Chapter 65

Looking between Mum and Gramps, I tried to find the words to explain the secret I had held tight for so long — but I kept coming up blank. If I had just come clean about the Path of Soulstealing when I was younger, maybe this whole situation could have been avoided.

Hindsight was perfect; I was anything but. So, I did the only thing I could and quietly blurted out the secret that had been gnawing away at me for the past few weeks.

“I have a Path I never told you about.”

Mum simply smiled at me encouragingly, as loving as ever. I hoped by the time this conversation was over that she wouldn’t be looking at me differently with her heart-shaped face and striking blue eyes.

Gramps looked more curious than concerned, rubbing his salt and pepper beard with two fingers. “Is it the Path of Aether Manipulation?”

“I mean, I have unlocked that too, but it’s not the one I am talking about,” I replied with a shake of my head.

I looked down at the table, unable to meet their eyes. “It’s called the Path of Soulstealing.”

The silence from the pair was deafening. The sound of muted voices from the common room filled the space they left behind. I waited, trying not to fidget and unwilling to lift my head.

“How long have you had it?” Gramps asked.

“Forever. As long as I can remember,” I admitted.

“Huh.”

His response surprised me a little, and I glanced up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my mother was gripping her fork tightly, but her gaze was firmly on Gramps rather than me.

“Do you know what it means?” she whispered.

Gramps shook his head, eyebrows drawn down into a frown. “I have never heard of it. I wonder if this is what the…”

“Don’t say it,” Mum said harshly.

I didn’t need her to finish the sentence for me. Gramps had clearly been about to mention the demonic cult where I was born. They had never discussed it in front of me, and Mum clearly had strong opinions on that particular piece of information being shared with a five year old. I found myself agreeing with her.

“Okay, Penny,” Gramps replied, lifting a hand slightly to forestall my mother’s ire before turning to me. “Tell me what happened, Bastian.”

The words tumbled out of my mouth like a dam breaking, my voice low in case anyone was eavesdropping.

“It gained its first steps when I killed the crow that attacked me. It was only two, but it felt like as it died, I was breathing something in. Something that wasn’t the air. Then it went up again when I killed the weird rat that night…”

“What weird rat?” Mum asked, eyes narrowing as she looked between Gramps and I.

Oops, I thought.

Gramps looked put on the spot but answered anyway.

“It was the night you were helping Jennifer give birth to little Francis. While you were at the Kellins’, and I was fetching Magatha, a rat — a rat attacked Bastian.”

Mum wasn’t satisfied. “And why was it a ‘weird’ rat?”

“It was like the ones that attacked the outpost with the Necromancer, Penny. The ones with unusually developed claws.”

“You mean the ones that could be demon-possessed if we believe Magatha and her Witchlore?” Mum hissed back, eyes fiery despite being as blue as an ocean.

Gramps slowly nodded with a sigh.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Mum demanded.

“Because I didn’t want you to worry about him or feel as bad as I did about leaving him alone in the outpost,” Gramps admitted. “We should’ve taken him over to the Kellins’ and he could’ve slept in the corner. Instead, we got all caught up in the moment, and I worried you would blame yourself.”

“And you think I am not blaming myself now?!” Mum retorted, voice slowly rising.

“I was okay, Mum,” I said, trying to reassure her. It was the wrong thing to do.

“And you didn’t tell me either,” she shot back, rounding on me. “No more secrets. Alright?”

“Okay, Mum,” I agreed, hating the lie.

“Sorry,” I added and I did mean the apology.

The simple fact was, I was never going to tell anyone that I had memories from a previous life. Not only were they mostly irrelevant to my new world, I also couldn’t stand to see the look in Mum’s eyes if she ever thought I was anything less than her son. Which I was, to my very core. I knew I was being selfish. I knew that I should at the very least trust my Mother. But, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and I never would. That secret would remain forever buried. Everything else, though, was fair game now.

“So, Path of Soulstealing?” I said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Mum’s glare at Gramps told me the rat conversation was not over but that my presence for the remainder of it would not be needed.

“Go on,” Gramps agreed, his gaze drifting to me as though I could somehow shield him from Mum’s ire.

