Chapter Seventeen: Capture, Spirit... An Update?

*

“Candidate, I underestimated you,” Veletya said, touching the small cut on her neck. She crossed her arms, almost pouting, as she watched the second Valkyr, a Fallen, rise from the crater she’d made when she arrived. “Seems like our fun will be interrupted this time around. As much as I regret it, Leyla will take things from here.”

“Coward,” Aiden growled, spitting a glob of blood towards the Angel. He looked towards the Fallen that had arrived suddenly, barely saving the Angelic leader. Had the Fallen, Leyla, been a fraction of a second later, he would’ve killed one of the two Valkyr leaders. But now, even if he overwhelmed Leyla who looked fresh and ready to fight, he doubted Veletya would just let him kill Leyla.

Meaning, even in the best situation, he was facing both Valkyr leaders alone. Curiously, he shot a look in the direction he knew James and his group would’ve been fighting and wondered what had happened. But he didn’t have long to idly wonder.

The odds were no longer in his favor. Lamenting the lost opportunity to strike down Veletya and possibly slay this newcomer, a Fallen by the name Leyla, he backpedaled away and took stock of the Town as a whole.

As far as he could see, no matter where he looked, the losses on both sides were great. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected such great resistance from the Valkyr. Isaac had warned him that only elites remained, but having never clashed with them, Aiden didn’t realize just what that meant for the others he’d brought along.

And now their broken bodies and lost lives weighed on him. He’d lost himself in the fray, lost sight of why they’d come and who he fought for. Tonight, he’d fought for himself, and the people of Zion paid the price.

Turning over his shoulder back towards where he’d seen Isaac retreat, he shouted as loud as he could, “People of Zion, fall back! Return home to fight another day!”

He felt the Essence around him shift and immediately leapt, but his body ached in ways it hadn’t in a long time. Sticky black darkness clung to his drained body, weighing him down like shackles. He looked up at the culprit, Leyla, and frowned.

The Fallen’s arrival had nearly crushed him, and his armor of ice currently cracked and shattered on the ground below, creating a constant sound of glass breaking. The weighty darkness that clung to him sapped what little energy he had remaining, leaving him in a difficult situation.

I’m so screwed.

He only had a few seconds to take in the details of the current situation. Already, pockets of his people began to form as they made their way back the way they came. But with the Fallen Valkyr leader came more reinforcements, and many of them landed behind and trapped the people of Zion from retreating.

Seeing this, he prodded Blizzy over their bond. Get everyone out of here!

After sending off his last command, he no longer had the ability to divide his attention from Leyla. She wielded a scythe expertly as she advanced on his position. His only saving grace was that Veletya didn’t immediately join the assault, leaving him just barely enough space to navigate the weapon.

Luckily, the scythe was almost exclusively a slashing weapon, and Leyla couldn’t hide her telegraphed attacks, despite her skill. That didn’t mean he had any room for error as he dodged, blocked, and tried his best to resist her darkness abilities.

But she was fresh and ready for combat while he was ready to fall to the ground and sleep away the rest of the week. Obviously, he didn’t have that option and could only do his best to defend.

Ice Wall and Shield were the two abilities that afforded him the ability to defend himself, and an occasional unempowered Hoarspike bought him space to breathe. That space wouldn’t be enough.

Cautiously, he threw a look over his shoulder to look at the situation of his people—and he almost paid the ultimate price. Leyla didn’t waste time advancing in the brief moment he’d cast his attention elsewhere.

A torrential assault of darkness exploded around him. Blades formed of condensed power, balls that imploded similar to how the greatsword wielder used, and a plethora of tentacles slowly accumulated.

No matter how hard he tried, how hard he fought and brought his skills to bear as efficiently as possible, he was losing. The most aggravating thing to him was that he could assess Leyla’s abilities, and the power she had available equaled that of Veletya. Confidently, he came to the conclusion that if the two had to fight the Shadowborn Bosses, they’d lose.

And that pissed him off.

He beat those bosses, but he was helpless to resist the Fallen. His cooldowns recovered faster than his ability to cast them, his energy spent and constantly drained. The natural ability to draw Essence from the surrounding trickled in, faltered, and then reversed into a draining effect.

By the time his energy bottomed out, the effect had taken its toll. His body felt sluggish, and he could barely move his body, let alone raise Silver to stop the scythe and magical projectiles sent his way.

Falling to his hands and knees, Aura Channel dissipated and Silver reverted back to its simpler form. The barren ground crunched under the black boots of the Fallen until she stopped in front of him. Kneeling, she placed a soft hand under his chin and raised his eyes to meet her own.

