NorskDaedalus
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Chapter 82: Daily Dallying
🕑 Added 2021-08-12 16:00:01 +0000 UTCSleeping was wonderful. Not just the action, but the Skill, too. Even though his dreams had been tumultuous and vaguely nightmarish, as Watchful Rest ensured that even unconsciousness wasn’t enough to entirely disconnect from reality, by the time Edwin returned to full awareness, he just felt refreshed on a fundamental level.
His senses no longer warred against his mind, and the emotional load of the previous day felt so light, as though it had been weeks or months prior. He still generally dreaded seeing people after the previous day’s utter fiasco, but it wasn’t utterly unpalatable either.
He rolled over in his bed, making a vague attempt to snag his blanket from wherever it may have landed, only to fail. Cracking his eyes open eventually had him see the cloth on the far side of the room, and he fell back, his eyes closing once more to try and shut out the brightness of the room.
Edwin’s stomach rumbled, and he ignored it. He could skip food today and it wouldn’t hurt. Today, he just wanted to do nothing and recover. When was the last time he genuinely just had a day off, he wondered? Not counting days of recovery after a fight, anyway. He… genuinely didn’t know. Then again, this probably didn’t count as a non-recovery day anyway. He may not have been physically injured, but that didn’t mean he didn’t need healing.
Mental health was important, after all!
Now shoo, loneliness. Get back in your box.
He idly wondered if he could develop an emotional healing potion. What he wouldn’t give to dab some salve on his forehead or down an elixir and make the pain of last night vanish.
...That was just alcohol, wasn’t it?
Except not, because alcohol was just a poison which targeted the brain above the body, inhibiting its functions. At best it was a painkiller. Except it was a painkiller that worked by damaging the nerves of the area being treated… how did painkillers work? Wasn’t it by inhibiting nerve signals?
He should try some experiments with sinbalyne now that he’d all but tiered up. What sort of interactions would it have with his new Skills?
He was just distracting himself now, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He’d check his notifications, that was the first step to being productive, right?
Level Up!
Skill Points 444 → 477
Adaptive Defense Level 11→24
Fey’s Caress Level 35→36
Memory Level 57→59
Numeracy Level 14→15
Outsider’s Almanac Level 127→128
Polyglot Level 59→60
Prototyping Level 12→13
Ritual Intuition Level 16→20
Skillful Assessment Level 19→29
Watchful Rest Level 9→10
Congratulations! For withstanding an overwhelming mental force, you have unlocked the Unbowed path!
Congratulations! By experiencing your mental defenses being obliterated yet not losing yourself utterly to a mental Skill, you have unlocked the Canny path!
Congratulations! For balancing your mind under the effects of multiple mental Skills simultaneously, you have unlocked the Steady Mind path!
Congratulations! For meeting in person The High Sovereign of the Guiding Winds Which Span the World, you have unlocked the Brushed by Power path!
Congratulations! For meeting the emperor of the Lirasian Empire, you have unlocked the Lirasian Citizen path!
Congratulations! For reaching level 60 in a literary Skill, you have unlocked the Scholar path!
Congratulations! For explaining concepts to The High Sovereign of the Guiding Winds Which Span the World, you have unlocked the Royal Advisor path!
Congratulations! For improving the opinion The High Sovereign of the Guiding Winds Which Span the World has of you, you have unlocked the Favored by Power path!
That was a lot of Paths for one day, especially pertaining to Xares. He decided he probably wasn’t taking most of the Paths he got from the emperor, although Royal Advisor did look tempting.
Ah, of course. Adaptive Defense was leveling based on resisting mental effects, wasn’t it? Well, it was nice to know he wouldn’t be completely helpless against social Skills anymore. Fey’s Caress was a bit confusing- he hadn’t used the Skill any recently? Hmm. Maybe whatever thing the emperor had used helped it somehow?
It was overall a pretty good spread for half a day of leveling, though given he had spent half of that time in direct and terrifying mortal peril, it wasn’t an experience he was eager to repeat any time soon.
Edwin moved to get out of bed and hesitated. He might be due a cart soon, but he doubted it would come today. Or even tomorrow. The governor would, if Edwin’s assessment of the situation was right, would probably drag everything out as much as possible just to be petty. He didn’t really need to do anything today, did he? Certainly nothing pressing, anyway.
