Synthesis Read online

  "What.... was that.... fire thing you did? That was... awesome, and terrifying. It sure seemed liked magic... to me." I say to her, still trying to catch my breath.

  "No, it was not ‘magic’, Jax. You are a scientist, and you know there is no such thing. The technology from your society is primitive compared to what is here, so of course, it seems like magic. As for the fire thing I did, that takes quite a bit of mental energy to cast, and it has a very long cooldown. That is why I have not used it yet. Basically I 'told' the oxygen surrounding the Gibling to ignite." She explains to me.

  "Huh....can you teach me to catch things on fire like that?" I ask her with some excitement in my voice.

  "No, learning mental skills can be a bit tricky, and sometimes require many years of studying. There is a vast amount of knowledge that must be known as a precursor. Analyze is a freebie. But there may be some things you may be able to try with the knowledge you already know. Also, there are Skill Orbs that can be found, although they are fairly rare and highly sought after. But, the first thing we should do is see what loot you found." She says.

  I will the items from my Flux inventory onto the ground. My body tingles and then things drop to the ground. I take stock of the new stuff I have: 2 Standard Cores, 4 Gibling Claws, 2 Rough Cotton Pants, 1 Small Water Jug, 1 Key.

  "Kala... I have pants!" I tell her excitedly. I quickly pull them on, they fit. Thank the gods the loot system is not totally lame. They are a bit short and are scratchy, like wearing a burlap sack for pants, but I don't care. "Wait, there is cotton in this world?" I ask.

  "There is now, from what I know, there are some things that the Administrator generates from the origin worlds of the different races to provide a bit of familiarity. You may not realize, but Giblings are creatures from Earth's own game mythology." She says.

  Huh, yeah I guess I did think the name Gibling sounded a little familiar. "Hey, do you know what this is for?" I ask her as I held up the key. Just as I do, a pop up appears.

  New Quest Alert:

  The Old Ones I

  You have found the quest item Key of the Old Ones. The Gibling you have slain was carrying this key. Find the lair of the Giblings and look for clues as to what the key is used for.

  Quest Type: Secret, Unique

  Difficulty: ????

  Rewards: ????

  Do you accept this quest? Y/N

  I send the quest over to Kala. "What do you think?" I ask her.

  "Ooooh, yes. We have to do this. It's secret and a unique quest, I bet there is some awesome loot!" She says as she flashes green, Kala has a bit of a greed monster in her. I chuckle at her response.

  "Anyways. Who or what are these old ones?" I ask her.

  "I'm not sure Jax like I told you, there is quite a bit of stuff I do not know. Just go ahead and accept the quest. There are few things I want to try before we go looking for monster lairs." She says. I accept the quest and the pop up disappears.

  "Hold on one second, Kala, I need to see what my notifications are and I need to distribute my attribute points," I tell her. I pull up the blinking icon:

  Congratulations! You have learned the Sub-Skill:

  Sneak Attack (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You honorless bastard, attacking from the shadows? JK! It's kill or be killed, by any means necessary. Attacking from Stealth is a Sneak Attack and damage is increased to 150%.

  Stamina Cost: NA

  Experience awarded: 15

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Staffs (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You may have whacked yourself in the face with your new staff but with practice it will become an extension of your body. Staffs now do 1% more damage.

  Stamina Cost: 5 per attack

  Experience awarded: 15

  Congratulations! You have leveled up the skill:

  Analyze (Novice, Lvl 2)

  You can now learn basic information about the different lifeforms on this planet. Level this skill to gain greater knowledge. Intelligence will increase by 1 point every five levels of this skill.

  Mind Energy Cost: 10

  Experience awarded: 15

  I decide to keep the stat distribution pattern that I have going. I look it over before I accept.

