January 14, 2019, getting pretty close to 6 pm.

I remain there, crying for about five minutes.

Because crying is cathartic when you're frustrated and alone and don't know how to save your friends.

But the tears dry up as I accept, I'm not done yet.

Sure, I'm stuck in a ruined village, there are crazy murder wolfadillos outside and the only trace of my companions are deep gouges in stone that are probably dragon tracks. And now I'm alone in an alien world.

But at least I have magic.

And food. And water. And hopefully in about fifteen minutes, working plumbing. That's right, I'm going to create working plumbing.

First though, this place needs more light. There's a faint glow coming from the bottom of the smokehouse, but I blocked off all other sources when I was fortifying the place. Probably all the air too, now that I think of it. Time for me to rectify that.

I go up to the balcony, carving narrow slots into the walls. I keep them small. So small that I couldn't push a pencil through. Stepping back, I admire my handiwork only to realize it hasn't really made a difference. It appears they need to be bigger to let in any light. I end up making them a little larger than my fist, but that's as large as I'm willing to go. It's still not bright inside, but it's enough for my purposes.

With light trickling in, I start work on my bathroom. Taking a couple of the extra stone blocks I put aside earlier, I place them in the farthest corner of the balcony. Away from the stairs. I intend to put my bathroom as far away from my sleeping area as I can.

When I was creating the smokehouse, I noticed that so long as I'm touching the stone, I can sense and shape it, up to about twenty cm deep. With that limitation in mind, I start by punching a passage out the side of the building using stone manipulation. Once I'm satisfied it has a sufficient slope, I reform the stone blocks into a stone bowl with a flared lip to sit on. It's a simple system, it'll just dump my waste on the side of the building, but it's a far sight better than going in the forest. With water magic at my disposal, it's easier to flush than ever.

With the toilet in place, I build up a few thin walls. They're only a couple cm thick, but they'd enough to hide the toilet from casual observation. I know I'm by myself, but the thought of doing my business in the open doesn't feel right. Besides, they might show up any second now.

With my bathroom complete, I do my business then go back down to the main floor, approaching the front door. As I'm looking at it, a thought occurs to me. I don't have to enter and exit by the front door. I can literally create an entrance anywhere. But I don't know what's out there.

With that thought in mind, I look up. If I'm going to create a way in and out, I want to be able to survey the area outside first. Taking several blocks with me, I make my way to the edge of the balcony above. I imagine at some point in the past there was a railing at the edge, but now there are just small indents in the stone. It's convenient since I'd need to work around the balcony. Now I can just make my stairs leading to the roof.

Taking my stone blocks I carefully reshape them into steps, just wide enough I can stand on them while holding onto the handrail I add. Once I've melded my first step, I test it to see how well it holds my weight. It doesn't seem to shift or creak when I place a single foot on it. I'm about to put my full weight on it when I have a better idea. Placing my other five stone blocks on it, I release my hold on the magic, watching. Other than a slight shifting from the blocks when I release them, everything seems stable. It even holds when I test it further by pressing on it with my foot.

Feeling more confident, I shape the other blocks into similar shapes, creating the start of a stairway that will lead to the roof. Stepping back, I retrieve more stone blocks, hurrying back and forth to finish my ascent. I continue creating stairs until I'm nearly to the peak of the building. There's a point where I need to zig back that requires I get creative, but it's otherwise pretty simple.

Once I'm within reach of the stone roof above me, I place my hands against it. As I start reshaping the stone I pause. I was going to create an alcove in the roof that I could squeeze through. But as I'm thinking about it, I decide to create a viewport to survey the area instead. I'm not going outside until I have to.

I choose to put my first viewport facing what I think is south. Which should be the general direction of the standing stones, if I remember correctly. They should only be a ten-minute walk, so if they're as tall as I think they are, I might be able to see them.

Looking out the viewport I can see the tallest ones looming over the surrounding forest. At least I'm guessing those are the standing stones I'm familiar with and not a completely different set of standing stones.

I don't know anything about this world. It could happen.

Further south, I can't see anything other than treetops and sky. Immediately below I can make out a couple buildings, but I don't see anything of interest. I close the south viewport, then turn, creating one on the north side.

On the north side, I mostly see more of the same. There's no one out there, man or monster. There are a couple buildings, which I might gather stone from later, but that's it.

