A few days after Felicia and Damien had gone to the show and had their talk on the bridge, The Traveler visited Regina’s bookstore again, this time without his friend for company. Though Felicia hadn’t revealed the exact details of what her Profession allowed her to do, seemingly embarrassed by what it required, she had confirmed that enhanced Dexterity and Endurance were some of its primary benefits. Although Damien had given it some genuine consideration, he had turned this one down too. From what he could gather, this Profession only gave minor boosts to Reaction and nothing towards Intelligence, which were two of his primary Stats getting the shaft.
Beyond that, though, it just didn’t gel with him. It had seemed interesting, but not well suited to him as he was now. It was definitely his main backup Profession, though, just after Arcane Adept.
Regina looked up at Damien as he entered the shop, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as gave the Traveler a light smile. “Nice to see you again, Damien. Enjoying all those books you bought?”
“Yeah, they’ve been a real help in covering the gaps in my education,” he admitted. Though he doubted he would have nearly as much natural second-hand knowledge as someone who was born on Xaunis, it still helped to have sources to reference when he found himself falling short on something. “But that’s not really what I’m here to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” Regina asked, her brow raised as she looked at him in curiosity.
“I uh… I’ve been having trouble choosing a Profession,” Damien said. “Not because I don’t have options, but because nothing seems to be sitting right with me. There are some that feel okay, but I haven’t come across one that feels right, y’know?”
Regine nodded smiling at the young man’s words. “You have much more caution than most. People don’t tend to think about this much, but choosing a Profession can be just as important as choosing your Class. I won’t ask for any true details of your Class, since that’s fairly private information, but could I ask for what your major Stats are, as well as your Affinity? I’ll need them both to make a good judgment for what I’d recommend.”
“Yeah. My major Stats are Dexterity, Intelligence and Reaction, and I’ve got an Umbra Affinity.”
“Umbra?” Regina asked, looking genuinely surprised. “Damn. That’s a rare one. I don’t know too many that would sync up well with it, but I can give it a shot.”
They spent the next few minutes going over various Professions that Damien had already put aside as unsuited or otherwise imperfect, and Regina largely agreed with his assessments. Though she did say that Arcane Adept was less restrictive than it seemed at first brush, though it was quite the hard path to walk.
“Hmm… y’know…’ she muttered, a hand on her chin as she thought aloud. “I have been looking for an apprentice of a sort. I haven’t met many people who’d be able to pass my test, though.”
“How do you mean?” Damien asked, since this was partially what he’d wanted to talk to her about in the first place.
“Well… my Profession involves Runes,” Regina said as she dug around under her desk, pulling out a strip of paper with a long string of letters scattered across its surface. “Capital ‘R’ Runes. Not many people can read them, even with decent training, and I myself only managed to read this much after almost a year of constant study. I could teach you about them, but it’ll take-”
“It just says ‘You are now prepared to know the words of the universe.’”
Regina stared at Damien for several seconds in complete and utter shock. Damien just gave a sheepish smile in return. While he didn’t yet know how exactly Runes worked, he could understand both them, and any other language, as well as he did his born language of English thanks to his Universal Polyglot Trait.
“… you can read it?”
“Yeah,” Damien admitted. “I have a Trait that lets me read and speak in basically any language.”
She stared at him for several seconds, as though the one-time occurrence wasn’t quite enough for her to believe what was in front of her. Then, she pulled out another slip of paper and put it in front of him. “Can you read the rest of these?”
Several minutes passed as Damien devoured every single sentence of Runes that Regina put in front of him, her shock and awe growing with each one he deciphered without difficulty. Well, not entirely without difficulty. Some of the runes didn’t seem to be in sentences, but were more like single-word statements or commands. Maybe functions of magic?
Before long, he had gone through at least a few dozen sentences comprised entirely of Runes. Regina had both hands on her countertop, supporting herself as her shoulder’s shook. Damien wasn’t entirely sure if she was happy or holding back tears, and was about to check up on her… when she started laughing. It was a slow thing at first, little more than a chuckle at the edge of his hearing. It quickly grew into a maniacal belly laugh as she threw her head back, sheer delight visible on her face.
