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A small part of him felt a dull and distant sense of guilt for the deaths. Then that feeling faded once more, promising to grow more dull and distant.

His attention veered toward a new idea using his Fractured Mind and rare aura traits.

Zarian lunged upward off the power of his reinforced legs and with a push of the flesh tendrils from his cloak. Combining both sent him up far higher than he’d expected, clearing three stories in a single bound.

He struck feet first on the side of a blocky tower with tree branches poking out through the gaps, activating his Surface Walker Boots. His parasite-fused body had no trouble standing horizontal despite the pull of gravity. He felt like a true vampire as he walked upward on the shaded side and paid attention to how his aura interacted with his boots.

He could almost perceive how they weaved into the runic patterns set on the boots, but his vision of runes outside of his own abilities was foggy at best. He’d tried watching Hannah work to see if he could learn runes using his Identify trait, but they never stuck.

With aura manipulation, things felt a little easier. As long as his aura was engaged, he could almost map out the symbols, even if it was fuzzy and unclear.

Further study was needed. But that was for later. Right now, he had another idea for kicks and giggles. He thickened and reinforced the darkness under his hood and cloak by pouring more aura through his Dark Affinity.

Zarian expected he could influence darkness outside of straight lines because of his affinity. Aura Channeler and Basic Aura Manipulation made it easier for him to brute force past the System limitations.

He hadn’t figured out how to use his aura manipulation to do things outside of his current abilities. But he could definitely do more with his current abilities than ever before, or at the very least, he could do more with less struggle far easier.

The darkness under his cloak grew so dense it was almost crushing for him. He had a hard time walking up the tree now because of the metaphysical weight

He crossed the point where physics got heavily involved and gave the darkness actual weight that affected him. He soon felt the consequence of physics-weighted darkness when he stepped on a loose spot.

A piece of stone gave way from the wall, and Zarian careened down the tree’s side.

Zarian thought about shifting the darkness under his cloak into a light cushion. He would’ve second-guessed himself under normal conditions and used the usual ways to save himself: Para the Parasite Cloak.

One part of his Fractured Mind said ‘No balls’ to the other part of his Fractured Mind. After that, he committed all the way, applying his aura traits as quickly as he could during a six-story fall near terminal velocity.

“You pain in the ass!” Naomi shouted, running in to catch him from underneath.

Her mouth opened and closed in surprise. The cushion of darkness under the cloak softened the catch for them both. It felt like Zarian landed in her arms while strapped with the softest pillows.

It didn’t last long since this wasn’t the original use for Dark Affinity, and he was stretching it way out of context. It cost him much of his aura to do, so the extra fluffy darkness dispersed away once he stopped focusing on it.

“My hero,” Zarian said, chuckling darkly.

Naomi struggled on what to say next. A few awkward seconds later, she noticed she still had Zarian in her arms and promptly set him down on his feet.

She opened her mouth, ready for a Marine-style ass-chewing, but Zarian cut her off by squeezing in close.

He reached out from the darkness of his cloak and took her hand. Then he pulled it under his cloak and pressed her hand against his chest.

“What are you doing?” Naomi asked with a stony expression.

“Feeling your aura flow and seeing what happens when I interact with it. My new traits are Fractured Mind, uncommon, and Basic Aura Manipulation, rare. I didn’t get the multicast spell I wanted. Instead, I tore up my brain and discovered aura control.”

Naomi was stumped at what to say. Her expressions shifted from worry to anger to worry again and then something more subtle.

She looked at him with a concerned gaze in her brown eyes and asked, “Are you okay, Zarian?”

He looked up and let the darkness fade from around his lower face. “I’m okay. I’m playing around now, but I’ll have a handle on it once I get the power up jitters out of me. Want to know the cool thing I just discovered?”

Naomi hesitated before falling for the bait. She loved being in the Infinita Star System herself.

Zarian closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Hell, his lungs felt stronger because of the parasitic threads. A stronger body could lead to a stronger mind, making it easier to handle his Fractured Mind once he focused on a singular objective: Naomi’s aura.

It differed from his aura. He had a dark and weighty aura while hers felt squishy and electric, far from what he’d expected out of Naomi.

Her aura had a psychic feel to it, centered on her brain and Willpower. The electrical pulses represented how the brain used neurons to send signals via electrochemistry. That was the major difference at first touch.

