Mentally selecting the yes button, the small mirror exploded with little blue boxes.

You have gained four levels! You have gained the General Talent, Spear Proficiency! Spear Proficiency has reached level 3! You have gained the General Skill, Observe! Observe has reached level 2! You have forty unspent Virtue points

“Hmm,” I said thoughtfully, gazing down at the prompts. I looked up at Azarus after a moment. “Looks like we found out how many free points I get.”

Azarus grinned at me. “Yeah? Out with it then.”

I grinned back at him. “Looks like ten per level. I got four levels out there, and I have forty now.”

His grin shifted to a scowl. “Ten bleeding points? Talk about bloody unfair.”

“Are you quite sure about the amount, Nathan?” Grey sputtered.

I raised an eyebrow at him from my position on the floor. “Yeah? I mean, I’m just telling you what my Status says. What’s the big deal?” Azarus was looking at Grey curiously, too, I could see.

Grey pinched the bridge of his nose. “What’s the big deal, he says.” He muttered to himself. “Nathan, that is an absolutely unprecedented number of free points to gain for every level. Nobody gains that many points.”

“Nobody, huh,” I said, curious. “Azarus already told me that Humans and Dwarves get six. Who else is there?”

Grey took a deep breath. “In truth, there are many races known to us. However, there are only six races of any relevance to us, with the collapse of the interplanetary network. Obviously, there are the Humans and the Dwarves. I believe that I have also mentioned the Orcs, as well?” At my nod, he continued. “They receive the highest number of free points of the known races, at eight per level. The other three races that we have knowledge of since the advent of the System, are the Gnolls, the Goblins, and the Antium.”

He paused for a moment, looking around the forge. He grimaced.

“Ah, perhaps first a change of scenery is in order. No offense to your lovely forge, Azarus.” Grey said to Azarus delicately. “But it is not exactly a place of relaxed conversation.”

Azarus snorted, hopping down off of his anvil. “It’s not meant to be. Go on, git. We’ll be along in a bit.”

Grey raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before nodding at both him and I. Placing his hands on the wheels of his chair, he began wheeling out of the forge back to the house. I watched him go for a moment before turning back to face Azarus. While I had been watching Grey, Azarus had moved to stand in front of me. His right hand was outstretched in front of him in my direction. Taking it, I used it to lever myself to my feet with a grunt. From the effort I’d needed to even do that, I must have been more tired than I thought.

“Thanks,” I muttered to him. I started to turn around before Azarus cleared his throat. Looking back over at him, I raised my eyebrows in question. I could see that he had an awkward look on his face.

Azarus brought his fist up and coughed into it before speaking. “We good?” He asked gruffly.

Ah.

I turned back around fully and stared at him for a moment. I sighed. “Yeah,” I said to him tiredly. “Water under the bridge.” At his slightly confused expression, I clarified. “It means we’re good.”

His expression clearing up, Azarus nodded at me. “C’mon.” He said, moving towards the entrance to the forge. “Got more to talk about. Still gotta make dinner too. Might as well make those steaks Van gave us, yeah? Celebrate your first few levels.”

I felt my spirits lift somewhat. God, some steaks sounded great.

I followed him.

……………………………………..

Once we got back into the house, Azarus stuck to his words. We made the steaks for dinner, frying them up in a cast iron pan over his oven. One thing that stuck out to me while he was cooking that I found neat was that he never took his hand off of the panhandle while cooking, even though it must have been ripping hot. When I asked him about it, he laughed and told me that heat this low wasn’t able to affect him after learning the general skill Fire Resistance from his time in the forge.

The steaks were great. Azarus had seasoned them with a local blend of herbs and spices that reminded me of Montreal steak seasoning, somehow. Except spicier, with a slightly sweet taste to it as well. Honestly, it was better than it sounds.

By the time he had finished, the sun had fully set outside, and some lanterns strategically placed around the room came alight. We ate our dinner in peaceful quiet, lit by firelight.

Leaning back into his wheelchair with a sigh, Grey patted his stomach. “Excellent job, Azarus. You may be a poor cook with anything else, but you certainly know your meats.” He finished with a playful smile.

Azarus smirked back at him. “I know what I’m good at, old man. That’s why I let you handle the other stuff.”

