The house wasn’t empty. The kitchen table and chairs where Micah had sat, talked, and eaten at for one summer were still there, the cluttered dresser in the hallway, the old shoe rack below—things that were either too big, old, or not worth shipping. Or they wanted to buy them new.
Other things had been there from the start or belonged to the landlord. The stove, some of the cupboards, a shelf in the pantry, the bathroom, and some of the lamps. All empty.
Micah had gotten a lot out of his [Winter Cleaning] Skill in the last few weeks before [Spring Cleaning], partly to get it to quiet down. It kept on whispering him ideas on how to make the house last. It made him wonder why he would even want it to. Out of sentimental reasons? To preserve memories? Wouldn’t those be better fostered in his mind? Or better yet, in person?
No, that much was obvious. He watched them as they checked the rooms one last time to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, and he knew he would preserve Ryan’s family at any cost. He would help them build their new home, so far away from this one.
But that didn’t have any bearing on this matter. What, just because people were more important than things, did that mean he could burn those to the ground when he moved on, or live in squalor?
Part of him found a certain appeal in the prospect. It was so easy to take care of just yourself. But, no. Even the Rat Hermit had had a home, apparently.
The opposite would be that he did preserve this space and then someone else lived in his work, his domain, his home. Wouldn’t that be an insult? That he would just let them take what was—
Well, not his but …
[Winter Cleaning] told him to clean the dust out of the corners and Micah didn’t know why he had been so happy to oblige.
What if … if it was just polite, instead? He was leaving behind a clean, whole home for whoever might live here next.
What did he care about others? He would probably never even meet them.
Yeah, but he only had to clean it enough, make it last long enough to pass onto the next person to care for. And he would meet others, and they would meet others. They’d be grateful for the kindness and give it in turn. He might someday get a clean, whole home in turn. And it would be their home. Not that either of the families truly owned the apartment. There were laws and …
There were laws. Right. City laws. Lower laws.
Micah had never even met their landlord, but he suddenly wished he could shake the person’s hand. It definitely wasn’t his home, but he had loved the summer he had spent here last year.
So why clean, then? To be polite? And maybe … maybe it was just good to take care of things; to make them last. It had inherent value. He could agree with that. He didn’t have a problem with [Winter Cleaning].
The thought, the satisfaction of having arrived at an understanding, brought a smile to his lips where there had been none before. Micah stood a little to the side, a few steps back from the door while Noelle, David, and Ryan looked around their old home one last time.
“So,” she said. “Is that everything?” There was a small waver in her voice, nervous and wistful, but happy.
“Yup,” David said, his own more like stage-fright, a frog in his throat. He stared at nothing and everything alternatingly.
Noelle turned on Ryan, who had been pretty silent this morning. “‘Everything alright, Rye’?”
He nodded quickly. “Yep.”
“You got your keys for the rest, when you come back?”
He patted his pocket and nodded. They would put some furniture out when they got back and have to give back the keys to the landlord afterward.
“Alright, then.” She picked up her bag. “Let’s go.”
They stepped outside and she closed the door, then locked it. They said goodbye and left, and only Ryan looked back.
----------------------------------------
“Tickets?” the young sailor at the walkway asked. He gave them a quick once-over and checked over their heads for something in the distance. Ryan’s parents? Reassuring himself?
Micah was the only one who looked too young to be traveling on his own, really, but he wouldn’t let that bring him down. He held his ticket ready and bounced in excitement as he waited his turn.
The water lapped against the stone below and ripples came off the sailor. They didn’t help. He looked like he was floating on a pond, but standing up and with the pond set behind him.
He couldn’t help but switch into his [Affinity Sight] whenever he saw people, because there was so much new to freely explore. He switched back to [Nature Sight] every now and then to take in the view, this far from home.
“Hey, I remember you,” the sailor said as he stamped Ryan’s ticket. “Last minute ticket for one?” He smiled.
They knew each other? Oh, right. Ryan had bought Lisa’s ticket. It had been more expensive without pre-booking months beforehand. His excuse for paying was that he was having trouble finding an awesome birthday present for her, so he was going to get it as part of it.
So my birthday present is that I get to travel all the way to Cairn to sleep on the floor and do manual labor? she had joked.
It still seemed like an awesome birthday present to him. Better than what Micah had gotten her yet, which was nothing. He was drawing a bit of a blank on what to buy, if he was being honest. What did she even want or like? Something useful, but he couldn’t exactly buy loot.
