Ginger Wrangling +2
Well at least the system recognizes my hard work, I thought to myself.
"Time to allocate your starting stat points," The Architect continued. "You have 5 points to distribute among your primary attributes. I recommend balance rather than specialization at this stage. Even the mightiest sword arm falters without awareness, willpower, and creativity to guide it."
His advice aligned with my thinking. Priority one: address my weakest areas. My mental stats looked decent enough, at least. "Elena, why don't we each consider our choices before discussing them together? Sound good, love?"
"Sure dad, that makes sense," she replied, already absorbed in her character sheet.
I weighed my options carefully. Survival came first—but what path would best ensure it? I'd always relied on wit and intuition rather than physical prowess, yet my disappointingly low dexterity and vitality scores couldn't be ignored. I settled on a strategy: 2 points to dexterity, 1 to vitality, and 2 to creativity. In a world like this, the ability to think outside the box might prove just as valuable as quick reflexes.
“Any thoughts love?” I asked Elena
Elena didn't even look up from her character sheet. "Already dumped everything into dexterity," she announced with a self-satisfied smirk. "Going full ninja mode."
I caught the past tense immediately. "I thought we were going to discuss this before finalizing anything," I said, my voice tightening despite my efforts. Afterall, one of my favourite things was when she agreed to what I was saying and then immediately did the opposite.
Elena's chin lifted. "Dad, it's my body, my choice."
I couldn’t help but notice that The Architect had suddenly become fascinated with some invisible point in the distance. Coward. I thought to myself.
I inhaled slowly, counting to three. This wasn't the first time I'd heard that particular phrase. Raising Elena had taught me that encouraging her independence meant actually respecting it—even when it made my temples throb. The parenting books never mentioned how your carefully cultivated lessons would inevitably be turned against you. Or the maddening mix of pride and frustration when your daughter claimed and expected the very rights you'd taught her to defend — especially when she was right.
“I understand that, love. I just hoped we might strategize as a team."
"Fine!" Elena's eyes rolled so hard I worried they might get stuck. “I’ll just do whatever you say like a good little baby.”
Oh god, here we go again. My temples throbbed as I watched her face harden into that familiar stubborn mask. It took me back to her standing in her crib at two years old, tiny fists clenched, screaming "I do it self!" while her favorite stuffed rabbit lay just out of reach. The memory should've made me smile, but right now it just made my chest ache. “I do it self” had become her motto from that moment forward.
My jaw clenched as the familiar urge surged through me—to pull rank, to remind her that I was the adult, that I was the one who had lived through enough mistakes to recognize one before it happened. The words died in my throat. That approach had never worked—not once in all our years of butting heads. It had only created hurt feelings and rifts that took a lot of work to repair.
Deep down, beneath the frustration bubbling like acid in my stomach, I knew she was right. Damn it. I didn’t like it, but she was right. Her body. Her choice. The words I'd taught her myself. They meant nothing if I didn't respect them.
“Love," I said, my voice straining to stay level, "I'm not trying to control you. I just—" I swallowed hard. "Some choices can't be undone. That's all."
She let out a huff. "I know what I'm doing. I’ve been channelling this my WHOLE life!”
What did that even mean? Before I could ask Elena continued on with the passion of a Greek Orator addressing the senate. “Dad. I can feel it here." She tapped her chest. "You need to trust me on this."
The vulnerability in her eyes hit me like a sucker punch.
"Fair enough, love." I let out a breath. "You're brilliant and capable, and I do trust you. And we're stronger together. You choose your path, but promise you'll reach for my hand if the ground gets shaky? Believe it or not, your dear old Dad might know a thing or two. Maybe we could talk things out together. Help each other out. Okay?"
Her shoulders softened. "I guess I can do that," she murmured, the storm in her eyes receding and replaced by a slight twinkle as she added, “You could probably use my help.”
"A deal is struck! Huzzah!" I proclaimed with theatrical gravity, resurrecting our old ritual. When her lips quirked upward—just barely—the knot in my chest finally began to unravel.
Ginger Wrangling +1
Parenting +2
Resiliency +1
I cleared my throat and walked her through my stat allocation strategy, hoping to model what I was asking for. Elena listened with half-closed eyes before nodding once. "Makes sense you'd focus on dexterity. I've seen you try to catch things." The corner of her mouth twitched upward.
