LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 13 - Should Have Foreseen [Write Anywhere] Coming
So. Inventories were a thing.
Malwine might never have found out, were it not for Adelheid making brushes all but fade in and out of existence.
“Good. Very good.”
Bernadette seemed to alternate between hands-on teaching and just sort of leaving them alone—not that Malwine minded. She had long since concluded her guardian was simultaneously eager to raise her children and confused by the actual intricacies of education.
It seemed no governesses were willing to touch the household since the incident between Margreth and Kristian, the fault of which landed squarely on the latter’s shoulders. Malwine almost felt responsible, right up until she reminded herself of how her grandfather’s unseemly yells once carried through the halls and how that had technically been the catalyst of that fight. Technically.
Today, they were presumably meant to be drawing. Malwine wouldn’t have personally trusted toddlers with any form of paint, but this world had magic. Bernadette must have planned on some way to deal with any messes they made—and hopefully Kristian hadn’t scared away all the staff.
The thought reminded Malwine of how long it had taken her to make the connection, too. Adelheid was her half-aunt, and Bernadette was with Kristian. Neither wore rings but between the giant rooms and air of casual snobbery, they just seemed like the kind of people to demand marriages for relationships.
I wonder if Margreth owed them or something.
It might have been unlikely. At the time—and admittedly still—Malwine gave no weight to Margreth’s full name, not when the matter meant nothing to her. Nobility was the kind of thing you laughed at when someone showed up to ask if they were special because their thirty-seventh grandfather had been the cousin of a Lord.
Then again, if it matters much in this world, I can probably arrange something—between the clear station and connection to Margreth, there has to be something I could leverage for clout, if it comes to that.
Past her initial frustration, Malwine had somewhat accepted there was not much she could do on that front. [Unpacifiable] had been quiet for months. Adelheid kept her days from getting too boring, and that wasn’t so bad. At the end of the day, Malwine was stuck in the form of a toddler, so she told herself taking things a bit slow was acceptable.
She could only have maintained her initial momentum for so long.
Now, Malwine and her brush could spend some time drawing eyes. Bernadette clearly approved, even if she must have been starting to get concerned. Malwine was pretty sure she never learned to draw anything other than eyes in either life, and these weird reed brushes just didn’t give her as much freedom as ballpoint pens used to.
“Nap time,” Bernadette instructed, gently pulling away the paper Malwine had left on the floor. It was shimmery and as green-tinged as way too many things were, but as far as Malwine was concerned, it was paper.
Malwine nodded and handed her guardian the brush in her hand to Bernadette. “Thanks, Bernie.”
The gentlewoman choked before straightening. “May your dreams be free from the waves, child.”
From under her covers, Malwine suppressed a frown. These people had a weird obsession with waves. Especially, with being afraid of waves. Her [The Plurilingual Psyche] Skill’s level didn’t correlate anywhere near enough with her understanding of the language for her to just make sense of that without more context.
Not to mention that had been stuck at level 19 for far too long by now.
The lights dimmed, Bernadette’s footsteps fading in tandem with the shutting of a distant door—this room was still unreasonably large.
Malwine counted to a hundred, giving herself a pat in the back for such patience, then jumped right out of bed, turning in every direction. “Got it?”
A giggle echoed as Adelheid stepped into view. She held up a small booklet.
Having overhead Bernadette enough times, Malwine was fairly certain no one had a single clue as to what the girl’s deal was. Malwine herself would have assumed it to be a Skill had the adults not been debating within earshot.
Apparently, the fact that Skills required a degree of intent to be formed meant children this age should not be able to get them, something about the weight of their permanence. They’d used so much hyperspecific lingo that Malwine barely followed. It was quite rude of them to not ensure everything they said was understandable to eavesdropping toddlers.
Still wondering which Affinity it is. And if she’s somehow planted it.
That had to be it. The girl was Level 6 nowadays, after all—somewhat relieving Malwine’s initial concerns, if nothing else. Kids did just randomly increase in cultivation level, apparently. There was also the fact that [Mana Reclaimer] actually triggered if she directed it at Adelheid. She’d first tried after learning of Adelheid’s parentage, but all attempts had her ability crumbling without effect. When she'd tried on her mother's siblings and father, there had been no reaction at all.
