I looked between both Grey and Azarus, somewhat bewildered. “Alright, that doesn’t help me much, you know. Can’t just tell me to choose a couple of Professions when I don’t know anything about them. I’m not from around here, remember?”

Azarus glanced away, rubbing the back of his head and mumbling something vaguely apologetic.

Grey coughed into his fist, embarrassed. “Apologies. I let my enthusiasm for the subject get away from me.” Shaking off his embarrassment, Grey straightened in his chair. “Let us begin with an explanation of what Professions are and their importance then, shall we?”

Looking back over to Grey, Azarus grunted. “Do ya want me to go get the book, then?”

“Yes, thank you. That would be helpful.” Grey smiled at Azarus. “However, I’ll start with a cursory explanation.”

Azarus nodded before getting up from the table and exiting the room.

“Professions,” Grey started, drawing my attention back to him. “Are the unexpected cornerstone of the System. They are the myriad of different pseudo-classes that allow the user to meticulously create whatever their soul desires if they have the creativity for it. In this world and beyond, there are seven categories of Professions. Ah, thank you.” Grey said to Azarus, who was coming back into the kitchen.

He was carrying a leather-bound book under his right arm. Nodding at Grey, he put the book down on the table in between Grey and me and then sat back down at the table. I also noticed that he was carrying a small handheld mirror. He set that down next to him.

Looking down at the book that Azarus had brought in, I saw that it was embossed with a stylized rendition of a heptagram. The book was titled rather simply Professions of the World, with the initials S.V.G. engraved underneath it.

Grey smiled fondly down at the book. “Ah, Silvain von Gradon’s magnum opus. A wonderfully intelligent man, but he was sadly lacking with his naming sense.” Looking back up at me and tapping the cover of the book, Grey smiled mysteriously. “Does this symbol look familiar to you, Nathan?”

Leaning over and taking a closer look, I frowned in thought. “Hmm,” I muttered. I swear I’d seen something similar recently.

Wait.

I looked up at Grey, an eyebrow raised. “When I looked at my Status earlier and selected the Profession panel, I saw something like this in there. That’s what you mean, right?”

“Indeed,” Grey nodded. “The heptagram represents the Profession system. At each point along the symbol lies one of the seven Professions. Those Professions are Smithing, Wildshaping, Enchanting, Alchemy, Artistry, Fleshcraft, and Engineering.” He said, tapping each point on the symbol in a clockwise motion with each name he said.

“They’re just categories though.” Azarus piped in. “You don’t actually end up with one of those on your Status. When you’re taught the base Profession by someone that knows it, one of two things happen.” He said, holding up one finger. “One, you can influence what Profession you end up with. Say your pa was a Carpenter and you want to learn how to be a Carpenter from him. First, he would teach you the base Profession of Engineering, and then you would concentrate on becoming a Carpenter. System is a’ok with you choosing your own Professions like that. Two,” He said, folding down one of his fingers. “You let the System choose the Profession you end up with. The System is burrowed deep into your soul, right? Supposedly, it knows you best and can choose what would suit you best.”

“It’s considered the more romantic option,” Grey said thoughtfully. “But I recommend it. Generally, those who let the System choose for them are more likely to express satisfaction and joy in their work.”

“Hey now, I chose me own Professions and I enjoy them just fine,” Azarus said to Grey.

“Of course,” Grey said, conceding. “However, this belabors the point of why everyone, even serious Classers focus intently on their Professions. It isn’t because they have a deep devotion to the art of creation, after all. It’s because the more you create, the more complex and powerful your creations, the more Impact you create for yourself.”

“Impact?” I asked.

“Understand, Nathan, that Impact is merely what the academic community calls it. We cannot measure it in any true way, as the System will not communicate the weight of your Impact. The Impact theory is merely the generally understood mechanism that determines your Class choices at the selection break points. Impact shapes the choices and rarity of the Classes that will be available to you at selection. What you create through your Professions, will determine the Class that you receive. As you might expect, this makes Professions exceedingly important.” Grey told me seriously.

