Trillia lifted her head when she felt Amelia's hand on her shoulder. Amelia held a small intricate-looking cube that had dozens of small runes on it. The young minstrel spoke softly.

"Are you ok, Trillia?"

Trillia smiled weakly and nodded, putting her head back on her knees.

"My head just hurts. I've learned too much today."

Amelia patted her head, putting the cube in a small felt bag and tying it to her belt. She leaned close and softly whispered in Trillia's ear.

" [Restorative Chant] "

Amelia's voice seemed to echo in Trillia's ear. The headache lessened she felt better instantly. Trillia lifted her head once more, blinking as she looked at Amelia.

"You can do that?"

Amelia nodded once more.

"I can, it's one of the first chants or musical pieces most Minstrels take. Since it's easy to use and requires minimal mana usage. It primarily lessens debuffs and restores a small amount of health and stamina."

Trillia smiled and went back to staring at the fire, the smell of the stew drifting ever closer and making her stomach growl again.

"I have so much to learn. Alchemy and runes and weapons. How do you learn all of this stuff?"

"Well, the system helps a lot I think. I've heard legends of people who weren't born with the system in their minds. They couldn't speak for years, nor did they understand things like math or skills. It took them years just to understand the basics of life, that we don't even consider skills."

Trillia's face scrunched up in confusion. She felt the headache threatening to come back if she didn't stop learning right this instant.

"No skills? How do you learn to read, if you can't understand words?"

Amelia just shrugged at that.

"I'm not sure, really. As I said, it was some legend I heard. It may have just been a story made up to confuse people though. I know you like runes. I brought this to show you, but if your head hurts too much, we can wait until tomorrow."

Once more, she produced the small cube from the felt bag. She seemed to handle it with great care. Trillia could tell that it was important to her, so she took it with an equal amount of care. Gently running her fingers over the many runes in the cube, feeling the call within to pour mana into each and every one.

"It's very pretty, what is it used for?"

Amelia seemed proud.

"My mother gave it to me as a gift. To help me learn how to control different forms of mana. This cube led me to follow in her footsteps as a Minstrel based class. Since I have a gift for sound mana. The crystals are good but, they don't call to me the same way runes do."

Trillia nodded, as she ran her fingers over the runes she gave in to the call, pouring small amounts of mana into each. Her smile widened as more and more colors came to life, and the cube slowly shifted and twirled to reveal more runes.

"There are so many... tomorrow, will you help me learn what they all are? The system doesn't tell me. It just uses my Universal manipulation to activate them."

Amelia nodded as she took the cube that Trillia returned. The mana vanished instantly and the cube reformed. Amelia began pouring her own mana in, and just like with Trillia the runes lit up. One by one and the cube expanded. Trillia noticed that two of the runes didn't just light up, but actively pulsed with mana.

"Maybe we can use this, to teach you how to change your mana into different forms."

Amelia stared at the cube for a long time, not saying anything. Tears on the edge of her vision as she remembered the many times her mother had sat with her and taught her so many things. Amelia blinked a few times, carefully putting the cube back in its bag and rubbing her eyes. Trillia moved next to her and patted her head, as so many people had done to her when she was feeling down. It seemed to have worked as a smile formed on Amelia's face.

The two sat there, staring at the fire and mostly ignoring the adults talking around them. Even the adults had given up on the scout problem for the night. They were chatting about some kingdom far away. Across a sea. The stew was finally done, and both girls ate. Cordaos used some sort of water spell to wash the bowls out next to the fire. Trillia wondered how many different forms of mana manipulation other people had. She felt her eyelids grow heavy.

-=- The Next Day -=-

Trillia woke up once more on a pile of furs and blankets. Alone this time, she sat up rubbing her eyes. She briefly wondered if her parents ever grew tired of carrying her to a more comfortable place to sleep since she evidently had a habit of just passing out wherever.

