“It’s better to live as you will want to have lived, rather than spend your time worrying about the end. You are right here in your story. Don’t skip ahead.”

S.D. Smith

A year later, the benefit of training under three masters of their trade was shining through with my progress in my status. It had been a hectic year. Although I had jumped to level 25, the benefit of having two metiers meant I could level at twice the pace. Training under the careful gaze of so many watchful adults meant that my progress in skills had continued in a thorough and controlled manner. There had been no sudden bursts of progress from life-threatening situations because they had not been allowed by them to threaten me.

According to the system, I was now recognised as six years of age, which would have been eight years on my old world. So it was no longer a surprise that I could track my progress and see my stats though if anyone from the compass continent had been able to see them, they would have found them suitably hair-raising. Mainly the fact that our family was seen as growing from common stock despite our relatively new nobility.

One of the facts that had emerged over the last year was that the nobility rigged the system further in their favour by pretending, insinuating and frankly lying that skills were not achievable before the age of 5 years of age so commoners did not even attempt to teach them to their children beyond what was necessary for their trade. However, this was not the case. I had always known this as being able to measure my progress from a little neonate. What this meant was that most nobles, on awakening their system, would already have a smattering of skills and levels if they were lucky—commoners on the other hand, not so much.

There was also a curve to your progression within the system, and the further ahead you were on it, or rather the earlier you achieved such results, the more you would be rewarded for it. This explained the speed of my natural growth as an infant. I had been so far beyond the natural curve and abilities of an infant. It was superhuman, and the system rewarded me for it. So a median value was reached between what I had been capable of and what my vessel could support. The problem with this was that my natural progress of stats slowed down as I grew closer to the realms of feasibility, and my actual progress drew closer to the progression curve. But only if that child focused on a single aspect, and I still attempted to focus on everything. The timetabling of my time by our tutors meant that I was predominantly focused on noble, military and scholarly skills.

Still, I was satisfied as I had nearly 300 points to assign and the level of a young adult despite still having another four years to go before I could even redistribute them. I had much to be proud of when I looked at my status. I also had a lot to be grateful for regarding my fast initial growth and the traits I had managed to achieve.

Level: 25

Title: Lord

Métier: Singer Lv 8

Metier: Sailor Lv 5

Name: Callen Kai Silversea

Age: 6 years (Old World 8yrs)

General Experience: 785,694/819,200

Health: 1110/1110 Stamina: 1110/1110 Mana: 1110/1010 Psi: 1110/1110

Trait: Long-Lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana, Quick Witted, Celerity, Durability, Supreme Strength, Charming, Lucky

Vitality: 111

Endurance: 111

Strength: 111

Dexterity: 111

Senses: 111

Mind: 111

Clarity: 111

Magic: 111

Charisma: 111

Luck: 111

Free Points: 291 (Locked)

Skills Tier 1:

Swimming (LV60 - 75) Running (LV58 -> 75) Meditation (LV54 ->75) Time Sense (LV55 ->75) Breath Control (LV51 ->75) Singing (LV50 ->75) Diving (LV50->75) Sailing (LV50->75) Dodge (LV50 ->75) Knots (LV45 ->50) Draw (LV44 ->50) Knife (LV45 ->75) Listening (LV44 -50) Stitching (LV43 ->50) Climb (LV42 -> 50) Trading (LV40 ->75) Humming (LV39 ->50) Drumming (LV39 ->50) Whistling (LV38 ->50) Sneak (LV36->50) Calligraphy (LV31->50) Farming (LV31 ->50) Acting (LV30 ->50) Balance (LV33 ->50)Throw (LV26 ->50) Bussola (LV25 ->40) Mathematics (LV24 ->40) Insight (LV19 ->40) Glide (LV29->40) Poise (LV25 ->40) Grace (LV24 -> 40) Charm (LV24->40) Composure (LV24->40) Lie (LV16->20) Elvish (LV16->20) Giant (LV16->20) Dwarf (LV16->20) Pixish (LV16->20) Gnomish (LV16->20) Koboldogo (LV16->20) Beastkin (LV16->20) Halfling (LV16->20) Appeal (LV15->20) Ambidextrous (LV15->20) Sight (LV15->20) Scent (LV15->20) Detect (LV15->20) Taste (LV15->20) Silent Step (LV14->20) Deft touch (LV14->20) Posture (LV15->20) Dance (LV14->20) Sprint (LV14->20) Inspect (LV21 ->40) Riding (LV10->20) Rapier(LV9->20) Spear(LV7->20) Painting (LV5->20) Axe (LV4->20) Baton (LV4->20) Club (LV4->20) Dagger (LV3->20) Estoc (LV4->20) Flail (LV4->20) Glaive (LV4->20) Halberd (LV4->20) Pike(LV4->20) Mace (LV4->20) Morning star(LV4->20) Quarterstaff(LV4->20) Sword(LV4->20) War Hammer (LV4->20) Archery (LV4->20) Cook (LV3->20) Sketching (LV3->20) Drafting (LV3->20) Blacksmithing (LV2->10) Carpentry (LV2->10) Mining (LV2->10) Teaching (LV2->10) Measurement (LV 1->10) Etiquette (LV 1->20)Art (LV1 -> LV10) Astronomy (LV1 -> LV10) Music (LV1 -> LV10) Calligraphy (LV1 -> LV10) Cartography (LV1 -> LV10) History (LV1 -> LV10) Geography (LV1 -> LV10) Anatomy (LV1 -> LV10) Alchemy (LV1 -> LV10) Literature (LV1 -> LV10) Philosophy (LV1 -> LV10) Politics (LV1 -> LV10) Economics (LV1 -> LV10) Law (LV1 -> LV10)

