Devin studied the shiny object in his hand.

  “Can I really enhance someone with this keystone?” he said.

  “Yes,” Milo said.

  “Well, that’s freaking awesome. But you and Casey are already enhanced. Would it help either one of you?”

  “No.”

  “What about Lee?” he said.

  “He’d have to be awake to give permission,” Milo said. “When the enhancement process is initiated, both the owner and the target are notified of the target’s odds of succeeding and surviving the enhancement. At that point, both parties must agree to move forward.”

  “Surviving?” Devin said. “You mean it can kill you?”

  “In the most extreme failures, yes,” Milo said. “It’s more likely that a failure will simply destroy the enhancement crystal. However, if an individual is particularly unsuited for enhancement, the chance of death could be very high.”

  “I don’t remember giving any kind of permission,” Devin said.

  “You’re a special case.”

  Devin’s eyebrows shot up as more questions came into his head.

  Milo looked up at the sky. “That’s all I can say about it.”

  Devin frowned and tried again to remember how he’d gotten to Senarci. Every time he approached the subject, Milo got evasive.

  Devin pushed the thought aside and opened his Automap. The area around the farm was no longer a series of lines and shapes. It was a full color rendering of everything, like a painter took a shot from Google Earth and turned it into a work of art. Icons appeared on the map for his companions and the crystal. There were even a few small red x’s scattered around. Devin zoomed in on one.

  Eastern Copperhead (Snake, Unenhanced, Indifferent)

  It’s a snake. It’s poisonous. Don’t go poking it with a stick and you’ll be fine.

  He expanded outwards. About 100 meters away from the farm, the artwork ended, and it went back to being a boring map.

  “This is wild,” Devin said. “Can you see all of this, too?”

  “Yes,” Milo said. “As your party member, I receive the same benefits. I can’t exert the same control over the area, though.”

  “I control all this?” Devin said. He spun around in a circle and took the area in. “What can I do with it?”

  “Probably not much at the moment,” Milo said. “You’ll get some passive benefits. Your best Skills will be amplified. In your case, that’ll mean hiding, fighting, and, of course, luck. No one will be able to use magic to locate or target you unless they can see you. None of an enemy Guide’s powers would work, for example.”

  “So, it’s a home-field advantage. Got it.” Devin frowned. “I assume Felle controls some of these crystal nodes?”

  “Yes,” Milo said. “There’s no way to tell but based on his level of power and control, I suspect it’s at least a half a dozen. Probably closer to 10.”

  “That’s less than I’d have thought,” Devin said. For a moment, he’d been worried about trying to travel through a country littered with crystals that would tell his enemy where he was.

  “The levels of the nodes matter, too,” Milo said. “This one is Copper. I suspect the Patriarch’s network contains nothing lower than Silver.”

  “Is that my mission here?” Devin said. “To find Felle’s nodes and steal them?”

  “You don’t have anything as simple as a ‘mission,” Milo said. “However, finding more nodes will be a key part to our advancement. We should focus on unclaimed nodes for now.”

  “Why?” Devin said. “Wouldn’t flipping his nodes reduce his power while ours grew?”

  “You can’t take an enemy’s node without giving them a chance to fight you,” Milo said. “We’re not prepared to take on the Patriarch directly. There should be many unclaimed nodes in Teth, and your Compass Boost will allow us to find them without too much trouble.”

  Devin nodded. “Fair enough. Tell me about this Astral Hall. Is it another thing I control?”

  “Yes. An Astral Hall is a safe location to rest and plan. It’s even more secure than an area of control, because no one can reach it without your permission. It’s on another plane.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Devin’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me I already have an extra-planar fortress?”

  “It’s more like an extra-planar apartment. A Copper-level Astral Hall has a total area of 100 square meters.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “Touch the crystal and you’ll get the option. Normally a network owner can’t take anyone with them, but your party Boost allows Casey and me the same abilities.”

  “Is that unusual? For multiple people to be able to use something like this?”

  “It’s certainly not common.”

  “Is there some sort of healing station there?” Devin said. “Or a store where we can buy something to heal Casey?”

  “It’s unlikely,” Milo said.

  “So that won’t help her.” Devin bit his lip. “Can we come back through?”

  “We should be able to leave through this node,” Milo said. “Eventually. Things can get complicated on your first trip to the Hall.”

  “Complicated how?” Devin said.

  “You’re entering another realm of existence,” Milo said. “The Astral realm is sort of like Switzerland during World War 2 on your world. It’s a neutral place that beings from different planes can visit. Powerful beings in adjoining realms will know that you’ve arrived in the Astral. Some of them may decide to visit your Hall and attempt to interact with you.”

  “I thought you said no one could enter without my permission?” Devin said.

  “They can show up at your Hall and request permission to enter,” Milo said. “They won’t be able to harm you in your Astral Hall, but if you offend the wrong ones, it might cause problems down the road.”

  “Higher powers? You mean, like gods and guiding powers?” Devin said.

