Dan sat and contemplated what an Esper class Aether Ability that cost essentially his entire aether pool to use might mean. He had a strong suspicion that his sky high Perception attribute reduced the aether cost of Esper abilities by exactly 90%. If that was right, then "Universal Compass" was not only R9 rarity. It had a staggering base cost of 2,000. There had so far been a distinct correlation between rarity rating and power within Esper abilities. "Detect Monster", "Peer Through Past", "Eagle Eye" and "Penetrating Sight" were all R3 or R4, and had not been particularly useful so far, though it was easy to imagine situations where they would be handy. On the other hand, the R5 abilities "Sensory Locus" and "Unerring Aim" were big reasons he was still alive. Sam had claimed that R6 "Sense Deceit" made Dan a problem in need of special handling. "Universal Compass" was R9 and cost 200 aether. It could be a genuine cheat, a kind of glitch in the System equivalent to rubbing a magic lamp and wishing for the genie to point you toward your heart's desire. So long as that was his only wish, it would be granted anew every ten minutes. The description indicated a failure rate tied to how hidden or difficult to find the target was. Somehow, Dan didn't think it would fail too often. Unless, perhaps, he got really creative with it.

So, what should he wish to find? Three options came to mind. They were the nearest source of safe drinking water, the nearest people (as he would understand the term "people"), and the nearest monster. Water was the safest pick, and the most boring. Dan drank his fill of water and ate a quick meal before he finished off the last goblin in the trial, unsure when he'd have the chance to eat or drink again. He wasn't thirsty yet, and had the skin bag full as a reserve. It would be undeniably useful to know the direction of the nearest monster, if only so he could avoid it if necessary. But what he really wanted to find was civilization. The sooner he got to other people, be they human, elf, halfling, or gnome, the sooner he could access the information he needed desperately - more than he needed food or water. The choice was made. It would leave him vulnerable for a bit, but with no threats in the area discernible by any of his senses, it felt safe enough to go down to fifteen aether.

Most Aether Abilities he had tried could be executed almost instantly. "Sensory Locus" took longer. "Universal Compass" required nearly a full minute of focus. Everything about it - the rarity, the cost, the sustained will needed to use the ability - combined to make Dan feel like it was not meant for him, or at least not yet. It was like fire unwittingly stolen from the gods on high, and there just had to be some price to be paid for the crime. As soon as the activation finished, he felt what could only be described as a tug on his soul, pulling into the forest. It was a gentle force, easily ignored if he wished to, but ever present and steady. He did not know what form they might take, how far away they were, or what challenges lay between him and them, but Dan now knew exactly what direction would lead him to people. A weight he did not know he carried lifted from his shoulders. He recognized the weight as it left. It was fear, fear that he was irrevocably alone.

Dan sat and listened to the sounds of the forest as his aether pool slowly replenished. A light breeze ruffled through leaves and pine needles, and flying bugs buzzed about. His "System Identify" sense stubbornly refused to give any information on the plants or small animals nearby. Perhaps if something wasn't somehow directly touched by the System in the way monsters were, or he now was, the System simply had nothing to say about it. As his aether ticked steadily upwards, he perused the list of Aether Abilities available to him.

One was in the school of Conjuration, and could summon a small amount of water from the elemental plane of water. This was of interest for two reasons: First, so long as it remained an option and he kept a spare Aether Ability point free in case it was needed, there was no cause to worry overmuch about finding a safe source of water. Second, there was an elemental plane of water. Presumably there were other elemental planes. Where was his portal to the elemental plane of coffee?

