Luke had managed to make it back to the healer's without incident. He'd made the trek back with caution, using alleys and quiet streets to minimize notice. Though he'd been spotted occasionally by the particularly attentive towns-man or -lady, it hadn't resulted in anything beyond hushed conversations.

Once back, he'd made his way to the attending nurse's station, where he'd asked about the conditions for his discharge. The nurse had seemed alarmed at the question, fumbling her first attempt at dissuading him from rushing out. It seems she's in on it, he thought, moving to head-off her worries before they ruined his chances of escaping.

"I only ask because I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave just yet," he started, immediately eliciting a relieved expression on the nurse's face. "My body's already complaining from that short walk, and I'm not sure how long it'll take before my wind channels start responding again."

That last part triggered a piteous look on the nurse's face, which she quickly tried to mask, albeit unsuccessfully. Her reaction is what he'd been aiming for, pity for his failure to accept his new reality. If she thought him lost and in denial of the loss of his affinity, she might not consider his plans to leave.

"That's alright dear, you can stay with us for as long as is necessary," she'd said, before calling for one of the other nurses to help him to his room. The room's location was also a dead giveaway to their plans, seeing as it was on the top-most floor. That was because this floor was usually reserved for the elderly, who the clinic intended to keep from wandering out. As such, the barriers were high enough to prevent accidental, and willful attempts at breaching them, the latter being what they had expected from him, prior to his recovery.

Even though the barriers weren’t the only point of failure for the clinic’s system, there were other supporting protocols to connect the barrier to these other points. For instance, the lack of elevation platforms to-and-from that floor made the stairway the only way in and out. In so doing, any traffic from that floor was funneled to a small area, the staircase, which made it easier for any aspiring escapees to be spotted on one floor or the next. The platforms were always situated next to a floor’s reception area, making it impossible to access without interacting with the nurse in charge of that station.

So, Luke thought, exiting through the front will be almost impossible. Especially now that I’ve shown them I can at least hobble my way out of here now. He’d been scoping the area for slack on his winding walk to the top floor, but his investigation had found the opposite; assuming it wasn’t just a coincidence that each floor now had 2 nurses manning, and womaning, the station.

The nurse offered to help him settle in and he obliged her, letting her guide him to the bed. He winced with each movement he made, playing up the aches for the nurse’s benefit. Her only response was to offer Luke a supporting hand on his back as he eased his body onto the bed. It was too small of a reaction to draw any conclusions from, but he hoped she’d bit the bait and would relay his condition to the attending nurse, who’d surely report it to whoever was responsible for him being detained here.

◆◆◆

A thought flashed in his mind about an extra detail he needed to get, and within seconds, an idea on how to get it followed. He would need the nurse for this. As the nurse made to leave, Luke blurted out the first thing that came to mind in his attempt to stall, “W-what’s your name?” The nurse quirked a brow at this, assuming Luke was expressing interest in her. Seeing the look on her face, he rushed to assuage her fears, “I need to know who exactly I’m thanking for the assistance.”

This seemed to ease her worries as she visibly relaxed, clearing her throat before making to answer. Luke focused on her, mentally communicating what he required of the answer.

[Prompt-less Appraisal] has kicked in. Examining contents of [conversation]

The nurse, Primrose, obliged him with her name and his perk kicked in. With the perk effects activated, all he needed to do was to keep it going. In order to achieve this, he envisioned a modifier he’d seen in his character sheet, the (Anchor) modifier. According to the interface, it allowed for specific effects to be anchored to a given position; and though it was yet to be tested, he went with that anyway. His approach banked on the hypothesis that ‘a given position’ meant a specific target, be it or they; mobile or stationary.

(Anchor) modifier has been applied to the target, Primrose>. Persistent Channel has been established for [Prompt-less Appraisal], with [conversation] as the subject matter.

With nothing to lose in the attempt, he applied the modifier, making sure to leave the conversation open on his end. This resulted in Primrose standing there while waiting for him to continue the conversation he’d started with his thanks. When no further conversing was to come of it, she turned heel and walked out of the room, closing the door with more force than Luke thought necessary.

◆◆◆

“Hey Prim, how’s the trusty cash cow today?” asked an unfamiliar voice, her disdain dripping through the connection, loud and clear.

“Shush, Alice! You know the mistress told us to keep such things on the hush,” responded Prim with a bit of apprehension. Her next statement soon proved her reservations were limited to being overheard and didn’t extend to Luke’s address.

“The cash cow’s up and running again, but more akin to a‘snail than the ‘Wind God’ though,” Primrose said, eliciting a horsey laugh from her friend, Alice.

“Well, I guess all this extra security is unwarranted then, seeing as he won’t be hobbling anywhere far at that pace,” Alice said.

“Even if he intended to, the mayor woul-” began Primrose, but her sentence was suddenly clipped, and the next notification told Luke why.

