Jeb woke later than normal. The sun still hadn’t risen, but the first glimpses of dawn were showing. I guess I did push my body a little too hard yesterday, he thought.
It wasn’t that he’d doubted his grandfather. He had just hoped that his body was resilient enough that a normal night’s sleep would bring him back to normal. He felt fine now, but he’d needed far more sleep than what he was beginning to suspect would become his normal.
When he made it to the kitchen, he was surprised to see his grandfather already waiting for him. “Good morning Jeb,” he said, “are you ready to plan your day?”
“How far in advance are we planning?” Jeb asked.
“Just today for now. If it goes well and you follow the schedule, we can start planning further ahead tomorrow. Also, I’m not sure how quickly you’ll learn the skills for Smithing. By the end of today I should have a better grasp on how long we should expect you to take. Now then, what are your priorities?”
Jeb was glad that he’d taken the walk from the Inn to think about that question.
“I obviously would like to work on getting Smithing, Glassblowing, and Woodworking,” he said. “And whenever you learn how to teach Elemental Analysis, that as well.”
His grandfather nodded. “Is that all for your priorities?”
“No,” Jeb continued, “you mentioned that I should try to raise my Mental Statistics above my Physical Statistics, so I looked through my Notification History to see how I can raise them. I gained Willpower through my Class Quest, but that’s over. I’m not sure how else to raise it.”
“Meditation should have Quests to raise Willpower,” his grandfather said.
“One second.” Jeb realized he hadn’t checked his Meditation Quests in a while.
Begin Your Journey of Introspection (Update Available) Minor Quest First Tier Active Meditation for 24 Hours Meditation can also take the form of mindfully moving through your day. Practice this form of Meditation for 24 total hours. (24/24 completed) Update Available Minor Quest First Tier Make Music Meditatively for 24 Hours Focus on music can blind its performers to the outside world. Spend a full day mindfully making music. Update Available Minor Quest First Tier Meditate in Motion for 24 Hours Some find that the path to silencing the outside world comes when pushing their body to excel. Practice this for 24 hours (24/24 completed). Update Available Minor Quest Second Tier Practice your chosen path for 48 hours Once you have chosen to focus your Meditation in one of the four paths, spend 48 hours continuously to finish the first step on your Journey.
Jeb accepted the Quest Notifications.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Begin Your Journey of Introspection First Tier “Active Meditation for 24 Hours”. You have found silence in the world around you and reflected it internally. Rewards: 20 Experience, Willpower +1
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Begin Your Journey of Introspection First Tier “Make Music Meditatively for 24 Hours”. Music begins and ends in silence. You have found the silence in music and embraced it. Rewards: 20 Experience, Willpower +1
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Begin Your Journey of Introspection First Tier “Meditate in Motion for 24 Hours”. You have made silence in the world around you. Rewards: 20 Experience, Willpower +1
That caused another Notification to appear.
Congratulations! You have completed the First Tier of your Journey of Introspection. Rewards: 24 Experience, Willpower +2. Choose which path you will focus into.
“Grandfather,” Jeb said, “I apparently finished my First Tier Quests for Meditation.”
“Obviously, so what’s the problem?” Apparently Jeb wasn’t keeping as calm as he thought.
“It says that I need to focus on one of the paths. I don’t want to, though.”
“Then don’t choose any of the paths.”
“How will I increase my Willpower otherwise?”
“I’m sure that one of your other Skill Quests will have a Willpower gain, especially since your Class did.” That made sense to Jeb.
“Moving on, though,” Jeb continued, “the only way I know to increase my Intelligence so far is to learn a new Identification Subskill.”
“Pollination Quests tend to give Intelligence. What Quests does it have for you?”
Pollinate Minor Quest First Tier Breed a Plant to have a new Trait What’s the point of having plants if they don’t look how you want? Minor Quest Second Tier Breed a new Variety of Plant Make your mark. Create something distinct from its parents. Minor Quest Third Tier (Unlocked due to Synergy with Mana Manipulation) Breed a Magical Plant to have a new Trait What’s the point of having Magical Plants if you can’t bend them to your will? Minor Quest Fourth Tier (Unlocked due to Synergy with Spell Glyphing) Create a New Magical Plant If you can make new Spells, why not new Plants?
Jeb read off the list of Quests to his grandfather.
“Interesting,” his grandfather replied, “I suppose that we’ll need to update the Skill Guide to say that Pollination can synergize with Magical Skills. I have some ideas to help with those two Quests, but you should finish going through your Statistics.”
“I can increase my Charisma by learning songs or Songs. I also think that I could raise it by learning new instruments.”
“Seems straightforward enough,” his grandfather agreed.
“Magic Affinity I can increase by learning new Glyphs, and then I can modify them to increase my Mana Depth,” Jeb continued. “That can also help me increase my total Mana, because my Grok Glyph Quests seem to reward me with Mana.”
“So, then, what are your priorities?”
