《The Labyrinth》 One Folding up his copy of El Pa¨ªs, Jake figured it was time to head back to the hotel, especially considering the ¡°27 Children Missing in 3 days!¡± headline. The Parque del Retiro had filled with grandparents and kids, and as a single male tourist, he was already getting scrutinized by too many of them. He didn¡¯t want to miss out on his last day of vacation in Madrid, and the cooling breeze off the man-made lake in the 400-year-old park wouldn¡¯t really fight off the June sun for much longer, either. Just as he tried to leave, a woman with an old-fashioned, black baby buggy cut around him as he started to get up, almost knocking him over. ¡°?Disculpe!¡± she threw over her shoulder, the excuse almost lost in her twisted dark brown locks. Her long hair fluttered in the breeze and left Jake wondering what her face looked like. The explosion a moment later shattered the nearby boat shack, shredding the attendants and couples in line, and its force tumbled Jake over the bench as he stood up for a second time. The world spun and trembled for a dozen heartbeats. A groan rumbled through his chest when he first tried to get up, then a bright flash of pain tore the breath out of him. His forearm bent in the middle. ¡°That¡¯s not ¡­ Oh. Shit,¡± he mumbled. The horizon rocked back and forth in his vision, with scattered people getting off the ground, but too many others lying still. Sirens began wailing from a distance, but Jake couldn¡¯t pick out where. A small boy with blood on his face wandered past while carrying an adult shoe. Jake¡¯s shoe. Jake blinked, and the kid was gone. Strange creatures poked at the bodies near the exploded shack. Jake could hear a baby crying, and he looked around slowly. The woman from before -- the baby was wailing in pain or fear. Jake cradled his arm and knee-crawled over to the spilled stroller. The baby wasn¡¯t there, though. A weird, glowing box of blue dominoes lay spilled on the ground where the baby should be. Jake tried to shake his head, but that caused a sudden spike of pain. He blinked and found himself lying with his face on the dominoes. Gold spots, he thought. He blinked as something covered his vision. Red spots, too. Weird. SYSTEM INITIALIZATION ¡­ HOST DAMAGE 12% ¡­ HOST OPERATING SYSTEM MALFUNCTION ¡­ INITIALIZING AUTOREPAIR Blue screens now. Jake wondered if he was already dead, his mind playing tricks with the last little bit of electricity running through his brain. Then he felt a ¡­ well, he wasn¡¯t exactly sure - a pull on his brain, and a cool wave swept through his head. HOST OPERATING SYSTEM REBOOT INITIALIZED ¡­ HOST DAMAGE 4% ¡­ HOST OPERATING SYSTEM REBOOT SUCCESSFUL ¡­ SYSTEM SHUT-DOWN Jake grabbed his head and squeezed. ¡°What in the actual fuck?¡± He could feel the energy pathway inside his head, the one that had gotten rid of his concussion, he was pretty sure. His arm still hurt, but it was no longer deformed. ¡°Triage, man, you¡¯re not that busted up any more.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The woman on the other side of the stroller moaned as she breathed, loud enough to hear now. Jake finally got to see her face -- a straight, thin, Spanish nose stood out along with high cheekbones. A gash on the left side of her forehead bled freely, but it only dimmed her beauty, rather than destroying it. ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± he told her in Spanish. She blinked at him, and cried out when he slid a hand over the left side of her ribcage. ¡°The baby,¡± she said, starting to look around. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Lay still -- your ribs are broken. I¡¯m Jake. Can you tell me your name?¡± ¡°What? Who are ¡­ ?¡± she said, then closed her eyes for several seconds. ¡°I need to throw up!¡± Jake supported her neck as she turned. A few second later, she laid back again, her eyes closed. ¡°What¡¯s your name? Do you know where you are?¡± Jake asked her again, louder. He worried that she had a worse concussion than he did, so he decided to try to fix that -- an aqua blue energy flowed out of his hand and into her head. The woman opened her eyes again, and they glowed a brilliant purple, the color overwhelming the normal brown. ¡°WHO ARE YOU?¡± she said, her voice somehow booming and echoing inside Jake¡¯s head for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m a nurse. You should be okay until the ambulance gets here. Just stay still. I¡¯ll be close by, but I need to look at some other people.¡± Jake ignored her protest and moved toward the next person on the ground -- an old man sprawled next to the edge of the Alcachofa fountain. Jake found a thready pulse that felt weak and way too fast. The power in his head throbbed again, but it felt different this time. He focused for a second on the old man¡¯s pulse, then noticed that strange, fractal shapes of yellow warbled through the air around the old man, with black lines mixing in near his heart. ¡°Looks like v-tach, feels like v-tach¡­¡± Jake closed his eyes again, and reached for the energy inside -- it felt smaller now, and cool. He stretched to pull it into his body and down his arm into his left hand. Aqua blue light pulsed into the old man¡¯s chest, and the yellow fractals condensed into simpler waves. Still too fast with a pulse of 110, but probably out of immediate danger, Jake hoped. Three other bodies lay about 10 meters away. A slow crawl to get to them took nearly a minute. Two elderly women both had strong pulses, but lay unconscious. The third body was a youngish man who had been run through by a meter-long shard of jagged wood. His dead gaze stared back toward the trees that edged the pathways around the lake. Jake looked over to see a boxy ambulance and two police cars turn off the