Chapter 58: First

  “No, you need to take a break,” Sophie was saying.

  “That's what we're doing,” Tristan replied. They had finally stopped their horses and dismounted, setting up camp about an hour’s ride outside of Tenia. Though that still wasn’t far enough away from that fight for Tristan. He wouldn’t have minded putting another day or two between them and the town. Or just going home entirely.

  Honestly, anywhere would be better than being in Tenia, and the thought of home reminded him of much better food than what they’d had on this gods-pitied hunt. But here they were.

  Sophie shook her head. “That's not what I mean, and you know it. What we just went through wasn’t normal.” She began unpacking a few pots and setting them around the campfire Tristan had just started with his [Portable Forge]. “It’s the kind of experience that will turn into trauma even if you're too close to realize it yet. You need to trust me on this, and not just brush it off like it’s nothing!”

  “Sophie, I’m fine,” Tristan repeated for what felt like the tenth time.

  “You’ve nearly died--!”

  “But I didn't--”

  “--Twice!” she continued, setting one of the pots down a bit too firmly.

  The clatter roused Poof, who had still been resting in the saddle of Sophie's horse. The astral meeped until Sophie came over and set her on the ground.

  “I didn't nearly die against the second guy,” Tristan corrected. “Besides, all I’m talking about is maybe doing a bit of scouting, seeing if people recognize any of these remaining names. Maybe riding through a few more regions to see if my quest updates. We could also try to listen for stories along the way. Anyone wearing the {Legendslayer} title is bound to attract attention.”

  “You didn’t die against Venom because Sneakers sacrificed himself for you!” she practically hissed at him. “Why do you possibly need to go and scout for them so soon? No, you need to slow down first. Besides, Venom wasn’t even wearing that title,” Sophie pointed out. At her feet, Poof was eying the bag hanging around Sophie’s shoulder, where she had stored their rations.

  Tristan shuddered at hearing the monster’s name again. “We both know why.”

  Sophie shrugged, setting the first pot over the fire, where it warmed quickly. By the smell of it, and the happy cooing meeps, she was preparing the last of their stew. “Doesn’t mean the others won’t do similarly,” she continued, “if they have other, equally powerful or impressive titles, too.”

  Tristan didn’t want to think about that possibility. Titles like {Legendslayer} were in a league most people wouldn’t ever reach. To have earned even one was a major deal... and Venom had two. Just how many innocent lives must he have fed to that accursed title to make it better than {Legendslayer}? He stopped himself before he thought on it too long. He refused to give the monster any more of his time.

  “And how likely is that?” he asked.

  “About as likely as me giving up on you taking a break,” Sophie challenged, rising up to her full height again and pushing one finger into the front of Tristan’s shirt. “You are taking a break, Tristan. You need some downtime.”

  Behind her, Poof had drawn almost all the way up to the pot and was sniffing, eyes half-slitted with excitement.

  “For how long?” Tristan asked. “Weren’t you just saying how close you were to leveling up again? We can’t just stop completely!”

  “For the sake of our mental health we can,” Sophie shot back. She moved back to Poof, picked her up, and began to stroke her after replacing the bow on her head. Poof immediately started squirming as if trying to escape the astralist’s arms.

  Sophie didn't seem to mind. “And don’t try to make this about me. There’s no reason for you to push yourself this hard. You’re a bit too focused right now. By the gods, you haven’t even chosen your final Secondary Class yet, and you’re midway through second tier! Most people do that immediately in tier 2.” She sighed. “I also know that you’re not most people. I get that you’re excited to make more progress on your big quest--"

  “It’s a Path quest.”

  “Yes, I know, Tristan. Those words aren’t going to make me just bend over like they did with Jamal. I care about more than just your reputation,” Sophie scolded. “But it can wait, Tristan. It needs to wait.” She caught and held his eyes, the hint of a quiver in her voice. “I might have only been in the room at the very end, but what I saw... What I witnessed through Sneakers’ eyes? What we found while we were chasing him? We need time to process!”

  Poof finally squirmed out of Sophie’s arms and onto the ground at last, immediately running to nuzzle at Tristan’s leg.

  Tristan sighed, picking up the adorable fuzzball. He didn’t have the energy to fight Sophie on this. She might even be right, he thought, as much as it pained him to admit it. He had been through some things he’d rather forget. And he hadn’t really thought about what his final secondary Class would be in... well, it had been too long.

  Poof, now firmly in his arms, nipped at his fingers slightly, almost in warning, like he’d been pressing too hard. He frowned when he realized it was true and gave Poof a quick pet in apology.

