CHANGING DAY

“Please stop it! It’s fine now. You don’t need t— I said it was fine!”

Michael brushed away the fingers that continued to straighten and pat his clothing. He knew that the touches helped fix up the clothes, but he wished his mother wouldn't fuss over him so much. Plus he was pretty sure they were going to be late at this rate.

“Oh, my baby boy has grown up so well. Pretty soon little Michael will leave me.. Urghm.”

“It’s normal Celia… The boy will grow and then leave. We still have 10 years though. If you’re finished with the look over, we can get going now. The earlier we leave, the quicker we can get home.”

Tucking his own shirt into the slim waistband of his dress pants, Aaron kept an eye on his reflection to make sure nothing was out of place. His strong figure increased the atmosphere of the clothing he wore. His own natural posture and demeanor caused him to stand out, even if he wore simple clothing. With what he wore now...

Aaron looked at his clean white coat and held his gaze. Dozens of golden designs went around the sleeves of the coat and ended at his shoulder. Each design connected with one another and formed a maze that flashed in the sun and confused anyone who stared too long. The collar, sleeves, and front openings of the coat had a dark red and black fringe that swirled with strange, dancing designs. The Kane emblem shown bright silver over his left breast, a proud symbol of his family. Aaron examined the dove and sword design through the mirror for a bit before his gaze moved on. He looked down to examine the long ends of his coat above the knee and included several pockets for his hands or small objects. It opened up to show his tight black shirt and matching pants, both showing off the hard lines of his body. Those were also embroidered with some silver designs but it was the coat that was to be the target of attention.

Aaron turned a little to see if his wife was gazing at him in all his splendor, but saw her still fussing over Michael’s clothing. Aaron pouted a bit at the lack of attention, but a glance at a nearby clock straightened him up as it was time to leave.

“Alright, alright. Enough Celia. It’s time to get going. The Church must already be open now.”

“Hm, fine…”

Celia tugged one last time on Michael’s collar before standing and brushing at her own clothes. She was in a red one piece that seemed like something more suitable for a night out instead of a ceremony. She also had on a light-blue felt jacket used to cover her bared shoulders and go with her dress. She added her makeup on with a light touch that enhanced her features and a soft flowery fragrance followed her wherever she went. The dress wasn’t tight, but was a snug fit that accentuated her slim and attractive curves. Coupling the dress with the heels she would wear later and any healthy man, and some women, wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off her.

Aaron found himself staring at her but didn’t turn his head away. Instead he caught her eye and checked her out before smiling. Celia could only grin back and her gaze roamed his own form before making eye contact once more and showing her approval.

Michael was right between them and couldn’t help but sigh at their light interaction. He didn’t say anything though. Michael looked in the mirror, even though he was pretty sure his mother’s eye was better than his, and examined his clothes. Michael’s clothing was close to his father but different in colour and detail. A simple grey coat worn over matching pale blue shirt and pants. The only design on the coat was the emblem that all the kids needed to wear for the ceremony and that was on his left as well. The coat only had one pair of pockets near his waist, but Michael felt that the coat was comfortable, even for a normal E ranked item. He couldn’t help but wonder how his father’s C rank coat felt and he imagined how he would look in it. His musings were cut short when his mother rubbed his head a bit and then guided him towards the door.

“Remember that this is a ceremony, so don’t make a sound if you can help it. Interrupting the other participants is rude and—”

“I know, I know. You told me this a hundred times already. I just walk in, wait in line until my turn, then wait as the ceremony begins. Answer the questions as honestly as I can, then choose Neutral Series at the end.”

“Haha, don’t make him repeat that too many times. Too much stress and he would make more mistakes rather than less.”

“Why Neutral Series though? I could go Combat or even Healing series instead.”

Michael’s combat skills had risen to a little less than Beginner level 6. He had reached a bottleneck where he couldn’t train the skill anymore with the little basics he had been going through. He had asked his father what to do next but was met with you’ll find out later or nevermind for now, redo this and that… It was appropriate for Michael to worry about his future so he asked his question again, expectant that the answer would get dodged.

“I called in a few teachers of my own to teach you. Going through the series is too linear a lesson. Whether its Healing or Combat or Stealth, the lessons taught are strictly for those series and never branch out to other areas. This restricts you quite a bit, especially if you have other skills to develop.”

Michael’s question was finally answered so he didn’t waste time daydreaming and paid attention. His father’s answers made sense but he still wondered about a few things.

“Even if it restricts me, wouldn’t I still get quite a few teachers to teach me more stuff? I mean, like, I can get a teacher specifically for my sword, dagger, and throwing weapons. My potions I can do on my spare time.”

“That’s the thing. You don’t get spare time during this period of time. It’s pretty much pure training with whatever your Series is. So for you, going to the Combat Series would mean only training your combat skills and will result in limiting your other skills. It is rather foolish to spend the next ten years just learning one set of skills when you can learn several.

“It is also better to learn several new skills during this time. With that, I had one of my friends agree to teach you some crafting skills.”

“Crafting Skills? Why do I need to learn any of those?”

