by Mills, H. C.
I stick up a second finger. “I could pull a Dave,” I continue, winking at the boy—or man, rather—in question, “and take Electroception for the good of the party, but I worry it won’t provide as much benefit as another choice, and may be overspecialised for under-Hydrum use.”
I add a third finger. “I could go for Increase Inertia, which could be useful offensively, but sounds like it would just decrease my mobility under-Hydrum. Especially if I can’t use Boost Physical level 2 properly, since breathing Hydrum doesn’t provide as much Lavi... actually, I think I know what I need most.”
“Yeah?” Jacob asks dryly, “and what’s that?”
“Guess,” I say, sticking my tongue out at him.
“Ooh! Ehm, Boost Reflexes!” Alec exclaims.
“Lightning Manipulation?” Jacob tries.
“Me!” Kaitlynn states cheekily.
“Lavi Font,” Dave says.
“Ding ding ding, we have a winner!” I say, indicating Dave, who smiles.
Kaitlynn pouts.
“Although I have to admit Lightning Manipulation would also be nice, Alec can already provide that,” I clarify, “which makes it less of an addition to the party. What it comes down to is this: without an additional source of Lavi, I won’t be able to use Boost Physical level 2 properly, as I take in too little Lavi under-Hydrum.”
The more I think about it, the more I’m warming up to this Skill.
“Moreover,” I add, “Lavi Font will probably continue being relevant, as our resting consumption is likely only going to go up as we continue levelling. Heck, if I learn it now, I may be able to teach you guys later!”
Only when I notice Kaitlynn’s still pouting, do I realise my mistake.
“You were definitely the runner-up though, Kaitmonster,” I say quickly, attempting to pat her on the head affectionately.
She turns her head away haughtily, going, “Hmmph!”
Damn, she’s not appeased. Now what?
Taking in the amused glances coming my way, I clear my throat awkwardly. “Anyway, uh, I think that concludes this meeting. So, let’s go train.”
After about another hour of breathing Aether, Jacob finally gains Respiration level 1. He’s up to 4.5 Onkh per minute under-Hydrum now, which means he can sustain himself as long as he eats at least jicca nuts and birberries to make up the final 1.5 Onkh per minute to meet his resting Lavi consumption.
Dave works on his crystal while I practise Breath Control—trying to extend my control for longer and farther away from my body—and Alec’s fixing our armours. Meanwhile, Kaitlynn’s still working on Telepathy, but when Jacob cheerily enters his room to go take his Skilldream for the second level of Increase Momentum, she gives up with a huff.
“I should probably go take my Skilldream as well, so we can test Vibration Energy under-Hydrum for Dave,” she says, shaking her head. “I’ll try this again later.”
We bid her good luck, but the minute she’s out of the door, I’m up on my feet, my mind working a mile a minute.
After all, this is the perfect time for that thing I’ve been meaning to try without Kaitlynn present.
“Hey Alec, if you don’t mind me asking,” I start as I saunter over, “what was it like to be without the eye-crystal?”
“Ehm, horrifying?”
“Yeah, I get that,” I say, rolling my eyes, “but I mean, what changed while you were without it?”
Dave looks up, taking an interest. Just like I planned.
Alec frowns. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I understand your Status Bar was gone, and your contact with the Sarge was cut, but what about your Qi? Your Lavi? Could you still sense those? Could you still use your Skills?”
“I... look, I don’t know, okay?” Alec says with a frown. “I wasn’t really in the right mindset to experiment.”
I shake my head. “I figured you’d say that. It’s okay. I had to ask.” I take a deep breath. “But in that case, I’d like to try something.”
Dave comes over. “What are you talking about, Emma?”
“What I really want, is to experience it for myself,” I say. “Having the eye-crystal removed, that is.”
[Excuse me?] Suri chimes.
