After managing to sort out Mrs. Smithe—the woman who was capable of being a nurse for Rethi's mother—the next few days were rather demure, all things told. I mostly spent my time training in my bastardisation of the Sharah. Every day, Mayer would invite me to train with him in his genuine practice of the Sharah, and I would do my best to follow along and correct my self-teaching. My own katas were progressively becoming more fluid and increasingly difficult to perform as I added more and corrected past mistakes in my form and foot placement. As well as adding extra points to my kata where I summon of unsummon my Hammer. Something that I both hated and loved for different reasons, both calming and secretly infuriating. Though I have to say, it was becoming easier for me to incorporate movements and ideas, even if it was more technically difficult than ever.
It was quite a process and, before I knew it, it had been well over a week.
That was an issue, I found. Now that I was capable of staying awake indefinitely, I had become great at burning time practicing, and otherwise studying the Sharah. It was a point of interest to me all of a sudden. Of course, the allure of learning how to efficiently move was compelling, but not compelling enough to spend well over forty-eight hours straight at one point simply repeating the same motions over and over.
No, what was truly capturing my intrigue was that I had yet to receive an achievement for it. I could feel myself improving so definitely, so you would think I would have received an achievement at least for Agility, maybe even Might, with all the stress and weight I was putting on the muscles in my legs and arms from constantly summoning and unsummoning my hammer and doing complex movements in general.
So why was there no achievement?
I had consulted Mayer on this, and he had told me—helpfully—that he wasn't sure. He could see that I was improving steeply, and that I was well on my way to being able to be considered at the level of a novice practitioner of the Sharah. But not having received an achievement for it was odd. I distinctly remember asking what Ryan had done with the Sharah, and Mayer told me that at the time, he didn't even know the Sharah or the Sharah'hin existed.
This could mean any number of things really. It could mean that the Sharah was outside of the purview of the 'system' that the Champions can take advantage of, or maybe the conditionals are locked behind being a Sharah'hin or being accepted by them. It wasn't something that was useful to ponder right now, but it did manage to convince me that I needed to work on more than simply the Sharah. I wasn't getting any increases in raw ability from it, so I moved to other forms of exercise at first, trying to find where the best results came from. Even if I so deeply wished that I could do the Sharah and naturally increase my physicality buy just doing that, but woe is me with my sort-of broken system.
I had some help from Mayer and Rethi—who was surprisingly astute at finding ways to make training more effective—three heads seemed to be better than one, of course. It seemed that the best course of action was to make simple and repeatable exercises more difficult. So, running became running covered in weights through a field with odd terrain and trying to accurately, and safely, navigate through it without falling over or injuring myself.
It seemed to work really well, even if it sucked and was about as anti-fun as you could get.
Strength was also pretty simple to train, simply doing hardcore farm work did wonders. Farm work had a lot of the things that is effectively weightlifting just with objects that are hard to grip and are almost always on weird angles and in weird situation. Putting up fences, commandeering livestock, working primitive farm machinery like ploughing instead of using a horse or a bull, grinding large amount of grain and other similar processes. I even tried my hand at butchering livestock when it came time to do so, and I managed a half decent job—even if the butcher was incredibly nice and attentive to make it work. I found the experience was good from a skills perspective, but I didn't really use my body all too much—even if it was pretty physical work—but it was definitely using my brain more than usual.
Though the simple farm work was losing its effectiveness and quickly, the simple achievements being completed. The screen really didn't like repetitive actions, valuing new and strange processes over traditional training. It forced you to ignore actually building skills and instead just try a wide array of things to potentially gain an achievement out of it. Which made no sense in my opinion, just putting a hard cap in how useful it'd be to become a true master of any one skill other than actually having the skill itself.
That made me realise that I wasn't really working on my Mind stat. It was an easy thing to forget after being confronted with the dire need for physical prowess, but after a long night of training in the Sharah without any additions to my stats, I realised that I needed to go with a holistic approach for now.
