- The Root of the Matter
Char lost track of time as she sat there holding Lulu. Her mind wandered across a minefield of emotions and worries and bits of visions that she barely understood. Lulu squirmed at first, licking Char’s chin and trying to turn in circles in too small a space, but she soon settled into a curl across Char’s legs. Char didn’t rush to move on, taking the time to feel comfort in Lulu’s presence, and to let the magic of their new reality slowly patch them both back together again.
When her racing mind and churning emotions had settled a bit, Char checked her notifications.
You have killed
Vasculex-corrupted Dryad — Level 24
Experience Gained
——————————————————————————
Congratulations!
You have gained a level.
You are level 20.
You have gained 5 free stat points.
Each of your stats has increased by 1.
__________________________
Awakening Achieved!
Congratulations!
You have reached level 20.
Your Body, Mind, and Soul
have accumulated enough Atheris
to advance to Rank E.
You may now safely awaken your
chosen Affinities.
Absorb a [Domain Affinity Core]
To awaken an Affinity and begin
the process of forging your Core.
(Caution! Forming a Core is irreversible.
It is recommended that you seek out a
Core formation adviser or knowledge crystal
before forming your Core.)
A little thrill ran through her when she saw the level 20 message. She’d known it was coming, but finally getting there felt like winning a hard-earned prize. She snorted as she read the last few lines. That advice was a day late and a dollar short. It also drove home how isolated she was. She’d had a pretty big jump in levels on the first day. Other people might be leveling, but how fast? She needed to finish up this dungeon and find other people.
There was one last notification:
One of your Titles has advanced.
Precocious (Silver)
Becomes
Precocious (Gold)
Be the first in your world to reach level 20.
+5 Speed
+5 Intelligence
+5 Spirit
So, she was still the highest leveled person on the planet. There had to be other people out there leveling. It didn’t seem right that out of 8 billion people, she was somehow the most powerful. She wasn’t anything special. She’d gotten lucky, and she knew it. She swiped away the notification.
She pulled the [Flesh Domain Core] out of her inventory and turned it over in her hands. It was about the size of a grapefruit and felt like crystal. It seemed to hum against her hand, a subtle purr of power that echoed in her Core. How was she supposed to absorb it? She wasn’t about to try to take a bite of it. What would it do to her? Shaking her head, she put the Core back in her inventory. There were things to take care of first.
When she and Lulu had health bars over 75%, she kissed Lulu on the top of her head, then pushed the big dog off her legs. “Come on, Lu, let’s see what sort of loot this thing’s going to drop.”
Char was surprised when both the tree and Dryad crumbled together, but she supposed she shouldn’t have been. All of the fantasy books she’d read said that a Dryad and her tree were inextricably linked. She wondered how much the Aldevari had recreated from pop culture and fiction, and what might have been real, once.
The loot from the Dryad was decent. Her [Hunter’s Jerkin] had been sliced to shreds, so the new torso armor was welcome:
You have received:
[Cottonwood Hide Vest]
[Weak Healing Tonic]
[Collar Charm of Durability]
112 silver credits
19 copper credits
Char immediately checked out the collar charm:
[Collar Charm of Durability]
Accessory (Charm)
Increases vitality by 15%
Increases physical resistance by 15%.
Conditions: Pet Only.
That charm was fastened to Lulu’s collar before Char did anything else. Knowing that she could get items to help protect her friend lifted a weight from Char’s heart. She was getting stronger, and would end up facing stronger foes. She didn’t want to leave Lulu behind.
The [Cottonwood Hide Vest] was odd. It looked like it was made of the bark of the corrupted cottonwood tree, complete with subtle veins of green running through it, but it was as supple as leather.
[Cottonwood Hide Vest]
Barkhide (Medium Armor, torso)
Reduces impact damage by 20%
Conditions: Humanoid. Body rank E or F.
You meet the conditions to use this item.
Woven from the inner bark of a Vasculex-corrupted cottonwood
and tanned in alchemical sap, this vest offers solid
protection with surprising flexibility. Faint green
streaks run through the grain, like veins of old poison,
but the wood has gone still and quiet in death.
It smells faintly of wet earth and storm-drenched leaves.
It was the first piece of gear Char had seen that came with a backstory. She’d noticed other inconsistencies in the notifications. They were minor things, but they reminded Char of a game she’d played once that had been rushed to market before it was ready. Too many devs, and not enough quality checks, combined with a startup on the verge of going under and desperate for a cash infusion, had turned what could have been an amazing game into a buggy flop. The mistakes made her think the Aldevari might not be the all-powerful overlords they were trying to make themselves seem.
With that happy thought to make her hopeful, Char found the valve on the back wall, exactly like the first one on the other side of the factory. She turned it and checked her quest progress:
You have made progress on the quest:
Something Toxic II
Valves closed: 2 of 3
Source Destroyed: 0 of 1
“Getting there, Lu. One boss left, but I get the feeling it’s going to be a doozy.” She put her back to the wall and slid down to a sitting position. As she slid down, she pulled the [Flesh Domain Core] back out. “OK, Lulu. I’m going to try to absorb this, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. Keep an eye on me, will you?”
