Chương 38: Chapter 37

The sparse grass of the mountains crunched beneath my feet as I threaded my way through the shrubs and trees. Mum walked beside me carrying a brown leather bag from which an occasional clink could be heard. Her expression, normally so bright and cheerful, was instead sad and thoughtful. I knew what was on her mind, even if she wasn't saying anything. After all, she was a good parent, and good parents didn't foist their worries and fears onto their children. At least, not intentionally.

Just an hour ago she had almost lost her father. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Gramps had a little left up his sleeve. But to me, it seemed like he had been running on the dregs of his aether. If George hadn't appeared to deal with the remaining mountain troll then at least a few of us would've ended up as troll shit. Not a fate I would've wished on anyone, but especially not Gramps or Mum.

After Gramps had hobbled off to offer what comfort he could to the lone surviving adventurer, we had been tasked with collecting the trolls' blood. I had tried to see if I felt anything around the troll's bodies like when I had killed the crow and rat. Nothing had happened. Either I was missing something or I had to be the one to kill them. That was a dark thought. My testing done I had worked on the task Gramps had set us.

The vibrant green liquid was apparently a powerful reagent for a few different types of potions, the most obvious one being potions of healing. It also stunk like rotten fruit. Smell aside, Gramps had instructed us to leave a third of the collected blood as a token offering to the adventurer. As for the remaining two-thirds, well, that was why we were out walking when it would be night soon. We were to deliver the filled vials to Magatha who should have a way to reduce the loss of efficacy of the troll blood.

That was how I had interpreted his words anyway. Gramps had definitely not said 'efficacy' to a four year old. As always, I smelled Magatha's home before I saw it. The fragrant scent of flowers mixed with the earthy scent of tilled soil wafted beneath my nose like a physical trail that led directly to her sturdy, wooden house. This was only my third visit but just like the other two times, Magatha was walking out her door before we had even reached the edge of her garden.

By this point I was convinced she had some skill or spell to sense when someone approached.

"It's a bit late for a visit, Penny. Were you hoping to stay the night? Because I don't really have somewhere private for Bastian to sleep while we spend some quality time together," Magatha quipped, her dark green dress looking a little worse for wear with dirt stains decorating it. Magatha smiled for a moment at her little opener before frowning at Mum's lack of a reaction or retort.

"Something happened. What's wrong?"

"Mated mountain trolls chased a team of adventurers back to the outpost. Only one of the three survived," Mother answered quietly. Magatha stepped down off her porch, moving towards my mother and wrapping an arm around her.

"Well, you're alright. Did… did you witness some of the fighting?" I looked up at them both as my mother nodded.

"Dad fought and killed one of them. But he was running low on aether before the fight even started. If not for George…" Mother's words were broken by a sob and Magatha folded her into her arms. I joined in, wrapping my arms around one of Mum's legs. I knew she had been worried, but it must have felt terrible to bottle it all up while we walked. Her tears were short lived. Drying her eyes and extracting herself from Magatha's arms she let me continue to hold onto her.

"Dad had us collect plenty of the trolls' blood. We thought you might be willing to do some brewing with it, to the benefit of us all?" Mum said, still drying her eyes.

"Well, I hate to barter at a time like this, Penny, but what was Cornelius thinking in terms of the deal?" Magatha asked, putting one hand on her hip as she eyed the leather bag Mother was carrying. I could plainly see the avarice in her eyes and wondered if trolls' blood was just that valuable or if it was something else. Then, I realised what that something else probably was. A Path, maybe even two. Probably her Class Path as well. The reward would be at least twofold for the Hedge Witch.

"Dad said a three-way split for whatever you can produce. One third to you, one third to Dad and one third to George. To do with as we please. We would obviously prefer healing potions but if you think there is something that would sell better then we're open to your suggestions." Mum's eyes were still a little red from the crying, but her voice was firm, which of course made me grin cheekily at Magatha as I saw her grind her teeth.

It certainly felt better to tease her rather than thinking about how the adventurer with the huge shield got popped like rotten fruit by one of the trolls.

"That is… agreeable. I have all the ingredients for a few greater healing potions and the rest can be lesser healing potions. It will go through my stocks a little so I think… I want three sevenths with the remaining four split between Cornelius and George." Mum pursed her lips in thought though I could see she wasn't a huge fan of the deal. Of course, the blood wasn't the only thing we had to barter. There was another offering on the table.

One where an equal three-way split might be possible, and I was very keen on that outcome. After all, any extra silver or gold we could make from selling the potions would likely go towards my tutors or academy fund. So, I made my play.

"Will you still teach me?" I asked, making myself sound a little more childish than usual.

"Of course," Magatha replied with a bright smile.

"It would be a pleasure to have Penny and you come for regular visits." I didn't miss the order on her preferences, though I did hope I wasn't throwing Mum in the deep end.

"And… a three-way split?" I suggested, a bright smile on my face as I looked between Mum and Magatha. The Hedge Witch frowned ever so slightly at my words, her blonde brows drawn down in something between annoyance and curiosity. Mum, however, was smiling for the first time since the trolls. I just kept on looking between them with wide eyed curiosity. In the background I saw my Path of Deception tick up, probably due to my acting.

