The group was waiting patiently, sitting on a long bench in front of a massive, steel door, blocking the path in front of them. The king and some knights had gone through, leaving them alone with only a few knights and the princess. There were only stone walls around them, with the only light being a few torches hung on the wall. To get here they had to go downstairs for a while, and at some point the atmosphere got to them.

It had taken even longer due to the fact that the king had personally sent them to get some weapons and armor. They had all chosen the spear when Abby told them it was the easiest for a beginner to use, everyone except for Liam and Arturo, who had chosen a sword and shield. Jack went along with the spear option, if only because he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

The armor they had been given had been light and flexible, and they all looked more like they were going to play some light football than people actually going to battle. Especially since they had set their weapons to the side, waiting anxiously for the door to reopen. They were mostly silent, the drab surroundings around them only adding to the awkward tension. It was the perfect time for him to ask questions, Jack thought.

He turned to Abby sitting next to him, closing in on her ear to whisper. The girl didn’t even flinch, which said something about how little she saw him as a man. “...Abby, during the… event with the paper. Did… anything weird happen to you?” She looked at him as if he was stupid. “Duh, I felt stronger. Things became clearer as well. Wasn’t your strength a D-rank, Jack? Mine was only F, and even I felt the difference in power...”

He shrugged his shoulders, no longer caring for the conversation. Interesting, so she hadn’t met the gods as well. Was that fortunate for her, or for him? It didn’t matter. As he tried to recall what the paper said, it appeared in front of him once more, about as big as a poster this time.

Puppeteer- (Lvl 1)

The strings of magic are something everyone in the world uses, to some extent. Whether they mold and stretch them through spells, or flex and harness them through their tempered bodies. Even the simple act of living a quiet and mundane life can pull the strings in large and conflicting ways. The strings of magic are universal, and through proper preparation and training you can be the one to control their strings, whether one wants it or not.

Strength- D

Constitution-C

Perception- C

Agility- C

Arcane- A

Willpower- A

Luck- S

Skills- (Strings of fate) (Weaving fortune) (Capture Puppet) (Train Puppet)

He flexed his muscle, feeling the new, iron body he’d gained from the magic. It wasn’t to the point where it was completely insane, however. For example, If he had been shot with a gun, while the bullet would still kill him it probably wouldn’t tear straight through him like newspaper anymore. “Yeah… Though, my luck is the lowest there… I don’t know how that affects me.” She gave him an incredulous look.

“Luck? Jack, I saw your paper. You had an S in Luck, remember? I had an S in arcane, too. We all did, except for Liam.” The boy, who had minded his own business until then, turned to Abby defensively. Jack was too busy to intervene, dumbfounded at how an ‘S’ was higher than an ‘A’. How did that make sense in terms of the alphabet?

“I had A’s in everything but Arcane, though! Better that than an F in strength, loser.”

Abby gave him a nasty look, before turning away in a huff. “Jack of all trades, master of none, Liam. Oh, no offense, Jack.” He laughed, the joke was stale to him by now, people always turning to it when they heard his full name, Jack Trade. Laughter helped boost confidence, though, and Abby seemed a bit insecure about her class. “We’re in the same group, right Abby? It’s not like we’d want to take hits either way. Let’s leave that for the Meatheads.”

She grinned as if she won, turning to the defeated looking Liam with a smirk. He lowered his head in mock defeat. “If the nerds think it's true, then it must be.” He rolled his eyes as Abby took the bait again, vehemently defending her title of “not being a nerd.” Even Arturo and the twins stepped in, trying to calm the two from being so loud. Deciding to let them go at it, Jack turned to Mary, the only one to have remained quiet. “So…What was yours?”

Her eyes turned to him, cautious and a bit… Pitying? What was that about? “Mary? Is everything alright?” He smiled patiently as she turned her eyes downward. She couldn’t look him in the eyes, was it because of a lack of confidence? “Jack… I, uh… I have a skill. I’m sorry I used it on you…” He flinched back. She seemed to want to confess something, but she turned her magic on him!? He remembered his own spells, (Capture puppet…) (Train puppet…)

If she had used anything on him akin to those scary spells then he was done for. “Mary… What did you do to me?” He felt his body, unsure of the differences. He saw her nails scratch into the wooden bench underneath her. “You… You really don’t trust me not to hurt you, huh.” He gave her an incredulous look. He had no time to worry about her moment of emotional weakness, he had to find a way to revert whatever horrible thing she had done to him.

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“Mary, please… Tell me what you did.” She didn’t look up from the floor, her eyes filled with guilt. He felt dread in his stomach, his eyes dilating as she opened her mouth to-

“It was a skill… called ‘detect evil.’ I used it on you because I was worried… I didn’t mean to pry or anything, I just…” He had never let out a breath of relief in his life before, but this… this merited one. His face was stony as he no longer had the strength to pretend, his eyes a barren, empty shell of their former selves. “Oh, is that all? I thought you put a witch’s curse on me, Mary.” He turned to her, smiling but putting no effort to hide the shell inside.

She was perceptive, and adding that to her strange magical powers just meant she was near clairvoyant, now. He had no reason to hide in front of her. Well, other than the fear he was instilling into her now. “J-Jack? Are you angry?” He rubbed his temples, his head starting to ache from the sudden boost and then lack of adrenaline. It had been a while since he’d felt that way. Angry? No, he was relieved, and a bit annoyed at how seriously she took the event.

