Chương 26: Nodespace

It was like waiting for Christmas morning as a child. I woke up way too soon, and I stayed in bed for as long as was justifiable, before getting up and finishing my morning chores. I hauled water to the camp for the last time, finishing off my sentence, then waited at the center of the camp for Commander Galliard to pass around the reading slate. Since I'd made it to the central clearing of the camp so early, I was one of the first to get the slate passed to me when Galliard began handing it around.

As soon as I used it, it read: Name: Levi Gordon (ID#: DD-333) Class: Soldier Rank: Man-at-Arms Tier: Iron Vitality: 2 Agility: 4(+2) Strength: 3 Perception: 2(+1) Focus: 5 Presence: 2 Skills: Skiing (Apprentice), Eye For Framing (Apprentice), Stealth (Novice), Spearmanship (Apprentice), Archery (Novice), Stone Carving (Novice), Etching (Novice), Knifework (Novice), Leather Embossing (Novice), Armour Use (Novice), Labyrinth Survival (Novice), Woodworking (Novice).

As predicted, I had made it to Iron, which was perfect, and I had two points of Presence—but surely, I was getting close to a third point. Most importantly, that was a lot of Skills, and my attributes were nothing to scoff at, either. My Focus was the highest, and I was more than happy for it. Focus didn't seem too useful at first, but with how it let me think clearly even in the middle of a fight, it was absolutely critical to increase.

At the moment, I itched to try using a Resonance skill with my spear, but I also wanted to attempt a Skill merge, and merging had to come first. The others from my squad were looking over my shoulder as I assessed my attributes, and they were all beaming.

"That's a lot of Skills," Romance said.

"On the Pillar, man. What were you doing?" I held my finger up, then hissed, "Don't make a big deal about it."

"How are you going to explain it?" Elf whispered.

"I've got something in mind. But don't make a big deal." As I passed the reading slate to the next Dupe in line, I added, "I'll get the merge done, and then it won't look so suspicious. I'll have less Skills showing up."

"You have been working hard," Shave replied.

"There are excuses." After breakfast, we all travelled to the chore board, and we took our pick of the chores. For our squad, we were back to regular camp maintenance duties, and I got through my tasks as quickly as I could, then met up with Shave in our squad's tent just after lunch.

"It's advised that you sit or lay down when you merge Skills," Shave said. I nodded, then walked over to my bed. I kicked off my boots, then laid down on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I didn't really know where to put my hands, so I intertwined my fingers and folded them over my stomach. It was startlingly similar to a dentist appointment, and I had no idea what to expect.

"Use your internal sense," Shave told me.

"My…internal sense?" I craned my head up.

"Lay flat on your back."

"Sorry."

"Your internal sense. Close your eyes," Shave said.

"Push your consciousness inward, envision your body." I didn't exactly know what he meant, and at first, I thought this was some Path-walker thing that I'd just never been taught. But the longer I lay there, the longer I recognized that I could sorta envision my body. I knew its shape, I knew where my fingertips were, I knew where they were moving. I had a vague idea of the bones and the organs and their location. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"First, seek out your Resonance nodes." I nodded.

"No movement, Levi." I tried to keep myself as still as I could, then shifted my perception through my body, where I let it race to my stomach, then my toes. Increasing my Perception must have helped, because I'd never had as clear of an internal sense as I did right now. Even in my mind, the inside of my body seemed to be more of a dark red than a black. And then there was a lump of something hard, right near the top of my spine.

I focused on it, imagining it, and my Perception conjured an image of a chunk of stone. It was small, barely the size of a quarter, embedded near the upper vertebra. But it was unmistakably man-made. It had flat edges on two of its sides, and indications of detailed carving on the other, like it had been taken from the capital of a pillar. That had to be a Resonance node.

"You found one?" Shave said.

"I did—""No talking."

"But you asked—""Don't reply when I ask questions. I've never guided someone through a Skill merge before. I just know the theory from Homecamp. The basic theory that they teach all Dupes, though…I'm sure there's more to it than what we know." I took his orders and stayed silent.

"Now," Shave continued.

