Chapter 16:
Mint Tea
I woke the next morning to the sweet scent of mint and the steady patter of rain falling through the branches that loomed above our heads. I willed my sore body to move, and every muscle ached as I barely managed to haul myself into a sitting position. Thick dark clouds churned overhead, as thunder rumbled low in the distance.
As I looked around the camp, I was surprised to find that Hershel was already awake, a sleeping Neil holding him in place as he rested against he grandfathersâs side.
âMornin', lad,â Hershel said quietly, doing his best not to disturb Neil. âYou manage to sleep last night?â
âWell enough. Iâm surprised weâre still dry, I barely remember setting up this tent.â I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I did my best to take inventory of our camp.
âMy old bones ainât cut out for them kind of late nights. I guess they ainât cut out for getting stabbed either, but thereâs a first for everything, I suppose.â He tried to smile reassuringly, but couldnât quite manage to commit to the gesture. Instead he lightly brushed Neilâs hair aside while the young man slept.
âSam, I want you to know, I canât thank you enough for what you did. You saved me and my grandson, and for that, I owe you more than youâll ever know. Youâre family to us now. No different than one of me sons or grandchildren, and youâll always have a place at my table.â
He smiled, as a genuine warmth radiated from the man. âWhen me wife hears about this sheâs going to chew my ass a new cheek for not keeping you boys safeâ¦I think we ought to take the long way home if we can, cause thats a beating not even you can heal.â
I laughed quietly and leaned my head back against the wagonâs side. âI donât regret what I done, and if put in that situation again, Iâd make the same choice⦠but taking someone elseâs life just felt, unnatural.â
Hershel nodded solemnly and rested his head against the wagon as well. âSometimes The Path leads us to dangerous places. Taking another manâs life ainât easy, but itâs a choice Iâm thankful you made.â
As I watched the rain fall outside our shelter, memories of last night surged back, forcing their way to the forefront of my mind: the smell of blood, the hands around my throat, the feeling of my sickle cutting into another manâs flesh.
I hadnât had time to process my feelings about what had happened yet. Was I proud? Scared? Angry? I just didnât know how to feel.
As I pondered these thoughts and listened to the steady pattering of water against the canvas tarp above us, the sweet smell of mint once again filled my senses, stronger now than it had been earlier.
âHershel, this might be an odd question, but do you smell mint?â
âMint? No, lad, I donât think I do. You reckon thereâs a patch nearby?â
Unable to ignore the scent, I began digging through nearby bags and even stepped out into the rain to search around the tree weâd camped beside. To my growing frustration, no mint was anywhere to be found, the wet earth was slick under my boots as the scent lingered stubbornly in the air.
âLad, are you ok?â Hershel asked, watching me with growing concern as I stormed around the camp..
âHershel, you wouldnât by chance have any mint on the wagon, would you?â
Hershel thought for a moment, then pointed toward a box sitting underneath a pile of supplies.
âWell, thereâs my spice box weâve been using for cooking. There might be some mint in there, but not enough to cause the fit youâre throwing.â
At his prompting, I sifted through the various spices within the container. I was on the verge of called off my search, when I stumbled upon a small, long forgotten pouch buried at the bottom of the box. Its contents had long since lost their vitality and couldnât possibly be the source of the rich aroma that filled the air around me.
âHershel, letâs go ahead and get a fire started. Iâll make us some tea and get breakfast started once Neil wakes up.â
We got to work clearing a space for the fire, using the wood weâd managed to keep dry through the night. Once the kindling caught, I set a small kettle over the growing flames and waited as the water slowly came to a boil.
I placed the dried mint leaves into a pair of cups and then poured the steaming water over them. The heat revived what it could of the brittle leaves, causing them to release their potential once more as the rising steam carried the freshness of mint into the crisp morning air.
As the warmth of the fire washed over us in our little camp, I sat back down beside Hershel, handing him his cup of tea.
âThank you, lad,â Hershel said, as he took a sip of the tea and let out a contented sigh. âMaybe you just had a craving and needed a cup to settle your nerves.â
Following Hershelâs example, I leaned back against the wagon and raised the cup to my lips. The aroma of the tea was relaxing, and I felt itâs warmth flow through me as I drank. I closed my eyes as I savored the moment, letting my thoughts wander as the fire burned peacefully nearby.
As I meditated on the calmness of the morning, I realized I could no longer hear the comforting sound of the rain, nor could I hear the sound of the fire crackling beneath the iron kettle. The sudden stillness of the morning disturbed me enough that it wrestled me out of my moment of tranquility.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was shocked to find that I was no longer sitting in the middle of our hastily thrown together camp. I once again found myself in a white room that seemed to stretch on forever in all directions, with no walls or borders in sight.
âWait⦠whatâs going on?â
Looking down, I was surprised to find that my hands were cradling a white stone cup that was filled to the brim with mint tea. Beside me stood a small white table, with a matching kettle resting atop it. Across from me sat another cup, turned upside down, the seat beyond it was empty of company.
Under normal circumstances, someone would usually pay a priest of the path to act as a conduit in order to reach the spiritual realm. Yet, here I was. How did this happen? As if in response to my thoughts, a glassy screen appeared before me, itâs golden text providing an answer to my question.
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Legacies:
Mint Tea (Unique) - Grants access to the Spiritual Realm without the support of an ability. Simply brew a cup of mint tea.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
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It appeared the Old Man had given me a gift that I hadnât fully appreciated at the time. If I ever got a chance to speak with him again, Iâd be sure to thank him properly.
I set the cup gently upon the table, took a deep breath, and rose to my feet. The sooner I finished whatever business that had brought me here, the sooner I could return to Neil and Hershel. With that in mind, I made my way to the exit, if you could call it that, and stepped out onto the path ahead.
