Finally, when I opened up the notifications that had been piling up, I felt the kind of contentment that only clearing my email inbox could bring. While reading the notifications, I was playing around with [Artificial Authority]. The Skill was definitely worth picking; it gave me so much control over the shape of my Authority bubble, or I guess the bubble itself was called aura, but I wasn’t going to devote my full attention to it until after I was done with my inbox.
Milestone Achieved: Gain the absolute loyalty of an agent of The Evergreen Matriarch. The Primordial Herald aligned with your species’ primary aspect.
Species Level (Runaspriggan) Increased +2 (28)
+2 Might, +6 Wit, +8 Spirit, +4 Fortitude, +6 Arcana, +4 Grace
The first notification was more interesting than I had expected. The most obvious factor was that I could probably trust Autumn, unless ‘absolute loyalty’ meant something else to the system.
I assumed The Evergreen Matriarch referred to Syladine. Unless Autumn had separate affiliations that they probably should have told me about. I eyed them, but they were still sitting there, photosynthesizing or something, I didn’t know, plant activities. It wasn’t my place to bug them when they were clearly busy.
It was interesting how the system used a different naming scheme to refer to her. Every god I’d heard of so far had been referred to by a name, followed by an epithet, or at least I thought that’s the proper way to refer to a god. Also, I wasn’t sure if it was their first name or last name or if they even have more than one name.
I get the feeling that this alternative way the system referred to Syladine was being used because it didn’t carry the same implications. This assumption was made only after I had learned to speak using Mana, and I thought it was because of the ‘evergrowing knowledge’ I was granted as part of [The Roots That Bind].
When Autumn referred to the gods in Rootspeech, they used shortened terms similar to ‘The Weaver’ and ‘The Lady’. However, the exact meaning wasn’t directly translatable into human language. The thing about Rootspeech, as I’d experienced it up to that point, was that it was inherently prescriptive by nature. When Autumn said ‘The Weaver’, it had to be a god because of the version of the word ‘The’ that they used.
Also, they couldn’t mean ‘The Weaver of Fabrics’ or some other god, because they specified the imprint within the word ‘Weaver’, making it a proper noun. It felt like the word Weaver was etched with a kind of layered stack of intention—basic meaning on the surface, but deeper layers behind knowledge gates that only clicked into place if you knew about who or what it was meant to evoke.
If I didn’t know who Eryx was, I would just know Autumn was talking about a god whose name could be shortened to ‘The Weaver’. But since I knew about Eryx, I could resolve the fact that Autumn was speaking about Eryx, the Weaver of Souls, specifically and not some other god whose epithet starts with ‘The Weaver’.
The reason I could understand Autumn immediately after connecting with Mana—on a more personal level than I’d ever like to again—was because speakers of the language didn’t create the words. Instead, it was more like they discovered them. The meanings were already there. The language didn’t really have any limits. You can take any thought and make it a word. You just have to find the right patterning and then apply intent to output the meaning. Not that I was any kind of master at it, Autumn’s words felt like they had a level of depth to them that I couldn’t perform yet. They were putting thoughts and opinions into certain words that took a level of comprehension that I just didn’t have. I was also struggling to comprehend all those complex additions, just barely managing to grasp the surface words.That all applied to why they wouldn’t want to use the name or title of Syladine in the system: Names hold power. My ever-growing knowledge of binding techniques told me that by invoking a being’s specific name, I could lower binding and Mana requirements, reduce spiritual strain, and specify a target to have summoned and bound. But that also held in reverse, invoking a full name while speaking truth from Mana, or I supposed you could call it invoking their True Name without the proper precautions, sent something to the entity you spoke of. I also knew one thing as an absolute fact: I should not invoke the True Name of a god, especially not one who was or could have been my enemy. The shortened versions Autumn was using were safe.
I wasn’t sure about dead gods like Eryx. There was something weird about their names. Because the information I received said they were both completely safe and lethally dangerous to invoke.
Allowing a system to speak the True Name of a potentially hostile god in a level-up notification would be a complete folly. The system would be compromised the moment that happened. Hence, another title was used, probably a sobriquet she picked up at some point.
