The Way Ahead - Chapter 105b: Evolving Awareness

“What do you think I should get?”

“Well… your Flight skill is different from my own, so I can’t say for certain. But what do you want from it?”

That… was a good question. “I’m not sure I really can answer that. Like I could use another combat Skill maybe, but I don’t really think I want to be locked into something that would only help when I’m flying, and I definitely don’t want to lose out on something really cool and interesting when if I actually needed a combat Skill, I could just get one. What sorts of things would even be available?”

“Lefi would know… hey Lefi!” Rillah yelled, getting the golden-haired man’s attention. He was relatively close, tossing a ball back and forth with Yathal at the base of the tower. Kynigos was between the two of them and trying to intercept their thrown ball, jumping all over the place trying to catch the ever-stranger throws Lefi could pull off.

“Yes?” he called back, absently catching and returning the ball to Yathal, narrowly threading it just below Kyni’s snapping mouth and sending it corkscrewing through the air.

“Edwin’s evolving a Skill, we need your advice!”

“Marvelous! I shall be right there!”

“You know, Edwin is better off with my advice,” Inion interjected as she floated up to them as they descended, glaring at Rillah.

“Oh, why’s that? Because you know how to float five feet off the ground without wings?” the Dancer shot back.

“No, because I’m far older than all of you combined and have far more experience with magical Skills than you do. Also yes, because I know more about Edwin’s Flight than you do. You clearly don’t know how to make it work.”

“Oh is that right? Well remind me-”

“Look, look.” Edwin stepped in, “I want all of your guys’ opinions, alright? Rillah’s been helping me get tons of experience, Inion, you know… stuff about Skills from way back when, and Lefi probably has more Skill evolution experience as both of you put together. Just… let everyone talk, please?”

They seemed unconvinced, “Look, I’m not going to be able to give this the proper amount of thought if you’re arguing the whole time. Can you at least… shelve it for a little while?”

Both glared at the other, but Rillah was the first to break the silence, “I have no problem with her unless she makes one.”

Inion opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Lefi finally joining the little discussion with all the subtlety of a bull, “Marvelous! So what Skill do you seek to evolve, what level is it, and what Paths do you have at present?”

“Oh, he’s trying to evolve Flight. Level sixty, and he’s got-”

“Inion, I can speak for myself.”

Edwin quickly summarized the situation for Lefi, who stroked his chin in thought, “Most interesting! What do you desire?”

“I mean… I don’t really know, honestly. Not without knowing my options. I want something good and strong, that’ll maybe help alleviate some of Flight’s weaknesses.”

“Don’t evolve it then! Continue to level it until it is at a capacity which you are comfortable with!”

Edwin shrugged, “I mean… I could? But like… Longstrider is already a better vertical and horizontal movement Skill for most situations, and Flight is only really helpful if I have help,” he nodded at Rillah, “Or I’m just trying to float around in general. I guess I just don’t know what it could become.”

“Your Trophy paths might give you wings of some form,” Rillah added, “That might help with your free-flight issues. Or… perhaps some sort of glider-web, if you take the spider Path. I don’t know what a bear might give you. ”

“Hm, maybe,” he thought, “Though I don’t know if that spider spun webs. Would it be better if I doubled down on its combat potential?”

“Feykind would likely grant wings,” Inion opined, “Quite good ones even. Most fey are good at flying, that would help you fly with more precision.”

“That would be useful,” he conceded, “But then I’d need to raise Flight to level ninety to go neutral with the Skill, and I’m not sure if I want to wait that long. Even just the last level took far too much time and I kind of want to get Basic Stamina Manipulation, you know?”

“Why bother? Take more time! What rush are you in?”

“I mean… I kind of just want to make myself more useful? I don’t feel like I can really do that much, and evolving my Skills will definitely give me a larger toolbox.”

“Nonsense! You are tremendously useful!”

“I mean, I’m objectively not,” he countered, “But what do you think might happen if I took an alchemy Path with it?”

That seemed to stump everyone, but Kynigos, of all… people (When did they get here? Was it safe to be discussing this sort of thing around a kid?), barked up and Yathal looked thoughtful, “Alcimmy is the thing you can do wit the smoke and bombs and healing stuff right? Well Kyni thinks you might be able to fly with your explosions or something, or maybe you could make other people fly!”