I'm about to close the viewport when I notice movement. There in the shade of one of the buildings I see a familiar silhouette hopping towards the church. Closing up the alcove, I step back then hustle down the stairs before moving to the wall. It takes me longer than I'd like to carve a new exit, even though I only make it large enough for me to barely squeeze through. Peeking through the gap, I see Smoulder cautiously sniffing at one of the wolfadillos by the fountain.

As she's sniffing, I start making a psst sound to get her attention. I was going to retrieve her, but if she comes to me, all the better. Looking up, Smoulder turns in my direction. It takes her a moment to spot me, but when she does, she starts hopping towards me.

She takes the long route around the wolfadillo bodies, stopping to sniff occasionally. I feel my anxiety rising every second she's exposed. She's just about reached my hiding spot when she stops next to the closest wolfadillo, sniffing it. With a satisfied look on her face, she raises her hind leg then sprays the wolfadillo's remains. Apparently being a fire-hare means that she even pees fire.

Seriously though, she has no respect for the dead.

Pulling her up when she gets to me, I give her all the head scritches while simultaneously moving the stone blocks back into place. I leave a small gap that Smoulder should be able to squeeze through, but otherwise, it's a solid wall once again. As it should be.

With Smoulder held close I head back upstairs to reclaim the stone I used to reach the roof. I might make them permanent later, but for the moment I want to use this stone for something else. Specifically, a table and a chair.

It's surprisingly easy to reshape the blocks. They practically melt into the desired shapes. They're both a little boxy in appearance but very stable. Yet I'm not satisfied. So, I set to work making them less boxy and more elegant. Once I'm done the table is round and smooth, with tapering legs. The chair takes longer, but that's because I keep adjusting it until it's comfortable. When I'm done it has a smooth contoured shape. It's almost as comfy as our couch. We really need a new couch.

Sitting at the table I finally turn to my notifications. It's not that I forgot about them, it's just that I decided I don't need to check them every time I improve a skill or learn a new spell. Ever since I made the decision, the notifications stopped appearing. Now that everything important is handled, it's time to review.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (30 to 34)."

"Skill increased: Stone Manipulation (8 to 16)

"Skill increased: Fire Manipulation (12 to 13)

"Skill increased: Lightning Manipulation (5 to 9)."

"Skill increased: Water Manipulation (14 to 18)

"Skill increased: Wind Manipulation (11 to 14)."

"Skill increased: Cleaning (31 to 33)."

"Skill increased: Running (2)."

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (4 to 7)."

"Skill unlocked: Crafting - Stone Shaping (1 to 13)."

"Quest received: If you build it, they won't come. Description: Learn the ways of crafting with stone. Requirements: Using Stone Manipulation 1/1 structure, 1/1 tools, raise Stone Shaping skill 13/25. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points. Time: 3/3 days remaining."

"Quest received: Gotta slay em all - Wolfadillo! Description: Kill the remaining wolfadillos from the pack that attacked your group. Requirements: 8/12 wolfadillos slain. Reward: iron rank integration points based on your contribution; variable. Time: 3/3 days."

"Quest received: Follow that dragon! Description: Find out if the dragon took your companions. Find and recover your companions. Requirements: 0/3 companions found; 0/3 companions recovered. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points per companion found; unknown. Time: unknown."

I skim over most of it, not really paying much attention to the skill gains. The first quest is interesting, but I can work on it later.

The second quest is worrying. That means there are still four more of those things out there.

Then I read the third quest. The quest dialogue doesn't even tell me anything. Find out if? Seriously? At least the second quest told me there's only four wolfadillos left.

Rankling at my quest log's unhelpfulness, I pet Smoulder while I think of what I should do next. There are two major objectives I can think of. One of them is even related to that useless quest. In a way they both are.

"What do you think Smoulder? Should I try to poke around outside? Or should I go check for them at the standing stones?" I ask her while staring blankly at the wall.

"I could pick up my class. I guess I could teleport to the Nexus. I could even spend a safe night there if they're not around. But do I really want to do that? This place honestly feels a lot safer than sleeping amongst a circle of standing stones." I continue. I'm confident Smoulder is ignoring me by this point, as she hasn't given me a shrug, an "uh-huh" or even a noncommittal "whatever".

Putting my feet up on the table, I hold her up in front of me. "You're right, I need to investigate the village more thoroughly. They might have left me a clue. But once that's done, we'll head to the Nexus."