When he delved deeper, he noticed sparks of aura flaring and flashes of runic symbols appearing and disappearing. The further he tried to look, the fuzzier they seemed, not meant for him to grasp.

Still, he could tell one of her abilities was highly active.

He pushed a thread of his own aura into her aura.

“Whoa, whoa, that’s weird,” Naomi said.

Zarian pulled back. “Sorry, that’s my aura manipulation? What did it feel like?”

“It felt almost spiritual, or beyond spiritual. Maybe more mystical than I’m used to. I felt a sort of magic that went beyond what I usually feel when I use my abilities.”

“That’s you responding to my aura inside of yours.” A troubling thought bounced through the fractured spaces of his mind. He cursed under his breath before saying, “Fuck, sorry, should’ve asked for permission. This is going to be … invasive. Can you use one of your abilities and let me test something?”

“Go ahead, I trust you.”

Zarian hesitated because Naomi meant what she said one hundred percent. The loyalty from her was something else.

Pushing ahead, Zarian threaded a strand of his aura into hers. Naomi shivered from the mystical burrowing before settling down as he worked. He reached the active symbols and tried to interact with them.

“Hm, whoa. That’s my Tranquil Mind +1, sir,” Naomi informed.

Her Tranquil Mind helped her remain calm in stressful situations and see things more clearly than normal. The +1 Advancement made it possible for her to remove mental debuffs on whim, which was a precious ability.

Zarian wasn’t certain what he could do other than brush his aura strand against it and feel the fuzzy skill runes. Could he trace her skill runes and learn her power for himself?

No, Zarian didn’t think it was that easy.

Or maybe it was.

While one strand traced over her Tranquil Mind +1, Zarian tried to replicate her ability similarly inside of him.

At first, nothing happened as his aura deformed when he tried to twist it into shapes matching Naomi’s skill runes. Then, with the help of his Fractured Mind, he learned to separate the process.

One part of his mind slowly traced Naomi’s runes again and again. It was a complicated process with geometric shapes and hieroglyphic symbols.

Another part of his mind replicated the skill runes piece by piece. Zarian had to close his eyes, slow his breathing, and focus more than ever before. Then … the impossible happened.

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<You’ve copied the skill: Tranquil Mind!>

<Tranquil Mind (Level 0): Clear your mind of worries and stressors. See your objectives and your options with more serenity and fewer mental obstructions. Scales with Willpower.>

“I’ve copied your skill. It’s in my beta section now.”

“You’re messing with me.”

“I’m not. I have a copy of Tranquil Mind. But it’s Level 0. I think I can only get the weakest version since it’s missing some parts. I don’t even think I can level it up.”

He might not need levels to benefit with his aura traits and a high enough Willpower.

He felt Tranquil Mind’s subtle effects now. His Fractured Mind felt smoother and more natural. There was more peace and clarity.

Yeah, he could work with this just fine, Level 0 or not.

“Give me something in return,” Naomi requested.

“Well, let’s see. Straight Darkness?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure if this would even work. And what would I do with a Level 0 version of that skill?”

Fair point. It would be more of a detriment than help. Level 0 of his skills wouldn’t suit Naomi without the proper support. And he couldn’t see her traits as visibly as he could see her skills.

The same went for his own traits. He could push on them with aura manipulation, but they were extremely fuzzy and somewhat too entrenched for him to trace or mess with.

“How about a Level 0 version of Adrenaline Jolt? That one scales with Agility, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does.”

They called Gilbert over.

“Hey, y’all, we need to get back to the soldier camp before they come seeking us out and thinking we’re doing weird … things … in the forest.”

Gilbert looked at Zarian standing with the middle of his cloak parted while Naomi had her hand pressed where his chest should be. The darkness was too deep for them to see her hand.

“Gilbert, give me your hand,” Zarian ordered.

“Give him the hand,” Naomi demanded as well.

Gilbert sighed and reached into the darkness under Zarian’s cloak. Immediately, Zarian could tell Gilbert had a vastly different aura.

His aura was lively, hale, and filled with such health it could’ve been a good example of vitality if it wasn’t aura. Still, Zarian could see Gilbert’s aura matched thr man well – almost like a healthy bull filled with life.

He asked for Gilbert’s permission and explained the process of his aura weaving into Gilbert’s. The big man gave Zarian his consent, bracing himself for the weird sensations to come.

“Activate Adrenaline Jolt so I can see it better,” Zarian requested.

