《A Sky Full of Tropes》 Chapter 1: Baby in a Strange Land
Reincarnation initiated. Entering zone: Tiganna/Tempest/Corwen Local time: 9:13 pm, November 30th, Year 729 of the Age of the Green Fox
I am suddenly aware. I¡¯m more than this tiny, weak form, but memories of other lives fade upon incarnation into my new body. The emotion they left me with remains, however: Excitement. Anticipation at experiencing new things. A crackling fire in the middle of the room bathes me with light and warmth. I see faces and hear voices around me. My infant senses can¡¯t make out much, though.
You have been given the name: Drake You are now a member of faction: Corwen Hearth
Another box springs up in my ¡®third eye¡¯. I¡¯m pretty sure there isn¡¯t actually an eye visible from the outside, but I can clearly see these system interface windows without impeding my vision.
Corwen
Welcome to the world, little one! My name is Corwen, and I¡¯ll be your Hearth! I¡¯m here to assist you with adjusting to your new life. Would you like to open the system interface tutorial?
Accept Cancel
Okay, I have no idea what in the heck sort of world I just reincarnated into, but apparently there are smart homes with neural links that get implanted into newborns. I¡¯m not sure whether or not I should find this disturbing, but that¡¯s apparently the world I¡¯ve got. Fine, let¡¯s see this tutorial. I try to think in the general direction of the ¡®Accept¡¯ button. Fortunately, the interface is designed to be intuitive.
Corwen
All right! Check out this button. This opens your character screen. That will show you all sorts of information about yourself! Try it out and take a look!
An arrow points to a highlighted icon with a rough humanoid silhouette. I select it.
Name Drake Corwen Tempest Tiganna
Race Human Class Child
Gender Male Rank Basic
Age 7 days
Attributes
Health 1/1 Strength 0.1
Stamina 1/1 Dexterity 0.1
Sanity 10/10 Perception 0.1
Inspiration 37/37 Endurance 0.1
Intelligence 23
Willpower 16
Charisma 19
Soul 5,780,912
Skills
-
It seems I wasn¡¯t actually named until I was seven days old. That¡¯s an interesting array of attributes, now what the heck is up with that Soul level?
Corwen
The Soul attribute is representative of how many lives you have lived. You have lived a great many lives!
Too bad I don¡¯t remember any of them but the first one. Or at least I assume my life in 21st century Earth was the first one. Maybe it¡¯s just as well, though. What, exactly, does that sort of absurd number get me?
Corwen
The Soul attribute governs the following general skills:
Recollection You can recall knowledge and skills from previous lives.
Clairvoyance You can detect and identify vis around beings and in the environment.
Additionally, class skills will be available to you when you turn 7 years old:
Flashback You can bring up a memory of a moment in time.
When you reach Elite rank, you will have the following skill available to you:
Necromancy You can call up spirits of the dead.
I go through more of the tutorial in between growing up. I¡¯m fully conscious on some level that doesn¡¯t just involve the meat brain I¡¯m in at the moment, but there¡¯s only so much I can do as a baby. I get to know my family and try to unlock skills. Including whatever language it is they¡¯re speaking. Sounds like gibberish at first, but after listening to them babble for an indeterminate amount of time, I get a notification.
Skill acquired: Language (English)
Fantastic, they speak English here for whatever reason and I still apparently had to actually ¡®learn¡¯ it. Fine, whatever. I share a room with a woman I assume is my mother and another woman who seems to be the same age who I think is my aunt. I spend an excessive amount of time listening to them bicker, and while I don¡¯t catch all the words yet, the tone definitely sounds like sibling rivalry. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. We spend a good deal of time in a large room with a big, warm fire in the middle along with a number of other people. I have no idea yet whether they¡¯re relatives, villagers, servants, or what. I haven¡¯t seen the outside yet. People are singing Christmas carols. Except they¡¯re not really Christmas carols anymore, and many of them have had completely different words put to them, which I¡¯m not sure if it helps me figure out their language or not. Still, I try to act like a normal baby and not worry too much about stuff. I don¡¯t know how they would react if they knew how old my soul is. For all I know, they¡¯d consider me a demon and throw me into the closest volcano or something. I need more information. And while Corwen¡¯s tutorials are useful for system info, it doesn¡¯t tell me anything about the attitudes of my relatives toward reincarnators. The first time I see the sky, though, I know for sure I¡¯m not in Kansas anymore. (Not that I ever spent much time in Kansas.) There are lights in the sky, but they aren¡¯t stars. It¡¯s hard to make out with my infant eyes and puny Perception score, but that much is easy to tell. Blobs of light hang in the sky like distant lamps, most of them green, some blue or yellow. Naturally, I babble and try to reach out my tiny hands toward them. I am a baby, after all, and that might be what a normal baby would do, right? My mom says something I don¡¯t quite catch and snuggles me close as she carries me across the village green. High, solid walls surround the small village, and there¡¯s a nip of winter¡¯s chill in the air. Ahead, a large evergreen has been decorated with little lights and ornaments. I haven¡¯t heard anyone say the word ¡®Christmas¡¯, but that looks very much like a Christmas tree. And that¡¯s very much the tune of ¡®O Christmas Tree¡¯ they¡¯re singing even if it¡¯s not the same words. It¡¯s all a little surreal. My mom sits down at a bench and a man approaches her with a large box covered in blue and gold wrapping paper. She encourages me to tear it open, but I need a little help with the ribbons. Once free of its festive packaging, my gift is revealed: a plush mallard duck, with a green head and larger than I am. ¡°A drake for Drake,¡± my uncle (probably) says merrily. At least I can make out my own name now. I put my little arms around the soft toy and babble happily. This is the best present I¡¯ve ever gotten! That I remember, at least. An older woman comes up with another gift, this one containing a onesie made of soft wool. My mom takes that aside for the moment and I continue hugging my new duck. My attention is shortly drawn away from my gifts. Something is happening in the sky, and the lights on the tree have gone¡­ weird. That¡¯s the only way I can describe it and I can¡¯t see it too clearly from here. The lights on the tree shimmer for a moment longer, and then streak up into the sky. The sky is starting to glow violet. No, not the sky, a giant crystal sphere so large that it takes up most of the sky. I didn¡¯t even see it at first since it was dark before. Sparkles of light play across its surface as it brightens quickly to bathe the village in violet light. Around me, the villagers are cheering and applauding, and burst into a rendition of ¡®Auld Lang Syne¡¯, but I can¡¯t make out half the words anymore than I could the original version. I wave my tiny hands to the sky and babble in unfeigned wonderment.
It is now Year 730 of the Age of the Green Fox.
The box in my third eye helpfully informs me of the change in date. There doesn¡¯t appear to be a sun, but it seems there¡¯s some sort of year cycle anyway. What a peculiar world I have reincarnated into.
The following months see me growing and learning. Talking, walking, and potty training are on the agenda, and I¡¯m looking forward to two of those more than the third. With the New Year having come and the skies turned light, the village becomes less crowded as people go traveling again. My mom and I no longer need to share a room with her sister. Most of the people in the village live in the big building called the Hearth. It reminds me of a castle, but it¡¯s very homey, and people spend a lot of time in the large round room at the base of the central tower, also called the hearth, although I think this one is lowercase. Not that I can actually read yet, but it sounds lowercase. Around the village, there¡¯s a workshop I¡¯m not allowed into, a store where I¡¯m not allowed to touch anything, and an inn where the people who aren¡¯t related to me stay. There¡¯s also a fenced area with a barn containing terrifying black goats the size of mustangs, with glowing red eyes that feel like they burn into your soul if you catch their attention. I¡¯ve gathered that my mom¡¯s name is Anise. I haven¡¯t seen any sign of a dad around here, but I seem to have plenty of aunts and uncles. I have a grandmother named Kestrel that I don¡¯t see much as she spends most of her time traveling. I also have a great-grandmother named Laurel whose only sign of age is a white streak in her black hair. Everyone treats Laurel with great respect. I¡¯m not sure if she¡¯s the one in charge of the Hearth, but she¡¯s definitely in charge of the barn. Not many people actually want to go near those devil-goats, but she treats them like her babies. I can¡¯t keep track of all the names of my aunts and uncles. I do, however, quickly learn the name of Aunt Myrtle. They refer to her as the Elder Hearthkeeper, and she rules the kitchen with an iron skillet. The lights in the sky don¡¯t stay the same color. The smaller ones change colors throughout the course of the day, although not all in sync. The big one that takes up most of the sky only changes colors every six weeks. Come mid-February, it shifts to a deep, clear blue. My relatives say the indigo season has begun. My physical stats have also gone up another 0.1 points each. If anyone suspects I¡¯m not just an ordinary baby, they don¡¯t say anything in my hearing. My efforts pay off with an unexpected message.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Acting)
I¡¯m certainly not going to complain about filling out my status screen. I¡¯ve played enough games to appreciate the feeling of seeing numbers go up. I do have to wonder if anyone in the village is capable of seeing my stats somehow, though. Can anyone see what skills I have? I suppose it¡¯s not worth worrying about, though. Either they can or they can¡¯t and there¡¯s not much I can do about it either way. Chapter 2: A Colorful Year The first time I¡¯m actually taken outside of the village walls is after the end of the indigo season, April 1st, when the sky changes to a bright sky blue. The azure season is here. Spring is starting and the early flowers are in full bloom. My mom carries me down a dirt road through an apple orchard, each tree covered in buds that haven¡¯t quite opened yet. We arrive at the festival grounds, where vendor stalls have been set up selling books, crafts, and food. In the center of the grounds stands a massive oak tree full of buds. Under it, several benches made of logs sliced in half are situated around a fire pit. Several people are gathered around a bonfire, laughing and talking and having a good time. I watch everything closely, trying to see more than just what my eyes can see. I¡¯ve been trying to unlock the magical sight Corwen said I was supposed to have for months without apparent progress, but exposure to a bunch of new things is enough to tip it over the line.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Aura Sight)
With my third eye, I¡¯m starting to be able to see green life energy slowly wafting off of each tree. The people in my sight have auras as well, but theirs are a different flavor, more complex but each of them with a backdrop of violet. There¡¯s a few animals around the festival as well, most of them with an orange aura, but there¡¯s one of those creepy devil-goats my family keeps sporting an ominous red aura instead. There¡¯s some older children playing games, but I¡¯m only a few months old and not quite up to playing Tag yet. My mom and one of my uncles are willing to push around a ball in the grass so I can play something, at least. A ball that, strangely enough, looks identical to a soccer ball I might have expected to be able to buy in California. Where did they get this? Did someone make this? Unfortunately, any answers are going to have to wait until I can actually talk. I never actually had kids in my first life and don¡¯t really want to try too hard to remember the other five million and whatever lives I apparently had. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not supposed to be doing much in the way of walking and talking until I¡¯m at least a year old, though. I can wait. There¡¯s still plenty of other skills I can unlock in the meantime. The highlight of the spring festival is the Skill Fair, where people get up in front of the log benches and show off their skills. One young man juggles flaming torches to much applause. A woman in a flashy green dress plays the flute and dances lightly. An older woman recites poetry using quite a lot of fancy words I don¡¯t quite catch. I don¡¯t have the Stamina to make it through the entire festival. I¡¯m already dozing off to baby naps by the time my mom takes me back to the Hearth.
More time passes, and the turning of the sky from azure to green is heralded by a Beer Festival to which babies aren¡¯t invited. My mom goes off to have fun and leaves me in the care of Aunt Myrtle. ¡°Now you behave, do you hear?¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°I won¡¯t stand for any babies messing up my hearth.¡± I pretend I don¡¯t understand her and just coo and try to examine everything as best as I can. The kitchen is full of weird magitech appliances that only vaguely resemble familiar ones. There¡¯s one with a glass pot that resembles some sort of coffee maker, just powered by glowing magic sigils rather than electricity. Aunt Myrtle is very busy but she must have some sort of detection skill herself, because the minute I try to get into anything, she¡¯s swooping in to stop me. I don¡¯t give up in my attempts to sneak around, though. Sadly, no sneaking skills are forthcoming just yet. On July 1st, when the green sky turns yellow, my mom takes me out to a summer festival. This one is a trade fair, and people have brought a lot of crafted goods to show off as examples of their expertise. ¡°I wonder what kind of class you¡¯re going to pick when you grow up,¡± my mom muses aloud. ¡°The wood carver over there has a xylophone. I¡¯m betting you could annoy the shit out of the elders with that. You ever think about being a bard?¡± I make some noncommittal baby noises and she carries me on past some more stalls. ¡°Nobody¡¯s going to let me get you anything sharp yet, of course,¡± Mom goes on, unconcerned by my lack of coherent response. ¡°You¡¯re gonna need to wait some years before I get you a knife.¡± I¡¯ve been starting to learn that my mom is not the most responsible of parents. ¡°How about a puzzle?¡± Mom suggests. ¡°You seem like a smart kid and that¡¯ll help you train smarty skills.¡± One of the stands has some beautifully painted jigsaw puzzles, and my mom lets me pick one out with a dragon on it. ¡°Be careful that he doesn¡¯t try to eat the pieces,¡± warns the vendor, but my mom waves off his concerns and pays with a handful of coins. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. When we get back to the Hearth and I get a chance to play around with it, I am very careful with the pieces and don¡¯t put them in my mouth. Fine, it might be more baby-like to do that, but it¡¯s too nice to mess up and I don¡¯t want it to get taken away from me. As it is, it takes hours to complete. Once it¡¯s finally done, I¡¯m rewarded with a system message. Congratulations! You have completed a Medium difficulty puzzle. Skill acquired: Search (Puzzle Pieces) I clap my little hands together in glee and giggle loudly as I admire the completed dragon image. I didn¡¯t expect to get a message and a skill out of it! At six months old, my physical stats are all now up to 0.5 points. I¡¯m going to infer that they¡¯ll hit a full 1 point each when I reach my first birthday. Mid-August sees the sky turning from yellow to orange. There¡¯s a Harvest Festival in September that seems Thanksgiving-inspired, but no one actually says Thanksgiving. I¡¯m almost ten months old by this point, and some of my relatives let me have a little bit of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. My mom even gives me one small spoonful of pumpkin pie filling. The centerpiece of the harvest feast is a whole roast devil-goat with an apple in its mouth that takes up an entire table inside the hearth. I¡¯m not allowed any of it, so maybe next year. People have been piling into the Hearth over the course of the orange season, and by the time the sky turns red, it¡¯s packed and I¡¯m back to sharing a room with my mom¡¯s twin sister, Aunt Hazel. She¡¯s six months pregnant with twins and seems to take up half the room all by herself. There¡¯s an undercurrent of tension among my relatives, as well as a fair bit of anticipation and excitement. ¡°What kind of monsters will we see this year?¡± is a common sentiment. There seem to be a number of adventurers in the Hearth who are eager to fight something. The Hearth has gone into siege mode and the overworld is swarming with monsters beneath the blood red sky. Some of my aunts and uncles take to the village walls and snipe at them with arrows and fire spells. Dead giant spiders are brought into the hearth and turned into ¡®seafood¡¯. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m up to eating spider chowder yet, even if people say the meat in their limbs is like lobster. ¡°I scryed a Legendary Headless Horseman riding around on the roads between the Hearths,¡± says one of my aunts, Heather. ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone under Epic rank going far from the walls. Laurel and me are the only ones that can go toe-to-toe with a Legendary ranked monster.¡± ¡°I want its horse,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Of course you do,¡± Aunt Heather says with a longsuffering sigh. Being not quite a year old yet, I will obviously not be participating in my great-grandmother¡¯s quest to tame a spooky high-level mount, but I can cheer her on from home. And also thoroughly avoid going near the stable anytime soon because I¡¯m sure the thing is even scarier than those devil-goats. I¡¯m becoming more mobile, and with so many more people in the Hearth, my mom is trusting them to keep me out of trouble while she snipes giant spiders from the village walls. Anise is only Elite ranked, and eager to get in as many kills she can of the monsters she¡¯s able to handle. ¡°If I¡¯d been more dedicated, I should have hit Heroic before I turned 21,¡± Mom says. ¡°But my party went and out-leveled me while I was goofing off.¡± ¡°You still have time to catch up,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Have you tried mentorship? It¡¯s often worth a significant Deed for a student you trained to succeed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m much of a teacher, but I could give it a shot,¡± Mom says with a shrug. ¡°My son is smart. Hopefully he wants to be an adventurer because I can¡¯t really help much if he has aspirations toward becoming a great chef.¡± I circle around the edge of the hearth. There¡¯s a mural on the walls of a family tree sprawling up the central tower and out of sight beyond the upper floors. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m up to climbing a tower yet, but I take a closer look at the names and faces on the ground floor. Two individuals with golden plaques make up the earliest generation, bearing the faces of a man and a woman. I squint at them, and can manage to read the words etched into them.
Ash
Jan 1st, 1 GF - December 30th, 300 GF
Guardian Hearthkeeper
Spawn of Corwen
Apple
Jan 1st, 1 GF
Tempest Archmage
Spawn of Corwen
So the two founders of Corwen Hearth were¡­ spawned? Did Corwen just clone them in a vat or something? I wonder what those early days of the Hearth must have been like. No death date is listed for Apple. Does that mean she might still be alive somewhere? Neither of the pictures show any sign of age. Do higher rank individuals just naturally live longer? I¡¯m guessing the golden plaques signify Legendary rank. Higher up, there are plaques of wood, iron, bronze, and silver, which might represent Basic, Elite, Heroic, and Epic ranks. If there¡¯s something higher than Legendary, I don¡¯t see any examples of it visible from the ground floor. Ash didn¡¯t have any kids, or at least there aren¡¯t any noted here. Apple had five children by five different fathers. I¡¯m sure a Legendary [Guardian Hearthkeeper] must have made a fantastic uncle for them. I finally manage to slip out of the hearth to explore the Hearth without some aunt or uncle stopping me and plunking me back down in the middle of the room with a toy.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Sneaking)
My hard work (or mischief) has paid off with another addition to my character screen. What kind of a baby would I be if I didn¡¯t push the limits of what I can get away with? Most of the rooms in the Hearth¡¯s four wings are bedrooms, of course, and even the ones normally used mostly for storage are full of capacity during this time of the year. Each wing has a couple bathrooms as well. I¡¯m quite happy that my new home isn¡¯t so medieval that it lacks indoor plumbing. It doesn¡¯t take long for me to get caught and be returned to the hearth by a well-meaning aunt, but I¡¯m not about to give up yet. My adventures have only just begun. Chapter 3: One Big Happy Adventuring Family As the red sky fades to black, Grandma Laurel and Aunt Heather do glorious battle (or so I assume as I don¡¯t get to watch) with the Legendary Headless Horseman. Aunt Heather brings back the pumpkin head as a trophy, still sinister-looking even with its face holes unlit. ¡°Did Grandma get the horse?¡± Mom asks. ¡°Or did you have to kill it?¡± ¡°She¡¯s working on it,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°She¡¯s not going to bring it into the village until she¡¯s sure it¡¯s not going to attack anyone.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re sure that pumpkin head won¡¯t spring up and attack anyone?¡± asks Aunt Hazel. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Aunt Heather says, setting the jack-o¡¯-lantern aside as it definitely doesn¡¯t still have any flickering lights inside it or anything. It¡¯s a week into the dark season before Grandma Laurel returns. My actual birthday, not that anyone even notes that. My mom brings me out to watch Laurel ride her new Legendary mount into the village. It¡¯s pure black, with glowing green eyes, and looks absolutely enormous underneath a tiny woman like my great-grandmother. A red aura swirls around it similar to the ones around the devil-goats, marking it as a monster rather than a normal animal. Laurel waves to her descendants, nieces, nephews, and neighbors as she rides into the village square. ¡°Check out my new friend!¡± ¡°Cool mount!¡± Mom says. ¡°Have you named it yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve decided to call him Boo.¡± Some of my relatives aren¡¯t as enthusiastic about the latest addition to the village as my mom, but everyone seems pretty used to Grandma Laurel¡¯s weird pets. At least this is just a horse, after all, albeit a weird horse. She has apparently brought back things with tentacles before. My naming day comes with a small celebration, although with most of the family inside the Hearth this time of year, every meal feels a bit like a party anyway. I unwrap a set of wooden blocks, painted brightly in eight different colors. I also receive plenty of clothes, along with my first pair of shoes. Everything fits perfectly, and I hear a mention of an Aunt Dahlia who made them, though I couldn¡¯t pick out her face from the crowd. And so another Not-Christmas season ensues. I¡¯m able to hum along to some of the oddly altered holiday carols, but I don¡¯t have the words down yet even if I could say them all clearly. I¡¯m looking forward to talking and running around. Being a baby in a strange world has been a bit boring even as it has been simultaneously overwhelming in some ways.
Aunt Hazel¡¯s twins are born three weeks premature in February, but by tradition, they aren¡¯t given names until a week after their full term date. It¡¯s a little eerie hearing people talk about ¡°the boy¡± and ¡°the girl¡± while carefully avoiding saying an actual name for either of them. On March 3rd, 731, we celebrate their naming day and formally induct a healthy pair of fraternal twins into the Hearth. The girl is named Willow, and the boy Griffin. A naming ceremony is conducted in the hearth in which everyone that¡¯s here touches the baby and says their name. I don¡¯t really remember this having been done for me, but I was still pretty disoriented at the time and my senses weren¡¯t at 100% yet. At least I can take part in this one, although I hope calling them ¡°Wawa¡± and ¡°Gaga¡± doesn¡¯t mess anything up somehow. I¡¯ve been here a year and four months and I still have no idea how the System actually works. ¡°You¡¯ll be getting a new sister soon, too,¡± Mom says. I tilt my head at her in puzzlement and poke her in the belly. ¡°Sisi?¡± Mom chuckles. ¡°Well, not from there, obviously. One of my old adventuring buddies got pregnant but she¡¯s a long way from her own Hearth, so I agreed to adopt the girl so she can keep delving.¡± My mom always talks to kids like adults that can understand her completely. Aunt Hazel is full of baby talk and positively coos over her newborn twins. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet her, shall we?¡± Mom says. ¡°She¡¯s staying at the guest house until the baby is born. Sadly, she won¡¯t be able to attend the naming ceremony since outsiders aren¡¯t allowed inside the Hearth.¡± I¡¯m walking a bit by this point, but my little legs can¡¯t go very far yet unaided. Mom lets me walk as far as I can out of the Hearth until she has to pick me up and carry me across the village square. There¡¯s a heavily pregnant woman sitting in front of the inn¡¯s hearth, sipping a cup of tea. Her complexion is darker than anyone I¡¯ve seen around here, clearly marking her as a foreigner. Mom plops me down on the bench next to her. ¡°Hey, Halima!¡± Mom says. ¡°This here¡¯s my son, Drake. Drake, this is my friend, Halima Khobar Zephyr.¡± I reach over and poke Halima¡¯s huge belly. ¡°Sisi?¡± Halima laughs heartily. ¡°Yes, little Drake, that¡¯s your future sister in there.¡± ¡°When are you due, anyway?¡± Mom wonders. ¡°The Hearthkeepers say it should be about a week but wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she decides to come out any day now,¡± Halima says. My future sister isn¡¯t in a hurry to come out, and we wind up holding her naming day on March 25th. In a ceremony echoing that of the twins, she¡¯s given the name Juniper. She¡¯s dark-skinned, but not as dark as her birth mother. Probably has a local for a father, maybe even one of my many uncles. Halima leaves again shortly after the naming ceremony. She¡¯s an Epic-rank Cleric and her party is expecting to meet up with her to delve a dangerous dungeon on the other side of Tempest Domain. There¡¯s some Hearthkeeper magic that helps with breastfeeding that I don¡¯t really care to think too much about as I¡¯m happily eating actual food by now and never going to be a mother nor a Hearthkeeper. I still haven¡¯t quite decided what sort of class to aim for, but I know I want to go out and delve dungeons and not just take care of the Hearth and feed everyone. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The addition of three more little babies has made the already-lively Hearth even livelier. Sadly, I¡¯m going to need to wait a bit longer before they¡¯re terribly interesting to interact with. I¡¯ve been working on puzzles and games to try to unlock more skills, but there aren¡¯t any other kids my age to play with. The closest is Burdock, who is about to turn seven in September. There¡¯s some preteens, as well as several teenagers who are away most of the year attending a boarding school so I only see them during their winter breaks. This is a big deal, because when a child turns seven, they get to pick their first class. I¡¯m glad to get at least one chance to see how that works before I actually have to deal with it myself. Burdock loves animals and is one of the few people willing to go near Grandma Laurel¡¯s creepy horse and the devil-goats the village keeps. Sometimes he brings critters he finds into the hearth, much to Aunt Myrtle¡¯s dismay. ¡°No spiders in the hearth, Burdock!¡± Aunt Myrtle says firmly. ¡°Grandma Laurel says it¡¯s a tar-match-ora, not a spoder,¡± Burdock protests. ¡°No tarantulas in the hearth, either,¡± Aunt Myrtle adds. ¡°Also no rats, no bats, no squirrels, no snakes, and in fact, absolutely no live animals whatsoever. Any animals found in here are getting eaten. Have I made myself clear?¡± ¡°Yes, Aunt Myrtle,¡± Burdock says, drooping as he takes his magenta tarantula and leaves the hearth. I¡¯m going to need to climb the central tower and find our plaques near the top in order to figure out exactly how he¡¯s related to me. I¡¯ve seen his mom but I¡¯m not even sure what her name is. I¡¯m going to go out on a limb and guess that she¡¯s probably named after a plant or bird like everyone else here seems to be. And I think I might just be strong enough now to make the climb. I just need to slip away and make it to the stairs up when no one is looking who might say that babies who are a year and a half old shouldn¡¯t try to climb towers. It takes a few tries, but on the day of the Beer Festival when most of the adults are out celebrating beer, I finally make it to the stairs without any aunts or uncles intercepting me. I¡¯m rewarded for my efforts with a system box.
Your Subterfuge (Sneaking) skill has increased to level 2.
The spiral staircase runs up the interior of the central tower, and I need to stay low to avoid being spotted from below. The steps are too high for my little legs anyway so I have to half-crawl up the stairs. The upper floors are mainly used for storage, and there¡¯s a dumbwaiter to help move heavy barrels and crates to and from the kitchen area. It might have been easier to use that to get up the stairs, but there¡¯s also more eyes on it. Also, I¡¯m really hoping to unlock a skill for this. I¡¯m almost disappointed that I got a skill for English but not for walking. I guess the skill system considered that too basic to count as a skill. After climbing up only a single flight of stairs, I have to sit down and rest for a moment and take a breather. My Max Stamina is only 2, so this might take a bit. I hope nobody notices me missing, but my mom is probably deep in a pint by this point. While I catch my breath, I notice that there are murals on the walls, but the floor is cluttered with so many containers that I can¡¯t make out what they depict. Once I¡¯m recharged, I start in on the next flight past a few more generations of Corwens. One fancy platinum plaque stands out, the one single member of the Hearth who attained Mythical rank, Verbena the Witch Hunter. I think I heard her name mentioned in one of my Bard uncle¡¯s stories. (I have uncles named Hawk and Falcon. One is a Bard and one is a Ranger and I can never remember which is which.) She doesn¡¯t have a death date listed, so I guess like the founder, Apple, she¡¯s still out there adventuring somewhere. Green light streams in through a couple of windows to the outside, and there¡¯s a door possibly leading out to a balcony. I strain to reach the doorknob to see what¡¯s outside, but can¡¯t quite get a grip. Fortunately, there¡¯s plenty of boxes up here, so I pull one of them next to the door so I can open it. The fourth floor balcony has a breathtaking view of the village. I can even see over the high walls out to the apple orchards and countryside beyond. Looking up, I see with some dismay that I¡¯ve only made it like halfway up the tower. Well, let¡¯s see how much further I can get before someone realizes I¡¯ve wandered off. Another floor, and another. At this point I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ve been gone long enough that someone might be starting to get worried about me. Aunt Myrtle and Burdock¡¯s mom (whatever her name is) were in the hearth and didn¡¯t go to the Beer Festival, after all. Finally, after climbing seven flights of stairs, I reach the top and the current generation. I find my own entry, and my sister and cousins. My mom and Aunt Hazel were born in 706, so they¡¯re on this floor, but Burdock is the youngest of three and his mom was born before 700, and so will be on the previous floor. Dammit. The plaques list the names of our fathers and both of Juniper¡¯s parents, but it seems if a parent is a member of the Hearth, there¡¯s just a line leading down to their entry instead. I ran across a couple instances of people hooking up with their fourth cousins, too. Well, I aim to see the top of this tower before I head back down there to find her. After resting up to refill my Stamina bar, I push ahead to the top. There¡¯s a hatch at the end of the stairs with green light peeking in around the edges. The hatch is locked. Double dammit. Well, I didn¡¯t come this far to be stopped by a locked door. I carefully slide my butt down the stairs and rummage through the boxes in storage until I find a container of old kitchen utensils. I pick out one that might suffice for a lockpick, and return to the hatch. Did I ever know how to pick locks before? In five million lives, I must have done at least once. I think hard about it as I mess with the lock. It¡¯s not like I have anything better to do until I get hungry or someone finds me, so I might as well try. I remember playing video games, but I don¡¯t think I learned this skill in my first life. I keep reaching as hard as I can, which brings up every lockpicking minigame in every video game I played. Nothing from any other lives yet, but maybe I need actual levels in the skill for it. It¡¯s good enough, the system declares as the lock clicks open.
Congratulations! You have picked an Easy difficulty lock.
Skill unlocked: Recollection (Skills)
Skill unlocked: Mechanics (Lockpicking)
I breathe a sigh of relief and elation as I push open the hatch. I climb out into the green ¡®daylight¡¯. The skymotes are turning orange, so it must be getting late. I¡¯ve been up here for hours. My rewards for my effort aren¡¯t done yet.
Congratulations! You have climbed to the highest point in Corwen Hearth.
Your Max Stamina has increased by 1 and is now 3.
Skill unlocked: Athletics (Climbing)
Fantastic. I do a little baby dance and go look out over the edge. I can see the entirety of Tempest Domain from here. A huge, perfectly circular disc comprises the land beneath my feet, its edges limned with orange light that seems to be coming from somewhere below and to the northwest. Above that point, a ¡®moon¡¯ that is clearly another floating island hovers in the sky, lit up in orange as well. Footsteps approach from the stairs, and my mom emerges from the stairs, looking mildly tipsy. ¡°Wow, you made it all the way to the top,¡± she says. ¡°Oh, hey, I got a Deed! Did I really never come up here before? Huh. Nice view. Zenith is pretty in orange. Come on, let¡¯s try to not fall to our doom.¡± She scoops me up in her arms, and hopefully isn¡¯t drunk enough that we¡¯re more likely to tip over this way. And she still doesn¡¯t bother carrying me more than one flight down the stairs like that before plopping me into the dumbwaiter. ¡°Say whee!¡± Mom says as she sends me on a quick trip to the ground floor. ¡°Wheeeee!¡± I cry out as several agonizing floors fly past me. Totally worth being grounded forever. I still didn¡¯t find out the name of Burdock¡¯s mom, though. Drat. Chapter 4: The Flying School Bus Burdock¡¯s 7th birthday arrives, but he refuses to tell anyone what class he picked. I¡¯m not sure about the secrecy, though. Anyone could just climb seven flights of stairs up the magically growing tower and look at his magically updating name plaque. I might just make the trip up again sometime out of pure nosiness and also because I still haven¡¯t figured out what his mom¡¯s name is yet. I¡¯ve been using my time-outs to try to unlock a meditation skill of some sort. I¡¯m always getting into things I¡¯m not supposed to because I don¡¯t care if I get in trouble. ¡°What¡¯s your class?¡± I ask. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna say,¡± Burdock says. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because people will expect me to be a Hearthkeeper and I don¡¯t wanna be a Hearthkeeper.¡± Burdock has two older sisters. Daisy is twelve, and Lily is fifteen. Lily is at the Crux Academy for most of the year, but will be getting back to Corwen before the Harvest Festival at the end of September and will be staying until the New Year. Three full months of a break, lucky her. ¡°Hey, kids,¡± Mom says. ¡°Wanna see a skyship? The older kids are about to get home for the holidays.¡± ¡°Skyship!¡± I exclaim in an excited almost-two-year-old voice. Juniper coos, probably not understanding our words but taking in our cheer and excitement clearly. Mom picks her up, and I toddle after them out of the Hearth. ¡°The skyship from Crux Academy will be docking at the gate tower,¡± Mom says. ¡°Where is Cruck Acama-dee?¡± I ask. Mom chuckles. ¡°Crux Academy is in the domain of Crux. That¡¯s another one of the floaty bits of land that float around the glowy bits in the sky. You¡¯ve seen Zenith up there, yeah? Crux is lower in the sky than Tempest so we can¡¯t see it from here. The skymote, Tiganna, is close so it¡¯s super bright, way brighter than those far away little skymotes up there.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± I say. ¡°Sometime I¡¯ll take you kids to the edge so you can see the whole system,¡± Mom says. ¡°Er, most of the system, anyway. Can¡¯t see Sorrow from here, either. Thorn¡¯s in the way and it¡¯s huge. Oh, look, there it is!¡± I gaze off in the direction she¡¯s pointing. Silhouetted against the orange sky, a vessel with four wing-sails is coming in to dock. The gate tower is only half the height of the central tower, but it has a skydock attached to it with room for a skyship to dock. As it comes closer, I get a better look at it. It has a hull shaped like a sailboat, painted school bus yellow and sporting rows of square windows. The four sails, positioned at the four diagonals, are made of some sort of light blue silken material too smooth and thin to be canvas. The sails shift and furl as the vessel comes to a stop at the tower¡¯s dock. Remaining floating in the air as if it were the sea, the skyship extends a gangplank to the dock. Several people get off the ship and head down into the tower, but I can¡¯t make out any faces from the ground even if I could remember all the relatives I have met briefly as a baby. Burdock, Daisy, and their mom are waiting for Lily, who approaches from the tower with a bag over her shoulder and a wild pink hairstyle that manages to scream ¡°15-year-old¡± in a way that somehow transcends time and space. Aunt What¡¯s-her-name goes up and hugs Lily, who silently replies with that ¡°embarrassed teenager being hugged by Mom¡± expression on her face. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so good to see you again. How were your classes? You didn¡¯t get into too much trouble, did you?¡± They head into the Hearth, and my mom takes us for a closer look at the skyship. After climbing the central tower, she doesn¡¯t even ask if I can manage the gate tower. The skyship would probably look more magnificent if it didn¡¯t look paradoxically like a flying school bus. ¡°You kids boarding or just gawking?¡± asks a feminine voice with an odd flange to it. There¡¯s a giant spider the size of an adult human sitting on the deck of the skyship. I squeak in surprise and hide behind my mom¡¯s legs. Juniper starts crying. ¡°Sorry, forgot to mention the aranea!¡± Mom says, comforting the baby in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s okay, kids. She¡¯s not a monster.¡± I blink and take a closer look. Sure enough, rather than the red aura I¡¯d expect of a monster like a devil-goat, this giant spider has a lively violet aura around it. Or her, I suppose I should say. ¡°Ararranny-ah?¡± I repeat slowly, peeking out from behind my mom. ¡°Aranea,¡± Mom repeats. ¡°They¡¯re people like us. They just have eight limbs instead of four.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± the spider says. ¡°But I do have work to do so if you¡¯re just here to gawk, please stay out of the way.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Juniper slowly calms down, and we watch the aranea work for a few minutes. The way she handles the ropes makes me think they might be made of aranea silk and not any sort of canvas. Like a master puppeteer, she gives the strings a few tugs, and the silken sails unfurl. The skyship pulls away from the dock and soars on to its next destination. ¡°Wow,¡± I breathe. With the skyship gone, we head back to the Hearth. I want to grill the older kids on everything they¡¯re willing to tell me about the academy, but unfortunately, I¡¯m not really up to complicated sentences yet and the teenagers aren¡¯t terribly interested in indulging a baby. So I just sit in the hearth and listen to them gossip instead. ¡°I¡¯m still Basic rank and I¡¯m already twelve!¡± Daisy bemoans. ¡°I¡¯m so worried I¡¯m not going to make it to Elite in time.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t make Elite until I turned nineteen,¡± Mom says. ¡°I didn¡¯t go to a fancy school. I went out delving dungeons instead.¡± Daisy pouts. ¡°But I really want to go to Crux Academy! And you¡¯re still only Elite and you¡¯re old.¡± ¡°I¡¯m twenty-five,¡± Mom grouses. ¡°I can still catch up.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to have to catch up,¡± Daisy says. ¡°I want to be a great Wizard and I¡¯ll never get to be a Wizard if I don¡¯t reach Elite before I turn fourteen! You¡¯re a Sorcerer and that¡¯s not the same.¡± ¡°Keep collecting Deeds and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll make it if you¡¯re determined enough,¡± her mom says. ¡°Study hard and don¡¯t slack on practicing your skills.¡± Either getting to Elite must not be very hard, or the children in Corwen Hearth are very determined if we have so many of our youths attending a prestigious academy. Daisy gets into the bags of the students to swipe their books to read when they¡¯re not looking. ¡°Daisy!¡± her mom says. ¡°Did you take your sister¡¯s books? And your cousins¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a [Scholarly Child]!¡± Daisy protests. ¡°I have to read books and I¡¯ve already read all the books in the village several times!¡± ¡°The proper thing to do is ask politely, young lady,¡± her mom says. I sympathize and I¡¯m already making plans (however premature they might be) to get into Crux Academy. The way I see it, it¡¯s never too early to start planning your build and accumulating experience. Of course, ¡°before I even know what all the requirements are¡± might still be too early. Juniper, Willow, and Griffin are happily playing on the floor, completely uncaring that the older kids are stressing about their futures. I should really join them. I slide off the bench and crawl over to play. Over on this side of the hearth, a teenage boy is talking about how one of his classmates got possessed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be awful, some long-dead ghost taking control of your body?¡± he says. ¡°Nobody even noticed anything at first, but he acted just off enough for someone to check if his Soul attribute was unlocked.¡± A colored block clumsily slips out of my hand as I overhear this. ¡°What did they do to him?¡± asks an aunt. ¡°Oh, they killed him, of course,¡± the boy says. ¡°Crux doesn¡¯t play around with dark magic and nobody wants the dead around. Forbidden knowledge is forbidden for a reason. Can you imagine if it had been one of our cousins?¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± the aunt shudders. ¡°The thought of a ghost parading around in the skin of a child is horrifying.¡± I grab another block and force myself to stay calm and act like a normal baby.
Skill acquired: Discipline (Composure)
Your Subterfuge (Acting) skill has increased to level 2.
Just a normal baby. Just a normal baby. Not some dead guy from a place called Earth. And I definitely don¡¯t know anything about anything I¡¯m not supposed to know about. I need to find out more about this somehow. Like whether they include reincarnation in that. Because I¡¯ve been in this body since it was seven days old, so no one ever knew what Drake Corwen would have been like if he hadn¡¯t been me. Then again, what would happen if I leaned on my Soul skills and kept bringing up memories of more lives than my first one? Would I wind up ¡°possessed¡± by some other version of me, maybe? I suppose there¡¯s a risk every time I use [Recollection]. Are we just the sum of our memories? I feel like if I know what the five million other versions of me did, I would not be surprised at anything they did and would probably have done the same were circumstances identical. There¡¯s got to be a way to hide my Soul stat. Either there isn¡¯t anyone around here that can scan my status screen, or no one is as eager to kill me for it as they might be in Crux. I love my new family. I don¡¯t want them to look at me like they¡¯ve seen a ghost. I act normal and laugh like an innocent, playful child. I¡¯ve been looking at everyone else¡¯s auras but never thought to turn my psychic vision upon my own. My aura is dark, black as the crystalline sky in December. Anyone with [Clairvoyance] would know what I am at a glance. Except, anyone with [Clairvoyance] also needs to have a Soul stat. Corwen told me about my potential as a necromancer and psychic with the cheer of a computer that isn¡¯t concerned about the social ramifications. Corwen, are you listening? Are you always listening to my thoughts?
Corwen
Hello, Drake! I¡¯m always listening! What can I help you with?
Little bit creepy but I don¡¯t think I care. I¡¯m pretty sure my bedroom TV remote was listening to me, too, so whatever. Corwen, are any of my family members going to kill me if they find out I¡¯m reincarnated?
Corwen
Certainly not! If any Hearth member were to deliberately harm another, they would be expelled from the Hearth.
I suppose exile is a serious punishment when there¡¯s annual monster swarms. But is that the case even if someone did do something heinous and criminal?
Corwen
Of course. The Hearth comes before all else. You are expected to protect your Hearthmates above all else, even if their own actions lead them into trouble, and they are likewise expected to protect you. If someone¡¯s behavior causes too much trouble, they may be confined to the Hearth for their own safety, but must not be harmed.
I understand. But what if they considered me to not really be a member of the Hearth because I was ¡®possessed¡¯ or something?
Corwen
You are a member of this Hearth. I did not incarnate you by mistake. I paid quite a bit of essence for you. So long as you do not betray me, I will make sure your Hearthmates do not mistake you for an invader.
I see. That¡¯s how it is, then. You bought me like a hero unit. I find myself giggling aloud, baby-like, at the thought. I should probably be upset, but I don¡¯t really have it in me to be mad about this. I¡¯m happy to be alive and looking forward to having fun delving dungeons. I¡¯ll try not to disappoint. Chapter 5: Burdocks Familiar I¡¯m fully able to enjoy the Harvest Feast this year, being almost two years old. And then the sky turns red and monsters emerge from wherever it is that monsters emerge from. My family is present and accounted for, aside from the ones who aren¡¯t, and everyone¡¯s ready to roast some monsters whether in combat or the kitchen. ¡°I¡¯ve scryed our surroundings,¡± says our resident Oracle, Aunt Heather. ¡°I¡¯m detecting vampire bats, mostly Elite rank, so anyone Basic rank is going to need to stay indoors unless accompanied by an Elite. Outside the walls, I¡¯ve spotted Basic-rank skeletons and some wraiths as high as Epic rank. Get weapons and spells prepared for dealing with semi-corporeal undead.¡± ¡°Anything edible out there?¡± asks Aunt Myrtle. ¡°Not that I can see this year,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Just undead types.¡± ¡°Pity,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got plenty of food stockpiled so we should be fine, but the Winter Feast might be leaner this year than usual.¡± For my second birthday, I receive more clothes and a new puzzle. Grinning, I eagerly set to work on putting it together right away. Mom comes to ¡®help¡¯ but mostly just watches and lets me find my own pieces. With me turning two and Burdock turning seven, we¡¯re moved to our own room away from our mothers and sisters. The Hearth is crowded this time a year, but an elderly uncle I didn¡¯t really know died so us boys are getting his room. Our new room is in the north wing, closest to the barn and the school. This will be convenient for Burdock, and me once I start attending lessons, but it also means our window view includes terrifying devil-goats. Burdock has a secret, and it¡¯s not just what class he picked. He got a quest, and he and Lily snuck out behind the school building that nobody told me was there right beside the barn with the creepy goats. I suppose they didn¡¯t figure I would need to go there until I could, you know, read and write and sit still through lectures. I can already read but I¡¯m not letting on that I can yet, so I suppose I¡¯ll have to wait a few years before I can devour every book in the village like Daisy did. If we weren¡¯t in a room by ourselves and he were still stuck with his mom, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide it very well. As it is, the big speckled egg the size of my head gets wrapped in woolen blankets and stuffed under his bed. ¡°I hope Lily doesn¡¯t tell on me,¡± Burdock says. ¡°Mom will flip!¡± ¡°Won¡¯t someone notice once it hatches?¡± I ask. ¡°What¡¯s going to hatch from it?¡± The egg has a red aura around it like a monster. As much as I like my cousin, I would prefer not to get my face chewed off by a baby monster in my sleep. ¡°Dunno,¡± Burdock says. ¡°But Corwen gave me a quest for it, and I¡¯m sure Corwen wouldn¡¯t tell me to do something that would hurt us.¡± ¡°Uh-huh,¡± I say. ¡°This was a gift from Corwen! I¡¯m sure Grandma Laurel would understand, even if your mom might not. She knows all about monsters. She could tell us what it is!¡± Burdock grouses. ¡°I dunno¡­ What if she wants to take it away? This is my monster.¡± ¡°Grandma Laurel wouldn¡¯t do that unless it¡¯s dangerous,¡± I say, then pause. ¡°Prolly not even if it is dangerous. You know how she is.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Burdock says, perking up a little. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go see our grandma.¡±
Skill acquired: Persuasion (Diplomacy)
An unexpected bonus that I really ought to start expecting. I¡¯ve lived in a world of magical status boxes for two years now. I should start getting used to seeing them pop up regularly. We retrieve Grandma Laurel from the hearth and tell her we want to talk to her in our room, and she humors us and comes along. ¡°Is this about your class, Burdock?¡± Grandma says. ¡°You hoping to become a Beastmaster like me?¡± ¡°I dunno yet but¡­¡± He surreptitiously makes sure the door is shut and lowers his voice. ¡°Corwen gave me a quest for a monster egg.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fantastic!¡± Grandma says. ¡°A familiar to go along with your new class! Where is it? Let¡¯s go get it. Or would you rather run the quest with someone Elite rank so you get more experience?¡± ¡°I already did the quest with an Elite and got the egg,¡± Burdock admits, pulling it out from under his bed. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Ah, now there¡¯s a beauty,¡± Grandma says, cradling the egg on her arms. ¡°Do you know what will hatch from it?¡± Burdock asks. Grandma chuckles. ¡°Certainly, but why spoil the surprise? She¡¯s healthy and will hatch on the New Year and if you keep her close like under your bed there, she will bond with you as your familiar when she sees you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a she?¡± Burdock asks. ¡°She isn¡¯t some sort of undead, is she?¡± ¡°No, just a regular monster, and not a huge one either,¡± Grandma says. ¡°Not terribly dangerous, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll prove very useful. Go ahead and keep her wrapped up warm under your bed until the end of December.¡± ¡°Will my mom be mad at me?¡± Burdock whispers trepidatiously. Grandma snickers. ¡°Li¡¯l Maggie needs to lighten up already.¡± ¡°Auntie¡¯s name is Maggie?¡± I ask. ¡°Magnolia,¡± Grandma says. ¡°And if I¡¯d known she¡¯d wind up with such a stick in her behind, I wouldn¡¯t have named her after a tree. Don¡¯t tell her I said that.¡±
Another dark season passes, and Burdock is practically vibrating with anticipation for the hatching of his egg. When the first day of the year 732 comes, we¡¯re prepared with Grandma Laurel watching over to make sure nothing weird happens. In the meantime, she has taken the opportunity to teach Burdock some basic information about monster care and how familiars work. The speckled egg quakes and cracks, and a paw reaches out of the shell before it disintegrates entirely. A perfectly dry fluffy little monster sits where the eggshell shards should have been. It¡¯s a kitten. Large enough to be an adult cat, but definitely proportioned like a newborn. A gray tabby, looking very much like the more ordinary hearth cats, but four ears and a trio of glowing green eyes mark her as clearly a monster. ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you beautiful,¡± Burdock says. ¡°I name you Mipsy!¡± ¡°A cat?¡± I say. ¡°Cats don¡¯t hatch from eggs.¡± ¡°This one did,¡± Burdock says. Grandma Laurel chuckles. ¡°Monsters don¡¯t always play by the same rules. You see how she just absorbed what was left of the egg?¡± The monstrous kitten curls up in Burdock¡¯s lap, purring loudly. ¡°I got a box telling me we¡¯re bonded now!¡± Burdock says. ¡°Now that I have a familiar, maybe people won¡¯t think I want to be a Hearthkeeper just because I¡¯m a [Nurturing Child].¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of paths you can take from [Nurturing Child],¡± Grandma says. ¡°You don¡¯t have to take any of them you don¡¯t want to. Why don¡¯t we go out to the square and introduce Mipsy to everyone?¡± Burdock¡¯s eyes widen, and he holds the kitten to his chest protectively. ¡°Maybe later.¡± ¡°Be aware, a normal kitten would be grown in a year or two,¡± Grandma says. ¡°But a familiar is tied to your vis. She will share your lifespan and won¡¯t reach her adult form until you turn 21. If she dies, you can bring her core back to the Hearth and Corwen will respawn her. If you die, she dies.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try not to die,¡± Burdock says.
Burdock¡¯s familiar turns out to be a nightmare to share a room with. Mipsy is full of energy and is as playful and destructive as any kitten. Any time Burdock isn¡¯t paying attention to her, she¡¯s getting into something. That¡¯s not always such a bad thing for me, though, as she does make a good distraction. I am nowhere nearly done with getting into mischief and there¡¯s only so many years I will be able to get away with stuff by being a toddler before people expect me to know better. While people are busily paying attention to the cat or the younger babies, I see about finishing filling out my mental map of Corwen Hearth. And hoping that I actually get a skill for it at some point. That¡¯s when I discover that there¡¯s a secret room underneath the central tower, accessible through a chute in the kitchen. There¡¯s probably a real entrance, but it¡¯s into the garbage chute with this curious toddler who has complete faith in Corwen to not incinerate curious toddlers. I slip in while Aunt Myrtle is trying to shoo away Mipsy with a broom, heedless of how gross it might be. I land in a pile of offal in a room lit only by a glowing azure orb. It looks much like the huge one in the sky, but it¡¯s only the size of a golf ball and sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the room.
Congratulations! You have discovered the core room of Corwen Hearth.
Skill acquired: Search (Secret Rooms)
Ah, a skill, nice! What is this? The¡­ core room?
Corwen
Hello, Drake!
I take a closer look at the small orb. Oh, that¡¯s you, then, Corwen?
Corwen
Yes. You have found my secret core room. An admirable effort.
I do hope there¡¯s another way out of here because it might be hard to climb back up the way I came down.
Corwen
Of course. But it was bold and daring of you to take the route you did. You are welcome to leave by the regular ladder when you are done admiring my visage.
