After the fair ended, Jeb helped clean up with the rest of the youth. When he got home, he saw that the Censusmaster had clearly come through. The storehouses were far emptier, and his family was in a worse mood than before. Still, as they ate dinner, his grandfather asked him about his notes. He went to bed, knowing that he had just a few more days before he was an adult.
The day after the fair was a very normal day. He rose, did his workouts and chores, went to school, then came home to work the earth a little. After dinner, he went to bed. As the evening turned to night, Jeb didn’t find himself getting tired like he’d expected.
After all, this was the last night before he would receive a Class. Like every other child, he was praying to the Paragons for the Class he wanted. While they were asking for a blessing from Silas or Marcus or Paul, Jeb prayed to the Unnamed.
Please make me a Farmer like the rest of my family. If it’s not to much to ask, starting on the Path of Animal Husbandry would be fantastic. I trust you to know where my talents would best serve the Republic, though.
To be safe, Jeb also offered a prayer to the other three Paragons. Oh Silas, Swordmaster and defender of Soldiers, please do not be offended by my disinterest. I know that I do not have the heart to be a reaper of men. Oh Paul, Pontifex and shepherd to the Faithful, please do not be offended by my disinterest. I know that I do not have the zeal to spread your good news. Oh Marcus, Magus and teacher of Students, please do not be offended by my disinterest.
Jeb tried to think of why he would be a bad mage. Unlike with Silas and Paul, Jeb had learned two Glyphs, and found the work somewhat interesting. You call us to the work which makes our minds sing. Working on this farm makes my mind sing.
Jeb still couldn’t sleep, so he decided to look at his Status for what might be the last time before he had a Class. It was too late to shift anything, but since no one was totally sure what you needed for certain Classes, it was probably moot. Sure, you never saw a Solar Initiate with low Intelligence, or a Dueler with low Dexterity, but you often saw Farmers with both, as his family could attest.
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Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: None
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Total Statistic Load: 90
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Physical Load: 54 Strength: 14 Dexterity: 8 Endurance: 14 Vitality: 15 Presence: 3
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Mental Load: 36 Intelligence: 15 Willpower: 14 Magic Affinity: 3 Mana Depth: 1 Charisma: 3
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Mana:100
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Glyph Attunement: 2 Least Conjure Water Least Shape Earth
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Skills: [Locked until Class Selection]
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Achievements: [Locked until Class Selection]
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Quests: Major: [Locked until Class Selection] Minor: [Locked until Class Selection]
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His Strength had started growing more quickly since his puberty started. It was still higher than people expected, at least if the recurring joke in town was anything to go by. ”What’s Jeb short for?” people would ask, and his parents would reply ”hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet.” Jokes aside, most all of the low Tier Farming Classes had Strength as an important attribute. Seeing how high his Strength was made the early morning workouts feel worth it.
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Dexterity was only at an eight, but Jeb had done that somewhat intentionally. After all, there were only so many hours in the day, and none of the First Tier Farmer classes added anything to Dexterity. Most people agreed that the Statistics a Level gave were a good indication of what Statistics you needed for it. Almost every Martial Class had Dexterity gains, so he wanted to avoid it, if only to try to avoid Silas’s gaze. It did mean no juggling for him, sadly, but he planned to learn it, at least as a skill, if not as a Skill once he had a Class. Lots of upper Tier Farming classes had Dexterity gains, so it might be useful eventually.
His Endurance made sense. He’d spent his dawns the past year running, hoping for the small point gains the runs could bring. That was a general benefit of being a farmer, if not a Farmer: the constant work did wonders for Endurance. Between the winter time preparing the earth, planting, growing, and harvesting the crops they grew, there was always more that could be done. Most of the first Tier Farming Classes gave Endurance as well, so it made sense to work for it.
Vitality was just a generally useful Statistic. After all, no one wanted to be sick. Growing up with enough to eat helped, as did puberty in general. Still, Jeb didn’t think that any first Tier Classes gave a gain to Vitality, so it was hopefully safe.
His Presence was low, which also might have explained the jokes. It was annoying having such a low score, but he hoped that it would go up quickly. Then again, his family had reminded him that there weren’t any Farming Classes they knew of that with Presence increases until the Third Tier. That made it hurt slightly less. Jeb still wished he didn’t look so unassuming, though.
Still, even with Dexterity and Presence lagging behind, a 54 was a very respectable Physical Load for an unawakened. He wondered how quickly it would grow after he got his Class, though.
Moving on to his Mental Statistics, Jeb was surprised to see that it was as high as it was. His Intelligence was 15. That was high for someone who wasn’t trying to be a Scribe, let alone someone who was actively opposed to the idea. He hadn’t spent his childhood years locked in a room with dusty scrolls, so he wasn’t sure where he got the Statistic from. At least that wouldn’t be an issue for much longer. Also, it wasn’t like having a high Intelligence was a problem for Farming Classes. Most of the Animal Husbandry lines required it, which could mean that he would get that Class.
He realized where the new point had come from when he moved on to his Willpower. It had grown to fourteen, though he wasn’t sure where that last point had come from. The Spells he had learned probably didn’t hurt that, and the work he did guiding the animals certainly helped. Still, Willpower was a Statistic that seemed to be somewhat common in Farming Classes, so that was nice to have.
His Magic Affinity was three, which while low, was still higher than he wanted. His baseline, like most people’s was only one, but he’d raised it from his Glyph Attunements. He knew that Magic Affinity, like Mana Depth, was only a Class Statistic for Magical Classes, which he really wanted to avoid. Thankfully, his Mana Depth was only one. Well, in terms of future classes, thankfully. In terms of having his Glyphs do anything, it was a curse.
His Charisma was as low as his Presence, which made sense. The two generally scaled together, at least as far as Jeb had been told. As his father always said, though, the earth doesn’t care how sweetly you talk to it, it stays the same. Jeb tried to repeat that to himself so that he didn’t feel bad about the low Statistic.
Finally, he moved down to his Glyphs. If not for the fact that he had a family history of only Farmers, the two Glyphs he had would have been concerning. Still, even despite how low his Mana Depth was, having Conjure Water and Shape Earth did help him become at least a little more productive in the fields.
His Mana was 100, which he had no way of comparing. The conversation had never come up. It was probably normal, though
Seeing his Statistics like that really reminded Jeb that there was nothing more he could do to prepare for his Class. That was freeing, and he found himself drifting off to sleep.