Shielded by Seals [Chapter 3] (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/132353583

I stared up at the dark ceiling. Worries had corroded my dedication to training. 

I have underestimated how deranged this body’s father Argyle is.

The schedule had been reset post-murder. Argyle one more built up a little pen of books on his desk and I was placed in the middle. His eyes were bloodshot as he scribbled his notes. Despite the late hour, he hadn’t yet stopped. Based on his mutterings…  he drew up eldritch rituals to dredge back the deceased to the land of the living.

Is it possible? This is a world with Skills… The dark ceiling provided no answers. Thinking about it only made me more anxious, so I distracted myself. I shot off my Mana sparks into the desk, singeing the wood. Of course, his obsession meant he ignored silent actions. However… I was no longer grinding idly. I must grow as soon as possible.

He was a ticking time bomb. I cannot remain here. Yet as a baby-

I emptied my Mana pool and then cast Emit Mana twice more, after Mana Hungry activated. Requiring less Mana means I can manage more attempts per cycle. Then sleep. Only in my little comas could I escape the anxiety.

I hung my expectations on the increase in the Mana Hungry Trait. A larger boost to recovered Mana would make my grinding faster. And then-

And then what? I feel unpleasant and helpless as I considered it. How will that help me…?

Yet I had little else to do but Emit Mana and hope. The long night passed, between little sparks of Mana and grateful oblivion in sleep. Soon, my Mana Hungry Trait reached the threshold.

Your Trait Mana Hungry has reached a new Proficiency! Worthless-> Basic. The Trait recovers more Mana per activation. 

For increasing Role Proficiency while a Child, the Role Child has gained Proficiency! +20%.

My eyes widen. Betrayal! After all my grinding… It’s just more Mana?!

I railed against the unfairness of the world, like the star of a silent film, waving my fists. Meanwhile, next to me, my biological father scratched away with his quill, preparing horrible rituals to sacrifice me… or something. 

Actually… I was curious. I leveraged myself up. My arms had continued to grow stronger. I crawled over the book impediment and approach father. He ignored me, continuing to draw careful lines on a pentagram. I squint; my eyes have gradually come into focus, allowing me to see further away. Definitely, he was writing out some sort of arcane language along the edges of the pentagram…

Was it my imagination that there was a large space in the middle of his diagram, without even a single arcane symbol, perfect for containing a sacrifice…?

Okay, so definitely, let’s not waste time. I crawled back to my book pen. I shot emit Mana into the desk, but my heart isn’t in it. I was listless, unable to understand how I could avoid a horrible end with a ritual dagger carving out my heart. The improvement provided by grinding was wonderful, but…

I pictured Father’s hand gesturing. I saw again that vicious black blade that cut out the woman’s throat-

I squeezed my eyes shut. I cleared my mind, trying to pretend like my anxiety didn’t exist. Eventually, it worked. My hand trembled as I raised it, but I spat out the Emit Manas. Yet a feeling finally shook my fugue.

Your Trait Mana Hungry has activated. Mana surges within your body.

“Gah!” I flop back over. The wave of Mana surged within me… but after it reached the edges of my Mana Pool inside my body, it kept expanding. Tingling and burning energy flooded out through my torso, my shoulders, my hips. Father grunted, but didn’t look up.

I forced my mouth closed as I writhed on the desk. Its not enough that I need to be tortured… but I need to do so silently, so I don’t offend a literal murderer beside me! This life…!

It took longer than the previous times for the feeling to disperse, because more Mana spread out beyond the edges of my Mana Pool. With little else to distract me, I tried to quantify it; if I had to guess, the newly improved Mana Hungry Trait created about double as much Mana as I could handle.

In the meantime, I endured-

Extra Mana in your body dissipates.

“Hoooo.” The uncomfortable sensation eased. For a few seconds, I lay like a dead piece of meat, without even a pulse. All of my physical energy had been exhausted. My muscles felt strange. Aching and strained, as though I had just experienced a massive workout. An ember of hope flickered in my heart. Perhaps… this can be considered a different form of training…?

