Shielded by Seals [Chapter 10] (Patreon)

Almost tagged this as a LoRG post. Old habits die hard xD.

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

Three new Skill options glittered in front of me. All of them pulled me, for different reasons. All promised the possibility of quick, easy growth through lowe Proficiency Tiers. But before I addressed them, I frowned at a different portion of the notification. “Father, why do I have… multiple Scores…?”

“Ah? Ah, probably an E and then an extra F, right?” Argyle chuckled. “Scores combine. Two F’s will become an E, two E’s become a D, etc. To think you already have enough Score to have an extra F…”

I closed my mouth. Probably too much to say I have a C+ and a D, huh? But wait, how does C+ fit into the scale? Based on the notification, two C’s became C+?

“So what Skills do you have access to?” He asked.

I read them out loud, glad I didn’t have to do this with my first set of options: these were much more reasonable. And what if he wanted me to take Murder?  “Ritualism, Silk Shot, and Electric Pulse.”

“Silk Shot?” Argyle released a half-laugh, half-sigh. He rubbed his eyes. “That’s… hah. Truly, the spawn follows the father. I obtained the same Skill. For my fourth birthday, the last of the free Skill options. And even then, it was enough to earn the attention of the Fang Family, so I was brought to their private training hovel…”

…hovel…?

For a second, father’s eyes went misty. I chewed on my lip. Honestly, that Skill appealed to me the least out of all of the options. If I wanted an active Skill, didn’t Electric Pulse seem more useful? Or impressive. And Ritualism… could it possibly give me clues about how to escape from those glowing barriers over the door? Were they related to rituals?

“Electric Pulse…” Argyle finally came out of his memories and hummed to himself. “I haven’t heard of it before but… it’s a very… polarizing Skill. These annoying blocks… Those are unadvisable, for reasons I can’t explain. As for Ritualism, it’s a feat-based Proficiency. I do have quite a sizable knowledge about Ritualism, but because of the same restrictions, I would not be able to pass on that knowledge. For now, at least.”

I glare at my father. He shrugs.

My mind spun. All these things he can’t talk about… it stems from restrictions around Primes, right? Electric Pulse is, excuse the pun, polarizing… and his Ritualism can’t be passed on. Because its is related to the Primes? Or because I’m a Child?

My eyes widened as I made a connection. Those emblems! The Mana Pool restriction. Each had a different… flavor. The dark tentacles and the green aura.

So then, if Primes in this world are… gods? Patrons? And choosing one means you learn that god’s magic… that’s why Electric Pulse isn’t a good idea. What if my Prime doesn’t use electricity?

I looked at Father. “Can you show me Silk Shot?”

He nodded slowly. “I can, but…”

He raised his hand and flexed his wrist, just like a spider-themed superhero. A dense strand of silk shot out of the wrist and latched on a copper tankard across the room. With a flick, he retracted the silk and pulled the item to himself. It made a satisfying smack when he caught it. With his other hand, he reached down and plucked at the silk. “The effect… is diminished. My previous choice-”

While my jaw has dropped to the floor at the usefulness of such a Skill, especially for a body that still hasn’t developed, Father froze. The crimson of his eyes grew even brighter. He began muttering to himself. “Of course… If the path is barred, I can simply make another choice-”

He stood up and left the room without another word.

Which, at least, meant that the strange and awkward family time was over. For all he provided information, being on my own was a relief. And after seeing the Skill in action, I was persuaded to select Silk Shot as my choice.

You have obtained the Skill Silk Shot!

(Worthless) Silk Shot: Create a bolt of weak spider silk from a chosen body part. The strength of the Silk increases with Mana expended and increases by a minute amount with the depth of your Mana Pool.

I smiled. I raised a hand and pointed at the plate of vegetables sitting across the room. I activated the Skill, focusing on my wrist.

For using the Skill Silk Shot, Proficiency +10%.

A weak spurt of silk arced out of my wrist… and splattered into the table a few inches from me. The thin wisp of silk I produced was nothing compared to the bolt that Father released. And now the silk twisted into a pile on the table. I pulled, but it held fast, stuck both to the table and itself. My lips twitched. “Well, that’s why we grind. A Max-Level, OP protagonist isn’t built in a day.”

