Lunch with everyone was great. We were aware that our time together was nearing its end though. Amber divided up the gambling winnings, getting me enough money to get through an entire semester’s food costs, along with a little extra. I figured I’d be working, hopefully in the library, and wouldn't need a gigantic pile of coins.
Not when everyone else needed it more than me. I was set for the near future.
“Two days.” Artemis mused, flicking Auri away from her food. The greedy little phoenix went rolling over the table, and I slapped out the flames she left in her wake. “Then we’re off. What do we want to do?”
I lifted a finger up, forestalling any ideas, and pointed to Amber.
“We are not spending the entire time shopping. No.”
She pouted and crossed her arms.
“There’s a number of interesting buildings here. It seems like it’d be a once in a lifetime chance to get to explore the greenhouse, the Museum, and all the rest.” Julius said.
“Do we want to explore the town?” Artemis asked.
“Why not?” Julius answered.
“Let me drop my coins off at my room and quickly freshen up. Meet at the greenhouse?” I asked them.
“Yeah, sure, sounds good. We could all freshen up a bit.” Julius agreed.
We stood up and walked out, Artemis and Julius bantering as we left.
“What, I thought you said The Wandering Inn reminded you of being back in the Ranger wagons.” Artemis teased.
“It does! Gently rocking wood? It’s great.” Julius sighed nostalgically. “But you smell like you’re living in a Ranger wagon, and that’s a different story.”
“What! I do not!” Artemis protested.
I discreetly sniffed her. Oooh yeah. Julius had a point.
Artemis whirled at me and glared.
I whistled innocently, glad I was about to get out of Lightning range.
“Brrpt, brtp.”
====================
I swung by my rooms, intending to drop my stuff off and go meet everyone. However, my plans were interrupted by a scroll pinned to my door.
It had to be one of my roommates, but none of them had come off as the passive-aggressive type.
I carefully took the scroll off my door, unrolled it, and -
Cursed my attention to the spoken word, but not the written. I had no idea what the letter said.
“Brrpt brpt?” Auri asked.
“No idea, sorry.”
My roommates were out, and I mentally cursed my bad luck. I decided to sound out the words, pray they were in a language I knew, and figured I’d get a few levels of [Learning Languages].
=================
[*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 67 -> 68]
I’d gotten most of the letter deciphered.
Elaine.
Please meet with me at your earliest [something]. I am [something] that we haven’t had a [something] yet. My [something] is in the Wood Tower.
Professor Marcelle.
Marcelle… [Immortal Recollections] nudged me, reminding me that was the name of my advisor. Who was possibly a little ticked I hadn’t come and said hi yet.
I bit my lip, and figured I’d check with Artemis and the rest, mostly to let them know I wouldn’t be able to make it. It’d be plain rude to leave them hanging for me. I made my way over to the greenhouse.
“Elaine! Ready?” Julius asked.
I shook my head, and quickly explained.
“Drat. You should get on that.” Artemis slipped her arm into Julius’s. “I’d be ungodly pissed if one of my students ignored a summons.”
Amber pulled a face.
“I’m not sticking around to be a third wheel. I’m going to explore the market and some of the other buildings.” She said.
“Brrrrrrpt!” Auri wanted to explore all the green things. Maybe there were fire-plants! I wished her luck on her quest to find a burning bush.
“Alright, sounds good. I’ll try to meet up with you at the Museum? Worst case, let’s grab dinner together.”
Weird to say when the stars and the moons were already out, but that was life on a flying island for you.
With a plan to meet later, we all went our separate ways.
Finding the tower was easy. It dominated the skyline, and all roads led to it. I’d have to be blind to miss it, and even then I’m sure the rest of my senses were good enough to locate it.
Now, finding a particular room inside the tower?
That was a whole adventure in and of itself. Orientation had told me where the buildings were, not that the inside was also going with the Wood vibe, and things like “straight corridors” and “logical layout” were for the Metal tower. Hallways twisted and turned over each other, rooms were layered like honeycomb, and I even joined a line of students who needed to climb up a rough ladder grown out of a wall.
The naga in front of me caused considerable delays, needing to rely entirely on her upper body strength. I took notes on the sheer variety of curses.
