Bog Standard Isekai

The meal had been placed and Hogg had already cut up Lumina's steak. She picked up a piece with her fork, slowly, considering, as if she weren't really sure she was going to eat it or not. Brin knew this was a test; he wasn't supposed to eat until she'd taken her first bite. He wasn't going to fail this test, though he had to admit he was sorely tempted. High level [Cooks] could do things with a nice steak, incredible things.

He glanced at Marksi, who also hadn't begun to eat from his plate. Marksi gave Brin an arrogant little smirk, a dragonling's version of Dare you think that I shall fail where you succeed? Arrogant human!

Lumina let her fork down onto her plate, and Brin suppressed a sigh.

"I supposed that the first variant we should discuss is [Mind Mage]," said Lumina.

If Brin had been eating at that moment, he might have choked.

"What in Anshar's name is a [Mind Mage]?" asked Brin.

"Rule number one of being a [Mind Mage] is you should never tell anyone you're a [Mind Mage]," said Hogg.

"It's not a well-thought-of profession. I wouldn't even bring it up, only I sense that your latest Class advancement has nudged you in that direction," said Lumina.

Hogg nodded. "You took an evil Class with a focus on Mental Manipulation. Another reason some might say you didn't have your head on straight and needed to take some time to--"

"You've made your point," Brin said to Hogg. Then he sighed. "I took a Class called [Delusionist]. It lets me nudge people to be more susceptible to my illusions."

"Oh! Then that's not so bad, is it?" said Lumina. "But Hogg is right that it isn't something you should advertise. If this is a path you truly wish to pursue, you'll need to spend an equal amount of attention on your cover. Not to say that all mentalists are frowned upon. The best example of a socially acceptable [Mind Mage] is the [Bard] Class, though I'm sure you've noticed that they work within a certain number of restrictions," said Lumina.

"Joaoz mentioned that it was illegal for [Bards] to get past level 60," said Brin.

"Correct. [Bards] have an accepted place as entertainers, and as such they are in a unique position to make the common people forget to fear their power. But those of us with authority must not forget. [Kings] certainly never do," said Lumina.

"But how can you stop leveling?" asked Brin.

"The levels from sixty to seventy are a lot more straightforward than other levels. Not easy, but anyone who can get to sixty can do it. You have to innovate in your field. You have to stretch the boundaries of what's known, what's possible," said Hogg.

"Definitely not something anyone wants to see a [Bard] do," agreed Lumina.

"But wait. I've seen a lot of people stuck at 60," said Brin.

"Then you should look at whoever they've sworn an Oath to," said Hogg.

Brin's mind whirred with the implications. Joaoz the [Bard] was level 62. He'd gained those last two levels during the war and kept it hidden, or... maybe he'd gained them after the war? A few things lined up a little too nicely for Joaoz, if you thought about it. It was a little too convenient that the other generals had simply given up on taking territory in Arcaena and let Metlion establish a county, but maybe that could be explained if a high level [Bard] was “innovating in his field”.

"That is... extremely worrying. It's all theoretical for me, though," said Brin. "Mental Manipulation isn't something I enjoy using. I think I'd like my next Class to tilt back towards physical power rather than persuasion," said Brin.

Lumina smiled in relief. "I will admit, it likely would have strained our relationship if you had chosen to pursue that power farther than you already have."

"Understatement of the year," said Hogg.

"Then can I assume that this conversation is safely past all mention of politics, criminality, or violence?" asked Lumina.

"Yes!" Brin agreed quickly, and Lumina finally took a bite of her steak, indicating that the rest of them could dig in.

True, it would be a little complicated to talk about the Classes he might want to choose without talking about the violence that could be done, but Lumina was still trying to acclimate him to Frenarian high society table manners, and he didn't want to delay their lunch any longer.

Brin took a bite of his own steak, and for a moment, the world seemed to melt away. This was as good as he remembered. No, it was better. The only seasoning he could detect was salt, but it was still a full and rich flavor that tingled every one of his taste buds. He lost himself in the food for a moment, but all too soon Lumina drew him back to the land of the living.

Marksi dug in with equal gusto, grabbing his steak in both hands and tearing bites free with his teeth. He was completely lacking in table manners, but Lumina didn’t see fit to comment on it, so Brin left it alone.

