Jacob stood at the edge of the east field, looking toward the dark, interlocking canopy of the forest where he had met Mira.
The forest is a no-go for now, he realized. I have a few options with my enchantments, but my environmental awareness is zero compared to a local scout. I nearly froze because I was too busy staring at a piece of wood.
He turned his back to the deep woods. Expansion through nature was too dangerous for a family of four, but expansion through the neighbors? That was just a matter of gold and some productive conversations. Now that he felt comfortable with an expansion of the family property, it was time he took some real steps in accomplishing his ideas.
He gathered Sera, and they set out toward the northern and southern boundaries.
"Where are we going?" Sera asked, as Jacob asked her to come with him.
"To the neighbors . . . I want to see if they want to sell their dead plots, like what we had in the east field." Jacob replied.
"But," Sera began, "Why do you think they would want to sell those plots at all?"
"Well," Jacob began in reply as he thought back in his memories, "I have overheard how those plots are still a burden on their taxes, and some of these families are struggling with money, even with the seed stipends from the kingdom. . ."
It's a win-win, Jacob thought, they get some funds that they likely need right now and we get more fields that likely just need some salt grass and manure treatment.
While Jacob and Sera began their rounds of polite negotiation, Arthur hitched the donkey to the wagon. He had a list of supplies to fetch from Ruvka, but his mind wasn't on grain or iron. It was on a promise made nearly a decade ago.
Arthur bypassed the main market square and pulled up in front of a small cottage on the very edge of the village. To most, it looked like a cluttered, eccentric mess of old metal and tangled vines. But as Arthur stepped onto the porch, he felt that familiar, inexplicable shiver.
To someone like Jacob, crossing that threshold would feel like stepping through a liquid mirror into another dimension, a place where the air tasted of ozone and ancient stone. To Arthur, it was simply "Thom's place," a spot where the world felt a little less solid, filled with an air of mystery.
Old Thom sat in a chair that seemed to be made of living briar. He looked every bit of the sorcerer he claimed to be, with a long robe that seemed to be made from the midnight sky that flowed over his toes even as he sat in his eccentric seat.
"You look different, Arthur Hemlock," Thom called out. His voice didn't rattle as much as it vibrated with an underlying power that Arthur could sense but never quite name. "You're carrying yourself like a man who isn't fighting the grain anymore."
Arthur stepped onto the porch. "It's been a strange winter, Thom. Jacob is making some interesting moves during his Trail Year. He survived a dungeon, and he's . . . well, he's doing things with magic that make my head spin. He's healing the salted fields and enchanting the very air of the greenhouse."
Thom chuckled, and for a moment, the shadows in the corner of the porch seemed to dance in time with his amusement. "I heard the whispers. A Hemlock boy selling master-grade steel to adventurers. It's good to see he's turned that talent toward the home front. How is the boy's spirit?"
"Stronger than mine," Arthur admitted. "He showed me a new way to look at magic. I managed to learn a ninth skill, Thom. Innate Shaping. I hit the ceiling on it just a few days ago . . . level ten."
The playful light in Thom's eyes vanished, replaced by a heavy, solemn weight. "A ninth skill. And you've mastered it to the tenth rank? You've done the impossible for a man of your class, Arthur."
Thom reached into the air beside him. He didn't pull from a pocket... his hand seemed to vanish into a fold of reality and emerged holding a small, leather-bound book that glowed with a faint, steady pulse of azure light.
"I don't give this lightly," Thom said, handing the book to Arthur. "This is a skill book for Mana Flux. It is the bridge you've been seeking."
Arthur took the book, feeling the weight of it... not just the physical weight that was applied to his hand as he held it, but the gravity of the knowledge within, something that could change his life, and the lives of his children.
"What does it do?" Arthur asked.
"It's a skill that helps you regenerate your pool by relaxing your focus while you are taking a break from using mana skills," Thom explained.
"But the secret the Academy hides from the common folk is that, past level ten, any skill that uses mana directly increases your capacity. It forces your intellect to grow. For most skills, it's a +1 to your Intellect stat for every level. But Mana Flux is different. Past the threshold, it gives an alternating +1 and +2 to your Intellect."
Arthur's heart hammered against his ribs. He had spent his whole life trapped by the base stats of a Farmer. This was the path to becoming more than just a laborer.
"I don't know how to thank you, Thom," Arthur began.
Thom waved him off with a gnarled hand, the vines on the porch curling slightly as he moved. "A promise made is a promise kept, Arthur. It is useless to me, and the Kingdom has enough 'simple' farmers. We need men who can go beyond the limit, people that can evolve what it means to be a 'Farmer'. Get yourself past that threshold, level it up, and then you teach those kids of yours. Don't let the System tell you where your fence ends."
Arthur stood, clutching the book to his chest. He didn't stay for pleasantries. He had a tenth skill to learn, a class upgrade to chase, and a family that was no longer just surviving the winter, it seemed that the coming winters would bend to their very will.
As Arthur left, Old Thom had a knowing smile on his face. This ought to shake some things up, I believe Ruvka is going to be the center of this lazy ass kingdom finally pushing for an expansion into the deeper wilds. I knew summoning that gate was going to be worth it . . .