Bob fiddled with the small spirit core while he waited for his coffee to cool.

  Jenna and Pob had left the previous night for Belona to organize the resistance.

  If he focused his mind, he could still sense her in the blood link, but it felt distant and muted, like trying to catch the lyrics of a song playing from a speeding car.

  It felt strange not having Jenna around. He didn't even want to think about how Billy must be feeling right now, but the three of them knew it was the only feasible plan.

  The core was one of the three Jenna had turned into dimensional beacons. As long as he had it on his person and Pob was around to assist her, Jenna could travel through the dimensions towards his location.

  He was sitting at a table in one of the Babylon inns. There had been three, but Billy had destroyed one of them when he killed the Veiled Vizier during the Battle of Babylon.

  He was patiently waiting for the two helpers Dignity had assigned to his project. They had agreed to meet in the inn called the Blue Stallion. He was unpleasantly surprised when he saw the sign at the door:

  We do not serve Essential customers

  The apocalypse had stripped away races, cultures, religions, and politics. It was difficult to discriminate against someone based on the color of their skin when your own son had transformed into a sentient tree.

  Now, there was only one significant divide between Babylonians: those who emitted Essence and those who didn’t. This division was enough to create a new system of discrimination, complete with its own fallacies and myths.

  “I tell you, they are vampires, Butch. They are seeking our lifeforce. You don't need Essentials around to survive, do you? Well, they do need us. Look what happened to all the dungeons in Chicago after humans left,” one of the patrons at the bar was telling another while chugging down another beer.

  “That’s not technically correct,” Bob interjected. “It’s true the original Chicago dungeons starved to death when cut off from Essence. Symbiotic dungeons don’t. As far as we know, if you cut them from a source of Essence, they just stop upgrading. The Brotonville Train Station is already a seventh-rank dungeon; it can’t be upgraded anymore, so they don’t really have any use for your Essence.”

  Except for storing it and using it once a year to create new Citizens, he thought, but didn’t say aloud.

  “Symbiotic? You don’t know the meaning of the word, my friend,” Butch replied, standing up from his seat and swaying slightly.

  “You make a valid point,” Bob responded. “Symbiosis implies a mutually beneficial relationship. They heat and light your houses and streets and do most of the work around here, while you get drunk and badmouth them. It’s not symbiosis at all.”

  “Who do you think you’re talking to? You disgusting…” Butch approached Bob with his fists balled. His friends grabbed his arm. “Stop it. Do you know who that is? Sorry, Skillmaster, forgive Butch. He’s had one too many. We’re leaving now.”

  Bob felt a twinge of sadness as he watched them depart. The apocalypse had neither improved nor worsened the human race as a whole. We were still jerks.

  A smiling couple entered the room, recognized him, and approached his table.

  "Hi, Skillmaster. We are honored to meet you. I’m Brad Sanders, and this is my wife, Sandy. Dignity asked us to meet you," Brad said as they both took a seat. They looked to be in their forties and appeared fit and healthy, as all Avatars do. They had a civil servant vibe.

  "Please, don’t call me that. It makes me feel like something you would buy at Ikea. Bob will do," he replied while standing to shake their hands.

  "You know why I asked for your help?" Bob questioned.

  Sandy nodded. "You wanted someone to teach you the fundamentals of crafting. I am a rank 13 Avatar with skills in Alchemy, Herbology, and Ingestion. My husband is slightly more advanced; he is rank 15 and has already obtained his class, Mass Enchanter. As of now, we are the two most qualified Avatars in Babylon to teach you crafting."

  After sharing a couple of coffees and chatting casually, Bob offered to pay for the drinks and accompany them to their laboratory.

  “And what do you expect me to do with that?” the innkeeper said, looking at the $20 bill Bob was handing him with distaste.

  “Come on, Earl, don’t be such a stiff. Coins have only been around for a week,” Brad teased, showing Earl a large metallic coin.

  On one side, it had an engraved aerial view of Babylon, while the other side featured Brad’s own face, as if he were an emperor of old. The coin bore the number 785. To Bob’s surprise, Earl produced a similar coin, but with his face on it.

  “Three silver credits,” Earl said. “Three silver credits,” Brad repeated. They bumped both coins together, and the number on Brad’s coin changed to 782.

  Bob was amazed. Dignity had created an entirely new economic system in under a week.

  Curious, he asked as they walked to the Sanders’ house, “How does this work?”

  “One of the Councilmen obtained a banker class, allowing him to create these personalized coins. Only the person with their face engraved on the coin may use it,” Brad explained.