Yet the pessimism of my situation had taken deep root. I shook my head; that seemed unlikely. Now… my Trait was practically a detriment if that happened every time it activated. I sighed. And with little else to do, I used the recovered Mana Pool to shoot off a few more Emit Manas. When my pool emptied, I could fall asleep.

In my dream, I felt the impact as Kinslet collapsed. My face hit her chest; her flesh felt like wood. I opened my mouth to cry but two eyes hung in the void above me, waiting for the smallest noise. One was crimson, one was maroon. Weeping inwardly, I remained silent.

Needless to say… I woke up exhausted. I felt bitter. Yet… what could I do? Grinding was all I had. It was all I could control. And while I did it-

Damnit, if it wasn’t for this… I writhed as Mana Hungry activated again. I had hoped my body had grown used to the sensation… but the frigid storm of sparks that Mana dispersed through my muscles had not grown more comfortable. I adapted, albeit slowly. 

Again, I needed a few minutes post-Trait in order to recover.

Perhaps if it had been my comfortable past life, I would have flinched from the pain. But the deadly situation… my outlook was bleak. Could I afford to flinch right now? There was something very fatalistic about how I drove my body through the painful activation, over and over again.

It let me feel in control of something. Which, I admitted to myself, was something I very much needed to feel at the moment, beset by such anxiety.

Also, this… I woke up for the fifth time. Father hunched over his scrolls. I looked at him. He’s just creating these diagrams. Perhaps… raising the dead requires quite a bit of research? His goals might be just as unconquerable as mine.

As I looked at his hunched shoulders, I felt a growing resolve, forged of bitterness and discomfort. I could not forget the trauma of hitting the ground and rolling through the blood of Kinslet as she gurgled her last breath. I would not trust this biological father. My heart pounded to look at him. Yet the way his work consumed him… perhaps the guillotine hanging over me was somewhat distant.

Humans could adapt to anything, I reflected.

To my surprise, upon the fifth time I activated my improved Trait, another piece of good news arrived.

Your Trait Mana Hungry has activated. Mana surges within your body. Proficiency +1%.

Extra Mana in your body dissipates.

Due to repeated oversaturation with Mana, you have gained a Trait!

You have gained the Trait Mana Adjusted Physique (Worthless). Slightly increase your physical performance based on your Mana Pool and ????. Slightly increase affinity toward Mana.

Oh? System, I apologize for doubting you. In you, my faith will be eternal. My eyes flashed. I clenched a baby fist. Suddenly, the deepening of the Mana Pool is important! Each increases my physical performance. Before anything else, being able to escape from this place is key.

To do that, I need mobility!

My hope was reignited. I saw a path to survival… which lay directly through grinding.

Definitely, I was placed in this world purposefully. I thought. If one couldn’t dedicate themselves to grinding, how could one escape? It was a life of loneliness, but did that not teach me a singular fondness for a better life?

Argyle did a great job of also reassuring my anxiety, although he probably didn’t realize it. His routine was unshakable: he woke up, made a bottle for me, left me on his desk, and began his ‘work’. I didn’t like the way giant diagrams were gradually finished and hung on the far wall of his office, but what could I do but focus on my small abilities?

We had an equilibrium, both of us trying to improve. It was a race, to see who would reach the point of fruition of their plots first.

Days became weeks. The magic circles proliferated, covering the walls and ballooning in complexity. I grew, becoming more sure in my movements. And of course, I steadily expanded my proficiency in my Skills and Traits

Mana Adjusted Body reached the next Proficiency Tier First: it activated both when I dissipated extra Mana and also when my Mana hit 0.

Your Trait Mana Adjusted Physique has reached a new Proficiency! Worthless-> Basic. Efficacy of the Trait Increases. Your body becomes more welcoming to Mana.

For increasing Role Proficiency while a Child, the Role Child has gained Proficiency! +20%.

…of course, my Mana Pool received no benefits directly. However- 

Your Role Child has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner I-> Beginner II. Your Mana Pool has grown in complexity. The Potential of your Mana Pool has increased.

