With the others seen to, Rory decided to focus on himself for a little bit. He checked his [Status] again. Of course, nothing all had changed since he had last seen it in the dwarves’ cloud. But the things he needed to take care of flashed bright in his mind. Those Item slots and the free stat slot needed to be filled up.

First of all, Rory had a small meeting with some of the others. They were all intrigued by the possibilities of the Sigil of Mana.

“Going by what you’re saying,” Viv said. “It’s going to basically act as a backup reservoir of Mana in case we don’t have direct access to Mana.”

Rory nodded. “That’s what I’m getting from it.”

“And its stat points indicate how much Mana it can store.”

“Right.”

“What kind of measurement is it, though?” Dez asked. “How much Mana is four Mana, or whatever number?”

Rory frowned. That was a question he didn’t have a direct answer to. He hadn’t even thought of units for the numbers assigned to things like Mana. It would make sense of that the system had a method of measuring that it wasn’t making obvious to others.

“It’s a ratio, I think,” Viv said. “That’s the only reason why any kind of measurement I know of would be unitless. Like elemental masses that we use in chemistry. They’re always a ratio with a common element.”

Dez rubbed his chin. “What’s it a ratio of then?”

Viv shrugged. “I’m no expert at system stuff.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rory said. He handed the Sigil of Mana to Viv. “Can you use your Insight and tell us the requirements to make it? I think it’d be useful if more of us could have it.”

Viv took the Sigil and observed it for a few seconds. She checked its image and its sides, before finally letting her eyes go unfocused as the system started shooting text at her. Rory didn’t have to remain curious long. Viv reported that the Sigil of Mana needed 4 Monster Hairs, 13 Pyrium, 9 Cynium, and of course, 3 Mana.

Rory thanked her and took the Sigil back. “We can ask the dwarf about the Pyrium.”

“Well, we can ask the for any of the rest.”

“True. Just change our deal a little bit. I’ll see to calling Talvic about it. But for now, let’s try to find the rest of the ingredients.”

To that end, they called in Samson. Rory asked him if he could use his Sigil of Gathering to locate the resources needed to Weave it from scratch. Samson frowned at the list, confessing that his Sigil of Gathering didn’t seem to be guiding him towards the Pyrium. It seemed they really were going to have to ask the dwarves about it.

Samson went off to gather the rest though, leaving Rory to deal with the Sigil itself. With none of them professing any avid interest for the Sigil of Mana, he decided to absorb it.

In his [Status], he focused on his Sigil of Stats. It was interesting that it was at Cerulean I now. That must have been what had given him an extra slot. He checked its description just to be sure.

Sigil of Stats!

[Argent I] allows 5 stat slots and 5-point gain in 3 stats per personal Tier.

Stats

Type: System

Rarity: Ordinary

Tier: Cerulean I [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [99%]

Just as he had thought. The Sigil of Stats had improved a lot, which explained the sudden higher rise in his stats. Rory absorbed the Sigil of Mana, and when he checked his [Status] again, he noticed that the final stat slot was filled up.

“Now to figure out how to store Mana inside it,” Rory muttered, staring around.

“You looking for this?” Viv held out a small pack of Mana. The little blue crystal glowed within it.

Rory accepted it gratefully. He checked his [Status] again, seeing if there was some way he could focus on and activate the Sigil of Mana. There didn’t appear to be any such option. But then there was a shout and Rory pulled himself to where he was standing.

“Look!” Evelyn was pointing to Rory’s hand. “The Mana is going out.”

Rory turned his head towards his hand. She was right. Tiny crystals were floating out of the pack and disappearing in the air. Rory quickly checked his Sigil of Mana in his [Status] and found the numbers ticking up bit by bit.

It was fascinating. The pack in his hand continued to grow lighter until the count reached 50, at which point, it stopped. Apparently, half a century was the maximum he could get at Cerulean I.

The others dispersed back to their own tasks, leaving Rory to figure out the rest. With the Sigil of Mana taken care of, he could focus on the other thing in his [Status] that was bothering him—namely the empty slots in his Items. He could have two more on his person, though he still wasn’t sure what exactly he ought to use.

Rory pulled out his Staff of Deadly Winter. Waving the staff around in the middle of a fight took too much of his energy and attention to consider complementing it with another weapon, at least one that required active use.

In other words, whatever Rory Wielded would need to be something that provided passive boons and bonuses instead of requiring active surveillance.

While he wasn’t sure what exactly he could craft that would be useful to him, the boon that it ought to provide came to him all too easily. Rory grimaced, recalling every instance he went outside to do something and had to struggle with his old body. His stamina was poorer than ever, and his muscles were the opposite of peak condition. He was far from a picture of fitness.

It would be ideal if he could Weave Viv’s Sigil of Prime into his shirt, but that didn’t seem likely. Just to be sure, he met up with Viv again and asked if she could provide him with a list of ingredients for the Sigil of Prime.

