I'd wanted to visit the village for some stress-free family time, and instead I'd found Darren doing a damn good imitation of a dragon while hanging out with Erryn. And an actual dragon. Who had turned multiple acres of meadow into glass.

Not great glass, admittedly. It was a dirty green, and it wouldn't have occurred to anyone it could be a useful material if the glasswork series of skills hadn't already been a thing, but at least it was nice and smooth.

And Erryn was Lawified and broken. And Krana was catching pyromania from Darren, and then getting bashful about the fact.

I sidled back over to Jason, as my single anchor of normality in the vicinity.

"Please tell me you can't breathe fire?" I asked, just to check.

"Of course not."

"Good. Thank goodness there's someone normal still around."

Jason treated me to a glare, looking slightly above what was required for eye contact. I felt my ears twitch under the attention.

"... Fine. I'll go over that side where I belong, shall I?"

Jason cracked a smile. "Actually, it looks like you're wanted right here."

I turned around to find toddler Erryn hovering around my ankles, staring up at me.

"Pe... ter?"

"Yes?"

"Darren... brother?"

"Yes?"

Her head tilted as she stared at me in thought.

"Adopted too?"

Ah... I could see her confusion. "No, I'm human. These are fake," I lied, using [Detach] on an ear, because I really didn't want to explain myself to a three-year-old.

Her head tilted in the opposite direction as she considered my answer. Presumably trying to mesh my claim with the fact that they were moving.

"You play dress up?"

"I... suppose?"

Erryn nodded as if that was a perfectly sensible response. Children rarely understood that adults didn't play quite so much.

Her confusion abated, she went toddling back over to Darren, who was now the centre of a full solar system, with fireballs of varying sizes orbiting him at increasing distances. He flicked a hand, causing one to blast out like a bolt and add a new crater to the landscape. I took that as my cue to make my escape and leave the pyromaniacs to their fun.

"Hey, Darren. Can you open a portal from here back to the village?" I asked, mostly out of interest as to whether it was possible.

I felt the mana stutter around me as I drew his attention, his head only twisting around in my direction a second later.

"Sorry. Can't reach."

"Can't reach? The village is further away than another universe?"

"Yeah. It's far. I can only reach..." he took on a look of concentration and through [Mana Sight] I saw the spiral of spatial affinity as he pushed together a portal. Two portals, no more than a couple of metres apart. "... that far."

I'd never seen him struggle once a portal to Earth was open, but he was struggling now, obviously needing to concentrate to keep the portal stable.

I rushed over and stuck my arm through one, watching it pop out the other. The inside was longer than the ones he'd opened to Earth, but still nothing compared to our regular portal network.

"Okay, I'll teleport back then. But I still don't get how that's further apart than here to Earth."

"Earth is really close," he answered, which made no sense. He'd opened portals to multiple points on Earth, separated by far more than two metres. Not to mention the way Earth was spinning around the sun, which was orbiting the galaxy, which was orbiting... more galaxies? Whatever our galaxy was up to, I knew things liked to spin back in that universe. How could every point in that universe be close to every point in this one?

The portals collapsed the moment he stopped feeding them, showing no sign of becoming self-sustaining like the Earth portals had.

"Have you done any investigations into his portals?" I asked Krana.

"I have not. Investigations are the job of your institute."

"The institute isn't mine. But I was just thinking that we might want to find out more about what he's doing if we're going to rely on them. The way they keep trying to become stable is disturbing. Why is it so much easier to tunnel to Earth than to open portals locally?"

"I do not know, nor can I imagine how to discover the answer. This is why you acquiesced to the request of our Earthen visitors, is it not?"

True. Actually, that was a good point; once they'd learnt to open portals here, had they ever tried opening them around Earth? The power requirements were nothing to sneeze at, but with the benefits to logistics, it may still be economical.

... Military applications, too, if they could target the other end of the portal anywhere. Then again, if they couldn't target the end point here, there was no reason to believe they'd be able to on Earth either.

In a thoughtful mood, I teleported back to the village. Bumping into Erryn like that had been a surprise, and I felt that leaving so soon was a wasted opportunity, but I really couldn't think of anything to do with her. Without the use of appraisal skills or [Soul Perception], she looked like a perfectly normal toddler.

"Back already? Did you find him?" asked Mum, as ever employing her magical mum senses to pick up on my arrival. Or maybe it was just [Mana Sense].

"Yup, but things over there were a little crazy for my tastes, so I came back. Is Dad in the fields?"

"Too crazy for you? Surely that's an exaggeration. But yes, he's out weeding."

"I'll go join him then. That sounds reassuringly normal."