“The Bard told me to bind my lute, which means that I’ll need to use my Lute Enforcement Song a lot until I’ve bound it. Doing that during my breaks from Smithing seems like a reasonable use of time.” Jeb saw that his grandfather was getting ready to make a point, so he hurried on, “and otherwise, I think that I would really like to try creating my own Glyphs. I have a Quest for it, and I have a feeling that new Glyphs might be how I can increase my Willpower. More than that, though, I have multiple Skills relating to that effect, and it feels like a waste to not use them.”
“That makes sense to me. Now then, you need breaks every half of an hour from Smithing. It sounds as though you’d like to use that time today to work on your Lute Enforcement?”
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“I don’t think that my Mana will refill totally between each break, but whenever it’s full I would.” Jeb responded. By the time they finished scheduling the day it was time for breakfast.
After eating, Jeb and his grandfather moved over to the forge to continue his shovel.
“I’ll stop you after half of an hour,” his grandfather reminded him. Jeb nodded, already focused on the metal he’d put in the forge. When it had gotten hot enough, Jeb began shaping it again.
He still had the example shovel head that his grandfather had made the day before. With each pass in the flames, what had started as a bar of metal slowly changed shape.
When Jeb’s grandfather called for his first break, Jeb wanted to protest. Even as Jeb paid attention to his body, he could tell that it didn’t need a break. Unfortunately, that argument didn’t sway his grandfather.
“Once you’ve demonstrated that you can take breaks,” was his only reply, “then you can decide when you need one.”
Still, the break did give Jeb a chance to Enforce his lute, which was nice. The lute stayed in tune far better than it had before. Jeb hardly needed to adjust anything before he started playing.
Jeb felt the world sharpen as the cycles linked together. It was different without the tone in his head, but it seemed if anything more stable. Without his prompting, the thread sought out his lute.
Jeb felt himself connect to the lute, if only for the briefest moment. Now that he knew what to expect, the connection wasn’t surprising. The bow in the neck still hadn’t fully been fixed, but he could tell that it was about to be.
When his Mana ran out, Jeb looked up at his grandfather, who was staring at him intently.
“Is that what it’s going to sound like every time you practice?” he asked.
“Yes and no,” Jeb replied. “When I’m Singing Lute Enhancement, yes, but when I’m learning another song, no. Why?”
“Something about music having Magic feels so much stranger than your Glyphs.” Jeb had no idea why that would be, but his grandfather didn’t feel inclined to talk about it.
With the rest of his time, Jeb drank some water (at his grandfather’s prompting) and started working on the next song in his Lute Primer.
“You don’t take time off, do you?” his grandfather commented.
“What do you mean?” Jeb asked. He was taking a break from Smithing, just like he’d been told.
“Most people with a new Class would take a break time as a time to relax, not a time to work on another Skill.”
“But why wouldn’t I make the most of my time?” Jeb asked, confused.
“I couldn’t tell you,” his grandfather said, “I was just making an observation.”
Though Jeb made progress with the song during his break, he didn’t quite learn it. His grandfather gestured, and Jeb put his lute back in its case.
Working at the forge felt more comfortable each time Jeb reentered the workshop. The heat hadn’t diminished any, but he felt like his body was adapting to the changes somehow. “Grandfather, why doesn’t the room feel as oppressively hot this time?” he asked as he took his second break.
“Hmm? Oh, I completely forgot about the temperature.” Jeb’s grandfather paled for a second. “Good thing that your Statistics are so high, then. That’s most of the reason too. I’m sure the Bard talked to you about how having a high Dexterity didn’t mean much if you didn’t train your fingers specifically to be nimble.”
Jeb remembered that conversation, so he nodded.
“It’s a similar concept. Between your Endurance and Vitality, you can adapt to different environments. Since you hadn’t spent time in a forge before, you’d have no reason to be comfortable in the conditions. By the time you get Smithing, though, you should be able to stay in that room fairly comfortably.”
The rest of the day passed by similarly. It apparently took about an hour for Jeb’s Mana to refill as he worked the forge, which meant that he Enforced his lute every other break. By the end of the day, he’d learned two new songs for lute and voice and nearly finished the shovel.
“Tomorrow we’ll get you started on some gold-work,” his grandfather said. Seeing Jeb’s confusion, he went on, “if I only had you working with iron, you’d be likely to get Blacksmithing, rather than the parent Skill of Smithing. Instead, I’ll have you work through as many different forms as we have easy access to, making sure you get at least a passing familiarity with a variety of tools and techniques.”
Dinner that night was a much happier affair. Or, at least, Jeb felt much more able to participate in the conversation. Jeb decided to spend his time after dinner thinking about Glyphs.
Jeb called each Glyph up one after another, trying to understand what the itching in the back of his mind was for. It was clear that they weren’t all completely unique, but try as he might, Jeb couldn’t figure out what the similarities were. Just before bed, though, inspiration struck.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 3908/100
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Total Statistic Load: 261 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 137 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 25 Magic Affinity: 43 Mana Depth: 21 Charisma: 23
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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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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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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 Distilling Bardic Magic
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)