I brush myself off a bit, but I¡¯m definitely going to need a bath and a change of clothes. Why are people throwing garbage into the core room? Corwen doesn¡¯t answer my query with a system box, but by the trash I¡¯m standing in dissolving into nothing, including the goo that tried to seep into the wool of my clothes. Maybe not entirely nothing. With my [Clairvoyance] skill, I can see that the vis in this room is behaving rather oddly. Like a slowly circling whirlpool, all the vis in the area is funneling directly toward the crystal in the center of the room. And¡­ there¡¯s something else there. Something that isn¡¯t vis. I can¡¯t quite see it at first, even straining my senses, but it acts like a counterpoint to the vis in the air. I can track its movements by seeing where the vis isn¡¯t. It¡¯s especially dense right around the crystal core itself. Actually, I think the core is made of this stuff, just in a more solid form. I watch for a little bit longer to see what I can learn before climbing back up to the ground floor to see whether or not I¡¯ve gotten in trouble again this time. Chapter 6: The Hedge Maze Another winter passes, and spring of 732 dawns in Tempest Domain. Insofar as anything can be said to ¡®dawn¡¯ in a world without an actual sun that goes up and down. Daisy turns thirteen in January, and keeps stressing out over the fact that she hasn¡¯t reached Elite rank yet and isn¡¯t sure whether it¡¯s even attainable. To cheer her up and give her an opportunity to improve some skills and get some Deeds, our family decides to send us on a camping trip in April. ¡°It¡¯ll be fun!¡± Mom says. ¡°A great opportunity! Your mom has given me permission to escort you through some dungeons that don¡¯t involve any real fighting. There¡¯s Deeds in it for you for every completed dungeon, and every Deed helps toward your rank. Plus we can get your skills up! I know you haven¡¯t had much chance to train [Survival] yet.¡± Daisy grumbles, ¡°I don¡¯t want to train [Survival]. I want to be a Wizard.¡± ¡°Too bad,¡± says Aunt Magnolia (and I actually know her name now). ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing but tear your head out studying all the time since your sister went back to school.¡± ¡°Because I get bonuses to learning from books!¡± Daisy protests. ¡°Not by pitching tents and picking mushrooms!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you had to have read some books about camping and mushroom identification,¡± Mom says. ¡°Either way, now¡¯s a good time to revise. We leave on Friday.¡± Uncle Hawk, the [Ranger], is coming along with us. He¡¯s bringing a harness to carry me whenever my Stamina meter gets too low to keep up with the group. Aunt Dahlia has even made a pair of little hiking boots just for me. Also accompanying us is an 18-year-old cousin named Meadow. She¡¯s a Basic-rank [Apprentice Ranger] who is hoping to make Elite before she turns 21. We call ¡®Uncle Hawk¡¯ uncle even though he¡¯s more of a second cousin once or twice removed, but he¡¯s Meadow¡¯s mom¡¯s brother so he¡¯s more directly her uncle. We set off past the apple orchards and pass through the festival grounds, currently littered with the remnants from this year¡¯s spring festival that haven¡¯t been fully cleaned up yet. Dirt roads crisscross the terrain in every direction, and I would certainly get lost out here without Uncle Hawk¡¯s directions. Burdock¡¯s monster kitten marches at his side, her four ears moving independently to catch every sound around us. When the skymotes are green, we take a break to rest and have lunch in a clearing by the side of the road. Underneath the pine trees, several red-capped mushrooms of different sizes have spouted merrily. ¡°Look, mushrooms!¡± Burdock says, grabbing one and holding it aloft in one swift motion. ¡°Don¡¯t eat that!¡± Daisy snaps, slapping the mushroom out of Burdock¡¯s hand. ¡°That¡¯s emetic russula.¡± ¡°What¡¯s¡­ emetric brussula mean?¡± ¡°It means ¡®if you eat this, you will throw up¡¯,¡± Daisy says. ¡°Oh,¡± Burdock says sheepishly. Turns out Daisy took up most of her carry weight with a huge, illustrated guide to plants and fungi, like any sensible [Scholarly Child]. She reluctantly lets Burdock read it, after wiping off his hands thoroughly first. I peek over his shoulder to take a look myself. The pictures look almost like photographs, and little icons indicate how toxic something is. ¡°Alright kids, pack up,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°We¡¯ve still got a lot of walking to do before dark.¡± We reach the first dungeon we¡¯re planning on exploring when the skymotes are orange. The entrance is comprised of a wrough iron gate set into an ivy-covered stone wall. Zenith shines orange down upon us from the northwest like a weird flat moon. You have discovered the Hedge Maze.
Skill acquired: Survival (Hiking)
Your Max Stamina has increased by 1 and is now 5. My efforts are already paying off, and it only took me a full day of trudging across slightly rugged terrain. Every additional point of Stamina is definitely welcome. ¡°Here we are,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°The Hedge Maze. Let¡¯s make camp about a hundred meters from the entrance. In the morning, I¡¯ll keep watch outside and you kids can do a run, maybe more than one if you can complete it fast. That¡¯ll depend on how good you kids are at puzzles and riddles.¡± We pitch a tent. By which I mean Daisy and Burdock try to pitch a tent while my mom supervises. Uncle Hawk takes Meadow out to scout the area and make sure there¡¯s nothing dangerous nearby. I¡¯m tasked with finding firewood.
Skill acquired: Search (Firewood)
Not that sort of skill I was hoping to unlock from this excursion, but I¡¯ll take it. I¡¯m told every subskill helps the general skill, so I guess the more things I know how to search for, the better I get at searching in general. Once Uncle Hawk and Meadow return, the tent is still not up, so the two of them help. After the disastrous attempt at pitching a tent, now Daisy and Burdock are trying to light a camp fire while Meadow watches on trying to give them pointers. ¡°Meadow, can¡¯t you or Uncle Hawk do this?¡± Burdock grouses, throwing a twig at the pile of firewood in frustration. ¡°Or Anise? Anise can just magic up a fire. Why do we need to do this?¡± ¡°Sure, we could light it,¡± Meadow says. ¡°But that wouldn¡¯t earn you a Survival (Fire Making) skill. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll help if you can¡¯t get it lit before the skymotes turn dark.¡± ¡­ The fire is smoldering low and only a few of the skymotes have turned azure yet when Uncle Hawk wakes us for breakfast. Daisy whines the loudest about having to get up early. ¡°At Crux Academy, classes don¡¯t even start until green,¡± Daisy says. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not at Crux Academy,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°You¡¯re in the real world, and the spring sky is plenty bright enough to navigate an easy dungeon by even at night. You should be glad you got the chance to sleep first.¡± Once we¡¯ve got some food in us, Mom opens the gate and we file into the dungeon. Uncle Hawk waves at us before turning his attention to the wilds outside. The Hedge Maze is beautiful, full of greenery and blooming flowers, and we spend some time wandering around its shifting pathways trying to get our bearings. The fragrant blooms and plants mingle in the air with the scent of earth, and a crisp, clean spring breeze tickles my nose and summons a sneeze. ¡°I¡¯ve been here before, but it¡¯s different every time, so I can only help with generalities,¡± Mom says. ¡°And in setting fire to anything that needs fire set to it, if fire proves necessary. Hopefully, fire will not prove necessary.¡± ¡°Me too, minus the fire,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I think everyone over the age of seven must have done an easy dungeon a day¡¯s walk from home before.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t¡­¡± Daisy whinges. Meadow chuckles. ¡°Everyone who touches grass every now and then, at least.¡± Daisy sticks her tongue out at her like a perfectly mature thirteen-year-old. ¡°There¡¯s lots of puzzles in here for you to solve, at any rate,¡± Mom says. ¡°That¡¯s why we picked this dungeon to start off with. You¡¯re smart. Get to solving.¡± We¡¯ve arrived at a circular cobblestone platform in the midst of hedges, with each stone bearing different markings. Daisy immediately stops complaining and gets to examining the platform intently. Burdock and I also take a look, but Daisy has it figured out before we¡¯re even sure exactly what it is we¡¯re looking at. She hops across the platform, careful to only step on certain stones, and reaches the middle. A small chest slides out of the platform, and she loots it to reveal a handful of shiny copper coins and an apple. ¡°This is such a lame reward,¡± Daisy says, tossing the apple at Burdock. ¡°Can¡¯t expect Legendary rewards out of Basic puzzles,¡± Mom says with a chuckle. We continue on, slowly making our way toward the center of the maze. Mipsy¡¯s four ears satellite around, and she suddenly tenses. ¡°Mipsy, do you hear something?¡± Burdock asks. We stop for a moment, trying to hear what the monster kitten might be hearing, but nothing happens so we move on warily. After a couple more puzzles, we come upon a hollow log sticking out from under one of the hedges. It¡¯s a tight squeeze, and only Mipsy and I are likely to fit. ¡°Dungeons often tailor challenges to whoever enters them,¡± Mom says. ¡°I bet that one was put here for you, Drake. Go on, see what¡¯s inside. There might be a secret area with more treasure.¡± ¡°And hopefully isn¡¯t just apples,¡± Daisy adds. Mipsy, already poking her head inside, needs no encouragement from her master to go exploring the hidden space. I squeeze in after the tabby tail and worm my way through the log, hoping that this dungeon really is as benign as Mom and Uncle Hawk insist. Once through the log, I emerge into a sheltered little nook amid the hedges. Azure light from high above filters through the low canopy. Another small chest sits on the ground, and I open it to reveal my own handful of copper coins and a long, thin bit of metal with a handle and a kink on the end. I¡¯m pretty sure this is supposed to be a lockpick. I pocket my rewards and give another look around the nook to make sure I haven¡¯t missed anything before turning back toward the log. Mipsy¡¯s hackles are raised, and her four ears are all arrayed toward the log. There¡¯s sounds from the other side of the hedge. What in the world is going on out there? I can¡¯t even see through the green vis of the hedge to use [Clairvoyance] on whatever might be going on outside. I stay quiet and perfectly still until the sounds stop before going to crawl out of the log again. Mom, Burdock, and Daisy are gone. The grass is trampled, and it looks like something might have been dragged through the mud. I carefully examine the ground, and find footprints. Humanoid, barefoot, child-sized and with unusually long toes with claws on the end. I also find a couple of discarded darts in the bushes. I¡¯m not going to prick myself with one just to see what happens, but I can only guess my party was ambushed and knocked out before they could react, otherwise my mom would have set something on fire here. I suppose it was complacent of us to think that just because there weren¡¯t any monsters in this dungeon normally, that there was no danger at all. Maybe this dungeon decided to spawn some monsters after all, or maybe someone came in from outside, but that would mean they¡¯d have to cast past Uncle Hawk. I can¡¯t imagine why someone would have wanted to kidnap my family members, but it¡¯s not like I know a lot about the political situation of Tempest or the position of Corwen in it. The nearby Hearths seem friendly enough, but I¡¯ve been pretty sheltered all things considered. If there are enemies who would like to see Corwen Hearth razed to the ground, I don¡¯t know who they might be. I¡¯m not going to track down and rescue them all by myself. I need to get out of this dungeon and find Uncle Hawk. Moving quietly and keeping one eye on the position of Mipsy¡¯s ears in case she hears something, I make my way toward where I think the entrance to the maze was. The disturbed ground and tracks end abruptly at a hedge that I¡¯m pretty sure was in a different position before. Cursing inwardly, I meander around trying to find another way through. Mipsy stays close at my side on high alert. I come upon another puzzle, this one involving several mirrors positioned around a clearing. Now this is something I can handle. I have played so many games with light beam puzzles. The mirrors move smoothly even for someone as small as me. I set to work and soon enough get them positioned so that the green light from Zenith overhead gets redirected around corners and through holes in the hedge to a receiving crystal. Once that final crystal lights up, a wrought iron gate leading into the center of the maze opens up.
Skill acquired: Mechanics (Mirrors)
With no sign of anything immediately hostile nearby, I head in to claim my prize. A larger, fancier chest awaits me on a dais at the far end of the clearing. But standing in front of it is a gnarled tree with a red aura indicating a monster and not just a plant. It seems the dungeon wants one more challenge out of me, but it better not be expecting me to fight a treant. ¡°Hmm, hmm,¡± rumbles the tree in a deep masculine voice. ¡°Two very small challengers this time. Come closer. Do not fear. You will not be harmed. Should you fail my challenge, you will merely be expelled from the dungeon without your rewards.¡± Oh good. It¡¯s a talky tree. I can deal with talky trees. ¡°Can you tell me what happened to the rest of my party?¡± I ask, toddling forward. ¡°I have not seen anyone else today,¡± the tree says, gesturing with a knotty limb as if to indicate that he¡¯s kind of rooted in this spot. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll need to look for them once I get out of here, pass or fail,¡± I say. ¡°What¡¯s your challenge?¡± ¡°Hmm, a riddle, small human, merely a riddle,¡± the tree says. ¡°Listen carefully and tell me the answer.¡± He pauses dramatically and shifts his branches. ¡°It is a very strange thing that my dungeon has told me. I do not understand it myself. But hopefully you do.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the riddle?¡± I ask. ¡°Twinkling guides shone in the night, billions of years to burn their light. The shape of a leaf in gold marks a great deed to be told.¡± ¡°Stars,¡± I say immediately. ¡°Hmm, hmm, stars,¡± the tree says slowly. ¡°Your answer is correct. I know not what connection there might be between golden leaves and ancient guides, but you do. Claim your prize, challenger. Well done.¡±
Congratulations! You have completed the Hedge Maze.
I go up and open the chest. Inside lies two silver coins and a golden star-shaped amulet. Is this a genuine magic item? I pocket the coins and put the amulet around my neck because I figure the chances of it helping somehow are higher than the chances of the dungeon suddenly deciding to be a jerk and give me cursed treasure. If it wants to screw me over, all it needs to do is not let me out of here, after all. Another gate has opened, and the tree says, ¡°Go in peace, challenger. I hope you find your friends.¡± Chapter 7: Skullburn Outpost The gate deposits me on a different side of the dungeon than the one I came in by, and I have to carefully circle around to try to find our campsite. How long were they watching us? They might have noticed I was with the group and be on a lookout for me. I do my best to sneak through the undergrowth back to where we¡¯d set up camp. The camp has been ransacked, and Uncle Hawk is nowhere in sight. The tent has been knocked over and torn, and our provisions taken. Now I¡¯m starting to get really worried. Before, I was doing the only thing I could to proceed, getting through the dungeon. I¡¯d really hoped Uncle Hawk was still out here and could find the others. But now, aside from a three-eyed four-eared kitten, I¡¯m on my own. It¡¯s several hours walk to the nearest Hearth. My 5 Stamina is equivalent to a less active child twice my age, but that¡¯s still a four-year-old and not especially impressive. I could probably make it back there, but I¡¯d still have to rest regularly. We crossed two streams on the way here with old stone bridges over them, so I think I can manage water. The sensible thing to do would be to go to the nearest Hearth and get help. They¡¯ll assemble a rescue team and track down my mom and cousins, I¡¯m sure. This would not be the sort of thing that would get me a Deed, however. And it would greatly delay getting any help to them when every moment might count. I take a deep breath and inspect the area for any sign of where Uncle Hawk or the others might have been taken. The same clawed humanoid feet left tracks all over the ground around the camp. Sadly, Daisy brought a plant identification book, not a monster track identification book, and it¡¯s still with her regardless. There¡¯s signs of them dragging something heavy, probably Uncle Hawk, as well as clawed tracks and drag marks coming out from the entrance to the dungeon. It might not actually be that difficult to track them. They clearly weren¡¯t trying to be very stealthy, once their ambush was complete. I follow the trail left by the creatures through disturbed mud and trampled foliage. The trees around me sway and rustle in regular strong gusts, but the birds are silent and the small animals of the forest are in hiding. After creeping through the brush until the skymotes turn yellow, I hear sounds ahead of me. Voices echoing through the forest, but not human voices. They¡¯re high-pitched and rough, and I can¡¯t understand a word they¡¯re saying. I try climbing a tree to get a good look ahead of me, but it takes a few attempts to find one that my small statue, lack of claws, and level 1 Athletics (Climbing) skill can handle. In a break in the trees, a small outpost lies ahead of me. Tents made of bone and hide cluster around a campfire. Off to one side sits a large, crude cage containing several human-sized figures. A man, three women, and a child. The goblins themselves also have violet auras, indicating that they¡¯re people and not monsters. I¡¯m not sure what the distinction really is, but they¡¯re still people who are doing bad things. The cages are located off the beaten path just enough that they¡¯re not in immediate view of most of the goblins working around the village, but there¡¯s hardly a lot of cover near them. They¡¯re still in plain view of enough goblins that this could be a problem. At least there¡¯s room enough behind the cages that they and the people themselves can cover their view of us. I sneak up behind the cage, Mipsy creeping at my side.
You have discovered Skullburn Outpost.
Your Subterfuge (Sneaking) skill has increased to level 3.
¡°Hi Mom,¡± I whisper. ¡°Drake!¡± Mom hisses. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Getting you out of here,¡± I say softly. Mom¡¯s face rapidly cycles through several expressions before saying, ¡°Uncle Hawk¡¯s been cursed. He can barely move, never mind fight or run. And I got hit with anti-magic poison.¡± I utter a naughty word. ¡°Not that kind of curse,¡± Mom says. ¡°Someone¡¯s coming. Hide!¡± Mipsy and I duck back into the bushes as a group of armed goblins comes up to the cage. Two of them point spears at the group while the third opens the cage and two more drag Uncle Hawk out. They lock the cage again and tie the Ranger up to a pole by the arms and legs. Four of them carry him off, and half the goblins leave the outpost to escort the group.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Hiding)
I find a rock the size of two of my tiny fists with one sharpish edge I figure I could use for a weapon or tool. I sneak up behind the sole goblin now guarding the cage and bring the rock down as hard as I can on his head.
You have defeated a Goblin Guardian.
Skill acquired: Striking (Rock)
It feels a little undignified that my first ¡®weapon¡¯ skill is the most primitive one in existence, but whatever. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll still help. I bring out the lockpick I found in the Hedge Maze and hurriedly get to work on the lock before anyone notices something¡¯s wrong. Luckily, this one is even easier than the hatch on the Corwen Hearth tower.
You have picked a Trivial difficulty lock.
The three captives hurry to un-capture themselves before any goblins notice us messing around. We regroup in the nearby bushes. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving without my book!¡± Daisy whispers. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get our stuff back.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± I ask. ¡°They took our things to that tent over there.¡± Daisy points. ¡°I don¡¯t have any Subterfuge skills, though.¡± ¡°I have level 3 in Subterfuge (Sneaking),¡± I say. ¡°You¡¯ve been busy,¡± Mom says. ¡°But it¡¯s still too dangerous for a baby. It¡¯s crazy you¡¯ve come this far. Meadow should escort you and Daisy back to the Hearth.¡± ¡°No way!¡± Daisy says. ¡°I need a Deed and this is my best opportunity!¡± Mom sighs. ¡°Fine, but Drake¡¯s just a baby.¡± ¡°I¡¯m reincarnated,¡± I admit. ¡°Many times over, in fact.¡± Everyone stares at me. ¡°Oh,¡± Mom says. ¡°Well, that explains a lot.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not mad?¡± I ask. ¡°One of the older kids was talking about how they had to kill a kid who¡¯d gotten possessed.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not possessed,¡± Mom says. ¡°I mean, sort of, I guess. But there¡¯s never really been another Drake Corwen so it¡¯s not the same thing. No wonder you¡¯ve been learning skills so fast.¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t need to take Drake to safety, I¡¯m not going to abandon my uncle or miss out on a Deed either,¡± Meadow adds. ¡°Alright,¡± Mom says. ¡°I guess we¡¯re doing this, then. Daisy, do you know how to make a potion to cure the poison they hit me with? Surely you¡¯ve unlocked Crafting (Potions), right?¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not very high,¡± Daisy says. ¡°And I¡¯ll need my book to even know what to mix.¡± ¡°I can sneak in and grab it,¡± I say. ¡°We could use a distraction,¡± Mom says. ¡°Meadow, can you start a fire on the far side of camp?¡± ¡°I am not setting a forest fire just to distract some goblins,¡± Meadow says. Mipsy has already taken it into her own paws to cause a distraction like only a cat can. I wait for a few seconds after she starts causing chaos, and slip in behind the tent in question. The violet vis of someone inside indicates not everyone got distracted by the distraction, though. I crawl underneath the back of the tent. The guard turns to look as I come in, but his spear hits the edge of the tent as he tries to point it at me. I slam my trusty bloody rock into his face.
You have defeated a Goblin Guardian.
There¡¯s a crude wooden chest inside the tent. Locked, of course. I get to work with my lockpick. With the skill in my mind, I have this odd sensation of knowing how to do something without really knowing how to do it. Surely playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion didn¡¯t actually teach me how to pick a lock, but the system doesn¡¯t care. Fine, I¡¯m in a world that runs on silly video game logic, and if a toddler can become a master thief for some reason, I might as well just run with it.
You have picked a Trivial difficulty lock.
The chest contains four backpacks. Looks like the goblins didn¡¯t bother to actually sift through our belongings. I can¡¯t carry them all, so I just stick two sheathed daggers in my belt and grab Daisy¡¯s book. I abandon my rock here as I can¡¯t carry both it and the huge book at the same time, and crawl back out under the back of the tent. The others are waiting where I left them, and I pass the book to Daisy and hand Mom one of the daggers, keeping the other. ¡°Mipsy ran off into the bushes on the far side of camp,¡± Burdock says. ¡°At least four goblins were chasing her. I hope she¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°If not, she¡¯s a monster,¡± Mom says. ¡°She can respawn. We can¡¯t.¡± Daisy flips through the pages of her big plant book. ¡°We¡¯ll need jewelweed. I¡¯ll probably only need a couple. Everyone keep an eye out for a flower that looks like this.¡± She points to the picture of an orange flower. ¡°Jewelweed, got it,¡± Mom says. ¡°We¡¯ll also need mystic moss to amplify the healing properties in the flower.¡± She flips through the book again. ¡°It looks like this. Look for a faint bluish glow on the northwest side of trees.¡± ¡°And if we can get my magic working again, I can burn this camp to the ground so we can retrieve the rest of our stuff,¡± Mom says. ¡°And try not to start a forest fire in the process?¡± Meadow adds. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°Drake, while we¡¯re looking for flowers, I don¡¯t suppose it would be good much to ask for you to go back and grab some sort of container that can hold liquid?¡± Daisy asks. ¡°Our cookpot will suffice.¡± ¡°On it,¡± I say. I wish she¡¯d just said, ¡°Drake, go get the cookpot.¡± While Mipsy is still leading some of the goblins on a merry chase through the forest, that was like thirty words more than strictly necessary. If we survive this, I¡¯ll need to tell her to save the word count for school essays. Another goblin has come to investigate the storage tent. I pull out my dagger and crawl under the tent the same way I did before, and lunge forward to slash at the goblin. He tumbles out of the way, more alert than the last two goblins. This goblin isn¡¯t wielding a spear, but a stone knife. And unlike me, he actually knows how to use it. We¡¯re the same size, and my weapon is longer and much sharper, but that doesn¡¯t mean being cut with a stone knife doesn¡¯t still hurt. And he¡¯s more agile and has probably been using that sharp rock on a handle his entire life. (I strongly suspect that I have lived a lot of short, violent lives.)
Skill acquired: Recollection (Insight)
Skill acquired: Discipline (Battle Trance)
The goblin slashes his knife at my throat, but it seems to move in slow motion compared to my thoughts. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m strong enough to block, so I drop to the ground and the swing whooshes above my head. Then a vertical slash, which I roll out of the way of into one of the tent supports. Just bumping it isn¡¯t enough to bring it down, but a slash of my dagger does the trick. Being at the edge and expecting it, I pull myself out of the tent first. I stomp on the edge of the hide and bury my dagger in the lump where the goblin had been standing. The hide takes the brunt of the blow, though it does pierce all the way through, so I stab a few more times for good measure, and then keep stabbing until the tent stops moving.
You have defeated a Goblin Warrior.
Skill acquired: Striking (Dagger)
The Battle Trance fades and I look down at the bloody blade in my hand and the hide tent with numerous bloody punctures. I have gained a lot of skills and I have a new goal in life. Survive to adulthood. Because I¡¯m absolutely certain that these goblins didn¡¯t wind up here by accident. And I strongly suspect that the crystalline entities that run this world didn¡¯t spawn an isekai protagonist just to let his life be boring. Corwen offers no commentary. I cut a slash through the hide above the chest, grab the cookpot and make a break for the trees. The tent being converted into a pile of bloody hide pretty much did it for my stealth. Now I just need to get away. Chapter 8: Into the Caves Three spear-wielding goblins make guttural shouts and chase after me. As I reach the edge of the trees, my mom leaps out of the brush and ambushes one of the goblins, bringing him down in an instant with her dagger. ¡°Hey, greenskins!¡± calls Meadow, holding aloft a crude wooden spear she must have just made. ¡°You want some?¡± The goblins scream and charge at her. One of them gets caught in a crude snare and face-plants. Mom stabs him with her dagger before he can recover. Meadow takes the final goblin down with her pointy stick. ¡°Good, you got the cookpot!¡± Daisy says. ¡°I have the plants, and there¡¯s a stream nearby. Meadow, can you get a fire going by the stream?¡± ¡°You alright, Drake?¡± Mom asks. ¡°Bruises at worst,¡± I say, following after Daisy. ¡°I killed two goblins and unlocked a few skills. I¡¯m fine, Mom.¡± She chuckles. ¡°You¡¯re not even pretending to be a kid right now. You can call me Anise.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pretend to be a kid again when we get back to the Hearth,¡± I say. ¡°Screaming and crying would be a realistic reaction to everything that¡¯s happened today, but it would be unproductive. So, Anise, let¡¯s get your magic back so you can torch this camp and I¡¯m not even going to give a crap that these goblins are people and not monsters because they¡¯re probably going to kill my uncle.¡± ¡°Wait, they aren¡¯t monsters?¡± Mom¡ªAnise says. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± I nod. ¡°Positive. I can see auras.¡± ¡°Of course you can,¡± she says flatly. ¡°It takes goblins seven years to become adults, and the goblins have definitely not been here for seven years, so where did they come from?¡± We reach the stream and Meadow gets a fire going, but no one has any skills to make water boil or make plants cook faster so we¡¯ll just have to wait a few minutes. Daisy grinds up her reagents between two rocks in the meantime. ¡°They must have come up from the depths,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Having a reincarnator here would explain why they¡¯ve come to the surface only now,¡± Daisy says. ¡°It does?¡± Anise says. Daisy sighs in exasperation. ¡°Do you people not read books?¡± ¡°Not if I can help it,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Only raunchy ones,¡± Anise adds. ¡°In accordance with ancient prophecy, when an incarnated hero of the light rises, the forces of darkness will also rise in opposition,¡± Daisy says. I groan loudly. ¡°Noooo, not a prophecy! I mean, it¡¯s really not. Saying what you¡¯re going to do in advance is a schedule, not a prophecy. Corwen incarnated me when it did deliberately. These goblins must have been breeding beneath the surface for years. Can we please not call it a prophecy?¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Daisy says with a shrug. She scrapes her ground plant paste into the pot and stirs it with a stick. ¡°In accordance with ancient scheduling, heroes and villains go hand in hand.¡± I sigh. ¡°Of course they do.¡± Dear Corwen, may I please have some comedic fantasy rather than tragic fantasy? I would greatly prefer not to have murdered family members or raging rampage of revenge plots. I don¡¯t need any cutthroat politics or beheadings, either. Is that too much to ask for? ¡°Alright, potion is ready,¡± Daisy says, removing the pot from the heat. ¡°We¡¯ll just need to wait for it to cool down and¡ª¡± Anise grabs the pot and guzzles the boiling liquid. ¡°Anise!¡± Daisy exclaims in alarm. ¡°I have a lot of heat resistance,¡± Anise says with a laugh, and her hands burst into flames. ¡°Kinda necessary. Alright! Let¡¯s kick some green butts.¡± She hands the dagger to Daisy and sets off back toward the outpost, and the rest of us follow after. Having an Elite Sorcerer on our side makes this battle suddenly a lot more one-sided. Mipsy rejoins us along the way, having survived her mad chase relatively unscathed.
You have cleared Skullburn Outpost.
Cleared. Nice way of saying there¡¯s a bunch of dead green people who decided to mess with my family for no good reason. And Meadow is frantically trying to ensure that Anise¡¯s pyromania doesn¡¯t turn into a forest fire. Meadow sorts out our packs while the rest of us scour the outpost for anything of value, but there¡¯s nothing here but crude stone spears and knives, plus provisions that only a goblin would eat. ¡°Not even a loot chest?¡± Anise complains. ¡°Rude.¡± Meadow hands me Daisy¡¯s small pack, and gives Daisy Uncle Hawk¡¯s larger pack. ¡°I¡¯ve redistributed the weight and dropped a few things we don¡¯t really need under the circumstances.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I want a bag of holding,¡± I say, pulling on the light pack. ¡°Don¡¯t we all,¡± Anise says. ¡°Alright, we all ready? Meadow, your tracking skills are better than mine, so you¡¯ll need to take the lead.¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t dragging him this time but the tracks still shouldn¡¯t be hard to follow,¡± Meadow says, heading off in the direction they took Uncle Hawk. Along the way, I watch the ground to examine the tracks Meadow is following in hopes of unlocking a skill for it myself. She points them out now and then for our benefit. The skymotes have turned orange by the time we reach the end of the tracks. A cave opening leading underground, partially concealed behind vines, but Meadow is good enough at rangering to follow the tracks that disappear inside and spot the entrance.
You have discovered an entrance to the Underside.
Skill acquired: Survival (Tracking)
I didn¡¯t even do anything and I¡¯m still getting credit for it. I guess Meadow¡¯s pointers count as ¡°teaching¡± but it still feels weak. I think I¡¯m adding another goal to me ¡°to do¡± list right after surviving to adulthood: Find something I didn¡¯t do in a previous life. We take a short rest outside to replenish our Stamina and get something in our stomachs. ¡°Has anyone gotten a quest popup?¡± Anise asks. We all shake our heads. ¡°How common are quests?¡± I ask. ¡°You¡¯re a reincarnated hero,¡± Daisy says. ¡°If the books I¡¯ve read are accurate, you should be seeing them constantly. Of course, they might have been exaggerated for dramatic value, and you¡¯re physically only two years old.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of weird how quickly you guys adapted to the idea,¡± I say. ¡°I think it¡¯s awesome,¡± Burdock says. ¡°We¡¯re going to have so much fun!¡± Anise says. ¡°This isn¡¯t exactly fun,¡± Daisy says, looking worriedly into the dank hole in the ground. ¡°Everyone¡¯s Stamina meters full?¡± Meadow asks, and we all nod. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s head down, then.¡± Anise waves a hand, and a candle flame floats above her head. We enter the cave, letting Anise go first since she¡¯s the highest level of us and most likely to not die immediately if something attacks us. Meadow takes the rear with her pointy stick, sandwiching the younger party members between them. We head down in silence, even Daisy stilling her chatter. After walking for an indeterminate amount of time (or at least, mostly determinate by our dipping Stamina meters), the tunnel opens up into a large cavern lit by glowing mushrooms. Anise snuffs her candlelight and we pause to scan over the area from relative cover. A veritable forest of giant mushrooms sprawls below us, and pale blue glowing lichen striates across the ceiling. Nestled within the mushroom grove stands a structure that is¡­ not unfamiliar. High walls made of solid stone surround a cluster of buildings mostly made of bone and hide. In the center, a large stone building stands out looking much like a Hearth. Four wings jut out around a central tower, but the tower is only slightly higher than the rest of the building. ¡°A goblin Hearth?¡± Anise whispers. ¡°This close to the surface?¡± ¡°That must be where they took Uncle Hawk,¡± Meadow says quietly. ¡°This¡­ complicates things,¡± Anise says. ¡°Here I was hoping they just had another outpost down here. We are in no way prepared to assault a Hearth.¡± We sit still for several long minutes, examining the Hearth and trying to think of options. ¡°I have rope, but I¡¯m not sure that climbing up the walls is feasible,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I could disguise myself as a goblin,¡± I suggest. ¡°That¡¯s a fantastically stupid idea,¡± Anise says. ¡°Do you even speak their language?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°Nope,¡± I say with a smirk. ¡°Just spitballing.¡± ¡°Did you ever speak their language in another life?¡± Daisy asks. ¡°I have no idea,¡± I say. ¡°I can try and see if Recollection (Skills) brings up anything, though.¡± I hold up a hand. ¡°I sense a patrol. Coming toward the tunnel. Three of them.¡± Everyone readies their weapons. (Or fire, or claws.) The fight is swift, and we manage to capture one of them and put Meadow¡¯s rope to good use. ¡°Okay, buddy,¡± I say. ¡°I want you to talk.¡± The goblin snarls and babbles at me. ¡°No, I don¡¯t really care what you say, I just want to see if I can understand your language,¡± I say. While I¡¯m doing that, Meadow goes to scout the area, Daisy is mixing up green pigment to smear on my skin, and Anise works on making me a passable set of goblin ears. I don¡¯t know that this will hold up to scrutiny, but I¡¯m hoping to get some skills that might help unlocked. As I listen to the goblin swear at me (at least, I assume what he¡¯s saying is impolite), my mind runs over¡­ memories. I feel like I¡¯m reaching through a gooey mucus barrier. It feels wrong, as do the whispers and shadows of images I manage to dredge up. I stop and rub my head, which has rapidly started aching. ¡°I don¡¯t like doing this,¡± I say quietly. ¡°We can always try another approach if you¡¯re not up to it,¡± Anise says. I sigh. ¡°This is frustrating. I¡¯ve been so many mes, but I kind of just want to be this me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Anise says. ¡°Don¡¯t go giving yourself Sanity damage you¡¯re not prepared to handle.¡± Meadow returns to our makeshift camp. ¡°Good news, everyone. I found some weaknesses in the goblins¡¯ defenses. There¡¯s a back door in a ravine by an underground river on the far side of the village. It¡¯s probably still watched, but I don¡¯t imagine they expect invaders to be coming in from that side.¡± That makes sense. Even our own village doesn¡¯t have one single entrance. There¡¯s a door on the back side that opens into a fishing area too. ¡°Let¡¯s still try disguising you as a goblin,¡± Anise says. ¡°If nothing else, it¡¯ll confuse them and they¡¯ll be less likely to target you immediately. You¡¯ve probably at least learned a few naughty words. I know I certainly have.¡± So, everyone helps in putting the disguise together, and somehow being slathered in green goo and wearing smelly goblin clothing feels less gross than trying to reach for memories of other lives. I shake my spear menacingly and repeat a few words our captive said to me. I have no idea what they mean, but he spits a few words angrily back at me. ¡°What¡¯re we gonna do with him?¡± Burdock asks. ¡°It seems wrong to just kill him when he¡¯s tied up.¡± ¡°Leave him here for now, I suppose,¡± Anise says. ¡°Maybe gag him or give him a sleeping potion or something so he doesn¡¯t start yelling for help. Somebody¡¯s eventually going to notice their patrol never checked in.¡± ¡°Sleeping potion,¡± Daisy says with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m carrying that around? We¡¯d need to light a fire and get more water and everything. Ugh, I¡¯m looking forward to becoming a Wizard so I can actually do magic and not just mixing stuff up or enhancing my stats.¡± ¡°Enhancing stats?¡± I ask. ¡°Yeah, the first abilities you can unlock when you get a class, any class, are to boost your attributes,¡± Anise says. ¡°Practice at it enough and you can get stronger or faster at the right moment, or slowly build up your attributes permanently.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get moving, if we¡¯re going to do this,¡± Meadow says. ¡°My uncle¡¯s in there and he needs our help.¡± Chapter 9: Grubwick Meadow leads us down a rough slope into a ravine in the huge cavern, where an underground river runs by. Occasionally I catch glimpses of weird glowing fish in the water, but we didn¡¯t come here to fish. Although come to think of it, fishing sounds fantastic right now. There are so many skills I would like to be learning that don¡¯t involve mortal peril. ¡°Alright,¡± Anise whispers. ¡°I¡¯m only seeing one goblin outside. You want to try stealth first? There¡¯s no telling how many of them are inside, or whether any of them are way beyond our league. Goblins aren¡¯t usually very strong, but the few of them that manage to learn magic can be a problem.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± I say, handing my dagger to Anise. ¡°It¡¯ll look weird if I have that and I don¡¯t want anyone stabbing me with it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll cover your retreat if you have to escape,¡± Meadow says. ¡°We should be able to handle any normal goblins that come out of that door.¡± I approach the back door to the goblin village. Several primitive fishing spears and crude lures lay scattered on the banks of the river near the back door to the goblin village.
You have discovered Grubwick.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Disguise)
¡­ which is apparently named Grubwick. A goblin fisherman spots me approaching, and my party stays back out of sight. This goblin is unarmed and not particularly threatening himself, but if he calls for help, I¡¯m sure guards could be here in an instant. I try to act natural and mumble a few probably naughty words, pretending to be disgruntled about my patrol or whatever, not that I can communicate coherently enough to even bluff about what I¡¯m doing here. The fisher goblin grunts and gives me a reply in a tone like, ¡°Yeah, man, I know, right?¡± I wonder if the goblin language in general could be considered ¡°foul language¡±. I might be able to slip past this goblin, although my team wouldn¡¯t. And it seems downright rude to kill an unarmed fisher goblin. Still, I¡¯ll leave it to them to figure it out. I head in through the door. Although it bears some similarities to my own Hearth, I don¡¯t know if any of my assumptions about how Hearths work would carry over. Specifically, outsiders aren¡¯t allowed inside Corwen Hearth. Would that mean they wouldn¡¯t take Uncle Hawk inside? He might just be sweating in another cage like the one at Skullburn Outpost. It was difficult to see what exactly is inside the walls from a distance. Act natural. Act natural. What the heck is acting natural for a goblin? I stomp around angrily and snarl at anyone that gets close.
Your Subterfuge (Acting) skill has increased to level 3.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, system. I¡¯m shocked that this disguise has lasted so long. I finally spot Uncle Hawk tied up on a stone table. A small goblin is repeatedly poking him with a stone knife and failing to break the skin. Entirely puzzled about what¡¯s going on here, I approach, and overhear the little goblin muttering to himself. In English.
Skill acquired: Language (English)
I guess that¡¯s just acknowledging that I already speak English and can understand him perfectly fine, but I still find it funny. This odd little goblin, however, is much more interesting. Like mine, his aura is black rather than violet like the other goblins. ¡°Why isn¡¯t this working?¡± the young goblin says. ¡°Ugh, I knew stone knives have a penalty and you¡¯re two ranks above me, but I was expecting to at least do some damage!¡± Uncle Hawk, barely conscious, does not respond. I prop my spear up in a weapon rack and approach the goblin child. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like you¡¯re making much progress there,¡± I say in English. He spins around, pointing his stone knife at me. I hold out my hands to show I¡¯m unarmed, and he relaxes just a little. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asks. ¡°There aren¡¯t any other reincarnators in this Hearth¡­ and that¡¯s a terrible disguise.¡± ¡°It was good enough for the goblins who weren¡¯t reincarnators,¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°You can call me Drake.¡± ¡°You know, I could have you killed in an instant.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I say. ¡°And then you can miss out on the opportunity to talk to someone who has read Tolkien.¡± He works up his face into several interesting expressions before finally putting the knife away. ¡°You could have killed me before I even realized you were here if you were actually after me, I suppose. What do you want?¡± ¡°Right now? I just want to talk. What¡¯s your name?¡± He grunts. ¡°I was given the name ¡®Grabrat Grubwick¡¯ in this life but I hate it. I would prefer to be called Milo, my name from Earth.¡± ¡°Milo,¡± I say with a smile. ¡°Nice to meet you. So what exactly are you trying to do here with this human?¡± Milo sighs. ¡°I had hoped that killing a Heroic-rank adventurer by myself would help progress me to Elite rank. Additionally, I sought to learn Necromancy, and I was told that requires a sacrifice.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to sacrifice someone to learn Necromancy,¡± I say.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°That¡¯s what my grandmother told me. Have you heard differently?¡± ¡°You just need to have your Soul stat unlocked. As a reincarnator, you should have it already. We can use Necromancy naturally since we¡¯ve already been dead.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± Milo says. ¡°That makes sense, actually. Good to know. Goblins rarely live past twenty-one and I was also hoping increasing my rank enough would increase my lifespan. The higher rank you get, the more your aging slows.¡± ¡°True,¡± I say. ¡°My great-grandmother is Legendary and she¡¯s over eighty but still looks like she¡¯s in her twenties. That¡¯s quite a tight timetable for goblins. How old are you?¡± ¡°Two years and five months,¡± Milo says. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ exactly my age,¡± I say. ¡°My naming day is November 30th.¡± ¡°Same as mine¡­¡± Milo says. ¡°Both of our Hearths decided to incarnate a hapless Earthling at the same time?¡± ¡°In accordance with ancient scheduling, it seems so.¡± Some other goblins have overheard us talking and have gathered around to watch at a distance, no one wanting to get too close. They seem to be afraid of Milo. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him, anyway?¡± I ask. ¡°The Hearth¡¯s [Elder Witch] cursed him,¡± Milo says. ¡°She¡¯s Epic rank, and forty years old. Grandma Griza is terrifying when she wants to be, but she made sure I had all the resources available as we had. Which¡­ is not terribly much. Stone knives and pointy sticks! This place sucks.¡± ¡°I believe I can help with that,¡± I say. ¡°You have a weapon that might be able to hurt a Heroic?¡± I shake my head. ¡°I can help you level up. My Hearth has resources and expertise. You can join my party and we can get lots of Deeds.¡± Milo mulls that over thoughtfully, looks at Uncle Hawk with a frown, and turns back to me. ¡°You would do that for me?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I say. ¡°I would, of course, want the human released. Preferably de-cursed, too.¡± ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d explain that to Grandma Griza,¡± Milo says. ¡°You said she wanted to provide you with the best opportunities,¡± I say. ¡°She should recognize this as a priceless opportunity.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­ when you put it that way¡­¡± Milo says. ¡°Alright. You¡¯ve convinced me. I¡¯m in.¡±
Your Persuasion (Diplomacy) skill has increased to level 2.
Milo starts untying Uncle Hawk. ¡°Best get him out of here, then. I¡¯ll help you get him to the gate.¡± ¡°Can we take him to the back door?¡± I ask, and Milo nods. He barks a few words at the other goblins that I assume mean something like, ¡°This guy¡¯s a friend, don¡¯t kill him!¡± since they proceed to not kill me or stop us. Uncle Hawk is weak and can barely walk, but with our assistance, we manage to get him outside and to my party and lay him carefully down on the ground in front of them. ¡°Hey guys,¡± I say. ¡°I made a new friend. This is Milo.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Anise says. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Can we trust him?¡± Daisy asks. ¡°How did you even manage to communicate with him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t speak whatever language the humans are speaking,¡± Milo says in English. ¡°I¡¯ll have to learn it.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, he doesn¡¯t speak Common yet,¡± I tell my party. ¡°He¡¯s a reincarnator too, though, and we both still speak the language from our previous lives.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool,¡± Anise says. ¡°Uncle Hawk still looks pretty cursed,¡± Meadow says, waving a hand in front of the unresponsive Ranger¡¯s face. ¡°Is your grandma in the Hearth right now?¡± I ask Milo. Milo nods. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to her. She¡¯s given me everything I asked for so far so I¡¯m sure I can convince her.¡± Milo returns to the door and heads back into the village. ¡°His grandma, possibly with a ¡®great¡¯ or two, is an Epic rank Elder Witch,¡± I explain. ¡°It sounds like she dotes on him, though.¡± Anise sighs. ¡°And if she decides to wipe us out, there¡¯s nothing we can do to stop her, so we might as well just stay put. Well, I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t try to storm the Hearth, then.¡± After a few minutes, a message pops up in my third eye.
Congratulations! Your party has negotiated peace with the village of Grubwick.
Daisy¡¯s eyes widen, and I assume everyone else got that message too. ¡°Good Heavens, that did it!¡± Daisy exclaims, in her excitement completely forgetting stealth. ¡°I¡¯m an Elite! I¡¯m going to be a Wizard!¡± ¡°I got it too!¡± Meadow says, only slightly more sedately. The two of them hug one another, on the verge of tears of joy. Uncle Hawk stirs on the ground, blinking and slowly sitting up. ¡°Ugh, what happened? Where am I?¡± Meadow breaks off from hugging Daisy to hug Uncle Hawk instead. ¡°You¡¯re alright! It worked! I can¡¯t believe it worked!¡± ¡°What worked?¡± Uncle Hawk wonders, looking around. ¡°We¡¯re in the Underside?¡± ¡°You got cursed and captured by goblins,¡± Anise summarizes. ¡°Drake disguised himself as a goblin and snuck in and negotiated your release. He¡¯s a reincarnator and one of the goblins is too so they could understand one another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m still dreaming or not,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°Did you rank up too, Anise?¡± Daisy asks. Anise shakes her head. ¡°You two were close enough to rank up that it pushed you over. But me, Drake, and Burdock still have a long way to go. Still, that was a fantastic Deed.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really do much,¡± Burdock says. Milo re-emerges from the village back door and approaches us. Uncle Hawk starts to ready himself for a fight, but Milo holds out his empty hands. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Uncle,¡± I say. ¡°This is the goblin I mentioned. Meet Milo.¡± ¡°Odd name for a goblin,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°It¡¯s his name from another life,¡± I explain, then turn to Milo and say in English, ¡°Uncle Hawk is better and we got a Deed, so I assume you were successful in convincing your grandma.¡± Milo nods. ¡°She¡¯s been very supportive. She was surprised but not opposed to the idea. I was hoping she¡¯d give me some fancy heirloom but apparently we¡¯re really, really poor. I hope we can change that.¡± We head back to where we left the captive goblin. Milo goes up and unties him, and speaks with him in Goblin for a minute before sending him off back to Grubwick. ¡°I hope the lives of whichever of my clan mates you had to kill are sufficient compensation for our actions,¡± Milo says, and I translate for the others. ¡°Trust has to start somewhere,¡± I say. ¡°Maybe next time we visit Grubwick, we¡¯ll be able to sleep in the inn.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll require building an inn first,¡± Milo says with a chuckle. ¡°I have a number of ideas both on how to level up myself as well as improve Grubwick, but most of them revolved around my prior assumption that killing was the only way to earn Deeds. I was a businessman back on Earth. I don¡¯t want to kill people. I want their money. Dead people can¡¯t generate capital unless you¡¯re a necromancer, so I was planning on using undead as a cheap labor force, but that still requires having consumers. And goblins are idiots.¡± Daisy frowns thoughtfully as she listens to my translation. ¡°You were probably incarnated to become an evil overlord. But perhaps even villains can choose another path.¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯ve apparently lived five million lives, but for some reason I¡¯m 100% certain that I¡¯ve never been a merchant before. And a goblin cultural and industrial revolution sounds like it would make for an excellent Deed.¡± ¡°Have you gotten any quests?¡± Milo asks. ¡°Grandma Griza said I should expect quests to show up to give me direction but I haven¡¯t gotten any.¡± ¡°Neither have I,¡± I say. ¡°I suppose our Hearths are content to take a hands off approach, sit back and see what we do. And¡­ they incarnated an engineer and a businessman. If they wanted warriors, we were poor choices.¡± I definitely have been a warrior in many of my past lives, but I don¡¯t actually remember them and don¡¯t want to. I killed those goblins without a second thought or twinge of guilt. Still don¡¯t feel any, even after seeing them being people. I must have been a freaking murder hobo once, and I don¡¯t want to be. I like my family and my new friend. Chapter 10: Return to the Hedge Maze ¡°We¡¯re outside now?¡± Milo says. He takes a few steps out from the tunnel so he can get a better view, and stares up at the alien sky. The giant crystal sphere is glowing a lovely sky blue, and the smaller skymotes are shining green in the air around it. ¡°This world is weirder than I thought,¡± Milo comments. ¡°That it is,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m impressed that you kids managed to rescue me yourselves, even if one of you did turn out to be a reincarnator with a talent for Subterfuge,¡± Uncle Hawk says as we¡¯re setting up camp outside the tunnel entrance. ¡°Where exactly did we wind up in relation to our Hearth?¡± Anise asks. ¡°A good bit of a walk past the Hedge Maze, I think,¡± Uncle Hawk says, looking at the sky. ¡°We could pass by it in the morning if anyone still wants to run it. Minus any unfortunate ambushes this time.¡± I assume there¡¯s some sort of Heroic Ranger skill to tell him where he is, seeing as he wasn¡¯t exactly in a condition to pay attention along the way. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± Anise says. ¡°Drake, did you finish the dungeon?¡± I nod. ¡°Couldn¡¯t get out until I did. But like you said, dungeons change depending on who is in them. It made sure to give me puzzles I was physically capable of solving. And an odd riddle only a reincarnator would know the answer to.¡± We talk for a bit longer, but we all need rest and this has been a very long day. Uncle Hawk takes watch, since he needs less sleep and is feeling quite fine despite his experience. He even lets us sleep in until the skymotes turns green. I spend much of our trip catching up with Milo in English. I don¡¯t translate everything for the others. They wouldn¡¯t understand. Milo and I tell one another about our previous lives, our interests, what we¡¯ve experienced in this strange new world so far, and share our hopes and dreams. We probably wouldn¡¯t have been friends back on Earth. In fact, he died before I was even born, never mind us having run in completely different social circles. But here, we still have more in common with one another than anyone else and can relate in ways these new souls can¡¯t understand. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re Canadian,¡± I say with a chuckle. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re Californian,¡± Milo replies, grinning. ¡°I started off serving coffee to tourists, and wound up getting rich through a series of sensible long-term investments and a diversified portfolio. Got married. Had kids. Grandkids. Great-grandkids. Died at the age of 93 basically just from being old. They probably squabbled over my fortune and squandered everything I¡¯d spent my life earning.¡± He shrugs and chuckles. ¡°Brats, all of them. What about you?¡± ¡°No kids,¡± I say. ¡°Married to my work, I guess you¡¯d say. Not sure how I died, though. My memories get patchy after a certain point. I thing I invented something weird¡­ but I¡¯m not sure what sort of scifi crap I ultimately got myself into.¡± ¡°Afraid I can¡¯t help you there,¡± he says. ¡°When I died, those computers you keep talking about were not small enough to fit in people¡¯s pockets. And they didn¡¯t have complicated games yet. I heard about Dungeons & Dragons but never played it. I¡¯ll take your word on it if you say this world resembles a game.¡± ¡°Can I learn that language too?¡± Burdock asks. ¡°Whatever it is.¡± ¡°English,¡± I say. ¡°And I don¡¯t see why not, although I¡¯m not sure how many people might speak it.¡± Anise says, ¡°Being able to speak a language nobody else can speak would be cool. And useful.¡± ¡°I also speak French, but I¡¯m not going to inflict that on you,¡± Milo adds once I translate for him. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what ¡®Common¡¯ is supposed to be,¡± I say. ¡°After I unlocked the skill, it started sounding like English to me.¡± ¡°Odd, Goblin doesn¡¯t sound like English to me,¡± Milo muses. ¡°You can still consciously choose to speak either, though, right? Because you don¡¯t seem to be having any trouble switching.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can start teaching you some basic vocabulary as we travel, at least,¡± I say, then turn to the others and say in Common. ¡°Anyone who wants to listen can learn English as Milo learns Common. This is how you say hello¡­¡± When we arrive at the entrance to the Hedge Maze again, we decide to have me, Milo, and Burdock (and Mipsy) run it by ourselves. This is a particularly peaceful dungeon that actively tries not to hurt people, so this shouldn¡¯t really involve fighting. Uncle Hawk and Anise set about trying to repair the tent while Daisy and Meadow work on putting together a meal. ¡°The damage isn¡¯t as bad as it looks,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°I can still fix it. You kids have fun in there.¡± We head in through the gates. It¡¯s funny that we did this same thing just yesterday, but yesterday feels like it might as well have lasted a year. Everything has changed, and I¡¯m going to have a lot to tell Corwen Hearth once we get home. Unsurprisingly, the challenges we face in the Hedge Maze are completely different this time. The hedges shift and move to funnel us into a different part of the gardens. Our first challenge is a series of blocks each marked with words in Common, English, and French. ¡°How does it know?¡± Milo wonders. The various words mean things like ¡°trap¡±, ¡°tree¡± and ¡°treasure¡±. We stack up the blocks that say ¡°treasure¡± in the three languages and are rewarded for our efforts with a chest rising out of the ground.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Can I open the chest?¡± Milo asks. ¡°Go ahead,¡± I say. Milo opens the chest and holds up a small money purse containing few copper coins. ¡°The first actual money I¡¯ve made in this world. And something to carry it in!¡± Slightly wealthier, we continue on down the next path. ¡°This place is nice,¡± Milo says, stopping on a wooden bridge crossing a pond to look down into the water. ¡°Is this a puzzle?¡± ¡°Prolly,¡± Burdock says. ¡°I bet there¡¯s a chest we can get somewhere around here,¡± I say. Mipsy runs up to the pond¡¯s edge and starts batting at the small fish darting about beneath the water. The water toward the middle of the pond ripples and a large shiny fish surfaces for just a moment before it¡¯s gone again. ¡°Too bad we don¡¯t have any fishing rods,¡± Milo says. Mipsy mrrrs as if in agreement. Although Mipsy cannot speak (yet), she seems to be perfectly capable of understanding English as well as Common. After searching about for a while, we determine that the big fish is probably a fishing challenge and we¡¯ll have to come back another time with proper equipment for it. That doesn¡¯t mean we intend to leave entirely empty-handed. There¡¯s a series of large lily pads that can hold our weight for exactly three seconds before dumping us in the water, forcing us to quickly jump between them one at a time. This leads us into an otherwise inaccessible little nook where a chest appears once we¡¯ve all made it through.
