[CYA] Chapter 163: Upgrades (Patreon)

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EoWCytiTJUvySaVSgFAD4wXpcHuy7d9sS4GMvtFpIWQ/edit?usp=sharing

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<Alex, Real - Dorgon Calls for Aid, Innominate Duty Station>

Alex docked the Innominate with the asteroid base, then sank back into his seat, trembling and shuddering in mental exhaustion and under the aftershocks of adrenaline overload.

Natasha was still standing in the room with him, but the ship’s overlay had incorporated her, letting him see even through where she was.

Even the blown-open door had been overcome once it seemed that the room’s magic determined that Alex didn’t need to remain aware of it. The whispers of power that he picked up seemed to have threat assessment and prioritization ranking involved.

I don’t see how the System doesn’t understand the language. It’s not like language is that difficult… He was missing something. Something that Runa had clearly imparted that supposedly set his understanding above that of the System itself.

Or this is all smoke and mirrors, and Runa doesn’t actually know anything that the System doesn’t, and she’s just bluffing? I’m just the most recent ‘raise and call’ between the two?

There was a disturbing amount of sense in that. He might even believe it except that he was seeing those oddities in the magical language around him, in those magics created directly by the System…

He ensured that there was no power in his throat, then groaned, enjoying the catharsis of the expression. His eyes flicked to the waiting notifications, reading through them and trying to break the odd train of thought.

Attribute Level-Up:Basic Cognition - MagicalLevel 10 → Attribute Upgradable

Basic Dissonance of TonalityLevel 2 → Level 3

He pushed aside the second notification that tried to claim his attention, focusing on these level-ups.

The first one—his magical cognition—that made sense, actually. He was leaning heavily on his own ability to translate both from magic to thought and thought to magic.

How do others do this? He might have to ask a helmsman of another ship when they found one, or he could ask the others? Yeah. That would work.

As to his dissonance? Yeah, that made sense too. He’d been told that Attribute would level easier, and he’d used it intentionally against eleven opponents at once.

Natasha cleared her throat. “Your readout says you aren’t injured, but… Are you okay?”

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah… I guess.”

His cuffs disconnected from the armrests, and he rubbed at his face with both hands.

“That was… that was brutal.”

She grunted. “It was definitely something, yeah. The unstable footing was terrible.”

He gave her a flat stare, and she smirked, then sighed. “Regardless, our shields never dipped below 50%. Part of me wonders if we made a big deal out of nothing.”

Alex turned to look at her, the figment of the space surrounding the Innominate finally fading from his perception. “I might agree, and you might be right—given the increased regeneration rate of the shields as they get closer to breaking—but the boarders were absolutely a threat.”

She hmmed an acknowledgement of that. “Fair.”

That reminded him of something. “Oh! I saw your Force Shield spell has changed. Is that what you got training for?”

Her face transformed with obvious pride and a bit of smugness. “Yes. Basic Modular Force Hex-Shields. It’s uncommon now, but it was technically a downgrade to ‘basic’. Still, the upgrade path should be phenomenal."

“I’ll bet.” He smiled in appreciation. Then, some of his levity faded. “Hey, Natasha?”

“Yes, Alex?”

“Thank you.”

She shrugged. “We’d be rather out of luck if you died.”

He felt a smile pull at his lips. “Ahh, well, that makes sense, yeah.”

She gave a small smile back. “Good.” After a moment’s hesitation she added, “Food?”

Alex gave a slow nod, then remembered the notice that he’d pushed aside earlier.. “Let me check a notification, then we can go.”

“Sure.”

He smiled and pulled it up.

Attribute Level-Up:Basic Cognition - Magical

You’ve read the power in the world around you without being overwhelmed, shifted mana without requiring a physical analog, and modified System-granted spells without harming yourself or others… unintentionally.

Well done on using an Attribute as it was intended.

You have maxed out a Basic Attribute. Which direction would you like to take the next step?

Powerful CognitionAgile CognitionFortified CognitionMana Motor Control

Alex grunted. This was going to take some consideration. “We can walk.”

Natasha nodded, gesturing for him to go first.

He stood and staggered slightly. He hadn’t stood up in hours. He hadn’t even had to go to the bathroom. Well, he had gone to the bathroom, he just hadn’t gone anywhere.

He grimaced at the thought, still feeling gross at effectively reverting to the potty habits of a toddler. Still, he couldn’t argue it wasn’t warranted. He was horrified to consider what would have happened if he’d needed to use the restroom during the battle, and the others were in the same boat. The suits would take some getting used to, but he saw the utility.

Still, he wasn’t going to get too used to them. There was still the very real possibility that he wouldn’t get to keep any, no matter how much he thought he might be able to wiggle around the loss of the one he was wearing.

His legs steadied, and he moved forward. As he stepped out into the hallway, he saw the dead pirate and shattered constructs. He glanced back. “Any plans for those?”

She shrugged. “I’d love to search him, but nothing for the other things.”

He narrowed his gaze at her. “You want me to mess with them.”

Her smile was innocent. “If that is what you wish.”

Alex chuckled. “I’ve got use for the metal if nothing else.”

