The world exploded into brilliant colors before dimming to a slightly more saturated version of everything as we crossed the bridge to the Metier Crystal. Crossing that invisible threshold of the Wildwood crystal threw me entirely on my rear. The Big Guns, Sarah's Wild Guard squad, snickered at our antics. Samuel was leaning heavily on the railing and I was sure Daniela had been struck dead. The woman was stiff as a board.

"What in the..." I whispered as I watched a gust of wind blow over the water of Lake Sumter. A grey ripple where things should have been invisible, quickly followed by a gently lapping aquamarine wave that crashed against the wooden construction. Even the bridge had a gentle glow of browns and yellows dancing where it met the waterline.

"We call this the Blessing of Magic." Tim explained, casually leaning over the railing. The man caressed the yellow glow as if it were a physical thing. I did note that the brown avoided his touch, sinking into the bridge out of view.

"I'm sure you've noticed the pulse," one of the dwarves said. They were so similar I had trouble distinguishing between Carl and Karl. The only real difference was how they had their beards braided. Even that was hard to tell. When they'd told me their names, I was sure they were joking. They weren't, telling me it was a regular point of contention with their parents.

"Definitely felt that one. Oddly enough, not during the fight with the crows," I said, thinking back to the engagements.

"That's the Crystal's defense mechanism. Most of the time, from what we've been able to observe, it keeps creatures away. When it can't, well they are disrupted by the pulse," the other dwarf said.

"What does that have to do with the Blessing of Magic?" Danny asked.

"Think of it like musical instruments. The Crystal strikes all the cords at once, causing the pulse." Tim explained. "The Blessing always becomes stronger after the Crystal pulses."

It's exerting its influence, I realized. Just like how the Entity back at the camp could pull the Dreg from our bodies, so could this one.

"This is also where we come to train once we discover a Gift. Seeing the alignments helps us get a better hang of them. The ones before the Fall can't see the alignments no matter how hard they try," Tim said, stroking one of the light yellow glows. As if to demonstrate, the glow he touched wrapped around his finger to turn a deep green. Then a spell chain formed. It wasn't as refined or clear as ours, more like a painting than indecipherable writing, before he flicked it towards the shore.

A flat tree trunk sprouted from the ground as if that were the norm. For the first time, I watched energy flow out of Tim, through the spell chain, and then exert its will on the world. It explained a great deal as to how our Skills worked, but left me with a hundred more questions. Mostly around the actual specifics of spell chains, the vision of the Blessing and what role the Crystals played.

"We were hoping to see some of your own magic," Sarah said. "You three are some of the most powerful Fallen we've ever met outside of the Tendrils. Maybe we could learn something by watching you use your Gift here."

I turned to my friends. Sam shrugged as did Daniela. It meant the decision was up to me. How very supportive. From what I'd seen of the team, none of them had Imbue type spells. It was possible that Sarah's hair Skill was related to Offensive Imbued, but I doubted it. "Danny, can you show them your ?"

Without fanfare, she called forth her Skill. There hadn't been any red glows around us, but the moment her spell chain triggered it shoved the meandering lights back into the world. The grey of the wind swirled around a red glow coming off her hands, drawn to it somehow. Instantly, Sarah lit up red. Not in that she was on fire, but glowing with the Fire Attunement. Sarah closed her eyes and focused. The red glow hung in the air for a few seconds before it sunk into her skin.

Then she exploded in a caustic cloud that had us all coughing to clear our throats. The cloud didn't last more than a breath, but she was on her feet trying to get her bearings. There was a circular soot mark where she'd been standing.

"That's... a new Gift. I understand it..." she whispered.

"Please tell me you have more to show us!" Tim jumped from his spot on the railing and nearly crashed into Sam. There was a desperate look in his eye. I was almost hesitant to proceed because of the sudden mania, but considering his Attunement and the fact that only three people in Wildwood were capable of healing it was worth the risk the man was vying for power somehow.

"Do you have any other Skills we haven't seen?" I asked, prying the fae off my friend.

"No, just my Root Guard. Clara and that weirdo Dai are the only people with more than one Gift. Eh, not including the use of the creature essences." he added at the end.

"What about you two? Anything other than that joint attack?" I resisted the urge to ask about Clara and Dai. No sense getting side tracked when we were going to potentially give the group a huge jump in power.

"Nothing but indigestion. That hail is the only thing we can do." the left dwarf said.

"Other than hit hard," his brother added. As if they'd practiced, they thumped chests together. I couldn't help but think of all the football movies and matches I'd been forced to watch by my uncle. Karl and Carl were half sized linebackers with a facial hair problem. I didn't think even an Infused razor could handle those face rugs.

"Right, you guys give us a minute," I said, pivoting and walking out of the Blessing of Magic area. The moment I did, the world became drab by comparison. Everything looked the same, and in a sense it was true. Without seeing the Attunements around things, they were inert after what I'd just experienced. Regardless, I pushed through. After walking what I determined was a sufficient enough distance that we could see the Big Guns squad but not be overheard I turned to my friends. "Thoughts?"

