After unlocking the Wizard class for the first person, the next two were not difficult at all. He also got them to Rank III in . He hadn’t tried to rank anyone else up passed Rank III as it would be too much for him to do in one day and he wasn’t sure if he would either. The pain alone was terrifying; he imagined it was like how they would amputate limbs in the olden days. An image of a saw cutting through his arm related well with the feeling that he felt.

Not that it mattered, most wizards relied on anyway. So the other two could just level up and use that. Besides, Jude doubted that there was any other organization that started out with four wizards.

He had yet to see the last recruit that failed, the timid rogue. For her, he wouldn’t unlock the Wizard class but would try to unlock the Healer class instead. Her personality would make it dangerous to a party if she continued on as a damage dealer.

The problem now was that Jude wasn’t a healer. He had never seen the circuits for healing, so he wasn’t sure how to proceed. He had healers already join him, but could he trust them to keep his secret? Jude’s new Wizards had all signed very strict contracts, but even if they didn’t they were so thrilled about being Wizards that they had no thoughts of betraying him at all. The healers, on the other hand, didn’t have this kind of incentive.

Jude shared his thoughts with Krinn and Wen, “… and so I’m not sure how to approach the healers. If one of them leaks that I can unlock classes or if they figure out that I can unlock the Wizard class, it will be no end in trouble.”

“It’s good to be cautious,” Krinn said. “Although if people did find out, we could make a killing! Just think of all those rich people who want their kids to be Wizards?!”

“Yeah, but then I would be pestered by people all the time. When would I get any training done? When would I be able to experiment with magic?” Jude replied.

“But—”

Krinn started, but Wen interjected, “The real problem will be other kingdoms. You don’t want Jude to be the target of assassination, do you? Sure, he can handle his own against people level 20 or so, but how would he fair against someone who is 100? Or 200? Krinn, don’t let money blind you. You know full well how things work.”

“Ah, your right,” Krinn agreed.

“This still doesn’t help me figure out a way to train #4 as a healer. Do you guys have any ideas on that?” Jude asked.

“They all look up to you, so if we approach them the right way it might be fine. But if I were to start anywhere, it would be with the girl. She probably has a crush on you, since you’re the hero and all.” Krinn leered.

“I usually don’t agree with Krinn on these things,” Wen said. “But this time it’s not bad. However, it is also a dangerous option. If you break the girl's heart, she may want to hurt you back. What better way than to tell an important secret.

“So if you go that route, don’t start anything romantic with her and let me talk to her first. If we keep it a pining type of crush, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Jude sighed, “This sounds more like a mistake than anything else.”

“Although, if you do start a romantic relationship with her I can give you some advice.” Krinn chimed in.

“Yep, definitely a mistake,” Jude said.

“Don’t listen to Krinn, he will corrupt you!” Wen said.

Then Jude realized something, “Actually, I may need to see all three. I don’t have the Healer Class, so I might need to reference more than one person to get a good enough feeling for it to be able to recreate it in someone else. If I wasn’t limited to 5 classes, I would just pick it up myself.”

“Why don’t you just pick it up?” Krinn asked. “You can always drop it later. That way you could rank up our healers faster as well.”

“That’s a good idea,” Wen agreed. “This way you could easily rank up the other Healers and this would give them an incentive to keep your secret. They would idolize you.”

“It would also help you get into that girl healer’s pan—” Krinn was cut off by Wen’s glare. “Never mind, never mind!”

***

A short while later they had gathered all three of the Healers in Jude’s office.

“We’ve brought you here to confer a very important secret of Heroic Retribution. If you feel that you can’t keep a secret, then please leave.” Jude started off.

Krinn added, “If we find out later that you divulged this secret, we will hunt you down like dogs and nothing will get in our way to seek revenge.”

“Again,” Jude said seriously, “If you don’t feel comfortable with this, then leave now.”

The three Healers looked at each other but none backed down. Each of them was young, but they had worked hard for themselves and had persevered. None of them would have lasted this long on their own if they had not been able to keep a secret or two.

“Very good,” Jude was pleased, “I’ve recently unlocked a unique class that allows me to easily train up other people’s skills and unlock classes. I need your help to unlock the Healer class for myself, once I do that and practice for a little bit, I can Rank Up your skills to Rank III very easily. I can also unlock the Healer class for another person. That way we will have 4 healers in Heroic Retribution.”

