Jack stepped out of the portal into a decrepit room. The rusted metal supports acting as the room’s skeleton were visible through the crumbling concrete. One wall was completely missing; long since conquered by the ravages of time. As soon as he exited the portal, a notification popped into his mind.

[Congratulations! You have returned to a Logos authorized world. Detecting severe damage to Logos network connection. Repairing connection. 3:00]

Another timer, huh? Well, at least I’m going to be able to use my Skills soon. Mantle probably ran out a while ago. I’m guessing it ended somewhere in that creepy-ass marsh but I didn’t get a notification so I can’t be sure. Hm… I wonder if I was still regenerating Mana and if so, how much? He took stock of his surroundings while pondering the state of his resources and Skills.

The missing wall offered a view of wide city streets filled with rusted vehicles and silence. He took a risk by hanging onto one of the sturdier-looking supports to lean a bit out of the hole in the side of the room. The view offered a better look at the city beyond the small room. He was on the second story of a medium-sized building situated in the middle of several a city street. The buildings themselves were in various stages of ruin with architecture that consisted primarily of blocky shapes and rough edges. Overall, the city appeared less advance than most cities in Fracture but not as primitive as a world like Terras.

He left the opening to search the room. It was bare except for one point of interest. His passing kicked up long-settled dust as he ambled over to what looked like a half-destroyed sink set in a nearby wall.

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened when he turned the knob next to the faucet. He scowled glancing down at multiple shallow injuries covering his body and the hole in his shoulder. Dammit, I suppose hoping for running water was asking for too much. I hope none of these have gotten infected. The blood has started scabbing over but…

He knelt down on his knees and pulled off the torn remnants of the lightweaver robes. They were horribly soiled with white sand, marsh muck, and blood. He discarded them but not before repurposing some of the cloth as a wrap for the Dark Maker’s Key. Underneath the robes, he wore his stained shirt and pants. Once again, he lamented having to abandon his protective vest and trench coat. The trench coat especially had been hard since it had sentimental value.

His shirt was far from clean but it was still much cleaner than the robes. He sat down and set about tearing the shirt into strips to bind the worst of his wounds. Before he finished, the connection to the Logos was successfully restored.

[Your Logos network connection has been successfully repaired. Initializing…]

His body relaxed a little as some of the tension released at the sight of the notification. His resources values returned along with a shimmer along his body signifying his Ethos. A shiver of relief traveled through his body. He had never considered how much the loss of his Ethos affected him unconsciously. Everything had been more stressful without the safety net it offered. Additionally, Ethos enhanced the body’s natural healing speed while it was active; the larger the Ethos, the greater the boost. With a bit of rest and the boost from his Ethos, most of his minor wounds shouldn’t be an issue.

Before he could check his Mana or open his Status, he was overwhelmed by an internal snap, followed by a familiar voice and a series of notifications.

“Hopelessness and ignorance are shackles that slow The Fool’s pace. Yet, once he realizes the true strength of his spirit, he discovers the shackles that hold him are easily broken.”

[Your Status has been updated.]

1 New Skill added from The Fool…

1 New Trait added from The Fool…

[Open Status?]

[Congratulations! You have complete 2 optional assignments from the Purification of Terras World objective.]

Assignment Rewards

-500,000 Eidos

-500,000 Eidos

[2,500,000 Eidos received.]

It was a good thing Jack was sitting down because the shock that came from seeing the last notification caused him to lose control of his mental faculties for a few seconds. When he recovered, he opened his Status.

Name: Jack

Designation: The Fool (D-3)

Available Eidos: 2,500,005

Ethos: 581/610 (2.3/min.)

Mana: 286/400 (7.5/min.)

Vigor: 890/890 (4.2/min.)

[Attributes]

Might

23 (28)

Stamina

31 (61)

Dexterity

9 (13)

Agility

12

Intellect

27

Willpower

16 (50)

Focus

12 (13)

Resonance

-

[Abilities]

View Skills?

