Shielded by Seals [Chapter 7] (Patreon)

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

They are just… leaving? My heart bubbled with disappointment as the police-type individuals fled. 

Yet their reaction made one detail obvious: Argyle possessed the special identity of ‘Chosen’. They would not offend him easily, or even investigate the murders in the manor. Child care didn’t even come up as a concern. If I wanted to escape this place, I would need to rely on my own efforts. 

Plus, I had discovered another alarming fact. I used my tiny fingers to pinch the pudgy flesh of an arm. Those symbols… he put them on me. Well, it makes sense, I guess. I’m keyed to the defenses of the manor. But… what kind of magic are they?

Just one more thing on my to-do list.

After they left, Argyle then collapsed sideways into the chair and dug out more bottles. He gave me a single look, muttered to himself about the wickedness of parasites, and then began drinking for the night.

I shook my head. Some individuals have the leisure to just drink themselves silly, but most of us need to work.

I crawled out of the room and headed toward the stairwell. Even with my improved Mana-Adjusted Physique, I still felt envious of the mobility offered by a simple adult body. The sensation of being carried along by a being with fully grown legs… Considering I had a grown man’s consciousness in a baby, and had only lived a few months like this…

Growing up will be such a pain, I sighed. But what could I do?

Effort made time pass. Because at least, when my Mana pool was emptied, weariness filled me. I could fall asleep immediately. I can travel in time from one grinding opportunity to another.

Plus, I needed to hike back down to the kitchen, where I could obtain food. So I went through some Cleaning sprees, taking advantage of the dirt and dust that had gathered on the upper floors. I Cleaned, I napped. When I woke up again, I butt-thumped my way down to the middle of the stairs and did some more Cleaning and sleeping. 

Then, I slid down the rest of the way and headed to the kitchen. There, too, there were several messes that father has allowed to fester. A few concentrated Cleans burned it all away, and earned me a sizable chunk of Proficiency for each; although small, apparently the kitchen messes were relatively troublesome.

As I begin to fall asleep, I take a look at my Status Screen.

Status

Name: Osiris Scowl

Level: 2 (Score: C)

Roles: Child (Beginner III, 96%), Genius (Worthless, 30%)(5 Months, 3 Weeks, 6 Days)

Traits: Mana Hungry (Beginner I, 7%), Mana Adjusted Physique (Beginner I, 28%)

Skills: Emit Mana (Beginner II, 39%), Clean (Beginner I, 47%)

I nodded, even as my eyes drifted shut. Okay… Score remains mysterious… so ignore it. Besides, more Proficiency will probably earn more Score… For now… Grind Clean up to Beginner II, then switch back to pushing Emit Mana…

My eyes closed. When I woke up, I had a plan. So it began.

For better or worse, the visit from the police deeply affected Argyle. He rarely left his room; there were no ominous thumping noises. He sank into a mental coma during daylight hours, only stumbling down at night.. Some evenings, he had become so drunk he forgot to prepare my food while satiating himself. I had to force my body to go through the unfortunate process of picking up a knife and chopping pieces off of ripening fruits for me to gnaw on.

Luckily, it didn’t happen too often. And, although I wasn’t sure about the exact meaning of the shades, his irises remained crimson during this time. 

Bloodshot and bleary, but they are crimson… I thought.

Anyway, because of the circumstances, I had the time and peace I needed to hone myself in this strange fantasy world: three months passed.

My gains were significant. The first to make that next step… was of course, my Role.

Your Role Child has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner III-> Apprentice. Your Mana Pool deepens by a significant amount. Your Mana begins to purify itself. Due to reaching the Apprentice Tier, you have gained access to additional Proficiency Tiers! The Tier “Proficient” has split into Proficient I and Proficient II. Please continue to develop the Role Child for further improvements.

For increasing Trait Proficiency while a Genius, the Role Genius has gained Proficiency! +10%.

My breath hissed out through my teeth. Luckily, I was perched in my little bedding nest, so I could just fall backward and writhe comfortably as my Mana Pool shifted to its new form. In terms of the deepening, the effect was significant, albeit less debilitating than it had been in the past, because of all the little deepening’s I obtained by improving Skills. 

The container of that chilling, burning energy began creeping outward. My sense of self expanded in the depths of my being, even as my physical body remained constant. The feeling of expansion while no change occurred… was strange and magical. 