My footsteps echoed softly, each one sending a faint ripple of light through the surface beneath me. With every step, the world around me seemed to breathe, as gentle waves of energy pulsed outward into the vast expanse around me.
I watched with growing curiosity as a thick fog began to creep in from all directions. The intangible wisps curled around me until my eyes could no longer see the path on which I stood.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping to clear them, when shapes began to stir within the fog. At first, they were little more than shifting geometries, forms without purpose or meaning, but as I watched, they began to slowly reshape themselves into something recognizable.
To my left, I saw myself with the priest, Father Elias, my hand hesitantly reaching toward a budding flower. The emotions of that moment surged through me again; the thrill, the excitement, and the warmth of my ability as it moved through my body. It was as if I were living the moment all over again.
To my right, I watched as I cooked dinner for Neil and Hershel beside the fire. The meal hadnât turned out as I had hoped, in fact it turned out worse than I could have possibly imagined. Yet, there was a sense of discovery in the failure, and I couldnât help but smile at the memory.
The memories that played out around me continued to shift and take shape with every step that I took. To my growing unease, the fog began to weave another scene, one I would have preferred never to see again.
My dark silhouette slipped behind the unsuspecting man and drove a sickle into his neck. The sickening sound of flesh tearing open struck me just as sharply now as it had the night before. Every sensation came rushing back, the anger, the fear, and the dizzying rush of ecstasy as I used Reap and harvested for the first time.
Finally, I watched as I poured potential into Hershel and Neilâs wounds, pulling them back from the brink of death. The moment Neilâs eyes opened, relief surged through me all over again, and I couldnât hold back the tears that now stained my cheeks.
The two memories played out one after another, forming a strange dichotomy. Despite their differences, I felt myself beginning to reconcile the experiences. I had taken life, yes, but I had also saved lives. The Path of the Harvester was said to be one of balance, and perhaps this was my first real step towards understanding the weight of that responsibility.
Slowly, the fog that surrounded me began to fade away. In itâs place a glassy mirror now stood blocking my path forward. In its reflection, I saw my face for the first time since Iâd left home. I looked much the same, as the journey had just begun, however, there was now a hardened edge to my features. It was subtle, but the change was evident. I was in the process of becoming something new.
As I stared into my reflection, familiar golden script began to scrawl across the mirror's surface as it presented me with the details of my path and the changes that had been applied to my attributes.
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Update:
Congratulations, you have taken your first steps along the Path of the Harvester. This is a path of balance.
Not only have you taken a life, but you have restored the lives of others. Continue exploring your abilities to progress further along the path.
You have leveled up
Resources have been restored.
Stats increased: Spirit +3, Fortitude +3, and +1 all other attributes
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Path: Harvester
Harvesters are stewards of the eternal cycle, gifted with the ability to reap and sow the lingering energies of both beast and man; their path is one of balance, wielding harvested potential to fulfill their sacred duty. They do not merely take; they reclaim, restore, and empower, ensuring the cycle endures.
(Using the abilities of your class will grant experience toward your next level.)
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Name: Samuel Jacob Garner
Race: Human
Affinities: Life and Death
Domains: Divine 1
(New domains available every 20 levels)
Path: Path of the Harvester
Level: 2
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Attributes: Updated:
Strength: 7
Agility: 7
Fortitude: 11
Perception: 7
Spirit: 10
Intelligence: 6
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Legacies:
Mint Tea (Legendary) - Grants access to the path without the support of an ability, Simply brew a cup of mint tea.
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Domain Ability: [Spirit Well] (Common)
A tool of potential, Spirit Well allows practitioners to draw in and store Spiritual Potential within an internal reservoir. Stored SP may be manifested through the use of skills and abilities. Maximum SP is determined by one's Spirit attribute.
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Path Ability: [Reap] (Legendary)
A tool of potential, Reap allows the user to harvest the various forms of potential.
Item required: Scythe or Sickle
Skills: (Unlocked through use of ability)
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Path Ability: [Sow] (Legendary)
A tool of potential, Sow allows the user to amplify various forms of potential.
Skills: (Unlocked through use of ability)
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Skills:
Green Thumb (Rank 1: level 1)- Amplify the vital potential within plants causing them to mature at a faster rate. This skill scales with Spirit.
Mend Wounds (Rank 1: level 2)- Amplify the vitality within a target in order to rapidly heal an injury. This skill scales with Spirit..
Spirit Harvest: (Rank 1: level 1)- Harvest spiritual potential from an available source. Potential harvested in this way will automatically be placed in the users internal reservoir. Excess potential will be lost.
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As I looked over my updated status I couldnât help but smile at the small amount of progress that I had made. All of my stats had received a boost and I could already feel some of the changes as they took effect. My reservoir of potential expanded slightly and I instinctively knew that I could now hold just a little more potential.
My Fortitude had also hit double digits and I was curious to see how much my tolerance and toughness had improved as a result. How much did one stat point effect a person anyway? Was it a subtle change or an exponential one? I guess I would have to experiment later once we arrived in Salt Brine.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the skills I had acquired were now present on a list. It even kept track of the progress I had made with my Mend Wounds skill, which only made me wonder how many levels it would take to advance in rank. I guess I could ask Hershel about that when I got the chance, surely with his age he had progressed his skills a decent amount.
My eyes looked over the screen a final time and upon seeing nothing else of interest, I dismissed it from my view. The screen then reappeared before me as it displayed one final prompt.
Would you like to return to the physical world?
Yes / No
Not wanting Hershel or Neil to wait for me any longer than necessary, I reached out and touched the screen.