View Traits?

View Relic Skills?

He blinked several times, each time his heartbeat came a little faster. He switched his notifications to visual and slapped himself in the face to check if he was dreaming or losing his mind. He closed his eyes so he couldn’t see the notifications anymore and opened them again.

It’s still there… He let his back rest against the wall next to the sink. He was at a loss. He spent another few moments in astonishment until he shook himself out of it. He took a deep, calming breath. Ok, Jack. This was part of the plan, remember? Get objectives from Terras and complete them with the Twilight King’s help. Even if Terras isn’t a full-blown S-rank Remnant Gate, it still has an S-rank World Boss and S-rank threats. This is exactly what I was hoping for.

The objective rewards lined up with the numbers for a low-end B-rank which required millions of Eidos instead of thousands. According to the Relic Hunter guild’s records, objectives worked off of the average threat level of the Remnant Gate in which they were assigned. Since Terras was such an anomaly, he suspected its objective wouldn’t be standard either. He had hoped that they would average between D-rank and S-rank which worked out to B-rank. He had been right and those had only been optional assignments; the main assignment would offer even greater rewards.

That’s assuming I can even get back to Terras. He considered. He picked up the bundle containing the Dark Maker’s Key. This took me to a completely different world so its power must be connected to world transfer or something similar. Although in the marsh and metro station, I used rifts to move from world to world… Maybe that was just because I was closer to Fracture? I don’t know but my gut tells me this thing might be my ticket back. I just need to figure out how to use it without being corrupted or flung into a random dying world. Just hang in there, Al.

He steadied his breathing and focused his hearing. First things first, I need to check if this place is secure. Then, I can look at my new Skill, go crazy with the Eidos, and take a bit of a breather. Once I recover a bit, I can try to figure out how the hell I’m getting back to Terras.

His pervasive hearing carried through the walls. He heard nothing. Like the previous world, the quiet had a life of its own pushing against his senses as though daring him to capable of breaking its oppressive hold. Sighing, he reigned in his hearing and ran a dirty hand through his hair massaging his scalp to combat a growing headache. Despite everything he had been through, his body didn’t feel physically tired— strained, yes— but not tired. Kafkë’s healing had essentially given his body a full night’s sleep but it did nothing to alleviate his mental fatigue. Torture, stress, and paranoia were wringing him dry and nothing but rest and peace of mind would help with that. He ran a thumb over the Ore Father’s Token. It’s funny. I feel so frayed but it hasn’t even occurred to me to run away. Here I am planning to jump right back into the fire when I could say fuck it. I’ve got enough Eidos to hit B-rank, more answers than ever, and an opportunity to disappear. But I don’t want to. I want to go back and see restore Terras. I want to keep my promise. How much of the strength in that resolve is my own and how much is the Willpower boost from this medallion? If I take it off right now, do I give in? Does it even matter?

He decided it didn’t as he let the Relic fall to rest against his bare collarbone. He finished binding his wounds, stuffed the Dark Maker’s Key into his belt, and shakily got to his feet. The Ore Father’s Token was a tool like everything else in his arsenal so he would use it. Whether it was his strength or the quality of his tools that pushed him forward, he would trudge on. He’d scraped by at the bottom of the food chain too long to get picky.

The room had a single exit which led to a partially collapsed hallway. He found a few other run-down rooms like the one he’d come from but the stairway was blocked by rubble. Most of the rooms were empty which made him think that either it had previously been abandoned or any furnishing with had been removed. That was fine with him since it meant he didn’t need to worry about checking the other floors. When he eventually left to search the area, he could jump down to the street with no issue. The only other thing of note was the abnormal height of the ceiling and doorways— a strange feature considering the mundane nature of everything else.

He settled down in the corner of a room with a window to the outside. He didn’t want to be visible to anything outside of the building but wanted a quick escape if something turned out to be in the building with him. With his position secure, he finally turned his attention to his Status.