The Architect cleared his throat, apparently having found his courage again. "Splendid choices, both of you. Let's proceed to affinities. The system will present you with several options that resonate with your natural tendencies. While you may eventually access any affinity, those not selected now will require significant effort to develop later."
Another prompt materialized in my field of vision
—
Pick 2 of the following:
Time (Uncommon)
To understand time is to understand the cycles and flows of the multiverse. You'll witness precious moments slip through fingers or stretch into eternity. Stories echo across ages before shattering into unexpected directions. Like a river, Time carries everything forward—sometimes with gentle current, sometimes in violent rapids. Time offers freedom to some, yet imprisons others. Its disciples explore not just what is, was, and will be, but the tantalizing paths of what might have been.
Mind (Rare)
The Mind governs thought, emotion, and willpower, making it as dangerous as any blade. It is the home of curiosity, obsession, empathy, and madness—sometimes all at once. It is the capacity to shape reality through the act of observation and will. To bend thought, memory and perception to your will and dance along sanity’s precarious edge.
Change (Common)
Change is the law of flux, the power of growth, transformation, and metamorphosis. It is chaos given intent and form. Those who embrace it thrive in instability and excel at adaptability. They rejecting permanence in favor of possibility. Only one truth remains immutable: nothing stays the same, well except for maybe war.
Fire (Uncommon)
Fire is passion made manifest—the flame that consumes, illuminates, and renews. It is both destruction and warmth, wrath and inspiration, the relentless energy that drives life forward. To wield Fire is to walk the line between rage and hope, between the inferno that devours and the hearth that protects. It is also really cool to look at.
Sacrifice (Rare)
Sacrifice is the power of exchange. The power of something gained in exchange for something given. It is blood, pain, and memory traded for strength, protection, or renewal. Both noble and perilous, Sacrifice can lift yourself and others up — if only you are willing to pay the price.
—
I stared at the list, nodding to myself. Most made immediate sense. Mental—of course. How many times had I sat across from a client, mapping the architecture of their pain, finding the load-bearing walls of their trauma. Change tracked too — my home office was a graveyard of half-finished projects, my bookshelf a monument to abandoned hobbies. My constant inability to be still, my need to always look for the next thing to improve or tweak. Sacrifice, well, lets just say that prior to a ton of therapy, I hadn’t met a sword I wouldn’t throw myself on. Even if no one asked me too. I’d made it my own personal brand to prove that I was enough but cutting every bit and piece of me off that I could. And Fire—I couldn't help but smile. As a kid, I'd been the one mesmerized by campfires while others roasted marshmallows, watching embers dance their brief, brilliant lives into ash.
Time, though—that one caught me off guard. Sure, I'd joked with Cara about letting my mind wander other "timelines" when I'd get lost in hypotheticals. And there was that thing my therapist had called "temporal dysphoria"—how meetings felt eternal while weekends evaporated in heartbeats. Minutes would seem like hours and hours would seem to pass in seconds depending on the task at hand. It felt like trying to swim in a current that kept changing speeds.
I hovered over Mind, Change, and Sacrifice, but they didn’t feel right. Not anymore. Those were old clothes that no longer fit.
The therapist who sought to help and understand others, while slowly losing himself along the way. The restless seeker never satisfied with what he had. The guy who'd volunteer for pain just to try to feel like he was enough, who couldn’t tell the difference between self-destruction and virtue. I’d crawled my way back from burnout after burnout. Lost myself to depression and hopelessness for years.
Those were all things who I had been, but I'd spent two years in my own therapy unlearning those patterns. I’d gone back to school. I’d done the work. I was still doing the work. I’d focused on hobbies instead of side hustles. I’d learned about what I valued, what gave me purpose. I’d looked my inner child in the eyes and given him one hell of a hug and told him he was enough. It hadn’t been easy — it still wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to go back now. While those things — mind, change, sacrifice — may have served a purpose once, they didn’t anymore and it had taken me way too long the first time around to realize that.
Besides, who wouldn’t pick time and fire right? I mean I could literally set the clock itself ablaze and watch the hands of time melt like wax. Huh. No wonder Cara hid the matches whenever I got that faraway look in my eyes.
I glanced at Elena; she shot me a challenging look, daring me to question her choice. I chose to ask, “What did you pick, Love?”
“Dreams. It’s rare. What about you?”
