NOVEL NEXT 128 - Facet Selection
Div completely agreed with Terebus when he said he needed to consider the task ahead when picking his new facet. He had thousands of salted fish barrels to process into fish paste, and he wouldn't turn his nose at a few skill levels for his efforts.
Still, he wasn't going to make his choice rashly. Sitting down on the rough, hard stone floor of the eastern cellar, he closed his eyes and entered his inner world.
It had changed from the last time he visited. The air hung with dampness. In the center, his tree stood strong, stronger than ever. The rotten black streaks marking the wood no longer looked like an infection, but a blessing, feeding the tree with essence along the countless echoing beats of Chorus of Renewal.
Next to it, En's tree was growing. Once again, Div wondered what his brother was up to, if he was safe. He took the tree as a sign that, at least, he was healthy. That, and the faint sense coming from Bound Genesis that En was somewhere south of him, in Kheiron, probably.
So many things had happened since Div and En separated from each other that Div hadn't thought to adjust his inner world to his new situation. Now that he was alone in his body and soul, he didn't need to cater to En's dislike of rot.
He could let it flourish, taint his skills, and their representation as he wished.
His eyes moved to Rotten Spear, and the ray of sunlight striking the ground, depleting it of vitality. He shook his head. That was En's vision of rot, not his.
Div had changed a lot in the few months he'd been away from his brother. He was free, and it showed. Sometimes, he wondered what En would think of his practice of rot magic. Div liked to believe En would be proud. Even if he didn't want anything to do with this power, surely, he would appreciate his brother growing into it.
At least, he hoped so.
Maybe it was a whim, maybe a flash of inspiration, but he knew what to do. With a wave of his hand, he willed the ray of sun to disappear. In the hole, centered where the sun had cracked the ground, he bent down and deposited a seed.
Not a physical seed, but his idea of rot. En's spear had killed the soil, then they had drained the pond of Spearfishing, and this time, Div had agreed, though misguided. But, in time, they would revive. Once something grew out of the seed.
Div jolted, as if coming out of a trance. Then, he watched as the brambles of Rotten Shield withered and died, their essence seeping into the ground, nourishing it. His first three skills: Spear, Shield, and Spearfishing, all gone.
At least, their representation. But Div was hopeful that out of the destruction, something greater would grow.
But he hadn't come here for this.
Although now that he thought about it, Rot Magic and Mana Manipulation were not represented in his inner world.
Did they need to?
Mana permeated everything, especially his Rot Heart, and Rot Magic…
Div was Rot Magic. His bloodline, his facets, his titles, his skills, everything about him screamed rot.
He nodded to himself. It was enough.
Div walked next to the central tree, stepping over the ivy of Trap Detection, and passed his hand on the bark.
He blinked.
A small patch of bark was missing. There, pulsing with black streaks of rot, sigils were engraved in the wood.
It was incomprehensible nonsense. Or, Div didn't have the knowledge to interpret what he was seeing.
Yet, he knew instinctively that it was his Spellmaker title. How had he not noticed it before? He wasn't sure. But Rift Pioneer had taken years before manifesting itself at the right opportunity.
Perhaps it was a sign.
Perhaps a coincidence.
Regardless, Div took a look at his facet options.
Available Facets:
Facet of the Fisherman
Facet of the Explorer
Facet of the Runner
Facet of the Cheesemaker
There was nothing new, leaving Div a little disappointed. He'd hoped his magical practice would yield at least a facet. After all, he was figuring it all by himself; he felt that it deserved some level of recognition.
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But the world didn't seem to share his opinion.
His fights with the mountaineers, his travels down the Lien, he had contributed to the war effort more than his rank suggested. Still, the world hadn't seen fit to reward him for it, and there was nothing he could say.
Hadn't he lectured Lepin on how impartial the world was in its offering of facets? It would be hypocritical of him to change his mind now. If he hadn't unlocked more facets, it was because he hadn't earned them yet. It was as simple as that.
Furthermore, the main limiting factor to people's power was often unlocking more facets, rather than completing them.
He had four he could choose from, and it was more than enough. He should be happy with it.
