Jack felt the essence in the shard surge through his hand holding it, racing along his body and directly to his heart, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Once it reached his core, it was like a pulse was sent through his whole body, his vision went dark and when it returned he was floating in an endless void.

  Unlike the last time he was in this experience, there was no pressure around him. Instead, he felt like he could move slightly almost like he was swimming through space. His wonder was interrupted as he felt a tug at his core and then something washed over his body with an intense cold.

  “YOUR OFFERING IS ACCEPTED”

  “STRANGE. MORE ADVANCED. NO MATTER.”

  “GIFTS RECEIVED. GIFTS GIVEN.”

  The deep resounding voice sounded in his mind. Each utterance was strangely slow and deliberate, punctuated by a deliberate pause. Jack felt the cold surrounding him pull away.

  “CHOOSE BODY ENHANCEMENT”

  As the voice finished, Jack felt the tingle at the back of his mind and touched on it, information flowed in.

  BODY ENHANCEMENTS

  —--------------------------------

  Capacity: Tier 1

  Flow: Tier 1

  Reinforcement: Tier 0

  Jack had never seen the ‘Reinforcement’ option before. He assumed that was what Monty had meant when he said Jack might need to improve his strength. Thinking of Monty reminded him of his advice and he decided to try asking for more information.

  “Could you… umm… explain what the enhancements would do to me?” Jack asked. He noticed as he tried to speak that no sound came out of his mouth. Still, he had the feeling that his words had been received.

  There was no voice that responded to him, but he felt the itch again and touched on it. More information presented itself to him.

  BODY ENHANCEMENTS

  —--------------------------------

  Capacity: Tier 1 - Capacity is the measure of the body's compatibility to store and contain mana. Higher Tiers increase the total mana the body is able to hold by 30%.

  Flow: Tier 1 - Flow is the measure of the body’s ability to control and interact with internal and external mana. Higher Tiers improve the speed at which mana flows throughout the body. Also improves control over handling larger amounts of mana.

  Reinforcement: Tier 0 - Reinforcement is the measure of the body's adaptability to passively enable mana usage to reinforce its primary functions. Strengthening the core aspects of a body to increase strength, durability and regeneration.

  Jack was a little shocked, he only had to ask and more information was provided. The descriptions of the first two matched his expectations pretty well. Having a number given for capacity was interesting, however.

  I wonder if that is 30% on the base or compounded?

  As Jack wondered, the tingle happened again and when he accepted it the wording on capacity had been updated to specify the increase was compounded.

  That made it a much more interesting proposition long-term for him; the more he invested the bigger the increase would be. He moved on to consider flow which was about what he expected, other than the improved control. It wasn’t an issue for him at the moment but long-term, however, with his vortex he would need to be able to move lots of mana quickly.

  Reinforcement was interesting for him, it seemed almost out of place. The other two were directly related to using or interacting with mana, while this seemed passive. The fact it was Tier 0 as well probably showed it was less important for mana usage.

  If he looked longer term, however, he could assume as the others improved even a basic shockwave might have enough force to break his bones. This was likely something to ensure that as the person adapted to utilising mana, their body was able to keep up.

  Also Monty had mentioned he was like hundreds of years old, he said he was more of a physical specialist as well. He likely had a few Tiers in reinforcement. Is it possible that the regeneration increased his lifespan? Or maybe he just healed himself of aging?

  Jack caught himself before his thoughts ran too far down a rabbit hole. For now, he needed to focus. He knew these modifications were limited, even if he got to Monty’s level he would only get ten more chances like this.

  He needed to think it through. If he was only going to have ten he would probably need at least one in reinforcement, likely more as it might reduce his chance of exploding. Say two for now.

  That leaves eight. Realistically he should put as much as possible into capacity. He had no idea what the limit on his vortex was but right now he was only limited by his capacity. If that increased he could safely have more flowing through his system at any one time.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  That was obviously his point of difference and something he should lean into, on top of that the more he added the bigger effect it would have.

  He would definitely need at least two Tiers in flow to match the increase though. He would need to be able to purge at a rate that matched his generation at a higher amount otherwise he would overload.

  He tentatively settled on a 6 / 2 / 2 split overall assuming he made it to Tier 10. So where to start.

  He was about to lock in Reinforcement to get an even 1/1/1 but a thought occurred to him. The trait options might already be set in stone, or they might be influenced by what he chose here. If he knew he wanted to lean heavily into Capacity, the chance that a trait might be related to his choice forced his hand.

  “I choose Capacity,” Jack said silently.

  Again the cold presence touched him. He felt something seep into his skin and flow through his body and into his bones. A brief flash of pain as it felt like his bones were compressed and then relief.

  “BODY ENHANCED”

  “I AM HAPPY. CHOOSE TRAIT.”

  The voice sounded in his mind and was immediately followed by a tingle. He accepted and was fed information.

