The Way Ahead

Chapter 77a: Taking Things to the Next Level

Chapter 77a: Taking Things to the Next Level

It was only when he woke up without so much as a trace of lingering soreness that Edwin finally appreciated just how much work Sleeping must put in to refresh him so completely every night. Still, he couldnt say he wanted to put himself through that ordeal very much. If he were a masochist, he could use Overcharge every night to level it and just sleep off the exhaustion and pain but that sounded like almost-literal torture. Plus, he didnt want to overuse it and maybe poison himself with black sludge? No thanks.

He pulled himself from his hammock, wincing slightly. Okay, so he was still a bit sore. Waking up with a tweaked shoulder was something of a novel experience for him these days after all, and he was so incredibly glad that he did have Sleeping, or else Overcharge might well put him in his bed for a week rather than a single night.

His personal discomfort notwithstanding, it was a very bright and early morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping- wow, were the birds ever chirping. He could identify where dozens of birds were just from listening, and if he changed his Perceptions focus to sight, he was able to take in an extraordinarily high-detail view of Obairlann, its walls and roof glistening with morning dew. He allowed his door- a proper door these days, not the contraption hed initially woven- to swing close, following its trajectory solely through the faint breeze it created as air rushed out of its way.

Perception was amazing.

He waved to Inion, only wincing slightly as his arm tweaked a sore muscle, who floated over to him on a cloud of colorless light- one of her Skills, whatever it was. Hed ask about it at some point.

After exchanging standard morning greetings, and Edwin had a small bite to eat, Edwin dropped down to get started on the rest of his Paths. He had another long day ahead of him, that was for certain!

You have completed the Biologist path!

The magic of life is such a ubiquitous phrase that it is common knowledge to almost all that life must be intrinsically linked to magic. But not for you. Life is a natural phenomena, and that means it follows rules, guidelines, and patterns. It can be studied, it can be predicted, it can be understood. While this is perhaps not what is typically meant by the idea that one ought to know themselves, it seems to be adequate for your path.

Metabolic Alchemist

You may evolve your First Aid skill into the Anatomy skill!

Accept Evolution? Y/N

Anatomy

Neither cruel nor cowardly. Never give up. Never give in.

Understand the body of yourself and othersUpdated from

Insight improves with level.

Huh. It didnt change his Class name? Well it made sense after a fashion. Metabolic Alchemist made enough sense for a biologist/alchemist. It did imply that his Class name would stop changing more or less altogether at a certain point, though Inions Class indicated it would get more complex instead, or perhaps as well?

He asked as much, getting a nodded agreement from his friend, Ya. Your Class is a cumulation of all the Paths youve taken, each Path you complete does less and less to actually change it. At some point, youd need a bunch of Paths to budge the Name. Though as you get more completed, the more grandiose it tends to get. Or more definitive. Be very wary of anyone who has The as part of their class.

Yeah, Edwin probably didnt need the warning, but it was still nice to have confirmation. He nodded absently while he turned his attention instead to his newest Skill.

The first thing it did was improve his proprioception no wait, that was just his Perception as he turned it towards himself. What it did do was help him figure out exactly which muscle in his shoulder was tweaked and that it should work its way back into place if he kept it relaxed today, caused by overstressing it last night. A flex of Numeracy informed him of his precise heart rate- 38 bpm- and while he couldnt quite feel his exact blood pressure, it felt healthy.

He looked at Inion, and frowned. He couldnt put his finger on what it was exactly, but something about her anatomy just seemed wrong. Her proportions, or maybe the way her muscles moved It was another reminder that she wasnt human, no matter how superficially she may have resembled one, given the way her wet tunic form-fit itself to her

Focus, Edwin, he admonished himself.

Hmm. So, it gave him extra feedback on the state of his own body, and let him get further intuition on the bodies of others? Not too shabby. Pity about it being another thing for him to split his Perception between, though. It was funny how he became supernaturally aware of his surroundings, only for him to immediately find his attention split between far more stimuli than before.

He needed to find some Paths that would give him more Perception, and the sooner the better. Then again, hed probably slowly acclimate to all the information his Skills were feeding him anyway. The human brain was amazing at that sort of thing, after all.

Next up was Makeshift Alchemist, and Edwin just wasnt feeling it. He had Purify, Breathing, Flexibility, Nutrition, and Sleeping to go. Makeshift Alchemist would, he was almost certain, give him some kind of ability to turn normal materials into alchemical ingredients by evolving Purify. It was undeniably useful so why was he hesitating?

