“Let me be very clear, Theo,” Rufus said. “You are not stuffed or ruined because you have the hunt essence and don’t want to be a hunter. There are no bad combinations; it is just that some people are bad at using them. I will tell you the story sometime about this young boy I met with the Duck essence. He beat me without breaking a sweat.”

Rufus paused and took a sip, then continued, “If you want to move away from being a hunter, we will pick out your final essence and awakening stones with a different focus. More support and crafting than killing and adventuring.”

“It is kind of like Gary and me,” Farrah said. “We both have the Fire essence, but I like blowing things up, so I have the Earth and Potent essences, which gave me the Volcano confluence. Gary also has Fire essence, but he is more into blacksmithing, so he has Iron and Hammer essences, which lead to the Forge confluence. I used more explosive awakening stones, and he used more crafting-orientated ones, but he can still fight.”

“Where do you want to head now, Theo?” Rufus asked.

“I was thinking more around plants and growing things,” I said.

“Ok, the Plant Essence is common,” Rufus said. “It would probably help us to know what you have already and where your skills are heading so we can incorporate them into the planning.”

I hesitated. People knowing my skill was what got me trapped before.

Nia leaned forward, “The Goddess just told me you can trust these people, Theo.”

Rufus’ eyes narrowed, and his voice became darker. “Have you had someone cause trouble for you over your skills, Theo? We won’t let that happen. Who was it?”

“I have a hammer I can use on them,” Gary offered.

“No, you don’t have to. It was back in Ironwood, so they are probably already dead.”

“Oh, Ok then.” Rufus said, “Are you OK with us knowing? We don’t need to if you don’t want to.”

“No, that’s alright,” I fished into one of my pouches and pulled out my paper where I had written them down. I put it on the table for everyone to see.

Sharpen [Speed attribute]

* Razor Sharp. Level 4

* Iron rank: Sharpens any cutting or piercing object to a razor edge. Bonus penetration and cutting through material up to Iron Rank. Cost mana, Varies.

* Resistant Fur {Hair Stone} Level 3

* Iron Rank: Fur becomes resistant to cutting and piercing.

Hunt [Spirit attribute]

* Senses of the Hunter [Perception]. Level 2

* Iron Rank: Improves Sight, xxxxxx senses.

* Hunter’s Step {Foot stone} Level 2

* Iron Rank: Move swiftly, lightly and quietly through the terrain. Muffles movement noise. Cost low mana/sec.

“Thats a good way of writing it down,” Farrah said, “I wish more people would do that.”

“You escaped Ironwood and freed so many souls with only four Skills?” Nia was amazed. “And no attack skills? Theo, you are amazing!”

“As I said,” Rufus said, “There are people who don’t know how to utilise their skills, but there are also people like you, Theo, who can do amazing things with the skills they have no matter what they are.”

I was getting embarrassed now.

“Why are the X’s after sight in your Hunters Senses Skill, Theo?” Farrah asked.

“Because it is more than just sight,” I said quietly.

“Oh?” Farrah asked.

“It is also Hearing and Smell.”

“That’s impressive,” Rufus said. “It is not the first I have seen with three senses. There was this girl at the academy who had sight, hearing, and touch. She was very sensitive to air movement and temperature changes on her skin. She was moving toward being an alchemist as she could touch something and know if it was the right temperature or not.”

“I am not sure about the smell part,” Gary said, “The undead stank, and I have a normal Bronze-rank smell. Hey, look at that! The Hair stone, Rufus, you needed that!”

“I like being bald,” Rufus said defensively.

“I have the Adventure Society list of combinations,” Farrah said, “wait a minute, let me grab it, and we can see what confluence the Plant essence will create.”

She reached down to the floor, and a large stone chest rose out of it. She opened the lid, rummaged inside, and pulled out a document.

“What is that?” I asked.

“That is Farrah’s dimensional storage,” Rufus explained. “She is the only one of us to have that. It was a racial evolution, wasn’t it, Farrah?”

“Yep,” Farrah said, “and it is very handy as well.”

“The trouble is she only keeps books in there,” Gary grumped, “not important things like ale.”

“I am not filling my storage with your kegs of ale,” Farrah said. “Eat a spirit coin.”

“Spirit coin?” I asked.

“A normal coin,” Rufus said, placing one on the table, “ You know when you are Iron rank, you can live on the concentrated magic in them?”

I nodded, “Yes, I just hadn’t heard them call Spirit coins, and I thought you might have been talking about something else.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“They taste like shit,” Gary said. “When you are Iron Rank, you can try it. I much prefer food and ale.”

Farrah had been scanning down the essence lists, “I can’t find many combinations with the Sharpen Essence,” she said. “It is listed as Uncommon, but it might be closer to Rare. Here, this one is close. It is not Sharpen, but it is Axe, Hunt and Plant and gives the Harvest confluence.”

“That is a good sign,” Rufus said, “What do you think, Theo?”

I nodded. “Sounds like where I want to go.”

“There are no guarantees, remember,” Rufus said, “not with Essences nor with Awakening stones. We can only aim for the general direction we want.”

I nodded. I knew that.

“Hey,” Gary said, “I heard the priestess lady say the goddess had a gift for you. What was it?”

“Ah, I haven’t checked,” I said

“But, free stuff from a goddess, man, you don’t turn that down!” Gary was excited.

“I haven’t turned it down. I just haven’t checked.”

