In the barn, Jeb emptied his Mana into the water reserve, this time managing to stay on his feet. He noticed that the world felt lesser without Mana inside of him. It was hard to describe exactly what that meant, but he didn’t like it.
The rest of the day was spent helping with other brews and learning more about the specifics of Brewing.
Jeb cooked a batch of dark rye malt, which his aunt explained was a beer they made only very rarely. As it grew darker, she started explaining how Brewers were taxed.
“During breakfast, the family realized that we have been keeping you somewhat sheltered. Normally that’s fine, because you wouldn’t be expected to go off on your own until at least the Seventh Tier. In your case, though, it’s likely that we’ll have to say goodbye well before then. So, while you almost certainly won’t end up a Brewer, I thought it might be helpful for me to explain the way that I am taxed.”
Jeb kept spinning the kiln as he listened. By this point in his training, he had developed an instinct for how the grains sounded as they slowly darkened. He still checked them regularly, but his predictions had gotten better with each attempt.
“As a Brewer, I owe ten percent of the beer I brew, either in coin or in physical beer. I generally pay the beer tax in kind, with the cheapest beer that I can brew.” Jeb nodded along.
“For wines and meads, though, I owe twenty percent of what I produce, which is another reason I produce more beer than those. I almost exclusively pay that tax in coin, because the valuation of wines is based on Tier, relevant Skills, and location. Because of where we are and my more general Brewing Skill, my wine is taxed at a much lower rate than what Aunt Bess can usually sell it for at market, so it’s in my best interest to pay the cash tax.”
“How did you decide which method to pay each tax?” he asked.
“When I was getting ready to establish my Brewery, your grandfather hired an Economist to discuss the potential tax options with me. Technically speaking, paying my Brewing Tax in beer might still be a little more than the coin would cost, but it’s nice to have an option to get rid of any beers that didn’t come out as well as I had hoped.”
“So if you didn’t want to pay any taxes in a year,” Jeb thought aloud, “you could just not produce anything?”
“Me personally, yes,” she replied, “but that’s because this is not my land. Your grandfather owns the entire estate, which means he’s responsible for the general tax for the right to use the land.”
“Don’t you mean own the land?” Jeb asked.
She smiled sadly at that. “We aren’t part of the gentry,” she explained, “and only titled nobility can own land. However, the Overseer in charge of this part of the country set the standard that Farmers were allowed to do to their lands as they wished without oversight, so long as their taxes were paid on time. That standard got passed down to the local Overseers and even the Tax Collectors, much as they’re loath to follow the restriction. It’s part of why we all make such an effort to help other Farms. If any of us become unable to pay our taxes, we could all become subject to much stricter inspections.”
“How could we become titled nobility?” Jeb asked. The idea that his family was only able to live the life they could because of the benevolent negligence of the regional Overseer didn’t sit right with him.
His aunt laughed, then stopped suddenly. “I was going to say ‘have one of us become a Mage,’ but you’ve already done that. It’s very possible that you could end up becoming a noble if you learn to play politics.” That sounded terrible to Jeb, though he refrained from saying so.
“There’s far more to get into for taxes, but none of that becomes relevant until you’re at least Sixth Tier. Before then, anything you produce will be taxed under whoever you’re apprenticing to.”
“You mentioned that since you’re a Brewer, you get taxed on what you Brew. What if you were to make something else, or if Grandfather was to Brew?”
“Great question!” she seemed a little surprised that Jeb had asked. “It’s a little harder to answer, though. Generally, things that you produce for sale outside of your Class are taxed higher than they would be if your Class was centered around them. If your grandfather was going to make beer to sell, for instance, the tax rate would be twenty percent. The Republic wants to encourage people to play to their strengths.” Something about that seemed strange to Jeb, but he wasn’t sure what.
“Anyways,” his aunt continued, “the malt should be finished by now.” Jeb checked the malt, and it was perfectly toasted.
“Once it cools down, transfer it into these containers,” she said, pointing to two barrels. “I’m going to try storing half of it in a charred barrel to see if that does anything to the flavor profile. I’m not too hopeful, but better to find out than not.”
Over the next week, Jeb slowly learned more about the administrative parts of running a brewery while doing various tasks around the Brewery. His aunt tried to make sure that the information was generally applicable to whatever business he might end up running in the future, eliding through details that were only true because she was a Brewer on a Tier Nine Farmer’s land.
