Fork This Life!

Chapter 50: Sparks Beget Fire

It’s refreshing to work on something entirely different than my eye for a change, even for something as straightforward as this. That being said, it’s my first time implementing a dial into a magic tool, so there is still some trial and error. A megaphone is a simple device: sound goes in, louder sound comes out.

Naturally, how that works isn’t so simple. Converting a sound wave into an electric current, amplifying it, then converting it back into sound waves is easier said than done. But thankfully, I can just directly increase the amplitude of sound waves passing through the magic tool.

Well, there were some small kinks to work out. Mana constantly being used even when not speaking through it, for instance – had to introduce a lower threshold below which it won’t activate, otherwise it would amplify the tiniest of vibrations. I’m not trying to listen to the wind here, so that’s not necessary.

Naturally, it looks a little different from an electric one. It’s mostly just a cone, visually. So, probably lighter than the electric ones I’ve seen before. As for the shape, I don’t pretend to know how the acoustics of different shapes work, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I mean, that’s not a great way of going about life, but it’s applicable in certain circumstances. Like this one.

Anywho, the dial just changes by what degree the sound is amplified. Twist it one way it gets louder, and vice versa. Simple.

And yet, so very useful in many situations. Making yourself heard in a noisy environment, speaking to crowds… I’m sure there are others. Probably. Oh yeah, being an annoyance. Very valuable ability.

After this is done, I plan to start on the adjustable telescope, too. At some point, maybe I’ll be able to incorporate the technology of both into my personal magical tools, literally allowing me to zoom in my vision and turn up my hearing. That would be useful. Plus, not having an eardrum or all that stuff to get damaged by overly loud noises, I can just turn it right up with no worries except mana consumption.

Anyway, I’ll be selling the prototypes and plans for both devices, if they’ll buy them. Perhaps I would earn more by producing them and selling them myself, but I just don’t have the connections or resources necessary to hire people to do it for me, and doing everything by myself would be a lot of time and effort that I don’t think is worth it at this point.

Maybe later I’ll develop something that earns me enough to be worth the time, but at this stage simply hunting will be better at earning money.

A lot of the stuff I hunt in the ocean is in short supply, being both powerful enough to break or escape fishing nets and lines, as well as difficult to hunt with other methods. As such, I’ve been earning more than I initially expected. Not an incredible amount, but certainly enough that I should be able to sustain my current expenditures with ease - and start saving.

Dear lord the difference not having to constantly buy food makes, it just makes everything that much easier.

‘Fuck.’ The guy at a table behind me swears beneath his breath, with feeling. ‘Fuck. Fuck. Damn thing’s going nowhere. Why does it have to be so damned complicated?’

Now, usually this would be an everyday sight. Artificer working on this formation or that component, banging their head against a wall because something isn’t doing what they think it should be doing. Insulting their own work to hell and back is par for the course. Except, well, it’s about 3am and he most certainly is not a nocturnal race.

And he’s been working on this same thing every other time I’ve seen him here, with similar and constant levels of frustration… And he’s started silently crying to himself. Right. Yeah, this guy is not okay. No clue why he hasn’t just given up on whatever it is he’s doing and tried something else, because it’s obviously not working out.

Now, I’d go and say something to him, but from past experiences, the last thing he probably wants right now is for someone to come over and talk. Later, maybe, but not now.

Eh, I’ll just find his teacher and talk to them about it, much easier. Probably get a more honest conversation, too. Let’s see now…

I scan back through my memories and take note of classes I’ve seen him entering, picking up his name along the way from conversations – Derrick. Also from conversations, I determine which is his artificing class – intermediate artificing, specifically – and from there figuring out who his teacher is, is simplicity itself.

They don’t happen to be nocturnal either, so I shelve it as a job for tomorrow.

In the meantime, I just focus on my own project.

Machite knocks for me. He should be available now based on his movements in the past, but it’s hard to say for sure when every private or restricted area is shielded from view.

Sure enough, the door opens a dozen seconds later and a short green man peers out and blinks at Machite before adjusting his gaze downwards to me. “Magic tool? Neh, no apparent method of locomotion. Ah! You’re that one I’ve heard about, the living fork, was it?”

“That’s right, my name’s Gerald. Do you have a few minutes free, sir?” I ask politely.

“Indeed I do - come in, come in.” The goblin professor opens the door wider, allowing me to float in – I instruct Machite to stay put outside the door.

The room is utilitarian, with most of the room dedicated to sturdy benches, shelves and equipment. A small bed and desk are squirreled away in a corner of the room. Impressed, I half-joke, “If the perks of being a teacher include a private workshop, I can see why people would want to sign up.”

