Chapter 63: Just Another Day in Sigil Lake, Pt. 1
Theo returned to the Barge and continued towards his garden. He saw Willam and the new farmer discussing the fields as they weeded the second field. Willam spotted Theo on the approach and waved, but it didn’t seem like Ploughman noticed, the man talking without pause, his loud voice twisting Theo’s ears even from a distance. If the southerner had the skills and know-how that Sigil Lake hoped he did, he would soon notice the discrepancy between the planting and the crops’ growth rate. Then Willam would have to tell him about Theo’s water and dirt, which was sure to become a thing at some point.
Theo didn’t fear people knowing—he’d rather they did, to be honest—but he realised it could be dangerous if word spread outside the town border. It might even be someone inside that would cause trouble, but everyone seemed fine with it and him right now. Who knew when they’d need more people, though. With the way housing would progress, the first house scheduled to be finished today, everyone could soon move out of the Barge. Okay, soon-ish. With three bedrooms per house, they intended to settle people into their new, permanent homes already rather than move half of them again later.
The Sigilist’s Barge had excellent rooms, so the council didn’t expect anyone to complain, except maybe some of them for not being moved into houses first. It was impossible to please everyone, but the people Theo had got to know most were all kind and understanding, far from the people who’d cause a ruckus for minor details.
Theo waved back at Willam, then found his scavenged violetberry bushes, emptied of their sour berries. Small dots littered the branches, new berries already taking shape. He watered them, keeping them on the edge between hydrated and drying out. He was lucky there had still been no rain, but such luck wouldn’t last for long. His garden next to the Barge, still empty, at least had a ceiling over the plots closest to the building’s walls, a perfect spot for all plants whose water-level shouldn’t be too high. Maybe that’s how he should spend part of his day?
He considered his remaining seeds: twenty violetberry seeds and ten banaberry ones. Enough for two plots of each if he sowed them like he had previously…but the plots were bigger. Theo could squeeze all his seeds of each kind into a single plot, he thought, without them being too close. Even considering planting them right now went against his previous plans of buying more or waiting for winter to pass. Wen was positive she wanted more of the violetberries, though. Maybe it’d be fine to just plant them. A staggered growth cycle might even be better.
He tended to his plants for several more minutes, then weeded the plots needing it before heading towards Willam’s farm to pick up his seeds. Better to just do it now, right? Theo politely greeted Ploughman as he walked past him towards the shed, the southerner too deep in a rambling session Theo couldn’t understand half the words of to notice.
Theo plucked the two pouches from their shelf and was on his way again, heading straight towards the barge and his as-yet empty garden. The plots weren’t just lacking seeds, but dirt as well, as Theo wanted to fill them up himself. Needing just two, that’s what he did—creating some mounds of dirt inside two separate plots. He spread it out into even patches and planted the seeds, wetting the patches with the required amount of water afterward.
The moment Theo thought, ‘Hey, this took no time at all!’, he faced not just one, but a slew of messages from his system, each one sending more joyous shivers down his spine.
Congratulations! You have earned the Level Two skill Planting.
Planting (Level Two): One seed, a thousand harvests. All stats x1.05.
Planting (Level Two) has triggered an additional bonus effect.
Planting Sack (Effect): You never want to let seeds go, never want to let them down. Now, you won’t need to. Store any seed the size of your own fist or smaller in a dimensional storage tied only to you. Upon death, the contents of this dimensional storage will be released explosively.
Congratulations! You have earned the Level Two skill Sigil Weaving.
Sigil Weaving (Level Two): One would think you’d mastered more than the very basics of the language of the World for this skill to become Level Two. External factors are likely. All stats x1.05. Trait expanded: Eyes of the Veil.
Eyes of the Veil 2.0 (Trait+): You have the ability to glance at the inner workings of world-shaping. A closer inspection may yield unexpected insights. Be careful, as whenever you’re looking through the veil, something else might look back.
Eyes of the Veil 2.0 (Trait+) has requirements not all mortals possess. This includes you. Blessing gained: Roll of the dice.
Roll of the Dice (Instant): Roll of the Dice is self-explanatory. In case you’re in over your head, which is likely, it is a saving throw made in order to keep your newfound benefits.
Roll of the Dice (Instant) Calculating.
Roll of the Dice (Instant) Calculating.
Roll of the Dice (Instant) This seems to be taking a minute.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Roll of the Dice (Instant) Critical Success! See calculation?
Roll of the Dice has granted you a Boon and a Blessing. Boon gained: Arcane Sense. Blessing gained: Requirement Permanence.
Arcane Sense (Boon): A touch of the arcane power of the Divine courses through you, increasing the divine threshold of your senses as well as protecting them.
Requirement Permanence (Instant): Requirement Permanence alters a temporary effect to become a permanent one.
Requirement Permanence (Instant) Success! See calculation?
Arcane Sense (Boon) has shifted to become Arcane Sense (Trait).
Trait gained: Arcane Sense.
Arcane Sense (Trait): A touch of the arcane power of the Divine courses through you, increasing the divine threshold of your senses as well as protecting them.
Theo was dizzy from the sudden onslaught of text building a wall in front of him. The never-ending messages just kept coming, updating with new information every step of the way.
