January 17, 2019, 9:24am. Time for the Legend of the Cataclysm Seed to…. putter around, maybe try a new dish or two. Nothing too strenuous. Legends take time after all.

Josh and I make our way out of the garden while I tell him about all the different classes I’ve unlocked and what unlocked each one, leaving out the part where I relived some of my most painful memories, of course. When we step back into the common room, we find the others gearing up.

“Oh good. I was just going to start looking for you two,” Beth states, adjusting a new bandoleer. It’s her only new piece of equipment, but it's clearly well made.

Roberts, on the other hand, has replaced everything. He has on the same baggy pants and sweater I found, but he’s also wearing a dark cloak with tons of pockets. He’s balancing with one hand wrapped around a new staff, tucking his legs into a sensible-looking pair of boots. I recognize them as one of the pairs I passed over when I was checking for other options. He almost falls over when Smoulder comes over to investigate his new pants.

Of his pajama suit, there is no sign. It’s probably packed away in his dimensional storage. Is it weird that I kind of miss it?

Looking closely at his cloak, I realize I can identify it.

“A Cloak Without Borders: Faithfully recreated after being lost during a journey to a faraway land, this otherwise standard design has been augmented with just a touch of dimensional magic and a pinch of love. This is a custom version of the standard leather cloak armour.

Bonuses once bonded: Storage: Expands dimensional capacity by 0.5 cubic meters. Durable. Improves health edge by 2.0 while equipped. Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Roberts - Iron. Cost to bond: two iron rank integration points."

Cool, looks like a cross between my jacket and backpack. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one getting custom gear. I was a little worried, given everything else that seems to work differently for me.

Looking back at Beth, I wonder if… yep, I can identify Beth's bandoleer too.

“A Merc's Best Friend: Being prepared isn't just a good philosophy to you. It's a way to scream "Never again!" at the uncaring universe. The right tool for the job is just a moment away with this meticulously recreated storage device. This is a custom version of the standard bandoleer storage item.

Bonuses once bonded: Quick Storage: Reduces time to access items in dimensional storage. Requires an Agility of fifty to experience a noticeable effect. Expands dimensional capacity by 0.25 cubic meters. Durable. Nostalgic. Improves mana and focus edge by 2.0 while equipped.

Current Bond: Forerunner Raven Queen - Iron. Cost to bond: one iron rank integration point."

“We heading out?” Josh asks, looking to Beth as I read the description.

"Soon. Grab your quest rewards first," Beth commands, motioning Josh towards the change room.

"Right," Josh confirms, turning to the stairs. While Josh walks to the change room I approach Rufka who's waving me over. When I get close, Rufka throws an arm over my shoulder while simultaneously putting one around my waist giving me a quick squeeze as she says, “I missed it at breakfast, but happy class-day. I got you something.”

“Class-day?” I mumble in response, as Rufka pulls out a familiar-looking drink, letting me go. Thankfully, it’s the tea, not the liquor.

“Class-day. I don’t know your silly outlander traditions, but here in the reaches, the day you gain your class is special,” she declares, setting seven cups down on the table in front of us. When Smoulder hops up, she pauses before setting out a small saucer as well.

“How come you didn’t get me tea on my class-day?” Beth questions Tipan playfully, while Rufka carefully prepares each of us a cup.

“Typically, class-day is celebrated only with your closest friends and family,” Tipan replies, watching Rufka's actions with confusion clearly etched across her brow.

"Exactly. Friends. Any-user who's willing to play Astra's Stride, drink Muthica's moonshine and ride for hours on Tuffie's back without complaining is a user I want to know. But to then go face to face with an Aetherium Dragon Scion at iron rank without so much as a class? That's a user I want to call friend!" Rufka states, passing me a cup.

I smile at Rufka. I'm not sure how well I would've done escaping Ivicka without the aforementioned moonshine, but I appreciate the sentiment. I've only known her for about a day, yet Rufka's already growing on me.

Once she's set out a cup for all seven of us, she gestures the others forwards, "come on. I'm not going to bite. Unless you ask."

Everyone takes a cup, even Josh as he's already returned, surprisingly early. I don't see any new gear, but maybe he got a ring or something. With his resource-based armour, it's not like he needs equipment as much as I do. Besides, I didn't see anything resembling his old outerwear.

