[https://i.imgur.com/VGCFMQy.png]

Refenial finished reading the booklet and carefully slid it away out of sight. He kept the music book up, so he would look like he was reading that while his eyes moved and he looked over his status.

[

Name: Refenial Crowchild

Age: 11/??/#non-interger error#

Title: Pied Piper

Rank: 4

Stats

Fate: 0

Charm: 0

Mana: 0

Reason: 0

Cunning: 0

Resilience: 0

Agility: 1

Power: 1

Free points: 2

Skills:

Music (0)

Powers:

Entrancing sound (0)

]

He had two points to spend, and other than maybe fate, all the options were tempting. He looked through the options trying to discount them one by one.

Reason and Cunning both sounded brilliant. Maybe if he could think better and faster, he could come up with better solutions when faced with them. He decided against them. They were great, but he felt he was pretty resourceful and lacked the tools to solve problems more than he lacked the ability to think of the solutions to problems.

Next, he considered Agility and Strength. Both were amazingly useful. He'd have died more than once without the points he'd invested into them already, but he already had an edge there. He needed to shore up his weaknesses before he worried about increasing his strengths.

That left Charm, Mana and Resilience.

From what he could tell, looking at his only power, 'Entrancing sound' it looked like his title would rely heavily on the sorts of powers that Charm would increase the capacity of. He was certain that, in the long run, this would be one of the stats he focused on most.

He was hopeful that he would soon be reaching rank one in his music skill, and his gut instinct told him that investing in this would speed his progress in unlocking the skill as well as the unused power. He couldn't be sure of that, though. It was a gamble. Investing in Charm now might also be a waste of a point, and he didn't know when he'd get more.

Next was Mana. Perhaps if he chose this, he could increase the power of his whistle's stunning attack. Also, once he unlocked his power, this would increase its effect. It'd also have the long-term advantage of making his spellforms more powerful when he learned them. It was tempting.

Lastly was Resilience, this he needed. Sure, the system healed most injuries that didn't kill him, but when fighting, especially against the pigs, he'd known one solid blow, and they'd have killed him. He couldn't constantly gamble his life on lucky dodges and live long enough to become who he wanted to become. The real question of Resilience was whether to spend one or both points on it.

He thought for a long moment before making his decision.

One point in Resilience, One point in Charm.

While toughness was vital, he needed to be more than just tough to survive.

He fidgeted slightly to see if he could notice a change in his body, but it felt no different than before selecting the points.

Happy with the changes he'd made, he closed the status and began reading the music book for real, determined to push on even if reading while in the coach made him feel unwell.

[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]

Once day had drifted towards evening, Refenial queasily left the coach and sat down heavily on a bench that Matrill had set up around what would be the evening's fire. He'd forced himself to keep reading despite the constant gentle jogging of the words on the page as the caravan trundled along the road. He was paying the price for his determination now. His stomach churned and gurgled unhappily.

He sat there quietly for the next half an hour as the feeling passed. Nox seemed to avoid the campfire in the evenings now since Helus was often there.

Nia was also off walking somewhere on the outskirts of the camp. Constant days of sitting in a small boxy coach seemed to have started to get to her. She'd seemed a little distant since the village.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He pulled out his whistle and began to practice the instrument, making sure not to play loud enough to annoy the bustling caravan workers around him.

After a few notes, he stopped, surprised. Playing felt easier today. Then he remembered the point he'd just put into Charm, mentally facepalming at his own surprise.

It was nice validation, though. The point had definitely been worth it. He carried on practising for a while as he sat there, playing one of the songs from the exercise book by memory.

As he played the notes carefully and haltingly, something seemed to suddenly click in his mind, and he sped up slightly to something approximating how the tune was meant to be played.

He finished the tune before laying the whistle down carefully in his lap, suspecting he knew what had just happened. He brought up his status, and it confirmed his hopes. His music skill had finally ranked up to one.

He was ecstatic. He jumped up in excitement, sending the whistle tumbling out of his lap towards the now-lit fire. In shock, he reached out, grabbing it midair a fraction of a second before it passed into the fire.

Matrill, who was standing on the other side of the fire, gave a disapproving look at his antics but said nothing.

He sagged slightly in relief at the narrow avoidance of the catastrophe. Still, even this didn't dampen his mood. He felt a smile locked on his face as he looked around for signs of Nox and Nia.