This… is a good thing? Complexity increases? I examined my Mana Pool closely. Yet… it felt no different to me. I could only shrug. Even if don’t understand why, didn’t I decide to have faith in the System? Trust…

The unexciting increase was fine. Just becoming more able in body could silence my constant unease. But I decided it was time to begin an experimental expedition. I heaved myself over the edge of the book and considered the edge of the desk. It was still… quite a drop to the ground.

“Tsk, you parasite.”

I waved my arms in alarm as I was swept up. Argyle plopped me on the ground and gestured. “If you are going to be restless, get out of my sight.”

I looked up at my father. Question marks floated over my head. I plotted to run away from home.. And you just encourage me to be on my way?! What are the ridiculous parenting standards of this world?

Also, he hadn’t commented on my Emit Mana, but me peeking over the edge of the desk was too much for him?

Whatever, I thought. My hands and knees make contact with the ground. Distance vanishes beneath my empowered body! I rapidly crawl to the door and push my way outside. My heart beat quickened. Today, I can finally scout! I will discover the necessary information to escape this place!

My good cheer lasted for only a few minutes, as I moved down a massive hallway and reached a branching path. As I looked around… the smell hit me.

My stomach sank. But I crawled toward the source of the smell.

Three rotting corpses are sprawled on the stone floor. Two laying in front of a doorway while the last was opposite them, leaning against the wall. Blood had pooled, dried, and begun flaking away. They wore worn cotton clothes. These were likely the workmen that the green-skinned woman told to take away the body of my mother. My eyes rise to the door past them, at the end of the hall. So in there…

I shudder as I consider crawling across the dried blood toward the room. But anyway, what would I see? A part of me wanted to see my biological mother… but simultaneously-

I turned and crawled away. For now, I wanted to explore.

My first thought, as I chugged down the hallways on my hands and knees, is that the building appeared deserted. Doors were left ajar. I found papers, glassware, and several items of clothing discarded on the ground. I had been confined to the desk, but it seemed father had not followed Kinslet’s advice and reassured whoever had worked for him previously.

I claimed a small and soft cloth and wrapped it around myself. The velvet, a green so dark it was close to black, felt warm against my skin. Plus, it made the crawling more comfortable.

My second thought--

This place is enormous. I arrived at another intersection of hallways. I almost collapsed with relief as I saw a giant staircase; this should be the central part of the mansion. I paled; that meant the hour I had just spent crawling around… only covered half of the building. Half of the upstairs of this building…

I began creating a general map. The ‘dead wing’ was comprised of three connected hallways. Father works down the left hallway, mother rotted down the right, with her honor guard lying collapsed in front of the medical bay. I suspected, given my impending birth, they had moved mother to that room. The central hallway led back to a series of bedrooms. Most had closed doors, which proved completely impassible to the current me, with the door knob out of reach, but one had been open.

Lining all the walls inside were portraits. I looked them over, but only one interested me.

I sat on the ground and looked for a long time at my parents in their youth. While his hair was still grey, the father in the picture leaned back in a red velvet chair with a smirk on his face. His eyes were a bright red. A predator’s confidence had been captured by the painter.

Mother stood behind him. She had a smaller smile on her face, but still looked happy. She had long, black hair and sharp features. Her hands were on the couch, near father’s shoulders, fingers splayed out. Perhaps the only unnatural part about the whole realistic portrait… was mother’s fingers.

They were impossibly long. Especially combined with the necklace featuring a green spider that she wore…

I shivered and crawled away. Sorry mother, I will grieve you when it doesn’t seem like my life will be the spark to reanimate you.

Which left the staircase that led downstairs and the opposite wing of the manor. A part of me considered exploring the downstairs area as well, but I was tired from my crawling. For now, the rest of the exploration can wait.

I used Emit Mana several times and collapsed into sleep before I did so.

When I woke, I realized I had made a horrible mistake. In wiggling out of my blanket, I have left it behind. The green velvet is nice, but it’s not enough. I shivered. The wooden floor of the upper stories was not kind.

Luckily, I could raid the discarded linens littering the hall. Soon, I was fully wrapped and padded. It made movements inconvenient, but it was better than discomfort.

The exploration of the opposite wing terminated abruptly.