As the feeling faded, I tried to measure it. In that watershed shift from Beginner to Apprentice, I gained perhaps 25% more Mana to use. My eyes grew bright as the changes began to settle; more Mana equalled more grinding.

Yet also, there was the purifying function. As I focused on my Mana pool, I could feel that a slow current emerged, whirling the Mana together. I studied it for several minutes to see if I noticed changes… but the process took too much time. My awareness was better, but it still felt fuzzy at the granular level of Mana. I shifted my focus. I might not be able to tell any difference, but I trusted the notification.

After that, the notifications came like much-needed rain on an orchard on the cusp of harvest.

Your Skill Clean has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner I-> Beginner II. Clean efficacy increases. Your Mana Pool deepens.

For increasing Trait Proficiency while a Child, the Role Child has gained Proficiency! +10%.

For increasing Trait Proficiency while a Genius, the Role Genius has gained Proficiency! +10%.

Your Skill Emit Mana has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner III-> Apprentice. Emit Mana’s range increases…

…

Your Trait Mana Adjust Physique has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner I-> Beginner II…

…

Your Skill Clean has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner II-> Beginner III…

…

Your Trait Mana Hungry has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner I-> Beginner II…

…

Your Skill Emit Mana has reached a new Proficiency! Apprentice -> Usable. Emit Mana’s cost slightly decreases. Energy concentration slightly increases. Your Mana Pool deepens.

For increasing Trait Proficiency while a Child, the Role Child has gained Proficiency! +10%.

For increasing Trait Proficiency while a Genius, the Role Genius has gained Proficiency! +10%.

Your Role Genius has reached a new Proficiency! Worthless-> Basic. It is minutely more easy to increase Proficiency Tiers. You gain minutely more Proficiency experience on feat-based acts. Due to reaching a higher Proficiency Tier, you have earned additional time for the Genius Role! +18 Months. Time Remaining: 1 Year, 8 Months, 4 Weeks, 2 Days.

Across the board, all of my Traits and Skills increased. Because of that, I had improved the Genius Role (basically just earning me more time) and raised the Child Role so it was close to a new proficiency; I was excited to know what the next Proficiency Tier above Apprentice was, and whether I had finally reached the promised land of ‘Proficient’.

In terms of my escape plan, Mana Adjusted Physique at Beginner II didn’t quite meet my physical requirements. I could stand reliably and waddled around, but anytime I tried to move with speed my feet would get tangled and I would fall on my face. It made the manor navigable in between naps, but it still fell short of assisting a jailbreak.

On the other hand, despite my rapidly growing pool of energy, Mana Hungry reaching the next Proficiency Tier meant that the wave of energy it recovered once more outstripped my capacity to contain. A large portion tingled its way out through my arms and legs, dissipation and earning Proficiency for Mana Adjusted Physique. After each session, I would pant and wipe the sweat from my forehead.

Hopefully, Apprentice Mana Adjusted Physique will be enough…

However, the most satisfying of the changes was Emit Mana reaching Apprentice. My projectiles seemed genuinely dangerous, buzzing slightly as the shot through the air. And when they impacted the wall-

A sheen of black symbols appeared. I narrowed my eyes; these were father’s ‘seals’. My abilities now inflicted enough damage that he seals activated to resist them. I was hesitant at first, but Argyle didn’t even appear to notice, such was his intoxication. So I spent a day simply moving through the manor, shooting off Emit Mana to test how far the seals stretched. In the end?

The entire fucking house… I gritted my teeth.

Yet I quickly shook off my sour feeling; my abilities were improving. Training, especially over a long period of time, was a powerful force. Grinning to myself, I sat in the main hall of the manor and shot thick bolts of energy that sizzled against the walls. I can’t burn this place down yet, but there are more Proficiency Tiers, right?! One day, you stupid father-

“You…”

I froze; had my thoughts summoned him?!

I tried to be casual as I spun on my butt. Argyle, looking disheveled and drunk, stood on the stairwell. The burn of my most recent Emit Mana slowly faded. He raised his hands and rubbed his eyes, looking from me to the burn on the wall as the seals slowly faded.

I lowered my trembling hands. Adrenaline ramped up my pulse until it pounded in my ears. He definitely saw that right? How long has he been watching…? 

Before I could decide how to respond, Argyle began cackling. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “Of course… of course…! It all makes sense now. This little parasite… just like me… hahahahah!”

He turned around and swayed his way up the stairs. I am left in the lurch, shaken and confused. I scratched my cheek. “Maybeee… he tinks he missaw?”

