We reached the village square at the tail end of breakfast. After a quick meal, we joined up with the other apprentices to prepare for the ceremony. It would be held, like all big events, in the plaza under the shade of the Mother Tree.
"Eroan," I greeted the blacksmith apprentice, "doing well?"
"Liscura! Well, Anlyth is working me to the bone every day but I've improved so much."
"Can't wait to get your class?" Vel asked.
"I'm hoping for a runic focused class," he said enthusiastically.
I smiled. Despite his clumsiness, he was a remarkable artisan. I had no doubt he would get either the Runic Blacksmith class or even a secondary class from the start.
"And you?" He asked us. "Druid probably, right?"
"Something like that," I said, "any of the magic classes is fine by me." I had no idea what the Mystic classes that the Blessing of Gaia talked about were, I hoped they were magic focused.
"Plant Druid for me," Vel chimed in.
"Hey!" Vulluin shouted from afar, "Lis, Vel, do you know when Breknir will be here? We need to set up the ritual."
I pulled out my notebook from my small messenger bag. I had copied the ceremonial layout, with Breknir's permission, for this exact reason.
"I have everything we need on me," I answered. "I'll help you."
----------------------------------------
In addition to the Elixir, the ceremony had several components to arrange. It wasn't a true ritual, those were incredibly dangerous, but more of a pseudo-focus. It would help the participants by guiding the magic of the Elixir and preventing anything from interfering.
At the center was a circular black stone altar. It was engraved with imagery of the goddess Gaia and runes, lots of runes. The bowl on top would host a small magical brazier that would serve as a keystone for the other components.
Around the altar, we placed a rink of carpet and cushions to make the participants comfortable. It wasn't unusual to lose consciousness for a few moments after drinking the Elixir. Underneath the carpet, where each participant would sit, were small stone plates with metal runes.
Finally, on the outer ring, we placed several stone obelisks about half my height at regular intervals. They served as the outer boundary, to prevent outside interference. I meticulously checked the orientation of each, a misalignment would introduce flaws in the structure.
I jumped when Breknir spoke from behind me.
"Oh, I see my dutiful apprentices have already started."
"Don't scare me like that!" I swatted at him.
"Do not lose track of your surroundings," he said with a grin.
Breknir triple checked everything and fixed the few mistakes we had made. The ceremony was ready to start.
----------------------------------------
It was time.
The rest of the village had gathered around.
My family, and Vel's, had wished us good luck.
Breknir pulled a series of glass cups and a heavy duty potion flask, filled with a golden orange liquid, from his storage necklace.
"I will pour a dose of Elixir into each of your cups," he said, "do not drink it before I give the signal. My presence in the circle can interfere and I do not want to have an entire cohort of druids, the two I will get are already enough."
All the apprentices chuckled.
The head druid moved around and started to distribute the Elixir. Everyone was visibly nervous. Eroan almost dropped his glass. I left mine on the ground in front of me. I didn't want any accidents.
Once everyone was served, Breknir stepped away.
"Take your cups," he said.
Everyone raised their cups.
"You can drink."
I downed the Elixir in one gulp. The taste was unremarkable and the consistency was only slightly thick.
Nothing happened for a few long seconds.
Then my body felt like it was on fire. I tried to cry in pain but my body was paralyzed by the pain. I felt myself fall and everything went dark.
----------------------------------------
I was in absolute darkness, something I hadn't experienced in my entire life. All of my system granted abilities seemed to be just slightly out of reach.
Under my feet, I could feel the cold stone. I crouched down and tried to feel around for something, anything. After a few seconds of blindly groping around, it happened.
The ground under me lit up.
Lines of runes carved in the floor spread away from me in every direction and revealed the gargantuan room I was in. Massive blocks larger than a house surrounded me, they were covered in millions of runes and hundreds of complex spell arrays. The further the light spread, the more of them were revealed.
In front of me was a way forward. A path flanked by a row of small pedestals on each side. Each of them was capped by a colored orb, like a miniature sun trapped inside a marble, orbited by a dozen or so smaller orbs.
Class Choices?
I hovered my hand above one of them.
Walk the path of the Druid?
I pulled back. It didn't feel quite right. I tried the orb next to it.
Walk the path of the Magus?
Better but still off.
I looked around some more.
At the end of the path was an immense machine, it dwarfed the blocks by at least an order of magnitude. It was a circular pillar adorned with many bulbous protrusions at regular intervals. About half-way from the ceiling sat another sun-marble, this one hundreds of meters in diameter.