  Name: Jax Stone

  Age: 28

  Synthesis: 100%

  Level: 2, 13%

  Health: 110

  Mental: 270

  Stamina: 110

  Strength: 11

  Constitution: 11

  Endurance: 11

  Dexterity: 11

  Agility: 12

  Intelligence: (22) 27

  Wisdom: (20) 25

  Luck: 26

  I accept my new stat points, feeling the boost to my body and mind immediately. God damn. That feels good, leveling up and getting the new stat boosts feels like a drug. I feel myself getting a bit aroused, and I'm immensely grateful that I have pants on. I notice Kala blushing, oh man, this is embarrassing. Is she starting to adopt more human-like emotions? "Um, yeah. So what did you want to try?" I say trying just to move on.

  She laughs and then says "So, about learning skills. What do you have the most understanding about, what did you spend your life studying?" She asks me.

  "Well, the focus of my scientific research was in astrophysics, particle physics, and to a lesser extent astrobiology. How do those help me now?" I ask.

  "Well, what about the passion project that brought you here? Matter teleportation. See that pebble on the ground? I want you to apply what you know about how matter would be moved. Your body and brain are fundamentally different now Jax. All the potential of your brain is now available to you. You will be amazed as to what you are capable of now. Now focus on the pebble, think about how matter teleportation works, and move the pebble. The Xoria in you will know your intent and will supplement your power." She says to me.

  I focus on the pebble, I stare at it, willing it to move. And... nothing happens. "This is silly Kala. It takes an immense amount of energy and equipment for teleportation to work." I say to her feeling frustrated.

  "Stop. You can't think like that. Here, I'm going to give you another freebie. I want you to sit down, close your eyes and meditate. Clear your mind, remove all doubt." She says in a firm tone.

  I do as she says. I sit down, and I try to meditate. In the past, I had tried meditation before. My mind would always be flooded with thoughts, and my body would be on fire with every itch I needed to scratch. This time it is different. After I had been sitting there for a few minutes meditating, I feel peace pour over me like a waterfall. All my anxieties, doubts, fears, are gone.

  "Good. Now, try again. Focus on the pebble." She says quietly.

  I look at the pebble, and everything clicks into place. I feel a tremendous tug and then release from between my eyes and then the pebble vanishes. It reappears in the air a few feet above where it was and then falls to the ground.

  I jump up "Holy shit. That was amazing. It worked. This planet is extraordinary." I am grinning ear to ear at Kala.

  "That was great, Jax. I knew you could do it." She flashes a smile at me. I notice my blue Mental bar is halfway depleted. Damn. That takes a lot of energy to use. I pull up the flashing notifications that are trying to get my attention.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Meditation (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You have learned how become one with yourself. Use of this skill brings about a state of ultimate peacefulness.

  Duration: 2 minutes.

  Effect: Mental regeneration is increased by 25%.

  Mental Energy Cost: NA

  Experience awarded: 15

  Congratulations! You have learned the Unique Skill:

  Teleportation (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You can now move matter with your mind, awesome. No really, that's pretty bad-ass. Level this skill to move matter farther and to move larger items. It may be possible to even teleport yourself or others. Matter now costs 5% less mental energy t
o move.

  Mental Energy Cost: Circumstantial

  Experience awarded: 50

  Bonus: Intelligence increase of 5

  Wow, that is pretty bad-ass. I send Kala the skill info. "Hey, what is up with these skill descriptions? Who writes these?" I ask her.

  "Actually, the way I understand it is that your subconscious generates the descriptions of skills. Everyone reads a bit different, the effects of the skill are the same though." She explains.

  "I'm not quite sure how this skill is supposed to help me in combat, it takes half of my energy to move a pebble," I say.

  "Oh, you hush now. I don't want to hear any of that. You just learned a unique skill. People have killed for just normal Skill Orbs. You need to train with your new skill. Be creative. It will get much more powerful. Now, moving on, with the knowledge you have is there anything else you think you might be able to learn?" Kala says.

  Ugh, I don't know how all of this works. What knowledge am I suppose to draw upon to learn a new skill? Something clicks in my mind.

  "What about the midnight wood? I used Soul Touch on it." I say. I haven't accessed the new knowledge that was piped into my brain. I think about it, and then I gasp.

