The weather for the day hadn’t looked good to begin with, and as Jordan arrived at the Archives a light drizzle began to fall. Stepping out of the carriage, Kioko sidled up next to him. At first he was confused by her sudden desire to stick close, but with a flourish of her hand she pulled an umbrella out of seemingly nowhere.

  Everyone’s got storage rings now, Jordan glowered. He might have been tempted to complain more, but he didn’t have an umbrella and the air was already uncomfortably cold. He was just grateful his tailoring Demon had the foresight to dress him in warm layers.

  His new father climbed out of the carriage after them, sparing a moment to thank Torzan and coordinating a pick up time. It was at that point that Jordan noticed the lack of a certain companion.

  “Um, Kioko?” Jordan asked. “Where’s Charlie? You didn’t leave him back at the mansion did you?”

  Kioko chortled briefly, likely at the absurd notion that she would ever leave someone behind. “No, I dematerialized him this morning. A library ain’t exactly a good place for an overly curious Carbuncle.” She tapped at a gem on her necklace, showing off the large ruby that likely housed her familiar.

  Jordan had overlooked it given just how annoyingly common jewels were on well-to-do ladies on ?nerith. Which wasn't surprising—he himself had had to fight Usiu just to be left wearing a single gold-chain necklace, three decorative rings, and four earrings. Two for each ear! The sheer audacity of it all still made Jordan feel stunned. Why would women wear more than a single set?

  The group made their way towards the Archives along a gravel path that cut through well-tended landscapes. The structure itself was an impressive building, made of a humble white stone. It was accented by darkened features created from its own shadows cast by a well detailed exterior.

  Judging by its windows it was two stories, and yet it stood twice as tall. It's entrance looked like a mansion to Jordan, with sweeping archways where the front doors laid beyond, and columns set on top of the roof of the first floor supported the ceiling above. It offered a lovely, sprawling patio because of it, and gave the building a sense of imperial presence in his mind. To its sides, twin extensions swept back giving the Archives an exaggerated v-shape design.

  There were crowds of people milling about as they entered, many of whom stopped and stared as they came in. Jordan didn’t find that terribly remarkable, given his father’s status as the Duke of the city and all, but it was far from comfortable. His newest pair of kitten heels clacked nervously below him on the polished stone floor as they approached the center of the main chambers.

  Greeting them at first, was a massive statue. The man it depicted wore flowing robes, parted lightly behind him by a reptilian tail. Confusingly, the rest of his features seemed perfectly normal to Jordan save for the antlers protruding from his head. Despite its size, the distance and lack of colors made it difficult to determine the details of the statue’s features.

  Below it, however, a ring of wooden desks sat with attendants patiently helping the various comers and goers of the library. The group of them approached an available woman with long, unruly brown hair and similarly colored eyes resting behind a large pair of spectacles. The cute woman smiled brightly, bowing her head as they approached.

  “Duke Freyhell, welcome back to the Archives! How may we be of service today?” She had a pleasant voice, though she seemed oddly wobbly to Jordan as she stood there.

  “Ah, yes, we’re here to register my daughter, Aureliana, for use of the Archive’s resources, as well as meet with Miss Brightmeadow if she has time.”

  “Of course, Your Grace.” She said with a smile, before turning to look at Jordan. “Hello there, you must be Freyhell Aureliana, yes?”

  “Er, y-yeah.” Jordan replied. Why was he so damn nervous all of a sudden? And why was everyone still looking at him. It was making his damn skin crawl. Wait, is this that social anxiety crap I saw on the conditions list? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

  “Do you have a registered Chasm device, sweetie? There’s no reason to be nervous, I just need to see it.” She said reassuringly, and surprisingly Jordan felt reassured by her kind demeanor.

  So, in response he perked up, nodding vigorously as he thrust his arm out over the desk. The attendant laughed lightly as she leaned back dramatically. “Ah, a projection-type hybrid. Very impressive!”

  Jordan blushed a little in embarrassment, but couldn’t help but beam a little, as his nervousness was completely forgotten.

  “One moment sweetie, okay?” The woman smiled warmly as she fell over.

  Jordan’s eyes shot up in surprise, but just as quickly the women just seemed to levitate back upright from her sudden planking. What the Sam-hill was that? Also did I seriously just think Sam-hill? The unexpected southern slang caught him off guard, but something about the woman's voice had given him the impression of a southern lady. He figured it could have been an accent, but his translation power still made that difficult to parse.

