(Year 997, 14th of Full Inji, 10:15AM)

My heart had been racing when I entered the church, and now my mind was racing on the way out. Well, my heart was also racing, but that wasn’t anything new.

The Scriptures of Holy Order were wrong, and I didn’t know what to think about that. I’d never paid all that much attention in church, sure, but I didn’t dislike the Scriptures, they just… didn’t really seem interesting to me. Now, though, I wished I’d been paying more attention, even if it sounded like they wouldn’t help me much. What the Preacher had read to me… it didn’t just say that Humans couldn’t walk the Path of Consumption, it said why, and the explanation seemed clear. There wasn’t going to be some hole in the rules that I could point out to convince the Preacher that what had happened to me was possible.

So then… what did that mean? What was I supposed to do now?

A glance at the sundial, as I jogged past, told me there were still roughly two hours before lunchtime. When I got back home, I flipped the sign so Dad would know I was there, made my way to my room, and started thinking.

If the Scriptures said that it was impossible for Humans to walk the Path of Consumption, then it wasn’t likely that any books would say otherwise. Any books that did… well, if the Scriptures were wrong about this, that raised a bunch of questions, but that didn’t mean for sure that they were wrong about other things, right? Besides, most people thought the Scriptures were right about everything! So, if a book disagreed with Scripture about some things…

I wasn’t going to learn anything useful about my problem from books, I decided. Dad or Miss Ambrose might be able to tell me things about how Consumption worked, or how I could make sure I didn’t hurt anyone with it… but that didn’t seem like the right choice either. They were adults, so they would know the Scriptures, right? They probably wouldn’t know anything that Preacher Stefenson hadn’t told me. That would mean they would either think I was fibbing, or if they checked my Status…

Dad and Miss Ambrose were nice (most of the time), but if they checked my Status and found out I had gained a level in Consumption, which was a Sinful Path and also supposed to be impossible… I didn’t know what they would say or what they would do.

What did that leave me with?

It just left me with me.

I couldn’t go to adults for help, not unless I had something more to tell them, and books were probably going to be useless, if I could even find any that talked about my problem… which meant I was on my own. I would need to learn about Consumption without any help, and the only way I could learn about my powers…

I waved a hand, and my Skill Overview appeared in front of me once again. With just a bit of focus, the little circle for [Indulge] enlarged to be the focus of the illusion, and its description appeared in front of me again: “Allow nothing to distract you from indulging in your desires.”

No amount of focus (at least within the minute or two I spent trying) could force a more helpful explanation to appear. Frustrated after trying that idea and failing, I waved my hand, and the Overview faded. If I couldn’t get a better description, there was only one thing left for me to do: Test my power out to see if I could learn more.

Testing my power, though… that meant seeing what [Indulge] could do that it hadn’t already.

I’d used [Indulge] to put myself to sleep, I’d used it to eat gross food… what could I do to push it further? The Skill mainly seemed useful for ignoring things that would make me stop doing something, or make me want to stop…

That gave me an idea.

I left my room, went back to the door and flipped the sign, then reached down to the trunk beside the door to grab Dad’s spare axe. He’d taken his other axe to work, the one he liked, but his spare axe was sharp enough to use too, and it was right there in the box. It was a bit heavy for me, sure, but I’d held it before, and I knew I could swing it if I took it slow and steady.

I nearly walked out the front door with the axe… but then I paused.

If I walked out the front door, someone would probably see me doing it. They might get curious about what I was doing. They might follow me… and see me trying to figure out my new Skill.

They probably wouldn’t know what I was doing, but… better to not be seen than to be followed and have to lie.

Instead of going out the front, I went into Dad’s room (which had a window that faced out the back of the house), lifted the axe out the window and dropped it, and with a little jump, I climbed out the window after it.

One perk of being a logger’s son, at times like this, was living so close to the treeline – it was only a few feet away from the back of the house. Just a few more paces, in a bit of a hurry, and I was off into the woods.

I slowed down to a walk once I got into the trees, but I kept going. I wanted to get a bit deep into the forest, to avoid being interrupted. As I walked, though, I made sure to walk as straight forward as I could, just like Dad had taught me.

After a few more minutes of walking, I found a big tree that looked like it would work for practice, and then did something else Dad had taught me: I raised the axe, lowered it blade-first to the ground front of me, and stomped on the back of the blade, cutting a clean line in the dirt. Then, I picked it up, placed it carefully at one end of the line, and stomped it again, like crossing an upper-case ‘T’. A mark for walking in uncleared woods, to tell me which way I’d come from.

