There are incredible things people can do by infusing their energy into them, Majority of these incredible things are based on Chaos theory providing the medium to do so.

Rak infused a stone and can exert some control over it, all of this is considered under Rak’s control and not the system, as the system created or used an existing entity called energy and then using this energy it allows people to perform miraculous things.

Until now Rak has never seen or been able to do anything wonderous within Chaos theory, ignoring things like buildings being commissioned and building themselves, namely Rak’s brewery.

The closest has been Rak’s new experience with this alchemically enhanced stone. When it began moving it was like learning to walk for the first time and when it hovered slightly above his palms he felt the sensation that a part of him was flying, a very esoteric feeling.

But all these things have amped Rak’s expectation for not only the two skill books in his possession but also the future abilities, especially after seeing the wall art in the Clever dust studio.

Opening the second book it is named Novice Manipulator: basic energy shield. The image depicts an item, not too unsimilar to one of the stones but clearly more valuable. The stone is shown to be filled to the brim with energy and it floats in front of the Manipulator.

In the next frame the energy within the energy infused object is shown to expand before finally forming a thin shield twice the size of a person. To show the abilities use a spear is shown to strike the shield only to be rebuffed and the energy shield has no discernable damage done to it.

The last page shows three other shields, all very similar only they are using various elements, one is clearly fire, one is more transparent and a light yellow color. the final one is a corroded metal like red.

Having red the book Rak follows the actions in the book. Rak who could only slightly make a stone hover now makes a stone shoot two meters ahead and then the energy expands into a transparent film, half the size like the shield in the book but still considered successfully cast.

“I can’t believe it.”

Unlike the small wiggles or the light hovering casting the basic energy shield has caused Rak to expand nearly half his energy reserves, giving him the feeling of loss without know what he lost.

“I can even move it.”

The small stone pebble acts as a core and when Rak makes it more forward, backwards or to either sides, so does the shield follow. But like a bicycle without a break Rak doesn’t know how to stop the expenditure of energy and is eventually drained completely, making the shield disperse and the stone fall to the ground.

This ability gives one the obvious sense of being defensive. The concept of the ability however is only form a shape and retain that shape. If this shape is instead like a pointed spike or a sharp edge, it can be used offensively. To do this, one needs specialized items that create a different static form than of the shield or the more advanced method, infusing an element and directly influencing the form yourself.

As this is a basic energy shield, it is very limited in its flexibility and wanting to alter it will most likely be very costly for now. It would be better to learn offensive abilities that don’t require so much workaround.

Before looking at the abilities hard numbers, it might be good to compare them to Url and Alley’s items with static ability.

Url’s spare spear

Damage

15

23

Attack speed

1

1

Durability

25

22

Url’s hunting thrust

Cooldown

10s

Energy

5

Damage

115%

“Url’s hunting thrust is a simple maneuver that has a piercing effect and is adequate to tackle low level creatures.”

Alley’s beginners bow of training.

Damage

8

13

Attack speed

1.6

1.6

Durability

12

12

Steady hand

Cooldown

60s

Duration

20s

Energy

15e

“Steady hand is an ability all hunters rely on, despite the name’s suggestion it doesn’t steady the hand but the mind, a cool refreshing feeling washes over the person using it.”

First thing to note is that these two are physical weapons and their abilities depend on the weapon’s and user’s attributes to deal their damage. Alley’s bow’s |Steady hand| is not an offensive ability but a utility one but can see its energy cost and cooldown is higher.

Basic energy shield [Novice]

Cooldown

-

Duration

-

Energy

45e

Damage

2

“Basic energy shield expends large upfront energy cost to create a static shield with a single core. The shield can be moved at the expensive of energy. If the shield is impacted in anyway, its own energy disperses and its radius or width will be lowered.”

As one of Manipulators very basic skills it has no cooldown, no set duration and only a basic energy cost set to the minimum amount possible. Rak used a very small stone that can only very small amounts of energy and barely met the requirement to cast the spell. With larger containers for energy, the energy cost will similarly increase.