  “I understand the magical mechanics, but the economic aspect puzzles me. A dollar held value because, at least originally, the Federal Reserve promised to pay its equivalent value in gold. What does Dignity offer in place of gold?”

  “Services,” Brad answered. “There is a list of 27 services that can be exchanged for credits at the Babylon council, ranging from healing to magical divination or teleportation. You can even hire adventurers for dungeon runs and easy leveling if you can afford it. There are other privileges, such as full citizenship in Babylon. It is no longer free; you have to pay a small monthly fee unless you are a minor or have a disability. These cases are becoming rare due to the prevalence of healing magic—everyone is expected to contribute.”

  “Of course, that's just the foundation. At the end of the day, credits are used to purchase anything, from food to lodging. The good news is that magic is exceptionally efficient for procuring basic goods. Luxury items have to be magically crafted, and are quite a bit more expensive, though.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  One hour later, they arrived at the Sanders’ home. They lived in a comfy semi-detached house and had converted their cellar into a laboratory.

  “Dignity told me that you can’t read Avatars’ status screen, so Brad and I drew up a copy for you,” Sandy said as she handed Bob a couple of sheets containing the basic information about Competencies and Choices. In the new, weird society that emerged after Activation Day, it was considered impolite to ask people about their stats.

  Sandy, Rank 13 Avatar.

  Alchemy (3): Possesses instinctive knowledge of all alchemical techniques. Can recognize alchemical compounds and divine their properties. Can create minor alchemical compounds that remain effective for the same duration as the time spent in their creation.

  Anyone may use minor alchemical compounds.

  Stable Alchemy (x2): Alchemical compounds will not lose their potency for up to 100 x (time spent in their creation).

  Major Compound: Can create alchemical compounds that, when consumed by an Avatar with the Ingestion Competence, grant effects equal to one rank in Competencies

  Ingestion (2): The Avatar can gain the benefits of a major alchemical compound, equivalent to a rank 1 Choice, for a maximum of 5 minutes. At any given time, the Avatar may only have one compound active. If the Avatar consumes a new compound while another is still active, they will be sick for the remainder of the active duration.

  Iron Stomach: The Avatar may have more than one Alchemical compound active at the same time, as long as their total added ranks are not greater than 2.

  Alchemical Tolerance: Compounds last for up to 1 hour.

  Herbology (2): The Avatar recognizes any natural or magical herb and divines its properties just by looking at it.

  Alchemical Gardener: Time spent looking for herbs as ingredients for crafting a specific alchemical compound counts triple toward determining the compound's duration.

  “There is a lot to unpack here,” Bob said. “As I see it, you can’t just create potions and hand them out to anyone. Recipients must have Ingestion to benefit from them.”

  “That’s right. If I could create Potions of Dragon Breath and distribute them freely, the Compendium would essentially grant me the ability to give extra powers to anyone at no cost. Magical crafting relies on two key elements: the crafter, who creates the item, which does not hold power itself but acts as a magical trigger for the user's Ingestion Competency.”

  “The system balances this with the fact that Ingestion is a very versatile power. It can accomplish many things, within reason, as long as you have the right compound,” Bob mused. “The Compendium allows for extremely flexible powers, but they come at a hefty price. Wu Na’s magic is incredibly versatile, but it requires a significant number of Choices to mitigate its inherent restrictions.”

  “I suppose there must be other types of user Competencies,” Bob inquired.

  “You got it,” Sandy replied. “There are competencies for using various types of armor and weapons, staves, magical talismans… You name it. Some, like alchemy or enchanting, can be utilized by anyone, but they tend to have weaker effects or additional restrictions.”

  “Could you explain minor alchemical compounds, please?” Bob asked.

  “Sure. Those are the only alchemical creations that anyone can use without needing Ingestion,” Sandy explained.

  “However, they come with two major restrictions: they can only produce effects that could be replicated with the science we once had, and they cannot provide any combat or defensive value. Essentially, they are quality-of-life items, such as hot water, toilet paper, antibiotics, painkillers, and long-distance communication.”

  “You mean I could have access to painkillers again?” Bob asked, incredulous. He could heal a broken arm in seconds with his powers, but they did nothing to ease his migraines. And it didn’t have to make sense; it was magic, after all.

  “They are usually somewhat better than their technological equivalents. Medicines created in this way work effectively, just like the old ones, but with no side effects,” Sandy explained.

  “Oh my god. Can you create toilet paper?” Bob asked, sounding like an excited child waiting for Santa.

  “We already did,” Brad replied. “We had the idea to create and sell minor enchantments and potions. People would once again have access to light, hot water, and many other commodities. Then Morton came,” he added wryly. “As for the toilet paper, we made an extremely soft but indestructible paper that could be reused. It never really took off, though.”

