"Grandfather I have a question."

An innocent inquiry in on itself. Yet some part of Ciron was screaming at him, the hair on his arms raised, as if a ghost brushed it's dead cold hand over it. And as fast as that sensation came, it went away with the same speed. Get your thought about you man. he was sure his grandson was wondering what was happening to him.

"Oh? Do tell. What is it that you want to know?" his grandson always had questions, that was nothing new. So why was the boy so reluctant to ask? He usually just did it, never before in this way, first asking for permission. The boy was fidgeting, his hands locked in a struggle in front of him, his head bowed low and studiously observing the ground.

Ciron did not have a son and this little man took on more looks from his father, other than the eyes those were the eyes of his wife no doubt about it than he did from his darling Petra. The nose, the cheekbones, the forehead… But that look right there.

He had seen that same look over a decade ago.

He married late, by society's customs, but he never had any regrets over that. If things went any other way he wouldn't have met Rona, nor had Petra. Those two were the light of his day and he would never change anything about them.

Well, maybe one thing. One small thing.

His daughter had a small problem. Once she got a notion of something she wanted to do, she went ahead and did it. No barriers could prevent it. That lesson was learned from experience, though it got better once she grew up a bit. Those years between when she was a small girl, skipping behind her father and mother, and where she became Septimus' wife and a woman of her own - were hell. He still wondered to this day how in the 81 Hells was he not bald.

And that expression was on her face more times than he could count. Now it made sense from where that sensation of dread, his eyes must have seen it before he did. They remembered.

"You know you can tell your grandfather everything." he encouraged the boy to speak. The silence was tearing his guts, while his imagination made minced meat of his heart.

The boy is still young, not even five cycles under his belt, so it can't be a baby! his reason told him, yet a part of him thought that.

"Grandfather... how do you do over level 20? My Stone Shaping is stuck." his grandson said, not lifting his gaze.

Oh, praise the Ancestors it's not a baby! He wants to know about the level barrier! Wait... what?! He just wants to know about how to get a skill to apprentice levels? He just taught that skill to him not even a year ago. Eight months! How did he get it so fast to the barrier?

It took Ciron three years!

He spent hours every day shaping everything from small stones to large blocks into shape, running himself raw all the while his father supervised and instructed. Now the boy did it in a year! Tercius was just five years old! Five years old Apprentice! He had to reign in this wild horse in his blood, it would not do to go in this way to greet the Ancestors.

"Boy!" his voice as steel "Are you messing with your grandfather? Is this some joke your mother made you do?" she did have the nerve and the wits, the ungrateful child.

"No grandfather... er mother had nothing to do with this," he said. "My skill has been stuck at level 20 for almost a month now, and I thought you could tell me why and maybe what do I do about it." the five-cycle-old said completely reasonably. As if seven months was enough to go from level 1 to 20 is by any measure reasonable.

Absurd.

Well... maybe it was not. he went over it once more in his head.

Skills do level faster in youth, and even faster when you don't have many. His grandson had two: Gardening and Stone Shaping. One from his wife and one from him. He could not be more proud of this child. When his mind went over it once more he was sure that it was possible if a bit rare. I better explain this seriously, after all this is one of those serious talks.

"Well Tercius, to level a skill from Novice to Apprentice you first need another one at level twenty. With me so far?" he asked the wide-eyed boy and he nodded affirmatively. "Then you imagine both skills in your mind. Can you do that?" he nodded again.

"Then you imagine them in front of your eyes, one on your left the other on your right. Now the important part. The one you want to level must stay in place. Understood?" he asked with a snap. This was serious, the boy better pay some serious attention.

"Yes, grandfather!" Tercius’ voice cracked as he shouted.

Ciron had to snort.

"I will ask you to repeat it later, so it better be. Now, the other skill you move slowly to the first one. Then it's eaten." he explained.

"Eaten?" repeated the boy.

"Yes, I am sorry to say you lose it completely. You can, of course, start again and it will be easier the second time but... well from my own experience... it's slow and grueling work and you have to do it more than once. The perseverance required for that... And then for Adept tier, you will need two Apprentice tier skills, that is all I am going to say."

His Stone Shaping was Adept tier at level 60, and he got there not long before his grandson was born. What stopped him from getting it to Expert was another skill at that level. The closest one he has to that level is Stone Sense. And he could never give that one up. Never. So for him who has seen 59 seasons change, the adept tier was probably the end of the line. He should have prepared a skill for this from the start, but he doubted he could ever get this far.

