Chapter Forty-Four: Wisdom (Patreon)

The next morning, I skip testing the root Spike found a few days ago. I’ve been taking advantage of the more relatively relaxed days to start the whole testing process – and so far with decent results – but considering I was attacked yesterday by the gang of velociraptors when I didn’t even go that far from home, I don’t want to risk being caught again today. It’s never fun fighting on a mostly-empty stomach.

I’ve got more days of crafting ahead of me, so I’ll have time to test the root later. I’ll be trying to eat it next time, and have already cooked it in my wok, leaving it in my Inventory until I’m ready for it. With the ten more spaces I gained levelling up, I have a fair amount of space for storage these days. Just as well since my needs seem to be multiplying!

Ultimately, I want to discover at least five edible vegetables. Pondweed seems to be fine, and hopefully this root will be able to stand in for potatoes – certainly, the state of the cooking water after I boiled it proved it’s full of starch or something similar. Then I just need three more to give myself a chance of eating well rather than becoming malnutritioned. Something with vitamin C in is a must-have since I don’t want to be getting scurvy. Wait, is scurvy a problem for people with high Constitutions? An interesting question.

Constitution affects health points, but what does that mean? Is it just a defence against poison and injuries, leaving diseases and nutritional imbalances to wreak havoc? Surely not, as, although my status screen only shows Constitution affecting health points, the System knowledge stone tells me that Constitution actually improves the body’s functioning. That means improving the efficiency of different organs, the durability of my bones, and the reactivity of nerves.

Surely that means that it also improves the capabilities of the immune system? Nicholas’ world doesn’t seem to have investigated this, judging by the lack of information, but isn’t it logical to say that the immune system is just as likely to be improved as organs? And if higher Constitution affects the efficiency of organs, doesn’t that mean that it can tolerate lower than ideal levels of vitamins? Or higher?

Again, not questions I have answers to, but I’ll probably discover the conclusion sometime. Hopefully not by getting scurvy or the plague. Actually, on that side of things, I suppose that it’s unlikely that any viruses carried by the creatures around here are likely contagious for me since I’m from another world entirely. One upside, I guess. And I didn’t get sick or even have a stomach ache from drinking water straight from the stream without boiling it, though I am boiling it now just in case. That alone seems to me an indicator that I’m not likely to catch something from creatures around here.

On that note, after filling my canteen with boiled water from my wok, I first take a good drink and then summon Spike. Heading off down the slope, I fill my wok at the river to collect water for boiling later. Then, walking quickly, but as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, we head back to the clay pit.

For once, we manage to actually make a trip into the forest without being attacked. That’s not to say we see no other signs of life – we see plenty – but any animals we cross paths with are more scared of us than we are of them and we don’t end up in another fight. Perhaps it’s my size: all the creatures we run across are smaller than me and, in the animal kingdom, size really does matter. Except for venomous creatures: there, poison is the great equaliser.

The quiet journey gives me a bit of time to consider something. It’s still concerning that I haven’t earned any Energy towards my ‘debt’ yet and I’m leaning towards the idea that just earning Energy in general doesn’t count. First, because it seems ridiculous that enough Energy to get me a good four-fifths of the way towards level two, despite having ‘bought’ several stat points, wouldn’t even register as one percent. Second, because my other experiences with the System seem to indicate that Energy is a usable resource, rather than some ethereal, abstract number.

I mean, the System stone was quite clear in indicating that we have to gain Energy to level up not because some ‘god’ or ‘higher authority’ says we have to, but because the Energy is genuinely required to change our bodies. Actually, I’ve even started wondering why a levelling system is even required except that it seems to also provide clear thresholds for when we can gain access to more Skills. Though if we can gain Skills in other ways…

Anyway, back to the point. So we actually use the Energy we gather, it’s more like a purse of money than a cryptocurrency wallet – in the first case you can actually see and use the money directly, in this case to ‘buy’ stat points either with levelling up or with additional effort; in the second, you can see numbers on the screen, but they seem to change unpredictably and have little bearing on what you can actually use them for. Except that you can pay for things with cryptocurrencies...maybe it’s not the best of examples. But that aside, if the Energy is being used to make me stronger, it can’t be used to propel me across universes which, according to Nicholas’s letter, is what it’s going to be used for.

I decide to try something as an experiment. Seeing as so many other things seem to be based on thinking about them – the first time in my life I’ve actually been able to say that ‘thinking’ has real results – I try concentrating on my desire for my Energy gain to go into my Energy debt rather than towards my next level. I concentrate hard enough that a furrow digs into the skin between my eyes and my eyes shut by themselves. I repeat the thought several times to try to increase the chance that something actually comes of my efforts.

When I’m confident that the idea is as embedded as I can make it, I relax and open my eyes, dodging abruptly to the side as I realise I’m about to collide with a tree. Maybe next time I should do this sort of thing standing still… Anyway, time will tell as to whether I’ve actually done anything or if I’ve just been thinking hard with nothing to show for it.

