Here we go folks! Hope you enjoy. I tried to cut down on some of Andy's internal doubt, lol. Hopefully this sequence feels more decisive.

On another note, I've commissioned a map of the settlement. It won't be perfectly accurate, but it'll give you an idea. I'll post it as soon as I get it back from the artist.

-Plum

40 – Effortless

Andy didn’t sleep long. Maybe it was something to do with an internal clock—him knowing he had things to do early—or maybe his body just didn’t require as much sleep as it used to. It didn’t matter; he felt good, and just as he’d hoped, his mind and body had grown somewhat accustomed to his increased sensory input. He didn’t feel overwhelmed, and he found that he could almost effortlessly focus on as much or as little as he wanted.

He knew from the faint lightening of the sky outside that dawn was near, and he knew the team going to the Gavax Collective would be waiting for him soon, but Andy was determined not to leave his home before settling matters with his Improvement Points. Of course, nature—or the System—had a habit of interfering with his best intentions, and when he sat up on his bed, he noticed a midnight-blue bag by his feet.

It was about the size of a softball, and when Andy picked it up, he found it contained something of about that weight—and shape. “Huh,” he said, opening the drawstring and peering inside. His little flame was still burning on the table, and his eyes made good use of it, dispelling the shadows inside the bag and revealing a deep red fruit. If the world hadn’t changed and he were standing in a supermarket, Andy might have guessed it was a special variety of grapefruit.

As he’d hoped, he saw the shape of a small card at the bottom of the bag, and he took it out, turning it so he could read the printed letters:

Abyssal Orange – Those who consume this fruit will fall into a deep slumber. While they sleep, the otherworldly vapors of the orange will stir the secrets hiding in their marrow, burning away the corruption and dross accumulated for generations to reveal bloodlines that lie buried beneath. Be warned! Consume the whole fruit or see it wasted. Be further warned! You may not like what the Abyssal Orange uncovers!

“Jeez,” Andy said, shaking his head as he hefted the weighty fruit. He had a feeling it was valuable, but he also knew he couldn’t afford to “fall into a deep slumber” at the moment. He sent it into his storage ring, adding it to his list of things to think about—his list of things to do.

His stomach rumbled, but he ignored it, instead pulling up his list of class abilities and spells:

Axiomatic Artistry – Bound: 3Greater Axiom of Passage  – Bound: 5Axiom of Separation – Bound: 2Axiom of Time – Bound: 1

The simple thing to do would be to place his seven remaining points and just hope that something new unlocked. He was sure that was how a lot of people were approaching their classes and their Improvement Points. It wasn’t that he was nervous or worried; he’d already decided he was going to spend the points. He just wanted to be sure he got the most out of them. He wanted stronger spells, but he also wanted more spells—more utility.

Three of his Axiomancy abilities were spells, but he only had one skill. With that in mind, he focused on Axiomatic Artistry. Maybe it was his improved Perception, but he felt like the answer was simple. He knew how to draw three different axioms. What if he started messing with their design? What if he used more than one? Could he unlock another class skill?

The Axiom of Time was meant to “define the rate at which time is experienced” and the Axiom of Separation could treat a target’s components as distinct rather than continuous, weakening cohesion or separating them. What if he tried to use both Axioms on an object? Done wasting time with dithering, Andy moved to his table, sat in the chair and focused on the little lamp with its warm, amber flame.

He watched it dance for a moment or two. Then, he lifted his left hand and drew the Axiom of Time. Rather than trying to impose his will right away, trying to speed up or slow down the flame, he moved his hand just a bit to the left and drew the Axiom of Separation. He wasn’t even sure what it meant, but the idea in his head was that he could separate the flame from time. So that’s what he tried to do. As the two axiomatic glyphs glowed in the air before him, Andy willed the flame to stop.

Nothing happened at first, so Andy put to work a lesson he’d learned with the Axiom of Passage; he poured more mana into the glyphs. Nothing became…something. Andy felt the mana pushing against an invisible barrier, a membrane that lay beneath the surface of what humans could perceive. It was something to do with the universe, the fundamental laws of nature, and when he continued to impose his will, pushing more and more mana into the spell, he felt the membrane stretching.

When he finally broke through, many things happened at once. He felt a thrumming vibration run through him, intangible in nature—not a sound or a physical quaking of the earth, but a vibration of something essential. A System message flashed before his eyes, and more profound than anything else, the flame stopped moving. It hung there, a wavy line of warm light extending from a slightly burnt wick.

Andy exhaled and listened, ensuring it was only the flame that had ceased its movement, and he was relieved to hear the wind, the birds, and the deep snores of a slumbering man. He’d done it! He’d separated the flame from the flow of time. Licking his lips, Andy focused on the first System message:

***Congratulations, Andy! You’ve learned a new spell: Axiom of Time Severance. Additionally, you’ve uncovered the art of Axiomatic Conjugation. The System has taken note of your efforts and has awarded you enough experience to advance your Axiomatic Pathfinder class to the next level. As a result, you’ve earned 20 maximum mana and an Improvement Point.

