B6 Chapter 27: Skills and Stones

Khrem helped Teldrin pull his shirt back down and offered him a piece of candy. The boy took it with a bright smile and he started vigorously unwrapping the chocolate. I didn’t see his reaction as Khrem stepped into view.

His beady eyes stared down, patient.

“Well?” I asked.

“You made him nervous. With how you've been glaring, he thought you were mad at him. He’s trained, but he’s still young.”

“I’m not angry at all.”

Sereza poked me in the shoulder and pointed to my tail. “You’ve been whipping that around the entire time. Practically carving up the wood. Doesn’t help that your arms are crossed and you look pissed off.”

“I’m not angry,” I retorted.

“Then stop looking it.” Sereza turned to Khrem. “So what’s the damage?”

“None. He’s perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. Mana levels are stable. No physical abnormalities. His appetite hasn’t increased, nor does he feel sick and or tired,” Khrem rattled off.

“Then why did he puke?” I groaned.

Khrem raised a scaled finger and tapped my chest. “You are.”

“I knew it.”

He tapped me again. “His new skill. It’s rather amazing in scope. Wide-reaching, extremely useful. Perfect for any build or person. Except he’s still only tier zero, and you are an anomaly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I get it. His skill is reactive. Isn’t it?” Sereza said.

“Correct,” Khrem said.

“So it reacted to me?”

“Yes. My best guess is that your particular mana signature overwhelmed him. His skill tried to adapt to you but was overloaded and failed.”

Sereza chuckled and increased in volume as she caught my glare. 

“No more skillstones then,” I sighed.

Khrem shook his head. “Research has long shown that once a person awakens, their body is suited for skill stone absorption. It’s why not everyone awakens at the same age. Furthermore, the faster one acquires their skills, the better the body adapts to cultivating their mana channels. Mostly in reference to passive skills rather than active, but one’s body can drastically shift and training and having to relearn every new skill acquisition slows progress.”

“Not to mention, the more skills you have, the more mana you can throw around. Plus Khrem’s right. Imagine a skill like my passive. Being resistant to poison and expanding that list helped me during a few kidnapping attempts once or twice growing up.”

“You had a fucked up childhood. Both of you, I think. I’m not entirely sure about Khrem, but you were both the weird kids playing with chemicals you shouldn’t have,” I said while shaking my head.

“Stop procrastinating. You still look like you're ready to chew glass.” Sereza wrapped her tail around my waist and yanked me off the wall while pushing me forward. “Go talk to him.”

I could have resisted, but she was right. Teldrin looked up and nearly flinched. His expression turned hopeful before he glanced away, as if embarrassed.

The almost scared child deadened whatever awkwardness I felt. Extending my senses,  I probed for the pulsing in his chest but felt only a minor blip of dormant mana. It was calm, waiting, and undirected.

“Hey, Khrem says you are okay. Am I too close?”  I asked.

Teldrin shook his head, then paused and started nodding. “I am alright! And you are! I mean, you are not too close. My skill isn’t-”

I ruffled his hair, halting his rant. “Good. It would be a problem if you keep reacting towards me.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m fine, Cyrus. I swear.”

“I believe you,” I said, tapping his shoulder with my tail. “So again, you don’t have to share it, but-”

The system blip appeared in the corner of my vision and I chuckled. I mentally willed it to accept, and watched as the letters stretched across my sight.

Internal Current of the Pond Giant.

• Ever adapting, ever changing.

• Acquire Minor resistance to most mana types.

• Acquire adaptive increased resistance the longer one is exposed to an element.

• Resistances will decay over time, but may be extended through further exposure.

I whistled softly. The skill was exactly what Khrem expected. My own passives and perks made as resistant, but Teldrin’s skill could potentially surpass mine. If the adaptive nature of his passive worked as it was described, he could reach a threshold where mana wouldn’t be able to affect or harm him.

Of course, that was all theoretical. The first problem was that the skill said most mana types. Most, not all. Either whatever I did to trigger his skill fell into that category, or more likely, I overwhelmed him before his body could adapt.  

He’d had to be careful of the limitations in the future. More than likely, I’d have my familiars attack him at the lowest power threshold and see how far we could push his skill.

Still… This is also so unfair. His skill is so clean cut for a passive. Meanwhile, mine are muddled messes. Damn system and its inconsistencies. I bet this is a newer skill Ysanna collected.

“Uhm, Cyrus?”

Huh?

I glanced and cocked my head.”What’s up?”

“My skill?” Teldrin asked hesitantly. “Is it good?”

I laughed and ruffled his hair again. “Good is an understatement. I wish I had a passive like this when I first started.”

“Really?” he asked excitedly.

“Definitely. We’ll have to test out exactly how it works and see how far we can push it, but it’s on paper an amazing skill. Remember to thank Ysanna for it when you can. We can get started on that tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.”

I frowned and met the boy’s eyes. “What? I know pain isn’t exactly fun, but we’ll go as gently as we can. My familiars can help, and I can always heal you no matter the injury.”

Teldrin shook his head, a look of determination settling in his gaze. “No. I mean, I’m not afraid. I’m just happy, is all. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to train as much as I did on the island, but this should help. I’ve felt skills on me before; Sir Ventus once flew me around. I was wondering if my skill would help me resist how cold the air can be.”

