by Isaac Hooke
Essenceworks available to Dark Siphoning, Level 7.
Imprint Location: Metieus Prime, Anulis System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 63.46451452, 123.85239725.
Builder:
Create Beacon. Mark an object with a beacon. Once marked, the Essenceworker can open a tunnel to the immediate vicinity of that object. Only one object can be marked with a beacon at any given time. Stamina drain: extremely high. Creation time: one hour.
Amaranth:
Renewal. A way to reinvigorate one’s body. Requires drawing the Dark Essence through a large piece of Darcanium. Cannot be used within an Essence Link. Stamina drain: high. Creation time: 5 minutes, though the age-reversing effects become apparent within the first thirty seconds.
Dark and White Essenceworks
List of known Dark and White Mixing Essenceworks passed down to Tane from Tiberius Tribulantes
Available only to those rare human individuals who can Siphon both the White and Dark Essence. Such as you, Bender of Worlds.
Because of the time required to create a work of the Dark, the combined works are delayed for however long it takes to create the Dark portion. The White Essence must be added in while the Dark work forms. Because White Essence cannot be held in reserve, when the combined work is completed, it must be released immediately.
Higher levels in each work listed below reduce the creation time.
Note: the Essencework lists for levels two through six are currently locked, and will be revealed once the associated dark artifacts are accessed.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 1.
Imprint Location: Kharikhan V, Abakan System. Universal Polar Coordinates: -109.67251482, -3.72439967.
Repel Nanotech. While active, prevents nanotech from attaching to your cerebral cortex and motor control centers, so that if an enemy such as a dweller or human injects controlling nanotech, a control chip will never form. At level one, this “repel” effect remains active a full minute after creation. The work will also remove any existing control chips formed by nanotech that have been previously injected. The removal is selective, leaving other helpful chips in place. Stamina drain: medium. Creation time: two minutes. Note: this work can also be used on another subject, however physical contact is required between the Essenceworker and the recipient.
Infuse Oxygen. Infuses a ten cubic-meter volume with oxygen. The rectangular volume can be centered around you, or positioned so that the volume begins up to one meter anywhere around you. At higher levels, a bigger volume can be created, and it can be moved farther away. Stamina drain: low. Creation time: thirty seconds.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 2.
Imprint Location: Neomalgam, Tavoc System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 16.78935482, -23.87839274.
Contents hidden until unlocked.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 3.
Imprint Location: Neomalgam, Tavoc System. Universal Polar Coordinates: -74.68626482, 101.04554967.
Contents hidden until unlocked.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 4.
Imprint Location: Neomalgam, Tavoc System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 3.30911788, 91.35927256.
Contents hidden until unlocked.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 5.
Imprint Location: Epsilon Kaitos, Xochiquetzal System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 45.57212165,-132.13560145.
Contents hidden until unlocked.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 6.
Imprint Location: Delta Kaitos, Xochiquetzal System. Universal Polar Coordinates: 12.14620124, 169.52910729.
Contents hidden until unlocked.
Essenceworks available to Dark and White Mixing, Level 7.
Imprint Location: Roma II, New Capri System. Universal Polar Coordinates: -63.52310177, -54.36516174.
Inter-dimensional Distortion Tunnel. The ability to travel back and forth between Umanitar—humanity’s universe—and the Umbra. You and a nearby circle of friends are brought back to the same place in Umanitar as you exist in the Umbra, and vice versa. Stamina requirements: extremely high. Creation time: 10 minutes.
Essence Reservoir Creation. The ability to create an Essence reservoir and apply an Essencework of your choice to it, either White, Dark, or a combination of both. Accessible upon touch to anyone with the skill to siphon both White and Dark (i.e.: essentially only you). Stamina requirements: extremely high. Creation time: 1 hour, plus the time necessary to form the Essencework to trigger.
Skills
Partial list of publicly available skills
General:
Chip database upgrade. Learn what they are hiding from you! Identify most weapon types and human classes, in addition to some alien. Level 2 will allow you to ID all known alien and weapon types. Level 3 IDs all known alien ship types.
Detect trap. The thief’s specialty! Useful when disarming trap in storage vaults and containers. Also provides a chance to detect any traps hidden in walls and floors.
