The strange huntsman took off as swiftly and unceremoniously as he'd appeared, leaving Hunter wonder what the hell had just happened. Special Encounters were triggered by his Serendipity Quality, the quantified measure of good or bad luck he'd accumulated. The previous two he’d stumbled into had turned out to be blessings in disguise: in the first, he’d found his glaive. In the second, he’d found Fyodor.

  The direwolf was still lying by his side, taking a morning nap on the cabin’s floor. Hunter placed a gentle hand on his back, and Fyodor shifted in his sleep, snuggling his big body closer without waking. They were his closest friends now—him, the ravens, and Mortimer, the bartender who served as the keeper of his Shard, his mind palace. Hunter barely even thought of his real-life friends anymore, though he made a conscious effort not to dwell on what that said about him.

  Three days, then; that’s how much time he had before Aumir returned. Three days to kick back and rest before getting dragged feet-first into yet another adventure. Until then, there were three things on his itinerary: spend as much time as possible logged out, spend as much time as possible bonding with Fyodor, and take a mental inventory of his skills, abilities, items, and equipment.

  That last one, he’d been putting off for days. One reason was a tip Buggy—himself a Transient—had shared with Hunter. If he was to be believed, the System worked kind of like a crutch; the more you relied on it, the more you sabotaged your own potential. Normally, Hunter took anything Buggy said with a healthy pinch of salt. But in this case, he was inclined to believe him. In the couple of months he'd known him, he’d never seen the weird, bald-headed man get as dead-serious about anything else.

  And, if he wanted to be honest with himself, there was another reason he was dragging his feet. Before she rode off on one of the Behemoth Nation’s rigs, Fawkes had given him a parting gift. For some reason, he’d been dreading opening it, as if doing so would drive the final nail into the coffin of their time together.

  “Well, boy,” he said to the napping direwolf, stroking his furry flank, “I guess it’s time we put our big boy pants on and take care of business, isn’t it?”

  For starters, he pulled up his Character Sheet. Rows upon rows of text and numbers flooded his vision, obscuring much of the background, so he broke it up and went through it section by section:

  

  Character Information:

  Name: Hunter

  Race: Transient (Human)

  Class: Mystic

  Qualities:

  Level: 6

  Aether: 3807

  élan: 7

  Insight: 8

  Inspiration: 6

  Serendipity: 0

  Attributes:

  Health: 165 (140+25)

  Essence: 100

  Stamina: 132 (110+22)

  Strength: 10

  Dexterity: 10

  Intellect: 10

  Willpower: 10

  Presence: 10

  Facing the Penitent at the heart of the Blood Grove had boosted his Insight to seven. Apart from that—and the single point in Serendipity consumed by his Special Encounter with Aumir—nothing had changed since the last time he’d checked.

  He’d have to invest all that Aether into raising his level and upgrading his attributes sooner or later. In fact, he should probably have done so before heading into the Blood Grove. Still, since he hadn't, he might as well wait a few more days. Aumir had mentioned something about knocking him into shape, and Hunter wanted to see if the huntsman had any useful insights to offer on the matter.

  Trying not to dwell on that too hard, he skipped to the next section:

  

Skills:

  Athletics: 25

  Close Combat: 25

  Cycle Essence: 25

  Evasion: 25

  Galdorcraeft: 21

  Meditation: 25

  Polearm Mastery: 25

  Short Blade Mastery: 5

  Survival: 25

  No surprises here, either; most of his skills were capped out at twenty-five, which was his current upper limit. To progress them any further, he'd have to ascend to the next Rung of Ascension.

  Next came his Abilities, the longest and most comprehensive section of his character sheet by far:

  

Abilities:

  Adaptive Defense: 25

  Asymmetric Tactics: 8

  Augmented Familiar: 25

  Conditioning: 22

  Conjure Familiar: 25

  Craft Spirit Charm: 22

  Danger-Sense: 18

  Dodge Counter: 25

  Essence Purge: 25

  Fulcrum: 22

  Glaive Expertise: 25

  Low-Light Vision: 25

  Mystic Eye: 13

  Mystic Reflection: 1

  Mystical Phenomena: 5

  Opportunist: 25

  Reinforced Channels: 25

  Resonant Flow: 19

  Toughness: 25

  Looking at the list, he could see why Aumir had said he lacked direction. It was a smattering of melee fighting and utility abilities, with some mystical ones thrown in for good measure. In a way, it was to be expected, he supposed; there was no FAQ or wiki he could simply skim and learn how to plan and optimize his build. In Elderpyre, he was flying blind from day one.

