"Ouch!" Kai massaged his arm where a pebble hit him. There was hardly any part of his body that didn't sport a bruise.
Naturally, the best way to train his Awareness skill was Elijah sneakily flinging pebbles at him. They were as small as they could get, but still hurt a lot. The pain was only to motivate him more—obviously. All was done to help him train the skill. As if he would miss the smirk on the butler’s thin lips.
From when he woke up till he went to sleep, he had no moment of peace. Always keeping an eye on his surroundings, his heart missed a beat at every rustle of the wind. Even when he noticed, he was often too slow to dodge.
He became more and more paranoid and skittish. He hardly had any rest that night or the following ones. Kai couldn’t rest in any position without wincing at the small round bruises that covered his body. Every sound made him jump, even when he knew he was safe.
Sleep wasn’t a warm embrace, but the knowledge that another day of torture would soon begin. Eventually exhaustion always won, usually with a bit of help from Meditation.
Then the next day would come, and it would all repeat.
This new form of training didn’t mean they would neglect Running and Swimming, quite the opposite. Each time he got good enough to finish in a somewhat decent time, the bar was pushed to a new height. He had to worry about not getting hit by pebbles while he ran on the beach.
Training when you were exhausted was only more beneficial. It was all for his benefit. Obviously.
He knew there was no point in arguing, words would not save him this time. On Elydes people had a very different view of physical punishment. It was normal if not encouraged for children to get a few good smacks.
His parents had never hit him, but that was an exception. Alana had her ways if she wanted to be listened to. While his dad had often told him of all the times he got hit with a stick on the knuckles during his education and at home. He didn’t think too fondly of those periods, which was why he never used those ‘teaching methods’.
This treatment was perfectly acceptable to society. When you asked for an apprenticeship—even if this wasn’t exactly what happened—you signed away any right to complain or argue. He could either endure or give up. But if they thought this was enough to make him leave, they were dead wrong.
Each time Kai’s will wavered, he only needed to imagine Elijah’s smirk to renew his determination. He would walk through fire before giving the butler that satisfaction.
Spite and pride were powerful motivators.
The rapid progress in his skills was the most annoying part. It was nice that all his sweat and tears weren’t for nothing, but knowing that getting tortured was an effective training method, left him with mixed feelings.
If this didn’t traumatize any normal child, he would be surprised.
Who knows if there are therapists in this world, I will need one after this.
Not to say his days were all bad, he was learning lots of interesting things with Dora. She had started to teach him how to harvest and process different plants. He only touched basic ingredients, but she promised to show him how to make a simple concoction.
Alchemy here I come.
Not even those moments were safe from his Awareness training, not entirely. While Dora had not stopped Elijah, she had argued that if he had to disturb her time, he had to make it worthwhile. When Kai was in the garden, he would get some kind of mana warning, so he could train Mana Sense together with Awareness.
Kai felt a bit betrayed that Dora had not stopped the sham, but he never asked her to intervene. It would feel like giving Elijah the win.
This ended up being the single most helpful method to improve his mana sensing abilities.
In the beginning, he tried keeping Mana Sense constantly active, but it was too distracting. He still had to listen to Dora’s lessons, take notes and complete many tasks around the garden.
It felt like a contradiction, but there was only one solution: he had to learn to perceive mana without actively using the skill.
How could he feel mana without Mana Sense? Only after many painful failures did he start to feel something. A slight tingling on his skin, a shift in the air when there was a change in the surrounding mana. Subtle changes, but they were there if you knew what to look for.
He began to understand what Virya meant when she told him that skill level wasn’t everything, and learning how to use a skill was almost as important.
Mana Sense leveled quite a lot considering the short time frame, but his usage and mastery of the skill improved even more.
* * *
Kai enjoyed the dawn of a new day. Living by the shore had always been a dream of his.
Two weeks prior, he asked Virya to be exempt from Awareness training while meditating. Unfortunately for the butler, oral sparring was one of his strong points, especially when he was in the right. He had won the argument and a few moments of undisturbed peace.
Kai smiled enjoying the breeze on his skin and the familiar smell of the sea, while he mentally prepared for the day.
