Chapter 5: A Lesson on Skills and Stars

  My dad laughed as I pouted, and he air dried me with his wind magic. The only answer I got from him was “I'll tell you in a little bit.” as we made our preparations to head back to the house.

  With that, he also warned me that he and mom were going to have a very important talk with me later tonight.

  ‘Way to put me on edge dad, care to be any more vague?’ Instead of voicing my inner dialogue I simply continued to pout.

  Reon chuckled at us as he approached, hefting the large trout in his arms as he said “Why don't we head back home?”

  As we turned back towards the house, I was surprised to see just how large it actually was.

  There appeared to be two wings on either side of the base house, with the second story expanded above that.

  As we got back to the house, we were greeted by what appeared to be a butler. One I had never seen before, as he greeted my father and brother with a slight bow, before turning his attention to me.

  I met his eyes unflinchingly as he notably appraised me, the familiar pressure of it washing over me. This soured my mood immediately. This time however, since the cat was already out of the bag, I shot an Appraisal back and was met by the following notice in my mind.

  Appraisal(Rank 1): Level 27 to 28.

  Name: Alfred Steel-Arm.

  Race: Human (? Star).

  Health: ??? of ???.

  Mana: ??? of ???.

  Description:

  “Alfred of house Steel-Arm is a loyal Knight, and a retainer of House Blackwood.”

  His eyes widened slightly, as I grimaced at him, displeased by the lack of information about the man. He quickly corrected his expression as he bowed more deeply to me, and said;

  “My apologies young Loxus, but I believe this is our first meeting.”

  Before I could answer, my dad spoke up for me, oblivious to the silent exchange we just shared. “Alfred, please, remember he's not even 3years old yet. Keep the introduction simple.”

  Alfred slightly taken aback, simply smiled at me, and spoke again. “Its nice to meet you, Loxus. My name is Alfred”

  Despite my poor first impression of the man, he seemed to be genuinely pleased to meet me, so I responded with a simple “Nice to meet you.”

  Reon then handed the butler the giant Golden Trout, and I heard our father tell him to bring the fish to the kitchens. No doubt it will be prepared for dinner tonight.

  With that, the 3 of us moved to head up the stairs.

  ***

  As we approached the office my mother usually worked in, Reon split off and headed to his own room. I could hear him muttering something about how he stunk of fish as he disappeared down the hall.

  As soon as father and I entered, my mother stood and ran over to us. She scooped me up into a big hug, and looked me over carefully. My only warning of the act being the slight pressure that I had figured out denoted an Appraisal seconds before I was in her arms.

  It seemed my cover was going to be blown today whether we caught that fish or not. I would have to be more careful about doing things that would get me appraised, in the future.

  As she hugged me tighter I heard a gasp, no doubt as she read my status for the first time since I was born.

  Making eye contact with my father, they shared a silent communication between them, and she lowered me to the ground.

  My mother started gently. “Loxus, dear… I think it's time we have a talk about skills.”

  What followed was a half hour-long talk about skills, where I was given an example of a few, and was told how they worked. The skills in question I learned about are known as Literacy, Translation, and Appraisal.

  Literacy works as you might expect, allowing for the mastery of reading and writing of any known languages.

  Translation, on the other hand, helps one intuitively get a feeling of the meaning of words of other languages, both written, and spoken. Supposedly it could even allow for clear understanding of other languages at higher ranks.

  And finally, Appraisal. It works just as I've come to understand it; with the added caveat that it shows more information the higher the rank of the skill.

  I was also told numerous times that ‘Just because I was offered a skill, doesn’t mean I need to accept that skill. As I can still benefit from my knowledge and practice without the associated skill.’

  I was forced to confirm I understood I could say no to a skill several times, before my parents would move on to the next subject. This made me wonder if there were skills that could actively harm my early development, especially if I took them too early. Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask about it at the time.

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  Together my parents informed me that I can only have so many ‘active skills’ at a time, and that it's important I pick my skills carefully.

  My mother then lamented that they had to try to explain this to me so young. I, on the other hand, had already pieced most of what they were telling me together, but it was good to know they both took this subject so seriously.

  They then explained to me that skills also had ranks, and what ranks meant.

  Rank 1 was considered Beginner, Rank 2 was Novice, Rank 3 was Intermediate, Rank 4 was Advanced, and Rank 5 was considered Skill Mastery.

  After that, they informed me that there were 100 levels between each rank. Which was good information to finally know.

  After they finished, I asked the most pressing questions I had.

  I asked “What does ‘active skills’ mean?”

  It was my father who answered me this time.

  He started softly. “Well, you remember the numbers next to the word skills when I had you think appraisal, right son?”

  After I nodded, he continued. “You can only have up to the large number of skills. These are called active skills, and they let you do special things.”

  “Like the ‘Appraisal’ thing you had me do?” I said in my best estimation of an innocent voice.

