Fork This Life!

Chapter 45: Duplicity

Uncomfortable. In a word, that’s how I would describe living every day knowing that someone I don’t know, somewhere I don’t know, for reasons I don’t know, is watching me. I’m used to being the one doing the watching. Being able to see everyone and everything gives me a sense of security, a knowledge that I can’t be taken by surprise.

1.7 kilometres. That’s the approximate radius of my vision. It’s no small amount, far too large for me to consciously keep track of everything, and yet for the first time in a long while, it suddenly feels insufficient. Even so, I know that even if it were ten, a hundred times larger, it still wouldn’t be able to catch sight of the gods.

In other words, I can’t do anything except try my best to ignore it.

Well, there are some things that I’d like to try. I can’t be sure how well they’ll work, but I have high hopes. Things work differently here than back on Earth, but not that differently. As far as I can figure, science still applies. Even the first law of thermodynamics: ‘energy cannot be created nor destroyed.’

At its most basic level, a mage takes in mana from their surroundings, then shapes it to their will in the form of a spell. That is to say, some of the mana is ‘converted’ into whatever is needed to achieve the spell. The rest dissipates back into the air. I don’t have the knowledge or the means, but at the surface level, mana also appears to follow this law.

As for Psi, Ki, and other such things, I don’t know enough about them to tell, but I’d guess that it’d be the same for them.

A part of me wonders if they have anything to do with the theoretical ‘dark matter’, that mysterious stuff which supposedly makes up around 80% of the universe’s mass. But then again, I don’t know nearly enough to postulate about it.

Back to my original line of thought, there are quite a few ways I can think of to use my knowledge – limited though it may be compared to a modern scientist’s standards – to create quite a few interesting spells.

I’ve done some tinkering – some of them should be plausible. The single limiting factor thus far was that their complexity made managing them practically impossible. That is to say, if I were to create a tool that did some of that for me and the rest of it for me, I can do it. To be specific…

Priority one (modified): Find a way to regain human senses while in fork form.

Priority one subsection A: Develop a tool to gain superhuman sight.

The me of yesteryear grasped at the slim possibility that one day I might get the right skill or trait to regain true colour vision. The me of today knows that I can do it, and not only that, I can go even further beyond. Biologically speaking, I’m not human anymore. I’m not confined by the same limitations – probably. I can interpret things that the human brain can’t, because I don’t have a human brain. I don’t think I have a brain at all, really. No clue how that works.

The human eye is capable of seeing a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum, interpreted by humans as ‘light’, with colours ranging from red to violet. However… That is nowhere near the limit of the spectrum. ‘Visible’ EMR wavelengths on the bottom and top of the range vary by only roughly 300 nanometres. Above that it goes up to gamma rays, which have a wavelength about a million times smaller, and below it goes down to radio waves, which have wavelengths over a billion times larger. The numbers there aren’t exact, but it gives you a bit of an idea.

Fundamentally, all EMR is the same thing, just with different wavelengths and amounts of energy. Things are complex scientifically – different wavelengths interact differently with different materials differently, meaning they can’t be measured or produced in the same way. With magic, it’s (theoretically) simpler.

Of course, that’s not to say that I can just produce gamma rays willy nilly. Similarly to how small their wavelengths are comparatively to light, a gamma ray has about a million times more energy than light. I do not have that much mana. But detecting EMR, and emitting long wavelength/low frequency EMR? I should be able to do that. Theoretically.

And no, I can’t make lasers. Of course I can’t. Well, not yet. The thing is, all those novels, anime, games that make it out to mean light magic = lasers, well they’re stupid. Think about it: if lasers were as simple as concentrating a bunch of light into the same spot, a kid could do it with a high-powered torch and a magnifying glass.

No, lasers are much more complex. Again, light is EMR, waves of electromagnetic radiation. Now, think of a standard sine wave. It goes from a peak of one to a low of negative one, the pattern repeated every two pi. Alright, now put another sine wave there, but move it over one pi units. Add the two waves together, you get a flat line. That there’s basic interference, and it’s what’s happening all over the place in a normal light source, except instead of two waves there’s like two million and they’re all different units out of phase and sometimes you get spikes and sometimes you get nada.