"The first thing you should know is that acceptance into the Tower as a student of magic will nearly always trigger a Class Selection. You will be given the [Mage] Class, and likely the option of more than one variant. I think we should start with the kinds of [Mages] you will not be, namely life, water, and air. Oh, no, let me back up. The Tower has four main types of... no, let's back up even further. First, you should know that no one still believes in the ancient pseudoscientific theory that all the world is made up of the four fundamental elements–water, air, fire, and earth. There is no such thing as 'Pure Earth' and water is no more significant than any other liquid, except perhaps in its abundance.”

“Yeah, the Tower does this thing where they all talk about how they’re too good for the superstitious past, but in reality they haven’t moved on at all. The whole Tower is obsessed with the four elements,” said Hogg.

Lumina forged on. “Nevertheless, by convenience and tradition, the Tower separates the scholars of the magical arts into groups centered around those concepts. With a few less notable additions."

"You have to choose a team. Fire, Air, Water, Earth," said Hogg. "There's also Mind and Life. And no one is going to tell you that Life isn’t a real element because it’s a combination of Earth and Water, and that Mind is an aspect of Fire and Air, but they’ll all be thinking it."

"These are emphases that will guide your subject choices and schedule," said Lumina. "For example, an [Earth Mage] hardly needs to spend any time studying the weather, though she certainly can if she so desires."

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"So are these like, school houses?" asked Brin.

"They're academic fields of study, with a bit of friendly rivalry between the groups," said Lumina.

"They're like majors and minors in colleges from your world. You can major in Earth and minor in Fire. It would take a huge nerd to major in all four," said Hogg.

Lumina barked a laugh, then covered her mouth in her hand, blushing.

"Am I wrong?" asked Hogg.

"No one's ever called me a nerd before," said Lumina, grinning.

Brin smiled, chewing another bite of the delicious steak. He asked Lumina, "So you chose all four?"

"The Class I took with me to the Tower was [Mage]. I could channel all four physical elements from the start. Also, I was and am the apprentice of the Master of Magic, so I was never forced to choose a side. Nevertheless, in order to participate in social functions and intramural competitions... well, perhaps I shouldn't say. I wouldn't want to influence your decision," said Lumina.

"She was Fire." At a pouty look from Lumina, Hogg said, "What? He'll find out as soon as he talks to anyone."

Lumina didn't respond to that, and looked at Brin. "I assumed at first you'd also study Fire. Fire is that which emanates, that which heats and radiates. It isn't necessarily a strong element, when considering only its ability to transfer mass, but it would be ridiculous to say it has no destructive potential. It's also the element that focuses most heavily on guile and misdirection. Observe."

Lumina waved, and the entire room suddenly erupted into flame. It started on the ground, wrapped around the legs of the table, and licked the paintings on the walls and the drapes on the curtains. Still, he didn't feel any heat, and there was only a trace of the scent of smoke. When she dismissed the false flame, there was no trace of heat or scorching left behind.

The only part that really confused him was the fact that [Know What's Real] didn't warn him about it.

"Cool Flame. It's a simple spell that summons a flame that only burns Mana. Since it does not ignite oxygen, there is no associated heat, not unless I purposely add it in. It costs virtually nothing in the way of Mana, and any [Mage of Flame] can do this with only the barest knowledge of the Language."

That was an illusion Skill. Not really an illusion, since [Know What's Real] didn't go off, but that's how it would be used. There were a lot of [Illusionists] at the Tower, and they'd be on the Fire track; that's what Lumina was saying.

"Does that spell hold up under Eveladis?" he asked. That alone would be a reason to advance into a [Fire Mage] of some sort.

"They won't disappear, but the light makes it clear that they are different," said Lumina.

Heat Sense also wouldn't be fooled, and Brin thought he'd be able to make infrared detectors that could see the difference, so it wasn't foolproof. It would still be nice to have more options, though, not to mention the combat potential.

They weren't talking about violence out loud right now during lunch, and Brin took a few more bites during the lull in the conversation so he could ponder what Lumina was leaving unsaid. [Fire Mage] was a Class with devastating offensive potential, but no real defense. That's what she meant by its weakness in transferring mass. Instead, [Fire Mages] fought a little like [Illusionists] did, by using their flames to cover their position and movement.

Hogg had once dismissively told Brin that fire was a stupid weapon, because burning caused people unimaginable suffering while not actually bringing much stopping power to a fight. If someone came at you with a knife, it wouldn't make you feel better to know that they died in incredible agony two days after they'd gutted you.

But he'd seen first-hand examples to show that [Fire Mages] could kill, and do it quickly. The most obvious example was the [Archmage of Flame] that he'd seen devastate legions of the undead during the war. But the more compelling example was the [Firefighter] in Hammon's Bog. He'd burned Gustaff's home down to the floorboards in minutes, and he was doing that with a Common Class. Imagine what a Rare or even Epic Class with Brin's Mana pool could do.