Stone Sense was a skill he got in a moment of inspiration. He had no direct knowledge of how he did it. At that moment he was using Stone Shaping working on a particularly stubborn rock. Every time he adjusted to its surface some part of it cracked away. He knew he was late for delivery and the next shipment of stone was weeks away. His energy was already close to running out, he felt the telltale signs of overuse, but he had no choice. The agreement he made stated quite clearly the price should he fail to meet the deadline.

He should have had time to spare, but where things were able to go wrong they did.

First, his regular supplier stopped working and his successor made it clear he did not want to continue the deal with him. The reason for this he knew not to this day. His hair went from black to greyish in a matter of days. Five large stones, over 3 meters long and 1,5 tall and just as wide, remained.

And he had a day to get it done.

The night before he went to sleep early planning to start the next day fresh and just maybe do a miracle. Instead, he spent it tossing and turning so much his wife tossed him out of the bed. It was a stupid idea in the first place, he was never a man to sleep while worried over something.

Under the cover of the night sky, Cirin went to his workshop and stated. Over the course of the day, he managed to shape three of them and start the fifth one. Somewhere along the line, he realized he was not going to make it. Too little time too much work. It had always been said that skills come to you in the hour of need and in this case that was true.

Stone Sense (58)

A sense that allows a feeling of texture inside a small volume of stone. Every skill level increases the effect by a small degree and lowers the cost of its use by a small degree.

The need to express joy at that moment was squashed by the urgency of the situation, so when this skill allowed his Stone Shaping to get another step up in efficiency he threw himself on remaining work. He finished a good half an hour before the porters came, spent and tired, yet extremely satisfied he waited for them to come. Good old times. So even when this skill gets to the required level he will not be using it to push the barrier for any skill. To Cirin it felt as if he needed to choose whom he loved more? His wife or his daughter?

Best he jumps off a cliff and pray for a quick ending.

"We need to get you a disposable skill to level. Hmm, yes something you will be quick to pick up and level. Let me think about it. Oh! Your grandmother and parents will need to be informed of this." So many things to consider. They will have to explain to Tercius about keeping this to himself if this was any other child he knew he would be worried whether they could keep this to themselves, but in the case of his grandson, he was more worried the boy would never tell anything to anyone. He was an odd child, in a way that he was not sure if it was good or bad.

Were his father here to hear this, he was sure that that old man would have an opinion and a laugh on it. Who knows how much time he spent on him to convince him to spent some time playing. And here he was, accusing his grandson of the same thing he was guilty of, and the irony was not lost on him, no matter what his wife said.

While other children his age spent their time playing with each other, Tercius studied and worked. Be it with his wife about herbs, vegetables, and fruits, with him spending hours in practice, the boy spent his time with a purpose and drive rare in young men thrice, hell four times his age. No child should miss those years of bliss, ignorant of the weight soon to be on their shoulders. One of the reasons why he took another student was for his grandson to make a friend.

The boys got along with each other, shared hardships of work but outside of it they rarely met and every time Neiran was the one that initialized contact. Well, soon he planned to take them to build sites so that they could get familiar with the procedures and atmosphere. All their time so far they spent around his workshop, spending months of studying and mostly trimming or reshaping rocks. He spent some time pondering over this and would soon have words with his wife, she usually had wiser thoughts on such subjects.

"We will talk more on this soon. Now tell me what do you think. Will it be a brother or a sister?" he asked the boy, seeking to change the previous subject.

***

Finally! A way forward! He had been searching for a way to make his Meditation go to the next level for over two years. He was a bit disappointed he had to part with a skill and right now had no idea which one to use for that dubious honor. Some thought was necessary on the subject, but he had an idea already. His grandfather said that a skill that was used in such a way was regained faster the second time around, so using a skill he was fast at upgrading was a possible shortcut.

Assuming that at every twenty levels this barrier repeated in the same way then for one skill to level to beyond level 80 it took four others to use as fodder. Those four would them be systematically recycled repeatedly for further growth. He could go for sixteen skills and make one primary and pour all others into it. These two paths were the extremities he could see right now and of course, he could choose a path somewhere in the middle.

"Does it hurt?" he asked his grandfather before the old man went too far from the original subject.

