The Weight of Legacy

Chapter 34 - In Defense of a Mind

Excited as she was to get to the Skills, Malwine still took note of the text that preceded them. Just what the hell were those? All she knew still was what she just confirmed—they had abilities somehow related to Skills.

She delved back into the text.

In some ways, it was a rehash of what Alaric had told her. Granted, at her age, she wouldn’t have known of this without being nosy… though her little uncle had neglected to mention the penalty applied to

That made her take it considerably more seriously.

Malwine winced. She’d basically made her range the same someone with an Uncommon would have. Somehow, she had to push [Meditation] up. She had to figure out how to evolve it. No matter the cost.

She expected to find the Skills then and there, but instead she found yet another warning. Her [Remote Reading] usually focused on transferring the text over, so much that she would only notice details about the page itself if they were overt, but in this case, something was obvious.

Red lines were drawn on each side of the warning, pointing at it, and the last line even bore that color. Apparently, even the people of this world knew how to make ominous text stand out properly.

To Malwine’s surprise, they were formatted as a table—not unlike how the words in the manuscript she had recently been browsing.

What differed, however, was how immediately upon her focusing on that section, a panel appeared before her.

Under the category:

[Toughness]

Common

Passive Skill that applies a hidden bonus to your Endurance based on its current Skill level. Levels through Endurance's growth from usage.

[Handheld Weaponry]

Uncommon

Skill that increases control and proficiency for weapons that fit within the palm of your hand. Levels through practice in the usage of said weapons. Note: This is a combat Skill.

[Damage Reflection]

Uncommon

Passive Skill that returns a percentage of all damage dealt to you to the source of the damage, capped at 100%. Levels through usage.

[Dodging]

Uncommon

Passive Skill that applies a large hidden bonus to your Speed and Dexterity whenever you are under attack. Levels through usage.

[Self-Defense]

Rare

Skill that increases your ability to deflect and counter attacks to your person. Levels through practice with defending yourself. Note: This is not a combat Skill.

[Shieldwork]

Rare

Skill to create spherical shields around yourself, or around parts of you. Note: This Skill requires a Root to use, as it accrues either [Toll] to sustain itself, or inflicts a heavier [Integrity] penalty for damage absorbed while [Toll] is unavailable.

Malwine gaped at it.

Though she knew more options for the other categories awaited, she decided to consider the ones for first.

[Toughness] wasn’t particularly appealing. None of Malwine’s own Skills told her specifically how to level them——but she suspected none of them would require her to raise an attribute like this.

And Endurance did not sound fun to raise, unless she managed to get herself some sort of regeneration ability at minimum.

But worse of all, the Skill was Common.

Though she certainly appreciate the book mentioning how these Skills were meant to be leveled.

Malwine was also quick to dismiss [Handheld Weaponry] for petty—arguably —reasons. She really wanted that magical whip. She certainly wouldn’t be a cowboy rogue-bard in this life, but she would stick to her principles, and those principles somehow included wholehearted belief in the existence of whips that doubled as universal tools.

For similar reasons to her dismissal of [Toughness], [Damage Reflection] outright required her to take damage. She didn’t even want to find out how that was quantified.

[Dodging] was simply lackluster. Just a hidden bonus, specifically while under attack? She might have it—if briefly—had it been a constant thing, but the Skill was just bad as it was.

That one was also thrown out immediately.

Malwine glared at it for a moment. It seemed like a strange distinction to make for a Skill that was literally about countering attacks.

Then again, it clearly meant for defense. Was this perhaps what the table’s creator—the [Forger]—who put it there meant?

Malwine frowned. It a useful Skill, but that… It wasn’t as tempting as she expected it to be when she saw that very same Skill on OBeryl’s, even if it made sense.

It wasn’t as exciting, she supposed. And again, she might have been reaching that conclusion out of pettiness. She would undoubtedly have to fight, in this life, with as many enemies as her grandmother and mother clearly had. Enemies she had all but inherited.

[Self-Defense] could be useful, but it felt like .

Malwine wished for more.

[Shieldwork] sounded better, yet it reminded her of the problem that perpetually loomed over her—the curse. Her [Toll] was crippled to a ridiculous degree. Someone with 4.6k [Toll] could probably use that Skill at leisure.

But Malwine didn’t have 4.6k [Toll], not in practice.

She wanted to grumble, to kick things. An impulse born of that anger she’d once been so quick to, once upon a time in a life that no longer was. She buried it, just as she had back then.

She could pay for it that way, could she not? It would clearly not be optimal—the phrasing made it sound as though the cost was greater for it—but it could .

She could have [Shieldwork].

No, she . The curse might be a problem for now, but she refused to let it make her hold herself back.

It would not be a problem forever.

As such, Malwine added it to her list, even if it did mean she'd have to plant a second Root soon.

She wasn’t a idiot—though she doubted it would get to that point from a book meant for literal children, Malwine didn’t want to immediately start filling up Skill slots.

Not even for .

