[CYA] Chapter 164: Incompatibility (Patreon)

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lCcgIW84LpjIQ_UKnDOY-SbmK5RJkWoyf_b7KdXqOe8/edit?usp=sharing

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<Alex, Real - Dorgon Calls for Aid, Innominate Mess Hall>

Alex tried to Create Rations that were spicy, focusing on the magics as they formed, but just as before, his Spherical Sense made it feel like someone was dumping cookbooks over his head, and when he opened his eyes after the tumult, there was a bar in his palm that was the same as usual.

He sighed.

Natasha arched an eyebrow as she grabbed a meal, ready to eat. She added some hot water from a tap and came to his table. “What was that about? Are you having trouble with your spellwork?”

Alex sighed again. “No… I just feel like I’m missing something.”

“Well, explain it to me. Maybe that will get you past the hurdle?”

He grunted. “Well, when I cast the Create Rations spell, the magics are insanely complex, but it feels like most of it is unused.”

Natasha began eating. It was some sort of cheesy pasta but had a different smell than alfredo. It looked divine. Regardless, she arched an eyebrow in a clear invitation for him to continue.

“Well, it’s like this spell came with an entire library of cookbooks, but it’s just saying ‘aisle 6, second shelf, the red book, page 82, the first recipe.’ So, that’s what comes out.”

That got a surprised grunt, and after the Russian wiped her mouth, she inquired. “How could you possibly be casting a spell that complex?”

He shook his head. “That’s the thing. I don’t believe that System spells are affected by our ability with mana.” When she arched an eyebrow, he rushed to continue. “I mean, I don’t think we’re required to craft the forms ourselves, at least not with the spells we get directly from the System. They feel like a stamp that we’ve been given. It doesn’t take artistic ability to use a stamp.”

“Clearly you’ve never babysat toddlers.”

He gave her a flat look, and she responded with a half smile.

Finally, Natasha gave a slow nod. “Fine, fine. So, our mana is the ink. For a stamp of a wave, blue ink is best, but you can use black ink or even red, and it's still a wave.”

Alex bit his lip in thought. “I guess? I suppose I didn’t consider that. Regardless, this feels like my mana is only inking a small part of this massive stamp, thus I get the same silly little ration bar each time.”

“But the stamp is much bigger.”

“Exactly.”

“Isn’t that… overpowered? You got a Simple spell, but it has the seeds for advancement within it already?”

“Well, first, it’s just making food, so I don’t know how overpowered that really is, especially in the System’s view. It feels like a sustenance spell that can become a luxury if you put in the work, but that’s it. I’m not going to be conquering worlds with a souffle.”

“Clearly you’ve never had a truly divine souffle.” Still, she was contemplative as she nodded again. “So, because it’s really not useful in combat, the System gives more to balance the scales?”

“Potentially. But it might also be more than that. It might not know exactly what parts of the stamp are required for the subset to be edible, and it is possible that my nature is filling in the gaps. If I had a different race, I think the results would be slightly different.”

“What?”

Alex sighed. “I sort of got the ability to understand magic.”

She gave him a flat look. “What.”

“It’s a long story, but essentially, I understand the language of power, and the uses the System has are very ‘early AI’. Sure, they get results, but it's often in a very non-human way of approaching things. Even so, it makes no sense, because something as powerful as the System should have been able to figure out a language by now, especially with feedback from spells. The sense I get is that the System is old, so it’s not a question of time.”

Natasha looked like she was following, if barely, so he plowed ahead.

“So, what if that’s the final piece? Sapient casters are needed, because it doesn’t know what part of the stuff actually does what it wants, and we somehow naturally trim out the unnecessary bits?”

She grunted. “Like ignoring visual noise to see the picture within.”

“Exactly!” He pointed at her in triumph. “I’m not sure, but I think that something like that might be a part of it. Clearly the System can make very clean, efficient magics.” He gestured at the ship around them. “But it definitely feels like it’s missing something for true understanding.”

“That’s somewhat terrifying, actually.”

“Hmm? What is?”

“That the System is capable of all of this without true understanding. Imagine what it could do with it?”

“I…” He swallowed, suddenly feeling the need to Create Water in his mouth. “I hadn’t considered that.”

He took a drink, then began to devour his ration bar.

“So, back to the bar…” He put the existential crisis aside for the moment. “I need to figure out how to ink a different part of the stamp in a useful way.”

“Any ideas how?”

He sighed. “Bev suggested I try cooking and practicing in the kitchen.”

“Bev the medical officer?”

“One and the same.”

“Why would she have worthwhile advice on Create Rations?”

“Well, I need to get a higher nutrient load, so…”

“Ahh, so medical adjacent.”

“I think so, yeah.”

Natasha shook her head in wonderment. “You find the oddest NPCs.”

He grimaced. “I really don’t like thinking of them that way.”

Natasha shrugged. “I have to, otherwise I have to deal with having just killed a man and the fact that I’m carrying around his body, awaiting a convenient time to dump it out an airlock.”

She took another bite, and Alex winced. “Ahh… That’s fair…”

John and Pilar came in, giving large smiles when they saw Alex and Natasha. John laughed. “There’s the man of the hour! That was some good flying.”

Alex chuckled and waved, but before he could say anything, Pilar added, “I could have done without some of the jerking about.” She looked to her husband. “Didn’t you say it was spoiling some of your shots when you were pirate hunting?”

John coughed, momentarily embarrassed, but Alex just laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I was doing what I could with what I have.” Some of his joviality bled away. “How’s the structure? I know I was pushing the redline in that fight.”

John sighed and nodded. “You aren’t wrong. It’ll take me about a day’s work, with Kaylee’s help, to get the ship back in top form, but there’s an upside.”

