I sat there on the bench for a while. The sound of the running water and the wind through the trees calmed me in a way nothing else truly did.

I didn't know if there was really anything I could do about all of the slaves in the Kingdom. But one thing I knew for sure. I could make myself and anyone close to me safer by getting stronger. I got to my feet and practiced jumping while measuring them. Standing jumps, long jumps, running jumps, any kind of jump I could think of.

I spent a while on it until I got hungry and went in to find something to eat. Lena was in the kitchen, mixing up some batter for herbed fried bread. I asked her if I could help, and she put me to work. Cutting herbs from the garden, making a second dough, and frying it up along with some potato-like vegetable that I suggested. It all smelled wonderful, and by the time we put it all on the table, I had earned Cooking level 3 and saw that Jumping was at level 4.

While we ate, which the fries didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, I asked if they knew where I could try running to learn the skill. Arterian told me that the district they lived in should be plenty safe as long as I stayed out of the alleys, he even suggested running to The End and back. I changed my shoes to a lighter pair of leather shoes that were better suited to running and headed out.

I didn't really look forward to running. I was too small and couldn't run for long. But stamina helped me with my endurance in this world... plane... whatever. As long as I don't burn through all of my stamina, I should be fine.

That got me thinking. If my tiredness was buffered by stamina, I'd have to work on my form to get the running skill instead of running harder or faster. I can't just work to exhaustion to increase my endurance.

I started running, feeling the ease of the jog. I ran past a few people finishing up their tasks for the day. The sky was dimming at the horizon, I spun and saw it fading from light blue straight above me to a purple color around all of the edges.

It's so damn weird to not have a sun. I moved on down the road taking the left-hand turn on the main street leading to the gate. The farther from the market I got, the fewer people I ran into. The run was very peaceful. I passed two parks on my way.

By the time I got to The End, I had barely made a dent in my stamina, but I managed to make my run more efficient. I kept my arms close to my body and used my perk to keep my elbows at a 90 degree angle. I adjusted my stride to be a bit more relaxed instead of keeping my knees locked tight.

I still miss my watch. I had just arrived at The End and didn't know how long I had been running. It was 4 miles to get here, and I know it was fast, even for a jog. How else can I measure time? Wait. Can I measure time? I thought about measuring the time it took me to walk quick steps. 3.2 seconds. I'm a stopwatch now. I laughed to myself.

I tried to measure how long it took me to run here, but I couldn't get the perk to work on it. Looks like I have to pick my starting point and endpoint as they occur. I'll have to remember that.

Lamps all around me lit up with the steady magical light. The sky was black, and I could see the stars. It was getting darker sooner than I thought it would, but the lamps gave off plenty of light to run home by. I quickly checked my Stratum for the running skill and found it at level 1. I expected that to be much higher. Huh. I guess I'll have to work harder. I turned to run back to the house and stopped before I could take more than two steps.

There was a male Kitsune standing right in my way. He had the longest ears and the bushiest tail I had seen so far. He had dark skin that seemed to be ash brown. It was too dark, so I couldn't tell if his long straight hair and tufts of fur were black or just a dark blue color as the light hit it. He was wearing a plain offwhite shirt and dark-colored pants, but starting above his knees, he had them bound tight to his legs in white wrapping. He was slightly taller than I was if you discounted his ears that stuck up another 12.1 inches. Dumb skill kicking in when I didn't mean for it to. He had roughly the same build as I did.

[Wisham - Kitsune, Level 88]

He waved at me indicated to follow as he turned and walked back towards Lena and Arterian's house. I hesitated for a bit and needed to head that direction anyhow, so I followed. I wasn't sure what he wanted, so I didn't immediately catch up to walk with him.

"Ah, don't be like that. I'm not going to bite." He said as he turned back to me with a grin that showed off his sharp canines. "I just want to talk for now." I hesitated a bit longer, and he sighed. "Martin asked me to train you."

His voice sounded smooth without any hint of an accent I could pick out. It was a much deeper tone than I thought would come from someone as short and thin as he was.

I quickly caught up after that. "Sorry. I just don't know many people. My name is Jak, though Martin probably told you. It's nice to meet you, Wisham."

Wisham stopped and looked at me. "Martin told me he didn't tell you anything about me. So how do you know my name?" Somehow he looked both curious and frustrated.

"Ah, I forgot," I said, a little embarrassed. "If I look at you long enough, I can see your name, species, and level."

"Ah, you have a Blessing from the Gods then. But you don't know what it does? What does the Blessing say it does?"

"A Blessing? I don't see that on my Stratum." I checked to be sure, and my Stratum hadn't changed from earlier.

"You aren't using it properly then if it hasn't manifested on your Stratum. Try looking at me for that information specifically." Wisham instructed.

