Three years ago…

“So what do you think he’s going take?” Johann asked.

“Hah, obviously he’s going for Warrior, what else?” Torin replied

“Mage. At the higher levels a mage could level a mountain. He’s smart, so he’d go for mage.”

“Oh please, a high level warrior could survive a mountain dropping on them and an archer could put an arrow in a mage’s head before they knew what was happening. Mages are too squishy.”

“Nope. A mage would have shields up to stop an arrow. And if the warrior survives one mountain then what about two? Or three or four? A mage could just keep dropping mountains on the warrior until he’s crushed. Mage is better.”

“No, Warrior is better.”

“No, Healer is better.”

Johann and Torin turned towards the new voice.

“Sterk!”

“Healer?”

Johann and Torin jumped off the low wall they had been sitting on and walked towards their friend as he exited the Well of Potential. Johann studied Sterk for a moment, trying to see if there was anything different about him, but there was nothing. The four foot tall Gnome was the same as always, his red hair a ruffled mess and his bright blue eyes promising something mischievous, as always.

“What did you get?” Johann asked.

“And why did you mention healer? Did you become a healer?” Torin asked.

Sterk laughed. “Ha! No, of course not, but you’ll never guess what I did choose.”

“Warrior?” “Crafter?” Torin and Johann both made their guesses. Torin stuck with his original, still believing it to be the superior choice, but Johann went for something more traditionally gnomish.

“No and no, but also yes and yes. I got Magic Fighter!” Sterk grinned.

“Whoa, you got a trait class!” Johann exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you should see this trait, it’s incredible. It’s called Mana Blessed, it increases the effectiveness of each Magic point by double. Heck, Magic Fighter wasn’t the only trait class I got offered, every class had a magic related option. With this trait I’m going to be the strongest adventurer within a year! Hahahaha!”

Torin looked awed but Johann was worried. “Sterk, what are you doing, you can’t go talking about your Trait like that!”

Sterk chuckled. “Oh relax Johann, people just say that because everyone is paranoid. Trait hunters were wiped out ages ago. Now come on, who wants to see what my class can do?”

With that Sterk headed off, Torin and Johann following close behind. The trio headed out of the city gates and towards the nearby woods. Sterk led the two boys into a clearing and had them sit down on a fallen tree as he pulled up his Status.

“Alright, let’s see what Skills I can choose. [Mana Manipulation] is already locked in but that still leaves me with two skill slots. I’m going to take [Imbue Mana] for the first since it’ll help me hit harder with a weapon but I think I should probably take a ranged spell for the last one, what do you two think?”

Both teens nodded vigorously, eager to see some magic. It wasn’t that they didn’t see magic every day in some form or another but it was different when it was their previously manaless friend doing it.

“Alright, let me see. I’ve got three options, [Mana Bolt], [Mana Burst] and [Mana Slash]. The first gives me a simple ranged attack that’s not all that impressive but does unlock some nice options for skills after mastering.

“[Mana Burst] essentially creates a directed explosion of mana. It does a lot more damage than [Mana Bolt] and it can push an enemy back. The downside is that it requires tonnes of mana.”

“The last option is [Mana Slash]. This is probably skill that’s specifically for the magic warrior. The skill imbue’s my weapon with mana, probably why it requires the [Imbue Mana] skill, and then fires out an arc of mana that does decent damage. The skill uses twice as much mana as [Mana Bolt] and three times less than [Mana Burst].”

“So, which do you two think I should take?”

Johann and Torin immediately began whispering between themselves, their conversation carrying on for thirty seconds before the two turned to Sterk. “[Mana Slash]”

Sterk raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? It won’t have the distance or speed of [Mana Bolt] but it’ll still cost twice as much.”

Johann shook his head. “Mana bolt requires a hand free. If you’re going to be fighting close range then you’ll probably be carrying a pair of swords or a sword and a shield.”

“If I’m going to be fighting close range then wouldn’t [Mana Burst] be the better option? More damage, close range and it pushes the enemy back. Seems like it’s the far better option.”

Torin slapped Johann on the arm and said “See, I told you.”

Johann rolled his eyes. “And I told you, [Mana Burst] is too risky. The mana cost is too high to be used more than once or twice a fight and even if you can control the direction of the explosion it can still blow back on you if used on a sturdy enough enemy. [Mana Slash] is better.”

Torin frowned. “Fine, but if Sterk gets beat up by a bunch of monsters cause he took slash instead of burst then you have to be my servant for a year.”

“No way. How would you even know if he got beaten up because of the spell or if he was just an idiot?” Johann asked.

“Alright, shut up you two. Bloody idiots.” The last part was muttered but the twins could still hear him. “Anyways, slash was the right answer. Alright, skills chosen, let’s see this skill in action.”

Johann raised a hand. “Uh, don’t you need a weapon for that?”

Sterk smirked. “In my hands, anything is a weapon my young idiot.”

“How am I an idiot?”