He could stay in bed for now.
-----
It was mid-afternoon when Edwin finally pulled himself off his mattress, stretching to try and inject some energy into his weary limbs. Stamina may ensure he was physically capable of the action, but he felt like he ought to get the Willpower attribute for the effort, nevermind that wasn’t how the System worked.
In any case, time to kill or not, Edwin had spent the last year doing something every day, and it was hard to let that momentum go, and forcing himself to interact with people in a limited fashion would probably be good for him. He had some things he wanted to find out, after all. Like where he wanted to go once he left Vinstead. Perhaps he should look into finding out where Vis’Daric was?
---
He chatted with the innkeeper while he ate his food- some thick stew and bread that tasted really good- and while the avior was clearly nervous about something, he didn’t mention anything about it. Instead, Edwin asked a few questions about where he could get some various supplies. Hopefully his annoyance at life didn’t come across too strongly, or like it was aimed at the innkeeper. Maybe that was where the nervousness originated?
As the flood season was about to start, food was cheap and plentiful, which was fine by Edwin’s reckoning. He still had loads of money from his talsanenris sale, and even in normal times, food tended to be costed in the order of ves per pound. It would be pretty simple for him to pick up even more food than what he already had on him, and with more variety too!
He subtly steered the conversation towards nearby places he might be able to go of interest, bringing up a few names that had caught themselves in his Memory and notes to investigate.
Vis’Daric, or the City of the Brass Sun as it was nicknamed, drifted around with no apparent pattern, and other than in specific situations, it was inaccessible from the ground. Not an issue for the avior-dominated Lirasians, of course, but Edwin would need to figure out some way up either on his own or by catching a ride with another flier.
That was rather annoying, though perhaps manageable at a high enough level. The problem was the innkeeper didn’t know where it was or where it frequently hung out. He said that it wasn’t common knowledge this far out, and even he only knew about it from travelers who told stories about it.
Apparently it gleamed like the sun, was larger than the Rhothos River itself, flew to the moon to make eclipses, could drop entire lakes from the sky, had a weapon which could obliterate mountains in a single blast- and may or may not have just been descending and squishing said mountain under the city itself- and more. Edwin figured at least half the stories had to be made up, but which half… he wasn’t sure. Any of them could be possible. Well, other than the one where they were secretly in league with tools the world over, who were secretly alive and biding their time to strike. That last one had to be fake, right?
Of more actionable information was the town of Panastalis. It was also right on the border of the Verdant, though several weeks to the northwest away. One of the few towns actually located inside the Verdant, they were apparently the Lirasian Empire’s primary source of medicines and potions on the continent. Of most interest to Edwin, though, was that it was in the next province over, Fellstrom, and thus not in the same territory as Governor… whatever her name was.
He figured it was probably a good place to check out, see if he couldn’t learn anything for his alchemy, and maybe pick up a few new ingredients fresh from the source. He got vague directions from the innkeeper, but was also told he didn’t know the route entirely and he should ask at the courier’s office, because they’d know better.
Edwin’s food was long finished at that point, and so he bowed out of the conversation and took his leave.
----
Without his cart, and accordingly not knowing how much space he would have for his stuff, Edwin was fairly limited in how much he could buy at the moment. He didn’t want to have to lug fifty pounds of flour to his room, for example, no matter how light it may have felt to him. It was just a matter of convenience.
It did leave him with some free time that he wasn’t anticipating, though. He wasn’t about to try and take the medicine class here in Vinstead, that was certain. He was sticking around no longer than would take him to get his cart and leave.
Edwin quietly cursed his luck that he did end up overpaying for his room, under the vague hope the cart didn’t take too many days to ‘arrive.’ Ah well. Given the alternative was staying in Vinstead, leaving was still better than spending any more time in a city ruled by someone who clearly hated him.
Heh. And for once I know that’s not just my brain playing tricks on me.
Maybe he could take the healing license class when he was in Panastalis? A more alchemy-focused medicine class would suit him better, anyway. He might even learn something from it!
So, that still left him with the question of what he would do with his free time. For now… he’d pay a visit to Inion. It didn’t seem very likely he’d get her into the city this time around, and he ought to let her know as much.