“Why are you all sparkly?”
Grace spoke from behind him, and he turned to her. Her eyes shot up, either filled with worry or fright at whatever she saw. Theo raised his hands, finding them, as she’d said, sparkling with glittering light. Something glowed inside him—not bone-deep, but between the layers of skin. A layer of light shone through him as if he were transparent.
Grace reached her hand to touch his cheek, eyes still wide with contained horror. Theo didn’t notice until her finger touched down, caressing his cheek gently. Her hand shifted, moving her thumb underneath his eye, and she leaned closer. Theo saw the reflection of his brilliant self in her eyes. They reflected too much light to see any difference.
“What?” he asked with bated breath.
“Can you…see?”
The very question sent Theo spiralling. Something had happened with his eyes, not just his skin. Never had a trait done any visible change to him. That had only happened with his first Boon that triggered occasional magical effects on him, like Blue and Bulb. Was this like those two, only permanent? Did he have to walk around like a glowing example of don’t-push-your-luck? Why would the system—the world—or Arcana do this to him? Was he not entertaining enough? He supposed not. His life of adventure had become complacency instead.
Grace continued her light touching at the lack of response from him, and said, “Your eyes are…”
“Gone?”
He didn’t think they’d be. He could still see, after all, but her reaction seemed ominous, and exchanging physical eyeballs for magical sight wouldn’t be too far-fetched for this world, he thought.
“No,” she said, her voice a trilling laugh that set his mind at ease as he focused on her. “They’re beautiful. They glow white, but it’s like a different white than I can describe. Have you ever seen something so white you can see rainbows and strings of colour emanating from it? It’s like the northern lights of Ercheat’s sky, but on a backdrop of pure white rather than dark blue and black.” Grace’s eyes fell along with her hand touching his cheek, but Theo lifted them back up by pulling her hand back, placing it right where she’d dropped it from. “Of course, you haven’t seen that, either. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. If it’s half as soothing as your touch, or a tenth as pretty as your eyes, I’m happy never having seen it.”
Grace sucked in a sharp breath, eyes raising ever higher at Theo’s words as they flicked from right to left, never losing the connection with his eyes. Theo realised his words the moment he saw a gentle pink flush on her face. His blood boiled.
“That-that is, I mean, with the light bouncing off them, and such.”
“And such?” She smiled, exhaling again.
“Yeah…”
“Sudden bravado and immediate cowering notwithstanding, I suppose I should withhold further questioning about it and instead ask…what happened?”
Theo found the brevity of that flustering exchange a bit disappointing—a surprise even to himself—his stomach roiling in anger directed at no one but himself for cutting it short.
“I, uh…gained two more Level Two skills. From that, I think I gained a trait which had a requirement I couldn’t fulfil, so…more stuff happened, I guess. It happened so fast it left me a bit winded. In short, I think it was a success, and I got a second trait. It didn’t mention glowing, though.”
“Of course that’s what happened. Leave it to you to not only gain several Level Two skills at once but also to gain as many traits simultaneously. Do you know how many traits I have? Two! What’s your number?”
Despite her tone, Grace’s playful smile did nothing to convince Theo she was as serious as she tried to sound. Without checking his advanced stats view, he counted them from memory.
“Seven—no, six! I already had Eyes of the Veil; it just upgraded to Eyes of the Veil 2.0, a ‘Trait+’.”
Grace’s mouth hung open.
“It’s not like any of them do anything. The only one with any real-life effect is my Magical Ears trait, which seems to have been made redundant.” Theo gestured at his glowing body. His ears glowing when he cast magic was the least of his concerns.
“Even an upgraded trait shouldn’t do this to you…what was the second trait you got?”
Theo realised Grace’s hand still caressed his cheek. She might’ve forgotten as well. He decided not to stir, enjoying the feeling not just on his cheek, but the feeling that radiated from her.
“Arcane Sense. I think it was a critical success of a Roll of the Dice, a chance to receive something to fulfil the requirements needed for Eyes of the Veil 2.0.”
“Never heard of it. Then again, you’re littered with divine-given traits. Never even heard of a ‘Roll of the Dice’ before. What did it do?”
Theo shrugged just enough not to affect her hand. Had she grown closer while they talked? Her eyes were larger now, it seemed, still dancing with light cast from him.
He checked the system logs, finding the Roll of the Dice messages, and found there was a calculation view he could see. He opened it; another wall of text, smaller than the previous, appeared.
Roll of the Dice (Instant) Critical Success! See calculation?
Critical Success calculation:
Preparing dice…
Dice loaded. Iterating dice.
Preparing dice…
Dice loaded. Iterating dice.
Preparing dice…
Anomaly detected: All dice loaded.
Resolution: Adapting…
Resolution: [Arcana_Die_L7736x3D] replaces [Aera3_Die_S000] as Standard Die.
Retrying. Preparing dice…
D10 (Divine 10-dice throw) results: Success: 10 / Failure: 0 / Critical Success (8/10 Success or higher): True / Critical Failure (1/10 Success or lower): False
Determining outcome. Outcome determined:
Arcane Sight (Success) has become Arcane Sense. Arcane Sense applied.
“Uh-oh. I think Arcana might’ve given me another gift.”