“Marvelous idea, Kynigos!” Lefi praised, “That is most likely!”

The brown and white dog gave a gleeful bark, and Edwin nodded in thought.

“It’s not the worst idea. Can’t say I’d want to be rocket-powered, though it might be able to give me some extra combat options. Some sort of flight potion, though…Potioneer or Mystic Alchemist, maybe? Mystic is also ninety points, but it could be useful.”

“What about the Agile Acrobat path? That would likely greatly enhance your nimbility when airborne!”

“Okay, I mean… maybe. But I feel like I’d probably already have a Path that could do that sort of thing, and also could we please keep this constrained to the Paths I currently have right now? If you think of something super amazing that I don’t have but you know how to get easily, then maybe. But this will be hard enough just looking at what I have right now.”

It took them quite a while to continue discussing their options, during which time Yathal had gotten bored and walked off, followed by Kynigos of course to keep an eye on his boy. But in that time, they’d gotten some amount of speculation in for each of Edwin’s Paths and eliminated the obviously worst option. Now, Edwin was mulling over his list of speculated Skill possibilities.

Assassin/Hunter/Burglar: Silent Flight/Aerial Ambush- airborne Stealth skill

Bomber/Demolitionist: Carpet Bombing?- bonus to using bombs while in midair

Giant Slayer/Titan Slayer/Killer/Warrior: some combat boost while midair

Heedless Hunter/Way of the Empty Hand: Kamikaze- flying charge attack

Trapper: Make motion-based traps?

Artillerist: Some kind of artillery-based telekinesis?

Potioneer/Practical Alchemist/Mystic Alchemist/Chemist?: Flying Potion- Grant ability to fly

Makeshift Alchemist: make potions on the fly

Sapper/Engineer/Physicist: Aeronautics- Make flying contraptions

Experimenter/Researcher/Scientific Revolutionary/Scientist/Scholar/Mathematician: Some kind of measuring Skill

Material Scientist/Physical Alchemist: Floatstone- make flying materials

Aerialist/Mage: Improved Flight/Flying- more of the same, just with a reset level and better return

Fey Friend/Feybound/Feycaller/Feykind/Fey Supplicant: Fairy Wings: manifested wings for unknown benefits

Skilled Arcanist: Improved Flight like Mage or an integration into other Skill, possibly using Overcharge or Mana Infusion

Magical Gardener: Flying Garden?- helps growing flying plants

Primal Constructor: Possible ability to build magical wings

Primal Ritualist: Shift to a more wind-based form of flight

Attuner: Flight Magic specialist- benefits when using flight-type magic

Pioneer: Vanguard- some kind of exploration-based flight Skill

Skill Researcher/System Scholar: something meta. An elevated view, perhaps?

Diver: Diving- flight, but underwater

Physical Laborer: Normally might be something like Packing, but because I already have that… who knows.

Ascetic: Untether- reduced need to touch the ground

Daredevil: Crash Resistance/Stunt Flying- something to either help survivability or mobility

Survivor: Crash Landing- something to help survivability

Athlete: Flying- improved mobility while flying

Escapee/Exile: Free Flight- increased ability to fly free of restraints. Alternatively: increased tether length? Possible, but unlikely and if so possibly only would increase range instead of unilateral improvement.

Traveler/World Traveler: Overland Flight- bonuses to endurance

Arsonist/Pyromaniac/Autopyromaniac: Firefly- leave burning trails when flying or light on fire when flying

Insomniac/Sleepless Disciple: Night Owl- fly while sleeping

Student of Power/Brushed by Power: Ascent- Generally improved/more powerful flight

There were a few that they just had no clue what it might do, such as Purifier, Royal Advisor, his Trophy paths and most of his Mental and Medical paths. To make things slightly easier on himself, Edwin had decided to just eliminate them from consideration. This would be hard enough already without bringing complete unknowns into the mix that stood a decent chance of radically changing how Flight worked, possibly not building on it in the slightest, a fate Edwin generally wanted to avoid.

