Their best idea so far was simply mixing what they’d both already knew, herbs and brews, then tossing in some mana and seeing what would happen. There was however a rather significant roadblock to this plan of action. Neither of them could appraise anything that they made. It didn’t matter how much they wanted to do this in secret, someone would have to help them for the final step. Deciding to leave that issue for later, they needed something to appraise before it mattered after all, the pair determined that the best way to begin was for Losq to try to gain the imbue Skill.
How were they planning to teach him a Skill that no one else in the clan had been able to manage? The exact same way that Kori had gotten it in the first place of course. Though they didn’t exactly have a bunch of runes and slug ichor for him to handle for weeks on end, so instead they’d use what they did have. Ointment. Kori refilled her little pot of it from the large batches that she’d been making and gave it to Losq to keep with him all day, every day. She didn’t tell him why, just that he needed to study it closely and become as familiar as was possible with it to learn the imbue Skill.
She contemplated trying to teach him [Meditate], but didn’t think she’d be a very good teacher. It wasn’t at all that she didn’t think she’d be able to handle it if her brother who had zero interest in actual magic picked it up where she’d never been able to.
As time passed and the siblings continued to scheme, Kori’s aspirations of magic dwindled until they were basically non-existent. Less and less of her free time was dedicated to her efforts to form the most basic of spells and she fell into step with the brewing apprentices and even began to consider herself one of them for a time.
Her final month of freedom from actual obligations passed in what seemed like a blink of her eyes and while she was fitting in at the brewery, she realized that she would have a major problem in actually becoming an apprentice there. Between the constant work and her prodigious speed at gaining the associated skills, she had nothing left to gain from the next two years if she stayed. She’d even managed to gain another Racial Level, placing her on par with a youngling a full year older than herself, and even two points of Might.
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Might was still one of her lowest Ability Scores, though it had passed Endurance and was well ahead of Vitality, which even after poisoning herself multiple times still lagged behind the rest at a meager twenty-three. A far cry behind her highest, Cunning, at sixty. Say what you will about kobolds, but a robust race they most definitely were not.
She had tried to gain the Uncommon Skill Losq had, [Brewer’s Palate], he even helped her by describing what he tasted when he sampled ingredients and brews, but instead that had just taught her a different lesson about brewing. She did not enjoy anything the brewers made. The mead was
for the rest of it? She’d rather drink her failed nettle draught that had tasted like burnt dirt.
In the days leading up to the beginning of her fifth year, Kori’s mood reached lows she hadn’t experienced since the end of her time with Ortik. Many of her siblings attempted to reassure her that she’d make an excellent brewer and Korse praised her efforts and her honestly unbelievable growth. None of them really helped unfortunately. She’d smile and pretend, but deep down she couldn’t shake the feeling that her efforts were nothing but a waste of time.
The only spot of brightness was Losq. After a full month of carrying around, and even sleeping with, the little pot of ointment, which Kori would swap out each day and not tell him why, he finally asked her if there was something wrong with her new batch when she handed him the pot one day before they returned to the brood chamber.
“Kori, did you do something different with the ointment today?” he asked, giving it a strange look like he couldn’t quite tell what was off about it, but knew that something was wrong.
Trying hard to suppress her grin she waited for a few moments before replying to him, “Well, what do you think is wrong with it? Think hard before you answer.” She said, mimicking the response she’d been given a little under a year prior by the inscriptionist when she’d asked a similar question.
He studied the little pot of paste, setting it on the table before bringing his face right next to it, smelling it, even giving it a slight taste since he knew it to be harmless. His puzzled look grew more and more acute as time passed. After a few minutes of intense examination without saying anything, Kori sat a second pot of ointment down next to the one he was examining and he started the process over again.
“This one looks… No, feels… Right?” He said, unsure of himself as he pointed to the newly deposited pot. “But they look the same?” He scratched his head as he continued to pan his vision back and forth between the two. “There’s something missing from the first…”
Giving him a final nudge over the edge, Kori asked a simple question. “What makes the ointment special that could be missing?”
