Wish upon the Stars chapter 3 pt 5

Jessie and I followed behind the humorless man in the suit as he led  us further into the back of the first floor and then up some stairs. As  we began walking up I noted that the stairs looped around and that the  steps beneath us were crystal clear. I doubted they were glass, since no  one seemed to be looking up at us, but still looking down on the  various floors as we climbed the spiral staircase was wild.

Jessie  was clinging to my arm as we walked, clearly torn between worry at the  heights and awe at what we were seeing. I got where she was coming from  honestly, not seeing a floor under your feet was deeply unsettling.  Still it really was amazing seeing all the Ascendants gather together,  talking and training and eating, as we passed training rooms and art  galleries and cafes, all built into various floors of this grand  imposing building. After about a half hour though I started to get  suspicious and asked the humorless man. "Excuse me? Is this building  bigger on the inside?"

The  man turned, his angular features just as dour, but with a gleam of  approval in his eyes. "Well spotted. Most don't notice that for another  few floors. Yes, the inside of the building far exceeds the outside in  scope. That's why in private, members of the Unity call this place the  Tower. It goes up quite a ways, though we won't be heading to the top.  The evaluator is on the fifteenth floor. We used to use live scanners  for the tests, but once a standardized machine was created we switched,  different scanning methods have different standards after all."

Seemingly  having decided that was all I really needed to hear he resumed his  climb without any warning or sign he was ending the conversation. Cheery  guy. I looked at Jessie, who was getting less excited and more  unsettled the higher we went. I bumped her with my shoulder to get her  attention. "Hey, you ok? We're good you know. These stairs are solid as a  rock even if they don't look it. We'd be able to feel if they had some  give. Plus this is the Unity, no way their stuff just falls apart out of  nowhere." I paused. "Actually hold on, hey suit guy, can you give us  the crash course while we walk?"

The  humorless man paused momentarily, not bothering to look at me but  eventually nodding. "Yes, I suppose starting the lesson early would be  beneficial to our schedule. Very well. We will begin, as they say, at  the beginning, Before we perform your registration, the most commonly  asked questions are regarding what the seven statistics actually are,  and what effects they have."

He  took on a lecturing tone, and I could tell he'd given this speech more  than a few times. "The easiest place to start, of course, is Impact.  Impact is the influence you have on reality, it is what makes you  special, makes you unique. Everyone has Impact to some extent, but those  who lack a sufficient value for their Impact to be quantified as being  one point fall outside the sphere of legendary cultivation, and are not  eligible to be Ascendants, barring unforeseen circumstances or  intervention from a higher power."

Everyone  was paying attention now, and though I knew this I was still interested  in exactly how the Unity saw Impact, and in any details Zeke had left  out. The humorless man continued. "Impact is a VERY difficult stat to  raise, most statistics grow through the performance of Great Deeds, but  Impact is a stat that almost exclusively rises during rank up. The other  methods that are known can only be met with by chance, and not planned.  Impact is the stat that governs how difficult you are to damage, those  who are less real have a harder time harming you. This is rank  suppression."

I'd  known most of that, but it was a pretty succinct explanation and gave  me a bit more insight than what Zeke had told me. The man moved on.  "Next we will talk about Vitality. Vitality is not, as some suspect  'health'. While a high Vitality does indeed make your harder to kill,  Vitality IS life force. Not just your own, but what you have at your  disposal. Healers, Summoners, and certain kinds of Crafters all use  Vitality to do their work. To give or restore life is to utilize  Vitality."

That  I actually hadn't know, and thinking about it I'd been confused about a  bunch of the stats, so I paid close attention as he went on. "Creation  is the manifestation of something from disparate elements or from pure  power. It is not making something from nothing, which is impossible, but  rather the shift of possible to factual. Conjurers, and again Summoners  and certain kinds of Crafters, make frequent use of creation."

He  paused in his recitation to turn and look at us. "As you might have  noted these stats often overlap. All powers contain elements of several  of these things if not all of them. They are the building blocks of your  abilities and the forces that govern your life as an ascendant. The  statistics you excel in will govern the direction and form of your  ability should you choose to leave it in it's base state." He stopped  that train of thought, waving it away. "That will be for later. Moving  on."

He  resumed his trek up the stairs and picked up his explanation again.  "Focus, one of the most misunderstood of the stats that govern us. Focus  is not, as some would have you believe, intelligence. It does not give  you more knowledge. Focus sharpens and enhances your mind, it allows you  to think faster and remember more clearly. Mad Scientists, Mentalists,  and nearly every kind of complex crafter makes good use of Focus."

