Catalyst was a strange skill amongst my collection. Gained in a moment of chaos and then used a single time. The moment left its scars on my psyche as well as the fabric of the skill itself. The truth was that I feared the ability, though I knew it was potent. Perhaps because of the power I knew the skill was capable of.

  Skill - Catalyst (Epic) (Dragon/Poison)

  The ignition. The spark. The reaction created around you and because of you, without altering the self.

  The definition ignored details in favour of an almost exultant explanation. This was becoming more common as the rarity of my skills increased and the breadth of each skill’s ability grew. Mana Bolt was a simple ball of energy to be thrown in a straight line, while its upgrade, Magic Missile, formed in the air and flew as though it had a mind of its own. If I had a more basic version of Catalyst, the description might have gone something like: The characteristics of mana are not uniform. This skill allows for a much easier alteration of mana characteristics.

  Even that wouldn’t have been a perfect explanation but it was close enough. When I had fallen into the pool of poison mana, it had immediately begun destroying my body from within. The liquid was not just a deadly venom but it also contained a magical intent to destroy anything it came into contact with. The powerful Grade One boss monster would have been successful had it not been for Catalyst.

  Face down, manaless and low on Spirit, my body had acted by instinct to survive. First, I weathered the destructive intent of the poison with a barrier of Spirit but it hadn’t been enough. I was not the only one capable of using Spirit after all. Reysault’s corrosive Spirit threatened to end my life and I had activated the only skill I had which might help and didn’t cost me mana I didn’t have. In a flash, the murderous desire within the poison was ripped away. In my exhaustion, inexperienced as I was, I didn’t fill the gap with anything.

  So, the energy had frozen. Drilling my way out of the prison I created for myself was a torture I truly hoped to never find the words to describe. Even now, I felt shadows in my mind where I forced myself to forget the worst of the experience. While it wasn’t sensible, I blamed the skill in a way. It wasn’t entirely ridiculous to do so, however.

  Catalyst was the result of a Guidance Stone fusing with my Aspect. Ultimately, both were a kind of graft upon my soul. All skills were in a way, but the guidance ones were different. Like the Aspect itself, they carried the will of that greater power in tiny ways. Dragonburn was the same, though their effects were almost polar opposites. If Catalyst removed intent from energy, Dragonburn used an overwhelming amount of energy to replicate an intent.

  It was all very confusing and didn’t show many signs of becoming less so. Tag was a nice helper for these things but at the end of the day, he was just a copy of me housed within a skill. He had been working hard at instilling me with a more natural knowledge of how my abilities worked as well as pushing the limits of what we were capable of. So, we were pretty sure this would work as I activated the skill to clear the last dregs of storm mana in my system.

  At least, Tag said they were sure.

  Instead of just throwing open the skill and praying, as I had done in the past, I controlled the process with Spirit this time. Using the skill as a net, I caught the storm mana and contained it to avoid further damage. Mana Manipulation, guided by Tag, solidified the latticework within my mana channels. All at once, the pain vanished as the alien energy came under my control. I couldn’t help but laugh aloud, the sound loud on the Tundra where I had fallen.

  I had used Catalyst correctly and now the energy was mine to alter as I wanted. With a flicker of attention, I stripped away the ruinous facets of the mana and put them to one side. I felt Mind Palace activate as Tag began intellectually devouring the concepts at play for our own use later. Leaving him to his work, I took a few seconds to inspect the calmed storm within.

  It was beautiful. My own mana had its own quirks but looking at the quality housed within this tiny fragment of storm mana, I felt inferior for the first time in a while. My own semi-crystalline mana had its benefits for the skills I used. As a liquid, it was easy to move around my mana channels for quick activation and use of abilities. Then, thanks to the sometimes solid nature, that same energy packed quite a punch when it was gathered together and aimed at an enemy.

  Catalyst had allowed me to strip any outside control from this power. I could use this energy if I chose. Just as I had known quickly that it was impossible for me to brute force any level of control over the elements with Mana Manipulation, I knew that this was now my energy. If I created a Magic Missile with this mana, it would not be a simple attack.

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  Feeling my energy start to stabilise, I waited for a few seconds before moving. I dragged myself to my feet while keeping an eye on the skies above. There was no follow up to the blanket of arrows which had rained down from the tower thankfully, as I couldn’t have done much about it. I jogged a distance away, quickly boring a hole in the ice and finding shelter before knocking on the Mind Palace. “Hey, Tag… I’ve got an idea.”