[https://i.imgur.com/oMrGBK6.png]

He spotted Nox first. The man was standing alone a little ways away, munching on a long strip of jerky. He was next to Matrill's wagon, where the caravaneer kept the tents and other supplies he needed.

Refenial bound up to him, he looked around as he approached. As much as he wanted to share with someone, he knew it would be better not to let others know he was titled.

Nox smiled as he saw Refenial approaching. "What's up? I think that's the biggest grin I've ever seen on your face, Reffy."

Refenial tried to give Nox an unimpressed look but couldn't wipe the smile from his face. "It's bad enough Nia calls me that. Don't you start too."

Nox chuckled.

"I did it. I finally did it. I ranked up my skill. I've now finally levelled up my skill to rank one." Refenial beamed.

Nox nodded. "I know you're titled, but you've never actually told me anything about it. Was the skill something to do with that whistle?"

Refenial felt his face turning slightly red as he realized how poorly he was doing at explaining his good news.

"So, uh", he pointed down at his brightly coloured clothes, pausing slightly before deciding to trust Nox. "My title is 'pied piper'. It seems to be music based, at least so far. The problem was until the skills and powers rank up to rank 1, they don't do anything. Now my music skill is rank one, it won't make a massive difference, but it will improve my ability to play slightly. The more I rank it up, the better I'll get."

Nox nodded, seeming to be caught up in Refenial's excitement. "Well, lay it on me, maestro."

"Uh..." Refenial said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Well, it helps a bit, but I'm still not amazing."

He lifted his whistle to his lips and played the tune he'd played before.

As he finished, Nox gave him a nod of approval. "Much better. I didn't want to gouge my ears off, like the first time I heard you play. You might actually be pretty good with a bit more practice."

Refenial smiled even wider at the words.

"So, what else can you do with your title?"

Refenial shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I've got my stats that make me slightly better at things, a point into Charm, Resilience, Power, and Agility. I've also got a power, but that's stuck at level zero."

Nox gave an interested look at the last part, "What's the power?"

"'Entrancing sound'."

"Sounds interesting. What does it do?"

"Err... Make an entrancing sound?" Refenial said uncertainly. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure until I rank it up."

"How do you do that? Is it like the music skill where you just have to keep practising?"

"Maybe?" Refenial answered reluctantly.

Nox chuckled. "It's a good thing you're going to the academy."

"Yeah," Refenial said, the previous feeling of excitement gone.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You're a lot better with the whistle than you were before." Nox said in a consoling tone.

Refenial looked up at Nox, who seemed genuinely amused. "Are you doing better today? You seemed pretty upset last night."

It was Nox's turn to look embarrassed as he sighed. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. The Systemic Order just have a way of getting under my skin, especially Helus."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Refenial offered.

"Not really, no," Nox said bluntly.

Refenial smelled the aroma of cooking food. "I think Matrill is nearly done making dinner."

"Let's go," Nox said enthusiastically, and the pair headed over. Nia and the other passengers were already sitting around the fire eating dumplings when they arrived.

Nox and Refenial sat on the bench, and Matrill passed them their food.

"How much further till the capital?" Refenial asked, looking down at the teaming wooden bowl in his hands hungrily.

"About three weeks, give or take a day or two," Matrill responded.

"So what's everyone doing when they get to the capital?" Helus asked brightly, looking at Refenial.

Refenial froze, caught out without a ready lie.

"We're going to try out as retainers at the academy," Nox interjected smoothly.

Helus nodded. "A truly noble pursuit. I once met Order Keeper Azazel. He's the Order's representative at the school. He's a tough man but a fair one. You'll be in good hands."

Nox gave a sour look, "The Order shouldn't even be involved in the academy."

Helus shook his head in polite disagreement. "I couldn't disagree more. Just because the Order wasn't one of the founding factions doesn't mean it doesn't have a place there. Late King Wendle was quite right in including us."

"Wendle was an idiot, letting you people back into the country." Nox snapped back.

"Oh, but you are quite wrong, Nox. King Wendle was the first ruler in this country to actually have respect for the gift of System's wisdom. I wish Cesare had as much vision as his father."

Nia stood with bowl in one hand, spoon in her mouth and tapped her dagger's sheathe with her free hand in clear warning. She glared at both men until it was clear they were going to stop their bickering, then sat back down again to eat.

Matrill nodded in approval of Nia's actions. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Nia looked at Refenial for a translation which he supplied. He smiled when she heard his agreement.

[https://i.imgur.com/3vZaHAB.png]