As much as he wanted to just dump a bunch of Eidos into his designation, he thought better of it. Keeping his Logos messages in visual mode, he navigated to his Traits.

Unchained

Advantages

-The Fool’s Might increases by 25% when resisting physical control and restraints.

-The Fool’s Willpower increases 25% when resisting mental control and restraints.

-The Fool gains resistance to mental and physical fatigue.

Huh… I don’t really feel like I’m resistant to mental fatigue. I guess its effects aren’t retroactive then. Fantastic… The other effects are a bit situational but I’ll take it. Anything that helps prevent people from screwing with my head is a welcome addition. He thought of how Ciel and Bohum had violated his mind and rendered him powerless. A powerful surge of anger boiled up inside him, howling for payback. He took a calming breath. They’ll get theirs but it will have to wait. Next up is Skills.

[Unassigned Wildcard Skills]

Awaken (The Fool Skill)

The user unleashes the true strength of his dormant spirit. While this state, he receives a bonus to his physical attributes and resistance to physical attacks but emotion and confusion effects are amplified by 50%.

Attribute Bonus: 30%

Physical Resistance: 15%

Range: Personal

Cost: 120 Vigor

Duration: 42 seconds

Assign Awaken to a Wildcard Slot? Y/N

Soul Cradle (The Fool Skill)

The user may cradle the soul of a recently deceased creature within his body. When harboring at least one soul, the user may choose to Summon or Mantle a harbored soul.

Summon calls the soul forth as a phantom that aids the user to the best of their capabilities. Summoned souls remain until dismissed, destroyed, or Summon ends. If destroyed, souls are permanently lost. The strength of the summoned soul is dependent on the rank of the user.

Mantle cloaks the user in the soul’s essence causing the user to be perceived as the mantled soul. Mantle does not grant the user any of the soul’s former capabilities or change the user’s physical appearance or dimensions.

Souls: 1/2

Range: Touch

Summon Cost: 100 Mana

Summon Duration: 10 minutes

Mantle Cost: 30 Mana

Mantle Duration: 30 minutes

Assign Soul Cradle to a Wildcard Slot? Y/N

[Warning: You have no free Wildcard Slots available: You must remove one of your slotted Skills before assigning any more Skills.]

Jack leaned back as he assessed his newest Skill; the rough concrete hardly bothered his bare skin. The Skill’s name hinted that it had been unlocked because of whatever Drake did. The words played back in his head though one phrase caught his attention.

‘Awaken, eternal soldier’ He chuckled at fate’s irony as he recalled a thought he had had after receiving the Soul Cradle Skill. Who knew I was the super-soldier all along?

He glanced at the Blue Heart and whispered, “Did you know, Blue?”

It didn’t answer and he wondered about the state of his sanity. Turning his attention back to his Skills, he looked closer. As a martial Skill, Awaken had a lot going for it. A thirty percent boost to all physical attributes offered an impressive amount of scaling. It was expensive but Jack had plenty of Vigor to spare. However, the drawback set off some alarm bells. Fear and anger were very common staples in his life and Jack knew that when the Logos said effects, it meant anything from natural or supernatural sources including his own ego. In short, the Skill might amplify his own emotions to a dangerous degree on top of making him more susceptible to certain mental attacks.

If I’m not careful, this could do more harm than good. He exhaled a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. Still, for forty-two seconds I’m getting a massive boost. Used effectively, this is a game-changer that’ll let me punch above my weight class. He smiled in anticipation though something occurred to him. Now that I think about it, forty-two seconds is a really odd duration. Either it’s random as hell or…

He opened his designation screen and dropped three thousand Eidos into The Fool. When the level-up notification appeared, he reviewed it then checked Awaken’s duration again.

[Congratulations, The Fool has leveled up!]