A laser is what happens if, instead of all those two million waves being slightly separated, or slightly different frequencies or amplitudes or this, that and the other, they’re all exactly the same. Right on top of each other. Again, they add together, basically giving you one wave with the same frequency as before, but much, much larger amplitude. I think. I’m not exactly a physicist here, I’m just remembering something I read on Wikipedia out of curiosity this one time.

Anyway, doing that is complicated. Very complicated. I’m not sure how I’d try to go about it. So no, no lasers.

Regardless, I spend much of my free time these days tinkering, using everything that I’ve learned so far, trying to make a new eye. One that’s mine, not just a borrowed tool. One that I know intrinsically, inside and out. How it ticks, how to fix it or recreate it, if need be. And the thought comes to mind, naturally, of materials. The academy has something of a store for such things, naturally – various metals, inks, materials and miscellanea. But my funds are limited, and I can’t afford to experiment with more than trace amounts of rarer, better materials.

But… I’m made of mithril, right? And I have self-repair, so couldn’t I just… shave pieces of myself off and regenerate them? Or, at least, that was the thought that led me here. The plan was to cut off a small piece of myself using absorb, it would drop to the table I’m hovering above, I self-repair, see what happens.

Only, the piece I cut off didn’t fall. It stays, hovering in the air, just like me. The sight is so far removed from my expectation, my belief, my utter certainty that it would fall to the ground – as all things without an upwards force applied should – that it takes me a few seconds to comprehend the reality. Once I do, my mind races, trying to understand what was causing this oddity.

But once again, the unexpected whacks me over the metaphorical head with a cricket bat. A telepathic link forms.

“What was it they used to say?” It, he, I says to me. “Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness? Always thought that was ridiculous, but considering the circumstances I might reconsider.”

“We have a title that proves otherwise.” I reply, scarcely able to believe what my senses, what logic was now telling me: there are two of me. “Wait, we do still have the title, right?”

There’s a momentary pause while we both check.

“You saw too, right?” I say after a moment. “It’s not just our body that split.”

“Yeah… And not just the stats, skill proficiency too, it’s not what I remember.” I reply. Everything was decreased. “I… We should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. There’s always a price.”

“It was a stupid idea. We’re lucky it didn’t go even worse. What if… What if the split had caused us to lose our sanity, or worse, our sapience?”

“Not a thought I want to entertain. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. That didn’t happen, and this did. The question is, what now? I mean, the stats and skill proficiencies are a blow, but it’s not like we can’t go on as is.”

“No, we can’t. Or at least, I can’t. I think… You have most of the body, and most of the stats, too. As is, I’m practically helpless.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I can tell, now. It wasn’t as clear when we were levelling up. Too gradual? But now it’s all gone, in an instant? It’s so much harder to think. To… understand, compared to just a minute ago. I, I can’t stand it. I don’t want to go back there. To the beginning. To be forced to climb up again. Not after I got so far.”

“Okay. Alright, we try to fix this. But, hm. Maybe… Back then, when we were doing the absorb and repair loop, we didn’t have this problem. We lost a part of our body, but not our power or skill. There shouldn’t be a difference, except instead of absorbing the whole piece off, it was separated. I think if I absorb you and repair, we should go back to normal.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m never sure, you know that.”

“Ironic, considering that we’re often right. But yeah, I know. Still… Who can I trust, if not myself?”

“Do you? Trust me, I mean.”

A slight pause. “I guess if this works, then yeah, I do.”

“Well then. Here goes nothing.”

The act of absorption requires no thought. It is… like a limb, a muscle. It’s deliberate, but if you were to ask me how it felt to use, to control, I would have no answer. It’s a part of me now. It’s simply something I can do.