To put things simply, I had a tonne of problems without answers. One of the most pressing was that my hammer was the least useful part of my arsenal at the moment, despite being the only thing that allows me to be competitive with my Champion peers. It was something that I could barely lift, and even if I got really good at managing its weight in comparison to my strength, which according to Mayer would remain roughly the same, it was still effectively useless. It might be good at smashing something into the ground in one hit, but that's if I can hit it at all—and that was seemingly becoming more and more unlikely with just using my raw physical strength. Maybe if I were taller, it would allow me to take more advantage of leverage and some other trickery, but even if I were taller the hammer would likely be taller, staying at its current height proportional to me.
I didn't have an answer for this right now. I didn't have any reasonable solution in sight. So, as the morning sun shone over the nice field that I had spent the night performing the Sharah, I decided that I needed to find an effective way of increasing my Mind stat.
After a few more hours of the Sharah, I went to Mayer's home. I walked into the lounge room to see both Mayer and Rethi sitting in their chairs, both drinking tea and relaxing. It seemed that Mayer had really warmed to the kid, and he seemed to teach the kid a lot about the practical world that surrounded him. Rethi had stopped coming outside during the nights to take care of me, after quite an argument. The boy didn't seem to care too much for regular working hours and simply wanted to wait on me day and night. It was almost infuriating really. He was too polite, and too willing to do more than I asked. I had gotten used to it by now, allowing him to try his best to imitate servants and butlers that he had no doubt heard stories of—those that waited on some of the most powerful men and women in the city, country or even world. Mayer actually encouraged him, teaching the boy proper manners and speech, how to set a table and proper decorum. Surprising, coming from Mayer himself.
The boy worked tirelessly to make sure that he properly served me, and that he learned all that he could from Mayer. Many times, I have considered asking the boy to stop it, and just act normally. To stop calling me Master Maximilian, and just treat me like an equal, but even as I entertained those frustrated thoughts I knew that it was simply a farce.
What would happen if I asked the boy to act normally? To let me make my own cup of tea—like the boy was quickly getting up to do right now—to stop dressing the best that he possibly could at all times, even with the poor clothing options that he did have, he made sure that he was immaculately washed and hair was cut and styled correctly. The answer to that question was simple.
The boy would feel useless, that he wasn��t valued and that he couldn't provide adequate services for the coin that he was being paid. And he would be right too, he was already being paid far more than what he was worth, and he was trying to desperately make up for it in any way that he could think of.
I sat down in my seat, sitting right across from Mayer himself. He watched Rethi as he made tea and told him off for ten things he did that apparently weren't good enough. It was surprising, Mayer never really seemed like the man who would know all of this, especially not at this level of detail. He was lecturing Rethi on the incorrectness of his hand movements when he caught my look of mild amusement and blew me off with a half sneer.
I chuckled lightly, but only a minute or so later, after Rethi was done being chewed out, I managed to get a nice cup of tea and I thanked Rethi with a smile, which seemed to please him.
I sipped the tea delicately before Mayer spoke to me.
"So, what brings in our ever-training Champion? We haven't had you for morning tea for what seems like weeks now." Almost two weeks actually. I nodded at this and took a moment to swallow the tea and think on my response.
"Well, I have been working towards training my Agility and Might quite effectively recently, I have a total of thirty-eight Might and twenty-seven Agility. A considerable increase in my raw ability." Mayer nodded, "But, my Mind has only increased minutely since I arrived here, and I'm beginning to think that it is possible that answers could lay there for me." Mayer shrugged, he was rather non-committal when it came to finding a way to make use of my Hammer, he just gave me options and it was my choice whether I took them or not.
"I was thinking," I started, "that you could teach me some shifting and that-" I was cut off by Mayer shaking his head.
"No, that won't work." He said. I was confused for a second.
"What won't work, you teaching me to shift?" I said, somewhat worried. Shifting being totally off the table would be really disappointing in all honesty.
"No, you are perfectly capable of learning how to shift ether, but it won't help you with your Mind stat, not as well as you would think anyway." Well, that was a relief.
"Why not, isn't shifting all about using your mind to control ether, or whatever, to become what you want?" Mayer closed his eyes, scratching the side of his aged face. Before sighing and opening his eyes again.
