There's a certain amount of existential horror that cos with having your allies picked off right in front of you, with little you can do about it. In that sense, Ahkelios is right being able to shrug things off is an important skill for soone looping through ti.
My thoughts flicker back to the mont every so often, but I'm doing a pretty decent job of not focusing on it, I think. Best to think about the next loop. Best to think about how to counter them.
More likely than not, that involves spending my Firmant credits.
We're wandering around the area just near the designated spawn point for the mont, Ahkelios so he can search for his moss and so I have ti to look over my status and think about how to spend my credits.
[ Status:
Na: Ethan
Strength Skills: Crystallized Strength (Rank C), Concentrated Power (Rank B), Amplification Gauntlet (Rank A)
Durability Skills: Tough Body (Rank E), Barrier (Rank D), Crystallized Barrier (Rank C), Hexfold Shield (Rank C), Second Wind (Rank B), Verdant Armor (Rank A)
Reflex Skills: Quicken Mind (Rank B), Inspect (Rank B), Compounded Mind (Rank B), Iron Mind (Rank A)
Speed Skills: Triplestep (Rank E), Accelerate (Rank C), Firestep (Rank C), Flashstep (Rank B), Intrinsic Lightning (Rank A), Lightning Rod (Rank A), Warpstep (Rank A)
Firmant Skills: Firmant Manipulation (Rank D), Temporal Fragnt (Rank D), Color Drain (Rank C), Tetrachromacy (Rank C)
Inspirations:
The Mirror Twice Shattered (Firmant, Unique)
The All-Seeing Eye (Reflex, Rank A)
The Void (Strength, Rank Unknown)
The Accelerator (Speed, Rank A)
Open Dungeons:
The Empty City (Rank S)
Credit Distribution:
Strength: 268 (179 banked)
Durability: 487 (84 banked)
Reflex: 103 (360 banked)
Speed: 178 (273 banked)
Firmant: 120 (256 banked) ]
I grimace a little at how close Firmant is to the five hundred credit mark I've been hoping for. Thirteen points away. If I'd taken a few more hits, let myself be smacked around a few more tis...
...Or maybe I shouldn't let the ti loop turn into a masochist.
Right now, the obvious thing to bank is Firmant. I don't have any other way to handle the Ti Flies or any of the other dangers the deeper Fracture holds, if those flies are any indication. Firmant has always rewarded with a skill based on what I've recently been through, so now's the best ti to bank the credits. Wait too long, and I might get a skill in moss-picking instead.
[ Are you sure you wish to bank 120 Firmant credits? ]
[ 120 Firmant credits banked! Rolling for results... ]
[ CRITICAL ROLL. ]
My breath catches. It's been a while since I've seen this. And it's happening for the Firmant category in paticular.
[ Critical Bonus! All existing Firmant skills will be improved. ]
[ Firmant Manipulation (Rank D) has evolved to Firmant Control (Rank C)! ]
[ Temporal Fragnt (Rank C) has evolved to Temporal Link (Rank B)! ]
[ Color Drain (Rank C) has evolved to Hueshift (Rank B)! ]
[ Tetrachromacy (Rank C) has evolved to Firmant Sight (Rank B)! ]
[ Select between:
CRIT: Ti Punch (Rank B) > Tistrike (Rank A) ]
CRIT: Temporal Sense (Rank B) > Temporal Sight (Rank A) ]
CRIT: Whispered Promise (Rank B) > Whispering Seal (Rank A) ]
CRIT: Sealsight (Rank B) > Sealsink (Rank A) ]
I'm glad I got the crit. I really am. But I'm also at least a little annoyed, because... all of these skills are useful. There's no easy choice here.
Well, there is one easy choice I have no interest in Whispering Seal. Inspect tells it's similar to whatever skill Whisper uses to impose her Whispers onto her city; it's a skill that takes a whispered command and turns it into a seal of Firmant that punishes those who disobey. There are far, far more limitations on it than on the version Whisper has. For one thing, Whispering Seal can only be used on one person at a ti, and it only lasts for a few hours before the command dissipates.
I'd consider taking it on the grounds that I might learn more about her skill and defenses against it, but I have better options, and I do have a defense against it in Sealsink.
I get the impression that Sealsink is an option only because Ahkelios caught sight of the device Miktik was using to absorb the consequences of her defiance of Whisper. It's a Firmant sink of so kind whatever punishnt Whisper tried to inflict on her was diverted to it instead. Sealsink acts in much the sa way; it allows to create a Firmant construct that will absorb the consequences of breaking any seals that are placed on .
With comnsurate consequences if the construct breaks, of course.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Tistrike is amusingly simple in comparison. It's a direct counter to the Ti Flies, presumably offered because I encountered and had to fight them. A Temporal Strike allows to basically punch into the future.
It's an incredible skill for many reasons other than just fighting the Ti Flies. It allows to completely blindside soone with a hit, for one thing, as long as I can maneuver them into the right direction. Like a few of my other skills, though, it's a skill that requires setup and planning. Or really good maneuvering.
Temporal Sight is the weirdest of the four. The skill's na gave the impression that it might allow to look into the past or the future, which is so stunningly powerful that if that was actually its function I would choose it without a second thought but that's not what Inspect tells .
Inspect says that Temporal Sight will allow to "see areas of high temporal stress".
I don't know what this ans, and the Interface refuses to elaborate. The idea that high temporal stress is a possibility at all is... deeply concerning to , and I can't help but think that if they exist, then I should have the ability to see them. Especially if there's a chance they might interfere with my loop.