Well. I do already have Mana Infusion, he mused, That kind of fills that same role. And Practical Alchemist is also a good Path, which could also evolve Purify into something that might be useful in my research and alchemical experiments.

On the other hand, he did really need some kind of backup in case he found himself without his potions on hand but didnt Overcharge kind of fill that role? Hed gotten a Skill which could be quite a fight finisher if he pulled it off properly, and hed gotten another Skill which meant hed always have something on hand. If he took too many Skills that were backups, then that weakened his primary strategy, so wasnt it better that he ensure that most of his Skills were ones hed use all the time? It wasnt like hed ever be completely unarmed these days, right?

Mana 21 28

Stamina 20 23

Perception 10 13

You have completed the Feytouched path!

Your path has taken you into the most curious of locales. Among these are the primal corners of Joriah, where powerful spirits slumber, hailing from a world quite unlike the one that currently exists. You bear many resemblances to them, and have round yourself in concert with one of these great fey. Inexplicably, you survived this encounter and can now claim a small fraction of their might in your own adventures.

Leighis Alchemist

You may evolve your Flexibility skill into the Feys Caress skill!

Accept Evolution? Y/N

Feys Caress

Brush against the power of the fey

Bind yourself to a touched material, gaining some of its properties

Depth of binding increases per level.

Leighis? Whats that?

Medicine? Where did you hear that- oh. Inion stopped as she presumably Identified Edwin, and nodded, Well, it means medicine. Medical, rather.

Edwin wryly nodded, Got it. Any idea why I have a word in my Class that isnt in a language I understand?

Youd know as well as I.

Edwin mumbled vague half-complaint before he turned his attention more to his newest Skill. For once, the Skill description was actually useful in figuring out what to do, and he laid his fingers on a nearby rock and activated the Skill.

From the point of contact, gray-black stone spread up his arm, bringing a chill and a faint sense of numbness alongside the discoloration. Before it could reach his elbow, he pulled away and the transformation began to reverse, shrinking down the length of his forearm and to his fingers before vanishing altogether.

So it wasnt permanent. That was good. He didnt think it would be- heck, the thought hadnt even occurred to him until after he tried the Skill- but it was still nice to confirm as much.

A bit more poking around, both literal and figurative, alongside some coaching from Inion helped Edwin tease out some of the limits of his new Skill. He could bind to mundane materials around him, like wood, stone, or leather, and take on many of their characteristics. His skin generally became tougher regardless of what he bound to, it would become heavier or lighter, usually lose a bit of flexibility, and get a few other miscellaneous attributes depending on what he absorbed. Metal allowed him to shapeshift his features ever so slightly, deforming his fingers to be pointed and Cloth was actually lighter and more flexible than just using skin, to give the two primary examples hed found.

Attempting to Caress air hadnt gone well, and had resulted in several layers of skin stripped from his hands before he knew what was happening. Inion told him it was because of the Skills low level, and he might be able to use it to turn wholly into wind at higher levels, once he could transform all of himself at once.

It was apparently similar to the Skill she had gotten as part of binding to her pool- namely Aquatic Presence- except his bindings were strictly temporary and his nature as a fully corporeal and mortal entity was fighting it. As a result, she was able to coach him through how to use his water transformation, especially how to hold the water close to him (preventing a repeat of the air fiasco), and marginally manipulate it. Eventually, hed be able to turn his entire arm into water, but for now, it didnt even transmute the entirety of his skin.

Flexibility was the only reason that he was even able to move while Caressing stone or metal, and even that was something of a struggle. He also found that how much of himself he could transform was strictly limited to how much stuff he was in contact with. Using one of his few remaining grai only allowed him to turn his fingers into gold, which ended up being surprisingly easy to flex for a metal, though it made sense why it was the case.

In any case, to use his Skill reliably, hed need a significant amount of materials on hand. Golden fingers would probably be useful in lieu of gloves if not much else, but stone or steel forearms would be useful if he needed to punch someone.

Lastly, any transformation started with wherever he was touching the material. If he was standing barefoot on stone, it would start with his feet. If he balanced a coin on the back of his hand, it spread from there. Turning his entire body to stone felt strange, but not altogether unpleasant. His clothes didnt transform alongside him, but that felt less like a Skill limit and more just not knowing the proper technique (Inion was no help there, to no real surprise).

Overall, a decent Skill. Lots of potential, but it would take time to figure out how to use it optimally and he wasnt sure if it would ever be one of his primary tools in a fight, though he seriously wanted to figure out how that transformation worked. Now, what was next...