Milestone Achieved: You stand at the start of two paths after learning the ring holds answers. Complete it to take the first step on my path, or destroy it to step off and forge your own.
Species Level (Runaspriggan) Increased +1 (29)
+1 Might, +3 Wit, +4 Spirit, +2 Fortitude, +3 Arcana, +2 Grace
Huh, I wasn’t expecting a choice from a god. I had thought they’d be more of a ‘Do what I tell you or the potential torment of Hell is going to seem like a vacation compared to what I’m going to do to you’ type of being. Or like Syladine’s ‘I already know you’re going to do what I want. Go ahead and struggle, that’s already part of my plan,’ attitude, as if free will didn’t exist. Though technically it doesn't, I meant more of a philosophical level, though, not physical…Actually, wait, this dimension has different physics and souls are real. Does free will exist here? I decided that I probably shouldn’t continue that line of thought. In that way lies madness.
I wondered if I destroyed the ring, would I gain a bunch of levels, or would it take into account that I completed the sixth step and assume I’m already on the path? I didn't really know, but I kind of wanted to complete the ring anyway. Thinking about how to solve puzzles was a nice distraction. I was still stuck on level forty-nine, though.
The Space Mana in the puzzle acted chaotically when sent through an array. There was absolutely no pattern that linked how I output the Mana and the result. It was like I was trying to guess the correct number between one and infinity. If I could just channel intent into it, then the puzzle would be so fucking easy, but I couldn’t do that without it being in my body.I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. It was just a puzzle. I would figure it out eventually. I’m probably fated to complete it if I try hard enough or whatever bullshit Syladine thinks as well.
Milestone Achieved: [Basal] Tier plant material created through basic conceptual synthesis.
Species Level (Runaspriggan) Increased +2 (30)
+2 Might, +6 Wit, +8 Spirit, +4 Fortitude, +6 Arcana, +4 Grace
Milestone Achieved: [Wrought] Tier plant material created through basic conceptual synthesis.
Species Level (Runaspriggan) Increased +2 (32)
+2 Might, +6 Wit, +8 Spirit, +4 Fortitude, +6 Arcana, +4 Grace
I wondered which material was better: was the Scorchbranch or the Latticedew the better of the two? Did it even matter?
[Title Acquired]
Name: [The First to Listen]
Tier: [Basal - Growth]
Description: [You are the first amongst your origin species to have discovered a variant of True-Speech. Attempting to bypass Divine Invocation restriction will result in expulsion.]
Effect: [System windows will now be written in your personal attunement’s Symbolic Representors to facilitate communication, Wit +10%]
Oh… I hadn’t even realized the alphabet had shifted to logograms. Having a language shoved into your head was kind of fucky.
Wait a fucking moment no I did realize, that’s why I was worried about it invoking a god’s True Name, I just hadn’t internalized that fact. It wouldn’t even be possible to write a True Name using the Latin alphabet. My subconscious mind picked it up a few minutes ago, but never bothered to send me that info. Gods, I feel like I have brain damage sometimes. It even said in the Title I just received that we shouldn’t invoke gods.Either way, the fact that the system language had changed was nice—it would help me get used to reading Rootspeech. Hmm, I wonder if it's possible to…Stolen novel; please report.
[Language Select]

[Original Host Language]
[Mana—Nature/plant]

Aha! Found another function of my Core. I’d been willing to bet there was more out there, but I would find those when I found them. I wasn’t about to sit around attempting to rifle through potential options when I might not even have any more unlocked yet.
I decided to swap the language over to [Mana—Nature/plant], and the moment I had done so, it felt like a switch had flipped in my mind. I had already been using Rootspeech naturally, but it still felt like a new language to me, like I hadn’t truly learned the intricacies. It was kind of like I had memorized the dictionary of a language, but didn’t know any slang.Now, Rootspeech felt like my native tongue, which was weird because I hadn’t improved through learning; I just toggled a switch. Also, English now felt like a second language to me, which was an odd thing to experience.