My mind made up and my resolve firm, or at least not crumbling, I march straight down to the hole in the wall, plopping down to peek through. I don't see any wolfadillos or dragons, so I pull a block out then look again. I'm not paranoid. I had my entire party disappear on me after fighting a pack of wolves, the smallest of which was the size of a Prius. Caution is warranted.

Continuing, I leave myself with a gap similar to earlier. I also create a separate, smaller entrance for Smoulder, just in case.

Poking my head through the gap, I check in every direction. Including up. How embarrassing would it be if the dragon was on the roof?

With no sign of hostiles, I pull myself out of the church into the town centre.

I can do this. I just need to search around the village then go to the standing stones. Easy.

As I'm standing, I feel a gentle breeze blowing against my right knee. Glancing down, I realize my onesie is steadily degrading. At some point, most of the knee on my right leg was ripped away. Now, the bottom seems ready to fall off. I feel like I'm in one of those video games where the heroine's outfit gets more scandalous the longer you play. I never really thought I had the hips to pull off scandalous until I saw myself in that pyromancer's outfit. Wow. Though in my onesie's case, it's not truly scandalous. Just… destroyed.

Sighing, I shrug off my onesie's condition. As I don't see any sign of a threat, I carefully make my way through the village, double-checking every nook and cranny. This includes checking buildings partially covered in flora despite my reservations. I spend about half an hour searching through the village before I'm confident they didn't leave any clues. By this point, the sun is starting to disappear amongst the trees. I reckon I still have an hour of daylight, but that's it.

I'm about to head for the standing stones when I have a thought. I couldn't see this village when we were at the stones the first time. Looking at the church I gauge how long it might take to build a spire on top. It would be nice to have an easy landmark to navigate to.

After thinking for a moment, I decide it would take more daylight than I have left. I'm tempted to go back inside to wait for morning, but there's a chance they went to the stones for safety. If I can find them, it'll be worth it. Besides, it's only a ten-minute walk. I can do this.

Setting off in the direction of the standing stones, Smoulder hopping along beside me, I move quickly towards my goal. I feel like Beth would be proud of my pace and attentiveness. I don't let myself get distracted by playing with magic once as I make my way towards the stones.

Halfway there I come across a narrow gap in the ground that has a small stream running through it. It's such a minor obstruction that I almost don't register it. Stepping across the gap with ease, I still slip into the stream when the topsoil crumbles beneath me. Picking myself up, I sigh as I realize the leg of my onesie is buried in mud. Pulling my leg free with a loud slurp, I inspect the damage. My onesie is still more or less intact, but it feels like my leg weighs an extra five kilos now. I try drawing the water out but that just leaves a dried-out brick attached to my leg. When I try reaching out with stone mana, it doesn't feel right. Considering how easy it's been for me to gain manipulation skills; I decide to try manipulating the dirt.

Sticking my fingers in the dry dirt, I cradle a scoop in my hand encouraging my mana to match it. It's rich and solid when wet but dusty and frail when dry. It's the basis for life, but only with patience, time and a working pattern. Channelling my mana into my onesie's leg, I attempt to draw the dirt away. I'm partially successful, as clumps of dirt start lifting free. I toss them aside before drawing more dirt out. There's still some roots and grass but a little bit of water carries them out, leaving me unencumbered once more. Setting out again, I swiftly review my notifications.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (35)."

"Skill unlocked: Earth Manipulation (1 to 3)."

"Skill increased: Cleaning (34)."

Pretty good gains for slipping in a ditch. I'm almost there when I encounter thick undergrowth blocking my way to the circle.

I could go around. Instead, I use a few well-aimed Wind Arrows, making quick work of it. Using water mana to clear the remaining brush out of my path I hurry through, making sure my legs don't catch on anything. Which means that instead, I catch the hood of my onesie on a branch I missed instead. Reaching up, I run my fingers through the long slash over my right ear while I resolutely continue towards the relative safety of the stones. After everything else that's happened today, my onesie being torn up just isn't that important.

As I approach the standing stones, I watch for any sign of my companions. Even Dr Roberts. Unfortunately, there's no sign of them. Luckily, there's still no sign of the wolfadillos either. I'm glad I haven't been jumped, but I can't help but wonder where the wolfadillos went. If I'm supposed to hunt the rest down, how am I going to track them? Unlike the dragon, they don't leave giant claw marks in stone.

