s see, who do I know here… Oh right, I’m a loner. Pretty much nobody.

Nobody except Joyce. Well, I can predict that this won’t be fun.

I establish the connection, without problem this time. “Joyce, It’s –”

Joyce yelps, looking fearfully around the room.

“Calm down. It’s me, Gerald.” I say calmly.

She fearfully looks around herself. “Where is that voice coming from? Where am I? What’s happening?” Some of her panicked thoughts bleed through the link.

“Joyce!” I exclaim. “I need you to focus. I’m talking to you telepathically, just think what you want to say, and I’ll hear it. Again, it’s me, Gerald.”

“Gerald?” She replies hesitantly. Her voice is full of fear. “What’s happening?”

“The whole class has been kidnapped. You were knocked out and brought here to this compound. I’ve talked to the teacher and they say that the academy should be on their way to rescue us.” I explain reassuringly.

Her body starts trembling. “Why is this happening? What do they want? Why us? Why me?”

“I ask myself the same thing all the time, but I don’t have the answers.” I sigh. “Look, we’re in a bad spot, but we’ll get through it. We have to do the best we can with what we’ve got.”

“I… I don’t need you to tell me that.” She says, clenching her fists but clearly regaining some calm. “But hey, why are you even talking to me?”

“I need to talk to Simon about the magic tool preventing us from casting magic in here.” I explain. “But he’s got some sort of psychic protection, so I can’t contact him directly. I need someone else to relay my words to him.”

“Can’t you just speak to him normally?” Joyce rolls her eyes.

“Unfortunately, no.” I reply. “I left the magic tool that I use to talk behind in order to remain inconspicuous.”

“You… You can’t speak without a magic tool?” She asks, shocked.

“Apart from telepathy, no. Or hear, or see colour, or do a number of things most races take for granted. Not like I have any eyes, ears or a mouth, is it?” I do the mental equivalent of a shrug. “But that doesn’t matter right now. I need to talk with Simon, sooner rather than later.”

Joyce nods slowly. “Alright, I’ll help you. But why would you choose me? Not like we’re friends.”

“Ironically, despite our rather… Testy… Relationship, I am more familiar with you than most of our other classmates. I’m not the most social person, I must admit.” I tell her.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll do it. I can do this.” She says, looking rather like she’s trying to convince herself.

This is rather unusual for her. I ask, “Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s just…” She shakes her head. “…Don’t you think he’s kinda cute?”

…I am not really having this conversation, am I? I groan internally. “His physical appearance is above average, yes.” I reply. “Look, just repeat what I say. There’s no need to be anxious.”

“Who’s anxious?” She scoffs angrily, walking up to Simon. ‘Umm… Simon?’

Simon turns his head to look at her, looking unusually calm at the situation he’s in. ‘It’s Joyce, right? Did you need something?’

“He remembers my name!” She says with joy.

I pretend that I didn’t hear her. “Gerald wanted to talk with you telepathically, but you have some sort of psychic barrier that stops him talking to you, so he asked me to relay his words.” I say slowly, making sure she can follow along easily as she repeats my words.

‘I… See. And what does he want to talk about, at a time like this?’ Simon asks, raising an eyebrow.

“The teacher told me you know about magic tools.” I coach Joyce again. “Is the device in the corner transmitting sound as well, or just vision?”

Simon glances at it. “Don’t worry, just sight, I recognise the model. They can’t hear what we’re talking about.”

“That’s a relief. Alright then, what I actually wanted to ask.” I tell Joyce to say. “Do you think they would notice if I disabled the device on the roof stopping us from casting magic?”

Simon looks at the device on the roof with an evaluating eye. ‘I doubt it. Not immediately, at least. It doesn’t have any built-in triggers that would alert them if it stopped working, but they might notice at the mana source if it isn’t draining as much as usual. Still, can you even disable it? We can’t use magic, and it’s out of reach.’

“I survived for most of my life without magic.” I say through Joyce. “Destroying something is simple. Anyway, that’s all I wanted to ask. The teacher says that a rescue from the academy shouldn’t be long. Thanks for the help, and thanks Joyce for cooperating.”

