Gestation by John Gold (love books to read .txt) 📗

better off walking to the city and learning what I need to know there.

Mama taught me how to sew and cook. Her culinary skill was well above Level 100, and even the simple porridge she makes gives you stamina and strength bonuses. Father knows and can do far more than he lets on, too, and I’ve been starting to realize that things aren’t as simple with him as they seem. How could a simple fisherman reach Level 154? A sewing housewife is equally as unlikely to get to Level 130. I’ve been afraid to ask questions, and neither of them have said anything.

But finally, it’s Sunday. We set off for the city—the city walls, at least. That’s where the market is. Father grabbed a tray, and mama packed it full of everything we collected this week in the forest.

“Go have fun with the kids. That’s Rachel’s father’s stand over there. We’ll be here selling in the meantime.”

The blacksmith’s stand is three down from ours on the other side of the road. He’s laying out goods, and Rachel is arguing about something with Ownie and Grunt. Father misunderstands my silence, but I’m certainly happy with the result.

“Oh, you want money for some candy?”

“Yup.”

What a great turn of events. The sweets they have in the orphanage aren’t anything like what they have here in Project Chrysalis.

“Here you go.”

Arman gave you: 10 silver coins

“Thanks.”

It’s a lot more money than I was expecting. There will even be some left over after I share with Rachel and treat the guys to something.

“Two conditions. First, you have to haggle for everything you buy and cut the price down by at least half. Second, you have to spend at least half the money on your education. There are a lot of teachers and masters here, so decide what you want to learn.”

“Thanks.”

Father spent the whole week making me swim, run, jump, and do push-ups. The pain I was in when I dropped below ten percent felt very real. Even my muscles were sore. Once, I even caught my hand in a trap. Father quickly depressed the spring, of course, but the sensation was enough to make me squeal. I could hear the dull crunch of a bone breaking, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. The wounds healed, but I still have debuffs that keep me from full recovery. Every time I log out of the game, I sleep for two or three hours before heading to my studies.

My strength, agility, and stamina are all up to 20. My speed is 6, my athleticism is 3. I’m even looking different, not the same kid who couldn’t swim fifty meters. My neck is thicker, my entire body visibly stronger and more muscular. I even have a six-pack! Rachel always laughs when I flex and show them off.

Father told me that you can tell what someone’s developing just by looking at them. Intellect effects your facial features, wisdom turns your hair gray, agility makes you look wirier, stamina shows through in how balanced your muscles are in general. You can tell someone’s approximate level by the way they look, too. Just hearing everything father knows is painting a very strange picture of his past.

My intellect and wisdom haven’t grown at all. I don’t know how to make that happen. For the same reason, my morale has stayed the same, too. When father explained how you boost your survivability, I declined. Watching blood drip from a huge cut on your arm without a single healer nearby? No, thank you. The farther you go, the more wounds you have to get for your resilience to grow. Once you’re at 15, you have to stab yourself with a knife. Unbelievable…

Now, I’m proud I made it through all that.

Name: Sage

Level: 0

Experience: 0/100 (100 left until the next level)

Race: Human

Class: None selected

Basic attributes

Strength: 20

Agility: 20

Stamina: 20

Intellect: 1

Wisdom: 1

Available attribute points: 0

Additional attributes

Speed: 6

Athleticism: 3

Morale: 1

Survivability: 1

Derivative ratings

Physical damage: 10 (strength/2, but no less than 1)

Carrying capacity: 50 kg (strength*10/4)

Mana: 10 (wisdom*10)

Health: 200 (stamina*10)

Strength: 20 (stamina*10)

Health restoration: 200/minute (survivability*10)

Mana restoration: 10/minute (morale*10)

Strength restoration: 30/minute (athleticism*10)

Running speed: 6 km/h (1+speed/10)

Defense: 1

Resistance: 0

Skills

Cooking: 3

Trap setting and disarming: 8

Archery: 2

Swimming: 4

Breath-holding 5

Stealth: 3

Professions

Herbalist: 2

Fisherman: 16

Tailor: 2

Blacksmith: 1

Carpenter: 1

I stop and sit down on a bench. There’s no point running, since even the kids could rob me. First, I need to figure out why father gave me almost all of what he expects to earn. He taught me the skills I didn’t need a class for. But there are more I can get before I pick my class, and I have at least a couple more years to play with my kid account. I can’t ride horses, though the ability to tame animals might come in handy. I could pick up some recipes for the professions I know or learn new ones. Alternatively, I could buy some clothes that would boost my main attributes. That’s the only way to get past the 20-point limit you get for natural development. Father’s smart—he said I need to invest at least half the money in new skills. That means I could invest it all! Okay, the treats can wait. I’ll find money for them later, when it’s less important to make father proud. He’s a clever guy! That was a hint he gave me for a big trick I can pull. He’s a fisherman, but he knows a little magic, so that means I can learn some spells without being a mage.

The next two hours are spent looking for the local mage stand. As it turns out, there’s no such thing—they’re prohibited by the city council. You have to go to a special school if you want to learn magic, since that’s where the masters are. A trader with enchanted goods sang like a nightingale in praise of his goods, and I was able to pick up a lot from him without him even knowing.

“The mages all live in the city,