“This was unsatisfying. What should I do with you?” she asked as she looked around. She placed her hands on his. Tendrils of darkness rose from the ground and wrapped around his arms, legs, and neck. With a flick of her wrist, they disconnected from the ground, and she lifted him to his feet. “Look at this.”

Aiden’s eyes blurred from fatigue, but he turned and looked. The reinforcements finished off any stragglers that hadn’t made it out of the Valkyr Town and enforced a perimeter. The rage in his heart stilled as despair and loss replaced the feeling that had fueled him to assault them in the first place.

I failed.

The Valkyr had clearly suffered greatly, but so had he. Broken bodies of humans and Valkyr alike littered the grounds. The citizens of the Town, the wolfish people, all peered out from the places they’d taken refuge in through windows and barely cracked doors. The longer time passed without any sound of combat, the more confident they became.

They gathered, streaming in to the inner circle where Aiden, Leyla, and Veletya waited. At some point, a hulking wolf-man that looked more wolf than man appeared, passed in front of Leyla and Aiden without a word, and stood next to Veletya, casually sparking conversation as if hundreds hadn’t just fallen in the raid.

Must be the Candidate, Aiden thought. He tensed against the shackles of darkness, but seeing his glare, Leyla chuckled and waved her hand again. The draining effect increased rapidly to the point that he nearly passed out. I’m helpless to do anything like this… So why are they keeping me alive? Do they want to make a spectacle of my death? Something like a public execution?

The more he thought, the more he started to settle into a sense of calm acceptance. His actions had consequences far greater than he’d ever anticipated, and now he had to face them. His failures as a leader, as a warrior, as a human—he deserved whatever they did to him. Were the situation reversed, he’d already be dead.

“I thank you, Candidate, for sending so many of my warriors to the afterlife where they may find eternal peace. You’ve done us a great service this night,” Leyla continued, standing next to him. She was close enough that her arm kept rubbing against his own as he swayed unsteadily in place. “We, of the Valkyr, are a people of warriors. To die in battle is the most honorable death one can receive.”

“So?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“So we’ll keep you alive a little longer, though I’m sure you understand that you’ll keep the shackles on. Even if I respect what you’ve done, losing forces pointlessly when there are so many fights ahead of us would be a foolish choice.” Her fingers brushed against his own. “You’re free to roam Valifortia. Attempt to leave, and you’ll be dragged back. Get out of range of my magic, and the shackles will kill you.”

“I—what?” He took a short step away from her, the feeling of her body touching against his set his mind aflame and caused goosebumps to crawl across his skin like an army of ants. “You’re not making sense.”

She turned to look at him, a predatory smile on her face. “I’m sure the people you sent to attack me at the Celestial Town rescued the others of your kind, so you’ve cost me my entertainment. Luckily, to make up for that tragedy, I’ve caught you to replace them. Compared to you, they were lacking in every regard. The exchange is worthwhile.”

Before Aiden had a chance to speak again, the rest of the Valkyr arrived with their Celestial slaves in tow. Descending from the sky, the Valkyr Town’s center filled quickly. The numbers were both far more and less than he expected.

According to Isaac’s reports, the vanguard had been at least triple the size of what he saw there. Accounting for forces occupying and reinforcing the Celestial Town and the Town Hub there, he still expected more to come.

James, just what did you do? he asked, knowing he’d probably never get an answer to the question. At that moment, he wished Shadow or Isaac were nearby. The two had the ability to relay information in a way he’d come to depend on. Now, not knowing the outcome of the other groups was starting to drive him insane.

He looked towards the Dragonborn border, and not a single Valkyr came from that direction. But at the same time, no Dragonborn or human had come either.

What the hell happened to everyone? How did things fall apart like this? he asked over and over again.

His head dropped as his shoulders drooped. Only pure will kept him on his feet and from slumping over into the dirt to fall into the oblivion that was the dreamscape. He thought about it, his body swaying uncertainly.

No!

The last thing he would do was show weakness to those around him. Shifting Apex Predator inward, he reinforced his will, mind, and body, standing strong in front of the army before him.

Lifting his head, he stared down at them, listening as many let out sighs of relief now that Apex Predator wasn’t constantly hammering down on them with the force of his predatory instinct. No, he needed everything he could use to survive now. Leaving the aura active would do nothing but make those around him more aggressive than they already were.

“So here’s what we’ll do, Candidate. Just as the people you rescued, you will participate in a daily gauntlet from sunrise to midday in which we’ll all break for mealtime. Based on your performance, you’ll be fed. After rest time passes, you will continue fighting until sunset.” She impatiently waited for a response, tapping her black boots against the ground.

