Dukan, the father, literally dragged Vonn's tail out of bed in the morning. Vonn groaned and thumped to the floor. His little room had gotten swept up last night by a joint effort between him and Tazo. He still didn't have much furniture -- the family was expecting him to build it himself for practice -- but he did have a small trunk and a shelf with his few worthwhile possessions and some scraps left over from old-Vonn's tinkering.

He hardly had time to dress before Dukan handed him some bread and a backpack. Vonn staggered under its weight. "What are we doing?"

"Taking a little trip," Dukan said, ruffling Vonn's ears.

Vonn reluctantly shouldered the pack and followed him out the door. They headed east along the winding river roads and heard a distant rumble. His ears flicked forward to catch the sound. They kept moving around and he felt like he was being tugged by his hair. The farther he walked, the more he noticed the rhythm of his bushy tail counter-balancing each step. Stranger still, he felt the touch of his pants against the tail, not just the other way around.

Within a minute a stylized circular design appeared in the corner of his vision. When he focused on it the vague shape picked a color, green, and numbers flickered across its mostly full wheel. [Stamina: 30/35] it said.

"Losing Stamina here," he grumbled.

"Let me know when you're out."

He kept hiking, and his muscles ached, especially his back and legs. "I can't keep this up," he said; his plodding feet couldn't match Dukan's pace.

"A little more."

Vonn groaned and tried. The trees thinned and the buildings grew denser. Finally Dukan stopped and let him rest.

Dukan glared down at the district of seedy, noisy shops they'd reached. People of a variety of races were stumbling around them, drunkly singing and shouting. "You're a man now, so I won't outright forbid it. But if you ever feel the need to waste your money, don't come here. It's a place for river bums who think they can rob us Shieldpoint locals and then hurry on, never to be seen again. It's why we keep this seedy spot away from decent folk's homes. It's better for you to visit the west-side bars where the miners go."

Vonn nodded, listening, but the river drew his attention more than the saloons beside it. The river that ran eastward through his hometown was only a side branch of a bigger one. It flowed into a southward waterway that was wide and littered with stray logs and other hazards. At a glance he could tell it was crazy to take a boat through these waters even on a clear day, and early morning mist still hid much of the world. Yet people were out there on the water, calling to each other as they fended off the rocks and crooked branches. A long raft with a hut on it floated down south, and a more nimble craft rippled as it somehow fought the current to ride north. This joining of the waters made his village home feel like the heart of the world.

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Dukan said, "Come on; we'll follow downriver for a while."

They passed a foul-smelling bar and a gambling den and a laundry-cleaner shop labeled "Night Shift". Most of the signage was in pictures. Vonn desperately wanted books, any books, to give him some context, but he'd be lucky if there were anything resembling a library. He must have learned to read somewhere. For now the river was his education, and so was his family.

Dukan kept walking Vonn into the ground, only letting up when Vonn physically couldn't make himself jog along. After the fourth time Vonn smacked his forehead, understanding. "I thought this was just a social trip."

"I'm training you, mister 25 Health."

"Oh. I... guess I can understand that. Toughness plus Will, right?" He ran the numbers, tapped his fingers to count, and recalled he was short a finger on each hand.

"Right. So this is for Toughness. I couldn't do this for you until you started using the System, so, well, it wouldn't have helped until your birthday. But damned if I'm going to let you be flimsy." Dukan poked Vonn's chest.

Vonn nodded. "What's your Endurance? I mean Toughness?"

"It's 3. And with Will 2, that's a respectable 75 Health. And your mother's got 65."

So, 25 plus 10 for each stat point.

Vonn hiked with renewed vigor, now that he knew why. He could only manage a few minutes of hauling the pack around at a time. The stamina meter was invisible at first but grew more and more prominent as it emptied, becoming a green haze around his vision as he staggered and panted from exhaustion. That explained an odd expression someone had used over dinner about being "greened out". (He was glad he could still see colors with these eyes.)

"Are we going anywhere in particular?" he asked. If he didn't pay attention to it, his tongue hung out when he was tired.

Dukan waved in a circle. "Making a loop back inland to the west, then north to home. Dropping off some candles on the way."

It was slow going, but they made it to a village out of sight of the river. Humans tilled fields of wheat and leafy veggies. They stopped at a long basket of a building. Two stories tall, woven from many trees, marked off into five apartment-like segments. Another similar one stood nearby at a strange angle, with a third some distance off. Recently plowed fields surrounded them.

Dukan knocked at one of the doors, and an old woman answered. Human, flanked by several kids. The youngsters were wide-eyed at the sight of the Vulins. Dukan said, "We've got something for you. Vonn?"

Vonn unslung the backpack and wobbled as he dropped it. The clinking inside had made him suspect he was hauling rocks, and when he opened the bag he was right, partly. But there were also a dozen candles.

[Tallow candle, low quality.] The waxy surface looked uneven and the wicks were raggedly cut.

"My boy made these. Beginner work, but they'll burn."

The lady smiled at Vonn. "Thank you, young man. So you're a Craftsman now?"

"Engineer. But I bet I can make better candles too."

Dukan ruffled Vonn's ears. "We have some things to discuss. Vonn, why don't you run around exploring while you wait."

"Sure."

"With the rocks."

"Aww."