Gifted

I woke to the pale light of the morning sun peeking in through the window. Yawning, I tried to stretch my tiny arms only to find I was still wrapped tightly in a blanket. But things had changed. My previous wrapping, while warm, was rough, coarse, and honestly a little uncomfortable. This new wrapping felt luxurious against my soft skin. Life was looking up.

Then it happened. I had known it was coming. There was only so long I would be given a reprieve. My muscles had betrayed me.

That’s right, I’d soiled myself.

I did the only thing I could given the deplorable situation I found myself in. I bawled like a…well, you know. A caterwauling cry clawed itself forth from my tiny lungs.

The thud of quick footsteps was followed by a shadow falling over me and blotting out the light. Words were whispered softly and soothingly. I swallowed my pride, unable to do anything anyway as my posterior was cleaned of muck. The chilly air was like pinpricks on my bare skin and I shivered. My exposure didn’t last long, as I was quickly wrapped back up and carried out of the room I had woken in.

We descended a flight of stairs, my stomach dropping out slightly with each step. The next room was warmer, the air not so cool against my skin. And the smells, oh the smells; if this wasn’t the kitchen then I had to be out of my mind in delirium. I acknowledged that given my blood loss a few days ago that was a very real possibility. But no, this was definitely the kitchen. I was fed, once more something like milk dripping into my hungry mouth. I took as much as I could, knowing full well it would mean another… accident. But nutrients were necessary to grow up big and strong.

Then the voice above me started to sing. I hadn’t been prepared for such dastardly tactics. How dare they try to lull me to sleep! I had Paths to progress! But no, the woman holding me had to have a voice like a sweet summer breeze. I fought, and fought hard, but was soundly defeated. Though not before I saw those steps added to my Paths. A pyrrhic victory. As sleep claimed me, I promised myself I would do better next time.

And so my life fell into a routine. I would awaken hungry, scream for food, and be fed. Sometimes my ass would need a good wash, and the woman with the beautiful voice was always there to make sure that I was the cleanest and warmest of babies.

While my mother, as I had started calling her in my head, was my primary caregiver. We were not alone in this residence. My slowly improving eyesight had identified an older man as well. Much older. I hoped it wasn’t something weird I had stumbled into.

Then there was my name. In my head I still often called myself by my name in my previous life, but more and more I had been swapping to Sebastian. Even if my Status hadn’t informed me of my new name, I would have gleaned it from how often my mother said it to me and how it sounded the same as the English version.

I spent every waking moment eavesdropping, clenching the little muscles in my arms and legs, and resisting sleep. For almost six months I focused on my Paths with everything I had.

My hard work bore fruit in multiple forms.

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Endurance VIII (6146/2500)

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Endurance IX (6146/5000)

Reward: +1 to Stamina, +1 Unallocated Stat

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Willpower I (5146/10)

…

…

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Willpower IX (5146/5000)

Reward: +8 to Mental, 1 Unallocated Stat

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Eavesdropping IV (6732/100)

…

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You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Eavesdropping IX (6732/5000)

Reward: +5 to Mental, +1 Unallocated Stat

I had progressed my Paths of Endurance, Eavesdropping, and Willpower over halfway. My gains had largely been driven by the fact that I had nothing else to do except fight against my weariness and listen to others talk. Even with nothing else to do all three Paths were only a little over halfway to completion.

I set myself a goal of finishing all three by the time I turned one. That might have seemed difficult, except that I had unlocked two more Paths with my work.

Path Unlocked! Path of Linguistics - Helenian (0/10)

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Linguistics - Helenian I (738/10)

…

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Linguistics - Helenian VI (738/500)

Reward: +6 Mental

Path Unlocked! Path of Crawling (0/10)

While I had only just unlocked the Path of Crawling, I’d had access to the Path of Linguistics - Helenian for three months now. In fact, I had progressed the Path to the sixth Tier already, earning me another six in Mental Stats. Better though, I was finally learning the language, and while I couldn’t yet speak it, I at least understood a little of what was being said around me. Which is why I knew what my mother was yelling.

“He’s crawling! Dad, come quick, he’s crawling!”

Even yelling like a crazed bat, her voice was still beautiful with her dark brown hair braided to keep it out of the way with a few strands left to frame her heart shaped face. Her father, my grandfather, came stomping into the room, presumably to see what all the fuss was about. The answer? The fuss was about me, you old coot! Look at me go!

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I crawled a little more, moving a little closer. That’s right, praise me, crawler extraordinaire. Instead, the old bastard gave me a funny look with bright blue eyes, the mirror of his daughters.

“Isn’t he only six months old? It’s a little early to be crawling. Mind if I have another look at him, Penny?”

He bent over to scoop me up and I tried to make a mad dash for it. Instead I faceplanted into the floorboards and started wailing! Come save me from the big, bad man, Mummy!

