"How long does a Storm generated by Stormcaller last?"
The formula that dictates the length of time that a storm generated by the Skill Stormcaller (Copper (I)) is: x=2y x z/5. In this formula, x equals the number of minutes that the resultant Storm will last, y equals the combined total of how many HP, MP, and Stamina points were spent in the process of channeling the Skill, and z equals the total amount of minutes spent channeling the Skill in the first place, rounded up to the next whole number.
It'd been a while since TJ sat in a math class, or anything like it, so it took him a moment to figure out what exactly the System was telling him. Once he did, he asked another clarifying question to make sure he understood.
"I spent 102 Stamina, 103 HP, and 73 MP. That's… 278. Doubled… 556. It was just one minute on that first try, so multiplied by 1, stays the same. Would be… nine minutes and sixteen seconds for the first time. This time, then, the storm will last twice as long, even though I spent ten times as long preparing it?"
Spending 556 points worth of HP, MP, and Stamina and channeling it into creating a storm with Stormcaller will result in a storm that lasts for 1112 seconds, or 18 minutes and 32 seconds.
TJ sighed and knuckled at his forehead. Disregarding the unimportant fact that the math came much easier to him than he'd expected, and much better than it should have, this all felt rather pointless. He could have just asked that question before, but now, he'd spent so much time and for what? He could have just asked all along. Then, however, another question occurred to him.
"If this storm is going to be only twice as long as the last, then why is it so much stronger?" As soon as he verbalized the question, though, TJ thought he'd found the answer. "The storm will be stronger if you're closer to the top of the channeling time, right? If you want a powerful storm, you use it for as long as you can without going to the next multiple of five, and if you want it long lasting, you just pass the next threshold. But why would you care how comparatively powerful a storm is, if they all give the same benefits?"
TJ didn't receive an answer from the System, but he had a couple other guesses that occurred to him as he continued to think about it. How much he could draw from a storm for Divine Manifestation was the first and most obvious, while fighting against someone else that had a contrasting Divine Authority, or just didn't want him to be able to use his, was another easy option. A more powerful storm would be better, if he could manage it, but increasing the multiplicative nature ever forward seemed like it was a good way to find yourself channeling Stormcaller for days.
"Wait, why couldn't someone with this Skill just use it for a long time, put a bunch of their resources into it, and create a basically permanent storm?"
At the Copper tier of Divine Authority, Stormcaller cannot generate a storm that lasts for more than 24 hours. Any further channeling or sacrifice of personal resources will not do anything, including intensifying the storm, prolonging its existence, or extending its sphere of influence.
Even so, TJ quickly realized how quickly this could spiral. As a stupid piece of trivia, he already knew that a day only had 86,400 seconds, so if someone took an hour and one minute to channel it, they'd only need to spend… 6,650 points worth of resources to make a 24 hour storm. Sure, that was a lot to him right now, but he didn't know what evolving to the next tier would do for his attributes. The logistics of it… TJ shook it from his mind. There was no reason to think so much about something that, as of yet, had no bearing on him. Even so, he was curious.
TJ was about to go into the house to sleep, when a thought occurred to him and he groaned to himself before turning and going towards the firehouse and general store. He hadn't had to deal with just about anyone today, and that was a blessing, after what'd happened with Jeff just the night before. It'd only been, like, 30 hours, but TJ felt like he'd aged years. Maybe he had, given the visions and everything else, but TJ found he was even less willing to deal with people's willingness to bury their heads in the sand now, and he was going to dispense with a lot of that tomorrow. And, because of that, he needed to find someone who could be called at least a little in charge.
As he walked, TJ continued to feel the influence of the Storm overhead, and he watched his Status recovering. His HP, bolstered by the additional attributes granted from being within the influence of the Storm, was at 1002/1133 and climbing quickly. He quickly realized that since his HP regeneration was doubled, and had doubled not the base but what was offered by the Vitality from his bolstered attributes. As such, he gained 1 HP about every 15 seconds. Again, he was struck by the potency of these new Skills and abilities he was gaining. It wasn't long before he was walking past the store, which had Sarah standing guard at the door, and when she saw him, she raised her hatchet to her forehead in a salute.
"Glad to see you up and about, though a quarter past two in the morning isn't the best time to go for a walk, if you ask me." Sarah joked, a faint smile on her face. "What's up?"
"You here all night?" TJ asked.
"No, just until 2:30. Seth'll take over from there. He's more of a morning guy than the rest of us."