“Time and Fire. Both uncommon.”
“Wait—why did you get two?” she asked.
“It was part of my reward for finishing the starting quest and bonding with you,” I replied.
Elena snorted. “Well, okay then. At least we both have three now. But time and fire? Does that mean you can burn time?” Her eyes sparkled.
In that moment I knew without a doubt she was my daughter through and through. I laughed, “I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out.”
“Please don’t,” the Architect interjected with a wry smile. “You won’t be the first, and the cleanup is always a nightmare. The paperwork alone…”
Elena and I both laughed at the absurdity.
“Now comes the final part of your orientation,” the Architect continued. “You may now spend any system credits allocated for character creation on your starting skills, traits, abilities, spells, and items. You can also redeem any reward vouchers you’ve received. Take your time and choose wisely—these selections will set your path for the days ahead. Follow the course that’s truly yours, not one others impose, nor one you feel obligated to take.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the last remark was aimed at me.
Clearly Elena agreed. “Yeah, Dad,” she said with a grin and an eye roll. “Worry about your own path, not someone else’s.”
Suddenly I found myself in a starless void. Panic flared as I wondered where Elena was, then I reminded myself she must be here too. Before me stretched an infinite array of paths, each accompanied by flickering images—different versions of me hinting at countless possible futures. The Architect’s voice echoed around me: “Elena is safe. You will reunite once you finish choosing your abilities. I’ll try to encourage her to discuss her choices with you before deciding — no promises. Now, focus on the paths that call to you. These aren’t fixed destinies, merely glimpses of what could be. The system will offer recommendations, but the choice is yours.”
Thousands of scenes flashed by: sometimes I stood beside Elena, sometimes I stood alone. Knowing I couldn’t journey solo, I zeroed in on those where she appeared. Almost immediately, the other images faded away. I let the remaining visions wash over me, leaning into my intuition as certain paths began to resonate more than the rest.
One vision showed me years from now, standing on a starship bridge, silver streaking my temples. Adult Elena stood at my side, her simple clothes in earth tones somehow more striking than any uniform could be. Through the viewport, we watched a fleet of vessels that seemed alive—their hulls rippling and folding through dimensions like origami made of starlight. I understood instinctively that each impossible ship carried billions who had followed my daughter into darkness and returned transformed. The words echoed unbidden: Advisor. General. Guardian.
A second image manifested, unbidden and unwelcome. I stood atop a ridge overlooking not enemies, but sacrifices. My form—if it could still be called mine—was consumed by flames of such profound blackness they seemed to devour light itself. Reality fractured around me like brittle glass, dimensions folding inward at my periphery. My armor, forged from materials that existed between states of matter, induced vertigo in any who gazed upon it too long. Behind me writhed an army of geometrically impossible abominations, things with too many angles and insufficient dimensions. Elena stood at my side, her form crackling with tendrils of anti-lightning that slithered through space like sentient void-serpents. Her eyes had become windows into some nameless cosmic abyss, her hair a corona of stellar death. Before us stretched an ocean of prey-things led by a woman whose living armor of bark and thorns seemed pitifully organic, temporary. I understood with terrible clarity that their extinction was not just inevitable but necessary. Destroyer. Apex. Abyss.
Nope. No way. Not that one. recoiled from the vision. Even for Elena's safety, I couldn't become that... aberration. I let my consciousness drift instead through gentler possibilities. In one, I stood resolute in gleaming plate, a shield steady as my moral compass. In another, golden light flowed from my fingertips, mending what was broken. I witnessed myself crowned with living blossoms, communing with ancient spirits; then as a cosmic wanderer, riding stellar leviathans between distant worlds. Through each vision, Elena remained — sometimes mirroring my stance, sometimes my expression — reminding me that whatever path I walked would cast its shadow across her own.
One image caught my eye. A sunlit glade, a cabin with smoke curling from its chimney. Fish jumped in a nearby stream. Firelight illuminated our faces as we laughed together under the stars. No dangers, no complications. Peace. Sanctuary. Comfort. My heart ached with longing for that simplicity, that certainty. As I watched longer, I noticed what was missing — other voices, other faces. We had found safety by abandoning the world. Could I really choose that for her? Would that narrow existence truly honor the brightness I saw in her eyes? The simplicity beckoned like a siren’s song yet — I recognized its hidden cost. A life defined by what we fled from rather than what we sought. The isolation would shelter us but also diminish us. With reluctance, I released this comforting illusion.
