The Wanderer's Rebirth: Other Paths

“You forgot about the Dungeon rewards, didn’t you?” Asami asked him as she lay on his chest for bed, causing him to feel like a heel.

“… I did…” he said as Myra looked up to him from where she lay beside him in the nightclothes he’d made for her.

He wasn’t sure exactly why Myra had also started sleeping in his bed, but he’d been… grateful? Well, mostly due to the increases in his [Clear Mind] Skill, bumping it up all the way to [Advanced Clear Mind]. But also… for the company.

Not in that way. No, just for the literal company. Yes, Asami was nice and all- and he was grateful to have [Barred Mind] up and running so that he wouldn’t get bitten by Asami for that thought!-, but Myra was just… more normal? That wasn’t even quite right.

She was very much a young woman with her own… distinct personality. But she’d always been… well, not human, but foxkin. Asami, though, had been the village’s legendary nine-tailed fox until she’d met him, where she’d then transformed into her current foxkin self. A transformation that was apparently permanent.

But Myra, well, she’d always been a “real” girl, as it were. For as confusing as other people were, and young women even more so, it was also nice having that… unpredictability around. That… normalcy.

Well, not that having a young woman- well, two- sleeping in your bed was normal when you weren’t in that sort of relationship. But… the company was nice. Just… someone else’s presence.

“I’ll get them in the morning, then,” he said, coming back to the moment when Asami poked him in the side.

“Good,” Asami said, then went back to laying on his chest, just like she’d been doing for the past… almost two months?

“Mmnmmm,” Myra agreed sleepily before laying her head on her pillow, exhausted from the day’s exercise and training routines.

He was especially proud of Myra, for she’d been working incredibly hard since he’d woken up from his Path mishap. He’d even given her the [Pyrokinesis] Skill Book a few weeks back, which had somehow allowed her to get a Class upgrade offered to her when she levelled, getting [Retsu Ken Sei no Miko]. A class that was basically a fiery fist saint priestess. Militant priestess? A weird [Monk]?

Wouldn’t that just be a Cleric? He silently wondered, then mentally shrugged. Whatever she’d be classified as, he was sure that she’d do very well with it. Which reminded him that he’d need to make the [Cure] and [Heal] Skill Books for her soon. And maybe he’d make another [Regeneration] Skill Book so that he could give one to each of them.

Well, maybe he’d just have to make two of anything from now on, given how he hated playing favourites… or being seen as doing so even if he wasn’t doing so.

“Good night,” he said quietly, getting two mostly asleep responses from them in return.

He looked down at Myra and again wondered at her third tail that had come when she’d advanced her class. He’d asked about it, but she didn’t seem to know why she’d grown a third tail suddenly, nor had Asami anything to add about it. Though, he did suspect that she knew something about it, but was holding back.

Seeing them both dozing off, he was assured that they’d sleep well, he started paying attention to how well [Advanced Clear Mind] functioned, and once again marvelled at just how different it felt from before the upgrade. Where he’d just be left in a mostly immobile state while using the Skill before its upgrade, now he could remain active. Which meant that he could now do just about anything he wanted while it was active. He just had to keep concentrating on it, which made using [Multitasking] invaluable.

That said, it was also easier to fall into the Skill now. Which helped with his nightly routine of pretending to be a celibate monk. Especially with a bombshell like Asami sprawled on his chest and someone like Myra who’d have been voted as the prettiest girl in university laying at his side.

Again, the vixen-turned-foxkin more or less confused him. On the one hand, she had been sleeping on his chest for almost two months and teased him regularly! On the other, she didn’t seem to be… eager to do anything more than tease. Which, truth be told, was somewhat OK with him, as he still couldn’t quite get the image of her being a fox out of his mind, especially since she’d kept all nine of her red-tipped white tails when she’d turned into a foxkin woman.

But with Myra, well, it was hard not to notice her stealing glances at him over the past month and a half or so. Nor was it hard to notice that she’d decided to sleep in the same bed as he did. But again, she was oddly… stoic given how young she was… 21?

