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What Will Be | Chapter 52
🕑 Added 2024-06-25 17:30:06 +0000 UTCAuthor's Note: Thank you all for your continued support, it means the world to me. Thanks for reading!
“Sometimes it is best to say little and infer much.”
`Unknown
‘Skill is theoretically possible.’ They were words seized through the fugue of my infancy and carved into the bedrock of my psyche. They sat alongside the rest of the System messages from the night I selected my Core Skill all those years ago. From what I’d been able to infer, there were two primary circumstances that could prompt that particular message.
The first was, admittedly, not quite as exciting as the second though still equally important. Skill specializations seemed to be limited only by one’s imagination and dedication. My exhausted proddings at the Weapons Skill left me with Weapons [Punch, Right-Handed, Wet Weather] as a Skill option. There were no records of something no niche in the System before that point, but evidently there was enough to go by that categorisation was a simple enough matter.
Unlike the Unnamed Skill.
I had lost plenty of sleep over that thing; that daunting, looming specter of possibility that I didn’t gamble on. I didn’t regret the choice I made that night, but the uncertainty periodically itched at a spot impossible to reach, adding its insidious whispers to moments of quiet doubt. It was the System’s answer to my pleas, to the desperate desire to return back to my first life.
It also warned me the Skill would be beyond my understanding. I believed it.
Even now, years later, and with an understanding of Skills and mana that dwarfed my comprehension at the time; even with the benefits of Perseverance and my other Skills bolstering my ability to tackle problems; even with the support from parents I now knew were genuinely kind hearted and supportive human beings…
Even with all that, I still cannot begin to fathom how such a Skill might function… Nothing beyond shot-in-the-dark theories, at least.
…
…
…
You have demonstrated the minimum threshold proficiency for an Unnamed Skill.
I froze.
Before my logical mind could catch up, a swell of overwhelming emotion threatened oblivion. Spearheading the assault was a pair of questions; had it really been so simple? Would I be able to go-
Home. Such a complicated word, and one I wasn’t ready to confront. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. Perseverance shone, it’s light consuming the entirety of my Skill Tree, for a piece of it dwelled in every limb, branch and leaf. Bathed in its glow, I found myself. I felt a pressure on my chest. Fudge had circled around to press his head into it, his silent comfort further bolstering the effect.
I needed to breathe, even though my current body had no lungs. I breathed. I could only hope my physical form mirrored the action.
Dying of ‘the feels’ would be an underwhelming way to go, I thought dryly. Bad humor was by no means the most original coping mechanism, but I wasn’t exactly trying to win any style points. I reached down and ran my hand through Fudge’s fur, the wispy strands further grounding me in the moment.
This isn’t the Skill.
It couldn’t have been. What Fudge and I were doing, what we’d been working on, the intent I thrust at the System - none of it was the same as it had been that first night. A possible component, sure; I had not forgotten that the SkillI I was after had prerequisites. Dog was surely not one of them.
Again, I read the words waiting patiently for my acknowledgement. The System still said ‘you’, even though this was Fudge’s Advancement. Evidently, I wasn’t getting filtered System messages; I was getting the messages that would be directed at Fudge, had he the capacity to understand them. My role was simply to engage with them on his behalf.
I spared another glance at Fudge who had stepped back to my side when he felt me start to relax. His tail wagged a steady rhythm.
He just seems content to have me here. The thought prompted a smile. I was making choices that would change the entire trajectory of that dog’s life, and he was cool as a cucumber.
Another deep breath.
Right. Focus. Do right by Fudge, then wallow later, if you must.
We’d crossed the first hurdle. The hodgepodge of quantum theories I’d half-remembered, when exercised and practiced with possible mana applications in mind, had been enough to cross the invisible threshold necessary to quantify a Skill. Was it possible that the bar was a little lower since Fudge and I were entering uncharted waters? Perhaps. I didn’t need to understand the underlying mechanisms of the System to take advantage of them when they seemed to work in our favor.
I accepted the Skill for Fudge.
You have chosen an Unnamed Skill as one of your Advancement Skills.
Would you like to name the Skill?
Now, the sensible thing to do in that moment would have been to carefully model a name for the Skill based off of the conventions I’d seen for other Skills, which largely seemed to amount to a single verb or noun followed by specialization qualifiers.
Intent is important. The now-familiar mantra came to mind. Would assigning such a restrictive name to the Skill limit its scope? Conversely, if I kept the Skill’s name too broad, would the lack of oomph provided by specialization be too detrimental?
Then there’s the matter of how regularly I may need to show people my Skills. The magical orb from Hwan’s office sprung to mind. Soon, it would be Marco’s turn to have his hand pressed upon it so that his Core Skill might be revealed…
Not important. Not now. Stray thoughts and concerns on behalf of an infant had their place, but ‘while helping your dog magically Advance’ was not one of them.
I also wasn’t sure how much time I had. Presumably, I was unconscious while I aided Fudge. Tina hadn’t mentioned that would happen, which I doubted was intentional, not after what happened during my first Advancement. Was there a way to wake me up early? Would it disrupt and potentially jeopardize the process?
