Belan’s Perspective

“And you're sure the elf didn't have anything to do with it?” Belan questioned the shadowed form.

“I’d been watching the girl at your request, constantly. She’s not unlike any of the other children. A bit more perceptive, but not cunning. She had been exploring the forest for days, and then stumbled upon the pond. Inquisitive, explorative. More than the other children, but not any different from what she was doing before.” The voice took on a harder edge, “I thought you had legitimate concerns about Ione, but you are wasting my time and valuable resources. We have a war going on, Belan, do you have any idea what I could be doing right now for our nation?”

“I-I suspected we had a mole and-” Belan was cut off.

“An 8 year old child, who is a half-elf, who had been raised her entire life in this orphanage, and who has had no contact with other elves, would not be a mole!” The air shook with their anger.

They sighed, “I am leaving. What happened was an unfortunate accident. You will no longer be wasting my time, and Adjudicator Reichard will hear of this.”

Belan’s throat bobbed, “...yes, Investigator Hubrik.”

Before Hubrik left, they turned to Belan once more, “there are elves breaching the walls, at this very moment, and you want me to expend all that I have on one little girl. You are out of line,” he hissed.

As soon as the investigator departed, Belan grit her teeth. She knew there was something not right with that girl, but she had somehow managed to fool everyone. Ever since Ione was born she couldn't help the sense of impending doom that grew in strength as the years passed. The nun knew her instincts were warning her, but about what, she could only wonder. All Belan knew was that the girl was trouble, and the sooner she left the orphanage to be a breeding sow, the sooner things could go back to normal. She regretted not killing the thing when it had exited that elven whore’s womb, but she knew how that would look to her cohorts.

7 more years, and that little bitch will be out of my hair.

Ione’s Perspective

Ione woke up with a smile on her face. Finally, today was the day she would understand what these classes were about, how they’re obtained, how attributes affect them and vice versa. She would learn about the world and its history and why there is a war going on. She knew that it would most likely not be the truth, but she was curious about what would be said. One last thing stood in the way between her and answers: Kine’s funeral.

So, on went with the proceedings. They held a brief vigil and people went up to give their respects, Coranne included, even though he planned to kill her. Ione supposed it was for appearances sake and wondered if the woman had also gained a deception skill; Ione certainly wouldn't be surprised.

Belan glared at her more often, now. She caught the older woman's eyes every now and again during the procession and it was very clear that Belan still suspected her, although the distinct lack of being watched ever since Kine’s body was discovered told her that whoever was watching her did not, and had since left.

While Ione figured out the peeping tom issue, she still had to contend with a random nun teaching her one-on-one. She could only hope the lady wasn't terribly racist, but knowing that Belan specifically had her switched to her own classroom…Ione knew she couldn’t be too hopeful.

The funeral was quick, and he was buried on the property next to a few other grave markers. Ione was aware this graveyard existed, but couldn’t bring herself to stay too long, the ages, or lack thereof, made her sad.

Soon enough, It was time for school. Coranne led her to her ‘classroom’ where she realized she’d have to stay in the musty room for the next 7 years. They didn't have very many empty classes, kids of varying ages lived here so accommodations had to be made for separate bathrooms, bedrooms, and school rooms, but, oh so fortunately, they were able to squeeze into what she suspected used to be an oversized broom closet. It had no windows and was gray on all sides. There was a sink along the farthest wall, accompanied by a teacher's desk, a students desk in the middle, with a measly lantern above and a chalkboard situated in front of where Ione would sit.

The teacher wasn't there yet, so Ione felt safe to voice her thoughts.

“Coranne, what the fuck is this?”

She sighed, “I swear to Gostra, Belan makes everything difficult. I’m so sorry. This wasn't particularly how I thought accommodations would be made.”

“You’re telling me. This is a broom closet, I’ve hidden here before! This is ridiculous.” She sulked, “but I guess I’ll have to deal with it for the time being. And you still weren't told who my teacher was going to be?”

“No, which is strange. Right now, you’re technically under my care, as are all the other 8 year-old children. I have their schedules, which tell me what their school day will look like, but yours is suspiciously blank.”

