“What do you mean you finished the Quest twice?” his grandfather asked.
Before Jeb could answer, his aunt asked an immediate followup, “what traits did you breed into the Managrass?”
Jeb paused, waiting to see if there were more questions coming. When none immediately appeared, he tried to answer both of his relatives at once. “I saw the Notification for breeding Managrass into White Managrass. When I went to open it, though, I saw that I had added another trait into the plant. Apparently it’s now ‘Mana Hungry White Managrass.’ Do either of you know what that means?”
His aunt looked to his grandfather, who shrugged. “I can look in one of the encyclopedias,” he said, “but that’s not a common trait. My best guess is that you’ve made that Managrass reliant on Mana in order to grow. Since you have Mana to spare, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but it’s still something to consider.”
“Congratulations by the way,” his aunt said.
“Thank you! Once I replenish the soil, I’m off to the Library,” Jeb said, running back out of the room.
“Why are you going back to the Library already? Weren’t you just there this morning?” his grandfather called out.
“I was,” Jeb confirmed, “but the Librarian said that it was too early to hear about why my lute was Infused. It’s later now, so I assume it’s a good time to tell him.”
Jeb hadn’t stopped moving, so he missed his grandfather’s chuckle. The field needed exactly the same nutrients that it had before. This time, he didn’t get a Quest Notification, which he supposed made sense. He no longer had to diagnose what was wrong with the field because he already knew.
Jeb quickly replenished the soil and made his way over to the Library. It took a while for him to explain how he Infused his lute. Apparently it was uncommon to visualize Songs as threads, so his initial explanation of forcing the thread to move through a Glyph didn’t make sense to the Librarian. When he finished, though, the Librarian shook his head and sighed.
“Jeb, I don’t know how you have avoided causing any permanent damage to yourself or surroundings. The System itself must be keeping an eye on you.”
“I haven’t done anything that bad, have I?” Jeb protested.
“No, that’s fair, I exaggerated a little. Any individual thing you’ve done is within at least a few standard deviations of a reasonable choice. It’s the consistency of improbable decisions that’s astounding, especially since you’re still First Tier.” The Librarian considered for a moment, “actually, that might help explain why you’re acting this way. Normally people are consumed by finishing the Quests for Class Skills, but I suppose you’ve already finished your Questline, haven’t you?”
Jeb nodded.
The Librarian started nodding, clearly speaking to himself, “I wonder if that could be the reason for Class Skills. It certainly would moderate the speed of new discoveries, but-” he seemed to realize that Jeb was still there. “Was there something more you wanted to speak about, Jeb?” he asked.
“No, I just wasn’t sure if you had something else you wanted to talk about,” Jeb replied.
“I think I’ve gotten the relevant questions answered. Have a nice day, Jeb,” the Librarian said, moving to open the door for Jeb.
“You too!” he replied, making his way back home. As he neared his house, he realized that he had never dropped off the fibers he’d grown with his uncle. He went to his Uncle Frank’s workshop and was relieved to see that he was there.
“Uncle Frank, I have more fibers for you, if that’s alright,” Jeb said nervously. He wasn’t sure when the last time he’d spoken to his uncle had been, though it certainly wasn’t recently.
“Well thank you Jeb,” he said, “these fibers are awfully light though. Did you bleach them already?”
“No, I wasn’t sure what trait I wanted to breed into them, so I thought making them lighter might be a good idea.”
“Makes sense,” Frank made no motion to continue the conversation, and it was then that Jeb remembered that his uncle generally avoided speaking too much. He wasn’t sure why, but it had never seemed polite to ask, so Jeb never had. He left the fibers with his uncle and made his way back to see his grandfather.
“What should I do with the seeds?” he asked.
“Well, since your aunt replenished our supply of seed yesterday, I don’t think we’ll need either of these baskets,” his grandfather replied, gesturing to the baskets which didn’t hold the Mana Hungry White Managress seeds. “This one, though, may be worth holding onto. If your uncle doesn’t find anything wrong with the Manaweave he makes from it, people might prefer having a lighter paper. I know Frank would appreciate saving the time with bleach.”
“I’m glad that the White Managrass might be useful,” Jeb said. Truthfully, he was ecstatic. A part of him had been worried that he was just wasting the fertilizer that his family had. Knowing that the new crop might be useful was really good to hear.
“Have you considered what you might do next?” his grandfather said.
“I had an idea, but I’m not sure if it will work,” Jeb said. “Infusing the Managrass with Mana made it grow faster, so I was wondering if infusing it with Aspected Mana could make a difference.”
“Is there anything stopping you from trying?”
“I’m just not sure if it’s the best use of my time,” Jeb replied honestly.
“Well what are your priorities right now?”
Jeb thought for a moment. “One of my chief priorities is absolutely raising my Mental Statistics. Breeding a new trait into the Managrass is worth two points each in Intelligence and Willpower, so it’s certainly useful for that. The Bard recommended that I bind my lute, but I’m less and less sure that binding it is a good idea for me.”
His grandfather signaled that he had something to add. “What makes you less and less sure about binding it?”
“Well, it started because Aunt Sue said that it was risky to bind anything. Then the Librarian said that if I continue as a Mage, my Mana will end up Aspecting entirely to Glyphs, making it so I can’t use a lute for Magic at all.”
“We should come back to that later, but go on,” his grandfather said, gesturing for Jeb to continue.
“It feels a little bit like a waste to have earned all of the Skills I have and not use them at all,” Jeb said, “I don’t even think that I’ve looked at the Skill Quests for most of them!”
