The Lodestar Church - The cynosure of the Lodestar Church is to help people find their path through life, to help direct their journey. The Ordinals, who preach the faith to the common man, never advocate a single direction for the entirety of life. While pilgrimages in one direction are welcome, it is understood and taught that a well-balanced life will have you moving in all directions and rarely a single one. The ultimate test of faith in the Lodestar is to circumnavigate the compass continent, a journey with a constantly changing direction yet a singular purpose. A balanced life is a better life.

Simon the Scribe - Encyclopaedia of Enlightenment.

When we returned Aleera was busy working somewhere with her new tutor, with Grandfather apparently watching from a distance. The majority of her luggage had been moved to the island. We would probably have to build her a further set of rooms to hold it all. That was not everything that Mercurio had brought, though. He had finally arrived with the paints that I had asked for so I was able to colour in some of my earlier pictures.

My sequence of drawings showed my slow exploration of the world around me. Next, I would have to tackle the town. But that would require a fair number of practice drawings to make sure that I didn’t forget anything and that I had the measurements down accurately. While I played with my new paints, Mother and Father set up for dinner. Evidently, we would be having it all together in one of the side rooms off the main hall.

It was here that the idea of our new noble house would meet a new challenge. We only had Des and Sinis to serve our meal. Mother, who had done the cooking, would, if we were putting on the pretence of a noble house, be unable to serve it to us in front of our guest. This meant more work in order to get everything ready while also being presentable at the same time.

Honestly, it would be easier to serve Lady Acacia her meal in her rooms on her own. At least the fish was fresh and exotic having been caught earlier that day from the reef.

The silverware had been pulled out of Grandfather’s chests, places set and we were as ready as we would ever be to welcome our new visitor.

Dong!

At precisely six o’clock the bell rang for the evening meal.

Lady Acacia and my . . . sister descended the stairs. I obviously recognised her but Lady Acaia had clearly spent the early evening braiding Aleera’s hair. It was not just that but both of them were gliding down the stairs. One smoother than the other but it was a noticeable difference from yesterday.

The best bit about being an infant was that an open mouth was not assumed to be a sign of shock and I easily turned it into a wide smile at seeing my sister again. Father and I led the two of them into the dining room that was large enough to comfortably seat the 6 of us without being obscenely large.

Here, Kaius's extended family and Smit’s ambitions to push his sons into different fields and gain a monopoly over the town became most evident. The polished table was a present to him from his brother who was a carpenter, along with the wooden doors that had been opened by Des and Sinis to allow our entrance. Grandpa Smit had probably paid for most of them but got it at cost through his son and my uncle.

Interestingly enough, much like in our first meeting Mother sat at the head of the table while Father sat to her right and Grandfather to her left. I sat next to Father at the table with Aleera opposite. Lady Acacia sat at the other end of the table but it was not a huge table so there were just a few places between Aleera, myself and Lady Acacia.

“We hope you have had a pleasant afternoon settling yourself in,” Mother opened the conversation.

“It was most refreshing,” Lady Acacia riposted.

I sniggered inside but kept my outward expression calm as if unaware of the hidden context. This would do wonders for my acting ability if I could keep it up.

“Aleera was suitably helpful in overseeing the delivery of your belongings, yes?” She inquired.

“Yes, she was most diligent in ensuring their safe and prompt relocation.” She smiled, “While I have yet to rearrange everything to my satisfaction, she has been most attentive in learning the lessons I have started to teach her. She has made her first stride in her progress this afternoon learning the skill, Glide. I was pleasantly surprised with her broad foundation and thrilled to see her pick up a skill so quickly. I cannot wait to see what she is truly capable of with proper education.”

She positively glowed in her praise of my sister. Glide sounded like a rather pointless skill to start with but there were no bad skills, only bad application, according to Grandfather. I wondered how he would apply the skill. Probably to kill something but then that was how he tended to use the majority of his skills it seemed.

“That’s wonderful, Aleera. Well done,” Father beamed at my sister who grinned back.

“We are happy to hear that you are optimistic about Aleera and her progress,” Mother restrained Father from adding any more.

“Yes, we hope you will enjoy the food just as much,” he said, remembering our guest. He gestured Des and Sinis to bring in the food.

They returned with a wide selection of . . . you guessed it, fish.

Each was carried in still sizzling on stone plates. I had used mana to heat the stones to keep the fish still cooking but not outright burning. Each dish had a different selection of herbs and spices from Wanda’s garden, with a side of vegetables. They carried the dishes to Lady Acacia, offering small slices of each fish before working their way around the table and giving us all a small portion of each option before returning to the kitchen.