I leaned back in my chair. “Classes, huh. I saw that my Status didn’t have one on it. Just said not applicable. When do those come in?”

“Level ten is the first Class up,” Azarus said. “But that’s a ways away for you, so don’t worry about it for now.”

Clearing his throat, Grey said. “Returning to the topic of Professions, you should have an understanding of your options before you choose your two. Let’s start with Alchemy, shall we? Alchemy is-”

Azarus cut in. “Alchemy is mixin’ shit to get new shit, Enchanting is puttin’ magic on things, Smithing is beatin’ metal into shape, and Engineering is designin’ and buildin’ shit.”

Grey closed his eyes, pained. “Azarus, please. You know that’s only the very surface level.”

“We’ve been jawing enough as it is,” Azarus said to him. “Let the man choose already. I bet you want him to just let the System choose his true Professions anyway. We can help him with what he gets afterward.”

“Hold up for a second,” I said, raising a hand. “What about the other three? Those not an option?”

Grimacing, Azarus nodded. “Well, to start Magnus is the only Artist within leagues of here.”

“How do you know?” I asked him.

“Profession info is publicly available-”

“In the Principality, in order to better subjugate you,” Grey muttered under his breath.

Azarus carried on like he hadn’t heard him. “-so it’s not hard to see who has what in a given area. But as for Wildshaping and Fleshcraft, it’s probably not a good idea that you try and get those anyhow. Not ‘cause you couldn’t do them, but because it’s a mite suspicious that anyone your age doesn’t already have his two Professions. The people in this town are lickspittles that’ll run to Magnus and blab to him about the littlest things to try and curry some favor with him. ‘sides,” He said proudly. “The four we’ve got here are probably the best you could get if you want to be a serious classer.”

Grey sighed. “In some respects, he’s correct.” He said to me. “But not all. However, he is correct in that the Professions that we possess are likely the best ones you can pursue without raising any suspicion.”

I leaned back forward, elbow on the table and chin in my palm. I closed my eyes in thought for a moment.

I was pretty sure I knew what I was going to choose.

I opened my eyes and dropped my hand from my chin. I nodded to both of them, one after the other. “Alright then. Enchanting and Engineering. How do we do this?”

Grey smiled at me. “Simply take my hand and we can get started.” He stretched out his right hand.

I raised an eyebrow at him but nonetheless reached out with my right hand and clasped his.

Grey cleared his throat. “It’s very simple. Do you wish to learn Enchantment?”

I raised the other eyebrow but answered him. “Yes, I do.” As soon as I said that, I could feel a small spark jump between our two palms, as if we had shocked each with static electricity. Pulling my hand back, I looked down at my palm. Nothing. Looking back up at Grey, I asked. “It’s really that simple? How do I know if it worked?”

Grey nodded at me. “It truly is that simple. As for checking it, I believe that’s why Azarus brought a mirror with him, correct?” He finished, looking over at Azarus.

“Aye,” He nodded. “But first we’ve gotta do mine. Gimme yer paw.” He said, also stretching out his right hand.

I reached over and took it.

Azarus cleared his throat too, exaggeratedly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Grey roll his. “Do you wish to learn Engineering?” He said, equally as exaggerated.

I smirked at him, amused. “Yes,” I said simply. I again felt a small spark jump between our two palms.

Azarus pulled his hand back to clap it with his other one. “Alright then! Check ‘em out and see what you got, ‘cause I’m guessing you didn’t think too hard on what you wanted.” He said, picking up the handheld mirror next to him and handing it to me.

I took it from him before asking them a question. “I’m guessing this is how you check your Status? Like how I did in the washroom mirror?”

Grey nodded. “Indeed. Unfortunately, it’s one of the limitations of the System. You may only access or make adjustments to your Status through either a mirror or a reflective surface. Simply focus on the Status boxes in your reflection and concentrate on manipulating them. No verbal element is required.”

I nodded back at him before looking down at the mirror and concentrating on the blue boxes that I could see in the upper right-hand corner. They disappeared and new, larger boxes appeared across the center of the mirror.

