Chapter 10 : A not so typical evening

The sun was rising as she walked along the path towards the Dawnsteel manor. She greeted the manor guards as she was cordially let in the manor. There were sword clashing noises that could be heard coming form the training grounds, she creased her eyebrows and hurriedly paced herself.

She saw Raymond and Roth, sitting on the ground exhausted. There were copious amounts of weapons scattered along the field.

"Why did you start without me!" She complained while her hands were placed on her waist.

Both men looked at the voice, it was Lilian.

The morning sunlight accented her auburn hair that made her look more stunning. She wore her usual unbuttoned short vest with a black tank top that fitted exactly just and inch over her belly button. Her shorts was above her thigh, belted with a leather strap holding a sheathed dagger.

Roth thought that she was truly beautiful. He glanced at Raymond and saw his dazed expression, unable to speak any word. He chuckled at this.

"Good morning Lilian, and sorry." Roth stood up and picked his scattered weapons to return to his ring.

"Hmph." She scoffed at this, showing she was angry. "But that's a lot of weapons, you went all out huh? Very rare for you to do this." She asked curiously at Roth.

"Well, it's because..." He stopped for a moment to look at Raymond who was glaring at him, indicating to not tell the reason. Roth mischievously smiled.

"You guys continue training first, I need to do other preparations." Roth finished keeping his weapons and headed towards the door, avoiding the question.

Raymond sighed in relief but was betrayed immediately.

"Raymond was angry because of some girl. That's why we started without you. Sorry Lilian." Roth confessed as he closed the manor door.

Lilian quickly approached the sitting Raymond.

"Which girl?" She interrogated while having her hand readying her dagger.

"A job well done!" Roth patted his back as he walked towards his room. He always remembered Lexia's teachings that 'conflict in a relationship is needed to make it stronger'. He was so proud of himself.

Roth sat down and thought of other things he can do to prepare before the blessing. He decided to go over his experiences first, then fill in the gaps if there is something amiss.

He trained almost every weapon available to a decent degree. However, he couldn't match somebody who specialized in a weapon with the same caliber of training with the same weapon. That is why he needed multiple weapons to compete against Raymond or Lilian. He also kept studying about magic and the ways of the cleric diligently, hopefully to add these professions in the mix when the blessing starts.

He mulled over what to do and decided to study more about classes. He went to the manor's library and scoured for books that related to it. He gathered a stack of books and placed on the table. After hours of reading, forgetting about lunch, he held the last book called 'The Gifts of the Goddess'. He shifted to the page that covers the subject Roth wanted to learn more about.

He read:

Countless of historians and researchers convened on the meaning of 'class'. Being bestowed by a class grants you abilities that are incomparable to a normal individual. Aside from this, a class also increases substantial amount of life expectancy that multiplies depending on the rarity of the class.

A class can be seen by the individual or shown by that individual that has been bestowed the blessing of the Goddess. A person can see a screen visually with just a thought. You can basically see three things. Your class, written in in a certain color, a class rank written from I – X (which was named the numbers of the Goddess), and lastly, your skills with descriptions.

*For example*

Class : Swordsman (White)

Rank : I

Skills : Forward slash (accurately swing the sword forward), Reverse Slash (An advanced move that…)

The Compilation of the Classes known are shared throughout the continent and its diverse kingdoms. As of what is shown above, your class' rarity can be divided in the color of the text that it was written. There are five known class rarities while one rarity is still being debated.

White is common – about 70% of the population starts with this, with an expected increase of life expectancy for 50 or more years.

Green Is uncommon – near 20% starts with this, with an increase of 100 life or more years.

Blue is rare – roughly 10% starts with this, with an increase of 300 or more years.

Purple is Epic – Only a handful of people starts with this, with an increase of 500 or more years.

Gold is legendary – Nobody, as far as the records show, starts with this. There are still beings alive today that are more than 2,000 years.

Mythic, the last tier, is still unknown. There are only 2 accounts that had a mythic class. The Elven hero called 'Nature's Wrath.' and a dwarf who had the title 'God's hammer'. Details of these individuals are being researched and disputed as most information have been slowly washed away by the passage of time.