Standing the young orc stretched, rubbing her eyes once more, and making her way out of the tent. It was already well past breakfast, she ran off to find some fruit or hard tack to eat instead of bothering someone. Now happily munching on a deep red fruit. Also, a substance called bread. It was the same substance that she had for breakfast before, which she thought was soft tack. It had a name, bread. It was quite good but evidently didn't last long before it went bad.

Her scan revealed it was a pomegranate. She remembered her mother's words about the weapons yesterday and moved towards the tent they had been in before. Before she finished her fruit, she sat on a stool in the tent, swinging her legs, and stared intently at it. Trying to get more information about it.

[Pomegranate]

[Pomegranate]

'Yes, thank you system. I know it's a pomegranate. I want to know more about it though.' the words rang through her head as she focused harder.

[Pomegranate]

She was getting a bit frustrated but, it wasn't the system's fault. Trillia just didn't know how to ask for more information. As vengeance, she finished off the rest of the fruit. No one else was in the tent this morning, so she walked over to the table and crawled up onto one of the benches.

She had gotten used to not needing to speak to use her scan now, though she almost missed saying the word. Trillia remembered that her mother said that some skills got stronger if you said them, and motioned. So she pointed mightily at the weapon she had started with yesterday.

"Reveal your secrets! [Basic Scan]"

Giggling as she said it, not really expecting anything, but it was fun.

[Morning Star] Quality: Good

The morning star is a variation of the [Mace]. Its primary uses have been with Monstrous humanoids when combating hard-plated creatures, as the many spikes work to puncture such plates, leaving the victim bleeding with weakened defenses that small-bladed weapons can utilize to punch beyond the armor itself.

Trillia read it all, nodding to herself. She grabbed the weapon and dragged it across the table so it was singled out. Placing her hands on either side of it. Maybe she could use a special chant.

"Uhhh... Morning star, what. No, no that won't work."

She stood on the bench, staring down at the weapon and rubbing her chin. Snapping her fingers she thought about her own status. Once it was in her mind, she focused on her [Brawn] the attribute pushed itself further and explained what it did and how it was derived. Thinking about her derived stat, she stared at the weapon in front of her. Choosing not to dismiss the stat.

"How do I use this weapon? [Basic Scan] "

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[Morning Star] Quality: Good

The morning star is a variation of the [Mace]. Its primary uses have been with Monstrous humanoids when combating hard-plated creatures, as the many spikes work to puncture such plates, leaving the victim bleeding with weakened defenses that small-bladed weapons can utilize to punch beyond the armor itself.

The [Morning Star] benefits from a high [Strength] stat. Like most club type weapons, a high [Dexterity] doesn't help as much for understanding how to utilize the weapon. Instead the weapon will use whatever is greater between your [Intuition] or your [Wisdom] damage is calculated based on your [Strength] stat only, not your [Brawn].

Trillia's grin grew as she read the new information.

General Skill: [Basic Scan] Level 5 -> Level 6

Trillia wondered why the level up message was different, she'd have to ask Amelia about that later.

Trillia stood there, pouring over every tiny bit of information about the weapon. Trying to focus on different words and use her Scan in different ways. She realized she could focus on most words to read what they meant, she could also focus on things like dexterity to learn how it was derived. Most exciting, however, was that she could focus on the name itself to learn more about it.

[Morning Star] a weapon that is categorized as a club class weapon. It's primary power comes from momentum based strikes.

Trillia focused on club and got more information. Her next several hours were spent learning about how the system classified and categorized various weapons. She had a very vague understanding of many of the weapons, but didn't quite know how to choose one for herself. She also learned she could have the system not describe the use or purpose of a weapon, and instead focus on just the important bits.

[Quarterstaff] Quality: Good

The [Quarterstaff] benefits from a high [Dexterity]. Being able to use the weapon with ease is determined based on your [Dexterity] damage is calculated as [Dexterity] in addition to a small amount of your [Strength]

[Leather Whip] Quality: Excellent

The [Whip] derives its own ease of use stat, from a combination of your [Intuition] and [Agility]. The whip's damage is calculated based on this same derived stat. A Leather whip will deal reduced damage to creatures that are considered heavily armored.

