Mythshaper Chapter 02: Ways

Chapter 02: Ways

My mories didn’t magically return as the weeks flew by. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise—not being weighed down by regrets of my past life, and the sorrow of leaving my loved ones behind. I kept telling myself that, trying to fill the void they left within with sothing else.

Unfortunately, the task beca imasurably tougher when I had nothing to occupy my mind.

My days remained the sa: boring, repetitive, and forgettable. Well, aside from the occasional ssages like these:

[Congratulations! Way of ditation I (10/10) is completed.]

[Attribute Gained: Focus (Elentary).]

[ 1 Focus.]

[ 1 Cognition.]

[The Way of ditation II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[A new Way is accessible: Perseverance I (1/10).]

The glittering texts of the Spell greeted my sight, followed by a narration of their aning. I blinked twice and stared suspiciously, wondering if doubling my Cognition would make twice as smart.

This line of thought led nowhere. But gaining another attribute provided hints for what I needed to do to gain magic.

The mystical power still eluded , but I was only a little child. It was natural that magic was largely beyond my grasp. Imagine the atrocities a thoughtless baby would wreak just because their milk was not at the right temperature.

Still, I hoped Way of ditation could help with it. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but seeing my mother ditate as part of her morning ritual was a great incentive to keep my hopes up.

I had been trying since I gained the Way, yet barely seed to have gotten the hang of it. It didn’t help that the Way of ditation likely asured the hours I spent ditating. It seed to count only the ti I spent in a completely thoughtless state. Being passed out or asleep didn’t count.

On another note, I still failed to grasp what my mother's path was. A healer? A magus? or just a crafter?

She was still paranoid about my health and cast the light spell on three or four tis a day. She did the sa for other babies occasionally, when their mothers brought them to the house with colds or other minor ailnts. I supposed that made her a healer, but just the other day, she sent a man with a broken arm away, since healing broken bones was beyond her abilities.

Other than that, she devoted most of her ti to crafting, and her work wasn’t limited to smithing tals into tools and weapons. She worked with leather, cotton, and wood as well. I had even seen her fix light constructs—blobs of magical devices that emitted warm light when triggered. Villagers ca to her for repairs on those and many other tools.

She would scribble a peculiar symtrical geotrical pattern with runes on them with a sharp pen, check their utility, and hand them back. When the villagers pressed her to accept coins for her effort, she always refused, telling them the little repair didn’t warrant paynt.

After rubbing so slly oil all over , she had left in the open for sunbathing, as I watched her carry huge chunks of stone from one corner of the yard to another.

Sheesh! That stone was enough to squish any normal person to a bloody pulp, but she moved as if she was taking a stroll in the park. She didn’t even break a sweat. Her figure didn’t suggest any inhuman build either, though she did cut a tall, lean figure with long auburn hair bound in a braid. I watched her carrying stones and gathering them near our house—which she was rebuilding. Single-handedly.

Every ti she passed after dropping a small boulder, she checked on , a smile playing on her lips.

My mother worked like a machine. She was relentless once she started, which was every morning. I didn’t think we were so poor that she had to put in half her waking hours doing heavy work, but I couldn’t be sure—like most things.

The uncertainty of my life was killing , but all I could do was not make things extra hard for her. Slowly and unwittingly, Mum had beco my earliest inspiration, rooting deep into my mory. Watching her work so tirelessly motivated to do the sa.

I wanted to learn the language as soon as I could, to learn new things, to understand her better, and to understand the world. Since she took care of all of my needs, I devoted half my waking hours to ditation.

At first, it had been largely draining, but one day, I felt rejuvenated after a ditation session. And it wasn’t simply because I completed the second layer of the Way.

[Congratulations! Way of ditation II (25/25) is completed.]

[ 1 Focus.]

[ 1 Cognition.]

[The Way of ditation III (25/50) is now accessible.]

Now, with more points in Cognition and Focus, my mind wasn’t as feeble. Hopefully, they would help make more of my ti. More points in Focus made it easier to concentrate.

My progress in ditation skyrocketed from there. At first, I had barely gained a point every two or three days. Now, it was quite the opposite.

With nothing else to tire myself with, I clocked a couple of points in ditation each day from then on.

My hard work bore fruit. Within a couple of weeks, I completed the Way of ditation III. The rewards didn’t disappoint at all.

[Congratulations! Way of ditation III (50/50) is completed.]

[ 2 Focus.]

[ 2 Cognition.]

[The Way of ditation IV (50/100) is now accessible.]

The improvent was staggering, and I wasn’t slowing down at all. But there were still more things I could try.

