Chương 26: Chapter 25

"What?" The word was out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

"We're going to live next to you!" Etta repeated, as though that would answer my question. I gave up on getting a straight answer out of the four year old girl and turned to the old codger.

"The Millers have asked me to spend more time training Henrietta on aether," Cornelius explained to me.

"They're going to pay for her lessons to be taken with your own, which are going to become longer as well." Oh! Well, when you put it like that, I thought. You're teaching her to help pay for my tutors? I suppose I can live with that… if I have to.

"And if Etta is going to be here learning five days a week or more, it doesn't make sense for us to be travelling so far each day back and forth. Plus, it's good for her to have a friend to play with," George Miller added, resting a hand on the top of his daughter's head. I stared at Etta's father, feigning ignorance. George Miller was a tall man. Maybe half a hand taller than grandpa with a slimmer build than I would've expected on someone who spent their life following a trade.

His hair was a dusky brown and cut short. Unlike most of the other men who I had met upon our little slice of mountain, George didn't have a beard and was clean shaven. I could see the similarities between him and his daughter, except for their eyes. Etta had blue eyes that were darker than my mother's and grandpa's. George's were a deep brown.

"Did you want some breakfast, sweetheart?" asked my mother.

"What about you, Etta, have you eaten?"

"We're good," George answered in his daughter's stead.

"Etta just couldn't wait to come and tell Bastian. We'll head back over to where the new house is going up and see you there after you've broken your fast." I frowned a little at the formality, and even more after they had left out the back door they came in through.

"What's wrong, Bastian? I thought you liked Etta," asked my mother as she placed down some fresh bread dipped in red-stripe honey for me along with a fried egg.

"She's just bossy," I grumbled.

"I think if you made an effort she would listen to you instead, if that's what you want," she suggested as she sat down to eat as well.

"It'll be good for you to have some competition as well," Cornelius mumbled around his own toast. I didn't respond, resigned to my fate and instead tried to enjoy my breakfast. The red-stripe honey was divine, and I quickly forgot about the intrusion of Etta into my lessons with the old man. After breakfast and getting properly dressed, we exited the backdoor into my mother's garden. When Etta said she was going to live next to us she had perhaps understated just how close.

I could see the work site from the garden, a little west of us and back from the road maybe twenty metres with a copse of trees shielding them from sight. There were also more than just George and Henrietta present. As we approached, I spied Kaylee Miller and Grandma Lucille. Kaylee was much like her daughter, brown-haired and blue-eyed, dressed in dark brown furs. Grandma Lucille had taken up a seat on a wooden chair next to a small wagon piled high with wood and other building materials.

The other two people present were Martin and Griselda. Martin, the shorter of the two, was talking with George and pointing out things while Griselda was casually unloading the wagon on her own. The half-orc woman's wiry black hair stood out in stark contrast with the cream of her woolen clothes. Just seeing her lifting logs that must've weighed north of a hundred kilos was enough to motivate me, and I debated turning around and heading back to my obstacle course to work on my Paths.

As per usual, my curiosity won out. I'd never seen a house built and was interested to see how they would go about it.

"Morning, Cornelius," Martin called in greeting as we approached. The blacksmith stomped over toward us with George in tow.

"Good to see you too, Penny. Bastian's growing fast. Reckon he'll be taller than you by the time he's grown eh?" My mother smiled her agreement as I looked up at her rather than watch Martin who was blatantly avoiding looking at or asking about my scars. I didn't mind the gruff blacksmith but I think he could've chosen his next words better as instead of asking about my injuries he decided to make the situation awkward in an entirely new and unexpected way.

"That hair of his is like burnished copper though. He get that from his father?" Griselda chose that moment to walk past, smacking her husband gently across the back of his head. Martin, rather than looking annoyed, blushed a bit in shame.

"Forget I said anything, Penny. I didn't mean nothin by it." My mother's smile was a little strained.

"It's fine." I heard the worry in her voice. Did she think I was going to ask who my father was? Should I, just to keep up appearances? It seemed like the sort of thing that a boy would be curious about and the fact that I had never brought it up was probably a little odd. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Guess my Path of Deception will get some more work, I griped mentally, hating the fact that I was putting on a show for my loving mother.

"I, err, better get back to it then. So, Cornelius, what are you thinking?" Martin asked, making a quick exit from the mess he had created.

"I'll dry the wood," answered Cornelis.

"But you know more about building than I do, I would say. Lucille and Etta can go join Bastian back at the outpost. Penny said she was happy to continue their lessons and it will keep them out of the way." As Martin agreed, I sensed something nearby and looked towards where I felt the faint fuzziness. George Miller was getting started nearby with a shovel and I faintly sensed aether flowing into the ground near his feet.