  “Fine. Whatever. So how do you suggest we do that then? Let me guess: you have something in mind already.”

  “As a matter of fact I do.” Sophie smiled at him consolingly, “And I know that wasn’t an easy choice, so I appreciate you trusting me.” Somehow, that made Tristan let go, just a little bit, of his concern. “Now let me frame it properly, and maybe you’ll also appreciate how amazing I am as a party member. Ready?”

  She waited for his nod before continuing.

  “What would you say would be your ideal get-away? If you could go anywhere and do anything, what would you do?”

  “Meep. Meep-meep,” Poof quickly answered, rocking rhythmically in Tristan’s arms.

  Sophie pulled out the group’s soup bowls and laughed, making Tristan wonder just how well she could understand the little mage. He knew Sophie had actual telepathy with her scout--and he winced at the memory of recent events--but he didn’t think she shared that with Poof. Did that mean he could learn Poof’s... language?

  “But really, Tristan, what would you do?” she asked again with a tone that made him wonder if he hadn’t missed her asking something else, too.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Find a good anvil, and then make better and better swords. Or at least find someone that could teach me some new techniques. I’d just want to improve my crafting for a while.”

  Sophie nodded as if she’d expected that answer all the time. She lifted the lid to check on the stew, but replaced it without ladling any out. Then she turned to face him directly again. “So what if I told you that I could pull a few strings and make that exact scenario happen for you.”

  “How...?” he asked, letting his wariness draw out the word.

  Poof leaned into his hands a bit more, moving one of her usually-hidden ears under his fingertips.

  Sophie rolled her eyes, but her smile didn’t waver at all. “Well, it would take a little doing--I’ll have to call in a personal favor--but since it would essentially be a nice vacation for me as well, I think it would be a great opportunity for all of us.”

  “You’re not exactly answering my question.”

  Sophie’s lips quirked in mild amusement. “That’s true. I’m intentionally leaving the best for last. I want you to really appreciate the opportunity I’m providing here. Think of it as a ‘thank you’ for helping me get here. To Tier 2, I mean.”

  Tristan cocked his head. “But you’re not even there yet... Wait, just how close are you right now?”

  Sophie lifted the pot lid again, this time stirring the contents a little with her wooden spoon. “Honestly, probably only one or two decent-level monsters. Close enough that it can wait. Focus, Tristan!" Her smile broadened as she sat in the lengthening silence. Eventually, she stopped stirring the stew and asked, “Have you ever heard of the Crafting Ark?”

  Tristan blinked several times. Of course he had. Every crafter in the realm had heard of the blessed Crafting Ark! It was just as mythical and legendary to crafters as Brightshield had been for the downtrodden. It was a place every crafter dreamed of going and spending time, where they could gain boosted experience from the very best teachers, with supposedly endless materials sold at insane discounts. He wasn’t sure how much of what he knew was just stories and how much was true, but he 100% knew that he wanted to find out.

  “You can get us onto the Crafting Ark?”

  Sophie’s smile was so big her face could barely contain it. “I can. One of the enchanters that performs maintenance whenever it lands happens to be a good friend, and on top of that he owes me a favor. I didn’t mention it before, because I didn’t know if we’d finish with your... hunt in time, but yes.”

  “That would be absolutely incredible.”

  “It’ll be even more incredible once we’re on it!” Sophie said with a smile.

  - - - - -

  Just as she'd thought, it only took a few more monsters to earn enough experience for Sophie to feel the rush of energy she'd sought for so long. The moment the fight ended, the golden halo descended around her accompanied by the realm’s favorite sound: Ding!

  Then the greatest notification Sophie had ever seen in her life popped up.

  Are you ready to advance to Tier 2?

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  There weren’t enough words in all of her vocabulary to explain just how eager she was for this moment, and mentally shouted YES! without a thought.

  Then the world around her was gone.

  She found herself back in the pink place that reminded her so much of her old bedroom despite its wide open space. She’d read many different opinions on what this place was. Most tended to agree that it was more of a between than an actual place, so it was easier for you and your Path to actually communicate. She sort of understood why many might feel that way, though she still wasn’t quite sure if she believed that or any of the other theories she’d read. She just knew that this place was the next step toward knowing herself better.

  She found herself thinking about how she would never know which of the furry bugbears in the second pack had earned her that final burst of XP. She hadn’t even looked to see Poof’s expression at the time. She shook her head, knowing full well that none of those trivial details truly mattered. All that mattered were the choices placed before her. She needed to stop being ridiculous and overthinking the minor quibbles of this moment when the world around her was completely changing.

  I can spend time thinking about all that later on, she told herself. For now, let's see what I'm offered.

