Chapter 159 - Aftermath

A/N: Book 2 will be going to Amazon soon, probably some time in the next month. As with the first book, I will be making the epub available for the Patrons (separate post, once I have the actual epub).

That's all, on to todays chapter!!

Nate sat on a block of earth he’d sculpted out of the earth. In front of him the fire crackled, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky and bathing him in a gentle warmth. It wasn’t the only thing warming him though, as Britt sat in the grass, leaning against his leg with her head on his knee. In the end she had needed him to pry her out of her armour, which had required him to use his Material Shaping Skill, as it had warped in a number of places and was interfering with the healing. She was healed though, and had been glued to him ever since.

Kiri sat a little to his left, using another block of earth as a backrest. His sister still looked pale, even an hour after the battle. She’d been forced to overextend herself, both in her battle and then to help him save Britt. Frick was still absent, not having managed to reform himself just yet. On his other side sat Null and Evindal. Null looked morose. Nate felt sorry for the swordsman. He hadn’t really known the two Gold-bodyguards very well and he was sad about their deaths, but there was some distance there from the hurt. His, Kiri, and Britt’s survival far overshadowed any other feelings, drowning out any despair. He should have included Evindal in that, but it was hard to do so, since the elf looked pristine. Certainly his mentor had still faced a difficult battle, but unlike the rest of them, he had been punching down rather than up. It had taken time, but he had won a resounding victory.

The craziest part was that the elf had just left the forest where it was. Perhaps it would spread, given time. Well, maybe not the craziest part. Ignoring the waiting notifications, he gave Null the attention he deserved. It was the least he could do for the man after he’d been caught up in Nate’s problems.

“Six. You beat six of them. While I could barely face one,” ground out Null.

Evindal placed a placating hand on the swordsman shoulder, which seemed to have a calming effect.

“You’re Legendary, aren’t you? Both of you.” Null stated, splitting his gaze between Kiri and Nate.

Britt reacted, looking up at him as she kept an arm wrapped around his leg. The question in her eyes was one of curiosity, lacking any accusation.

Nate glanced at Kiri, who shrugged slightly, before finally turning to Evindal. The look the elf gave him said it was his decision. He tried not to laugh, given the tension in the air, but he sometimes wished they didn’t all leave it to him. Sometimes it might’ve been nice for someone else to tell him what he should do. He knew that was the exhaustion talking. So instead he gave Evindal a nod. The elf should know what he wanted.

“I will need you both to make a System Contract with me that you won’t speak of anything you have learned about Nate or Kiri today, including anything they choose to reveal now,” stated Evindal.

Nate was just thankful he didn’t need to manage the System Contract. As they hashed out the details, mostly with Kiri who seemed to be applying her economics training to be particularly litigious, his only input was to request that the contract automatically expire in one year's time. It was a risk, but he didn’t want the contract hanging over their heads for longer than that. It gave him a year to make Kiri and himself unassailable by the nobility of Etrua. A tight timeline, but not impossible.

With the contract hashed out and sealed by the System, he finally answered the question.

“Mythic.”

Britt’s eyes widened in shock, while Null worked his jaw, the swordsman looking like he didn’t believe him.

“Really?!” Britt blurted out at the same time as Null demanded proof.

He made his display visible for them, only showing his Classes and their tiers and levels. The fact that Wandering Realmwalker showed as level ten told him how many levels were waiting in his notifications. The social aspect needed to be handled first though.

“You held back in our fight!” Null accused, sounding angry for the first time Nate had ever witnessed.

“I didn’t. I was level thirty-one when we fought,” explained Nate quietly. “And you were kind of a hard counter to me.”

“That’s…okay yeah, that would make sense. I…”

Kiri cut him off, “Just to be clear, you’re not a hard counter for me. I would’ve stomped you. And I was level thirty.”

The blunt statement, coupled with Kiri’s grin, finally broke through the tension in the air as Null looked shocked and Britt and Evindal chuckled quietly. As the laughter subsided, Britt looked up at him.

