A Relatively Powerful Mage

Imri sent out the Spatial Tear with practiced ease, easily managing to connect with the now familiar Cliff Drakes. It was cleaved in half and Imri didn’t even wait before checking his notification, reviewing his progress from the last week of grinding.

Base Agility has increased to 87 (+1)

Base Constitution has increased to 100 (+1)

Imri Padar has reached level 23 in Relativity Mage (1E)

Imri Padar has reached level 23 in Primordial (1F)

Primary Stats

Agility 95 (+1)

Constitution 109 (+2)

Intelligence 173 (+3)

Willpower 149 (+2)

Charisma 99 (+1)

Secondary Stats

HP 139 (+3)

FP 106 (+3)

MP 321 (+16)

Mana Efficiency 323 (+14)

Crafting Efficiency 349 (+15)

Spatial Tear has Ranked up to D

Spatial Tear has improved into Dimensional Tear (2F)

Dimensional Tear (2F): Create a tear in dimensional space relative to a frame reference. If the dimensional tear occurs along a dimensional boundary, then a stable connection is created between the two dimensions. Nothing can exist where there is no space, and anything that comes into contact with a tear into nothingness will cease to exist. Anything that comes into contact with the edge of a stable tear will be forced apart. Mana cost determined by the size of the tear and the distance from the caster.

Imri reviewed the improvements to his Spatial Tear spell, which had become Dimensional Tear. On the surface, the change wasn’t that impactful, with only a minor change to what the spell did. He could now create a stable tear in space, in addition to the weaponized unstable version he had been using. That would only work if he could find a dimensional boundary or create one, which he currently couldn’t do. This assumed he had the mana to open a tear large enough to use, he had only been using it for thin blades, opening an entire space someone could fit through was another thing entirely. Either way, it didn’t help with his immediate problem with the Chixel.

In addition to the tangible benefits, he now had over a million credits to his name. His monster-hunting prowess far exceeded the combined capacity of those who could work with the nearly indestructible portions of the monster. He felt it wasteful to simply throw the entire unharvested carcass into the system store, gaining marginally less functional value from each transaction. Unfortunately, he had yet to come up with a better alternative.

He felt through his bond that Emelia was safe as he returned to the settlement. The constant reassurance through the skill was the only reason he could focus on anything else.

As it was, he found meditation extremely challenging. He closed his eyes and got comfortable as he entered Celestia’s boundary. The more he needed to meditate, the harder it became. As his sense of urgency ramped up, so did his anxiety. He needed as much mana regeneration as he possibly could get.

After an hour of failed attempts, he stood and walked around, hoping to clear his head. As he walked, he returned to basics, focusing on his breathing. He paid attention to his breath, noticing it was coming in unsteady gasps. As he adjusted his breathing to deep breaths, his mind naturally followed, slowing from his panicked worrying to a more considerate and contemplative state.

He had fallen into the same issue again, considering his meditation skill just for its text, its mana regeneration. He had to remember that meditation had value, even before mana and the system. He redoubled his effort in meditation, not for the mana regeneration, but for the reasons he had always turned to it, to become mindful. This wasn’t difficult now that he had identified the issue.

As he achieved this state, he continued deeper, transcending his body. He extended his senses, feeling the wind, gently blowing with a biting cold from the glaciers far above him. He felt the warmth of their new star, its light countering the cold wind. He took off his boot and felt the ground beneath his feet, a mixture of loose dirt that kicked up while individual pebbles prodded his feet. He listened to the lapping waves crashing against the jagged embankment. He heard the sounds of wildlife, both familiar and alien. This was contrasted by the distant sounds of the industry from Celestia. He smelled the earthy scents carried by the wind, picking up small pieces of the various foliage it had passed through on its journey.

Suddenly, his perspective shifted. He wasn’t Imri, experiencing the wind as it traversed Mount Celestia. He was the wind, descending from an impossibly high peak, down through the snow-capped peak that was near the heavens. It was impossibly cold, colder than anything from pre-integration earth. Yet, he was wind, and wind did not have a body that feared freezing. He traveled downward, past sheer cliffs that were covered in ice that radiated an unnatural cold. He gained substance as he descended, going from thin and insubstantial, to a powerful gust. Slowly the sheer ice gave way to unyielding rocks, bearing the weight of the entirety of the mountain above while slowly being shorn by wind and dripping water. Only near the end of the journey was there a change. Life sprung up and found a way to persist, despite the harsh conditions it faced. He felt himself displace a leaf as he went through a tree, dispersing himself as he passed through the branches, only to be reformed and continue onward.

As the wind reached his body, his perspective shifted. He was a ray of light, originating from the star. He was near the star, its size and heat unfathomable to his human sense. He sped across the vast expanse of open space, moving at the speed of light. He could see distant celestial bodies, the stars, the planets, and the moons. In mere moments he was approaching the as-of-yet-named planet that contained portions of Earth. In many ways, it looked like photos he had seen of Earth, and yet, in many ways, it was entirely alien to him. The landmasses were all wrong, and it now had far more land than ocean. There was also a greater variety of locales, higher highs, like Mount Celestia, and lower lows. He saw the mountain as he entered the atmosphere and crashed down onto Imri, that entire portion of the journey taking a fraction of a second.

