January 15, 2019, a short while before 10 am.

For the first time, I don't slip when I cross the stream on the way to the standing stones. The rest of the trip is even less eventful. Until I reach the branch that ripped my onesie that is. It deserves to be destroyed with extreme prejudice.

This is a good opportunity to try a variation of my torrent spell. The only thing I change is using water instead of lightning mana. When I begin casting I feel the air around me go dry, the forest floor cracking as all the moisture is sucked into me. When it feels ready, I unleash a veritable deluge. It doesn't just blast the offending branch away, but the entire tree as well.

I watch as the tree tumbles towards the standing stones. Instead of landing in the circle, however, it rebounds off a transparent barrier, which leaves it sloughing off to the side. I guess the circle's protections are more concrete than I surmised.

Watching the water recede, I inspect the damage. The earth has been scoured clean as if a giant firehose was unleashed. I knew my torrent spell was powerful, but I'm shocked to discover the water version is this destructive. It was like releasing a tidal wave. While cool, I don't add the spell, ignoring the prompt as I push the water pooling at my feet away. I walk forward on a much dryer path than the surrounding area.

Stepping past the fallen tree, moving towards the standing stones, a thought occurs to me.

How am I supposed to receive an item from a bunch of stones?

I immediately realize how silly the question is. I can teleport and knock a tree down with no more than some water conjured from thin air. Why am I worried about where my reward is coming from?

And speaking of teleportation, I should use the proximity to safely practice my Return spell. I immediately do so.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (9)"

Stumbling, I almost throw up again. With everything else that's happened, I completely forgot about the nausea. I need to fix this spell. Luckily the runes are on the pillar. I think I'll study them to make corrections. Right after I collect my loot.

Stepping closer to the south stone, the notification I’m waiting for appears.

"Quest rewards available. Would you like to claim them now?"

"Yes," I answer waiting for it to appear on the lawn in front of me. Instead, I hear a 'plop' from behind. Turning I see a small bag lying in the centre of the clearing. Moving closer I realize it's not a bag, it's a backpack. When I reach down to see what my reward is, I discover the backpack is empty.

"Seriously?" I call out to the air.

Staring at it, I'm left wondering why the system gave me a freaking backpack. I mean, I wanted a backpack when I first got here. But that was back before I could levitate stone to carry things around. Checking the pack over I realize that it’s pretty high quality at least. It's got that going for it. It appears to be made of leather with shiny copper buckles. But it's just a backpack. Couldn't I have got a jacket or a blanket instead? Or a magical staff that increases my elemental powers. Yeah, that would be sweet.

Looking at the backpack again, I sigh. I'm not going to leave it here. Maybe I'll make something useful out of the leather. I don't bother putting any of my supplies in the pack. It takes less effort to levitate them beside me than it would to lug around an uncomfortable backpack full of stone packed meat.

As I slide the backpack over my shoulder a new notification shows up.

"Featherlite Backpack equipped. Would you like to spend one iron rank integration point to bond this item to your core?"

Wait, what?

Taking the backpack off I focus on it, prompting more information to appear.

"Featherlite Backpack: Always weighs two kilograms no matter how much is contained inside it. Maximum capacity one cubic meter. Current Bond: none. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

Palming my face, I shake my head. Of course, it's a magical backpack. The price to bond it seems kind of expensive. Especially since it doesn't tell me what bonding does. Besides, I don't know if integration points are limited. They've been pretty easy to get so far, but all of my quests seem to be getting harder. Sure the rewards are better, but they're not that much better.

Still, I figure I might as well test it out. I dump one of my blocks of sealed stone full of meat inside. Hefting the bag, it feels like the pack does make them weightless. Curious I try reaching in. My hand disappears but I'm able to grab the meat block. Putting the rest of the blocks inside, I slip the pack on. I guess it's not that bad a reward.

Still would've preferred a jacket.

At least now that I'm not floating a dozen stone blocks, I can easily summon a pair of fire orbs to orbit me instead. They're not perfect, but they ward off the chill, which has only grown worse since I left the sunny village clearing.