My initial expectation was that I was just going to change the language of the text prompts, not myself. But I suppose I wasn’t going to complain. This could come in handy if I needed to speak other tongues in the future. Though it might not apply to creatures of this Plane due to the automatic translation between residents, I didn’t plan on only keeping the company of beings native to this Plane.
[Title Acquired]
Name: [Repaired Mana Veins]
Tier: [Basal - Growth]
Description: [Your species originally possessed Mana Veins that carefully regulated the flow of Mana within your body. Somehow, these Veins were damaged or removed, but you have found a way to fix them. You have restored a fundamental conduit between your mind and your Mana, creating a path for intent to flow. This is only the first step towards mastery, young Neophyte.]
Effect: [+100% Effectiveness of Mana]
I felt my Core’s flow of Mana skip a beat as I read the effect of the title. I knew that restoring the circuit networks in my body to their original form would benefit me. I just didn’t realize how much it mattered. Also, I didn’t take this into account in the simulation! I suppose live testing is more fun anyway, though.
On top of that, apparently, this was just the first step. There were somehow more improvements I could make. What they are, I had no idea. Did I just complete the Body Tempering stage? Am I going to start building a core of Mana within my dantian? Will I split mountains with a single swipe of my sword eventually? Will my new Skills start having ridiculous names like [Fist of the Profound Heavenly Dragon’s Nature Fury]?Anyway, my cultivation fantasies aside, let's move on to the last one—or last three, depending on how you want to categorize it.Congratulations on reaching level thirty! Choose one of the following three skills to shape your path to Eternity:
[Species Skill Option]
Name: [One With Mana]
Tier: [Basal]Description: [Your soul has recently been soaked in ambient Mana, and yet you are still yourself. This has made some changes to the makeup of your soul that allow for unique alterations. Your Authority will be given the ‘Mana’ domain attribute. In addition, Skills you possess may unpredictably shift, evolve, or fuse in response to subconscious desire, emotional states, or critical survival needs.]
Warning: [This shouldn’t be possible unless performed under strict conditions. Trust us, we’ve checked thoroughly, so the most likely possibility is you’ve broken the system, in which case please file a bug report as soon as possible and do not take this Skill, it will kill you if you have not undergone Aberromorphosis. Alternatively, you’ve managed the near impossible. In that case, congratulations! Please speak to an Administrator so we can figure out how to replicate the conditions.]
I hadn’t really thought it was a good idea to replicate what happened to me back then, so I wasn’t planning on mentioning it to Kaelzar. I’d rather not become a test subject either. It was something Eryx did when he made my body, which allowed my mind to remain intact anyway, so I didn’t think it could be replicated unless he's around. It was odd, I was pretty sure Eryx and Kaelzar were part of the same faction, so the fact that there was no communication between them about a subject the gods perceived as important didn’t feel right.I didn’t know if it was a good idea to take this Skill or not, but it seemed really good. It kind of looked like it would give me the ability to power up mid-fight as if I were a character in a Shonen manga. Either that or it would completely ruin my build by fusing a core Skill like [Regrowth], turning it into something that wouldn’t allow me to grow back missing limbs on a dime. I wished I could save Skills so I could pick them during a future level-up, because I was not sure if I wanted this…[Capture Part of Soul’s Current State and retain the option to pick the Skill [One With Mana]?]Soul Tokens Remaining: 2Yes/No
Wait, that was an option!? Why did nobody tell—Right I skipped the lecture fuck me.
The fact that the system only responds when I directly make a request, not when I consider making one, annoys me…Or actually maybe it doesn’t, and I’m just overreacting; it would probably be even annoying for System windows to pop up every time I had a passing thought about checking them.
Okay, was that actually worth it? Would I need those tokens in the future? Probably. Honestly, I’d passed up on some pretty good Skills, but I just hadn’t thought about checking if I could save them. The next time I had a call with Hazel, we were going to have a stern conversation about sharing important system information. I probably also had to ask her what adding a domain to my Authority did, and how to get more tokens. Since they were tokens, maybe they were some kind of quest reward. I was on my way to finishing one.