The other me vanishes, and I repair myself. Opening my status with no small amount of trepidation, I check whether I was right or had just made a terrible mistake.

Everything is normal. Back to the way it was, as if nothing had ever happened. As far as anyone could know, nothing has. But I doubt that I will ever forget the mistake that made me two.

I remember it now, both of my perspectives in that brief time. We – I – were the same being. But such a simple thing as a stat and skill decrease cast me into darkness. I made it here through luck, skill and effort. All of a sudden, a large portion of that was invalidated. It wasn’t that I thought that I couldn’t do it again, rather, I knew I could. It was the thought that even if I did, I might be cast down again. How? Why? It wasn’t a rational thought, but it quickly burrowed into my mind.

I’ve always been a fearful person. Afraid that people would want to hurt me, afraid of disappointing my family… Afraid of what I might do if one day I finally snapped from the pressure and anxiety. Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything I don’t fear. I struggle to find examples.

I was afraid of me, too. Both of me. But then, I am dangerous. I don’t pretend to be a saint because I know I’m not. I’m sick, in more ways than one. Some days I have dark thoughts, thoughts to lash out at the people who hurt me, those who made me this way, even when I know that they never meant for this. Some days I dearly want to.

But whenever those dark flames burn in my heart, a single thought always chills the rage: that after I cause all that destruction, ruin those relationships forever, that my heart would calm for a moment, just long enough for me to look back and see what I’d done. I think that would break me. Thoroughly.

I’m no saint - but I’m much less a monster.

It’s similar for everyone, I think. Compassion and rationality holding back the worst parts of ourselves on our darkest days. I like to hope that I’m wrong about that, that most people are better than me. I can hope. I have to hope. Even if what I see every day tries to prove me wrong.

Measured, deliberate movements. The path is held firmly in my mind as I carefully follow it. A single, slight mistake, while perhaps not causing me to need to start over, would reduce efficiency and efficacy. I set myself down for a moment, refocusing before continuing to etch a formation into the piece of iron using absorb.

Enchantments, loosely speaking, come in three variants. The first is when a spell with a permanent effect is cast upon something. This usually means a change in shape, appearance or a simple increase of durability. In other words, alteration magic.

The second is self-sufficient enchantments. They utilise mana-gathering formations to power themselves and work autonomously. Naturally, the amount of mana available to the enchantment is limited both by the density of ambient mana and how effective the formation is at gathering it. As a general consequence, the more mana an enchantment of this type requires, the larger it has to be physically to gather that mana.

The third is user-activated enchantments. In simple terms, they’re just normal spells, but designed with an additional mana guidance subformation that does all the complex steps of spellcasting. All the user has to do is put enough mana in for it to work – no knowledge of magic needed whatsoever.

On the other hand, creating these types of enchantments requires thorough knowledge of the intricacies of the magic involved. Behind every working enchantment there’s a lot of time spent researching, developing and experimenting, and even if you were to ask two different people to make the same enchantment, the end results would probably be different.

So when I say that I’m crafting myself a new eye, by no means do I suggest that it’s a simple task. I spent weeks drafting the formations and the plans for the device itself, testing things before finally starting work on making it, a bit of time spent every day in one of the artificing workshops.

There’s a lot of tools here that I just physically can’t use, but the space and the environment is still good for the work. There’s a half-dozen other people in the room, but it’s still pretty quiet. Everyone is too focused on their work to be thinking about anyone else, working on one project or another.

Tools, mostly, devices made to make a task easier, or do something that just can’t be done mundanely. Other stuff I don’t recognise, mostly because it’s too complex for me. That turtle from the athletics carnival is working on something or other, altering it rather than making something new, I think. Another guy is pulling at his hair over some kind of card-shaped… Thing.

I turn my attention back to my own project. Theoretically, I’ve already done most of the work. After I finish this part, there’ll just be assembly, then I’ll need to test and adjust things. Or something could just not work the way I expect it to and I’ll have to start over. It’s a genuine possibility. Pretty much what happened with my actual basic artificing assignment, although I partially attribute that to spending most of my time on this rather than checking my work for that one.

