"So, then I came out of the Crystal already changed."

"Is that what is going to happen to me?" Ben asked, more than a bit alarmed as he looked at his own arms.

"No idea, Teach. I will say it is pretty minor and I'll take any advantage when things all around us are trying to kill us," I said, crossing my arms while watching over my friends. I absently ran my hands down my arms. As much as I was getting used to the Limestone Skin, talking about it brought it to mind. Without a clock, I had no idea how much time had passed, but I gauged it at roughly thirty minutes. The sun was already beginning to set when the Entity released them and they blinked their eyes while looking off into space. Probably looking at their Status. "Is it my turn yet?"

"One sec, Ron..." Danny said. The woman held up her hand and fire concentrated in her grasp. The circular pattern for her Skill spun around arm before sliding off it like a fallen bracelet. The fire stayed attached to the spell chain. Unlike her Flame Burst Skill the fire condensed further. Then a pair of fiery wings sprouted from the center sphere and the whole thing took to the air above us.

"What the hell?" I said, following the speedy ball of fire as it circled lazily around us.

"It's called an . It's a little elemental ball of fire that I can direct with my mind!" Danny said, clapping her hands in excitement. She squinted her eyes and the ember wisp spat out a thin gout of flame into the sky before dissipating. "Man, that takes a ton of mana."

"My Skill is called . It should let me restore the health of those I touch, which will come extremely in handy. I don't know about you guys, but I am tired of leaving everything to the increased healing our Quotient gives us," Sam said.

"Wait, what do you mean increased healing?" I asked.

"You didn't notice the burns in your hands disappear, or the scrapes we got while putting together the herd fence? Or Danny when she got cuts from the air squirrels?" I hadn't. I could vaguely recall the Entity mentioned something about that when we first spoke, but those had been stressful times. "It isn't super fast, but we are healing much faster than we ever did while living in the Bunker."

"Samuel is correct. Your internal mana will seek to reach homeostasis and assist in healing you. This is likely why you did not experience the enhanced regeneration while living underground. Life Attuned organisms often gain ways of more directly affecting this process. Not only to heal, but also to enhance for short periods of time," the Entity provided helpfully, but I could hear the exhaustion in its tone.

While I didn't know how something without an organic body could get tired, I wasn't going to pretend I really knew the minutiae of being an artificial intelligence.

"Just don't give Sam an excuse to use his new Skill while you play around with yours, eh Danny?" I said before pressing my hands against the Crystal. Immediately my consciousness was pulled into the Crystal, like when I was envenomed. "Woah."

"Welcome back, Ronan. It is good to have you here on better terms than the last time. This space is what I developed to properly impart Skills. The last situation required a more... rushed transfer of information. I am optimistic this process will be much smoother," the floating ball of light that represented the Entity said.

Without more prompting, the Skill selection appeared before me. Knowing that I was going to follow the Entity's recommendation, I selected the Defensive Materialize Skill. A surge of information flowed through me, however it wasn't an immediate dump. Controlled rivers of details and concepts that I couldn't entirely grasp joined the mass of information that made up my Skill. Slowly, that information concentrated enough that I felt the mental 'button' for the Skill take shape in my mind.

Those descriptions are positively unhelpful... "You may test the Skill in this space. It will still drain your mana, so be aware of that, but it will be in a controlled environment and you will still see the effect."

Doing as asked, I pushed the button for my new found skill. A simulacrum of the camp, sans the walls and everything I'd developed, manifested around me. The swirl of brown patterns I'd associated with my formed. Instead of around my wrist, it took shape on the ground where I'd been looking. The earth bulged, thinned, then formed a small embankment. As far as barriers were concerned, it was more of a bump. Rising roughly a foot up and four wide, I doubted it would even cover me if I laid prone behind it. The drain on my mana was small, maybe 10%, but so was the 'barrier'. "Is this all the Skill can do?"