That done, I hefted the axe back up, and took the position Dad had taught me. The test I had in mind for my new Skill was simple: I stared at the tree, focused my mind to [Indulge] in the task, and took the first swing of the axe. The blade only sank the slightest bit into the tree… but it did sink. That was better than I’d done in the past.

I hefted the axe out of the dent like Dad had taught me, and then I swung the axe again. And then I hefted it back out, and swung again. And I hefted and swung again. And again. And again.

It was honestly kind of boring to practice with the axe without Dad to talk me through it, telling me to keep my stance steady and focus on my breathing. Talking to myself about it, the way he would… it wasn’t the same, so I just did it. I breathed steadily in and out, I kept my feet and hips steady, I turned as I swung…

And I didn’t get tired.

Well, that wasn’t quite right. I was getting tired, but… it was just like what had happened at breakfast. My muscles started to feel tired, the axe started to feel heavier, and I started to slow down… but it didn’t bother me. I could keep swinging without breaking my pace.

I kept cutting for a bit longer, slowly getting deeper into the tree, taking some time to think. This test seemed to prove me correct in my earlier guess about [Indulge] – the point of the Skill seemed to be keeping me from stopping when I decided to do something. I could still stop, the Skill wouldn’t stop me from stopping… but it would keep me from being bothered by things that would make me want to stop. Feeling gross, feeling tired, feeling worried… I could block those feelings out using [Indulge].

Why was this where the Path of Consumption started? Was [Indulge] going to be important to other things I would do on the Path?

If I didn’t manage to get rid of my Level, that was…

I shook my head, and by making a bit of an effort to not swing my axe, I shrugged off the effect of [Indulge].

That was a mistake. The axe suddenly felt so heavy in my hands that I nearly dropped it on my foot, and I barely managed to lower it to the ground before slumping backward against the tree. My breath was heavy and my arms felt like they were on fire… Really, it was just like every time I’d practiced woodcutting with Dad, but it was hitting me all at once.

It felt like a big deal just to twitch my finger and make my Statistics appear again. I’d been hoping to see the same things I’d seen before, or maybe to see that my Strength had increased after my effort, but instead…

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Aedan Omarsson

Peasant

Age: 14

Good: 0

Physique: 0 (0/0)

Evil: 0

Dexterity: 1 (0/1)

Order: 0

Mind: 3 (2/1)

Chaos: 0

Soul: 0 (0/0)

Creation: 0

Fortune: 0 (0/0)

Consumption: 2

Advancements: [1]

Consumption: 2

Like a total moron, I hadn’t considered that practicing my Skill, to test out how it worked, might increase my Level. Everyone knew that this was how the Paths worked. It was one of the first things they taught us about the Paths in school – Whatever you do to gain your first Level in a Path (like Charity for Good, or Balancing for Order), you had to do more of the same thing to gain more levels, and the easiest way to do that was to use the Skills you got from your Path. I honestly didn’t know whether or not I’d believed that at the time, since most people never Walk any of the Paths anyway, but now it had happened to me, specifically because I’d forgotten that it could.

I just sat there, staring at the illusion. I didn’t even really want to know what my new Advancement was! A new Skill? An improvement to [Indulge]? It didn’t matter! I didn’t care! This was exactly the opposite of what I needed. I needed to get rid of this, not to–

“Hello…? Hello, who’s out here…?”

I nearly banged my head against the tree from being startled by the voice. I waved my hand to dispel my illusion and I started to scramble to my feet, but then I realized that I recognized the voice, and of all people…

I could hear his footsteps now, and they were getting closer. There was no point in hiding, so I answered, “Dad!?”

“…Aedan??” Sure enough, after a few more moments of walking, Dad came into view, axe in hand. He started to say, “Aedan, what are you–”

But then he got a good look at me, tired and resting, axe by my side.

He stood there for a moment, thinking, and then he shook his head. “Aedan… what have I told you about coming out here without me?”

I closed my eyes. I’d really hoped to avoid this conversation. I did need to respond, though, so I said, “…To not do that?”

Dad nodded. “And why did I tell you that?”

I nearly rolled my eyes that we were going through this again, but I told him what he wanted to hear: “Because I haven’t practiced enough yet, and I might hurt myself, and if I hurt myself while you’re not here–”

That was where Dad finished my sentence for me. “– I can’t help you fix yourself up.”