"Ahkelios," I say out loud, and the little mantis snaps to attention from his little moss-hunt. I laugh at the mock-salute he throws . "Just a quick question, and then you can go back to your hunt. Do you know what temporal stress is?"
The mantis man frowns, so of his cheer bleeding away as he thinks. I feel a bit of a strain on Temporal Temporal Link now, I guess. The link we share draws a little more Firmant from as he subconsciously taps into the Interface. Upgraded as the skill is, I can actually feel that process this ti.
"I don't... not know what it is," he says slowly. "I think I've encountered it before. An area of high temporal stress is... a place you've made too many changes in too many tis.
"As loopers, we cause so amount of temporal stress just by existing. Tarin does, too, now that he rembers. That doesn't pose much of a problem now, and it won't pose much of a problem for the foreseeable future but across enough loops, if different things happen every loop, you start causing stress in that particular part of space and ti."
Seeing my worried expression, Ahkelios hurries to reassure . "It's not sothing you have to worry about right now. It takes hundreds of loops to even start seeing the effects of temporal stress, and basically a thousand before it starts being dangerous, unless you're really stressing out the tiline."
"What exactly do you an by dangerous?" I ask. "What does temporal stress look like? I've got a skill that will let see it, and I'm not sure if I need to take it."
"I don't think you need to take it right now," Ahkelios says slowly, though he says it with far more hesitation than I would like. "You'll notice the signs of temporal stress once it starts happening. Things will be different that shouldn't be different. People will be missing."
I stare at Ahkelios. "Like the things that are happening right now?"
"No, no," Ahkelios says, and then he pauses. "Well... yes. But different. You'll see temporal... glitches? People rewinding or skipping ahead to their futures. Patches of dirt that are way, way older than everything around them. That kind of thing. The differences you've been experiencing are just because you're a really, really weird Trialgoer."
I groan. "I can't be that weird."
Ahkelios stares at . "You've had more complications in two loops than I had across three hundred," he says plainly. "My mory isn't perfect, but I rember spending three hundred loops trying to get past one of the monsters guarding the exit. You're really weird, Ethan."
Of course I am. "I'm going to take that as a complint."
"It is!" Ahkelios says cheerfully. "It ans you might actually beat this Trial."
He's... got a point, there.
It doesn't sound like Temporal Sight is going to be useful for for the foreseeable future. There might co a ti where I'll need it to avoid areas of high temporal stress, or sothing, but from what Ahkelios has said nothing I've done so far should have stressed the loop enough that it's a pressing concern.
That leaves with Tistrike and Sealsink. Tistrike will give the ability to actually deal with the Ti Flies, eliminating what's arguably one of the biggest dangers in the Fracture and allowing access to Rotar without risking the entire loop assuming Rotar's stayed in the sa location and hasn't strayed.
As a bonus, Tistrike will remain useful afterward. It's not like the Ti Flies are going to be the only threat it'll be useful against.
Sealsink gives the ability to deal with one of the Hestian Trialgoers. It won't do anything but that, unless I encounter other threats that apply so kind of Firmant seal, and while I don't discount that possibility I can't pick it just because of it.
It's just that Whisper is a big threat. Guard being under her command is just as much of one his ability to deal with Rank A monsters like they're just chump change is frightening. Tarin's role when they fought together was mostly as a distraction, pulling attention away from Guard with his sheer speed rather than directly contributing to damage.
"Tistrike or Sealsink," I mutter out loud, and Ahkelios, of course, perks up and looks over at .
"A skill that lets you punch the future or a skill that lets you get past She-Who-Whispers?" he asks. I nod, and he continues, "why not get Tistrike? We have access to sothing that does what Sealsink does Miktik made one. We can just ask her for help."
...Well, he's got there. Tistrike it is.
[ Tistrike (Rank A) obtained! ]
"Hopefully that's the right choice," I mutter. The rest of my skills already feel different Temporal Link makes my bond with Ahkelios stronger, Firmant Control allows to manipulate the Firmant around even more deftly and with greater force, which I hope will help with imbuent...
I haven't tested Hueshift. But Firmant Sight being an upgrade to Tetrachromacy makes a surprising amount of sense, and while it's not the sa as my ability to detect Firmant all around , it does give a whole new dinsion to explore as far as Firmant goes.
"I'm ready!" Ahkelios announces. He's holding a handful of moss. I stare at him, wondering how he's balancing all of it between his arms it doesn't exactly look like a coherent pile of moss as much as him just grabbing random handfuls of plant matter and shoveling it into his arms.
"You need help carrying that?" I ask, amused.
His face brightens. "Can you help?"
I shrug. "Let's find out."
I have an idea. With Firmant Control and Temporal Link, I might be able to add a permanent modification to Ahkelios' Firmant form I just need to integrate whatever I craft out of Firmant into the Link. I call both of skills up in my mind, feeling for the bond between and Ahkelios and feeling the shape of Firmant within.
And then, using Firmant Control, I begin to weave.
It's remarkably intuitive, presumably because I don't need to worry about actual sewing or stitching. All I need to do is force the Firmant into the shape of a satchel, and then nudge that shape into the link that binds with Ahkelios.
The process is intuitive, like it's a natural function that I've only just discovered. There's... a lot I could potentially do with this, I think.
Ahkelios, with no access to my thoughts without pushing them through the new link, just looks delighted, and begins shoveling his moss into the makeshift satchel I've provided him.
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