Tier 2:

Sense Mana (LV51 ->60) Quick reflexes (LV51->60) Eavesdrop (LV50->60) Rebec (LV31 ->50) Aulos (LV31 ->50) Linguistics (LV31->40) Cornu (LV31 ->50) Harp (LV31 ->50) Memorisation (LV30 ->40) Recall (LV30 ->40) Cartography (LV26 ->50) Composition (LV23 ->50) Pain Tolerance (LV23 ->30) Stealth (LV23->30) Spellcraft (Lv25 ->50)Spellsong (Lv19 ->50) Order (LV18 ->40) Transplant (LV12 ->20) Misdirection (LV14 ->20) Knife Arts (LV15 ->20) Haggling (LV11->20) Mind Sense (LV11->20) Observe (LV10 ->20)Martial Arts (LV4->20) Cruising (LV1->10) Poison Tolerance (LV1->10) Treasure Sense (LV1->5) Intimidation (LV1->5) Dart (Lv 1->10) Heal (Lv1 ->10)

Tier 3:

Expel Mana (LV51->60) Mana Manipulation (LV51->60) Gale (LV51->60) Echolocation (LV49 ->60) Absorb Mana (LV30->40) Boil (LV25->50) Ignite (LV25->40) Melt (LV25->40) Command (LV17->40) Freeze (LV11->20) Bargain (LV11->20) Deception (LV11->20) Analyse (LV5->10) Racing (LV1->10) Smuggling (LV1->5) Seismic Sense (LV1->10) Flash Step (Lv 1->10)

Tier 4:

Parallel Processing (LV30->35) Virtuoso (LV30->35) Polyglot (LV30->35) Stone shaping (LV24->30)Material Manipulation (LV22->30) Mana Drain (LV 20->30) Seafaring (LV1->5) Block Status (LV3->5) Flight (LV1 –>15)

Tier 5:

Mind fortress (LV20->21) Multiple minds (LV 2 -> 3)

. . .

Over the year, my status had become ridiculously bloated. Once more, the benefit of having focused tutors from the compass continent and the church's backing. With around 100 tier 1 skills, it was time to consolidate and push for higher tier skills. Lady Acacia had seemed insistent that I level each language in turn. So whenever one language would fall behind in terms of the speed of its levelling, we would focus on whichever one it was that had fallen behind until it caught up with the others.

Elvish (LV20)

Giant (LV20)

Dwarf (LV20)

Pixish (LV20)

Gnomish (LV20)

Koboldogo (LV20)

Beastkin (LV20)

Halfling (LV20)

After consolidating the skills, I had a second Polyglot skill at level 20. The final step of merging the two polyglot skills gave me the Tier 5 skill Omniglot (Lv28). I had yet to test it out, but I believed this might give me a shot at instantly or near instantly understanding any new languages or dialects I encountered. Maybe I would even be able to understand animals? That would be an incredible boost. Still, only some of the Tier 1 skills shared enough similarities to synergise and consolidate. Of course, I also had my weapon skills.

Knife (Lv75)

Axe (LV20)

Baton (LV20)

Club (LV20)

Dagger (LV20)

Estoc (LV20)

Flail (LV20)

Glaive (LV20)

Halberd (LV20)

Pike(LV20)

Mace (LV20)

Morning star(LV20)

Quarterstaff(LV20)

Sword(LV20)

War Hammer (LV20)

Archery (LV20)

Namir had insisted that I reach at least level 20 in each skill before I could consider consolidating them. Something about the purity of the skills being necessary for future growth. 16 Tier skills, when merged, gave me 1 tier 5 skill Weapon Prodigy at level 23. Tier 1 skills were just the weapon; combined at Tier two, they became blades or blunt weapons; at Tier three, they became the art of the weapon; Tier 4 was the mastery. By the time it reached tier 5, Weapon Prodigy seemed to be label the system gave the skill. I was no longer fumbling with my weapons or moving from strike to block to counterstrike but dancing with them, and it showed in my spars with my cousins.

