Chapter 14: Ch 14 - Suspicious

Back in the cell, Kente had Marke do ten minutes of Grace-guided meditative breathing. Focusing on Grace and his breathing took up most of Marke’s attention; the rest of his attention was listening to Kente guiding him to relax various areas of his body. The Grace skill reacted well to Marke’s efforts to relax and it smoothed all the tension from his muscles.

“Kente,” Marke said. “Why are you so much better at solving these problems than me? Things keep happening and you keep saving me. I can’t do anything on my own.” Though he was relaxed and calm, Marke had significant negative feelings.

“I don’t think I am better at solving problems.” Kente said. “I’m not being awkwardly supportive, I mean it. We both are looking at the same problems, but I’m not dealing with the pain of physical training or the discomfort of sleeping on this cot or the bland food. I’m having an easier time because I’m having an easier time. You could do the same as me if you were an incorporeal being of shadow.”

Marke sniffed. “Thanks, Kente.”

“No problem, buddy. Also, I think you might be the handsome twin, and that always brings trouble.” Kente switched from serious to ridiculous without the slightest change in his tone of voice. Marke laughed.

Marke and Kente spent time working on the Hide skill. Kente’s opinion was that, to hide, one needed to hide from something. Marke figured the reasoning was good, so he tried “hiding” from the guards outside the cell by crouching under the window, or standing in the corner by the door when food was delivered. Unfortunately, no food was delivered to Marke’s cell the rest of that day.

“This sucks.” Marke said that afternoon. “I’m gonna have trouble training for escape without food.” He sat hidden behind the cot. The pile of straw baskets on the cot blocked his head from view of the window.

“We might need to figure out how to accelerate the escape plan.” Kente said. “Maybe we can slip down the waste chute? Can we bribe the guards with straw hats? Hang on, here’s the eclipse.”

Marke leaned out from behind the straw baskets and watched the sun slide behind the moon. The moon became invisible much earlier in the day as the sun’s light didn’t hit the side of the moon facing the planet, so the eclipse looked like the sun was disappearing into a slit in the sky. When the sun was completely behind the moon, Marke could see a film of brightness around the outside of a black circle. The sun reappeared a moment later with a flash of blinding light that did not bother Marke’s eyes at all.

“It’s funny how I thought ‘Eclipse Sight’ would let me see in the dark, but it actually just lets me see eclipses and bright lights without hurting my eyes. It’s in the name: ‘Eclipse Sight’, sight for eclipses.” Marke turned his eyes to the box that popped up.

> Level + 1

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> New traits available

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> New skills available

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> The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

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> Stat points available

“Assign skill” Marke said without waiting for a reply from Kente. He began scrolling the skill list to find the one or two new skills. It was a bit annoying that the new ones were not always at the bottom on the list, but Marke and Kente looked through the list often enough that they could spot the new ones easily. When he found it, he felt two emotions strongly: joyful relief and suspicion.

“Kente, there’s a mind skill in here.” He said evenly. Kente had probably felt his emotional response, but Marke told him anyway. “It’s suspicious.”

“Huh? I’ll look.” Kente said. “I see it. Tell me why it is suspicious.”

“Look at the name. ‘Priority Mind’. I told you earlier that I wanted a skill to protect my mind and I said I needed it for Priority One. The first new skill available since then pulled the works right from our conversation that we had in my head.” Marke leaned back behind the pile of straw baskets.

“That is suspicious. It might also be an opportunity.” Kente said. “Anyway, are you going to take that skill?”

“I think I have to.” Marke said. “If the System picked out a skill just for me, it would be rude to refuse it.” He tapped the skill. “Skills.”

> Skills:

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> Basket Weaving – level 3

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> Grace – level 1

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> Climb – level 0

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> Walking – level 2

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> Juggling – level 2

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> Hide – level 1

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> Priority Mind – level 0

Hide training is working! Marke thought. I’m going to try ‘Priority Mind’ right away. He closed his eyes and focused on the new skill. He could feel it almost activate. He tried to push his mind into the skill but he got the impression that it worked differently than that. He concentrated for a minute but couldn’t get anything to work. When he dropped his focus and opened his eyes, Kente had a suggestion.

“I think it’s a problem of direction and intent. Look how Hide is now level 1; when you started to ‘hide from something’, it started taking effect. Grace doesn’t do anything until you engage in movement. The skills don’t just turn on like a switch, you have to be doing something with them to give them direction.” Kente said. “I actually wrote something similar in my notes about Grace this morning.”

“Ok, yeah, I can see that. It makes sense. So I should try thinking about something when I activate it. Oh, of course, I need to think about a Priority when I activate it.” Marke closed his eyes again. Priority One. He thought as he focused on Priority Mind. He felt his mind clear. He was a bit uncomfortable, sitting on the stone floor. The cot was a better sitting place. Marke got up from the floor and settled onto the cot.

Why did you stop hiding? Kente asked. Marke wasn’t really sure. Wasn’t hiding an important part of Priority One? He got up from the cot and sat back in his hiding spot. He was hungry. There was porridge in this building somewhere. He stood up and went to the cell door. What are you doing? Kente asked, confusion clear in his tone.

“I’m hungry.” Marke said. “I’m getting porridge.” He tried to open the cell door but it didn’t even have an accessible latch on the inside. Anyone who came in the cell would have to ask the guards to let them out. “Please let me out.” Marke said through the cell window. “I’m hungry.” One guard turned to him with an incredulous look on his face. This isn’t working. Marke thought.

“Marke, drop the skill.” Kente said. Marke dropped his focus on the skill and groaned from a sudden, small headache. “That was weird. What happened?” Kente asked.

Marke rubbed his eyes. “I think I was trying to accomplish Priority One, but I was kinda stupid about it.” He went back to his hiding place. “Priority One: Don’t Suffer. The floor is uncomfortable, so I moved to the cot. Then I was hungry and tried to get out by asking a guard.”

“Points for creativity, I guess.” Kente said. “Oh! A skill to focus your mind on a priority and help stimulate your creativity! This could actually be perfect. You just need more Intelligence. Er, I mean that in a good way.” Kente teased. Marke laughed.