“If people looked at the stars each night, they’d live a lot differently. When you look into infinity, you realise that there are more important things than what people do all day.”

Bill Watterson

Dinner was a pleasant affair, discussing their patrol so far and projected journey home with us. It turned out we wouldn’t take too long to reach their Thorpe, just a couple more days at the speed we were travelling, provided we ran into no other surprises. They ranged far and wide to ensure no encroachments on their territory from dwellers of the depths, Ice Giants or other magical monsters. Beasts could develop powers in the most intriguing and potentially lethal ways, and an early warning of what their Thorpe might have to face was always worth it if they could not nip it in the bud at the source.

They did not have a bed specifically for us. However, with the core embedded in the wall and the vault opened, Bjorn insisted on having someone on watch during the night to prevent its closure. His reasoning was that you could trap people within one, and he did not wish it to happen to us. Namir offered to take the first watch, which was gratefully accepted. They appeared to have developed a wary respect for the beastkin after he kept up with today’s pace and the broad spectrum of animals we had hunted since arriving on the endless ice. When Namir’s first watch ended, the other giants would take their turns keeping watch, even Erik. We would then be able to take advantage of the empty bed while the watch continued.

Seen as a child, doubly so due to my size, they meant for me to get a whole night's sleep. Nevertheless, I was not sleepy after my naps, and my mind was still running in circles about the possibilities provided by a magical spatial vault. So I stayed up with Namir for the first watch and watched as the stars came out to fill the night sky. The air was still ice cold, but I felt well insulated with all the layers of fur we had accumulated. As I lay on my back under the furs on the sledge, I looked up at the vast open sky with ice, the only companion along the horizon I could see. It was a panoramic sky view of star constellations for my perusal while Namir ostensibly kept watch for us. Nyx the traitor had opted to curl up in the spatial vault with the giants after they had delighted in feeding her till her stomach bulged and bloated. She had been incredibly taken with some parts of the meal while hardly touching others. According to the giants, she had expensive tastes, only taking the most expensive morsels, not that they minded her voracious appetite compared to her size. She was still tiny in comparison to themselves.

While Namir kept the official watch, I contributed more than my fair share with my sensory skills. However, I was in no hurry to mention a full list of my abilities to our newfound friends. They had been incredibly generous with their time, food and shelter, but I had always preferred to keep my cards close to my chest, and Namir had outright lied when describing our relationship.

Turning my eyes away from the heavens, I contemplated the closer paradox of space and time, the spatial vault. The door to the spatial vault was currently closed. The cynical side of me pondered the possibility of escaping with the giants trapped within to the south, but that would be a poor return on their hospitability, and it would still leave us with four pissed-off giants when they were finally realised. They had enough food and water to last for weeks, if not months. Besides, it was the giants themselves who had commented that it was possible to be locked within a spatial vault. Perhaps this was a test of ourselves and our ethics.

These were just a few thoughts running through my head as I returned to looking up at the star-filled sky. With the door still sealed and us both suffering from super senses as a trait, it was simple enough to whisper my thoughts and sights to Namir.

“Nothing else but for us,” I commented on the blank fields of view, reaching as far as my senses could. It could be taken many ways, but the years with Namir meant that I knew he would instantly understand that I was referring to the deeper but narrower scans I could make with my senses and sensory skills. “The sky, though, is beautiful tonight.” I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how open and star-filled it was.

“Exquisite,” Namir replied, raising an eyebrow as he caught me once more staring at the beast core imprinted with the spatial vault spell of the Lodestone Wyrm and raising an eyebrow at my focus.

“What? They are.” I insisted on searching for any names of the constellations my memory might reveal in an effort to keep my brain busy and fingers from straying to the door once more.

“Bjorn said it would be fine to look.” Namir shrugged, knowing I would be unable to focus on the outward part of our watch if I couldn’t stare into the depths of the beast's core in the hopes of learning the secret of its imprinted spell.

Grateful for the reassurance, to indulge my curiosity, I left the warm embrace of the fur blankets to stand in front of the smooth stone wall, a giant’s stone glyph it’s only decoration, the carefully carved giant wooden door embedded in it and the imprinted beast core embedded in that. I failed to see how exactly anyone would be able to hold that door closed against four giants without bringing the entire mountain down on top of them.

As I approached the embedded beast core, I was still wrapped well to retain my own body heat now that I had left the sledge. I couldn’t help but recall something Albert Einstein had once said, “Time and space are not conditions of existence. Time and space is a model for thinking.” Could I adjust my thinking to somehow make a magical spatial vault of my own? I hoped so. I stretched forth my senses, hoping it might pull my mind along with them to be able to twist the fabric of reality to form my own spatial vault.

Starting with my lower-tiered skills, Inspect (Lv37 ->40) returned nothing I did not already know from the conversation with the giants, simply stating: Lodestone Wyrm Beast Core

However, the jump in levels meant that this item was worth far more than most items I had inspected before. It was definitely higher than a tier 2 item, possibly even a tier 4.

