I couldn’t sleep much that night, and the next day at work was looooooooong. The market was busy, and I earned some coin, which was good as I would be short over the next four weeks.

I woke early on my day off so I started with my normal exercise routine to try and settle my excitement. There was no settling my excitement.

I was waiting as the Magic Society building opened for the day.

“Good morning,” I greeted the receptionist cheerfully. “I am here for an essence ritual,” and I showed my receipt.

“Morning,” came the greeting back. “Today’s ritualist is not in yet. You will have to wait. Please take a seat over there. You will be called when it is your turn.”

I took a seat and waited. Two others came in and waited as well. Then, a Magic Society official came in and walked straight through, out the back. Was that the ritualist? Maybe it was someone else. Several other people arrived and greeted the receptionist. They went straight through as well.

Then a young man appeared and called, “Analise?” The young girl got up and went out the back with him. How come she goes first? I was here before her.

It was almost an hour later when the girl appeared. She had a strange lantern-type creature following her. It was just hovering in the air behind her. She must have been here for a summoning ritual. Then, the creature seemed to melt into the air. It was one of those permanent summons that can be part of the body of the summoner when it is not manifested. Interesting. I wonder if it was part of her aura. No, wait a minute. Her eyes are a different colour. It merged with her eyes. Fascinating.

Five minutes later, the man appeared again, “Theo?” He called.

“Here!” I said, jumping up.

“Follow me, please.”

We went into a round room with a permanent ritual imprinted on the floor. There was a balcony with some seats, which were empty. I guess some had family come to watch. There were two doors that I didn’t know where they went.

“Can I see your receipt, please?”

I handed it over. He opened one of the doors and came back with the dark green and brown cube that I had chosen.

“I am going to chant a short identification ritual,” he said. “I want you to touch the essence, and you will be able to know it is the right essence. The essence is permanent, so be very sure.”

I nodded and reached out to touch the cube as he chanted some syllables. Suddenly, I just knew this was the Essence of the Hunt. The man rechecked the receipt; I guess he confirmed what the essence was as well, and he nodded, satisfied.

“Are you sure and ready?” he asked me.

I nodded, “Yes.”

“Take the cube and stand in the centre of the diagram. This is not your third essence, is it?”

“No, only me second.”

“Good. You didn’t pay for the refresher room, but I needed to check.”

The third essence would trigger the confluence essence, so essentially two essences together. This mad you Iron rank and would trigger fundamental changes to your body. Your body would purge all the toxins and impurities in it. Apparently it was very unpleasant.

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I stood in the diagram. This saved a lot of work. In the village, the diagram had to be drawn every time. I didn’t know what to expect from the Hunt Essence. When I got the Sharp Essence, it felt like I had paper cuts all over my body.

The Hunt cube turned into a kind of smoke and sunk into my skin, eyes, nose, and everywhere. It didn’t hurt, but it was unpleasant.

Then it hit me, and I staggered and fell down on my butt. It was like the world came alive. The colours were sharper, the smells were clearer and the sound was amazing, and it was all too much. That is the last I remember.

I woke lying on a cot in some sort of infirmary. There was a young cute Leonid there, “What happened?”

“You passed out,” she said. “It is not uncommon. This is the recovery room in the Magic Society.”

The world was still this amazing place I was having trouble getting used to. “How long was I out?”

“About ten minutes. I am guessing you got a perception skill from your reaction. Is that right?”

I nodded. I could sense it. I closed my eyes. That helped. The Hunt essence was bonded to my Spirit Attribute. I was a little disappointed at that. I wanted my Power or Recovery Attributes to be next. The Spirit attribute was connected to the mind and perceptions, so getting a perception skill made sense.

The Skill seemed to be the senses of a hunter, and it was more than one sense. It seemed to be all of them, which was unusual. I could hear people talking in the next room. The young Leonid smelled good. She might be in heat.

“If you tell me what perception power it is, I can look it up for you and help you understand it.”

“Ah, it seems like sight and smell and…” my brain clicked into gear. I need to keep my skills close to my chest, or others will take advantage.

“And…” she prompted.

“Ah, just sight and smell. It is just a lot.”

“Right. Well, you are fortunate. Most people only get one perception skill. Two is uncommon, maybe one in fifty people. Three is very rare.”

I didn’t know what to think and her smell was driving me crazy. “Can I just sit and let things settle for a bit? I am a bit overwhelmed.”

“Sure,” she said. “Just come out when you are ready.” She left and closed the door on her way out.

This was a lot. At each rank, your perception grew, but this… It was like my perception had all jumped to Bronze, skipping Iron altogether. That can’t be right, but this was going to take a while for me to sort out.

I am not fully Iron rank yet, so my body has not changed. My perceptions are normal rank for now. I don’t know how much this boost is, but I am finding it overwhelming, and the lingering scent of the Leonid is not helping.

The skill will grow. I definitely have all three: sight, hearing and smell. I don’t have touch, I don’t think, or taste. I licked my hand. It felt normal and tasted normal. Three senses in one skill is amazing.

I took some time to concentrate on each sense and figure out how to control it. This was a huge advantage to me and I definitely needed to keep it secret. I would tell everyone my sight was improved as it was. I hope my night sight was as well. I had the feeling it was. Senses of the Hunter indeed. I hit the jackpot on that.

Once I had a handle on it, I opened the door, and the sounds and smells hit me again. I sat and got used to this level of senses. I then moved back out to the waiting room and sat there for a bit.

People stink, except for the Leonid lady. I never did get her name. I wonder if she is single. I could probably track her down with my nose.

Wait! I can track people by smell. Awesome. I need to get out in the forest and test this.

People walk differently. That person almost stomps everywhere. I can hear them even though I can’t see them. The receptionist is a human, and she has a habit of drumming her finger on the desk even though I can’t see the desk from here.

The noise almost explodes as the door to the street is opened. New smells reach me. I will just stay here a while longer. The receptionist is giving me a puzzled look.

Slowly, I started getting used to the new senses. I sat in that reception for two hours before I felt confident enough to step out onto the street. My stomach was rumbling. I could hear it. I splashed out at a street vendor and got a hot sausage on a stick. The sauce was nice and it smelled amazing.

This was going to take a lot to get used to.