  “Exactly!” He said, nodding.

  “And when you fill up the number of skills, you can't have more?” I said, aware I was pushing the limits of how a 3 year old even with the assistance of a system, should be able to speak. Even when taking into account pseudo skill's general easing of the speaking process, a 3 year old could only say so much.

  His reply came slower than before as he tried to think of a way to convey what he wanted to say in a manner a 3 year old could understand.

  Finally, he looked at me and spoke.

  “Not really. You see, when you fill up the number, you can choose to swap out a skill, for a different skill. It has to be one you've unlocked, but didn't accept when asked.”

  He waited for my nod of understanding before he continued.

  “You should only do this if you really really need to, because doing so isn’t simple. It has a cost.”

  He went on, saying “You can also put two or more skills together to make a new skill, but you'll learn more about that when you're older.”

  I was pleasantly surprised when he informed me that I could actually swap out skills, at least up to the number I saw on my status. Though the fact that doing so came at some apparent cost, unnerved me slightly.

  I tried to learn more about this ‘cost’ he mentioned, but I was simply told I would learn about it when I'm older.

  My mother then ended the conversation by saying that if I ever unlock another skill, I should ask either her or dad if I should accept the skill, before agreeing to it. She only let it drop after I reluctantly agreed I would.

  With our conversation finished, my dad informed my mom that we would be having supper together as a family tonight– in order to celebrate Reon's catch.

  At first my mother tried to object, saying she had far too much work she needed to finish, and that she'd eat in her office like usual.

  That resistance completely faded, when me and dad let her know just what Reon had managed to catch.

  ***

  Dinner was ready not long after this, so I followed my parents and siblings to a small dining hall in the right wing of the house. It was my first time in this part of the house and I was excited to explore it.

  I ran about the room spotting everything I could about the room without using my skill. In the dining hall, there were 5 seats set. In front of each chair sat a steaming portion of trout and a green mash reminiscent of potatoes or squash, on a plate of fine silver.

  I wasn't a fan of fish so far in this life, but for a free 500 experience? I'd have gladly eaten it even if it were burnt.

  As I took my seat with the assistance of my father, I was boosted up onto a box secured to the chair. After that I prepared to take my first bite.

  Given my dislike of fish thus far, I thought I would need to force my way through this meal and I was prepared to do just that. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised when the meat of the fish melted in my mouth like butter. And oooooh the taste! It was like garlicky heaven on my tongue!

  I wasn't the only one to react like this if the sounds from Reon, and Mary, were anything to go by.

  Our parents both chuckled at our reactions, as mom finally said “I remember my first taste of a 3 star beast. The quality is nothing like that of lower star beasts.”

  I abandoned my attempts to use the silverware in front of me and began shoveling fistfuls of the fish into my mouth.

  A moment later mom added “Be sure to thank Knight Alfred for cooking this meal for us.”

  The 3 of us nodded as we stuffed our faces. Hearing my mother's words, it registered to me that the man I thought was a butler was actually a Knight! I had read as much in his description, but I didn’t think much of it after he acted like the other servants.

  I didn't know what being a ‘Knight’ entailed, but it seemed worthy of respect given how my parents talked about the title.

  After that I hesitantly asked

  “What makes a 3 star so special to eat?”

  My mother chuckled before answering.

  “You and Mary might not understand this yet, but I'll explain for Reon's sake. Normally, most 3 star beasts and above can't be eaten safely by everyone, due to excess elemental mana built up in their bodies.”

  She paused to see if Reon was still following before she continued.

  “Inside of them, 3 star beasts usually have a core attuned to an element, like wind, water, earth, or fire. That core can be used to grant a person access to that element's affinity. Only people with a matching affinity can safely eat the meat of a beast that had an elemental core, unless you let a suitable amount of time pass for the mana to leave the meat. But even then you still can risk mana poisoning.”

  Reon's brow scrunched up as he asked

  “Then what makes the fish I caught so special?”

  My father chimed in to answer, swallowing a mouthful of trout.

  “That's a great question, son. What makes the trout you caught special, is that it had awakened to raw mana, rather than awakening to mana with an elemental affinity.”

  My mom added, “Unlike humans, who most commonly awaken to raw mana, it is incredibly rare for a beast to awaken without a core with an elemental affinity.”

  Reon seemed to grasp what was being said, and said

  “Oh, so my fish had no element in its core?”

  “That’s right, and because of that it could safely be eaten by the whole family.”

  As we finished eating, I took a second to pull up my experience before bed. Seeing my experience go up from 55 to 155 of 600, I smiled as I realized I had only gotten 1/5th of the experience of the trout. I would have been disappointed by it, if not for the thought that it made sense given I had only eaten a fifth of the fish.

  Eventually, after thinking over everything I had learned today, sleep took me.