Chris
Letters and information continued to roll in from various outlets and all of them told of the sa picture. Marcus and Ashton both sent ssages that I had to respond to as well, detailing the situation.
Ashton and his faction were doing their best to nd our relationship and I couldn't fault them for trying. Their letters were welco and it was nice to have Marcus to cross-check them against, but there was one bit that Ashton had that Marcus didn't and I couldn't use him to check against.
When the Demon threat arose, there were three pylons in range. Three Cities had the opportunity to stand against it and only two had.
Frostheim and The Fort had stood together, while the last had declined the chance to send aid. Closing their borders and hiding behind their Walls.
I knew little about the third pylon at the ti, but after quite the year, I learned much more than I had before and could now pin a na and place to a map.
The City was called Lakeshore and was located along the Northern shores of Lake Superior, if that was what we were still calling it.
Farther to the South from us than the Fort, and much more defensive. They didn't like anyone nearing their City and even Scouts were turned away from entering. I wasn't even sure who led the City, let alone the na of the faction behind it.
I had sent a few representatives, but after having the third turned away, I stopped trying. If they wished to be left alone, I would oblige them.
That being said, Ashton was a lot closer and his people had a lot more interactions or incidents. I wasn't sure if they had co to blows, but I knew they were treading lightly when it ca to their shared border.
In Ashton's opinion, from what his interactions and scouts indicated, Lakeshore was making no moves to travel South. They either didn't know or didn't care about what the obelisk ant. It wasn't that much of a surprise with how they dealt with the Demon threat.
Our response was still being discussed but it was sothing to consider. If we left with everything we had, we would be leaving our Cities exposed. I didn't need Ashton to tell that much.
We-
Knock, knock, knock.
"Chris, they're ready for you," Abigail said through the door.
Sigh.
After a long relaxing Winter, things were picking up at a feverish pace. The literal tir ticking down had everything on a strict tiline. Having to juggle so many different things was annoying.
Hopefully, this eting wouldn't be a waste of ti and would work to alleviate so of my workload.
That was right, I was finally going to pick an assistant.
Abigail was less than pleased when I ran off before she could force to pick. Not that I hadn't had good reason to do so, she just didn't agree with said reason.
I thought the timing was off. It would be pointless to choose soone and then go off for months leaving them to fend for themselves. Not only would that be cruel, it would be pointless.
There wasn't enough ti for them to learn what I needed them to do and trying to rush it would only have made things harder when I ca back.
Not that logic stopped my sister from nagging .
Now that I was back, and enough ti had passed to get everything back in order, it was ti.
I stood from my paper-filled desk and pulled open the door, "All the candidates are gathered?"
"All the ones that passed muster."
Good. The list of applications was longer than I expected it to be, but after a preliminary screening, only about a dozen were left. Both my Mother and Abigail took it upon themselves to narrow it down for .
Which was wonderful, because I didn't want to do more interviews than I had to.
Abigail and I walked toward one of the larger eting rooms in the Castle and were quickly t with a nearly filled room of people. It was filled with all kinds of possibilities. n, won, young, or old.
All were represented. A... higher than average number considering the total amount of people were younger won. I only raised an eyebrow at Abigail to which she acted like she didn't notice.
My Mother at work again.
You would think her ddling in my love life would've ended when the world did but I guessed not.
I nearly wanted to dismiss those options in retaliation but held off. It wasn't right for them to be dismissed like that. Not after being called here for the opportunity.
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"Thank you all for coming." I said to the group, "This shouldn't take up too much of your ti. I plan to have a quick one-on-one with all of you and ask so deeper questions that aren't listed on this sheet," said sheet was the application they submitted, "Afterwards, I will notify the person or persons that will be accepted."
All of them nodded without saying a word so I moved along, "First up is..." a quick look down to the top sheet, "Talia Richards."
The portly woman followed out of the room and into a smaller one across the hall. She was older, not old old, but approaching middle age and looked like she had experience in the job previously.
A quick glance at her application sheet gave the bare details.
Na: Talia Richards
Class: Mage: High F-rank
Profession: Secretary: High F-rank
Highest Stat: Intelligence
The sheet was much more extensive than what I could have done. The Scouts had grown trendously in information gathering and the range of skills they had was continuously growing.
So had upgraded [Identify] two tis, and matched with a high Perception from their build, they got a lot more information back than what I could do. The group even had a few with [Sense Weakness], not that it was particularly helpful in choosing an Assistant.
"Tell about yourself..."
The standard interview question I always hated answering. Mwhahaha, the shoe's on the other foot now!
After Talia, ca Sophia
Na: Sophia Reghetti
Class: Healer: Mid E-rank
Profession: Assistant: High F-rank
Highest Stat: Wisdom
"Next,"
Na: Matthew Smith
Class: Support: Low E-rank
Profession: Personal Assistant: Mid F-rank
Highest Stat: Acun
"Next,"
The interviews continued until an oddity appeared on the next sheet. One that should've been caught before getting this far.
