After the flurry of activity on the first two days Luna settled into a comfortable routine again. Back in the village the hunting, even on her days off, had been her routine and having a new one felt right. After breakfast she started the day by challenging one of the obstacles outside and then went back in to do some reading and get warm again. The season was turning into winter and outside activity, even with extra clothing to stay warm, was becoming a really cold affair.

After reading about combat and weapon techniques, in one of her many books, she had a light lunch, sometimes with Michelle, but alone most of the time. He too had to get back to his actual work, as much as it pained him to do. Peter, the Shadow Steward, had asked her about her training plans and promised to have lunch delivered to her while she was reading. At some point Luna had tried finding out who brought the food and waited at the door to the room. When a knock sounded, she quickly opened it and only found the tray with her foot waiting. Nobody was there and no indication of how the food had gotten there. She made it a personal challenge to find out, but no matter what she tried, the food always just appeared at a door of the room she was in. When she waited in the hallway then the food was suddenly inside the room, right next to her reading place.

After the lunch and mystery challenge she went to the archery range and honed her skills with the bow. She also trained with the crossbow from time to time, following Michelle’s advice on learning additional weapons.

After the target practice came another round on the garden obstacles. The variety of challenges provided ever changing opportunities for her to learn new things and work on her Skills. One obstacle required overcoming vertical walls. Some easy to climb, but made of different materials, others had horizontal beams sticking out and she had to climb and jump her way up. The goal of this part of the garden was to get over all walls in a certain amount of time and Luna was slowly getting the hang of it. The last few walls required her to combine all previously gained knowledge and even use a grappling hook to overcome certain sections devoid of any handholds.

If the weather permitted she spent as much time on the garden obstacles, but if it got too cold or if she managed to get dumped into water, she went inside for reading, a warm bath if necessary and finally dinner in the evening. On Michelle’s request Peter joined them on occasion and the dinner was turned into another teaching opportunity. Politics, economics and etiquette were the primary topics, but they often got sidelined by Luna’s curious nature and never ending questions.

Luna ended her day in the library, huddled under several blankets and reading whatever caught her fancy. She discovered that the library contained quite the selection of fictional work, which quickly became her evening reading material. Heroic stories too embellished to be anything else but made up, or romantic dramas of young love, heartbreak and needless death.

On some days Michelle found the time to train with her to check her progress. He still was not telling her his Classes, but it was obvious to her that at least one of them was for combat using light weapons. Despite his advanced age he was very quick on his feet and soundly beat Luna without ever using a Skill against her. Luna never before had training for fighting against humans, especially not with melee weapons. To her the small weapons she had been carrying around had always been more tools than anything else. The hatchet had been her everyday companion during hunts and her trip here. It was the axe for chopping wood, the hammer for fixing things, the butcher’s cleaver to chop through bones.

Now that tool had been replaced by the much more sinister battle axe, which was made for only one task in mind. Kill people. The idea had scared Luna at first, but she decided to push it back, this was only training after all and no matter how she thought about it, her bow could have always killed people just as easily.

Her progress had been good and time flew by. Luna had already spent six weeks doing her daily training regime and her progress had been good. Recently another two disciplines had been added, both coming with their very own garden obstacles course. They were similar in nature, requiring her to understand and disable mechanisms which were blocking her progress. One course consisted of a simple row of doors. Each coming with its own lock and Luna had to get through them, without chopping through the mostly wooden doors with her axe.

The second obstacle were traps of all and any kind. Luna had no interest in trap making when she had tried it in the village, but the variations of traps she was seeing made her doubt that decision a little. None of the traps actually triggered anything dangerous, mostly just popping up wooden boards with variations of ‘Dead’ or ‘Fail’ written all over them. Michelle insisted that she learn about the actual trap mechanisms and what kind of threat they could pose. For that purpose there was an extra training room in the basement, which contained any kind of simple mechanical trap they had come up with. Spiked floor traps, poison darts, falling rocks, pendulum axes, blades coming from the walls, small spaces filling up with water, the variations were endless and there was no rule that said a trap could only consist of one element. It was a lot harder to evade a poison dart while trying to not step into floor spikes.

Michelle described a few other options, one of them a rolling boulder trap that was documented in a dungeon. While the idea of a boulder in an enclosed space sounded terrifying, Michelle had told her that it was one of the most unreliable traps. The boulder simply never picked up enough speed, it constantly bounced off the walls losing momentum, to the point that a buffed strength based fighter could just step up and stop it.

The traps and locks had added new books to her growing collection of knowledge. Many mechanisms were explained in detail, including schematics and Luna had been delighted to discover that the front part of the library had been turned into some kind of training area for fiddling with these mechanisms. The fictional stories had to take a step back until her fascination with locks and traps lessened, but Luna did not see that happening any time soon.

The training had been fruitful and Luna tried checking her progress daily, if she managed reaching the Class Tablet.