Lulu chuffed, turned in a circle, and lay down beside her. She put her head on her paws, but her ears stayed alert for any sound.
Char started by opening her Affinities tab on her interface.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
Affinities
Affinities determine which Domains of magic you
have access to.
You have unawakened Affinities.
Absorb an [Affinity Domain Core] to awaken an Affinity.
Your Legendary Echoform Core has 5 unawakened Affinity Anchors.
Bloodlines detected.
Ancestral Attunements detected.
Some Affinities may resonate with your Bloodlines.
Resonant Affinities will be stronger.
Your Resonant Affinities are:
Air
Water
Earth
Lightning
Metal
Plant
Beast
Flesh
Bone
Blood
Spirit
Dream
Mind
Rune
Light
Time
The visual that greeted her was the same starry nebula she’d seen when she first opened the tab, but now it was in vivid color. Floating in the void was a green marble stone carved in the shape of a pentagon. An empty socket waited at each corner of the pentagon, and golden lines were inlaid in the stone to connect each socket, forming a pentagram.
She read over the list of Resonant Affinities and tried to commit them to memory. She was glad to see Flesh on the list, since it was the only Domain Core she had, and she intended to use it. If she could figure out how.
Glancing from the Core in her hand to the empty sockets in the stone floating before her, she wondered if it worked like her inventory. She lifted her hand toward the image with the intent of slotting it, but before her hand lifted very far, a new message popped up.
Domain Core detected.
Do you wish to awaken an Affinity?
(Caution! This is a permanent action. Be certain.)
Y/N
Without hesitation, Char chose yes.
The Core in her hand sublimated into sparking light. The light swirled around her fingers for a moment, then shot for her center like a comet. She felt the power hit her Core and reverberate outward with a pulse of cold fire. Her Core shifted. She couldn’t tell what it had done, but there was definitely a change there. She felt more connected to her body, more aware of her flesh. When the power settled, fine streams poured out of her Core and swirled through her body in a cascade of buzzing fire and ice. It settled into her with a feeling similar to a stat increase; subtle tweaks that strengthened and enhanced her.
One of the sockets on her Affinities screen lit up like a bright star for a second, then faded to reveal a gemstone the same shade as her skin.
Flesh Domain Affinity awakened.
Your Flesh Domain Affinity is Rank 1
You may now learn spells from the Flesh Domain.
Your Vitality will recover 50% faster.
You gain +3 to all physical stats.
For each level you gain, you will receive:
+3 Endurance
+1 Strength
+1 Dexterity
Increase the rank of your affinity to improve these bonuses.
———————————————————————
Your Nahual bloodline has advanced:
+3%
——————————————————————
Congratulations!
You have advanced in mind, body, and soul.
You now possess the power to work magic.
Magic is the art of shaping mana
to enforce your will upon the world.
Pull mana from your Core through an awakened affinity
and shape it into the correct pattern to cast a spell.
The magic you can wield is limited only by your understanding.
For each Affinity Rank you achieve,
you will be granted one free spell pattern.
Additional spell patterns may be found,
learned from others, or created through understanding
and experimentation.
Please choose 1:
Mend Flesh
Mastery of this pattern will allow the user
to spend mana to heal their own body.
Possible Advancement Paths:
Mend Other, Purge Toxin, Regeneration
Flesh Armor
Mastery of this pattern will allow the user
to channel mana to harden their flesh
Reducing physical damage taken.
Possible Advancement Paths:
Durable Bones, Unbreakable Skin, Mana Absorber
Flesh Shift
Mastery of this pattern will allow the user
to spend mana to subtly reshape their own body.
Possible Advancement Paths:
Changeling, Shapeshifter, Adaptive Form
Char read over her options carefully, weighing the pros and cons of each. The greedy little goblin in her heart wanted all of them, and all of the power and possibilities they offered. There was really only one choice she could make, though. Only one of her options would benefit both her and Lulu. She chose Mend Flesh. Being able to spend her mana to heal herself meant that she could give Lulu more Vitality. She could keep her friend alive.
When she made her selection, the option screen vanished. In its place, a complex pattern bloomed; twisted and knotted lines of light like a complex circuit. It reminded her of Celtic knotwork in its intricate interweaving. The pattern didn’t just hover before her; it seared itself into her awareness, sinking past thought and into memory. Understanding flooded her; a tactile sense of how to draw the pure mana from her Core through her Affinity, how to move and shape it, how to mold it to her intention, and how to release the power to act upon the world. It reminded her of the skill crystal, but this wasn’t the gift of a teacher. This was a direct whisper from the System, implanting the knowledge directly into her mind.
And along with the knowledge of the spell pattern came a revelation. This was only a starter spell, but she could already see the edges of infinite possibilities. She couldn’t wait to learn more.
Her health bar was still short of full, so she decided to try out her first spell. She reached into her Core and coaxed out a thread of mana, pulling it out through the part of her Core that had been altered by the Flesh Affinity. The mana had a different feel to it after passing through that part of her Core. It was warm and seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat. It flowed down her arms and out through her hands, and she used the new knowledge she’d been given to push and weave it into the intricate pattern of the spell.