[Rapier] Quality: Good

The [Rapier] uses either your [Wisdom] or your [Intuition] whichever is higher, for the purposes of ease of use. Its damage is calculated based on your [Agility] and whichever stat is being used as your ease of use.

Trillia liked the rapier it was light. It also meant she could focus entirely on [Dexterity] and the weapon would still be very effective. She hopped off her stool, grabbed the weapon, and carefully moved it to a side table. Moving back and crawling up onto her bench, ready to look over more weapons. She was interrupted as her mother walked into the tent.

"There you are! I didn't see you at any of the cooking fires, nor were you in our tent. Decided to get started on your own I take it?"

Trillia could tell there was some pride in her mother's tone. The young orc gave a wide smile and nodded before she began telling her mother all that she had learned so far.

Amara offered a big smile and hugged her daughter. Easily lifting and moving many of the weapons around. Placing the ones Trillia had already scanned off to the side.

"Let's see, something that doesn't focus on brawn or strength. I don't think you'd benefit from most of the club class of weaponry. Likewise with most two-handers. You said you liked the rapier. Honestly, it's a really good choice for a fighter who wants to specialize in being light and fast. "

The chieftain rummaged through the weapons before placing a few more on the table before Trillia, motioning for her to go ahead.

[Orcish Shortbow] Quality: Excellent

The [Orcish Shortbow] uses your [Dexterity] for ease of use. It derives a stat based on your [Wisdom], [Intuition], and [Strength] to determine the maximum range it can be fired. -Note: Regardless of your stats, the weapon itself will still have a maximum range. - Damage is calculated based on the type of ammunition fired from it receiving a small bonus based on your [Dexterity].

[Minstrel's Mallet] Quality: Excellent

The [Minstrel's Mallet] is a specialized hammer, it was created by Maven, a minotaur bard. It only works when reinforced with runes of durability. It operates in all ways as either a two-handed [Maul] or a one-handed [Warhammer]. In addition, it has been crafted in such a way it can be utilized as a horn. The horn function allows all sound, sonic and music-based mana, and skills to operate through it.

Trillia ran her fingers over the weapon. Maven was Amelia's mother. She must have been an incredible crafter to create a whole new class of weapon. Trillia looked at her mother.

"Are there any weapons with your name on them? Is this normal?"

Amara smirked, shaking her head.

"No. Even normal weapons like a mace or sword don't say who originally created them. It's a specialized class of weapon that Maven created... I want to say sixty or seventy years ago. As Cordaos describes it, she got sick of having to dual-wield a one-handed hammer and a horn. So she spent six months trying out various creations and carving runes in for usability. Before she finally created both the one and two-handed versions of the weapon."

Trillia listened, soaking in all the knowledge and turning back to the weapon, running her fingers along it.

"Didn't you guys say she was a [Mage] ?"

Amara nodded, sitting on the bench next to her daughter, running her own fingers along the weapon.

"Maven was a mage that specialized in sonic damage. It's based on sound mana manipulation. She also had mastery in many music and sound-based classes. But as a minotaur, she had a knack for crafting. Usually, once a child grows up, their subspecies evolves out of adolescent. They get more traits based on their evolution. For some that's at sixteen or seventeen, for others it's as late as twenty-one. I think Maven's subspecies was a metal-focused minotaur, instead of a stone-focused one."

"What do you mean, mastery of classes? I thought you could only have two classes?"

"You can only have two classes actively leveling and gaining experience. Let's say your first class was a warrior. You can either abandon it, in which case you keep any stat points gained. But otherwise lose all skills gained from it. If you pick the class up again later, you have to start at level 0. Or you can master the class. Which means you've gotten it to its maximum level. Doing so lets you keep all the stat points. If you choose to evolve the class, it starts over at Level 0, you keep all your skills and it is a better version of the base class."

