Chapter 72   - Consequences

A headache pulsed behind his eyes, his mind was foggy. Not exactly the best way to start a new day. Massaging his temples, he tried to stand up but stopped with a grimace. There was hardly a spot on his body that didn’t hurt.

He was used to a bit of pain, but this wasn’t the small scrapes and bruises he got from Elijah's training.

Did I make the butler so mad that he threw me off a cliff?

His second attempt at standing up went better, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. This wasn’t his room. It was larger, with exquisite furniture of lacquered wood carved with natural motifs. Even the bed was double the size of his own and somehow much more comfortable.

Gradually, his memories began coming back. The storm, the waves, the exhaustion and that strange glow.

What the fuck happened.

Pulling back the curtain covering the window, he was relieved to see the familiar bay. The sky was clear and the low tide had pulled back the sea, leaving a long white canvas as far as his eyes could reach. This wasn’t his usual room, but he was still at the estate.

I must have been pretty roughed up if they let me stay in the mansion.

Judging by the long shadows the buildings projected on the beach, it must be afternoon. He slept for a few hours. Maybe it wasn’t too bad all things considered.

The door opened and a worried Dora walked in.

“How are you feeling, dear.” She hurried to his side and started checking his condition. “You should rest a while longer. Mana overuse is a serious thing. I should have been clearer about the difference between taking risks and being reckless.”

Her tone was warm, but Kai could feel a note of reprimand hidden within.

“I’m sorry I made you worry. Things got… slightly out of hand, but I’m fine now.” Kai stood up to prove his point. A wave of vertigo hit him and made him fall back down on the soft covers.

He chuckled like that was exactly what he had intended to do. Judging from Dora’s exasperated look, she didn’t believe him for a second.

“I think I'll rest a little more. I’ll be as good as new in time for dinner.” The thought of food made his stomach grumble. “Could I maybe get a snack before then? I’m starving.”

“I bet, you’ve slept for more than a day. I’ll bring you something.”

Kai froze, “A day? Has it been that long?”

And I still feel like shit.

“Exhaustion, severe skill and mana overstrain, forty-three minor injuries between cuts and bruises, and a big bump on the head.” Dora listed his signs and symptoms like she read alchemical recipes.

“Oh… was it that bad?” Kai lowered his gaze, he could feel she was on the cusp of a lecture.

“Risks are called as such because there are consequences when things go wrong.” Seeing his castigated expression Dora hesitated to add more, even if she clearly wanted to.

Acting strikes again!

She sighed and softened her tone. “Be more careful next time. You should rest. Elijah won’t bother you for the next few days until you’re completely healed.”

Days…

“I don’t feel that bad. Is there maybe a potion that could speed my recovery?”

Dora gave him a long look.

“Together with a lot of rest, of course.” He hurried to add.

“There is a potion for everything, dear. I’m sure you know that. But mana overuse is a tricky thing. Unless it’s an emergency, it is better to let you heal naturally.”

Dora ruffled his hair. “I’m sure next time you’ll think twice before doing something so reckless.”

I guess I deserve that.

Kai laid back down on the bed, trying to look apologetic. It wasn’t the time to push. He could try again later.

“I’ll bring you something to eat.”

She came back carrying a complete three-course meal. With a full stomach, his head was starting to clear and he was steady on his legs. He tried lying down to doze off, but even with a full tummy, sleep was not coming.

He turned restless in the large bed for half an hour. He was used to never having a free moment. Even in the brief moments of respite he usually played with his mana. The stillness was making him go crazy.

“I’ll go take a walk.” He said aloud to no one in particular.

At least one of them must have heard me.

Opening the door, and seeing that no one came to stop him, he was tempted to snoop around. Both Elijah and Virya had made abundantly clear how that wasn’t appreciated. He doubted his convalescent state would make them change their minds.

He quickly found himself outside of the mansion. The fresh air immediately made him feel better. In front of him a flat expanse of sand and puddles of water reflecting the light. He never grew tired of the sight.

Ele must be out hunting for pearls right now. With her new profession and Mana Sense her findings must have surged. With a bit of luck, she might also find more mana treasures.