“Hell fucking yes!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. “I’ve got a miracle kid on my hands!”
“Uh… thanks?” Damien was a little uncomfortable with her over-the-top reaction to his ability to read Runes, but then again, Universal Polyglot was a Legendary rarity Trait, so it didn’t do things by half measures. “I can read it, but I didn’t understand the full context of-”
“Kid, the fact that you could read them at all is a massive advantage that you need to capitalize on,” Regina said, pointing a stern finger at Damien’s face while she glared at him. “The reason it’s hard to train apprentices for my Profession is that it takes a lot of patience and time. You’ll still need to learn those lessons, but I can actually speed up your rate of training if you can already read this stuff. I can get to the fun stuff sooner!”
“… yeah, I can see your point,” Damien acquiesced. “But what is your Profession anyway? And why are you so dead-set on getting an apprentice?”
Regina sighed, sitting back down as she gave Damien a look. A tired, almost dreary look that she wasn’t bothering to hide anymore. “My master was… well, she was a piece of shit. Taught me barely anything. I had to learn how to read Runes mostly on my own. So, as you might imagine, the moment I found an opportunity to bail, I did. And I left her to die. But her ghost… it haunts me.
“I guess I want to prove something. To be better than her. To not be the same bitter old bitch by the time I die, and actually give someone a chance to learn something from me. I want to prove that what I went through to be here… that it wasn’t for nothing.”
She was trying to cope. Damien had to wonder how long she’d been hiding this pain from… well, everyone. And why she would bare her heart to him, a guy she barely knew? But, while Damien couldn’t say he knew what she felt, he did know that she was clearly in pain, and he wouldn’t take her offer for granted.
“… okay.”
She looked up at him, as though she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
“I’ll do it,” he reaffirmed with a soft smile. “I’ll be your apprentice. … actually, what is your Profession, anyway?”
Regina looked at him for a few seconds before she chuckled. “Kid, you agreed to be my apprentice and you didn’t even know what Profession I was?”
“It’s not like you gave me many details.”
“Fair. Still, even if I have my reasons for wanting to take you on, I have to ask… why?”
“Because it seems right. Because I think I might be good at this with some practice. And because… as much as I might need this, you may need it more.”
Regina looked at him with a blank face for several moments. “Jeez, kid. You can be witty when you want to be, you know that?”
“Eh, every now and then,” Damien admitted, scratching at the back of his head in embarrassment. “I’d still like to know what I’m signing up for, though.”
“Fair enough.” Regina steepled her hands together in front of her, placing her elbows on the countertop in front of her. “You, my young friend… are about to learn what it takes to become a Runesmith.”
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As it turned out, it involved studying Runes, their effects, combinations, and which ones should never, ever come into contact. It was a lot of reading, which was an activity Damien was used to. He honestly dreaded finding the topic boring, since he and science, while not archenemies, had never really gotten along.
As it turned out, magic came far easier to him, especially when it came to figuring out how Runes interacted in interesting ways. Plus, the way they were structured was interesting. Instead of having words with multiple characters forming sentences, Runes actually worked much more like kanji, with multiple marks in a single character to differentiate words. He was eager to find out how they worked himself, but that was for when he actually achieved the Profession. Which, given Regina’s hopes, and his accelerated pace via Universal Polyglot, should be happening right… about… now!
ALERT! Due to sufficient understanding and available mentorship, the [Runesmith] Profession is now available for selection.
[Runesmith]
Description: those who learn the essence of Runes, the language of the universe itself, and carve those sigils into reality through will, determination, and raw mana. This road is an ever-expanding one, with ever more mysteries to discover. What better life could there be?
Stat Gains: +1 Strength per Level, +2 Dexterity per Level, +2 Intelligence per Level, +2 Wisdom per Level, +3 Vitality per Level, +2 Willpower per Level, +3 Reaction per Level,+2 Stat Points per Level
Accept Profession?
