Chương 42: A Clutch In a Hutch

Scarlet could see the Historian grinning at her from the entrance to the small private dining room they'd agreed to meet at the day before.

"Is it not a wonderful day?" He asked as she approached with Tareth.

"Good morning," Scarlet replied with a slight incline of her head. Her eyes drifted to the open door where a plethora of delicious smelling foods were neatly organised. A disappearing copper tail told her there were servants somewhere that had set it up. Her slight distraction however couldn't compare to decades of mastery in 'reading-the-room-fu', so despite obviously concealing his aura, Scarlet could tell that something had the Historian agitated.

It appeared Tareth felt the same way because he slipped closer to his master.

"Is everything okay?" Tareth asked, clearly sensing his mood. The Historian peered with uncomfortable intensity at Scarlet for a while, then glanced at the cane, then he shook his head"It is nothing. Nothing!" He nodded once, decisively, though the glint in his eyes didn't dim. Gaze meeting Scarlet's he grinned once again.

"Come on then, we've no time to waste," he said, and was turning away before Scarlet had fully processed the words. Considering her stats, it was obvious he was in a hurry. With a final glance at the spread of food she hoped would at least be eaten by the staff, Scarlet resigned herself to some of the field rations she'd packed away. Turning to follow the small procession, she found herself nose to forehead with the shorter person. To his credit, he'd seemed to realise what was going on himself.

"Tier 0," his whole foxlike face was screaming pity.

"You still require sustenance," the Historian said with a slow shake of the head. Her thoughts ground to a halt, because what did that even mean? Why wouldn't she require sustenance?

"Of course, I require sustenance," she said. Then slowly, "do you not?" At her question the Historian shrugged.

"It is no secret, the higher the tier, the less the body requires to maintain. Even my Tier 2 disciple only requires occasional meals, and much reduced sleep. One of the many benefits of Advancement," he said.

"Advancement," she blurted before she could help herself. How many times had she seen that word when querying the Guide? Now there was a chance for clarification, she took it.

"System Advancement refers to the increase in Tier when one they breaks through certain thresholds," he said.

"We can discuss the specifics later, for now though perhaps we should break your fast." He stared with unconcealed impatience at the dining room.

"That's fine. If we're in a hurry, let's go," Scarlet said, mind mulling over the new information as she summoned forth a breakfast bar from her storage bag. The thing was so dense it had its own gravity. While the two vulpians stared in abject horror at the brick she'd begun ingesting, Scarlet couldn't help but think about the mouse-mix she wouldn't need for another four days. At that thought, her attention naturally turned towards the silent bond inside her.

She swore she could almost feel the little guy reconstituting. Shaking off the thoughts, she turned to the Historian again.

"Do you know what attunement is?" He asked as they walked.

"As a concept, or is there a deeper meaning?" she asked, before taking a delicate bite out of the cinderblock in her hand.

"I suppose that answers that question," the Historian said, and Scarlet didn't miss the ripple of unease that went through Tareth, nor the sharp look his master gave him before he continued.

"You, little human, have managed half the impossible."

"Half the impossible…" Scarlet said.

"Indeed, at some point last night you achieved a state of partial attunement." Eyes darting around the sparsely populated tower corridor the Historian continued.

"We are going to push you all the way." Scarlet slowed a little before speeding back up. There was a lot to unpack in that statement. So, they had been spying on her. Of all the things she'd thought to worry about, the two fox people being perverts had not been one of them"You watched me bathe?" Scarlet asked, unable to keep her tone completely measured, and giving away her agitation.

"No, no. No such thing." The Historian laughed, completely unbothered by Scarlet's indignation.

"I've no interest in your furless, fleshy bits." He shook his head, and Scarlet's tension eased slightly.

"Kindly explain," she had a feeling she'd be saying this a lot.

"I would be unworthy of my title and tier if I hadn't sensed that immense wave of energy that blasted out of you." He shook his head.

"You are beyond lucky that I am the only one in this tower who would be able to sense it."

"So, we are working on this attunement then? What about stat saturation?"

"We will do both, of course." He said, then paused and turned to face her.

"Unless, don't want to try for a full attunement at Tier 0. We will honour our contract." Even his control couldn't conceal the abject reluctance to say those words aloud.

"How much stronger would this attunement make me?"

"Exponentially," he said.

"Is there anything after attunement? The historian nodded.

"Of course." When no more information was forthcoming, Scarlett simply sighed and looked towards Tareth. He was staring doggedly straight ahead, completely ignoring her. Yeah, that tracked.