This ability is also why Manipulators are often hired to protect people with lacking combat experience, mainly those that gather materials in places like the Mystic forest. These people often go in groups and it would be more expensive to hire multiple people when they can hire an experience Manipulator to create a protective shield for all of them.

The shields damage in nearly irrelevant in its current shape but if a dedicated Manipulator trained his ability he could use it to smash things similar to a warriors shield smash. At that point it would depend on various factors, like its speed, whether its block or where it hits a person but that is true for most abilities.

Abilities have hidden ways to amplify the damage dealt. Like a person with certain affinity or perhaps someone that has an alchemist support job. Adding the affinity into the spell can be a passive ability or an ability unto itself. The alchemist might create a ‘core’ for the ability to expand the use of the ability, damage being one such feature.

Rak has taken to closing his eyes and visually imagining the basic energy circulation ability. Even though it is passively active, Rak can also push it that extra step.

Base energy increased by 3

As Rak continues to recover the spent energy, these messages come at interval of few seconds. Soon the tide stops and it only occurs every minute. It takes Rak approximately five minutes to fully recover, during that time he gained thirty three base energy in the first two minutes and then additional sixteen in the later three minutes.

Rak ignores the log notifications and he has not set up any sort of general user interface for his energy values. The energy regeneration never increased, which is not unsurprising as high energy regeneration is what makes a Manipulator powerful.

“Novice Manipulator: Basic energy projectile.”

This last ability is low on energy cost but can be considered expensive in use. In the case of |Basic energy shield| the ‘cores’ can often be reused but |Basic energy projectile| will render the ‘cores’ damaged. The material might be recycled but that’s assuming it can even be retrieved.

The ability is far simpler than any of Rak’s other abilities, or at least he feels to be simple in comparison. Rak is reusing the stone he used for the shield and infused it with his energy once again.

Rak lifts up his open palm and the little stone lets out a small transparent film around itself, very similar to the shield, only its hue is far brighter. The little stone has turned into a small lightbulb, only it doesn’t illuminate further then a few centimeters, making it look like an eye in the night rather than a source of light.

The stone suddenly shoots out towards the end of the room, where a few targets are set up. The stone hits a target at the very edge and lets out a sound similar to a pebble falling into a pool of water. Moment later the little stone falls to the ground harmlessly. This training yard is clearly attempting to save on training materials by softening the impact or projectiles.

“Looks like this needs a bit of practice.”

Chaos theory assists people in most things but only to a degree. To understand this we can take Rak’s cast of |Basic energy projectile|, he had aimed at one of the targets and did indeed hit, it wasn’t exactly where he wanted but relatively close.

Rak will probably hit a target that’s thirty meters away, eight out of ten times, if it's of such a large size. Assuming the target isn’t actively dodding or moving, which may lower to about five out of ten hits.

This means that Chaos theory will correct up to the minimum of fifty percent for an moving target and eighty percent for a stationary one. Using Chaos theory assistance, the average person can become a somewhat proficient fighter even if they have no training or skill.

“Hmm.”

Throwing these stone stones out take a surprisingly small amount of effort, Rak is already on his twentieth stone and only now is he feeling like half his energy is gone. If Rak checks on his status he’d see that he’s only used forty percent of his total energy reserves.

Basic energy projectile[Novice]

Cooldown

-

Duration

-

Energy

5e

Damage

11x(e/2)

“Basic energy shot creates a kinetic projectiles around a core and shoots it out with force dependant on user’s input.”

Like |Basic energy shield|, |Basic energy projectile| has no set cooldown or duration and is only dependant on a person’s proficients with the ability. A veteran might shoot multiple at once but he’ll have to recast the ability to shoot a second volley, limited only by the time it takes to retrieve more cores, assuming they are already infused with energy.

Basic energy projectile proficiency increased by 1

Basic energy projectile proficiency increased by 1

Basic energy projectile proficiency increased by 1

Continuously the proficiency of the ability increased and reached up to twelve points before Rak was out of energy again.

“With this I should be able to easily kill those vermins and things, right?”