Also, since I had [Advanced Farming], I should do some actual farming. And so I spent the afternoon carefully plucking weeds from fields, enjoying the brief period of boredom immensely.

ding

Skill [Advanced Farming] advanced to level 3

Class [Artisan] advanced to level 10

Class level increased all stats by 5

Title [Magician] evolved to [Magician 2]

Dammit. Couldn't I spend a single hour in peace? I come home and find Darren playing with Krana and Erryn, then I go do something as boring as weeding some crops and end up completing my class! Not building flame grenades, or houses, or engaging in disturbing bouts of self-modification, but weeding.

My mana total had exceeded a thousand, too, resulting in a new title.

[Magician 2] - You possess an enormous amount of mana, dwarfing most others of your race. Mana regeneration boosted by 25%. Minor levelling boost to all spells. (Rank 3)

I couldn't get excited about the increased boost to my natural mana regeneration, which was practically irrelevant in the face of my manual recharge, but a levelling boost was nice. I still hadn't got all of my spells back to their new cap of eighteen after getting [Skilled 3].

So, what new classes did I have on offer? I hadn't seen anything last time I'd used [Eye of Judgement] on myself, but that had been a while back. I hadn't got into the habit of habitually checking myself.

Rank 2 Available Classes: [Monk] [Soul Mage] [Temporal Mage] [Thaumaturgist] [Teacher] [Trader] [Gatherer] [Bard] [Warrior] [Ranger] [Scout] [Spellsword] [Maid]

Rank 3 Available Classes: [Analyst] [Body High Mage] [Spatial High Mage] [Expert Cook] [Expert Smith] [Expert Enchanter] [Expert Butcher] [Expert Alchemist] [Expert Tailor] [Expert Carpenter] [Expert Farmer] [Expert Mason]

Rank 4 Available Classes: [Eldritch High Mage]

Nope. Still nothing unexpected. While that released me from my deal with Grover, it was something of a disappointment. My brief foray into the world of crafting had been fun.

I needed one more soul point for [Basic Glasswork]. Was it worth waiting for it to see if I got an upgrade to [Versatile Crafter]? [Magician] had just evolved, in addition to the evolved titles I already had, so obviously things evolving to higher ranks wasn't uncommon. A [Versatile Crafter 2] was highly likely to be there somewhere, although how anyone without things like [Test Subject] and [Jack of All Trades 2] was supposed to get it, I hadn't a clue.

Or I could take another class now, use the points from it to upgrade the title, then look at crafting classes again next time. But even if I changed classes now, I only had two soul points stockpiled. It wasn't enough for rank three or four skills. If I took [Eldritch High Mage], I wouldn't be able to buy new skills or spells for a while, and I'd be locked into the class for a long time. I didn't even have any idea what spells it would offer.

A lower ranked class would be better. [Soul Mage] was probably not as interesting for the current world situation as it sounded. I'd be willing to bet quite a lot of money that it would only give me the non-minor versions of my mental stat boost spells. It certainly wouldn't come with a 'turn the Law off' spell. Even the best case I could imagine—getting some sort of soul shield—probably wouldn't help at all given that soul affinity resistance items didn't. Even if it did, it would assuredly be temporary.

If I was going to take another mage class, it would be [Temporal Mage]. The other option was [Warrior], mostly to get some better artes, but it would also unlock the rank four version of [Regeneration]. Well, I'd promised Lord Reid that I'd discover the complex affinity between space and time, so... why not? Thanks to the way [Proficient Delver] had a greater proportional effect on lower ranked classes, I should be able to complete it as quickly as [Artisan], and I wouldn't need to spend soul points on the extra spells, so I could either save them or use them in pursuit of [Versatile Crafter 2].

ding

Class changed to [Temporal Mage]

Working...

Uh... What did it mean, 'working'? All I did was change class!

Worse, a check of the skill shop showed that I had nothing new on offer. Where was my [Speed] and [Slow]? I was less interested in [Stutter], but that wasn't there either.

ding

Error: Attempting to apply an incompatible spell set. Resolving conflict. Working...

And once again, what? Was there some reason it couldn't give me both space and time spells? And now it was trying to work out how to fix things? Then why let me take [Temporal Mage] at all?! If they conflicted, it should have locked me out of the class when I first took [Spatial Mage].

Probably the issue had never arisen before...

"Bored already?" called Dad, noticing that I'd stopped working.

"I wish!" I answered. "Can't seem to do 'boring' today, however hard I try. I finished my class, so I was picking a new one."

"If you want boring, take [Expert Farmer]."

"No thanks. I don't want to be that boring."

Dad gave a faux pout before getting back to work, leaving me to wonder what the System was up to. It was true that opposite affinity mana could conflict. Take the obvious example of fire and ice; they'd cancel each other out. The same would apply if you cast [Warm] and [Cool] on the same object. Why should it be a problem casting [Warm] on one object and [Cool] on another, though? I'd never had difficulty casting [Far Step] or [Far Reach] while under the effects of [Minor Speed]. The spells did completely different things! It was casting [Speed] and [Slow] on the same target that would result in the effects cancelling out.

