With the dishes moved off to the side Torex pulls his pack to him and withdraws the scrolls laying them out in front of us. “Alright, I managed to get a total of six scrolls for us from my parents' shop. one will be for myself and one for Isabel while Tom and Lauren you each get two. one for now with the other being for after you get your classes bestowed on you at the festival. And before you ask Tom, no, these were gifts from my parents for us.” Torex states as he divides them up amongst us.

  As I reach out for the scrolls I state, “Alright, alright, Thank you Torex and make sure you thank your parents tonight for me.” While speaking I place one of the scrolls in my bag leaving the other in its place.

  “Yea, Thanks Torex now lets get this done I want to see what class Isabel received during her revelation.” Lauren adds while putting a scroll away and setting the other in front of her.

  Isabel looks at Lauren with a side glance saying.“Maybe if you keep pushing I will keep it from you and let the others see.”

  Before it devolves into an argument Torex adds in, “Alright enough teasing each other lets get these rituals started.” As he speaks he grabs his scroll and begins to channel his mana into the scroll.

  Snorting, I grab the scroll I left in front of myself and begin to channel my own mana. The other two glancing at each other Lauren annoyed and Isabel smug. During the process I consider what is known about the ritual the four of us are casting.

  The Journey’s Path ritual is an individual's most important spell they tend to learn in their life. This spell allows one to see how the things they have done impact themselves and how it improved their capabilities. The casting of the ritual is a honestly simple matter compared to its capabilities. The only things an individual needs is a scroll of parchment, and the knowledge of how to channel the mana properly.

  When using the ritual it modifies a scroll with mana allowing it to resonate with an individual. Then the scroll will display the physical and mental capabilities, their tier, and the potency of one's spells. The document is synchronized with one’s mana concealing it from others unless the caster wills it.

  Besides those features it has two more important effects that truly give the spell its importance. The first is the ability aid in gaining new talents, spells, and to improve those the caster already has. The final feature is the advancement conduit which allows one to evolve their class into a higher tiered class based on prior choices and skills.

  As our casting comes to a close the scrolls begin to shimmer with energy and unfurl. Words etched into the parchment by the raw mana we infused into each scroll and shaped by our casting of the ritual accessing our souls.

  Looking over my status I am slightly shocked seeing the improvement over the last time I did the ritual a year ago. The two most surprising things are the rank increase as I went up three ranks this year and my Death affinity reached intermediate. Considering that last year I only went up a single rank this is a huge improvement.. While Magical Power is currently my highest rank at 18. For a person's attribute ranks a Rank 10 individual has 100 ranks distributed among all Six attributes with an average of 16 in each attribute. As for my attribute modifier it can not be properly calculated by the ritual yet as it tends to be affected by one's class.

  With a grin I look at the others for a moment. Torex seems to be happy, most likely he has reached a rank well above average in his Mana attributes. Isabel seems satisfied so her agility has reached an attribute rank of 20. Considering she has been pushing herself hard in her need for speed it's not surprising. Finally Lauren seems to be rocking back and forth in her seat, considering my own rank increase I imagine hers is even higher. Taking a breath I open my scroll further and look down towards my spells and talents sections to see how far they have advanced and select the new talents I can pick.

  Looking over my spell list I grimace at it once again for the second year in a row. The Grave Familiar spell is from a scroll, one that was given to me by the Temple at Ehrlich's recommendation. The spell is supposed to allow me to animate a physical undead familiar similar to what Elrich used to animate Nicol. However despite the innate knowledge of the spell one gains upon learning one from a scroll none of my attempts have succeeded.

  Deciding it’s best to ignore the failure with Grave Familiar for now. Going over how my talents improved with Mana Sense increasing steadily. Though considering it was the first talent I picked and use it constantly it’s not a surprise. As for Melee Casting I selected that when the guards started to teach us how to fight four years ago. Edgar, who was my instructor at the time, had suggested it when I started mixing my Ignite Flame spell into the training fights against boars by tossing the flame with my off hand. Gaining the talent was a strange sensation due to it changing how I channeled my mana into spells in close combat. The feat made my mana flow much easier, and quicker, those bonuses throwing my timing off slightly when training.

