Kiran arrived at the painted cottage of his teacher, Guru Pranay. As the white-robed young silently waited for the man inside to acknowledge his presence as his bright gaze fell on the poor artwork decorating the sleek mud walls. Though faded now, the drawings still retained the innocence only found in the works of children.

However, the threads of time had not just touched the paint but also Kiran and in these years, much had changed for the inspector's son. The most visible of it all was that he was no longer a teen but had grown into a young adult. Gone was the skinniness of the early teenage years, instead the young man was lanky and tall. He had overcome the shortness of height that had plagued him in his childhood and almost matched the height of the tall father.

Yet, his face remained as plain as ever. His features were forgettable and his skin dark. Such was the commonness of his features that if not for the white robes of the monks, he would be lost in the crowd. Kiran's excited gaze shifted away for the faded colours as Guru Pranay walked out of the cottage and nodded at the young man. “Have you reached Level 10?”

“Pranam, Guru Ji.” The young man folded his hands and bowed in greeting as he answered. “I reached Level 10 not too long ago, yes.”

“Hmm.” The man nodded. “And your Skills?”

“[Anatomy Vision] has reached Level 9.” The young man answered a sigh escaped this thick lips. “ But [Link] is still at Level 3.”

“Worry not about the Skill [Link].” The saffron-clad dismissed the worry with the wave of his increasingly wrinkled hand. “You are ascetic who walks the path of austerity. The path of [Link] is not yours.” The young man grimaced at the words but nodded nonetheless. He understood that though the need of other beings of his species could not be eliminated given his [Race], his Class did reduce it to a degree.

This reduction in the need of civilization became visibly apparent every time visitors came to the ashram. The more Kiran heard and learned of their troubles and their worries, the more he found them trivial and insignificant. Perhaps this was why the high Tiered people like his teacher remained within the ashram. Perhaps, it was also why weapon arts had always been mandatory for the disciples. The more disconnected the students became, the more the chances of disagreements arose when the disciples left on their inevitable journeys.

Thus, like the rest of the disciples within the ashram, he too had learned a weapon art and the teachings of his father had come in handy when the young man had taken up spear once again. Although he could not match a [Warrior], for an ascetic like him it had been enough.

However, it was not all as training in weapon arts helped him in unexpected ways. It had raised his [Agility] attribute to 4. His Mental Attributes and Bridge Attributes too had risen on their own as he had grown, allowing most of his attributes to increase. However, this growth had been tempered by the limits of his [Race] as the 7 points represented the best state achievable by a mortal body. On the other hand, 5 points represented the average attribute that most people achieved within their lifetimes.

Nonetheless, all the increase in attributes were accomplishments. However, his most important achievement had been to reach [Level 10] in his Class. And much alike when he had earned his Class, he had neither been one of the last ones of his batch to do so nor had he been the first ones. He had been just the average which had suited him just fine.

To him, the accomplishment itself was important, not the time taken to earn it. After all, [Level 10] was a big achievement; not just for him but for anyone as now Kiran could finally choose his first spell! The very thought had made him giddy. Sitting outside his teacher's cottage, the young man smiled brightly.

Guru Pranay laugh line adorned lips twitched in a small smile. “Choose your Spell now.” The white-clad young man summoned his Status without a moment’s delay and focused on the addition sign next to the Spell tab.

Name: Kiran Prajapati

Race: Mortal Species: Manav

Age: 17 Gender: Male

Class: Shishya Level: 10

HP: 160/160 MP: 384/384

HPR: 16/Day MPR: 30/Hour

Titles: -

Dharma: To learn.

Karma: |-|-

[Str: 3] [End: 3] [Agi: 4]

[Int: 8] [Wit: 9] [ Rea: 7]

[Spi: 4] [Wil: 4] [Ref: 5]

[Sur: 3]

Attribute Points: 0

Skills: [Link Lv.3] [Anatomy Vision Lv.9]

Spells: [+]

Ting.

[Select a Spell. Spell selection is permanent.] [Stimulate] [Boost]

The young man’s smile faltered as only two Spells were offered to be granted. He frowned and focused on the first Spell, [Stimulate].

Ting.

[Stimulate] [Allows the user to Stimulate the production of target’s muscles and flesh by the factor of 2x[SL]. Does not work on internal organs. Cost: [Sum of the target's Physical Attributes] MP/Min. Do you wish for this Spell to be granted?] [Yes] [No]

“This is the Healer path Spell that you should have worked for.” The saffron-robed man informed the white-robed young man. “What is the other one?”

Ting.

[Boost] [Allows the user to add the value of an Attribute to another. Cost: [Value of the added Attribute] MP/Min. Do you wish for this Spell to be granted?] [Yes] [No]

“This is the Warrior path Spell. Your Skill in weapons is the plausible reason for its appearance.” The saffron-robed man nodded in thought. “You should choose the first Spell.” The young man agreed with the advice and refused the Spell, [Boost], before focusing once again on the Skill, [Stimulate].

Ting.

[You have selected the Spell [Stimulate]. Are you sure you want this Spell to be granted?] [Yes] [No]

Kiran focused on the [Yes].

Ting.

[Spell [Stimulate] granted.]

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-