Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Routine check-up

Richard's POV

Lucy and David were visiting my clinic along with their enigmatic child, Peter. My first encounter with Peter had been when they had called me to their house the day after his birth, Lucy in a blind panic and whispering something about him not being human. David had been desperately trying to calm her. [Analysis] back then had confirmed that he was indeed fully human which placated Lucy somewhat, and allowed me to extract from them what had spooked her. Apparently the child had started reacting to his name within hours of being born.

David had convinced himself that the child had been born with an intelligence boosting trait such as [Intelligent] or [Genius]. I could rule [Intelligent] out immediately; no way would it have an effect of that magnitude. I've never had any first hand experience of [Genius], but to the best of my knowledge it was a possibility. Since it was a rank three trait Peter would probably become the hero of our village if he really possessed it. Alas, there is no way to discover the traits held by someone so young. Which brings us to today. I have to admit I've been looking forward to this. From what I've seen he really is an abnormally intelligent kid, and the sight of Lucy walking around the village with him one morning last Autumn pointing out and naming things and him trying to copy the sounds while barely a season old was somewhat surreal.

I focused on Peter and invoked [Analysis], hoping for a resolution to our little mystery.

Name: Peter
Species: Human
Class: Commoner (Level 3)
Soul Points: 4
Health: 8/8
Stamina: 6/8
Mana: 16/16
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 4
Endurance: 3
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 8
Skills: None
Traits: [XXXX] [Early Bloomer] [Curious] [Xenophilia]
Titles: None

I had to try hard not to let the shock show on my face as I browsed the information; there was a trait that I couldn't see. Given my level six [Analysis] that must mean that it's rank four or five. A rank three trait in a little village like ours would be the talk of the town if the news spread. Something higher is special indeed. Even ignoring the presence of that trait, the rest of the status was truly impressive for someone who had barely passed their first year. I was going to have to be a bit careful here. Opening up by saying I couldn't see his mystery trait was likely to panic Lucy again. Lets start by playing up their family relationship.

"Right, where to start... How about the light hearted one. He's inherited his fathers [Xenophilia]."

"You didn'th have tho shay thath one!"

Lucy smiled at that, while David blushed lightly. Peter gave an even better reaction, scrunching up his eyes, blushing furiously, exclaiming out loud and clinging hard to Lucy. I know I shouldn't tease my patients, but I can't help it when they make it so easy. Wait... To react like that, doesn't that mean he already knew about it?

"Does he have [Genius] like we suspected?"

"No. There are four traits in total. Along with the rank one [Xenophilia] are the rank two traits [Early Bloomer] and [Curious]. I'm not able to see the name of the final trait, which means that it's rank four or five. [Genius] is only rank three, so we can rule that out. There is a rank four version of [Genius] called [Erudite] but his intelligence stat is too low for that. It's probably something else entirely. On the other hand both intelligence and wisdom are at levels appropriate for someone coming of age, so whatever it is must provide them some boost. I'm afraid I can't think of anything that fits the description, but I'm not well versed in uncommon and high ranked traits. It's also possible that it's a unique."

David was looking thoughtful, but Lucy was looking depressed so I hastened to reassure her.

"Don't worry. There's no such thing as a negative trait. Even if it has some sort of downside Peter is sure to come out ahead."

"What? Oh, I'm not worried about the trait I can't see. I was thinking about the ones I can."

"How so? [Early Bloomer] and [Curious] have nothing but upsides."

"Do you really think this village of ours is big enough to contain someone who holds [Curious]? Peter is sure to want to leave once he grows up."

That was a valid concern, but it was one for the far future. David was apparently thinking along the same lines, because he responded before me.

"That's a long time away yet, my dear. We still have many years ahead of us as a family. Besides, even if he does want to head out to see the world, it's not as if he'll forget to write to his old folks, right Peter?"

"Wite!"

Woah, did he just fist pump? And that lisp... Is he trying to be cute or something? Does that really work on anyone? Oh, David's practically melting over there. Apparently it does. Glancing at my still open [Analysis] display, I spotted that Peter's charisma had actually jumped by one from that action.

"Impressive. Apparently his lisp is so cute that he earned a point of charisma from it."

That caused David to snort with laughter.

"Yup, you were right all along. He really is my son. Just, you know, with a few more brains."

That even got Lucy smiling again. Good, that's how a family should be. Looks like my worries about her taking this hard were unwarranted. Might as well finish off the rest while we're here then.

"Anyway, reading the rest of it, he's managed to level up [Commoner] twice already. He has the two soul points from that, plus another two that presumably came from [Curious]. If he can keep doubling his soul point income like that then he's going to have a bright future ahead of him regardless of that fourth trait. Stats are three, four, three, eleven, ten, nine. No skills or titles."