  Shaking myself out of memories I look further down the scroll in order to view what options I gained for Talents. Currently one the parchment there are five options one of which is new and slightly expected. When one gains an affinity spell for their prime affinity they tend to gain a feat option based on that spell. The options I’ve seen before consist of Night Owl, Danger Sense, Chef, and Flame Caller. For options like Night Owl, and Danger Sense those are passive Talents that improve by constant use daily like my Mana Sense. For Chef and Flame Caller those improve when performing acts related to their use such as cooking or using fire spells.

  Amongst these all it’s the final option I have called Grave Ignition that confuses me the most. The description of the talent states “Ignite a flame that burns in the core of the graves” which is odd. From what we have been taught by the temple and local mages most individuals are given a talent option based on the affinity spell they acquire. With my Grave Familiar spell it should be based on creating an undead but it seems to be a fire based talent.

  Dragged out of my confusion by Lauren waving her hand in front of my face while saying, “Hey Tom is everything okay. You seem disturbed by what's written on the scroll.” Looking around I see Torex and Isabel looking concerned while Lauren is leaning over the table to look at my face from beside me.

  “Sorry”, I begin, “Just the talent based on my affinity spell is different from what I expected.” Looking back down at the scroll for a moment and deciding to take a plunge I select my talents. First despite the confusion is Grave Ignition and for the second I pick Flame Caller for no other reason than I enjoy tossing fire around.

  Isabel rests her head on her hands while her elbows on the table. “You still picked it right, or do we need to prepare for you to fully swap from creating an undead?” She asks, tilting her head slightly.

  At this Lauren grimaces slightly at the mention of making an undead, “On one hand no creepy skeletons watching us. On the other hand, the extra hands would be useful for no other reason than being a pack mule. Yea no skeletons sound fine.” causing me to sigh, guess she still is not over the prank with Nicol.

  Torex adds in, “What happened, I remember you stating having issues with your familiar spell you were given. Is it because you have not managed to animate anything?”

  “I’m not entirely sure to be honest.” I answer before continuing on “The talent I was given seemed to be a mix of both my affinity spell and my use of Ignite flame. I’ll talk with Elrich about it tomorrow. He should be able to give advice.” I say with a shrug.

  The other three still do not look convinced so I add, “enough about me lets see where we all stand tonight.” as I grab my scroll and manipulate my mana so I can allow them to see what is written.

  Isabel and Lauren grin before following my lead and revealing their own stats. While Torex is a little restrained and gives me one more look before doing the same.

  Lauren then leans back and states, “Alright well feast your eyes I managed to reach rank nine and lowest rank is a 10 in mana regeneration. All without a class.”

  Leaning over to take a look at her scroll and its stats I shake my head. “Your highest rank is a 17, Lauren your attributes are mostly balanced but it might not let you stand out. Especially with the low mana reservoir”

  Torex adds in aghast “Lauren your spells and talents, of them only Danger Sense has advanced beyond Fair. That Light Infusion spell is supposed to aid you through your Classes while evolving with you and it’s crude. I know you haven’t had any issues Tom has had with his.”

  Lauren begins to blush and turns her head away stating, “I’ll work on improving that spell when Tom can finally use his, it’s only fair. Besides my Persistent Infusion talent will improve with it, as for Constitution Enchantment it’s a passive and it reached fair quality.”

  With a chuckle Isabel chirps in, “Don’t mind them Lauren, besides you managed to get a impressive new talent it seems with Shield Maiden, boosting your defense when wielding a shield and spear combination.”

  “It also lets me use the Mana I infuse into the shields defense to augment a shield bash I perform.” Lauren adds with a smirk. This causes Torex and I to shudder because her shield bash is more a shield punch.

  Torex grumbles for a moment and decides to go next with going over his stats, “Alright let’s get this over with. I reached rank nine so I managed two ranks from when I got my class last year. As for talents my new one is Electric Jump allowing my lighting spells to jump between foes near each other when needed.”

  Nodding along we look over his stats. Despite the fact he has been putting off increasing his rank all his spells are graded at good and talents barring his new one are the same.

  Isabel speaks up as we look at Torex stats, “Still not improving yourself physically much I see, your physical attributes are lower ranks than average besides agility which is barely average.”