She had started writing down how much experience she got every day to evaluate which training was the most efficient, at least experience wise. She had also gained a number of new Skills, which reflected her new abilities in picking locks, disarming traps, dodging attacks and using crossbows.

Her summary currently listed 37 entries, in which she had gained an average of 40 Experience in the Pathfinder Class and an average of 28 Experience in the Stalker Class per day. Which meant a total of 1480 Experience for Pathfinder and 1036 for Stalker.

Two more parts of the obstacle course had been overcome, the one that required climbing over obstacles and the basic shooting course, both giving her another 500 Experience, which brought the Experience for her Classes to 1980 and 1536 respectively.

Name: Emilia Lunare Sylvanlake

Level: 8

Race: Sylvan

Age: 16

Class 1: Sylvan Pathfinder - Level 4 (Level Up)

Experience: 819/3200

Class 2: Sylvan Stalker - Level 4 (Level Up)

Experience: 40/3200

Class 3: N/A (Requires a total level of 45)

Health: 180/187 [(Vitality x 10 + Strength x 2.5 + Dexterity x 2.5) x 1.1]

Stamina: 31/192 [((Vitality + Strength + Dexterity) x 5) x 1.1]

Mana: 137/151 [(Wisdom x10 + Intelligence x 2.5 + Charisma x 2.5) x 1.1]

Regeneration - Per Minute

1.54% Stamina [1% base x Body/Mind x 1.1)]

0.79% Mana [1% base x Mind/Body x 1.1)]

1.1% Life [1% base x 1.1]

Stats - Body

Strength: 11

Vitality: 11

Dexterity: 13

Stats - Mind

Wisdom: 10

Intelligence: 8

Charisma: 7

Available Points

Stats: 0

Skills: 0

Skills - Personal

[Athleticism] - Level 11 (Level Up)

[Languages] - Level 6

[Dodge] - Level 3 (Level Up)

Skills - Race

[Dryad's Body]

[Natural Insight]

[Ancestral Memories]

Skills - Crafting

[Cooking] - Level 4

[Sewing] - Level 2

[Field Dressing] - Level 6

Skills - Combat

[Bows] - Level 11 (Level Up)

[Crossbows] - Level 3 (Level Up)

[Thrown Weapons] - Level 2 (Level Up)

[Small Weapons] - Level 7 (Level Up)

[Small Shields] - Level 7 (Level Up)

Skills - Utility

[Tracking] - Level 5

[Stealth] - Level 4

[Survival] - Level 4

[Field Craft] - Level 4

[First Aid] - Level 3 (Level Up)

[Lock Picking] - Level 4 (Level Up)

[Traps Disarmament] - Level 4 (Level Up)

Skill - Magic

[Purify Water] - Level N/A

[Spark] - Level N/A

[Conceal Presence] - Level 3 (Level Up)

[Seal Wound] - Level 2 (Level Up)

Skills - Class

[First]

[At home in the wilds]

[Silent Observer]

[Stalker's Precision]

[Silent Shot]

[Double Jump]

Even her First Aid and Seal Wounds had leveled up, the number of scratches she had gotten when falling, tripping or bumping into things had finally been enough for a level up. Healing had led to the topic of health in general and how regeneration worked. It was listed at 1.1% health regeneration per minute, which translated to fully regenerating her health in just over 90 minutes. Michelle explained that the regeneration stats were only showing the best case scenario. If you did not eat enough, then your regeneration would not reach the maximum values and injuries worked the same way. If an injury was serious enough and left untreated the health regeneration would not work at all.

Luna had made great progress with her passive skills. Moving around with her bow now felt natural, even if the accuracy was still a lot better when standing still. The Dodge Skill had come from her training with melee weapons, learning that her choice of weapons was not suited for attempts to parry or block strikes. Her best chance was to avoid strikes completely and if possible disengage. Her classes meant she was a light fighter and any form of prolonged melee combat was a really bad idea. Michelle dancing around her while striking blows at her pitiful defense had proven that point often enough and she realized that it might be the most important lesson she had learned here. Her classes were meant for moving and staying unseen.

Luna picked herself up from the ground in front of the Class Stone. She had just made it through the shooting gallery obstacle and was still winded. After learning how to shoot while moving, shooting with only very short time to aim and then combining both without falling flat on her face, Luna was now working on improving her time. This had led to her noticing another important factor. The better she got at the archery part, the more important her [Athleticism] skill got, as now her stamina was the limiting factor for how long and fast she could go without messing up.

She grabbed her bow and made her way back the way she came, picking up arrows to return them to the box at the entrance. When everything was back in order she went back inside, looking forward to a hot cup of tea and a chair near a fireplace. Winter had arrived in full force just a few days ago, covering everything in a layer of snow. It made her practice outside all the more challenging and cold. The water obstacles had started freezing over a while ago, making the courses incorporating them unavailable for training.

