Jesse took a deep breath as he held his father's gaze, the man had three skill trees and an innate talent that made him suitable to running businesses. He was one of the unlucky few that had gone through the training to join the air force and then once they awakened their system got a really terrible innate skill that wasn't suitable to combat of any sort and thus eliminated him from the running to join the [Dragon Corps]. Because of that the moment his youngest son had showed an inkling of an interest in the military he had foisted all of his hopes and dead dreams on his shoulders.
"Just try and awaken a good skill boy that should help you a lot more than most. Unlike me who was discouraged and left the air force, make sure you remain there by. I will arrange a marriage for you soon, I already have a few candidates in mind." Jesse opened his mouth to speak, but the sharp look sent his way prevented him from saying anything as his father continued.
"You are a son of this family Jesse, if you really want to be free of every obligation and from my control, then join the [Aviary] and be done with me and my meddlesome intrusions into the way you want to live your life. But until then, you will carry yourself as you should and honor your house and family." Jesse and his father let out a simultaneous sigh as his father's tone took on a softer touch.
"Has it been hard on you kiddo?" he asked, Jesse shook his head as tears welled up in his eyes. He was a grown ass man yet here he was feeling like a kid.
"I'm sorry, if you want to hate me then go ahead… I welcome it… I deserve it. But you must become strong, you must carry this house with you Jesse… after all I am making you the heir to my nobility title." Jesse looked up absolutely shocked by what he had just heard, but before he could say anything his father raised his hands up to stop him.
"None of your brothers have what it takes boy… and my time on this earth is rapidly drawing to a close. This family name is what my father had entrusted to me and told me to keep strong. I failed it… but you have a chance to take the Haruna name to heights unprecedented.
JANUARY 24TH 2022
08:00 AM
NATIONAL DEFENSE ACADEMY
Jesse had actually left the family house the very day he and his father had their talk. There was just too many expectations on his shoulder steeped in quite a significant amount of animosity. His brothers hated his guts apparently joining the air force had all been a ploy on his part to get the nobility title, and now he final got what he wanted.
Jesse was tired, his family were just barons but the drama that was associated with them was so much he could not stand for long to be in their presence. And while dealing with his father was pretty much straightforward, it was his mother that was his problem. She felt this need to constantly be in the spotlight, and in some ways perhaps Jesse understood she was that way due to her insecurities.
And this was because she was not the mother of his three older brothers. She was the official wife, a political alliance that sometimes he was sure both his parents regretted ever agreeing to. But few if any political relationships ever end in love, it was just a way to get forward and make stronger alliances.
For his mother though it was all about appearances, it was why they had sold their fief, and bought a Level 1 Manor in the edge of the capital, leveled it up to 2 then used what was left of selling off their ancestral land to worm their way on to a seat within [The House Of Assemblies] becoming well respected peerage of the parliament…. Not that they had much sway over anything, heck the High King did not even know they existed.
When his older brothers had all fallen prey to their mothers machinations and gained careers in different aspects of society, not that any of it was bad. They were quite successful and they were growing quite well and had a bit of prestige in their circles. It gave their mothers more power over the house and his father. But that all changed when his mother had gotten pregnant with him. That had been chaos, as the concubines were quick to point out that after almost 20 years of marriage she had been unable to get a child from the Baron, so she must have been unfaithful.
But both magic and science were incredibly advanced, enough that a test was able to tell that truly Jesse was the Baron's son. And then here he was… he shook his head as he walked through the door lettered [Deployment] of course it wasn't really a door, but instead a tent flap. It was here that Jesse would finally awaken the system and become a part of society proper.
All air force soldiers had a chance to bond with the dragons, and that was in part not just due to their training, but also due to the talents they awaken. Talents were actually special skills and abilities from one of the 7 schools of magic. [Evocation] [Invocation] [Ritual] [Summoning] [Rune] [Life] and [Death] magic.
Depending on the talents awakened, you would have access to specialized skill trees and if you were lucky enough you could bond with a dragon egg from any of the official Government sanctioned [Nests] never the less this was what he has been waiting for, the military were trained without being allowed to awaken their system at the age of fifteen because pushing them really hard meant that they could start with higher base stats than the norm.
It would also 'theoretically' increase the grade of talent that they got, and made cultivating of mana a lot easier and faster for them than those who got awakened earlier and had whatever normal bodies they had enhanced by mana without haven pushed it to the peak and above what humans could match.
There was a man sitting behind his table and idly rubbing his mustache while he chewed his upper lip. Major Gerald was one of the most fun instructors they had ever got, but he was also brutal and always focused about his task, he looked up to see Jesse then smiled as he chuckled.