“The walls have sound dampening formations, too.” He agrees. “A bomb could go off in here, and my neighbour wouldn’t notice a thing. Not that things explode in here often. So, what brings you here, Gerald? Most times a student visits, it’s someone that attends my classes.”

“I’ve come about one of your students, actually. Derrick?” I explain, hoping he knows his students well enough to recognise the name.

He nods, raising an eyebrow. “Has he done something?”

“Not at all. Keeps to himself, really, don’t know much about him.” I assure the goblin artificer. “I’ve just happened to notice him a few times in the artificing workshop – I’m in the basic artificing course – and he’s always seemed very stressed. Not normally something I’d take note of, but he seems to have been working on the same thing for a while now, and getting more stressed and frustrated as time goes on. And, well, it doesn’t seem like healthy behaviour for someone to be swearing and crying quietly over a project at three in the morning.”

“Indeed, indeed.” He agrees, with brief surprise. “I’m glad to see students of our academy looking out for each other. What sort of project is he working on, by the by?”

“It’s little effort on my part, sir.” I verbally shrug. “I’m not sure what it is, exactly. Most every part of the magic he was using is outside of my range of knowledge. Looks like a sort of card, small enough to hold in your hand, though it could well be just a component.”

He nods in understanding. “Well, I’ll be sure to look into it. I wouldn’t want my students burning themselves out, particularly when they can just ask me for help. Speaking of which,” He smiles widely, “You mentioned that you’re in basic artificing, right? Need any pointers?”

“Well, uh…” I sputter in surprise. “Uh, I’m doing well so far, I think, thanks. Though, I wouldn’t mind a second opinion on my eye. It’s the one at the front of me.”

With deft fingers he removes the magical tool from its place in my harness and inspects it, turning it carefully to see it from different angles. He swiftly finds the latch keeping the outer plate in place. “Unusual choice in securing the plating.” He remarks.

“I’m not able to exert force with the ease most people are, so I had to design something that could be released with minimal force while remaining secure.” I explain.

“Seems functional, but I worry an impact could damage the mechanism.” He notes, already looking over the formations. “This switch… Isn’t an on-off? Seems more like it… Changes the colour range?”

“Exactly. Since it transmits the image to the user directly, there’s no need to limit it to normal ranges.” I say. “That is to say, it allows the user to see ‘colours’ beyond the norm. One mode is roughly equivalent to the range of colours human vision can see, the other goes beyond that.”

“Now that is novel. May I?” He asks, imbuing it with mana upon my agreement. “Seems normal, maybe a little less sharp than my own sight… Now the switch.”

With a fingernail he pushes it to the other position and points the device around the room. He raises an eyebrow when he points it at himself. “I appear to be glowing. Is this usual?”

“Perfectly normal, yes.” I reassure him. “You know how if you heat up metal enough it glows? Well, basically, anything warm does, but the colours in which it does so aren’t visible to most species.”

“Curious. I’m of half a mind to investigate in this direction myself later.” He says, switching it back to normal mode and slotting it back into my harness. “Well, the formations themselves are well designed, and the build quality is sound, if a bit basic. Better materials… Wouldn’t necessarily be very cost effective, but you should at least look into procuring a higher quality lens. Apart from that, it’s a perfectly useable basic artificial eye.”

We spend a few minutes discussing methods of improving various elements and features before I give my thanks and say my goodbyes. It has been an interesting aside to what I usually spend time doing, but we both have other things we need to do. Time to move on with my day.

I close the door behind my unusual guest, and I immediately switch gears from ‘helpful professor’ to very concerned. Moving back to my desk, I pull open a drawer and fetch what looks almost like a stack of blueprints, but is in fact my teaching notes.

Leafing through them, I frown as I confirm my earlier thoughts. There are no current assignments in my intermediate artificing class, nor had I handed out any individual tasks to Derrick. Personal projects are of course practically commonplace and encouraged in my course, but generally wouldn’t cause significant stress for students.

After all, even if a project doesn’t work out, it wouldn’t affect their grade, just monetary loss from materials and time invested. Derrick is… Perhaps not among the brightest in the class, but he is above average and studious. He’s never had problems asking for help in the past, so it seems strange for him to be struggling on his own, for an extended period of time, at that.

I smell mischief.

