It doesn’t take me long to get to the markets, now that I don’t have to worry about pursuit. As I jog to my destination, I fall into an old habit: planning my build. At this point, its more a mantra than anything.

  First level I get, it goes straight to Weakest Link.

  Leveling up was pretty straightforward until level 15. Once you gather enough essence, usually by letting your mana sit at full for a while, you gain a level and a ‘point’ that you could use on your meridian nodes. These nodes all branch out from a central origin point, and are made of four main types.

  Travel nodes are the most common, called that way because you mostly used them to ‘travel’ to other more impactful nodes. That's not to say they aren’t useful however. The most common version of these nodes is one that gives twenty of a given base stat, be it dexterity, strength, or intelligence. That by itself is great early on, and means a twenty percent boost from baseline in that area. They can also take other forms if they’re in a cluster with a specific purpose, like in a cluster with the common theme of mining, you might get a node with a ‘twenty-five increased damage to ore’ travel node.

  |Augment| nodes are the next step up, and usually come with their own name. They are a marked improvement over travel nodes and show up slightly bigger on the tree too. Take my favorite, for example:

  |Augment| nodes are always better than travel nodes of the same type. They also aren’t ever repeated on the same tree.

  The next step up are {Core} nodes, and they are incredibly important, since you can apparently only have a limited amount of them. Supposedly, humans have the ability to choose one before level 16, but I’m not afforded that luxury due to my Chimeric Heritage. {Core} nodes offer a major boon, a build changing option, sometimes something that changes the rules of power themselves. However, they always come with a downside equally as impactful. I have three available to me as of right now.

  The next step up are much rarer than any of the others, mostly because getting them is entirely random, and it’s entirely normal for someone in the Operarius strata to never get one. You can get them in one of two ways: either granted by a {core node} or randomly by filling out a node cluster. For instance, that girl with the sling probably filled out a node cluster that pertained to throwing projectiles. In fact, I have a catalyst based on an ability node called \Ogre’s Might/ that I have on passively.

  Overall, one of the best skills I have. It’s constantly up and gives me a multiplicative bonus to strength, something I always need more of. It’s also the reason I got an apprenticeship, since if I hadn’t tried to steal it two years ago I never would have properly met Edrius. One of things I like to do in my spare time is mess with a copy I made not long after. Originally all the skill did was give the multiplicative bonus in an area, which wasn’t bad at all, but the flat bonus I added to it later was well worth the hassle. It did increase the size of the array in my body (located in my stomach) by about 50%, but it's not like I have anything better to fill the space with. One of the things I’ve been trying to do ever since is to make a version for dexterity and intelligence, something that always seemed to amuse Merria for some reason.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Of the three core skills I have the option for, {Weakest Link} seems the obvious choice. Losing access to \Weighted Cross/ is going to suck, since it has to be integrated into my left arm to work, but if I play my cards right I could basically double any stat point I get. Edrius helped me with the math, but even if we only care about physical stats, it's more efficient to invest evenly in all three. See, if you only have 300 stats total and the average warrior build puts 200 in strength and 100 in dexterity, and I put 100 in everything, I’d end up with 600 total stat points while they’d have to settle with only tying me for strength. Actually, scratch that, with my specific chimeric heritage I’d smoke them with 400 effective strength.

  Clearly, with my meridians seemingly wanting to give me nothing but stats, stats and more stats I should lean into that and get as many as I can. That’s not to say the other options aren’t tempting however. I personally know of people that would kill to have more threads of thought, as that essentially means more you’s to think with. With intelligence, you got one extra thread every one hundred intelligence, which means I’m actually only one off from my first. Problem is, I plan to go much further beyond 500 intelligence.

  {Flame Soul} is also very tempting. I personally know of a blacksmith with that exact node, and he makes a killing. Changing your base mana type doesn’t just let you use fire spells without having to deal with a conversion ratio, it also changes your body over time to better fit your new nature. The blacksmith, for instance, is now essentially fireproof, an obvious boon for anyone.

  For now, it’s all pie in the sky if I can’t break through the level 15 barrier. Even mentioning that it exists can get you in trouble with the guard, and people above level 15 won’t talk about how they achieved it. The official stance of the crown is that your strata is determined by your level cap, not the other way around, but I have yet to see anyone be uplifted from their strata after proving their level cap was higher, or demoted after they couldn’t break through.

  I have a theory about what the truth is. That's no surprise though, everyone has their theories. I think back to a conversation I had with a friend not two weeks ago as I steadily jog through the mostly empty streets.

  “It’s definitely these damn tattoos!” Octavius says, holding his right hand up to the sun, “They gave ‘em to us at birth right? There’s a real steep punishment for people that don’t register their baby right away. Gotta be that,”

  “No way,” I say, already shaking my head before he’s finished. “I’ve taken a look at the array for my tattoo, all it has is mana storage and a basic system integration. It’s totally bare-bones!”

  “Yeah, like you could tell if there was something up with it. How long you been an apprentice again?”

  “Two years,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

  “And they say the King’s been around for thousands of years. They could totally get something by an apprentice who’s not even old enough to buy beer,”

  “I know more than you at least,” I counter.

  “Oh yeah?” he says, a skeptical look on his face. “And what’s your clever theory, oh wise master of the mystic arts?”

  “I think… it’s a spell,” I say after giving it a little thought.

  “How do you figure?” Octavius says, sitting up from where he was lounging on the roof of Edrius’s shop.

  “I think there’s a spell that each strata has to raise their level cap. I think our strata just… don't get one,” I say. “It would explain why no one gets past it. I mean, if your theory is true, all it would take to get past the cap is to cut off your right hand,”

  “Not it,” He says, and promptly guffaws at his own joke.

  “I think,” A new voice joins the conversation from my left, “that it's just something you’re born with,” I recognize the voice as Septimus, one of Octavius’s older brothers just before he climbs up the ladder to join us.

  “No way,” Octavius and I both say in unison.

  “If that were the truth,” Octavius starts, “then there wouldn’t be any need to put us down like this. We wouldn’t even have a chance at power. But they keep enforcing rules that make no sense if we don't have a chance. I think that, deep down, they know there’s a chance we’ll figure it out,”

  “What if they just like keeping us in our place for the sake of it? What if they don’t need a reason?” Septimus retorts.

  I answer instead. It’s something I think about often. “Some of them, sure. But all of them? I heard some bellicus can be downright bearable. If they’re drunk,”

  We all laugh at that, and the conversation moves on to lighter topics. I don’t share my real theory, the one in the back of my mind. What if you have to kill someone? What if the reason that causing death is punishable by immediate and swift execution is because that's what raises your cap? No one would say that out loud, as even speaking such a theory would be considered a conspiracy to commit murder. It also has disturbing implications that I’d rather not think about.

  As my mind returns to the present, I scan the markets to find the shortest line to the front and slowly trudge my way to the front.

  The priest handing out bags or bowls askes the customary question that determines what he hands you;

  “Meal or parts?”

  “Parts, for me, my master and his wife,” I say, holding out my slightly glowing right hand.

  He hands me three bags the size of my head after transferring the marks to his tattoo and makes a note in a ledger.

  With that, I make my way back to the shop.