[STT] Chapter 89: Skill Evolution (Patreon)

"I don't want tea!" Alice snapped, and Ben, who had spent what felt like the longest few minutes of his life stuck there, found that he could suddenly breathe easier.

Alice was a welcome sight, even with her mad expression, and he found himself relaxing in his seat. Even the pressure disappeared completely. In fact, it was gone the moment Alice barged in.

"I'm glad to see you, too." Eris said, a small smile on her lips.

"Ben? What did she—did she do something—are you—" Alice rushed over to him.

"No, I'm fine," he said, and the bird hopped from his shoulder to his head, chirping. Alice gave it a once over, then looked at Eris, who raised an eyebrow. "She gave me a gift."

"A gift? What kind of gift? And why? What did you do to him? You can't just take people like that! I told you to keep your nose out of this!"

Lady Eris lifted her eyes from her cup as her mouth tucked itself into a small, closed, pointed smile much like a cat when it had been caught on the table and had no plans whatsoever to get down.

"Yes, dear. I'm sorry, dear."

"Don't yes dear me! You can't just take people! You can't just reach into the middle of the camp and pluck someone out because you're bored! What if someone had seen you!"

"Mm-hm."

"He's my friend! He's not your—your—" Alice gestured with her hands. "He's my friend, you can't just take him! I asked you one thing. One! To leave him alone after the whole rift debacle, and you said fine, and then you—"

"Mm-hm." Eris sipped her tea. "Quite right, dear."

Watching her nod along, Ben realized that every single word was going in one of Lady Eris's ears and coming out of the other. She was just listening to Alice rant without caring in the least. It was quite impressive, actually.

Alice, he wanted to say, she is not listening. But he decided against it. If she wanted to vent, he was fine with that, as long as he wasn't the target.

"Tea?"

"I don't—!" Alice huffed. "Nevermind." She whirled over to Ben, eying the bird. "From her?"

"Yeah, she said I should take care of it." He lifted his hand, and the bird hopped on his finger, and then started pecking at his thumb.

Alice turned on her aunt. "What is that?"

Lady Eris held her cup in both hands, looking amused. "A bird."

"I can see that. I'm asking what it is."

"Ask him," she said. "He knows."

Alice's eyes narrowed.  "We're leaving."

"Do come again, dear. Oh, and think about what I said, little bird."

Alice ignored her, and grabbed Ben. "Let's go. And take that thing off your head, it's weird."

Ben sighed, and the bird chirped, flying off his head and following after them as they left the tent. He found Ethan waiting outside, looking a bit pale. "Everything okay?"

"Fine," Ben said, and Alice glared at him.

"No, it's not. I swear, I don't know what's wrong with her. She's always like this. What did she want? Please tell me she did not force you to do something stupid."

"No. She was... curious, I think. I don't know. She's weird."

"She is."

"She just invited me to House Vane."

"She what?"

"Asked me to consider it. And she told me—hinted, at least—that I should pick [Mana Shaping]."

Alice stared at him, and Ethan made a noise that might've been a laugh if it weren't cut short by her glare. "Well. You should take her advice."

"I'm not sure." He said, looking up at the sky. The sun was setting. "I don't know. I don't know if I want to join a House. I am considering [Mana Shaping] as the prime candidate, though, even before her."

"I mean... she's not wrong." Ethan said.

"About?"

"[Mana Shaping]. That's probably the best option. I mean, it's probably the one that will help you the most. With the way you allocated essence heavily in mana's favor, I assume, and the way you do things... The others are fine, but [Mana Shaping] is the one that will open the most paths. Plus, you're pretty good with it anyway. Might as well make it official."

"Hm," Ben grunted.

"And House Vane isn't so bad," Ethan said. "Sure, they're a bit... much sometimes, but they're not the worst."

"Hey!" Alice protested.

"What? It's the truth. No offense, I'm just saying, House Vane is... a lot. In more ways than one. But it's not a bad choice for Ben. He could do worse."

Alice deflated. "I guess you're right."

"Well there was also another thing," Ben said. "She talked about someone who might be interested in teaching me? Given my build, she said, and the way I do things. My interest in mana. She said I should ask you."

"Who?"

"That's what I'm asking."

