“While a Gazer doesn't have that many offensive capabilities, it does have some others. For one, when it becomes a little bit stronger, it should be able to pierce through some illusions. It does have some magic that can slow enemies, but that isn't so helpful again most Talents. With some Talents, though, it's tremendously useful.

Now that we have figured out what the Summoning part of your Talent is, let's find out what your Soul Talent does”

While he was saying this, the Gazer began slowly floating around. In the start it moved in a straight line, unsure of what to do, but after a little while, it began doing more advanced things, like, moving up and down. I even think it did a backflip, but it was hard to tell.

´This is awesome! Never knew having a body would be so fun. It sucks that I can only move slowly, though´, the voice controlling the Gazer said.

Jakob, seeing I wasn't paying attention to him, snapped his fingers in front of me.

“Wait, what?”, I hastily said, trying to play it off. “Sorry, spaced out a bit”

Jakob wasn't buying it, but he didn't look angry either. He almost looked like he was… happy.

“I think, I know what your specialty from the Soul talent is”, Jakob said, a smile growing on his libs. “Your specialty is Mental communications, or, as I like to call it, Telepathy. Did you not just pick up thoughts from that Gazer?”

Shit. Should I tell him about the voices? No, that would make me look like a maniac. Who would be near somebody like that? Somebody like me. Maybe… I should tell him. I mean, one of the voices is controlling the Gazer right now. Could that be why one of my Talents is Soul? Is it because of the voices? If it's like that, it should be okay to tell him.

Maybe I should not limit myself to my thought about it only. What do you think it, guys?

´Don't´, the usually sweet voice said instantly. Her voice had changed from cheerful to serious in a second, surprising both me and the other voices. I even heard some of them asking if she was okay, but I just tuned them out.

Why do you not want Jakob to know about you? I mean, wouldn't it make this whole thing a little bit easier?

´Just… trust me. It wouldn't get easier by you saying it. It would get much, much harder´

While I did want to tell Jakob about them, I decided not to tell him. It would be bad if I angered the voices. Last time that happened… it didn't go so well.

“Yea, I guess you could call it that. I mean, nothing is saying makes much sense, but it listens to my commands”, I said, with a distracted tone.

“Great! While that little ability doesn't sound like much on paper, instant, and silent, communication is significant. When you become stronger, we need to get you a creature with Ranged-Telepathy. With it, we have instant communication no matter the distance. Knew you would be useful”, Jakob said in a cheerful tone, while slapping me on the back.

“That… great, I think, but I have a question”, I said, with a slightly worried tone. “Do I train now? And, if so, what do I need to do?”

While it was obvious that I was supposed to train at some point, would it be a good idea to do it now? Half of the remaining Mana-reserves were going to disappear in about ten minutes, leaving me with little to work with.

Jakob considered my question for a few seconds, his mind going back and forth between the options. It seemed he had the same mindset as me about it and had the same dilemma. After some thinking, it seemed he finally had come to a conclusion.

“As far as training goes, it seems we have to wait some time for that to begin. While we could instruct you about it now, it wouldn't be practical for multiple reasons. That leaves us with a few things we could do for the next few days.

One of those things is rather important, though. I need you to make a simple, but important, choice regarding your future with your Summoning Talent. This choice will have to be made before we can really begin the training. Let me explain.

Before any person with the Summoning Talent can begin their path to greatness, there are two paths they can choose. The Evolution path, and The Fortuna path. While these paths may seem similar in nature, they are very different. I will give you information about each of these paths, and you will have to choose which you would like to traverse.

Ready? Good.

The Evolution path is about, as the name would suggest, evolution. For example, instead of simply desummoning this Gazer, and never using it ever again, you can form a Bond with it, and keep it as your personal creature. This would be very shortsighted if you didn't know of a single detail. Magical creatures can evolve.

Instead of simply keeping this Gazer as it is, you can make it evolve into a mighty Beholder, instantly giving it a massive boost in its offensive capabilities. After that, it can evolve into a Nothic, and, after many evolutions, even an Aboleth. While you may not recognize these names, trust me when I say this; all of them are fearsome creatures in dealing with.

Now, think about this. In time, you could have many creatures like all of them following your orders with complete loyalty. You raised them from the weakest of weak to the strongest of all. Even if they die for your cause, you could bring them back with your bond. Do note, though, that it takes a massive amount of Mana to do so.

Now that I have explained the pros, let me explain the cons.

While this sounds great, do note that these evolutions take much patience. For some evolutions, you need the creature to absorb rare herbs or meat from other magical creatures, which are all very expensive to get.

There is also one other major problem with this problem. The versatility of it. Sure, while you may have tens of creatures, each of them, having unique capabilities, it's not many. With enough preparation, people will find ways to circumvent them. Its a problem every mage faces, but those Summoners with the Evolution path gets hit the hardest. They can't just change their setup of creatures. They have invested years into each of them. Sure, they could evolve them further, but that a process that takes too long. The enemies could have studied every viable evolution for each creature you have. Trust me; many great Summoners have fallen due to this.

With this problem of versatility, we move of the second path. The Fortuna path.

This path does not reign in the same way as the Evolution path. This path has something the other path could only dream of. Versatility. The Fortuna path does not simply hold itself back with a single creature. As I said before, what if the enemies guessed your capabilities? What would you do then?

The Fortuna path doesn't have those fears, though. They are too versatile for that thing to work against them. The enemies procured armor that makes them resistant to your fire-based creature. Just summon a water-based creature instead! Do you see where I'm getting with this? Good.

You probably think that this path does sounds supreme to the other path, but everything isn't as it seems, though. While this path has versatility, it lacks in power. When compared next to each other, with equal Mana-usage, the Evolution path definitely has the most power overall. When the enemies become powerful enough, no amount of versatility is gonna save your skin. Only power can save you then.

Now that I have explained these two choices, I hope you will be able to make a decision. Take your time, though. This is important.

I will leave now but don't worry, I'll be back. If there's something you need, know that there is a servant outside the door to help”

After finishing talking, Jakob proceeded to leave the room. I didn't comment about it, being too occupied thinking about these two choices. It was a hard decision to make. It all came down to one thing. What did I want? Versatility or Power? The Fortuna path or The Evolution path?

Every voice in my head had their own opinion about it, each of them giving thought out explanations about why they were right. So many constant voices were giving me a giant headache, but I could bear it. I had done so before many, many times.

Which is the optimal choice? What do I need the most? It was a hard choice to make, and I couldn't figure it out. It was stressful. What if I chose the wrong path, and ended up regretting it for the rest of my life?

´Well, if you don't want to choose, can I do it for you?´, the sweet voice asked. Her voice was back to its usual cheerfulness, not a hint of seriousness in it.

I thought about it for a moment, before just saying, fuck it. If I wouldn't make a decision that needed to be made, somebody else needed to do it.

Sure. What's your choice?

I heard a small giggle after I said that.

´I choose-´