Chapter 85

Ever since the night I had framed Lady Yalindra, I had wondered just how Griselda had managed to make so much noise to create a distraction for me. Horndale pines — even the smaller ones — were pretty big trees. Gramps couldn’t wrap his arms around one, and their roots went deep, wedged into the rocky ground of the mountains. Yet the sounds that night had indicated that she somehow managed to disturb a very large beast — I thought it was a bird or something — and potentially knocked down an entire tree.

I knew she was strong, but that had still seemed a little too farfetched for me. Without a good answer, I had figured she’d softened them up with her hatchet or something first. After seeing her fight, I was starting to think she had just used whatever the hell Skill that was and pushed the damn thing over.

Griselda had her hands on her knees as she panted from what looked like exhaustion. I had never once seen her look even slightly worn out despite sparring with me all day and then carrying around huge logs of wood like they were nothing. Some Skills, it seemed, came at a cost that wasn’t just aether.

“Are you alright?” I called out.

Griselda raised an empty hand to indicate she was okay while she continued to catch her breath. Her axe remained embedded in the ground, with blood slowly pooling around it that had formed small rivulets down the slight decline of the mountain.

“What Skill was that?” I asked.

“Empowered Swing and Quick Step, right?” Nazim interjected. “Quick Step looked like it was Lesser Grade but Empowered Swing was definitely Greater.”

Griselda nodded to Nazim’s assertions, still trying to catch her breath.

“What do they do, exactly?” I asked Nazim while we waited.

“They’re both common enough warrior-type Skills of the Blood Affinity. I couldn’t tell you exactly how they work but I know Quick Step increases your speed for a single step and empowered swing multiplies your strength for a single strike. However, the body must bear the extra load. Without attributes to support or reinforce them, the Skills themselves can cause serious injuries at the higher Grades if you’re not careful. They also take quite a lot of the body's energy, not just aether.”

I want them, I thought greedily before glancing at my four available Skill Slots and reminding myself I needed to be patient.

Griselda finally stood up, and I saw her wince as she stretched out her arms. The muscles in her right arm seemed to twitch beneath the skin as though they were cramping. Any sign of pain faded from her face as she took the two steps back to her axe and started working it out of the ground.

“Come here,” she called as the axe came free, the weapon looking worse for wear at the rough treatment.

I hurried over as she rolled out the knives she had brought along. “I will show you how to skin and process a beast. We’ll take some of the meat as well. No point wasting it but only the best cuts we can carry.”

Nodding seriously, I resolved to absorb the lesson.

A few hours later, with the afternoon sun descending in front of us, I walked beside Nazim back towards the outpost. Two new unlocked Paths were added to my list of options in the form of Hiking and Skinning. They were both Basic Paths, and I would likely never complete them, but it was nice to see them added. The Path of Hunting had eluded me, mostly because I hadn’t really been the one doing the hunting.

“Is it rude to ask people about how many Skill Slots they have?” I asked Nazim.

“Yes. Maybe not for your close family, but otherwise, yes.”

“Huh.”

“You want to know how many I have, don’t you?” he said with parts of his lips curling up in a way I was beginning to recognise as the wolfkin version of a grin.

“I do. I know how many is sort of normal for a kid, but not for an adult,” I explained.

“You are thinking about it all wrong. It’s not about children versus adults. It is about what stage you are in your Class Paths. Even then, it is not so simple. Children, or Unclassed can be anything from two to eight normally. Maybe the very best of them might have as many as sixteen before they get their Basic Class Path. After that, we would judge them based on which grade of Class Path they are on. Basic, Adept, or Advanced. I won’t bother mentioning Elite or Master because there are so few of them, and put simply, I do not know what they are capable of.”

“But most Basic Class Paths will reward three more Skill Slots. One would hope that such individuals could complete a few Paths in that time and add another couple. Elite Paths are quite hard to unlock, and most will not have any at that stage. Songleaf and Clawcrest are probably outliers when I say that, but I am speaking of people like the boys from town that are bothering you. Adept Paths should add more — six or so. But the Adept Path takes twice as long. Using those boys as an example again, if they completed their Basic Class Path by the time they were twenty, they would probably be close to forty before they did the same for their Adept Path.”

“Advanced comes after and is the last Class Path most will ever do. Your grandfather, Baron Joss, and maybe a few of his older soldiers might be the only members of Hornpeak that are beyond the first tier or two of their Advanced Class Path.”

My mind went back to a conversation years ago with Grandma Lucille where she had admitted she was only at the first tier of her Advanced Class Path — which was called Quiet Weaver of the Mountains.

“Class Paths seem really slow to progress,” I muttered.

It seemed a little odd to me, especially since most people wouldn’t even be able to reach the Elite Class Paths by the time they died. Maybe it was by design, but if so, the Myriad Paths didn’t seem interested in answering my mental entreaties as to why.

