Skills are curious things. The trigger events of which they can be obtained range widely and, unfortunately, are not entirely set in stone. However, there are a few particular events that are conducive to attaining a Skill. The most common of which, if not the hardest, are level milestones.

- The Origins of Skills and Abilities, The Untethered Tomes

Jayke couldn't remember ever climbing a tree so large.

With the fortunate healing of his shoulder, he'd achieved the required flexibility and haleness to attempt the climb. He was, in fact, feeling better than ever. Much better than even immediately after imbibing some of the medical solutions from the compound. The berries worked wonders the solution had never done for him.

His legs hung off the edge of the branch. He wasn't a stranger to heights nor suicidal, at least not anymore, but that deep urge to simply lean over and fall forward was one he always found himself darkly entertaining. The branch was thicker than he was tall, wide enough for four people to walk along.

The tree was huge, something that'd normally have to be centuries old to grow. Only, this one was one of a dozen candidates. It was one of the only few he could spy towering over the rest.

He breathed in the crisp air. The boughs were leafy, he hadn't climbed past the shorter trees quite yet. If he'd been pressed to describe his altitude, he'd have guessed about bird-level. Judging solely from the colorful four-winged varieties he glanced fluttering about. They flew in motions that wouldn't have been possible with only two wings. They gyrated in the air like little dancers.

They looked more curious of him than he was of them.

He was still within the canopy, surrounded by leaves and branch. Here, his world was bark and evergreen. His hands supported his weight behind him, rough against the gnarled bark as he rested. Birds flitted behind leaves. He was barely able to catch their movements with the naked eye. It became apparent why soon after.

There was a light tweeting to his right and he glanced over at a nearly transparent bird perched on a thin branch beside him. He could see right through the critter, it was almost reflective too. He liked to think it was admiring the forest as he was. And then Jayke blinked. It had disappeared near instantly.

He found it a little way to the left, on another branch. He tilted his head. "Odd little bird, are you?" It disappeared again at the sound of his voice, shy perhaps.

He gave up tracking the creature until he heard the tweeting in his ear and realized it was on his shoulder.

He was feeling better about this unknown place. It was still only the second day since he arrived. He glanced over at the bird on his shoulder and he shifted to stand up, a long distance from the ground. It was already better than before if peaceful creatures like this existed.

Before, everything had tried to kill him. As if the thought was public, the bird left its perch and dived down into the leaves. He glanced at its departure but turned his sights upward.

His hand found a sturdy branch above; his foot, a gnarled knot along the trunk. He spied a path upward and began climbing. He'd done some maintenance on the compound's radio systems before which necessitated this type of high climbing. The repairs had never meant anything though, no one had ever contacted him. He wasn't particularly averse to heights, but he did acknowledge the dangers.

Then he broke the canopy. He realized the dangers weighed nothing in comparison to the view.

His mouth fell open for what was likely the first time in months.

The view was amazing, wonderful, beautiful. Impossible. He turned around making sure to keep a hand tight on the trunk of the tree, just to verify he wasn't imagining what he had just turned from.

He stared at the view from whence he came before he confronted the one he had just seen. Behind him, upstream, a mountain. He'd seen it up close but there was only so much you could glean from that angle. From here, it was mountainous, snowy peaks and all. So tall that parts of it were lost in the clouds, fogged by the distance.

"Wow." He whispered. Then he turned forward and this time he was silent, half-expecting it not to be there anymore.

A few miles more and the forest turned an iridescent blue. Standing still, it looked like the forest was shifting shades. That was something Jayke had never seen before. It was like the entire tree line slowly merged into a shining blue. It was like the blue of a deep-sea brought sunshine.

Further than that, more mountains. The problem being that they were floating miles above ground. He sat down hard and let his feet dangle again. Huge landmasses covered in greenery were just floating in the sky, drifting by the looks of it. They were covered in clouds, breaking them as they moved through.

"Holy hell." He breathed. "Where am I?" He swung his head around, not fully able to keep his attention off anything.

If he called the floating mountains and blue forest north, then the mountain behind was south. To his east, a sparkling ocean passed a glittering desert that seemed to blur when he stared too hard. His west was more of the forest he was used to, save for the fact it looked wilder.

