Essence Wave Book 2 Chapter 28

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Almost done with the first draft. 1.5 to 2.5 chapters left! Expect a lot more chapters to flow out until y'all are caught up.

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

He woke up a few hours later, refreshed and ready to go. Aly was still sleeping, her Con lower by almost twenty points. He carefully extricated himself from the bed, then got dressed by reversing the storage maneuver he’d done before bed. A pair of jeans and a polo shirt appeared on him, but then were immediately absorbed into his nano armor. He grinned down at his wife, Still so lucky, then he exited the room, closing the door softly to not wake her up.

Walking to the railing on the walkway, he saw that the bookshelf was still in use, now with Michelle reading something while two young women discussed a drawing on the table in front of them. He turned and left the room, heading to the arena. There he continued to train his Scholar’s Vision Skill, watching as a seemingly endless parade of people came through to fight. Even with the sun gone for hours now, there was still a line to get into the arena. Dozens of people were watching, and David recognized none of them.

Hours passed, and his Skill ticked upwards before a surge of Essence flowed into him as it jumped to Apprentice one. On a whim, he then threw a bunch of Mana into it and watched as a young man who’d put Essence into the Defender Way three times used a retaliatory strike that he’d seen a couple of times before. Oh, that’s how you do that, he thought.

He turned to a middle-aged woman who was sitting next to him. “Hit me,” he said.

“Uh, sir?” She asked, looking confused.

“I think I can get a new Skill. Hit me please,” he said back.

She nodded, then struck out with a spear she had by her side. David moved the Energy in his channels as he’d seen the Defender do, focused on his forearm. He deflected the spear and checked the return strike before it actually hit her. The blinking dot in his vision signified his success. “Thank you,” he said, then reached to shake her hand.

She took it, then gasped as he sent her a hundred credits. “Payment for services rendered,” he told her.

“Baron Black, any of us would be happy to help you get stronger,” she said.

“Thank you …” he paused.

“Casey,” she said. “You gave us this city where we can be safe. I’d die to give my kids safety, so helping you for a few minutes isn’t anything big.”

“On the contrary,” he said. “Each step that makes us safer is important. Thank you.”

She blushed and looked away.

David took the opportunity to check his notification.

Congratulations! Through diligent studying and application, you have learned the Skill: Defender’s Riposte

Level: Novice 1

Description: Use Energy to deflect an opponent's physical attack and use a portion of the momentum deflected to strengthen a subsequent attack.

Got it, he thought. Though, should I combine this with Vanguard’s Strike, or with Combat Reflexes? What other Skills should I combine? I know (name) always told us to focus on a few moves and engrave them into our muscle memory. Vanguard’s Charge, Vanguard’s Strike, and Mana Bolt are my main go-tos for combat, so strengthening them is perfect. I need to work on using Mana Shield, Earthen Bulwark, and Shield Bash, and maybe do some focus on buffing my passives. Though I’m not sure how much time I want to spend getting stronger when there are people enslaved in Buena Vista. Of course, if I don’t spend long enough, they’ll stay enslaved forever, or at least significantly longer than otherwise. Gah, let’s see if Josiah is awake.

Josiah was not awake yet, sleeping in a bunk in one of the Log Houses. Really? Need to get that guy an apartment. We should prioritize a lot more housing both up here and at the base. David looked at the building, then turned and ran back to the Mayor’s Manor, waving at Michelle who was reading.

She immediately got up and followed him to the map room. “You didn’t have to stop reading,” he told her. “I was just waving hi.”

“I was just using up time until you or Josiah were awake anyway,” she said. “So what put a burr in your saddle?”

“I wanted to see if we could upgrade the Log Houses with another floor or two,” he said. “I want to get as many people as we can out of sleeping in bunks and into at least hotel type lodging instead.”

“We probably can, but that’ll set back the other building projects,” Michelle chided him. “Christine, Duke, and I planned out what we think is the best order for everything to be done.”

“Did you include Aly, Colin, Liz, and I in the plan?” David asked.

“No,” she said. “It’s more important that you all are getting stronger and training. We all know that, without you, we’d all be dead. I’d rather sleep in a cot for the next year and be safe, than have an apartment but risk another invasion. If people wanted that, there’s still dozens of houses in good condition in Nathrop just south of us.”

“Can we just pick up the houses there? Any RVs available?” David asked.

“No, and probably, but anything built after the mid sixties seems to be corroding faster and faster,” Michelle said. “If you want to select a Log House to push some Mana into, I can get it set up. The rooms will be ten feet by ten feet, so not huge and without bathrooms in each. Last I looked at it, the upgrade added another two communal bathrooms, though, so that’ll help.”

“Can it be two floors, each the same?” David said. “I’ve got a bunch of Skill work and meditation I can work on, so I can just keep driving Energy and Mana into it while I focus inward.”

“Let me see,” she said, stepping over to the map table and poking at it. David followed her, and watched as a schematic of the current Log House appeared. She reached out and manipulated it, pulling the walls upward to get two more levels. Options appeared to the side, and she selected one labeled ‘Tiny Bedrooms’ then stretched them a bit wider to get three meters by three meters or so. Stairs were added to two locations near the front, which would eliminate four bunks, but the new building would have another thirty two rooms that could sleep two, or four if they really wanted to get cozy.