The damage of the ability is dependant on the targets defences, the position of the hit, Rak’s energy input and Rak’s buffs or equipment. In addition the core itself plays a large role in increasing the energy contained. Meaning the better the core, the more energy can be inserted for an additional damage.

Assuming the core is of the lowest quality and can only take five energy the damage will be five energy divided by two and then multiplied by the base damage. The total being twenty seven point five.

The proficiency is hidden but can be revealed through advanced general user interface settings. Majority of people only need to know that their ability is growing, this includes Rak.

“Should I go check out the last place?”

After experiencing the dependency on cores Rak was seriously contemplating taking up something like alchemy. This isn’t rare for Manipulators to be alchemist with these exact thoughts, but Rak is ignoring that he can just buy the cores as a wealthy merchant.

These cores are not exactly expensive, but any archer will tell you that cost of arrows and bow strings will begin to sting. For the absolute basic cores, no job is needed but without a job to assist with making cores the Chaos theory correction system won’t be as generous.

The day is still early and Rak doesn’t exactly have any reason to randomly train all day, feeling a bit restless Rak walks to the room Holden went into and knocks on the door.

“Come in, its unlocked”

“I’ve learned the three abilities.”

“Good, good.”

“Is there anything I should be doing as a Manipulator?”

Most of Chaos theory is still a bit of a mystery and everyone has been slowly exploring, trying to find reasons why they are here or just randomly busying themselves.

“At the novice level your not of much use.”

“Oh?”

“When you can summon five energy shields without feeling too pressure I can teach you some tricks and put you up for some missions. Right now we are an unranked studio so we don’t get too many contracts.”

“That’s all?”

“You can go explore the outer rim of the mystic forest, maybe hunt some creatures of collect materials. You can also just train here in the studio, if you have any questions I can always guide you.”

Understanding the situation Rak nodded, left the room and began thinking.

“Seems I really am just a novice.”

Rak didn’t remain in the Clever dust studios to train and instead decided to check out the unranked merchant organization that City offices pointed him towards. According to what Rak read, merchant archetype job is about persuasion and some system benefits.

In actuality, a merchant and any archetype similar to it are almost entirely based around physical gestures and voice manipulation. The gestures influence people in certain ways while the voice is more direct and can almost be considered an attack.

A few high level leaders of cities have originated from merchant archetype jobs due to exactly this reason. Most leaders do possess some ability to alter people's perception of them. A Manipulator might cause the area around him to become volatile and force people to feel a ‘pressure’.

The leaders that practice internal energy methods might cause their smell to induce fear or admiration in others. Of course this isn’t limited to leaders of cities and not limited to affect humanoids either.

Due to the distance Rak is forced to either pay for a driver to move into towards the unranked merchant organization or go get his carriage and horses out of storage. Most cost of storing something is in the initial pay. Paying for one day storage ten times can’t be compared to paying for ten day storage once.

“Hello.”

“Hi, where do you need to go?”

“These here are the coordinates how much will it cost?”

Rak pushed his open palm forward and the carriage driver immediately looked at them, stared into space of about a second before answering.

“Two silvers approximately.”

“That’s still not bad, and I won't have to spend an hour walking back to the parking lot.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Immediately a contract came up that stated the cost per minute which Rak accepted without thought. This contract might have been abusive but as a veteran carriage driver the man held some principals. Two silvers for a half hour ride is already pretty good. Of course it is only half an hour because the man knows to take the less busy streets, avoiding unnecessary traffic.

On arrival Rak hands over two silver and twenty coppers.

“Thank you, do you usually work in these parts of town?”

“Most, yes.”

“Is there a way I can contact you if I need ride?”

“Of course, its fifteen silver for my Trove calvary transmitter, it can send requests and coordinates.”

For some reason Chaos theory has made long distance communication difficult, this is to the extent that two cities cannot efficiently share news. They have to send comprehensive letters or other methods to record information. This can take well over a week to go from one city to another.

“Here.”

Being straightforward person and used to spending money wantonly Rak immediately purchased this transmitter. The carriage driver enthusiastically handed Rak a small square paper like item just large enough to cover Rak’s palm.