  The now-upright clerk set a small disk-like device onto the counter. It reminded Jordan of a wireless charger, and she asked him to place his Chasm Device onto it and summon forth his identification. Following her instructions, he also tried to mentally bypass the full overview screen and radial selection. He was quite pleased when he succeed.

  His shining three-dimensional card projected into the air, and the device his hand rested on glowed as small inscriptions lit up. It wasn’t a Mandala, of that Jordan was certain, but the enchantment seemed to verify something to the woman who nodded appreciatively before asking both Constantine and Kioko to verify themselves as well.

  Jordan’s new father pulled out a slate and held his hand against it and the base as he was verified. Shortly after, Kioko pulled out a bracelet that was nearly the size of a bracer, snapped it on, and did the same. After they were done the woman fell down behind the counter again as she fished for something else.

  “Er, so what exactly was that, anyway?” Jordan whispered to Kioko.

  “Oh, that’s an Essence Signature Identification Device, or ESIN. Don’t worry too much about them, they’re just there to help, ah, prevent certain issues.”

  Jordan raised an eyebrow with his unspoken question, and Kioko clasped a hand to his ear.

  “Think about what you saw your mother do the other day.” She whispered.

  “Oh…” Jordan grimaced. The memory of Mercia morphing her features flawlessly with magic was still haunting. And if people could magically disguise themselves to such an absurd degree, it seemed entirely reasonable that there had to be something to prevent fraudulent activity.

  Popping back up, the woman held out a crystal as she asked for Jordan to place his hand back on the ESIN. The crystal glowed briefly, before dimming completely, and Jordan felt more than he saw a new selection appear in his Menus. Curiously, he pulled it up.

  “Is that a… library card?” He gaped at the all too familiar, mundane-looking item projected through the magical display before him.

  “Correct. With this, you’re now authorized to use the Freyhell account in the Archives!” The woman answered merrily. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Lord and Ladies?”

  “Thank you, but do you know if Curator Brightmeadow is available?” Constantine asked.

  “Oh, of course, Your Grace! One moment and I’ll check with my colleagues on her schedule.”

  Then, the woman shot upward, quickly growing to tower over Jordan as he gawked at her. She stood seven feet tall as the horse-half of her clopped onto her hooves. She stretched her legs briefly, having clearly been laying down for a time, before turning to trot off to one of her coworkers. Her horse-half was covered by a well-decorated blanket that was as stylish as it was modest.

  I… probably should have seen that coming. Jordan’s observations were distracted, however, when he heard a scribbling noise and turned to see Kioko making a note in a small booklet.

  “What’s that?” He asked.

  “Oh this? Your mother asked me to document each time your composure broke so we can prepare your social tutor appropriately.”

  “Wait, what!?” Jordan asked, askance at the insinuation. Sure, his emotions had been betrayed by the Brat’s instincts on occasion, but it wasn’t that bad, was it? Yet, Kioko just tutted and added another tally.

  The sound of hooves drew Jordan’s attention back to the clerk.

  “She’s available now if you’d like to see her, Your Grace.”

  “That would be wonderful, thank you dear.” Constantine genteelly said with a quick bow of his head. The clerk performed a rather impressive horse-curtsy in reply, lifting her blanket like a dress. Staring again before grimacing at the sound of another tally-mark, Jordan followed Constantine as he turned to head towards one of the stairways.

  Jordan noted absently that the staircase leading to the second floor looked tall enough for a three story building. It fit, however, as the entire entry room was a wide open area that reached all the way to the building’s roof and was ringed by a circular balcony where the second story occupants could look down. Bookshelves lined nearly every wall, giving a mottled color effect to paint the room.

  “By the way, is there a reason we have to meet with this Curator person?” Jordan asked. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he was itching to start rifling through skill books. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d ever been excited to read.

  “Well, it would be rude of us to come here and not speak with her.” Constantine replied. “Besides, she’s a powerful figure in the local community and it would be good for you to meet her and get her advice.”

  Oh great, politics. Jordan steeled his expression, looking sideways at Kioko who seemed ready to pounce with another tally-mark. She seemed satisfied that he’d held his composure, and then effortlessly began to climb the stairs.

  It was less effortless for Jordan.

  The two adults quickly left him behind and had to wait at the top as he huffed his way up. He’d had to deal with stairs for days on end now, but his legs didn’t feel recovered from all the marching about he’d done in the Celestial City. He also felt like he was constantly on the verge of either falling forward, or tipping backwards, as he balanced on the tips of his feet, climbing the stairs in his accursed heels.

