Enjoying the Calm

Chapter 145: Enjoying the Calm

Mercury woke up early the next day. He'd slept better than in ages. There were no nightmares to haunt him, no bog to trap him, no nexus to test him. It was just lights out. His dreamscape was still being changed by whatever happened after he'd killed the Heart of the Starving Dream, so he didn't pop up there, either.

He decided to take the morning slow. He slowly convinced his eyes to open, blinking away the dreariness. Then, he hopped outside the cat bed, his feet touching down on the warm wooden planks.

Down here, a little further south from Stormbraver, the mornings were much warmer, rays of beautiful, golden sunlight shining in through the window. Mercury had never appreciated the colour of the sun as much as that day, simply staring at the dust dancing in its rays for a little while.

Eventually, he convinced himself to head downstairs. It was sundan, Kintra's day off, so she wasn't at the receptionist's desk today. In fact, seeing as she was nowhere to be found, he decided to relax while waiting for her.

Slow as an old tortoise, he lurched his way outside, deliberately taking the time to enjoy the feeling of the ground. No more ash-covered stone, he was back to actual wooden floors. Perhaps he would take the time to touch down on some grass today.

For a moment his mind drifted to the question of how long he'd spent in the ashen plains. He hadn't kept track of time very much, especially not when he was travelling around with just Ruvah, or on the days he simply crawled closer and closer to the nexus.

Still, all in all it must have been… pages, at the very least. Perhaps a season or two. His memories sometimes also were blurry, when he'd died in the dream, but it certainly was a long time.

Out here, however, less time seemed to have passed. Not terribly less, but certainly a bit. Perhaps… half? Somewhere around that line. He had apparently missed the harshest pages of winter, but when he stepped outside, the air still hit him.

Then, he felt <Adaptable > kick in, and his fur grew slightly denser, banishing the cold and trapping the warmth of the sun. It felt good against his skin. Even the slight chill in the air was a nice change of pace, and having his skin warmed by the sun felt good.

Apparently, the Skill didn't just help make him survive in extreme environments, it also made daily life more comfortable. Mercury smiled at that.

Deciding to take it slow, he gazed at the sky. It was clear for today, clouds only hanging at the farthest edges of the horizon. He would have hours of sunlight, at the very least. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he would see a bit of snow fall before he left for Stormbraver again.

The thought brought a smile to his face. He wondered how everyone there was doing, then shook his head. For now, he would simply enjoy the day.

Wanting to catch more of the sunlight, Mercury quickly scaled up the side of the building with a few targeted hops. He stuck to the thin ledges like glue, his paws instinctually placing themselves to help him balance.

As he jumped, puffs of his breath turned into white mist in front of his face, making him smile more. He laid down on the roof of the building, gazing down at the streets as they slowly filled up.

People began streaming from the houses, most wrapped in thick jackets, and he saw a few children run by and play. It felt a little surreal, being surrounded with people again, but he was also very happy about it.

Feeling tears well at the corners of his eyes again, he blinked them away, simply enjoying the knowledge that he was in a place with people. It was… peaceful.

Closing his eyes, he rested his head on his paws, and simply let the seconds tick by. He wasn't wary of an attack, didn't worry about staying on guard, or being ready to fight at the drop of a hat anymore. Instead, he enjoyed a calm morning, with the small murmurs of civilization all around him.

After some time, he heard Kintra call for him. She stood in front of the building with a basket full of fruits and vegetables. Right, she had probably gotten those for him… he hadn't had an apple for so long, the thought made his mouth water.

Back when he'd come to the forest, he'd leant a lot on his instincts. He didn't think about his death, simply going along with the flow. Perhaps his dream of becoming king also stemmed just from that, him picking the first, most outlandish goal he could come up with.

Now, he'd had much more time to reflect. Perhaps he'd start his own nation, perhaps not. Maybe his town was more of a matter of the heart, anyway. That thought made him smile. He held onto it for a few more long moments as he jumped down from the roof in one go, landing softly in front of Kintra.

"Showoff," she giggled, walking inside next to him.

"Psh, I just couldn't wait to eat something tasty again," Mercury replied with a grin, greedily eyeing her basket of gifts. But he restrained himself, even though his Skill mildly protested against that word.

