Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Part of the Madness

Chapter 7: Part of the Madness

 

After the initial trip to Sanshi, Nara spent another two weeks exploring the city and contemplating her future path. She could astral jump there and didn’t need to bother Chelsea or Laius for their portal abilities. During those two weeks, Nara had also gone with Chelsea and Amara to portal to various other cities around the world, securing her worst-case scenario.

For astral jumping to extremely distant places, Nara needed to have visited previously. However, she could astral jump to anywhere within her line of sight or aura range. Playing kill-of-the-hill at the tallest building, mountain, or tree was a convenient way to expand her astral jumping range in a local area.

Nara’s astral jumping proficiency gradually increased but closing her eyes and cutting off her senses would be fatal in a combat scenario, should she become an adventurer. She didn’t know how long it would take to reconstruct her body without the convenience of Amara’s astral-to-physical conversion ritual and didn’t want to find out.

During her travels, Nara observed people living their day-to-day lives and occasionally managed to see monster contracts from a safe distance. Her near-sightedness had been repaired by the creation of an outworlder body, as it wasn’t a soul injury, and she would stand on a distant hill and observe the adventurers. Nara had experimented a bit with her aura control to the extent that she was able and was able to remain relatively unnoticed and undetected by low rank monsters as long as she did not engage them. If the adventurers noticed her observations or simply did not care, she was not sure.

Nara was additionally provided with some currency by the crafting house. What they used for money in Erras were ‘spirit coins’. Spirit coins are one of the forms of crystallization of magic and named in parallel to the ranks in this world as well, except that normal was switched to lesser when referring to coins and monsters. Apparently, were Nara to loot a monster, her ability would also produce such coins, with a personalized signet different than the official production. The record for the spirit coins she had been given had all been saved to my Archive, and Nara found that she was able to create lesser ranked spirit coins. The higher ranked ones she had been unable to create.

When Amara learned of this ability, she advised her not to abuse it. Generally, the gods of Erras would not prevent essence users from utilizing their abilities but disrupting the economy significantly could earn her the ire of the God of the Economy. Thankfully, loot abilities and loot rituals were expected and unoffensive. Casual creation of coins would also pose no issue. At the rate she could create an individual lesser spirit coin, Nara’s time was better spent on other activities, and she quickly became bored of doing so regardless. 

One hundred lesser spirit coins were worth one iron rank spirit coins. From then on, each tier was worth ten of the previous. Ordinary goods and necessities were purchased with lesser and occasionally iron rank coins. Houses and real estate in cities were purchased with gold coins. For adventurers, their costs scaled with their rank, needing more expensive and higher tier equipment. Spirit coins were also consumed in rituals, with higher tier rituals needing more and higher tier coins.

Despite her traveling and soul-searching, Nara still felt she was lucid dreaming. The wonderous cities and cultures didn’t help, although she doubted that even her dreaming mind was creative enough to imagine a world such as this. She felt unbalanced. Untethered. Awakening one day without a body and instead as a soul with no warning or reason terrified her. Moreso the subsequent attack Nara’s soul had suffered, and her painstaking escape.

The world was unpredictable and unreasonable.

This, Nara though, influenced her decision. Why be another employee or business owner in a dream world where magic is real? She would do something she could never do on Earth. In this dream where death did not exist, where she could create money, meditate to the opposite side of the planet, where a quiet lion man gave me treats, and gods walked amongst people, Nara would become a part of the madness.

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During breakfast the next morning, Nara told the group of her decision.

“I want to be an adventurer.”

 

They were gathered around a coffee table in the living room. The group set a bunch of essences – crystallized magic in the form of a cube, around six inches long for each side – onto the table. The appearance of each essence differed wildly based on its type. The water essence for example had a pleasantly cool feel, and bubbles swirled within its depths. Nara inspected all the essences laid out before her and added their information to her archive.

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Item: [Water Essence] (unranked, common)

Manifested essence of water

Consumable, essence.

Requirements: Less than four absorbed essences

Effect: Imbues one awakened water essence ability and four unawakened water essence abilities

You have absorbed 0 of 4 essences

Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced

You are able to absorb water essence

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[Absorb? Y/N]

 

[Record] of [Water Essence] has been added to the [Archive]

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“What do you have in mind?” asked Amara.

[Query: What is the recommended essence combination for me?]

[Answer: Dimension, Harmonic, and Balance for a Mystic confluence.]

Nara could ask for a list of combinations that would suit her, but she figured the first option may well be the best. Nara told the others what her Guide had recommended.

“It’s hard to see what would come of this essence combination,” Redell noted. “Balance, Harmonic, and Mystic are all rather indeterminate, and usually modify or pair with another more distinct essence. Depending on your awakening stones, your abilities could be influenced in many different ways. What are you hoping for?”

“I’d like to be able to protect myself” A more aggressive thought surfaced in her mind. She’d like to be able to fight back, instead of run. To make the being that tore her from reality pay the price. Nara forgave others easily, but that being had crossed a line she didn’t even know she had.

“Even healers have damage abilities,” said Redell. “Essence abilities are usually self-balancing unless specifically manipulated, but it is not recommended. You can miss out on important abilities.”

“I would also like to be able to help others, if I worked in a team.”

“Harmonic is suited for that,” said Chelsea. “The harmonic essence often awakens buffing abilities, team effects, or abilities that escalate others. Balance often awakens abilities based on skill and judgment, or abilities that balance out the odds. You may get some team abilities there too.”

“What about the awakening stones? And where is the Mystic confluence?”

“We can decide those later, once we see how your initial abilities tend. Each absorbed essence also awakens an ability, so you will have four to start with. The mystic essence is a confluence essence. It will appear after absorbing the other three. It is much better than picking a non-confluence essence for your fourth essence, so make sure to absorb it when it appears!” The last point Chelsea emphasized with more intensity than usual.

 

With the essences picked out, they moved to a large ritual room. The dimension essence shimmered with a silver light. Looking within, space within the cube expanded, twisted, and shifted, as if the space inside was different that the physical space it occupied. The balance essence was split in two. Light and darkness, orange and blue, ocean and sky – the elements within the essence was always a balance of two elements. The harmonic essence was a mixture of shifting, complementary colors. It seemed to hum and pulse, scattering waves of light and color.

Nara stood off to the side as Amara prepared the ritual circle. Nara’s ability allowed her to absorb the essences as is, but she thought it was safer to leave it in the hand of experts. As Amara drew out the circle, she sprinkled powdered quintessence to check her work. Where the lines were faded, she adjusted and redrew it. She placed the three essences at three points outside of the circle and gestured for me to step within it.

“After you absorb the essences, you will feel a surge of power. Then, you will feel terrible.” Redell pointed at a door in the wall. “There is a washroom there. You’ll want to head in there when you are done.”

“Why does that happen?”

“For non-outworlders, their bodies are converted from non-magic beings to a being of magic. That process will expel impurities. For you, your body is already made of magic, but it will be refined and expel impurities as well.”

“It will not smell good.” Laius added. He crinkled his panther-like nose as if recalling a memory.

“Are you ready?” Amara asked after his explanation. Nara felt her sun gold gaze lock onto hers, and she wondered if she was acting in haste. Adventure, combat, death, magic. These sorts of thoughts swirled in Nara’s head, but she felt herself moving forward, drawn by the circle and the magic. Dream or reality, she wouldn’t turn back. What lay ahead?

She stood in the center of the circle to find out.

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