Elydes

Chapter 22: Unexpected Events

Chapter 22

A month passed as Kai got used to his new skills. After the grind for Orange, he was finally reaping the rewards.

He tried all kinds of different weapons with Elijah: sword, spear, knives, quarterstaff and bow. He still had his doubts about their usefulness, but he agreed that it didnt hurt knowing how to defend yourself.

He preferred spear and sword; he wasnt too bad with staff and knives either. As for the bow... He would die happy if he could not see another bow in his life. He had enough embarrassment for a lifetime. He wanted to bury himself at the memory of that day.

He also received some weapon skills but decided to wait before taking any. He didn't want to commit to one weapon just yet.

The lessons with Dora had been more rewarding. Thanks to the experience he accumulated during his time here, his Apothecary and Plant Processing skills shot through the first levels. Keen Eye also advanced nicely, even if not at the same pace.

On the other hand, Mana Manipulation had been a struggle to train. It felt like he had to fight and coax his own mana to follow his instructions. He made some progress, but it was so damn hard.

One day prior, he had finally managed to form a single wonky mana tendril. That, and a more skilled preparation of the ingredients that created fewer impurities, allowed him to brew an energizing tonic all by himself.

It wasnt as perfect as the ones Dora made, but it was good enough to be considered a success. And the Guide agreed.

*Ding*

New skill available in the Archive! Alchemy (lv1) Use all kinds of ingredients together with your mana to concoct alchemical creations.

*Ding*

Alchemy (lv1) is creating a resonance with your skill Apothecary (lv5)

*Ding*

The compatibility meets the minimum threshold. Do you wish to substituteAlchemy for Apothecary?

Warning: some or all levels of your skill may be lost in the process, the choice is irreversible. Do you wish to proceed?

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Kai looked at Dora dumbfounded. He didn't know this could happen. His teacher seemed to understand his dilemma without the need for any words.

After congratulating him for his success, she began to explain, There is an unfathomable number of skills in existence. Its inevitable for some of them to have overlaps in function. Most of the time its something minor, only apparent when you use them in specific ways. But in a few cases, the overlap is big enough to reach the threshold and trigger a response from the Guide.

It would be sub-optimal to have both skills or having to discard the old one and then learn the new. The Guide offers you a better choice: directly trade your old skill for the new one.

The reasons to choose this are two: first, you wont have to go through the process of forgetting the old skill, and second, you might transfer a few levels to the new skill. Most of them will be lost, but if you intended to choose your new skill, anything more than zero is a welcome bonus.

In your case, Alchemy has a high overlap with Apothecary and is superior to it in most ways. While they are both Orange tier, you could say that one barely reaches it, while the other almost surpasses it.

I would advise you to take the trade. Alchemy has a broader scope and the only disadvantage is that its harder to level. You would progress faster with Apothecary, but you would only be able to create mundane concoctions.

With that the choice was easy, Kai wasnt planning to limit his ambitions.

*Ding*

Congratulations, Apothecary (lv5) has been moved to the Archive, Alchemy (lv2) has taken its place.

Kai felt a slight tingling and by the time he realized the process was done. No terrible feeling from discarding a skill present.

He had lost three levels, but he wasnt too upset about it. He would have chosen to take Alchemy and ditch Apothecary regardless after he noticed the overlap. He could see the glass half empty or half full. He had gained a level for free!

Unfortunately, he confirmed he didnt get any XP for that, but it was expected. On the plus side, now he still had a free slot open.

He was probably going to take a weapon skill, he only had to decide which one. Things couldn't be going better.

A day later came an unexpected news.

Virya wants to see you, Elijah informed him after their morning training.

Kai silently followed the pale man. He was too anxious for small talk. It was always interesting to speak with the mysterious owner of the estate, but he could never predict what she was going to say or ask him. It made him nervous.

Any other time Kai would have filled the silence with questions or sarcastic comments. If Elijah was in a good moodwhich he rarely washe would answer. Alternatively, if he annoyed him enough, he would also get his answer just to make him shut up. The second method was more effective but led to harsher training.

By now he could read Dora like an open book. Elijah wasnt that much harder either, fifty shades of moody, snobbish and disgruntled. Virya was another story, he could not guess her intentions if his life depended on it. She made him feel the same clueless little kid who met her a year ago.

