Stans thick feathered rump was warm and unmistakably covered in a fire-retardant grease. This wasn’t the first time he fell asleep only for Stan to sit on him. Chimera grease was known to scare away weaker monsters, doubly for creatures of the fire element. It was poor for cooking but for those brave enough to sign up for the fire fighter’s guild, chimera grease saved lives.

Markus opened his eyes to Stan’s black feathered rump and gaged from the smell of chimera grease. The second he opened his mouth his tongue tasted the overwhelming bitter flavor of the grease. “Get off of me Stan.” Stan didn’t answer. Markus fought beating on the monster only to hear steady breathing.

The boy knew he wasn’t going anywhere for at least a few hours. The sun had just risen, so Stan would snooze for most of the day. How had he gotten out here in the first place?

It took a few minutes but everything came back. The stats, ability, and Stan sitting on him. He put his hands on the ground and started pushing up, nothing. Stan’s breathing hadn’t changed.

Markus remembered he had an ability now. He was a psychic in the stories psychics were always throwing around giant monsters and controlling multiple weapons. He was like Hector Sword Rain, Paul of Infinite Winds, and maybe even Brick the Crusher. Like in the stories he put a hand on his temples and concentrated on moving Stan.

Something happened. Something leapt forward it was like a wave and it shattered when it touched Stan. Whatever power he had was as fragile as a rain drop. He heard a loud whop and Stan rolled over. Ma looked down at him. Her straw like hair was in knots, she was wearing her night gown still, and a looked of annoyance crossed her features. Ma stood two heads taller than Pa and she was all the scarier for it.

“Markus the jig is up. I knew Pa didn’t have the bladder stones. You are going to march inside and sit at the table. Then you’re going to tell me all about your spending spree.” Ma said. Markus nodded his head and got off the hard ground. She put up a hand and had him wait there. “On second thought, I should wave you up here.” She walked over to the well and started turning the handle.

This was all part of the punishment Markus realized. He had to wait there while she got the water and dunked it on him. Markus was already bracing himself for the cold.

Ma took the bucket and suddenly steam began to rise from it. Markus blinked. “Psychic is ruff, I got it when I was around your age and it scared me pretty good, didn’t buy a new ability for a year afterwards. It’s better for heating water than fire, easier to control too.” Markus blinked. Did Ma just heat up the water with telekinesis? How did she do it? Ma giggled a bit.

“I was your age when my Pa taught me to do it. You just grab the water and shake it good in place. Nothing fancy. Now, I’m teaching it to you.” She took a rag, dunked it in the warm water and began to wipe his face down. The water quickly turned red from all the dried blood and grease.

“I’m sorry I snuck out. It was dumb.” She nodded and continued cleaning him. Anna was outside running after fairies with a small net. The little things were flying for their lives. “When will I be able to boil water?” Ma took on a look of deliberation.

“When your adept you can do it without thinking. For now, just practice moving sand around. Oh, and its your turn to milk the Minoos.” Ma said. Markus sighed he hated milking the minoos but nodded and headed inside. He might be able to get some milk from the ice box and some bread from the cabinet. The meal Ma prepared for breakfast was already in the slop bucket heading for the Haven Hogs.

After his quick meal he trudged his way to the Milking Barn. It was the opposite side of their farm far from the Haven Hogs. Minoos and Haven Hogs don’t get along.

The minoos stood tall at sixteen hands high and covered in shaggy, knotted fur. Minoos cows have small black horns poking out of their brown furred heads. They were a type of monster that produced a large amount of milk. Farmers of Haven domesticated them ages ago. In the old stories they were a monster race that stood upright like humans. Over generation by feeding them special potions, the righteous humans of Haven were able to put the monsters on all fours where they belonged. They were no longer Minotaurs, they were now minoos.