WARNING: Effect Range Exceeded! Persistent Channel has snapped.

Damn it! Swore Luke, I didn’t consider the range. Well, at least we got what we were aiming for, he thought, pushing the matter of the effect limits aside. There were more pressing matters to deal with right now. It seemed the mayor was involved in this, and this made his escape attempt an X number of times harder than he’d initially thought it would be, with X being the number of bodies the mayor was willing to field for his capture. The irony of it was, with his funds at the mercy of the person who wanted to keep him here, which happened to be that same mayor; his own funds would likely be used in keeping him there against his will.

If he really wanted out, then he had to bet it all on this one attempt, seeing as future attempts would be impossible, given who wanted him there. With half the day already spent and a lot of preparations to be made, he dug deep, taking stock of all he had at his disposal.

◆◆◆

Luke called up his interface, and [Prompt-less Appraisal] immediately kicked in, automatically slotting in optional, enriched tables beneath the relevant flat sections.

He started with a refresher on stats, checking out the manual the Order of Roles offered to every prospective initiate. 'A Basic Guide for the Uninitiated' used to be an almost useless collection of words to him, seeing as he'd already had a better grasp of affinities and such due to the insights from awakening his {WIND} affinity.

Now though, the guide had an extra drop-down or two per section, courtesy of his [Prompt-less Appraisal]. The dropdowns contained tables, and they allowed hiding or expanding of the enriched tabs as necessary. That 'optional' feature was quite useful, and Luke hoped the interface would continue improving, eventually allowing him to toggle between the flat and tabular display as needed.

Displaying

A BASIC GUIDE FOR THE UNINITIATED

"This is a free and basic document, and by no means a comprehensive guide to the world of the classed. As we value your role in your own elevation, we are willing to offer more in depth and hands-on guidance at a modest fee for the generous."

- signed, The Order of Roles.

ATTRIBUTES

1: DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE UNINITIATED

Each attribute is scored on points and modifiers. Modifiers are usually a hidden aspect of attributes in the early stages of development. Modifiers can be used to defy class and attribute point restrictions.

2: INTERFACE - BREAKDOWN

ATTRIBUTES

POINTS

MOD

Details

Strength

XX

-

Damage, External Load

Dexterity

XX

-

Speed, Fine Control

Constitution

XX

-

Health, Stamina, Resistance

Intelligence

XX

-

Mana, Spell Capability

Wisdom

XX

-

Strategic Capability, Insight

CLASSES

1: DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE UNINITIATED

Classes are split into 5 aspects: Admin, Religion, Utility, Education and Martial. Confluent classes are classes that satisfy multiple aspects e.g. Guard as a Martial x Utility class. First order confluences involve only 2 aspects, and each additional aspect bumps up the order of the confluence. Advanced classes automatically replace less advanced classes of the same discipline e.g. Cloth Sibling → Priest. Higher order classes guarantee a better starting point as opposed to lower order ones, but further progression is only guaranteed by the initiate's efforts.

2: INTERFACE - BREAKDOWN

Administration

Religious

Utility

Education

Martial

Martial

Guard

Fighter

Education

Scholar

Utility

Villager

Religious

Cloth Sibling

Administration

Chieftain

3: INTERFACE - AN INTRODUCTION TO SPECIALIZATIONS

Knight (Martial)

Alchemist (Education)

Cook (Utility)

Priest (Religious)

Mayor (Admin)

MAGIC

1: DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE UNINITIATED

"Magic is - as magic does". Force of effect. Described using 5 Aspects: Affinity, Capacity, Generation, Channeling and Confluence. [GRAD]: Gradation is the main channeling stat, determining [CAP] and [GEN] improvements per [GRAD] gain. [PROF]" Proficiency presents as a sub-meter for [GRAD], resetting at the gain of a single [GRAD] point.

2: INTERFACE - BREAKDOWN

ASPECT

DESCRIPTION

EXTRA

Affinity

Type classification of effects.

Capacity

Maximum reserve for a specific affinity.

Generation

Rate of recovery.

Channeling

Skill with a specific affinity.

[PROF]

Proficiency with a specific affinity.

[GRAD]

Gradation.

Confluence

Five-part value.

Number of alternate formulas for confluence calculations increases with gradation.

Each value represents a mask for the relation between different affinities.

Calculation: [Unknown].

