Chapter 8: First Obstacle
As he entered the washroom, Ember could not wait to bring out his status screen.
Ember Blackstone
Human (Copper) - Tier 1 (647/600) → Tier 2 (Progress: 47/1200)
Class: N/A
Titles: N/A
Mana Foundation:
Attributes:
Class Skills:
General Skills: [Skill Slot: 12/18]
Boons:
Affiliation: House Blackstone- Seynhold (Tier 5)
Like the first time, his Insight and Mystic showed the biggest improvement, with Will following behind. Immunity, too, had risen substantially, whereas his Might had finally reached the one-point mark. Perhaps now his punch would have the weight of a five-year-old.
Quite an achievement while he was a month shy of three. Ember sniffed.
His mana circuit had progressed quite a bit over the months, whereas the breath of mana had eluded him completely. Even now that he was Tier 2, there was still no improvement in it, which prompted him to believe that simply raising his racial tier would not be enough for his mana foundation.
Then he noted the EP requirement for Tier 3 and almost swore, despite suspecting it beforehand. That number had doubled once again.
As he washed his body, stripping off his clothes, Ember made a mental calculation to figure out how many skills he would have to improve to get there. If he got two good copper skills and managed to advance them to +9, that would net him 900 points. For the remainder, he had Mana Circulation and Heightened Focus.
As for getting a copper skill to max mastery, Ember had no hopes of achieving it in the short term. The task seemed nigh insurmountable for common skills, much less copper ones. He had only managed it with Focus because all his other skills required deep focus to function. Perhaps history would repeat itself with Heightened Focus, despite Mana Sense having an edge over it.
Mana Circulation was still quite arduous. With only one breath of mana to work with, he could barely practise it, with his mana needing half a day to recover.
Considering all that, he figured it would perhaps take two years at the earliest for him to reach Tier 3. Well, that was assuming he could acquire two copper skills early, and not just any skills that he couldn't train constantly, like Mana Circulation.
Since he had learned that there were iron and silver ranks after copper, there might be a way to obtain higher-tier skills as well. Perhaps his father could help with that, though he feared the skill slot requirements for them might be higher. And considering his mother’s low tier, perhaps it was not nearly as easy as he imagined.
Of course, there were those potions. A thousand contribution credits might be a lot. Why else would his father have left his mother at a low tier for so long? That was to say, he shouldn't place all his hopes on those expensive potions. They might be a last resort when he hits a wall.
A thought crossed his mind. If the threshold for a tier doubled every time, then would that not mean the next one would be 2400 evolution points? Dear lord, that would probably be absolutely impossible without—
Waving his status screen away, Ember ran through a rigorous mental calculation. What he learned did not delight him at all. As far as he could tell, meeting the threshold for Tier 4 would require eight copper skills at absolute mastery.
It's going to be the biggest hurdle in my path, Ember reckoned.
Getting the first few levels in a skill was rather easy. He only had to grasp the basics. But once he passed the third or even the fifth point, each skill demanded meaningful exploration.
Was that why his mother was Tier 3 despite being in her early thirties?
That left him with more to ponder when choosing his next skills. There had been a number of skills awaiting in the status log. Unfortunately, all of them were of common rank.
He bet Running would be the easiest to master, considering how much he ran around every day. But it was still a common skill, and he was unsure what the criteria for its advancement would be. Rain’s copper counterpart of Running was only at +5, which meant it was not the easiest skill to master. Well, she had unlocked her system at four, and if Running had been among her first skills, it had taken her six years to get there. But Rain had not been diligent from the beginning.
All these points made Ember more inclined to take Running, but he would still confirm with his father before acquiring any.
As he came out from the washroom, his mother had already awoken from her advancement, only steadying her mind, while his father stood with a napkin pressed to his nose. Her fair skin was now completely caked in black, tar-like impurities; if that were not enough, its disgusting reek permeated the entire room. And their house didn't have a room-freshening construct in place either.
As soon as the stench entered his nostrils, Ember stopped breathing and dashed outdoors.
Sorry, Mum.
He waited on the hammock hung from the branches of the old oak tree. Some minutes later, his father came to join him.
“So you have reached tier 2,” the man said, peering down at him. “Can you tell me what skills you have?”
Ember considered it for a moment, wondering whether he should oversell or undersell himself. Ultimately, he chose to be straightforward and truthful.
His father took his silence as confusion. Then he slapped himself on the cheek. “Silly me,” he sighed. “You can’t read yet.” He shook his head, crouching to his level. “Em, do you remember what the names of the skills the System spoke to your ears?”
Ember bobbed his head. The system had not spoken to his ears, not since the first couple of times. But hearing his father, it seemed the system went full voice mode for the illiterate. How such sorcery was possible, he'd figure out one day.
“I can tell you have Mana Sense and Mana Circulation,” the knight said. “Have you gotten Mana Accumulation already?”
Ember raised his eyebrows, making a mental note of the skill. Then he shook his head.
His father seemed slightly disappointed, but continued, “Well, since you’re so spontaneous, you must have Running.”
Ember shook his head again.
“How about studying?”
Another shake of the head.
“Language Acquisition?”