The two walked up to Kintra's room, where she handed one of the apples in her little package to Mercury. The fruit on Chronagen was obviously different than on Earth, but a few things seemed to simply be the same across places. Or at least similar enough for <Appraisal > to declare them the same.

Using his claws, he smoothly cut off the peel in one long string. They had gotten sharper as <Claw > levelled up, perhaps a passive effect of the more active Skill. He also still maintained them with the sharpening kit from his shop, making sure he was always in his best condition.

When he bit into the soft flesh of the fruit, Mercury once again felt himself grow ecstatic. The taste was incredibly nostalgic. He couldn't believe he was actually feeling that way about an apple, but cooking had been a big part of his life, and fruit had been a big part of his cooking.

It was one of the few things that kept him healthy, after all, especially when he didn't feel like exercising after long days of work.

Shaking his head, he banished the memories of that old company. It was all so far away now. Instead of that, he focused on eating the food in front of him.

Of course, he wasn't planning on just leeching off of Kintra again. This time he really wanted to make sure he'd actually carry his own weight, so he decided to only take a few days off to relax and recover from what was probably one of the worst experiences of his life. Then, he was considering picking up some jobs as a godseeker.

There were surely plenty of hunting jobs around the area he'd be able to complete fairly easily. The city was smaller than Stormbraver, sure, but it still had more than enough people to need a steady supply of meat, and while butchering Skills could apparently help with that, they still needed bodies to work with at all.

The thought made him smile a little. His last job as a seeker had probably been when he hunted those boars for the butcher in Stormbraver. It would go… a lot faster now, he was sure of that much at least. His Skills had certainly grown a lot.

He still had to check his gains for everything he'd done in the ashen plains, too. At the end, when he was shunted from there, Mercury knew he'd felt very, very happy about it. And given everything the system said about feeling desire, he would bet that he'd fulfilled a fairly strong desire there.

Needless to say, he expected the rewards to be good, but he also just didn't want to think about it all for a little while.

So, for another day and a little more, Mercury simply decided to ignore it. He spent his time hanging out in the guild, watching the newbies, and chatting with Kintra. Quite a few of the seekers stopped to talk to him for a few moments; they'd never seen a mopaaw with the ability to speak, of course.

He didn't mind at all, enjoying the little interactions, and listening in to people chatting about their lives. How good their work was going, whether their employers paid well, where to get the best food, and which brewery made the best drinks.

That last one especially made Mercury perk up. He usually didn't drink a lot, but he also hadn't drank anything at all in a long while, and he had a sneaking suspicion that <Nutritional Preservation> would most certainly help with his tolerance…

And thus was the story that after a long day of relaxing, Mercury got himself just a little bit smashed in the evening.

"I llove… 'ou Kintra," he slurred out as she dragged him home. "N-not like… romanticalll… ah frick, you-... you know what I mean?"

"I know, Mercury," she said, faintly smiling. "I love you too, as long as you don't vomit on my rug."

"Promise…" he said, giving a weak smile, before drifting off to sleep.

- - -

The next morning, Mercury enjoyed the sun a little again. He felt it through his cloak and his fur. Was <Adaptable > making him like a polar bear, where the hairs on his body themselves reflected the sun on his skin? Nah, then he'd probably be too warm.

Putting the thought aside, he activated <Still Mirror> to smoothen out the mild headache he had from drinking. <Nutritional Preservation> already helped make it much less bad than it should have been, and with his new Skill, it was borderline gone.

Then, he finally decided to call up the menus for his quest completions.

-

[Main Quest: "House of a starving Court" completed!

Reward: 500 Skill points, <Survivor > mastery, <Vast Mind> mastery, 2 levels (character, instant).]

-

[Main Quest: "Lady of a starving Star" completed!

Reward: Blanket of Dreams, Spatial expansion tool (single use), 3 levels (character, instant), 3 levels (distributable), <Dreaming > affinity pass.]

-

[Killed the Last Lady.]

[Killed the Crimson Sun.]

[Get: 35 000 Exp, 3 500 Gold, Star Fragment.]

[The "Star Fragment" has been automatically consumed by the individual. Their Dreamscape is experiencing significant change. It may be inaccessible for a few nights.]