I sifted through the images for a time, until I found one that resonated differently. Not a static image but a dance of movement — myself weaving through combat like wind through leaves, space folding at my command. I darted across battlefields in flashes of light, sword trailing silver arcs through the air. Elena moved in concert with me, her magic creating openings I exploited without hesitation. Skirmisher. Mobility. Adaptability.
Adaptability. The word settled in my mind. In my former life, I'd never possessed physical grace, yet I'd always been drawn to characters who did. Perhaps what truly called to me wasn't the flashy teleportation or the dramatic swordplay, but the fundamental ability to transform, to respond, to flow with circumstance rather than against it.
In my former life, I'd never been flexible — once I set a target, I pursued it with the tenacity of a freight train on rails. I'd repeat the same actions, follow the same patterns, resist course corrections even when they may have meant an easier path. But adaptability? That was different. Flexibility bent; adaptability transformed. It responded with intent. I could assess a situation clearly, accept its reality without denial, and chart a new course forward. My methods remained consistent, but my understanding evolved with changing circumstances. This capacity had been my secret weapon in a world that never quite fit the way my brain worked. Now it would be my greatest asset in keeping Elena safe.
"I choose adaptability," I declared to the void, my voice steady with newfound certainty. "Not a single path, but the power to respond intentionally as the world shifts around me. I'll hold my purpose unwavering while adjusting my approach to whatever challenges arise." I surveyed the fragmented visions before me, selecting elements from each that embodied this core truth. No single future called to me completely, but I could build something better from their pieces.
The void rippled like disturbed water, then solidified into what looked like an online marketplace interface hovering before me. Categories of abilities, traits, and spells filled the screen, each with its own price tag. A counter in the corner displayed my balance: 750 system creation credits, plus the bonus tokens from my completed intro quest.
I clicked on "Archetype Packs" and discovered these were essentially pre-bundled ability sets sold at a discount. The fine print indicated I could select only one, but my upgraded rewards meant whichever I chose would cost nothing. My first filter was simple: magic. Who would want to live through their very own System Apocalypse and not wield magic? A boring person — that’s who.
My second non-negotiable: swordplay. Call it cliché if you want, but that single semester of collegiate fencing had left an impression that never faded. Those parameters narrowed my options to about a dozen packages, and as I scrolled through them, one description caught my eye and wouldn't let go.
—
Sword & Sorcery Skirmisher (Rare)
One of the more annoying combinations there is, this Archetype focuses on battlefield mobility, utilizing both swordplay and disruptive magic. They weave between foes, striking from unexpected directions, creating chaos on the battlefield. They are highly adaptable as the battlefield changes around them.
Traits Included:
- Ambidextrous (Uncommon): You can use any limb with equal skill and Coordination. You read that right - any limb. You better get creative with this or we’re going to be disappointed. You will suffer no penalties for using your off hand for any task.
Abilities Included:
- Flicker (Common): Another short ranged teleportation ability. How unique. This lets you teleport to any distance within 5m that you can see. Leaves behind an after image of you for 1-2 seconds or until attacked.
- S.T.O.P. (Uncommon): Stop. Take a Breath. Observe. Proceed with intention. This ability grants you significant bonuses to awareness, intelligence and wisdom while active. Also increases cognitive processes as well, creating the perception that time is slowing down. It’s not, your brain is just moving at hyper speed (in a useful way for once).
Skills Included (+10 starting):
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- Combat Casting: You are versed in the art of casting spells while surrounded by the chaos of the battlefield. While in combat your spells are less likely to be disrupted by distractions or outside influences.
- Situational Awareness: Increased detection of threats, traps, and tactical openings. If the name doesn’t give it away, this skill allows you to maximize on your Awareness stat by a significant margin.
- Dual Wielding: You are proficient in using two or more limbs simultaneously to complete different tasks. Useful for a wide variety of situations and is not limited to just combat.
- Quick Reflexes: Enhanced use of Reflexes to avoid things that may wish to harm you...or to quickly and smoothly recover when you inevitably trip over your own two feet.
- Swordsmanship: You are trained in the use of swords of all types. This skill improves your precision, control, and effectiveness when wielding a blade—whether in offense or defense. Applies to anything the system classifies as a sword.