Days passed by. It was still autumn, the weather lovely, save for the occasional ashen dust storms when we had to spend entire weeks confined within the bounds of our house.

My mother had stopped casting the golden light on after I learned to crawl. I guessed her paranoia had eased as I grew fast and strong. Still, she made sure to give the rejuvenation light once or twice every week. Those spells had helped in more ways than she probably realised.

Visualising the golden energy threading its way into my body had led to the Way of ditation, but it didn’t end there. After sensing the familiar energy hundreds of tis, I received another Way.

[A new Way is accessible: Essence Sense I (1/10).]

[Congratulations! You have completed the Way of ditation IV (100/100)]

[ 2 Focus.]

[ 2 Cognition.]

[The Way of ditation V (100/250) is now accessible.]

That wasn’t all.

[A new Way is accessible: Motor Skills (1/100).]

This had been a long ti coming. Crawling was still difficult. I had bumped my head on the ground more tis than I could rember. Oftentis, I couldn't help but wail at the top of my lungs, even though I poured everything to muffle my cries. So things simply weren’t in my control.

It was equal part strange and equal part horrifying how baby-like I was becoming. My past life beca nothing but a feverish dream as the reality of this one took over, and shaped my understanding.

Mum usually bolted from whatever she was doing to heal . Unfortunately, she decided crawling was too much of a strenuous job for a barely 105-day-old infant. She wouldn’t leave alone long enough to finish the Way of Motor Skills. The little practice she allowed would barely get through it in about half a year. And a year was so painstakingly long.

Thankfully, she relented whenever I made a pouting face. I was glad to learn she wasn’t impervious to cute baby faces. I only got to practise for about an hour, and that too under her direct supervision. Her cheers and encouragent for my feeble attempts were a pleasant addition, however.

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Winter ca with a sudden blizzard and snow. It was an atrocity, of far less competency than the ash storms, but the terrible cold, the chilly wind, and the asly six hours of sunlight made it just as detestable and confining as the ashen storms.

Thankfully, snowstorms were rarer and seldom longer than a couple of days.

[Congratulations! Way of Motor Skills (100/100) is completed.]

[Attribute Gained: Alacrity (Elentary).]

[ 2 Alacrity.]

Finally, an attribute to cast aside the frailty of my fragile form! I cheered. Sadly, Motor Skills seed to end there, though I didn’t have to be disappointed as more Ways were waiting for to unlock.

[A new Way is accessible: Balance I (1/100).]

[A new Way is accessible: Mobility (1/100).]

[Congratulations! Way of ditation V (250/250) is completed.]

[ 4 Focus.]

[ 4 Cognition.]

[The Way of ditation VI (250/500) is now accessible.]

...

[Congratulations! Way of Essence Sense I (10/10) is completed.]

[ 2 Focus.]

[The Way of Essence Sense II (10/25) is now accessible.]

...

[Congratulations! Way of Essence Sense II (25/25) is completed.]

[ 4 Focus.]

[The Way of Essence Sense III (25/50) is now accessible.]

...

[Congratulations! Way of Balance I (100/100) is completed.]

[Attribute gained: Body Coordination (Elentary]

[ 2 Body Coordination.]

[The Way of Balance II (100/1000) is now accessible.]

Great, more physical-based Ways. I was going to be buff in no ti. Magically speaking, it would take months—years even—but I was too moved to care.

Winter was painstakingly long, extending over two hundred days. But in those two hundred days, I'd finally learned to stand on my own feet and run.

[Congratulations! Way of Mobility (100/100) is completed.]

[ 2 Alacrity.]

[A new Way is accessible: Running I (1/100).]

That marked the tenth completed Way, which seed to finally make it for Perseverance.

[Congratulations! You have completed the Way of Perseverance I (10/10)]

[ 2 Unallocated Points.]

[The Way of Perseverance II (11/25) is now accessible.]

****

“Can you say it again, Pumpkin?” Mum asked, lifting up with her hands under my arms.

“Mama,” I obliged.

She pulled close, kissing my cheeks, a twinkle of tears in her eyes. It was difficult for to comprehend the kind of joy my re existence brought her, and I likely wouldn’t be able to understand it for a long ti.

It had taken longer to speak my first words than it had to do most things. I guessed it was mostly because I was a silent child. My vocal cords and voice probably hadn’t developed enough. Who knew not crying at every little discomfort would co back to bite like this?

My mother had been worried sick for a couple of months, since all the other infants my age were babbling incoherent sounds. Thankfully it didn't take a whole year, but that was only because a year was over six hundred days long.

