Arcane Missile (Fast Magic-Skill) reaches level 19. 3.0% Well filling per cast.

Multitasking reaches level 3. Split your focus in two with 3% increased efficiency.

Survivalist reaches level 10. Adapt to external forces + 10%

Dave had trained for an entire day. But the progress had become slower and slower. The higher Arcane Missile's level got, the more time he had to wait before he could use it again because his Well did not diminish naturally.

Spending his day chatting around with the Fays, or with Fey children, given that the young adults avoided him like the plague, he had understood that Well emptying depended on many factors, including Resilience, the Healing Skill of choice—in his case Survivalist—and partly by Constitution.

He had indeed discovered a few things, but first, he had asked the Source for clarification on all his Attributes. Some he had already seen, but many were still unaccounted for.

So, he called for his Status, and starting from the top, he started asking questions about the Attributes he had still no knowledge of.

Status

Name: Deviant (David Anderson) Son

Blessing: Blessing of The Source (Unique) – Resilience + 1 every Level

Title: Trespasser (Unique): Locked

Level: 1

Arcanist, Class level: 1

Class Perks: Source Sight

 

Attributes

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Well: 1.2%

 

Alacrity: 5

Constitution: 5

Perception: 4

Strength: 5

Mind: 9

Resilience: 8

Charisma: 4

The Source

Your Health represents the amount of direct and indirect damage your body can sustain before it stops working. It does not go above the full percentage threshold.

 

The Source

Your Stamina represents the amount of energy your body can currently utilize before it stops moving. It does not go above the full percentage threshold.

 

The Source

Your Constitution represents the duress, resistance, and density of the complex structures that make up your body.

 

The Source

Your Perception represents the range, scope, and acuity of your senses, both physical and metaphysical.

 

The Source

Your Strength represents the amount of sheer power that your body can generate and the level of physical abilities it can produce by utilizing the Source.

 

The Source

Your Charisma represents your appearance's beauty and charm and the appeal your persona can generate in other beings.

 

He had a clearer picture now, but it had not stopped there because he had Skills, which meant that there must have been a Skill tab. So what if… "Source: Skills."

And he was right.

 

Auxiliary Skills

Communication Skill: A.S.U.T., Level 17

Healing Skill: Survivalist, Level 10

Style Skill: Stealth, Level 1

 

Class Skills

Primary Magic Mastery: Arcane Magic, Level 0

(1st) Fast Primary Magic-Skill: Arcane Missile, Level 19

(1st) Heavy Primary Magic-Skill: Arcane Discharge, Level 1

 

Passive Attribute Skills

Alacrity Passive Skill: N.A.

Constitution Passive Skill: N.A.

Perception Passive Skill: N.A.

Strength Passive Skill: N.A.

Mind Passive Skill: Multitasking, Level 3

Resilience Passive Skill: Curse Resistance, Level 1

Charisma Passive Skill: N.A.

 

"I wonder what a Style Skills is," weirdly the Source didn't answer, but one of the Fey children did.

"Style Skills are like the bread and butter of who we are. How we act, how we behave.” The little Fay speaking was the tallest among the children in that water pool.

There were indeed others Cleansing water pools, more than he had thought. He had explored a little, but he couldn't do more than that for the moment.

 

Fay

Level: 8

 

The tall Fay looked a little bit nerdy to David; he also was somehow the leader of the small group of children.

"That is not interesting, though; what is interesting," he said, drawing closer. "Is that Old Erinnya has asked us to bring you to the secluded pool. So…" he drew even closer, a smug smile on his face—indeed, children were children in every culture, "I wonder why that is?"

 

Fay

Level: 5

 

"Yeah, Young Davi, why are you here? And why do you look so big even though you are level 1?" Asked a smaller, young Fay.

A couple of more of them giggled.

"Is it true that you come from another…world?" Asked another.

"Are you a weird kind of Fiend? Like, a damaged one?" Asked still another.

“Maybe he belongs to one of the races they conquered,” proposed yet another.

A little female Fay reproached him; she was just slightly younger than the tall children.

 

Fay

Level: 4

 

"Tierri! That's rude. We don’t say conquered! And Liria, you as well, apologize. Young-Deviant is not damaged," she turned toward David for confirmation, “right, young-Deviant?”

"I'm sorry Hiumen, err…Young Hiumen," Tierri answered.

"Wait, children, wait," answered Davi from the height of his three months of experience in dealing with children. "Why are young calling me young, and Erinnya, old? That's not a proper way to define someone," he made a clicking sound with his tongue.

"You are less than twenty-five level-years old; of course we must call you Young if we don't, then we are showing lack of respect. Erinnya is over fifty, she deserves to be defined Old, or she would be entitled to pull our ears."