A man in leather armor sagged on the wall. The blood spatter behind him had already dried. Yet what made my scalp tingle was the black spear driven through his chest, pinning him in place. A broken sword lay at his feet. Yet that wasn’t even the worst: on his face, the cavities of his eyes had been-

I turned around. My transmigrator heart could only handle so many shocks at once. I was still just a babe.

With great care, I descended the staircase. My butt thumped against the ground on each step. At least the central portion was carpeted. But the descent took time and I became exhausted again. No option appealed, but I just accepted my sleepiness and Emit Mana’d several more times and then napped, right there on the steps.

Rejuvenated after my nap, I continued my butt thumps down. When I reached the bottom, I released a long breath. My gaze shifted to the new environment. The far wall, and the massive door, were flanked by two tall windows. Both were shrouded in wine colored curtains. The other downstairs walls are covered in portraits of gloomy looking men with the same grey hair as father. 

“Abuu…” I raised my hands and patted my head as best I could. I feel baby fuzz. Is my hair going to be grey early? Hah, in my previous life, and also in this one…

Well, what can I do? Life is stress…

Yet the thought popped into my head, surprisingly bright. I took a moment and checked my own emotional state. Although I hadn’t intended for it to be so… it turned out that it became much easier not to tumble down an anxiety rabbit hole while moving. Hope had taken root in my heart.

When I raised a hand and released bolts of little blue energy-

Due to your actions, your Skill Emit Mana has gained Proficiency! Proficiency +1%.

-the old satisfaction returned. It took a few attempts for a single Proficiency growth, yet my mindset had adjusted. Taking a walk had cleared my head. Because there were more discarded towels and curtains in the main hall, I made myself a little nest, right in the middle. 

When I woke again, I moved right up against the tall double doorway. Could this… lead to the upside world? I stretched out a hand and pressed it against the wood. Needless to say…

…no sudden inspiration struck me. I had to sigh. This might well truly be the exit… yet I couldn’t open the massive doors with this body.

With little choice, my crawling tour continued. 

Was I lucky? Unlucky? The next open door I found led to the room filled with sunlight… where Kinslet rotted. My heart ached as I looked at her. I propped myself up into a sitting position and clasped my ungainly hands together. I wasn’t a religious person… but Kinslet had been kind. Her rocking was world-class. 

She didn’t deserve to die.

If this soul goes into the cycle of reincarnation… be kind to her. She deserved better than this.

After a minute of paying my respects, I crawled away. Several guestrooms populated that hallway, lined with dust. The tall stone hallway stretched without end in front of me. Sighing, I shook my head. This place… is still big.

I took a break, using up all of my Mana and napping. Then I turn and head down the hallway tucked behind the massive staircase. In that direction laid the kitchen, a pantry, and another library-esque room. Yet, for my purposes, the most interesting was the pantry.

The room adjoined to the kitchen through a small door in the back. At first, it grabbed my attention because of the stench-- I approached with dread, believing I had found another one of father’s victims. Yet when I worked up the nerve to peek into the pantry…

“Aabu.” Not a body, but spoiled food…

Boxes were stacked in neat piles along the walls of the room. Those closer to the kitchen definitely had gone past their sell by date. As I wandered down past the wicker baskets and wooden crates, my eyes brightened; the pantry ended in a small wooden door. Plus, after several sniffs, I had confirmed that the stuff nearer the exit was fresh.

We likely received periodic deliveries of food. Which explained why we hadn’t run out yet, despite the fact that there were as many as five corpses laying around the manor. I pressed my tiny hands against the wooden door… but this, too, held firm.

For a few seconds, I fantasized about simply hanging out nearby, waiting for the delivery to arrive. Then I could speedily crawl out through the opening and escape. Yet I could only sigh at how foolish that was. Babies were too conspicuous. Wouldn’t I just be plucked up and brought back to father…?

At the very least, I need to master both the ability to communicate and the ability to walk… then maybe I have a chance of escaping… While making nonsense noises as practice, I crawled back toward the central hall. Because I headed in this direction… I made a new discovery.

A staircase steeped in shadow, beneath its brother, leading further down into a stone-walled abyss.