Clear the mind and just be.
*Ding*
Meditation has reached lv50, requisite for the first milestone met, congratulations!
*Ding*
New Feat: For pushing a Red skill to the first milestone before your First Seal has been opened you are awarded: +2 Favor!
*Ding*
For unlocking the Favor attribute, your First Seal will be opened ahead of time.
The Guide starts to open its arms to you, granting renewed freedom and access to a multitude of possibilities. You are to choose which way to travel, but remember that each choice has consequences.
Kai stared straight ahead with a void look in his eyes, his mind racing with questions and possibilities.
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What is Favor? A seventh attribute? What about unlocking the Guide ahead of time?
“Finally, it took you long enough.” The comment cut through his thoughts. Kai turned to see Elijah.
“Stop staring at me like a dead fish and get up. Virya will want to see you now.” The butler said tersely, already walking away.
Kai was so stunned by what was happening, he took a moment to process his words, before scrambling on the sand after Mr. Jerk.
Too baffled by the revelations to get annoyed, Kai quietly followed the pale man with his head among the clouds.
It wasn’t a long walk. Most mornings Virya had her breakfast on the beach at the pavilion, today was no different.
It was about an hour after dawn, Virya sat on her chair sipping from a teacup and reading a book on the side. Somehow managing to make it look graceful.
“Come.” She said without raising her gaze from her read.
Kai didn’t have to get told twice. He didn’t have many interactions with Virya in the last weeks, besides a few chats here and there, but he had gotten used to her presence. The multitude of questions swirling in his head pushed away any hesitation, as he promptly sat down across from her, eager to get some answers.
There was already a teacup filled with a sweet amber liquid ready for him. He had long stopped questioning these minor mysteries and just helped himself to the glazed pastries and biscuits on the table. He knew Virya didn’t mind, and Elijah got annoyed, both valid reasons to enjoy the food.
He didn’t often get the opportunity to taste such luxuries. Theodora wasn’t stingy with food, but Virya’s cuisine was usually more varied and expensive.
As Kai heard a displeased grumble behind him, he smiled and stuffed his mouth with more food. Elijah's annoyance made everything sweeter. He knew he would pay for this in their next training session, but it was so worth it.
Kai eagerly waited for Virya to start the conversation. She might not mind his table manners, but she didn’t like getting interrupted while she ate or read. A single glance had been enough to teach him that lesson and not try again.
The pastries weren’t enough to distract him for long. As seconds turned into minutes, Kai had to consciously stop himself from tapping with his finger on the chair several times.
Finally, the master of the estate closed her book and looked at him with her sharp orange eyes.
“Child, I can feel you vibrate with impatience. Maybe it’s time Dora teaches you to control mana, at least your own.” She said offhandedly. Before Kai could give her comment any thought, she started speaking.
“I can see you have a lot of questions. However, many of the topics we need to talk about are interlinked and may not be easy to understand until you have the full picture, so listen carefully.”
Kai knew what she meant was to shut up and not interrupt her.
“As you found out, it’s possible to open your First Seal early. The best-known method is to unlock your seventh stat by completing a feat or achievement, such as pushing a skill to 50 before reaching seven.
“Feats are actions judged noteworthy by the Guide that are rewarded with a bonus to your seventh attribute. What is that stat called for you?” Virya asked.
Kai was surprised by the weird question, “Ehmm… Favor.”
“Favor… I suppose it’s understandable given local beliefs. Anyway, the seventh stat is different from the others. It cannot be trained or increased by improving your race grade. The only way is through achievements.
“In other kingdoms I visited, it was also called Fate, Destiny or Luck, which are maybe more indicative of what it does. There are plenty of famous scholars who spent all their lives studying its effects. But if we were to simplify to the extreme, we could say Favor defines how lucky you are, with zero being average luck.
“We are all born with a random value in Favor, but for 95% of people, it’s zero. Some have it a few points higher, while some unfortunate souls can even have a negative value. It is interesting to note that it’s the only attribute that can present a value below zero.” Virya stopped her speech, as she got straight to the point with no wasted words.
“Is everything clear?” She asked.