So Adelheid had at least one Affinity. Rereading the Aspect’s description made her pretty sure the issue lay there—namely, Malwine had to know the specific Mana Source to use that. This wasn't as much of a free ride as [Once and Forever] had been.
She’d settle for figuring it out eventually. At some point, her aunt would have to figure it out herself, and they’d been spending almost every day together. Malwine doubted she wouldn’t learn the details of the Affinity sometime.
Malwine grabbed the booklet from Adelheid. “Thank you.”
“You. Are. Welcome.”
Malwine summoned the pudding she’d saved from the last meal—bowl and all—as well as a small spoon, and handed it to Adelheid. It’s a trade, not a bribe.
Sitting on the floor, she also retrieved a different brush and ink vial, along a sheet of paper. If Bernadette ever noticed those had disappeared, she had said nothing of the sort.
The booklet was thin and image-heavy. Clearly, this type of study was meant to be guided. Malwine couldn’t make heads or tails of the symbols. Still, she flipped the pages.
A grin formed on her lips. Yes!
It was a writing system. Not one she knew, but it had to be. The top of the page held ten flat geometric shapes, with around thirty other symbols beneath them. A brief glance back told her what she’d seen above the images—presumably words related to them—had come about from combinations of these symbols. A syllabary, maybe?
Malwine’s excitement didn’t last too long. She had no idea how to go about this unguided, high as her hopes had been. Still, she dipped the brush.
She figured placing the latter symbols inside the former gave her the results most similar to what she could see on past pages, though the thick brush was clearly unfit for the task. Three symbols in, only her best attempts at channeling the sunk cost fallacy kept her going. Each stroke was sloppy, and she might have deemed her work unreadable if that hadn’t already been a given from the fact that she had no idea what this said.
Might be best to destroy this eventually. Or at least keep it inventoried. The last thing Malwine needed was to accidentally start a fight again by leaving random writings around.
By the time she was done, she barely had the energy to reseal the ink bottle. She wasn’t even tired, just…disappointed. She hadn’t even been truly expecting to learn to read or write from this, but she hadn’t foreseen the act feeling so hollow.
With a sigh, Malwine returned everything to inventory, now joined by the booklet. She did hope that wasn’t the only thing Bernadette had laying around, but if it was, then she’d just see if Adelheid could take it back to wherever she’d taken it from. It had been among the books Bernadette had been looking over while sitting with them some weeks ago, and Malwine’s curiosity got the better of her.
Were it not for Adelheid’s…whatever, it might have been months or maybe even years before she saw it again. Keeping it didn’t seem like a bad long-term idea so far.
Your [The Plurilingual Psyche] Skill has improved! 19 → 20
Your [The Plurilingual Psyche] Skill has gained another 10 levels. An Aspect was developed.
You have reached Level 42 [Banked levels: 10]!
Now, that, Malwine hadn’t been expected. But I didn’t learn anything?
[The Plurilingual Psyche]
All that exists is connected, and languages are no exception. Strain of learning new languages greatly reduced. Language comprehension is enhanced. Learned words and their context carry a chance of improving your intrinsic grasp on grammar rules and nuance.
Interdependent to
Interdependent to
Trait: None
Aspect: [Understanding]. Efforts to comprehend anything under the purview of your
Oh. Is it because I failed just now? Or almost failed, I guess. Wonder which part keeps it from being a ‘complete’ failure. That was annoyingly subjective, but so were many other things. At least she now had an idea as to how Aspects developed for Skills. There seemed to be a chance every 10 levels, and the developed Aspect appeared to be related to whichever usage of the Skill got it to that point.
That had so much potential for…quirks that Malwine shivered. I have to be careful with rushing through any Skills, huh…Wouldn’t want to end up with some bad Aspect…We’ll see.
