B3 Chapter 404: Destiny Redux, pt. 5

Kaius gasped as he came back to himself. The heady rush of his body being suffused with quintessence hadn’t left him yet. The remoulding of his Class and Skills had felt like downing a beer and being punched in the jaw at the same time, leaving him almost woozy. Yet despite that, he struggled to feel anything but glee.

Four of his General Skills had evolved. He wasn’t sure if that was below average or not, but three of them had risen to the rank of Heroic — his current limit. It meant a full seventy percent now sat at that lauded barrier.

It was as fine a result as he could have hoped for, he thought. Especially since the remaining three were still Unique — only one rank below.

He forced himself to sit with the sensation, eyes closed as he smiled at the feeling of change. With so many differences, it was important that he come to terms with the subtle changes in sensation he got with his skills.

As much as he wanted to rip open their descriptions, there was no rush.

That wasn’t the only change. He could feel the subtle transformation that quintessence had wrought in him. It wasn’t overwhelming; not some drastic empowerment beyond all others.

But it had been applied to his base — which meant his stats simply worked better. It was a hard thing to ignore. His thoughts were faster, his body swifter and stronger, his soul more resilient.

While it was hard to quantify, Kaius wouldn’t have been surprised if he was a tenth stronger in all aspects than he had been before.

The most notable shift was in its effect on Authority. That latent sense of command lay heavy in the air around him, extending his locus of control outwards. It was a more solid and potent reflection of the aura of strength he had felt from others who had risen past the first tier.

Reaching out, he pulled back that outward pressure until it lay just against his skin — mirroring what had once been done to him when he had first learned to Cycle; when Essence itself had crushed him with its weight.

“Clever,” his guide said, smiling knowingly. “Even amongst true Path-takers, it’s uncommon for someone to so swiftly realize they have command of their aura. Especially amongst the newly integrated.”

Kaius blinked, his eyes blurring for a moment. He was still atop the dwarven peak, surrounded by statues of his potential classes. Now that he had made his pick, they had returned to being hazy and insubstantial.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

His guide stepped forwards, crouching down so that they were at eye level.

“While it’s uncommon for worlds like your own to get stuck at the first stage, they are not unknown to me. I have seen them many times before. Of those that manage to continue progressing, those who first walk the Path have their expectations shaped by those who rose through the tiers without it. It is vastly more difficult to control your aura, and the strength it projects, without Authority — at least consciously. When you are aggressive, it is palpable. When you try to hide…”

His guide waved to him. Kaius caught on to what he was saying, and forced himself to be still — to quiet his breathing, like he would when stalking game.

It suddenly became easier to hold his aura tight to his skin.

His guide smiled “Like I said — clever. It’s not exactly difficult to do, but few consider doing it in the first place. At least, not in the first ten seconds after receiving their second class.”

His guide rose to his feed, offering Kaius his arm. Taking it, Kaius felt himself pulled up by an impeccable strength.

“Now, I do believe you’ve received some exciting new skills. Shall we go over them?”

That he had. He could feel them bubbling inside him — a confusing mash of new instincts and senses, burning their way into his soul.

Hardest to reconcile was how fluidly his command over them came to him on some subconscious level. They were familiar — like an old friend he’d forgotten, but whose features still felt familiar.

He ripped open the waiting notifications, eager to see what had changed.

Sergeant’s Insight:

Legacy General Skill – Tier II

Affinity: Martial, Fate

Type: Survival, Insight, Body Enhancement

Level 201

Unique

Live through a battle, and you might see dangers that don’t exist; live through a thousand and you learn to love death like a brother. It announces its arrival clearly, all you need to do is listen.

Tier I:

This Skill allows the user to identify dangers and general hazards through the thousand lessons that have been learnt in battle. Avoiding or preventing these dangers marks the user with their Peril

Accumulated Peril is expended to highlight potential openings, and aid the user in exploiting them. This may also increase damage and decrease the effectiveness of enemy defenses.

Enemy strength and Skills may decrease effectiveness of accumulated Peril in highlighting and exploiting openings.

Tier II:

When setting camp, any remaining accumulated Perill is spent to variably increase the recovery of the user and their team, as well as decreasing the perceptibility of their camp.

Hazard Identification abilities increased.

Peril capacity increased.

Natural attrition of Peril is decreased.

Each level significantly increases awareness of hazards.

Each level reasonably increases amount of Peril absorbed from surviving dangers

Each level moderately increases effectiveness of highlighting and exploiting openings.

Each level moderately increases damage when exploiting openings.

Each level slightly increases volume of Peril that can be accumulated.

Each level slightly decreases the attrition rate of Peril.

Evolved from: Explorer’s Toolkit (Unusual)

Originally Merged from: Tracking, Sneak; Trap Finding; Orienteering; Herbalism; Cooking; Sense Weakness; Physical Conditioning

Kaius read over the description with interest. It seemed he had gained more than simple evolutions — the skills themselves had passed into the second tier as well, unlocking additional functionality on top of their gains.

He liked what he saw of Sergeant’s Insight. At a base level, Explorer’s Toolkit had been refocused into a more potent, directed form. Its combat capabilities — exactly what he had used it for most — had been sharpened.

Plus, he’d managed to avoid a situation where it had become too focused. While he had wished for a combat-focused evolution, he had worried his awareness of dangers might become too narrow. Perhaps only focused on attacks rather than natural hazards and traps.

Thankfully, it still described ‘general hazards’.

Better yet, it had maintained some general utility. The recovery function added in its tier two functionality seemed an extension of the simple meals and poultices Explorer’s Toolkit had once aided him create. Except now it was spread more broadly — much like a sergeant would look after his men in the field.

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Still, there was one thing he found curious. Peril. He wasn’t sure what it did, or how it worked.

He gave his guide a questioning look. The man returned a knowing smile.

“Your evolution, in this case, was influenced not just by your most common use of Explorer’s Toolkit, but by your Aspect and your class. Peril is not something you will have to manage, or even be conscious of. It is more of a siphoning of potential fates.”

Kaius raised a brow. “I was under the impression fate skills were supposed to be vanishingly rare.”

His guide bent back, hands on his belly, and laughed long and loud.

“Oh, my boy, they are for most people. But most do not put in the effort you have.”

Wiping his eyes, he straightened. “It’s not a true Fate skill in the way that comes to mind. Instead, it’s more like this: by using insight to avoid bad luck, the skill redirects some of that towards your enemies.”

Kaius nodded. In his opinion, any fate skill was a good one. He would simply have to wait and see how it worked — he was especially curious about how the ‘visual representation of openings’ which the skill mentioned would present itself.

He moved on, pulling up the next skill.

Spellblade’s Harmonic Control:

General Skill – Tier II

Affinity: Arcane

Type: Glyph-binding, Metamagic, Enhancement, Manipulation

Level 201

Heroic

Where dissonance destroys, harmony binds. Master both, and your magic will be all the more potent for it.

Tier I:

This skill grants substantial control of mana within the body, at the cost of significantly impaired control outside of the body. Through mastery of mana resonance, mana can be actively shifted to be dissonant or harmonious — granting unstable destructiveness or durable solidity to spells at the moment of inscription.

Tier II:

Through continual use and development, sword arts utilising mana can be imbued with resonance.

Each level substantially increases control over internal mana.

Each level reasonably increases the potency of imbued resonance.

Each level minutely increases control over external mana.

Evolved from: Mana Manipulation (Unusual) > Resonance Amplification (Unique)