Walking a little way from the field, I focused my [Expert Mana Control] high in the air and produced a burst of spatial affinity, then a second time, producing temporal affinity on top. The two affinities of mana burst apart. It wasn't as if they reacted explosively; they simply didn't seem to want to remain in the same area. Further experiments showed the repulsion scaled with the amount of mana. Was that why rank one spells were okay, but the System considered rank two spells incompatible? I could hold small amounts of both affinities, but any more would result in them bursting out of my body?

I couldn't produce both at once. They required twisting the ambient mana in opposite directions. One way gave space, and the opposite gave time. Twisting in both at the same time was just as impossible as looking left and right simultaneously.

Deciding I'd rather be in the proximity of the hospital in case the System decided to do something dodgy, I lay down and activated [Redistribute].

Nothing happened.

In a spot of panic, I checked my status, but the skills were still there.

Name: Peter

Species: Human

Class: Temporal Mage (Level 1/103)

Class History: [Commoner 10] [Apprentice Mage 10] [Body Mage 20] [Spatial Mage 15] [Apprentice Fighter 7] [Eldritch Mage 30] [Artisan 10]

Soul Points: 2

Health: 557/557

Stamina: 820.00/820.00

Mana: 1010.00/1010.00

Strength: 52(+24)

Dexterity: 56(+24)

Endurance: 53(+24)

Intelligence: 72(+24)

Wisdom: 47(+24)

Charisma: 46(+24)

Rank 1 Artes: [Backstab 5] [Armour Break 14] [Mighty Swing 15] [Swift Strike 15] [Shattering Strike 3] [Rapid Shot 6] [Piercing Shot 5]

Rank 1 Spells: [Minor Strength 15] [Far Step 17] [Minor Speed 17] [Minor Dexterity 15] [Minor Endurance 15] [Minor Intelligence 15] [Minor Wisdom 15] [Minor Charisma 15] [Far Reach 18] [Minor Slow 17]

Rank 2 Spells: [Strength 18] [Dexterity 18] [Endurance 18] [Weft Walk 18] [Item Box 17] [Distortion 15]

Rank 3 Spells: [Detach 16] [Redistribute 12] [Shelter 12] [Superimpose 16]

Rank 1 Skills: [Inspection 16] [Meditation 15] [Concealment 11] [Foraging 15] [Hunting 10] [Musician 12] [Weapon Proficiency: Universal 17] [Basic Crafting 16] [Clock 16] [Stamina Finesse 7] [Danger Sense 16] [Basic Etiquette 7] [Language: Common 10] [Language: English 10]

Rank 2 Skills: [Appraisal 16] [Enhanced Mana Recovery 16] [Weapon Style: Flowing Mist 18] [Extended Mana Pool 15] [Engineering 6] [Secrecy 11] [Enhanced Stamina Recovery 16] [Extended Stamina Pool 15] [Soul Perception 18] [Extended Health Pool 7] [Advanced Cooking 3] [Advanced Smithing 4] [Advanced Runecrafting 9] [Disassembly 3] [Advanced Alchemy 4] [Advanced Tailoring 2] [Advanced Carpentry 4] [Advanced Farming 3] [Advanced Masonry 1]

Rank 3 Skills: [Analysis 16] [Expert Mana Control 18] [Expert Mana Finesse 18] [Mana Sight 18] [Regeneration 6]

Rank 4 Skills: [Eye of Judgement 3]

Traits: [Unbound Soul] [Determined Progressor] [Test Subject] [Xenophilia] [Soul Bound]

Titles: [Jack of All Trades 2] [Victorious Underdog 3] [Skilled 3] [Survivor 2] [Flexible Combatant] [Versatile Crafter] [Magician 2] [Athlete] [Proficient Delver] [Durable]

Nothing at all unexpected, but [Redistribute] was unusable. [Eye of Judgement] showed nothing unexpected either. Running through the rest of my spells, everything that used space or time affinity was broken, including my complex affinity [Eldritch Mage] spells. Pure body affinity spells still worked, thank goodness, but if I'd lost my teleportation, I was going to be seriously pissed. And what about everything in my [Item Box]?

"Hey, System. Gimme my spells back! Just take [Temporal Mage] back off me if it's not compatible!"

ding

Oh. Great. Okay, what's the damage?

Creating alternate spell list.

Error: Disruptive mana interactions projected.

Creating alternate spell list.

Error: Disruptive mana interactions projected.

Creating alternate spell list.

Error: Disruptive mana interactions projected.

Working...

Of course it wasn't listening to me... Stupid thing. I still wanted to be around a healer, in case it did something dangerous, but I'd have to run back to the village. That risked anything bad happening on the way, with no-one around. At least here I had Dad.

"Dad?" I called, getting back to my feet and running to find him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Yet. Just... If I collapse or something in the next few minutes, get me back to Richard, please?"

"... What the heck? What class did you pick?!"