Me, My Spirit, And I [Book 1 Complete]

Shada felt odd about how relatively easy completing his Quest had been. He had discussed Quests in general with his family, but it seemed that knowledge about them had faded. They were apparently another aspect of the System that went offline on Guideless Day. It appeared that the patch he had started on his Path journey was slowly bringing new features online and fixing the odd issue here and there, but that was just a distraction. He really wanted to know what he got for his efforts so he reread the Quest notification before reading the update the System provided.

Between the two Quest parts he had a total of 7 Attribute points to spend. Of course it wasn't much of a decision when he only had two Attributes to spend them on. He split them evenly and checked the rest of his Status Sheet since he hadn't done that in a while.

His two Attributes, Will and Intent, had advanced to levels 4 and 3 respectively. Silent Spell Casting, Split Mind, and Spirit Walking were all now Rank 2 with the Apprentice/Intermediary labels. The rank system seemed a bit confusing. Was the System glitching or was this a sign of the System being repaired? Or maybe it was adapting to his own knowledge? Shada couldn't be sure, but he knew the rank system had changed.

It appeared there was an entire chart complete with color coding for Ranks now. It wasn't lost on Shada that the Rank color system was very similar to the color system of Essence Crystals, which he only vaguely understood.

Several of his other Skills had also leveled recently and he had a new Path Skill: Ritual Casting.

Overall, Shada felt he was progressing rather nicely, but he felt it would be a good idea to go over things with his family soon.

—

Several evenings after completing the second part of the Hag hunting Quest Shada and his family gathered as they often did for an evening meal. Vanestra and Alexzandrous mainly picked at their food as their Cultivation levels meant they required little to sustain themselves and ate mainly for pleasure.

"I have been going over my Status and I wanted to get opinions on my progress."

"I have been meaning to speak to you about that actually. I think you may have to slow down significantly," Shinobin said with concern in her voice.

"Why would I do that? Is something wrong I don't know about?"

"I have been keeping a close eye, magical and mundane, on Luca's health since the ritual incident," Shinobin said with a sigh. "Luca shows every sign of continued progressive Essence strain and related physical deterioration."

"What is Essence strain and what kind of deterioration?" Shada asked in concern.

"It is hard to explain, but Essence strain occurs when someone's Stats begin to become too unbalanced. Simply put, your Magic Cultivation is too high compared to Luca's Physical Cultivation. How big is the difference now?" Shinobin asked softly.

"My, or I guess our, Magic Stat is 19. I have yet to figure out how to make Stat breakthroughs like I have with Skills. I can't raise Luca's Physical Stat, which is at 5."

"Four to one? That is worse than I thought. How have you been getting so much Cultivation done?"

"I don't sleep."

"Oh, that would leave you with a lot of free time, wouldn't it. Let's see, it appears someone," Shinobin said while looking at her grandparents in annoyance, "failed to tell you that you should keep your Stats from exceeding a three to one ratio. This is only a general rule of thumb of course, but it is exceedingly important for two Stats: Physical and Magical. With a four to one ratio your use of magic is putting constant strain on Luca's body. The effects are very subtle and I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking."

"How is that even possible? I am using magic not Luca. Are you sure it isn't some residual effect of him getting access to our shared Skills?"

"I am sure. I even consulted with one of the other healers that specialize in more esoteric injuries using vague terms and hypotheticals. Despite your ability to act independently, Shada, you and Luca are not separate people. Not really, not as far as your Etheric body is concerned. Every time you use magic it is affecting Luca, but that isn't the problem,; Cultivation is. You can't progress your Stats until Luca is older and can Cultivate his Physical Stat," Shinobin said with a sigh.

"But that means I can't Cultivate again until he is twelve? That is the age that the System starts removing the restrictions on children right?" Shada was not happy at all. Cultivating his Stats was part of his life now, he did it for hours everyday. "What about my Skills? Do I have to stop using Cultivation on them as well?

"I know that seems like a big ask and a long time, but if this continues Luca could be crippled, experience accelerated aging, or any number of detrimental side effects. You can't completely stop your Skills from advancing, but you can avoid actively Cultivating them. It will significantly slow your progress though."

"I see, I need to think. It doesn't seem like I have a real choice. Could Luca begin Cultivating without the System helping? Are there any other options?"

"Luca could, technically, Cultivate without System access. There are families that do that, but it would have to be Luca doing it. Not you and no matter how advanced Luca is for his age he is still a toddler. It will be years before he could learn manual Cultivation."

"Years of stalled progress…that is daunting. I don't know what to say."

"Oh don't be silly you old baby! It isn't like you don't have other things you can do. Even at your level you can still support that Delve team of yours even as nothing more than a fancy scout. Besides, it will give us a chance to really shore up the gaps in your education," Vanestra said with excited vigor in her voice that made Shada shudder.

—

At the next meeting of the Shadow Delvers Shada asked the others about their Quest rewards. It seemed that everyone had gotten 1-2 Attributes points as their reward. They quickly moved on to planning for their first Delve.

