Gifted

My grandfather cradled his head with one hand, looking older and more tired than I had ever seen him. It was a reasonable response, as far as I was concerned, because I was pretty sure I was blowing his mind.

“So, beneath this word,” he asked, pointing at the word ‘Skills’, “you have a one and then a line, like this, and then a three?”

I nodded vigorously. My mother had retreated to her stew, but she kept glancing at me with worry. I just beamed back at her when I caught her in the act, hoping to dampen her clear concern for me.

Only one of us needs to worry, Mum. I thought, I’ll do enough for the both of us, promise!

“Three points for Skills isn’t bad. You already have a Skill though. Can you read it out for me?” Cornelius requested.

“Muff-led Steps!” I stated clearly, intentionally getting the word wrong. Once more, my Path of Deception ticked up by a point. It seemed to me that you could progress the Path even when you were telling the truth, so long as you were doing it in a deceptive way.

“That’s a Stealth Skill…have you always had it?”

I shook my head. “Got it from floating words.”

“A Path Reward…”

Cornelius sighed and scribbled another word on his scrap sheet.

“Is this word on your Status?”

“Yep,” I answered after crawling closer and looking at the word the right way up. I could’ve read it upside down. Either way, Path of Stealth was mostly definitely on my Status.

Cornelius rubbed his temples while glancing at my mother.

“What is it, dad?” she asked, leaving the stove and joining us at the table where she pulled me away from the edge.

“It’s an Advanced Path. But the Skill Rewards don’t start till the Third Tier. It shouldn’t be possible, even with his Talented Advanced Attribute.”

Cornelius got a far away look in his eyes as he turned to the window, clearly trying to process the latest bombshell I had dropped in his lap. The moment he reached a conclusion was so obvious that a blind man could’ve picked it out from across the room. The way his body rippled as he straightened his spine and his eyes shifted from the vacant look of someone half asleep to burning with the intensity of a bonfire. The signs all spoke to the old man having found a thread to pull on.

“Do you see this word?” he asked. Affinity, I read, and once more nodded with childlike innocence.

“What does it say underneath it?”

“Shad-ow, then a line like that one, then Strong, then a different funny line, then one, zero, zero, then another different funny line!”

I was jolted sideways as my mother scooped me off the table and wrapped her arms around me. It was so quick I missed Cornelius’s reaction. When I had recovered from the whiplash I found him looking at me. I expected suspicion and wariness. Instead, I saw pity.

What is it, old man? Is Shadow bad? I worriedly thought .

“What does it mean, dad?” asked my mother as she rocked me gently like I was still a tiny baby. At three years old I must’ve weighed at least ten kilograms, but she showed no signs of struggle with my heft.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I…don’t know. I’ve heard of a few individuals who were supposedly born with strong affinities. I even met one. They said that they found it easier to progress Paths and Skills related to their Affinity. I suspect that’s why he’s so far down the Path of Stealth then. He probably also has the Paths for Hiding and Sneaking. Do you, Bastian?”

The old man spelled them out for me. I didn’t see a reason to hide anything at this point except for perhaps my Path of Soulstealing. I admitted I had completed them.

“Completed? Three years old and he has two completed Paths already…”

Cornelius just shook his head.

I turned to my mum and whispered in her ear, “More.”

“More what, honey?” she whispered back, ignoring my grandfather turning to listen to our stage whispers.

“More than two.”

“How many, dearest?” she asked, her voice clearly filled with trepidation for what my answer might be.

I debated lying. I could’ve undersold it and excluded the Paths of Basic Numeracy and English. I would lie about what those Paths were, but not about the number. I suspected that the old man might be able to see through one of those lies when I admitted to some of the other numbers on my Status.

So, I counted on my fingers, watching their eyes get bigger and bigger as I went up until I firmly stated the final tally.

“Ten!”

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Cornelius rubbed his face like he was trying to wipe away the surprise. He couldn’t. He still looked like a fish out of water, gulping for air and unable to find it in this new world he found himself in.

With a sigh, he wrote down a few more words and turned the page to face me, pointing to the first two words. My stomach dropped from the apprehension as he asked me to tell him what it said next to Aether Core. Time to find out if my dreams of magic were truly doomed.

“Min-or,” I answered.

He pointed to the second series of words.

“Weak.”

Cornelius slumped back in his chair. “Well, he might not be the second coming of Darthinian, Lord of Darkness, but he’s not that far short!”

My head swivelled back and forth in confusion.

Who the hell is Darthinian and what does that have to do with me? I demanded mentally.

“Is it bad?” were the words that came out of my mouth.

She shook her head. “Most people have a Minor Aether Core.”

“Minor,” I repeated. “What does it mean?”

“It means you have a small reserve of Aether,” Cornelius answered. “The energy that is used to power Skills, cast Spells and activate enchanted items.”

“Do you have a Minor Aether Core?” I asked my mother.

I saw the war on her face as she debated lying to me. But she didn’t.