-----
Leaving the city was as simple as always; while the brief screening that he was always subjected to upon entering meant there was usually a line to get into Vinstead, they apparently didn’t care who was leaving the city. Edwin idly kept his eye out for anyone he recognized, but other than a few random Almanac returns from people he’d walked by in the past, there wasn’t anyone he’d interacted with to any appreciable degree- they didn’t even have their names tagged.
Once he was out from the hustle and bustle of the city and its immediate surroundings, Edwin switched from practicing Flight to stretching his Longstrider, netting him a level in each and enabling him to rapidly close the distance to the Rhothos. This road was well-maintained and well-traveled, stone blocks tightly interlocking with one another and worn smooth from generations of use.
Edwin wasn’t following the road the entire way, though. No, if he went on far enough it transitioned into a direct bridge over the Rhothos, the massive river passing through enormous stone blocks in a path that was presumably inaccessible during the massive floods that defined half of the year in this part of the world. Instead, he was following it to a few hundred feet from the banks, then turning offroad and switching back to flight. Longstrider still wasn’t quite at the level of mastery where he could go on rough terrain with it… or anything that wasn’t basically flat, level ground, unless he wanted to crash into things constantly.
It took a few minutes for Edwin to arrive at their preestablished meeting point, and he flipped a ves into the water. Apparently, Inion was hyper-aware of any offerings made to her or the river in general, and so the copper coin was a great way to get her attention.
Sure enough, within a minute, the water coalesced into Inion’s… very familiar shape.
“Please tell me you at least know where you left your tunic.” Edwin sighed, “I don’t want to have to get you another one.”
“Who says you’d have to?” Inion teased him, and he shook his head.
“At least do that thing where you make your own clothes or whatever.”
“Hmmm… nah!”
“You know, you’ll need to get dressed to enter Vinstead,” he reminded her, hopeful that she wouldn’t ask…
“Ooh! Did you figure out how to get me in, then?” Of course she’d ask. Fey practically invented misleading statements.
“…No,” he admitted, and responded to her beaming smile with a glare, “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put clothes on!”
She didn’t acknowledge his admonishment, and Edwin sighed, “Whatever. I do hope you kept your tunic, though.”
“So? What happened? Tell me all the details.”
“Why would I have anything that would require details?”
“You have that look on your face. Something fuuun happened, didn’t it? Ooh! Did you find a girl last night?” she teased. Honestly, sometimes Edwin wasn’t sure how much of her incomprehensibility came from being a fey and which parts she intentionally played up to annoy him.
Edwin responded with a baleful glance and rolled his eyes, “Ha. I would have taken that in a heartbeat instead of what actually happened….”
….
Inion let out a low whistle as he finally completed his story, “Wow. That’s quite the eventful night.”
“Tell me about it,” Edwin muttered, “I thought I was dead at least three times over.”
“I know! I wish I could have seen it!”
“Wait… see it?”
“You mortals are so adorable when you do your little spats. I mean, I would have killed miss sassy-beak if she had lain so much as a feather on you-”
No surprise there.
“But you standing up to her? Oh, so great! I… don’t regret missing out on seeing little Liras. He sounds like quite the force to reckon with. Maybe you’ll get there someday, eh?” she elbowed Edwin in the side, and he shifted to avoid it.
“Please. He’s got at least two millennia of experience on me and an entire empire of resources.”
“You have me!”
“…I don’t think the power of friendship is going to help out here.”
“No, no! I meant the-”
“Yeah, yeah. I was just messing with you. I know you mean the muse token.” He paused to allow Inion to nod in agreement before continuing, “I still don’t think that’ll make enough of a difference, unless it’s way more powerful than you told me.”
“You never know,” Inion pushed, trying to be mysterious, “Maybe it is that strong.”
“Is it?” he leveled.
“Well, no, but…” Inion fell silent at Edwin’s skeptical glance, “Fine. You’re hopeless and can never improve. Is that better?”
“Much,” he teased, dodging a kick. He attempted to grab her foot, but Inion let the limb turn to water momentarily, letting it slip through his grasping fingers and sticking her tongue out at him as she did so.
After that, the conversation quieted down and the two of them spent a bit more time together, reclining next to the bank of the river and chatting. Eventually, Edwin noted how low in the sky the sun had gotten and figured he should get back into the city before sundown.
