The Strongest Spellblade

This would be the last time I checked my status before turning 10 years old. It had been a year since my mother had first returned home after crushing the nation of Crownsmith and another half a year before she returned based on the year timeline she had given me.

Both Tutor Damian and Healer Castelle were present while I checked my status to take into consideration my future training and medical issues.

Level: 1 Experience: BLOCKED

Healing: 210/210 Stamina: 180/180 Mana: 70/70

Class: Tier 0, Child(Green)

Effect: Increased Skill Acquisition(+8%), Increased Learning Speed(+8%), Increased Stat Gain(+8%), Increased Physical Gain(+8%)

Vitality: 21 (+0)

Endurance: 18 (+0)

Strength: 16 (+0)

Agility: 18 (+0)

Perception: 10 (+1)

Mind: 47 (+6)

Magic: 7 (+1)

Focus: 21 (+2)

Free Points: 0

Tier 1(23)(3+): Running(90), Breathing(87+5), Eldarin History(89+14), Meditation(75+10), Dodge(69+8), Eldarin Etiquette(57+7), Toughness(53), Drawing Skills(46+5), Sword Skills(41), Shield Skills(29), Light Armor(29), Dancing Skills(28), Pugilist Skills(27+13), Spear Skills(23), Monster Processing Skills(19), Cooking Skills(15), Bow Skills(15), Cleaning Skills(14), Axe Skills(14), Dagger Skills(12), Speech(9+4), Wrestling Skills(8), Combat Tactics(7+5)

Tier 2(20)(2+): Mana Sense(60+18), Danger Sense(40+7), Soul Sense(16+14), Darkness Vision(8), Algebra(3+3), Geometry(3+3), Monster Analysis(3), Trap Detection(1), Depth Sense(1), Speed Reading(1+1)

Tier 3(24): Pain Resistance(20), Soul Resistance(20+9), Empowered Will(11+5), Fear Resistance(4+2), Poison Resistance(3+3), Eldarin Runes(2+2), Empowered Writing(1+1), Social Resistance(1+1)

Tier 6(-): Experience Siphon(C)

Equipment

Gloves: Gloves of Processing(T2) (Blocks Mana T2 and Below)

Ring1: Ring of Concealment(T3) (Hide Status T3 and Below)

Amulet/Bracelet: Experience Blocker(T4) (Prevents all experience gain for primary level)

Equipment1: Runic Writing Set(T3) (Write Runes T3 and Below)

“Idiots!” Healer Castelle yelled. “Why do you have Algebra and Geometry? Speed Reading?”

“Well, those skills always tend to show up with each other. I didn’t fully realize since it is standard. As for Speed Reading, that is on Justin, not me,” Damian said.

“That is why, I called you both idiots. A weight of 67 from his skills and a 47 Mind stat. That is at 70%, barely above Meldor’s Threshold. Idiots!” he shouted the last word again and glared at both of us.

We were silent for a bit while he kept glaring.

“Well, the Mind stat has kept up, at least,” Damian finally said breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“If it hadn’t he would be dead from your idiocy,” Healer Castelle said. I was thinking about the numbers.

“What about the Soul Resistance skill? Wouldn’t that help me?” I asked.

“Possibly. But counting on a skill like that is risky. No more skills. Absolutely no more in the next three months. I want your Mind stat up at least 4 points with no skills. I mean it. The risk is insane, I don’t know why you and your mother insist on being so reckless,” he said.

“Leveling up to increase my stats would slow down my skill growth and there is the curse,” I replied.

“System save me from fools. Your skills are already leveling up so fast, one level and the ten free stat points that come with it would solve this problem,” he declared.

“Or not. It doesn’t escape my notice that his skill gains do keep hovering over Meldor’s Threshold. Could his soul have become flexible enough, yet still retain enough preservation to allow it to stay right there?” Tutor Damian asked.

“You would need a Soul Mage to check and confirm. And even if that were the case, it is like playing with fire in your hands for a bit of warmth. Eventually you will get burned. At least his other stats are high enough that we don’t have to worry about stat imbalance, but if this continues that will be a huge problem,” Healer Castelle explained.

“When will that happen?” I asked out of curiosity.

“If one of your stats is greater than the rest of them combined divided by 2, which is 55.5 in your case. It will start impacting your health, since it is your Mind stat, that means headaches, and tiredness since your body can’t keep up,” Healer Castelle said. That did sound bad. “So, listen, no new skills, no new upgrades for 3 months, no matter what. The Poison Resistance wasn’t planned, but the risk is real. I can’t keep saying this enough.”

“I understand,” I said.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Understand yes, if you will listen is another matter. I understand wanting to push yourself to the limit, but your body and soul can’t sense this danger. That is why you disregard it. There is a reason they named it Meldor’s Threshold, even after the man’s terrible experiments. He seemed nice at first, but then it was discovered how horrible he was. Similar to this limit. It doesn’t seem serious, but if you cross it, very bad things will happen, your soul will just go ‘poof’, and completely unravel,” Healer Castelle told me.

“I understand, Healer Castelle,” I said again chastised and trying not to cry. I was trying to do my best, but I was being reckless and stupid. I wiped my watery eyes.