Paseo Argentina from the park¡¯s main entrance. Multiple other emergency vehicles followed a few seconds later. Officers and paramedics spilled out, with the first headed toward the explosion site, the latter checking bodies. Once they got to Jake, he told them about the old man¡¯s heart condition, but didn¡¯t mention anything about blue lights or funny energy waves. When he looked over to point out the first woman with the broken ribs, she was gone. Two Once the emergency workers had looked him over, they stashed Jake in a small holding area with chairs and a tented canopy. Half a dozen other people sat quietly, most with bruises and cuts showing on faces and arms. The only teenager had an air splint on her right leg. The other five looked to be in their 30s or 40s, like Jake. As he glanced around, he could feel the small pocket of energy in his brain. If he focussed, he could see numerous lines of color flickering around everything. Multiple streaks of different greens and blues mixed with white in the air, while near the ground, browns and tans blended in. None of the colors blocked his normal vision; it was just that almost everything had an extra depth to it now -- a brighter color showing through the regular look of grass and trees. People had different colors going on, mostly reds and purples with yellow highlights. The teen girl showed a brighter red than the rest of the older adults, and the emergency workers who came through occasionally didn¡¯t carry the small black clouds that all the injured people had. Blue screens and magic lines floating around felt like the start of too many of Jake¡¯s favorite novels. If he hadn¡¯t actually seen the old man get better, or felt his own brain suddenly clear up, he would think that he was heavily concussed or delusional, but everything around him felt preternaturally clear. The disappearing woman and her turquoise dominoes made him wonder, though. Jake felt his anxiety trying to grab hold, so he dropped his enhanced vision of everyone and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate on the power in his brain, meditating like his psychologist had told him to. As he tensed and relaxed the muscles of his body, a rainbow of colors ran through his mind, finally settling on a deep blue that was nearly black. After a half hour, he finally felt calm enough to examine the power inside his head. It was as if he could feel it with his fingertips - a soft, slightly pulsing ball. If he wanted to, he could make it stretch from his head into any part of his body, but it seemed to like his lower abdomen the most. Once he had done that a dozen times, a message popped up -- just like his brain was a web browser. SYSTEM INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL ¡­ SYSTEM LIBRARIES UPLOAD INCOMPLETE ¡­ MISSING COMPONENTS ISOLATED ¡­ LIBRARY DATA 18% ¡­ LOCAL MANA SYSTEM AVAILABLE ¡­ LOCAL MANA SYSTEM DETERMINED NOT NATIVE ¡­ LABYRINTH ACCESS UNAVAILABLE ¡­ HOST SYSTEM NOT NATIVE ¡­ UPDATING HOST SYSTEM Jake didn¡¯t like the looks of that last line, but he couldn¡¯t feel any pain. A mental poke at the screen made it blink three times, then the text disappeared. The empty box sat there, and Jake found that he couldn¡¯t open his eyes or make the box go away. This shit better be worth it, he thought. After what felt like hours of staring at nothing, the screen started scrolling text. HOST SYSTEM UPDATE SUCCESSFUL ¡­ LABYRINTH ACCESS UNAVAILABLE ¡­ HOST POTENTIAL EVALUATED ¡­ HOST ACCESS PORTS UNLOCKED ¡­ HOST EVALUATION COMPLETED ¡­ MULTIPLE JOB CLASSES AVAILABLE ¡­ HOST CLASS UPGRADE AVAILABLE ¡­ UPDATING HOST CLASS ... WELCOME NATIVE SOPHONT JACOB LEVI NATHANSON ¡­ POTENTIAL ENERGY USAGE CLASSES AVAILABLE ¡­ FIRST POWER PORT FILLED DUE TO EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS ... PSI POWER USAGE GRANTED, HEALING TOUCH GRANTED, PSIONIC POWER CLASSES AVAILABLE ... PLEASE CHOOSE APPROPRIATE SKILLS BY SPEAKING ¡°Well, it would help to know what are my choices, y¡¯know? Oh, and what the hell is going on here?¡± SYSTEM CALCULATING ¡­ MAJOR HOST-IDENTIFIED CLASSES INCLUDE:
  1. TELEPATH -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, PROCESSING SPEED, AND EQ -- RELATIVELY WEAK COMBAT CLASS, STRONG SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, RELATIVELY MODERATE SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS
  2. MIND HAUNTER -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, EQ, AND AFFECT -- WEAK COMBAT CLASS, WEAK SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, STRONG SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS
  3. PSIONIC MARTIAL ARTIST -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, PROCESSING SPEED, AGILITY -- MEDIUM COMBAT CLASS, RELATIVELY WEAK SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, WEAK SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS
  4. MIND WARRIOR -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, PROCESSING SPEED, AND ENDURANCE -- STRONG COMBAT CLASS, RELATIVELY WEAK SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, MINOR CRAFTING CLASS