"... what?"

"When you get the skill to cross the barrier, does it hurt?" he clarified.

"Oh, that. Actually no, it's a very pleasant sensation. Your body heats up and you sweat a bit, but that's about it." his grandfather answered.

"And how much time do you need to do it?" Tercius asked, fishing for more.

"To you, it will feel as if moments have passed, while in fact, it takes a few hours. I have personally been present for one that took seven hours, but that was for an Expert skill evolution, from Novice to Apprentice it's around two." his grandfather shared.

Well, that timing makes it possible for me to try it during the night. Maybe even go early to bed to make up for lost time so that sleep doesn't suffer.

"I gotta go grandpa, thank you for your help!" he yelled as he rushed away towards his home. There were more things to consider.

"... come back here you little scamp, we have work to finish!" a shout following in his wake.

***

More research into skills was dire in its necessity, so probably to start from there and along the way figure out what skill to level to it's highest levels. The sooner he decided on that the better. But how?! He knew not what awaited him in this world, so on what basis should he chose? Choosing one skill for focused growth meant leaving others neglected, considering he had five skills now he could go the minimalist route and focus on the least number of skills to use the bonus to their leveling.

Tercius arrived home and went to his room in a hurry, leaving those present inside the main room of the house bewildered. He made himself comfortable on the bed and started to meditate. Many, if not all, of his bad decisions, were made in a state similar to what he felt now. His stomach erupted with a bubbling sensation urging him to do something, anything else than what he was doing right now.

His surroundings started fading leaving only him in a grey void of space, his emotions dulling by the moment spent here. A peace of environment and self-consumed his consciousness so much he barely felt his mother nudging him. His awareness snapped back and he found his mother sitting on the bed next to him, one arm on his knee, gently nudging it.

It must have been obvious that he didn't hear what she said the first time.

"I said," she started again with amused patience "... you were supposed to be with your grandfather. Did something happen?"

See? One more proof of a case long ago closed.

"Oh no... Um, nothing happened... just... well grandfather explained to me how to get past the barrier of a skill, so I got excited and... Well, here I am."

"He did what?! I wanted to do that when the time came. " her voice two metal wires strained against one another.

I better explain this, otherwise who knows what will happen to grandpa. So he did. In detail, he started from the beginning of the conversation he had earlier, about being stuck at level twenty and made the point of highlighting that he was the one who asked for information.

As she listened to his recital her tense shoulders and furrowed brow relaxed, hopefully enough to overlook his grandfather's involvement in the whole thing. He had no wish to create friction between these two. Sometimes they acted more like rivals than father and daughter that they are and took any given opportunity to resume quarrel.

"I am so proud of you Tercius, this is incredible! Hurry, we must tell your father." she stopped midway off the bed and turned to him with a face completely different than of a moment ago. Where a smile previously graced her face, now lines of worry found their way.

"Actually... we better wait. I don't know if you've seen, but your father has a business associate over for a meal. So now is not the time. Listen, Tercius, this kind of news is for family only. Do you understand? Only grandpa, grandma, father, and me. No one else has to know." she added.

"I know grandpa explained that to me months ago. No one else knows."

"Good, good... I am glad you listen. Now go in the back of the house and wash that dirt off of you and come to eat. Oh, and be sure to not use too much water." she shooed him out of the room, right next to seven new faces he did not notice.

Before this new world, people who were close to him often made observations about his tunnel vision. When he had a mind about something he saw nothing else. He tried to at least mitigate this, and in part did find some success, but it would always come back with big teary eyes as if asking why was he trying to get rid of it and make itself available again.

He used one small bucket of water to get dirt from his hair face and off of his arms, then grabbed a new shirt that was almost dried off the rope and went to get something to eat. His mother made a great meal and he was hungry enough to eat two portions.

When he came back inside only his portion remained at the table, while everybody else moved to those spartan couches. In his bowl, his mother left him a puree and small pieces of meat. Tercius ate in silence and listened to the men talk.

"As I was saying, he came to me at my house and said he knew I was your acquaintance." said a man with a black beard so large it consumed his whole face, when he spoke you saw no mouth, only beard movement. "He came angry, making threats and then he asked me to talk to you and set up a meeting. Septimus!" the man snapped, his mental state clearly on edge. "What have you done? This man was from the Army!"