“Dad, you’re scaring him!” huffed my mother as she scooped me up. “Haven’t you looked at him enough already? I thought you hadn’t found anything? My boy is just special, not demonic!”

With every word my mother worked herself into more of a tizzy. I felt a moment of regret for adding to her stress with my crying.

“I’m sorry, Penny. I’m just wary of these things. But you’re right. He… Sebastian… may be a little odd, but I have found no sign of any demonic taint or unusual growths. He’s fine, okay, fine.”

Who are you calling odd, you old codger?! I griped mentally.

My mental railing against the insults levied against my person seemed to do little to calm my mother, or me for that matter. My Status however was doing plenty of work on that front. With Crawling now available to me, I finally had a Path for improving my body. I mean, surely it would give me some Stats in Strength or Coordination. The sooner I was mobile, the better! Then the world would truly open up to me. As for talking, even if I knew the language, I wasn’t about to start speaking. I wasn’t sure that I even could, but there was no way I was giving old man Cornelius more fuel for calling me weird or examining me.

The next few months bled into each other. The air during this time was cool but lacked the bite of the earlier months. Winter had clearly come and gone. My mother would take me outside with her, setting me down in a basket as she attended to chores. A deep basket, as she learned very quickly that I was more than willing to climb out and graze my soft skin on sharp rocks in an attempt to crawl about outside.

With eyes that now actually worked, I was able to see that we lived in a mountainous forest. The peaks loomed above, but were far enough away that they never seemed to block out the sun. Their tops were crowned in white, the snow not melting at those heights even in the slightly warmer air. Surrounding our large home was a forest of greenery. The trees had been driven back for a decent distance, and I was pretty sure I spied the black ashes of burned wood. But whatever fire had raged had kept the trees from reclaiming the zone around the three storey building where we lived.

At first, I hadn’t been sure if it was an inn or something else. Every now and then, we would have guests who would stay for a night or two. It took me a while to piece the words together, but I had finally understood them. My mother and crotchety grandfather worked for something called the Adventurer’s Society. The building we lived in was called an outpost. Basically a place for members of the Adventurer’s Society to stay, which meant it doubled as an inn for the rare merchant caravan that passed through.

However, most of the time it was just the three of us in the huge building. That suited me just fine, as it meant I was able to focus solely on my Paths. With my mother and grandfather often busy, they left me to my devices so long as they were close enough to observe me. Which had led to a few new developments.

With my burgeoning freedom, more waking hours, and more activities I could partake in, I had completed my Paths earlier than originally planned.

You have Completed your Path! Path of Eavesdropping X (10000/10000)

Reward: 2 Unallocated Stats

You have Completed your Path! Path of Willpower X (10000/10000)

Reward: 2 Unallocated Stats, Advanced Attribute Unlocked: Willpower

Free Advanced Attribute Slot available. Would you like to select Willpower as an Advanced Attribute?

You have Completed your Path! Path of Endurance X (10000/10000)

Reward: 2 Unallocated Stats, Advanced Attribute Unlocked: Endurance

Free Advanced Attribute Slot available. Would you like to select Endurance as an Advanced Attribute?

I had chosen no to both offers. While I could see the use for such an Advanced Attribute, I just didn’t know enough. What if I couldn’t remove an Advanced Attribute once selected? There was too much I didn’t know and the rewards came from completing a Basic Path. For now, I would hold out for something better.

I’d advanced my other Paths as well, but was nowhere near completing either.

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Crawling VII (1114/1000)

Reward: +4 Strength, +3 Stamina

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Linguistics - Helenian VIII (2891/2500)

Reward: +2 Mental

With the completion of three Paths all the Unallocated Stats were pumped into my Talented Attribute. In the spaces left by the completed Paths, I found the opportunity for three new Paths and a very enjoyable new game I liked to call ‘find the baby’.

As I crawled underneath a couch and tried not to giggle, I brought up my Status to see how far I had come in nine months.

Soon I would graduate to walking. Then there would be no stopping me! But before that, I needed to start figuring out what Aether was, because that just had to be magic, right?

Name - Sebastian

Skills (0/3)

Class - Locked

Body Features

Basic Attributes

Aether Core - Minor

Strength - 104

Aether Channels - Weak

Stamina - 111

Coordination - 101

Affinity (1/1)

Mental - 140

Shadow (Strong) - 100

Aether - 100

Advanced Attributes (1/2)

Talented - 118

Paths (8/10)

Completed Paths

Path of Exceptionalism I (45/100)

Path of Basic Numeracy X

Path of Linguistics - Helenian VIII (2891/5000)

Path of Linguistics - English X

Path of Crawling VII (1114/2500)

Path of Endurance X

Path of Sneaking I (11/25)

Path of Willpower X

Path of Hiding (9/10)

Path of Eavesdropping X

Path of Stealth (2/10)

Path of the Completionist I (48/50)

Path of Soulstealing (0/10)