SS+ Potential?

Hellen was delighted after Erika told her that Riwall had a grade 5 bless. No mother would not be happy at something like this. She knew that her son would be able to work safely inside the court of some lord or maybe even in the royal court.

When she approached him about helping in forming his mana-core, she was initially surprised by his refusal, but after he told her about how he could already feel mana without further stimulus, she thought it was related to another of the blesses's effects.

He diligently worked on forming his mana-core following Friday's guidance to the letter, and on his fifth anniversary, he had a clean as marble mana-core inside his brain.

Friday opted to form the core in his brain for two significant reasons: security and responsiveness. No one was usually able to change its brain without serious repercussions, so to think someone's magic-core was inside the head was an absurd thought, if the core is somehow damaged, the magic casting can become erratic or completely cease to be possible, by having his mana-core in an unexpected place, the only way of stopping his magic was to kill him. And by having it so close to his brain, there was no communication delay, cutting the already fast casting time even more.

-------------------------

Another three years went by, the carving of the mana pathways took longer than anticipated, mostly to accommodate a false core Riwall created in his belly, this way he could eventually fool someone into thinking they managed to disable his mana core. The upside of so much time spent on the pathways was the fact that he leveled his first skill, |Mediation| all the way to level 15.

Riwall was ecstatic after Friday announced the end of both the mana pathways and the training. By now, his status page looked as follows:

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------Panel------

-Name: Riwall Madec

-Age: 8

-Level: 01 (0%)

-Mana purity: 100% (Prismatic)

-----BLESSINGS-----

---Temelth`s Blessing---

-Languages - MASTERED

-Unknown (locked)

-Unknown (locked)

-Unknown (locked)

-Unknown (locked)

-----ATTRIBUTES-----

--- Mental Attributes---

-Intelligence:10

-Wits:10

-Resolve:10

--- Physical Attributes---

-Strength:10

-Dexterity:10

-Stamina:10

--- Social Attributes---

-Presence:10

-Manipulation:10

-Composure:10

-----SKILLS-----

--- Mental Skills---

-Meditation: 15

--- Physical Skills---

-None

--- Social Skills---

-None

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"Mom! I finally finished making my mana-core!"

Hellen was so used to Riwall making impressive things, that she did not even take notice of how weird it was for someone to finish his mana-core without constant guidance.

Nevertheless, she stopped washing the dishes and inspected his body for any abnormality. By now his body may resemble that of an eight-year-old on the outside, but internally he was a beast, packed with extremely flexible and strong muscles.

She circled her mana through his body and saw that he not only finished his mana-core but also made an extremely efficient path for mana to flow. As blesses were rare and had bizarre and undocumented effects, she did not think much of this achievement.

"Congratulations sweetheart! Now you should be safe from all mana related sickness. Although you certainly took your time, most of the kids begin forming their mana-cores when they are five or six years old, while you started at three."

"No worries, I just wanted to make sure I did everything right, so, when am I going to leave our house?"

"I will make arrangements with Erika and have her cover for me tomorrow, and then we will spend the whole day outside."

"YES, FINALLY!"

Hellen laughed at her son's enthusiasm. She knew he was way more mature than other kids, which should have made staying inside the house for eight years an uncomfortable experience.

The real reason for his resilience was that Friday could make simulations about anything to entertain him, from mundane things like a summer festival to grandiose stuff like fighting alone against demons. If not for that, Riwall would have certainly escaped the house after four years locked up.

-------------------------

The village was by no means big or crowded, but it was bursting with activity. The houses were close to each other, and most were made of stone, it certainly had the medieval vibe that Riwall expected and it reminded him of many of the animes he watched when he was younger.

Hellen looked over to her son and was happy to see his eyes shining while looking at the village of Marsastor. She hoped that Riwall would opt for working as a crafter, provided she could find someone willing to take him as an apprentice. This trip to the town was not only to have him knowing his surroundings, but to get the Adventurer's Guild to evaluate him, and then bring him to masters of different crafts to see if one of them would accept him.

{Look at that Friday! A lizardmen!} He was looking at a 2 meter tall hunched blue humanoid creature with very prominent lizard characteristics, its entire head was that of a lizard, while the body was of a human, except that it was covered by tough and thorny scales. He was wearing heavy armor with a heavy fur coat to protect him from the cold, a very plain tower shield strapped on his back and a big sword by his side. He was talking to a human woman and had a very bizarre accent because of the format of his mouth.

[I saw] Friday said unenthusiastically.