Right as I'm about to step into the circle of stones I remember something. It's time for another experiment.

I promised myself I'd do this when I saw that I had the option to teleport to the Nexus. I was nervous about teleporting all the way from the beach, but a short-range teleport is the least risky way for me to experience, and potentially, maybe, if I'm really lucky, learn how to teleport. So, yes, I'm going to use the teleport even though I'm already here.

Opening my notification log, I have it bring up my class selection notification. As I theorized, the cost has dropped drastically. It now says it only costs 0.1 facet to teleport.

Before I accept the prompt, I motion Smoulder forward into the circle. Then, with her flopping her cute little ears to the side while she watches me, I focus on my facet. Since facet is the only resource required, I want to try observing how the system uses it. Hopefully, by watching closely, I might be able to duplicate the effect. Being able to return to the circle at will would be incredibly useful.

Accepting the prompt, I feel both my focus and my facet begin to rapidly drain out of me. In exchange, it's as if I'm watching the process in slow motion.

The system starts by creating a barrier around me using the basic circle rune but with five linked copies which encircle me, starting at my head then descending downwards. Once formed, the barrier reminds me of the state I was in when I was stuck in my time-freeze.

Next, the system creates a copy of five linked runes. I recognize all five from when I was studying the pillar. This includes the rune I discovered powers the safe rest condition, which is set in the very middle. Once the system has finished constructing the runes, it feeds my facet into the rune. At this point my facet… stretches is the best word. My facet stretches between the spell construct and the original runes on the pillar.

Once the stretching is complete, I see the world expanding around me. As the world grows, I feel myself slipping sideways into the stretched facet bridge. While my eyes swear, I must be shrinking, my focus tells me that I remain the same size. It's only my perception of space changing. For that fraction of a second, it's as though I'm seeing the world through a magnifying glass.

Suddenly, I re-enlarge in front of the south pillar, my short journey complete. It didn't feel as though I travelled between the two points. Not exactly. It was more like I was standing still. But I was standing still while riding an escalator sideways through an incredibly small doorway.

Now that I've arrived the barrier dissipates, so I let my focus go.

Checking my focus, I'm shocked to find I used 73 points in what felt like two seconds. I also used 31 facet. A quick glance at my notifications makes me admit it was probably worth it.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (36)."

"Skill unlocked: Spatial Manipulation (1 to 5)."

"Quest updated: Learn Magic. Hidden requirement: Learn Temporal and Spatial manipulation. Reward: 10 iron rank integration points. Chronomancer class updated to Chronodancer."

I'm a little shocked that I received ten points for what was such an easy gain, but I suppose it was only easy since my interface handled the actual teleportation. I just spent resources to understand the process. I'm tempted to try myself, but I intend to acquire my class first. Right after I spend my quest reward. I open my attributes, spending all ten points on Spirit. I watch the first point tick up immediately. In another nine hours, it will have risen to 77, almost matching my intellect.

Mentally confirming my selection, I turn towards the south pillar while reaching for my class. Only the Fire-Storm Elementalist and Chronomancer appear this time. The Elementalist is standing next to the pillar, a serene smile on her face. Her toga has more colours worked into it than when I first saw her, but I barely register the fact as I check over the Chronomancer. She's wearing the same onesie, but her demeanour has changed. A lot. She doesn't seem worn like she did before, while also standing with more poise.

Wondering what caused the change, I recheck the notification where I notice the second part of the quest reward. It updated the class. I was so focused I almost missed it.

It only takes a moment to bring up the revised class description.

“Base Controller class unlocked: Chronodancer."

“Chronodancer (Unique): By bending time and space to your will, you have demonstrated an understanding that time and space are intrinsically tied. A Chronodancer is capable of many feats considered impossible by lesser creatures.

Attributes: Minor increase to Agility, Endurance, Intellect, Spirit, Perception and Resolve maximum.

Resources: Large increase to focus, stamina and unique matrix resource facet, moderate increase to mana and health.

Abilities: Spatial and Temporal. Inhibition and repositioning in large-sized areas.”

I only get a second to skim the description before I hear words rumble from the pillar.

"Citizen Pandora, would you like to confirm your base class selection as a Fire-Storm Elementalist? Please be aware that once you have made this choice you will be unable to change it."

Meeting the stormy eyes of my Elementalist avatar, I shake my head.

As clearly as possible, I proclaim "No. I'm not ready to take my class. Not yet."