Gilbert shot himself with magic adrenaline and looked about ready to run off and achieve stellar feats of physical prowess. His skill showed up clearly, and it was another set of complex geometric symbols and hieroglyphic text.

Zarian decided to first copy it over from Gilbert to himself to make the process of transfers easier.

This one worked under a different philosophy and stressed Zarian’s ability to trace and transfer like he was cramming for a biology test. Level 0 Tranquil Mind plus Fractured Mind helped a ton, decreasing mistakes made and speeding up improvements.

Eventually, he succeeded.

<You’ve copied the skill: Adrenaline Jolt!>

<Adrenaline Jolt (Level 0): Activate to give yourself or someone nearby a shot of arcane adrenaline. Your physical capabilities, concentration, and endurance will increase for a duration. Too much can lead to lethargy. Scales with Agility.>

“No freaking way. You can copy skills now?” Gilbert’s mouth fell open, eyes wide.

“I’m going to see if I can transfer those copies to … huh. That was easy.”

<You’ve copied your skill, Adrenaline Jolt, onto Naomi Washington, Level 27 Battle Psion Initiate!>

“I have it! I have it!” Naomi shouted. “I even unlocked the beta section. It went straight there. And … yeah … I can’t switch it into my alpha skills, so what you say about it being basic and stuck at Level 0 might be true. I can still use it, but it’s nowhere near as good as my real skills.”

That made sense to Zarian. It was a grafted Level 0 skill swapped around by a wizard. He wasn’t the System itself.

In fact, he wouldn’t suggest for them to rely on Level 0s unless they had no other options, or they wanted to use them for small benefits. Before Gilbert uttered another word, Zarian transferred Tranquil Mind to him.

<You’ve copied your skill, Tranquil Mind, onto Gilbert McDonald, Level 26 War Healer Trainee!>

“That’s mighty nice and all, but you know I don’t have the highest Willpower around, right? I won’t get much from a Level 0 skill like Tranquil Mind. And I need to spend my aura wisely.”

“Better to have it when you need it than to not have it,” Zarian said, shrugging. “Excuse me, as I transfer these two quality-of-life skills to everyone.”

He gave the Level 0 skills to Hannah and Bianca. Then he tried to copy their skills. He ran into a few snags right away.

Hannah’s skills were hugely complicated and fuzzed out so much they were unintelligible to him. Bianca’s skills were blocked off by a wall of goodness that didn’t like his evil darkness invading in her aura space.

Disappointed, but not deterred, Zarian went back to Gilbert and tried to copy his other skills. Healing Force was way too fuzzy and out of reach. Tranquilizer Touch kept failing on him. It just wouldn’t stick.

“I think I can only get one skill from one person that isn’t too complicated or blocked off by an alignment,” Zarian explained. “At least for now.”

“Shoot, really?” Naomi frowned. “You don’t think my Mind Spike would’ve been better?”

“I think Tranquil Mind is what I need most,” Zarian explained. “With that skill plus a dose of Adrenaline Jolt, I’ll feel really nice.”

“High speed?” Naomi started.

“Low drag!” Zarian finished.

Gilbert shook his head at the Marines. “Come on. This freaky wizardry magic stuff is fun and all, but let’s go check on those kids before they get too antsy.”

“He’s using the tranquil skill. He sounds way too calm,” Zarian said.

“It’s a reliable skill,” Naomi admitted. “Beta Level 0 or not, it’s a relaxer.”

Zarian nodded. “Well, while you guys stay relaxed around the traumatized child soldiers, I’m going on a forest excursion with Bianca.”

Naomi, Gilbert, and Hannah – who was nearby with her Roller Golem – turned to Bianca, who was minding her own business. Even Loner, who stayed leaned up against a tree, straightened up and glanced over at Bianca.

Noticing their stares, Bianca fidgeted. “Que paso?” What happened?

“Shoot a searing flash blast in that direction!” Zarian pointed up and far away from him.

With no hesitation, Bianca gathered bulbs of mini solar flares around her. She had two dozen glinting bulbs before she drew them into her palms, compressed them together, and pushed her hands forward in the direction Zarian indicated.

She shot a quick, searing beam that scorched the surfaces of a few stony trees.

That was a large show of her power, and Zarian immediately noticed her aura drop, even from a distance. It was a faint feeling, but he could sense it better now after having connected his aura with hers earlier.