Classes are not permanent as they could still be advanced when your skill rank reaches its maximum. The class rank is basically 1-10, but could be seen as I – X, as the book mentioned, the Goddess' numbers. A rank can go up by fulfilling certain criteria's. As studied, a rank was found to increase by three main concepts: application, training, and knowledge.

Changing classes however, is not guaranteed when you reach rank X. You need specific conditions for the class change. These special conditions are mostly held by the kingdoms and other prevalent factions or families that only wants to pass on to their trusted people, especially for rare classes and above.

Skills are straightforward. Once you have learned a skill, your body and mind automatically remembers how to do it. Learning a skill on the other hand is a different matter. There are skills that comes along with your class that are only specific for that class, while some skills could be created using the three main concepts which could be passed on to descendants or disciples.

Roth flipped to the next page.

An integral part of our current society revolves around the blessing of the Goddess. This made all factions and families to train their children before 16 in order to have a preferred selection of classes. A person, at the moment of their blessing can choose only one of the given selection of classes that the Goddess will provide in accordance to the persons aptitude (again the three concepts: application, training, and knowledge). For example, a person training with a sword and bow could choose between an archer and a swordsman.

Remember, do not be dejected if your first class is a white rarity. There were prominent figures in the past that started with a common rarity class but rose to become legendary rarity. (See page 323 for the list of known legendary classes)

Roth closed the book as he reflected on the information he gathered. He stood and stretched, surprised as he didn't notice that the day was long gone. He took the books back to their designed allocation and headed to the dining room.

After a scrumptious dinner with his family, he went back to his room and prepared for bed. He laid and closed his eyes. For quite some time, he still couldn't sleep. He was already well prepared for the blessing and was living a good life, but only one thought bothered him – how to let Raymond and Lilian get together. He got out of bed, went outside to get some air.

Inside the manors office, Glidal was still working late at night even after dinner. There were countless of paperwork that needed to be approved, and reports that needed to be reviewed.

"Glidal, continue that tomorrow." Lexia said to Glidal as she hugged him from behind his chair.

"It's fine Lexia, I can still go on." Glidal said, focusing on the documents in front of him.

She leaned on to his ear and whispered seductively. "You can go on…with me… on the bed."

Glidal locked eyes with Lexia.

"You know it's uncomfortable to do paperwork on the bed." Glidal said in a serious tone.

Lexia rolled her eyes at this reply and quickly moved in front of the table.

"Give me." She glared menacingly.

Glidal was sacred and confused. "Give what?"

"I have information from 10 years ago."

She leaned forward. And said the following slowly.

"A certain prince of a kingdom secretly entered the Royal vault and took a hefty amount of a certain luxurious item. This item was then passed on to his friend in celebration. Now, does that ring a bell?"

Glidal was shook in cold sweat and didn't look at Lexia.

"Elf tears, Give it to me." She commanded as she opened her palms in front of him.

Caught guilty, he reached in his pocket and got the ring then placed it on her palm.

"Enjoy your work." She emphasized as she slammed the door when she exited the office.

Once she was in the bedroom, she tapped the storage ring and a bottle of 'Elf Tears' popped.

She opened the bottle and an aromatic scent wafted across the room. Her nostrils were assaulted by this smell and tempted her to immediately down the wine.

"As expected from this, I was waiting for him to share it but it seems that even Glidal can't resist this treasure." Lexia summoned ice that slowly formed to become a wine glass.

She poured the wine and took a sip and an unimaginable taste of mixed fruits and sweetness tinged with bitterness crossed her palate.

"As expected from the fruit of the world tree." She went out of the balcony and gazed on the moonlight.

Lexia was getting distressed because of Glidal. He had been working twice as hard since his promotion to Viscount. And clearly, he was addicted to climbing another ladder.

Lexia sighed as she sipped the wine. She lifted her glass to match the moonlight that made the wine shine.

"Cheers for years of night with no life." She muttered and finished her glass in one gulp.

She poured more wine on her glass and caught something on her peripheral. It was Roth, sitting on a bench on the garden, deep in thought.

"What is little Roth doing in the middle of the night?" She voiced, catching Roth's attention.

Roth look up and saw Lexia standing on the edge of the balcony with her short night gown while holding a bottle and a wine glass.