Spells Included:
- Blur (Common - G Grade): Temporarily makes you harder to hit. You’ll look like a regular dune dweller from that book series your species is so fond of making and remaking movies of every ten or so years. You know the one with the rich white guy, who gets betrayed by the other rich white guys and goes on to co-opts the indigenous denizens' religion to convince them to wage a holy war so he can seize control of the drug trade and get revenge against those who betrayed his father.
- Haste (Common - G Grade): Makes you move faster. That’s it. That’s all it does.
—
With that done it was time to move onto using up the rest of my freebies and then decide where I was lacking before spending any creation credits. I had 3 skills, and 3 spells I needed to pick out. There were dozens of skills that looked useful, and even more that just looked weird. I scrolled through a list seeing what jumped out at me
Survival Instinct
MEDIC!
Stealth Mastery
…
Social Chameleon
Danger Sense
Gandalf’s Forbidden Wisdom
…
The Monty Python School of Combat
The Dad Stare
Zen Focus
…
Despite being very tempted by a few I ultimately settled on three skills I thought would give me a high level of adaptability, especially given my desire to wield magic.
—
Mana Control
The ability to wield, refine and regulate magical energies within yourself and the world around you. This skill allows for more efficient casting, reduces risk of spell failure and is foundational for complex spell work.
Mana Shaping
The art of molding and manipulating mana in its most basic primal form. Mana Shaping allows you to generate new magical effects or modify existing ones. Be careful you don’t blow yourself up in the process.
MEDIC!!
This skill measures your ability to administer emergency first aid in high pressure situations. Also gives you a degree of ability to come up with ‘creative’ solutions and jury rig medical equipment when needed. Damn it, you may not be a doctor, but you can certainly make a x-ray machine out of some tin foil, duct tape and a Zeraphon’s pancreas.
—
I was about to open the spell menu when a thought struck me. "Architect?" I called into the void.
"Present." The voice materialized with its owner—the Architect stood before me, and though I knew with absolute certainty he hadn't been there a second earlier, my mind insisted he'd occupied that exact spot all along.
"I need to know," I said, leaning forward, "are there any tracking spells? Something that could help me find a specific person?"
The Architect's eyes flickered with something ancient. "Your wife," he said, not a question but a statement. I nodded anyway, my throat suddenly dry. "There are no options that would locate her during initial integration. By the time such abilities become available..." His voice trailed off, resonating with meanings I couldn't quite grasp. "The point will be moot."
The void around us... shifted. Not a sound exactly, but a vibration that passed through reality itself, making my skin prickle with goosebumps.
"Hush," the Architect whispered, not to me but to the endless nothing surrounding us. The command wasn't loud, but the void stilled immediately, like a vast ocean calming at a single word.
My heart hammered against my ribs. "Did you just—" I swallowed hard. "Are you a god?"
His laugh wasn't human — it rippled outward in concentric circles of light that passed through me, leaving echoes of emotions I had no names for.
"No." The word hung in the air, crystalline and perfect. "Why would I ever wish to limit myself to something so small?"
The vastness of what stood before me finally began to sink in. Whatever the Architect was, he existed on a scale that made gods seem like children playing with toys.
"I don't suppose you'll elaborate?" My voice sounded small even to my own ears.
"No, I don’t think I will. Not yet anyways. Elena is almost done." And then he was gone—not departed, but never there, the memory of his presence folding into impossibility even as I tried to hold onto it.
I blinked at the interface before me, suddenly aware of how desperately I needed coffee to process what had just happened.
Without anything else to do, I focused back on the spell selection. There were ALOT of options. Despite my deepest desire to pick fireball and ‘Go HAM’ on everything, as the coolest of kids would say, I resisted. I know. Being an adult sucks.
Some spells were clearly designed by bureaucratic sadists: one conjured paperwork that victims had to complete (in triplicate) before doing literally anything else. Even a single mistake and they had to restart the entire process and fill out an additional form. Another trapped people in that eternal sneeze-purgatory where your face is stuck in constant pre-achoo sensation for its duration. My personal favorite summoned an elemental composed of woeful lost socks. Its mournful cries for its cotton soulmate could drive listeners to madness. A singular line from that spell haunted me as I read it: The Dimension of Lost Socks is real, and it hates us all.
Eventually I found a few that really stood out to me.
