"I can't believe it's already time for Anne to start going to church," Carissa said

"I know it seems too soon," Mum agreed.

Tomorrow was the first day of school. Inevitably, this had been brought up and even Grandfather seemed to be taking notice.

"Anne." he said, "Come here, girl."

As Daniel crossed the room, he saw his father glance over, only for Grandfather to wave his attention away with a soothing gesture. When Daniel got close he was grabbed from under the armpits and pulled up into his grandfather's lap. Other members of the family gathered around them.

"Tomorrow, when you start schooling," he started. "I want you to remember that our family runs this town. You should be proud of that. We've worked hard to make sure you can be. So I want you to work hard to make sure we can all be proud of you as well. Can you do that for me?"

"I will," Daniel replied after a pause.

"Good!" Grandfather barked, his face splitting into a wide grin. "And when you're sure you have managed that, I want you to rub it in those stuffy priests' faces. Like this!" He ducked his head forwards, scraping his bristly beard back and forth along Daniel's cheek. Daniel squawked in shock and then struggled to escape. But he was smiling as his grandfather finally relented and let him go. Daniel stood there awkwardly, his hand on his reddened cheek, as the others joined in with Grandfather's booming laughter.

"The same joke again? He did that to all my kids already" Carissa said.

"He did that to Marcus," Grandmother responded.

"And whatever you do, make sure you forget everything Rory ever told you!" Henry added in his own advice, prompting more laughter.

"That's a waste," Rory disagreed, "I swear Zachery went easy on me every time I said I was a goblin, not a kid."

"And look how you turned out thanks to that!"

Daniel returned across the room, his mother reaching out an arm around his shoulders from where she was sitting. Rory soon followed after.

"It's true though please don't bring up Landtrust to the priests," he asked quietly, "I don't think Zachery would be willing to still accept the same excuse." Daniel looked to his mother, who nodded, so he turned and nodded acceptance to Rory.

----------------------------------------

Morning came, and Daniel excitedly woke up earlier than normal. Dad was in charge of walking him to school, apparently due to some tradition, with Mum tearfully waving goodbye from the front gate. Daniel again wanted to ask about the argument but felt hesitancy holding him back. Like the coward he was turning into, he settled for an oblique reference.

"So Grandfather give you the same advice when you were a boy?" Daniel asked. His father kept silent but seemed to be thinking, so Daniel waited.

"Your grandfather said to become someone your family could be proud of," he eventually answered, "I just wanted to be proud of myself. To live up to my own principles. I think that's the difference between us."

Daniel in turn took his time to solemnly ponder his response. First days at school sure make people want to try their hand at coming up with profound advice. You guys should calm down, it's for five-year-olds, it's only kindergarten -oh shit it's for five-year-olds, I've been expecting answers about magic, and I'm going to learn what sound a cow goes!

"You said wanted? Are you proud now?"

"So far," Dad answered, then grinned, suddenly resembling Grandfather with the expression. As they reached the road leading downhill, Dad turned and bent down slightly, showing Daniel his back.

"Your grandfather loves his traditions. Now come on get on."

Daniel failed to see how those two things were related. Besides, there are people here you know this is embarrassing! Hoping to get things over with quickly, Daniel jumped on. His Dad pulled his legs into a piggyback ride and set off at a run down the hill. Daniel was soon both laughing and scared out of his tiny little mind. The hill was steep and Dad was fast. Too fast. Was this a running skill in action?

When they reached the bottom and he got down, Daniel found he was more out of breath than his dad was. Looking back up the slope, he could see Ellory and his father, who they must have passed coming down.

"Another tradition?"

"One he told me to keep going when I had kids of my own."

Well, that's one tradition I won't be continuing. I'm too short now to be giving piggyback rides. And I wouldn't be the Dad anyway. Oh, dear lord children and a dad and I don't want to think about this anymore lalalalalalala!

They headed towards the market, Daniel realising on the way he didn't know where this church was supposed to be. As they approached the red border on the ground, they turned to the side towards a tiny building with a man in white robes waiting next to it. There was children entering, but he wasn't sure how they fit inside since the building was only as wide as the door and only a few meters long. As they rounded the door, Daniel looked in to see stairs leading down. The church is a subway station?

"Hello, Nicholas."