[Species Skill Option]
Name: [Evasive Reflex System]
Tier: [Wrought]
Description: [You have rebuilt your form to conform to your desire to protect yourself. Your Core’s processing modules have noticed this fear, and it has recalibrated itself to match that inner need. Occasionally, your Core Vessel will automatically dodge an incoming attack that the processing modules detect through airflow or Mana flux. This will be done in a way that feels as Natural as possible, integrating it into your conscious movement. The effectiveness of threat detection scales with the Spirit stat, while your Wit stat governs the interpretation of this data, increasing the fluidity and frequency of evasive responses.]
Why is the word ‘Natural’ capitalized like that? Is that a typo in a system prompt? I chuckled to myself. This was a beta, after all. I’m surprised I hadn’t seen more errors like that.
This Skill seemed kind of odd at first glance. Weren’t my Core’s processing modules literally just me? Or was there a secondary intelligence somewhere inside me? Hello, is there anyone in my mind? Was it possible that I had an AI companion here somewhere who was helping me out? Weren’t those things supposed to be incredibly chatty and snarky? Maybe it was just flavour text. I had no idea if the Skill descriptions reflected reality exactly as it was or not.Also, why did I keep getting evasive Skill options? Was the system trying to tell me something? The last one [Natural Evasion] was focused on increasing how well I dodged based on things I could detect myself, and scaling off Grace. Also, I think I needed to have [Natural Enhancement] active for it to take effect. While this seemed more like an automatic defensive maneuvering system, it was based on two Stats I had far more of than Grace. Also, it said ‘Core Vessel’ instead of body, implying that there was a difference, and that this one covered my whole shell, not just my Core. That thought made me oddly happy; it felt like I was finally being recognized as what I was.Body dysmorphia, because nobody recognizes me as the small sphere I truly am, was a weird feeling.
[Species Skill Option]
Name: [Evolutionary Simulations]
Tier: [Wrought]
Description: [You have created true high-quality materials through an evolutionary process using direct manipulation. This is a remarkable feat and has allowed your Core to gather data on the processes and integrate it into its simulation capabilities. Improves the [Mana Simulations] Skill by enabling it to simulate new materials. Also adds an improved instinct for finding which material properties best fit together. Your Core will also gain the ability to analyze specifics about material properties.]
Oh, wait, couldn't I do that already? Why didn’t I think about trying to do this in the simulator first? Pulling up a [Mana Simulations] I created an instance at fifty times real-time speed and tried to replicate what I had done on my own. After the material had absorbed all the Mana, I checked its properties, and it was true. The Blood Dew was the same as before, with the same ‘absorb everything touching it’ properties instead of turning into Latticedew.Huh, well, this was probably a useful Skill, but personally, I kind of like surprises. Except, maybe in the future, I would have to make sure my surprise was safe before I use it. I wouldn’t want to ruin the fun of creating new materials by just dryly running a bunch of simulations and predicting the exact best combinations ahead of time. I thought the whole process was more of an art than a science anyway, since the way intent was managed basically guided the entire process.Also, I just had this weird feeling that I wouldn’t need this Skill anyway, and it felt weak for some reason. Not sure where it was coming from, and it probably led me to rationalize away my choice, but whatever.Either way, I wasn’t going to pick it [Evolutionary Simulations], and I felt like the first offered Skill was sketchy, so I wanted to chat with Hazel about it first. Instead, I chose [Evasive Reflex Systems] and reluctantly spent a Soul Token on saving [One With Mana]. It was odd that Skill didn’t feel like it should be ranked Basal, but the Tier system didn’t always assign Tiers that felt right overall, so maybe it needed a reworking.
“Hey Autumn, you’re gonna have to take a break from photosynthesizing. We’re heading out to clear out the ritual room. Get ready for a real slog, if what Dave said is true.” I said to Autumn as I stood up and stretched. My body felt oddly light despite being made of heavier material. “We’re underground. How would I photosynthesize down here?” Autumn replied as they got to their feet, seemingly unaffected by sitting still for hours, “Also, I don’t know who that is.”