—
Chrono Shard (Epic - G Grade)
A Ranged Magic Attack (60 ft). Hurls a sliver of frozen time that strikes a target for force damage and can cause the person to "stutter" in time for a second causing them to become disoriented briefly. It appears like a a glassy sliver of warped light that leaves a doppler trail behind it.
Fracture Zone (Epic - G Grade)
10-ft radius (centered on point within 60 ft). You rupture time and space in an area. Enemies caught in the zone have distorted movement, taking damage if they move or take actions that manipulate time/space (teleport, dash, haste, etc.).
Abyssal Embers (Epic - G Grade)
Creates a sphere of cold, silent embers that radiate abyssal energy. Anything these embers touch ignite into black flames that consume both light and warmth, dealing fire damage that ignores mundane resistances and saps the strength of any magical effect.
—
I paused to survey my character build. This felt…excessive. I’d unlocked multiple starting skills, five spells, and over half a dozen traits and abilities—and I hadn’t even spent any creation credits yet.
I called The Architect again, and he materialized beside me. “How much of this is thanks to [Progenitor’s Boon] and [Wired Differently]? This seems like way more than usual.”
“Don’t forget your bond,” he reminded me. “It boosts your rewards based on shared experience with Elena—it’s currently split 50/50.” Of course—I’d never factored that in.
“But to answer your question,” he continued, “your boon is driving most of these bonuses. This isn’t a normal starting package, and once you leave this space, those boon perks disappear. You’ll still have other multipliers later on, though.”
I nodded. “Got it. So I’ve used all my rewards on gear, but I haven’t touched my creation credits. Any recommendations? Elena must be done soon—she’ll want to move on.”
“She is done and has agreed to finalize her choices once she has spoken with you. I can suggest traits and abilities you might miss if you browse alone—ones aligned with your affinities and experiences will cost less. You could also spend credits on high-power items — I have a shortlist. Or, more radically, you could change your starting species.”
Wait, really?” I said. I hadn’t seen that option anywhere.
“You can, though with your current credit balance you wouldn’t be able to afford anything too extreme. You would still end up something human adjacent.” he replied
Hmmm. I thought. As cool as that sounded, I could only imagine Elena’s reaction if I showed up as a half human, half dragon or something similar. Best not to risk it. Again, adulting sucked.
“No,” I decided. “Show me traits and abilities. I’d rather invest in things that grow with me than items I’ll outgrow. And I’d like some stealth—nothing ninja-master level, but enough to set ambushes or sneak past monsters.”
He nodded and my display shimmered and rearranged itself. There were some very odd suggestions here - and he was right, most of them I wouldn’t have even thought to look at. Traits that granted me additional limbs, which would sync well with [Ambidexterity], but I wasn’t sure how I felt about adding in extra body parts into the mix. Another trait granted me literal eyes in the back of my head — nope. Way to Eldritch horror for my liking.
Finally I found a trait that caught my attention.
—
Arcane Sense (Legendary)
Want to see Mana? Watch the ebb and flow of magic as it spirals into the space between spaces? Who wouldn’t? You. That’s who. You weren’t content to just see magic, you had to go and stare into The Great Storm and revel in the true form of a Xan'drath. These experiences have given you more than a meager mana sense, but the ability to perceive the fundamental energies that underlie reality. Aether? Check. Vitalis? Sure why not! Lumen, Umbra, Anima, Physis — all those esoteric forces scholars have spent lifetimes trying to comprehend and classify? Abso-forking-lutely! Also unlocks the Arcane affinity (Uncommon). HINT: Increasing this affinity will significantly increase the benefits of this trait.
Arcane Affinity (Uncommon)
You’ve peered into the raw source code of reality — and it peered right back. The Arcane is pure potential, the tangled storm of energy at the heart of creation that births every spell, element, and miracle in existence. To understand the Arcane is to thin the boundary between caster and cosmos — to cease casting spells and to begin rewriting reality to your will. Be careful not to loose yourself in the process.
—
Oh hell yes. I thought. That sounds awesome. It would eat up more than half of my creation credits but it didn’t sound like something I might get a chance to pick again.
I continued my search and with The Architect’s help found two more traits and a stealth skill that seemed perfect.