[*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 68 -> 69]
The floor was luxuriously soft, some sort of moss making the place heavenly, and in spite of all the wood and growing things, I didn’t see a single insect. The whole place smelled of fresh flowers, and there was a line of apples growing out of one hallway’s ceiling. A passing student reached up, grabbed on, and had an impromptu snack while he walked along.
After three false guesses, I finally found the room I needed. I knocked, and a voice, translated into four different languages, echoed from within.
“Come in.”
I entered Marcelle’s office, noting the sheer number of small glass enclosures along one side of her office, each one holding some small critter that had undergone changes. Chipmunks with tentacles, squirrels with horns, the works.
“Elaine?” Marcelle looked at a piece of paper, and shook her head.
“One moment while I wrap this up.” She didn’t even wait for me to answer her question.
It had been polite when I was a Ranger and a Sentinel to stay standing when my boss asked for me, and while Marcelle wasn’t my boss, I wasn’t going to start off by being rude.
Marcelle was clearly yet another vampire, wearing purple robes herself. That, or she violently avoided the sunlight, had red eyes, and decided to give herself small fangs like the rabbit in one of her enclosures.
Marcelle shuffled a few more papers around, clearly wrapping up whatever she was doing, and glanced back up at me.
“Sit, sit.” She told me, a chair growing from the floor in front of her desk. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
I spent a moment thinking about the right words in High Elvish, my skills helping me bring them to my mind.
“Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to meet you before.” I mentally cursed the lack of a backup translator.
Wait, vampire. Vampire’s Tongue.
“Do you speak Creation? Er, Vampire’s Tongue?” I asked her. My words didn’t echo, the automatic translator not hitting the language.
She lifted a single eyebrow at me, relaxing back in her seat.
“Is that your primary language?” She asked me.
I nodded. I was better at it than English these days.
Marcelle went rifling through her desk, bringing out two cups and a bottle of wine.
“This sounds like quite the story. Drink?” She offered me, and I graciously accepted. Marcelle raised her cup to me, and we both had a sip. The wine was sweet, and blessedly less potent than the dwarven stuff. Still, I wasn’t going to go head over heels guzzling it down. Moderation.
“Introductions! I’m Professor Marcelle of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, part of the Biomancy department. I’m a vampire from the Exterreri Empire, enjoy a spot of gambling here and there in careful moderation, and I’m your advisor for your time here at the School.”
With that, she took another sip, clearly passing the ball over to me. She’d given me a pattern, and I was all too happy to follow. Some fast thinking was needed to make the modifications, but not needing to mentally translate helped.
“I’m Elaine, student of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, admitted for healing. I’m a human from Remus, enjoy mangos and books to great excess, and I’m your advisee while I’m here at the School.”
Marcelle clearly almost did a spit-take at Remus, but managed to turn it into an awkward cough.
“Remus!? The Empire of Remus!? Really?! Ok, hold on, I need to break out some stronger stuff, and I simply must hear the entire story. One moment.”
Marcelle drained her cup, got out a different bottle, and poured herself a tall drink. She offered it to me, but I politely declined.
“Story time! Remus. I have to know everything!” She coughed. “Well, by that, I mean knowing your background, classes, and goals helps me better advise what courses you should take, and what path you should follow.”
She was as transparent as the glass in her office, but I was willing to let that slide. Somebody recognized Remus! Somebody was excited to hear about it!
“Well. When I was growing up, it wasn’t the Empire, but the Republic. And my name was just another normal name. See…”
I settled into the mossy chair as I gave Marcelle the brief version of events that had led me here. It still took over an hour, but Marcelle was an attentive audience, gasping at the right parts and laughing at the funny ones.
I kept some of my secrets, and passed over thousands of little details. She didn’t need everything, but she was easy to talk with. An excellent listener.
“... after finding out that healers of my level weren’t too welcome in Rolland, and that all Immortal lands were far away, the School was a natural choice. It would help me and my friends reorient ourselves to life, and get me to a safe spot.” I was wrapping up, glossing over the vorlers and the like. “I gained admittance on my healing abilities, although it seems like healing knowledge and information has dramatically evolved since my times. I got a full scholarship on my combat abilities. I got in, got my rooms and orientation, then saw your message, and here I am.”