He stiffened his body and turned towards her. “You’re waiting for something? What could it be, an acknowledgement? It’s not like I can say no, right? That would just mean death. I refuse to die without a fight, so of course I’ll participate.”

“You have a choice, but you’ve correctly guessed your options,” she said, shrugging. She gestured back towards Veleyta and the wolfish man. “I’m sure Volk would love to do some experimenting on you if you weren’t willing to cooperate. He loves engraving on live subjects with a high potency of Essence. And Veletya will surely want a rematch after what you did. You’ll be taken care of well here, warrior. We’re not savages.”

“As if I’d believe that,” he growled, shooting a look towards the slowly shrinking wolfman—Volk, the Valkyr’s Candidate. His presence made it clear Isaac had failed, and by the looks of things, he’d failed without leaving a scratch. Did I overestimate Isaac or underestimate their Candidate?

Heedless of the answer, he’d royally screwed the pooch.

*

The rest of the night stayed busy, and Aiden remained active throughout, despite his body screaming at him to rest his weary muscles. All the bodies, human and Valkyr alike, were collected into two piles and painstakingly placed upon two funeral pyres and burned. None of the Valkyr were willing to help him, so the task to send his people into the afterlife fell on his shoulders—-and his shoulders alone.

Each body he moved renewed the freshly opened wound in his heart. With the help of Apex Predator, he stilled his mind and remained calm, biding his time and accumulating what little physical strength he could conserve for what would come. The time to mourn the lost and fallen would come, but that time was not then and there, surrounded by countless enemies.

When all was said and done, the Celestials began to restlessly work to restore the fortifications while the Valkyr celebrated their victory over the other Faction and his capture. Bonfires were scattered throughout the Town, and the Valkyr and wolf folk partied together.

Even from where he sat alone, left with nothing but his thoughts, he could smell the booze. The howls of the wolfish peoples’ traditions and the victory cries of the Valkyr filled the air with a sense of vibrancy, energizing everyone but Aiden.

He remained as still as possible with his eyes closed as he tried to force the pathways his Essence traveled through to do so faster. Little amounted from his efforts, but he knew there had to be something he could do to give himself a fighting chance before the sun rose and he had to fight again.

In his current state, he doubted he could take one of the normal Valkyr, let alone an elite or five. To even consider fighting Veletya or Leyla would result in nothing but a waste of effort likely to end in his death, a suicidal endeavor at best.

So when no other alternative to his Arcana problem presented itself regardless of what he tried, he turned to the one thing he did have available.

Enter Orrery?

Yes.

No.

Slipping into his mind map, he took a deep breath. Even if he couldn’t recover any resources while within the place, the comfort and familiarity of the lifeline that could offer him strength relieved a lot of the pressure.

“What upgrade options can I utilize in my current situation?” he prompted.

Do you seek to understand Truth?

Mystery and Path selection available!

Mastery selection available!

Water

Wind

Without access to his Arcana, he wouldn’t be able to use the Masteries to any degree. His Arcana, even as high as it was, would do him no good. Pushing that notification away, he looked at the notification for Mysteries and Paths. From Anna, he had a good understanding of what he could do with them.

He tried to prompt the message forward in the same way he always did, mentally nudging it to show him a list of available options. Unlike usual, nothing came to fill his vision. Instead, the notification faded away and then popped back up in the exact same place.

“What the…?” He stared blankly at the notification, and it continued to its rhythmic process of appearing for ten seconds and reappearing ten more seconds later. “Why’s it doing that?”

Nobody could help him figure things out, so he took a deep breath and focused. The power he would be tapping into wasn’t the familiar sturdiness of Arcana. Even then, when he tried to summon the power of his Arcana into the Orrery to display the multitude of abilities he had, nothing happened. The trusty, structured Arcana he was so used to relying on failed him for the first time. In doing so, it also made him come to realize the inherent flaw in his attempts.

“Duh…” He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled, stilling his mind. After he ebbed the panic that started to creep forward from his lack of ability to use Arcana, he leaned over the Essence Map. “There you are.”

Spirit.

Anna had told him countless times before that Spirit and Arcana were two parts of the same coin. How she explained things, Arcana was system-supported and focused completely on the internal usage of Essence to create predetermined effects with little to no wiggle room. Advancing these effects could increase the frequency he could use them, empower them beyond their basic levels, and even modify their effects to a small degree.

But it was sturdy and unforgiving, reliably fulfilling the expected outcome of each ability the same way each time without variance. Only his Glacial Fang changed power, and even then, it had a predictable scaling pattern based on the amount of Shards he used to form it.

