Though she hadn’t considered it at the time, twenty harvestables was actually quite close to the maximum amount Malwine could hope to reveal in one sitting. Each reveal pushed her [Toll] by three to five points, with most of them taking 4.
[Toll] 0 → 84
That was the silver lining, all things considered.
The reveals… had not gone great.
[Toll] Restorative
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Upon drinking this potion, all currently accrued [Toll] will be dismissed.
Only one may be used in a single day.
She had thirteen of those left, and not only was she convinced harvestables were predisposed towards revealing whatever would currently annoy her the most, but she was wrestling with the urge to just pointlessly down one out of spite.
It was bad enough that she'd been forced to wait out [Enforced Longevity]’s accrued [Toll], as she found she could not, in fact, reveal harvestables when she was already over the limit. Instead of getting a chance to reveal as many as she could before the Skill’s effects passed, she’d found herself with eleven stretched-out seconds to regret her actions.
As it stood, even if she got [Meditation] to speed up [Toll]’s drop, she was still looking at hours’ worth of waiting. In the end, even getting to the first harvestable had to wait until the next day, her [Toll] back to zero thanks to the wonders of sleep.
Admittedly, Malwine had been overjoyed when the first reveal got her that restorative. It meant that, this time, she could abuse the effects of [Enforced Longevity] for the sake of her harvestables. That alone had been enough to make her wonder if she did indeed have some magical Luck backing her up, though some of the Skill’s limited time had no doubt been wasted as she took the potion. At least some of the reveals must have benefited!
Or they should have.
Malwine had still gotten thirteen more of that exact restorative. What did the system expect her to do, repeat this stunt over and over again? Was that it?
She doubted she'd get another chance like this, especially once Bernie inevitably found out her charge had been forced to climb the stairs to her room alone. Malwine would probably be right back on the ‘frequent supervision’ level of childcare for the foreseeable future.
It didn't help that she frankly also didn't want to go look for harvestables again. It was somewhat ironic, given just how long she’d spent practically fantasizing about how she’d sneak out and get herself some harvestables, yet now that she’d done it, she was not eager for a repeat in the slightest.
Not to mention, while Veit might have seemed harmless, [Unpacifiable] probably had to hate him for a reason—the implied high level, Malwine suspected. Somehow, he could lead to negative effects, and being powerful sounded like as good a reason as any for that.
Plus if there really are monsters around…
It wasn't that she didn't believe him, not really. It just sounded too much like the type of scary tale people told kids to keep them from misbehaving. Something that was probably true to the letter, but a wild exaggeration. As for the other thing…
Against her will, Malwine thought back to that book about parenting, with its note to keep things age-appropriate no matter what benefits mana might present for the development of communicative abilities.
She was pretty sure these fell creatures and the seablooded were probably the same thing, especially given that whole Fell Courtier Class the people Katrina killed had. But was this a ‘all of the fell are seablooded but not all the seablooded are fell’ or vice versa type of situation, or was there simply overlap between the two? Maybe not all elves were sea-themed, but that was hardly the point.
If she took the matter of whatever Elflorescence stood for, the curse, the fight with Katrina… would she want a real kid knowing about those things? Malwine wasn’t clueless to the fact that she probably hadn’t even seen the worst of it.
Still, if this estate somehow had a history of fell presence—whatever that was supposed to imply—this very much did impact her. Without Beryl to provide any answers, she’d take any clue she could get.
As for the remaining six harvestables…
No Trait Creation Token. Internally, Malwine whined. Nevermind that she’d gotten what she wanted the most, kind of.
Skill Direction Token
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Upon attempting to create a custom Skill, consume this token to push the Skill's development in the desired direction while still permitting its natural nascence.
Cannot be used to push Skills in directions not understood by the user.
This would help, though the idea of outright understanding what she’d want out of an astral projection Skill was dubious at best. She wanted the freedom to move around and explore, safely, but beyond that? Frankly, she wasn’t sure.