¡°Yeah, but I didn¡¯t even know there was a system. How can those be stuff that I identified?¡± HOST KNOWLEDGE OF CLASSES, MAGIC, MYTHOLOGY, HEALING, COMBAT, CRAFTING, AND GAMING COMBINED TO APPROXIMATE AVAILABLE CLASSES IN ORDER TO INSTANTIATE HOST CONCEPTION OF CLASS CONSTRUCTS ¡°But why do I have to have a class? I mean, I haven¡¯t had one all my life until now. Not that it doesn¡¯t sound cool, but what exactly is going on?¡± HOST SYSTEM HAS CONTACTED LABYRINTH SYSTEM ¡­ LABYRINTH SYSTEM WILL INCREASINGLY INTERFERE IN HOST SYSTEM AND HOST SYSTEM¡¯S LOCAL PLANE ¡­ CLASSES ALLOW PERCEPTION AND USAGE OF PLANAR ENERGIES IN ORDER TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO HOST SYSTEM INTEGRITY BY EXTERIOR SYSTEM ENERGIES ¡°Okay, so that sounds bad. What kind of damage are we talking about?¡± HOST SYSTEM TERMINATION POTENTIAL WITHOUT CLASS EXCEEDS 80% HOST SYSTEM OPERATING SYSTEM DESTRUCTION POTENTIAL WITHOUT CLASS EXCEEDS 95% HOST SYSTEM OPERATING SYSTEM DECOUPLING FROM HOST SYSTEM ORGANISM POTENTIAL WITHOUT CLASS EXCEEDS 99% ¡°So, dead, coma or paralyzed. I think I need a class, System. Is there one that does good armor, crafting, and maybe some of the social interaction? And ranged combat, ¡¯cause I don¡¯t want to be up close to anything that¡¯s gonna hurt like that explosion did. And no mind-control stuff. That shit¡¯s just wrong.¡± CALCULATING ¡­ SYSTEM LIBRARY INCOMPLETE ¡­ SUGGESTED CLASS BASED ON CURRENT HOST SYSTEM AND REQUIREMENTS LISTED BY SOPHONT JACOB LEVI NATHANSON IS PSIONIC ARTISAN ¡°Just call me Jake, okay? And give me the details on Psionic Artisan class, please.¡± SYSTEM UPDATED, SOPHONT JACOB LEVI NATHANSON NOW CLASSIFIED AS SYSTEM OBJECT ¡®JAKE¡¯ ¡­ PSIONIC ARTISAN CLASS ASSIMILATES INTRA-CLASS ¡®JAKE¡¯ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS WITH WOOD, CONSTRUCTION, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRONICS, FIREARMS -- CURRENTLY RATED AT LOW PROFICIENCY ¡­ CLASS ASSIMILATES MINOR INTRA-CLASS ¡®JAKE¡¯ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS WITH METALS, CHEMISTRY, PHARMACEUTICALS, LEATHER, STONE -- CURRENTLY RATED AT MINOR PROFICIENCY ¡­ CLASS ASSIMILATES EXTRA-CLASS ¡®JAKE¡¯ KNOWLEDGE OF BIOLOGY, NATURE, PHYSICS AS STEP 1 UPGRADES TO MINOR PROFICIENCIES, STEP 2 UPGRADES TO LOW PROFICIENCIES ¡°Okay then -- it plays to some of my strengths, and a bunch of the minor stuff I know. What about the social-interaction stuff? I get anxious, and I could use a lotta help there.¡± PSIONIC ARTISAN CLASS GRANTS USAGE OF MINOR PSIONIC POWERS INCLUDING ¡®EMPATHY¡¯, ¡®RESOLVE¡¯, ¡®VOICE CONTROL¡¯, ¡®PSIONIC PERCEPTION¡¯ ¡°That sounds like stuff I need. Accept that class, please.¡± CONGRATULATIONS ¡®JAKE¡¯ ... PRIMARY POWER CLASS SET TO ¡®PSIONIC ARTISAN¡¯ Jake felt a shift in the ball of energy in his head, as it seemed to grow -- almost twice as big as it had been. He also suddenly knew how to channel that energy into a power suit of armor. He wondered how close he could get to Iron Man. This would be fun. SECOND POWER PORT UNALLOCATED ¡­ PLEASE CHOOSE POWER TYPE FOR SECOND POWER PORT ¡°List me the choices, System.¡± CALCULATING ¡­ MAJOR HOST-IDENTIFIED POWERS INCLUDE:Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
  1. MANA -- POWER THAT ACCOMPLISHES NEAR INSTANTANEOUS SUBSTITUTION OF INTRA-PLANAR EXTRA-SYSTEM POWER INTO PHYSICAL AND/OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS VIA COMPLEX CONSTRUCTS IN INTERACTION WITH HOST SYSTEM AND EXTERNAL OBJECTS OR REPRESENTATIONS -- ACTIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ ACTIVATION
  2. KARMA -- POWER THAT ACCOMPLISHES SLOW REACTION PHYSICAL AND/OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS VIA MICROPERCENTAGE ADJUSTMENTS OF LOCAL PLANAR CONSTANTS IN INTERACTION OF HOST SYSTEM AND EXTERNAL SOPHONTS IN PHYSICAL AND METAPHYSICAL EXCHANGES WITHOUT MENTAL CONSTRUCTS OR EFFORTS -- PASSIVE SYSTEM ALWAYS ON
  3. OCCULT -- POWER THAT ACCOMPLISHES NEAR INSTANTANEOUS SUBSTITUTION OF EXTRA-PLANAR EXTRA-SYSTEM POWER INTO PHYSICAL AND/OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS VIA MENTAL CONSTRUCTS IN INTERACTION WITH HOST SYSTEM, EXTERNAL OBJECTS OR REPRESENTATIONS, AND EXTRA-PLANAR SYSTEMS OR SOPHONTS -- ACTIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ ACTIVATION
  4. QI / CHI / KI -- POWER THAT ACCOMPLISHES NEAR INSTANTANEOUS SUBSTITUTION OF INTRA-PLANAR EXTRA-SYSTEM POWER INTO INTERNAL ¡®JAKE¡¯ PHYSICAL AND/OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS VIA REINFORCED INTERNAL PHYSICAL PATHWAYS -- PASSIVE SYSTEM ALWAYS ON
¡°Yeah, so I still don¡¯t want to fight up close to anything unless I have to. I really don¡¯t want to fight at all. My job is to help people get better, not hurt them. So no to the ki, and karma seems too vague. Not sure that I like the extra-planar idea -- nobody ever wins making a deal with the outer horrors. And I really, really want to do magic. Give me mana, System.¡± SECOND POWER PORT FILLED, MANA USAGE GRANTED ¡­ MANA POWER CLASSES AVAILABLE ... PLEASE CHOOSE CLASS FROM HOST-IDENTIFIED, ¡®JAKE¡¯ REQUIREMENTS LIST BY SPEAKING
  1. WIZARD -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, PROCESSING SPEED, LEARNING -- USES COMPLEX MENTAL CONSTRUCTS, SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, AND SPECIFIC MATERIALS TO MANIPULATE MANA IN ORDER TO GENERATE SPECIFIC, NON-VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS ¡­ COMPLEX RECURSIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ MANIPULATION AND ACTIVATION -- STRONG RANGED COMBAT CLASS, MODERATE SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, ACCESSORY CRAFTING CLASS
  2. SHAMAN -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, EQ, LEARNING -- USES COMPLEX PHYSICAL SYMBOLISM CONSTRUCTS, SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, SPECIFIC MATERIALS AND INTERACTION WITH INTRA-PLANAR MANA-OBJECTS IN ORDER TO GENERATE SPECIFIC VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS ¡­ MODERATE RECURSIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ MANIPULATION AND ACTIVATION -- STRONG RANGED COMBAT CLASS, MODERATE SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, MODERATE SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, WEAK CRAFTING CLASS