+2 Stamina due to level-up to Level 4 of D-rank…

+2 Intellect due to level-up to Level 4 of D-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 4 of D-rank…

Awaken has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 4 of D-rank…

As he suspected, the duration for Awaken went up by one second though its Vigor cost was unchanged. The duration increase likely meant that the Skill had a base duration of thirty seconds which had been improved by his levels. Notably, nothing changed about Soul Cradle which was a bit disappointing. He hoped the Skill would get some kind of an upgrade once he ranked-up. I’m curious how Wildcard Skills are treated when I rank-up. I only had Magician’s Manipulation when I hit D-rank. Do I have to choose which one I upgrade or do they all get an upgrade?

Normally, an individual had to choose one of their available Skills to upgrade during a rank-up. Normal level-ups only improved things like range and duration if they improved anything at all. Since Magician’s Manipulation had been his only Skill when ranking-up to D-rank, he had gained the ability to control the light element and the dark element. He had no idea whether or not The Fool would operate like other designations concerning Skill upgrades especially given how distinctly abnormal it was.

Well, there’s nothing stopping me from finding out. He took a deep breath and dumped forty-nine thousand Eidos into his designation.

[Congratulations, The Fool has leveled up!]

+6 Stamina due to level-up to Level 10 of D-rank…

+6 Intellect due to level-up to Level 10 of D-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 10 of D-rank…

Awaken has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 10 of D-rank…

[The Fool designation is able to advance to C-rank. Would you like to rank up? Y/N]

He looked around again, more out of paranoia than anything. The rank-up would be unpleasant especially in his current state. He rubbed his bare arms to ward off a sudden case of goosebumps; whether they were from the slight chill in the air or his anticipation, he couldn’t be sure. After settling into a more comfortable position. he touched Y in the prompt.

This time, the bout of vertigo hit him hard. He stifled a groan as the room began to spin. He would have collapsed onto the floor had he not been sitting already. The weakness from the rank-up made it hard to keep his eyes open and he sagged under his own weight. He fought the Logos Sickness as best he could but in the end, he blacked out.

He snapped back into consciousness with a start when the rank-up notification appeared. The sensation was akin to falling asleep in the middle of doing something. He glanced at his Mana and saw that just under a minute had passed. It wasn’t long but the moment of temporary vulnerability unnerved him.

[Congratulations, The Fool has advanced to C-rank!]

+3 to all Attributes due to advancement to C-rank…

Awaken has been upgraded due to advancement to C-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has available upgrades due to advancement to C-rank. Please choose an upgrade…

Soul Cradle has been upgraded due to advancement to C-rank…

Wildcard Slots has been upgraded due to advancement to C-rank…

[One of your Skills has more than one available upgrade. You must choose one before allocating any more Eidos to this designation. Open upgrade selection menu? Y/N]

He resisted the urge to get to his feet and start pacing. He needed to give his body as much time to rest as possible. Eager to see the chooses for Magician’s Manipulation, he accepted the prompt.

[Skill Upgrade Selection]

Magician’s Manipulation

Elemental Specialization: The Fool has gains improved capability with one element of his choice. Specialization halves the Mana cost and significantly increases the user’s control and potency with the selected element. Choose one of the following elements:

-Air

-Fire

-Earth

-Water

-Light

-Dark

Jack adjusted his position so that he sat cross-legged on the floor and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. This choice would take some consideration. That’s one hell of an upgrade. Halving the Mana cost alone would be fantastic but getting boost in capability is bound to be good too.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. He wished he could consult with Alindal at that moment. Unlike Jack who had taken a more general approach to sigilcraft, Alindal had delved more into the classical elemental theory of the Logos; being a Sorcerer gave him plenty of motivation for doing so. The elf’s opinion would go a long way toward helping in his selection.

Wait a minute. He thought, facepalming at his own idiocy. I can’t believe I haven’t tried this yet.

He reached for the Blue Heart and focused on his link with Alindal remembering the brief flash he saw during his meeting with the Earth Mother. Mentally submerging his will in the connection, he reached for his friend’s signature. The familiar presence of his friend’s being danced at the edges of his consciousness yet he couldn’t make contact. He could tell Alindal was alive as Kafkë had said but he couldn’t get a definitive read on the elf. He also couldn’t sense the option to open Alindal’s Status or transfer Eidos to or from him. Aside from Alindal being alive, the only thing Jack could sense definitively was the incredible amount of distance between them.

