The Way Ahead

Chapter 35: Starstruck

Congratulations! For attempting to peel back the intricacies of the System, you have unlocked the System Scholar Path!

Level Up!

Flexibility Level 1516

Walking Level 2831

Research Level 4450

Packing Level 79

Athletics Level 2730

Breathing Level 2123

Outsiders Almanac Level 6566

Identify Level 3233

Polyglot Level 2728

Huh. That was an oddly good result for only a single day of walking.

Hey Lefi. Are there skills which let you gain skill levels faster?

Of course! My Exceptional skill is exactly one such!

Does that affect people near you? I got a ton of levels today for not much effort at all.

It does! I am simply so incredible that simply being near me can make you grow at inconceivable rates!

That struck Edwin as rather odd, and he frowned, So wait, if thats the case, why cant you just like, I dont know, hang around people and help them level faster? Surely Tara would enjoy these sorts of benefits when shes training or there are soldiers training or whatever.

Lefi froze for a moment before regaining his composure, Ah! Uhhh. Ah! It is because they already are affected by a similar Skill which does not interact with my Exceptionalism! It is an evolution of Leadership or Teaching and is quite desirable among those in authority, trainers, and teachers to aid their subjects and students! However! It often requires sole dedication to their tasks and that they are completely under their authority! My Skill only affects those which meet none of the criteria!

So Lefi was pretty clearly lying about something in that statement. He must not have had a Lying skill, somehow, but assuming he was truthful about rulers and teachers having skills that aided skill growth, maybe that was both how Edwin had gotten so many levels while under the Blackstones, and also a possible reason for why he had to be in the service of Lord Sfishkill. Though why wouldnt they have just hired him, then, instead of enslaving him? Ah, whatever. That was all in the past, he should have a pretty hefty head start on whatever pursuit was heading his way, and politicians did stupid things constantly. That was both metaphorically and Edwin took a moment trying to visualize where he was relative to the Blackstone citadel and yes, literally behind him.

There was nothing to be gained dwelling in the past, so it was instead time to get excited for the future!

His current primary problem was that he had a skill point debt, so to speak, of over 300 Skill Points. He had slightly offset that problem, admittedly, by how many points hed gotten from Almanac and Mana Infusion, at 66 and 59 respectively, though he couldnt continue to borrow from his future forever. That was just a personal Ponzi scheme. That debt was also a big part of why he was so hesitant to pick up new skills at the moment. Anything new he picked up would need to be raised to at least level 30, more likely level 60 or beyond, before he would want to complete a Path and evolve it. Plus, there were the Stamina and Health Attributes to get, not to mention Perception if he could get the Scout path, and he was quickly spiralling out of control.

But in any case! He could complete Beginner right here, and even get three points towards his debt! A couple of bookkeeping things first, though. He wanted his notifications to display chronologically, making it easier to parse, and then he was due for some reorganization of his Status, showing and hiding different information. Once he was done, he laid back in satisfaction and dropped 30 points into Beginner.

You have completed the Beginner Path!

Your route has been circuitous and slow, with both your origin and destination unique from your peers. Though you have yet to fully come into your own, you nonetheless possess nearly limitless potential and shall one day be a true force in your own right.

Wait, what? His origin and destination were unique? That didnt sound good. He really hoped he hadnt just screwed himself over again.

Class Change!

Foreign Alchemist Hedge Alchemist

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Calculating Rewards

Done!

You may evolve your Research skill into the Memory skill!

Accept Evolution? Y/N

He should have known something would go wrong. Actually, he did. He just should have trusted his gut. Still, he couldnt say he was too upset. Memory! That was one heck of a Skill, possibly even better than Common Knowledge. Also, it netted him a positive twenty levels to his debt!

Memory

Its the whatchacallit. Something or other

Recall with greater detail

Improved clarity and timespan per level.

Now that was a solid Skill. Maybe he could use it to recall more science stuff in time! That would be so helpful if he could. Edwin looked through his current Status, content.

Name

Edwin Maxlin

Age

22 years

Race

Extraplanar Human

Class

Hedge Alchemist

Attributes

Mana 5

Skills

Magical

Basic Mana Sense: 30, Mana Infusion: 59 (Basic Mana Manipulation 9)

Physical

Athletics: 30, Breathing: 23, Flexibility: 16, Nutrition: 17, Packing 9, Seeing: 21, Sleeping: 23, Survival: 17, Walking: 31

Mental

Polyglot: 28 (Language 36), Mathematics: 37, Memory: 1 (Research 50), Visualization: 28

Combat

Bomb Throwing: 9

Utility

Firestarting: 29, Alchemy: 43, Outsider's Almanac: 66, Identify: 33, First Aid: 17

