But when Master and the others did not come back after one month, we finally admitted to ourselves that something was wrong.
We then had a meeting what to do in this situation. The Ice Dragon suggested we go our separate ways, but one of the younger, more loyal ones argued that we should look for places where Master would be. I suggested we stay and take care of the Empire until Master comes back.
Thus, we became divided.
Just like how the Empire will come to be.
***
". . . Are you sure about this class? With your talent and skill, you could have chosen a better one. Heck, you could have made a new one yourself!"
"Thank you Master, but I choose this class."
". . . Sigh, since you've already decided, there's no point in trying to change your mind."
Aleksander then did the required ceremony, after which he bestowed unto Quartz his desired class.
Class acquired.
Congratulations, you are now a Mage!
Earned a new stat: Concentration
Intelligence increases by 10
All Magic Resistances increased by 5%
"Well then, Mage Quartz, as someone who finished my apprenticeship in the least amount of time, I give you a new title."
You have earned a new title: Magic Prodigy
"Check acquired title."
Magic Prodigy
Description:
You have impressed the State Magician for completing his apprenticeship in one week. As an acknowledgement of your genius, he has deigned to confer this title to you.
On equip:
all Infamy set to 0 temporarily
+250 Fame
+200 Mana
+15 to Intelligence
+15 to Concentration
+5 to Charisma
2% increase to all Magic Resistances
". . . Equip Magic Prodigy."
Prodigy Equipped.
"I'm also giving these equipment to you."
Received:
High Quality Magic Staff
High Quality Cloak
High Quality Shirt
High Quality Gloves
High Quality Pants
High Quality Boots
"Check equipment."
Plain Knife
Just a normal pocket knife.
It's something.
Attack increases by 2 when equipped.
Good Turban
An old yet durable turban given to you as a gift.
Protects your head from the sun.
Fire Resistance increases by 2 when equipped.
Good Cloak
An old yet durable cloak given to you as a gift.
Provides decent protection against the elements.
Wind Resistance increases by 2 when equipped.
Plain Shirt
Just a shirt.
But it's better than being half-naked.
Defense increases by 1 when equipped.
Plain Pants
Just some pants.
But it's better than being in your underwear.
Defense increases by 1 when equipped.
Cloth Shoes
They feel more like socks than shoes, but it's better than walking barefoot.
"Equip High Quality Magic Staff, High Quality Cloak, High Quality Shirt, High Quality Gloves, High Quality Pants and High Quality Boots."
High Quality Magic Staff, High Quality Cloak, High Quality Shirt, High Quality Gloves, High Quality Pants and High Quality Boots Equipped.
"Check equipment."
High Quality Magic Staff
Made by a skilled Woodcrafter.
Gives better damage than ordinary magic staves.
Attack increases by 5 when equipped.
Good Turban
An old yet durable turban given to you as a gift.
Protects your head from the sun.
Fire Resistance increases by 2 when equipped.
High Quality Cloak
Sewn by a skilled Tailor.
Grants good protection against the elements.
Water and Wind Resistance increases by 2 when equipped.
Defense increases by 1 when equipped.
High Quality Shirt
Sewn by a skilled Tailor.
Light and comfortable, but doesn't grant much in the defense department.
Defense increases by 2 when equipped.
High Quality Gloves
Sewn by a skilled Tailor.
Prevents your hand from getting too cold, and at the same time, from getting sunburned!
Wind and Fire Resistance increases by 1 when equipped.
High Quality Pants
Sewn by a skilled Tailor.
Easy to move in. Doesn't grant that much protection, however.
Defense increases by 2 when equipped.
Agility +1 when equipped.
High Quality Boots
Sewn by a skilled Tailor.
Equipping this gives you the feeling that you can run faster!
Agility +3 when equipped.
Due to your equipment being of the same quality, set bonuses have been added.
+100 to Health
+100 to Mana
+5 to Strength
+5 to Agility
+5 to Vitality
+5 to Wisdom
+5 to Intelligence
+5 to Concentration
Attack increased by 3
Defense increased by 3
Fire, Water and Wind Resistances increased by 2%
". . . Show status."