Hacking. Leave your hammer at home! Break into shops, cars, low-level vaults, and more!
Hot-wire. Steal the vehicle of your dreams! Note: Not for the moral of heart. But since you’re shopping at my store, I assume your morals are probably somewhat questionable anyway.
Vehicular:
Land vehicle pilot. Learn how to drive. Required to operate land vehicles. Increasing levels provide for more aggressive driving skills.
Shuttle pilot. Let’s fly baby! Operate everything from flyer taxis to starship shuttles.
Sneak. If at first you don’t succeed, hide! Improved chance of hiding in the shadows to avoid detection. Can also sneak up on enemies without drawing attention to yourself.
Sprint. When you can’t fight an enemy, run! Increases movement speed on run.
Swimming. Never drown again! Learn the breaststroke, the front crawl, and the backstroke.
Starfighter pilot. Now you’re playing with some serious firepower. Learn how to operate starfighters; higher levels unlock a greater range of fighters.
Starship operations. Learn your way around a starship cockpit! High levels unlock different ship types.
Combat:
Battle armor. Looking to wear some battle armor? You’ll have to learn how to use it, first! Required to equip enchanted battle armor. Increasing levels improve mind-body connection between brain and armor, allowing for higher armor protection levels.
Battlefield medicine. Everyone loves a doc! Learn how to use everything available inside military grade med kits.
Cardiovascular and endocrine mastery. Don’t let that heart rate abate! Learn how to control your heart, lung, and endocrine system like a pro.
Grenadier. Kaboom! Improved bonuses to target accuracy, damage, and critical hit probability. Eligibility: all grenade types.
Mech pilot. No shoes, no mech, no service. Required to operate mech machines. Increasing levels offer more advanced fighting techniques. Different specializations available for mech types.
Mixed Martial Arts. Never lose a street fight again! Learn a mixture of Jujitsu, Karate, and Kung Fu, with emphasis on grappling techniques.
Pain Control. Be the master of your own domain! Block out most pain.
Pistoleer. Hit that ten ring! Use pistol weapons. Eligibility: laser and plasma pistols.
Sharpshooting. Kill bugs dead! Use rifles. Eligibility: laser and plasma rifles.
Small unit tactics. For those who always wanted to join the TSN but never could! Learn how to fight in a unit.
Essence:
General:
Chrysalium Forging. Make equipment out of processed Chrysalium. Higher levels are required to make weapons and armor such as beam hilt and battle dress.
Chrysalium Siphoning. Needed to Siphon the White Essence through Chrysalium.
Darcanium Siphoning. Required to Siphon the Dark Essence through Darcanium.
Dark Artifac
t Control. Needed to control the Dark Artifacts Tane finds scattered throughout the Umbra.
Dark Siphoning. Needed to Siphon the Dark Essence, or Arcanum.
Dark and White mixing. The ability to mix both White and Dark Essence to form a hybrid work of both universes.
Essence Sight. During Siphoning, allows you to place your perspective outside your body. At higher levels, the range increases.
Traveling Essence Sight. Allows you to dispatch Essence sight anywhere. Range determined by skill level, or amount of Essence currently Siphoning (i.e. like most Essence skills, it is boosted by Siphoning through Chrysalium)
White Essence Linking. The ability to grant another Essenceworker access to your Essence. At higher skill levels, you can accept Essence from others (the higher your level, the more people you can accept Essence from).
White Siphoning. Necessary to Siphon the White Essence, or Esoterum.
Combat:
Beam Hilt Control. Learn how to use the warmancer’s favorite weapon. Because the beam hilt can launch Essence bolts, it is favored by ranged specialists and hand-to-hand alike.
Chrysalium Sword Control. Learn how to use the warmancer’s second favorite weapon. Favored by hand-to-hand specialists.
Starship-specific:
Essence Deflector Control. Required to operate the Essence deflector aboard a starship (deflects incoming Essence lances).
Essence Disruptor Control. Necessary to operate the Essence disruptor aboard a starship (stops enemies from jumping).
Essence Jump Chamber Control. Needed for the operation of a starship’s jump chamber (allows for interstellar travel).
