The Way Ahead - Side Story: Of Skill and Ink + Book 2 on sale!

Side Story: Of Skill and Ink + Book 2 on sale!

Rizzali Skyshale could scarcely contain his excitement as Adventurer Edwin stepped out of his office and left his Conspiracy. Time snapped back to its normal pace, and he checked to ensure that there were none of his charges waiting for his attention at present before he got too deep into the pile of utter, completely ludicrous wealth of information that he’d been provided.

The kid would keep him Bright for at least another century, he could tell. Still, it was little consolation when he had to deal with the bane of Registrars everywhere: paperwork. As a small measure of comfort, this was the best kind of paperwork and he was bound to note something fascinating in the Chronicles while he recorded Edwin’s… what was it again? Ah yes, managing to take the common Skill of Packing and somehow leverage it into a Flight skill.

Comprehensive Lirasian Registrar Records appeared before him, the massive sky-blue System list which had overwhelmed him so much back in his youth now so routine. Decades of service had fine-tuned both his skills and Skills with organization so what once might have been the work of hours took mere minutes.

He quickly navigated to the ‘Mage’ section, simply checking to see…

Ah! It seemed as though Flight (Magical, Tether) was a known Skill! Most curious. It was… Ah, of course. Mage Andrikan managed to earn that Skill instead of proper Flying as a fledgling, and later used it to great effect as he upgraded it to Self Telekinesis, Force Armor, and Ablative Invincibility.

Most curious. He would have to mention it to Adventurer Edwin should he decide to employ his services as a Registrar and receive Skill advice.

Still, there was no record of the possibility of earning the Skill via Packing, and he added the due notes to both Skills. Given Adventurer Edwin’s manner of speaking and odd knowledge regarding the nature of reality, he clearly was no random vagabond which Lady Tara found. Perhaps he was from Vis’Daric? That did not adequately cover his low Tier, however. Perhaps a hidden elf? It would not be the first time, though it would not explain his unusual comprehension of the System and ignorance to many of its foundational aspects.

Clearly, the boy must be an Outsider, he chuckled to himself.

Ah well, it was no great matter. He would likely piece together what he was missing at some point and determine the truth of the matter. There clearly was some possible explanation for the boy’s quirks, he simply wasn’t clever enough to piece it together from what he knew, and he had work to attend to.

The remainder of Adventurer Edwin’s paperwork was noteworthy, but nothing particularly unusual once one’s expectations were adjusted to a Mage and an Adventurer who preferred Alchemy of all things. It was almost a pity that the adventurer was so prolific with his Paths, he would have loved to see what the ‘Alchemist-Errant’ Path might grant, but similarly it was unlikely to be very long before the Adventurer reached a total of 2,400 Skill points spent and unlocked it that way.

Come to think of it, he ought to speak with Registrar Seizan, to see if she had any insights from her experiences with Mages. He’d visit her later, once he finished this filing. There was so much new information to be included within the Records after all, and the Archivists required proper paperwork to include it.

Course set, Rizzali wet his pen and began to write.

“…of the night, see my blazing star. You shall see from the coasts of Vorian to the mountains of Tal Vaior those whom I call forth in service. I say unto you that the choices called upon today will be felt throughout history as the day which I placed my talon upon and bent the winds to my will.”

“Espethail, truly? I was under the impression Southern Hero was still regarded as the superior option for Monologue training. Registrar Seizan, Trainee Istiel,” Rizzali greeted the orange-haired Registrar and her protege.

Registrar Seizan turned as he entered the room, bright green eyes widening as she registered his presence as she nodded, “Registrar Rizzali. Pleasure to see you in-wake. Southern Hero is indeed still in favor, but Registrar Sarlial believes that interspersing other performances into the training might yield better results, and Trainee Istiel has a penchant for Espethail.”

“It’s my favorite performance, Registrar,” he confirmed.

Ah, the passion of youth. There were so few other gnomes out in Rhothos and those which were present were not assigned to him. The boy’s emerald skin veritably glowed with enthusiasm.

“Most fascinating! Do let me know of your findings. What was your Plot?”

“Ah, well you see, one smith in the outer city I know has managed to use Greater Detailed Goldsmithing to make these really tiny steel stars…”

It was one of the great secrets of the Registrars, both the existence of and method of obtaining the Monologue and Conspiracy Skills. The former was particularly devious, as in order to earn the Scheming Vizier path, one had to successfully plot the assassination of their governmental superior. Fortunately one didn’t have to carry out said plan, but the System was very particular in deciding what counted as successful enough to count. Conspire was relatively straightforward to earn in comparison, as Hidden Conspirator was earned simply as part of Registrar training. When precisely was variable, but it was apparently inevitable.

