Chapter 70

My pencil scratched against the paper as I copied down what my aethersensing was trying to tell me. Etta sat beside me, her tongue poking slightly out of her mouth as she focused. Gramps sat across from us, wearing a nicer dark blue shirt than he normally wore which highlighted his sturdy physique. His mostly gray hair was combed back off his head and held there by a black ribbon near the nape of his neck.

I had noticed how he had been favouring a more polished appearance since the arrival of Lady Yalindra and her House Firthholm forces. My guess was Gramps was putting the additional emphasis on how he presented himself to make sure he was taken seriously by the lesser noble. Something about ‘clothes maketh the man’ had popped into my head at the thought — an idiom from one of the fragments of my past life.

I finished my drawing and looked over my work. Just as Gramps had promised, this new lesson structure was far more challenging. Instead of trying to find the aether in the room — which had gotten far easier with a Lesser Aether Core — Etta and I were now trying to determine the aether’s shape. To prove that we were doing it correctly, we had to draw the shape on a piece of paper. Whether that was so the Myriad Paths could acknowledge our efforts or for Gramps to check on our work, I wasn’t sure. I was betting on the latter.

I slowly drew a circle in the middle of the pentagram I had roughly scribbled down, feeling pretty sure there was a hole in the middle of the aether construct Gramps was maintaining. I must’ve been right as my Path of Aethersensing ticked up. Alongside the additional step was a new notification.

Path Unlocked! Path of Drawing (0/10)

It wasn’t too surprising that I had only just gotten drawing. Generally, I didn’t have access to paper outside of my writing lessons with Mum. In fact, the only drawings I had done were for pranks. A couple had been left in Gramps’ office, and then the ones I had planned for my Infiltration escapade which I ended up shoving into the hidden nook in my room. All in all, a budding artist I was probably not.

Dismissing the notification, I filed my new Path away with all the other lifestyle Paths I had. The list of them was piling up in the background. There was Cleaning, Gardening, and Cooking — all from helping Mum out like the dutiful son I was.

Then I had some more body based ones like Jumping, Throwing, Acrobatics, and Awareness — which was apparently a precursor for the Path of Perception so I had my eyes on it as a possible option in the future.

Social Paths were amongst my options as well, with Persuasion leading the charge — Conversation and Mentoring trailing behind.

Most of these Paths would never see the light of day. I had a finite amount of time, and only Paths that I was either confident in completing, or that could actively contribute to my future Class Paths would make the cut and join the Active list.

Of those, there was a set of four that were all scholarly in nature. I had Paths unlocked for Reading and Writing in both Helenian and English. For now, they were languishing in obscurity, but that was only because I was working on the former almost daily and the latter would fly up the moment I focused on them. Because of that, I thought it best to get more Stats into Gifted first to minimise the time the four Paths would sit on my Active list.

Gramps drew me out of my musings as he leaned over his desk to check our work. I noted that Etta’s pentagon had a little bubble coming off the top. Trying to focus harder on the aether hovering by the bookcase — I still couldn’t sense the additional bud on the pentagon. I hoped, for a moment, that it meant she was wrong.

“Well done, Etta,” Gramps complimented before looking at mine. “Close, Bastian. Very close. Keep working hard at it.”

I smiled in defeat.

Bested again by the superior aether core, I grumbled mentally.

I salved my wounded pride with the fact that I got more steps out of my middling success than Etta. While I now had a Lesser Aether Core like her, hers was still further along to the next tier, and the difference in our innate capabilities was noticeable. I had narrowed the gap — and exceeded the Path development — but I was still the inferior, novice mage out of the two of us.

The rest of the lesson continued with similar results. Gramps didn’t make the shapes more complex, but there were always additions. Etta got most of them — but not all — while I failed to find the additions every time. It didn’t matter too much though. Steps were steps, my numbers were going up, and Gramps was still on the case looking to help me improve my Aether Core further.

When the lesson ended, Etta ran off back to her house for lunch with a smile on her face. Rather than eat immediately — despite my stomach protesting — I ventured up to my room. Lying down on the comfortable pile of furs that was my bed, I carefully opened the nook in the wall. My prizes stored within consisted of: a claw from the crow that attacked me, a few shiny rocks I had found around the outpost, a pile of seven small drawings each of a different weapon, and a Skill Seed in the form of a shiny black marble. The other Skill Seed was hidden somewhere in Gramps office — for now.

I took out the marble, running my fingers over it. Even with it in front of my eyes, held between my forefingers and thumb, I couldn’t describe the feeling. It might as well have been a void that my digits slipped around. The Lesser Stealth Skill Seed had been in my stash for over a year now, a relic from before I knew much about Skills.

That lack of knowledge had changed. I had learned Skills could be removed, and that Minor Skills only took up one slot. Lesser Skills then doubled, taking up two slots, with Greater taking up four. Logic dictated that whatever Skill tier came next would take up eight. All of this was enough information to make a decision about whether to use the Lesser of my two Skill Seeds — the answer was yes.

Holding the Skill Seed tightly I thought about using it. A notification appeared.

Free Skill Slots available. Would you like to use your Skill Seed (Stealth) (Lesser) to gain a Skill?

