The next morning, Miles faced his father in a spar. Even though Miles had improved considerably since he had gained those skills he still couldn’t even touch his Dad. Even when he used Thrust, when he thought he had a good chance it was always slapped away. He had already used it four times now and his arms were shaky. Even more frustrating, his Dad’s spear always found its way into any openings in Miles’s defense. Right now, they were taking a small water break. It was only when they stopped did he hear the small dings, indicating one of the system’s notifications.

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Spearmanship gained 6 levels. +6 EXP

Footwork gained 6 levels. +6 EXP

Thrust gained 4 levels. +4 EXP

Tumbling gained 1 level. + 1 EXP

You gained 1 level. +3 Free Stats

Checking his Status Page, he laughed. “That was exactly what I needed for another level!”

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General Info:

Name: Miles Reamore

Class: [Child of Ateia / Linus Reamore (Sta)]

Race: Human

Level: 0th 51

Age: 8

Experience: 0 / 51

Health: 218.7 / 225

H. Regen: 2.7 / day

Stamina: 305.85 / 405

S. Regen: 3.85 / day

Mana: 75 / 75

M. Regen: 1.4 / day

Stats:

Strength: 41

Intelligence: 10

Constitution: 40

Will: 5

Alacrity: 36

Acuity: 18

Pending Stat Points: 3

Favored Skills:

Running 0th 48

Tumbling 0th 31

Jumping 0th 23

Spearmanship 0th 12

Footwork 0th 11

Thrust 0th 7

Skills:

Cleaning 0th 15

History of The First Empire 0th 5

Standard Language 0th 18

Empirical Language 0th 14

Mathematics 0th 23

“Good job, Son! I’m proud of you.”

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yes, Miles?”

“There’s something I don’t understand. After I use Thrust, I still have plenty of Stamina left, but my arms feel weak and shaky. I thought that should only happen when you’re too low?”

“That’s because this is your first Stamina skill. Your body’s learning how to use it properly. Don’t worry though. These shakes only happen the first few levels. This won’t be a problem for any other new skills you get. It should already be at a decent level by now, so once you use it again, you should notice that they’ve already faded quite a bit.”

Miles nodded, relieved that there wasn’t something wrong. For his free points, he was going to put some more into STR and CON, but then remembered yesterday’s lesson with Miss Rowvyre. He put all three points into Will. Now it was 8. That pushed his health up to 240, and his mana to 90.

“Ok, I’m ready now. Lets keep going?” He said.

His Dad smiled. “It’s good that you have a drive to train the spear, but you’ve already used up a lot of your Stamina today. It’s good to rest, and let it refill. For the rest of our time today, we will practice our meditation.”

“But there’s so much time left!”

“Exactly. You need to take some time to get it. Meditation won’t come as naturally to you as the spear did.”

He grumbled, but he still went and sat down. He laid his spear across his lap, and closed his eyes. “Clear your mind, Miles. Take deep, slow breaths.” His Dad came and sat facing him, his own spear across the lap as well.