"Are these thoughts on what Skill to show them or thoughts on giving them the potential to unlock more Skills of their own?" Sam asked.

"Why is this an argument? They could certainly use the help," Daniela argued.

"We can't do this for everyone. Well, at least not right now. A magic school of sorts would be amazing for the long term..." I nearly slapped myself to get back on topic. "No. I want to make an agreement with them."

"Like some kind of alliance?" Sam said.

"Sort of? It would just be with them for now, but the Big Guns have been the only group of mages we've really interacted with."

"There was the Oliver fellow." Danny pointed out.

"I'm not quite sure we are on the best of terms, I can't really get a read on him. Honestly, I feel like my social skills are struggling just dealing with all these new people," I said, admitting my frustrations.

While talking to the kids on the first day had been great for setting my mind at ease, and socializing with the demon night workers had been easy, a whole town's worth of people was too much.

"You don't have to do this alone, Ron," Sam said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Just because we asked you to lead us doesn't mean you'll need to be the best at everything. Let me and Danny deal with the social stuff. You figure out how we can get an edge. These," he pointed to Danny's armor harness and his own breastplate. "Are game changers. Getting the people of this town a steady source of food? Also game changing. And I am thinking that the game we are playing is already rigged."

"Getting some more magic slinging friends also couldn't hurt." Danny added.

All the information and plans we had for the future seemed to coalesce in my mind. It wasn't quite crisp, but I had a direction. My ambitions, the manpower of Wildwood and the expertise of my friends might just be enough to pull it off.

"Ah, see? I told you he just needs to get his head on straight," Danny said, gesturing vaguely at me.

"Damn! Fine, you can have the first crop pick for the next two weeks," Sam said, dejected. The brunette pumped her fist.

"What's all this now?" I asked, focusing on my friends with a frown.

"We made a bet that you would spend the whole first trip here overthinking everything. I put my money on you getting your crazy plan face as soon as we smacked some sense into you," Danny said matter-of-factly. It was delivered in an almost disinterested tone, but I could see the smirk twitch on her lips.

"Good to know I'll always have you two smart alecks, to balance out all these new and far less annoying people." I quipped. My friends couldn't hold back their laughter at that.

"On a more serious note." Sam said, "I think we should let them see the spell chains. Getting them as strong as possible will be important."

Daniela nodded, the levity of the conversation having passed.

"I will agree with the caveat that we spend time with the group before showing them anything. I think Sarah is a dedicated and stubborn person, Tim is a whimsical dude with ambitions. The twins, well, I think they are decent people," I said, counting out the members of the Big Guns on my fingers. "If there isn't a pressing need or a redeeming feature, the power we have is dangerous."

Danny nodded grimly at that. "I did a little scouting yesterday. I don't know how, but nearly the entire population is Quotient Level 2. The children are Q1 and the only people 3 and above are the older Fallen that are in the Wild Guard. Irwin is the only pre-fall person at Quotient 4."

I ran some quick math in my head and shivered. It was indeed a mind twisting amount of Pith to get that many people leveled. If it took 3 Q0 creatures to get to Q1, not accounting for the variability of each creature, their Attunement and the corresponding Attributes of the person taking it in, it was a staggering amount. One that I doubted the Tendrils would hesitate to exploit.

Wildwood was a huge Pith bank. I didn't know where the thought struck from, but it nearly brought me to my knees. The behavior of the Tendrils suddenly made a whole lot more sense. If I was correct, the next step of that would not be good for anyone. Looked like they were ready to cash in their investments.

"Let's get in there. We are going to need to make this official," I said. My friends must have heard the seriousness in my tone, because they just nodded in reply. No quips or ribbing now.

The dwarves hoisted their arms wide. "Finally! I thought you were going to leave us standing here all morning. My knees were starting to hurt."

"I need you to promise you will work with us. What you do with any power you unlock is your business, but if you want our help it needs to be the business of restoring humanity to the surface," I said to Sarah.

I felt a little guilty being so direct after Carl's lighthearted welcome, but I needed to make my point. If we hadn't been attacked already, that meant we had some time to fortify and grow stronger.

"Don't think small do you?" Sarah said, crossing her arms.

As a show of faith, I cast on my arm. The Imbue category Skill suffused my arm with Mana turning it into stone. Granules condensed and flowed out of my pores before solidifying. As if I'd flipped a switch, umber light shimmered up and down my arm. Carl and Karl blinked with a similar light not a second later. The siblings held on to each other as if they were on a rocking ship. Stone started to materialize around their hands. However, instead of climbing up and along their skin like my own, it bulked their fists up. Two, then three times it increased in size until the twins had rock hammers for hands.

They didn't affect us like Sarah's cloud, but having individual Skills caused the two men to hoot and holler in surprise and joy.

"If this trend continues, I believe Sam will be able to unlock a new Skill in Tim. Before he does, I need to know that you stand with us. I have a plan, but it's going to take a fair bit of work," I said, crossing my arms.

Sarah's expression was hard to read. There was the cocky confidence of her position as leader of the Guard, but also the desperation of someone searching for power. A twinge of excitement leaked through as she kept glancing from her own hands to the jabbering twins.