Still, not long now. Not long.

“Sir, are you alright? Your fur seems shaggy…er than usual.” One of my classmates in my advanced darkness illusion class asks, surprising me, not with their kindness, but their perceptive ability in a dimly lit room at pretty much midnight. Most of the class are half out of it, except a few from nocturnal races. And me, obviously.

Classes for most subjects usually run during the day, but elemental magic works best when the element is already present. In terms of lightness and darkness magic, that means day and night.

Not to mention that our teacher is a wolf beastman, whose fur is rather unkempt at the best of times. It would be a dark day indeed – pun intended – before you saw him in formal wear, I’m sure.

“Hm?” Hrolf tilts his head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Oh, sorry.” The student apologises.

“Unless?” Hrolf walks over to the window and pokes his head out. “Already? Guess I lost track of the days.”

He walks back to the front of the class. “Well, turns out it’s because there’s a full moon. I’ve got lycanthropy, so that’s why I might look a little off tonight.”

“Wait, you’re a werewolf?” A student squints in confusion. “But you’re already a wolf. And you’re not, like, going mad or anything.”

Hrolf shrugs. “That’s right. Wasn’t so long ago that it was thought that wolf beastmen were immune to lycanthropy. I didn’t realise myself that I had it until years after I’d been bitten. Turns out that it just has so little effect on us that nobody ever noticed. As you say, I’m already a wolf. So some extra wolfishness doesn’t affect my mind much at all.”

“Anyway, today we’re going to be talking about shadows.” Hrolf continues.

Groans sound out in the room.

“Yes, again. This is darkness illusion magic, what were you expecting, rainbows and fairy dust?”

A few of the guys laugh as Auden puffs into the classroom, sweating. He’s almost always one of the last here, and always looks like he’s just run a marathon when he arrives.

“Man, that guy’s so unfit. Bet you there’s a kilometre of flab under those robes.” One of them jokes.

Auden smiles, clearly having heard the jab, but just moves over to his seat and sits down, wiping his brow.

“Out of curiosity, why do you never say anything to them?” I ask. We had happened to sit next to each other on the first day, and the guy’s genuinely smart, as well as social. When the teacher asked questions, Auden and I were the ones his eyes naturally gravitated towards.

Auden must’ve noticed, too, because he’s chatted with me a few times about magical theory and such. He looks sideways at me. “What about you? You know you get three times as many talking about you behind your back, right? At least.”

“Yeah, but they’re only talking because they know nothing about me. Everything they say is no more than a guess, and they know it. I know it.” I reply. “As for you, they’re just plain wrong. Wonder what their faces would look like if they actually saw how fit you are under that.”

Auden raises an eyebrow in surprise. “You know?”

“I see much more than people think I do.” I say dryly. “You look like a professional runner, which I’ll be honest is a little odd, considering I’ve never seen you run. Not that it’s any of my business, of course. If you’d rather, I’ll never mention it again.”

He nods slightly. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it. It’s not something I talk about lightly. As for them…”

Glancing at the guys at the back of the class, he shakes his head. “I’ve got nothing to prove to them. What’d be the point in showing off, just for a little recognition? People would just start asking different questions.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean.” I agree. “So, what do you think about a force barrier? Feasible? Effective?”

“Not sure about that one. Wouldn’t have any effect on non-physical attacks, like heat or curses.” Auden replies, considering. “Even something physical with sufficient force behind it could break through.”

“True, but that’s the case with pretty much any barrier, and any type of magic has its counters. Then again, fire magic is pretty popular.” I muse. “Not exactly the most obscure weakness. I just wish there were some better alternative to a simple rock barrier.”

Auden shakes his head. “I keep telling you, stick to what force magic does best: speeding things up and slowing them down. Stopping things dead in their tracks is just too inefficient with force magic. A wall is simple and effective.”