“Of course not, Mary. You already knew about me, after all. And you kept it all to yourself either way. Why would this be any different?” She cowered back, her eyes glistening with tears. “Jack?” His smile turned wider, in a way that felt natural for the first time in his life. “You’ll still keep this a secret, right? I’d never wanted to hurt anyone in the first place despite it, you know that. I was raised right, after all.” He leaned back onto the wall, his stomach feeling as if it was being torn apart. “I was raised right, after all-”

He was grabbed by the shoulder, a tear streaming from Mary’s face. “I checked Jack.You… You aren’t a bad person. You really aren’t. I…” She choked up, and he almost naturally went in to console her, before what she said finally hit him. “...What?” He stopped moments before hugging her, but it didn’t stop her from throwing herself into his arms. ”I’m so sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t know you had those kinds of thoughts…”

He stared past her, to the massive doors that still hadn’t reopened. She kept talking between choking sobs, but it was too garbled for him to care to make out the words. He wouldn’t have listened either way, his thoughts caught up on what she had said before. “Mary.” She stopped talking, listening to his dull, nasty tone. “J-Jack?” He kept staring straight ahead. “I’m. I’m a good person?” Despite the tears on her face, she let out a weak chuckle.

“No… you just aren’t a bad one.” His face didn’t twitch once from the halfhearted joke, but years of muscle memory had him give a response. “That’s… That’s good enough, I suppose.” He’d been so caught up in what had happened that he didn’t even notice the endearing look of his friends. Mary, however, did. She tried pulling away from Jack, before realizing he still had an icy grip around her waist.

“Jack, let go… They’re looking at us.” He shrugged, his face turning to a wolfish smile. “You can’t escape from the big bad, D strength man? Is everyone here as weak as Abby?” He caught the short girl’s betrayed look, before it immediately turned into a smug smirk. What was that about? “Gah… Wait, what?” His hands were pried off her as if they were made of aluminum, and instead of pulling away she came a bit closer.

Her eyes were playful, but her strength made him feel helpless, scared. He promised never to do this to someone else again if it meant they felt the same. “Aw, is the big bad man not able to move his arms? Does anyone here want to save him from the big bad A strength girl?” She looked at him with the eyes of a predator, and he turned to his friends in alarm. “...Friends?” All of them turned their heads, even Liam, the fucking coward.

She grinned, a natural, evil grin. “ I’m a purist, the class said I’m supposed to hunt demons and bad guys. You should have asked my class before you acted like that, Jack. Now I don’t feel that bad acting like this.” He shut his eyes as she neared him, waiting for her to do something terrible as he felt her breath on his face. Until he heard the small squeak of the princess. “P-please don’t hurt him… uh, M-m-mary, is that right?” He opened his eyes to see the princess, pulling his shoulder back, pulling him away from whatever evil his friend was about to do.

“Ah… Y-yeah… sure.” Mary pulled away from him, her cheeks red with what he assumed was shame in being stopped. He heard the disappointed moans coming from behind him, and he cursed them all in his head. He could only trust the princess right now. He saw the frustrated look on Mary’s face, and in response jumped off the bench and hid behind the princess in complete fear. “Thank you princess, please stay close.” Even the princess was looking at him with pity.

Liam laughed. “What’s the princess gonna do if Mary tries to take you? She’s a strong girl! Mary groaned, hiding her face in her knees in embarrassment. “That wasn’t! I wasn’t! Gah!” He snarled at the coward. “You’re an A strength, right? Why didn’t you help me!?” He shrugged, the smile on his face indicating he wasn’t sorry. “Sorry man, I don’t hit girls.” Pah! Excuses!

The princess turned to him with a worried smile. “Don’t worry! The knights will help you if you ask. I’ll personally make sure of it!” It was a gesture of goodwill, and he would gladly take it. He didn’t fully understand why though, until he caught the princess sneaking a glance at Mary. The emotions were brief, and too mixed up for him to understand besides worry. Was she that cautious of her?

That was bad. Despite his earlier fear, he knew the violent gesture was a messed up act of friendship, or something akin to it. It was by no means something meant to be taken seriously. He had to make sure she didn’t feel antagonized by someone in the group before she starts seeing the whole group as just as reckless. “...She truly didn’t mean any harm, princess. Honestly, I was in the wrong there. Let’s keep a good relationship, yes?” He was, in fact, in the wrong. The brief moment of relief had caused him to feel… a certain way. If it hadn’t been for her strength, he might have been the one to have taken the bad guy role. Liam would have stopped him if he went too far, surely.

The princess smiled at him, though it was a bit too tight for it to be genuine. “I’ll… I’ll take that into consideration. Thank you, Jack.” He didn’t miss the jeering looks of Liam and Arturo, and even the meek Elijah. Liam was the first to speak. “Dude… in front of Mary?” He shrugged at Liam’s words, acting as if it had been no big deal. “I don’t want the princess to think we were a bad idea. She may be kind, but she still has power over us. We can’t afford to be rash.”

Liam just narrowed his eyes. “You little shit, you know that wasn’t what I meant.” Jack turned to him, confused. “Then… What did you mean?” The whole group almost groaned simultaneously in derision.

All except for Mary, who stared at Jack and the others in a sad, but understanding way. She had activated her skill again, and from it she could see just how complex her friends truly were, and just how simple Jack was in comparison. He was like a child compared, and in many ways he was worse… But he wasn’t a bad person. At least, not yet. She chuckled as the others berated him, his arms raised defensively as he truly didn’t understand what was happening. He didn’t notice her, though, or her smile that hid a certain disdain.

Of course he didn’t notice.