Struggling down the cobblestone streets with her handcart, Jess concentrated hard on not dropping any of the delicate glass. The glass was stained by her mother with help from her father to go to a church for their stained glass window. Her parents had been giving her more leeway and independence as she worked and showed them she could handle it, and finally on her 13th birthday, they started letting her do deliveries within the trade district. Jess knew this was only because the trade district had numerous guards and was, besides the palace, the most patrolled part of town. The city of Levia was the heart of trade in the kingdom of Kolant, and the capital as well. Jess had never seen other cities but she hoped that when she got old enough she would be able to travel and explore the world.

Jess carried the sheets of glass to the warehouse in her hand cart. She had been working for her parents since she got her specialization and base skill at 12 years old, when everyone with the class was expected to find their apprenticeships and figure out their career path in life. Jess had been blessed with two parents, which greatly increased the chances of her getting the class when she was born, as opposed to a meager . The hierarchy of classes goes , , and finally with each class having unique specializations. Generally you inherited your parents class but there are always stories of a son of two farmers becoming a [Knight] or a disgraced prince who is a [Thug]. Jess was a [Glazier], like both of her parents, although she dreamed of being an [Explorer] or a [Diplomat]. Exploring the world is what Jess truly enjoyed. Her mother was from the neighboring state of Lethia, and she used techniques from her homeland to make glass jewelry and would sell the inexpensive accouterments to the less wealthy, specifically those of the class as they could not afford the more expensive gems, crystals and metals. Jess’s father made specialty equipment for the military. Her father was a renowned lens maker and serviced and class clients alike, affording her family some amount of renown. Jess however, had none of the skill with glass of either of her parents and the precision work of her father and the aesthetic beauty of what her mother did escaped her. They told her that she would find a way to use her System abilities in a way that she would both excel at and enjoy, but she was still trying to find it.

Lost in though, Jess almost walked right in front of the military convoy that had approached from an intersecting street. Pulling her handcart to a stop a bit too quickly, the top pane of glass slid off the cart and onto the ground. Furiously diving over the cart and grabbing onto the sheet, she did not try and stop it from falling and instead focused on her skill [Reinforce] to stop it from shattering. Getting chances to practice her base skill was rare, and Jess believed it was one of the things that was holding her back from moving on with her glass working education and finding what she enjoyed. After all, having a skill that required glass to get damaged was both expensive and dangerous, and her skill was useful for moving stuff around without breaking it, which was looked down upon as the job of a . In fact, the job she was currently doing could easily be done by someone with the Courier specialization both faster and more safely. Her father had a base skill that helped him make accurate lenses that could bend light in unbelievable ways, and her mother had a base skill that made her jewelry shine and catch the light in beautiful ways.

The pane that had escaped the cart clattered to the ground without a crack. Jess could feel the strain on her skill, as the glass pane was large and almost overwhelmed her ability to keep it safe, but her secret practice with her parents scraps was paying off and she was able to place the pane safely back in her cart, before continuing to her destination. 

The unloading process was fast as she relied on her skill to quickly unload the panes without breaking them. These were the pieces needed for the window so a laborer was likely to come to bring them to be installed soon. This was the end of her journey with them however, and so she moved to handcart to be next to the door and left. Jess did not head home or to her fathers workshop, it was time to go explore.

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Jess had a couple of hours before her parents expected her back. When they gave her chores they expected her to go play with her friends after she was done. Jess made her way to the cliff above the docks. Technically the cliffs were no longer part of the trade district but it was close enough that Jess felt it her parents would not be too mad at her for going there. Jess loved to go people watching and see the large military ships that come and go, so she went with her friend Millie. Together, using one of her fathers lens contraptions, they were able to watch the ships and sailors and see what new goods were being brought into the city from across the sea. 