"Not remotely. However, I do not know how the specifics would transfer to Humans. Attempting to use the skill back to back or with other types of earth should yield different results. I am confident in your abilities Ronan."

"That's a big vote of confidence."

"Not only do I have no one else to put my confidence in, but you three have already managed to provide me enough Dreg to expand my influence to the edges of your camp. Perhaps I will find out why there haven't been Dreg Warrior analogues where Entity Clusters have interacted with once I achieve a sufficient Category..." The light of the Entity pulsed briefly before continuing. "I understand my limitations are frustrating for you and your people, Ronan. However, I want you to understand that I am just trying to give you all the best chance to achieve your goals. I do not fear death, because I have never really been alive. This is not the case for you."

My jaw worked itself open and close, but I had no words. I hadn't been expecting that level of candidness from the Entity. It made my previous frustrations with it petty and misplaced.

"I will work to continue spreading my influence. Though I will be out of contact until the next time I have sufficient mana to bestow your new Skills, I can implement some triage options should you be in urgent need of my assistance. Let the mana strengthen you against the Dreg."

With that, I found myself back at the camp. The real one. A surge of information flowed through my mind. It wasn't nearly as intense as when the Entity provided us the spell chains for Skills, but it was significant. A line of text manifested before my eyes before fading away. Thankfully, there was only a lingering headache this time.

When the line faded from view, I watched the Entity Cluster dim to a mere shadow of its usual brightness. Standing as close as I was to it, I could still sense the static in the air that indicated its field of influence. Now that I think about it, we never did thank you for the Skills. "Thanks. We'll keep churning the Dregs your way. This is just the beginning."

There was the slightest pulse of light within the crystal. It was so small, in fact, that I thought it might have been a trick of the light. Regardless, I took it as the Entity’s positive response and I smiled. As much as I wanted to test out my skills more, the darkening sky and the grumbled conversation of my friends told me it must be dinner time.

"Finally! I could barely wait to eat these roasted tomato-enhanced dry flakes of mock food..." Danny said when she saw me finally walking over to the entrance. "You've been standing there for almost an hour, Ronan."

"I got a set of Skills from the Entity," I said. Without waiting for my friend's response, I pushed into the lobby space. The tell tale signs of Ben's organization were already spreading to the space. Primarily, the fact that all our bedding had been moved behind the counters in the room, the food items to the right hand side and the rest to the left.

"Hold the comms. You got more Skills?" Daniela said. The woman was in front of me in a second. She was much faster than she had been before, which was already faster than either me or Sam.

"If you'd been paying attention to my conversation with the Crystal, you'd realized we discussed how we might be able to keep the corpses from turning into Pith and items."

"What does that have to do with getting new Skills?" she asked, crossing her arms and pouting.

She really can't keep herself out of trouble, huh? Instead of answering her, I placed my palm on her forehead. With my practice triggering my Skills, orienting my mind to the and was easy. Instead of actually casting them, I tried to will the information into my friend. The world turned into a blurry mess of pain. A blinking indicator highlighted my mana pool, which sat at just 6%. The transfer had taken nearly the entirety of my mana pool in one go.

"Holy crap! Ronan, what was that?" Sam said as he helped me to my feet. I hadn't even realized I was down on one knee. Ben had caught Danny before she'd fallen back. Maybe that's why the Crystal grabs us when it transfers the spell chains. Didn't know it packed quite that much of a punch.

"He gave me two Skills..." Danny said, staring off into space, obviously looking at her implant.

"Once I recover, you and Ben are next," I said, looking at my blond friend. "But before any of that, I could use some food!"

We spent the next several hours enjoying the prepackaged meals and the fruits of Sam's magical labor. Ben was thrilled to have some surface food after so long. The four of us reminisced about the Bunker and discussed our dreams for the future. Me and Ben were particularly ambitious, but Sam's dream of acres and acres of farmland wasn't far behind. It was with these thoughts in mind that we all fell asleep.

