Fonta went to work the next day after spending thirty minutes getting out of his room. To most, 180 pounds wasn’t much but concentrated on the wrists of someone who didn’t have much if any muscle to begin with, it was horrible. If Fonta’s base stats were written out his strength would be…
Precursor status screen activated due to a nearby relic.
“Who said that!” Fonta scowled.
A blue box appeared in the corner of his vision, he tried to see it. “Get over here!”
The screen was dragged to the center of his vision blocking his sight.
Name, Fonta Pain
Race: Precursor (Twin)
Level: Cultivation 1, Magic 0
Stats
Strength: 8(12) Dexterity 18(27) Vigor: 16(24) Endurance: 20(30) Intelligence: 4(6) Wisdom: 15 Charisma: 1(1) Mind: 17(25) Luck: i Stats under 6 represent abilities below that of a child. Stats 10 and below are that of the average adult at the time of this Relic’s Creation.
Age 17, time until racial maturity, 3 Days
Precursor Boon: Locked until racial maturity reached
Talents unlocked: 2
Paths unlocked: 0
Perks points: 2
“What the depths! What's going on!” Fonta yelled as he walked out of the room. “Wait, why is my intelligence so low!”
“What's with all the yelling!” Zara yelled from one floor above as something heavy hit the ceiling multiple times!
“Tell me your intelligence!” Fonta felt the thing on his arm slightly heat up but it didn’t burn.
“42. Wait what?! How did? What is? Where did all these numbers come from? Did you just activate the collar?”
“Sorry! Didn’t know I could do that!” Fonta winced.
“Fonta the sun hasn’t even woken up yet. What are you doing in there?” Yang said at his door.
“Yang, say or think status. Then tell me your intelligence.”
“Why would I? Fine Status… what's with all these numbers? Oh looks like it's a 12 with my cultivation level.”
“What about your charisma?” Fonta said as he grabbed his umbrella.” The sky outside had never been clearer.
“29 with my cultivation.”
The sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath warned Yang that he should probably run.
Fonta bounced out of his room and shot toward Yang.
With surprising speed, Yang evaded the blow meant to nick his face slightly. And backhanded the back of Fonta’s head.
“What's that for?”
“It’s nothing personal. I’m just obligated to lower your charisma a bit.” Fonta landed in a tumble and then struggled to stand back up. Before he ran back towards him.
Yang drew his sword and deflected the blow with a strength that went against everything Fonta knew about Yang.
“When did you get so strong?”
“When did you get so weak? Your blows usually have more oomph and speed. Oh right, those heavy bracers.”
Fonta moved into a leg sweep as the weight on his hands doubled and he was suddenly unmoving.
“Stop fighting. I’ll explain then you can all go to work later.”
“Fine, start.” Fonta didn’t move.
“My item arrived a bit earlier than I expected. It allows one to view their base abilities, talents, and other similar things as well as perk points. Those we can go over later, Fonta, when do you reach maturity.”
“Three days, but my birthday should have passed.”
“I doubt you know the exact day, figured it was soon but three days? You must have been a late bloomer.”
“Fine, these stats, how do they get higher?”
“Training for base stats, from reading to exercising. Charisma is based on decorum, speech, clothing, and cleanliness. It is the most dynamic of stats.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“So to get my charisma past 1 I need to take a bath or something?”
“That, and remove those weights and they reduce base stats by 10 each. So -20 strength -20 charisma and they also look bad.
“Wait so my intelligence wasn’t touched?”
“You need all the advantages you can get.” The puppet lied, strength, charisma, and intelligence were lowered mostly for his own protection. They had to lower three and anything else could get him killed.
“Now go do your training.”
“Fine, Fonta practically dragged his arms towards the restaurant where he practiced cutting things with a knife he’d begun levitating.
“That’s an interesting talent you have there, kid, but your control over one is equal to what you can do with your hands already. Try levitating two at the same time to double your workload.
“Yes, Chef!.”
Fonta felt his consciousness split as he connected with another knife. He could control them both at once but they needed to do similar things to prevent splitting his brain in two before it was ready.
“Good, with your talent, I’ll have you working twice as hard soon. You could be a one-man kitchen crew. How does that sound?”
“What do you mean?”
“Imagine being able to cut vegetables, stir a pot, work a skillet, and plate all at the same time, without stopping or moving from a set position.”
“How does that help me in a fight?”
“Ugh. The youth and their fighting.”
“Say you're holding one sword in each hand, an ax in your mouth, two spears, a shield, a halberd, and a War hammer circle around you breathing down multiple opponents without a second thought.”
“Hit more, hit fast, and hit hard. Yes, that could work. Chef, you're a genius.” It all made sense to him. He could make meat tornadoes.
“Yeah yeah. I’m sure you’ll use them well.” The chef rolled his eyes and turned.
After finishing the day working harder mentally. He went to chop would using his new power to cut them one at a time finding the act slow but effective as he got the rhythm on it the ax came down faster and the wood was knocked to the side as he learned how to swing the ax around his body in an obit then slam it down with the collected momentum.
Cleaning was magical and convenient. Mopping twice as fast as convenient as he picked up trash and put the place together within an hour without breaking a single broom or mop.
