Martin and Adam spent the next day searching through the castle for anything he could actually fight with. That brought to light that any kitchen knife was not only a usable weapon for Adam, but they were significantly more deadly than they should have been. There was much testing, and two impromptu visits to the estate’s healer before Martin admitted that they should perhaps take a wiser approach.
That first evening saw Adam once again visiting his mindspace. He only gave the table and its resident card a pancing glance before turning to what he had decided, with a sense of amusement, to call his Sky Tome. He’d tried searching for Snooty Bastard, his name for the man that had delivered his study books, to ask for more or different tomes, but the man was surprisingly difficult to pin down. He suspected the man was avoiding him on purpose, so he made do with what he had. With his new found interest in reading and study, he obviously had to name his favorite book of them all.
As far as he could tell it was untitled, so nameless, and it hovered in the sky of his mindspace. Sky. It was far too large and impressive to be a mere book. Tome. Hence, Sky Tome.
Before he started digging through the different pages of Sky Tome looking for answers, Adam decided to go over his basics again. Much to his surprise, he found most of what he was looking for in the description of his class. Two lines basically covered most of what he needed. One said: While they are incapable of using traditional weapons or armors, a Mother only truly needs an apron and a nearby cooking utensil to defend or discipline her child. As far as he could tell, it was a hint. Thinking back to the aborted fight between him and Martin, all he had had was an apron and a paring knife. Further thought hinted that he might have to pay more attention to his apron next time as well.
The second line was a combo, and a doozy at that. It said: added skill synergies with certain crafting skills; added effects for certain tools during combat. The added effects probably explained why his paring knife had performed far better than anticipated, and the mention of “certain tools” told him that there were more “weapons” out there for him to discover. He was eager to figure out what they were, but he still had some more work to do.
The “added skill synergies” was something he had already partially experienced. Certainly he hadn’t found all of the extra skills as of yet, and didn’t expect to do so for years to come, but he had found two already. Spit On It was a skill that popped up in his Cleaning trade skill. Apparently the spit of a Mother was a powerfully magical cleaning solution. Disgusting in a way, but he had spit in a bucket of filthy mop water, only for it to end up sparklingly clear and ready to be used again immediately after. The tingling in his skull told him he had gained a skill, and looking at it that night had revealed its name and properties.
The second one tied back into his talks with the kids. He’d promised both of them cookies, and there had been a nagging feeling in the back of his mind until he had finally given in and had Ruth teach him how to make some. When he’d pulled them from the oven, his System Assistance had taken control again. He’d popped up with a blazing hot cookie fresh from the oven on his bare hand, said, “Here, have a cookie,” and forcibly popped it into Ruth’s mouth before she could stop him. He’d immediately known it was a skill because neither one of them was burned. The fact that Ruth didn’t choke, and couldn’t stop him, also helped sell the skill aspect. It turned out to be his first healing skill, Have a Cookie, and it was impressive to say the least.
All of that was great, but the combination of the two sections, along with the first line made him think that there was a chance that they’d been going about their search all wrong. Adam had a lot of very strange ideas to try in combat over the next few days.
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According to Sky Tome, his new weapons didn’t exactly have a skill of their own, but still had a reference point. There was a new page after the skills page in Sky Tome, and the title at the top said Tools. There was only one section as of yet, but he was greatly anticipating more. And the one section he did have answered plenty of questions all on its own.
Knives (Cooking): Attacks with these tools cause increased bleeding, and carry a greater ability to sever digits, fingers, and tendons, as well as arteries and veins. Skilled attacks with Knives (Cooking) can Cut to the Heart of any problem.
Cut to the Heart: Massively increases the bleeding of wounds caused by attacks from Knives (Cooking), renders wounds immune to healing for a time, and may cause dismemberment with correctly placed strikes.
Adam didn’t know much of anything about what weapons could do in a magical, system assisted kind of way. Yet. Martin was planning to teach him about those sorts of things after they found a weapon he could use. Instead of teaching him though, the man had instead spent the time searching for more weapons complaining about how a tool could possibly be as useful as a weapon. He suspected that the older man would be surprised at how effective his tools could be.
When he mentioned that very thing to Martin the next day, the man’s response was to put him on his ass. His unceremonious tumble was emphasized by a lecture delivered at sword point. Bonus effects only mattered if he could actually hit something. Mother Knows Best could give him all the knowledge in the world, but it couldn’t make him use it better. Only time and practice could make him a better fighter, and he hadn’t had enough of either.
“Listen well, kid. Right now the only chance you have at winning a fight with an adult of any combat class is surprise or your bear form. And that is OK. For now. I don’t know any details, but I know the duke. Sometime in the future your skills as a defender will be needed to keep the children safe, so we have until then to make you capable of pulling off a miracle.”
Adam nodded from the ground, at which point Martin helped him up. After dusting himself off, he asked, “Is that even possible? I mean… I’m just a kid.”
Martin scoffed. “You tell me. Didn’t you already drop an evolved classer?”
“But I had no idea what I was doing!” Adam exclaimed.
The old man levered a finger at him. “Exactly. You were a newly Gifted Apprentice with a single skill, no training, horrible position, and a bunch of non combatants to protect. And. You. Won.” He thrust the finger at Adam with each word to make his point. “Now, by the time trouble comes looking for those kids you’ll have several more levels, bunches of skills, and as much training as I can cram down your throat. Sure, you’ll still have non combatants to protect, but there’s less of them, and it’s what your class excels at. Positioning is part luck, and part preparation. You’ll know this place like the back of your hand by then, and the duke will make sure you are informed before anything starts, so you’ll be ready. You may still lose, but if you do, you’ll do so knowing we did everything we could to make you ready for the fight.”
Adam looked at the training yard, the estate, and then Martin. He’d love to claim he was completely outraged over being a slave, and in a way he was, but, at the same time, it wasn’t much worse than an Apprenticeship contract. And an Apprenticeship for a Mother would likely look much like his current situation, at least one that expected combat to be a necessary portion of the focus for the class. He didn’t like the duke’s kids all that much, but he also didn’t really have a choice. One way or another, with the class he had, he needed to be watching over children.
It might not be the ideal setting to grow his class, but it wasn’t far off. It came with a large support structure that would promote his growth to the highest possible, people that were invested in helping his power grow, nearly the best education money could buy without him paying for it, and some kids who definitely needed some firm discipline and direction in their lives, a sure way to work on his skills. All in all, he could work with it.
“All right. I’m in. What’s next?”