“The Path went up another two on the night of the attack when I killed another of those weird rats. The last time it went up, it went up a lot more than two. It went up by thirty-three. It was right after I killed that other goblin. Umm, also, the Myriad Paths called it a mutated Path and wouldn’t let me put the steps from my Achievement when I improved my affinity into it.”

Mum and I both looked at Gramps. I was hoping he had an answer to my last statement. Hells knew I would like to know what a mutated Path was.

Gramps just threw his hands up. “Don’t ask me. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I can maybe look into it after we return to Helenica, but I wouldn’t trust that kind of question to paper, so I can’t exactly ask any of my old friends. Does it at least follow a Basic Path progression?”

“Yep,” I replied.

“Which means it has progressed to the second tier. What did it give you?”

The moment of truth. I was in too deep now, and I had agreed there would be no more secrets — besides the one that would forever be mine.

“It improved my Aether Core to Lesser and my Aether Channels to Moderate.”

Gramps raised his hands to either side of his head and started rubbing his temples. I couldn’t tell if he was thinking, trying to calm himself, or dealing with an oncoming headache. Maybe it was all three.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone,” Mum blurted out.

“It’s not that, Penny. I’m not sure that the Path even progresses from killing. Did you kill any other rats the night of the attack, Bastian? Any that didn’t have the over-de… the bigger claws?”

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I nodded. “At least one. Maybe a few more than that?”

“And when you did, did you feel anything? Did the — that Path — did it gain any steps?”

I shook my head. It seemed Gramps was thinking the same thing I had wondered ever since the conversation with Magatha about the dead goblin. My Path of Soulstealing had only ever progressed off killing creatures that we thought were probably demon-possessed.

“We’ll test it tomorrow,” Gramps stated.

“What?” I asked.

“How?” Mum said at the same time.

“I’ll buy a chicken off Griselda for you to roast up, Penny. Bastian can help me prepare it.”

He was talking about having me kill a chicken. Perhaps I should’ve been more bothered, but after stabbing a goblin, the idea of helping kill my own dinner wasn’t that daunting. More importantly, it was a great way to test our theory.

“If his Path goes up, well, then we’ll need to figure out what to do. But I think it will be fine.”

“What makes you so sure, Dad?” Mum asked.

“Because he’s already passed the Shining Light Guild’s test twice. It’s not that Path. It’s something else. If he’s not a danger to anyone and the Shining Light isn't going to try and break down the door to get to him, then I for one am happy to hide this whole thing in a broom closet until he’s older. It’s not like we have to explain his improvements at this point to anyone. No one around here would notice except for Etta and —”

“And I don’t want her to know,” I blurted out.

Mum looked at me curiously. “Why not, sweetheart?”

I looked down, taking my time to think about how I wanted to explain it.

“I don’t want her to feel like she isn’t good enough…”

I paused for a moment, but seeing Mum open her mouth, I rushed on.

“I beat her at swordplay with her Dad, and I do better at reading and writing than she does. Before we started doing aethersensing with Gramps, she was always looking down on herself because of it. But when she started beating me at aethersensing, her mood improved, like she felt like she was good at something. I don’t want to take that away from her.”

“And how do you intend to hide it then?” Gramps asked.

I shrugged. “Probably like what I have been doing for the last few weeks? Just detecting your aether and not saying anything?”

The idea seemed solid to me. Maybe Gramps had noticed that I was intentionally underperforming but I didn’t think Etta would.

“And what makes you think the lessons will remain so simple?” Gramps countered with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I have been only providing you the simplest sort of instruction, because I didn’t think you would be able to do anything beyond that with a Min… with your Aether Core. That’s changed now. The second stage of aethersensing training is shape formation. I create shapes out of aether, and you draw them onto a sheet of paper. The closer you get, the more steps you’re likely to gain on your Path.”

Damn, of course it gets harder. Makes sense though, I griped mentally.

“So… I lie about how much progress I make?” I suggested.

Mum frowned, clearly disliking the idea, but when she didn’t say anything, Gramps nodded.

“I guess if she feels like she is making more progress than you, that might be enough to maintain her confidence.”

There was that, which was admittedly my primary goal; the secondary being advancing my Path of Deception. It was over halfway to completion already, and I kind of wanted it off my list. The extra Unallocated Stats would definitely help me improve Gifted, which would then further accelerate my other Paths.