“You’re three tiers above me,” she whispered. He could hear the fear in her voice. They were meant to just be casual. Friends with benefits. But, not unexpectedly, that had shifted. He had gone from thinking of her as a friend he occasionally slept with, to his kind-of-girlfriend, to his girlfriend. Now she worried he would leave her behind. A reasonable fear to have.

“I have some ideas,” he replied quietly, which seemed to calm her, as she went back to laying her head against his leg.

“How are we splitting these?” Kiri asked, flicking her hand at the pile of Orbs and items near them.

After the battle, they had collected the fallen Orbs, totalling six from the ten that had attacked them. He wasn’t including anything from Evindal’s fight, as no one had asked if there had been an Orb left. Then while Null had gathered up their Alliram mounts which had charged off into the grasslands at the first sign of trouble, Nate had gathered the weapons, armour and trinkets of their fallen enemies, before disposing of the bodies using a powerful acid runic array.

“Chances that the items can be traced back to them?” asked Nate.

“Not high, but it’s possible,” answered Evindal.

Nate nodded to Kiri, who understood his meaning, “We’ll have Luc sell them. He’s making a trip out of Etrua shortly so that should make them harder to trace. We’ll split the profit four ways, after Luc gets his cut.”

No one said anything in opposition so she pointed at the Orbs. “Two for Nate and I. One for Null and one for Britt.”

He expected some pushback on that statement, even though he could see where Kiri was coming from. Nate had downed six, Kiri three and Null one, with assistance. She was trying to be a bit fair by giving Britt and Null one each, since they had suffered, even if they hadn’t contributed as much. When no one voiced a disagreement he nodded his own approval. A part of him, the generous part, wanted to give Britt his Orbs. But he knew she wouldn’t accept them and he felt too tired to argue.

In the end, Null got an Epic Magic Power Orb, while Britt got an Empowering Strike Rare Skill Orb. Kiri took two Epic Stat Orbs, one for Agility and one for Strength, which left Nate with an Epic Stat Orb for Constitution and a second one for Magic Control. With the loot divided he finally turned his attention to his notifications. First were the achievements.

Congratulations on creating a Life Restoration Rune (Master Quality).
Your achievement has been recorded.

Congratulations, you have saved a life through the utilisation of the Concepts of Life and Soul.
Your achievement has been recorded.

Congratulations on utilising a Grandmaster Tier Sigil.
Your achievement has been recorded.

The achievements were decent, and he hoped they would help push him towards the Lord of Life Class. Whether they were of much help in changing his Embodiment he would soon find out. There were plenty of notifications left, but even if it didn’t assist, it couldn’t hurt.

Next were his level ups. He already knew there were going to be four. He quickly read over the notifications.

Accrued Mana applied to Secondary Class.

Level up…
Level up…
Level up…
Level up…

Stats adjusted: +4 Magic Power, +16 Magic Control, +8 Channelling Speed, +8 Mana Reserve, +4 Mana Absorption +20 Free Stats 

Level fifty. It had taken a while, but it meant there would be a new Skill on offer. But before that he needed to assign his Free Stats. Ten went into Constitution and the other ten into Endurance. He was almost at a hundred in both, and the improvements had paid dividends in the battle, keeping him from being jostled or injured as his barrier had weathered their enemies' assault. With his Stats handled he turned his attention to the skill options from his Wandering Realmwalker Class.

Skills Available! Please Select 1* Skill.
Class Skill Options: 

Spatial Expansion (Rare)
Space is malleable. So, why limit your space to the prescribed dimensions when you could spatially expand it. Carry your clothes, your supplies, even your house, with you wherever you go. This Skill allows the user to create spatially expanded spaces. Size of expansion is based on the user's Skill Level. Cost and duration is based on the user’s Magic Power and Magic Control. Spatial space starts at one- half a cubic metre. Skill Level increases space by Skill Level * one-half a cubic metre.