I graciously accepted a refill of my cup.
“Wow. That’s quite some adventure! My life hasn’t been nearly as interesting. I do see why they assigned you to me. I’m vaguely related to healing, know most of the Tracks in that area, and can actually talk with you.” Marcelle told me. “To confirm, you’ve got no sponsor, or anyone on the outside telling you what Classes you need, and what to study?”
“Correct. I’m here to make the best out of myself.”
“A lack of a sponsor is going to make you a hot commodity. We only get a dozen or so every year, and nobles will be lining up to try and employ you. Well, your level makes it so that only Immortals might be interested, but that’s still a strong future employment prospect. Healing’s your primary class. What are your other two?”
I started a moment, before remembering that she could see my exact level, and could make the obvious connections.
Also. I was wearing purple robes, which screamed “has three classes.”
“The Radiance [Mage] class I was mentioning, and I haven’t picked my third one yet. I was thinking of waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted, then working on general skills to make the start perfect.”
Unsaid was making the start better would help me if I ever decided to reset the class. There were eternal benefits to a bit of a delay.
“That’s foolish.” Marcelle lightly chided me.
“Oh?”
“Sure, you can get a better start to your third class. It’ll last for all of twenty four levels, of which you already have banked, and give you a marginally better upgrade. However, what matters so much more is what you’re actually doing with the Class. That, and you’re at the School. The premier place in the world for learning and improving Classes. I doubt you’ve told me a fraction of the achievements you’ve actually accomplished. At this stage in your life, a few extra levels in a General Skill will barely accomplish anything. Your best bet is to class up now, and if you can’t think of anything else, take a [Student] variant. They upgrade into nearly anything that you study here at the School, and you’ll get a good look at the rest of your options. I’d be more than happy to advise you on what to take, although there are full courses dedicated towards learning that. There’s also a book, called The Big Book of Starter Classes and How to Get Them, by Edwin Asano. You’ll want the one tailored towards third classes. The only reason I can think of to delay is if you were waiting to get a particular profession, unlocking that class. However, I don’t see you getting named [Governor] of a town anytime soon, you just joined the School. Questions?”
“I need to process all that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking.
In a mortal lifespan, she was more than correct. Waiting wouldn’t help me, grabbing the class now and working on it now was optimal. She was right that getting a new job would unlock better classes, the way I’d unlocked [Ranger-Mage] after becoming a Ranger and [The Dawn Sentinel] after becoming a Sentinel. She was also right that I was unlikely to get a new job anytime soon. I was a student.
I also had no idea on a job I wanted after the School. I liked healing, and I had a healing class. I was aiming for a mage class of some sort. Delaying for a job wasn’t accurate in the slightest.
However, I wasn’t mortal, and Marcelle’s advice was geared towards the assumption that I was mortal. Immortality changed the formula.
Did it change it enough?
“Would you give the same advice to, say, a vampire?” I thought my question was smooth.
Marcelle laughed at me.
“Eyeing Immortality are you? Don’t worry, almost everyone does at one point, I’m not judging you. I started off mortal myself! No, I’m not going to turn you into a vampire, no matter how much you ask. I don’t have the rights. But yes. You’ll never get a better chance to develop your third class.”
I wasn’t decided, but I filed away her advice into the “seriously consider” category.
“What class would you suggest I take, instead of one of last resort?” I asked, figuring I’d get my last questions on my third class out of the way.
“I’m biased. Biomancy.” Marcelle gestured to her office. “The entire world is built off of biologicals. You are your body. You eat plants and animals. Everyone you interact with has a body, and biomancy is the art of examining and modifying biological matter to the way you want it to be. Want fangs? You can have fangs. Want wings? You can make yourself wings. Want claws? You can have that.”
Marcelle’s entire body shifted at each example she gave. Six pairs of fangs showed up for the fangs, enormous black bat-like wings for the wings, and her fingers elongated into wicked claws.
“Best part of biomancy? As you should know, the System multiplies what’s already there. Any self-modifications you make get multiplied by your stats, and if you have them, your skills. The other nice part is that it can tie into healing classes. It’d be a bit of a leap for you, but it’s possible to direct healing classes to get minor biomancy skills.”