"How many vials do you have?" Magatha asked, the frown still on her face. I didn't care how unhappy she seemed as the moment the words were out her mouth I knew she would cave to my request. Mother opened the leather bag to show the pile of clinking vials and though I couldn't see inside from where I was I knew that there were over a dozen filled glass containers of the bright green liquid.

"Fine," Magatha answered, seeing the small treasure trove the look in her eyes transitioning from annoyed to greedy once more.

"But you will come by for lessons twice a week."

"How about we just come by for most of the day instead of two visits?" Mum suggested. I nodded, knowing my one day off a week was now history. It didn't bother me since time left to my own devices usually just resulted in small pranks related to my Paths anyway. The question was, would the lessons mostly focus on my aethersensing or something else? I didn't know yet, and it would be a few days till I would.

"Fine. That works too. Did you want to come in for some tea?" Magatha offered. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"We should get going before it gets dark," Mum replied as she handed over the bag.

"I'll pick the bag up when we come for Bastian's lessons." Magatha smiled, her eyes locked onto my mother with not even a glance for me.

"Looking forward to it." We waved our farewells and started the long walk back to the outpost. My mother waited until we were a good distance from Magatha's before she spoke again.

"You didn't have to do that, sweetheart." I shrugged, picking my path down the road.

"It's fine, Mum. You and Gramps would just put it towards my learning anyway, right?" Mum smiled at me knowingly.

"Of course."

"I can listen to Magatha talk about plants or whatever for a while if it helps you and Gramps." She stopped me then, bending down to fold me into a hug.

"You're such a good boy." I cringed a little at her words, considering my recent antics had involved climbing on top of the outpost, infiltrating the prospectors' new home to cause a bug apocalypse, and strangling a feral, mind-fucking-with rat. Good wasn't how I was viewing myself at the moment. Still, a hug from Mum was a hug from Mum and I wrapped my arms around her. The rest of the walk was a quiet affair as the sun was starting to set. The skyline had dimmed to orange by the time we reached our home.

Dinner was a quiet affair with just the three of us, though I could still hear the occasional sob upstairs from the surviving adventurer. That night, laying in bed, I wondered whether it would be similar for me when I eventually started adventuring. If I had a team, what would it feel like to lose one of them? It was easy to imagine as I just considered what it would feel like to lose Mum or Gramps. I'd be a wreck as well. But, travelling alone seemed like a really lonely way to live.

Some memories of my past life leaked in, reminding me that in life, you had to take the bad with the good. So, of course, in my childish mind, I decided I would just have to become strong enough that I would never lose anyone. I knew it was a lie, but it was such a pretty one that I held onto it. One day it would shatter, and I would be forced to pick up the pieces, but that day wasn't today. If I dreamt that night, I didn't remember it. In the morning, the adventurer was already gone.

Gramps told us over breakfast that she had slipped out before dawn. Hard to blame her for running from the site of so much pain. I hadn't forgotten my thoughts from the night before and threw myself into my studies and lessons with a vengeance. The next few days passed in a blur but my hard work paid off as I looked over the notifications with a smile. You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Swordplay VII (1052/1000) Reward: 1 Coordination You have advanced the Tier of your Path!

Path of Balance VIII (2512/2500) Reward: 1 Coordination You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Climbing X (10000/10000) Reward: 2 Unallocated Stats I immediately put the two Unallocated Stats into Talented which took me to a nice round one-hundred-and-fifty in the Advanced Attribute and a perfect thirty percent bonus to the completion rate of all my Paths. Which just meant one thing. What Path was I going to fill the slot that the Path of Climbing had vacated?

There was the Path of Infiltration, or the Path of Coordination. Then there were all the weapon Paths I had unlocked. Or I could wait two days and see what Paths my lessons with Magatha might offer. I opened my Status as I pondered the question because thinking about it brought me no closer to an answer.

Name - Sebastian Skills (3/4) Class - Locked Muffled Steps (Minor) - 21 Controlled Grip (Lesser) - 1 Basic Attributes Strength - 119 Body Features Stamina - 128 Aether Core - Minor Coordination - 135 Aether Channels - Weak Mental - 152 Aether - 107 Affinity (1/1) Shadow (Strong) - 100 Advanced Attributes (1/2) Talented - 150 Paths (9/10) Dormant Paths (2) Path of Exceptionalism I (95/100) Path of Coordination VI Path of Running VIII (3816/5000) Path of Infiltration I Path of Balance VIII (2512/5000) Path of Body Strengthening VII (2133/2500) Path of Aethersensing VII (1195/2500) Path of Swordplay VII (1052/2500) Path of Deception VIII (3741/5000) Path of the Completionist II (145/200) Path of Soulstealing (4/10) Completed Paths (12) Available Paths Path of Basic Numeracy X Path of Reading - Helenian Path of Linguistics - English X Path of Writing - Helenian Path of Endurance X Path of Daggers Path of Willpower X Path of Footwork Path of Eavesdropping X Path of Warhammers Path of Linguistics - Helenian X Path of Shieldwork Path of Crawling X Path of Shortbow Path of Sneaking X Path of Shortsword Path of Hiding X Path of Knives Path of Walking X Path of Cooking Path of Climbing X Path of Hatchets Path of Stealth V Path of Axes Path of Long-knives Path of Arming-swords Path of Stretching Path of Pranking Path of Acrobatics