  I felt the presence inside me pull his head up from the work, already lost in learning how to make our mana more deadly. A worthwhile effort which I didn’t want to distract from. I just wanted permission to do something really stupid. It wasn’t only my body anymore even ignoring the quieter but definitely present Dragon, which I did regularly. I felt its gaze on my actions even now. Its encouraging rumble at my plan somehow made me feel less confident.

  Tag already knew what I would say, but I was forced to endure my own face giving me a disapproving look and asking if I was sure. “We just saw how walking up to the front door went, and you want to do it again?” I didn’t think I could actually curve my own eyebrow as high as Tag did. I had no answer but a shrug.

  “What alternative do we have? I don’t want to turn around. It’s clearly where the claimant is waiting based on the storm arrow description.” I looked into the sky. We were sitting in the observatory, and the clouds above us were angry.

  “How much of that can we contain, do you think?” Tag asked, following my eyes and gazing at the captured storm mana.

  “I’m not sure,” I answered with a devilish grin. At the moment it was just a small dark cloud floating above the palace in my inner world. As my health and mana returned to full capacity, I got a better view of my capability with the seized power. “But the Dragon seemed to think it’ll work.”

  From the black clouds above down to the ground, Tag’s eyes narrowed as he considered the Aspect. The land still hadn’t healed but Tag said that he had it under control and I hadn’t noticed any adverse effects. “That changes things.”

  “Does it?” I asked, interested. I didn’t really know what to think of the strange consciousness within the Aspect. I was inherently suspicious of any outside influence, and I had placed one directly into my soul. I had no choice at the time and I didn’t regret it in any case but any reason to trust it more was welcome.

  “We’re all in this together, Grant,” my mirrored self said with a sigh. “If anyone knows how weird it feels, it’s me.”

  “You mean me,” I joked. Tag just glared at me in response, which I could admit was a very ‘me’ reaction.

  “Go poke the lightning bear,” Tag waved me away, turning back to his other research. I left him to it. Opening my eyes to the darkness of my underground igloo, I stretched out with a groan. I stank of blood and there wasn’t a great way of fixing that. One of the arrows had hit my leg, so the trousers were repaired by now. The other had torn my spare coat. Not for the first time, I lamented my inability to learn Naea’s Prestidigitation.

  Using these grievances as fuel for my actions, I stepped forward to challenge the tower once more. Such a massive attack surely had limitations. This dungeon was meant to be survivable… I was fairly sure of that. I spun the Jingu Bang around in my hand, shaking off the doubts as the weapon apologised with a gentle buzz in my hand. The Jingu Bang felt bad for letting me get hit by an arrow. I squeezed the staff in response, sharing some of my mana regeneration to show there was nothing to apologise for.

  All of these hands which push me forward, I thought to myself with a smile. My allies were certainly strange in appearance, from Naea the fairy, to the myriad creatures of Ascentown or my magical staff. Regardless, I didn’t want to let them down any more than they wanted to fail my expectations of them. I would face anything for those who were relying on me.

  Even this crazy tower.

  Knowing what to look for, not holding back any of my skills, I saw the storm arrows appear from around halfway up the gargantuan building. There were still seconds before they arrived, so I began layering my preparations together.

  Mana Barrier. Despite my confidence, the Storm Arrows were incredibly dangerous. Even the ambient energy they gave off could shock my muscles and cause me to freeze up. Having the barrier in place meant that I would be defended from the electrifying effect of any arrow which came too close.

  Infusion. Like a warm drink flowing from my throat to the rest of me, the power of Infusion melted through me. No longer an overtuned source of explosive power alone, I took a calm step forward under the influence of the skill which impressed my will upon the world around me.

  King’s Training. Along with the Jingu Bang’s silent instruction, this skill had been invaluable in learning not just how to move my body in a fight but also where I needed to look for openings. In my current situation, I needed to find every opening possible.

  Mana Manipulation. A dozen cages were made at once, all ready to house the angry mana attached to the incoming storm arrows. I felt the Dragon snort at what it viewed as a paltry example of power. Petulantly, I curled my lip and doubled the amount, then doubled that amount again. “No more peanut gallery,” I whispered. I needed to concentrate. As the arrows arrived, it was time for the final piece of the puzzle.

  Catalyst. I rolled my shoulders as the staff in my hands began to blur with speed. I felt the skill tingle as so much storm mana bore down on me. Like the maw of an ancient beast, I unleashed the skill once more. This storm was mine to devour.