The empty wall of my Soul Chamber lit anew with the Profession skill options. Tree pulsed with interest as they read.

  You must select your Level 30 and Level 40 Profession Skills.

  New Profession Skill Options Available: Three.

  Total Profession Skill Options Available: Six. Previously unchosen skills improved.

  Energy Bolt. Uncommon. You've learned how to separate some of your mana from your pathways, and can project them at foes, dealing significant magical damage.

  Detect Weave. Uncommon. Your understanding of enchanting grants you the ability to analyze and learn what forms were used in the enchantments of Uncommon or lesser ranked magic items.

  Runic Equilibrium. Common. When balancing opposing affinities such as light and darkness or heat and cold, the additional cost of maintaining the equilibrium is reduced by a moderate amount.

  Alter Affinity. Uncommon. You can change the affinity in a fifteen meter radius around you to improve certain enchantments and empower runes. The rate of the alteration can be increased using energy from your pathways.

  Lure of the Fathoms. Rare. Your association with the depths grants you knowledge of luring hungry prey to your awaiting maw. You can create an alluring rune that draws the attention of nearby beasts. Beasts associated with the seas, hunger, or the void are especially drawn to this rune.

  Mark of the Mistress. Epic. The sea does not release what it has claimed. Items enchanted by you are much more difficult to dispel, and have inherent backlash should such attempts be made.

  I waved my hand and my current Profession Skills appeared.

  Profession Skills:

  Soul Chamber. Epic.

  Infuse Object. Inferior.

  Etch Rune. Common.

  Feast Beam. Uncommon.

  Enlightened Feedback. Inferior.

  “I know we just did the thing with making a new skill, but do you think we could siphon the choices to advance my current skills?”

  “With your bizarre core, I’d say it’s probable. This will undoubtedly require more focus than the other combination, as you’ll have to combine the skills simultaneously rather than forming a single skill, so I would make sure your mental stats are optimized, as they both affect focus.” Tree said as they were idly sketching complex ritual circles into the air. Must be feeling better.

  I still had 1386 free points after the Perception boosting, and figured that bringing my Intelligence and Wisdom up from 823 to 1000 would be an acceptable use. Increasing my mental stats wasn’t as obvious a change as improving my physical stats, but reaching the quadruple digits triggered something within my Soul Chamber.

  The main space expanded to twice what it had been moments ago, and an opening appeared on the wall to our right, revealing a secondary chamber.

  “How did you do that?” Tree asked.

  “It just happened when I hit quadruple digit mental stats. My skill didn’t update and I received no notifications. That’s odd, right?”

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  “It’s possible that it is because you are in the midst of a System choice, but I cannot be sure. It is irrelevant at present. Are you ready?”

  “Let’s go!” I said and sat in the chair, resting my lower hands on my knees and focusing on the two displays. I felt my connections to my current skills, similar to the threads of my choices, but the ones for my known skills were thicker and tinged with the deep crimson of my core.

  Suddenly, the threads all brightened and became much more clear. Tree had been busy, apparently, and a large runic ritual circle flared to life. After a brief discussion with Tree, I tapped into my core.

  HUNGER!

  I began to organize the upgrades. Energy Bolt moved to weave around Feast Beam. Detect Weave wove around Infuse Object. Runic Equilibrium wove around Etch Rune. Alter Affinity wove around Enlightened Feedback.

  HUNGER!

  The cord of my Soul Chamber skill pulsed, and the remaining two choices were inexorably pulled to weave around it. This… was not part of what we’d discussed.

  HUNGER!

  My pathways began draining of energy, and I felt my hunger grow. I spread the little remaining focus I could spare on siphoning a bit from each of the 199 Control Spheres. Thankfully, none broke or were consumed.

  A flood of notifications flashed onto the walls, but a loud noise like the crashing of waves pulled me from reading right away. The newly created room seemed covered in a thick curtain that glowed a deep green. Tree read with ever increasing flickering as I stepped to the barrier. My hands reached out to touch it, and a familiar sense emanated from it.

  The Deeps.

  “You need to read these,” Tree said with thinly veiled jealous annoyance. His tone pulled me back to focus on the words plastered on the walls.

  UNIQUE SCENARIO ENCOUNTERED! SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS REQUIRED! PLEASE WAIT! Six skill choices have been consumed, yet no new skills have been gained. Current Profession Skills advanced. New skill choices are locked until you reach Profession Level 100.

  Feast Beam, Uncommon, has consumed Energy Bolt, Uncommon, and advanced to Feast Burst, Rare.

  Feast Burst. Rare. All must be consumed! You have manifested your endless hunger into the Feast Burst, maintaining the connection to your ever-ravenous core. This beam of hungry energy will eat away at any physical or magical materials it contacts, and cause extreme damage to living foes. If the living foe is slain with this beam, they are consumed within the beam and returned into your core as if you had consumed the enemy, and additional beams burst out from the initial kill to strike out at other nearby enemies. This can chain for weaker enemies, but each burst deals less and less damage.

  Infuse Object, Inferior, has consumed Detect Weave, Uncommon, and advanced to Weave Infusion, Uncommon.

  Weave Infusion. Uncommon. Your understanding of enchanting allows you to more easily weave enchantments into objects. The type of object may limit the kinds of enchantments you can apply. Analyzing Uncommon or lesser magic items may grant improvements to the forms and functions within your repertoire.

  Etch Rune, Common, has consumed Runic Equilibrium, Common, and advanced to Runic Stability, Uncommon.

  Runic Stability. Uncommon. Using your enchanting skills, you can etch runes onto surfaces or objects, creating temporary effects that remain stable for a length of time determined by your mental stats. When etching runes of opposing affinities upon the same object, the cost of maintaining the balance is significantly reduced.

  Enlightened Feedback, Inferior, has consumed Alter Affinity, Uncommon, and advanced to Enlightened Alteration, Rare.

  Enlightened Alteration. Rare. You can change the affinity in a twenty meter radius around you to improve certain enchantments and empower runes. The rate of the alteration can be increased using energy from your pathways. When enchanting within your Soul Chamber, you can more easily siphon the altered affinity, easing the difficulty of enchanting.

  Soul Chamber, Epic, has consumed Lure of the Fathoms, Rare, and Mark of the Mistress, Epic, and advanced to Marked Soul Chambers of the Fathoms, Ancient.

  Marked Soul Chambers of the Fathoms. Ancient. With the assistance of the Living Rune, you have created a chamber within yourself in which you are able to store items without risking them being consumed by your core. You may enter this chamber while you meditate, retaining your ability to sense the energies around you and significantly improving your recovery rates. You may create a total number of chambers within your Soul Chamber equal to your mental stats divided by 1000, rounded down. One of these chambers is always attuned to the Deeps. Items enchanted by you within the Deeps are much more difficult to dispel, and have inherent backlash should such attempts be made. You can tap into the Deeps to create an alluring rune that draws the attention of nearby beasts. Beasts associated with the seas, hunger, or the void are especially drawn to this mark.

  “That’s a long description.” I said with a low whistle. My excitement at the new prospects of enchanting were building, but I slumped my shoulders when a new message popped into view.

  Quest: Besieged Updated.

  Tutorial Time Remaining: 30 days, 2 hours, 0 minutes.

  Survivors: 804/2000.

  This is your Two Hour Warning.