"Oh…so, that's how it works," Dave nodded. It was by far the last of the weird things he had discovered about the Fey while soaring up above all the others was the fact that they were all naked in a mixed pool with children and families. Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

"Well, if that is so, then you should call me Old," Dave said, crossing his arms.

The children looked at each other, then the biggest one spoke, "No, we don't. You are..." he giggled, and the others with him; their laughter filled the cave, "... you are one level-years old, weird Hiumen."

"Oh, that's where you are mistaken, nerdy. I'm twenty-nine years old, but my level is one, for I work differently from you. I am not a Fay; as you said, I'm a Human. Which is pronounced H-u-m-a-n."

“Have you seen any other Humans before?” David asked.

The children shook their heads.

"Hiumen, what is a ni'erdi?" One of them asked.

After a lengthy explanation about nerds and geeks that flew entirely over the children's heads, Dave decided that it was time for him to get up and leave, or the kids would just not let him be; indeed, children's curiosity was common among all cultures.

David did not give them time to follow him; he took the closest tunnel heading up and hurried away from the others.

 

***

 

The partially lit tunnel received the light of the Sun—maybe Dave should not call it that, since he was not on Earth—meant that it was morning outside.

His Arcane Discharge was off cooldown, and it had been so for a while now. He could allow himself to take a good look instead of a hurried look around.

It seemed that by just breathing, his Well filled by 1% every three minutes. He had a slight leisure time, but not even that much.

The rocky tunnels were deserted. There were houses, or to put it more clearly, halls built in the sides of the tunnels, Fey lived in there. Most of these houses were small, with practical furniture and beds made of leaves and tree bark. People were naked, everywhere, he looked, and they definitely did not care about being stared at, but they did appear weirded-out by him.

As Erin had said, few people could be defined as old; most of them were young couples. It was indeed some sort of breeding ground.

Still, David kept heading up, reaching the jungle floor, it was soon clear that there was more than one entrance for the place, for he was staring at an exit that gave in to a lush jungle, but it was not the same place where Erin had brought him and where he had fought the Night Impit.

The grotto was part of a complex underground structure with more than one cave.

At the center of the hall leading to the exit stood many eggs clumped together. The ceiling above had been dug out into a perfect circle that let the light in. Right below the circle, a complex system made of mirrors that seemed to be managed by a Fay.

Right at that moment, as David looked at it, the Fay got up and, pointing at it, he started moving the structure with Magic. David took that time to activate Source Sight and stare at the process.

The whole cave lit aflame; the eggs produced the vast majority of Source fire and the guardian Fay as well; the cave and the ground produce a small amount of flame, ludicrous in comparison with what living things generated.

Still, a ring, much like David's yet very different and made in a white-ish color, lit up around the Fay's wrist, and the magic activated.

The system of mirrors slightly shifted to the side to reflect their rays on the eggs. At that moment, The Source contacted David.

 

The Source - Quest

Source Quest! Form a Magic Circle good enough to cast a Magic Skill.

Upon completion, you'll reach Level 2 and receive a Random Auxiliary Skill Choice-Token.

 

That felt definitely weird, and he had no idea why. Maybe the Source was trying to solve his disadvantages? He had indeed a Level that was lower than that of children. It wasn't really fair.

David rushed outside to take a branch somewhere, and he felt like tripping through a veil that tried to push him back uselessly. The veil failed, and he stumbled outside.

An incredible difference in temperature made him stagger.

"Blimey!"

He was already beginning to shiver. David turned the other way and saw the guard looking at him as if he was staring at someone that had gone mad. Still, he had to find a branch somewhere. And the bloody trees around were in bloom even though it was winter.

It took almost five minutes for Dave to remove the smallest possible branch from the closest tree; only then he headed back—back to a veil that did not let him in.

"Nice, a magic barrier." David waved at the guard that, amused, kept looking at him, "Mate! Mate! May you let a freezing bloke in," yet the guard stared and smiled. "Be a nice bloke, don't be a wanker, come on, mate!"

The cold was not his only fear, for he was indeed scared of encountering any other Night Impit, too.

After chuckling a bit, the guard got up from his rocky seat and headed in Dave's direction. He placed a hand on the barrier, and the barrier parted, just like that.

"Many thanks, mate. Could have laughed it up after letting me in, though."

The guard, likely a mute at this point, did not answer. He just smiled.

Still, Dave had found his stick. Now he had to use it.

"You don't mind if I stay here as you do your thing, mate—?" He asked the guard. Indeed, maybe the wording that he hadn’t seen before near any other Fey classified him as the protector of the place? Then he understood that he was indeed missing something. For the fay was a...

 

Fay (Sentry)

Level: 64

 

And given his age he was also classified as old. "—old-mate?"

The Sentry nodded gently, then smiled and did not utter any word.