“That way we can investigate under controlled circumstances,” I continue, ignoring her. “Check if Skills still work, if auto-translation is a function of the crystal or of this Realm, if my Toxic Tolerance is still functional without it. We know so little, you know? So I figure it’s simple. I just have to pull it out, try some stuff, then afterwards, we plug it back in and you use Restore on me.”
[What? Emma, do me a favour and let that idea sail, too many things could go wrong!] Suri chimes, sounding alarmed.
Part of me immediately wants to back down, hearing how upset she sounds, but I had prepared for some backlash, and mentally steeled myself against it.
“Alec made it through just fine,” I reply curtly.
[The Crystal of Restoration will close the wound. You won’t be able to get it back in,] she tries.
I scoff. “You can’t fool me, Suri. I’ll just go stand in one of the corners. I can tell it doesn’t have that kind of range.”
I look at Dave, raising a questioning brow.
“I’m not sure about this,” he says, frowning. “Rose sounds very concerned.”
[She’s right for once. Emma, this is a really bad idea.]
I shake my head stubbornly, and head for the corner. “You know I don’t actually need your help, Dave. I can just walk back to beneath the crystal. I would just appreciate your support.”
Dave follows me. In the corner, I nod at him in determination. After a momentary pause, he nods back. Alec trails after, staring at us wide-single-eyed.
[Emma, I must insist you don’t do this.]
It pains me a little, but Suri is ultimately a product of the assholes who built this place. I can never fully trust her, and so I need to know if I can function without her.
I activate Boost Physical level 1 with a quick jerk and raise my hand for the plunge, my heart hammering in my throat.
[Oh, for Starmother’s sake. I can’t believe you’re making me do this,] Suri complains.
Prickling erupts behind my right eye. I frown. What is Suri trying to—
[YOU REALISE THAT THIS IS FAR TOO DANGEROUS AN EXPERIMENT,] Suri’s voice echoes through my skull, drowning out my thoughts.
My hand freezes. Actually, this may be a little too dangerous, even for me. I mean, what if I damage my optic nerve, and it doesn’t heal right? My connection to Suri could be permanently damaged, and I need her for now.
[YOU WERE NEVER ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS. YOU WERE JUST MESSING WITH YOUR FRIENDS. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? YOU’RE NOT A MASOCHIST.]
Heh. I drop my act and smirk gleefully at Dave and Alec. “Psych!” I crone. “You thought I was actually going to do it, didn’t you? What kind of masochist do you take me for?”
Alec blinks at me, before bursting into loud laughter. “Ahh, damnit, you got me again! Ugh, what’s the score, Dave?”
Dave is frowning at me confusedly. “Yeah, it’s ehm... it’s thirteen to one, I believe—Emma, are you okay?”
I roll my eyes and smirk at him. “Come on, Dave, can’t take a joke?” Actually, I do feel a little lightheaded, but I don’t tell him that. I’m sure it’ll pass.
“What about you, Suri? Did I have you going there for a sec?”
[Oh, you certainly did, Emma,] Suri chimes, sounding almost tired. [My, what a prankster you are.]
What was I planning to do after this prank, again? Hmm...
I shrug. “Well this has been fun, but since everyone’s doing it, I think I’m going to go take my Skilldream too.”
[Oh—Emma dear, why don’t you go practise your Breath Control some more first, hmm? I felt like you were really getting somewhere.]
I frown. “Really?”
[Yes. Really. Though—and I’m kind of bending the rules by saying this—you’ll probably g
et farther, faster if you trained under-Hydrum for a bit.]
Ooh, a free hint, lucky!
“Actually, on second thought, I’m gonna train a bit more,” I say, my mind whirling a mile a minute, “do you guys mind if I flood the place? Actually, never mind, I can just do that in my own room. See ya later!”
As I saunter off, Dave shoots me once last, weird look.
Pssh. What a baby.
CHAPTER 18
Luck be a lady
SURI WAS RIGHT. Practising under-Hydrum definitely has its advantages. Hydrum contains more Lavi and doesn’t spread out or flow away from me as much after I breathe out, so it’s easier to practise maintaining control over my exhale like this.