They sat like that for the rest of morning training. Miles got bored though, so instead he tried using this time for Mana Sense. He didn’t know what he was trying to sense, but it sounded cool.

~~~

“Hey, Aila!” Miles greeted her in the outer gardens to the left of the main house. It was the week’s end, so they didn’t have classes today. Aila was in a light dress with a red himation draped loosely like a shawl. She was sitting at an outdoor table. Though she was outside, she seemed pretty down today. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It's just…” She trailed off, shaking slightly. “I really didn’t like training yesterday.” Miles didn’t know how to reply to that.

“What did you do?”

“I got my Lightning Resistance and Pain Resistance skills.” Oh. uh…. His mind raced to try and find what would make her feel better. Cookies! Did they have cookies here?

“Hey! You know what’ll make you feel better? Cookies! Do you have any cookies?”

“Maybe in the kitchen, but I don’t think the cook will let us take any.”

A small ding resounding in his mind. He checked his notifications.

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New Quest: Who Stole the Cookies?

Task: Get a cookie from the cookie jar.

Time Limit: Today.

Restrictions: Don’t get noticed by the cook.

Reward: Stealth skill unlocked.

Penalty: Kicked out of the kitchens. Quest Restart.

He looked excitedly at Aila. “Did you get the quest too?”

She was grinning at him. “Yeah! Let's do it!” The two of them stood up to go inside. “So how do we steal the cookies without getting noticed?” That was a good question. Entering through the nearby door, they entered into the inner courtyard which was like the central hub to get to any of the areas in the estate. The kitchen was through the doors to the back left. Just inside the door was a hallway, which had the kitchen, dining room, and a lounge. There weren’t many places to hide here, and there was always a servant or two passing by busy with their tasks.

“Let's take a look first.” He said, and he ran across the courtyard to press himself up against the wall by the door. Smiling in excitement, he motioned to Aila. “Come on!” He called to her in a hushed voice. She ran over, and flanked the other side of the door. They both took a peek inside.

Miles could see a servant all the way down the hall, in the lounge, but he was busy dusting things and he disappeared out of sight. More importantly, the doors to the kitchen were open. Aila went in, approaching the doors to the kitchen in a crouch. Wait for me! Miles followed behind her. The two of them looked inside the kitchen. It was a large room, with a large fire stove, a brick oven, and counters and cupboards lining the walls. In the center of the room was a large island. The cook was close by, on their side of the room but facing away from them. The cook was busy flattening out some dough to make bread. There was one more helper in the kitchen on the far side cutting some vegetables. Where's the cookie jar? He scanned the counter tops. There! On the far side countertop close to the helper.

Miles pulled back, and exited the hallway back to the courtyard. Aila followed behind him. A servant entered the courtyard, entering from the training yard, carrying a basket of laundry. Their breath froze when she looked at them, crouching near the door. She bowed her head, arms too full to bow fully, and moved along. Luckily, it was only the cook that couldn't notice them.

"This is pretty nerve wracking." He said, Aila breathing out a sigh of relief when the servant left.

"I know! I've never done anything like this before. Did you see the jar by the guy cutting veggies?" Just then, a servant came out from the door they were flanking, causing Miles to jump. It was the servant that was dusting in the lounge. The man looked surprised to find two kids flanking him.

"Young miss Waesdove, young sir Reamore. May I help you in any way?"

"No, we're good!" Aila said, a little too loud. "Move along." The man nodded, and left towards the front half of the villa.

When they were alone, Miles asked, "so how are we going to get the jar? That helper guy is right next to it!"

Aila thought about it for a minute. "We could wait until they leave."

"Aren't they cooking lunch right now? That could take a long time."

"Oh, right. Maybe a distraction?"

"Good idea!" He looked around to see if he could find any inspiration. Nothing seemed like it would work.

"Oh!" Aila said. "Maybe we can get some help! Uncle Dulli can help us."

"You called, Miss Aila?" Gudulli said, suddenly right next to them, causing Miles to jump nearly right out of his sandals. How does he do that?

"Uncle Dulli! We need you to distract the two cooks in the kitchen." She said, whispering.

"Certainly." Uncle Dulli said. "Just tell me when."

"Thank you, Uncle Dulli." Miles said.

With help enlisted, they snuck down the hallway to the second door to the kitchens. Hearts pumping, they saw the helper peeling something. He was merrily humming some tune, unaware of the two rogues. They nodded towards Gudulli. He came to the first doorway to the kitchen and called both the cook and helper. “Mr. Fendi, Mr. Paran. A moment of your time please.” From their point of view, they saw the helper look up from his peeling. He stood up, and disappeared from their view.

“Of course, Mr. Waeslin. How can I help?” They heard the cook say. Cautiously, the two creeped into the room, hidden from view by the counter. They peeked towards the other door. Uncle Dulli stood in the doorway, the two other men facing him. The helper stood with his back to them, but the cook was only to the side. They would just have to risk it.

“Well, it's about tonight's dinner. Young miss Aila had a rough time last night and I feel like we should do something special. How about preparing her favorite carbonara?” While they were talking, Miles and Aila scurried over behind the center island. Aila peeked over the top.

“We’re good!” She whispered to him. Miles grabbed the jar as quietly as he could.

“Got it! Let's go!” He whispered back.

“We can do that. We’re running low on the parmesan though. We’ll have to send someone out to get more.” The cook was talking, when he turned to the helper. The two ducked hastily behind the island. “Mr. Paran, could you go after lunch?”

“Yes, sir. We were running low on some spices and I was planning on it anyway.”

“Excellent news.” Said Uncle Dulli. “Now for dessert, what would you suggest, Mr. Fendi?” Miles peeked out the side, hugging the jar to his chest. Luckily, the cook had turned back to face Uncle Dulli.

“Ok, go!” he whispered to Aila. The two of them scurried back out of the kitchen, letting relieved sighs.

The quest didn’t say they were done though. They had to get away with their goods now, and that meant waiting for Uncle Dulli to finish his conversation. They said something about a fruity pudding and were done soon after.

They left with Dulli, unnoticed because he had closed the door, and made their way back to the gazebo laughing. The ding in their minds confirming a successful heist. “Thank you, Uncle Dulli!” they said.

Miles opened the jar, offering it to Aila. She reached in and grabbed two cookies, and offered one to Uncle Dulli. “Here! This is your share, for helping out.” Gudilli accepted the cookie.

“Thank you, young Miss Aila. I’m glad to see you recover your spirit. Shall I send for some tea, or juice to go with the cookies?”

“Yes please, thank you.”

“Very well then. Enjoy your time.” He bowed and went back inside.

Miles and Aila laughed joyously. “We did it!” Miles exclaimed, munching down a cookie and checked his notifications.

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Quest Completed!

For successfully completing the quest, Who Stole the Cookies?, you have gained the skill: Stealth.

Congratulations!

You’ve gained the skill: Stealth!

+50 EXP

You move unheard and unseen, making use of your surroundings to your advantage.

Passive Effect: This skill will aid you in moving even quieter. Based off of ALA.

Wait, I didn’t get a level! He checked his Status and he was just one EXP short of the next level. Aw, man!

“I gained another level too!” Aila shouted gleefully.

“Really? What level are you now?”

“54!” She said proudly.

“What! You’re 3 whole levels ahead of me!” I need to train harder. What new skills can I learn? He had no idea. “Hey, you wanna race?”