While he couldn’t trace and copy her skills, he noticed another thing he could do with aura manipulation. He stayed outside of arm’s reach from Bianca and shaped his aura into a miniature bridge to connect with hers – her aura reminded him of the heavens opening up on a sunny bright day with a rainbow in the sky.

He didn’t like it much. He felt sparks of discomfort from touching auras with her. He felt her good alignment trying to burn him out, and his evil alignment trying to corrupt her.

He pushed through anyway as Bianca shuddered, then Zarian released control.

Bianca’s aura ate his aura.

It was horrifying. Zarian felt a chunk of his darkened aura get ripped away. He felt its last moments getting churned, purified, and reabsorbed into Bianca’s aura.

She was none the wiser until Bianca jumped into the air and shrieked in Spanish. She immediately calmed down, making some decent use of her Level 0 Tranquil Mind while examining herself.

“I feel like my magic took in something icky before filling up with aura all the way to the top.” Bianca looked at Zarian in amazement. “You can feed me your aura?”

“Ironically, it’s easier with you. The others don’t have opposing aura’s and alignments. So my aura slides through them mainly and absorbs slower.”

“When have you been testing that?” Hannah asked, surprised.

“While we were messing around with skill copies,” Zarian explained. “You guys kept nibbling at my aura. Bianca straight up wolfs it down after purifying it. Naomi has a moderate dark appetite. Gilbert is indifferent but accepting to small amounts. And Hannah, you’re a picky eater, like your aura is trying to understand every bite of mine at a slow pace. By the way, your aura looks like a bunch of puzzle pieces in the shape of indecipherable runes rearranging themselves.”

Hannah opened and closed her mouth, not sure what to say to that. Zarian went on to tell everyone what their aura seemed like: brainy electric neurons for Naomi, vigorously healthy bull for Gilbert, and a heavenly rainbow sky for Bianca. Hannah’s could be summed up as a runic jigsaw puzzle.

Zarian’s was a darkened void, of course.

“Anyway, I’m taking Bianca with me to do some forest training. By the time she comes back, she’s going to be our laser cannon.” Tentacles from the Parasite Cloak ensnared Bianca’s body and lifted her off the forest floor.

“See you later, guys,” Bianca said nervously.

Zarian hunkered down, pushed his aura to the soles of his boots, then blasted the ground with a dense outpour of Straight Darkness +1. The twin torrents of darkness came out as more of a soft jettison than a solid beam.

Bianca screamed as she and Zarian rocketed away into the air with a whoosh. The verdant leaves, blocky forest towers, and reaching brown branches blurred past them as Zarian sent them into a looping spiral.

He howled and laughed the whole time as Bianca screamed and sobbed.

Remaining down below, Naomi, Gilbert, and Hannah watched Zarian disappear with Bianca. Once their party leader’s howling, bestial, and dark laughter faded with Bianca’s tearful sobbing, Naomi turned toward the camp of soldiers and started her way there.

“I’m still a little slow on what just happened,” Gilbert said. “Am I still asleep and dreaming?”

Naomi snapped her fingers and sent a red line of magic into Gilbert. The Level 0 Adrenaline Jolt perked the big man up a little.

“Okay, point taken,” Gilbert said.

“I’m a little jealous,” Hannah admitted. “I would rather do spontaneous forest training and learn more about Zarian’s new abilities than deal with the sheltered medieval children.”

“You weren’t there in our tower, Hannah, but Bianca struggled a little,” Naomi said from over her shoulder, continuing her march. “It felt like she had to ‘dim’ herself while me and Gilbert went in to bring the ruckus. So, it’s Bianca’s turn to get worked over by the sir and feel special.”

“I don’t think that’s what she’s feeling,” Gilbert said, following Naomi.

Hannah followed third with her golem and the lone goblin skeleton on either side of her. “I’m glad I can tell what you said was strictly innocent, Gilbert.”

“Oh, come on, get your mind out of the gutter! And Naomi started it!”

Naomi looked back with a blank face. “What do you mean? I’m a perfect angel, unlike a dirty sinner like you.”

Gilbert hit her with a bigger Adrenaline Jolt, which had Naomi bouncing all over the place. He soon regretted it when she snatched him off his feet and ran around with him held over her head.

Fortunately, he had his Tranquilizer Touch.

Then he regretted using that skill when he had to carry Naomi the rest of the way to the soldiers. It wasn’t until later when Gilbert realized Naomi could’ve dampened his tranquilizer skill with her abilities.

He’d carried her for no reason.