Paths

Skill Points: 266

Current Plan

Wanderer 0/60, Stonehide Vanquisher 0/60, Titan Slayer 0/90, Path Less Traveled 0/90, Scientist 0/60, Athlete 0/60, Outsider 0/60, Warrior 0/60, Blackstone Conqueror 0/60, Mage 0/60, Novice Pyromancer 0/60, Unkillable 0/90, World Traveler 0/60, Researcher 0/60, Explorer 0/60, Adventurer 0/30, Field Medic 0/60

Save for Tier 2

Micro-Biomancer 0/90, Realm Traveler 0/120, Alchemical Warrior 0/90, Pioneer 0/60

Maybe

Novice 0/12, Trainee 0/60, Trapper 0/60, System Scholar 0/60, Survivor 0/60, Daredevil 0/60, Escapee 0/30, Lecturer 0/30

Probably Not

Lumberjack 0/60, Way of the Empty Hand 0/60, Pyromaniac 0/30, Exile 0/30

No

Slave 0/12, Assassin 0/60, Killer 0/30, Traitor 0/60

Completed Paths

CharLimitCanttalkmuchNocluewhathappenedDidmybesttohelpyouli, Mage, Skilled Arcanist, Physical Alchemist, Bomber, Linguist, Beginner

Gah He had so many expensive Paths. Hed want to bring basically every skill he had up to at least level 60 before he started completing Paths, and with the latest mishap with Lefis prediction about what Beginner should have upgraded, he wouldnt be able to trust his advice on other Paths until Edwin knew it couldnt go badly. At least he wouldnt need to get the Learning skill, not if Memory worked the way it claimed to. Sure, they might have overlap and make his memory truly spectacular, but literally assigning himself homework wasnt worth an additional Skill.

Well, I did it, he told Lefi.

Marvelous! Have you used Common Knowledge yet? Using it upon the shrine can be quite enlightening!

Well, thats the thing. I didnt get it. Research evolved into Memory for me.

Truly? That is most puzzling. Even with your unusual Class, it should have still evolved Identify, even if the result were different. Most curious! But regardless! Memory is a... most excellent Skill!

I guess, yeah. Well, goodnight, Lefi. Bedtime, I suppose.

Lefi started to say something, but Edwin wasnt listening. Maybe hed have a Memory of what it was in the morning, but for now?

Sleeping

Well, traveling with Lefi certainly was certainly effective, if nothing else. Over the next week of travel, hed managed to accumulate levels at an incredibly rapid pace, almost to the point where it made up for Lefis constant chattering. As it turned out, Visualization could be paired with Memory to let Edwin vividly recall scenes from his past, helping him thoroughly tune out the talkative adventurer. Curiously, despite the clarity of the Visualized Memory, Edwin found he frequently wasnt able to remember things like the precise shape of various runes on walls and the like. He could tell, because the shapes changed slightly with every recollection. Perhaps with a higher level, that aspect would diminish, but it was still plenty for his current purposes.

Between his ability to tune out Lefis constant talks about all of his grand adventures in the past- after the third time he told a story about slaying a demon lord, Edwin was pretty sure he was just making it all up as he went along- and the rate at which he was able to level his skills, it was actually tolerable!

Level Up!

Basic Mana Sense 3032

Walking 3138

Athletics 3034

Breathing 2326

Identify 3335

Flexibility 1619

Seeing 2124

Sleeping 2327

Outsiders Almanac 6673

Survival 1719

Visualization 2841

Firestarting 2934

Nutrition 1722

Memory 123

Mathematics 3739

Mana Infusion 5961

Polyglot 2833

Packing 916

First Aid 1718

Congratulations! For reaching level 24 in the Seeing skill, you have unlocked the Scout path!

Even First Aid had leveled just by treating a blister he had gotten on the fourth day traveling, it was great. At the same time, though he didnt know how much longer this would last. Lefi had been pretty clearly getting more and more annoyed with him as time went on. It wasnt there explicitly in his tone of voice or how he treated Edwin- no, the act that he actually liked Edwin held as firm as ever- but just in the tiny things. How readily he cut off Edwins sentences and questions, the curt way hed provide responses, and just how hed never look at Edwin if he could help it. It made Edwin sigh. It seemed that even in a fantasy world, the same things still happened to him. Nobody ever wanted to be around him for whatever reason, and he was never able to figure out what exactly it was. Must have just been some subtle aspect of his behavior which people found annoying, but while it wasnt ideal, he could he could live with it. So what if another person didnt like him and wanted him to go away? Hed had decades of practice dealing with that sort of thing back on Earth.

