Die. Respawn. Repeat.

Chapter 98: Book 2: It's Just A Phase

The first thing I have to get over is the skill being immensely disorienting. It's worse than my first few tests of Warpstep everything feels off and wrong in a way that's hard to articulate. Ahkelios also immediately falls through my shoulder and onto the floor, which is the only positive thing about this experience.

"Hey!" he complains.

"Sorry," I say. "Had to test out the skill." I lean down to pick him up again. Phaseslip seems to allow me to choose what I can and can't interact with, at least once I exert conscious control over it. It's basically an intangibility skill.

Which is... useful in so many more ways than just avoiding a punch, actually. Must be why it's a Rank A skill. I'm grateful it at least has the basic courtesy of not pulling me straight through the floor losing a loop by accidentally falling into the planet's core would have been embarrassing, even for me.

There's something interesting about using this skill. Everything around me looks normal, at least visually, but it's a different story if I try to observe the world through my Firmament sense or using Firmament Sight.

Now if only I could express how different. It's difficult to describe the phenomenon. It's like seeing an overlay of the world that's about five degrees left of where it should be, except replace 'left' with a direction perpendicular to anything one might imagine in three dimensional space.

It's a little headache inducing. I have to squint against the effect part of the problem is that there are multiple overlays, most of them just barely brushing against my Firmament sense. I can't do much more than tell that they're there. Maybe once I get a little more used to it, or once I fine tune it with Firmament Control or alter it with an Inspiration, I'll be able to do more.

I know what I'm looking for. I'm looking for anything that might be Integrator-related any space they might be hiding in, watching us Trialgoers go about our Trials. Once or twice, I think I almost sense something against just the barest edge of my perception. It disappears as quickly as it shows.

I sigh and let the Phaseslip drop.

"You okay?" Ahkelios asks, concerned.

"I'm fine." I wave a hand dismissively. "Skill's just a bit headache inducing. I'll need to get used to it."

Though there's no way to get used to it without activating it again. At least it doesn't strain my Firmament in any significant way...

I finally realize that Virin has been staring at me this entire time, with a combination of bemusement and concern. I blink, then let out a short, embarrassed laugh. "I, uh... forgot you were there."

"Could tell," Virin says dryly. "You not hurt, yes?"

"I'm fine," I say. "Just got a new skill, is all. Need some time to get used to it."

"It look interesting." Virin gives me a keenly interested look. "You do it again? I want try something."

I blink, but shrug and acquiesce. I don't see any harm in it. This time, I'm prepared for the way the world warps around me; I take a deep breath and steady myself as my vision and my senses overlay shift out of sync once again.

Virin pokes me, and his finger goes straight through me. He cocks his head, and I can feel through my Firmament sense that he's funneling Firmament into his arm, trying to see if that makes a difference it doesn't. Firmament or no, physical objects phase straight through my body.

It's strange seeing solid objects just move through my stomach.

Then he performs a quick imbuement on a stone and chucks it at me. I don't move, expecting it to go straight through

"Ow," I say. The rock bounces off my forehead and onto the ground. It doesn't really hurt. Tough Body has long since rendered me mostly immune to things like a pebble being thrown at my head. It's just the principle of the matter.

"It work," Virin says proudly. He nods to himself, folding his wings over his chest. "You be careful, yes? Look at attack carefully." He picks up the imbued stone to me, and I finally pick up on exactly what he's done. There's a thin layer of Firmament hovering just above the surface of the stone.

"Huh," I say. That is something I'm going to have to watch out for. "Thanks."

"Many imbued items like this," Virin says. "Especially bad imbuement! Bad imbuement leak. Lots of Firmament around object."

"Good to know." I'm already wondering if I can counter it in some way. Maybe if I use the Void Inspiration to modify Tough Body so that it peels the outermost layer of Firmament off of anything that tries to hit me...

Although even a second's mistake means I'm going to have a solid object embedded inside my body. I wince. That... won't be a fun technique to train, even if it does work.

"Anyway," I say, changing the subject. Virin looks up at me patiently. I'm only just now noticing how short the crows are compared to me they aren't small, by any means, and I'm sure if Virin stretched to his full height he'd be taller than I am. But like most of the crows, he's slightly hunched over in a forward-leaning position. "You were saying something about making imbuement stones?"

"Yes!" Virin flaps his wings a little, clearly excited by the subject. It's almost loud enough to wake up his daughter, who grumbles in her nest; he immediately settles down, chastised. "You need flood stone with Firmament to make imbuement stone. Easy."

"Just... flood it with Firmament?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "How's that different from a normal imbuement?"

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"Watch," Virin says. He holds out an ordinary stone not an imbuement stone specifically crafted to absorb Firmament, but a pebble he finds on the ground and pushes his Firmament into it. "This imbuement. See?"

I can see the way his Firmament imbues into the natural Firmament of the stone. "Yes."

"Now, make imbuement stone." The amount of Firmament Virin is controlling suddenly flares. He doesn't use a lot of it, per se, but he does pack into an ultra-dense ball of energy that he fires into the stone. It reminds me of the few times I've watched a blacksmith at work the Firmament he uses is burning with enough power to shove out both the natural Firmament and the imbuement he just placed into the stone.

Then I watch as he hammers the new Firmament into place.

Despite what he says, it's not at all easy. I can sense what he's doing, even moreso now that Phaseslip is active; I realize abruptly that the skill is making it a bit easier to peer down through the layers of Firmament. And with that insight, I can see what Virin is actually doing. He's not just hammering the shell of Firmament into place he's peeling apart the inner structure of Firmament into distinct layers.

