This past week was very eventful and something... very bad happened, but I prefer not to think about it.
During the party yesterday I was able to have a chat with a few of the adults, there were a lot of things I didn't know about. But a few mugs of beer and liquor made them very talkative.
I was stuck in that room for an entire week while the others came out after two or three days.
The two that never came out apparently died in a very gruesome way apparently and since I didn't want to hear more details about it, I quickly switched the subject to the history of our tribe.
The generation I was born into were a group of 13 kids, but for as long as the clan existed, the goddess Gaia would give birth to 20 newborns in the same way we did, a trend which was broken by us. Now, only fifteen newborns are delivered by Gaia every year, an anomaly that worries the elders a lot.
Apparently this wasn't a secret, they just didn't talk about it because it wasn't something we had to know. We were simply kids that liked to play around afterall.
As I stood up from the bed I was sleeping in, I looked around the dorm in which 13… no sorry 11 kids were sleeping in. After finishing our hatching ceremony, all of us will have to undergo training to become a real member of the clan.
"Already awake I see… You really are an early bird Matt"
I look to the bed next to mine where the voice came from and see a cute blonde chubby girl looking straight at me.
"I can say the same for you too Astrid, but you seem to have a hangover, you know you can reject Germul if he wants you to drink"
"I know! I know, but he is always so nice to me, he is like my real father…"
"Haha, don't worry, I found you cute stumbling around like a tipsy fairy yesterday. "
"C-cute. Stop making fun of me! It's embarrassing!"
A blanket on the other side of the room moves and we hear
"Can you shut the hell up? Some of us are trying to get some rest before we start training !"
"S-sorry." Gosh, Astrid is too nice
I retorted with "Our teacher will come here soon anyway, no need for you to shout like that Falco."
"That's why you shou-"
The front door swings open and loudly crashes into the wall.
"Wake up kids, this is your first day of class! Stand up and head to the training grounds in the forest, the last one there will be given a punishment."
As if all hell broke loose, the kids stood up, dressed up and ran to the training grounds.
Astrid seemed to be one step before us as she was already dressed before we were even called out.
" Not bad, not bad. Since you were all faster than expected none of you will have a punishment. On the other hand the first will receive a pastry from Ms. Glenn."
Astrid was smiling from ear to ear, I bet she already knew about it and thus prepared in advance.
" Now let me explain a few things. You all already know me but let's do the presentation anyway. I'm Grimm, I'll be your instructor for a while but others like Quesam and Rivia will come and help out too.
The first lesson will determine your future as you will get to choose your future occupation. And do not worry, you can change it in a year if you determine that it does not fit you.
All members of the clan need to know how to fight and write, your knowledge and strength affect your ranking in the clan afterall.
These are your options:
Hunter
Warrior
Mage
Sage
Crafter
Villager
Of course all of them have their own sub-categories and styles, if you feel courageous enough you can pick multiple. But don't come crying if you've overrated yourself, you should be old enough to be able to choose how to live your life. "
Honestly I am tempted to just take the Sage profession, with all the things I know from my past life I would be able to live a calm and comfortable life but is this really what I want?
During my previous life I've had plenty of time just lazing around but now I have a family, a clan that I can protect, this mountain, this sanctuary is my home and I'll rip to shreds anything that dares to threaten us.
Falco "I will become a hunter"
"Good choice, now Matt, what is your choice?" Grimms question made me come out of my thoughts. It was my turn to make a choice.
Matt - "I'll learn all of them."
"... You what? You are obviously not realizing what you just said. The only thing that can result from your choice is dying from exhaustion and pain."
"I do not make baseless decisions, don't worry. I will experience everything and for that, I have to learn everything."
"This… if you have made your choice then I have no right to refuse your bravery… or foolishness. Don't forget that you can change your mind, but only after a year... Astrid you are next."
"I'll be a warrior and a crafter. Is it possible for me to learn taming from Germul outside of classes ? I really want a pet but I don't want to learn everything about the villager profession..." she conveyed her goal to the teacher with sparkling eyes, waiting for an answer.
"Haha, don't worry. You can be a warrior and a crafter alright, as for learning the taming skills from the villager profession you shouldn't forget that you can only learn a sub-occupation if you want to. We will obviously not force someone that wishes to become a smith to learn knitting ha!"
Astrid almost jumped in excitement and replied "Then I'll learn fighting, crafting and taming!"
As everyone finishes stating their preferred path Grimm writes everything down on a piece of leather and continues his lesson.
" For the rest of the month we will train your bodies. I know you must be excited to run around in your beast forms but here are a few things for you to know.
It takes a long time to become in sync with them and you will have to show a lot of focus and sheer fucking will to even form a connection together.
Your spirits grow alongside you so right now they are extremely weak and should not be introduced outside of yourselves or it might hurt their and your growth.
And lastly, no transformation within the mountain, it has caused a cavern to cave in in the past and we do not wish for such an event to repeat. "
" Understood" Listening to your teacher is a good idea, most of the time.
"As your first exercise you will not have a clear goal, all you have to do is run laps around that field until you collapse." he exclaimed leaving no room for discussion while pointing to the potato field that was easily four football fields added together.
This is going to be exhausting.