Sharp

I had come out of my room that morning with Kai 1 on my shoulder and Kai 2 trotting along at my feet. Josh and Val were seated at the table. Akemi was in the kitchen.

“Morning,” I greeted as if nothing had happened. Josh just pursed his lips tight. Special needs, indeed. “I would like to introduce you to my familiars. They respond to Kai and, of course, to food. There are several, so if you see them around, you know whose they are.”

Val and Akemi acknowledge Kai, but Josh did not. Special needs. Fortunately, I was in a more forgiving mood than last night when I was going to kill him.

“I am going to go and get something to eat at the food court,” I said, walking to the door and turning just before leaving. I said, “Oh, and don’t worry, Kai knows how to respect your private spaces.” I wasn’t feeling that forgiving. He was obviously not going to apologise so I was not going to be a doormat.

There are two days of orientation activities before the lectures start, and then we get down to business. I watched the fun games the seniors ran for everybody, but I didn’t participate. There were clubs recruiting. The only one I thought I might join was for Bonds and Familiars. They called it the BF club. I took their information down.

I was planning to skip out on the afternoon activities. I had some shopping to do. Tomorrow, I had a session with Arabelle Remore that I expected to be difficult.

The prices with the merchants varied a lot more than those bought at the Magic Society or the Adventure Society. I saw some real bargains, but unfortunately, a lot were not what I was looking for. This would be permanent.

“This looks like a fabulous Awakening Stone. Why is it so cheap?” I asked the merchant.

“Yes, the known skills that come from the awakening stone of the Chameleon are all camouflage and colour-changing skills. The reason we still have this stone is that all these skills, so far, only, change the skin and hair colour. Therefore, no adventurer wants it as they do not want to go into the wild without armour. We are marketing it to the entertainment clientele to try to move the item.”

That got me thinking. Do I need armour? When I am not trying to hide, I can wear armour. My resistant fur is resistant to cutting and piercing, not blunt force. It is incredibly cheap for a stone. My usual attire is belts and shorts; if I wear thin belts, they will get lost in my fur, and I can wear shorts that blend in. I don’t think I am up to going into a fight naked, plus I need some pouches to carry things.

Unusual stones are always a risk; hence, people stick to the known stones. Poor people like me take risks.

There is a lot of blunt trauma that happens in a fight. I am not going to get anything cheaper, but this is the rest of my life I am talking about. I realised I might have been a bit rash with some of the previous stones. I wasn’t in a good headspace in Stillwater. I am still not sure I am.

It will take me longer to save for more traditional stones. I am going to do it, aren't I? I don’t have a traditional build, so why start now?

“I’ll take it. I believe you offer a student discount to the Remore Academy?”

I am really a bit stumped with my movement skills. Would the Moonbeam stone give me one? It was too expensive anyway. The Rustling Breeze seemed like it was too gentle. I could wait for my Hunter's Step to level to get the teleport. It is too far away, and it is also about mana management. I need a short burst of speed for less mana.

Plants tend to be slow, so I am looking for a speed skill from my Hunter or Reaper Essence. I don’t understand my Reaper Essence either. The best I can think of is that the Reaper reaps souls, and the essence is closely related to harvesting. What am I Reaping? I have no idea. The Spirit attribute and incorporeal aspect of Rend indicate it is non-physical, but why the rats?

Back to movement skills. My Hunter's foot is focused on quiet, swift movement. If I am only going a short distance explosively, why do I have to run? Why could I not leap? Somebody in the air for a while who cannot change direction is just a target. But there is no reason I can't leap horizontally or close to it. Fast, low to the ground and hard-hitting. It seems to tick the boxes and takes me away from the traditional market.

I might need the professors' help identifying movement stones. Without more advice, I have decided to stay away from elemental stones. Stones like. surging wind, between the raindrops and rays of sunshine, is all too confusing. There is one called Pounce, but that gets snapped up as soon as it becomes available.

“What are these stones over here,” I ask.

“Those are more crafting-oriented stones,” the saleswoman said. She pointed to different groups of stones: Tailors, blacksmiths, farmers, alchemists etc. There are a lot of crossovers, but the skills tend to be less combat-oriented and more specific skill-based.”

“I have the Plant essence,” I said, “some of the farming ones might interest me.”

“Sowing, growth and reaping are the main plant-based farming groups.”

“Reaping,” I said.

She smiled, “You will find skills like Harvest are in demand for adventurers as much as farmers, however, there are other options.” She pointed out some of them, “Gathering, reaping.”