Yes | No
NOTICE! As stated in The Universal Laws of the System, you will gain Stat Points for your Profession retroactively, as though it had been with you since Level 1. This influx of power may take you off balance. Caution is advised.
Damien looked over at his mentor, who looked at him with no small amount of pride. It was several hours later, almost the end of the day, and yet he had still managed to gain access to the Profession far sooner than Regina herself had. Granted, her circumstances were far different, but still, it was something to be proud of nonetheless.
Without any further hesitation, Damien selected ‘Yes.’
Profession Accepted. Applying Retroactive Stat Gains…
Damien suddenly felt like his nerves had been dipped into raw electricity, the power of four levels swelling into him simultaneously. It was… it was a lot. it was better than everything he’d ever felt. Better than sleep, better than food, better than magic. Damien thought that if Level Ups lasted any longer than a few moments, he might actually get addicted to it. He rode it out, breathing heavily as the Stats finished applying themselves. Then, unable to help himself, he opened his Status.
[Status]
Name: Damien Sinclair
Race: Traveler of Umbra (Male)
Age: 18
Class: Shade Hunter
Level: 4
XP: 750/4,000
Profession: Runesmith
Affinity: Umbra
Stats:
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 53
Intelligence: 53
Constitution: 25
Endurance: 25
Wisdom: 33
Vitality: 36
Vigor: 24
Willpower: 33
Reaction: 72
Stat Points: 8 (71:59:46)
[Spells]
| Shadowbolt (Common) | Invocation (Epic) | Shadow of the Night Wolf (Ancient) | Chains of Tartarus (Unique)
[Abilities]
| Shade Sense (Uncommon) | Shade Strike (Uncommon) | Bloodcasting (Epic)
[Skills]
| Identify (Common) | Adept Swordsmanship (Uncommon) | Adept Unarmed Combat (Uncommon) | Mediation (Uncommon) | Acrobatics (Uncommon) | Thrown Weapons (Uncommon) | Stealth (Uncommon) | Mana Control (Rare)
“I… I did it,” Damien said, grinning as weakly held up his fist in triumph. “I got the Profession.”
“Good,” Regina said with a proud smile. “Still, that was the easy part. You’ll still have a lot to learn from me in the coming weeks. And that was actually pretty fast. I guess that translation Trait comes in handy. Were you born with it?”
“Uh… in a sense, yeah,” Damien said, skirting around the details of his rebirth on Xaunis. “Why?”
“Just wondering. Even the base Polyglot Trait is a rare occurrence. Not an impossibility, but still pretty rare. Most are either born with it and learn how to advance it to later levels or get it from some spirit or wandering magical creature with a soft spot for mortals. Then there are the really rare cases.”
“Oh?” Damien asked, curious as to some of the finer workings of his Trait.
“The Polyglot Trait comes from two other places naturally, other than sheer random chance. Those who are Travelers, and those who have Traveler blood in their veins. Obviously, the former is far rarer than the latter, but even their bloodlines only exist for… what, two? Three generations before it wears down? Well, that’s beside the point. It’s possible for children born of two races to inherit traits from either parent, though they tend to lean towards one or the other. Even rarer than both of those are children of two Travelers, especially since there are almost never more than ten on Xaunis at any given time.”
“Uh… okay,” Damien said, a bit wary. “I don’t have a Traveler lineage, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Oh, I very much doubt it. Especially since Universal Polyglot is in the Legendary tier. Those kinds of things only appear in those of great power, circumstance, fortune or sheer, overwhelming potential. So, I must ask… which are you?
… she knew. She had to know - there was no other reason for her to be speaking like this. Regina knew that Damien was a Traveler. Dammit. He hadn’t really thought too much about how much someone could put together from one of his Traits, but he hadn’t expected anyone to figure it out from something like that! He had given away too much information. Fuck! He felt Ash tense up inside his cast silhouette, ready to pounce at this woman who was far more powerful than him at a moment’s notice, if only to give him a chance to escape whatever was going to come for him.