----
The next day, Edwin was far more successful in pulling (well, floating) himself out of bed at a reasonable hour, and following a quick breakfast (a surprisingly good bowl of what looked like oatmeal but tasted like pudding), he set off into the city to do some shopping. With luck, he’d be done by lunch!
Edwin ended up missing lunch and nearly missing dinner by the time he had gotten the first few things on his list- namely a decent satchel and new belt. His backpack and current belt were perfectly serviceable, yes, but… Edwin had in his head what an alchemist ‘should’ look like, and darn it, he was going to try and mimic that!
He’d never really gotten into cosplay or anything back on Earth; but that was more a limitation of his time and resources than an actual lack of desire. Now that he was on an actual fantasy planet, though? He could live out all his dreams of a belt full of glowing potions and a satchel full of bombs! Plus it would all be practical, not just decorative! This would be amazing.
The belt ended up being custom-made, which did make it more expensive, but he still only spent two ager on the whole thing, plus five ves on a maintenance kit. It was almost worth the price he paid just to watch the Experienced Currier make the entire getup in front of Edwin in about an hour. Now, he had dozens of (mostly empty) pouches in varying sizes, and several loops and leather strap ties that he could hold or insert vials and potions into. Said straps were mostly concentrated on Edwin’s left, and pouches more on the right, so his new handbag could hang without running the risk of crushing any of his potions.
All of his pouches and bags were bigger on the inside, naturally, but only- heh, ‘only,’ who would have thought he’d already start taking something so fantastical for granted- three times bigger than their exterior would suggest. Improbable Arsenal already doubled the size of what it worked on, so he imagined the inherent amount of extra space in his packs would be swiftly overwhelmed by his own Skills.
Apparently the aging man had upgraded his Efficient Space when it was level forty or so, trying to push to the Refolded Leather skill instead of bringing Efficient Space to the nineties or even higher the truly dedicated pushed it to. It had served him well in his youth, apparently, but now that he was working as a malemaker (in the mailbag sense, apparently), he somewhat regretted the decision. After all, he had…
It was somewhat interesting, sure, but Edwin had only half paid attention as the man talked about his life’s story, more interested in watching the incredible display of Skills he had been working with, something that had very much paid off.
Level Up!
Improbable Arsenal Level 16→19
Skillful Assessment Level 29→30
With the newest milestone in the Skill, Edwin was starting to ever so slightly be able to distinguish colors associated with different Skills being used. He needed to look really closely, yes, but it was still a massive improvement over what he’d had before.
Regardless, Edwin’s biggest takeaway from the whole thing was still just how awesome he looked. Once he got back to his room, he filled in all the potion slots with Sapper’s Arsenal rods shaped like potions, strapped his knives in place, and admired himself in the ‘mirror’ that was Visualization.
If his imagination was accurate (it should be), he cut a pretty good figure, albeit one with haphazardly cut hair (Inion was never getting close to hair shears and him ever again). He did make an Almanac note to get a few more safety equipment/accessories, though. He might be able to get away without some PPE thanks to Fey’s Caress and Fresh Air, but it never hurt to be overprotected. Goggles, a mask, and gloves were all must-haves, and he should visit the tailor to see about getting them made.
Tomorrow, he thought. Today, he’d finish packing up his outfit with alchemy stuff.
-----
It was on the fourth day after the ‘incident’ that Edwin was finally approached by a messenger to inform him he ought to report to the garrison- that word was becoming more and more inaccurate as he learned more and more about the building, but Polyglot kept translating the word the same way- for an unspecified reason at his first opportunity. He gave the Junior Skyling a ves for a tip, which the young avior seemed to be totally unprepared for, jetting off in happiness and bringing a touch of a smile to Edwin’s face.
Well… he supposed he ought to head over now. After all, what could-
Nope, not thinking that. Not after last time.
-----
Edwin didn’t end up seeing the governor at all, an arrangement which he was perfectly content with, and was instead shuffled around until he met with a Lirasian Secretary, who in turn directed him to find where his cart would be.
