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Chapter 31
Surprise
The news about a new dwarven kingdom which legally recognised human life as equal to dwarven life reached Radian a few days before I got back. The announcement kicked my king toad articles to the fifth page of the local newspapers, but by then the articles had already done their job. Everyone was now aware that my champion ability was the most powerful ability ever recorded, and killing me was tantamount to destroying Radian's strongest weapon. Try to steal my mark, and even if you didn't go feral, there was no kingdom which would accept you. You'd be throwing your life away.
So, I felt perfectly safe when Torvac and I parted ways upon returning to Radian. I dropped my luggage off at Farentine's townhouse before heading to Emily's to drop off the promotion crystals I acquired in Lunar.
Torvac had tried to convince me to go to Orlana's to recover before I did. Not because he was concerned for my health, but because he desperately needed a human shield to protect him from his wife. Too many articles mentioned his name, and some of the more far-fetched conclusions the bard had drawn about him suggested that she already had a stack of dirty dishes waiting for his return.
Durg'un and I knew going in that hiding our actions was going to be impossible, so we hadn't tried, meaning everything we'd done in Lunar was more or less public knowledge by this point. It wasn't hard for the bards who wrote the articles to connect Durg'un selling a massive pile of farmer experience in Lunar to the sudden formation of a new dwarven kingdom, so there was no denying our involvement. However, someone in the crowds had recognised Torvac, so his name was dragged into our mess, as the bards speculated on his involvement. His infamy made those speculations paint a rather wild picture.
And Torvac had promised his wife he'd keep a low profile while we were in Lunar. He'd kept his promise, but the articles about him suggested otherwise.
I would have gladly gone with him if he'd been willing to wait a few hours, but Torvac wasn't. Despite his previous antics, Torvac only spent time away from his family if he had to. He was a loving husband, a doting father, and a fun grandpa. If Little Nita hadn't desperately needed to level to reach her full potential, and her parents and Orlana weren't so against breaking the family rules about when everyone could level, Torvac never would have waited three days before returning home. So, Torvac went home to the people he loved without a human shield, and I went to surprise a friend.
The streets were crowded with end-of-day foot traffic as I walked through Emily's open wrought iron gate. I followed the paved carriage path around the large fountain out front, which tinkled with the sound of running water, and knocked on the front door with the large brass knocker.
The sunlight continued to fade as my knocks boomed through the mansion. Emily had a cleaning service that turned up a few times a week, but no full-time staff, which was why I had to hit so hard.
Rina had advised her against hiring anyone locally. Emily had far too many secrets to hide, and it was relatively easy to sneak in a spy if she hired as many servants as the mansion required. Emily had taken her advice. However, when she tried to relocate people from Blackwood, everyone turned her down, despite her offering to pay the maximum salary the system would allow.
The original population of Blackwood had shrunk too much, and I had too many workers willing to purchase everyone's goods, so no one was willing to give up experience for a higher income. Because of the staff shortage, it took nearly two minutes for the door to open.
Sasha stood before me with her hair tied back in a blonde bun. She was dressed more casually than I'd ever seen her, which I found appealing.
We hadn't spoken since I'd apologised for running out on her and not knowing what a scholar party was. She'd been almost as embarrassed as I was, so I wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go.
Sasha froze when she recognised me. Her face went through a range of microexpressions before settling on a playful smirk. She leaned against the edge of the door like she was looking for trouble. "Been to any awkward scholar parties lately?"
She giggled at her own joke.
I was completely over these sorts of jokes. "Is Emily home?"
Sasha nodded, her eyes still sparkling with mischief. "She's in the library. Do you need me to explain what a library is?"
This time, she dragged a chuckle out of me, and I felt myself relax. "Only if you think it will help me to avoid an awkward situation in the future."
Sasha waved me in and started leading the way. "I doubt it, but you might find a way to surprise me."
I stepped inside. "You don't have to show me the way. I know where the library is."
Sasha looked over her shoulder without slowing. "I'm heading there, and it gives you a chance to see what you missed."
Sasha put a little more sway into her hips to emphasis her point.
I followed behind, enjoying the view.
After a dozen or so steps, she looked back and smirked again. "Has anyone bothered to explain why we refer to orgies as scholar parties?"
I shook my head.
She motioned for me to catch up. "I thought so."
I hastened my step, disappointed that the show had ended so soon.
