PreCursive

  “And, well, my entire Profession pane has ged. Again.” I said to Grey.

  It had. Again. For like the third time or something.

  Where before it had been a series of seven tric circles with a in the middle, those were all gone. None of the symbols for the seven Professions I had chosen were even there anymore. Now it was just the open palm in the ter, rger than before and no longer bound by a circle. It was still radiating out a blue light, though. I guess that this open hand was the symbol for my ‘Aetherial Melding’, whatever that meant.

  I expined all of this Grey.

  “Fasating…” He breathed. “Beyond even the existence of ah Profession, I ot recall a single historical example of such a thing. The alig of a Status window so radically ging shape is unheard of, and curious indeed.”

  Holy, to me, it seemed more like a webpage that was stantly being updated. The developer, in this case, the System, just kept adding or ging things to a ‘page’ and deg they didn’t like the yout. I decided not to try and expientimes byzantine process of webpage design to Grey.

  “Sure,” I told him. “Whatever you say. But, uh, why don’t we try and see what it does? So, how do you use a Profession? Do you just, like, activate it like a skill?”

  Grey snapped out of his schorly fasation in order to shoot me an amused look. “'Use a Profession?’ Nathan, Professions aren’t skills. You merely create things that fall within their category.”

  I was startled. “Wait. Wait a sed. Are you tellihat when someone says they’re, say, a Medial Alchemist and they want to make a Healing potion. They have to just…follow some kind of… recipe… in order to get one?” I said, starting to feel foolish as I spoke.

  By the grin on Grey’s face, he thought I was as well. “Yes Nathan, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I see where you’ve gotten the idea that even Professions are skill intensive, much like most of the System, sidering your retive o it. But no, one merely learns how to create items that exist within their specialization in order to tribute to their Profession’s Impact. This is also the only way that yoing to be receiving any Status Aether from the System for your creations. There are no levels to the Profession system, no skills beyond the skill you possess. Which is why yhth Profession is so curious, really. her Azarus or I have any idea what field of crafting is not covered by the seven already existing Professions.”

  Something about that expnation didn’t sit right with me. After a moment, I realized what it was. “But…that doesn’t make sense,” I said to Grey, leaning forward. “You’re tellihat most people learn two highly specialized, differihods of craftiirely on their own? Even most peasants devote their life to two, maybe tradictory, ways to make a living? That doesn’t make sense, man.”

  Grey gave me a puzzled look. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Nathan. That’s exactly what I’m saying, as I have already expio you before why most people take two Professions.”

  “But…” I started, waving a hand in a frustrated manner. “It doesn’t make sense, man! Learning a trade, orade, is a lifelong process! Hoeople supposed to have any time to themselves if they’re always learning and experimenting aing themselves to two differing paths! Most things they make should be middling at best if they always have to think about their sed Profession!”

  “It doesn’t work like that at all, Nathan,” Grey said fusedly. “Even your average peasant is fully capable of acquiring the necessary skill in order to be sidered a master in their chosen Professions. Well, if they put a modicum of effort into it.” He paused, taking in my own fusion. “Are you perhaps saying that’s how it works ba your home p?”

  “Yes!” I said, pointing at him. “That’s exactly what I’m saying! People, normal people, don’t typically have the mental capacity to devote themselves to two differing paths at once! Absolutely not the degree they’re even going to bee a master at it before they’re an old man. I’m telling you; the System has got to be helping your learning rate if yur Joe-Bob peasant is able to learn how to build perfect houses and how to butcher perfectly at the same time!”

  “Hmm.” Grey pondered. “It’s an iing theory, Nathan. I ’t say I’ve ever heard this specific idea about the Profession system. Certainly, it’s been postuted that there must be some kind of active poo it beyond geing Impact. However, the theories I’ve read and heard have rather focused oput itself. The old belief was that merely possessing a certain Profession instilled a certain intrinsic mystical quality to the items you create. However,” He said, raising a hand with a smile. “For once, you’re the one who’s run off on an academigent. We were discussing your new Profession, remember?”

