Chapter

Twenty-Five

“Ten silver for each way I’m a bad dad. Go,” said Hogg.

“The first thing is that you’re never around,” said Zilly. “Other kids have parents that go to town, talk to the other adults, and do the shopping. But you never come to town. We don’t even see you if we come to your house. Brin does all the shopping and the cooking, or he goes hungry.”

Hogg smiled and stroked his chin. “Hmm, that’s two things. Twenty silver. Keep going.”

Brin groaned, but Zilly had stars in her eyes.

“You didn’t try to stop Tawna from saying bad things about him. Anyone else would’ve been hopping mad from day one, but you just let it sit. You’re a [Ro—a sneaky person, so you could’ve followed Brin whenever he met with Tawna, or at the very least you could’ve watched the lesson, but you didn’t. Myra told me what her mom said to you about what happened that day, and it wasn’t the true story at all.”

Hogg nodded. “Good point. You’re up to thirty.”

Zilly said, “Um… and… that’s all I got.”

“What about you, Brin? If you can think of anything, I’ll add it to Zilly’s pool.”

Zilly immediately turned to him, pleading in her eyes.

“That is foul manipulation,” said Brin.

“It sure is, but that one doesn’t count,” said Hogg.

Brin sighed. “Fine. You never listen to me. I’ve told you all this before. Well, some of it. And I shouldn’t have had to tell you any of it! Oh, gross, now I sound like my—like her. See why I didn’t want to do this?”

“I’m counting all that as one,” said Hogg.

“You treat me like a kid,” said Brin. “You said when I moved here that I’m already mostly grown so you’d treat me like an adult, but in every conversation I’m just ‘kid.’ You won’t tell me what you’re up to all day. That’s adult stuff, and I’m just a kid.”

“Fair,” said Hogg.

The complete acceptance of all these accusations just made Brin angrier, but he found that he was tapped out.

“That’s all I got,” said Brin.

“Really? You haven’t even touched my personality,” said Hogg. “You want to talk about how I hide behind a wall of sarcasm?”

“Nah, I don’t mind that. Overly sincere people make me uncomfortable,” said Brin.

“Well, if you think of one more, Zilly will be at a gold,” said Hogg.

“The way you dress!” said Zilly. “You don’t dress like a dad, you dress like an adventurer.”

“I’ll allow it, but only because I’m not carrying any change,” said Hogg. He flipped a gold coin towards her and she snatched it out of the air. “Now get lost!”

“Later, Brin!” said Zilly, and took off down the road.

They listened to her footsteps retreat behind them. Then they listened to the rustling of the breeze in the trees, the buzzing of the insects, and the ever present calling of the birds, until Hogg finally spoke. “It’s not like I never cook.”

“Right? It’s weird she just assumed that. You make a decent stew,” said Brin.

“Bite your tongue. I make a great stew.”

The conversation dwindled again. They walked. The weather, the scenery, the birds in the trees, they were all absolutely normal and Brin couldn’t find a single thing to remark upon to break up the stiflingly awkward silence.

“That last one, I don’t think it was completely true,” said Brin.

“Damn right. There’s nothing wrong with the way I dress!” said the black-clad man.

Brin didn’t match his smile. “I meant the one before that.”

“Oh,” said Hogg, and looked solemn.

“You don’t treat me like an adult or a child. If I was a child, you’d care for me, and if I was an adult, you’d befriend me. But you haven’t done either. You haven’t done anything because you don’t know which one I am. I don’t even know if I’m a child or an adult. I have the power of a child, the body of a child, and the social status of a child. I have the memories of an adult, sure, but they don’t help at all. None of those memories are useful; they don’t do anything for me, they’re just an anchor tied to my back. For all intents and purposes, I’m even younger than I look, because I have no idea how to act in this world. When I look at Zilly and Davi, I don’t see children anymore. I see the big kids. Because they have fourteen years of experience living in this world and I don’t even have one. I have no idea how to live. I don’t… I just don’t know how to live.”

His voice cut off, and there were tears in his eyes. In front of Hogg of all people. So embarrassing. This was why he hadn’t wanted to do this. Why couldn’t people leave well enough alone? He was fine.