I mentally agreed and the marble vanished, the sensation of aether flowing into me immediately following.

Skill Seed (Stealth) (Lesser) used. Three available Skills.

Conceal Presence - Lesser effect of making yourself harder to notice.Shawl of Shadow - Wrap shadows around you to conceal yourself.Ghostwalk - Footsteps are less likely to leave signs of passing.My options were somewhat similar to the Minor Stealth Skill Seed I had used. Conceal Presence seemed like a straight upgrade of Reduce Presence. Similarly, Shawl of Shadow sounded like a step up from Shadow Blend. Only Ghostwalk bucked the trend, as Muffled Steps was definitely a Sound affinity Skill while Ghostwalk had a physical aspect to it. Kinetic maybe? Was that even an affinity? Just one more question for Gramps.

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As tempted as I was to take Conceal Presence, there was no way I was making the same mistake twice. Or three times — if you factored in my Infiltration Skill. Shawl of Shadow had shadow in the name. I had a Potent Shadow affinity. Duck, meet water.

Still, I had promised to discuss the choice with Mum and Gramps before I made a decision.

“Mum!” I yelled, as I ran downstairs, bolting for Gramps' office.

I threw the door open and charged inside, jumping up onto one of the two empty seats. My feet thumped against the chair as I planted both of my hands on the Horndale pine desk. Gramps looked up at me from scribbling in the Path manual he was creating. I was saved from his ire by Mum as she came rushing in a moment later.

“What’s the matter, Sweetheart?” she asked quickly.

“Close the door,” I whispered, like I was telling a secret — because I kind of was.

Mum did as I asked before taking the seat next to me.

“I used my Lesser Stealth Skill Seed,” I said once we were all settled.

Gramps leaned back in his chair. “Have you made a selection yet?”

I shook my head.

“What are your options, Sweetheart?” Mum asked.

“Conceal Presence, Shawl of Shadows, and Ghostwalk.”

The way Mum’s face twitched told me she was trying not to frown at my options. They were all kind of related to being sneaky, which could be twisted towards being something like a scout, though Mum probably saw them as gateways into being a thief.

Gramps however looked at me impatiently. “Well, what do they do?”

“You don’t know?” I playfully teased to which he rolled his eyes.

“Conceal Presence says it makes me harder to notice. Does that work on everyone? Animals too, or like, just people? Beastkin and goblins as well?”

The words were tumbling out of me, my curiosity demanding answers.

“It works on anything with an aether core I believe. So not on tiny insects and the like, but basically everything else,” Gramps answered.

Good to know, I thought. Especially since Beastkin probably have enhanced senses.

“Umm,” I continued. “Shawl of Shadows lets me pull shadows around myself for concealment. Ghostwalk says it increases the likelihood I won’t leave behind signs of my passing. How does it do that?”

“Kinetic affinity,” Gramps said, rubbing his beard before looking me in the eye. “Makes it so you apply less pressure to the ground as you pass. Wouldn’t work in the mud or snow and only marginally on dirt and grass until you improved the Skill a bit. The choice seems obvious to me.”

He and I spoke at the same time.

“Shawl of Shadows.”

Gramps laughed, even if Mum didn’t seem as excited.

“Are we sure that’s what is best?” she asked.

“It’ll work with his affinity, which means the Skill will improve a lot faster, and added to his Muffled Steps, should make him pretty hard to find for anyone who doesn’t have Aethersensing,” Gramps continued before pausing at my Mum’s facial expression.

She looked a little distraught, her eyes downcast and her heart shaped face turned toward me.

“I promise I won’t use it for bad things, Mum.”

“I know you won’t, Sweetheart. You’re a good boy. I just worry about you is all.”

“We can always remove it later if we find it doesn’t suit him, Penny,” Gramps added.

Mum finally looked up at Gramps, then turned to me. “Alright, Honey. If that’s the one you want.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Gramps asked.

His words were all the encouragement I needed — though I was still worried about Mum.

Excitedly I sent my answer to the Myriad Path — choosing Shawl of Shadows. I expected it to simply appear on my Skill list just like my other two Skills had. Instead, a notification popped up unbidden, my face transforming into a frown as I read.

Shawl of Shadows selected.

Error.

Fragments of higher tier Skill of the same sequence found.

Assessing…

Assessing…

Determining events leading to Skill fragmentation.

Soul fracture identified.

Soul merging identified.

Skill fragments found.

Merge fragments to restore Skill?

Restored Skill exceeds user available slots.

Assessing…

Assessing…

Successful integration of Skill would trigger a Minor Achievement.

Trigger Minor Achievement and Skill integration simultaneously?

Assessing…

Assessing…

Parameters deemed acceptable. Simultaneous events triggered.

Achievement Acquired! Evolve a Skill to the Greater Grade before unlocking a Class Path.

Reward: +2 Skill Slots

New Greater Stealth Skill Acquired: Royal Cloak of Shadows

“What the fuck was that?” I muttered.

“Language, Bastian!” Mum admonished.

At the same time, Gramps asked, “What happened?”

I’ve gone and done it now, I thought, as I prepared to explain my latest bout of weirdness.