"Well, perhaps you could explain where we're going and what we'll be doing?

"We will be observing, you will be entering the Pools of Alignment. Your physical stats are abysmal, and this will help correct that.

"How?" She asked, and the Historian just shook his head. The tensing of her jaw was her only visible indication of frustration. Since the System contracts hadn't immolated him from the inside it was obvious the information he withheld wouldn't actively harm her, or at least he firmly believed as much. She had no choice but to shrug and move forward, that was until she realized where they were. It appeared to be a public portal hub. She turned towards the Historian who was pointedly not looking at her, and sighed.

Portals. The single individual in front of them in the queue turned and did a double take when they saw who was behind them. The young looking vulpian bowed so low, and so fast Scarlet was surprised they didn't tip over.

"Venerable," he said, not daring to look up as the elder vulpian passed as though this was a regular occurrence. The Historian strode forward, followed by Tareth. Finally, Scarlet made her way inside the chamber inclining her head to the prostrated vulpian as she did. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. <-... -> Welcome to The Pools of Alignment.

After a harrowing portal trip in which the only upside was her opportunity to once more look at some of the glowing enchantments, they were transported directly to a beautiful stone cavern. The chamber itself had high ceilings, and reminded her a bit of a public swimming pool, or recreation center in that there were changerooms and a check in area - that they completely bypassed thanks to the Historian - as well as a small seated area off to the side of each large pool That's where the similarities ended.

The pools themselves appeared like hot springs, the water steaming and making the space very warm. Natural light filtered in from somewhere, gently illuminating the large chamber. Despite nearly a dozen people occupying various pools the space itself was unnaturally quiet.

"This is the Tier 1 chamber. The largest and most utilised. Silencing arrays have been laid around each pool," he said, his gait not pausing as he continued down a carved stone hallway to another, smaller chamber. This one had only two pools. Its domed ceiling, and lack of windows meant the entire chamber was illuminated by warm glowing crystals that dotted the walls and walkway that wound around the two pools. It would've been picturesque, if not for the vulpian already occupying the larger pool.

He was in obvious discomfort and looked to be growling as he sat neck deep in the violet tinged water.

"This is the Tier 0 chamber." The Historian spoke quietly leading her to the seating area near the smaller pool and touching a rune on the wall. Instantly all outside sound cut off.

"The Pools are normally used before threshold advancement to bring a person's development into better alignment.

"You are painfully lopsided, and while this might not be a problem for most normal Tier 0s you are a bit of a different case. You have a partial attunement. While it has boosted your growth, it has also begun molding your development in ways that shouldn't be possible at your level.

"Normally, the Tier 0 pool works on a simple system of redistribution. The energy in the water interacts with the energy in your soul to redistribute your development.

"So, if STR was at 7, and VIT at 11 the energy in the pool would work to bring those both to 9?"

"Precisely! As you can expect, it is not the most pleasant experience." At that all-three turned towards the vulpian in the larger pool. Their teeth were bared in a snarl, and their coppery fur had taken on a sanguine hue as blood dripped from their eyes. Blood that somehow never tainted the water in the pool. The silencing arrays made a lot more sense.

"Things are simple at Tier 0. The soul is most malleable, most impressionable. It favours change. A T0 with an affinity is rare, one with an attunement?" He made a chittering sound she couldn't quite interpret.

"So, my partial attunements?"

"Should be impossible. Only, somehow, your soul is holding its shape. I suspect that has more to do with the nature of your attunement than anything else." He paused, stared at her in that intense way again then shook his head.

"You will need to raise your physical stats, without affecting any of the others. And you need to break through to full attunement." He said it so matter-of-factly it almost sounded reasonable.

"It's not impossible, it's simply never successfully been done at Tier 0. The soul is too weak, too susceptible to certain… energies." He raised his eyebrow and she understood he was speaking about psionics.

"You will need to leverage that partial attunement to accomplish our goal, and in doing so complete the breakthrough. It's a clutch in a hutch."

"Pardon?"

"Multiple benefits with one action?"

"Ah. And if I fail?"

"The energy in the water tears apart your soul and reconstitutes you into itself," he said.

"Please don't do that though, it taints the energy, and it's a terrible inconvenience to resolve." He shook his head. Scarlet took a calming breath.

"How likely is my soul to be cannibalised by these pools?" She asked. The Historian shook his head. Scarlet took another few deep breaths.