"Look for the rest of the nodes. There should be one near the top of your spine. That's your Presence node. It's close to your soul and the most important. There's some arcane business with the Presence interacting with your soul—or the Presence coming from your soul, but that doesn't really matter. The System manages that for us, thank Pillar." Shave paused, then, after a few seconds, added, "Then, there's the Vitality node. That should be close to your heart." I found that one quickly.

It looked almost the exact same as the other one, just a different chunk of man-made rubble embedded in my flesh.

"Next, the Perception and Focus node. Those should be inside your head, and the Strength node should be in your gut, right beside the Agility node. And then that's all of them." After shooting my perception back and forth between all of the nodes, I could envision them properly, and it was far easier to return my perception to them after I'd identified them once.

"If I'm correct about this," Shave said, "the next step is to find the Nodespace. It's a place between all your nodes. See, Levi, you should have a system of internal ley-lines passing between all your nodes. They aren't physical, but they do transmit arcane power—and all Path-walkers have lines like those." I resisted the urge to keep myself from replying, and I just bit my tongue.

"Most Path-walkers don't have access to the System," Shave continued.

"The System, as far as we know, was created to make life easier for the Dupes, and to make it easier for us to fight the Bane-lands. The Fleshknitters couldn't create Iron-tier soldiers—or whichever high tier they were hoping for—from nothing, so they gave us a System that simplified the Path for us. They turned abstract concepts into letters and numbers." I couldn't resist asking, "Are we weaker?"

"Most of us are weaker than the average Path-walker, yes," Shave replied.

"The average Path-walker is Steel-tier. But I've seen no indication that it limits our maximum strength."

"What about the Labyrinths, then?" I asked.

"I mean, the System—or the Path, whichever—""The System is just the Path condensed into numbers and letters. Into rules, and something that we've been designed to use. You could say the System is simply a small part of the Path."

"Alright, so the Labyrinths, are they part of the Path?"

"No, lad." Shave laughed.

"We don't really know how or why they exist. But they existed long before the System. They are simply excellent conduits for conducting the Path."

"So who created the System? Who created us?"

"The Warlord, on both accounts," Shave said.

"He was a sorcerer powerful enough to create the System, and his men an army of perfect soldiers, to help hold off the forces of the Bane-lands and the Dark Lord in the east. The Fleshknitters are his specialized corps of druids. Now—" He cut himself off.

"Wait, you were supposed to be quiet."

"You kept answering my questions…"

"Do you want to merge your Skills or not?" I stayed quiet.

"There you go," Shave said.

"Now, trace your internal leys. They should make a direct line between each resonance node, and where they all cross? That's where you'll find your Nodespace. Focus on it." It didn't take as much effort as I was expecting to sift through the leys. As soon as I drew a straight line between my Focus node and my Agility node—my strongest nodes—a non-physical channel lit up in my mind. I didn't know what it was for, but it didn't seem to matter.

A whole spiderweb of arcane channels lit in my mind, but they all crossed at a central point around my gut, almost like a snowflake. The longer I focused on that point, the more it expanded. A perfect black cavern appeared in my mind, and at the center was a clump of translucent, multicoloured orbs. Each orb represented a Skill, and instinctively, I knew which they were.

"To merge your skills," Shave said, "You need to isolate the ones you're willing to merge, guide them and move them with your willpower, and push them together as tightly as you can. The tighter the merge, and the more closely related the Skills, the better the result will be."

"I have enough Skills for two merges," I said.

"I'll try to make two Arts, but yeah, I know it's not guaranteed. The first is for practice, the second one is for real."

"It's not completely random. You can guide the result," Shave explained.

"Pick a main skill for the base. Something powerful—" He stopped himself.

"I don't know what you're doing, but just…don't do anything yet. Let me give you all the instructions, so you can do it quickly without compromising the merge's integrity."

"After you have the base, merge a secondary skill with it which you think complements it. Something with weight, something that lets you change the world around you. I'm sure there are ways to affect the outcome more… to tell what skill you're going to get, to cut down on the randomness. But making an Art is a tricky business, and when your connection to the System is slightly newer, with you being a soulstealer and all, the result is far more random. But for you, that could be a boon.

If you're lucky, you could get an Art that you wouldn't normally merge into." I resisted the urge to nod.

"Then, lastly, you'll need three fodder skills to feed it as fuel, and you'll have completed the merge."

"I got it," I said.

"Let's give this a go."