  All around her, the pink place still had the exact same heart-shaped clouds her older sister had once described to her and Sophie had been so pleased to see in her Awakening all that time ago. She’d been worried about finding the dark grays her brother had once described to her. Luckily even families didn’t share this place, which meant hers was warm and comforting with the soft lilac scent of her favorite perfume wafting through the air. The major difference this time was that all three of her astrals were present behind her, even Sneakers who she couldn’t use the ritual to summon yet for a few more days. That was unexpected and delightful.

  She turned around to try and interact with them but quickly found that she could not. They were semi-transparent, almost ghost-like, and when she called to them they only barely reacted. It sadly didn’t surprise her at all that she couldn’t physically touch them. She didn’t even mind that she could more or less see straight through them. She was simply glad that they were there.

  A calming and effeminate voice whispered through the clouds like a breeze through a spring meadow. Whether it was the same voice she’d heard at her Awakening she couldn’t really tell, as it had been so long ago. Still, hearing it gave her comfort, and not just for what it said.

  “Sophira Adrielle, with your foundation set in the bonds to your astral allies, you stand before a branch in your Path.

  Will you hold firm to the Path you’ve tread, or chase new horizons?

  Will your core focus grow, be refined, or shift?

  It is time for a new Class.

  You have a choice.”

  She knew what was coming. She’d done an excessive amount of reading on the subject of tier-ups, and more than a little bit of dreaming besides. The scroll of notifications went on for what felt like longer than her journey to reach here.

  Congratulations! You've reached LEVEL 10!

  This is the second tier milestone!

  New challenges and opportunities will present themselves, as the world begins to shape itself around you.

  These were words Sophie had waited literal years to see. Her eyes skimmed over the text that informed her of all the upgrades and new abilities she received simply from rising beyond tier 1. She had known all of these things were coming. The only one she spent any time reviewing was [Identify], which she considered to be perhaps the most important quality-of-life skill in the realm. It was another step toward independence and not relying on others.

  “Consider every choice carefully,” Sophie told herself aloud, repeating the advice of every single guidebook she’d ever read. While she wouldn’t follow every choice the guidebooks suggested, in this case it would be a bit silly of her not to follow its advice.

  The final prompt waited before her eyes.

  Choose Your Class...

  The moment she gave the prompt her attention, five transparent boxes were suddenly floating before her in the pink air. She was thrilled to see that there were five, granting her the most possible options for both her future and the future of her astrals, who were still standing behind her.

  Choose Your Class:

  Advanced Astralist.

  Collector.

  {First} Pure Astralist.

  Summoner General.

  Symbiote.

  For the briefest of moments, Sophie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Of the five options floating before her was one with a title. And it wasn’t just any title either.

  {First}! She practically yelled the thought. To be the actual first to ever walk a Path and in tier two of all places...!

  Rather than walk straight to it, though, she instead stepped up to the box on the far left. She reached out her hand and read the description as it quickly expanded before her.

  Advanced Astralist:

  No longer a novice in the art of summoning and utilizing your astrals, this offers the natural continuation of your current Class. New skills and upgrades will help you empower your allies to become paragons in their designated roles.

  Stats gained per level: 17.

  She was glad to see that the changes she’d made previously to how the stats were displayed had persisted to this visit. Whatever stats were offered would always make sense for the Class, and it wasn’t like she had to worry about how they would affect her identical secondaries. The only real influencing factor for her was then how many were earned. Besides, she could always examine them later if the choice was a close one.

  As for the Class itself, it had slightly accelerated stat growth for tier 2 and was what most guides recommended astralists take. It would eventually offer a fair number of buffs not only for her astrals but also to other party members. This was when the Class became strong enough for inclusion in some groups without being considered dead weight, and it fared far better in raids. They would still be slightly below the power curve, but in tier 3 they would surpass it.

  Sophie sighed. The Class was a safety net of sorts. It was good to know the option was there if nothing else truly was better. She simply hoped that the other options would not disappoint her enough to need to consider it. She quickly moved on to the next.

  Collector:

  For those seeking to travel across strange lands and be the very best, this Class offers a unique opportunity to discover the power that’s inside all astrals. This partial combat Class cares more for research than battle, preferring to expand their knowledge of all astrals equally rather than developing the few. New skills and upgrades will help you locate and bond with new allies, discover their unique strengths, and always have an answer for any situation.

  Stats gained per level: 19.