They walked towards the familiar pavilion by the shore, Virya liked to have her breakfast there all year round, no matter the weather. Even when the tide was high, an inch from submerging the structure, or when a tropical cyclone hit the island.

Nothing would stop her from having a leisure breakfast by the sea. Never a drop of water dared fall inside the pavilion.

Kai waited for her sign to come closer, before sitting down at the table. She was sipping her tea while scribbling on a book with a golden pen.

The table had been prepared for two. He wasted no time and poured himself a generous cup of tea. He would have preferred coffee, but he was growing an appreciation for good tea and Virya only drank the best.

He analyzed the variety of pastries and fruit available, before making his choice. Today felt like a papaya kind of day, together with a couple sweet tartlets with small white berries on top that tasted like peaches.

Lets make it three, who knows when the next chance will be?

He enjoyed his food with gusto, savoring every bite. A few minutes later Virya tapped her nail on her teacup, creating a crystal note that got his attention. Her orange eyes nailed on him.

Tell me, child, what do you think of your time here thus far?

She wasted no time with pleasantries. Kai tried to make sense of her question. What did she want him to tell her? That it had been easy? Hard?

The first few months, he had wanted to quit several times. His pride and stubbornness to prove he could do it were the only thread that kept him hanging. Together with the notion this might be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Its been an interesting year. He said politically, keeping a straight face. Waiting to see where Virya wanted the conversation to go.

She didnt seem to mind his vague answer, maybe the question was what she considered pleasantries.

Im sure it has, child. Now that you have reached Orange, there are many more choices in front of you. You once asked me to teach you magic without understanding what that even meant. Have you learned why?

Kai sat straight in his chair, Virya often tested his knowledge and understanding of different topics to make sure he didnt mindlessly repeat what he heard.

This time her question was easier than usual.

Kai gathered his thoughts to hit all the important points and keep it concise.

Before coming here, he had a very confused idea of what magic was. The first step to make things clear was to understand how mana worked and how it affected the world. It wasnt entirely correct to equate mana to magic, but it was a necessary simplification to explain 99% of unexplainable phenomena.

Even if there was no mana bar in the status window and few people could perceive itlet alone manipulate itno one doubted its existence. Even in rural villages like Whiteshore people often spoke of mana. He had never stopped to consider how weird that was.

The reason was quite simple: people made use of it all the time. After a certain point, to keep pushing your skills higher and evolve them, using mana was the only way. Most people did it subconsciously and then received a skill evolution that used it consistently. In time, they would get a sense for it. Many unlocked Mana Sense this wayit had been a big blow to his pride when he discovered it.

However, almost no one bothered to learn the skill. If you got it offered that way, it usually meant you had little to no talent with mana. With limited skill slots, few could afford to keep a skill that needed extensive training to show its worth.

The skills from your profession often made use of mana too, but Virya had not given him access to the books that discussed professions in detail.

Mana was applied to almost every field to different degrees. You could say everyone used some form of magic. Narrowing the field to those who made active use of mana and had dedicated skillspeople Kai would call magesthere were still many different possibilities.

To make things easy you could divide people into two groups: magical craftsmen, like alchemists and enchanters, who applied their mana to different materials to produce a magical creation; and traditional casters who conjured fireballs or wind to blow your sails. This group applied their mana directly to the environment to cast a spell.

There were dozens of different paths in each group, but the books he studied only gave a general overview.

Finishing his explanation, Virya nodded at him and got to the heart of the matter.

You still have much to learn before youll need to choose what you want to specialize in. Depending on which skills you spend more time training, some paths will become easier to follow. Theodora tells me you might have some talent for alchemy. If you do well learning under her, it will grant you many opportunities even on the mainland. You might be able to make a decent living by the time you reach adulthood.

The path of a caster is also a valid choice. But I cant promise you'll make a good living if you choose that. While rare here, there are plenty of broke apprentices on the continent.

There is only so much you can learn without the attributes and advantages granted by a profession. But the study of alchemy is not as reliant on that in the initial stages.

All paths are viable, but they are not equally difficult. If you want a guaranteed future, alchemy is your best option.