Perhaps she should have just—
Malwine’s forehead hit her palm rather than the other way around. Wait! I didn’t try with [Write Anywhere] before putting everything away! I…
The blankets were suddenly a very appealing location to remain under for the foreseeable future.
Days blurred into one another, with only the passage of each month to keep time by. Most were too uneventful to matter. Between Bernadette’s lessons on talking and her games with Adelheid, Malwine found she had less and less time to spend on growing her Skills, at least at her former pace.
Neither [Write Anywhere] nor [Meditation] developed an Aspect at level 10. Malwine’s only guess at that point was that she just hadn’t done enough yet—the system clearly checked exactly every ten, but anecdotal evidence told her that it definitely didn’t matter until 20.
Malwine had taken to scribbling on paper with the Skill rather than a brush every time Bernadette wasn’t looking, but there were roadblocks—namely, she had to use letters. She couldn’t make shapes, and though she had some control over the look of what she ‘wrote’, it took an annoying amount of finicking to make anything match the brush strokes. The effort netted her Skill levels, sure, but she could only imprint so many suspiciously snake shaped S letters before her progress slowed.
[Blank Panel] came in clutch for that, though Malwine found she had no idea what to use most of them for beyond practice. The only obvious possibility was a family tree for Beryl, and she only managed that by tricking [Write Anywhere] into thinking a frankly unholy number of symbols belonged on the panel.
She was fairly certain the ‘Katrina’ she’d heard something about—given the context—might be her grandmother. Still, she had no real proof beyond missing the name of said grandmother, and that being the only unaccounted for name she’d witnessed spoken in context to herself. For now, a footnote would do.
Unknown (Rīsan?) + Unknown - - - Unknown ('Ineligible') + Beryl Skrībanin
\ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /
Kristian Rīsan + Unknown ₁
|
Beryl Rīsanin
---
₁ Might be named 'Katrina'.
---
Children born to Kristian Rīsan + Unknown
1. Beryl
2. Thekla
3. Anselm
4. Kristoffer
5. Alaric
Children born to Kristian Rīsan + Bernadette ‡
1. Adelheid
The urge to name those Unknowns 'Fulano', 'Mengana', and 'Zutano' had been painfully strong. She had to keep herself from going back and changing them afterwards.
Not knowing the ages of Beryl's siblings had also been quite the annoyance for listing them, even if Malwine technically had full control over her ‘written’ text to resort them later. None of the others seemed particularly old—aside from Kristoffer and Alaric who instead just looked young—so beyond guessing Beryl might be older on account of having a child, she was at a loss there.
The reminder of both Beryls having {Foresight} got her thinking at one point—if Beryl’s was somehow nerfed by the curse, what tier would Older-Beryl’s have been at?
Hey, [Mana Reclaimer], can I inherit {Foresight} from Beryl Skrībanin? I can prove she had it because her Class on [Once and Forever] snitched.
Her amusement only lasted for as long as the joke did, seeing as the Skill had the audacity to respond.
Beryl Skrībanin's possession of {Foresight} is proven.
(❗) Foresight IV confirmed.
You may inherit Foresight V from Beryl Skrībanin. Would you—
(❗) Error: You already possess {Foresight}.
(❗) Error: {Foresight} Affinity tiers do not match. Affinity tier updated.
Your Foresight II becomes Foresight III.
Stupid round-down! Malwine’s priorities were as straight as always, outrage building as a result of the averaging that clearly took place. I want the V tier, not III! You’re cheating me here! She’d never use the uselessness that was {Foresight}, but it was the principle of it!
She almost wished she did know the name of her grandmother to try and get an upgrade from her instead.
…Then again, she hadn’t needed Older-Beryl’s name to get to her for the Skill and Traits.
Hey again, [Mana Reclaimer]. I can prove the daughter of Beryl Skrībanin had {Foresight} because Affinities are inheritable in this world.
Katrina Skrībanin's possession of {Foresight} is proven.
(❗) Foresight V confirmed.
You may inherit Foresight VI from Katrina Skrībanin. Would you—
(❗) Error: You already possess {Foresight}.