  3. SORCERER -- POWERS ARE TIED TO EQ, AFFECT, ENDURANCE -- USES MENTAL CONSTRUCTS, SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, SPECIFIC MATERIALS IN CONJUNCTION WITH SPECIFIC BIOGENETIC-CODE INHERITANCE TO MANIPULATE MANA IN ORDER TO GENERATE SPECIFIC, NON-VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS ¡­ MODERATE RECURSIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ ACTIVATION -- STRONG RANGED COMBAT CLASS, WEAK SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, MODERATE SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, MINOR ACCESSORY CRAFTING CLASS
  4. MANA ARTISAN -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, LEARNING, PERCEPTION -- USES MENTAL CONSTRUCTS, COMPLEX PHYSICAL SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS, COMPLEX SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, SPECIFIC MATERIALS TO MANIPULATE MANA IN ORDER TO GENERATE SPECIFIC, NON-VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS ¡­ RELATIVELY STRONG RECURSIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES ¡®JAKE¡¯ ACTIVATION -- STRONG RANGED COMBAT CLASS, WEAK SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, STRONG CRAFTING CLASS
  5. BIOMAGUS -- POWERS ARE TIED TO LEARNING, ENDURANCE, IMMUNE SYSTEM -- USES SIMPLE MENTAL CONSTRUCTS, SPECIFIC MATERIALS IN CONJUNCTION WITH INTERNAL BIOGENETIC MANIPULATION IN ORDER TO HARNESS MANA TO GENERATE VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR LIMITED METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS ¡­ MODERATE RECURSIVE SYSTEM REQUIRES SOME ¡®JAKE¡¯ ACTIVATION -- MODERATE COMBAT CLASS, MODERATE SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, STRONG SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, MINOR ACCESSORY CRAFTING CLASS
¡°Okay, System, that¡¯s a lot to take in. Give me a few minutes here to think,¡± Jake said. ¡°What I really want is medicine related. Magic, but the kind that I can use to make people get better, or to make meds for them so they get better -- not that Biomagus -- that sounds creepy as all get out. Then, umm, well, making stuff, because that¡¯s what I do anyway. Something like a combination of the wizard and the mana artisan. But I still don¡¯t want any social control stuff. I don¡¯t want to be controlled, either, though, so I need some protection from that. Anything deep in the library that you can find that makes that combination?¡± CALCULATING ¡­ SYSTEM LIBRARY INCOMPLETE ¡­ SUGGESTED CLASS BASED ON CURRENT HOST SYSTEM AND UPDATED REQUIREMENTS IS ¡®SAGE¡¯ ... ¡®SAGE¡¯ ASSIMILATES CURRENT ¡®JAKE¡¯ CLASS ¡®SCHOLAR¡¯ AND ¡®JAKE¡¯ SUBCLASSES ¡®RESEARCHER¡¯, ¡®WRITER¡¯, ¡®TEACHER¡¯, ¡®NURSE¡¯, ¡®HOBBYIST¡¯ ¡­ CLASS ALLOWS POTENTIAL FOR MULTIPLE TYPES OF POWER CLASSES AS WELL AS CRAFTING -- POWERS ARE TIED TO IQ, LEARNING, EQ -- USES COMPLEX MENTAL AND/OR PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTS, SYMBOLIC PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTS, SYMBOLIC OBJECTS, AND SPECIFIC MATERIALS TO MANIPULATE MANA IN ORDER TO GENERATE SPECIFIC, VARIABLE PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL EFFECTS -- MODERATE RANGED COMBAT CLASS, MINOR SOCIAL INTERACTION CLASS, MINOR SOCIAL CONTROL CLASS, RELATIVELY STRONG CRAFTING CLASS ¡°I¡¯ll take that one. That get us done so I can go back to the real world now?¡± INTERNAL MENTAL TIME RUNS AT 10:1 WITH EXTERNAL PLANAR TIME ¡­ ¡®JAKE¡¯ HAS SPENT 25 EXTERNAL MINUTES APPEARING TO BE SLEEPING ¡­ ¡®JAKE¡¯ STILL NEEDS TO CHOOSE 15 SPECIFIC BASIC MENTAL CONSTRUCTS AS PART OF ¡®SAGE¡¯ CLASS ABILITIES ¡­ ABILITIES LIST INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF BASIC CONSTRUCTS OUT OF INCOMPLETE LIST OF ??? TOTAL ¡°You¡¯ve had recommendations for everything else - what do you got?¡± RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON ¡®JAKE¡¯ PRIORITIES INCLUDE BASIC CONSTRUCTS FOR SIX ACTIVATION OBJECTS: ¡®CALL¡¯, ¡®INCREASE¡¯, ¡®REPAIR¡¯, ¡®SENSE¡¯, ¡®SPREAD¡¯, ¡®THROW¡¯ AND NINE DEFINITION OBJECTS: ¡®BLOOD¡¯, ¡®BODY¡¯, ¡®BONE¡¯, ¡®ELECTRICITY¡¯, ¡®FIRE¡¯, ¡®ICE¡¯, ¡®LIGHT¡¯, ¡®METAL¡¯, ¡®WOOD¡¯ ¡°That list at least gives me a starting place, I guess. Hundreds of possibilities. Hmmm. Is ¡®create¡¯ a possibility?¡± AFFIRMATIVE ¡°Remove ¡®call¡¯ and put ¡®create¡¯ on the list. And take off ¡®electricity¡¯ and ¡®fire¡¯ and put ¡®spark¡¯ in the second group. That gives me one more. Well, first though, replace ¡®spread¡¯ with ¡®shape¡¯. Then put ¡®liquid¡¯ on the list. I really want ¡®purify¡¯, but it will be too limited in use for right now, I¡¯m guessing. Ohh, last thing - switch ¡®wood¡¯ for ¡®plant¡¯. So my list looks like this: create, increase, repair, sense, shape, throw / blood, body, bone, ice, light, liquid, metal, plant, spark.¡± BASED ON PREVIOUS CHOICES, ¡®CREATE¡¯ CAN ALSO REPLACE ¡®INCREASE¡¯ WHICH WILL ALLOW ¡®JAKE¡¯ TO GAIN ¡®PURIFY¡¯ CONSTRUCT ¡°Well, so we get purify blood, body, liquid or metal like that. If I combine the first two with the healing touch, that should be able to help a lot of people. Purify metal will get me gold or silver or whatever. Purify liquid should be useful somehow, but I¡¯m not sure for what. Maybe if I¡¯m making medicines? Still, if I get another activator, what would work better? Or can I get a modifier construct, System? Like, ummm, ¡®bullet¡¯ or ¡®spike¡¯ or ¡®wall¡¯ or ¡®shield¡¯?¡± EACH OF THOSE BASIC CONSTRUCTS IS POSSIBLE, BUT USE OF MORE THAN TWO CONSTRUCTS PER ACTIVATION CAN GREATLY INCREASE THE TIME OF ACTIVATION OR THE RISK OF MISCONTROL OF ENERGIES WITH POTENTIAL HARM TO ¡®JAKE¡¯ ¡°No giant shields or walls that pop up to save me instantly, huh. Well crap. But I could do slow casting with ¡®wall¡¯ -- that might be handy -- ¡®create wood wall¡¯ -- especially if I use some wood I already have as part of the ritual construction -- I could get some nice walnut or mahogany or ebony without having to pay an arm and a leg. Or a wall made out of gold. That¡¯s the ticket.