Marcelle had bombarded me with a ton of information, but my mind immediately leapt to a constellation I’d seen and dismissed when I was building [The Dawn Sentinel] class.
“Would fixing birth defects fall under biomancy?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“Yes! Exactly! You’re getting the hang of it. I do love smart students. A nice bonus, by the way. A clever biomancer can make herself Immortal without White Dove noticing.”
That got my attention like nothing else.
“Wait, how!?” I demanded, practically leaping out of my seat.
Marcelle gave me one of the toothy, predatory grins that vampires were so good at.
“I’ll teach you if you progress far enough down your biomancy studies to have earned the knowledge. Now. Your other two classes. Tell me about them, and your goals, and we’ll see if we can figure out what Tracks to put you on.” A blank slate of wood grew out of Marcelle’s desk, the woman snapping it off. A few lines of colored text appeared on it.
I hesitated a moment. On one hand, giving away too much information had gotten me in trouble. It’d give Marcelle a paint-by-numbers of how to kill me. On the other, it was literally her job to give me good advice so I could make the most of my time here, and she was a professor. It wasn’t like she was in a fighting arena, polishing her spear skills.
I found a solid middle ground.
“My first class is a healing class. Human-focused, because Remus was all human at the time. Well, practically speaking. My knowledge is mostly focused on humans as well as a result. I’ve got a minor shield, although it’s not a focus. I guess my goal is to learn more about other species to improve my healing efficiency on non-humans? My second class is a Radiance [Mage] class. It picks up skills quickly and easily, and I guess I’m looking to get better skills for it?”
“Are you a sorcerer or a wizard?” Marcelle asked.
“I don’t know the difference between the two. I’ve gotten some poor explanations, but I’m still unsure about the details.” I freely admitted. That was an easy one to confess to!
“Sorcerer then. Wizards know.” Marcelle poured herself another drink, and I accepted a refill. We’d been at this for a while. “Someone else can give a better explanation of all this, and I recommend you take an introductory course to get all the details sorted. The long and the short of it is something like this. Sorcerer is a catch-all term for people who use just the System’s skills to directly make magic happen.”
I was 100% a sorcerer, yup.
“Wizards also use the System to make magic happen, but in a different way. They’re given the ability to make runes, inscriptions, insignia, enchantments, there’s a dozen different names depending on the subtype. Those runes then create an effect. A wizard is significantly more flexible than a sorcerer, but a sorcerer has more impact and significantly greater efficiency than a wizard. Sorcerers cast faster, and don’t need to think about it, but wizards have more depth.”
I was reminded of Origen, the Inscriptionist from Ranger Team 4. He’d been doing something similar, inscribing our armor with his magic that let us get a minor stat boost. It also sounded exactly like how Asura cast, and if I’d been at the School, I could’ve taken [Acolyte of Asura] when it was offered last class up.
Also, that sounded totally cool. Being able to do ALL THE MAGIC EVER? Or at least, that’s what it sounded like.
“I’m interested in wizardry. What more can you tell me?”
“I can tell you to find a professor in the subject, and interrogate them for information.” Marcelle smiled to let me know it was partially a joke, and there were no hard feelings… but that I should also go ask someone else, she wasn’t the expert. She flicked a finger, and another line appeared on her slate of wood. I assumed they were notes of some sort.
“Ok, excellent. I’ve got some ideas on Tracks for you, along with a few general classes you need to take.” Marcelle’s eyes briefly unfocused, and a dozen more lines appeared one by one on the slate she was working with. She refocused back to me when she was done.
“Last thing to go over. Your healing class and Tracks. You’ll clearly be taking at least one of the healing Tracks, but I recommend taking a few of them. They overlap with each other, and they further overlap with biomancy, letting you get a half-dozen Tracks for the work of two. It looks incredibly impressive to anyone looking to hire you after your time at the School. What’s your knowledge of the Medical Manuscripts? They’re ancient, but I’m not sure if they’re as ancient as you are.”
I must’ve misheard her.
“The what?” I asked her.
Instead of answering, a branch grew from the other side of her office, bringing with it a set of books. They were placed down in front of me, and I was left staring at a series of books.
A series of books with two words on the front, which I assumed had to be Medical Manuscripts.
And an all-too-familiar signature at the bottom.
Elaine.
