Cyveruos sat by a roaring fire. His eyes were alight with the energy from the flames and the thoughts swirling through his mind. As he reached forward with both palms, the heat from the blaze, delicately kissed his left, but nothing came from the right. Grabbing a flaming log, he held it perfectly perpendicular to the ground above the burning pit. A sizzling told him the heat was more than an annoyance to his ruby arm, but he could care less if his bloodthirsty flecks that acted as a makeshift prosthetic were burnt away. The damage would not last long either way. No, his focus was on something much more important. He waited patiently as the minutes crawled by. 

Three small burrows appeared in the ashy white side of the smoking log. He held fast. As the flames entirely consumed the object of his attention, Three young water elementals shot up like rockets as their bodies transformed from liquid to steam. He was correct! Elementals would use any opportunity to change into a higher form of energy. Vaporization was needed for them to reach the gaseous phase in which they were generally spotted. With this, he also confirmed that slimes were their base form as a solid. The creatures would deliberately attack travelers near their source of firewood to then, once their solid outer layer was pierced, the liquid would sneak inside and wait. These were no souls of the trees, as many druids believed. They did not cry out and burst from the agony of being burned. No! This was an easily explained process. The researcher smiled as he was rewarded for his discovery. 

RP +1 granted for your finding. Your vow and connection related to your Researcher class has gained another fractal. You are three fractals away from another awakening. 

As he read the message, he dropped the burning wood into the pile, upon landing the splash of dead bark and tree material kicked up a spark that landed on his arm. He audibly reacted to the slight surprise pain which woke the contents of his haversack. They likely were partially roused by the newly gained fractal as well. 

Within his bag, golden flecks clamored to life. Thousands of the pinprick sized shards of gold flowed in a tendril and inspected his arm. Reeling back, outraged at the assault on their master, they went to war with the lazily floating embers. By the tens, they smothered out their individual glowing enemies as Cy watched on laughing. His red flecks sat silently in position, a faux arm that was a perfect replica of the real one they had taken. Without anything to interest them, they would slumber. 

As he stared at his deadly red arm, his attention was snatched away by one of the elementals bobbing within reach from his face. It gave off a wave of happiness. Flying through the air, the creature looked almost like a miniature horse galloping around. Likely the creature was grateful for the aid in transforming. Cy knew that eventually enough of them would gather, form rain, and harden with exposure to the ground. Such was the cycle of their life. Regardless he mirrored the emotion with a smile of his own.

His golden flecks, now returning from their glorious conquering of the errant and wicked sparks, spotted the elemental in close proximity to their master—an outrage. The barely sentient mist of light fragments used their base ability given to them at their master's first awakening. 

V1 Copy to Transform. Mimic. 

Thousands of shards combined to form three white and gold copies of the water elementals. The only differences between the particles and water creatures were their color schemes, and the tendency the flecks had to add something to their mimicry- three small versions of Cy wielding sharp looking mini lance weapons. They charged valiantly at the playful misty being. 

As his wildly unique partner shooed away the three monsters, Cy felt his stomach rumble. With the reaction from his body, his right arm woke. From their attached point at the center of his bicep, they collectively shattered their current form. 

Like a swarm of small insects, they buzzed greedily. Shaping themselves into a floating ruby orb, his secondary power waited impatiently for him to stand—his least favorite part of the day, time to hunt for some food. 

Though his partners grew in intelligence with each awakening and currently had the mental processing power of a toddler, Cy had no problem telling their goals apart. His golden flecks, which he had since he was ten, were overly protective, kind, and inquisitive. His red flecks had only been with him a few years now. Spawned from his own curiosity and imprudence, these shards were almost the complete opposite of his first companion. Only one word was needed to describe their behavior and tendencies, bloodthirsty. 

Cy supposed the color, and behavior of the power should have been expected, they came from his own flesh and blood after all. In his rash decision to test the bounds of his power, he almost turned himself into a Gainte. A soulless monstrosity that betrayed everything they aspired to be. 

Luckily he was smart enough to create a second vow that did not conflict his first while also being contradictory in its very nature. Thinking on it too long was something that activated the curse of breaking one's vow. His stomach felt like it was tied in a knot. He quickly rushed over to his bow. He would only need one arrow. 

Currently, the researcher was camping inside of a karst sinkhole. The wound cut deep into the earth provided shelter from the elements while still allowing a generous view of the stars. For miles, caves, streams, and various geological wonders surrounded him. 

Of all of the places he had lived during his nomadic lifestyle, this was by far his favorite. He was not alone in living this way. Groups of people never settled together for long. Gods forbid a person stay in one place long enough to call it home. That is just asking for a Wrecker to gain points with their death and destruction of homestead. A Heartrender did much the same to a family. 

As he looked out on the clear waters pooled before the edge of his camping area, he slung his bow over his shoulder and stepped forward onto the air.

V2 Connect to form. Plate version

Rushing to heed his call, his light flecks formed a hard pane of glass-like material. It took all three thousand five hundred of the particles for this ability. The structure was partially opaque and the width of his chest. Leaping upward, the pane split in two. The first step moved to catch him again. Switching off, the plates could hold him momentarily as he ran through the air. Slowly his height increased until his foot touched the soft earth at the lip of the crater.