David smiled to himself, then, wood stick in hand, he stared at the ground and summoned the Archives.

He was once again taken aback by the incredible world that appeared in front of him. Still, he visualized the only other Skill he could cast:

Arcane Aegis reaches level 1. 90% Well filling per cast. Instantaneous. One day post-breaking cooldown.

Even if he went above his Well, he could free himself of the Poisoning with his Heavy Magic Skill.

He smiled knowingly, then got on with it.

 

***

 

"Four bloody hours—four bloody fucking hours to get this right…" David said as he let himself fall to the ground on his ass.

Near his feet, a magic circle big enough to cover a fourth of the cave's ground had been drawn and redrawn, over and over again, but was finally completed.

The very act of trying to draw the magic circle had taken him hours; Fays had gathered around him, looking at the spectacle the naked man was making of himself. Children especially had gathered around, giving to him advice that just pushed him to err; some others took it upon themselves to erase the drawing with their feet, or at least, they did until their parents started pinching their ears, hidden deep by their abundant hair.

David asked himself what kind of ear they might be hiding behind all that hair, but it really wasn't the first of his thoughts, for even if he was growing used to naked people, it still didn't really make him comfortable that have so many of them around him. But more than anything, he wanted to try his hand at using the magic circle.

"So, how do I do this," he told himself, staring intently vacuously at the magic circle, "what if I—" he stopped.

"No, that's not going to work…"

"Instead, what if I—Yeah, that too is quite unlikely…"

"But if I…mmm…let's see—" He was just getting lost.

Thankfully, the guard who had been silent until then spoke, coming in his help.

"You have to touch the Magic Circle, any part of your body is fine, then simply call for the Skill."

"Oh! Thank you, old-sentry-mate!"

“My name is Randiallen,” replied the Sentry, reclining on his staff.

“Then thank you, old-Randiallen,” answered David.

The Sentry smiled back and nodded, then sat straighter as if readying himself to stare at the spectacle.

So, David activated Source Sight, then put a foot on the Magic Circle, and wished to summon the Arcane Aegis.

With a burst of Source fire that illuminated the cave for a second, the Aegis appeared around David. Sadly, it did not end there.

The shockwave erased the Magic Circle, and if it wasn't all, David kneeled on the ground, then spat blood.

He could see his arms and legs bulging with violet veins; a strong headache hit him; his muscles contracted because of an inane and instantaneous pain had manifested all over his body, and his intestines seemed to feel the pressure of a terrible gut-punch.

Breaking out in a cold sweat, David summoned his Status.

 

Attributes

Health: 17%

Stamina: 87%

Well: 100%

 

The idiot had almost killed himself by summoning the Aegis.

"What a bloody cock-up! I'm an arse...mum was right." But at least he had accomplished something.

 

The Source

Congratulations, Deviant Son! You have beaten your second Source Quest.

Your Level reaches 2. You receive 1 Attribute point.

Blessing of the Source, Resilience + 1.

 

You have received a Random Auxiliary Skill Choice-Token.

 

Arcane Aegis reaches level 2. 89.9% Well filling per cast. Instantaneous. 23 hours fifty-five minutes post-breaking cooldown.

"What a cock-up?" Repeated one of the children.

"What a cock-up!" said another.

"Arse!" said another still.

"What a cock-up, arse!"

David slowly turned toward the swearing children that had just learned a few new tools to them previously unknown.

Some of the adults repeated the—to them, meaningless—words.

"This is going to bite me in the arse, isn't it?"

The Sentry got closer to him, appearing right in front of him, only the thin layer which made the Arcane Aegis separated them.”

“Oh, hi,” David said, coughing some more blood. He hadn’t even seen him move from his seat.

“Useful, but not as much as you think,” said Randiallen, eyeing the Aegis. Then he flicked his index finger on it.

The Aegis shattered just like that, disappearing in countless sparks of Arcane energy.

“Oh, come on! How did you do that?” Answered David, “it was supposed to protect me against any attacks…once…”

The guard smiled, “Very simple. I attacked you, once.”

David’s eyes rolled back, “I should have read all the quibbles…the Source is a scammer.”

He hadn't got much more to do if not save his own life by summoning Arcane Discharge.

Arcane Discharge (Heavy Magic-Skill) reaches level 2. Instantaneous. 23 hours fifty-five minutes.

With another burst scattering Poisoning in the air, in the form of cleansed Source, he bowed to the spectators, took up the stick he had dropped to the side, then hurried up to a pool of Cleansing waters; however, given the state of his body maybe "crawled" would have been a more fitting term.

“I shall send a healer your way, Hiumen,” said Randiallen.

Dave turned back, “It’s…nevermind, thank you.”

 

***

 

"What a major cock-up…" he admitted once more as he let himself soak in the lukewarm waters.