“That’s why I’m always trying to get Achievements all day every day. I don’t know how to do anything else. I don’t have anyone.”

“I told you I don’t know how to do this,” said Hogg.

“Then try!” said Brin. “I don’t know how to do anything! But I try, don’t I? No one can tell me I didn’t try.”

“All right. Ok,” Hogg said quietly. “I’ll try. Burn me, I’ll try.”

“Good,” said Brin, snorting up a runny nose. “That’s all I ask.”

“Are we supposed to hug now or something?” asked Hogg.

“Please no,” said Brin.

“Damnit, I think we have to hug anyway,” said Hogg.

Hogg grabbed Brin’s shoulder to turn him around and pulled him into a hug, pressing Brin’s head against his chest. Hogg was still a lot taller than Brin, but not for very much longer at the rate he was going. Hogg held him there for a minute and patted his back.

It was the most awkward, mortifying, and embarrassing thing Brin had ever experienced in either of his entire lives. Despite all possible rhyme or reason, it still made him feel a lot better. Brin hugged him back, tightly, and let it all fall away. It felt like a weight had been lifted. When Hogg finally let him go, he realized it was a beautiful day. Had the sun always been that bright?

“Can I say something in my defense?” asked Hogg.

“I suppose that’s fair,” said Brin.

“If I had a child, a real one, I would never treat him the way I’ve treated you,” said Hogg.

Brin snorted, then laughed. The laughter felt good after all those heavier emotions. “Oh, awesome, good to know.”

“No, listen. I would’ve tried to give him what you needed. What those parents in town give their kids. Stability, good influences, support, all that dumb crap. On the other hand, if I had the same opportunity that you had to go back and do things over, I would do everything exactly like you. I would forget everything else and get every single achievement I could. Friends, relationships, peace of mind, good food, relaxation, a good reputation? You can get all those things after your System Day. But if you don’t get those achievements now, then you lose your only chance.”

“Thank you! Why does everyone act like I’m crazy for going after them?”

“Think about it from their perspective. If you had a son your age, would you do all the things to him that you’re doing to yourself?” asked Hogg.

“Of course not. But it’s my choice. No one is forcing me into this.”

“They don’t know that. They don’t know what’s inside you. All they see is a sullen, angry boy named Scar the Mistaken who’s doing everything in his power to turn himself into a killing machine. I let you go at it, because from my perspective you were doing everything right. And because there are some Achievements you can’t get if someone helps you, and there’s even some you can’t get if someone tells you to do it.”

“Oh. So is that why…?”

“We shouldn’t even talk about it, just in case. If you’re going to do something, then make sure I don’t know about it.”

“Huh,” said Brin. As excuses went, that was a fairly good one. But it had still hurt.

“But I still should’ve been there. As a person. I definitely shouldn’t have let that thing with Tawna get as far as it did. That’s on me. I’m sorry,” said Hogg.

He felt like he had mostly forgiven Hogg, assuming the guy really did follow through, but it was too early to say so. “Thank you for the apology. And for what it’s worth, thank you for helping me out in town. Are you sure what you did back there was smart? It’s not going to make us any more popular.”

“It’s going to make you a lot more sympathetic. And I’ve never been popular. I am feared and respected, and it’s about time some people remember why.”

“What about the thing with Tawna?” asked Brin. “Neither the Prefit nor Tawna like me. Putting their heads together is sure to end up with some new scheme.”

“I think you’ll be surprised how that turns out.”

“I’ll take your word for it for now, but I still think it’s going to backfire,” said Brin.

“If it does, I’ll deal with it when it comes,” said Hogg.

“So, three days, huh?” asked Brin.

“That’s right. You still want those achievements, or have you finally figured out that life is about more than⁠—”

“The achievements, please.”

Hogg grinned. “Oh, thank the gods. I don’t know what a healthy, balanced lifestyle looks like but it sounds boring as all the hells. So walk me through it. What have you tried, and what have you got?”

Brin jumped at the chance. He’d been trying to get Hogg to help him with this since day one. If the old adventurer was willing to extend an olive branch and finally give more than tiny hints and really help, then he would be glad to accept it.