Today was special, because the biggest ship Jess had ever seen had entered the harbor and was sending large rowboats ashore. People in brightly colored clothes were among those coming aground. Jess had never seen people dressed like that, but her friend Millie who’s father made dyes and did business in multiple different countries told her they were from the kingdom of Lethia, which bordered their kingdom. Jess wondered why her mom never dressed like that, as she had never seen such extravagant clothes in their house, but perhaps it was a uniform for one of the class people from that state.

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There was one person on the boats that was not dressed in the extravagant colors. Jess watched the figure step off the boat after all of the others had departed. This person was a young man who was dressed like a normal dockworker. The man departed the docks and started walking to the stairs that lead to the trade district. It seemed suspicious to Jess how hard he was trying to blend in with the crowd.

“Let’s follow him.” Jess told Millie, hoping they could find out what the man in the drab clothing was up to.

Staying a distance away, they watched as the man entered the trade district and went to one of the more secluded warehouses, meeting up with a group of people before heading inside.

“We should go, my parents are going to be so mad if they catch me snooping around here.” Millie worried, she seemed nervous to be following this man.

“We need to see what he is doing, who knows what kind of activities he could be up to. Let us get close enough for me to identify his class.” Jess pulled out her spyglass, her father had made it for her and it had a number of runes on it, one of which was to check someones class. Approaching one of the windows she climbed up a ladder that was nearby and she put the spyglass up to her eye and looked through it. Inside she saw the man, and his tag [Courier]. More interesting though was the people he was meeting with. All of them were wearing plain clothes that were nice enough to not be out of place in the trade district, but nobody was wearing anything extravagant. Their classes however were [Guard], [Guard] and finally [Prince]. Whatever meeting was going on, it was big. The courier pulled a box out of his pocket and showed the prince who nodded. Jess only got a glimpse but it seemed like an alchemical bottle of some kind. Jess had no idea what could be so important a prince had to meet in secret with someone from another country for. Jess ducked her head out of the window, getting down the ladder and leaving the alley with Millie, Jess whispered excitedly to her “There is a prince in there making a deal with that shady guy!”

“We should really be getting back now, we are going to get in so much trouble if we get caught snooping on a Prince.” Millie, the voice of reason, reined in Jess, and they turned to leave. Separating and heading home, Jess entered her house to find her father waiting for her in a chair in the den, and he was not alone.

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“Young lady, do you mind telling me what you were doing snooping around after you were done with the chores I asked you to do?” Her father asked her in a firm tone. The other figure was someone who Jess had never seen before, but her father seemed comfortable sitting with him, like they were old friends. Her father was still in his work clothes from working with glass, but the other man was wearing the clothes of a laborer. The man appeared content to let her father speak to her without interrupting, but was watching her intently as if judging her every thought.

“Millie and I were just watching the ships come in, we did not go down to the dock and stayed on the cliff.”

“So that was not you spying on a prince?”

“Well…” Jess wondered how he knew, it did not seem like anybody noticed them while they were in the alley looking through the window. “That was me, but I was just curious.”

The unknown man smirked and looked at her father, seemingly happy with the answer.

“Why were you spying on the prince?” 

“I was not spying, I was watching the courier. I thought it was strange how he was acting and he was dressed differently than everyone else. I did not know he was meeting the prince until I used your lens on them.” Jess hoped this would not be like the incident when she got caught snooping on some of the smithies. She had gotten caught and her father had to come explain that no, she did not work for a rival smithy trying to steal secrets, she was just curious of how the blades were made and wanted to see the process. Her curiosity had gotten her into trouble more times than she could count.

“I think she would do well Jared, she has the personality for it.” The man spoke for the first time, and she wondered who he was. Referring to her father as Jared was something only her mother and close friends did. All of his customers and business associates called him Mr. Corva. Turning to face her, he spoke with a serious tone “How would you like to explore the world and protect our kingdom?”

Her father looked at her and sighed, “I think it is time for you to leave the nest and expand your capabilities. You were never much good at working with glass, but everyone is more than their class or specialization, and I think you will find that my friend here can help you train your Skill and help you acquire new ones in a way that you will appreciate.”

“What your father is saying is, I am going to train you to be a spy.”