Even through the green velvet I used as a shroud, I could feel the chill of the stone. I took several breaths. Some instinct told me… I wouldn’t like what I found down there. Or am I simply a child, naturally afraid of the dark…?

Perhaps it was just to retain the feeling of control I had by moving… but I forced myself to face my fears. Using the bottom-thump method, I navigated the stairs. Each move jolted me. The temperature rapidly decreased and the shadows along the stairwell seemed to intensify. Yet weirdly, even with baby eyes, I can see the bottom. Two torches beckoned me, leading me out of the darkness.

Plus, the basement stairs were shorter and less imposing than the second floor iteration.

When I dragged my butt down between those torches, I felt regret; I should not have come.

All of the strange circles father had spent the last few weeks drawing… they were writ large with crimson paint on the floor of the basement. A sinister energy clung to the circles. I had thought his experiments were still mostly theoretical… but I saw a smaller grouping of circles in the corner of the grim basement, with dead sparrows rotting in the middle. 

Back to grinding… I climbed out of the basement, trying not to think too much. I exhausted myself, but couldn’t even process what I had seen. I shot out Mana sparks, right at the top of the stairs. When I woke, I did it again.

After the third such collapse, I gritted my teeth and decided this cannot continue. I crawled back through into the sunny room. The smell… well, honestly, I had relieved myself several times by instinct. Without the smell bothering Father, I wasn’t changed. So the smell of death… I had become used to it. By the time I arrived, evening had descended. It was cloudy outside the many windows. I moved to the crib.

Using the tall leg of the furniture, I wiggled my way up into a leaning position, almost standing. I raised my hand-

-and fell sideways, smacking my face.

Warning! You have taken damage.

Ugh… this stupid body… I attempted again. I used both pudgy hands, gripping the wooden legs.

I wobbled and collapsed sideways.

Warning! You have taken damage.

“Shabu…” I swore. I paused. Oh, is my practice already paying off?

But my available conversation partner… My expression darkened. I loosed a decisive Abu. I attempted to stand again.

Warning! You have taken damage.

A sigh escaped my body. Even with Mana Adjusted Physique, I was only a few months old. This feat is currently beyond me. So I lied on the ground and continued to grind.

Your Skill Emit Mana has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner II-> Beginner III. Emitted Mana possesses more potency. Emitted Mana lasts longer before dissipation. Complexity of your Mana shows minuscule changes. Your Mana Pool has deepened.

For increasing Role Proficiency while a Child, the Role Child has gained Proficiency! +15%.

My expression brightened. A timely increase in capability always cheered me up. And didn’t this increased potency… mean Emit Mana is approaching the point it could be used as an attack?

Go! Mana Bolt! I activate the Skill. A sizable spark shot out, traveled about a meter, and sizzled against the wall. Wonder filled me. I try my best to make finger guns, but my baby hands are traitorous and flex wildly. In the end, I just enjoyed the sensation of shooting out little bursts of Mana, even if I’m too uncoordinated to quick-draw.

It’s cool, I grinned. This really is a fantasy world…

Yet very quickly, my mood sank. Such highs and lows are constant in fantasy environments.

Plus, I noticed a downside to my new development: the depth of my Mana Pool meant my Mana Hungry Trait doesn’t overfill me, tingling through my body. Avoiding the sensation was great, but that tingling also provided free Proficiency toward Mana-Adjusted Physique. I still earned a bit of Proficiency for the Trait when my Mana Pool fills, but that’s it.

Some grinding speeds up, some slows down, I sighed. The vicissitudes of balance patches… But also-

My eyes sharpen. With the extra bit of Mana depth, I make one more attempt. I leveraged myself to my feet. I swayed back and forth, my legs not used to the strain. When I barely managed to find a bit of steadiness, I reached up. I clenched my hand, gripping the blanket left in the crib. As I fall… I drag it down with me.

Warning! You have taken damage!

Warning! Your Health is extremely low!

“Heh. Abu.” I chuckled at the ceiling. I was improving.

For now, that’s all I can manage. I wrapped myself in the familiar blanket.

For now, it was enough.