I tunnel up the wall and along the roof of the room before simply absorbing a large part of the device, making sure to leave the parts exposed to the room so that the camera-like magic tool doesn’t see a difference. But to my vision, the difference is immense, the mana within the room immediately calming and returning to normal. “Alright, I’ve disabled it.” I tell him through Joyce. “I’m going to disable the teacher’s now, make sure nobody does anything crazy.”

Cutting off the link, I repeat the process on the device above the teacher’s cell. As I’m about to tell him that I’ve done so, I notice Simon taking off a ring that he is wearing over his glove. He had been wearing a ring? I’d never noticed. Clearly, neither did the mages that had captured us, otherwise they’d have taken it.

Oddly, as he slips the ring up his finger, his finger seems to grow longer and longer, until the ring does slip off the end of his finger… With a gloved finger still attached to the ring. The finger withdraws into nowhere, leaving only a thin layer of swirling mana in the interior of the ring. A portal. Nobody notices but me, as to their sight all he did was surreptitiously take off a ring.

Holding the ring portal to his mouth, Simon speaks quietly into it. ‘Simon here. I need assistance, my class and I have been kidnapped by a group of mages with unknown intent.’

If there is a reply, I don’t hear it, but he seems confident that it’s worth the risk. If there’s space magic involved, we could get reinforcements immediately. But they’ll probably use the ring to get our location, so they’ll appear… Right in this room.

Quickly moving back over to the other cell, I drop onto the camera and absorb it completely. They’ll know something’s up, but if we’re getting reinforcements here, I don’t want them to know straight away.

Sure enough, a moment later a portal twists into existence in the middle of the room and an elderly man steps through it. His left hand holds a polished stave with an orb in its head that glows like the sun from the amount of mana held within it. Every one of his fingers bears a ring, each magnificent and glowing with various types of mana, save one – the one on the fourth finger of his left hand. That ring is a simple band with a pitch black, irregularly shaped stone set in it.

His robe billows from the wind of a land far away, and his eyes are stern and severe as they survey the room. Despite his obvious age in the wrinkles and lines deep on his face, his step is filled with strength and his bearing is not hunched or stooped; he stands tall and steady. His very presence is one of power.

Not to mention his mana. Most people are just varying degrees of brightness to me, depending on how much mana they have. And he’s bright, yes, extremely so. But it’s not just him. Even the mana around him is acting as if it’s under his control, moving in an ordered, slow orbit around him instead of bouncing randomly around.

‘Grandfather!’ Simon bows deeply to the elderly man. ‘I’m glad to see you, but surely something like this doesn’t require you to make a move?’

‘Of course not. But I had ten minutes spare, so I thought it was a good opportunity to see you for a bit.’ Simon’s grandfather looks over him closely. ‘You’re not hurt? Well, their brains may have fallen out of their skulls, but it looks as if they at least aren’t made of putty.’

‘No.’ Simon shakes his head. ‘We weren’t harmed, although most of my possessions were taken. The ring and necklace they didn’t notice, of course.’

‘It shouldn’t be difficult to find them again…’ Simon’s grandfather cocks his head to the side, as if listening to something far off. ‘Looks like the academy’s folks are here. A bit slow… But that’s what happens when space magic is practically a dying art.’

Simon’s grandfather wraps him in a warm embrace. ‘It’s good to see you unharmed, Simon.’ Drawing himself back up to his full height, he turns towards the door. A complex spell formation snaps into existence before him, and the wall peels apart as he leisurely steps through. ‘I won’t take long. I do believe tea was being brewed when I left…’

A mage that had been running down the corridor towards the cells does a double take as they notice the elderly man stepping out from where there was formerly a wall, and immediately starts casting a spell.

The elderly man barely glances at them before portals encapsulate the mage and then vanish, spiriting the mage away to some unknown location and leaving behind no hint of his existence. It isn’t that the mage was slow in casting his spell; the elderly man is just too fast, beginning and completing his spell while the mage was still in the process of casting, everything done in the blink of an eye.

Not bothering to work his way through the compound, he strides directly through, walls parting in his wake. Once he reaches the outside, a gust of wind picks him up, causing him to soar through the air just as easily as he walked on land.

