After cleaning up and grabbing a quick breakfast, I jogged over to the barracks where I see the Captain drinking his morning beverage. He has a smile on his face as he sees me. “Ready for your next round of training?”

“I am.”

“Very well.” He says while walking to the practice area.

He looks at me expectantly saying, “What do you want to focus on?”

“Can you inspect me first? I have a few updates since we finished training.”

He looks surprised when he focuses on me and then curses as he makes a gesture. I notice his hands are now adorned with several rings and his arms with a pair of beautifully etched bracers. “You have managed to get yourself a class and bump up your intelligence and wisdom a lot. I don’t suppose you will explain that to me?”

“I have thought about it and as long as you are willing to give me your word you will keep it a secret I am willing to share with you, but we would have to do it in party chat.”

“Hmmm, as your instructor I can justify forming a party with you for training. I give you my word I will not discuss or share what you reveal to me. Is that sufficient?” He says sending me a party invite.

After I accept I suddenly see Captain Varus with a health of 1212 hit points and mana of 350. I am guessing with a full set of equipment he would be much higher.

George: I am the one who found the Deck of Fate, which boosted my intelligence and wisdom and gave me a unique class based on a unique ability I have.

Varus: How in the hell did you find that?

George: The System is restricting me from discussing that, but I can say I found a map indicating where something was, which turned out to be the Deck of Fate.

Varus: Incredible.

George: So, my new class gives me many of the abilities of a Mage, but also groups all my spells under the different elemental domains. Under each domain as I get more skill proficiency I get more abilities that are like the Channeling skill you taught me originally. In addition to that I have the agility to shape each element in unique ways. I am still exploring this ability.

Varus: Allow me to access your full character sheet.

I hesitate for a moment and then mentally grant him access.

George: Can you see it now?

Varus: I can, give me a minute to go over it.

I wait patiently while Varus reviews my character sheet.

Varus: Ok, your class is unique. You have gained the increased mana pool of a Mage class, but you also have all your base spell costs cut in half, which is a huge bonus. You lost Channeling as a broad category skill, but still have a modified version of it available on a domain by domain basis with no tier limit like Channeling has. I would suggest based on this that you quickly level your Shield, Minor Healing, Ice Dart, Ice Storm, Fireball, and Lightning spells to at least let you have access to the ability to double your damage/healing or maximize it. We will have to get at least one spell in each of the domains to Expert to allow you to do that. With your Fire Dart spell, the Fire domain is covered but learning Fireball at a higher level would still be worthwhile since it is an area affect spell and the damage range will increase. I will cast Improved Mana Regeneration on you and Haste. Then we will start with Ice Storm and Fireball alternating until you run out of mana and then rest until you are fully restored and start again. We will spend the first six hours on that, have lunch, and then the next six hours on Shield and Minor Healing.

I receive a notification that Varus has left your party, when he says. “Let’s get started.”

I start by casting Fireball, which has a base cost of thirty of which I pay half. Mana Manipulation will further reduce this cost to twelve mana. This means I can cast fifty-two spells until I run out of mana. I can cast 10 fireballs a minute during which time I regenerate forty-three mana, which means I can cast for slightly over eight minutes before I need a rest. This is a grueling pace to maintain. I am glad for the break at lunch. The Captain even turns out to be a little chatty indicating that this training will come as a surprise to anyone I encounter outside the Starter Area but be careful who I reveal it to. I ask him what about the Silver Thorns? He considers for a time and says. “Many good people can be tempted and what you have is very tempting. I would limit people’s exposure to that temptation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help them.”

I am a little disappointed, but then I realize the Captain has never told me what to do. He has given advice and help on reaching goals, but never straight up said this is what I should do.

“Enough talk.” He says as he casts Improved Mana Regeneration on me again. I hurry up and get to my feet and start casting Shield followed by Minor Healing. By dinner time I am mentally exhausted. The Captain merely nods as we end for the day. I collapse on the sand after he walks around the corner. I must have lain there for half an hour before I pull myself up to get a hot shower at the bathhouse. As I enter the Tavern I see the Silver Thorns have finished their dinner and are just sitting around chatting. They have left the same chair open for me, so I join them as I ask John for some dinner. Tonight, it is a thick stew with crusty bread and ale. They all rib me good naturedly about my apparent lack of energy. They are familiar with how grueling training can be, but I do see envy in several of their eyes. As I finish my meal I tell them that I plan to join them when they leave. My training will complete in nine more days if they think they will be ready. At most the level cap will force me to leave within a day after that. They all look at each other and nod their heads, they will be ready. I inspect them and see they are all at level six now. We chat for another hour before we call it a night. We all have a hard number of days ahead. After I get up to my room I just fall into my bed, asleep instantly.