Still, he managed to relax, hoping he hadn't damaged his body too much since he was still coughing a little bit of blood here and there. Then he placed his attribute point into Resilience, bringing it to eleven. He was getting close to being able to breathe without killing himself; then he summoned the Source to take a look at his Skill choice.

The Source

Opening Random Auxiliary Skill Choice-Token.

 

Drawing (Art Skill): You can imbue Source in your hands to increase your ability while you draw.

Free-Climbing (Acrobatic Skill): You can imbue your fingers and toes with Source to enhance their power and durability and enhance your balance with Source.

Observation (Style Skill): You can imbue Source in your observation of the world to better gauge details about it.

 

"Look at that—giving me the tools to survive. You should have done so much sooner; I was this close to dying, Source… what an arse..." David raised his eyes in the air. Then he chose his Skill.

 

***

 

The jungle's depth was confusing for the Fiends. They were deep inside of Wood Fey's territory.

Lush greenery, creatures of any kind, big insects, and even Sourceborns that had integrated with the jungle's life could be found and in abundance.

Before the Fiends' coming, the Fey had lived a life that was entirely embedded with the jungle. They could be considered one with it, and most of their classes were derived by Green Magic one way or the other. So, finding them while they hid in their home was hard; it was hard even for a true scryer, a half-scryer like Five would have problems orienting himself in such a place. They had been following false leads for more than an entire day.

Captain Virael was slowly growing impatient and kept receiving one call after the other. Or at least, he did every time they moved to a zone partially uncovered by the mist, which was rare in itself. However, Cyana knew that Five was not a half-assed half-scryer for no reason. He was good at his job, or he would not have been part of the Special Forces.

As if to prove her point, Five’s head shot to the left, as if he had heard a cry only he could hear, then he called up to them.

"Captain," said Five, "I felt a high-level Skill activation, fifteen kilometers to our three o'clock."

"Details?" Virael asked.

"It's hard to tell at this distance, but I believe it was a high-level Arcane Magic Skill."

The reports confirmed that if—as weird as it sounded—the creature that had killed Khrali with his own hands would receive a Source Box, one of those drops might have been one among Khrali's Magical Masteries: Arcane Magic, Dark Magic, and Light Magic.

Five continued, "The Magic was likely cast without the innate silencer of a Skill Slot, and reports say that Wood Fays over level seventy can only be found inside of the City. This may restrict the field to Fey children practicing, or—"

"Or a creature not adept to Magic," Virael finished his sentence, then he turned to Cyana.

She knew what she had to do, for she was an Esper: a compound Class made by Mind Magic, Force Magic, and Dark Magic.

So, Cyana nodded. She sat down and entered the state of mind that Kva'ri had ingrained into her, then just like that, she discorporated.

Her mind left her body, soaring up and up again, higher than she could go above her own head. The mist played tricks with her ability to concentrate, but it had done so up until now because she did not know what she was looking for, now she had a direction to follow.

Cyana had her own form in that state, but she was an echo of what she was really made out of, and nobody that didn't share her Class, sight, or a powerful discerning ability like that of an Eye or…a Sentry could see her in that state. Her captain, Virael, was not one of those; she didn’t know if Five could see her, either but for some reason, she suspected he could. Still, Virael followed the rough direction on which her echo hovered, then nodded to her, not because he saw her, just because he knew she would be there.

Cyana uselessly nodded back, then started traveling in the direction Five had pointed her to.

A world made out of mental images of the creature's selves and the faint echo of plantlife conscience presented in front of her. It was made by a chaotic mess of signals that she better left undefined in fear of losing herself in a plant's life cycle, as she had done when she was still too young to know better.

In that state, Cyana sped through the jungle's canopy.

It was not easy, for the many barriers the Fey had erected made the trip a harsh one, but she belonged to the Special Forces; she had studied them at length. She had spent an entire day in these marshes, so she could—even if partially—move through them at this point.

After half an hour or so of wandering into that form and after having almost reached the maximum distance at which she could travel away from her body, she found a rock formation.

It was a grotto, rising up from the ground, a spherical building, likely a construction made by the Fey's Lithomancers. If she recalled correctly, it could have been a breeding ground.

She could not see through it, which meant that it was an active breeding ground. This also meant that people actively passed their time there, living, breeding, and possibly hiding there. Still, when she focused on the see-through barrier placed in front of the entrance, it clouded.

Cyana couldn’t really get closer than that, not only because she was afraid of being discovered, but because the mist fought her off. So, she recalled her mind to her body, the trip back taking less than a hundredth of the time she had taken to explore the jungle.

When she opened her eyes back, she conferred, "There's a breeding ground where Five pointed. It is active—and actively hidden to scrying magic. We might have found our target."