Moving to the south side of the circle, I start studying the runes the system used in my teleport spell. Looking at them closely I notice that they're hazy outside the time-freeze. Even so, I still make progress on my Return spell. There are dozens of little mistakes I fix before I decide I'd need to spend a lot more time to make further progress.

Walking outside of the stone circle I brace myself, before casting Return. I instantly reappear. The facet cost has dropped, from nearly ten to only 0.7 facet. Still more expensive than the system version, but it's an order of magnitude cheaper, which is great. The transition is much smoother, not causing any discomfort, which is even better.

"Skill increased: Spatial Manipulation (10)"

"Return modified, would you like to add this spell to your preferred spell list?"

Yes, I say as I pick up Smoulder. Looking down at her, a new thought occurs to me. Can I teleport her too? No. I'm not willing to risk her well-being on something untested. It can wait. I'm about to move on with I realize the system didn't ask me to replace a spell.

Opening up my spell list, I see that I now have 4/4 iron rank preferred spell slots filled. How did I unlock the additional slot? The only changes are my perception. And spirit. And mana manipulation. Ugh. Whatever. I'm going to keep increasing everything anyway. Hopefully, I can narrow it down.

Moving to the edge of the circle I look around again. It's probably going to be a few days before I make my way back here. Looking to the north, I drink in the sight of my new tower backed by the green and blue planet above. It's a powerful image.

With that image in mind, I ready myself to connect to Beth. When the pulse arrives, I use my facet. There's nothing but darkness and silence, but there's no pain. When I return to myself I see all her resources are full. She's in better shape than Josh.

With my direction confirmed I step forward, Smoulder hopping along beside me, as we move into the west, remaining vigilant.

An hour later, the boredom is starting to overtake my caution. Smoulder is once again nestled in my arm as I chew on a piece of jerky. I haven't seen so much as a bird since I left the clearing. It's getting to the point where I'm tempted to start playing with my magic again. Not that I ever truly stopped. I've had fire mana keep me warm, but that barely counts at this point.

While I've been travelling, I've been angling towards the river at a gentle degree. I'm not moving straight towards the river but we're getting close enough I can hear it. Being this close lets me use it as a guide.

Speaking of guides, my focus and facet are full, so I stop to trace a pulse. This time I'm going to focus on Roberts. The pulse comes and I'm ready for it. Again I feel a headache and my wrists are sore, but I think I hear Josh say the word catch. It also could have been ketchup or cat. Roberts' mana and focus are in the negatives, just like Josh's.

At least it seems like Josh and Roberts are together. The fact that I get a headache and feel burning wrists when I focus on them has me worried. It seems like they need my help. I'm hoping Beth is still with them.

Setting off with renewed determination, Smoulder decides to spend some time hopping along beside me.

We keep moving for another half hour before I give in then start playing with my magic. I start by taking my lightning mana through the alphabet. Once I'm able to reliably form every letter I do the same with my earth mana. I'm about to start on my stone mana when I hear moving water in front of me.

Dismissing all my floating mana I ready a shield spell then move forward slowly. As I break through the trees I see it isn't the large bend I saw from the tower. It's just a short jog in the river. But given that the river is over a hundred meters across its a decent sized detour.

Since I'm already at the river, I decide to move down to the shore. I have fond memories of walking along the river shore with my aunt Sharon, skipping stones while talking. My best record was three skips. My aunt was a master though. She could get six skips with almost every throw. I'd even seen her get ten. She tried to explain it to me, but I could never get the motion right.

Reaching down for a broken rock, I pick it up, curling my finger along the edge. Then I throw it out into the river, counting the skips.

One.

Two.

Sploosh.

The amusing thing is the system thinks that's pretty good.

"Skill reassessed: Throwing (1 to 11)"

I keep picking up rocks, attempting to beat my record as Smoulder and I make our way along the bank.

I've probably thrown twenty rocks when the most recent one is suddenly snapped down by a giant maw. A creature with a head the size of a Volkswagen beetle briefly surfaces before sinking below the surface. I spend several crucial seconds staring at where it's smooth glistening head disappeared before I realize, I should get away from the shore. Like, right now.