“Davi and I have been working out every day, and Zilly joins in sometimes. We were sort of stalled out for a while, only getting one natural Strength every two weeks, until we made a breakthrough by training muscle groups that weren’t getting worked in our regular routine. Zilly got Strong I, Davi shot up past Strong II in no time, and I’m at thirty-six, so only three away from the second threshold. I don’t have any doubt that I’ll be able to get it,” said Brin.

“Good. Then be done with Strength for now. You won’t have a problem,” said Hogg.

“I still need three more, but I’m confident⁠—”

“You can never have too many, but I’m saying that you won’t have a problem,” said Hogg.

Oh. Hogg meant that an achievement would push him over. One that they couldn’t talk about or it might disqualify him. Killing a monster in the forest. It had to be.

“Dexterity was really stalled out for the longest time. Then Zilly had the answer for me. I should’ve asked her ages ago. Apparently when I worked on Dexterity, I only worked on one aspect of it, the fine-motor control. Apparently flexibility and acrobatics play a big role in it as well. Once I started working on that stuff, it skyrocketed. I’m at twenty-four.

“Vitality and Will are doing well at thirty. I noticed when I got them, I didn’t get new Rare achievements. Workhorse just upgraded to give a Vitality and Will per level. Zilly has Adept, and all her Rare attribute achievements got carried into there.”

“That’s normal,” said Hogg.

“Ok. Maybe I could go for the second threshold on one of them? But I don’t have a way to directly train them. Mental Control and Magic are the hardest.”

“I know about your Mana-drainer,” said Hogg.

“Oh, well in that case it gave me five points in Magic, but it’s pretty much stopped doing anything except give me headaches. I made a breakthrough in Mental Control by using the Mana-drainer to fry my brain and then try to read or do math. I got five points that way. You know anything that could help?”

“I’ll ask Lumina, but it’s a long shot. Most children that get the Magic achievement start when they’re five,” said Hogg. “It’s the one attribute that’s not worth it, especially with how easy it is to get magic with a Class. Mental Control might be possible, but we’re pretty close to the deadline. I’d suggest we start with Dexterity.”

“Works for me.” Brin shrugged.

“Have you tried sleight-of-hand? Stealth?” asked Hogg.

“No?”

“Hm. Ok, I’m going to suggest something, but if you don’t want to do it, we don’t have to,” said Hogg.

“I’m listening.”

“What I should do is take you out for ice cream. And don’t even say it, because no one is too old for ice cream. There’re no parlors around here and we’re banned from town regardless, but I know how to make it. We should spend the next three days… bonding, or whatever it is that we were supposed to be doing this entire time. Then you can spend the next three weeks until System Day shoring up your achievements,” said Hogg.

“You had me at ice cream,” said Brin in an over-the-top way, pretending to swoon.

“The other option is that I go the complete opposite direction and become the drill instructor from hell for the next three days, with an absolute focus on attributes and achievements.”

“Does the drill instructor from hell still make ice cream?” asked Brin.

“Fine, ok, yes. But don’t enjoy it too much!”

Brin took a deep breath. Taking a break was the healthy choice. Bonding time and focusing on fixing his relationship with the only real parental figure he had in town was probably the right decision. But he wanted those attributes.

“I want to train,” said Brin. “We can do all that other stuff after System Day. For now, it’s good enough to know you’re on my side.”

“Good. Then follow me. Do what I do. Don’t talk.”

Hogg turned into the forest and disappeared. For once, [Know What’s Real] didn’t say anything. He was just gone.

Brin went to the spot where Hogg had disappeared and saw him creeping along the shadow of a tree. In the bright daylight, suddenly moving behind a tree and then into a spot of dark shadow had made him incredibly hard to see. It was impressive considering it was the middle of the day.

Brin followed his path, crouching down the same way and walking through the same place. He followed the way that Hogg walked. He placed his feet in the same places, then noticed how Hogg was stepping, with toes first, and copied that, too.

A bird called in the tree, and Brin only glanced at it for an instant, but by the time his eyes went back Hogg was gone again. It didn’t take him long to find him, lying down behind a patch of grass he would’ve sworn wasn’t big enough to hide a person.

“Let me ask you something,” said Hogg, standing up. “Did [Know What’s Real] tell you that the birdcall was from me?”