  “Gods, guiding powers, demons, wizards,” Milo said. “All those and more.”

  Devin considered the situation. It was obvious he was supposed to go to this Astral Hall, but he didn’t like not knowing what would happen next.

  “How did these farmers miss this node?” he said. “Are they invisible or something?”

  “To people who don’t have crystal affinity, yes,” Milo said. “The nodes act to protect themselves from discovery by anyone who can’t interact with them. The outbuilding that caught your attention would have seemed unremarkable to anyone without the potential affinity. Even the family that’s lived here for decades would’ve never noticed it. You had that potential, but you needed to touch the node to activate it. I was unable to help you with that beyond the most basic of advice.”

  Devin frowned as he tried to imagine living on a farm his whole life without noticing a building right in the middle of it.

  “So, the tree animated because it knew I had a crystal affinity?”

  “Yes. Had you not possessed that potential, it would have remained an old, rotting tree. The only influence it exerted on the Winsleys was keeping them from thinking to cut it down. Magical guardians protect all unclaimed nodes, but they only fully manifest when the node is in danger of being integrated.”

  Devin frowned. “You were here before that, though. It didn’t manifest for you.”

  “I don’t have crystal affinity. It’s extremely rare, even among enhanced.”

  “Is it genetic?” Devin said. “Do we even have genes here?”

  “Of course we have genes,” Milo said. “Where do you think you are?”

  “I notice you didn’t answer the other part of that question.”

  Milo sniffed. “I have no idea what you mean.”

  Devin sighed. They made their way back to where Casey and Lee lay.

  “I don’t suppose we can add Lee to the party and take him with us to the Hall?” Devin said.

  “You could add him to the party, but unenhanced cannot enter the Astral Hall. He would be returned here in a more weakened state from having made the attempt.”

  “So, what’s your advice?” Devin said.

  “We seem to have three options,” Milo said. “Stay here, travel elsewhere for help, or the three of us travel to the Astral Hall. I don’t have enough data to calculate which option presents the highest chance of success, but the safest would be to use Kwaku’s Compass again.”

  Devin thought about it, then shook his head. “No. That Boost sent us here for a reason, and I doubt we’re supposed to claim the node then walk away.”

  “So, we’re going through?” Milo said. Devin thought he heard a note of approval in the cat’s tone, but it might have been his imagination.

  “Hang on,” Devin said. “I want to get my shards first.”

  It took less than a minute for him to petition Rainford and get his shards. He said a brief prayer for Casey while he was at it. He was concerned it would tie him to Rainford, but if that’s what it took to save her, he’d do it.

  He only got a few shards, but it was something. His Might had gone up one point for cleaning out the outbuilding.

  “We’ll have to hope we can come back for Lee,” Devin said. He thought about it. “Maybe there’s something we can do for him. You said there were neighbors?”

  “Yes.”

  “I saw some people near the edge of the node area, but they ran away,” Devin said. “It’s too bad I can’t rewind time to see what happened before I took over the crystal.”

  “If you could do that, then the next person who takes over your crystal could snoop on everything you did while the crystal was yours,” Milo said.

  Devin shuddered. “Good point. Can I rewind to any time while the crystal is mine, though?”

  “You would need a Skill for that,” Milo said. “Probably in the Dimensional sphere. So, no.”

  Devin sighed.

  “But, if you want to see who those people were, there’s probably a log in your character sheet,” Milo said.

  Devin frowned. He should have thought of that. It only took him a few seconds to find the correct log.

  Tethian Farmers (Humans, Unenhanced, Terrified)

  “I bet it’s the Winsley’s neighbors,” he said. “We could go out and try to talk to them.”

  “I suspect they would run away,” Milo said. “Of course, we could easily chase them down.”

  Devin sighed. “No. I don’t want to terrorize the neighbors. We’ll leave a message and hope they find it.”

  He found a stick and smoothed out a patch of dirt next to where Lee lay. He started to sketch a letter, then stopped.

  “Everyone here is illiterate,” he said.

  “Correct.”

  “Well, that’s frustrating,” Devin said.

  He considered his options. He wasn’t much of an artist, but a drawing was the only way he could think of to leave a message. He drew a sky with the best representation he could of the current position of the sun. He had to redraw it three times before Milo was able to tell what it was. He placed the empty bottle under the drawing. He took his Weak Healing Potion and placed it on the other side of the drawing, with an arrow circling around to the same position.

  “I’m sure the neighbors will come check things out once we’re gone,” Devin said. “Casey said most people know about cooldowns, so hopefully they’ll understand what my drawing means and hold off on giving him the potion until this time tomorrow. It’s the best I can do. And look! I got a Creativity point.”

  Milo tilted his head at the drawing. “That was … generous.”

  Devin rolled his eye. He lifted Casey over his back in a fireman’s carry.

  “We’ll be back for you, Lee,” he said.

  He hoped it was a promise he could keep. He carried Casey to the crystal and placed his hand against it.