We had found a pce for the night, a tavern tucked into a shadowed alley at the far edge of town, decidedly secretive yet luxurious all the same. I’d normally have balked at the prices, but Anabeth had insisted she had enough, counting Kohns as if they were pebbles. In the end, it cost three times what I would have spent anywhere else.

  She still hadn’t answered my question.

  Anabeth had already made another excuse, and I was waiting for her to return. “I left a few vials back near the Grand Library,” she’d said with a casual shrug, and her grin had been infuriatingly convincing. I knew better than to press.

  To be fair, I had more urgent matters to take care of now.

  First, the Aura Market.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and rested my elbow on my knees.

  “All right,” I muttered. “Ceralis. Aura Market, please.”

  The familiar pressure gnawed at me, and once again the apparition showed up.

  [Aura Market — Access Granted]The market mushroomed into my vision.

  Calling it a ‘market’ was an insult to itself. This was a sprawling, yered expanse of glowing letters, branching paths, rotating consteltions of icons and categories stacked upon categories. They read: Skills; Enhancements; Passives; Modutors; Frameworks, and so many more. Entire architectures of growth spiraled out, some locked behind opaque seals, others merely waiting, patient and predatory.

  This wasn’t a shop.

  This was an ecosystem.

  I stared at the section closest to me. I focused, and the interface obliged.

  Somatic Integrity Node

  (Cssification: Foundational Node)

  Node? What a bizarre word.

  I skimmed the description instead.

  A Somatic Integrity Node reinforces the bearer’s corporeal resilience through structured aura reinforcement.Ah. Health.

  Why didn’t it just say that?

  Upgrades branched downward, each one more expensive than the st.

  1st Reinforcement: +10 Health Points — Cost: 20 Aura

  2nd Reinforcement: +30 Health Points — Cost: 100 Aura

  3rd Reinforcement: +70 Health Points — Cost: 350 Aura

  The numbers rocketed after that. Vitality, apparently, did not come cheap, nor did it tolerate dabbling.

  Another category drew my attention.

  Aether Reserve NodeThat, at least, used words I understood.

  Initial Allocation: +5 Aetheric Points — Cost: 30 Aura

  Expanded Reserve: +25 Aetheric Points — Cost: 200 Aura

  And beyond that, the costs spiked into territory I didn’t even want to contempte yet.

  Nonetheless, the rewards were staggering. Simply by winning a shout match, I’d gained 127 Aura to immediately expand my AP threefold.

  There had to be one for RES as well, no? Aetheric resonance was too fundamental not to be represented.

  I searched.

  A result appeared almost immediately.

  Aetheric Resonance NodeI felt a brief, irrational fsh of satisfaction... until I actually read it.

  Status: Locked

  Condition: Resonance may only be increased by following the Path of the Earthen Aegis.

  I stared at the words for a long moment.

  “... Of course it is.”

  This meant that for anything vaguely magical, I was still going to need Anabeth. That realization sat poorly with me.

  It seemed possible to gain points for other attributes, though.

  I narrowed the market’s scope, filtering for Attribute Allocation. The response was quietly arming.

  Each attribute followed the same pattern. The first point was almost charitable.

  Attribute Allocation — General Scale (STR)

  First Point: Cost: 20 Aura

  Second Point: Cost: 50 Aura

  Third Point: Cost: 120 Aura

  Fourth Point: Cost: 300 Aura

  Fifth Point: Cost: 700 Aura

  Beyond that, the entries were still visible, but the numbers stopped pretending to be reasonable, and this was true not only for STR, but END, PER, and even INT (if I ever wanted to torture the local popuce even harder).

  I studied the progression for a long moment.

  The curve wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t even subtle. The first point was practically an invitation, but this would never repce training. Ceralis hadn’t built this to create prodigies overnight. I should only snatch a few early points to smooth out deficiencies, and then try to grind out the rest. That was, if I could grind them out like I could skills.

  Upon further inspection, it seemed like that was the case.

  STR (Strength): 10 (Progress to 11: 63%)

  Note: Strength increases through sustained physical exertion under load, such as prolonged carry of heavy equipment, repeated weapon strikes against resistant targets, or maintaining combat posture while encumbered.

  I studied the numbers for a while.

  I definitely needed more STR. Ten was rather insulting to the Knight Order. Any heavier armor, any rger weapon, any prolonged fight, and I’d feel it. Still... thinking back, I hadn’t actually met a single STR check. Plenty of attack options existed that didn’t care about STR at all, like Static Surge and simply having a better weapon.

  DEX, on the other hand, had already betrayed me.

  There had been DEX checks. And unlike STR, the skills I’d just reviewed scaled off Dexterity, and the penalties also scaled down from the original DEX. The higher the base, the more everything else benefited.

  With that line of reasoning, I exchanged 20 Aura for DEX. It seemed like a small enough investment that I wouldn’t regret ter.

  Then I shifted focus instead toward the sections marked Skills.

  My primary affinity, Lightning, was listed near the top. I selected it.

  Spells, techniques, augmentations—some locked, some merely expensive. I tapped the first one that looked familiar.

  Conductive Weapon Art — Lightning

  Static Surge (Level 1)

  Effect: Channel electrical charge through a metal weapon, adding up to 30 ATK to the next successful strike.

  Cost: 5 AP

  Cooldown: 30 seconds

  I already had that.

  Ceralis did not care.

  I scrolled.

  Another entry sat just beneath it.