  He arrived out of breath, and the two waiting for him graciously allowed him a moment to catch said breath. As he rested his hands on his knees, he noticed that his Chasm device flicked on when his eyes swept over it. The small status screen that showed his new features had some of its numbers changed. Confused, he brought up his Monitor and saw he’d lost two stamina climbing the stairs and six composure from God-knew where.

  “Wait… two stamina? Seriously? It was just stairs!” Jordan complained. “How long does it take for this to recover?”

  “It won’t until you rest, Aury.” Constantine said. “We’ll sit for a while when we speak with the Curator—you should be fully recovered by the time we’re done. Don’t worry.” He leaned down to rub at Jordan’s back encouragingly.

  Jordan grimaced, wanting to grumble some more, but noticed another tally-mark added by Kioko. His eyebrow twitched, and in the corner of his eye he saw he’d lost another Composure on his device. Wonderful, he thought.

  The group made their way down the second floor’s grand hallway. Large archways framed by Grecian-styled columns lined it, and past each set were rooms or alcoves with books and people meandering about. As seemed normal now, all eyes tended to follow their group, and Jordan hovered close to his new father as a result. Constantine noticed, and smiled reassuringly as he gripped Jordan’s hand.

  Once they reached the end of the hallway, they stopped before a large set of oaken doors set beside an outer facing window. It was a beautiful stained glass design, showing some figures in a heroic scene, but Jordan’s time in the Celestial City had left him… less appreciative of the more simple art. With a knock on the door, a woman’s voice called out ushering them inside.

  The room itself was filled with light, as the exterior windows continued along the wall. Heavy wooden furniture and shelves overflowing with books lined the room, with a few book piles formed here or there on the floor. Jordan’s heels were silenced by a plush, colorful carpet as they approached a large desk where the Curator sat in the middle of the room.

  She was a smaller woman, light of frame, with a set of antlers growing from her head. They looked more demure than the statue down below, more like how Jordan would imagine a doe’s would look if they had any. Her eyes, however, had slitted pupils with yellow irises. She smiled when they entered, showing off slightly pointed canines.

  “Ah, Duke Freyhell, welcome! Please come and have a seat.” The woman's voice sounded mature despite her youthful features, and she casually brushed back her shining red hair to rest behind her pointed ears. Her hair had an odd metallic gleam to it, but the sound of another tally-mark notified Jordan that he’d been staring slack-jawed again.

  He turned and glared at his new Governess, but Kioko just met his eyes, and without looking she marked another tally in her book.

  “Thank you Miss Brightmeadow.” Constantine said. “It’s good to see you again under a less troubling situation.” He bowed gracefully before taking a seat.

  “Indeed.” She replied, standing momentarily to bow in return, revealing a humble yet beautiful white dress. “Ah, but here is the child herself. Welcome to my humble establishment Lady Freyhell.”

  Jordan curtsied and returned her greeting before taking the chair next to his father. Kioko and the curator exchanged similar pleasantries before everyone was seated.

  “Now, what brings you all in today?” The Curator asked. “Are you here just to visit or is there something I can lend my assistance towards?”

  “I wouldn’t mind catching up on some of our business," Constantine replied, "but Aureliana just received her first Chasm Device and is hoping to plan out her Class advancement strategy.”

  “Ah, very good then. Tell me child, have you had a chance to look through your Skills yet?”

  Wait… does she know that I don’t know about them then? Jordan pondered that as he shook his head to answer her.

  “Not to worry,” she said, smiling. “Why don’t you take a moment to peruse your Talents and Skills while your father and I talk amongst ourselves? When we’re done you can ask me any questions you have, and we’ll see about making a plan for you. Does that sound agreeable?”

  “That’s, ah, fine. Yes, thank you. Um, Miss Brightmeadow.” Jordan replied, and the woman bowed her head gently towards him. He didn’t know why, but she sounded strangely familiar and he found himself liking her. Glancing to his side, he noticed Kioko giving him a nod of approval. I guess that means I didn’t screw that up too badly then.

  While his father and the Curator began to talk, Jordan pulled up his Chasm Device. He decided to start by looking over his Talents, but wasn’t sure where they fell under. Anticipating his issue, Kioko pointed out the Endowments section of his Menu and he opened it up.

  The first menu that popped up was his list of Titles.

  Well at least I don’t have to remember them all off the top of my head, he thought.