  "Dear lord Kala, dark energy. I understand it, completely. Do you know what this means? The Midnight trees draw in dark energy as substance. I know how to access dark energy now. Humanity still is unable to tap the massive reservoir that is dark energy, even though it makes up sixty-eight percent of the known universe. This knowledge could propel my race technologically hundreds of years into the future... my god..." I mumble off thinking of the possibilities.

  "All right, calm it down, Nerdy McNerdface. I get it. You have a nerd boner. How can we use this knowledge to our advantage, here, now." Kala says with a bit of impatience.

  Alright, I guess she has a point. I Meditate again. Then I stand up and try to sense dark energy. It's there, everywhere. An extraordinary amount of power. It's scary. It feels like the energy has a presence like it is looking at me. I feel if I'm not careful I could easily kill myself. I study it. I know if I try to draw it into myself it would kill me. Then an unknown force plants an image into my mind, and I know this image did not come from me. It shows me what I need to do. I focus my intent and slowly pull the energy into a dome around my body. I see my mental energy bar draining, even with my extra twenty-five percent regeneration rate. The dome is like wearing sunglasses. It doesn't impede my vision. It just darkens everything a little. After a few seconds, I release the energy. "Haha. How do you like them apples? Nerdy McNerdface my ass. That was amazing." I gloat to Kala.

  "Sorry I made fun of you, Jax. That was pretty amazing. What does the skill description say?" Say says. I grin at her then pull up the skill.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Rare Skill:

  Dark Shield (Novice, Lvl 1)

  You have learned how to access one of the greatest power sources in the universe. You can now shape dark energy into a dome around your body. The dome will absorb 10% of all damage.

  Mental Energy Cost: 10/sec

  Experience awarded: 30

  Bonus: Wisdom increased by 2

  "It was bizarre, Kala, I think I may have made some kind of contact with a life form that lives in the dark energy. Or maybe the energy is a type of life? No, that can't be right. Maybe I just imagined it...." I say rubbing my temples, feeling a headache forming.

  "Huh, yeah that is strange. Maybe you are using too much Mental energy. You are almost tapped out. I don't want you to pass out again. I think we should forgo any more experiments with learning new skills for now. Your body and mind need time to recover." She says.

  "Yeah, you are probably right. But look at this. A rare skill." I send her the info on the new skill.

  "Man, Jax, you are on a roll. Do you have a fairy godmother I don't know about?" She laughs.

  I grin at her. I drop the loot from the Illax, so I don't have to carry anything but my staff. The key thankfully doesn't take up space in my flux inventory.

  "How about we go look for this monster lair? I'm feeling much more confident with these pants on." We both laugh and head back to where we killed the Giblings.

  Chapter Four: The Lair, Part 1

  I entered Stealth as I neared the clearing where the Gliblings had been. I looked around for a moment and sensing nothing malicious, exited Stealth. I noticed that Kala had some kind of ability to blend in with her surroundings, that is useful.

  "So, now what?" I whisper to her, just in case. Then an idea came to me. "Hey, how high are you able to fly? Can you scout around and see if you can locate the entrance to the lair?" I ask her.

  "That is a splendid idea, Jax. I can't believe I didn't think of doing that before. I'll be right back." She says as she starts to rise above the trees. I look around while I wait.

  Just trees and grass. It's incredible how life here forms somewhat similar to earth. I study the trees, the ground, and everything around me. The scientist in me is taking over. I see a few different types of insects I've never seen before that I Analyze; Burrowing Meklia (Lvl 3), Urlize (Lvl 1), Quantum Fly (Lvl 5).

  The Quantum Fly blinks away in a flash of light and reappears a few feet away. Wow, that fly is pretty cool. It flies down to the ground and starts blinking rapidly. What's it doing? Then I notice it sitting on something glowing, and the object is mostly covered with dirt and grass. Then a pop up appears.

  Congratulations! You have learned the Skill:

  Perception (Novice, Lvl 1)

  Hey! Good thing you are a nerd and were watching that fly. Your ability to notice hidden or concealed items, creatures, or other beings is increased by 1%.