  Electrokinetic Handling — Lightning (Weapon Discipline)

  Effect: While wielding a Lightning-aligned longsword, increase DEX by 5% for 30 seconds.

  Rank: Level 1

  Cost: 5 AP

  Cooldown: 30 seconds

  Cost: 50 Aura

  That made my eyebrows rise. A longsword was a rather heavy object to swing successfully, resulting in either slow but precise strikes, or less slow but ughably sloppy strikes. This skill could bypass that weakness altogether.

  The cost was 50 Aura, though. If I spent this amount now, I would not have enough for much else.

  I lingered, then continued down the tree.

  Surely there would be ranged applications. Lightning wanted to travel. It begged to be released.

  I found it.

  Lightning Projection Node

  Voltaic Projection — Lightning Spell

  I selected it.

  Status: Locked

  Restriction: Incompatible with current Css — Knight

  Notice: Change css to unlock Lightning Projectile Spells.

  I stared at the notice.

  Change css? After everything I’d already worked towards? After Saint Merin, the armor, the bde, the path I’d already been walking?

  No.

  I closed the entry without another thought.

  If lightning wanted to move, it would move along steel.

  There was one more skill I wished to find: the accursed Appraisal. Sure enough, it was LOCKED. Apparently, this skill could only be unlocked by csses such as Scout, Attuner, and Aetheric Appraiser, the tter two sounding way too bureaucratic for me to ever get into. There were two things I could do to unlock better readings of other creatures, however: leveling up (as most attributes were obscured if you were over 5 levels apart) and upgrading your PER to see the opponent’s high level skills. Both were in theory attainable, so I wasn’t too bothered.

  I spent 30 Aura on 5 AP first; there was no reason not to.

  [STAT SCREEN – Henry Hildebraud of Mostenstein]

  Css: Knight

  Level: 6

  EXP: 3947/4500

  Aura: 17

  HP (Health Points): 60/60

  AP (Aetheric Points): 12/12

  Stamina: 51%

  STR (Strength): 10

  DEX (Dexterity): 23

  RES (Resonance): 5

  INT (Intimidation): 104

  PER (Perception): 27

  RNG (Ranged Accuracy): 5

  END (Endurance): 19

  RIDE (Mounted Riding Skill): 66

  Status: Healthy, Satiated

  As tempting as the other choices were, this one barely qualified as a decision.

  Aura Accelerator (Rank I)

  Effect: Gain 20% additional Aura from all Aura-generating actions.

  Cost: 60 Aura

  I stared at it.

  Then I scrolled down.

  Aura Accelerator (Rank II)

  Effect: Gain an additional 40% Aura from all Aura-generating actions.

  Cost: 1200 Aura

  Status: Locked

  This wasn’t a build choice. It was a literacy test.

  It was practically holding up a pcard that read Have You Been Paying Attention?

  Anyone who skipped this deserved to be poor.

  I confirmed the purchase.

  [Aura Accelerator — Rank I Acquired]I was about to close the Market.

  Then a skill sat half-buried in a subcategory I hadn’t bothered to expand yet:

  Lightning Skills → Presence EffectsThat alone was enough to make me pause.

  I focused on it. The entry slid forward.

  Thunderous Edict

  Cssification: Passive Skill

  Affinity: Lightning / Presence

  Effect: When initiating or escating Intimidation-based dialogue, there is a 30% chance that atmospheric aether will resonate violently, producing a distant lightning manifestation accompanied by a thunderous auditory shock.

  — Enhances perceived authority, inevitability, and threat projection.

  — Does not require line-of-sight or direct spellcasting.

  — Does not deal any physical or aetheric damage.

  Restrictions: Incompatible with current Css — Knight Compatible at INT ≥ 100

  Cost: 1 Aura

  1 Aura? This skill was practically begging to be unlocked. I despised probabilistic effects, and this would only ever be used for aesthetic-based terrorism.

  Yet... If a higher level allowed for actual control over when you could decide to peacock, this would undoubtedly be a very useful skill.

  I expanded the progression tree.

  The Market, smug creature that it was, obliged.

  Thunderous Edict — Rank II (Preview)

  Upgrade Type: Functional Evolution

  Status: Locked

  New Effect:

  Skill becomes Active

  May be deliberately invoked to accompany eligible Presence-based abilities

  New effects: [See More]

  Activation Cost: 5 AP per use

  Synergistic Skills Required:

  Silent Authority — Lv.10

  Overwhelming Aura — Lv.10

  Commanding Gaze — Lv.10

  Command Tone — Lv.10

  Cost: 200 Aura

  Oh. I could control when to set forth the visual effects. And of course it’d cost 200 times more than the Rank I version.

  Thunderous Edict — Rank III (Preview)

  Status: Locked

  Additional Trigger Compatibility:

  Moral Superiority — Lv.10

  Schostic Arrogance — Lv.10

  Heroic Entrance — Lv.10

  Self-Narration — Lv.10

  Cost: 400 Aura

  Self-Narration? I had no idea why I would ever need atmospheric condemnation while expining my own actions. Still... I could picture it. A ridiculous, impossible image: me stepping into a hall, already expining why this course of action was inevitable and correct—and the sky agreeing. Thunder rolling like a closing argument. Lightning fshing not to strike, but to emphasize.

  Fine. I redeemed the skill. It’d be annoying for a while, but with enough practice, I’d become the master of SELECTIVE fear mongering.

  That was that for now. I was just about to pull up the Bounty Board—whatever fresh absurdity that was going to be—when the door creaked behind me.

  Anabeth slipped in without ceremony, as though she’d never left.