  “Oh fly off Isabel,” Torex responds, “Tom and Lauren will be up front and they can handle most everything.

  “I hope a crow uses you as a perch Torex.” Isabel replies before turning to us, and revealing her stats fully while blocking Torex from seeing with a wing. “So because the two of you have been waiting in suspense without peaking you get to see while you don’t Torex.”

  Looking over we see the class she received during her revelation was Primalist but her rank is already ten which allows a person to prepare to evolve their class. Looking over her options she has Shaman, Druid, Archer, and Ranger for evolution choices for Primalist. The Ranger class gains an animal bond and focuses on engaging in combat at all ranges. Shaman is a ranged elemental caster that allows for use of elements outside of one's attributes, Druid is an evolution for healing and manipulating nature, and finally Archer which focus on ranged combat only while infusioning arrows with elements.

  “So what class are you going to take the trial for? I'm expecting Archer with how much you love your bow.” Lauren comments absently while reading over the class.

  Isabel explains while looking over at us with a bit of nerves, “I will actually be going a different path than I expected thanks to a situation that happened on the way home.” All the while her wing is blocking Torex from looking over. “I am going to try the Ranger trail at the festival this week,” She looks away slightly before continuing, “My flock and I found a Thunderbird nest being poached for the pair of eggs it had on the way back. The mother seemed young and had already fallen to the poachers. My flock decided to take care of the two eggs it laid as without proper care the chicks would not make it. So uhh, when we retrieved the eggs, the one I had been helping to move kinda hatched. When it broke out its face was right in front of mine and I froze causing the chick to imprint on me so yea.”

  “Wait really a poachers group in the mountains between us and Malkein how could they have gotten there without notice.” I speak up, pondering it for a moment before realizing what she said about the egg. “Wait WHAT! A thunderbird chick imprinted on you. No matter the circumstances, that is incredible.” I exclaim and take a drink of water.

  As I say that her Wind Infusion spell catches my eye as it is good quality. Alongside her Piercing Wind feat she should be able to punch through most mundane armor. Her Mana potency rank is average so her blows will be strong. However at the same time her reserves and regeneration are lower than average so fights would n. Finally the addition of a thunderbird chick ensures Isabel will be incredibly dangerous.

  “Ha ha Tom, let’s see how you compare to Isabel then Mr, no familiar.” Lauren turns to me and gestures for me to lay my scroll down while Taunting. While on the other side of the table Isabel gives me a smug look. All before folding her wing back and hiding her scroll from Torex.

  “Give me a moment Lauren.” I reply with a shake of my head and slight wince at the looks they gave me. Shutting up I let them take a look at my scroll once it is made visible to them.

  “Flame caller nice choice Tom with you mixing your fire spell into the melee casting it faster will be important once you get used to it.” Torex adds giving me a look as he tries to cut the tension. However all it does is cause me to stiffen with a realization. “You forgot about how you would need to adjust to the increase in casting speed again.”

  Instantly my head thunks into the table and I simply say, “Yep.” with no other defense.

  Isabel and Lauren begin to laugh slightly, shoulders shaking at this for a moment. Before Lauren speaks up, “Grave Ignition huh that's the one tied to your spell right.” she squints at the talent before looking at me.

  “Yea it is, I hope Elrich has some insight on it tomorrow.” I state simply without raising my head.

  As we keep talking for a few minutes a new presence makes themself known. “I do believe he shall though if I do recall Lauren and Thomas you two still have tasks tomorrow. If you do not wish to wake up late I do believe it would be best to get some rest.” Bishop Reginald adds as he approaches our table.

  “Bishop Reginald, good to see you again.” I respond as I shoot up and give him a slight bow alongside Lauren considering we are in a more public area. “We shall be heading to rest shortly. Thank you for the reminder.” I add in as Torex and Isabel rise and give the Bishop a bow as well.

  “Thats good, then I wish the four of you a good night's rest.” The Bishop states as he walks away.

  After a moment Lauren speaks, “Well I guess the boss has spoken for now, Isabel we’ll see you tomorrow, and Torex try not to get stuck in a book.”

  With a “Hey” from Torex, the four of us begin to pack up, clean the dishes and head off to bed ending our night as we prepare for the new day that awaits us.