“I don’t get the difference between harvesting, gathering, and reaping.”

“The difference is mainly in the known Skills they give. Harvesting is known most for looting abilities, but more commonly, the obtaining of resources from monsters and the ability to harvest sensitive magical plants for alchemists etc. This is why it is in demand by adventurers. The Gathering Stone is more about collecting things together. It can sometimes give dimensional storage spaces, implements and tools for gathering and sorting, and sometimes summons that help with that. The Reaping Stone is more about the act of cutting or culling. It is more likely to give conjured tools, like sickles and specialised farming tools. Very occasionally, it will give dimensional storage or a summons that will reap and gather, but I have heard the summons often eat more than they gather.”

My thoughts went to the Devouring Rats. They came from the feast stone. I guess they are reaping for themselves. Will they reap for me? The obvious synergy between the Reaper Essence and the Awakening stone of Reaping is tempting me.

My claw attack, Rend, doesn't reap, but it does cut and cull. Maybe I am looking at this wrong. Rufus and Farrah stuffed my head with great astral beings, but this essence is mine. I am the Reaper. This is my essence, and these are my skills, not some great spirit in the sky.

What do I want to reap?

I can hunt. I can sharpen. I can plant. These combined into the Reaper confluence. My Reaper confluence. The Aura boosts my spirit attribute. That is my mind and soul. I have a racial boost to my Spirit. My mind and soul. My mind is my greatest weapon.

What do I want to reap?

I know I don’t just want to be an adventurer. I may join the adventure society, but I don’t just want to be an adventurer. What do I want?

I want to stop what happened to me from ever happening again. That means hunting undeath. Should I join the church of Death, then? Hunting undeath is what they do. They don’t advertise it, but they do. That is a big decision. It is one possible road to take, like joining the adventure society.

It is more than that, though. It is those trying to control me and own me like the two bosses in Ironwood. Like Josh in some ways. How many are working against their will and can't escape? Not having options is what traps people in poverty. The Temple of the Outcast is giving some of those people limited options. If the Temple of Death had not taken me in, I would have ended it all. The nightmares still come.

Why does the Reaper reap? Is it to hoard resources? Does the great reaper in the sky hoard souls? If I reap, I also want to sow. That sounds more rounded and sustainable. The sower and the reaper should work together. It is like my Tranquil Garden. I sow and reap.

That is what I want. I want to be a Tranquil Garden for those around me. Part of that is standing up to those who disturb the peace, including the undead. Part of that is helping others find peace.

I need to learn how to do that. Nia and Anada were bringing peace to the people in Stilwater. Davu is bringing a different peace to the people in the Temple of the Outcast.

I have two short-term objectives. Get stronger to oppose those who disturb the peace, and learn how to bring others peace.

Professor Petrov’s concept of the ambush predator is a good one. It requires planning and using my brain, for which I have boosts. It also doesn’t just apply to monsters. I need to think wider than monsters and use my brain.

“Have you made a decision, sir?”

That’s right, I am still in the shop.

“I think I am getting there.” I scan the other crafting-orientated stones. “Tell me about that one.”

“Yes, sir. It is a specialised stone used mostly by carpenters. The Awakening Stone of Pine Sap gives a lot of skills around glueing two pieces of wood together. Only those with wood essences like it, and mostly only those that go into carpentry. It is difficult to use and difficult to clean up. Most carpenters prefer to use alchemical glues than a stone like that.”

“You’ve had it a while then, and it sounds like you want to get it off your hands.” I grew up in a logging village. I have seen lots of pine sap and other types of sap. I knew what the alchemists made of it.

“I do, and I am hesitant to dissuade you, but your fur will have added difficulty with using this stone.”

“I appreciate your honesty. I will definitely be coming here again. I will tell you what: You give me a really good price, I will take it off your hands, and if you could give me the names of a carpenter to consult, I will talk to them first before I use it. If I don’t use it, then it is my loss.”

I got a really good price, like, very very good.

I did go and see the carpenter. “Don’t bother using that, boy. It is a waste of a skill slot. The alchemists brew glues that are better. They are not overly expensive either.”

I actually thought it was worth using. One of the main reasons was that it would level as I used it, so it would get stronger. I didn’t have the coin for alchemists, I could see myself making all sorts of traps with it. My other hope was that it should shore up a weakness in my defence.

I hope I am not making a big mistake.