2:15 pm, local time. (January 11, 1329) Typical Tuesday.

Thankfully, my experience of everywhen doesn’t last long. Well, not in the real world. I spend less than a second and more than a subjective eternity before returning to the normal flow of time. Only the faintest impressions are left behind, but… it feels as though my sensitivity has been heightened.

Feeling like a dunce for not inspecting every aspect of my class, I Focus on the definition for Facet expansion.

“The Beginning and the End have guided you along your temporal thread, and returned you to your place in the Middle. Your journeys through the temporal tides will be smoother. Your thread is stronger.”

I… I’m not sure why I was expecting the description to be more helpful, but I was.

Now that I have a Framework in place, I attempt to open my status.

Which… requires me to go through a set of prompts to configure how I want it set up. Thankfully, it has most of my previous settings saved as presets.

Once I click the last configuration, without so much as a flicker, my status appears.

Administrator Pandora’s Status

Framework: Cataclysm Paradox

Tier and Approximate Strength: Second stage mana integration, minimal mana density and optimization.

Previous System designation: Copper-1

Core Attributes Comparative to Prior System analysis. Accuracy guaranteed with 99.9% Confidence.

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Agility: 105

Endurance: 105

Intellect: 125

Spirit: 125

Perception: 125

Resolve: 125

The first part of my new status is mostly familiar. I can’t help but note that I’m listed as an administrator now, but other than that, this feels… refreshingly familiar.

Though the next section has me raising my eyebrows a bit.

Soul bound Storage capacity: 1.19 Cubic meters. Damaged in transition. Restoration pending resource allocation.

Bonded Armour: 6/8 patterns stored. Restoration pending resource allocation.

While both of them needing resources is less than ideal, this is more of a relief than anything. Though I can’t help but worry about the contents of my inventory. Is everything gone? Did it all get smushed?

I’ll need to restore my backpack to check.

If I can. It’s not listed under my stored armours. And it takes me a second to find it under the new version of my equipment manager. Though when I focus on the restoration, it doesn’t ask for Integration points.

“Estimated Resources required: Matrix processing time: 33 hours. Mana: 600,000 SMu. Focus: 3,300 SFu.”

“Optional processing mode: Double processing time to eliminate Focus cost.”

“Optional resource processing: Facet: Reduce Matrix processing time by 1 hour per 1000 Core Matrix units.”

“Supplemental resources detected. Process one standardized mortal-grade mana essence shard for approximately 100,000 SMu. Expected variance of 5%.”

“Supplement resources detected. Process one standardized iron-grade mana essence shard for approximately 1,000,000 SMu? Expected variance of 3%.”

Okay, well, that’s a lot to process. Hehe.

I lean back, turning to Uthica and Pern, letting them know that… my update is a little more involved than I was expecting.

There’s the fact that everything is going to take time or Facet to restore. A lot of Facet. And I can supply the mana from my personal mana supply.

Further poking reveals that I can also exchange matching elemental shards for a higher rate when restoring my gear, if they match the function. Or more accurately, less of the mana goes to waste being spent on conversion to its proper type.

Efficient, right. I should finish inspecting the changes to my interface before I continue experimenting.

Iron Rank Resources retained:

Crystallized mana recovered from Integration Points: 7 Iron Essence Shards

Resources Recovered from Progression Points: None

Resources Recovered from Advancement Points: 1 elemental matrix compatible upgrade algorithm. Reusable. Unable to emulate full processing assistance with limited access to current network.

Wait… nearly seven hundred integration points and they’re reduced to only seven Iron mana shards?

Wow. That’s a brutal loss.

And the loss of the Advancement point stings. Though it looks like part of that was just getting access to the System? And the matrix is reusable. When I focus on the matrix, it’s… a lot. More complicated than the entire spell for my ice castle.

Which, I realize, I still have stored away. I spend a few minutes confirming that my spellbook and notes are intact, to my relief before moving on to the next part of my status.

Copper Rank Resources retained:

Crystallized mana recovered from Integration Points: 2 Copper Essence Shards

Resources Recovered from Progression Points: None

Resources Recovered from Advancement Points: None

And… still brutal. That’s eighteen points of Copper-rank attributes, up in smoke. Suppose I should be thankful I have any, after nearly loosing my System. And they are shards now. Shards are more useful than points.