He had awakened his researcher class three times. This was the second ability unlocked. Though simple, it was undoubtedly the most versatile. 

Sliding off his bow, he slowly crept forward. With a nod of his head, his light shrowd coalesced into a ball and floated upward. The swarm was intelligent enough to serve as a lookout. 

The red flecks, an awakening behind, were slightly less intelligent. As far as he knew, particles were the only class-related power that gained sentience. He was far from an expert on other skills, classes, and abilities, though. Even his own were generally a mystery. 

The red orb waited for the hunt as it floated menacingly behind the man. Perhaps he imagined the motivations behind this power. He had reason to resent it. He impatiently raised what remained of his arm as a hint for the flecks to return. 

Grasping his bow with his left hand, his prosthetic formed from the red particles as he approached his destination. A rabbit barrow he had yet to gather from had been on his list for days.  

On his belt, Cyverous carried many perfectly square cubes, just the right size to grasp. Selecting the appropriate one, he flipped the top open. With the release of its latch, the metal box unleashed a golden plated monocle. 

Raising his Libre glass to his eye, Cy was able to see information beyond what was readily available just by sight. 

Horned rabbit barrow. Life forms detected: 18. 

With a tap of the magical item to its container, it dissolved back into place. Cy hoped to study interdimensional storage eventually, but he would have to get lucky enough to find someone who mastered that field first. 

Looking up at his white particles, he sighed. His magical ally had turned from a golden orb into a replica of his head that somehow had an arm coming from its base, holding a lance. It floated and spun in every direction as it acted as a sentry, looking out for anything deadly. 

A smiled crept up his face as he found a valid place to wait for a rabbit to make its way out. Cy drew his arrow and patiently laid in wait. His stomach grumbling and a twinge of soreness caused his crimson arm to vibrate with what he assumed was anticipation. 

The researcher chose his bow for a few reasons, mainly to not ruin the meat. He thought back to his gun, resting at his camp in its holster. He would not need that for rabbit hunting. 

A scraping noise caught his attention as he waited. A twisted copper horn poked its way out of one of the dugout tunnels before him. Unnatural piles of leaves scattered about intrigued him as he paused for the creature. His curiosity overwhelmed his hunger for a moment. 

He drew back his arrow and waited. There was a mystery before him. He would see it to its end before he completed the hunt.

A white and grey rabbit followed the metal protrusion out of the hole. Its eyes were black and void of intelligence. In opposition to the fluff covering the greater portion of its body, the feet of the beast looked to be made of stone. 

As Cy hypothesized, possibilities and questions ran through his mind. Did these creatures evolve this way, was this something unique to this specimen, a debuff perhaps? How would it move without creating too much noise and attracting predators... more research would be needed to draw conclusions. He had his next biological analysis project. He would watch these monsters and unravel their secrets.

A smile split the man's face as one of these puzzles solved itself right before his eyes. He lined up his shot as the rabbit used its back leg to scratch its horn. The rock meeting metal created sparks. With intention, the creature repeated this maneuver toward a pile of leaves. As the sparks begged for flame, a shrowd of smoke came into existence. The rabbit piled up dry leaves, to create a smokescreen to hide from predators. Even if it made noise with its stone feet, the sight would be blocked when it was above ground. 

The survival technique would not work this time. 

Cyverous released his arrow. It struck true into the heart of the beast, killing it instantly. 

RP +1 granted for your finding. Your vow and connection related to your Researcher class has gained another fractal. You are two fractals away from another awakening. 

GP +1 granted for your swift kill. +1 An additional point acquired from harvest. Your vow and connection related to your Gunslinger class has gained another fractal. You are four fractals away from another awakening. 

This hunt had many benefits. Cy averted his eyes as his red flecks converted half of the body into blood-colored particles. The sharp blade-like tendrils formed by the mist cut through flesh and bone effortlessly bisecting the mammal. 

As they converged on their half of the prey, their number grew. A hundred of the things bled into existence from the once-living animal. 

Sneakily Cy opened one of his cubes and stored half of them away. The man would do everything to try and control the unpredictable power as much as possible. That was hard enough due to their growth rate being double his light particles. As he pulled the trick and picked up his half of the rabbit, he stored that in another box. His treachery went unnoticed by the particles, that or they did not mind as they danced around with their new addition.

With the hundreds of new red flecks, white flecks were also born from his discovery from the monster. If he spent more time watching these rabbits, he could likely reach a new awakening sooner than later. Cy was not power-hungry, but he did enjoy growing his primary class. The intelligence bonus to the white flecks and another unique ability would also be a great boon. 

As he called down the white and golden swarm, he was only slightly unsettled at looking at a featureless copy of his head. 

"We are heading back to camp," he spoke to them. Though he felt slightly odd speaking to his power, he knew it understood. The flecks began waving their formed lance arm in response. Something was wrong. 

A blood-curdling scream pierced the area. The following hoops and joy-filled calls ringing out after it confirmed the feeling in Cy's gut. Poachers.