Al had written up all that math for Erick to read, so he decided to go get that, as well as some easy-reader children’s books because Erick couldn’t read. Al admitted he should have realized that. Anyway, the children’s books should be around the house somewhere. Upstairs? Or… In the back of his office! No. That’s not it. The closets in the storage trunks? Maybe. Hard to say. He’d be back when he found them.

Mostly, he needed to leave because Erick all but explicitly said that he needed to have a Discussion with his daughter, so Al made himself scarce.

After Al left, Jane began the ‘Discussion’ by shoving her Status at Erick.

Jane Flatt

Human, age: 22

Level 9, Class: None

Exp: 4605/5500

Class: -/-

Points: 1

HP

554/554

160 per day

MP

510/510

554 per day

Strength

20

+0

20

Vitality

16

+0

16

Willpower

20

+0

20

Focus

20

+0

20

Concentration 8

Multiplies base MP regen by 2.77

Exp: 1911/3400

Strong 8

Multiplies base HP by 2.77

Exp: 889/3400

Discipline 6

Multiplies base MP by 2.55

Exp: 351/1300

Rejuvenation 8, instant, touch, 5 MP

Touch a creature, heal 5 HP + WIL per second per level of Rejuvenation

Exp: 800/3400

Strike 8, 10-35 HP

Level 1: Deal 1.0x damage with your weapon

Level 8: Deal 2x damage, + 1.5x other damage (Please select a damage type!)

Exp: 700/3400

Blink 5, instant, 25 MP

Instantly move from your location to another within , max range 10m per level of Blink

Exp: 25/800

Ward 1, instant, short range, 24 hours, 10 MP + Z

Create a small ward that can have minor effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers.

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Exp: 80/100

“… So you’re capable of taking a hit.” Erick shoved the floating blue boxes away. “Al said an ooze was a pool of acid. Are you going to punch a pool of acid to death?” Erick frowned. “I don’t see that working out for you.”

“You’d be surprised what a punch can do, but no. I wasn’t thinking that. I’m sure I could find a rock somewhere and smash the ooze,” she said, sarcastically. “Rocks have higher base damage than my fists.”

“That isn’t funny!”

“Then stop treating me like I’m a joke, Dad!”

“I’m not treating you—”

“Yes you are.”

“… Then I’m coming with you. I’m going to kill some slimes, too.”

“… Show me your status.”

Erick floated several blue boxes her way. She frowned as she read them.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 6, Class: None

Exp: 663/1300

Class: -/-

Points: 2

HP

80/80

150 per day

MP

422/422

488 per day

Strength

8

+0

[8]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

20

+0

[20]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

Concentration 5

Multiply your base MP regen by 2.44

Requirements: 20 Focus

Exp: 438/800

Discipline 2

Multiply your base MP by 2.11

Requirements: 20 Willpower

Exp: 166/200

Meditation 4

You are at Rest while Meditating.

Afflicted ailments: Immobile

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 293/500

Mana Shaping 3

Alter spell AOE in better, subtle ways, 10 MP + spellcost

Alter spell AOE in moderate ways, 30 MP + spellcost

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 10/300

Cleanse 5, instant, short range, 10 mana.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 50/800

Ward 1, instant, short range, 24 hours

Create a small ward that can have minor effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 + Z MP

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Exp: 0/100

Mend 3, instant, touch, 10 mana

Touch a non-magical medium sized object, or a small complicated object, and restore it to its prime.

Exp: 10/300

“Dad,” she stressed, like she could not believe the shit she had to deal with.

“Daughter,” he said with the same tone, for much the same reason.

“You don’t have an attack spell!”

“You don’t have a weapon!”

“Fine. Fair. And you could just buy some attack spell right now to shut me up but whatever. You win that round. Still, you only have 80 HP. According to what I’ve read at the guild, the common slime has somewhere between 50 and 300 HP and hits for 30 damage. There was a lot of reading to do, so I didn’t get around to oozes. But… They’re bad, Dad.”

“Good thing you’ll be there.”

She groaned.

“We don’t have to go today. I could get [Ward] up to… whatever level it takes to get the personal ward. That would help, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s level 6, Dad…” She paused. “1900 experience. Like, 5 of your mana bars.”

Erick looked at Jane in a new light. Which, as soon as he realized that he was looking at her in a new light, he knew he shouldn’t have. Jane had always been this way. She was eminently capable, and though she might fail sometimes, it was never a personal failure. If there was a visible obstacle in front of her, she tore at it until it gave way. She was driven. She was strong.

She even had the skill, Strong. That was level 8, too.

Erick needed to let her do her thing. He had known this ever since Jane was 14, when she kicked the shit out of another kid who had the bad luck to pull a knife on her, thinking Jane was an easy target.