“Suspicious indeed,” Ione huffed, “well, I have no doubt that Belan is cooking something up, cause I'm still on her shit list, so if you never hear or see me again you’ll know who was behind it.” She laughed.

Coranne was not so amused, “Don’t joke about things like that!” she said sharply. “I don't want to hear those ‘jokes’, you’ll come back at the end of the school day and we’ll talk. You’re going to be fine. I’ll even give you private lessons myself if I feel like your education isn't up to my standards.”

Ione immediately regretted her poor attempt at a jest, “Sorry, Coranne. You’re right, I'll be okay, I think I'm just paranoid.”

“As you have the right to be, I'd be too if I was in your shoes. But, I care about you, I don’t want to think about anything…involving you…dying. Okay! Moving on, I’ll see you at the end of the school day. Try to have a good time at least.”.

Ione felt a sympathetic pat on her shoulder, “I'll try.” She looked at Coranne gratefully, but was distracted by a nun coming down the hallway. A nun Ione hadn’t expected to see.

Sister Amahn. As she came closer, Ione got a better look at the person who would be her teacher. She was tanned, stood at around 5’7”, a bit taller than Coranne, and was a stern, but overall good-looking woman. The only difference in wear was the glasses adorning her face, but other than that, she wore the same Gostra pendant, rope belt and nun head covering that all the other nuns wore. Ione was confused, nuns were healers, but her eyesight wasn’t fixed?

Interesting.

Ione had heard rumors about this nun, she normally taught the older girls, those closer to receiving classes and was supposedly very strict. While she didn’t employ physical punishment, hers were reported to be especially unusual. Although, Ione was open to them being rumors.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Coranne spotted her too, her lips twisting into a slight grimace before forcing a smile. “Sister Amahn! So good to see you, will you be teaching Ione?”

“Sister Coranne,” she acknowledged, “yes, I will be teaching the halfling, we have 5 minutes before starting so I suggest she gets situated and quickly.”

Coranne gave Ione a quick hug and the girl spotted a disgusted look adoring Amahn’s face.

Okay, lady, chill. It’s just a hug.

“Have a good day at school, I’ll come by at the end of the day to pick you up,” she smiled.

“Ione can find her own way, Sister Coranne. She’s not a baby.”

“I-” Coranne turned to Ione, “Ione, how do you feel about that?”

Amahn's face turned to stone.

“I want you to come pick me up, Sister Coranne,” Ione said, pointedly ignoring Amahn.

“Okay! See you at the end of the day.” With that, Coranne turned and left.

Ione watched the woman leave and then turned to the remaining nun.

“3 minutes, Ione.”

The girl immediately hopped into her seat and stared at Amahn expectantly.

A staring contest ensued.