He used [Analyze] on her to double check.

Name: Myra Manelle, 21

Path: [Miko]

Class: [Retsu Ken Sei no Miko]

Level: 12

Yup, still 21. Which would put her at university age for sure. Well, depending on her studies, she could have actually graduated by now with a degree in hand….

Damn, time flies, he thought before turning back to his nightly routine of producing more Dust Crystals. Well, first Dust, then the quick process of condensing the Dust into Crystal form. Which, really, was basically all the same process given how quickly it went.

‘So, are you finally going to try making a Dungeon tomorrow?’ Avi asked once he’d finished with the Dust production for the night.

‘Yeah, I think that’s what I need to do,’ he sent back, still a bit unsure of what would happen.

‘Then, while you’re at it, experiment with [Summon: All],’ she added, getting an irked look from him.

‘One possibly life-altering, or ending, experiment at a time, please,’ he sent back coolly.

‘You’ll be fine,’ Avi replied, waving off his concern. ‘I can always just blast whatever is trying to kill you into oblivion.’

Right, he should probably make sure that his long-ranged mindbolt, his shoulder canon, was ready for her to use when he tried either of those Skills.

‘The System sure is scary, though,’ he sent, probably for the thirtieth time.

‘Yup, giving someone like you such power is ridiculous in the extreme,’ she said sarcastically, once more referring to how Altaea had given him her entire repertoire of psionic knowledge, along with a few other bonuses, like knowing how to “brew” alcohol. Fun fact, that one category included all kinds of alcohol, not just the traditionally “brewed” stuff. Which had seen him idly making a few barrels in his spare time. Well, “barrels” as in “what he’d need to put the liquid into” once he eventually got around to messing around with all of that.

‘Sorry, still working through stuff,’ he sent back self-consciously. ‘I’ll be sure to head out tomorrow to experiment.’

‘I just want you to be at your best,’ Avi said, suddenly looking… softer than he ever remembered her being. ‘If you can control everything that you can do, you’ll be at peace with yourself.’

Joram silently nodded at that, intellectually knowing what she was saying. It was just hard to fully internalize that after… everything he’d been through on Earth.

Instead of getting up for the “day”, he started using [Cryokinesis] and [Pyrokinesis] in conjunction with [Multitasking]. He had a hypothesis going that basically had him thinking that if he could somehow combine the two Skills, he’d get another one. An evolution, if you will. Something like [Thermal Kinesis], if he was lucky. Well, given the naming conventions of the System, it was very likely that he’d get a Skill with that exact name if he succeeded in combining the two Skills.

Basically, [Cryokinesis] manipulated and produced “cold”, while [Pyrokinesis] manipulated and produced “fire”. If he could get the ability to manipulate kinetic energy, that would be… scary. But also fun! One Skill to do what the other two did.

Well, he wasn’t too sure about that. He wondered if [Cryokinesis] would eventually let him create ice and not just work by lowing the temperature drastically, and rapidly, of an area.

It was a bit odd, as some of the [Kinesis] Skills allowed for the creation of the element it was named after, but others could just control it. Did that mean that they, too, had the potential for creating the element they were named after? If so, would that come with the “Improved” version of that Skill? Much like how he’d gained additional functionality out of [Clear Mind] when it had upgraded….

He frowned as the interactions between the heat and cold started creating a strong breeze. Not wanting to wake the girls just yet, he then used [Aerokinesis] to form a bubble around the clashing elements, then started messing around again. But this time, he was paying attention to what was going on with [Mana Manipulation], trying to get a feel for how… well, just everything.

* * *

Asami had woken up a while ago but, as she’d done for a long time now, she still pretended to be asleep as she “watched” Joram work. She didn’t open her eyes, but she could feel what he was doing and, as usual, it was both entertaining and fascinating.

In all her years, she’d never come across a person like Joram. She believed him when he said that he wasn’t human, for she could already smell as much about him. That said, he didn’t smell like anything she’d ever come across before either, which was fascinating!

