The Way Ahead

“Okay…” Edwin panted, “That’s enough for today. Thanks for not breaking the bracer off, Lefi.”

His entire body ached as he worked on dismissing the apparatite pins that held the armband in place, and sighed in sweet relief as the tight crystal released its grip. He flinched at the ring of holes in his arm re-opening and watched as blood welled up and scabbed over the wounds in rapid succession. Having lots of Health in one place was great, even if the Attribute was more focused on putting him back together after so many uses of Overcharge.

“What would have happened if it did break off?” Lefi asked, curious. Did he want something similar? There was no way the guy had Overcharge though, so it wouldn’t be any use to him.

“Well, with the combination of suppressed yet concentrated Health and Stamina, I suspect immediate-onset magical necrosis which would rot my limb off in the matter of seconds to or possibly even through the bone. This would be while having twelve holes in my skin making veritable fountains of blood spurting out every second.”

Both of his teachers leveled a glare at him.

“Okay, okay! Fine! It was just a joke, no need to be so touchy. I would be fine, I’d just need to make a new band, which I would anyway. Overcharging just my forearm wouldn’t be enough most of the time anyway.”

After all, his goals- discounting his ability to train Overcharge more effectively if his entire body didn’t feel like burned meat after using the Skill. A single limb at a time would be far preferable- were to get a quick but not ‘final move’-level powerup that he could use to literally punch above his weight class.

Naturally, he wouldn’t gain the full benefits of using the Skill in battle, but he would at least be able to continue to fight afterwards. Or he could use his arm as a shield if needed, as even Lefi needed to strike at nearly full strength if he wanted to actually injure Edwin while Overcharge was active.

But, all that meant he would be best-served by Overcharging his entire arm, and that meant he needed to figure out a contraption that rested around his shoulder.

It ended up not being too terribly tricky, all told. A few hours of work and a level in Sapper’s Apparatus later, he had a ring that sat just past his shoulder, resting on his collarbone and encircling his entire shoulder. When he activated it, the potion would inject itself into the space just by his joint, empowering everything he would need to give an absolutely massive punch.

It did, unfortunately, leave his shoulder particularly vulnerable, as it wouldn’t be reinforced by any of his Attributes, at least not yet. Any Health that went across that tiny sliver would be used to fight against the encroaching mana from Overcharge, and Stamina would be busy trying to get rid of the injection.

To protect his arm from being sliced off, Edwin devised a pauldron which would house the vials and also prevent someone from chopping his arm outright. For the time being, it was just made out of apparatite, but he hoped to get something stronger made for him once they made it to the city… whatever it was called. Sheraith?

Prototyping was especially useful in that process, and he even got a few levels in the Skill much to his delight. He just had so many Skills it was almost inevitable he was neglecting some of them as he progressed through his training.

It was frustrating, in some ways, that the exact same barriers that kept people from taking the Lefi route of getting all of the Skills- there simply was a practical limit for which you started hitting diminishing returns for taking another Skill- had finally started coming into play. He was either at or near that point, but at the same time all of his Skills had their place and he wasn’t sure which he would give up if presented with the opportunity.

Still annoyed him that even with two separate leveling boosters, he still wasn’t able to keep all of his Skills in his training rotation. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d be so happy once he could pull Overcharge out of regular rotation… not that it was likely to actually happen, with this potion.

He sighed. No rest for the weary.

It was kind of his fault, he supposed, for wanting to be so strong on his own two feet. If he just accepted that he was weak and would continue to be, then he would be fine…

But he didn’t want to live at another person’s mercy. Hm. Maybe he could make a gun? If swords and arrows could be legitimate weapons here, then what amounted to an arrowhead traveling at supersonic speeds would definitely be an effective weapon.

He wasn’t sure he trusted his ability to make pistols and not pipe bombs, though. Not after the smoke bomb incident, at least.

Where was he? Oh, right. Safety at the whim of others.

It… it rubbed him the wrong way. After Tara had held him at swordpoint and forced him to explain his origins, he’d promised himself he’d never be in that situation again. And… friends might help, wouldn’t they?

He looked over to where Inion and Lefi were walking, laughing as they talked about whatever it was they so dearly liked to chat about. Was it him? Probably not. He wasn’t noteworthy enough for them to warrant speaking about him when he wasn’t a part of the conversation.

Edwin tinkered with his pauldron prototype to try and distract himself. The needles already were separate objects from their holder, maybe he could insert them into a dedicated container which he could then expand with Improbable Arsenal? He might be able to arrange some sort of delivery contraption sort of like he had for the serum itself, where the needles popped out of their de-expanded container to jab him… it wasn’t ideal, but it was better than running around with a bunch of needles constantly jabbing into him. If nothing else, it was a waste of Adaptive Defense, making it constantly be attuned to pain. It only was able to bring it down to a moderate itch anyway.

