Gifted

Cornelius limped into the forest with George by his side. The cut on his leg burned where one of the skeletons had managed to stab him but it was a light injury all things considered. George had fared worse, though less obviously. The ex-noble’s left arm hung limp, broken from blocking a swipe from the undead bear.

Cornelius was just glad to know the man was alive — and human. He’d always known that nobles got a better education and started actively progressing their Paths earlier. Still, even though Cornelius had at least fifteen years on the man, the gap between them in terms of power and capability was far smaller than he would have liked. Certainly in part because Cornelius had been languishing away here in the mountains for almost a decade, but then, so had George.

“That way,” Cornelius said, pointing to their left.

George just grunted, the man grinding his teeth against the pain as he turned to follow Cornelius’s direction.

The battle had been hard, but it had been won. The last thing they were willing to do though was let the Necromancer escape and try again once it had rebuilt its forces. In the dark of the forest, the little goblin couldn’t escape from Cornelius’ Heatsight spell. The little shape stumbling and scraping its way away from them might as well have been painted in a beam of moonlight for Cornelius to see.

The trees around them opened up. A blast of cool air chilled the sweat in Cornelius’s beard, but gave him a clear line of sight towards the stumbling goblin.

Aether coalesced above Cornelius’s hand, shaped with intention and control into a small flaming ball that rocketed across the intervening space. The goblin threw up a quick aether shield, dark green light reeking of death devouring the fireball.

The distraction stopped the Necromancer for only a moment, but that was enough for George to slide across the ground. The earth half-carried, half-launched him forward towards their enemy. His sword swung down, held in one hand as Cornelius sensed an earth spell imbue the blade with additional force.

Another aether shield expanded to intercept the blade, managing to prevent it from slicing the Necromancer in half, the defence shattering beneath the force of the strike. Which was just enough time for the two seeking fireballs to slam into the goblins chest and face. The pained scream of the little beast was music to Cornelius’ ears after what the little vermin had done to Hurin with a Deathbolt spell.

The goblin raised its hand, black and green aether swirling around it as it formed another attack. George didn’t give it the chance, sword slicing through the night air swiftly. Blood sprayed across the ground as George completed his swing, the goblins head flying free of its neck and bouncing across the mountainous ground.

“It’s done,” George said with a sigh, cradling his broken arm.

“I’ll get the body, let’s get back to the outpost,” Cornelius stated, moving forward to grab both the severed head and bleeding corpse of the goblin. They might need them to prove they had killed the Necromancer. Plus, Cornelius had a feeling a certain Hedge Witch might pay for the body, and they were about to lean on her for a lot of healing.

Cornelius wasn’t happy with how the events had transpired, but as he trudged back towards the outpost, at least he could be satisfied in raising his Path of the Grave Warden by two tiers. He’d left the Path dormant since his adventuring days in the city of Varingia, but a couple of extra Aether Stats were a more than welcome reward for slaying over eighty skeletons and a Necromancer. Now he just needed to make sure his daughter and grandson were alive.

***

When I woke up, light was already shining in through the open door of the room I found myself in. My brain felt like mush, a pounding headache behind my eyes causing me to wince as I groggily looked around to figure out where I was. It didn’t take me long, despite my weariness, to recognise Gramps’ room. My mother lay asleep next to me beneath the covers.

In the pale light, I could see small bloody scratches on her hands where they held the blankets up around her neck.

Magatha is going to make a killing in Scar Rejuvenation Potions, I thought.

I tried to move and stifled a groan as a jolt of fiery pain shot up my back. Memories of the night before slowly filtered into my mind. My initial reaction was a desire to jump out of bed to check on everyone, but the fact that the outpost was still standing along with Mum sleeping next to me told me that in some capacity, we had won.

Trying to relax despite the burning on my back from being sliced open by the goblin’s claws and the throbbing of my neck where it had cut me, I settled into Gramps’ bed and focused on the flashing notices in the corner of my vision.

The first notification took my breath away.

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Soulstealing I (39/10)

Reward: Improved Aether Core

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Soulstealing II (39/25)

Reward: Improved Aether Channels

I instantly brought up my Status to see what the rewards meant.

Body Features

Aether Core - Lesser (107)

Aether Channels - Moderate (111)

My mind went back to the night before, going over the sensations I had experienced shortly after the goblin died and I had… inhaled its… what? Essence? Soul? The feeling of something dark and cold expanding in my stomach, sending its tendrils out through the rest of my body. Was this the cause? Were the tentacles just a representation of my Shadow affinity that almost certainly dominated my Aether Core? Were the tendrils the feeling of my Aether Channels expanding? 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

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As I thought about it, plumbing the depths of sensations and memories, my eyes widened. I could sense my Aether Core. Simply lying in bed, doing nothing beyond thinking about it and using no Skills, I could feel a core of aether gently swirling at the centre of my being. If the room got a little blurry as I focused on the sensation of my gently flowing aether, then it definitely wasn’t because I had tears in my eyes. Gramps probably just needed to dust his room.