Not only that, but he had a scent similar to other Spirit Foxes. The scent that came with being able to use spiritual powers like they could. Even now, she could smell it on him even as she could smell him using mana to play with fire and cold above them.

Then there were his thoughts! An outworlder! They weren’t common by any stretch of the imagination, but they always came with interesting tidbits. Well, she’d only ever met one other outworlder, and they hadn’t been anything like Joram. They’d had a weird sense of… personal expectations of heroism that had gotten them killed pretty quickly.

Which was a bit sad, because the kid had been young. But that was life. That was nature. You didn’t survive if you didn’t learn, nor if you were unwise in your “heroism”.

But Joram looked like a human, talked like a human, and acted like… not a human. Perhaps where he came from the humans were different to the ones here. That would be nice, because most humans she’d met over the years had been… jerks.

Asami quickly discarded those thought for fear that she’d start growling, or maybe even using her claws… nails in ways that Joram wouldn’t appreciate. Joram was a good guy, after all, and she didn’t want to sour the waters by doing something silly.

She wondered if he really was a monk, though. Given how… persistent she’d been, not to mention Myra joining them in bed these days, it was a wonder that she hadn’t been able to mate with him yet. But that was also fine, as she was nearly as content with her Joram pillow and how considerate he was with how he got up before her.

But the weird things Joram did were also fun!

Making that weird giant “dragonfly” and flying it around had been great! Sure, his decision making process could use more than a little bit of work given that he’d thought it would be a good idea to run a high level dungeon by himself and all. But he still did new and novel things!

Like his house! It was a marvel! Hot water whenever she wanted! A system to circulate warm or cold air throughout the house as it was needed! His cooking “appliances”! Everything! And the food!

He’d even “made” more of it, making her jaw drop as she’d watched him work. Being able to create seeds from scraps of food was just… amazing. She wasn’t sure if she’d even ever heard of something so miraculous as that. Then his “greenhouses” were just… wow. And he would just shrug off her praises!

Who did that?! He should have felt the great honour of having her praise him, but instead it seemed to make him feel uncomfortable for some reason. But she supposed that that was also kind of cute, so she let it pass. It was a very careful balance she needed to keep so that she could keep her Joram pillow, after all.

But he was still ridiculous.

His weird thoughts about his Path, Class, and Attributes were also very entertaining to listen to. She’d been tempted on more than a few dozen occasions to just break the news to him that he was indeed a ridiculous and “broken character”, as he would call it. That he’d gotten a [Unique] Class offered to him, and had taken it, wasn’t something that happened. Like, ever.

And the things that his Class provided were just… crazy. Not just his Attribute Points, but his Skills and Class Abilities were just… insane. If anyone else found out about it, she truly feared for his safety. Especially if those tyrants in power caught wind of him before he could develop enough to not have to worry about outside forces becoming a problem for him.

She almost smirked then, remembering how he thought that he was being so… discreet. Even with his “Barred Mind” Power. That was funny. You can’t just block off spiritual communication like that. Silly Joram.

The hardest part had been playing along with it, though. Especially when he was thinking rude thoughts about her. “That Vixen”, “Old Fox”, and such were all examples of things she’d normally have swatted him for, but she’d held back because he’d finally started relaxing more around her and she didn’t want to ruin that for him. The guy was high-strung enough as it was given everything that had happened to him when he’d first arrived on Iria, their world.

But he was so interesting! From how he thought about things, what he thought about things, and how he did the crazy things he did, it was great! He could even make purified cores! Sure, he called them “Dust Crystals”, but there wasn’t any appreciable difference. She just wondered when he’d figure out the other uses a purified core could be put to. It would definitely be a fun thing to see!

Yeah, it was going to be plenty of fun in the future. Much better than just hanging around Kirkwall every day. Sure, she’d get free food wherever she went in Kirkwall, and the reverence that she deserved, but Joram also gave her free food and was so very comfortable to sleep on. So, win!

