Chapter 14

It took Lorvan and Fabrisse another three tries to get the correct invocation to access [Skills], which turned out to be a mimicry of the old mnemonic for self-knowledge rites.

As the motion ended with his fingers touching the center of his palm, a tone rang out, softer than before.

Invocation matched with Query Type — [Competency].

[Skills Interface Accessed]

[SYSTEM NOTE: Skill terminology is regionally adjusted. Refer to ‘Notes’ for local equivalents.]

[Only reliably repeatable skills registered. Incomplete or unstable forms excluded.]

Core Competencies:

Competence Level: Low-Basic
Certifiable Casting Rank: I (practical) / III (theoretical)
Emotion-channeling: Unreliable
Aetheric Sensitivity: Inconsistent
Mnemonic Retention: Below Average

Those look horrible already . . .

Below were more sub-sections. He carefully checked each of them and read them out loud to Lorvan.

Skillset:

[Earth-Based Thaumaturgy]

[Fire-Based Thaumaturgy]

[Water-Based Thaumaturgy]

[Air-Based Thaumaturgy]

[Concordance / Meta-Category]

[Earth-Based Thaumaturgy]

Skill: Stonesway (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Earth (Stone)

Tag: [Utility] [Combat] [Flavor]

Description: Animates and levitates a small number of rocks (up to 3 pebbles) for light manipulation or distraction. Pebbles respond better to tactile familiarity.

Skill: Sedimentary Recall (Rank II) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Earth (Sediment) / Concordance (Emotion)

Tag: [Sensing] [Narrative]

Description: By holding a stone that has remained in place for a long time, you can tap into lingering aetheric ‘impressions’ of significant emotional events that occurred nearby.

Skill: Gravelkin (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Earth (Stone)

Tag: [Summon] [Flavor] [Utility]

Description: One particular stone from your collection becomes semi-sentient after repeated handling. It can lightly glow on command.

Skill: Burden of Stones (Rank II) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Earth (Stone)

Tag: [Combat] [Narrative]

Description: Temporarily imbues an object with weight based on emotional burden.

[Fire-Based Thaumaturgy]

Skill: Faultspark Ignition (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Fire (Spark)/Concordance (Emotion [Fluster])

Tag: [Combat] [Disruptive] [Flavor]

Description: Generates unstable ignition via ambient focus error. Has a 70% chance of lighting small dry material; 30% chance of misfiring onto a random flammable nearby. Strength increases with emotional fluster.

Skill: Misguided Flame Anchor (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Fire (Cinder) / Concordance (Improvisation)

Tag: [Combat] [Disruptive] [Narrative]

Description Anchors flame to the nearest organic material not protected by warding. Typically triggers with flawed intent. Often burns unintended targets.

[Air-Based Thaumaturgy]

Skill: Joy-Sprint (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Air (Wind) / Concordance (Emotion [Joy])

Tag: [Utility] [Flavor] [Narrative]

Description: No verbal invocation required. Initiated through spontaneous bodily motion combined with emotional uplift. May manifest through running, leaping, or spinning.

Skill: Stillbrace (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Air (Wind) / Concordance (Emotion)

Tag: [Utility] [Defense] [Support]

Description: Stills the air in a fixed area (up to a circular surface 1 meter across) for up to 2 seconds, forming a suspended pressure plane.

Designed to absorb or redirect low- to moderate-velocity projectiles or gust spells.

Has limited effect against chaotic or fire-aspected air magic.

At lower Ranks, need a glyphplate to form.

[Concordance / Meta-Category]

Stealth-Based Concordance Skills

Skill: Liminal Presence Drift (Rank III) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Stealth) / Air (Whisper)

Tag: [Utility] [Disruptive] [Stealth]

Description: Softens body presence and reduces cognitive footprint in a localized radius. Lowers likelihood of being noticed unless directly observed. Stronger in quiet environments.

Skill: Auditory Dissipation Field (Rank II) - Passive

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Stealth)

Tag: [Passive] [Utility] [Stealth]

Description: Dampens minor sound emissions from the user’s movements, including footsteps, rustling fabric, and clinks from stupid rock collections. Slight emotional sync required to maintain.

Skill: Aetheric Veil: Echofold (Rank II) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Stealth) / Air (Veil)

Tag: [Disruptive] [Utility] [Stealth]

Description: Briefly ‘echoes’ the caster’s presence a few steps behind them—delaying auditory, magical, or scent-based tracking. Especially effective against detection wards or scent-based familiars.

Skill: Shadowed Reposition Protocol (Rank II) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Stealth)

Tag: [Utility] [Stealth] [Combat]

Description: Allows the caster to make a short, low-profile displacement into a zone of lower attention density.

Skill: Veil of Shame (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Stealth) / Concordance (Emotion [Shame])

Tag: [Disruptive] [Stealth] [Narrative]

Description: Momentarily warps attention away from the user. Dampens visual, auditory, and scrying detection by 10–30%. Duration and strength scale with intensity of shame-based memory.