“I know, I know. And I can work with that sort of thing.” I sigh. “It just feels boring, like everyone and their mother has done it. I want to make magic that’s mine, not just an alteration of some mage three millennia ago, you know?”

“Sometimes things like that are just the best way to do it.” Auden shrugs. “Not really exciting, but it does the job.”

“Eh.” I grunt. “Sometimes simple is best. Sometimes people just haven’t done enough research to figure out that it’s actually a terrible way to do it.”

“Alright, enough chatting, it’s time for class to begin.” The teacher calls out, and we turn our attention back to the front.

With the additional skills I’ve gotten this term, I finally have fifty - exactly. Just as I had read, I earned a title because of this accomplishment. It doesn’t give me any stat bonuses or traits, but it does let me rearrange the skills in my status, so I neaten it up a bit.

Roughly speaking, the order I now have my skills in is: miscellaneous magic skills like absorb, mana sight, form manipulation etc. Then casting type skills (formations and vocal), schools of magic (creation, destruction, etc), types of magic (light, dark, fire, etc), artificing, languages, psychic skills, ki skills, miscellaneous skills, trash skills.

Doesn’t actually change anything, but it makes my status a little easier on the eyes, so to speak.

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 33

Experience: 6419.0/7600

Gender: None

Age: 2 years (local time)

Allegiance: None

Fame: 1

Strength: 6.5 (65.0)

Intelligence: 54.7

Dexterity: 9.0 (18.0)

Wisdom: 54.5

Charisma: 6.0

Luck: 12.1

Hardness: 26.94

Durability: 18.54/18.54

Mana: 1094/1094

Mana regen: 10.90/min (11.88)

Psi: 545/545

Psi regen: 5.47/min

Ki: 35425/3542 (35425)

Ki regen: 3.54 (35.42)/day

Unspent stat points: 0

Living – You are a living being, and as such, the energies of life heal you and the energies of death damage you.

-Trait: Average life energy absorption -Trait: Average death energy weakness

-Trait: minute life affinity -Trait: negative minute death affinity

Progenitor – The first of your species, and its forefather. Your reputation affects the reputation of your entire race.

-Trait: Minor fame gain enhancement -Trait: 50% of your fame is added to the fame of your race

Household object: Being an everyday, household object makes other beings less likely to notice you and mention you to others.

-Trait: Small fame gain reduction -Trait: Small presence reduction

Assumed inanimacy – Despite being a living entity and continually in the presence of other living entities, few have noticed your existence, assuming you to be an inanimate object. People are slightly less likely to notice you and less likely to notice your life energy.

-Trait: Minor presence reduction -Trait: Moderate life presence reduction

Fork – You are a fork. As such, you are designed to pierce, scoop and carry food.

-Trait: Minute taste enhancement -Trait: Minute piercing enhancement (restricted to food)

-Trait: Minute carry capacity increase (Restricted to food)

Second life – You have lived, and died, once before. While you died young, the experience nonetheless is an advantage over others. -Stats: Wisdom + 1, Intelligence + 2

Clinically sane – You have experienced insanity and overcome it, one way or another. The experience has changed you, for better or worse.

-Stats: Luck +5, Wisdom +1, Dexterity +0.5, Strength +0.5, Intelligence +1

Ouroboros – Like the serpent of legend, you bit your own tail. Then you ate it. Weirdo.

Stat – Luck +2, Charisma +1, Wisdom -1, Wisdom +2

Undead slaughterer – Killer of many horrors of the night, you can instinctively sense nearby undead, especially those harmful to you. All stats increased by 2 when attacking undead.

Skilled – An individual with many different skills. You may now rearrange the skills in your status.

Life energy absorption (Average) – life energy heals you, causing you to regain durability.

Death energy weakness (Average) – death energy damages you, reducing your durability.

Life affinity (Minute) – You find it easier to gain life related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Negative death affinity (Minute) – You find it harder to gain death related skills and proficiencies than if you did not have this trait.

Fame gain reduction (Minor) – The amount of fame you gain is reduced.

