by J. J. Thorn
Others had also mentioned their own affinities throughout the trip, where several had SWORD and SHIELD, as expected. The other unique affinities were a girl with the HEAL affinity towards the front of the wagon and a boy with the ARROW affinity beside her. There had also been a boy closer to us who had was unwilling to mention his own affinity. Zane guessed that he was the one with the RAT affinity we had heard about in rumors around town.
After disembarking, we made our way to the dorms and went to bed almost immediately. We had been instructed to wake up fairly early for the Headmaster's speech.
Erik Braun was a hard-looking man. His beard was well kept, black, and bits of grey strewn throughout. His voice was strong and assertive. When he started talking, the whole crowd of students became quiet instantly.
His commanding presence was domineering - so much so that I thought it was a Skill in itself.
His speech itself had provided both a great deal of information and none at all! As he spoke of our new abilities at school and his expectation of us, I thought back to the Head Priest in Huag. Two men who spoke about our ability to use our affinities uniquely.
The speech was located in the main auditorium, where the tournament had been held as well.
Walking to the auditorium had only taken minutes from the dorms, with most of the classes found in the same general area. In fact, the town of Krader was much bigger than Huag, with a large chunk of the town being used for Prep School facilities.
After the speech, we were all handed a pamphlet listing available courses for us to take.
As mentioned by the Headmaster, the list was very long, with at least 50 courses listed for first years alone. In the directions provided to us on the first page, General Magical studies was listed as the only mandatory course. Otherwise, each student needed to take 5 additional courses each semester, for a total of 6.
Based on the guidance listed in the book, it is possible to take a 7th course, but it is highly discouraged.
I looked at the list and started to think about my goals. The Headmaster's speech spent a lot of time discussing other types of roles in our society, from crafting to research-based roles. Those did not appeal to me. While I appreciated people who held professions that kept our towns running, similar to my parents, I aspired to be a Dungeoneer through and through.
The list was staggering:
Application of Affinities in Science
Geology and Mining 1 & 2
Alchemy
Herbology
Animal Husbandry
History of Affinities
Animals & Monsters
History of Crafting
Biology 1 & 2
History of Dungeons
Blacksmithing
Illusions
Body Anatomy
Magical Theory
Conservatism
Mathematics 1 & 2
Construction
Meditation
Cooking
Monster Behaviour
Cosmology
Monster Tracking
Dungeon Economics
Musical theory
Dungeoneering 1 & 2
Mythical Creatures
Economics 1 & 2
Projections
Enchanting 1 & 2
Self-Enhancement
Engineering
Strategies of War
Ethics
Strategy
Evocations
Survival
General Crafting 1 & 2
Tailoring
General Energy Manipulation
Theory of Crafting
General Fitness
Theory of Orbs
General Healing 1 & 2
Theory of Skills
General Weapons Training
World History 1 & 2
In the end, I decided on the following five courses:
Dungeoneering 1
Ethics
General Energy Manipulation
General Fitness
Monster Behaviour
Each course came with a very small description of what would be discussed. Each of these seemed to fit my ambitions the best.
Dungeoneering seemed like an easy choice. I wanted to be a Dungeon diver as my profession and the course would give me an introduction on what that meant. The drawback was that the course was split across the two semesters. This sucked, but it was necessary because towards the end of the second semester we got to ENTER A DUNGEON! That's crazy!
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm not willing to pass up. Plus, you needed to finish the first semester's course to be eligible for the second semester, so the choice was really easy.
I picked General Fitness next, as I wanted to keep up my fitness regime. I knew I could continue to get stronger, and this seemed like a great way to do so.
Monster Behaviour would be a great way for me to increase my knowledge of monsters overall. The course provided access to the same list of monsters as Guilds, which in itself would be very helpful.
I took General Energy Manipulation so that I could learn to use my internal energy better. I felt like I'd hit a wall in my own self-testing and I needed some help in understanding my internal energy better. I may only be at the first Rank, but I didn't want to stagnate now. Especially if I was some kind of genius!?
Lastly, I decided that Ethics would be a good way to round out the semester. This was probably my hardest decision, but I wanted to be a bastion of good in the world. Not just a Dungeoneer travelling around killing monsters for fun. I needed to spend some time understanding what that meant.
Seeing those dead bodies yesterday really put it into perspective. There are people out there who want to hurt and harm others. Heck, my Dad told me there was a war just before I was born! I would continue to see dead people, so I couldn’t shy away from that reality. Instead, I needed to come to terms with what that meant.