"Abigail, can you co in here please?" I called out and looked at the sheet closer.
Na: Miles Whitmore
Class: Warrior: Mid E-rank
Profession: Artificer: Low F-rank
Highest Stat: Strength
"What is this?" I asked as she walked in.
She didn't even have to look at the sheet to know which one it was, "That was included on Hal's recomndation."
Hal? He wasn't even involved in the selection process. "Why? The man doesn't even have the profession."
"One of the Trackers in Hal's Order asked him for a favor." She said it like it all made sense now.
"But why?" I asked confused. Nothing about the application hinted at the man wanting to be an assistant, let alone being geared toward it.
"I don't know. Hal asked to include him, so I did. If you want answers, ask the man yourself." She huffed.
"Fine, send him in."
The interruption was intriguing rather than disruptive. I was over halfway through and it was already getting dull. The sa answers and similar enough stories that they were beginning to sh together.
I had a feeling that this one was going to be different.
Curiosity piqued, I watched intently as the man walked in. Nothing about him scread Secretary, which I expected from reading his sheet.
He wore standard clothing, much like everyone else that ca in. Heavy furs were still in season and would be for a while longer. Even if Winter was waning, it was still nippy.
The first thing that stood out was that he was young. Not baby-faced or freshly Classed, but teenager age. Maybe a touch older as stats made things wonky.
He wasn't built, not like Vincent, but he was getting there. Stocky enough that it wasn't surprising he was a Warrior. His choice of weapon was a mystery, as he wasn't ard but I could tell he used plate armor.
The walk was subtly different, as if he was used to working around the restrictions heavy plate ca with.
He used heavy armor and his highest stat was Strength, a man after my own heart.
I hadn't bothered to scan any of the previous interviewees as it wasn't worth it, but I made an exception for Miles. Aura scanning was still a newer art, but I was getting the hang of it with training.
Instead of using skills like my useless [Identify], I leveraged my stronger aura to feel out an enemy, or in this case, a potential assistant.
The man was strong for his level. Not insanely so, but enough to stand above the average. What killed him was his lack of Profession levels. He was missing out on a lot of stat points by leaving it so far behind.
That wasn't what I focused on. It was his affinity that I zeroed in on.
Wood.
It wasn't that rare, but it wasn't one I saw often. Usually, it was Plant, Nature, or sothing along those lines if it was on the Greener side. Wood was a specific subset of Nature that not many people had.
And it didn't do well in the Cold.
It didn't take long to scan the man and give him a once-over. He had just finished sitting down by the ti I was finished.
"Alright, level with man, why are you here?" he flinched at my directness, but didn't shy away. So of the others looked like I was going to eat them when I asked them questions.
"To beco your Assistant," he answered firmly.
I eyed him up and down, "Yes, but nothing about this," I waved the application, "Says Assistant."
"I will work just as hard as a Professional Assistant, if not harder. There's nothing that they can do that I cannot," he said vigorously and intently.
While that was technically true, that was a rather bold claim. One I wasn't sure he would be able to back up. "Do you plan on changing your Profession?" I asked.
"No, sir."
"Don't call sir," I said out of habit, "Do you plan on evolving it towards Secretary or Assistant?"
"I don't, my Lord."
I visibly cringed, "Wrong direction, don't call that either." While Miles was a fun distraction to the rest of the interviews, I did need to get on with my day. "I'll ask again, why are you here?"
"I want to be your Assistant," He doubled down but before I waved the man out, he continued, "I'll work without pay if you'll let . All I ask is you let watch you fight and teach if you have ti."
That... made stop, "You want to... watch fight?"
The request was unexpected. Especially the offer to work without pay.
"Yes, I want to learn from you." He said sincerely.
A... complicated feeling arose in . It felt good for soone to want to learn from , but it also confused . What was I supposed to teach? I wasn't a master with my weapon. I wasn't a master tactician. Most of my power ca from pure effort, not so underlying mastery.
I took a second look at his information, "Tell about your profession. Why is it so far behind?"
His face fell, "That... that wasn't my plan. I wanted to keep it near my Class level but circumstances weren't in my favor. The scavenging for food didn't leave a lot of ti for Artificing, let alone gathering the materials required."
He went on to detail his rough return and the highs and lows of his journey since then. It was filled with tragedy and sorrow, but Miles didn't despair because of it but worked harder to move on.
It was a touching story.
At the end of it, I was actually considering hiring him. "Alright, I'll consider your application. If you could send in the next one please."
We do need an artificer. Phones would be useful, maybe he could re-invent technology.
I wondered if he was hell-bent on the Assistant job or if he would be open to sothing else. I doubted he would refuse and there were a lot of advancents he could do for us. He would get along with Gabriel well.
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