—
Draconian Senses (Rare)
The blood of dragons courses through your veins, or at least it does now. Whether due to some distant relation or just a life long obsession with these creatures, the system has decided to give you a taste of true draconic strength. Your senses have awakened. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and any other sense are all dramatically enhanced, granting you a significant increase in perception of your environment. While not truly on par with a real dragon, you’re one step closer.
NOTE: This trait may result in minor cosmetic changes.
—
My heart raced with excitement. Dragons had captivated me since childhood—those majestic, scale-armored behemoths soaring through skies, unleashing infernos that could melt stone. I'd devoured every book, watched every film, collected figures until my shelves sagged under their weight.
Only the hoarding aspect gave me pause. I pictured real dragons lounging atop mountains of gold while others starved—not unlike certain tech moguls in their glass towers. The mental image of certain billionaires fleeing from a pack of goblins, platinum credit cards fluttering uselessly behind them, pulled a smirk across my face.
The "minor cosmetic changes" warning flickered briefly in my mind before being overwhelmed by the potential benefits. This trait would amplify my situational awareness and [Arcane Sense] abilities—a perfect combination for what lay ahead.
—
Just a Flesh Wound (Rare)
Do you think they knew just how ingrained this expression would become in your culture? Hint: they didn’t, but they weren’t upset at it either. This trait significantly increases your natural healing and regeneration. You won’t be regrowing limbs any time soon, and it won’t save you from significant damage to any vital organs, but you will be able to recover from physical injuries at a greatly accelerated rate.
—
That will pair nicely with [Blood to Blood] which allows me to use my own health pool to heal Elena — it also didn’t have a distance limitation like most of the healing spells I’d come across.
—
Veiled Movement
You excel at blending seamlessly into your surroundings, whether in dense wilderness, shadowy ruins or underground lairs. Using terrain, natural cover, and practiced movement, you can evade detection, break line of sight, and move unnoticed by enemies.
This skill enhances your ability to set ambushes, scout undisturbed, and reposition without drawing attention—making you the ideal battlefield observer or silent hunter. Provides a bonus when preparing tactical strikes from concealment.
—
This stealth skill might be more situational than others I'd considered, but it perfectly matched my playstyle. I've never enjoyed the sneaky-thief archetype, but I'd spent countless hours in games stalking through dense forests and crumbling ruins to ambush unsuspecting enemies. I chose to start with a +5 proficiency, which left just enough creation credits to acquire a particular item that had caught my eye earlier.
After finalizing my purchase, I glanced at the Architect. "So I just need to handle these gear tokens now, right?"
"Correct," he nodded. "Simply activate them and your equipment will materialize. No additional menus or selections required."
Thank goodness for small mercies. Rationally, I knew we'd only spent a couple hours in this integration space, but the endless decisions had made it feel like an eternity. I retrieved the tokens from my inventory and held them out. They dissolved into particles of light, and suddenly I found myself outfitted in a complete set of armor and clothing. Just as I began to examine my new gear, the space around us violently distorted.
Ability assignment error - [Imaginary Friend (Uncommon)]
User request exceeds ability and power level of skill…
Attempting to compensate…
My stomach dropped. "What the hell is happening?"
The Architect's fingers danced frantically across invisible keys, his usually composed face tightening. "Elena... she must have lost her patience and confirmed her choices. The system's struggling with reconciling her [Imaginary Friend] ability parameters."
"Let me guess — it manifests her imaginary friend?" When he nodded, my throat went dry. "Christ.” I muttered, running my hands through my hair. “Her 'friend' isn't just one entity. It's an endless army of sisters that shifts constantly. Sometimes there's two, sometimes 'a trillion bajillions.' Each has unique powers, and some are..." I swallowed hard. "...violent."
"That would explain it." His voice had lost its certainty. "The system can't possibly accommodate that complexity at her level. The power requirements alone would be..."
The space warped sickeningly, and suddenly we stood beside Elena in the star-void where we'd begun. Her small fingers were white-knuckled around Baby, her wide eyes reflecting cascading error messages. The black leather jacket and rainbow dress she now wore seemed to flicker at the edges.
"Dad?" Her voice quavered. "Everything went crazy when I picked my skills. The screen's glitching and I can't make it stop."
The Architect cut me off before I could speak, his tone unnervingly grave. "The System cannot reconcile your ability's requirements. I'm searching for alternatives, but if I am unable to..." He hesitated. "The ability may be sundered or sealed permanently."