She retreated to her usual study room, only this day it was not only her cup of tea waiting. Someone was sitting in a second chair near the fire, sipping their own cup of tea. Luna knocked on the door frame to announce her presence. “Hello! I am Luna. Who might you be?”

A distinctly female voice answered her. “Have a seat, Michelle told me all about our newest recruit. It is very nice to meet you Luna. My name is Joan, short for a name that shall never be mentioned ever again. Go ahead and identify me.”

[Joan]

Level 43, Human

Joan threw a sparkly object into Luna’s direction and after catching it she realized it was her concealment ring.

[Improved Ring of Human Guise]

If Identify or a similar skill is used on you, it will show Human as your race.

Has been modified by a crafter of considerable skill to waste less mana and be less detectable.

“Did you already identify me?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I did. I identify everyone, it is a habit I developed years ago and one that you should develop as well. Just be circumspect about it in the city, some people feel slighted because they do not have the Skill themselves. I have seen your race, but Michelle already told me beforehand. Now don’t get angry, I am a Pathfinder myself, been for years. I have been outside on missions for the past 9 month, tracking, observing and gathering information for the Guild. I even got to scout a fresh dungeon over in the Zollan kingdom. Only the second one I have seen with my own eyes.”

Luna slipped the ring on her finger. Glad that it had finally made its way back to her. While training was all fun, she had started to feel a little caged. There was a city out there and she couldn't even walk down the street.

“Thanks for the ring, but that does not explain why you should know about my race. I do not like people knowing, every extra person means greater risk to me and I would have appreciated being given the option to decide for myself.” She told the unexpected visitor.

“I understand that you want to be careful.” Joan said. “I am to be your mentor for the next 6 month. We will train together over the winter and I will take you out into the city. Michelle is simply too well known to go unnoticed, but us two going out wearing some nondescript clothing? Not a problem. After winter you will accompany me on a few missions and if I deem you ready, you will start going on your own missions.”

Luna sighed in relief. “Finally something is happening around here. I mean training is all nice and good, but I had no idea how things would be going from here. I didn't even know Michelle had been looking for a mentor.”

“Of course you don’t. Michelle is an absolute scatterbrain. We used to have classes for trainees in a central location. You know the City of God’s near Lake Midding? That is where our official headquarter has been and the location for the first year of training, but with the kingdom being split in three the Guild established regional headquarter to coordinate in each kingdom. Now every headquarter is trying to organize training as best they can, while at the same time being understaffed.”

Joan sent a meaningful glance Luna’s way. “The kings are not really happy with the idea of an organization they have no control over. In all kingdom’s the armies have been recruiting fighting classes and they have actively discouraged joining the Pathfinder Guild. We do not even have a fraction of the recruits we used to have. You are just the latest victim of the messed up training curriculum. You would have learned all the basics within your first week, but there is no real teacher here and as brilliant as Michelle might be as a fighter, he is no administrator or teacher. Now come here and sit down, grab your tea before it gets cold.”

The explanation seemed good enough for Luna to trust Joan, at least this far. Having a mentor to train with and study under sounded like a great idea and the prospect of going into the city, even with an escort, filled Luna with excitement. After sitting down she studied the woman sitting across from her. She seemed to be around 30 years old, with blond hair tied into a ponytail, inquisitive blue eyes studying her in return. It was hard to guess with Joan sitting down, but Luna guessed her to be at least as tall as herself, if not even taller.

Luna recounted her experience since her Rite, if Michelle trusted her enough to train Luna, then she would have to trust her too. They discussed Classes, Skills and how to best train. Luna even got to ask some questions herself, about the life as a Pathfinder, their missions and what they might be tasked with in the spring. The evening talk as Joan dubbed it formed the endpoint of their daily activities from there on. During the day Luna now had a training partner who had Classes very similar to her own. Luna also learned about Joan’s Classes, Marksman a tier two variant of the Archer class and Forestwalker, a tier three evolution of the human Pathfinder class, with a focus on forests. For Joan the evolution had unlocked after she had scouted out the recently discovered dungeon, seemingly fulfilling a personal requirement for the advancement. She picked the forest variant because the human realm was covered by forests in many areas, even if they were not sacred forests, and the class was focused around survival and movement in a forest environment. Thanks to her new skills she could now travel far faster, often ignoring roads and simply cutting across the countryside. A valuable option when speed was of the essence or if a mission took her away from civilization.

There was one major difference however, the human Classes had no magic component whatsoever. They were simple Combat Classes and until today Joan’s mana pool had stayed locked and unused. She also did not gain any stats in any of the magic related stats. Luna once again demonstrated her Conceal Presence Skill and they integrated it into the daily training, having Luna try to sneak up on Joan in the gardens. Even if the Skill helped Luna become less noticable, it was very different to avoid the attention of someone who was actively trying to detect her.