¡± Jake thought a second, then decided that maybe that wouldn¡¯t be such a great idea. Somebody would want to know where he got that much pure gold or silver. Still. Really tempting. ¡°Hey, System, this class is supposed to work with crafting, too. Could I do something like ¡®compound¡¯ and ¡®medication¡¯ or ¡®create medication¡¯?¡± ¡®JAKE¡¯ MIGHT USE SUCH CONSTRUCTS, BUT LACK OF SPECIFICITY WOULD LIMIT POTENTIAL ¡®MEDICATION¡¯ CREATED. SUCH CONSTRUCTIONS ARE HIGHER-LEVEL IN NATURE ¡­ ONE POTENTIAL AVENUE WOULD BE TO INCORPORATE MATERIALS THAT CARRY SPECIFIC CONSTRUCTS WITHIN THE INHERENT PHYSICAL OR METAPHYSICAL NATURE OF THE MATERIAL AS A PART OF THE MEDICATION ... THAT SPECIFIC PRACTICE CAN BEST BE CALLED ¡®ALCHEMY¡¯ WITHIN ¡®JAKE¡¯ FRAME OF REFERENCE ¡°So I gotta level up or practice a bunch, and I need to find out what constructs things carry. I¡¯m gonna need to identify stuff -- crap, I almost forgot the most basic overpowered game skill. Guess that goes on the list ahead of the wall or bullet. And I can dump ¡®sense¡¯ for ¡®scan¡¯. So, new list: create, identify, repair, scan, shape, throw / blood, body, bone, ice, light, liquid, metal, plant, spark. Almost there, I think.¡± Jake thought about combinations and decided that ¡®light¡¯ could come off the list for now. ¡°Flashlights are a thing, right? So instead, I can put in ¡®item¡¯ -- that lets me identify objects like in most games. Will that let me know about the constructs attached to the item, System?¡± ITEMS DO NOT ALWAYS CARRY CONSTRUCTS, BUT RATHER THE BASE MATERIAL OF AN ITEM MAY BE THE CARRIER, WITH THAT CONSTRUCT LOST IN THE FABRICATION AS IT CONTROLS THE DIRECTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ITEM ¡°Dammit, how about ¡®material¡¯ then? That gives me identify material, create material, repair material, scan material, shape material, throw material. Okay, I¡¯m gonna get rid of the ¡®ice¡¯ and put ¡®item¡¯ in. Get rid of ¡®light¡¯ and put ¡®material¡¯ in. That¡¯s my final list, otherwise I''ll be sitting here changing it forever.¡± BASIC CONSTRUCTS FOR ¡®CREATE¡¯, ¡®IDENTIFY¡¯, ¡®REPAIR¡¯, ¡®SCAN¡¯, ¡®SHAPE¡¯, ¡®THROW¡¯, ¡®BLOOD¡¯, ¡®BODY¡¯, ¡®BONE¡¯, ¡®ITEM¡¯, ¡®MATERIAL¡¯, ¡®LIQUID¡¯, ¡®METAL¡¯, ¡®PLANT¡¯, ¡®SPARK¡¯ WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO ¡®JAKE¡¯ OPERATING SYSTEM STORAGE ¡­ UPLOADING The screens washed away, and this time, acid tore through Jake¡¯s head, burning deeper as he tried to scream at the sudden agony. His healing wouldn¡¯t trigger, and the shrill electricity coursing inside his brain stole his voice, his concentration, and eventually, his consciousness. Three Sunshine on his face woke Jake up, and he looked around, not seeing any people. Or chairs. Or the park. A sloping, triangular field of low grass and pale wildflowers surrounded him. Two ridges of gray stone limited each side of the field, then joined and pushed up to a mountain peak at least 100 meters above him. At the base of the field, a small lake shone in the sunshine, and evergreen trees of some kind spread down the mountain beyond the distant rocky beach. ¡°System, where the hell am I?¡± LABYRINTH SYNCHRONIZATION ACHIEVED ¡­ ¡®JAKE¡¯ LOCATION IS LAYER 1 ¡°So, not Earth, huh?¡± EARTH SYNCHRONIZATION WITH LABYRINTH UNDERWAY ¡­ CURRENT SYNCHRONIZATION 11% ¡­ CURRENT ANCHORS 378 ¡­ TIME REMAINING UNTIL COMPLETE SYNCHRONIZATION 17 YEARS 322 DAYS 12 HOURS 14 MINUTES ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t want to wait that long to go home.¡± CURRENT RESOURCES LACKING FOR TRANSITION ¡­ IDENTIFY AND GATHER RESOURCES ¡­ LIBRARY DATA MISSING ¡­ SEEK ADDITIONAL DATA SOURCES ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m gonna need help. I figured. You have any data about dangers or people around here?¡± LAYER 1 FLORA / FAUNA LAYER 1 NATIVE SOPHONTS 50% SIMILAR TO EARTH SOPHONTS ¡­ 40% SIMILAR TO EARTH MYTHOLOGY SOPHONTS ¡­ 10% NO EARTH REAL OR MYTH ANALOGUE ¡°Mythological like what, exactly?¡± COMMONLY APPEARING MYTHOLOGICAL SOPHONTS INCLUDE TELVOR (DWARF) ¡­ SELINSA (ELF) ¡­ BREVOR (GNOME) ¡­ YEZHAK (ORC) ¡­ LELSI (GOBLIN) ¡­ RESCOTAN (BIRD-PEOPLE) ¡­ MANY MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES CLASSED AS ¡®MONSTER¡¯ OR ¡®MANA BEAST¡¯ CONTROL LARGE AREAS OF LAYER 1 BIOSPHERE Jake stared around the field, watching for movement. Now he was wishing for one of his shotguns. ¡°The hell didn¡¯t this happen during deer season?¡± he complained. His jeans and polo shirt wouldn¡¯t do much to protect him from weeds and brush. He had a wallet, a cheap flip phone, a bunch of Euro coins and change, and a mini Swiss Army knife. His bottle of water was gone, and so was his hat. ¡°Gonna have to block the sun off the bald spot, or the migraine and dehydration will kill me once my head gets burned.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jake ambled down the slope toward the lake, thinking about a hat. It was made out of cotton, so ¡®plant¡¯ should help. He pulled some of the taller grass stems as he approached the lake, then used the mini-scissors to snip off a corner from the bottom of his shirt. He grabbed a narrow rectangular rock once he got to the beach, then he smoothed out a patch of damp dirt and sand about a meter in diameter. He first drew a large circle, then thought about his spell constructs. ¡®Create item¡¯ would clearly be the main process involved. He could use the grass and the piece of cotton shirt and put in a second circle that would ¡®shape plant material¡¯. He drew that circle halfway between the edge and center of his cleared area. Still not satisfied, he added a triangle on either side of the smaller circle and put the cotton cloth in one and the grass in the other. Then he added a third triangle with a rough drawing of his favorite kind of hat with broad brim and flat top. Thinking a bit more, he added a single small circle just touching the outer edge of the cleared space, then yanked a couple of hairs from his head and put them inside it. Finally, he drew arrows from the triangles into the center of the small circle, and arrows from the small circle out to the larger one. Either his favorite Panama hat or his Tilley hat would be great. He already felt the edges of a headache creeping in. ¡°What do you say, System? That good enough to get me something to wear?