“No,” said Brin, but then really thought about it. He hadn’t noticed at the time, but now thinking back on it, his Skill had been disturbed by something. “Actually, yeah. I think it did. I didn’t notice at the time.”

“You’re a visual person. Just now, you were matching the way I look when I walk. You’re a natural at thinking about things like sight lines, and you’re generally good at noticing things with your eyes, but I don’t think you were thinking about sound at all. You’re loud. So for now you’re going to practice moving quietly.

“Although stealth is about more than moving quietly. You’re not being quiet for quiet’s sake. Today you have a purpose, and that purpose is to improve and refine your control over your physical body. It’s about control. Moving silently means moving with complete control, total precision, and intentionality. You aren’t letting chance decide how much noise your footsteps are going to make. You’re taking control. Think about a cat moving around a house. Even at home its every step is measured, its landings are controlled, and all needless sound is avoided.

“Stealth is also about awareness. Awareness of yourself, your body, and the world around you. Some people practice awareness by sitting around all day trying to think about nothing. What a waste of time. You never really know who you are until you’re fully, truly engaged.

“Stealth is something you learn by doing, so I’m going to give you time to practice. Listen to the way things sound. Feel the difference in the way you engage your muscles when you’re trying to be stealthy, versus how you move normally. You’ll find yourself tensing muscles you’d normally relax, and relaxing where you’d normally be tense. It might be tiring at first, but mostly it’ll be dispersing the strain of each movement throughout the body. Think about it like this: a loud landing is a heavy landing. The softer the impact, the less sound it makes.”

“And Stealth will help with Dexterity?” asked Brin.

“Yes. It’s a type of Dexterity that you haven’t been focusing on. Here.”

A thin white circle appeared at the edge of his vision. His Skill told him it was an illusion, but that was obvious. “What’s⁠—”

The white circle expanded wildly with the sound of his voice, turning yellow and then red. A sound detector?

“That will pick up any sound within three yards of you,” said Hogg. “Keep it white; anything higher and people will hear you. Well, [Rogues] will hear you no matter what, and there are some other Classes you can’t sneak up on.”

“Like [Illusionists]?”

“Not all of them. You could sneak up on Gustaff, easy. But for the most part, yes,” said Hogg. “And sensory Classes are rare. That’s why [Rogues] are so… well, not valued, but tolerated.”

“Good to know,” said Brin.

A cricket chirped near Brin. He’d been expecting it this time, so he noticed when his Skill pegged the sound as an illusion. He also noticed his sound detector circle expand into the red.

“Wait, that’s not fair. I didn’t do that,” said Brin.

“People will glance at random sounds, even if you don’t make them. Stay aware of your surroundings. All right. I’m off. Come home when you get a point in Dexterity.”

Hogg turned and ran into the forest. He climbed a tree, jumped off it to grab a branch on another tree, swung around it, and then hit the ground in a roll. It was unnatural how quiet he was, like watching a movie on mute. Brin had been watching and listening carefully. No illusion magic had softened the sound. Hogg really was that sneaky.

If he thought this was an important Skill to learn, even for someone who had magic to make it completely unnecessary, Brin would try his best.

Hogg ruined the air of mystery by immediately returning for Marksi. “You already know how to do this. Anything your size that can sneak up on a fly and catch it with your mouth has already mastered Stealth.”

Once he was really gone, Brin got started. His first step made the circle turn yellow. This was going to be slow going.

So he took it slow. He crept at a snail’s pace to start, until he was sure he could move without disturbing the circle, then moved quicker until he was walking normally.

Then he started to jog, then to run. It surprised him how intuitive it was, like it was something his body already knew how to do and had just been waiting for him to try. He could feel how to tense his legs to soften the blow with the ground, how to adjust his center of gravity to make everything a bit smoother.

He could mostly run silently, but every ten feet or so he’d do something or step on something that would make his white circle expand. That wasn’t any good at all. He needed to be silent dependably, not only in spurts.

So he started over, paying attention to the types of things that would make sounds if he stepped on them. It wasn’t so much a matter of placing his feet as it was navigating his path. Roots and the hard ground near trees were mostly safe, as long as he watched out for twigs. Tall grass shushed too much when he ran but would actually cover his sound if he walked slowly. Open ground was almost always wet, and splashing or the sucking sound of mud would give him away. Plus, he’d get mud on his shoes.

