As we had no bags, we decided to commandeer the throw we had found earlier in order to bundle up the trio of crystals. While I was tying them off, I could not help but observe that—rather like snowflakes—they each looked much the same while being quite unique.
They were all long and hexagonal, each coming to a point at one end and with a metallic screw still attached to the other that had been used to hang them from their chains. So they looked near enough the same as to be considered of a type. Still, there were plenty of slight angle differences here and there to distinguish one from the other.
Not that it mattered. We still had no idea what to do with them, so we decided it was for the best to just schlep them around until we figured it out. And as I was not one for getting up close and personal in a fight, I was the resident schlep. It felt appropriate.
While I was busying my hands—and by that, I mean trying to secure the throw so it would not come undone at a moment’s notice—Mia and Lynnria had finally gotten around to fiddling with her potential skill-picks. Or more accurately, a long and drawn out game of trial and error.
Neither of them had any real idea as to her Class’s potential or any clue beyond its name as to what an Engraver even did. So all they could do was throw things at the wall and see if they stuck. Literally.
Or so Mia later informed me. Apparently, there is a space within everyone’s Core reserved for holding a person’s skills. If the skill is appropriate for the Class, it will remain. If not… poof. And given what I had seen of my own internal dimension, I could not help but be curious as to what my own looked like.
But that was a question for another day.
As for her skills, obviously she was going to need something to spend her accumulated luck on, else things would almost certainly get out of hand before the day was out. Other than that, I felt it best to kept my thoughts to myself. If she wanted my opinion, she could ask for it.
Not that she needed it. Lynnria was doggedly persistent in her goal of wrestling her Class into some sort of warrior-specific role and, while she had thus far been unsuccessful, the negative responses had not all been the result of a Class conflict. Thus, she had slowly been whittling away at a hefty list of known skills for some time.
She was currently down to a toothpick.
“What do you mean… No. Sorry. Let me rephrase. I don’t… understand why even Lucky Strike should be unavailable. It’s normally a garbage-tier skill, but it should be somewhat reasonable given the circumstances.” She frowned intently as she listened to the answer. “Too complex? It’s literally one of the most basic—what about my mentals? Oh, sorry… ugh.”
“What does Lucky Strike normally do?” I asked conversationally.
She frowned at me briefly before nodding. “Right. You’re a mage, so I guess you wouldn’t have a need to know. But it’s right in the name. It just gives you the occasional extra bit of luck here and there so that you can land that perfect blow. But it happens so rarely it’s hard to tell whether it was just normal luck or from the skill. Almost nobody takes it, but with this aura of yours…”
I nodded thoughtfully. That did sound pretty nice. It was basic. To the point. And with my build, it would make for a pretty damned good synergy. An excellent first Layer pick.
Still, from the response I had heard, Mia had said ‘too complex.’ Not ‘no.’ In the realm of skill-picks, those were very different things.
“Well… if Lucky Strike is too complex, maybe you could just ask for Luck,” I quipped, half in jest.
Lynnria snorted. “Yeah, right. I wish. But that’s like a Third Stratum—“
She stopped and slowly her eyes widened. “What do you mean, kind of? Can you or can’t you? Oh, ew. Mia! No, I know you can’t help it, but still, the imagery…”
“Found something?” I asked lightly.
“Huh? Oh, uh… maybe? She said she’s going to try it, but it seems ridiculous. I can’t see how I could possibly qualify for—“ She stopped again, listening. “Huh… well, that’s… not at all the skill I know of. Actually, I’m not sure I understand it at all. Mia, what are you talking—no, forget I asked.”
“Care to share?”
“Uh… she’s saying something about inscribing a certain charm onto the… the fate of an outcome? But that the outcome can be… can be subjective given differing points of view, so I need to direct my uh… my…” She snapped her fingers absently.
“Your Will?” I hazarded.
“That’s it!” she replied brightly. “Uh… then I can assert my view point as the… the favored… outcome?”
I blinked a few times. Inscribing a charm… “So, it’s like a gesture for good luck?”
“I guess?”
I nodded slowly, trying to piece together the whole subjectivity business. Normally, with any sort of luck-based ability you would assume that the benefactor would be implied as the user of the skill, but given that she had mentioned her mental attributes as a factor, it left me with the impression that Mia might have run out of space in the ‘Word count’ to define that parameter. And that would mean that Lynnria would have to sort of ‘tie up the loose ends’ with her own Will.
Of course, that all assumed Lynnria’s skills worked in any way like my recent experience with that mysterious symbol. Which was… possible?