Ethics was a hard choice, and I really hoped I wouldn’t regret it.
In picking these, I lost out on some other REALLY good choices.
General Weapons Training seemed like something I should be taking, but I decided to defer that to the second semester, in favour of General Fitness instead.
Conservatism and Dungeon Economics would also need to happen in the second semester. I was hoping General Energy Manipulation and Dungeoneering would help provide an introduction to each of these.
Some other honourable mentions were Theory of Skills, Strategy, and General Crafting.
With the number of courses they had available, not considering all the specialized and advanced courses I wasn't even considering, someone could remain here for years!
Krader was huge, and based on the fact that they had a Dungeon nearby, plus Prep School itself, it was pretty obvious that most of the population would have an affinity.
With my courses decided, I finally stood up from the patch of grass I was sitting on.
"Haha, the prodigal friend finally awakens from his slumber!" Zane proclaimed startling me and putting me right back on the grass.
I hadn't been paying attention after leaving the auditorium and had just taken a seat in the closest grass nearby. Zane had also taken the opportunity to sit down, but I had been so engrossed in the sheet that I hadn't noticed anyone's presence around me.
"Did you wait around the whole time?" I said sarcastically, not having expected him to stick around.
"Oh, don't worry about it, I needed to look at the courses too. Here, I'm going to guess which ones you chose!" Zane beamed, making the process into a game. We had really bonded on the wagon ride, and I was happy to call him a friend.
"Ok, go for it."
"So, you're going to pick Dungeoneering for sure."
"Easy one, go again. You barely even had to try with that one."
"You're a bit of a hick who knows nothing, so I think you'll choose... Monster behaviour!"
"What?! That doesn't mean I'm a hick, I just didn't have super fancy tutors like some gol
den child."
"Ya, ya, hick boy." Zane teased.
"Ok, let's see if you can get another."
"I think you would have chosen..." He scanned the page again, thinking for my sake. "Theory of Skills?"
"Ha, not as smart as you think you are!"
"Maybe, or maybe you weren't smart enough to consider that class. Then what, General Weapons Training?"
"Neither of those, I chose General Fitness for the physical exercise and I was hoping that General Magic Studies would give me some basic theory on Skills for now."
"Makes sense, probably a safe enough assumption."
"What about you? Was it all theory and history classes for you?"
"Why would I take history classes when I already got tutored on them? No, I'll be branching out a bit. I believe the Goddess has a plan for me, and I plan to follow it through. I'll be taking Dungeoneering and General fitness with you, to start. Past that, I'll be taking Survival, Meditation, and Body Anatomy."
"Why would you take Meditation or Body Anatomy?"
"It's a theory I have about my affinity. I know A LOT about equipment and objects already. To take any classes on the topic would probably be a waste. Most of the history and theory classes are likely an introduction, so I probably know most of the information already. If I'm wrong, I'll take a couple in the second semester. Body anatomy will allow me to know more about the human body in case I get another Skill like the one I have already. And meditation is because I'm going to be stressed out! I'll need my rest, of course, Terrence!" Zane laughed.
"Based on your snoring last night, I'm going to be the one who needs the rest! Ok, let's go submit our courses and get some food."
"I don't know what you're referring to, I've never snored a day in my life." He responded as I made my way back into the auditorium to submit my course selections.
In truth, his snoring wasn't too bad... but he didn't need to know that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Let's go take a walk around Krader. I've only ever been here once for the tournament, I want to see how different it is from Huag."
"That works for Noah and me, we were bored in our dorms anyways. Mom and dad never really had us come out here. Regular people don't tend to do as well here."
Noah and Trevor had found us in the dining hall and decided to join our meal. During the trip, they seemed to be friendly enough, so I saw no reason to say no.
"Don't you guys have to finish picking your classes?"
"No, not really - we're not the adventure types. We were worried about finding the least dangerous wagon, you won't find us going into a Dungeon!" They both started to shake their heads in sync.
"But then what will you do?"
"Trevor here is going to go into blacksmithing, actually. His FIRE affinity should compliment that pretty well."
"And Noah is going to try his hand at both cooking and alchemy."
"Ya, I like what my parents do, but at the same time the idea of creating potions and poisons just seems super cool!"
"Ya, and blacksmithing means I get to be alone more often! Just me, my fire, and my tools. It sounds amazing!" He seems pretty into it already. Do I sound that way when I talk about Dungeoneering?
"But that's only like 2 courses, what else would you do?" I asked.