Like a mental muscle he’d trained from the moment he started using the system, he would need to train his Spirit in a similar way. Granted, he was limited in how much time he was. He’d suggested at one point to try training in the Orrery, but Anna had shot him down instantly.

Spirit required the ability to manipulate Essence externally. The Essence that naturally filled his pathways and allowed him to sustain casting his abilities could also be used as fuel for manipulation for Spirit users.

Using Spirit to create effects was exactly that. To make matters even worse given the current situation, Spirit operated far differently than Arcana for another reason: the ability to manipulate Essence. Arcana inherently had a formula to follow to create abilities, regardless of if the user understood how or why those formulas worked.

No basic abilities came with the concepts selected through Mysteries or Paths. Even the two categories functioned differently, making Spirit by far the most difficult and versatile attribute. Anna and all the other Spirit practitioners had proven time and time again their ingenuity when they worked their magic.

“Why do I feel like a fraud?” he asked, sighing.

Each attribute seemed balanced from an uneducated point of view, but they weren’t. Out of all of them, Spirit had a disgusting amount of potential to transcend the limitations of the system and the attributes that others relied on.

Others like him.

Arcana was powerful, sturdy, and reliable in how it functioned, but the attribute’s weakness was a severe lack of versatility and growth potential. Aiden hadn’t been aware of the limitations of the system when he’d first selected his Primary attribute. But even now that he knew the difference, he didn’t regret his choice back then.

His power, even now, was uncontested amongst those of Zion. Anna came second, but she couldn’t match his sturdiness, absorption rate, or ability usage rate. When she created abilities with Spirit, she was always locked into two or three small or one really large ability at any given time.

Not to mention the amount of time she’d spent just figuring out how to cast those abilities. She’d become intimate with the process of trial and error, even injuring herself at times from the instability of many of her spells.

But he couldn’t argue that her potential far, far surpassed his own. Given a few weeks of concentrated practice, he didn’t think he’d be able to take her in a fight anymore. He’d reached the current limits of his Arcana. Until he knew more about Ascension, things would remain that way.

Unless…

Even with the statistical and potential limitations of having Spirit as a Miscellaneous attribute, there was power to be had—power he would need if he wanted to survive the next day and those after.

The issue he faced currently was suppressing his habitual desire to fuel his actions in the Orrery with Arcana. He was sure the first few times he’d used the Essence Map and the rest of the Orrery, he’d done so without anything besides a little bit of mental prodding to get things kickstarted into gear.

But now, he wasn’t so sure. Nothing worked. The three positions where he knew the Mysteries and Paths slotted into his Essence Map refused to budge. No listing of options became available, making him think he was subtly using the little Arcana he had instead of an absence of energy.

And he wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d be able to just flex a mental muscle he’d never used to utilize the Spirit attribute and manipulate external Essence he couldn’t even perceive in order to switch things up.

“Makes me wonder how the hell Anna makes it look so easy,” he muttered in awe, realizing how incredible she was.

Which made him stifle the worry and frustration he’d ignored since she’d gone missing. Had she been with them in the raid, things probably wouldn’t have ended up the way they were. He could only imagine what she was getting up to with the Spiderkin and hoped she’d be able to help the injured when she returned.

Knowing her, that was the last thing she would do. To her, the people of Zion were a resource, one that meant nothing if he were to fall within the Valkyr Town. Without him, Zion would fall under their control.

And who knew, if things went really well with the Spiderkin, maybe she wouldn’t mount an assault on her own. Who knew? Maybe they’d be enough to overcome the Valkyr and help him seize control of both the Valkyr, Celestials, and Dragonborn.

“Highly doubt it,” he said, internally scoffing. The reality of things would never amount to the delusions of his hopes. He’d remain inside the Valkyr Town without support for as long as he could be entertaining to you. Once he no longer served a purpose to them, they’d probably use him to assault the Dragonborn and unite all three Towns under Volk’s Faction. “Gotta survive to see it, even if that is what happens. So focus, Aiden. Focus!”

Trying to fight against something he’d been doing every waking moment for the last month was like forcefully trying to see the world as if the colors were inverted—impossible. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t figure anything out or progress in any meaningful way.

If it weren’t for the fact that time ceased to pass while within the Orrery, he would’ve considered attempting to learn how to use Spirit a doomed venture. He’d capped out the attribute simply because he hadn’t known where else to put his Essence at the time. Power and Alacrity both had immediately noticeable effects on his physicality and perceptive functionability.

Spirit did not.

Truthfully, he didn’t even know what putting points into the Spirit attribute even did for him. He knew Anna and those who practiced the ways of Mysteries and Paths could intuitively understand how to do so.

“Or do they?” he idly wondered aloud.