(❗) Error: {Foresight} Affinity tiers do not match. Affinity tier updated.
Your Foresight III becomes Foresight IV.
…Better? But more importantly…Malwine had been right about the name being brought up, then. In some ways, it made sense—with all those ‘unknown’ people, there hadn’t exactly been many options. But Katrina’s surname confirmed she wouldn’t be getting any free info on her parentage just from poking the system.
At least I can update the tree now! She figured she should probably also recheck the Affinity now while she was at it.
Foresight IV
The deck, once stacked, accounts for tomorrow.
This Affinity may be increased to Foresight V by reaching Acclimation and Control milestones—or automatically for the next generation—to evolve its core effect.
If you turn this Affinity into a Root, you may use Foresight-aligned mana as Mana Source regardless of origin.
Great. It got stupider. Malwine sighed. She almost missed that alleged 2/100 guaranteed accuracy in predictions. At least then she’d known what the Affinity did. Now it was just like {Legacy}—not that her Root was useless, not at all, but the whole ‘base effect’ part told her absolutely nothing about what it did.
In a rare moment of self-awareness, Malwine felt her eye twitch. It says core effect, not base effect. Does it mean literally core or…Goddammit, Malwine. She really couldn’t go one reread of any ability without wanting to slap herself.
For the first time in what must have been weeks, Malwine embraced [Meditation] in earnest. It was at 19, as [The Plurilingual Psyche] had been, so she could only hope this would be enough for a breakthrough. Do all Affinities affect the core? Or just those turned to Mana Sources?
She focused on the bubble, on her citrine {Legacy} Root. It swam in stars the color of the Early Esse, floating on what could have been a full ocean but wasn’t—perhaps never would be. Relying on her beachside avatar had grown less and less necessary as she leveled [Meditation], and a part of her wondered if everyone who cultivated needed this kind of Skill.
Willing any sign of her Affinities to show itself—this was her core, after all—something vague shifted. Her Root shook lightly, a soft light rising from it before dissipating. She could see the [Toll] accruing without even waiting for the notification. It took her a moment to notice, but there were…sparks. Foggy glimpses of {Foresight}, part of her, yet doomed to remain formless unless she turned it into a Mana Source.
But it was definitely there.
Shit. So I can technically channel any Affinity I have? It just wouldn’t help me with anything that requires Mana Sources?
That sounded right. And good, because she still refused to use {Foresight}. If she could amass Affinities, then—
Oh. Malwine thought back to the same conclusion she’d reached when [The Plurilingual Psyche] got its Aspect. Rushing through Skills could leave her stuck with unwanted Aspects. If Affinities had some effect regardless of whether she turned them into Roots, she could end up with unwanted effects just as well. Maybe even harmful ones. The uselessness of {Foresight} now felt tame in comparison. Wait. Would the 2/100 guarantee have been lowering my chances or was it like a bonus? How did the probabilities go? Wait, no, I don’t like math, nobody answer that.
No wonder it asked for confirmation on whether I wanted {Foresight}. Wish I could have said no to the original one. She might never have learned this if she hadn’t inherited {Foresight} from her mother, however. Malwine shivered in the real world as her [Meditation] collapsed.
She waited patiently for the level 20 and Aspect notification to show up. Her face shifted to a frown as it didn’t.
Bleh.
At the end of the day, Malwine didn’t know whether to consider the endeavor fruitful or not.
Her attributes all inched closer to 1900—to 19. A single Skill leveling could have been enough—with [Write Anywhere] at level 18 and [Meditation] still at level 19—but she hadn't been investing her attribute points from levels, not yet. Something about being so close to the milestone made her want to push herself to reach it 'normally'.
Chasing and playing with Adelheid—not quite a game of tag, but her aunt’s best impression of it—helped with attributes. Just not by much. Two measly points were the best she’d gotten. Something told her neither the repetitiveness nor the lack of true challenge helped.
The rest of her attributes didn’t fare much better, despite her hopes that Bernadette’s lessons would increase them. None of her gains had been as effective as those early ones.
