March 21, 2019. Late. Really late.

Clouds have filled the sky, casting Theria’s valley in complete darkness as I fly above the terraced fields. To my surprise, it isn’t one of her wards, but Theria herself who is keeping watch. Her eyes track me as I approach, but she doesn’t rise.

“Nice chair,” she remarks, tilting back in her simple rocking chair.

“Thanks. You too,” I respond.

“Genitha called. Rufka’s okay. Trapped in one of those stupid Aethire bulbs.”

I nod. We knew she was okay. And it figures she’s trapped. Probably went inside to keep me safe and then I disappeared on her.

Theria stares at me, her eyes bobbing as she starts rocking. “She’s happy you’re okay. Said you gave her quite the scare, the way you disappeared.”

Swallowing, I nod again. “I didn’t mean to scare her. It was an accident.”

“Sure. It’s always an accident. You trust the System too much. No real control over your abilities.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “You’re right. Wish you could’ve told me earlier.”

She stops her rocking, a small smile creeping back on her face. “Well. Long as you admit it, I might be able to help. I do have some experience with working outside the System, you know.”

“Oh?” I ask, leaning forward on my throne.

“Yep. Back when I was a Forerunner.”

“You were a Forerunner?” I ask, incredulous. She’s nothing like any of the Forerunner’s I’ve met. Or even heard of.

Theria chuckles as she rises from her chair, “I’ll take that as a compliment. Come on, let’s get some sleep. We can start in the morning. Leave the chair.”

“Wait,” I call after her, hesitating. I want to go to the others… but I really should sleep. Deciding another day won't hurt, I draw the box out of the chair, not wanting to let it out of my sight.

To my surprise, Theria is still waiting, watching me with narrowed eyes as I approach.

“That’s new.”

“Uhm. Yeah.”

“Hmm. Might have more to teach you than I thought.” With that, Theria retreats through the low arch leading inside her home, with me a single pace behind. She gestures to a room on the upper floor, then heads directly to her own. I go into the small room. The bed’s clean, the room small. Even roughing it in the wilds is more luxurious with the ease I’m able to create custom accommodations. But accepting her hospitality means sleeping with others around.

That alone is worth a great deal of discomfort. Compared to everything else that’s happened in the last few days, this doesn’t even qualify. When I drift off to sleep, I dream of Smoulder chasing other mana-hares through a field, Rufka and I laughing at her antics.

I wake at dawn to the sound of an explosion.

…TPWM…

Rushing out of Theria’s cabin, I nearly crash into the mortared wall, distracted by conjuring overlapping shields while searching the shaded valley for the source of the explosions. My attention is drawn to a terrace near the top of the valley, where Ckichik is dodging about, the early morning light shining off his glossy black carapace. The explosions seem to be originating from the same terrace, so I fly towards him, prepared to help.

However, when I arrive, I discover he’s training with Theria. She’s lobbing melons toward him with deceptive speed.

Realizing that the valley isn’t under attack, I settle in place to watch Ckichik train. He’s not using any magic that I can see as he bounces around the field. Several minutes later they stop, Theria having run out of the explosive melons.

Theria turns to me, her furry face crinkling into a smile as I land.

I return the smile, waving to Chichik as he wipes scraps of Melon off before turning back to Theria. “So, when you said you’d help, I hope you didn’t plan on throwing exploding fruit at me.”

“I considered it,” Theria admits. “But you don’t need help training your reflexes. Not in your condition.”

I involuntarily try to squeeze my non-existent hand at her reminder. “Yeah. That’s a fair point.”

“So, we’ll see if we can’t work on your control over mana without the System holding your hand.”

“Should be pretty easy.” I mutter. With how sporadic the System’s been, I’ve barely used my preferred spells. Casting while using my own spellforms has been all I've been doing.

“We’ll see,” Theria says, waving at the wrecked terrace. “Let’s start by cleaning up.”

I nod, following her to an outcropping of torn rock.

“Now. You’ll be grabbing the mana like this,” she says, infusing her mana into the rock, then forcing it to merge with the ground. But I don’t see anything special about it.

“Uh. Can you do that again?” I ask.

Theria nods, moving to the next protruding spike. Again, she infuses the stone with her mana, smoothing it into the small crater it formed from. Despite watching while Pausing, it seems like she’s just doing what I always do.

“So,” I say, “Like this?”

I proceed to flatten a broken ring of spikes into the ground, expecting her to stop me and tell me what I’m doing wrong. But she doesn’t. Instead, she points to another spike. Then another. Soon I’ve restored the terrace to its former glory and Theria is pacing while rolling the octagon from yesterday across her fingers. Guess she didn’t put it back.

Letting her ponder, I look up into the sky, searching for Ukila. But it’s not visible. I’m tempted to connect to Rufka through my interface like I did with Beth, just to talk to her.

