12 - A Gift of Iron

  “Well, this sure is a new one for me. Do ya mind if I take a look at your slate? Maybe I can figure out how ya be doing it,” the dwarf asked.

  As he spoke, Thorton immediately held up a hand. “Now ye should know that I’m only asking 'cause we already be sharing. Ya may not know this yet, but don’t you go asking folks about their messages from the Giver of Quests or their slate. It be rude to push folk regarding what they get from the One Above. You can share all ya want, just be careful about asking.”

  Joe was a little nervous about showing his screen to someone, but all Joe’s instincts told him that Thorton had been straight with him so far. He willed his window to be visible to the dwarf and waited, hoping he had done it correctly. While the man’s gaze swung to where Joe’s window hung in the air, the tanner looked more perplexed than ever.

  “How in tarnation did ya get yer [Deception] so high already? Everything here is just a blur. Not even yer full name. It just says ‘Joe.’ That’s it. The whole slate and just one word.”

  “I don’t have any deception skills,” Joe answered. As the words left his mouth, everything just clicked into focus. He knew the answer to this latest riddle and why he was able to see the dwarf’s traits as available options for him.

  “I know what it is, Thorton. I only have two traits myself, and I think both of them are at play here. One prevents me from being assessed; the other one says I can gain traits from any race, ancestry, or order.”

  “You don't say,” the bearded man drawled. “Well, that sure would do it. Thems are interesting traits. Ain’t never heard of someone starting with anything like that. Still, it clears things up.”

  The tanner took his arms back and, with a grin, stroked a hand down his beard. “You, boy, are going ta get the matron of all First Cascade gifts. This be the one I gave my son. It’s by far the best trait I have. Can ya see [Iron Mind]?”

  “Yeah.” It was on the dwarf’s trait list, followed by the word ‘Heritage.’

  “Scan it ta see what it does, and then grab it. Ya won’t be sorry.”

  Joe read the description and immediately agreed. It sounded like an amazing trait. He focused on it and felt a copy of the ability transfer to himself.

  He could not be happier. One of the powers Joe hated most to get hit by in role-playing games was mind-control and mind-altering attacks. Not only could they take you out of an entire encounter, sometimes they turned you into a liability for your whole team. Suddenly, your party had to fight you, as well as the siren or vampire or whatever it was that was now dominating your character’s mind.

  “Thank you, Thorton. That trait is amazing!”

  “Aye, but we ain’t done yet? Healers be a precious thing in the world, and I ain’t never had a chance ta pass along some good ol’ dwarven trait to one of ya beanpoles before. Let’s do another one. See [Forge Born] that will give ya major fire resistance, too. Grab it.”

  “That’s not too much?” Joe balked.

  “It ain’t like I lose the trait. I’m just sharing it with ya. Go on. It’s yours.”

  “Ok,” Joe exclaimed. Who was he to argue with more free traits?

  He locked his attention onto [Forge Born] and willed into to come over to his sheet. Yet, instead of an influx of fire resistance, Joe was hit with a spike of pain lancing through his skull. He immediately had a flashback to his tumor, causing his heart to race in an instinctive panic.

  A notification saved him from completely freaking out.

  While the explanation calmed his nerves, it didn’t help his head. He felt like he had just gulped down an entire milkshake at once: massive brain freeze from hell.

  “Ow. Ow. Ow!” Joe groaned. “Can’t use it more than once at a time,” he muttered to the concerned craftsman.

  “Sorry, son. I thought it might not work. We can’t pass on Heritage traits to our kin more than once a level. Should have known the One Above was not gonna let you become a demigod by absorbing every trait you could find.” He tugged his beard with a sheepish look. “Granted, the pain to the noggin is a new one. Apologies.”

  “None needed,” Joe said, opening his mouth wide to crack his jaw and pop his ears. “Now we know. I’m going to need a minute. Here, take this.” Joe reached into his bag and grabbed a tin of antitoxin. “Smear that on your arm. It should finish what my healing could not.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Well, ain’t that kindly of ya,” the dwarf proffered, rising to his feet. “Ya gonna be alright?”