Plus, with an expanded Mana Pool, plus Mana Hungry, the Proficiency required for the first Tier lay easily within my grasp. I chuckled, watching the +10%s accrue.

Your Skill Silk Shot has reached a new Proficiency! Worthless-> Basic. Thickness of silk slightly increased. Distance of shot slightly increased. You gain a small amount of control over the stickiness. 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! +4%.

The table was covered with silk and I discovered another small benefit. I waved my hand and activated Clean, receiving some Proficiency for eliminating the mess. Oh, the stickiness makes a difference in the Cleaning feat-based Proficiency?

Well then…

Moving to the main room, I focused on making the Skill as sticky as possible. A new avenue of training had opened for me. My hands flapped back and forth and from my wrists sprang DIY silly string.

Your Skill Silk Shot has reached a new Proficiency! Basic-> Beginner I. Distance of the shot is greatly increased. You can control the relative location of the stickiness of the Skill. Tensile strength of the Skill is slightly increased. 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! +4%.

Once I grew to a new Tier, I tried out the shifts in efficacy.

My shots now managed to latch onto the far wall, stretching almost three meters from my wrist to the destination. Beaming, I even aimed up at the ceiling. The Skill stuck to the stone. I swung for a while, on my spider silk, delighted that the stickiness was enough to support my weight. I cannot help but laugh. Okay, Electric Shock would have been cool, but isn’t this even cooler?

I love fantasy worlds!

My days settled into a new routine. I kept my other goal in mind, to improve Emit Mana. But I alternated that with training in Silk Shot, because it benefited both that Skill and Clean. Besides, the early Proficiency Tiers came so quickly it's easy to recall the joy of Leveling.

Whatever epiphany Argyle had, he once more spent the lion’s share of his time obsessing and muttering about opportunities and artificial foundations. Which meant my free rein in the manor continued. So I focused on improving, without distractions or worries.

Your Skill Silk Shot has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner I-> Beginner II. Tensile strength of the Skill is greatly increased. Accuracy increases. Skill lasts longer before dissipating. 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! +4%.

…

Your Skill Silk Shot has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner II-> Beginner III. Ability to inject Mana into the silk increases. Different effects can be achieved with this ability. 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! +4%.

…

Your Trait Mana Adjusted Physique has reached a new Proficiency! Beginner III-> Apprentice. The boost based on Maximum Mana increases. Increases the natural recovery of your Mana. 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! +4%.

“Eh? So Mana can recover without resting?” I tilted my head to the side to see this in the notification. It was about four weeks after my birthday, and outside the manor, birds swooped back and forth while trumpeting out their song. Using an afternoon of determination, I pried open the windows of the kitchen and swung them open to the wind. I attempted to scramble out once, but was tossed back by the seal mesh. Pouting, I just enjoyed the view.

Spring had arrived in force. The heat of the day was visible from my vantage, although the seals kept the temperature in the interior stable. 

I frowned. Well, Mana recovery per hour was undoubtedly a good thing, right? The only problem was… I very rarely stayed awake for long enough to notice the difference. Mana Hungry instantly triggered sleepiness. 

Shaking my head, I thought to myself, Focus on the positives.

To make it from the main foyer to the kitchen, I raised a hand and unleashed Silk Shot. Not only had my accuracy improved, but I had gotten very competent at controlling the stickiness of the thread. The anchor snapped into place against the ceiling. I had to get a little bit of a running start, but then I lifted my feet and swung forward. As I reached the apex of my swing, I raised my hand and unleashed the next Silk Shot toward the ceiling-

In the end, I was already swinging a bit backward and didn’t manage to shake the first Silk Shot off. So I hung between the two in the hallway. I could only sigh. “Practice, practice, practice…”

I looked quickly at my Status Screen and got to work.

Status

Name: Osiris Scowl

Level: 3 (Score: C+, D)

Roles: Child (Usable, 94%), Genius (Basic, 48%)(1 Year, 4 Months, 4 Weeks, 2 Days)

Traits: Mana Hungry (Beginner I, 27%), Mana Adjusted Physique (Apprentice, 4%)

Skills: Emit Mana (Usable, 41%), Clean (Apprentice, 12%), Silk Shot (Beginner III, 17%)