After much consideration of what to wear today, I settle on the dress Mera gave me. On the grounds that she might wear her matching one. After putting on the rest of the outfit I grab the box with the collar in it. "Hmmm? Well, I did wear it around town with Mera already. . ." I pull out the collar and stare a moment before bringing it up to my neck. I fumble a bit with the fastener as I put it on. It still feels nice, but not quite as exciting as when Mera put it on for me.

I look myself over in the mirror, confirming that I look just the same as the other day. I run my right index finger along the leather of the collar, then loop it through the ring at the front. My left hand moves up to touch my lips lightly and my cheeks flush. I quickly move my hands down and dust them off with a slight fake cough. "Right, I'm wearing it." After that I head out for breakfast.

Dad looks over my outfit, and it seems his gaze lingers a moment on the collar, but he doesn't comment. Tir meanwhile seems quite surprised. "That's a really pretty dress, actually. When'd you get that? And, what's with the collar?"

"Mera! Hehmm. She gave them to me for my birthday. For the collar, she saw an adventurer wearing one and thought it was cute. And I guess I, want to look cute for Mera." I scratch my cheek, then shrug and sit down for breakfast.

Dad gives a solemn nod, then mutters. "Finally made a move, did she." Though the phrasing sounds like a question, the tone is a statement. After breakfast Dad waves me off when I go to work on the morning's chores. "Tir and I will handle it. You wouldn't want to get that nice dress dirty before meeting up with Mera, right?" He's actually grinning with that question. "Plus the goat with brown fur would try to chew on it. Ornery old nanny."

With that perfectly reasonable explanation I, wait in the house. At least until I get bored. Then I step outside to at least look around, even if I'm not helping. Once I'm out in the yard, I see that blue monster I tripped over wrestling with the well's winch. It's tall enough to reach the handle, but not tall enough to really turn it on its own. I cock my head to the side and watch for a moment before approaching and shooing it away slightly to work the winch myself.

The monster picks up the cup, holding it aloft and gibbering happily. It actually looks surprisingly like a little kid. Barring a few odd details. Blue skin, short midnight blue hair darker than mine, a pair of short horns, thin cat-like fangs, and the fur toga which somehow gives the impression of being part of it, instead of clothing. Aside from that though, its facial features are far fairer than a humanoid monster like a goblin would normally have, and while its proportions are too bulky for a human kid, they're about right for a dwarf child.

When I bring the bucket over, the little guy dips the cup into it, scooping up water on its own. I look around to see if Dad or Tir have noticed how clever it is, but don't see either of them just now. Holding the full cup with one hand, it, shoves the other hand into it? I lean over it to look into the cup, and see the water level dropping. After about ten seconds the cup is empty, and it dips it in the bucket again. After four cupfuls the bucket is low enough that it's harder to fill the cup.

The creature considers the bucket for a moment, then looks at me, then down to itself, finally it approaches the winch, and sort of, puffs itself up until it is actually bigger. For some reason as it gets bigger it feels even weaker, but it makes itself big enough to have proper leverage to work the simple machine. Once the bucket is full and up top again it shrinks back down to its original size and has one more cupful of water, then offers me the cup. When I take the cup it grins, then starts walking away.

"You uhh, had your hand in here. But thanks?" It feels wrong, letting an unarmed child wander into the forest. Even if it clearly isn't a human, or any other established race. I set the cup down, and make a slime resin dagger, then walk slightly quickly to catch up. "Hang on."

It pauses and turns to look up at me. I grab the blade and hold the handle to it. It takes the weapon, and stares at it uncertainly. I sigh, then press my index finger against the tip until blood wells up around it. The creature looks surprised, then mimics the action. The blade sinks a full centimeter into its finger, but nothing comes out. Even so, it seems to get the idea of what it's for, as it holds the knife out before it as it continues into the woods.

After that, I wander back to the well, watching my finger to see how quickly the small wound closes. It takes several minutes, but a wound that size would have taken a couple days to heal before. So minor regeneration is pretty good, after all. I guess I never tested lesser regeneration though. Actually, did I get that one of the times I leveled up, or did I always have it? I shake my head, then rinse the cup out a couple times before using it.

