Adam looked at the vermite who had recovered from their initial shock and started chattering away to each other. He was exhilerated, his awareness of the wells of power inside him greater than normal. He wanted to use more of his power. Mana depleted he could sense the richer yellow gold of God Power swirling inside him. Only having one outlet for this power he shaped it down towards his hand in his mind and pointed at the larger male vermite.
Transfer caused two ribbons of golden light to spring from his hand and down towards the vermite's chest. The vermite gasped as it connected and glowed slightly with the same light as the link took hold. There was no disorientation this time; Adam was aware of his power and ready as the new vermite became a follower. He instantly knew that this vermite was called Pa, the mate of Ma.
It was the next thing that caught Adam by surprise. Rather than fully fading; the glow surrounding Pa spread out to the remaining four vermite. It hovered around each of them before gently fading away from three and concentrating on the fourth. Adam caught the eye of this vermite and watched as the glow strengthened. A ribbon of light developed again; this time starting at the vermite and stretching up towards Adam. As it hit him the vermite Ti became a follower too.
The awareness of both vermite at the same time caused the dizziness that Adam had resisted with the conversion of Pa. He sat and leaned back against the fence. It took a minute for the feeling to fade and with it faded his sense of power. Ma, Pa and Ti were all stood in front of him; a couple of metres away waiting patiently. Even with the light having faded as evening turned to night Adam could now distinguish between them easily.
He could see the scar on Pa's cheek that he knew was from defending the pack from a fox many moons ago. He noticed the different colouration that marked out Ti and knew she was always sneaking off to get into trouble. Switching his attention to Ma he could better understand her personality too now; she was the protector keeping the others in line and out of trouble.
There was more that Adam could sense when he focused. Ambitions, desires and dislikes. This formed a picture quickly in his mind of each of the vermite. Like an old friend that you knew well. Simply through the link he could tell which profession or class would suit them best; but also knew he could force something else on them as well if he required. Adam looked at his options while focusing on Pa. He could tell the vermite was proud of the burrow they had made the night before and had been looking forward to completing the fence. Easy, Builder.
On selecting the profession a glint formed in Pa's eyes. Adam caught fleeting glances of a network of burrows under the ground; little passages off to the side where each vermite could live and protective wooden huts, walls and towers above ground as an extra layer keeping them safe. He could sense the anticipation and pride Pa would feel in being part of making all those buildings. It had been a good choice.
With a Profession allocated Adam learnt more about the grouping. He knew that Pa would not level like Sharky, that was not how the system worked. Starting at level one, that would be where he stayed regardless of how much he improved at building. He also couldn't change his decision or swap a follower from a profession to a class. This helped him tease out the gap in his knowledge that sat alongside profession and class. There was a way a follower could be both; have a class and profession so they could level while gaining skills in another way. This was still locked to him at present though.
Ti was next. Adam hovered over Gatherer. She loved getting out and about to explore and was often the one who found the vermites' food first. In doing so she could excitedly tell the others who would praise her for being so helpful. He hesitated though, just knowing that the reason she enjoyed this was not collecting the food but in the exploring and finding new things. Gatherer just wasn't right. He imagined what would happen if he allocated her the profession and could predict her being happy for a short while; tracking down all the food sources and bringing them back. Then she would resent her role. Not needing to explore any further and just repeating the same thing each day. No, Gatherer was not right for her. Neither was Woodcutter
It was Person that helped. They drew Adam's attention away from the three professions that were available and back to the class category. Looking at Ti, then at Scout, Adam imagined the match. It just fit better. He made the choice and waited for her response. Ti shuddered with a sudden insight to her new power. She looked down at her hands then out around camp noticing the difference in her vision that the class provided. She bounded over to the rest of the pack who had been hanging back in the distance. Even from further away Adam could hear her telling them of the adventures she was off to have and how she would find out everything about everywhere.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Ma was the only one left. Adam could tell her apprehension about the idea of Ti out exploring further and further away. Worried about how she could keep her safe from harm. Adam perceived the acceptance that she was no longer a child and needed to be given the freedom to grow even though it was an odd concept to Ma that this might be for any reason other than starting a family of her own. Looking at Ma he already knew that none of them fit her. He even chuckled aloud when he tried to conceive her as a woodcutter.
"I Ma." She said. Obviously predicting what he was considering.
"Yes, you are." Said Adam. "I don't have anything that fits for you yet, sorry." Ma nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more. She slowly made her way back to the group, cuffing one of the younger vermite over the head on the way. They all stopped chattering as she pulled the group together; instead gathering respectfully as she explained to them what 'the big boss' had done and how they were now stronger as a group. Adam stopped listening when she moved on to talk about how wise and powerful he was, turning his mind to other things instead.
Followers:
Followers Level Attributes Class Profession Sharky 5 HP 176/250; Stamina 57/100; MP 0/0; SP 1/6 Scout n/a Ti 1 HP 30/30; stamina 42/42; MP 1/1; SP 2/2 Scout n/a Pa 1 HP 35/35; stamina 40/40; MP 0/0; SP 2/2 n/a Builder Ma 1 HP 30/30; stamina 40/40; MP 1/1; SP 2/2 Please allocate* *can only allocate secondary classes/professions
Yup, Sharky was overpowered. It looked like he had been out exploring again too. Ignoring the temptation to use report to find out what Sharky had been doing he concentrated on the entry for Ti instead. This gave him the answer to one of his so far unanswered questions. Ti's skill was [report]. Pa's entry showed that he had completed three structures already and a little logic and use of Inspect revealed that these were the outer fence; small fence around the burrow and then the burrow itself.
Adam yawned; realising that he had just been staring at the group of vermite in a sleepy daze while looking at this update. He made his way over to his tent; leaving the entrance in the fence open and bedded down for the night. It wasn't until in his tent that he acknowledged Person trying to get his attention. Glancing over Adam had one further notification of new system data he hadn't read.
Individual Skill Menu: [Transfer]
Transfer Allows conversion of one [intelligent] being into a [follower]. Level Additional features 1 Can allocate Classes to followers 2 Can allocate Professions to followers 3 Can allocate a Divine Blessing for every five followers. 4 Common Ideology unlocked 5 unlock to discover additional feature
There always seemed to be something new to find. Adam was pleased that his new understanding meant that he wasn't missing things in the same way anymore. He concentrated on the entry:
Trait Description Common Ideology Your followers will have a better understanding of each other and work better towards shared goals. Improves relationships between those of different races and cultures.
Traits. Interesting. Without much effort he worked out that these were shared across all his followers. The defining features of his religion thought Adam. He caught himself actually believing that he was a God for a moment as he imagined temples and priests scattered around the land all worshipping him. Feeling instantly embarrassed of this grandiose vision Adam reeled things back in to his little camp and handful of vermite. He fell asleep satisfied with what he had while dreaming of his next goal: magic.