Kai nodded. Knowing her, he repeated back her points one by one to show he remembered everything. She then asked him a few more questions to make sure he had also understood what her words meant. As usual, this part was easy for him. He thought she knew it was unnecessary for such a simple lesson, but he would not say that out loud. Better take a free win and shut up.
Virya seemed satisfied, “As I’ve said, my explanation was very simplistic. There are exceptions to many of my statements, but they would needlessly complicate things right now. Let’s move to the next topic. Why don’t you take a look at your status for the next part, it will make things easier.”
Kai had hoped he would get the chance to ask about feats and Favor, but it was clear Virya had other intentions. He tried to hide his disappointment and summoned his status with a thought.
Name: Kai Tylenn Race: Human Profession: None
Body stats Strength: 4 Dexterity: 6 Constitution: 8 Mind: 9 Spirit: 11 Perception: 8 Favor: 2>4
Skills (7/7): Meditation (lv49>50 – Max) Acting (lv26>27) Swimming (lv40>46) Running (lv43>48) Teaching (lv7) Awareness (lv17>29) Mana Sense (lv23>25)
“Now try to focus on your Meditation skill and tell me what you see.” Virya calmly instructed.
Doing as he was told, a new prompt appeared in his vision.
Meditation (lv50) ➔
As you reach the first milestone, you are presented with three choices to continue your journey:
- Stay the course on your current path. You won’t gain significant new benefits, but you’ll greatly deepen your insight into what you already know.
- Determined to have a serene and calm mind, choose to follow a path to gain better control of your emotions.
- Having touched upon the mysteries of the Essence of the World, choose to devote this skill to delve deeper, attuning yourself to the surrounding mana.
Kai read aloud the three options with rising excitement. He had known there was a way to upgrade skills, but seeing how it worked for the first time was fascinating.
After letting him daydream for a while longer, Virya continued, “Every new skill you learn can have a different color grade, but they will all reach a roadblock at level 50, 75 and 100. To increase the level ceiling, you must choose whether to stay on the same path or specialize the skill in a new variant. That is if you have fulfilled the requirements.
“It’s rare for most people to have even one variant option in their first upgrade. And here the synergy between skills is the most obvious. You would not have been offered a mana variant without possessing Mana Sense. Luckily, you don’t have to make a choice immediately and can unlock more variants while the skill is capped. I’ve known people who waited years to obtain a particular variant.”
Virya stopped to give him time to digest all the new information. Each skill had just become so much more complicated. Not only did he have to worry about pushing them to the limit, but he also had to consider what he wanted in the long run.
Until now, he had mainly considered skills as a way to earn XP. This would make many people curse him, but he only had very basic skills he had mainly used for fun.
Now he had to think about the future. Some of his skills would accompany him for a very long time, maybe his whole life, and there were so many possibilities. Without even talking about how they interacted with each other. His head felt about to explode.
Right then Virya brought him back to the present, “Don’t worry too much about the choices and take the direct upgrade.”
Kai was so overwhelmed by the new information. He had not even gotten to consider what to choose.
Instinctively he couldn’t help but argue, “But both variants sound better.”
“Don’t get fooled by the descriptions. Even if direct upgrades look simple, they always greatly improve what the skill already does and add new across-the-board benefits. There will be a noticeable improvement next time you meditate.
“More importantly, a variant means specializing. It will close many doors you don’t even know exist. You can specialize in a skill only so many times before you are left with a single path forward. Unless you have decided what you want to do for the rest of your life, take the first option.”
Virya looked down at him as if to remind him he was still a child who didn’t know better. He should act like a good boy and do as he was told. Her burning eyes were daring him to contradict her.
Kai gulped down and followed her advice. It did indeed make a lot of sense. How could he have ever thought otherwise?
*Ding*
You chose to stay the course, Meditation (lv50) can now reach lv75.
Kai got the chance to ask a few questions before he was whisked away to Dora. She would teach him all the new possibilities that came with passing the First Seal and answer his questions.
Kai was happy to get a day off. He knew he would have to rack his brain around tons of new knowledge, but it felt like learning to play with new toys on Christmas day. He couldn’t wait to unwrap them all.