All The Skills

New Skill Level Gained: Meditation - Level 15.

Ironically, that notification broke through Arthur's concentration and shattered his meditative state.

He grimaced, opened his eyes, and checked the time on the simple sand hourglass he had set by his side. He'd been down for an hour this time. That was a new record. When Ravi had first started teaching him, he'd barely been able to sit still for more than five minutes.

Arthur had not had much opportunity in his life to actually sit down and do nothing. So, focusing on his inner self had been a brand new task for him. And not necessarily one that he had taken to easily.

Healer Ravi had given him his first lesson that day Arthur had visited him. And because he had been taught by a teacher, he had started his skill at Level 7, thanks to his various boosts.

He suspected it was only because of his new grinding card ability that he had been able to increase it by eight more levels within a few days. Meditation did not come naturally to him. But, as he leveled, it certainly was getting easier.

The goal was to get the meditation skill up as high as possible because only once he had started to master it would the rules be able to be bent. And if he focused on them the right way, he might – might – be able to use the Dark Heart to twist those rules into expanding his heart deck.

Arthur had just never thought that sitting still for so long and concentrating on his inner self would be so much work.

And he also knew himself well enough to know that now that he'd broken out of the meditation, he wouldn't be slipping back into it anytime soon.

Getting up and stretching, Arthur went to the ladder that had led up to the roof of the barn. He climbed down and, as he came around, the distant sound of a hammer striking against metal from inside grew louder.

There was a reason why he hadn't tried to meditate inside the barn. Brixaby did not craft quietly.

He found the dragon at an anvil, beating on a red-hot piece of metal as if it owed him money. The dragon had a haggard look about him, indicating that he had spent a lot of time in his Personal Space already. Arthur suspected that he was only crafting on the outside because he had a massive headache from overuse.

His quest to get his chainmail class—or at least a blacksmithing class—continued.

"Any luck?" Arthur asked.

"No, I still require a skill to acquire my class," Brixaby muttered. “Perhaps two skills. I do not know what I’m missing.” He cast an evil eye at whatever he was trying to craft. It looked like a red-hot long piece of metal without any particular shape, but Arthur knew better than to ask a crafter about a project that was unfinished.

He hated to see Brixaby hit up against the wall. The easiest solution was to apprentice him to a blacksmith. But this city was not the Hives, and people were not used to dragons here. None of the blacksmiths would agree to teach him. Not even when Arthur said that Brixaby would work for free, bring his own supplies, and even, somewhat desperately, when he offered to pay for their time.

And the blacksmiths certainly weren’t interested when Brixaby threatened them for saying no.

While having a dragon apprentice would be a novelty, it seemed too many people thought of Brixaby as an animal and were afraid that their reputations would suffer.

Plus, the Dark Heart was slated to open less than a week from now, and every crafter was running at full steam in order to fill in commissions or get themselves ready for their own dive. No one had time to teach.

Arthur hesitated. "Brix, I know we talked about this--"

Brixaby cut him off. "No, you are busy with your own projects."

But Arthur continued anyway. "I could go to the other side of the city where we haven’t asked around yet. I might be able to apprentice myself. Then I could teach you—"

"It would not be the same," Brixaby said. "If I am to learn, it will need to be from a master."

Arthur wasn't entirely sure about that, but he could also recognize that Brixaby had his own pride. "Alright," he said, "but later we're still going to the library. Maybe there's some technique books or something."

“That is acceptable," he said shortly, then turned and continued hammering away.

Watching him, Arthur doubted that Brixaby had a shape in mind. His dragon seemed to be taking out his frustration on the metal.

Arthur turned to his side of the barn, knowing a lost cause when he saw one. And he felt for Brixaby. Sometimes getting a class could be as easy as finding the appropriate card, like when Arthur had gained his Stealth class. And sometimes it could be accidental, like how he had acquired his Thief class.

But sometimes… Classes could be elusive. He had banged his head against the wall for months trying to get his Cooking class when he'd been a kid. Though the hard work had been worth it. He’d gotten it as a Tier 2 class, which had given him greater benefits.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Blacksmithing might be the same, which was why Brixaby was having so much trouble with it.

Speaking of the cooking class…

Arthur walked to his new stove, installed only three days ago. It was an amazing device, the best that they could find using Common shards they had gotten from clearing out another scourgeling nest. It ran on mana instead of coal or wood, which meant no additional fuel to worry about. And the flame was weirdly clean with no additional smoke to taint the meal. Even then, it didn't require nearly as much as it did for a spell.

Unfortunately, Arthur's mana card had been in his card anchor. So he'd had to buy chips of crystalized mana, which was an invention in the city-state that he had not seen anywhere else. One chip lasted him a good hour of stove time, which wasn’t bad. It was amazing how many problems could be solved by buying his way out of them.

Another thing the city had were magical spices and ingredients with different enhancements.