Skill acquired: Athletics (Jumping)
¡°Wow, that was enough to unlock a skill?¡± Milo says, dripping water into the grass. ¡°Dungeons are better for experience than I anticipated.¡± Burdock¡¯s turn to gather the loot, and he scoops up a handful of copper coins from the chest, then pulls out a fishing rod that really should not have fit in that little chest. ¡°Look at that,¡± Milo says with a grin. ¡°Guess we¡¯re doing the fishing challenge after all.¡± We hop back across the lily pads and almost lose our new fishing implement in the water a couple times, but we make it. From the mud near the pond, we dig up some grubs to use as bait. Passing the fishing rod between us, we take turns and manage to catch a few smaller fish. Then we put one of the tiny fish on the hook and let Burdock use it since he¡¯s the biggest of us. After a few minutes of fishing, Burdock exclaims, ¡°I¡¯ve got something! It¡¯s big!¡± He almost falls off the bridge, but Milo and I grab onto him to keep him from going over the railing as he reels in our prize. After a struggle, a shiny fish as long as my arm flops onto the wooden planks. Milo kills it with his stone knife before it can flop itself back into the water.
You have caught a Medium fish.
Skill acquired: Survival (Fishing)
I wish we¡¯d been given a bucket as well as a rod, but my backpack isn¡¯t carrying anything else and I¡¯m sure the smell will wash out. With magic, if necessary. I¡¯m sure Hearthkeepers have cleaning magic. We cross the bridge and move on, and eventually come to a closed gate. Past it, the clearing with the big talking tree I encountered before can be seen. No sign of a mirror puzzle this time and it looks like we¡¯ve approached by a different entrance. We take a look around to see what sort of puzzle we need to solve this time. A number of bell-shaped flowers are arrayed around the small clearing. Burdock touches one curiously, and it makes a sound like a bell playing a note. Touching each of the flowers reveals that each of the eight different colored flowers produces a different tone, with the black one producing the lowest pitch and the violet one the highest. When the black flower is touched, a plaque above the gate lights up, which winks out when a different flower plays. ¡°I suppose we¡¯re meant to play a tune,¡± Milo says. ¡°Are either of you gifted in music? I learned to play the piano when I was a young but I was told it was mechanically perfect but had no heart, so I stopped playing. I could likely still pick out ¡®Twinkle Twinkle Little Star¡¯ if need be.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a star?¡± asks Burdock after I finish my translation. I hold up my star-shaped necklace. ¡°It means this shape.¡± I point to the symbol over the gate. ¡°And that.¡± I don¡¯t even feel like getting into trying to explain how different out skies are. ¡°Oh,¡± Burdock says. ¡°I don¡¯t know any music. Well, aside from singing winter carols, and then only in a group.¡± I shake my head. ¡°I don¡¯t either. I suppose we could brute force it if it doesn¡¯t kick us out for too many failed attempts, but that feels¡­ inelegant. Do you suppose that star up there is a hint as to what song to play?¡± Milo is already playing around with the flowers and has discovered that the first two notes are the black flower, and after a few tries he discovers that the third note is the green flower. ¡°Hmm,¡± Milo says. ¡°If the dark flower is C, then the green one is G¡­ I believe this actually is ¡®Twinkle Twinkle Little Star¡¯. Let¡¯s see, how does this go again¡­ Black, black, green, green, light blue, light blue¡­¡± Milo is very rusty, but once he gets the rhythm going, he manages to get through the whole song without mistakes. At least the light over the gate indicates when he¡¯s hit a wrong note. Once the song is played correctly, the gate opens. ¡°Got it!¡± Milo exclaims in glee. ¡°I even got a skill for it! Language (Tone Recognition).¡± Burdock and I didn¡¯t get skills, but then we didn¡¯t really help here either. With the gate open, we head in to the final clearing. ¡°Hmm, hmm, you¡¯ve returned,¡± says the tree. ¡°And you¡¯ve brought friends this time. I¡¯m glad you were successful in finding them.¡± Strangely, it turns out we can all understand the tree as if it were English for me and Milo and Common for Burdock. At this point, that¡¯s not even alarming considering what else it knows about us. ¡°Good to see you too,¡± I say. ¡°You¡¯re totally my favorite talking tree.¡± The tree gives a low rumble of a chuckle. ¡°Since there are five of us this time, how about we play a game of cards?¡± The ground in front of the tree shifts, and a root shaped like a round table emerges, surrounded by three smaller roots shaped like chairs. Once we take our seats, he starts dealing leaves with symbols on them. Although the cards are green, they¡¯re the regular rectangular shape of cards and feel stiff and durable as cardboard. They all have the shape of a maple leaf on them, along with an image and text that appears to us in our first language. ¡°This is a game called Leaves,¡± he explains. ¡°The rules are simple.¡± He proceeds to go into a bunch of rules that are definitely not simple, seemingly with more exceptions than actual rules. ¡°This is hard,¡± Burdock says. ¡°Do your best,¡± the tree says. ¡°You might get lucky. Whoever wins will receive a starter deck of Leaves cards. In your travels, you may find new cards that do interesting and powerful things that you can add to your deck.¡± I¡¯m not sure how keen I am on playing a collectible card game with trees across the world, but whatever. I always hated these sorts of minigames. Still, I do my best, and do even worse than Burdock, who has no idea what¡¯s going on. At least I still beat Mipsy, who doesn¡¯t care about the game at all and decides to take a nap on top of her cards. When we get knocked out of the match, it¡¯s down to Milo and the tree, and after a hard-fought match, Milo comes out ahead.
Congratulations! Your party has completed the Hedge Maze.
The chest contains some more coins and the promised deck of cards, which Milo claims happily. Neither I nor Burdock are interested in starting a card collection, so he can have any cards we wind up with in the future. ¡°I got three skills for that!¡± Milo exclaims as we¡¯re leaving. ¡°Knowledge (Cards), Discipline (Card Counting), and Subterfuge (Bluff). This is incredible. I¡¯ve gotten more skills in one day than I did in two and a half years in Grubwick.¡± Chapter 11: A Goblin Takes a Bath As we¡¯re heading out of the Hedge Maze, I look around trying to lean on my [Search] skills more than last time I was in here. Then, I was in a hurry to get out to find my family. This time through, I can be more careful and catch something I missed the first time around. A large tree stands to the side of the exit path, wide enough to be a wall but with a squat canopy only the height of a regular building. One of the knots looks very interesting, and when I touch it, a door I could barely see the outline of swings inward. ¡°You found a secret door!¡± Burdock notes the obvious. I hop through, followed by the others, and emerge into a hollow in the center of the huge, squat tree. Its core is a glowing yellow sphere the size of a golf ball, greatly resembling the core of Corwen Hearth.
Congratulations! You have discovered the core room of the Hedge Maze.
Your Search (Secret Doors) skill has increased to level 2.
¡°Hello nice core!¡± Burdock says. ¡°Thank you for letting us run your dungeon! We had fun. When we weren¡¯t being kidnapped. Well, the kidnapping part turned out okay too, but it was pretty scary for a bit there.¡± Another chest appears, this one containing more coins, a lockpick, and a loaf of crusty bread. Milo picks up a coin and holds it between two fingers, examining it thoughtfully. He wonders aloud, ¡°Where do you get these from? And the other items we found within the maze?¡±
Hedge Maze
I created them myself! Do you like them?
¡°They¡¯re lovely,¡± Milo says. ¡°You mean you make objects out of thin air? All these treasures we¡¯ve gotten?¡±
Hedge Maze
Not air. Psychic energy. Thank you for coming! I hope you enjoy your treasures!
Milo frowns thoughtfully and puts his share of the loot into his new purse. ¡°I have much to learn about the function of the local economy.¡± We leave the Hedge Maze and return to camp. ¡°Look what we got!¡± I say, putting down my backpack and pulling out the fish. ¡°That looks to be a fine dinner there, Drake,¡± Uncle Hawk says. We clean and prepare the big fish and cook it over the campfire, and let Mipsy have the little ones. Burdock and I (and me translating a bit for Milo) tell the others about our experiences and rewards in the Hedge Maze while the fish cooks. ¡°Let¡¯s spend the night here and head back to Corwen in the morning,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°This tour was originally meant to hit up multiple kid-friendly dungeons along the way, but, well, things happened and I believe we should get back now.¡± ¡°And Daisy already hit Elite so I doubt she wants to go getting dirty if she doesn¡¯t have to,¡± Meadow adds with a teasing grin. ¡°The parts that weren¡¯t mortal peril were okay, at least,¡± Daisy admits. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to start grinding Wizardry now that I can unlock it so that I¡¯ll actually be offered the class. So once I get the handle on it, I wouldn¡¯t mind coming along again and seeing magic in action.¡± Come morning, we head back to the Hearth. I continue to teach Common to Milo along the way, but he hasn¡¯t unlocked the skill yet. It will probably take more than two days. Milo takes in all the sights as we walk. I¡¯ve gotten used to the weird sky, but it¡¯s still new and wondrous to him. And he enjoys seeing trees again, even though the Underside was exotically beautiful with its giant colorful mushrooms. If you ignore the sky, the forest looks kind of like Canada, he claims. The familiar village walls are a welcome sight when they come into view. An uncle whose name I don¡¯t remember is keeping watch at the gates. ¡°You¡¯re back early,¡± says Uncle What¡¯s-his-name, turning a curious eye to Milo. ¡°And with an unusual guest.¡± ¡°We have quite the tale to tell,¡± Uncle Hawk replies. We head in through the gates and into the square. Milo gets a number of looks, but people are more confused and curious than hostile or scared. The fact that he¡¯s standing next to a Heroic Ranger who isn¡¯t squishing him probably helps. Daisy, Meadow, and Burdock break off from the group and make for the main Hearth, while Uncle Hawk, Anise and I turn right and escort Milo into the guest house. Although we call it an inn sometimes, it¡¯s homier than that. It¡¯s set up more like a smaller Hearth, albeit with more of a focus on entertaining guests than cozying up to family. The Innkeeper is a bony blonde woman who swoops in when she sees us stumble in dirty. ¡°Welcome, friends. Name¡¯s Goldie Tempest. What can I help you with? Food, drinks, baths, beds?¡± ¡°Tempest?¡± I wonder. ¡°I was born of no Hearth,¡± Goldie explains. ¡°Your family was kind enough to give me a job and a place to shelter during the monster swarms. Lost both of my parents because they were stubborn idiots who refused to get behind stone walls when the swarms come.¡± Odd. I haven¡¯t heard anyone speak of ¡°both of their parents¡± like this before. ¡°Well, you¡¯re welcome here, too,¡± Uncle Hawk says. ¡°Our new green friend here is going to need a place to stay and some real clothes, if you can arrange it. Also some study materials. He needs to learn Common.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Of course,¡± Goldie says. Uncle Hawk turns to me and Anise. ¡°We need to talk to Aunt Laurel and you two are coming with me.¡± We nod and follow him to the Hearth. An awkward conversation and a number of piercing questions follow. After a bit, Grandma Laurel dismisses Uncle Hawk and my mother and focuses just on me. ¡°Let me ask you one thing, reincarnator,¡± Laurel says. ¡°Are you loyal to Corwen?¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± I say. ¡°And if Corwen demanded that you kill this goblin, would you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I say. ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten any quests, though.¡± ¡°That is very odd,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°You should definitely have gotten one when you realized your party had been kidnapped. I need Heather here.¡± So I undergo another round of awkward questioning, now with the presence of a Legendary Oracle who can probably tell whether I¡¯m lying or not. The two of them exchange so many knowing looks that I¡¯m not sure whether they¡¯re communicating in facial expressions or telepathically. ¡°Alright, we believe you,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°We¡¯ll need to go talk to the goblin now. Then you can get a bath, food, and rest.¡± The three of us head to the guest house and learn from Goldie which room Milo is in. Grandma Laurel barges in without knocking to find him not present, to which Aunt Heather rolls her eyes and points to the adjacent bathroom. I knock on the bathroom door. ¡°Hey, Milo? How are you doing in there?¡± ¡°You have indoor plumbing!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°I can get hot water with just a turn of a faucet. This is fantastic! I¡¯ve never had a proper bath in this life.¡± ¡°My grandma and aunt want to ask you a few questions,¡± I say. ¡°I am taking a bath,¡± Milo says. ¡°You may ask me your questions if you so choose but I am not exiting this tub until I am a green prune.¡± Once I translate, Grandma Laurel chuckles. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s a good sign that the first thing he did was take a bath.¡± I have a feeling that Aunt Heather does not need to be able to understand him in order to detect whether he¡¯s being honest or not. In fact, she doesn¡¯t even try to get into line of sight, just loiters in the hallway next to Grandma Laurel while I translate through the door. This is even more awkward than the first round of awkward questions. Eventually satisfied, Grandma Laurel drags me away along with Aunt Heather back to the Hearth to discuss the matter further in private. ¡°He was not being deceptive at any point,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°He also expressed no guilt over kidnapping and trying to murder Hawk,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°I have no doubt this guy can be ruthless if need be. He¡¯s dangerous, but that¡¯s not saying much. I¡¯m dangerous too. I¡¯d be concerned about what sort of quests his core might give him, but it seems neither of you got any quests one way or another?¡± ¡°Is that really that odd?¡± I ask. ¡°Very,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Something unusual is going on here, and Corwen hasn¡¯t interjected anything to me either.¡± She sighs. ¡°Corwen? Can¡­ can we get an explanation? Please?¡±
Corwen
That you feel that you need an explanation is a sign that this was necessary. You have become overly reliant upon my words. I wish to see what these two do without guidance from we aether cores.
Grandma Laurel puts her hands together and bows her head. ¡°Thank you for your clarification, Corwen. I apologize for doubting you.¡± I sigh inwardly. Ugh, I didn¡¯t really want to be a freaking Chosen One. But apparently I¡¯m a Chosen One. Well, if they just want to watch me do whatever I want, then I¡¯m going to do whatever I want, and whatever I want is going to involve things other than slaying monsters and battling Dark Lords. (I would like to not die violently as a teenager again.) I frown, and notice something on my status screen.
Sanity: 7/10
That¡¯s¡­ probably not good. ¡°Grandma, do you have a way to recover from Sanity damage?¡± I ask. ¡°Every time I think about my past lives too hard, I wind up getting hit with it.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ ask Aunt Myrtle when we¡¯re done here. She can whip you up something. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re looking forward to a good meal after being on the road. I just have a couple more questions I want to ask you. From what you know if the world you two are from and what you¡¯ve learned about your new friend so far, what do you see as the biggest problems he could potentially cause?¡± ¡°Workers rights violations and poor wages coupled with a high cost of living, environmental damage by improper waste disposal and exploitation of limited resources, and introduction of potentially invasive foreign cultural elements.¡± Grandma blinks at my answer and starts chuckling. ¡°So he¡¯s a merchant. And how would you deal with these potential problems?¡± ¡°Well, with the existence of aether cores, #2 there is probably a non-issue. Cores can make things appear and disappear. We didn¡¯t have dungeons. And I don¡¯t care too much about #3, although I¡¯m biased. And #1 is just a matter of fair regulation. However, I should also add that the area he¡¯s from on our world was one that was widely known as being relatively inoffensive. I give you worst-case scenerios with little expectation that they¡¯d actually come about.¡± She¡¯s not asking what the worst thing I might do is. That¡¯s probably just as well. I¡¯m likely a lot more dangerous. I don¡¯t even know what I might do. ¡°Hard to imagine how you got by without aether cores,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°That¡¯s probably the most incredible thing I¡¯ve heard today. Wouldn¡¯t you eventually run out of resources and wind up with useless trash you couldn¡¯t get rid of?¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± I say. ¡°Being a merchant in this world will mean a very different thing than it meant in our original one. And I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ve never actually been a merchant before and would like to try it out rather than something I have done a million times before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°I wonder if there are any other two and a half year old reincarnators around, if the two of you ran into one another by chance without any quests issued.¡± ¡°I will seek an answer to that riddle,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°I will need to go traveling for this survey. My scrying ability is not precise enough to locate children of a specific age inside a Hearth.¡± ¡°Do you have any abilities that let you see someone¡¯s attributes?¡± I ask. ¡°No,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°I¡¯m an Oracle, not a Psychic. You should be able to tell a reincarnator at a glance, right? You have [Clairvoyance]?¡± I nod. ¡°Should I go with you, then?¡± ¡°Best not. If I took you along, they¡¯d notice you are a reincarnator at a glance. I can gather information without tipping our hand.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± I say. ¡°I would not mind a chance to stay somewhere safe and train skills for a while. Like a decade. A decade would be great.¡± ¡°Aspirational,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Get some food and sleep in you. We¡¯re heading back to the caves first thing in the morning. I need to have a chat with this Elder Witch and I need both you and Milo to translate for me.¡± Aunt Heather¡¯s eyes settle on the star-shaped necklace dangling from my neck. ¡°Would you like me to tell you what that artifact you¡¯ve got there does, or would you rather keep it a mystery and figure it out yourself? It isn¡¯t dangerous and would be a good practice target for various skills, but only if it hasn¡¯t already been identified to you.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s not dangerous, I¡¯ll hold onto it for the skills, then,¡± I say. ¡°Can you tell me at least if it¡¯s worth wearing all the time or if I should just stash it in my room until I can get the appropriate skills?¡± Aunt Heather nods. ¡°It isn¡¯t powerful, but it would probably be beneficial to keep wearing it.¡± Chapter 12: Green Deal ¡°Aunt Myrtle, do you have anything for Sanity damage?¡± I ask. ¡°I¡¯m a reincarnator and thinking about my past lives hurts my head.¡± I decide to just cut to the chase and receive the oddest look from my aunt in response. She sighs and pours me a sippy-cup of warm herbal tea, describing it as chamomile with ginseng. ¡°Chamomile with ginseng should help,¡± Aunt Myrtle says with a sigh, making a pot and pulling out a sippy-cup for me. She taps the teapot a couple times and says, ¡°[Rapid Infusion]. [Adjust Temperature].¡± She pours me some tea. I take the sippy-cup and make a sippy-sip of warm, soothing tea, perfectly steeped and the perfect temperature to give a toddler. (Or anyone else who doesn¡¯t have heat resistance, for that matter.) ¡°If you¡¯re a reincarnator, then you should have known better for all your trouble-making,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°Can you blame me for exploring, though?¡± ¡°No, but I can make sure to ground you for the next decade,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say something sooner?¡± ¡°I overheard one of my cousins talking about possessed students and got scared,¡± I say. ¡°But my mom told me it¡¯s not really the same thing.¡± ¡°No soul comes into this Hearth without Corwen¡¯s say-so. Well, you¡¯re going to stop faking not being able to read and start going to school, then. It¡¯s never too early to start grinding Knowledge skills. You can head there first thing in the morning.¡± ¡°Grandma Laurel wants to drag me back out to the goblin village to talk to their Elder Witch and I¡¯m the only one that can translate,¡± I say. Aunt Myrtle sighs. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t supersede Laurel, but I can make you sit here by the fire and drink that tea while I get you a bowl of soup. You might be a reincarnator, but you¡¯re still a child of this Hearth, and I¡¯m not letting any of you brats go to bed hungry.¡± Aunt Myrtle¡¯s tea soothes my Sanity damage, and it¡¯s back up to full after finishing three cups, one for each point that had been lost dredging up bad memories. It¡¯s nice sitting by the fire and winding down after an adventure like I just had, but I immediately wind up with family members asking me questions about my past life which I mostly blow off for the moment. Morning comes too soon, as people seem to think it starts when the skymotes are azure even when I¡¯d prefer to sleep until they¡¯re green or even yellow. They use actual clocks too, but it seems easier to say azure or green instead of 6 a.m. or 9 a.m. in practice. Milo¡¯s hair has been washed, cut, and combed, and he¡¯s wearing a simple black woolen tunic and toddler-sized trousers. He¡¯s smaller than me, but we always have plenty of hand-me-downs laying around with the number of children who constantly need new clothes. Grandma Laurel has brought out her creepy monster horse with glowing green eyes, and she and Aunt Heather are waiting for us expectantly at the edge of the square. It¡¯s a testament to how much the residents of Corwen are used to Laurel¡¯s weird pets that they¡¯re just giving the horse a wide berth and not screaming and running. ¡°Is¡­ this creature to be our mode of transportation?¡± Milo asks hesitantly, staring at the creature with wide eyes. Grandma Laurel chuckles once I translate for her. ¡°Boo is a Legendary monster, and is quite capable of carrying two women and two small children. Don¡¯t worry. He won¡¯t bite. Unless I tell him to.¡± Milo doesn¡¯t look terribly reassured, but doesn¡¯t have much choice in the matter as Aunt Heather picks him up and helps him onto the horse. The saddle is made for two, so Milo and I are having to ride in their laps. Once we¡¯re settled in and secure atop the monstrous steed, Grandma Laurel guides Boo through the gates and sets off north, in the direction of the Hedge Maze. While it took us a full day of hiking to reach it on foot, Boo is able to reach it while the skymotes are still azure. We pause there while Grandma Laurel takes a look at the tracks, not even bothering to get off the steed since these are so clear.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I would have expected you¡¯d have brought along the Ranger to show you the way,¡± Milo says. ¡°I¡¯m a Beastmaster,¡± Grandma Laurel says with a chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s an upgraded Ranger class. My Survival (Tracking) skill is so high the trail practically glows in my eyes.¡± Retracing our steps, Boo takes us past the remnants of Skullborn Outpost and straight to the opening leading down into the Underside. We have to dismount at this point, as the tunnel isn¡¯t large enough for head clearance from atop the monster horse. We head down through the tunnels and approach Grubwick. The goblins guarding the main gate look incredibly nervous as we approach and they notice Milo among us. ¡°Hello, goblins!¡± Laurel calls out with a wave. Milo, having already figured out that much Common at least, repeats the phrase in Goblin. One particularly foolish guard chucks his spear at Laurel anyway. She doesn¡¯t even try to dodge. It just bounces off her skin. The spear-thrower shouts something in a panic and ducks inside. ¡°He said ¡®Sorry! Sorry!¡¯,¡± Milo says in accented Common. Grandma Laurel just laughs and strides forward, sandwiching me and Milo in between the two Legendary adventurers and their Legendary horse. Before we get far, an elderly goblin woman steps into the gates. She¡¯s wearing a crude hide dress and holding a wooden staff that even I can tell is just a simple walking stick than a magical implement. Grandma Laurel speaks in Common, and I repeat it in English, which Milo repeats in Goblin, and then in reverse to relay Griza¡¯s words. It¡¯s a bit clunky, but necessary at the moment until people can actually learn language skills. ¡°I see Grabrat went and led some humans can to our Hearth,¡± the goblin woman says. ¡°If my grandkids hadn¡¯t come home, we would have found you regardless,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°My name is Laurel Corwen. We¡¯re here to talk, not fight.¡± ¡°I am Elder Witch Griza Grubwick,¡± says the goblin woman. ¡°You say you want to talk. Strange times we live in, that humans want to talk to goblins.¡± ¡°You cursed and kidnapped my nephew,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Some of your tribe members were killed when my grandchildren went to rescue him. I¡¯m willing to set aside our mutual grievances, though.¡± ¡°You could wipe out our village in an instant if you so choose,¡± Griza says. ¡°What do you want from we poor goblins?¡± ¡°It seems our grandsons have decided to work together,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°I came to see what this goblin Drake befriended came from. And learn of your own intentions.¡± ¡°I intend to help my grandson achieve his destiny,¡± Griza says. ¡°As he has been given no quests, I assume that destiny is to do as he chooses. I do not know where this path will lead, but if we are meant to ally ourselves with humans, then so be it.¡± ¡°The only chance I have of living past 21 is to reach Elite before I turn 7,¡± Milo says, speaking for himself in both English and Goblin. ¡°I have to get some good Deeds in as soon as possible. And I believe my best chance of that is with these humans. I have ideas that will let Grubwick¡ªand indeed all goblins everywhere¡ªprosper, but I must get stronger first, and wealthier, and more knowledgeable about the world. They¡¯ve treated me well so far.¡± ¡°If you believe they will help, then take whatever aid they may offer,¡± Griza says. ¡°I will tell your foolish cousins that they should not attack humans unless attacked first so that we do not have any further embarrassing incidents like what happened when you arrived.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°The little reincarnators want to be merchants. How about we come inside and help them work out a trade agreement between our Hearths? I¡¯m sure you have access to some Underside resources that would be useful to us, and likewise we can bring you things from the surface.¡± The goblins are still wary, but fearful of these two adventurers (and scary horse) who are well beyond their pay grade. As we head inside, dozens of goblins watch us from a distance. We couldn¡¯t wait until someone here was actually fluent in both Common and Goblin, oh no. Grandma Laurel seems to understand the timetable Milo has to work with and is intent upon giving him an opportunity to prove himself. She¡¯s helpful in giving Milo information about what Corwen wants and what we can provide while letting him work out the details. Milo hammers out an agreement to exchange mushrooms from Grubwick for wool from Corwen. We¡¯ll be sending humans (and Milo, and probably me if Milo doesn¡¯t learn Common quickly) down to facilitate the trade as goblins on the surface might attract negative attention at the moment. Once the deal is finalized, a system message appears in my third eye.
Congratulations! Your party has negotiated a trade agreement between Grubwick and Corwen.
Skill acquired: Language (Translation)
We leave with a variety pack of mushroom samples and a promise to send someone bearing wool in a few days¡¯ time. ¡°This will be far simpler once I actually learn Common,¡± Milo mutters in English. ¡°That was exhausting. I am reminded of that one scene in I Love Lucy where they had to bring out a drunkard to help translate because no one at the Paris police department spoke English.¡± I don¡¯t tell him that I never watched I Love Lucy and just chuckle and nod. Once back outside, we mount up on Boo again and ride home. I think I preferred walking, even if these monstrous hooves practically eat miles. At this point, I¡¯m looking forward to sitting in a nice, warm room and reading some books now that I don¡¯t have to pretend I can¡¯t read. Chapter 13: The Dread Tutorial Teacher ¡°Hey, Drake, you want some tea?¡± Daisy asks. ¡°I can finally use the teakettle on my own now!¡± All of the magitech appliances in the Hearth require Elite rank to use because Wizardry is needed to activate their sigils. This also has the effect of making them fairly child-safe. By the time you reach Elite, you probably have a decent idea of how the world works and why you should be careful with the stove. This means Daisy and Meadow are sharing their delight at finally being able to make their own danged tea. While Aunt Heather is usually the one that runs the school, she¡¯s out doing things only a Legendary Oracle can do (namely, searching for other reincarnators), leaving the less Legendary aunts in charge while she¡¯s gone. Aunt Rosemary is a portly woman with gray hair done up in a bun with wisps of hair constantly escaping their confinement. She¡¯s the one who comes to show me around the school and talks to me about setting up a study plan. We have to figure out what I know and what I need to learn, for starters. Milo¡¯s first priority is learning Common, so any real studies for him will need to wait until he has that down. ¡°So, you¡¯re a reincarnator, huh,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°I haven¡¯t encountered many myself, but I have a general idea of what to expect. You are capable of more quickly learning skills that you knew in a previous life, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, but accessing them sometimes causes Sanity damage,¡± I say. Aunt Rosemary nods as if that¡¯s the most normal thing in the world. ¡°We¡¯ll be sure to keep some Sanity-restoring items available for you, then. You will probably gain a skill to resist Sanity damage at some point. That will be useful if you ever need to deal with anything eldritch. There are monsters that can cause Sanity damage just from looking at them.¡± I will need to think about what path I want to take in life and which skills to focus on so that I will be offered a suitable class. I still want magic, though, and every class gets access to some sort of cool powers at Elite rank and higher. Anyone Elite or higher can do general Sorcery, Alchemy, True Art, Thaumaturgy, Wizardry, Invocation, and Incantation. Most people only focus in one or two of them, or specific areas. ¡°If anyone can learn those skills, then what are classes for?¡± I ask. ¡°Classes give large bonuses to taking actions appropriate for that class,¡± Aunt Rosemary explains. ¡°A [Nurturing Child] like your cousin Burdock will receive more experience when nurturing things. This includes things suitable to adult classes like Hearthkeepers, Rangers, and Farmers. My sister Holly was a [Nurturing Child] before she became an Orcharder.¡± ¡°So then a Farmer would get more experience for doing things related to farming?¡± I ask. ¡°Exactly,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°Then, once you reach Heroic rank, you will gain an additional set of available skills related to the class. These tend to be more unique. You may access the library records of deceased members of Corwen Hearth to see what their skills were so you can get a better idea of what the possibilities are. Our founder, Ash, for example, was a Legendary [Guardian Hearthkeeper], a very interesting class that gives massive bonuses when defending the Hearth.¡± ¡°How does the class selection work?¡± ¡°The system box will appear in your third eye at the age of 7, 14, and 21, as well as the attainment of a new rank if you are already over 21. You will be given three options of slightly different paths based upon which of your skills are highest. If you are skilled in one thing and nothing else, you will only receive classes focusing on that one thing. While some Hearths favor overspecialization in their Hearth¡¯s primary occupation, Corwen is an adventuring Hearth primarily, so we encourage having a broader skillset.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your class?¡± I ask. ¡°Or is it rude to ask?¡± ¡°It¡¯s rude to ask anyone outside of your Hearth or prospective party members,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°My class is [Tutorial Teacher].¡± ¡°Of course it is¡­¡± I suppress a sigh. ¡°Is there something wrong with that?¡± ¡°No, no, nothing wrong,¡± I say. ¡°How do the adjectives work?¡± ¡°They tend to focus on your secondary skills and how they tie in to the main class,¡± Aunt Rosemary continues her tutorial. ¡°This is also why having a diverse set of skills can help. You can wind up with some powerful hybrid classes.¡± The [Tutorial Teacher] pulls out an old, heavy book and puts it on the desk in front of me. ¡°This is a compilation of every known skill and subskill available at Basic rank,¡± she says. ¡°There may be some obscure subskills it may be lacking, particularly in Clairvoyance and Recollection, as we have only had two other reincarnators in our history.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I note the date is written as 603 GF. ¡°This book is over a hundred years old.¡± Aunt Rosemary nods. ¡°This edition was compiled after our previous reincarnator died and her skill list was made public. Corwen automatically creates a book containing a list of a member¡¯s skills and Deeds when they die. We don¡¯t even know what Verbena the Mythical [Witch Hunter]¡¯s skills look like since she¡¯s still alive.¡± I look in dismay at the hefty tome. ¡°Are there also skills for speed reading and memory retention? Ugh, what am I saying, of course there are.¡± ¡°You may need to read more than one book to unlock them, but I don¡¯t know how much of a bonus your past life knowledge will give,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°What is your Soul attribute?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ it¡¯s over five million,¡± I say. Aunt Rosemary blinks at the ludricrous number. ¡°In that case, I would not be surprised if you were to unlock skills simply by successfully doing something once.¡± ¡°Yeah, that happens,¡± I say. ¡°I got Search (Puzzle Pieces) the first time I put together a jigsaw puzzle. I didn¡¯t get a Search (Bait) skill the only time I¡¯ve dug up fishing bait. I suspect I didn¡¯t do a lot of fishing in my previous lives. I only have clear memories of one of them, though.¡± I pause with a frown. ¡°I unlocked four skills from killing three goblins. I¡¯m sure I could become a phenomenal warrior. But I don¡¯t think I want to be one.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Aunt Rosemary says, brow furrowing. ¡°Well, do some consideration and research as to what path you want to take in life. I will be highly disappointed if you don¡¯t at least manage Heroic rank, even if you choose a sub-optimal one.¡± She winks at me. ¡°I would hate to disappoint.¡± ¡°The library is open to you,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°Please ask for help if you need anything from the top shelf. Don¡¯t worry about accidentally damaging the books. They¡¯re immune to damage by anything less than a Heroic ranked source. There¡¯s also a game room with a number of puzzles and board games that help in improving various skills. Regular lectures will be given on a rotating set of topics. The schedule will be posted on the bulletin board in the entryway.¡± It would be very easy, I think, to become a mighty warrior in this life as I clearly did in so many previous lives. It would be harder to improve skills that I don¡¯t have a lot of memories for. Which means if I go in without a plan, I¡¯m just going to wind up stuck in the same rut of least resistance for whichever skills I¡¯ve used the most in my past lives. I want to do something new, which means I¡¯m going to need to work at it. And, strangely enough, work at avoiding fighting. If I go and do a lot of fighting, it¡¯s totally going to dominate my class choices. I explain my reasoning to my mom. Anise nods thoughtfully as she listens to my dilemma. ¡°Well, if you want to avoid fighting except in emergencies, I can find some dungeons to run with little to no combat and make sure you have party members along to kill things for you. There are plenty of ways to contribute in a dungeon that don¡¯t involve fighting and I can tell people you¡¯re trying to unlock some sort of pacifistic class. You¡¯d hardly be the first person to try that and we¡¯ve got a lot of options.¡± The school is a little chaotic. I¡¯m the youngest student there, physically at least. The other students range from 7 to 13, but there aren¡¯t enough of any one year to form what I would have considered a full class, and all of them plan on different paths in life. There are also a few older teens who didn¡¯t get into a prestigious school who are here to read or help out with the younger kids. One big advantage the system gives is that you don¡¯t forget skills. Something you learned decades ago remains as fresh as the day you learned it. In any case, this will involve a lot of reading and practicing, and Milo is right there in the same boat as me. We¡¯re going to make it a point to learn additional languages, knowing that we¡¯re young enough that we can probably get some good bonuses to it. If we plan to travel a lot, being able to speak many languages would be incredibly useful. I haven¡¯t told Milo one suspicion I have of the game-like nature of this world: That the people with black auras, with Soul attributes, are the ¡®players¡¯, and those with violet auras are NPCs just as much as ones with red auras are monsters. It seems odd to me that they don¡¯t have the eighth attribute unlocked and most of them think the seven is all there is. But it doesn¡¯t really matter. Soul or not, they¡¯re people-like enough. I was always polite to AIs, too. Milo is from Earth but doesn¡¯t know video games. I try not to snuff out his sense of wonder too much. Milo might be the same age as me, but he¡¯s older than me with regards to growth. As a goblin, he unlocks his apprentice class at three years old. It will be very difficult if he wants to attain Elite that early, and before he hooked up with Corwen Hearth, he was realistically expecting he¡¯d only be able to reach Elite by the time he returned seven. Now, he figures he might actually make it if he pushes it and thinks a Deed like improving relations between humans and goblins and setting up trade deals might just do the trick. Grandma Laurel recommends we take someone at Elite rank along for protection, especially if I¡¯m going to try to avoid combat. And who is better at seeming non-threatening while still being able to set things on fire than my very own dear mother? Her underage drinking problem turned into a set of very stupid social skills. ¡°We¡¯ll need to be sure to bring along some booze so I can use Persuasion (Share Drinks),¡± Anise says. ¡°I wonder if goblins will like Corwen apple cider.¡± ¡°Did you become a Sorcerer rather than a Bartender just because magic is awesome?¡± I ask. ¡°Well¡­ pretty much, yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to limit myself to one place, though. But now, I have a new dream! Bring the cider to everyone!¡± Anise pretty much immediately got sold on Milo¡¯s mercantile ambitions just because it involves traveling and alcohol. This is what our vast apple orchards are actually for. ¡°I have Language (Drunken Slur),¡± Anise says. ¡°I¡¯m interested in seeing if it works regardless of what language is being drunkenly slurred. Oh, and don¡¯t worry about me. I also have Discipline (Hold Your Alcohol). I won¡¯t do anything more stupid than usual.¡± ¡°Of course those would be skills¡­¡± I mutter. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯re making the first delivery of wool to Grubwick next week, so you and Milo should be ready for the trip since we still need you along because nobody else speaks Goblin yet,¡± Anise says. ¡°And I¡¯m bringing the booze!¡± Chapter 14: Cider Temptations I spend the next few days doing a lot of reading. There are a great many possible skills, too many for me to actively want to clutter my character screen with. Still, even if I¡¯m planning on trying to avoid combat, that leaves many fields that can be explored. Reading historical books is a little surreal. Corwen¡¯s library makes sure to cover important historical figures, which means there are multiple books about a Mythical Wizard named Merlin. Well, Ash Corwen was clearly not King Arthur, and Apple the [Tempest Archmage] was not Morgana, but if I squint I could probably find similarities. I decide to unlock some crafting skills. And use them to recreate some of my favorite board games, as a fun little exercise. This¡­ requires getting good enough at crafting to actually recreate some of my favorite board games accurately. Simple round stones would be easy enough to make. Detailed figurines will probably require a few extra skill levels. ¡°Anise, why are you letting your son handle a knife like that?¡± asks a nosy busybody who isn¡¯t even related to me. ¡°I bet you that he can use it better than you could, Bell,¡± Anise retorts.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Woodworking)
I survey the uneven grid I made, and the pile of wooden discs painted black on one side and white on the other. It¡¯s not the best Reversi set ever, but passable enough to unlock the skill at least, and it was a board game Corwen didn¡¯t already have in its game room. ¡°Oh, hey, that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Milo says, coming over to see what I¡¯ve made. ¡°We could give unique designs from Earth to goblins to craft and sell. I bet we could find interest in new games. I know your own Hearth is quite affluent, but what of the neighboring Hearths?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not bad off and would probably love it,¡± Anise says after I relay the question to her. ¡°You can run some ideas by me and I¡¯ll let you know if I¡¯ve heard about something like that.¡± The morning of the delivery comes, and we set off with a caravan hauling wool. Meadow is leading the way, since we still need a Ranger to be able to find the entrance to the Underside near Grubwick. Also accompanying us are a couple of relatives I don¡¯t know well who don¡¯t gossip much, but are happy to join in on the Goblin Language lessons. When we arrive at the location where Skullburn Outpost had been, there is no longer any trace of it except for some scorch marks and trampled grass. ¡°That was quick,¡± I say. ¡°They likely came back over the past week and took the bodies and materials,¡± Milo says. We reach the tunnels and shortly arrive back in Grubwick. As we head into the goblin village, I have to marvel at their shoddy hide tents surrounded by walls they would not have had the capability of building. Did they revert to the stone age at some point? Are they squatting in ruins of another Hearth? Or did the Hearth¡¯s aether core simply call these walls into existence from nothing? ¡°Milo, have you spoken to Grubwick¡¯s core yet?¡± I wonder. ¡°Only when it walked me through how to use the system in my third eye,¡± Milo says. ¡°Which is simple enough that a goblin can use it. I did not find a secret core room like the Hedge Maze had. I fear I did not even think to look.¡± ¡°You should probably ask it how much it is willing and able to help with what we¡¯re trying to do,¡± I say. ¡°You may need to find the core room first. I don¡¯t know about Grubwick, but Corwen is definitely more chatty if you¡¯re in the core room.¡± I suspect I know why. I¡¯ve been trying to raise [Aura Sight]. All the stray vis in Corwen wafts toward the Hearth, the hearth, and the core from there. The aether core is at the center of a drain underneath many trickling faucets. Being closer helps it gather more vis faster. ¡°Good idea,¡± Milo says. ¡°You guys will have to stay out here, though. Outsiders aren¡¯t allowed inside our Hearth either. I¡¯ll make sure everyone knows not to harm you no matter what you do, but they¡¯re kind of dumb sometimes. I¡¯ll be back shortly. Hopefully it¡¯s not too hard to find.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Anise pretty much immediately makes friends using her powers of booze. I don¡¯t want to stray too far from her and the others in case any goblins get stupid. Our trade agreement is a new, fresh thing and they¡¯re not yet used to having humans around. Still, I can safely get a look at how they live from the safety of behind an Elite Sorcerer. Building up Grubwick is going to require advancing along its tech tree. I never imagined I¡¯d wind up getting involved with the industrialization of goblins, but here I am. And strangely, being a toddler among goblins may make things easier rather than harder. Even if I tell them how old I am (once I figure out how to say numbers), that won¡¯t mean anything to them. Maybe they¡¯ll see me as just a human who is closer to their size. Or a gnome or halfling or something, I guess, if we have those around here. At least this is good practice for learning Language (Goblin). Milo returns after a while, looking pensive. ¡°Grubwick was highly encouraging and explained to me how essence works. It¡¯s a resource aether cores use to make items. While it is unwilling to permit me to make essence purchases directly, it explains that upgrades will be applied automatically once certain milestones are reached. And said you would probably understand better the tree we had to climb. You were an engineer, weren¡¯t you? What is this ¡®tree¡¯ of which it speaks?¡± ¡°I was once asked to design a phone that could survive being run over by a truck and then put in the washing machine,¡± I say. ¡°But yes, if it means the tech tree, that I know.¡± ¡°I fear I¡¯m more acquainted with the art of convincing prospective clients that they really need what you are offering,¡± Milo says. ¡°Where do we even start with advancing their civilization?¡± ¡°Civilization, heh¡­¡± I say. ¡°Where do we start? First, we introduce them to the idea of agriculture¡­¡± ¡°Agriculture, of course!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°They¡¯re having to rely on gathering mushrooms to trade themselves, and it¡¯s hit or miss whether they can find any of a specific type even with Search (Mushrooms). Search can¡¯t find something that isn¡¯t there, after all. But if we can grow them ourselves¡­ hmm. This will require figuring out the conditions the mushrooms need to thrive.¡± The goblins of Grubwick immediately become hooked on cider but don¡¯t know how to make their own booze deliberately yet. Agriculture would do well toward increasing their limited supply of mushrooms to trade. Milo goes to try to explain how farming might work to some goblins who are not currently drunk. ¡°I¡¯ll probably need to talk to the goblins you¡¯ve gotten drunk after this,¡± Milo says. ¡°They are the ones who will be most motivated toward making sure they can get more booze, provided they don¡¯t wind up with hangovers that make them swear off alcohol forever. At least we won¡¯t have to try using the open Underside yet. We¡¯ve got lots of caves and warrens underneath the Hearth. There¡¯s a lot more goblins here than the ones you see.¡± It takes them a bit to understand the concept of trying to grow their own mushrooms, especially the concept of utilizing any more of the area vulnerable to monster swarms than necessary. The monsters emerge from the depths and swarm past Grubwick on the way to the surface. If the goblins were capable of killing more of the monsters as they come by, the surface would have to deal with fewer monsters. Many of the entrances to the Underside have goblin villages near them, since they like being close enough to gather resources or conduct raids on the surface. There won¡¯t be anymore raiding from Grubwick, but we will need to convince the other goblin villages one by one. This leads to our next idea: scouring the Underside for crops and livestock accessible to goblins but not so readily to humans. (This will likely have to be done by someone higher level than us, but we can relay the idea back to Corwen Hearth.) Sure, they could just plant things on the surface, as they¡¯re close enough to the entrance to tend them regularly. But a domesticated resource that can be obtained nowhere else would be much more valuable and might stir interest in people who are dubious about trading with goblins. Corwen has already shown interest in Grubwick¡¯s gathered mushrooms. What else might they be able to make use of? ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing what they come up with once they figure out how fermentation works,¡± Anise says. ¡°Have you explored the Underside before?¡± I ask. Anise shakes her head. ¡°I¡¯ve mostly just done dungeons that can be accessed from the surface. But the Underside is wilderness like the surface and not just a dungeon. There are dungeons in it too, but vast tracts of area that¡¯s not dungeons but also has a higher chance of having monsters than the surface except during swarm season. All I know is what I¡¯ve heard from other adventurers, though.¡± The goblins don¡¯t really know what to do with wool yet, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll figure it out soon enough. We load up the mushrooms intended to Corwen and head back out. Although the goblins have been friendly enough, we still don¡¯t trust them enough to stay the night in their village, also they don¡¯t have an inn yet and there¡¯s not many monsters wandering on the surface this time of year anyway. Milo opts to stay the night in Grubwick and meet up with our camp in the morning so that he can impart some otherworldly knowledge upon them. ¡°I think that went well,¡± Anise says, hiccuping. ¡°Did you find out if Language (Drunken Slur) works even if you don¡¯t understand their regular language?¡± I wonder. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not really sure,¡± Anise says. ¡°Their tone came across fine. We just weren¡¯t exactly having any riveting philosophical discussions. Many of the phrases in Language (Drunken Slur) are things like ¡®I want more booze¡¯ and ¡®Hey everyone, watch this!¡¯ followed by doing something stupid. Like juggling stone knives. One of them totally tried to juggle stone knives.¡± Chapter 15: Skills Unlocked! Having exchanged Grubwick¡¯s surplus mushrooms for wool, we return to Corwen to give them a chance to figure out how to unlock skills for textiles and agriculture themselves. Milo has explained to them the basics, but it¡¯s up to them now to take the next steps themselves. In the meantime, I take the opportunity for some downtime to read every book in the village and attend a few lectures. Even if they¡¯re only covering topics I should already ¡°know¡±, I can¡¯t guarantee everything is the same as what I think I know, and it will be helpful to unlock Knowledge skills to influence my later class choices.
Skill acquired: Knowledge (Agriculture)
Corwen, being a rural village, is involved in a lot of farming, although in our case it¡¯s primarily apple orchards. Other nearby villages have their own specialties and trade regularly. Knowing a little about farming myself may prove helpful in getting the goblins up to speed. The school is also full of maps and even an orrery of the Tiganna system comprised of round discs on curved struts around a magitech lightbulb representing the skymote. These I pore over and familiarize myself with at least the region of Tempest I¡¯m in.
Skill acquired: Knowledge (Geography)
I always loved maps, and if I¡¯m going to be doing much traveling in the future, having a better grasp on geography will be invaluable. And the floating islands, called ¡°domains¡±, are fascinating. One or another of the books in here, or somewhere at least, must have an explanation as to how the physics of it works. I mean, magic, I assume, but ¡°magic¡± is as lazy of an answer as ¡°science¡± is. If a kid back on Earth were to ask me why the sky is blue and I replied ¡°science¡±, that would be technically correct and also completely useless. Anise spends some time away from the village, and the other adults won¡¯t let me play with sharp objects, reincarnator or no. Fine, no more woodworking practice for me for a while. I already unlocked the skill, at least. They¡¯re perfectly happy to encourage me to take up finger painting, though, and sit my adopted sister and twin baby cousins along with me. The babies produce some fine examples of abstract art. Finger painting winds up being pretty fun and I make a few crude pictures of things from Earth that make no sense to them.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Painting)
¡°Why is the sky all azure, with only one yellow skymote?¡± wonders the resident nosy busybody. ¡°You painted it wrong.¡± ¡°Oh, give him a break, Bell,¡± Aunt Rosemary says. ¡°He has an excellent imagination! Why don¡¯t you go back to your own Hearth if you don¡¯t like how we raise our children here?¡± Bell grumbles unhappily and shuts up before she says anything that will convince the Corwens to throw her and her brat of an 8-year-old out. I do some charcoal sketches as well. I wish I¡¯d come here sooner. There¡¯s plenty of arts and crafts supplies I could have been playing around with. Ah, well, I don¡¯t think exploring the Hearth was a waste of time. Thinking back on another life in a peaceful time, I draw a sketch of a woman whose face is ingrained in my memories. ¡°Your wife?¡± Milo asks. ¡°My sister,¡± I say. ¡°I never married. She did, though. I had a gaggle of grand-nieces and nephews.¡± ¡°She¡¯s pretty. Or at least I assume she would be if you had actually unlocked Crafting (Sketching) yet. I don¡¯t think her nose was actually that long and pointed unless you invented mutants in the future, too.¡± I snicker. ¡°No, I¡¯m just bad at this. Just gotta keep at it until the system acknowledges my efforts, I suppose.¡± ¡°Pretty sure you¡¯re actually supposed to learn how to do it properly and not just do it wrong over and over,¡± Milo says with a smirk. I wind up having to do seventeen bad sketches before getting the notification after one that you might just be able to pick out of a police lineup. I think I really captured Annie¡¯s coy smirk that time. The sort of smirk that says, ¡°Yeah, I totally did it, but you have no evidence and I know it.¡±
Skill acquired: Crafting (Sketching)
Next, I find a pencil and start drawing a diagram of a bridge. I love bridges and wish I¡¯d ever gotten to actually design one. It only takes lovingly-detailed drawings of three different types of bridges for this skill to pop up in my third eye.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Drafting)
There¡¯s a few considerations I¡¯m unable to account for yet, such as the gravity of the domains and the properties of available materials. Gravity feels normal to me, but I¡¯ve never felt anything different for the entirety of this life, so if it¡¯s different from Earth it¡¯s probably by a negligible amount. As for materials, that will require more research. Corwen is a family of adventurers, not builders. A bit of a secondary consideration when you live next to a crystalline alien that can reshape matter at will.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I also make sure to learn some more adventuring skills. Just because I don¡¯t want to make a life through violence doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t want to go exploring. There will be dangerous creatures, that much is inevitable with the way this world works. However, I need to be able to avoid being instantly killed by them long enough for someone else to deal with them, preferably. Every level of a combat skill means I¡¯m more likely to get funneled into combat classes. I¡¯ll see about unlocking some important exploration skills. I¡¯ve already got Athletics (Climbing), Athletics (Jumping), and Survival (Hiking), which is an excellent start. Next up, I feel that it¡¯s important to learn to swim. The village has an artificial pond inside the walls, and a small lake outside. The pond is more of a swimming pool that¡¯s pretending to be a natural feature than anything I¡¯d be afraid of getting diseases or parasites from, and is an excellent place to learn to swim. Burdock (and Mipsy), Meadow, and Daisy join me for the occasion. Daisy brings along a pocket spellbook to test simple spells outdoors. ¡°As I¡¯m still a [Scholarly Child] until I turn 14 next January, I get bonuses to using a spellbook rather than a staff, talisman, or whatever,¡± Daisy explains. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s waterproof.¡± ¡°Did you make that yourself?¡± I ask. Daisy shakes her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s one of the standard training books. I¡¯ll make myself a proper customized spellbook later at school.¡± ¡°Alright, don¡¯t be scared now,¡± Meadow tells me encouragingly as I approach the water. ¡°I¡¯ll pull you right out if you mess up.¡± ¡°I am mentally an adult, you know,¡± I say. Meadow grins. ¡°Even adults can panic and do stupid things under unfamiliar conditions. You wouldn¡¯t believe how I¡¯ve had to babysit aunts and uncles twice to three times my age when traveling in the wilds.¡± I dip a toe in the water, finding it to be just as cold as I¡¯d imagined. There¡¯s a Survival (Cold Resistance) skill, but I imagine I will need to do more to unlock it than take a dip in a pool in May, sadly. From the notes I read, resistance skills are very useful but a nightmare to train without high Willpower, and my Willpower is¡­ below average. The average adult has 20 in all attributes, if they¡¯ve done a moderate amount of training in each area. Mine is 16 and has not changed since I was named. I settle in to become comfortable in the chilly water before starting trying to lift my legs and tread water. While my other stats have not changed, my Strength and Endurance have each gone up a point and are now 3. I¡¯ve been doing a good deal more exercise than the average toddler. ¡°Did you get it yet?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°No,¡± I say. ¡°Aw, I was so sure you¡¯d get it in five minutes!¡± Meadow says. ¡°You¡¯re the super reincarnator who learns things after only doing them once, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I recall learning how to swim and then proceeding to avoid any reason why I should ever be in water deeper than my waist,¡± I say. I flail about a little in the water, slowly gaining more confidence with Meadow¡¯s support and despite Daisy¡¯s distractions. With the help of her little magic book, she causes ripples in the pond. ¡°Daisy, I¡¯m not sure if this is helping,¡± I say, laughing and splashing water in her general direction, but she is safely out of reach on dry land and my arms are very short. I don¡¯t actually get the skill unlocked until I manage to swim across the little pool unaided. Meadow watches me like a hawk (or maybe an osprey) the whole way, ready to dive in and heroically rescue me.