It was my other sensory skills that started returning a variety of extra results and complications to what I could comprehend. Sense Mana(Lv75) showed the mana circulating within the beast core, but where it met the stone or rather the opening to the spatial vault, it disappeared into a void I could not penetrate. The mana had to be feeding back into itself somehow, as it did not seem to be dissipating at the speed it should be without it somehow returning to continue the circuit. I could not even see through to the mana of the stone behind it. It was a blank face to my mana sense something I had never come across before. Mind sense (Lv37) was similarly confused but slightly more efficient at penetrating the pocket space. It revealed the minds within, but they seemed muted, as if only half there, but they were still noticeably present enough for my skills to latch on to them.

Moving up a tier, Observe (Lv29 ->31) returned with an extra line of information: Lodestone Wyrm Beast Core - Tier 5. That had to have been a gigantic monster to reach that tier. No wonder it had threatened the foundations of their Thorpe. Though I supposed Giants themselves were hardly small, and if the entire village joined together to hunt the beast, I couldn’t imagine many monsters surviving, considering the size of our travelling companions. Curiously, Echolocation revealed the space within, which was incredibly confusing, with a secondary image layered on top of or beneath the first as if it was a mirage or illusion you could see through. That wasn’t so much as being able to sense through it but the fact that the echolocation allowed me to pierce the door and see the space inside while also allowing me to see around it. It appeared that sound, much like light, made use of the passageway to pass freely, whereas the mana maintaining the space had a more convoluted passage.

Unsurprisingly, it triggered my Treasure Sense (Lv17), though I doubted the skill would enable me to find any beast cores that would not have already been eaten by either their attackers or monsters scavenging for them. They would be the most important part of the meal from any deceased monster and represent a leap in power should the beast be able to swallow and incorporate the power as their own. Seismic sense, though, only showed the stone, not the hidden spatial pocket concealed in the stone. It simply didn’t exist. It appeared the spatial pocket completely inhibited the vibrations unless carried by the air. No vibrations emanated from within into the stone to be sensed by my feet.

However, Sense Soul (Lv2) was unimpeded by the space, showing me souls existing within or imposed deep in the stone cliff wall upon which Bjorn had placed his spatial vault. That was as much as I could see so to speak, but I wasn’t going to give up just yet. I had once pulled more information out of something through touch, though, and I placed my right hand on the core and attempted to do the same again.

Analyse levelled (Lv17 ->18) and returned another level of information for me.

Lodestone Wyrm Beast Core

Tier 5

Spatial Imprint - Vault

I grinned for a second at delving deeper into reality before the mana in the beast core came alive at my touch and flashed. It formed an instant connection to the mana core in my right wrist under the leather wrist guard I wore to cover up the consequences of my temporary enslavement. I had touched the core with. The world twisted and lurched. I lost my balance, nearly falling. I stepped back to catch myself as my senses stabilised, to find myself supported by a hand on my shoulder, claws carefully keeping me upright. Namir had leapt forward to support me in my momentary discombobulation.

I felt a change in my perception. Sense Mana jumped significantly (Lv75 ->79), and now, much like with echolocation, I could sense the dual layer of reality, a bubble of space imposed on top of, next to, or inside reality.

“Kai? Are you okay?” The pressure of Namir’s claws gently pressing through my clothing reminded me that I was not alone.

“Yes, I’m fine. Did you see anything shift?” I asked, worried that I might have somehow damaged the spatial vault in the process of attempting to understand it.

“Noting moved, you simply stumbled,” Namir replied, still visibly worried by my loss of balance. “What happened?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied, still suspicious but seeking confirmation. I unwrapped my right wrist guard to reveal one of the unprecedented physical mana cores that had formed under the pressure of mana manacles and stared at the change.

It had formerly been an uncoloured crystal clear core like the others I had formed.

Now it was not.

It had transformed to be the equal of the beast core embedded in the giant's door to their spatial vault. Now obsidian black, it seemed to suck in light like the black vastness of space.

Namir and I stared at it in silent contemplation of the change.

“Cover it up.” Namir hissed, his claws flexing in frustration before calming and helping me quickly rewrap my wrist with the leather wrist guard binding. “It’s never straightforward with you, is it, Kai.” He sighed. “Check your status. Then talk in here.” He added, tapping his head.

I dived inside to see what had changed.

Level: 61
Title: Lord

Métier: Singer Lv 12
Métier: Sailor Lv 13
Métier: Merchant Lv 11
Métier: Mage Lv 7 -> 8

Name: Callen Kai Caelus Kasai Silversea

Age: 6 years 15 months 2 weeks 6 days.