Sasha's playfulness disappeared, and her expression shifted. I'd come to associate this expression with scholars because it always appeared when they were about to explain something they considered interesting.
Sasha threaded her arm through mine, and the expression vanished, and the playful smirk returned. "The reason we call them scholars parties is obviously related to the class, but not for the reason you would think. Before the previous calamity changed how the system works, sex-based abilities were common. They're non-existent now. There are a few odd abilities that overlap, but they aren't exclusively sex based and always have a primary use which is completely unrelated."
"I have one of those."
Sasha's eyes lit up with interest. "Sow Reaper?"
I nodded.
Her playful smirk grew as she brushed a stray hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She leaned in and dropped her voice. "I'm a little surprised you ran out of the party with an ability like that."
I frowned, but not because she'd leaned in closer. "What does my Sow Reaper ability have to do with me running out of the party?"
I honestly had no idea what she was talking about.
"You need a minimum of eight partners to naturally acquire that ability. However, the odds of gaining it with so few are very low. So, all I'm saying is that it's a little surprising you ran away. Anyone who has that ability isn't exactly a prude."
Okay, I knew exactly what she was talking about and decided to get back on track. "What does the Sow Reaper ability have to do with scholar parties being called scholar parties?"
Sasha leaned against me a little more while we walked, but didn't go so far as to rest her head on my shoulder. "Almost everything. Scholars know that sex-based abilities existed. We know that, most of the time, old abilities from previous versions of the system return in new forms, with new methods for acquiring them. And we know that discovering these abilities and how they are acquired will allow us to pass through our thresholds, so we've been trying to find ways to acquire them. Research started off between husbands and wives, but when that didn't produce any results, things turned a little wild, and people started referring to orgies as scholar parties."
That was a surprisingly reasonable way for the term to have come into existence. And there was no way I would have made that connection without someone explaining it to me. I felt a little better about my ignorance now.
"Thank you for explaining that."
"You're welcome."
"Was the one you took me to for research purposes?"
Sasha nodded. "This close to the academy, they're all for research purposes. I can't vouch for anywhere else."
As we approached the library, I smiled. Sasha was clearly into me, and she wasn't trying to hide it. And I had to admit, I found her just as appealing. "Are you interested in doing a little research?"
Her smirk returned with clear satisfaction. "A scholar can always find time for research."
She began to walk past the library door, almost dragging me with her, but I held her back. "I need to talk to Emily first."
Sasha looked up and pouted.
"You'll understand in a moment."
Sasha rolled her eyes but let go of my arm, turned around, and walked with me into the library.
Floor-to-ceiling bookcases covered three walls, and windows nearly as tall covered the fourth. Writing desks sat between the windows, and there were pairs of couches around three different coffee tables in the middle of the room. There was even a minor enchantment which reduced noise if you closed the door, making it a great place to chat if there was a party going on.
I'd checked out some of the books during Emily's threshold party. Most of them were novels or autobiographies written by incarnates. I'd been meaning to come back and read them when I had some downtime, but I hadn't had the chance.
Emily was seated at a desk in the left corner of the library beside a window. The illumination crystal beside her had already begun to glow to make up for the setting sun. I spotted several open textbooks in front of her, so she was either studying or doing an assignment. However, any thought about what she was doing disappeared as I noticed the side of her face.
She was gorgeous.
Emily had always been pretty and had become quite beautiful as she levelled, but she had now surpassed what was humanly possible and entered the realm of attractiveness only possible through charisma. I knew for a fact that Emily didn't intend to invest her free attributes in charisma, which could only mean one thing. Emily had gone through her third threshold.
The privacy mark she'd purchased when she went through her second threshold was hiding her name, but I knew I had to be right. No other explanation made sense.
Sasha leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Surprise."
"What happened while I was gone?" I was too shocked to whisper.
Emily heard my voice and looked over. Her face immediately split into a grin, and she leapt out of her chair, knocking it backwards, before racing towards me as fast as she could. Her movements were impressively quick, giving the impression of a human tiger as she carried her bodyweight with an unnatural ease, her slim muscles now containing more strength than a professional strongman.
Emily launched herself at me in her excitement, arms and legs spread wide, wrapping her entire body around me as we collided, and knocking me off my feet. As my head bounced off the carpet, she began showering my face with laughing kisses. There was no romance in her kisses. She was like an excited child seeing their favourite person.
