Beginner's Luck: Liminal 3

"What do you mean I will be able to guide and track my resonance?" Fluke now was reaching to his toes, pulling the energy up to his core. His resonance seemed to grow with use, what was at first like yarn being pulled inside his arms and legs, now felt like a light blanket.

"In the Liminal, things are more symbolic, and spiritual. You will see a literal representation of change and growth. In the real world, you will find a guide inside your mask that will help you track change with a schematic and numbers. Now open your eyes."

Fluke opened his eyes and saw that several things had changed in the Liminal. Parche was now laying down under a small sapling. The sapling's trunk spiraled up to almost two meters tall, looking like half a double helix structure. Fluke felt his eyes go wide, and his jaw drop open in amazement. Looking down, at his body, he saw a soft glowing aura around his arms and legs.

"The next step is the hardest. We are going to have you gather your resonance and try to extend your reach to pull in those other patches we saw." The rabbit hopped lazily over to look at the other patches, which prompted Fluke to stand up and follow. Closing his eyes, Fluke began to envision his resonance as an extension of himself. He struggled to come up with a steady image, and as a result his collected resonance became unstable. A wobbling tube of light slowly extended out from his chest, then promptly fell apart. Parche chuckled and shook his head.

"I wanted to see if you could do it on your first try. But unfortunately for you, I foresee hard work and dedication in your future." The rabbit stood up and walked on his hind legs back to the sapling.

Fluke fell back down into a seated position, suddenly being overcome by all the mental exertion. He expected a softer landing onto the sand, but instead he found himself on a hard bed of rocks.

"What is with these rocks Parche? I moved them but now they're back." Fluke picked a jagged rock up and became overwhelmed with emotions and imagery. Visions of blood, carnage, and death flashed through his mind. His heart began racing as he relived the traumatic moments of his first day in the rift. Dropping the rock, he began to tremble, and in a moment Parche was by his side.

"Easy boy. Easy. Breathe. If you need to pet me, I'll allow it." Fluke quickly snatched the rabbit up to try and calm himself.

"EASY I SAID!" Parche grunted out his frustrations, but Fluke began to calm. His petting became less frantic, and his breathing evened out, as the boy kept petting the rabbit, Parche imparted wisdom.

"You can bring Lingots of experience with you to Liminal. But you also bring with emotional baggage, and trauma. This place is tapped directly into your subconscious. Those rocks are physical representations of those traumas. Part of your the potency and skill of your resonance, will come with working through those things you wish to bury. If you move them, they will come back. If you bury them, they will rise to the top eventually. If you cast them off the side, they will find their way back to you and in more... problematic ways. I suggest that you deal with them... soon. Take time to rest, and process those traumas, but don't take too long. Life has a way of slowly overwhelming us, even in the best of times."

Fluke steadied his breathing and nodded as he listened. The sapling had grown even more now, spiraling wider and taller. Fluke looked up into the sky and saw a square of yellow light sitting in the firmament.

"What's up there?" Fluke squinted to try and see better. Parche lifted his head and smiled.

"You are currently working to establish your first tier. That up there is the ground floor of your second tier." Parche flicked his ears, grabbing the boy's attention back to him.

"But that is a long way away. We won't worry about that for some time. Right now, we are working on the basics... I think this has been enough for the night. Don't worry, I am going to put you back into a deep sleep soon. Most of the night still remains. When you come back tomorrow night, we will work some more." Parche hopped out of Fluke's grasp, turned and lightly slapped him on the back of the head. Fluke felt his eyes grow heavy, and he slid into a deep slumber.

___________________________________________________

When Fluke awoke, he wasn't outside anymore. He found himself still in the sleeping bag, but now he was inside the Librarian's house. The vague memories of his dream came to his mind and then began to fade. He remembered focusing his resonance and began to do the same here in reality. The energy trickled into his hand, and after what seemed like an eternity, he eventually had the same feelings of energy all over his body. When he opened his eyes, there was no aura to be found. Shrugging to himself, he pulled himself upright in bed. He felt rested, despite having such lucid dreams in the night. A thought occurred at that moment and he excitedly rummaged through the sleeping bag to find his mask. Putting it on, a message appeared in front of him:

*New Status Update*

Focusing on it, the message disappeared and he found himself looking at a new read out of information:

Mind: 1

Body: 1

Resonance: 1

Usable Potential Energy Detected- Status: Unlocked

Mask Tier: 1

Emblem: Insight

Use Potential Energy? Yes/No

His eyes stopped on the new underlined update. The potential energy had been locked before, now it was unlocked and asking him if he wanted to use it. Focusing on the 'Yes', the mask changed its menu and display:

Potential Energy: 9000

Use all? Yes/No

Mind: 1

Body: 1

Resonance: 1

Mask: 1

His eyes drifted between the 'Yes/No' options. He thought back on his dream, it slipped further from his recollection. The memory of his failed attempt to reach the other islands suddenly came into his mind's eye. Focusing on 'Yes' and then focusing on resonance, Fluke then put all 9000 points into this subcategory. They now read:

Mind: 1

Body: 1

Resonance: 1.9

Mask: 1