“System philosophy is a fascinating thing, really. The recounts we have suggest that most cultural groups will independently fall into one of two general ways of thinking. There are those who believe we are shaped by our Core Skills and those who believe our Core Skills are a representation of who we were always destined to be.”
~Unknown
You have chosen Perseverance as your Core Skill.
To continue your advancement within The System please achieve a recognized proficiency of Level 10 in your Core Skill.
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 0/100
Core Skills receive an additional Skill Augmentation upon advancement.
I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. The doughy balls that were my weakly clenched fists relaxed. I’d done it. I had a Core Skill. Unsurprisingly, the System messages were vague and raised just as many questions as they answered.
Any chance there’s additional information available here? How do I get proficiency points? What is a Skill Augmentation? What else happens when I advance? Does anything else happen? Is that how I get more Skills?
There was no response.
Yeah, that checks out.
No thunderous boom or sudden feeling of power accompanied the System messages. Simply possessing a Core Skill didn’t appear to change much about my ambient existence. As the tension left my body it was replaced by a heavy drowsiness. I was at my limit. My eyelids began to droop, and a yawn rose from deep in my chest. It gave me an idea. I don’t know how the stray thought broke through the rapidly descending mind fog, but it had. Blearily, I resummoned my new System screen.
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 0/100
I will not sleep until I get a proficiency point.
It was a promise to myself, a way to quantify my ridiculous act of petty self-defiance. Would endeavoring to stay awake beyond the limits of exhaustion count as an act of perseverance? I wanted to find out. I figured chances were equally good it was an act of stupidity, that I would doze off and wake up feeling foolish, but I was too tired to care. If I had the coordination to do so, I would have slapped my cheeks to psyche myself up. Instead, I just kind of flailed.
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 0/100
I watched the screen intently while trying desperately not to blink lest my eyes remained closed. Barely a minute had passed before I felt my resolve start to slip. I told myself I’d already pushed too far. It would be okay to rest and try again tomorrow. The excuses were familiar ones from another life I’d told myself dozens of times before. They were insidious in their logic, especially at that moment, and I longed to surrender to their siren’s song.
That’s when it happened. It was a small change. So small that had I not been dancing on the doorstep of delirium it would have evaded notice. I felt it though. A small rush of something. For the barest of moments, I felt like I could endure all night if I had to, like I could simply shove the sleepiness into a box and banish it from thought.
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 6/100
It worked! I wonder how long I-
My vision went dark, and I left the waking world behind.
***
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A blast of uncomfortably warm air ripped me from my dreamless slumber. It carried a vaguely meaty smell upon its wings and snaked deep into my nostrils. I almost gagged. My eyes snapped open and I was greeted by the sight of a panting maw and lolling tongue. Tendrils of ice gripped my spine as I froze in fright. The glint of metallic teeth heralded my imminent demise and-
It’s Vigil! Fuck me, that was scary for a second there.
Evidently, he stuck his head into the crib to check on me. My breath came in frightened gasps as my heart pounded like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings. Even though my barely awake brain had comprehended that I wasn’t actually in danger, it would take a minute for my body to catch up.
A glob of drool started to gather at the side of Vigil’s lip and threatened to droop onto my face. My genius response was to baby babble and try to shimmy out of the line of impending fire. It was no good. I was moments away from a slobbery shower.
“Vigil, did you wake Will up?” The dog in question pulled his head from the crib to observe Tina as she poked her head into the room. Mom to the rescue! The sound of Vigil’s panting was replaced by the steady thump of his tail hitting the wall as it wagged. Tina’s question was playful in tone and when I saw her through the gaps of my crib I could see her smiling at the scene.
Which is fair enough. I somehow avoided a crying fit so as far as she is aware I wasn’t overly spooked by that whole ordeal.
“Good morning, my Will,” she cooed when she caught my gaze. I smiled. A mother’s love is a special thing. Part of me felt guilty that I wanted to find a way back to my original home, but I had unfinished business there. Hopefully she’d understand when the time came.
If the time comes, the cynical part of my mind chimed in.
That was a problem for the future. The Unnamed Skill was a goal that felt impossibly far out of reach. Realistically, I’d be an adult in my new life before I started making any real progress towards it. Lamenting that truth would just be a waste of time I didn’t have. I had to worry about making it to adulthood first. One step at a time.
Baby steps. Hah.