The next non-restorative item—which looked like a thin, flat paper circle with a sketched bullseye on the center—was just outright worrying.
Item Recall Icon
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Everyone needs help keeping their inventory organized every now and then. Use this item to find something in your inventory by focusing on it.
This icon will disappear after three uses.
Was this… was this implying she could just casually lose track of things in her inventory? It very much sounded like it was, and Malwine found herself staring off into the distance. She hadn’t exactly kept track of everything she tossed into her inventory, not in the slightest! Was there going to be random stuff floating in there that’d get in her way later, or would it simply stay lost if she happened to forget about it?
She could visualize any item she sought out just fine, but this made a concerning amount of sense. Trying to command her inventory to show her everything in it didn’t work.
Great. She definitely had at least one thing in there that she must have forgotten about, already. Just great.
And while she hadn’t gotten something as strangely tantalizing as that nap blanket Adelheid revealed the past year, it seemed actual permanent items weren’t entirely intent on avoiding her reveals.
Standalone Aerator
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Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Place in the center of a room to generate a gentle breeze that feeds off ambient mana.
Will not work on insufficient ambient mana.
Universal Comforter
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Attach to your pillow or chosen headrest to improve recovery rates by a small amount while asleep.
Candle of Connection
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Candlelight illuminates that which connects us all, that which brought forth Existence before the beginning, and will push past the frailty of eternity forevermore.
Malwine was glad the first one wasn’t the type of aerator that had to go in the faucet, but it was quite the impractical item. Not that she would complain over getting it…
Still, while it looked like a small shell-like object, with what looked vaguely like the blades of a fan within, this was not subtle in the slightest. Placing it in the middle of any room would lead to it inevitably being noticed by someone, which would probably be a problem if she ever wanted to actually put it to use.
What a bother.
The comforter appeared as a, well, miniature bed comforter that fit within her palm. It was currently tucked under her pillow, ready to be tested the next time she went to sleep.
As for that last one, she had no fucking clue, and it was more than a bit weird. It was a bland candlestick, if an unlit one, but Malwine was in no rush to light it. Or look at it, honestly. At least the rarity was nice!
To inventory it goes!
She wasn’t going to pretend she wasn’t curious, but the item had this vague aura that was hard to pin down. Malwine would have gone as far as to call it ‘don’t-mess-with-this-right-now vibes’, not that she’d ever actually say it aloud.
Of the revealed items, however, there was one that had Malwine raising an eyebrow, even if she felt a bit iffy about using it immediately.
Core Stage Enhancement Elixir
Harvested by Malwine Rīsanin
Revealed by Malwine Rīsanin
Designed to aid in overcoming particularly bothersome bottlenecks, this elixir will provide sufficient energy to forcibly advance one's core.
Attempting to use this without meeting the requirements for the next core stage may lead to damage.
This was promising… but frankly, Malwine didn’t know why she was stuck at the peak of Early Esse. Only the implication that she may still be too young gave her any hint, and even then, she wasn’t sure if there might be other requirements to reach the Mortal Esse.
As such, she decided to heed the warning there, sending the elixir to join everything else in her inventory. At least now, if she ever lost it, she could just use that recall icon!
This sucked. She’d had something meant for rank advancement in her literal hands, and couldn’t bring herself to use it.
Sighing, Malwine allowed herself to get back to bed. Bernie still hadn’t shown up, despite this definitely being quite a while after the usual breakfast time. It might have been reason to worry, had the harvestables not presented such a great distraction.
She stared at the Skill Direction Token, not so much hesitant as nervous. Even knowing no amount of overthinking the matter would keep her from using it, she still felt that inclination. Was the warning worth listening to in this case?
One couldn’t understand astral projection in her old life, at least not in the same sense. As a concept, sure. But this world presented her with the opportunity to do basically anything she could think of, so long as it fell under the purview of what her Skills could handle. Hell, she was still pretty sure [The Things We Do For Family] was a literal bullshitting Skill.