Well, she tried to, anyway. The power was slippery. It was like trying to fold a strand of living, twitching muscle into a delicate knot. She pressed with her mind and her will, wove with her fingers, and poured in her intention, but she couldn’t hold it steady. The mana writhed and slipped out of form, dissipating with a twitch of frustration.
With the sword skill, she’d gotten the muscle memory along with the knowledge. She’d lived through a sped-up sort of training where she’d practiced the movements thousands of times. The spell knowledge the system gave her was more like what she might get from reading a book. It was all theoretical. It reminded her of learning to play the guitar. She could hear the chord and watch a video of the right finger placement, but it took hours of practicing it over and over again to play the chord herself. It took even longer to shift smoothly from one chord to another.
Magic was going to be like that. It wasn’t free, and it wasn’t easy. She was going to have to work for it. But, man, was it going to be awesome when she got to cast a real spell.
She tried a few more times, but the power kept sliding away from her. With most of her failures, the power simply dissipated, but on her last try, when she thought she was making progress, a loop of the carefully spun and folded mana twisted away from her grasp and tangled with another strand. The mana snapped loose with a sickening jolt, and Char staggered as the feedback rebounded through her. It was the metaphysical equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard, and it left her nerves feeling raw and her stomach roiling.
The system did reward her efforts with a skill advancement, at least:
Your skill [Mana Manipulation]
has advanced from Beginner to Novice.
She’d held off on assigning her five free stat points until she’d gotten a feel for what magic would need, but she still wasn’t sure which stat would serve her best: Intelligence, Dexterity, or Willpower. She decided to hold off on spending the points until she found more time to consider. Keeping things pretty much even had been working out so far, but if she was going to be playing around with magic, she might want to rethink that approach.
As much as she wanted to sit there longer and keep trying, it wasn’t practical. She had one last boss to kill, and a quest to finish, and she was more than ready to get out of this dungeon. With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet.
After the first boss, they’d cut across the center of the factory floor, weaving through the maze. This time, she was going to follow the catwalk along the wall. If this had been a video game, she would have been poking into every nook and cranny looking for hidden loot, but this was far too real. The payout didn’t feel like it would be worth the extra time and effort.
The catwalk took them most of the way to the back wall. It ran along over a row of empty vats and mixing tanks on the lower floor, some of them open and dark, like yawning maws in the shadows. Others were closed tanks with pipes and vents. Char caught an occasional flicker of movement between them, more vine-puppets on patrol.
When they stepped off the end of the catwalk and back into the main floor maze, they weren’t very far from the final glow. From her closer vantage, Char could see that the flickering of the glow was caused by the shadow of something large, something with a lot of tentacles, or vines, more likely.
She checked to make sure her last road flare and the healing potion were in her Quick Access. Then she made sure that Lulu’s charm was in place on her collar. Telling Lulu to stay, she pulled herself up onto the wall of jumbled production equipment and scanned the maze for the best path.
From up high, she could see all the way to the puddle of green glow. There was another grated walkway, but this time, the creature guarding it was so large that it overflowed the space, trailing masses of vines out into the maze in all directions, and down into the glowing vat below.
The central vines of the animate plant were as big around as tree trunks, and they were spiked with thorns like knives. Char shook her head. A sword wasn’t going to get the job done. It would take days to hack through that with a machete, and that was if it wasn’t fighting back.
She had the last road flare and two bottles of herbicide, but she wasn’t sure those would be enough. For them to be effective, she’d have to get them into the central tangle, right into the heart of the monster, but throwing distance would put her within easy range of those massive, thorn-covered vines. “I’d give my left tit for a rocket launcher right about now,” she muttered.
A half-formed idea had her scanning the maze again, but this time, rather than looking for the best route, she paid attention to the jumble of equipment that made up the walls. There had to be a canister of compressed gas in here somewhere.
It was hard to tell time in the dungeon; there was no sun to gauge by, but Char figured it had only taken a little over an hour to find what she needed. She and Lulu were back on the walkway. It was the only space she could find with enough room to spread out all of the bits and pieces that she’d scrounged. She’d found a CO2 tank that was still half full, had cut a length of PVC pipe from the meaningless tangle of piping and conduits on the wall, found a couple of ball-valves in a tangle of irrigation lines, and the tank from a small hand-held sprayer that she thought would work for a pressure chamber. There were scraps of foam insulation, rubber rings, and an assortment of tubes and hoses scattered among them.
She was pretty sure she’d figured out a trigger mechanism that would work, and she narrated her ideas to Lulu as she worked, “See, the valve has to open fast, or you don’t get the big push you need. The CO2 has to all come out at once. This spring should, I hope, pull the valve open faster than I could do it by hand.” Lulu cocked her head to the side, her ears perking at the sound of Char’s voice. “Yeah, I know. This whole idea sounds nuts. If it works, we’re getting steaks to celebrate.” She grinned at an old memory. “Remind me to tell you about a guy named MacGyver, sometime.”