Grabbing Smoulder, I dash up the nearby bank, causing part of it to crumble into the water below me. The creature doesn't show itself again, but I decide to stop throwing rocks. And to follow the river from the top of the bank instead of next to the water. Even after five minutes of watching, I don't see it resurface. I move a little farther away, remaining wary, but allow myself to relax.

Half an hour later I notice the trees are changing. They aren't new trees, but the ratio has changed. Instead of mostly leafy trees, now there's an even mix of leafy and needlie. I'm sure there are better words for both types of trees but I don't know them.

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (11)"

Wow, I got a skill increase for noticing that the trees changed? The bar really is low on that skill right now, isn't it?

Curious, I try focusing on the tree, feeling the eleven focus drain out of me in exchange for a new codex.

“Plant analyzed: Unnamed deciduous tree. Gene seed D. A tree similar to deciduous trees on earth. It can be used for mortal grade crafting. Makes excellent firewood once dried.

Okay, the leafy trees are deciduous. I wonder how you say that.

Name: N/A, insufficient sense of self.

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; N/A, Magic; Very Low, Awareness; N/A.

Attacks: N/A.

Defences: High physical resistance. Low magic resistance. High fire vulnerability.

As soon as I'm done reading the codex, I gain an understanding of the tree's biology and life cycle. Which, of course, is followed by a system message.

"Skill increased: Survival - Temperate Forest (12)"

Shrugging, I continue my journey, practicing my magic as I travel further west.

Another hour of practicing passes before my focus has recharged enough to send another pulse. This time I'm going to send it to Beth. After the last attempt with Roberts, I'm almost afraid of what I'll see this time.

When I focus on Beth it's shockingly different. There's no darkness, and she still doesn't have a headache or bindings. Instead, she's sitting in a comfortable seat, next to a fire with a bowl of what appears to be stew in her hands.

A split second after I connect Beth flicks her eyes to the east, tracking past a blurred figure. Before I can see more than the sun peeking over a wooden barrier, the vision ends. I did notice that the stew smells really good though.

When her status flickers, I confirm that Beth's nearly full on all resources. At least she's alright. But what's going on? Argh. Only being able to see through their eyes for a second is infuriating.

With this in mind, I decide it's a good time to cast another torrent spell. I need the distraction. So I aim a wind torrent at a nearby tree.

The resulting gale is like the most powerful sneeze imaginable, knocking every loose object in front of me flying. Several not so loose objects too.

Such as the tree I was aiming at, which is thrown clear into the river. What's left of it anyway. The howling cyclone that I sent blasting forth was surprisingly cheap, coming in at only four mana and 0.1 focus. I just about replace Flame Arrow but decide that I still need a quick cast spell, so it stays. For now.

Feeling better, I set out at a brisk pace.

It's lunchtime when Smoulder and I encounter a tributary blocking our path forward. It's filled with rapids as far upstream as I can see. It's only twenty feet across, but I can't determine a clear path across. Shrugging I decide I can take the time to build a bridge. It is well within my capabilities at this point.

But first, we're going to have lunch.

Smoulder and I both eat a sizable amount of jerky as I check my stamina. I've only used a few points, but apparently, I've been going through health as well. I'm so weak that walking through the forest is literally bad for my health.

That's mildly depressing.

Since we're already sitting, I decide to ping Josh again. His condition hasn't changed, but I'm able to confirm I'm still headed in the right direction. I'm not sure yet, but I think the pulse might be originating on the north side of the river. Hopefully, I'll find a safe place to cross. Until I do, it's the south side for me.

Finishing our lunch, I survey the rapids blocking our path, it occurs to me that this would make an excellent spot to test my stone torrent variant. Maybe I won't have to make that bridge after all.

The stiffening feeling permeates my entire body before a veritable avalanche of stone, all jagged and sharp, flies forward across the gap. It takes nearly 75 mana and 35 focus to cast. Which is more than five times as expensive as lightning or water torrent. It does create a massive pile of stone shards though. Upon reflection, I probably should have expected it to be expensive considering all the rock I just created from nothing. Definitely not adding this one to my favourites.