Spatial Reinforcement (Rare)
Space is not solid. It is a fluid, three-dimensional area that can be altered or distorted, shaped or dispersed. But, for those wishing to create spaces that will resist the warping of gravity or that will stand the test of time, they need the ability to harden space. They need Spatial Reinforcement. This Skill will reinforce any spatially created area or zone the user focuses on. Extent of reinforcement is based on user’s' Magic Power, Magic Control and Skill Level.

Spatial Control (Rare)
All spells require Magic Control to perform effectively. Spatial magic is even more challenging, the complexity of space translating to the complexity of its spells. This Skill allows the user to more effectively apply their spatial mana affinity, giving them greater control over their mana when used for spatial magic. Magic Control Stat is 10% more effective when used for spatial spells. This bonus is increased by an additional 1% per Skill Level.

Space is all around You (Rare)
Space is one of the true constants of the material multiverse. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you occupy space and move through it. Why then must you utilise only your own mana for spatial skills when the mana that surrounds you also occupies space? This Skill reduces the mana cost of Spatial Skills and Spells by drawing on ambient mana with an affinity for space to offset the mana required. Mana cost reduction increases at Skill Level * 1.

Spatial Portals (Rare)
While a Spatial Mage can normally teleport themselves, moving others can be a challenge. Mana under the influence of others will naturally resist manipulation. That is where portals come in. Why move someone when you can forcibly connect two locations, just like looking through a window?. Distance increases with Skill Level. Initial distance is five metres. Skill Level increases distance by Skill Level * five metres. 

The options were all decent. Only Rare, but he’d already taken multiple Epic Skills from the Legendary Class. These were what was left. Spatial Expansion was his preferred option, given it would mean he could create his own spatial storage that didn’t rely on a ring. It also opened some interesting ideas for his planned Embodiment. But a question lingered. Could he accomplish the same with his runes? Moving on, Spatial Reinforcement was less enticing. Being able to harden Space might be useful in stopping others from teleporting, but that didn’t matter much to him, since he could probably accomplish the same with a Space based runic array. With that in mind he crossed Spatial Portals out as well. That left Space is all around You and Spatial Control. Since the latter only boosted his Magic Control when casting spatial spells, he ended up going with Space is all around You. It affected his Skills, which should make his teleportation significantly cheaper over time. Maybe even to the point that it would be worth the effort of teleporting people, though his Magic Power would also be a factor for doing that.

With his skill selected he moved onto his Skill increases from the battle and the last few days.

Conceptual Insight 45 > 48
Conceptual Material 39 > 40
Farsight of the Runic Artist 47 > 49
Conceptual Intent 45 > 49
Conceptual Runic Creation 44 > 48
Conceptual Runic Artistry 42 > 47
True Teleportation 35 > 38
Empowered Amplified Magic 35 > 38
Conceptual Automated Existence 41 > 43
Material Shaping 15 > 19
Conceptual Spatial Empowerment 21 > 22

Finally, after months of effort, Conceptual Material was almost ready to evolve. He had an idea for how to push it over the edge and in the direction he wanted. He just needed to ask Britt if she was interested in his idea. His first attempt at living art. But that could wait for their return to the Capital. Material Shaping was also on the edge, though his plans for Conceptual Material should work on that Skill as well. He might even manage to synergise them, which had long been a plan. First, he would need to raise the Skills enough that their synergistic level would be greater than level forty-one. He had noticed that Skills wouldn’t synergise if the highest level Skill would dip below its last evolution checkpoint. But that was tomorrow's problem. There was one final notification remaining.

Due to the prevalence of Conceptual-related Skills and Achievements, Embodiment for Primary Class has shifted. Current Status indicates a Partial Embodiment. System strongly advises focusing on your path.

With a smile he glanced at his status sheet. His new Embodiment flashed in his vision. It wasn’t creative, like he had planned for, but perhaps this could be even better. Conceptual Runic Artist. He had shifted the Embodiment of his Primary Class. Now he just needed to do the same for his Secondary Class. Curling up with Britt, he settled in to relax and recover from the battle.