Skill acquired: Athletics (Swimming)
I let out a whoop as my hands touch the fake-natural rocks at the far side of the pond and receive the message. ¡°Got it!¡± I cry. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to get out of this water and dry off and go read.¡± Meadow laughs. ¡°If your Stamina meter is low, go ahead and take a short rest.¡± Daisy¡¯s book glows, and a tiny splash of water splashes on me. ¡°At least stay until I get my skill too! I¡¯d like to get back inside, myself, but I can¡¯t practice [Water Manipulation] indoors. Aunt Myrtle already kicked me out of the hearth and said to go play in the sun with my friends.¡±
Milo has been spending the time I¡¯ve been training making contact with a couple more goblin villages in the area. One of them runs his party out of the area and refuses to have anything to do with humans or ¡°goblin traitors¡±. I suppose it would have been too much to ask for every contact to go smoothly. At least no one is hurt. The third village goes a little better. They aren¡¯t interested in trade but agree not to raid humans, as they aren¡¯t very interested in raiding anyway. Having more people being neutral instead of enemies is still a good thing. It takes a few weeks for Milo to get that first point in Common. (Not that I¡¯ve gotten any additional points in Common, myself, and I don¡¯t seem to have any trouble understanding it regardless. I have no idea how this works.) ¡°Finally!¡± Milo says. ¡°Language (Common) is now mine! I¡¯ve only attempted to hold a conversation with literally everyone in the village! And you¡¯re right. Now it sounds like everyone is just speaking English to me. Before it was as though they were speaking, I don¡¯t know, Welsh or something. So peculiar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m probably going to need to talk to more goblins for mine to unlock,¡± I say. ¡°When¡¯s the next trip?¡± ¡°Next week! You coming along this time?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve unlocked some very important skills in the meantime.¡± ¡°You mean the finger painting?¡± Milo asks. ¡°I mean I can now draw technical diagrams,¡± I say. ¡°And hopefully teach your goblins how to read them.¡± I pull out the bridge drawings I did. ¡°We¡¯re going to build a bridge.¡± ¡°And they¡¯ll be able to access the resources on the other side of the river more easily!¡± Milo¡¯s face figuratively lights up. ¡°Brilliant! That river is full of deadly carp. You can¡¯t swim across it.¡± ¡°Deadly carp, of course,¡± I say flatly. ¡°I would feel better about this if we could build a stone or wooden bridge, but we haven¡¯t unlocked [Masonry] or [Carpentry] yet. I was hoping making that board game would count, but I got [Woodworking] instead. Not quite the same thing. Wool, even devil-goat wool, probably isn¡¯t the best choice for rope but will likely work. Then we just need some planks of some sort that will hopefully not break and dump you into dangerous, carp-infested waters.¡± ¡°I am suddenly less enthusiastic about building this bridge. I think teaching my goblins masonry would be a much better idea. Especially if they¡¯re going to use this bridge to gather resources.¡± ¡°Fair point,¡± I say. ¡°Time enough to read some books on the topic, I suppose. And you should be able to read now, too!¡± Chapter 16: Building Bridges ¡°Oh for crying out loud, why didn¡¯t you tell me people¡¯s names had meanings?¡± Milo grouses. ¡°Now I have to figure out who everyone is all over again. Blasted magic translator.¡± ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t think anything of it.¡± I pause and frown thoughtfully. ¡°What¡¯s a burdock?¡± ¡°A thistle,¡± Milo says. ¡°I¡¯m going to go re-meet everyone now that I can properly communicate with them and figure out what their names actually mean.¡± After encountering the hostile goblins of Muckburrow, Milo is more cautious about making first contact with new villages, sends a few Grubwick goblins without humans in his stead. So far, the other goblin villages have been hostile or neutral at best, even the neutral ones taking an attitude of ¡°leave us out of this¡± or ¡°wait and see¡±. Although Milo is not technically in charge of Grubwick, [Elder Witch] Griza is, and she has basically told the goblins to do whatever Milo asks. She probably wouldn¡¯t be as eager to support us were we to do anything against the interests of Grubwick, but so far she¡¯s been happy to sit back and see where this is going. Corwen is lacking in books on [Masonry], so I ask my mom for suggestions. ¡°Penbryn is known for its builders,¡± Anise says. ¡°It¡¯s not far and Aunt Heather confirmed there¡¯s no reincarnators there. You can get lectures on the topic and watch them do their work, I¡¯m sure. Let¡¯s take a trip, shall we? We can take Juniper.¡± When we arrive at the village of Penbryn, I speak with Jay, their [Masonry] teacher. Or rather, Anise speaks with him because we didn¡¯t want to make it too obvious that I¡¯m a reincarnator. ¡°Sure, he can sit in on a few lectures,¡± Jay says. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether he¡¯ll get a Knowledge skill out of it or not, but there¡¯s no harm in it. Your Hearth lets our children sit in on adventuring lectures without asking payment, so it¡¯s only fair to return the favor.¡± I¡¯m just happy that I live in a civilization that¡¯s willing to share knowledge. Anise and I are given a room in their guest house to stay in for the duration. I play the role of a dumb toddler that¡¯s just really interested in building, and watch and listen intently. ¡°I wonder what happened to the goblins?¡± I overhear someone say in the guest house one evening. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any raiders in months.¡± ¡°Maybe someone wiped them out,¡± another man comments. ¡°Anise, you¡¯re from an adventuring Hearth, aren¡¯t you? Have you heard anything?¡± ¡°Oh, that?¡± Anise says. ¡°Yeah, we convinced the local goblin village to be less aggressive. Even managed to trade for some of their mushrooms.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be damned. What kind of silver tongues do you have in your Hearth?¡± ¡°It was a crazy set of circumstances, I¡¯ll tell you that much,¡± Anise says without going into detail.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Eavesdropping)
This was not the skill I came here to unlock, but whatever, I¡¯ll take it. (How does every toddler not wind up with this? I suppose skills require at least a little deliberateness for the system to recognize them.) I spend weeks attending lectures at Penbryn. On weekends, Anise takes me on trips back to Corwen or to Grubwick. It¡¯s June before I finally get the first point of the skill I was after.
Skill acquired: Knowledge (Masonry)
Finally. Now I can quit pretending to be a baby and get out of here. This place isn¡¯t nearly as exciting as Corwen. With the skill under my belt, I return to Grubwick to get started. Before committing to trying to build a bridge over the dangerous river right away, we start off with the basics. We acquire some hard stone that would make good chisels, since we don¡¯t have the capacity for metalworking yet. Making stone tools, however, is something they know, and the goblins wind up teaching me a thing or two about finding the proper stone and getting it into the shape I want.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Stoneworking)
Skill acquired: Language (Goblin)
Both skills unlock after I successfully make my first passable stone chisel. ¡°Good job!¡± Rog, the goblin who was helping me says. ¡°That tool will work decently.¡± ¡°I can understand you decently now, too,¡± I say. ¡°Thanks for your help. I unlocked both Crafting (Stoneworking) and Language (Goblin).¡± ¡°Even more of a good job!¡± Rog says with a laugh. ¡°Most humans don¡¯t bother listening to what goblins have to say. We live between two worlds.¡± I suddenly realize that the words I¡¯d taken for swear words were not the sort of cursing I thought they were. ¡°What two worlds?¡± I ask. ¡°The Topside and the Underside, of course,¡± Rog says. ¡°There are people on the Underside?¡± I ask. ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Rog says. ¡°Strange people that live in the searing light of Tiganna. You will never see them in the In-Between or the Topside, fortunately. They can¡¯t live without Tiganna¡¯s light. And there¡¯s so many monsters! We¡¯re fortunate only a tiny number of them rise to the Great Sphere¡¯s pull every year.¡± I do not ask the obvious question, ¡°Why do they not fall into the Void?¡± I chat with everyone in the village who isn¡¯t in an area I¡¯m not allowed to go. Grubwick Hearth has a good deal more underground space than Corwen, rather than sprawling across the surface of the big cave. (I wonder what point in the In-Between the gravity shifts at?) The humans also seem to be under the impression that the In-Between is the Underside. It doesn¡¯t help that the entrances seem to be labeled like mall directions that don¡¯t bother mentioning the maze of hallways you¡¯re about to enter. ¡°How far is it to the nearest entrance to the Underside?¡± I ask one of them.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Far, very far,¡± the goblin says. ¡°You are not ready for the journey. There are many layers of In-Between and many more dangerous peoples than goblins between here and there.¡± ¡°I¡¯d imagine I need to level up a lot more before I can really seek out new life and new civilizations,¡± I say. Now that I have a functional chisel, I start practicing with it. Goblins know about working with various types of stone, but they never had a reason to shape it into blocks and stack it up. The presence of a Hearth may have stifled their innovation a bit. They only learned how to make better spears and knives. I don¡¯t start off with trying to make passable stone blocks. I start off with just messing around and seeing how the chisel works without expectation that it will look like anything when I¡¯m done. I revel in the sensation that I have never done this before. In my life as an engineer, my society was well beyond the stone age and my job involved working on a much higher technology level. I was entirely too busy to take up flintknapping as a hobby. And in the lives I don¡¯t remember? I¡¯m quite sure I did more hitting things than crafting. I was very good at hitting things. My Knowledge (Masonry) tells me that this chisel is of ¡°Poor¡± quality, and will do the job but not very well. It will be difficult to get even blocks with this. I decide to make a few more chisels to try to get one of a higher grade. There¡¯s also the matter of mortar. ¡°Milo, can we negotiate a trade between Grubwick and Penbryn for limestone?¡± I ask. ¡°They own most of the local quarries.¡± Milo nods. ¡°It¡¯ll need to wait until we¡¯ve got more surplus resources or something to trade to get enough to do any serious building with.¡± The goblins I spoke to seem to be happy with their shipment of Corwen wool. Some of them managed to unlock Crafting (Spinning). They¡¯ve probably ruined some of it trying to get the proper skills, but Corwen devil-goats produce a very sturdy type of wool. Even with having to figure out how to spin it first, it¡¯s an improvement over sinew and produces items of a higher grade even at lower skill levels. At least ordinary rocks are plentiful to practice on, both in the In-Between and Topside, when you don¡¯t care about the quality of your materials. I¡¯m just trying to get a skill, not make a work of art. But perhaps I should be? I get the feeling that the system wants you to try to improve, not just blindly repeat the same thing over and over. I don¡¯t usually get a skill unlocked until I¡¯ve successfully accomplished something. I make a smaller chisel for detail work and eventually get the system message I¡¯ve been looking for upon making a turtle figurine that Milo can actually identify as a turtle.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Sculpting)
Your Dexterity has increased to 3.
I¡¯ve found my efforts at sculpting to be surprisingly relaxing and rewarding. There¡¯s some joy in pushing your limits and not just doing the same old routine. The goblins I¡¯ve been working with have been improving their skills bit by bit, too. ¡°This bridge will be awesome,¡± says Rog. ¡°When do we start building it?¡± ¡°When we can reliably make arches that don¡¯t fall down,¡± I reply. ¡°We can practice over something a little safer. I¡¯m thinking Skullburn Creek would be a good option to start with. It would make it easier for Corwen to get here, it¡¯s smaller, and there¡¯s nothing dangerous down there.¡± ¡°Will Corwen send guards to make sure no humans get the wrong idea about goblins Topside?¡± Rog asks. ¡°Of course,¡± I say. ¡°My mom, Anise, will be there at least.¡± I¡¯m impressed at how far the goblins have come in a short period of time with shoddy instruction. I got to read books, listen to lectures on the topic, and watch some actual masons do their work. They only have me, blindly translating things I¡¯ve heard. I strongly suspect that goblins are more intelligent than humans would imagine, they¡¯re just not terribly ambitious or curious without something driving them. They¡¯re weak, short-lived beings eking out an existence sandwiched between two places full of dangerous things. Talking with the goblins gives me a good deal more understanding about goblin society. Their Hearth system is remarkably similar to the ones used by humans, but each Hearth¡¯s warren contains many more goblins than a human Hearth would. There are about a hundred people who live in Corwen, while Grubwick alone has several times that amount, I¡¯m guessing. Milo is the only goblin child allowed anywhere near the surface. They all know he¡¯s a reincarnator and an exception to all the normal rules. They knew he was a ¡°Chosen One¡± at birth. I¡¯m honestly glad Corwen doesn¡¯t get all weird about the reincarnation thing. They don¡¯t really treat me like a Chosen One, just as a very small adult who should know better. Totally unfair. Before we try building a bridge, we build a little house inside the walls that can be an inn for any humans staying here so they don¡¯t just have to pitch a tent. We can just make the roof as though it were a bridge. This will also keep out some of the noises of the In-Between. It¡¯s surprisingly noisy down here. Every time my Stamina meter gets too low, I drift off listening to the keening sounds of monsters moving around somewhere far below us as well as the bizarre chirping of something that sounds like a dog-sized bug. Which leads me to the goblins¡¯ common choice of cuisine. If I want to eat down here, I either need to bring rations from the surface or eat dog-sized bugs. Fine, I¡¯m feeling adventurous. What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Anything short of killing me will probably just give me a resistance skill at worst, and I¡¯m quite sure the [Elder Witch] wouldn¡¯t let me die if she could help it. Grandma Laurel could wipe out this place single-handedly and she knows it. The giant maggot meat¡­ tastes a little like crab. Maybe crawfish. I am so very, very glad that it doesn¡¯t taste like chicken. ¡°Where do these come from?¡± I ask. ¡°The swamp down the river,¡± says Rog. ¡°They¡¯re the ones that make that rrrr-rrrrrr sound all night.¡± The goblin throat is weirdly capable of reproducing exactly the trill I keep hearing. ¡°Try some of their milk!¡± says another goblin, passing me a very uneven stone cup full of a liquid that does look like milk. I take a sip. It also tastes remarkably like milk. Tangier than the milk of a devil-goat and less rich. I wonder if it can be made into cheese? Our first arch collapses. Our second arch falls over. Our third arch does both at the same time. Our fourth arch stays up, at which point we realize a four foot tall arch won¡¯t be suitable for a human-sized building. Three foot tall creatures building an eight foot tall structure will require the invention of scaffolding, I think. Rough-hewn planks cut by stone axes tied together with devil-goat wool string. I don¡¯t care to recount how many times it takes them to stay up. After several more attempts and a few broken bones, we know we¡¯re successful when we all get a system message.
Congratulations! Your party has constructed a small stone house.
You have significantly advanced the development of Grubwick.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Masonry)
Skill acquired: Tending (Teaching)
Your Dexterity has increased to 4.
¡°That did it!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°And it gave me Elite rank for it, too! With only two months to spare.¡± ¡°Congratulations!¡± I tell him, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°I will need to spend the next two months practicing magic skills,¡± Milo says. ¡°Did you also get the message about the bonuses?¡± I shake my head. ¡°What did it say?¡± ¡°¡®An Inn has been added to your village. Inn bonuses are now in effect.¡¯ And quite a few numbers. A new button in my user interface appeared.¡± He frowns. ¡°It seems either that Deed or the rank upgrade unlocked access to something. I can now see some details about my village in my head. This is¡­ very strange and convenient. It says this is a Poor quality house that gives a +1 bonus to tenant happiness.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting our first attempt to be perfect but Poor, really?¡± I say with a smirk. ¡°It didn¡¯t fall down,¡± Milo says. ¡°Yeah,¡± I say. ¡°I guess that¡¯s enough to try building a bridge over an actual body of water next. But that will have to wait till next year. Do you want to spend swarm season here or in Corwen?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be plenty safe down in the warrens and I¡¯m not allowed into your Hearth,¡± Milo says. ¡°That¡¯s probably true, but Corwen¡¯s guest house is probably no less safe, and we¡¯ve got people who can help get your magic skills up faster.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Milo says, then says. ¡°I wanted to stay and teach a bit, but I realize I have a personal deadline and they do not have a deadline on civilization advances. Very well. I will accompany you to Corwen for the fall and return once enough of the monsters are gone that it¡¯s safe to travel again.¡± Chapter 17: Overcoming Capraphobia Late September sees us back in Corwen as the village¡¯s population swells like it does every year. Family, travelers, and the more sensible Hearthless alike crowd in behind the high, safe walls. We¡¯ve left the goblins of Grubwick some instructions on things to work on improvement in and drawings they can use as inspiration. ¡°Hopefully the inn doesn¡¯t fall down before we get back,¡± Milo says. ¡°Or at least if it does, they know how to rebuild it better now. I do hope they come up with some better scaffolding before we actually try to use it over a creek or this is going to be a much more damp affair than I am already anticipating.¡± Among those returning to Corwen are Lily (Burdock and Daisy¡¯s sister) and Basil (Meadow¡¯s brother) as well as some teens whose names I don¡¯t remember. (I only remember Basil because when Meadow sees him, she hugs him and yells, ¡°Basil, I made Elite!¡±) A few days after everyone is back, the sky turns red and the monster swarms arrive. As always, Aunt Heather does her Divination thing and reports back what types of monsters she has spotted. We (by which I mean all the Corwens) crowd into the hearth to her her announcement. ¡°I¡¯ve seen at least one Legendary Nature Stag out there,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°They aren¡¯t usually hostile unless you¡¯re harming nature in some way, so you are to do absolutely no woodcutting or similar activities outside the walls this year. There are some two-headed bears around Heroic rank, and a number of animated leaf creatures at Basic and Elite. No climbers or fliers spotted this year, but I will let you all know if that changes.¡± Someone makes sure the people staying in the guest house (like Milo) also know what¡¯s out there. We have to be wary in the open areas inside the village at first in case there was something she missed, but after a few days pass and no climbers or fliers have shown up, we¡¯re free to wander around so long as we remain inside the outer walls. Milo and I spend a good deal of time at the school, reading and practicing our skills. Daisy is here practicing her Wizardry. (Fortunately in a slightly less distracting way than when I was trying to re-learn how to swim.) I take a moment to read a book about the mechanics of quests. Since I don¡¯t get them, I want to see how they normally work. And after skimming a few books, I find that they¡¯re pretty much what I would have expected. A quest pops up telling you to do something and offering a reward or choice of rewards. They can be failed or declined, but most people consider it unlucky to refuse quests without good reason. Turns out there¡¯s an entire genre of fiction about people agonizing over whether to do a quest their aether core offered them. It¡¯s also common for a core to offer three options. The class selections are an obvious example, but not the only one. Quest rewards are usually presented as triplets as well. I¡¯m apparently missing out on quite a lot of goodies by not having quests. It seems they¡¯re experimenting with seeing what happens when they Choose a couple of Ones and not tell what to do all the time. Like we¡¯re a test of free will. I could spend the entire time reading fiction in the name of ¡°research¡±, but I have actual subjects I want to study as well. My reading material this season includes [Animal Husbandry]. The bridge project has been going along nicely, and I want to see if they can domesticate those milk bug things. ¡°You¡¯re interested in animals?¡± Grandma Laurel asks upon seeing what I¡¯m reading. ¡°I want to try to make cheese from the secretions of domesticated giant cave maggots,¡± I explain. Grandma Laurel stares at me for a long, then throws back her head and laughs heartily. ¡°Oh, you truly are my kin, Drake. I was never much good at lectures, but I wouldn¡¯t mind telling some stories about how I got acquainted with all my various ¡®friends¡¯. I¡¯m sure Burdock would be interested as well. And you can meet the kids! Some baby goats spawned on the first and need human socialization.¡± That¡¯s how Milo and I get dragged along to see terrifying baby devil-goats already as tall as I am. ¡°Aren¡¯t they cute?¡± Burdock says. The young black goat looks at me with sinister glowing red eyes and bleats in my soul. I whimper and shrink back, curling into a fetal position as the enormous evil creature looms above me. ¡°Hey!¡± Grandma Laurel snaps. ¡°No using [Fear Aura] on family members!¡± The goat shrinks and becomes tiny and cute again, and lets out a tiny chastised bleat. I warily climb to my feet as the effect fades. ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°It takes a bit to train them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite alright,¡± I say. ¡°Any chance we could do that until I develop a resistance to it?¡± Milo groans aloud. ¡°He may be a masochist, but that does not sound like a terrible idea, as unpleasant as it might be.¡± ¡°Absolutely,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Let¡¯s get you three boys some skills unlocked and make these the sweetest devil-kids you ever saw.¡± Grandma Laurel is perfectly happy to subject us to a crash course in the care of devil-goats while being continually subjected to a psychic aura of crippling terror. This only makes it the third worst school subject I¡¯ve ever taken. ¡°This is horrible,¡± I say after a week of daily training. ¡°All for the sake of some numbers? This was a terrible idea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just numbers,¡± Milo says. ¡°It¡¯s for the success of Grubwick. And ourselves. Yourself. Come on. We can do this.¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± I mutter. ¡°We don¡¯t need this. It was a stupid, whimsical idea.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°It was not a bad idea,¡± Milo says. ¡°You just have to follow through on your ideas. You jump around from topic to topic, pulling yourself in a dozen different directions. And while we do need that, we need to see each one through far enough that we can kickstart development. Come on. This is just another arch we need to build.¡± We push through, and after few weeks eventually get that notifications I¡¯ve been waiting for, to my great relief.
Skill acquired: Discipline (Fear Resistance)
Skill acquired: Knowledge (Animal Husbandry)
Skill acquired: Tending (Livestock)
Your Willpower has increased to 17.
I sleep well that night secure in the knowledge that I get out of this barn and do something else for a bit. I am content with one point in each skill for the moment. And thrilled that I finally increased my Willpower. ¡­ Late November, Milo approaches me in the school reading room, his green face wrinkled in a worried expression. ¡°I just got a notification informing me that Grubwick is low on food,¡± Milo says. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ still not a quest, but it might as well be?¡± ¡°It¡¯s giving you the choice to see how and whether to help,¡± I say. ¡°I can make it back,¡± Milo says. ¡°Your aunt said the Legendaries probably won¡¯t bother you if you¡¯re just traveling and not gathering resources, and I¡¯m Elite rank now and can do magic.¡± He pauses. ¡°Our birthday is in a week.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t Grubwick conjure food?¡± I ask. ¡°Corwen spawns goats.¡± ¡°It would cost essence,¡± Milo says. ¡°There¡¯s probably a reason why Corwen does it the way it does. It would probably cost a lot of what we¡¯ve built up over this past year. It says it will need to start reabsorbing stone blocks and tools to get the essence back, and if we don¡¯t get them enough food, we lose that inn we just built. Better to get food to them.¡± ¡°How can the Hedge Maze afford to hand out so many coins and items?¡± I wonder. ¡°Different specializations, and I suspect the Hedge Maze is higher level than Grubwick despite it being kid-friendly,¡± Anise says. ¡°I can set things on fire but I couldn¡¯t conjure food. Anyway, let¡¯s see about making sure our new green friends don¡¯t go hungry.¡± From what Corwen told me once, it used essence to purchase my soul for reincarnation. Grubwick must have done the same with Milo, but as the goblin village was less prosperous, it probably had to save up for a long time to afford his soul. I am choosing not to think too hard about the notion of crystalline aliens buying and selling souls to populate their theme parks. I¡¯m just having fun with my life.
Skill acquired: Discipline (Self-Delusion)
Oh come on. Look, I know I¡¯m essentially a game piece, and I also don¡¯t care! Sheesh, can¡¯t a guy just have fun with his five million and whateverth reincarnation? Anyway, if I had to guess, I was probably the more expensive game piece. Not to sound arrogant to think I¡¯m better than Milo or something, but because of my knowledge of more advanced technology and familiarity with storytelling tropes. Corwen has a surplus of two-headed bear meat. We have people able to hunt them, but they don¡¯t. Meadow and Daisy volunteer to come along. ¡°A party of Elite ranked adventurers should be able to take on a Heroic rank monster if we only have to deal with one of them at a time,¡± Meadow says. ¡°It will be a good Deed to get before I go off to the academy,¡± Daisy adds. ¡°I can get some more experience with Wizardry along the way.¡± To carry enough bear-monster meet to feed 700 goblins, we¡¯ll need to use actual carts. Devil-goats are the size of Clydesdales and usable as draft animals, unfortunately. And as Milo and I have just finished our training with them, we¡¯re the ones who have to handle them. Each cart is capable of carrying one of the huge mutant bear corpses. The things are a bit bigger than a grizzly, purple, and have two heads. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re perfectly safe to eat. (Goblins are perfectly willing and able to eat things raw, anyway.) ¡°Be sure to bring Snookums and Fluffles back safely!¡± Grandma Laurel says. When we arrive at the entrance to the In-Between, Milo runs ahead to Grubwick to let them know we¡¯re outside, and they send out a swarm of goblins to come and unload the carts. This results in Grubwick¡¯s first traffic argument. ¡°We should tell them to walk down the right side of the tunnel,¡± I say. ¡°No,¡± Milo says. ¡°We should tell them to walk down the left side of the tunnel. I was Canadian, and this is my village.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± I say. ¡°I concede the point. We need to teach goblins to read so that I can put up some road signs.¡± The goblins stream in and out of the tunnel to cut up the bear-monsters into pieces small enough to carry and hauling them into the tunnels, since we can¡¯t fit the carts through the cave opening. At least Grubwick isn¡¯t too far from the entrance. When we return to Grubwick, the inn is still standing. It¡¯s a little crooked, but surprisingly charming. The village is littered with disorganized piles of stone blocks, partially constructed walls and buildings, and rickety scaffolding. There were no climbers this year so they were able to practice in the upper area freely. When we go inside the inn, I can see that the goblins have been busy. Stone tables and chairs surround the hearth at the back of the house. Half of them are sized for humans and half for goblins and small children. I¡¯ve gotten taller. They haven¡¯t. At least I¡¯m not so much bigger that the goblin chairs are awkward for me yet. Just a few inches, but I¡¯ve got feet to grow before I¡¯m done growing. (By which I mean the unit of distance. I will hopefully not be growing additional limbs. Why am I not just using metric?) Now that we¡¯re here, Milo speaks with [Elder Witch] Griza and we find out the cause of this sudden famine. Goblins are not so bad with numbers that they don¡¯t know how much food to stockpile to feed their current numbers, and had enough even after trading away a lot of mushrooms to last a normal swarm season. Their attempts at agriculture had been sabotaged and their food stores were contaminated. The cause? A goblin named Karx. ¡°Traitor. Heretic,¡± the other goblins call him. ¡°You will not have our world, Topsider,¡± Karx snarls. ¡°The other villages will not bow to the trickery of false incarnates and liars.¡± ¡°Karx,¡± I say more quietly. ¡°Were you given a quest to do this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to tell a Topsider anything about my quests,¡± Karx says. ¡°Answer the question,¡± Milo says. ¡°False incarnate,¡± Karx spits. ¡°You¡¯re a reincarnated human. You are no goblin. And this dung about stacking rocks only proves that. True goblins don¡¯t stack rocks!¡± The goblins of Grubwick are angry, and rightly so. They¡¯re going to torture him to death. ¡°Stop,¡± I say, stepping forward. They pause to look up at me. They¡¯re under no obligation to obey me without Milo¡¯s backup, but they¡¯re smart enough to wait and see what I have to say first. ¡°What say you, Human Chosen?¡± says [Elder Witch] Griza. ¡°Would you show this one mercy?¡± ¡°I would suggest just killing him,¡± I say. ¡°He ought to be punished, that the others may see the cost of treason,¡± Griza says, and turns to Milo. ¡°What say you, Chosen?¡± ¡°The screams might attract monsters,¡± Milo says. ¡°It¡¯s still swarm season. I suggest a quick beheading and displaying his head on a spear.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Griza says. ¡°Let this traitor¡¯s end be swift, then.¡± We don¡¯t stick around for the execution. Two bear carcasses will feed the village for long enough to rebuild some stockpiles, but we¡¯ll need to hunt some more. Three years in a fantasy world and I¡¯m already fetching bear butts. Chapter 18: Fetching Forty Bear Haunches We¡¯re sitting on the safety of Grubwick¡¯s walls, waiting for prey to come by. Many monsters heading to and from the surface pass by within reach of the walls. We¡¯ve brought the goats in with us, but had to leave the carts outside. Monsters don¡¯t usually bother inanimate objects without people in them, I¡¯m told. ¡°What were the food stores contaminated with?¡± I ask. ¡°They found a bladder filled with residue of green underswamp berries,¡± Milo says. ¡°Too toxic even for goblins. It caused vomiting, diarrhea, and death in some cases. Fortunately, not everyone was affected.¡± ¡°Where are green underswamp berries found?¡± I ask. ¡°East of here, out near Muckburrow,¡± says Nika, a goblin lady and the only Elite among the hunters who isn¡¯t sick. ¡°Muckburrow again,¡± I say sourly. ¡°What could they have offered him that would convince him to betray his own Hearth?¡± ¡°Maybe he was confident in his escape plans, but it still seems like a poor idea,¡± Milo says. ¡°Could he have received a quest from another Hearth with a reward that¡¯s valid in the next life?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Anise says. ¡°You two would know more about how reincarnation works than I do. I just read books where two lovers are reincarnated together across history and it¡¯s terribly romantic and tragic and sexy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything I might have done to get reincarnated,¡± Milo says. ¡°So if I did and forgot, that¡¯s probably not helpful. Well, imprisoning him forever would not have been a good solution, so if he shows up again, I hope he does not become too bothersome.¡± I sigh. ¡°As if we need a recurring villain that won¡¯t stay dead.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s think positively,¡± Anise says. ¡°Elite bear spotted! Get him, guys!¡± ¡°[Hold]!¡± Milo exclaims. The monster bear freezes in place, and the hunters and adventurers take advantage of it to lay into the creature. ¡°Hah¡­ that worked great!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°Magic is quite useful. Ah, bother, it has already worn off.¡± Nika charges ahead to meet the large two-headed bear with her spear, the other goblins pelting the creature with spears and slung stones from the walls. Despite being still immature for a goblin, Milo is an Elite now and is doing more damage than all the Basic-rank goblins combined, as well as disorienting it with Incantation magic. (It probably also doesn¡¯t hurt that he¡¯s using spells and they¡¯re using stone age weapons.) Once the bear is down, we help haul it in through the gates. (And by ¡°we¡± I mean people who have higher Strength than a precocious toddler.) We¡¯re into the dark season by this point, so while there are still monsters above ground, no new ones are coming out. Two-headed bears are going in toward Grubwick to return to whichever layer of Tempest Domain they normally belong to. This is perfectly normal.
Your Discipline (Self-Delusion) skill has increased to level 2.
This basically means food is coming right to us, it¡¯s just food that the goblins of Grubwick are not strong enough to catch themselves at the moment. They normally wait for ones to come close to the walls and send out large parties of hunters to take down Elites. But thanks to the contaminated food stores, many of the hunters were ill and weaker than they should have been. I don¡¯t try to contribute in the fighting, but I do sit back and make stone spear heads to keep the hunters equipped. Considering I¡¯d ideally been wanting to work on things a bit higher tech than this, I¡¯m starting to really get the hang of this.
Your Crafting (Stoneworking) skill has increased to level 2.
I¡¯m not sure how much I will be doing this after we¡¯ve introduced these goblins to the wonders of metalworking, but every level of Crafting will probably help in getting a Crafter-type class and not something that involves killing things. I was really hoping to spend more time back at Corwen studying and to not have a fair chunk of that time doing daily goat training, even if that goat training has already proven useful. Milo spent more time learning Incantation from one of my uncles. His class is actually [Goblin Child], the class all goblins get when they¡¯re born rather than [Scholarly Child], [Nurturing Child], and such that humans can get when they¡¯re 7 years old. My class is just [Child]. I don¡¯t know what sort of bonuses either of our classes gets. The next bear that approaches the city is much bigger. The Elite ones were bad enough, but this Heroic one is testing my [Fear Resistance] without even having a [Fear Aura] going on, unless it does but I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re just naturally terrifying for being bigger and much higher level than me. Even if I wanted to try to fight it, any attacks I made would just bounce off of it like Milo¡¯s stone knife bounced off Uncle Hawk. (I¡¯m still not sure why nobody seems to hold a grudge over that.) Meadow¡¯s out here risking her life for the sake of some people who tried to murder her uncle a few months ago and looking like she¡¯s having a blast at it. Not that it¡¯s much of a risk when she¡¯s standing on top of a wall with a bow just shooting approaching monsters from safety. Daisy¡¯s the only one looking nervous here, clutching her spellbook with white knuckles as she fires off prepared spells at the monster. The sigils in the book glow as she fills them with vis. The constraints of the writing are helping shape her vis to create effects with it. I can see the shape of the sigil in the air through [Aura Sight] for a moment after it¡¯s cast. Daisy¡¯s beginner spellbook is comprised of spells that only require one sigil, but they¡¯re effective enough to help pick away at the monster¡¯s Health meter.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Once victorious, the carcass gets hauled inside so the goblin butchers can get to work on it. Daisy spends the downtime refilling her spellbook with vis to get another set of spells ready to fire off. When we get tired, we settle in at them to eat and rest. The meat we hunted today will sustain the goblins for a while. Many of them are already tucking into it raw. I¡¯ve gotten used to some of goblin cuisine, but I prefer the cuisine that can be at least slightly called cuisine and not just shoving raw meat into your mouth. Thankfully, goblins are not so primitive to have failed to gain mastery of fire yet. We get a crackling fire burning in the hearth at the inn and roast thick strips of mutant bear meat on a spit. ¡°So you guys built this?¡± Meadow asks, looking at the building around us. ¡°And a few dozen goblins,¡± I say. ¡°I did the design. They did most of the heavy lifting.¡± I settle in to start making some stone tools with some pieces gathered from the village courtyard. ¡°I¡¯ve been so focused on general skills I haven¡¯t had much chance to try to make sense of magic skills yet,¡± I say. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not quite three yet,¡± Anise says. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t normally have to worry about it for a good ten years. And I have no idea when you might hit Elite with all the weird stuff you keep doing.¡± ¡°You want to be a Wizard, too?¡± Daisy asks. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I say. ¡°Although those sigils do look interesting. I¡¯m more interested in making things, though.¡± ¡°The seven types of magic¡­ eight types, I suppose,¡± Anise says. ¡°You should be able to do Necromancy, right? Creepy a thought as that is. Anyway, the eight types of magic are based on how you interact with the world. Sigils for Wizardry, sounds for Incantation, emotions for Sorcery, and so forth.¡± ¡°So when you use Sorcery, are you just getting angry enough to throw fire at things?¡± I ask. Anise laughs. ¡°It¡¯s more like using emotions to do things rather than feeling them, so much. Turning rage into a blade instead of letting it ruin your self-control and make you do stupid things.¡± ¡°So basically, anyone that makes Elite rank can set things on fire with their brains,¡± I say. ¡°Pretty much, yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°Provided they learn how to do it. Just like anyone who is so inclined can learn to build buildings. Most people don¡¯t put in the effort to learn a bunch of different stuff. Unless they dedicate the time and effort into leveling it up, they might at best manage to do what they could have done with Survival (Fire Making) instead. You¡¯ve been unlocking a bunch of skills, but the grind is eternal.¡± ¡°If you want to make stuff, Alchemy might be the path for you,¡± Daisy says. ¡°Potions?¡± I ask. Daisy shakes her head. ¡°No, Crafting (Potions) is something else and doesn¡¯t need magic. Alchemy is about extracting and infusing concepts. I considered it but decided I¡¯d rather focus on Wizardry.¡± ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll study up on it more once I get closer to the point where I can actually learn to do it,¡± I say. Over the course of the next few days, our budding adventurers roast a steady stream of large mutant bears while the sick goblins recover. The end of November is upon us, and with it, the birthdays of we reincarnator twins. I¡¯m not expecting anything special, but Milo is. Still, I¡¯m happy with my own notification.
You are now 3 years old.
All physical attributes have increased by 1.
¡°Grubwick?¡± Milo says, doubtless staring at a similar message to the one I just got. ¡°Grubwick, where my class choices?¡± ¡°Milo?¡± I ask. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re not supposed to get Elite rank before you even get your first class choice,¡± Milo says. ¡°Or¡­ no, it says that when it disabled the quest system for me, it inadvertently also shut off class choices, which use the same system.¡± I frown. ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re not going to get classes?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just going to turn it on again long enough for me to get a class popup and then turn it off again,¡± Milo says. ¡°There we go! And¡­ uh¡­ I don¡¯t believe that other stuff was intended. [Apprentice Incantor], please and thank you very much.¡± ¡°What other stuff?¡± I ask. ¡°Several quests appeared,¡± Milo says. ¡°They¡¯re gone now that I¡¯ve made my class choice, at least. I think I can safely disregard them. Anyway, it¡¯s not like we weren¡¯t already in the middle of delivering forty bear haunches to the village.¡± ¡°[Apprentice Incantor]!¡± exclaims Daisy. ¡°Congratulations! I can¡¯t wait until I get my apprentice class.¡± With Grubwick¡¯s hunters recovering and their food stores replenished enough that they can catch up the slack on their own, my group decides to return to Corwen to spend Hearth Day there. We take Snookums and Fluffles and head back out to where we left the two carts. While we¡¯d never driven an animal-drawn cart before, both Milo and I drove cars constantly in our day-to-day lives, and these devil-goats are well-trained enough to make up for any deficits. Some random traveler might be treated to the ludicrous sight of a small child driving a cart drawn by a huge black devil-goat, carrying the corpse of giant two-headed mutant bear. There are not a lot of random travelers in the area this time of year. Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. A radiant white stag emerges from the forest, walking toward the cave entrance and in no particular hurry to do so. Where he steps, flowers bloom and then die immediately. A sprawling rack of antlers sports dozens of points, like a branching tournament bracket all converging at the finalists on his head. And his face is not a deer¡¯s snout, but a face more closely resembling a cat. I¡¯m frozen in place. My entire group goes dead silent. This must be one of the Legendary Nature Stags that Aunt Heather mentioned. And nobody who is with me will be enough to protect me from this creature if he decides to take offense at my existence. I recognize the fear effect as being similar to the goats, but far more powerful. I try to shake it off, but it¡¯s hopeless. I can¡¯t move an inch as the monster comes straight toward me. He stops, five feet in front of my face, and looks me in the eye as though judging me for every sin against nature I have ever committed. And then, without a sound, the Nature Stag moves on and the oppressive aura lifts as he vanishes into the cave. ¡°Such a beautiful creature¡­¡± Meadow breathes once we can move again. ¡°Phew,¡± Anise says. ¡°I am so glad that thing didn¡¯t see a reason to attack us. Let¡¯s get home, before anything else shows up.¡± The remainder of the trip home passes mostly quietly, with only one Elite two-headed bear trying to kill us. My party makes quick work of it and loads it into one of the carts to take back to Corwen. No sense letting it go to waste, after all. As the carts pull through the village gates, I receive a system message.
Skill acquired: Mechanics (Driving)
I suppose if it considers goat-pulled carts and automobiles to be the same skill, that would make sense why I had no trouble with it, but it¡¯s good for the system to acknowledge it I suppose. ¡°Ah, civilization,¡± Milo says. ¡°I look forward to the day Grubwick has indoor plumbing. I¡¯m going to the guest house to take a bath. I smell like goat, bear guts, and goblin.¡± ¡°How much scrubbing does it take to make a goblin not smell like goblin?¡± Daisy wonders. ¡°I have been making use of the complementary floral scented soaps,¡± Milo says. Chapter 19: Skullburn Bridge After a belated birthday party, I settle back in to do some more studying and practicing. I decide to spend much of December in the hearth trying to unlock some cooking-related skills and help out with the holiday feast. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you handle knives at three years old, even if you are a reincarnator,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. That¡¯s the problem with being back here. The goblins don¡¯t tell me what I can and can¡¯t do just because I¡¯m a small child. ¡°Why don¡¯t you help make cookies instead?¡±
Skill acquired: Crafting (Baking)
I would probably be hard-pressed to unlock every single skill in the big book of general skills. The ones I can vaguely remember I learned how to do once are quickest, though.
Skill acquired: Maintenance (Cleaning)
Can¡¯t get away with not learning that one. Despite vetoing knives, Aunt Myrtle is determined that I learn the skills she thinks I need to learn. Being closer to the floor just means I can scrub them better, I suppose. For Hearth Day gifts, I make little stone figurines for every one of my family members whose names I can remember.
Your Crafting (Stoneworking) skill has increased to 3.
They¡¯re not terribly good. I might be able to make a chess set with identifiable pieces at this point, but I¡¯m still quite a way from being able to get the detail necessary to make a Space Marine. They¡¯re still better than something anyone expected to receive from a three-year-old. The New Year comes, and all the students board the skyship for Crux Academy. Daisy¡¯s going with them this time. She won¡¯t have her apprentice class until the 4th, but they¡¯ll take any Elite under the age of 21. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯d take goblins, though,¡± Daisy says. ¡°Perhaps eventually, if more villages follow Grubwick¡¯s example.¡± Anise, Meadow, Milo and I head back to Grubwick in March. There¡¯s no monsters on the surface outside of dungeons this time of year, so travel will be pretty safe. It¡¯s still rather chilly, though. On foot, the trip from Corwen to Grubwick takes two days, and we usually make camp at the Hedge Maze and pop in for a quick run. After completing a dungeon once, you get fewer rewards, but can traverse it more freely and sometimes access secret areas barred to first-time delvers. Notably, one of the newly accessible places is a clearing with a fire pit and plenty of room to set up half a dozen tents. ¡°Yeah, the friendlier dungeons usually have a place like this,¡± Anise says. ¡°There¡¯s rest spots in less friendly dungeons too, usually at the end of each floor. They might want to try to eat you, but if we didn¡¯t have a safe place to rest between floors, we¡¯d just leave rather than delve deeper. The Hedge Maze, though, just wants people to relax and have a good time.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why the word you call them translates to a word for an prison basement,¡± Milo says. ¡°This is obviously a park.¡± ¡°Language evolution,¡± I say with a shrug, not even slightly wanting to explain games to him. ¡°I will not subject you to more of the sillier slang of my generation than necessary. Except yeet. Yeet is a perfectly cromulent word.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t know why Common sounds like English when it¡¯s clearly not,¡± Milo says. ¡°But it is far from the strangest thing about this world.¡± We return to Grubwick to check on their supplies. Their hunters managed to collect plenty more meat and their gatherers plenty more mushrooms. They¡¯ve restarted their agricultural attempts, having learned more this time around. ¡°We got lots more mushrooms to trade for rocks,¡± says their head mushroom gatherer. ¡°Fulfilling the quest Grubwick gave me for it even got me to Elite rank!¡± ¡°Congratulations,¡± I say. ¡°Now I¡¯ll be able to find more mushrooms with magic!¡± It¡¯s time to build a bridge. First, though, to secure a fresh supply of limestone from Penbryn, as the goblins used up the remainder of the last batch building a goblin-sized building across from the human-sized one. They trained up a building crew of six-year-old goblins so that some of them could unlock classes with the new skills. I guess this is my crew now. Barely adult goblins who are eager to put their new class to good use.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Penbryn is having problems with their main quarry and won¡¯t make any further trades until they¡¯re resolved. There¡¯s a crow watching us. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed it if I weren¡¯t habitually using [Aura Sight] at all times. Its aura is bright azure, a color I have never seen around a living being normally associated with knowledge. A normal animal has an orange aura, and a monster has a red aura, but blue? Very odd.
Your Clairvoyance (Aura Sight) skill has increased to 3.
I¡¯m only left to ponder the mystery for a moment before it¡¯s gone, flapping off out of range and out of sight. The others leave me at Penbryn¡¯s school to play with toys while they deal with the problem, because while goblins don¡¯t care, the Penbryns would find it incredibly odd if someone took their toddler into a dangerous, potentially monster-infested quarry. I find a new puzzle that wasn¡¯t here last time I was here. Let¡¯s see if I can complete it before we have to leave.
You have completed a Hard difficulty puzzle in less than an hour.
Your Search (Puzzle Pieces) skill has increased to level 2.
I manage to finish it a few minutes before I get another notification.
Your party has cleared Briar Hill Quarry.
Skill acquired: Discipline (Delegation)
Great, now I¡¯m getting skills for sitting back and letting other people do things for me. ¡°What was the problem?¡± I ask when the others return. ¡°Weird ghost bat infestation,¡± Anise says. ¡°They weren¡¯t actual ghosts,¡± Milo says. ¡°They were merely semi-transparent monsters with an incredibly annoying scream. My ears are still ringing. I shall need to add [Silence] to my list of spells to add to my repertoire.¡± ¡°Yeah, I hate sonic attacks,¡± Anise agrees. ¡°Let¡¯s go order our limestone delivery.¡± Penbryn is willing to make another limestone trade. All Grubwick still really has is mushrooms, but some of them are apparently very good for cooking and potions. We have the limestone delivered to the place where we¡¯re building the bridge and make preparations. Jay Penbryn shows up to observe and assess the bridge. Anise, having learned Goblin herself, translates for him. ¡°I certainly can¡¯t be absent for this historic moment,¡± Jay says with some amusement. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d see goblins building things with proper stone and not just slapping together some bones and hide and calling it good. Why here, though?¡± ¡°Test run, honestly,¡± Milo says. ¡°Anyone that gets damp gets branded ¡®fish bait¡¯.¡± ¡°And here¡¯s the charismatic goblin I¡¯ve heard so much about,¡± Jay says. ¡°You the foreman here?¡± ¡°Oh, no,¡± Milo says. ¡°That¡¯s him.¡± He points to me. Jay blinks. ¡°A small child? Or is that a halfling? Wait, is that the kid who listened in on my lectures?¡± I wave at him with a grin and don¡¯t bother explaining myself, just working on getting the goblins ready. I check to make sure we¡¯ve got all the stones we need (plus some extras because we¡¯re bound to mess up) and have them start setting up the scaffolding. It¡¯s not as secure as I might like and our methods won¡¯t work for building a larger bridge, but I make notes of where we can still improve. We build a bridge. Some goblins still get damp, but this is a completely unnecessary bridge over a two foot wide creek. It would mean that a cart can pass more directly without having to go a long way around or be pulled by very determined high level devil-goats.
Congratulations! Your party has completed a small bridge.
Your Crafting (Masonry) skill has increased to 3.
Skill acquired: Tending (Management)
Dangit. I have become the very thing I once despised. Management. ¡°Good work, everyone!¡± I say. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s falling down, and the scaffolding only collapsed twice! Which means all of you would be dead twice over if we were doing this over carp-infested waters.¡± Jay comes over to inspect the bridge and poke it a bit before pronouncing it, ¡°Adequate, for novice goblins who have been taught second-hand by a toddler.¡± That¡¯s¡­ probably praise? ¡°I did suspect you were a reincarnator from how closely you could pay attention and not get distracted constantly,¡± Jay says. ¡°And I¡¯m guessing the tiny, eloquent goblin is too?¡± ¡°Was it that obvious?¡± I ask. ¡°Aw, I have 3 levels in Subterfuge (Acting), too!¡± Jay gestures toward the cute stone arch bridge over the creek. ¡°This is a little bit beyond playing with blocks, kid. What ever even gave you the idea to build things? Most reincarnators I¡¯ve heard of spend their childhoods fervently preparing to delve dungeons and fight monsters. Did your Hearth give you a quest to civilize the goblins and build things or something like that?¡± ¡°¡­ Something like that,¡± I hedge. Corwen gave me its blessing to do whatever I want, but it was already weird enough to explain to my own family who saw the words of the core in their own heads. I still have to wonder what sort of quests Milo saw when Grubwick re-enabled his quest window. I¡¯m guessing we¡¯re still getting quest prompts and our cores just hid them, and I¡¯m going to have to wait four more years to see what quests have been generated for me that I likely did something completely different from what it asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re ready to bridge the underground river yet,¡± I say to Milo. ¡°They¡¯d all be fish bait.¡± ¡°You need better scaffolding,¡± Jay says. I nod in agreement. ¡°And I learned Masonry, not Carpentry. Nobody wants to let a three-year-old play with saws and axes. Aside from the goblins. Most of these goblins are seven years old.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not give up on the idea yet,¡± Milo says. ¡°Look at what we¡¯ve accomplished so far.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good enough yet,¡± I say. Jay pats me on the shoulder. ¡°Just keep at it, little reincarnator. You¡¯ve got many years ahead of you and you don¡¯t need to do everything at once. You and your goblins built a perfectly serviceable bridge here.¡± Chapter 20: Class Therapy I return to Corwen. I leave Milo to do goblin stuff with the goblins and go play with my sister and cousins. I¡¯ve been so busy I haven¡¯t spend much time around them. I barely even know my sister. But then, seeing as she was a baby, there hasn¡¯t really been much to get to know yet. Still, I feel kind of bad about it. Juniper, Griffin, and Willow are two years old this year. Their naming days were in March, before I went out to go build bridges with goblins. I¡¯ve driven myself mad chasing skills and I just had an incredibly weird dream about going on a fishing trip except the lake was full of purple tentacles and a mind control monster drew us all in until we drowned. I¡¯m sure this is probably symbolic of something. Playing with these kids makes me remember how much I hate being aware as a baby. Why couldn¡¯t I regain my memories at puberty or something? Why couldn¡¯t I get isekai¡¯d as an adult? At the very least, why couldn¡¯t I have been able to convincingly pretend to be a child that long? And every moment of every day, my thoughts are being read by a reality-controlling crystalline alien thing. That bothers me less than you might expect. After all, I lived in an era where I assumed every device around me was listening to me constantly and still somehow failing to target advertising well enough to realize that I couldn¡¯t even use half the things they were trying to sell me. I would kill someone for a soda about now. Aunt Myrtle, at any rate, isn¡¯t going to let me sit around the village moping. If I clearly don¡¯t have anything better to do, I¡¯m getting roped into helping around the hearth. ¡°You¡¯ve made some admirable efforts,¡± Aunt Heather asks once she returns from not finding any other reincarnators yet. ¡°But what do you actually want to do with your life?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve just been trying to avoid fighting so that I don¡¯t raise my combat skills, because I was afraid if I did, I would get shoehorned into a combat class since I¡¯m very good at hitting things and I know I¡¯ve been a fighter many times before. I don¡¯t mind fighting. I just don¡¯t want it to define me.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°So you do want to be an adventurer, you just don¡¯t want to get stuck as being a warrior?¡± I nod. ¡°Yeah. That exactly. I¡¯d like to build stuff, but I don¡¯t want to just build stuff, too.¡± Aunt Heather nods. ¡°I see. I see.¡± ¡°What do you suggest I do?¡± I wonder. ¡°I suggest you have a little more faith in Corwen,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°It will not force you into a choice you don¡¯t want. Offered classes are generally as diverse as your skills. If you do a lot of fighting and are offered a combat class, you would also be offered a crafter class if you¡¯ve done a lot of crafting, and a magic class if you¡¯ve reached Elite and done a lot of magic.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I ask. ¡°If your skills are quite varied as I suspect yours will be, you will likely be offered hybrid classes allowing you to do all the different things you want to do,¡± Aunt Heather goes on. ¡°That may include fighting in some form, but not just fighting.¡± ¡°Are you really encouraging a three-year-old to take a path of violence in life?¡± I ask with a touch of amusement. ¡°If Corwen says it wants you to do whatever you want, then it behooves you to do whatever you want,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on here, but it¡¯s clearly not doing whatever you want. You¡¯re three years old, however, so you should be preparing for your life as an adventurer. Do you want to sit and build up a village, or go exploring?¡± ¡°¡­ go exploring,¡± I say. ¡°Although it was kind of nice to build a bridge. I don¡¯t want to do that all the time, though.¡± ¡°The world is a dangerous place,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°People who seek peaceful lives usually don¡¯t climb very high. Perhaps you might.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I would rather go exploring to make friends rather than kill them,¡± I say. ¡°Even if there are sometimes people who really need to be hit.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an admirable goal, but you need to be able to defend yourself. And I will not have any nephew of mine leave this Hearth helpless in a fight. I¡¯m going to have a talk with your mother. And Laurel for encouraging this nonsense. There are reasons why we do not normally take children out adventuring even in ¡®safe¡¯ dungeons until they¡¯re seven and have a few combat skills. Even in a dungeon as friendly as the Hedge Maze, you never know what will actually happen. Even festivals can be dangerous, but there are Legendary adventurers there to ward off anything of lower rank from harming the weaker people there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad I met Milo, though,¡± I say. Aunt Heather sighs. ¡°If things have worked out so well so far, in your eyes, why are you unhappy?¡± ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t like feeling helpless out with the bear monsters,¡± I say. ¡°I kept having nightmares afterward. First of wildly driving my cart through wilderness while being chased by a Heroic bear. Then by seeing Snookums and Fluffles breathe fire and kill the bear. Their horns covered in blood. Sometimes I¡¯m not even sure which version of events really happened.¡± I¡¯m not sure why I¡¯m telling her all this. Maybe she¡¯s got some Charisma-based skill to force people to speak only truth in her presence. Nothing would surprise me at this point. ¡°I see,¡± Aunt Heather says, an unreadable expression on her face. ¡°Tell me more about your dreams. Do you often dream about different versions of events? Things that might have happened?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I say. ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve lived over five million lives,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Chances are, you did experience something like that before.¡± ¡°¡­ what level is your Tending (Therapy) at, anyway?¡± Aunt Heather doesn¡¯t answer. ¡°Corwen sought to give you free will, but you still feel lost without a quest.¡± I sigh. ¡°Maybe a little.¡± ¡°Then perhaps you should give yourself a quest. What is your goal in life? You don¡¯t even need to pick just one. Make a list.¡± She passes over a pen and paper. I only think for a moment before writing down the first thing that actually comes to mind. ¡°I want to graduate from Crux Academy.¡± Aunt Heather looks over and nods. ¡°That¡¯s definitely a good start. What else?¡± ¡°I want to get a skyship and fly to other domains,¡± I say (and write). ¡°Do you want to build it yourself?¡± Aunt Heather asks. ¡°Pilot it yourself?¡± ¡°Absolutely yes!¡± I exclaim. ¡°Do you want to build it before, during, or after your attendance to Crux Academy?¡± I think about that for a moment and shrug. ¡°I¡¯m not picky. After, I think. It would be sad to just have it sit around for months while I attend classes, and I feel ridiculous adventuring while looking like a halfling in boots.¡± ¡°Attending Crux Academy will only require reaching Elite rank before you turn 21,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°You are entirely too insane to not either manage that or kill yourself trying.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be therapy?¡± I ask. ¡°What will it require to accomplish your skyship goal?¡± ¡°Materials, knowledge, and a crew,¡± I say, writing each of them on a separate line, then frown a bit at it. ¡°Though I should put ¡®knowledge¡¯ first as I don¡¯t even know what materials I would need.¡± ¡°Is building a skyship and exploring the Crystalline Heavens your end goal?¡± Aunt Heather asks. ¡°Are there other things you want to do with your life?¡± I sit back and think about it, and shrug. ¡°I¡¯d like to reach a high enough rank that don¡¯t age. But I would prefer not to do that by doing such insanely reckless things that I don¡¯t even survive to adulthood.¡± Aunt Heather chuckles softly. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why we generally aim for Elite by 14 and Heroic by 21. Did you look into our skill records? We¡¯ve had two other reincarnators in our history.¡± ¡°Neither of them learned very many skills related to Soul.¡± Aunt Heather nods. ¡°Neither of them survived to 21, either. Last time Grandma Verbena was here, she regaled us with tales of what a reckless idiot our last reincarnator was. Even when following a quest, he would perform it in the most unnecessarily dangerous way possible. He never even reached Heroic rank.¡± ¡°Right, I definitely don¡¯t want to follow in the footsteps of Great-Uncle Whoever,¡± I say. ¡°But yes. Being able to freely explore this strange, wonderful world is the end goal here.¡± ¡°It sounds to me like you have a quest and steps to begin undertaking it,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten a start on some skills that will be ultimately useful. But don¡¯t let Milo¡¯s goals interfere with your own.¡± ¡°I wanted to make sure he didn¡¯t die before I even grew up,¡± I say. Aunt Heather sighs. ¡°He probably will. I recognize the signs of an ambitious reincarnator there. I suspect there is a reason why he was incarnated as a goblin.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I ask. ¡°What I mean is, don¡¯t be surprised if you see several of his incarnations by the time you grow up.¡± ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t realize that was a thing that happened,¡± I say. ¡°Focus on your own goals,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°You need to learn about skyships and build adventuring skills. As you grow up, you will need to form connections with others who will ultimately be your crew, contacts, and allies.¡± ¡°I knew all that,¡± I say. ¡°I guess I just hadn¡¯t really thought about it.¡± ¡°Now, you¡¯ve had plenty of time to play around. You¡¯re old enough for preschool now.¡± She grins at me. ¡°Let¡¯s come up with a study plan, shall we?¡±
Skill acquired: Discipline (Long-Term Planning)
Why does everything have to be a freaking skill!? Chapter 21: Dreaming of Flight I spend the summer reading and playing with the other kids, along with doing a few small crafting projects. I appreciate having a real bed to sleep in but I find myself missing the goblins. I read books about skyships, both fiction and nonfiction. I carve a few models out of wood, but my [Woodworking] skill isn¡¯t terribly impressive yet so there¡¯s not much in the way of detail and they¡¯re kind of asymmetrical. I don¡¯t neglect Clairvoyance, either. I realize I¡¯ve been putting more work into tangible things, because I like hands-on work, but I shouldn¡¯t neglect the unique advantage I have in access to a skill set few other people have. [Aura Sight] has already proven invaluable on several occasions. It¡¯s funny how I don¡¯t technically have access to magic yet, but this is still kind of magic. I just can¡¯t help but wonder why. I get this strange feeling that humans somehow discovered psychic powers of some sort before I died. I make sure to have plenty of tea on hand before trying to think too hard about that, though. Although I don¡¯t like thinking about millions of lifetimes of violence, I can¡¯t help but be curious about what wound up happening on Earth. The auras around living beings are more complex than simply their base ¡°color¡± giving off concepts of nature, humanity, and monstrosity. I think I can glean more information from them if I look more closely and focus. Humans in particular have complex auras, so I decide to start off with plants. By comparing the auras of a healthy plant and a sick plant, I can pick out the concepts of health and sickness.