"Another of Ryan's pet peeves with the screen and stats. Frankly, as you have started to discover, your physical statistics are stagnating. Even with you practicing the Sharah almost endlessly, you aren't seeing the increases of strength that you'd be seeing if it gradually effected your strength. In short, even though you have gotten far more powerful over the past weeks, if you were able to progress through physical exercise you wouldn't see this stagnation."
"Why would it be made like that? It seems counter intuitive and having to go around trying different things to only potentially get an achievement is infuriating." I grumbled, thought Mayer chuckled.
"Either way. Ryan found that, much like with the Sharah you practice, shifting gives little to no rewards, aside from something he called 'breakpoint' rewards." I quirked an eyebrow questioningly.
"A breakpoint reward is something that, 'the screen gives you to try make you not hate it as much'," he said in monotone, "at least that's how Ryan would put it anyway. He had this issue with shifting, and he'd receive big rewards when he hit a breakpoint, but they'd never scale well—always giving you a big hit early on but really lacking when you hit the next one"
"Wait, what was his Mind stat anyway?" I asked.
"Ryan's Mind stat began at thirty-six, it was difficult to understand the differences between his absurd natural state and the increase in proficiency due to his Mind stat."
"Thirty-six? Really? God damn." I hung my head in mock shame. There was a little bit of disappointment at that number, to be perfectly honest. I had worked pretty hard for a few weeks now just to be able to reach similar stats in my Might, but he had that brain back on Earth. It was almost monstrous, having that level of intellect on Earth.
"Don't think about it too much, boy. They are freaks of nature. But I'll tell you what," Mayer grinned a toothy grin with a conspiratorial glint in his eye, "Ryan never really stopped sleeping, he would sleep at least 6 hours every other day. So, you have him beat there. You have your own upsides." I grinned as well, feeling just a bit better about knowing that the other Champions were likely to be nearly four times more intelligent than me at base.
"Even so, I need to raise my Mind stat, I can't neglect it and stay as dumb as I am if I really want to be able to compete with the other Champions in any way, shape or form." Mayer nodded, but then also shrugged.
"But I also don't really have all that good a way to teach you to raise your Mind stat. It was the one stat that Ryan had under control completely. He gained Mind stat from reading really complex stuff and storing it in that crazy brain of his. But you and me both know that you can't do that." Mayer said, chuckling into his tea as he surely remembered something that would probably always stay private to him.
"Master Maximilian, if I may?" Rethi said. He had been standing by my side for the duration of the conversation, standing straight and holding a dishcloth, ready to clean any mishaps made. I looked to him, eyebrow raised with interest.
"If you are interested in learning, I would go ask Master Gram. He is likely the most intelligent person in the village, and I would suggest asking him for tutelage perhaps?" He spoke with forced elegance. It was definitely better than what it was the first few days that he tried, but now it was starting to actually fit the boy. It was actually a bit shocking, but I knew that it wouldn't be long, especially under Mayer's direct tutelage, before he was going to be qualified to be a proper servant of high-class nobility. It had only been two weeks since abject poverty and now you would easily mistake him for a middle-class child.
I considered his proposal and found merit in it. Master Gram had been one of the first men I had met in the village, and he ran an Apothecary. It also seemed that he was capable of surgery, and from what I remembered, his surgery room behind the main business area seemed relatively modern to my world, in the grand scheme of things anyways it was basically a surgery room from 200 years ago on earth. But the man was clearly learned in medicine, and if there was anything that got you thinking, it was medicine.
I nodded to him. "I think that's a pretty good idea, I also need to learn magi- err shifting sooner or later. It could be something that I find great use in. For now, though, I will have enough on my plate learning the Sharah to a decent extent and also possibly working under Master Gram to some degree." Mayer nodded in agreement himself.
"Learning to properly shift is an involved process. Much like how the Sharah is for you currently." I took a large gulp from the tea and swallowed in quick succession and managed to down the tea very quickly.
"Rethi, what is the time?"