Virya paused to give him the time to think about her words.

You dont have to choose right now, but as you learn more, the possible paths will get closer or farther. Only you can decide what you wish to become. With only fourteen skill slots, it won't be easy if you choose to pursue multiple paths.

She said it so casually, Kai almost missed it amidst all the thoughts swirling in his head.

Only fourteen? How many skill slots do your students usually have exactly!?

Thinking again, Kai didnt really want to know the answer. He didnt think his little heart could take it. He was still riding the wave of excitement of his breakthrough and preferred to enjoy that a bit longer.

Next, they talked about his new skills and training.

The more skills you have the more you will be offered, higher attributes will also help. Many skills require one or more others to obtain. Your options will continue to grow.

Kai wasnt sure if he should feel happy about it, or not. On one hand, the opportunity of learning new skills was exciting; on the other, he would be back to not having enough slots. It was a frustrating situation, but he had an inkling it was kind of a permanent situation for everyone. No number would ever be big enough.

I cant wait to spend hours agonizing over an impossible decision.

Virya showed no intention of taking a more active role in his training. Not that Kai expected any different. She was probably used to teaching more advanced students and considered it a waste of her time to teach him the equivalent of crawling in magical terms.

That was his best guess. Something entirely different might also be afoot He had a million questions but stopped himself.

Had he become so cynical he didnt believe someone could do a good action without a second motive? Maybe. Could she only want to help a promising child? He wanted to say yes, but who knew?

It wasnt out of the realm of possibilities to think she did it out of boredom or curiosity. After all, she did delegate all the work to her two sidekicks. It wasnt like it cost her much effort.

Kai wasnt sure what kind of relationship there was between the three residents of the estate. He would not call Elijah and Dora servants, but they were both deferent towards Virya.

It could all be on a whim, but she did seem to take special care to give him some random lesson here and there, checking if he performed up to her standards.

I have a better shot at reading the waves to predict the weather than understanding Virya's intentions.

It wasnt a mystery he was going to crack, but he would not stop trying.

Other pressing thoughts also wanted his attention. Reaching Orange had been his goal for so long. A clear objective to strive towards. Now he only had questions. What did he wish to become?

An alchemist would be neat. He had only touched upon the very edge of alchemy, but he liked it so far. Was it the best path for his future?

Although he read all the books he was allowed, he felt he didnt know much about life outside the archipelago. From what little he did know, alchemy looked like a solid and safe path. And Dora also said he had a talent for it. Was that the right decision?

Why couldnt things ever be easy and clear?

Virya tapped on her cup again, making him realize he had fallen into his thoughts for more than a couple minutes.

Kai was about to get up, thinking the conversation was over, but she stopped him mid-action.

There is one more thing, child. Your seventh birthday is less than two weeks away and I know it's an important occasion in the archipelago. You should go back to Greenside with your family. It will give you time to think things over. Make your preparations, you leave in two days.

Just like that, the empress made her decree and Kai had to obey. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up and made his way out of the pavilion.

Im going home

The news took him off-guard. He had been so focused on his recent progress, he forgot about the mysterious ritual for his seventh birthday.

It felt like so long since he left his family. Alana visited him once every couple of months, when she did some commission for Virya, but he had not seen Kea or Ele in almost a year.

A quiet tension gripped his insides at the idea of going home. His mind went back to the decision he made when he chose to stay. He had refused a substantial amount of money.

Did I make the right call?

His mom told him everything was fine at home, but what if she lied to make him feel better?

Where do you think you are going? Elijahs sharp voice cut into his thoughts.

Ehm to Dora to make preparations for the journey home?

And you think you can just leave and waste a couple months lazing around?

Please, ancestors, tell me he is not going to give me homework.

He had kind of thought he was going to take that time off, maybe a bit of mana training on the side.

His expression must have told the same story because Elijah huffed and made a gesture to follow.

Going back to your hometown is the perfect opportunity to train some skills we neglected.

Dammit, it's truly homework. May the spirits protect me.

It was not all bad, nothing like a strenuous routine to keep his mind busy from complicated emotions.

Yessir! Im coming! Kai said, doing a fake military salute and running after him.

Elijah threw him a weird look but didnt comment.