  Traits have been selected for you based on your actions and choices and achievements.

  Select Tier 2 Trait option:

  [Capacity Attribute Specialisation] - Alters the user's physiology to prioritise Capacity. All existing and future [Capacity] modifications effectively count as two Tier upgrades for the purpose of volume calculation.

  [Prismatic Mana Skin] - Adapts the user's epidermis to collect and store mana during the [Purge] process. When saturated, the skin forms a barrier that increases resistance to Slashing and Piercing damage. While active, the barrier obscures all internal mana flow from external observation.

  [Compression Vortex] - Modifies the user’s ??amplification?? Primal Vortex. Instead of splitting the mana stream to increase volume, the vortex will compress the amplified mana into the original stream, increasing density. Warning: This is a permanent structural change and cannot be undone.

  [Perfect Flow Control] - Grants the ability to enforce absolute authority over internal mana pathways for a limited duration [9 Seconds]. During this window, the user may accelerate, decelerate, reverse, or completely halt the flow of mana regardless of external or internal pressure.

  Jack let his mind settle for a moment as he considered the information that he had just absorbed. They were all pretty amazing options at first glance. Except for [Compression Vortex] that seemed scary. Jack’s fear of commitment flared up hard at the word permanent; he was only just beginning to understand how this all worked. The thought of changing it again, no that was not in his wheelhouse.

  It did give him some more information about his own ??amplification?? Based on the wording, something about splitting? He would have to remember that and mention it to Turrel at a later date; he filed the information away.

  He decided to try to assess them like Monty had done, based on what it was they actually allowed him to do.

  [Capacity Attribute Specialisation] well that was pretty simple, it did one thing only but it did it well. If he picked that right now it would be as if he had Tier 4 capacity. His 1.3 times capacity would increase to 2.2, not to mention it would increase all his future selections massively as well. Actually as Jack thought more he decided it would be fair to say this actually did two things. It also gave him much more flexibility in terms of his body modifications. He could put four into Capacity and still be ahead of where he originally thought, while still having six to spread to the other options.

  He moved on to the next one [Prismatic Mana Skin]. This one looked like it did the most, but was very passive. It looked like it might give him some additional storage? More capacity was great. It gave him some level of defence, which Monty said was a priority and passive defence was probably the best kind. It also seemed to act as a barrier to people looking at his mana flow.

  That was probably the most important part of the skill for him at the moment. People like Monty and Thul seemed to be able to see inside him to his vortex. If he wasn't paying attention and it was working at a high amplification, that could be trouble.

  It wasn’t sexy by any means, but it was probably the front runner. It also seemed to be linked to his Purge ability, which made it more unique and less expected?

  That really only left [Perfect Flow Control] which to Jack, only really seemed to do one thing. It did look like it did that one thing very well though and it might just be the most flexible of the lot the more he thought about it.

  He could already think of a few uses for it and he only had a few skills at the moment. With his [Overcharge] he was currently bottlenecked by the three-second restriction. It really only allowed one cycle of his vortex to charge the wave. If he could use this to speed up mana in his system in his vortex he might be able to get a second or even third charge in.

  Being able to have a buffer in case he lost control of his vortex as well for some reason was pretty exciting as well. Being able to simply halve the mana in his system and force it out with Purge could be an actual lifesaver.

  He struggled with the decision as he tried to work out what his best option was going forward. It was likely down to [Prismatic Mana Skin] or [Perfect Flow Control]. The attribute was interesting but it felt like something he might be able to get at a later date; it was powerful long-term but right now didn't help him that much.

  If he thought about his role and what he wanted for himself. There was only one choice he could go with. It might be fun to use a massive shockwave or turbo charge other skills but if he was at the point where he needed to do that, something had gone wrong.

  He needed protection and he needed the ability to hide his vortex as much as possible. He knew what he had to choose. He almost locked it in, but this was his last chance to get some additional information on the skill and fish for info so he took a chance.

  I wonder what ??amplification?? means on my interface

  He waited but nothing happened, no tingle, buzz or words.

  Worth a shot at least.

  What does the storage part mean? How much mana can it store?

  This time he felt a slight tingle and as he acknowledged it the info was updated.

  [Prismatic Mana Skin] - Adapts the user's epidermis to collect and store mana [10% total capacity - linked to capacity] during the [Purge] process. When saturated, the skin forms a barrier that increases resistance to Slashing and Piercing damage. While active, the barrier obscures all internal mana flow from external observation.

  Jack nodded and confirmed his choice. The cold rush hit him and he felt it almost burn his skin as something was done to it. In the blink of an eye the feeling disappeared as if it had never been there at all.

  “DONE. CONTINUE TO GROW.”

  “RETURN”

  Jack's eyes flashed open and he sat up, feeling as if a bucket of water had been poured over him. He stared at Monty with wide eyes and winked.

  “Call me Edward, because I think I might just sparkle in the sun.”