Sterk completely ignored him as he walked over to the edge of the clearing. After a bit of rummaging through the undergrowth he returned with a branch just over a meter long. Moving to the middle of the clearing Sterk took a stance, holding the branch overhead with both hands. After a bit of focus the branch glowed a bit and Sterk swung it down with a small yell.

As the branch swung through the air the glow brightened and an arc of brilliant light flew from the branch, completely missing the tree Sterk had aimed at and hitting one several meters behind and to the right of it. The arc sliced into the tree before dissipating and leaving a large vertical gash.

“Whoa!” Johann and Torin both exclaimed at the display.

Sterk took a moment to bask in their admiration before speaking. “Yes yes, I know I’m amazing. Do the two of you want to see more?” The twins nodded. “Well then you’ll have to get me more branches, cause this one’s busted.” Sterk held up the now slightly smoking and severely cracked branch.

Johann and Torin immediately began rushing about to find more branches. After building up a sizable stockpile Sterk started practicing his skill again, glowing arcs of mana flying out and slashing at the trees. Whenever Sterk ran out of mana the three would sit and chat about the future.

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Sterk was heading down the road to be an adventurer. He dreamed of glory and riches and believed adventuring to be the best way to do it. Torin, who had always looked up to Sterk, proclaimed that the moment he had gotten his class he would immediately become a far stronger adventurer than Sterk.

Johann on the other hand did not want to be an adventurer. Adventuring was nice but he preferred a quieter life. His plan was to become a researcher, one focused on magitech. One day he would become far richer than both of the others thanks to his inventions.

After several hours of fun and laughter Sterk noticed the encroaching darkness of the day’s end. “Damn, I didn’t think it was that late already. Shit, we gotta get home, I’m dead if I miss dinner. Alright you two, let’s head back.”

Johann looked around, confused. He had always been good at keeping track of time and it should have been mid-afternoon at the latest. Before he could think anything more he heard a thump. Turning around he was shocked to find Sterk collapsed on the ground. He rushed forward but before he could even get a few steps everything went black.

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Consciousness came to Johann like a dog that knows it’s about to be punished, slowly and reluctantly. Eventually though, he opened his eyes. The surroundings were dark, almost pitch black, but Johann could just about see where he was.

The room he was in was small, barely twenty across and thirty long. Johann was in one end of the room, lying on something hard and smooth and at the other end of the room Sterk was strapped to a table with a shadowy figure was hunched over him.

Johann’s barely conscious mind struggled to make sense of what was happening. He tried to rub his eyes but he found that his arms were constricted. A voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him but Johann was still too groggy to listen. He attempted to speak, to ask the shadowy figure what was going on, but he found that his mouth was gagged.

That realization was enough to finally break through the haze clouding his mind. His eyes shot open as the panic that had been screaming at him was finally heard. Johann immediately began to struggle, to no avail. The ropes binding him were tight and the gag muffled any shouts he tried to make.

His struggles did succeed in attracting the attention of the figure. Turning back towards Johann the figure spoke in a raspy voice. “Do not make me kill you. Your death has nothing to offer me except your silence, so don’t make it tempting.”

The figure turned back towards Sterk and continued doing whatever it was doing. In the dim light Johann couldn’t see but he still knew exactly what the figure was doing, he was taking Sterk’s Trait. Johann increased his struggles, desperate to get out of his binds but it was useless. Even as he scraped his skin raw and hhis voice turned hoarse from his muffled screams the figure continued to work irregardless.

As tears streamed down Johann’s face the figure brought a large crystal up to Sterks chest and mumbled a long string of words. The Crystal began to glow as it began pulling streams of light from Sterks chest. The young man was comatose, likely due to a spell or some concoction, but even so his body jerked and trembled from the pain.

The sight made Johann try even harder to break free but the trait hunter had made the bindings well. The process did not last long and several seconds later the last of the streams of light left Sterk’s body. Both his body and Johann’s slumped at the same time, Johann’s in despair and Sterk’s in death.

The figure turned towards Johann, its hood casting its face in shadow. After a moment, seeing that Johann was no longer struggling, it turned away. It crept over to a corner of the room and knelt down, reaching towards a circle of enchantments engraved there. Johann didn’t notice though, his eyes still on his friend’s body.

It was only when the circle lit up and a projection of a man appeared that his attention shifted. The man in the projection wasn’t tall, only five foot or so, and he had long hair and a thin wispy beard. The man was dressed in finery and had enough jewelry to kickstart a jewellers.

“Is it done?” The man asked in a weaselly voice.

“Yes, though there are complications.” The raspy voice of the figure said.

“I don’t care. What is it, you want more money? Fine, name your price, just get me my trait!”

“I do not need more money, but I was forced to take two witnesses.”

“And? Just kill them and dump their bodies somewhere, I don’t care.”

The figure paused. “They are children.”

The projection sneered. “Who cares? Peasants are worthless anyways. If there’s nothing else, I’m late for my luncheon.”

