Who has two thumbs and got eight extra skill points? This guy! Imagine me pointing my thumbs at my chest. Adding those two points to Acumen took away the -1 and gave me a plus one. I’ll take Hide and Move Silently. I’m terrible at both but It’ll improve as my agility score gets better. Let’s throw some points into Search and Bluff. That’ll do it.

Primary

Bluff +2

Concentration: +2 (+1/Profession)

Craft (Alchemy) +4 (racial bonus, +1 Acumen)

Heal +1 (-1/Perception)

Lore (Arcana) +2 (+1 Acumen)

Listen +1 (-1/Perception)

Profession (Rune Caster) +3 (racial bonus)

Spot +1 (-1/Perception)

Secondary

Hide -1 (-3 Agility)

Move Silently -1 (-3 Agility)

Runescribe +3 (+1/Profession, +1 Acumen)

Search +2 (+1 Acumen)

Spellcraft +3 (+1/Profession, +1 Acumen)

Summoning +1

Still pretty wretched, but better than it was. I’ll need to take care of the Agility and Perception minuses. Other than that, pretty decent.

What I learned next is those of us at the head of class got put on independent study. I was given Theory of Spells and Casting Them by Taman Malthus. Falaise told me to learn everything that book has to offer and do it quicky. I’ll have to give up the book because theirs will get their point to magic soon.

Us high achievers also got our first additional duty. Mine was in the kitchens. I complained and Drill Sergeant had me do pushups until I was persuaded. Once my arms had pretty much given out I became convinced the kitchen was the best choice for me. Elyse got the laundry, so I guess it could have been worse.

I was in my room reading the tome of magical theory when Niobe came in. “Hey roomy.” I offered with a grin. She rolled her eyes and opened her trunk.

“I’m getting outta here.” She starting pulling things out of the trunk. Rations, the travelers clothes, rope. All the survival gear she’d bought at the beginning.

“They’ll kill you. You understand that, right?” I sat up, putting my short legs over the edge of my bunk.

“I don’t have my nose up the Instructor’s ass like you. I don’t do this military shit, certainly not when I got drafted into it.” She changed from the training robe we all wore, sort of like a martial art gi, into the sturdy clothes of character creation.

“What’s your plan?” I asked.

“Why, so you can rat me out?” She shook her head. “My additional duty is following one of the hunters that helps supply the castle with meat. Once I’m out there, I’m in the wind.” She left the room without so much as a goodbye. I stared at the door after her for a long time, wondering if it was the last time I’d see her.

Today was my first day in the kitchen. I stood at attention before the cook, Julian. My joke of, “Ha ha, like potatoes.” Fell completely flat.

“Ya don’t need to do that attention stuff around me.” The fat human said, rubbing his big hands on his apron. “Since ya like potatoes so much, you’ll start off skinning ‘em.”

“You know, if you leave the skin on, there are more nutrients. It’s better for you.” I told him.

“I don’t know what a nutrient might be, but I know that pile of potatoes needs skinning and ye’re just the dwarf for the job.” He handed me a slim knife and went off to prepare everyone’s lunches.

The pile of potatoes sat in a wooden cask about waist high on me. I pulled up a stool and got to peeling. There were three human women working in the kitchen as well. Apparently, they came from the tiny village that supported the castle. There was also an adorable brown eyed little girl around four years old. She helped her mother with small tasks.

The little girl also kept casting glances my way. I started holding a potato up in front of my eyes and taking it away suddenly, playing peekaboo. She laughed, a bright little giggle. Her mother looked up and saw me, then put her arm on her daughter.

“I’m sorry, sir. She don’t mean nothing by it.” The woman’s deep brown hair spilled out of the wrap around her hair in her distress.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“There’s nothing to apologize for.” I told them. “I miss being around children.” As we talked, I peeled a potato.

“Do ye have bairns back home?” Another woman, a bit heavier and older, asked from the vegetable washing station.

“I never did.” Shaking my head. “I had nieces and nephews, though. They’re all grown now with children of their own.” I paused. “I miss them.” Pausing, talking for a long time, I swallowed hard on remembered grief.

“I’ve often wondered what it must be like, living under the mountain like your kind.” The youngest of the women, one with a pug nose and raven black hair, spoke up from cutting slices of sausage. I smiled, thinking back to the apartment on the 37th floor I’d live in.

A well-dressed gnome came into the kitchen. “Julian, I have the ingredients for the bloodline experiments.” He wore a waistcoat and shoes with a shiny buckle. His little arms clutched a satchel tight. The women working in the kitchen all got conspicuously busy when he entered the room. I leaned over the pile of potatoes but kept my ears open.

Julian bowed low and approached the gnome. “Yes milord. I’ll see it done, milord.”

“You remember what we discussed? Every trainee signs the sheet, then they get the specific meal called for by their racial diet. You treat the meal with the spices contained in this satchel.” He handed the leather bag to the chef. ”Once they’ve taken the food you put a mark by their name.”

“Aye milord. I’ll see it done.” Julian bowed again.