The seventh cup sits untouched until Rufka calls, "hey Scales, the last cup is for you!"

Keeping it untouched requires snagging Smoulder, letting her have some of the dried fruit I bought from Raz to bolster my emergency supplies instead.

"That's hardly polite," Tipan reprimands Rufka as Raz comes out from his hiding spot behind the bar.

He doesn't look offended, but it's hard to read his expression as he says, "Scales is fine, just never call me kobold."

"See? I knew Scales was solid silver," Rufka declares, nudging him with her elbow. Her lower one given his height.

"It is an honour to be a part of your class-day. May you level with reasonable risk and resplendent rewards," he cheers, raising his cup to me.

"Friends,” I follow, holding my cup up to Rufka before gesturing to everyone else.

We're all just finished taking a sip when Rufka adds, "plus you saw her magic. She's going to attract trouble like a silver-wrought elemental handing out irons."

"There it is," I mutter, laughing with her as I hear Beth ask Tipan, "irons?" As Rufka and I both sip our tea, Tipan explains that Rufka is referring to iron rank essences.

Have I mentioned how much I love this tea? Probably. Raspberry peach just works for me.

I'm not the only one who thinks so. Josh is making appreciative noises as he sips from his cup. Meanwhile, Beth finishes hers before I do. Roberts and Tipan are both more restrained but don't take much longer than the rest of us.

Raz sips his tentatively. His eyebrows rise, then he downs the rest in a single gulp.

"Okay people. I think we've burned enough daylight. Now, Tipan says this eye should be in the centre of the city, at the top of the tallest tower. However, we don't want to take the thing right away. We should use the next couple days to train, get used to each other. Remember, we’re adapting to completely new abilities. There’s going to be some fuckups, so let’s try to get them done while we're training. Once we're ready to go, Tipan will need to be the one who completes the quest. Remember that third reason she mentioned. The real reason why we came here? Well, I'll let her explain," Beth instructs us before she steps back.

As if they rehearsed it, Tipan steps forward when Beth moves back, "After we finish the quest, I will be able to change our exit to another training area I've completed. This is a hidden general ability that I discovered during my studies at the system library. I'll only be able to use it if I'm the one to complete the second part of the quest."

"Depending on how our teamwork goes today, we may make an attempt to scout out the eye's location tomorrow. We won't be taking it," Beth reiterates as Smoulder starts purring in my pocket.

"Our opponents shouldn't be too difficult. The Fallen take the forms of K'tharn who've died nearby, but they don't wander out of the core. If we get separated, move to the outer ring of the city then make your way back here," Tipan states while creating an image of a K'tharn with the matted fur and red eyes I'd seen in Uthica's vision.

"Any questions?" Beth asks, once more swapping places with Tipan.

Most of that makes sense to me. Testing is exactly what I want to be doing. Maybe I can work out some frustration while discovering the limits of my new class.

Josh tentatively raises his hand when no one else speaks.

"Yes Josh," Beth asks with a gentle smile.

"Does this mean I can wait to choose my class? I'd like to think about it more," he questions tentatively, looking around. I flash him a smile when he looks my way and he smiles back, some of his tension escaping his shoulders.

"Absolutely. I'd have preferred we all made our choices only after we’d given them some thought. But Alexis and I will live with our choices. Since we already have our classes, we should be able to support both of you until you’re ready to make your choice. I asked Raz and he said he'll remain here until we finish our quest, one way or the other, so we'll have a safe place to return to," Beth answers, pointing to Raz as she speaks, who nods, his scales glistening more than they were a couple minutes ago.

While I'm inspecting Raz, Dr Roberts speaks, "Excellent. Having a safe base of operations should help us all adapt more quickly. I believe I know which class I'll be choosing. Yet having time to test our limits first is an excellent idea."

“Getting to test your limits before choosing your classes. These outlanders are so spoiled, don’t you agree skyborne?” Rufka asks.

“I believe that having our entire childhoods to prepare may outweigh whatever advantages they now enjoy,” Tipan counters, stepping towards the exit. I follow since I feel like we’re pretty much done here.

“And this is why no-user likes skyborne, so frigid from living in that rarified air all your lives,” Rufka sighs as she walks beside me.

“Yes. I’m just an awful stuck-up skyborne, spoiled beyond redemption,” Tipan replies as she leads the way out into the city.