¡± CRUDE SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION ¡­ SIMILAR MATERIALS ¡­ LINKED ARRAY ¡­ MULTIPLE CONSTRUCT USE ¡­ SUGGESTED SLOW ACTIVATION OVER 10 MINUTES ¡­ SUGGESTED MANA INVESTMENT 50% OF TOTAL MANA ¡­ POTENTIAL INJURY CHANCE < 3% ¡­ SEATED POSITION DECREASES RISK FOR INJURY Jake took System¡¯s advice and sat at the foot of his circles. ¡°I¡¯m gonna do magic,¡± he whispered to himself with a grin. ¡°This is so cool.¡± With eyes closed, he imagined his two favorite hats, then he focused on the arrows that flowed from the two materials into the first circle. He felt around the mental constructs for ¡®shape plant material¡¯ in his mind. The twisted rings of the rune circles held tiny knots of pictographs that wrapped around each other. Tracing the lines inside his memory, Jake could feel an energy that hummed in his chest -- his own mana. It resonated with the circles, and it slowly filled each mark with a wash of gold that pulled in a cloud of silvery mist from the air above the circle. Taking his time, Jake finished tracing both mental construct circles, then focused on the arrows that flowed from the first drawn circle to the second. He traced each arrow out to the second circle, then followed the lines and rings of ¡®create item¡¯ inside his mind. The silver cloud grew denser above his scribed circles, and the flow of mana from his chest pulled hard enough that it hurt, like a stitch in his side from running too hard. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the final sweep of his mana around the larger enclosing circle up to the picture of the hat he had drawn. The circular drawing trembled, then disappeared as the silver cloud of mana burst apart. Jake huffed as he recovered, then grinned again -- he¡¯d made a damn hat -- a broad straw brim attached to a blue, cloth crown. He settled it on his head, covering his thinning red hair and bald patches. He felt like himself again for the first time since he had arrived in Spain on his solo vacation. The terrain looked like mountains that Jake had hiked in north-central Spain a few years back, but it felt lonelier -- like being out in the backwoods of home in western Kentucky, where whole herds of deer were born, lived, and died without ever seeing a human. A stream ran from the edge of the lake and trickled downhill. Jake plunged into the trees and followed the sound of the water as it gurgled in its stony path. It had to hit some kind of town somewhere. Soon, he hoped. Breakfast had been quite a while ago. Four ¡°I still don¡¯t see why I have to carry this one,¡± the tall man with a pistol in his right hand complained. Three babies hung in a crude backpack carrier across his back, all sound asleep, just like the one cradled in his left arm. None seemed to hear the screams of a woman coming from the open door at the end of the hallway. ¡°Because that one weighs almost as much as I do, you Lelsi-licker,¡± said the bearded gnome walking next to the taller human. The meter-tall male carried a single human baby in a backpack, as well as a naked blade that matched his height. A smear of fresh blood showed near the oval-shaped crossguard. Voices sounded from the stairwell in front of the two, and the gnome paused. ¡°Up or down?¡± The tall man closed one green eye, and seemed to try to make the other one turn inward -- looking at his own nose. A low humming sounded, almost unheard in the wash of noise in the hallway. The voices from below grew louder, then were joined by the pounding of multiple footsteps running up the stairs. ¡°Up.¡± The man took the stairs two at a time, rushing ahead of the gnome who followed, faster than would seem possible for his short legs. The two quickly passed the fourth and fifth floors, then took the final flight of stairs that stopped at a locked steel door painted red. The man pulled a roll of picks and wires from the front of his hoody, then began to pick the lock. ¡°Where did they go?¡± a voice called in Spanish from below. ¡°Up, quickly!¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Out of time, Sion,¡± the gnome said. ¡°Shake your arse or we¡¯re gonna tangle with the Guardias.¡± ¡°You want to do it? I mean, you¡¯ll only need a footstool and a ladder, but sure, we can wait,¡± the man replied. ¡°Fuck your mother, you moron. Just hurry up.¡± Footsteps thudded up the stairs below, then paused as someone thumped on one of the apartment doors. More thumps followed on three more doors. ¡°Done. Let¡¯s get off this damned world and stop carrying demon-damned infants. Shit, if I have to smell one more kid shit, I¡¯m gonna stab it.¡± The man pulled the door open slowly, then stopped once it was wide enough for him to squeeze through. ¡°Alive and unharmed or we don¡¯t get paid,¡± the gnome said as he followed out onto the roof. Red-tiled rooftops mixed with trees covered the area around them. Dozens of yellow or white satellite antennas and metal aerials covered the rooftops. None looked close enough to reach easily for the man, much less the gnome. ¡°Where next?