"Oh, we know, that's not all. We just won't be doing any of the Dungeon specific stuff, not for us. We'll probably also take General Crafting, and things like Geology and Mining, Herbology, and Animals & Monsters. Stuff that we can use to further our professions in the future. And the crafter classes are a little different. You can take them both semesters. If I want to be a blacksmith, why shouldn't I be able to take the classes necessary for those the entire year?"
"But you both have elemental affinities! Don't you want to throw around fireballs, or create flames out of thin air!"
"Not really."
"No."
Both brothers shrugged and went on eating their meals.
I guess they'd made up their minds.
Everyone's path is different, and the Headmaster did want people to make varied decisions!
"Ok, well classes start tomorrow, and you boys want to check out the town. My family used to come here all the time growing up, so I can be your guide for the day." Zane joined in.
"You both need to go register for classes first though. You'll receive a pass proving you go to school here. You need it to get in and out of the gates.
The twins took a few minutes to go register as we finished our meals.
Upon returning, we all agreed to head into town and started on our way to the school gates.
Despite being a part of Krader, Prep had its own set of gates that divided the campus from the rest of the city. As we continued to walk towards the gates, people were walking in and out of them. Guards would only check people coming into the city, but as we neared the gates a Guard called us over.
"Hi boys, on your way into the city?"
"Yes, is there a problem?" I replied for the group.
"No, you just seem younger and newer to Krader. I see you've received your passes, make sure you keep those on you at all times. And just a heads up, the Dungeon isn't available to anyone in first year. You won't be able to get into the area without a professor."
"Thanks, we were just going to go into town, no Dungeon for us today."
"All of you say that every year, but there's always some kid who thinks they can handle the Dungeon and tries to sneak through the gate."
"And what happens to them?”
“Well they either get caught by us or by the monsters inside. That’s what happens. So, steer clear!”
The guard walked back over to his post and continued to greet people as they came and went.
“No Dungeon tours for us today!” Everyone seemed to agree to the idea.
The rest of the day went by fairly quick. Zane spent most of the time showing us the merchants district and where some of the other major landmarks were, excluding the Dungeon.
I had brought my money with me, but didn’t really see anything I needed.
Zane had pointed out anything worthwhile from the merchants, but we thought it better to wait until we knew what Prep would provide us.
In the end, Krader was a very pretty city to look at. Enchantments were much more prevalent, and the number of people using their Skills or magic along the streets was more obvious. It even had a Guild Hall larger than the one in Huag.
The day was interesting, and it made Huag look like the hick town Zane joked about.
We spent a couple hours wandering and eventually made our way back to Prep.It had been a couple days since I trained, and my body was starting to feel it. Classes also started tomorrow.
Today was fun, but I couldn’t do this often.
We said goodbye to the twins, headed back to the dorms and went to bed.
Chapter 13
Interlude - Talon
Further north, a team of Dungeoneers were currently battling a pack of mountain cats, best known as Snow-Talons in this part of the world. Snow-Talons were known to be incredibly quick, while also having some of the sharpest claws available to any monster in the area, similar to those of a bird. Talons, in general, were a creature available in any part of the world. They were generally the same beast, with slight variations in colour and ferocity based on their location.
Snow fell onto the ground as blood was spilled into the stark white surroundings. Mountains could be seen in the distance, but visibility was low.
"Tell me why we decided to take this posting again?!" A woman yelled as she sent a volley of arrows at the nearest Talons. The woman was wearing leather on her legs, with thick fur-lined boots. Her arms were covered in leather as well, with her torso protected by a leather vest. Her hair was long and brown, with braids throughout. One arrow found its mark in the head of a Talon, while each of the others were evaded by the fast-footed beasts.
"We haven't
worked together in 3 months Rana, we needed an opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves" Tom Stine responded, after dispatching with another Talon.
"We've been a team for 4 years now. Do you really think..." Rana stopped to line up her shot and kill the last Talon on her side. "Do you really think we need a make-up session when we've worked together for 4 years already, Tom?" Rana finished after the Talon stopped moving on the ground.
The Talon was the last to start running towards their position.
"Will you two stop talking! Hurry up Lin, I can't hold these buggers off forever!" A large man with a shield yelled at his two teammates. 3 Talons were currently attacking his shield from the front as they darted side to side attempting to swipe at the man behind the hard surface. Griff held firm on his two-handed tower shield as he continued to hold off the Talons.
While Griff continued to distract the Talons, inky darkness crept up from the ground and began to cover the eyes of the 3 talons in front of him.