What else would be useful to her? If he couldn’t find something, there would only be sentimental, fun, or funny things left to buy. Or food. He would have to ask Anne or Mave for advice.
Can’t ask Garen, after all. He was gone, surged to the Fields like the rest of them to serve their city.
Ryan gave the guy a curt nod and stepped aside. The sailor turned his bright smile on him, next. He was friendly, for the early hour. Micah held his ticket out and watched it be stamped.
Yes!
He took it back and looked to the others. Did they board already or …?
Ryan looked at him, hesitated, and awkwardly nudged his head in the direction of the ramp. The moment the other two stepped on, Micah rushed past them, footsteps echoing on bridged wood.
“Careful!” the sailor called after him. “No running. If you fall in, we won’t stop to pick you back up.”
He stopped at the railings of the outer rim and smiled back at the joke. It … was a joke, right?
He glanced down at the lapping water, imagined the gentle rocking of the ship, and felt a different rocking start in his gut. Micah swallowed and pushed the feeling aside in favor of a smile.
“Sorry! I’ll be careful. Promise.”
“They’d throw a lifesaver overboard,” Lisa assured him as she stepped up. “And even dive in, if need be.”
“Ah.”
He hadn’t known that latter bit, but he had briefly thought they might abandon him to swim ashore if he fell in for whatever reason, which was ridiculous. Besides, he wouldn’t fall. He wouldn’t.
Ryan’s parents arrived at the edge of the pier, showed their tickets, and chatted with the worker. He pointed up the boat with a smile and waved them along, then waited for the next passengers to arrive.
The two walked past them and headed for the cargo space, to another guy around the corner who checked a larger sheet of paper for them.
Oh, the luggage. Micah peeked past them. Nobody but one other worker was inside the space, securing one of the many, many straps that held the crates and boxes in the cargo space of the riverboat. Despite the other passengers already on deck. Could they go inside, or …?
The man answered his question speaking to them. “If you want to check up on your luggage now, you can. But you can’t come in during the trip. The cargo can move around and we won’t be held responsible for any injuries that occur as a consequence in that case, ma’am.”
“Got it,” Noelle said, already inching past him to step inside. “Thank you. But it’ll be safe now?”
“Uhm,” he said and eyed Hannah. Of course, it would be safe, the look said, but accidents could always happen.
“Oh, right, right.” She realized with a smile. “I just want to make sure everything is really there before we leave. It’s not like we can just go back and get it on a second trip.” She sounded a little nervous herself as she undid Hanah’s wrap, rolling her eyes with a wide smile.
David went to help her.
They couldn’t go back now to get something on a second trip though, either, Micah thought. They had a schedule to keep. But he kept his mouth shut. They both knew that.
Hannah looked almost excited to get away from her parents, judging by the way she raised her arms up and looked around. She was more energetic than she had been a month or even a week ago. She looked to her left, right, and at all the people around her with wide eyes.
If she went on like this, she would be running up the walls not long after she learned how to walk.
David and Noelle kept on saying that Ryan had been ‘rowdy’ as a child. It was a little hard to imagine considering how … ‘Ryan’ Ryan was, now. But he would love to see Hannah be that way.
“Ryan, can you …?” his mom asked.
“Oh. Yes, mom.” He took his little sister from her, and she adjusted his grip before tying a simple wrap around him running underneath his backpack. Then they left to check on their luggage.
Ryan looked weary and tired, but a little more excited than he had a moment before. “Hey, there.” He gave his sister a small smile.
Hannah stared up at him for a second as if unsure if she should commit to staring, then looked away in favor of more enchanting sights, like the boats in the distance all around them.
His expression fell.
Lisa, for her part, was almost squinting at the infant.
“What?” Micah asked her.
“She’s so big,” she said, surprising him. He had thought the opposite the first time he had seen her; that she was tiny. Was she big for her age? He knew next to nothing about babies.
Ryan frowned. “Are you calling my sister fat?”
“Huh, what? Oh, no, just— Uh—” She actually seemed flustered. “It was nothing, just an observation. Her hair is nice.”
She had a small mop of it. Blonde. Or maybe ‘rag’ was a better word as it didn’t reach over her forehead. Micah had thought that meant she was the same as her brother and mother, but apparently, hair color could change over the years. She might end up looking like her dad.
Ryan smiled to show he had just been joking and gently rocked Hannah as he took a few steps around to let her see everything.