The next category came with only 5 Skills.

Under the category:

[Daze]

Common

Skill that allows you to disorient a target whose Resilience does not outweigh yours. Levels through usage.

[Mental Static]

Common

Skill which, at will, generates disruptions that will not affect you, but will hinder the work of anyone attempting to use intrusive Skills on you. Levels through sustained usage.

[Clarity]

Uncommon

Passive Skill that boosts your resistance to being deceived by Skills. Limited effectiveness against Skills. Levels through usage.

[Enhanced Memory]

Uncommon

Skill that enables you to lock in on a subject or event to memorize it with greater effectiveness, full extent to be determined by Skill level and your Resilience. Levels through usage.

[Mental Defense]

Rare

Passive Skill that enables you to bear and counteract attacks performed by Skills, or by Skills that affect the mind. Limits damage all mental effects can cause and provides a hidden bonus to Resilience. Levels through usage.

She wanted too many of them.

There was also a somewhat disturbing detail she couldn’t help but notice—more than one of those Skills referenced Skills, despite them being Skills.

Malwine frowned before her eyes widened. Skills were social Skills, at the end of the day. That had to be it. If things like ‘persuasion’ existed, then she could see why they’d be considered to have an effect on the mind as well.

That was not a comforting thought.

Well, Malwine had her note-taking panels from [Write Anywhere] at the ready. That would have to do, even if the Skill refused to level, and she had learned the hard way that she could and would mess her own panels up.

Her eyes narrowed.

Was her category imbalanced somehow?

Malwine summoned her Skills panel. The warning she’d read earlier spoke not only of rarities, but of Traits and Aspects as well. Both of which she had on her and categories.

She’d been so focused on the fact that [Write Anywhere] was Epic that she hadn’t considered how it might be outweighed in other ways. If whatever effect having both a Trait and Aspect caused to deserve the text calling it ‘’ applied here, then even her unranked Skills could be affecting it.

Leaning on her senses slightly, she focused on that vague imbalance she’d felt before, and strangely enough, she found it would line up. It wasn’t , but her category just felt slightly weaker than the other two it adjoined.

It was a somewhat startling realization. Whenever she next got the chance to make or add a Trait to her Skills, she might find herself forced to give it to a Skill that wasn’t one of her Unranked ones… perhaps even just to one without an Aspect.

Malwine thought back to what the text said, the part that implied this imbalance of Skills and categories was not something that could be measured. Knowing where the line was drawn or how to calculate it would have been the only thing that could lessen her frustration, yet it was apparently impossible.

She looked back at the table before her—she had work to do. [Daze] and [Mental Static] were weak options even without accounting for the fact that she now knew she couldn’t take Commons. They were weak in general, as well. ‘Disorient’ was a vague description for an attack, and its dependence on the opponent’s attribute likely hindered its likelihood of success anyway.

The latter just sounded like it might slow an intrusion, or make it more difficult, but it seemingly did nothing to prevent or counter such a thing.

Subpar Skills.

The picture the Skills here painted was not a pretty one. It made the need for true defense seem almost imperative, hence her resolution to discard [Enhanced Memory]. No matter how badly a part of her wanted it.

[Clarity] and [Mental Defense] appeared to arguably do similar things, except [Mental Defense] was the vastly superior option. Not to mention the phrasing of this description for [Clarity] made it sound like it was meant to guard against deception specifically, while [Mental Defense] seemed to encompass attacks in general.

OBeryl had had both Skills, after all.

If she had to choose just the one, [Mental Defense] would win any day. Still, the matter of why her great-grandmother had both Skills stuck with her.

As far as these first two categories she’d browsed options were, Malwine found she remained fairly confident in her picks. Neither was perfect, and [Shieldwork] wouldn’t be working for her in optimal conditions for a long time, but they fit for her.

Malwine wished she could see how the party was going. How much more time did she have?

For how much longer would the books be where she knew them to be?

Of the two… there was one she wasn’t willing to miss out on.

Not at all.

You have attained the Forged Skill [Mental Defense] [Mental Defense]

We are never truly safe, not so long as our minds are not unassailable. This will not provide that, but it is a start. Your resistance to mental attacks, regardless of which attributes or Class backs them, will be greatly enhanced. Damage caused by mental attacks, depending on severity, will be either negated or mitigated. Effectiveness increased by both Skill level and Resilience. Resilience is boosted by, and contributes to the effectiveness of this Skill.

Interdependent to attributes.

Trait: None

Aspect: None

Apparently, this being a Forged Skill was worth making the distinction over. The Skill itself was even stronger than she expected.

Malwine relaxed slightly. [Shieldwork], she could risk. If the books looked like they were moving, she would rush for it still, but for now, there were more options further along.

As she went to turn the page with her mental vision, Malwine found what appeared to be a footnote, with several lines to it.

Malwine found she was almost concerned for whenever she got to the category of these defensive Skill options.

Probably none.

She pushed the already-fleeting concern out of her mind.

The next page awaited.