by A F Kay
Opening the Profile page would be dangerous. Ruwen knew he tended to get distracted whenever he learned new information, and his stats had changed entirely. He promised himself he wouldn’t get sidetracked when he opened his Profile and would quickly open the Abilities tab, add the two points to Hey You, and exit.
Ruwen opened his Profile and immediately selected the Abilities tab. As he scanned down the list of abilities, he froze. Under every ability, small round icons were now visible. Each ability had a different number of icons, and the symbols on them varied. Even the greyed-out abilities from the other Classes had them. His mind latched onto the mystery. What were they? Didn’t some of those symbols look familiar?
Dropping into a level three meditative state, Ruwen let his primal urge to understand pass into his Core. After a few seconds, he left his mediation and focused again on his abilities.
Quickly he found Hey You, added two points, and confirmed his choice. Before he could exit the Abilities tab, a new ability appeared under Hey You. If the symbols had caused an uproar, this new Hey You ability created a rebellion.
Ruwen sheltered in his level three meditation for over a minute until his mind had exhausted itself. If he didn’t stay focused on one task at a time, it would take forever to get through everything. He promised himself he would start with abilities when he finished with his gear.
Leaving the meditative state, Ruwen immediately closed his Profile.
Oh my, Rami whispered.
Chapter 49
What happened? Ruwen asked.
Adding those points to your translation ability just made the last 7.38% of my collection intelligible.
Ruwen felt the warmth of Rami’s hug, and he smiled. They both felt the same way about books, and he could feel her excitement. When he’d borrowed A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting from Blapy, he’d also borrowed three books that he couldn’t read. Hopefully, his added points fixed that.
Ruwen thought about the new skill that appeared under Hey You when he’d taken it to level five. Bliz had told Ruwen that some abilities had advanced levels past five when Ruwen had asked about the Sing ability of Ahvy and her Shooters when they were loading up for the camping trip.
Are there still books you can’t read? Ruwen asked.
Let me look. Ten seconds later, Rami responded. Yes. I still can’t decipher twenty-two books.
Twenty-two out of almost three and a half million books, Ruwen thought. He hoped his advanced ability handled them.
Ruwen picked up the hand-sized book again, and this time the notification had information.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid’s Ink Warden has acquired…
Book Title: Simandreial’s Blight Clan Rune Journal (Annotated)
Topic: Comprehensive Gate Runes Detailing the Infernal Realm
Author: Ink Lord Triandreial (Author), Simandreial (Annotations)
Publisher: Blight Clan, Infernal Realm
Book Id: Not Yet Assigned
Quality: Special
Durability: 4 of 13
Weight: 2.1 lbs.
Loan Count: Not in Circulation
Description: Dark brown journal the size of a spread hand, containing gate runes (ambush and insertion points) for Blight Clan enemies inside and outside the Infernal Realm. Details important Blight Clan gate runes, including safe zones, vaults, and resources. Annotations describe gate rune values for Divine, Material, and Spirit Realm destinations along with contacts sympathetic to the Infernal Realm or Blight Clan.
The Plague Siren’s journal contained hundreds of gate runes, all with detailed descriptions. This information might come in handy someday. Ruwen had no desire to travel into the Infernal Realm, but if he did, he wouldn’t be blind.
Ruwen placed the book in his Void Band, and Rami gave him the next notification. But this one surprised him.
Don’t Judge a Job by Its Cover (Part 3 – Special Request)
The Black Pyramid has lost its Ink Lord, and its book collection has suffered. Find a book of Special quality or higher that the collection does not already contain [COMPLETE]. Reshelve at least sixty percent of the library’s collection (both levels). Finally, raise the Patron Satisfaction above fifty percent (current satisfaction twenty-one percent).
Reward: Codex of Bookwyrm Evolution.
Reward: Choice of one Legendary Potion.
Reward: Title of Ink Disciple.
Reward: 10,000 experience
Just as he’d hoped, the demon’s journal satisfied part of his Ink Lord quest chain. Now he needed to figure out a way to return to Blapy to finish up the other requirements. He didn’t care so much about the title, but the codex and potion had his mind racing.
Ruwen frowned. His Ink Lord quest had updated when he’d placed the book in his Inventory. This had happened inside Blapy, too, but he’d assumed it was because Blapy controlled everything that happened there. When he’d been reading the rule book for the Black Pyramid, it had listed two methods to return overdue library books: touch the book to any surface inside the Black Pyramid, or place it in a dimensional space.
Again, Ruwen had thought little of the dimensional verbiage because Blapy likely controlled all her residents’ Dimensional Bags. But, he wasn’t in Blapy. Which meant either Blapy watched him right now, or the little piece of Uru on his soul that decided things like experience and quests knew enough to update the quest, or…
Ruwen’s Cleverness attribute triggered, leaving what felt like a shard of ice in his mind. As the coldness faded, a memory surfaced of the Naktos Mage removing a book from a regular bag and handing it to Tremine, who also placed it in a regular bag. Why would a book so valuable that Uru paid for it with her Champion, not be placed in something safe like a Dimensional Bag. Unless that Dimensional Bag…
The magnitude of where his logic led him made him dizzy, and he put a hand on the ground to steady himself.