Micah glanced between them, back at the cargo space where Noelle was pushing at a mound of wood, and looked down the outer ways. A jolt in his legs urged him to run and explore, himself. They were on a freaking boat, even if it wasn’t a sailboat, even if he didn’t know how it worked. He would have loved to flag down one of the workers and grill them on that topic.
Would there be a tour?
He bit his lip and looked at the others, but they didn’t seem in a rush to move from their spots.
Lame.
Had they been on a boat before? Why didn’t they want to run off and see everything? Though, he supposed they would have more than enough time to explore during the journey. They would be on the ship for over eight hours to get to Cairn and there wasn’t a lot of room to move, guessing by how the stairs leading up were roped off.
The thought calmed him and he took a deep breath, then switched to [Nature Sight] on a whim. He eyed Lisa, switched to [Affinity Sight], and back again. She rolled her eyes at him.
“And, is it all there?” Ryan asked.
His parents were headed back toward them. “Yep,” Noelle said. “Or at least, we hope so.”
“Nothing we can do about it, now,” David added and held his hands out to Hannah to take her off Ryan’s hands.
Micah glanced between the two newcomers, impatient on his feet, and they finally noticed.
“You want to see the ship?” David asked him with a smile as Noelle finished the wrap on him.
He nodded eagerly.
“Well, don’t let us keep you.”
That was all the permission Micah needed. He ran off, squeezing past passengers standing at the rails.
The bow of the ship was a semi-open area with benches up against the walls, around some of the poles supporting the second floor, and down the middle aisles. Only half of the space was covered and there was a small, indented kiosk counter with a sign pointing to the bathrooms.
In the opposite direction, the water stretched out ahead. A couple stood at the tip of the ship.
Micah turned and walked backward to try and get a glimpse at the upper floors. He saw another railing and surprisingly, a wall of glass further up. He thought he caught a glimpse of the ship’s wheel beyond it, with spokes extending beyond the lacquered wood itself.
The helm?
He wondered if he could get permission to go inside. That’s when he realized the stairs leading up here weren’t roped off. Just then, a woman stepped up to the railing above him.
Micah left, both arms stretched out to the sides to drag himself up the steps, and joined her at the front to enjoy the view.
One by one, the others found and joined him. Noelle and David found seats near the side and places to store their luggage, and the other passengers gave them passing looks in horror.
He thought it might have been because of some kind of reservations or a social faux pas at first. Maybe the upper deck was upper class? There weren’t enough seats for all the passengers, either.
Then he realized it was because of Hannah. They didn’t have much where else to go. They would be stuck on a boat with a baby for eight hours. He felt a moment of dread at the prospect himself—he’d heard Hannah cry before. She could be loud, or throw up and need a change of clothes.
What then?
Micah was glad he hadn’t sat down right away as it would give him an excuse to flee if he needed to, but he didn’t do it just yet.
“And it’s really alright that you’re going on this trip with us?” Noelle asked Lisa, not for the first time.
“Mom,” Ryan warned her.
“What? I’m just making sure.”
Lisa set one of her bags underneath the bench and another in a net, and said, “It’s alright, I would have spent the holiday on my own anyway, if I hadn’t come with.”
“Really?” David asked with a smile. “Somehow, I find that hard to believe.” He made it sound like a compliment.
“Well, mostly alone,” she admitted. “There’s Mave, our housekeeper, and I might have visited friends, but Garen and Allison are gone so the house is pretty empty.”
“Ah.”
“And your parents?” Noelle asked.
“They don’t live in the city.”
“Would they have been fine with you taking this trip? Or would Garen have, for that matter?”
Lisa smiled. “Of course. They let me come here. They let me inside the Tower. They know I can take care of myself. We’re just going to Cairn, not another city. I’ve been there before.”
“Oh, yeah—”
“Mom,” Ryan tried again.
“What? I—”
A roar cut her off and drowned the waterway. Micah had one hand on his knife and the other over his ear and looked around, but it sounded like it had come from … the boat itself?
Almost all the other passengers had jumped, too, or held hands to their chests, but they were already smiling again, almost as if in embarrassment. Why? Did they know what that had been?
He looked to the others.
David was distracted by his daughter. Hannah’s face was slowly scrunching up more and more and he rocked her a little and mumbled soothing words to her to keep her from crying.
“What was that?” Micah asked.
Noelle looked surprised by the question. “The horn.”
“The—”
“Attention, attention, passengers!” The cheery sailor rung a bell as he called from the deck below.
