NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106: Vision
Cool wind skimmed the hillside, vibrant green grass waving in rippling patterns, almost hypnotic patterns. Leif spread his fingers, running them through the shin high foliage as he stared up into the perfectly clear night sky.
“We of the Amber welcome you, together we will serve a greater purpose than we could alone.” Said a calm voice from off to his side. The woman, amber light having engulfed half of her body, stood, repeating her words as if to a crowd of students. But there was no one there, well, other than him. “To see so many of you, healthy and safe brings me no small amount of joy. There is much to learn, and even more to do, but together nothing is beyond our grasp.” The woman said to the crowd of one.
Leif had heard the entire speech several times by now, the strange mental place he was connected to becoming his usual retreat during the long and lonely nights. He didn’t have to sleep, not like his demikin companions did, so he had had time to practise reaching the state of mental stillness required to perceive the golden link.
“There is a duty our kind must perform, to act for the preservation of life. It is an honour, nothing is more fulfilling. In time, you who have awakened will likewise learn to love this duty.”
Leif considered the speech, and the reason he had somehow been connected to this place. His working theory was that immediately after his first evolution he had technically qualified to see the vision, but as he had never settled he had never been in the state of mind to view it. He remembered having a desire to settle right after his evolution, but he had pushed away the feeling.
It felt like a lifetime ago, stumbling around in the snow, wandering off in a random direction in the hopes he would discover something related to his past.
“But first, you must learn to communicate. As awakened beings, it is no longer good enough to remain the silent observers you were up until this point. You have chosen to take this step, now you must begin to walk.”
The speech was drawing to an end, in a few moments the woman would begin walking around the hill, as if to have conversations with beings who should have been present. Leif absently toyed with the intricate, half metallic and half crystalline object he had conjured into his hand. The seal, part of the initial reward for reporting on the Pherin dungeon, wasn't really within this mental space. Instead it was an image, an echo much like his current form was.
He had discovered this little trick while escorting the captured bandits. For some reason he could pull whatever was present within his spatial ring into the vision. He didn’t know why it was possible, just that it was. He looked at the seal, studying the intricate patterns of woven metal and cut gem. It had a weight to it, both in reality and within this place. Not a physical weight, but an abstract heft similar to that of his storage item.
A promotion seal was the lowest grade of promotion item, capable of increasing a foundation class into a tier two class. These little, but valuable items had been some of the things his demikin companions were on the lookout for. As nomads, they didn’t have the ability to obtain seals or any of the more advanced promotion items outside of system rewards. Leif knew that the item he held hadn’t been bestowed from the system, but instead crafted by someone who had dedicated much of their life to reverse engineering the design.
He hadn’t admitted to destroying the dungeon personally, only stating under the effects of the guild office’s truth telling wards that he had verified its destruction. Apparently, despite it having been almost two months ago, those this far south hadn’t yet noticed the change. Frederick had practically pushed him and his companions out of his office. He had been so desperate to relay the message as quickly as possible the man had gone from polite and dignified to half manic. An hour later after Leif and the others had found a room in a nearby inn a runner had delivered them a parcel, and a note requesting a meeting three hours after dawn.
Leif spun the seal between his fingers, then willed the item to vanish. He could use it to promote his level capped [Brawler] class, and he likely would once he exited the vision. Technically he had four more, but since he would be going further into civilisation while the nomads would be returning to Far-reach he would let them have them. Besides, with the money he had also been given he could probably buy more.
With a brief effort of will a coin appeared within his opened palm. Unlike the silver coins that had been in the bandit’s possession, this coin was only partially made of metal. An outer ring of what Leif thought was brass outlined the fingertip sized circle of what he could only describe as ‘glossy clay’. The coin was hollow, an inner circle likewise outlined with brass. The design made sense, as the coins had all been tied together on a string. According to Samil they were called ‘flakes.’ With the slightly larger, silver outlined coins being called ‘scales.’
Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone used the same currency? Leif thought, standing up and making his way up the hill. What’s the point of having republic silver and imperial coinage? He supposed it was some sort of tradition or custom for different places to mint their own coins. He reached the base of the towering tree, the amber portal radiating golden light into the quiet night. Leif turned, seeing the similarly coloured bonfire that was the distant figure of the awakened member of his own kind. If the system was accurate with his evolution descriptions, she was dead. Just like the rest of them.
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Leif awoke within the cramped confines of the room he was staying in. Something heavy was pressing down into his back, so he conjured a pair of arms to remove the splayed form of Olav from where the large man slept. He wasn’t sure how the nomad had managed that, but he didn’t really care. He carefully placed the man back into his bunk and stood within the dark room.