He sighed at the sights and decided to rest, noticing the sun had already begun its descent. His second day was nearly over. He sat relaxed, shifted, and pressed his back against the thick tree trunk, staring sideways at the sun. He definitely wasn't home anymore. When the apocalypse happened, the environment never changed this drastically. He was awestruck realizing just how out of his depth he was.

His thoughts found other things to focus on and by mental instinct, he pulled up what he sought.

[Protective Magic] (Epic)

The power to protect and defend. The creation of shields, barriers, or wards. A particular study of magic that focuses primarily upon the safety of the caster or others. The ability to deflect physical dangers, to safeguard against mental assaults, fortify oneself in the case of spiritual damage, or guard against magical onslaught.

He stared at both the view and the description. The Epic tag gave him pause but his attention was focused on the wording. This, after all, was what had allowed him to live up until now. "Shields, barriers, or wards." He hummed, understanding there might be some differentiation between the three.

Of the many things he had protected himself against, he knew that so far they were all physical. It was apparent he could defend himself against other things, and more alarming that they'd be things he'd even need to protect against. Mental assaults? Spiritual damage?

[Safehaven] (Mythic)

A place that exists outside of the physical realm, one accessible only to its owner. Guaranteed safety and refuge when danger is near. A sanctuary that none can enter, a place of shelter. A private sanctum. To all but its owner, the [Safehaven] may as well be an impenetrable fortress.

The [Safehaven] was different from the others because it was a place. A retreat. It was a little room he could call his own. A home, for once. He couldn't remember the last time he ever thought of going 'home'. Now, with a thought, he could summon that door and walk straight through.

He wondered idly if Mythic or Epic was better, but the thought didn't last long. Instead, he wondered why these things deserved this mystical screen. Were they powers? Abilities? Nothing seemed to fit contextually.

Eventually, he'd need to do some digging.

[Code Magic] (Legendary)

A lost school of magic birthed by a race of legendary minds lost to time. Requiring both a honed mind and natural intuition, [Code Magic] is a form and practice of magic focused on efficiency, optimization, and automation. The ability to understand magic on a qualitative level to such a degree as to interact with it directly. Few ever understand the true advantages of such magic, either lacking the mental capacity or imagination required to reach its height.

"And finally, the elusive one." He said. Briefly feeling for the magic, he came up dry and shook his head.

He was fairly certain Legendary would be the best. He just wasn't sure exactly what it meant. Maybe it entailed usefulness or rarity?

It didn't matter much since Jayke couldn't grasp anything about the magic.

He wasn't sure what each prompt meant, save for their description of something he could apparently do. Though that explanation wasn't entirely accurate either. His [Safehaven] wasn't something he'd consider himself able to do but more something he simply had. Add to that, he didn't even know what [Code Magic] did, however familiar with the name he might be.

He calmed himself down and took in the view again. Beautiful blue forest, magnificent floating mountains, glittering desert, and sparkling ocean. It reminded him of how far he had climbed.

He took a long moment to appreciate the fact that he was alive and realized he wasn't too far from the absolute highest point of the tree.

"I've already come this far." He smiled to himself looking up, forgetting the strangeness of everything. "I'd be stupid not to be able to say I went and climbed the whole damn thing." Call it reckless and stupid, because it was, but Jayke Cipher was one who did what he wanted to.

He wiped his hands and began climbing. He was only a few strong branches from the very top, a handful of armlength reaches. As he climbed, the tree tapered from one of the thickest he'd ever seen to the regular size he was more familiar with. His legs and arms found purchase and he ascended.

When he reached the top it was almost as if something momentous should happen. But Jayke was small compared to the vastness of his new reality. Floating mountains drifted miles away, after all. So nothing happened except for the contented exhale that escaped Jayke's lips.

He slipped back down after staring out at the trees for a while, moving to a branch he considered stable ground.

A door, made of iron and glass was waiting for him, set right into the tree trunk. After a moment of inspection, he stepped forward, the door opened, and he entered.

There he slept peacefully, the blood from his earlier visit to his circular [Safehaven] had disappeared, but he didn't notice. He found the bed and became unconscious, ignoring the thoughts bouncing around him.

He dreamed of a hellscape, albeit a distant one. It was charred with volcanic fissures and rent with vicious ugly scars. Demons, malformed twisted facsimiles of everything and anything that held any meaning in the world. They feasted on anything that moved, preying on the weaker of their kind, leaving nothing alive.