Ryan’s parents got up and David pointed at the railing asking Hannah, “Do you want to go listen to the nice man?”
She didn’t really have a choice in the matter, but didn’t seem to mind it any more than the alternative.
They headed to the front to listen. A large crowd had gathered below and there were some kids about their age, too. Maybe they could play cards with them later?
“That sound means that we will be ‘setting sail’, so to speak, in thirty minutes.” He said and smiled at his own wordplay. “If you have to leave for anything now, you can still do it but please be on board when those minutes are up—”
A couple broke off from the crowd to leave.
“—or we will leave you behind!” he called after them. “For everyone else, feel free to find a seat or place to hold onto for when we exit the harbor. You will not be able to leave the ship after we raise the walkway.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
For your convenience, there is a kiosk on the bow—if you will look behind you—with some food, snacks, water, and other paraphernalia. If you follow the signs, you can find the doors to the lavatories on the sides of the ship …”
He went on explaining the rules and schedule, and most of them listened, but some stepped aside to find seats before the rush or to do other things. Maybe they already knew how this worked?
Micah stayed until the end and watched even longer while they raised the walkway. There was another blast—this time, Hannah did begin to cry—a low rumble filled the air, and the floor below them lurched every so slightly. He stared at the pier where they’d been before and saw it shift.
Away.
They were moving. They were actually leaving. He raced down and back to the stern to see the harbor behind them, and spotted a small waving crowd sending friends and family off.
He raced back to the front again and spotted more and more people casually waving from aside the river. Was the what you usually did? Micah waved back with a smile and got the others to join in.
They waved at the other ships coming their way, then, and the people on the bridges, and the people in the water, and the people on the roads outside the city, and he marveled at the rolling green hills once they left.
Micah had seen those before, at least, but never from this perspective high up on the river. He could see so much farther than he had before.
He realized he had never seen something else from this perspective as well and dragged the others to the stern see it.
The argent Tower glittered in the light of the rising sun. And no matter how far he craned his head up, there was never an end to it. It stood taller than the billowing white clouds.
They waited. For something they had seen often enough in artwork, but never in person. And they waited long enough that the city grew small and Ryan’s parents came to check on them.
A flicker of light. Micah blinked and rubbed his eyes. The Tower seemed to grow larger somehow, bending and distorting. Another flicker, parts of it disappeared. They had done the experiment in classroom once before, where staring at one dot made the other go away. The Tower went just like that, even though he never took his eyes off it for more than a second.
Even Ryan asked, “Do you see that?”
Micah nodded, but his excitement was measured. Not just because they had waited so long and missed the beginning of the journey with his parents, but because he wasn’t sure he liked it.
From one moment to the next, the Tower was gone and didn’t come back. The city stood alone, small in the distance, and he felt an ache in his chest like he had just lain down to sleep on Ryan’s floor for the first time in the summer.
Homesick, just like that.
He knew it was still there. He knew he would just be gone for a few days and come back, but …
“Oh.”
He really couldn’t see it anymore.
“Oh?” Lisa asked him, smiling. “That’s it?”
“What?” he asked back. “What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know. You jumping up in excitement and disbelief and then annoying us with a dozen different questions you know we can’t answer.”
“Why would I do that?” He glanced at Ryan.
The guy wouldn’t meet his eyes. Not just because Micah would obviously do that. He seemed distracted by the absent Tower as well. Or was it the entire city that was now so far away?
“Screw you,” Micah joked. “What’s wrong with questions?”
“You not asking them,” she said, surprisingly kind.
He didn’t know what to say. She was right. Nobody here could answer that question for him, so he would just consult a book when they got back or figure it out himself. He joined Lisa with a stretch and stepped back.
“Ryan, ‘you coming?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah.”
They worked out more of the morning exhaustion on their way back. The sun had risen higher and brought light and heat with it. Micah took off his jacket and scarf, stuffed the latter in the former’s sleeve, and enjoyed the mix of warmth and chill on the clear spring morning.
They ate breakfast with Ryan’s parents and chatted about the trip, how long it could take and what they could do. Then, they went back to enjoying the picturesque scenery just outside the boat … until they didn’t.
It wasn’t like it got boring or there wasn’t anything more to see, but … almost two hours passed and they had nothing to do. It might have gotten, just a little bit, a teeny-tiny, smidgen … tedious.
Micah stretched and let out a groan. It wasn’t ridiculously early anymore. He didn’t feel like napping. He wanted to do something.