My Path of Aethersensing ticked up but I hadn't figured out what he was doing until the hard ground seemed to give way beneath the shovel. I didn't really understand how he was doing it, but I did notice how Cornelius's eyes flicked to the man for a moment. I didn't get to see anything else as mum and Grandma Lucille escorted Etta and I back to the outpost. What followed were more lessons on reading and writing, with the addition of some basic maths.

Grandma Lucille lounged by the fire knitting at a speed that was frankly insane to see. The distraction of what I was certain was a Skill, even if I couldn't sense the elderly woman using aether, wasn't enough to ruin my natural talent and past life knowledge as I thoroughly trounced Etta in all academic pursuits. Perhaps it was childish of me to want to compete with her, but then, I was a child.

Sure, I had some knowledge from my past-life that led me to making plans and understanding certain concepts faster, but I was still a child physically and I couldn't help it. Etta, conversely, seemed to take her losses as a personal affront and tried to focus harder on our afternoon lessons, all to the faint sounds of hammers and axes working in the distance. For the afternoon, Etta and I got a great view of her new home going up from my obstacle course.

She was still far more tentative than I between each obstacle but I could tell she was improving. I, on the other hand, was going slower than normal. The reason was twofold. Firstly, I was wary of another attack, pausing between each obstacle to check the area, sky included. Well, maybe sky prioritised. The second reason was that I was intentionally making each obstacle harder.

Like, having to cross the balance beam with one arm held straight up or hopping across on one foot, though I limited the latter to the balance beams lower to the ground. Another was trying to cross the swinging bridges without moving my arms at all. Whatever I could think up to make it harder, I did, and found that my Paths appreciated the extra effort as step after step rolled into them. Nothing sweeter than numbers going up, I thought, eminently pleased with myself.

In the distance, the house was being built at a breakneck pace. Sure, it had five people working on it, but even so it was another firsthand demonstration in how the increased Attributes of the people of my new world made tasks simpler. Griselda and Martin could both easily move around logs of wood on their own that would've taken three to five people in my previous life.

Cornelius lifted a hammer that I would've thought his old bones would struggle with and casually hammered in nails longer than my arm from a metal bucket that I assumed belonged to Martin. Oddly enough, George seemed the only one who wasn't sure what to do with himself, often being directed somewhere by his wife or Martin and Griselda. It made me wonder if I could expect the same from the Paths I was completing or if there was more to it.

The locked Class section of my Status beckoned but I didn't know anything about what it meant beyond the little tidbits grandpa had dropped when they discussed if my Aether Core could be improved. I climbed down after finishing the obstacle course and made my way over to my mother who was sitting nearby with Grandma Lucille.

"Mum, does everyone have a Class Path?" I asked.

"They do, once they're old enough," she answered, her bright blue eyes shifting over to me.

"What made you ask about that?" I pointed at the house going up in the distance.

"I was wondering if that's why they're all so strong."

"Clever boy you've got there, Penny," Lucille whispered, her hands still knitting something from dark grey wool. My mother smiled at Lucille's words before returning her attention to me.

"It's one of the reasons."

"When do you get a Path?" I demanded as I climbed up onto her lap. Etta finished her own run of the course and came over to join us covered in sweat and dirt.

"Well, it differs. Different races get access to their first Class Path, which we call the Basic Class Path, at different ages. For us, humans, it's at the age of twelve."

"Can we get it earlier?" I wondered. Come on, is there another cheat I can activate to stay ahead of the game? I hoped mentally. My mother took my hope and smothered it immediately.

"No, honey. Not even the nobles seem to be able to unlock their Class Paths earlier and if anyone could, it would be them." I lay my head on my mother's chest as I considered my next question.

"Do you have a Basic Class Path, mum?" Etta was now paying attention as well, having climbed into Grandma Lucille's lap next to us.

"No, sweetheart. I am on the second Class Path, which we call the Adept Class Path. What about you Lucille? You must have started your Advanced Class Path?" my mother asked, trying to draw the older woman into the conversation.

"I am," agreed the old lady.

"It's called Quiet Weaver of the Mountains. Only broke through after we moved up here in the Horndales so it's at the first Tier. Might make the third before these old bones give out. You know, when we came here, I thought to myself, 'Lucille, that cold weather is going to be the death of you! You'll catch a chill in your bones and it'll never leave!'

"Not what happened though. Wish I had lived up here all my life. Only thing that seeped into my bones was the quiet serenity of this place. Mind you, wouldn't have met my husband if I had and then I wouldn't have this little beauty to chase after." Lucille wrapped her arms around Etta who giggled and tried to escape half-heartedly.

"That's why George wanted to move closer," Lucille said as she went back to knitting.

"Make sure little Etta gets the proper training to make sure she gets a good Class Path when the time comes. And not like I could teach her Aethersensing. No point wasting her talent." I tried not to look over sharply at Etta as she snuggled into her grandma while her new home was built in the distance. What do you mean, wasting her talent? I demanded mentally. I didn't ask out loud. I had a feeling I would find out soon enough.