“Don’t look down on the Crafters. They make everything from the shoes you wear to the house we live in. During adventures they are invaluable in their many skills which can do a large array of work. Blacksmiths would be able to repair and create new items on the go. Tailors can use acquired materials to repair clothing. They can make more clothing when it gets cold, or dismantle extra clothing when it’s hot. They can also remodel clothing to suit the terrain and allow allies to create more effective ambush techniques. If you don’t want to sleep on the hard ground then they can fix that too. An architect can build a temporary shelter out of the surrounding materials with ease. Every class has a skill they can use during adventures and it’s shortsighted for one to ignore such valuable skills.”

Michael nodded at the end of the lecture and gave a small grin. Compared to the teachers at school, Michael felt that his father was more effective at teaching. Aaron used his entire presence to teach and force the information into you.

Celia had kept silent during this exchange and only glanced at the pair a few times in envy. She was hoping that the chat would somehow turn towards something she could relate too. The problem was that the two guys seemed to be stuck in their own little world. She shuffled along beside them and the group soon reached the entrance of the house where Victoria was waiting.

Victoria’s large frame filled half the doorway and she wore a loose fitted suit. Dark blue coat and pants with a white shirt, it seemed more appropriate on her than a dress would have. Her short hair stylized this time made her appear more like a man. If it wasn’t for her obvious curves, the amount of masculine pressure that exuded from her would have overwhelmed a person.

“Are we ready miss? S-sir?”

“Yes. Where is Liera though?”

“Lucy took her out for another trip. They left half an hour ago.”

Celia frowned at the reply and then sighed before waving Victoria to follow them. She had been hoping for Liera to keep her company, but to no avail. As Michael and Aaron continued to talk, the group of four made their way out of the door and towards the center of the city. Celia lead the way and Victoria situated herself behind the the talking father and son duo. Her position behind them allowed her to occasional take some hidden glances at the older man.

“If crafters are so well received, why did Bishop Francis say that the most balanced group consisted mainly of Stealth and Combat Series? Warriors and rogues for the front line, archers for the back.”

“He thought too simply. That party is maybe good for a short trip from the town to their destination, but for long term trips you need Crafters. Think about it this way. You take a trip with the goal of completing a dungeon. Then, midway in, the party tires of the travel so they take a rest. Since no one has a cooking skill, you all subsist on some dried meat and water. The cave is also colder than you had thought, but no one is a tailor so you can only rely on what you’re wearing at the moment. A fire would help, but you all only have some basic firestarting items and nothing heavy enough to last the rest of the night. To make matters worse, some of your items are falling apart and in dire need of repair.

“Now, you can fix this problem by bringing large quantities of prepared items next time. This may help some, but that means you can’t carry too much loot either. You would die from exhaustion or monsters due to the weight you’d carry. Crafters can carry their own stuff and their work can be good for the entire group. An accompanying merchant would also be a good addition. They can buy whatever loot you get and hold onto more loot than you. A balanced party isn’t one filled with experienced fighters. A balanced party is one filled with appropriate classes to complete the task with efficiency.”

Michael nodded at the end in agreement. He was sure his father was an experienced adventurer himself, so he was a good source of actual information. The Church of Information was renowned as the one place to go for information, but that was it. The Church would get as much information as they could, but only if others give it up. If they do not know something then they make it up on the spot. With as much accuracy as they could…

“And the other teachers?”

“I called my teacher’s clan a while back but haven’t gotten a response yet. I don’t know when, but if she doesn’t come then I’ll have to continue your education. I only taught you the basics since I wanted her to do the actual training, but I can teach you some things if she doesn’t show up.

“Along with those two teachers, your mother will also continue to teach you alchemy.”

“Yes, I—”

“But since you already know about what she does, we don’t need to go into too much information on that. Hmm? Something wrong? Celia?”

Celia could only hunch her shoulders as she gave off a sullen mood. Her words were too soft as she tried to integrate herself into the conversation. The noises of the city had drowned out what she had said so both Michael and Aaron were wondering why she seemed so sad. Noticing their worried looks she just glared a bit at her husband and waved away their query. Aaron felt the sudden pressure as he realized what he and Michael had been doing. Sweat started to appear and soak a little of his quality clothing as he wondered whether he should try and include her. In the end he decided the damage was already done so they might as well continue as usual. He was going to get hurt later anyways so...

“Haaa, I guess I should ask and see if you have any questions? It is your life after all.”

Michael pondered the question a bit, but he already had most of his answer ready.

“I guess the crafting teacher would be a good addition to my studies. Alchemy classes could only go so far and I’ve taken to experimenting on my own. The basic training you had me and Liera go through seems to have reached a point. You haven’t taught us anything new and the two of us have started to just increase the amount of sparring between the two of us. Even if your teacher appears, I think Liera and I could continue sparring like usual. The both of us just think up ways to win against the other and try it out during actual combat. One time I— ow!”

“Ah, you’re broaching off topic. Back to the future lessons.”

Michael rubbed at where his father flicked him and gave an embarrassed grimace before continuing.

“Ha~ I guess the combat teacher would be a higher rank than you and is more proficient at lessons than you. Else you wouldn't have had to call her up, right? I don’t see much of a problem with having such a teacher, but I wonder how Liera would take it. I know she wanted Valerie as her teacher for a while…”

“Since she wants Valerie as a teacher, this means the both of you will take lessons from her. Even if you don’t learn the exact same things. It is still good for the both of you to see what your partner knows and understand what you can expect from them. This also means that you and her will learn under my teacher as well.”

