Zoe spent the next month and a half continuing her routine. She’d practice her archery and spend some time slashing at the straw dummies with her dagger, but never managed to get a new skill from it.

After the first week, she decided to start eating a klir leaf every day. When she was done, she would go wander out the north gate and bring a klir leaf back to Kaira park. She hoped it would help train her resistance and regeneration skill, but kept herself from checking on her stat sheet until the winter was over. She never noticed her poison resistance making a difference, but supposed it didn’t do much at low levels anyway.

On the last day of winter, according to Joe at least, Zoe was sitting at Kaira park. She was a little disappointed that the winter wasn’t cold enough to give her a resistance naturally, but it was probably for the best anyway. If it was so cold that she took damage, it would have been a lot less comfortable.

She waited through the evening in eager anticipation for a notification. Almost all of her time was spent outside, away from shelter, and she felt she would be getting the Winter’s Master feat any moment. The sun was a great clock during the day, but it had already set and she had no idea how to tell the time based on the moon’s position. Or if it was even possible to do in the first place.

Maybe with modern technology, but even if she had it she wouldn’t know how to use it. Or if it would even work here, anyway. Did the moon orbit this planet at the same speed? Did this planet rotate on its axis at the same speed? Were all the angles the same?

Zoe was ripped from her digressions by a notification grabbing her attention.

*DING*

For surviving a natural winter without shelter, you have been awarded with the [Winter’s Master] feat.

She brought up the feat’s description as soon as she got the notification.

*DING*

You have mastered the coldest season. While many would choose to stay inside their warm houses and take shelter from the frigid environment, you brave the frost and go it alone. All classes gain a minor bonus to cold affinity. Gain the [Cold] resistance.

Zoe smiled, excitement welling within her. Not only did she get a new feat out of this, but she got a free resistance to go with it! The logical conclusion, Zoe thought, was that summer’s master would give her a heat resistance. Though, she already had that one so it wouldn’t be as important to her. A part of her understood why Ash said the rewards were underwhelming, but she was overjoyed regardless.

She thought about what extra bonuses the Spring or Autumn Master’s feats would give her. There were no obvious resistances she could think of for them. For that matter, she wasn’t even sure what affinity bonus she could get. Or even what an affinity was, though she imagined it was a bonus to all cold magic. Something to ask Joe or maybe Ash about later.

Zoe brought up her stat sheet, excited to see her progress over the winter.

Name: Zoe Mara

Race: Human

——

Stat Points: 1

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 20

Vitality: 20

Endurance: 20

Intelligence: 50

Wisdom: 50

Health: 200/200

Stamina: 200/200

Mana: 500/500

——

Class 1: Earthian (8)

- Identify (28)

——

General Skills:

- Vampyric Regeneration (13)

- Vampyric Senses (21)

- Vampyric Resistance (15)

- Vampyric Immortality (2)

- Vampyric Charm (36)

- Vampyric Empathy (24)

- Gathering (7)

- Archery (23)

­- Meditation (26)

Resistances:

- Mental (7)

- Poison (12)

­- Pain (3)

- Heat (1)

- Fire (1)

- Cold (1)

­- Disintegration (2)

Feats:

- Patient Decider

- Winter’s Master

Zoe was most proud of her Identify progress. She felt as though she was at long last not forgetting about it at every turn. Most of the people she met she would identify without a second thought. Her empathy fell a little behind it, however.

A part of her wanted to grow, to use every tool at her disposal to be the best version of her that she could be. But another part of her didn’t feel right about using it on everybody she met either. It almost felt like an invasion of privacy.

Identify was something that everybody had, something so commonplace that street signs were replaced with embedded enchantments in the roads so they’d show up to identify. But her empathy was something different. Maybe other people had similar skills, but it wasn’t commonplace from what she saw. People’s feelings and emotions were their own.

She still tried to use it as often as she could but as the skill levelled it felt more and more invasive. Even small crowds could be picked apart by her now, each person’s anxieties screaming at her like a sign telling her how to manipulate them.

