When Jeb regained consciousness, he quickly sat up and looked out the window. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like he had lost more than an hour. Just to be safe, though, he asked the Librarian, “how long was I out for?”
The Librarian jumped. “I did not hear you get up.” He glanced at the clock behind the desk. “You were unconscious for around fifty minutes. I was about to call your family, so I am glad that you woke up on your own.”
“Why did I pass out?” Jeb asked.
The Librarian blushed a little. “I have never used the full extent of my Skill on someone so much Lower Tier than I am. I did not expect that to happen, but I suppose that I am not too surprised. I had expected your consent to make more of a difference, but-” the Librarian stopped for a moment, “actually, I suppose that it very well may have still made a significant difference.”
Jeb felt a slight shiver pass through him as pages flashed through the Librarian’s eyes again.
“Well, I do not see any lasting effects from my scan. I will need a bit of time to consider the best way for you to balance your Statistics. When you finish talking to the Bard, come back here, and I should be able to help you plan your winter.”
“Thank you!” Jeb replied, standing up quickly. A little too quickly, if the stars that flashed through his vision were any indication. He caught himself before he fell, though, which was the important part.
Jeb opened the Library door and noted how much colder the air felt compared to when he had entered the Library. He hadn’t realized that he had frozen in the doorway until the Librarian cleared his throat.
“Sensitivity to temperature is a common side effect of Statistic Fatigue and falling unconscious,” he said.
Jeb nodded and quickly rushed to the Inn. The Bard was sitting on the stage tuning his lute.
“Good morning Jeb!” he called when Jeb opened the door. “Should I take it by you coming here that you’ve mastered the Ephemeral Song?”
Jeb blushed and looked at his feet. “Um, no, sorry,” he said.
The Bard jumped off the stage. “No problem at all! What are you here for?”
Jeb considered how to phrase his request. “The Librarian told me that you would be able to unlock a Quest for my Musician Skill?” he asked.
The Bard’s eyes sharpened. “What Quest did he tell you I could unlock for you?” In the silence after the Bard’s question, Jeb felt as though the attention of the entire world was on him.
“He didn’t give me a specific name, but he said it would be a Quest to compose a song,” Jeb replied.
The intensity in the Bard’s gaze dropped, and Jeb felt the attention of the universe fade from him. The Bard smiled, and Jeb felt something change in his Status.
Congratulations! Your teacher has unlocked the Musician Quest Second Tier: Compose a song.
“Would you like me to explain the Quest to you?” the Bard asked.
“That would be fantastic!” Jeb replied. The Bard gestured for him to take a seat, so Jeb sat down at the nearest table. The Bard joined him and began to describe what the System defined as “composing” and “song.”
“Now, a number of my colleagues would be enraged at the fact that I’m teaching you how to accomplish the bare minimum for the Quest,” the Bard said casually, “so if you ever happen to run into another Bard, and they ask you about your Quest-” he trailed off.
“I should deny that you unlocked it for me and taught me how to optimize composition?” Jeb guessed.
“No,” the Bard said, shaking his head, “tell them what happened.”
“Why?” Jeb asked.
“I just think it would be entertaining,” the Bard replied with a shrug. “It isn’t really as though there’s much that the Bard College can do to me, especially since I’m completely within my remit as a teacher to decide the best pedagogy for each of my pupils.”
Jeb looked around the room discreetly, in case there were other students he had missed. He apparently wasn’t discreet enough, because the Bard chuckled, “fair correction. As a teacher, it is completely within my remit to decide the best pedagogy for my pupil. I would request that you still spend at least a little time working on your Ephemeral Song. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, it will be incredibly helpful in composing.”
“Thank you!” Jeb replied, making his way back towards the exit. The conversation with the Bard had given his body the time it needed to recover, if Jeb’s lack of a shiver when he opened the door was a reliable gauge. Back at the Library, the Librarian handed Jeb a book.
“This book contains some advice I would give you in developing your Class. If there were a Mage in town, this would be far easier, since they could just unlock a Quest like the Bard did. As it is, there are a number of options you can take, though the easiest might be to just modify the Spells you have until your Magic Affinity overtakes your Willpower. Once that happens, I trust that you can create another Glyph to increase your Mana Depth and Willpower?”
Seeing Jeb’s nod, the Librarian nodded as well. “Well, then, best of luck. If you have any questions, you know the Library’s hours.”