Lunch with everyone was great. We were aware that our time together was nearing its end though. Amber divided up the gambling winnings, getting me enough money to get through an entire semester’s food costs, along with a little extra. I figured I’d be working, hopefully in the library, and wouldn't need a gigantic pile of coins.
Not when everyone else needed it more than me. I was set for the near future.
“Two days.” Artemis mused, flicking Auri away from her food. The greedy little phoenix went rolling over the table, and I slapped out the flames she left in her wake. “Then we’re off. What do we want to do?”
I lifted a finger up, forestalling any ideas, and pointed to Amber.
“We are not spending the entire time shopping. No.”
She pouted and crossed her arms.
“There’s a number of interesting buildings here. It seems like it’d be a once in a lifetime chance to get to explore the greenhouse, the Museum, and all the rest.” Julius said.
“Do we want to explore the town?” Artemis asked.
“Why not?” Julius answered.
“Let me drop my coins off at my room and quickly freshen up. Meet at the greenhouse?” I asked them.
“Yeah, sure, sounds good. We could all freshen up a bit.” Julius agreed.
We stood up and walked out, Artemis and Julius bantering as we left.
“What, I thought you said The Wandering Inn reminded you of being back in the Ranger wagons.” Artemis teased.
“It does! Gently rocking wood? It’s great.” Julius sighed nostalgically. “But you smell like you’re living in a Ranger wagon, and that’s a different story.”
“What! I do not!” Artemis protested.
I discreetly sniffed her. Oooh yeah. Julius had a point.
Artemis whirled at me and glared.
I whistled innocently, glad I was about to get out of Lightning range.
“Brrpt, brtp.”
====================
I swung by my rooms, intending to drop my stuff off and go meet everyone. However, my plans were interrupted by a scroll pinned to my door.
It had to be one of my roommates, but none of them had come off as the passive-aggressive type.
I carefully took the scroll off my door, unrolled it, and -
Cursed my attention to the spoken word, but not the written. I had no idea what the letter said.
“Brrpt brpt?” Auri asked.
“No idea, sorry.”
My roommates were out, and I mentally cursed my bad luck. I decided to sound out the words, pray they were in a language I knew, and figured I’d get a few levels of [Learning Languages].
=================
[*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 67 -> 68]
I’d gotten most of the letter deciphered.
Elaine.
Please meet with me at your earliest [something]. I am [something] that we haven’t had a [something] yet. My [something] is in the Wood Tower.
Professor Marcelle.
Marcelle… [Immortal Recollections] nudged me, reminding me that was the name of my advisor. Who was possibly a little ticked I hadn’t come and said hi yet.
I bit my lip, and figured I’d check with Artemis and the rest, mostly to let them know I wouldn’t be able to make it. It’d be plain rude to leave them hanging for me. I made my way over to the greenhouse.
“Elaine! Ready?” Julius asked.
I shook my head, and quickly explained.
“Drat. You should get on that.” Artemis slipped her arm into Julius’s. “I’d be ungodly pissed if one of my students ignored a summons.”
Amber pulled a face.
“I’m not sticking around to be a third wheel. I’m going to explore the market and some of the other buildings.” She said.
“Brrrrrrpt!” Auri wanted to explore all the green things. Maybe there were fire-plants! I wished her luck on her quest to find a burning bush.
“Alright, sounds good. I’ll try to meet up with you at the Museum? Worst case, let’s grab dinner together.”
Weird to say when the stars and the moons were already out, but that was life on a flying island for you.
With a plan to meet later, we all went our separate ways.
Finding the tower was easy. It dominated the skyline, and all roads led to it. I’d have to be blind to miss it, and even then I’m sure the rest of my senses were good enough to locate it.
Now, finding a particular room inside the tower?
That was a whole adventure in and of itself. Orientation had told me where the buildings were, not that the inside was also going with the Wood vibe, and things like “straight corridors” and “logical layout” were for the Metal tower. Hallways twisted and turned over each other, rooms were layered like honeycomb, and I even joined a line of students who needed to climb up a rough ladder grown out of a wall.
The naga in front of me caused considerable delays, needing to rely entirely on her upper body strength. I took notes on the sheer variety of curses.