The scale of everything was awe inspiring. Even without Mana Perception active, I could feel it in the air from the sheer density. Thousands upon thousands of incredibly complex enchantments were pulsing with powerful magic.
I looked up and saw pillars hanging down from the ceiling. More enchantments.
Is this the system? Or just a vision?
I followed the path and approached the machine. As I got close, I spotted something at its base.
Another pedestal.
This one was topped by two golden marbles that orbited around one another like a binary star system. I felt a warmth emanating from them I hadn't felt from any of the other orbs.
Walk the path of the Mystic?
That was it.
I grabbed both orbs.
Everything went black again.
----------------------------------------
> Primary Class Mystic Knight unlocked
> Primary Class Mystic Witch unlocked
I groaned as I woke up. My head felt like my brain was about to leak out of my ears.
Someone helped me get upright, my vision still blurry from the tears of pain, and pushed a glass of cold water to my lips. I greedily drank from it and my headache started to subside.
"I feel like I was trampled by a King Barroth," I said.
"It can be a side effect of the ritual," Breknir said, right next to me, "Velatha was also affected."
I turned and saw that Aelrie was tending to my girlfriend who was surrounded by her own family. All around the ritual circle, parents were helping their children. It looked like everyone had suffered to some degree. I had attended previous ceremonies and it had looked a lot less painful from the outside.
"Magic users often have it the worst," my grandmother Lora chimed in, "I suspect it's the way magic skills awaken. You'll be fine in a few minutes."
She pushed a strand of hairs away from my face.
I spent a few more minutes on the bed of cushions while my parents and sister fussed over me. It was a bit annoying to be this crowded but I didn't mind. Slowly, the headache faded to nothing and I managed to get up.
"I'm so proud of you," my dad took me in a bear hug.
----------------------------------------
Once everyone was back on their feet, the ritual apparatus was quickly shuffled away back into storage and the tables for lunch set up.
I spent some of that time cuddling with Vel in a quiet place not far away.
"That was scary," she said, "the pain … it was so intense."
"It felt like all of my blood was on fire," I said.
I didn't remember anything after I had lost consciousness. It felt like there was something there but the memories slipped through my grasp like water. Only impressions of golden light remained.
"I'm glad it's only once."
"Yeah, me too."
I kissed the top of her head and Vel started to nibble on my collarbone. It sent shivers down my spine.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"I don't think we should," I breathed out.
"Should what?" She asked.
I sneaked my hand down and grabbed her butt.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you insatiable demon," I whispered into her ear.
Before we could get any further, someone interrupted us.
"Hey, the two lovebirds," my sister called from around the corner, "it's time for lunch."
----------------------------------------
"Have you already checked your classes?" Breknir asked.
He had brought us to his office as soon as we had arrived at the clinic for our afternoon shifts. Aelrie was there as well.
"I was about to," I said. Vel nodded next to me.
I was curious as to what the classes I had received entailed. I had waited to be back to the clinic to be able to ask questions from my teacher and it looked like he had the same idea.
I brought up my status.
Name
Liscura Van-Niu
Ancestry
Dark Elf
Status
Level 21 (Rank 1) | 65 Essence
Health: 690/690 (+93%/h)
Stamina: 910/910 (+125%/h)
Mana: 2640/2640 (+195%/h)
Focus: 0/134
Primary Class 1
Mystic Knight
Skills (3/10)
Magic Combat - Rank 1, Level 1
Magic Strike - Rank 1, Level 1
Mystic Enhancement - Rank 1, Level 1
Primary Class 2
Mystic Witch
Skills (2/10)
Nature Magic - Rank 1, Level 1
Arcane Magic - Rank 1, Level 1
Spells
Nature: 0/3 major, 0/5 minor
Arcane: 0/3 major, 0/5 minor
Secondary Class
[None]
Perks
[Collapsed]
General Skills
[Collapsed]
Languages
[Collapsed]
Resistances
[Collapsed]
Attributes
Strength: 48, Agility: 68, Vitality: 45, Endurance: 57
Intelligence: 84, Wisdom: 73, Spirit: 72, Clarity: 61
Two primary classes? What the hell, is that even possible? Obviously it is but still … what the actual hell? The stat increases are nice though, I might be able to get a higher draw bow soon.
What do they do?