The mages around the compound take notice and start casting spells to hurl at him.

Raising his staff, a series of formations that I couldn’t even begin to understand weave out of mana, a combination of his and the ambient mana. These formations form slower than his previous ones, but the difference isn’t large.

His spell completes, seemingly to no effect.

Numerous spells begin to reach skywards towards him. Branches of lightning flash, gouts of fire, projectiles both material and ethereal, clouds of something no doubt deadly, and I even recognise a bolt of death energy ominously sally forth.

The elderly man doesn’t even seem to be bothered to defend himself or retaliate, ignoring them completely. The first of the spells reaches him in an instant – the lightning, of course – but a portal twists out of nowhere to intercept, and the spell is sent thundering back to its origin. The original caster doesn’t even have time to flinch before it strikes him, but evidently has some sort of protection against his own magic, as it splays across an invisible barrier, turning to scorch the ground harmlessly.

At this point the others realise their mistake. But it is too late, their spells are already rocketing back towards them. Still, it causes little more than irritation to the various mages. Often it is the case that a mage is very strong against magic similar to their own. Knowing how it might have been constructed, being able to predict what sort of damage it might produce and through what medium allows one to counter it effectively. When it’s their own magic, even more so. They know exactly what it does and how it works, and therefore how to stop or redirect it.

But, evidently, the reflection of their spells was little more than a delaying tactic. Another array of formations is created, and the elderly man’s true hand is shown.

Similarly to the mage only half a dozen seconds before, portals whirl to encapsulate the mages below. And the others still in the buildings. Every mage in the compound - excluding our class, the teacher and the elderly man himself - barely has time to blink before they vanish.

And just like that the battle is over.

…If it could even be called a battle. More like a one-sided annihilation.

At this point the academy’s people reach the compound, a spherical barrier briefly flaring to life before shattering, the group advancing through without any particular rush, having seen what had happened.

The elderly man calls out to them, ‘I’ve captured all the perpetrators already. You’ll find the students in that building down there, mostly unharmed.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Their leader bows their head slightly in response. ‘May we ask that you share any information you gather from them with the academy?’

‘Sure.’ The elderly man shrugs. ‘I’ll send Kleio the details.’

And with that, he opens a portal and steps through it, the portal twisting closed behind him. He was probably only here for a minute or two.

After that, well… Events are pretty straightforward. They find us easily enough, my classmates retrieve their things, we start heading back to the academy, I snag my magic tools – a little dirty, but fine – on the way, and we arrive safely. An anticlimactic end to a stressful day.

Gerald's Status

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 33

Experience: 6419.0/7600

Gender: None

Age: 2 years (local time)

Allegiance: None

Fame: 1

Strength: 6.5 (65.0)

Intelligence: 54.7

Dexterity: 9.0 (18.0)

Wisdom: 54.5

Charisma: 6.0

Luck: 12.1

Hardness: 26.94

Durability: 18.54/18.54

Mana: 1094/1094

Mana regen: 10.90/min (11.88)

Psi: 545/545

Psi regen: 5.47/min

Ki: 35425/3542 (35425)

Ki regen: 3.54 (35.42)/day

Unspent stat points: 0

Titles

Living – You are a living being, and as such, the energies of life heal you and the energies of death damage you.

-Trait: Average life energy absorption -Trait: Average death energy weakness

-Trait: minute life affinity -Trait: negative minute death affinity

Progenitor – The first of your species, and its forefather. Your reputation affects the reputation of your entire race.

-Trait: Minor fame gain enhancement -Trait: 50% of your fame is added to the fame of your race

Household object: Being an everyday, household object makes other beings less likely to notice you and mention you to others.

-Trait: Small fame gain reduction -Trait: Small presence reduction

Assumed inanimacy – Despite being a living entity and continually in the presence of other living entities, few have noticed your existence, assuming you to be an inanimate object. People are slightly less likely to notice you and less likely to notice your life energy.

-Trait: Minor presence reduction -Trait: Moderate life presence reduction

Fork – You are a fork. As such, you are designed to pierce, scoop and carry food.

