Amanaris

***

Sandstorm Rage Ability Score increase 302 -> 303

“This feels like cheating,” Ranvir commented, leaping from one pillar to the other. His Ability fueling the jump and protecting him from the fall. In all the time he’d been inside the fold, only Sand Strike had developed even slightly. Then only because he’d been pushing against the very limits of his spirit and control. Now, after less than ten leaps, Rage had already increased once.

“That’s because it is,” Latresekt replied, humor clear in its voice. “You’re literally not any better. I’m just making it seem like it. So well, even Amanaris can’t tell.”

“Huh,” Ranvir said, stopping in front of a growth of fyla stone. Kneeling down, he checked a crevice. It was no bigger than two of his fingers pressed together, but it was dark and enough moisture gathered for fungal growth.

“I know we’re supposed to be planting circles all over the place,” Ranvir said, broaching the subject on his mind.

“Yeah.”

“So why am I gathering thólos?” his eyebrows raised as the spongy, soft texture of the mushrooms grazed his fingers. Bracing his elbow on the pillar, he shoved the fyla with away. The odd pyramid-like growth dug into his fingers, then groaned and cracked before finally snapping and falling away.

Ranvir didn’t really care about the sound, as the mercenaries had withdrawn into their camp. From Ranvir’s brief glimpses of the lines, he thought he detected a few losses to the monsters. It wasn’t worth risking encountering low-Urityon monsters if it risked your life. Especially if that wasn’t the purpose of your arrival.

The crevice grew a lot bigger, Ranvir discovered. Instead of revealing a handful of the mushrooms, he pulled out a gathering bigger than his own head.

“Back-up plan,” Latresekt said tersely.

“Do I get to know the back-up plan?”

“No, it would lower the efficacy.”

“Lovely,” Ranvir said, stuffing the thólos into his space. Next, he grabbed a piece of the fyla that had broken off. Pushing down, Ranvir quickly worked out the basics of a circle. Fyla, it turned out, was a lot harder than the stones it grew out of. Then again, from Ranvir’s experience, most stones didn’t grow like fyla did. Carving the circle with the pyramid stone was difficult.

Occasionally, the stone wouldn’t simply cut a groove, but flake off a larger piece, which forced him to redo the entire circle. Not only that, but since the fold was made of first order matter and first order energy powered them, they would wear down. Mostly, it just meant he had to keep going.

At the moment, Ranvir could barely detect the effects of the circles he’d already carved. Effects as in the mana they took in, since none of them had even begun outputting, yet. Though, some of the first had to be close to full at this point. Within an hour, he suspected.

The question was whether someone like Mihail had the Abilities to discover it immediately. Ranvir would eventually get close enough for Sabas’ tether-sense to reach the circle. At that point, he’d sense it once released.

Carapace clicked against stone. Ranvir froze in the midst of drawing the basin for the circle. “Please go away,” he said. “I need like a moment, nothing more,” the carapace worked across the stone carelessly. More clicks followed, water dripping on rock as well.

Sighing, Ranvir turned to the crabs that had crawled onto the pillar. They were the typical critters of the fold, about the size of a medium-sized dog and so weak even Amalia outmatched them physically. They were also annoyingly stubborn.

Running his tongue along his gums, Ranvir considered them. “I’m going to lose my place now. I’ll have to start over.”

Carapace on stone, clicks of claws as they prepared to strike and feast. Ranvir almost didn’t put any thought into his next move, but at the last moment, decided a little effort may warrant some reward.

Amanaris

***

Sand Barrage Ability Score increased: 273 -> 274

Half the carapace coated creatures got their shells shucked, the other half blowing back half a dozen feet. Ranvir, despite his annoyance at the interruption, grinned at the notification. He threw another barrage, hoping for another increase, but sadly was left disappointed.

Sighing, he returned to carving his circle. Once finished, he blew all the sand off the platform with a simple effort of will, collected one of the mostly shell free crabs and left the rest for scavengers.

It’d do for food. Hopefully, when it was time for dinner, enough of a storm had been kicked up that smoke would go unnoticed and they could finally have a fire. They’d run out of firestones and Ranvir still had enough bruises, scrapes, and other injuries from the last few days that Latresekt hadn’t touched. Drinking thólos tea cold was about as disgusting as drinking the run off from his roof. If slightly healthier, supposedly.

Another notification buzzed by as he leapt towards his next destination, the stone cracking loudly as boxes appeared in his view.

