Later that evening, after helping the others raise their Sigil’s Tiers with his Sigil of Weaving, Rory was relaxing when he got a call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Rory,” Hakim’s voice filtered out from the walky-talky. “I hope you’re doing well.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Rory sat up against the column he had been lazing against. There was a slight tension in Hakim’s voice. He was trying to keep it down, but Rory could strangely feel it through the call. Nearby, Rory’s motion alerted Viv, and she started walking over. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, we were hoping to reach you about certain matters of business that we wished to discuss. But unfortunately, things have become difficult.”

“How so?”

Hakim took an audible deep breath, and Rory figured the story was going to be long. “We recovered some of the corpses of the Imps from the destroyed marketplace. We were hoping to bring them to you, to Weave some Sigil from them for us, but our way forward has been barred. Hillhard has a new species of monsters filling up its streets and buildings—well, what little of them it has left—and Sigils don’t work on them.”

“What?”

“You hear me. Sigils have no effect on them. We had to find out the hard way when we attacked, and nothing worked.”

“Wait, how do you mean nothing worked?”

Hakim sighed. “Any effect created by a Sigil has no effect on these creatures. You can summon fire or lightning, poisonous gases, throw giant boulders at them, what have you, and all of them disappear as soon as they try to hit the monsters.”

“They just… disappear?”

“They vanish into thin air, yes.”

Rory could feel his face growing cold. “That’s very scary.”

“Believe me, it was the most frightening thing I’ve seen in ages. Poor Mike and Takeda.”

Those had to be the unfortunate people who had tried to take on these new monsters. He had a sinking feeling they hadn’t survived the counter.

“Do you have any plans on how to deal with the creatures?” Rory asked.

“Not yet,” Hakim said. “We are currently retreating and regrouping, and then we’ll consider our options based on what we’ve seen so far. But the real issue with regards to you, Rory, is that we cannot conduct business if we can’t even reach you.”

“That is an issue…”

“Yes.”

“I’ll find a way for us to get in touch,” Rory said. “We’ll figure something out, I’m sure. Just need some time to think the problem through.”

“I certainly hope we can come up with something. But in the worst-case scenario that we can’t, I hope you will have some other way solution.”

“We’ll see. Thanks for warning, Hakim.”

“You’re welcome, friend.”

They cut off the call. Rory had trouble falling asleep that night. His mind was occupied with different possibilities and ideas for how he could solve this new, strange problem of monsters who couldn’t be stopped by using Sigils.

That seemed like a fundamentally broken problem. All through the apocalypse, they’d been conditioned to use Sigils for basically everything. Suddenly finding out that there was a breed of monsters upon whom Sigils had no effect was… terrifying.

Unfortunately, Rory’s mind couldn’t draw up any solutions that night. So, fitfully, he went to sleep. He had told the new problem to Viv and Dez—neither of them was able to find easy answers—but refrained from ruining anyone else’s sleep just then. The only thing Rory said was to stay within the grounds of the palace no matter what. He had no idea how close or far the monsters were, after all.

By morning, certain possibilities were working up in his head. He was glad to have something by the time he decided to break the news to the others.

“What do you mean by Sigils don’t work on them?” Bo asked. Try as he did to keep a hold of himself, there was an undeniable undercurrent of fear in his voice. That amplified the unease everyone else was feeling too. “Do Sigils just not work when we’re near them or what?”

“Anything created by a Sigil disappears when it’s close to the monsters,” Rory said. “I guess if you stand close enough, your Sigil might refuse to function at all, since most Sigils effects are external.”

April placed a calming hand on her husband’s shoulder, who stepped back to ponder the new, frightening information. “Wait, so what about Sigils with internal effects?”

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about. I’m not sure yet if internal-effect Sigils still work, since using those would affect the user, not any external target. But then, if the effect itself is used against the monsters, does that mean they’re nullified. Say, for instance, you raised your strength with a Sigil. Can you now punch a hole in the monsters, or will that increased strength not register on the creatures?”

Nobody had an answer to that, not even Rory. Some of them eventually argued that it shouldn’t be an issue since the effect was entirely internal, but others said that it was best to be cautious, with which, Rory agreed.

“But that means the Homeworlders can get through to us,” Viv said, looking away with unfocused eyes as she thought. “Some of them must have stealth Sigils.”

True. Viv herself possessed and used the Sigil of Smoky Stealth. But once again, it could the case that even if they used a stealth Sigil to sneak past the monsters, it might be the case that the Sigil-gifted strength wouldn’t work on the creatures.