The figure shook its head and the projection disappeared. Standing up the figure placed the glowing crystal on the table where Sterk’s corpse rested and began making its way over to Johann. As it got close it pulled out a knife from under its robe and reached down, placing the blade of the knife on Johann’s throat.

Johann didn’t resist. His hope had gone and all he felt was numb as he stared past the figure at the body of his friend and waited for the end. What came instead was a thunderous crash and a searing flash as the wall behind him exploded. The explosion picked up the hooded figure and sent him flying through the air. It also knocked Johann out as several pieces of rubble smashed into him, one hitting his head knocking him unconscious.

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Johann woke naturally. For a moment he wondered why his ceiling looked different when all of a sudden his memory caught up to him. Jerking upright with a cry he tried to scramble out of the bed but was stopped by the hands of his mother.

“Johann it’s okay, you’re safe!”

Johann struggled for a moment longer until his mothers words hit him. He stared at her, his mind frozen as he strove to understand the impossibility of his mothers presence when he had just a moment ago been on the verge of death.

“Mom?”

Melissa smiled sadly at her son as her eyes filled with tears. She pulled him into her arms and wrapped him up in a hug.

“It’s okay Johann, I’m here, you’re safe.”

Tears began streaming down Johann’s face as he broke down sobbing in his mothers arms.

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Johann eventually calmed down enough to ask what had happened, his mother explaining everything. The explosion that had knocked him unconscious had been the arrival of the Guard. Sterk’s mother, unbeknownst to Sterk, had placed a tracking spell on her boy When the trait hunter had knocked the three of them out he had also dispelled the tracking spell, alerting Sterks mother to the danger.

With the sudden disappearance of the boy and the fact that it was his initialization day led to the fear of a trait hunter and a quick response by the guard. An investigation was launched and within hours they had tracked down the location of the trait hunter. Launching an attack the moment they arrived they were just in time to save Johann but too late to save Sterk.

“Three days?” Johann asked

“Yes honey, you’ve been unconscious for three days. The leftover drugs in your system combined with a head wound made waking you up risky, even after you were healed.” Melissa said, sparing a moment to glance angrily at the door. Even though she was grateful for the Guard’s swift response she was furious that they had almost killed Johann in the process.

“Is Torin okay?”

“Torin’s already at home. He wasn’t hit by the explosion like you were so he’s fine.” Melissa said softly.

Johann nodded absentmindedly. He hadn’t even known that Torin had been there until his mother had told him.

Johann’s eyes widened as a thought struck him. “Mom, I saw who did this, the guy who was paying the hunter.”

Melissa’s face turned somber. “I know Johann. Torin also saw him, he gave a description as well and they know who it was.”

“So they’ve got him, right?”

“No. the piece of shit is Nathan Umbridge, son to Methuis Umbridge, a noble and the Commander General to the army. The little bastard has an alibi and enough witnesses to back it up.”

Johann was confused. “But, I saw him. Torin saw him. How can he get away?”

Melissa slumped. In that moment, as she looked at her son who had lost a friend to a scumbag who wouldn’t see justice, she felt as if the world was crushing her.

“I’m sorry Johann, there’s nothing I can do.”

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The event broke the Alltud boys. Torin became quiet. He walked around with a blank face, only speaking when he was spoken to and even then no more than a sentence at a time. Johann blamed himself for what happened. If he had been more careful, hadn’t let them go out after Sterk spoken of his Trait out loud. If he had been stronger, or quicker. If, if, if. The thoughts plagued him and he didn’t go a night without waking up screaming for months.

Sterk's funeral was dark and miserable. The young man hadn't had a lot of friends so it was a small, quiet affair. apart from the cries of Sterk's mother though. those were loud, and constant. No one tried to stop her, even as every cry felt like a dagger to the heart of everyone there, especially Johann and Torin. Though nothing was said both boys could hear the question in her cries of pain; why were they alive when her boy was dead.

After the funeral the atmosphere of the Alltud household was especially dark. Eventually though, the family recovered. Johann didn't stop blaming himself but he instead resolved to become better. His goal changed from researcher to adventurer all in order to become strong enough that he could destroy the Nathan Umbridge’s of the world. It wasn’t the most positive goal, but it helped him deal with the nightmares.

Melissa and Kern were more worried about Torin. Johann’s transformation was at least normal for the situation but Torin’s was not. One day, just over three months after the events, Torin simply reverted to his previous self as if a switch had been flipped. One day a blank robot, the next day happy and loud.

The two were right to worry, for even though Torin was happy and warm on the outside his heart was cold as the grave. Whatever had been stewing in his mind in those three months had destroyed his emotions, making him dead on the inside.

Time has a way of healing though. Johann learned to forgive himself for the things he couldn’t control and the love of his family eventually turned Torin’s smiles real. Neither boy ever forgot though, and they never forgave the man who’s self-centered and self-entitled actions led to their friend’s death.