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Lucy and David both nodded, apparently unsurprised by any of that. Well, they have lived with him for a year already. Obviously they know him better than anyone. I think really they were just here for reassurance that he didn't have a trait with nasty side effects, but thanks to the limits of my [Analysis] skill I haven't been able to provide that.

"You could take him into town and find someone with a higher level in [Analysis], or else you could wait for him to read his own status. Given the rate of his mental development, I doubt you'll have long to wait."

I gave Peter a stare as I emphasised the not long to wait. He looked down at the floor, obviously uncomfortable. He received the message.

"We've waited this long, so a bit longer wont hurt. I don't think it's important enough to need to take a trip back to Dawnhold. Thanks for your time."

"You're welcome. Take care."

I waved as the three of them left. Lucy was right about one thing; our village was not going to be big enough for that kid. Rank five is the realm of fiction, but even rank four is rare and precious enough to be sought after by the various powers of the land. Whatever his future held, it wasn't going to be a quiet life of farming.

Peter's POV

As we left Richard's house, I was in two minds about how well that had gone. On the one hand I was terrified of anyone finding out about [Abnormal Soul]. If I wasn't, I could have just told them about it myself at any time; there had never been any need to find someone with a skill to read my status. On the other hand I'd resigned myself that I wouldn't be able to hide it today, and that had actually come as a kind of relief. For better or for worse it would be over, and I'd be able to remove that weight hanging over my head. Now nothing had changed, except that Doctor Richard had immediately spotted that I already knew my own traits. But mum had been more concerned that one day I'd want to leave the village than exactly what my other trait was. They'd shown over and over again how ridiculously over trusting they were. Really, why had I ever been worried? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew I could read my own status, and had deliberately chosen not to pressure me.

"Abnormaw shouw"

"Sorry?"

"My other thraith ish abnormaw shouw. Ith'sh ranw four, and yesh ith'sh reshponshibwe for me being, weww, abnormaw. Ith awsho mawesh me highwy reshishthanth tho shouw magic."

That wasn't really a lie; the reason I got the trait was the same as the reason I was overly intelligent. Both parents needed a couple of seconds to process my butchered speech into something intelligible, after which dad gave some commentary.

"I've never heard of that trait. It's nice that it has no negative effects, but a resistance to soul magic isn't something that would be useful in your day to day life. No sentient race is capable of using soul magic in the first place. There are rare monsters that use it to send victims to sleep or cause other mental effects, but you would never see one outside of a dungeon. While a delver would value such resistance, anyone facing monsters of that level would have enchanted gear that can do the same thing. But if it has the same effect on mental stats as [Genius] then I can see how the addition of a strong affinity resistance could raise it to rank four."

Monsters, dungeons and delvers... I'd already asked about monsters, but it turned out they are not something we needed to worry about at all here. They exist, but only occur in regions of high mana density, and there are none anywhere nearby. Even then, the surface mana density is limited even in the worst areas, and the stronger varieties of monsters only dwell within dungeons, which they never leave. The regular non-magical wildlife is not seriously dangerous so this world doesn't require adventurers in the traditional fantasy trope sense. Any responsible adult can head into a forest and pick herbs without any need for combat skills. Or even children, depending on the exact local wildlife. Instead, the equivalent occupation are delvers, those who delve into dungeons, fight monsters and bring back precious metals and magical resources that can't be found anywhere on the surface.

Of course, it goes without saying that I'm considering becoming a delver when I grow up. But at the moment it is still only a consideration; I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. Do delvers earn skills and levels through combat faster than safer occupations? What's the casualty rate like? My parents don't know a lot of detail. We don't even have village guards or soldiers who might know more about combat skills. Heck, the village doesn't even have a fence around it, and not only have I never seen anyone lock their front doors but I've never seen a front door with a lock. This really is a close knit and highly trusting community. If we were ever targetted by bandits they'd go through the village like a hot knife through butter. Trying to express concern about that to mum failed because I don't know the word for bandit or criminal, and couldn't explain well enough to get across what I meant. It's just not something anyone seems worried about, and it's not as if this village is brand new so empirical evidence would suggest they are not completely wrong.

While I was busy with my internal monologue, mum chimed in with the obvious observation.

"So you really can access your own status then. Is the reason you didn't say anything because it called you abnormal?"

"Yesh... Shorry."

Mum gave me a squeeze.

"Silly. You need to stop worrying so much."

No, you all need to start worrying more. Seriously! But... I have to admit this whole mindset is nice. I really don't think I want to spend my life farming, but nevertheless, spending my life in a place like this wouldn't be entirely bad. It's relaxing, not in a physical way, but mentally.

As we arrived home, I once again tried to look into the System's store in the hopes anything had changed since the last time.

No skills currently eligible for purchase.

Guess not. But now that I'd admitted that I could access my status, nothing else was holding me back from asking how it worked.

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