“You’ll do it yourself.” The gnome said, pushing the satchel into the cook’s hands. “Its most important this be done while they are undergoing zeroth level character creation. If my theories are correct, it will drastically impact their development.” The little man patted the bowing cook on the shoulder and spun about, never taking a look around the kitchen.

Julian put the satchel above the food service area and the clipboard with names on it beside it. “Oi, trainee. Time for you to eat your lunch before the rush comes.” Julian the cook came back with something that strongly resembled a quiche. He looked me over. “Dwarf, right.” And went over to a bag labeled DWARF in big stitched on letters. He poured the contents of the bag onto the quiche. “What’s your name?”

“Mike.” I told him. He went to the clipboard, his gnawed on fingernail tracing down the writing. Finding my name, he nodded. Getting the satchel down, he got out one of the jars labeled NATURE.

“What’s that you’re doing there?” I asked him.

“Just putting some seasoning on your food. Gotta make sure you grow up all big and strong.” He put a spoon into the greenish powder and scattered it over my quiche. Then turned to me with a gap-toothed grin. “Ere ya go. Eat up.”

I reluctantly ate the food. He’d scattered egg shell, bug carapace and seashells over the top and squished them in. It was surprisingly good. There was also a freshness to it, like when you’re in the woods after it rains.

Once the lunch rush started, I got put up front. Dwarves got the bag of shells dumped onto their food. Elves were complete vegetarians and got something like granola soaked in honey. The lone halnaak lizard man got a plate full of bugs. I’m not judging, but it looked gross with them crawling all over each other. Seeing her slurp down a centipede like it was a spaghetti noodle made a lot of folks look away in horror.

After lunch, it was back to weapons drill. Niobe didn’t join the group. We paired off and practiced being struck and striking. Jackson was my partner.

“Ugh, punching you is like hitting wet cement.” Jackson groaned, massaging his hand. “I almost chose a dwarf. Just didn’t want to give up the speed.” He shook his hand. “Maybe I should’ve.”

“What did you get in return?” I asked, getting back into my stance.

“I put my point into Brawn.” He took an aggressive stance, one foot in front of the other. Right arm by his hip and left arm across the body like it had a shield. “My two talents were toughness and Attack of Opportunity.” He struck, coming forward from his back leg. Right hand coming straight for my face. I blocked, but his sidekick knocked the wind out of me.

“Man, that would have broken ribs on a human, maybe even an ogre. It knocks the wind out of you.” He grinned and got back into his stance. We spent the afternoon on hand to hand drills, then went to weapons. I got pulled aside for the racial weapons group again.

After dinner, I checked, and he spiced my food from the NATURE jar again. It was back to independent study. I rememorized my spells. It was still really difficult to form the memory shape and hold it. I sat on the floor with my eyes closed.

You create the memory shape and hold it, then review your spellbook. As you go over and over the spell, you gradually pack mana into the shape. Instructor Falaise told me this would only take fifteen minutes per spell order once I was good at it. These were zeroth order spells and each one took me about an hour.

Izzy came in the room while I was studying. The little elf looked over my shoulder, her big aquamarine eyes looking over the book. “What ‘ya reading?” She asked.

“I’m studying my spells.” I shook my head and pushed the book off my lap. “In the game you just pick them and BAM, that’s your spell list. This is for the birds.”

She laughed. It was a quick, liquid silver sound. “I know that’s right. Playing a priest in the game is mostly about your special abilities.” She waved a hand, encompassing her slim body. “Sea Elves get so many advantages as spellcasters I didn’t even consider all the disadvantages of being three feet tall.” She smiled, showing those elven rabbit teeth. “I can’t even see over the lunch counter. I have to reach up to get my tray.”

“How do you memorize spells? You got the same advantage I did on actually having some spells initially, right?”

Izzy nodded, “I did. Once I made contact with my higher power…” She paused and laughed again, a quick trill of sound this time. “Higher power? Listen to me. You’d think I was back in an AA meeting.”

“I guess that makes the beer they serve problematic?” Mike asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t know, I haven’t tried it. Jackson gladly drinks mine.” She grinned. “I can’t risk it.” The smile falls away from her face and for a moment, she is looking somewhere very far away. “Anyway, you asked about memorizing spells. I chose one of the nature goddesses. My memory place is like a huge, gnarled old oak. The different branches are the orders of magic, so the lowest one is zeroth. That’s the only one I can reach right now. The leaves for the shape of the litany of a spell. I chant the litany and am granted that spell. I don’t have access to very many but…” she chanted a quick series of words that seemed to fall out of my head as soon as I heard them and opened her hand.

A stream of fireflies flew out. They glowed constantly rather than occasionally, like a normal bug. Clusters of the luminescent insects gathered on walls and the ceiling. It lit the room up with a soft, warm light.

“Wow, that’s awesome.” I said, looking up.

Her face looked really joyful. “Right? Can you believe I did this? Its… Its like a dream.” We went back to studying our spells. Jackson came in from some weapon work and crashed. Niobe didn’t join us that night.