"I see you've chosen your classes," Breknir said. "Right in time too, Alea will be here around mid-day to give you details about your trial."

He had brought us to his office as soon as we had arrived in the morning. After picking our classes Vel and I had spent some more time walking around the village and relaxing, making the most of our free day. I had suggested trying out spells but Vel had shut it down, free day was free of any working or studying.

"Finally," Vel said.

"In the meantime, I have some things for you." He pulled several small notebooks from the shelves behind him. "It is a bit unusual but again, you two seem to have a knack for the unusual," he said with a smile.

"Velatha, you have chosen the path many of my predecessors did, plant mages make for the best herbalists and healers I have seen and I am certain you will follow in their footsteps." He handed her two of the notebooks. "I have compiled the knowledge previous plant mages of the village have left. The first volume contains general knowledge about the class, the skills, and its evolutions. The second 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. I am not surprised in the least you chose two classes to start with when given the opportunity, neither that you chose the path of the Druid when offered." My pile contained four volumes.

"The first two are similar to what Velatha received, knowledge about the class, skills and a book of spells. 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 you will make good use of it."

"The last is one of the few volumes I could find on arcane magic. Your Magus class is one I have never encountered before and 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."

"Thank you teacher, I will make you proud," I said with resolve.

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The morning was almost unbearably slow. I split my time between reading the notebooks I had received and brewing more potions. The slow and methodical process of alchemy helped calm my nerves. I set aside a part of each batch I was brewing for Vel and I, to take with us during the trial. The highest quality anti-poison I could produce; concentrated recovery potions for health, stamina, and mana; a disinfectant cream; and some broad spectrum antibiotics.

I managed to fit everything into two large potion cases.

"I wish all my scouts were as obsessed with preparation as you were."

I jumped in fright when I heard Alea speak from right behind me. I had a death grip on the work bench which groaned in protest. My heart was thumping loudly in my ears.

"Wow," she said, "didn't expect such a reaction."

"Sorry," I took a few breaths to calm down, "I was … focused."

"I saw that," she said with a chuckle.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I guess you're here about the trial?"

"I am, let's go fetch your girlfriend and I can tall you everything."

"She's in the gardens," I said.

Before leaving, I latched the two potion cases and placed them on a shelf. Alea followed me to the gardens where we found Vel. She was sitting in the middle of a ring of plants, a greenish aura seemed to emanate from around her. I watched as several of the small cuttings started to grow and take root, going from a simple stick planted in the ground to a small sapling.

"Plant mages," Alea said, "always fascinating to see them work."

I hummed in ascent.

"Lis, Alea," Vel waved at me. I waved back.

She gave me a peck on the cheek as she walked to wash her dirt stained hands.

"You have our trial mission?" She asked the scout.

"I have the details in my office," Alea said.

"Let's go then," Vel grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me away. I saw Alea stifle a chuckle behind us.

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Alea handed us a packet with our mission on it. I leafed through it quickly. It was an exploration and retrieval job, we would need to explore some nearby ruins and bring back an item. I was a bit surprised, I had expected a gathering missions.

"From your looks of surprise, I guess you were expecting something else?"

"A gathering mission," Vel said.

"It was one of the options discussed," Alea said, "however we felt like it would play too much to your respective strengths. A trial is also a test of improvisation, how you overcome the unknown."

"Makes sense," I said.

"The mission should take around six days. The ruins are two days away and the item is located deep within the structure. You shouldn't have too much trouble with the local fauna if you are careful. You have until tomorrow midday to prepare yourselves. I've already had two sets of standard scout equipment put aside for you to change how you see fit."

"Good luck, and may Gaia watch over you," she finished.

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We went to the village storeroom where Renyn, the quartermaster, was waiting for us.

"Let's go see what she prepared for us," Vel said.

"Ah, our two lovebirds, inseparable as always," Renyn said with a big smile. "Come in, I've prepared everything." She waved us in.

I followed, my face slightly red. Vel, for her part, giggled. Some days, it seemed like half the village had known Vel and I were an item before we even got together. Maybe we had been that obvious, and oblivious.

The interior of the storeroom was packed from floor to ceiling with shelves filled with everything from bolts of cloth to armor pieces. Crates of various sizes were stacked against the walls. I spotted a table near the entrance with two well organized piles of equipment.

"Standard scout gear," Renyn said, "a full set of light armor with silk padding, a backpack, a portable shelter, several water skins, fire stones, a collapsible shovel and axe. That should be everything since you both already have weapons and a proper belt. And I think you know better than me where to get potions. Try to bring everything back in one piece."

I ran my hand against the armor. It had a few superficial scratches and some signs of repair, despite this it looked in good condition.

"Thank you Renyn," I said, "I'll take good care of it."

"Hmmmm, I bet you look great in armor," Vel said from behind me. I playfully chased her away.

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Though Vel was right, I did look good in scout gear. I flexed all my joints to test the movement and it almost felt like I was not wearing any armor.

The armor itself was composed of a long dark green hooded coat that went down to my knees. Below, I had a plain dark brown shirt with a leather breastplate on top and pants which attached to knee-high leather boots with guards. Finally, reinforced arm guards completed the outfit.

I had attached my belt with its pouches on top of the coat for ease of access. My quiver had to share space with the backpack but the arrangement was surprisingly unobtrusive, likely by design.

"You look good in armor too," I said to my girlfriend.

Her curves were hidden below the armor but it seemed to enhance her charm. She sashayed towards me and I pulled her closer into a long passionate kiss. I always had a thing for women in uniform.

"We'll have to be careful not to get distracted, out there in the jungle," she said, "surrounded by monsters."

"That's going to be the real trial," I said with a smirk.

We had collected everything we had thought of for the trial, potion cases were stocked, weapons were ready, arrows were replenished. We were planning to get more familiar with out respective classes during the morning before the trial began. We both still had to pick a perk and eventually spend our skill points.