-Trait: Minute taste enhancement -Trait: Minute piercing enhancement (restricted to food)

-Trait: Minute carry capacity increase (Restricted to food)

Second life – You have lived, and died, once before. While you died young, the experience nonetheless is an advantage over others. -Stats: Wisdom + 1, Intelligence + 2

Clinically sane – You have experienced insanity and overcome it, one way or another. The experience has changed you, for better or worse.

-Stats: Luck +5, Wisdom +1, Dexterity +0.5, Strength +0.5, Intelligence +1

Ouroboros – Like the serpent of legend, you bit your own tail. Then you ate it. Weirdo.

Stat – Luck +2, Charisma +1, Wisdom -1, Wisdom +2

Undead slaughterer – Killer of many horrors of the night, you can instinctively sense nearby undead, especially those harmful to you. All stats increased by 2 when attacking undead.

Traits

Life energy absorption (Average) – life energy heals you, causing you to regain durability.

Death energy weakness (Average) – death energy damages you, reducing your durability.

Life affinity (Minute) – You find it easier to gain life related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Negative death affinity (Minute) – You find it harder to gain death related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Fame gain reduction (Minor) – The amount of fame you gain is reduced.

Presence reduction (Small +1) – Others are less likely to notice you.

50% Fame added to racial fame – The fame of your race is equal to 50% of your fame plus the added fame of all other members of the species divided by the number of members in your species.

Life presence reduction (Moderate) – Others are less likely to notice that you are alive.

Taste enhancement (Minute) – All food that touches you tastes slightly better.

Piercing enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – It is slightly easier for you to pierce food.

Carry capacity enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – You can carry slightly more food than appearances would suggest.

Mana touched (Minor) – Mana permeates your body, changing it in some ways.

Herculean Strength (Large) – In possession of the ability to exert strength far beyond that of your peers. Multiplies base strength (Before using passive or active skills) by 10.

Structured sanity (Moderate) – a well-structured mind is a strong mind. You are resistant to mind affecting or altering affects, such as fear, charm and hypnosis.

Magic metal – You have gained the properties of the magic metal, Mithril. Your body conducts mana at twice the normal rate. Your passive mana absorption is doubled. Your maximum mana is now equal to Intelligence multiplied by 20 instead of Intelligence multiplied by 10. Your maximum durability is increased by your maximum mana divided by 100. Your hardness is increased by max mana divided by 100.

Psychic – You have unlocked the hidden potential of your mind. Stat unlock: psi.

Poison Resistance (Huge) – You are completely immune to weak and ordinary poisons. The effects of more potent poisons on you are greatly reduced.

Flea-bitten (Minor) – Fleas instinctively move towards you.

Physical damage reduction (Minute) – Damage taken that would do under 5% of your total durability as damage is reduced by 5%.

Ki Practitioner: You have gained the ability to control the energy within you, and to reinforce it with the energy around you, enabling you to perform far beyond the normal limits of your body.

Stat unlock: Ki.

Water-Proof (Minor) – Water, and many water based fluids, will slip from your surface with great ease.

Feather-weight (Minute) – You feel light as a feather. A feather that weighs slightly less than you originally did, that is. 1% weight reduction.

Cat’s flexibility (Minor) – Base Dexterity is multiplied by 2. Range of movement of joints increased by 1.1 times.

Curse resistance (Minor) – You have developed an innate resistance to curses. Reduces the effect of weak curses on you.

Heat resistance (Minor) – You have developed an innate resistance to heat. Reduces discomfort and damage inflicted upon you by high temperatures. Slightly increases your melting point.

Skills

Absorb (Advanced) (Racial, Low Unique) 34.17% - Allows the absorption of energy, or substances through the surface of the body or at a distance of (Int*Wis)/10mm. Rate of absorption can be controlled. Although this ability is magical in nature, as it is a form of mana control, and mana is also absorbed, mana cost is 0. Currently the only form of energy able to be absorbed is mana. Absorbing substances has a minor chance of giving traits, abilities and skills relating to the substance.

Mana sight (Expert) (Low Unique, Passive/Toggled) 4.93% - You are capable of seeing smaller congregations of mana than before within (Intelligence*Wisdom)/1.75m. Their forms are now distinct. You can now differentiate mana by type.