I did exactly as he said, and instead of it coming up after a few seconds, it was there immediately.

[Wisham - Kitsune, Level 88]

"That worked!" I said as I checked my Stratum.

Name: Jak Rollins

Level: 2

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Race: Human

Class: None

Strength: 12

Dexterity: 18

Intellect: 17

Wisdom: 14

Blessings:

  Identify

Skills:

  Alchemy - Level 21 - [Perfect Measurement]

  Cooking - Level 3

  Jumping - Level 4

  Running - Level 1

[Identify]: Identify allows the user to find limited information about any living being. Limited to line of sight.

"Thank you! I had no idea why I could do this. But why am I blessed by the Gods?"

"That is a question that will take a while. Come, let's go sit down somewhere more comfortable." We headed to one of the parks I had run past earlier. We walked past a few benches, and then Wisham plopped down on a short hill that was free of trees. I stopped, shrugged lightly,

and sat down too.

We sat in silence for 22.4 seconds. I REALLY need to be more conscious of using this skill! "Alright." Wisham started. So why are you blessed? That's simple. You are a summoned Hero. Summoned heroes are blessed in a few ways, but most commonly is Identify. It helps people get their bearings quickly when stuck in a situation they are unfamiliar with. You're also probably leveling skills pretty quick right now?"

My jaw dropped. "How do you know this?"

He laughed. "I've been around for a while, kid. I'm over 500 years old. The Kitsune are the longest living species on the World tree other than the Dragons. The Gods charged us thousands of years ago with the training of heroes. Though, I doubt Martin even knew what he was doing.

I blinked in shock, his age astounded me. He looked like he was in his 20's. I shook my head and kept listening.

"You're currently in a permanent Age of Skill. Or something close to it. The knowledge you have from the realm you came from before helps you level up just as much as the Age of Skill. You're probably learning skills quick that you have experience with."

"That's why Alchemy is leveling fast, but running isn't?" I tilted my head with the question.

"Right in one. You should probably stop trying to level running, it won't be worth your time." He leaned in. "I'd almost say the same for your jumping skill. But I hear you're talented with Wind Magic?"

"How did you know about my jumping skill?" He smirked at me. "You've been watching me... that's not creepy at all." I changed back to the topic as he affected a false air of hurt, "Arterian tested me." My eyes grew wide, and I jumped to my feet. "Shit, I forgot I should have been back already. Can we go tell Len.." I fell on my ass with an unflattering grunt as I was shoved back into my seat.

"I've already taken care of it. You're with me until tomorrow evening."

"Ah." I shivered as he gave me the same dangerous grin as before. "Okay."

"I'll be mentoring you from now on. So listen close. Magic is quite easy to grasp. Close your eyes and listen to the wind." I closed my eyes and sat still. "Listen to the wind move through the grass. Feel it press against your skin."

I sat like that for a while. It was calming to hear the soft noise of the blades of grass rubbing against each other.

"Reach for your mana and use it to make a connection with the wind around you. It should feel like it's in the middle of your chest. Right where your ribs meet."

I brought up the same imagery of myself that I used to pull up my Stratum but imagined my mana sitting at the spot Wisham indicated. I felt something tickle in my chest. It felt like an extra muscle in my chest. It was disorienting feeling a muscle that I hadn't ever used. I tried to force it to move.

An explosion of wind shot out from around me in all directions. I opened my eyes in surprise as it happened. It blew the grass flat and looked like part of a crop circle. I blinked as I looked around until I looked at Wisham. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's one way to do it. How much mana did you put into that? All of it? My ears popped at the pressure," He asked while straightening his clothes and rubbing at his ears.

I sheepishly checked my mana. "Yeah, all of it, but I have Wind Manipulation at level 3 now."

"You definitely don't need to push your mana that hard next time. You can use a small amount to manipulate things. The more air you affect, the more mana you need. You'll be full on mana soon, and you can try again."

Wisham was right. Checking again, I was around 10% full.

Wind Manipulation can be used for all kinds of things. People call it weak, but that's really not true. You can fly once you get proficient enough for one." As he said this, he floated up in the air without any shaking or wobbling. "You can make the wind blades and stuff, but you can also get creative in ways people don't expect. Like using it to augment your jumps to go farther or faster. Same for other movements. It makes you extremely unpredictable in combat."

I watched him almost teleport back and forth as he jumped from side to side.

"Speaking of combat," He said as he stood up, "I brought a few weapons to get an idea for what you would be capable of learning." Wisham floated a bag that was taller than he was over to himself as I watched while mesmerized. "You have a small frame, slightly smaller than me. And I'd guess that since you have a wind affinity, your strength is as low as mine." Wisham pulled out a spear, a set of daggers, a thin and light sword, and a bow with a quiver of arrows.