“Makes it special?” He pondered aloud. “It’s imbued with M…” His sentence stopped mid syllable as a look Kori recognized as someone reading a notification came over him and his jaw fell open to hang agape.
A smug smile, something akin to the one Ortik favoured whenever he proved himself right, bloomed on Kori’s face as she waited for her brother to say something.
After a long pause, Losq clearly struggling to comprehend what had just happened, he finally asked in a confused tone, “Why the scale did I just learn [Mana Sense] and get two points in my Attunement?”
“Nice! Didn’t expect the Attunement.” She replied, ignoring his concern completely. “How else were you going to learn to put mana into something if you couldn’t sense it?” She explained like it were the simplest thing ever.
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Furrowing his brow as he replied to her, “But that’s a mage Skill… Unlike you, I brewing. I don’t want to be a mage.” A little bit of anger finding its way into his tone at the end.
“Don’t worry, as long as you don’t learn [Spell Shaping] you shouldn’t get a mage class…” She replied, a bit of her joy for her brother’s success departing as she finished by mumbling out, “That’s why they won’t let me back in after all…”
Accepting her reasoning with a sigh, not like he could unlearn a skill anyway, he moved on before she lingered on the subject and her good mood was ruined. “Okay, so I’ve been carrying this thing around for a month just to learn to sense mana… What’s next?” He asked.
Shaking off the melancholy trying to invade her mood, she smiled a forced smile and continued on, “Next you learn how to move the mana around in your body. You’ll also need to pay attention whenever you’re finishing off anything at the brewery.” She instructed, before cautioning him not to do what she’d done. “But if you feel something pulling on your mana, don’t let it!” She warned, “We’ll both get in big trouble if you make another giant bomb…” They both shivered at the thought of accidently creating a second source of impending doom.
That evening after they had returned to the brood chamber and had their dinner, Kori began to guide Losq through the control exercises that she had spent months on. She talked him through all the steps up to the last, where he would release his mana out into the world, but instructed him not to try to hold onto the mana, but to let it dissipate. The same as hers always had. He of course didn’t manage to get that far on just his first evening, but she told him to continue practicing until he could get there reliably. She thankfully did remember to warn him not to repeat her own mistake and ensured he knew the repercussions of bottoming out ones mana.
The days continued to pass and the Festival of Emberscale approached. Kori’s fourth year would soon come to a close and mood worsened further still. She stopped spending her days at the brewery, barely even leaving her den on the last few days. She tried to be excited for the festival, but she knew that whatever came next would be decided the following morning and Kori was not looking forward to whatever it was going to be.
The festival was the most important day of the year for the entire clan, but for the brewers it was especially momentous. Their products were of course enjoyed year-round by the adults of the clan, but only on this one day would they be enjoyed by the clan at the same time. Kori hadn’t realized it until well into her time with Aldr, but her time at the brewery coincided with their busiest time of the year. Aldr had been happy to have her there to assist him, both because the jovial brewer really did enjoy her company but also because with her there, he didn’t need to take a trained hand off the other work that needed to be done.
The alure of the festival was enough to draw Kori out of her isolation. She was looking forward to experiencing it since he hadn’t been able to enjoy it the previous year between the impromptu meeting with Matron Kles and getting mistaken for a hatchling and escorted back to the brood chamber.
This year she wanted to see what everything was about and experience it to the fullest. She’d even made plans with many of her siblings, Losq, Plk, Qot, and even Beys, to wander the caverns sampling the many foods, music and festivities that they could find. She was certain a few of her companions would at least attempt to sneak a bit of the brewers finest, but Kori had no intention to take part in that particular aspect of the festival at least.
As the beginning of the festivities approached, a notification appeared at the edge of Kori’s vision. It was one she expected, it happened every day after all, but it was a little more important than most days. Today it meant that she was another year older.
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Taking a moment, she reviewed her status, thinking just how far she’d actually come in a year. She was certain that if she compared hers with that of any of her siblings there would be stark differences.