Actually, now that I’m looking at it properly, it seems like the Lavi in the exhaled Hydrum I’m controlling lights up a little brighter, probably because of the higher density.
Even after I close my eye-crystal—that is to say, after I lower my eyelid over it—I can still see a slight green glow.
Interesting. I should really look into what the eye-crystals can and can’t do, sometime.
Another thing I quickly figure out is that if I keep the exhaled Hydrum close—preferably even in contact with my skin—it becomes easier to control it for longer. It also becomes easier to sense it, meaning I can sort of tell where it is without looking at it, as long as I’m controlling it.
I’ve decided that my main goal here actually isn’t to level up the Skill. Not that levelling the Skill wouldn’t be sweet, but it feels like a long road still, and it would probably just improve my control over my exhales in general.
Instead, I’m focused mostly on finding new ways to apply the Skill, thus improving its utility. Particularly, ways to use the Skill to improve my under-Hydrum mobility, and in that sense, this latest discovery opens up some interesting applications.
My initial idea for a propulsion method is to form some kind of propellers around my ankles and wrists. The first attempt to produce those fails spectacularly, however. So does the second.
After the seventh attempt, I throw in the towel. Turns out this requires more control on a finer scale than I can currently manage.
I decide to try something a little simpler. I exhale through my nose and make the two streams of Hydrum coil into two spirals around my legs in a symmetric fashion, so one clockwise, the other counterclockwise.
Now, with some effort, I make the spirals slowly spin around my legs.
Getting some feeling for the motion, I replace the Hydrum with a fresh exhale and attempt to speed the spinning up.
Unfortunately, instead of propelling me upwards like I hoped, it seems to only be sucking some Hydrum around me downward.
It takes me a little while to realise the problem: I expected the downward force of the spirals displacing the Hydrum to generate an upward force on me, as I’m creating the motion. However, it seems both the motion of the spirals and the forces involved are entirely disconnected from my body.
I guess action doesn’t necessarily equal reaction here, at least when it comes to energy manipulation.
In order to get any kind of propulsion force going on me, the Hydrum will need to somehow adhere to me, or push against me.
That gives me another idea, and this time, it goes swimmingly.
Pun fully intended.
I direct the Hydrum I exhale to soak into my pants and stretch out from there, forming what is basically a transparent, slightly green-glowing mermaid’s tail around my legs and feet.
A kick from both of my legs sends me forward, and suddenly I’m swimming around like an actual mermaid, using my Breath Control only to keep the tail intact and stuck to my legs and pants, and relying on the ample power of my legs for propulsion.
Woah! With a single kick, I reach the opposite wall in the admittedly small room.
However, my control over the Hydrum quickly weakens, causing my tail to rip and disintegrate as I attempt to swim back.
Hmm, this is going to take some practice. I’ll need to constantly renew the exhaled Hydrum, which will only be made harder by the fact that I’m moving it around—but damn if it isn’t fast!
This might not be the best place to practise, however. I could definitely use some more space.
I guess it’s about time for my Skilldream anyway. After all, I’m going to need Lavi Font if I want to activate Boost Physical for an extended period of time and the extra Strength would definitely make me even faster, swimming like this. As long as my control over the tail holds, at least.
‘Could you drain the room please, Suri?’
[Sure thing, Emma,] Suri chimes, speaking for the first time in a while.
Aether quickly fills the room as the Hydrum drains away, leaving me hacking and coughing once more.
I swear I’ll be able to transition smoothly someday.
I sit down on the bed and take a few deep breaths to grow accustomed to breathing the very different medium of Aether again.
[So, will you be taking the full Skilldream?] Suri chimes unprompted.
I open my mouth to answer in the affirmative, but then stop. Actually, should I?
On the one hand, I can’t really afford to waste a lot of time trying—and worst case, failing—to figure the Skill out. On the other hand, a full Skilldream also takes more time, and this would be my fifth Lavi-based Skill... sixth if you count Breath Control separate from Respiration.
