The next morning, Jeb woke up and went through his daily Quests. After seeing his Statistics grow, he went downstairs and found his Aunt Esther.
“I’m fairly busy today, so I thought I’d let you know that I won’t have time for a full lesson. I’m doing a tricky brew, and I don’t want to risk it with spending my focus on explaining to you. Do you have other tasks you can work on?”
“I do!” Jeb exclaimed. As exciting as learning about Brewing had been the day before, the Song that the Bard had given him to learn was still beating in his head.
“Great, make a cup of tea to practice Brewing, then I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said. Jeb made the tea like he had the day before, tasting every thirty seconds.
“This time, pull the tea leaves out when you’ve brewed for the right amount of time,” his aunt instructed. Jeb tried to, but noticed in the final product that he’d started to extract the bitter flavors from the tea.
“I’ll get it next time!” he said.
“I’m sure you will,” she said, walking out the door.
Jeb realized that the rest of his family wasn’t in the kitchen. As he looked outside, he realized that it was still fully dark out. He knew that Endurance would reduce his need for sleep, but he hadn’t thought it would reduce it that much.
On the other hand, having more time to work on his Skills was a nice surprise. Jeb went up to his room to plan how he would learn the Song.
As far as he could tell, there were five pieces he needed to have ready to learn the Song. First, he needed to make sure that he had the lute pattern down well. Somehow he’d need to tie his Mana into his playing, which felt like it should be doable. He’d need to learn the vocal part and tie Mana into that as well. That meant he’d need to learn how to read the music that the Bard had given him.
It felt too early to start reading, so Jeb went with learning the lute pattern. Thankfully, he still remembered it from his meeting with the Bard. Or, at least, he remembered it well enough that he could tell when he was making a mistake. The tone playing on a constant loop certainly helped him to spot his mistakes.
By the time that the sky was bright enough for breakfast, Jeb felt like he had the pattern down. If the other four tasks were as easy as this one, he might have the Song learned by the end of the day. Of course, he knew that the other ones would not be that easy.
Breakfast passed quickly, and Jeb went back to his room. He looked between the lute and the book, deciding whether to learn to read music or try to tie his Mana to his playing. Both had their pros and cons, but Jeb decided to work on the Mana first. After all, he rationalized, I’ll need to wait for my Mana to regenerate at some point. I may as well do that while I learn to read music.
Jeb started plucking out the pattern again. Once he had it in his hands, he felt the tug of Meditation and slowly tuned out the rest of the world. He focused on his Mana, feeling Mana Manipulation start to activate.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the loop of the base note for the Song. Above it, the pattern he was plucking out seemed to be looping twice as often. Jeb slowly fed Mana into the pattern, trying to figure out how to connect it.
He remembered how the Mana Backlash had felt, so he kept an eye on his Mana levels. The string of Mana he was feeding started looping as well, which Jeb encouraged. It started out slower than the beat, which he knew was wrong on some fundamental level.
It kept speeding up until it matched the pace of the beat. That felt right, but not fully, so Jeb kept speeding it up. Immediately, it felt worse again, and Jeb saw his Mana start to pour out. It was draining far too quickly, so Jeb tried to end the Song gracefully, or at least gracefully enough to not get Mana Backlash.
Just before he felt his Mana fully empty, he closed off the Song. That was far too close.
Jeb realized that he would need more Mana if he wanted to learn the Song. It was surprising, because he never ran out of Mana when learning a Glyph.
A quick look at his Statistics reminded him of why that was. His Charisma was much lower than his other Mental Statistics.
That left Jeb with two real options: increase his Charisma or increase his Mana. Both had their pros and cons, but increasing his Mana felt easier. After all, he knew that his Glyph Groking Questline would help with that, and he had the resources he needed to complete at least one of them.
Grok Glyphs Minor Quest Third Tier Learn the four basic Spells from all four Primary Elements The study of Magical Glyphs is not to be bound to a single school. Learn Spells from each of the four elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air to take the next step on Groking Glyphs. (First Tier Elemental Chain Second Quest) Minor Quest Third Tier Learn a Second Tier Spell from all six Second Tier Elements Just as Glyphs are not limited to a single First Tier Element, or First Tier Elements in general, neither are they limited to a single Secondary Element. Demonstrate your Mastery over the Elements. (Upper Tier Elemental Chain First Quest) Minor Quest Second Tier Share Your Work Using what you have learned from the Mana Mastery and Spell Glyphing Quests, share one of your Modified or Original Glyph with another. (Repeatable, Locked) (Metagroking Chain First Quest)
The first Quest was the one he decided to do. Jeb made a quick list of the Spells he hadn’t learned yet.
