Chương 8

Sobelle awoke physically refreshed yet mentally drained. Her new skill was truly something else, she hadn't woken up like this for so long that she had forgotten what it felt like. Though the feeling was unfortunately spoiled by the fact that she felt like she had been hit in the head. Except that getting hit in the head would hurt physically while right now she was weak. Sobelle placed the back of her hand on top of her eyes, she groaned. She really didn't feel like doing anything today.

Her body was rearing to go out and start her usual morning but her mind? She was out of it in a way that was unbearably hard to describe. It was like she stopped looking forward to things. Or maybe she lost her sense of excitement. Sobelle searched for comfort and opened her system, what she saw wasn't quite what she was looking for but it got her to get out of bed in the end.

She wanted the gods to reassure her and tell her that everything would be alright and all she got was the cold quest asking her to prepare for war. It wasn't what she wanted, but what she needed. Sobelle's sadness turned to stone and melted into a simmering pot of molten fury. She got out of bed, went past her still sleeping siblings, and started her day. Who cares if none of them liked her? She didn't exist for them, and the Gods knew that too.

That was why they didn't offer her any answers or even encouraged her to talk to her brothers and sisters. In the end, all that mattered was that Sobelle followed the request of the Gods. Everything else was secondary, and that included the acknowledgement of her own family. She found her usual routine to be much easier than before. It was proof that the Gods' gift wasn't temporary and would last her for quite a while. Sobelle hoped it was permanent, and by the looks of things, she might be right.

She had seen first hand when the Gods set up a timer in the past, and the quest then had a series of numbers constantly counting down next to it. This new skill of hers did not have that. Each set she finished only left Sobelle wanting more. The joy she felt did not outweigh the sadness caused by her siblings, instead it made her temporarily forget. Sobelle was tireless as she did set after set, completing them all in record time.

No more was the young girl who collapsed after the first three, now she could do all of them in one go and only felt tired by the end of it. She collapsed to the ground, her breathing heavy. Sobelle noticed something strange at that moment; her muscles ached for some reason, so did that mean that new skill only made it harder for her to feel tired? Was she not immune to exhaustion like she thought she was?

'No, I am more tenacious now. I saw it yesterday.' She had managed to collect eight buckets of spring water after she got her new skill. Which proved that her body got even stronger after she obtained [Inexhaustible Vessel]. She couldn't have misinterpreted its effects could she? That didn't make sense. What the skill's true effects actually were remained a mystery, still, it made Sobelle a lot less prone to getting tired so she wouldn't dare complain for too long lest the Gods take it from her.

A moment's rest passed by and Sobelle headed back to her village. She had spare time so she hoped that she'd get a lot of jobs from the other villagers. With how high her expectations were, Sobelle believed them to be impossible but she really should have overestimated things. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Earlier this morning, the village ran empty of men who could do physical work. Where did they go? Why to search for Shusks of course!

They were in season and everyone was so excited to eat them that some of the villagers even went as far as to go past the tamed parts of the river to search for the molluscs in the raging currents. Forsaking the village's women and leaving them to tend to themselves truly was a stupid decision. Sobelle thought so too.

"So you're looking to help?" At some point in her life, Sobelle was excited to hear these exact words spoken in that order. Now? She dreaded them. Sobelle flinched every time she heard someone say it because that meant she'd have to work herself to the bone. Sobelle scrubbed walls, she cleaned buckets, emptied human wastes into the fields of grass, and did so many chores that not even her skill could keep up with the work.

She came back to the village exhausted and was only greeted with even more work than left her in an even worse state. She was so exhausted by the end of it that Sobelle collapsed in her alcove and fell asleep right then and there. Guess the skill did have its limits, after all. And the answer to the question of whether or not the skill also boosted her physical abilities had also been found. It did. Otherwise there was no explanation for how Sobelle managed to finish all that work in such a short span of time.

When Sobelle came to, the sun had started to set. No one came looking for her so she slept on the grass like a baby. She felt physically and mentally refreshed, so much so that she let out a satisfied groan when she stood up and stretched. She hadn't expected to end up sleeping out here but was glad to have done so. She got up and headed back, it was late so while she wanted to study her numbers and go back to remembering the sequences, Sobelle believed it was better for her to be inside a house and resting.

The men of the village grinned at her as she passed them by.

"You're one hell of a mule, aren't you Sobelle?" One of them said, and Sobelle didn't have the time to acknowledge the little joke he had at her expense so she just grunted. He laughed.

"That's the spirit!" Creyla crossed her arms at her when she opened the door to their house, "well you're back early." The woman said, her tone no longer held that much malice compared to before.

"Did you have a change of plans?"

"No, just tired." Sobelle yawned and headed for the bedroom. There were so many beds inside that she wanted to just pick one and be done with it but that'd be rude to her siblings so she pushed herself and walked to her bed and rested there. She fell asleep seconds after her eyelids closed shut. Sobelle woke up with a parched throat and lips so dry they could start a forest fire with the smallest embers. She nursed her head when a headache attacked her skull seconds after she got out of bed.

All that work had really left her body to the brink of collapse huh?

'No, I did collapse. On the brink doesn't cut it.' Well at least she got a lot of stuff out of it. And by stuff she meant Levs, Sobelle had gotten so much of it earlier today that the memory of them alone was enough to ignite some spark into her fading consciousness. She reached the table and there, her father sat. Saltor didn't look angry, but he didn't look particularly proud either. It almost felt like he looked at his daughter in a new light.

But that couldn't be, that was impossible, no father would dare acknowledge the kind of effort Sobelle did earlier.

"Sobelle." Saltor placed a leather bag on the table. It clinked.

"You have earned a lot of Levs."

"Yes, a lot of work was available earlier so I did all of them." Well, not all of them. Sobelle avoided things like taking care of a house or a baby or rearing an animal. She wasn't good with any of those. That or they took too much time.

"The women were kind enough to give me Levs every time I finished a task."

"That is good." Saltor gave her a strangely smug smile. What was he doing? Sobelle didn't get it.

"This amount of money would be able to buy you a chair or maybe even a table out in the towns. I'd love some fine craftsmanship but I'll leave the choice of using them to you."

"I think it'd be great if you just store them for now, I don't need them." Sobelle didn't trust herself with the coins, she wasn't strong enough to protect them yet.

"I'll ask for them when I can think of something."

"Very well then, I shall keep them in my locked chest. Ask me for your coins once you want them back. And make sure to eat okay? Dinner is ready." For some reason, Saltor chose to follow Sobelle's request instead of taking them for herself. Saltor left for the house's main room and disappeared inside. Never to be seen again for the rest of the night. As for Sobelle? She ate her dinner in silence. She didn't really think much of it, or about anything really. Her mind was too busy trying not to sleep for that.