Thinking back to when they’d first met, she’d been able to utilize both Spirit and Arcana already, but he’d never witnessed her experiences prior to that. To him, it seemed like she’d just known how to do magicky things, but he might’ve been dead wrong.

“How long did she practice under pressure to learn?” he mused, contemplating her swift advancement.

And the more he thought about it, he’d never once seen her cast a system-provided spell with her Arcana. Even with the sturdier energy, she’d found ways to cast spells with the Mysteries and Paths she’d selected: the Truth of Rejuvenation and Mysteries of the Vine. Even to this day, he wasn’t sure whether or not she had ever selected her third.

“She can do it, so there has to be a way to supplement Arcana and system abilities with Spirit, even if the effects are lesser.” He clenched his fists and berated himself for not having advanced the second method of utilizing Essence into magic when the opportunity had presented itself. “How many times did she invite me to one of her lessons? How many times did I ignore her when she tried to give me the information I need now?”

Things had been busy for so long, and there always seemed to be another crisis looming around the corner that needed his attention. Add the responsibility of administration and leadership required of him as the Candidate of and founder of Zion, he never once felt like he had the ability to learn about the system in any deeper regard.

Now, he hoped that he wouldn’t regret every time he told her no or made empty promises to attend another time. With the progress he currently made amounting to nothing at all, he started believing that would be the inevitable outcome.

He wanted to stop and give up, to leave the Orrery and return to the Valkyr Town and maybe learn more about how they operated, their culture, and possibly even pick the scumbag Volk’s mind for methods to advance his understanding in the magical language.

The wolfish man had been covered from head to toe with Patterns. His armor had Formations etched into the surface, so maybe there was another avenue of approach to gain power while he was being kept hostage.

“Speaking of which, aren’t they too casual with me? It’s almost as if the leadership here treats me as some kind of equal rather than a war criminal,” he mused as he slumped down to the ground and pressed his back against the circular structure of the Essence Map. “They make no damn sense, I swear.”

As tempting as putting aside his disdain to speak with the wolfish man in order to advance his understanding of Patterns and the like, he refused to give up on making progress for himself. Spirit was a resource and tool he had available. Just as he’d trained his mind to utilize Arcana naturally, he’d train the required muscles required to bend Spirit to his will.

“I know I have the answers. Even without intending to, Anna has ranted about Spirit and all that enough for me to remember enough to use the damn thing on a basic level,” he muttered, resting his hands against his head and closing his eyes.

The memories of their time together were numerous. As his right hand, she rarely left his side. They’d grown to understand one another. After the initial rush of survival passed and the reality of their situation really sank in, nobody had grown closer than them.

James and Olivia still flirted and spent a lot of time together when they had the chance, but Aiden knew both of them were afraid to commit to one another. They mainly talked and comforted the other to get through things and discussed theory on how to advance their combat capabilities or created training regiments, scouting forays, and more of the minutia than Aiden cared for himself.

They had become best friends but also more. Whatever it was, Aiden couldn’t put a name on it, nor did he care to try. He felt happy she had someone she could go to when she needed to talk to, whether it be ranting about a new magical discovery or him disappearing for the umpteenth time, sharing a shoulder to cry on, or whatever else it might’ve been.

For that, he respected and trusted James. The older boy had taken care of Olivia while Aiden had been fighting to save them and, hopefully, humanity.

But at the same time, Aiden felt like he’d pushed both of them to that point. He’d put a wall up, isolated himself, bore more than his share of the burden of responsibility, and never stopped moving. The whole thing felt like he himself didn’t expect to survive the whole thing.

“That’s not it,” he muttered softly, shaking his head.

One thing he was good at was surviving. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he needed to distance himself from Olivia, to leave her with people who would take care of her if he couldn’t become that safe, comforting brother she’d once loved so much. Realistically, he was on a warpath with anything and everything that threatened Earth and humanity. To do so, he’d have to advance to a point where he’d more than likely become a danger to Olivia. And if not, then he’d create enemies.

Enemies who weren’t above using loved ones to hurt him.

“It makes sense that she needs to forget about me, I’ll only put her in danger.”

The weight of the truth behind those words felt like a sharp knife stabbing directly into his heart. His phantom body shook as he let those feelings he’d repressed for so long flow freely in the emptiness of the Orrery. There, nobody would see his weakness and shame. In that space, he had all the time in the world to mourn the loss of who he once was and garner the courage required to do what he needed to do.

Those feelings of loss weren’t exclusive to Olivia either. Claudia and he had grown apart. The distance between them compared to before was like someone had taken the Grand Canyon, dropped it between them, and then given them two different crypto keys to communicate with over shitty dial up.