“Well, if you can figure out how it works, that… sounds pretty useful,” I opined.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
As we had no bags, we decided to commandeer the throw we had found earlier in order to bundle up the trio of crystals. While I was tying them off, I could not help but observe that—rather like snowflakes—they each looked much the same while being quite unique.
They were all long and hexagonal, each coming to a point at one end and with a metallic screw still attached to the other that had been used to hang them from their chains. So they looked near enough the same as to be considered of a type. Still, there were plenty of slight angle differences here and there to distinguish one from the other.
Not that it mattered. We still had no idea what to do with them, so we decided it was for the best to just schlep them around until we figured it out. And as I was not one for getting up close and personal in a fight, I was the resident schlep. It felt appropriate.
While I was busying my hands—and by that, I mean trying to secure the throw so it would not come undone at a moment’s notice—Mia and Lynnria had finally gotten around to fiddling with her potential skill-picks. Or more accurately, a long and drawn out game of trial and error.
Neither of them had any real idea as to her Class’s potential or any clue beyond its name as to what an Engraver even did. So all they could do was throw things at the wall and see if they stuck. Literally.
Or so Mia later informed me. Apparently, there is a space within everyone’s Core reserved for holding a person’s skills. If the skill is appropriate for the Class, it will remain. If not… poof. And given what I had seen of my own internal dimension, I could not help but be curious as to what my own looked like.
But that was a question for another day.
As for her skills, obviously she was going to need something to spend her accumulated luck on, else things would almost certainly get out of hand before the day was out. Other than that, I felt it best to kept my thoughts to myself. If she wanted my opinion, she could ask for it.
Not that she needed it. Lynnria was doggedly persistent in her goal of wrestling her Class into some sort of warrior-specific role and, while she had thus far been unsuccessful, the negative responses had not all been the result of a Class conflict. Thus, she had slowly been whittling away at a hefty list of known skills for some time.
She was currently down to a toothpick.
“What do you mean… No. Sorry. Let me rephrase. I don’t… understand why even Lucky Strike should be unavailable. It’s normally a garbage-tier skill, but it should be somewhat reasonable given the circumstances.” She frowned intently as she listened to the answer. “Too complex? It’s literally one of the most basic—what about my mentals? Oh, sorry… ugh.”
“What does Lucky Strike normally do?” I asked conversationally.
She frowned at me briefly before nodding. “Right. You’re a mage, so I guess you wouldn’t have a need to know. But it’s right in the name. It just gives you the occasional extra bit of luck here and there so that you can land that perfect blow. But it happens so rarely it’s hard to tell whether it was just normal luck or from the skill. Almost nobody takes it, but with this aura of yours…”
I nodded thoughtfully. That did sound pretty nice. It was basic. To the point. And with my build, it would make for a pretty damned good synergy. An excellent first Layer pick.
Still, from the response I had heard, Mia had said ‘too complex.’ Not ‘no.’ In the realm of skill-picks, those were very different things.
“Well… if Lucky Strike is too complex, maybe you could just ask for Luck,” I quipped, half in jest.
Lynnria snorted. “Yeah, right. I wish. But that’s like a Third Stratum—“
She stopped and slowly her eyes widened. “What do you mean, kind of? Can you or can’t you? Oh, ew. Mia! No, I know you can’t help it, but still, the imagery…”
“Found something?” I asked lightly.
“Huh? Oh, uh… maybe? She said she’s going to try it, but it seems ridiculous. I can’t see how I could possibly qualify for—“ She stopped again, listening. “Huh… well, that’s… not at all the skill I know of. Actually, I’m not sure I understand it at all. Mia, what are you talking—no, forget I asked.”
“Care to share?”
“Uh… she’s saying something about inscribing a certain charm onto the… the fate of an outcome? But that the outcome can be… can be subjective given differing points of view, so I need to direct my uh… my…” She snapped her fingers absently.
“Your Will?” I hazarded.
“That’s it!” she replied brightly. “Uh… then I can assert my view point as the… the favored… outcome?”
I blinked a few times. Inscribing a charm… “So, it’s like a gesture for good luck?”
“I guess?”
I nodded slowly, trying to piece together the whole subjectivity business. Normally, with any sort of luck-based ability you would assume that the benefactor would be implied as the user of the skill, but given that she had mentioned her mental attributes as a factor, it left me with the impression that Mia might have run out of space in the ‘Word count’ to define that parameter. And that would mean that Lynnria would have to sort of ‘tie up the loose ends’ with her own Will.
Of course, that all assumed Lynnria’s skills worked in any way like my recent experience with that mysterious symbol. Which was… possible?
“Well, if you can figure out how it works, that… sounds pretty useful,” I opined.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