Though that makes me wonder. Where are these shards? I don’t have them tucked away in my hair, do I?

A quick pat down of my head doesn’t reveal any hidden shards, and I’m not quite prepared to go searching in… other places they might be hidden.

Deciding it might be best to put off that discovery, I return my attention to my status.

Core resources as abstracted via previous System:

Health

Pool: 1360/1355

Edge: [144.7]

Regen: (1177/day)

Stamina

Pool: 1540/1388

Edge: [155.3]

Regen: (1246/day)

Mana

Pool: 3004/2358

Edge: [216.8]

Regen: (2334/day)

Focus

Pool: 2212/2358

Edge: [202.2]

Regen: (2334/day)

Matrix Resources

Facet

Pool: 31/671

Edge: [76.4]

Regen: (646/hour) > (233/second)

Well. That doesn’t seem to have changed much. In fact, are there even any changes from…

Oh.

Wow. That’s a massive change in my Facet regeneration. An increase of roughly twelve-hundred and ninety-six times what it used to be, if I’m not mistaken.

A not insignificant boost.

Is that the only thing my new Framework has boosted?

Matrix Ancillary functions retained from existing Class Abilities:

Core Framework Improvements:

Increased Facet Pool: 0/10

Increased Facet Edge: 0/10

Increased Facet Regen: 0/10

Interesting. When I Focus, I’m able to get a complete understanding of what each of the upgrades will do for me. And how to gain them.

Each of these also require mana and processing time to implement. Oh. And with my new regeneration, maybe not that much time.

And now that I have access to the underlying mechanisms, I realize that the increase to my Facet regeneration will be affected by my new multiplier. Also, the expected costs are again stated as estimates. On top of that, they’re not simply flat upgrades with the cheapest being only twenty thousand Mana and the most expensive being over two million. Guess the System just averaged things out.

Moving on, I look over my previous class abilities.

Framework Special Processing patterns:

IFF: 1/1

Elemental Cascade: 1/1

Elemental Chakram: 3/3

Lingering Bonds: 2/2

Shifting Tides: 1/1

Echo of Agony: 0/2

Entropic Shift: 1/1

Sympathetic Overflow: 2/2

Limits of Mortality: 1/1

Eye of the Storm: 1/1

Anchor: 1/1

Lesser Cataclysm: 1/1

Decision Tree: 1/1

Channeled Casting: 3/3

The effects of the abilities feel the same. But there’s a great deal more understanding of what each one does available to me now. Like, shifting tides ties a strand of Facet to every spell I cast while under its effects, and then allows me to reposition people by sending them along those strands. Which means if the strands were cut, it would prevent the teleportation.

With the greater understanding afforded to me, I take a closer look at Echo of Agony. And confirm that the default version didn’t have a toggle. But now that I have root access, I can redesign the ability. And my new expanded Facet makes the changes I’d need to make easy to decipher.

However, buying the upgrade would cost me an even million mana for the first level and over a month of processing time. Or roughly seven-hundred-thousand Facet.

Which… would be less than an hour’s worth. That’s… insane. Seems mana is going to be my bottleneck.

I end up taking a break from my status, discussing it with Uthica and Pern. Not that they have any brilliant insights into my unusual System.

Though when I describe my abilities for Pern, reading out the effects, we discover that I can use Channelled Casting to spend my Facet on processes automatically, in addition to its normal use to channel spells.

“You know, Lexi, the thing I don’t get,” Uthica says, while sipping at another of the ciders. “You said you don’t have integration points anymore. So how are you supposed to increase your attributes? Or your level?”

“I… huh, guess I should check,” I reply, my eyes glazing over as I poke my System to find out.

The answer?

Mana.

Mana and processing power.

As I answer her, I can’t help but note that they’re just like everything else.

Though they’re not nearly as expensive as I’d been expecting. The first bump in Strength is only around ten thousand mana, and takes two hours of processing power. Increasing my Intellect, or really, any of my Mental attributes, is even cheaper. The first point costs a little more than four-thousand mana and forty-eight minutes.

Further prodding reveals that the expected costs will increase pretty rapidly, but a single copper essence contains enough mana to increase my stats across the board dozens of times.

And it turns out I can choose to link my attributes directly to different elements which gives them increased processing efficiency in exchange for reducing an attribute’s ability to process mana of other elements.