  A blinking prompt resting on the first Title let him know he could select them for further information. He selected one out of curiosity, but it was rather self-explanatory without any detailed information. It was annoyingly like his lore skill in that regard. It might have been useful had he not been personally acquainted with them, having acquired most of them himself during his Trial.

  He closed the window and brought up his list of Talents. The window was divided among three categories of Age, Bloodline, and Endowed, and had features for multiple pages.

  The first page started on his Age Talents, of which he only had the one as a child. The damn thing was a power he'd learned about just before his Trial. At the time, he’d likened it to little more than a magical form of television for the Brat, and his opinion hadn’t changed.

  So he picked the second option on the top and moved to the Bloodlines section.

  Now this is more like it! He thought as a large list of Talents appeared. He had no idea what his first Talent, [Spirit of the Pact] meant but he recalled some basic talk about ‘letter of a contract’ versus the ‘spirit of the contract’ so he figured it must have been a demon thing?

  The Translation power he’d been using was listed next, though apparently that meant it was a Talent rather than a skill. Jordan still felt the distinction was purely categorical.

  He had a Sorcery Talent that no one had mentioned to him yet that sounded intriguing, but as he hadn’t had an explanation of how magic worked yet, it ultimately meant little to him.

  The [Perfect Smile] Talent had been one he’d used many times. The Tyrant’s Flame was… sad, actually. He’d lost it after the Trial when he was forced to kneel and became Forsaken. The flame in his Pattern had snuffed out because of it. And that left his sixth, and last Talent as…

  “Floral Arrangement? You’re kidding me!” The adults looked back at his interruption and Jordan blushed. “Ermm…”

  But the Curator just laughed. “Is there a problem, child?”

  “Ah, well…” Jordan sighed. “Look, I didn’t mean to interrupt. It just… seemed like a strange thing to have a talent about was all…”

  A hand rested on his shoulders as Constantine drew his attention. “Aury, it’s a fairly impressive power.”

  Jordan responded to his statement with a blank stare. He’s fucking with me now. Right?

  His new father chuckled when he saw the look. “You actually used it to help filter raw world Essence in your room, and then to process it to supplement your weakened Ki regeneration rate. For a Ritualist, it’s an incredible tool to be able to draw on plants as a source of Essence management.”

  “I’ll… take your word on it. I, ah, just hoped for something a bit more aggressive than a bouquet of flowers, was all…”

  The Curator laughed delightedly, followed shortly by Constantine. Jordan looked at them all in surprise, though Kioko seemed out of the loop. “What?” He asked them.

  “Oh, well, when you were six you discovered you could, in fact, make a bouquet.” Constantine said. “You were so excited you then proceeded to put a hole in almost every wall in your wing of the mansion.”

  Jordan’s jaw dropped followed by the sound of a quick tally-mark. He grimaced back at the cat-girl, before turning back to Constantine. “Er, what? Can you explain that real quick?”

  “Aury, you arranged the flowers into a makeshift mace. The Talent lets you shape and bind the Essence plants produce to various effects. Not all plants, of course, but it’s a powerful shaping trait.”

  Jordan leaned over towards Kioko. “Are they making this up? I can’t tell.”

  “Nope.” She said, and as Jordan met her eyes she marked another tally.

  “You know you’re being really hurtful right now.” He said to her.

  “You know I’d almost believe you if you weren’t smirking.” She grinned sweetly as she marked another tally.

  Gah! Jordan winced at the sass as he selected the last Talent tab while the others shared a laugh.

  Endowed Talents? What the hell is this…

  “Um, Kioko?” Jordan whispered, trying to not to loudly interrupt the Duke and Curator again. “Can you tell me where these ‘Endowed’ Talents come from?”

  “They come from Artifacts or Titles." She answered. "It looks like you have two already, and they don’t look Title related. What’s a Nothring?”

  She… really can’t see the two hidden talents. Good to know something works then, he thought. “Er, Nothring’s my ring.” He wiggled his dark binding towards her.

  She glared at it, and then wrote something down in her book. “Hey, what’s that about?” Jordan asked.

  “Oh, I’m just reminding myself to get the money you stole from me back.”

  “I didn’t… oh never mind.” He briefly considered trying to reach into his storage ring and find her items, but he hadn’t had any practice with it yet and the artifact still seemed to be dozing. Once more, he decided to leave sleeping ring-girls lie.

