My sisters and I stood on the left side of the tree room awaiting instruction from our teacher.

The air was stiff as my sisters stood with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

Next to our teacher was a classic training dummy, beside the dummy was five old-looking items in a bucket.

Those items were a book, a staff, a sword, and a bow with a quiver that contained some arrows.

Before the day was over we would have to choose one of those weapons to specialize in and another to use as a substitute.

Kent told us that in the past our family was well known for producing top-line fighters. At that time he also asked if any of us wanted to become a fighter as well, and to my surprise, we all answered yes to that question.

I wasn't sure what exactly a “fighter” was supposed to be, but by the way that the question was phrased, it seemed like we would not be in our father’s good graces if we said something along the lines of, “No, I want to be an average baker as my future career.”

I didn't mind being forced into the role too much though, if worse came to worse I could just monetize my other world knowledge for profit.

Imagine inventing electricity one day just so that you could pay your rent on time. I amused myself imagining that idea when our teacher began to speak.

“The four main pillars which separate the weak from the strong in our world are;

That Person’s Build Their Equipment Their Skills And their General Knowledge

“These four fundamental aspects are important for every class, from the farmers who till the soil, to the priests who incite the masses, to the adventures who cut down monsters for their hides.” Kent addressed us with a very serious expression and tone.

"Over the past couple of months we have mainly been focusing on improving your general knowledge, however for the foreseeable future we will be switching our focus primarily to weapon-related skills." Kent gave us an explanation as to what we would be doing.

"Why are we learning this now of all times if you don't mind me asking?" I enquired with a curious tone.

It wasn’t like we were done with most of our courses, on the contrary, both of my sisters could bearly read a simple sentence.

"We are accelerating our schedule a bit because your father plans on doing some live sparring sessions between you three soon and basic weapon training would be helpful for you to learn before you start," he said patiently.

We all gave him a confused stare.

"The reason for organizing sparing sessions so early is two-fold, you see there is an event coming up in about one and a half years from now which is held every five years called the Astra where most of the noble families of this nation will be in attendance," our teacher continued reacting quickly to our confusion.

"It's said that this event is used to strengthen the unity of our country but it is mostly used as an excuse for the royal families to show off the abilities of their youth to increase and maintain their standing among the other noble families," He said evenly.

"Now normally the kids participating in this event would be ten to fifteen years old."

"But the thing is, you all have been progressing so fast lately that your father thinks that you will be able to put on a good display during the Astra coming after this one even though you will only be seven years of age.”

"Dad really thinks that we will be able to beat people twice our age by then?" Emma said in a surprised tone.

"Heavens no, we actually fully expect you to fail," he said back in an amused tone with a slight chuckle.

"What?" Rina exclaimed in shock.

"The thing is that from our perspective even if you lose all of the competitions horribly, our family would gain standing just by you completing all of the events at such an early age.” our teacher said with a chuckle.

The ebony tree which sat close by seemed to burst into laughter as the leaves swished back and forth in a rumbustious sound using a nonexistent wind.

"So dad is just using us to look good in front of his friends?" Emma stated with a pout and an unsatisfied expression.

Before Kent had any time to answer the upset Emma I answered for him “Even if that were the case this is still a great opportunity for us."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked with a suspicious glance but I could tell she had come to trust what I had to say.

"There is going to be a lot of important people there, from military personnel, owners of important companies, nobles and their children, it would be a great opportunity to advertise ourselves and to make good connections early.” I lectured her.

“This is especially a great opportunity for you Emma, you're going to be able to finally put those skills you were born with and have been practicing to good use,” I said while smiling at her.

“That's quite a good observation Norman and your right it would be an amazing opportunity for you three to be able to socialize with these types of people.”

“The real reason that your father is so gung-ho about the entire situation is that despite our family's deep history the other nobles see us as a powerhouse in decline,” a solemn expression slowly crept on his face.

“Due to this perceived decline, the vast territory we have control, and the numerous precious resources, our family home has stored the other noble families in the area have been looking at us like a juicy piece of steak fresh off the grill.”

“What your father hopes for is that after you show your skills at this event our family will finally be able to regain some of its former respect.”

“He would be very grateful to anyone who managed to achieve that for him so your success may very well determine your success at becoming the family head.” Kent gave a cheeky smile as he talked and my sisters seemed to light up at the opportunity to complete the main quest.

Out of everything Kent said the most interesting thing to me was that he referred to the family as “Our family” as if he were directly a part of it and not just a butler.

