Chapter 134: Root Abilities

Gavin let the room settle after Niri’s declaration, though Jaxir noticed his eyes lingering on the little girl for a moment longer than before. He eventually pulled several screens across the table and arranged them where everyone could see.

"We already have a training regimen set up, and if we follow it properly, the four of us should reach Elite sometime within the next week.

"We’re aiming higher than that before the operation starts." Gavin expanded one of the schedules and dragged three weeks of routes, dungeons and objectives into view. "The Nightmare Dungeon should open in about three weeks, which gives us enough time to start pushing toward a level beyond Elite before we enter."

Jaxir leaned forward and skimmed the first few routes while Nick did the same from across the table.

"You two are welcome to follow the regimen with us, or we can give you all the information we used to build it and you can work out your own path." Gavin looked between them and added, "Considering where both of you already are, I doubt copying us exactly would be the best use of your time."

Nick’s eyes moved over the first screen, then the second, and his expression slowly changed as he began opening the attached files.

"What the fuck is this?" He dragged another page into view and stared at Gavin. "How the hell are you people so weak when you have all of this?"

Malik laughed while Gavin leaned back without taking offense.

"We started late, and information doesn’t magically give people time." He gestured toward the screens and added, "Most of what you’re seeing also took years to compile, clean up and confirm."

"No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying." Nick opened another section and shoved it toward Jaxir. "I could spend a year reading every forum post ever written and still not have information this comprehensive."

Jaxir skimmed what Nick had opened and quickly understood the reaction. There were dungeon locations, field bosses and quest chains, but those were only the surface-level entries. Deeper sections listed specific enemy combinations, attack orders and strange conditions that could trigger encounters most players probably never knew existed.

"The real elites don’t post this shit." Nick flicked rapidly through several more pages. "You’ve got mob kill orders for hidden region bosses, field boss movement patterns, quest chains with the exact NPC you’re supposed to speak to, and even the dialogue choices needed to keep some of them from locking." His fingers stopped over another section before his eyes narrowed. "You even have files on Naturals?"

Jaxir caught the reaction and glanced toward him. Nick noticed immediately, then closed the file and leaned back without explaining what had bothered him. Jaxir let it go for now and turned back toward Gavin.

"Is there a systematic method of improving Root Abilities?" Jaxir tapped the training plan with one finger. "How did you choose what actually went into this regimen?"

"Good question." Gavin turned toward Mina and nodded in her direction. "You want to explain this part?"

Mina pulled one of the screens closer and rested her forearms on the table.

"Root Abilities are the foundation holding everything else in your Class up, and there are parts of them you won’t properly sense until your mana becomes strong enough." She raised a finger before continuing. "That can mean its Level, its quality, or both."

"So some of these routes are for the mana itself?" Jaxir looked toward the item lists attached to several of the objectives. "You’re improving the foundation first, then going back to the Root Abilities afterward?"

"That’s part of it." Mina opened one of the routes and pointed toward several materials marked along the path. "Some of these locations let us grind for items that improve the grade or quality of our mana, which makes certain aspects of our Roots much easier to perceive."

Jaxir nodded and gestured for her to continue. Mina switched to another screen and brought up several Class trees. "The second major factor is your L1 Abilities, since the best evolution for a Root usually depends on how your Path actually uses it."

"So two people with the same Class could take the same Root Ability in different directions." Jaxir immediately thought of Hex and everything it had taught him about Cast, Channel and Attune. "The Path must determine what parts are worth emphasizing."

"Exactly." Mina smiled and tapped the table once. "A Magic player using Hex shouldn’t necessarily develop the same interpretation of Cast as someone following a completely different Magic Path, even if both of them started with the exact same Root."

Jaxir’s attention sharpened as she moved onto the last point. "You said there were three main factors."

He could already see how the first two fit together, though the structure still felt different from the way he had stumbled through his own development.

"The last one might be the most important." Mina sat back and folded her arms. "You have to make the Root Ability your own."

Jaxir raised his eyebrows. "What exactly does that mean?" He had a suspicion, though he wanted to hear how they understood it.

"Root Abilities leave a ridiculous amount of room for interpretation." Mina reached beside her chair and rested a hand against her bow. "I’m Ranged, so my Roots are Aim, Steady and Range. Aim helps me line up attacks, Steady improves my accuracy the longer I remain still, and Range extends the distance where my aim remains effective."

"Simple enough." Jaxir nodded once.

"Exactly, on paper." Mina pointed at him with a small smile. "Take Steady, since that’s the easiest example. Some players interpret it as keeping their entire body still, while others focus on keeping the weapon steady even as they move."

She shifted the bow across her lap and continued before anyone interrupted. "Other people narrow it further and apply Steady almost entirely to their gaze, keeping their eyes locked on the target even while their body and weapon are moving." Her fingers tapped against the grip. "There are even stranger interpretations than that."

"And the more complicated the interpretation, the harder it is to level." Jaxir could already see the tradeoff. "You’re getting more freedom out of the same Root, but you have to work harder to convince the Ability that your interpretation belongs inside it."

Mina’s smile widened.

"That’s basically it." She pulled the training plan back toward herself and added, "So we built the regimen around all three things: improving mana quality, using our L1 Abilities to understand what our Paths need, then putting ourselves into situations that force our Roots toward the interpretation we’ve chosen."

Jaxir looked over the pages again with far more interest than before.

"That’s fascinating."

He hadn’t thought about his progression in anything close to such an organized way, even if he had stumbled into pieces of the same process on instinct.

He pushed his chair back and stood.

"Thanks, but you guys can start without me, and don’t wait up." Jaxir glanced toward the training files one last time and added, "I’ll start working on this soon, but I’ve got something else I need to handle first."

Gavin nodded and began closing the unnecessary screens. "We’ll send you everything anyway, so look through it whenever you have time." Malik stood with him while Mina gathered her bow and Elara started trying to convince Niri that coming along would be more fun than staying behind.

Niri looked ready to follow Jaxir until Elara pulled something small from her inventory and whispered into her ear. Whatever was offered destroyed Niri’s loyalty almost instantly, and she climbed down from her chair without another glance in his direction.

Jaxir shook his head and left the little traitor to her negotiations.

He headed toward the section of the house that had played a large part in choosing this property over the others. Beneath the main floor sat a private training room surrounded by reinforced walls, sealed tightly enough that whatever happened inside wouldn’t announce itself to the rest of the neighborhood. The room also doubled as a bunker, though Jaxir had no intention of using it for either purpose right now.

He closed the heavy door behind him and stepped toward the center of the empty room. With nobody around to watch, Jaxir reached out and summoned Luxy. The old merchant appeared a moment later, her bent frame settling into place as sharp eyes moved across the unfamiliar surroundings.

Jaxir grinned from ear to ear. "I’d like to buy those two herbs for mana potions in bulk, please." Luxy’s eyebrow rose.

"How many?"

Jaxir laughed. "Let’s see if I can swallow up everything you have."