"How does Delving work? Officially that is?" Shada said. He tried to adapt to his speech to the younger group, but sometimes slipped back into the cadence of the old man he felt he was.

"We are registered with the Guild so all we have to do is request a slot," Frea explained.

"Will they assign a time or do we get to choose?"

"We will get a list of available slots and will be able to choose from the list. They will put our name down."

"So when are we going to try this?"

Everyone in the group looked at each other and no one spoke up for a few minutes.

"I be thinking that is up to you boss spirit. I might be acting as the public face of this here group, but you are the actual leaders," Alo said.

There were nods around the table.

"What do we need to do to prepare? Does everyone have equipment? What other supplies do we need? Is someone willing to handle logistics for the group?" Shada asked.

"I can do it." The typically silent Brumo said.

"You? Really? I didn't think it would be something that would interest you," remarked Shada.

"My family owns a shipping business," was all the explanation Brumo was willing to give.

"Ok then, let's see. Alo is the public face of our group and Brumo is going to be our quartermaster. Vreen can I count on you to collect what healing supplies we might need?"

"Of course, Bless…, I mean Shada."

"Excellent, no one answered about weapons and armor. Is everyone good on that front?"

"I could use an update. I think all of us could as we are all working with basic equipment. Shada, your family is sponsoring us so maybe give us an equipment budget?" Carsan asked tenatively.

" I can certainly ask, but I know nothing about local currencies and finances."

The group continued their planning session and Shada flew over to ask his family about financial support. Apparently, the group's Contract already included a monthly equipment stipend, which Shada collected for the group in his Inventory.

"I have funds for us to work with. Let's discuss the details, then go shopping."

—

The shopping trip with his team was another new Sierrallas experience for Shada. It was the first time he had encountered the local currency directly. He had honestly expected the people of Westlin to use coins like primitive societies, but instead they had their own currency backed by Essence Crystals commonly called chips. Each chip had a color and value associated with it that corresponded to different colored Essence Crystals. Individual chips were made from thin colored metal strips coated in a clear protective resin.

"I don't suppose one of you would explain the currency to me would you? How much is a red chip worth for example vs say a violet chip?" Shada asked as the group moved through an arms and armor market.

Carsan, the merchant's son, was the obvious choice to answer. "There are red, yellow, orange, green, and blue chips. The last being somewhat special and rarely seen. Each one can be traded for a similar colored Essence Crystal. Red chips are worth about 10 Essence. There are 10 red chips to every yellow chip, and the pattern continues with the rest of the colors i.e. 10 yellows make an orange etc…"

"Wait, so what are they worth in terms of material goods or wages?" Shada interrupted Carsan who seemed to be ready to go into an excessively detailed explaination.

Carsan blinked at the interruption before shifting gears to answer Shada's question. "It really depends on the goods, but I suppose I could narrow that down to common things. A basic sword costs around 5 yellows or 50 reds. A nice sword can cost 5-10 greens easily. You could get a cheap meal, assuming you ate food, for as little as 5-10 reds. A single fruit might cost only a single red." Carsan paused to think."Wages can vary wildly, but unskilled laborers can make as little as 5 red an hour, which is pathetic when you consider people can just give their Essence to a Collector and make the same amount. The poor typically do a bit of both actually."

"What the hell is a Collector?" Shada asked in confusion.

"Collectors are people who have Skills that can be used to make Essence Crystals. The poor and the desperate sell their Essence to the less scruplous Collectors to be made into Essence Crystals," Frea said with disdain.

"Is there something wrong with selling your Essence?" Shada asked curiously. Sierallas had some odd moral or ethical concerns compared to Earth.

"It isn't wrong, per se, but it would be like selling your blood or body parts. It is distasteful at the best of times and looked down upon. Using your Essence to power Skills or improving your own Cultivation is what you are supposed to do to grow. If you are selling it you can't grow and that goes against the Tenets of Ascension," Frea said in a snooty tone.

"Tenets of Ascension? Is that a religious phrase of some sort?" Shada asked. It seemed there were lots of things he needed to learn about that he had been overlooking in his hyper focus on magic and Cultivation.

"I can answer that Shada," Vreen said suddenly. "The Tenets of Ascension are not a religion or rather not technically part of any true religion, i.e. one with the backing and support of a true deity, but more of a philosopy adopted by those who venerate the System itself."

"There are people that worship the System? Why would they do that? It isn't a god or even a person. It is, hmmm, the local languages don't have the words for it, but it is an artificial construct," Shada tried to explain, but found that he lacked the words to describe an artificial intelligence or thinking machine in the local language without resorting to rather poor substitutes.

The entire group stopped and turned to stare at Shada in confusion.

"Shada, no one knows the origin of the System or what it is. It just appeared a few thousand years ago after Sierrallas Awakened. It is assumed to be a Divine creation," Vreen said in a concerned tone.

"I see," Shada said softly as he realized he had more knowledge about the System's origins than the locals did. He seriously wondered what people would think if they knew he and Luca were given the Traits of the System creators and that it had been made by a mortal species. "So back to the topic of money. I have an orange chip for each of you to buy equipment. That is 1,000 reds right? Anyhow, you each get one and there are two extra for supplies."