Of course, the two Skills were immensely valuable to the point of replacing the usually indispensable Polyglot. Monologue set the user in an odd state which slowed the passage of time, but it could only be used while speaking. Conspire then allowed one to include additional individuals in the effect, allowing even a full day in some cases to take mere minutes in reality and was one of the four pillars of the Registrar class.

It also allowed Registrars to speak with one another for truly lengthy periods of time while simultaneously not wasting so much as a second, a fact they took hearty advantage of now that Trainee Istiel would be included.

“I cannot imagine this is purely a social visit?” Registrar Seizan eventually asked.

“It is not,” he explained, “I had a visit from one of my charges this morning, a Mage Adventurer, and was hoping to discuss with you some of his options.”

“Ah! Would this be Adventurer Edwin?”

“Indeed.”

“What sorts of magic has he expressed?”

“That is part of what I wished to speak to you about. While he professes a desire to be more of an alchemist, he has magic ranging from the more pedestrian- he has a Heat Object variant, Basic Thermokinesis- to a Skill which empowers his body. He even managed to obtain Flight,” Rizzali continued, explaining the peculiarities of his collection of magical Skills.

“I’m not sure how much help I will be,” she apologized, “The majority of my Mage experience is with Nature Mages, and they usually have if not consistency-”

Rizzali held back a laugh. Expecting consistency in a Mage’s build was pure folly. Much of the time, even theoretically replicable Skills reused to work for others following the same methodology.

“-They at least have similar expressions of their mana and I’m more familiar with that.”

“I see. Well, I still have some questions that I hope to pass along.”

“Go right ahead.”

The visit to Registrar Seizan took scarcely a quarter of an hour in real-time, and he returned to his office immediately after, which made it all the more surprising that he had someone awaiting his return.

“Ah! I apologize for the wait, Healer Firais. How might I be able to help you today?”

The Avior inclined his head in respect as Rizzali took his seat, “Registrar. I would simply like to upgrade my Set Bone skill, as it reached its threshold.”

“Marvelous! Good job. I hope your patients were left healthy?”

“They were, Registrar.”

“Excellent, excellent. Let me check… ah yes, just to confirm, you already have Greater Medicine upgraded?”

“It has been upgraded to Physician’s Poultice, yes.”

“Marvelous. And Set Bone is at least level thirty?”

“It is at level thirty-one, Registrar.”

“Marvelous, marvelous. If you could put your points into Medic, we can get this dealt with.”

Even most Registrars didn’t have true access to the status of others, so the questions were alas necessary. In theory one could lie about their Status, yes, but he and his peers were well-versed in finding out such deception and quashing it ruthlessly.

Status Registration popped up off to the side of his vision.

Lirasian Crashland Healer Firais Luftfugl would like to upgrade Set Bone to Mend Wing.

Allow Upgrade? Y/N

He mentally assented, and felt the change manifest in his charge, “Congratulations, Healer Firais. I’m certain it comes just in time?”

“It does indeed.”

“Marvelous. Was there anything else?”

“I would like to put in a request to earn the Dexterity attribute, Registrar.”

“Oh? And why would you like the Attribute?”

“I believe the Attribute would help me perform more delicate procedures. Deft Touch seems insufficient much of the time.”

“Very well, one moment.”

Rizzali sank deep into Comprehensive Lirasian Registrar Records, searching for potential conflicts the Attribute might have with other Paths. It wasn’t a terribly challenging search, and one type which he had extensive experience in, and so came back to himself within just a few minutes.

“I see no reason to deny your request, though you will have to wait to complete the Path until after you upgrade Healing Rest into Full Recovery. If you do not, there is a chance it would attempt to upgrade into Hospice Bed instead. Come with an extra sixty Skill Points after that point and I will approve the Artisan Path. I advise speaking with a Crafter you know for an appropriate project for you, but the things to make note of is that it ought to challenge your capabilities and be personal to you, something you truly enjoy and can delight in.”

“Thank you, Registrar.”

“You are welcome. Was that all for today?”

The avior nodded, and Rizzali gave him a smile, “Marvelous. I hope to see you again soon, yes?”

Healer Firais departed shortly thereafter, flapping his wings and taking off to the roof, and Rizzali returned to his paperwork. There was always paperwork to be done.

He was nearly done for the night, finishing up a draft for the ongoing Alchemist restructure now that he had a bit more information from Edwin, when a presence pressed down on the entire structure. Rizzali squeaked slightly. What was Emperor Xares doing here, and why was he upset? He could barely breathe under the intense pressure, but it left as quickly as it had arrived.

Rizzali picked himself off the ground where he had fallen, trying to catch his breath. That must have scared a good year off him, though he felt he’d sooner lose the year than experience that again.

Well, no matter, at least he was gone now, and Rizzali had a meeting to attend.