He’d already accepted their positions. She’d thrown herself into learning the magical smithing processes from the Osh’Tika’Varu within the first week. The advances she made were monumental considering the time frame, but he could do little with them. The lack of usable results yet continued effort to find methods to make the materials useful often felt like excuses, reasons to stay away from Zion, Josh, and Aiden as a whole.

Snorting, he wiped his dry eyes, the phantom tears feeling real despite not truly existing. “Wonder what even happened between those two. Though, with how often Josh goes out to explore the area, I highly doubt they’ve completely stopped whatever the hell they had in the first place. But who knows? They’re weirdos.”

A smile pulled at the corner of his lips. His first instinct was to squash the feelings, but he fought the tough fight in his own mind and allowed himself that moment of amusement, that small moment where he was free of stress, responsibility, anxiety, and self-loathing.

Zion had come a long way from where it had started as just the few of them. A handful of confused kids doing what they had to in order to survive had resulted in so much more. They created the foundation for Zion to become a bastion of hope for any and all the humans who were also forcefully pulled into the interdimensional conflict. Even if they were separated now, even if they were all in different states of disarray as they tried to cope with the new reality thrust upon them, they still fought to succeed. First, it had been for the sake of making it back home and saving their families and humanity. That still hadn’t changed, but things had changed.

Their mission had become so much more. Zion was the anchor that gave them a reason to work, fight, and progress through the minutiae of the day to day. Nobody went without through the efforts of the whole, and everyone worked for the sake of the sake of the community. If Aiden somehow managed to escape, could advance Patterns into Formations and then Formations into arrays, he had the basis to become an interdimensional Faction rivaling that of the Shadowborn themselves.

That’s what all their work had been for. That is what he fought for now and why so many people had died in the raid. Even if their losses were great, the losses of the Valkyr were many times greater.

Now, he just needed to survive. Anna would do what Anna did. The others would keep the rest of Zion safe until he either returned or fell. Until then, he wouldn’t consider an outcome where he didn’t survive capture.

Grinning, he calmed his mind and thought about the reason he’d selected Arcana as his Primary Attribute the first day, why he selected the Ice Discipline when given thousands of options, and probably the reason behind the system giving him Blizzy. The blizzard dragon had been formed of his power, even if the system involved itself in the process.

His desire had been to create a natural phenomenon that had the potential to become a continental disaster: blizzards.

And if anything Anna said had stuck with him, it’s that most of what utilizing Spirit, Mysteries, and Paths came down to was visualizing a concept and manipulating enough energy in order to create that effect. Similar to Olivia, she loved to go on and on about her discoveries, how she came up with a new application of her abilities and then worked towards an understanding of that concept on a deeper level.

If his specialty was his Ice Discipline—which he couldn’t say it wasn’t, he rarely used either his Water or Wind for anything more than utility—then a good starting place would be to understand the concepts that supported the Discipline.

The first thing that came to mind was the basic level of atomic structure, but that was on a level that already made his head hurt. So rather than delve into deeper levels of science he barely understood, he thought about what ice was on a basic level.

“Making things cold,” he said, feeling as if the idea were too simple. When nothing changed in the Orrery, he shrugged. “Didn’t think that would work anyway.”

His Ice attacks came with one system-backed effect, Freeze, and another that was insidious in nature and not inherently spoken about by the system. Cold things moved slower. The memories of practicing football, soccer, cross country, and anything else he could get enrolled in during the early winter mornings came to mind. Until the coaches came to the fields or track and ran all the athletes through their warm up drills, the unbearable cold made everyone move as if sluggish.

Prolonged exposure caused the body to shake and muscles to tighten. In extreme circumstances, they’d have to workout in the gym due to the extreme temperatures. Even if he’d never witnessed it, he knew the extreme colds could be dangerous, if not fatal.

The weight of snow during an avalanche could kill with impact alone. Those that survived being buried alive under who knows how many tons of snow, if not rescued, could freeze to death. Before then, the frostbite could freeze someone’s fingers, nose, ears, or lips to the point where they became just another part of the ice and could be snapped off like a dead twig.

But even simpler, all a fridge did was make things cold. A freezer made them more cold. These were all obvious things, but to apply those concepts to magic…

“I’m so lost,” he said, sighing.

There were more concepts, like flash freezing, that he knew about. Wrapping his head around them was another story entirely. Most were easy to understand, but how to visualize an ability or effect and then creating magic with Spirit?

Easier said than done.

But, even if Arcana and Spirit were like two sides of a coin, he still had quite a few abilities that he could use as a baseline for what could be achieved through magic. If Spirit was the freeform expression of magical intent through external Essence usage, realistically, he could still use the abilities he was used to like Hoarspike, Ice Shield, Ice Wall, and even Aura Channel.