  I settled down, a little sheepish. “Ah, yeah. Right.” I paused. “So…if Professions don’t use skills…and every kind of crafting you know of is covered already…and we don’t know what ‘Aetherial Melding’ does…what now?”

  Grey tapped his fingers on the arm of his wheelchair in thought. “Well, I suppose all we have is specution. As I said, I truly doubt that it is activated as a skill, but that’s no reason to dist the possibility. I’ve prepared a small colle of herbs right here,” He turned around and motioo a small tray on the desk behind him. “That be used to create a weak Healing potion. Merely some Moonwort, Ae’ Vine, and Bronzeleaf, nothing special. Give it a try.”

  At his urging, I stood up from where I was sitting on his bed and walked over to the desk. Exging o gh Grey, I held my hands out over the tray of herbs yio a bottle half full of water. I gave it a shot and tried to activate it out loud. “Aetherial Melding,” I said, trating.

  Nothing happened.

  “Not ued,” Grey said, unphased.

  I dropped my hands from over the tray and crossed my arms in thought. I looked back over at Grey. “What ? You’re the expert here.”

  Grey snorted. “An expert in a previously unknown Profession, am I? Truly, your fidence is inspiring.” He said, only mildly sarcastic. “Well, I do have at least one idea. The w ‘Aetherial Melding’ is curious to me. Despite being the erstone of all mystic arts, Aether is rarely so directly mentioned. Perhaps the Profession has something to do with Aether itself?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “So…how do we get some raw Aether then?”

  “I will provide what we need,” Grey said. “The produ and manipution of raw mystical energy is a fairly advaeique in the arsenal of a Magi. It has little actual practical applications that we’ve been able to find, merely being a training tool. Thankfully, I still have some minor capabilities avaible to me despite this damnable colr and provide it. One moment.”

  Grey cupped his hands in front of him and furrowed his brow in tration. Nothing happened for a few seds before something began to coalesce above his open palms. Slowly swirling ience, spinning like a p on its axis, an orb of cool silver light formed. In its depths, I could see the occasional fsh of an obsidian aurora.

  I was impressed, despite myself. I still hadn’t gotten pletely used to magid this retty damn magical.

  Grey breathed out heavily once he had finished f the orb. He looked up at me expectedly.

  I stared back at him, nonplussed. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

  “Ah,” Grey said, embarrassed. “Perhaps first try and se?”

  “And how do I do that?” I said impatiently. “It’s not like I know what I’m doing here.”

  “Just…try, Nathan,” Grey said frustratedly. “This is one of those aspects of being a Magi that es naturally to everyone. Aherial sense be refined, but all Magi sehe presenystical energies. You ot quite be called Magi as of yet, but you should still possess some ability due to your Virtues.”

  Whatever, worth a shot.

  I approached Grey and held my hands over the ball of light. I didn’t feel anything, to be ho. The ball didn’t give off a, and its slow-spinning wasn’t affeg the air around it. I looked up at Grey. “ I…touch it? It’s not going burn me or anything, will it?”

  “It will not burn you, no,” Grey said to me.

  Stretg out my index fio the Aether, I lightly y it upon the orb. He was right, it didn’t burn me, but it did do something. The moment I id a finger on it, it was as if a shot of cool lightning ran down my spine. I felt energized in a way I’d never felt, while at the same time, it felt like all the small hairs on my body stood straight up at once. Holy, it retty pleasant.

  But in the background, over the invigorating feeling, I swear I could feel something. I closed my eyes and furrowed my brow, trying to chase it. I stood there rey, almost unsciously fully ying both of my hands on top of the ball of Aether for several minutes chasing the feeling. Slowly, I mao track it down.