It felt wrong leaving it behind, but using it felt immoral. She wasn’t sure where to draw the line with it, but promised to at least not use it on people that she cared about.

The next surprise on her sheet was her Vampyric Resistance. It was behind even her regeneration somehow, which she expected to be her slowest skill. Not counting immortality, which would take a literal eternity to get anywhere useful.

Overall, she was satisfied with her progress. A new resistance, a new feat and some good levels on her skills. She was already set up for a better class than almost anybody else could be, and had plans for even greater heights. Maybe she couldn’t get a cold elemental killed before her first class, but she thought that whatever she would end up being offered next winter would be plenty competent on their own.

Zoe waited out the rest of the night and then made her way down to Joe’s inn. She had spoken with him briefly a few times over the winter but he was quite busy. Lots of travellers stopped by his inn for shelter through the winter.

He had told her a few weeks back that the first day of spring would be another day of errands if she wanted to come along with him, and she thought it would be a nice opportunity to chat.

Joe was waiting outside his inn when she arrived, and waved to her. Zoe walked up and said good morning.

“So, what are we doing today anyway Joe?” Zoe asked him.

“Well, I’ve got to drop off my taxes again, and then I think I’m going to go check out a hunter by the name of Penny. She’s on the other side of town but I’ve heard good things about her so I’m interested in seeing what she charges.” Joe said, starting down the road.

Zoe followed him as he took a meandering path through town to the city hall.

“I thought you were just going to post odd jobs up, honestly.” Zoe said.

“Well, if Penny’s prices are outrageous I might just have to. But I’d like a consistent supplier if I can.” He said, turning down an alleyway. “It’s never fun not knowing when your next delivery will show up. Do I use the last of my meat today or should I hold some back for tomorrow? If I can just go find somebody with a steady supply I can rest easy knowing I’ll always be able to cook the best meals for my patrons.”

“Well let’s hope she’s cheap then.” Zoe said.

Joe laughed, “I don’t think she’d be in business for very long if she didn’t charge fair prices, but you never know. I never checked her out because she’s on the other side of town and Herb was so close.”

“Yea he was just down the road from your inn right?” Zoe asked.

“Yup. Not the worst thing anyway, gives me a good excuse to go for a walk every so often at least.” Joe said.

“’Cause you like walks with purpose and all that. Can’t just go for a walk because you want to go for a walk.” Zoe giggled.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Sure. I don’t have to worry that I’m wasting people’s time today because this is something I have to do. If I just go for a walk, spend a few hours away from my inn for no reason then people miss out on their meals. And for what? Because I wanted to go for a walk? Sure, sometimes you’ve gotta take some time to yourself.

“But I’ve got a responsibility to the people paying me to stay at the inn. And I like that responsibility. So when I get an excuse to go for a nice walk and it’s a part of that responsibility? I enjoy myself.” Joe explained.

“That actually makes a lot of sense, to be honest.” Zoe said.

Joe smiled and walked in to the city hall. The lines were longer today, maybe because it was the first day of spring, but they still moved at a quick pace. In no time at all, Joe and Zoe were up at the counter and he handed an envelope to the man.

“Thank you, will that be all for you today?” The man asked.

“That’s it for me,” Joe said. “Did you need anything Zoe?"

“Yeah actually, do you have a map of town maybe?” She asked the man.

“Of course, would you like one?” The man asked.

“Yes please,” Zoe answered.

The man reached under the counter and pulled out a large folded piece of paper, handing it to Zoe.

“That’s it for me, thank you very much.” Zoe said.

“No problem at all, have a lovely day you two.” The man said, waving the next person in line over.

“You went the whole winter without a map?” Joe raised his eyebrows at her.

“Well I thought it would be fun, I guess. Wander around and build a map in my head. But this city is really big and confusing.” Zoe said.

Joe laughed as they exited the city hall, “You get used to it after a while.”

“I guess. So off to Penny then?” Zoe asked.

“Sure, we could stop for some lunch first. I think I remember you saying you had something you wanted to share too?” Joe asked, yawning as he walked down the road.

“Yeah, if you know of somewhere private?” Zoe asked.