Character Name:QuartzTitle:Magic ProdigyClass:MageAlignment:NeutralLevel:10Fame:600Infamy:0Health:340/340Mana:1010/1010Stamina:97/100Satiety:89/100Strength:19 + 5Agility:19 + 5Vitality:19 + 5Wisdom:29 + 5Intelligence:46 + 25Concentration:10 + 20Charisma:7 + 5Luck:5Attack:13Defense:13Magic ResistancesFire:12%Wind:12%Water:11%Earth:7%Light:7%Dark:7%Unused Stat Points:74
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"Thank you sir for all these generous gifts," Quartz said while making a deep bow to Aleksander.
"They're not gifts, my young student. You've earned these," Aleksander replied with a smile.
"Well then, where do you plan on going young man? If you like, you can stay and help me in my research. There are a lot of knowledge we lost during the Book Burnings, so asking information from you regarding 400 years ago would aid my work in a huge way. Besides, by helping my research, you are also helping your fellow Freedmen from being discriminated."
(Author's Note: Year of Burning Books is grammatically correct. But it sounds stupid.)
Quest: Help the State Magician
State Magician Aleksander is asking aid in gathering and compiling information about the lost age of 400 years ago. By helping his work, you will also be lessening the hostility of this world's citizens against your fellows!
Quest Difficulty: C
Quest requirements: finished Aleksander's apprenticeship, high familiarity with Aleksander, high familiarity with 7 or more locals
Quest rewards: +500 exp, +1000 fame, increase in familiarity with Aleksander
Quest failure: none (Quitting midway: decrease in familiarity with Aleksander, +100 infamy)
"...I'm sorry Master, but there is a place I have to be ASAP."
Quest declined.
Familiarity with Aleksander has decreased.
"I-is that so? Well, since you had prior engagements, I suppose it can't be helped. But if you have time, please do come and help me. Or at least say hi and drink some tea."
"With pleasure."
***
When Quartz left, Aleksander sighed in disappointment.
"So much talent, so much genius. If he was only a bit more amibitious, or maybe more greedy, then we might have seen the birth of another great figure after 400 years of mediocrity."
There were 3 books on Aleksander's desk. One, The Mage Class, was taken by Quartz. The other two, Aleksander took and stored them, for the hope that someone else with at least a tenth of Quartz's talent would choose them.
One book was titled, The Elemental Wizard.
The other book was named, The Time Sorcerer.
(Author's Note: I'll stop trying hard to make the books sound cool. Edited to make them sound natural.)
***
After leaving Aleksander's humble home, Quartz headed for the bazaar, situated near Builes's southern entrance.
Along the way, he found someone he was avoiding for the past 2 weeks. Fortunately, the man was talking with another person, so Quartz was able to slip by him without visible effort.
Since Aleksander's quarters were somewhere in the northwest, it took Quartz considerable time to reach the bazaar. At the same time, he saw and avoided 3 more people he didn't wish to encounter.
I've met the father, the 2 mother's, and the brother. Let's hope my luck holds and I don't meet the-
"Hello Quartz. How's it been?"
Two people were sitting on the same park bench where Quartz met Hess Tiger.
". . ."
"Ahahaha, geez, it was a harmless prank! No need to glower at me."
". . ."
"Ahahahaha."
". . ."
"Ahaha . . . ha . . . ha."
". . ."
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" And while saying so, the person kowtowed.
At the same time, another person approached them, a cup on each hand. After seeing the tragic(?) scene of her boyfriend kowtowing in front of another man, she chuckled.
"Hihi, you two are funny as always, Cheol. Ah, you go by Quartz in-game, right?"
At those words, the man still sitting on the park bench, Quartz, looked at her.
"So, why are you here with this...thing?"
"Mmm, we were going to invite you for a quest."
"Hoh. What quest? How did you get it?"
"Well, during Weed's two wee- "
"Wait, Weed?"
"Oh, that's Hyun's in-game name."
After hearing those words, Quartz looked at the kneeling man.
". . . PFT!!! AHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, oh man, this just made my day! Ahahaha, Weed. Weed! Ahahahaha!"
