There must’ve been a lot of work being put into gathering up all the carts, transferring all the grain and wheat, and organizing the departure of the brigade. I saw none of it.
I had my own army of well wishers and tearstricken family giving me hugs and goodbyes.
Eysee was still wobbly. She had a concussion but she was going to be okay. Elsee was healing much better and appeared to be doting on her sister as much as she was on me. I took the opportunity to let them both know what I needed to craft for them before I left, and they went off to get it in the hopes of getting more life-saving items.
Burnom came up to shake my hand, and I felt bad I probably wasn’t going to get the chance to make his need. The cost had lowered though, since our fight against the goblins, though I didn’t know why.
There wasn’t exactly a line, like there had been for the draft, but the foggy afternoon remained filled with people crying and hugging those of us who’d been drafted. Reid’s Dad wrapped me in a big hug, and told me that if Everesta weren’t going into Labor, Irena would be there, too.
Reid found me and stood near me, accepting his own goodbyes as people kept coming.
Edra, and Lupkep, the only other Elite talent in town besides me and Hadra, both came to me. I grinned as I accepted the bits of steel, string, charcoal, and ether dust he’d brought.
I used my talent and watched as the metal bits joined together, crafting a sort of tennis racket. Strings wrapped around the racket, turning into a fine mesh netting while the ether dust infused into the item.
The charcoal evaporated, and I wasn’t really sure what it was for, but Lupkep seemed to know.
Water Sieve
Effect 1: Water run through this sieve is cleansed of impurities.
Effect 2: Water run through this sieve may grant temporary stat boosts.
Well. That was awesome.
From Lupkep’s Brewing skill, you have gained 21 free points!
Wow! But not unexpected. That put my free point stock back into the hundreds. It was time to start distributing my points. I had four hours to say goodbye and prepare, and this seemed like the best possible time to do so.
I could tell Mom really wanted to talk to me privately but people just kept coming. Nemmikel and Normuran both made sure to say goodbye and good luck in their own ways. The storyteller had tears in his eyes and he hugged me more fiercely than I thought I deserved. By contrast, Normuran just nodded and told me I was always one of the more tolerable children in town.
I supposed I wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn to heal from the old asshole after all. Probably for the best. There were plenty of healers in the army after all, if I wanted to try that route.
Omoali and Mularet. The Woodworkers, Pretyr with his lip still bloody and Travmetis. Fedenat Smith, and Sebinet, who had finally decided to change his name to Miner due to the sheer amount of metal requests my talent had generated lately.
“I’m sorry, girl,” came the Mayor’s contrite words. “I was truly hoping I’d have the opportunity to teach you that diplomacy skill. It might be incredibly useful for you on the front. Help you make friends and allies who will have your back.”
I grinned. “No worries old man. Didn’t you hear? I negotiated on behalf of the village today. I grabbed it this morning, all on my own.”
He blinked. Then he laughed and gave me a hug.
All of them came to wish me goodbye and good luck, and I let those of them that might be able to get something crafted from me know what materials I needed before I left.
Finally after almost an hour, Dad and I turned and began to walk home. I clasped hands with Reid, glad that at least the two of us would be together. Oxana and I shared a smile as she too, went home to gather what she would need for our new lives as Soldiers.
Mom left shortly after realizing that it was going to take a long while for all the well wishers to be done. She didn’t want to accidentally be seen by the General, but I sort of thought that cat was already out of the bag. Hopefully he wasn’t so much of a dick that he would take out whatever hatred he had for Mom on me.
Daughter of the Duke of the former province of Estermont. I… was still wrapping my head around that. I’d joked, but it was a pretty big deal.
“Well… this is… going to be a change,” he said.
“You didn’t have to sign up,” I said. “It’s… pretty late to try a career change for you.”
He snorted. He didn’t really need to speak. I was being forced to go, and as long as that was true, he’d be right there. Fuck the farm. Mom probably felt the same way, but someone had to make sure we had a place to come back to.
I hoped she finally told me what her magic was. Before the fire magic, I knew she had to have some sort, but I’d never seen her use any of it. Her story about the pigeons rang hollow to me and I still didn’t understand how the hell she’d gotten a forged letter to show up in Lindolen before anyone knew about it.