She was stronger than I was, but that wasn't the thought going through my head. The thought going through my head was that Emily was experiencing an attribute high. This was far from how she normally acted, so it couldn't have been anything else. Having so many attributes go over 100 at once was playing havoc with her emotional regulation.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She shouted between laughing kisses.
There was no point trying to calm her down if I was the focus of her attention. I now knew enough about attribute highs to know that wouldn't work.
"What did I do?" I asked, while trying to ignore her enthusiasm.
"What didn't you do?" Sasha replied.
Emily got over her excitement for a second and stopped kissing my face. She pushed herself back and then thought better of it. She leaned back down and hugged me tight, burying her face in my shoulder, trying to express the emotional storm within her.
My back clicked from sudden abuse, as all the air was forced from my lungs. Emily was a lot stronger than I was. And she wasn't in the right state of mind to control that strength.
Her hug hurt.
A lot.
A damage notification showing my health dropping appeared as I felt my shoulder dislocate. I tried to push her away, but couldn't compete with her strength. Then I tried to tell her to let go, but there was no air in my lungs. This wasn't a reason to panic with my attributes, but Emily's excitement would kill if it lasted too long.
Sasha noticed my calm distress as I stared at her, trying to speak and lost any hint of playfulness. "Control your strength now, Noblewoman Emily!"
Emily froze as she suddenly realised what she was doing. The crushing pressure vanished as she retracted her arms and pushed herself back, holding her weight above me with unnatural ease. I could only describe the look on her face as terror. Her emotions had flipped from excitement to fear in the space of a heartbeat.
"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you alright?"
I sucked in a breath and felt my body begin to heal. "I'm fine," I gasped out. "But you might have killed a regular farmer."
Emily looked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm still not used to my strength. When I get excited, I forget that I have it."
"It's not a big deal. I've already started healing."
A horrified expression took over. "You had to heal?"
"It's only a dislocated shoulder and bruising."
Sasha gently pried Emily off me and helped her to her feet. "Without his constitution, you would have broken Arnold's ribs, hips, and collar bones. This is why I told you that you needed training before seeing anyone. Your emotions are all over the place."
Emily gave me a guilty look as she offered me her hand and pulled me to my feet, but she didn't seem to hear anything Sasha had said. "I wanted you to be the first person to know about my breakthrough because you made it possible. I'm sorry I hurt you."
Sasha shook her head and gently pulled Emily back a step, creating more distance between us. "Please learn from this lesson. If Arnold wasn't a champion, I would have to report you to the authorities."
I frowned.
Sasha sounded like a terrible friend.
Emily noticed my expression. "Sasha is my noble advisor. She's oathbound to report any crimes I commit."
"Which I really don't want to have to do, so don't force me to," Sasha grumbled.
I retracted my frown and unfair thoughts about Sasha, but my confusion remained. I still didn't understand how Emily had passed through her third threshold or what it had to do with me. "How did you pass through your threshold?"
Emily smiled again and started bouncing on the tips of her toes. "You discovered so many new aspects of lore within such a short period of time that I qualified for the enlightenment method."
"Is it a good way to qualify?"
Emily laughed a little too manically. "It's terrible unless you want to study lore, but that doesn't matter. Nobles take anything that will get them through their third or fourth threshold. Unless you have a city supporting you, the requirements are so strict you can't wait to accept what you want."
I motioned to the nearby couches. "Let's sit down so you can explain this from the start."
Emily skipped over and plonked herself on the couch. Sasha took the seat next to her, and I sat on the opposite couch.
"So, what happened?"
Emily beamed. "Nine days ago, I was woken by the system and informed that I had met the requirements to pass through my third threshold with the advanced version of the enlightenment boon."
"Her scream was so loud I thought she was dying," Sasha added.
Emily turned and laughed at Sasha. "You ran into my room so quicky you didn't even bring a sheet."
Sasha smiled back. "Some of us like wearing a dress while we sleep. Some of us like freedom. And if I hadn't rushed over so quickly, you never would have been able to get my advice before the countdown ended."
Emily huffed out a breath. "Blame Arnold. Every time I go through a threshold, it's under weird circumstances."
"The ascension ball wasn't weird," I objected.