“No, I have a Lesser Aether Core. Your grandfather has a Greater Aether Core.”

“Oh,” I said, hugging her more tightly.

All my fears were coming home to roost. I had been reincarnated into a world of magic, grasping powerful rewards with my bare hands and sheer will, only to find that the thing I desired most was likely out of my reach. But, there was a small hope. Could my Aether Core be improved?

“Can I get a Lesser Aether Core like you, Mum?”

Rather than answering me herself, she looked at the old man.

He moved his head back and forth. “It’s possible. Horrendously expensive, but possible. I know that the alchemical ingredients for the Aether Core Growth potion can only be found as trophies from defeating Champions on the Fourth Floor or lower of a Dungeon. But those alchemicals rarely hit the open market. They’re sold at auction and are snapped up by the wealthy.”

“The other option is some Class Paths can improve the Aether Core as well, but he won’t be seeing those till he’s twelve, and even if we found a Class Path that could improve his Aether Core, it’s probably going to be an Adept Class Path. That means he’d need to complete his Basic Class Path first, which means he wouldn’t see it till he’s seventeen years old. Maybe sixteen with his Talented Attribute. Maybe there are some other Paths that offer an Aether Core improvement as a reward, but I don’t know of them and I can guarantee they’re an Elite Path.”

I feigned confusion, triggering another point on my Path of Deception. In truth, I had understood most of what the old man said. It was news to me that I wouldn’t get a Class Path till I was twelve. I wasn’t sure of the relevance but it sounded important. And he seemed to think that even with my Talented Attribute it would take me at least four years to complete the Basic Class Path, whatever that meant. I could be waiting till I was twenty to do magic. At three years old, that didn’t seem like a long way away. No, a long way away was four years old. Twenty might as well have been unfathomable.

“Why so sad, my sweet boy?” asked my mother.

“Thought I was special,” I mumbled.

She squeezed me tight and pressed her cheek against my own. “You are. But no one is good at everything, darling. You are still very special. With everything else you have going for you, you could end up a powerful knight! Would you like that?”

Did I want to be a knight? Not really. I supposed I could still be an adventurer and see all the sights of this new world. Maybe get strong enough to go into the Dungeons and get the alchemicals I would need to access magic myself. It was a small comfort, but it was a comfort. Slowly, I pulled myself mentally out of the depression spiral I had been sinking into.

My eyes turned to the old man to find him watching me curiously. “Do you want to get stronger then, Bastian? To be a knight?”

I nodded slowly like I was unsure. Apparently that was the right answer as Cornelius looked at my mother.

“You’ll teach him, then?” she asked in surprise.

“It would be a shame to waste his talents. I can’t teach him much, but I can definitely teach him a few things. With ten completed Paths he’s almost certainly got the Path of the Completionist unlocked. There are some excellent rewards on that Path if he can reach the third tier. Maybe even the fourth tier. Most people don’t bother with going beyond the third tier but if he sticks with it he might even reach the fifth tier.”

“What does that give?” my mother asked, saving me the trouble.

Keep it up, Mum! I may never get to be a mage, but I’ll be damned if I don’t make a strong warrior instead! I reassured myself mentally.

“An extra Affinity slot,” Cornelius explained. “The fourth tier gives an extra Advanced Attribute slot.”

My mother’s eyes widened, and I tried not to gasp. That sounded amazing!

“Or at least, that’s what I read,” admitted the old man. “Was in the Adventurer Society’s archives in Helenica. So, it could be wrong. But if it’s true, it could give Bastian another leg up. Plus, completing Paths will advance his Path of Exceptionalism.” ℴ

They weren’t wrong. Another six Paths completed would see me at the second Tier on that Path. I was wondering what the reward would be now that I knew for certain that it was an Elite Path and apparently very hard to unlock. I would be exceptional! Just not an exceptional mage any time soon. I tried not to let that thought eat away at me and failed miserably.

My mother nodded seriously before sitting me on the edge of the table with her hands on my waist. She crouched down so we were at eye level.

“Starting tomorrow, Bastian, you’ll spend at least two hours every day training with your grandfather. Alright?”

I nodded, scrunching my little face up to try and match her seriousness. Whether or not I was successful mattered less than the smile that graced her lips. I threw myself forward and was caught up in another hug.

For the rest of the day, I was left to my own devices. I worked on my Paths with a vengeance. Every time the creeping thoughts of my Minor Aether Core started intruding, I would pick a Path to focus on. That night, I didn’t even make it to my bed I was so tired, collapsing on the rug by the fire after dinner. Vague dreams of being carried up the stairs and a blanket being wrapped around me told a story that my waking mind had failed to recognise.

When the sun peaked in through my window the next morning, I was already up. A quick workout and breakfast followed before I found myself in the old man’s office. Ignoring his curios, my ass comfortable in the chair across from him, I focused on his face as he peered down at me.

“Bastian, are you ready to begin?” he asked, more formal than I had expected.

“I am,” I answered.