This also sparked my interest as Kent seemed to have a lot more sway on my father than any of the other maids at the mansion.

"Now, back to the main topic,” Kent switched out of the topic quickly but there seemed to be more on his mind.

“There are four main types of weapons which you will be learning; Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Summoner weapons.

“Wait! You said that there were two reasons why we were doing weapons training early what was the second one?” Our teacher Kent looked surprised but gave back a big smile while putting one finger to his lip.

“That’s going to be a bit of a surprise but let's just say that you've got a huge opportunity coming up Norman which you're going to have to fight for so I hope you can get your lazy behind in gear before that time comes,” Kent said with a coy expression.

Rina didn’t look happy to hear that I was getting something that she wouldn’t but I was less than thrilled about this development it just sounded like I would be getting a lot more work in the near future.

"Any way back to weapons.”

“Melee consists of the mainly handheld weapons used at close to mid-range which typically don’t require mana to be used effectively" Kent quickly continued trying to refocus his lecture.

“This weapon type is considered the strongest by many while also being the most restrictive despite the numerous kinds of weapons that fall under this category.”

“They are also relatively cheap which makes them particularly popular among the commoners who simply can’t afford the cost of learning and buying the other weapon types”

“The only real downside to Melee weapons is the amount of stamina and strength that is required to use them properly.” Kent grabbed a wooden sword from the bucket and began to swing it around lazily to demonstrate what he was talking about.

Despite his movements being lethargic you could tell that his movements were practiced.

The best way I could describe it is like when a master artist doodling something random on a piece of paper in a rush.

Their skill in their craft is so high that they unconsciously do things that would make the art piece much higher quality than that of a novice even when not putting in an effort.

"Ranger consists of weapons than can be used at long range," he moved on placing the wooden sword back in the bucket he took it from.

‘No duh” I added quickly as a joke which got me a chuckle from my sisters and a stern look from our teacher.

"These weapons can be further broken down into Archery weapons and Throwing weapons" Kent cleared his throat.

"Archery weapons are great for hitting people at a distance, sneak attacks, protecting areas with fortification, breaking down fortifications and so much more.”

“It is also one of the safest and least stressful weapons to use, most don't require mana and it only takes tons of stamina at lower levels.”

“The major downside is that arrows can be quite costly to make and replace"

“Throwing weapons have a lot of similarities to archery weapons but are better at close to mid-range while not having as much long-ranged power”

“In the heat of battle, throwing weapons tend to get lost rapidly, meaning that you have to replace them consistently which gives it a similar problem to archery weapons"

"Overall both are very good and are popular with the upper class who don't have a high affinity for magic which is quite common."

Kent took out the bow and readied his stance. The aura his body gave out was as firm as a mountain and then pulled the string of his bow while aiming his arrow the bow held so much tension that it felt as if it would snap.

As he released the arrow it cut threw the wind with frightening speed, a hiss, and a faint yellow glow that streaked through the air.

It hit the massive tree in the center of the room with a large crash as the arrow shattered into pieces on impact.

The leaves of the tree roared with a nonexistent wind in triumph and the light they gave off danced around the room in an erratic pattern.

The more I observed the tree the more it seemed like a person and not a plant but whenever I asked the maids about it they looked at me incredulously.

"Please remember before we continue that if you chose to specialize in magic or summoning weapons you will have to learn the fundamentals of magic first which can normally take months to learn."

"People who rely on those two weapon types tend to be weak and limited in the early stages while being practically omnipotent in the higher tiers"

"Magic weapons require a competent use of skills more than anything else to be used effectively as well as requiring a great amount of study, practice and mental stats. Having a high mana pool to go along with those also doesn’t hurt"

Kent picked up an old-looking book with a blank leather cover and placed it in his right hand with the cover on top.

The book flew open swishing from page to rapidly as it began lightly to float releasing numerous bright orange sparks.

From Kent’s right hand you could see blue gaseous energy living the palm of his hand and entering the book from the bottom.

The sparks slowly coalesced into a bright yellow flame which then shared into hundreds of flaming projectiles all curving out from the point of origin onto our family’s tree.

These individual shots then hit the tree simultaneously which ended in one massive explosion that again left the tree completely unaffected.

All of our eyes seemed to glow as we saw the esoteric sight of the orange-colored flames interacting with the blue and black light emitted by the tree.

After giving us a short pause to enjoy the screen Kent continued.