Namir and Arawn were not the only ones who had been working on my skills list. Or rather, languages were not the only area that Lady Acacia had us all knuckle down to learn. She had also taught us various subjects so we would not come across as complete bumpkins when we reached the capital one day. Or, god forbid, we had a more educated noble visit us here directly.

Art (LV10)

Astronomy (LV10)

Music. (LV10)

Calligraphy (LV10)

Cartography (LV10)

History (LV10)

Geography (LV10)

Anatomy (LV10)

Alchemy (LV10)

Mathematics (LV10)

Bussola (LV10)

Literature (LV10)

Philosophy (LV10)

Politics (LV10)

Economics (LV10)

Law (LV10)

They joined together to make arts, humanities, physical sciences, social science, languages etc. I combined all these to gain the Tier 5 Polymath skill at level 10. It was difficult to tell how far ahead of the curve we were compared to our peers on the mainland. Whenever our heads got too big, they were quickly punctured with a new area of learning we apparently needed to study. The problem with a tutor who had decades of experience teaching was that she had decades of knowledge to impart, and it had only been just over a year that she had counted us as her pupils.

Outside of the combination of my language, weapon and academic skills, there were a few other areas that required slightly smaller combinations that I had continued to consolidate first up with my athletic skills.

Swimming (LV75)

Running (LV75)

Breath Control (LV75)

Diving (LV75)

Dodge (LV75)

Climb (LV50)

Throw (LV50)

Sprint (LV20)

The combination of these led to athletics at Tier Two and a perfect physique at Tier Three before finally gaining me the Tier 4 skill Iron Man at Level 62. It was not the tin man version but the athletic ability to compete far beyond the strength and size of my vessel at the level of my cousins, whose ability to assign their stats meant that they still had higher ones than me in specific areas such as strength, endurance or dexterity. It was also my highest levelled tier 4 skill. I was a mini Jedi when I had it up and running.

It had taken me the year to work out the benefit of keeping the skills as tier 1 skills and raising them before consolidating them. There were fewer thresholds to pass with the lower-tier skills. By keeping them as tier 1 skills until I reached their third threshold for tier 1, I managed to skip three of the six points I would have faced at tier 4. This was the true benefit of keeping the separate lower tiered skills and levelling them separately. In retrospect, I should have waited to get them to level 100 before doing so. That being said, the simplicity of my status and my higher-tiered skills more than made up for any future difficulties I might face.

Next up were a few more of my instrumental skills. I already had the Tier 4 virtuoso, but when combined, my four Tier 2 skills gave me another option.

Rebec (LV31)

Aulos (LV31)

Cornu (LV31)

Harp (LV31)

The combination of them gained me the Tier 4 skill courtly instruments. This, then combined with Virtuoso, gave me another Tier 5 prodigy skill, Music Prodigy (Lv30)

. . .

My new skill list was a little simpler but no less impressive, especially with the increase in higher-tier skills. It was unheard of for a six-year-old to have 6 tier 5 skills and frankly considered impossible even by my tutors. Lady Acacia and Namir were now in the know, at least as far as the skills that they had helped me achieve Omniglot (LV25), Polymath (Lv10), Weapon Prodigy (Lv20), Music Prodigy (Lv30) and had been suitably shocked. Still, I had yet to reveal everything to the Bishop and the Compass knight.

I spent much less time with the Bishop in our timetable than the other two tutors. Still, I eventually learned the Tier 2 skill of healing with Sir Jacques, waiting for me to gain some experience and technique before he was willing to take me on as a student.

Consolidated Skill List

Skills Tier 1:

Singing (LV75) Sailing (LV75) Trading (LV75) Meditation (LV75) Time Sense (LV75) Knots (LV50) Draw (LV50) Listening (LV50) Stitching (LV50) Humming (LV50) Drumming (LV50) Whistling (LV50) Sneak (LV50) Ambidextrous (LV20) Farming (LV50) Acting (LV50) Balance (LV50) Insight (LV40) Glide (LV40) Poise (LV40) Grace (LV40) Charm (LV40) Composure (LV40) Lie (LV20) Appeal (LV20) Ambidextrous (LV20) Sight (LV20) Scent (LV20) Detect (LV20) Taste (LV20) Silent Step (LV20) Deft touch (LV20) Posture (LV20) Dance (LV20) Inspect (LV21) Riding (LV20) Cook (LV20) Sketching (LV20) Drafting (LV20) Blacksmithing (LV10) Carpentry (LV10) Mining (LV10) Teaching (LV10) Measurement (LV 10) Etiquette (LV20)