  Sophie thought about the class and catalogued its strengths and weaknesses. Offering near-perfect stat growth for tier 2 was obviously good, and the two extra points per level would definitely add up. However, she’d done enough research to know that this advantage was only for this tier and most of the documented follow-up Classes at tier 3 dropped off precipitously. She also didn’t love the idea of stepping away from combat and becoming more of a researcher. If this Class was wanting to build a large stable of astrals, it wouldn’t focus as much on any of them individually. One thing Sophie was absolutely sure of was that Poof, Mister Biggs, and Sneakers were integral to her Path. Her Core even said so!

  Core: [Family First] The bond you maintain with your astrals will influence the strength of their abilities. The greater this bond grows, the greater they are enhanced.

  She would not let any of her three beloved astrals become ‘just another’ in some ridiculous collection.

  That brought her to the third box.

  {First} Pure Astralist...

  It glittered before her like a polished diamond, but Sophie hesitated. “I need to consider every choice carefully,” she reminded herself, and the words she’d heard too many times to ignore helped push her onward. At least for now, she moved on to the fourth box. She would come back soon enough.

  Summoner General:

  For those seeking to broaden their abilities and direct many astrals at a time, this Class offers unmatched versatility and becomes an entire party unto itself. If one astral is great, then commanding a small army of them must clearly be greater. New skills and upgrades will help you maintain and support a small group of astrals at once.

  Stats gained per level: 18.

  This class was a bit more intriguing to Sophie. She knew it wasn’t the typical follow-up to her starter Class, but that was because the traditional wisdom was to focus on empowering one astral at a time. Summoner general was on the entirely opposite side of that spectrum. As the text said, these astralists were able to summon multiple allies at a time. Already in tier 2 they could get as many as five, but she had read that by tier 4 they could have several dozen active at once. As with collector, this was a cool Class, but it did not fit well with her Core.

  Thinking about it, she was wondering if it wasn’t about time to tell Tristan about her Core. He’d told her what his was all the way back in the Deepstone Mines. Maybe someday soon.

  Symbiote:

  For those seeking to become even closer with their astrals, not only to train and empower them but to open their bonds and allow for temporary merging. New skills and upgrades will help you maximize the potential of your astrals, enriching the connection to allow for the melding of strengths and the sharing of abilities.

  Stats gained per level: 17.

  Sophie had already read all about this Class, but from all her experiences and encounters, she had grown to think of symbiotes as a “warning sign.” She couldn’t imagine how selfish someone would have to be to siphon power off of their own family. It was vile. It reminded her far too much of her mother.

  That just brought Sophie back to the fifth Class. The one she’d never even heard of before. Of course not, she scolded herself, looking at its attached modifier. I’d be the First.

  {First} Pure Astalist:

  Walking a Path that has never been trod before can be daunting, yet you have dedicated all of your Path to the art of summoning astrals anyway. Always focusing on their improvement, your astrals are more than allies, and your life is inextricably linked with theirs. Your personal strength will wane and instead accelerate that of your astrals, pushing each to the pinnacle and possibly beyond. New skills and upgrades will deepen your connection to them, nurturing and guiding them at the exclusion of all others.

  You will be the {First} if you choose this Path.

  Stats gained per level: 14.

  Sophie stood slack jawed for a moment as she took in the description. It was honestly a bit cryptic, but it still spoke to her in a way that none of the others did. It also felt like it saw and recognized her. Her situation was unique.

  While she’d read accounts of how people in ages past had earned the {First} title, none of them had ever shared what it did. Eagerly she expanded the {First} title, beaming at what she saw. It’s a straight 10% bonus to the Class’s top two stats!

  That would actually turn into a huge amount of Intelligence and Wisdom if she went this route, and she didn’t even have to wear the title to keep the stat boosts if she didn’t want to. A 10% boost to her best stats was more than enough to allow her to overlook this Class’s lackluster stat gains. She also kind of wondered if she would even need better stats with what the Class description said about her astrals’ growth and if the title’s stats also transfer to her astrals.

  Looks like I’ll finally be ahead of those traditional astralists after all. In fact, I’ll be {First}.

  She shook her head, trying to resist the overwhelming excitement that was rushing through her. She looked back at her astrals and smiled. “I’ve got to consider every choice carefully,” she said aloud again. For their sakes as much as my own, she added silently.

  Through sheer force of will, she made herself slow down and review all her options. She knew there was no need to rush in this space, and more than anything, her Path depended on the choice she was about to make. She had to do it properly.

  In the end, there wasn’t really a reason why Sophie of all people wouldn’t embrace the recognition that her Path had given her and become the {First} Pure Astralist. She selected the box and began the next part of her journey without any further hesitation.

  The new title was already equipped before the room faded. She could always take it off later if she needed to.

  - - -

  for those interested. (8 chapters ahead!)