NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6 - The Convenient Arrival of Required Secondary Traits
As it turned out, the hardest part of unlocking the [Meditation] Skill was knowing how to meditate, and Malwine was… not doing great on that front.
Something told her she'd dabbled in meditation before, sometime between her pottery phase and pretending to crochet. She could only guess it had gone just as terribly that time, because Malwine was nothing if not consistent.
Laying down on her crib—what other position could she meditate in?—Malwine had spent the past something-minutes trying to think of nothing at all, yet thinking over and over again about how she was supposed to not be thinking about anything. It was a headache-inducing ouroboros of irony rather than the peaceful mindfulness she thought meditation was supposed to be.
The next attempt involved breathing in and out. Two seconds in, five seconds out. Two, five, two five, twenty five—wait, what, no. Two then five…
Of course, that meant Malwine had to keep counting, and her mind had yet to slip into the blissful void she thought meditation would promise—in no small part because her breathing fell out of sync if she didn't focus.
…Yet focusing was keeping her from actually getting anywhere with her attempts.
She tapped her hand, the mere act of trying to force stillness upon herself a grave challenge. With a groan, Malwine reopened her eyes and summoned the [Recently Exited Stasis] buff.
…She might have fallen asleep.
The buff was down to 7 hours, and there was absolutely no way on not-Earth that she actually 'meditated' for that long. Malwine checked the prompt with Older-Beryl's Skills next, but no others seemed as uncomplicated as [Meditation] should have been—or simply weren't worth getting just to test this.
[Meditation] seemed like it could at least help her restore the mana stat she didn't have, or something like that. But she'd failed.
She'd have loved to have confirmation as to whether she could get those Skills Older-Beryl used to have on her own. She still wanted to think she wasn't giving them up forever. There had to be a way to get them anyway, at least the interesting ones—the defense-type ones, [Enhanced Memory], and [Meditation].
Hopefully someday…
Malwine refocused on the Epic Skills. All she had to go off were the Skill names themselves. [Write Anything] sounded like it could somehow make her write things that she might not otherwise—Oh, who was she kidding. They just sounded like they'd let her write anything, or anywhere, exactly what it said on the tin.
She didn't know what the limitations to writing might be, but Older-Beryl's Skills overall confirmed the written word at least existed, as the presence of [Learning by Reading] also implied. It was good to have a second source for that, however, as she knew her own Skills were tailored to herself rather than necessarily reflective of what would work on this world.
[Write Anywhere], however, could almost be a suspiciously convenient solution for her lack of a notebook. 'Anywhere' was broad, and she was quite sure it had been lack of specificity that let Malwine use [Once and Forever] on ancestors she knew nothing about in the first place.
So if this would let her write anywhere, could she write in the air? It was a stretch, but maybe she could make this work.
Imagine if I get it and it doesn't let me actually do that! That'd be embarrassing.
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You have claimed [Write Anywhere] |
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The world is all parchment and your thoughts are a quill. You may impress the written word upon anything non-living. [Toll] is accrued by writing as well as dismissing previously imprinted text. Writing on anything that doesn't remain static will lead to additional costs. Skill limited to the written word. You must know the script or language you intend to use. (!) Using this Skill requires the Class to have a Root as Mana Source |
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Trait: None |
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Aspect: None |
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Would you like to also claim a Trait from Beryl Skrībanin? |
It was even better than she had expected, even if it did mean she'd have to choose one of those Affinities as Root—whatever that'd cause. Finally, some progress for her.
Oh-ho-ho, I happen to have two of those!… Though she most definitely wasn't picking {Foresight}, nevermind how Older-Beryl had. And it doesn't say I have to put the Root on <Word> specifically, right? It just says a Root as Mana Source.
Besides, if she did need one for <Word>, she'd just be back to square-one with a Skill she couldn't quite make use of. It'd be irritating and she would complain for a minute or two before moving on, sure, but for once, she could think of a fallback plan if that failed. Namely, to try and unlock a different Affinity next. That would surely go better than unlocking [Meditation] had.
Malwine focused on the thought of choosing {Legacy}, and the shift happened immediately, like something distant yet close clicking into place.
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You have chosen to plant a Legacy ∞ |
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Which Class category would you like to make {Legacy} the Root of? Available Class categories: , If you use a Root as Mana Source for any abilities beyond the Class it was planted for, its effectiveness will be limited to 25% of what it would be within its Class. |
Wait, 3? But there are 4 Class categories! Is one inevitably getting shafted with 25% effectiveness? Damn.
Yet if she let herself hesitate now, she'd probably try to postpone it indefinitely.
Malwine picked <Soul>. Anything else would be wrong. Especially with how [Once and Forever] had been Classed as <Soul> anyway, and {Legacy} fit it well enough.
Something dinged as it updated prior to materializing before Malwine's eyes, and she gasped. This was her first time seeing where her Skills fit—though she admittedly hadn't made an effort to figure out where all these Skills were being organized anyway.
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Skills
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Even being as 'unforged' as the rest, the Class category now felt almost… palpable. Like it was becoming a part of her being rather than mere words on a floating screen. Something had shifted within Malwine, and for the first time, she saw her level go up without a Skill being redeemed. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It caught her off-guard, so much that it took her a moment to understand why, despite the notification being right there.
Planting a Root did that? Not an unwelcome surprise. Malwine had been expecting only introspection and the dreaded meditation would increase that. How far can I level up without actually cultivating, I wonder. …Probably not that far. The way levels were differentiated when she viewed her full status told her as much. Unless there was a way to increase her capacity, she'd have 'only' 140 potential levels from Skills. It would likely be a long while from now, but she'd eventually need to intentionally increase her core stage for levels. Malwine looked back at the Skills panel. Even the Skills she hadn't redeemed were there, just still banked along the levels. Only then did it truly strike her that she had quite the advantage with 2 bonus Skills per category. Unused Skill slots have the same color as the stage, she further noted. Perhaps unlocking more Skills was possible at higher levels of advancement, then. If everyone started on the Early Esse and with only 5 Skill slots, she might be ahead of the curve even with the curse tanking her attributes. The one thing she wasn't quite sure of yet was the relevance of Lifetime Skill levels. If it was listed so directly, there had to be something it affected. Whatever S means there. Yet another sort of tier? With a Root planted, Malwine could also now view her Mana Sources panel.
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