I accessed the system description of the classes.
Mystic Knight
Requirements
[Overridden]
Evolution
Mystic Sentinel
Description
The Mystic Knight is a scholar of both magical lore and martial combat, she melds the two into a unique combat style that incorporates powerful magical attacks in between strikes of her weapon with her enhanced body.
Bonuses
+10 Strength, +10 Agility, +5 Vitality, +5 Endurance
+5 Wisdom, +5 Spirit
Starting Skills
Magic Combat - Rank 1
Magic Strike - Rank 1
Mystic Enhancement - Rank 1
Mystic Witch
Requirements
[Overridden]
Evolution
Mystic Weaver
Description
The Mystic Witch seeks to uncover and understand the many facets of magic, her unique insights allows her to wield many different forms of magic at once and combine them into new forms.
Bonuses
+20 Intelligence, +10 Wisdom, +5 Spirit, +5 Clarity
Starting Skills
Nature Magic - Rank 1
Arcane Magic - Rank 1
Wow, pretty good. I didn't really expect a dedicated combat class but why not.
"Uhh … Vel, you go first," I said, "I have some weirdness on my side."
"Ohhhhh," she said with a grin, "mysterious. I received Druid as my primary class and Plant Shaman for my second."
"No surprise then," I said as I pulled her into a side hug. "I'm glad you got the ones you wanted."
"I'm proud of you Velatha," Aelrie said with a smile, "the two together are a very strong combination."
"What she forgot to say is that she got those exact same classes," Breknir said. "You are in very good hands Velatha. But my apprentice," he continued with a thoughtful look, "what kind of troubles have you gotten yourself into again."
"I'm not that bad," I pouted. Why was my teacher such a troll, an insanely competent troll at that.
"That remains to be seen."
I rolled my eyes.
"I received two primary classes," I said, "Mystic Knight and Mystic Witch and no secondary."
"May I examine your status," Breknir asked.
"You can … how?" I was perplexed, as far as I knew it wasn't possible to read the status of someone else.
"Identify can evolve into a skill that can read statuses," he clarified, "it is not common knowledge as the requirements are very stringent. It also requires consent from the target if they are not a monster."
That was good to know. I would ask what the requirement were later.
[Breknir Van-Niu; Level 434 (Rank 9)] has requested access to your status
I accepted. I felt a strange sensation, like an egg had been cracked on my head. The skill was obviously not stealthy when used, which made a lot of sense. It was the most accepted theory that the status was part of the soul. If the skill accessed the soul of the target in some fashion, it would be impossible not to be detected.
"Fascinating," Breknir said, "never seen anything like it. The two classes are probably a twin pair and I suspect it's an artifact of the Blessing of Gaia, nothing to worry about. And congratulations about that as well, divine blessings are always a boon."
"This will stay between the four of us of course," he added with a smile, "the details of someone's status are their own."
"Thank you teacher," I said.
"Now, I have some things for you." He pulled several books from the shelves behind him. "While Aelrie and I will do our best to teach you, there is much to be learned," he said with a smile, "over time, the village has compiled a large body of knowledge on the many classes we have access to."
"Velatha, you are on the path many of your predecessors tread, plant mages and druids make for the best herbalists and healers I have seen and I am certain you will follow in their footsteps." He handed her three of the books. "The first two volumes contain general knowledge about the Druid and Plant Shaman classes, their skills and evolutions. The last is a compendium of spells. Hopefully they will be of use to you on your journey." She accepted the two volumes with near reverence.
"Liscura," he continued with a smile, "you seem to surprise at every turn. You are the most talented and dedicated apprentice I have seen in many seasons. You are treading new ground, yours will be a journey of discovery." My pile contained four volumes.
"As you have access to nature magic, the first volume is the class guide for Druids like the one Velatha received and the second is the spell book. The third is from my personal collection, useful knowledge I accumulated and discoveries I made during my adventuring days, it contains some of my own spells as well. I hope it will help you as you advance."
"The last is one of the few volumes I have on arcane magic as practitioners of the arcane are rare among the villages. It was gifted to me by an adventurer friend of mine a long time ago. I think it will be more useful in your hands than gathering dust on my shelf."
"Knowledge on magic-martial hybrid classes is fairly scarce. I will obtain a Ranger guide from Alea, it will hopefully contain useful knowledge. The rest, you will have to figure out yourself."
"I will make you proud teacher," I said with resolve.