I giggled at the pun as Tina crossed the room and pulled me up into her arms. Instead of embracing me against her shoulder like usual, she held me at arm’s length and gave me a thorough onceover. Seemingly satisfied that I was fine, she gave me a gentle kiss on the top of my head and carried me away while muttering what sounded like reassurances.
That was weird… Status.
Perseverance Level 1/10
Current proficiency points: 6/100
There it was, the Skill I had bet my success on. The events from the night before came back to me in groggy chunks. Unless it was far later in the day than I realized, I hadn’t gotten a full night of sleep. Despite that, I felt… fine, really. There was no throbbing headache or general aches. The baby body was holding up.
My confusion was that Tina seemed far too subdued compared to yesterday. I’d have thought that the day a baby actually had their Core Skill would be even more celebrated than the day before. Had I misread the situation?
***
We were leaving the house! We weren’t just going outside, we were leaving-leaving. I squirmed in Tina’s grip to make sure I got a good look at our destination. It was an unsuccessful attempt, and not my first one. After I’d been fed another divinely prepared vegetable mush Tina swaddled me in soft folds of fabric before we left the house. It was comfortable but made squirming a challenging prospect and my lacking fine motor control meant I wasn’t able to free myself from the wooly cocoon.
My father walked alongside us, his heavy footfalls crunching any natural debris that fell beneath them. When I craned my neck to see him, there was an unfamiliar slump to his shoulders. He seemed… tense. Tina made an effort to distract me by pointing out the occasional flower or interesting cloud. Something was up, I just couldn’t tell what. Instead I tried to enjoy the outing.
Vigil shadowed us like usual. He periodically sniffed at the ground and wandered off to stick his head into a nearby bush. All the while his tail would wag. Classic dog stuff. His presence made me confident we’d travel without being bothered by stray wildlife. Academically, I knew that I couldn’t be certain of that, but sometimes it’s okay not to be. If traveling with a huge, metallic dog couldn’t make me feel at ease then nothing would. Idly, I wondered about the rest of the dogs back at the kennel. If I hadn’t seen Tina’s unnatural command of them I’d have been worried they’d get into mischief without supervision. As it was, I couldn’t imagine them having any issues.
We began cresting the small rise at the edge of the property. Far behind us, the forest loomed as it usually did, but my attention lay forwards. Tina finally realized that I wouldn’t squirm while I could see ahead of us and adjusted how she held me to capitulate. I had been craving new scenery more than I realized. I wanted to see another side of my new world, even if it was just another side of the hill near my house. We reached the top. I felt my breath catch in my throat. It was beautiful.
Farmland, rich and sprawling. Organized rows of crops grew strong and healthy. Something about that didn’t seem right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. From our perch on that small hill we could see respectably far into the distance. The land was uncannily flat, and the farmlands extended as far as I could see.
We walked for close to an hour, following a dirt path dented by wheel ruts. Occasionally, we passed a fenced off paddock filled with sheep casually milling about. More of a pasture instead of an extension of the farms. I tried to spot any irregularities with the sheep like I had with Tina’s dogs, but no matter how I strained my eyes they just looked like regular sheep to me.
I guess some of the horns on the rams look kinda sinister. Maybe.
Sheep weren’t the only things in the pastures though. Without fail, every time we passed by a flock, a large dog would rise from the grass and wander over to greet us. Or rather, greet Tina. She called out to each of them by name and was free with her praise. It was vindicating to see that my guess had been accurate. She was training them to be livestock guardians. They never stayed long and were quick to return to their flocks with their tails wagging. She’d taught them well.
I spotted people, other people, working in the fields. They shared many of the same general features as my parents and - presumably - myself. A few turned to wave but most were too engrossed by their labor to notice and neither of my parents called out to disturb them. I saw one man dragging a multi-pronged plow through a section of empty field. It looked like the type of tool that needed a pair of horses to move but he seemed unbothered by the load and worked with a steady intensity. I looked between my father and the man, taking note of the similarities in their feats of strength.
I let my attention flutter from one sight to the other until a group of buildings came into view. I’d seen others dotting the fields, but they resembled homes or agricultural structures. That new cluster of a dozen or so buildings looked organized. Central. My father hadn’t spoken since we left the house, but he spoke then. Beneath the power inherent to his rumbling bass, I caught the concern in his voice.
“Will, this is Elbura.” I wasn’t sure if Elbura was the name of the village or the word for village. I’d figure it out eventually.