I got up from my desk and marveled at just how light I felt. As I made my way to the door Mr. Beckmen said “ Mr. Hernsmith, where do you think you are going?”

I replied “to see what observations I can make of the glowing non-Euclidean vortex forming on the soccer field, for science.” he replied with a surprisingly chipper “That sounds like a grand idea, let's all go!”

As the class, some still in a mild daze acclimating to the oddness of the day, trudged along I decided to use the walk to see what social media had to say about the system. The top result was a number of famous streamers, models, and influencers who had taken the Socialite Profession announcing levels in the mid 50s. Yeah, the internet unbalanced the system, just great. That won’t have any lasting negative impacts. As we made our way, I realized I was flawlessly tracking where I was walking while absorbing information faster than I should be able to read it. I guess part of increased intelligence comes with the ability to multithread my trains of thought, that's going to be handy.

A jovial giant of a teenager looking every bit the 6’4 linebacker he was called out” John, wait up” My best friend Marc is many things, subtle and quiet he is not. He called out as he approached “ What profession did you take?”

I kept one eye on the rift like whirlpool and answered “Wizard, what else would I take?” He chuckled, “ well, I figured but I didn't have that as an option. I picked warrior myself.” I looked at him seriously, “what are your primary and secondary attributes?” he gave his normal reckless grin. “I got strength and agility as my primaries and endurance and aura as my secondaries. What about you?” he asked as he fell into the group.

I answered, “I have intelligence and willpower as my primaries and endurance and perception as my secondaries.” He gave a short belly laugh “I'm just glad you didn't make the same mistake you do in souls game and dumped your endurance.” I chuckled then let myself get serious. “Do you feel anything off about your attributes? I’ve got this feeling that Max/Min is a really bad idea, but I don’t know why.” He shrugs and replies “Well, it would make sense for them to feed off of each other, no will and too much perception and you are a little ball of pain, too much strength and not enough agility and you can't bend your joints. At least that's the feeling I'm getting.” I’m always surprised when I remember just how perceptive Marc is. I look at the whirlpool of mana motes before us and start to say “so what do you think…” as a new page appears before me

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“

Hello again,

This is a rank 1 mana well. Mana wells represent the ultimate in risk reward ratios for the budding mage. Inside the well there is a high density of mana as well as manifestations of the same. Be warned, manifestations are influenced by the perception of the local sapient population and not manifestations are benign. Those that take the form of creatures will kill you for their mana. In addition as the well dries out those same creatures will be forced into the world at large. They will eventually perish due to the lower mana density and will therefore wait until the well is almost dispersed. They will attack any being with mana to try and survive. Best of luck and know this is why the system exists, to prepare humanity for the threats it now faces.

-Archimage Gussipi Malcova

“

I stared at the message for a solid 30 seconds after I was done reading it. Then I looked over at Marc and saw the same worried look mirrored on his face. We both realize what this means, why there are combat oriented professions, why the study of magic is important. Because eventually the maps are going to read “there be monsters” again. He looked at me and said “well well well, what's with all the holes in the ground? '' I gave him a dead stare for a moment wondering how he could possibly have used that pun just then, then I let out a groan to let him know it was a good one. I pulled my phone back out and started recording. “This is a mana well, as denoted by the system when first coming into proximity. I will now read the contents of the system message” I read out the message and a few more observations before looking at Marc. “Are you thinking what I am?" he asks. I replied “ Yep, let's dive in.” and I took the plunge into the whirlpool.