I say kitchen but really it was a fairly empty room next door with the bare minimum of utensils required for cooking the meal that had been gathered from our home rather than prepared next door. The wonders of magic allowed Mother to do the majority of the cooking on flat stones that I had heated with my magic.

We were about to tuck into our food when Lady Acacia interrupted us with, “Aleera, remember to switch hands.” We watched as Aleera faintly blushed and switched her knife and fork around. We all looked to Aleera questioningly. But it was Lady Acacia who responded, “We are currently also working on gaining the skill Ambidextrous, a simple enough skill but useful in all manner of situations,” she explained.

I was tempted to copy Aleera and start eating with alternate hands straightaway but thought I would save practising that for later out of the gaze of the new tutor. However, that was not to be the case as she continued with, “I highly recommend that in such a small and intimate setting such as this we all make use of every available opportunity to progress with both skills and stats. While your blossoming wealth might become significant in time, the Silversea family is starting from a distinct disadvantage in comparison to the other noble families of Ponente.”

After listening to the mild criticism of our position, Mother and Grandfather calmly switched over their utensils while Father switched mine and his. Then we started eating.

As I watched everyone I realised a couple of things. Firstly, Grandfather and Mother already appeared to have Ambidextrous as a skill or something equally effective as it made no difference to how they would normally eat. Secondly, Father, Aleera and I on the other hand clearly didn’t. After restarting as an infant, redoing my formative years had cured me of nearly all my embarrassment so I didn’t mind the difficulty I had with attempting to feed myself the other way around. Aleera and Father were a little slower to join in and a little more hesitant in their cautious and careful manner of attempting to relearn how to eat. Thirdly, we were being judged.

Lady Acacia might have suggested the skill and a manner in which to gain it to support Aleera’s development but she was also using the lesson to assess the skill levels of my Mother and Grandfather, going by the small smiles passing between them. Father and Aleera were too focused on using their utensils correctly to notice but my . . .

Ding! Ambidextrous (Lv 1)

Well, that was slightly quicker than expected. Eating suddenly became a little smoother and possibly a lot more dangerous as I noticed Lady Acacia turn to frown in my direction. I fumbled the next mouthful on purpose, leaving Father to clean me up as I looked anywhere but at our guest.

I had always picked up skills quicker than my sister, who had yet to quite master it. But that was possibly the fastest I had ever gained a skill after attempting it. I had not even finished my first plate of fish, something else had to be at play here. Was having a tutor that effective at imparting skills? Would a skill such as tutor, teach or instruct affect a persons ability to level skills?

“How old did you say Callen was again?” Lady Acacia asked.

My food was so going all over the floor after that comment. Sorry, Des and Sinis. I groaned in my head, I hadn’t even been trying particularly hard.

“He is just over a year in age.” Mother replied, “He was surprisingly big at birth but appears to be growing slower than Aleera since then who practically doubled in size every month after it seemed.” She smiled at Aleera who was still concentrating on her hands and had missed all of what had just transpired.

“It must be all these fine fish you are eating.” Lady Acacia answered. “Any fish, flesh, or fowl high in mana content aids children’s growth in more ways than can be truly explained yet. I always recommend the highest quality mana content cuts for all of my students. It is wonderful to see it already happening here.”

“We are lucky to live so close to a reef.” Father shrugged indifferently to the underlying conversation carrying on between the two ladies at the table.

“Once Aleera is settled into a routine, I would love to visit it one day to take some measurements. If that is possible,” she added.

“I’d be delighted to take you out there one day if you are interested. It is a magnificent corner of the sea,” Father answered, enthused about the interest shown in the open ocean.

“Wonderful . . .” she began before being interrupted.

“I’ve got it!” Aleera shouted as she gained her first level in the skill.

The improvement in her ability to use the knife and fork was noticeable, and, as it was repeated, obviously from the gaining of a skill and its continued use. I hoped that my gaining of the skill was put down to fluke and discounted due to my age but I wouldn’t bet any money on it. She seemed suspicious but ultimately unsure about me.

“Wonderful Kaius, wonderful Aleera, Next time a quieter pride in your progress would be appreciated,” she responded, complimented, and corrected in a single sentence.

“Truly, the benefits of mana-rich meat are not to be discounted,” she added her own explanation for the speed of the skill being learnt.

Two skills for my sister in a single day. I was left wondering whether it was the tutor, the fish or my presence that had helped things along. Poor Father was left struggling with his utensils throughout the meal. But his muttered comment heavily implied that he wasn’t giving up anytime soon. A muttered comment that, despite its nigh-on unintelligible nature, was still picked up by the Lady at the end of the table.