But there's a limit to what the rock itself can hold. If I stretch my senses as far as possible, if I push Phaseslip a little farther, pour more Firmament into the skill... I can almost sense the way Firmament bonds to the physical object. There's a physical limitation Virin is fighting with the chaotic arrangement of compounds and atoms within the stone makes it so that the new Firmament struggles to bond with it. I can sense that the newly-created imbuement stone is weaker than it would have been otherwise, if Virin had used a purer stone or one that was more ordered structurally...

At least this explains the imbuement stones I've encountered so far all look like crystals of some sort. But if purity and structure are the only requirements for Firmament to bond easily with matter, then crystals are definitely not where the possibilities end.

My mind's already churning with possibilities with new things to look out for. I'm not so arrogant as to believe I'm the only one that's thought of using other mundane substances as replacements for imbuement.

Virin exhales with relief as he finishes forging the new imbuement stone. It's not an enormously powerful one by any means; at a glance, it's maybe about as powerful as the Shallow stones I picked up from the Arena. But considering he's made it out of an ordinary rock and not a gemstone, I consider that impressive.

"There!" he says proudly. I eye the stone for a moment, taking it into my hands and studying it.

"Virin," I say. "Do people ever use objects other than gemstones? Things that aren't stones, even."

"To turn into imbuement stone?" Virin looks thoughtful. "I not sure. I think I heard before! But I never try. You have idea?"

"Some," I admit. I'm not sure now's the best time to try it out, partly because I don't have access to any of the materials I want to test this technique with, yet. "But before we get to that, can we try making imbuement stones?"

"Yes!" Virin nods. "You try. I want see how you do."

I grimace. That almost certainly means he expects me to fail, doesn't it?

Well, if I'm going to fail, let's get it over with.

Virin's prediction was... mostly correct.

Packing Firmament in as dense as Virin was able to is difficult even with my improved Firmament Control. Somehow the ability to move it around more effectively doesn't seem to translate into a similar ability to force it inward, though theoretically it's the same thing.

"Try fold Firmament," Virin insists. It's the same thing he's been saying for the past half hour or so. I try not to let a frustrated growl escape from my throat, though I'm pretty sure I make some sort of strangled, annoyed noise, considering the way Ahkelios is smirking at me.

"I am trying," I grunt. His idea of folding Firmament isn't literal, as far as I can tell. I've watched him do it a few times, and the process involves packing the Firmament layers on top of themselves almost inverting it rather than folding it. The whole process feels to my Firmament sense like he's turning the Firmament inside out and causing it to shrink to half its size.

Which is very, very confusing, to be clear. I don't think I'm about to get this anytime soon.

"I'm going to take a break from this," I finally say. I don't like admitting defeat, but I've already made a lot of progress with imbuement, and I don't really want to stay here messing with Firmament when there's so much of everything else going on. I'm almost certain I've given both Mari and Tarin enough time to do... whatever it is they're doing, now. "I should probably go see what Tarin's up to. I think I have to head back to Isthanok."

"If you sure," Virin says doubtfully. "You come back before you leave, ok? I need you help remember imbuement testing!"

Right, right. Virin mentioned he wanted my help with more... destructive tests on imbuement that he wouldn't perform if not for the reality of the time loop.

"I'll try," I say. I'm not sure where my future loops are going to take me, but Virin's been patient with me and taught me a lot. Trying is the least I can do for him. "I'll come back before we leave."

Virin nods. He points a stick at me. "You better!"

I note, to my amusement, that he's practicing imbuement even in that act of picking up the stick. What a guy.

The curtain that functions as a door to Tarin's hut is thankfully open when I arrive, so I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of knocking on the wall and calling out for them. Mari is busy and energetically cooking so energetically I'm almost certain she's doing it to distract herself and Tarin is sitting in the corner, uncharacteristically silent.

"Uh... is everything okay?" I ask.

"Ethan!" Tarin jumps up almost immediately. "You ready? We go back Isthanok!"

I almost protest. I'm not sure that Isthanok is the logical next step I still need to save Rotar and K'hkeri. But I think back to the battle in the Fracture, and... yeah, that's not happening anytime soon without Guard's help.

"More or less ready," I say instead. I glance at Mari she still hasn't said anything, but I can hear her chopping getting more aggressive by the minute. In fact, I can sense that she's using Firmament to reinforce both her knife and the plank that functions as a cutting board. "Shouldn't we wait for Mari to finish cooking first...?"

"Oh! Yes." Tarin seems embarrassed for a moment. "We wait. We eat! Then we go."

At least the food looks good. I glance between Tarin and Mari. I don't think they're fighting, but there's a definite tension there that wasn't there before.

I sigh. "Do either of you want to tell me what's going on?"

"No," Mari says shortly.

"Later!" Tarin says.

...That'll have to do.

Now to see what Virin is up to before getting Tarin and heading back to Isthanok.

"Ah, Trialgoer!" Virin looks up excitedly. "Okay, you remember what happen if I do this, okay? This old imbuement stone. Made from old methods. I try activate."

He holds up an old, moss-covered rock. Ahkelios opens his mouth to comment, but as soon as Virin floods it with Firmament, the rock... bursts into flames. And then evaporates.

I blink. "...I guess that's why you wanted to use a time loop to explore this?"

"Yes," Virin nods, his expression almost concerningly earnest. "You better be telling truth about loop!"

"I am," I say. "I'll, uh... make sure to tell you about your rock."