  During his stint as an Aspirant, he had definitely prioritized his more melee-oriented abilities. Most of them were already at twenty-five. He had hoped to max out Danger-Sense and Fulcrum too before he was done training with the other Aspirants in the Blood Grove, but then everything had gone to hell in a handbasket.

  On the bright side of things, the showdown with the monstrous Penitent had gained him a few points in Asymmetric Tactics, which was by its nature a difficult ability to work on. It allowed Hunter's unconventional tactics to be more effective against enemies that were substantially more powerful, more numerous, or other wise superior—which, thank God, hadn't been an everyday occurence so far.

  Aside from that, the list offered plenty of other abilities he could grind, with the mystical ones in particular still leaving a lot of room for improvement. Getting any one of them to twenty-five would earn him an extra point of Inspiration, and he had a gnawing suspicion he’d need as many of those as he could get his hands on somewhere down the line.

  Last on his Character Sheet was the Traits section:

  

Traits:

  Alchymical Ossature

  Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

  Incandescent Spirit

  Interface Access

  Mystic Sigil

  Out Of Pure Spite

  Most of those were passive in nature and didn’t show up often in his notifications log, with the exception of Out of Pure Spite. That one granted him adaptive bonuses every time he got seriously pissed off about something. Even with all the impromptu cognitive behavioral therapy he’d been doing, it had been triggering quite a lot lately. He wasn’t sure whether that said more about him as a person, or about everything that had been happening lately, but it had helped him power through challenging situations more than once.

  There was one more important thing to go through: back in the Blood Grove, when he almost got mind-controlled by the Penitent, Biggs and Wedge had used their shared mental link to wrest control back from the clutches of the entity. Not only had that effectively saved his bacon—and probably that of Inago and Yuma, too—it also had unlocked a new Ability for him to learn.

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  Synaptic Communion temporarily magnifies the strength of mental links and psionic bonds the Mystic creates or becomes part of. Thoughts, impressions, and sensations already shared through lesser links become sharper, clearer, and far more difficult to disrupt.

  The effect weakens the natural barriers between minds, allowing a freer exchange of what lies within. Memories, images, and sensory input flow with greater ease, their detail heightened and their meaning more immediate.

  Additionally, Synaptic Communion may allow the participants to share certain Skills, Abilities, and Traits, as well as magical effects.

  At higher ranks, the link deepens further. Range expands, Essence cost decreases, and the Mystic’s bonds approach true unity of thought, enabling those connected to act with shared purpose.

  Hunter read through the description a couple of times to make sure he understood everything. The core concept of Synaptic Communion sounded simple enough: it would allow him to temporarily empower the mental link between himself, Biggs, and Wedge. What exactly that entailed, he'd have to find out through experimentation. Without a second thought, he focused his mind on learning the ability on the spot. The two raven spirits had proven their worth time and time again.

  

Your Synaptic Communion has increased to 1. Your Inspiration is now 5.

  Satisfied, Hunter dismissed the Character Sheet. For the time being, he'd decided he should hold off on upgrading his Attributes or picking up any other new Abilities. Better to wait and see what insights this new, bird-masked companion of his might have to offer first. Instead, he shifted his focus to the other task he’d been avoiding: going through his loot.

  Reaching into his bigger-on-the-inside backpack, he fished out the gifts Hallara had given him the previous day: the dark-green leather jerkin, the Spiritwalker Brew, and the ivory owl pendant. All three radiated a subtle hum of Essence, but the pendant’s presence felt the most powerful, so he decided to start with that one.

  It was a hand-carved pendant, roughly the size of his thumb: an owl shaped from pale ivory, its eyes set with slivers of green stone that caught the light. Its surface was smooth and glossy, polished to a gentle sheen and faintly smelling of herbal oils. A worn leather cord looped through a hole at the top, darkened by time and use. Hunter turned it in his hands, impressed by the craftsmanship. Every detail, from the curve of the wings to the etched feathers, was a small work of art in itself.

  Hallara had taken it from around her own neck; she’d told him it was a gift of vision, something to help him see the world of spirits with greater clarity. There was only one way to find out what exactly that meant, and as much as Hunter disliked having to use it, there was no point in putting it off.

  He began cycling his Essence, focusing on the pendant’s quiet, steady emanations, and activated his Mystic Eye ability.