“What do you think?” Michelle asked after ten minutes of fiddling, with some input from David.

“Set it up,” David said. “Shouldn’t interrupt too many people’s days, and hopefully I’ll be done by the evening. By the way, you’re required to take one of the rooms for yourself, unless you really want to share with someone.”

“Fine, but it’s going to cost over two million each of Mana and Energy,” Michelle warned.

“Eh, I’ll make Aly help out later,” David laughed. “Can you send her my way when she wakes up?”

“Yes sir,” Michelle said, her grin making the sir sarcastic.

David just shook his head, then walked out to the Log House again. He entered it and found that three of the four bunks were empty, and the last had a guy sitting and looking at a tablet. “Hey, can you move over a bit,” David asked. “I’m about to upgrade the building, but these four bunks are going to get replaced with stairs up. You’ll get one of the rooms for the inconvenience if you want it.”

“Sure thing,” the young man said. “What about my friends' stuff?” He gestured at the other three cots.

“Move it all,” David said, “I’m not sure what’ll happen to them.”

He nodded, and then David helped him lug cots into the center aisle, making it hard to walk through but keeping their stuff from being absorbed by the system. “If you want to help,” David said, “You’re welcome too. We’re not using any resources, so it’s straight Mana and Energy.”

“Uh, okay, Lord Black,” he said. “I don’t go on duty for another hour.”

“Duty?”

“Yes sir. I’m a guard. Malcolm,” Malcolm said, holding out his hand.

“David,” David answered. “Don’t bother with the Lord Black stuff.”

“Alright, sir,” he said.

“Come on,” David said, then walked out of the building. He tapped the side of the building and pulled up the upgrade menu.

Do you wish to upgrade Log House to Log House Hotel? Yes/No

If so, please provide resources:

0/34 Worked Wood, 0/13 Unworked Stone, 0/3 Unworked Metal

Energy Requried: 1,847,913

Mana Required: 2,631,322

“Yup, this is going to take a while,” David said. “At least if I keep it limited to my regen rate, it won’t trigger the issue with my channels overloading.”

“Okay sir,” Malcolm said. “Uh, I’ll just sit here then.”

“Go ahead. I’ll be meditating, so I probably won’t hear you unless you really try to get my attention,” David said. “Sorry to be not personable.”

“You’re fine, sir,” he shook his head hurriedly. “I’ll be okay. Got some reading here.” He gestured at his tablet.

“How’d you make it keep working?” David asked.

“Upgraded it to be System compatible,” Malcolm answered. “Only ten credits at the Market.”

“Good to know,” David said. He closed his eyes and dropped into his core cave. A few minutes had him sending half of his regeneration into upgrading the building. Might as well use this time to temper too, he thought, moving a bit of Mana and Energy into different parts of his channels. The burn was enough to interrupt his concentration, at least until he channeled the rest of his regeneration into an unguided Advanced Bodily Repair. The upgrade to Apprentice let it interact with his channels much easier, though it reduced the effectiveness of the tempering by a bit too.

“This is a pretty nice setup,” David told himself. “And I’m still full in case there is an emergency. Okay, now to combine Skills. Vanguard’s Strike and Power Attack fill the same niche, and neither one has a long cooldown. I rarely remember to use them both in the same fight so merging them might be worth it. Though, does adding three Skills together work, and if it does, how does that affect the result.” He sat down, the chair from his study nook appearing beneath him.

“There’s so much I don’t know, and we could try to look it up, but the Skill manuals are just so expensive. Do I experiment? Can I merge an active and a passive Skill together? If so, does the order matter? If I merge Defender’s Riposte into Combat Reflexes, will it stay passive? What if I add Swordsman’s Step too?”

He dithered for a minute, then shook his head. “Power Attack and Vanguard’s Strike. I’m going to merge those first. They do the same thing, but Vanguard’s Strike has been upgraded significantly. If needed, I could always learn Power Attack again.” He reached upward and moved the Skill runes. Up close, he was able to see how similar they were, and when he started to push Power Attack into Vanguard’s Strike, a dozen strokes of Vanguard’s Strike’s rune began to glow.

His Mana and Energy outflows immediately stopped, and then every drop from both his Cores seemed to explode upward into the merging Skills. Each second, more Mana and Energy formed and was pulled out, and his chest hurt as a blood red mist filtered into his core cave to be absorbed as well.

The wait seemed interminable, but finally it finished. The Skill was only a little bit different, with each of the glowing parts of the rune now thicker. He pulled up the notifications that were waiting for him.

Congratulations! You have merged the Skill: Power Attack into Vanguard’s Strike! Skill experience merged, extreme synergy bonus! Rarity increased! Caution: Power Attack is at the same tier as Vanguard’s Strike. Significant extra Mana and Energy required. Insufficient supplies will be taken from Hit Points. Merge success!