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Arriving at the house Fonta began to practice his cultivation. The sun had begun to set as the clouds moved to hide it. Fonta could feel that he was close to breaking into the awakened stage, just a week most. Just as he was looping another strand of chi through his meridians, Zara cut him off.
“Fonta, are you ready to start your lessons?”
“Nope. I need to cultivate.” Fonta said as he tried to clear his mind and focus.
“Then I’ll cut it short. You need to learn an instrument, you have three days to pick one, Then our training starts. If you don’t pick then I will find you something.
“Three days? Instrument?”
“Yes, that is how I learned my sense of mana. The type of instrument you pick is representative of your personality. You may not believe me but I play the flute.”
“Ok. I have no context for that but if I must. I can visit the auction house here.”
“Will you go?” Zara asked.
“Of course, I’ll go take a look,” Fonta said before he began the process of threading his chi through his meridians three times then tying them together to form a rope before collapsing from exhaustion. He felt that he’d need to repeat the process at least ten more times before his body could properly maintain them together and make more.
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The next few days progressed, as Fonta trained his talent. He could wield two knives with his power, and two axes as well, but when it came to cleaning, he could command a broom dustpan, mop, duster, and various wipes simultaneously. Though not in any productive fashion as doing so did slow him down in a way that made things add up.
Living up to his Promise, Fonta entered the auction house and walked to the familiar fox man.”
“Master Pain, I'm happy to see you. How may I be of service?”
“I need to find an instrument just for me.”
“How much are you looking to spend?”
“How much do I have available?”
“With the orders, 70,000 from commissions alone.
“That then, and I go over take from our deal?”
“Would you like to purchase a skill cube after?”
“Why not, it could be fun,” Fonta stated as one of the doorways opened.
“I’m sure it will.”
As Fonta walked through the door he saw Casimar who seemed to be holding a pair of wooden sticks and going to town on various flat surfaces filling the room with cacophonous booms and crashes as though his ears were being punched. The sound continued and eventually, his senses adjusted and the crashing had something he couldn’t put into words, but they seemed to go together and repeat patterns.
Not wanting to interrupt, Fonta wandered about until the young prince finished getting his anger out.
“Hey, Cas!” Fonta said after the music ended.
“What? Fonta? What are you doing here?”
“I’m not here to stop your dad’s war or whatever.”
“What? What war?”
“I know right, do what you want, just don’t force me to be an enemy and we’re golden. You’re still invited to join my sect. Those wooden weapons in your hand look quite powerful.”
“These are drumsticks.”
“No, they aren’t. Drumsticks have meat on them.”
“No. Well yes. But…Similar names have different purposes. You use them on drums. The instrument right there.”
“Oh…So they share a name. That's weird. Anyways, glad to see you.”
“Wait one second. What war are you talking about?”
“The one where your father sends his army to destroy the city because you were harmed?”
“Who told my father I was hurt? The only thing I told him was that I succeeded in getting a cultivation technique and would head home shortly. I didn’t mention mind control and wouldn’t have unless we were in person.”
“Wait, someone told your father, but it wasn’t you? Who could…”
“When was the last time you talked with your father?”
“When I got out. Shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I’ve been waiting for the teleporter to open up. It’s going to be another three days until I can use it again. A person can only use one once every week as it shocks the soul a bit, the cost is also astronomical but we’re kind of wealthy for a small kingdom in a greater empire.”
“This is confusing. So you can stop your dad, but it will take days and his armies may already be coming.”
“I highly doubt that last part but yes, they will be rushing over here if someone spreads a lie.”
“I don’t really care, so show me around.”
Casimar nodded though a worried look lay behind his eyes as he gave Fonta a tour of the music shop.
“So either a guitar or a piano would be a decent starting instrument for you. Which do you prefer?
“Both work for me. I know nothing of this stuff.”
“I also recommend a music theory skill cube, as well as a music reading cube. They are the same but the latter teaches you how to read music, while the former gives you a better understanding of the higher technical stuff. This will bypass over initial understanding but you will still need to study and practice on your own. They are 10,000 together but if you buy an instrument you can get them for free.
“Piano then. Holding the guitar makes me want to swing it like an ax, and it costs too much for me to risk my impulses on it.” Fonta nodded to himself. If he wanted to then he’d buy one another time.
“Ok then, How much for the piano,” Fonta asked a long pointy-eyed demon with lithe features and blond hair.
The ageless woman spoke slowly and melodically. “It will cost you 100,000 credits.”
“Come again.”
“100,000 credits,” she repeated.
“That is outrageous. Though, I’m sure we can come to a more fair price.” Fonta said as he leaned on the table. When his sister did this, people gave her discounts all the time.
“125,000 credits.” The elf didn’t so much as an eyelash.
“Ack!”
“This piano is made from divine tree wood. A human like you wouldn't understand.”
“Do you have a smaller and cheaper one?”
“No. If you do not understand the masterpiece that is this instrument, you may leave. You may also attend the auction.”
“So you're saying you have no pianos for beginners to practice on, and learn before committing a fortune on the better stuff.”
“Why would we?”
“To the skill cubes!” Fonta turned and left.
“You’re acting like getting a piano isn’t worth the effort.”
“I'll figure something out,” Fonta said, remembering that he could just buy one from his Mal Dynamis. He’d just need to learn how to navigate it.