Immovable object vs. unstoppable force. We’ll see who’ll win.

~~~~~

Despite the rough start, Ione passed the school day relatively in peace. Amahn was a pretty good teacher, all things considered; she allowed Ione to ask questions and didn't shame or punish her when she got things wrong. Although she suspected it was only a matter of time before Amahn tried to punish her.

Regardless, she had learned a lot.

When a child turns 15, they gain a list of classes they could choose from based on the skills and resistances acquired. Certain class skills can affect attributes, depending on the type of class. So, if Ione had a class that used dexterity more, it would provide more dexterity attributes. Same with mana, intelligence, strength, constitution and wisdom, respectively. When class options become available, there are multiple options which are color coordinated; gray for common, green for uncommon, blue for rare, purple for epic and gold for legendary. It's extremely rare for 15-year-old's to have the option for an epic or legendary class as most get Common and Uncommon, with very few talented individuals getting Rare. Ione hoped for Legendary, but if not, she’d settle for an epic. She knew there was no way on this planet that she’d get anything less, especially with the skills and resistances she had and still continues to get.

To level up a class, you had to reach certain EXP milestones. This was dependent on the class type. The higher tiered class, the more EXP was needed to level up. There was an equation for it, but Amahn told her that she wouldn't be teaching her that yet until they got through the basics, which should be easy for Ione since she already knew math, she just had to pretend she didn't and then excel at it so they could move on. She then learned leveling the main class was done for the aim of, ‘evolution’, a process where one’s class goes through a powerful upgrade at a certain level threshold which often increased the benefits from class skills, and that leveling class skills was to improve the power of each skill. Class skills worked similarly to general skills and resistances, in that they were tiered as well, but when going through a class evolution they would go back to tier one, while retaining all the benefits from the previous iteration. Ione was told that it was best to tier up class skills as high as possible before going through a class evolution. Which Ione thought would be common sense, but Amahn indicated that it was not, hence why this lesson existed. It was possible to have a great class, but with accompanying passive or active skills that were weak which resulted in people bottlenecking themselves until they found an item that could help. Ione had more questions, specifically about when evolutions occurred, but Amahn refused to answer, citing that the basics must be met first.

Ione would have rolled her eyes if she didn't fear Amahn’s supposed bad side.

Passive skills did not require mana or stamina to use, and would provide additional class bonuses. Active skills did require stamina or mana to use, and were the main abilities of the class.

Class aptitude skills were skills that would develop from repeated usage of a preferred moveset. Amahn provided a simple example: if a swordsman favored swinging his sword in wide arcs, the system, Mauvah, would automatically generate a skill for that moveset. Whenever the swordsman used that move, it would generate EXP to go towards the skill, which would increase his speed, and finesse for that particular skill only. There was an unlimited amount of class aptitude skills that one could have, and if the swordsman wanted to get rid of them, they could be deleted. Amahn warned that when class aptitude skills are deleted, there is no chance of gaining that skill back. So, unless the swordsman was very confident in the rest of his skills, it was best to keep them until the class went through an evolution.

Ione took that lesson to heart.

It was interesting to note that general skills and resistances had equations as well, but leveling them was more arbitrary as it often depended on the context of when they were used; the how's and the why's. Amahn did point out that the higher tier a skill the harder it was to level. Anything past a Tier 6 general skill or resistance was incredible, but it would take years to progress to the next stages and levels, with 10 being the highest tier. Of course, that would be without rewards from dungeons and quests.

As soon as Ione heard the word, ‘dungeon,’ her mind went haywire. Her questions were shot rapid-fire, but Amahn waved the white-haired girl away, citing that it’s too early to get into that discussion at the moment, and that they were still focusing on classes. Ione was a little miffed, but decided to let it go, knowing that she had plenty of time.

The last thing she had learned that day was that Arcane Skills are skills that people are born with, they’re generally random and cannot be altered, leveled up, or changed in any way. People also can’t acquire them unless they have received a legendary item that grants them a skill. Which, Amahn reiterated about 5 times, was extremely rare.

Overall, it was a great day; nerve wracking at first, but as momentum picked up, Ione soaked in everything she could.

Just before Coranne came to fetch her, Amahn had some parting words, “I enjoyed our session today, Ione. I hope that you continue to have the same attitude towards learning for the future.”

It was the closest Ione had come to receiving a compliment from the unyielding woman.

“Thank you Sister Amahn, I will,” she said in a small voice.

The severe woman nodded, and then left the room, leaving Ione alone.

Amahn confounded her and it immediately made Ione suspicious. She was under the understanding that Amahn would in some way try to punish her, but she did nothing of the sort. She seemed appreciative of Ione’s never ending questions and thirst for knowledge. This surely wasn't what Belan had in mind.

Right?

Ione wasn’t sure. There was the possibility that Belan had the incorrect assumption about Amahn. Which would work in Ione’s favor, so she decided to hold out. She would be a good student and try not to step on Amahn’s toes. It would only be a matter of time before Ione would find out who Amahn really was anyway and then Ione would make her judgment.

Coranne rounded the corner and brightened when she saw Ione sitting at her lonely table.

“Hey! How was your day?”

Ione stood up and smiled, as they walked out into the hallway she responded, “It was…surprisingly good.”

Ione was looking forward to tomorrow.