There were numerous other Aether Abilities to choose from, though most seemed to be of limited value. Or perhaps the more powerful, higher rarity Esper abilities his class and blessing granted had left him spoiled or jaded. Fire Touch, Ice Touch, Minor Aether Shield, Cleanse, Enhance Vision [self], Enhance Hearing [self], Hunter's Mark (it looked like the aether equivalent to a GPS tracker), Enhance Scent [self], Night Eye [self], Minor Fire Bolt, Minor Shock (a ranged lightning attack), and several more were available. Most looked either quite weak or quite situational. Some granted small, temporary boosts to one attribute or another. Others were perhaps quite useful in the hands of a normal aether user, but less so to an Esper. Not only did his blessing come packaged with a rather harsh penalty to non-Esper school abilities, it also keyed off of the Perception attribute rather than Aether Attunement, which seemed to govern every other school. So for non-Esper abilities, he had to make due with weakened abilities that cost extra to use from a smaller aether pool. His tentative plan was then to look for utilitarian options while focusing on Minor Aether Bolt as his main combat Aether Ability.

To that end, he took Cleanse. According to its description it could be used to clean his body, clothing, and other belongings. This attracted him for a couple of reasons. One was simple hygiene. He didn't have toilet paper, a toothbrush, spare clean clothes. If he was able to successfully hunt for food - which seemed pretty likely - he would need a way to clean his kitchen knife. If that were the only consideration, it would have been a frivolous decision. Universal Compass pointed the way toward some manner of civilization, and they would almost certainly have ways to keep themselves clean. While there was no way to know how long it would take to find other people, it should be doable, and using a free Aether Ability pick just to be more comfortable until then would be stupid.

However, there was a more important issue. Dan stank of blood. If he had enhanced senses, it was a safe assumption that some predators and/or monsters did as well. Beyond just blood, there was also the question of other detectable odors that would grow stronger the longer he had to go without a way to keep clean. His super senses would do him little good if a monster that was both too strong to fight and too fast to outrun or evade got his scent. And that scenario seemed like the most likely way he could end up dead before making it to other people. Thirst would have been a similarly pressing concern, but if that became a desperate need he could always take the water summoning ability.

Cleanse cost 26.67 aether (so a base cost of 20 plus the 1/3 penalty). It took two applications of the ability to completely remove the blood from his pants, but when they were done with their work Dan felt worlds better. The thin layer of grime and sweat that coated his skin during the nerve wracking initial trial lifted away and left a wonderful, fresh feeling in its wake. His newly superhuman sniffing skills informed him that any predators hunting by scent would have a much harder time finding him by smell now. As pleased as he was, a disquieting tickle in the back of his mind wondered whether the decision to take Cleanse was actually a good one or whether in truth he gave in to the subconscious pull of physical comfort when confronted with a sustained, unexpected crisis.

Dan sat quietly until his aether pool was back up to roughly two thirds full, then removed his fur cloak, stood, stretched luxuriantly, and got ready to test what his new body could do. First, he ran. There was no convenient way to judge exact distances. When packing up he'd briefly considered grabbing a measuring tape, but rejected it as wholly nonessential. But that was fine; there was no real need for precision here. He was fast, very fast. More than that, true to the name of the attribute, Dan was agile. His footing was sure, his movements fluid and efficient. It didn't take conscious effort to account for uneven terrain or underbrush, or to dodge low hanging whip like branches. He gathered himself and leaped up the trunk of a nearby tree, grabbed a hold of an outstretched branch. When he looked back down, his best estimate was that the ground was roughly three yards below his feet, or maybe a little less. He had just jumped at least eight feet straight into the air. Dan climbed the tree until the branches grew thin and swayed disconcertingly under his weight. He was breathing hard, could feel that he'd exerted himself, but it felt good, natural. The ground was maybe fifty feet below before Dan climbed back down. He let himself fall the final fifteen feet to test how well he could land now, trusting in his newfound regenerative powers and Minor Aether Heal to bail him out if he'd misjudged. They weren't needed. A smooth, controlled roll brought him back to his feet. How did he know how to do that? Did attributes impact physical skill as well as raw ability? It would take more testing.

He jogged back to where his belongs lay on the ground and carefully repacked each of them. With his backpack again resting on the fur cloak that covered his shoulders, his tire iron in his left and and his sling in his right, Dan strode down the path that pulled gently at his soul. There was a spring in his step. There were a lot of negatives to focus on, if he wanted to. They weren't hard to find. But this new world was beautiful even if it was dangerous, and he was not only physically whole again, he had super powers. Dan's curiosity drowned out his fears.