His perspective shifted a third time. He was the ground, slowly formed as all living things lived and died, only to be reclaimed into the ground. He was slowly churned by natural forces, wind, and water carrying traces of things that would eventually become him. He in turn would return the nutrient to life, passing along pieces of himself to plants. In turn, the plants would be eaten by animals. Eventually, everything returned to the ground when the animal died. Though he was but a part of the ground, he was an entire ecosystem, all intermixed.

Next, he was the water. He started at the edge of the glacial peaks, dripping down onto the rocks. He slowly shaped the rock, eroding his way within the mountain. He formed natural chasms and caves, slowly pushing downward. What started as but a drop soon became a powerful current, implacable and unyielding. He continued eroding and pushing until he was forced up, returning to the surface and forming a lake.

Imri felt as if eons had passed as he experienced each of these things. And yet when he opened his eyes, he knew only a moment had passed, a single breath. He closed his eyes, contemplating all he had seen. It had given him perspective. The conflict with the Chixel was but a fleeting thing, insignificant compared to the forces that acted on them every day.

Something still gnawed at him, some inexorable truth that he had yet to fathom. Instead of extending his sense out, he turned it inward. He scanned his body, trying to comprehend what he was. He felt his clothing touching his body and weighing him down ever so slightly. He felt the hairs on his arm, standing up straight against the cold breeze. He felt his chest rise and fall with each breath. He felt his muscles, tensed and then relaxed as he shifted slightly. He felt his heart, beating in a steady rhythm. He altered his heartbeat, ever so slightly speeding it up and then slowing it down, feeling how the subtle change affected his entire body. He felt his blood circulating throughout his entire body, nourishing his vital organs. He felt his brain, what he considered to be the center of himself, the part that made him who he was. Yet, as he contemplated it, he knew that was wrong.

Despite all these revelations, something still felt off about his perception of self. He still hadn’t gone deep enough. He continued to scan his body, and yet no matter how much he searched, he still couldn’t find anything amiss. Then he realized it wasn’t something within him that was wrong, it was that which wasn’t within him. He did not have a core within his body, despite everything telling him that all living things had a core near their heart. He scanned his entire body several more times, hoping to have been mistaken. Somehow, he knew he wouldn’t find it, and the more he scanned the more certain he was.

He was now certain, whatever he was, that the physical body he considered Imri, was but a part of him. However, what the rest of him was, he wasn’t sure. What Ettes had told him echoed in his mind. Primordials are shaped by mana, no two are identical. It wouldn’t be possible for one to exist on Earth when there was virtually no mana. He also found it strange that he had gotten sick right before the integration. He had originally dismissed it as a coincidence, a logical fallacy to assume causation from a sample size of one. However, something told him this wasn’t the case.

Imri smiled, as he felt something click. He still had a long way to go before he truly understood his heritage, and exactly what he was. However, he had discovered enough about himself that he was able to break through his bottleneck. He felt the transformation begin and he smiled.

Skill Meditation has ranked-up to D

Skill Meditation and Skill Breathe Control has improved into Transcendent Meditation (2F)

Transcendent Meditation (2F): You are able to enter a state of meditation, able to shift your gaze free from your mind and body. While in a state of meditation you gain +1.05% resource regeneration / 10 Willpower. You also gain the benefits of resting while in meditation.

Primordial 1E

Primary Stats / Level

Strength .2% (+.1%)

Agility .2% (+.1%)

Constitution .2% (+.1%)

Intelligence .5% (+.2%)

Willpower .35% (+.15%)

Charisma .2% (+.1%)

New Traits Gained

Locus of Mana (1F): Mana is drawn to you and within you. Increases mana regeneration rate by 5% while within a sufficiently dense mana region. Increases resistance to all forms of magic by 5%.

Shaped by Mana (1F): Your physical body is a construct of mana. Increases mana by 3%. Allows your mana to be converted to HP or FP at a rate equal to mana regeneration rate.

Base Strength increased to 115 (+2)

Base Agility increased to 89 (+2)

Base Constitution increased to 102 (+2)

Base Intelligence increased to 142 (+4)

Base Willpower increased to 129 (+3)

Base Charisma increased to 93 (+2)

His transformation was entirely different than what Zhaire or Sylvi had gone through. There was no violent breaking and reshaping, no bodily fluids excreted, and no pain. Instead, he found himself at the epicenter of a confluence of mana, as if the nearby mana was drawn to him. It wasn’t just drawn near him, it was drawn into him. His body greedily absorbed it, gaining an amount of mana that he could never have wielded at this level. It circulated throughout his entire body, shaping him to something closer to perfection. The mana destroyed imperfections and empowered bone and muscle. It had a similar final result to what Zhaire and Sylvi had gained, albeit in a far more elegant and efficient manner.

He wasn’t sure how long it took, but when it finished and the swirls of mana subsided, he collapsed to the ground. A crowd of onlookers had gathered around him, apparently having noticed the immense mana storm that had swirled around him. It had become dense enough that it had been visible to everyone, much like the falling contrails of mana storms.

“Just in the nick of time,” Sylvi said with a wide grin.

“I’m just getting started,” Imri said with an even wider grin.