Chapter 153 - 146

It didn't happen often, but Nick was pleased with his progress. There was much he still needed to work on, and even more he could develop with some effort. However, the last few days had made it clear that while he wasn't anywhere near the true powerhouses, his growth was still beyond what could be considered average. That didn't mean he intended to slow down, much less stop. No, it only meant he was on the right path. On Earth, he often faced setbacks. At times, he simply couldn't master the spell he was trying to learn. Other times, he lacked the resources or the raw power to overcome an obstacle. It had been extremely frustrating, but there hadn't been much he could do about it. That world was simply too limited. Mana was too scarce, and his personal talent was too low to bridge the gap. Here, the sky was the limit, and not just metaphorically. He could potentially develop true flight one day and become as free as a bird. I would still leave Floria sooner or later. This place is just too vast for me to spend my life here, regardless of how lovely it may be. Meanwhile, he had a few tasks he wanted to address. Arthur's timeline for the arrival of the "interested parties" wasn't particularly generous, so he needed to get started. I'm still not convinced I need to run from those guys, but I'm not willing to bet that he's wrong. He was weirdly insistent about it. As Nick sat on his bed with Talbot napping beside him, he finally opened his ancestor's tome. His father had asked him to read through it to check for any glaring issues with his theory, and Nick intended to extract as much as he could from it. He wondered why Eugene was so insistent that he read it. Could he actually know? Dad is the kind of guy who seems very transparent, but as he has recently demonstrated, he has a lot of hidden depths. He'd spent so long hiding his Occultist class that the mere thought of anyone knowing sent a shiver down his spine. He didn't believe his parents would reject him, but he was too accustomed to obscurity to feel comfortable with it. No, he would have said something. It's probably just that he thinks I, being a mage, would have an easier time parsing through the theory. That felt more like a baseless wish than he would have liked, but there wasn't a way for him to confirm his suspicions without revealing himself. As long as he doesn't mention it, I won't. If he knows, he's fine with it, but if he doesn't, he might not be. Since Eugene had been forced into a class he didn't want, Nick doubted he'd be very upset, but he still felt uneasy about revealing himself. Smacking his cheeks to halt his spiraling thoughts, he resolved to leave that for future Nick to handle. Talbot meowed in annoyance at the sudden sound, and Nick offered him a scratch behind the ears as an apology. "The first thing one must understand before delving into Class analysis is that these are not simple templates the System assigns to us mortals." The text read, and Nick straightened. Yes, he should concentrate on learning from his ancestor, especially if he could learn about the System. "That is a brutish, simplified understanding. While it serves to teach children how the world works, it hampers long-term growth. Societies like the Adelphi of Agape Island attest to this. Their comprehensive school system takes years to yield results, and it has been derided as excessive by many scholars who don't see the need for the general populace to know anything beyond the basics. However, their results speak for themselves. While the average citizen of the Ancient and Just Kingdom of Berea—henceforth referred to as Berea, law be damned—can expect to reach level twenty to thirty as a civilian and thirty to forty in martial or magical classes, their own people range from thirty to forty as civilians and, more exceptionally, from fifty to sixty in martial or magical classes. This result comes from everyone in the Adelphi studying their Path and how to best walk it." Nick took a moment to digest that. He knew that people here only learned the basics. He had seen the difference between what everyone was taught at the temple and what he and his brother learned from their parents. But to know it caused such a significant difference on a larger scale still surprised him. He doubted that these Adelphi were any more motivated than the people of Berea. No, this difference arose directly from their understanding of what they needed to do to advance and, more importantly, what to avoid. A blacksmith in an adventuring town likely gains more Exp from forging nails than from embellishing swords or buckles; however, the latter generates more income, and thus, he focuses his efforts there. That was a simplistic example, but it did make him think. What was he doing that wasn't efficient? The first answer that comes to mind is killing monsters, but that's not exactly true, is it? I gained a lot of Exp from hunting the Alpha. I earned many levels in the dungeon by defeating fae and monsters. But there were times when I received less than expected and times when I got more. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He instinctively knew there was something more there. But he was realizing it was far more important than he initially believed. I already know this. I earned more Exp when I defeated monsters or fae to fuel a ritual or gather ingredients. When I killed them simply because they were enemies, I earned less. That didn't mean he couldn't fight unless it was to do something occultist-y, but it did change his priorities. Nick couldn't just hunt monsters across the forest or grassland and expect to keep growing at the same rate. He needed to involve his Path somehow, and not just as a technicality. "The System is known to take all aspects of a person into account before assigning a class, but not everyone realizes that the same child may receive vastly different results based on their circumstances and location. Let's consider the example of Billy and Tilly, the twin children of my father's guard captain." The text continued, and Nick nearly licked his lips. Having actual data would be incredible. He hoped Aleister hadn't done anything too questionable to obtain it, but he would still read the entire book. "Billy and Tilly are something of a unique case. Despite one being male and the other female, they were both trained in swordsmanship using the same method and were noted to possess similar talents. With both parents being skilled swordsmen, no one pressured them to change their minds. However, on the