There were four bunks, all but one was occupied. Technically it was for him, but after his evolution he was far, far too heavy to not break the bed frame just by sitting on the edge. He could sense dozens of other people through the walls, the quiet flickering of their vitality dampened by the physical obstacle, but not by much. The scion pushed his aura out through the wooden shutters of the room’s window, using it to stretch his perception into the sleepy town.
He wasn’t exactly comfortable being within civilisation. The ever present danger of his identity being discovered was a constant worry in the back of his mind. And while he had felt them put their guard up around a stranger wearing a mask, it hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as he had feared. He had even seen an adventurer team all wearing masks, albeit not full face coverings.
A patrol marched past, their fatigue and boredom both evident to Leif’s perception. As they walked through his [Aura of Recovery] they all seemed to perk up, some looking around as if suspicious and others let out sighs of relief. They were soon gone, marching single-file out of his range of perception. It was two hours passed midnight, the sun wouldn’t rise for several more hours.
The air in front of him warped, the slight distortion all but invisible in the darkness of the room. The faint blue glow of the object that fell into his lap pulsed slightly, Leif reached out and tapped the promotion seal with a finger.
Would you like to consume this promotion item to increase one or more of your classes from tier 1 to tier 2?
Classes available for promotion: [Brawler]!
Classes available for merge: [Brawler] and [Adept], [Brawler] and [Attuned: Life]!
Warning! Merging classes will not grant new skills or attributes based on combined level!
Warning! The options available when promoting classes by merging two tier 1 classes will be less than promoting a level capped tier 1 class!
Warning! You are vulnerable during the promotion process!
Leif read over the system prompts, considering his options. He hadn’t realised merging [Adept] or [Attuned: Life] with [Brawler] was possible, he had just assumed once the class had reached the level cap it could only be directly promoted. Does that mean technically you could get two level ten tier one classes and then merge them? Is that even a good idea? He suspected it wouldn't be, after all, wouldn’t that make you miss out on any new skills granted by the tier two class?
[Attuned: Life] was currently level six, with [Adept] having been freshly restored to full functionality and sitting at level three. If he got one more level in either class he could merge them. But was that optimal? Would the benefits of having two separate classes with compounding perks be better than losing out on one of the class perks but freeing up a class slot? And wouldn't he gain another class slot after passing the level fifty advancement?
Congratulations! Your fusion of the [Time Born Sympathy] and [Combative Gumption] skills is complete!
Leif’s golden eyes blinked in the dark, he had honestly forgotten the skill fusion still wasn’t complete. Damn thing had taken over a month to fuse, and that was with him using several mana shards to speed it along.
You have gained the [Scion of Aeons] skill [Sympathy From Experience]!
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Sympathy From Experience:
Aspects: Perception (Time)*, Enhancement (Body)*, Social*, Analysis
You passively gain knowledge of events and changes that have occurred within your surroundings, the more significant these events the more clear they are to your sight. You may invoke the passage of time, seeing an echo of the past which you may project to those nearby.
You have greater awareness of both your material and spiritual surroundings, and have the ability to sense emotions and intent of those within range of your perception.
Finally you may analyse a target to determine their age and combat experience relative to your own.
===
It was basically the exact same skill, and that was by design. Leif was slightly amused to see that not even the description had changed outside of the additional text detailing where [Combative Gumption] had been slotted in. Now his two analysis skills were one, and without losing any of the interesting aspects of what [Time Born Sympathy] had before the fusion. The scion let out a small exhale of relief, he hadn’t been sure envisioning ‘just put the combat experience bit into it’ had qualified as enough intent when commencing the fusion, but fortunately it had.
A flicker of orange light filtered through the closed shutters of the window. Leif frowned, glancing from the system window in confusion. How is it morning already? It should be hours away still. He stood, reducing his weight as much as possible to not wake the sleeping demikin as he crossed the room. He used [Wood Manipulation] to silently usher the window open, then he paused at what he saw.
It wasn’t the sun, but it was fire. A tall building down by the market had caught aflame, orange tendrils reaching into the sky from the structure's roof. He heard shouts coming from a street over, but he was already moving. By the time he was out the front door of the inn bells had started ringing all over Klos, sleepy people and disgruntled adventurers leaning out of windows or running out onto the streets.
“How much of a problem do you think it is?” A voice called from overhead. Leif turned to see Liv lazily blinking from their room’s window.
“It doesn’t seem like an attack, hopefully they can put the blaze out quickly.” He responded.
“Okay, that's good.” She said with a yawn. “I’m going back to sleep, cya.”