“Do you feel like working on any of the Skills you’ve earned would be more effective for your long-term goals than what you’re currently doing?”
“I think that’s really the problem,” Jeb admitted, “I don’t know what my long-term goals are anymore. I still don’t want to be a Mud Mage, but I can’t imagine that I’ll be forced into that role. I had a good time making White Mana Hungry Managrass, but I don’t think that I want to do that forever. More and more, I think that I want to go into some sort of Magic research. I’ve really enjoyed working to make new Glyphs. Modifying Attune Water Mana to fit on a staff felt like the best kind of assignment.”
“So then how can you lean into those skills and Skills?” his grandfather asked.
Jeb thought for a moment. Before he started speaking, his grandfather gave him a suggestion. “Why don’t you go through the Skills that you’ve unlocked and see if anything stands out about them to you.”
That made sense. “I’ve already finished all of the Quests for Least Mud Magic,” he said, “and I don’t want to pick a kind of Meditation to focus on. Mana Manipulation only has a Quest for modifying my Glyphs, I think,” Jeb said.
To his surprise, the Skill Quest had changed wording slightly.
Modify a Spell (Repeatable) Change the effect of a Spell, either while casting or by modifying a Glyph or Song To learn how to control your Mana, you must move it outside of the paths that others have set for it. Break free from the bonds of the past.
“I guess I can use it to change a Song as well now. It would be helpful to do that Quest and increase my Mana Depth, but I’m worried that my Magic Affinity is already so much higher than my other Statistics.”
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His grandfather gestured for him to go on, so Jeb kept reading through his list of Skills.
“Spell Glyphing has Quests for Scribing Glyphs and making new Glyphs. It only rewards me with Mana for Scribing them, but that’s still useful. I’m sure I would get a good reward for making new Glyphs, and I would really like to do that.”
“Then let’s make a note to come back to Spell Glyphing,” his grandfather said, holding out a piece of paper.
“Improved Glyph Grokking is a Synergy Skill, so it makes sense to me that it works so well with Spell Glyphing. I get credit for learning a lot of Glyphs or sharing the Glyphs I’ve made. Learning more Glyphs seems like it would leave me with the same issues as modifying more Glyphs, my Magic Affinity.”
“And sharing the Glyphs?”
“That gives me Mana, Intelligence, and Willpower, which are all Statistics I would like to raise. It also means that I can help others, which is nice.” Jeb continued through his list, “Gift of Gab just wants me to double my Charisma. I don’t think explicitly working on it is necessary, though the ability to communicate with other creatures could be nice. You told me to stop working on Running, Lifting, and Athletics Quests, which I assume hasn’t changed?”
His grandfather nodded, so Jeb continued, “Identify wants me to get more Identification Subskills. Elemental Analysis still seems like a good Skill for me to learn and use,” his grandfather grimaced a little, “Soil Savvy just wants me to recognize what’s wrong with my fields, which is worth working on if I want to commit to being a Farmer. I don’t know if I do anymore.”
His grandfather didn’t look too disappointed at his words, which made Jeb happy. He was also realizing just how many Skills he had already. “Animal Handling and Fertilizing feel like they’re in a similar space,” he said, “Lute Playing, Singing, and Musician all have Quests to raise my Charisma, which might be important soon.”
“I had forgotten just how diverse your Skillset had gotten,” his grandfather said.
“The Pollination Quests were rewarding, and I am really curious about what Elementally Attuned Mana would do to my Managrass. Neither Brewing nor Distilling is particularly interesting to me right now,” he admitted, “but I’m sure that could change.”
“No one here has any advice for how they might couple with your Magical Skills,” his grandfather admitted.
“Bardic Magic isn’t a real Skill for me. I had an idea for Smithing,” Jeb said, looking at the Skill Quests.
Smith Minor Quest First Tier Take a Commission Make something for a customer.
“But it doesn’t really align with the Quest I have.”
“What was the idea?”
“I was able to make a Glyph out of gold poured into iron or just plain worked gold. I’m curious if worked iron would be able to function as a Glyph.”
“What would learning that tell you?”
Jeb thought about it for a moment. “Not much, honestly,” he finally decided. “I’m still curious, but that’s a low priority task for certain.”
“The same is true for Woodworking, though there is the benefit there that modifying my Glyph to fit on a staff was worth the Quest reward for Improved Glyph Grokking without increasing my Magic Affinity.”
“So where does that leave you?”
“If I’m only working on things related to my Quests, I absolutely want to start Scribing more Spells. I should probably start making new Spells, though I don’t know if that’s worth it. I’d like to learn Elemental Analysis, and I want to try putting Elementally Attuned Mana into Managrass. I’d also like to modify my Glyphs to fit onto other shapes.” That was a much more understandable list.
“How would you rank the relative priorities?”
“Are you free to teach me Elemental Analysis?”
His grandfather looked apologetic, “I don’t think I can teach it to you. I don’t know enough of the necessary information, especially given how broad your current Identification Skills are.”
Jeb realized this was the first time his grandfather hadn’t known the answer to something. “That’s ok!” he said, “I think I’m going to try Water Attuned Mana on the Managrass next, since I’m still kind of working on it.”
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 4595/100
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Total Statistic Load: 303 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 179 Intelligence: 41 Willpower: 34 Magic Affinity: 51 Mana Depth: 25 Charisma: 28
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Mana: 625
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Glyph Attunement: 22 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 Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 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 Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)