After his statement, Aaron’s eyes gleamed with some mischief as he bent a little closer to his son to cover up his own words. By luck the two had entered the Adventurer part of the Combat Series district. The clattering and shouts from some taverns were able to cover his words from the women.

“Plus, the two of you will be together more often than not. Do you not want that?”

Michael’s face heated up at his father’s tone and he swung his fists at the larger man a few times. Aaron just bobbed and weaved between each of the blows, his smile large on his face. and pushed Michael forward so they don’t waste time. He moved along as the larger man directed him, but kept his head down and stared at Celia’s heels for the rest of the trip.

The four of them passed through the emptying roads as they neared the center of the city. Bellen divided itself into three distinct sections with a different Series within each. This was the same with most of the other human cities controlled by the Guilds. You had the outer layer belonged to the Crafting and Healing Series, along with the Merchant Society Guild. Then the inner layer was an entire ring devoted to the Stealth and Combat Series. It also had associated Adventurer inns, taverns, and guild houses. Last was and the inner center which was for the different worshiped human churches. There were many gods and goddesses in Gaia and their churches were all clustered together in the same area of the city. The Church of Information had the greatest influence and the most buildings so it situated itself in the direct center of city. One could see how powerful a Church was when it pushed aside all other places of worship.

While the Combat Series district was bustling with shouts and traveling apprentices and fighters, the church area was busy in a different way. Priests rushed from different religious buildings to perform their different duties. There were also various prayers sung from some buildings that spilled out onto the streets. The sounds hung in the air and gave the district an odd atmosphere.

Of course, these prayers differed from church to church. The healing Ket goddess prayers were sonorous and peaceful, a sound to fill the heart and heal old aches. The various battle Gods and Goddesses had their battle shouts and chants to glorify old victories. The dream deities were silent but had a mysterious aura. Peace, exorcism, elementals, craftsmen, and the other regular deities all had one or two buildings in the central area. Plutys, God of Death, had three and Janira had the four buildings. Michael had only been in the School part, but he knew where they should head.

A pair of tall guard stood erect beside the large, open double doors of the Church’s cathedral. The two of them were in opposing colours and different armour sets. One, dressed in a large iron plated armor, donned a red and black cloak with a golden lion symbol etched in the center. The other was in a full chainmail and armor set and wore a blue cloak with a white leaf symbol. Both had a sheathed longsword, large tower shield, and a long spear. They did not seem cordial to one another and the tension they gave off was no small matter.

The Church of Janira was a non combative religion; being one of the few Churches without any Paladins or Dark Knights. Instead they had an honor guard made up by a collective force that the various other religions lent to them. The Church's power was near absolute as they controlled most of the information on the continent of Gaia. Every time a person saw their 'Honour Guard', they saw the power the Church wielded.

Passing the guards took some deal of resolve, especially if a person just wanted to loiter. The four of them were there for a proper ceremony though, so they had no time to dawdle with a few grumpy men. They made their way into the large hall and passed several scurrying men and women. Some were in robes while others dressed up in their finest. The cathedral was not a place one went to idle or relax. Everyone had a look of urgency and business and the hall was quiet for such a large amount of movement.

Celia stepped away from the group to speak to the priestess who was occupying the front desk. Michael and Aaron stopped a short distance from her and Victoria stood between them and Celia to keep a better eye on things. They didn’t attract so much attention, but one or two glances went to the group before hurrying back to their work.

“Hi, I’m here to register my son for his Changing Day cerem—”

“I’m sorry, if you will please wait a moment.”

Not even raising her head, the priestess scribbled on the parchment in front of her. Her hands were a blur as line after line filled the page. There was no ink bottle anywhere but her pen flowed a fine line of ink which told Michael she was a scribe. Only a few people ever took up the scribe class or skills since it specialized in something that anyone could do. His teacher did note that the class was in demand and—

Michael shook his head out of the previous lessons when the priestess finished her task. She sprinkled some sand on the page, to dry it faster, and turned the page to get rid of the excess sand. She soon put the finished page to the side and glanced up at Celia. She turned scarlet as soon as her eyes saw the pretty woman in front of her and stammered out an apology.

“I-I am sorry miss. W-what can I-I do for you?”

“Yes, I was hoping to register my son for his Changing Day ceremony?”

“Y-yes. Is he of age?”

“Yes, here is his note of birth, and our house sigil.”

Celia produced a thin letter and a small cloth, both of which she gave to the girl. Handling the cloth with some careful movements, she placed it to the side and opened up the letter with some haste. Her eyes scanned the contents in quick time and she nodded in acceptance. Taking out a few sheets of paper, she wrote down some lines in the same speed as before and handed the form to Celia.

“Please sign the various blank spaces and then print your sign. If your husband is here, he can also do the same.”

“Aaron, come and sign it too.”