Amanaris

***

Sandstorm Rage Ability Score increase: 303 -> 304

“Maybe cheating isn’t the right word,” Ranvir said, his words lost to the wind. “Illegal feels more appropriate.”

“Just wait until I leave,” Latresekt commented. “You’re going to be in for a rough couple of months.”

Ranvir pursed his lips. The spirit was probably right. Once it left, the easy gains would go with it. Or rather, Ranvir’s actual skill with the Abilities hadn’t increased, only Amanaris’ interpretation of them.

Another crowd of crabs had gathered on the pillar he’d aimed for, so Ranvir sent another barrage of sand at them.

Amanaris

***

Sand Barrage Ability Score increase: 274 -> 275

He grinned again.

Phormos, the Drowned King, took in the moment of silence. The room hummed with it. All potential, yet nothing as of yet. Nothing except for a carpet. Though he was strong and could’ve easily knelt on the stone for days, he was also a king. As such, he at least had to have a carpet. Apparently.

For a quarter flare, he knelt in the room. Accompanied by silence and the potential of things that weren’t yet here. Also Haris. But again, he was a king. Completely alone was as mythical as the gods. Maybe it once existed, but no more.

At the edge of his senses, Phormos felt the burn of the sun intensify slightly. Another flare lit. He opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

“Are you ready to begin, your excellency?”

Phormos nodded, then he breathed deeply three times.

With the first breath, he stilled his inner world. All the power and mana within him coming to a standstill. No interference could come from within. A point of absolute silence but within himself. The silence so deep you could hear the raindrop fall from the clouds long before it landed on the ground.

With the second breath, he stilled the outer world. His spirit billowed out, passed through the house, into the streets, then down into the waters. Reverberating through his dominion, the rivers, deltas, lakes, and ponds all responded to his power. Echoing once with his desire. Though the people and animals living within his kingdom might not recognize it, they still obeyed. Conversations grew quieter, animals calmer, even the wind in the leaves stilled some.

With the third breath, Phormos gazed the lines. Energy returned to him from all over Limclea. Energies that traveled for hundreds of kilometers, passed through thousands of homes, crossed the paths of tens of thousands of people reached him. And the king breathed it all in.

The king opened himself in turn, letting the energies pass through his spirit. He did not attempt to stop it, reason with it, or understand it. He simply allowed himself to witness. And with this act, he drew forth a far greater picture. An image of crime rising in the western cities, bandits crawling along the north, and trouble brewing at the center of his nation.

He handed out this information to Haris one at a time, letting the furry kortian handle the information. Until…

A seal, Phormos realized. Fold didn’t let out much mana, unless they were collapsing. Even then, if the collapse was controlled, it was hardly noteworthy in the grand scheme of things. There were scores of folds collapsing all throughout his dominion right at this moment, but here… Almost no mana was leaving at all.

He listened to the sound mana that had passed through the area, swiftly recreating an image of the last few days. A picture started emerging, another feud between organizations. The Dawn Rose, a recent merchant’s guild, had hired mercenaries, Mercy’s Redoubt, to help them mine the Orykto fold, but something had gone wrong and the fold had been sealed prematurely.

Phormos’ attention passed through the Legea. The Dawn Rose was building their own group of braced to take on folds, elbowing in on the Sentinel’s territory. Except the Sentinels weren’t yet aware of this attack.

He returned to the fold, reading the minuscule mana that got past the seal. Though his ability with lines were great, even the king had his limitations. He could not detail the exact events within the fold, but one thing was clear. It was growing unstable.

“Personal attention required for the Legea region,” Phormos said. “How many regions have required such actions within the last twenty years?”

Haris hesitated a moment, gathering the information. Slight waves of memory mana emanated from her, as she did. “That would be all but Deimo’s, though he’s been iron fisted regarding his approach to control.”

“And how many have met expected growth over the last five?”

“Twenty percent.”

Phormos took a moment to consider. “Mark current regional leadership as a failure. Present me with an alternative regional ruling next week,” his brows flickered slightly downward. “Emphasize rulers cannot be part of other organization and rewards for meeting their quotes and goals.”

“And punishment?”

“A policing council will handle the first line of issues from which they can escalate.”

“Anything else?”

“Inform the leaders of the Legea Sentinels and the Dawn Rose that they are to move to the Orykto fold in… two days. That’s all for now,” Phormos waited for until Haris had left the room, before letting out a sigh. His shoulders slumped slightly as he relaxed. He quickly wove a message into the lines and shot it toward Chórofos and the Kaesara.