“So, that would mean you’re an Adept then?” I asked, returning to the topic.

Nazim nodded. “Just like most of the people you will meet.”

I filed that piece of information away for the future and let our talk lapse into silence. Nazim didn’t let me rest though, and we broke into a jog shortly afterwards as he continued to push me to be the best I could be.

The evening was pleasant, the outpost no longer as busy with the new inn receiving the larger share of the community's traffic. A few adventurers sat around playing with a set of wooden cards and dice. For once, I denied my curiosity and didn’t investigate their game. Before bed, I made sure to spend some time on my Skills in my room, burning through my aether till I felt like my core was only half full before retiring for the night.

The following morning, after exercising with Nazim, I sat at the kitchen table with my Mum.

“After my lesson with Gramps, can I head out with Nazim?” I asked.

She peered across the table at me, her bright blue eyes filled with what I guessed to be love and curiosity. The dark blue apron she wore was covered in flour from making the flatbread I was shoving into my gob. Seeing my deplorable eating habits, her smile shifted from curious to rueful.

“Going to Griselda’s again?” she asked, her eyes flicking between Nazim and I.

Nazim shrugged at the question since he didn’t know what I had planned.

“No, just around town. It’ll only be for about half a candle or so. I’ll skip lunch so that I won’t miss our lesson, promise!”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Mum muttered as she shook her head. “You’re a growing boy, not to mention all the running around and working on your Paths. You need plenty of food, otherwise you’ll never be as strong as Griselda.”

Not sure I will be anyway, Mum! Griselda’s a titan! I thought. Still, maybe one day. Nothing wrong with having high aspirations!

“Okay,” Mum agreed. “But no more than half a candle, and definitely no fighting!”

Her eyes flicked in warning to Nazim who held up his right paw in agreement. I was guessing he chose that paw since the claws were filed off.

“No fighting,” I agreed verbally, shutting my mouth before I could add ‘unless they start it.’

One way or another, I would learn to swallow my pride.

Besides, I reminded myself. It’s good practice for Songleaf. Gotta keep my head down until it’s actually worth popping up.

My morning lessons of Aether Manipulation, Aethersensitivity, and Swordplay passed as normal by the stream. Then, I was sprinting back to the outpost with Nazim easily keeping pace beside me. I charged upstairs to my room and delved into my stash, extracting the two aether coins from the hidden nook. The slick feel of them against my skin always felt a little weird. The one Gramps had given to me was red and, even though it didn’t feel hot, I got the sense that it should. The other aether coin just looked like a plain, silver coin — except no image decorated its faces. If not for the oily sensation and the sense of cold tendrils woven through it, I doubt I would have realised it was made from aether. The foxkin’s gift was about to be put to good use.

With aether coins in hand, I charged downstairs and out the door into the almost-midday sun. Nazim hung back, as he tended to do, while he followed me towards the Hornpeak Mining Co. fort. The guards at the entrance didn’t want to let me in at first, but I was fortunate enough to spot Dorothy wandering from the new double story building that functioned as the mining company’s office over towards the sheds where the wagons were hitched.

Waving frantically, she noticed me and deviated to come see what was going on.

“Bastian, not like you to come by here. I was actually going to drop by the Adventurer’s Society in the next day or two. Brin’s written a few letters and she sent one to me to pass onto you.”

The subtle smirk from the guard on the left made me want to kick the bastard in the shins but I restrained my base impulse and nodded politely to Dorothy.

“I can grab it now if you want and save you the trouble. If I write her a letter back, should I bring it to you?”

Dorothy flashed a bright, matronly smile at my response. “That would be a good idea. I can send it with my own letter and save on the cost for you. I’m sure Brin would like to hear from her friends. There is one for Etta as well, if you wouldn’t mind delivering it and telling her the same.”

“I can do that,” I replied agreeably. “But, I actually came by because I wanted to chat with one of your smiths.”

Dorothy seemed a little intrigued but didn’t ask why, instead glancing at me.

“Let him in. His companion as well.” She paused and glanced at me, smiling kindly again despite her firm voice. “One of the guards will have to go with you though.”

I agreed. It wasn’t like I was here to steal their silver or anything. If I was going to do that, I would just come over the wall one night. But I was trying to avoid the Path of Thievery, for now.

We were escorted over to the smithy where I explained to the three smiths what I wanted. Unfortunately, none of them wanted to do it. Dorothy found us as we were leaving the smithy, two brown, paper letters in hand tied with string.

“Here you are,” she said, handing them over to me. “Did you get what you needed from the smiths?”

I took the letters while shaking my head.

“Anything I can help with instead?” she offered.

“No, that’s okay,” I answered before saying farewell and being escorted out of the fort. The smiths had just been the quickest option but I should’ve known they probably couldn’t be bothered. That was alright, though. My backup plan should work — it would just have to wait for tomorrow.