And their first injuries on Veird had been a skydive without a parachute. They both survived that.

… But a living pool of acid? Erick did not feel good about Jane’s chances. Or his own chances, for that matter.

Al stuck his head into the room, gauging whether he could come in or not.

He joyfully strode inside. “I found them!” He carried several colorful, thin books in one hand, and thicker books in the other, paired with loose sheets of paper on the top. “These are the starter books, including a few in other languages that you should consider learning while it’s easy.” He set the thin books on the coffee table in the center of the room. “These two are the most mathematically and philosophically accepted arguments regarding Scion of Willpower versus Scion of Focus.” He set those books down, and put the loose papers on top. “This is all the math I was talking about.”

Jane looked at the thinner books. “I thought everyone spoke and read Ecks?”

“They do, until you get to the small villages outside of normal trade routes. Then you got the Gargantual of the Orcols, Draconic of the Dragonkin, Inferni of the Incani and demons, Karstar of the Angels and human nobility. Not to mention regional dialects. There’s Archaic Script, too, which is both the language of the Wrought nobility and enchanting, and which never changes. If you know Ancient Script and you come across an unknown magical item, you’ll know what it’s supposed to do as long as it’s not layered with a fake facade. Some enchanters like to obscure their work.” Al warned, “You can only learn one or two before your [Language Acquisition] wears off. That buff is stressed by quantity more than quality.”

Jane frowned. “I think I have to take up Karstar and Inferni.”

Erick said, “I think I have to kill some slimes.” He picked up the children’s book with a dragonkin, an orcol, and a wrought on the front. “After I learn Ecks.”

Al smiled, then pushed forward a different children’s book. This only had a single redscale dragonkin on the front cover.

Erick happily changed his choice. “I refuse to feel embarrassed. It’s already been established that I can’t read.” He cracked open the book. “Let’s see what Redscale has to say about… tree? And… water? No! Lake. No… pond. Pond? It’s ‘pond’, right?”

Al laughed loud.

“Dad.” Jane said, “It’s an insult to refer to a dragonkin by the color of their scales.”

Al laughed again. “That’s not quite correct. It’s an insult to get the color wrong.”

“Ha! Hear that, Jane? You’re wrong sometimes.”

Jane glared at him

… Okay. She was right. He might have pushed too far.

He offered an olive branch. “I’d like to go into the sewers to hunt the ooze with you, Jane. I can get [Ward] up to 6 and buy some offensive spell, too, so I don’t drag you down. It might take a day. Can you wait till I’m ready, too?”

“I think that is a fine idea!” Al smiled. “And if you train like your daughter, you can get [Ward 6] by tonight. Just in time for a good sleep, to be ready in the morning.” He paused. “You have Discipline now, yes?”

Erick enthusiastically said, “Yup!” but inwardly he was dreading the inevitable Mana Exhaustion.

Al said, “You’ll make a fine mage someday soon, Erick.”

Jane sighed, “Fine,” as she picked up the twin tomes advocating for Willpower over Focus, and Focus over Willpower. “They don’t have these in the Guildhouse. Everyone only cared about Scion of Strength, and the less said about Scion of Vitality, the better.”

Al’s eyes brightened. “Then let me be the one to extol to you the greatness of Scion of Focus, and why it’s so much better than Scion of Willpower.”

“I would like to hear that.” Jane she set the books down beside her on the couch. “Hit me.”

“Your father said the same thing! This expression. I like it. But don’t tell an orcol this, or they’re liable to actually [Strike] you.” Al smiled. “You’d make fast friends, though, so this might be a good thing.”

While they talked to each other, Erick read about Redscale the Explorer, a young man who liked to go around calling out the names of everything in sight. The book was probably designed with [Language Acquisition] in mind, because it didn’t take long before Erick began to understand the play-by-play.

Jane and Al’s discussion was heating up. Al was winning, but Jane was putting up a good fight. It seemed she knew the MP costs of some of the massively expensive spells and was using that as a foothold against Scion of Focus.

Erick mostly ignored them as he continued to read about Redscale. The dragonkin went far and wide, exploring a land full of ‘sheep’ and ‘bees’, and cracks in the ground that let ‘Underworld monsters’ spill out across the land and kill the unsuspecting.

That’s the body of a ‘shadowolf’.

That’s a ‘crystal mimic’, torn to shreds.

That’s a ‘dragon’ ‘corpse’.

And this is how you make ‘monster-meat sausages’.

And this is the ‘marketplace’ where you buy the sausages.

- - - -

Jane was in the second Rest room, learning [Meditation] under Al’s tutelage. She knew she needed the skill, but she also understood how bad the level 1 afflictions would be. She wasn’t willing to put herself in that position of vulnerability inside the Adventurer's Guildhouse. Al and Erick had rapidly agreed that she had made the right choice.