“But what if it is an essence? They do that, right?” Gary continued.

“Yes,” Nia said, “They do that, but usually only for their priests. It is not an essence. It is an awakening stone.” she looked at me. “It is the Divine Awakening Stone of Peace.”

“Wow,” I said. “Should I do that first?”

“No,” Rufus said, “essences first. Always do the essences first, and then your skills will be more likely to synergise.”

“Ok, I can organise a ritual room at the Magic Society,” I said.

“I can do your rituals,” Farrah said, “And I get a discount on the room. I am a member of the Magic Society, and I specialise in ritual magic.”

“Oh, great, thanks,” I said

“Do we want to discuss awakening stones now?” Farrah asked.

“We should probably wait to see what the first skills from the Plant and confluence essences are,” Rufus said.

“I’ll drink to that,” Gary said, and we spent the rest of the time just enjoying the company.

The next day, Nia came with me to meet the others at the Magic Society. I was wearing my oldest shorts as your body expelled a lot of waste gunk when you rank up, and Farrah said I would want to throw the clothes out afterwards. I had a change of clothes with me. Nia brought the Awakening Stone of Peace with her, as we should be able to do several rituals after the first big one.

Farrah met us in the lobby, and we bypassed the people waiting. “I have a list of all the awakening stones at both the Adventure Society and the Magic Society and the current prices, so we can go through it once you are Iron rank,” she said.

Then it hit me. I was going to be Iron Rank today—probably in less than an hour. I was planning on four years, and it is only about one—one horrible, horrible year. I would rather have taken four.

Rufus and Gary were waiting in the ritual room.

“We have this room all day if we want,” Farrah said. “Are you ready, Theo?”

I nodded.

“Ok, just to reiterate, I will perform the ritual with the Plant Essence, and this will fill your third essence slot, advance that attribute to Iron rank, and give you a skill.”

I nodded.

“If a racial evolution happens, it will happen then, but it won’t always happen. You have had one before with your other essences?”

“Just the once,” I said.

“Right. After that, you will see three essence cubes appear, representing your current essences, and they will merge into a confluence essence. You need to take that essence, which will then merge with your final essence attribute.”

“What happens if I don’t take it?” I asked.

“Then you have to buy your fourth essence, and we have to do another ritual,” Farrah said.

“The Confluence Essence will always be more suitable than a bought one because it is a combination of your current three,” Rufus said. “Only those slated for a priesthood and blessed by their god turn the confluence down because their god gives them a divine essence.”

“You only rated a divine awakening stone,” Gary said to Nia’s displeasure.

“Ok, got it.”

Farrah continued, “This will give you the fourth skill and make you Iron Rank. You may or may not have a racial evolution here, as well. At this point, you will feel very good. You use that time to move to the washroom over there because you will soon be expelling body impurities from all your orifices and the pores of your skin. Once you are finished you scrape the worst off and have a shower with the steel wool and cleaner that is provided. You still won’t be clean when you have done that, but you will be clean enough to use this.” She handed me a small bottle of clear liquid.

“You are lucky,” said Gary. “She does not normally hand out Crystal Wash.”

“That will make you clean enough to come out. Put on clean clothes, and then we can discuss the next step.”

“Awakening Stones?” I asked.

“No,” Farrah said. Your first act as an Iron Ranker will be to eat a Spirit coin and recover your energies. Then, we will discuss Awakening stones.”

“Ok,” I said. “I have got it.”

“Very well,” Farrah said, “Stand in the centre of that diagram.” She picked up a green cube. “This is the Plant Essence. I am going to chant the identification ritual, and you will touch the essence and then confirm it is the one you want to use.

I nodded, and Farrah chanted and then held out the cube for me. I confirmed it was the Plant essence and said, “Yes, that is the one I want.”

She passed me the essence to hold and started the ritual. Then the Plant essence seemed to be digging its roots into my hand, working its way up my arm and then spreading throughout my body. Then the sensation stopped, and I realised the essence was gone, and everybody was looking at me.

“Ah, It bonded with my recovery attribute.” Then my face fell, “Oh.”

“What is it?” Farrah asked.

“There are no bad skills,” Rufus reiterated.

“It is a summons, long term, something called a Blood Root Vine.”

“We can look up the details later. What does it need to be summoned?” Farrah asked.

“Lots of Plant Quintessence and Blood Quintessence.”

“Ok, that's not bad. They are cheap materials. We can factor that in,” she said.

Then, my body started to glow.

“Oh! A racial evolution,” Gary said.

They waited for it to finish.

“Well?” Gary said impatiently.

“A … oh, that is good. It is called the Hunters Pack, and it is a dimensional storage space.”

“Excellent,” Farrah said. “Pay attention, here comes the confluence essence.”

Three cubes floated outside my body. I recognised that each represented one of my essences. Then the cubes merged, and I reached out for the confluence essence, and it felt like each of the others all together. Then it was done, and I was left panting.

“What was…” Farrah started but stopped as my body started to glow again. “A second Racial evolution. That happened to me as well.”

“And me,” said Rufus.

The shining reduced, and I said, “Oh, that was some sort of boost to my spirit attribute.”

Then I wasn’t feeling well and started to move to the washroom.”

“What was the essence?” Farrah asked.

I was running for the washroom now, “The Essence of the Reaper,” I yelled.

I glimpsed every head snap to look at me as I closed the door and threw up.