"So long as this does not hurt Wildwood and its people, I will agree to help you," she said, nodding.

A pulse rushed out of the Crystal less than twenty feet away. The glows of everything around us brightened again before forming threads in the air. The thin lines were similar to what I was learning to manipulate while Infusing, except these danced in the air. Thread after thread wove together into an iridescent one. This glimmering illusion wrapped around Sarah and myself like a snake. An energy pushed out of me, my mana I quickly realized, and mixed with partly transparent thread. The brown light of my mana rushed down the thread where it met a red glow from Sarah's. When the two met, sparks flew and the thread was gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Daniela asked. None of us were moving, and other than a slight tingling in my chest, the thread didn't appear to do anything.

"Have you three seen anything like this?" Tim asked, leaning, peering and examining his squad leader with intent.

"That's a first. And we've seen some stuff..." Sam said, trailing off.

The giant Metier Crystal flared with light causing everyone but me and Sarah to avert their eyes. Like moths drawn to a flame, our eyes made their way back to it slowly. Warmth and comfort washed through me and from the pleasant look on Sarah's face she must’ve been feeling it too.

The light of the crystal concentrated in front of us before translucent hands reeled us in like human-sized fish. Our bodies were plunged into the crystal. Impacting the thing caused small ripples on its surface and felt like running through cobwebs, something barely felt. Thankfully, we didn’t break any bones based on the speed we impacted.

A familiar landscape of endless white shimmered faintly all around us as an orb of light ten times the size of the Camp Entity manifested above us. Sarah yelped in surprise and fell on her butt.

--You carry piece of family. Why?--

Words floated in the air before me. "Sarah, are you seeing this?" I asked.

"See what? I can't see anything because everything is white!" Sarah said in a panicked voice. She was groping at the air looking for something to hold. When I offered my hand, she clung to it like driftwood in the ocean. "Ronan, what in Samwise's hell is going on."

"It appears my attempts to keep some things close to the chest have been foiled by your crystal," I said, turning to address the orb. "Is there some way she can hear us both?" I asked.

--She share not of crystal--

--Await--

The giant orb winked out for a second before returning.

--She suffer pain--

Simple as that, a spear of crystal punched it's way into the back of her head. I screamed in horror, but she was still breathing. Her face contorted into one of agony, her grip on my hand actually managed to break my ring finger. Compared to the myriad other injuries I'd taken so far on the surface, that was minor. My focus was on the woman.

When her screams ended, the crystal retracted into the nothing of the whitespace. There was no evidence she'd ever been hurt by the process.

"What did you just do to her?" I asked, alarmed, as she slumped to the ground.

--Create connection--

--Emulate Implant--

--Convert Dreg Warrior--

"The Entity Cluster asked for permission. It asked for our input!" I shouted at the glowing light.

--Family superseded humanity. Objection overruled--

"What does that even mean!?" I asked. Instead of getting a response, five figures winked into existence all around us.

--Companions are linked. Natives must be...--

"Stop!" I said, putting myself between the confused Wildwoodians' necks and, well, wherever the crystal was stabbing them from. "They haven't agreed to this. They don't even know what we know."

--Natives unaware of Entity Cluster Objective?--

"Yes! That's right. Only the three of us know," I said, gesturing to my friends. Unfortunately, while I was gesturing I left Carl's neck slightly exposed. Another spear of crystal punched into the man's head.

"What the hell!" I screamed at the Entity's orb.

"Ronan, I'm not prone to freaking out but I am kind of blind here and you are shouting awful loud. Care to explain?" Tim asked weakly. I'd planted my palms on their necks, and apparently that was doing the trick to keep them from being assaulted by the Entity.

"Is this thing friendly or not," Danny said, shuffling along the featureless space to take a spot next to me. Samuel checked on the vacant Sarah and Carl.

--Presence is non-hostile--

"If that were the case you wouldn't have stabbed our two friends!" I argued. There was a considerable amount of heat in my voice so I did my best to reel it in. I had a sneaking suspicion that if the Entity wanted us dead, we would have been already.

--Agreement of cooperation provided--

--New Dreg Warriors required appropriate access to designation:Status--

A chilling realization came to me. This Entity probably didn't have a personality based around humans. The Cluster back at the camp had been able to interface with us directly, learning and becoming somewhat human. This was pure analytical logic.

"We won't cooperate with you," I said evenly.

The giant orb didn't turn, but I could feel it's scrutiny over me. It was a similar sensation to crossing into our Crystal's area of influence. That's probably how they sense things.

--Words do not match dishonesty indicators--

--Propose alternative--

"We agreed to assist the Clusters because our goals align. Forcefully conscripting people is not the way to a sustainable relationship. Everything works better if we are cooperating."

--Acknowledge. Allow access to memory matrix?--

"Erm. Yes?" I asked, caught on the backfoot once again.

The new Skill I'd created triggered without my prompting. A veritable floodgate of knowledge and information pushed through my neurons and all I could do was hang on. It was gonna be a bumpy ride.