“Hey now, I didn’t mean it like that,” Rufka complains, actually sounding apologetic as she follows Tipan.

“Do you think it'll be as easy as she says?" Josh wonders from behind me.

“Hmm. Hard to know," Roberts replies as I return through the gate out into the city.

After the stroll through the garden, the disrepair of the city seems bland and disappointing. Luckily, we’re not here for sightseeing.

Moving inwards, we all stop talking as Beth takes the lead. This lasts for all of a minute before Roberts speaks, “what do you think we’ll find?”

“Only true horror,” Rufka proclaims casually while shrugging. She doesn’t seem particularly worried about our excursion as she continues speaking, “like that one aunt who always pinches your cheeks and never leaves even if you put itch-root in her tuft powder."

"Or a giant spider that camps out in your bathroom?" Josh suggests.

While they’re talking, I try to keep my eyes open, but I’m still surprised when Beth halts us, looking at the buildings to our sides. As I look up, I see several forms leaning over the edge. Before I have time to properly register what’s happening, large rocks start careening down from above.

So, I pause time. Amazing how reflexive and easy it is now. I only spent the minimum 0.1 facet and 0.1 focus but I have four minutes to act in the next real-time second. Totally broken.

I love it.

The first thing I do is erect my umbrella spell. As I'm casting, it occurs to me that I forgot to switch it to my water specialization slot. Oops.

With my basic defence in place, I consider reaching out to the boulders to see if I can manipulate them, but they're all out of range. Destructive counterspell time it is then. First off, I fire a lightning torrent at the closest boulder which looks like it might hit us. Then I let loose a flame torrent at another. Third, I fire an air torrent at the next slab of rock I see.

Testing, one, two, three.

At this point I can see Rufka responding as well, reaching towards Tipan's shoulder. They've barely moved before I look away. Since I'm blessed with plenty of time, I decide to create a bevy of wind torrents for the lowest cost I can as backups. It gets to the point that I run out of directions to aim my spells without really denting my mana. My edge is truly incredible at this point. My torrents are bigger than the first time I cast them, yet each one only costs me 0.1 mana and 0.1 focus each.

Scanning around, I spot a single Fallen who is still watching the result of their attack, floating clumps of earth floating around her. I throw a link towards it but nothing connects.

A moment later, I get a notification.

"Would you like to connect to Fallen Dhanni for 89.2 facet?"

Holy crap. No, thank you.

I would like to analyze it though.

“Creature analyzed: Fallen K'tharn. Mana seed 11.

A mana-warped version of K'tharn. For many worlds, these are the first mana-borne they encounter. As varied as the individuals the mana-swarm claimed them from, Fallen are generally a low iron grade threat as active system users cannot become Fallen.

However, there are exceptions. Occasionally, a user will become disconnected from the system. These users return as new Fallen, often seeking out their loved ones for a twisted reunion. While they retain some semblance of their previous memories and intelligence, the sight of non-fallen brings forth a terrible rage which drives Fallen to immediate violence.

While rare, there have been worlds which were wiped from the system when their champions became Fallen."

Wow. That's worrying.

"Name: Dhanni of clan Plethesa.

Attributes: Physical; High, Mobility; High, Magic; Medium, Awareness; Medium.

Attacks: This Fallen is an expert with both spears and terramancy.

Defences: This Fallen has high physical resistance, medium magic resistance, high earth resistance."

"Wow, she’s an actual Fallen. You don't tend to see them in Builder cities, even abandoned ones. Far more likely to have system generated imitation Fallen or random mana-spawn. Something strange is happening here."

When I finish reading the codex the fallen is already ducking out of sight.

With my spells in place and the Fallen analyzed, I spend the last moments metaphorically twiddling my thumbs. My lightning torrent, flame torrent and my first wind torrent all take effect before the end of my pause mode, so I'm able to clearly see their effects.

The first boulder is reduced to rubble by my lightning torrent, sending debris raining down. I'd be worried, but I've already aimed several wind torrents in the general direction.

My flame torrent leaves its boulder a molten slag, barely redirecting it, though it’s enough it won't land on us.

When my wind torrent hits the last boulder, it's as though a giant picked the large rock up, then threw it, sending it hurtling over the buildings out of sight.

As the rock clears the building, I run out of pause.