I could even customize them to be hyper-efficient at processing wind shards if I wanted. And I suspect that if I had an elemental-based class that used Aero as a resource, I’d benefit from doing so.

Smoulder keeps me from getting too lost in my new System, booping me in the leg and reminding me that we haven’t seen in each other in a long while. So I take another break, and we all return to the practice field where I spend time working to rebuild my spells in between building an obstacle course for Smoulder.

Helped along by Uthica, of course.

All but one of my spells requires adjustment. The Fireball spell I developed with Demo works precisely as we originally designed it.

It seems Demo helped me build it without relying on the System at all. Which explains why I thought it was needlessly complicated. I’m certainly thankful for the extra complications now. Using it as an example, and with Pern and Uthica offering their assistance, I set to work.

Two hours later and we’ve restored a half-dozen spells, mostly shields, a non-elemental pierce and Lightning Torrent.

With that done, I take a look over my System again. Then I use an Iron shard to start boosting my attributes, setting my Intellect and Spirit to benefit from the improved Facet spending. In less than an hour, they should both increase by over ten points. I use the third available channel to increase my Facet regeneration because…

Why wouldn’t I?

Uthica almost doesn’t want to leave.

Despite her years of enchantment work, the runes I’m working with are completely new to her. There’s a good chance I could have finished another three spells if I hadn’t been explaining everything to them. But teaching them’s been worth it.

Now that my System is… mostly understood, and I have combat spells ready for action, it’s time to test teleportation.

Using only the base tools of my new System, I’m again forced to rebuild the spell.

This time, I start with an array for detecting others within range. Something I’d been thinking about, but unable to integrate using my previously cobbled together efforts of my matrix and the rigid design of the old System.

Stealing inspiration from fireball, I add collision detection.

After thirty minutes of design, followed by ten minutes of testing with stone statues while making further adjustments, I’m finally confident enough to test the ability with Uthica.

“This is… revolutionary,” Pern says, studying the floating spell matrix floating in front of him.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I reply, waving him off. “Most of it’s cribbed from other people’s work. It’s all in those books I gave you.”

“Yes. So you mentioned,” Pern replies, tapping one of the metal tomes I had carved for him that contained hundreds of pages of my notes. Not very neatly organized, unfortunately. Never meant to have other peeps read my notes.

“Father is correct, Lexi. Especially since you were able to make adjustments that will allow us to power it with mana. There will need to be tests. And a great deal of enchantment. But this could change the shape of the Aetherium,” Uthica practically breathes the last before shaking her head. “But you said you were ready to test it?”

I nod, placing Uthica across from me. Then we teleport to the top of the hill, and I wait, inspecting her carefully once we’ve appeared. Once I’m certain she’s okay, I take us around her camp at a breakneck speed, each teleport more rapid than the one before. On the fifth teleport, Uthica finally holds her hand up.

“No more. Not yet,” she warns, placing her hand on my shoulder. It seems there’s still some disorientation. Yet it’s vastly improved compared to even my best efforts with the old spell.

With my preparations complete, we bid farewell to Pern, then pack away a fair bit of the cider.

With a final wave, I teleport us directly to the empty hill, and now that my twilight-vision is working, I have no problem picking out the ridge she directs me to. The clear spot appears to have been caused by a large section of the hill sliding down, creating a distinct gap in the surrounding foliage.

The step across space is both instant and not. Unlike the hops around the camp, I’m aware of the time between. It’s not long, no longer than a slow blink. Yet that’s the first time I’ve been aware of it when not using Facet to slow down the experience.

And I’m not sure if the new design or my expanded understanding of Facet is to blame.

Uthica shakes my arm in excitement for a second before calming herself and joining me in scanning our surroundings.

There’s no sign of the Eldinsworn, so I take us to the next ridge. This time I spend the Facet and Focus to observe the differences in the process. As we enter the shunt that directs us to the new location, the outside world zooms by. Even in the slowed down world of Pause, it’s passing too quickly to easily make out. But… I’m able to reposition myself. When we arrive, I’ve changed from my typical stance to a single foot forward, with my hand at my forehead as though I’m shielding my sight from the sun.

Arrival jostles me slightly, my left foot too high to be fully supported. I’ll need to work on that. Again, no sign of the Eldinsworn.

