Nate glanced for the third time at the last System notification.

  Congratulations on regenerating multiple limbs of a sapient being using the Concept of Life.

  Your achievement has been recorded.

  He was racking up Life Concept-related Achievements and was quietly confident that he would get multiple Life-related options at his next evolution. The evolution itself, though, had been on his mind and he needed to have a talk with Kiri about the topic sooner rather than later. But that could wait.

  Returning his attention to his workbench, two parts of his mind focused on the items before him as the other two remained aware of the racket going on around him: the quiet scratching of pencils as the kids practised their drawing with Jacque occasionally stepping over to check on them and offer advice before the ex-Professor returned to his own work. Just because they were technically hiding and in exile didn’t mean that Kiri wasn’t still working the man to the bone to produce more goods for sale to Asmuisil. Luc may be missing for now, but he would be back soon enough and when he returned Kiri wanted a stockpile ready to go to provide to the slow-moving beast that was the Asmuisil war machine.

  As for Kiri, Nate could sense her practising attack patterns with Aisling in a nearby room, with Deverell offering advice from the side. The Dagger Dancer had recovered fully as far as Nate could tell and only Aisling’s order that the Deverell take a day or two to fully rest had prevented him from sneaking out via the waterway to start collecting more information for them. The Dagger Dancer had given them the details of Allais’ coup and take over of the Guild. Porter had gone down to Allais herself while Prefect Raoult had been driven off by Portos Jamison supported by his sister Helen. Kartia Jamison was the one who had attacked Deverell and he’d barely escaped with his life, the wounds she left filled with the Concept of Blood. The man had recovered but it sounded to Nate like Deverell had been specifically targeted. The thought left a bad taste in his mouth and he imagined infuriated Kiri.

  Finally, there was Frick.

  “You can do it, Boss! Just think of it like you’re having a threesome. You’ve got two hands right? So one for each goblin…I mean woman! Use that split mind of yours to control them separately! Show those ladies your skills!”

  Nate sighed, “Don’t you have something else you could be doing?”

  “What’s more important than encouraging my Boss as he tries to do something he’s never done before for more than ten seconds…which for Britt’s sake I hope is only a Skill problem and not a…you know…problem!” Frick yelled with a toothy grin, earning himself a curious glance from the kids.

  Surprisingly, Nate noted that Callum, the youngest, was the only one who seemed to know what Frick was insinuating. The kid smirked in amusement before a gentle tap on his shoulder from Jacque got the kid back to drawing out the Novice-tier Sigil for Clean.

  Nate rolled his eyes, “You’re distracting the kids. Now be quiet. I almost have it. I am sure of it.”

  Conceptual Material Shaping had a steady flow of mana passing into the Skill engraved on his Class Core. The challenge Nate was having was splitting the outflow as the mana passed through the Skill and into the two materials before him. He had hoped that just using the Skill on two different materials and applying the same affinity would be enough. But though it kind of worked, it didn’t feel like the Skill would evolve in the intended direction by utilising the Skill in that way. Instead what he was doing, which was significantly more difficult, was trying to split the outflow of mana from the Skill so that each flow applied a different affinity. The two pieces of metal in front of him shifted subtly as he tried once more to maintain the Skill. The piece on the left was meant to receive an obfuscation affinity while the one on the right was meant to receive an illusion affinity. After ten seconds, the flow crumbled again as he felt it fighting against him, trying to recombine into a single mana flow that applied both his Obfuscation and Illusion Sigils into the materials’ structure. He immediately cut the flow off and sat back thinking.

  “It’s not an issue of Intent and my mind can hold the two separate ideas. It’s the Skill itself. It’s resisting having two separate flows coming out of it,” he remarked to Frick.

  “Why don’t you try and give each the affinity separately, but weakly. Then try splitting the flow and ‘replicating’ what’s already there?” countered Frick.

  “I tried that. It sort of works but it's inferior and again, it didn’t feel like it was influencing the Skill. Which is the whole point.”

  Nate tapped his lips in thought. Was the problem that the Intent for the Sigils resided in the Skill? So when he tried to apply them afterwards it ultimately failed because the Skill wasn’t assisting him. There was an interesting line of thinking there, he decided. Skills, he thought, were like highly complex spells that the Class Core assisted the user with. That was why they were more adaptable on the fly than an actual spell. Did that mean he was trying to override the Skill with his Magic Control after it was producing the intended outcome? It sounded like he was basically trying to apply a Spell to Skill and not a particularly good Spell, he acknowledged. He was basically just using his Conceptual Insight to identify the Concepts within the mana flows, then force them apart using his ability to manipulate mana. So, he wondered, what was the solution? It came to him as soon as he considered the question. He was applying the Sigils he desired before he activated the Skill. What if he applied them in the mana flow after it exited the Skill. Surely it wouldn’t fight him then?