Ryan cracked an eye open where he lay next to them, much as he had in the yard back then. He was probably ruining his one chance at sunlight but he wasn’t sure how much that mattered. He would get much more sunlight without the Tower and would probably tan red anyway.
“You’re going to get a sunburn,” Micah teased him.
He hesitated, closed his eyes again, and shrugged. “You’d probably just make me a salve, right?”
True. He was his responsibility. Micah had to take care of him. He still couldn’t lay around any longer. He jumped up, dragged them up, and gathered around his parents’ bench. Lisa actually looked thankful that he was proposing something. That was, until David handed him the pack of cards and he shuffled.
“Card games?”
“Yeah.” He smiled even if she didn’t look convinced, not even with Ryan joining in, so he added, “It’ll be fun, I promise.” They had played this one game a lot during New Year’s. She hadn’t had the chance to join in. He wanted to show it to her.
“Mm.”
“Why, what else would you want to do?”
She glanced around and shrugged. “It’s a shame there isn’t more space or we could have sparred. Or trained, maybe.”
“You spar together?” David asked.
Ryan sighed. Lisa nodded.
“They two,” Micah clarified as he dealt the cards. A breeze made them twitch and he looked for something he could use as a paperweight.
“Not you?”
He shrugged. “I have others to spar with.”
“Maybe we could ask if casting spells is allowed on-board and practice later,” Ryan offered.
Ooh, then he could use his [Affinity Sight] to help him. He immediately liked that idea a lot more.
He switched to it on a whim and eyed the ripples coming off him. They distorted and looked almost red in places, and turned red much more easily than others’ he had seen.
His [Lesser Fire Affinity], only visible close to his skin. It was different for other people with the Skill.
Surprisingly, Lisa had a very similar effect though her ripples were different. They changed colors like a kaleidoscope, red here and there, clouds of blue, lines of green, yellow, pink. They spiraled outward from her chest, over her chest about where her heart was.
She was the only person he’d met so far whose lines so blatantly covered her own body. Usually, that only happened if someone held a limb in front of themselves. And instead of losing mana, she seemed to take it in.
There was a holism to the image, despite being different from the rest, but she wasn’t the only one like that. Some [Mages] seemed to reinforce the standard while others deviated and he was left to wonder why.
Skills, maybe? Lisa had … [Lesser Mana Mastery], [Lesser Fire Mastery], [Magic Attunement], and [Enhanced Permeability], if he remembered right. Those were a lot, and powerful for her age.
Looking at her was a constant reminder of how much further along she was than them. Micah tried not to dwell on that and studied other things instead, like the qualities all people seemed to share.
There were about six main ones he had been able to find so far: reach, width, depth, vibrancy, fluidity, and quantity.
Some people had more lines than others. Some moved more easily. Some were brighter, especially when they gained affinities. Some had a certain depth to them that was hard to describe, but was visible in how they dug even through the thickest of essences and remained in one piece. Then there was their visual width, their size. And reach, he used to describe both how far they naturally flowed and how far they could extend for cantrips.
… Maybe those should have been two different qualities. Flexibility seemed to have an influence on that, as well. And vibrancy. And depth. And sometimes, wider ones bent into sashes like flares, so …
Yeah, there was a lot to figure out. But Micah had only really been on it for less than a week.
He'd thought studying them might let him understand more about his own lines of influence and learn cantrips other than stupid [Candle], but when he looked at himself … His lines were impossibly deep and seemed to echo outward, almost as if they had lines of their own.
He figured it was like trying to see your own nose: a lost cause of overlapping perspectives and bias.
Still fun, though.
Noelle rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You’re not going to practice spells on the boat ride. It’s a holiday. Enjoy it, instead of training all the time.”
For once, Micah disagreed with her. He shook his head. “This is our last chance to focus on stuff we want to learn before the exams pick back up. We have to make the most of it.”
She grumbled something, looked at her cards, and frowned. “What are we even playing again?”
“Magician. You know the rules?”
She nodded.
“I don’t?” Lisa asked.
Thankfully, Noelle leaned over to explain it to her … and looked at her cards at the same time. Cheater. Micah guessed this would be a practice round, then.
David showed Hannah his cards and she tried to grab one. He let her bend its corner a little. “What are you guys even working on? Micah?”
“[Freeze]. I’m still trying to figure out how to taint the mana from nothing to ice like that—” He snapped. “It’s hard, because I have to do it as quick as possible.”
