The next few days started to fall into a rhythm. Jeb would work with his aunt to dry a load of whatever the Harvesters had brought in to be dried. When they finished, he would work on his Ephemeral Song and the songs in the Lute Method Book. Once a day, they would open the doors of the kiln to find that it was somehow already evening.
By the time that the harvest had ended, the chill in the air had grown. Each night cooled down to just above a frost. At the final celebration for another successful harvest, Jeb realized that he hadn’t collected the Quest rewards for learning songs.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Lute Playing First Tier “Learn a Piece for Lute” Go forth and serenade. Rewards: 1 Charisma, 19 EXP
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Singing First Tier “Learn a song” Go forth and serenade. Rewards: 1 Charisma, 19 EXP
He had ended up learning five songs in total, which brought his Charisma up a fair amount. Looking at the note he’d left himself, Jeb saw that it still wasn’t as high as his grandfather had recommended. In retrospect, Jeb thought to himself, maybe modifying all of my Spell Glyphs may not have been the best idea. He’d been so excited to raise his Magic Affinity and Mana Depth that he hadn’t considered what that would do to his future progression.
As his thoughts moved to his Mana Depth, Jeb realized that it was now his lowest Mental Statistic. Looking through his Quest Logs, he realized that he didn’t have a single way to increase his Mana Depth without also also raising his Magic Affinity, if only slightly. It seemed like his best bet was to create Higher Tier Glyphs, since his Glyph Creation Quests seemed to double the amount of Mana Depth with each increasing Tier. As it was, the highest Tier Glyph he had a Quest to create was a Third Tier Glyph.
That didn’t seem like it would be too difficult. After all, he knew Least Create Sand. He could make that Least Create Sand -Efficient, which every other time resulted in a Third Tier Glyph. Once he had done that, he could in theory go through all of the other Glyphs he knew, though that might be suboptimal. Learning one of the Lesser Spell Glyphs might benefit him more, but it would depend a lot on how much longer it would take him to make those Glyphs.
Jeb was distracted from his musings by his grandfather. He had stepped onto the stage in the middle of the town square and cleared his throat.
“Good evening,” he said, and the entire town grew quiet. “First, congratulations and thank you to everyone who helped with this year’s harvest. Though we have not yet finished the official tally, unofficial counts suggest that this is our best harvest yet!”
The crowd cheered at that, though it was short lived. Even though most of the town had a Class that gave boons to harvesting, and his grandfather’s Skills helped that even more, working nonstop was still exhausting for anyone. The fact that they all would all have at least a day or two to rest before the rest of life needed tending to was a nice change.
His grandfather’s speech turned less cheerful as he discussed the tax situation. Much of the context and specifics went over Jeb’s head. He still wasn’t entirely sure how large a bushel was, though from the look on the nearby Farmers’ faces, needing to provide as many as they did was clearly a hardship.
His grandfather must have noticed the change in the crowd. But, this was not his first time giving the post harvest debrief. He knew better than to derail it for any reason.
At the end of the speech, everyone began to follow the tradition of thanksgiving. In short, someone would go to the dais that his grandfather had just stepped down from and give public thanks to an individual who had vastly exceeded expectations, or at the very least was essential to the town’s harvest performance. As always, the first thanking went to his grandfather.
By and large, Jeb never really understood the explicit reason people were being thanked. Most of the thankers and thankees were Harvesters, and they all had very specialized Skills to help with the harvest. He still cheered as hard as the rest of the crowd though. Even if he didn’t know exactly what they were cheering about, it was important to thank people for jobs well done.
When his Aunt Esther was called out, though, Jeb cheered even louder. He was shocked to see her stand up afterwards. As she approached the stage, he went through the list of everyone he could think of that she might be thanking. His mind was mostly blank, though. Anyone he thought she might be thanking had already been thanked.
As tended to happen, the crowd grew louder as the speakers changed off. His aunt neared the stage, and the crowd started to quiet down. He must have been the only one confused, at least if the expectant looks on the crowd’s face were any indication.
“I would like to thank my nephew Jeb,” she said, and the crowd roared. His aunt waited for them to quiet down before continuing. “I’m sure that everyone noticed how much more quickly we were able to kiln and dry everything this year. That was solely due to Jeb being in the kiln with me.”
He knew that wasn’t true. After all, his aunt had also improved her Skills since the last harvest. Feeling his ears start to burn, Jeb tried to hide his embarrassment. It didn’t work, especially as his aunt continued to expound on all of the ways that he had helped the harvest to proceed more smoothly.
Jeb was beginning to regret not improving his Presence at all since receiving his Class. If he had done so, there was a chance that he would have been able to at least somewhat hide how he was feeling. Still, when the crowd cheered for him, it still did feel nice to know that the work he had done was appreciated.
The next few days passed somehow even more quickly. He walked back to the farm with the rest of his family.
“Jeb,” his sister called out, “carry me.” He almost refused on instinct, but he took a second look at her. The thanks that she’d received were clearly earned. She looked completely exhausted, as though she were only on her feet out of complete stubbornness.
He accepted, and started carrying her home. She fell asleep before they’d gotten back, and he couldn’t blame her. When they got back to the house, the days without sleep suddenly struck him. He tossed her onto her bed, noting that she didn’t even react to the impact, made it to his room, and collapsed.
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Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 8288/100
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Total Statistic Load: 370 ->380 Physical Load: 139 Strength: 33 Dexterity: 26 Endurance: 35 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 231 ->241 Intelligence: 47 Willpower: 54 Magic Affinity: 57 Mana Depth: 39 Charisma: 34 ->44
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Mana: 1580
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Glyph Attunement: 28 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 Shape Water - Efficient Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Water 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 Water Mana - Efficient Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient 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 Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Enchanting Glassblowing
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)