Presence reduction (Small +1) – Others are less likely to notice you.

50% Fame added to racial fame – The fame of your race is equal to 50% of your fame plus the added fame of all other members of the species divided by the number of members in your species.

Life presence reduction (Moderate) – Others are less likely to notice that you are alive.

Taste enhancement (Minute) – All food that touches you tastes slightly better.

Piercing enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – It is slightly easier for you to pierce food.

Carry capacity enhancement (Minute) (Restricted to food) – You can carry slightly more food than appearances would suggest.

Mana touched (Minor) – Mana permeates your body, changing it in some ways.

Herculean Strength (Large) – In possession of the ability to exert strength far beyond that of your peers. Multiplies base strength (Before using passive or active skills) by 10.

Structured sanity (Moderate) – a well-structured mind is a strong mind. You are resistant to mind affecting or altering affects, such as fear, charm and hypnosis.

Magic metal – You have gained the properties of the magic metal, Mithril. Your body conducts mana at twice the normal rate. Your passive mana absorption is doubled. Your maximum mana is now equal to Intelligence multiplied by 20 instead of Intelligence multiplied by 10. Your maximum durability is increased by your maximum mana divided by 100. Your hardness is increased by max mana divided by 100.

Psychic – You have unlocked the hidden potential of your mind. Stat unlock: psi.

Poison Resistance (Huge) – You are completely immune to weak and ordinary poisons. The effects of more potent poisons on you are greatly reduced.

Flea-bitten (Minor) – Fleas instinctively move towards you.

Physical damage reduction (Minute) – Damage taken that would do under 5% of your total durability as damage is reduced by 5%.

Ki Practitioner: You have gained the ability to control the energy within you, and to reinforce it with the energy around you, enabling you to perform far beyond the normal limits of your body.

Stat unlock: Ki.

Water-Proof (Minor) – Water, and many water based fluids, will slip from your surface with great ease.

Feather-weight (Minute) – You feel light as a feather. A feather that weighs slightly less than you originally did, that is. 1% weight reduction.

Cat’s flexibility (Minor) – Base Dexterity is multiplied by 2. Range of movement of joints increased by 1.1 times.

Curse resistance (Minor) – You have developed an innate resistance to curses. Reduces the effect of weak curses on you.

Heat resistance (Minor) – You have developed an innate resistance to heat. Reduces discomfort and damage inflicted upon you by high temperatures. Slightly increases your melting point.

Absorb (Advanced) (Racial, Low Unique) 34.18% - Allows the absorption of energy, or substances through the surface of the body or at a distance of (Int*Wis)/10mm. Rate of absorption can be controlled. Although this ability is magical in nature, as it is a form of mana control, and mana is also absorbed, mana cost is 0. Currently the only form of energy able to be absorbed is mana. Absorbing substances has a minor chance of giving traits, abilities and skills relating to the substance.

Mana sight (Expert) (Low Unique, Passive/Toggled) 6.49% - You are capable of seeing smaller congregations of mana than before within (Intelligence*Wisdom)/1.75m. Their forms are now distinct. You can now differentiate mana by type.

Form manipulation – Self (Expert) (Low Unique, Active) 49.28% - Through the use of mana, you can manipulate your own form at will. Cannot change density or mass. Costs 3.5 mana/second while changing form, costs 6 mana/minute while in a form not your original.

WARNING! Do not use this ability if you are of a race with aspects that could result in death if you were to change them E.G. internal organs, mana pathways, et cetera.

Doppelganger (Static) (High Unique, Active) – Switch between your original appearance and that of a Human Male. Costs 1000 mana/min.

Self-repair (Master) (Low Unique, Active) 10.95% - By expending a type of energy available to you, you can repair your own durability and recover your original form. Current energies able to be used: Mana, Psi, Ki. Exchange ratio: 5 mana: 0.1 durability, 10 Psi: 0.1 durability, 10 Ki: 0.1 durability.