[The individual has acquired the ability <Dreamweave (lowest)> through a specific action!]

[Clear Quest: "Realm of the Crimson Sun" completed! Grade: A! Wandering Arch Grade: A!

Reward: <Talent > Skill, <Star Usurper> Title, 1 free <Skill Evolution> use, <Thread > mastery!]

[Acquired the Skill <Talent 1 lv.> through a quest. Skill already owned. Fusing Skills.]

[Acquired the Skill <Talent 5 lv.> through fusing Skills.]

[<Talent > has met the necessary qualifications for evolution. Evolve?]

[Your Skills and Abilities have levelled up: <Claw 4 lv. -> 7>, <Footwork 8 lv. -> 10>, <Bite 3 lv. -> 5>, <Reinforcement 2 Dash lv. -> 3>, <Thread 2 lv. -> 3>, <Intuition 3 lv. -> 4>, <Multitasking 20 lv. -> 23>, <Daydream 8 lv. -> 9>, <Dreamwalking 7 lv. -> 8>, <Heightened 2 Mana Regeneration lv. -> 3>, <Vast 5 Mind lv. -> 6>, <Stamina 1 Guide lv. -> 2>, <Warmed 1 up lv. -> 2>!]

[<Footwork > has met the necessary qualifications for evolution. Evolve?]

That… was perhaps the densest wall of Skill upgrades he'd ever received. The only thing still missing was his level ups… He decided to compress them just this one.

[Level Up! x 9]

Then, finally, he decided to call up his status.

- - -

Status:

Mercury Rainfall Starlight

Level: 21 -> 30

Species: Leyfal

Titles: <Star Usurper>, <Trialist >, <Patient Learner>, <Mountain Usurper>, <Tenacious Genius>, <Forest Usurper>, <Tutorial Completer>

Alias: Beast, Mittens

===

Hp: 550/550

Mp: 742/742

Sp: 537/537

===

Strength: 76 (+5) -> 78

Vitality: 110 -> 115

Dexterity: 104 (+15) -> 109

Agility: 105 (+15) -> 110

Intelligence: 103 -> 109

Wisdom: 99 (+2) -> 106

Willpower: 124 -> 132

Luck: 84 -> 102

===

Ability points: 96

World points: 895

Skill points: 2410

===

Gold: 14 853

Beast familiars: 1/2

- - -

[The individual's Wisdom has surpassed 100! Your control over mana grows stronger.]

[The individual's Luck has surpassed 100! You may now actively attempt to "be lucky" at something.]

[The individual has reached level 30. You are now eligible for evolution. Engage?]

Giving his new threshold bonuses a quick test, Mercury noted that they were indeed working as advertised. Shifting mana around his body had never been so easy before, it felt like it was becoming more and more malleable to his mind. Less like he was trying to get a swarm of bees to behave like he wanted, and more like dealing with the family dog.

But what he felt much more interested in was the ability to actively attempt to "get lucky". When he focused, he could tell it was there, almost like a new muscle, and he could flex it a little. It was kind of strange, though.

There was no indication what he could use it on, whether it was himself, or his surroundings. Maybe he could focus it on an action as well? Like trying to forge something, or looking for a specific herb?

Now that he thought about it, was it also his luck that let him pick the right direction to go to find Ruvah in the ashen plains? It had very swiftly gone from a stat he didn't pay too much attention to one that needed much more experimentation.

He also gazed at the race evolution pop-up for a few moments, but decided to not go through with it quite yet. He just wanted to review his other gains before, now that they had all gone through. First, he decided to use the affinity pass.

[<Dreaming > affinity pass activated. The associated Skills will now be 15% cheaper and gain mastery 35% faster.]

That was very nice. A mastery boost that high was going to pay a lot of dividends in the long run. Mercury smiled, then began <Appraising > the items he'd gotten.

[Blanket of Dreams: This reward, handed out to the individual to encourage them to REST MORE, is indeed a blanket. It is, however, incredibly soft, and will encourage its user to sleep incredibly well, turning even low amounts of sleep into restful adventures. Additionally, it promotes tissue regeneration when sleeping on or under it, and will encourage the growth of the user in their Dreamscape, increasing the chance of them landing there. Grade: A.]