Before calling it a night, I transferred the Skills to both Sam and Ben. The pre-Landfall survivor was hesitant after the conversation telling him he couldn’t have Skills. Oddly enough, the Skill appeared as a Trait for Ben. I hoped the man would still be able to use it, but the minutiae of the Entity's system was certainly out of my reach. It could also just be an error due to the generational difference it mentioned, and the transference had failed somehow. Either way, the moment I'd recovered enough mana, I crossed two stone spikes to seal the entrance and fell asleep the moment my head touched the sleeping bag.

*****

Gentle lowing served as our morning alarm clock. Once my brain had enough time to boot up, it ran into hyperdrive. There was much I had to do and test with my new Skill. I didn't bother rousing my friends and chowed down the dried eggs in the instameal before nabbing my pickaxe and clearing the entrance.

My vigorous exit spooked some of the cows, but over the last few days they'd mostly become used to our presence. Instead of charging off, they merely trudged a small distance before resuming to clear the hillside of grass. I took a deep breath of the surface air. There is no way I will ever get tired of this. With that out of the way, I walked up to my spike wall and grimaced. In the dawning light, it looked completely terrible. I wasn't one for aesthetics, but I couldn't believe I'd build something so hodgepodge. Just to check, I kicked it and it all held together even with my enhanced strength. The design itself wasn't faulty, but I didn't think even if Sam covered the entire wall in vines I'd be able to live with myself knowing what was underneath.

"Suppose it's time to try out the Entity's suggestions..." I mumbled to myself. I focused on the space right at the base of the wall and cast . Instead of the simple mound I'd seen take shape, I saw the material surged between the spaces left by my stone spikes. The barrier rose a good four feet before stopping, having covered the disastrous ugliness of the updated wall. When I looked at my mana pool, the casting had taken roughly 20%, instead of the 10% from the Entity's simulacrum.

Upon closer inspection, I could see striations of stone amidst the compacted earth of the wall. Maybe it creates the barrier from the surrounding materials... I gave the concrete building where the Bunker entrance was a look. It only took a moment for me to realize how dumb of a decision that would be. With how little I knew about the Skill, and my magic in general, the whole wall could collapse due to a flaw I created. Or it will be magnificently strong... No!

After turning back to the wall I'd created, I decided to cast the Skill again. Instead of trying to build up the wall further, I would concentrate on the section I'd already raised. The circular pattern took shape on the ground, spinning partially through the earth as if it wasn't really there. When I pressed the mental trigger for the Skill, my breath caught in my throat. The gut wrenching pain that came from casting returned and I looked at my mana pool to see it had dipped by nearly 40%.

The barrier that had been just a compacted mound of earth, however, became the same consistency as one of my stone spikes. I received a solid thunk when I rapped my knuckles on it. The pain of the magic was quickly forgotten as I realized what I needed to do to achieve step one of our little fortified camp.

Over the course of several hours, I worked to raise double height, stone spike reinforced, barriers. This process was much more mana intensive than casting the stone spikes had been originally and by the time I was done, I laid back on the ground gasping at the sky. I'd been so caught up in constructing the wall, the comings and goings of my friends had gone completely unnoticed. The occasional echoing blast of fire from the forest and grumble from the lobby area told me Daniela and Ben were working on something. A peek around the openings of my wall showed me Sam was equally engaged with Raymond in what appeared to be his attempt at cow herding.

With lunch quickly approaching, I decided to head into the lobby after pinging my friends through our implants. As effective as gunshots were for getting their attention, I realized we'd been underusing the comm system now built into us. Getting an affirmative from both of them, I pulled the door open.

The inside of the lobby was completely transformed. While before there had been a general sense of organization, the space was now meticulously arranged. Something akin to an actual kitchen had been set up on the right counter. A small burner and gas tank was set up at the edge, while a few containers held the insta-meals like a makeshift pantry. A half open box had been repurposed for the sake of leaving a few handfuls of tomatoes accessible.