  It was…like a wave, but not? No, that’s nht. It was like a pulse. Not like a heartbeat, but more like a drum. What was strahough, is that it didn’t feel like it was inating from the orb of Aether. Rather, it felt like I could feel a tinuous pulse, inating from all dires, breaking over the ball of energy in front of me and outlining it in my mind's eye. I furrowed my brow in fusion, feeling out what I could. Where was the pulse ing from? From what Grey had told me before, Aether was all around us and was a fual po of all mystical energies. If something was breaking over the surface of this ball as if it was inpatible…

  I opened my eyes and frow Grey in fusion. “That isn’t Aether, is it?”

  Grey smiled at me widely. “Well done, Nathan. Ihis is not Aether at all. This is pure Mana, the refined po of Aether that Magi utilize.”

  “But I thought you said you were going to supply some raw Aether?” I said fusedly.

  “Did I? Or did I merely say I would provide what we need?” Grey said mysteriously. “In truth, Nathan, nobody produd manipute raw Aether. The entire System would colpse if we could. If one could simply learn how to process and manipute Aether at a whim, what would stop them from funneling that Aether into their Status and growing in strength infinitely?”

  “Ah,” I said. “That makes sense, I guess. So…what was I feeling?”

  “The impression of the worlds Aether is what you felt,” Grey answered. “We ot seher by ourselves, but we ses wake as it is with another energy. In this case, Mana. This kind of rudimentary Aetherial sense is something that all Magi and Cultivators are capable of. There are, of course, more advanced forms of mystical sensing, but that is beyond the scope of your ability at present.”

  “Huh,” I said thoughtfully.

  “Indeed,” Grey said wryly. “Being a Magi often means w around such restris iive ways. Why, in fact-”

  I held up a hand to stop him. “Gimme a sed,” I muttered his way, ying my hands around the orb of Mana again. I’d had an idea. I trated, barely aware of the fact that Grey had stopped speaking. Shortly, I found the pulse again and trated on it, this time listening more ily. I know that Grey had said that people couldn’t directly seher by itself, but…

  It didn’t feel that way to me.

  Now that I aying more attention, and knew what I was looking at, I could sense…or hear…or even sort of see in my mind’s eye something else. Every time that the pulse, which ema a steady rate, stru object it was like the object itself sort of pulsed back. It wasn’t oo-one, and it wasn’t at the same strength. But there was undoubtedly a response, and it was different. When an object responded, it was like I could feel some kind of pool of energy residing in it.

  Slowly, I moved my hands off of the orb, trating all the while to make sure that I could keep track of the pulse. It was difficult, and the pulse became steadily harder to feel the more I moved away from the orb of Mana. I stood still for a moment to make sure I could keep a hold of it. Once I was sure that I had a grasp oherial pulse in my mind’s eye, I slowly moved in the dire of the desk, and towards the tray that held the potion herbs from earlier. Laying my hands on them, I trated harder.

  There. I could se. Every time the greater pulse struck the herbs, I could feel a resonance from them, emanating from a pool of energy within them. Carefully, barely aware of what I was doing and guided by an instinct I didn’t uand, I reached out with my hand and touched the herb on top of the pile.

  I touched the pool of power within the herb, as well. Somehow.

  It responded.

  The reservoir of energy ihe herb strengthened somehow, resonating with me now. I could feel it more closely. I could feel the potential inside of it. In a daze, I gathered all of the herbs oray into my hands ahem. One by one, all of them began to resoh me. Within my cupped hands, the boundaries that separated each pool of pan to break down. Before long, I could feel only one font of energy in my clutched hands, swirling together to form a greater whole. Dazed, eyes still tightly closed, I held my hands over the small gss bottle of water oray ahe power drizzle out of my cupped hands and down into the mouth and neck of it. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

  Oray, sitting ihe bottle was a bright, cherry red liquid.

  “Nathan…” I heard Grey breathe. Sluggishly, I turned my head to see him. Grey was sitting on the edge of his seat, eyes bulging out of their sockets in astonishment. I’d never seen him so stunned. “What did you do?”

  “I…” I tried to answer. I didn’t ma.

  I passed out instead.