P-System Log

It's been damn near ten minutes now, and Aster still hasn't said anything else to me.

It's... certainly something to process. For me, the process of reincarnation was literally instant. One moment I was there in foggy-ass San Francisco and the next I was here on the Continent, none the wiser. I don't have the faintest idea of what happened during the in-between because there was no in-between.

I don't remember any gods. I mean, I remember the Origin System tossing a bunch of incomprehensible bullshit at me, and I guess that's where the gods are supposed to come from in the first place, but I never met any of the fuckers myself.

Where'd I get the signature, then? Aster says that those of [Mage]-style classes are able to detect when people are godsent, but I'm not sure I'm buying that. I would've detected any form of skill usage on me, I'm pretty sure, but I didn't see any. Maybe it's a passive skill? She did have one of those--[Mana Sense]--that I haven't been able to see the use of even though she's apparently used it before in my presence. I don't think Aster would lie to me--though I do have to keep my mind open to that possibility, of course--so I think I'll go with that theory for now. It makes the most sense. The usage of another hidden skill that I haven't seen before would also explain why she hasn't noticed I'm a reincarnator yet, since an [Assess]-type skill would probably reveal that I'm not of this world.

What are the odds she's wrong? It's not like I'm an expert on this world. Aster knows far better than I do about how stuff works and what the gods here are even supposed to do. Hell, I don't even know the names of any part of the pantheon, let alone how to detect if their magic is present in me.

Still, something is telling me there's more to this. There was something that just felt a little... off. Off, yes, that's the best word to describe it. Some uncanny valley factor about her words that just made me feel like there was something going on wrong, and I c̶a̸n̷'̴t̴ ̴s̶e̴e̸m̷ ̸t̴o̷ ̶f̵i̸g̵u̴r̴e̸ ̸o̶u̷t̸ ̸w̷h̷y̸. Fuck, I can tell there's something there, some idea I can reach for, but it's frustratingly out of my reach.

That aside, Aster seems to be in deep thought as well. Considering the ramifications of what's happening, maybe? Deciding whether or not both of us need to be dissected in a lab?

No, Parker, bad. You said you were going to stop assuming the worst of people, and Aster has been nothing but nice so far. She's definitely just thinking about what's happening, but I'm reading way the fuck too far into it.

Jerome, on the other hand, hasn't heard a single word of this and does not give a single flying fuck. It's kind of refreshing, to be honest, seeing him just walk around without a care in the world.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: We must find lodgings for the night soon.

[Jerome Smith]: Sure. Where?

[Aster K'lon]: We made significantly better pace than expected today. We are on track to be within reach of another Edge City in a couple of hours. With the aid of an item, we may be able to reach the Edge City soon after nightfall.

[Jerome Smith]: Oh, dang, really? I thought you said two days earlier today. What's the city?

[Aster K'lon]: I was not anticipating this pace. The city's name is S'ker. It is primarily known for featuring a significant number of dungeons.

[Jerome Smith]: Damn, okay. Are we going to have better places to sleep than the tent there? Uh, not saying that the tent's bad or anything.

[Aster K'lon]: Yes. There are proper inns there that we may rest at.

[Jerome Smith]: And dungeons, right? Can we do another one tonight?

[Aster K'lon]: I thought you would enjoy the prospect of that.

P-System Log

Okay, this just looks like flat-out manipulation. My perception dome isn't good enough to detect how far the next city is from us, but I can at least tell that our pace hasn't changed by much--if at all--since we started on this little trek of ours. Aster is pulling out the idea of using what sounds to be something like Minecraft potions of speed to get there faster, which to me sounds like a very consumable item. Well, I assume it's that. If she has, like, longstrider boots or something that passively increase her speed, I would have to wonder why she hasn't been using them this whole time.

That's not the point, though. The point is that she seems to be willing to invest resources into convincing Jerome into going to this S'ker city far sooner. So soon after she and I had a conversation about the nature of Jerome's reincarnation, too...

There's a reason she's trying to push him here. Now, the only question is: what could that reason possibly be? P'lor is the city that's supposed to have nice lab facilities in it, so unless Aster's been a pathological liar this entire time and this is all an elaborate plot to stick Jerome in a padded room and poke him with a whole lot of sticks, we're not going to S'ker because of its testing facilities.

What else is there? I really don't have that much to go on, given the minuscule amount of information I've gotten so far. I guess I can try to make predictions based off of what I've got, though I have to acknowledge the fact that Aster's real reasons could totally be because of some aspect of the city that she didn't mention.

Okay, Aster said S'ker had dungeons in it. Multiple, apparently. That, along with the probably enticing offer of having a warm bed to sleep in, was the only draw to the city that she mentioned. Jerome took it hook, line, and sinker, though, it appears.

Is there something in S'ker's dungeons that might provide a clue towards Jerome and my condition? That's the only real reason I can think of right now, since that's the only thing that Aster has gotten new information on in the past hour or so that might've made her want to push the schedule forward.

Speaking of which. She got out the doodad she's using to boost our speed. Not potions, actually. It's an artifact. A colorfully decorated wooden shortstaff maybe three feet tall with four huge notches cut into it at regular intervals. Three of the notches have bright green light coming out of them. Mana's coming from it, too.

[Acceleration Staff] consumed 2 charges! P-System Log

Oh, two of the lights went out. Interesting. They channeled mana really fast for a brief second, and now their mana signature is just completely gone. Is the mana just completely gone now?

Aster and Jerome did speed up, though. It's kind of comical, like someone accidentally removed half the frames of an animation or put a TV on fast forward. They're quite literally just making every single action they take faster.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: This is cool. The world slowed down.

[Aster K'lon]: You sped up. The world remains at the same speed.

[Jerome Smith]: How did this happen?

[Aster K'lon]: You are currently under the influence of an artifact.

[Jerome Smith]: Artifacts. What are those?

[Aster K'lon]: They are found in dungeons, occasionally. I found this one in the S'ker dungeons, as a matter of fact.

[Jerome Smith]: Oh, they're loot drops?

[Aster K'lon]: Essentially. They allow for a much more diverse array of utility for any given Integrated. Many of them require far fewer mana than a skill that would accomplish the same task requires. It is simply a matter of entering a dungeon with a little luck.

[Jerome Smith]: Neat. And S'ker has a lot of these dungeons?

[Aster K'lon]: With varying levels and rarities, correct.

[Jerome Smith]: Sounds to me like we should grind there for a while, then.

[Aster K'lon]: If the meaning of "grind" you have is consistent with the ones that other game-oriented reincarnators have had, then yes, we may. I scheduled our journey with this type of detour in mind.

[Jerome Smith]: Great. Can we hit one up tonight, then?

[Aster K'lon]: We may if we arrive soon enough.

P-System Log

We're making pretty good progress now. The trail is super rough, and the trees and bushes have overgrown it in places, but Aster knows what she's doing.

She's definitely pushing Jerome to do dungeons. There's no doubt about it.

Now, the million-W-Inertia question is: why? What's in it for her?

Is there some experimentation she wants to run? Does she just want more loot and levels all of a sudden? Does it have something to do with our apparent "godsent" status?

Whatever the case, there's nothing I can do about it. Jerome wants to go, so we're going. I could put an [Objective] down to deny it, but Aster's purpose kind of aligns with mine here. Whatever her motives, I can at least appreciate that they point me towards more W Inertia.

That's a problem for when we get there.

For now, all I can do is wait and watch.

Welcome to S'ker, the Dungeon Hub of the South!