The ride home was an extended blur. The thumping of Dice’s steady rhythm along the worn path was soothing, though the bundle in his arms was anything but.
The small human, the small girl, seemed to be sleeping. Her muteness made it hard to tell. She was warm but the weight of the tiny human formed an ice cold pit in his stomach.
Kodak had always had trouble making firm bonds in the village. Being tied down to it. Being part of it. He’d been close with his family, with his father, but he’d always been interested in the outside. Protecting the village, but more than that exploring the world around it. He’d never expected a family, and definitely never expected that he’d find a child out in that wider world.
His child. His daughter. That felt strange to him, not real or right.
Just thinking it made him feel like he was dreaming, but the weight and heat in his arms was too real. He laughed, a dry bitter sound, while thinking of his father and what he would say. He remembered what he first told him when he considered learning fire magic:
“The weight of capability is responsibility.”
He could picture him staring expectantly with clear eyes out from under the fringe of his grey hair. He never could let those eyes down, not even the memory of them.
The sun was setting as they got to the split in the road that led to Kodak's property. The usual orange of the day's light faded into a tight blue line across the horizon, bleeding up into a wave of muted magenta between the distinct hues.
The trees that lined the path to his house reached up into the sky with their spindly branches. The wood grasping, like fingers, at the light of the sunset. It was always pretty, in a spooky way. Their leaves had littered the ground weeks ago and finally broke down as the weather got colder, leaving them as the strange lanky nude creatures that trees in winter are.
After a few more minutes of quiet riding his house came into view, peeking out from the gaps in the treeline. It was a small stone building, but it had felt large after his father passed away.
Kodak had a feeling it would start to feel much smaller soon.
After dismounting, he began to slowly walk Dice into the stable next to the house, taking the time to wander a little to let her cool off after the ride.
Untacking Dice was nearly second nature to him, she’d been with him since he was a teen, and removing her bridle and saddle, then brushing her down had become a peaceful daily ritual for them both. Each motion was always the same, practiced and routine. He found the routine soothing now, it calmed some measure of the panic that had been rising in him since he found the girl.
For the next few months coming out to visit and tend to Dice would be the only reason he’d need to go outside, other than a quick ride out to search the carriage more thoroughly.
He’d been stockpiling supplies for weeks now, moving some after each patrol and he’d hoped to be able to ride home without supplies today. On his last salvage of the season he’d usually grab one final meal in the village, since it was also the winter festival. Instead he'd had to pull a larger haul than usual, supplies the Wisdom had given him for the girl.
The girl. He’d have to name her eventually.
Kodak shook the thought out of his head and finished grooming Dice for the night. Preparing her food and water, before he started to settle the supplies, himself and the girl, into his house.
He was careful with the girl, she still seemed to be out and he didn’t want to wake her. He wasn’t really sure he was ready for that yet. As he walked through the door he split his focus for a moment and softly whispered the incantation he used most,
“Switch on.”
Low hazy light filled the entrance of the house, the wall candles bursting into flame in perfect unison. He grinned at that, the convenience of it amazed him even all these years later. He did have to put in new candles, and dip their wicks in a small amount of oil every so often. Still, if there was one fire spell he wished he could teach others this was it, even if he didn’t understand the incantation.
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His father had always told him not to think about it too much, and that lots of incantations were mysteries like that. Especially the convenient ones. He began to chew on a piece of dried meat as he packed away the new supplies into various cupboards.
He didn't think he'd have the energy to cook tonight and he didn't know a simple spell to do that job for him.
After the cleanup and snack he began to prepare for sleep. It irked Kodak to realize that the girl would sleep in his bed until he made her a cot, and that he wasn’t sure how she’d wake him if she needed something in the night. Her soundless cries wouldn’t rouse him and he was growing certain that she’d soil his bed. He huffed and ran his hand through his hair, he was already feeling older and much more tired. It hasn’t even been a night.
He'd settled in for an early bed on a somewhat empty stomach. Luckily, the girl kept resting in his arms and for all the trouble he was sure she'd be, she seemed to be a deep sleeper. Finally getting comfortable himself he had the time to address something that had been waiting for him for hours.
“Open Status.”
Status Page Age 26 Level 17/30 Class Fire Mage Title Surrogate EXP Level Up Pending HP 570/570 MP 438/560 Vitality 67 (+12) Strength 35 (+5) Dexterity 42 (+5) Substance 19 (+5) Intelligence 79 (+5) Wisdom 56 (+8) Luck ?? (+10) Acheivements Lost, now found Local Guardian The torch passed on Skills Rank Level Fire Magic B- 14/25 Incantation B 2/25 Dagger Mastery D 2/5 Tracking C+ 6/10 Stealth C- 9/10 Horseback Riding B+ 3/25 Mathematics D 1/5 Reading C 9/10 Woodworking C+ 4/10 Writing D 1/5
A level up! It had been awhile since his last.
As the one doing patrols and salvage for the village Kodak leveled faster than anyone except the Wisdom and it still had been months. Combat was rare out in their part of the world and leveling through repetition was brutally slow. Without the windfall he'd gotten from the transmission it would have been weeks or perhaps even after the winter until he leveled up.
The effect of the title he'd gotten was huge too. A massive chunk of stats like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He knew that he'd have to adjust to the boost over the next few months with practice. It was a bigger change than he'd ever gotten from a single level before and it happened all at once. That power came with strings though. Responsibilities.
It was still odd to him, how hard the system seemed to be pushing him toward the child in his arms. He was sure anyone else in the village would be a better parent, even if the system and the Wisdom disagreed.
He mentally focused on accepting the level until a familiar popup appeared.
Level Accepted!
Class Points Distributed: Vitality 1 Intelligence 2 Wisdom 1
Please Distribute Stat Points: 5
The boost from Surrogate changed Kodak's plan slightly, he'd wanted to hit a hundred in intelligence but before it had seemed expensive and not worth rushing while he still noticed a lack of strength during large hauls. Now he had a good chunk of strength to adjust to, so he figured he could focus on his arbitrary goal.
He put all five points into intelligence and was about to pull his status sheet up again to check the changes when he felt something squirming against his chest. Tiny limbs wailing in a cry for attention.
“Shit, okay okay.”
He looked down at the awake and silent yet crying, girl and sighed,
"Time to earn that title I guess."