"Summoner is widely considered to be the most varied class of weapons but also the hardest to learn and master.”

"Summoning weapons allow the user to form creatures which fight on their behalf. These creatures fall under two main categories. Minions or Sentries."

"The basic difference between the two is that minions can move according to the will of the master while sentries are stationary."

“Summons also fall under the broad category of companions, so if you want to have a pet or a familiar later, It will be useful to learn some summoner skills now.”

"The utility and effectiveness of summons can also be enhanced by using specific social and tactical skills so learning to use them can also be useful if you plan on going down those skill paths in the future as well.”

Kent grabbed a brown wooden staff from the basket. He thrust it forward as deep blue veins of light began to climb up the weapon from his hands to the naturally rounded top of the staff.

An orb of light began to coalesce in front of him, continuously compressing the energy feed to it from Kent until it formed a small blue slime that fell to the flout with a splat.

The little slime creature slithered towards the large tree with surprising speed as it seemed to be directed by Kent's staff leaving behind a trail glowing magical ooze.

When it reached the tree the slime seemed to spark as it slammed itself against a thin barely noticeable barrier formed by the tree.

After about five slams it hit the tree and with a loud explosion, the slime created by Kent was blown to bits releasing a smelly gas and viscous ooze all over the floor which slowly evaporated living even more of the foul odor.

With that, Kent put the last weapon back in the barrel and gestured to one of the other maids to carry them away.

He then looked at each of us with expectant eyes.

"So which class would you like to specialize in and why?" He asked with a deadpan expression.

Rina was the first to answer. "I would like to pick up the summoner class of weapons," She raised her hand in a controlled manner while giving a slight smirk.

She then sent me a concealed glance as if to say “Aren’t you proud of me.”.

"Why are you choosing that class over the others?" Kent followed through without missing a beat.

"I want to specialize in summoner weapons because they work well with the commander-type skills I already have while only requiring me to learn how to manipulate mana which I was already planning on doing anyway,” she said while standing upright squaring her shoulders and giving a formal but bright smile.

“I also like the idea of having cute little creatures following me around and listening to my every order" Rina responded without missing a beat like she planned her response ahead of time.

“In addition to this, I would like to learn how to use magic weapons as it would be best for supporting my minions from a distance while adding some extra versatility”

“Plus since I'm learning mana manipulation anyway it comes at no extra cost to learn” Rina smiled gently before sitting back down gracefully and putting back on her stern expression.

Whether consciously or unconsciously all of her movements and actions gave her a presence that demanded respect.

"What about you Emma what type do you think is best for you" Kent followed again glancing at the other sister who seemed lost in thought.

"Huh, me I don't know, umm,” Emma looked a little surprised by the question but still managed to react theatrically.

She then paused for a brief moment to ponder her decision before replying.

“I think I'll just go with whatever Rina chose, we're sisters, after all, it makes sense for us to be doing the same thing as each other, right?”

“We will be a dynamic duo and people will call us something like the “Twins of Terror” or something," Emma said as she grabbed onto her sister in a bear hug and chuckled to herself.

It was quite cute to look at as they busted out in laughter.

I just rolled my eyes while sending her a blank stare.

More than likely Emma already knew that she was going to specialize in that weapon class long before Rina said what she would be doing.

Despite the dumb little girl act she loves to play, she is extremely quick-witted and cutthroat.

If I had to guess what the thought process behind her decision was it would probably be something along the lines of “Summoner is the only weapon class which directly benefits from high social stats.”

“Since my highest stats were in the social category and the skills I was born with were also in the social category the most logical option for me to pick is summoner weapons since it's the class that benefits from what I currently have the most.”

One thing I didn't like about her was that despite how smart she was she didn’t like to ask a lot of questions.

She just took most things at face value, leaving her incredibly vulnerable to jumping to the wrong conclusion.

In this case, there are great uses for all stats including the social ones for each weapon type once one got into the specific skills you would use with them even though Kent didn’t bother to mention it in his explanation.

Since she didn’t inquire about that, even though I still think she made the right overall decision, it makes me feel nervous about the kinds of decisions she will make in the future.

Emma also had this bad habit of making anything she did somehow about other people as if she was doing it for them and not for herself.

It probably had to do with the skills she got at birth Minor Influence and Minor Manipulation.

The scary thing about it was how naturally she came across while doing it. It made people feel like they owed her extra favors while liking her more.

Everyone else in the mansion had already caught on to this except Rina who just seemed to eat up all of her bullshit like it was food from a five-star restaurant.