It… was really what it said on the tin? <Appraisal > was being a bit snarky again, which almost made him think it was close to another level. He'd see, probably. But… the blanket was really good. It had to be, given its grade, too. There were probably a few additional enchantments that a surface skim didn't tell him about.

In fact, he was more than sure it had some self-cleaning properties at the very least. It seemed to almost repel the dust on the floor when he dropped it down. The blanket was a pristine white, though it had a somewhat silver sheen, and seemed to have images of… sheeps stitched into it.

Admittedly, the sheeps were slightly crude, almost cartoonish, but they also looked very fluffy, and were soft to the touch. For a moment, he raked his claw across one of them, and the feeling was incredible. Like he had placed it on puffy clouds that were also made to be a scratching toy for cats.

Mercury fell in love then and there. He had to physically tear himself away from the blanket by summoning up the description of the next item to distract himself.

[Spatial expansion tool (single use): This item may be activated on any one object that is deemed to have an "interior space" by the individual. Upon usage, any openings in the object will be designated as entrances to the exterior, though these may be modified as the object changes over time. Once an individual passes through one of the entrances, they will find themselves on the inside of the object, which will be physically enlarged, despite appearing no larger from the outside, and growing no heavier. Grade: B]

… Alright. This item was practically made for him. There was only one object in his inventory he could think to use it on, and Mercury didn't hesitate. Immediately, he slammed the item against his log, which was covered in a light blue shimmer for a moment, and then back to normal.

He couldn't see any changes from the outside, but after sticking his head in, it was pretty clear it was, in fact, no longer the same. The inside of the log had been turned into a room something like 5 meters on a side. It was still mostly cylindrical, with the walls, floor, and ceiling all made from the same bark, but it seemed to have been almost magically stretched.

It was also slightly flatter, with the bumps on the bark forming into something like smaller platforms, which made it look a little like it was made from blocks of bark, creating plateaus that were flat in and of themselves.

With the way it was looking now, there was a good chance he could actually set up stuff like tables in here. Maybe a few cupboards for storage. Wait, if this whole inside didn't make it any heavier on the outside, then could he still put it in his inventory?

Doing a quick test on it by dropping all his blankets inside, then hopping out, he confirmed that it was indeed possible. He now had a portable storeroom slash home slash bed. It was perfect. Making a quick decision, Mercury decided to deposit the little charm of "Home is where your friends are" inside it again, placing it gently on the Blanket of Dreams.

Then, he headed out again, and stored the log in his inventory. He was more than happy about the change, the last two items were a huge improvement to his general living situation on the road, so he was equally excited to check the next one. With a glance at the drop notification, Mercury used <Appraisal > on the Star Fragment.

[Star Fragment: This piece of the Crimson Sun was changed by the hands of the system after its death. The malevolence and hunger that plagues the star has been purged out of this fragment, leaving it a blank slate of potential. Said potential was imbued within the individual upon consuming it. The exact benefits remain to be seen once the individual's dreamscape has finished adapting.]

That told him… surprisingly little. It was a piece of the Crimson Sun, but also had been completely cleansed of its evil. So then, what exactly did that mean? Had he basically eaten something that had a chance to gain consciousness?

[The purged star fragment was an entirely blank slate. It would have only developed rudimentary automated functions based on its environment. The original Crimson Sun had a different beginning altogether, starting as the core of an arch, and growing from there. It was birthed with desire, the fragment was not.]

Alright, moral debate avoided. Phew, that could have gotten real existential.

Well, for now, he wanted to get two more things done before jumping into his evolution. Two Skills to evolve!

[The individual is encouraged to save their free Skill evolution use for an expensive Skill.]

Right, yes, thank you for the reminder <Appraisal >. With that in mind, Mercury decided to evolve <Footwork > first.

[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same (500 Skill points), no matter which you choose.]

[1. <Fleet-Footed >

2. <Combat Sense>]

Well, 500 points wasn't very expensive for an evolution. It felt a little like <Appraisal > was trying to tell him something very specific, since it was piping up so unusually much. He trusted it, for now.

[<Fleet-Footed >: The individual's control over their body, specifically their feet, is heightened even further. They become able to dodge attacks much more easily, and are much more aware of their spacing from the enemy.]