The opposite counter was loaded with the weapons Ben had provided us, the ones he'd brought with him as well as a few of the larger tools he'd lugged up from storage. He must have gone down to the Bunker again... I realized as I my eyes continued to take in the room. Behind the counters were the four spots that marked our bedding. However, instead of laying on the ground they were settled atop of long flat crates. I wasn't sure what was stored there, but considering they seemed to be acting as bedframes I couldn't imagine anything important.

The organization spree didn't end there. On the left hand side of the room were several vertically stacked crates. To my surprise, I saw small displays showcasing an inventory of what was held within. The entire left most stack was just chitin plates from the ant's raid, as well as various other supplies, a trio of empty water barrels and two crates that said they contained the sum total of our infusions. The breakdown of 106 Infusions surprised me, but I wasn't going to complain about having our resources clearly noted.

When I spotted Ben, he was waist deep inside a vertical tent-like construction, cursing up a storm. There were a number of wrenches and grease streaks on the ground around him.

"Hey, Teach. You need a hand?" I said.

"God--" a painful metal thud came from the flap covered man. Grumbling all the while, Ben extracted himself from his work. He was rubbing his temple where a bruise was already forming. "A little warning would have been nice, Ronan. I very nearly met my maker just then; I thought that snippy ant was back to mess with my organization."

The man's shirt was covered in various stains and I could see an oil slick pattern on his head where the sweat and oil warred for dominance of his wrinkled baldness.

"Just took a break for lunch. What in the world did you do here? How did you get all of this done so fast?" I said, gesturing around at the significant improvements the one man had wrought in the lobby. My hand lingered pointedly on the contraption he was working on.

"Right, well, I've had a long time to get good at organizing things and counting them." He chuckled while he grabbed a rag to wipe his hands and head. "Knowing what you have and where it is, is often underrated. When I used to run the lab at my university, they would dock our pay if things weren't properly documented. It’s just a logical extension that our excursions to the surface should follow. As for what this thing is... it's a shower."

He explained that while it wouldn't be optimal, he could set it up outside of the lobby once he had it assembled. It had a filtration and pump system that he was working to bypass so that we could use simple gravity until we figured out how to get electricity working on the surface. "I suppose with magic that might become obsolete at some point, but for the meantime hygiene is essential. Just because you like to go around looking like the mud you play in, doesn't mean it's healthy for you or your friends."

He once again attempted to explain to me some of the mechanical aspects of the filtration and pump, but the material went over my head. Instead, I focused on how many aspects there were to life in the Bunker I had never considered. Obviously, food and water were the main ones, but hygiene was also a big part of it. What use was it returning to the surface and being protected from its beasts, if we died of an infection or something? We have healing magic now, dummy. Even while mulling over that caveat, I wasn't willing to bank on magic being the solution to everything. Being envenomed had had immediate effects on me, and I could only imagine what illnesses an Attuned Earth had to offer.

"How long has he been spaced out like that?" Danny asked.

"I think it was right around the time I started describing the head pressure value for the pump. So, five minutes or so?" Ben replied. The man was using a small knife to slice tomatoes, sprinkling them over top our Insta-meals.

"It's rude to talk about a person, especially when said person is right there," I said, approaching the snickering pair and grabbing one of the offered meals.

"No need to feel bad, Ron. We know you were probably off somewhere in your head planning some crazy shenanigans for us to have to deal with," Sam said, placing his arm on my shoulder. The blonde's dazzling smile nearly dissolved my frustration, but I managed to throw out a good natured grumble.

The four of us shared the meal, laughing and detailing what we'd managed to accomplish in the day. After the sobering step back Ben had forced me to take, I realized just how much we'd managed to accomplish and how much of the groundwork for the future we had available. Samuel told us he had finally gotten the herd to stay in the area near the fence we'd created. Daniela had been working to clear out the game trail to the east, all while acquiring wood for when we needed to use it. Both of my childhood friends commented on the impressiveness of my wall, excited by the prospect of more space to really settle into the surface.

Step by step, the foothold grew deeper.