His  enthusiasm noticeably dipped as he moved on to the next stat, clearly  trying not to sneer. "Might. Might is one of the crudest and most direct  statistics. Might governs the use of force, traditionally involving the  body. Many direct combat Ascendants utilize might to empower their  strikes, lift more weight, or generally inflict damage with their  bodies. It is considered one of the easiest stats to raise, as Might is  one of the most obvious stats and leaves the most overt impression."

I  could tell he wanted to say more, but he swallowed it down, forcing  himself to move on. "Fantasy, the most nebulous of the stats. Fantasy  governs as it's name implies, the fantastic. It is often used for  illusions, or to prove a framework through which Creation might work.  Fantasy is an important tool for any sort of Conjurer or Summoner as  well as Illusionists. It's surprisingly easier to raise because of the  sense of wonder Ascendants inspire, and is the bedrock upon which many  abilities are built."

The  last one seemed to be the most important to him, and he spoke  reverently as he informed of us of its function. "And finally, the last  of the seven. Perception. Perception governs your sense of the world  around you. Many finer and more detailed manipulations of power require  Perception. It allows you to understand not only your own abilities but  the abilities and traits of others, and is, in my humble estimation, one  of the most important and underestimated statistics."

Having  reached the end of the list, he gave us one last warning about stats.  "As I mentioned, none of these can be overlooked. Your growth in  statistics will govern the details of how your powers function, some  more than others. Abilities that utilize all of the building blocks will  be slower to change and be less profoundly affected. But acquiring and  raising stats that don't pertain to your ability can irrevocably alter  how your power functions, so be careful the impression you leave.  Ascendant cultivation is one of renown and legend, the stories you  inspire will change you irreversibly."

That  I had known, though I wasn't aware powers like mind that used them all  were more resistant to that change. I supposed it did make sense though.  My pondering was cut off however, as we finally reached the top of the  steps. The man, who still hadn't bothered to give us his damn name,  stopped on one side of the spiral staorcase at one of the crystalline,  nearly invisible walls, and fished out a key, sliding it into a keyhole  we couldn't even see. He gave it a turn, and with a sharp click an old  fashioned banded wooden door with an old style iron lock shimmered into  place before us."

The  door swung inward, and he lead us into a stone room that looked like  the lab of every magic user from every fantasy story I'd ever read. The  place was a full on wizards tower, with wooden tables covered in  bubbling cauldrons and beakers, and crystal balls sitting on plush  pillows showing strange scenes that case their flickering lights on jars  of unusual and disturbing ingredients. Our guide rolled his eyes as we  stepped into the room. "Oh for the sake of the Revenant, Beaker! Get out  here you lunatic!"

A  man stepped out of a back room, carrying a glass box of what looked  like free floating eyeballs suspended in gelatin. He seemed to be  ignoring us, but when he caught sight of the group he stopped, blinking  owlishly at us from behind a pair of half moon glasses. Beaker, it  turned out, was dressed in a set of dark blue robes, with a set of  scholarly spectacles as mentioned before and sparkling blue eyes. He was  also probably twenty, and looked like he was trying WAY too hard to  appear as a wise old wizard.

Our  humorless escort was scowling at the younger man. "Beaker, we have a  registration to complete today. Why the guildmaster allows you to keep  this place outfitted like some medieval laboratory I'll never known, but  the least you could do is clean up a bit for prospective members. Just  because you have a Beginner level Enchanting Skill doesn't mean you have  to live like some kind of wizard stereotype. It's embarrassing."

Beaker  seemed unbothered by the man's ranting and turned to face us. "Oh,  wonderful! Guests! please, come inside!" He swept and arm over a table  near him, knocking over several glass vials and stands that smashed  loudly on the floor, apparently outside his notice. We all looked  worriedly at the pile of glass and chemicals and the liquids mixed  together and began sparking and letting off weirdly shaped smoke of  varying colors.

Beaker  seemed to be oblivious to all of it as he set down his box of eyes and  ran back into the closer, coming out with a wooden chest bound with  strips of bronze. He popped the thing open and pulled out... a screen.  The thing was black and futuristic looking, not going with the decor at  all, and on either side of it were a pair of handles with black grips.  Beaker thrust the scanner into the air triumphantly and turned to us  with a grin. "There! Exactly what you needed. Mad Science and Enchanting  are more closely linked than people think, so the guildmaster has been  letting me study this."

He  circled around the table with it, hopping agilely over the puddle of  mixed chemicals and glass to stroll over and stand in front of us. He  held out the scanner to the closest member of our group. I counted how  many were here now that we were stuck together in this room and it  turned out to be about twenty. There had seemed like less in the  spacious waiting room and on the huge stairs, though admittedly that  might have been because I was a bit distracted by the pretty blonde  still on my arm. Beaker waved the thing at the closest person. "Well, no  reason to dither! Grab on! Your destiny awaits."