Yathal and Kyni were running around the carriage, moving fast enough they were sometimes only blurs out of the corner of Edwin’s vision. He couldn’t miss the laughing and barking that accompanied their play- it was the happiest they ever got outside of watching Edwin being violent- nor the occasional cry as Yathal tripped over something and skinned his knee or elbow.

Honestly, the kid was lucky the injuries weren’t worse, and Edwin was sure it was only thanks to some Skill that Kynigos had- flaring golden every time the boy tripped- that Yathal didn’t have actual road rash from such high-speed falls.

The first time it had happened, Edwin nearly sprang up with one of his healing potions, but had been waved off by Lefi. Instead, Kynigos would always dutifully approach and nuzzle his fallen boy, before licking Yathal’s injury, wiping away blood, dirt and wounds alike.

Regardless, it meant that they could keep themselves busy and without needing to worry about what they had gotten up to. Eventually, Yathal would tire himself out and either settle down into a walk or hop either onto his dog’s back or the carriage itself for a ride.

Bill, of course, was completely unphased by everything going on around him. He was just a good, sturdy little pony who barely even flinched at the sound of explosions. Good pony.

Edwin hopped up onto the carriage. They were only two days out from the city, and he had more that he wanted to take care of. Sure, he was sore from overusing Overcharge, but what else was new? A quick sinbalyne-based painkiller knocked off the low-grade pain without also drugging him, meaning he was perfectly capable of doing low-grade alchemy work! He already had a bunch of stuff refined after all, and he didn’t really know what the shelf life of his catalysts and other essences were. For all he knew, he needed to use them up quickly to ensure maximum efficacy!

Hmmm… he’d start with his smoke bombs. Those should be quick, right? He’d almost gotten them to work last time, after all. All he’d need to do this time was exclude the ignition agent!

He was on a roll! It couldn't possibly be that hard.

So he did manage to make his smoke bombs. It genuinely wasn’t that hard, though he may or may not have gone without sleep one night to get them done before they reached the city. He was fine, though. If he could go a week without sleep and still be mostly cognizant by the end of it, he could do a single night and be fine.

Inion disagreed. But at least she didn’t force him to sleep, just was moderately snarkier than usual at him after finding out. A small price to pay, all told.

After all, that was behind him! And his test bomb had filled a sphere more than five meters in radius, so Edwin was quite happy with the end result. It blew away after a few minutes, sure, but if he was outside that was plenty of time to get away, and if he were inside the effect would last way longer.

He only had six at the moment and needed to Refine more illusion dust before he could make any more, but really. How likely was it that he’d need to perform more than a half-dozen ‘vanish into the smoke’ moves while in a city, really? That couldn’t possibly happen, right?

....Why did he always curse himself like that?

Anyway, they were just there to get… Rillah. Who was an adventurer that was supposed to help out Yathal in some way. He probably should ask at some point, or did Lefi already explain how they’d help?

In any case, Rillah hadn’t been able to meet them because she was… held up, if Edwin remembered correctly. Held up doing what, he didn’t know and he couldn’t say he really cared either. He was still somewhat hesitant as to whether he would stick around with Lefi once their paths were no longer going in the same direction. Maybe he would… maybe he wouldn’t. It would serve as a test as to whether or not Inion really did like him or not, or if she now preferred Lefi.

...Did he want that question answered, though?

Edwin quickly quashed that train of thought before his entire afternoon was ruined productivity-wise. He was fine and would remain so.

He still had a few tasks to accomplish before they arrived in the city, after all. He couldn’t spend hours moping again! He needed to… um…

Right! He needed to secure everything on the outside of the cart so it wouldn’t be snatched away! Also, he should probably stow away some of his ongoing distillations so they weren’t sitting out.

Edwin hopped out and looked at his carriage. Over the months, he’d started growing a few plants along the side- he left the roof clear, given that was where he usually slept- held in apparatite pots, just to try and keep some of his stocks full. He wasn’t successful with every plant he tried to grow, but he had managed to get molai and firevine with some effort. Sinbalyne… grew, but not well. He’d need to figure out what it needed at some point. Anyway, he needed to bring them inside for protection. Oh, he still needed to water them today, didn’t he?

Oh! Of course, he should also make sure that…

Level Up!

Skill Points 837→885 (Average level: 48)

Adaptive Defense Level 30→32

Alchemical Analysis Level 31→34

Alchemical Dismantling Level 41→42

Alchemy Level 90→91

Anatomy Level 42→43

Arcadian Elixir Level 30→32

Basic Thermokinesis Level 26→28

Bomb Throwing Level 50→51

Flight Level 41→44

Fresh Air Level 33→34

Improbable Arsenal Level 30→33

Longstrider Level 33→35

Mana Infusion Level 87→88

Memory Level 63→64

Numeracy Level 40→42

Outsider’s Almanac Level 133→134

Overcharge Level 22→26

Polyglot Level 67→68

Prototyping Level 29→34

Refining Level 32→35

Ritual Intuition Level 28→31

Sapper’s Apparatus Level 51→54

Skillful Assessment Level 40→41

Watchful Rest Level 30→31

Name

Edwin Maxlin

Age

1 year

Race

Extraplanar Human

Class

Alchemist-Errant

Attributes

Health 25

Impact 7

Mana 33

Perception 19

Stamina 30

Skills

Alchemical

Alchemy 91, Alchemical Analysis 34, Refining 35, Alchemical Dismantling 42, Sapper’s Apparatus 54