A while later we finally head into town, though we're almost late, so we head straight for the church instead of going to Mera's first. When we get there, it seems like everybody else is already waiting, but the proceedings haven't started yet. As I had hoped, Mera is wearing her green and blue dress, and the way her face lights up when she sees me wearing its match, makes me feel giddy.

The next thing I know, she's running over with an excited, wordless cheer, though she manages to slide to a stop a meter away. Then she steps in closer, leans down, and gives me a quick peck on the cheek. An action that garners a variety of reactions throughout the room. Such as knowing chuckles from Dad and Merdi, as well as several other people, and shocked expressions from Tir and Galinde, a young man who used to challenge me to sparring matches all the time until I got bored and shot him down for being too weak.

Perhaps the most notable reaction is someone saying, "Hah! Knew it! Now gimme my money!" When I look to the source of that I spot Fremiel, clearly talking to his identical twin Jamarn, a pair of half dwarves. Not quite sure what the other half is though, given that they're over two meters tall, plus their skin is a shade, grayer? Than the typically bronzed tan most dwarves have.

On top of that, one girl I swear I've never seen before, wearing a short purple accented black dress, with black tipped white hair and bright purple eyes yells, "Finally!"

Mera is blushing now that she realizes the attention we've drawn, but she's also got a self-satisfied grin on her face. "Woops, tee-hee~" After that, she takes my arm and escorts me over to the lineup before the brazier.

I glare at some of the lookie loos on the way. Though most seem amused by that.

After a while the head priest approaches the dais on the other side of the brazier. He is wearing dark gray robes with silver stitching in the shape of a horseshoe and a depiction of fire shaped like a stylized heart on the chest. The other priests have smaller flames in simpler shapes on their robes. Supposedly the base color of the robes changes based on the month. "We are gathered to celebrate those children of the Isles of Origin who have reached the age of eighteen in the past month. Here in the house of the Goddess Vestria of the Guiding Flame, we welcome you all."

The proceedings go just like Tir's coming of age ceremony, including me zoning out. When everyone else steps forward Mera tugs on my arm enough to get my attention. Looking around ten of us stepped forward, and no one stepped back. "It would seem that while not many have come of age this month, those who have all seek the Goddess' blessing. I request the parents to step forward to affirm their children's choice."

When the priest turns his attention towards Dad and I he lowers his head. "We have received a prophesy confirming your adoption." He raises his head and matches Dad's gaze. "The Goddess smiles upon your compassion. And of course, ahh hmm. You may proceed."

Dad hesitates for a moment, then smiles faintly. "I Tiruse shall speak for myself and for my departed wife Araflur. I grant our permission for our daughter to seek the power offered by the Goddess."

"Very well, now if the children who seek the blessing could accompany me one by one to the inner sanctum, I shall aid them in awakening their Class Souls." As with Tir, I am the first one to go. Mera grabs my right hand and squeezes it for a couple seconds before letting go and smiling as I move to follow the priest. I blush slightly and wave to her just before stepping through the doorway.

The room beyond is small, compared to the main hall of the church. The center is dominated by another brazier. This one has a plainer look than the one just outside. Excepting the odd crystal band on the inner surface of the rim, with a trio of crystal spikes that curve over the rim and point to a matching set of glass panels arranged like a three part mirror, about a meter back.

The priest walks off to the side of the room, then returns to pass a small piece of wood to me. "When I begin chanting, simply smear a small amount of blood on this plank and cast it into the fire. Then the relevant information will appear on these windows. The one on the right will have your potential classes on it."

The man steps off to the right of the brazier, then raises his hands and starts singing and odd, wordless song. The cadence is somehow both eerie and comforting. Then I feel something, stirring. Or perhaps, two things? The first part is like a sound almost too low to be heard, but easily felt. The second is an odd, pressure, as if the air were thicker somehow. The way the two interact, almost feels like some great voice is humming along to the song.

I shake the sensation off, then bite my hand hard enough to draw blood. I press the wound against the wood, and wince in pain a bit. When I look closer I see a sharp spike. "Was I supposed to use that?" I shrug and toss the bloodied block into the fire. The crystal band in the brazier lights up with a faint gold light, which spreads to the spikes, then flows to the windows. The glass lights up, then shifts around a moment before words resolve on them. Looking left to right, the panels are. . .