Though, the last one was more of a long shot guess. At the same time, everything he was doing was just a guess. Nothing he’d done thought about had prompted the Orrery to acknowledge any concept as acceptable in the way of offering him some surefire progression down the line of his Spirit. The three spots that would house the concepts still remained empty.

“What am I missing?” he pondered, tapping his fingers against his jaw. “There has to be some way to get this to work without having to leave the Orrery, otherwise, it would just be suicidal to select Spirit as a Primary. I’m missing something, but figuring out what the missing piece might be is driving me crazy.”

The more time he spent thinking about ice and what it could do, the more he created a mental image of what he could do with it in his head. Using his Arcana abilities as a basis, they all had one thing in common. Each of them manifested as physical objects that were physical.

A spear, wall, and shield. They were all hard, structurally stable and decently resistant to physical attacks. Hell, most magical attacks couldn’t brute force their way through his defensive skills.

Which made him realize he’d completely forgotten his biggest, trustiest ability of all. Even with its high cooldown and cost, Crystalline Embodiment created densely packed ice that even Josh’s club, Bartholomew, couldn’t dent.

The process in which the armor manifested was very similar to how forging steel to create a sturdier material worked. Removing the impurities and compressing the ice to the point where it could make him a juggernaut in most fights, he found the similarities intriguing even if he couldn’t actively do anything with his newfound understanding.

But the more he thought about his abilities and the mental vision he had for ice, the more confused he got. What was snow but water that had been frozen and crystallized into ice? Blizzards were typically just massive snow storms, similar to thunderstorms. The only difference is that a thunderstorm lacked a cold property like a blizzard.

Offshore thunderstorms could cause tsunamis or hurricanes. Those that touched land with a high enough intensity were cataloged as natural disasters. Even without magic, the things he wanted to create with magic already existed on Earth. They occurred even without the presence of Essence, so all he needed to was to figure out his own process to supplement the elements that created those natural disasters.

“I’m getting ahead of myself,” he muttered, shaking his head. “How am I supposed to replicate those things on such a grand scale if I have no Mystery or Path to channel them through? As far as I’ve seen, Anna’s abilities are limited to the concepts she’s focused on, Thorns and Rejuvenation. I doubt I’d be able to use my Spirit in any way without figuring this out.”

Even as he said that, he started to connect the dots and come to an understanding.

Ice was hard, making it good for attacking and defending. Inherently, ice was just the application of an extreme enough cold that freezes an object. The intensity of that freeze effect could even create permafrost. In an indirect way, just the presence of ice and the cold effect it had was an attack and defense of its own.

In a way, he got the best of every world. Ice had the ability to be used as an attack with debilitating power on an individual or continental scale. Coupled with the ability to slow, freeze, and shift its forms, it really didn’t lack much.

Ice was versatile. Ice Wall could be used in a variety of ways. Were he to cast it beneath himself, he could use it as a platform to put himself above danger, reach otherwise inaccessible locations, or launch him with great speeds for an attack. Add to the fact that it was just a larger version of Ice Shield, the ability was versatile.

Ice Shield was mobile and could be cast from a distance or moved with his mind. Considering both abilities, he idly wondered if he could compress them in a similar way to his Crystalline Embodiment.

And like Crystalline Embodiment, Glacial Fang put all the offensive attributes of the Ice Discipline on display. The compacted Shards made the ability as hard as his armor manifestation, increased the rate and intensity of the Freeze effect’s application, and shot forward with a speed he never quite understood.

For Aiden, all of these factors made Ice second to no other Discipline. It was absolute in power, defense, and versatility, and if he could harness the potential power hidden within, he knew he could surpass any limitation that tried to bar his progress towards being the defender Earth didn’t know it needed.

You have begun seeking Truth.

A breakthrough has occurred!

Your understanding of First Discipline: Ice has advanced to a sufficient level.

Mystery and Path selection available for First Discipline: Ice!

“Yes!” Aiden leaped up onto the Essence Map and celebrated. “Yes, yes, yes! Show me what I have available!”

He could hardly contain himself as the excitement of his success flooded his mind. He didn’t know how long he’d been there in the Orrery simply thinking about something as simple as ice, but somehow, he’d managed to convince the system that he wasn’t a complete moron!

“Calm down, Aiden,” he said, his body trembling as the list of Mysteries and Paths appeared before him.

It was a long one.