"Are you wanting to learn something specific? Such as the noble long sword? Or a war hammer? I didn't bring a hammer, but I could go get one."

I scrambled to my feet, "I don't know what I'd want to learn. I've never held a weapon, here or back in my old realm."

"Hmm. Let's start with the sword then." Wisham picked up the small sword. "This is a rapier, a lighter version of a sword. It is excellent for cutting and stabbing but doesn't really have enough weight for parrying or cutting through an enemy."

He handed me the weapon, and I held it out. It was long and put me off balance. Wisham seemed to notice this too but asked me to stand with my feet spread a little more than shoulder-width apart with my right foot forward. He made small adjustments to my stance that helped with the weight but not enough to make it comfortable.

"That also helps me rule out the short spear. It is already more cumbersome than the rapier, and the motions would likely put you even more off-balance. Of these last two options," Wisham gestured to the daggers and the bow. "The bow is more suited to fighting with Wind Manipulation."

He easily bent the bow, strung it, and handed it to me. "Try to pull it back, but don't release it." Again, Wisham helped with my stance. He also helped me try to pull it while getting the bow up to be ready to aim. I couldn't get it pulled back far enough. "That's unfortunate." He said with a slight frown.

"Won't I be able to raise my strength to be capable of pulling it back later?" I asked.

"Ehhh, you could. But it's probably best to leave it for now. You need something for tomorrow."

Well, that's not ominous at all. I gulped.

He smirked again as he sat back down. "Your mana has recovered enough. Let's do some more work with Wind Manipulation."

Wisham walked me through some breathing exercises to help me get to a calm state of mind before moving onto some actual training. "Hold out your right hand—thumb to the sky." I followed along. "You can move the wind without using the skill. But if you use your mana to make a connection, you can use that to move even more. Try using the smallest amount of mana to move the tiniest amount of air."

I concentrated while thinking. The wind is just the moving gases in the air. Gases are made up of molecules that are made of atoms. Can I just move atoms around?

I put my hypothesis to the test. I gave the barest nudge to my muscle that was my mana and reached out for the smallest bit of air I could imagine. The connection was easy to make, and I could move the single atom around with barely a thought.

"What are you doing?" Wisham asked with a wholly befuddled look on his face. "I can feel you moving something through the air, but I can't tell how."

I told Wisham about atoms and how they make up everything, including molecules and how oxygen is formed. The look of confusion changed to one of astonishment the more I explained.

"That is amazing! That would change so many things about magic." A wild look in his eyes. "Don't tell anyone else about that, or things could become complicated for you in the future. What did your skill climb to. That kind of revelation has got to be essential to your growth.

"Level 9 now." The grin on my face was huge.

Wisham's face took on a look of concentration. He sat like that for 33.5 seconds. Ugh. Then a grin exploded onto his face; he radiated happiness as he jumped to his feet. "YES! Ah, Jak, that is amazing! I was able to breakthrough with that knowledge! I've had Wind Manipulation stuck at level 99 for roughly the last 200 years."

Wisham stopped talking for a while. He hummed to himself while he closed his eyes. A short time later, he opened them and looked at me, "I have an idea. You have such a large amount of talent for the wind, and the knowledge to back it up, I think you might be suited for a different kind of weapon than these daggers." He pointed at the daggers still on the ground. "A long time ago, the Kitsune created a type weapon we called Skyblades. They were made specifically for our Wind Mages that fought in close quarters."

"What are Skyblades? How do they help a mage?" I was starting to feel excited.

"Skyblades have no physical blade on them. Instead, they have an embedded gem that helps focus magic into a blade of its own. It gives it wind some solidity but without adding any weight. The downside is that it takes mana to sustain and precise control to keep the proper shape. I think you will find you have no problem with either of those issues.

Wisham pulled two pieces of metal out of his bag. They looked like a lowercase letter 'h' but flipped upside down to use the top as a handle. He held one out to me, and I grabbed it. The metal was a matte dark gray with a slate blue gem embedded into it. The metal handle was 6 inches long before a curve extruded out, acting as a hilt. Past the grip, the metal continued straight another 4 inches, and the curve made a soft 120-degree arc before both pieces ended in a bulb.

"Use your mana to connect to the gemstone set in the weapon. Don't use much, or you won't be able to manipulate it."

I went slow so that I wouldn't mess this up. I felt for my mana and pulled it through my arm and out my hand into the metal. I met resistance at what had to be the gem and pushed through that. The weapon hummed lightly, and the unfinished ring filled with a pale blue glow that matched the gemstone.

"Excellent, success on your first try. You're going to be a natural. How is the mana drain?"

"I can't see any changes so far," I answered.

"Even better, your skill in Wind Manipulation is going to take you far."