Much to Edwin’s surprise, it was actually pretty nice! Small, yes, but it was everything he would realistically want from his cart. Well, it was more of a carriage in all honesty. Wooden walls and ceiling, tall enough to stand up in, and some… oh, ten feet long on the outside, more like fifteen on the inside? It had loads of shelves and some sort of Skill on them that would… that would…
Ah, forget it. He wasn’t good enough with Skillful Assessment to tell what a Skill did, just whether or not it existed and what it affected.
Best of all, it came with a pack animal- specifically, a Mature Therassan Pony- to pull it! He barely came up to Edwin’s shoulder, but was more than strong enough to haul the carriage along the road without even a hint of strain. The secret was visible with a bit more examination- a Skill ran from his four hooves (which had their own ongoing Skill, presumably in place of the missing horseshoes) up through his body and into the cart. It vaguely reminded Edwin of Packing, though it had a number of distinct differences.
Edwin named the shaggy animal Bill.
After all, what else would be a valid name for a pony?
-----
Everything was packed away nicely. Food had been bought, Edwin had all his new gear prepped-including a leather coat- which would apparently function as armor to some extent, but way stuffier than he’d like even after the Skills imbued into it for comfort- and some basic furniture bought and folded away under the carriage’s bottom and fastened by many Apparatus conjurations. That process had brought him all the way up to level 29 in the Skill, and while the conjuration wasn’t getting any faster, he was able to make significantly more intricate creations than before.
That didn’t matter at the moment, though. Currently, he, Inion, and Bill were plodding down the some fairly familiar roads. He wasn’t going to lie, the idea of getting closer to the Blackstone Citadel made Edwin… nervous, but he knew he was being irrational. Sure, they had sent an assassin after him, but that had been taken care of, and Edwin was way stronger now anyway! Besides, he had Inion. That would surely be enough. He could take care of himself.
Bill performed his job admirably, trotting along at a moderate pace which Edwin would have once called a light jog. These days, it felt painfully slow, particularly at the start. Even a moderate walk with Longstrider would have let him run laps around his workhorse, but disabling the Skill would mean he’d fall behind unless he jogged every once in a while, which he didn’t want to do.
Well, it wasn’t like he was in any kind of rush, and this way he could practice his Flight. His top speed with the Skill was comparable to Bill’s pace, though he was ever so slowly getting faster. He could also just tether himself to the carriage and stay ‘stationary’ anyway. Of course, if he were to do that, he could also just sit inside, but where was the fun in that?
Besides, it was easier to direct Bill when he was outside, not that the pony needed all that much guidance. Edwin didn’t have much experience with horses back on Earth, but Bill seemed particularly intelligent and focused, staying on-course and at a steady pace the entire time. Edwin only needed to direct the horse when they encountered a fork in the road, or in one case, when they passed by a particularly luscious meadow.
The roads themselves were absurdly straight, even to Edwin’s modern sensibilities. Only about once or twice a day did the road turn at all, with such incidents usually corresponding to another path splitting off from the main way. They were also very level. Other than a bit of slope from the center of the road out to the edges- Edwin had checked, with several Apparatus marbles- the road was absolutely level, with the foundation lifting it above the ground where it dipped at times, or cutting straight through hills in others, stone imposingly rising on each side for some of the larger hills present.
Even with the impressive construction inherent in ensuring the straightness of the road, the stones still had gaps between them that were just wide enough to produce some seriously impressive rattling in his carriage.
The roads were, simply put, clearly optimized for foot traffic, a fact proven by the occasional courier dashing by them, feet pounding against the stone and pushing up a massive cloud of dust in their wake as they rushed by. The one that Edwin managed to peek at with Numeracy gave him a velocity of about 175 m/s, which was blazing fast- even over half the speed of sound.
Why the empire didn’t just use avior as their primary messengers was beyond him, given the flying humanoids wouldn’t need roads at all to get around, but perhaps the relative abundance of humans pushed them to utilizing humans much of the time? Or, more likely, Walking was more likely to give Skills that were useful for rapid overland movement. Something to ponder, and possibly ask Tara or Rizzali the next time he saw them.
There were other travelers on the road, naturally, and the sight lines of the roads (Maybe that was another reason for them?) ensured that Edwin could see them for miles before they actually passed each other and for miles after as well
While neither the most interesting nor the most common, he did pass a few groups of merchants, with carts and wagons of their own, or with laden pack animals passing Edwin, usually saying nothing as they did so. He didn’t spot anyone he recognized either, despite keeping an eye out.