I looked back up at Grey’s expectant face. “Looks like I got Material Enchantment and Mechanical Engineering.”

Grey raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Material Enchantment is one of the most common forms of Enchantment. It has a long and storied history within the Profession, so congratulations. But Mechanical Engineering? I’m not familiar. Azarus?” He said, glancing over at Azarus.

Azarus stroked his beard for a moment. “Hmm. Sounds like Clockwork. But no, haven’t heard of it before. Maybe it’s because he’s a Precursor?”

I gaped at them. “Seriously? You guys don’t have any kind of machines on this planet? Nothing at all? Gears and pistons and ball bearings and all that jazz?”

“Well, well,” Grey said, also stroking his beard. “A new profession. It’s been some time since that occurred. I take it that you’re familiar with the fundamentals, Nathan?”

I leaned back in my chair stunned. No mechanical engineers, huh. In retrospect, I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m guessing that magical fantasy land had never had an industrial revolution. “Very, very broadly,” I told him. “It’s just such a common facet of life back home that it’s hard to describe how big it is.”

“Hmm,” Grey muttered consideringly. “That’s generally how a new Profession is introduced. Someone with an existing Profession will begin to experiment and build new knowledge. After a time, there comes a breaking point where knowledge of how a new Profession would work and it’s added to the pool of available Professions. In your case,” He said to me. “It’s as if so much general knowledge of a Profession was added to the world at once that it instantaneously created a new Profession in a subject that you were inclined towards.”

“D’ya think it might’ve…?” Azarus said to Grey, trailing off.

Grey looked at him confusedly for a moment before his eyes lit up. “Oh! Of course! Nathan!” He said, turning back to me. “Does Mechanical Engineering have anything to do with clocks and clockwork mechanisms?!”

“Uh,” I said, stunned at his enthusiasm. “Yeah, it does. I’m pretty sure that clocks are just one of the things that fall under mechanical engineering as a field.”

Grey smiled wider than I’d seen him do so far. “Then we may well have just witnessed a Profession Shift. Gods, it’s been so long since that’s happened. It was nearly before my time…” He trailed off. Refocusing, he must have seen the confusion on my face. “Oh, my apologies Nathan. You wouldn’t know what that is. Suffice it to say, Clockwork is, possibly was, still a relatively new Profession, only about a century old. It’s been believed that the Profession was heading towards a Shift, since it’s so new. A Shift happens when enough information about a Profession has accumulated among the population that it changes names and begins to encompass a wider field of expertise. It’s been long believed that Clockwork Engineers were only scratching the surface of the potential that their Profession could tap into. However, the general belief was that the Shift was centuries of experimentation away. How exciting!” He finished, still smiling widely.

“Okay,” I said, nonplussed. “I’m just going to go back and look at my Professions, alright?” Having said that, I looked back down at the mirror and focused on the yes button.

The blue boxes on the mirror rearranged themselves into the familiar heptagram from yesterday, except there were changes this time. On opposite sides of the heptagram, two of the circles were outlined in blue-white light. Inside those circles were symbols now. On the left-hand side of the heptagram, the circle had a small gear symbol in it. On the right-hand side, the circle had a small symbol I didn’t recognize in it. I guess those two symbols represented the Professions I had acquired.

“Huh,” I said consideringly, looking at the rest of the Profession panel. “Hey Grey, I hate to rain on your parade, but I have a question.”

Grey snapped out of it to look back at me. “Hmm? Yes, Nathan?”

“Earlier you said that people can only take two Professions, right? Well, why is that?”

Grey stared at me blankly for a moment. “The answer should be obvious.” He said slowly, as if I were a particularly dim child. “It’s because once you accept two Professions, the rest of the Profession star closes off.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Azarus looking at me pityingly.

I felt an eyebrow twitch. “Yeah? Well, it didn’t on mine. The rest of the circles are still open.”

Grey froze.

Azarus froze.

“What?” I said, looking between them.