Kai fiddled with the green pearl hanging on his wrist. The thought of his sister made him melancholic. There had been no more chances to go back to Greenside to visit his family. As the months flew past, it soon became clear no one was going to come looking for him for the crime he had committed. He had been very tense the first time Alana came to visit, but she seemed totally oblivious to what happened. That man’s death appeared to have been swept away in the general indifference.

It could be because of my Favor, but I would bet it’s just Greenside being Greenside.

With his mood rapidly souring, Kai focused back on his walk. Each low tide there was always the temptation to go look where the sea had retired. The empty seafloor gave the illusion you would see the water coming back in time. Every islander learned early on that when you saw the waves rushing back it was already too late. It wasn’t dangerous—if you didn’t mind swimming a few miles—but right now he didn’t trust his body that much.

I don’t think Dora would appreciate more recklessness either.

He kept his wanderings within a few hundred meters of the true shore. The headache had subsided to a low pressure in the back of his head.

He moved his focus to the slow pinging light in the corner of his vision that was begging to be viewed. Now that his thoughts weren’t muddled any longer, it was time to see what getting beaten up by the storm got him.

*Ding*

Swimming has reached lv100! Requisites for skill evolution met, congratulations!

*Ding*

The great spirit, Kahali, has witnessed your determination and judged you worthy. A blessing has been bestowed upon you!

You are awarded: +3 Favor!

If this is the reward for being reckless, it might be hard to follow Dora's advice.

His memories were still fuzzy, he remembered a strange blue glow and little else. He knew something odd was afoot, but he hadn’t foreseen this.

After he earned Yatei’s blessing, he dreamed of getting the recognition of the other great spirit of the archipelago. He even asked Virya if she could help him get a book about the religion of the islands, hoping to locate a sacred place where he could get the spirit's attention. In the end, none of the books he managed to get his hands on contained anything useful.

Can Kahali reach anywhere the sea touches? Even if it is limited to the Baquire Archipelago, that would still be crazy. Or maybe the fact I already have a blessing has something to do with it…

Nothing ever made sense when dealing with divine entities. He had started to suspect his high affinity with Nature and Earth wasn’t just by chance. Another long search through the library confirmed blessings were one of the rare methods that could increase an individual's affinities.

If a god was strong enough, and willing to pay the price, there seemed to be very few limits to what they could bestow. An increase in Favor was the most common boon; from there things got more wild and obscure. New limbs and organs, longer lifespans, unique talents and obsessions just to name a few. There were entire books dedicated to the slew of wacky abilities that had been granted throughout history.

Other books took a more skeptical approach, affirming most of those claims were made up or at the very least, greatly exaggerated. For him, there was little point trying to dig out the truth from the ocean of contradicting information. He was no scholar or expert on the subject. Whatever his blessings were, all the books agreed the changes were always positive or neutral. Since he had not grown a third arm or leg, it seemed he had dodged the bullet.

Name: Kai Tylenn

Race: Human

Profession: None

Body stats

Strength: 8>9

Dexterity: 9>11

Constitution: 12>14

Mind: 13>14

Spirit: 15>16

Perception: 11>12

Favor: 14>18

I wonder how many people can say Favor is their highest stat. I guess not many.

Kai knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long. As he grew his other attributes would catch up. Spirit was almost there already. The solution was simple: he just needed to earn more Favor.

There were no more great spirits that could give him blessings, but there were more Feats he could accomplish. For now, there were two more immediate decisions he had to make.

Running (lv100) ➔

As you reach the final milestone, you are presented with three choices to continue your journey toward new heights:

Enhanced Running (lv1) — Consume small quantities of mana to improve your speed and endurance. As long as there is a path, your legs are all you need to reach any place on land.

Enhanced Sprint (lv1) — Consume your mana to greatly improve your speed for short bursts. Few will realize what happened before you leave them in the dust.

Steady Runner (lv1) — Through a precise use of mana, never grow tired, never stop or lose your balance. You might not be the fastest, but you’ll reach your destination when others don’t.

Kai carefully read all the descriptions. He had not expected to have so many options. Even if he didn’t plan to keep this skill for long, he wanted to give this choice the proper amount of consideration. Who knew, maybe if he got more skill slots in the future, he would take it back.

Enhanced Running was a straight-up upgrade, but this vanilla option sounded boring. He was sure he could learn to do the same with Empower.