Nevertheless, it was worth a shot. The knowledge whether internal Sigils worked or not was vital.

“Hi, Hakim,” Rory said after calling up the Homeworlders. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Rory. I assume you’re calling because you have news or a proposal or something of the sort.”

“Well, I do have an idea.”

He went on to explain how he wanted the Homeworlders to test some more of the unkillable monsters’ abilities. They needed a clearer understanding of what those things were capable of. More importantly, he wanted to know if they could stealth past the monsters.

“Mm, there are a few of us here that can use some kind if stealth,” Hakim said. “I am unsure if they would be willing to test it out, but I will see what can be done. Thank you for sharing your idea.”

He let Hakim go off to see to executing the idea. The problem was that, even if the idea turned out to be a sound one, there were only so many people with stealth Sigils. It wasn’t efficient, since movement would then be restricted to only those who could sneak past the creatures.

In other words, even if Sigils of stealth helped against the monsters, Rory was going to have to create a lot more of them so that more people could use them.

That reminded him about the Sigil of Evasion from the shop. That could work, in a way. It also reminded him to check the System Shop again, just in case the listing had updated and he could get different Sigils, hopefully ones that could assist him with the new problem. He’d received a lot of new Credits after the last deal with the dwarves and the Wilders.

When he opened it up again, he focused only on the area where he could buy Sigils.

[System Shop]

Waste not, want not. Credits aren’t infinite. Purchase wisely.

Sigils

Sigil of Progression Blueprint [Cost: 40 Credits] Sigil of Glass [Cost: 50 Credits] Sigil of Laser Tendrils [Cost: 80 Credits] Sigil of Lasso [Cost: 35 Credits]

Rory stared at the options. Once again, he dearly wished the shop would have at least attached some sort of rudimentary description for the Sigils. He could guess what each of those Sigils might have done, but for some of them, it still felt like throwing darts in the dark. For all he knew, his guesses might wildly miss the mark.

More importantly, he wasn’t sure any of those would actually help with their current predicament. Which wasn’t to say the Sigils weren’t interesting. The first one especially had intrigued Rory as to what it might offer him. Progression Blueprint… it sounded as though he could use it to map out his progress on certain things.

He did pick the Sigil of Lasso immediately, however. The description proved his intuition was correct.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Lasso. Some things need a strong twirl before being chucked into the aether. Never be afraid to twist things around to improve their ability as a projectile!

[Teal I] allows rotating up to 2.1x heavier object in a 5-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Exceptional

Tier: Teal I [0%]

Efficiency: High [65%]

There. If what Rory assumed was correct, they could use this Sigil to throw things at the monsters. The Sigil’s effect was several degrees removed from the monster itself, so it ought to be effective.

Before buying any more Sigils, he consulted the others first. They had enough Credits to spare, but for all Rory knew, they might get better Sigil offers the next time he reloaded the System Shop.

“I want to see what this Progression Blueprint offers,” Viv said. “It sounds interesting.”

“And Laser Tentacles doesn’t?” Miles asked. “You need to cultivate your youthful spirit.”

Viv roller her eyes, though she had a little smile on. “Laser Tendrils, right, Rory?”

“Ye… yes, I think so,” he said. “But I agree, I do think the blueprint could be fun. The other two would unfortunately be useless against our new monsters. I’m also not sure why the Shop keeps throwing up the Sigil of Glass all the time.”

Trish looked around as though trying to find some glass somewhere in the area. “Maybe it loves it for some reason.”

“Maybe a Sigil of Glass is a lot more powerful than we’re thinking, so the Shop really wants us to get it,” Miles said.

Whatever the true case for seeing the Sigil of Glass all the time was, Rory ignored it as he returned to the System Shop and picked the Sigil of Progression Blueprint.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Progression Blueprint. Ever wondered what you might be like after a period of time? Well, look no further. Now you can forecast your future with the help of this handy mapping tool.

[Teal I] allows checking Tier Progression up to 3.1 Tiers ahead.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Ordinary

Tier: Teal I [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [43%]

“Huh,” Rory said.

When the others looked questioningly at him, he explained the Sigil’s description to them. Apparently, they could check specifically how their Sigils would grow from that point on.

“Oh, that’s exciting!” Miles said.

“It is?” April asked.

