Rory wasn’t the best at relaxing. His silly mind refused to consider that it needed a break from all the stress that it dealt with so often, and instead, tried to stave off the worries and anxieties with more productivity. It was something of a fault, but he had next to no idea on how to tackle it without the help of a therapist. He was pretty sure therapists were hard to come by in an apocalypse.

Also, if they could have found one, there were others who needed therapy a lot more than he did.

But as the day wore on and Rory’s mind got more and more restless, he decided to focus on the things he could do. Namely, Sigils.

“You need help with what?” Viv asked when he had related his most recent ideas. With those ideas had come problems that he hadn’t found the answers to. “A Sigil of Hiding?”

“Hiding, Obscuring, something like that,” Rory said. “Something with the essence of people attached to it, though, since that’s what the Wraiths want to hide from.”

“Wouldn’t that make it hard for us to find the Wraith Lord and his subjects too?”

“That’s true.” Rory hummed and considered. “You think it might be possible to get a Homeworlder’s essence, then?”

Viv snorted and shook her head. “I have no idea what is and isn’t possible, dear. You reached Teal, recently. That opened up a lot of potentially impossible stuff, didn’t it?”

“That’s also true! I guess the issue boils down to getting the base Sigil itself, first.”

“Yes, I agree. How do we get a Sigil of Obfuscation…?”

Rory was pretty sure he hadn’t said obfuscation so much as obscuration, but they were simply synonyms, not different functions entirely. The real question was whether the very first thought Rory’s mind latched onto would actually be applicable in obtaining the Sigil. He could simply have someone hide behind something and check if his Weaving could focus on that act.

“Worth a shot, I think,” Viv said when Rory related his thoughts. “Not like we have something better.”

“Go hide then.”

She blinked. “Me?”

“Well, I can’t hide and use my Weaving.” Rory pointed to one of the old barricades they had erected. “If the Weaving needs to latch onto something physical, we could use those. We don’t really need them anymore.”

Viv nodded. She summoned her Omnipresent Thunderclaw arm of dark rock and crimson lightning, shooting a bolt that let her teleport to a spot behind one of the barricades. Rory grinned. Such a show off.

The barricade was tall enough so that only the top half of Viv’s head could be seen past it. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him, then she disappeared.

Feeling his heart lighten, Rory stepped forward and activated his Weaving. White lines burst out of his hand and landed on the barricade as he focused on its ability to hide whatever lay behind it. He needed a Sigil of Hiding, not another Sigil of Barricade, and if he had learned anything, it was that focusing on what he wanted was what got him his wish.

It worked this time too. The barricade dissolved as his Weaving acted on it. The new Sigil he received was the colour of morning mist, showing an image of two humanoid figures, one crouching behind a wall while the others stood tall, as though looking.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Obscuration. Stealth is fun and everything, but for the moments you feel lazy, let the world cover you for a change.

[Teal II] allows obscuration from all directions in a 42-meter radius for 24 minutes.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: High [69%]

“Did it work?” Viv asked as she got up from where she was crouching.

Removing the barricade had revealed that her hiding hadn’t been anything too insane or anything of the sort. She hadn’t zipped away to another spot with another teleporting flash. Perhaps she was leaving that possibility for actual battles. Though, considering how she fought, she wasn’t the kind to sneak around during fights.

Rory held up the new Sigil. “It did!” He was a little startled when Viv flashed into being right before him, but he regained his composure and smiled at her. “It’s not the best our there, but it’s a start.”

She took it and observed its stats in its description. “And now you need a Homeworlder’s essence to complete it.”

“Right.”

“…we could use the bodies.”

Rory stared at her. Of course, why hadn’t he thought about that. They’d already used the corpses by removing the Sigils they had, and Evelyn had continued preserving them since nobody had been sure what to do about them. Part of Rory wanted to return them to the Homeworlders, see if they had families or friends back in Mirrorend who would have wanted to perform funerary rites or some final words or the like.

But using the bodies to get a Sigil they needed would be a lot more practical. They didn’t owe the Homeworlders anything, especially after their recent actions. Of course, Rory ought not to sink to their levels. But at the same time, he ought to make use of all resources he had.

“Let’s go check them out, then,” he said.

Rory and Viv headed back to the infirmary, where the newcomers were all still unconscious. Vern was feeding them something thick and soupy from a small canteen. Jace was stirring the same contents in a pot.

“How are they coming along?” Rory asked.

“Not bad.” Vern turned around and nodded at them. “They’re making quick recoveries. Should be up by tomorrow. My potion is doing wonders.”

“Wait, that’s a potion?” Viv leaned forward, eyes narrowing as she observed the mixture in Vern’s hand. “What is it?”

“It’s a Potion of Rejuvenation.”

“That’s… a soup.”

“I’ll have you know I made it specifically with several Otherworlder ingredients following a very precise procedure.”

“You realize a lot of the Otherworlders ingredients are just normal stuff dressed up differently.”

Vern went back to ladling his concoction down the throat of the sleeping newcomers. “La la la, I can’t hear you.”

Rory laughed. “We wanted to check on the Homeworlders’ bodies. Where’s Evelyn?”

Vern had no idea, but Jace said that she had left to take a small break. Rory felt a little bad to bother her when she was taking some time to relax, but Viv had no such compunctions. She knew her friend better, and of course, Rory didn’t expect Evelyn to mind. But still. It felt wrong to pester someone when they were trying to relax, unlike him.

Evelyn was happy to point them back to where she had left the corpses. She had been taking a short walk on the roof alongside April’s gardens, which were blooming with new blossoms that heralded the arrival of fresh produce. Rory made sure she didn’t hear what he had planned with the Homeworlder bodies.

