The chime takes me off guard, but I quickly recover as the first inheritance’s familiar information fills my mind.
NAME: THREE INFUSIONS BREATHING
TYPE: MEDITATION AND MARTIAL ARTS
PROGRESS: PEAK TIER TWO
DETAILS: CREATED BY THE FIRST TEA SAGE, THIS INHERITANCE FOCUSES ON MEDITATION AND MARTIAL ARTS WITH MAJOR AFFINITY TO WATER WITH MINOR AFFINITIES IN FIRE, EARTH, AND AIR.
I look up at Mallorc and see that he is already looking at me with a smile. I focus again on the familiar details of Three Infusions Breathing and notice the auras I’ve become accustomed to radiating off the book. I never did ask the Old Man where the meditation technique came from and it makes sense that the first Tea Sage created a technique that made it possible for his inheritors to learn the Class and have a solid framework.
This inheritance is probably a safe bet for me to start with, but it just feels mundane. As much as the meditation technique has helped me so far—I don’t believe that doing more of the same will be sufficient to make me as strong as I want. I’m terrified that if I make the wrong choice today, I will limit myself to a life of being average. Now that I have this opportunity because of the Tea Sage, I want to be extraordinary and make something of myself. I make a mental note that it is an option if the other inheritances don’t meet my expectations, but I truly doubt this is what I will end up picking.
I set the book down and exhale a long breath I didn’t know I’d been holding onto. I try to steel my nerves as my hand shakily reaches for the next book. There is an ice-cold quality to the air directly surrounding the book and the veins on my hand show purple through my skin as I lift the book from its place on the table. A cracking sound rings in my head—cold and piercing.
-Inheritance Discovered-
NAME: CRYSTALBREW SUTRA
TYPE: MEDITATION AND MAGIC
PROGRESS: LOWER TIER THREE
DETAILS: CREATED BY THE SNOW EMPEROR TEA SAGE, THIS INHERITANCE FOCUSES ON MEDITATION AND MAGIC WITH MAJOR AFFINITY TO WATER AND A MINOR AFFINITY IN AIR.
I feel frost building up on my hand. The aura surrounding the tome seems to be frozen in place with mana struggling to flow near the manual. The inheritance held a reserved strength that seems so much more resolute in its style than the Three Infusions Breathing. The opportunity to become a mage instantly makes the CrystalBrew Sutra a more appealing choice.
With the book in hand I can imagine a portal diving future standing amongst the corpses of monsters—discovering what each of the worlds has to over and seizing it. My mind is frozen on this choice and I don’t even want to look at the other inheritances. This is my ability to take the future I saw with Waterweaver Initiate. I can have my cake and eat it too.
Breaking me from my reverent thoughts, Mallorc speaks up. “That seems to be a very powerful inheritance. I’ve never seen it before, but based on the way your body reacts to it, I believe we will have to do something to increase your constitution and compatibility for it or it could cause harm. If it ends up being your choice we will have to see if there is a body modification technique in the book for you to practice.”
Almost not believing Mallorc, I set the book down and feel the spell binding my thoughts fall away. I don’t know if it was my body’s reaction to the power offered or if there was a powerful mind debuff on that inheritance, but I lost myself to the inheritance. I sigh slightly discouraged and intimidated. Deciding the incompatibility will be a bridge to cross if I choose the sutra—I move my gaze to the next book. The last remnants of the ice mana leaves my body exhausted and I struggle to focus my mana sense on the tome.
The mana flows smoothly around the inheritance—exhibiting airy, floral properties—the mana seems to desperately beg for my attention. Excited by the compatibility with this art I reach out quickly and pick up the thin book. Expecting relative weightlessness, I am surprised by how heavy it is—I struggle to lift it from its current resting place. The cover reminds me of running my fingers through velvet flower petals. A light, almost ghostly bell rings in my mind—faint and almost non-existent.
-Inheritance Discovered-
NAME: BREATH OF THE PETAL
TYPE: MEDITATION AND SUPPORT
PROGRESS: MIDDLE TIER ONE
DETAILS: CREATED BY THE SERENE TEA SAGE, THIS INHERITANCE FOCUSES ON MEDITATION AND SUPPORT WITH MAJOR AFFINITY TO WIND AND A MINOR AFFINITY IN EARTH.