~~~

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Running gained 1 level. +1 EXP

You gained 1 level. +3 Free Stats

He he he. Miles giggling to himself walking home with his Mom. He put two points into STR and one into CON. “Did something good happen?” His Mom asked.

“I got a new skill! It’s called stealth! We got a whole quest and everything! We had to sneak into the kitchen to get some cookies, but there were a lot of people nearby, so we got some help from Uncle Dulli.” He began to excitedly tell the story, greatly exaggerating parts, including dodges and rolls, and not at all including the parts where he was startled by the servants. “I wanted to cheer her up, because she was really sad from her skill training. Hey, speaking of skill training, what are other skills I can learn?”

“I’m glad that you’re always looking out for your friends. Sometimes, just knowing you have a friend there can help a lot. For your skills, your Dad’s going to start taking you out hunting sometime next month. With those hunting trips you can learn a variety of useful skills. Like Hunting, Botanize, Field Dressing, Climbing, Knife Handling. And that’s just the beginner’s skills. But if you’re wanting to learn new skills right now, I can help you continue with Meditate and Mana Sense. He groaned, scrunching his face.

“Are there any other skills you can help me with? I don’t really get what I’m supposed to do with Meditate.” His Mom laughed.

“You’re not supposed to do anything. Meditation is about relaxing your mind! Well, For me, I use the time to sort out my emotions and a time of self reflection. I ponder on what I’m stressed or angry about, and I find solutions to them. If it's something I can’t do anything about, I use Meditation to let go of my anger and stress. Maybe that would help you too?” Hmm. Maybe.

“I’ll help with Mana Sense too, I could manipulate some mana to give you a starting point on what to sense.”

~~~

They finished prepping dinner, it was cooking on the stove, and Miles sat across from his Mom. She was using magic, holding a still flame in her hands. He still didn’t get either of the skills, but he felt it was a step in the right direction.

“Hey, Mom?”

“Yes, Miles?”

“I was thinking about what you said, about being there for your friends. Um, can I join Aila in her resistance training?”

Mom was quiet for a long time, before finally saying. “If that is what you want, I can talk to Lady Waesdove for you.”

“Thanks, Mom.”