I sighed happily. I was going to be a mage after all.

The thought made my stomach dip a little. Did the Path of Soulstealing progress through me killing other beings and… well, stealing their souls? Was that the price I had to pay to become a mage? I didn’t know how I felt about that and it was too much to handle while I was recovering from my near death experience. So, I put it aside for now and moved to the next notification.

Achievement Acquired! Improved your Minor Aether Core to a Lesser Aether Core.

Reward: 1000 Steps on any Aether related Basic Path. Three Paths available.

Would you like to apply your reward to the Path of Aethersensing, Aether Manipulation, or Brewing?

I needed more time to think about the answer to the Myriad Paths question, so I skipped it in favour of the next notification

Achievement Acquired! Improved your Weak Aether Channels to Moderate Aether Channels.

Reward: 1000 Steps on any Aether related Basic Path. Three Paths available.

Would you like to apply your reward to the Path of Aethersensing, Aether Manipulation, or Brewing?

I relaxed into the pillow beneath my head, letting the silky softness cushion me as I considered my options. The rewards, after factoring in my Gifted attribute, would almost certainly exceed a total of three thousand steps. If I applied the rewards to the Path of Aether Manipulation it would catapult me instantly to Tier eight on the Path and grant me an extra eight in my Aether Stat. But was that what I wanted? Would it actually make me capable of manipulating my aether?

I doubted it, or if so, didn’t think the impact would be that noticeable. What I really wanted, needed in fact, was the Aethersensing attribute, and to get that I needed to complete my Path of Aethersensing.

The thought of applying the reward to my Path of Brewing never even crossed my mind.

I made my will known to the Myriad Paths.

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Aethersensing VIII (5088/2500)

Reward: +1 Aether

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Aethersensing IX (5088/5000)

Reward: +1 Unallocated Stat

I had gone from less than a quarter of the way through the steps for Path of Aethersensing to just over halfway in a single leap. Almost as important as my progress, I now knew the exact amount my Gifted attribute was improving my progression. My Path of Aethersensing had jumped by exactly three-thousand-two-hundred, which meant each Achievement reward had granted exactly sixteen-hundred, a sixty percent increase over the stated reward. From that, I did the math quickly in my head and determined the base improvement from Gifted must be forty percent, increased to sixty percent because of the extra Stats I had applied to the attribute.

To say I was pleased with the result was an understatement, but there was one more notification waiting — I opened it.

Achievement Acquired! Slay a Classed Individual while not possessing a Class.

Assessing engagement and environment.

Determining physical assistance rendered — No assistance provided by Classed individuals.

Determining equipment assistance rendered — User succeeded with a mundane weapon, no enchantments, spells, or aether-related assistance found.

Determining capability of opponent — Opponent was in a weakened state but still far superior to user’s capabilities.

Determining distance in development between user and opponent — User is still seven years from Class Unlock while opponent had multiple years of Class unlock at triple racial multiplier.

Reward determined.

Reward: Boon Granted: Child Warrior - Gain an extra Stat at even numbered Tiers from any weapon-related Path.

My eyes widened. A Boon? Gramps had never mentioned those, though considering what I had to go through to achieve one, perhaps that lapse had been intentional. I would annoy the old codger about it later.

As though my thought had summoned him, the old man peeked his head around the corner to see how we were doing. He noticed my opened eyes and quietly entered the room, taking up a seat by the bed.

In all the years I had lived with him, I had never seen him looking so worn and tired. He had clearly changed out of his clothes from the night before, his pants a dark brown wool with a creamy white shirt that hid the grey in his beard more than the darker shirts he normally favoured. Over the shirt, he wore his fur coat, though I could see a few cuts on its arms and the fabric still stunk of smoke from his impressive pyrotechnics.

He had clearly found some time to wash his face as there wasn’t any soot or blood on him, but his blue eyes, always so bright, looked spent.

It was me that broke the silence between us.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked, my voice small and quiet both because I feared the answer, and because I didn’t want to wake Mum.

Gramps sighed quietly. “Almost everyone survived, though I don’t think there is a single person who isn’t wounded. We lost Hurin to the Necromancer, and one of the miners to the skeletons. Another of the miners fighting with Griselda died to the undead wolves, and then there was the boy who died inside to the other goblin. Your mother tells me it was you who killed it.”

I nodded ever so slightly, watching as Gramps lips pressed into a thin line.

I waited for the rebuke — it never came.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, Bastian,” Gramps whispered, tears in his eyes. “And… I am so proud of you.”

I practically leaped out of bed, throwing the covers behind me and ignoring the pain in my back as I threw myself into Gramps’ arms. The old man shook with silent tears as his arms wrapped around me, a second set following within moments as Mum joined us.

A loving family and a will that wouldn’t quit was all I would ever need to succeed in this world.