[*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 68 -> 69]
The floor was luxuriously soft, some sort of moss making the place heavenly, and in spite of all the wood and growing things, I didn’t see a single insect. The whole place smelled of fresh flowers, and there was a line of apples growing out of one hallway’s ceiling. A passing student reached up, grabbed on, and had an impromptu snack while he walked along.
After three false guesses, I finally found the room I needed. I knocked, and a voice, translated into four different languages, echoed from within.
“Come in.”
I entered Marcelle’s office, noting the sheer number of small glass enclosures along one side of her office, each one holding some small critter that had undergone changes. Chipmunks with tentacles, squirrels with horns, the works.
“Elaine?” Marcelle looked at a piece of paper, and shook her head.
“One moment while I wrap this up.” She didn’t even wait for me to answer her question.
It had been polite when I was a Ranger and a Sentinel to stay standing when my boss asked for me, and while Marcelle wasn’t my boss, I wasn’t going to start off by being rude.
Marcelle was clearly yet another vampire, wearing purple robes herself. That, or she violently avoided the sunlight, had red eyes, and decided to give herself small fangs like the rabbit in one of her enclosures.
Marcelle shuffled a few more papers around, clearly wrapping up whatever she was doing, and glanced back up at me.
“Sit, sit.” She told me, a chair growing from the floor in front of her desk. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
I spent a moment thinking about the right words in High Elvish, my skills helping me bring them to my mind.
“Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to meet you before.” I mentally cursed the lack of a backup translator.
Wait, vampire. Vampire’s Tongue.
“Do you speak Creation? Er, Vampire’s Tongue?” I asked her. My words didn’t echo, the automatic translator not hitting the language.
She lifted a single eyebrow at me, relaxing back in her seat.
“Is that your primary language?” She asked me.
I nodded. I was better at it than English these days.
Marcelle went rifling through her desk, bringing out two cups and a bottle of wine.
“This sounds like quite the story. Drink?” She offered me, and I graciously accepted. Marcelle raised her cup to me, and we both had a sip. The wine was sweet, and blessedly less potent than the dwarven stuff. Still, I wasn’t going to go head over heels guzzling it down. Moderation.
“Introductions! I’m Professor Marcelle of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, part of the Biomancy department. I’m a vampire from the Exterreri Empire, enjoy a spot of gambling here and there in careful moderation, and I’m your advisor for your time here at the School.”
With that, she took another sip, clearly passing the ball over to me. She’d given me a pattern, and I was all too happy to follow. Some fast thinking was needed to make the modifications, but not needing to mentally translate helped.
“I’m Elaine, student of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, admitted for healing. I’m a human from Remus, enjoy mangos and books to great excess, and I’m your advisee while I’m here at the School.”
Marcelle clearly almost did a spit-take at Remus, but managed to turn it into an awkward cough.
“Remus!? The Empire of Remus!? Really?! Ok, hold on, I need to break out some stronger stuff, and I simply must hear the entire story. One moment.”
Marcelle drained her cup, got out a different bottle, and poured herself a tall drink. She offered it to me, but I politely declined.
“Story time! Remus. I have to know everything!” She coughed. “Well, by that, I mean knowing your background, classes, and goals helps me better advise what courses you should take, and what path you should follow.”
She was as transparent as the glass in her office, but I was willing to let that slide. Somebody recognized Remus! Somebody was excited to hear about it!
“Well. When I was growing up, it wasn’t the Empire, but the Republic. And my name was just another normal name. See…”
I settled into the mossy chair as I gave Marcelle the brief version of events that had led me here. It still took over an hour, but Marcelle was an attentive audience, gasping at the right parts and laughing at the funny ones.
I kept some of my secrets, and passed over thousands of little details. She didn’t need everything, but she was easy to talk with. An excellent listener.
“... after finding out that healers of my level weren’t too welcome in Rolland, and that all Immortal lands were far away, the School was a natural choice. It would help me and my friends reorient ourselves to life, and get me to a safe spot.” I was wrapping up, glossing over the vorlers and the like. “I gained admittance on my healing abilities, although it seems like healing knowledge and information has dramatically evolved since my times. I got a full scholarship on my combat abilities. I got in, got my rooms and orientation, then saw your message, and here I am.”