Don’t suppose you want to weigh in here, System? I thought, my inner-voice dripping with sarcasm. Naturally, there was no response.
A decision needed to be made.
It was the tree that decided it for me. I could see it beyond the screen - see what it represented. As I continued to Advance, my Skill tree would continue to grow, as Skills supported Skills supported me.
Us, now, I suppose. Whatever Fudge and I had done, I had a feeling that we’d tied our Advancement together more than the average Tamer. It was also possible we weren’t the only pair to ever do so, even if we achieved the result with a presumably unique method.
More questions for later.
Unlike when I chose a specialized variant of Taming to take advantage of my circumstances, I reasoned that doing so for Fudge’s Skill might seal off a pathway necessary to achieving my goals. We could always pick supplementary Skills to focus Fudge’s abilities later.
“That means we go big, Fudge.” So many idioms from the life I once lived lay collecting dust in the recesses of my memory. It was nice to brush one off every now and then.
‘Go big or go home’… or, maybe, just maybe, both.
You have chosen Quantum Manipulation as one of your Advancement Skills.
Please choose one additional Skill to finalize Advancement. Threshold proficiency must have been demonstrated for a Skill to be an eligible choice.
Was the name generous? Absolutely, but that was largely by design. Fudge and I had been experimenting with barely-practical examples of quantum entanglement and quantum superposition; I could have made them the focus of the Skill, but I also knew there was more to it than that.
I looked down at Fudge, though there was no indication that the Skill selection was having any impact on his spiritual representation like it had with my Skill Tree.
It must work differently for animals, I concluded. As to how or why? I had no idea. Again, another thing to add to the perpetually lengthening list of topics I wanted to investigate one day.
As far as Fudge’s second Skill, I had a few choices in mind.
That was before the changes to my Taming Skill, though. Now that my Skill and Advancement was dependent on Fudge, his survival became even more of a priority. Quantum Manipulation would probably help, especially if we could figure out a way to apply superposition defensively. Even so, it was always wise to have a backup plan.
You have demonstrated the minimum threshold proficiency for Durability.
Roughhousing with Vigil and the other dogs had been more than enough for Fudge to qualify for the Skill. He’d tripped, tumbled and been tossed but always came back for more with the misguided invincibility of youth.
‘Youth,’ he says; fuck, I’m old. It was comparisons like that which helped keep me grounded in my sense of self beyond physical form. I was an old soul in ways that went beyond the metaphorical.
You have chosen Durability as one of your Advancement Skills.
As it had during my first time experiencing an Advancement, the System screen flicked out. The ambient mana filling Fudge’s; my; our Core space whipped up, sending the leaves of my Skill tree fluttering.
A spike of raw, primal fear stabbed into my mind. It wasn’t mine. It belonged to Fudge, and I heard him whine at my side. The whines turned to yelps and he collapsed to the ground, his limbs spasming as he tried to curl into a ball. The sound raked at me and made my heart feel like it had been shoved into an operating blender.
Through our Bond, I got a sense of what was happening; his mana pathways were developing, and I knew from experience the ordeal was hell made manifest. At that moment, I didn’t care to think why it might have happened after Skill selection as opposed to before it. I took a knee and pulled Fudge into my arms, patting him and whispering reassurances.
Let me share the burden! I silently screamed at my Skills, urging whatever mana I had left to the task. Lionel had cautioned me that sharing the effects of a Skill with another was difficult, but I refused to believe that would apply to Fudge and I.
Not then. Not when he needed me.
Perseverance erupted into a corona of radiance that fell over Fudge and I. I felt my mana reserves dipping but pulled on them anyway as I urged the ambient mana in the air with Recovery. The mana there moved, almost like a wind. I forced that imagery onto my Skill.
Let it pull in whatever is needed from wherever was necessary. I felt my Skill thrum to life but didn’t have the cognitive capacity to feel out what I was doing beyond that desperate plea.
“It’s okay, buddy, it’ll all be okay.” I just wished he could understand - could KNOW that his pain was only temporary; that everything would be okay; that I hadn’t let him down. The leaves of Taming [Fudge] offered their strength to the endeavor, shining just as brightly as Perseverance, if not more so.
Like the shattering of glass, some unknown barrier ceased to be. Pain. It intruded upon my psyche. All was fire. It was not enough to force me down.
“Not this time,” I growled through gritted teeth.
More. I continued pulling Fudge’s agony into myself, reaching with spectral limbs untested into magma and agony and all that had been forced upon a creature - a friend - who deserved none of it.
More. More! MORE!
My vision went white… then dark… and finally black as the last of my mana tapered off. With a final, desperate force of will, I tried to take the pain away with me. I had no way of knowing if I succeeded.
Comments
Doggos R. Puppers
Just a boy and his dog... Setting the groundwork for the incredible
Doggos R. Puppers
" something no niche in the System before" "something SO niche"
