Gifted

Sitting around the kitchen table for breakfast the following morning, I was basically glowing such was my excitement. I was ready for a day of testing the impact of my new Gifted attribute, and that alone had my mind considering all the possibilities. Path of Running was going to be my first test, but it was actually my Path of Aethersensing that I was most keen to see the results for. Had my new attribute brought my ability to progress along the Path closer to Etta’s? That was the question I wanted an answer to.

Gramps wandered in later than usual, and I stood up to brew him some tea. I was surprised when I got a step on my Path of Brewing immediately. Normally I only got a step from brewing tea for Gramps every couple of days. Was my Gifted attribute already helping me?

I carried the steaming tea over to Gramps, the clay mug warm in my little hands. He smiled at me as I approached, his lips tugging at his bushy beard. “I had a thought last night after we went to bed. Well, if you’re still set on becoming a mage…”

I just gave him the old are you being stupid right now stare to which he just smirked back at me in amusement.

“Then, with your mum’s permission, I am going to submit a request to the Adventurer’s Society for a couple of Shadow Path manuals.”

I looked at him in confusion, ignoring my Mum’s raised eyebrow in favour of indulging my curiosity. “What’s a Path manual?”

“A manual is like a book that is meant to give you… guidance… like when I or your mother are teaching you.”

I swallowed my immediate response that I knew what a ‘manual’ was and opted for zeroing in on what exactly I had meant by my question. “So a Path manual would tell me how to unlock a Path?”

“And advise you on how best to progress it or if there are known achievements that will help them specifically. It’s one of the benefits of being a member of the Adventurer’s Society. Discounted rates on Path manuals. Some of the bigger Guilds have their own secret Path manuals as well.”

“Like who?” I demanded, leaning forward over the table.

Secrets? Sign me up!

“The most famous is probably the Shining Light Guild and the Path they have to unlock and bestow the Radiance Affinity. If anyone else knows it, they aren’t sharing it.”

“That’s what they used on us when your friend visited?”

Gramps nodded, sipping his tea. “One of its most famous spells is used for detecting pacts with demons. That is what he used on us.”

Outside the wind flitted through Mum’s garden, the coolness coming under the door and making me shiver.

This means I am not pacted with a demon at least, I thought, reassuring myself that the Shining Light Guild hadn’t detected anything. The thought reminded me about the Myriad Paths wording for my Achievement. The additional steps from the reward couldn’t be applied to my ‘mutated’ Path, which could only be my Path of Soulstealing.

My curiosity almost drove me to ask Gramps about mutated Paths right then and there, but in the end my paranoia won that argument. There were some things I just wasn’t ready to share: at least, not yet. That didn’t mean there weren’t other questions I could ask.

“What Path manuals would you want to get me, Gramps?”

Gramps finished his tea, looking thoughtful. “Since your Mother is opposed to you learning the thief arts, the only ones I am certain the Adventurer’s Society has are the Path of Misdirection, the Path of Masks, and the Path of Shadow Veil. The first two are Basic Paths, while Shadow Veil is an Advanced Aether Path specific to the Shadow affinity. Shadow, more than any other affinity, is skilled at hiding and obfuscating things, including its own aether.”

“Those all sound good then. How am I going to fit them in with weapons training though? We’re still doing that right?” I implored. I hadn’t forgotten about the Path of Weapon Mastery. Magic might draw me like a moth to a flame, but I knew that I would need to be able to fight if I intended to adventure across the face of this new world. Even Archmages could run out of aether, or at least I assumed they could.

“Yes, about that. I am still trying to convince my old friend to come visit for a season or two and train you. However, he has yet to agree and is currently otherwise engaged. At least, that’s what his letter said. Whether that means he’s drinking himself stupid in some flea-bitten tavern or teaching some noble’s get… I couldn’t say,” Gramps answered, looking at me to gauge my reaction.

I intentionally avoided looking at Mum, who I knew for a fact had shot Gramps a glare at the description of his friend. Whether it was because of the description of the man or because she now knew who the old codger was trying to get to teach me, I couldn’t have said. What I could do is control my own reaction. While I was disappointed that it might be another year or two before I got a proper instructor for all my unlocked weapon Paths, I could make do in the meantime with plenty of other Paths.

“That’s fine, Gramps,” I replied with a shrug, finishing off my toast. “I’ve got plenty of other stuff to work on until then. Are we doing aethersensing training today?”

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Gramps smiled and nodded. “Come on. You can get an early start, and Etta can join in when she arrives.”

It was impossible to miss the pleased smile on my mother’s lips as she busied herself around the kitchen. Her smile was always the same when Gramps devoted time to me, that of someone unreasonably happy. More to the point, it was contagious, and as we left the kitchen that same smile found its way onto my face.