"And what of my capacity? How does this help increase my ceiling?" The Historian grinned. Then he snapped his fingers and a forcefield made of opaque, pearlescent energy covered the smaller pool and surrounding area, cutting them off from the outside world.

"That's the thing about forcing growth this way, you won't just be increasing your physical stats, you'll be pushing your stat capacity up with them." Tareth's head snapped toward him.

"Without leveling? Without spending FS?" Tareth's surprise was real. That was interesting. Scarlet didn't know enough about the System yet to understand what was and wasn't possible or in this case, probable.

"Of course Free Stats are not the only way to increase potential," the Historian said.

"They are simply the most accessible, structured method for your current developmental framework. Beings grow beyond themselves all the time. Certain types of training, trauma, adaptation, insight, long discipline, conceptual refinement, environmental pressures and so much more. The System measures growth, provides structure and increased autonomy in one's development. But it does not own it."

"Then why doesn't everyone do this?" Scarlet asked, then turned to Tareth.

"And why were you surprised?"

"First, because those who manage it are so few and far between that you couldn't even make a data point out of them. Second, because there are so few reliable methods, and all known methods are more likely to be fatal than successful. Finally, because giving away such secrets on how to gain power would be spectacularly foolish." At that he turned to Tareth.

"Don't forget you signed a contract; that means my secrets as well. Tareth's expression tightened. They both ignored him.

"So, the process is excruciating, unreliable, expensive, dangerous, and attempting it, even supervised, is an excellent way to die?" Scarlet clarified.

"Correct," he said. Scarlet just stared at him.

"So," she said slowly, "Free Stats are like a clean allocation. Fixed growth potential, but full control and safety. This is more like forcing the body and soul into a mould and making it permanent?"

"More like inflating it until it strains but does not tear."

"Just to clarify," she said, expression stone.

"You want me to sit in a pool full of energy that's going to try to tear apart my soul, and I'm to what? Somehow use this energy to do the same thing, but with guidance?" The historian tilted his head from side to side in what Scarlet was taking for a vulpian gesture of agreement. Scarlet took in another deep breath before letting it out. Looking at the safe-zone quest in her interface, thinking of that twelve-year sword of Damocles hanging over humanity. Thinking of her nascent faction.

The ember of ambition she thought might've died along with Maus began to stir inside her. She was going to be superlative, she reminded herself. She would succeed, she would grow stronger. All she had to do was figure out on the fly how to control this energy she didn't even know existed three days ago, so that it didn't collapse her soul and feast on its corpse. Sighing, Scarlett nodded.

"Am I to go in like this?" she asked, looking down at her well-fitted workout gear and lamenting ruining another set of good clothes.

"No. Change rooms are over there," Tareth finally seemed to snap out of his daze, though it was obvious he was reeling as he pulled out a dark grey 'tunic' that looked like it would hit her mid-calf. It was basically a square with armholes and a hole for the head. Scarlet lamented the fashion disaster, though the Historian assured her it was customary. She went to change, tie up her braids, and come back. Once she was properly attired, she steeled herself to get into the pool.

"There's no good way to do it," the Historian shrugged, and Scarlett nodded.

"Once it starts, can I stop?"

"Not until the process is over."

"Of course," she said, edging closer. She could feel the psionic energy of the pool now that she was so close. There was a resonance there, and scarlet wondered just how it would interact with her partial attunement. The Historian was firmly convinced it would be a boon. Scarlet had no such optimism. For a moment she considered taking one of the 'feel nothing' drugs from inside her bag then decided against it. They tended to have mind altering affects. Then she thought of something else.

Turning to the Historian she asked.

"Is there a Poultice of Soul-Numbing?" Both vulpians just looked at her. When it became clear they were at a stalemate the Historian spoke.

"It's a tonic, and you would die."

"Right," she nodded, turning back to the pool. The moment her foot touched the water, she felt it. Overwhelming waves of psionic energy flooding into her like it was water and she a sponge. Grimacing, she stepped deeper until her entire body up to her neck was covered. It wasn't yet painful, but it was deeply uncomfortable. Then the energy began to dig deeper, and deeper. Invasive, corrosive, creative; pure, undiluted, raw energy of reality. Information as matter, existence made manifest.

The energy touched her soul. That's when she felt something she hadn't even considered. Maus. Maus. Maus was reconstituting in her soul. Her soul that was actively being flooded by the psionic energy of the pool. To the Pools, the bond was superfluous apart from something to break down and redistribute. Literally a dead connection that it should cannibalize to empower her growth. The pain did not even register in her mind as she looked up in abject horror.