I had laid my head down on my arms after finishing my steak, feeling drowsy. I sighed contentedly into my arms. Hearing someone clear their voice, I lifted my head. Grey was staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I stared back at him blankly for a moment before I remembered that we were going to resume our conversation after dinner. Flushing slightly, I straightened back up in my chair.

“Where were we? Ah, don’t tell me. The other races, yes?” Grey said thoughtfully. At my nod, he continued. “Let us start with the Goblins, yes? They’re the only other race that is native to either Vereden or Indiqua. Truthfully, not much is known about them, as they’re very insular. But relevant to our conversation, it is known that they receive five points per level, from past investigations into the subject. The other two races, the Gnolls, and the Antium, are both known to receive seven points per level.” He heaved a sigh. “At the very least, those poor people’s deserve that much.”

I laid my chin in my hand with my elbow on the table. “What’s their deal then?”

Grey grimaced slightly. “Ah, well. Both races are essentially refugees upon Vereden and Indiqua. The Gnolls upon Vereden, and the Antium upon Indiqua. They’re non-native, you see. After the collapse of the interplanetary network, there was a sizable enough population remaining on each planet that they were able to establish a healthy enough population, if not small ones. History tells us that there were some very unfortunate members of other races that did not have that luxury.”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

I made an interested noise. “How did that happen? That there was enough for the Gnolls and the Antium to breed true if they’re non-native?”

“In the case of the Gnolls, nobody knows,” Grey answered me. “Not even the Gnolls themselves are aware. The answer has been lost to history, unfortunately. As it is, they’re very careful with their marriage and breeding rights to this day in order to maintain a stable population. This is made somewhat difficult by the fact they’re nomadic, by nature. Their clans roam the continent, caring little for borders. They own no property nor land. In fact, they disdain the ownership of land in general.”

Azarus cleared his throat. Grey paused, realizing that he had slipped into his ‘enthusiastic teacher’ voice, as I’d taken to referring to it mentally.

“On the other hand,” Grey continued, switching tracks. “We know well why the Antium were upon Indiqua at the time of the collapse. During the war, the Antium were servants of the Chaos Gods. The Queen of the Antium people at the time had sent one of her daughters to launch an offensive from their home planet. However, upon the collapse and the initialization of the System, it is said that the Antium survivors, including the Princess that was sent to lead the campaign, were freed from the control of the Dark Ones. At the urging of their Princess, they surrendered. Afterward, they settled within the jungles of Indiqua.”

“Huh.” I said. “You know, I never asked. Judging from their name, I’m guessing the Antium are pretty much Ant people. What about the Gnolls, though? What are they?”

Azarus spoke up. “Eh, imagine a really fuzzy hume with the head of a fox. That’s pretty much a Gnoll.”

Grey closed his eyes briefly in frustration. He let out a breath. “Azarus is…somewhat correct. The Gnolls are a bestial race, vaguely reminiscent of various breeds of fox. It is my understanding that the survivors upon Vereden are merely a subset of their people. Supposedly, there are other breeds of Gnoll upon their home planet that are evocative of other animals. However, that is not our focus here. I was merely introducing you to the other races you may expect upon Vereden.”

“Point of all this jawing was,” Azarus butted in. “Is that you’ve got a downright unfair number of free points.”

I looked between the two of them for a second. “I’m guessing that’s good? I mean, since I get so many points per level, am I just going to get stronger than other people as time goes on?”

Grey smiled at me kindly. “Ah, somewhat. While it is true that having so many points is a boon, you will only truly notice the difference in comparison to others at lower levels. Once you begin to reach past the breakpoints, Virtues are considered more of a…foundation, so to speak. The pillars upon which you’ve built.”

"Low levels, he says," Azarus muttered into his mug. "You mean the levels most people reach."

I leaned back in my chair a little. “So, is that why I didn’t get really tired earlier? I mean, I haven’t exactly made a habit of tromping through the woods like that.”

Azarus sat his drink down and snorted, waving his hand dismissively. “You’ve got ten in everything. A little trek like that ain’t gonna stress ya.”

I nodded at him. “Point taken.”

Grey cleared his throat. “Getting back to the important matter of Nathan’s points, he now needs to decide how to allocate them. Which means he needs to choose his Path.” Catching my eyes with his own, Grey spoke in a serious tone. “This is exceedingly important, Nathan. We’ve told you before about Magi and Cultivators, and the time has come for you to decide which you wish to become. You must make a decision before you begin allocating points to your Virtues, as they heavily influence what you are capable of as either.”