After saying their goodbyes Rak looked that the building in front of him. Instead of the usual entrance and a stairway to the higher floors the first floor is a store.

“I guess it makes sense a merchant organization would have a store.”

The store itself already has people walking in and out of it frequently, whether it is selling something is another matter entirely. Entering the store Rak is met with a pleasant smell and soothing subtle music that one almost doesn’t notice.

“This place isn’t half bad.”

There are a lot of stores in Trove city but most them aren’t considered a merchant organization. This store*s popularity compared to the footraffic being only decent is an indicator of their profession. What Rak doesn’t know is that this store’s owner is a trader, not a merchant.

Traders are more likely to dedicate themselves to a single or multiple locations and build up reputation over time. Merchant are more likely to buy large quantities of one or two local specialties and sell them in other cities. It's hard to say which is more profitable as stores can be opened in many cities and merchants can increase the capacity trade in.

In Rak’s case he is only considered a businessman, as he only sells wholesale and has no store to speak of. His brewery doesn’t even have a stable resource production and buys everything from an external source, and his transportation is also managed through external sources, losing him quite a bit over time.

Inside the store are various items, some of which Rak can identify. Easiest things to identify are things like various weapons and armours. There are also familiar alchemical stones, going for a few copper each, surprising Rak.

“They are this cheap?”

The production cost one stone is negligible to the transportation cost as these are stones found anywhere and only enhanced by an alchemist, and usually by a novice training their craft. But this being a store in a decent neighbourhood they only sell them in packs of hundred, priced at two silvers a pack, meaning two copper a piece.

Rak conveniently pointed at two of the packs and they vanish into the stores temporary space for late purchase.

“So it really works like that.”

Instructions on how to shop were at the entrance and were indeed a feature Chaos theory allow store owners to implement.

Two Hundred stone pieces are not enough to train in |Basic energy projectile| but they are plenty to train in the signature |Basic energy shield| for quite some time.

“I need to visit these sorts of stores more often, there is a lot of interesting things in here.”

By randomly browsing Rak selected three sets of clothing with actual attributes that give percentage increase in energy, these are similarly cheap products made by budding tailor archetype jobs.

From the looks of things this store has items from most jobs and not much else, but is indeed the largest market. There are some high end products around, hidden between the normal items, as if they were set as little treasures.

One has to take into account that this shop is a registered unranked merchant organization and therefore has to abide by some Chaos theory regulations. Just like the Clever dust studios, and as a Chaos theory organization, Holden, its registered owner, has some degree of responsibility to give out the Manipulator advancement quest, given that they have the qualifications.

It can be called a responsibility, and pretty easy to deal with at that but it can also be considered a beneficial tool. Holden’s small studio is how he makes a very smooth living by collecting interested Manipulators he guides, just as he did with Rak. Almost like planting self sufficient plants and slowly harvesting fruits in great leisure.

Alley is actually one of few individuals in Alp town that could have registered her personal hunting lodge as an unranked organization. If she did she could have directly given Rak an advancement quest once he met the requirements. Sadly, Alley’s plans are and have always been far away from Alp town.

“Is that all?”

At some point Rak wandered to a lively store employee who solely takes care of finalizing all sales. The other two employees have a sharp eye for those individuals confused and in clear search of something, clearly they marked as someone just curiously browsing. That and Rak made no attempt to get their attention. Sometimes it is better to leave people to their own device than push ‘help’ on them.

“Yes. That’s all. Also I was wondering if I could meet the store owner of the Uprising trader group?”

“Are you Trader?”

“No, but I'm interested in perhaps becoming one.”

“Then I’ll have someone guide you.”

Rak’s funds have been steadily dropping for a while now, leaving him with only a few measly gold coins to his name. Of course this can still be considered a towering sum to many. Later people will learn to generate wealth and they too will consider a few golds to be small number of coins.

After stowing the items in his inventory Rak notices that the stones have taken up a single slot and numbered up to two hundred out a possible one thousand.

“I should get another eight hundred before I leave.”

It is common for people stock up on consumables in the hundred and thousands, especially when going into places like Trove cities Mystic forest.