My excitement instantly crumbles as I see that this inheritance hasn’t progressed past the middle of tier one. Of course the perfect art for me is the least advanced—nothing can be easy for me, it seems. As drawn to the compatibility as I was I thought that I had found the perfect option. I will keep it as a back up option. The Old Man said he was able to push his inheritance past where it was originally, but moving it from the first tier to the third without a guideline to follow seems overly ambitious.
With that light reassurance, I am a little more hopeful that even if none of the other inheritances are as compatible as I would like I will have Mallorc’s help in researching how to advance the Breath of the Petal art. Before I can set the book down, I feel a flare of mana exude from the book and immediately I feel a spike in my mana quantity and the speed at which it was flowing through my body. As if the inheritance was displaying its power—I began to think my initial concern on its progress may not be as inhibiting as I initially believed.
Finally setting Breath of the Petal down—I start to panic as I look at the fourth inheritance—the last book on the table. I’m getting to the last half of the inheritances and so far nothing has been the perfect fit. I extend my mana sense to it and feel the book bursting at the seams with the sensation of life and revitalization. While the other books so far hold to them a slight edge of danger and power, this inheritance exhibits soothing and healing properties.
Stolen story; please report.
I reach out for the book, the cover cool and refreshing to the touch. Picking it up I am aware of soreness leaving my limbs and a light serenity washing away any of the mental fog that has built up with the gravity of today’s events. A small metallic jingle rings in my mind—reminiscent of small bells used by church healers. Unlike the previous arts a feeling of divinity and higher powers emanates from the pages.
-Inheritance Discovered-
NAME: CELESTIAL TISANE RITE
TYPE: HEALING AND DIVINE
PROGRESS: MIDDLE TIER FOUR
DETAILS: CREATED BY THE HERBAL SOVEREIGN TEA SAGE, THIS INHERITANCE FOCUSES ON HEALING AND SUPPORT WITH A MAJOR PLANT AFFINITY AND MINOR WATER AND LIGHT AFFINITIES.
I am taken aback by the tier of this art. This is the most powerful of the arts so far and healers are always in high demand for portal parties because of how rare they are. This could be perfect, being a healer would open so many doors for me. Plus if I consider how far this inheritance has progressed I could be the strongest healer in all of Verdance.
I excitedly hand the book toward Mallorc. “I don’t know how this inheritance got offered to me. It seems incredibly powerful but other than my water affinity matching one of the minor requirements, I have none of the requirements to practice it. I am going to choose this one if I can though.”
He considerately takes the book from my hand and I can see his eyes await the System information. After a few seconds, he opens the art and begins reading the first few pages.
A few minutes pass before he looks up. “Well I have good and bad news. The good news is that there is a body modification art in here that you could use. We also have most if not all of the required herbs to practice it. The bad news is that you would have to become devout to a god and receive their blessing which usually takes a year or so before this would be an option. Also the body modification would be incredibly painful. All in all, this inheritance is an option it would just set you back some more time.”
I nod. The feeling of disappointment crippling my joy—another great option is limited by outside factors. There are many churches within Verdance for various gods, I have never felt the need to devote myself—because of my lack of background it would be easy to lose my independence by being drawn into the clergy. Mallorc also doesn’t worship any of the local gods, at least, so he’s also never dragged me to the churches.
I will choose CrystalBrew or Breath of the Petal before I willingly push back my timeline even further and shackle myself to a god’s wishes. I take the book, setting it back down before a twinge in my shoulder pulls me out of my thoughts. The constant changes in mana flow seem to be accumulating some damage. It makes sense now why Mallorc said you can only practice one of these arts at a time.
I reach for the hand shovel, but I’m stopped by the Old Man’s hand grabbing me. “These objects are imbued with the inheritance of its creator. Inheritances imbued in objects are generally very powerful, but they have strict requirements and can be difficult to progress because they are moved more by feeling than written word like the tomes. Whatever you do, don’t run your mana through them unless you are choosing it as your inheritance. You will be bound to that inheritance at least through the first tier.”