“Yeah! Now you can see how awesome your Sigils are going to be in the next few Tiers.” Miles looked around them all with beaming expression and they all slowly started to realize what it really meant. “Think about it. Every Tier we’ve grown a Sigil, it not only got stronger, but it also gained new stuff too, right?”

“That’s right.” Rory grinned at the younger guy. He could recall how he had seen the Element Sigils in each Tier. At Argent, they’d been capable of one or two functions. At Teal, most were capable of four. “We can see how powerful our Sigils will become. We’ve been seeing it all along.”

“Exactly, gramps!”

The others needed a little more convincing, but that was to be expected. Nobody had seen Sigil descriptions anywhere close to the level Rory had. Some of them hadn’t bothered to check their own Sigils’ descriptions since they’d first obtained them, which was rather stupid, if Rory was being truthful. They might be missing out on wholly new abilities they didn’t know about.

“How are we going to use it though?” Viv asked. “Just give it to someone and expect them to magically prophesize how our Sigils will go?”

“Oh, oh, I volunteer!” Miles said. “What? I’m just curious about everyone’s Sigils.”

Rory patted him on the shoulder. “I think we can Ward it instead. Let me see…”

He took the Sigil to one of the columns that he was certain he hadn’t Warded anything else into. At this rate, they would have to start hanging signboards at every column to indicate what had been Warded where.

Rory placed the Sigil of Progression Blueprint against the smooth, grey column, then activated his Sigil of Warding. In a flash, the Sigil disappeared into the pillar. All his palm touched was the column’s cool stone. He kept his hand on the same place and activated the Warded the Sigil, imagining Mana crystals floating into the Sigil.

A new window filled with words popped up in his line of sight.

[Please pick the Sigil from your [Status] that you would like to view.]

Rory’s [Status] automatically opened up next. He selected the Sigil of Weaving.

Sigil of Weaving

[Teal I] allows object conversion into up to Legendary rarity [Teal I] Sigils in a 56-meter radius, combination of up to 14 Sigils, extracting Warded and absorbed Sigils, and varying created Sigil Tiers.

[Viridian I] allows object conversion into up to Legendary rarity [Teal I] Sigils in a 72-meter radius, combination of up to 21 Sigils, extracting Warded and absorbed Sigils, varying created Sigil Tiers, and multiple Sigil obtainment.

[Umber I] allows object conversion into up to Legendary rarity [Teal I] Sigils in a 90-meter radius, combination of up to 30 Sigils, extracting Warded and absorbed Sigils, varying created Sigil Tiers, multiple Sigil obtainment, remote Weaving.

[Carmine I] allows object conversion into up to Legendary rarity [Teal I] Sigils in a 186-meter radius, combination of up to 45 Sigils, extracting Warded and absorbed Sigils, varying created Sigil Tiers, multiple Sigil obtainment, remote Weaving, and Weaving abstract concepts.

Rory’s eyes widened at the sight. He was expecting what he was seeing, but it was still a wonder to come across it like that, especially considering all the things in the future awaiting him.

Remote Weaving and Weaving abstract concepts sounded spectacular. A level of control so far unforeseen. But he couldn’t get glittery-eyed over possibilities so far into the future. What he needed wasn’t far, in truth. Viridian I was supposed to allow him to obtain multiple Sigils, presumably in one go.

It had been a while since he had last checked his [Status]. Rory took a gander to see just how far off he was from reaching Viridian.

[Status]

Rory McIlroy

Race: Human

Class: Grand Weaver

Profession: Veteran Merchant

Tier: Cerulean X [17%]

Perks: Rescuer, Stalwart, Looter, Venerable, Lifedrain

Stats

Spirit: 125 [Teal I]

Fortitude: 110 [Cerulean IX]

Vitality: 100 [Cerulean V]

Leadership: 140 [Cerulean VIII]

Mana: 80 [Cerulean VIII]

Sigils

Sigil of Weaving: Legendary, [Teal II]

Sigil of Warding: Mythic, [Teal I]

Sigil of Stats: Ordinary, [Cerulean IX]

Sigil of Knowledge: Exceptional, [Teal I]

Sigil of Mercantilism: Exceptional, [Cerulean X]

Sigil of Wielding: Exceptional, [Cerulean VIII]

Items

Staff of Deadly Winter

Shirt of Rejuvenation

-

Teal II. He recalled that from the last time he had used his Weaving. More interestingly, it was nice to see that his personal Tier was at Cerulean X. So close to Teal.

He smiled. With Viridian not too distant a goal, he might just have a solution for the rest of them.