Chapter 14: A System, of Sorts

Chapter 14: A System, of Sorts

Carlos meditated again, focusing once more on the feelings of mana moving into his soul and etching itself into a structure. This time, the concept he focused on for what the structure should do was the second on his list, the introspector: a structure that would examine the state of his soul and keep him informed about it, with the comprehension aid he'd already made helping him interpret the information.

The mana began to flow easily enough, but this time there was no existing mana construct to connect to and use as a base. It had only his intent to guide it, and had to create the foundation as well as build upon it.

Minutes passed. A quarter hour. Half. A full hour, and a while more. The flow of mana slowed, but Carlos felt no impression of nearing completion. Instead the mana that was still moving felt... aimless. Like it didn't know where to go, or what shape to take. Understanding dawned; the mana needed more details.

He focused on examining his first soul structure, the comprehension aid, and a connection grew between the new and still forming structure and the established one.

He focused on examining the soul structures he would make in the future, and eight dormant nodes formed, scattered around the structure's surface and ready to extend new connections when the time comes.

He focused on examining the inner workings of each soul structure to determine precisely what they could do, and the structure grew intangible tendrils, filled with sensory and analysis mini-constructs.

Carlos's mana was flowing smoothly and quickly into the new soul structure again, but he still had more to do.

He focused on examining the growth and development of each soul structure, and more tendrils formed with new and different sensory constructs.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

He focused on tracking changes over time, and a section of the structure's interior changed to record information and store it.

He focused on examining the locations and arrangement of each soul structure, and a small new line wrapped around the connection to the comprehension aid.

He focused on examining his soul shell and how much of it was left, and a connection grew alongside the flowing stream of mana, following it back to its source.

He focused on tracking how much mana he had available to use for spellcasting, and a connection reached out to what he realized was the surface of his soul, where a thin and patchy layer of condensed mana had begun to accumulate.

He remembered what Amber had said about general soul development via covering the soul in layers of mana, and focused on examining those layers, and the connection to his soul's surface split and changed.

He focused on analyzing for potential improvements, and every analysis construct grew denser, packed with more refinements.

He focused on allowing for improvement and expansion to incorporate ideas he might think of later, and several protrusions emerged from various points on the structure's surface, full of unshaped potential.

He almost stopped there, but then mentally slapped his forehead and focused on examining the introspector itself, and a connection grew out, looped around several times in a spiral, and merged back into it to direct all the introspector's inspection tools at itself.

The flow of Carlos's mana began to slow.

Amber meditated, focusing on the familiar sensations of mana moving into her soul to build a structure. She had felt this four times in the past several months, when she had built the four soul structures she already had. Each of those times had taken a few hours to finish, and this time was no different.

She had been surprised, and a bit envious, when Carlos had finished building his first soul structure in only one and a half hours, but she reminded herself that he had only really built a fraction of that one. The real test of how long he took to make a soul structure from scratch would be that 'introspector' of his, which he did not have a dungeon-made wish to incorporate for it.

She shook her head and dismissed the idle thought. She needed to properly focus to ensure her fifth soul structure would serve its purpose correctly. She wanted it to help her understand everything, just like Carlos's, but she especially wanted to be certain it would help her understand his language and the strange concepts he told her about. Maybe then she'd understand why he considered an introspector so important.

She snorted quietly and dismissed that thought too. It was closer to on topic, at least, but still a distraction from what she was doing. Her new soul structure was maybe about two thirds finished, and she needed to stay focused for about another hour.

Personal mana: 22

Soul shell: 9518

Soul structures (2/10):

Comprehension aidIntrospector

General soul development:

Layers: 0Progress to next layer: 220.5

Carlos frowned and tilted his head as he looked over the information. It seemed rather minimal, with basic information missing. How much progress did he need to finish the first layer of general development? What was his maximum personal mana, and how quickly did he regain spent mana? How much soul shell mana had he started with? Just as he thought those questions, the missing numbers appeared.

Personal mana: 22 / 22

Regen: 11% / hour

Soul shell: 9518 / 11097

Soul structures (2/10):

Comprehension aidIntrospector

General soul development:

Layers: 0Progress to next layer: 220.5 / 1024

Huh. What about how much progress the second layer would take? And where the 220.5 progress he already had came from? The status window flashed at him, and a red error message appeared for a few seconds.

Insufficient soul development to analyze that information.

What, did he need to finish the first layer to get that? And why would that be needed for reporting on the sources of his progress? The error message reappeared with a clarification.

Insufficient introspector soul development to analyze that information.

Ah, that made more sense. But didn't that mean there should be development progress numbers on the individual soul structures too? Said numbers immediately appeared, both of them single digit amounts out of 1024. Carlos smiled and dismissed the status window. He was hungry and exhausted, and for now it was enough to know that it worked. He could investigate all sorts of other details later.

He stood and shook himself out a bit, then turned toward the center of the cave where Amber had lit a fire and was cooking... Was that bacon and eggs, plus some reheated stew? Much tastier than the hard and dry trail rations they'd eaten for lunch, but they didn't have much of it left.

"What's the occasion?"

Amber beamed at him with a smile that seemed almost permanently fixed on her face. "I got my comprehension aid made, and read your notes. I think it should work. All of it. And that means I'll get to be orichalcum rank! Screw the royal academy, who fucking cares about their maybe-platinum crap, I'm going to be orichalcum with you!"

Carlos chuckled heartily, and sat down to eat.

The following morning, four men appeared in a flash of light in the nearby wilderness. Darmelkon quickly spotted a small blackened area of ground, and walked over to inspect it more closely. "It looks like they built a fire here. They didn't stay, but it appears likely they weren't expecting successful pursuit."

Enchanter Tornay nodded, and gestured toward the younger man beside him. "Apprentice, see what signs you can find."

Darmelkon beckoned for his servant to search the area as well, and brought out a tightly coiled strand of hair from his belt pouch, and held it out to Tornay. "I have no shortage of hairs from Amber, but unfortunately my aura tracer was only good for one use."

"Ah. Cheap apprentice craftsmanship. I have better." A ring on Tornay's right hand emitted a pulse of light, and suddenly a small circular pane of glass lined with runes was in his hand. "Let's get started, shall we?"