“The benefits of youth outweigh the wisdom of age in gaining new skills. To them, everything is still new. Every moment is an intolerable age while to us it is but a fleeting second. It will come in time with practice,” she responded to his comment, unsolicited. "Remember Aleera, first seed the skills, then raise them. Finally, consolidate them before enjoying the fruits of your labour. We all have a long way to go and there is always room for improvement no matter how old or how incremental the measure."

“To first impressions and first skills!” she raised a toast to our family that we returned in kind. Grandpa Smit had sent us a crate of wine as our grapes were still a way away from producing a decent crop and vintage. The crystal glasses we were raising the toast in were also on loan from him. There were so many things we were going to have to buy, acquire, or make to give the right impression. However, so far we seemed to be doing well. The meal had been a success and my sister had gained two skills in a single day. The tutor had not mentioned the debacle with the shower so possibly everything there was already forgiven. I had got to finally get out onto the open ocean. Our horizons were expanding.

Lady Acacia was escorted back to her room by Aleera, and then we all disappeared deeper into the mountain to our true home for the moment, Grandfather's. Des and Sinis sailed back to Wester and our old home.

Before bedtime, Father had one last bit of advice. “Before you fall asleep check your stats, you might find a nice surprise,” he smiled as he tucked me in. Leaving me to close my eyes and find out for myself what he was talking about, his last words were, “I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.”

Level: 12

Title: Lord

Name: Callen Kai Silversea

Experience: 207,000/ 819,200

Age: 2 year 4 months, 0 weeks, 1 days, 18 hours, 1 minutes

Health: 1460/1460 Stamina: 930/930 Mana: 1380/1380 Psi: 1380/1380

Trait: Long-Lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana, Quick Witted

Attribute: Celerity

Vitality: 146 +1

Endurance: 79 +2

Strength: 54 +2

Dexterity: 108 +1

Senses: 138 +1

Mind: 138 +1

Clarity: 118 +1

Magic: 138 +1

Charisma: 40 +1

Luck: 5

Free Points: 40

Skills:

Tier 1: Meditation (LV50) Swimming (LV50) Time Sense (LV50) Running (LV47) Listening (LV37) Breath Control (LV40) Knots (LV38) Stitching (LV37) Humming (LV34) Whistling (LV33) Singing (LV43) Climb (LV32) Trading (LV31) Drumming (LV31) Dodge (LV31) Draw (LV33) Knife (LV30) Sneak (LV26) Acting (LV21) Diving (LV30) English (LV15) Spanish (LV15) Japanese (LV15) Sight (LV15) Scent (LV15) Detect (LV15) Taste (LV15) Throw (LV15) Lie (LV12) German (LV10) Bussola (LV15) Mathematics (LV15) Sailing (LV25) French (LV7) Decoding (LV10) Appeal (LV7) Calligraphy (LV15) Farming (LV16) Insight (LV4) Balance (LV16) Martial Arts (LV2) Cook (LV3) Ambidextrous (LV 1)

Tier 2: Sense Mana (LV40) Quick reflexes (LV40) Eavesdrop (LV30) Memorisation (LV23) Composition (LV23) Recall (LV23) Piano (LV20) Violin (LV20) Trombone (LV20) Saxophone (LV20) Rebec (LV17) Aulos (LV17) Linguistics (LV16) Translation (LV16) Pain Tolerance (LV15) Stealth (LV15) Cornu (LV15) Harp (LV14) Transplant (LV12) Cartography (LV12) Misdirection (LV9) Haggling (LV6) Order (LV6) Knife Arts (LV6) Poison Tolerance (LV1)

Tier 3: Expel Mana (LV40) Mana Manipulation (LV34) Echolocation (LV31) Absorb Mana (LV30) Boil (LV21) Gale (LV18) Ignite (LV16) Freeze (LV11) Bargain (LV11) Melt (LV11) Deception (LV4) Command L (LV4)

Tier 4: Material Manipulation (Lv 20) Mana Drain (Lv 20) Parallel Processing (Lv 20) Stone shaping (Lv 1)

Tier 5: Mind fortress (Lv 18)

Skill experience: 5950

Origin experience: 0

Combat experience: 10000

Craft experience: 5000

Trade experience: 5000

Popular experience: 1000

Exploring experience: 5000

Total Experience gain since last stat check : 32,050

I didn’t find it till the very end of my experience gain. I now got experience for exploring. How awesome was that! Having spent so long attempting to find what was different I mentally reorganised my skills to be in descending order of skill level per tier. Lady Acacia had hinted at a completely different way of thinking about skills and I looked forward to learning it even if it was only learning it second hand through Aleera.

It might get harder and harder to level up but every time I reached a bottleneck the system provided me with another way to gain the experience. I couldn’t wait to go sailing tomorrow. Maybe we could explore a little further.