“Thank you!” Jeb replied as he left the building. Unlike his previous walks home, Jeb wasn’t able to spend the time reading the latest book he had taken from the Library. When he tried, the wind nipped at his fingers.
When he made his way back inside, his mother called to him. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“I think so?” Jeb replied. “The Librarian was reading my Status, and I passed out, though,” he said, realizing that it was probably an important thing to tell his mother.
Her face went through a series of expressions too quickly for Jeb to catch any of them. “Did you find a solution to balancing your Statistics, at least?” she asked.
“I did!” Jeb exclaimed, holding up the book the Librarian had given him.
His mother looked at the book and then back to Jeb. “It might be a good idea for you to go through the plans you made with your grandfather. He’s in the forge right now.”
Jeb walked over to the forge and knocked on the door.
“Come in, Jeb,” his grandfather called.
“How did you know it was me?” Jeb asked.
“You’re the only one who would both come to the forge looking for me and knock,” his grandfather replied. “What can I help you with?”
“The Librarian gave me some advice on balancing my Mental Statistics,” Jeb said, handing the book to his grandfather.
His grandfather quickly paged through the thin tome. When he finished it, he nodded. “That all seems fairly reasonable to me,” his grandfather said. “Though, I do notice that the Librarian did not include an order that you should complete these tasks in, other than raising your Magic Affinity first. Do you have an order you want to complete them in?”
Jeb considered the question for a moment. “I absolutely want to raise my Magic Affinity first,” he said. “But that’s what the Librarian said, so I suppose that isn’t too surprising. After that, I think I’ll try crafting a new Glyph, like the Librarian recommends. I’ll have to run some numbers to figure out which Tier of Glyph would be the best for me to craft, though I suppose it will likely be a low Tier Glyph. Once I’ve done that, I’ll try to work on composing songs until I have my Intelligence and Charisma high enough. Though,” Jeb paused, remembering what the Bard had said.
“I suppose that I should also work on learning the Ephemeral Song the Bard started to teach me.”
“Oh?” His grandfather asked. “I don’t see that in the book.”
“I don’t know if the Librarian knows about it,” Jeb said. “But the Bard seemed very confident that working on the Ephemeral Song would help me with composition, and I have no reason not to believe that. Also, I have the entire winter to start balancing my Statistics. If I do things in slightly less than the perfect order, it isn’t like that is going to harm me too much.”
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His grandfather nodded. “Well, then, it seems like you’d best be off.”
Jeb walked back to the house, looking at the clear winter sky. Someone had mentioned that there was going to be snow soon, but unless the system was moving quickly, Jeb wasn’t sure he believed it. Inside his room, Jeb looked at his Glyphs.
It’s been a while since I modified my Glyphs, he thought, “so I’ll probably be able to Modify most of my Spell List, which should help.” When he saw how few Spells had yet to be Modified, Jeb paused. Had he really learned that few Spells since his time working the Brewery? Scanning through the list of Spells, Jeb didn’t see any missing, so he supposed that he really must have only learned a few new Spell Glyphs. Still, that would hopefully be enough.
Jeb began at the top of the list and called Lesser Shape Earth to mind. With a brief moment of effort, he located the part of the Spell responsible for limiting Mana throughput. With an even briefer flex of Will, he deactivated it.
The Quest Notification popped up immediately.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Modify a Spell Glyph. Keep changing the Spells you know to fit your needs, rather than the opposite. Rewards: 39 EXP, Magic Affinity +1, Mana Depth +1.
After going through all of his Glyphs, though, he realized that the Librarian must have miscounted. His Magic Affinity hadn’t overtaken his Willpower. Just as he thought that, he saw another Notification that he had missed while Modifying all of his Glyphs.
Congratulations! You have Modified over twenty five Glyphs using the same Modifier. You have earned the Lesser Achievement: “Glyph Specializer”
Glyph Specializer. Not content to use Glyphs as they are taught to you, you have instead worked to make each Glyph work in your favor in the same way. +5 Magic Affinity.
“Whoops,” Jeb said, as the pain from raising his Statistics so suddenly hit.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 8755/100
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Total Statistic Load: 412 ->433 Physical Load: 139 Strength: 33 Dexterity: 26 Endurance: 35 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 273 ->294 Intelligence: 52 Willpower: 67 Magic Affinity: 59 ->72 Mana Depth: 47 ->55 Charisma: 48
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Mana: 1705
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Glyph Attunement: 30 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 Lesser Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Water (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create 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 Water Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient (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 Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Enchanting Glassblowing
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)