Suppressing his disappointment, Div considered each facet individually. With the siege going on, Facet of the Explorer and Facet of the Runner were out of the equation.
When En had selected Facet of the Runner, he had received Endure. A good skill by all measures. As its name suggested, it improved its users' endurance.
While there was no guarantee that Div would be granted the same skill, he and En were close to being the same person, so he thought there was a good chance.
It could be useful immediately, as handling the thousands of barrels in the cellar was guaranteed to be an exhausting task.
But…
There was always a chance he received a completely different skill, and with the oppidum under siege, running wasn't really on the table.
The same was true for Facet of the Explorer. Unless it turned out to be about him exploring rot magic—which was incredibly unlikely—it wouldn't do him any good when he was stuck within Trabine's walls.
It was between Facet of the Fisherman and Facet of the Cheesemaker. The former had been sitting on his list for a long time. It was the first facet he unlocked after his awakening, but he always had something better to choose in its place. There was something strangely nostalgic about seeing the option again and again. Back then, everything had been so difficult. He remembered how he struggled to catch even a single fish, how he feared starvation, how lost he was.
He'd come a long way since then, even if he still had a long road ahead of him. He hadn't found his way quite yet, but rot magic had given him a sense of purpose.
As he was about to work on processing fish, it was tempting. But, fermenting salted fish into paste wasn't exactly fishing, and the river was now devoid of life. He could end up stuck with the facet until aquatic life came back, which would take years. Unless he left the region. But he couldn't even leave the village at the moment.
All of this together made Facet of the Cheesemaker the only reasonable choice. It wasn't perfectly adapted to the immediate situation…
Although he did refer to his creation as fish-cheese. Even if it was a terrible name, it wasn't completely incorrect.
Worst-case scenario, he could always work with the local dairy farmers. While the pastures were out of reach because of the siege, they had to have cheese stocks he could monitor.
Div paused. He went over his four options once again, but his conclusion was the same.
He exhaled and mentally selected Facet of the Cheesemaker.
Skill Acquired: Coax Rotlife – Basic – Lv1
As he felt the skill take hold within his soul, Div frowned. The rotlife that was teeming in his inner world seemed more ordered. It hadn't actually changed, but he felt like he could detect their patterns more easily.
That he could alter them more easily.
His frown deepened. It wasn't that the skill was out of place for a cheesemaker. Facet-granted skills sometimes adapted to their owner. His rot magic was a core part of how he perceived cheese, so it made sense to him that his new skill would reflect that.
What bothered him was that his new skill was basically his Turn spell.
Altering the way rotlife acted was exactly what he had in mind when devising Turn. First, he had convinced rotlife that their host was dead. Then, just now, he had convinced the cursed fungus not to destroy the fish.
He wasn't sure if he should be happy to see his efforts rewarded or disappointed that his new skill did something he knew he could achieve without it.
After a short internal debate, he chose to focus on the positive side of things.
Ultimately, it wasn't the only skill he knew he could replicate with rot magic. The rot effect on his weapon skills was the same, if a lot cruder, and Chorus of Renewal was essentially advanced rot magic. Out of his reach for now, but rot magic nonetheless.
Coax Rotlife was an improved version of Turn, and exactly what he needed now.
With a smile on his face, he exited his inner world, ready to tackle the near-endless amount of salted fish barrels.
"Done?" Terebus asked as soon as he emerged.
Div nodded.
Panos coughed. "Terebus, we've spent enough time here."
"Right. You're right, Panos. Div, we have other matters to attend to. I'll let the guards know you're working here. Please save as many barrels as you can."
"I will," Div stood up. "But first, I'd like to have a talk with Lugsellos."
Lugsellos's gaze met Div's eyes before turning to Terebus, who nodded. "Fine. Lugsellos, you know where to report once you're done here."
"I know," Lugsellos said, without so much of a facial expression betraying his thoughts.
Without further delay, the two elders took the ladder and left Div and Lugsellos alone.
They waited for the sound of the elders' steps on the ladder to fade.
Then, Div broke the silence.
"So, what have you been up to?"