My expression softened. “We’ll find out. I can’t exactly make you fly, but Sturmrorex can conjure a mean wind. Plus, we’re on the ocean. Three’s a lot of salt water just begging to splash you.”

Teldrin chuckled and he sat straight. His pensive expression was back and I could see the hesitation warring with the determination. I sighed and crossed my arms.

“Go ahead and spill it. Whatever it is you want to say or ask, the worse you can do is nothing.”

Teldrin smiled and slowly raised his chin. “I know I shouldn’t ask, and it’s not my place. But if you are worried about the skillstones you have, don’t be!”

What? Where did this come from?

“Listen, I know you’re eager but the skills I have are a hodgepodge collection. That’s not a good way to build yourself.”

To his credit, the kid didn’t back down.

“I mean that I know you are worried. It’s just… I’m not a noble. Nobles get to pick and choose their skills but most people don’t. Not even sir Callen had every skillstone tailored personally towards him. Very few people do. There’s also my Legacy. It’s as you said, the skills will evolve to help me. So I’m not worried.”

“And what makes you think I have skillstones to give all willy-nilly?” 

Teldrin’s face fell and started turning red. I almost laughed. It was too easy to tease him this way. Except, the crestfallen look and shame on  his face was enough to make me grab his shoulder and force him to sit straight.

“I’m sorry, Cyrus. I overheard Sereza talking and I shouldn’t have assumed. I’ll–”

I interupted him by bringing out an ornate box. I channeled mana into the enchantments and heard a satisfying hiss from the chest unlocking. Teldrin watched with wide eyes as I slid the top back and revealed a tray of skillstones that glowed with their own light lit up even more by the box’s enchantments.

“First of all, it’s actually crazy you can even use these skillstones. I do mean crazy, but frankly nothing surprises me at this point. The weave has been yanking my chain for a while.”

“Wh-what?”

“Don’t worry about it. Here, these are the skillstones.”

“I… I can work to pay you back. I’ll do–”

I groaned and dragged a hand across my face, letting the disgust and frustration simmer down to a more tolerable emotion. 

“I don’t need money. I have more than enough as is. I don’t need your promise of services beyond what you already agreed to do by being a Brave.  So just take them. It’s already bad enough I had a lapse in sanity and agreed to take you into this mess.”

“Uh.”

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the stones one by one, offering a detailed description for each. There were only four of them. Three random stones were acquired by luck and the fourth was traded for as a gift.

Out of all the things the former king of Solunaria could have apologized with, Eat the Cake was not what I would have placed my bets on. It was a silly-sounding skill that summoned cake. Edible? Exploding? Hot? Cold? I had no idea, neither did Khrem. There was also no reason for the king to give me the skillstone, not when he knew I had my slots filled. It was only on a whim that I  even considered it back when I grabbed Zagreus’s skill.

Why he gave it to me, I’d never know. Corpses didn’t usually talk, especially those reduced to dust.

Slippery Simian was the skillstone acquired by chance after looting the beasts outside the city. A passive that boosted flexibility and aerodynamics. Did it make him oily? No idea, but the passive was decent if a little weird in its description.

The third skillstone was given by the elemental ferret during the Den raid. It was as Eraztis predicted. Pebble Grower did exactly what the skill sounded like. A singular pebble could be reinforced with more mana to expand in size. 

It was the one I thought was the least useful of the bunch. However, glancing at Teldrin examining each stone with a palpable excitement made me bite back my words. Cal told me to trust the boy, and while he was a kid, he wasn’t stupid. 

If he thought the gamble was worth it, then so be it. 

Then there was the fourth skillstone. Teldrin held it up and turned it around, examining the bright rings that flowed into a bubble inside the crystal. Each circle of glowing cyan sparkled and faded, joining the rotating pearl of water in the middle.

“I got this thinking you’d find it useful. I assumed you’d have a water affinity, so you know, here’s another water skill.”

Teldrin furrowed his brow as he gently placed the stone back into the box. “I thought you were uncertain about bringing me along. If that’s true, why did you acquire it?”

Aaaaaaaaaaah. Damn kid.

Sereza appeared from behind and wagged her finger. “Don’t bother with logic. You’ll turn him grumpy.”

“Hey, I resent that. You’re making me sound like Isaac,” I huffed.

Sereza narrowed her eyes and didn’t look away. “My point exactly. So what will it be, kid? Which ones are you taking?”

Teldrin bit his lip. “Can I really use them? Are you sure?”

“I already said it’s fine. If you have questions, ask Khrem. He can even double check the skillstones with his skill if you need,” I said.

He shook his head. “No. I believe you.”

“So what will it be?” Sereza prompted.

I expected him to reach out for the obvious stone first but the boy’s face split in two with a wide grin. 

“All of them!” 

In one blink to the next, Teldrin reached into the chest and placed a finger on each stone. Four cracks appeared in my vision as the skillstones broke down and turned into clouds of powder that rushed into his palm.

Teldrin had enough time to flash an apologetic smile before his eyes fluttered. Mana spiked in his chest and the boy started to convulse.

You got to be kidding me!