"That was weird," Sasha stated so quickly that I got whiplash. "You have no idea how rare it is for those to work. It's unheard of for one to succeed without years of preparation. You're trick with a song from your world opened up a new field of study for noble scholars, which is the very definition of a weird way to pass through your threshold."
Okay, that was a little weird, but I wasn't going to admit that. "So how did you pass through your third threshold?"
Emily grinned. "Like I said. It was because of your discoveries. Through you, Blackwood discovered a new branch of lore and expanded twenty other branches of lore within the space of a year, instead of the usual decade. Scholars refer to my boon as the advanced enlightenment boon, because instead of receiving a flat bonus, now anytime someone in Blackwood expands or discovers a new branch of lore, my boon gains an additional 1% bonus."
Considering how much I'd discovered over the past two weeks, that boon had to be having a tremendous impact already.
"What does it do?"
"It helps you understand new concepts related to lore faster."
"This doesn't mean that the people of Blackwood will learn 1% faster for each additional discovery," Sasha clarified. "Only that they will understand the material they are reading 1% faster if they can. It influences the time between when a new concept is introduced and when it is understood. It doesn't influence reading speed or anything else."
My mind went back to the past ten days and my rapid understanding of how certain areas of the system worked. I had noticed that it was becoming easier and easier to understand new concepts, but I'd chalked it up to a better understanding of the system. Now I wasn't so sure. Emily's new boon likely played a part, but Sasha made it sound like all she'd done was accelerate the timeframe.
If that was the case, then the boon sounded like a dud.
I didn't want to be a buzz kill, but I had to ask. "Isn't there a useful third threshold boon if Blackwood becomes a city?"
Sasha nodded. "It increases the production of all city resources by 10%."
"Isn't that better than what she received?"
"It was, which is why I suggested the same thing at the time."
Emily scowled, emotions swinging in a new direction. "And I said, if Arnold can make this many discoveries without the boon, imagine what he can discover with it. And I was right."
"You took the threshold to help me," I said, more than a little touched.
Classes were extremely personal, so taking an option to help someone was rarely seen among friends. It was something most would only do for family.
"I took it for Radian. Blackwood could become an intellectual hub."
"Don't lie," Sasha replied. "You told me you took it for him. Radian and Blackwood's benefits were just a bonus."
Emily blushed.
"Why?" I asked.
Emily stared at the coffee table, which was turning a brighter shade of red. "You mentioned how upset you are that you don't understand our world. So, when the system offered me a way to help you with that, I decided to take it. You've done more for Blackwood than anyone else, so I wanted you to understand how much I appreciate what you've done."
"Which was your class trying and succeeding in influencing your decisions," Sasha snapped.
Emily turned and poked her tongue at Sasha.
Sasha rolled her eyes, not bothered by Emily's behaviour. I'd experienced an attribute high before, so I wasn't bothered either, but it was odd seeing it from the outside. I could see why no one brought up anything important while I was like this.
I leaned back. "I'm guessing part of your excitement before was because your gamble paid off."
Emily grinned, but Sasha replied. "That is the most infuriating understatement I've ever heard."
"And why Sasha is such a sour peach," Emily added with a giggle. She'd already forgotten her previous embarrassment. "She swore I was wasting an opportunity, despite it being the advanced version of the boon, and now hates how often I get to say I told you so." Emily leaned forward and grinned. "I do it every time you make a new discovery, which was very often, until a few days ago."
Sasha turned to Emily. "You can't possibly have known your boon would work out this well?"
Emily turned to Sasha again. "Arnold accidentally expanded a main branch of lore while trying to help me study for the academy entrance requirements. If he can do that and then meet the rest of the requirements for my boon in one year instead of ten, which is the normal way to acquire it, you have to assume accepting a growth-based boon will be the right choice. He's that weird."
"I'm not weird."
They both laughed.
Before they could go back to bickering, I reached into my pocket and retrieved the pouch of promotion crystals which Lunar had given me for loaning her the farmer experience. It was the reason I was here, and I needed to get it out before we were sidetracked even further.
"I know it's not customary to give someone a gift when they pass through a threshold, but I got you something when I was in Lunar."
For some reason, Sasha did not look pleased as I passed Emily the pouch.