"You don't have to laugh at it so much!" complained Cheol a.k.a weed.
"Hihihi."
"Fokko, not you too!"
After they have calmed down (and after the woman, Eun-byul a.k.a. Fokko, consoled the sulking weed), the two continued their discussion. weed, however, ignored the two of them.
"So, as I was saying a while back, during weed's two week stay in Serabourg, he found a book. While reading- "
"Excuse me. weed-lol read a book?" "What's with the lol?"
"Uh-huh. Surprising, isn't it. Even I, his childhood friend and girlfriend, was shocked when I heard it from him." "Um, Fokko? What do you mean by that statement?"
"Hm, the world works in mysterious ways. Anyways, please continue." "I'm sorry, I'll stop ignoring you guys. So please respond . . ."
The two then looked at weed.
"Oh Hyun, we were not ignoring you. We were only whispering our thoughts."
"Yeah, weed-lol. It just so happened that our thoughts complemented each other."
"Ugh, such blatant lies. And stop adding lol every time you say my name!"
"Huh, what are you talking about? 'lol' is an old suffix we add to names to denote high respect. It's similar to -ssi and -ajumma. Right, Fokko?"
"Um, maybe?" "Quartz, that is not convincing. And why did you group it with -ajumma? I mean, an old woman?"
"I have pictures of Hyun during our freshman year." "Wait, Quartz?"
"What pictures?" "Um, uh, Fokko?"
"When he was being scolded by Sir Chae for sleeping in class." "Huh!? When did you- no, how did you even- "
"Deal!" "Wha! Fokko!"
"Yes, Hyun dear?"
"Um, about those pictures . . ."
"Pictures? What pictures?"
"Don't play dumb! You know, those pictures that that man was going to give to you."
". . . You act weird sometimes, Hyun. Anyways, as Quartz was saying, 'lol' is a fairly recent suffix added to the Korean dictionary to denote a certain form of familiarity with the other person."
"No no no, don't act like nothing happened! And besides, what Quartz said was that 'lol' was an old suffix that denotes high respect to someone!"
". . . Oh, weed-lol, you should clean your ears. I didn't say that. What Fokko said were the exact words I said a while back."
". . . I HATE YOU GUYS! UWAAAAA!!!" And with that, weed ran away.
". . . Well, we went too far I, guess? Shouldn't you go with him? Console him again, maybe?"
". . . Aw, a frustrated Hyun is just so cute!!!"
. . . A woman in love can be so scary sometimes, thought Quartz.
"Ah, yes, let me continue. Well, after reading that book, he received this quest about knowing what happened to the Emperor's Sculptures of Life. Obviously, since it was something pertaining to the Emperor, the difficulty was quite high too. So he called me IRL and asked me help him."
"Hoh, it must have been quite the journey for you. The distance from Rosenheim and the Thebe Principality is quite something."
"It was long, but I found a secret class that made my journey easier."
"Oh, a secret class already? You're quite lucky."
"Haha, maybe. Still, it's not like I'm the only one who found a secret class. Seems the quests for secret and unique classes remain somewhat unchanged in RevPath, with a few tweaks here and there, so everyone can choose a secret class if they want to. That's why I don't think me having a secret class is that surprising."
"True, true. Still, it doesn't change the fact that having a secret class means additional perks."
Fokko smiled in agreement. However, after a few moments of thinking, she frowned in consternation.
"But isn't your class quite the rare find, too? A Desert Warrior has a lot of pluses, if I recall."
Quartz shook his head in denial.
"My class isn't the Desert Warrior. I'm just your average, run-of-the-mill mage."
". . . Huh? I thought the reason why you chose this place was for the Desert Warrior class?"
"Nope. I chose this city because there's a place I want to check."
". . . But still, since you're already in this city, why did you not choose to become a Desert Warrior?"
"Exactly my question too."
At this statement, Fokko directed her gaze to the new speaker. She was surprised to see that the speaker was a beautiful woman. But her demeanor changed when she saw weed behind the woman.
On the other hand, Quartz started thinking of different avenues for escape.
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