Proofreader: Pre-rewrite: Kagenesti

Act I Chapter 3 - Getting stats

Riin's POV 

Asperd Kingdom - Asperd Isles - Winter, The Herbalist Hut.

By the time I have reached my fourth year in this new world mother have yet to start doing anything in the garden. That is not to say that she has not been productive, each day she spends away from her garden she works hard on grinding up the different plants. While some needs to hang to be dried, others need to be boiled in water and some need to be mixed with oil to be of any use later. She never seems to rest much and when she does she rises early to make breakfast for us. I spend most of my time with mother and when she takes her walks into the forest I’m more or less forced to keep father company, that is if I want to avoid him complaining about how I never spend anytime with him to mother and then for mother to start a long and very bordering lecture of why I should spend time with my father. But I mean looking at a man slowly shaving off thin slices of wood from a stick can only keep you entertained for a certain amount of time.

The first snow has fallen over the woods and mother is by the fire cook a rabbit stew, I have come to like her cooking quite a bit. I find the pure white snow peaceful in a way, I never had a chance to sit and look at the falling snow. Surrounded by tall trees and the sound of the fire crackling in the background, I find myself falling into a clam state of mind. I get pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of mothers’ voice next to me. 

“Come sweetie, the food is ready” 

I respond with a smile, hopping down from the windows bench. Father comes in just as I sit down. He is lightly covered in snowflakes; he gives us a smile. 

“Just in time I see. Nothing better than your rabbit stew on a cold winter day. How has your day been?” 

“Dry and warm, yours dear?” 

Mother says with a glint in her eyes and a smile. 

“Cold and productive, dear wife.” 

He gives mother a kiss and ruffles my hair around. To his question, I give him a small smile and a nod. Even if I know the language I still restrain from speaking too much, I simply don’t find the need to do so when a nod and a smile or a sake of the head is accepted as an answer. But I do have a few questions that I must give voice to somethings are just not meant for oneself to figure out. We sit near the fire and eat our dinner, I need to watch what mother puts into the stew next time we get a rabbit. The dinner is soon over and mother starts to take the plates over for cleaning. The rest of the stew is set out in the shed by father, the cold weather will help keep from going bad, so we can eat some of it tomorrow too.

Once we are sitting by the table again I take a deep breath, its now or never. 

“How do stats work?” 

They both look at me with surprise written on their faces. Hmm, am I know supposed to know about stats yet? Well nothing I can do about it now. It seems to take them a bit to recover. When they do, mother is the first to speak up. 

“Sweetie, are you asking about the shard words that I told you?” 

She asks in that motherly voice that says, ‘Oh my little boy is growing up so fast’. To that I give a nod. Father is smiling proudly. Well, I guess it’s okay to ask about then. The one to explain is father with his rough and deep voice. 

“That’s my boy, ha-ha. Well how to most simply explain stats.” 

He takes a moment to collect his troughs before speaking again.

“Well how best to explain this… See there is six different stats shown on the status screen. Each stat represents different parts of your shard. Do you want them all explained?” 

I give a quick nod. I now have my full attention on father. He gives me a smile, seemly happy to have my undivided attention for once. 

“Okay then, well listen up boy.” 

“Strength represent your body’s pure physical strength, the about you can carry or lift.”

Well that makes sense.

“Dexterity represent your reflexes and reaction speed if you have a high Dexterity, then you are likely to be quick and light on your feet.” 

“Do you follow me boy?” 

I give him a nod again and keep focusing on the lecture he is giving me. He smiles again before continuing once more.

“Constitution represent your overall form, if you get sick easily or if you have a strong body.”

So, it seems that constitution is so what plays into account when talking about the shown health.

“Intelligent represent how smart you are, a lower Intelligent person’s reflexes are slower to learn certain things then a person with a higher level of Intelligent.”

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Makes sense so far… Was it really that simple all along? I kind of feel a bit stupid now.

“Wisdom represent your overall knowledge on a subject. If you know a lot about it or nothing at all, it also reflexes your ability to remember things you see and hear.”

