Cinnamon Bun Chapter Fifty-Six - Dreaming Big

Chapter Fifty-Six - Dreaming Big

Cleanthrower! I shouted as I stretched an open hand towards the nearest sli.

Cleaning magic poured out of my palm as if I had opened the tap on a garden hose. It splashed over the grey-ish blob of gelatinous magic, lting it apart.

Theres another ahead of you, Amaryllis said as she raised a hand. She was holding onto a ball of light, kind of like those I had seen Arianne make the first ti I ever t a grenoil, only these were a bit brighter and she managed to cast a stronger light forward, like a flashlight that illuminated the way ahead.

I looked up ahead, and she was right, a huge sli, bigger than any I had ever seen before, was blubbering its way ahead in the middle of the road. I could see the entire half-digested body of a rabbit near its core. I got it, I said as I stepped up. I brought my hands together, palm flat by my side, Ka! I took a wide stance. Ha... ee... Then I shot my arms out before with a loud. Haaa!

A white ball of cleaning magic puttered along through the air in a andering course that ended when it booped into the slis chest. Then it kept going, carving a hole through the entire monster.

The sli collapsed.

What was that? Amaryllis asked.

Its a, uh, I flushed. Magical chant from my holand. It makes you way more aweso.

It makes you louder, Amaryllis corrected. Were lucky slis are deaf else youd have called every creature across the entire region with your incessant screaming.

Oops? I said. I was a little sorry. It wasnt nice to put myself and Amaryllis at risk like that. On the other hand, that was one more sli down, which ant just a little bit more experience towards the next level. I would need it. I had to be stronger, strong enough that the next ti there was a fight, I could fight on my own terms, or at least make people think twice about hurting my friends.

Walking through the swamps at night--with only the rune-light on my helt and Amaryllis light to guide us--was a bit scary, but it wasnt so bad, especially after getting rid of just about every sli on our path. Amaryllis used her thunder magic liberally at first, but she then suggested we pace ourselves and switch every so often to keep at least one of us topped off with mana.

The moon above made the clouds glow silver and refracted off of the humid fogbanks rising up all around us. All the noises of the marsh were damped by the fog, which only made it harder to tell where sothing might co from.

Amaryllis said that monsters could usually sense that ssing with a person was a bad idea, but we were also both in our first tier, which made us pri midnight snack material.

I had to get strong enough that no one would eat .

Hey, Amaryllis? I asked.

What inane question do you have for now? she asked as she panned her light across the woods.

What level was Throat Ripper at? The cervid rcenaries had backed off instead of fighting the bone doggo, so aiming to be at about that level was a good start.

Third tier, Amaryllis said. Thats above level twenty of his primary class.

So he had... three classes total? I asked as I worked out the information in my head.

To get past twenty he would need his second class at level ten, and a third class, yes, she said.

How long do you think it would take to get that strong? I asked.

Amaryllis light shifted until it was illuminating . She didnt stop moving though, so nor did I. Is this a riftwalker thing?

Its a Broccoli Bunch thing, I said.

She snorted. Getting past the first tier is simple enough. A few years with safe and well-paced training. Far less with situations like ours where were fighting for our lives. Second tier can take anywhere from two to ten years to get past. Youll rarely see anyone younger than thirty past level twenty. The pinnacle of most civilisations are those in their third and fourth tiers. It can take decades to move past those. Most people succumb to old age before hitting their fifth tier. Mostly because to keep growing at a decent rate you need to start facing challenges that are frankly ridiculous.

I processed that for a bit. Amaryllis was really a fountain of knowledge. I think so people would have pegged her as a nerd back ho, and they would have been very rude for placing her in a box like that.

So, the more one leveled up, the harder it got, and most people didnt make it to level forty unless they tried really hard for a long ti. That just ant that I had to either work even harder, or I could aim for a point where Id be respected and stop there.

That sounded good enough, and it lined up with my goals in life.

Why are you asking? Amaryllis asked. Not that the question is terrible. Im rely curious as to what brought you to it.

I want to know how strong I need to be to carry out my dreams.

And what are those? Amaryllis asked.

I want a small house with a little fence around it. A dog, two cats, a gentle husband with a really nice chin, and two kids. A boy and a girl, I said.

Amaryllis tripped over a root or sothing and her light went out. She said bad things while recasting the spell. Thats it? she asked.

Well, Id like it if I lived near my friends, that way I could visit them every night. We could do rotations where every night a new friend cooks supper. And we couple play boardgas! I think it would be cute.

What kind of peasant aspirations are those? Amaryllis asked. Dont you want... more?

Not really? I asked. I want plenty of little things, but they're not my dreams. Oh, I do want to learn fireball, does that count?

