As soon as he woke up, Lucas got himself ready for the day and began a sprint through his morning chores. He went as quickly as he could without sacrificing efficiency so that he would have plenty of time to prepare breakfast. The last few days, he had been incredibly busy and had no time to cook, aside from the couple of times he assisted his mother's efforts.
Now that he had a Skill dedicated to the activity, Lucas was determined to make time.
This morning's meal would be an egg and sausage pie--not anything too complicated, but irregular enough compared to what he usually made that it should nudge along his Skill's growth a little. The first step was to slice up the vegetables that would be included and measure out the assorted herbs. Once he had all this ready, he prepared the pie's crust in a circular pan before getting a fire started.
Lucas cooked the sausage over the stove next, mixing in onions, peppers, and spices as he went. Next in the order, he returned to the pie crust and made a layer of cheese at the bottom. The sausage then went in and he started on the eggs. They would, of course, cook with the rest of the pie, but he had to mix them together with a bit of cream and the rest of the herbs and vegetables first.
He put the pie in to bake, and seeing as he had a bit of time, he decided to review his status.
[Lucas]
[Free Stats: 50]
[HP: 130/130]
[MP: 200/200]
[STR: 12]
[DEX: 15]
[VIT: 13]
[WIS: 20]
[INT: 18]
[Class: Child of Mana]
[Level: 10]
[Skills:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
[General Skills:
* [Identify: 2]
* [Healing Arts: 1]
* [Basic Combat Training: 10]
* [Vigilance: 1]
* [Stealth: 1]
* [Cooking: 3]
* [Fitness: 10]
* [Learning: 7]
* [Regeneration: 5]
* [----------]
Many parts of his status drew his attention, from the stockpile of free stats he had yet to distribute, to the empty Skill slots of [Child of Mana], to the General Skills he still had to level. There was also the blank slot at the bottom that continued to elude his understanding. He would set aside some time to further explore that problem within the coming days, perhaps when the rest of his Skills were fully leveled.
For now, Lucas focussed on his free stats. His mother and Eugene had already communicated they would help him with their allocation, but it wouldn't hurt to consider the issue for himself beforehand. Lucas intended to be a [Healer]-[Warrior] hybrid in the future, so he began to ruminate on the best distribution for that role.
[Healer]s had to have a high wisdom stat to increase their mana pool, as well as a comparable intelligence stat so their mana remained effective in its use. Low intelligence would mean they would spend, in theory, around 50 MP on an injury, when another [Healer] with a better stat balance would only need 40 MP for the same injury. On the other hand, too much intelligence and not enough wisdom would mean they could save a person from greater injury, but afterward they would be completely powerless. If the person they saved returned shortly later with a lesser, but still life-threatening injury, the person would just die.
That was why it was necessary to keep the two stats in balance, for comparable power and endurance in healing.
[Warrior]s generally favored different stats entirely--usually some mix of strength, dexterity, and vitality depending on their precise role and combat style. Therein lied the problem, because Lucas would by no means give an equal distribution amongst all five of his stats. He'd heard stories of people that did that--warnings, really--and how they never could rise beyond a mediocre performance in their Class.
Sure, he'd also heard warnings against neglecting any stat in favor of others, as that caused problems as well, but it was always best to pick a focus or two.
He thought it over as he monitored the pie, but a solution did not present itself easily. The way Lucas saw it, there was no way for him to take the particular type of hybrid Class he was eyeing without turning out just like those people that raised all stats equally. Because if he favored WIS and INT over the more physical stats, he would cripple the [Warrior] part of his Class, and vice versa.
Lucas considered it another way: as most Classes tended to, his would have to favor either the physical stats or the mana stats. A [Healer] that favored the physical stats would be nothing but inept, but a physical Classer that favored the mana-related stats would be no different...usually. There was one Skill-type that sometimes appeared in those Classes that relied on the mana stats, and Lucas was already quite familiar with it.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I already intended to get an actual augmentation Skill, and now I know it will have to be of the stat-boosting variety.
If he managed to attain such a Skill, he could safely favor the mana stats without partially crippling himself. Then everything would work out. Lucas would need to look into some way to guarantee this--something different from the technically failed procedure that resulted in [Regeneration]. Maybe he could ask the few guards that have an augmentation Skill for advice.
It was about time to remove the pie from the oven, so he buried those thoughts for later. The pie went onto the stovetop to cool while the fire was left to die out on its own, so that it might heat up the house a little longer. It was roughly the time he and his mom would be eating on any other day, but she had yet to come out of her room so far. Lucas decided to give it a bit more time, but if she wasn't out after he sliced and plated the pie, he would see what was up.