The group looked at Shada in surprise now, in addition to confusion.

"That is a significant sum," Carsan said in surprise.

"Is it? It was in your Contracts with my family. Grandma just gave me the chips and said to get everybody properly outfitted before our first Delve."

The group started talking to each other excitedly while discussing possible purchases while Shada went back to his normal practice of crowd watching when in public.

The group's first stop was a weaponsmith. With the amount of chips they could each afford an engraved weapon. Engraved weapons were a type of enchanted item that only worked when you channeled Essence into them. For the most part the effects created were relatively minor such as increased sharpness, hardening, and occasionally elemental effects like heated edges or flaming arrows. The effects faded quickly once the user stopped channeling, but they could be particularly helpful, not to mention cheap, for Delvers.

While the rest of the group were examining the various weapons available, which were surprisingly abundant, Shada was more interested in talking with the shop's owner about manufacturing processes.

"Hello good sir, my name is Shada. I am really quite curious about how engraved weapons are made. Could you provide me with a brief explanation? I am assuming of course it is some sort of trade secret."

"Are you someone's familiar? Didn't know familiars could talk to anyone except their masters," the older man that was tinkering with things in the back of the shop said in a curious, but otherwise, nonplussed tone.

"I am, my uhmmm master is with our group up front looking at weapons, but I was curious so I came back here." Shada was in his ghost cat form and was trying to look non-threatening.

"Ain't never explained something to the ghost of a talking cat before, but I don't see the harm in it. Engraving isn't very complex after all though it takes a bit of skill to do it right. You take something, like this sword I am working on, you then carve an enchantment schema into the metal. Then you fill the grooves with the enchanter's ink. Takes a steady hand and memorization, but otherwise anyone could do it."

"What is an enchantment schema and what is enchanter's ink?"

"You are definitely as curious as a cat aren't cha?" the smiling worker said. "A schema is just a pattern of words and symbols in one of the magic languages. Enchanter's ink, well it varies depending on what you are working on, but it is typically Beast or Monster blood mixed with a bit of ground Essence Crystals and some dust of whatever you are working with. See the markings on this sword? I will be using enchanter's ink mixed with bronze dust to bind the ink to the metal. Again not terribly complex. The ink is a bit pricey and is honestly the most expensive part of an engraved item."

"Don't you have to be super precise or even perfect when carving the schema?" Shada was surprised at how casually the man was being about the whole process. He was continuing to work while talking and was giving a fairly detailed explanation.

"Precise is good, but even a sloppy engraving will work. It won't be as efficient or anything like that, but perfection is not needed. It isn't that different from writing after all. The better your handwriting the easier it is for others to read it. Enchantments aren't that different as long as the magic can read what I carve it will work."

"So anyone could create an engraved enchantment? How many of these do you make in a day?"

"You don't have to be an Engraver or Enchanter if that is what you mean. No more than you have to be a classed Cook to fix a meal, but Classes and Skills make it all work much better. As for how many. Well, it depends on demand and how much the shop has in stock. This sword for example is low so I will be taking it to the Duplicators when I am finished."

"What is a Duplicator?" The term was a new one to Shada, but it seemed obvious based on the context. A Duplicator would duplicate things right?

"Not very educated about the world are you kitty? A Duplicator is a mage that creates duplicates. See, they will take this sword, put it in the center of a ritual circle with a bunch of raw ingredients, then do their fancy little dance, and boom this sword becomes multiple identical copies."

Shada's incredulous face must have looked ridiculous on a ghost cat, but he was genuinely shocked. Sierrallas had a magical version of replicators. Apparently the original was destroyed and the copies weren't 100% perfect, but there was no need for advanced manufacturing techniques when any handcrafted item could be turned into multiple copies.

"Can Duplicators duplicate duplicates?"

"Of course, but no one would buy them unless they were stupid. The item quality degrades each time it goes through the process. The original will always be better than the copies and making copies of copies is just bad business especially with engraved weapons. The engravings won't even work properly on a copy of a copy and the metal may become so brittle it breaks."

The discussion continued for a while longer before the man reached a tricky part of the process that required more focus. Shada was conflicted and had a lot to think about. There were essentially magic replicators on Sierrallas. If he used Material Mastery to create something from Earth it could be easily copied. Were there patents? He eventually wanted to have his own income that didn't come from his family's charity, but if everything could be copied what was the point? Of course he could hire a Duplicator and never let the originals be released to the public, but someone was bound to steal anything he 'invented'.

While thinking about Duplicators, inventions, and industrial sabotage Shada wandered around the shop examining various items. It appeared that the locals only used iron and bronze alloys in their metal weapons. Did Sierrallas not have carbon steel? He had previously noticed how rare glass was and the lack of other materials like ceramics, but he was surprised that the militant society hadn't invented steel yet. Was magic holding them back in terms of technology development? Could he change that and better yet should he? These and similar thoughts occupied Shada for the rest of the shopping trip.