  The effect was immediate—and so was the backlash. As new knowledge forced its way into his mind and the item’s description appeared before his eyes, a briny, coppery burn surged through his sinuses, threatening to set his Essence ablaze. A single drop of blood slipped from his nostril and splashed onto the pendant, streaking the ivory with red.

  

  

  An intricately carved pendant shaped like an owl, its eyes set with jade slivers that shimmer faintly in the presence of unseen forces. A type of talisman commonly worn by spirit-guides and vision-seekers, it has been crafted by Hallara Besk and anointed with oils from the roots of dreambark trees.

  If there were ever any doubt that the White Cloud Sage values more than strength of arm and fleetness of foot, one need only look to Hallara Besk, the youngest Aspirant in the history of the Brennai nations to earn the Iron Rung.

  Minor artifact—heirloom. Requires attunement. Can be used as a Mystic Lense. Occasionally reveals hidden spectral presences.

  Sage (prefix): Attuning to the Sage’s Ivory Owl Pendant grants +1 to Intelligence, Willpower, and Presence.

  Far-Sight (suffix): Attuning to the Ivory Owl Pendant of Far-Sight allows the wearer to peer through the eyes of an owl familiar across great distances.

  That was… a lot. Hunter had to read through the description a couple of times just to make sure he’d understood it all. He didn’t know exactly what artifact or heirloom meant in system terms, but he could make an educated guess about attunement: he’d probably have to spend some time forming a magical bond with the pendant before unlocking its abilities.

  The Sage prefix was straightforward enough: plus one to all of his mental Attributes. He hadn’t upgraded any of those before and briefly wondered what it would feel like to suddenly be ten percent smarter.

  He’d find out soon enough, he supposed.

  The Far-Sight suffix, on the other hand, felt like a bit of a waste. It only worked with owl familiars. Could he have Biggs and Wedge take owl form instead of ravens? He wasn’t sure—and even if he could, he wasn’t sure they’d like that.

  By far the most exciting perk of the pendant was its function as a Mystic Lense. With it, he could finally use Mystic Eye without frying his brain in the process. Just realizing it was there, Hunter wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. No more burning sinuses, migraines, and nosebleeds. Yes, was about damn time he got his hands on one of those.

  Eager to put the pendant to use as soon as possible, Hunter everything else aside and focused on figuring out how attunement actually worked.

  As with most things he didn’t fully understand in Elderpyre, he followed his intuition. He closed his eyes, cycled a small stream of Essence, and pushed it into the enchanted pendant in his hands the same way he did when activating one of his spirit charms. The effect was immediate; the pendant drank the Essence hungrily, then tugged at him, insistent, eager for more. Hunter happily obliged.

  Attuning with the pendant took the better part of an hour. He meditated on its nature, its history, and his own intentions for it, all while feeding it a steady trickle of his Essence. He could feel a bond taking shape, slow and steady, but undeniable. When the pendant had its fill, a notification blinked into view before his eyes:

  

  

  You are now attuned to this item. Attunement slots remaining: 2/3.

  

  Your Artifact Handling has increased to 1.

  The newly attuned pendant felt almost like an extension of himself. It was a strange sensation, like he'd suddenly grown some kind of vestigial limb or sensory organ. Not unpleasant; just… distracting. It would take some getting used to, Hunter supposed.

  Interestingly, there seemed to be a hard cap on attuned items: three, total. He also noticed he’d gained Artifact Handling, a skill likely tied to the attunement process. Curious to see how using a Lens would change the experience, he focused his mind on Artifact Handling and activated Mystic’s Eye again.

  As before, the knowledge surged into his mind. This time, however, the backlash never fully reached him. The pendant absorbed the brunt of it, acting as a kind of breakwater. He still shuddered at the uncanny rush of insight and tasted copper and brine at the back of his throat, but it was a far cry from the brutal feedback he’d braced for.

  

  

  Artifact Handling represents one's ability to understand, attune to, and safely operate artifacts and other items of power.

  Higher ranks speed up the attunement process, reduce the chance of attunement failure, improve the reliability and control of artifact-based abilities, and lower the risk of misfires, malfunctions, or harmful side effects.

  The description didn’t say much he couldn’t already intuit, but Hunter didn’t mind. The experiment was a success; he’d used Mystic Eye with barely any backlash. That was huge.

  Grinning like a toddler with a new, shiny toy, he reached for the other gifts Hallara had given him. He meant to put his new Lens through its paces, and they were as good a place to start as any.

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