Your Clairvoyance (Aura Sight) skill has increased to level 3.
Corwen¡¯s previous two reincarnators were disappointments, but I do try to collect the handful of skills they managed to unlock. [Psychometry] is a handy one. Examining an object to detect any vis still clinging to it from being handled by someone. It leaves me with a blank at trying to figure out how to explain to a trio of toddlers why I keep staring at things for long periods of time. Juniper imitates me to try to see what I¡¯m seeing and is quite put out that she can¡¯t. Juniper throws a tantrum. ¡°Waaaaa, I wanna see the magic colors too!¡± Anise sighs and forces a smile and says, ¡°Hey, June. Want me to read you a story? We just picked up a new children¡¯s book. One you haven¡¯t seen before! It¡¯s got lots of pictures of animals and monsters in it.¡± ¡°Oooh!¡± Juniper exclaims, her previous sorrow forgotten for the moment. To cheer her up, I build a mobile representing the Tiganna System. Each of the nine domains is just a basic disc as I have neither a detailed topological map nor ability to carve accurate mountains and rivers into it, but I paint little maps onto them, cross-referencing library materials to copy them down. ¡°Your rivers are crooked,¡± says a boy¡¯s voice from over my shoulder. I just roll my eyes and turn to look. He has thin blond hair and looks to be about ten. Not one of my cousins. I¡¯m pretty sure I recognize most of them by now. Most of us are dark-haired here. ¡°Rivers are s¡¯posed to be crooked,¡± I retort. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Rowan Talgarth,¡± the boy answers. ¡°I¡¯m going to be a knight!¡± ¡°A knight, huh. You going to be a good tank for an adventuring party?¡± ¡°The best tank!¡± Rowan exclaims. ¡°I could even stop little babies like you from getting hurt!¡± I hang the domains by thin wool threads from a wooden ring, and add a small glowing crystal for the skymote, Tiganna.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality map.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Cartography)
I was expecting to get a [Woodworking] or [Painting] level from this, but [Cartography] is probably even more useful given the field I intend to go into. As a bit of an afterthought, I add one of my better skyship models to it. Given the scale, this little skyship would be twenty miles long, but an accurately-scaled model would be too small to see. As something I spent a lot of time working on, my crafts should contain a fair bit of my own vis. [Aura Sight] isn¡¯t that different from [Psychometry], in principle, it¡¯s just about detecting vis in the air around a being as it¡¯s leaving their body, while [Psychometry] is about detecting the vis that¡¯s accumulated in something. Vis leaves body, gets stuck in an object, eventually leaks out of that object, but until it does I should be able to detect it.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I suddenly realize why I haven¡¯t even unlocked anything as basic as [Meditation]. I can¡¯t sit still. I always have to be doing something. Even repeatedly making stone blocks is doing something. I spend some time at Grubwick to check on the goblins¡¯ advances and give them some ideas. Dropping off a stack of diagrams I drew back in the comfort and warmth of Corwen Hearth, where I have easy access to things like paper, pencils, and flat surfaces. Milo¡¯s still working on teaching them Common so they can¡¯t actually read yet, but they can certainly interpret a picture or copy an example object. Once the goblins been told to develop something, they do so quite energetically. I feel that their supposed laziness is just related to having no quests that demand them to change anything unless a Villain rises for them to do his bidding. Milo decided not to be a Villain but is still busily trying to unique the local goblins into a corporate empire. If they can get me soda, I don¡¯t care how evil they are. I build another model skyship. My detail work is improving, and for this one I decide to try making the four sails out of cloth instead of trying to carve them from wood. Wool isn¡¯t ideal for this, but we¡¯ve still got some spidersilk cloth leftover from adventurers hunting giant spiders. I¡¯m allowed to use some of the Basic-rank silk as it isn¡¯t good for much else. Not sure how even materials have ranks but whatever, it¡¯s that sort of world.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality toy.
Your Crafting (Woodworking) skill has increased to level 2.
It will be nice to eventually make stuff higher than Poor quality. I get skill levels and congratulations for them, but as I haven¡¯t unlocked magic yet, I can¡¯t actually make them fly. If I had Alchemy, I could extract the concept of flight from a feather and infuse it into the item. With Wizardry, I could paint a few sigils onto it. That¡¯s all fine and good for toys, but real skyships have cores. Cores have gravity cheats and only skyships with cores can pass beyond a system into inter-skymote space. Before I can build a true skyship, I will need to acquire a core. This isn¡¯t a problem I will need to deal with anytime soon. When I need one, I will find one. Before I know it, another swarm season is upon us, and I feel like all I¡¯ve accomplished this summer was making a few toys and doing a lot of reading. I haven¡¯t even gotten a skill for all the reading yet. Hmph. It occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, I have somehow managed to live five million lives but never built a skyship before. That¡¯s only encouragement, but it does mean that this is going to require more work than simply reading a book or doing something once. The sky turns red on the turning of the season at the beginning of October, and Aunt Heather gives her usual announcements to the Hearth about what monsters she has scryed on the surface this year. ¡°We have a bad year coming in,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Many of the monsters on the surface are Heroic or Epic rank. Entire packs of Heroic werewolves led by Epic alphas.¡± Whatever force is spawning these monsters doesn¡¯t care about actual wolf social dynamics, but that isn¡¯t saying much considering all the other things it doesn¡¯t care about, like biological plausibility. ¡°There are Basic and Elite ranked jackalopes running around,¡± Aunt Heather goes on. ¡°Hunt them if you like but stay close to the walls and retreat if you hear any wolf howls. The only fliers I spotted were Basic rank bats. They¡¯re bigger than animal bats, but anyone at Basic rank should be escorted by someone of Elite rank when outdoors unless you are confident in your ability to hit a fast-moving flying object.¡± The older kids, of course, turn this into a challenge, and bring out the sort of bats that are used in sports to take out the monster bats. There aren¡¯t many adult Basics here. Anyone who hasn¡¯t reached Elite on their own is helped to make it there like Meadow was. Since there¡¯s no way in heck I¡¯m going out to play with Epic werewolves, this makes for a surprisingly peaceful swarm season for me. Milo¡¯s staying at Grubwick this year to help teach them and make sure nothing weird happens again. He¡¯s got his own challenges to deal with. I turn four without much fanfare. Maybe I¡¯ll even manage to turn five without a disaster. (No, I shouldn¡¯t think things like that.) Once again, we hole the New Year festival, with the lights on the trees shooting into the sky. It¡¯s starting to become routine, but no less magnificent. The Great Orb slowly turn violet to mark the start of another year.
It is now Year 734 of the Age of the Green Fox.
As if on cue, snow begins to fall, dusting the trees and starting to accumulate on the ground. This reminds me that I have yet to have a proper snowball fight in this life. Two feet of snow drop on Corwen overnight. Come morning, we celebrate the coming of winter with snow battles. I build a snow fort, a snowman decoy with a hat, and plenty of ammo. Most of the kids are older than me or too small and clumsy to be a threat, but I¡¯m small and¡­ somewhat less clumsy. Griffin sneaks up to my snow fort and pelts me in the face with a snowball right between the crenelations. (And at two years old, he doesn¡¯t even know the flat ¡°teeth¡± of the snow fort are called ¡°crenelations¡±.) I don¡¯t get any skills for it, but we have a lot of fun and I¡¯m honestly not sure I want to clutter my character screen up with [Snowcrafting] or whatever the heck the skill might be called. If I ever have to rely on a snow fort for survival, it will probably unlock then anyway. After a day of winter fun play, we all gather up in the Hearth in the hearth next to the hearth (because we have to use the same word to mean three different things) to warm up and drink some of Aunt Myrtle¡¯s tea. It¡¯s times like this that I can forget the trials of other lives and just be a kid for a bit. Chapter 22: I See Status Windows It¡¯s Year 734, I¡¯m four years old and learning [Pottery]. People aren¡¯t as keen on teaching a four-year-old [Carpentry], even a reincarnated one who knows to be careful with sharp objects, but clay is okay. It will be a useful thing to pass on to the low-tech goblins, as well as potentially having applications for skyships. I¡¯m not sure what exactly and there¡¯s more that goes into ceramics than a toddler (is a four-year-old still a toddler?) playing with clay. I like unlocking more crafting skills, though, and I¡¯ve been enjoying working with my hands making various things. Corwen¡¯s village workshop is large and is comprised of many areas, most of which are not very kid-friendly. I wouldn¡¯t be allowed in here at all if I weren¡¯t a reincarnator who knows better than to touch weird magitech things I don¡¯t understand. Just because I can¡¯t activate them doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t mess things up somehow, after all. General skills can be learned by anyone of any class, and since you don¡¯t actually forget anything thanks to the system, you will always be able to do that thing you did once as a small child. And since the sort of engineering I¡¯m planning on doing requires a lot of different skills and materials, it makes no sense not to try to unlock as many skills as I can when I have a chance. They all still synergize into the base skill, Crafting. I¡¯ll learn [Tailoring] too once they let me play with needles. In fact, I will probably go down the list and see how many of them are reasonable to unlock as a small child. The other thing I¡¯m working on in between that is [Aura Sight]. I¡¯m starting to be able to measure the difference in auras between human and goblin, between male and female, Basic, Elite, and so forth. Anise lets off more female vis than Hazel, but still emits female vis. One of my uncles lets off no gender vis at all. And after figuring out gender and species, I get a welcome notification, but not the one I expected.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Vis Analysis)
This isn¡¯t one of the skills mentioned in the Corwen big book of general skills. Wondering what it is, I go to examine Anise¡¯s aura again.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Female
Rank Elite
Oh. Well, that¡¯s convenient. It probably should have surprised me less that this exists. Presenting data in a coherent manner is something the system does well. Anything can be quantified, even magic and ideas. The more things I learn how to identify in a being¡¯s aura, the more things will appear on its identification screen. ¡°I know you¡¯re just working on [Aura Sight] but you¡¯ve got a really odd look on your face,¡± Anise says with some amusement. ¡°I just unlocked a new Clairvoyance skill the last two Corwen reincarnators failed to discover,¡± I say. ¡°Oh, nice!¡± Anise exclaims. ¡°Congratulations! What does it do?¡± ¡°I can see part of your status screen.¡± ¡°Ooooh,¡± Anise says. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! Are you sure you can¡¯t teach it to me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that they require the Soul attribute.¡± ¡°Ah, so you¡¯re saying all I need to do is ritually murder somebody,¡± Anise says, almost managing to sound like she just might. ¡°Let¡¯s exhaust other options before resorting to ritual murder, can we?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°You sharing the data with the party would be good enough.¡± ¡°What sort of skill would I need for that?¡± I ask. ¡°There¡¯s several skills that can do that,¡± Anise says. ¡°Sadly, I don¡¯t know any of them. Some people do with magic what comes to you naturally. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if you had a way to do it as a general skill.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t hurt to try, at any rate,¡± I say. I haven¡¯t actually tried to do this. I haven¡¯t thought to. I couldn¡¯t remember being psychic. The connection is made like flipping a switch in a familiar room.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Telepathy)
With it comes a memory, unbidden. I stand on the bridge of a starship looking out at a black hole. We¡¯re as close as we dare get. We can only hope it¡¯s close enough to reach with our psychic powers. Vis isn¡¯t affected by gravity or blocked by solid objects, after all. Before I can see what I saw in the black hole, I snap back to the present.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Skill acquired: Recollection (Flashback)
¡°What in the Void was that¡­¡± I mutter. ¡°I got it!¡± Anise says. ¡°Just race, gender, and rank? And here I was thinking you¡¯d seen something funny. Or bad? I can¡¯t tell. I¡¯m not that good at reading faces of even non-reincarnators. You¡¯re always making weird faces.¡±
Sanity: 3/10
¡°That was¡­ seven points of Sanity damage,¡± I say. ¡°Right, let¡¯s get you to the hearth,¡± Anise says. ¡°Get some tea or sweets into you before you try anything else.¡± Old Aunt Myrtle gives a cup of hot herbal tea and a small sweetcake. Not quite a cookie, more like if someone made a cupcake in a shot glsss. I look up at her wrinkled face and examine her aura.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Female
Rank Heroic
What a difference that rank makes. Her sister, Aunt Heather, is Legendary rank and looks like she¡¯s in her twenties. Aunt Myrtle, though, seems to look older by the day. I take a deep breath and center myself. I do not want to think about that black hole any further right now. ¡°Is there a way to increase your Max Sanity?¡± I ask. ¡°Plenty,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°Have you tried meditating?¡± I make a face. ¡°I was really hoping you wouldn¡¯t say something like that. Isn¡¯t there some magic tea that can do it?¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± Aunt Myrtle says. ¡°And if you can bring me the ingredients from a Heroic-rank dungeon, I will happily make it for you.¡± Maybe I¡¯ve been going about this the wrong way. I¡¯m not good at sitting still doing nothing. I am good at zoning out doing something repetitive. Things like pottery and painting are good for that, too. Once I get my Sanity meter back up to full, I test to make sure that I won¡¯t take further Sanity damage unless I try to push that memory further. I can send status screens and messages to my party. We make sure to test the range of it and determine that it works only to party members, and only if they¡¯re within ten meters. I cannot send a message to someone who isn¡¯t in my party, and I¡¯m not even sure how the system decided who was in my party or not. Every message costs a little bit of Inspiration, though, which is basically just mind stamina, so I can¡¯t keep doing it forever. I¡¯m sure the range will go up and cost go down as I level it up, most likely. Some days later, I finally get the other skill I¡¯ve been working on unlocked after managing to make a small clay bowl that isn¡¯t completely lopsided. Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality vessel.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Pottery)
I follow this up with an attempt to paint it that does not even slightly improve the quality. I can practically feel the system judging me for my efforts. I wasn¡¯t aiming for the olive green color this wound up when mixing these colors and it¡¯s not even slightly even. ¡°Hey, nice bowl!¡± Anise says, either trying to encourage her son or just having a complete lack of taste. ¡°I finally got that skill unlocked,¡± I say. ¡°Great!¡± Anise says. ¡°Congratulations on one more step on the path of learning everything about everything. Anyway, I came looking for you because there¡¯s an unknown skyship approaching and thought you might want to see.¡± ¡°Absolutely!¡± I exclaim. Setting my ¡°Poor quality vessel¡± aside, I follow Anise outside. Above the walls, a much higher quality different sort of vessel approaches. While the flying school bus was awkward and utilitarian, this skyship is practically a work of art. The violet silken sails are graceful, and the smoothly curving hull has been painted with a mural depicting a woman in a red dress surrounded by pink roses. ¡°Wow,¡± I breathe upon seeing it. ¡°Whose ship is this?¡± ¡°Dunno!¡± Anise says brightly. ¡°No one was scheduled, so they¡¯re probably wanderers or adventurers. Or wandering adventurers, whichever. Doubt they¡¯re adventurers, though. Their ship isn¡¯t nearly heavily armed enough.¡± Aunt Heather is already crossing the square to meet them at the docking tower before they even arrive. Anise and I invite ourselves along. The visitors are a colorful sort, although given that we Corwens tend to wear an awful lot of black wool, that¡¯s not much of a bar around here and these travelers vastly exceed it. They¡¯re wearing paisley patterns in the most eye-searing combinations possible. I feel like I¡¯m getting a debuff just looking at them. I really hope they aren¡¯t here to sell clothes. Some of my idiot relatives might take them up on it and I might take Sanity damage if I had to look at this every day. ¡°What brings you to Corwen, travelers?¡± Aunt Heather asks. ¡°We are performers!¡± exclaims the most hideously dressed of them. ¡°The name is Jasper Kelso Crux. I and my merry crew are here to regale you with song and dance, juggling and acrobatics, and even stage plays! Will you permit us to enter your fine village that we may entertain you?¡± A status screen pops up in my third eye as I examine Jasper.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Male
Rank Heroic
I don¡¯t get much of a threatening vibe from him. (I¡¯m trying to analyze ¡°vibe¡± in some ways Clairvoyance can quantify. So far it¡¯s not working. I will probably need to be more specific.) ¡°Very well,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Our guest house is open to you. We do not have a stage, but I¡¯m sure you can make do.¡± ¡°And who is this little one looking on over here?¡± Jasper says, stepping over to me creepily. (If this guy offers me candy, I¡¯m out of here.) ¡°I¡¯m Drake!¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m going to build a skyship when I grew up!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Jasper says. ¡°An up and coming engineer, are you?¡± He chuckles, and turns to give a bow to Aunt Heather. ¡°On behalf of my crew, I thank you for your hospitality.¡± The welcoming committee stands aside to allow the brightly colored guests to leave the ship and head down into the village. I think I¡¯m going to be spending some time looking at them with my eyes closed to see if there¡¯s anything interesting I might note about their auras. I can tell the difference between humans and goblins now. Perhaps I can tell apart humans by origin. Even if not, getting new subjects to examine is a good thing. Chapter 23: Wearing Paisley Isnt Their Only Crime Despite having looked at and even made maps, I don¡¯t know much about Crux beyond what its terrain looks like from above and that there¡¯s an academy there. It¡¯s another domain in this system, 60 kilometers across as opposed to Tempest¡¯s 80 kilometer diameter. (Yes, I¡¯m trying to get used to kilometers because the system in my brain uses metric for whatever reason.) If these visitors are any indication of what I might encounter at Crux Academy, I¡¯m suddenly not so sure that I want to go. At first, they¡¯re a pleasant novelty. The accordion player has a high enough Mechanics (Accordion) skill to brag about it, but it still gets tiresome hearing accordion music in the village square for an extended period of time. The clown, who is the least hideously dressed one here, probably has some sort of Tending (Making Children Smile) skill, but it doesn¡¯t work on me. The lack of a pre-built stage is not a problem for them. They have stagehands who probably know Crafting (Instantly Set Up a Stage) or something. They instantly set up a stage in the green between the school and guest house, where we usually do outdoor parties like the Winter Festival. The big tree isn¡¯t decorated at the moment, but serves as a backdrop, or sidedrop as the case may be. I¡¯m curious to see what they¡¯re planning. I haven¡¯t seen a play in this world before. I have to wonder how much magic they¡¯ll employ, or weird skills that might as well be magic. The skymotes are hanging orange against the green sky as they¡¯re getting ready to begin, with a juggler entertaining people who have arrived early. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a large village, though, so everyone who cares is probably already here. The stage hands unfold a folding thing and spread it out behind the stage and a bit to the sides for good measure. The back is covered with sigils, and once they¡¯ve got it set up, colors spread out across the screen like a giant TV and I want one. The scene the screen settles on is animated, though not greatly so. In an imaginary city street, a blue banner flutters and a tavern sign swings. Thankfully, the actors¡¯ costumes involve no paisley at all. They wear rough and rugged clothing suitable for poor townsfolk and haughty nobles. The play is a musical and involves everyone bursting into song every five minutes. There¡¯s a plot involving a runaway princess falling in love with some random vagabond. She winds up pregnant (with an incredibly unconvincing fake pregnant belly) and decides to return to her Hearth. They have a tearful goodbye as wanderlust is calling him back to the road. Back at the Hearth, her mom and aunts celebrate princess¡¯s pregnancy, who then sings a wistful solo as the image of a curtain closing displays on the screen behind her. Jasper approaches me, singling me out as the one who he briefly spoke with at the docking tower. ¡°What did you think of the show, little man?¡± I pause for a moment then say honestly, ¡°I like the screen.¡± Jasper laughs. ¡°Well, maybe if you ask nicely, they¡¯ll let you take a closer look at it.¡± I go ask nicely and the stage Wizards let me take a look at it so long as I stay out of the way while they¡¯re working. ¡°You planning on being a Wizard, kid?¡± asks one of the actors. His noble costume is half off, leaving him in just the underclothes, and he¡¯s smoking a wooden pipe. (I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s in his pipe, but the smoke is magenta.) ¡°I¡¯m planning on learning Wizardry,¡± I say. ¡°I want to build stuff like this!¡± The smoking actor chuckles and says, ¡°Well, work hard and you¡¯ll get there, I¡¯m sure.¡±
Come morning, I¡¯m at the workshop practicing drawing. My Crafting (Drafting) skill needs levels, and doing bad drawings of tableware for goblins hasn¡¯t gotten me any yet. I¡¯m drawing up diagrams of simple machines now. Maybe the goblins have already figured out how leverage works. Aside from the existence of psychic powers, reality-altering crystal aliens, and ¡®flat earth¡¯ style gravity, the normal laws of physics seem to apply. While that¡¯s a lot of exceptions, I would have noticed by now if gravity weren¡¯t at least pretending to be normal, even if it¡¯s as obviously artificial as it would be on a starship. These domains are basically just highly advanced space habitats and not actual planets, after all. They¡¯re perfectly circular, so it¡¯s not like they¡¯re even pretending to be natural. And if gravity¡ª A creaking sound behind me interrupts my musings on the concept of gravity. The back door to the workshop is ajar, and there¡¯s a figure that I would not have seen at all if it weren¡¯t for [Aura Sight].
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Male
Rank Elite
I also get the distinct sense that this is an outsider. Not an aura that feels familiar. I¡¯ve examined the auras of everyone who lives in or regularly visits Corwen by now, and this one feels more like the traveling performers who just arrived.
Your Clairvoyance (Aura Sight) skill has increased to level 4.
I try to send a party message to Anise, but she¡¯s out of range. Ugh. I know I can increase the range, but it would probably cause Sanity damage. I¡¯ll have to take it. After all, I certainly wasn¡¯t within ten meters of that black hole¡ª My vis dives toward the event horizon, unaffected by the crushing gravity of the collapsed star. It doesn¡¯t exist on the same level of reality as normal matter, after all. But sometimes it can open a door¡­
Your Recollection (Flashback) skill has increased to level 2.
Your Clairvoyance (Telepathy) skill has increased to level 2.
Sanity: 4/10
The message goes through. [One of the outsiders snuck into the workshop with stealth skills up.] I also pass along the status screen.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. That wasn¡¯t so bad. I definitely didn¡¯t discover anything inside that black hole that will haunt me for eternity. I pretend very hard to be oblivious, although anyone paying any attention will notice that I¡¯ve just been staring intently at my paper, probably while making weird faces.
Your Subterfuge (Acting) skill has increased to level 4.
I notice my mom approaching the door, and tell her, [He¡¯s behind that cabinet.] Anise raises a hand, and an orb of all-revealing light bursts into existence on her palm, dazzling both me and the intruder. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Anise says, apparently unaffected by her own spell. ¡°How old are you, kid? Twelve, thirteen?¡± ¡°Thirteen,¡± cracks a boy¡¯s voice, followed by a flop as he falls to his knees. ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me, lady!¡± ¡°What are you doing in here?¡± Anise asks. ¡°Corwen, why did I have to cast a spell to show me how ridiculous your outfit is? How do you sneak around in that? Why don¡¯t you wear all black like a normal person?¡± ¡°Mom,¡± I say. ¡°Right,¡± Anise says. ¡°What are you doing in here?¡± ¡°N-nothing,¡± the boy says. ¡°I was just¡­ exploring the village.¡± ¡°Okay, you don¡¯t have nearly enough levels in Subterfuge (Blatant Lies) for me to believe that,¡± Anise says. ¡°Don¡¯t make me use Persuasion (Mom Look) on you.¡± ¡°No, anything but that!¡± the boy pleads. ¡°My name is Dirk Kelso Crux. Look, I had a quest! And I need to raise some more skills before I turn fourteen!¡± Anise sighs and rolls her eyes. ¡°Having a quest doesn¡¯t mean bearing no responsibility for your own actions. The best rewards come from taking risks, but risks aren¡¯t risks if you can¡¯t fail. You failed. Own up. What did you come in here for?¡± Dirk mutters something incomprehensible, spoken rapidly and quietly. ¡°I can¡¯t hear you, Dirk,¡± Anise says. ¡°Speak up.¡± ¡°I was supposed to steal sigil ink for my mask,¡± Dirk says quickly. ¡°Were you supposed to steal it specifically, or just acquire it?¡± Anise asks. ¡°Not that it matters. You got caught. Quest failed. Don¡¯t try again. Shoo, before I cut off a hand or something.¡± Dirk swiftly absconds, very nearly face-planting in his haste to get out the back door. ¡°Do we do that around here?¡± I wonder. ¡°Nah,¡± Anise says. ¡°But he doesn¡¯t know that. You okay?¡± ¡°Just Sanity damage from stretching my [Telepathy] range,¡± I say. ¡°No big deal.¡± ¡°No big deal, he says,¡± Anise says with a snort. ¡°Let¡¯s get you some tea. I hope you at least got some skill levels out of that.¡± We head into the Hearth and Aunt Myrtle gives me some warm tea while Anise informs Grandma Laurel what happened in the workshop. ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll try again?¡± I wonder. ¡°Who knows?¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°I¡¯ll have Heather keep an eye on him and go have a chat with Jasper. I¡¯m interested in knowing whether Jasper is aware of what his nephew is doing.¡± With my Sanity meter topped off again, I get back to the drawing board. Where was I¡­ something about gravity? Meh, my mind was probably just wandering anyway. I¡¯m just going to draw a house. I can probably get an [Architecture] skill without having to actually build one. I¡¯ll probably need to draw a bunch of houses, though. I¡¯m in the middle of sketching my third house when footsteps approach, this time not trying to be stealthy. Grandma Laurel is here, accompanied by Jasper. ¡°Ah, young Drake,¡± Jasper says. ¡°I¡¯ve been told you were the one who caught my naughty nephew in the act. I wish to sincerely apologize for his actions. I would not have we Kelsos to be thought of as mere thieves and vagabonds.¡± I open my mouth, but before I can answer, Jasper swoops in to crane his neck over my shoulder at what I¡¯ve been working on. ¡°My, what a talented young artist!¡± Jasper says. ¡°When Dirk was your age, he certainly couldn¡¯t draw a straight line.¡± ¡°Thank y¡ª¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I make it up to you by giving you a tour of my skyship?¡± Jasper says. ¡°Have you had a chance to see one up close? Stroll across the deck?¡± At my head shake, he¡¯s already practically dragging me off. ¡°Hey!¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°You¡¯re not kidnapping my grandson right in front of me.¡± While I don¡¯t mind visiting their ship, I¡¯m glad to have Grandma Laurel around to chaperone. They definitely won¡¯t try anything with a Legendary adventurer standing behind me, I¡¯m sure. We climb the docking tower and board the ship. Every wall is splashed with different colors, and the furnishings are plush and lavish with tassels and lace. A heavy, tangy smoke clings to everything and lingers in the cabins and weirdly interferes with my [Aura Sight] a little, not blocking it entirely but reducing the usable range. Jasper introduces me to his equally colorful crewmates, whose names I immediately forget. This includes an aranea, and let me tell you, it¡¯s wrong to see a giant spider wearing a paisley dress. The blue and orange swirls do nothing to complement her carapace. I do take the opportunity to examine the aura of an aranea and see what differentiates it from a human and goblin.
Category Person
Race Aranea
Gender Female
Rank Heroic
¡°Now, I apologize that we have gotten off on the wrong foot,¡± Jasper is still running his mouth. ¡°I have great respect for the Hearths of Tempest. It can¡¯t be easy raising children to revere their cores and live in your Hearth all the time, rather than merely visiting it once a week or when one is in great spiritual distress.¡± ¡°Dirk said he had a quest,¡± I say. ¡°Ah, the tendency of the young to excuse their misdeeds with claims that they had a quest to do it,¡± Jasper says. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever lied about having a quest to try to wriggle your way out of punishment before, little one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get quests,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll start getting them once you turn seven,¡± Jasper says. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Your core surely has grand plans for you.¡± I turn to the spider, finding her very likely far more interesting than Jasper. ¡°Hello, lady spider! Do aranea have Hearths too?¡± ¡°Yes, but we call them colonies,¡± says the aranea. ¡°I¡¯ve met two aranea on skyships so far,¡± I say. ¡°Is that common?¡± ¡°Oh, yes,¡± the aranea says. ¡°Our silk is especially good for catching aether currents and we can always manipulate our own silk best. It doesn¡¯t stop others from trying, but most humans seem content to rely on our talents.¡± I make a mental note to look more closely into aranea when I get the chance, but right now I¡¯m being ushered along on this tour. Oh goodie, it¡¯s the costume room. Does he really think I¡¯d rather play dress-up than look at the guts of the ship? Just because all my clothes are made of black wool. A voice from the deck saves me from having a purple hat with a long, multicolored feather dropped on my head. Grandma Laurel and I follow Jasper up to the deck. On top of the tower, Anise is holding on to a fidgeting Dirk, and next to her is Aunt Heather with her arms folded across her chest. ¡°Heyyy,¡± Anise says. ¡°Look who we found trying to get into the sigil ink storage while you had Grandma Laurel¡¯s attention. I certainly hope you weren¡¯t trying to pull a two-man con here with your nephew¡¯s plausible deniability.¡± ¡°I would never dare!¡± Jasper says, putting on an exaggerated air of innocence. ¡°Please confine this kid to your ship,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°He is no longer welcome in the village. As for the rest of you, I¡¯ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but you¡¯re not getting another warning. Behave, or leave. If you want the wool we¡¯re paying you for your performances, then I want no more trouble from any of you.¡± Aunt Heather is scary when she¡¯s annoyed at someone. It¡¯s usually Grandma Laurel who seems more threatening, as the more combat-oriented class, but Aunt Heather is still a Legendary and inherently more powerful than the vast majority of people.. Chapter 24: A Wannabe Rogue Cries Milo arrives back at Corwen with a few humans who had been hanging out at Grubwick learning Goblin or whatever it was they were doing. One of the visitors plays Leaves, that stupid card game Milo got into, and has promised him a rare card if the goblin can beat him. A card-playing goblin is too good an opportunity to pass up, apparently. Milo attempts to regale me with the details of the competition but I kind of tune him out. ¡°One of their kids tried to rob the workshop yesterday,¡± I tell him quietly. ¡°Really?¡± Milo says. ¡°What were they after?¡± ¡°Sigil ink, he claimed,¡± I say. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or he was just making an excuse for what he was really after, but he seemed terrified of my mom.¡± ¡°What is sigil ink used for?¡± Milo asks. ¡°Sigils, I assume?¡± ¡°So I would guess,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯d have to ask my mom or read a book for specifics. I haven¡¯t looked up more than the basics of the magic skills I can¡¯t actually use yet. I have, however, discovered that there are some skills that might as well be magic that I can already use, and you very likely can use too.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Milo asks. ¡°The Soul skills?¡± I nod. ¡°Out of curiosity, what¡¯s your Soul attribute at?¡± ¡°37,¡± Milo replies. ¡°I was told that it depends on how many times you¡¯ve been reincarnated,¡± I say. ¡°Though both of us only seem to remember one life on Earth. I¡¯ve been¡­ getting flashbacks to weird things lately. In any case, I¡¯d like to see if you can learn some of the skills I¡¯ve unlocked.¡± ¡°Sounds great. Like what?¡± I send to him, [Like this.] ¡°Whoa!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Clairvoyance (Telepathy). Every use of it costs some Inspiration, so I can¡¯t quite use it entirely freely yet, but¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªbut it¡¯s still awesome,¡± Milo says. I describe to him the various skills Clairvoyance and Recollection have given me since we last met. ¡°I don¡¯t know how useful Recollection would be to me,¡± Milo says. ¡°I already remember my life in perfect clarity. Probably even better than before old age set in. But if I¡¯ve actually lived another 36 lives¡­ no, I think I¡¯d rather just be me. That¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°I agree, really. The latter half of my first life¡ªif that actually was my first life¡ªfeels so surreal that it might as well be another lifetime. I don¡¯t know what sort of future we wound up in if humans somehow discovered psychic powers.¡± Milo nods. ¡°I would find it unbelievable but¡ª¡± He gestures to the guest house around us full of magitech appliances and fixtures, a jester telekinetically juggling colored balls, and a giant spider in a dress drinking a pink beverage through a straw. ¡°Yeah,¡± I say with a chuckle. ¡°How did we even get this far? In any case, if the only requirement is having the Soul attribute, then you should be able to do these things. Did you ever get through those [Aura Sight] exercises I mentioned?¡± ¡°I still haven¡¯t managed to see auras,¡± Milo says. ¡°How did you even unlock it in the first place?¡± ¡°I just¡­ opened my eyes,¡± I say. ¡°It took months of really looking at different things, and now that I¡¯ve been leveling it up, I can pick out more specifics, like species and gender. Being able to see people¡¯s status screens might be a gamer changer, so to speak.¡±
Category Person
Race Goblin
Gender Male
Rank Elite
I send him his own status, and add, ¡°I think I¡¯m starting to be able to determine where people are from, but I haven¡¯t quite pinned it down yet.¡± ¡°That is really useful,¡± Milo says. ¡°As soon as I hit Elite, I¡¯ve been focusing on learning Incantation. Words of power, true names, voice magic, matter of that nature. Your Uncle Falcon has been teaching me. In between regaling me with tales of everyone he has bedded, women and men.¡± ¡°Right¡­ Uncle Falcon,¡± I say with a chuckle. ¡°I have been¡­ trying not to get embarrassed about it. Men didn¡¯t speak of writing love sonnets for other men, in a place and time that is no longer relevant. Compared to the numbers in my head and the glowing crystal orbs in the sky, that¡¯s nothing. No one even understands when I speak of my wife, or of raising my own children, or indeed of knowing who my own children even are.¡± He shakes his head. ¡°But enough of this melancholy. I need to learn how to see those boxes.¡± I take Milo around the village (aside from the Hearth, of course) to give him a chance to look at¡ªor at least try to look at¡ªthe auras of different people, animals, and plants. As we circle around to behind the workshop, I spot a violet aura around an otherwise unremarkable shrub. Upon a closer examination of the aura, I quickly determine that it¡¯s Dirk Kelso again.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I have an Elite with me this time and I¡¯m far less concerned about how dangerous Dirk might actually be. [That kid who tried to steal from the workshop is hiding in that bush over there,] I tell Milo. [Probably waiting until it¡¯s clear to try to sneak in again. This is getting annoying. He¡¯s Elite rank, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s combat-oriented, or if he is, at least realizes that he¡¯d get his butt handed to him in no time if he actually hurts anyone.] Milo stares at the bush I indicate while trying not to look like he¡¯s staring. The bush might be becoming increasingly nervous, and I have to wonder if emotional state is something else I should be able to pick up on. ¡°Aha!¡± Milo says quietly. ¡°Got it!¡± He walks up toward the bush and says in a voice projecting more depth and authority than a tiny goblin would normally be capable of summoning, ¡°Hold it right there! Don¡¯t move! Turn off that invisibility right now, young man!¡± Dirk fades into view and whimpers softly. He seems just as terrified of this tiny goblin as he was of my mom, and Milo is even tinier than goblins usually are. Meanwhile, I send a message to Anise (after getting close enough to reach her this time instead of causing myself Sanity damage trying to stretch my skills) telling her, [We found Dirk Kelso trying to sneak into the workshop again. Could you come?] I suppose I will next need to figure out how to get a reply out of people, but this is already super convenient. ¡°You¡¯re still after the sigil ink?¡± I ask. ¡°What do you even need it for?¡± ¡°A quest!¡± Dirk says. ¡°It¡­ alright, it doesn¡¯t actually have to be stolen. But I want to complete this quest with stealth to make sure I get a Rogue-type class.¡± As he¡¯s speaking, Anise walks up. ¡°You again? Really? Are you* trying* to get your uncle and everyone thrown out of here unpaid?¡± ¡°He seems a little single-minded,¡± I say. ¡°Where do you even get sigil ink, anyway?¡± ¡°It¡¯s made from the ichor of certain types of monsters,¡± Anise says. ¡°I spend a lot of time collecting ichor because everyone always wants more of the stuff.¡± ¡°What¡¯s ichor?¡± Dirk asks. ¡°Sounds¡­ icky.¡± ¡°Eh, you get used to it,¡± Anise says. ¡°You ever do a dungeon before?¡± Dirk shakes his head. ¡°Do you actually want to get that ink? I have an idea. Dirk, use your sneaky skills to sneak yourself outside and wait. We must gather our party before venturing forth.¡± Dirk sneaks outside, and we collect Meadow and our packs before joining him. ¡°Congratulations on doing the one sensible thing I¡¯ve seen you do since you got here,¡± Anise says. ¡°And that includes the things I didn¡¯t see you do because you were invisible.¡± ¡°Where are we going?¡± Dirk asks. ¡°There¡¯s a dungeon near here called the Spooky Grove,¡± Anise says. ¡°You can get ichor for sigil in there. That¡¯s where we get most of our stores. You would know that if you thought to look at anything beyond doing the same thing over and over again even though it wasn¡¯t working.¡± ¡°Why would you help me now, though?¡± Dirk wonders. ¡°You might not thank me when we arrive,¡± Anise says, and chuckles. ¡°You know, Dirk, my old party leader would never have allowed you to be in the same party as Drake.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Dirk wonders. ¡°Because your names both start with D,¡± Anise says. ¡°That guy rejected perfectly good candidates because they were named Aisha and Alder, because he didn¡¯t want more than one person in the party to have names starting with A.¡± ¡°That¡¯s silly.¡± ¡°You will find adventurers are all a little eccentric.¡± The Spooky Grove is in a different direction from the Hedge Maze, southeast of Corwen rather than north. I haven¡¯t been down this way very far before and I¡¯m interested in seeing what another dungeon might be like. It must not be too dangerous if my mom is willing to take me along. Before we leave, she tells Grandma Laurel what we were doing and where we¡¯re going, like a sensible adult. (Because I remind her to make sure Grandma Laurel isn¡¯t surprised by us kidnapping a kid who isn¡¯t even supposed to be in town. It¡¯s on the kid whether he tells his uncle where he¡¯s going. That bit¡¯s not my problem.) The road leading to the dungeon is an overgrown dirt path encroached with weeds, but Meadow has no trouble following it. Although the same green sky hangs above us, it seems somehow eerier in this part of the domain. Twisted, gnarled trees surround a hedge of brambles, and the shadows underneath the dense canopy certainly make this look as much like a dungeon as a forest might get. A wrought iron fence marks the actual entrance to the dungeon, similar to the one to the Hedge Maze, but considerably spikier and more sinister-looking. There might be a correlation between spikiness and sinister perception, but it doesn¡¯t stop at the gates.
You have discovered the Spooky Grove.
Your Survival (Hiking) skill has increased to level 2.
Knots like eyes cover the crooked trees inside the grove. I can¡¯t see any monsters from in here, but my imagination has been running wild with speculation for the entire time it took to walk here. If the dungeon core is reading my mind to find things that might spook me to spawn, it certainly has a lot of material to work with. ¡°Alright,¡± Anise says. ¡°There¡¯s a few monsters in here with fluids that can be used to make sigil ink. The most common one on the first floor here is a tree monster with magic black sap.¡± ¡°I thought you said it was icky,¡± Dirk says. ¡°It¡¯s still pretty icky,¡± Anise says. ¡°You want to complete your quest with stealth? Sneak in there and tap that sap without anything scaring you to death. If you don¡¯t come out in an hour, we¡¯ll go rescue you or retrieve your corpse, whichever.¡± Dirk whimpers again as Anise casually starts setting up camp. ¡°Or if you¡¯d rather go in with the whole party, go find some firewood and get a fire started,¡± Anise says. ¡°I don¡¯t have any Survival skills,¡± Dirk says quietly. ¡°Pfft, what in the Heavens are they teaching you Crux kids?¡± Dirk sighs. ¡°I suppose if you brought the little kid with you, it can¡¯t be too dangerous¡­¡± ¡°Overcome your fear, Dirk! You can do it!¡± Milo says, and I can practically feel the [Encouraging Speech] skill from over here. Dirk nods. ¡°Right. Right. I can totally do it. I¡¯m just going to walk right in there and get that sap.¡± He vanishes, and the gate opens and closes on its own. ¡°How actually likely is him getting eaten?¡± I ask. ¡°Eh, he might, but they don¡¯t digest,¡± Anise says. ¡°They just swallow you whole and make your party rescue you. Nothing in here actually hurts you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kind of spoiling this,¡± Meadow says with a smirk. There¡¯s a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. Anise ignores it and continues to work on the tent. She continues to ignore the voice as it cries for help and starts loudly wailing. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we go help him?¡± Milo asks. ¡°Nah,¡± Anise says. ¡°I have more faith in the Spooky Grove¡¯s desire to not hurt little kids than I do in Dirk¡¯s ability to not scream like a little kid when something gets slightly spooky. Hey, Drake. Want to play with fire? See if you can unlock Survival (Fire Making) before Dirk stops crying.¡± I¡¯m just going to take my mom¡¯s word for it that the idiot kid is perfectly safe. He was starting to annoy me anyway. I realize that Anise might not be the best role model, though. Chapter 25: The Spooky Grove I fail to get a fire started before my mom decides it¡¯s time to enter the Spooky Grove and locate our wayward wannabe Rogue. The gate creaks ominously as we pass through and enter the dungeon. We try to be stealthy, since even if the dungeon is safe for children, that doesn¡¯t mean the challenge isn¡¯t real. Just that the consequences for failure don¡¯t include horrible death. Glowing eyes blink at us from the bushes and shadows around the path, accompanied by scurrying sounds and moans. I peer at them with [Aura Sight] to try to pinpoint the telltale red outlines of any monsters around us, but the auras are yellow and only encompass the eyes themselves. Not a color I¡¯ve seen on any living being. Yellow is usually associated with Perception. Does that mean something is watching us that isn¡¯t actually here? I decide to tentatively classify them as ¡°cameras¡± for lack of a better term. The forest is full of so much noise that it just sounds like a ¡°spooky ambience¡± background album you might play at Halloween in a haunted house. Dirk¡¯s echoing cries only add to that. The wind rustles the leaves and brings with it ghostly howls, and an entire murder of crows springs up in front of us, cawing as they pass over our heads. A small white humanoid with an oversized head sits on a tree limb to the side of the path. The mouth and eyes are just black circles of three different sizes, and its head jostles as it watches us silently. My [Aura Sight] cheerfully pegs these things as plants. As I examine the vis coming off of it more closely, I pick out what seems to be spirit vis in addition to tree.
Your Clairvoyance (Aura Sight) skill has increased to level 5.
Your Clairvoyance (Vis Analysis) skill has increased to level 2.
Just walking into a dungeon and analyzing some weird auras has already done as much for my skills than weeks of staring intently at things.
Category Plant
Race Spirit
Gender None
Rank Basic
As I¡¯m watching, several others appear out of the corner of my eyes, but my analysis has taken something of the mystery out of the mysterious tree spirits. Deeper within the grove, we come to the source of Dirk¡¯s continued loud weeping. A monster tree stands in a clearing, much like the one in the Hedge Maze, and Dirk is caged in its branches. Trees that are monsters and monsters that are trees. Tempest is a delightfully arboreal place. ¡°Oh, by all the cores, help me!¡± Dirk wails. ¡°Congratulations, we¡¯ve traumatized a thirteen year old,¡± I say. ¡°He should be glad we didn¡¯t cut off a hand,¡± Anise says. ¡°I thought you said we don¡¯t do that,¡± I say. ¡°Does this one belong to you?¡± asks the tree. ¡°He poked me with a knife.¡± ¡°Nah, he¡¯s not ours,¡± Anise says. ¡°He¡¯s just an idiot we tricked into coming here to spook him because he kept trying to steal from us.¡± ¡°You lied to me!?¡± Dirk exclaims. ¡°You can get mystic sap here,¡± Anise says. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you were bad at it.¡± Dirk starts crying loudly again. ¡°Oh, for pity¡¯s sake,¡± Milo mutters. ¡°Be quiet!¡± Dirk immediately stops making noise. ¡°Thanks,¡± Anise says. ¡°Do you want him back, or shall I keep him?¡± the tree asks. ¡°His bones would make a lovely addition to my branches.¡± Dirk silently starts crying. I sigh. ¡°Alright, this has gone on long enough. Dirk, you¡¯re not hurt. Nothing here will actually hurt you, just mess with you.¡± ¡°Aww, come on,¡± Anise says. ¡°You get more experience if the fear is real! He might¡¯ve unlocked some cool new skill!¡± ¡°I will release him once the dungeon is cleared,¡± the tree says. ¡°To do so, you must answer a riddle and defeat me in a game of Leaves.¡± Milo pulls his cards out. ¡°I brought my deck!¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°What¡¯s the riddle?¡± I ask. ¡°Two orbs circle each other in the sky,¡± the tree says. ¡°One is the truth and zero is the lie.¡± I only have to think for a moment on it before realizing that this is another riddle that I¡¯m the only one here who could possibly know the answer to. ¡°Binary.¡± ¡°Hmm, hmm, binary is correct,¡± the tree says. ¡°I have no idea what that even means, but great!¡± Anise says. ¡°Now, for the cards¡­¡± We play a game of cards with the tree. The rest of us get roped into it as well even though we barely know how to play. Meadow and Anise shrug and go along with it, because it¡¯s just a thing you do in dungeons. We play obligatorily and are unsurprised when we get knocked out early. Milo brings the tree to a hard-fought victory, or at least I assume it¡¯s hard-fought given the expressions that keep crossing his green face. I¡¯m not even entirely sure what¡¯s happening, but I¡¯ll take the clear all the same.
Congratulations! You have cleared the Spooky Grove.
Your Max Sanity has increased to 11.
Max Sanity, for that? I suppose I shouldn¡¯t try to make sense of dungeon rewards. The tree¡¯s branch-cage opens, dropping Dirk unceremoniously to the ground. He runs toward the exit, screaming loudly, Milo¡¯s command having apparently worn off. ¡°He didn¡¯t even stop to check the chest,¡± Anise says. ¡°Who held his hand to get him to Elite?¡± She goes over to open the chest and scoops out a handful of coins, which she splits between us, a Leaves card that she hands to Milo, and a stick she tosses to Meadow. ¡°Is that a magic stick?¡± I ask. ¡°Crafting material,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Arcane heartwood isn¡¯t especially rare, but it¡¯s only found in this form in dungeon chests.¡± With our rewards collected, we follow Dirk down the path out. I keep an eye out for any signs of secret doors like in the Hedge Maze. This time, I¡¯m adding [Aura Sight] to the mix in trying to locate the core room. It¡¯s not sight that catches my attention, though. Another sense, as though detecting a vibration in the spiritual plane. I look in that direction and spot one of those little white tree spirits. It cocks its head and vibrates at me again. It¡¯s then that I notice that the creature is sitting right above a hollow hidden between the briars. [I found something,] I send to my nearby party members before crawling inside.