Suddenly, all my air torrents activate at once, which causes a drawback I hadn't considered. I naturally allow my spells to draw from their surroundings. Which means, when I cast twenty-something separate wind torrents at the same time, all from the same spot, it leaves me in very thin air. But only long enough for the sudden vacuum to draw everything in the vicinity into me. Such as my nearby team members.

As I find myself at the centre of a knee and elbow storm of chaos, my torrents continue screeching outwards. Before we're able to extricate ourselves, a transparent shield pops into place, surrounding us.

"Uh. What happened," Josh asks, gently knocking half of us over when he stands, extricating himself with no apparent effort.

"Uhm. That was my bad," I admit as moments later, everyone else is on their feet while I'm still trying to unhook my pack from around my ankle. I'm really glad that my health took the brunt of that. With my equipment, I only took five damage. And I got hit by a lot of limbs.

I push myself to my feet. Huh. That felt easier than it used to. If increasing my strength is going to make the little things noticeably easier, that makes investing in it far more tempting.

"We still have hostiles, people," Beth mentions, accompanied by the whisper of her rifle.

"Yep. Twenty-three," Rufka adds, while shooting an arrow upwards, which is followed by a crackling boom. As the boom passes, she continues, "twenty-one."

Right, the Fallen aren't just sitting there.

Looking up, I notice there are bolts of lightning and wind mana striking Roberts shield. I join the defence, firing a lightning torrent towards one that has made the mistake of standing where I can easily see it rising from behind its cover.

As I've come to expect, my torrent blasts the Fallen before arcing to others behind it. This time though the Fallen is only stunned, otherwise seemingly unaffected by my spell.

So, I cast another one. This time there's a horrible scream of pain as my spell chars flesh. It's less than a second before the creature stops, dissolving into blue dust. But that second feels as long as one of my time-stops. They're just monsters, I tell myself as I stare at where its body was a second before.

I’m vaguely aware of the others as they act.

Smoulder is on my shoulder, looking around, disappointed that none of the enemies are getting close.

Josh throws a pod made of rose petals and thorns which explodes outwards, throwing thorns while producing a pink haze, causing any nearby Fallen to collapse.

Tipan shoots nearly transparent blades of air from the tip of her staff, which cut through the surrounding buildings as easily as they do the fallen.

Roberts simply maintains his transparent shield, but given that the ability to retaliate without having to dodge is incredibly valuable, I think he's contributing plenty.

Meanwhile, Beth and Rufka continue to shoot. The rest of the Fallen are defeated or retreat before I have time to rejoin the defence, unable to find a new target. Looking around I note that the only damage anyone took during that skirmish was me when I sucked us all into a ball.

Everyone else is at full health, though Roberts is down half his Reprieve.

"I knew the one who led them. Her name was Dhanni. She was my…. friend. I would lay her to rest forever," Rufka mumbles from beside me once it's over. She whispers it so quietly, I'm sure her words are meant for my ears only.

Looking to Rufka, I take her hand, squeezing it as I quietly declare, "I'll help however I can." Even as Rufka squeezes my hand back, I can't help wondering what will happen when I strike another Fallen with my magic. None of the monsters I've struck before cried out in pain. They'd all been pure fury, whether Pothlin or wolfadillo.

Are the Fallen different? Or has my magic changed?

As I'm pondering, I notice a quest notification.

"Quest received: Lay her to rest - Dhanni. Description: Rufka desires to lay her…. friend to rest. As a friend, she asks for your help in this difficult task. And you have accepted. Requirements: Lay Dhanni to Rest. Forever: 0/1. Reward: 3 iron rank integration points, one K'tharn terramancy spell. Time: 6/7 days remaining."

"Oh. These are always rough quests. But it's worse to do them alone."

Yeah, not sure how I feel about this being a quest.

"Ki-ahem-Alexis. Any chance you could do that area of effect loot thing again?" Beth asks, bringing me out of the quest screen.

"Oh. Sure. Give me a second," I reply as I reach out.

"Would you like to loot all Fallen K'tharn within 100 meters for 46 facet and 34 focus?"

Confirming, I watch as several clouds of blue dust rise into the air. I don't see one rise from where I struck the Fallen earlier. I guess I must have hit her especially hard. Maybe that's why she screamed?