(Purify: 75)

Magical

Basic Thermokinesis 28, Fey’s Caress 36, Ritual Intuition 31, Mana Infusion 88

Flight 44, (Basic Mana Sense: 82), (Basic Mana Manipulation: 9)

Physical

Overcharge 26, Longstrider 35, Fresh Air 34

(Athletics: 81), (Breathing: 76), (Flexibility: 74), (Nutrition: 73), (Packing: 92), (Seeing: 72), (Sleeping: 73), (Survival: 76), (Walking: 74)

Mental

Numeracy 42, Prototyping 34, Anatomy 43, Polyglot: 68, Memory 64

(Language: 36), (Mathematics: 74), (Research: 50), (Visualization: 80)

Combat

Bomb Throwing 51, Adaptive Defense 32

(Throwing Weapons: 48)

Utility

Outsider's Almanac 134, Watchful Rest 31, Skillful Assessment 41, Arcadian Elixir 32, Improbable Arsenal 33

(Firestarting: 94), (Improvisation: 14), (Status: 22), (Identify: 80), (First Aid: 82), (Harvesting: 76), (Construction: 77)

Paths

Skill Points: 885

Combat

Assassin 0/60, Bomber 0/60, Giant Slayer 0/60, Heedless Hunter 0/60, Hunter 0/30, Killer 0/30, Titan Slayer 0/90, Warrior 0/60, Way of the Empty Hand 0/60, Trapper 0/60,

Alchemy

Alchemical Medic 0/60, Demolitionist 0/60, Makeshift Alchemist 0/60, Potioneer 0/60, Practical Alchemist 0/60, Mystic Alchemist 0/90,

Science

Chemist 0/60, Experimenter 0/60, Researcher 0/60, Purifier 0/30, Scientific Revolutionary 0/90, Scientist 0/60, Engineer 0/60, Physicist 0/60, Mathematician 0/60, Material Scientist 0/60

Magic

Aerialist 0/60, Fey Friend 0/60, Feybound 0/60, Feycaller 0/60, Mage 0/60, Magical Gardener 0/60, Micro-Biomancer 0/90, Primal Constructor 0/90, Primal Ritualist 0/90, Realm Traveler 0/120, Skilled Arcanist 0/60, Fey Supplicant 0/60, Feykind 0/90, Attuner 0/30,

Mental

Dedicated Student 0/60, Lecturer 0/30, Scholar 0/60, Unbowed 0/90, Canny 0/60, Steady Mind 0/60, Mentalist 0/60,

System

Almanac Administrator 0/60, Forerunner 0/60, Outsider’s Almanac Specialist 0/90, Pioneer 0/60, Skill Researcher 0/60, System Scholar 0/60,

Trophy

Blackstone Conqueror 0/60, Deepwoods Panther-Hunter 0/60, Stonehide Vanquisher 0/60, Titan Spider Hunter 0/60

Career

Brickmaker 0/30, Butcher 0/30, Diver 0/30, Gardener 0/30, Lumberjack 0/60, Merchant 0/30, Potter 0/30, Scribe 0/30, Woodsman 0/30,

Physical

Ascetic 0/60, Daredevil 0/60, Physical Alchemist 0/90, Survivor 0/60, Physical Laborer 0/30,

Traveling

Escapee 0/30, Exile 0/30, Traveler 0/30, World Traveler 0/60

Medical

Field Medic 0/60, Medic 0/30, Steadfast Medic 0/60, Medical Lecturer 0/60

Misc

Arsonist 0/60, Autopyromaniac 0/60, Burglar 0/60, Child 0/12, Expert 0/60, Imperial Ally 0/60, Novice 0/12, Pyromaniac 0/30, Razer of the Ruined Tower 0/60, Rebel 0/30, Slave 0/12, Trainee 0/60, Traitor 0/60, Brushed by Power 0/60, Lirasian Citizen 0/30, Royal Advisor 0/60, Favored by Power 0/90, Insomniac 0/30, Sleepless Disciple 0/60

Completed Paths

CharLimitCanttalkmuchNocluewhathappenedDidmybesttohelpyouli, Mage, Skilled Arcanist, Physical Alchemist, Bomber, Linguist, Beginner, Warrior, Path Less Traveled, Athlete, Scout, Unkillable, Superior Alchemist, Adventurer, Explorer, Outsider, Skill Researcher, Wanderer,Alchemical Warrior, Novice Pyromancer, Novice Ritualist, Alchemist, Physicist, Engineer, Physical Arcanist, Biologist, Practical Alchemist, Fey Scion, Feytouched