Alister was so jealous once he heard Wisteria was already at level ten!! That was so unfair! All she had to do was squish a grub! He took the last shot on the threat and got no exp! Bah!

He understood it was fair in its own way, and she did get hurt… and it could’ve been really bad if it got in her… Stupid emotions. He felt childish for being so envious.

Once everyone came back to town and Wisteria had calmed down, she even decided to keep the scar as a keepsake, something to honor her first kill. It got healed most of the way so she wouldn’t get sick… and Alister had to admit… It looked kinda cool.

Wisteria’s mother wasn’t too happy about it though, and neither was his. His father got an earful about it, and both Wisteria and Alister were more than happy to get the heck out as soon as possible. They took the opportunity when Blas was getting berated by Alliana to slip out of the house.

The duo stayed within the bounds of the mansion grounds and decided to walk beside the far wall.

“I have a little bit more respect for you now, I think,” Alister said after a long few moments of silence, “Before I just found you annoying, to be honest. You were just another kid. I can respect your ability to use a bow, however… and while we didn’t have a lot of chances to fight, neither you nor I messed anything up…”

Wisteria laughed, “You’re weird. Especially for a noble.”

“Have you met other nobles?”

She shrugged, “Yeah… a couple. I’m not really fond of nobles usually. Your dad’s weird though too. He’s not like a normal noble either… he seems… I dunno. Distant, I guess? Like he clearly cares a lot and stuff but he’s just kinda…” Wisteria gesticulated ambiguously, “He doesn’t seem to care a ton how commoners see him. Your mom’s different. She cares more about appearances. She’s nice to me, but she treats me like a commoner more than your dad. Your dad treats me like any other kid.”

Alister looked at her and stared at her fresh scar for a bit too long, “Yeah. I guess. I guess you’re right. I haven’t thought about it. He’s a weird one. Maybe that’s why he deals so well with my weirdness… Hey. I'm sorry I don’t know many healing spells. I’ve never been very good at them, unfortunately.”

“It’s fine. It's a cool scar anyway! I look like a cool adventurer. Have you tried learning them in this life yet?”

He shook his head, “No. I suppose I could ask Ode to try teaching me it… If I’m as shit at as I used to be, don’t be surprised.”

“Not everybody’s a healer,” she shrugged, “If you can learn that magic too then good. If you can’t, it’s no big deal. I’ll just have to learn it in your place.”

“Hah. In my place? Planning on sticking around?” He gave her a light shove against her elbow, “And by the way!! You cheeky brat! You shoved your way into MY hunt, and you ended up getting straight to level ten!”

She grinned wide, taking on a teasing tone, “That’s right! I did! I’m ahead of youuu! Gotta catch up quick or I’ll leave you in the dust.”

“Brat.”

“Old kid.”

“What’s that even supposed to mean? It sounds dumb.”

“No you.”

“Bah. Whatever. What classes do you get to choose from?”

Wisteria said, “Status,” and brought open her window as they stopped walking, “Uhhhh… not a lot of choices yet. Nothing interesting.”

Alister shook his head, staring at the space where her windows should be, though of course he couldn’t see them, “Everything about this Opal thing is fascinating. Tell me. Please.”

“Okay okay,” she put her hand on his head and gently pushed him away, “Archer. Boring choice. Similarly, Hunter. Boring. I want a fancy cool class.”

Alister wasn’t fazed, “It’s based on what you do, right? Can it still change? Can you see what each class would d-“

“Shut uuup. I’m not done! Geez. Yes it can still change and stuff up until you choose it. Options don’t go away once you get it. My mom told me all about it. Also, because of my compatibility with holy being so high, I have some classes that have to do with that, too. Like Priestess. I think that’d be better than Hunter or Archer, but I still wanna wait. I also have some others… just some… personal stuff. Stuff that I’ve been through that offers me a class because of it. I wouldn’t wanna choose any of those though. I don’t want my past and my mom’s past to define me.”

Alister scrunched his nose. He didn’t care about the past thing but why the heck would she wait!? He gave her a look, “Why do you want to wait? You’re level ten. It’s capped until you choose something. You need to choose something.”

“Patience is a virtue, you know? It’ll give me better options if I wait,” She stuck her tongue out at him, “Besides... I want to wait for you. It wouldn’t be as fun without you.”

Alister didn’t know what to say to that. He was silent and his cheeks felt hot as they started walking again.

Nine months passed with little change in the young mage’s life. It was winter now, and Alister and Wisteria had gotten closer. He was actually calling her a friend and not simply an acquaintance. Wisteria was firm on waiting for him to level up before she took a class, but unfortunately, he had only managed to get to level three with the measly hunting options. Normal deer gave so little exp and father refused to have a repeat of last time - mostly due to mother chewing him out so harshly.

Wisteria’s scar was just a thin line by now, but she still thought it was pretty cool. He liked the scar. It carried with it an interesting story. She had her birthday in early November so she was thirteen now, which she enjoyed teasing Alister about, of course. His birthday wasn’t until February.

Today, his mother and father had something to talk to him about. A rather ominous-sounding thing to hear first thing in the morning, for sure. Alister thought at first that it would be about his efforts to learn healing - and failing at it. He was disappointed in himself, though Ode seemed smug about the fact that he wasn’t just great at everything he did.

It ended up that that was not the topic of discussion.

Alister shut the door behind him in his father’s study. His mother was beside his father, and there were no servants in the room.

“Hi sweetheart,” Alliana started with a sad smile. Alister grimaced.

“Calm down. You’re not in trouble,” Blas added, giving a gentle touch to Alliana’s hip, “We’re going to be taking a trip up north to the capital for a funeral. Archduke Nathaniel Meran has died.”