I take his words to heart as I focus on the mana fluctuating around the hand shovel. The power behind it dwarfs the previous inheritances and embodies the effects of growth and nourishment. I finish reaching for the object and can feel the coolness of fresh dirt against my hand as I grab its handle. Lifting the light object, I feel a muted and deep knell of a deep bell resonate through my body.
-Inheritance Discovered-
NAME: THE GARDEN’S STEWARD
TYPE: GARDENING AND SUPPORT
PROGRESS: PEAK TIER FOUR
DETAILS: CREATED BY THE GARDENING TEA SAGE, THIS INHERITANCE FOCUSES ON GROWING THEIR TEA GARDEN WITH MAJOR AFFINITY TO PLANT AND MINOR AFFINITIES IN EARTH AND WATER.
Peak Tier Four… That’s as close to godhood as someone could imagine. Looking at the type of inheritance and the focus on growing a garden this isn’t going to be very combat-focused. But does that even matter with the absolute power that would come with reaching that tier. The main complication I can foresee is that the major affinity doesn’t match mine, but Master has said repeatedly at this point—there are ways to adjust my constitution and align my affinity with this inheritance.
Ugh! Gardening has never been my thing though. Also I get the deep sense from this inheritance that it will not be a casual requirement but I will have to change my lifestyle completely. Do I really want to trap myself in a future that revolves around me sitting in a garden all day, every day caring for a bunch of tea plants.
The Old Man has hinted at it many times already, the current progress of the inheritance is not the most important thing, it matters more that I find an inheritance that is compatible to me and the future that I want. As amazingly powerful this is, I have to turn it down.
I set down the shovel feeling the empowering mana leave my body heavier than it was just seconds ago. Casting my gaze down the previous five inheritances, I find my attention drawn again to the CrystalBrew Sutra and Breath of the Petal. The former being an opportunity to exemplify powerful magics and potentially cold debuffing abilities that would make me a desirable addition to any portal party. The latter though seems to be made for me—the compatibility with the art is obvious to even my untrained senses and I don’t know if it is my hubris or what, but I know deep inside that I can continue to push that art further along its progression. So far, none of these inheitances have made the decision clear and the uncertainty is making me second guess myself constantly
Returning my mind to the task at hand, I turn my mana senses toward the small clay Kirin statue. Unlike the other arts, the mana flow does not exude from the object—I can feel it swirling tightly within its confines. Without being able to infer anything about the inheritance I reach out my hand and pick it up.
Confusion sets in as I feel resistance pushing against my hand, as I hold the statue in my hand. I feel the System identification start to pop up, but it becomes blurry and fades away before I can read any of the words. The world seems to fade away around me and the eyes of the statue begin to subtly glow dark red.
A tremor passes through me and any confidence I had seems to bleed away. I clench my hands to steady the shaking and a cold feeling of danger pushes down on me from all sides. My heart trembles and a cold sweat runs down my neck. Nothing happens for a minute—then two. I am floating in the void surrounding me. Suddenly, there is a melodic tinkling of wind chimes filling the space around me.
A soft, kind voice speaks in my mind. “You are not yet worthy, young sage. One day this inheritance might be helpful for you, but that day has not yet come.”
As the voice fades away, the pressure immediately vanishes, the world comes into focus again and my hand is left empty by the statue’s disappearance. I look around in confusion before looking up to see the same confusion on the face of Mallorc. I’m left in awe of the power left behind in the statue. What kind of tier would that inheritance be to leave its representation so powerful? My inner voice is screaming at me that I did something wrong, but I can’t help myself from reflecting on the pressure and power that left me frozen.
My internal panic is disrupted by the Old Man’s concern. “Cam—sit down. You’re pale.”
My body shakes, but my mind won’t still—whatever that inheritance was…it’s waiting for me. My body finally starts to calm down, and I feel the mental weariness kicking in from the high emotions of the day—without being able to fight it I slowly fade from consciousness.