What just happened? Rami asked. You just got this notification.
Gong!
You have increased your Knowledge!
Level: 48
The intelligent know true power is held by knowledge. The wise know knowledge can be dangerous. Greatness is found between them.
Ruwen remained stunned at the sheer enormity of what he’d figured out.
Ruwen? Are you okay? Rami asked.
Yes, sorry. I just realized that Blapy controls all the Dimensional Bags.
Rami didn’t respond for a few seconds. How in the universe did you figure that out?
I just put some things together.
That is unbelievably impressive.
Ruwen remembered sitting on the battlement on the outskirts of the Black Pyramid just after he’d Harvested for the first time. He’d been talking with Blapy about secrets, and she’d pointed at the giant structure and said, “Look at what I had to build to hold mine.”
Is the Black Pyramid a giant vault? Ruwen asked. Full of everything everyone puts in their dimensional storage?
Your Intelligence is frightening. It was part of the Pact. Mom’s control over dimensional space is unmatched, and she offered the deities this powerful service for two reasons. It gave her a way to keep tabs on the gods via their followers and gave her access to any new discoveries or research. For the gods, it gave their followers a powerful tool at no cost. Mom was the adjudicator between them all, and this also gave her the power she needed to enforce the Pact. It benefited everyone.
I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. Ruwen thought of Bliz and his dream of draining the Sea of Tears. The vault must be enormous.
It takes up most of the planet.
Ruwen thought his head might explode. So anyone that wants to keep a secret avoids dimensional storage.
The incredibly powerful can create their own storage, but it’s costly. Or, as you said, they avoid using it.
The more Ruwen learned, the dumber he felt. The scale of what Blapy managed seemed incomprehensible. For now, he had to let this go and think about
it later. The changes he’d experienced seemed inconsequential in comparison, but they mattered to him, and he still had a lot to do.
How many more notifications, Rami?
Five left. When you left the Spirit Realm, these five automatically bound to your soul.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Suffocation Ring of Projection
Set: Suffocation Ring of Projection, Suffocation Gorget of Projection
Quality: Rare
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 0.15 lbs.
Effect: Fortifying poses and Refinement forms are twice as effective. Stacks with breathing techniques and other Suffocation items.
Effect: Poses, training forms, breathing, and focus are twice as difficult.
Effect: Projected form can channel up to three essences.
Restriction: Soulbound.
Set Bonus: Increase Spirit Projection distance by one thousand miles.
Description: Progress is the sound of labored breathing.
Another smaller notification appeared under the item description, and it had red borders.
Warning!
The Suffocation Ring of Projection requires full integration to function.
Warning!
This binding cannot be undone.
Ruwen had guessed when looking through the Plague Siren’s lair that this ring and the neckpiece were likely Suffocation items. It made him really happy he’d been right. His War Marshal’s Suffocation Bracer increased the efficiency, and difficulty, of his Spirit manipulation by a factor of four. Adding this ring would increase that to eight.
He really hoped the neckpiece completed the set. The ring’s effect enabling his projection to channel three essences might be a big deal, but he just didn’t have enough information to know. Maybe A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting would have a section on projecting.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Suffocation Gorget of Projection
Set: Suffocation Gorget of Projection, Suffocation Ring of Projection
Quality: Rare
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 1.33 lbs.
Effect: Fortifying poses and Refinement forms are twice as effective. Stacks with breathing techniques and other Suffocation items.
Effect: Poses, training forms, breathing, and focus are twice as difficult.
Effect: Projected form is secured by a Sapphire level tether.
Restriction: Soulbound.
Set Bonus: Increase Spirit Projection distance by one thousand miles.
Description: Progress is the sound of labored breathing.
Again, the soul binding warning appeared.
Warning!
The Suffocation Gorget of Projection requires full integration to function.
Warning!
This binding cannot be undone.
He had a set! Set bonus gear was ultra-rare. Although he had no idea how to project his Spirit, he looked forward to when he could take advantage of the extra thousand miles. The third piece of suffocation gear increased the efficiency and difficulty to sixteen. He would almost certainly need to remove one or both items and build up to that level of difficulty.
Using this suffocation gear would help immensely as he struggled to make himself more powerful. The Sapphire tether further piqued his interest, and he imagined a floating Spirit connected to a body like a kite. As soon as things settled down, he would research it.
Rami gave him the next notification.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Nightmares
Set: Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Nightmares, Scarecrow Aspect Jacket of Terror, Scarecrow Aspect Pants of Dread
Spiritual AC: 560
Quality: Special
Durability: 222 of 222
Weight: 1.3 lbs.
Effect (Active): Field Guardian: create clone(s) within line-of-sight.
Effect (Passive): Spirit Maze: slow surges of incoming Spirit or Essence to allow Harvester additional absorption time.
