Chapter 50: Moving Forward

Chapter 50: Moving Forward

Chapter 50

As Moui had predicted, the next day Kea went back to his house to continue the apprenticeship. No one had any idea what had happened and she refused to say anything, only giving vague answers.

From her words, she appeared very interested in hunting, but something must have upset her. When Kai tried to ask her if anything was wrong, she glared at him and closed herself in her room.

What did I do wrong this time? I give up.

It wasnt a perfect scenario, but as long as she didnt lose interest, Kai considered that a win. She would learn useful skills and not spend whole days on the streets looking for trouble with a gang of kids.

Despite telling himself he didnt care, Kai went to visit Moui after Kea had left. It was his duty as an exemplary teacher to check to see if his student needed some advice with Mana Manipulation.

Everything its going well. You were right, its not that hard. The hunter commented with a humble brag.

Kai rolled his eyes. Well, just keeping your mana from doing anything isnt that hard. Making it do what you want is a whole other deal.

Okay, maybe that was slightly passive-aggressive, but its also true.

Sure it is Moui said, patting him on the head.

Kai glared at him, another comeback ready on his lips but he suppressed it. He was acting like a child, his ego way more fragile than he would have liked. He spent a lifetime and a half second-guessing his own decisions and hiding behind sarcastic jokes. He was getting better at it, but it took time.

Why was my sister so upset the other day? He asked, trying to change the topic. Since he was already here he might as well inquire what was going on.

It worked way better than expected, Mouis confident smile disappeared and his gaze turned away from his eyes.

I thought she already knew. He muttered under his breath.

Kai raised an eyebrow. Know what exactly? He was getting a bad feeling. Moui looked like he felt guilty for something. His tone contained a note of warning. What did you tell her?

The hunter looked down ashamed, She was curious about how I met her brother, you. So I started telling her a bit about that. You know, how you always find yourself in complicated situations and all that.

Why do people always gossip about me behind my back? I never looked for any trouble.

Kai gave a look to Moui to prompt him to continue. What else did you tell her?

Nothing bad really, quite the opposite. I might have mentioned how you were probably one of the people with the highest level Mana Sense Ive ever met. Also how much money you made in the deal with the merfolk

Kai paled a little.

Yep, that would do itThe original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

His sister knew about most of that, but he had purposefully remained very vague on the exact specifics. She knew he had Mana Sense at a high level, but that could mean anything to her. That was until Mouis big mouth gave her a pretty clear idea of how high it was. Same with the coins he made. He had told her he had made a lot, but in her head, she probably thought it was a handful of copper mesar at most.

His sister had always been competitive. She was not like Eleni, he had known with certainty she would not take it well if she discovered his status and progress, which was why he had remained as vague as possible. She might suspect many things but knew nothing for sure. She had probably thought the gap wasnt that big or that he was exaggerating.

It had never been a fair competition. There was no way for her to make up for his advantages. He might not have always been very considerate in his younger years, but after he came back from the estate, he tried to be a better brother.

What did you say? Kai asked. Moui had muttered something else, but he had not caught it as his mind spiraled calculating all the implications.

His teeth clenched and sweat appeared on his forehead, his mind strained to keep a grasp of the existing structure and add more. His pace slowed to a crawl, more time was spent fixing mistakes than going forward. Like watching a building collapsing in slow-mo, he could only delay the inevitable, not stop it.

Damn, another fail.

After a short break to rest his mind, Kai tried again. He aimed to complete at least one of the five designs before leaving Greenside.

His alchemy practice was much less eventful. To improve and level his skill his mind wasnt enough, he also needed ingredients and knowledge. The latter wasnt a real problem, Doras book offered plenty and he also had the two other books Reishi gifted him: Plants from the Deep - a complete guide to the Treasures of the Sea andFundamentals of Alchemy - volume 1.

After asking his sister Ele for help, the book on aquatic plants appeared very promising with plenty of species of algae, kelp and seaweeds that grew in the Shallow Sea. Unfortunately, in the short term, it didnt change much. He didnt have the time to go scour the sea. Going from book knowledge to applying that in real life wasnt easy or fast. So he let Ele borrow and show it to her mentor.

