by J. J. Thorn
There it was. The words that would change Zane's future forever.
Zane stood up and addressed the crowd as well.
"Father, let us all enjoy the party. Thank you to everyone who came out tonight, let us not make it all about me! Enjoy your drink and food!" Stewart's eyes began to narrow, he did not like to be told no.
"Nonsense boy, I already know the affinity. You will tell them, or I will."
Stewart had a plan for the evening, and it would not be ruined by his son's ineptitude or shyness in front of crowds. To Stewart, those were both qualities that would be purged by the time he gained control of the company, one way or another.
Zane knew his father would not let it go, so he kept going.
"Very well, my affinity is IDENTIFY. I gained the same affinity as my father and siblings. The IDENTIFY affinity."
Father beamed. The crowd stood up for standing applause.
"Yes, yes, Zane has gained the same affinity as all other Tellers! Thank the Goddess!" After a few moments, Stewart calmed the room down and called in one of his servants. The servant held a cushion, and atop the cushion held a beautiful ring of great quality.
"Now" Stewart started once again.
"Now, Zane, show us that you have watched your family all these years. Your Rank 1 Skill should allow you to identify this ring. We created it specifically for today. If you can identify it, it will become yours to have for the rest of your life. This, my son, is the first of many gifts to come."
Zane began to stare at the ring. For all his might, he wanted to be able to identify the ring, but for the same reason he begged the Priest, he knew he would not be able to. He knew the moment he received his affinity. He had no ability to identify objects.
He had tried it on the pedestal as soon as he gained his affinity hoping he had been wrong, but he had felt nothing. No internal energy had left his body, nor had he even felt slightly fatigued by the attempt. Nothing.
His tutors had told him what to expect, and yet nothing.
On his walk home, he had even tried on some more mundane items, to no avail.
It was only when he looked at the Mayor's assistant, while she was taking a look at his Affinity that his Skill finally did something. In front of his eyes, he received his first notification...
Melony Wit!
Melony... Wit... the assistant's name! His 'Identify Name' skill didn't allow him to identify the names of objects. Instead, it gave him the ability to identify the names of PEOPLE.
Standing in front of the ring once again, Zane didn’t know what to do. The room had gone silent. His father's eyes looked at him impatiently with expectation. Zane, if nothing else, had his intelligence.
"Identify Name." He yelled towards the cushion and began to concentrate. If he was going to fake this, he would need to make it look believable.
After 30-40 seconds, Zane looked away from the ring.
He looked at the crowd, grabbed the ring, held it into the air, and said:
"This is the Ring of Tolerance."
The crowd was pleased and began to applaud once again.
My father did not.
He took a moment to stare at Zane and they met eyes in front of the crowd. His eyes narrowed as he tried to discern Zane's intentions.
Some of Zane's siblings took an opportunity to identify the ring as well.
Moments passed, and thankfully they said nothing.
Zane then made his best decision of the evening.
"Well, using my Skill has caused my headache to grow. I can only guess that the ring must be at a Rank that I won't be able to discover for quite some time. With that, I wish you all goodnight. Thank you again for coming and thank you father for your generosity."
Before Stewart or anyone else could stop him, he had started making his way to his room.
As an act of kindness for the evening, Zane was able to hear his father reign in the crowd, and the party continued.
No one visited him that night, another kindness.
"Master Teller. I must insist, you must come with me to see your Father now, we must go"
Zane was brought out of his thoughts from the previous evening. He was not able to hide away in his room forever.
The boy with golden hair began to rise from his bed and put on some more worth-while clothing.
"Yes, sorry, we can go."
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Zane walked into the room to find that his father was seated alone. No doubt his siblings had asked to participate, but his Father had decided to do this alone.
He sat in the same seat from the previous night, but the room had been cleaned and all the tables had been removed.
Stewart Teller's seat stood firmly in the middle of the large Sunroom. His imposing frame was overshadowed by the tiny object being jostled in his hand.
The Ring from the previous evening.
"Zane, do you have an affinity?"
His father started.
"Yes, father, I spoke truthfully last night. I have the IDENTIFY affinity, the same as you, my brothers, and my sister." Zane responded quickly and with sincerity.
"I had them bring me the ledger myself, and I spoke to the Mayor. Speak honestly Zane, if you have lied to the Head Priest of the Church, this means we are falsifying information to the Kingdom. I will not have my name tied to a blasphemer and a fraud. So, I ask you again, what is your affinity."
"IDENTIFY father, I swear I did not lie."
"THEN WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS RING!" His father's eyes bulged from his head as Stewart threw the ring on the ground in Zane’s direction. The ring bounced on the ground and finally stopped near his feet. Zane scrambled to pick it up and held it in his hands.
Zane’s hands began to shake as he held the ring.
"And if you have the audacity to say the 'Ring of Tolerance’ for a second time, I swear to you now that I will strangle you myself. Do you take me for a fool boy?!"
Silence.
