Joining a sparsely crowded line, They started talking to pass the time.

"That Nephra was a very interesting girl." Ava said with a smile thinking about the cute girl.

"You don't say. If I didn't know better myself and your strikingly different facial appearances, I would have thought you two were sisters. Seriously though, how did you get along with her so easily and in such a short time? We both could barely be considered friends with her but you, on the other hand, looked like you had known her for years with the ease you interacted with her." Noah said still amazed with how she got along so well with Nephra.

"Well, she reminded me a lot about myself so I could relate to her. Also, being in the School Committee really helps when dealing with boys and girls a few years younger than yourself." Ava clarified sounding proud of her social skills and she deserved to be with how helpful she was turning out to be when dealing with Nephra.

"Mind explaining how she reminded you of yourself?" Noah was curious about that detail.

"Well, she was being a tryhard like I was a few years ago. Trying too hard to make yourself the best or at least what people expect out of you. Let me tell you, that weighs on you, like a lot. I was burning myself out from being way too tryhard a few years back. I learned the hard way that it's much better to be one on your own conditions." She sighed before answering with a pained smile.

An awkward silence fell between the two after that.

"So, any thoughts on which Profession to choose?" Shaun disliked interjecting at this moment but they needed to discuss that topic since the queue was thinning by the minute.

Noah was thankful to Shaun as he desperately needed something to change the awkward atmosphere he had created between him and Ava when he so stupidly asked a question she was obviously uncomfortable answering.

"Speaking of Professions, I recall mentioning about the possible option for Scholar. What do you think of that? Should I choose it? And do you guys also have similar options for Profession?"

"I think you shouldn't. This apprenticeship is clearly very important for growth from what we're hearing. We shouldn't waste it on an experiment. If there is an option for Scholar here, you could try it but otherwise, I think you should refrain from choosing it and instead choose something else." Shaun replied thinking about what Profession should be best for someone like Noah if not Scholar.

"I was thinking the same but I also have one more reason. Right now, our training is focused on physical sections and we probably won't touch the mental ones soon. Moreover, the only reason we were even able to complete the entire trail today was due to the Energized Buff. So, a Profession that is more physically oriented is my priority. Do you think it is a good decision? " Noah had thought over his priorities but he still needed that extra assurance that he wasn't making a dumb decision.

"I think it should be fine but ultimately, you should choose one that suits you. It's even better if that Profession also interests you." Shaun said before continuing.

"I have also got an option myself. It is Cook. It gives 0.1 per LVL to Agility, Perception, Wisdom and Willpower. Pretty decent if I consider what you mentioned about the Scholar. If nothing drastic happens, I should be choosing this one." Shaun said looking over the summary of Cook Profession.

"Yeah, you would probably do best in that one. What about you, Ava, any luck in getting a Profession." Noah said trying to make Ava join the conversation since she was being awfully silent the entire time and he was feeling guilty about it.

"Hmm, did you say something? I was a bit out of it." Ava got back to Earth from wherever she was thinking when she heard someone call her. Seeing the two look at her, she was somewhat embarrassed at getting so distracted in the middle of the conversation.

"We were talking about our Profession choices. You got any existing choices?" Shaun answered calmly.

Ava quickly opened her Status and went to the Professions tab. Focusing on it brought out her choices for Professions. She said after thoroughly examining every choice.

"I got two. One is Orator and the other one is Leader. They are exactly what they mean. Both provide similar stats. 0.1 in Wisdom, Willpower and Perception."

"That confirms another thing. We can get Professions if we are proficient in something related to it. Moreover, it seems to need to be sufficiently practiced." Noah voiced out his conjectures before continuing.

"For the Orator, we two should also have gotten it if the prerequisite was just to talk in front of a crowd but it is more likely to be to address a crowd regularly with sufficient expertise in speaking. The two of us could barely qualify for the first condition let alone think of the second one and that is if there are only two conditions. We never know."

"Regardless, we should think more about whether she should choose one of these or not. Again, I stand by my previous opinion. We shouldn't experiment with it right now. It's much better to follow the ones available here. We will have the opportunity to experiment with Professions later on." Shaun intervened bringing the topic back to Profession choices.