An hour into the eighth day, Jeb opened the Notification he’d been waiting for.
Congratulations! By learning the fundamentals of Brewing from a Brewmaster, you have unlocked the General Skill: Brewing.
“Congratulations Jeb,” his aunt said. “I’ll let your uncle know to expect you tomorrow. Do you have something to occupy you in the mean time?”
“I’ve been meaning to get some work on the Song done, but I haven’t had the energy after Brewing all day,” Jeb admitted. “So I’ll probably work on that.” Jeb had planned to use the time before breakfast in the mornings to work on his Song, since he was told to stop doing the daily Physical Quests. After hearing most of his family complain about how early he was playing, though, he decided it would be better to not.
“You might want to do so around your hive,” his aunt chided gently, “you haven’t been spending much time near them lately.”
Jeb took the chastisement to heart. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Esther, I completely lost track of time with learning my new Skill and-”
“I understand Jeb, I was young once too. Still, ignoring beings once you’ve gotten what you want from them is a terrible habit to get into, so I hope that you’ll work to avoid getting into it.”
Jeb went back to his room to grab his lute. Lute in hand, he went over to the hive he’d established.
He could tell that the bees were a little angry at him.
“I’m really sorry for being gone,” Jeb said, “I lost track of time and forgot about you. That’s on me, and I will do better in the future.” Thankfully, nothing bad had happened to the hive, and his aunt had been keeping an eye on them. The bees took the apology well and calmed back down.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Jeb told them about what he had been up to since the last time he’d visited. Once he had caught the hive up, Jeb started playing his lute.
A part of him hoped that he’d get used to the feeling of his Mana resonating with every Magic-adjacent action soon. It was disorienting.
Then again, the resonance did mean that he was able to catch when his fingers slipped or he missed a syllable.
Jeb felt himself slip deeper into Meditation. A part of him saw that the sun was moving almost visibly fast, but he ignored that.
Jeb gently began feeding the slightest bit of Mana into his playing. As before, wheels started spinning in his mind’s eye and a thread began weaving. He heard the notes in chorus and adjusted his tuning ever so slightly.
The notes seemed to thrum into the world around him. Through the focus of his Meditation, Jeb saw the bees in his hive start to move to the Song. Somehow they understood it better than him.
Still, a look at his Mana showed that it was stabilized. He carefully connected another strand of Mana into the Song, matching his voice. It was going the wrong pace, and he knew it immediately.
The new strand had destroyed the shape of the thread. With his new Magic Affinity, though, Jeb quickly found the speed that it needed to rotate at.
As the five wheels spun, Jeb saw them lock into perfect rhythm. The note in his mind was the largest, feeding the base of the Song. His lute moved twice as often, shaping around the note. His Mana moved three times for that two, dancing with the notes on the lute. His voice connected to the lute, doubling its rotations. His Mana moved in concert with the rest, moving five times, and pulling something from the other wheels. As he watched, it was almost like when his uncle would spin yarn out of wool. What had felt like a thread before now seemed entirely like one.
Jeb watched as the thread left his mindscape and seemed to really exist in the world. It looped up and moved around, as though it was looking for his lute.
As Jeb watched, the thread of magic slowly began to move towards the lute. They grew closer and closer as the five strands mixed and it grew longer. Just as it was about to touch the lute, though, Jeb felt his Mana run out.
I don’t know why that Mana backlash was so much worse, Jeb thought as he recovered. The thread had seemed almost angry, and snapped at him like a broken bow string. Rather than leaving a cut across his cheek, though, it felt like it was cutting into his very being. Jeb had never quite understood the distinction between his physical and spiritual self, for all that he knew his Mana was coming from somewhere else.
He could tell the difference now, though. His body felt totally fine. His spirit, on the other hand, felt like someone had torn through it with a knife.
Maybe my higher Mana Depth meant that the Mana did more, Jeb thought as the world around him spun. He was broken out of his Meditation, he knew. The bees seemed almost concerned.
The pain in his spirit kept growing, and Jeb gave in to the call of sleep.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 3705/100
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Total Statistic Load: 250 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 126 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 20 Magic Affinity: 43 Mana Depth: 21 Charisma: 17
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Mana: 570
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Glyph Attunement: 18 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 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 Brewing
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)