"You had better hope that none of last night's nobles were able to identify the ring from the way the servant held the cushion, otherwise, your siblings and I were not the only ones you were not able to fool last night!"
Zane knew his father was not finished and remained silent.
"So if you have an affinity, and you did not lie about which affinity you have, what could it be?" Stewart Teller looked at Zane expectantly.
"I thought about it all evening and have no answer. What is it boy, spit it out!"
"I can't see it..."
"Can't see WHAT!? Be clear boy, I will not be made a fool in my own home."
"I can't identify the ring... or any objects..."
"You just stated your affinity was IDENTIFY and your Skill IS "Identify Name", is it not?"
"Yes, those things are both true, but..."
"But WHAT Zane, am I expected to believe that you have the same affinity as all your siblings, the same first Rank skill as both your sister and I, and yet are not able to identify a SIMPLE ring like this with no enchantments? I made sure it had no enchantments and no Rank requirements, just in case. This Ring should be possible for anyone at your Rank to see."
"Yes, father, I am telling the truth. I swear it. I tried several times upon leaving the Church, but I was never able to see the name of any object."
"I AM A MERCHANT, Zane! YOU were to become a MERCHANT! What use are you to this family if you cannot even identify the items we are tasked with selling?!"
"You've trained me father; I know the look of most objects by sight alone. I know our history. I know our allies. I know everything..."
"YOU KNOW NOTHING, you impudent child. You have been given everything in this life. Ever since that whore mother of yours birthed you, GOLDEN child this, and GOLDEN child that. We have made you more comfortable than any man or woman on this continent. And to all this, you spit in my face. The Goddess spits in my face."
"Father, I" Zane was now on his knees, tears streaming fro
m his eyes. He did not know what to say or do. He had hoped his father could fix it. Zane started grasping for potential solutions. One had come to his mind while thinking it over the previous evening.
"Dungeon cores father! What if I receive a Dungeon core to change my affinity to something more useful to the family?"
"YOU would ask me to use a Dungeon core on YOU! What, so that the Goddess might spit in my face a second time? In my life, I have sold fewer Dungeon cores than I have fingers on my hand. I have ordered the death of thousands to secure those Cores, and here you are asking for one as though it was a trifling thing. A commodity so rare, Dungeons only produce them every 50 years and hundreds of Dungeoneers die for? And that is just for ONE core. Wars have been fought for less. Cities have been purchased for less. For you, a child with no immediate or future use. Who the Goddess has used to taunt me for 16 years?!"
"...But I could be useful..."
"WE ARE MERCHANTS!" Stewart roared. Empowering his voice with internal energy and shaking the room slightly.
"What fucking Dungeon will hold a merchant's affinity within its core? No, boy, you will not be useful. Nor will you be a part of this family any further. You will act the fool for the rest of the month, using your knowledge of both Skills and objects to fool whoever you need to. Afterwards, you will go to Prep School, and you will no longer be my son."
Zane Teller's world had crashed down. His mind was wracked with ideas of how to prove himself to his father. Anything to convince him to reconsider.
"But what of the enterprise, who will take over if not me?"
"Are you so DELUSIONAL boy that you think yourself irreplaceable? You are 1 of 4, and I have another on the way from my latest wife. I will delay my transfer of power, explaining to the world that you were not ready to take over. I will eventually make up some excuse to have your sister or oldest brother take over."
"Father, but please, be kind, why must I be cast out of the family. I have an affinity - I have done what most could not! I can raise my affinity's Rank... I... I can do be useful."
"Oh, stop sniveling. I will not have you make any additional marks on my family's record. I am showing you kindness. How long might it take you to become useful? And then what? We act as though nothing ever happened? Would you regain your rightful place as the heir to my empire? What if that day never happens - you have already proven that you are an unlucky stain on my otherwise magnificent life. These are just the mewlings of a child who has never known hardship or true pain" Zane's father looked down at him with disdain.
"No, fourth child, Golden boy, Zane, I do you a kindness by letting you live. You would do best to remember that. Maybe I should have treated you harsher growing up, but the past is gone."
"But..."
"Enough. I am leaving tomorrow for my home in the Kingdom. You will not return after you finish Prep School. You may take 5 gold, and nothing more."
"But Fath..."
"I said Enough. Now leave and return to your room."
Dejected, Zane began to walk back to the door.
"And Zane." Stewart Teller called from the middle of the room.
Zane turned to face his father for the last time, expecting that maybe he had had a change of heart.
"The Ring's name is simply ‘Golden Ring’. If anyone asks, you will repeat it properly and will say you were joking."
A smirk appeared on Stewart's face briefly. "Just another child pulling a prank on his dear father."
Zane stood in the frame of the door as his father left his seat and walked into another room.
Chapter 8
Dinner
50,...51,...52,…
The medium-sized weight collapsed from my hands onto the ground.
"Two more than yesterday, I think I can deal with that." I put down my medium weight after finishing my crouch-sits. Crouch-sits? There has to be a better word for those!
Whatever, an issue for another day.
While resting my body, I worked on my other training as well.
