Chương 55: We Did Add a Quitly

It was only when the world snapped back into focus that Scarlet realised she was screaming. Ironically, her shriek of agony did more to hinder the garachnics than anything else she'd attempted yet. Her distress sent Maus into a frenzy. This time, when he used Resonant Bite, the Soul Disruption effect activated. The attack didn't just ravage his target; the disruptive wave spread to the final garachnic and sent it stumbling.

Scarlet didn't have a chance to fully appreciate what he'd done as she tried to come to grips with the backlash from her attempt to use psionic energy in the info-layer. The pain had lasted only a moment, but the vastness... she couldn't unsee the vastness. It was sobering. It was intoxicating. It was revelatory. It was something she'd need to think about later. She and Maus acted in tandem as the creatures struggled to regain their bearings.

Instead of attempting to edit the info-layer as she had before, she decided to resort to a surefire destabilisation tactic. Her mind worked at incredible speed as she calculated the trajectory of the flesh spider's next footfalls. Applying more energy than she had with her own kinetic dampening and propulsion attempt, Scarlet pushed. The garachnic's left foreleg was blown clean off, while its right middle leg bent backwards under the force.

The snapping of bone made a sickening sound that, a week ago, might have made Scarlet flinch. The creature went down hard. Scarlet didn't even have to land the killing blow. It landed on its chin, snapping its own neck beneath the weight of its bulbous body. [Wave Completed: 15 mins until the next wave] [Next Wave: 00: 14: 58] Far off in the distance, she could hear battle. Squinting to the side, she watched as a vague blur blitzed around their remaining enemies, whose shapes she could barely make out.

She shook her head. She needed to regroup, recharge, and reevaluate her understanding of her powers.

'We did great!' Maus enthused.

"We did adequately," she said, both to Maus, and any invisible audience.

'We did add a quitly? We did add… Adequately. We did adequately,' a pure sense of accomplishment radiated through the bond.

'That's right,' she sent.

'On the positive side, we both gained some stats.' On the negative, she couldn't freely edit the world. Bummer. During the Attunement she had been editing, well, herself. Herself, and Maus, who was now sort of a part of her. She'd mistaken the ability to self-edit for the ability to make such changes universally. She hadn't been granted some small amount of dominion over the information layer. She could edit what was happening in the Pool only because she had subsumed it.

She could affect herself, and even that only minimally. It appeared the same was not true for the energy outside herself. Scarlet made her way back towards the wall of the pit. Placing her abandoned cane over her knees, she leaned against it, Maus grooming himself on her shoulder. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the way she instinctively utilized psionic energy was fundamentally different from the surface psionics she'd watched the Historian perform, and that she'd replicated today.

Like she had access to a different layer of abilities. The best she could compare it to was that most people who had access to psionics saw psionic energy as an ocean they stood atop. Impressive? Absolutely. The number of people who could glimpse the ocean were already exceedingly rare. Those who could stand atop it? Even more so. Those were the people with an Affinity for the energy. These people would use this energy by scooping it out of the ocean. Perhaps they could only use their hands, or a cup.

Some, like the Historian, probably had a bucket, or a tub. The bigger the vessel, the more force they could bring to bear. Then they would use that scooped-out ocean water. Perhaps they'd splash it around to form an attack or lift an object. Maybe they'd turn it into water spikes or water shields. If they were exceptionally powerful and perceptive, they might even peer into the water, use its reflection to divine the world around them.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. She shared her theories with her captive audience.

'The water makes them stronger?' Maus asked.

'It's possible. Mostly I think it's just another tool for them,' she mused.

'Like my Blink,' he suggested. She thought about it. Was it the difference between Affinity and Attunement? No. Attunement changed depth of connection; it didn't forge the connection anew. However, she didn't just have an Attunement. She wasn't just using psionics. The energy was a Trait, a fundamental part of her. She had black hair, she had two eyes, she was a Primordial Psion. She didn't stand atop the water and splash about or scoop it to use it. Instead, it was more like she was submerged.

'It's like I am in the sunlight zone,' she sent Maus an image of the layers of the ocean.

