I was led my new classroom by one of the Headmaster's assistants. There were only six other kids in the class. Lei was one of them. Relann was here too.
I felt my jaw clench. Relann was originally from the south capital. A pure white cat sat curled around her shoulders. It clashed with her pitch black hair. Her green eyes locked on my form as we walked in. She was beautiful enough but her personality was shit. Then again I suppose it was no issue when you had been engaged since birth. I felt bad for whatever lord she had been assigned to.
"You must be Aldric." My eyes moved towards the teacher. He was a thin man of average height. His light brown hair was chopped short with chocolate eyes that stared me down.
"Oh you have to be kidding me!" Lei groaned.
"What is a commoner doing here," Relann glared down her nose at me.
"That commer has unlocked a talent. Something even a noble can not expect to do," the teacher smirked. He looked at me again. "I am Neal Darkshore."
"Aldric Shepherd," I supplied.
"As part of the Elite class you are free to attend any classes that you are interested in. You are encouraged to look over all your options before fully deciding. The scouts will be arriving in a month. Until then train your Aqua Vulpe well."
The class was looking at me in a different light now. I could hear Lei's teeth grinding from here. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself."
"As many of you already know I am Aldric Shepherd, common born." At my words a few more faces looked at me with disdain. "My first beast is Aspen," eyes flicked to him, "He is a Mutated Aqua Vulpe of the Ice element. My current path of interest is Healer/Breeding."
Aspen had not changed much since he awakened his Ice Kitsune Bloodline.
Rank- Lower Bronze ☆
Potential- White-Gold ☆☆☆
Bloodline- Kitsune (10%), Ice Kitsune (2%)
Nature- Stand Offish
Skills- Claw (D-) +, Pounce (D-), Detect (D-), Bite (D), Cultivate Growth (E), Frost Aura (E+)
His claw skill now had an evolution tree. I would need to check that out later. "My skill is Growth C+. It speeds up the learning and growth of skills. It also increases the likelihood of Enlightenment skills."
One girl stood up. I didn't recognize her but she was kind of cute. Pixie cut blonde hair, hazel green eyes, and short. She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Does you skill work on beasts other than your own?"
I nodded, "It is fairly limited since it is C+ rank but I can use it on other people's beasts."
"How much are you charging?" A boy asked. Others around the room looked at him. "What? All of us here have enough. He's a commoner who could no doubt use the extra pocket change. So how much for training?"
He had a point. I need money to get resources for Aspen. "Depends. My skill is limited as I said so depending on what your goal is could take more time and effort than what someone else wants. I also need to train my own Beast. Basic skills, as in the skills that you need to have before you can even think about higher ranked skills, start at 600. Healing skills start at 750. That price applies to all skills of E and F Rank. Improving the skills a beast already has depends on the skill as well as the direction of growth."
The girl rose her eyebrows, "Direction of growth?"
I cleared my throat and glanced at the teacher, "Some skill can only be improved through better execution of the skill. Better form or a better idea on how to use it. Thanks to my skill I now know there are skills that can gain Elemental attitudes with training."
The girl rolled her eyes as the rest of the class laughed. "Yeah, we all know that. It's common knowledge." Maybe among the nobles. "Still his prices are the best we are gonna find."
The teacher watched on in silence. He was watching me. I'm not sure I liked the look he was giving me. Lei scoffed, "You can't be serious! He is a commoner! We have the money to have our beasts professionally trained. Why would we ever have him do it?"
The others seemed to consider his words.
Relann smiled and stood. "Going to a professional is the better option for everyone. He has a skill to help him but none of the training for teaching skills. He did not even know that skills can develop Elemental attributes. Can we really have him training our beasts?" You bitch. Aspen's hackles rose in my arms. My eyes locked on her cat.