Speed, Resilience, and all the
Perhaps irrevocably from now on. Where they'd all be 1895 if she'd only had the points from level ups, most of them were off by 1 to 3 points. She knew she shouldn't complain about the overrun, but the curse was making her feel as though nothing short of exact values mattered. The couple attribute points she'd gotten from 'training' them weren't enough to get her to 1900, and that meant they did nothing in practice.
Name: Malwine Rīsanin ⊛
Kind: Human
Inherent Aptitude: The Weight of Legacy | Inherent Flaw: The Fog of Lore
Age: 26 months (+1297)
Final Stage of the Early Esse | Level 44 (10+34+0*) [Banked levels: 10]
Lifetime Skill levels: 457 (+1253) (S)
[Integrity]
933 / 976
[Toll]
0 / 1923
Strength
1897 (-99%)
Speed
1895 (-99%)
Endurance
1897 (-99%)
Dexterity
1898 (-99%)
Stamina
1896 (-99%)
Resilience
1895 (-99%)
Perception
1896 (-99%)
Charisma
1895 (-99%)
Adaptation
1898 (-99%)
Luck
1895 (-99%)
Circulation
1897 (-99%)
Presence
1895 (-99%)
…
[Integrity]
933 / 976
[Toll]
0 / 44
Strength
18
Speed
18
Endurance
18
Dexterity
18
Stamina
18
Resilience
18
Perception
18
Charisma
18
Adaptation
18
Luck
18
Circulation
18
Presence
18
As Adelheid helped her get back up after their last chase, Malwine couldn’t help but wonder if children were actually born with 10 attributes each, or if they grew into them. She’d hesitated to ask. At what age do children normally get this sort of stuff?
“Attributes?” Adelheid seemed thoughtful.
Malwine nodded. “Yes.”
“Have those.”
“Number?”
Her aunt remained quiet for a long time. Maybe I’m pushing my luck a bit.
“Which?”
Malwine couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Which?”
“You asked,” Adelheid shrugged. “But which?”
I hate that I can’t tell if I’m asking for too much or not. Still can’t remember what to expect at this age for anyone who…isn’t me, I guess.
“Strength?” Malwine asked. So much about the basic system panels was intuitive that something told her Adelheid might not even need to understand the concept to pick it out. While the panels were something that could be ‘read’, it never quite felt that way to Malwine—at times, it was simply as if she could know what the panels said just from thinking of them.
Adelheid raised a hand, slowly. She started pinching fingers with her other hand. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five,” her frown deepened. After some seconds, she switched positions between her hands. “Six. Seven.”
Malwine smiled, elation almost overwhelming her. “Thank you. Endurance?”
A similar scene played out as she continued asking—and Adelheid, bless her heart, kept answering. She’d do the same if or when her friend and aunt ever asked. Hopefully she doesn’t ask immediately. Don’t want her to feel bad…I guess I could just tell her the effective ones.
The details were too complicated to risk asking for, so Malwine still didn’t know whether attributes increased while growing up, but she might have been wrong about 10 being a minimum—she was no longer certain as to why [Unpacifiable] had all but demanded she get them there.
She tried to hide her surprise at the fact that her aunt could count past 10, even if this would have been a failure had she not been able to. All of her aunt’s attributes ranged from 6 to 19, with Speed being the highest Malwine knew of as of when Adelheid started relaying the values of her
Adelheid’s Perception was 11; and her Adaptability, 8.
Then her aunt was frowning.
“Presence?” Malwine repeated. If the girl didn’t answer, she wouldn’t push. Getting this far felt like a miracle in the first place.
Adelheid remained pensive, tipping her head to Malwine before peering helplessly, both her palms face-up as she examined them. “More,” she shook her head. “You?”
Malwine winced, but listed the attributes and counted off to 18 after each. Adelheid just gave her a nod, seemingly unfazed.
Huh. Should I not have worried?
Her little aunt soon sported quite the devious grin, despite Malwine’s uncertainty as to how much she understood. “No more chase. Race to door?”
Malwine shuddered.