It was better that way, anyway! If he was alone, it would be harder to track him down and hed have blissful peace to work stuff out at his own pace. It had been too long since he had been able to do Alchemy, after all, and he was getting restless. Theyd spent the last week doing nothing but walking, after all. Sure, the scenery was spectacular, but they never stopped in any of the towns they passed through. In fact, the two times that their path had crossed through a village were also the only times they hadnt slept in a shrine, instead camping off the side of the road in a cave or something. They didnt even seem to have a destination in mind! Whenever he had asked Lefi where they were going, he would always laugh it off with some variation of Oh, the journey is the destination, which frustrated Edwin to no end. Really, the more he thought about it, the more transparent Lefis scheme became. He had been tasked with taking care of Edwin, so he was doing his best to drive him off so hed no longer have to deal with the super-annoying human. Typical. Well, if he wasnt wanted, hed just leave and make it easier on the guy.

If you dont want me around, you can just tell me, you know, and Ill leave. You dont have to pretend to like me. Edwin blurted out at one point while Lefi was in the middle of one of his tall tales, interrupting a story about three sets of identical twins messing with people.

What? Lefi was taken aback, clearly not expecting to be called out on his act, What are you talking about? You are a most excellent companion! If Tara knew how much I would enjoy this, she would have never tried to give me such a task! he blatantly lied.

Sure, sure. You can drop the act whenever you want. Ive had a lot of practice seeing when people dont want me around.

You are mistaken! I do enjoy your presence!

Uh huh. Okay then. Edwin acquiesced. Fine then, if Lefi wouldnt admit to it, hed just have to sneak off overnight at some point. Maybe even tonight. There was nothing worse than someone trying to persuade him that, no, they really did truly like him, and it was a total coincidence that every time he walked into the room they stopped talking and changed whatever they were doing, that he was always accidentally not invited to events, and that theyd totally add him to the group chat. No. He wasnt dealing with that. Hed be better off just leaving. Maybe hed leave a note of some sort. He could char the end of a stick and use it as a makeshift pencil from a torn notebook page.

Lefi,

I appreciate your efforts in informing me about Paths and Skills, though you neednt worry about pretending to like me as you put up with me. Im not going to be a bother for you any more.

Edwin

Edwin nodded in approval at his handiwork, the writing messy but legible. As he had been writing it, he tried to Infuse Polyglot and his stick simultaneously, so it should hopefully be readable by the adventurer once he woke up. His task done, he pretended to go to sleep, waiting until he heard Lefi snoring softly before quietly tearing out the page and setting it on the bed, putting on his shoes and wrapping his cloak around him.

Edwin stole quietly out of the shrine, the door closing without so much as a click while he ventured into the chilly darkness. Sure, his legs were somewhat sore, but between his ever-growing Walking and Sleeping levels, it wasnt too difficult to push onwards.

The world was so quiet and yet so loud, Edwin couldnt help but notice as he followed the hard-packed road, winding through seemingly endless grasslands. Beyond the standard night-noises; an owl hooting in the distance, crickets chirping, and wind snaking through the tall grass, but it still just seemed so peaceful, there were no planes flying overhead, no hubbub of city life in the background, no cars driving by to spoil the natural tapestry of sound. While it had been slightly cloudy at first,it cleared at some point, and the lands were bathed in heavenly light, instinctively drawing Edwins attention to the Great Above..

As he glanced up, Edwin stopped in shock. It struck him all at once that in all his time on Joriah- about two months at this point, by his reckoning- he had somehow never seen the night sky. His first few nights were deep in the Verdant, with the tree cover too thick to see through, then hed been underground in the Citadel for a month and a half before escaping and immediately camping under trees once more. Then the caravan, where hed also slept indoors, and finally on his walk with Lefi, where theyd usually slept indoors once again. Sure, hed seen the occasional star, but hed never seen much beyond that.

What was painted across the night sky was truly wondrous. The moon, a luminous crystal-like orb glittering with pinks and blues, set among a carpet of stars of all shapes and sizes, and even with a lone orange star radiating glorious color across the sky, that was somehow the least impressive aspect of the heavens above. Across the night sky, vivid nebula-like formations were twisted into shapes vaguely reminiscent of galaxies and something else he couldnt quite remember. It looked familiar, though. Most of the sight consisted of luminous, brilliant emerald nebulae, but there were several radiant gold clumps of gases, and even a handful of red-purple clouds which stood in direct contrast to the rest of the sky, providing highlights to frame the rest of the view in even more wonder. Words failed to properly capture the majesty present above, and Edwin could have stood there for hours.

Maybe he did stand there for hours, actually, entranced by the sight above. He stood a very good chance of remaining there until the sun came up, at least. Or he would have, had he not been sent stumbling to the ground by a sudden blow. He spun as he fell, catching a glimpse of two silhouettes against the bright night sky as one of his assailants drew back a club, preparing to strike him again.