Staring down at the metal Rune pad next to the table, I grumbled in frustration at another failure. It was the final day of the week Osiph had given me to get the basics down for the two magical crafting paths, and I hadn't been able to craft an item yet.

I looked around the room, my gaze falling on an unassuming spot on the aged stone. I unfocused my eyes on that spot, letting my mind wander, trying to relieve some of the bitterness from failing once again.

The simplest Rune was a Fire Affinity Rune that looked like a ribbon encircling an isosceles triangle. I had placed an unenchanted silver ring in the tablet's spatial drawer, while I guided Mana from Fire Affinity crystals through the table into the tablet, where I was using an engraving rod to etch it into the metal band.

Loading another crystal on the table I cleared the tablet and started again. I went through another few tries with the same result before I set down the rod and sat on the bench pressed against the back of my chair.

"I don't get it." I sighed. "I can see it in my mind, and I know the steps, so why isn't it working?"

Mel appeared next to me and leaned up against my shoulder, though I couldn't feel her. "Don't stress about it. You are already making good progress and you will already be considered a genius of your generation, even if you went as you were now. It has been two weeks since you received your Grimoire and already you’re halfway through the Beginner tier, and by the time you actually start you'll be considered a prodigy."

"I'm higher level than those of my age, sure, I just feel like the Alchemy came so easy. I was hoping to get a Rune done by the end of the week, so I could focus more on combat."

"The old man didn't assign any goals, just that you use the time to get a good grasp of the concepts, which you have. You have plenty of time before your entrance exam to make further progress. There are still eleven weeks, plus your meditation time. If you meditate at least three times every day once at the end of each crafting session, and another at the end of combat, even if you stay at your current level, that's over three and a half years just in the Library. But once you start fighting and gaining levels faster you'll be Novice by the end of the second week of fighting I'm sure. Normally that would take months of constant combat with foes of a similar level, with your Stats being abnormally high, and being able to fight enemies twice your level, the experience bonuses should propel you through Beginner tier. Meaning the final nine weeks will bring the time dilation closer to six years inside."

Something in my head clicked as I understood what she was saying. "And I'll have access to the labs in the Library for all that time."

"Exactly. I think if you really want to get to Journeyman before the exam, you should spend your assigned crafting time in the Library instead, reentering whenever your Meditation comes off cooldown. Right now it's a little under an hour, and it should reduce further at Novice. With the two rest breaks after crafting, that's fourteen hours per day. At a conservative estimate, that would equate to seven sessions in the Library, or two and a half months of time in the lab per day out here. With ten hours for dungeon combat to grind levels and get me loot."

I smiled at her. "Don't you worry, we'll get you all the loot."

Looking back at the Enchanter's table I sighed. I saw no point in wallowing so I stood up and got back to it.

Another two weeks in the Library, one successful Alchemy session, and another Enchanting failure had passed bringing a close to my first week of training at the estate. It was during one of my outings to the dining hall that Mel informed me of Osiph's arrival.

"The old man is coming."

Looking back towards the door, I waited. After a full minute, I felt Mel's confusion and was about to ask if she was sure before I looked away from the door and noticed Osiph had taken up a position in the chair beside me.

"Gods!" I said, nearly shooting out of my own chair. "Can't you use the door like a normal person?"

Osisph had a contemplative expression on his face as he tapped a finger to his black metallic chin. "You sensed me coming?"

"Mel can sense when her father gets close, so yeah," I said, dropping back into my chair, trying to get my heart rate back down.

"Truly?" His eyes widened fractionally. "That is unusual, perhaps it was due to her lengthy stay in my Library. I will have to study that further, once you can allow others entrance to your Library."

He lifted off a silver cloche from a tray that had not been there a moment ago, before continuing. "No matter. That is not why I am here. I wish to check in on your progress, and see if you are ready to move to the next phase."

I briefly explained my time spent at the estate, not leaving anything out. If I withheld any failures or small details, it could impact future plans he had for my training. With it being much harder to advance after Journeyman, I was going to need every advantage I could get, and trying to hide weaknesses instead of fixing them now could prove disastrous later on.

"Exceptional." He said, smiling after I had caught him up. "I do not see any failures here. When you arrived at the estate, you were essentially a level one newborn pup. Granted, you had above average Stats, but with no education or experience to speak of. It seems you have a modicum of talent when it comes to Alchemy and you have grasped the technical aspect of Enchanting, even if you have not been able to fully understand the core principles. You will not be a master Enchanter or Alchemist overnight. Even by this world's standards, you will need time. Mel is right, spending half your day alternating between crafting in the real world and in your own Lab will shave years off the time it would take you to be considered a quality Craftsman. The extra time in your Library after Novice will be extremely valuable and will put you at the top of any class of your own level. I will again urge caution about standing out. You will be unable to avoid all attention due to your age, but I would like you to keep your strength under wraps until at least Adept, maybe even Expert."