Self-repair (Master) (Low Unique, Active) 10.95% - By expending a type of energy available to you, you can repair your own durability and recover your original form. Current energies able to be used: Mana, Psi, Ki. Exchange ratio: 5 mana: 0.1 durability, 10 Psi: 0.1 durability, 10 Ki: 0.1 durability.

Telepathy (Advanced) (High Rare, Active) 41.15% - Allows one to communicate with other beings in exchange for 0.5 Psi/sec*distance between user and target in meters, to a maximum range of (Wisdom*Intelligence)/5m. Allows the user to share emotions and thoughts with the recipient.

Body of deadly poison (Advanced) (Low Unique, Passive/Toggled) 0.10% – Deadly poison courses throughout your entire body. So potent is this poison that even touching you will cause great sickness and partial paralysis for a short period of time. Potency of poison scales a small amount with proficiency.

Flee (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive/Conditional) 3.28% - Multiplies base dexterity by 1.5 when running away from something. Will deactivate if offensive action is taken. Will not activate if you do not perceive the thing you are running away from as a threat.

Body of weak acid (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive/Toggled) 2.07% - A weak acid courses throughout your body and on your skin. So weak is this acid that it acts better as a cleaning agent than a weapon. Acidity scales minutely with proficiency.

Magic edge (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 7.14% – You have discovered how to clad the edge of your blade in magic power, increasing the power of your strikes. Increase in power varies depending on mana spent.

Gaming – Minesweeper (Expert) (Mid rare, Passive) 13.30% - You’ve sunk way too much time into this game. And despite the statistics saying 0 wins, 308 losses, you are way better at this than almost everyone else. Slightly increased analytical abilities. Slight instinctive ability to correctly guess the outcome of a 50/50 gamble.

Meditation (Master) (High Rare, Active) 19.31%: Enter into a state unburdened by the worries of the physical world. There is only you, and your thoughts that exist in this world. While in this state, mana regeneration multiplied by 3.0, Psi regeneration multiplied by 3.0, Ki generated at 25 times the normal rate. User is also calmed and receives slight resistance to mind affecting or altering affects.

Ki blast (Advanced) (Mid Rare, Active) 47.28%: Expel Ki from your body in a concentrated blast. Power varies with ki infused. With your lack of experience, you are not able to accurately control the amount of ki you infuse into the skill, it may vary by up to 10 points.

Form manipulation – Self (Expert) (Low Unique, Active) 49.28% - Through the use of mana, you can manipulate your own form at will. Cannot change density or mass. Costs 3.5 mana/second while changing form, costs 6 mana/minute while in a form not your original.

WARNING! Do not use this ability if you are of a race with aspects that could result in death if you were to change them E.G. internal organs, mana pathways, et cetera.

Lip reading (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 83.99% - You have learned how to understand what people are saying by the movement of their lips. Doesn’t hurt that you can see their tongue and jaw movement, either. Rarely inaccurate, you can usually tell what people are saying, unless they have some crazy accent. Good luck with those.

Nine lives (Static) (Passive) – You will avoid the next eight attacks that would be deadly to you, seemingly by accident. After avoiding eight attacks, this skill will disappear.

Charges remaining: 8

Telekinesis (Expert) (Mid Rare, Active) 24.57% - Through Psi, your mind pushes at the world around you, moving objects without the need for physical contact. More Psi is required to produce greater forces. Currently slightly inefficient.

External Ki manipulation (Basic) (Low Rare, Active) 0.51% - You have discovered how to manipulate Ki outside of your body. Doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. Difficulty of control increases drastically with distance and quantity of Ki.

Magic missile (Expert) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 91.50% - Fires a projectile of mana. Power scales with mana consumption, unable to exceed 50 mana per shot. Maximum range = Intelligence*1.75/metres. If remotely controlling, there is an additional mana cost of 0.65 mana/sec, otherwise direction of travel is set at initial creation of shot.

Mana control (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 99.37% - Your practice with magic has led to a great familiarity with handling mana. Maximum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 100 mana. Minimum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 0.2 mana.