A fairly standard upgrade if he was honest. Nothing super fancy or special, just a straight bonus to what the Skill already did.

[<Combat Sense>: This Skill grants the individual supernatural awareness in combat. In exchange for actively consuming Sp, the individual becomes aware of anything happening around them, and is granted the ability to predict attack trajectories, as well as the best ways to avoid them.]

Alright, so, <Combat Sense> was obviously the better Skill. It did what the other Skill did, just more. In exchange though, it would most likely come with a higher cost of upkeep. Was that an issue?

Not really. It would still have a slight passive effect; at the very least it would continue to improve his coordination just like <Footwork > did, so he didn't see any reason not to take the Skill.

[Acquired the Skill <Combat 1 Sense lv.> through Skill evolution!]

[<Appraisal > has levelled up! <Appraisal 3 lv. -> 4>]

He fucking knew it! It had been close to levelling up! Yessss!

Mercury felt a little vindicated at being able to read the intentions of the system this well by now, but quickly focused again. One more Skill to evolve before <Appraisal > had his attention. Time to see what he could do for <Talent >.

[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same (1 200 Skill points), no matter which you choose.]

The mopaaw paused for a moment, then glanced at the price again. "Surely this counts as an expensive Skill, right, <Appraisal >?" he asked

[The individual is strongly encouraged to save their free Skill evolution use for a more expensive Skill.]

Taking another look at the price, Mercury hesitated, then looked back at the text. "Alright, have it your way," he said, with a slightly defeated sigh, and moved onto the options for <Talent >.

[1. <Enhanced Mastery>

2. <Clarity >

3. <Inviolable Self>]

Glancing at the options, he was surprised at how good they seemed. <Talent > had seemed to do… fairly little up until now? But then again, it didn't seem to work quite like most other Skills. Alright, onto the descriptions! <Appraisal >?

[<Enhanced Mastery>: This Skill allows the user to gain mastery for all their Skills more quickly.]

Alright, that had to be the shortest Skill description he'd ever gotten. To be fair, it was also a very simple effect. More mastery. It didn't tell him how much, but then again, Skills were usually somewhat vague. But this one, while solid, also seemed a smidge meh. There was nothing about it that he couldn't already do. For now, Mercury checked the next option.

[<Clarity >: By using this Skill, the individual becomes able to much more quickly grasp new concepts. It clears their mind off distractions, and helps them peer into the essence of subject matter much more quickly. Additionally, it helps the individual grasp new combat techniques faster.]

This one already seemed a lot better, and it was probably the first time he saw a Skill that could seriously synergize with his ihn'ar really well. One more to go, though.

[<Inviolable Self>: The individual understands their own body perfectly. All processes in it are clear to the individual. They become much more acutely aware of muscle movement, coordination, and general physicality. With this Skill, martial arts will be much easier to learn.]

For his last Skill, he felt it was aimed at someone a little different from him. Mercury liked martial arts movies, sure, but he wasn't going to be the next blossoming blademaster either. It seemed mismatched with his skillset, for now. Instead, the mopaaw's choice fell back on <Clarity >. The synergy was just too good to pass up.

[Acquired the Skill <Clarity 1 lv.> through Skill evolution!]

Now, he'd spent 1 700 Skill points. "<Appraisal >, would you care to elaborate which Skill you would like me to use the free evolution on?"

[The dum-dum is highly encouraged to use their distributable levels on the <Appraisal > Skill.]

Mercury paused for a few moments. <Appraisal > had called him a dum-dum before, but certainly never like this. It usually seemed to show more agency after a level up, but this was… extreme. It was most certainly trying to tell him something, and if it was actually trying to do so, he wanted to help it out for now.

"Fine then," he said. "I was just gonna have them lying around otherwise, anyways."

With a quick thought, he sent his available distributable levels into <Appraisal >, and the Skill greedily consumed all three he'd just gotten. The one from the last arch, the one he'd cleared with Marcel, Elliot and Gilah, was still hanging around though.

[<Appraisal > has levelled up! <Appraisal 4 lv. -> 7>]

[<Appraisal > has met the necessary qualifications for evolution. Evolve?]

Ah. Yes, he could see how that one would be interesting to it.