Congratulations! You have discovered the core room of the Spooky Grove.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Spirit Hearing)
Oh, fantastic. Now I can hear ghosts, too. Why did I want this? The tree spirits are very weird and now that I can hear them, their constant chattering is a little obnoxious. ¡°What did you find?¡± Anise asks, poking her head down behind me. ¡°Is that the core room? Can you reach the bonus chest?¡± ¡°Yeah, hold on,¡± I say. ¡°The voices in my head are driving me insane.¡± ¡°Do you need tea?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine,¡± I say. ¡°I just unlocked [Spirit Hearing].¡± ¡°Another new skill?¡± Anise asks. ¡°It was completely unintentional,¡± I say. ¡°Those spirits did it. The little white ones with the weird faces.¡± I find the chest in front of the shimmering crystalline dungeon core, and open it up to retrieve a handful of coins and a small bead that looks gray at first, but turns black when I touch it. I return to the party and show them what I found. Anise picks up the bead to take a closer look at it, but it remains black. ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± I ask. ¡°Dunno,¡± Anise says, tossing it back to me. ¡°It probably doesn¡¯t explode.¡± I shrug and bag it, and we leave the dungeon. Dirk, in the most sensible thing he¡¯s done all week, is sitting back at our camp in a fetal position rather than running madly through the forest. ¡°Hey, kid,¡± Anise says. ¡°What are you going to tell your Uncle Jasper about what happened here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a failure,¡± Dirk mutters. ¡°I¡¯m never gonna be a Rogue.¡± ¡°Yeah, I hate to break it to you, kid,¡± Anise says. ¡°But when you turn fourteen, I suggest you take the option least likely to lead to you going into mortal peril. [Apprentice Coward], perhaps.¡± ¡°I think he gets the point,¡± I say. ¡°This is just bullying at this point.¡± ¡°Eh, yeah, yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± Anise says with a shrug. ¡°Look, Dirk. Your family will you love you no matter what. Sometimes you just have to accept that something¡¯s not happening. Give up your dreams, and go bake bread! Woo¡­¡± Dirk whimpers softly and looks back toward the dungeon gates. ¡°No, seriously though,¡± Milo says. ¡°There¡¯s no shame in being a coward. Normal people, and not these bleeding lunatics, are scared of scary things. Corwens are a more adventurous breed than most, but you don¡¯t have to be an adventurer.¡± Dirk is slightly mollified, and by the time we break camp in the morning, he has decided to stick with becoming a stage hand and not embark upon a life of failing to commit crimes. ¡°I didn¡¯t fail my quest¡­¡± Dirk says. ¡°It doesn¡¯t even have a time limit. It will just sit there until I eventually get some sigil ink, I guess.¡± ¡°You could have just bought it,¡± Anise says. Dirk sighs. ¡°Yes, yes, I made everything harder on myself. I hope Uncle Jasper doesn¡¯t throw me off the skyship.¡± ¡°Figuratively?¡± Anise asks. We return to the village to find Jasper both worried and furious. It seems Dirk didn¡¯t even speak with him before sneaking out of the ship that last time, and he had to find out from Grandma Laurel where the boy went. Given the circumstances, he didn¡¯t take it well when the local authority told him that her people had taken him out in the woods. ¡°Oh, my nephew, my foolish, foolish nephew!¡± Jasper exclaims, hugging the boy. ¡°I knew not whether these mad forest barbarians would bring you back alive! I told you not to provoke them. Adventurers are a whimsical and dangerous brood. Are you alright? You must have been terrified!¡± ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± Dirk says. ¡°It was scary and I don¡¯t want to be an adventurer anymore. I couldn¡¯t even handle a dungeon that¡¯s just scary and doesn¡¯t hurt anyone.¡± ¡°We should be moving on now, regardless,¡± Jasper says. ¡°I believe we¡¯ve overstayed our¡ª¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Milo exclaims. ¡°You can¡¯t leave yet! I need to beat that guy at cards first. I even got a new card drop I¡¯m dying to try out!¡± Jasper looks at Milo and chuckles. ¡°Very well, we will stay for another day so that you can complete any outstanding side quests you might have, and then we¡¯ll go.¡± Chapter 26: The Wisteria Garden The black bead I got from the Spooky Forest lays on the desk next to the star necklace from the Hedge Maze. Unfortunately, they aren¡¯t alive, so my Clairvoyance can only tell me that they both contain my own vis, because obviously I have been the one handling them. I¡¯m on my third book discussing dungeons, artifacts, and magic items. The main difference between an artifact and a magic item is that artifacts are spawned by dungeons, while magic items are created by people. As for what they do, I just plain do not have the skills for it yet. I ask Aunt Heather, and again she refuses to tell me. At this point I think she¡¯s just having me on, but fine. I will keep them safe until I can figure it out for myself. The sky turns yellow, signalling the shift to summer. After July¡¯s Trade Festival, I head to Grubwick along with Milo and Anise. I get a batch of six-year-old goblins assigned to me to learn [Pottery]. I¡¯ve grown, and I¡¯m now a noticeable bit taller than the young goblins who are now my eager students. By the time the sky turns orange, several goblins have unlocked Crafting (Pottery) and I¡¯ve gotten some skill levels myself.
Skill acquired: Search (Clay)
Your Tending (Teaching) skill has increased to level 2.
I was really hoping I wouldn¡¯t wind up with Search skills for every stupid thing I could possibly look for, but I suppose it works like Crafting being every stupid thing I could possibly make. Milo and I are out working at the new Skullburn Bridge Outpost when Meadow ambushes us (figuratively). Since we keep dragging her along on our ¡°quests¡±, it¡¯s time to get dragged along on one of hers. ¡°There¡¯s a man who is willing to train me in the Art,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I missed out on getting a related apprentice class, but I can still get a magical adult class.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the¡­ Art like?¡± Milo asks. ¡°Well, you know how Wizardry is about sigils, and Incantation is about spoken words?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°The Art is about affecting the world through images. Paintings, sketches, and such.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you painting or sketching,¡± I say. Meadow sighs. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t really have much talent for it, and I¡¯m kind of afraid that attempting to learn the Art will be pointless.¡± ¡°Well, maybe, maybe not,¡± I say. ¡°You won¡¯t really know until you¡¯ve given it an honest effort, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose. So are you in?¡± ¡°Does a devil-goat breathe fire?¡± I ask. ¡°Absolutely,¡± Milo says. ¡°Where are we going and when do we leave?¡± Anise asks. We return to Corwen to make preparations before heading out to meet Meadow¡¯s prospective teacher. I spend a lot of time working on [Aura Sight] while traveling from one place to another through the wilderness with nothing better to do. I would probably be the first to notice if anything is out of the ordinary with the auras in our surroundings. (I still haven¡¯t seen another ¡°animal¡± with an azure aura like that crow I spotted that one time.)
You have discovered the Wisteria Garden.
Another wrought iron gate sides near the banks of a stream that desperately needs a bridge. We had to approach by a long way around so that we didn¡¯t have to get wet, but I¡¯m definitely pegging this location for a future project before we try to tackle bridging the deadly carp river. Tempest has plenty of bodies of water that could use bridges. ¡°Is this a dungeon?¡± Milo wonders. ¡°Everything¡¯s a dungeon, Milo,¡± Anise says. ¡°Even our Hearths. Fancy-pants scholars would call it a ¡®locus¡¯.¡± ¡°Should we make camp outside?¡± I ask. ¡°I still haven¡¯t managed to start a fire yet.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get that started,¡± Meadow says. ¡°This place shouldn¡¯t be dangerous, but we¡¯ve been walking all day and should get some food and rest.¡± Anise and Meadow work on pitching the tent, while Milo and I fail at starting a fire. You¡¯d think the dry midsummer grasses would go up like tinder just from a sharp glance or cutting insult, but we¡¯re bad at this. Milo scowls at the campfire and yells, ¡°Burn!¡± The kindling obediently ignites. ¡°I guess that didn¡¯t help with Survival (Fire Making),¡± Milo says with a chuckle. ¡°Do you just say things now and the world obeys?¡± I ask. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that,¡± Milo says. ¡°Your Uncle Falcon said if you¡¯re not talking to a specific person who needs to be able to understand you, you should use a language that isn¡¯t a language you speak regularly, but it felt silly yelling in French so I¡¯m yelling in English. Nobody else around here is likely to be speaking that anyway.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Come morning, we head in through the gates. The Wisteria Garden is more open than the Hedge Maze and Spooky Grove, with lawns and benches situated amid trellises and gazebos. A large fountain burbles in one section, the flash of colorful fish in the waters inviting anyone that might have brought a fishing rod. We did not bring a fishing rod. We probably should have. Fishing would probably be more entertaining than that stupid card game Milo¡¯s obsessed with. We come upon a clearing with perfect concentric rings of cobblestone pathways around borders of flowers, stones, and shrubs. Some paths are blocked off, forcing you to carefully navigate through in order to not step on the flowers. Not quite a hedge maze but still permitting quick passage to anyone who has Survival (Don¡¯t Step on the Flowers) or whatever the stupid skill would be. In the center of this huge ring maze is a¡­ structure? It looks to be a large gazebo or something but it¡¯s made entirely of several wisteria trees growing together symmetrically to form a building. Each tree has a different color of flowers. Indigo, azure, green, and yellow are visible from where I¡¯m standing, so I¡¯m guessing the other side of the ¡°building¡± has orange, red, dark, and violet flowers. My pride as an adventurer (or engineer, or just plain nerd) will not let me get through here without at least trying to follow the maze. My party follows behind me in single file, with Meadow offering directions from the vantage point of being the tallest one here. The correct path winds up taking us in a full circle around the gazebo several times, winding back and forth, in and out, but we make it through. Congratulations! You have completed the Wisteria Garden maze without touching any plants.
Skill acquired: Survival (Careful Step)
Of course there¡¯s a skill for this. At least it wasn¡¯t named what I was afraid of. Wait. If I just got this skill for successfully navigating this little maze, could anyone? If I make a goblin crew run this maze, will they get the skill and stop falling off of scaffolding quite so much? I¡¯m probably getting Recollection bonuses from it, I suppose, and they¡¯d still need to actually navigate it, but it might not be a terrible idea to take some of them on dungeon runs. There seem to be quite a lot of very safe dungeons around here. In the center of the structure sits a man in brightly colored but thankfully not paisley clothing, cross-legged and seeming lost in thought until we approach.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Male
Rank Epic
There¡¯s a host of other concepts floating off of him that I can¡¯t quite identify yet and probably shouldn¡¯t stare, although being four years old does have its advantages for getting away with social missteps. I may have just gotten Survival (Careful Step), but I do not yet have Persuasion (Careful Step). One of these might help with walking on eggshells in a more literal manner than the other. (No, I don¡¯t know if that skill exists.) ¡°Visitors,¡± he says, opening his eyes to look at each of us in turn. ¡°I am Valerian. Welcome. What brings you here?¡± ¡°Master Valerian,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I came to ask if you might teach me in the True Art.¡± Valerian lets out a heavy sigh and slowly unfolds his legs before climbing to his feet. ¡°And who are these? Your party?¡± He looks most critically to me and Milo. ¡°How old are you, children?¡± ¡°Four and a half,¡± I say. ¡°Almost five!¡± Milo says. ¡°Four and three quarters?¡± I say. ¡°Our naming days are at the end of November.¡± ¡°You speak in the voices of children, with innocent faces and wide eyes,¡± Valerian says. ¡°But although these faces are young, this is not the first time your voice has spoken, and your eyes bear far more weight in them than a mere five years would bring. Reincarnators.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± I say, not bothering to argue with someone that perceptive. ¡°What of it?¡± ¡°Reincarnators or no, what are you doing delving dungeons at almost five years old? At the rate you¡¯re going already, you¡¯re not even going to live to adolescence.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of dungeons in the area that are perfectly safe for children,¡± Anise says. ¡°Nobody ever dies in the Hedge Maze or the Spooky Grove!¡± ¡°Short-sighted fool of a woman. Do you know nothing of the ways of the land? Do you not realize what happens when a Hero enters an area?¡± ¡°¡­no?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed how heroes are always arriving just in time to solve a problem?¡± Valerian says. ¡°The land knows where the Heroes are going. It is compelled to make the journey more interesting for them. Misfortune always travels with them. You have brought me a pair of walking disasters.¡± Would someplace go with its disaster unsaved because I didn¡¯t get a quest message? I¡¯ll just have to see, I suppose. ¡°I¡¯m a goblin,¡± Milo says. ¡°If I don¡¯t earn some Deeds as early as I can, I would be dying young regardless.¡± ¡°And what are you, really?¡± Valerian asks. ¡°A Hero truly born to goblinkind? A Villain seeking redemption, or merely playing the long game?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a villain,¡± Milo says. ¡°I seek only prosperity for everyone. Under my benevolent corporate rule. If everyone is wealthy, everyone can afford what I¡¯m selling them.¡± ¡°They sent a different sort of villain this time,¡± I say lightly. ¡°If even you believe he is a Villain, then why do you not stop him before he rises to power?¡± Valerian asks. ¡°Because I don¡¯t actually care,¡± I say. ¡°People are more complicated than Heroes and Villains, and our cores seem to have decided to do something weird with us and give us no quests just to see what we do.¡± Meadow sighs. ¡°You know, we actually came here for me. Not getting fixated on the reincarnators, no matter how weird they are. They¡¯re my friends. I don¡¯t believe Drake is a Hero and I don¡¯t believe Milo is a Villain. Those are not the paths they¡¯ve chosen.¡± Valerian shakes his head. ¡°Very well. Do you believe yourself ready for the trials of the True Art? Do you believe you truly comprehend what learning this skill will entail?¡± ¡°I thought it would be like, painting and drawing?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°You know nothing,¡± Valerian says. ¡°Come. Let me show you.¡± He picks up a gnarled staff from where it had been laying on the ground. ¡°The True Art is resonating with an image in your heart,¡± Valerian says. ¡°We work with shapes, light, and color where an Incantor relies on words.¡± Drawing with the staff in dirt, Valerian makes two vertical lines with several horizontal lines reminiscent of a ladder. When he sends a pulse of vis into the crude image, the structure suddenly shifts around us. A ladder of branches forms, leading up to another floor. ¡°The reincarnators may go play in the garden,¡± Valerian says. ¡°There are many secrets here I am certain that a bored reincarnator could dredge up. Now, let us speak, just the two of us.¡± He climbs the ladder, and once Meadow follows him, the branches making up the ladder revert to being less ladder-like. I guess he really doesn¡¯t want to talk to us. Chapter 27: Fanged Flowers and Tentacle Grass ¡°That fellow was a tad rude,¡± Milo says as we¡¯re exploring the Wisteria Garden. ¡°He might still be able to hear you,¡± I say. ¡°I truly do not care,¡± Milo says. ¡°I do hope it¡¯s what Meadow was looking for, though.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°You know, my old party leader would complain about Milo and Meadow in the same party. Names too similar.¡± ¡°What was your old party leader¡¯s name?¡± I ask. ¡°Spike.¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think he has room to complain about anyone else¡¯s names,¡± I say. Anise snickers. ¡°Hey, I think I see a pond over there. Maybe if the dungeon is feeling pity it¡¯ll spawn a fishing rod for us.¡± We approach a shimmering black pond, like an oil slick amid the gardens. Writhing purple grass grows along the banks. The path winds around the water, and the trees on the far bank have eyeballs instead of leaves. ¡°Uh,¡± I say. ¡°Is the pond¡­ supposed to look like this?¡± Anise frowns deeply and holds up a hand to indicate we should stop walking, rather unnecessarily as we already did. ¡°No, it most certainly is not. Did the dungeon change since I was last here? It has been a few years but I¡¯m sure someone would have said something if they noticed.¡± I peer at the purple grass with Clairvoyance and try to glean as much information from the vis it¡¯s putting off without getting any closer than I have to. Comparing it to the normal grass not far from it, I carefully pick out a concept.
Category Plant
Type Grass
Rank Basic
Aspect Eldritch
Aspect, that¡¯s a good way of putting it. As I¡¯m starting to be able to make out more information about things I¡¯m looking at, the system helpfully fills in the gaps in definitions. I turn to Anise and ask, ¡°You ever heard of anything ¡®eldritch¡¯?¡± ¡°Only in rumors and bad fiction,¡± Anise says. ¡°That¡¯s eldritch? Ugh. What¡¯s it doing here?¡± ¡°Squirming, primarily,¡± Milo puts in helpfully. ¡°Grass should not squirm.¡± ¡°Right, let¡¯s go back to where we left Meadow and Valerian,¡± Anise says. We return to the wisteria gazebo, carefully stepping over the flowerbeds so that we don¡¯t have to walk the long way around to get back there. There¡¯s no sign of either of them or the ladder they used to get to the second floor, but that¡¯s not going to stop Anise from cupping her hands and yelling up at them. ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing up there, but the pond has turned eldritch for some reason. Thought you should know!¡± The branches shift and a ladder appears again, but Valerian just casually drops down through the hole and leaves Meadow to climb down the ladder while awkwardly trying to carry an easel. ¡°I warned you something like this would happen,¡± Valerian says. ¡°This is your doing. You came here and brought corruption with you.¡± ¡°Oh please,¡± Anise says. ¡°We did nothing, and we¡¯ve never been in contact with any sort of corruption.¡± ¡°Meadow Corwen!¡± Valerian says. ¡°It falls upon you to fix this, or die trying!¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m not too keen on the prospect of noble sacrifice,¡± Meadow says. ¡°But I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± Valerian returns to the second floor and seals the opening behind him, leaving us to wander off back toward the pond. Once out of (probable) earshot, I say, ¡°You know, he could just as easily do it himself, I¡¯m sure, if it were so pressing.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Meadow agrees. ¡°This is just a chance to get a Deed, I suppose. I¡¯m not nobly sacrificing myself for this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like that fellow,¡± Milo says. ¡°I¡¯m not a bloody villain.¡± Meadow gives him a look but doesn¡¯t remind him aloud that he tried to murder her uncle. ¡°I just decided to trust Drake¡¯s word over Grandma Griza,¡± Milo says. ¡°And Grubwick decided not to tell me what to do. Though if it wanted an actual villain, it shouldn¡¯t have chosen a Canadian businessman. Anyway, life¡¯s better this way. Especially since I didn¡¯t get stomped by your Legendary relatives.¡± We arrive back at the pond, and Meadow frowns deeply upon seeing it. If anything, the eldritch weirdness may have even spread in the time it took to walk there and back. With a sigh, Meadow sets up her easel. ¡°I don¡¯t know what he expects me to do about this, but I might as well take a shot at it,¡± Meadow says. ¡°The Art is about painting the world as you wish it to be and using your vis on the image to make the alteration. Valerian is Epic rank and can take a lot of shortcuts. Like scratching in the dirt and calling it Art.¡± Meadow starts painting with the sky, a hazy purple around the edges with a great orange sphere taking up the majority of the view, and dots it with green skymotes and puffy clouds. She follows this up with painting green trees and a clear pond. Aside from the weird sky, this could be a Bob Ross landscape full of happy little trees. As she works, I watch vis slowly trickle out of her and into the canvas.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Once she¡¯s finished, Meadow sighs and gazes over the pond. ¡°I dumped all of my Inspiration into that and not one leaf got slightly greener. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing wrong. Even the system told me this is a Poor quality painting.¡± She huffs indignantly. ¡°That¡¯s Poor?¡± I say. ¡°Rude.¡± ¡°Paintings are supposed to move people, aren¡¯t they?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°This is just¡­ a picture. Of a place. It¡¯s bland. I suppose I could add some more detail but I don¡¯t see what difference it will make. I only even learned to paint in the first place in hopes of eventually learning the Art because it seemed cool and powerful and now I¡¯m starting to wonder if I should have just aimed for a more straightforward sort of magic instead.¡± ¡°Maybe you should¡ª¡± A long, dark-purple tendril snaps out and wraps itself around my ankle. ¡°¡ªack!¡± I pull out my dagger to try to slice it off, but it yanks my feet out from under me with a sharp tug and I lose my grip. I only get dragged a meter before Anise swoops in with a flaming sword to cleaning cut through the tentacle. ¡°You can do flaming sword?¡± I exclaim as I climb to my feet and retrieve my blade. ¡°That is so cool.¡± We back up and give the tentacles a bit of a distance while we re-evaluate our options. The eldritch has spread and is only spreading further. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a specific thing we need to cleanse in there,¡± I say. ¡°Not just try to purge the whole thing at once.¡± ¡°Good point,¡± Anise says. ¡°We can cut a path through and see if we can find anything like that. And if we run into something that kicks us around, we can go back and yell at Valerian.¡± Meadow packs up her art supplies to carry on her back and brings out a long knife. We start making our way around the pond, along the path and trying to avoid getting too close to either the eyeball trees or the tentacle-filled water. Meadow takes point, Anise stays close to me, and Milo brings up the rear. As we¡¯re moving, a tentacle lashes down from a tree at me, but I manage to dodge out of the way this time. A system box promptly pings me in response.
Skill acquired: Athletics (Dodging)
Your Recollection (Skills) skill has increased to level 2.
I have probably done a lot of dodging through my existence. Getting out of the way of things becomes second nature, and that first attack had just caught me flat-footed. With fire, blades, and fiery blades, my companions cut a swath through every tentacle that comes at us. Since they have the combat handled, I keep an eye out with [Aura Sight] for anything unusual. That is to say, more unusual than everything being purple, made of tentacles, and covered in eyeballs. Beyond the pond, the path leads to a clearing with a large tree in the middle of it, reminiscent of the last two nature-themed dungeons I¡¯ve been in. This tree, however, is purple and its branches have been transformed into tentacles.
Category Monster
Type Treefolk
Gender Female
Rank Elite
Aspect Eldritch
¡°Looks like she¡¯s corrupted too,¡± I say quietly. ¡°She?¡± Milo asks. I shrug. ¡°My skill says ¡®Gender: Female¡¯, so who am I to argue? Were you expecting tree-ladies to have breasts?¡± ¡°Do you think this is the source of the corruption?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°If I can revert this tree to its natural state, maybe the whole area will be affected?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I hmm. In Corwen, I could tell that all the vis in the village slowly swirls around the core like a whirlpool and makes its way inward. If I can pick the stray eldritch vis out of the air, maybe I can pinpoint where it¡¯s actually coming from. Eldritch vis writhes through the air like invisible tentacles. It¡¯s already trying to affect us and is staring to cause Sanity damage, though at our current level of exposure we¡¯d have to stand here for hours even if everyone here has subpar Sanity meters. ¡°It¡¯s not coming from the tree,¡± I say. ¡°See that path to the left? We need to go that way.¡± Giving the corrupted treefolk a wide berth, we make our way deeper into the eldritch grove. After another cluster of tentacle trees, we come upon an open garden area. Glowing flowers with fangs line cobblestone walkways and try to snap at us as we get close. In the center of the garden stands a fountain with an abstract statue. In the basin sits the strongest knot of eldritch energy. All the waves of corruption are coming from that one point, a small shimmering bead rippling with impossible colors.
Category Material
Type Stone
Rank Elite
Aspect Eldritch
¡°There,¡± I say, pointing to the pebble in the pool. ¡°That¡¯s the source of the corruption.¡± ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± Anise says. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ what in the Void is that thing?¡± Meadow sets up her easel away from the tentacle trees and out of snapping range of the feisty flowers. ¡°Alright¡­ if I¡¯m only going to try to change one thing, I should just paint the scene exactly as it is to start off with, I suppose. No matter how horrible and ridiculous it is.¡± ¡°How¡¯s everyone¡¯s Sanity meters?¡± I ask. ¡°Mine¡¯s ticking down faster this close to the source.¡± Anise distributes bottles of tea. ¡°Manageable. Not seeing or hearing things yet.¡± ¡°I guess I should paint faster,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I suppose if it¡¯s eldritch, it won¡¯t mind being painted in a hasty, slightly abstract way.¡± Anise and Milo guard her while she whips out a painting that does a good job of capturing the essence of the scene if not the exact position of every flower. ¡°Well, the system called this painting Fair this time,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I think it¡¯s an absolute mess, but I¡¯m not much of an art critic I suppose. And I¡¯m feeling a¡­ resonance with it. Hmm. I didn¡¯t exactly have the proper colors to paint that rock as it is because those aren¡¯t real colors, so let¡¯s see if it will accept being a nice, normal gray.¡± She pours her vis into the painting, focusing on the stone in the middle of it. Its counterpart in the real world dulls and slowly loses its eldritch aspect as it takes on a basic gray hue. Congratulations! Your party has cleansed the eldritch corruption in the Wisteria Garden. Your Max Sanity has increased to 12. My second Sanity boost this year, nice. At this rate, I might soon be at the point of it being merely below average, and not abysmal. There¡¯s still eldritch-aspected vis in the air, but without the source it¡¯s starting to dissipate. The plants around us slowly return to normal before our eyes. ¡°That did it¡­¡± Meadow says with a wide smile. ¡°I got the skill!¡± She laughs and hugs me and Anise. ¡°Congratulations!¡± I say. ¡°I think I might still pick up a bit of Sorcery,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Not everything will wait around while you paint a picture of it, and Sorcery is the easiest, most primal sort of magic anyone can do.¡± Anise is smirking. ¡°I¡¯m not even offended.¡± Meadow goes over to pick up the formerly-eldritch rock and examines it further. ¡°Might be a useful crafting material now. I¡¯ll take a closer look at it when we get home. It¡¯s not still emitting anything harmful, is it?¡± I shake my head. ¡°Nothing I can detect, at any rate.¡± ¡°I want to see if the tree lady will play cards with me now,¡± Milo says. I sigh. ¡°If we must.¡± Chapter 28: Aspects and Nursery Rhymes After Milo defeats the (now uncorrupted) tree lady at cards, we get a chest to loot as a reward. More coins, another card, and a scrub brush that he hands to Meadow. ¡°A cleaning brush?¡± Meadow says, raising an eyebrow at it. ¡°I wonder if it does something special.¡± She tosses it in her pack and we head back around the now-normal pond to Valerian¡¯s atelier. I can¡¯t believe I just used the word ¡°atelier¡±. It¡¯s just a weird gazebo with a second floor that¡¯s an art studio. I didn¡¯t think gazebos normally had second floors, but then gazebos usually aren¡¯t made from living trees magically twined together to form buildings. Is it still a building if it wasn¡¯t built? Whatever. Valerian is not on the ground floor when we arrive, but the ladder is hanging down like an invitation. Meadow starts climbing up, and I¡¯m right behind her. I want to see what he¡¯s got up there and if he doesn¡¯t want me up there, he can dump me out himself. Although the room is made of living branches, very little of them can be seen past the piles of canvases. Some of them sit on easels, some are stacked haphazardly, and others hang from the living walls. Many of those piled up appear to be blank or primed with basic backgrounds. The paintings on the walls, however, depict overhead views of the Wisteria Garden in each of the eight seasons. This guy could have instantly reverted the gardens to their normal state just by dumping some vis into the orange painting, and likely would have done so if we had failed. ¡°You were successful,¡± Valerian says without looking at us. ¡°This stone was spewing out waves of eldritch aspect,¡± Meadow says, holding up the now-gray pebble. Valarian nods. ¡°Eldritch is such an obnoxious and unaesthetic aspect. It¡¯s pernicious. Inimical.¡± He turns to look at me and Milo. ¡°And entirely your fault.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t do anything,¡± I say. ¡°We helped put a stop to it.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a coincidence that this only happened when you arrived here?¡± Valerian asks. ¡°The Wisteria Grove is a peaceful locus, but it was compelled to create a challenge for you to overcome.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous,¡± I say. ¡°Even if that¡¯s true, we fixed it immediately and no one got hurt.¡± ¡°Will you still say that when you see a village you¡¯re visiting get attacked just because you¡¯re there?¡± Valerian asks. Anise sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. ¡°Look, even if you think reincarnators cause trouble just by existing, you should probably blame Corwen and Grubwick for summoning them. They¡¯re here now, and if they¡¯re Heroes, then let them be Heroes. You can¡¯t expect them to sit in their Hearths their whole lives. Unless you¡¯re planning on killing them now, it¡¯s pointless to complain.¡± ¡°I have said my piece,¡± Valerian says, then turns to Meadow. ¡°You have taken your first steps on the journey to mastering the Art. What skill did you unlock?¡± ¡°True Art (Aspect Painting),¡± Meadow replies. ¡°Ah,¡± Valerian says. ¡°A good starting point for someone with as dreadful Max Inspiration as you do.¡± Meadow smirks but doesn¡¯t even look offended. ¡°At least you had the good sense to switch the stone¡¯s aspect to one that¡¯s capable of counteracting the eldritch infection,¡± Valerian goes on. ¡°Or was that even deliberate? You have doubtless spent more time training Ranger skills than reading books and studying concepts. You know what vis is but you have no idea how it actually works.¡± ¡°Are you willing to teach me more?¡± Meadow asks. ¡°I am not,¡± Valerian replies. ¡°Should you take an adult class related to the Art when you reach 21, you may return to me then. Until such point, I leave it to you to practice and glean whatever knowledge you can on your own.¡± Meadow doesn¡¯t look at all put out. ¡°Very well. Thank you for introducing me to the Art. We¡¯ll take our leave now.¡± We leave the gazebo, and take some time to finish exploring the Wisteria Garden before we leave. I can tell where the core is by the way the vis in the area is moving, but finding the way into it is another matter. The swirling vis leads toward one of the circular park areas with flower beds and decorative pathways, In the center stands a set of silver bells in different sizes hanging from a bar. Like the formerly eldritch fountain, this one doesn¡¯t make it into a maze, but I still feel like there¡¯s some sort of puzzle here. I walk up to examine the set of bells in the middle of the park, noticing as I go that the stones making up the path resemble seashells. The wind blowing through the gardens makes them ring in different pitches as it goes by. ¡°Another musical puzzle,¡± Milo says. ¡°Any idea what tune it might want us to play?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Probably something flower-related, I would guess,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,¡± I say. ¡°How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a cockle shell?¡± Anise wonders. Milo points at the walkway. ¡°These.¡± ¡°Oh, huh, I thought that was just a neat pattern,¡± Anise says. ¡°I¡¯ve walked through here several times before and even played with the bells, but never figured out what tune to play. Even if I could play tunes.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Milo hmms. ¡°I don¡¯t actually know how to play this song offhand, but we can probably figure it out.¡± ¡°I would complain more about running into all these nursery rhymes if these weren¡¯t literally the kiddie dungeons,¡± I say. It takes some (quite a bit) of trial and error. While waiting for Milo and I to figure out how to play the right tune, Anise and Meadow examine the brush she got as a dungeon reward and experiment with it a bit. It¡¯s the length of her hand with a grip on the top, and looks like it might be good for doing dishes. When she tests it on the corner of one of her used canvases, the paint quickly vanishes as if it were a dry erase board. We spend what seems like hours singing a stupid nursery rhyme and hitting bells, but I refuse to give up and walk off when the solution is right here. Aside from the lack of pretty maids. Maybe I should have gone with the ¡°marigolds all in a row¡± version instead. There are many rows of different types of flowers here, probably including marigolds. Finally, after playing the song for the thousandth time, the shells making up the walkways shift downward and form a staircase leading underground. ¡°Yes, got it!¡± Milo exclaims. I attempt to fist-bump him, to his puzzled expression. I try to high-five him, with the same result. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Milo wonders. ¡°Ugh, what sort of celebratory gestures do you do?¡± I wonder. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s head down.¡±
You have discovered the core room of the Wisteria Garden.
Skill acquired: Discipline (Focus)
A round room lies below the bell garden, lit only by the small crystal orb on a pedestal. A chest sits before us, which Milo goes over to loot greedily. He retrieves a handful of coins and a seed the size of his knuckle. ¡°Thanks, Mary,¡± I say to the core.
Wisteria Garden
You are welcome.
¡°Did you really spawn that eldritch stone just to test us?¡± I ask.
Wisteria Garden
No. A previous visitor threw it into the fountain for good luck.
¡°So how did it wind up eldritch?¡± I ask. ¡°I don¡¯t think some random adventurer would have been okay carrying it around unless it were dormant or some other aspect to start off with.¡±
Wisteria Garden
You are correct. Anyone under Heroic rank without Discipline (Eldritch Resistance) would not have survived direct contact for long. As for the cause, I have already given you a quest to investigate.
¡°Uh¡­ about that. Our cores decided to hide our quest screens. They wanted to see what we would do without explicitly having quests tell us.¡±
Wisteria Garden
How odd. In that case, I will merely tell you that I do not know the origin of the eldritch. I did not cause that. If I were capable of creating that aspect, my entire garden would be corrupted, and very likely much of the adjacent landscape.
¡°Understood,¡± I say. ¡°Well, aside from that, I enjoyed my visit to your garden. How do you feel about goblins? Do you mind if we bring some friends here?¡±
Wisteria Garden
I am an aether core. I do not have feelings in the manner organic beings do. In any case, I welcome visitors of any race.
¡°Fantastic,¡± I say. ¡°They¡¯re not far away, either. We¡¯ll be heading out now. See you later, Mary.¡± We leave the Wisteria Garden and return to Corwen. Once back home, I bring out the black pebble I found in the Spooky Grove and compare it to the gray one Meadow just got. They both seem to be the same type of item, just with different aspects. No longer eldritch, Meadow¡¯s Elite stone is emitting an aspect that I think is ¡®natural¡¯. Meanwhile, my Basic stone¡¯s aspect is yet unidentified. At least it¡¯s obviously not eldritch, as that would have likely been noticeable at even Basic rank. The thing is¡­ neither of them are actually emitting any vis at all. I¡¯m not sure if that means they¡¯re dormant or if they simply don¡¯t emit vis. They¡¯re non-living, which would normally mean they don¡¯t produce vis, since vis is life energy so far as I understand. They¡¯re the same type of item, definitely, and both came from low level dungeons. That indicates that they¡¯re probably not a rare or special sort of item and it was the eldritch infection that was the real problem and not the item itself. It also means we¡¯ve probably got multiple books in our library that mention them and I just hadn¡¯t known enough to look up something about my own stone until I saw a second example actually doing something. There it is, in a book about magic items. ¡°Aspect stones¡±, as they¡¯re called, are the basis of many magic items, as they can provide the power source. The reason I can¡¯t detect it is because they produce aether, not vis. The eldritch aspect was simply capable of infecting the vis around it. Many magic items simply use their sigil circuits as a Wizardry command to activate an aspect stone. A new Elite doesn¡¯t need to put their own Inspiration into heating up the water pot, only tell a stone aspected to heat to activate. Aunt Heather knew I was going to be a crafter and left it to me to learn about the stone for myself. Now that I understand what it does and start thinking about the implications, the possibilities are endless. It¡¯s just a pity I don''t yet have a way to change its aspect myself. That limits the versatility. But since it auto-aspected with the concept I was emitting most strongly when I found it, it does have some potential application already. I¡¯m absolutely going to start trying to learn how to make magic items. Maybe I¡¯ll even figure out how to make a model skyship fly. A single Basic-rank stone should be sufficient for a toy. Chapter 29: Magic Mirrors and Colored Pencils Our traveling is pretty much done for the year as the red season looms before us. The Hearth fills up with returning relatives and the guest house with friends and travelers who are spending the winter with us, and Milo returns to Grubwick. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some thinking about what I was doing wrong with that first painting,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Valerian had those paintings of the Wisteria Garden done up ahead of time and was already familiar with and connected to them. He¡¯d seen the place as it was when he was painting it. I was just using my imagination in the first painting, and it could have been anywhere.¡± I nod. ¡°So if you painted something ahead of time, you could restore it if it got damaged.¡± ¡°I¡¯d just need to carry around a painting of our party at all times,¡± Meadow says with a grin. ¡°A little vis in the right spot and maybe I could close a wound.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll forgive me if I¡¯d rather test this on an inanimate object instead of injuring myself.¡± Meadow finds a stick outside and paints a picture of it. She then snaps it and lays it back on the ground, then starts pouring vis into the painting. The stick wiggles and slowly starts pulling itself together, but she runs out of Inspiration before it¡¯s fully mended. ¡°Well,¡± Meadow says, rubbing her head and taking a drink out of her bottle of tea. ¡°At least that was a good demonstration that it will work. I just need more practice. Let me refill my Inspiration meter and I think I can finish it.¡± It takes some more effort, but finally the stick snaps back together whole. ¡°Fantastic!¡± Meadow exclaims. ¡°That unlocked True Art (Restoration).¡± ¡°Now you just need to start carrying around an art book like Wizards do a spellbook,¡± I say. Meadow gapes at me. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like books very much,¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°Yeah, yeah. That would be so much more convenient than hauling paintings around,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I¡¯ll switch to colored pencils, too. They¡¯d be more convenient for traveling, in case I do have to make a picture in the field. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m better with painting than drawing. I unlocked several art-related skills and was equally bland at all of them. I just took the painting equipment to the Wisteria Garden because Valerian is a known painter.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much of an art critic the system is,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯d bet it looks at things differently than a human would.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to practice my new skill on some different inanimate objects and see if I can get a few more skill levels. Next time we head out, I¡¯ll do pictures of whoever¡¯s in my party in whatever they¡¯re currently wearing.¡±
I approach Aunt Heather when the sky turns red. ¡°How does your divination work?¡± I ask. ¡°Can I see what you do to determine what monsters come out each year?¡± ¡°By all means,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see someone taking interest in it. Too many of our relatives dismiss it for not being flashy and yet rely on its results all the same.¡± She shows me to her room. I¡¯m surprised that a Legendary Oracle lives in a room exactly the same size as the one I share with Burdock and Griffin, but I suppose all the living chambers in the Hearth are the same size. At least she gets her own room. An ornate full-length mirror stands in one corner of the room. A simple desk is cluttered up with cards and doohickeys I cannot begin to guess the function of. None of them produce vis, but I¡¯m starting to realize my system is perfectly capable of detecting aether even if I¡¯m not. How else would it have been able to identify the aspect of that stone? I have a computer made of aether in my head. I carefully examine the mirror, step back in my mind and lean on the system.
Category Item
Type Mirror
Quality Excellent
Rank Legendary
Aspect Sight
Congratulations! You have identified a Legendary magic item.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Appraisal)
Your Perception has increased to 5.
I¡¯m starting to realize that the status boxes aren¡¯t unique to Clairvoyance. They¡¯re a system function, probably accessible to anyone with enough knowledge to know what they¡¯re looking at. I¡¯ve been reading a lot about magic items lately, and apparently the system has decided that knowledge is sufficient even though I haven¡¯t actually unlocked a Knowledge skill for it yet. ¡°Did you get a skill level just from looking at that?¡± Aunt Heather says with a small grin. ¡°You have that look in your face.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I got Crafting (Appraisal) and a point of Perception. Where did you even get this mirror?¡± ¡°Someone made it for me,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°A Legendary crafter from another Hearth. Amber Trimsaran is her name. She left Tiganna decades ago, but if you¡¯re fortunate you might be able to meet her sometime.¡± There¡¯s two chairs in the room, and she positions one facing the mirror and out of the way so I can watch. I sit down and try to focus on what she¡¯s doing with her vis. ¡°I start in with Invocation (Mirrors) to establish a connection with the item,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°I use this mirror frequently and it¡¯s attuned to me, so this doesn¡¯t take much effort. I could do this with a mundane hand mirror if I had to, though, but it would take considerably more vis and the results would be less precise.¡± The mirror, which had started off reflecting us and the room like a normal mirror, clouds up to display only swirling fog. ¡°Invocation (Eye in the Sky),¡± she goes on. ¡°This creates a magical construct overhead, like an eye made of vis.¡± The mirror clears, and an overhead view of Tempest Domain appears within the glass, sharper and clearer than any map. ¡°Now to link in Search (Monsters).¡± Red dots of varying size and brightness appear all over the map. Waving a hand at the mirror, the view zooms in on them one by one. Pale centipedes the size of dogs crawl out of holes in the ground. Large ravens with glowing purple eyes take to the air. A three meter tall furry biped gazes to the blood red sky and lets out a roar. ¡°The centipedes and ravens aren¡¯t too dangerous,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Basic and Elite at most. And that was a Legendary Sasquatch.¡± After cycling through several more of the various results and just getting more ravens and centipedes, Aunt Heather determines that if she¡¯s missed anything, there¡¯s too few of them and they¡¯re too weak to notice. The Legendary Sasquatch stands out like a shining bright dot on the overhead map, impossible to miss. It¡¯s like if Google¡¯s satellites had actually found Bigfoot. She made the whole thing look easy, but I can tell she burned a lot of Inspiration on the effort. With a wave of her hand, she breaks the connection to the mirror and it returns to reflecting only what¡¯s in front of it again. We head to the hearth where she informs everyone gathered there of what she found. ¡°The only fliers this year are the dusk ravens, and they are not dangerous,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Don¡¯t leave anything shiny in open view. They might steal things, but are unlikely to attack unless provoked. You are welcome to hunt centipedes near the village, but don¡¯t stray too far and retreat immediately at any sign of a Legendary Sasquatch approaching. You will hear it long before you see it.¡± With that, we settle in for another fall cooped up in the village. Not that I don¡¯t have plenty of things to do in the meantime. I have yet to read every book in the village, plus there are crafting skills to practice. Oh, and spending time with my family, I suppose. My sister and young cousins are almost two and a half years old now. They¡¯re at the stage where they¡¯re running all over the place and saying words that make sense. Maybe if I¡¯d spent more time with them when they were younger, I might have unlocked Language (Baby Talk) or something. I hang out in the young children¡¯s room at the school as I¡¯m working on my drawing skills. My Crafting (Drafting) skill still needs work before I can make accurate diagrams of anything complicated. ¡°What¡¯s brother doing?¡± Juniper asks, peering over the edge of my kiddie desk. ¡°Drawing a building,¡± I say. ¡°I want to draw too!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I set her up with some paper and pencils at one of the low tables for the toddlers too small to use the actual desks yet. She plops down next to me, and I show her how to hold a pencil properly. ¡°Wow,¡± Juniper says, shifting her grip on the pencil and staring at her hands. ¡°Fingers are neat!¡± ¡°They are!¡± I agree with a smile. She wiggles her fingers in front of her and experiments with twirling the pencil around, dropping it a few times before remembering that she wanted to learn to draw. Putting the pencil to paper, she doodles a few haphazard lines. ¡°How you make lines like that?¡± she asks, pointing to the perfectly straight lines of my hypothetical building. ¡°With this,¡± I say, showing her the 20 centimeter ruler I¡¯ve been using. I put it to the paper and demonstrate drawing a line next to it. ¡°This is a ruler. It¡¯s for drawing straight lines, and telling how long something is. See these lines on it? Do you know your numbers yet?¡± ¡°Brother is very smart!¡± Juniper says. Several of the purple-eyed raven monsters show up in the village looking for shiny things to steal, occasionally making off with something but never really causing any serious trouble. They¡¯re also capable of speaking Common, but don¡¯t have much of interest to say. Mostly just ¡°Mine!¡± ¡°Shiny!¡± and various insults. After spending a (relatively) quiet October and November working on skills and bonding with my family, I finally reach another milestone, celebrated with sweets and gifts.
You are now 5 years old.
All physical attributes have increased by 1.
Only two more until I get my first real class and I can¡¯t wait. I receive a scribbly drawing of me (allegedly) from Juniper, some new clothes from Aunt Dahlia, and a nice solid steel hammer from my mom. Giving a five year old a hammer for their naming day gets a few odd looks from some of my relatives, but everyone knows I¡¯m a reincarnator and interested in crafting. In preparation for Hearth Day, I make gifts for my sister and cousins with [Woodworking]. I make one of those toys with wooden shapes and holes to fit them through, plus a knockoff kiddie Scrabble variant to help them learn to read and put words together. As the dark season passes, I¡¯m rewarded for my various efforts with some skill levels.
Your Crafting (Drafting) skill has increased to level 2.
Your Crafting (Woodworking) skill has increased to level 3.
Your Tending (Teaching) skill has increased to level 3.
The Hearthkeepers prepare another Hearth Day feast of goat and holiday foods, with absolutely none of the giant centipede meat we¡¯ve been eating all fall. The worst part of swarm season is having to eat whatever monsters the domain decides to spew out. No, actually, the worst part is getting used to centipede meat and finding it kind of tasty. At New Year, we sing around the decorated tree and watch the lights streak into the sky as the Great Orb gradually turns violet.
It is now Year 735 of the Age of the Green Fox.
I wonder what this year will bring. Chapter 30: Goblin Glue and Snowball Fights ¡°I¡¯ll just be glad to get out of the Hearth again,¡± Meadow says. ¡°You know I share a room with my older sister, Acacia, right?¡± I did not, but I just nod. ¡°And her daughter, Clover,¡± Meadow says. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t interacted with her much yet. She was born last April and she¡¯s just getting into the crawling and grabbing things stage. I haven¡¯t been able to keep anything in my room without risk of a baby messing with it. She tried chewing up my colored pencils and the only consolation was that she doesn¡¯t have teeth yet.¡± ¡°Oh dear,¡± I say. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll be turning 21 at the end of May, so I want to get some more skill grinding in these next few months,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ still not sure that the True Art is really the path for me.¡± ¡°It seems like it could be very useful,¡± I say. ¡°I was hoping for more in my life than simply being useful. And I¡¯m running out of time to find the right path for me. Who knows if I¡¯ll even hit Heroic rank? I may be stuck with the class I get when I turn 21 for the rest of my life.¡± She sounds very much like a college student being indecisive about their major and stressed about exams. Except a degree in art would actually be more useful here. ¡°I don¡¯t mean for you being useful,¡± I say. ¡°Skills are useful. Things are useful. You are a human being and we¡¯ll still be your family no matter what you do or don¡¯t do with your life. In any case, I¡¯m absolutely going to learn the True Art.¡± ¡°Really? I thought for sure I had you pegged for a future Wizard.¡± ¡°I can learn both, can¡¯t I?¡± I ask. ¡°Everyone in the Hearth already learns a bit of Wizardry just to use all our magitech appliances.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Meadow says. ¡°What sort of hybrid class would that result in?¡±
Anise and I head for Grubwick to meet up with Milo now that the surface isn¡¯t being swarmed by monsters. Meadow opts to tag along to make sure our low Survival skills don¡¯t get used into trouble traipsing about the countryside in winter. Anise isn¡¯t terribly worried one way or another. I suppose being able to set things on fire with your brain makes a little snow seem like a non-issue. When we get to Grubwick, we find Milo and some of the other goblins playing bone flutes and drums. They¡¯re terrible at it, but I don¡¯t recall hearing them do any music at all before. ¡°You aspiring to be a Bard, Milo?¡± Anise asks. Milo shrugs. ¡°Perhaps, perhaps not. But whether or not it is a path I ultimately take, I believe goblin culture is richer for having music than not.¡± ¡°I bet you¡¯re getting plenty of good Deeds introducing things like this, too,¡± Anise says. ¡°I still don¡¯t know if it will be enough to reach Heroic rank before I turn 7, though,¡± Milo says. Anise shrugs. ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell you. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve made Heroic rank yet, myself.¡± ¡°In any case, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here,¡± Milo says. ¡°I want to go try to contact more goblin villages.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of blizzarding out there,¡± Anise says. ¡°It was starting to get annoying burning Inspiration all the time to keep [Familial Warmth] up all the time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Now that the monster swarms have gone back to the deeper layers or the Underside, wherever it is they go, we can move freely through the In-Between to reach the other villages. I don¡¯t know the way myself, but I can ask some of the scouts to lead the way.¡± ¡°Nice! I haven¡¯t done a lot of exploration of these caves before. What all is even down here? Are there dungeons like above?¡± ¡°What did you do in the years before I was born?¡± I ask. ¡°Ehhh¡­ a lot of fooling around and barely making Elite before I turned 21,¡± Anise says with a shrug. ¡°I wasn¡¯t as serious about delving as the others in my party. After your father was killed, Halima told me I was pregnant, so I decided to come home while the others kept adventuring. Juniper¡¯s birth mom. You met her once I think.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t mentioned my father much,¡± I say. ¡°Yeah, he was an idiot, but fun to fool around with,¡± Anise says. ¡°Up until his idiocy got himself killed and the rest of us badly injured.¡± We stay the night at the inn. Grubwick¡¯s first stone building has gotten some new furnishings. The goblin carpenters have managed wooden chairs, tables, and beds in our absence. The beds are still just a fur on a wooden frame but at least there¡¯s the wooden frame now. They don¡¯t have access to metal for nails or screws yet, but they built furniture by slotting carved pieces of wood together like we did with the masonry, using some sort of pinkish glue in place of mortar. (I have no idea what they made the glue out of, but it¡¯s probably something gross.) ¡°Drake, you¡¯re back!¡± says a goblin woman I recognize as a member of my Mason crew, Klog. ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve gotten big! It¡¯s a good thing we built this building big.¡±Stolen story; please report. The vis coming off of her feels much more energetic than I remember, and I remember that I can identify her now.
Category Person
Race Goblin
Gender Female
Rank Heroic
¡°You made Heroic!¡± I exclaim. ¡°Congratulations! How did you do it?¡± ¡°You put me to work on building better scaffolding, remember? I have! Also these.¡± Klog pats one of the chairs. ¡°I invented a kind of wood glue and the system decided that was a Deed worthy of Heroic rank.¡± She grunts. ¡°I¡¯m sure it wasn¡¯t just the glue but everything else leading up to that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, glue is pretty important,¡± I say. ¡°If you came up with a good formula, that¡¯s something that may help people for generations to come.¡± ¡°I also, by necessity, invented an un-gluing formula,¡± Klog says. ¡°You should be glad you weren¡¯t here up until that point. Er, I should warn you that if you get stuck to anything, please yell for help. I may have missed a few spots.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your new class called, if I might ask?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a [Daring Inventor] now,¡± Klog says. ¡°It¡¯s a step up from my Elite class, [Experimental Crafter], which I have you to thank for. To think I started off as a mere [Determined Stoneworker].¡± I carefully examine the vis in her aura, wondering what part of that might say ¡°daring¡± or ¡°inventor¡±. I should be able to see people¡¯s classes just as readily as their race or gender. Considering classes are also connected to the color system, that means I ought to be able to pick out some orange vis as well as violet vis from her. It¡¯s just that the part of her saying ¡°I am a crafter¡± is smaller than the part saying ¡°I am a person.¡±
Your Clairvoyance (Vis Analysis) skill has increased to level 3.
When I identify her again, an additional line has been added.