General Experience: 1,746,000 /3,276,800
Health: 1790/1790 Stamina: 1793/1793 Mana: 1900/1900 Psi: 1800/1800

Trait: Long-lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana, Quick Witted, Celerity, Durability, Supreme Strength, Charming, Lucky

Vitality: 179
Endurance: 182
Strength: 177
Dexterity: 181
Senses: 178 ->180
Mind: 177 ->180
Clarity: 178
Magic: 184 ->190
Charisma: 165
Luck: 169 -> 170

Free Points: 130

Skills Tier 1:Dance (Lv100) Sailing (Lv100) Singing (Lv84) Trading (Lv83) Meditation (Lv85) Time Sense (Lv84) Balance (Lv75) Fishing (Lv60) Sneak (Lv57) Acting (Lv56)Drumming (Lv55) Whistling (Lv50) Farming (Lv59) Knots (Lv55) Draw (Lv58) Listening (Lv50) Stitching (Lv50) Humming (Lv50) Insight (Lv50) Glide (Lv45) Poise (Lv43) Grace (Lv43) Charm (Lv42) Composure (Lv41) Ambidextrous (Lv40) Silent Step (Lv32) Inspect (Lv37->40) Sketching (Lv35) Drafting (Lv34)Lie (Lv26) Deft touch (Lv24) Posture (Lv22)Riding (Lv20) Cook (Lv26) Etiquette (Lv20) Appeal (Lv20) Sight (Lv20) Scent (Lv20) Detect (Lv20) Taste (Lv20) Measurement (Lv28) Carpentry (Lv20) Blacksmithing (Lv11) Mining (Lv10) Teaching (Lv10) Underwater breathing (Lv6) Hunting (Lv 5) Skinning (Lv 5) Skiing (Lv5)

Tier 2: Quick reflexes (Lv79) Sense Mana (Lv75) Eavesdrop (Lv63) Spellcraft (Lv63) Spellsong (Lv63) Order (Lv49) Linguistics (Lv40) Memorisation (Lv40) Recall (Lv40) Composition (Lv40) Pain Tolerance (Lv39) Stealth (Lv40) Mind Sense (Lv36 -> 37) Knife Arts (Lv33)Misdirection (Lv26) Haggling (Lv25) Observe (Lv29->31) Martial Arts (Lv25) Transplant (LV20) Cruising (Lv49) Dart (Lv25) Heal (Lv18)Poison Tolerance (Lv11) Treasure Sense (Lv17) Intimidation (Lv12) Cold Tolerance (Lv3)

Tier 3: Echolocation(Lv69) Expel Mana (Lv70) Mana Manipulation (Lv69) Gale (LV68) Absorb Mana (Lv42) Boil (Lv53) Ignite (Lv44) Melt (Lv44) Command (Lv40) Deception (Lv26) Bargain (Lv23) Freeze (LV20) Racing (Lv34) Analyse (Lv17 ->18) Flash Step (Lv15) Seismic Sense (Lv14)Danger Sense (Lv12) Smuggling (LV5) Telepathy (Lv5 -> 7)

Tier 4: Block Status (Lv100) Iron Man (Lv69) Parallel Processing (Lv50) Material Manipulation (Lv40) Stone shaping (Lv33) Mana Drain (Lv30) Flight (Lv20) Sonar (Lv25) Seafaring (Lv22) Air stepping (Lv7) Contract (Lv5) Magic Carving (Lv5) Rune Carving (Lv3)

Tier 5: Mind fortress (Lv26) Multiple minds (Lv5) Omniglot (Lv25) Weapon Prodigy (Lv23) Music Prodigy (Lv31) Polymath (Lv14) Enigma (Lv1) Astral Projection (Lv1-> 3) Spatial Vault (Lv1)

Tier 6: Sense Soul (Lv1->2)

Just a few changes, then!

Today, had been profitable in more ways than one. I had been aware of the skills levelling but had missed the addition of another new Tier 5 skill in the confusion of receiving it.

I now had a Tier 5 skill, Spatial Vault (Lv1)

I had just copied, or rather one of my physical mana cores had managed to copy, the spatial imprint – vault from the Lodestone Wyrm’s beast core.

Without hesitation and very much aware of Namir’s impatient presence, I projected. “I have a new skill.” My mental voice was grinning and probably carried overtones of smugness. It was incredibly challenging to be suitably humble with the bare honesty of projected thoughts that carried as much the feelings behind the words as the words themselves.

“Tier?” Came Namir’s acerbic reply.

“Five.” I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face or out of my mental voice.

“Name?” was Namir’s caustic internal question.

“Spatial vault.” I stared silently as my mental voice filled his head.

He closed his eyes in contemplation, but seeing as we were talking in his head, I could still hear his thoughts as they kept running. “Of course. It's not enough that he picks up the skills of the noble races like shells on the seashore, but he can also pick up the magical powers of the denizens of the depths like the pearls he can sense on the sea floor.”

He opened his eyes to look at me, staring at him, “Kai, out!” his mental voice rang out before he followed it with words, “Give me a moment.” He said, holding his hand up for a pause in our mental communication.

He took a few calming breaths before tapping his head again, inviting me to return.

“So, moving on. Exactly how big is your spatial vault?” He asked resignedly.