Set Bonus (Active): Cornfield of Despair: area of effect confusion.
Set Bonus (Active): Inferno’s Embrace: return to Infernal Realm bind point.
Restriction: Clone(s) dissipate when damaged.
Restriction: Five Meridians required to power Aspect.
Restriction: Soulbound.
Description: A burlap hood with crudely stitched eyes. The Aspect provides Diamond level protection against Spiritual attacks on the wearer’s center, Core, Meridians, and paths. The Scarecrow Aspect, created by the Infernal Realm’s God Lalquinrial, is one of seven Aspects used to enforce Lalquinrial’s will in the Infernal Realm, and are worn by those he favors.
Ruwen read the notification three times. The Plague Siren hadn’t been some random demon, but the favorite of a god. He’d assumed all the gods were in the Material or Divine Realm, but it appeared some of them weren’t. And now he wore the Aspect that tied back to a demon god, with no way to take it off.
Rami, do you know anything about Lalquinrial?
His name is in some of the books that you just unlocked for me. I’ll need some time to index and process it all.
Okay. This Aspect is amazing, but I’m scared it will cause me problems. We also need to look for a way to get it off.
I’ll add it to the list, Rami said with a sigh.
Thanks. This Aspect has a Spiritual armor class. Do you think my Core and paths and all that can be harmed in this realm?
Spiritual attacks are very advanced, and just high Gem or Divine Harvesters are probably a danger.
They’re already a danger. Good to know there’s another way I can be killed or maimed.
Look on the bright side. The Aspect has a free get out of trouble card.
Ruwen wished he could glare at the tiny Bookwyrm. That was a joke, right? What kind of trouble would I need to be in that activating a portal to the Infernal Realm would be a better option?
Rami laughed. Knowing you, I hope we have a few days before we find out.
Unfair. Mostly. Did you see the Field Guardian spell had clones as a plural?
Yes, this Aspect is very powerful.
I need to figure out a way to make those clones more like Whiskers. Able to function without my constant attention.
When you can practice again, I want to try a few ideas related to that.
Sounds good. I wish I would have known about the confusion spell when fighting Phoenix.
It might have helped, but I think the Spirit Maze spell saved your life twice. It must have helped control the surge of energy during the Stone Harbor essence storm and again for Phoenix’s ultimate spell.
You’re right. I remember little from Stone Harbor, but the fight with Phoenix was the first time I felt in real control of my Harvesting.
Actually, the other gear might explain the control.
Okay, hit me with the next notification.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Scarecrow Aspect Jacket of Terror
Set: Scarecrow Aspect Jacket of Terror, Scarecrow Aspect Pants of Dread, Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Nightmares
Spiritual AC: 560
Quality: Special
Durability: 222 of 222
Weight: 2.9 lbs.
Effect (Active): Crow Beater: staff created from wielder's essence, ignores 50% of target’s armor, max damage = (number of essences)*(12)
Effect (Passive): Painful Focus: grants level two meditation state.
Set Bonus (Active): Cornfield of Despair: area of effect confusion.
Set Bonus (Active): Inferno’s Embrace: return to Infernal Realm bind point.
Restriction: Staff dissipates when released.
Restriction: Five Meridians required to power Aspect.
Restriction: Soulbound.
Description: A burlap jacket with frayed gloves and a weathered and ragged appearance. The Aspect provides D
iamond level protection against Spiritual attacks on the wearer’s center, Core, Meridians, and paths. The Scarecrow Aspect, created by the Infernal Realm’s God Lalquinrial, is one of seven Aspects used to enforce Lalquinrial’s will in the Infernal Realm, and are worn by those he favors.
Ruwen almost summoned the Crow Beater to look at it again but resisted the urge. Because he could Refine all twelve essences, the staff did a staggering one hundred forty-four max damage. It also ignored half the target's armor, which made the weapon insanely powerful. Using it would trigger his Aspect form, which he couldn’t do right now. It sucked to have such a fantastic weapon that he couldn’t use.
The passive Painful Focus explained why control of his Spirit had felt more natural, even when not meditating. It also explained why he currently had the Clear Mind buff that triggered during meditation. His meditation skill had increased to twenty-three, and he focused on the buff long enough to see the effects.
Clear Mind: Health, Mana, and Energy Regeneration increased by 6%
Since the buff would be active all the time, not just when meditating, it made it really valuable. It didn’t look like it triggered skill gains, unfortunately, which meant he needed to still practice on his own.
Okay, here’s the last notification, Rami said.
Tring!
You have discovered…
Name: Scarecrow Aspect Pants of Dread
Set: Scarecrow Aspect Pants of Dread, Scarecrow Aspect Jacket of Terror, Scarecrow Aspect Hood of Nightmares
Spiritual AC: 560
Quality: Special
Durability: 222 of 222
Weight: 4.1 lbs.
Effect (Active): Infernal Panic: line of sight panic whose intensity and duration are proportional to Spirit used.