Let’s play twenty questions.

Adda had me watering the plants in her garden with a pail I had to refill from the well as she hoed the weeds. We worked silently for hours as I tried to reconcile all that had happened to me, with the exception of a few questions about my status that she answered.

“What does the health, mana, stamina, and chi mean? I’ve heard the words before but what does it mean in the real world?”

“Health is your life forces grasp of the body; it represents how much injury your body can sustain before the soul flees. Mana is the magic the ebbs and flows throughout the world the number you see is how much your mind can control when casting spells before it exhausts itself. Stamina is your body’s natural energy level it shows how much work your body can preform before exhaustion. Chi is the mana you have refined from the world around you and is used by the body to preform superhuman feats such as your Steady Shot. These collectively are known as your resources, there are others that be unlocked by gaining various skills or traits.”

“What is the difference between rank and level?”

“Your level is increased by gaining karma. When your actions effect the world, you will be rewarded with it. Actions such as crafting an item or helping some one in need or discovering something new reward it. Each time your level increases by one you will be rewarded with a skill point at every tenth level you will be granted a new skill chosen by the gods. Rank is different, it is the evolution of your body. Essence is only gained by taking a sentient life. It is your tithe of that soul’s energy before it enters the wheel of reincarnation. When you rank up your stat cap is increased and you gain a powerful boon.”

“Why were you surprised that I had eight skills? I know how to do many more things than just those why are they not shown”

“When you reach your sixteenth year your status is activated. On that day you are awarded one skill. There are very few ways to increase that number. One way is every tenth level, when as I said you are rewarded with one. The second way is to find or purchase a skill book, these are extremely rare though. Thirdly is to be rewarded one from a divine quest, you never know what the reward from a divine quest will be and the quests themselves range from trivial to impossibly difficult. Lastly is to receive one as a reward from an Arena. You seem to be misunderstanding what a skill on your status page means. Take your skill for cooking as an example. It doesn’t teach you a new recipe or technique, instead it rewards your knowledge and dedication by giving you a new ability every tenth rank. Your Rapid Preparation is a common example. if you focus on it will bring up information on each ability’s effect. Someone else could be a much better cook than yourself but if they did not have the skill, they would not gain the special abilities.”

Rapid Preparation

Cooking time is reduced by half.

10 Mana

“What am I supposed to do now?” I asked her as we were finishing up.

“Live your life like everyone else does. The goddess chose you to be her champion and when she needs you, she will let you know. From your status you would be an asset to the village no matter what job you do.” Adda responded after a moment’s thought.

We stowed the garden tools and Adda grabbed a couple of large wicker baskets. Off into the woods we went to gather the herbs necessary for her job. The forest was deeply peaceful with large old growth trees providing shelter from the sun’s rising heat. The amount of deadfall and underbrush made going off trail difficult, as we looked for edible and medicinal flora. Adda took the time to explain what each was used for and the particular environment they grew in. If it was nonpoisonous, she had me sample a bit to identify them.

“Where does the information come from? As soon as I put anything in my mouth, even before you tell me what it is, the information pops up.” I asked.

“Scholars call them the ‘akashic records. It is knowledge that all within the world share amongst ourselves.” She responded. We continued gathering until early evening only stopping to feast upon some of the bounty, we had gathered washed down by the cool stream’s water we picnicked by. As we waked back out of the forest her pet squirrel ran down a tree and scrambled over to climb up her shoulder.

I asked her, “how did you ever train a squirrel to do that?”

“Toc isn’t trained like some pet he is my familiar.” She replied indignantly. “He shares my power and I share his. We are connected beyond words. We share our senses and can communicate over great distances.”

I eyed the little rodent sideways as he glared at me. I don’t think I made a friend here. When we got back to the house there was a haunch of meat wrapped in cheese cloth waiting on the kitchen table. “Where did this come from?” I asked. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen a single lock in the entire village the other night, the doors had a bar that could be dropped in from the inside but nothing to lock up from the outside.

“The hunter Thomas said he was going to drop it of in repayment for a poultice I made for him after a boar had gored his leg. You need to work on your skills so why don’t you start on dinner while I take care of these herbs.”

I started to beak down the leg and thigh of venison, separating it into useable cuts. A rump, top and bottom round roasts, and the sirloin I further broke down into steaks. The bones and trim I set aside for soup stock. I salted a couple of the steaks and set them aside as I wrapped up the rest of meat back in the cheese cloth. I asked Adda, where do you want to store this?” With no refrigeration I was curious how they delt with it.

“Just tie it to the hook in the rafter. Thomas used Preservation on it so it will last for a week. You have the same ability you know.” She replied. I brought up my list of abilities again and looked for Preservation under butchering.

Preservation

Will prevent spoilage for ten days.

20 Mana

“It’s ten days under ideal conditions, if you left it out under the hot sun the protection would probably only last the day. Also, it only works on an animal you have killed yourself.” She further explained.

I resumed my dinner preparations by picking out some kohlrabi and timed the stem and started dicing the bulb into largeish chunks before putting it in to a pan with some lard low over the fire. I grabbed some wild garlic and started slicing it thinly. I added it into the pan after the kohlrabi started to brown, as I cleaned of some spring onions and started to char them over the fire. When the root vegetable was cooked through, I added the sirloins to the grate lowered over the hottest coals to get a good sear on them. Removing the charred onions and the kohlrabi I plated them up and flipped the steaks. Cooking over the open flames of the hearth rather than a range top brought back all the memories of going hunting and cooking over the campfire for everyone in the hunting party. After the steaks had been seared on both sides with a nice crust formed Adda and I sat down to eat.

After dinner was over and the dishes washed and put away, Adda retired to prepare her ingredients and I practiced my meditation regime. In my yoga class they taught a series of stretching exercises that when they became routine allowed the mind to focus inward. Going through the thirty forms relaxed me and made even more aware of the changes my body had gone through. The stress I had been feeling melted away as I completed my routine for the first time in what seemed to be an eternity. I felt aches as this body was not conditioned as my old one had been and was quite a bit stiffer. When I was done, I received a prompt.

Congratulations you have gained the skill Limberness.

“Adda why did I just gain a new skill?” I wondered. “Aren’t they supposed to be rare.”

There is a skill for every stat to increase them up to your capacity. For strength it is Weightlifting, agility’s skill is Limberness. Everyone gets all of them unlocked at birth although they don’t show up until your status is unlocked as well. That is where peoples starting values on stats come from. From what you have told me your body was crafted by Misaki so she just gave you some kind of average for yours plus your racial modifiers. No one counts them towards their skill totals though.”

Limberness

10

0.01%

Eager to see if I could unlock the others, I started to do some push-ups and sit-ups. After a while I got the new notice for Weightlifting. I collapsed back in exhaustion as I got the message. The old lady and I said our good nights as I laid out on my pallet by the fire. I took out the orb and was tossing it into the air as laid back going over the day’s events. Playing catch, I thought about how peaceful and unpolluted this new world was. In many ways it was a dream come true. I could go back to my childhood of fishing and hunting all day without a care in the world. The reality though was a little different. No hot showers were a big negative. We cleaned ourselves with water heated over the hearth and a washcloth. Most of the villagers took a bath in the river once a week in the warmer months. I would have to do something about a job here soon, I didn’t want to wear out my welcome with Adda.

Why did Hectas give me this orb anyways? As I held it close to the fire to see what was trapped inside, it looked like a large book. Nothing I could think of caused any reaction so I set it aside and went to sleep.