“Mm. And you, Ryan?”
“Huh?” He was also looking at Lisa’s cards. “Uh, lots of stuff. Spell-wise? [Flame Arrow], [Searing Strikes], [Shape Fire], [Lesser Ward], and a few others.”
He whistled. “That’s a lot of spells.”
“Why is it all fire?” his mom asked.
Ryan shrugged. “It’s not all fire. I’m focussing on [Lesser Ward] a lot. One of our teammates had it during the last exam and it came in handy, so I figured …”
“Alex?”
“Yeah, he might not be on our team next time.”
“Oh, right.”
“But [Flame Arrow]? I thought you hated archery, bud?”
“It’s the type of spell a [Ranger] might get, so I thought it might help with the consolidation.”
“Oh.”
Micah revealed the trump, checked his hand, and looked at Lisa. “The next person clockwise from the dealer starts.”
“Ah.” She threw a fool down, which was not wise to do so soon but she seemed confident and Ryan didn’t complain.
When it was David’s turn, he had to pass his card to his wife to toss down because he couldn’t bend close enough to the floor with Hannah. “So,” he said. “You’re really headed for [Ranger], then?”
Ryan hesitated and shrugged. “It’s the perfect consolidation option for my callings, right?”
Micah was loathe to do it because he had just complained about Lisa’s mistake, but he threw one of his fools away. His cards were good. He didn’t plan on losing intentionally this round.
“Yeah, but you have options, right?” David asked.
“Sure?”
“[Fighter], [Scout], [Mage],” Lisa jumped in. “Of course, you have options. You could become pretty much anything. Especially if you accept one of them as a clutter Class or go for a bracket consolidation.”
“Or a weight shift,” Noelle added.
Ryan sighed and collected the pile for his win. He revealed the next trump and asked, “Bets?”
Micah considered and said, “Two.”
“[Spellsword] or [Explorer]. Those are options,” Lisa said as she rearranged her hand.
“Can [Scout] consolidate into [Spellsword]?” David asked.
“If you use fight like an [Arcane Archer], maybe?”
“I meant about the game.”
“I know, I know. Uh, one? And, uh … even [Adventurer] could work, I guess. If you wanted it.”
“One,” David echoed. “And [Adventurer].” He smiled. “How about it, becoming the hero of those stories you always read?”
Micah liked that idea. It seemed like it would suit Ryan, but he didn’t seem too excited about the suggestion himself.
“I don’t need to be an [Adventurer] to be a climber.”
“Well, no but …”
“Mm, how about [Sentry] or [Sentinel]?” Noelle suggested. “And two.” They sounded like variations on [Guard]. Classes she might have dealt with in her workplace?
“… maybe you would want to?”
Ryan didn’t answer. He just tossed the first card on the pile and bet, “One.”
“[Skirmisher],” his dad went on, “[Vanguard], [Hunter], or [Huntsman]. Oh, what about [Treasure Hunter]?”
Noelle’s eyes lit up. “You could find us our retirement’s cache.”
“[Red Mage],” Lisa said. “[Trapper], if you wanted to. [Scorcher], if you went the fire route. Might need to get [Gardener] for that, first. [Forerunner] or [Trailblazer] could also work, then.”
“Oh, you could also go [Druid] and then use your spells to do all the gardening and yard work.”
They threw out a few more suggestions and Micah kept quiet as he watched his reactions. Ryan seemed interested in some, by the way his face twitched and he looked at them when they suggested things, but he still eventually cut them off with a sigh.
“[Ranger] would be the better option. It’s clean, and broad, and it wraps up my Path nicely since it can be part [Beast Tamer]. I’ve been working on my [Pack Aura], remember?”
David nodded. “Right. To—”
“Add people. For the exams.”
“Only temporarily, then?”
“Yeah, because …” He shifted and mulled it over, “Because I think I can already add people, if I wanted to, but … I want to know how to remove them, as well?”
“Mm,” Noelle said as she clawed the pile to herself. She didn’t sound happy despite this ostensibly being good news. Ryan had it all figured out, right? Shouldn’t they have been happy?
David looked the same, though. “And you’re sure that’s what you want?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Because … it just seems like you’re steering toward the Class with this plan in mind, but you don’t seem so excited about it? You have options, Ryan. Isn’t that what your school is all about? So maybe just do what you like best and see what happens?”
Also good advice.
Ryan hesitated until Micah nudged him for his turn. He took a second win despite having only bet one.