* * * * *

“So, how’d’ya like ma’ boy?” Magmyr asked, looking as pleased as she’d ever seen him.

“I admit, he’s doing rather well,” Ilyana said, then took a sip of her tea before she continued. “Though, I think that he’s doing much better with me and working fabric these days.”

Magmyr nearly snorted his ale out of his nose before he quickly put his pitcher-like mug down. Actually, it might really be a pitcher, she mused as she took a better look at it.

“Nah, that’s jus’y’er bad elfy eyes talk’n,” he said, waving her comment off. “Ye ca’nae tell good steel from pig iron,” he finished, still waving his hand about.

Ilyana sniffed, annoyed. Her people were actually very accomplished in the art of metalworking, thank you very much!

“I’m just saying that he’s made remarkable progress over the past month. I dare say that he’ll surpass us both in not much longer,” she said, fixing her old friend with a significant look.

“Aye, tha’ may be so. But isn’t that nae th’ way o’things?” he asked, shaking his great head of dark-red hair as his beard tried to follow the motion.

“You don’t suppose that he’d be willing to provide me some of that cloth he’s been making, would you?” she asked, intensely curious about the “bamboo” cloth he’d shown her that week.

Magmyr snorted again, but thankfully he’d not been drinking this time.

“Nae, lass. I figure ye ’ave ’bout th’ same chances I’ve got ‘ta convince’n the lad o’let’n me know how he makes that steel o’ his,” he said, falling more heavily into his usual parlance now that it was just the two of them having a drink at his place.

“Mmhmmm,” she murmured, nodding. She could understand that very well. A crafter’s lifeline was their product, so who’d willingly share their trade secrets? It would literally affect their livelihood in the future.

But she was still astonished. Joram had told her that he’d been turned away at the weaver’s shop, Thawill’s Textiles, when he’d first been going around asking about learning from the various crafters. But he’d somehow managed to make his own spinner and loom, because he’d shown up with his very own cloth to show her.

Sure, it wasn’t particularly well made as the woven cloth hadn’t been very even, but the texture had caught her off guard. And caught her interest. That something could be so smooth, well, she was very interested in that. It was always a battle to get the merchants to bring any bolts of cloth that weren’t just plain boring. Standard linens for the most part.

Yes, it was “fine” quality linen, but still linen. She yearned to make something from anything but linen these days. Silk, satin, or even hemp! Anything but linen!

Hence her excitement over what Joram had brought her. She couldn’t say how he’d managed it, but she was exceedingly glad that he had. And given his ridiculous growth- in any field that he dabbled in- she was sure that Joram would be producing much better cloth soon enough. And then! Then her needles would sing for joy instead of collecting rust!

“So,” she said, realizing that she’d been quiet for a bit too long. “He’s really good at the forge, then?”

“Aya, lass! Let me tell ye!” he said, then proceeded to expound upon just how ridiculous Joram’s “first” attempt had gone.

If he was to be believed, Joram had managed to produce a blade that Magmyr wouldn’t hesitate to sell to a Rank D Exterminator, what her people called Adventurers. From what he was saying, it seemed as though Joram had a natural affinity for metalworking given just how fast he was progressing. Which bothered her a bit.

Was it just that Joram was one of those once-in-a-millennium geniuses that could pick up anything taught to them like they breathed? Or was it something else? He was just so… unusual. Nothing like most of the other humans she’d met. Even his accent was slightly… off.

She couldn’t place her finger on it, but he just sounded… so foreign. Not that she was particularly well travelled, but she’d met her fair share of people from around the world, yet she couldn’t remember an accent like his. Not that he had a strong accent at all, but it was there if she listened.

But the weird part was that even his slight accent had been slowly vanishing over the past month or so.

Such a mystery.

I just may have to see about spending more time with him, she thought as she started making plans to visit Joram in his forest home. A home that he’d allegedly build himself after having saved Kirkwall from a Dungeon Overflow.

So mysterious, she thought as a small smile tugged her lips upwards.