“Oh?” Alex felt bad, but the man’s words gave him a bit of hope.

“Yeah. We can do a few more upgrades as we go.”

Kaylee’s voice joined the conversation. “Not that this is the best way to go about it, Alex. We could have done more upgrades with the same time and resources if we weren’t repairing things as well.”

Alex grimaced. “Yes, ma’am.”

She waved him off. “None of that. You kept us alive in a rather unfortunate situation. Thank you.”

He smiled at that. “Happy to help.”

Kaylee’s smile grew. “Plus, Juba says that there is quite a bit of material on the base that we can use with my abilities to upgrade the ship.”

Alex chuckled. “The good news grows!” He then glanced toward John’s wife. “Pilar, though?”

“Hmm?”

“Your shooting is getting fantastic. Thank you for destroying our enemies and all that.”

She chuckled. “And all that.” There was a twinkle in her eyes as she playfully looked at her nails. “It was nothing.”

Alex decided to poke at the woman. “Too bad you kept missing despite your improvement. We might have finished a lot sooner if you fixed that.”

She barked a laugh, then. “Yeah, yeah. Hold steadier next time, and my accuracy will improve.”

Lenka and Grant came in then, and the greetings, congratulations, and teasing began again, the seven Initiates eating and chatting amicably, reveling in their survival and shared victory.

Alex queried them all about how they interfaced with the ship, and found that Natasha’s experience was universal. They all had physical interfaces to one level or another, with their skills acting as an interface for that which they brought to the table directly.

That sort of made the choice for him, and while everyone else was chatting and laughing—Alex adding in every so often—he made his choice.

Basic Cognition - Magical (Lvl 10) → Magical Cognition [Mana Motor Control] (Lvl 1)

Magical Cognition [Mana Motor Control] (Lvl 1)Details:You have a growing ability to understand concepts—and the surrounding applications—of magic.

Your mind has an increased resistance to degradation in the face of higher concepts as you become more attuned to magic, yourself.

Description:So, you’ve met a ??? and decided to use that foundation to dig deeper? Good for you. It’s a shame that your mind would still melt if you actually understood what that meant.

Regardless, you are now better able to both tolerate and comprehend the truly arcane.

Mana Motor Control - Through training, intention, and a System granted choice, you have gained a burgeoning ability to directly interact with mana as it becomes as much a part of you and under your control as your physical body.

Apology Tutorial Addendum:This is the first step toward becoming a magical rather than biological entity. Beware the—

Error…

Error…

Processing…

Alex jerked as a spike of pain lanced through his head, causing him to gasp involuntarily.

Everyone else turned toward him at once, eyes going wide.

A male voice—Alex thought it might have been John—yelled out. “Get Bev!”

“Throw that to the dogs, take him there,” Lenka’s voice came back a moment before strong arms seized him.

His mind was filled with pain and a notification.

Notice:Life-Aspected Human incompatible with the Magical Being progression path.

Analyzing…

Analyzing…

Initiate’s choice deemed out of ignorance, quieting Life’s autoimmunity to grant a choice.

Alex gasped, spasming and finding that he was tied down to a medical bed, his gasp sending dissonance into the equipment around him, fraying the magic trying to help him.

He couldn’t force himself to care.

The notification changed.

A Choice Must Be Made:Life-Aspected Human

OR

Mana-Aspected Human

Note:All incompatible Attributes, Classes, Spells, and Skills will be stripped away if Mana-Aspected Human is chosen.

If he’d had a voice, he’d have laughed. That was no choice at all.

“Life!” Alex arched back, even the suppressed pain too much to grit his teeth through. It was literally all in his mind, and that made it so much worse.

Notice:Choice logged.

Withdrawing Mana alignment.

Alex slumped as the pain left his mind, leaving him panting and soaked in sweat, though his coverall wicked away most of it shortly thereafter.

Notice:System Error Recognized, incompatible choices should not be offered.

Calculating…

Analyzing…

Factoring…

Restitution required.

Analyzing…

Resolved.

Offer:Magical Cognition [Interoception]

Accept?Y/N

Alex groaned, talking to himself. “Can’t I just take Fortified Cognition?”

He hadn’t been expecting a response, but he got one nonetheless.

Response:If that is what you wish, yes. In that case, changing your choice would be the restitution. Be aware that the offered Attribute was selected to balance the scales.

He felt someone at his side, but he’d closed his eyes and didn’t want to open them yet. The notifications were visible regardless.

“Can I see the description first?” He felt the person stiffen at the dissonance present in even his muttered words.

Analyzing…

Accepted.

Basic Cognition - Magical (Lvl 10) → Magical Cognition [Interoception] (Lvl 1)

Magical Cognition [Interoception] (Lvl 1)Details:You have a growing ability to understand concepts—and the surrounding applications—of magic.

Your mind has an increased resistance to degradation in the face of higher concepts.

Description:So, you’ve met a ??? and decided to use that foundation to dig deeper? Good for you. It’s a shame that your mind would still melt if you actually understood what that meant.

Regardless, you are now better able to both tolerate and comprehend the truly arcane.

Introception - You have a better grasp on how mana and magic work when in a permanent vessel, whether living or not. Your own understanding of, and control over, the mana within you and how it affects your Life is likewise enhanced.

That… That wasn’t too terrible, actually. It wasn’t what he’d been aiming for, but it would help him…

He groaned. On one side, he knew he could take his time to choose, but he still felt rushed.

A cool cloth was laid across his forehead, and his eyes snapped open.

“Shhh… You’re in the Med Bay. Your condition is stable.” Bev smiled down at him. “Sleep a bit, don’t make any choices until you wake.”

Alex gave a slow nod. That sounded wise.

With his conscious mind no longer struggling, he fell quickly into a deep sleep

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