Once the first group of Acolytes were finished with Librarian Gareth, they returned to Joseph and explained the situation to him in detail. All of them had managed to awaken the mage class, and while some had considered other options from the base classes, they had ultimately all chosen to go with the one they knew.
As with the Spellblades under Prince Corbin, they had to worry about messing up their future by picking a class that was incompatible with the Sect teachings.
Unlike the Golden Dragon Nation, there was really only one path for most of the other nations, and that was the path of the combat or research mages.
That was the only way that the humans could compete with the other species without technology, and the Golden Dragon Nation was the only one that had focused on technological development, thanks to their previous lack of mages.
It was the largest human nation on the continent, but before the Elite program began, it had only three Spellblade Clans in the entire territory, when most capital cities in other human nations had at least two, plus all the ones that were scattered through the countryside.
“Oh, Janice is out already, and she doesn’t look happy.” Joseph chuckled.
She began stomping toward the portal with a glare on her face, but she was intercepted just outside the ruins by the massive body of Librarian Gareth, who hadn’t gotten his part of the bargain yet.
“We had a deal. No leaving without telling me everything that happened inside.”
Janice sighed and gathered her thoughts, while the Blue Dragon smirked at her and read her mind.
“When I first entered, I was in a space with a clone image of myself, where I was allowed to choose a Class from the System. But it only gave me one option, Spellblade.” She began.
“Did the system say anything? Give you an idea why you only got one option? Many of the young ones got a half dozen choices, but only one of them could choose Spellblade.” The Dragon asked.
The mage gave him an annoyed look, then sighed and mumbled something too low to be heard.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Gareth informed her.
“I said, it called me fat and lazy, then berated me for not awakening the system interface before now. I’m a researcher, for World Dragon’s sake, when would have I awakened the System? Yet, it yelled at me for five straight minutes before it let me choose and leave.”
“So, you selected the only option and left as soon as it let you?” The dragon asked.
“That is correct.”
“Alright, that’s all I needed to know. You can wait at the table if you like. There are refreshments.”
Karl created another chair so she could sit with them, and Janice eyed the tray of snacks with curiosity.
“Who provided these? What an odd grouping.” She commented.
“That would be me. It was what I had available, but they go well together. There is tea as well. It’s pretty good, a little minty.” Karl informed her with a smile.
The tea was a Remi creation, and it was technically boiled leaves, even if most of them came from medicinal herbs growing in her swamp.
Janice sipped the tea, then did a double take.
“What did you put in this? Is this some sort of regional delicacy?”
Joseph laughed. “It’s an acquired taste. I like the devil mint and spirit leaf grass combination, though. It goes well with the divine chamomile. Calming and refreshing at the same time.”
The female mage shook her head. “What a waste using them for making tea. Such precious resources should be appreciated, not treated as a snack.”
Her counterpart chuckled and slid a bit of roast pork belly on an Elven travel biscuit to make a sandwich.
“You need to get out of the library now and then. Have a sandwich and some berries. It will help your mood.”
Joseph popped a berry into Janice’s mouth, and her eyes went wide in shock as she realized what he was feeding her.
“You bastard, I could have sold that.” She gasped.
Joseph put on an innocent expression while Karl laughed. There were literally thousands of those berries ripe in Remi’s space right now, grown as a peace offering for Hawk when she irritated him with her inconsiderate use of water magic.
Karl took out another handful and put them in her palms. “There you go, plenty for later. They’re good in cakes and muffins as well. I grow these at home, no need to be shy.”
Janice held the berries in her cupped hands and gave Karl the most confused look that the beasts had seen so far. It was like he had told her that he was actually a tricolour hydra who lived on the moon. She simply couldn’t compute his words.
But the berries were the same ones that came from Karl’s balcony at the Academy. Only these ones were Commander Rank resources, enhanced by the space they were grown in, and not just a bit of tasty junk food.
In fact, the roast meat that they were enjoying had been seasoned with them and a few other plants from the beasts’ spaces.
Janice managed to get the berries into a pouch without spilling any, and finally managed to ask the important questions.
“Do you perhaps live in one of the protected Sects of the Divine Beast Nation?”
Karl shook his head. “I have a dorm at the Golden Divine Academy. Or at least I assume I still do, I haven’t been there in a while.”
“And you can grow resources like this there? That sounds, frankly, unbelievable.”
Karl winked at her. “Trade secret. I can’t go giving away all my horticultural knowledge.”
[You don’t know anything about hortis or their culture, though.] Rae reminded him.
[Horticulture is the knowledge of growing plants.] Remi clarified for her older sister.
[Silly name for it.]
Karl tried his best to ignore them bickering and joking as the second batch of mages came out to meet with the dragon.
This group had a special class with them, a Magical Knight.
That should still be compatible with the rest of the Spellblades, and it was an advanced class, so it had powers in the skill tree that should be superior to many of the basic ones that the regular Mage class got.
“Well, it looks like you got your money’s worth. I do hope that you enjoy your evening.” Karl informed the two group leaders, then stood to shake their hands and send them on their way.
“We certainly did. Our money’s worth and more. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Prince Karl, and Lady Rae.”
Rae bowed politely, delighted that they had thanked her directly, and not through Karl.
She could get used to this form if people were going to be so nice.
[Then POOF, giant spider.] Cara laughed.
[Precisely. They’ll never see it coming.]
That was just diabolical. Rae’s humanoid form already terrified people, and made it far too easy for her to sneak up on them. If she started just changing back into a spider right behind people, she was going to give someone a heart attack.
[Or make them soil themselves. Pick your targets wisely, sister. We all have sensitive noses.] Thor added.