"View Weight"
I concentrated on the medium weight yet again. After 5 seconds:
25 pounds!
"Awesome!" I basically jumped in the air. If Elise saw me do that, I would be getting the teasing of my life tonight.
Luckily, she's off at school.
It had been 2 weeks since I left with Uncle Tom on our trip into the Forest. The night we got back, I slept like a rock! Every muscle in my body had been sore for days after the 'fight' with the Armadon and the trek back with all the scales.
My parents had been eager to hear more about my trip after I had snubbed them the previous night to get some sleep. They weren't the happiest about our choice of monster, but the scales and the relative safety assuaged some of their fears. Dad did take the opportunity to tell me that 1 of the guards had died the week prior - getting hit in the head with the Armadon's tail was a crap way to die.
After what I saw my Uncle do, I doubled down on my training. Each morning I would start my day with the usual run, from my house to the north gate and back. Each day I tried to add a little bit more, but I was still absolutely gassed at the end of every single run. Knowing how much each of my iron pieces weighed had also helped create a benchmark for myself. Every day I would try to improve how many I could lift or curl or push or crouch-sit. Whatever it took to reach my Uncle's level of strength! He is absolutely my current goal... and he is only Rank 3!
Of course, I had also used the time to practice my Skill. Current Progress.
Affinity : Weight
Rank 1 – View Weight – 30%
My Skill's progress had taken a pretty big jump after our trip to the Forest, but after that, I hadn't really done anything of note. I continued to use the Skill as much as I could while I worked out. I found that the time it took for me to find out something's weight was speeding up with every attempt!
As though my mind was becoming more comfortable with the process. Or maybe my improved knowledge about weight was helping to speed up the cosmic calculations being made by the Skill. Who knows, really.
Either way, my goal was to get the Skill time down to Instant!
Most monsters would not be like the Armadon, letting me just stand beside it absently. Monsters run or fight back. In terms of my skill, I was still working on a few different ways to use it. Based on my testing, using the Skill on the same object or person repeatedly had very little impact on my progress.
It's like Uncle Tom said, most people are low Rank because they keep doing the same thing over and over.
They could eventually rank up, but it would take A LOT longer.
To progress more quickly, I needed to try new things, use the skill on new people, and think of different ways to use the skill.
All this without trying the Skill on complex objects like houses again.
And, of course, I had tried using my internal energy to try and enhance my body. Luckily, I tried it when I was in front of home one day - at first nothing at all happened, but I passed out again... Mom wasn't too thrilled that I had caused myself to pass out again!
My sister's jokes had gone on for a few days after that.
Dad mentioned that as a Rank 1 I really don't have the ability to tap into my internal energy. The amount of energy I have is only marginally more than a regular human as is. As I progress towards Rank 2, it might be possible, but he warned me to take it easy and try to use it slowly.
It turns out that he was more than willing to talk about it when I asked!
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"Yes, Terrence, everyone uses their internal energy in some capacity to enhance their body. The issue is that at the lower ranks you have very little internal energy to even use. Depending on your profession, you are even able to use this internal energy to help your career.
That is to say, it's not only used for fighting monsters! I use it in the Smithy when I want to speed up what I'm working on. Merchants use it when
they want to enhance their voice. Enchanters use it to imbue cloth or other types of objects.
One thing to remember though, it may not be a Skill, but it IS a skill to be able to use it effectively. Someone who uses it constantly will be able to use it more efficiently than someone who's just learning to do so.
That's probably why you passed out. You tried to tap into the energy, and you used it all up at once. As a result, you went into energy burnout...again.
You really have to stop doing that, your Mother is worried enough as is. She doesn't need to see you passed out every time she walks outside hahaha."
Dad had droned on a bit more throughout the night. Apparently, his high Rank, and the amount of internal energy that allowed him, was one of the reasons he was able to do so well, despite having started so long after all other blacksmiths in the town.
He could work for longer, work faster, and his METAL affinity really helped him understand what he was working with better than anyone.
As a result of everything both my Uncle and Dad had said, I felt like I really had a good grasp of my next steps. My immediate goal was to try and get my progress to 75% by the time I left for Prep School.
It turns out that none of my friends from school had made it into Prep School. Some of them were younger, but most of them just hadn't received an affinity. This year's amount of people really was lower. After they finished 2 weeks ago, they announced the numbers via the Main Hall and only 41 out of 115 kids had received an affinity. Names were not given out, but the affinities are usually included with the notice. It helps the town know what they can expect. If you have a bunch of 'CURE' or 'HEAL' affinities, you can expect to see a lot more foot traffic in the town. Dungeoneers sometimes travel from between towns just to find the right people for their team, and a healer is always useful or needed.
Additionally, if you know that most of the affinities look to be non-combat based, you know most of them will be returning to the town to further their career.
There are exceptions, but you usually won't see a 'CLOTH' affinity go into Dungeon diving or monster hunting. It isn't impossible, nor is it uncommon, but odds are you've worked with cloth your whole life and likely want to continue doing so.