Jeb went downstairs, ready to start his run.
“Done reading already?” she asked, looking up from her own book. Jeb was curious what she was reading, but he didn’t see a title.
“Sort of?” Jeb hedged. “The book recommends getting a Vitality Skill as soon as possible, so I thought that I should get the Athletics Skill. One of the prerequisite Skills for that is Running, and since there’s nothing else I need to do now, I thought I might as well try to get it before dinner.”
“Do you think your time is better spent doing that or preparing for dinner tonight?” she asked.
That stopped Jeb for a moment. After all, he could get the Running Skill whenever. While he could, in theory, get advice whenever, it would be kind of rude to not prepare for the members of his family coming that night.
“Good point,” he said, “I think I’ll figure out some other Skills that seem like they could be useful to me before dinner instead, then go unlock Running.”
“Why unlock Running at all?” his mother asked, “not that it isn’t a fantastic Skill, but it’s not quite a Farming Skill. Focusing the Skills you unlock on future Classes you want is the most common piece of Theorycrafting advice you’ll get.”
“I hadn’t thought about that,” Jeb admitted, “I just saw that I could unlock it this afternoon and was ready to do that.” He went back up to his room, mind churning.
Jeb thought about his mother’s question about Running as he looked through the other Vitality Skills. Ultimately, none of them seemed both easily unlocked for him and related to Farming. Sticking with Athletics, then, he looked for another Running Skill that was close to Farming. Sadly, the book mentioned none. Jeb quickly made a note to ask his family at dinner, but decided that he would run if they didn’t have a better idea.
One problem resolved, Jeb started to look through the index of Farming Skills. After all, he wanted to be a Farmer Mage, so Farming Skills made sense to unlock. That being said, though, he knew that he should be smart about it. Jeb knew himself well enough to know that he had no deep-seated urge to unlock many of the Skills that a Farmer could get, and he only had so much time to learn Skills.
Still, a few Skills in particular did stand out.
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General Skill: Identification: Qualification Criteria: Be trained in an Identification Subskill until both Skills unlock Effects: Gain increased information when visually (generally) observing something Quests: Unlock new Identify Subskills. Subskills have their own Quests, which are too numerous to name here. Important Subskills: Vary by Class, Farmers should learn Soil Savvy, which gives minor information about the quality of soil. Important Note: Learning additional Identify Subskills can become more difficult, so it is recommended to ask an Elder the order you should focus your learning.
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Jeb wanted to know more, and it seemed like more or less everyone he talked to had Identification. The book called out the Farming Subskill in particular. Then again, the book also cautioned that order was important for learning the Subskills, so he would be sure to ask his family what order they recommended.
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Synergy Skill: Soil Improvement Qualification Criteria: Soil Savvy and Tiller or another Soil-focused General Skill Effects: Learn how to improve the quality of your soil. Quests: Repeatable Quest to improve soil quality in a field. Grants increased Soil Improvement effectiveness.
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That Skill seemed like it could synergize really well with his Magics. After all, Jeb reasoned, if he could know what the soil was missing and create that through a Glyph, then that would solve the problem. More than that, though, if the Quest was to improve soil quality, then being able to use Glyphs would mean that he could quickly go through the Quests. That would, of course, also be great for the farm in general. After all, crops do better in better soil.
The last Skill he really wanted was a bit of a departure from the last two.
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General Skill: Pollination Typical Qualification Criteria: Either raise a new colony of bees or pollinate 5000 flowers by hand. Effects: Control over plant pollination, increased control over mutations Quests: Repeatable Quest to create a new plant strain which meet specified criteria. Grants increased Pollination effectiveness.
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Jeb had a vague memory of the family being told to grow certain crops to meet the needs of new Mages for their yearly taxes. He also remembered hearing that high level Spells often required specialized plants. Being able to breed his own ideal crops would help to make sure that he didn’t end up at the mercy of some other farmer’s ability to grow the plants he needed.
Jeb looked up from the book and realized that the sun was starting to set. He had apparently spent longer looking through the book than he had planned. As he listened, he could hear his family starting to chat in the dining room below him. He did a final read through of the notes he’d made, making sure that he knew both what he wanted and what he knew he needed advice on.
There were far more of Jeb’s family at the table than he’d been expecting. “I can tell that you prepared what you wanted to ask us,” his grandfather said, “so go ahead.”
“The book recommends that I get a Vitality Skill, and Athletics seems to be the best Skill for me.” Jeb was expecting to see some disagreement, but everyone just nodded along to that. Emboldened by that success, he went on, “I would like Soil Improvement, since I think that could work well with my ability to create things with my Magic.”
Again, the family nodded, though this time an uncle spoke up. “Are you planning on getting that with the traditional Skill of Tilling, or were you planning one of the variations?”
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“Honestly, I hadn’t gotten that far into planning,” Jeb said.
