Three days hence, I was sore in more muscles than I'd ever used during my half-hearted attendance with Lucas at the gym. And speaking of Lucas, Irina had sent an EVA to their farm to check in case he was under duress.

To circumvent communication constraints, we need a beam-to-radio modulator to make an encrypted call. The Velastra had two communication arrays. The primary used everything on the EM spectrum, while the secondary array, aptly called the QET which was not accessible at the time, could use lepton particle entanglement for FTL communications.

The AI would not risk any radio transmissions, encrypted or not, if they could triangulate them. Any unusual frequency would be flagged down as alien and we'd have the authorities over Lake Lucerne before we could blink.

The reason the Velastra was underwater in the first place was so we could stay under the radar, so to speak. Nonetheless, Irina assured me we'd get a call out soon—Cassandra’s medpod treatment was almost done with a few hours to spare.

In the interim, I was getting used to the workout routine Irina had drawn up for me. Every second of my vital signs were being monitored.

For that, I had a wrist console which linked up to my undersuit. I wore it on my person during the duration of training and it took the readouts, displaying them on a holoscreen. It was a nifty gizmo, a wrist computer of sorts, that could put even my laptop to shame.

The charts showed my improvements as linear, and the value added denoted a theoretical cap before the next progression. So while I might have had Energy worth 7 points, my body hadn't learnt to leverage all of it yet. That actually made more sense than going from zero to hero in a jiff. I’d finally added a plus one to Vitality, Dexterity and Endurance making my least stat a 6 across the board.

V∆ Dexterity 6 Endurance 7 Energy 7 Vitality

6

The addition to Dexterity was a consequence of the time spent grappling with Irina’s Avatar. Contrary to what I’d expected, the psychological stats had also had a hand in influencing my improvements.

I could retain my forms quicker and adapt to Irina’s onslaughts on the fly. However, an increase in fortitude was the reason I did not flinch back from her kicks or her blows. Acuity helped me react with split-second reactions, parrying blows to the side, or rolling with her punches to minimise damage. It also enabled me to take advantage of openings and avoid commitment to feints.

Irina seemed to be upping the ante every time I made a little improvement. Even though I did not always win, I came out of the bouts more confident, especially when I succeeded in my first immobilising grab and throw. I no longer had what I would consider base stats across my physiological and psychological stats.

Æ ∆ Acuity

6

Affinity 6 Insight 7 Fortitude 6

Nonetheless, my psychological attributes could do more than just make me a sponge for soaking up melee techniques. There was another subject matter I hadn't touched yet—Arcana. My first use of it was not exactly pleasant.

On the day leading up to Cassandra’s recovery, Irina thought it appropriate to relax from physical training and concentrate on my mental attributes. They had me narrate my first experience using aether.

“Flux built up in your aethovasculi after your first awakening," they said. "Your core started to form as your body began to start converting aether into something that your body can use," The lights in the rec room dimmed as they conjured another hologram showing the model of the body in ephemeral blue.

Highlighted within was the nervous system, showing nerve endings and bundles in a deeper shade of blue . The hologram zoomed in and settled somewhere between the navel and the sternum—the solar plexus.

Irina flicked their hand and a green network overlaid the blue nerves twining around them in dendritic offshoots which petered out as they reached my extremities. “Those are your aethovasculi,” they said, as the green veins flared to the pulse of the core.

“By the start of the awakening, they were immature, and the flux buildup immediately closed them up. Since they overlay your nervous system, you experienced your first flux burn and your body shut down,”

“Tell me that doesn't happen every time I use aether,” I winced, recalling the first time I tried to use aether to escape my captors.

Irina shook their head, saying, “You were able to use the schema for Phase Shift without complications. There should be no problems as long as you let your vasculi continue to acclimate, "

“ Oh, that tracks," I sighed in relief. Even though Phase Shift had gone off without a hitch, I was worried that I'd done some crippling damage to myself.

“ To that end, I have compiled the requisite aid for training in Arcana.”

The holographic projection morphed into a pane as runes, glyphs, and geometrical constructs faded into view.

“You are already acquainted with runes and glyphs, letters and syllables,” they said, each flaring briefly in emphasis. “These―” they said, motioning as the geometrical construct flared. It was a circle with an annular ring of esoteric glyphs hemming circumference. One smaller circle clung to the inner boundary and then, after that, chords, radii, other shapes, and much smaller circles filled the rest of the space within, “Are schema. They are abstracted constructs that provide an interpretation of Arcana,”

I snorted, “The equivalent of spell circles?”

Irina shrugged. They made a swiping motion, replacing the holoscreen’s current display with newer information. It showed the glyphs I'd first laid my eyes on. I recognised the one that spelled out Phase Shift, a tetrahedral pyramid. Arrayed alongside were the more complex polyhedral shapes , which were greyed out and lacked the animated motions.

“All schemas are glyphs, but not all glyphs are schemas,” Irina pointed out.

“When does a glyph become a schema?” I asked with a one-arched brow. I could still recall the characters sitting at the back of my mind; they held meaning. However, I was not ready to look at them in-depth except for the tetrahedral, which I could feel thrumming for release. I shook off my awareness and let it fade to the background.

“ Hmm, a glyph becomes a schema when it interacts with your interstitial buffer. It is the boundary of interaction between you and outside phenomena. You can think of it as short term memory and an assembler all at once, whereas the glyphs are the strings of code. The process is called crystallisation."

“Riiight," I agreed with a nod.I was slowly getting the gist of things; there was a structure to it. I was more assured this way, that if I could just follow the tried and tested methodology, I had less risk of melting my insides or turning my brain into mush.

" Next we have Affinities and Disciplines, capital A and D," they said, smiling. The holoscreen shifted to mirror her focus. “Affinities are your predisposition towards certain workings, or the ease with which you convert aether into certain phenomena―"

The rest of the crash course on Arcana went swimmingly well, as we covered both Affinities and Disciplines. Affinities were easy enough to understand and included both physical and metaphysical concepts. If I were a game nerd, I would have called them the elements. Mine had yet to crystallise and, therefore, I wasn’t sure which direction I leaned towards, but Irina’s inferred from my first awakening that I had a physical concept.

There was also the whole preamble to Arcana , a lore heavy treatise on the use of Aether that Irina had dredged up from her data banks. I would have to read that in my spare time. Alongside Nyvari language lessons, of course. I could not turn down an opportunity to learn another Xeno language, especially with a universal translator freely given. Though the UI had undergone changes to English, a majority of the ship’s systems were coded in the original language.

We were tying up our lesson on the Arcane Disciplines and why, despite technology, Arcana was preferred for ship operations when my wristcon pinged; Cassandra’s treatment had concluded.

Vis Dexterity 6 Endurance 7 Energy 7 Vitality

6

Aether Acuity

6

Affinity 6 Insight 7 Fortitude 6