It was all from a distance, as he had always beheld the apocalypse. This time though, he wasn't living it. For some reason, that made all the difference between nightmare and night's rest.

Level Up: Level 1 [Protection Mage] -> Level 2 [Protection Mage]

Class Obtained: [Protection Mage] (Epic)

An individual that seeks safety for himself and others. The [Protection Mage] specializes in exactly that; protection. Damage and harm are seldom had with a dedicated mage specializing in protective magic. The creation of shields, barriers, or wards is this Class' niche.

Note: A Class denotes specialization within a certain set of criteria. Classes can both direct or hinder growth, though always lead to greater power. Classes are obtained through special means, accolades, achievements, or abilities. Classes may form as a result of pre-existing Skills and are conducive to gaining more focused and powerful Skills aligning with said Class.

He hadn't even opened his eyes yet.

Jayke finished reading the prompt.

He tried to feel surprised. He really did. While intangible screens and magic powers were mind-boggling, he had had his mind plenty boggled over the past year. Apparently, he had leveled up. Gained a Class too. He just wasn't sure what that really meant for him right now. He concluded it could only be good for him so he focused on the bits of information he could glean from the note.

If [Protection Mage] was a Class then that meant that his [Protective Magic] must be a Skill. Without context it wouldn't have clicked in his mind, but the [Protection Mage] must've formed as a result of his constant use of barriers. That would've counted as him demonstrating abilities aligning with the Class. Alternatively, [Protective Magic] might've been the Skill the Class formed from.

And if that was the case then his [Safehaven] and [Code Magic] were Skills too.

It was hard to judge exactly what a Skill did. That was unfortunate too because that was what he was most curious about. He simply had these prompts and was able to do magic; create barriers. Admittedly, he hadn't figured out exactly what [Code Magic] was used for, but he assumed it would be the same way. So then, did they just bestow the capability? Is that why he could cast barriers and not cast... code?

The odd thought jarred him out of his speculations.

"Not enough data for anything conclusive." Jayke sighed.

He brought up the prompt again by mental will and found something new.

Skill: [Protective Magic] (Epic)

The power to protect and defend. The creation of shields, barriers, or wards. A particular study of magic that focuses primarily upon the safety of the caster or others. The ability to deflect physical dangers, to safeguard against mental assaults, fortify oneself in the case of spiritual damage, or guard against magical onslaught.

He blinked at the new label. The nature of the screens eluded him. In a way, they were more supernatural than anything else, being that they could project themselves directly before his eyes. It did take a back seat to barreling through a rainbow sea and grasping at the very essence of the universe though. Still, Jayke was used to new physical peculiarities. Magic was new to him and thus he couldn't help being a little curious. Because he did consider these screens to be magical.

They changed. Evolved. And in this case, it showed new labels. A Skill. It wasn't there before, he was sure. A quick check showed all the rest appeared the same.

Exiting his [Safehaven] he found the view much the same. Breathtaking. He took a short moment to admire it all before descending.

He headed north-east, fully intending to walk along the border of the desert up to the iridescent forest. Half-way down he realized it might be easier to walk along the canopy if the branches were as thick as he was seeing all the way through.

He did just that.

He moved among the boughs seldom needing to move up or down. The branches were usually closely spaced allowing him to cross between trees with ease. At times he would listen and stay still. It was a habit he picked up the past year. The sounds of the forest were peaceful but every then and again there would be something out of the ordinary he couldn't place. He judged it was probably better he traveled concealed in the trees. Occasionally, he'd get a clearing where he could see straight to the forest floor unbeknownst to whatever was below. Twice he saw nothing unusual, the third time he spotted a moss-covered ape-like creature. It was unmoving but Jayke swore its eyes moved. He had barely caught it standing stock still next to a similarly moss-covered tree.

He idly wondered if everything had a Class and Level as he did.

Quietly, he passed overhead. As much as he could resist, he avoided the wild-life and stayed away from unknowns. Mentally, he cataloged them and broadened his expectations of the world to match.

Branches became slicker with the sea green moss. Moving towards the desert resulted in thinner trees so he didn't stray very far lest he give up his safe passage and altitude. Eventually, the moss started to faintly glow. Luminescence. Small brown mushrooms sprouted from tree trunks until those too began to glow. Brown and seagreen became blue before his very eyes.

He paused, realizing the entire forest had begun to take on that hue.