"I'm not big on being the center of attention anyway. Maybe I should have looked for something to age my appearance a bit."

"Not a bad idea, something to consider before you attend Primrose perhaps. How are your supplies looking?" He asked.

"Alchemy ingredients are running lower than I would like for personal practice but I still have most of everything else I came with, and haven’t touched my academy supplies yet."

"If in the next week of dungeon delving, you have not replenished at least half of what you have used up to this point, utilize Lenox to arrange for deliveries to be brought to the estate. Though you should be fine, especially clearing the dungeons with a small team, most of the loot will be generated specifically for you and the few others you bring, including ingredients and upgrades to gear, on the deeper floors."

"I’ll let him know if I need anything." I agreed. I had a lot of questions brewing in my head about so many different topics, but none of them were immediately important, and most I could answer myself with just a little bit of time and thought put into them.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Well, if you are ready to move on, I have returned with a surprise, that should be quite conducive to your inability to train some of your other Abilities that may not be the best to test during active combat, with unknown variables." Putting his food down, he stood, gesturing for me to do the same.

We walked out of the dining hall and through the main house. Heading out a door leading to the back of the property, I saw sixteen people standing next to a raised arena, in rows all shackled at the ankles, wrists, and collared at the neck. They all wore different variations of the same plain brown tunic and pants. Some were human, others dwarfs and elves, and even a Beastfolk in the mix. Both women and men of the various races.

"What's this?" I asked, apprehensive of the answer.

"These are willing test subjects," Osiph said with a grand gesture, waving his arms over the small crowd that starred in his direction.

"They don't look very willing." I pointed out.

"I didn't know your proclivities for slavery so I asked the Duke to borrow some of his prisoners that were marked for public execution. They all have accepted my offer. The ones who didn't were left to their peace."

"And what offer would that be?"

"Their freedom. If they beat you in a one-on-one duel, to death, forfeit, or incapacitation. If it makes you feel any better, some of them are very, very bad men." He said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, shut it," I said, before quickly adding. "Shut it...Sir."

Osiph chuckled. "They are almost all Beginner like you, with a few of them at Novice to give you a chance to experience some class skills in a controlled environment. They will be provided basic gear and weapons of their preferred fighting style, and will probably try and kill you, so do not take this lightly. You have ten hours before you have to go back to crafting."

Lenox came out of the manor and strode up to us carrying a stack of files and two metal tablets like the ones I used at the shop, greeting us with a deep bow. Then placing the files and tablets on a nearby table.

"Simply ask for a certain prisoner to be released and Lenox here will handle the rest. He also had files on each of them if you wish to decide which of your deadlier skills to employ on more deserving targets. Do not be concerned about the safety of the staff, they are under a Soul Oath to not attempt to flee, as well as to not harm anyone here except you. I will be keeping an eye out to make sure you don't die, I would hate to have wasted my time."

"How very endearing," I muttered, watching him walk back to the house instead of teleporting away like usual.

Looking back at the row of prisoners I sighed. This is stupid.

"But a great opportunity within a morally gray area." Mel chimed in, standing next to one of the Dwarf men who was only a hair shorter than herself. "They all volunteered for the chance to be here. You could even use this as an opportunity to do some recruiting. I wouldn't advise any psychopaths or anything but the law isn't infallible and I'm sure there are a few here that might take the chance if offered.

I didn't say I wasn't going to do it. I'll probably end up doing worse in the future, and I won't handicap myself for morality's sake. When it comes to my family, I will do whatever I have to to bring them back, and I don't feel bad about that. Maybe the old me would have but I don't feel anything when I think about what I will have to do, even though I know I should. Does that make me a bad person?

"Probably." she turned to me with a sad smile and kindness in her eyes. "By your own standards at least. But to me, it doesn't mean very much. You are the only person I've ever known, besides the old man. Much less cared about. These might as well be training golems for all I care, but I can see that it still places your mind and heart in a state of turmoil, which is a good sign. Maybe try to find one person to care about and go from there. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and you owe no one anything."

I know I say it a lot, and I hope that doesn't cheapen the meaning behind it, but thank you, Mel.