“That’s a relief,” his uncle replied, drawing a few laughs from the crowd.
“Like you can talk Jeffery,” an aunt called out, “back when you got your First Class, you came down with a master plan of every action you’d take to the Seventh Tier.”
“Who better to advise Jeb against over-preparing then?” Most of his family was laughing now, though Jeb was having trouble following the joke.
“Now, as much as I would love to see where this conversation devolves,” his grandfather interrupted, “let’s stay on track at least a little longer. Jeb?” he gestured for Jeb to continue speaking.
“Soil Improvement requires Soil Savvy, which is an Identification Subskill. I wasn’t sure if that was the best one for me to learn first, since it says to pick the order you learn Identification Subskills carefully.”
“Soil Savvy is probably a good first Identification Subskill,” his grandfather said, “but it might depend with what else you had planned.”
“The only other Skill I felt particularly drawn to was Pollination,” Jeb admitted. He saw a few cocked heads and hurried to continue, “I remember that there were some years where we were told to grow certain crops so that the new Mages could grow their Skills, and I remember reading somewhere that there were Spells that required reagents in them. Being able to grow my own reagents seems like it could be useful.”
“If you’re going that route,” his Aunt Esther said, “you might want to consider Brewing and Distilling. Most things that require a plant reagent require you to do something with them.” Jeb saw the family generally nodding along with that, so he agreed.
“That seems reasonable.”
“Returning back a point,” his grandfather said, “I think that the Tilling route is probably the best for Jeb. After all, it synergizes nicely with the Earth Glyph he already knows, and it’s a fairly easy Skill to teach.”
“Something else you might consider,” his Uncle Frank added, “is that Soil Improvement may only require Soil Savvy and Tilling, but it works far better if you have other supporting Skills, like Fertilizing.”
“Getting Pollination is also far easier if you already have Animal Handling,” Esther agreed, “and Fertilizing and Animal Handling are practically partner Skills to pick up.”
“Have you considered something other than just Farming but with Magic?” one of his cousins said. At everyone confused expressions, he continued, “I’m just thinking that a shovel that can use Spell Glyphs would also be really useful.” The growing chatter in the room stopped at that, as everyone considered how their life could be easier with more Glyphed items. After all, there were a few of them in the home.
The ice box worked much better now that it had some Glyph inside of it which kept the ice cold longer. There was another Glyphed item on the well bucket, making sure that the water remained drinkable.
“That’s a really good point,” Jeb said. “I hadn’t considered it, but that would almost certainly be a good idea as well.”
“Then you’ll probably want to add Glassblowing, Woodworking, and Smithing,” his grandfather said.
“And what was that case you brought in earlier?” his great aunt asked.
“That was a lute case,” Jeb said, “I’m trying to learn Bardic Magic as well.”
“Make sure to leave time to practice that too, boy,” she said, “It’s been too long since we had good music in this home.” For some reason, she glared at his grandfather, who just rolled his eyes.
“Does anyone have advice on prioritizing what I learn when?” Jeb asked.
“You should get Athletics first,” his grandfather said, “since that’s got a daily Quest, and every day that you complete it is another free point. Have you considered what Base Skills you want for it?”
“I was thinking of Running and Lifting,” Jeb admitted.
“Going for Parent Skills makes sense in your position,” his grandfather agreed. “So after dinner, I’d go for my run and do a lift for the day. When you finish those, do whatever you’re supposed to with the lute, and then I can teach you Soil Savvy. Starting tomorrow, you can work with Frank on getting Fertilizing and Animal Handling.” Frank nodded. “From there, Esther can teach you Pollinating and Brewing,” another nod. “Once you learn that, Albert can teach you Distilling,” Jeb was unsurprised to see Albert nod. “Depending on how long that takes, we’ll work around harvest and everyone’s schedules. I’ll work on getting you Glassblowing and Smithing, and Sue can help you with Woodworking.” This time there was no nod, because Sue wasn’t there.
She was at her workshop in Midville, where she spent most of her time. If Jeb’s grandfather was sure she would help him, though, Jeb had no reason to doubt it.
“Anyone have anything else to add?” his grandfather asked. The room was silent for a bit. “Then I guess it’s time for dinner.” The room slowly returned to the state it had been when Jeb came down, full of dozens of interlocking conversations. He was glad to have direction, for all that he knew he’d still need to work on the Magical Skills he had around the schedule.
Dinner ended, and Jeb walked outside to start his run.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
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Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 519/100
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Total Statistic Load: 116 Physical Load: 57 Strength: 14 Dexterity: 8 Endurance: 16 Vitality: 15 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 59 Intelligence: 16 Willpower: 20 Magic Affinity: 12 Mana Depth: 3 Charisma: 8
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Mana: 210
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Glyph Attunement: 6 Least Conjure Water Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient Tier 3 Spell
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Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Glyph Groking Gift of Gab
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)
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