Class Crafter
I can¡¯t quite pick out the nuance yet, but it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to tell at a glance whether someone is a Crafter, Warrior, or whatever. It was just a matter of picking out the correct spot in the people whose classes I knew. Which I would never be able to have put into more than a slurry of psychic energy without the assistance of the system. If the system didn¡¯t already exist, I would have been compelled to invent it just to make my own weird psychic powers be less annoying to use. (I may well have actually been the one to invent the system, but I really don¡¯t need Sanity damage when I¡¯m away from a high level Hearthkeeper who can make magic tea.) ¡°How are the mushrooms and maggots projects going?¡± I ask. ¡°They haven¡¯t had quite as much progress as mine, but they¡¯ve gotten a good start on the mushrooms at least,¡± Klog says. ¡°Maggot handling has mostly been going hilariously. You should also be glad you weren¡¯t here for that. Did I mention that I also accidentally invented glue traps?¡± I am speechless for a long moment before deciding that, yes, indeed I am grateful that I decided to spend the past several months in places other than here. Goblins are fun but sometimes it¡¯s best to be out of the blast radius. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you, Klog,¡± I finally manage. ¡°Take a look at our new building stuff when you get a chance!¡± she says. ¡°You probably want to eat and sleep first, though.¡± I nod. ¡°I¡¯ll check it out in the morning. I want to do another non-deadly bridge first before we try bridging the underground river.¡± ¡°We might be able to bridge a creek without anyone getting wet now!¡± Klog says. ¡°I¡¯ve got a good next bridge project, and it will be another source of strength for Grubwick,¡± I say. ¡°There¡¯s a dungeon not far from here called the Wisteria Garden. It¡¯s easy and safe and good for children.¡± As least, when there isn¡¯t a random eldritch infestation. I was unable to find any information on it in the Corwen library, and even Aunt Heather can only say that she knows of it but has never had to directly deal with it. ¡°There¡¯s a stream in between here and there, though, and the most direct route is annoying to cross,¡± I continue. ¡°It could use a bridge so people can get to the dungeon without having to swim. We¡¯ll just have to wait for the snow to melt before we can get started.¡± ¡°Sounds like a good idea!¡± Klog says. ¡°Snow is so weird.¡± ¡°Did you ever try building with it?¡± I say with a grin. ¡°Building?¡± Klog looks confused. ¡°It¡¯s so soft and cold and melts if you take it inside.¡± ¡°Tomorrow, I will show you something amazing.¡± Come morning, I go and inspect the equipment my builders have been working with. Their craftsmanship has made marked improvements since I was last here. The crew lights up (figuratively) when they see me approach. ¡°Hi Drake!¡± babble the goblins, and I¡¯m unable to follow who is saying what. ¡°Klog said you¡¯d show us something amazing!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°How amazing is it?¡± I laugh softly and wave them off. I¡¯m a good 20 centimeters taller than most of them now and it¡¯s a little disorienting even if the goblins are undiscouraged. ¡°It¡¯s on the surface,¡± I say. ¡°You¡¯ll have to come with me so I can show you.¡± ¡°Ooooh!¡± chorus the goblins. Anise heads out with us just to make sure nothing stupid happens while we¡¯re messing around, by which I mean she¡¯s going to immediately forget that she was supposed to be keeping an eye out and being a responsible adult and mess around with us. The goblins are all bundled up in warm furs and look on the wall of snow in puzzlement. The sky had dropped another meter of snow overnight on top of what had already been a thick blanket. ¡°We can¡¯t go out,¡± Klog says. ¡°Nasty cold snow has blocked it all up.¡± I grab some snow and compact it with my hands. With the new devil-goat wool mittens I got for this past Hearth Day, I can hardly even feel the cold through them. ¡°Snow might be cold and soft and squishy, but when you squish it enough¡­¡± I grab enough snow to make a brick shape. ¡°¡­you get something you can build with.¡± ¡°Oooohhhh!¡± chorus a dozen goblins all at once. ¡°Shall we start with a staircase?¡± I say with a grin. Working together, we construct a meter-wide snow staircase leading up to the surface. We set about to building a snow fort, learning as we go and getting buried in snow only a couple of times. Still, everything is perfectly peaceful until someone throws the first snowball. (It¡¯s totally Anise.) Some of the goblin hunters had come up to see what was going on, along with Meadow just from fear of missing out. (My [Vis Analysis] isn¡¯t quite refined enough yet to extract the aspect of FOMO but I still get the impression.) Everyone quickly splits into two teams, and then three, with hunters and builders spontaneously hooking up. Several frosty keeps get constructed and destroyed. I focus on keeping my own fort in good repair without retaliating. It seems like such a minor thing, and yet my efforts are rewarded all the same.
Skill acquired: Survival (Cold Resistance)
Skill acquired: Crafting (Snow Building)
Laughing and joking, we all head inside to warm up and get something to eat. Chapter 31: The Swamps of Usk We head out from Grubwick the next morning, having supplied up and added two new goblins to our party for the time being. Nika, the Elite [Hunter] and Gurgo, an Elite [Gatherer] who will be doing a survey of mushrooms and traveling with us is probably the safest place to be. ¡°These tunnels lead to a village named Usk,¡± Nika says. ¡°That¡¯ll be our first stop.¡± Much of the In-Between is lit by bioluminescent plants and fungi, but I keep alert with my [Aura Sight] to make sure nothing potentially hostile is approaching us, whether it be monsters, animals, people, or overly aggressive plant life. ¡°We¡¯ll need to stay far enough away from the bank so the carp can¡¯t reach out and drag us into the water,¡± says Nika. ¡°These fish are too hardcore,¡± I say. ¡°Our mighty fishers still bring them in,¡± Nika says. ¡°They have a much more dangerous job than we hunters. They¡¯re why we weren¡¯t worried about anyone sneaking in by the riverside gate. You were very fortunate that the fish were quiet the day you snuck into the village.¡± We make out way downriver, to where the water grows broader and more sluggish and eventually opens up into a vast underground marsh. (Or swamp? I don¡¯t know the difference between a marsh and a swamp and this isn¡¯t a biome that existed on Earth anyway.) The trill of insects echoes through the caverns. Glowing blue mushrooms cling to the sides of weird cave trees with purple leaves. I do not know nearly enough about botany to figure out cave trees and for all I know, it¡¯s magic anyway. The swamp is treacherous. Although the deadly giant carp don¡¯t populate the shallow, muddy waters of this area, it has plenty of other dangers to make up for it. Nika is experienced with looking out for patches of soft mud you can sink into as well as signs of dangerous animals. The monsters have mostly gone back to deeper layers but there are beings that inhabit the swamp year round that can cause problems for an unwary traveler. Thanks to [Aura Sight], I don¡¯t wind up covered in giant cave leeches. Nor do I stumble into a giant cave wasp nest. I even direct us around the sleeping giant cave sloth. [Why are there so many giant cave things?] I send to the group. [I¡¯d have thought living in caves would make them smaller, not bigger.] Nika shrugs and doesn¡¯t give an answer aloud as we¡¯re trying to be quiet, but no amount of stealthiness is going to prevent me from making inane observations over party chat. The village of Usk sits in the middle of the swamp, surrounded on all sides by muck. The village walls are the only signs of stable ground in the area. (Although fortunately there is a stable ceiling.)
You have discovered Usk.
Your Survival (Careful Step) skill has increased to level 2.
[I really hope they let us in,] I comment. [I¡¯m not looking forward to making camp out here.] The rest of us wait out of range of thrown spears and stones while Nika and Milo approach the gate. There¡¯s a heated discussion I can¡¯t quite make out from here, and eventually one of the guards goes off into the Hearth. He returns shortly with an old goblin man with milky white eyes, leaning on a stick. He gestures us forward, and I identify him when I get close enough to get a good read on his aura.
Category Person
Race Goblin
Gender Male
Rank Heroic
Class Invoker
¡°You may come speak with me,¡± the old goblin says. ¡°Only because I do not care to walk out into the mud, and not because I desire your presence in my village. I am Kinog Usk, [Elder Warlock].¡±
Your Language (Goblin) skill has increased to level 2.
Huh. I¡¯d only spoken with Grubwick goblins so far. He speaks mostly the same as Grubwick goblins, but his word choice feels a little more archaic even than [Elder Witch] Griza¡¯s speech. (Will my Common skill be forever stuck at level 1 because I can¡¯t actually hear it as Common but as English?) ¡°You won¡¯t let us in?¡± I ask. ¡°I will not,¡± Kinog says. ¡°Not even the goblins in your group.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I aks. ¡°I do not approve of the direction you are taking Grubwick,¡± Kinog says. ¡°We seek to preserve the old ways, not merely become small green humans. Grubwick incarnated a human in green skin. We will be watching to see what happens from here, but we will not be exposing our children to these new ideas until they are old enough to understand.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Okay,¡± I say, and turn to my party. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°What, you¡¯re just going to leave it at that?¡± Anise says. ¡°Hey, Elder Kinog! We¡¯re totally cool! Don¡¯t send us back out into the swamp!¡± ¡°Whether you came here by choice or by quest, I am unconcerned about your wellbeing,¡± Vorg says. ¡°Move along.¡± Milo sighs. ¡°I do not believe my level of Persuasion is sufficient, either.¡± We head back off into the swamp, not actually terribly upset about the encounter. We¡¯d expected many of the goblins villages we might run across would not welcome us with open arms. This one just opted to tell us to go away rather than attack us. They had at least one Heroic and probably at least a few combat Elites, so I have no doubt that they could have killed us all if they wanted. And yet here we are, wandering around without a single Heroic of our own, because experience I suppose. Yay. I can practically feel my skills tingle. We move on, and as the swamps get deeper, stone ledges just out and form layers with small trickling waterfalls running between them. Nika leads us up a ramp leading back toward the shallower parts of the In-Between. Goblins live between two worlds, never venturing too deep and remaining cautious about visits to the surface. The [Hunter] leads us into a ledge with two narrow ways out and a good view of the swamps below, concealed behind some clusters of mushrooms and weird purple plants. ¡°This is a good place to set up camp,¡± Nika says. ¡°Hidden, good view of surroundings. Don¡¯t light a fire.¡± Once we¡¯ve gotten settled in to rest and are munching on some cold rations, I go and sit next to my mom. She¡¯s feeling chatty and not being nearly as quiet as she ought to be in this situation. As Anise babbles on, sharing anecdotes about her adventures, my [Aura Sight] picks up something large moving near us. A red aura indicating a monster. [Quiet!] I send to my party. [I¡¯m detecting a monster nearby. I don¡¯t think it has spotted us yet.] Anise obediently shuts her mouth and looks a little sheepish. It¡¯s easy to get complacent on the surface where there aren¡¯t usually any monsters outside of dungeons except during swarm season. I turn my attention to analyzing the creature¡¯s aura.
Category Monster
Type Funeral
Gender Male
Rank Heroic
Aspect Decay
I share the screen with the others. Between four combat-capable Elites and one Elite who isn¡¯t combat-focused but can probably hold his own a bit, we¡¯re probably capable of killing the thing, but not quietly. And I¡¯m still Basic rank, so the creature could probably kill me instantly. The swamp monster isn¡¯t actually visible at first, but a low rumble echoes through the caverns. The stench of rot permeates the air, heavy enough to almost make me gag. Slow, heavy footsteps squelch and plod until the being finally comes into view. He¡¯s bipedal, covered in or made of black and yellow lichen. He pauses beneath our ledge, his glowing yellow-green eyes surveying his surroundings. Perhaps he heard us, or maybe he can even smell us. After several tense minutes, though, he moves on and plods back deeper into the under-swamps.
Skill acquired: Subterfuge (Hiding)
¡°I hate those things,¡± Nika mutters once we can no longer see, hear, or smell the fungal monster. ¡°Tough, annoying, and you can¡¯t even eat them. If we had a fire going, it would have gone berserk.¡± We take turns on watch and have a restless rest period before moving on. ¡°We¡¯re heading out of the swamps now,¡± Nika says. ¡°This part of the In-Between should be safer, usually, but don¡¯t get complacent.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just happy to get out of the mud,¡± Milo says. ¡°I would kill something for a hot bath right now.¡± ¡°I do know where a hot spring is,¡± Nika says. ¡°Is it close?¡± Milo wonders. ¡°Or at least on the way to another goblin village?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Nika hmms, and looks around at our surroundings. Her eyes fall upon a weirdly shaped stalagmite that probably makes for a good landmark. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not far from Splott.¡± ¡°Great,¡± Milo says. ¡°I¡¯ll take the springs of Splott over the swamps of Usk any day.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, there might be hot spring pythons near the water,¡± Nika says. ¡°Lucky?¡± I wonder. ¡°Yes!¡± Nika says brightly. ¡°They¡¯re good eating. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve never seen one higher than Elite.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t say things like that.¡± Nika continues leading us through the tunnels and after what must be hours of wandering around a maze of twisty little passages, all alike, we arrive at the promised hot spring. The narrow tunnel we were crawling through opens up into a large steamy cavern bursting with lush growth around several burbling pools.
You have discovered Underground Hot Springs.
Skill acquired: Survival (Caving)
¡°Do you smell that?¡± Milo asks, turning to me. ¡°Smell what?¡± I wonder. ¡°Exactly,¡± Milo says. ¡°I don¡¯t know how many hot spring resorts you visited in your last life, but the thing I distinctly remember from the natural ones is that they usually have a sulfur smell to them.¡± ¡°What¡¯s sulfur?¡± Nika asks. ¡°A kind of mineral that apparently isn¡¯t here,¡± Milo says. ¡°I guess this isn¡¯t a volcanic spring,¡± I say. ¡°Could be completely made up, because dungeons do whatever they want. Are there even any volcanoes in Tempest?¡± ¡°What¡¯s a volcano?¡± Anise asks. ¡°A mountain that spews out lava,¡± I say. ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s no lava dungeons that I know of, and certainly not in any mountains,¡± Anise says. ¡°The only real one is the Black Mountain. Maybe it has lava features in the lower floors? I haven¡¯t actually been there before.¡± ¡°I suppose one cannot expect plate tectonics out of countries that are comprised of floating discs,¡± Milo says. ¡°If there¡¯s something you wanted to make that requires sulfur, it might be hard to get in Tempest.¡± While we were chatting, Nika has already caught a pair of meter-long snakes for supper and I didn¡¯t even need to use [Aura Sight] to find them for her. A thorough scan of the area indicates no Heroic hot spring monsters that will try to eat us should we decide to take a dip or light a fire, so we can thankfully have roasted snake and not raw snake, not that eating raw meat bothers the goblins. Chapter 32: Going Splat on the Way to Splott We continue on through the winding tunnels, following Nika the Grubwick [Hunter]. She mentions that there¡¯s an exit to the surface near here. Usk was deeper down but Splott is close to a surface exit. We stop by it first in order to get the discovery Deed.
You have discovered Skullburn Outpost.
Skill acquired: Survival (Sense of Direction)
I do love getting skills from these. After resting here for a bit, we move on back into the In-Between. The glowing fungi are slightly more blue in this section of the caverns and there¡¯s a lot of tiny trickles of water here and there. As we travel through the caverns toward Splott, an aura comes into range that really should not be here.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Male
Rank Basic
Class Warrior
I pause, frowning, and raise my hand to the party and send the screen I just detected, along with his location. ¡°Alone? Here?¡± Anise whispers. I nod, and we locate the boy. He¡¯s crying softly and hiding behind some purple foliage, but trying to keep quiet. He has a mop of tangled blond hair and looks to be about 12, and he¡¯s clutching his leg. I think I¡¯ve seen him before. Didn¡¯t he come to study fighting at Corwen? What was his name again? ¡°Rowan?¡± I say. ¡°What?¡± Rowan jumps in surprise. ¡°Did my mom or my Hearth send you to find me?¡± ¡°What are you doing here by yourself?¡± Anise asks, approaching to take a closer look at his leg. ¡°Don¡¯t judge me,¡± he retorts. ¡°You¡¯re not my mother. Or my aunt, for that matter.¡± ¡°True, but we¡¯re here now and we¡¯re going to keep you from dying down in the dark alone, so maybe being rude isn¡¯t the best idea.¡± That silences his protests. Meadow sits down in front of him and brings out her colored pencils and sketchbook. ¡°The lighting here isn¡¯t great but bringing out a light might draw attention.¡± ¡°How did you even find the way in?¡± I ask. ¡°Saw some goblins on the surface,¡± Rowan says. ¡°Tracked them in here. Lost them and slipped trying to follow.¡± ¡°Are you here on a quest, or just exploring?¡± Anise asks. ¡°Quest,¡± Rowan says. ¡°I was supposed to retrieve a sword made for my uncle, who went off on his first adventure several years ago and never came back. I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s anywhere nearby.¡± ¡°Well, that sounds like a quest to join a party for,¡± Anise says. ¡°I want to be a protector, a guardian, a [Paladin],¡± Rowan says. ¡°I want to be the knight that swoops in to save the day, not rely on others to do things for me.¡± ¡°Being a protector doesn¡¯t mean doing everything by yourself,¡± Anise says. ¡°A balanced party needs people in different roles. Like, for example, tracking goblins, noticing that you¡¯re about to fall into a hole, or healing you when you get hurt.¡± Rowan grumbles but concedes the point. ¡°Be healed!¡± Milo tries, and when that has no effect, ¡°Paladin, heal yourself!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any magical skills yet,¡± Rowan grumbles. ¡°If I had a healing skill, I wouldn¡¯t be stuck behind this rock with a broken ankle.¡± ¡°Eh, don¡¯t worry,¡± Anise says, going over to start healing him. ¡°I¡¯m actually pretty good at healing since I have to heal my own stupid self-inflicted injuries regularly.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just heal me instead of berate me, then?¡± ¡°The skill is named Sorcery (Pity for Fools),¡± Anise says. ¡°Sorcery is emotion based and some people have skills more based on compassion and mercy and whatever. Me, I have to feel sorry for you.¡± ¡°So you heal yourself with self-pity?¡± I ask. ¡°Pretty much, yeah. Please, Rowan, by all means continue to be pitiful and foolish.¡± Rowan groans. ¡°Once I reach Elite, I¡¯m going to get some sort of healing ability that isn¡¯t based on pity.¡± ¡°I can do minor Sorcery healing,¡± Nika says in shaky Common. ¡°But only work on people I like. I not know you.¡± ¡°Sorcery¡¯s so easy even goblins use it,¡± Rowan comments. ¡°Yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°It takes practice to learn to use your emotions to fuel spells properly, but anyone who isn¡¯t a Basic can do it. Just like anyone over 7 years old can enhance their attributes. You might want to invest some work into unlocking Enhanced Heart (Rapid Healing). And Enhanced Feet (Uncanny Balance), for that matter. That one¡¯s great. Keeps me from falling over no matter how drunk I get.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Rowan says, and lets out a pained, ¡°Ah, ah, ah!¡± as his ankle slowly mends itself. ¡°You don¡¯t have enough pity to make that not hurt like the Void?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, you should also get Discipline (Pain Tolerance),¡± Anise adds lightly. ¡°It takes extra energy to make it not hurt and you¡¯re not my daughter.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°And you¡¯d inflict pain on your son or nephew over there instead?¡± Rowan asks, looking at me. ¡°You get on my case for coming out here by myself but you¡¯ve brought a little kid here too? He can¡¯t be over six.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a reincarnator,¡± I say. ¡°But I haven¡¯t really been advertising that outside my Hearth and the goblins. I dislike the attention and expectations. So please don¡¯t go gossiping about it.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Rowan says. ¡°I am in your debt. How did you even find me?¡± ¡°As a reincarnator, I have access to Clairvoyance. I spotted you with [Aura Sight].¡± ¡°Huh, that is a pretty good reason for people to want you in their party,¡± Rowan says. ¡°I would have thought someone under 7, reincarnator or no, wouldn¡¯t contribute much.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Anise says. ¡°He¡¯s only Basic still and doesn¡¯t want a combat-oriented class, so we try to keep him safe.¡± Rowan gets down on one knee and says, ¡°I, Rowan Talgarth Tempest Tiganna, formally request admission into your party.¡± ¡°Careful there, I just healed that ankle!¡± Anise says. ¡°And I¡¯m not really the leader here. I am completely irresponsible and don¡¯t like leading stuff.¡± Rowan, unphased, turns to me and says, ¡°I, Rowan Talgarth Tempest Tiganna, formally request admission into your party.¡± ¡°Actually, this one is Milo¡¯s gig,¡± I say, pointing a thumb at the small goblin. Rowan sighs and works up his face in a variety of expressions. ¡°Are you a reincarnator too? Is that why everyone¡¯s treating you like they do?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Milo says. ¡°We¡¯re actually exactly the same age.¡± ¡°I, Rowan Talgarth Tempest Tiganna, formally request admission into your party,¡± Rowan says. ¡°So far, this doesn¡¯t look good on your resume,¡± Milo says. ¡°I¡¯m looking for team players and go-getters, not irresponsible loose cannons. If you join my party, you have to be able to take orders and work together with others. If you can¡¯t do that, we will escort you to the nearest surface escort and send you home.¡± ¡°See?¡± Anise says. ¡°That¡¯s why this guy wouldn¡¯t be able to heal you.¡± ¡°I can do that,¡± Rowan says. ¡°Please give me a chance.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Milo says. ¡°You may join us on for a probationary period. And please get off of your knee. We are currently on a mission to make contact with goblin villages in the area in attempt to negotiate for peaceful relations with the human Hearths. I am also authorized to offer goods from Corwen and Penbryn that the goblins may be interested in.¡± ¡°This goblin knows more words than I do¡­¡± Rowan mutters. ¡°I understand. This¡­ this would actually help people, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Corwen loves the mushrooms Grubwick traded it,¡± Anise says. ¡°They have one that gives a water breathing buff! That¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°We are also attempting to enact a cultural revolution among the goblins,¡± Milo says. ¡°I was born into a culture that knows nothing of music, alcohol, good food, comfortable clothes, or frequent bathing. I was a wealthy businessman in another life and I enjoyed the finer things in life, which don¡¯t exist here. I feel compelled to make them exist.¡± Rowan looks at the two goblins. ¡°You don¡¯t mind him badmouthing your culture?¡± ¡°He right,¡± Nika says. ¡°Chosen always right. Core bring Chosen for change. So we change. If core want, we not deny.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Rowan says. ¡°I do not merely wish to rule over a Stone Age village,¡± Milo says. ¡°I am uninterested in the notion of having the best things. I want good things, and do not mind if other people also have good things. By enacting¡ª¡± ¡°Milo,¡± I interrupt. ¡°Sorry to interrupt your manifesto, but perhaps this is best done safely behind walls.¡± ¡°You are, I may have gotten slightly carried away,¡± Milo says. It¡¯s funny how Anise speaks perfect Goblin thanks to exploiting a loophole with Language (Drunken Slur), but Nika speaks Common like a¡­ well, goblin. We continue on and shortly come within view of a large underground lake. A tributary from it trickles off down toward the underswamps. A village sits on a pillar in the middle of the lake, the base of its walls meeting natural rock about two meters above the waterline. The edge of the shore on each side has a rickety dock and a handful of leaky hide boats. ¡°I see a body of water that needs a bridge,¡± I say. ¡°Hmm¡­ how far is that, and how deep is the water.¡± I start doing some mental calculations as we approach the lake.
Skill acquired: Search (Measurement)
Numbers pop up in my third eye. Hmm. That¡¯s a longer span than the carp-filled underground river, and I have no idea whether this lake is safer or more dangerous. Although in either case, a drawbridge would be more prudent from the standpoint of defense and potential for boats needing to pass under them. There¡¯s a trio of goblins at the bank of the lake, fishing. When we get close, they look up and one says, ¡°You want across? ¡°Ah man, I don¡¯t think our boats can carry the big humans,¡± says another. ¡°Maybe if they went by themselves,¡± says the third. ¡°What are they saying?¡± Rowan asks quietly. ¡°We can begin your Goblin language lessons once stop to rest,¡± Milo says, then addresses the goblins in their own language. ¡°We¡¯ll appreciate the safety of your walls by whatever means are used to get there.¡± I will spare you the details of solving the unexpected boat puzzle. Suffice it to say that I am now even more motivated to getting a bridge built here eventually. Considering their settlement is in the middle of the lake, the goblins of Splott are surprisingly welcoming and friendly. They had heard about recent events in Grubwick and thought they sounded cool. Like bridges. They excited about the prospect of bridges. Or at least better boats. I know very little about making actual boats and it suddenly occurs to me that I should if I¡¯m planning on building a skyship someday. Models are all well and good, but building something that can hold water is a little more complicated than carving a bit of wood. And while a skyship doesn¡¯t specifically need to worry about water, it has to deal with similar challenges. The system skills from building a rowboat would probably carry over to building a skyship. ¡°You seem distracted,¡± Anise says. ¡°Big engineering plans?¡± ¡°I need to learn how to build boats,¡± I say. ¡°Humans come to learn to build boats from goblins?¡± one of the local goblins says. ¡°We can teach you! And you can teach us things in exchange!¡± The Splotts are happy to have something to offer that we want. While I¡¯m sure humans would be capable of building actual wooden boats, they would be less willing to teach them to a five year old. And I¡¯m curious about what the goblins know. And I¡¯m pretty sure the skill is Crafting (Shipbuilding) and doesn¡¯t specify the type of vessel. I am not within arm¡¯s reach of a skill encyclopedia, though. We make some agreements and decide to stay for a bit and get in a few lessons either way. My next attempt at analyzing vis is gauging Anise¡¯s moods and watching her use magic. She¡¯s a competent sorcerer and knows how to use her magic properly. She only sets things on fire when she wants to set things on fire. And she really likes to set things on fire. Meadow¡¯s entire purpose in the party is preventing Anise from starting forest fires. I am mildly irritated at how the stupid ¡°emotion magic¡± trope is actually real in this sky full of tropes, except that I¡¯m pretty sure I was a psychic back on Earth and could do ¡°emotion magic¡± before the system even existed.
Your Discipline (Self-Delusion) skill has increased to level 3.
I am mildly irritated at how the stupid ¡°emotion magic¡± trope is real and normal and the natural state of the universe and everything is fine. In any case, emotional state is the next type of vis I figure out how to read, and it comes with a shiny new skill as well.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Empathy)
Chapter 33: No-Frills Fishing Frilly Fish While I stay at Splott for the moment to start in on a skill exchange, the others return to the surface to visit the village of Talgarth, Rowan¡¯s Hearth. It¡¯s prudent to let them know he¡¯s okay before they do anything about it that might get people hurt. One of the Splott goblins goes along with samples of what resources the local Hearth has to offer in trade. ¡°So, how do you build boats here, anyway?¡± I ask. ¡°You teach us first,¡± one of the goblins says. ¡°You have many more things to teach than us. We only have our boats.¡± ¡°Let me tell you a little about [Masonry], then,¡± I say. ¡°Stacking stones doesn¡¯t sound so hard,¡± says a goblin. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a little more to it than just that,¡± I say. After I give my first lecture and demonstration, and create a few example tools, we move on to my first lesson. I look over their piles of hides and bones. ¡°So how do you put these boats together?¡± I ask. ¡°We¡¯re not starting with that,¡± says the head boat goblin, Smop. ¡°We have to show you through every part of the process. It¡¯s tradition.¡± ¡°So where do we start?¡± I ask. ¡°With a harpoon,¡± Smop says, picking one up and handing it to me so I can take a closer look. ¡°You see how the end has a hook on it? We carve Splottfish bones into hooks to catch more Splottfish. We make boats out of Splottfish hide and bones.¡± ¡°What exactly is a Splottfish?¡± I ask. The goblin gestures to a large creature in the process of being processed. It¡¯s about the size of a horse, with frilly violet fins like a betta fish but tusks like a walrus. ¡°I see,¡± I say. ¡°Alright, show me how to make these bone harpoons.¡± Smop walks me through instructions, gives demonstrations, and lets me try my hand at it. I ruin some of the bones, but he assures me not to worry about it. Everyone has to learn sometime and I¡¯ll be replacing the materials shortly anyway once I actually catch a Splottfish.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality weapon.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Bonecrafting)
It might be Poor, but at least I successfully made one, and got the skill unlocked at the first harpoon that could actually be used as a harpoon. The line is made from sinew, and I¡¯m not sure if devil-goat wool would be an improvement here even if it¡¯s stronger than normal wool. I¡¯ll leave experimenting to these fisher goblins once we actually get a trade going with them. I¡¯m just trying to unlock as many crafting skills as I can. ¡°Good!¡± Smop says. ¡°Now, these days we go out in boats to drive them toward the village so we don¡¯t have to drag them as far. Our boats are, obviously, not big and strong enough to actually carry a Splottfish. Don¡¯t worry. You won¡¯t have to haul it back by yourself. We all work together! First off, though, we need to see how far you can throw. Here, just use one of the messed up ones with broken barbs to practice. Probably won¡¯t get caught on the rocks and no big deal if you lose it.¡± After determining how well I can throw a harpoon, I also determine that I¡¯m not as strong as an adult goblin. Curse these low child attributes. Oh well. This might just take more practice. On the banks of Splott Island, where Splott Hearth is in the middle of Splott Lake, I scan the murky waters for a Splottfish. These goblins are certainly intent upon putting their Hearth¡¯s name into everything. Not that I can blame them. What else were they going to call it? ¡°Yell when you see one!¡± says Smop. ¡°Sometimes they get mad and try to attack people. Those tusks aren¡¯t just for show.¡± My [Aura Sight] picks up a fish-shaped monster moving around not far from shore.
Category Monster
Type Fish
Gender Female
Rank Elite
¡°I see one,¡± I say, pointing and giving a distance. ¡°Good eye!¡± Smop says. ¡°You have Search (Fish)?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°No, I have Clairvoyance (Aura Sight),¡± I say. ¡°It also tells me that this one is female and Elite.¡± ¡°Ooh! The females are bigger and meaner. See if you can hit her!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot!¡± I say, hefting my harpoon. The first throw comes nowhere near the fish. The second clips her fluttery purple fins. Although it doesn¡¯t catch, it does have the effect of pissing her off, resulting in her swimming closer. The third throw sticks, and the goblins around me let out a whoop as they grab the line and help pull her in. As she gets closer, two more goblins hook their own lines into her to help. The glistening purple fish reaches the rocky shore, thrashing about wildly and flailing with her tusks in an attempt to gore the goblins who dared attack her. The goblins stab her with smooth long spears to keep their distance while making sure she¡¯s actually dead.
Congratulations! You have caught a Huge fish.
Skill acquired: Striking (Harpoon)
Your Survival (Fishing) skill has increased to level 2.
¡°Good hunt!¡± Smop says. ¡°Good eye, Drake. And good work, everyone! Praise be to Splott!¡± Smop shows me how to strip its scales and trim its gossamer fins. They look like they could be made into a fancy dress with very little effort, and yet none of the goblins wear clothing made from Splottfish fins. ¡°Why don¡¯t your people wear these?¡± I ask, holding up a handful of fins big enough to cover me from head to toe. Smop seems so puzzled by the question that my empathy detector has a new prime example for utter confusion. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be very practical. They don¡¯t offer any protection or warmth. Would humans wear them?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± I say. ¡°Humans might think they¡¯re pretty.¡± ¡°Your Hearth considers gray pretty?¡± Smop asks. ¡°You all wear those dark clothes.¡± ¡°Gray?¡± I ask, emitting the same shade of puzzlement. ¡°This is bright violet.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Smop says. ¡°Goblins can¡¯t see violet.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± I say. ¡°Milo mentioned something about that. And¡­ wait, do you mean you see my clothes as the color ¡®dark¡¯?¡± Smop nods. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful! I hope we can trade for some of your Hearth¡¯s materials, whatever sort of material that is. I¡¯ve been told violet is more blue than blue, though I can¡¯t imagine how. I might say dark is more red than red, but that probably doesn¡¯t mean anything to you either.¡± Once this part of the task is finished, I¡¯m rewarded with a system window.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Skinning)
The other goblins help me with dismantling the innards, and I immediately realize that this so-called fish has absolute nonsense for internal organs. It¡¯s like a lootbox containing a several units of meat, a few units of fat, and units of fish oil, ink, and ambergris, not to mention the two ivory tusks on the front. It¡¯s downright implausible that all these useful resources would have naturally developed in the same animal. The goblins just consider it the gifts of Splott. I would be greatly surprised if none of the human villages wanted any of these. I¡¯m already thinking of what might be crafted from these materials. The goblins insist on teaching me every part of the process, and I¡¯m quite sure that there¡¯s no one that knows more about processing Splottfish than Splotts. They¡¯re unique to this lake and effectively part of the Hearth, much like the devil-goats are part of Corwen. They¡¯re spawned monsters and not animals. I¡¯m guessing it costs less essence to spawn something as a baby, even one that quickly grows into a full-sized monster, than it is to simply spawn the resources and give them to the goblins. From what I¡¯ve seen, aether cores don¡¯t simply give people things without demanding a challenge from them. With the huge fish reduced to its raw materials, it¡¯s my turn to give a lesson and then it¡¯s over to the boatmaking. Boats are frequently damaged or lost, so new boats regularly need to be made. The goblin crafters take great pride in their craftsmanship and are happy to prove themselves to a human who has so much more to teach them than they have to teach me. I know a little of a lot of things, though, and I don¡¯t have any one skill I have pushed very high. Just as I¡¯m starting in on the boat building lessons, the rest of my party returns, along with a blond human man I don¡¯t recognize. ¡°Hey, Drake!¡± Anise says brightly. ¡°We¡¯re back! I hope you¡¯ve made good use of the time. Do you know how to make a boat yet?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m only just starting that,¡± I say. ¡°Aw, so what have you been doing?¡± ¡°Fishing. Check this stuff out.¡± I show her the violet frilly fins. ¡°You think anyone would like to wear a dress made from these?¡± ¡°Oh, neat,¡± Anise says. ¡°Maybe! Hey, this here is Dale Talgarth. He¡¯s here for boring trading stuff.¡± Dale says hi before going off to do the boring trading stuff. I¡¯m sure Milo is thrilled. I, however, am going to catch up with my friends and family. ¡°Hey, Rowan,¡± I say. ¡°How annoyed at you was your mom? Were you gone long enough that she was more thankful to see you than mad at you?¡± ¡°A bit of both,¡± Rowan says. ¡°They might not have let me leave the Hearth again at all until it¡¯s too late if Milo hadn¡¯t persuaded them. What in the Void is his Charisma at?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him that? He might even tell you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve started learning Goblin as well. I guess I should have expected that I ought to learn it if I was joining a party with goblins in it,¡± Rowan says. ¡°Your mom has been very¡­ I don¡¯t know if patient is the right word, but she¡¯s definitely enthusiastic. Like everything is the most fun.¡± ¡°It is!¡± Anise interjects with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m getting to see and do new things. I don¡¯t know how Drake has the patience for all this crafting stuff, but it¡¯s kind of his thing and he seems to enjoy it so to each their own. I won¡¯t complain if it keeps leading to cool things to use. Will Splott have an inn soon too?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been teaching them [Masonry] but, again, we¡¯ll need to wrangle a trade agreement from Penbryn before we can actually build anything. And by ¡®we¡¯ I mean ¡®Milo¡¯.¡± Chapter 34: Making a Splash Meadow is being excessively broody about her True Art. It¡¯s getting kind of tiresome to be perfectly honest. ¡°Didn¡¯t you talk this over with Aunt Heather at any point?¡± I ask. Meadow grunts. ¡°Sure, Grandma Heather gave advice and made me keep up my studies. But she never steps in to make someone change their mind even if they¡¯re making a terrible mistake.¡± ¡°What drew you to drawing in the first place?¡± I wonder. Meadow sighs and stands up, and looks off at the gently rippling waters of Splott Lake. Darting magenta fins can be seen now and then, and the light from bioluminescent blue fungi on the ceiling casts a glimmer upon the waters. Here I am talking about glimmering like some sort of poet, but given Meadow¡¯s poise and expression, I just have to pray to Corwen she doesn¡¯t burst into song like a Disney princess declaring her life¡¯s dream. ¡°It started off as a matter of tools, actually,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Survival and Crafting are all well and good, but what if I could have any tool I needed on hand at any time? True Art is one of the few ways of actually conjuring matter, even if it¡¯s temporary matter. I could take a sketch of a nice little camp, shove some vis into it, and poof! Tent and all appear out of thin air and I didn¡¯t have to carry anything but art supplies.¡± I nod. ¡°That¡¯s pretty much what I¡¯m planning on doing with it myself. But for me it will be technical diagrams and not beautiful landscapes. I wish I were Elite already so I could play around with it myself. Alas, I suppose I will have to live vicariously in watching you play around with it instead.¡± Meadow chuckles and pulls out her sketchbook and colored pencils. ¡°Well, if you were me, what would you do?¡± ¡°You want to conjure tools?¡± I say. ¡°How about start with a rock?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much of a tool,¡± Meadow says. ¡°You can get rocks anywhere.¡± ¡°A rock is the most basic tool in existence, by which I mean basic with a lowercase B, although I¡¯m sure there have to be Legendary rocks out there somewhere. In any case, it doesn¡¯t matter how useful it is in a normal situation. Adventuring is all about abnormal situations, though. And sometimes you might just really need a rock to throw at something.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, I get your point. A rock, fine. I can draw a rock.¡± She sketches out a gray rock, making it a bit misshapen and lumpy to give it texture. Once it¡¯s done, she sends her vis into the picture. At first, nothing happens, but she ramps up her focus and a sketchy outline appears in the air for a moment. ¡°Ugh,¡± Meadow says, rubbing her head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m out of Inspiration already. But at least that almost did something. I suppose I¡¯ll keep at it whenever I have spare Inspiration to see if I can unlock a proper skill for it. While awake, that is. I don¡¯t understand the people who wake up multiple times a night just to dump a topped off Inspiration meter into some project that definitely isn¡¯t worth more than a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± A good night¡¯s sleep in a bedroll inside a tent in a cave, but still. Every day, I teach the Splotts a bit more about stacking rocks, and the Splotts teach me a bit more about building boats. Due to the difficulty of getting large quantities of rocks across the lake in kayaks, we¡¯ve been practicing on the shore. Splott¡¯s first stone building won¡¯t be in Splott itself, but they¡¯re perfectly happy with the prospect of sticking a building on the other side of the lake by the docks. We¡¯re many months away from swarm season yet, and we¡¯re close enough to the surface that there aren¡¯t many wandering monsters. Meadow¡¯s next few attempts just result in making rocks made of whatever is in those colored pencils, which crumble to dust in under a second and vanish entirely not long after that. While Meadow works on her True Art, I¡¯m back to trying to learn how to build a boat. Man, forget mindlessly slaughtering monsters. I¡¯m down here in a mysterious, beautiful cave making kayaks with goblins and having a blast. Again, they assure me not to worry about wasted materials. It¡¯s all part of learning, and any scraps that are no longer usable for anything at all are taken to their Hearth¡¯s core room to be converted into essence. And I waste a lot of materials. As nice as it is, I¡¯m honestly utterly baffled about why the Splotts are even friendlier than the Grubwicks, although I have a deeper relationship with the Grubwicks. I suppose part of it is how we wound up meeting the Grubwicks, and only came to Splott after they¡¯d already heard about their technological advancements and positive relations with humans. I think they¡¯re trying very, very hard to make a good impression on their human guests.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I unlocked True Art (Simulacrum)!¡± Meadow exclaims as she comes over to me to celebrate. ¡°Congratulations!¡± I say. ¡°Check this out,¡± Meadow says. ¡°The goblins helped me mix up some paints using local materials. I only needed shades of gray, anyway.¡± Her rock image is still crude, but more solid than the colored pencils. ¡°You think it will make a difference over the colored pencils?¡± I ask. ¡°Watch.¡± This time, when our budding Artist uses her skill, a rock made of crude gray paint appears on the ground between us. Meadow picks it up and squeezes it, and it squishes like a sports ball. She throws it at the floor, and it splatters into paint. ¡°Cool, paintball!¡± I exclaim. Meadow laughs. ¡°I¡¯m making progress on getting the items to be more solid and last longer.¡± The gray paint remains on the floor for about a minute before it disappears. ¡°As it is, this would be absolutely perfect for a game I know of from another life,¡± I say. ¡°Shooting paint at each other to see who can score the most hits. We had to use paint that didn¡¯t conveniently disappear afterward, though.¡± ¡°Seems like a waste of paint if it¡¯s real paint, but if you have a surplus that does sound like fun,¡± Meadow says. ¡°I bet you could make, say, a sling that automatically makes rocks to throw, or a bow or crossbow, or the like.¡± Meadow nods. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of ranged weapons that make their own ammo, but I never looked into how they do it. When I imagined being a Ranger who creates her own ammo on the fly, I thought I would be doing it myself, with a spell cast from my own Inspiration meter. But if I had an item powered by a suitable aspect stone, I wouldn¡¯t need to burn Inspiration for it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d offer to make one for you, but I don¡¯t know how to make magic items yet and aren¡¯t at Elite yet regardless,¡± I say. ¡°It might need to be incorporated with sigils for control, too. I just don¡¯t know enough yet.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Meadow says. ¡°It¡¯s a long-term project, anyway. I have a long way to go yet before I can make an arrow that might actually pierce instead of splatter.¡± After a good deal of work, I finally manage to build a kayak that doesn¡¯t immediately sink. And I know that I¡¯ve been successful by the system¡¯s praise.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality vessel.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Shipbuilding)
Your Dexterity has increased to 8.
It¡¯s ridiculous that Carpentry and Woodworking are separate skills but there¡¯s a Shipbuilding skill that encompasses anything to do with vessels. Whatever. Subskills all affect the main skill, anyway. Learning how to fish makes you a tiny bit better at starting a fire, because it just does. I¡¯m not going to marvel at the existence of a life-size RPG magic system, but I will criticize how nonsensical its setup is sometimes. I sit in my boat, bobbing a little on the waters of Lake Splott and marveling at the fact that my feet are still dry. I don¡¯t immediately notice that I¡¯m drifting away from shore. ¡°Dung!¡± I swear in Goblin, quickly plunging my hands into the water to hand-paddle back to where the goblins are laughing at me. ¡°Next lesson, how to make paddles!¡± Smop says with a wide grin on his face. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have covered that first?¡± ¡°The boat came before the paddle!¡± Smop says. ¡°Making the boat made us realize we needed them.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it and I know about paddles¡ªthere¡¯s some right there. I¡¯m just a very smart idiot. Or stupid genius. One of those.¡± ¡°Not stupid,¡± Smop says. ¡°You just don¡¯t think forward very much. You don¡¯t keep making the same mistakes, but you never think about consequences. Everything you do makes a ripple in the lake. The waves will swell and grow over time, like the attacks of the Epic Splottfish that once almost drowned our village. There was chaos and destruction, but our mightiest hunters brought her down at great cost. They harvested her eggs and brought them to the Hearth, and now there are always Splottfish in the lake providing resources and protecting us from invaders.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± I say. ¡°That¡¯s a nice reward for taking down a raid boss.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you mean us harm,¡± Smop says. ¡°There will be great change, but when the waves settle, I don¡¯t think it will be bad change. Now, come. Let me show you what we make our paddles from.¡± He shows me how to make a paddle, although I could have guessed how to make a bad one myself. My results are a bit better thanks to having someone on hand who can tell me more than the general shape I¡¯m going for. At least this part of the boat process is just something that will be merely inefficient if done poorly, rather than leading to you swimming back to shore. ¡°Are you done yet?¡± Anise asks. ¡°We want to see you boat!¡± ¡°You know, something I¡¯ve come to realize about goblins is that there¡¯s so many of them and they have no concept of privacy, literally everything you do has an audience.¡± ¡°Oh my,¡± Anise says. ¡°I¡¯m going to mess up, probably repeatedly, and everyone¡¯s going to laugh at me, and I will laugh back once I get back on solid ground. I¡¯ve been getting plenty of practice with Athletics (Swimming). I might be close to a level-up.¡± ¡°Sounds like fun!¡± Anise says. ¡°I¡¯ll make some popcorn.¡± ¡°Where in the Void did you find popcorn?¡± I wonder. ¡°Talgarth. Rowan¡¯s Hearth is known for its corn. They brought some with them as samples and I¡¯m going to pop them with Sorcery (Spectator¡¯s Passion).¡± ¡°What in the Void is up with your skill names?¡± I ask, trying to keep a straight face. ¡°It¡¯s also good for hot dogs.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m done here,¡± I say. Chapter 35: Splott Lakes Slowest Boat Chase With the paddle finished, I head back out to my boat and ignore the ensuing popcorn distribution. I¡¯m also ignoring Milo announcing to what seems like half of Splott that today they will be witnessing the historic event of a Human Chosen boating on Splott Lake in a traditionally-made Splott kayak. Why did these idiots have to turn this into a spectacle, anyway? Is there something of a rite of passage here? Even Uncle Hawk and what looks like his adventuring party have shown up! Ugh, whatever. I¡¯m just going to try not to have to be fished out of the lake. Every other Human Chosen has probably just been here to kill goblins. I don¡¯t want to just be the white man who shows up to uplift the dumb savages, either, but at least that¡¯s a narrative that winds up with fewer innocent people dead. I killed goblins because I had no choice, but we can speak now and I¡¯ve become good friends with some of them. And I¡¯m literally doing what their ¡°god¡± wants, for that matter. So, fine, if Milo is going to play this up like ¡°an historic event¡± with an ¡°an¡± and everything, I¡¯ll give them a show they won¡¯t soon forget. I step into the boat and it immediately overturns and dumps me in the water. I grab a hold of it and manage to pull myself out of the water to a burst of laughter and popcorn. After a minute, I manage to right the boat and get back in it. My Stamina is low. Now that I¡¯m not tipping over, I breathe and take a rest and breathe deeply.
Skill acquired: Athletics (Take a Breather)
The system window popping up distracts me from my almost-meditative state. I guess I never did master meditation, but this might be close enough. My stamina meter refills much more rapidly for a minute. Carefully, I dip the end of my oar into the water. (Wait, is it an oar or a paddle? I¡¯ve been translating the goblin word for the thing as ¡°paddle¡± but I really don¡¯t remember what the difference is. I miss the internet sometimes.) I slowly, carefully, patiently try to move straight forward. By which I mean everything happens except that. I¡¯m Taking another Breather when I examine my boat.
Category Object
Type Vessel
Materials Hide, Bone
Quality Poor
Durability 3/5
All this manhandling my shoddy boat trying to stay in it has taken a toll on it. I get back to rowing, and I¡¯m actually having some success now. I get a fair distance from shore and I¡¯m about to head back when I detect a very large aura beneath me.
Category Monster
Type Fish
Gender Female
Rank Heroic
Mood Dangerously Curious
I freeze. Holding my wooden oar horizontally, I still all movement in my body except my breathing. Splott goblins rarely get attacked by Splottfish they didn¡¯t antagonize, but outsiders might not be so fortunate. I wonder if she can tell what I am. A Splott goblin also wouldn¡¯t stop rowing or showing any suspicious behavior. She¡¯s watching me very closely and I can feel her eyes on me. I¡¯m just a weird big pink goblin. Really I am. I put the paddle in the water and mimic the movements of the goblins I¡¯d watched. Eaten by a Splottfish at age 5 might be a humorous addition to my collection of five million deaths, but I think I¡¯d like to be alive a little while longer. I keep paddling, calm and steady. The sensible thing for me to do would be to get back to shore, but she¡¯s between me and the nearest shore. Although she hasn¡¯t been hostile, I still don¡¯t want to get too close.
Mood Dangerously Playful
I turn and head toward the bank to the right, but she moves between me and the rocks, preventing me from getting ashore without going right over her. I turn toward Splott Island and make it almost the full way there when she swoops around in front of me, a wave almost turning me over. I¡¯m forced to turn swiftly back out into the open water. I paddle around the middle of the lake, resting when I have to and keeping going as I can.
Mood Dangerously Bored
Once I¡¯m back in range, I pause to rest again and send to Anise telepathically, [There is a Heroic Splottfish hovering around me. Tell the hunters and get the Basics back from shore.]The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Anise has no way to reply, but I watch her wave people around and a fishing party gets ready for the monster to get close. The fishers throw their harpoons, Meadow shoots her arrow (because we¡¯re fishing with a bow and arrow today) and Anise is casting a spell that¡¯s probably named something stupid. Smop hurls a harpoon at the Splottfish and strikes true. The Heroic fish is considerably larger than the Elite I¡¯d caught before, and there aren¡¯t many Elites among the goblins who are capable of doing real damage to her. Between them and the human Elites, though, they successfully bring the fish ashore and kill it.
Congratulations! Your party has caught an Enormous fish.
Skill acquired: Mechanics (Piloting)
Skill acquired: Survival (Nonthreatening Stance)
Your Discipline (Composure) skill has increased to level 2.
Your Endurance has increased to 7.
Phew. Fortunate enough that the fish hadn¡¯t been immediately hostile. I row my kayak to the edge of the lake and pull it out of the water before flopping down on the rocky ground. I need more than a breather after that. Goblins and humans alike cheer wildly as they circle around the steaming elephant-sized fish. Anise comes over to check on me. ¡°You okay there, Drake?¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± I say with a tired laugh, and send her the system box I just received. ¡°Nice,¡± Anise says. ¡°You take any damage?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Once my Stamina meter is full again, I head over to where the goblins have gotten started on dismantling the fish, and join in. The carcass is hot to the touch, however, and I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re supposed to prepare fish before cooking it, but we manage. Once they harvest the materials from it, an awful stench wafts out over the lakeshore. Splottfish oil, ink, and ambergris all have delightfully hideous fragrances when boiled. When the goblins manage to get past the reek to examine them in more detail, they realize that being boiled alive has altered the color or consistency of some of the fish¡¯s fluids. The oil has turned blue and lumpy. The ambergris has softened and taken on a musky floral odor like perfume. And the ink, originally black, now shimmers in a rainbow of colors like an oil slick. ¡°You guys are going to be selling frilly dresses and perfume to humans,¡± Milo comments. ¡°We use the ambergris for our incense,¡± says Smop. ¡°It¡¯s sacred. Not that we¡¯re forbidden from trading it. But everyone who uses this scent will think of Splott and give honor to our core. Praise be to Splott!¡± The sentiment ripples among the gathered goblins. Milo muses aloud, ¡°We¡¯ll need to discuss trademarks, and people will likely try to introduce shoddy off-brand knockoffs to pass off as the real thing.¡± Most of the goblins present are praising me, praising Splott, and celebrating. The popcorn has been spilled everywhere, what of it didn¡¯t get eaten already. And now everyone is having a fish feast on top of watching a crazy human kid slowly paddle around a lake while being stalked by a giant fish. That was more than enough time to destroy all the popcorn. Meadow approaches. ¡°Hey, Drake, Milo.¡± She gestures toward the eclectic band behind her. ¡°Uncle Hawk is here with his adventuring party. They¡¯ve offered to take me on a Heroic quest with them. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll get me to Heroic before I turn 21, seeing as I only made Elite a few years ago. But if nothing else, it¡¯ll be a good opportunity to put my skills into practice.¡± ¡°Sounds like a good plan,¡± I say. ¡°You probably aren¡¯t too interested in just watching me build bridges.¡± Meadow chuckles. ¡°That boat chase was intense because of how agonizingly slow it was.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me, I was the one out there on the water.¡± Uncle Hawk approaches and gives some introductions. The pink-haired elf (and of course there has to be a pink-haired elf) is named Violet, because it would have made no sense to name her Rose or something. The dwarf is named Schist, and the robed human woman with a staff is named Marjoram. I am immediately going to forget these names anyway so I¡¯m not sure why I bother. I still don¡¯t remember the names of every Corwen. ¡°And by the way, that¡¯s the goblin that had me kidnapped and tried to murder me,¡± Uncle Hawk says. They really ought to be more mad about it. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you more mad about that?¡± Milo wonders. ¡°Because,¡± says the dwarf adventurer. ¡°Do you have any idea how groundbreaking it is to take a diplomatic approach to goblins?¡± ¡°It is popular amongst the youth of Crux Domain to sympathize with lesser beings while pretending they did not just call them lesser beings,¡± comments the pink-haired elf. ¡°It¡¯s very hard to campaign for goblin rights when the goblins don¡¯t care about their rights being campaigned for,¡± says the staff lady. Milo stares at them for a long moment before finally saying, ¡°You know what, fine. I¡¯m just not going to argue.¡± The next morning before they leave, Uncle Hawk pulls me aside. ¡°Word of advice, Drake,¡± Uncle Hawk says quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t let Milo take all your Deeds. It¡¯s all well and good to want to help¡ªit¡¯s what you promised when you convinced them to release me, after all. That [Elder Witch] of theirs might have kept cursing me to the point that Milo could actually do damage faster than I could regenerate it. I don¡¯t know where this is going, but you¡¯re family and I¡¯ll support your decisions no matter what. Don¡¯t forget to perform Deeds for yourself as well, though. And remember that the journey to Divine is dangerous. It will likely take many goblin lifespans. It might take many human lifespans.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m making a lot of progress on my skills, though.¡± ¡°Good. You¡¯ll need them. You¡¯ll need every level you can get, even in subskills you¡¯re never going to use. They all add up. I¡¯ll be interested in seeing what you ultimately make with them.¡± Chapter 36: Sensing Hostility! Come spring, limestone gets delivered from Penbryn, and I feel like we¡¯re ready to really mess up an attempt at building a building. I don¡¯t know if I would really consider anyone here good at their new jobs, seeing as they¡¯ve only had a few months to practice and get tools and materials ready. But goblins are surprisingly fast learners. I don¡¯t know if it really makes up for their short lifespans, but at least it means they pick up the stuff I¡¯m trying to tell them quickly. We lay out plans for a building on the shore of Splott Lake, much like Grubwick¡¯s inn. In addition to Anise, Rowan, and Milo, we have a trio of Elite hunters guarding us, including Smop. Things are relatively peaceful in this part of the caverns this time of the year, but it¡¯s always a risk being in the In-Between outside of walls. I¡¯m directing the work crew when I detect some violet auras approaching from the opposite direction of the surface exit. I identify the closest of them.