Mana control (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 99.45% - Your practice with magic has led to a great familiarity with handling mana. Maximum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 100 mana. Minimum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 0.2 mana.

Meditation (Master) (High Rare, Active) 19.37%: Enter into a state unburdened by the worries of the physical world. There is only you, and your thoughts that exist in this world. While in this state, mana regeneration multiplied by 3.0, Psi regeneration multiplied by 3.0, Ki generated at 25 times the normal rate. User is also calmed and receives slight resistance to mind affecting or altering affects.

Magic missile (Expert) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 91.50% - Fires a projectile of mana. Power scales with mana consumption, unable to exceed 50 mana per shot. Maximum range = Intelligence*1.75/metres. If remotely controlling, there is an additional mana cost of 0.65 mana/sec, otherwise direction of travel is set at initial creation of shot.

Magic edge (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Active) 7.14% – You have discovered how to clad the edge of your blade in magic power, increasing the power of your strikes. Increase in power varies depending on mana spent.

Formation casting (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 91.63% - You have a firm grasp of casting magic through formations. Slight increase in speed and precision when casting magic through formations.

Vocal casting (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 23.12% - You have a basic grasp of casting magic vocally.

Creation magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 37.57% - You have a good grasp of creation magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting creation magic spells.

Destruction magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 26.32% - You have a good grasp of destruction magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting destruction magic.

Summoning magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 99.19% - You have a basic grasp of summoning magic.

Illusion magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 92.43% - You have a basic grasp of illusion magic.

Light magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 54.32% - You have a good grasp of multiple aspects of light magic, including creation and illusion. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting light magic.

Darkness magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 16.02% - You have a good grasp of darkness magic, particularly creation magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting darkness magic.

Fire magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 45.87% - You have a good grasp of fire magic, particularly creation and destruction magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting fire magic.

Water magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 26.58% - You have a good grasp of water magic, particularly creation magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting water magic.

Earth magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 39.63% - You have a good grasp of multiple aspects of earth magic, including creation and summoning. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting earth magic spells.

Wind magic (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 71.44% - You have a basic grasp of wind magic.

Force magic (Basic) (High Uncommon, Passive) 57.97% - You have a basic grasp of force magic.

Artificing (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 3.91% - You have a good grasp on the craft of designing and building magic tools. Slight increase in the ability to recognise the use of unfamiliar magic tools.

Common language-Written (Master) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 13.63% - You can not only read common the right way up, but upside-down, sideways and reflected without much trouble. The very few words you don’t recognise you can understand from context, and you can read like lightning if you need to.

Small increase in the ability to ignore superfluous text and descriptions to find the actual information you want. Allows you to skip over info dumps and flowery descriptions without flinching even slightly.

Common language-Spoken (Expert) (High Common, Passive) 78.31% - You know most of the commonly used words in the common language. Only obscure and occupation specific words are likely to be outside your knowledge.

Terran language – Written (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 14.19% - You have a large vocabulary and can understand most writing.

Terran language – Spoken (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 4.18% - You have a large vocabulary, and have no problem engaging in simple conversation.

Ignitae language – Written (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive), 8.51% - You have a large vocabulary and can understand most writing.

Aquan language – Written (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive), 1.07% - You have a good vocabulary and can understand most things written in this language, although in some cases it may take some time.

Telepathy (Advanced) (High Rare, Active) 41.15% - Allows one to communicate with other beings in exchange for 0.5 Psi/sec*distance between user and target in meters, to a maximum range of (Wisdom*Intelligence)/5m. Allows the user to share emotions and thoughts with the recipient.

Telekinesis (Expert) (Mid Rare, Active) 25.91% - Through Psi, your mind pushes at the world around you, moving objects without the need for physical contact. More Psi is required to produce greater forces. Currently slightly inefficient.

Psychic translation (Static) (Low Unique, Passive) – Through subconscious psychic analysis of thought waves and language patterns, allows you to understand (and temporarily speak) any spoken language as if it is your native tongue. Does not apply to non-vocal languages.