It didn’t last though. Etta showed up maybe half an hour later and as always trounced me at sensing Gramps’ aether. However, what surprised me was the number of steps we both gained. Up until now, Etta and I hadn’t really talked about Paths or progress. Until recently Etta had nothing to tell me and I was a paranoid little brat not willing to share information that could cause someone to target me or begin to suspect just how weird I was. But that had changed since Etta unlocked her Status and her acknowledgement that she knew one of my secrets.

“How many steps?” I asked quietly as we exited Gramps’ office.

Etta stared into space for a second and I could see her lips moving as she did some mental math far more slowly than I would have. One of the many benefits of my memories from my past life.

“Three,” she finally said. “You?”

I debated lying and after a moments thought I decided to follow through. I had also earned three steps, but if I told Etta that, she would wonder how I was keeping up with her when I successfully detected Gramps’ aether half as often as she did. There was also the fact that I didn’t want to tramp on her ego at all. She was still better than I was at aethersensing anyway. I just matched her Path progression.

“Two,” I answered as though I had just done the same mental arithmetic.

Etta looked away but I caught her pleased grin before she hid her mouth. I kept my own face ambivalent as I saw my Path of Deception tick up.

Our reading and writing lessons started shortly afterwards in the common room. Recently, Mum had begun adding in similar topics to the ones we discussed on our walks, weaving in little tidbits of information about Ajinar and Meravia. For the most part, I think they went over Etta’s head, but I drank in that information like a man dying of thirst. Everything was new and interesting to me because I had the memories of another world, another life, to compare this new world with.

The lesson was only halfway done when the doors to the outpost banged open. Five people strolled in, calling for food and drinks. I paused in my writing to take them in.

The one in front, and clearly the loudest, was the shortest of the lot. A beastkin woman with the face of a fox, covered in dark red fur with a streak of white that cut across the middle of her face from her forehead down to her chin. She wore a black, leather breastplate with leather bands bound to it that hung down like a skirt reaching the foxkin’s double-jointed knees. Her upper and lower legs were also bound in leather, with a lot of knives strapped anywhere there was room. However, the most notable thing about the foxkin was the air of danger that seemed to surround her. She moved like a predator.

Behind her walked three men, all of them similarly attired in leather armour and with the same blond hair and brown eyes that made me instantly suspect they were related. Brothers was my guess. They sported a variety of weapons, but the most notable was the lack of any swords. They had hatchets, small hammers, bucklers strapped to their backs, and short bows strung across their chests. Hunters, I decided, one and all.

The final adventurer was another foxkin, this one with a similar copper red coat to the first. On their hip was a short sword, but instead of leather armour like the rest, they wore loose fitting dark cloth that covered them from neck to ankle and wrist. The cloth was bound to their stomach with a cloth belt in a complex knot.

My mother was already moving, motioning for Etta and I to pack up our paper and ink as she headed for the bar.

“Is ale fine?” she called, her dark blue woolen dress swishing as she moved towards the bar.

“Five,” the dagger-laden foxkin called after her.

“Four.”

The response was from the second foxkin.

“Come on, Miyara! We’re not tackling the Rift till tomorrow!” countered the first foxkin.

Miyara simply shook her head and repeated herself. “Four. We’re in a strange place, Amari.”

I watched as Amari grumbled quietly before glancing at the three men. “You’ll drink with me, right?”

“Of course we will,” responded the oldest looking one of the brothers with a confident grin.

Gramps chose that moment to join us in the common room. “You must be here about the Rift?”

What Rift, you old codger?! I demanded mentally. And why didn’t you tell me?

“You the Factor?” Miyara asked, turning towards Gramps.

“I am.”

Miyara didn’t smile at the answer, her countenance deadpan. “Yes, we’re here to deal with the Rift. According to the job posting, the Warden found it a half day’s walk south. Do you have any maps of the area?”

“We do. One of the locals makes them. Wanting a copy?” Gramps countered. I was guessing it was Hurin that made the maps, though it might’ve been the Warden or his family now that I thought about it. Either way, I was riveted at getting to see more of how adventurers worked.

“Which Dungeon is the Rift from?” I asked, piping up.

Eight sets of eyes turned to look at me, and I wondered if I had said the wrong thing. But then Amari was up next to me, moving incredibly quickly as she ran a clawed hand through my hair.

“Aren’t you a little cutie! We’ve got the same fur! What’s your name?” she asked as I froze at being touched by a stranger, my mind taking a second to realise that she was referring to the colour of my hair. I suppose they were quite similar, with a dark red copper hue.

I wasn’t sure whether or not to answer but Mum saved me the trouble. “His name is Sebastian. He’s my son.”

“Leave the poor boy alone, Amari,” Miyara called, before glancing at me. “The Rift is from the Endless Plains Dungeon.”

I decided then and there that I was going to abuse my apparent cuteness to pump these adventurers for information. It was time to get to work of the social kind.ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