The elder’s words reminded Shango that he still had to make a difficult choice. Now that he knew his element, it was time for him to make a difficult choice. Shango had been thinking about which path to choose for a while, so much so that even his dreams comprised of him picking between the two.

Knight or Mage. Mage or Knight. Shango thought as he paced back and forth, thinking about which path best suited him and which would give him the best chance of survival in this unfriendly new world.

The idea of fighting enemies from long ranges sounded great to Shango and probably would be the safest in the long run, plus the spell that King Mortimer cast still sent chills down his spine. He replayed the whole process in his mind at least a thousand times so far; the sound, the sight, the feeling left a profound impact on him. But from what Rolla, Ave, Aldusa, and Bertram told Shango, King Mortimer’s abilities as a Knight were just as terrorizing, if not more so than his skills as a mage. With that knowledge, it became even much harder for Shango to pick.

Just thinking about the look the king gave him and how he spoke to Shango still pissed him off. Shango was not a fool. He knew that he was just a tool for the king to use as he pleased, and the moment he became a nuisance, his head would roll. He knew that if he wanted true freedom, then most likely he would have to be strong enough to become a threat to the King’s rule. It could not be a slow rise in power, it would have to come fast and unexpected.

Man, this is hard, Shango thought to himself.

“Since my element is fire, the elder said that my offensive power will be quite high, but my healing and defenses are not that good.” Thinking about it more, Shango always liked the glass cannon type character, but he knew that in the real world, having too big a weakness was not a good thing. So whichever path he chooses would have to help overcome or ease that weakness of his element.

Shango spent at least half an hour contemplating which choice was the best for him. To be honest, both of them sounded ideal to him. It would have been nice if he had gotten a Diverge Ability like Ave’s ancestor, being able to wield both would have been perfect.

What it boiled down to was close combat versus range combat. Thinking for a while longer, he still could not figure out which was best for him.

“Ahhhhhh.” The elder let out a yawn. He had a somewhat sleepy face as he looked at Shango. Honestly, Shango had forgotten the elder was even there. He was so wrapped up in his thought process that he had forgotten all about him.

Looking at the elder, Shango had to admit that the guy was probably the best source of knowledge and was bound to have more information about the ins and outs of both paths.

Shango let out a small sigh before speaking to the elder, “Hey, Elder.”

For some reason, Shango felt strange calling the elder that. He had a feeling that he had forgotten to ask the elder an important question, but it just kept slipping his mind. It felt like it was something was missing each time he spoke to the elder.

“Yes, what is it?”

Ignoring the strange feeling in his heart, Shango asked the elder, “Well, the others already explained to me the main difference between a Knight and Mage, but I’m still having a hard time picking a path to choose. And since you seem to have more knowledge about these things, I was wondering if you could give me more details about both of them?”

Even though Shango had already received a lot of information from Ave and Rolla, they were young, and Shango was always a firm believer that the best information always came from the old guys—the ones who had already been through the rough parts of the trials and tribulations called life.

Shango’s question caused a smirk to appear on the elder’s face. The elder always felt great pride when he got to share his knowledge with a willing youth.

“All this is quite the surprise. Few people are wise enough to ask me for advice. I’m one of the top people when it comes to the research of mana and it’s uses, so I would be happy to help.”

Hearing this old guy toot his own horn, Shango could only roll his eyes and bear it.

“Well, let’s see. Both paths require a medium to draw out the full potential of your element. Myself, as a mage—”

“Wait, you’re a mage?!” Shango asked, interrupting the elder. “Did you not just put a huge dent in the wall a while ago?” Shango asked with a look of bewilderment written all over his face.

Not being bothered by Shango’s interruption one bit, the elder said, “Haha, that was just a simple body enhancement spell, nothing too fancy. Nearly all Mage’s has some form of it. It’s not nearly as ridiculous at what a knight can do, but it can help in a pinch. Knights can also use spells that are very similar to mages. It’s not that big of a deal but being well-versed in spellcasting will ensure a long life.” he said, “Now back to what I was saying. Both paths require a medium to draw out the full potential of our elements. Some genius people can control their element without one, but those types of monsters are scarce.”

“What do you mean by ‘a medium?’”

“Let’s see. A medium is, for example, my grimoire or a Knight’s Artifact weapon.” His grimoire, blueish book, appeared from out of nowhere at his side. Shango felt a strong source of power flowing from it.

“Most Mage’s will choose a grimoire like this as there medium. It’s also able to store spells, equipment, and many other useful things. Some extremely rare ones can store mana, so it serves as a spare reserve of mana for sticky situations. Knights artifact weapons can do the same but in a somewhat limited fashion. If I can remember correctly, Artifact weapons and grimoires are things made by the dwarfs.” he pauses for a moment to think. “Yep, that is correct. The technology was first rediscovered nearly 200 years ago, but it was made several centuries ago.”

“How could such advanced technology just be lost like that?” Shango asked, wanting to know more.

“I don’t know.” the Elder said, looking a bit disappointed.

“Even the dwarves themselves don’t know how the artifacts technology was lost. It’s one of the greatest mysteries of this world.”

“Are there any clues about how the technology was lost?”

“There are no clues, but many believed it was the work of a summoned hero’s Diverge Ability.”

“Anyway, since then the dwarves and Humans can now mass-produce similar artifacts, but they can only reach about 10 percent of the original artifact weapons. Those fake artifact weapons are usually given to the foot soldiers while only people of certain noble families or summoned heroes may get to pick a true Artifact Weapon or Grimoire.”

Listening to the elder’s words, Shango once again began thinking about which path he should take. Factoring in Artifact Weapons and Grimoires just added another equation to the problem.

“So to bring out my element’s full potential, I will need a medium. So I will need a grimoire or an Artifact weapon. Are those my only choices?” Shango asked the elder.

“Oh, no, no,” Shango noticed that the elder had become more excited. It seemed like his eyes were starting to sparkle.

“Those are the two most common mediums that humans and dwarves use. Demons have a rare ink that can mimic the effect of a medium, allowing them to store simple spells on their skin.”

“Like a tattoo?”

“Exactly!” the elder said with wide eyes.

“Like my grimoire and artifact weapons, there are different ranks. The purer the ink used, the more efficient it is as acting as a medium. The elves and beast-men also have unique ways of harnessing their elements.” Becoming excited, the elder went on a long tirade about elves, beast-men, dwarves, and dragons. He spent a few hours explaining about different things of this world while Shango was trying his best to absorb the information the elders were telling him entirely. It took a while for the elder to calm down and even he realized he might have gone a bit overboard.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Anyway, that’s all the important information I have for you. I hope it gives you a good idea of which path you will choose.”

Having absorbed a bit of the information, Shango had mostly decided which path he would take.

“Thanks for all the help Elder, I have decided which path I will take.”

“That’s good to hear. Now which one are you picking?”

“The path I will walk is that of a Knight. Being a Mage sounds great and all, but my roots are grounded in close combat. I believe I can grow the fastest being a knight.”