“Charisma represent how well others perceives you. While it is also referred to at the beauty stats, it really is just a rough way to measure how well others accepts you speaking up or reacting to what you are going.”

I sit for a bit thinking about that. It all make sense, but it does not explain the numbers next to each stat. Here goes nothing, I just hope they don’t get tired of answering my questions. I have no intention of taking a hit for making them angry. I better shift my focus to mother just to be sure. When I look over at her she smiles at me. Okay, still safe to go on it seems.

“Mother, what does the numbers mean.”

“Ahh, well they are a way to measure the value of each stat. They are called, Value Point’s but mostly we just talk about them as points.”

She smiles sweetly at me, before continuing.

“Constitution and Strength represent [Health] or Health Points or for short Hp. one point in Constitution give you a total amount of five Hp. While every ten points of Strength also gives you five Hp.”

Oh? So, strength factor in with your health, interesting. While it does not effect the over-all value so much as pure constitution does it will for sure add up over time.

“Intelligent and Wisdom represent [Mana] or Mana Points or for short Mp, one point in Intelligent gives you a total amount of five Mana. Every ten points in Wisdom also gives you five Mana.”

And I’m guessing that mana effect just how many spells or skills can be used.

“Strength and Constitution represent [Stamina] or Stamina Points or Sp for short, one point in Strength give you a total amount of five Stamina. Every ten points of Constitution also gives you five Stamina”

You have found the meaning behind stats! Understanding it you have gained + 1 to your [Intelligent] and [Wisdom] stats

A short break free of any words pass between us before mother speaks up again.

“But sweetie.”

I give her a nod, letting her know that I’m paying attention to her.

“Even if you know the words themselves, making them activate is a whole different story do you understand, sweetie? So even if you can’t connect to your shard for the next few years it is not something that you have to be ashamed of or think that it is unnormal. All things come to those who work for it.”

Ah, well that is convenient that I’m not expected to learn or show that I have learned the words for some time. Our talk lasted most of the evening and into the night, looking out the window the moon is up and the fire has died down. We all head of to bed. This have been my longest conversation with them so far, not bad at all. Mmm, Rabbit stew I miss you already.

The winter months I spent looking reading from mothers’ book named, The Herbalists Lore. It contains the commonly known herbs how to prepare them and their effect on the body. It is all in all a very good read in the long cold nights, mother just seems happy that I have interest in plants and lets me read in the book or look when she works on preparing the herbs for their final form. While the book constrains a lot and I do mean a lot of plants, they don’t seem to count towards the ten herbs that I need to understand… Which is a problem if mother don’t start her gardening again anytime soon. There must be something about the rules for unlocking the skill other than understanding and remembering ten herbs.

Mother is working at her table in the kitchen, putting the boiled herbs that has turned into a sweet-smelling liquid into small glass vails. The herbs that is made into balm is put in small clay pots with a leather piece as a lid. The small clay pots are handmade by mother with clay from the river. Hmm, an idea forms in my head, making sure she is not doing anything that can harm her should she be too surprised I ask my question.

“Mother, can the balm in the pots also be put into small leather bags?” 

She stops her grinding or herbs to look towards me as she smiles at me. She seems overly happy whenever I make an extra effort of using more words then yes and no.

“Well yes, I suppose it could as long as a seal keeps out any air that might dry up or otherwise harm the balm but if closed up probably then it should not be a problem.” 

She looks at be for a short moment before returning to her work. Hmm, I see then why is she using clay pots when a simple small leather bag will do. She smiles at me seemly knowing my question even before I ask it. 

“The reason I use the vials and the pots is that it’s easier to transport and sell that way.”

“I see.”

Make sense if the customer values the clay pot or the small glass vial as part of the product or part of its quality, then removing them will also lower the amount mother can charge for her products.

You have through of an easy way to transport the readymade ointment in - Small leather bags! You have gained + 1 to your [Intelligent] and [Wisdom] stats.

Hmm, I see thinking of ways to improve a creation or solution gains you stats increase. Better keep in hidden for now.