We continue, teleporting our way around Wyrda’s Rift until we reach a mountain that reveals not only the west rim of the rift, but grants us a magnificent view of the inside of the interior. It’s far more colourful than the Aethire rift. Instead of an empty darkness, a myriad of colours dance together, like an oil slick of magical energies, all churning about as if playing.

“Wow.” I don’t teleport us immediately, taking the time to properly appreciate the view.

Uthica hums beside me, “Dangerous. The combinations are unpredictable when they spill out of such a rift. And frustratingly difficult to replicate.”

“I just thought it was pretty.”

Uthica grunts, which turns into a couple beats of laughter. “I guess it is, isn’t it. It’s been so long since I looked at it that way.”

“That’s a shame,” I note, still watching the swirling chaos.

Uthica shrugs, “There’s always more to be done. Not much time to appreciate the landscape.”

I nod. “Right. Hint acknowledged.”

Uthica’s eyes flare wide. “I didn’t mean to imply…”

Elbowing her gently, I say, “It’s fine. I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh. Sorry, I’m not really used to people joking with me. Other than father, of course.”

“Right. That whole queen thing. You ever think of having friends that aren’t your dad?”

Uthica stares at me, as I stand up and select our next target. It should take us almost directly on top of the Nexus point. Uthica still hasn’t said anything by the time I’ve teleported us to our destination. Stepping forward, I perform my perfunctory scan for the elusive Eldinsworn.

And this time I find them.

Uthica is lost in thought until I pull her behind a nearby tree, peering past the hill at the camp below. It looks like it belongs on earth with barbed wire fences, concrete buildings, and even a pair of freaking spotlights.

“Eldinsworn,” Uthica whispers, her hand drifting toward her staff.

“Looks like. And they’re camped right on top of the Nexus point. No way that’s a coincidence.”

With the enemy finally spotted, I take some time to inspect them. But I don’t have the System’s infinite knowledge, so I only learn that they’re elvenoids. If I want more, I’ll have to get closer and give them a full-body Facet scan.

They have a few guards posted, but none seem particularly wary. We sit quietly as I count. Twenty-three. Seven of them are taking advantage of the beautiful summer morning, lounging at a pair of tables, eating a mix of sliced meats and baked veggies. My stomach rumbles slightly in response, reminding me that my only meal since returning to my mortal shell was that bowl of stew with Uthica. And I’ve used a lot of Facet and mana since then. Neither of which feels as though they’ve regenerated as much as my System tells me they should’ve.

The table distracts me from my thoughts as one of them turns to reveal their face clearly. I was expecting an elvenoid form based on my scan, the clothes I’m wearing and Uthica’s certainty I could pass for one.

But I’m not expecting the black-haired, blue-eyed face that doesn’t have so much as a pointy ear to set it apart.

“Those are humans,” I hiss, staring down at them. Watching the dining people, I confirm it’s not just the first one. Unless their insides are weird, they’re definitely human. The only strange feature is that all seven at the tables have the same black hair and blue eyes.

Uthica shakes her head, “That’s not what identify reveals them as. It tells us that they are Eldinsworn, servants of the dark gods.”

“Don’t suppose it tells you which dark gods?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

Uthica shakes her head. “Only that they’re the enemies of all who serve the gods.”

“It’s funny how that doesn’t narrow it down as much as I’d like,” I reply, a smile sneaking its way onto my face. “Any chance your quest’s updated? Maybe to say we can just go around?”

Uthica eyes go glazed for a second before her face twists into a grimace. “Yes, it’s updated. And no, it doesn’t want us to go around.”

“Let me guess. It wants us to kill all the Eldinsworn?” I ask, staring down at the camp. The thought turns my stomach. And not just because the camp is full of maybe-humans. There’s a good chance these people are somehow associated with Ukila’s hidden civilization.

Which means they’re mostly innocent people who’re just targeted because they don’t serve the System.

“No,” Uthica says, her voice dropping out as she reads. “I… It… The System wants me to gain access to the Nexus node…”

I nod. That at least shouldn’t be too hard.

“And then… And then it wants me to use it to travel to Ukila.”

Already nodding, I stop as her words are processed. Then I turn to her, unable to keep a small smile from slipping onto my face. She’s staring up at Ukila, her breathing incredibly fast.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve seen this coming. Looks like I’m getting off Akilo for a while.