The reason why he referred to my eye prototype as a ‘basic’ eye is simple. It cannot turn, and it cannot change focus as a real eye could. It is entirely probable that to do so, I will have to redesign it from the ground up. A glass lens can’t refocus without physically changing its shape – a gel or purely magical alternative would be more suitable. In turn, rotation would require its own changes in materials and construction.

It will be a major undertaking, spanning across multiple terms in all likelihood. However, I feel that I do not currently have the necessary knowledge and skills for the project. Perhaps during or after the completion of the intermediate artificing class I will be able to.

Thus, for now, my efforts will be either working on small parts of the problem, or in another direction entirely. My next pet interest is, perhaps, predictable. Electricity.

I will be honest, my understanding of electrical components is rudimentary, at best. I could, perhaps, replicate a simple light bulb after extensive experimentation. Producing heat, perhaps a stovetop, would not be farfetched. Theoretically, I know how sound is produced electronically, but the specific wavelengths and frequencies involved in certain sounds are completely unknown to me – that would be a long-term project.

But magic can do all that much more simply and directly.

So why, then, am I interested in electricity? Do I want to zap my enemies? Fry their nerves, short-circuit their brains or stop their hearts? Maybe. But from what I know those would likely be effective at very short ranges. And, of course, the shorter the range of your attack, the more likely you are within your opponent’s range. Not my jam. Useful to have within my repertoire, perhaps, but I can shelve that for later.

No, the reason I’m interested in electricity is for a much simpler reason. I recently recalled a science experiment I did in chemistry class a while back. A process known as electroplating which is fairly straightforward. What it does is coat, or ‘plate’ the surface of a usually metallic object with a thin layer of another metal.

Naturally, being able to coat a, say, iron ring with gold would appeal to jewellers and their customers alike. You get a very similar appearance to a pure gold ring with a fraction of the material cost. But the applications of electroplating exceed just that.

It’s a given that iron rusts, particularly near the coast. Nevertheless, some things must be made of iron, whether due to structural requirements, material availability or whatever else. But if you were to just plate those things in a thin layer of a more corrosion resistant metal, such as copper, then you no longer need to worry as much.

Back on earth, you could also plate a metal with a more or less conductive surface layer, whichever was needed, but here that wouldn’t be too useful.

…I wonder if I would be able to plate something with mithril?

Putting that aside, it is all round a very, very useful technique. One that is completely absent from current magic technology, and as such ripe for capitalisation. There’s just two niggly little problems. One is that I lack the means to provide the necessary electrical current. The second is the necessary electrolytes, chemical solutions which contain, to oversimplify things a little, the metal which one wishes to plate onto the object.

The first I’ll probably be able to figure out, given enough time and study into ‘lightning’ magic and the like. The second will undoubtedly require me to take a class on the so called chemical magic.

Chemistry is not something that should be half-assed or experimented on willy-nilly. The cartoon representations that come to mind of pouring too much of one chemical into another and causing an explosion are, perhaps, the least of your concerns. Chemistry, in its own way, is kinda more arcane than magic.

You can burn sugar with acid and the fumes given off can cause a burning irritation in the nose. Some chemical reactions can produce transparent gasses which can be toxic, caustic, or cause a variety of other health problems. Acids and bases on their own can be dangerous if mishandled or improperly stored.

And sometimes, it’s very difficult to know exactly what will occur in a reaction if everything isn’t carefully controlled. Say you have a solution of one substance which you then add another chemical to, which then reacts to create another, perhaps multiple other chemicals. It is not impossible that those products could potentially react with one of the initial chemicals or the water in the solution itself to produce something else unintended.

Some reactions produce heat, which if not properly handled could damage your equipment and lead to leaking chemicals. Some even require heat, but also produce heat themselves. What this means is that you can introduce some heat to start the reaction, then remove the heat source and the reaction will just keep itself going until the reactants – the chemical ingredients – run out or it fails to produce enough heat to sustain itself. Meaning it’s really hard to stop once it’s started.

There are a million and one ways to injure yourself and others if you don’t have a solid understanding of what you’re doing and why. I have a fairly solid grasp of atomic theory, and a basic understanding of chemical equations - yes that’s a real and important thing – but basic won’t cut it for self-experimentation.

…While I got rather long-winded, what I mean to say is that I’ll wait until the relevant class to do that. So, between that and other things being put on hold, electricity is next on the list.

“Which means that it’s time to go to the library.” I mutter.

Spark rolls his eyes. “According to you, it’s always time to go to the library. Is your brain a book too?”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A man’s fingernail taps steadily on the lacquered surface of the table. His eyes are fixed on the dimly glowing display of a clock, measuring the seconds going by.