External Ki manipulation (Basic) (Low Rare, Active) 0.51% - You have discovered how to manipulate Ki outside of your body. Doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. Difficulty of control increases drastically with distance and quantity of Ki.

Ki blast (Advanced) (Mid Rare, Active) 47.28%: Expel Ki from your body in a concentrated blast. Power varies with ki infused. With your lack of experience, you are not able to accurately control the amount of ki you infuse into the skill, it may vary by up to 10 points.

Metallurgy (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 92.75% - You have decent theoretical knowledge of metals and alloys, but lack practical experience.

Herbalism (Basic) (Mid Common, Passive) 59.11% - You have some knowledge about the names, appearances and uses of common and even rarer herbs, but lack practical experience.

Lip reading (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 87.70% - You have learned how to understand what people are saying by the movement of their lips. Doesn’t hurt that you can see their tongue and jaw movement, either. Rarely inaccurate, you can usually tell what people are saying, unless they have some crazy accent. Good luck with those.

Multitasking (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 90.38% - You are skilled at doing multiple things at once. Small increase to your ability to keep track of multiple things at once, small decrease in the reduction in precision when performing multiple tasks at once.

Body of deadly poison (Advanced) (Low Unique, Passive/Toggled) 0.10% – Deadly poison courses throughout your entire body. So potent is this poison that even touching you will cause great sickness and partial paralysis for a short period of time. Potency of poison scales a small amount with proficiency.

Body of weak acid (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive/Toggled) 2.07% - A weak acid courses throughout your body and on your skin. So weak is this acid that it acts better as a cleaning agent than a weapon. Acidity scales minutely with proficiency.

Power stab (Advanced) (High Common, Active) 13.12% - Multiplies the speed and power of a stab by 1.2. Cooldown: 4 minutes.

Nine lives (Static) (Passive) – You will avoid the next eight attacks that would be deadly to you, seemingly by accident. After avoiding eight attacks, this skill will disappear.

Charges remaining: 8

Melee weaponry – Spear (Advanced) (Mid Common, Passive) 0.00% - You have some experience using a standard spear. Minor increased grip strength when wielding this weapon, and +1 to Strength and Dexterity while wielding this weapon. Maintaining this type of weapon is easier for you.

Flee (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive/Conditional) 3.28% - Multiplies base dexterity by 1.5 when running away from something. Will deactivate if offensive action is taken. Will not activate if you do not perceive the thing you are running away from as a threat.

Climbing (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - You have a slightly increased ability to find handholds and footholds when climbing something, as well as a slightly increased ability to maintain grip on smaller handholds.

Gaming – Minesweeper (Expert) (Mid rare, Passive) 13.30% - You’ve sunk way too much time into this game. And despite the statistics saying 0 wins, 308 losses, you are way better at this than almost everyone else. Slightly increased analytical abilities. Slight instinctive ability to correctly guess the outcome of a 50/50 gamble.

Gaming - Tic-Tac-Toe (Master) (Low Unique, Passive) 48.97% - You are a master at Tic-Tac-Toe. Congratulations. Slight instinctive ability to correctly guess the outcome of 50/50 and one in three gambles.

Deception (Advanced) (High Common, Passive) 0.07% – Whether the end game is a knife in the back or a slowly drained bank account makes no difference. It’s not like they don’t lie to you, either. Others are more likely to believe your words. Affected positively by charisma. Synergistic effect with the ‘flattery’ skill.

Flattery (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% – Skill and tireless effort is the surest way to the top. But sometimes, a few lined pockets and some glitzy compliments are all you need. Others are more likely to have positive opinions of you. Affected positively by charisma. Synergistic effect with the ‘deception’ skill.

Mud bath (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 0.00% - Your injuries heal faster when they are covered with mud, by 1.2 times. Slightly lowered chance of contracting infection and parasites from this activity.

…However, as you are for most purposes an object, this skill does not affect you.