As I'm inspecting the aftermath, I can already see the water pooling. Not waiting for it to get worse, I start shaping a bridge. To my delight, I'm able to have it form under my feet as I slowly make my way across the stream.

Roughly five minutes after I take my first step, I've created a bridge spanning the entire gap. To save time I used the stone rocks of the rapids as the base for my bridge's columns. It weaves back and forth a little while appearing a little unbalanced, but I'm sure it'll be standing for a long time.

Now that I know I can build a bridge, I keep an eye out for rapids in the river. It might be my solution to making it to the north shore. Without getting eaten by whatever I saw or drowning that is.

Having blown so much mana on my experimental spell, I resign myself to a few hours of simple shaping practice as Smoulder and I resume our journey. With a few basic rune experiments thrown in, of course.

A couple of hours later, I've tested every variant of arrow, shield and swept triangle rune. I'm running out of motivation to keep practicing. On the plus side, as I was experimenting, I realized that I gain a point of Mana Manipulation every time I cast a basic rune with a new element. There's a temptation to experiment with new mana types but... that hasn't always gone well, plus I don't have a secure place to retreat to.

Even though I've been practicing continuously my mana has regenerated a fair amount. I'm considering casting another torrent variant, but this time for a practical reason. At least that's what I tell myself.

Smoulder and I are looking out over a valley filled with thorny undergrowth which shifts and grasps at anything that moves close. The plants have cleared an area two meters deep all the way along their edge. Not even grass dares to grow nearby. I could clear it with wind or fire arrows, but I'm feeling a little bored.

So I'm going to clear it with earth torrent. Before I try it, I modify the spell. Instead of casting it from my hands, I construct it so it'll originate from my foot.

We approach the undergrowth, Smoulder held close in my arms. I stop at a little over four meters away. If I was a death plant, I wouldn't clearly indicate the safe zone. I take a moment to line myself up, then kick the ground sideways, copying the move of many an anime character. The only difference is I'm using magic instead of unbelievable strength. Though I guess that's a kind of magic too.

The resulting wave of dirt creates an earth tremor nearly sixty meters long. It completely flattens the nasty thorn bushes. I'm sure that if there had been any trees in the path it would have uprooted them too. All for the low cost of five mana. Compared to stone, using earth is remarkably cheap. At least with this method. A couple more stomps ensure we have lots of room to pass through.

As I make my way along the uprooted thorns I keep my eyes open. It seems I've buried them pretty deep. Continuing to follow the now thornless path, Smoulder and I eat the last of what I thought was going to be day two's wolf jerky. This confirms it, I am eating more. A lot more. I'm going to have to start scrounging for more food at this rate. Instead of practicing, I start searching for anything that seems like it might be edible.

All thoughts of food are forgotten when we arrive at the top of the rise above the far side of the valley. The climb was steep but we're on a rare point that peaks through the forest cover. No matter where I look, all I see on the south side of the river are trees and more trees. To the north, there's a sea of grass, broken by a tower of earth to the west. It looks as if a Jenga game was played partway through, then abandoned, letting plants grow over it. To the west, I'm able to make out a little more detail in the bluff that looms over the bend. Compared to everything I've passed through so far, it appears surprisingly barren, the dark orange surface unmarred by greenery.

As I survey the land around me, it strikes me that this would be a good place to establish a link. Looking to the west I count the time between pulses. It's down to 108 which is encouraging. When the pulse arrives I connect to Beth. She's already gazing out in my direction from atop a wooden platform lined with heavy stakes. looking down from high above the forested hills. She shouldn't be able to see me, but it feels like she looks right at me. Right as the connection is fading, I feel a tug on her sleeve, then I catch a glimpse of a fur-covered claw as she turns.

As I return to myself I reflect on her situation. It's pretty obvious Beth isn't a prisoner. Or if she is, she's getting much better treatment than the others. Either way, I've spent all the focus I can justify for now.

We head out while I lament the terrain that lies before us. It's going to be a challenging trek making it the last dozen kilometres to the bend.