Cloud Cat
Rank- Middle Bronze ☆☆☆
Potential- Gold ☆☆☆☆☆☆
Bloodline- White Tiger (Unawakened)
Nature- Aggressive
Skills- Claw (E), Pounce (D-), Detect (D-), Bite (D), Gale (D)
Someone was already receiving training. I was fine without them seeking my service. There would be plenty of lower ranked Nobles who would seek me out once word spread. They all seemed to think about it before agreeing with Relann and Lei. "Alright then as always you are all free to do what you need to do for your betterment. Just make sure you are all back here before last bell for your daily progress report." Darkshore sat down and opened a book clearly done with all of us. So I turned and went back to the healing classroom.
The class blinked looked at me briefly before I placed him back in the freezer. Silva rushed over to me. "So what happened?"
I answered her as Aspen settled back down in the cold. "I got switched over to the Elite class."
"That's awesome." I looked at her. Her beast was chittering about something. It did not seem upset.
"Here let me see Cass," I said reaching out an arm.
She smiled in excitement as she handed Cass over. "Can you help with her," she looked around before leaning in closer, "Bloodline?"
"I'm not sure. I can tell you she has one but..." I let my voice trail off as I looked.
Abino Macaque
{Enhance Bloodline? Yes/No}
Yes, I thought.
{Enhance failed! Bloodline Unawakened! Awaken condition increase Ice element}
"I might be able to help but it will be difficult. Aspen be nice. Cass stay and here, focus on feeling the Ice element." She blinked up at me as I placed her beside Aspen. He opened one eye to glance at her before going back to sleep. "I need to do some research," I told Silva, "Can you watch them while I do so."
"Of course. If you can make this happen... name your price and I'll pay it. No question." I searched her eyes. She was serious. How special was my skill? I nodded and left the classroom. I headed straight to the library.
I walked up to the desk where a woman sat. She fit the common librarian style. Although she wore a pant suit. "How can I help you?"
"I am looking for books with general information on bloodlines. Also books on increasing the element of beasts?" She smiles at me.
"Very good. If you have a seat I'll have one of the assistants bring the books over. Most information could ne found on our school tablets. Very few things got put on paper anymore. Most of what did was Tamer information. I found a place to wait. An assistant pushed a cart over by me and unloaded two small stacks on to the table. Then walked away without a word.
I should not be surprised but I was. How did they know I was the one that wanted this information. Then again there were few people in here. I sighed and cracked open the first one. The Fundamentals of Bloodlines, it was called. Mostly it covered the basics. What bloodlines are. How they came to be. Why they were so important.
{Aspen has Successfully achieved small Enlightenment with the Ice element. Ice Kitsune Bloodline has increased to 6%. Skill Frost Aura (E+) is now Frost Aura (D-)!}
Aspen sure did not seem to have a problem Enhancing his Bloodline. I had not even had to awaken his Bloodline. Why is that?
{Beast Bloodline was awakened due to Mutation.} I jerked when I saw that. Maybe I could more information on my beasts as long as I asked the right questions. Not that it helped me with others. At least I did not think it could help me.
With a sigh I opened the next book. Improving beast elements. On and on I read until I got done. I stacked them all neatly onto the reshelving cart by the desk. I thought about all the things I had learned on my way back to class. There was still ten minutes until class ended and that would not be enough time to get much done.
The class was exactly how I had left it. Silva was watching our pets. "Just bare with it a bit longer Cass. I'm sure Alaric had a reason for putting you in there for so long." When I looked at the little fluff ball it was tembling from the cold. I sighed with made Silva look at me. "Alaric! You've returned!"
I crouched down to get a better look at the little thing. "You should stop fighting the element. You won't feel as cold if you absorb them. That's why Aspen isn't shivering. You need to absorb a lot of ice element to awaken." I looked back towards Silva. "Normally beasts figure out how to absorb elements on their own. Having another beast of the same element show them how it's done can help but if she can't do it on her own before the end of class we may have to switch tactics."
"So you can do it then?" She asked me in excitement.