“Why are there so many if it only just unlocked?!” he exclaimed, running his hand through his hair. He huffed. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s unlocked now, and that’s all that matters. Once I have the ability to use Spirit to replace my drained Arcana, maybe I’ll have a fighting chance.” He remembered all the times he’d seen Anna try to combine Arcana and Spirit and grinned. “Hell, maybe this is all I’ll need to push my abilities past their limits?”

Hopeful, he started screening through the miserably long list. After half the list, his eyes started to drift. He had to take more than a few breaks, reading through all the various Mysteries and Paths.

“Oh, wait a sec,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes. “What’s the difference between Masteries and Paths?”

Processing inquiry…

…

…

Subject’s understanding of Truth is limited, and thus, only a partial explanation can be provided.

Accept?

Yes.

No.

“I think it just called me a moron,” he muttered, once again trying to mentally the “yes” option as he had so many times before. When nothing happened, he groaned. “Yes! I asked, so why wouldn’t I?”

Essential payment extracted!

Note: Refund requests will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

For the first time since he’d gained access to the system, the Essence filling the central sphere spilled to the Essence Map below, its milk-colored wispy texture flowing like fog. Never before had something happened within the space of the Orrery without being prompted by him.

“What the…?”

As he watched, the milky substance began to evaporate and disappear. A true fog descended through the Orrery, obscuring his vision entirely. Then all at once, the fog dissipated, revealing a book. Picking it up, Aiden looked it over, dropping it when a notification appeared.

“What… just happened?” he asked, kicking the fallen book as if it were a snake that might jump at him at any second. Reasonably, he felt skeptical. “The prompt from before, does that mean there’s some kind of system shop I can access and pay for with Essence?”

When he got no response, he sighed and picked up the book that was not, in fact, a snake.

A Dummy’s Guide To: Differentiating Mysteries and Paths!

Written by Khione.

Edited by Athena.

Approved by Themis.

Page One

*

Ignorance Is NOT Bliss!

…

The book’s title made him facepalm, but once he got past that, he looked over the producers of said book and frowned. “System, a little help here?”

Processing inquiry…

…

…

Inquiry has been accepted by administrators!

The book flashed slightly, and when he looked at it, only one thing changed.

Written by Khione, Greater Paragon of Ice and Nymphs.

Edited by Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.

Approved by Administrator Themis, Supervisor of Truth and Balance.

“Huh?” He looked over the updated lines again. “What’s a paragon, and why’s it writing a book about Mysteries and Paths? Shouldn’t that have been Athena? Also, what?”

The more he read over the lines, the more confused he got. Excluding the shot towards his intelligence, the updated titles for the producers of the books left him stunned. Athena, a Greek goddess, had edited the book?

Also, how the hell did he even prompt the book?

An Important Announcement!

*

A personal message from your current Head Administrator, Loki!

*

Ahem, is this thing on?

Oh, it is? Gotcha.

Well, here I go.

You lot! Yes, you mortals—wait, they can’t respond? I’m just apologizing for being lazy?

Can’t be. I’m not lazy.

Who cares? I do, of course. This is my pride you’re insulting.

Not the point? Okay, whatever. Let’s just do this so I can go back to—yeah, let’s just go.

Sorry mortals, but you’re participating in things you don’t want to ‘cause head honcho says you have to. Sucks to be you, but who knows, maybe you’ll survive to do something great. Ascend your limits, become One with Truth, godlyhood and paragondom, or whatever else you seek, awaits you!

That’s not an apology? Yeah, I don’t care, it’ll have to do.

So, uh, without further adieu, here’s your announcement!

*

Congratulations!

Aiden Pearce has maxed out all of his Attributes!

He is the first to do so in the current pool of participants in this generation's Game of Thrones!

*

The administration team is proud to finally be able to update the current operating system by reducing the perceived limiters and truly beginning the Game of Thrones in earnest!

First and foremost, Humanity will now be allowed to make inquiries through the administrative team supporting Truth. This can be done inside or outside of the Orrery.

Secondly, the interdimensional shop is also now available! All purchases require sufficient system Essence to be present in the Orrery at time of purchase. Orbs, Cores, and Pillars are the only accepted form of currency. A new Essence Shop interface has been added!

Third, the Companion system has been fully unlocked.

Fourth and final, the restrictions on Factions have been partially lifted!

*

Note 1: Inquiries will be accepted or rejected on a case-by-case basis. The understanding of Truth an individual has will be taken into consideration.

Note 2: An introductory pamphlet will be delivered after this announcement.

Warning: The Truth is powerful. Carelessly sharing information can have severe consequences, including, but not limited to, spontaneous combustion, temporal disruptions, permanent damage to the Essential pathways, and more!

Pursue at your own discretion, you’ve been warned.

“Oh…”