Those functions must have a limit on distance or maybe it’s because I’m in an entirely different world than him. Damn… I hoped I might be able to communicate in some way with him. Guess, I’m on my own.

He entertained the notion of holding off on his choice until he saw Alindal again but quickly discarded it. He had no idea what he would have to deal with before he got back. However, the Logos had called the world he was in a “Logos authorized world” which he took to mean that it was an active Remnant Gate. He doubted he would make it out of his current situation without any conflict.

With that in mind, he mulled over his limited knowledge of classical elemental theory. At present, he lacked a movement Skill or anything that would lockdown his opponents. Both Earth and Air could provide either of those functions so he narrowed his choice down to the two elements. The room was silent except for his breathing for nearly ten minutes as he agonized over his choice. Finally, he chose Air.

Once the selection was made, he turned his attention to his other Skills ignoring the burning desire to experiment with Magician’s Manipulation.

[Skills]

Wildcard Slots (The Fool Skill)

The user will gain access to many different skills during his journey. He may fill these slots with those skills.

Slotted Skills: 1/2

Unassigned Skills: 2

Magician’s Manipulation (Slot 1)

Range: 24.5 meters

Cost: 10 Mana per second (5 for Air)

Duration: Sustained

…

[Unassigned Wildcard Skills]

Awaken (The Fool Skill)

The user unleashes the true strength of his dormant spirit. While this state, he receives a bonus to his physical attributes and resistance to physical attacks but emotion and confusion effects are amplified by 50%.

Attribute Bonus: 35%

Physical Resistance: 20%

Range: Personal

Cost: 120 Vigor

Duration: 50 seconds

Assign Awaken to a Wildcard Slot? Y/N

Soul Cradle (The Fool Skill)

The user may cradle the soul of a recently deceased creature within his body. When harboring at least one soul, the user may choose to Summon or Mantle a harbored soul.

Summon calls the soul forth as a phantom that aids the user to the best of their capabilities. Summoned souls remain until dismissed, destroyed, Summon ends. If destroyed, souls are permanently lost. The strength of the summoned soul is dependent on the rank of the user.

Mantle cloaks the user in the soul’s essence causing the user to be perceived as the mantled soul. Mantle does not grant the user any of the soul’s former capabilities or change the user’s physical appearance or dimensions.

Souls: 1/3

Range: Touch

Summon Cost: 100 Mana

Summon Duration: 20 minutes

Mantle Cost: 30 Mana

Mantle Duration: 60 minutes

Assign Soul Cradle to a Wildcard Slot? Y/N

[You have one free Wildcard Slots available.]

So, Awaken gained five percent on the resistance and the attribute bonus which means it’ll grant fifty percent to all my physical attributes and forty percent physical resistance assuming the increase remains static for each rank-up. That’s insane… He shook his head in amazement. The improvements to Soul Cradle weren’t anything to scoff at either. An extra slot on Summon and the duration on both applications doubled… Looks like all of my Wildcard Skills scale automatically with level and rank; I don’t need to pick one to advance. I guess that makes sense. I have to meet weird requirements to even get my Skills and even then, if I don’t have enough Wildcard Slots to use what I have, then I have to pick and choose. For the Skills to really be comparable to each other, they all have to scale. Otherwise, the ones that do will easily outclass the others.

He nodded to himself, satisfied with the results of his rank-up and his conclusions about The Fool’s Skill progression. He stretched a bit and rubbed his arms again. Damn, why is it so cold? He checked the floor again for anything suspicious but found nothing, same as before. The rooms remained empty and the streets were still silent as death. I could really use a clean pair of pants and a warm shirt.