Amara paused for a second as Trillia soaked in the information, once she saw Trillia nod, she continued.

"If you choose not to evolve the class, it instead becomes a mastered class and is something you are considered to have mastery in, hence the name. It lets you keep all stats, in addition, you can keep either one active or one passive skill from the class. You can then learn another class and begin leveling it."

Trillia thought about it for a while. It made sense, she supposed. She didn't know a lot about classes since she didn't have them available to her yet.

"Why don't people just get mastery in every class?"

"Well, experience is based on your Species and Subspecies levels primarily. So leveling [Warrior] might be easy at first. Since it will be your first class and thus, your species is still at a low level. But if you master it several times to keep skills. Suddenly your Species is level one-fifty, and your level 0 warrior class doesn't have the same leveled skills to be easily fighting level one-fifty enemies."

That made much more sense. Trillia offered a nod.

"I think I want to learn how to use the [Rapier]. [Runt] means my [Brawn] is going to be a lot lower than other orcs. So I think focusing on [Dexterity] is a good idea. It also means I can increase my mana pool. Is that a good choice?"

Amara nodded thoughtfully.

"That's smart thinking, you're learning quite fast for your age Trillia. I certainly wasn't able to learn so much so young. We can have the smiths make a few [Rapiers] fit for your size. You and I can spend an hour or two every day training with them ok?"

Trillia grinned and nodded excitedly.

"It seems like you can just use all the weapons, even the stuff papa walks around with, you seem to know more about."

Amara thought a moment. Moving over to the entrance to the tent, she latched the bottom of the furs so that it couldn't be opened. Moving back to sit next to Trillia.

"Don't tell anyone. As you get older and stronger. It will become more and more difficult to scan you. You will also learn skills that alter, not only how you scan people. But how much information they get when they scan you. For now, though, I want to show you something."

Trillia nodded a secret. She liked secrets!

"Reveal nature. Lessen [Divine Obfuscation]. Reveal classes [Greater Scan]."

As her mother finished saying the words, a myriad of information appeared in front of Trillia, but most of the information was still hidden. Her mother's classes were not.

Class: Grand Chieftain: Level 274

Class: Divine Weapon Master: Level 377

Mastered Classes:

Chieftain

Weapon Master

Berserker

Blood Knight

Obfuscating 73 other Mastered classes.

Trillia's eyes went wide, especially after the conversation they just had.

"I thought...I thought you said it got harder with more classes?"

Amara ruffled her hair, the information vanished as her mother altered her skills again.

"Once you're past three hundred in your Species, you mostly stop aging. Furthermore, I am a [Pact-Bonded] creature. It means my stats are significantly higher than what my level dictates. This lets me fight enemies that are much, much higher level. So I get way more experience. I lose some of it to the deity, but the trade-off is certainly worth it. I'm also quite old Trillia. I can't say I remember exactly, but I'm probably close to four hundred years old. I've been fighting for a very, very long time."

Trillia could only sit there in silence. Once again, she had known her mother was strong. She just hadn't realized how strong.

"Is... is uncle Cordaos strong like you?"

Amara smiled, leaning forward and kissing Trillia on the forehead.

"Ask him. He might show you. But he fought with me in the Great Beast Wars. And between you and I, other than Queen Alliyah. He's the one I'd be most scared of fighting in a one-on-one fight. That counts for a lot, seeing as your Uncle Brutus has several classes meant for dueling in one-on-one fights. But enough, let's get some lunch we've been at this for hours. After you can meet up with Amelia to go over runes and alchemy ok?"

Trillia nodded, hugging her mother before she climbed off the bench and ran towards the exit, unlatching the furs.

"Let's goooo! Foooood!"

The little girl ran out. She wasn't sure which was more exciting, food, or asking her Uncle Cordaos about his classes. She'd have to ask her father as well. One of her mother's classes was level three seventy-seven. Trillia couldn't imagine just how high her species was.