The priestess’ face grew bright red when Aaron strode into her sight and he gave a slight grin at her reaction. This was the reaction he had expected from his wife! His grin turned into a sigh of disappointment when he remembered how little impact he had on her. He waited for her to finish signing the form and give her personal sign. He then drew his own sign with a quick, experienced hand. His dark blade and skull contrasted with Celia’s flower and heart on the white page. This was something that caused him no small mirth when he compared their temperaments.

“T-thank you, now if you w-will go straight down the hall. A line has already formed by various other participants and you will have to wait your turn. Your child will go in, go through the ceremony with the Bishop, say his chosen series, and then leave. The rest will be told to you after the ceremony.”

Aaron gave a small bow to the priestess and Celia curtsied and the two led Michael towards where they were to go. Victoria stayed in the general hall and after seeing them off she went outside to wait for them to finish.

Proceeding through the halls was a long affair since the cathedral was so vast. It alleviated somewhat when a person looked up and saw the hung portraits and paintings that the Church acquired. The Church went out every few years to detect and root out corruption in the Five Guilds. As a result of rooting out that corruption they came upon rich and desirable items that are then used to furnish their cathedrals. They did not accept donations and, in turn, bribes so their wealth displayed how effective they were at their task.

Out of the three of them, only Aaron seemed to pay any real attention to the artwork. He wasn’t an artist by any stretch of the imagination and didn't have an interest of making a hobby out of the arts. He did know that these artworks were once made by the long dead and felt it would be rude not to at least view their life’s work. A negative about expensive artwork made by dead people was that they did not give any bonuses to stats due to the death of those artists. Aaron sighed as he imagined the wonderful bonuses these paintings must have given when first created.

The corridor took several minutes to traverse and soon enough the group saw the end of a long line. The line had maybe twenty people in all and went all the way to a pair of double doors. The sign above the two doors was had simple instructions on them. The left door had ‘Enter (Spectators)’ written over it, while the right one had ‘Line for (participants)’ written instead.

“Well, this is where we part for a while. Your mother and I will be inside to get some seats. Remember what we told you before. And don’t stress yourself out too much.”

Aaron whispered those few words before parting with Michael. He led the still daydreaming Celia to the left entrance and didn't take much notice of the children that had lined up. The kids in line who saw them walk past couldn’t help but stare at the couple's grandiose clothing. Most of them shook their heads after Michael's parents passed in an attempt to get their concentration back. Like Michael, all the kids dressed up in their best and there was no noise as they all kept to themselves. It was so quiet that Michael could hear a low rumble from the ceremony room.

A loud boom resounded from the ceremony room and Michael took a few seconds to clear his head and remember the words.

“NEXT. AGE 10, GRANTALOON FERNE. PROCEED.”

Only after the initial shock wore off did Michael notice the details of the words. Grantaloon? The name sent shivers down his back and he remembered the large boy from the past and he stepped out of line a bit to check down the line. At the front of the line was a boy that topped the other kids by a head. He was even taller than Michael by a good ten centimetres. Since Grant had already entered the room, this boy could only be…

Ten minutes of uncomfortable silence later and the booming voice confirmed Michael’s fears.

“NEXT. AGE 10, KENNETH BERY. PROCEED.”

Kenneth. Also known as Ken. Michael had hoped to never see these two again and the memories from the time rushed back to him.

He remembered the feeling of getting hit from behind. How the two larger boys dragged him into the washroom and sat on him. His wrists and neck ached as he remembered the feel of the ropes burning themselves into his skin. And when they decided to make a toilet out of him...

The memories of their laughter echoed through him and Michael found himself curling in on himself. Anger and fear clashed within him when he noticed this. What was he doing? He had been training and practising for the last 6 years! But they are so much bigger… What does that matter? Dad said Stats were everything, not your body size. But they tied you up and hurt you… Again, so what? Should he just hide whenever they appear? Did he not go into the forest many times to level up and become more skilled? But— QUIET.

Michael forced down the weak and fearful side of him and let his anger rage within himself. What reason did those children have for doing that to him? Did he do anything to anger them? He hadn’t left the house many times, yet somehow he already had enemies? If they had not switched classes, how far would they have gone? How long before he couldn’t even imagine lifting a hand against them?

Michael’s rage boiled within him and it was fortunate that he was last in line and seemed to be the last child for the day. There wasn’t anyone lined up behind him so no one even noticed as he stood stock still while the line continued on. His internal struggle went on for the next half hour and when it finally died down he then noticed that the line had shrunk a few times. His energy felt spent and only after he took a few steps did he notice that his stamina was at the low end.

Taking the time to rest in line, Michael saw a few notifications but just erased them with a thought. Only after the line shrunk by one did he regret it. Waiting in line with nothing to do was boring. By this time, Michael was trying to not go back to his angry state once more so he decided to try out his experiments once more.

Michael had been in various dangerous situations in the past. Only through the fortunate use of time-slowing - that seemed miraculous at the time - did he survive. Later he checked through his skills one by one and connected the event with one skill. The one of two skills that came when he met that voice before he was born.

“Show ‘Instant Analyzation’.”

Instant Analyzation. Beginner level 4. (76%). Active Skill[p=left]Allows for analysis of the situation, monsters and their actions, and of weapons in a fraction of the time.