“You want me to take off the wrappings?” Evelyn asked.

She had stored the bodies in a closet upstairs in a small storage room. They were in an area of the palace they didn’t really use otherwise. Rory could only imagine it filling up to its entirety, but that wasn’t likely anytime soon, if ever.

“Yes please,” he said. “I need to use my Weaving directly on them.”

Evelyn used her Sigil to remove the golden bandages around one of the Homeworlder bodies. The man underneath the wrappings looked no different from when Rory had last seen him. His skin was pale and sallow, the hint of darkness underneath suggesting that the decay had begun. The smell that proved it was faint in the air. Evelyn’s bandages were doing a remarkable job of preserving the corpses.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Rory said.

He activated his Weaving, focusing on simply obtaining the essence that made the Homeworlders who and what they were. As Rory had feared, his Weaving pulled away bits of the skin, hair, and the rest of the body, dissolving them all to craft the Sigil he was going for. It felt icky, and the result was a mess on the body, but at least Rory had his Sigil.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Homeworlder Essence. Inevitable struggle and enduring survival, like critters of the undergrowth, are what exemplifies the truth of the Homeworlders.

[Teal II] allows medium Homeworlder aura simulation in a 56-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Uncommon

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [47%]

The new Sigil was a raw, pinkish colour, showing the image of a humanoid torso with the arms raised high. He tried to ignore the effect of his Weaving on the body. The corpse’s face had been disfigured to the point that he was now no longer recognizable.

“I’ll take care of it,” Evelyn said, catching Rory’s look on the body. “It shouldn’t be hard.”

“Thanks,” Rory said and meant it.

Viv tapped his shoulder. “Let’s see your new Sigil.”

“Right.”

He combined the Sigils of Obscuration and Homeworlder Essence. The new Sigil he got wasn’t that different from the base version of the Sigil of Obscuration, except for the figure being hidden from looked more like a person.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Homeworlder Obscuration. Those pesky humans get everywhere. Seriously, they’re like sand. Or ants. You think you’ve removed them, well, there they go again, getting into places they really shouldn’t. Hopefully, this helps.

[Teal II] allows obscuration from Homeworlders in all directions in a 48-meter radius for 30 minutes.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: High [73%]

Rory was always taken a little by surprise when the base Sigil’s stats rose whenever it was combined with another Sigil. It was nice, but a little counterintuitive. He’d have thought that adding another Sigil on top of the original would mean they’d need to expend more Mana for the same level of effects. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Excellent,” Viv said. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the new Sigil. “Now we just give it to the Wraith Lord and we should be good.” She smiled at Rory. “You can finally relax.”

“Well… there’s still something I have to take care of.”

Viv frowned. “What’s that?”

Rory gave her an apologetic smile. “The Sigil of Efficiency.”

“Oh.”

They left Evelyn tending to the dead. She couldn’t heal the corpse with her Sigils, but regular bandages were good at keeping the bleeding at bay. Rewrapping the corpse in Evelyn’s golden bandages would continue the original preservation from where they left off.

Thanking her again, and apologizing for interjecting in her rest, Rory and Viv headed to the rear of the palace.

Ned, Dez, and Harlow were bent over the jeep’s engine. They were covered with dirt and streaks of what looked like machine oil. A prickly stench cut into Rory’s nose. He sniffed when he got close, trying to dislodge the odour from clogging up his airways.

He cleared his throat. “Did you guys put everything in already?”

They all looked up at Rory and Viv. Dez greeted them, though Ned and Harlow both looked a little annoyed to be bothered during their task.

“We didn’t insert everything yet,” Dez said. “You said you wanted some of them for Weaving, right?”

Rory smiled. “Yep. Need an older and a newer part side by side for the Sigil of Efficiency.”

“Well, here you go.”

Dez pointed to the ground behind them. There were some small parts there. They were all small tubes with a thick nut in the middle separating the bottom that looked like a screw from the plainer cylinder on top. “Spark plugs, old and new. That should do the trick.”

“I might have to Weave them all away,” Rory said, raising his eyebrow. “You sure you don’t need those?”

“We have extra,” Ned said. “I made sure to pick up a surplus just in case we needed them.”

Viv knelt down and picked up the spark plugs. “Yes. I actually worried about the price for a second when Ned mentioned how many he wanted, but then, we’re not paying for things in an apocalypse.”

They laughed, though there was an edge to it. Rory decided to dispel it by using his Weaving on the spark plugs. He made sure his white lines focused on both of them, thinking only of the idea that one was more efficient than the other. That’s what he needed. Not their ability to start fires, but their combined ability of raising the vehicle’s efficiency.

Soon enough, Rory had a light-blue Sigil that showed the image of a gearwheel, but with its lower half more blurred than its top half.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Efficiency. The goal of any process is perfection. What is the path to that perfection? Why, efficiency, of course.

[Teal II] allows raising in efficiency of any process by 20% for 24 minutes.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [47%]

Rory wasted no time combining it with a Sigil of Mana he already had. The light of his Weaving made everything look white for a second, before he had a new Sigil in his hand. This one was a slightly bluer, the blurring gearwheel now superimposed with deeper blue crystals.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Mana Efficiency. Such a Mana hoarder, you are. Don’t drown in the sea of glowing blue crystals you are on the path to creating.

[Teal II] allows raising Mana efficiency by 25% for 30 minutes.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Teal II [0%]

Efficiency: High [56%]

Rory smiled. A 25% increase in efficiency was a big boost as he saw it. This ought to help the giants a lot to conserve their Mana usage.

“You got it?” Viv asked. Dez and the others were looking on, their attentions pulled in by the white light of Rory’s Weaving.

“Yes.” He held out the Sigil with a smile. “Yes, I have.”