Jayce was ready for the week to end. After turning 16 at the start of the year he was finally old enough to go to an academy and learn to delve. With the testing to see aptitudes and physical standings that will determine what academies you qualify for starting on Eendag, just two days away, it is unbelievable how slow this week is going.
He is laying in his room dreaming about throwing fire and lightning as an S-ranked dungeoneer along with his team when his brother, Mikael, bursts in and starts questioning him,
“What aptitudes do you think you’re gonna get? Man, Air would be so cool! Flying around where no one can touch you, speeding yourself up, creating tornados… or maybe Plasma, imagine having an attack so few can defend against!”
“Relax Mikael, you know I want something that will let me delve. Fire or Lightning would be amazing but anything that gets me in a dungeon” Jayce replies.
No one is sure what affects your aptitudes but the current leading theory is your current skills are compared against what your soul is most suited for and something, Azo knows what, finds an element or two each person is suited for.
As their conversation continues he hears some yelling from downstairs,
“Jayce, come on down and get some last-minute studying in. You know you have to work hard to get anywhere in this country.”
“Coming mom” he yells back while sighing at what he knows is coming.
He makes his way downstairs only to be confronted by his mom already going into another rant,
“How are you going to do anything if you don’t put the work in? You can’t just expect talent to fall into your lap. I’ve done everything in my power to get you the best education and fitness training possible and you just lay around squandering it.”
Jayce tunes her out as she continues and thinks about the “training” he has been given. From the age of five, he has been forced to do eight hours of studying every day followed by being locked outside with an instructor yelling exercises to do at him for another two hours. After that, he had three hours of skill work to learn everything a dungeoneer might need to know as if the academy wouldn’t teach all that. He should count himself thankful he was at least born into a family with the means to give him a head start. Many of the other children in the city were given almost nothing and will have to learn from scratch. Imagine trying to qualify for one of the top academies with almost no training.
Let’s be real, it also provided results. Jayce is 1.86 meters, almost entirely muscle, and could debate many aspiring scholars about the possible paths each element could take. He was trained in hand-to-hand combat, swordplay, and was competent with a bow. He had a shaved head, less for an enemy to grab onto, with brown eyes and a jawline that was starting to get him many looks. He was incredibly over-prepared for the academy and there was no doubt in his mind he would qualify for Resco.
Resco was the premiere academy within the country of Hilzarya and was on par with the best in the known world. Hilzarya is the second most powerful country on the planet of Renthol and only Massa, an academy in Lomba, could prepare you for real life as well.
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His mom finally finishes her tirade and starts to push him into the study. Once he is in she locks the door and leaves him to pursue whatever he feels is most relevant to review. He decides to look over a book about all of the most common elements and daydream about possible paths instead of learning something new this close to the testing. He already knows he wants to be a delver but hey, sometimes it’s nice to think about what else could be.
Fire: One of the most common and yet still most coveted elements, Fire provides paths down many walks of life. From crafting as a blacksmith to delving as a pyro there is guaranteed to be something for everyone.
Common Paths:
* Blacksmith: Fire users make some of the best blacksmiths as they have no need of a forge. Once they have good control of their heat they can do everything needed on just an anvil.
* Guard: very few things scare bandits away as much as a fireball to the face. Beyond that, they can also provide their own light to see past the walls.
* Delver/Explorer: Fire users can put out very consistent single-target damage or widespread AoE. This makes them a very good choice for many parties delving dungeons or exploring the unknown.
Stone: A dwarf’s bread and butter, Stone provides several highly respected options. Highly desirable for civil projects, this element is used to manipulate the very earth we stand on.
Common Paths:
* Architect: high-level Stone users are able to design, build, and modify buildings on the spot which makes them some of the most sought-after architects around.
* Miner: being able to sense stone, and more interestingly to miners, the absence of stone, makes it trivial for Stone users to know where to mine.
* Explorer: while still being solid at delving, Stone users are more likely to go into exploring. They can help travel be faster by managing the path in front, creating shelters at night, and being above-average tanks.
Light: The standard Light variant accounts for 98% of all light users. This element provides utility and power for many modern technologies.
Common Paths:
* Engineer: light is power. Or at least that’s what the engineers want you to think. Light can be used to power almost all of the modern machines so it just makes sense to learn how to build them as well.
* Street Maintainer: while many look down upon this role, it is pivotal to the function of our cities. Keeping street lights running and neighborhoods safe is incredibly pivotal.
* Explorer: standard Light users are pure utility, making them very important for explorer parties but not quite so suited to dungeons.
On and on it continues, listing out all of the elements and even going into some of the more common combinations. One paragraph really stands out to Jayce, “Users lucky enough to have two aptitudes may find that not many have tread the path before them. Finding a way to understand the way the aptitudes work together is the key to finding success wherever they end up. Users that receive more rare combinations especially may be able to truly take the world by storm”. While it may be cool to tread your own path, Jayce is hopeful to just get one of the stronger but more standard elements. To him, known usefulness is better than unknown potential. Something like Fire or Lightning, or heaven willing, a Fire/Lighting combination would be the dream come true.
After the study session, it’s onto more physical training. Thankfully this is the last day this week as he needs to rest his body before the testing next week. This is a more standard obstacle course consisting of rope climbs, long swims, lifting wooden doors, and more of the same. Even for a mage, it’s incredibly important to both be fit and know how to use your body. You never know when you might run out of world energy or be countered and have to fight your way out.
To end the day is a family dinner with his mom and Mikael. His brother is only two years younger and one of his closest friends; although given how little social interaction he gets with all the work he puts in, that is not saying much. Dinner goes about how you would expect, frequent rants from his mom, shared looks with his brother about how ready they are to leave, and just enough conversation from his end to not seem rude.
Once it is finally over Jayce stumbles up to his room exhausted already knowing the next two days will be just as slow but also knowing what awaits on the other side.