Depending on how quickly you wish to cram the information in, more mana is needed to do so.[/p]

The skill information was lacking at best. It didn’t give any details on how much Mana it took in or what the ratio of time compressed to mana was. His experiments were also slow since his days were quite busy. Now though, he had all the time to do some long experiments.

Michael focused on several thoughts. First was the need to compress time. In the past he always wished he had more time than usual and that usually activated the ability. When he fought the fox, the speed of its attack made him wish for time. The skill then activated and Michael was able to move his body without one wasted motion. In the end the fox died while he lived.

He did not only focus on the need for time. Since the change was instantaneous, he also focused on another thought. How much time he wanted to compress. In reality, he knew that thinking at twice the speed of others was helpful already, but what if he tried to squeeze three times the speed? Four times? The mana requirements have a high chance of increasing by a lot, but he knew that the experimenting would do good in the long run. But maybe not now...

For the time compression, he imagined the world slowing down around him. The swaying of the children in front of him were supposed to be slower. The sounds from the ceremony room were supposed to became less coherent and more deep. The air he felt should have half strength. He concentrated on both imagining the effect that should happen, as well as on the need to make it a reality.

Either standing in line had something to do with it, or he was getting better, though Michael doubted it was the former. Within five minutes of concentrating Michael felt the familiar and miraculous feeling. A dull silence with shuffling children soon turned into a frozen scene. The hush rumbling beyond the door changed into a dull beating as Michael’s ears caught the slow thudding of his own heart. His thoughts sped up and he processed the minuscule movements of the children in the line in front of him. He could even see the spittle flying from a child’s mouth when he sneezed. Michael tried to raise a hand to his face and wondered at how slow he was moving. The skill did not affect his body’s speed, only his mind.

With his goal complete, Michael went on to the next step. Canceling the skill with a conscious mind. He had been able to activate the skill in the past, although with infrequent success. The main problem was his lack of control over the skill. Unlike some skills that had a time limit and used up mana in one go, Instant Analyzation did not live up to its name. It used up mana based on how long it activated. He only had a few skills that did the same, and none of them were as dangerous as this skill. Michael once fainted from the loss of mana during the first few times that happened. Later tries resulting in a splitting headache that lasted for hours on end. Those results were something he wished to avoid.

The skill was still useful though. Michael only had to recall the times it saved his life to dispel thoughts of stopping the experiment.

Michael focused on several different strings of thoughts to try and cancel the spell. Concentrating on things like ‘Cancel’, ‘Stop’, ‘Skill escape’, and ‘Damn thing, cancel!’ were hopeless. This time he tried a different approach. Mimicking the activation process, Michael focused on stabilizing time. Instead of imagining his surroundings slow, he tried to quicken it. Or at least normalize it. He also focused on a need to return to a normal speed at the same time. In all honesty, he viewed the need part with some suspicion since it was rather vague. Maybe next time he would scrape it altogether.

Michael breathed a sigh of relief when the skill canceled. The line hadn’t moved at all so that meant he spend little time on the experiment and this caused him to sigh. He had started the experiment because he had time, and he needed something to fill the time. The only problem was that his experiment extended the period of waiting and his mana was too depleted to do anything else.

Resigning himself to his fate of waiting, Michael thought about the skill and some of its uses. As he had learned during battles, the skill was useful to increase the amount of time he could use to think. Usually a fight would take a few seconds to finish if the two sides were not matched in strength. Fighting with Aaron when he was serious showed Michael that. Against superior opponents was where the skill shone.

When he had fought the fox, the animal was much more active in defending itself than Michael had thought. It charged at him with speed and its attacks were without hesitation. Michael's first real fight resulted in him being in a dangerous position with a powerful animal ready to kill him. Without the skill there would have been a large possibility of him dying.

Michael decided on a schedule he would need for the continued experimentation of the skill. Since it did not specify how much mana it took up, he decided to get a clock of some kind to check how much it took up. This was the easier goal.

The next step was to see if he could practice with the skill and decrease the activation speed. He did see a reliable difference between the speed of the first time he tried and his most recent efforts. It would take a while to decrease the speed to seconds, but he was still young. He knew that even if he didn’t have any time during the next ten years to train it, he could still do it afterwards.

Michael stored the thoughts away when he realised that there was nothing else to plan. Find out how much mana it took and see if he could decrease the skill activation and cancellation speed. A changeable plan for the future.

Looking down the line revealed only ten children other than Michael left. Almost two more hours of waiting. Checking his mana with a glance, Michael stood still and started up the activation process once more. He decided he might as well use as much time as he could to practise.

“NEXT. AGE 10. MICHAEL KANE. PROCEED.”

The still loud voice was not hoarse in the slightest as it called in the last remaining person in line. Michael walked into the ceremony room with long, even strides. He headed down between the benches arrayed along the the two sides of the room and kept his mind on his target. He did took a cursory glance at the room and noticed the forms of his parents all the way at the front. They didn’t look back at him and he followed their example and kept his eyes forward.

The ceremony room was not only filled with the parents of the participating children. Several other citizens of the city were also watching the ceremony as something to pass the time on their breaks. There were also the young, lower ranked members of the Church. Their assignment was to watch the proceedings as part of their training. Even though it was an important, live lesson, most of the young men and women had become drowsy. They had been in the room throughout the long ceremony and several had their heads down in silent ‘prayer’.