It was strange to be doing this in daylight, but really he was practicing being quiet rather than actually sneaking, and the sunlight made it easier to see things he shouldn’t step on.

It surprised him how quickly he picked it up, but he was probably only out there for two hours before he could dependably run through the forest without disturbing his white circle. It was thrilling; it felt like a superpower.

He was almost disappointed when the notification popped up; he was having too much fun.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Dexterity +1

He wanted to keep going. There was no reason he had to go home right away. He tried doing what Hogg had done, and climbed a tree.

He climbed a tree silently on his first try, until he put a foot down too heavy on a branch and it made the leaves shake. His circle didn’t move, but in real life someone would’ve noticed, so he counted it as a failure.

Besides, Hogg hadn’t climbed a tree. He’d run straight up it. Brin tried what Hogg had done, and was surprised at how well his body followed his mental image of what it should do. He’d noticed how easy his Strength had been making things, but all his attributes were a lot higher now, including his Dexterity.

He ran straight up the tree, jumped off, and landed on the ground sort of hard but at least on his feet, and turned it into an awkward roll. Not perfect, but not a bad start, and… parkour! This was parkour! Why hadn’t he done this before? This was one of the things he’d always sort of dreamed of being able to do, ever since playing Mirror’s Edge the first time, but in his past life he’d never believed it was something he’d be able to do.

Now, though, there was no stopping him. He kept working until he could do the exact move-set that Hogg had showed him without disturbing that white circle. It didn’t give him another Dexterity, but by the time he stumbled back home he was walking on air, dreaming about all the awesome things he’d be able to do now.

Hammon’s Bog, with its two- and three-story buildings all tight together, would be perfect for parkour. Yes, he’d be arrested immediately and he’d even kind of deserve it, but if he was quiet enough…

“Took you longer than I thought,” said Hogg.

“Nah, I got the Dexterity a while ago. I didn’t want to come back, though. I was having too much fun.”

“Fair enough. Now try this,” said Hogg.

He was seated at the dining room table with a deck of cards. He pulled one off the top and showed it to Brin. Then he moved his other hand in front of it, and the card was gone. He wiggled his fingers.

Brin had seen this one before. It wasn’t in the hand that had gone over it, it was held on the back of the fingers of the original hand. The wiggling fingers covered the movement of the card falling behind the wrist to fall into the crook of the elbow. Nobody looks at elbows and you could do all kinds of things from there.

Brin sat down and copied the trick. It took him three tries to get it right. A slew of notifications appeared.

Through training you have increased the following attribute.

Dexterity +1

Congratulations!

You have gained an achievement.

Dexterous I (Common)

You have reached 26 Dexterity.

+10 speed with Dexterity-related activities. +10% Dexterity attribute growth.

Congratulations!

You have upgraded an achievement.

Workhorse (Rare)

Now gives you:

+1 Dexterity per level.

“Ta daaaa!” said Hogg, letting the sound hang in the air.

“Oh, come on!” Brin said, and slammed his open hand against the table. “I’ve been working my butt off this whole time, when three words from you could’ve gotten me miles ahead.”

“Oh come off it, it’s not that bad,” said Hogg. “The more attributes you get, the harder it is to get them. Even that ten percent boost doesn’t help the slowdown much. If I’d given you these tips right away, it would’ve made the other training you did less effective. Now that we’re up against your System Day, we can start plucking all that low-hanging fruit.”

“I still think it would’ve gone better if you’d trained me the whole time,” Brin griped.

“I had another reason, you remember? Whatever you are in your head, the gods still see you as a child. The world might punish me for doing this. Or it might not. I’ve decided to do it regardless,” said Hogg.

“What made you change your mind?” asked Brin.

“Lumina, mostly. But also… you know, if I ever had a son he’d probably be around your age. Your real age, not this teenage boy. Now buck up, next we’re going to learn the most important Dexterity ability of all. Something you’ve been woefully inadequate in.”

“Fighting? Are you going to teach me how to fight?” asked Brin.

“It’s time to learn how to steal stuff.”