“Not that I’m in a rush, but when will the carriage arrive?”
Cal expected some sort of transportation to be waiting for them, but there was nothing of the sort. He couldn’t see the Overseer running around to travel through the territory, hence the assumption about the carriage.
“Who said anything about a carriage?” The Overseer apparently enjoyed being unnecessarily cryptic.
I should have learned by now that my assumptions are too often wrong.
Cal shifted as they waited in silence. It hadn’t been longer than a few seconds in total, but when the Overseer was his waiting companion, even a few seconds felt too long.
“So, are we going to the training grounds for this?” Cal honestly didn’t care where they went. He just wanted to fill the silence.
“No. There is nothing usable there at the moment. We’ll be going to the Central Sanctum.”
“The core guild?” He asked with surprise. “Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of me staying beneath the guild’s notice?:”
The Overseer glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t get confused about the extent of your secrecy. The ones that need to know in the Celestial Order are aware of your developments, so there’s no reason to fear getting close to the Celestial Sanctum as long as you don’t draw the attention of the Masters.”
“Since the Masters and the Elder Council are unaware, I’m guessing the guildmaster knows of me?” Cal couldn’t think of another possibility. After all, the incident in the Great Market was suppressed to avoid letting the council know.
The only issue was that the guildmaster was a… dumbass. There was no other way to put it politely. Cal had only seen him a couple times from a distance in his previous life, but he was almost certain the man was the main cause of the Celestial Order’s downfall.
The Overseer—now known for being cryptic—hummed noncommittally.
Cal didn’t get the chance to probe the matter further. The ground started to glow softly before an unfamiliar runic circle appeared. It was large enough to comfortably fit up to three people within its borders.
“Let’s not delay any further, Apprentice Cal,” the Overseer had already stepped inside the circle and motioned for him to do the same.
Cal switched between eyeing the runic circle and the Overseer. It wasn’t hard to figure out what the runic circle was for, but he was having a difficult time accepting someone in the Celestial Order was capable of it.
“This is going to take us to the Central Sanctum?” Cal didn’t try to hide the doubt he felt.
“As I mentioned, it’s not an issue for me to travel inside the guild’s territory. I commissioned this circle when I realized the Northern Wastes would become a place I must visit frequently. It’s unfortunate that it is so weak, but we must accept what we can possess.”
Is this a nudge for me to choose [Rune Scribe]? It won’t work.
Cal didn’t respond to what the Overseer said, but he did step into the circle. It immediately lit up and flashed a bright white.
It was almost shocking how seamless the whole process was. One moment, Cal was staring at a dirt path with trees on both sides; the next, he was staring at the sprawling city that was informally called the core guild.
Cal turned in surprise when the Overseer didn’t go towards the core guild. He was walking in the opposite direction.
“Er, the core guild is that way,” Cal had to comment even though it felt redundant.
“Do you want to reveal yourself?” The Overseer’s reply was rhetorical and directly contradicted what he said less than a minute ago.
… The Overseer said I shouldn’t fear getting close to the Central Sanctum. Not the core guild. So, the man is fond of misdirection in addition to being cryptic.
Cal followed the Overseer silently before stopping where the land rapidly sloped down into a cliff. There was a deep pit where he could see several golems with massive proportions mining the land. The pit was filled with deposits of purple rock, which were clawed out of the ground by the golems.
“That color looks familiar,” Cal muttered as he pulled out a guildmark. The coin had the same shade of purple and the rock being mined below.
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“Good eye, Apprentice Cal. This is the mine that contributes a large portion of the income of the Celestial Order.”
He stared down at the mine with a bewildered expression. It was nice to know, but he wasn’t sure why he was being shown this.
“In addition to that, this is the only place in the guild’s territory that has enough ambient mana for a Class to be assigned. I think you can survive a jump of this height. It’s a crude way to get down there, but the mines weren’t made with human sensibilities in mind. Follow.”
Cal flinched when the Overseer jumped off the edge and plummeted down to the pit. It had to be hundreds of feet deep, and while the Overseer might be casual with this type of jump, he certainly wasn’t.
But there is no other way down.
He watched the Overseer land in the pit. A small amount of purple dust kicked up from the impact.
“Well, if he can do it, so can I… probably,” Cal said to himself. He still wasn’t going to jump straight down. It would be much safer if he used the ridged walls as pseudo-steps.