He lamented the loss of his trench coat for the umpteenth time as he sat back down in his previous spot. The aches in his body had begun to fade thanks to the enhanced healing of his Ethos. He didn’t want to linger for too much longer so he had to make a few decisions. After some brief consideration, he allocated several hundred thousand Eidos to reach the pinnacle of C-rank.

[Congratulations, The Fool has leveled up!]

+15 Stamina due to level-up to Level 10 of C-rank…

+15 Intellect due to level-up to Level 10 of C-rank…

Magician’s Manipulation has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 10 of C-rank…

Awaken has been upgraded due to level-up to Level 10 of C-rank…

The Fool designation has reached the end of C-rank. Assigning rank-up Objective…

[Congratulations! You have unlocked an objective.]

Objective: B-rank Advancement (The Fool)

Unlock Condition: Reach level 10 of C-rank with The Fool.

Assignment: Defeat an Area Boss of B-rank or higher. 0/1

Optional Assignment: Obtain four Wildcard Skills before advancing to B-rank. 3/4

His aches faded even further and his thoughts came quicker. The headache which had been pestering him in the background abated under the enhanced capability of his mind and body bestowed by the Logos. Jack glanced at his Status and grinned like a madman.

Name: Jack

Designation: The Fool (C-10)

Available Eidos: 1,898,005

Ethos: 870/870 (4/min.)

Mana: 690/690 (7.9/min.)

Vigor: 1180/1180 (4.6/min.)

[Attributes]

Might

26 (31)

Stamina

57 (87)

Dexterity

12 (16)

Agility

15

Intellect

53

Willpower

19 (53)

Focus

15 (16)

Resonance

-

[Abilities]

View Skills?

View Traits?

View Relic Skills?

He was extremely satisfied with the way his Status was shaping up. To fill out his weaknesses, he would need Relics that boosted his Might and Agility more than anything; doing so would give him a very well-rounded Attribute spread. He briefly glanced at his advancement objective. He didn’t think he would have any problems fulfilling the optional assignment and the primary assignment might handle itself once he got back to Terras.

The more important matter was whether or not he should fill the Blue Heart with Logos. He suspected doing so would advance it to the next phase of its maturation which could have all kinds of benefits besides the attribute bonus it would probably grant. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been long since he’d awakened the Blue Heart and the experience hadn’t been pleasant in the slightest. It was entirely possible advancing the Blue Heart would render him vulnerable for hours like awakening it had. On the flip side, it was also possible that the unpleasant nature of the awakening wouldn’t repeat itself.

He thought about it for all of a minute before deciding to wait. He wasn’t going to push his luck any further than he already had. All the same, he glanced at the Relic Creation option in his World Core Status. It was an incredibly tantalizing option especially since he had more than enough Eidos to convert.

As he went to select the option, an indescribable sense of foreboding settled over his mind. He exhaled and watched the breath frost in the air.

Jack dove forward, driven by pure instinct. He landed much better than expected, performing a tight shoulder roll that carried him partway across the room. He rolled onto his feet and glanced at the spot where he had been.

A long arm made of shifting wisps of darkness hung from the ceiling above the spot. Before his eyes, another arm emerged, followed by an oblong head, and a mass of curling shadow which floated several feet above the ground. The head stared at him while the arms dangled from the central body, swinging back and forth like ghastly pendulums. Its head tilted to the side, fully perpendicular to its arms. The edges of its long appendages left trails of frost where they passed along the floor.

Jack kept his eyes on the creature as he slowly backed away from it. Despite it being directly in front of him, he couldn’t anything from it. The creature was completely silent. With every step he took, it drifted slightly closer to him. The quiet specter sent shivers down his spine with its lack of presence and unnatural movements. Were it not for his instincts crying out, he might’ve believed it was some kind of soundless illusion.

Suddenly, the Blue Heart sent a warning to his mind and the hairs on the back of Jack’s neck stood on end. He ducked low just as a cold sensation passed over his head and ran for the window. He didn’t bother glancing back at whatever had attacked him. In one smooth motion, he swung out of the window and into the street below.