He realized that he had never learned a Spell to move Water, which he had another Quest for. Jeb pulled out his Water Primer and looked at the Glyph.
The Glyph for Least Shape Water was incredibly easy for Jeb to learn. He hardly felt the need to light the Glyph before he mentally connected the points in his mind. Jeb felt Least Move Air and his two Earth Shaping Glyphs resonating with Improved Glyph Groking and Least Mud Magic. Between all of those, he quickly imprinted a new Glyph into his soul.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest : Begin Your Magical Studies Second Tier “Learn a Water Manipulation Spell”. Building on what you learned, you have taken the next step in your magical studies. Rewards: 49 Experience, Mana +10
After Jeb accepted the Quest Notification, he was confused to see another Notification. He mentally accepted the prompt, curious what it could be.
Congratulations! You have completed the Questline: Begin Your Magical Studies Rewards: 737 Experience, Mana +150
Apparently completing Questlines was worth far more than the Quests that came before it. Jeb was fairly certain that more than half of the Experience he’d gotten from Begin Your Magical Studies came from that last Notification.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
That might be enough for him to at least find the right cycling for his Mana, but Jeb didn’t want to risk it. A glance at his Mana showed him that it hadn’t refilled yet, so he kept learning Glyphs.
Jeb paged through the Water Primer until he found the Glyph for Least Hold Water. This one was more difficult for him, though he still learned it quickly. After learning Least Destroy Water, Jeb realized that he was done with the Water Primer, at least for the foreseeable future.
Maybe I should return the Earth and Water Primers, he thought.
That was worth thinking about, though the Librarian had said that he didn’t need to worry about the number of books he had checked out. As Jeb made his way through the Air Primer, he realized that his Magic Affinity had surpassed his other Mental Statistics. Magic Affinity should help him to learn the Song, at least if the Statistic’s name meant anything.
It was surprising how he felt a resonance in his Least Mud Magic. Rather than the beneficial resonance, increasing the signal of his other Skills, it seemed to be interfering in them.
Seeing that number rising made Jeb glad that he’d chosen to work on Glyphs, rather than learning songs or something else to raise his Charisma. He quickly made his way through the Fire Glyphs as well.
They went more easily than the Air Glyphs had. Jeb could felt like he could almost hear the resonance between the Glyphs in his soul as he learned Least Move Fire. They were singing out loudly enough that he almost expected someone to come ask what the noise was.
Once the last Glyph had embedded itself in his soul, Jeb opened the new Quest Notification.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Improved Glyph Groking Third Tier “Learn the four basic Spells from all four Primary Elements” You have taken another step on the journey to learn Glyphs. Rewards: Mana +75 Intelligence +4 Unlocked First Tier Elemental Chain Third Quest Fourth Tier: Learn the six secondary Spells for each First Tier Element 59 Experience
Jeb looked at his new Quest
Grok Glyphs Minor Quest Fourth Tier Learn the six secondary Spells from each First Tier Element Glyphs are not bound to a single effect. Learn the double-effect Spells from each of the four elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air to take the next step on Groking Glyphs. (First Tier Elemental Chain Third Quest) Minor Quest Third Tier Learn a Second Tier Spell from all six Second Tier Elements Just as Glyphs are not limited to a single First Tier Element, or First Tier Elements in general, neither are they limited to a single Secondary Element. Demonstrate your Mastery over the Elements. (Upper Tier Elemental Chain First Quest) Minor Quest Second Tier Share Your Work Using what you have learned from the Mana Mastery and Spell Glyphing Quests, share one of your Modified or Original Glyph with another. (Repeatable, Locked) (Metagroking Chain First Quest)
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 2725/100
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Total Statistic Load: 200 Physical Load: 114 Strength: 26 Dexterity: 19 Endurance: 28 Vitality: 37 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 86 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 20 Magic Affinity: 25 Mana Depth: 3 Charisma: 13
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Mana: 570
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Glyph Attunement: 18 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 Least Move Air Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud Tier 2 Spell Least Shape Water Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire Tier 1 Spell
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Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Improved Glyph Groking Gift of Gab Running Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lifting Athletics Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)