The final book, the one Reishi called fundamental to any aspiring alchemist, proved less useful. Granted he didnt go beyond the first pages, but it was such a boring read. The author, the illustrious Xolovert Desavot, truly must be a remarkable individual to make brewing potions sound so boring and abstruse. Amidst paragraphs of empty rhetoric the instruction he found required alchemic tools he didnt possess or herbs he never heard of, sometimes both. He put it aside till he could show it to Dora.

With his reserves of mana herbs dwindling so did possibilities. Trying something out of his wheelhouse would teach him the most, but it would likely be a specular failure with no way to recoup the cost.

After closing a few deals with old Selly, Kai had accumulated around 16 mesar and 78 chips. A considerable sum. He had worked hard not to get scammed by her sweet granny facade that hid a cunning and deceiving demon out for every last copper chip.

He had already made more progress than he had imagined, he didnt think it was worth it to spend all his savings for a chance at one more level. His family could put the money to better use.

Playing around with the random ingredients he had left, he had a few unexpected successes. He sold most of them but kept a couple of red-tier poisons. They werent like the bait poison that was harmless to humans, so he didnt feel right selling that. Maybe he could use them against the beasts of the jungle if the chance arose.

Finally, there was one more activity that occupied his time: deciphering his father's books and notes. It was far more work than he had expected, but he could now get an idea of what a Vastaire text said all by himself.

*Ding*

New skill added to the Archive! Decoding (lv1) Use your knowledge, brain and multiple obscure sources to get to the truth.

At most, Kai had expected to receive a language skill, but he was always happy to add any kind of skill to his Archive. It expanded his repertoire and more possibilities were never a bad thing. He laughed aloud when reading the part about obscure sources. That was a good description of his dads notes.

For now, he didnt plan to take this one either, it sounded even more niche than Persuasion with very specific requirements to be activated. It wouldnt find much use when he got back to the estate. He had compiled his notes into a notebook he could bring back with him to not forget what he learned, but he needed all of his father's books to continue his research. This project was still a work in progress, but he was determined to bring it to completion no matter how long it took.

Once again he had to thank Dora for her foresight. He had thought two new notebooks were overkill, but it turned out it was barely enough. He only had a couple of blank pages left.

On the last day before his ceremony, Kai walked to the sea for one last time. He spent so many mornings training here. With a satisfied sigh, he lay on the pebble beach, admiring many shades of orange, yellow and pink the sunset painted of the sky and sea.

Tomorrow was finally the day, he didnt know what to expect exactly. Probably it was not going to be anything much, a few arcane prayers and some weird ritual.

He summoned his status with a thought.

Name: Kai TylennRace: HumanProfession: None

Body stats

Strength: 8Dexterity: 9>10Constitution: 12>13Mind: 13>14Spirit: 15>16Perception: 11Favor: 9>10

Skills:

Running (lv75>77)Swimming (lv74>75 - Max)Meditation (lv63>66)Awareness (lv54>55)Herbology (lv54>57)Acting (lv44>48)Processing Plants (lv35>38)Reading (lv19>25)Gardening (lv12)Sneak (lv7>11)Mana Sense(lv41>42)Mana Manipulation (lv10>12)Alchemy (lv8>9)Inspect (lv6>8)

Who would have thought he would gain so much while he was away from the estate? He couldnt wait to see Dora and Elijahs faces when he told them.

Elijah will certainly say it is all thanks to his exercises.

He had not been able to match the same progress he had during his alchemy marathon, but he had expected that. Those had been extraordinary circumstances. You couldn't sprint all the way, slow and steady growth was the key.

Swimming had also reached the threshold, but he might as well wait a couple of days and ask Viryas advice. Evolving the skill to use mana to push his body beyond his normal limits was easy, but he wanted to try to reduce his need for oxygen.

After the sun went down, Kai walked back home. Tomorrow was going to be an important day, even if because it marked the end of his stay in Greenside.