“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to use the Insight on something that’s inside me,” she said, eyes unfocused as she checked her [Status]. “But maybe we could get someone else another Sigil of Knowledge and then…”

Her words trailed off as Rory’s attention drifted. Her idea was certainly a possibility, but after seeing the Sigil of Mana’s requirements, Rory wasn’t at all confident about getting enough ingredients to Weave a Sigil of Prime from nothing.

Nevertheless, he asked Viv to bring him an encyclopaedia from the little library in the palace when she was free, and he’d Weave it to get a Sigil of Knowledge later. He recalled Diane had wanted one a while back.

For now, Rory tried to imagine a Sigil that could grant him some extra energy on dire circumstances. Considering they all had a ton of Sigils now, there had to be one somewhere that could perform the required task.

The idea came to him suddenly after he’d been thinking for a while. Evelyn’s Sigil of Vital Recuperation could work. Rory didn’t recall it’s exact description, but he remembered its effect all too clearly. The Sigil had restored their health and energy after a fight, so long as they remained in Evelyn’s vicinity, proving invaluable in tense situations.

“It’s description states,” Evelyn said when Rory had told her his idea, “that it allows passive minor healing and energy replenishing in a 3-meter radius after every battle.” She looked at him with one raised eyebrow. “Sound good?”

Rory considered the wording carefully. “Hmm. I guess I’d have liked it if it had stated that it allowed its recuperation constantly, or at least, during a battle. I might be dead after a battle. Fat load of good recuperation would do me then.”

“Well, we’ve been thinking of using it by withdrawing from fighting temporarily, then having it activate before jumping back into the fight.”

“True. But hmm, I’ll figure something out, I guess.”

“You want me to use it?” Evelyn asked

Rory nodded. “Worth a shot, I think.”

“Alright, here goes.”

She used her Sigil of Vital Recuperation, its image glowing on the back of her hand. A wide of circle of soft green light spread around her. Rory was suffused in the energizing aura, feeling his fatigue vanishing and all the minor aches and twinges he had worked up over the course of the day disappearing. The Sigil’s healing was always amazing.

Rory smiled, then used his Weaving. He focused the lines of white light on their green counterparts. Mentally, he focused on Vital Recuperation’s function of healing and energizing him. Soon, Evelyn’s green light had turned completely white, so it looked like they were standing in a pool of moonlight.

“Got it,” Rory said, holding a Sigil of Vital Recuperation in his hand.

Evelyn shut off her Sigil and smiled. “Great. Are you going to use it on your shirt?”

“Hmm, not sure yet. For one, I need it to work in the middle of a fight, and to act passively as well. Ideally, it would help keep my energy topped as soon as it sensed it go down. Maybe I’m asking for too much,” he added with a little laugh.

“You might be, but that’s not going to stop you, is it?”

Rory laughed. “It hasn’t yet.”

“Exactly”

Rory smiled and thanked Evelyn, then left to see what sort of Sigil he could Weave and combine with the one he had just received. He needed it to activate whenever his energy fell to a certain level. Rory wondered if he could use Weaving on himself without causing himself harm.

Deciding to test it out, Rory began expending energy. He went up and down the stairs in the tower, slowly getting more and more tired after just a couple of turns.

Good enough, he decided. He chose to turn his Weaving on himself. Rory had no idea what the effect of doing so would be, so he would never dare testing it on anyone but himself. But even then, there were certain details he could take care of to ensure safety.

First of all, instead of focusing on himself—which was rather broad—he focused on the tangible effects of his fatigue. His sweat, the quick blows of air coming out of his mouth and nose, and the heat radiating off his body. The white lines of his Weaving circled around him in a storm of energy, latching and drawing away everything he focused on, leaving him feeling cold and trembling.

But it worked. Rory grinned despite his shivering condition as a grey Sigil materialized in his hand, displaying an image of a bent-over humanoid figure.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Fatigue. Tiredness can be a tremendous feeling to rise from. Constant energy would make one unable to perform such pleasures like sleeping, eating, and so on. So, appreciate the fatigue when you can.

[Cerulean VII] allows removing 20 minute of fatigue per day.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Uncommon

Tier: Cerulean VII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [35%]

Perfect. Rory had one of the Sigils he needed to combine with Vital Recuperation. The rest was easy. He had Sigils of Activation and Automation still left, and it was simply combining them in the right order to make sure the final Sigil came out right.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Rejuvenation. If you really, really can’t take the time to exercise, stay fit, and keep yourself healthy, then here’s a simple trick to simulate proper health.

[Cerulean VII] allows passive minor healing and energy at 2% per second rate after 50% fatigue has been achieved.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Cerulean VII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [43%]

Rory stared at the Sigil with the image of green plus signs around a figure with their arms raised. How he was supposed to determine his level of fatigue that numerically was a mystery. Maybe the system had a stat for it. Rory wouldn’t be surprised by something like that at all.

For now, he activated his Sigil of Warding and placed the new Sigil against the shirt inside his jacket. The Sigil sank into the cotton, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

Immediately, he started to feel better. The fatigue from his exercise up and down the stairs was dissipating far faster than normal. Rory found himself smiling. The Warded Sigil was working perfectly.