"I can literally read your mind." She laughed. "I know, and you're not the only one who's thankful for our relationship."

One of the female Beastfolk yelled out to me, interrupting my heart-to-heart with Mel. She appeared to be either a Snakekin or a Lizardkin. She had drab green scales and a snubbed nose, creating a somewhat flat face. "Please there's been a misunderstanding, I'm innocent. Please, you have to believe me, I was just a servant in the Duke's house, I offended the Lord and he had me sentenced to death. You're my only hope to escape his tyranny."

I quickly Identified her.

[Beastfolk (Snakekin)- Level 36 (Beginner)]

"Bah!" One of the Dwarfs scoffed beside her, addressing me. "She's the Snakeskin Witch. I recognize her from the papers. She lured men to their deaths only to wear their faces while she butchered their families. I've never been considered a Saint but compared to her I'd be downright godly."

[Dwarf- Level 62 (Novice)]

I saw a crease of the elven woman's brow for just a second before she returned her expression to one of despair. I turned to Lenox and pointed towards the Dwarf.

"Her first, and the Dwarf second. Normal combat set them up with whatever they need please, Lenox. I'll also take both files."

I saw the Dwarf and Snakekin frown but directed my attention to the two files while Lenox went to retrieve the pair. The Woman's name was Irial Seferna, she was from a clan called the Snakeskin Witches, Shapeshifters by bloodline. She had gone rogue, and if anything, the Dwarf had understated the horror she caused. Setting down her file, I picked up the Dwarf's-: Isamaar Kosiva.

He had been convicted of killing his entire party including his own brother, and never confessed or explained to anyone what really happened. There was a notation that Mind mages had attempted to find out what happened, but there was an empty space in his memories like he had them wiped, to avoid prosecution.

I looked at my Abilities tab before selecting the first one I wanted to try.

Ability: Thief of Time. (Unique)

Compresses the target's perception of time-based on factored mana cost. Base cost and compression start at 100 yrs per second at 100 mana per second. Cost decreases moderately based on Willpower. Causes Mental and Physical aging.

I put on all my gear, as I usually only wore the gauntlets while crafting, and I stepped up to the platform, which was just stone raised five feet off the ground, and a hundred feet across. It looked like a small arena platform they had placed in tournaments during the lower-tiered competitions.

A few minutes later, Lenox escorted the Beastfolk woman, Irial, to join me. She had donned heavy steel plate armor and wielded a halberd with two protruding hooks at the butt end of the shaft. The only part of her I could see of her was her face, which held a scowl now that she knew she wouldn't be able to fool me.

"Please call the match, Lenox."

"As you wish, young Master."

I tensed my leg muscles prepared to dash towards her, before freezing.

I felt a pressure build up in my temples as I sensed a mental attack try and fail to break into the Library, but the Snakekin smirked as her scales began to warp and shift to a crimson red.

Her snout elongated and she grew several feet taller, now several heads taller than myself. Green-tipped spikes erupted down her spine, as a second neck began extending from her shoulders.

Anger flooded me as I felt a heavy door open the smallest amount deep in my Vaults. A single strand of red-orange energy winding out and down the hallway at the speed of thought, it exited the Library and entered my soul space, reaching my Core, the flames of my own hatred fanned, as the start was called.

"Begin," Lenox called.

"I'm gonna-" She began but before she could finish, I was standing in front of her holding the mouth on her fully formed head shut with my hand, activating Thief of Time, staring with as much loathing as I could muster, hoping to get across just how much she should regret taking that disgusting form.

As I watched, her eyes went wide and glazed over into a milky white, staring at my face but no longer seeing. Her scales began to lose color, and her face aged rapidly, before cracking. Not even twenty seconds later I was holding the woman's jawbone, as the empty armor clattered to the ground.

Ding!

Experience earned!

You have increased your level!

Current Level: 29

Stat Points allocated

+12 Free Points

Splitting my Free Points between Dexterity and Perception respectively, I saw Lenox hurrying up the stairs. He moved swiftly, cleaning up the remains and armor before exiting the platform just as quickly. I looked at the Dwarf who was suddenly very eager to be anywhere else other than under my gaze.

Calming myself and shoving back the anger into it's vault with my will, I tried to reassure the man, that I wouldn't let that happen again

"Don't worry, I got what I needed from that, I'm going to be testing a boosting skill with you and some simple combat techniques, no rapid aging I promise." I gave him what I hoped was a friendly smile before realizing I was wearing my gear, so all he could see were my eyes narrowing behind my glasses.

Great!