  “I wonder why,” Sandy said dryly.

  Sandy spent the rest of the evening explaining the various forms of alchemical compounds she could create. Bob was eager to try his hand at it.

  Finally, the couple went to bed, leaving the lab to Bob. They knew he did most of his training while sleepwalking.

  Once the theory was settled into place, Bob’s fingers itched to test it.

  Bob indulged himself before starting the heavy chores. He spent a few minutes sharpening a small wooden stick with a knife. His Woodcraft allowed him to do it like a master woodworker. He wanted to try a minor magical creation and test a theory of his own.

  Everburning Match (Woodcraft Level 1): This match burns without being consumed for a duration equal to the time it took to create it. After that, it will burn normally. This is a crafting Perk.

  He designed the perk in less than a minute. However, when he attempted to extend the duration to ten times the creation time, he was met with a familiar headache. To overcome this, he added a new restriction, something he had long wanted to try.

  Everburning Match (Woodcraft Level 1): This match burns without being consumed for a duration equal to ten times the time it took to create it. After this period, it will burn normally. Requires knowledge of at least a rank 1 Flamecraft perk. This is a crafting Perk.

  This time, he completed the design without any issues. Until now, he had only worked with divergent skill trees, where different higher rank variations evolved from a lower rank predecessor.

  However, he realized that skill trees could also be convergent. The Compendium allowed the use of a prerequisite perk from another skill as a restriction, similar to the mechanics found in video games. He had discovered an easy way to add a restriction to perks, lowering their rank without making them less valuable.

  He watched as the ornate, rune-covered match he had created burned without being consumed. He felt a profound sense of accomplishment. The Everburning Match Perk automatically erased itself from his screen as soon as he finished working on it. It was no longer part of him. It was an autonomous piece of magic that anyone could use.

  His original plan was to crack the secret of the spirit cores and use them as ingredients for potions he would create with his Tastecraft. These potions would allow Billy and him to gain experience even in locked systems. If he made enough of them, he could carry them to Belona and give them to Beli Players. If the plan worked, the Imperials would find a much tougher resistance than the one they expected.

  But his evening with the Sanders had changed all. His better understanding of how the system balanced gains and losses had inspired him with an incredible idea. He looked again at the endless coffer holding the spirit core—a piece of spatial magic powered by a single spirit core set in its upper lid.

  He was not limited to using cores as an alternate source of experience. They could also be used to power other types of magical items, as well as autonomous Pantean perks, both powered by experience and the user's stats. Any user.

  Jenna.

  By lending him part of her stats, he had slain tens of Amazons in seconds and turned a river into an instrument of his will. What could Jenna do if he lent her a perk?

  Bob smiled. Interesting days were coming. He entered sleepwalking mode and began to work.

  There are three types of crafting:

  Basic Crafting is the one accessed through Competencies, for Avatars, or Pantean Skills with the-craft suffix (Bob).

  Avatars require two different competencies when dealing with magical objects: one to craft them and another to use them. They are not required to have both. Some crafters can’t use their own creations, and many users can't craft them. The enchanted item catalyzes the user's Competency. It is an expensive but incredibly versatile system that allows users to select only the items they need for a task. Magical items are neither common nor cheap. They require time and effort to make and often exotic ingredients.

  Pantean skills do not follow the same system. Anyone who can craft an item can also use it. Others also may if they share the same skill. This is why Bob’s basic tastecraft creations do not work for the rest of the Losers: they lack a Skill module.

  Minor Crafting can also create items that can be used by anyone, even by characters using different systems.

  Minor crafting can only provide items with no combat or adventuring usefulness. They can work only slightly better than an equivalent created with the technology prevalent in the invaded world. They are meant to be quality-of-life assets, and they are heavily nerfed if anyone finds a way to make them significant.

  Unless you do not have a nerf module.

  True Crafting requires the use of solid XP, obtained from a dungeon. In the book, both Spirit Cores and Alchemical Ingredients qualify as solid XP.

  It provides an actual magical item, an independent batch of stat points, abilities, or powers that anyone can use. The maximum power of the abilities granted depends on the quality of the magical ingredients used.

  Most true magical items carry additional restrictions in the number of times they can be used, a chance of breaking with activation, or a gradual loss of powers. These can be lessened, or even avoided, by using high-level ingredients to create lower-level effects.

  When Bob creates a true magical item, it disappears from his skill screen. It becomes an independent XP batch, no longer tied to him.

  Arcane Foci are a special type of true magical item discovered by Bob. They appear later in the book.