'I am a single layer below. Not yet powerful enough to swim deeper, or cause major ripples, but still a part of the water.'

'This is bad?' Maus asked.

'No, not bad. Just different.' It meant she wouldn't be able to rely on conventional wisdom, or Affinity progression, to develop her power.

'To me, creating telekinetic barriers, or using psychokinetics to manipulate objects the way the Historian did... it's like asking an octopus to walk on land.' They could, and they were even designed to facilitate movement on shore, but that was obviously not their natural territory.

'I'm much more comfortable in the water.' From underneath, she could sort of see the ripples happening on the surface. Read the currents from below. Information became energy, and energy became action. She was able to read that information, divine currents based on the movements below the surface, sometimes even before the water crested. The farther she was able to go, the more she'd be able to feel, predict, and direct.

'They are sailors on the ocean. I am a creature of the deep,' she concluded. There was a beat where both reflected. [Time Until Next Wave: 00: 10: 56]'I like octopus,' Maus informed her. She turned to face him and snorted in amusement.

'Yeah, buddy. Me too.' She groaned as she levered herself up, stretching out her limbs and energising herself before their next encounter. She'd been unknowingly tapping into her psionics since she was a child, using her subconscious awareness of the info-layer to read a room, or read the people around her. No wonder she'd automatically defaulted to it when facing the garachnic. It was a habit. One she'd need to break.

During battle, being able to read and manipulate an opponent was an invaluable advantage, but it didn't need to come at the cost of the surface psionics that had ultimately won them the battle. A few ideas came to mind. Things she couldn't wait to try. Of course, that didn't mean she'd neglect the incredible potential of the info-layer for the simplicity of the surface. If the Historian had heard her call surface psionics "simple," he might have wept.

Still, there was the matter of the backlash she'd experienced trying to hinder the garachnic. She had been able to edit reality from the info-layer before. What was different this time? Her mind worked through all the variables in record time and left her with a single conclusion. The common denominator was her. She'd only ever edited herself, or things that were a part of her. Like Maus. So, she could see up to the first layer, but she couldn't manipulate it unless it was already part of her. Well, not yet.

She could feel that wouldn't always be the case. She just needed to become powerful enough. So, until she was strong enough, she'd be focusing on two things. First, she'd learn to properly wield surface psionics. As she'd just experienced, the combat utility alone was incredible. Second, she'd work on probing the limits of her reality-bending Trait.

'You can do it,' Maus told her, pressing tiny cold hands to her face before snuffling into the baby hairs at her temple. She turned to thank him, and something clicked in her mind. She could much more freely edit things that were a part of herself. Things like her Familiar, perchance? Scarlet looked at him through the information layer, possibilities rapidly running through her head.

'Maus, may I try something?'

'Yep!' He'd agreed before the thought had fully transferred, sensing her intention. Very, very carefully, she reached out and probed him. Instinctively, something within her recoiled. Just because he was immortal didn't mean he was immune to pain, or fear. His trust was a responsibility. Then again, she couldn't afford to be precious. The fact they hadn't even realised when they'd been dumped into the pit just proved how far down the food chain they were.

She didn't have the luxury of ignoring a potential avenue of power. A small nudge. A temporary edit. She watched the interplay of energy, the process of intent becoming reality as the energy of his thoughts became action. She felt the moment her Will ticked up. Scarlet didn't push. This time she just nudged. Fast became faster, and for a moment Maus's actions blurred. His tongue scraping against her temple went from comfortable to painful. He froze. She froze. Then he looked at her with sorrowful, star-filled eyes.

'Ow,' he pouted. He'd sprained his neck.

'Ow,' she agreed, pouring energy into him in a cruder version of the psionic restoration she'd subsumed. For such a small injury, it didn't take much. She pulled him from her shoulder and gave him scritches, promising a good snack when they got back. Okay, so the execution could use work, but that had been a positive proof of concept. Excitement overwhelmed her as she very delicately spat onto the ground.

The blob of liquid was half in her shadow as she leaned over it, peering into the info-layer, only to notice she was getting the same psionic resonance from the genetic material she'd expelled as she was from her shadow. A grin threatened at the edges of her lips.

'Well, this has promise,' she shared.