Tier 2:

Sense Mana (LV60) Quick reflexes (LV60) Eavesdrop (LV60) Linguistics (LV40) Memorisation (LV40) Recall (LV40) Composition (LV40) Pain Tolerance (LV30) Stealth (LV30) Spellcraft (Lv50) Spellsong (Lv50)Order (LV40) Transplant (LV20) Misdirection (LV20) Knife Arts (LV20) Haggling (LV20) Mind Sense (LV20) Observe (LV20) Martial Arts (LV20) Cruising (LV10) Poison Tolerance (LV10) Treasure Sense (LV5) Intimidation (LV5)Dart (Lv 10) Heal (Lv10)

Tier 3:

Expel Mana (LV60) Mana Manipulation (LV60) Gale (LV60) Echolocation (LV60) Absorb Mana (LV40) Boil (LV50) Ignite (LV40) Melt (LV40) Command (LV40) Freeze (LV20) Bargain (LV20) Deception (LV20) Analyse (LV10) Racing (LV10) Smuggling (LV5) Seismic Sense (LV10) Flash Step (Lv 10)

Tier 4:

Parallel Processing (LV35) Stone shaping (LV30) Material Manipulation (LV30) Mana Drain (LV 30) Seafaring (LV5) Block Status (LV5) Flight (LV15) Iron Man (LV62)

Tier 5:

Mind fortress (LV21) Multiple minds (LV3) Omniglot (LV25) Polymath (Lv10) Weapon Prodigy (Lv20) Music Prodigy (Lv30)

With my higher-tiered skills, I could use the system to beat the lower tiered skills of my cousins. However, it came at a cost. The higher the tier of skill, the greater the resource it needed to function; stamina, mana or psi all were used up quickly now that I had the higher tier skills. This was facilitated by my traits, which allowed me to abuse the higher-tier skills and in time, my vessel continued to grow, and so did my natural strength, endurance, and stamina. I was growing but could not wait to assign my free points.

. . .

I sat up high in the branches of the Elendil tree. It continued to grow its’ roots, digging deeper into the mountain. It was now my favourite place to hide away from the world. First, it was reachable without being spotted outside the mountain via our hidden inverted tower. Secondly, I was not visible from the ground, hidden by the leaves and branches. Third, the mana of the tree kept me concealed from any who attempted to search for me that way. Fourthly I could escape with a flight from here without worrying about taking off. Fifth, and finally, I could see the entirety of our domain from up here, the limbs of the tree finally reaching high enough to see over the ridgeline of the mountain before it dropped down into our caldera.

The year had been a busy one. The island looked so different now. We had continued producing all the goods the Silversea family was now famous for. Salt for enslaved people, Caracol Purple for the church, Pearls for land and support from the Royal family of Ponente through purchasing all the nearby land meant that we had driven up prices beyond what they were worth and were now banking the profit in the capital for our eventual arrival. We would not be poor peasants from the country by the time we arrived.

Our wide selection of locally grown food was famous throughout the Wester Isles, including our wine's popularity. However, now we were branching out into more varieties of alcohol. We had already started on the wine a year ago, but now we had various drinks in production vodka, whiskey, brandy, beer, rum, gin and cider. They are not in enough quantity to ship yet, but we were testing their quality, building up a stockpile and letting some of them age. Mercurio would have another revolutionary new luxury product to sell in the capital of Ponente. Each new product was offered to the Prince and solely him for a month or two to build interest and exclusivity. Then once we had gained more royal favour, we would open it up to the nobility and the masses.

The biggest surprise to me, though, had been sugar. The white drug had yet to be invented on the Compass continent. As such, it was another secret of the Silversea family. We were producing such a variety of products that no one would be able to tell where exactly it came from, and we had yet to release it at all but just like the salt, we were building up a stockpile of it for the moment when it would be best to release it to the market. But, unfortunately, fortune was fickle, and having too much of it all at once was possible. So we planned to release our products once a year, and if we could time it right, we stood to make a killing with each one.

And when I said we. I meant us. The extra level I had managed to gain gave me another mind, meaning I could grab another metier. It was no surprise which one I would pick with such a massive windfall of experience on the horizon in trading.

“Hello, Kai, the singer.”

“Hello, Callen, the sailor.”

“Hello, Caelus, the merchant.”

Time to make our mark on the world!