“What if I screw up? Or if something goes wrong and I end up with like, a bunch of clutter Classes or ones that don’t work well together and ruin my future because nobody will want to work with me?”
Also good concerns.
David took a deep breath and scratched the back of his neck, looking lost. He glanced at Noelle, but she looked just the same. Them they both broke into smiles for some reason.
No, Micah knew the reason. It was pride, right? That he was so responsible. Parents were always on about things like that.
“Maybe you’re right,” David said. “Maybe it is better to have a plan and play it safe, son.”
Ryan relaxed but still didn’t look happy. I make mistakes, Micah could still hear him say. Did he even want to be responsible?
“But it’s not like we have to do everything perfectly, right?” Micah threw his fool out where he should have played his trump. Probably, nobody was paying enough attention to notice him throwing the round. “We don’t have to have no wasted levels and the perfect Skill lists … right?”
They were going to Ms. Denner’s school, even if they hadn’t necessarily signed up for that reason.
“Yeah,” David jumped in. “Right. ‘Don’t have to be perfect, just responsible and safe.”
There. That was better. He glanced at Ryan and didn’t see much of a difference, but the round wrapped up and Micah lost just the same as he did.
Noelle won, unsurprisingly. “And you?” she asked as she collected all the cards.
Then Ryan’s expression changed again, back to weariness. She had addressed Lisa.
“Me?”
“You’re a [Mage], right? Are you working toward something specific?”
“Oh, no. I’m not working toward anything. And I’m not a [Mage]. I already got what I wanted, so now I can focus entirely on my summoning.”
“On Sam?”
She nodded.
“‘You already got what you wanted’?” David asked. “Ryan mentioned, you’re a pure [Summoner] now? You consolidated.”
Her voice was tight. “Mhm. And I put a lot of effort into getting it, so I can do what I want.”
“It’s true,” Micah backed her up. “Her Proof Of is ridiculously tidy.”
“Thank you.”
“So what is it you want to do?” David asked.
“Dad,” Ryan echoed in the same betrayed voice. His father actually looked at him to listen, so he added, “Don’t bother her?”
“It’s not a bother,” Lisa assured him, betrayals all around. “I’m trying to figure out how to give Sam a proper body and independence.”
“Oh, like a proper familiar?” Noelle asked her.
“No, more like an actual animal. I want it to be able to survive even if something happened to me.”
“Wait, you want to create an entire new species?” David asked her. “To … set free or something?”
“Like Witch of the East style?” Noelle tacked on.
“No, no, just …” Lisa started, broke off into a bemused smile, and shook her head. “No, not a new species and not necessarily set free. I just thought … I mean, it’s a shame all the monsters in the Tower are just empty husks, you know? They have no free will so I want to give Sam at least that. Free will.”
Micah actually missed the days it had been bound to her and as lively as an actual pet. It seemed more like some of their classmates’ summons, now. Lesser summons.
He didn’t mention it.
“And is that hard?” David asked her. “Not that I know anything about summoning or biology.”
“It depends on how high I set my sights. If I just wanted to make Sam an animal that can survive on its own for a few years, I could do that now. I’ve been working on some crude designs. One that could reproduce would be a little harder. And if I wanted to create a good body for it, even more so. But something that could foster a spirit? Or— Uh, yeah. It’s a lot, I mean.”
“But you just want to do this with Sam?” Noelle asked, in a tone like she was asking for clarification.
“Probably?”
“Because I mean—and nothing against your chosen Path,” she quickly added when Ryan shot her a glare. “But isn’t it a good thing that the monsters in the Tower are the way they are?”
“How so?”
“Because if they were sentient, or normal animals, it would create problems. We rely on their crystals, body parts, and other things from the Tower. There would be questions on the morality of killing them, if they even were to attack us as proper beasts, so then it would be about the morality of hunting them. And then there would be even more questions, like breeding them outside the Tower, sustainability inside of it, what they eat, where they live, and so on.”
“And if they were all fully-made,” Micah added, “they would be a little harder to fight and prices would change because of the abundance of meat. Or the Tower would be full of rotting bodies.”
Noelle pointed at him. “If there even was an abundance. What if we hunted them into extinction or their numbers dwindled because of a lack of resources inside the Tower?”
Ryan frowned. “So monsters shouldn’t have a chance of life because we need them to be that way?”
Micah shrugged. “They don’t have a life anyway, right? It’s not like they feel anything. Most of them, at least.”