I hope that's all there was to it. Now that we've all unlocked our inventories, the loot moves directly into our inventory with a short notification summarizing the results.

"Looted from the Fallen K'tharn of Lescodo:

1 mortal grade earth essence 3 mortal grade fire essence 2 mortal grade ice essence 7 mortal grade lightning essence 2 mortal grade metal essence 1 mortal grade stone essence 2 mortal grade water essence 8 mortal grade wind essence

Total mge (mortal grade elemental) essence looted: 26

1 mortal grade mana essence

That's a lot less than the Pothlin, but I guess it's pretty good. There weren’t really that many Fallen and half of them escaped.

"That is a remarkably convenient ability to have around. I’ve never seen an ability to loot at such a range before,” Tipan comments as we start moving again.

"Really? Are there other versions like it?" Roberts asks, dropping the shield while keeping his eyes up.

"Yes, there are several similar general abilities that anyone can purchase in the system store," Tipan answers as we circle a large curved silver building that has no visible entrance.

We continue working our way in and out around the perimeter of the city, easily defeating any fallen that attack us. It's during this time, I note that everyone else in the party moves faster than me. If we weren't being cautious, I'd be slowing them down. I mean I could run to keep up, but I'd lose every race.

As we explore, Josh and Roberts start trading notes about what their Forerunner prep included. After a little bit, I join in, then so does Beth. While there isn't much of note that we haven't already discovered, there are a couple things.

For one, I'm the only one who received a map, though at this point I question my map's usefulness. It didn't even show the village or the city. But I describe what I know of the local territory. Tipan adds that she has a proper map in her storage that we can have when we return to Raz’s.

Josh received a field guide to poisonous and edible flora and fauna, which he'd been given to understand were all located in an isolated preserve. Which is kind of true, from a certain perspective.

As we talk, we're attacked by Fallen again. It's much easier for me to shoot back than it would be if they weren't attacking us first. Thankfully, none of the Fallen cry out, whether I hit them with lightning, fire or wind.

Until I decide to use my very first ice spell, that is.

While I've paused a couple times, I've mainly focused on reducing the amount my torrent spells draw from my surroundings. With my edge, the impact of my spells without using the surrounding energy is still impressive.

But now I'm thinking about the future and what skills I need to improve. Since I've been ignoring my ice manipulation, I decide I need to cast at least one spell with it.

The next Fallen I see dies impaled on a scaled-up ice arrow that, given its size, would be more appropriate to call an ice spike. The Fallen doesn't go quietly, however, screaming incoherently as she fades. This time I'm not the only one that notices.

"I've never seen that before. How did you do that Lex?" Rufka asks, stepping up beside me while pointing at where the screaming Fallen's blue dust is already starting to fade.

"I don't know. I'm not trying to make them scream, it just happens," I reply uneasily.

"Nah. Not the screaming bit. That happens to mess with ya. I mean the turning them to dust. That should take hours or using the loot function," Rufka states.

"Uhm, I don't know," I reply honestly. I guess it didn't really occur to me, but she has a point. None of my other enemies had turned into dust immediately. I hadn't been worried about it, what with being preoccupied with the screaming. A thought which prompts me to continue, "What do you mean, they scream to mess with me?"

Rufka scratches her chin thinking. Before she can respond, the soft voice of Tipan answers from behind me, "Fallen will employ all manner of tricks. If we move into the inner city, I imagine they will have created traps specifically tailored to address the abilities we've displayed thus far. Not that their traps will prove effective."

"Yeah. What she said," Rufka confirms as we begin climbing over a collapsed section of a building that fills the street. I say climb, but I'm actually making steps for myself. While the stone is resistant, similar to how the church had been, my ability has increased by an order of magnitude since then, so it's easy.

"So, they're intelligent?" Roberts asks from below me where Smoulder is playing ring-around-the-Roberts. And the Tipan. She's multifaceted.

"It depends on the Fallen. My sister once fought a Fallen who…." Tipan trails off as we make it to the top, where the rest of us have stopped.

"Who what? Oh...." Roberts trails off as he joins us. There's a hole in the city where a smooth round silver building has been violently thrust several blocks away from us, knocking the nearby buildings away. It remains mostly intact, which is more than can be said for the buildings it rests amongst.

And there, in its shadow, standing in neat, orderly groups, is an army of Fallen.