Chapter 3: Wrecking the Curve

The biggest change in my external life once I turn five is that I am expected to do more chores. Thankfully, the chores come with skills. I don't get skills for everything, but I do pick up a little bit here and there. And my stats start to increase. As I start carrying things, my strength and vitality increase. I gain a few skills, such as cooking and cleaning, through obvious means. But I also start to gain less obvious skills. Like eavesdropping and empathy.

When I am eight years old, I start to learn about money, and hence learn both mathematics and economics. I also learn that I really like chopping wood, and not just for the benefits it gives me. I find it soothing. It helps me focus, helps me relax, and helps me think.

Name: Harper. Level: 9. HP: 62. SP: 70. MP: 79. Defense: 25. XP: 900/1600. Skills: Knowledge: Antro Lore 10, Elf Lore 10, Human Lore 10, Orc Lore 10. Common: Cleaning: 11, Cooking 6, Mathematics 5, Economics 5. Uncommon: Axe 6, Eavesdropping 12, Empathy 4.

Strength: 11. Vitality: 17. Dexterity: 13. Perception: 19. Charm: 13. Manipulation: 15. Intelligence: 26. Willpower: 8. Reaction: 12. Ability points: 40. Traits: Child, Deep Knowledge.

My stats somewhat show in my body. I’m only eight years old, but I’m not the scrawny eight year old I was in my last life. My hair is a vivid black so deep that it looks like shadows growing out of my head, my eyes a deep and piercing blue that make people say that I have a very ‘precocious look’ and that I seem to look through them. I’m in good shape, tall for my age, and generally look the way I would expect a teenager to look, but without the ravages of puberty.

My oldest sister turns fifteen the spring before I turn nine. This is the end of her Child trait, and she is able to spend her ability points. I find out that she is level seven, and is excited to spend her thirty-five ability points. She is going to be an apprentice baker now, which gives her a trait to replace Child and will help her level up more quickly.

My parents are very proud of her for being level seven. I was already hesitant to tell anyone my level, but that just made it all the more important for me not to. I don't want my oldest sister, Jenna, to feel bad, and I don't want my other sister, Inga, to feel like she needs to catch up.

I am curious how she got thirty-five ability points, though. The math isn't mathing. Level seven for me was only worth thirty points. Where did the other five come from?

That question gets answered on my tenth birthday, when each of my stats increases by 1, and I get five free stat points.

Name: Harper. Level: 13. HP: 86. SP: 100. MP: 115. Defense: 35. XP: 1280/3500. Skills: Knowledge: Antro Lore 10, Elf Lore 10, Human Lore 10, Magic Lore 10, Orc Lore 10, World History 25. Common: Cleaning 21, Cooking 14, Economics 10, Mathematics 10, Reading 14, Writing 10. Uncommon: Axe 11, Dodge 6, Eavesdropping 24, Empathy 14, Unarmed Combat 7. Rare: Sense Intention 4. Strength: 15. Vitality: 21. Dexterity: 18. Perception: 27. Charm: 14. Manipulation: 25. Intelligence: 36. Willpower: 14. Reaction: 17. Ability points: 65. Traits: Child, Deep Knowledge.

Inga is now an apprentice blacksmith, which sounds like a really cool thing to do. She was level 9 when she turned fifteen. My parents assured all of us that it's normal for the second child to be a slightly higher level. The more older siblings you had, the more likely you were to learn skills from them, meaning you would get your skills more easily because of a dedicated teacher. So it was normal for her to be a level or two higher than her sister, just like it will be normal for me to be a level or two higher than her. And just as it will be normal for my younger brother George, born when I am about eight, to be a higher level than I will be when I turn fifteen. Though maybe not, since he won't have a sibling to teach him if I leave the house the way Inga did.

I like to visit her at work, to see what she's doing. I like it even more when I get recruited to work the bellows, giving me not just a workout but also a direct view of what she is doing, and a chance to listen to her master as he instructs her on the basics of smelting and ironworking.

Though my sisters are no longer working at the inn, my own workload does not increase. My parents actually think it is important for me to go out and play, to see what else I can learn, and to see what skills I can pick up. When I express fascination with the games that people play in the inn, my father takes me out back and teaches me to throw knives and hatchets at a wooden practice target, so that I can pick up a throwing skill. And while I'm at it, I learn to use daggers for other things.

When I’m twelve, Jenna comes back to the inn. She’s now a journeyman baker, and she’s intending to spend her time baking at the inn. She does most of the baking, practicing and leveling up her skills in preparation for taking a test that will mark the end of her time as journeyman, which apparently will happen about when she turns twenty-two just three more years from now.

Inga is doing well as a blacksmith, really getting into the crafting and showing a real talent for working with silver. It’s apparently a very different metal to work with, both easier and more complicated, but it allows her to make some very pretty baubles. She’s currently working on sets of fine cutlery for the inn’s more discerning clients. There aren’t many of them, but they do exist.

I keep working with the throwing knives, and start to learn how to use a dagger blade to slip most of the locks on the rooms in the inn. I’m not stealing anything, but the thrill of being able to really appeals to my young mind.

But what appeals to me even more is the stories that people tell. I like the stories they tell in the bar, and start learning some of the more popular tales from people as they pass through. But I also like making up stories by going through a traveler’s belongings. The items that people make sure to always keep with them, the limited belongings of a world that is far more nomadic than the one I used to live in.

I especially like the adventurers, though some of them are a bit of a challenge, setting up a trap when they lock their equipment in their rooms. I’ve had some close calls, even gotten caught once. The guy who caught me didn’t seem to care that I was a child; he beat be up pretty badly. I don’t know if I would’ve survived with fewer hit points. Or with a lower defense. Thankfully, my dad intervened and threw the man out, not listening to his talk about me trying to rob him.

There was a big scene. The adventurer, whose name was Holliday, screaming that I was stealing, reaching toward me and threatening to cut off my ear for daring to break into his room. My dad standing between us, slowly but surely forcing Holliday out of the inn. And me behind him, broken nose, bloody face, eye swollen shut, looking incredibly pathetic and insisting that I’d never stolen anything from anyone.

Holliday probably could have killed my dad if he wanted to. I have no idea what level my father was, but it seemed to make sense that someone who made their living delving in dungeons and killing people would win in a fight against a man who ran an inn and restaurant. But Holliday doesn’t draw a weapon. He’s apparently okay with beating up a child, but doesn’t want to fight someone his own size. At least, that’s what my dad says to him.

Once the adventurer is gone, dad asks me what I was doing in the guy’s room; he clearly knew that I was doing wrong. I was punished for the incident, which included having to install better locks on all the rooms in the inn. Locks that I had to pay for with the tiny stash of money I’d managed to gather from tips while serving in the inn.

Name: Harper. Level: 15. HP: 97. SP: 112. MP: 131. Defense: 39. XP: 770/5000. Skills: Knowledge: Antro Lore 10, Elf Lore 10, Human Lore 10, Magic Lore 10, Orc Lore 10, World History 25. Common: Cleaning 23, Cooking 14, Economics 10, Mathematics 10, Reading 14, Writing 10. Uncommon: Axe 11, Dagger 3, Dodge 6, Eavesdropping 24, Empathy 14, Persuasion 3, Storytelling 4, Throwing 13, Unarmed Combat 8. Rare: Lock Pick 6, Sense Intention 5.

Strength: 16. Vitality: 22. Dexterity: 21. Perception: 29. Charm: 14. Manipulation: 27. Intelligence: 41. Willpower: 15. Reaction: 18. Ability points: 75. Traits: Child, Deep Knowledge.