Opposite him sit two other men. One has their chair tilted slightly off its front legs, lounging as a small gem in his hand slowly gains an inner lustre. The other has his elbows on the table, impatiently glaring at the communication device in the middle of the three.

“At this point, I’m killing him even if he does report.” The impatient one snarls.

“Kill him, let him live, does it really make much of a difference?” The lounging one speaks with his head tilted towards the ceiling. “It was a long shot among long shots in the first place. How could some greenhorn kid figure out how to circumvent the warding on one of the most protected places in the academy? Not like our own people haven’t tried and failed already.”

The impatient man sneers. “Even being able to interact directly with the wards, the brat hasn’t been able to figure it out. If we had the same access directly, it wouldn’t have taken us half the time he’s been given to do it.”

The tapping stops. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t a possibility. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be bothering with him at all. It seems, however, that he has been discovered. He wouldn’t dare make us wait this long otherwise.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” The impatient one grins, getting out of his chair. “I’ll go pay his family a visit.”

He pauses at the gesture of the man opposite him, still sitting calmly in his chair. “I do believe our exact words to him were ‘you will watch them die’. They can wait a little bit longer. Since you seem so excited about it, can I count on you to secure our wayward agent during the operation?”

Slightly disappointed at not being able to do it right now, he nods, but brightens up at the prospect of being able to take out his frustrations directly on the one that had made him wait so long.

“It isn’t as if we’ve been doing nothing during this time.” The relaxed man tosses a newly glowing gem onto a large pile of similar crystals and picks up a dull one from a small pile on the table in front of him. “The wait means we’re just that much more prepared.”

The calm man gets out of his chair. “I’ll inform them. It probably won’t be long before we start.”

“My condolences.” The relaxed man jokes. “Anyways, it’s really happening, huh? Death or greatness it is, I guess.”

“We can only pray that we don’t get a repeat of the last operation. That would be the only thing that could go wrong.” The impatient man agrees.

“Praying won’t do much good.” The relaxed man says. “After all, there’s a god on both sides.”

Just an ordinary day, studying with my friends in the library.

A voice echoes throughout the entire library, loud and urgent. “All students, return to your dorms immediately and stay there until further notice. Students that do not live at the academy, go to the artificing, alchemy or duelling rooms. The academy is under attack.”

Well fork, decidedly not an ordinary day.

Status

Name: Gerald

Race: Living Fork

Level: 33

Experience: 6843.2/7600

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) 7.18% - 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) 49.29% - 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 (Master) (Mid Rare, Passive) 3.26% - Your practice with magic has led to an incredible familiarity with handling mana. Maximum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 500 mana. Minimum quantity of mana able to be controlled reliably: 0.05 mana. You are capable of controlling ambient mana within wis*0.01m

Mana sense (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 24.16% - You have gained familiarity with sensing the presence and flow of mana in the world around you. Accuracy decreases significantly with distance.

Meditation (Master) (High Rare, Active) 19.44%: 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 (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 19.79% - You have an excellent grasp of casting magic through formations. Small increase in speed and precision when casting magic through formations.

Vocal casting (Basic) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 25.18% - You have a basic grasp of casting magic vocally.

Creation magic (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive) 43.21% - 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) 29.90% - You have a good grasp of destruction magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting destruction magic.

Summoning magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 10.63% - You have a good grasp of summoning magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting summoning magic.

Illusion magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 24.67% - You have a good grasp of illusion magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting illusion magic.

Light magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 83.47% - 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) 32.20% - 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) 51.43% - 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) 42.61% - 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) 49.23% - 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 (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 17.58% - You have a good grasp of wind magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting wind magic.

Force magic (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 16.41% - You have a good grasp of force magic. Slight increase in mana efficiency and spell control when casting force magic.

Artificing (Advanced) (High Uncommon, Passive) 29.73% - 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) 4.21% - 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), 1.16% - You have a large vocabulary and can understand most writing.

Aquan language – Spoken (Basic) (Mid Uncommon, Passive), 23.07% - You have a large vocabulary but terrible pronunciation, and have difficulty making yourself understood.

Aerus language – Written (Advanced) (Mid Uncommon, Passive), 48.80% - 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) 29.17% - 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 (Advanced) (Low Uncommon, Passive) 16.74% - You have decent knowledge of common metals and alloys.

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) 90.61% - 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 (Expert) (High Uncommon, Passive) 3.14% - You are excellent at doing multiple things at once. Average increase to your ability to keep track of multiple things at once, average 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.