  He then backed out of his talents, and opened up his skills. Once more it had a variety of options at the top, though only two seemed viable. His options were either 'Errant' or 'Ritualism.' While it started on the Errants section, his skills differed from his talents in that the multiple pages option was lit up at the bottom.

  Two pages of Skills!? Hot damn! Jordan mused.

  His enthusiasm quickly petered out as he failed to find anything terribly exciting. None of this lists any hard numbers outside the costs. He almost frowned, but caught himself in time to prevent another tally-mark. Pressing on the next button, he moved to the second page of the 'Errant' skills section.

  As he selected the second page, a sigh escaped his lips. He winced at the tally-mark, but he was once more overwhelmed by the lack of anything to be ‘whelmed’ by. Dancing and drawing skills? Instrument playing? The only things that sounded anywhere near interesting were the psychic realm power and the strange Eidolon stuff.

  He decided he’d ask about that when he was finished and selected the Ritualism tab.

  At first Jordan was surprised to see two pages listed, but then he remembered his experience menu had said he’d had twelve of ten skills needed in his first specialization. Of course, reading over them now, he understood them about as well as he did trigonometry.

  That was to say, not at all.

  He’d almost certainly require an additional tutor just to understand how to use the one specialization the Brat had left him. That didn't even touch on the fact that one of his skills was flagged as 'forbidden.' He had no doubt that had probably been instrumental to the Brat summoning him into ?nerith.

  On the off chance he found anything interesting, he selected the second page of the Rituals tab.

  At first, he was willing to call it a wash. But he paused when he came to the last skill in the list; [Principle of the Kalachakra Meditation].

  It wasn’t that it was actually interesting to him, so much that Jordan recalled his Sofu’s Mandala during his cultivation. Jordan had used his Mandala analyzing skills and detected the presence of this feature. He wasn’t sure if it was any good, however. It just stood out in his mind.

  With a final look, if just to double check if there was anything in the ‘unformed’ or ‘more…’ sections (there weren’t), Jordan closed his menu.

  Seeing that he was finished, Constantine and Curator Brightmeadow politely wrapped up their discussion. They’d been speaking about some parliamentary decisions and political pressures from the church, or some such, but after they were finished the Curator turned her attention to Jordan.

  “Well, child, what questions may I answer for you?” She gave him a warm smile that could have been right at home on a lovable grandmother.

  “Um, so, first I’m not really seeing any hard numbers. Outside of the costs, of course.”

  The woman cocked her head curiously at Jordan. “Hard numbers?”

  “Like effects and what not. A few skills say ‘remove penalties’ or ‘gain a bonus’ but I don’t see any numbers about that. The Monitor listed numbers—why don’t these?”

  “Oh, well that’s by design.” She replied. “Bonuses or Penalties are little more than an impact on your Attribute and Ability checks.”

  “Which are…?”

  “Which are what, child?”

  “Er… do you know the numbers involved with a check?” He asked.

  “Um, I’m afraid not Aureliana. I apologize.” An expression of confusion continued to linger on her face.

  Oh… well that’s just fantastic… Jordan tried to console himself by remembering it was a game-like world. It was probably a random number being generated based on variables after all, and the bonuses or penalties would influence where it landed. He’d have still liked to know how much, but it wasn’t exactly useful to him now.

  Especially if it turns out it’s another inconsistency in this damn reality, he silently grouched.

  “So, ah, what can you tell me about these eed-olons? I’ve got two skills about them and I’m not sure what they do.”

  “Can you show me your Skill list?” At her request, Jordan brought up the menu and turned it towards her. She studied it while Kioko leaned over and whispered the correct pronunciation of ‘Eidolon’ in Jordan’s ears. After a moment, the Curator flipped the screen to the first page.

  “Hmm, that’s a rare Skill.” She announced.

  “The eidolon skill?” Jordan said.

  She shook her head. “No, the [Psychic Realm] Skill. Your Chasm Device has correctly identified that it's a variant on the [Memory Palace] Skill. I would also guess that as a permanent Skill it carries the same drawbacks, which your Eidolon Skills are designed to solve.”

  “Um, what kind of problems?” Jordan stared blankly at her. He was glad he hadn’t even considered getting excited when she’d said it was a rare skill. He never had anything good after all.

  “Do you know the general issues with permanent Skills and most Talents, child?”

  Jordan paused as he thought about it. “I think so. I’ve been told a bit about it. Something about drawbacks?”

  The Curator nodded. “Put simply a permanent Skill or Talent, is always active to one degree or another. Your [Psychic Realm] creates a location in your mind that would be vulnerable to malignant Spirits. In this case, Nightmares. Without a means to protect it, you’d likely never be able to leave a warded area.”