While I'm reading through all that, I barely notice when the priest stops chanting. A moment later he gasps, catching my attention. "One of your options is Shrine Maiden! That's a hybrid Class. A combination of the holy powers of a Priest and the spiritual prowess of an Exorcist. Though a bit less specialized than either. Hmmm. Unfortunately with your Low spiritual affinity the Class would only boost you up to a medium affinity, which sadly falls short of excellence."

"Not really interested in that anyway." I stare at the list a moment before my gaze latches onto the Pirate Class. "Say, Ninja and Pirate are both Rogue Classes, right?"

"Well, Pirate is a hybrid of Rogue and Warrior. Or rather a Rogue mixed variant of the Sailor class which is based in the warrior group, but yes, you'd keep all of the skills of one if you change classes later, between those two." He pauses to take a look. "Water Mage and Dowser are both mage classes, Shrine Maiden and Diviner are both priest classes, and Martial Artist and Retiarius are both warrior classes. Druid is, close to a mage class, but not a perfect match. And Monster Tamer is, a bit of an oddity really. Few classes can relate to it, and it doesn't have a common support group."

"I'd like to start with Ninja and swap to Pirate later." When I say that, the middle and right windows change.

"Don't quite get what all that means. But, alright." The pressure in the air thickens, part of it even settling around me like a thick blanket. "Urghh?" The slightly smothering sensation shifts, first to an odd tinglyness, and further until it matches my own feel, then slowly fades from my awareness, though I can tell that I'm a little stronger for it. After that, the three windows return to their original display, mostly. The ability score changes are shown, my level is split into 'Total Level: 3' and 'Class Level: 1', and my current class is Ninja now.

"Is something the matter, my child?" The priest looks over the windows.

"Just, weird feeling. Uh. What is Ennui? And what does it mean that it has max affinity?"

"I am not certain. My readout describes it as 'Water Aspect Natural Energy with conceptual interference'. Though I cannot say what concepts could be involved. Best guess, it's a trait of your race to possess this, Ennui. Perhaps a higher ranked priest could see more information." He clears his throat and stands up straighter. "Not that a level thirty priest is low ranked, per se. Ehm."

"As for the max affinity, that just refers to how much of each type you gain per level. It is said that if each level represents a hundred 'units' of energy, a very low affinity would be three points, low would be five, medium low ten, medium fifteen, medium high twenty, high twenty five, and very high thirty. Max simply means that everything that doesn't go to the other pools goes to that one. Though of course, energy is rarely so cleanly measured. Having a fourth energy type could be a detriment, if you rely heavily on one of the others, but given that you'll likely be able to use it for something, it may be a benefit instead. It is also somewhat rare for sentient races to produce natural energy."

"Oookay. How about that stuff next to my name then?"

"Well. . . Hmm. Normally for an orphan, the name given by their birth parents would be in the brackets there. Though I am uncertain what to make of that. Perhaps they never decided on a name for you, so the family name is the only thing to refer to you as?"

"Aradain Creshorn then? Nnm? Eh, I'll just stick with Aradain." I shake my head then glance over the windows again. "So, we done here then?"

"I, suppose so." He has a wry smile on his face. "You may be on your way. Ah, don't forget to bring up your status and assign your first skill point."

I grunt noncommittally, then run out the door. I walk over to Mera, grinning broadly.

"What class did you get Ara?" The person next to her clears his throat, and she rolls her eyes. "Just go ahead of me."

"Ninja! Though I wanna change to Pirate later. Also apparently I'm an Atlantean, whatever that means."

"Never heard of it, might try to ask around about your race. Pirate? I figured you'd take a more straightforward class like Brawler or Lancer. So, why a class that gets stronger in water or on a boat?" She peers at my face, then grabs my arm. "I know that guilty look, we need to taaaalk~" A moment later we're standing in an empty corner well away from anyone else. Mera stares down at me with an ominous smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

I whine and squirm a moment. "I uh. . . S-sorry Mera. When I got that skill, the ghost lady gave me a uhmm, excessive quest." My voice lowers a fair bit. "It's to, 'Conquer the Ocean of Chaos'. Sounds, impossible. I kinda want to try though. . ."

Mera sighs heavily. "Of course you do." She rubs her temples, then tilts her head back. "Let's see, Mage and Ninja, which is basically a fancy Rogue. So I'll need something to compliment those? We'll probably want to drag Mister Tiruse into it later too. So preferably not something archer-y." She returns to the lineup while muttering to herself.

