The room was dark when he opened it, and the fear in Jeb’s heart grew.

Suddenly, the room filled with light.

“Surprise Jeb!” his extended family cried out. They immediately began speaking over each other to try to find out what class he had gotten.

“Did the Unnamed glow?” his uncle asked.

“Well yes, but-” Jeb was interrupted by cheers from the rest of the family.

“Did you get an Animal Handling Class?” his aunt asked, only to immediately be shushed by the rest of the family.

“Don’t just ask what he got!” another aunt cried, “half the fun of finding it out is the guessing game.”

“Did you see fields of grain growing?” his grandfather asked.

“I did, but-” this time his family at least let him get to the modifier before they started speaking again.

“But you saw an animal consuming it!” his uncle cried.

“Well, um, I guess,” Jeb wasn’t sure how to answer the question.

“Did you get Sty Cleaner? That’s a very normal class on the Animal Husbandry track,” his sister said, trying to figure out why he was so uncomfortable.

“No, not that,” Jeb was starting to shut down from all of the chaos his family’s conversation was bringing. Thankfully, his grandfather noticed, and he shut down the conversation.

“Now, now, this game is only fun as long as our newly Classed is enjoying it. Jeb clearly isn’t so let’s all settle down.” The room fell silent almost immediately. High energy as the room was, Jeb’s grandfather was right, and they all knew it.

Jeb took a moment to collect himself before answering. “I didn’t get a Farming Class,” Jeb admitted. His voice caught, and he wasn’t sure what else to say.

It was much worse than he had thought it would be. Not only was everyone there so excited for his Class, but the entire family was there. Even his Aunt Zephra was back, and Jeb hadn’t seen her since-

Oh, since his sister got her Class. He really should have connected that.

Still, the looks of horror on his family’s face confirmed what he knew. They were going to reject him.

“Well don’t hold us in suspense,” his father prodded, “what Class did you get?”

“I’m a Least Mud Initiate.”

“That sure sounds like a Farming Class,” his father responded. “After all, a lot of Farming takes place in the mud.”

“It’s a Magical Class,” Jeb said.

“Well, that’s no reason not to celebrate!” his grandfather said. “We may not be as useful for planning your Progression, but I’m sure we can still help. Do you know what you want to do with the Class?”

Before Jeb had a chance to answer, his sister cut in, “Are you planning on going to the Capital to be trained in Magic?”

“No, I was hoping that I could become a Farming Mage. The Librarian said he couldn’t find any records of it, but I was hoping that I might be able to develop my Class somehow.”

“That’s a perfectly fine goal,” his grandfather said, “but are you sure? The life of a Mage is a much easier one than a Farmer. Also, from what little I know, you will need to go to the University at some point, if only to register. Until then, though, we’ll happily help you develop your Class. Now then, did you get any Quests?”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“I got a Minor Questline for my Class, and I um,” Jeb was about to say that he had gotten a Major Quest, but remembered what the Librarian said. Then again, if he couldn’t trust his family, who could he trust?

His family waited for him to recover, letting him take his time speaking, “I also got a Major Quest, to ‘Kill the Dragon of the West.”’

“Well that hardly feels like the sort of Quest you should be assigning to a First Tier Mage,” his mother replied. “Maybe when you’re a few Tiers higher, but certainly not now.”

“Wait, what happened with your vision? Did the Paragons show you the wheat and tell you to become a Farmer Mage?” his uncle asked, clearly not following.

Jeb quickly summarized his Class Ceremony. No one in his family seemed surprised at how dismissive the Paragons were about Farming, which surprised Jeb. Then again, it did explain why they so rarely went to the Temple.

“So what’s your Minor Questline?” his sister asked, drawing a few annoyed looks. “What? We all know that Farming isn’t a glamorous Class to the rest of the Republic.”

“The Quest is called ‘Begin Your Magical Studies,’ and it wants me to learn another Earth and Water Glyph and a Mud Glyph.”

“Well, then,” his grandfather said, “you should be sure to complete that entire Quest before you take your next Level. After all, Level Two is another Tier up, and it’s always best to have a full foundation before you move on.”

“I was reading this book, though,” Jeb said, holding up the Magical Primer, “which says that you should start optimizing your Statistics immediately.”

“That might be the standard advice for Mages,” his grandfather allowed, “but I’ve never known a Farmer to not be offered a Class because their Statistics were too high.”

“That’s not technically true,” one of his uncles said, drawing a few eye rolls and a few confused glances.

“Fair,” his grandfather admitted, “Thomas is technically right. No one has gotten the Weaver Class if their Dexterity is above 30, they always get the Dextrous Weaver Class. Then again, since Dextrous Weaver comes with the same Class-Granted Skills and better Statistics Gains, there’s no reason someone would prefer the Weaver Class, is there?”

“No,” his uncle responded, “I was just making sure we were telling Jeb the full truth. You may not get identical Class offerings, but they won’t be worse for your having better Statistics.”

“Assuming the same is true for Magical Classes,” his mother was quick to point out. “Which I for one would,” she added, seeing the torn look on Jeb’s face.

“The other important thing to note,” his grandfather added, “is that it’s easier to get non-Class Skills the lower Level, and especially Tier you are. If you want to transition into a Farmer Mage, you’ll probably need some Farming related Skills. Do you have ideas for which you’d want now?”

“No,” Jeb replied honestly, “truthfully I’m still kind of reeling from the Class.”

“How about this?” his sister suggested. “You go learn a new Glyph or two, then come down for dinner, since that’s part of your Class Quest. After that, you can brainstorm what your next steps should be.” It was a great piece of advice, and everyone knew it.

Jeb thought about it. Thus far, he’d been operating more or less completely on reaction to everything that was happening. The nights he’d spent studying Glyphs before getting his Class had really helped him feel centered, and he doubted that had changed. Maybe after learning a Glyph or two, he’d feel more in control of his life again.

“I feel bad leaving so soon,” he said, “I know we had a big party the last time someone got their First Class.”

“Your sister is also much more outgoing than you,” his father reminded him, “if you think that taking a few hours to think about your future and learn a Glyph would put you in a better mental space, you should take the time. We’ll still be here,” he looked at Zephra, “well, most of us will at least, and we can help advise you then.”

Jeb walked through the family and up to his room. Once the door was closed, he felt like a puppet that had its strings suddenly cut. He collapsed on the ground. Standing suddenly felt like too much.

A sob tried to make its way out, but he stifled it. He hadn’t expected his family to be so accepting of his Class. That just made him feel worse, though, because of course they would accept him. He was part of the family, after all.

Jeb made up his mind. He would do everything that he could to shift his Class further towards Farming Magic while he was with his family, then go to the University when he had to. Surely they would have better advice for Magical Classes. Still, that started now, with completing his Class Quest.

Jeb opened the Earth Primer. It was easier for me to learn the Earth Glyph, he reasoned. The first Glyph it recommended was the one he already knew, Least Shape Earth. He quickly paged through the chapter, since he knew the Glyph. Still, he made a note to read it more thoroughly in the future, in case he’d missed something important.

The next chapter wasn’t Least Create Earth, or Least Summon Earth. Instead, the heading read “Least Shape Earth - Efficient”. That implied that his current Least Shape Earth was inefficient, which seemed like a bad idea.

Skipping over the text, Jeb decided that he would start learning the Glyph right away. After all, he’d learned two Glyphs without a Skill for it. Surely learning one, and a modified version of one he already knew no less, would be easier now.