The Healers quickly agreed with excited looks on their faces.

Jude began investigating each of their Modicuits individually. The Healer Class uses components to cast their spells, so their circuitry looked little different than what he was used to. It took a while to sort it all out and found it very convenient to have all three rather than just one. Having three also help him orient wherein the Modicuit the Healer Class was.

After the thorough examination, Jude attempted to find it in his own Modicuit. now let him see the circuit lines without them being used. But it was still a chore to find the Healer. Once he did find it, he began to use the virtual mana to simulate the circuitry lines and gates. Luckily, it worked without using any components.

It wasn’t long before Jude unlocked the Healer class and even with it at level 0, he was already Rank III in all the skills inside the skill category. He would need to get some levels to unlock new categories.

Through this whole process the Healers, Krinn, and Wen waited on Jude. When he finally opened his eyes, they grew excited.

“It’s done. I’ve gotten the Healer Class.” Jude then said to the healers, “Come here and I can Rank Up all the skills to Rank III.”

***

By this point, Jude was exhausted. He had reviewed 24 Warriors and Rogues, unlocked 3 Wizard Classes and unlocked Healer for himself. But he still had one more thing to do. Trainee #4 was still waiting, so he called her in hoping this would be quick.

The small office was now feeling really crowded with Krinn, Wen, the three healers and now trainee #4. He wanted to tell them to leave, but they clearly wanted to see him unlock the Healing class. And he couldn’t bring himself to dampen their excitement.

“Trainee number 4,” Jude started out, “We have found your ability to be excellent, but you lack a certain determination that a rogue should have.”

“I understand,” number 4 said sadly.

“But since you do seem to have talent, perhaps you would be better off as a Healer rather than a rogue.” Then Jude asked, “What is your name?”

“Nellie,” she responded excitedly. She knew her own shortcomings, but never did she dream that an organization would put for the expense to make her a Healer. This was a priceless opportunity for her. “I will do my best and not let you down!”

“Good, but that means you will have to hold a secret. Can you do that?” Jude asked. He knew that the more he did this, eventually someone would leak out that he could unlock classes. But he had decided to take the risk. Heroic Retributions financial situation was not great. Jude had a lot of money for an individual, but in terms of a whole organization, it was rather little. Getting Heroic Retribution to a point where it could make money on its own was a top priority. Otherwise, it would fail, or worse, some noble would haft to finance them. Jude didn’t want to be tied down like that.

“Yes! I’m good at keeping secrets!” Nellie said.

Luckily for Jude, everyone so far was quite young and looked up to Jude. This gave him some confidence that they would at least try to keep the secret.

“Good, I can unlock the Class for you and raise the first skill category to Rank III,” Jude said. “Nellie, I need to touch your head to do so. Please sit over here.”

***

After unlocking the last class, Jude was mentally stressed out. He let Krinn handle the rest and trusted Wen to scare out any dissent. She was good at that.

Jude went to sleep early, planning on getting an early start the next morning. Early to bed and early to rise makes a wizard that much more wise.

All was quiet at first, but it didn’t take long for everything to get rowdy quick. Jude had forgotten that they now had over 20 recruits. Krinn had them out early to start working on their skills and group dynamics. That was when the new Wizards, along with the Healers, began pestering Jude.

They didn’t mean anything bad by it, they just idolized him. Unfortunately, Jude found it all bothersome. He just wanted time alone to work on his magic and rank things up. But since it would be rude to just ignore all these people, Jude decided to work on while he conversed with them.

At first, it was a rather strange experience. No longer did he see people, clothes or objects. Rather he saw the mana that made up the people, clothes, and objects. And now that he could filter out different types of mana, like the mana in the air, that didn’t mean he could see through things. A human’s body was made up of a vast array of interlocking and connected mana streams. To see beyond the surface, you would have to filter out each and every type of mana those individual streams was made up of.

But something like a cup of water was much more simple. Those were usually made up of a form of Earth mana and filled with Water mana. A cup of mead or wine, however, looked much different.

Everything around him was so much more interesting now than it was before, that he almost lost track of the conversation he was having.

In the back of his mind, though, he decided to keep on for as much as possible. Not only was it interesting, it would also help Rank it up. He needed at least Rank III if he was going to connect with the node in the Allur Forest. And that was truly and exciting prospect!