“That’s a very impressive collection!”

“Thank you, dearie. We’ve always been book fiends in this family. And we’ve had eclectic taste over the generations.”

She pointed to a shelf full of older books, with a closed glass front. “Take those. My great grandfather loved ancient war histories. And over on the next shelf, we have a large collection of obscure poetry from the last hectinium.”

“So, who collected the hundred year old poetry?”

“My mother, rest her.”

“What do you collect, ma’am?”

“I collect illuminated hand transcribed manuscripts from the old Empire. I have only a dozen so far, but I’m confident your mother will find me more.”

“I’m sure she will. She always did love puzzles and challenges.”

“Quite right.”

“I don’t suppose you had a Great Uncle with a passion for magic research tomes?” I didn’t stop my mouth fast enough. Crap.

She laughed. “No, I'm afraid I did not. That passion, as you put it, came upon my family several times, but the most recent one was my father. Shame about some of those books, he never was careful enough when he was practicing. Fortunately, we didn’t lose anything more than a couple of his newest acquisitions and a few bottles of wine, since he at least used the cellar for his 'mad experiments' as he liked to call them. The house was a bit smokey for a while, but no lasting harm. The remains of his collection is on loan to the Omniology at the moment.”

Hopes raised and dashed in rapid succession, I did my best to keep my face properly sympathetic. Well, it wasn’t likely to help anyway, all the research I’d been exposed to was focused on making better elemental mages, which didn’t seem to be the way to go.

“Well. This is amazing. I could spend days here in this room, but I’m fairly sure my boss would be mad if I missed work on Oneday!” That managed to get another laugh, one with a full rich tone, instead of some thin atonal twitter. “Thank you for the tour!”

“You are your mother’s child, Grint.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I'm glad you think so.”

She walked me back out of the library and down the hall to where I’d left my shoes. I looked at them with a grimace.

“Well, we’d best let you get home then. Would you like a ride? I can have the carriage take you?”

“Oh, um. Yes, ma’am. Walking home in squishing shoes seems like a poor idea.”

“Jenlict,” she called out, “please get the carriage ready to take our guest home. It seems the least we can do after soaking his footwear.”

Jenlict stepped out of the kitchen. “Of course, madam, I’ll let the driver know he’s needed.”

I carried my shoes and socks to a bench in the entryway and sat down on it. I went about the business of donning wet, clinging socks and then had to unlace my shoes. The feeling was annoying, but as the socks slowly warmed up, it became less so.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure having you visit, Grint. I look forward to teaching you the dessert next tenday!”

I was a little surprised she’d just stood there waiting while I worked to get myself properly shod.

“Oh, yes, thank you! I’d already forgotten that.”

“You are indeed your mother’s child, one look at a collection of books and everything else might just get shoved aside.”

“That seems to be the case, ma’am.”

I finished with the unlacing, and then got my shoes on, just as Henrig came into the foyer.

“Are you sure you’re fine, Grint?”

“Yes, thanks Henrig. How’s the young miss?”

“She was a bit fearful she’d be let go, but as nobody’s hurt, the damage is slight, and it was a simple accident, there’s no cause for that.”

“Seems like everything turned out alright then.”

Henrig nodded in reply, as Jenlict opened the front door and walked in from the outside. “The carriage is ready, madam.”

“Good night, Grint. See you next Nineday.”

“Until then, ma’am. Henrig, I’ll see you Oneday.”

“Indeed, you will.”

I waved as I climbed into their carriage for the ride home. What a night. What a strange, beautiful, frustrating, and wonderful night.

The carriage ride was uneventful, lasting only seven or eight minutes. Since carriages weren’t very common in my neighborhood, my arrival home did draw a bit of attention. Fortunately, it was fairly dark, so it wasn’t as obvious whose carriage it was. My parents were on the porch, relaxing in the cooler evening air.

“Evening, son. Why the carriage?”

“Hi, dad. My shoes got soaked at Henrig’s owing to an accidental collision with a servant, so they offered me a ride home. I accepted.” I bounced in my shoes, demonstrating the sodden squishy nature of my footgear.

“I see.” That’s my dad. Great with customers, but almost always terse otherwise.

“I’m off to bed, I think. It’s been a long day. Goodnight, dad, mom.”

“Goodnight, kiddo.” They chorused, almost as if planned. It’d been a while since they’d called me that. This time, it just felt… right. I didn't like the kiddo part, but in so many ways, I'd always be their kiddo. Changing someone else's diapers for several years tends to color the relationship for a while.

I smiled to myself, and headed to my room. The enddays are here, it’s time to practice with my neglected "pets." I checked my status, smiled at the stats and skill gains, and then drifted off to sleep.

{Status:

Name: Grintel Coddlestahl

Age: 17

Mental:

Acuity:

Perception:

Memory:

10

8

10

Psyche:

Wisdom:

Insight:

Willpower:

7

8

13

Physical:

Strength:

Coordination:

Endurance:

7

7

11

Skills:

Energy Conversion

2.917

Energy Emission

2.572

Energy Control

2.154

Channeling

0.055

Meditation

2.565

Walking

5.017

}

There's been some decent movement in the skills, but all my physical stats have improved which is fantastic! I took off my squishy socks and damp shoes, hanging the socks over the end of the bed to dry and leaving the shoes as wide open as I could. I stripped down to my bed wear, and placed my outer clothes in the pile of "to be cleaned later." I sat down on the edge of the bed and began to draw lazy patterns in the air with the mid-sized rock, while letting the events of the evening play through my memory.