3: INTERFACE - AFFINITIES

Affinity

Description

Example Magics

Wind

· Air Wall

Sound

(Wind Variant – higher output, less versatility)

· Thunderclap

Ice

Wind*Water

· Ice Arrow

Water

· Transmute Water

Steam

Water*Fire

· Sear

Fire

· Combust

Radiance

(Holy-flavored Fire)

· Minor Illuminate

Lava

Fire*Earth

· Lava rock

Earth

· Spike

Life

Water*Wind*Earth*Fire

· Minor Heal

Spark

· Zap

◆◆◆

The generic guide hadn't changed since his last prompt, a few days ago. The confluent option had popped up in the Class section's interface breakdown on that day, and he assumed this had been due to him finally recovering enough to function as a mundane city guard. They rarely engaged in combat, which his secondary class more than qualified him for, and though he wasn't the most mobile at the moment, he could meet the testing requirements if he disregarded the backlash from pushing himself so. Done with the generic, he moved on to his own stat sheet, looking for updates and insights on tonight's strategy.

◆◆◆

STATUS SHEET

IDENTIFICATION

Name: Luke Race: Human Level: 9 XP: -235

CLASSES

Primary

-------------

Secondary

Scholar: IX Acrobat: V Farmer: VI Wind Mage: IX Fencer: VII

AFFINITIES

Error: Unable to calculate due to Channel damage.

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 4 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 7 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 5

RACIAL TRAITS

Diurnal [5]: All attributes and abilities boosted during the day. Adaptability [5]: Relaxed limit on secondary classes.

CLASS PERKS

Fast Learner [3]: Improved ability to absorb information. Crit-Sight [3]: Improved chance of landing critical hits.

INTERFACE: FULL STATUS

IDENTIFICATION

Name

Race

Level

XP

Luke Human

9

-235

CLASSES

PRIMARY

# [Hidden]

-

SECONDARY

# Scholar

α → IX

# Acrobat

V

# Farmer

VI

# Wind Mage

IX → --

# Fencer

VII

AFFINITIES

CAP

GEN

CONF ALIGN

CHAN

VIZ

BIN

MOD

PROF

GRAD

Wind

--

--

XX

----

?

--

-

Water

X

X

XX

XXXX

?

XX

X

Fire

X

--

XX

XXXX

?

--

-

Earth

X

--

XX

XXXX

?

--

-

Life

--

XX

--

[----]

[+/-]

--

-

Spark

XX

XXX

XXX

XXXX

?

XX

X

ATTRIBUTES

POINTS

MOD

DETAILS

Strength

4

𝑥

Damage, External Load

Dexterity

8

𝑥

Speed, Fine Control

Constitution

7

𝑥

Health, Stamina, Resistance

Intelligence

10

𝑥

Mana, Spell Capability

Wisdom

5

𝑥

Strategic Capability, Insight

RACIAL TRAITS

Diurnal

5

All attributes boosted during the day.

Adaptable

5

Relaxed limit on secondary classes.

CLASS PERKS

Fast Learner

3

Improved ability to absorb information.

Crit-Sight

3

Improved chance of landing critical hits

Nocturnal

1

All abilities boosted during the night.

Familial Channeling

0

Access to a familiar’s abilities at a percentage of their full power.

D.A.O

Access

1

Relaxed restrictions on object data.

Circuit Vascularity

0

Extra-sensory network that doubles as an effect channel.

Prompt-less Appraisal

0

Passive appraisal.

Regen

1

(Semi-) Passive appraisal.

[HIDDEN]

-

---

SKILLS

Name

Description

Extra

Analyze

Advanced appraisal.

Change Mode

Switch between states of operation.

T1

Neutral

T2 [Locked]

[HIDDEN]

[HIDDEN]

T3 [Locked]

[HIDDEN]

[HIDDEN]

Static

Generates a minor charge by polarizing the invoker's first and third digit.

MODIFIERS

MOD

SYM

BIN

CLASS

NOTES

AMPLIFY

^

[----]

RANGE

Increase damage output at an increased MP cost.

EXTEND

[----]

RANGE

Increase AOE at an increased MP cost.

°

[----]

Simple

<<-|->

[----]

Complex I (--HIDDEN--) [LOCKED]

╬

[----]

Complex II (--HIDDEN--) [LOCKED]

☼

[----]

Complex III (--HIDDEN--) [LOCKED]

PROJECT

~

[----]

INTENT

Project effects towards a target.

SPLIT

→[

BUFFER

RANGE

Increase the potential for amplification and extension at an increased time cost.

-∞=x=

[----]

Level 1: Allows for storage of [--REDACTED--] instances.

Œx

[----]

Level 2: (--HIDDEN--) [LOCKED]

ANCHOR

Э

[----]

INTENT

Anchors a [--REDACTED--]’s effects to a given position.

L-JUMP

+

[----]

LOGICAL

[LOCKED]

OR

|

XXXX

LOGICAL

[LOCKED]

LOOP

3

XXXX

INTENT

Re-run a [--REDACTED--]. Upper half represents the [--REDACTED--] socket, lower half represents the effect duplicator.

REVERSE

E

XXXX

INTENT

[---]

AND

8

XXXX

LOGICAL

[---]

NOT

X

XXXX

LOGICAL

[---]