Rina wasn’t innocent either.

Because I have a higher intelligence stat than my sisters I was expected to learn the basics of every weapon class no matter what I decided to specialize in.

Due to this, I got a book explaining what they were and the basics of how to use them long before we had this session.

The moment she found out about this she kept nagging me about what was in the book that I was reading.

When I finally caved she asked me about how each of the classes worked and which one I thought would have been best for her and Emma.

I said summoner mainly due to her particular skills and explained why it would be a good weapon type for both of them to use with my limited knowledge on the subject.

She asked what I would be choosing and I said it was a secret. She kept bugging me about it but eventually, she just relented.

After that, she kept trying to subtly convince Emma to be a summoner by telling her how nice it would be to control pests, how useful summoners were, how it would synergize with her skills and her huge social stats, and any of the other reasons I gave her for why it would have been good for herself.

Stuff like how exhausting it is to swing around swords, how boring it is they sit around with a bow waiting for an enemy to show up, and other such things.

Emma for her part also didn't seem to notice this.

Both of them seemed to lack the ability to recognize the intentions of others while still having a knack for getting others to do what they wanted in their own little way.

I wondered if this was an age thing or whether it was a personality problem, either way, it didn't bother me too much right now.

After my sisters gave their reasonings I finally decided to add my piece.

"I would like to specialize in Melee weapons," I said blankly.

Everyone seemed shocked to hear this from me including Kent our teacher.

"And why is that?" Kent asked.

"Firstly, because the skill I'm best at using right now is sprint which doesn't seem to work well with the other weapon types besides maybe ranged which I already eliminated due to it being too expensive," I stated in a persuasive tone as if I was giving a speech.

"Oh, don't worry about money your father will spear no expenses to get you all what you need, and he's quite wealthy so you won't need to feel like you're burdening him," Kent answered in a patient voice with a hint of superiority.

"Yeah, he'll pay for it now, but when I leave here and I'm on my own, how will I get the funds to pay?"

Kent seemed to be caught off guard by this question, not because he hadn't thought of it. it was quite an obvious observation to make but it came from someone too young to be thinking fifteen years into the future when making decisions.

He wasn't too worried about us switching our weapon classes as we age, rather he expected that as we got a taste of each class we would undoubtedly change our minds on what we wanted to use later.

One of the major advantages of teaching us how to use weapons now at such an early age was that we would still have time to change which weapons we would mainly be focusing on without much consequence.

As Kent paused I continued my rant.

"Furthermore even if I had the money to waste buying and replacing weapons that's also money which I could have spent on better equipment, more supplies, information, etc, which would certainly set me behind my competitors at least in those regards."

"True, but what about choosing summoner weapons like your sisters, you will still have to learn mana manipulation anyway so wouldn't it be nice to share information,” Kent added. Rina seemed to lighten up as he said so.

I guess I underestimated how much she wanted all of us to use the same weapons. If I had to guess It wasn't for any noble reason but because it would give him less work to do and would be easier to organize.

I had come to realize that despite the man's dedication to our father he liked efficiency more than anything else and would look for it in the tiniest of places.

"The reasons I don’t want to use summoner weapons are team balance. I don't really like working with other people and I suspect that I will be working alone for most of my career. while summoners are one-man armies, they tend to struggle in one on one battles with opponents of equal level." I gave my honest reasoning.

"Melee while not having any particular strengths in this regard also doesn't have any major weaknesses which make it perfect for solo expeditions especially with my speed giving me great escape and engage potential."

"In my experience as a mercenary and adventure as much as a lot of people like going alone when they start they quickly discover that finding a team is essential for survival, so I wouldn't assume I would be going on solo missions if I were you,” Kent spoke up again looking to give his sage wisdom.

"Regardless it gives me the option, and Melee users are essential in any team so I doubt I would have a hard time getting along with others, plus since I'm learning all four anyway I could always pivot classes early on in my career or while I'm still learning."

"Great job Norman, I didn’t expect that you would put so much thought into this especially considering your age," Kent spoke up clearly but I could barely sense that there was something deeper there even if I couldn’t tell what it was.

I sighed in relief that was exhausting.

“So when is our first weapons class?” Rina asked.

"Tomorrow morning right after your morning workout and you better be ready because I won’t be going easy on any of you” Kent stated while sending us an intimidating glare.

I could already tell that the next few days would not be comfortable.

What a pain.