I straightened up in my chair. “Okay then. What’s the actual difference? And not,” I interrupted Azarus before he could open his mouth. “Just the fact that one is more likely to hit people than the other.”

Azarus smirked.

Grey laughed slightly. “Very well. There are essentially three main differences between Magi and Cultivators. One practical, one methodology-wise, and one that is more…philosophical. The first, practical difference, is that yes, Magi tend to receive skills and talents that are more likely to lend themselves well to ranged combat, while Cultivators are more likely to receive abilities more suited to melee. This isn’t an ironclad rule, as either can drive their advancement in any direction they wish. The second, practical difference is that in general, Magi generally take more talents than activated skills with their level ups, as compared to Cultivators, who take more skills.”

“Why is that?” I asked curiously.

“Because of the disciplines themselves,” Grey answered me. “What you actually learn to be considered either a Magi or a Cultivator. You see, there is more to being either than simply making a choice and investing in the correct Virtues. There exist entire fields of study that are generally referred to as Magecraft for the Magi, and Arts for the Cultivators. This is one of the, frankly bizarre, blind spots of the System. You see, the System does not track either of them. They are influenced by it, yes, but only because you as an individual are.”

Grey paused for a moment to take a drink from the glass that he’d had with his dinner.

“So, Cultivators like myself.” Azarus picked up while Grey was drinking. “Learn Arts from the four Schools. Sealing, Flow, Purification, and Might. Anything else we need; we get from skills.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Doesn’t seem like a bunch to pick from.”

Azarus shrugged. “Eh, they’re broader than you’d think.”

Grey had finished his glass while we were talking. “And in general, Cultivators can receive some truly unique skills from the System. On the other hand, Magi like myself choose talents over skills more often than not, when offered by the System. This is because Magecraft is a far more expansive discipline than Arts. There are many schools of Magecraft, and sometimes it seems like more are being pioneered every day. But currently, there exist thirteen recognized schools of Magecraft. These are,” He cleared his throat. “Evocation, Mind, Thaumaturgy, Spatial, Abjuration, Divination, Illusion, Shapeshifting, Animation, Healing, Ritual, Chronomancy, and least of all Necromancy.” He finished with a distasteful look on his face.

“That’s a lot,” I said, nonplussed.

“Oh indeed.” Grey nodded. “The field is very broad. You can see why most Magi focus upon talents that can passively empower them, over taking a skill. Most likely, you would be able to find an equivalent within one of the Schools of Magecraft.” When he finished speaking, Grey leaned back in his chair and settled his hands in his lap. He had a far-off, thoughtful look in his eye.

We sat in silence for a moment while Grey gathered his thoughts.

“The final difference between Magi and Cultivators is, as I said, somewhat…philosophical.” He said starting slowly. “It has been said in the past that the true goal of advancement upon your chosen Path is the search for…truth.”

“Truth?” I asked incredulously.

“Indeed,” Grey answered, still not looking at me. “Truth. For Cultivators, this is a search for inner truth. What drives you? What do you value? Who do you ultimately wish to become? What are you willing to sacrifice, in your search for power? These are merely some of the questions that a Cultivator must confront.”

I was silent. I didn’t know the answer to any of those questions concretely. Thinking about them made me uncomfortable, to be honest. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, on this magic alien planet. I didn’t know what drove me. I didn’t know what I even wanted these days, other than to survive another day. Grey and Azarus had talked before about wanting to be free, either from slavery or from their family. Being free sounded great, but I had no idea what I would even do with that freedom. I chanced a look over at Azarus only to see him with an unusually solemn look on his face. I looked away before he could catch me staring. I forcefully put it out of my head when Grey started talking again.

“On the other hand,” Grey said with more enthusiasm in his tone. “Magecraft is the search for external truth. It is the joy of discovery. Of adventure into the unknown! Magi chart their own course through life with a hunger for knowledge, and a deep desire to uncover the secrets of both the universe and the System itself. Well, they’re supposed to at least.” He finished wryly

I perked up at that. That sure as hell didn’t sound as heavy to me.

Grey smiled at the sight of me paying more attention. Azarus rolled his eyes, dropping the intense look on his face.

“And now I ask you, Nathan. Which Path are you more interested in pursuing? Be aware, you must commit to one of them fully. You cannot be both in this world.” Grey said expectantly.

I opened my mouth to answer him.