When Jeb woke from his sleep, he was surprised to see that the sun was only just breaking the horizon. Walking down the stairs, he saw most of his family gathered around the table, quietly chatting with each other.
“Good morning, Jeb,” his grandfather said, raising a mug of tea in salute. The rest of his family muttered similar greetings, and Jeb returned the morning calls to everyone in turn.
“Well, then,” his grandfather continued, “it looks as though the wager is up.”
“What wager?”
His sister began speaking before anyone else could. “Everyone collapses for days after their first harvest. Also, the wager isn’t over yet, Grandfather.”
His grandfather rolled his eyes. “The wager is over, because I know that Jeb did not accept the Quest for Harvest Season, let alone claim it.”
The family erupted into an uproar at that. Calls of “that was relevant information,” and similar cries broke out, and his grandfather let them all settle down.
“Now, then, did any of you think to ask if Jeb had accepted the Harvest Quest?” Mutters of “no” went around the room. Jeb was beginning to grow concerned. What is everyone talking about?
Seeing confusion play across his face, his sister began speaking again. “The fact that you’re helping with the Town’s harvest means that you are able to keep working through the days without needing sleep. But, at the end of the day, you’re still only First Tier. Your body does need sleep more than once every few weeks. So, there’s always a bet amongst family members about how long it takes people to wake after their first harvest. Apparently accepting the Quest Reward for Harvest Season makes a difference in how long it takes people to wake up, though no one will tell me what that difference is.” She glared jokingly at the rest of the family, who all chuckled good naturedly.
“There are other factors that are far more important, and there also isn’t a consensus about what accepting the Quest Reward does,” his mother said, provoking another round of mock outrage.
The rest of the conversation spiraled from there, and Jeb enjoyed just being around his family for a moment. He knew that it wouldn’t last for long. Even if everyone needed rest, the animals would need tending, and the fields would need to be tended as well. That was always true, though. In particular, since it was the end of the harvest, more perishable items needed to be canned, equipment needed to be repaired and mended, and everyone needed to prepare for winter.
When his grandfather finished drinking his cup of tea, everyone seemed ready to go out for the day. Jeb realized that he hadn’t been explicitly told that he had woken up after a single night’s sleep. If he didn’t ask now, he might not get the chance.
“So, how long was I asleep?” he asked his family.
“Oh, just one full day and night,” his grandfather said offhandedly. “That’s well within what’s normal, especially given how high your Statistics are right now.”
“Why didn’t I get the Quest Notification to help with the harvest?” Jeb quickly followed up. If his grandfather was willing to rapidly answer questions, he was going to take advantage of that. “Also, why didn’t you tell me that there was a Quest I should have accepted?”
“I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if you would end up being able to accept it. As it turned out, that was true.”
“Why didn’t you think that I would be able to accept the Quest?”
“There are two reasons. First, you were not directly harvesting anything. In past years, lower Tier members of the community who had support roles like you took didn’t always receive the Quest. Also, you don’t have a Farming Class. While other Classes often have had access to the Harvest Quest, they also don’t universally have it offered to them. Between the two, I was fairly sure that you wouldn’t get a message to accept the Quest.” His grandfather started walking towards the forge.
“What are the rewards for the Quest?” Jeb asked, following him into the hot room. After working in the kiln through the whole harvest, it was shockingly comfortable.
“There’s an Achievement you get that updates with the number of harvests you’ve helped out with. Other than that, there aren’t any explicit rewards. It tells you exactly how much you harvested, and what the town as a whole managed to bring in. For Overseers, there’s more detail in it about what the Harvesters under you managed, which is mostly nice for accounting and tax purposes.”
“So I didn’t really miss out on anything?”
“Not as such, no.” While they had been speaking, Jeb’s grandfather had started stoking the forge. Without even thinking about it, Jeb called the Least Move Air Glyph to mind and to stoke the forge more quickly.
“Thank you for that, Jeb.”