Alice looked at him, then at the bird that perched on his shoulder. She said nothing, and they walked. The camp went on around them, the nobles pretending not to look—the news Ben had defeated Martin had spread already—while a lot of them gave him curious glances.

The guards were keeping an eye on him, and Ben could feel a couple of people sizing him up.

"...It's probably my grandfather she's talking about," Alice hummed. "That... actually might be a good idea if you're up for it."

"Why?"

"Because he's good, really good. Mana manipulation, shaping, everything mana, really, he's the best in the House at it, far better than my aunt. If you want to learn, he's the man to go to. But he won't teach just anyone."

Ben blinked. "Stronger than her?"

"..."

Alice pursed her lips. "Well, he is, I guess, technically. And he's... really good with mana. But he's not a fighter, not anymore. Not to mention he hasn't taken in a student in years. Not after the last one..."

"Wait, your grandfather is alive?" Ethan interjected.

"Yeah?"

"Nobody's seen him in years. He vanished from the political landscape completely a while ago. I'd assumed..."

"He's around. He just doesn't want to be involved anymore."

"Huh. I mean, wow."

Alice remained silent after that, mouth flat. Until she spoke up again. "So... [Mana Shaping] it is, then?"

"I guess. I'm not completely sold on joining House Vane, but I'll think about it.  It's got nothing to do with your House, more the implications of associating myself with one. Sounds like a hassle."

"Well, it's your choice," Ethan said. "But if you thought it would be less of a hassle without a House backing you, I don't know what's going through your head. Like it or not, you're going to make enemies, and the more you grow, the more of them you'll have. And they will come after you. A House would provide a lot of protection in that regard."

"Maybe, but..."

"It's fine, take your time. Just remember that you won't always have time. And a lot of them will do whatever it takes to get you since you're a promising, commoner talent. You can't blame them for trying to recruit you."

"Even if they kidnap me."

"Exactly. Even then."

Ben grew silent, mind wandering away from the conversation and over to his skill evolution. He'd been going around in circles, but it was time. Four options and his guesses on what they were. Eris had said his mana would outgrow his body and that shaping would help, and he agreed.

Which meant the most logical choice for him was [Mana Shaping].

It was an Uncommon skill, and it had a lot of applications.

 His own guess, back when the options first appeared, was that [Mana Shaping] would help him make constructs outside of the body more easily, and control them better. He already did that to a degree, so it made sense.

And if it would be easier, that would mean he wouldn't have to focus on it as much, and he could use that extra concentration for something else. And the skill would also help shape system recognized constructs that he carved into his body.

It was a very versatile skill, paired well with [Mana Manipulation], [Mana Sonar], [Warforged], and perhaps his other skills, and it would be useful in the long run.

Then there was the new path forward: Alice's grandfather. If he was as strong as Eris, if not stronger, Ben really had no option but to take on the offer. After all, he doubted opportunities like these came around often.

So it was decided.

Congratulations! [Mana Construct - Lvl 10] (Common) has evolved into [Mana Shaping - Lvl 1] (Uncommon)!

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Lady Eris POV

Her tea had gone cold.

Her niece's shouting was still in her ears, and she'd enjoyed the little spat very much. It had been so long since she'd been scolded by her niece, and it made her nostalgic.

But now that they were gone, she could get back to her own thoughts.

A young man, not even out of his teens, had held her pressure for so long, enough to fight her on something so simple as looking her in the eyes.

He was an interesting one.

Not to mention his mana. Dense, potent, obedient to him. The way he controlled it, the way it reacted to his will, the way he shaped it, it was all so impressive. It was like watching a master at work, but he was just a fledgling. And he'd done it all without knowing what he was doing.

She had to give him the bird.

It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but the moment she'd unraveled his [Mana Cannon], she knew she could use it to craft him something. So she did. It was a simple thing, really, not very hard to make. The hard thing was the ingredients used, but she'd made sure to give him the best she could.

Making sure to refrain from even hinting at what it was, though, because the surprise was best for later when he discovered it on his own.

Right now, Eris stared at a piece of paper, pen in hand. The cup of tea was cold beside her. She'd not written to him in years. He had not answered anyone in longer.

Would he answer her?

Hesitatingly, she picked up the pen.

Father,

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