  Ten minutes later he was smirking at Frick as mana constantly flowed into the two materials, each applying a different affinity.

  “Figured it out.”

  “Told you, Boss, you gotta treat it like a…”

  “Can it,” Nate replied with a grin. “The kids don’t need to hear your commentary.”

  “I’ll make them into honorary goblins yet, Boss!”

  Nate chose to ignore the small fist pump from Kio, the eldest of the apprentices, in his sphere of awareness. He had something else to look over first anyway. Opening the notification. he read over it before sharing it with Frick.

  Conceptual Material Shaping 40 > 41

  Conceptual Material Shaping (M)

  You have pushed the bounds of the Improve Material skill, understanding the true nature of the skill and then using that understanding to reach beyond its limit, creating a legendary material imbued with an affinity, the underlying concepts that define reality. The user of this Skill is able to push materials all the way to Mythic Rarity and imbue them with the concepts of reality itself. In the process, the user may now reshape materials at will, the cost only measured in time and mana. Mana cost decreases by 1% per Skill Level for Conceptual Improvements. Improvements are 5% faster per 40 Intellect plus Creativity. Mana cost decreases by 1% per Skill Level, plus 10% of the user’s Intellect, for material shaping.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Conceptual Material Shaping (M) is ready to evolve.

  Evolutions Available! Please Select 1.

  Skill Evolution Options:

  Multi Conceptual Material Shaping (M)

  Additionally, this Skill may target multiple materials. Number of materials is equal to 1 plus 1 per 100 Creativity.

  Empowered Conceptual Material Shaping (M)

  Additionally, this Skill increases Creativity by 20%.

  Nate looked at Frick, “Easy decision I think.”

  “Definitely, Boss. Nice when it’s like that?” asked his Familiar.

  “Yes and no. It makes me wonder if I didn’t push the Skill hard enough. On the other hand, it’s nice to get what I want and not have any regrets about what I missed out on, you know?”

  “Yeah, Boss. I get it.”

  With the decision made, Nate selected Multi Conceptual Material Shaping. Now, he just needed to find a way to get his Creativity to two hundred so he could do three materials at a time. His output had just doubled, but tripled was the goal.

  “How are the mana collection facilities going?” he asked Frick.

  “The third is almost done. I did what you said, Boss. I create the space, then apply all the obfuscation and mana containment runes to the walls. I’ve had to upgrade the surrounding materials to Rare so they can handle the mana density without breaking down the runes over time. Then I set up the mana gathering array runes. I’ve been using the modified version of the rune you gave me so the draw is a little higher than normal. At this rate we’re going to run out of mana gems though. You sure you want to set up one at every mana pipeline into the Capital?”

  Frick glanced up with wide blue eyes and Nate saw a hint of concern. The goblin was all for stealing the mana or liberating it as the little Spirit had taken to referring to their operation. But Nate could tell he was also concerned about the fallout. They’d had a close call against one Platinum, and there were at least five enemy Platinums in the City that they knew of. There was almost certainly more, as four of those five were from the Guild alone.

  “It’s fine. Our escape is already set up. We’re at war. We need as much mana as we can get. As for the mana gems, I think Jacque is going to help you with that and if we’re still short I will jump in as well. Just make sure we have enough mana gems for each location before you start on the next one,” he explained, trying to assuage his Familiar’s fears.

  “Alrighty, Boss. I’ll get back to work then.”

  With those parting words, his Familiar vanished into the ground beneath them. Taking a moment away from his runecrafting, he went to see how Deverell, Kiri and Aisling were doing.

  The training room was slightly larger than the workshop area and lit by small runecrafted lights. Those lights were reflected off the daggers held on spider-like strands of blue and white energy fanned out around Kiri. Aisling stood across from his sister, spear held in hand as the air in the room filled with the static of Aisling’s unveiled presence. Kiri vanished as she used One Soul Two Realms to teleport beside Aisling, lashing out seven of her fourteen tethered arms. Aisling was already moving and she seemed to flow around the blades though Nate noticed that some of those blades seemed to drift off target on their own. Conceptual Insight hummed and he quickly recognised the presence of the Concept of Wind in Aisling’s actions, as though the air itself assisted her movements while pushing against Kiri’s actions. Aisling’s spear flicked around as she dodged, the tip pointed at Kiri as it flashed and some of the room’s static gathered at the tip, lancing out in a thin bolt of lightning. Kiri vanished again, appearing across the room but the lightning bolt turned in mid air, arcing towards her new location. His sister was fast and vanished again but the stream of lightning continued to follow, losing its coherence as it chased her. Kiri finally gave up two of her daggers, putting them into the path of the lightning which was enough to drain the remainder of the energy.