“Huh?” Jeb finally noticed what he was doing. “Oh, sorry.”
“No problem at all.”
“Are you forging something in particular right now?” Jeb asked.
“A good number of tools got bent during work, so I was going to start repairing them all. A few will need to be totally reforged, but most can probably just be beaten back into shape.” His grandfather gestured towards the piles of metal tools on the side of the room.
“Can I help with anything?”
His grandfather smiled. “If you’re willing to sharpen, that would be fantastic. Even though a number of tools need more than just sharpening, every tool needs at least a little honing.”
“I’d be happy to help.”
It was clear which pile was tools that needed to be repaired, and which just needed to be made sharp again. He picked up a sickle and tested its edge. As soon as he tried, Jeb knew that the sickle would need major sharpening. He was fairly sure that he could press his thumb into the blade without breaking skin. Thankfully, it was still sharp enough that the bevel angle was clear to him. He started up a grinder and got to work sharpening.
That set the tone for the rest of the day. The steady beating sound of a hammer striking an anvil echoed in the room, along with the roar of the flame and the gentle hum of the grinder. Jeb felt himself falling into a similar Meditative state to what he had felt during the harvest.
Unlike in the harvest, though, the state was harder to keep. His body clearly had not totally recovered from the work he had done during the harvest, and he could feel himself grow more tired as he worked. After all the time in the kiln, where he could not gauge the passing of time except for the passing of loads of grain, it was a strange contrast. When he heard the hammering stop, Jeb looked up to see his grandfather standing over him.
“Good job,” his grandfather said, nodding in the direction of the tools he had already sharpened. “Have you honed those as well?”
“Not yet,” Jeb admitted. “They aren’t even totally sharp. It seemed most efficient to go through everything at the same grit level before moving to a finer grit.”
“I don’t disagree with the instinct,” his grandfather replied, “but after lunch, would you be willing to work on that set instead?” He gestured to a pile of knifes and other slaughter equipment.
Jeb realized why immediately. “Oh, it’s almost time for slaughter, isn’t it?”
His grandfather nodded. “I won’t ask you to help with that, I hope you understand.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Jeb did. Of all the Skills that he knew his family had, the Animal Husbandry ones were the clearest to see. They were able to make sure the animals did not panic as they waited for their slaughter, and the deaths came far more easily and painlessly than skill alone could explain. During butchering, it meant that no part of the animal went to waste from missed cuts or mistakes. It would be unfair to the animals to have anyone without Skills related to their slaughter take part in it.
“I’m just glad that I can help it go more smoothly.” The two left the forge and had a quick lunch. When they came back, Jeb quickly got to work.
Before sharpening any of the pieces, he quickly tested each edge. They were all still sharp, so he changed the grinder’s belt out for a much finer grit. Most of the knives didn’t even need to be sharpened, just honed, but Jeb made sure that each knife was able to cut cleanly through anything it would need. It was the least that he could do to help this part of the autumn preparations.
His grandfather clearly saw how dedicated he felt about it. Jeb idly noticed that his grandfather stepped out for dinner and brought him back something. Between each knife, Jeb took a quick bite. This sharpening felt much closer to the work he had done in the kiln. He felt resonance with his different Skills as he carefully prepared the pieces of metal for their part in the livestock’s lifespan.
When he finished the pile, he took a quick step outside to see what time it was. Feeling the chill in the nighttime air, Jeb quickly ran inside. It wasn’t quite midnight, which he hoped meant that he would still be able to get enough sleep for the night. Inside the kitchen, he saw his grandfather heading back to the forge.
“Should I take this to mean that you finished all the tools?” he asked.
“I think so,” Jeb replied. “I’d appreciate you checking the edge on them, though.”
His grandfather nodded, and Jeb went to sleep.
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: 380 Physical Load: 139 Strength: 33 Dexterity: 26 Endurance: 35 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 241 Intelligence: 47 Willpower: 54 Magic Affinity: 57 Mana Depth: 39 Charisma: 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)