“I have that,” he acknowledged. “I also have Heightened Focus, Meditation, and Active Recall.”
“You actually have Focus at Copper already?” His father was amazed. Ember could not help but grin as well. “Well, why am I even surprised? Considering how focused I have seen you working with that spider construct, it only makes sense.” He studied him, mumbling to himself. “Given how early you have advanced, I assume you have quite the mastery in the skill as well.”
Ember was unsure what to say.
“I don't know much about that Active Recall skill. I wonder if it even has a copper variant.” His gaze returned to Ember. “What about meditation? How did you learn that?”
He was probably not even waiting for a proper answer, but Ember still gave one. “By watching you.”
Taken aback, the man relaxed his shoulders, picked him up, and sat on the hammock, still holding him by the arms.
“Thankfully, you have all the good skills. Well, I am still unsure about Active Recall,” he said, almost to himself. “I’ll look into it later. Anyways, mana skills are precious. You have not done anything wrong by acquiring them.”
Ember listened carefully, committing every word to memory.
“One single skill slot might not sound like a lot, but if you choose the wrong skill, it will not only waste your time but could even collapse your path, especially in the early stages where skill slots are scarce.” He pinched Ember’s cheeks. “You might not understand it now, but—”
He paused, then decided it was easier to instruct than to explain.
“Since Ember is a little prodigy in mana, you can go ahead and take any mana skill that comes your way. The next one, I reckon, will be Mana Accumulation. That is an important foundational skill for any warrior or mage.”
Ember nodded firmly. The name alone hinted at its function, but he still could not help asking, “Will it help grow my mana?”
“It will,” his father nodded. “So far, you seem to have only one breath of mana, but that is natural without the skill. Even with it, it will take years to form a Tier 1 mana foundation.”
A look of contemplation crossed his face, and he seemed satisfied with his own calculations.
“Among other skills, you can take running, studying, or even cooking from your mom. Or another mana skill, but those tend to cost three or more skill slots, and at Tier 2, you won't have many to spare. Do you understand what I mean?”
Ember nodded and repeated it in simpler words, “I will learn Mana Accumulation and wait, or try Running or Cooking.”
“What about studying?”
Ember looked away.
“Well, you can also leave a couple of points spare for your Meditation to reach copper rank,” his father added. “But that tends to take a long time. Merciful Abyss, it took me half a decade.”
Ember did not think he had the patience to leave even a single slot unused for five years. Hell, he wouldn't last five months. Perhaps he could try once he reached Iron, as the skill slots he would gain then would be three times that of the Copper rank.
“Still, before you take any skills, come to me,” the knight said. “I’ll give you one Iron Crown every time.”
A few minutes later, his mother opened the door, calling them indoors. Now that she had washed herself, her skin seemed even younger. She truly looked as though she had shed half a decade after reaching Iron rank.
“Dad, what did you feed Mom?”
“It is a potion,” Cliff explained, carrying him inside, “that raises skill mastery forcibly.”
“Is it good?” he asked.
“It’s not tasty, and only good for lifestyle classes, like your mother’s cooking class.”
“Hey, it's Chef now,” Rossana piped up with a smile. “I hadn’t endured through the pain for you to oust me for a mere cook.”
“Pardon my foul tongue, my fair Iron Lady,” Cliff bowed dramatically.
Ember had thought they would stop flirting after a while, but that had not been the case even after half a year.
“You’re forgiven,” Rossana grinned, “now help me prepare dinner. I need an obedient kitchen boy to put my chef class to use.”
The sun had barely set. There were still hours before supper, but with her advancement, Rossana was too eager to try out her new and improved skills. As they discussed the meal, even Ember could not help but salivate at the thought of something delectable for dinner. His mother’s cooking had already been fantastic before; now, she might rival Michelin-star chefs.
But as much as he loved food, there were still questions burning on his tongue.
“Dad, how do potions raise skill levels?”
“I... I’m not sure,” Cliff replied, wiping his hands on the sink. He paused, as though choosing how to explain it to a child. “But it’s not natural growth like training your skills. That’s why, although potions are an option, you should never use one lightly. At least not until you are truly stuck at a threshold.”
He paused again, gauging whether Ember understood.
“You see, these potions are like poison.”
A look of pale astonishment crossed Ember’s face.
“No, no, no—I am not feeding poison to your mother,” the man clarified quickly. “It even raises her lifespan. Well, advancing to Iron does. The point is that forcibly raising skill levels comes with hidden risks. For example, your mother will always depend on those potions to advance, and she will never reach gold rank. But that’s not to say gold rank is easy to reach. Do you understand?”
Ember nodded firmly. “Yes. I will not drink those potions.”
But since he had the chance to satisfy his curiosity, he asked again, “Dad, what tier are you?”
The Knight smiled; perhaps he had been waiting to show off. “Well, my race has been silver for almost a decade now. As for tier...” He seemed to check his status before continuing, “I’m halfway to Tier 9.” He shot a lopsided grin at his wife before looking back at Ember. “Isn't your dad super strong?”
“Very impressive,” Ember acknowledged.
Though not with as much enthusiasm, the man still laughed in delight. “Just don't reveal that to anyone outside, or they might force me to advance, and then I won’t be able to spend time with you.”