The next morning, Nickel sat within the family's private library. Called that due to the existence of the other library in the manor, which was opened to guests.
It was the first time he'd entered it since his parents had gone missing.
This library, in combination with the vault beneath the manor, contained everything the Silvers had built. It was their legacy.
He couldn't bring himself to stand before it. Not when he still believed he would only let that legacy down. But things were different now.
So here he was.
Within this library was, among other things, all of the information the Silver Family possessed about their Aspect of the Destroyer.
Nickel had come here to lean upon the knowledge of his ancestors.
Some nine thousand years ago, the progenitor of the Silver Family, Cassimir Silver, awakened the Blood of Gula Aspect. And in the years since, the family had tested, researched, and studied their hereditary Aspect.
The first thing Nickel sought information about was his Aspect ability, [Devour].
From his reading, it seemed that all of the abilities of their Aspect were related to devouring, to consuming something and drawing strength from it. The book said most were limited to a specific target.
It seemed that his Aspect Ability differed. His Aspect was a Tier five, the most powerful type of Aspect one could have.
All Aspects were assigned a Tier by the system, with one being the weakest, and five being the strongest.
A Tier five Aspect was incredibly rare, with the Tier of a person's Aspects being influenced by Pathfinder Rank. The higher your Rank, the more likely you were to awaken a higher Tier Aspect.
Currently, the fourteen Hexes possessed a fifth of all known Tier five Aspects.
And these highest tier Aspects underwent a qualitative change compared to the other four tiers.
This was why Nickel's [Devour] was only a single word, with no other qualifiers. It had no limits on what it could devour. And it's strength was far above that of a tier four ability.
[Devour] had it's downsides though.
It's source was an unending and insatiable hunger, and it responded to emotional triggers.
The silver-black energy that Nickel instinctively lashed out with in the hospital came from his ability.
He would have to make every attempt to remain in control of his emotions, to avoid losing control of his Aspect.
Fortunately, he found several mental techniques within the manor's private library that could help with that.
There were also a few pages instructing one about some of the basic ways to use [Devour].
To his disappointment, there were only those few.
From what Nickel had read about the family's history, specifically their Aspects, [Devour] had only appeared in four others. Cassimir himself, Cassimir's daughter Minerva, and two others. Not nearly often enough for it to be studied very deeply.
Nickel collected the book of control techniques from it's place on the bookshelves, and moved on to his next priority.
His Aspect Attributes.
As mentioned before, the power of a person's Aspect ability was based on the Tier of that Aspect. This also determined the number of Attributes a person gained.
One for Tier one, two for Tier three, and three for Tier five.
The first Attribute granted by the Blood of Gula was [Gluttony].
[Gluttony] awakened a special stat, one that actually was shown on the status screen.
This Gluttony Stat was the Silver family's blessing. It had only one function.
Increasing the efficiency of converting monster cores into Kalna.
Kalna was the essence of ascension. By converting monster cores using a Kalna technique, a Pathfinder would create a reserve of Kalna within their Internal World.
Over time, that reserve would be used to fill their Circle. Everyone required a different amount of Kalna. To fill the First Circle would require 1,000 to 1,500 Kalna. Those with greater potential had larger Circles, so they of course needed more Kalna.
The benefit of filling one's Circle was that, for every whole percentage that was filled, one's stats would increase by one percent.
After fully filling their circle, a Pathfinder would have become twice as strong, twice as fast, they would have twice the mana capacity, and twice the control of that mana. And they would have the key to unlocking the Second Gate.
And this would build upon itself. Completing the Second Circle would triple one's stats, completing the Third would quadruple, then quintuple, and so on, and on, until one completed the Seventh Circle.
There were differences based on race, but that was an explanation for later.
Back to the actual mechanics of the Gluttony stat.
The Gluttony stat could increase how much Kalna Nickel received from each core, up to double the core's standard amount.
So, how did he increase this miraculous stat?
By consuming monster cores. Literally.
He would have to swallow the cores directly in order to increase it, with each one providing a certain percentage of it's value.
And from what his father used to tell him, they tasted awful.
There was a limit to this growth, however. He could benefit from consuming the core of each type of monster only so many times, the number of which depended on the strength of the monster.
He would probably be able to swallow around half the goblin cores he had, but may only be able to take in a single manticore core.
Now, all of this seemed like a great boon, one that should have made the Silver family supremely powerful.
Which brings us to the reason they weren't. The second Attribute every Silver gained.
[Voracious Vessel].
If [Gluttony] was a blessing, [Voracious Vessel] was both a blessing and a curse.
It increased the size of one's Mana Vessel, and one's Circle.
The increase to the Mana Vessel wasn't so bad. Sure, the amount of time it took to fully regenerate mana became incredibly long, but in Nickel's case, he had nearly five times the amount of mana he would have otherwise had.
Coupled with the fact his Mana Vessel had already grown massively once the seal was removed, he had more mana than he would probably ever need. At least, more than he'd need at one time.
It was the increase to the size of his Circle that was the curse.
3,000.
That was how much Kalna he needed to fully fill his First Circle.
And each greater Circle required three times the Kalna as the one before it.
As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, the Silver family were dragons. And that came with it's own advantages and disadvantages.