  Nate watched the sparring, drinking in the use of Concepts. Kiri’s outward use of her Soul Concept was limited. It made sense, since his sister was mostly focused on self-enhancement. Her Skills were mostly internal and the external portions only showed when she was actually injuring individuals. Even then, they did things like drawing soul energy into her. Aisling, on the other hand, was more like Nate. Her use of mana and Concepts was external, and it was those Concepts he was paying attention to. He’d already felt her use of Wind, but he’d also sensed how she had taken a view on electricity that seemed to revolve around static that had let her mark Kiri, turning his sister into a lodestone for the lightning attack.

  Aisling began to discuss with Kiri what had happened and Nate paid half-attention as he drifted over to Deverell who held a tome on his lap as he watched his mentor and mentee spar.

  “Any word?” Nate asked as he sat down next to the Dagger Dancer.

  Deverell turned to give Nate his full attention, “I wanted to say thank you. For restoring me. I had given myself up for dead and was only holding on to report my findings to Aisling. I thought…that without Lord Evindal’s intercession, that there would be nothing that could be done. So thank you, Nate.”

  Nate nodded slightly, “I’m glad you’re alright too.”

  Deverell turned and glanced down at the tome he still held. “As for any word as you put it, yes, finally. I’ve asked Avery…or Hildi, I suppose, to give us daily updates going forward. They’re moving fast. Very fast, considering they’re using some Skills to enhance the group's movement, but they’re still a week away from House Korinth. They’ve encountered no more interference. I doubt we will hear anything else of worth until they arrive at their destination.”

  Deverell paused for a moment before glancing at Nate with a curious expression, “Hildi has asked what our intentions are in the Capital. Do we know what they are yet?”

  Nate nodded, “I think the first thing we need to do is rescue Britt, Null, Karim and Ameera from the Royal University. Then we can start considering what to do about Allais and the Guild. Hopefully that means we’ll have time for Luc and Evindal to return as well.”

  Nate looked at the roof in annoyance before continuing, “What we really need is more information. We know so little about what’s going on in the City, who our enemies are, what they’re capable of, etc. It’s hard to prepare for the unknown.”

  “I agree,” replied Deverell. “Which is why I should be allowed to go above and start gathering intelligence.”

  “Me too,” interjected Kiri as she walked over to join them.

  Aisling followed a moment later, a frown upon her face, “I think we can afford a few more days of recovery.”

  Kiri and Deverell both looked unhappy and for a moment Nate saw a shadow of pain cross Kiri’s face. His sister looked lost, as though she was staring into the distance with no idea where she was. The moment passed, but it was clear she was still recovering from Coralie’s betrayal. He had noted she had avoided any mention of whether Coralie was in the Capital.

  “One day,” Nate suggested. “Then we start gathering intel and anything else we need. I’ll prepare Illusion and Obfuscation runecrafted items for you both.”

  His suggestion seemed to be taken as an order as all three agreed with a nod. The intention was to compromise, as he knew being cooped up was wearing on Kiri, while Deverell wanted to feel useful and not like an invalid who had survived almost dying. As for Aisling, his mentor was simply going for a more careful approach to prevent mistakes, and he suspected, avoid having any of them die.

  With the decision made, Kiri and Aisling drifted away to return to sparring.

  Nate nodded to Deverell and took his leave, returning to his workbench. Everyone else was working hard, or as hard as they were allowed in Deverell’s case. Nate should do the same. Activating Multi Conceptual Material Shaping, he began preparing the metal before him for the runes that would be carved into them. Then, tonight, when Kiri joined him in their room, they could talk about how she was feeling, among other things.

  He had offered to make a separate room for her, but similar to when he’d been kidnapped, she had opted to stay close and they had been sharing his huge enchanted bed each night. Their chats went into the late evenings, and so far they had mostly skirted around the topic of Coralie, instead focusing on Etrua, the war and their own ideas on advancement. Tonight though, he would broach the subject of Coralie and see if his sister was ready to talk about it. He just hoped the poison of Coralie’s betrayal could be drained away, instead of leaving a permanent mark on Kiri. He’d know soon enough, and he’d be there for her, regardless of the outcome.

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