No, no it doesnt!

Amaryllis flashed her light ahead of us, illuminating a couple of slis that were slimming their way closer. She muttered sothing and arcs of lightning flashed out of her fingers and sizzled as they dug into the slis.

If I ever found a glowing red sword I was giving it to her to complete the image.

We continued our trek through the woods at a sedate pace until, finally, I could see a faint glow in the fog ahead. Is that Green Hold? I asked.

It might be, Amaryllis said. Im not going to look for a hill to use as a vantage in this lighting.

Stop here for a bit, I said. Crouching down, I took off my backpack and shifted my bum like a kitty looking for just the right balance. Then I pushed a chunk of my stamina into my legs and shot into the air.

I resisted the urge to scream in delight as the wind whipped at . Then, when I was at the apex of my jump, I looked ahead. The town was covered in a thin layer of fog, but it was easy enough to see the little towers around it and the plus of smoke rising into the sky.

I landed with an oomph and resettled my skirts. Its Green Hold, I said.

Handy skill that, Amaryllis said. Just normal Jumping?

Yup, I said. Rank C. Thats, um, disciple?

Amaryllis shrugged a shoulder and began walking again. Most would try to get rid of it, or find a skill to rge it with. But if it works for you.

Its got enough experience to rank up to journeyman, actually, I said.

Hrm. Whats your skill distribution look like? You only have so many skill points to go around before you hit your class evolution.

Do I get more after? I asked.

You do, but its slower. Its best to plan these things out, she said.

Ah, okay, I said. It made sense. What did I want to focus on? Having Cleaning at rank A would require three levels worth of skill points. I could do that as soon as it was ready to rank up. Or I could move other skills up a few ranks, or save so points for the next skill Id unlock at level eight. So many choices.

Na Broccoli Bunch Race Human (Riftwalker) First Class Cinnamon Bun First Class Level

7

Age

16

Health

120

Stamina

130

Mana

115

Resilience

30

Flexibility

35

Magic

20

Skills Rank Cinnamon Bun Skills Cleaning B - 12% Jumping C - 100% Gardening D - 13% Cute D - 100% General Skills Insight C - 33% Makeshift Weapon Proficiency E - 58% ` Archeology F - 57% Friendmaking D - 58% Skill points

3

General Skill Points

1

Skills unlock a secondary thing at disciple, right? I asked.

They do, Amaryllis confird. She zapped a little sli with a wave. I was noticing fewer and fewer of them as we ca closer to Green Hold. Maybe there were partols, or the mana around the town was different enough that they didnt spawn every night?

One more question, I said as I looked at Mister nus display of my profile. How many General Skills can you have?

Five initially, Amaryllis said. Youll get another five at the sa ti as you hit your bottleneck. You cant really get General Skill Points.

Only from doing sothing for the World, right? I asked.

Amaryllis slowed down. You got so? she asked.

Um, I said.

World curse your ignorant luck, she muttered.

Just two of them, I said.

Yes, yes, just two. Two enough for so people to kill you.

What? I squeaked.

She huffed. Killing soone with General Skill Points lets you take them for yourself. But the people with those are... rare. Dungeon core breakers, who are fair ga. So champions that did extraordinary deeds. Sotis the people who get a rare, an exceptionally rare, quest. Theyre usually strong enough that killing them for the points isnt worth the hassle, but when nations go to war those champions beco targets.

Ah, I said.

It sort of made sense. As far as I could tell, any skill could be acquired by anyone. That ant that you could have a skill that wasnt part of your class. But Rank D was... la? Not that great? It certainly helped, but it wasnt beyond what a person could do naturally.

Jumping at Rank D made good at jumping and helped with the timing and balance. Cleaning at that sa rank made a more efficient cleaner. But it had all been within human limits--with a bit of help. The mont those skills reached rank C they beca... more. Magical.

So a person with lots of General Skill points could start unlocking plenty of new ranks in a hurry and would beco a lot stronger in a short period of ti. Assuming they got more than just two points, of course.

Ahh, my head is stuffed, I said.

Yes, Im sure Thinking isnt one of your skills, Amaryllis said.

I glared over at her, but the glare fizzled and died on contact with her smug grin. Youre an. Im not an idiot.

Youre certainly smarter than most of the fools I have to deal with, she said. That doesnt make you a genius by any asure though.

Who was it that needed saving yesterday? I asked as innocently as I could.

Amaryllis did that cute huffing thing she did when I scored a point and started walking a little faster. Those were exceptional circumstances. Circumstances that I will get to the bottom of.

As I watched the walls of Green Hold grow closer, I started to have a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.