As summer drew to a close and the leaves on trees started turning golden, life on the farm entered the busiest time of the year. Wynn no longer had time to drag the wagon to the Silver Bell, the duty taken over by her father, who would go there and back in less than twelve hours. Wynn helped wherever she could, harvesting crops as quickly and efficiently as she could, using her [levitate] spell to carry extra things, although she couldn't lift heavy loads yet.

As the leaves began to fall from the trees, Wynn had less and less time to do what she liked, instead using the [levitate] spell to lift the leaves off crops and keep the farm clean. She saw less and less of her mother, too, who always had dark circles under her eyes. Once or twice, Wynn would see her mother with red-rimmed eyes, as if she had been crying.

Her father was very irritable, too, and Wynn found that he had been snapping at their mother more, while both of them had been acting kinder towards Wynn, and no longer berated her for practising using her mana unless there was work that badly needed to be done.

Wynn assumed they were fighting, probably from the stress of the harvest season like every year. She tried to stay out of it, but this time was different. Both of them had been following Wynn around, helping her with various tasks and insisting she have a proper conversation with them when they ate dinner.

Sometimes at night, she would walk past them in their room to see her father holding her mother, as if comforting her. She always hurried back to bed after that.

And then finally, finally, her parents said they needed to 'talk'. It sounded ominous, but she would finally see what was going on.

They sat themselves down on the small table, her mother breathing slowly and deliberately, clearly trying to calm herself down. Her father avoided eye contact with both of them, staring at a spot behind Wynn's left shoulder when he spoke.

"Wynn, your sixteenth birthday is coming up..."

Her mother's breath hitched, and Wynn looked at her, concerned and a little confused, but she looked away and nodded at her father to continue.

"... so we have talked, and.. we have few funds, but.. we want you to choose your own path in life."

Wynn looked at him, her confusion increasing with every word. Did he mean classes? Everyone recieved their class at different times, but it was agreed that everyone would recieve their classes a few months before or after their sixteenth birthday.

He didn't mean... could he?

"And we all know that you want to be a [Mage]."

Wynn looked up, surprised. "I didn't know it was that obvious..." she said lamely.

Her mother rolled her red-rimmed eyes. "Oh, please. It's been obvious since you've been little. Always trying to learn new spells, learning anything you can from Gerdo."

"Well - I guess I do," Wynn admitted, "But training to be a [Mage] costs a fortune. Also, you need me on the farm to help out."

Wynn's father smiled. "Gerdo has agreed to teach you in return for you helping out at the Silver Bell. And if you join the Guild, you know they compensate the families of [Mages] so more people encourage their children into the class."

Wynn sat there, shocked. Gerdo would teach her? But he was just an innkeeper. Actually, come to think of it, she'd never heard of an [Innkeeper] class... did he know more about mana than he let on?

Wynn looked up and nodded. "You have to visit me when you can... but I'll do it."

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Gerdo, apparently, was not kidding when he wanted work in return. As soon as Wynn set foot in the Silver Bell, she was ushered by Gerdo into the kitchens, where she had to scrub, [Disinfect] and stack dishes as fast as humanly possible. Despite her arms aching and her steadily dropping mana reserves, the pile of dirty dishes kept growing until it was well past midnight.

Once she finished the pile, she staggered to room eight and fell asleep, only to be woken what felt like seconds later as the blankets were levitated off her.

"Good morning Wynn!" A stranger's merry voice carried around the room, and Wynn scowled and looked around for the source. There was nobody there; the voice came from a small box next to her, and as Wynn cautiously touched it, the blankets fell back on the bed in a messy pile.

This was Gerdo's version of an alarm clock, she supposed.

"Its too coldddd," Wynn complained, snuggling back into the blankets. They were instantly levitated above her again.

"It's 9:03am. Today you recieved an extra hour of sleep. The standard wake-up time is 8:00am on a night shift, or 4:30am on a morning shift. Workers are allocated ten minutes to get ready, and are expected to be present in the kitchens fifteen minutes after wake-up."

The alarm clock's enthusiastic voice made Wynn want to throw it at a wall, but she began to hurriedly get dressed in the uniform Gerdo had given her the night before. What kind of system was this?

Wynn scowled and walked down the stairs and into the kitchens, where half the staff were already cooking and the other half were eating small amounts made when there was a gap in the flow of orders. Wynn stood there, unsure, but then Gerdo appeared behind her and told her what to do. Apparently Gerdo hired people who needed food or shelter, and depending on their needs, they were paid with shelter or food for a certain time of work.

Of course, you could technically rent out a room in the inn with money, but few who lived there full-time actually paid, but instead worked a certain amount depending on what they were given by Gerdo. It kind of made sense, Wynn thought, given that although being a small inn Gerdo had around a dozen staff.

As Wynn recieved a room, food and [Mage] training, she would have to help with breakfast, lunch and dinner... and since her birthday was only three months away, she would be training in all of her free time, even if Gerdo was busy.

Not that she was complaining. She was extremely lucky for Gerdo to make this deal, and she doubter anyone else would if she and her family hadn't known Gerdo all their lives.

Wynn had never been in the habit of eating breakfast before, so she went over to the sink where there were already five or so dishes waiting for her. She rinsed, used [Disinfect], dried and stacked them. Each plate took about two minutes, as she was still slow at casting spells, and the pile next to her steadily grew.

Finally, at about ten o'clock, the pile dwindled to nothing and Gerdo took her upstairs to begin her training.

"So," Gerdo said, sitting on a chair, "This week we be doing theory. Maybe next week too."

Wynn scowled, but nodded. She thought she would be learning spells! Be able to fly, turn invisible, teleport, the [Mage]-ey stuff. Gerdo saw her expression and frowned.

"We must do theory for ye to understand mana. Ye must understand mana to use it."

"I can already cast [Disinfect] and [Levitate]," Wynn pointed out.

Gerdo shrugged. "Level 0 spells. And ye still can't cast them well, although yer decent fer someone who never done spellcasting."

"What level spells can you cast?" Wynn asked curiously.

Gerdo hesitated, but Wynn waited him out.

"Fifty four," Gerdo admitted finally, "But don't ye go round asking people their stats. It's rude."

That was... a lot more than what Wynn was expecting. The highest level achievable was 106, but to meet someone that high was extremely rare. The amount of people in the entire land at level 106 was probably in the single digits.

Most high-ranking members of the Guild were above level 50, with people like Wynn's parents around level 10. People levelled up by fighting and using their class skills, such as spellcasting, although that could only go so far. Depending on the class, some earned a lot more levelling experience than others, with classes like [Mages] earning more from spellcasting than [Farmers] from farming.

Level 50 was extremely high. Probably higher than Wynn would ever get to.

"Anyway," Gerdo said, not-so-subtly changing the subject, "What is mana?"

Wynn hesitated, surprised that she couldn't immediately think of anything. "Um... energy we can harness."

"At least ye didn't say 'magic'" Gerdo grunted. "Mana is the energy that powers the world, bkth natural and man-made. It allows us to cast spells, use skills, and it basically runs the [System]. Now, what is the opposite of mana?"

"Rot?" Wynn guessed.

"Sort of, its koha. Koha is the evil, the darkness of this world. It counters mana, stopping it from doing its job, leaving the spot dead. You're right, Rot is a form of koha, but koha is not Rot. Koha also powers demons the way mana powers us. Basically, it's bad."

The rest of the day continued like this, leaving Wynn with a lot to think about when she got to bed. Gerdo would probably quiz her tomorrow, but she was pretty sure she had remembered most of what he had told her. He had been right; Wynn really was ignorant.

She just hoped she could get the [Mage] class in time.