“Leader Gou has already been informed of your visit.”

Due to the store being a registered Chaos theory organization, Rak’s request automatically alerted Gou Jovel, the store’s owner and the only advanced Trader the merchant organization has. Just like when Rak’s questions alerted Holden, the advanced Manipulator in the Clever dust studios.

“Just take a seat and someone will alert you when he’s ready.”

“Thank you.”

Once Rak was left alone to wait he immediately summoned a shield to kill time. The shield itself very slowly drains energy but the real problem is that it stops the passive regeneration. Later when the abilities proficiency is high enough, Rak will be able to rid himself of the small energy drain and retain his ability to recover energy while maintaining the basic energy shield.

“It’s hard to believe I can do this.”

The shield feels like an extension of his body but the feeling is still foreign causing an imbalance when attempting to do elaborate or ‘smooth’ actions. Somewhat like the difference between being able to solve a math problem slowly by using a formula and instinctively knowing the answer with a glance.

Basic energy shield proficiency increased by 1

Base energy increases by 1

The alerts occasional pop up, confirming that Rak is progressing in his abilities. The prompt of gaining one base energy has occurred a few times with a long interval between them. This one energy increase is due to the general expenditure and recovery of energy, something like a hidden passive ability very similar to |Basic energy circulation| is capable of only to a lesser extent.

A few minutes pass and Rak is still locked into maneuvering his shield, still curious of this new toy when he’s called into meet with Gou Jovel, leader and owner of the Uprising trader merchant group.

“Ah. Just sit down.”

Despite being ‘ready’ to meet with Rak, Gou is still working, overlooking some paperwork and jotting things down constantly. A full minutes passes before he looks up again with an apologetic gaze. Rak can’t help but admire the man.

What Rak doesn’t know is that this look of being extremely busy is a tactic Gou uses on new arrivals like Rak to give them exactly the expression is giving. At its core, a Trader is about a good impression and often that means putting up an act.

“Sorry to bother you at such a busy time mister Gou.”

“No, no forget it. Who isn’t busy?”

Rak’s impression is further amplified seeing Gou’s accommodating words.

“So you are interested in being a Trader?”

“Merchant or Trader, both are interesting.”

“Of course. A merchants are our brothers and are formidable.”

Gou’s expression almost fell when he heard the words ‘merchant’ but being as experienced as he is he rolled with it. Merchants and Traders styles are different but they are often compared, leaving behind a competitive atmosphere. No Trader would admit that Merchant are more profitable and likewise no Merchant would acknowledge Traders being superior.

“Of course Merchant have to constantly travel, even if they get some gains they can’t really avoid all that downtime while travelling.”

“Oh?”

Being the picture of innocence Rak only nods his head, not knowing how to continue.

“We Traders build a strong foundation. Like a great mountain.”

“Right.”

“Not to mention Traders have a good reputation in the community, we provide people with all the necessities of life in a comfortable environment.”

At this point Rak’s expression turns from attentive to confusion. Noticing this Gou immediately picks up on it and changes the subject.

“Are you looking for work? You want to join the Uprising traders family? Of course we have strict requirements for our members but we are willing to polish the rough diamonds.”

Gou speaks fast but also with clarity and a harm, but even so Rak feels a bit out of sorts and is still unsure how to respond outside of just being very forward.

“I am not looking for work. But I am a businessman and I’m think about expanding my productions and possibly creating a transportation business. I thought becoming a Trader or Merchant might help me in this.”

At this point Gou dispelled any Trader and merchant rivalries.

“Hoh. Expanding production?”

“Yes. I already have a small brewery operation and I am supplying nearby villages and towns but transporting into the city will be a challenge.”

“That’s right. This a common problem Merchant have, tax on products when arriving into cities are not to be ignored. One of their many flaws,”

Again Gou manages to drag Merchants through the mud as if it is a natural instinct. This tendency is not as aggressive amongst others but Gou has a rivalry with one of his family member who happens to be a Merchant.