Neither of them recognised the clink of promotion crystals, so Emily only gave a small smile as she opened the drawstring. Her eyes widened a second later as she looked inside. She opened and closed the mouth of the pouch several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Lunar had made sure I knew that royal promotion crystals were a controlled good within every kingdom, meaning I would have to sell them to the king at base the moment I returned. This had made my decision much easier. Noble promotion crystals were cheaper than merchant promotion crystals, but they were also much rarer. The king paid a premium for them, so unless you were willing to hire your own adventurers to collect them for you, you had to wait until the king decided you needed them.
Lunar was no different, which was why I was able to get my hands on an entire set.
Emily showed Sasha what was in the pouch.
Sasha's eyes bulged just as much, and then she gave me a look that made me feel like I was some sort of weird bug she wanted to study. The look was quickly replaced by bewilderment, which made more sense. The contents of that pouch were something no one except a king would usually see. I'd walked in and handed it over like it was a souvenir I picked up on my travels.
Sasha glanced at the promotion crystals again, and her eyes widened even further. "Those are large promotion crystals," she whispered.
Emily sucked in a breath and opened and closed the pouch a few more times.
No one knew what the difference between large and small promotion crystals was, but everyone knew there was one because the system valued them differently.
"In some kingdoms, this constitutes a betrothal offer," Sasha added.
"This isn't a betrothal offer," I immediately clarified.
"If you got these from Lunar, it technically is."
"Wait, what?"
Sasha waited a few seconds before smirking. "You're too easy."
She was messing with me. I would have laughed, but my heart was hammering too much to find it funny.
Emily finally looked up. "How did you get these?"
"I gained farmer experience by defending Winslow's farm from the king toad. I agreed to loan the experience I received to the king of Lunar for the contents of that pouch."
Sasha reached over and took the pouch from Emily's hands. She reached inside and pulled out ten crystals. "You can use these for the increasing the level of your noble prestige promotion."
Sasha tossed the pouch back to me.
I caught it.
Sasha continued without explaining her actions. "The fact that you have access to an entire set of noble promotion crystals means we have to be more selective about your promotions. I'm leaving the promotion crystals with Landlord Arnold because I don't want you to do something foolish and because we are not equipped to keep them safe."
Sasha was making sure Emily didn't do anything disastrous while under her high attribute's influence. I got the message and slid the pouch back into my pocket. I hadn't exactly expected to find Emily in this state, and if I had known what I was walking into, I wouldn't have come.
She was much worse than I'd been, fluttering between extreme emotions, but then I didn't have five attributes go over 100 simultaneously. If there was anything I could do to help, I would, but the best thing for Emily right now was to be left alone to ride it out.
She'd eventually come to her senses the way I had.
Sasha handed Emily the first crystal.
Emily grinned as the crystal vanished, which wasn't a surprise. I would be grinning too if I were about to receive 990 crowns a month for doing nothing. As the second crystal vanished, I began to grin with her.
Investing in Emily was investing in Blackwood.
Increasing the levels of her promotions would affect everything I owned. Merchant promotion crystals were more valuable for me in the long run. However, it would still be a few years before Ranic could get me through my fourth threshold, so gaining those promotion crystals now would have been a wasted opportunity.
Right now, being a farmer wasn't so bad.
I intended to take advantage of the time I had left by gathering the rare promotion crystals I would need in the future. I was even tempted to hold off on becoming a bard and remain a farmer.
Durg'un had stressed how beneficial the wealth I was creating would be for Ririon. Those who chose to join his new kingdom and serve him had to leave their kingdoms and homes to dig with him in search of untapped resources. They were currently a kingdom in name only, having to build everything from scratch. The only infrastructure they had was Durg'un's clan's forge, and that had been shut down while his clan decided what they would do with it.
Each additional year I hunted king toads would help them grow and expand, allowing them to make wiser long-term choices. However, I'd already fulfilled my end of the bargain, and Ririon couldn't do anything more than place an ale embargo if the dwarves started a genocidal war with us, so my goodwill only went so far.
I wasn't willing to put my life on pause to help them, but I couldn't deny how much Lunar and I were benefiting from the deal either, so I wouldn't be surprised if Ririon eventually had his way.
As the last promotion crystal vanished from Emily's hand, Sasha threw me a smirk that reminded me that we had research to do. It was time to make an excuse to leave.
However, before I could, Emily launched off the couch and started shouting with the enthusiasm of a drunk frat guy, "Threshold party! Threshold party! Threshold party!"
Sasha and I immediately went into damage control.
Emily was in no state to be making such a decision.