{Wow! Look at that! there are all kinds of beastmen too!} Now he was pointing to a group of 3 beastmen talking by the road.

One was a gigantic 2,5 meter tall polar bear-men, his face was that of a bear, lacking the traces commonly seen on humanoid races like dwarves, elves, and humans, his body was bulky and covered in white fur and his posture was slightly hunched forward. He was boasting a flashy heavy armor and a huge hammer on its back.

The other two seemed to be a male and a female of the same species, they were a mix of lizards and humans, but their human side was much more prevalent than the lizardmen he saw before, they had a light green color, a straight posture, and bodies covered by spiked scales. They did not have a nose, only two slits. Their faces had some kind of bone that resembled a mask and gave them a fearsome appearance. Somehow they seemed even more dangerous than the lizardmen he saw before.

[Yeah yeah, I see it too] Friday was making it clear that she was not impressed by what she saw. AIs like her were created and programmed to develop with their hosts, at the start they would be mechanical in their behavior and make decisions solely based on numbers, but as their bond with the hosts deepened, they would develop their own personality in a way that would counterbalance the host's shortcomings.

Obviously they would never go against the hosts, but they would most definitely not indulge them in their bursts of excitement. They were there to bring psychological stability and push their humans forward in all their skills, Riwall knew that he could count on Friday being the voice of reason when he was too emotional or provoking when he hesitates.

Riwall's attention, that was focused on the multitude of different humanoid species, got captured by an astounding building they saw when turning a corner. It was a stone building three-story high that occupied an entire block, on top of that there a huge banner that showed in glowing letters the name he heard from Erica's stories many times: "Adventurer's Guild".

They were an autonomous entity that operated differently at each nation they were based on. There was a council that made sure each branch stuck to the core tenets their founders drafted, but every other matter was to be solved locally. In Azure Kingdom, the Adventurer's Guild was partially independent, they were free to do as they pleased, but were obligated to answer to any Lord call to arms in matters regarding monsters and dungeons. Riwall did not know how the Guild operated in other kingdoms.

His mind was racing picturing a tavern-like interior like the ones from fantasy worlds, but when he got inside, he was beyond disappointed.

{It seems like they take a spartan approach, this looks more like a fort than a guild!}

[That was to be expected, they are not an entertainment institution, as far as Erica's stories are reliable, they are responsible for dungeon delves and monster culling countrywide.]

{I know, but a part of me was still holding tight to the concept of Adventurer's Guild from RPGs and animes.}

He could swear he felt Friday's disappointment at his nerdiness through their connection.

"Mom, what are we doing here?"

"We are going to have your ID card made, and it is the most important proof of identification you can have on yourself."

{Friday, are you sure you can trick any form of prying?}

[Yes. I mean, probably.]

{Why am I not reassured by your words?}

[If they make a reading attempt like the one from Erika's tablet, I am 100% sure I can trick it. The success will be tied by the % of resemblance between the two readings.]

{It's not like we can refuse it. Everything will work out in the end, we just need to stay positive!}

"Mom, Erica already told me about Muller's Tablet and attributes and such. Do you think I will have good attributes?" He was fishing for some information about the range of attributes he ought to have.

"I am sure you will have great attributes, honey! It's possible to increase them with items and some spells, the only reason for testing at such a young age is because it's a good indicator of a person's potential. If you can get physical skills around 4 or 5, you will be able to get a good master for learning a craft."

"Wait, a master for what? You are planning on making me a crafter?"

{What the hell is she up to?}

"Oh, look! It's our turn! Cmon Riwall!" She quickly dodged his question and pulled him to the reception desk.

{I'm so not going to like what she has planned.}

A grumpy older man with wrinkles all over his face and a Santa Claus white beard barely looked at their faces before getting to business.

"One Adventurer Card right? What's your name?"

"Uhhhh... It's Riwall sir, Riwall Madec" Riwall took some time to answer because he was gawking at the man.

{He is a dwarf! A dwarf Friday!}

[Yes, I can see that. Are you going to react like that to every new race you find? You didn't show half of this enthusiasm when I was telling you about magic!] She still felt offended by his dull reaction to her discovery of mana possibilities.

{Oh my god! That means there must be elves and orcs and goblins and all Tolkienesque races!} Her jab at his lack of enthusiasm for magic went over his head.

[Yeah, I guess so.]