Axiom of Time Severance – Bound: You draw conjoined axioms that declare a target separate from the flow of time. For a brief duration, the target exists outside time while the rest of the universe moves forward. The larger the target and the stronger its will, the more mana required to sever it from time and hold it apart. Mana Cost: variable—200 minimum.

Axiomatic Conjugation – Bound: You may use your Axiomatic Artistry skill to combine the effects of two or more axioms. Investment in this skill will result in greater success and greater understanding of axioms and their construction.***

“Yes!” Andy pumped his fist and laughed. It seemed so obvious in retrospect, but then, solutions often felt that way. He glanced at the flame and nodded, unsurprised to see it flickering again. “Probably won’t be freezing any person-sized things anytime soon, but…” He trailed off, grinning, imagining the magic taking effect on a giant toad like the one that had swallowed Trevor.

He turned his attention to his abilities again. Seeing the two Axioms involving time right beside each other, he took a moment to consider how they were different. The Axiom of Time affected an object or person inside the flow of time. The Axiom of Time Severance moved the object outside the flow of time. It was a narrow-seeming distinction, but something told him it would be important. Andy shifted his attention to his other new ability and put an Improvement Point into Axiomatic Conjugation.

Warm tingles danced through his mind, and when they faded, Andy felt he had a deeper understanding of Axiomancy. “That’s what I’ve been missing!” he said, laughing. The Axiomatic Artistry ability was crucial to forming the axioms and inflicting them upon the universe, but the actual understanding of the art hadn’t been there. That was changing—Andy put another point into Axiomatic Conjugation.

As the tingles came again, Andy leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and looking inward. Sure enough, new knowledge was there—the various lines and shapes that could compose an axiom, for instance. He felt he could make simple rules right then and there, but he wanted more. He wanted to understand why a certain shape meant cut and why another meant connect. The skill was at three, and he knew that the System considered rank five as mastery.

“Have I done enough?” he wondered aloud. Had he made enough of a breakthrough that he could push the skill to rank five? Andy added another point, bringing it to four. When he looked inward this time, he saw whole lists of memorized glyph components—shapes that could be combined into three-dimensional axioms. All he’d need was some time to experiment, and he was sure he could come up with new spells. Grinning, he applied another point to the skill.

**You have reached the current ceiling for Axiomatic Conjugation. Further mana-driven advancement is restricted. To move beyond this boundary, you must uncover new understanding of the nature of axioms and how they convey your will upon the natural state of the universe.**

“Fair enough,” Andy said, glancing at his status sheet to confirm he still had five more Improvement Points, and then he put another point into Axiomatic Artistry, bringing it to four. As the tingles faded from his skull, he determined that all he’d really gained was more control and technique for drawing complex axiomatic glyphs.

He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to advance it again, but he tried.

**You have reached the current ceiling for Axiomatic Artistry. Further mana-driven advancement is restricted. To move beyond this boundary, you must uncover new understanding of the nature of axioms, perfecting your ability to compose them.**

The messages were both a little different from those Andy had received in the past, such as the one he’d gotten for his Spears skill. Neither one of them felt final—like all he needed was a little push to get past those ceilings. Once again, he wondered if his enhanced Perception was aiding in his understanding of things, but he honestly thought that if he spent some time working with axiomatic glyphs, building new spell-like axioms, then he’d make significant progress toward breaking those barriers.

With that in mind, Andy wasn’t sure he wanted to put more points into his current axiomatic spells. He glanced out the window, saw that the sky was significantly lighter than before, and then called up his status sheet again, looking at his axiomancy abilities:

Axiomatic Artistry – Bound: 4Axiomatic Conjugation – Bound: 4Greater Axiom of Passage  – Bound: 5Axiom of Separation – Bound: 2Axiom of Time – Bound: 1Axiom of Time Severance – Bound: 1

His new knowledge from Axiomatic Conjugation gave Andy new confidence; he knew he could build more spells. Still, there was one spell on that list that he’d already brought to mastery—piercing the ceiling it had previously sat beneath. It seemed foolish not to explore its new boundaries, especially when it was a talent he was certain he wanted to continue to improve.

Nodding to himself, Andy put an Improvement Point into Greater Axiom of Passage. The point applied without any issue, and, as usual with knowledge-based abilities or skills, his head got kind of warm and tingly. This time, things went a little further, and he saw starbursts in his vision and felt warm tickling sensations that seemed to extend from his brain to the place where his mana sat in its pool. It was like someone was drizzling warm water inside him.

“Weird,” he said, before pulling up the spell description, searching for anything new:

Greater Axiom of Passage – Bound: You draw an axiom that declares a valid path exists between two points. For a brief duration, that path may be traversed as though unobstructed. The stability of the passage depends on the environment, the distance, and the amount of mana you invest in the spell; simple barriers yield more readily, while dense or magically reinforced materials allow only fleeting or partial transit. Mana Cost: variable—150 minimum.

It didn’t seem any different to him, but he knew something had changed. Perhaps he’d just gotten better at it; perhaps he’d be able to convince the universe more easily that the passage should exist. At six, the spell was now his most advanced ability. “Could I go to seven?”