Emotion-Affinity Skills

Skill: Shameflare (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Emotion [Shame])

Tag: [Disruptive] [Combat] [Narrative]

Description: Aetheric burst triggered by embarrassment, disrupts weak magics. Breaks light concentration spells, soft charms, or ambient glamours in a short radius. Most effective in formal settings where mortification is high.

Skill: Sentimental Slot (Rank I) - Passive

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Emotion) / Earth (Strata)

Tag: [Utility] [Narrative]

Description: Stores emotionally charged objects outside spatial bounds.

Skill: Improvised Ritual (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Emotion)

Tag: ???

Description: Combines ritual fragments to create unpredictable effects.

Passive / Pattern Recognition

Skill: Pattern Intuition (Rank I) / Passive

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Veil)

Tag: [Passive] [Sensing] [Utility]

Description: Detects flawed or unstable magical patterns subconsciously.

Skill: Fragmented Affinity Trace (Rank I) - Passive

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Meta)

Tag: [Passive] [Sensing] [Narrative]

Description: Indicates latent alignment with non-classical affinity. Enables early activation of spellforms not yet tied to a fully registered element. Allows the user to unknowingly pre-register complex affinities (like Emotion or Sound) before formal recognition.

Skill: Self-Directed Query Invocation (Rank I) - Active

Sub-Affinity: Concordance (Meta)

Tag: [Sensing] [Utility]

Description: Examine the invisible residue left behind after you cast a spell—your aetheric fingerprint. It helps diagnose minor flaws in your technique by mapping areas where your personal resonance weakened or faltered.

At Rank I, the spell reveals:

Faded resonance zones (areas where your intent or focus dropped)

Surface-level fatigue marks (light strain left by effortful casting)

Minor emotional interference (where unstable feelings nudged your shaping)

Step 1 of 4: Access your Aetheric Self-Registry—Completed. Please await further instructions.

“Why don’t you have a single skill that deals damage?” Lorvan finally asked, in that low, dangerous tone he usually reserved for disciplinary hearings.

You’re my mentor, you should know, Fabrisse thought, but decided to not vocalize it.

“I mean, I could throw the pebbles from Stonesway really hard,” instead, he offered. “That is, if I can achieve a better rank for that skill.”

“And all this slinking around and being slightly quieter than usual actually counts as a skill set now?”

“I didn’t ask for stealth,” Fabrisse said. “It’s just what my resonance tuned to. Emotional echo, intent-manifestation symmetry—basic thaumaturgic theory. Apparently, shame has a strong aetheric imprint.”

“Your primary affinity path is hoarding—and yet your skills are built around not being noticed. That sounds counterintuitive to me.” Lorvan pinched his nose. “But we could make it work.”

Fabrisse replied. “Think about it. If I’m collecting emotionally resonant objects, building magical charges based on history and memory, then stealth helps me increase my carry load without alerting anyone.”

“I think you need to become some kind of intelligence-type mage with this skill set,” Lorvan mused, still scrolling through the menus. “Or a professional carry mule.”

“Aetheric logistics specialist,” Fabrisse corrected, lifting a finger. “There’s probably a prestigious name for it in the archives.”

Then something showed up before him. “Hold on,” he said.

[New Quest Available: “Weight of the Words Left Unsaid”]
Type: Spell Unlock — Foundation Alignment
Target Object: Last Known Stupenstone — Status: Unretrieved
Location: The Sanctum of Emberrest (Crescent Hall) — Fifth Cathedral of the Twelvefold Flame
Objective:

• Return to the Sanctum of Emberrest, where the Trial of the Will of the Flamus Arcane took place.
  

• Locate and recover the Stupenstone lost during the Vothiculum.
  

• Reclaim it and channel resonance through it at the site of its abandonment.
  Optional: Evade detection by current faculty. Bonus reward for stealth-based retrieval.
  
  

Reward:
Spell Unlocked: Stupenstone Fling (Rank I)
Launches a stored Stupenstone at high velocity with aetheric force.

• Damage scales with Rank, emotional weight and historical attunement.
  

• Bonus: Stuns or destabilizes wards if cast using items steeped in failure, shame, or regret.
  

System Tip: What was dropped can still be reclaimed. Especially if it’s a rock.

Fabrisse blinked at the glyph hovering in front of him, then turned to Lorvan with growing urgency. “We need to get back to the Sanctum of Emberrest.”

Lorvan’s brow furrowed. “Students can’t enter the Sanctum without permission, Kastovar.”

“You don’t understand,” Fabrisse interrupted, half-standing from the bench.

“No, you don’t understand,” Lorvan shot back, voice suddenly sharp. “The Headmaster is asking for you to return to the Synod. You’re meant to report to the Department of Aetheric Irregularities by next week. If they catch you sneaking into the Sanctum, they’ll reassign you to Theory. You’ll spend the next five years diagramming invocation drift curves in a basement office without windows.” He was threatening Fabrisse with a good time.

“I will be the first person to weaponize a Stupenstone!” Fabrisse shouted.

There was a long pause.

From the hedgerow, Liene’s voice catapulted over. “Yeah, go magic rock boy! Make history with your weird pebbles!”

There was an even longer pause.