Aaron noticed the sleeping youngsters a while back. He contemplated waking them up, but didn’t do anything since Michael hadn’t appeared yet. Now that Michael was here, Aaron couldn’t take the slight and raised both his hands.

“Alert 4 - Room: Clap.”

His hands made a soft clap as he said the last word of the command before dropping back to his lap. Aaron didn’t pay attention to the skill anymore, but the effects were still there. Anyone within the room he was in, and had less than full attention to their surroundings, would hear a ringing clap in their head. Half the people in the large space jumped at the noise, their drowsiness gone. They searched their surroundings with an evil glint in their eyes as they tried to find the ass who had disturbed them.

Michael saw the sudden confusion within the hall and cast an accusing glare at his father. The victim of the skill many times, Michael knew his father was the cause. He gave a sigh at the newfound attention directed towards him after the victims stopped their searching. He continued his stride down the hall though, and tried to ignore the stares that turned towards him. If the hall was just a bit louder, he could have used Stealth to divert some of the attention. Unfortunately he couldn’t use the skill in the same way as Instant Analyzation. Just wishing he could hide didn’t activate the skill.

The ceremony room had various paintings and sculptures decorating the walls of the room. None were inferior to the ones that had lined the hallway outside although there were less of them. Yet they made the room more comfortable as the offered scenes contrasted well with the other decorations. At the end of the room was a large and blank white curtain that covered the wall. The dark brown table situated in front of it, along with the man dressed in a dark, red coloured robe. They were usually the center of attention for anyone who entered the room. Dark red was quite vivid against the blank background of the curtain.

As soon as Michael was close enough to see the face of the Bishop, he couldn’t help but give a small start. Michael was familiar with most of his class and especially his teacher as he had been in the same class for 6 years. The man he was walking towards did not look like his teacher from afar. His body structure was several times wider and more heavyset than Bishop Francis and his robes was not white. He also had a strict posture that made him more imposing and dignified. The thing that made Michael most surprised was the face. If someone painted both their faces, and then laid the two portraits beside one another, no one could tell the difference.

The strange person with his teacher’s face must have noticed the look on Michael's face and he gave a small sigh.

“Yes, I know I look like my little brother. Since he taught an entire class, some of you students always stare at me. Very disconcerting. Well, my name is Bishop Peter and we should start the ceremony now. Please stand here, in front of the table and look at me.”

Michael followed the Bishop’s orders and watched as the man went around the table to be Michael’s opposite. The onlookers were close to sleeping once more when the Bishop’s sonorous voice rang through the room once more. Losing their chance to sleep, the audience shifted to more comfortable positions. They were ready to pay attention to the final ceremony participant of the day.

“Listen well. For again, the time of Change is upon us. Let us now speak of the past and all its dreaded tales.

“When the human race was at its height, and the forces that gathered could but swallow our enemies whole, we put our trust and forces in the hands of a power we thought could handle it. Yet as seen, that very power sought to destroy us by pitting our forces against the world. We were strong, yes. But ravaged by all sides and under the command of incompetent rulers, who could deny the near destruction of our race?”

Probably talking about the Magus Wars. It was rather foolish to commit every single soldier on one front. It left the rest of the territories without any sort of defence…

Bishop Peter had raised his hand during the oration and stared at the ceiling. His hand then smacked the table after he asked the question and a flash of light filled the hall. Michael’s gasp was the only one that sounded. He watched as an array of pictures and scenes shown from the table and solidified on the white curtain.

Groups of armoured soldiers walked side by side down large roads. Five men deep, the column of troops seemed unending as they traveled in silence. A closer look revealed tears in some of their eyes. They knew they were abandoning their loved ones to fight for their lords and they regretted every step. But in that time and age, they had no choice as their oaths and vows locked them to their task.

Groups of robed men and women arrayed in different formations. The robes seemed to denote some sort of ranking, and a black robed man with a gold staff led them all. He raised a staff above his head while the followers behind him followed his motion and raised their hands. They faced a large forest that seemed as endless as the rumoured oceans...

Three thrones placed together and were equal in height, if not design. A jeweled throne, a skull throne, and a rose throne. Two men and one woman sat upon the thrones and were regal in bearing. The scene made to look as if the three figures were looking down upon everyone.

Desolate cities whose streets were empty of people. Wrecked homes filled with hopeless families. Burning farmlands. Large scale graveyards. Hanged men and women in merchant garbs. Trapped miners. Sunken bodies of sailors. And at the edges of every one of these scenes was a person recording every single event with either pen and paper or Memory Stones.

“A time of constant mourning and dread; where the people dared not dream of hope, lest they wallow in despair. A war never won. A people rebuilding what they could, keeping to themselves and afraid of repeating the past. A young king, crowned when his father dies.”

More scenes rose from the shining table to replace the previous ones. It showed a scene where the cities were being rebuilt after the devastation. Soldiers training in the woods or traveling to mountains. Craftsmen and labourers following their own directives. They were laughing when their products came out wrong or buildings collapsed at a touch. A carefree period, especially loved after the fighting from before.