My thoughts on the matter reminded me that there were a few other things I hadn’t mentioned. Mum clearly noticed.

“Was there anything else you wanted to share, sweetheart?”

In for a penny… I thought.

“I got an Achievement for killing the goblin which gave me a Boon. I have a Lesser Stealth Skill Seed hidden in my room from when I completed the Path of Stealth, and I have the Path of Deception!”

Gramps went back to rubbing his temples while Mum’s eyes had widened.

“Can you tell us the name of the Boon and what it does?” Gramps asked, eyes closed and fingers kneading the sides of his head as if to drive away a headache.

“It’s, umm, called Child Warrior. It gives me an extra Stat at every even Tier for weapon Paths.”

Mum had visibly deflated at the name of the Boon, but she seemed pleased when she heard what it provided. My guess was she saw it as a way for me to become strong enough to protect myself.

Gramps opened his eyes and looked at Mum rather than me. “Path of Deception isn’t a surprise, Penny, given his affinity. I bet it progresses pretty fast. In fact, if he was lying to us often he probably would’ve already completed it. How far is it along, Bastian?”

“A little over halfway,” I admitted.

“See?” Gramps said, somehow turning into my defender. “He’s a good kid. As for the Skill Seed, keep it for now. Talk to me and your Mum before you use it. Is that everything?”

I had a quick think and realised I had never told him the requirements to unlock the Path of Exceptionalism. Gramps perked up after the explanation and I just knew he was going to be writing them down in his book that he would one day publish. Maybe he would call it a Path Manual. I wondered if he would credit me.

Dinner concluded with a few more pointed questions, especially making sure there was nothing else on my Status I was hiding from them. There wasn’t. Then, with a promise that we would test my Path of Soulstealing against a chicken — I mean tomorrow's dinner — I went upstairs to bed.

I looked over my Status for a moment, mostly focusing on how far each Path was over the previous Tier threshold.

Name - Sebastian

Skills (3/4)

Class - Locked

Muffled Steps (Minor) - 48

Controlled Grip (Lesser) - 17

Basic Attributes

Strength - 124

Body Features

Stamina - 129

Aether Core - Lesser (107)

Coordination - 137

Aether Channels - Moderate (111)

Mental - 156

Aether - 108

Affinity (1/1)

Shadow (Potent) - 113

Advanced Attributes (1/2)

Gifted - 153

Boons

Child Warrior

Paths (10/10)

Path of Exceptionalism II (108/500)

Dormant Paths (3)

Path of Running IX (6585/10000)

Path of Brewing IV

Path of Balance VIII (4733/5000)

Path of Infiltration I

Path of Body Strengthening VIII (4977/5000)

Path of Hatchets IV

Path of Aethersensing IX (5376/10000)

Path of Swordplay VIII (2994/5000)

Path of Deception IX (5482/10000)

Path of Coordination VIII (2869/5000)

Path of the Completionist II (144/200)

Path of Soulstealing II (39/50)

My eyes came to rest on the Path of Coordination. I was about to lose two weeks of progress which felt absolutely horrible. Numbers were meant to go up. Always up. Never down! Yet I was about to commit exactly that heresy and reduce the steps on one of my Paths.

Why would I commit such a crime? I smirked in bed. The key word was crime. Things had changed in our little community. Where once the only buildings nearby had been the Kellins’ trading post, Etta’s home, and the miners’ once bug infested hovel, there were now arguably more than twice that many. Between the homes of the Horndale Mining Co. and the House Firthholm fort, I had plenty of options for places to sneak into; plus Etta’s home and the Kellins’ trading post. More than enough, I was guessing, to get my Path of Infiltration to Tier two.

An Elite Path that I could probably advance over the next few weeks between my Potent Shadow Affinity and the added bonuses from Gifted was too tantalising of an improvement for me to say no to. It was risky and dangerous, but I thought the rewards would be worth it.

Firstly though, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake I did last time. Not being able to see in the dark was a weakness I couldn’t afford. That meant it was time to talk to Magatha about getting a new potion of nightvision.

Fortunately, my next lesson with her was in two days. The only questions were, what would the Hedge Witch ask for in exchange, and did I have anything to offer her?