Since the idea came to me the first time I gained a Specialist achievement, I had suspected that receiving one for all of the different attributes would have its own reward. Of course, I didn’t need to guess now that my Spirit Well worked as an achievement guide and it was basically singing with excitement as I placed the final points necessary into Dexterity.

  Achievement Unlocked - Specialist (Dexterity)

  Effect: +1 Dexterity per level, +1 free attribute points per level

  The large influx of attribute points to a single place was a strange feeling on its own, even without taking into account the tidal surge of power which came with getting an achievement. Each of the attributes had its own governing focus, and for Dexterity that focus was flexibility and fine motor precision. If Agility was my ability to move fast, Dexterity was how exact I was able to be in my movements. Both affected my muscles, but for a strange few moments I felt like I was made of rubber, like I could bend any which way I chose.

  Sadly, I didn’t have long to experience the wondrous feeling as another influx of power was very soon to arrive upon my soul. Not all achievements were made equal. It was only my skill Spirit Well which made it possible for me to feel the changes within me in a physical way. The Specialist achievements were potent enough that my head swam with a distracting euphoria at their arrival and my very soul swelled as they altered me on a base level. Receiving the Faction Leader achievement, I had felt a similar level of power.

  This next achievement was on a completely different magnitude.

  I braced for impact but it still wasn’t enough as the deluge of Spirit swept away my consciousness. I couldn’t even see the achievement I had received, just feel its power flowing into, over and through me all at once. I decided not to struggle against the feeling and simply allowed myself to feel my reward. By not fighting, by embracing the Spirit and permitting the System to do as it pleased, I was able to more easily sense the difference in scale between my achievements up to now.

  Candles compared to stars.

  Both mana and Spirit were produced within an individual's core, or their “soul”. When one levelled up or gained an achievement, their core would grow a small amount. Not necessarily larger, but the change can also appear in quality rather than quantity. For example, my mana pool hadn’t grown with any of these achievements, but the more uncertain boundaries of my Spirit Well had expanded nicely. This didn’t change the overall amount of the resource I could wield, but it did seem to improve the quality of that resource.

  The closest comparison I could make was having my mana channels set on fire all at once, except it was with a gentle breeze which caressed the ignited pathways. In some ways, the feeling of this major achievement landing upon my soul was a direct opposite of my experience with Reysault. Where the Scorpion Queen’s energy had sought to corrode my mana channels, the formless Spirit of the System reinforced and repaired the passageways.

  Mana was, at least for me, an intensely personal thing. The signatures within the ambient mana of the world were unpronounced, but in so many ways, my own mana was the truest expression of myself there was. Even the draconic nature of my magic which I separated on occasion was not truly something alien, just a facet of my magic which I didn’t fully understand. Only as the Spirit of the achievement quickly went about its work did I realise how protective I was of this individualism.

  Normally, the Spirit arrived calmly and simply deepened the Spirit Well as it settled. This time was not the same as previous achievements and the difference had scared me. My worries were assuaged quickly, though. It was this anxiety which focused my attention and allowed me to get a sense for what was truly happening within my soul. With a sigh of relief, the last of my defences were lowered and the Spirit happily rushed to finish its work.

  Within my inner world, Tag was hard at work from his seat inside the Mind Palace skill. While I focused on the more physical world, he was handling the ethereal one. Unlike me, he hadn’t panicked and instinctively held back the power of the System, and was quietly working on guiding and shaping the new Spirit where he could. In a way even I didn’t fully understand, he was using the energy to increase the definition and beauty in the cosmos above the world of the dragon. This was likely why I felt my skills being repaired from any leftover damage from my trial in the desert.

  “Show off,” I taunted, getting no reply. It was a strange feeling, to sense one’s own mana taking such a qualitative jump in potency all at once. I had been a lot less responsive to changes in my energy when I grafted the Aspect of the Dragon onto my soul, but there were vague similarities in the sensation which made me excited. If this gain was formative as using an Aspect…

  After far longer than I expected, the enhancing flames of the System’s Spirit faded from my veins, leaving in its place only power. Before even opening the waiting prompts, I blinked hard a few times. Not just my mana… had my eyesight improved as well? Running my mana through the fortified channels with increasingly wide eyed wonder, I revelled in how quickly I could flood myself with power.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “This feels like-” I started.

  “At least twice as fast, yep.” Tag interrupted and finished, having already done some calculations and tests. “Hard to say how much more powerful, but stronger for sure.”

