“I still say you should take the skills perk,” Kedryn explained for the tenth time in the last hour. “The prompt specifically states a random skill. You could get something really cool like rune scripting or running on air like Jet Li did in the movie Hero.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Riya retorted. “I’m not sure who Jet Li is, let alone a movie, but It’s obvious for anyone with eyes to see the perk only applies to Captain Glade’s existing skills. Using such a perk at his level of advancement would be a waste. But if what you say were true, I would still recommend against it. He would have even chances of getting something terrible, like dung analysis, or worse, Gnomish nostril hair braiding.”
Both Glade and Kedryn gave her an incredulous look.
“Is that even a real thing?” Glade asked.
“Oh, yes. I read it in a book about obscure skills. The Selenogic Gnomes are known to grow out their nose hair and braid it into their mustaches and beards. From what I’ve read, the entire sub-race is a bit… off. They live in a small hamlet far to the north and are obsessed with lunar studies.”
“That doesn’t sound strange,” Kedryn said. “I mean, the nostril hair braiding sounds weird, but the other stuff sounds pretty cool.”
“Let me clarify. They firmly believe that unlocking the secrets of the sister moons can only be achieved through ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms.”
“That’s…unique,” Glade responded. They had been traveling for the better part of a day and had enjoyed the sporadic trivia of life on Veil that Riya provided along the way. Fortunately, they had found plenty of drinkable water as they made their way steadily upward.
However, the tightness in Glade’s gut was a constant reminder that they hadn’t found anything edible, nor had they located a safe area like the grotto so they could rest.
The only good news was that the slime and Dusk Rat encounters had significantly reduced.
“I bet they’re a lot of fun at parties though,” Kedryn said, bringing Glade back to the conversation.
Riya snorted, giving Kedryn a light shove. She didn’t see it, but Glade caught Kedryn flash a brief smile.
Glade’s headache flared.
“Getting back on topic,” He said, drawing both elve’s attention. “I’m leaning toward choosing the Wisdom perk. It provides a clear, albeit small, benefit to my mana regeneration. Going the skills route sounds like it is either something I can do on my own or is too much of a risk. And while I understand growing the attunement might be a good idea, even you,” he gestured toward Riya, “said I wouldn’t see any real benefit until I get it to the next rank.”
“You make a sound argument,” Riya said, a warm glow nestling within Glade’s chest as he realized he might finally be getting the hang of maneuvering through the systems of this world.
“For someone who doesn’t know what they’re even talking about,” she continued, her sarcasm finally registering. “This is why I recommend you wait to assign the perk. Once we get to my home, the Elders would be more than happy to guide you into making the better choice, which is obviously boosting your attunement.”
Glade rolled his eyes.
Kedryn and Riya picked their conversation back up, dissecting each other's theories and trying to prove how much the other knew. Of course, Kedryn lost most of the time, but he was surprisingly a quick study, easily adapting his own understanding to the rules of this world.
Instead of joining in, Glade continued to scan the area. Thanks to Riya’s spell work, they were making good time as they walked the endless tunnels.
Every so often, Riya would stop the group to study one of the many bioluminescent plants, which inevitably led to grumbling about in-adequate harvesting equipment. Apparently, Natural Lore not only helped identify the properties of plants, but how best to harvest them as well.
Something that his Aura Sense couldn’t do.
During one of the rare occasions where both Riya and Kedryn were quiet, Glade asked a question he had been holding in reserve for some time.
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“Can you teach me Natural Lore?” He asked, “From what I’ve seen, it seems like a handy skill to have and could supplement my Aura Sense.”
Riya grimaced.
“I’m sorry, Captain Glade. The path of the Naturist is a rare skill that is bound to only a few races, elves being chief of among them. Humans cannot learn it.”
His confusion must have shown as Kedryn, ever willing to impart knowledge, chimed in.
“The Natural Lore skill is a racial skill, which means it can only be learned by races who are attuned to nature. Namely, Elves, Dryads, and like. Make sense?”
“Not really,” Glade said with a shake of his head.
“Let me see if I can explain it another way…”
“Corporal, I understand what you said,” Glade interrupted. “But it makes no sense to me. I know magic, can sense minds, and am literally carrying mystically forged metal made by bugs. Why is learning such a useful skill limited to a few races?”
“I can understand why you want to learn,” Riya said carefully. “Natural Lore is highly sought-after. It combines multiple identification skills into one, allowing a broader knowledge base that synergizes easily with other skills. Even among my own kind, this skill is rare. The fact that Kedryn learned it as quickly as he did is nothing short of astounding. In fact, I believe it has a lot to do with his ability, Passionate Growth.”
“Ok, ok,” he relented, sensing he wouldn’t get any further with the discussion. But that didn’t mean he was giving up. Riya’s comment gave him an idea.
Pulling up his status screen, Glade focused on his own ability, Will. With any luck he could bend the rules.
Attention! Natural Lore is a scarce ranked skill that can only be learned by those who are racially bound to Nature and have a strong desire to learn of, maintain, and connect to the natural balance within Veil. Being the first Enlightened Human allows you to bind your very race to the higher form of Purpose known as Nature. At this time, you have insufficient knowledge to create such a covenant.
Willpower Point Cost: Unknown.
Glade felt his headache worsen. He couldn’t learn the skill until he formed a covenant with nature? What in the hell did that mean?
Instead of risking both Riya and Kedryn dissecting this new round of information overload, Glade called for a short break.
Neither complained seeing as they were still engrossed in proving who could out talk the other on useless conjecture.
As Glade reviewed the prompt again, which he surmised was likely brought on by one of those idiot puff ball Adjudicator’s who had branded him, more notifications flooded his queue.
Attention! A truth has been discovered! Your race, Enlightened Human, having been shaped within the heart of the Eighth Plane, remains unbound. As the first of your race, you have the authority to bind your people to any of the myriad of Purposes that exist within the Overseer’s domains.
Warning! Entering into a covenant with entities of Purpose is no small task. Be warned, power and authority is never given freely.
Glade groaned, massaging his temples. His headache was getting worse, and it wasn’t because he was holding his telepathy skill open all the time.
He opened the last prompt.
You have been offered a quest: Binding to Nature I. A truth has been discovered. Your race, Enlightened Human, is unbound. Because of your selfless acts in aiding a Keeper, entities representing the Purpose of Nature, have taken note of your existence. Are you willing to take the next step?
This quest may not be declined.
Success Conditions: Prove you are a friend of Nature. Complete five nature related quests.
Status: 2 of 5 quests complete
Reward: 2,000 XP; Insights into the Purpose of Nature.
He may not know much, as Riya had explained to him again and again, but even he knew this latest revelation was something to take seriously. The problem was, he didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
Sure, Riya and Kedryn would be happy to give them their own interpretations if he shared this with them. Which would likely result in both elves freaking out, much like he was trying very hard not to do.
After a few minutes pondering what to do about this latest development, Glade decided to simply put it out of his mind for the time being. It wasn’t like he was being given a choice in accepting the quest or not. Even if he could reject it, Glade knew deep down he wouldn’t. The promise of additional information was too intriguing.
Having settled on a way forward, Glade was about to call for them to resume their tedious march when two weak minds appeared on the periphery of his telepathy skill.
One of the mental signatures belonged to a slime, but the other was something new.
A rumble escaped his stomach. Hopefully, whatever the other mental signature belonged to was edible.
He was getting hungry.