In fact, was it just me, or did Suri put a little emphasis on the word ‘full’ in her question?
“No. Give me half a Skilldream for Lavi Font, please,” I say at last, steeling my determination.
Barely a second passes before I allow Suri to whisk me away to a small island made of mirror-shards, surrounded by a roiling sea of glitter.
I wake from my only two-and-a-half-hour Skilldream, ready to dance for joy.
I don’t actually dance. Too busy stretching out my stiff limbs. It’s like my body doesn’t move a single muscle while I’m Skilldreaming. I’m kind of used to it by now, I guess.
Anyway, the reason I’m so happy is that I now know why Suri hinted at me to take the half-Skilldream: Lavi Font is actually very similar to Boost Physical!
At least in the sense that they both rely on the manipulation of the Lavi Flows inside of the body. The first level of Lavi Font is somewhat like the second level of Boost Physical, in that it applies a semi-permanent change in how those flows operate in a specific part of my body, except that area is in the belly instead of the heart, and with Lavi Font, there’s not really any reason to turn it back off again, except maybe when it’s time to try a new mode.
And unlike Boost Physical, it should be painless. At least, I really hope so.
Time to find out, I guess.
I close my eyes and direct my senses inward, to behind my belly button.
I study the available Lavi Flows, comparing them to my vague dream memories till I’m sure I’ve got the right one.
I only need to redirect one flow for the first level of Lavi Font, but the manipulation I need to make is a little complex.
Taking a firm hold of the flow, I break it open somewhere in the middle, and start to bend the Lavi that’s gushing out into a long circle. When the circle is about to complete, I bend the flow further, forming the start of an inward spiral.
I repeat this process, faster and faster as the spiral nears completion and then—
I lose control.
The spiral breaks apart, the Lavi scattering outward, causing my stomach to swell momentarily, painfully, before the original flow re-establishes.
Ugh. All right, guess it’s not a medium-grade Skill for nothing.
Creasing my brows over my closed eyes, I prepare to try again...
An hour or so later, however, I’m still at it. I’m definitely getting closer to completing the spiral, though.
The main problem with what I’m trying to do, is that maintaining control over the flow of Lavi becomes harder and harder as the flow nears what’s
supposed to become the centre of the spiral, because every new curve needs to be completed faster than the previous.
In order to counter this, I need to progressively slow the Lavi down as well. Of course, that leads to different problems, as the flow gets backed up and the Lavi starts to compress, but—
My eyes fly open. Hold on a second... but, that’s the goal, isn’t it? It’s supposed to compress!
I squint, my mind racing as I try to recall what Suri told me during the Skilldream. The working principle behind the Skill, ugh, what was it she said? This is definitely a downside of half-Skilldreams. The more information is crammed together in a Skilldream, the harder is it to retain it.
Come on, Emma. She said... should I ask for a hint? No, focus. She said... compressed Lavi contains more energy!
I frown. How does that help?
Wait no, that’s it! Compressed Lavi contains more energy, than just its Lavi content. So when it decompresses, new Lavi is formed!
Somehow, the energy that’s added during the compressing is transformed into Lavi!
Even if it makes little sense to me how what’s basically lifeforce can be created in such a manner, the vague sense that still remains of my Skilldream is telling me I’ve got it right.
I try again, this time focussing extra hard on slowing down and compressing the Lavi towards the centre of the spiral.
It fails, as in my enthusiasm, I bend the flow too sloppily.
I try again. This time, the flow races towards the centre under tight control. I slow it down more and more as I get there, compressing the Lavi further and further. A drop of sweat trickles down my brow, my control stretched to the limit as the flow approaches the centre.
Then, finally, the spiral is complete.
I’m so surprised by my success that I nearly forget the last step. At the last moment, I direct the Lavi to spout out of the bottom of the spiral, and connect it into the node the flow was originally headed for.