  Jordan chewed that over. It sounds somewhat like an immune system when she puts it that way. “But, not all of these Talents have drawbacks, right? I mean arranging flowers and translating don’t exactly sound like anything bad could come from them.”

  The Curator smiled. “Well, in the case of your [Flower Arrangement] Talent…” She trailed off, while Kioko and Constantine suddenly shared a confused look. “you would probably be predisposed towards developing obsessive behaviors.”

  “Obsessive behaviors?” Jordan croaked out. He quickly glanced towards Kioko, waiting for the inevitable tally, but she just looked at him with a curious expression.

  “Yes, child.” The Curator said. “The true power of that Talent is in the manipulation of Essence in the environment. If you entered into an area that had a maligned resonance…” she trailed off again. “You would likely feel severe discomfort, confusion, or a number of other symptoms until you fixed the location's Essence flow. Heavens forbid you find yourself in a poorly kept garden, you'd likely go mad.” She chuckled.

  “Is that going to be a common problem?” He recoiled in apprehension.

  “It’s not something you’d need to concern yourself with in a more civilized location.” She replied, before pausing briefly yet again. “The benefits to Ki regeneration are simply too great for most Nobility to ignore. Not to mention the naturally improved aesthetic appeal a proper arrangement can bring. It's hard to pass on.” She chuckled.

  The back and forth looks between Constantine and Kioko continued, finally spurring Jordan to blurt out. “What? What’s wrong with you two?”

  But neither one of them responded to question.

  “Child,” The Curator said, “they don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  “What the hell do you mean?”

  “Aureliana, I’ve been changing which language I’ve been speaking with several times over this last minute. Haven’t you noticed? The language you're speaking has changed to reflect each one after all.”

  She smiled kindly, but Jordan suddenly began to realize what she meant by issues. I… I can’t tell what language anyone is speaking. And the language I speak is dependent on them. It's… not the worst thing in the world I guess, but this is freaking me out.

  “How do I go back to their language?” Jordan pleaded.

  “The fastest way would be to mimic it.” She said with a laugh. Following that, she quickly explained to the others what she’d just done, and Jordan was thankfully ‘reset’ back to the local language.

  After that, Jordan asked the Curator for advice on his other Talents and the nature of the issues he’d find with them. She quickly ran through them all, letting him know that unless he wished to pursue Invocation or Sorcery, those two related Talents were of no concern. She’d already told him about his flower-power, so she informed him next of the issues with his [Spirit of the Pact].

  Apparently he’d be vulnerable to inadvertently enforcing the spirit of any oath he made, not strictly contracts. As long as he sought to honor his agreements there’d be no issues, but he’d need to be very careful if he ever wanted to be duplicitous. He wouldn’t be able to weedle his way out using the lettering of a pact.

  His [Perfect Smile] trait was one he’d already run into the issues of—if his expression weren’t completely genuine it would be incredibly hard to create a convincing one.

  As for his Age Talent, he was told that his Psychic Realm and Eidolons were already preventing its issue (that being of runaway dreams). In regards to his permanent skills, the concern for the Eidolons, she explained, was that they would have a measure of agency. If he ever hoped to improve on his Oneiromancy, he’d need to come to some sort of understanding with them.

  While Jordan protested at first what sounded like budding schizophrenia, the Curator advised him to view them more as personal Spirits he’d conjured. He relented, but hoped that meant they hadn’t created a Bureau in his mind with a damn queue system.

  “I must warn you,” the Curator advised, “to be cautious when you begin planning your future. Permanent Skills can be tempting as a source of reliable power, but there is always a price to be paid.”

  “But I could still develop other skills to help compensate, right? Like the Eidolons?” Jordan replied.

  “You can, but remember—if you develop a Skill to mitigate the penalties of the permanent trait, then you have essentially crafted a means to pay for it with Ki. If you instead develop another permanent trait to eliminate the drawback, then you’ve now gained new drawbacks to go with it.”

  Jordan nodded. It certainly did sound tempting, but with so many talents that he might have to manage as it was, adding more would be questionable.

  “But speaking of planning,” She said, “Let’s talk about your Class and Specializations, shall we?”

  so much to drop in. The next three chapters will continue this, though to be fair I probably could have reduced it to one chapter if I wanted to kill people with a wall of exposition.

  Gentle Rose of Radiant Waffles