It was an ugly truth from one perspective, but as Noelle said, a reassuring one from another. Micah had gotten used to it over the last year.
“Oh, on that note,” he quickly added, “have you guys heard the rumors about the new humanoid monsters in the Tower?”
“Rumors,” Lisa reminded him, revealing a bit of what she thought about them. Not a believer?
“Which rumors?” David asked.
“Oh, there’s lots! Of, uhm, singing in the distance, and people with wings, and ones that look like puppets, mole people, and stuff like that.”
It was a good thing even those weren’t truly sentient, he thought. They were like the Kobolds. It made fighting them easier.
“There’s a whole bunch of rumors coming out of the Tower,” Ryan grumbled, “and some people have been caught intentionally lying for attention. Be careful what you listen to.”
He nodded. “You’re the one reading the commercial reports. I just read the ones vetted by the Guild. It’s still exciting.” He smiled and they launched into a conversation about the new Tower over the next round, all the while cursing, accusing, and mocking each other as they made their bets.
“And you, Micah?” David eventually asked. “Any consolidations you are working toward?”
“No?” He frowned up at him in bemusement. “I already have what I want. [Alchemist], [Fighter]. It’s perfect.”
“Lame,” Lisa said, echoing his thought from earlier.
“What? No, it’s not. Plenty of [Alchemists] have just the Class, or stuff like [Worker] or [Shopkeeper] tagged on. I have [Fighter].”
“But aren’t there specialized versions?” David asked. “I knew one guy, uh … he was a—”
“You better not be talking about who I think you’re talking about,” Noelle interrupted him, but she was smiling instead of chiding him.
“Yeah, the guy who was a little …” He twirled a circle around his ear to show he meant ‘crazy’ or off his rocker, somehow.
“What is it?” Micah asked. “You already mentioned it, so spill. This is literally torture for me, not knowing something.”
“Oh, nothing so exciting,” David said. “He worked in a bar and had a side Class, for some customers. [Moonshine Alchemist]. As a hobby.”
“Oh? Ohh …” Micah caught on.
“He didn’t have a license?” Ryan asked.
“Nope. And he mainly made alcohol at night ... I wonder if he's still doing it. Have you heard anything from him recently?"
"No," Noelle scoffed lightheartedly. "I don't think he even works at the bar anymore. I haven't seen him in ages."
"Maybe he moved. Well, I’m just saying, there are even those sorts of Classes you could work toward if you wanted to. Not that you should commit crimes.”
Noelle nodded. “Committing crimes is bad.”
David chuckled. He leaned down to mumble at Hannah. “You hear that? Committing crimes is bad, she said.”
His wife swatted him.
Micah smiled, but shook his head. “I might get a Class like that someday, but I don’t know what I would even want to work toward. I don’t have enough experience to have a preference yet, or … or a project.”
He frowned and thought it over. “I should probably be looking for a project.” Others in the workshop were already doing that or had fields or research they were interested in.
Would it be harder for him, without a Path? Or would he have to find something that fit in his two?
That reminded him. “But I already have a much more interesting project right now. I want to focus on my Path.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I got ‘lenses’ for [Affinity Sight] and [Nature Sight]. Just those two can let me see all sorts of things. Imagine what else is out there.”
They asked him questions about his new [Lens: Affinity Sight] and Micah answered a little, but Ryan still looked annoyed by his parents being so atypically parental for once so he turned it around on them.
“And what about you two? Are you working toward any consolidations?”
Surprisingly, they both nodded. They must have seen the look on his face, but they put on mock expressions of indignation.
“What? Just because we’re old, we’re not allowed to level anymore?” Noelle asked him.
“Your words, not mine.”
She flicked a card at him and Micah laughed as he dodged, only for them to chew him out and say he should watch his back.
But that was the fun thing about Ryan’s parents. The usual, non-parental thing aside from their advice and checking on their grades. They could joke and laugh with them, or play games like this.
They made for good company during the boat ride, even when things got boring and they ran off to explore. They did end up being allowed to practice any spells that wouldn’t bother the other passengers, harm the ship, or were illegal, and then they enjoyed more of the scenery together on the beautiful day … until it wasn’t anymore. Or, at least, it was beautiful in another way.
Two-thirds through the trip, Micah felt something cold on his cheek and glanced up to feel a patter on his eyebrow. He flinched against the drop and spotted the clouds nearing above, half the sky still as clear as it had been. The rain fell and the boat moved on.