For a similar reason, Edwin was leaning towards eliminating Makeshift Alchemy. Lefi refused to explain whether or not Skill evolutions actually worked in the way he’d suggested, but they didn’t have anything better and the pun apparently transcended Polyglot. Edwin was almost tempted to take it just to see, but that also seemed like a really bad idea because he liked being able to fly, and he did want his next Skill to still involve it.

Artillerist was interesting if it really went the route of telekinesis, because that was a stupidly strong ability. Unfortunately, it was far from assured and if anything was rather unlikely. He also couldn’t say he needed further Skills involving his explosives at the moment, which was the other way that particular Path might take it. He could eliminate Bomber as well, then.

He also didn’t really need another information-based Skill. Knowledge was power and all that, but he was really skeptical that he would get anything more interesting than perhaps a more accurate altimeter than Numeracy could currently provide. That eliminated a half-dozen options at once, too.

Escapee or Exile… well, they’d likely get rid of his Slave path, and he’d be quite happy to be rid of that particular one from his Status, but he wasn’t sure how useful the actual evolution would be. Sure, if he could just make restraints or hindrances less, well, hindering, that would be useful but also incredibly niche. It might also improve his Flight speed or tether length, which was tempting… Hm. Eh, as a thirty-point Path, Escapee likely wouldn’t have that grand of an effect, and he’d definitely prefer Mage over Exile for a general Flight-boost.

He also took off the fey Paths. While useful, he didn’t think they were quite appropriate, and he was still hesitant to turn himself too much into a feylike being. He liked being human, after all, and Inion could be a bit pushy with that kind of choice and he wanted to push back.

Hmm. Speed round.

He didn’t need to be better at swimming, was perfectly fine walking at times and would use it as his primary method of long-distance transport. He wanted to be able to fly without being a fire hazard, didn’t really care if he was floating while asleep (and could probably do it eventually with Watchful Rest anyway) and didn’t have any flying plants to grow. He didn’t have enough flight-type magic Skills to make Attuner worthwhile, didn’t need to be able to build magical wings, Trapper was too limiting, he really didn’t want to use his Flight skill to get close to people, and on further thought didn’t want to risk his ‘of Power’ Paths on a useless or redundant effect.

That made it… better.

He also got rid of the Warrior-related Paths, as he had a suspicion they might involve more melee combat. That brought it down to functionally ten options, even if he still had almost twice as many actual Paths to choose between- namely Assassin, Hunter, Burglar, Potioneer, Practical Alchemist, Mystic Alchemist, Physical Alchemist, Chemist, Sapper, Engineer, Physicist, Material Scientist, Aerialist, Mage, Skilled Arcanist, Primal Ritualist, Primal Constructor, Daredevil, Survivor, and Athlete.

Within each of the ‘categories,’ so to speak, Edwin quickly picked out whichever Path he liked most, based largely on which he felt was most likely to give the effect he might want. Once he’d pared that down, he chatted a bit more, first with Inion who had stuck around for the entire time.

Then, he found Rillah and Lefi, who were back outside tossing a ball around with Yathal and Kyni. He managed to get some time in talking with them about the benefits and drawbacks of each possible Skill effect, until he felt there wasn’t anything more to be gained, and it was very late.

He ventured back inside. He couldn’t find Inion, but that was fine, he’d track her down later. He still had… major decisions to make.

Assassin: Silent Flight/Aerial Ambush

Speculation: Stealth-type skill, possibly with some kind of combat bent to it

Pros: Provides an invaluable Skill in stealth, which is immensely useful for a largely non-combatant. Even a combatant would likely benefit somewhat, though the exact amounts are unknown.

Cons: Unlikely to actually help with flight capabilities, meaning current limits on flying are likely to stay. If there are any combat benefits, they would likely be predicated on being hidden.

Mystic Alchemist: Flying Potion

Speculation: Grant the ability to fly to another person

Pros: Many situations in which having a different type of mobility would be very useful for non-avior. Quite likely to grant further benefits to me or another person who could already fly as well if they were to drink the potion, meaning it would never be useless.

Cons: 90-point Path. Unknown if it would require an actual potion to work (apparently a possibility). If it did, it’s possible that the recipe would need to be independently discovered and made for the Skill to be of any use, and in which case the Skill itself would be somewhat superfluous as it would only provide benefits to those who could already fly instead of granting the ability all on its own.