"To be frank, I originally assumed that you would take the Fire track, although now I'm not so sure," said Lumina.

"Why?" asked Brin.

"Because in the presence of one of the world's foremost experts on illusion magic, you instead decided to spend your time practicing glass on your own," said Lumina.

Brin looked at Hogg, feeling a little guilty.

Hogg said, "Oh stop, I'm not offended."

"Wait, are you also on one of these tracks?" asked Brin.

"Fire," said Hogg. "But you could go with Earth. Glass is a kind of stone and stone is Earth."

"What are [Earth Mages] like?" Brin asked Lumina.

"They have the heaviest element, and that comes with advantages and disadvantages. A boulder thrown through the air at great speed will be difficult for someone using another element to catch. However, if brute force isn't required, the added weight can be a hindrance. Earth is abundant, which means a [Stone Mage] will rarely be without tools to work with. You'll suffer a deficiency in that regard, but you'll make up for it with the fact that your crafted glass will be much stronger than common stones found along the side of the road. And you won't be alone in that. Of the four, [Earth Mages] do the most crafting."

Hogg chimed in. "And to get the others out of the way: [Water Mages] are pretty good all-rounders. They can work with water as a liquid and a solid and it'll do most of whatever they need it for. [Life Mages] are either beast masters, healers of some kind, or people like your friend Gil from Hammon's Bog. The [Woodworker]. They grow living matter and move it around with their magic the way you do with glass. You normally wouldn't expect to see many of those at all, except that [Farmer] is still the most common Class in this country, so just from sheer numbers we get a fair few. Next is air magic. They can fly, they make weirdly effective barriers--"

"They can fly?" Brin interrupted.

"You've seen Lumina fly," said Hogg.

"I've seen her float! Levitate, maybe," said Brin. "They can fly? Like fly, fly? Lumina--"

"I can fly. [Air Mages] are offered a Skill that overcomes the difficulty other casters have in using their own magic to push themselves," said Lumina.

"Then why don't you fly around everywhere?" asked Brin.

"It's almost always a bad idea," said Lumina.

"Now I want air," said Brin, picking at the vegetables left on his plate.

Hogg and Lumina met each other's eyes.

"I can have air?"

"Adding another element would take the place of possibly more valuable benefits. It might decrease the rarity of your Class, and it'll limit the number of attributes and Skills you get on advancement," said Lumina. "It will be less of a sacrifice to gain access to elements that are close to what you already have. Getting fire out of light or stone out of glass would be much easier."

"It would be really stupid. If anything, you should choose between glass and light, and go all-in. Splitting yourself will just slow you down in the long run," said Hogg.

"Yes. That's true," said Lumina. She looked like she wanted to say more, but refrained.

"But if it were Lumina, she would definitely side-grade into a new element if she could," said Hogg.

"Yes. That's true," Lumina repeated, looking a bit surprised that Hogg had brought it up. "Why does it matter if you are slowed down? We're planning a Class you'll have to live with for a century or more. If you don't get another level for ten years, you'll still be ahead of most of your peers. Better to have a wider foundation now than have to try to find a way to gain a new element after it's too late. But I wasn't going to bring this up, because again, I don't want to overly influence your decision."

Brin set his fork down on his plate. Lunch was wrapping up, so pretty soon he'd be able to ask about violence again, but was that really what would help with his decision? How good an element was at killing was definitely going to factor into his decision, but it's not like that was the only thing he cared about.

"I don't mind you influencing my decision. What do you think I should do?" asked Brin. "I mean, without taking into account my personal likes and dislikes, what would be the best?"

"You should aim for the generalist [Mage] Class. Or as near to that as you can get," said Lumina.

"[Laser Mage]. You have the chance to be the first one ever. There are other [Glassers] in the world and plenty of [Mages of Stone] who can do what you do. No one else can be the one who invented lasers," said Hogg.

Brin nodded. "Thanks. I'm betting there's some pretty intense training I could be doing now to prepare."

"No," said Hogg.

"Not really," said Lumina. "You need more training in etiquette, dancing, and penmanship. But for today, I thought we might do a bit of shopping."

Hogg rubbed his hands together. "And after that, maybe tonight, a bit of skulking."

"Hogg, please," said Lumina.

"What? Lunch is over." Hogg pointed at Brin. "He's here now. He's in this. Brin, how would you like to crawl around on rooftops and spy on all the people we hate?"