I woke up in a gray room. I was getting tired of that. This time was a little different, though. I felt amazing, but the room looked like a bomb had gone off. I could see blast scaring on the walls and the floor. I was covered in a light coating of black char and ash. I wiped part of it away on my arm, and smooth flesh was underneath. I quickly checked, and yes, my clothes were officially gone. Whatever happened must have turned them to ash. I felt strong. I felt powerful, I felt free.

  In a matter of seconds, I determined that the char and ash were too much for just random bits of clothing to be incinerated. The room was self-cleaning, as the blast scar was visibly repairing and the char was being absorbed. It couldn't quite get the sweet cooked smell out of the air. I had been too close to the wrong sorts of fires; I knew that smell. I was the only possible source of it.

  I gave my body a full once over, and everything felt intact and present, except for the clothes, of course. I didn't feel a loss of the clothes as it was just ratty undies and a worse for wear tee at this point, but they were my only clothes and I wasn't the au natural fan. Not even a nude beach and hide your boner in the sand type.

  After less than ten minutes, the room was back to normal; all that was left was my clothless and ash-covered self. I would have to figure out something. Before that, I would have to figure out what happened. Given that I was still alive after my self-induced immolation, I either succeeded or failed in an unforeseen fashion. I could feel the gray at the bottom of my vision beckoning me. I took a breath to still myself and hesitated again. I felt for the hot tub. It was almost empty. I took that as a good sign and dove into my menu.

  Congratulations on your Ascension!

  You are currently D tier

  You have 6 of 6 Loci Aspected

  I had succeeded. I'm betting that forcing four at once was not the preferred method, as nobody warned me about blowing myself up. A ‘hey, don’t force it our you will blow yourself up’ or even a ‘Ascensions release a metric fuck ton of energy’ were never given or I nodded off at that point of the lecture. I don't remember that much of my Awakening to comment on that, but my first two Loci opened up and aspected without any real energetic results. I would wager it was the solid push that did it. Some things were resisting for one reason or another, but little of that mattered beyond academics at this point. What was done was done. I, with minimal guidance, Ascended to Tier D. Mord’s lesson on tiers wasn’t exactly fresh in my mind but I remember Ascending being slightly more common amongst Awakened than it was for people to be able to awaken but it was still fucking rare. Paragon it was then. I was going to make Vex proud. I owed her that much. I wasn’t certain why, but I was certain that I was in her debt. Plus, the whole ‘get strong enough to not die when we have sex again’ was a pretty hefty motivator. Speaking of Vex, she said she would-slash-could contact me again after I took the next step. I wondered if there was a time limit. Thinking on Vex made me realize I was procrastinating looking at my Aspects and what powers I had. I remember focusing on the first two donuts of each loci, so I was hoping I had two powers for each. Any which way, it was menu time.

  Loci 6/6:

  Speed: Rune 2 of 6

  Sense: Aura 3 of 6

  Smart: Destruction 2 of 6

  Stout: Transform 2 of 6

  Strength: Creation 2 of 6

  Spirit: Soul 1 of 6

  “Holy Shit” I exclaimed. I know I felt I had done it, but I didn't really believe it. I aspected four loci in one go and somehow had affinities for all of them. Mord said it was epically rare to have even four loci that you had enough affinity for. I guess depending on how rare unaspected potential was, it could be impossible to not absorb some aspected potential and even soft force an affinity, even if you did manage to circulate significant amounts of unaspected potential, still to break the Myceinan Barriers on any Palatial Stack. Even just existing around other organizations should cause minor absorption that would outbias the diminishing affinities of upper half loci stacks.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “What the fuck?” I was in a very non-inner monologue day. I thought back over everything I thought, and it all made sense. No, not ‘made sense’, it was fact. I could feel that it was the very core of the truth. It was as if the knowledge had been imprinted with the aspecting. Mord kind of alluded to this when he was lecturing about powers. But I could feel the truth. Potential was everywhere, and people weren’t exactly buckets of it. Actually, buckets was a good term, but without lids. Some evaporated and some spilled as they moved about. People would just absorb it like little sponges. Not enough to amount to much, but it would be aspected. Even if you weren’t a cultivator, it would still slowly circulate like water moving in a pond. Despite the barrier, Loci wanted to break free. And….and….and….and nothing.

  No matter how hard I thought about it further, it was like flipping to a blank page in a book. The knowledge went from clear academics to bupkis almost mid-concept. It must be part of the Concept part of the Aspect. Mord had talked about controlling concepts and that the powers were a shortcut. I guess this was it. You got a quick-start guide but had to figure out the manual yourself. Speaking of powers, it was time to go back into the menu.

  Third Loci aspected. The Loci of Smart has gained the Destruction aspect. You have gained two powers focus more potential through this loci to enhance your smart attributes, strengthen your powers and gain new ones.

  Destroy Object -You may expend mana to destroy an object.

  Thoughtful Destruction -When destroying an object, you may expend extra time and mana to learn about it.

  Fourth Loci aspected. The Loci of Stout has gained the Transform aspect. You have gained two powers. Focus more potential through this loci to enhance your stout attributes, strengthen your powers, and gain new ones.

  Familiar (Inkling) -You have an Inkling familiar. Inklings are a type of mimic and can change shape and density based on their will. They must have absorbed a material to recreate it.

  Transmute -You may change one material into another. You must be familiar with both materials. The cost is dependent on the energy required to change.

  Fifth Loci aspected. The Loci of Strength has gained the Creation aspect. You have gained two powers. Focus more potential through this loci to enhance your strength attributes, strengthen your powers, and gain new ones.

  Create Object -Create an object from component parts and/or material. Cost depends on the final form and base materials available.

  Create Material-Transform mana into a material. You must be familiar with the material.

  Determining Convergence…..

  Interrupted…….

  Convergence Aspect interrupted

  Sixth Loci aspected. The Loci of Spirit has gained the Soul aspect. You have gained one power. Focus more potential through this loci to enhance your soul attributes, strengthen your powers, and gain new ones.

  Inviolable Soul -This is a Divine skill. Your soul is immune to damage and cannot be destroyed.

  I tried to parse and let my menu roll past my thoughts slowly, but it was having none of that. It all got shotgunned to my face instantly. If my interface power was alive it acted like it was pissed. The part about convergence and whatnot was an angry red color and stood out from the rest. I had a fuck ton of powers the ability to create and destroy shit. That is like epic-level villain stuff or at least narcissistic god complex stuff.

  Wait, wasn’t there something about a familiar in there? Like the handy little buddy so I’m not losing my mind trapped in a fucking box familiar? There was! Menu-time!!

  Familiar (Inkling) -You have an Inkling familiar. Inklings are a type of mimic and can change shape and density based on their will. They must have absorbed a material to recreate it.

  Awesome! A pet mimic! I immediately scolded myself. This was a familiar, not a pet. Part of the skill told me that familiars were much more than a pet. They served the individual in a symbiotic relationship, and as their host got stronger, so did they. Eventually, they could be released and continue to gain power even if the host stagnated. I dug deeper into the imprinted knowledge. Familiars were more permanent than summoned creatures and also more intelligent. They could exist for significant periods of time outside of their host and be fully trusted to complete tasks. They were absolutely trustworthy, and the God of Familiars would punish any party that abused that trust. That was a lot to take in. I got the feeling that if a familiar died, it was dead and you would have to activate the power again to get another. I also felt it was possible to be rejected by familiars if you got a bad reputation, but working with an Aspect was the only way some species could grow. I looked at the description, and it seemed like Inklings could recreate any material they had absorbed. Maybe I had a chance at pants after all.