In one scene, throne after throne sat empty in a vast hall. All except the final seat where a weary old king sat. In front of the king was a kneeling boy with blonde curls and fair looks. Dressed in a resplendent cloak, the young boy had the eyes of a man with a duty.

The next scene showed a man kneeling before a Cardinal. The young boy from before had grown and taken up the seat his father left. The Cardinal placed the crown on his royal head and the watching crowds burst into silent movement as they cheered their new king.

The man takes up his position with pride and determination. He starts reconstructing his kingdom and creates new laws and codes to improve the quality of life in his cities. Buildings constructed with an expert touch. Warriors trained in the hundreds and become experienced from expeditions and bounty hunting. The people were happy and the towns prospered.

“A beloved king of the people, he took up the reign left from his forbearers and created a flourishing kingdom. His rule was stable and prosperous and he soon desired more territory to increase the quality of life for his race. He announced himself as Emperor over his lands. Kings and Queens bowed to him and the people loved him. Yet more power was what he desired, and war once again loomed over the land.”

Soon the scene shows the changing political landscape as the king absorbed more territory. The land becomes too big for him to control alone so he decides to give some of it to people he trusted. He shows himself off as Emperor over the land and a scene shows several crowned people kneel before him.

Then a new proclamation comes out, shocking the Empire. War is to happen as the Emperor decrees and recruitment is to increase. The citizens have hope in their Emperor and rulers and recruitment flourishes with hopeful young men and women. Thousands upon thousands of recruits transform into experienced fighters in a few years.

“History repeats itself as the Empire attacks everyone around it. The chaotic and weak human lands to the east, the sea races to the west, the peaceful races of the north, and the demonic races of the south.”

Unlike the first set of images, the soldiers this time are grim with resolve and emit a bloodlust unlike any other. The armies of the empire strike swift and hard at their targets. A trained army under one flag could not compare to the other forces. The Empire takes target after target as the powerful men and women trust in their Emperor.

The continent seemed to have no choice of victory, until a map shows three shining beacons. To the east, a human boy leads ragtag forces of men and women against the invaders. His forces act without pause and whittle down the stronger enemy. The boy himself is a monster as he faces against men of the Empire. Countless powerful foes fall to him and he walks away unharmed as his sword becomes the only thing covered in blood.

Along with the boy, a middle aged man works at the forge with his partners. They do not waste a single action as they create many weapons and pieces of armour at the same time. The smith forges thousands upon thousands of equipment as they arm their countrymen to fight the enemy. Yet the group starts to dwindle as death takes the overworked men and women until only the middle aged man stands. Yet the forge never dropped in the number of items made and distributed. A one man forging team, he continued to work to help protect the cities he held dear.

To the north a hooded being stays high up in a tree. He scans his surroundings and waits for his target. His body twitches in a direction and he takes out his bow. A monstrous weapon that topped his own tall height, the bow’s string gets pulled back with ease as the elf readied an arrow. He fires and the scene follows the arrow as it travels across the land. It seemed to fly forever as it exited the forest and flew across barren lands; down rivers and past a gorge towards its target. A well dressed man leads his force towards the forests of the north. He was the officer of the hundred or so troops before getting struck by the powerful shot. His body flies from the top of the horse and his men shout for shields. Then a rain of arrows fell upon them.

“How the world would have been gone to ruin if it wasn’t for the heroes that appeared. Countless men and women died from ignorance as their abilities broke under the might of the Empire. Those heroes stood up against the force of the Emperor and drove the enemy from their homes. Only then did the other humans understand their folly and ignorance. They understood the need for proper knowledge and understanding, lest they fall the next time war happened.

“Let it be known that the price of war was steep and bloody. Let it be known that the deaths of men and women did happen, and that it should never happen again. Let this ceremony be the first step for a child’s journey. Let the child start their future on the right path, so they prepare themselves for the future and all its terrible surprises.”

With those final words hanging in the air, Bishop Peter smacked the table and woke up the trance-like Michael. The scenes that floated above disappeared and Michael shook himself before looking at the Bishop once more. This time the Bishop only gave the table a light tap and a small glowing square patch appeared in front of him.

“Michael Kane. It is your 10th naming day and we judge you ready for Change. If there are no problems, then repeat after me...

“I, Michael Kane, hereby find myself ready to control my future. I will determine my course of action and hope to look back and view my path with fondness. I ask that I be allowed to control my future progress and vow to work hard.

“You will then end it with your choice of Series. Go on.”

“I, Michael Kane, hereby find myself ready to control my future. I will determine my course of action and hope to look back and view my path with fondness. I ask that I be allowed to control my future progress and vow to work hard. I choose the Neutral Series for myself.”

Nodding at his words, the Bishop manipulated the patch of light in front of him and Michael felt a shock go over his body. It didn’t last long and Michael wondered if the Bishop had something to do with it. Looking up, the Bishop nodded in understanding and gestured to his left.

“I unlocked your progress and you may add stats now. May you grow and progress as you wish.”

Michael left with those final words and went past the table and the Bishop. He wanted to peek back and look at his parents, but then there were the other members of the crowd as well so he just continued walking. He went to the right-hand corner of the room and saw a wooden door, hidden by the large curtain. He opened it and went inside with quick steps. Only then did he notice that sweat soaked his thin shirt. He gave silent thanks to his father for the thick coat and looked at the room he had entered.

