Ray was awoken an hour and a half later as the door to his room burst in.

“You're awake!” Erith’s voice rang out through the room as she dashed toward his bedside.

“And you're alive!.” He responded, overwhelming joy filling his heart. It was one thing to hear that his friend had survived, but seeing it with his own eyes brought a fresh wave of relief with it.

“What, you thought that minor flesh wound could do me in?” She said with a large grin.

“Flesh wound? Seeing how much you were bleeding, I thought that man had pierced your heart.”

“Well, that is because he did. But Lady Zenith saved me in time.”

“What!” Ray shouted.

She dismissively wove her hand before taking on a serious expression. “I heard you ended up pushing too hard and injuring yourself after I fell. Even when I am trying to save you, I just end up being a burden.”

“Erith, say something like that again and I will punch you.”

“But it’s true- Ow!”

Ray slugged her in the arm and instantly regretted the action, groaning in pain as his body flared with a sharp pain at the sudden movement.

That's what you get.” Erith giggled, her mood seeming to have improved again.

The pair chatted for a while longer with Erith telling him about the training she was doing with Zenith’s daughter, who was apparently a swordswoman on the verge of reaching the first level of ascension. After about 3 minutes, Zenith entered the room.

“I hope that you two have had a good chat, but it is time for Ray’s next treatment.”

She said. Ray grimaced at the words. He was enjoying his conversation with Erith, but his displeasure soon faded when the pleasant sensation washed over his body. When she was finished, Zenith bid the pair ado and left the room. Erith and Ray talked for a while longer before she left as well. Ray sighed as she left. It had barely been half a day since he had awoken and he was already getting restless. He wanted to test his new upgrade skill and bio-synthesis panel as soon as possible, hoping he could make a new arm.

The next few days continued with much the same schedule. Zenith would come in every two hours and administer his treatment and later in the day, Erith would join him and chat for a while. Finally, on the third day since he had awoken, Ray was as fully healed as he would get.

“Your pathways are back in working condition,” Zenith said while looking him over. “But there are still signs of the damage and if you overload them like that again, I won't be able to put you back together.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Thank you. I will make sure that I don’t let that happen again.” Ray said with a bow.

“Good. Now, child, I promised you tutelage. Hmm,” she said, rubbing her chin. “I think Freia would be a good fit with you both being artisan types. Follow me.”

Ray followed her out of the room and through the long passages of the castle until they finally arrived at an underground workshop. A multitude of parts and contraptions were scattered throughout the large square room. Multiple work tables looked like they had been stuffed with items until no more could fit and exploded onto the floor. A loud ringing noise came from a slightly ajar door in the back of the room.

“Freia, I need to speak with you when you have a moment,” Zenith called out over the noise.

“One second Ma, just finishin' up this last part and I will be right out,” Freia responded. “Just about and there.”

The ringing stopped, and a muscular woman left the back room. She wore a plain shirt and pants, with a leather apron tied around her waist. A scarlet bandana held her black hair back. What surprised Ray the most was that, unlike Zenith, she did not have a humanoid head and face instead having one much closer to a large salamander. She was carrying a metal disk that was still glowing in her bare, scale-covered hands.

“I see you brought some company with ya.”

She said, nodding at Ray and clearing a space for the glowing disk on one of the cluttered tables.

“Indeed. This is Ray. I request you provide him with instruction on artisan paths and classes.”

Zenith said.

“Sure thing, Ma,” she said, setting the disk down and turning to Ray. She looked him up and down a few times before her eyes lit up and she spoke again.

“A bio-artisan huh, haven't seen that one before.”

“I recently got it after absorbing the spark of a flesh artificer,” Ray responded.

“Makes sense. I'm more surprised about the fact that you're not specialized yet. Normally a class upgrade for beginner artisan should turn you on to a specific path like weapon smith or carpenter or somethin’ else like that. But you got a specialized version of the base class.”

“Is it really that strange?” Ray asked

“Yes, in my life, so I have met over 100 artisan types, but you're the first I've seen to have that little quark.” She responded.

“Well, seeing that you two have hit it off, I will take my leave,” Zenith said, giving a slight bow and leaving the room.

“See you later Ma!” Freia yelled after her before refocusing on Ray. “Well, shall we get started? With you still having a jack-of-all-trades class, I can run you through the different options so that you can find what you want to specialize in. Let me just grab my notebook.” She said, looking around the room before sighing and walking over to the mess of parts on the floor.

“What are you specialized in?” Ray asked, while Freia dug through the large pile of junk.

“I know I left that thing somewhere around here,” she muttered to herself before responding. “Oh, I'm what is called a blacksmith tinkerer. It's kind of like a combo class in between an artificer and a blacksmith. Aha, there it is!” She yelled in triumph, pulling a large leather-bound book from the pile.

“Now we can get started for real.” She said, undoing the clasp on the front and opening the book.