I pouted at the slightly misshapen words. I was getting used to it, but the baby tongue continued to behave wildly.

After ten minutes, it became obvious that Argyle was not coming back down. So I shrugged and forced myself to continue my training. Five circuits of Emitting Mana later, I woke to the warm light of morning filtered through the curtained windows. I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders, pushed myself up, and stretched.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a shadow loomed above me. “Up you go, little parasite.”

Father scooped me up. I twisted around to look at his face. To my surprise, his eyes were clear and focused, more than I’ve ever seen him before. Despite the scar, he looked… almost youthful. He studied me for a second. I studied him right back. I grew anxious at the sudden clarity. Is this recovery… a good thing…?

In the end, he looked away first and carried me upstairs to his study.

He set me down on the desk and then pulled a long golden key from his pocket. He inserted it into a drawer and opened it. Inside were two strange medallions. The intricate patterns were inlaid directly into the metal. My eyes widened with alarm. One medallion displayed a tangle of strange black tentacles, while the other releases a sinister looking green mist. He set both on the desk beside me and gestured. “Do either call to you?”

I just looked at him. He waited. In the end, I decided to hold my tongue. The magical methods of this world scared me. What if my transmigration can be discovered?

Or perhaps it already has, and now he is testing me… I looked again at the medallions. I tentatively raised a hand toward the green mist one-- the shadowy tentacles made my heart perform flip-flops.

A notification popped up.

Access Barred: Mana Pool depth insufficient.

I looked up at Father. My confusion must have been evident because he frowned, then clicked his tongue. “Ah, of course, the Mana limitation. Fucking idiot. Fucking dumbass. How could…” He squeezed his eyes shut for a few moments. When he opened his eyes, he stood with enough force that his chair was knocked backward and fell over. He walked to the wall and began ripping down the complex diagrams he had spent the last year drawing out. “All of this… I was such a fool. Pointless drivel.”

He continued to dismantle all of the alarming work on sacrificial rituals he had done. He spoke to me over his shoulder. “You might not understand, but that thing you did earlier… do it more. The shape is somewhat strange, but it should be a Mana Bolt variant. Practicing it now will improve your Proficiency. Some will tell you not to pollute your Mana Pool- keh, I can’t… 

“Just know this: those who demand you bide your time just want to maintain the status quo. Yet you have my tainted blood, don’t you? That is not our way.”

I blinked at him. I don’t really understand what you are warning me against… but isn’t this explicit permission to grind?

My hand rose. My palm barked out an Emit Mana. The bolt of energy slammed against the wall, sizzling until the seals appeared and suppressed the lingering energy.

He grinned, his entire face twisting with the expression. “Heh… of course. You inherited too much of your father’s blood. Plus that Mana density… your Mother’s talent. What a helling parasite…”

Pride and hatred warred on his face as he looked at me. In the end, he clenched his jaw and looked away. “Anyway, do whatever you want. I need… I need to think.”

He left the room. I could only sigh. And now I’m atop the desk again… pah, adults have no idea the struggles of the small…

I expended the rest of my Mana, glad Father hadn’t stayed to watch the whole thing. He seemed to think I had a Skill called Mana Bolt… but would he remain as pleased when my Mana Pool had already deepened to the point I could shoot twenty Mana Bolts? And then twenty more post-Mana Hungry? Better to keep the depths of my capability obscured. I fell asleep on the desk for my nap. When I awoke, he still hadn’t returned. So I clambered down from the desk, thumping painfully against the ground, and went through my grinding again.

The third time, I awoke, Argyle had returned. And my eyes widened in alarm as he stood on the far side of the room… and hung a new diagram up on the wall!

“I was going about this the wrong way before,” The fearsome man noticed I was awake and gestured toward the drawing. The crimson light in his eyes was brighter than ever. He licked his lips. “My own potential is limited. I am already Chosen. However… however you are not… so long as I use you… your Mother will…”

I looked over the new drawing. The diagrams, compared to the messy first iterations, had been streamlined and improved. And it seemed like a professional architect had suddenly manifested and drew these clean arcs and sharp corners. Argyle… has suddenly become so capable? The arrival of the police only made him more sophisticated in his madness?!

“On your fifth birthday… when the Child protections expire… heh.” He licked his lips again.

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. At the very least… I now have a time frame.

In the next three and a half years… I need to escape.