The room was bare of anything except a small desk situated in the middle of the room and another door on the right wall. Behind the small desk was a priestess who was leaning on an arm and playing with a pen. She gave him a bored glance and waved him forward with the writing utensil.

“Done? Well come on. You’re the last one of the day so we might as well get this over with.”

Michael was a little speechless at the difference between the ceremony and this last part, but he followed her orders anyway. After approaching the desk, the bored lady took out blank sheet and started writing as he answered her questions.

“Name?”

“Michael Kane.”

“Immediate relatives?”

“Aaron and Celia Kane.”

“Siblings?”

“None by blood but—”

“Series chosen?”

“Neutral.”

She finished off her writing and then passed him the sheet along with her pen.

“Sign at the bottom and give your sign.”

Michael took the pen and looked over the sheet of paper. A simple form with his details, Michael looked at the bottom and signed his name at the blank space. He saw a simple box to the side of it and drew his own sign within it. A mesh of his father and mother, the sign was a flower wrapped around a dark blade that was close to the one he trained with. It was still a new sign so the drawing was a little messy, but no one expected much more.

“Good. You have passed your Changing Ceremony. Please go through that door to leave. Since the ceremony is over, your parents will exit shortly after you do.”

The woman’s monotone voice was clear and Michael knew she wanted him to go. He followed her instructions and left the room from the entrance to the right. He entered a long and empty path that lacked the furnishings of the main hallway. Using the solitude as a chance to think to himself, Michael thought about the scenes shown in the Ceremony.

The scenes were actual recordings of the battles Bishop Francis taught in class. The details within were surprising to note, especially how the soldiers appeared when they were about to fight. Michael had heard about Memory Stones, but he didn’t expect them to be so… useful.

Michael reached the end of the hall soon enough and passed through a set of double doors. Bright light spilled into the torch lit hallway he had been in, a wave of light that hurt his eyes. Michael rubbed his eyes as he passed through the doors to the large hall they had entered from. The hall was less busy than earlier and the receptionist had changed to a male priest. He was also scribbling on whatever forms they had to do and didn't pay attention to Michael at all. Michael looked around but didn't see any of the Ceremony audience members. To be more exact, he didn't see his parents. What he did see was a large group of children occupying the front of the Cathedral. They were waiting for their parents and Michael gave a small sigh of relief when he didn’t see Grant or Ken.

He headed in that direction while berating himself once more at how scared he was. He saw the back of Victoria and stepped forward to call out to her. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything else and only took two steps before pain flashed in the back of his head. The situation was too familiar with what happened before and Michael gave a silent curse at Grant and Ken as he fell over. Michael stayed conscious for a short while before his vision started to darken . Before it did, he saw a pair of… smokey feet.

“Sorry boy, gotta get what I—”

StatusNameMichaelAge10Level18Class-Fame0Infamy0TitleGreen-SingerGuild-Health850Mana1040Stamina945Stored Rage54Unused Stat Points135

Strength78Dexterity57Vitality85Intelligence84 + 20Wisdom73 + 20Mana Control14 + 5Critical Chance0.07%Agility79Concentration108 + 5Willpower21Charisma35 + 5Presence35Art38

[p=left]Special Skills and bonuses:

‘Silven Plant’ grants:

Double Mana Regeneration.

‘Green-Singer’ grants:

+5 Vitality.

+20 to Intelligence.

+20 to Wisdom.

+5 Mana Control.

+5 Charisma.

+5 Concentration.

+20 Nature Affinity.

[/p]

SkillsStealthBeginner level 4. (7%). Active skillInstant AnalyzationBeginner level 4. (91%) Active skillLanguage ComprehensionBeginner Level 1. (0%) Passive skillHerbologyBeginner level 8. (88%) Passive skillAlchemyBeginner level 8. (41%) Active skillSword MasteryBeginner level 5. (98%) Active skillDagger MasterBeginner level 5. (98%) Active skillWeapon Throwing MasteryBeginner level 5. (87%) Active skillGreen-MagicBeginner level 4 . (1%) Active skillHowlBeginner level 0. (0%) Active skillDevourBeginner level 4. (98%) Active skill

AffinitiesFire1Water1Earth1Wind1Light2Dark2Nature18 + 20

Michael now has:

A renowned potion making teacher

Combat lessons from his Expert Ranking father.

Green-Magic lessons from his mother

Silven Plant connection

Pack

Ability to add stats

Michael’s Pack:

Michael (leader)

Liera

Lets go back to more relaxing times...Letting that cliffhanger hang for a bit...

Welp, chapter 8 is uploaded. My PRs seemed to have died somewhere :( Oh well. Childhood arc Epilogue was completed a while ago too. I'll give my PRs more time on that. In the meanwhile, VOTE! So close to beating NPC (First Draft)

On another note, my reviews seemed to have gotten a few people to come onto my fic and lower the score by quite a bit. People doing 0.5 scores are scary... Just two people and my score went from 4.96 to 4.78... Yikes. Oh well, I'll still review.

What do people think of the changes so far? NPC is very different from the first draft, right? Are the changes good? Or are they awesome? :D Haha...