"Marcus, it's a pleasure to see you again. And this is your daughter? She must be new."

"Anne. She is."

Nicholas laughed at this, although Daniel didn't know why. Dad smiled in response but didn't speak.

"Fatherhood suits you, I think. Go on inside, Anne, keep going straight and follow the others and there'll be someone to take care of you at the end."

Daniel glanced at his father, who nodded. "I'll be here to take you home when you are done."

Daniel started down the stairs, thinking about the advice he had been given by his family. Be worthy of pride. He remembered something about setting an example when he was younger as well. How did he do that? Stand up straight and look people in the eyes when talking to them? He had naturally been doing that anyway. It was a lot easier to accomplish when you weren't spending all your time hunched over a screen and never talking to anyone. And who was it that he was supposed to impress exactly? It was hard to impress teachers while also avoiding giving the game away by speaking to them. Impressing the other kids just felt like bullying. From his memory of being one twice, kids judged themselves by comparison with others of their own age group. He'd be handing out complexes left and right, and help them grow up into a bunch of followers, a personality type he was not fond of. But maybe that would be counted as a good thing in terms of Laston prestige. He thought instead that Dad had it right, it was time to impress himself with himself. Job done, I'm already impressed, let's go home.

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The stairs turned a corner halfway down, and there was an arch at the bottom which transitioned the building into a familiar red and white material. Daniel connected the dots and guessed they were beneath the market square. Was that whole thing the roof of the church? He followed the other kids until he reached a hall that was a meeting point of several streams from different directions. There were slightly older kids arriving and then leaving via other exits, but the youngsters including Daniel were filtered out by a young priest and sent off to one side out of the way of the traffic.

He noticed Ellory standing out from the group due to his height. Checking the others, Daniel found himself to be about average height, not that he'd been worried about it. Next to him was a slightly shorter girl, with straight black hair and a nervous expression, who kept sending glances in his direction. Sighing mentally, Daniel decided to get things over with.

"Hello," Daniel started.

"Hi."

"I'm Anne."

"Me too,"

"...I'm Anne Laston."

"Me too."

Daniel was dumbfounded. Was that enough effort to preserve the family pride? Because he was tired of socialising with kids already.

"Anne," another girl broke in, this one with curly brown hair, and was dumbfounded in turn when Daniel turned to her. "...no not you...I...come here Anne," she said, dragging the other girl away with her while whispering loudly enough for Daniel to hear. "You're not Anne Laston, Anne, you're Anne of Laston. That's the Anne Laston. The baron's granddaughter."

The original girl turned back to stare open-mouthed at Daniel. His socialising obligations firmly over, Daniel faced ahead and failed miserably at ignoring her stare. Eventually, the crowds died off and the priest in charge of filtering did a quick headcount. Satisfied, he led them down a set of stairs and along a corridor to a classroom. Inside was a bunch of mats on the floor, and at the front behind a table stood a new, slightly older priest with bushy black eyebrows and graying hair elsewhere. Daniel sat down in a randomly chosen spot near the middle of the room, sure there was a smart place to sit but already losing interest in putting on an act or in keeping a low profile.

After a quick exchange of words, the younger priest closed the door and then sat in a chair in the corner. The older priest cleared his throat and started to address the class.

"Hello, children, and welcome. Normally, you will be under the care of my good friend Erasmus over in the corner there. However, on some special occasions like today, you may get to deal with me instead. My name is Zachery, and I am the priest in charge of all education here at the Laston Church of our Lord Kyburad. Today, I am here to talk to you about innocence and guidance, and after that Erasmus will be teaching you all your first magic skill. There's a good amount to go through, but I want you to stay quiet and focus until the end."

Daniel was very much interested in learning about innocence and guidance, although he wondered about kids being able to keep focus. It was fine for him, better than 'cow goes moo' by far, but this was a class of five-year-olds. He doubted their ability to sit quietly and learn until lunchtime. Honestly, he doubted his own ability to do the same if things got too religious.

"When you reach fifteen years old and become an adult, you will be able to learn new skills and gain a profession. Before that point, you will be protected by the racial skill Innocence. Innocence will protect you from physical harm, and will hide your status from those who might use it to exploit your future." Zachery paused, holding up his hand for a moment in a placating gesture. "What I have just said is demonstrable fact. What I am about to say is instead the beliefs of myself and the other priests who work here. For what comes next, we have faith, but not proof. It is up to each of you to decide for yourself whether you wish to share our beliefs or not."

