Chapter Thirty Five

Joe woke the next morning and lay in bed, a deep breath filling his body before a long slow breath had him bonelessly oozing into the bed, relaxed and rising comfortably. This was one of the few days that he didn't feel the subtle aches that came most mornings and he felt good. Must be because I feel like I've finally accomplished my plan. Joe lay there for a couple moments enjoying the moment before sighing and forcing himself to rise. Gotta figure out what I'm going to do next!

As always, Garnedell's 'Joe-radar' was working at peak efficiency and he awoke even before Joe's feet touched the ground. Joe stared at him for a few moments, quite surprised and realized he finally had both the time and ability to ask Garnedell about it.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what, Master Joe?"

"How do you know exactly when I wake up?"

Garnedell only cocked his head slightly to the side, uncertainty painting his face.

"I mean, every time I've woken up, you wake up just after. How do you do it?"

"You are very loud, Master Joe. I can hear you easily."

"I wake you up?"

"Oh, no. I'm already awake."

"You're already awake? What do you mean?"

"I cannot sleep as long as you, master."

"Then get up! You don't have to stay there and pretend to sleep or something. Get up and read or study… oh… you can't read… um… well, get up and do something you want, or… anything," Joe replied with his voice muffled by the shirt he was putting on.

Garnedell didn't say anything and Joe had already turned to his dressing so felt the conversation had dropped, his mind turning to other things. "So, Garnedell. What job do you think I should do next?"

"I am not certain, master."

"Ah… Garnedell, remember… please just call me Joe."

"Ah… yes, Joe."

"Thanks."

"Of course, Mas… Joe."

"Anyway, I need to get the most abilities I can. I guess I'm most worried about intelligence, to be honest. As long as I can keep my intelligence high enough, I'll be able to think my way through most things. I guess I'll keep focusing on the scholar jobs. Makes sense since that's where I'm going to get the most of my intelligence. Oh, hey, Garnedell, I've noticed that people seem to … speak and think… a bit slowly," Joe finished his last question with a bit of trepidation, not wishing to offend.

"Yes. Some do so."

"Is… is this normal?"

"Of course."

"Can you explain a bit?"

"Ah, how so?"

"Why… what is happening?"

"They have low intelligence or their job has low intelligence, of course. We spoke of this before."

"Does this make them… stupid?"

"No. Just very slow. They are able to think just as well but they take much longer to understand, think, and respond. You must simply be patient with them."

"Huh… so intelligence isn't really just IQ then."

"Yes, Joe?"

"Ah, nothing," Joe quickly replied and changed the subject, "Let's head down for breakfast, but I'll be a bit quiet. I'm going to spend it trying to figure out what my next job is going to be, OK?"

"Yes, Joe."

They finished morning ablutions and headed down the stairs with minimal small talk as Joe went through his plan for his next job. Most of his thoughts were caught up in arriving at the common room and preparing for breakfast, but after he'd ordered his food and settled at his table, he was able to turn his thoughts to his next plan. Well, I was just trying to get my stats to a base of a hundred, but I now that I know about learning… Joe stopped and pondered for a moment, trying to decide between the two, then realized he didn't have to. Scholarly jobs give me both intelligence, wisdom, and learning. If my main plan was to make sure I had my intelligence maxed out, there's nothing better than the scholar jobs I'm already doing. Although, I think I've already reached my planned one hundred points minimum for intelligence and wisdom. Joe pondered a bit more as he considered his two options. If I've got my mental stats up where I need them, then I'll need to focus on my combat next, right? As long as I have my mental and combat abilities at what I need them at, I can easily get the rest up, right? But I don't know or have any combat jobs available, right? Joe flipped open his status and took a look at his available jobs.