He nodded, satisfied that I knew what I’d done wrong… but then he started looking around. He looked at the tree, and then at the ground, and he nodded. “You remembered to leave your trail marker, though, and it’s pointing in just about the right direction. Looks like your aim is getting better, too…”

His lips took on a bit of a grin. “Not bad, son.”

That, it seemed, was when Dad noticed how tired I was. He shouldered his axe with his good arm, kneeled down, and reached out his other arm – the one that ended in a stump. “Come on, let’s get you up.”

Now, Dad knew that this wasn’t as kind of a gesture as it looked. He knew that his stump was hard to keep a grip on, and it would’ve been easier for both of us if he just set his axe down to pick me up with his good hand.

Even still, I reached out to grab the stump, even though I felt like I barely had the strength to hold on, because… well, it’s not like I could complain. It would be rude to complain, and Dad had taught me not to be rude about these things, and he knew it.

Sometimes I wondered if I was the only kid in the village whose dad played jokes like that…

We started back to the house. We were both quiet at first, just listening to the rustle of the leaves and the chirping of the birds, but eventually Dad spoke up. “So… why’d you decide to come out and practice?”

It was a good question. I couldn’t tell him the real answer, so why had I come out and practiced?

The best I could come up with was, “…I just wanted to go out, I guess? Stretch my muscles a bit?” I found a bit of truth that I could tell. “I… I wanted to see if I could do it better than last time.”

After a moment, Dad nodded. “Huh. Well, that’s a good spirit. Keep at it, and maybe Strength will be the next Score you get above-average, eh?”

I shook my head. “Well, maybe… I don’t think I’m there yet, though.”

Dad nodded again. “No, and you probably won’t get it in time for your birthday, either. What am I always telling you about practice, Aedan?”

I thought back, and then recited the phrase I was pretty sure he wanted to hear. “Some things only take a little, some things take a lot… but practice is always worth the effort.”

Another nod. “Yeah, that… but you also need to keep practicing things if you want to stay good at things…” I knew where this was going. Sure enough, Dad, prodded, “…like Lessons with Miss Ambrose?”

I sighed. “Dad, come on…”

Now he was sighing too. “Aedan, I’ve been patient with you about this, but you can’t skip Lessons forever. You’ve hardly left the house all week, you’ve hardly left your room all week– I know Miss Ambrose is cross at you for staying home, but she’s cross at me for not making you go. It doesn’t matter how high your Intelligence Score is, you’re going to fall behind, and then what’ll your Score be?”

I snorted. “A one?”

Dad rolled his eyes. “Or a big fat zero, kiddo… Or maybe worse. Wouldn’t Bishop Mordecai be angry about that if he saw it on your birthday…”

We walked in silence for a bit longer, and by this point, I could see the green grass of the village in the distance, through the edge of the treeline.

That was when Dad finally got to the bad news. “I, uh… Aedan, about your birthday, while we’re talking about it…”

I looked up at him, unsure what he was about to say.

He took a deep breath. “Look, son, I… you know work has been slow for me since the Druids took ill, right? There hasn’t been as much wood to cut, so we don’t get paid quite so much… and then it’s been a slow season for traveling traders, so there hasn’t been much to buy…”

I had a feeling about what he was trying to say. “Dad…?”

He shook his head. “I… I wasn’t able to get you a birthday present this year, Aedan. I’m sorry. I know you gave me that list of books you wanted, but I haven’t found a trader who could get any of them brought in, not for a price we could afford. We’ll figure something else out if we can, just let me know what you want and we’ll…”

Dad trailed off, at that point, because he realized I was lost in thought. “Aedan…?”

Hearing my name shook my from my thoughts. A good thing, too… a bit longer and I might’ve started sweating. “Dad…” I asked, already having a guess about the answer. “…When is my birthday?”

I felt so stupid for forgetting, but Dad’s answer made it all so much worse: “Oh, come on, kiddo! It’s so soon, I figured you’d be counting the days!”

I shook my head. “I know, I know, just… I guess it slipped my mind. Please just answer the question, Dad?”

Dad might’ve heard the quiver in my voice, but if he did, he chose to ignore it. “Well, alright… Gods, maybe I should be making you get out of your room more. Your birthday’s tomorrow, Aedan.”

Tomorrow.

My birthday was tomorrow.

Which meant everyone was going to be at my house tomorrow.

Including, among other people, Bishop Mordecai, because he was going to check my Statistics to see if I was still a “promising youth”, or whatever the words had been.

Bishop Mordecai would check my statistics tomorrow, and he would see that I’d gained Levels in exactly the wrong place.

Gods, I was so screwed.