Essence Lance Control. A must have if you want to operate a starship’s Essence lance (fires a large lance of Essence at an enemy, capable of penetrating their energy shields).
Afterword
Please help spread the word about Bender of Worlds by leaving a one or two sentence review. The number of reviews an ebook receives has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review. Anything will do, even one or two lines.
Thank you!
Also, as usual, if you’d like to see a sequel to Bender of Worlds, let me know in the reviews. There are a few different series of mine in the pipeline, but if enough readers chime in, I’ll focus all of my efforts on this one.
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Isaac Hooke holds a degree in engineering physics, though his more unusual inventions remain fictive at this time. He is an avid hiker, cyclist, and photographer who sometimes resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Get in touch:
isaachooke.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
THANK YOU to my knowledgeable beta readers and advanced reviewers who helped smooth out the rough edges of the prerelease manuscript: Nicole P., Karen J, Jeremy G., Doug B., Jenny O., Amy B., Bryan O., Lezza, Noel, Anton, Spencer, Norman, Trudi, Corey, Erol, Terje, David, Charles, Walter, Lisa, Ramon, Chris, Scott, Michael, Chris, Bob, Jim, Maureen, Zane, Chuck, Shayne, Anna, Dave, Roger, Nick, Gerry, Charles, Annie, Patrick, Mike, Jeff, Lisa, Jason, Bryant, Janna, Tom, Jerry, Chris, Jim, Brandon, Kathy, Norm, Jonathan, Derek, Shawn, Judi, Eric, Rick, Bryan, Barry, Sherman, Jim, Bob, Ralph, Darren, Michael, Chris, Michael, Julie, Glenn, Rickie, Rhonda, Neil, Claude, Ski, Joe, Paul, Larry, John, Norma, Jeff, David, Brennan, Phyllis, Robert, Darren, Daniel, Montzalee, Robert, Dave, Diane, Peter, Skip, Louise, Dave, Brent, Erin, Paul, Jeremy, Dan, Garland, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Nathan, Max, Martin, Greg, David, Myles, Nancy, Ed, David, Karen, Becky, Jacob, Ben, Don, Carl, Gene, Bob, Luke, Teri, Robine, Gerald, Lee, Rich, Ken, Daniel, Chris, Al, Andy, Tim, Robert, Fred, David, Mitch, Don, Tony, Dian, Tony, John, Sandy, James, David, Pat, Gary, Jean, Bryan, William, Roy, Dave, Vincent, Tim, Richard, Kevin, George, Andrew, John, Richard, Robin, Sue, Mark, Jerry, Rodger, Rob, Byron, Ty, Mike, Gerry, Steve, Benjamin, Anna, Keith, Jeff, Josh, Herb, Bev, Simon, John, David, Greg, Larry, Timothy, Tony, Ian, Niraj, Maureen, Jim, Len, Bryan, Todd, Maria, Angela, Gerhard, Renee, Pete, Hemantkumar, Tim, Joseph, Will, David, Suzanne, Steve, Derek, Valerie, Laurence, James, Andy, Mark, Tarzy, Christina, Rick, Mike, Paula, Tim, Jim, Gal, Anthony, Ron, Dietrich, Mindy, Ben, Steve, Allen, Paddy & Penny, Troy, Marti, Herb, Jim, David, Alan, Leslie, Chuck, Dan, Perry, Chris, Rich, Rod, Trevor, Rick, Michael, Tim, Mark, Alex, John, William, Doug, Tony, David, Sam, Derek, John, Jay, Tom, Bryant, Larry, Anjanette, Gary, Travis, Jennifer, Henry, Drew, Michelle, Bob, Gregg, Billy, Jack, Lance, Sandra, Libby, Jonathan, Karl, Bruce, Clay, Gary, Sarge, Andrew, Deborah, Steve, and Curtis.
Without you all, this novel would have typos, continuity errors, and excessive lapses in realism. Thank you for helping me make this the best novel possible, and thank you for leaving the early reviews that help new readers find my books.
And of course I’d be remiss if I didn't thank my mother, father, and brothers, whose wisdom and insights have always guided me through the dark paths of the Umbra and beyond.
— Isaac Hooke
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