  Mind Energy Cost: NA

  Experience awarded: 15

  Well, alright. That's cool. Let's see what's hidden in the grass. I waved the fly away, thankful that it didn't attack me. I bend down and dig the item out. Huh, it's a Standard Core. I guess it dropped from the animal the Gibling had killed. More money and a skill, not too bad.

  I stand up and grin at Kala as she floats back down. "Why are you grinning like a fool?" She asks me.

  "I just learned a skill and some money," I say like a kid on his birthday. I tell her about what just happened.

  "Well, good for you. Now, I think I may have seen the entrance to the lair. There is a ravine with a cave about half a mile to the west, and it looked like something was moving around a small stream near it." She says.

  "Nice work Kala. It looks like I'll keep you around." I say with a chuckle.

  She makes an annoyed sound and heads off.

  "Hey, wait for me," I say as run after her.

  I lay on my stomach and inch forward to look over the edge of the ravine. Yep, there is a Gibling down there trying to catch fish. I Analyze it and see that it's level 3 and I also notice that its only ability is called Screech. It causes sonic damage, and there is a chance to stun an opponent. It seems the Gibling is having a hard time catching a fish. It finally gets frustrated and uses Screech on the fish. I'm far enough away that it doesn't affect me. I see a few fish float to the surface, and the Gibling rips into one and grabs the other. I don't see any other monsters nearby, so I go into Stealth and quickly work my way down. When I'm close enough, I raise my staff and sneak attack the gross little thing as its busy eating. A dark bolt of energy shoots out and strikes it in the mouth between bites. Score! That was an excellent shot. The back of its head explodes, and it drops dead.

  I quickly duck behind a large rock and re-enter Stealth. I wait a few minutes.

  "Looks like the way is clear, Jax," Kala says to me. She had stayed up near the tree line to keep watch. She floats down.

  I stand up and loot the Gibling, another pair of pants and a standard core. Luckily the pants stack in one slot in my inventory. Maybe I can sell them?

  Kala has sent you a party invite. Do you wish to accept? Y/N

  I look at the pop up that just appeared. "I didn't take you for a party girl, Kala." I grin
at her.

  "Shut up. I didn't think of it before. But we should form a party. It will be helpful. Typically, party members share experience and loot. But I do not seem to be gaining any experience in my unbonded form. Just select yes funny man." She says.

  "As you wish," I say, thinking of one of my favorite ancient movies The Princess Bride. I can tell that if Kala had eyes, she would be rolling them. In the left corner of my vision, Kala's name appears with bars showing her health and mental energy. Huh, she has no stamina. I guess she can't get tired in this form? It will be nice to know if she is in danger and vice versa.

  I look at the clear water of the stream and realize I'm thirsty. "Hey, Kala, is that water safe to drink?" I ask her.

  "Yes, it should be fine. Your body is much more efficient now. You will need food maybe once every few days and water once a day. Your body may not even produce any waste, in case you were wondering. You will only need a few hours of sleep a day." She says.

  "Huh, well that's convenient," I say as I kneel down by the water and take a drink. It's ice-cold and refreshing. After I drink it, I receive a buff of ten percent mental energy regeneration for thirty minutes. That is awesome, and now I wish I had something to hold water in. I laugh to myself as I remember the small water jug in my inventory. I will it into my hand, and it appears. I pull the stopper out and dump the liquid out. I didn't really want to drink water that the Gibling had been drinking out of. I rinse it out in the stream then hold in under the water to refill it. Feeling better I stand up and walk to the entrance to the cave.

  "Alright, Kala, you ready to do this? You have any other abilities I should know about?" I ask her.

  "No, my final ability is to choose a bonded form. I will support you with heals, and if I must I can use my Flare, but I want to save that for a desperate situation. I can affect my colors to blend into my surroundings. You should move slowly in Stealth. Let's be careful about this. I do not know what the repercussions are for dying, so let's avoid that." She says.