"Ok. Can you pass on a message to him? I don't want anyone to leave tomorrow morning before I talk to everyone. Some things need to change, and I'll need to talk to Laura about it before we make the announcement."
Sarah's eyebrows furrowed further and further as TJ spoke. Finally, though, she asked, "Do we need to go wake her up?"
"No, let her rest. There's just some stuff I saw in that vision I had, and we need to change some stuff quickly." Unable to help himself, TJ asked the System and was quickly granted his request. A countdown to the end of the Tutorial appeared in the top right of his vision, a reminder of what his timeline was.
75:48:16
Just over three full days until the Tutorial entered the bloody end. TJ set his jaw and nodded his thanks to Sarah.
"You ok?" She asked as he turned away. "I heard that, whatever that Tribulation or whatever was, it hurt you pretty bad. Like, bleeding for your eyes or something."
"That was about what I needed to talk with Laura about. I bet, if you want to, you can sit in on the conversation we have tomorrow."
"Nah, I'll be sleeping." Sarah grinned. "Now that the youngest hunters aren't banging every night, everyone else can get some good rest all the time."
TJ couldn't help but scoff and look at Sarah's very serious face before asking, "Every night?"
"You think you can put a bunch of hormonal late teens and early twenty-somethings together, make them think they might be about to die, and then they won't indulge in the only thing that makes them feel even a little safe or alive? Those of us with someone else at home have abstained, but most of 'em have been like rabbits. It's funny but damned annoying."
"You have someone?" TJ asked, immediately regretting asking instead of just going to bed.
"Yeah. Hope he's still there when I get back." Sarah had a glimmer of tears misting over her eyes for a moment, then she raised her hatchet again in a salute. "I get you don't wanna talk about that, though. Have a good night."
TJ nodded and walked away, confident that Seth and Sarah could get something figured out to let him get his plans under way in the morning. The thought of being in charge of the 150 or so people in the Tutorial set his teeth on edge, but TJ had made the decision. He'd make sure that he saw his son, remnants of the old world be damned. That hellish future that awaited Junior if TJ failed wouldn't be permitted to happen.
When he reached his bed, though, TJ found himself shaking. The thought of those torturous visions keeping him from true sleep almost kept TJ from even trying to sleep. Even so, he forced himself to take calming breaths, and then, with Meditation calming him further, TJ found his mind at ease enough to try to sleep. He slipped into unconsciousness without much struggle, and he didn't dream of anything specific, just the feeling of floating in clouds.
—-
At 6:30 on the dot, TJ woke with a certain nostalgia as well as a twisting in his stomach. With his plans already made, the morning passed quickly, especially since he didn't need nearly so much sleep as he had as a regular person before the Integration. Even so, he took several minutes to get dressed into as nice of clothing as he could manage, while still being practical. Then, he walked to the river, washed himself as much as he could manage, and returned to the grocery store. On his journey back, everyone who saw him began whispering, though there weren't that many people out and about. Even so, with his Perception of 70, TJ heard most concerning themselves with how he'd apparently created a tornado yesterday.
"I saw it." An older man, what was his name… Rock? "A silent tornado whippin at the trees without breakin anything. A damned miracle. Lucky we have 'im."
TJ wondered if they'd still think that he was such a blessing to have around after they heard what he was going to make them do today. He supposed it shouldn't bother them, but "shouldn't" didn't mean a whole lot in general. TJ walked down the road and approached the general store, where Seth stood at the door.
"She's inside." Seth said, his heavy crossbow in hand, as always. He didn't say anything else, his eyes focused solely on the forest that was outside of the safe zone. Day by day, it was closer, and today, there was a mere 400 yards in every direction of safety.
"Great, thank you." TJ nodded as he walked in. He wove through the carefully stocked shelves and took note of how little remained there. The participants in the Tutorial were, at this point, largely surviving off of the food that they could scavenge and hunt down from monsters, and he knew that Stanton was the source of every vegetable they could eat these days. Seeing the empty shelves here made his stomach grumble for chips or something from Little Debbie. Instead, he turned the corner to see Laura crossing through a line on a paper, muttering to herself about rations.
"One moment, TJ." She said without looking up. "I'm nearly… finished… there." Laura looked up in TJ's face, her smile wan but as genuine as she could manage to make it. "What can I do for you?"
"I'll get to the point." TJ said, though he sighed. "I hate to say this when people want to keep the town in good shape, but here's the thing: we should tear down every building other than the general store, as well as as many trees as we can manage."
"We–what? Why?" Laura stuttered as TJ explained his plan, the only one he could think of that might keep everyone alive.