“I have said enough on the subject for now. Now we have the next concern. Tier 3 skills and your level,” he said. Another issue? Now I really wanted to cry.

“Too many?” I asked.

“You have eight tier 3 skills and ten tier 2 skills. If each skill is like a support brace in a building that is your soul, the tier of the skill represents the strength of the bracing. The higher the tier the more fragile the bracing,” he explained.

“Shouldn’t it be stronger the higher the tier?” I asked.

“No. Higher tier skills draw from more of your body. Putting more strain on it. Stats are the core foundational materials used in the building. The walls, windows, doors, are all skills. Larger skills have larger openings in the building, putting more pressure on you, and acting as the frame,” he explained. “The level in your status represents the very ground your foundation rests on. You are building a larger house, but the ground is incredibly small.”

I frowned as I tried to process the metaphor in my head. It was a bit complex but understandable. “You mentioned that my stat gains were like furnishings?” I asked.

“More weight being added to the house. The more you spend time in a specific room, or stat, the more weight is added. That is why stat imbalance and skill imbalance are concerns. With skill imbalance, you could just explode one day,” he said.

“Explode?!”

“Yes. The weight of your skills is too much, and the ground under your foundation gives way. What do you think happens then?” he asked.

“The house falls over?” I said.

“Exactly, which means your soul rips free of your body and you explode. These aren’t problems most people would face, since they get advised by family and friends or a System Priest and don’t push things like you are doing. But you have pushed things to their very limit. That soul fruit while making your soul more receptive has strengthened it to a degree. So, no new skills, otherwise the complications will be too much,” Healer Castelle explained.

“I never liked the house metaphor. And I think it is his class, not the level. That is more recent research from the College of Advancement, or old research confirmed. That the class matters more than the level for base support of the skills. A green class, is quite strong,” Tutor Damian said.

“The house metaphor gets the point across to stubborn people,” Healer Castelle said, clearly talking about me. “You clearly want to keep pushing his skill level gain for as long as possible. As for classes, would you bet his life on such research? Because that is what you are saying.”

“His rate of skill level gain is insane. What would take years for another person is only taking months. While there is a lot of risk, I can understand why both his mother and him want to pursue this,” my Tutor said.

“Foolishness and idiocy, but what do I know? I am just a foolish Healer who has actually studied souls, stats, and skills for decades,” Healer Castelle said he muttered while glaring at the two of us.

I took the moment to think about my skill gain. “My skill level gain in relation to my tiers is 349,” I finally said after adding up everything in my head. My Mind stat and maxed out Mathematics skills coming in handy. One of the reasons almost everyone got Mathematics was to better understand their status and do math quickly.

“Yes, not as impressive as the previous three months previously which was 393. But it does match up with the six months before which were 348 each three month time period. Still on track for being ridiculous,” Tutor Damian said, happy to change the subject.

“That is probably helping you. That certain skills have had masteries before you got the tier 3, the only good thing I can really say,” Healer Castelle added in.

“Well you won’t have any skill masteries any time soon,” Tutor Damian said.

“What comes after Eldarin History?” I asked.

“Eldarin Lore, which then combines with other lore skills and becomes the tier 3 skill Artifact Analysis,” my Tutor explained.

My mother and Tutor Damian said a good rule to follow was that Legends tried to have 20 stats per level. That put me at around level 7.9 if I was using that as a benchmark. “What about training up skills like Poison Resistance and Social Resistance since I already have them?” I asked.

“Um, well, that goes beyond what your mother has approved of. She wants you to focus on foundational skills,” Tutor Damian said nervously before gaining more confidence. “Resistance skills are tricky, since they gain levels very slowly while training them. Only when a threat is real do they tend to level.”

“What he means is that you need specialized trainers for certain skills and he isn’t capable of teaching them. And he is right. They are hard to level without actual threat. That is why your Soul Resistance skill has grown so much,” Healer Castelle said.

“And we can’t train it specifically,” I said.

“That is stupidity at its finest. Your soul is so unstable, I wouldn’t dare poke it, who knows what would happen?” Healer Castelle said.

“We have a lot of mental skills to focus on regardless. While it is probably impossible, getting your Eldarin Runes to level 100 before the age of 12 would be a huge achievement. And that should be our main focus,” Tutor Damian said.

“Really?” I asked in surprise, and he nodded.

“Trust me on this. Mastering a set of runes by such a young age is almost unheard of except for people solely focused on that skill. While it will be a struggle, I know your mother was very insistent that you learn runes. That is why she hired me to tutor you,” he explained. I gave him a look, since he just gave me books and answered questions.

“You don’t do much teaching,” I replied.

“Because you are good at self-learning. If you have questions, I will answer them and once you start writing runes in earnest, I will point out corrections. I have been doing that already. Also, when you have hit bottlenecks, I have given you tests to get past them,” he pointed out. That was all true. “As my only student, I am trying to maximize your skill gain without hand holding you. You might level a bit more if I did that, but once I am no longer around you will struggle. That skill Speed Reading is a learning skill that isn’t easy to get.”

“So, there are more learning skills?” I asked with interest.

“No. They are all forbidden. I am forbidding them. Don’t give me a look. And you, don’t get any ideas,” he told me off and then pointed at Tutor Damian. We both became a bit embarrassed at the chastisement.