The dark-haired woman seemed to notice his sudden tension, and gave him a reassuring smile. This only confused Damien more when she actually started speaking. “I’m not going to report you to the authorities or whatever other impulsive actions are rattling about inside that head of yours. I’m not that petty. Sure, some Travelers have been bad people in the past, but that’s ascribing the actions of a couple to an entire people, few though they may be.”
“I… wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction,” Damien admitted.
“And you shouldn’t. The last notable Traveler was… well, something of an unhinged psychopath. Tore a bloody route through Carmina in an effort to commit a genocide. Got a nickname for it, too. Carmina's Desolation, because of his sole goal of wiping the race of vampires from Xaunis. We killed him, of course, but the scars he left were… deep. And basically no one in Carmina likes Travelers after that. Can’t say I entirely blame them, what with one of them almost single-handedly killing too many vampires to count, but it’s gotten to the point that it’s basically just thinly veiled xenophobia under the guise of vengeful justice.”
“So… stay far, far away from Carmina? Wherever that is?”
“That would be my general recommendation, yes. Both for their sake, and especially for yours. You’re not particularly powerful, and you won’t be for a while. I suggest you only go there at… maybe level thirty, at the earliest, and only if you’re there with some kind of authority to back you up. If you’re not, then if they learn your true race, they’ll take any chance they can to make you suffer.”
“Yay,” Damien said with sass, leaning his head against the table, trying to stave off a tired sigh.
“Have you told anyone else you’re a Traveler?” Regina asked.
“No. My mentor knows, and so do some of his associates, but that’s about it, as far as I know.” He hadn’t even told Felicia about it, and she was basically his only friend on Xaunis other than Leon. He wasn’t sure how she would react to the news. Or how Leon would react, for that matter.
“Well, that’s a good thing. Keep that deception up as long as you can. You might not be entirely comfortable with it, but it’s something you’ll have to get used to for a while.”
She was right. He didn’t like it. Necessary though it was, Damien didn’t like lying. He would do it, but only to protect others and himself, not to deliberately harm anyone.
“… why aren’t you reporting me, anyway?”
Regina seemed… nostalgic, all of a sudden, like she was caught in a memory. She smiled fondly… and a bit sadly. “A Traveler saved my life, once upon a time. Back when I was with my old master, one of them came to stay with us. She was a kind woman, and deadly as can be with her spear. She stuck that spear in my master’s gut when she found out what she’d been putting me through. Afterwards, we gathered all of her books, and she got me on my way again. Didn’t even give me her name, just happy to have done some kind of good in the world. That woman… she was one of the many, many people who gave their lives to kill Carmina's Desolation. People seem to forget that fact, often and conveniently. They like to resort to stereotypes and paranoia because it's easy and convenient. The truth is… people are much more complicated than any stories told about them, no matter how much truth they may hold. Judge them on a case-by-case basis, if you can and if you must, but never ascribe the actions of one as the fault of many. It just leads to more pain.”
Damien gave a slow nod. He thought he understood, even if he had never been confronted with such things himself. The truth was, he might not be able to fully comprehend this lesson unless he went through something like this firsthand. He hoped he wouldn’t… but deep down, he knew it was a distinct possibility, given his chosen line of work.
“Well, in any case, thank you,” Damien said. “Also… could I ask you a favor, regarding my Racial status?”
“I won’t speak to anyone about it, not even Felicia,” Regina said with a knowing smirk. “I know that’s something you should probably do yourself. Tell her eventually, though. I know she likes your company, and you’re one of the only people she’s been open with in a long time. Well… relatively open.”
Damien shrugged. It wasn’t like Felicia wasn’t entitled to her privacy. He had some secrets, and she clearly had some of her own as well. He wouldn’t ask after them. For one thing, it would be incredibly rude. For another… he didn’t want to risk their friendship over it. He would tell her, eventually. Once he was sure that it wouldn’t cause a rift between them.
“Anyway, we should coordinate with your actual Class mentor about when I can get you in here for Runesmith practice,” Regina said, businesslike once more. “Once we do that, I’ll grill the basics of Engraving and Runic Script into you over the next few weeks. It won’t be easy, but something tells me you wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Damien couldn’t help but grin.