¡± ¡°Working on it,¡± the tall man said. He holstered his pistol, then grabbed a piece of chalk from his pants, and a carved branch as long as his forearm. He took the chalk and marked the cardinal points in a broad circle. Then he tapped the branch to each spot, moving from South to East to North to West. Each tap brought the hum up louder, then a tap in the middle of the circle turned the interior into a twisted wrongness of colors mixed with blackness. ¡°Going through. Don¡¯t be slow.¡± Twenty seconds later, a police officer in the green of the Guardia Civil shoved through the door opening, followed by two more a few seconds later. The two men and a woman stared out over the neighborhood, then quickly looked over the sides of the building. ¡°Mierda!¡± swore the first one to arrive. He pointed at the other man to stay on the roof, then hurried below, taking the female officer with him. Maybe this time the kidnappers were in one of the apartments, but he didn¡¯t hold much hope. Five Occasional bird calls trembled through the trees, but nothing from close enough for Jake to spot the creatures. The high shrieks didn¡¯t sound like anything he¡¯d heard before, though. Other than that, the only noise came from a wind shaking the tops of the trees, and his own footfalls in the yeasty humus that coated the forest floor. Rough rocks jutted from the soil, the sharp edges worn smooth from wind and rain. In theory, wild creatures this high shouldn¡¯t be too large -- the deeper valleys below would provide more food, so bigger creatures and their predators should stay further down the mountain. But then, System had said something about ¡®mana-beasts¡¯, too. Jake carried a dried sapling as a hiking aid. It would probably only serve as a weapon once or twice, but it had already kept him from wrenching his knee on one of the slippery patches of gray-green moss that coated the brown stones. After what felt like an hour, his thighs were starting to ache, making him dread how much further he might have to travel. Standing most of the day at the hospital gave him a pretty strong base for hiking, but going downhill was tiring muscles in ways he wasn¡¯t used to. He was afraid to stop, though, for fear of stiffening up and being unable to continue down the mountain. Only once his right calf seized in an iron cramp did he pause to rest. The sun had dropped to at least mid-afternoon, maybe later. How high this mountain stood would help him figure out the season, but he didn¡¯t know either piece of data. And looking at the trees didn¡¯t really help, either; the purple tips of each evergreen needle didn¡¯t resemble anything he knew of from Earth. ¡°Wait, I can do magic. Shit, Jake, think.¡± He concentrated on the shorter-than-average tree beside him and traced the rune circles for ¡®analyze plant¡¯ inside his mind. Naerthic Pine - 23 years old - 8% mana infusion - slight dehydration - ?? - ?? ¡°Huh, I guess those bottom limbs do look kind of dry. Maybe ought to try some of that psi-energy vision, too.¡± Green and brown lines ran along the trunk, occasionally interlaced with an occasional blue line or a dark gray one. After staring for about a minute, Jake could also see a golden thread of energy at the core of the tree. That line pulsed every so often, with that pulse washing over some of the gray lines, make them disperse like a line of smoke in a breeze. ¡°System, that tree¡¯s using magic to stave off a bit of drought, right?¡± DATASET LIMITED ¡­ COUNTER DETAIL OCCURRING ¡­ PLEASE ANALYZE SURROUNDING FAUNA SPECIMENS The surrounding trees showed the same basic information, with age varying up to 56 years, and mana infusion ranging from seven to twelve percent. They sat around a small, open area maybe 10 meters across. The moss in the center gave off a different reading, though: Toreador Moss - 14 years old - 37% mana infusion - optimal hydration - potential inherent construct quality tentatively identified as ¡®absorb¡¯ - ?? ¡°Now that looks like it might be useful. It¡¯s stealing water and mana. Could maybe use that to make something that works like a magic battery charger. Self-filling canteen, too. Wait, what¡¯s the counter detail that didn¡¯t match, System?¡± OVERFULL MOUNTAIN LAKE WITH RUNOFF CONTRAINDICATES ¡®DROUGHT¡¯ CONDITION Jake facepalmed. This day was getting to him. He was tired and stressed and missing stuff that sat right completely obvious in front of him. He considered his current status and decided that he would hike for at most one more hour, then he would need to build a shelter. After that, he could try to magic up some water, maybe some food. He wondered if magic food would really count as calories to keep him alive? Could he do like the trees and use mana as a substitute? Crap, how did mana interact with cells? He¡¯d need to observe these trees forever. And find a microscope. He almost decided to sit in right here to figure stuff out, but he really didn¡¯t feel like rough camping on an alien world, even if he would get to do magic science experiments. He might actually be close to a farm or a town down into the valley -- places that actually had real food. Before he left, though, Jake figured he would take this moss with him. The circle that he had scribed around the moss patch was lined with the strongest, brightest needles off the surrounding trees. The purple tips all pointed just a fraction into the circle in a counter-clockwise direction. Widdershins, Jake thought. That was magic and unnatural from Earth, and he hoped it would help to contain the moss, especially with the needles from the competing trees. Inside that, the moss sat in a triangle. Finally, he used resinous sap from the first tree he observed to draw the main circles of ¡®shape plant¡¯ on the moss, then ¡®shape material¡¯ on the stone around it. In a separate circle off to the side, he drew a stick-figure man with a wizard¡¯s cone-shaped hat, holding a staff in one hand. Another scribed triangle held his walking stick, with ¡®shape plant¡¯ drawn in a circle around it as well. Arrows connected the figures, showing flow from base materials up to the finished staff in the sketch. As a final touch, Jake poked at one of the scratches he had picked up on his hike so far. He dabbed his finger in the bead of blood that welled up from his forearm, then smeared that over the stick wizard¡¯s heart, the center of the moss, and the top of the walking stick. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The concentrated warmth of the sun shining around him, the wind pushing the tops of the pine trees, the smell of earth and humus, the feeling of the natural ecosystem -- all of it made a feeling of wonder and growth. Jake locked that feeling in his mind, picturing it all being absorbed by the upstart moss. He took his time as he traced the details of the spell constructs, and he breathed deep, trying to forestall the exhaustion of pushing so much mana into the constructs without stopping. A bright yellow glow bloomed off the constructs drawn in front of him, growing so bright that even behind closed eyes, Jake still was seeing dark spots. He kept pushing, panting now, and finally, the constructs melted together in front of him then vanished in an even brighter flash. Once Jake could see again, he saw the walking stick converted into a solid staff a bit over 1.5 meters in length. The ends featured short caps of brown stone, and about 10 cm from the top, the staff flowed through a knob of the same stone. A carving of a man¡¯s bearded face decorated one side, the beard made bushy by the moss that flowed out of the green beard and around the ornament. Purple beads for the eyes seem to gleam in the late afternoon sun. Reaching out, blood flowed down his forearm and dripped onto the staff, which absorbed the drops without showing any change to the wood¡¯s color. ¡°Dammit, what were you thinking, you jackass? Using your own blood? Shit, you knew it had ¡®absorb¡¯ in it. Trying to kill yourself? Again? Stop being a screw-up and pay some damn attention!¡± Jake growled at himself. He clamped his right hand over the wound and hissed at the pain, then got to his feet. Leaving the staff on the ground for the moment, he found a stain of resin on one of the larger trees a few meters away. Jake peeled it and some bark away, then grabbed one end with his teeth, the resin side facing his arm. After a minute¡¯s worth of fumbling, his belt came off, then wrapped just below his bicep. The staff went through a loop of the leather, and then he rotated it, pulling the tourniquet tight. A two-minute wait saw the bleeding from his forearm slow, then stop. The rest of the arm began to turn purple. Jake squeezed the edges of the cut together, then draped the resin over the wound like a dressing. He used his chin to push the sticky gum tight to the skin, then loosened the tourniquet. He slid the belt down over the bark and resin, then re-tightened it for twenty seconds. ¡°Homemade Super Glue, for the win,¡± he whispered to himself. Maybe he would just rest here for the day after all, he thought. He opened his eyes to start searching for materials to make a lean-to. That was when he noticed the two birdmen standing five meters away, watching him. ¡°An interesting working, Men,¡± the purple-chested one on the left said. ¡°What does it do?¡± the other, gray-chested one asked. ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ not sure, yet?¡± Jake replied. The two strangers looked at each other for a moment, then back to Jake again. ¡°The Elders would most likely consider such a working ¡­ unwise,¡± the first one said. Jake just stared, taking in the buckskin vests and pants both wore. Long gray-green feathers flowed off the backs of their heads, and down the backs of each arm. Each wore a pair of hatchets on their belts, and both carried some sort of basket strapped to his back. The only difference that Jake could see was the color of their chest feathers. ¡°Perhaps this is why he is so far from the dwellings of Men and Telvor, clutch-brother,¡± the gray-chest said. ¡°If he wants to find a way to improve his standing, then he might explore the working away from where his Elders can see, no?¡± ¡°How say you, Men?¡± the purple one asked. ¡°Uh, well, actually, I¡¯m lost, I think.¡± The purple-chest tilted his head to the side, first right, then left. Then it seemed to sigh. ¡°Well met then, Men. I am Truko, and this is my clutch-brother Carraw, both of Elder Greywing¡¯s line. And this is part of the summer range of the Pollak Rescota, although a bit far from the gathering grounds. Men and Telvor ranges are further down and warmer. But I do not understand how you came to be lost up a mountain, without knowing that the Men live below.¡± ¡°So, I wonder if you know about something called the Labyrinth,¡± Jake said. ¡°You do not look like the Men of the Layers below. They have darker skin than you do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know much about the Labyrinth, but I¡¯m from a place called Earth. Ever heard of it?¡± ¡°That is not one of the Ten Worlds,¡± Truko said. ¡°Was your working what brought you here, then? Perhaps by chance?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m not sure how I got here exactly. Something about synchronization. I woke up at the top of the mountain, and I¡¯ve been working my way down. Really hoping to find some place with people, and food,¡± Jake said, and then he stomach growled. ¡°Especially food.¡± The gray-chested Carraw looked between Jake and his clutch-brother, then gave a very human-looking nod. ¡°Men and Telvor do not hold much company with the Rescota, but even they know that food is one of the things we are best at. Let us eat together, and learn how we might find benefit here, away from the Elders.¡±