Rise of the Archmage Alister

[Level up! - 10]

[EXP cap reached. Please choose a class.]

Status]

[Alister Ordthea Severin iii]

[Full Recall: Raalin Wynnryte]

[Level: 10]

[Class: None]

[Core: Dense White]

[Mana Pool: Vast]

[Physical Condition: Child, moderate]

[Stats]

[Skills]

[Titles]

Alister shouted out triumphantly, both exhausted arms shooting up in the air. “Finally!” he screamed, not caring about the looks from the peanut gallery, “Wisteria! Morgan! I got it! I got to level ten!!”

“Level ten… at his age?” the murmurs started through the crowd. No doubt the rumors would spread through the city in no time.

For Alister, however, he didn’t spare a thought for them. He was so tired he felt unwell, dizzy, and like his arms were half-numb and tingling. Sure, the magic he had cast over and over again wasn’t anything high test, but casting any magic for hours on end was exhausting. Even though he wasn’t out of mana, the physical toll was significant. And that didn’t include the fact that he was hungry and dehydrated by now.

But all of that was vastly overshadowed by the adrenaline and excitement of being able to choose his first class! Alister began going through the list he had access to.

Destruction Mage, Scholar of the New Age, Instinct Mage, Arcane Rogue, Blood Mage, Arcane Artificer, Arcane Commander, Spell Engineer, Hidden Mage, Opal Error, and so many others… Some seemed mildly aware of his past life. Others were markedly new. And some still like “Tainted Mage” were rather concerning. Completely ignoring his surroundings, Alister was engrossed in thought, small finger curled up against his lip, arm resting on his other, posed as a cross. This was an important decision.

Yes, classes underwent evolutions, so it wasn’t like he was stuck with this forever, but the first choice would lay out a line of choices for the future.

Morgan, having gathered the remainder of the crab corpses and set them out for the people of the district, corralled Wisteria. She was enamored by the gun and its potential uses, and like Alister, she had completely faded out of reality, focused only on the rifle and targets.

She got Wisteria to reluctantly give her back her gun, and the two women moved in to drag Alister out of his thoughts and away to a more appropriate location.

“Alister, we gotta go. You aren’t choosing your class in front of everyone like this,” Morgan complained, having grabbed his arm to pull him along like a child.

Alister was so enamored by his choices that he didn’t even care right now, “Wait! Morgan stop it! You’re making it hard to read! I can’t- it’s jostling too much!”

“Your mother would have a conniption if I let that happen. Sneaking out is one thing. They will really be pissed if I let you choose your first class without them around! I don’t wanna see what Lady Alliana can do when she’s motivated enough.”

He grumbled, annoyed, but gave in and tugged his arm away from her grasp, walking freely behind the guards that began to guide them to the house, “Fine, fine. You make a decent point. I have decisions to make anyway - the walk will give me some time to think about it.”

“I’m just happy I can finally choose my class. Took you long enough,” Wisteria teased, grinning as she walked alongside him, “I really liked that gun though. I think I might want to go down that route. At first anyway. But definitely still a mage. Magic is far too useful to not. You’ve shown me that.”

Alister mock huffed, “Well at least you’ve learned something this year.”

On the way back to the manor they'd be staying at for the night, Alister felt a pull on his mana. Glancing down at the cloak he'd donned, one of the names lit up, just the faintest bit. Demerieth. His mind raced. What could that mean? There was no way they still lived, and if they had achieved immortality, then the name would have glowed from the start. It somewhat dampened his mood, but in the end he just tried to shake it off. It was probably this system thing messing with something. Level ten was the class selection. He had no idea how much that could mess with spells. It was just that. It had to be.

He tried to focus on the good news of his achievement and the crab feast they had left behind… and the not great reaction soon to follow.

Alister’s mother and father were understandably annoyed with him, Alliana moreso than Blas. The three kids were brought into the drawing room, and Alliana thwacked each of them on the front of the head with her closed fan. Blas stood beside her, black hair loose against his shoulders as he looked… just… tired with today.

“You three are complete lunatics. Do you have any idea the spectacle you’ve created? The crowd you drew? Putting aside for a moment the fact that you went behind our backs and SNUCK OUT, which I am rightfully indignant of might I add. You made a complete spectacle of things. You are both Severins. Morgan, you are seventeen now. Could you act like it for two seconds? I asked you to keep an eye on your cousin and his friend. And you lead him to one of the poorest districts,” she sighed loudly, tapping her own forehead with the fan as she thought, “Yes you had the wherewithal to fight crabs, something simple and not very dangerous, but that should be the bare minimum for expectations. Instead, you went and ran off without guards, without telling us. What if something had happened? What if there had been an attempt on his life? On both your lives? I know you have been galavanting around as an adventurer, and while I don’t agree with that decision, I - we have respected that. You adventure in a party, not alone, so you at least have some people to protect you if something goes wrong. Alister is the son of the duke. He is in a more precarious station than you are, Morgan. Did it even go through your head? The possibility? You’ve treated this as some sort of silly loose-lipped endeavor and I am disappointed.”

“And you, Alister!” his mother turned to him, and Alister couldn’t help but put his eyes to the ground. Her words were vicious. He much preferred fighting droves of crabs to this feeling in his stomach. “Alister you keep trying to convince us to treat you as an adult, to treat you according to your memories of your past but you keep making these poor decisions! Could you just accept for two seconds that perhaps, just maybe, we know more about the world today than you do?! I don’t want to lose my only child to some flight of fancy!”

Blas gently reached out and touched Alliana on her lower back, “Alright alright. Let’s calm down a bit. I think they get the point.” He sighed, offering Alister a sad smile, “You guys got rid of quite a few nuisance crabs, I hear. And then gave the bodies out for food. That was very kind of you three. And you got to level ten as well?”

Alister rapidly nodded, “I’m sorry… I was getting so impatient… and I figured I could handle myself.”

“I think usually you can handle yourself,” his father said, and knelt down to his eye level, “You’re very capable. Your memories serve you well for that. But your body can’t handle as much as you want yet. You already knew that, but look at yourself. You’re exhausted, son. If someone came at you while you were this tired, it could be quite dangerous. Our little town we live in is so small, it’s rather safe. You aren’t used to having to deal with that kind of security consideration. But here, it’s a big city. A lot of people could want to see you hurt… or worse. The guards we have with us are well trained. And they want to do their jobs. Running off on them makes them feel rather inadequate and unwanted. No matter how professional someone is, that still hurts.”

“Yes father… I’m sorry,” he mumbled in response, “I hadn’t considered that…”

“It’s okay. The important thing is that you aren’t hurt. I think you should apologize to your guards after this. Morgan, you too. That was very rude,” he said, leveling a glare to her.

“Yes sir,” she responded, cheeks red.

In all of this, Wisteria kind of felt awkward and out of place. She was lined up with the rest of them, but the words weren’t for her. If the most she got out of this was a smack on the head, she considered herself lucky.