Licking his lips and holding his breath, Andy applied another Improvement Point to the spell. Just as before, his head rushed with tingles, stars danced through his vision, and warm tingles ran deep into his being. He reviewed the spell description, but just as before, it was unchanged.

With only two Improvement Points remaining, Andy recalled his earlier promise to himself—that he wouldn’t forget about his Brimstone Stalker class. He’d left precious little with which to work, but he decided he’d save those last two points until after he’d changed classes.

Pushing away from the table, he decided it was time to see what he’d gained. Would he be able to open a passage to the Gavax Collective more easily? He left his tiny house and made his way toward the gate.

Along the way, he marveled at the improvements to his Perception, savoring the way he experienced the world far more than he had the first time he’d broken through to “superhuman” levels. Just as he’d realized the night before, there was an enormous gulf between eleven and fourteen Perception. He wondered if that were true of all attributes, and he wondered if those cliffs and plateaus came at different stages.

He could see how someone might reach ten in an attribute, for instance, and convince themself that it was enough—higher than humanly possible, after all—only to miss out on the world of difference between ten and twelve or, in the case of Perception, thirteen or fourteen. He thought about that while he walked, but another thought was cooking in the back of his mind.

He hadn’t forgotten the “abyssal” fruit or its promise. Andy knew very well that his Vanir bloodline was responsible for his ability to push past human limitations in Speed and Perception. It was the mechanism by which the Codex had spurred him past the old ceiling. If that orange woke up more of his bloodline, would it bypass another human-based attribute ceiling for him? Was it possible that it might bypass more than one?

Of course, his mind didn’t stop there. What if it bypasses one of the second-tier ceilings? What would it be like to have Speed greater than thirteen? What about Perception—how high could it go?

A much quieter, smaller voice echoing through his thoughts wondered if he ought to even use the fruit. Maybe he ought to give it to someone else. Maybe he was getting greedier in the new world, but Andy didn’t listen long to that voice. In any case, he was saved from further internal debate when he came to the gate and found the party heading to the Gavax Collective waiting.

“All set?” he asked, waving to Violet as he approached. The Scholar was chatting with Omar and Bernice, and they all stepped a little closer as Andy came to a stop.

“We’re ready. Are you sure your spell will reach that far?” Bernice asked.

Andy laughed. “It had better! I just dumped a ton of Improvement Points into the class, so…” He shrugged. “Yeah, it better work.” Andy glanced over the crowd, counting six young people with weapons—Militia members—and two crafters he’d only met briefly chatting with Lydia. Altogether, they were a good-sized group.

“I’m not going to go,” Omar said, dragging Andy’s attention back his way.

“Why’s that?” Andy asked, glancing at Lydia before he could catch himself. She looked to the side, and he swore she blushed slightly.

“Because, man. We’ve got too much to do if we’re going to deal with those undead, and I don’t want people losing track of how serious that threat is.”

Andy nodded. “I know. Did you talk to Frank about the Militia?”

“Yeah, but still…” Omar glanced at Lydia. “I feel like—”

Andy interrupted him. “I feel like you need to check out the Gavax. I think you should be there to talk to Maker about what they should work on. You’ll see what I mean—Violet has the plan.”

The small, unassuming woman nodded, holding up her notepad. “We’ll help them get started, Andy.”

“Meanwhile,” Andy said, nodding and smiling at the other members of the party as they crowded closer to listen. “I’m going to take care of some more business around here—with the Trade Beacon and the Huorn—and then I’m going up to Mount Lemmon. I think we should try to secure some easy alliances.” He thumped Omar on the shoulder. “That’s how we’re going to beat those undead. We shouldn’t try to handle everything alone.”

Omar looked at him for a long minute with his golden wolf-like eyes. Then he nodded, also stealing a glance at Lydia. “I’ll go with them, then. Maybe I’m looking at things wrong. Do you think the Gavax can fight?”

“Oh,” Andy said, rubbing his chin and smiling. “I think so.”

Violet pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “We’re ready, Andy.”

“Okay,” he replied, stepping away from the crowd and focusing on the southeastern horizon. “I’ll open the passage. Please hurry through when I say so.”

“Ready, My Liege,” Lydia said, chuckling.

Andy glanced at her and arched his eyebrow, always amused by her bright green eyes and teasing smile.

She shrugged. “What do you expect? Did you think none of us would notice the castle?”

Andy opened his mouth to argue, but then he closed it. She was teasing, and there wasn’t any point. Instead, he just shrugged and smiled. Then, he lifted his left hand and traced a brilliant magenta glyph in the air. Through the Greater Axiom of Passage, he imposed his will, and the universe bent before him. A swirling tunnel of light and shadow appeared, passing right through the settlement gate into nothing.

“Go ahead,” he said. “Walk through, and you’ll be at the Gavax Collective!”

“That was fast,” Omar observed, hefting his shield. “After me—step quickly!”

Andy watched as they all filed into the passage, each one of them disappearing after four or five steps. When the last of them had passed out of sight, he held the passage open to the count of twenty, and then he let it collapse. Quietly, without making too much of a fuss, he took a look at his status sheet and grinned; he’d only used the spell’s minimum requirement, and it had been effortless.