{Erica never said there were this many humanoid races among us! This is so awesome!}

[You really need to pay more attention to the world you are living in, some of her stories spoke about orcs and elves. It's just that this society is so plural that people don't waste time carefully describing each race. You should have noticed she took great care when talking about the spells and the equipment of the heroes.]

Friday's words struck a chord and he remembered that the stories did in fact prioritize the description of legendary spells and equipment of the heroes. His way of thinking was still too much Earthly.

"Madec huh? So you must be Hellen Madec, I didn't know the village healer had a kid."

"Well, nobody ever asked about it, so I did not feel like sharing." Her tone made it clear that the dwarf should not follow up with more questions on the matter.

{Well, it seems Hellen has been hiding me from the others, I will have to ask her about it later. It may be that my isolation was not so much about diseases related to mana, but to something more dangerous.}

"Sorry for prying, I was just surprised." The dwarf quickly apologized and followed with his job.

"Riwall, put your hand in this tablet and pour some of your mana in it, don't let it go until the glow start dimming."

{Time to shine Friday.}

[I will do my best!]

Riwall did as instructed and expected the same sensation he got when Erica made him use her tablet. Except that it now felt like someone was inserting needles in his head using a warhammer.

[I can't hold all the pressure!]

Again, Riwall had no time to stop the process before it was completed, the grumpy dwarf looked at the tablet without interest before widening his eyes and gaping at what he saw. His eyes darted from the tablet to Riwall multiple times before he excused himself.

"You two stay here, I need to call the Guild Master, I have never seen anything like that!"

Before Hellen or Riwall could protest, the dwarf ran to the stairs at an incredible speed and disappeared.

Soon he was back accompanied by a tall and slender black haired elf, he was using robes so beautiful, and that exuded so much power that Riwall took a few seconds to stop admiring it.

"You are Riwall, right? And you are his mother, the current village's healer?"

"Yes, my name is Hellen, and I'm Riwall's mother."

"Follow me to the meeting room. We have some important things to discuss."

Hellen reluctantly followed the Guild Master while firmly hold Riwall's hand.

He led them to an ample room with a circular table surrounded by chairs and some couches by the sides. He led them to one of them and sat in a chair looking directly at them.

"Introductions are in order. Nice to meet you Hellen and Riwall, my name is Hector, and I'm the Guildmaster of Marsastor's Adventure's Guild. I will be as direct and honest as my position allows." Hector said with a frown.

Both Riwall and Hellen gulped.

"Hellen, your son is the first kid with a potential ranked as SS+ in Marsastor since its founding a few hundred years ago. Are you familiar with what that means?"

"No, I'm not, is he in danger?" Hellen was cold sweating of fear for her son's safety.

"It would be more correct to say that we are the ones in danger, his attributes are all 7, be it physical, mental, or social."

"WHAT?" Hellen shouted while jumping out of the sofa.

"Seven in ALL stats? how is that possible!?"

"The tablet got a positive indicator for the presence of a blessing, which explains the high attributes. The way of the gods is beyond us mortals, a god or goddess found it wise to bestow great gifts to your son."

"But why did you say we are the ones in danger?"

"Because your son will most definitely become a master or even a grandmaster of any field he chooses to pursue, should he develop as much as his potential allows, he will be unstoppable in any city but the capital. But it will not come to that, his aura, as it is now, is kind and pure, if it was twisted in any way I would be obligated to end his life right now, as per the Guild's first tenet."

Both mother and son were too shocked to talk, Hector took this opportunity to continue.

"As per Marsastor's Lord decree, every kid with a potential of A or above shall be trained for combat by the Lord's instructors and need to choose at least one craft to occupy their free time. The Marsastors will make sure he is well treated."

"But he will still live with me, right?" Hellen was smart and knew this was the best for her kid, but her emotions got the better of her. She hoped in vain to keep him at her side longer. Should he get a master the usual way, he would still live with her for a few years before moving over to the master's house to continue the teachings.

Hector sympathized with her struggle, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it.

"Unfortunately he needs to move over to the castle grounds the first thing tomorrow morning. Coincidentally tomorrow is the day the castle had already schedule to send guards to move the commoners with high potential to their new home. You will be allowed to visit him as many times as you want, as long as it does not hamper his training. I will be his master in fields related to magic, so you can always ask the guild clerks for information about your son, I will make sure to keep them all informed."

"I... thank you, we need to go now, have a good day."

{Shit, the drama at the house will be huge, but I'm actually anxious to learn new things. Although I have the feeling that I may end up a prisoner of them. This whole "move to the castle grounds" stuff sounds fishy.}