Rak continued to lay out some of his rough plans and some ideas. He was in no way afraid that this man would steal his ideas. The world is large and there will always be competition, often rival companies didn’t even need to make cheaper and better products to win the larger market share.

“You have some interesting ideas. This can’t be said to be a Trader or a Merchant.”

Gou taps his finger on the table in thought. Rak holds up a cup of mild tea and sips, not afraid to relax a bit.

“Are you sure you won’t join my Uprising Traders? I can give you division to develop some of your plans.”

This offer might seem hard to reject. Rak has some start up income and stone roots in Alp town but that can’t compare to a group that has multiple stores in various cities. Rak´s monthly income can’t compare to their daily revenue.

“I’m not unwilling to work in cooperation but I relish my freedom. I doubt you’d be happy if I one day decided to pursue another project, leaving you and your men to pick the slack.”

Gou digests Rak´s words before answering.

“I can’t say I’d be willing to give you that amount of freedom. A business isn’t a casual affair to me.”

“We really have fundamentally different views on business. To me it's a challenge sure, but not a marathon.”

Rak’s young looks didn’t stop him from having a mature atmosphere as he spoke out his thoughts. Gou picked up on Rak’s natural and relaxed motions and couldn’t help but praise him in his mind.

“A challenge.”

Gou felt melancholy think about his past. Those days he also didn’t intend to busy himself like this but he certainly wasn’t afraid of the work. Rak really managed to spark a bit of his old adventurous spirit.

Gou and his cousin are born to a business family but they both decided to set out to make it on their own rather than take a position in the family business. They still can’t compare to their family foundations but they certainly haven’t made fools out of themselves.

“Would you like to join me on a trip? You said you still intended to travel to expand your views. It has been a long time since I last visited my family, how about you join me? I can introduce you to some tier two business related jobs and variants we have in the family.”

This time around Rak couldn’t reject the favour, he didn’t care if Gou was trying to rope him in or whatever his intentions are. After the two spoke some more Rak began feeling a bit excited, especially after learning that his family stayed in mid tier empire.

The further you goes west, away from the Endless mountain range and towards the turmoulus impassable sea, villages, towns and cities become larger in scope. The lands near the Endless mountain range can be said to be humanities tree tops, the frontier, while on the other end are the firm roots.

“I can leave at any moment, I’d just have to send some letters to the employees and friends in Alp town.”

“Don’t worry, I still have to make arrangements on my side.”

Rak nodded at Gou’s words. Indeed a larger company might suffer it its leader suddenly up and left without proper people in managing positions.

Gou and Rak said their goodbyes for now, in a two days they would begin travelling the distance of over ten cities, further than even the vagrant had travelled. Only Rak would travel in relative luxury in comparison.

The villages, towns and cities hold similar pattern as before but there are also natural dangerous areas that originate from mysterious backgrounds. These areas are similar to the city’s strange zones like Trove’s Mystic forest or Hampter’s underground caverns. Most of these areas are their own separate space and time doesn't flow at the same rate.

With no other plans for now, Rak visited the library over the next two days and randomly searched for things. Aside from that Rak tried to find out what sorts of wants the city people wanted and mainly focused on those that would venture into the Mystic forest.

Even the day they began their journey, Rak didn’t set a foot into the Mystic forest. It was a curious thing but he also understood he wouldn’t get much. Of course an experienced adventurer would tell him just the experience of exploring the outer rims of the forest would bea great foundation for the future.

“It will take us two months to travel with some stops along the way.”

Rak nodded at Gou’s words. A travel that takes two months is something Rak has never experienced. In real life he can jump into a private jet and be anywhere in the world with two days, assuming helicopter access is unavailable.

“I look forward to it.”

On top of the luxurious tier two carriage is a seat meant for viewing the surroundings or for archers and the like to stand guard. Even though the roads aren’t too good, Rak can barely feel it inside the carriage.

“This is how you should travel.”

Rak’s untiered carriage has been left with the Uprising traders to store, while his two horses are untethered and walking alongside the train of five carriages. The horses coat is shining brilliantly and they often detour from the caravan to explore every plant or small critters along the way. The view only causes Rak to shake his head and laugh.