Outsiders to the Lirasian Empire were frequently surprised to learn that the heart of the entire Empire’s success, Management, was attended to entirely by gnomish registrars. They always expected it to be the avior themselves, fed lies by their enemies that Management was a method by which their ‘tyrannical emperor’ kept his populace weak and harmless, forbidden from taking any Skills or Paths which might empower them. Those who promptly discovered that there were scarcely any avior Registrars frequently didn’t know how to respond, and always made for the most delightful stories.

It still left a simple question, though. Why gnomes? Certainly, while the Skills they were predisposed to meant they were often employed as paper-workers, there was very little that his kind had which obviously made them inherently good at administrative and guidance work. What was so special about them that every single Registrar from the last two and a half centuries had been brightskin?

The answer was simple. Gnomes could Dream. Not the pitiful, inconsequential dreams of the feathered and dull-skinned, but true, proper Dreams.

Most importantly, they were the only species which could directly upgrade Dreaming into Dream Council, and were accordingly able to keep in constant communication about their shared passion. The meetings rarely included every single Registrar in the Empire, but it was still an incredibly efficient way to communicate Registrar-only information faster than even the swiftest courier. It was the only way by which they could reliably keep the majority ‘in the know’ for the latest developments, and respond to new findings without needing to physically congregate in one location.

The Council which Rizzali joined that night was one he’d attended many, many times before. He was indirectly responsible for it, after all, and it was likely to continue many years into the future.

“No, we cannot remove Herbalism! We’ve been over this before!”

While finding a tier two variant of Alchemy was potentially revolutionary, the fact that Edwin’s method of obtaining the Skill was through Improvisation and Physical Alchemist, neither of which were a part of the current Alchemist class, meant they would need to determine which of the six Alchemist Skills- Reading, Writing, Herbalism, Mixing, Measure, and Process- should be removed in favor of adding Improvisation, and then what should be done about the leftover Eating Skill.

“But look here! Farmer Xoracil, given provisional permission to upgrade Hardy Crop with Herbal Gardener. He got Herbalism. It’s what we’ve been looking for!”

“No, it’s not. Poultice and Potency are far too important.”

“I still think we can replace Reading with Improvisation. I’m aware of the importance that Scribe plays in establishing the Class, but I believe there is untapped potential in ‘Flavor Profile.’”

Unless the speaker made certain to show their identity, such information was indistinct at best given the number of participants and Rizzali’s Dream Council level. It wasn’t especially important, however, not for this kind of discussion, and thus accuracy of the words spoken was deemed a higher priority.

“No, Flavor Profile was a one-off incident, which we believe was influenced by the presence of Perception or the Exploratory Academic class. We’ve found the more common result is Detailed Appetite. Besides, Mental Notebook is far too important for capturing all the procedural detail of formulas which Mixing doesn’t record.”

Rizzali idly wondered what Adventurer Edwin’s mysterious note-taking Skill was, and if it filled a similar role for him. Considering how expensive it had been, the results must surely have been impressive, if impractical for common usage.

“Yes, but I believe we can find a variant of Steady Hand that would function similarly if we exchange Marksman for….”

“Attention, Alchemy Restructuring Council,” a new voice- this one decidedly identifiable as Administrator Fitzgilleth, “Point of order if you please. Tonight’s search list includes a Sapphire-specialist Goldsmith near Kazath, an Elder-specialist Medic near Sheriath, and we’re still looking for a Deepwater Diver for Taher Sirandar. There has also been a new development in the Human Lirasian Farmer of Plentiful Harvests, namely a reliable way to obtain its Class Path and use it to grant the Fertile Footsteps skill. Details have already been added to the Records, and best of luck to you all.”

Then Administrator Fitzgilleth was gone, off to the next Council to deliver the important news of tonight.

Conversations sprang up again immediately. A few had gotten slightly sidetracked about the Fertile Footsteps, but the majority returned to where they had been.

“Yes, but even with the loss of the steady-hand effect there, we can offset that by including Artisan just before the Artist path, which shouldn’t influence the Class overmuch and allow the additional Attribute points to accumulate over a significant amount of time.”

“You expect them to have an extra sixty points in the midst of tier one? When we’re discussing adding in the Physical Alchemist path? You’re babbling.”

“I do hate to intrude,” Rizzali interjected, making his identity known, “But today I learned of another early access Skill, namely Alchemical Dismantling, from the combination of Harvesting and Alchemical Warrior.”

“Alchemical Warrior? Hm, that would significantly streamline the Alchemic Assistant Class if replicable.”

“A Warrior path? For Alchemical Dismantling? How is that considered Warrior-like?”

“Perhaps it is something of a Hunter skill? Akin to how Harvesting upgrades to Dismantling with the Hunter path?”

“Yes, but what of…”

They came to no conclusion that night, not that anyone expected them to.