Back at the river bank close to home, I release Spike to his eating/guarding duties. He managed to find me a few more roots at my request during our walk, so at least I’ve got plenty of testing material sitting in my Inventory. More immediately useful, I also have two slots full of river clay.

Kneeling by the river, I process the clay, needing a much finer grain to make my pots than the natural stuff provides me with. I need it to be even finer than the clay that I used initially for my fireplace and find myself teasing out even quite small stones. It takes time, like everything in this supermarket-free world. Honestly, I understand why people in the past had far fewer possessions and tended to take more care of them: when you have to dedicate hours to replacing a pot or a plate instead of just popping down to the local shop, breaking it would be much more serious.

By the time the sun is approaching its zenith, I’ve processed all the clay I collected, two Inventory slots reduced down to barely half of one being filled – it just goes to show how much of the clay had been stone. Still, I should have enough clay to be getting on with. Deciding to actually start making the pottery at home, I take a good drink before filling my water canteen again.

Heading up the slope again, my stomach growls loudly. Half-grinning at the sound, I decide to pay attention to my bodily needs, so munch on some bird meat for lunch while sitting outside the cave in the sun. Then, my belly sated, if not full, I settle down for some pottery-making in the shade.

Deciding to start with my charring pot, I create the base first, manipulating a piece of clay until it’s flat with slightly curved up sides. Taking another piece of clay, I flatten it. Wetting my fingers, I draw them along the edge of the sides and then add my next piece of flattened clay, blending the join until there’s no sign of it. Continuing the process, I work around and up, around and up, until I have a small pot about the size of my two hands if I was holding something between them, my finger tips just touching. I leave a small entrance for things to enter and leave, adding a little lip so that I’ll be able to use it for liquids later. Checking that there are no signs of where I’ve joined the clay pieces together, I try to smooth the inside as far as I can reach through the hole. I can’t reach well enough to smooth the interior with a river stone like I did with the previous pots so I hope it’ll work well enough.

Putting the pot aside with the others to dry slowly, I start making some more forms. Another few pots in case the ones I’ve made so far crack, a couple of plates, jugs, and bowls both large and small. After having a small brain-wave during the day, I even finish up by creating a small stand for my snail-shell bowl. It’s nothing pretty, but hopefully it will solve the issue of me not being able to put it down until I’m finished. By the time I’m finished, the sun is close to the horizon again. It’s been a long day, but fruitful, I hope. The proof will be when I fire the pottery pieces.

At least pottery-making proved to be less frustrating than flint-knapping. In fact, I can see why some people would choose to do it as a hobby. Not for me, though, especially not now when there are so many other things to do. Still, it was calming to do, despite Lathani sneaking past her mother to come and investigate what I was doing. She almost gave me a heart attack when her curious prodding almost toppled three of my newly made pots...

Deciding to use the rest of my light to work on another tool, I head back out of the cave to sit in the sunlight. Bathing in its warmth after the coolness of the cave, I take a moment to just be. Down below at the foot of the hill, the sun only enters as fingers of light through the shifting canopy above, but here on the top it has free rein. I raise my face to the sky and feel the play of warmth across my skin.

The breeze drifts across my skin, its caress almost a kiss. The symphony of the creatures of the forest surrounds me without being overwhelmingly loud, the sound of the evening significantly different from that of the morning. The smell brought on the breeze is that of trees, grass, loam, and the faint hint of decay. The mix of pleasant and unpleasant is a good metaphor for nature in general.

It’s in a state of unusual serenity that I find myself. Pottery-making, beyond simply calming, is almost meditation, requiring enough focus to prevent sinking into past or future thoughts and troubles, but at the same time is monotonous enough to lull my thoughts into peace. My mind feels clear and light, no fears for the future or worries about the past weighing it down. For once, I’m living in the moment and it feels...good. As I withdraw my axe haft-to-be and the blade I worked on yesterday from my Inventory, I feel a sense of nagging which I’ve come to associate with a notification waiting for me.

I hesitate. I wasn’t expecting this. Well, it seems like I have a little more idea about how to work on Wisdom, it seems: channelling my inner Buddhist-monk. Or was it the Tibetan ones who refused to kill any creature, even an insect, believing them all to be brothers and sisters? Or am I mixing it up with the Native American ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’ thing? I shrug – it’s not as though I’ll ever be able to find out, is it? Either way, clearly it was my feeling of connection with all the flora and fauna of this world which prompted this increase in my Wisdom. Perhaps meditation will help? Not that I’ve ever done it, but I’ve picked up a few things by osmosis from my ex about it. Though she got everything from Vogue so…

Anyway, all those thoughts are beside the point. Should I accept it or not? It’s not really a hard question. I’ve increased my Wisdom from where it started, but it still has a long way to go to even be considered ‘normal’ for Nicholas’ world and the more points I can earn by myself, the more level-up points I’ll be able to assign freely. Thinking ‘yes’ at the interface, I sense the point being applied.