Surely, the herbalists here didn't use dragon soil like Free Mesa Hive did to mutate the herbs, but however they cultivated them, they had more of a selection than he'd ever seen. Those, too, were expensive.

But expensive, exotic food gave him more experience.

Arthur had been looking forward to this all day and had used it as a reward. Now that he had finally broken through to level 15 on his meditation skill, deserved a little reward.

He was going to make chicken soup.

But not just any chicken soup.

He started with the chicken which had been stored in his Personal Space a few moments after it had been butchered by the vendor. The man claimed that it had been fed on enhanced corn and grains. Arthur had taken a good look at the chicken feed, noting that it boosted vitality. Hopefully that would transfer to the chicken as well.

Brixaby, of course, pointed out that if that were the case, eating humans who had just eaten magically enhanced food would also provide a boost. Arthur had ignored him.

Using his butchering skill, Arthur prepared the carcass, plucking the feathers and setting them aside in his Personal Space. He didn't know when he would need chicken feathers, but one could not be too careful.

After gutting the chicken and giving the entrails to Brixaby, he set it to boil to cook the chicken and start the broth.

Then he started with the vegetables: cloves of garlic which were claimed to have a boost in energy, an onion which was bright red instead of yellow and was said to ward off infections, two carrots to boost physical integrity, celery stalks that were supposedly good for the eyes. He also added normal peas and lentils because he liked his chicken soup as thick and nourishing as possible. Plus, he got good prices for them.

The rosemary was particularly interesting as it was enhanced to be healthy for the skin. The vendor who sold them said that it was good for ladies' oils and that Arthur should give it to his girlfriend. Then he had winked.

The thyme, unfortunately, was just thyme and not anything interesting.

He chopped up the ingredients, using as many fancy cuts as he possibly could. Because his knife work skill was high already, he suspected he would have to chop something truly extraordinary to keep it leveling. But every little bit helped.

Arthur had made chicken soup many times during his work in kitchens before he had linked up with Brixaby. It was soothing, and he almost found himself slipping again into a semi-meditative state as he worked. However, it was never a good idea to daydream when using knives and around an open flame, so he didn't let himself fall under completely.

When the ingredients were all prepared, and there was nothing to do but wait for the broth to continue simmering, Arthur sat down and tried to get back into his meditative state. He found himself entering it quickly, but he had trouble staying in it, the smell of the cooking ingredients itching at his nose.

Pushing that to the side the best he could, he focused on his Master of Skills card, and thought, for a moment, he could sense something more about it. Almost like he was aware of it in a way that he hadn't been before. But when he tried to analyze it, that feeling went away.

With a shake of his head, he stopped trying to meditate and got up to check on the soup.

Finding it still bubbling away, he pulled out a deck of cards and worked on his shuffling. Brixaby had been right: He had long overlooked that skill, too.

He knew the chicken soup was ready when Brixaby finally broke off to come have a hopeful sniff. Arthur offered him a bowl before he tried it for himself.

Thanks to enhanced chicken soup, you have received a temporary minor healing boost.

Time left: 59 minutes, 59 seconds.

"Did you get that too?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, minor healing. The soup is good, but it needs a little bit more salt.” Brixaby was a big fan of salt – it likely went along with his taste for raw meat.

"It is not as good as a healing card," Arthur said, "but every little bit helps."

That said, he started ladling it out into portions, using extra crockery he had purchased on the cheap in town, and storing it into his Personal Space. He planned to repeat the process later and perhaps boil down the broth to a jelly. It may become more effective that way.

He had just turned to Brixaby to ask him how he was doing when the shadows seemed to deepen subtly on the walls. Arthur tensed, and he noticed Brixaby did too, fire springing up and down his ridges as he activated his Night-Mare Flare card.

Suddenly, a serpent made of shadow detached from the far wall and slithered across the floor straight to Arthur. His heart picked up pace.

"Cressida?" he asked, glancing at the door as if he expected her to come striding in. That was her snake, an effect from her Slithering Shadow Sender card. She was sending a message to him. About time.

The serpent raised its flat head and hissed out in Cressida's voice, “We are crossing the dead lands, three days out. Reply if you can. Let me know if you’re safe."

"I can't," he muttered. "I need mana—Wait!" He grabbed into his Personal Space for his final mana chip and flicked it to the snake, which snapped it up.

Concentrating on the image of Cressida in his mind, he said, "There may be scourgelings running wild in the dead lands. We're in a city called New Houston. Message me when you get within view of it, and Brixaby and I will meet you." He paused. "I've missed you."

He felt a little silly, but before he could think too hard about what he’d said, the serpent went flat again and retreated into the shadows. In a moment, it was gone.

He exchanged a look with Brixaby. "Three days."

"Excellent," Brixaby said. "I will need to continue my crafting, so I can show Joy and Sams how much I have grown."