Ava started pondering about which choice she should take now. After considering for some time, she made the decision and stated to her friends.

"I think I will listen to you both this time. I don't see any easy way I could easily progress in both of those professions unless they teach about it here. Even if they did, I doubt it would help me significantly in training with either of them offering no physical stats."

Noah and Shaun agreed with her opinion. It was better to test the waters first and it's not like this was the end all be all for their Profession. They could always choose a new one after they undergo the Rite.

Some may ask why were they so confident in being able to pass the Rite. It was because they learned from Neph that almost all people who undergo military training like the one they were put under right now passes the Rite. It takes them a few years in general but the Growth Potion is there to compensate for the time.

This is different for Civilians since they could take at most a decade to pass the Rite with the help of Professions. Those with mediocre Profession like Worker even struggle to undergo the Rite within their lifetimes because growth is only possible until a certain age after which stats starts to degrade.

The stats slowly begins to stagnate in one's 30s while starting to degrade in 40s after which it is nigh impossible to grow your stats unless they use a Rejuvenation Potion before they reach 60 years or so. That would bring the body back to prime allowing one last chance to try to pass the Rite. Of course, that is only true if one could afford the expensive price of the potion that only nobles and rich merchants could pay for with ease.

They finally reached before the booth. It was more of a compartment with a glass window and door to enter. Initiates entered the door and exited every 10 minutes.

Their turn came and Shaun was the first to go. It didn't take him more than a few minutes to be done. Moving back, he passed the two with a satisfied look on his face.

Next was Ava's turn. She took a bit more time with her choice. Though, eventually, she seemed to have found one that interested her. She was smiling ear to ear, apparently very satisfied with her choice.

While passing by, she whispered in his ear.

"Found a good one for myself. There are many to choose from. Don't get overwhelmed."

When Noah looked at Ava a bit nervously, she winked at him.

Noah nodded and responded with a smile while internally he was relieved she was back to normal.

Moving forward, he entered the booth and greeted the middle-aged staff. He was wearing similar attire as the other employees here.

"Please state your name and age." The staff asked professionally.

"Noah, age 19" Noah answered the question calmly.

The staff took a deep breath and started speaking.

"Mister Noah, I am here to help you choose a Profession. You will be given a list of Professions to choose from. I will be answering any questions and doubts you might have regarding the Professions. Now, shall we start the process?"

Noah nodded to show that he was ready.

"Since we are doing this formally, I have to ask whether you wish to choose any labor or gatherer-related professions. Examples include Worker, Woodcutter and Miner. There are many others but most are similar offering 0.2-0.3 stats per LVL. We do not recommend choosing any one of these unless all other options are exhausted."

The staff finished his explanation with a reminder at last. Despite the staff's stoic and professional speech, Noah could recognize the genuine advice in the statement. Well, he was not dumb to choose those anyway unless he absolutely needed those specific Professions which he clearly did not right now.

"No, I don't wish to choose anyone out of those."

"Then you would choose one from the list of mainstream Professions. They are generally categorized into craft, academic, survival, managerial and miscellaneous. We could go over the entire list but it would be much better if you could give me a criterion so that I could narrow down the possible choices." The staff continued the explanation while writing some notes.

"I would prefer one which is more physically oriented since I am also undergoing the training camp. I hope that it would help with the camp." Noah explained his priorities to the staff who was nodding along to show that he was listening.

"That is a good decision. Since we are going for physically oriented ones, academic and managerial are completely out. This also removes most of the craft and miscellaneous leaving only survival and few others from the craft and misc. categories. The available choices left include Explorer, Militia, Hunter, Blacksmith and Builder. These are all the Professions you could choose from. All of them offer 0.4 stats per LVL. There are others left out like Rider because there aren't any masters of those Professions here in this town who could guide the apprentices." The staff finished his explanation and asked the important question.

"Which one will you choose?"

The question got Noah into thinking. Except for the Builder, all others were excellent options. He could choose any one of them and be very satisfied after the fact. Though when ruminating over the choices, one option stood out to him. The prospect of having that Profession appealed to him much more than the others. Making up his mind over the choice, he informed the staff of his decision.

"I will choose-"