I stand there awkwardly looking around. Dad has a wry smile on his face. Aunty Merdi has her eyebrows raised, but seems to have sparkly eyes somehow. Everyone else who stands out simply looks curious. After a few minutes I remember to check my status as the Priest said to, and like that, a window pops into existence before my eyes.

"Uhhh, quite the description for Monster Conversion. . . Is Art of Deception the invisibility skill? Rogue classes usually have those, right?" I select Art of Deception, nothing about me seems to change, but (Subskill Menu) is added to its entry. So I focus on that.

I scratch the back of my head while staring at the screen. "I don't quite. Hmmm. Oh well. I don't have any skill points right now anyway." I dismiss the screen and look for Mera. I don't see her, so she must be in the Sanctum area. After a little while she comes out, and seems to be faintly glowing. I rub my eyes as she approaches, but that doesn't cause it to go away. . . Once she's next to me, I feel a touch of that pressure I felt when the priest chanted. "What?"

I nod in understanding. "Yeah, that'd be awesome." I look back to the front, noticing the head Priest wrapping things up and people starting to leave. "So, should we go?"

"Sure sure, I've got a solid idea of what we should do next. But we'll need more practical clothes." She leads the way as we walk over to the adults and Tir. "For now though, does your Class Skill show up in your skill enhancement menu?"

"Oh that's, I'll uh, check that."

Crystal Count Lesser Mana Crystals: 1 Lesser Water Mana Crystals: 7

Exchange rate Lesser Mana Crystal-Minor Mana Crystal: 5:1 Minor Mana Crystal-Moderate Mana Crystal: 5:1 Moderate Mana Crystal-Greater Mana Crystal: 5:1 Greater Mana Crystal-Major Mana Crystal: 10:1

Skill Upgrade: Available Skills Art of Deception: Upgrade for 1 Major Mana Crystal Y/N Lesser Energy Drain: Upgrade for 1 Minor Mana Crystal Y/N Minor Regeneration: Upgrade for 1 Moderate Mana Crystal Y/N Monster Conversion: N/A

Skill Reformation(Water): Available skills Art of Deception: Reform for 1 Major Water Mana Crystal Y/N Lesser Energy Drain: Reform for 1 Minor Water Mana Crystal Y/N Minor Regeneration: Reform for 1 Moderate Water Mana Crystal Y/N Monster Conversion: N/A

"It's there, but upgrading the Art of Deception will take a lot. One Major Mana crystal is ten greater ones, which are five moderate ones each, one moderate is five minor, and a minor is five lesser. Sooo. . ."

"Ten times five is fifty, times five is two hundred fifty, and-"

"One thousand two hundred and fifty." Tir speaks up before Mera can finish working through the numbers.

Her left eyelid twitches at the interruption, but she shakes her head and looks down as if preparing herself for something.

"Right. Like I said, that's a lot. Should be a while before I can upgrade it."

Mera walks up to Dad looking determined. "Mister Tiruse, could you take me to that Lighthouse?"

I turn to look at her in surprise. Then after a few seconds it finally hits. "You want a Unique Skill too, Mera?"

 

Chaos_Sinner777

I'd intended this chapter to cover a little more, but then it was running a lil' long. Oops. Well, we'll get to that next time!

Thank you Cipiteca for making me decide that the lil blue monster had to be the water obsessed slime. Then again, they were mentioned in the same paragraph last chapter, soooo. Maybe it was destined to be? As an added bonus, I get to introduce its weird powers a little early now. Also kinda weird to give an evolved slime a knife made from slimes.

I felt a little lazy copying lines straight from chapter one, but, religious ritual stuff.

Decided to just use D&D stats for simplicity's sake. Though D&D logic for wisdom is that of perception and such, which she actually has good perceptive abilities, but has issues focusing on all the stuff she perceives so low still works I think. Definitely lacking in the other Wisdom associated concepts. Self-awareness, Common sense, and so on. No numbers though. Also the Medium, high, and all that is just her basic abilities, before levels and energy infusion. Kinda feel like Diviner and Dowser might be a little too similar, but oh well. I wanted more than five class options, but was having a hard time reaching ten. Sooooo. Eh.

Oh, and other classes may have some Arts and Lores, but most would be less focused on them.