His hand slipped on blue moss and the small lapse of balance had him glancing downward at the drop. His heart beat wildly in a rare moment of vertigo and he took a calming breath. He could just make out the floor through many blue leaves. He'd have to descend in order to move safely now. If he went any further than this then descending would only get more treacherous.

He sat, listened, and observed the forest floor before he descended. With every branch lower the light became dimmer. The ambient glow of the forest reduced to blinking bits of blue light.

He landed on soft soil. Down here, it was much darker. Sunlight didn't reach the floor completely and everything was dim, mute even. His first footfall changed the entire ambiance though. As soon as his foot impacted the soil it sent a dull shockwave of light around him in a ring. Mushrooms, moss, and grass reacting to his step. Like a chain reaction, the light shot up multiple trunks and across the floor. In moments, the forest was bright and Jayke was staring with awe. Then, like movement visualized the glow faded, rising in brightness and light as soon he moved, stopping when he didn't.

When he reached the border of the glowing blue forest and the glittering desert. He was surprised to find a small oasis not a little further away. A stream ran from the woods and pooled in a hardened area of the desert. Sandstone. His eyes tracked it all from a distance. He spied a few desert trees spring high from the location. Sunlight assaulted his eyes as he came away from the shadows of the blue forest.

The sand burned his feet and he walked carefully, keeping himself in the shade of the forest when he could. Digging his feet deep in the sand when he couldn't.

When he first saw them he didn't immediately recognize what they were. Only because it had been so long since he had encountered them. People. As far as he could tell. Only... not exactly.

Heads turned to stare at him and he realized he was at the edge of the oasis. Tarps and awnings had been set up and his eyes roamed the oddities they held. But for the people already there, he was the oddity. The reverse was true too. His guard up, he realized the people were faintly blue. Like they should be glowing. More than that, they were mushroom people. It was obvious the instant he saw them. Umbrella crests adorning their heads longer features and plainer faces. What separated each were their color, the various mushrooms that grew upon them. They looked as if they were each a unique ecosystem, only they all glowed faintly blue.

Alien almost.

It was nothing he'd ever seen before.

He walked with his hands slightly forward, ready to prepare a barrier at a moment's notice.

People. He'd only considered them so because he saw what he considered signs of civility. Clothes, or rather, coverage in the form of moss. And shops, awnings and tarps and wares and goods.

He came from the forest, the very outskirts of the oasis. From the shadows too. Understanding he must look strange to these people, he wasn't too surprised when a pair of these mushroom people approached him. They, unlike the rest, had reddish-orange mushrooms covering their bodies.

Walking ecosystems.

They held spears. Sturdy, gnarled and twisted. They ended in deadly points. Completely made of wood but no less deadly for the fact.

They had no mouths.

Jayke took a step back into the shade of the forest. The mushroom people were slow in their regard of him. The two reddish-orange ones moved closer. One held the spear pointed towards him, and the other approached cautiously, not afraid or aggressive but not reckless either. He held a red mushroom out towards Jayke.

"Great. What am I supposed to do about that?" He said aloud. They wanted him to take it, he could tell. But bright colors in nature usually meant poison, or alternatively, food that wanted to be ingested by animals in order to spread seeds. Mushrooms though were risky.

He reached out carefully, hesitating and inspecting the odd face that offered it. He found no signs of hostility or deception. Only wariness. It was as if they were wearing rice hats, only much more rounded. The eyes that accompanied their face were filled with expression in lieu of a mouth. It was disconcerting, but he had seen much much worse.

He felt the weight at his pants. The red berries he kept in them were at least some insurance. Their healing properties would help in the case of toxin, he already knew that from the scorpion-dogs from earlier. The venom from their stingers was negated by the berries.

"Fine." Jayke whispered, taking the shroom.

As he did, the two shroom-people in front of him mimed bringing it up to his face.

In accordance, Jayke made to eat it, but that, obviously, was not the intention.

The small scarlet mushroom puffed a small cloud of spores inducing rapid blinking and coughing. Before he could even panic or wonder whether or not he'd been poisoned a voice spoke to him.

It was male, rough. Weathered but amused. It was the first voice other than his own he had heard in over a year. Surprisingly, it came in a language he knew, and from a mushroom no less.

"Never met a myconid before, eh? Don't worry most races are confused too." The older voice chuckled.