I had no idea what either of those meant but they didn’t sound good. Before I could ask further, the stars above blinked and revealed two awe-inspiring suns - one an iridescent mix of blue and purple that seemed to shift and fold upon itself, evoking a sense of untapped mystery and intrigue — like it contained an infinite number of stories waiting to be told. The other sun was a brilliant white that radiated with a prismatic brilliance, bursting with an endless curiosity and joy that left me in awe of the vast world we inhabit.
The warmth of the suns radiated onto our skin, creating a comforting heat that felt both familiar and welcoming. The air surrounding the suns carried a faint scent of ozone and fresh rain, as if standing in the middle of a thunderstorm. The metallic tang of the unknown mingled with the clean scent of nature, creating a unique aroma that filled the star space.
Unauthorized Primordial presence detected…
Emergency permission granted by [The Architect]…
…
[Dreamscape] and [Infinite Wonder] are offering sponsorship of [Imaginary Friend (Uncommon)]…
Awaiting for [Elena Alighieri] consent…
Consent granted…
Ability being adjusted…
New ability generated — [Imaginary Friends (Mythic)]
The two suns, once so bright and radiant, disappeared into darkness, leaving a black void in their place. The stars and galaxies seemed to dim in comparison, shrouded by the sudden absence of the suns' vibrant light.
“What just happened?” I asked, completely befuddled.
“When the system was unable to grant Elena the ability as it was outlined in its description it must have caught the attention of both Dreamscape and Infinite Wonder. That skills touches on the domain of both of them.”, he paused for a second thinking. “It’s complicated but essentially they offered to pay the price to run the ability and modified it to something Elena could manage at her current level.”
My stomach knotted. Had my daughter unwittingly bound herself to cosmic entities I knew nothing about?
As if reading my mind, the Architect raised a reassuring hand. "The arrangement only affects the ability itself—not Elena personally. She remains entirely her own."
Elena tugged at my sleeve, practically bouncing. "Dad, stop looking so worried! Look at what my ability can do now—it's amazing!"
—
Imaginary Friends (Mythic)
You’ve always wanted a kid sister. Someone to take care of. To play with. Unfortunately your parents refused to cooperate with your wishes. So you made your own. And you made a lot of them. Now call forth your army of siblings and set them loose upon the world to do your bidding — that’s how sisterhood works right?
You may now summon a number of sisters equaling 1 + your level / 5 (rounding down). Each summoning slot has a cool down of 24 hours. Each sister will remain for a duration of X, where X is a weighted average of your Creativity, Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence. Currently X=11. In order to summon a sister you must have an understanding of their sense of self and any abilities they have. Sisters will maintain a level of autonomy in how they complete tasks, but will remain loyal to you.
A sister’s level can not exceed your own. In order to bypass this you may choose to use multiple summoning spots to increase the level cap by +25% per summoning slot used. Any slots used in this manner will have a cool down equaling = 24 hours * # summoning slots used.
—
I couldn't argue with her assessment. The ability was genuinely impressive. I ran through the math in my head — at level 24, she could summon five sisters of equal level or up to 1 single sister who would be double her level and an entire grade higher. The strategic possibilities alone... I let out a low whistle, imagining Elena's future battles flanked by her supernatural siblings.
Elena's grin lit up her face. "Told you it was cool!"
I ruffled her hair. "Coolest ability in the universe, love." I turned to The Architect. "So those suns were...?"
“Primordials. The Primordial of The Dreamscape and of Infinite Wonder to be precise.”
Elena bounced on her toes. "What's a Primordial?" An excellent question I thought — maybe one that should have been asked before giving them consent to mess around with your abilities. That said, I wisely held my tongue.
The Architect's eyes twinkled with secrets older than stars. "Beings who play by different rules and are much less limited.” The Architect replied cryptically giving me a pointed look.
His expression softened. “And now, it is time for our paths to diverge. Your story begins and it is time for my role in it to come to an end. For now at least.”
I extended my hand, feeling the weight of everything unsaid. "For what it's worth—thanks."
His grip was firm, his nod solemn. Before he could withdraw, Elena launched herself at him in a hug that would have toppled a lesser being. The Architect's surprise melted into a gentle embrace.
"Until we meet again," he whispered.
I clasped Elena's small hand in mine, and the universe turned inside out. Again.