Power stab (Advanced) (High Common, Active) 13.12% - Multiplies the speed and power of a stab by 1.2. Cooldown: 4 minutes

Mud bath (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - Your injuries heal faster when they are covered with mud, by 1.2 times. Slightly lowered chance of contracting infection and parasites from this activity.

…However, as you are for most purposes an object, this skill does not affect you.

Climbing (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - You have a slightly increased ability to find handholds and footholds when climbing something, as well as a slightly increased ability to maintain grip on smaller handholds.

Melee weaponry – Spear (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 0.00% - You have some experience using a standard spear. Minor increased grip strength when wielding this weapon, and +1 to Strength and Dexterity while wielding this weapon. Maintaining this type of weapon is easier for you.

Doppelganger (Static) (High Unique, Active) – Switch between your original appearance and that of a Human Male. Costs 1000 mana/min.

Psychic translation (Static) (Low Unique, Passive) – Through subconscious psychic analysis of thought waves and language patterns, allows you to understand (and temporarily speak) any spoken language as if it is your native tongue. Does not apply to non-vocal languages.

Flattery (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% – Skill and tireless effort is the surest way to the top. But sometimes, a few lined pockets and some glitzy compliments are all you need. Others are more likely to have positive opinions of you. Affected positively by charisma. Synergistic effect with the ‘deception’ skill.

Deception (Advanced) (High Common, Passive) 0.07% – Whether the end game is a knife in the back or a slowly drained bank account makes no difference. It’s not like they don’t lie to you, either. Others are more likely to believe your words. Affected positively by charisma. Synergistic effect with the ‘flattery’ skill.

Gaming - Tic-Tac-Toe (Master) (Low Unique, Passive) 48.97% - You are a master at Tic-Tac-Toe. Congratulations. Slight instinctive ability to correctly guess the outcome of 50/50 and one in three gambles.

Multitasking (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 61.28% - You are skilled at doing multiple things at once. Small increase to your ability to keep track of multiple things at once, small decrease in the reduction in precision when performing multiple tasks at once.

Common language-Spoken (Expert) (High Common, Passive) 78.30% - You know most of the commonly used words in the common language. Only obscure and occupation specific words are likely to be outside your knowledge.

Common language-Written (Master) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 13.60% - You can not only read common the right way up, but upside-down, sideways and reflected without much trouble. The very few words you don’t recognise you can understand from context, and you can read like lightning if you need to.

Small increase in the ability to ignore superfluous text and descriptions to find the actual information you want. Allows you to skip over info dumps and flowery descriptions without flinching even slightly.

Earth magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 25.73% - You have a good grasp of multiple aspects of earth magic, including creation and summoning. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting earth magic spells.

Formation casting (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 31.06% - You have a good grasp of casting magic through formations. Slight increase in speed and precision when casting magic through formations.

Creation magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 17.95% - You have a good grasp of creation magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting creation magic spells.

Light magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 24.38% - You have a good grasp of light magic, particularly creation magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting light magic.

Vocal casting (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 23.12% - You have a basic grasp of casting magic vocally.

Terran language – Spoken (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 4.18% - You have a large vocabulary, and have no problem engaging in simple conversation.

Terran language – Written (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 13.23% - You have a large vocabulary and can understand most writing.

Fire magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 30.23% - You have a good grasp of fire magic, particularly creation and destruction magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting fire magic.

Destruction magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 19.46% - You have a good grasp of destruction magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting destruction magic.

Ignitae language – Written (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive), 82.35% - You have a large vocabulary despite your inexperience, and can recognise most individually written words. Given some time, you can grasp the meaning of most of the things you read.

Metallurgy (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 87.24% - You have decent theoretical knowledge of metals and alloys, but lack practical experience.

Herbalism (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 56.18% - You have some knowledge about the names, appearances and uses of common and even rarer herbs, but lack practical experience.

Water magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 86.09% - You have a basic grasp of water magic.

Darkness magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 78.43% - You have a basic grasp of darkness magic.

Summoning magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 62.35% - You have a basic grasp of summoning magic.