He moved his eyes to Enhanced Sprint. Elijah had told him skills could evolve in surprising ways between grades, depending on the specializations he chose and his actions. It looked like all the times he pumped Running full of mana—strictly for research purposes—had another unintended benefit.

This option already appeared more interesting. Flooding his body with mana to gain a burst of speed could also be achieved with Empower, but it wasn’t as easy. It required a lot of focus, and he could only do it for a few seconds before he risked injuring himself. Enhanced Sprint would probably take care of the safety factor and the burden of manually controlling Empower.

As for the cons, Enhanced Running specified it only used ‘small’ quantities of mana, Sprint did not. He wasn’t eager to add another draining source to his limited reserve. If he wanted to be a mage, the largest share of his mana should go towards his spells.

This brought him to the last option: Steady Runner. Kai had to admit the description was rather underwhelming. It sounded boring and didn’t even mention an increase to his speed. However, there was a key detail that caught his interest - precise use of mana. The fact the Guide felt the need to specify that tickled his curiosity.

It must not be something easy to reproduce with Empower. Even if he planned to abandon the skill, he could keep it for a few weeks to learn how it worked. Maybe learn to reproduce whatever Steady Runner did manually.

*Ding*

Are you sure you want to evolve Running (lv100) into Steady Runner (lv1)? Be Aware this choice is irreversible.

One down, one to go.

*Ding*

Congratulations, Running (lv100) has successfully evolved into Steady Runner (lv1)!

Kai tensed his muscles expecting something to happen. Pain or a jolt to his brain, maybe. He couldn’t sense any change. He felt cheated.

Where is my skill?

As soon as he formed the thought, Kai became aware he knew how to use Steady Runner. The knowledge was clear in his mind as if it had always been there. It was a bit creepy the Guide could do that without him even noticing, but he guessed it beat having to suffer for discarding a skill.

After the surprise subsided, his first instinct was to immediately try out his new skill. Remembering his promise to Dora, he stopped himself. It was almost physically painful to turn down the shiny new toy within his reach, but he could be patient.

I’ve got one more skill to look at.

Swimming (lv100) ➔

As you reach the final milestone, you are presented with four choices to continue your journey toward new heights:

Enhanced Swimming (lv1) — Consume small quantities of mana to improve your proficiency of movement and endurance inside a body of water. Be at home amidst the waves.

Enhanced Diving (lv1) — Consume small quantities of mana to improve your proficiency of movement and reduce your need for oxygen while underwater. Scour the deep without fear.

Water Swimming (lv1) — Slip through the water unimpeded by using Water mana. Be at home amidst the waves as you are on dry land.

Blessed Swimmer (lv1) — Trust in the sea and you shall never fear storm nor beast. You’re at home amidst the waves.

Kai carefully read each option. It seemed a blessing had more than one use.

Oh, boy. Now this is going to be a difficult choice.

As for Running, the first was a straight-up upgrade. And, once again, he could achieve the same with Empower. Nothing more to add there.

Enhanced Diving was a branching evolution. His eyes immediately fell upon the part that spoke about reducing his need for oxygen. It was possible and this skill could tell him exactly how to do it. He wanted to take it so badly, but there were two more options that looked very appealing.

Water Swimming was exactly what he had been trying to achieve. The proof his risk paid off. Empower couldn’t manipulate aligned mana. With the guidance of this skill, he would learn a lot about how to efficiently apply his Water mana. If it wasn’t for the last option, he would have immediately chosen it. However…

Blessed Swimmer. The description was vague and didn’t give many clues about how the skill would actually work. And yet, the moment he saw it, he knew he would choose it. The more mysterious a skill looked the more he could learn from it. Every other skill offered benefits that could be learned with time and patience. He doubted anyone could teach him how to be blessed by the sea.

He could carefully analyze the pros and cons of each skill, but his gut already told him what he would end up choosing. Better to spare himself the pain of understanding exactly what he was going to give up anyway.

*Ding*

Are you sure you want to evolve Swimming (lv100) into Blessed Swimmer (lv1)? Be Aware this choice is irreversible.

Yes.

*Ding*

Congratulations, Swimming (lv100) has successfully evolved into Blessed Swimmer (lv1).