But I’m hesitant. If I mess it up, I don’t want to violate her memories like that. Maybe… maybe I can find a way to send messages like the System? But without using its interface. Damn, I wish I’d studied the System when I had the chance maybe. I Focus on the chat interface, hoping to connect-

[Wyonna] “-you see this! Please, let-”

“Wyonna?” I stop as the message obscures my vision completely. It’s far more obtrusive than messages normally are.

[Alexis] “Wyonna can you see this? I only got a couple words. But I saw something!”

There’s no response, and before I can attempt again, Theria speaks. “It would seem I overestimated how much you rely on the System. We’ll need to do other tests of course, but I won’t have much to offer if all your magic is this proficient.”

“Well, that’s good,” I respond distractedly.

“It is. I think I’m going to need proper tools. Wait here,” Theria states before strolling away.

“Okay. Sure…” I say, playing back what exactly happened when Wyonna contacted me.

I was thinking about studying the System. But I wasn’t just thinking about it I was Focusing on it when,

[Wyonna] “-don’t know what happened. This is so-”

Huh. I think I’m onto something. When I Focus on the system messages section of my interface, analyzing it, Wyonna’s messages pop into existence.

[Wyonna] “-sending you messages non-stop, hoping you’ll get them. Least I’m not talking about the chair I want with Ryan Gosling’s face on it.”

Her messages are disappearing as fast as I read them, but at least I can see them now. Ignoring that last message, I reach out to her.

[Alexis] “I think I’ve figured it out. Kind of.”

[Wyonna] “Oh thank goodness. I don’t know what happened, but your System is a mess.”

[Alexis] “Yeah. I figured. It’s not just my System. I got banged up pretty bad.”

[Wyonna] “Oh no. And I bet your healing items are as effective as a stormtrooper!”

[Alexis] “How’d you know?”

[Wyonna] “Most healing items use the System’s understanding of your body to direct their energy. If there’s no System, the energy just kind of goes everywhere. Even if a skilled healer is more efficient, they still rely on the System.”

Well, I’m glad I didn’t try to use my miracle recovery item.

[Alexis] “So, could I replicate what I’m doing right now to communicate with you to get healing working?”

[Wyonna] “Yes? Maybe. Probably not. I wouldn’t recommend it. I had to scrap some of your message System to get things working this much.”

[Alexis] “Wait, you’re breaking my System?”

[Wyonna] “It’s fine. It’ll restore itself once we can connect to the local Network.”

[Alexis] “So, you’re telling me my System will be fine as soon as I login to a Nexus? But I just upgraded to Copper, and it didn’t do anything.”

[Wyonna] “Err, you did? Well, the damage is surprisingly extensive. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re conscious.”

Blinking, I rub at my head with my left head.

[Alexis] “Why does that sentence make me worried?”

[Wyonna] “Because you like to worry? Well, compared to me. You’re nothing compared to Beth. I mean… Nevermind, you shouldn’t worry. It’ll be fine. Even if the System can’t fix everything perfectly, I’ll… figure something out. And if I can’t, we’ll just contact Theglia. I’m sure she’ll have ideas!”

[Alexis] “Yeah, cause it’s super-easy to contact Theglia.”

[Wyonna] “Lex, seriously, we’ll figure it out.”

[Alexis] “I’d like to have my System working again. But you’re right. It’s not the end of the world.”

[Wyonna] “Ha. Good one. You know, since you're trying to stop the… yeah. Nevermind.”

I find myself smiling as Wyonna keeps rambling. It’s pretty clear she’s been feeling the effects of not being able to message anyone. Even more alone than I've been. Maybe I can figure out a way to remove her dependency on the System?

My forehead creases as I think about it. Can I even do that? She existed without the System before we came to Akilo, right? She must've. We didn’t have a System on Earth.

Responding politely to a comment Wyonna made about the glory of pickles, I ask her, “Wyonna, is there some way to free you from my System?”

[Wyonna] “Uh. Wow. Total non sequitur there. What do pickles have to do with my situation. Oh, except I guess I’m kind of in a pickle.”

[Alexis] “Yep. That's totally it.”

[Wyonna] “Right. So, we could unlock the Citizen Training Room. But then you wouldn’t be able to advance your class, so that’s not really much of a solution.”

[Alexis] “Already advanced my class. And I still have a point left. Unlocking the room’s on the table. And we can always run the World Dungeon again, right?”

[Wyonna] “Yes. But now that I’m thinking about it, it’s not a very good solution. I mean, sure it gives me room to stretch my legs, but I’d still be bound to the System like Malcolm to the middle. It’s a shame we can’t access Pelwerd’s systems. It’d be cool to become a city-ship.”

Uh. Right. I’m so used to Wyonna just knowing everything I do I haven’t told her about what’s happened.

[Alexis] “Actually, I have the keys for that now.”

[Wyonna] “Seriously! What else have I missed? Wait, no, you can tell me later. We should go.”