So Erick was left alone in room #1.

And the race was on! Both Erick and Jane were going to get [Ward] to 6, and [Meditation] high enough that it was usable down in the dark.

Erick dumped 400 mana into a [Ward] to prevent 390 damage done to friendlies in the area. As a brilliant white glitter manifested, the world seemed to drop out from under his feet. He managed to stay upright on the couch, but barely. The white glitter soon settled. The majority of the magical disturbance faded, but a ring of white light remained all around Erick, five or six feet from him in all directions. He looked behind him. The magic bubble clipped the edge of the room, leaving a glowing white curve of light halfway up the wall.

Two notices popped up.

Ward level up!

Ward level up!

Ward 3, instant, short range, 24 hours,

Create a Small Ward that can have Minor Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 MP + Z

Create a Small Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 15 MP + Z

Create a Special Ward. Variable Cost

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Small Effects: Visual Disruption, Audio Disruption, Weather Ward

Special Ward: Eschew all other effects in order to shape, color, and illuminate a Ward however you wish. Skill at mana manipulation determines final outcome.

Exp: 100/300

That’s going to eventually be a very large text box, isn’t it?

Erick settled into the couch.

[Meditation].

As he stared out across the pillow and couch filled room, mana flowed around him like a warm, gentle river. The skill was much better now that he wasn’t blind and deaf the whole time. He closed his eyes anyway. Briefly, a large white eye stared into his soul, but the eye had never done anything besides be scary. Erick opened his eyes. The large eye blended into the room, then vanished, like a waking dream.

[Meditation] was a lot like looking at a forest and seeing scary things in the trees. Yelling faces and reaching arms. Eyes leering over branches, frightful bodies waiting behind trunks for your eyes to turn in a different direction. [Meditation] was terrifying at first exposure, but now… Now it wasn’t so bad.

He closed his eyes again and the darkness was there, warm and vast.

Almost an hour later, he felt like it was time to get out of the hot tub.

800 base experience; 400 from [Ward], 400 from [Meditation]. 400 passive experience for Concentration and 400 for Discipline. There were some level-ups in there… But am I going to collapse when I stand?

Erick tried to stand. He collapsed, clipping his head on the corner of the coffee table.

50 damage absorbed!

“Ow.”

He wasn’t bleeding, but he thought he should have been bleeding. He probably should have been bleeding a lot. He tried to stand, but nothing happened. His arms were jelly.

“That looked like a critical hit.” Al was there, picking up Erick and laying him back down on the couch. “That’s enough for both of you. The ooze is still four days from emergence. We have time.”

Erick looked up at Al. “For both of us?”

Al smiled. “Your daughter is strong, but even the strongest metals can be over-forged. She’s sleeping. Really sleeping, too. She won’t be up for at least several hours.”

Erick relaxed. “Good.”

“I’ll shut the river door. Sleep well, Erick Flatt.”

“Thank you.” As Al was leaving, Erick turned to say, “I almost forgot to tell you. Guildmaster Mog told me to tell you thank you for all those quests.” Erick laid back down. “She seems almost as nice as you.”

Al left silently, with a smile.

Erick quickly cast a 400 point [Ward] again, before he thought of it as a Bad Idea.

He instantly fell asleep. A small snore soon joined the quiet sound of a far away river and a second snore, echoing out from the Rest room right next door.

Ward level up!

Ward 4, instant, short range, 24 hours,

Create a Small Ward that can have Minor Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 MP + Z

Create a Small Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 15 MP + Z

Create a Special Ward. Variable Cost

Create a Medium Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 20 MP + Z

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Small Effects: Visual Disruption, Audio Disruption, Weather Ward

Special Ward: Eschew all other effects in order to shape, color, and illuminate a ward however you can. Skill at mana manipulation determines final outcome.

Exp: 200/500

As hours passed, Erick’s exhaustion-snore went away. Erick relaxed into a deep sleep. Another 400 experience added to each of his Concentration and Discipline while he Rested. Those skills were looking good, but they were far from capped.

Concentration 6

Multiply your base MP regen by 2.55

Requirements: 20 Focus

Exp: 438/1300

Discipline 4

Multiply your base MP by 2.33

Requirements: 20 Willpower

Exp: 466/500

[Meditation] did not grow as much as it could have grown had he gone through another iteration, but it would probably be enough. It was usable while awake and moving around, now.

Meditation 5

You are at Rest while Meditating.

Afflicted ailments: Slow movement

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 193/800

And another base level!

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 7, Class: None

Exp: 563/2100

Class: -/-

Points: 4

HP

80/80

150 per day

MP

466/466

510 per day

Strength

8

+0

[8]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

20

+0

[20]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

Erick dreamed of levels and numbers, beautiful giants, and monster-meat sausages. It was an awkward dream.