“Mama,” I called again and pointed towards the bookshelf. It was story ti, and I’d even miss my ditation session for it.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered into my ear. “I have so errands to run.” My expression fell, but she knew how to coddle . “I promise to read you one at bedti. One you haven’t heard yet, about the First Knight.”

I bead. She asked if I wanted to co with her, but I declined, shaking my head.

Just after she left, I jumped to my feet and dragged a stool over to the bookshelf. I couldn’t read, but so books had beautiful pictures in them. I enjoyed them as much as the tales bound within the pages. Although, I couldn’t deny that a tiny part of hoped to gain a Way—perhaps sothing related to reading—out of it.

Not all the books had pictures in them. In fact, only a few did. The rest were large leather-bound volus. Who knew what kind of gospel they held? Mum rarely read those, as she barely had any spare ti.

After a few minutes of scuffling around, I found a picture book. Well, it was more like an encyclopaedia of rare plants and exotic animals. But to my infant mind, all that mattered was that it had pretty pictures. The book was thick, and the number printed on its cover suggested it was the third volu in the series. I searched for its predecessors but couldn’t find them.

Well, it wasn’t like I could read...

A thought crossed my mind, and I imdiately summoned my full profile, turning my attention to the tiny wheel mark on my palm.

[Profile]

Arilyn Arcis O’Ryon

Path: U/A

Honours: U/A

Attributes [4/8]: Unallocated Points: 2

Cognition (Elentary): 11Focus (Elentary): 14Alacrity (Elentary): 4Body Coordination (Elentary): 2

Gift:

[Fractal Soul]

Ways:

In progress:

ditation VI (479/500) | Essence Sense III (45/50) | Balance II (294/1000) | Running I (12/100) | Swimming I (2/100) | Perseverance II (11/25) | Fractal Sight I (1/10)

Completed:

ditation V (250/250) | Essence Sense II (25/25) | Balance I (100/100) | Motor Skills (100/100) | Mobility (100/100) | Perseverance I (10/10)

My [Profile] looked a little better than the ti it first revealed itself. ditation remained my most accomplished Way, while I had found so success in Essence Sense.

I had failed to complete most of the physical Ways. Mobility required movent, and Mum wasn’t keen on letting practice. Swimming was completely under her supervision, and I was glad for that. As a baby, I had limited freedom. Balance was the only one I had succeeded in, and it helped gain Body Coordination (Elentary).

Yeahhh! No more (less) falling on my head from now on.

I had pushed ditation and Balance the farthest because I could do both while confined to my cradle and the house.

More attributes helped, but I was still very much within mortal limits. Engaging in Essence Sense for extended periods inflicted piercing pain on my mind, and only ditation could save from the headaches. And then there was Fractal Sight, which eluded since the one ti it had activated.

Perseverance seed to count the total number of layers of each Way I persevered through. It was also the only Way which awarded unallocated points.

Right now, my focus wasn’t on my growth. What mattered was the fact that I could read profile texts. Why? The Spell had narrated them so many tis that my mind had morised them, but even before that I could still sohow interpret them.

What intrigued was the possibility of learning to read from this. Grabbing a notebook and a pen, I sat down on the floor and started scribbling all the unique letters from the profile. I counted thirty-three of them.

Then I went back to the thick volu and wrote down the missing letters. There were nine more, but thankfully, most of those seed to be rarely used.

Next, I began noting down words that only used the thirty-three known letters from the encyclopaedia. I pronounced them aloud, or at least tried, hoping they’d be among the 2593 words I already knew. The total wasn’t that large, despite being enough to understand most of what my mother or other people uttered on a daily basis.

The results were depressing. Out of the couple dozen words I noted down, I barely recognised a fraction. While I could make guesses for the rest, they’d just be that—guesses. Simply asking Mum to teach would be so much easier…

Learning the numbers was easier. It ran on a decimal system, which I picked up from the page numbers in the book. Oh, I rember what a decimal system is…

Clicking my tongue, I trudged along the path of literacy. It was a dark, depressing road full of guesswork, but I persevered.

Here’s what I managed to learn about a certain plant:

So?egir Grass: A highly — grass, grows on —. It does not demand (require?) earth to grow, — water grows like —

Hardly readable. But I didn’t give up easily. After all, I had all the encouragent I needed.

[A new Way is accessible: Education I (1/100)]

“Great!” I jumped to my feet in triumph. “Thank you, Spell… I’ve been waiting to hear your voice all week…”

I had likely been scribbling for over an hour, prompting the Spell to grant this new Way. Most Ways were ti-based, so it was reasonable to make the conjecture.