I graciously accepted a refill of my cup.
“Wow. That’s quite some adventure! My life hasn’t been nearly as interesting. I do see why they assigned you to me. I’m vaguely related to healing, know most of the Tracks in that area, and can actually talk with you.” Marcelle told me. “To confirm, you’ve got no sponsor, or anyone on the outside telling you what Classes you need, and what to study?”
“Correct. I’m here to make the best out of myself.”
“A lack of a sponsor is going to make you a hot commodity. We only get a dozen or so every year, and nobles will be lining up to try and employ you. Well, your level makes it so that only Immortals might be interested, but that’s still a strong future employment prospect. Healing’s your primary class. What are your other two?”
I started a moment, before remembering that she could see my exact level, and could make the obvious connections.
Also. I was wearing purple robes, which screamed “has three classes.”
“The Radiance [Mage] class I was mentioning, and I haven’t picked my third one yet. I was thinking of waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted, then working on general skills to make the start perfect.”
Unsaid was making the start better would help me if I ever decided to reset the class. There were eternal benefits to a bit of a delay.
“That’s foolish.” Marcelle lightly chided me.
“Oh?”
“Sure, you can get a better start to your third class. It’ll last for all of twenty four levels, of which you already have banked, and give you a marginally better upgrade. However, what matters so much more is what you’re actually doing with the Class. That, and you’re at the School. The premier place in the world for learning and improving Classes. I doubt you’ve told me a fraction of the achievements you’ve actually accomplished. At this stage in your life, a few extra levels in a General Skill will barely accomplish anything. Your best bet is to class up now, and if you can’t think of anything else, take a [Student] variant. They upgrade into nearly anything that you study here at the School, and you’ll get a good look at the rest of your options. I’d be more than happy to advise you on what to take, although there are full courses dedicated towards learning that. There’s also a book, called The Big Book of Starter Classes and How to Get Them, by Edwin Asano. You’ll want the one tailored towards third classes. The only reason I can think of to delay is if you were waiting to get a particular profession, unlocking that class. However, I don’t see you getting named [Governor] of a town anytime soon, you just joined the School. Questions?”
“I need to process all that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking.
In a mortal lifespan, she was more than correct. Waiting wouldn’t help me, grabbing the class now and working on it now was optimal. She was right that getting a new job would unlock better classes, the way I’d unlocked [Ranger-Mage] after becoming a Ranger and [The Dawn Sentinel] after becoming a Sentinel. She was also right that I was unlikely to get a new job anytime soon. I was a student.
I also had no idea on a job I wanted after the School. I liked healing, and I had a healing class. I was aiming for a mage class of some sort. Delaying for a job wasn’t accurate in the slightest.
However, I wasn’t mortal, and Marcelle’s advice was geared towards the assumption that I was mortal. Immortality changed the formula.
Did it change it enough?
“Would you give the same advice to, say, a vampire?” I thought my question was smooth.
Marcelle laughed at me.
“Eyeing Immortality are you? Don’t worry, almost everyone does at one point, I’m not judging you. I started off mortal myself! No, I’m not going to turn you into a vampire, no matter how much you ask. I don’t have the rights. But yes. You’ll never get a better chance to develop your third class.”
I wasn’t decided, but I filed away her advice into the “seriously consider” category.
“What class would you suggest I take, instead of one of last resort?” I asked, figuring I’d get my last questions on my third class out of the way.
“I’m biased. Biomancy.” Marcelle gestured to her office. “The entire world is built off of biologicals. You are your body. You eat plants and animals. Everyone you interact with has a body, and biomancy is the art of examining and modifying biological matter to the way you want it to be. Want fangs? You can have fangs. Want wings? You can make yourself wings. Want claws? You can have that.”
Marcelle’s entire body shifted at each example she gave. Six pairs of fangs showed up for the fangs, enormous black bat-like wings for the wings, and her fingers elongated into wicked claws.
“Best part of biomancy? As you should know, the System multiplies what’s already there. Any self-modifications you make get multiplied by your stats, and if you have them, your skills. The other nice part is that it can tie into healing classes. It’d be a bit of a leap for you, but it’s possible to direct healing classes to get minor biomancy skills.”