day of their class ceremony, the carriage that was supposed to take them to the temple was attacked. In the chaos, Tilly was captured by bandits and spent three days in captivity." The clinical way the text recounted the story told Nick that Aleister had no emotional attachment to the children, despite their apparent connection to his household. "As far as I could tell from going through their minds, the bandits held the girl in a comfortable location and wasn't mistreated. Despite some fear due to the sudden kidnapping, I didn't notice any significant change in her personality. However, the event delayed her Class Ceremony. Since waiting a year wasn't acceptable to either the girl or her parents, she was taken to the Wetlands, where the earliest Class Ceremony was held." A small map was provided below, highlighting the original location of the Crowley household, the capital city of the Kingdom, Siderea, and the distance traveled to the Wetlands, which was apparently the name of the southernmost province of the kingdom at that time. A town named Burges was underlined to indicate it as the location where the girl was taken. He went through their memories?! Does that mean he was trained in the mind arts? Nick would have loved to read more about that, but his ancestor apparently didn't consider it worthy of further explanation. "Despite the nine-day gap between Billy and Tilly getting their classes, the difference in results was stark. The son, who received his class in Siderea, became a Swordsman, much like his parents before him. The daughter, who undertook the ceremony in Burges, a town known for its proximity to the Great Swamp and the mines of bog iron, became a Groundsword, a class usually found only in that region." The book went on to argue that some suggested that during those three days of kidnapping, the girl might have been exposed to unique compounds or experienced a change in personality due to the trauma. However, Aleister was adamant that the only real difference between the twins was the location of their Class Ceremony and corroborated this by putting the children through repeated mind-readings. It was a fascinating piece of research, and Nick couldn't find anything wrong with it. Given that Tilly's class was still sword-related, it was clear that she aspired to follow in her family's footsteps; therefore, it couldn't be argued that she silently yearned for a different life. Unless they used some rare artifact to influence the Ceremony, the only change was the location. And Aleister would have noticed it when he went through her memories. As Nick continued to read, he finally reached the section his father had referenced when changing his own class. Surprisingly, this entire chapter turned out to be a spin-off of the initial case, where Aleister explored various ways to influence a Class Ceremony before devolving into methods for changing the Class once it had been assigned. The Ritual itself was the most fascinating part of the chapter. It worked by invoking in the caster a profound certainty that their class was wrong, and that their Path would break if they were forced to walk upon it. By using powerful ingredients—Aleister implied that a divine relic might be needed, but Eugene's use of a Drake's heart indicated otherwise—the caster would then demonstrate to the System what path they wished to undertake, and it would manage the rest. It was a simpler ritual than Nick had expected. He was quite sure that if he had a powerful ingredient on hand... Actually, he did. The remnants of his wand would probably suffice for this. Still, Nick was not interested in changing his own class. Although the secrecy might bring him some trouble, he was confident he would be dead without the advantages it provided. Still, it now made sense why Eugene, who had minimal magical training, was able to complete the ritual. It was little more than a plea to the System to intervene, along with an offering to drive the change. The primary obstacle preventing anyone from altering their own class was the necessity of a powerful ingredient—something that an ordinary civilian was unlikely to obtain. It was fascinating to see how Aleister had approached that. Nick had a wealth of experience to draw upon, yet he barely recognized a tenth of the symbols his ancestor had employed. Those he did recognize stemmed from his lessons in the temple. Nonetheless, from what he could discern, it was merely an advanced ritual circle, designed to manage the strain of the Invocation for the caster. If a mage performed the ritual, they might get away with a much simpler circle, as they could direct and shape the mana within their channels. But then again, in that case they would lose the class in the middle of the ceremony, along with their ability to shape mana. A part of the ritual felt entirely alien compared to the rest. It included symbols Nick had no reference for, but parsing through the technical explanation below provided him with a sense that it originated from an older, less efficient ritual that Aleister had discovered and repurposed. It was the aspect that would attract the System's attention, which was unfortunate because Nick would have truly liked to learn how to do it. He could replicate the symbols and hope for the best, but that was a recipe for disaster. No, the most valuable insight he gained was the translation of a single symbol, which vaguely resembled an upside-down cross with the top squiggled out. Aleister claimed that meant "the Deep." He didn't elaborate much, but Nick sensed it was not a topic he was comfortable discussing at all. For an occultist of his caliber to be so reticent… It will require extensive preparation before I can do anything with it, but if it relates to what I believe it does, it could be quite interesting. Overall, the book was an excellent discovery. One read-through wouldn't be sufficient for Nick to uncover every secret, but he felt he grasped what Aleister had written. It was also quite vague when it came to achieving Prestige. While there was some discussion about Paths, it was limited and primarily focused on individuals feeling they were on the wrong one rather than what to do to complete it. But I have other things too. I know I should focus more on my occult abilities, and that Aleister could read minds. Those are two avenues I will explore. Ultimately, nothing could beat good old-fashioned experimenting. In a stroke of luck, Nick sensed his father's presence at the edge of his awareness, signaling that his lab rat was finally returning home.