Skill: Vanguard’s Strike [Rare]

Level: Beginner 20

Description: Use Energy and Mana to step forward into a powerful attack, knocking the target backwards. Increased damage and knockback per level. Significant efficiency bonus for Energy usage, minor efficiency bonus for Mana usage. Counts as one tier higher for armor penetration. Extra Mana can be used to increase tier effect for armor penetration.

Essences: Minor Air - Increased damage to unarmored or lightly armored opponents. Increased knockback to heavily armored opponents.

Caution! You have overdrafted your Mana and Energy. Hit Points used to replace them.

Injury gained: Strained channels - reduce all regenerations by a significant amount until healed.

Time to finish healing: 01:10:11:27

“Ow,” David said, “but worth it. Now to heal it.” He channeled Advanced Bodily Repair, finding the dozens of places that his channels had been rubbed raw, or even broken through in a couple of places. It hurt enough that his Pain Resistance Skill leveled up from pushing through the pain. Advanced Bodily Repair leveled as well, once the injury was fully healed. It took two hours of continuous work, even with his Apprentice tier, Scarce rarity Skill.

“Woo, channel strains are not easy to heal,” he commented to himself as he popped out of his core cave.

“Channel strain?” Aly asked, sitting next to him.

“Oh, hi babe,” David said, then nodded. “Yeah, I merged Power Attack and Vanguard’s Strike. Turns out if the Skills you’re merging are on the same tier, it costs a lot extra, and if you can’t pay it pulls from Hit Points. I was planning on doing a three-way merger after this one, but not anymore. I’ll tier up Combat Reflexes first, I think.”

“Maybe we can build a location that enhances regenerations and have Mana and Energy Potions available,” Liz said, having walked up right as he began his explanation. “Michelle said you were upgrading a Log House and would appreciate help?”

“Yeah,” David said, pointing upward. “Was going to try and charge it at the same time as merging Skills, but that didn’t work. I can probably work on Inscriptions though.”

Aly nodded and vanished, dropping into Stealth. David looked confusedly at where she had been, then shrugged. Liz shook her head at him and sat down nearby. Her eyes closed and her breathing evened out as she dropped into her Meditation Skill. On a whim, David activated Scholar’s Vision and tried to see what her Skill was doing.

Her Mana seemed to fluctuate, pulsing almost like a heartbeat. After a few seconds, the pulsing sped up slightly. He tried to make his Mana beat like hers, and couldn’t get it done. It was a full body surge, affecting every bit of Mana, from her core to her skin. After a few minutes, he gave up, and dropped into his core cave.

There, he looked up at his Mana core. “Pulse,” he yelled at it. Nothing happened, other than him feeling sheepish. “Yeah, of course that wouldn’t work. Well, what does my Skill do?” His mental body floated up to examine his core. A few subjective minutes left him stumped. “Nothing seems different.”

A quick scan of his whole body gave no answers. He retreated to his Inscription study, trying to think. “Think,” he exclaimed, then zoomed up to his brain. “ Scholar’s True Focus,” he said, finally finding the runes of Mana that were slowly rotating through his grey matter. “Well, that answers that. I have no idea what these runes are.”

The next two hours passed quickly, as he tried to tease out the meaning behind the massively complex twists and turns of the brain runes. He was no closer than when he started, other than a single set of repeating right angles that he thought enhanced Mana regeneration. I’ll have to poke at them if I really want to understand them quickly, he thought as he pulled himself back to his core cave. But I am NOT going to screw around with potentially volatile runes in my brain. Nope, not happening.

He came back into the real world to find a dozen people standing around the Log House and channeling into it. As he watched, a young man stumbled away, slumping as he ran low on Mana and Stamina. “Careful,” David said. “Don't hurt your channels.”

“I’m fine,” he said curtly, then looked up to see David just giving him a look. “Uh, sorry, Lord Black, sir, uh,” the boy stammered, “of course. I will be careful. I’m sorry. Sorry.”

David held a laugh in, then said, “It’s okay. Just be careful that you don’t overexert and prevent yourself from helping for eight or sixteen hours.”

He nodded, “I just want to help, uh, sir.” He paused. “They took my family, and I never saw them again.”

“I’m sorry,” David said. “We’ll get revenge for them.”

“I don’t want revenge,” the young man said emphatically. “I just want to prevent anyone else from having to lose their families. Then I see you channeling more than me for hours. I…”

“You just want to do what I can do,” David said. “What’s your level?”

“Uh, four, sir,” he answered.

“I’m level nine, and have a number of achievements and titles boosting my stats and regen even higher than my level would indicate. When we first established the city, I tried what you just did, and ended up being forced to not do anything with my Mana or Stamina for eight hours, and I had trouble with using Skills for another eight hours after that. I’d hate for you to get hurt because you couldn’t use your defense Skills.”

The young man nodded, then sat down. “I’ll just rest here,” he said. He looked down at the ground, and then up at David. “Thank you.”

David just nodded. He leaned back against the wall, letting his regen continue to push more Energy and Mana into the building. He looked up and saw that the walls were starting to fill in, the Mana that everyone had put into the building starting to take shape. Looking good, he thought, closing his eyes and dropping back into his core cave.