  “Yeah,” Joe replied, flopping off the stool onto the soft grass. “Just gonna lie here and put my head back together for a bit.”

  Joe heard the tanner chuckle, followed by the sound of some coins dropping into the tip bowl Rhiley had put out for him. A moment later, the man’s heavy footsteps tromped off.

  While he was used to headaches, there was definitely something different about the one he had here in Illuminaria than those from his old life. It was as if all the mental callouses he had built up over the years were gone. This new brain seemed far more sensitive than the broken but heavily-weathered thing he had left behind by his transference.

  He had noticed a mental discomfort whenever he spent mana. The more mana he expended with his two spells, [Healing Touch] and [Heartfire], the more his head began to throb. Once, when he had gotten the pool down to its dregs, he was even swamped by a wave of vertigo.

  On the plus side, when he had cast those last two [Healing Touch] spells on Thorton, he had not felt much of anything at all: far less discomfort than when he first cast his initial heal on Buck.

  Hopefully, spellcasting was something he just needed to exercise to get used to how it felt to expend mana.

  He cracked open an eye and saw that three elderly women had taken seats around his [Heartfire]. They were chatting quietly amongst themselves. When one of them noticed his attention, she threw him a bright smile, dipping her head to him in thanks.

  With them was a big old hound dog the townsfolk had dubbed Ole Louie. The elderly tracker had come looking for a treat, which at least one in three villagers seemed to have for him, and discovered the Heartfire’s comforting radiant aura. He happily circled himself down onto a spot beside the spectral blaze and began to doze.

  Joe’s drop onto the grass must have awoken him. Moving far more spryly than he had been when he first showed up, Lou got up and gave himself a good long stretch before walking up to Joe and flopping down against his hip. While Joe instinctively ran his hand over Ole Louie's fur, the hound sighed happily.

  Not wanting to get up, Joe figured it was a good time to see what level two looked like.

  “Not bad,’ he thought. ‘My Health is still terrible. I was hoping those two points in Vigor would help more.’ He was pretty sure the boost to that attribute would start paying off when he got some more levels under his belt.

  Looking at the relatively few traits he had, he noticed the traits that just awarded attribute points, such as Nimble, Gifted, or Aware, did not show up in his list.

  Sliding out from under Louie, Joe climbed back to his feet and mirrored the old dog's stretch before walking up to the trio around the [Heartfire].

  “Hi. Sorry about the wait. What can I do for you?”

  A woman with a fan of silvery feathers on her head replied, “This lovely blaze is all I need, sir. Thank you for it. It feels wonderful.”

  That explains why Joe did not recognize her race. Sylph-kin must be a half Sylph. None of the options Joe had been offered had been mixed races, but Hawking had mentioned that hybrids were a thing.

  After just now finding out what Changeling was capable of, Joe had no complaints about the option Hawking had made for him. Sure, his [Anyone] trait wasn’t something he could use every day, like many of the racial abilities he had seen, but when he could use it, it had the potential to give him significant bonuses.

  Joe nodded back to the feather-maned woman and gave her companions his attention. They both mirrored her sentiment; they were quite fine with just the [Heartfire], but the faun pointed over Joe’s shoulder.

  “Looks like your next patient is arriving now, young healer.”

  He turned to see Rhiley leading an even more elderly woman across the green. She was spreading her weight between a stout cane and the boy’s shoulder. Joe returned to his stool, waiting for Rhiley to finish crossing the green with the matron.

  He could not stop smiling as he composed himself for his next patient. He was healthier than he could ever remember feeling. He was gaining skills and abilities.

  To top it all off, karmically he was paying back the huge debt he had accrued when the world had to take care of him. Joe wasn’t sure how much he really believed in karma, but he knew it felt great to start balancing out his past.