Marcelle had bombarded me with a ton of information, but my mind immediately leapt to a constellation I’d seen and dismissed when I was building [The Dawn Sentinel] class.
“Would fixing birth defects fall under biomancy?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“Yes! Exactly! You’re getting the hang of it. I do love smart students. A nice bonus, by the way. A clever biomancer can make herself Immortal without White Dove noticing.”
That got my attention like nothing else.
“Wait, how!?” I demanded, practically leaping out of my seat.
Marcelle gave me one of the toothy, predatory grins that vampires were so good at.
“I’ll teach you if you progress far enough down your biomancy studies to have earned the knowledge. Now. Your other two classes. Tell me about them, and your goals, and we’ll see if we can figure out what Tracks to put you on.” A blank slate of wood grew out of Marcelle’s desk, the woman snapping it off. A few lines of colored text appeared on it.
I hesitated a moment. On one hand, giving away too much information had gotten me in trouble. It’d give Marcelle a paint-by-numbers of how to kill me. On the other, it was literally her job to give me good advice so I could make the most of my time here, and she was a professor. It wasn’t like she was in a fighting arena, polishing her spear skills.
I found a solid middle ground.
“My first class is a healing class. Human-focused, because Remus was all human at the time. Well, practically speaking. My knowledge is mostly focused on humans as well as a result. I’ve got a minor shield, although it’s not a focus. I guess my goal is to learn more about other species to improve my healing efficiency on non-humans? My second class is a Radiance [Mage] class. It picks up skills quickly and easily, and I guess I’m looking to get better skills for it?”
“Are you a sorcerer or a wizard?” Marcelle asked.
“I don’t know the difference between the two. I’ve gotten some poor explanations, but I’m still unsure about the details.” I freely admitted. That was an easy one to confess to!
“Sorcerer then. Wizards know.” Marcelle poured herself another drink, and I accepted a refill. We’d been at this for a while. “Someone else can give a better explanation of all this, and I recommend you take an introductory course to get all the details sorted. The long and the short of it is something like this. Sorcerer is a catch-all term for people who use just the System’s skills to directly make magic happen.”
I was 100% a sorcerer, yup.
“Wizards also use the System to make magic happen, but in a different way. They’re given the ability to make runes, inscriptions, insignia, enchantments, there’s a dozen different names depending on the subtype. Those runes then create an effect. A wizard is significantly more flexible than a sorcerer, but a sorcerer has more impact and significantly greater efficiency than a wizard. Sorcerers cast faster, and don’t need to think about it, but wizards have more depth.”
I was reminded of Origen, the Inscriptionist from Ranger Team 4. He’d been doing something similar, inscribing our armor with his magic that let us get a minor stat boost. It also sounded exactly like how Asura cast, and if I’d been at the School, I could’ve taken [Acolyte of Asura] when it was offered last class up.
Also, that sounded totally cool. Being able to do ALL THE MAGIC EVER? Or at least, that’s what it sounded like.
“I’m interested in wizardry. What more can you tell me?”
“I can tell you to find a professor in the subject, and interrogate them for information.” Marcelle smiled to let me know it was partially a joke, and there were no hard feelings… but that I should also go ask someone else, she wasn’t the expert. She flicked a finger, and another line appeared on her slate of wood. I assumed they were notes of some sort.
“Ok, excellent. I’ve got some ideas on Tracks for you, along with a few general classes you need to take.” Marcelle’s eyes briefly unfocused, and a dozen more lines appeared one by one on the slate she was working with. She refocused back to me when she was done.
“Last thing to go over. Your healing class and Tracks. You’ll clearly be taking at least one of the healing Tracks, but I recommend taking a few of them. They overlap with each other, and they further overlap with biomancy, letting you get a half-dozen Tracks for the work of two. It looks incredibly impressive to anyone looking to hire you after your time at the School. What’s your knowledge of the Medical Manuscripts? They’re ancient, but I’m not sure if they’re as ancient as you are.”
I must’ve misheard her.
“The what?” I asked her.
Instead of answering, a branch grew from the other side of her office, bringing with it a set of books. They were placed down in front of me, and I was left staring at a series of books.
A series of books with two words on the front, which I assumed had to be Medical Manuscripts.
And an all-too-familiar signature at the bottom.
Elaine.