"About seven hours into the morning, Master Maximillian." He responded almost instantly.
"What time does Master Gram open for business, or would he be comfortable having visitors at this time?" Rethi nodded at me.
"Both, Master Maximilian." I got up, and was about to pace out the door, but paused for a moment.
"You don't have to call me Master Maximilian every time, Rethi. You can just address me as sir or something similar." But Rethi shook his head.
"No, Master Maximilian. Sir is used for people whose status you are unaware of or are simply older men of around your father's age. Master is used for those who are high born, of a similar status or are accomplished." I sighed and flapped my hand in Rethi's direction.
"Alright, alright. I get your point. Thanks, Mayer. I'll see you later to learn more of the Sharah." Mayer nodded, an amused glint in his eyes.
I walked out the door with Rethi following behind, quickly and quietly shadowing me at the polite distance that a servant holds between him and his Master. Infuriating, but in a way, I was almost proud.
---
I opened the door with a jingle, walking into a smallish room with lots of glass cases holding many different herbs and medicines. I had no real way to tell if any of them were legitimate or not. Maybe this world had magical herbs and stuff. If all went to plan, then I would probably find that out.
Rethi walked in behind me, making the bells half jingle before the door shut properly. He then assumed his position, his pose carefully manufactured to be respectful and ready to deal with any possible problems that could arise.
I walked up to the counter and stood there for a while. Waiting for Master Gram to get ready if he needed to. But after a half minute or so, it became obvious he hadn't heard me.
I called out once, and then for the second time after a similar amount of time, but there continued to be no response.
"I'm going to have a quick check to see if he's in that back room there, if not we can just go." Rethi nodded and started to move forward to open the counter's flap for me, but I just gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks.
"I can open this myself, as you well know." I moved behind the counter, lifting the hefty piece of wood that was the openable extension to the counter with effectively no effort.
I moved just up the small hallway and saw the door. It was closed tight this time, no small crack to see through, so I knocked.
"Master Gram? It's Maximilian. I'm wondering if you'd entertain a short talk?" There was a moment of dead silence. But it was the sort of silence that you could feel something odd in. It was just ever so slightly too silent. Then I heard a crash behind the door.
Before I knew it, my hand was on the knob of the door, swiftly opening it, and I heard Rethi make his way to my flank in a moment.
What I saw was… interesting. There was Master Gram, dressed in what I could only assume was a facsimile of scrubs, a fallen wooden table with an assortment of metal tools scattered on the floor, hands covered in grime, and with eyes that looked like a deer caught in the headlights. The reason for this look of pure terror written on his face?
The dead body lying on the table next to him.
Now, I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but one thing that I do know is that people in this sort of era of medical understanding aren't a massive fan of the whole 'cut open a dead body' thing. And if the look on Master Gram's face, the grime on the body and Master Gram's hands said anything to me, then I have a little bit of a hunch that the body wasn't exactly given willingly.
I felt Rethi at my side strain to get a look into the room. He hadn't seen anything yet. I pushed the boy away gently, not allowing him to see into the room and begun to talk.
"Ah! Master Gram, I hope that I didn't interrupt while you were doing anything important, would it be too much of a hassle if you and I could speak for just a moment?" I said, putting a great deal of gravity on the word 'important'. Master Gram couldn't speak, so he quickly began to nod, and I pasted a friendly smile onto my face. I turned to Rethi.
"Rethi, would you please man the store for Master Gram. If you are unable to help with any requests of the customer just advise them that Master Gram will be occupied with important business and has been asked to not be disturbed for a while. I will come fetch you when we are done."
Rethi's face flashed a worried expression before quickly regaining himself and did a neat half bow and wordlessly moved out of the hallway and into the storefront.
I turned to Master Gram who was still exactly as shocked as he was beforehand, and I walked into the room, gracefully closing the door and grabbing a stool that was right near the door. I pulled the stool out and sat on it, quickly crossing my legs and making myself look as much of a proper noble as I knew how.
"Now, Master Gram. Would you be so inclined to explain yourself?" A smile growing on my lips.
This was going to be fun.