  “How would you describe the change from inside there?” As an existence created by a skill, Tag had a front row seat to the arrival of this mighty achievement’s alterations. I could somehow feel Tag’s smirking excitement as he searched for the right words.

  “It’s like we just… gained a Grant Aspect.” I understood why he struggled for a moment to explain. Thankfully, as our minds were mirrors of one another, I also understood what he meant right away. It wasn’t exactly the same, but the part of my mana which was me had become more solidified. No longer overpowered by the draconic energies, a more even mixture was formed.

  “Grant Aspected mana,” I whispered aloud. There was no need for small talk between Tag and myself, so the skillbound version returned to his work without another word and I stretched while standing up. Whether it was the achievement, or just the additional Dexterity I had placed to earn it, I felt amazing as my back popped a dozen times over and tension I didn’t know I was carrying faded away.

  On a whim, I summoned a Magic Missile in the small space. The mechanics to create a missile were not far from the Mana Bolt which the skill had been reformed from. I chose two spots, an origin and a destination. Then, I pushed mana from my core into the skill pattern within the channels which in turn sent the energy to my chosen origin point. When I was ready and the missile had as much power as I desired, I simply released my hold on it and the rest was history.

  In this case, I kept the missile in place while I gave it a long look. I remembered my first Mana Bolts, invisible without using Manasight and smiled a little. Look at me now, Pa, I joked grimly to myself. Shaking away the distracting thoughts, I peered at the mystical attack with a large smile. Likely this attack would be visible to the naked eye, an amber and purple crystal floating in the air. The amber colour was from me, the amethyst crystal base from the dragon. It was beautiful. The Magic Missile began to audibly fizzle with power as I kept it floating in the air, as though it were impatient. With a shrug, I released it.

  The missile’s destination was angled away from me, aimed diagonally down. As it fired off, screaming through the ice, I got a decent idea of the power level shift between my earlier self and now. My benchmark for strength had disappeared along with the normalcy of the real world. Thanks to gaining multiple levels before I even knew what was happening and then being isolated for what felt like weeks, my grip on what was a standard level of power had been irrevocably damaged. Even then, looking into the absolute tunnel which I had just bored by accident, I could tell…

  I was damn strong. I was also putting off what promised to only be a good thing, and I wasn’t sure why. After making sure I was as protected from the elements as possible, I hopped out of my latest igloo and opened my latest System prompt.

  Achievement Unlocked - Prodigious Talent (World First)

  The weak are forced to focus on one meagre talent, but not you. Nearly all lives upon the Tree end before passing even to Grade One. Standing above the masses and challenging the status quo, you chased and grasped a level of power most beings in Creation shall never reach. This incredible example of growth before reaching Grade One has added weight and indelible quality to your soul.

  Effect: +2 all attributes per level, +10 free attribute points per level

  “Holy fucking shit,” I choked, my eyes immediately drawn to the large numbers at the bottom of the achievement first. That was nearly forty attribute points on its own! A bit of quick arithmetic put my total points gained next level at seventy two across the board. I almost wished I could return to level one…

  I tried not to let myself get a big head as I read the kind and effusive words of the System. They just confirmed a truth I had been struggling to get my head around but it was still nice to hear how amazing I was. I really was strong. Recounting the words to Tag quickly, I saw my own bashful smile on his face and we both fell about laughing at each other.

  As I walked across the snow which had been ravaged by the assault of storm arrows, I wondered about the System. Looking at the tower placed before me and the challenges I had faced to get to this point, it would be easy to lose heart. Yet… could a System which gave access to this kind of experience be truly evil? The feeling of magic dancing around my body was not just nice, it was natural. It was as though I had always needed to feel it, like a parched throat waiting for its first drink of water.

  While it might array a level of strength against me which I couldn’t truly comprehend, I didn’t think it was as simple as “good or evil.” Gravity wasn’t evil, and neither was the System. It just… was. While the power of the System was mind boggling, the same had been thought of gravity for the longest time. Yet humans just like myself had gone from landbound to the stars within a century. The System had called me a pioneer and a trailblazer at various points, and I finally felt the truth of that statement as I approached the front doors of the tower. “I wonder how far we can go,” Tag pondered, having been following my thoughts.

  “All the way,” I replied immediately, craning my neck to see if I could see through the clouds obscuring the tower. I couldn’t but that was fine. This massive eyesore was an apt metaphor. I nodded, my thoughts confirmed. Whether it was this tower, the world outside or the Tree itself… With the strength we had gained, there was only one goal. “We’re going all the way to the fucking top. We’re going to see everything this System has to offer and woe betide anyone who tries to stop us.”