“So,” she said, when Dad and I walked into the front door. “You’ve both decided to leave me to take care of this entire farm alone then?”
Dad grinned. “You could always come along.”
She rolled her eyes. “You underestimated Maulander’s hatred of me.”
“What did you actually do to the guy?” I asked, curiously.
She shook her head. “That’s a story for another time.”
“In case you didn’t notice, Mom, there might not be another time,” I said.
“Then we best spend the time we have left doing something more productive than talking about a petty man and his old grudges. Besides, I feel as if ignorance would be the best protection for you. He’s already seen you and likely recognize the connection between you and I. If you have no idea why he should hate you it might dampen his rage. He is petty. Not cruel.”
“You sound like you knew him pretty well.”
“Stop digging,” she said before wrapping Dad in a hug. “I… Heavens, I can’t believe this is really happening. You’re both just… just going. Just like that.”
“For what its worth, it was pretty sudden for us too,” Dad joke. He looked over at me and then back to Mom. “Do you disapprove?”
“Of course not. With that scythe you could really make a difference on the front line and I’d much rather have you out there protecting Mera than here worrying with me,” she said.
“What are you going to do in the meantime?” he asked.
She snickered. “Without you to temper me, I’m going to finally turn a profit!”
“Gods, Mera. She’s in more danger than we are,” Dad said.
I nodded sagely. “She’s going to piss off the wrong merchant and we’ll never be able to sell another grain.”
“You two are awful,” she said.
We both snickered.
Then we lapsed into an awkward silence.
“I… I have something for the both of you,” she said before going into the bedroom and digging around in a small drawer. It was a small house so of course I’d seen the small locked chest in the drawer but I’d never opened it.
Mom removed a key from her pocket, one of those ancient things that I didn’t ever believe were actually used for locks. Sure enough it fit into the front of this little chest though. She opened the lid, the creak of long unused hinges echoing throughout the house.
Inside were three small… rods, each held in a case. There was an empty spot for a forth rod in the case but it was missing.
The little things were ornate, about as long as a palm. Each one was lacquered with black white thin panels. The end of the rods flared out so she could set them on the table and stand them up. She withdrew two before she closed the box, leaving the third inside alone.
She swallowed as she handed one to Dad and one to Me.
“What… what is it?” I asked.
“It’s expensive. It takes a lot of supplies and a lot of energy on my part to make, but it can possibly save your life. If you’re ever in trouble, snap it.”
I looked at her for a moment. She didn’t say anything.
“So… I get that you like being mysterious and all, almost to the point of being cliche, but could you like… tell me what it actually does?” I asked.
She snickered and then turned to Dad. “You were right. It was worth it to have a child just to tease them like this.”
He laughed.
“I hate you both. What’s the stupid rod do?” I asked.
She snickered. “It summons a witch.”
I blinked.
Three hours later, and with far too many goodbyes, yet somehow not nearly enough, Dad and I gathered with the rest of the new recruits at the Eastern field.
I’d spent the last few hours cooking with Mom and discussing exactly where my free points should go.
Twenty in Running, Twenty in Endurance. I promised to practice my footwork as well, but it was implied that I would be learning that skill as part of the training all new recruits received.
Twenty in Bluffing. Mom insisted that being able to lie well might keep me alive.
A final fifty six points went into Networking. After a lot of discussion, we decided my ability to make friends most closely tied to my talent and would be more useful than persuasion. If I was going to get one talent up into the ridiculous realms, I wanted it to be my ability to connect with others.
And so Networking became my very first skill over level one hundred. I was… somehow incredibly disappointed that it was neither a crafting skill, nor a storytelling one. But I thought I could be content with what it was.
The encamped soldiers had been packing up all day and most of them were ready to go.
It seemed Maulander had decided to keep his word as the soldiers were forming up and preparing to walk down the eastern Road towards Mitoras.
As I approached, I realized I had made a terrible, terrible mistake.
“These wagons smell like ass,” I told Dad.
“Yeah. Who’s fault is that, I wonder?” He asked.
“Hey, you made the skins,” I said defensively.
“And you made the paste,” he bit back.
I grimaced. He had me there.
We entered the camp, as I regretted all of my life decisions up till this point.