“Kaira park is pretty secluded and just around the corner. We could grab some lunch and go sit down for a bit?” Joe asked.

“Sure, I know of a good rice restaurant nearby. I’ll buy today.” Zoe smiled, feeling a little proud of herself.

Joe chuckled, “Sure.”

Zoe led Joe to the restaurant and the two picked out their meals. Zoe went with a strange looking blue rice with a pile of chopped up venison that was battered and fried on top of it. The rice was interesting to Zoe, each grain having a slight pop as she bit into it. A slightly sweet and tangy aroma erupting from each bite. The crispy fried venison that sat on top was coated in a salty, spicy orange sauce that contrasted the strange rice.

Joe ordered a simple dish of white rice and some fresh sliced vegetables, and the two made their way to Kaira park. They sat at Zoe’s favoured table and ate their lunch in silence.

“So I got a feat,” Zoe said, swallowing her last mouthful of the fried venison.

“Winter’s Master, right?” Joe asked.

“That one too, but I got another early on in winter. Patient Decider.” Zoe said, leaning back.

“Oh? What’s that one do?” Joe finished off the last of his meal.

“A lot. What does class quality mean?” Zoe asked.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, honestly.” Joe answered.

“Well apparently it gives a bonus to their quality.” Zoe said.

“Can’t be bad at least, that’s a nice feat. How’d you get it?” Joe asked her, leaning onto the table.

“But wait, there’s more.” She giggled, leaning in closer to whisper. “It also says it lifts all first class restrictions, and the first class experience bonus is applied permanently.”

Joe’s eyes widened in shock, “How in the hell, what did you have to do to get this?"

“Shhh, I don’t know if I want people knowing yet.” Zoe glared at him.

“Sorry, sorry. How’d you manage that?” He whispered.

“I’ll get to that but let me finish saying my piece.” Zoe said.

“There’s more? My god.” Joe said.

“I also get a stat point every year on my birthday, apparently. And it was applied retroactively. And I think one of my… other skills does the same thing, but it didn’t apply retroactively.” Zoe said.

Joe sat in silence for a minute, his eyes almost glazed over.

“You’ve gotta tell me, what did you need to do?” He asked.

“I got it on my twenty-fifth birthday. Said it was for turning twenty-five as a human without choosing my second class.” Zoe explained.

Joe whistled, “Wow. So spend half your life without making a decision and get rewarded. I’m not sure I’d do that even if I could go back.”

“Really? It seems like a no brainer to me, honestly.” Zoe said.

“I’m not going to live forever, Zoe. Those are some incredible bonuses but that’s also almost twenty years spent on it. I’d rather just have those twenty years of my life, I think.”

“I feel like you could catch up pretty quick, though.” Zoe said.

“Even if I could, that’s twenty years spent not doing what I’m passionate about. Twenty years, Zoe. That’s a long time, over half of my life so far. And it would have been spent in constant fear of dying.” Joe explained, leaning back a bit. “That fits you really well though, so I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks Joe.” Zoe smiled.

“What about the Winter’s Master feat? What’s that one do for you?" Joe asked.

“It gives classes a bonus to cold affinity and it gave me the cold resistance too.” Zoe said.

“That’ll be helpful. I’m surprised you didn’t already have the cold resistance from the winter temperatures.” Joe said.

Zoe tapped on the table with her sharp claws, “I didn’t find it that bad. I had a nice fur coat.”

“I see. So are you finally going to spend a night inside again?” He asked.

“Ash and Lila said they’ve heard about Spring and Autumn feats too so I’ll be spending a whole year outside. What does affinity do anyway?” Zoe asked.

Joe shook his head, “A full year? You’re insane, you know that?" He sighed. ”My understanding is affinity is a general bonus to everything. Better cold affinity means your cold skills will be more effective.“

He stood up, stretching. “Enough of that though, I’ve gotta get to Penny’s place today still. You coming along?"

“Sure, I’m interested in meeting her. Somebody’s gotta make sure you aren’t getting scammed, after all.” Zoe giggled.

Joe laughed.