So what did she want her new Skill to be? And how could she turn the answer to that into something that would work for this Token?
Malwine thought back to her visualizations, her core. She’d made the widow just fine there, even if it wasn’t a functional avatar, not really. It was a representation of herself and what she wanted to do.
That representation could, however, manage her panels as she meditated, for example. She hadn’t tried that in ages, or combined it with what [Multitasking] could do, but it served well enough for her purposes. She could make a representation of herself—one that didn’t necessarily have to match her current appearance—in order to function out there.
Another factor was safety—that much, she wouldn’t deny. Maybe even once she was older, the possibility of exploring and moving around with no immediate risk to herself was incredibly tempting. Much like the sense of refuge [Home Sweet Home] provided, if she could astral project and something went wrong, she could simply shut the Skill down. She could leave a difficult situation in an instant by virtue of not having to put herself in it in the first place.
She frowned, a small realization settling in her mind.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t even try to use that. Malwine wanted to blame her assumptions that the wards would have stopped her, but she hadn’t even tried. If it turned out she could have simply returned to her room the past day by using [Home Sweet Home], and the wards wouldn’t have stopped her, Malwine feared she might need to hide under her bed for days on end out of sheer embarrassment.
Grrr. Malwine grumbled some more before getting back to the matter at hand—literally. The small disk felt cold on her hand, looking like a smaller version of the harvestable it came from. It was slightly reflective, but too bumpy for anything to be made out in its surface. What am I waiting for?
I want a Body Skill, I want it to…
She looked back at what she wanted, repeating her earlier thought process. The disk warmed, buzzing only once before disappearing outright.
Malwine gasped, shuddering as jolts of a sensation she couldn’t quite place tore through her skull, radiating throughout her body before ceasing abruptly.
The panel formed an instant later.
You have directed the creation of the Skill [Earthless Glory]
As the stars dance in the sky to show us that which we never will be, so must we appreciate that which we are not, for only then may we truly know ourselves. Create a form of customizable appearance to act in your stead. You must actively control this double, while your real self remains at rest.
Distance between your real self and your manifested self must be traversed by it unless you are familiar with the target location. Your double may only access one Skill at a time, if any, and must be dismissed and recreated should you wish to change your selections for it. [Toll] will be accrued to create and sustain your double.
Trait: None Aspect: None
It actually worked! Even having sought to use a harvestable for this express purpose, she still cheered on. That formless desire to possess some Skill of this kind had lingered in the back of her mind for far too long, and now that she actually had one, it was more than enough.
Malwine wasn’t even in the mood to be nitpicky, no!
Much like [Enforced Longevity], this was the type of Skill that had to be used to be understood. Smirking a bit too smugly for someone who’d yet to actually do anything, Malwine triggered her newest Skill.
(❗) Error: Insufficient available [Toll] capacity.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
She couldn’t even use one of her numerous restoratives, either, as she’d taken the first before revealing the rest of the harvestables. Ridiculous!
That made waiting the only option, annoying as it was. What else could she do? She still huffed every couple of seconds, but she understood the hand she’d been dealt. Patience was as old a frenemy as any.
With [Meditation], Malwine was pretty sure she could get it back to zero within a couple hours, maybe faster. Just as she was about to start meditating, however, she snuck a glance in the door’s direction.
Where was Bernie? Had it not been for [Implacable], she would likely have been hungry by now. The day’s first meal should have been ages ago, and it wasn’t like her guardian to miss this kind of thing. Maybe she should have been worrying.
Malwine shook her head. After that disaster of a dinner, the poor lady probably had situations to diffuse. This family’s dynamic wasn’t the healthiest, and she didn’t particularly envy the position Bernie must have been in.
Oh, well. [Meditation] would double as a way to pass the time before the next time she got food. She’d demand extra dessert as compensation or something when she got the chance. It was probably just a random delay.
All in all, Bernie was probably okay.
Probably.