[Alexis] “Soon. I have some other stuff I need to deal with first.”

I spend the next couple minutes filling Wyonna in on everything that’s happened since Aethire, only leaving out the details of Beth’s flashback since that's so… personal. Theria is making her way back up right as I’m finishing.

[Wyonna] “Dang. Okay, you should at least try to connect to a Nexus while I’m active. Worst that happens is it rejects the connection, and you stay the same.”

[Alexis] “Yeah. I’ll check it out. But Theria’s back. I’ll reach out to you again in about an hour, okay?”

[Wyonna] “Sure. Yeah. Uhm… Yeah. I’ll see you in an hour then.”

My heart feels heavy as I focus on Theria. Best to get through this quickly so I can visit the Nexus. If it works, at least Wyonna will have access to my senses again. I think? Not sure what she’ll do.

Theria opens a box pulling out several non-magical items. The first is a dull bronze lamp. It’s meant to burn charcoal, something that probably hasn’t been seen on Akilo since integration. Following the lamp is a series of bowls, each with a spout as long as the bowl is wide. Finally, she pulls out a metal tree, its thick silver trunk studded with hundreds of branching spokes. Each spoke is subtly different, composed of different alloys.

“Okay. So, I’ve already seen your skill with raw stone mana. Let’s test fire next. Keep this lit for five minutes without using a skill. Try not to damage it,” Theria says, setting the lantern in front of me.

Shrugging, I create a small flame within the lantern, letting it burn. As it burns, I find myself staring into the fire, making it dance and play. By the time the five minutes are up, I have a swarm of miniature Elswyrms darting about the lantern.

Theria doesn’t seem impressed, simply setting the lantern to the side while replacing it with the bowls with oversized spouts. “Fill these with water drawn from the air. Do not leave any mana-created water in the bowls.”

This is even easier, since I don’t have to wait. A few seconds later her bowls are full. I might have overdone it, my charred skin cracking in the suddenly too-dry air.

Nodding, Theria has a small smile tugging at her lips as she sets the bowls to the side. When she places the metal tree in front of me, her eyes narrow as her grin stretches. “Create a visible whirlwind with the rod at its centre without disturbing the sensors,” she instructs, indicating the varied metal branches.

My burned-off eyebrow tries to rise as I peer at the tree with new respect, causing me to wince. This is a challenge I haven’t considered before. Why would I need to make a visible whirlwind, nevermind have it avoid objects within its area of effect.

Starting with a gentle breeze, I attempt to send it around the metal tree. But several of the spokes immediately light up. Theria stands, collecting four of the bowls, her smile still in place. “You keep practicing. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”

I nod, already proceeding with my third attempt.

Theria returns half an hour later and I still haven’t succeeded. With all the failures, I've been taking a break the last couple minutes, letting Wyonna chat at me as I consider the tree.

I’ve lost count of how many attempts I’ve made. Even when I direct the wind to blow at its gentlest, thinnest gust, the sensors still react. And blasting it full force just sets off every sensor. She doesn’t say anything, barely sparing me a glance before collecting the rest of her bowls. Then she’s gone again, and I’m back to wrestling with the wind after I bid a short goodbye to Wyonna again. At this point I start cheating, drawing on my mighty temporal power. But using Pause seems to make it even worse.

This time when Theria returns, she sits down across from me, holding up a hand indicating I should stop. I oblige her, my latest monstrosity having failed as quickly as every previous attempt.

She holds her lower hands out to the side and I feel the ambient mana in our area drop. Then she withdraws a pair of slated fans, splaying them wide. She uses the fans with her upper hands to physically fan the metal tree. With just the movement of the air, the tree shapes the incoming air into a whirlwind, not a single sensor lighting up.

“That’s cheating,” I complain, “Are they detecting mana? How does this help me?”

“They’re not detecting all mana. Just System-tinted mana.”

“Wait. That’s a thing?”

“Of course.”

“So, all my magic is being assisted by the System,” I say, frowning while staring at the little tree.

Theria chuckles softly, her ears flicking in amusement. “Hardly all. Have you noticed that you haven’t once lit up these branches.” She points to the darkest of the branches, sending a wave of mana over them. The flash is so bright, I’m startled. I haven’t had a reaction even half that bright, not once.

“What?” I sputter, blinking my eye to clear it.

“That was a fully System assisted use of wind-manipulation. Even your first attempts were good enough you didn’t trigger them.”

“So, you’re saying I’ve been focusing on the wrong thing? I thought they were detecting wind speed or something,” I sigh, leaning away from the tower.

“You were making progress. Or did you not notice that you were only triggering half as many sensors near the end?”

“Uh. No,” I admit, “I think I need to take a break.”

Taking a break is the last thing I want to do. But I did promise Wyonna.

So, once more, I talk to her while considering… how do I create fully System-less mana?