Chapter 33 - Profession

The experience from assigning Life Aspect was enough to push him over the threshold. A familiar surge ran through his body, and the exhaustion weighing him down vanished almost at once.
Level 10. Finally.
He didn’t have time to check the changes, though. He lay down beside Alia, gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, then carefully placed his hand over the wound. She flinched but didn’t wake, still burning with fever.
Life mana seeped through the bandages and into the wound beneath. Unlike the structured spells he had seen Healers use at the tournament, Arien could only guide the mana toward the injury and the fever. He tried to support whatever her body was already doing to keep her alive.
After maybe a dozen minutes, his hand began to shake. His strength faded quickly, and keeping his eyes open became an effort. He stopped when the dizziness started to return. No other Aspect had ever drained him this quickly.
Alia’s breathing seemed a little deeper and more even, though he couldn’t tell whether the magic had actually helped or whether he was just imagining it.
Arien looked around to see whether anyone was paying attention. It was already late at night, and most people were asleep; only a few women were still keeping watch, tending to the wounded in the dim light of lamps. Even Varix lay curled up near the statue of Sul.
“Will, are you asleep?” he asked the boy lying beside him. His eyes were closed, but his breathing was too irregular.
“I tried, but I can’t,” the boy whispered in a tired voice. “I keep seeing my dad. Why would someone do that? They didn’t even leave his body in peace.”
“I don’t know,” Arien said after a long silence. “Maybe they wanted revenge. Kreft said your father killed five of them before they brought him down.”
Will said nothing.
“But that isn’t how you should remember him.” Arien searched for the right words. “He fought because your family was there.” After a moment, he added quietly, “He died like a knight, Will. Protecting his family.”
Arien wondered whether he had only made things worse. Will was six years old. There probably wasn’t anything he could say to make this easier.
“Thank you, Arien,” came a barely audible whisper.
Within a minute, Will’s breathing settled into a steady rhythm. Exhaustion must finally have caught up with him.
Arien was barely in better shape. Whatever energy the level-up had given him was gone, spent almost entirely on Alia. He closed his eyes, but instead of trying to sleep, he opened his Status and focused on the section that had changed.

Profession: none
Available to assign:

 
Four Professions?
Arien focused on the list, and the first Profession unfolded almost immediately.

Mage (uncommon): You are one with magic. Every path lies open before you, and only you decide what you will find at its end. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex spells. Increased number of Profession variants upon next advancement. Per level: +1 Perception, +1.5 Intellect, +1 Vitality.

 
Arien read the description twice, lingering on the promise of more Profession variants when it advanced. Mage was broad. It would improve his magic without forcing him toward any single Aspect, and that alone made it tempting. He had spent years collecting questions faster than answers. A Profession that kept his options open was hard to dismiss.

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For a moment, he imagined himself years from now in some distant city, surrounded by books, scrolls, and mysteries no one else could solve. The image was strangely appealing.
Another option revealed itself.

 
Elementalist (rare): you understand Aspects like no one else. The elements obey you, and everywhere in the world, you feel at home. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex spells, strengthening your bond with Aspects and increasing your chance of attuning to new ones. Average number of Profession variants upon next advancement. Per level: +1.5 Perception, +1.5 Intellect, +1.5 Vitality.

 
Arien couldn’t help smiling. Water had been his first breakthrough, followed by Lightning and Wind, then Fire. Every Aspect had taught him something new about how the magic worked.
Elementalist fit the way he had learned magic so far, while promising even more Aspects to discover. If he really wanted to see Erador one day, that kind of versatility would be difficult to beat. Heat, cold, wind, water, and unfamiliar terrain could become problems he had tools to solve rather than reasons to turn back.
The third option made his smile disappear.

 
Healer (rare): most bring only destruction; you wish to heal the world. You understand how thin the line between Life and Death truly is. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex Life Magic spells. Reduced number of Profession variants upon next advancement. Per level: +1 Perception, +2.5 Intellect, +1 Vitality.

 
Arien looked at Alia. Her chest still rose and fell with feverish breaths, and blood stained the bandages around her wound. She might still die.
Hours earlier, he would have chosen Healer without hesitation. Perhaps he still should. What good was understanding the world if the people he cared about died before he could use that knowledge? What good was power if he couldn’t save those beside him?
Mage and Elementalist were mostly about what Arien wanted for himself. Healer was harder to look at that way.
The final option appeared.

Medium (rare): you understand both the material world and the unseen one, standing as a bridge between them. Your mind is your weapon. As an assigned Profession, it increases your instinctive understanding of magic, allowing you to cast far more complex spells. It allows communication with spirits, Monsters, and Elements. Reduced number of Profession variants upon next advancement. Per level: +2.5 perception, +1 Intellect, +1 Vitality.

 
A bridge between the material world and the unseen one. Arien read that part again. The description clearly meant spirits and whatever existed beyond ordinary perception, but the wording still made him uncomfortable, considering that he remembered dying on Earth and waking in Erador.
Spirits brought his thoughts back to the Void, the Voice, and that vision of the Abyss descending from the sky. Death had already proven far less final for him than it was supposed to be.
Medium was the hardest Profession to judge. He had no idea how useful it would be, and some of the things it might help him understand were questions he had deliberately stopped asking years ago.
He stared at the list again. The problem was that he could make a case for all four. Each offered something he wanted, while the System provided no hierarchy and barely any guidance. It was aware of every action of every living being, yet it couldn’t produce a proper manual? He went through the options again. Waiting carried risks too. What if they were attacked again tomorrow?
The advancement line bothered him too. Mage promised more Profession variants next time, Elementalist an average number, while both Healer and Medium explicitly reduced them. Rare clearly did not mean better in every way. Choosing one of them might give him more now while closing paths he had not even discovered yet.
He looked at Alia again. Healer might make him better at using Life magic, but the description promised understanding, not an instant cure. Her breathing was steadier now, and he had already spent almost everything he could safely give her tonight.
His thoughts were becoming sluggish, and this was not a choice he wanted to make half-conscious. Every Profession affected what would become available at the next advancement. Choosing blindly because he was exhausted could follow him for years.
He glanced once more toward Varix. Asking the priest for advice would have made the choice easier, but explaining how a five-year-old had already reached level ten would create questions Arien was nowhere near ready to answer.
Varix might be kind and noble, but Arien had no idea who else he would be expected to tell. Once that information left the village, Arien would have no control over where it went.
Morning. He would decide then. He closed his eyes and drifted off within seconds.