Category Person
Race Goblin
Gender Male
Rank Basic
Mood Hostile
¡°Alert!¡± I cry. ¡°Hostiles approaching!¡± ¡°Workers to the boats!¡± Smop yells. The goblin Masons immediately drop what they¡¯re doing (¡°Ahh!¡± ¡°Sorry!¡±) and make a break for the kayaks on the shore. There aren¡¯t enough boats for everyone but the Elites step in to shield the fleeing Basics as hostile goblins emerge from the tunnels all around us. I get in a boat along with two Masons, one of whom grabs a paddle before pushing off hurriedly. ¡°I think they must be Usks,¡± says one of the Masons. ¡°Stupid Usks,¡± says the other, raising a hand in a rude gesture toward the shore. One of the thrown rocks strikes my boat and almost overturns it. The second hit tips us into the water with a splash. I grab the boat to try to stay afloat, but part of the frame has broken and it¡¯s no longer lakeworthy. ¡°We¡¯ll swim to the village,¡± says one of the goblins who were in the boat with me. ¡°Splotts are good swimmers. We¡¯ll be fine. Worry about yourself! Look, there¡¯s your mom!¡± Anise is here. My mom is watching my back as always. She uses a skill probably named something like Sorcery (Motherly Protection) and a shimmering barrier surrounds me. Two rocks thrown in my general direction plink off of it and splash into the water. I swim back toward the shore, not having actually gotten very far. ¡°Drake!¡± Anise calls out, rushing up to meet me at the edge of the water. ¡°How many hostiles do you sense?¡± Rowan pulls me out of the water while Anise is busy throwing fire around, incinerating any goblin that so much as glances at us in an unfriendly manner. ¡°Too many!¡± I exclaim. ¡°They¡¯re coming in from every direction. They must have staged all around the lake shore and were careful not to get too close until we were surrounded!¡± Milo climbs on top of a stack of cut stone blocks, and his voice tinged with power echoes over the lakeshore. ¡°**Stop! Stop fighting! Peace! Peace!**¡± A large rock strikes him in the head, and he crumples like a puppet whose strings have been cut. I suck in a breath and rush over toward him, with Anise and Rowan beside me, but we can¡¯t even get close. He might be Elite, but he¡¯s been swarmed with dozens of Basics and has nothing but strong words to use against them. We¡¯re forced to withdraw from the lakeside under the sheer press of numbers. ¡°We need to get to the surface exit,¡± Anise says. ¡°Keep close. Rowan, look out for Drake. Drake, think really loudly if you detect anything we don¡¯t already know about.¡± We make our way toward the exit, leaving behind Splott Lake and the madness going on near it. I take a glance back as we reach the tunnels, where things narrow to the point I won¡¯t be able to look. We¡¯re not being pursued. Goblins dance on the shores of the lake and the Splotts may or may not have managed to evacuate any of my poor Masons. I know I saw at least some of them make it to the boats before we got overwhelmed.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Milo¡­¡± I say quietly. Anise nods. ¡°Nothing we can do for him now, if he even survived. We¡¯ll have to get to Grubwick via the surface and let them know what happened.¡±
You have survived the battle of Splott.
Your Athletics (Swimming) skill increased to level 2.
Your Clairvoyance (Empathy) skill increased to level 2.
I got a level of [Swimming] from that? I was only even in the water for like a minute! I guess that¡¯s some consolation experience for ¡°Congratulations, you didn¡¯t drown!¡± I don¡¯t even have it in me to protest too much about how silly skills are sometimes. It didn¡¯t take terribly much [Empathy] to detect hostility in the screaming goblins who were throwing rocks at people.
The surface is peaceful and spring is springing, but I¡¯m dejected and distraught. I let my guard down and I really should not have. Still, without having to navigate the tunnels of the In-Between, we¡¯re able to reach Grubwick quickly enough. ¡°Something terrible happened at Splott Lake,¡± Anise says. ¡°We know,¡± says [Elder Witch] Griza with a sigh. ¡°Grubwick informed me when it updated my quest. We had a newborn awaiting a naming ceremony, so we named him Milo. Here he is now. I figured you would want to see him.¡± She gestures toward a younger goblin woman approaching with a tiny bundle in her arms. Normally, I¡¯m sure an infant goblin would never be seen outside of the depths of their warrens. Babies are ugly enough but goblin babies resemble green pugs, with a squished nose and folded pointed ears. [I wish I could talk,] projects the baby¡¯s thoughts. [I wish I could see. Ugh, I hated being a baby the second time around. I was almost an adult, too!] [Milo, is that really you?] I send to him. [Yes! Can you hear me, Drake?] [I can hear you,] I think, then say aloud, ¡°Alright, so that is him.¡± [As it turns out, I didn¡¯t need to be so worried about the lifespan thing after all,] Milo sends. [I kept Elite rank and all my skills, too. And apparently I unlocked Clairvoyance (Telepathy) just from complaining loudly enough about not being able to talk.] [That¡¯s great!] [I think I¡¯m going to take it easy for a bit¡ªnot that I have much choice¡ªand just work on skills rather than trying to change the world overnight. I¡¯ve done a lot too fast. It would not be so bad to give Grubwick and Splott a few generations to get used to the idea of being friendly with humans and being able to build things. I¡¯m confident that we will win the goblin war. I need to find a source of metal before we can go much further technologically.] Undeterred by dying, Milo is still plotting. [With the goblin war on, my mom wants me to stay at Corwen unless I¡¯ve got a Heroic or up escort,] I tell him, repeating a conversation I¡¯d had with her along the way. [She doesn¡¯t trust herself to keep me safe by herself against an entire goblin army. I won¡¯t argue about it. I have a lot of things to work on.] [There¡¯s only so much roughing it you can take at once,] Milo comments. [I¡¯ll try and keep the trade with Corwen and Penbryn going at least. I dearly want my goblins to learn about clothes. Fur loincloths do not count.] [I always appreciate your priorities,] I reply wryly. [Hey, here¡¯s a bright side! I¡¯m actually named Milo this time. It was getting annoying seeing ¡°Grabrat¡± on my status screen so I¡¯m glad Grubwick took my complaint to heart.] ¡°Okay, I assume you¡¯re having a telepathic conversation and not just staring creepily at that baby goblin,¡± Anise says. ¡°Anything to share?¡± I relay the gist of the conversation to her verbally before realizing I can just forward the messages to her. ¡°Sounds like he¡¯s taking brutally murdered in stride,¡± Anise says. ¡°I hope at least some of the Splotts I was working with got away,¡± I say with a sigh. ¡°They assured me they were good swimmers. Not much we can do about it now.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no solidarity among goblins,¡± Griza says. ¡°We all live in our own cramped villages, set up outposts to gather resources and come back home before the swarms. We¡¯re not unified like the humans.¡± ¡°Humans aren¡¯t really unified, either,¡± Anise says. ¡°Yes, but you communicate and cooperate. We were making progress with Splott, but now we are cut off from them. Usk lies between Grubwick and Splott, and I have no doubt that their warriors will be swarming the tunnels.¡± ¡°Both Grubwick and Splott are close to surface exits, though,¡± I say. ¡°And as soon as we tell Corwen what happened, there will be adventurers happy to kill hostile goblins,¡± Anise says. ¡°For better or worse.¡± The goblin war has begun. And I¡¯m sure the cores are gleeful. I¡¯m not. I¡¯ve been forbidden from going near goblin villages until they¡¯re done deciding if they want to be Tolkien goblins or Warcraft goblins. We only managed to stop by Grubwick before returning to Corwen because if we went back to Corwen first, I would not be leaving it again anytime soon. Alas. So, with that, Anise, Rowan and I stay our last night in Grubwick for what might be years. The inn has been coming along nicely and I hope the goblins I¡¯d worked with here can keep themselves safe. ¡°How are you holding up?¡± Anise asks. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to emotionally parse watching my friend die and then get reincarnated immediately.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a tough one,¡± Anise says. ¡°Can¡¯t help you there.¡± I¡¯m not going to think too hard about this goblin baby who might have grown up to be something else but got Milo¡¯s soul shoved in. I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s any shortage of short-lived shorties. Many more will die before this is over, I have no doubt. Chapter 37: Turning Point ¡°Drake, are you alright?¡± asks Burdock. ¡°I heard you got in a big fight.¡± Burdock is 11 now, almost 12, and his cat-monster familiar, Mipsy, is at his side. Now the size of a bobcat, a normal almost-6-year-old would probably find her intimidating. She blinks up at me with three glowing green eyes, and two of her four ears tilt toward me. ¡°Yeah,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m still kind of stunned about everything that¡¯s happened. I didn¡¯t get hurt, but I was luckier than some.¡± ¡°Drake,¡± Aunt Heather says, approaching. ¡°Your mother told us about what happened. I want to try scrying into the caverns and I¡¯d like your help with it. I will need to navigate the tunnels and you¡¯ve been down there more frequently.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I say, and follow her back to her room. Grandma Laurel also joins us there. Aunt Heather sets up her scrying Invocation with her magic mirror and conjures forth a mystical eye linked to the mirror above the village. It makes me think she¡¯s just jumping through hoops because she doesn¡¯t have Clairvoyance. I have nowhere nearly this range yet, of course, but this strikes me as something I should be able to do once I level up more, and without needing a mirror for it. The invisible magical surveillance drone flies down toward the surface and skims along above the treetops in the direction of the cavern entrance near Grubwick. It moves at a dizzying speed until it locates the opening and darts inside. ¡°Alright, here¡¯s Grubwick,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Now which way is the swamp village from here?¡± I give her directions, and the mirror¡¯s view smoothly flies down through the tunnels and eventually emerges at the underswamps. I am grateful that this little ¡°trip¡± is being done in the safety and warmth of my Hearth and doesn¡¯t involve almost stepping in leeches a dozen times. At the edges of the swamp, several outposts have been set up from crude materials. Packs of goblins systematically gather materials from the swamp and haul them back to Usk Village, where they¡¯re being made into equipment and consumables. ¡°They definitely look busy,¡± Grandma Laurels says. ¡°Can you guide me to the place where you were attacked?¡± Aunt Heather asks. I give her directions, and the arcane eye shoots off down the tunnels again. Here and there, it picks up on more outposts dotting the caverns. One has been set up in the hot spring, though it¡¯s hard to tell what they¡¯re doing there and we don¡¯t stick around to watch for long. Aunt Heather¡¯s Inspiration meter is astronomical but not infinite. The mirror¡¯s view finally displays Splott Lake. The battle is long over by now, but the shores are littered with camps full of goblins dressed in the swamp furs of Usk. The piles of stone blocks are covered in blood. In the center of the lake, Splott Village is safe enough, but besieged on all sides. Usk war parties litter the shores densely enough to prevent the Splotts from landing a kayak anywhere on the lake. ¡°Things don¡¯t look good for your friendly lake goblins,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°They¡¯ll be alright, I hope,¡± I say. ¡°The Splottfish will keep them from starving. The Usks will need to leave when swarm season arrives, if nothing else. I hope the crafters I was working with made it back to the island safely.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any corpses, but they were probably already taken care of by now,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Are there any other notable places you know if that I should check?¡± I shake my head. ¡°I¡¯ll burn the remainder of my Inspiration exploring before my arcane eye fizzles out, then,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can spot anything else of interest.¡± The mirror displays random exploration of the caverns, revealing even more goblin outposts. Some of them still have the look of Usks, but after a bit, a pack of goblins wearing pink furs comes into view. These goblins have slightly yellower skin than the others. ¡°A different group of goblins?¡± I muse. ¡°I haven¡¯t run into these before. I wonder what their disposition is?¡± Before the eye fades, it catches a glimpse of what looks like a meeting between Usk goblins and whatever the pink-loving tribe is. The view winks out before we can see the outcome, and Aunt Heather¡¯s magic eye spell doesn¡¯t have a magic ear on it anyway. ¡°Well, that was an interesting tour,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I ask. She shrugs. ¡°Nothing. I mean, I could go down there and kill every single unfriendly goblin, but it would be a waste. I won¡¯t get anything out of slaughtering Basics and Elites, so unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary, best to leave it to the people who can get experience for it. We¡¯ve got some lower level parties that will be thrilled at the news of a goblin war. Participating in events like this can garner some rare Deeds.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I suppose that¡¯s one way of looking at it. If this were a game, I might be annoyed if some high level player came in and ruined everything. And while this isn¡¯t a game (I don¡¯t think, at any rate), it still bears many of the mechanics of one. The system awards power for doing risky and difficult things. ¡°You should stay in the village next year,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Get a chance to learn some more skills before you turn 7. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve been having a lot of fun, up until everything was trying to kill you at any rate, but you¡¯ll get a lot more experience in your chosen field once you get your class, and child-rank skills are limited to level 5. Once you turn 7, your skill cap will increase to level 25. What¡¯s your highest skill?¡± ¡°[Aura Sight] at level 5,¡± I say. Grandma Laurel nods. ¡°And you¡¯ve been using it continuously for your entire life, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your highest skill?¡± I wonder. She chuckles. ¡°Adult classes have a skill cap of level 100 at Basic rank. Higher ranks give a multiplier to your skill cap. Elite is doubled, Heroic is quadrupled, and so forth. The skill cap for a Legendary-ranked adult is level 1600. I have five skills at that level.¡± ¡°¡­ oh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad that you have a long way to go. You¡¯ve made some good gains so far. I don¡¯t know if spending so much time with goblins was the best way to learn them, but I hope you had fun and got some good Deeds out of it before things went Voidwards.¡± ¡°How did you get so much experience but you know even less about what¡¯s under the surface than I do?¡± I wonder. ¡°We¡¯ve done a good deal of traveling in other domains, but we tend to stick to actual dungeons,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°We came back shortly before you were born, planning to spend a decade or so here before we head off on a long trip. There¡¯s many systems out there to explore and we reached Legendary young.¡± ¡°My sister is going to die of old age and there¡¯s nothing I can do about it,¡± Aunt Heather says with a sigh. ¡°She has no way of making Epic rank anytime soon and it¡¯s too late for it to extend her lifespan much anymore anyway. Her health is failing, and I mean to spend her last few years here with her, and then your Grandma Laurel and I are going out adventuring to distant systems.¡± ¡°What do you suggest I do now?¡± I ask. ¡°Go to school and spend time with your sister and cousins,¡± Aunt Heather says. ¡°Someday soon you will all be able to go on adventures together. Next summer, you can take a trip to the Hedge Maze with them, if I don¡¯t detect any hostile goblins in the area.¡± They let me go. I head to the guest house to meet up with Rowan, who returned to Corwen with me and is sitting by the fire staring distantly into a cup of tea. ¡°Hey, Rowan,¡± I say, sliding in beside him. ¡°How are you holding up?¡± Rowan is quiet for a long moment before finally saying, ¡°I have no idea what to think about what just happened.¡± ¡°Fair,¡± I say. ¡°What are you going to do now? Are you going to stay here for now, or go back to Talgarth?¡± ¡°Milo disbanded his party and dismissed me,¡± Rowan says, then drops to one knee toward me. ¡°I, Rowan Talgarth Tempest Tiganna, formally request to join your party.¡± ¡°I accept, and please don¡¯t kneel at me,¡± I say. ¡°For the moment, though, we¡¯re just going to be doing training.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Rowan says. ¡°Training is good.¡± ¡°How old are you, anyway?¡± I ask. ¡°I turn twelve in June,¡± Rowan says. ¡°That little adventure back there made me realize doubly so how badly unprepared I am. First falling into a pit and getting hurt, and then¡­ so many goblins. I don¡¯t think I even managed to kill a single one.¡± ¡°We certainly didn¡¯t see that coming,¡± I say with a sigh. ¡°Should we have, though?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t even know about trying to get to Elite before I turn 14. I suppose I¡¯ll try again next year, after I¡¯ve done a lot more training. I wish it were more obvious what you need to do to rank up and how far off you are.¡± ¡°I suppose there¡¯s a reason why the system doesn¡¯t want us to know,¡± I say. ¡°We¡¯d probably be even more obsessed with numbers than we already are.¡± Rowan chuckles. ¡°True. Well, I¡¯ll stay the summer here and practice hard. Maybe the fall and winter too.¡± I head for the school. Juniper, Willow, and Griffin are in the play room for the small children trying to put together one of my puzzles. ¡°Drake!¡± Juniper exclaims, puzzle forgotten as she notices me and runs over to give me a hug. ¡°You¡¯re home!¡± ¡°Where have you been?¡± Willow asks. ¡°You¡¯ve been away for so long!¡± ¡°You missed our naming days,¡± Griffin says grumpily. ¡°We¡¯re all four now!¡± And at some point they started speaking in complete sentences. ¡°Sorry,¡± I say. ¡°I had some things I wanted to do. But I¡¯ll be around a lot more for a while. How about I make it up to you with making you guys some extra presents?¡± ¡°Yay!¡± Griffin says, throwing his hands in the air and immediately forgetting his grumpiness. Juniper is cute. Willow is cute. Griffin is cute. I must appreciate that everyone is cute. Because they will not be cute for long. Ten years from now, they will be little pains in the rear, having obsessed over getting to Elite before turning 14 like everyone else around here seems to. Since I can¡¯t get my skills over level 5 yet, and I seem to be having good luck at least getting that first level, I decide to try and get a few more unlocked. I don¡¯t have [Tailoring] yet, so I go to see Aunt Dahlia for a few lessons. In between those lessons, I work on making a couple of board games for the four-year-olds. I make little wooden game pieces painted to look vaguely like them, and paint a board with snakes and ladders. (We do not have a playground with a slide and the only chute is for garbage in the kitchen, so putting slides would be nonsensical. Even more nonsensical than sliding down snakes, I suppose. They do know what snakes are.)
You have crafted a Poor quality toy.
Your Crafting (Painting) skill has increased to level 2.
I don¡¯t think my skills are up to making properly balanced dice, but at least dice are something we¡¯re not short on. The six-sided ones, anyway. I haven¡¯t seen any polyhedral dice around here yet. I¡¯ll have to rectify that situation once my skills get higher, but at least making games like this doesn¡¯t require much precision. The kids are delighted at the game, but it¡¯s not really one that would help much with critical thinking skills. I have plenty more ideas, though. And yet things are so peaceful inside the village that I keep expecting someone to burst through the door saying something terrible has happened. But I have two Legendary-ranked adventurers nearby still, and if anything happens that they can¡¯t take care of, then we¡¯re all screwed. Chapter 38: Playing with Balls With Aunt Dahlia¡¯s help, I learn the basics of [Tailoring]. And after all the nonsense with other skills, I¡¯m kind of glad this is just [Tailoring], and not separate skills for [Spinning], [Weaving], [Sewing], [Knitting], [Twining], [Rope Making], [Underwater Basket Weaving], whatever. Sometimes I get exhausted with how many skills there are and how many I¡¯ve already unlocked and I don¡¯t even have access to magic skills yet. I¡¯m told that subskills do exist but we can¡¯t see our exact values in them, which is probably for the best. My first major tailoring project, once I¡¯ve gotten the basics down, isn¡¯t a garment at all but a net. The village is sadly lacking in sports equipment and, despite not being a huge fan of sports, I plan to rectify that. My main objection to sports in my first life had more to do with not finding it very fun to watch someone else play a game. Also, I wasn¡¯t terribly athletic, but that was mostly because I was busy all the time with both work and personal projects and it was easier to squeeze in a video game than take a week off to go hiking or convince a dozen other busy people to play a team sport. And I never had kids¡­ to which I¡¯m starting to feel like I missed out on something. I feel more attached to the Corwens than I ever did to my family back on Earth. I don¡¯t remember the proportions of an actual goal used in soccer or anything, so I kind of wing it and it doesn¡¯t matter anyway. The net is made from devil-goat wool, so it¡¯s black rather than the white I remember seeing on most sports nets, but I painted the wooden frame in red and white stripes to stand out.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality toy.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Tailoring)
¡°Hey, Mom, can you help me get this set up on the green beside the school?¡± I ask, gesturing to the completed goal frame and net. ¡°Sure, what is it?¡± Anise says, coming over to lend a hand. ¡°It¡¯s a goal,¡± I say. ¡°For throwing balls into. One team tries to keep the other team from getting the balls into the goal.¡± ¡°Huh, neat,¡± Anise says. ¡°That sounds like something fun to do when we can¡¯t go out and run dungeons. Plus it should be good Blocking practice. Did you make shields for it too?¡± ¡°The sports I remember didn¡¯t usually involve shields but I see no reason why we can¡¯t use them,¡± I say. ¡°Training Blocking (Shield) is probably more useful than Blocking (Head).¡± Anise blinks. ¡°Do you mean to tell me that they deliberately blocked balls with their heads?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Earth people were weird,¡± Anise says. ¡°You have no idea.¡± We manage to get the goal set up, and Anise drives the frame into the ground to secure it. It¡¯s not pretty, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it broke if someone threw a ball at it too hard. That¡¯s fine, though. Making another one would get me more experience, after all, and I might even manage a quality rating higher than Poor next time. (Doubtful.) Per my mother¡¯s suggestion, I make a shield next, by which I mean I shoddily attach a strap to a badly carved chunk of wood and paint it red and white to match the goal.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality shield.
Skill acquired: Crafting (Carpentry)
Wait, a shield is [Carpentry]? Seriously? If I¡¯d realized that I would have made a crappy shield years ago. Oh well, I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter at this point, and I¡¯m just glad to have another skill unlocked. The system favors innovation and doing a variety of different things. I hope I haven¡¯t wasted opportunities by doing so many assorted things before I even get any experience bonuses for them. But I¡¯m not too worried about it. Creativity is boundless. I¡¯m sure I can come up with things to do for centuries to come, if I live that long. Or if Corwen decides to reincarnate me with the memories of this life like Grubwick did with Milo. I¡¯m still a bit disturbed over what happened with Milo, and no amount of Tending (Therapy) on the part of my relatives has helped, so I¡¯m just keeping busy. I¡¯m kind of glad it didn¡¯t happen during the boat spectacle, but if the Usks were watching at all, they probably realized that attacking when there was a Heroic-ranked adventuring party in attendance was probably a bad idea. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask to be called your old name like Milo did?¡± Anise wonders. ¡°What was your name back on Earth?¡± ¡°Alexander Fizzlesnipe,¡± I reply. ¡°Never mind, I understand completely.¡± I chuckle. ¡°Drake a perfectly fine name and I have no complaints.¡± I give my shoddy shield to Rowan to test it out, and have to adjust the strap three times before he can even hold it properly. Although he doesn¡¯t say it out loud, his face says I have a lot of skill levels to gain before I can make a shield he¡¯s willing to use in an actual fight. Or that might be my Clairvoyance (Empathy) skill telling me how dubious he is. (Reading that my friend thinks my shoddy shield is shoddy does not earn me any skill levels.) ¡°You know, you can say what you¡¯re thinking aloud,¡± I say. ¡°I haven¡¯t unlocked a mind-reading skill yet. I won¡¯t be offended if you hate the Poor quality shield I made to unlock Crafting (Carpentry).¡± Rowan is taken aback for a moment, then chuckles. ¡°Yes, I was hoping you weren¡¯t expecting me to use this in a fight.¡± ¡°Just a game. Did you see the net we set up on the green? People will throw or kick balls at the goal, and the guard¡¯s job is to keep them from getting in.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Huh, that does sound like fun and good training,¡± Rowan says. ¡°And you won¡¯t be offended that I hope this shield breaks immediately so I can get a better one.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to regret telling you to speak your mind, aren¡¯t I,¡± I say. ¡°At least I didn¡¯t suggest that you block balls with your head.¡± Rowan¡¯s baffled expression requires no [Empathy] skill to read his mood. The school¡¯s toy room includes an entire box full of assorted sportsballs, all looking like they¡¯d just come out of a 21st century sportsball factory. A grey-and-white Hearth cat was napping amid the balls and indignantly hops out to wash himself upon being disturbed. There¡¯s an orange basketball, a couple of black-and-white soccer balls, a few baseballs, a volleyball, a purple foam ball, and several lime green tennis balls. ¡°Where did all of these come from?¡± I ask. ¡°They¡¯re a pretty common drop from a dungeon called the Stadium of Viscera,¡± Anise says, reaching down to ruffle the cat¡¯s fur. ¡°Dungeon drops often use weird materials like these that you won¡¯t find anywhere else.¡± ¡°And this stadium has balls but no goals?¡± ¡°Well, the goal is to kill monsters and not throw things at a net,¡± Anise shrugs. ¡°Haven¡¯t been there myself. You either need a party of Heroics or a raid group of competent Elites and I had neither.¡± Griffin, ever the curious four-year-old, appears out of nowhere (or the other side of the room, really) and says, ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to throw balls at Rowan,¡± Anise explains poorly. ¡°Okay!¡± Griffin grabs the volleyball with both hands and hurls it at Rowan. Rowan skillfully and completely accidentally blocks it with his head. ¡°Hey! We¡¯re throwing balls at me outside, and when I have a shield ready.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Griffin pouts. ¡°It¡¯s less fun if you know it¡¯s coming.¡± Anise takes the volleyball, and I hand Griffin the foam ball before claiming a soccer ball for myself. Rowan collects his shield and we head outside. It¡¯s a beautiful summer day beneath the perfectly normal yellow sky. As we¡¯re playing ¡°throw things at Rowan¡± (Griffin hasn¡¯t quite understood that he¡¯s supposed to try to hit the net and not Rowan), a familiar presence approaches. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve been having fun,¡± Meadow says. ¡°Meadow!¡± I say. ¡°How¡¯d your quest go?¡± ¡°It went well,¡± Meadow replies. ¡°We retrieved the chalice of something or other from the crypt of whatever. I was honestly not paying much attention to the lore. There were a lot of traps and undead to fight. I¡¯m still at Elite, but I didn¡¯t really expect to get to Heroic from that. And¡­ I got my class.¡± She seems to have mixed feelings about it. ¡°What class did you get?¡± I ask. ¡°[Dabbling Wanderer],¡± Meadow answers. ¡°I was also given the options of [Charlatan Drifter] and [Tranquil Gatherer], and neither of those sounded like me. It wasn¡¯t what I was hoping for, but I don¡¯t know what I was hoping for. I can live with it, though. It¡¯ll do the job until I reach Heroic rank. Or turn 42, but I really hope I can get to Heroic rank before then.¡± ¡­ [Aura Sight] might be capped, but [Vis Analysis] is not. When I¡¯m not messing around with crafting projects, I try to analyze some more vis. I spend some time hanging around in the guest house scanning the auras of travelers and residents. I get a peculiar reading from the innkeeper, Goldie.
Category Person
Race Human
Gender Female
Rank Mundane
Your Clairvoyance (Vis Analysis) skill has increased to level 4.
Mundane? Now that¡¯s not a rank I¡¯ve seen before. I didn¡¯t realize there was anything below Basic. I examine her aura more closely to try to figure out exactly what¡¯s going on with it, and realize that it is missing some sort of quality to it that everyone else has, but I can¡¯t quite put my finger on what. Fortunately, as I am not stranded cluelessly in the wilderness, I can just ask someone. ¡°Hey, Mom?¡± I ask. ¡°My [Vis Analysis] skill says that Goldie is ¡®Mundane¡¯ rank. What does that mean?¡± ¡°Oh, that,¡± Anise says. ¡°Yeah, she was born Hearthless, the poor thing. Never got named in a Hearth, so she doesn¡¯t even have access to the system. Just has to make due with doing everything the hard way, I suppose.¡± I blink. ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t realize there were people without the system, but I guess that makes sense.¡± It also stands to reason that I¡¯m already getting bonuses from the system, as some of the things I can do are somewhat implausible for a five-year-old kid (even disregarding the psychic powers) and it¡¯s likely to only get more so. I also try to get a better analysis of my star necklace. I don¡¯t usually wear it around the village, but I keep it on me when I go outside because it can¡¯t hurt. But I have some skills I didn¡¯t have last time I tried, and higher stats. The problem is that I can¡¯t detect aether, and dungeon-made artifacts get their powers from aether rather than vis like every biological living being uses. Corwen¡¯s skill book doesn¡¯t mention a Clairvoyance (Aether Sight), but the previous two reincarnators were not greatly imaginative so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if they never unlocked it. So I go down to the core room (by the actual ladder and not the garbage chute). I figure the best way to learn this skill is to analyze the strongest source of aether nearby and see if I can figure this out.
Corwen
Hello, Drake.
[Hi,] I reply. I¡¯m not using actual telepathy here, but Corwen is reading my mind at all and it¡¯s easier to think of it in terms of deliberate communication. It is perfectly normal for aether cores to be reading your mind at all times.
You steel your mind with comforting thoughts.
Your Discipline (Self-Delusion) skill has increased to level 3.
Everything about these entropy-reversing crystalline aliens is perfectly normal, yep yep. I wonder if Milo has this problem. And didn¡¯t he die in the 1980s? How did they even get his soul if there were no aether cores until¡ª There¡¯s something in the black hole, somehow. It¡¯s not vis. I know what vis feels like. It¡¯s like a different state of matter. Like water that has been evaporated into a cloud. The ghost of a dead star. ¡ªuntil I probed the singularity and brought something back no one had ever seen before.
Your third eye catches a glimpse of a previously unseen force.
Skill acquired: Clairvoyance (Aether Sense)
Your Recollection (Flashback) skill has increased to level 3.
Corwen
Why do you wish to know what you have forgotten?
[I¡¯m alright with this. I would like an answer to my question, if you¡¯ll tell me, though. How did Grubwick get a hold of Milo¡¯s soul if he died before aether cores existed?]
Corwen
He did not believe in an afterlife, so his soul remained on the material plane and did not ascend.
[Wait. Wait wait wait. Heaven is real? And people went there? No, never mind, this is a stupid question and a stupid thing to find surprising on top of everything else in this perfectly normal place. You know what, I think I¡¯ve had enough revelations for the moment. I¡¯m going to go identify this artifact now.] Chapter 39: Lucky Stars I return to my room, thinking firmly about what I¡¯m going to do with my new [Aether Sense] skill and not about finding weird things when psychically probing a black hole. By which I mean I can¡¯t stop thinking about the black hole. Now that [Flashback] has opened the memory, I can clearly recall the sensation of discovering aether for the very first time. The feeling of awe and wonder permeates across eons. Was I really the one who discovered aether? I must have been expensive to summon and if my Soul attribute is any indication, I¡¯m guessing I¡¯ve been a popular reincarnation subject. It can¡¯t just be because I died young regularly. I¡¯m just going to let that digest in the back of my head because it¡¯s not terribly important. (My overuse of the word ¡°terribly¡± when trying to dismiss things notwithstanding.) Right now, I¡¯m bolstered with excitement over a newly unlocked ability. The star necklace is not in my desk where I¡¯d left it, which probably means Griffin has been going through my things again. It¡¯s probably just as well that I don¡¯t own anything actually dangerous, given that I share a room with a four-year-old. I go find Griffin and retrieve the artifact while reiterating a request that he ask before taking things.
Category Artifact
Type Accessory
Material Bronze
Quality Average
Rank Basic
Aspect Luck
Congratulations! You¡¯ve identified a Basic artifact.
Your Crafting (Appraisal) skill has increased to level 2.
Luck? So it¡¯s a lucky star? How do you even quantify luck? I suppose the system can do that, somehow, although it does make me wonder just how much it¡¯s manipulating reality. To which the answer is probably ¡°completely¡±, so whatever. For all I know, the reality I¡¯ve found myself in literally runs on dice. It¡¯s only Basic rank, so it¡¯s probably not a huge bonus, but it still might have helped keep me from getting hurt back at Splott Lake. This bears testing. Naturally, this testing involves getting Rowan to wear the necklace while we throw things at him. ¡°Please say ¡®ding¡¯ whenever you get a skill level so I can write down the results in the name of science,¡± I say. ¡°I¡¯ll assume you will eventually level up your skill to the point where you can see the actual number,¡± Rowan says, hefting his shield. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± I don¡¯t envy any no-fun sports rules-lawyer organization having to figure out what weird bits of magic are and aren¡¯t allowed on the field. Especially considering everyone with a system is already doing things that could be considered magic, sort of. We start throwing various balls in the general direction of the net, by which I mean Anise and Burdock throw balls while I watch. There¡¯s too many factors involved just to blindly take notes on how often Rowan gets hit, but I don¡¯t need to do it blindly. I can see vis and aether, and try to analyze where and how they interact. I feel like I¡¯m back with my newborn eyes again, trying to make sense of the world. I¡¯ve been watching the currents of vis all my life, but [Aether Sense] is brand new. I¡¯m staring at an aether-filled bronze star necklace like I once did a black hole, a gajillion years ago. (¡°Gajillion¡± is my technical term for the length of time I may have experienced over five million lifetimes.) Griffin chucks a purple foam ball at Rowan, who easily swats it aside with his shield. He takes a step, and doesn¡¯t notice a green tennis ball under his foot. The aether in the necklace pulses, and Rowan puts his foot firmly on the ground. I can¡¯t tell from here whether he just put it down somewhere else or the tennis ball actually moved on its own, but I definitely saw something happen there.
You¡¯ve detected the activation of a Basic artifact.
Your Clairvoyance (Aether Sense) skill has increased to level 2.
Another level already? I call a break to the practice and retrieve the star necklace from Rowan to take a closer look at it. Did it expend a charge or something to do that? The aether in it feels lighter than before. I might even be able to detect a cooldown timer or something. It¡¯s difficult to reconcile the engineer and the psychic, and those might have been my first two lives rather than just my first. I¡¯m not at all sure. I¡¯m missing some important memories involving how one got to the other, but I¡¯ve inferred a few things without actually pushing back on them. We discovered vis, and then we discovered aether. I don¡¯t know how or when psychic powers suddenly appeared on Earth, but that seems to be what happened. ¡°What¡¯s aether look like?¡± Griffin asks. ¡°For that matter, what does vis look like?¡± Anise adds. ¡°I will eventually figure out a way to show you,¡± I say with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯d like to identify every item we have in storage¡­ but that would be best to wait until I¡¯m 7, right?¡± Anise nods. ¡°Yeah, probably. I can¡¯t say I spent as much time when I was 5 thinking about skills as you do.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Mostly you thought about ways to get into trouble and annoy me,¡± Aunt Hazel comments, approaching. ¡°[Adventurous Child] was much more fun than [Tidy Child],¡± Anise says. ¡°I could never believe you managed to get a class for cleaning.¡± ¡°Griffin wants to be a Warrior,¡± Aunt Hazel says. ¡°Or a Ranger. Or a Rogue. It seems like every time he learns a new vocabulary word, he wants to be one of those. Well, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re back home at least. It¡¯s not natural for a child, reincarnator or otherwise, to spend so much time away from the Hearth and your mother is quite irresponsible in letting you.¡± ¡°At least the goblins didn¡¯t get all weird about not being sure how to treat a tiny adult,¡± I say. ¡°Mom! Mom!¡± Griffin exclaims, running up to her with the purple ball in hand. ¡°I want to be a pirate!¡± Aunt Hazel sighs. ¡°And where did you hear that word?¡± ¡°Aunt Anise mentioned them!¡± ¡°What do you think a pirate does, Griffin?¡± Aunt Hazel says. ¡°Aunt Anise says they fly around the sky looking for booty!¡± Griffin says. ¡°What¡¯s booty?¡± Aunt Hazel sighs again, more heavily this time. She might be able to fill a ship¡¯s sails just with her exasperated sighs sometimes.
The orange season grows late as October approaches, and the teenagers who attend Crux Academy are returning by flying school bus. I always love watching skyships whenever I get a chance. As they¡¯re pulling in to dock, I wonder aloud, ¡°Does anyone ever fly around to the bottom of the domain?¡± ¡°There¡¯s dragons down there, so I hear,¡± Anise says. The sky turns red, and with that, another season of monsters is upon us. I get to watch Aunt Heather perform the divination, and this time we¡¯re joined by Willow. She¡¯s not likely to understand much but she¡¯s fascinated by magic. The overhead view of Tempest in the magic mirror displays no large red dots this year, just lots and lots of smaller ones. She zooms in on one cluster, and the mirror shifts to display several reddish grasshopper-like monsters the size of my arm tearing apart a bear. Beside me, Willow gasps. ¡°That poor bear!¡± ¡°Blood locusts,¡± Aunt Heather mutters. ¡°Basic and Elite, and in large numbers. Not detecting anything else. This is going to be an annoying season.¡± She goes and informs the Hearth, and people make some quick preparations. ¡°This is an excellent opportunity to farm some combat experience,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°Anyone with combat capability should take watch on the walls and kill any bugs that get close. Basic-rank noncombatants should stay inside.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a noncombatant?¡± Griffin pipes up. ¡°Someone who doesn¡¯t fight.¡± ¡°I want to fight the bugs!¡± Griffin exclaims, for once learning a vocabulary word and not wanting to do that. Aunt Hazel puts her face in her palm. ¡°No, Griffin. You are four years old. You don¡¯t even have your first class yet.¡± Grandma Laurel chuckles. ¡°We can capture one of the Basic rank monsters for the more adventurous kids to play with.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± Griffin claps his hands. The balconies have been retracted and the windows sealed up, closing up most places a relatively small flying monster might enter from. Rowan decided to return to Talgarth for the fall, and he will hopefully get plenty of combat practice there too. I¡¯m not sure how many fighters Talgarth has, though I know Corwen is more combat-ready than most. ¡°Where is your adventuring party staying this season?¡± I ask Uncle Hawk. ¡°Are there many elves or dwarves in Tempest?¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re from different domains in Tiganna. They¡¯re staying at Penbryn Hearth at the moment. The Penbryns paid to protect them from monsters since they¡¯re short on high-level warriors at the moment.¡± I stay inside for the most part, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯m hurting for things to do in the meantime. Reading, listening, drawing, playing¡­ I even take up poetry for a bit to see if I will get a skill unlocked for it. I will spare you the efforts as the system was also unimpressed. Blood locusts become a staple of this year¡¯s fall menu, and much to my regret I actually find them tasty. They have the flavor of steak but with the texture of crab. The stronger fighters bring in the occasional live one for Griffin and the other youngsters eager to fight to practice on, with the close supervision of an Elite or higher ranked relative. ¡°Hah!¡± Griffin exclaims, brandishing his wooden sword. ¡°I¡¯ve got you now, monster!¡± The blood locust slowly twitches its antennae at him. Its movements are lethargic, and I think someone put a debuff on it to make it even less of a threat to a small child. I would think this cruel if this weren¡¯t a monster-infested world where one day soon, this village will be relying on kids like Griffin to defend the walls from swarms. Aunt Myrtle is dying. She spends much of her time telling stories to the young ones, mostly lore that¡¯s been passed down in the family for generations and not adventures that she herself experienced, since as a Hearthkeeper she hasn¡¯t gone on many adventures. I don¡¯t know how long she has left, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she passed on tomorrow or six months from now. And when she goes, our two Legendaries will be leaving on their own quest. The dark season is upon us and I help my sister and cousins hang up winter decorations. I try to teach them the words to Not-Christmas carols but it occurs to me that I don¡¯t know what the actual words are myself. I just kind of turned on auto-translation and never turned it off.
You are now 6 years old.
All physical attributes have increased by 1.
And so I turn a year older. One more year ahead of me and I will add an adjective to my child class. There¡¯s are sixteen possibilities, one for each general skill. I already know the Crafting-related one, [Creative Child], will be the one for me. For the apprentice and adult classes, however, I have no idea what I might wind up with. Corwen¡¯s big book of classes mentions a dizzying array, and the higher rank you get, the more likely it is that you wind up with a class no one else in the Hearth has ever had. I help Aunt Myrtle in the hearth with the dark season cooking. Age is creeping up on her and she¡¯s not doing so well at standing, and her hands shake too much to use a knife anymore, so she mostly just lends her presence to directing the mayhem of the younger generations.
You have assisted in crafting a Good quality meal.
Your Crafting (Cooking) skill has increased to level 2.
Again, I¡¯m happy not to have to think about the subskills. Just [Cooking] and [Brewing], which I haven¡¯t done any of yet and ought to do next. I don¡¯t know how annoyed I might be if I had to have [Baking], [Grilling], [Frying], [Broiling], [Steaming], [Roasting], [Kneading], [Mincing], and whatever other cooking-related verbs I could possibly think of. Don¡¯t ask me. I was a master of the microwave in my first life. The traditional Hearth Day roast devil-goat is a nice break from the blood locusts, at least. And another New Year sees the dark sky turn violet once again.
It is now the Year 736 of the Age of the Green Fox.
Chapter 40: Ancestral Legends It¡¯s winter and I¡¯m back to making board games. Snakes and ladders was such a terrible game that even Willow and Griffin noticed and demanded a better game. ¡°This game is boring,¡± Willow says, pouting. ¡°Well, I won!¡± Griffin says. ¡°You also cheated,¡± Juniper puts in. ¡°Did not!¡± Griffin protests. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Willow says. ¡°It¡¯s all luck anyway.¡± ¡°Griffin, did you take Drake¡¯s lucky necklace again?¡± Juniper says. The unfortunate thing is that I only made the snakes and ladders board because I never had kids and couldn¡¯t think of anything simple and appropriate for four-year-olds that wasn¡¯t too complicated for my skills. Now they¡¯re about to turn five and are clever and bored. I¡¯m just glad that Corwen is wealthy and always has plenty of Basic materials they don¡¯t mind youngsters wasting on honing their skills. They consider the Basic-rank materials to be pretty much trash and just let me use them instead of recycling them in the core room. I make a matching game by drawing pictures with words on thick paper. Good for teaching vocabulary and honing memory. I don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of that in the first place. That will keep them occupied while I make a nice wooden mahjong set. (I take some creative liberties in what the tiles depict as I think the kids will find goats more interesting than Chinese characters they can¡¯t read and have no reason to learn.) Unfortunately, I¡¯m not sure how to actually play the multiplayer version of mahjong as I only played the solitaire version. And I don¡¯t remember how to set up the stacks of tiles for the solitaire version. But we¡¯ll figure it out. It¡¯s not like a trio of small children is going to notice I¡¯m cribbing half-remembered games from Earth or criticize that I got them wrong. The hardest part turns out to be getting all the tiles exactly even without precision tools. Fortunately, I have a skill to help with that. I don¡¯t remember the dimensions of mahjong tiles so I picked 3 cm by 4 cm and 1 cm thick, which looks¡­ more or less right, but they aren¡¯t all perfect. The kids will eventually notice which ones are off, but I will make a better set once my skills are higher.
Congratulations! You have crafted a Poor quality toy.
Your Search (Measurement) skill has increased to level 2.
All that work and it¡¯s still Poor. The little painted livestock, fruits, and flowers aren¡¯t all identical but should look close enough as I picked ones with distinct shapes and colors. And it¡¯s a good thing I got the wooden set done as they¡¯ve already ruined the flimsy cards I made. They¡¯ve been folded, torn, and scuffed up. ¡°Griffin folded the corners when he thought we weren¡¯t looking,¡± Juniper says. ¡°It was an accident,¡± Griffin protests. ¡°Try to be more careful, Griffin,¡± Aunt Hazel says. ¡°Your cousin worked hard on these games he¡¯s making for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I say. ¡°They were Poor quality and didn¡¯t take long to make. I kind of expected that to happen. Here, look! I made something else.¡± I put the box full of tiles on the floor and they all crowd over to peer in as I start pulling them out. ¡°What did you make this time, Drake?¡± Aunt Hazel asks. ¡°It¡¯s wonderful that you¡¯re spending time making things for your family and not out playing with goblins.¡± ¡°There¡¯s different games you can play with these but you can use them for the matching memory game too,¡± I say. ¡°Why don¡¯t we start off with that?¡±
I¡¯m trying to figure out how to set up the ¡°turtle¡± formation for my wooden tiles (and realizing I didn¡¯t make enough of them) when Anise charges into the play room. ¡°Drake! There¡¯s a skyship coming in,¡± Anise says. ¡°It¡¯s big and fancy! Come see!¡± I drop what I¡¯m doing (accidentally scattering tiles on the floor) and rush out with her to greet our visitors, by which I mean gawk at their vessel. A flying galleon slowly circles the village as it approaches the dock on the gate tower, silhouetted against the indigo sky. At least a dozen shimmering silken sails in different colors jut out from every side of the ship, but some of them are already furled and others are folding up as the ship comes in to dock. The struts beneath and beside the ship can move to get out of the way for docking and landing, it looks like. The hull is made of some sort of reddish-black wood and covered from bow to stern with glowing sigils. An animated figurehead at the front looks around at the village with a curious and critical expression. ¡°Wow¡­¡± is all I can say, and try to see if I can identify the ship.
Category Artifact
Type Vessel
Quality Excellent
Rank Legendary
I probably didn¡¯t need a skill to figure out that much. I can¡¯t glean any details about the materials or effects. Too many unfamiliar things packed together. Aether and vis wrap around the vessel in a flawless weave, little puffs of concepts flashing here and there as our visitors stop at the dock and begin to disembark. Grandma Laurel and Aunt Heather are already up there to greet them, while most of the village has come out to stare, crowding the village square, walkways and balconies. We don¡¯t have too long to wait before the two of them emerge from the tower along with a woman wearing a sigil-covered red robe and bearing a face I have seen every day in the hearth.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Apple! It¡¯s Apple!¡± people around me mutter as their voices ripple through the crowd. ¡°Apple is back! Our founder has returned to us!¡± Far from basking in the attention, Apple looks a little overwhelmed. And her aura is as black as mine, moving through a sea of violet.
Category Reincarnator
Race Human
Gender Female
Rank Legendary
Class Mage
Mood Mixed
[I wasn¡¯t expecting the Hollywood star treatment,] Apple sends to me telepathically in English as she notices me. [I hope nobody expects me to sign autographs.] [I didn¡¯t realize you were a reincarnator too,] I reply. ¡°Hello to all my beautiful descendants,¡± Apple says. ¡°I¡¯ve had a long journey, though, and would like nothing better than to settle in next to the fire and drink a cup of warm Corwen apple cider.¡± A few others get off the skyship and head for the guest house, but they receive much less attention. Apple makes for the Hearth, surrounded by babbling descendants asking her questions until Grandma Laurel holds up her hands. ¡°Please, everyone, give Apple some breathing room,¡± Grandma Laurel says. ¡°I know she hasn¡¯t been back here in a few hundred years and I¡¯m sure there will be plenty of time for stories. Go on, get back to whatever you were doing.¡± The crowd reluctantly breaks up and resumes their usual activities, but I follow Apple into the Hearth. I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t mind talking with someone who knows what a Hollywood star is. Aunt Magnolia promptly provides booze when prompted, and an impromptu party starts up in the hearth. Apple politely pretends to be cheerful at the prospect, but my Clairvoyance (Empathy) can clearly detect that she¡¯s less than pleased and is likely using some sort of skill with a name that probably isn¡¯t Discipline (Tune Out All of this Nonsense).
Your Clairvoyance (Empathy) skill has increased to level 3.
[Hello, little reincarnator,] Apple sends. [At least you¡¯re not over-awed. Tell me about yourself. What sort of person has Corwen incarnated this time?] I also quickly realize that Corwen¡¯s big book of skills only includes members who have died. Apple is still alive so her skills have never been added. And she clearly didn¡¯t disregard our psychic powers as much as the other reincarnators. [My name is Drake this time around,] I tell her. [A name which I¡¯m perfectly happy with. I was born in California in the 1990s. I was an engineer. I mostly designed electronics and high-tech equipment. I want to build a skyship that¡¯s even more awesome than yours someday.] Apple gives a mental chuckle. [Well, you¡¯re better at summarizing your life story than I am. Of course, our last reincarnator was another young Japanese man who got hit by a truck, and he was pretty clueless otherwise.] [Are there a lot of young Japanese men who got hit with trucks being reincarnated?] I wonder. [Pretty sure it¡¯s just the same ones showing up over and over. Most of them don¡¯t even make it to 21. Sato¡¯s Soul attribute was in the billions. You prefer using your latest name?] [My name was Alexander Fizzlesnipe.] [Fizzlesnipe? As in, Fizzlesnipe Industries?] [I started my own company? Huh.] [You don¡¯t remember?] Apple asks. [Parts of my memory are fuzzy,] I answer. [My younger years are pretty clear, but I don¡¯t remember much of my later life.] [You should be able to clear that up with Recollection.] [I know,] I think. [I haven¡¯t really pushed it.] [Well, that¡¯s your prerogative.] Apple sends a mental shrug. [I was born in the 1950s, and I couldn¡¯t really keep up with some of the tech that showed up late in my life. I look forward to seeing what you can design with magitech. Have you made anything interesting so far?] [I made a mahjong set for my sister and cousins. And I helped some goblins build a bridge.] [Really? I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t get a quest to kill the goblins.] [I don¡¯t get quests,] I tell her. [Apparently Corwen wanted to see what I would do if I didn¡¯t get any.] [Corwen must have a lot of confidence in you,] Apple comments. [What have your quests been like?] [They were probably the only reason Ash and I survived the early days at all,] Apple explains. [We didn¡¯t even have a Hearth yet and neither of us knew anything about surviving in the wilderness. Corwen guided us to where we could gather resources and the system helped us build and craft the things we needed.] Meanwhile, Apple has been smoothly having a conversation aloud, actually more than one. I¡¯m guessing she probably has some sort of mind-multitasking skill that I will eventually pick up myself. [Was Ash a reincarnator too?] I wonder. [Yeah, we all were. Every last one of them was from Earth. Each had its progenitors, though they didn¡¯t all make it. The place that¡¯s now the Spooky Forest was one that didn¡¯t. The woman died and the man came to live near Corwen after that. He was probably one of your ancestors.] [Did every core summon a man and a woman?] I ask. [Nah. One core summoned a pair of the machoest macho men you¡¯d have ever seen, perhaps testing if the world could be conquered by sheer force of testosterone. They killed each other. Another Hearth started with three women. They were ancients, so more knowledgeable about low-tech, and fantastic at magic. All three of them made Legendary. I¡¯m going to need to talk to them while I¡¯m back in Tempest.] [So you and the others are responsible for the local culture being what it is?] Apple seems amused. [I had the opportunity to build a society without the expectations and restrictions of women that I was born into, and so I took it. And Ash was a gay man born in Wales in the 2010s, and was fully supportive. I was married for fifty years and only felt like I was really free when I became a widow. I didn¡¯t want any daughters of mine to feel trapped in a loveless marriage.] [I can¡¯t say I can truly understand what it feels like to be a little girl in the 1950s,] I admit. [And I couldn¡¯t tell you what I would have expected of being reborn into this weird sci-fantasy setting. Where in the world did Common come from, though?] [Not everyone spoke English as a first language. One of the others was a huge linguistics nerd. She got a quest to construct a common language for the descendants of people from different countries and time periods. Once it got into the system, it took very little effort to teach enough to unlock the auto-translator.] ¡°Why are you really back at the Hearth, Apple?¡± Aunt Heather asks. ¡°I¡¯m recruiting for a Legendary quest,¡± Apple says. ¡°And I do hope you and Laurel come along. The boss we¡¯re after is very annoying but needs to be dealt with.¡± [And no, you are not coming on my quest,] Apple firmly tells me. [Only if you make Legendary before he¡¯s dealt with, and I certainly hope this won¡¯t take that long. Although I can¡¯t guarantee you won¡¯t have to deal with another of this guy¡¯s reincarnations.] [Who?] I ask. Apple gives a very heavy mental sigh. [Hitler. At least once a century, some edgy dungeon thinks it¡¯s a brilliant idea to summon him as a boss. They probably have a waiting list. In any case, I¡¯m part of a group of reincarnators who patrol the Crystalline Heavens. Whenever someone starts going around trying to conquer things, one of us goes to investigate.] [You have an entire organization dedicated to killing Hitler¡¯s reincarnations? Seriously?] [Not exactly,] Apple thinks. [Convincing him to take up painting for a lifetime is generally preferable since that keeps him out of trouble for longer. Hopefully he will eventually become a Legendary Artist and we can have some centuries of respite from this nonsense. Anyway, there¡¯s also some discount villains we keep an eye on too.] ¡°When are we leaving?¡± Laurel asks. ¡°Soon,¡± Apple says. ¡°Prepare for a long trip. Even in the Prydwen, it will take us over a year just to get there. And I don¡¯t know how long it might take. If the situation were as simple as sending a lightning bolt at one person, I would have done it already.¡±