"The soul is the essence of a living being. A person's body may die, but their soul, their core, lives on and is eventually reincarnated in a new body to live again. Those who are reincarnated here, in Kyburad Sanctuary, have been chosen out of all the countless souls in the world, as the ones most worthy of our Lord's protection. Our Lord Kyburad loves and cherishes each of you specifically, and so he gifted you life in his Sanctuary. Innocence, likewise, is a gift from our Lord God. And even his in His Sanctuary, its protection is necessary."

"Let me get to the main reason I have come to speak to you today. Our Lord God wishes for you to be protected, to grow safely, and to have the freedom to choose your future for yourself. If you feel threatened or in danger in any way, come to the church. If you feel pressured in any way, to take up certain skills or jobs, to accept a life picked out for you by another, then come to church. If you need protection, we will fight to the death to provide it, for it is the will of our Lord God Kyburad."

"Now, before I move on to guidance, were there any questions, or did anyone have something they didn't understand?"

Daniel looked around, surprised at how quiet and focused everyone was. He was trying not to jump to conclusions too quickly. It seemed the church saw innocence as a divine commandment, something like a tablet brought down from the mountaintop. That made them helpful as long as they thought he had it, but conversely, they would be very bad people to find out about aberration. A question had occurred to him during the speech, and he stuck a hand up in the air, feeling stupid for doing so almost immediately. Good job not sticking out, you lasted a long time!

"Yes?"

"You said Innocence is a racial skill?"

"Yes."

"And it comes from Lord Kyburad?"

"We believe so, yes."

"So all humans get it?"

"Yes."

"Even the ones outside the Sanctuary?"

"Yes. The church praises our Lord as the most merciful of all the Gods. We believe that even far away from the sanctuary, he grants the children his protection."

Daniel put his hand down and the priest moved on when there were no other questions.

"Good. Now above us in the centre of the market square, is an obelisk that is a status stone. As an adult, the obelisk can be used to view your status. Adults often use this status as a guide to help make decisions such as picking certain skills or a profession. Children however cannot do this, since innocence hides their status for their protection, and they also cannot learn normal skills at all. That is where guidance comes in, as well as guidance stones like this one."

He held up a small disk of tessellating red and white shapes, reminiscent in pattern to Daniel of some sort of radiation or hazard sign.

"Guidance allows children to learn guidance versions of other skills. These do not normally have much effect, but they allow children to spend their time practicing for the future if they so wish. Guidance stones allow limited access to the status of children relating to guidance skills and are generally used to help with teaching. For example, a guidance stone would let you know you have learned a new skill. This is particularly useful with passive skills. You may rest assured, that children are prevented from being exploited with the use of guidance, both by our beliefs and the skill itself. Now, are there any more questions? Or shall I leave you to the care of Erasmus?"

Daniel stuck his hand up again.

"Yes?"

"You said guidance skills are for practicing?"

"Yes, that is a way that can be used."

"Can they be improved by practice then?"

Zachery paused and turned to share a glance with Erasmus.

"They can, but your teacher will cover that with you on another day. Is that all?"

Daniel nodded, feeling that he should have stopped several questions earlier. He was probably jumping at shadows, but he didn't like that glance. He found himself impressed again by the attentiveness of the others. He did not see the material of this lecture as being at a five-year-old level. There had been a normal display of childish fidgeting before class but they had really buckled down. It almost made him feel bad for assuming he could be bullying the others if he seriously competed with them.

He was pleased and amused that respecting innocence seemed to require them to put caveats into their religious indoctrination. But was there not a conflict between not interfering in a child's future and bringing a bunch of them down in your basement to make them learn a skill. And unless he was misunderstanding what was said, that was not the only hole in what was said. If 'innocence is gods will' equals 'enforce its protection no matter the cost' then shouldn't the church be outside the sanctuary somewhere chanting Deus vult. There must be a child workshop in some part of the world for them to declare a crusade against. And he wondered about what child exploitation would look like here. There was an implication that not everyone's status was created equal if some were to be taken advantage of, although he knew that much already.