Markus filled their troughs with fresh feed. A collection of dried nuts chopped fruit, and ground corn. Once the minoos were eating Markus lowered the rails to keep them in place. From there he grabbed their long hanging human like breasts. They weren’t a fancy farm like those down south. Their minoos number in the tens instead of hundreds. The Lioncourt family that owned their farm wouldn’t let them invest in machine operated milkers. So, Markus grabbed the very human feeling breasts and began to milk them.

It took forever and some of the meaner cows kicked over his buckets a few times, but he finally managed to fill them all. The sun was in the middle of the sky, so it was midday.

With his chore done for the day he scooped up a handful of sand and ran over to the Dru tree. The spiders had made their nest and it was already filled with several of the worst insects. It was way too early to eat one, Markus wanted them to have a good breeding season before culling their numbers. So, he looked at quest #2.

Quest #2

Slay a Rabid Dire Bear

Reward 100points

“Might as well ask me to spit on the moon.” Markus said. “Dire Bears are 8tons of muscle able to take ten knights on rye bread and still be hungry.” They live about 3kilometers in the Northwind woods. There are so many hungry monsters, it isn’t worth thinking about.

Quest #3

Hold your breath underwater 10minutes

Reward 30points

“It’s been done before. I can hold it for two minutes, I just need another 400 in endurance. Pass.” Markus mumbled.

Quest #4

Train a skill 100lvls

Reward 20points

Markus stared at the new quest. After 4 it was all blank, so he had to do one or all of them to unlock #5. This was like a hero’s quest. The Rabid Dire Bear too but that one was impossible. There was one sure way to level up a skill. Markus began the search.

It took time, but he found it. A small hill bursting with ants. The little fellas were carrying various grasshoppers and even large spiders towards their hole for the colony to feast on. Burst Ants were their proper name. Once you disturb their mound they burst out by the millions to kill whatever attacked them. A painted orange circle surrounded the mound.

He sent his will at one of the far away ants it buckled a little then kept crawling. This was going to take longer than he thought. “You know, I would start with moving dust around instead of trying to crush ants.” Pa said behind him. “Why the sudden need to kill things with your mind?” Markus sighed.

“It’s a quest to get more points. I just need to raise a skill 100lvs.” Markus said.

Pa nodded. “Killing stuff with a skill earns more than most training. I had quest once. Every 10,000 pushups gave me 10 points. Let me give you a tip. Don’t go killing yourself if you can’t do it all in one go. There will be other quests, and this one isn’t going anywhere. But if your looking for training swirl water, lift rocks, and don’t sweat it you have plenty of time.” Pa said.

“Thanks Pa.” The older man nodded and let him have some space. He focused on a grain of sand and picked it up. When he did it all his focus went to that single grain of sand. Slowly it rose in the air. No one was aware of it more than Markus. That was his grain of sand. It floated up, up, and up his head began to pound from effort as the small grain wobbled. Every little gust of wind threatened to pull it from his control. He looked over to see Pa actively blowing on it. “What are you doing?” Markus yelled.

“I’m helping you train. The harder it is the better.” Pa said and continued blowing on the wobbly grain of sand.

He began losing control when the first wave of nausea hit him. His tenuous grasp on the grain shattered and he lost track of the small piece of silicon. Markus kept on his feet barely. A blue screen flashed.

Telekinesis beginner lv3

+0.03% willpower

“Beginner, initiate, novice, apprentice, journeyman, adept, expert, master, grandmaster, and lord are the known levels a skill may take. Every step of the way skills gain, new boons and it becomes more difficult to reach the next rung every time. Remember this moment and cherish how easy it was to gain a few levels.” Markus nodded and let Pa guide him back home.

Markus Farmer

Stats

Strength 1 dexterity 1 endurance 1

vitality 1 intelligence 1 willpower 1

Abilities: psychic

Skills

Eating: beginner 98 Movement: Beginner 50 Farming: beginner 20

Hunting: Beginner 2 Telekinesis: Beginner 3

Points 0