Engineer: Aeronautics

Speculation: A crafting-type skill that helps make flying contraptions

Pros: Jetpacks! Airplanes! Flying machines! Quite likely to indirectly improve Flight via giving it more mechanical aid. Also has many of the benefits of Flying Potion, in that it can provide Z-axis motion to otherwise grounded individuals. Also helps potentially bring various types of revolution to Joriah for good and for ill.

Cons: Unlikely to directly improve current Flight skill, and it is unlikely to create any machines itself, instead just slightly improving their effectiveness and build quality when being made. Likely limited to gliders for quite some time. Also not a magical Skill, so unlikely to help with that entire swath of flying creations such as magic carpets or flying islands.

Physical Alchemist: Floatstone

Speculation: Imbue objects with or create substances that can inherently fly or float.

Pros: Flying carpets! Flying islands! Similar to Engineer, this can be used to create objects which grant the power of flight to their wielder. Could also grant functionally untethered Flight for myself, if I managed to create something that exactly canceled out my weight (further testing required). Wouldn’t provide engineering knowledge, but is likely easy enough to work around with personal memories, and definitely more supernatural.

Cons: 90-point Path. Might require unusual or expensive alchemical components, or might only be temporary depending on what other Skills it keys off of. Flying islands would be stupidly high level if even possible without an additional evolution. Once again does not directly improve Flight.

Aerialist: Improved Flight

Speculation: Flight v 2.0. Grant better maneuverability, distance, and efficiency

Pros: Doesn’t provide anything wholly new. It just brings Flight up to T2 and makes everything good about the Skill even better.

Cons: Doesn’t provide anything wholly new.

Skilled Arcanist: Greater Flight like Mage or an integration into other Skill, possibly

Speculation: Some form of other-Skill integration

Pros: Worst-case scenario likely to just be the equivalent of Aerialist, making this a low-risk experimental option. Likely to be very synergistic with one or more other Skills. Possibly allows Longstrider to function with Flight, or allows some form of Overcharged flight, or enables Infusion with the skill. Alternatively, might grant something wholly new akin to Mana Infusion

Cons: If combined with only a single Skill like Overcharge, might be very difficult to level and use.

Primal Ritualist: Flight (wind)

Speculation: Change the form of Flight used, possibly to something involving winds

Pros: Having air-based Flight is likely less precise than tether-based Flight, but not dependent on surrounding objects and other miscellaneous quirks. Likely freely able to switch between types depending on practicality.

Cons: 90-point Path. Doesn’t directly improve current Flight, though does remove its current primary weakness (namely flight height)

Daredevil: Crash Resistance or Stunt Flying

Speculation: Some kind of aerial tight-flying bonus. Increased maneuverability, increased impact resistance, or both.

Pros: Very unlikely to be bad. Combines the best aspects of the mundane Skills into one, and definitely provides a lot of potential for growth.

Cons: Survivor or Athlete are more likely to grant each possible Skill effect individually and thus more effectively, and is unlikely to be a magic-boosting Skill.

Survivor: Crash Landing

Speculation: Some kind of impact-absorbing Skill. Might work with all physical attacks, knocking me back whenever hit hard enough, or just with falling damage.

Pros: Being likely to survive is always good, and not needing to be afraid of falling is extra good.

Cons: Not really a Flight skill. Also not magical.

Athlete: Flying

Speculation: Mundane aerial agility-improving Skill

Pros: Would definitely help with precise flying maneuvers and dodging things while in midair.

Cons: Not a magical Skill. Improvements would likely be purely based on being able to leverage more from current Flight capabilities.

This is so much work, Edwin lamented to himself, This is actually ridiculous. Guess when I know exactly which Skill will evolve when I complete a Path, I get way more picky about what it is that I want out of that Skill. I’m so glad I just can’t be this picky most of the time.

Ugh, evolving Basic Stamina Manipulation will be a nightmare and a half, won’t it? He realized, and buried his head in his pillow. Not having to really worry about suffocation was very nice, and he could just keep his eyes fixed on the endless Almanac speculation as he fell asleep.