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"Of course you would be first, who else but the top cadet of his year, Jesse Lionel Haruna would be able to be here first in the morning and first in line to awaken his system. You know if I was a bit lazier than normal, which I admit I almost was, then you would never have seen me here. But let me not keep you here with idle chatter, I'm sure you are anxious." Jesse gave a salute then pulled the chair back, all in perfect form as he held his officer hat underneath his arm. Major Gerald nodded, but mainly to himself as pulled out a tablet and raised up a holographic projection of Jesse.
"It's protocol that I brush you up on the most important aspect of your knowledge. I'm certain you know how leveling up works right?" Jesse nodded as he gave the text book explanation needed to get this impromptu test over with.
"Leveling up is a mix of cultivating, battling and living. Certain acts in your daily life can either improve your stats or net you a few or significant amount of essence to get to the next level. Slaying rift, dungeon and mana beasts or people would net you essence that can then be guided for either leveling up, or the infusion of essence holding containers. It can also be used to power certain magics and spells." Major Gerald rolled his eyes.
"Jesse, Jesse, I guess even after all this time you are still a stiff faced robot." Jesse gave a causal shrug, but still had a small smile on his face.
Major Gerald took his hand and placed it over the Hologram on top of the tablet. Immediately Jesse felt as if something had been stabbed into his mind and hands, and liquid fire rushed up his veins. His body locked up as he immediately felt pain more worse than anything he had ever experienced in his life, and then all of a sudden it stopped, and Jesse could breathe easy again.
But he could tell almost immediately that he, was different now, completely changed in every fundamental way and different to the core as his ten years of training and gaining stats that could not be fully applied came to fruition in this very moment.
[Awakening Complete! Analyzing Talents! Establishing School Connection for Level 1 Talent! Analysis Complete!]
[Jesse Lionel Haruna Has Awakened the Life Magic Talent [Codia Bestia] (Heart of the Beast)]
[Cordia Bestia: Have a natural attraction, Understanding, and Connection of any creature in existence considered a beast. Beast Oriented Magics are 80% More Effective and 80% Less Costly.]
[Cordia Bestia generates Ability Charm Beast (I)/ Life Magic Skill Tree Unlocked! Basic Rejuvenation (I) Gained/ Spearmanship, Swordsmanship, Mounted Combat, Military Tactics Skill trees Unlocked]
[Life Magic (<
[Cordia Bestia Ability: Charm Beast (I): By focusing Your Intent, all Beasts from 10 Levels above You Down has a varying percentage from 20% Minimum to 100% to become enthralled and controlled by you.]
There were no rankings to talents, but some people were just lucky enough to be born with a particular kind of talent that made them extremely suitable for a lot of things. Dragons could be considered Sapient, but not exactly to the level of Sapience humans have. They were still considered beasts, but ones that access to the greater magic and power than any human had any rights to have….. Now Jesse has unlocked something that would definitely fast track him for consideration to the [Dragon Corps] as long as he was able to find an egg that can choose him.
Name: Jesse Lionel Haruna
Level: 1 (0/100)
Class: Air-force Officer
Mana: 55/55
Talents: [Cordia Bestia]
Skill Trees: [Life Magic (1)>>Basic Rejuvenation] [Spearmanship (1)] [Swordsmanship (1)] [Mounted Combat (1)]
Abilities: [Charm Beast (1)]
Stats: <
"Congratulations Second Lieutenant Jesse Lionel Haruna on your awakening. On behalf of the Nigerian Defense Academy and the nation at large, we will like to welcome and offer you post amongst our air force. You are to be deployed to the battlefield immediately, heading south to Enugu, where a rift has been opened and an Invasion of blood orcs are under way. You are to report to Major General Severance Ugechukwu, who will complete your assignment. Effective term for this deployment is 15 months.., good luck and Godspeed."
Jesse got up and gave a salute, gratefully accepting his new deployment as he turned around to leave. But he could not help but be a little worried. Usually all recently graduated cadets spend six months in the capital where they get to observe and learn from the older air force soldiers…. But he was being directly deployed to the battlefield…. This would throw a hitch in his father's plan to secure him a marriage….. And worse…. Why did Major Gerald look like he had sentenced Jesse to death?
And then it dawned on Jesse, just as soon as his feet left the tent. There are only four known [Nests] in Nigeria that had dragons available for the air force recruit. One was in Lagos, the other in the walled City of Kano, the third was far to the east in Bayelsa, and the fourth was in the capital just three hours away, any air force soldier with a good enough talent that point or even hinted at being able to bond a dragon would be sent to any one of these four places to gain one… however he was deployed straight to the battlefield.
Jesse was not stupid, he knew there was politics at play, and whoever had a hand in this did not want Jesse anywhere near those nests. They had just sent him to go into war against creatures that required higher leveled soldiers and veterans to even face… they were sending him to die.