He plotted the path down and jumped.
Cal grunted when he landed on the first ‘step’ over fifty feet deep. It was a little uncomfortable, but nothing that could be dangerous to him, so he decided that was the depth he could jump at a time.
A few more ‘steps’ and he was standing next to the Overseer.
“I suppose that is a smarter way to descend into the pit,” the Overseer’s voice was barely heard over the deafening sound of the the golems mining.
Cal had underestimated the massiveness of these hulking figures. Each were twenty feet in height and had a brownish-black tint instead of the neutral grey that his own tiny golem had. This tint might signify the earth element, which made sense in a mine.
“Golems! Halt your movement!” The Overseer commanded in a loud voice. The deafening noise instantly ceased to exist. “Apprentice Cal, you have ten minutes before the work stoppage will be noticed. That should be plenty of time to get your Class.”
Cal looked around the pit and wondered how to get started. “Is there something like an activation pillar here?”
“That isn’t necessary. The activation pillar is fueled by what is mined here. You should be able to select your Class simply by standing here. However, this is just my guess since the guild isn’t in the habit of letting members into the mines.”
He frowned as he tried to devise a plan. The blocky purple rocks could stand in for the activation pillar, so that route could be chosen.
“Nine minutes left, Apprentice Cal.”
Cal immediately took action. A minute had already been wasted, and it would have been better to try his ideas when they appeared in his mind instead of wondering which was the best way.
He placed his palm on an exceptionally wide, misshapen, ten-foot-tall purple rock and released his mana from his mana core. The moment a wisp of mana left his body, it felt like he was connected to something far more significant than himself.
You are attempting to activate a Selection.
Your [Class] has a (Special) designation. It is not eligible to be overwritten.
Secondary [Class] slot detected.
You are eligible to select a [Class] that this area can assign.
Name the [Class] you wish to have as your secondary.
Cal stared at the last line in the interface. This was nothing that was worth hiding. “It says that I can choose a Class that this ‘area’ can assign. What does it mean by that?”
“There are some requirements a guild needs to have to be able to assign some of the more obscure Classes. It’s usually an unnecessary luxury, so the resources that would have been gone towards that are better spent elsewhere.”
He nodded as he wondered what those requirements were. “Before I choose, Mage is my best option here, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s the best. Rune Scribe is far better, in my opinion.” The Overseer’s overly genuine expression didn’t convince Cal.
“I choose Mage.” He ignored how the Overseer let out a small sigh.
[Mage] is a principal [Class]. This cannot be overwritten in the future and will be permanent once selected.
Are you sure this is the secondary [Class] you want to select?
Cal didn’t dawdle and confirmed it.
[Mage] has been applied as your secondary [Class].
He didn’t feel much change within him. In fact, the little that he thought was ‘change’ could be an illusion since he was looking for it. It made sense when he saw his interface.
Primary Class: Farmer (Special)
Primary Tier: Apprentice 5
Secondary Class: Mage
Secondary Tier: Initiate 1
[Mage] had a separate advancement [Tier], and it was at the lowest rank and level possible. The natural benefits that [Farmer] provided far outstripped what [Mage] could currently offer.
Cal’s expectation of a larger capacity mana core was gone for now, but it was still something he looked forward to in the near future. Unfortunately, the other disappointment didn’t look like it would change.
He still had no affinity for lightning, and it seemed like it would stay that way unless he went to extreme lengths and spent far too much time in an attempt to raise the affinity. It wasn't worth it.
Cal was brought out of his thoughts and saw the Overseer staring at him curiously. He nodded and said, “It was far simpler than I assumed. Almost anticlimactic.”
“Hm,” the Overseer narrowed his eyes before tilting his head curiously. “I find it interesting that Mage has been suppressed this intensely. I honestly thought the opposite would happen. If I didn’t study you closely, I would assume you were just a Farmer. A strong one, no doubt, but still just a Farmer.”
“All I’m hearing is that I can still hide effectively.”
The Overseer rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Of course, that’s the first thing you think of. It isn’t nearly—” He snapped his head to look up.
Cal tried to follow his gaze but saw nothing worth the intense worry the man had in his eyes. “Is there something wrong?”
“… It seems that I miscalculated. Be prepared to meet the guildmaster, Apprentice Cal.”