“That is agreeable to me.”

He pulled the remains of the constructs into his Inventory, feeling bits of language on them, now so chopped to high heaven that he couldn’t understand any of it.

Natasha bent down and started riffling through the pirate’s pockets. The corpse was wearing something that looked like a combination of tactical gear and light medieval armor, with a flare of arcane and scifi elements thrown in for good measure.

It was a hodgepodge made more so by the myriad cuts and rents that covered it from Natasha’s spear.

The blood didn’t help either.

Alex could detect a bit of smell from the man, but something in the ship mitigated it. Well, it was that or the ‘comfortable’ description from the greatcoat extended to smells… Now that he considered it, things really hadn’t smelled as awful as they really should have since he got the coat. The fact had likely helped him keep a better distance from all the craziness.

Huh… knock-on benefits for the win.

Regardless, Natasha was occupied with her work, so he considered his upgrade options.

The first thing that stood out was that three of them lined up with the type breakdown of each of his attributes of Power, Agility, and Fortitude. Only the Mana Motor Control was different, but he was still going to give each due consideration.

He focused on Powerful Cognition, trying to get a sense of it, and found that it was exactly what it said on the tin. He would be able to do more complex problems within his own mind, hold more information for concurrent consideration, and all around be able to take on problems in larger chunks.

Agile Cognition in contrast was focused on being able to do tasks more quickly without any specific enhancement to ability.

Alex chuckled, reminded of something he’d come across years earlier. He muttered to himself. “I can do a million calculations per second… and they’re all wrong.”

Natasha glanced his way. “What?”

He waved her off. “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

She grunted, turning back to her work. “Sure.”

Fortified Cognition gave a sense of giving him greater endurance for mental tasks as well allowing him to weather more… difficult mental loads.

He specifically did not think about his time with Runa… except this choice might make him able to do just that.

Mana Motor Control was a standout in its uniqueness, and he immediately knew that he’d been offered this choice because of what he’d been doing with the Innominate over the last day or so.

Right now, he controlled magic by imagining the bits of power moving around and sort of forcing it to happen through his Mana Manipulation skill.

It was hard to describe, but this felt like it would be equivalent to moving from being good with a weapon to having it feel like a part of him… No, this was more than that.

Right now, he was manipulating his mana, like he could manipulate a tool or weapon. He could eventually get good enough that the distinction all but faded away, but it still would be a second-hand control.

This would allow him to control it directly… but what would that do to his Mana Manipulation skill?

He frowned. If he had this modifier as an Attribute, did he need the skill? Was it just another way of reaching the same result?

Honestly? He felt like it might subsume the skill, making him far more in tune with magic… It might even make his magic more of a part of him in a literal sense. He might even become magic aspected? Can you have two aspects? Life and Magic Aspected Human?

 He was letting his mind run away with him. “Natasha?”

“Yeah?” She didn’t look up as she rolled over the body, unhooking things and pulling them into her Inventory as she worked.

“How do you interact with the ship?”

That made her pause and look up. “What do you mean?”

“When you are controlling the sensors, or sending me things. Do you have a keypad, do you just think about it and it happens, or do you just… do it?”

She grunted, refocusing on the body. “A combination of the first two. For things with the ship, there are tactile interfaces that I work with, though they fade from my thinking pretty quickly. If I’m using a skill through the ship, I think about the skill, pull it up and sort of… I don’t know how to describe it. Push?” She frowned, clearly considering. “Yes, I push the skill through the interface, and that activates it, allowing me to manipulate that as well.”

Alex nodded even though she couldn’t see it. “Thanks.”

“Sure.”

He had that a bit, but he was interacting far more with the mana rather than anything physical. Now, he suspected that this was because of a combination of his magical cognition and mana manipulation. His practice with the triune rings was paying off, it seemed.

He thought he knew what he’d choose now, but he wanted to ask the others, just to be sure.

Being ‘smarter’ would be great, but he could put attributes into that. This might be a direct increase to his base, but that wasn’t hampering him right now.

Similarly, it would be great to think faster, but again, he could put points into that as well as improving it through raw training.

Finally, the most tempting ‘basic’ choice was to strengthen his mind against damage and strain. While he could get that through stat points, this choice was the one that felt the most… fundamental of the three basic options.

Yeah, I need a bit more info.

Natasha sighed and stood, the pirate vanishing into her Inventory for later disposal. “Ready.”

Alex grunted. “Sure… Why didn’t you pull him into your Inventory and search him there?”

Natasha gave him a flat look. “Not everyone can do that, Alex.”

He shrugged. “Practice?”

She snorted. “I’ve been trying. I can’t even move a single page off of a stack of loose paper. I can remove just that top one from the Inventory, but I can’t separate it within, and pulling a page from the middle? There’s no chance.”

Alex grunted, deciding not to press. Everyone had different capacities, and it seemed like she was focusing on other areas at the moment. “I’d love to spar against you and that crazy shield some time.”

She gave a predatory smile. “That would be agreeable.”

They walked down the hall side by side, heading toward food and their companions.

It had been a long day, and they weren’t yet through.

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