When that time actually came, however, he was distracted by a System notification's arrival.
[*ding Congratulations! [Cooking] has reached level 4!]
Lucas smiled at his creation. It really wasn't a remarkable feat by any means, but the novelty of making something he had never made before was apparently enough to earn him a level. If he did the same for six more meals, he might even have the Skill maxed out. Alternatively, he could just spend a day helping in Belinda's kitchen.
Returning to the moment, he brought two plates with a slice of the breakfast pie on each over to the table. Mary finally came out as he was making a second trip for mugs of water.
"Good morning! You're up late," Lucas greeted.
"Mm, good morning," she returned his greeting with an exaggerated yawn. "It looks like I'm actually right on time."
Lucas shrugged and conceded the point before joining her at the table. "I wanted to work on my [Cooking], so I tried something new," he explained before detailing the pie's contents.
"Interesting, let's see how it turned out," Mary eventually responded, and they both dug in to the dish.
In short summary, Lucas thought he did a well enough job, but he probably wouldn't use this recipe frequently. The herbs, spices, and everything made the taste objectively good, but he felt it was missing something. His final impression was a generic satisfaction, without truly being impressed with the meal.
But perhaps if he found whatever was missing, he might earn another level...Something to consider for later.
"It wasn't bad," Lucas concluded.
"A perfectly fine breakfast," his mom agreed. She then took the initiative to clean up their dishes and utensils, so Lucas covered and secured the rest of the pie.
"Alright," Mary clapped her hands, "are you ready to level a Skill or two?"
"Absolutely. What do you have in mind?" He asked as they moved into the clinic and set up for the day.
"Well, there are a couple methods we could use, so naturally we will use both to maximize efficiency," she grinned. "First thing we will be doing is reviewing and expanding your knowledge of healing with the books. More specifically, I picked up a freshly bound book for you to start copying down your own healing tome."
As she said that, Mary retrieved a leather-bound book every bit as dense as the one Lucas usually took lessons from. She set it down before him and opened it up to the first, blank page.
"We can go over each topic we haven't covered in the past whenever you get to it. This was nearly the first thing I did when I began training as a [Healer]," she added once she saw Lucas's sour look. "Yes, it will take much longer than just today for you to finish, but it will be worth it in the end. You will also be helping me treat any patients that come by, so there will be plenty of breaks to keep you entertained. And it's not like I'm confining you to the house till it is done, either."
"Sorry, it's just that we reviewed everything only days ago," Lucas explained. "I won't complain any more, though."
"I know, and it's normal to find it boring. At least this review will help level two of your Skills," she provided as she set her own tome beside what would be his.
Without further ado, Lucas began this lengthy task before him. He began on the first page of each book with a fresh pot of ink--one that would last him maybe five percent of the process. His mother really hadn't been kidding that this would take him a long time. Transcription wasn't the speediest activities in the first place, but the healing tome's complex visual models only made it worse. He could see this taking another year beyond his Class change.
However, a journey of a thousand steps begins with a single one--or however the saying goes. This was all part of his journey as a [Healer], so he would take the step gladly.
----------------------------------------
There were unfortunately very few ways to make transcribing less boring. Lucas and his mom played games with the letters and words for a time, but the distraction of a patient coming in was always welcome. It only happened a few times that day, which Lucas supposed was a good thing considering it meant fewer villagers needed healing, but he got to assist in the treatment each time.
The first patient that came in was pregnant woman needing only a routine check up. Though his mother's lightning-based healing was not specialized to deal with pregnancy in any way, she still managed when necessary through education and careful control of her affinity. Lucas more or less shared in that education, so he actually performed the check up--though his lack of certain Skills meant it took a bit longer that way. The woman left shortly after it was determined there were no issues.
The second patient came in around midday, when the two of them were quickly eating a small meal. It was some guard that his mom was loosely acquainted with through Eugene, and he needed a gash on his left hand treated. The man had accidentally cut himself while on patrol and inexpertly bandaged it up till he got here. There was no real danger involved with this case, so Lucas was instructed to clean the wound before healing magic was applied.
The third patient of the day was the most interesting. They did not show up till well into the evening when Lucas was thoroughly tired of everything and just wanted to eat dinner and go to bed.
Over the course of the day, he'd managed to transcribe twelve entire pages. He was just starting another when a heavy bang on their front door caused him to jump and nearly ruin the page.
I swear, if this person is not in serious need of healing...
His mom was in some other part of the house currently, so he rose to see why whoever was at the door could not simply enter on their own. Lucas made sure to take a deep breath and bury his annoyance at being disturbed before he could meet the person. Whoever he had been expecting, it was certainly not Quinn.
"Are you going to let me in, or what?"