Three or four times, a group of heavily armored figures on horses rode past him, moving much faster than he and his solitary pony could manage. Usually, said sallies returned back in the direction of Vinstead within a day or two, but one time Edwin never caught the ride back.
There were even a couple of bards, dressed in distinctive and colorful clothing as they passed him. The first was a Wandering Herald-Minstrel, and seemed to be trying to compose a song as he plucked strings on an unfamiliar instrument, singing half-finished lyrics which hung in the air for minutes in the wake of his passing, and echoed down the road for a good hour. A few days later, the second danced down the road to a beautiful melody, her eyes closed as her steps twirled her side to side, a flute producing notes which made even Inion close her eyes to appreciate the sound. The Seasonal Dancer of Whimsy barely even acknowledged them as she passed, but Edwin was happy to have encountered her.
The most plentiful group, though, was just locals using the roads for ease of travel. There were plenty of Lirasian Farmer variations, sometimes driving beasts of burden, sometimes carrying massive sacks of food, sometimes both simultaneously. Herds of sheep, kept in place by Shepherds or Farmers and a handful of dogs- Rhothosian Herders, according to Identify- monopolized massive sections of the road when they came through and stalled Edwin’s progress until the fluffy tide continued onward.
There wasn’t a lot of outgoing trade from Vinstead, all told. Apparently, other than the immediate surroundings for the city, most exports from the city were loaded up on barges and sailed downriver
----
The scenery was spectacular. With the mountains to Edwin’s left, and endless grasslands to his right, the sights were always worth seeing to say nothing of the stars.
And oh, the stars. Even back on Earth, Edwin had always loved looking up at the night sky. He’d managed to get far, far out into the country a few times, frequently with his time as a Scout, and beheld the full glory of Earth’s starscape with such minimal light pollution as could be found in a modern world.
Here, though? With his newfound supernatural sight? And nary an electric light to be found this side of the universe? It was something else. The colors on display in a properly fantasy world were beyond spectacular, and the moon gleamed like a pink and blue crystal ball amidst the green and orange nebulae-like shapes which swept across the sky.
Several nights had been spent lulling himself to sleep as he told Inion all about the incredible things that could be found in the infinite nothingness that was space. He spoke of galaxies and white dwarfs, of black holes and supernovae.
Every night, as he drifted off to sleep, he wondered which of those might still exist, off in the eternal nothingness of space, and what further, exotic structures might exist when magic was added into the equation.
One day, he promised himself, I’ll see the stars.
Maybe I’ll feel at home out there.
---
Despite the interesting things he encountered, Edwin’s days were frequently nothing spectacular. When he didn’t want to practice Flight, he usually sat on the carriage and experimented with his other Skills. He found that Prototyping could either include or ignore the motion of the road beneath him depending on what he wanted, that Fresh Air leveled best when it had something to filter out, Health meant he never got blisters, and Adaptive Defense kept him from getting sunburns altogether.
Currently, he was seeing how fine of a chain he could make with his Sapper’s Apparatus. Consistent use and practice had helped him lower the time required to summon his creations- the Skill leveling did nothing in that regard- but large or intricate creations made that shoot right back up. Chains, depending on how long he made them, met both criteria, and he was practicing summoning them one link at a time, which might well-
“Stop right there!” a voice broke Edwin out of his experimentation. His head jerked up to see a figure standing above him emerge from the surrounding light woods, seemingly melting away from the treeline, “Give me all your valuables!”
Well. It looked like he might have a bit of excitement today after all.
Level Up!
Skill Points 486→522 (Average Level: 33)
Flight Level 23→28
Outsider’s Almanac Level 128→129
Longstrider Level 22→27
Prototyping Level 13→16
Fresh Air Level 8→11
Numeracy Level 15→19
Adaptive Defense Level 24→25
Arcadian Elixir Level 8→11
Watchful Rest Level 10→15
Basic Thermokinesis Level 14→16
Improbable Arsenal Level 19→20
Sapper’s Apparatus Level 29→32
Comments
Treacherous_Usurper
I would maintain that if Inion can control water, she was probably able to control his skin while she was bound to it, meaning she could've gotten up to a lot of shenanigans had she wanted to.
