The Arcane Trickster

CHAPTER 1 - The Call of the Nameless

Asahel Couzens looked at the crowd around in a daze, it was the Year 534 of the Lunar Conclave, currently, at seventeen years of age, it was his first opportunity to be granted the gift of the goddess, most of the time only nobles would be granted this opportunity, after all, a Lunar Crystal is as valuable as its weight in gold if not more, but 5 years ago the Silver Council, the greatest authority of the Congregation of Unity signed the Treaty of the Revelation.

The peasantry was elated, after all to them, awakening a useful Gift of the Goddess was a one-way ticket out of the misery of poverty, to Asahel it was the same, his dad, a civil servant for the country, died when he was barely six years old, luckily his father was an educated man and tried its best while alive to educate Asahel, making him learn to read, write and do simple arithmetic, a luxury and skill that few people at the bottom of society were able to perform, so to alleviate their descent in poverty, Asahel started doing odd jobs around the market.

Asahel was being eaten alive by his anxiety while he waited in line, and the noisy crowd around him didn’t alleviate his worries, after all, he knew how low the chances of him awakening a good class was and the downcast faces of the people that failed the ritual only intensified his current mood.

While fighting the anxiety in his head, someone called his name. -” Hey Asahel, here Asahel.”

It was a burly man, well a burly young man, Reynald was the son of a bankrupted merchant that Asahel sometimes helped at the slums market. He waved back to him and smiled, Reynald's optimism helped him relax a bit.

Reynald dreamed of awakening as a Knight, or at least becoming one at future promotions, after all, while is possible to have Knight as a first class, that happens mostly to young nobles who have trained their whole adolescence, but that never discouraged Reynald, he always said, even if he didn’t awaken Knight as a class now if he kept training he one day would.

That drive and optimist made Asahel feel a lot better, after all, that was true to him too, even if he didn’t awake as a useful class, he could get a chance again in the future.

Asahel took a deep breath and with a determined look in his eyes observed his surroundings, from the downcast and ragged masses that betted their future in the awakening, to the silver-plated warriors that guided them to the white-robed priests that performed the ritual.

Two hours passed in an instant and finally, it was his time to partake in the ritual of the gifts, Asahel strode forward to his designated place and prepared himself to partake in the ritual.

As he faced the priests he clenched his fist and closed his eyes, the rituals were performed in groups of five people per session, around him were three other men and a young lady, they looked nervous at the priest in front of them.

Two priests and three clerics walked around for a few seconds one of the priests got a few materials from a nearby altar and the other put his hand on a big crystal in front of Asahel and the other four people, as soon as the priest who walked to the altar was face to face it them, the one holding the altar started to pray in a language that Asahel didn’t understand, at the end of the second verse the priest in front of them threw a handful of a powder-like substance in the five receiving the ritual and in sync with the three clerics, he started another chant,  the simultaneous chant of the priests pulled everyone affected by the powder to a dreamlike state.

Asahel only woke up from the state after the sounds of footsteps closed on him, and one of the silverplated warriors gave him a white crystal, after he held it, the crystal started to glow with a mix of lime green and a light blue color when he held it in his hands.

Asahel looked to the other crystals and noted that one of them glowed in a light red color, while all others gave a light green.

At this moment the two priests walked over and started examing the crystal colors.

-“ Jeremy start the process of inscribing the Class Identification Cards.”

As soon as the first priest said this, one young cleric got 5 wooden plaques from a nearby table and prepared to write on them.

One of the priests walked over to the group and faced the oldest man on the furthermost right and said  - " State your name and age."

-“ George, 29 years old.” said the man

-“ I Myles, of the Silver Council hereby declare George to have received the everlasting gift of the goddess Mantra and awakened as a Peon.”

As soon as the Priest declared the cleric started to write on the wooden plaque and soon gave it to one of the other clerics standing beside him, that walked over and handed it to the man.

After seeing this process Asahel looked at his crystal, the colors danced around the center, and in the core of the crystal a deep cyan color shined, almost faintly, Asahel was captivated by the cyan color and re-entered the dreamlike state.

-" Huh, this one is quite lucky, only the second person to have awakened as a dual-class in this city." Said the first priest, awakening Asahel.

-“ While dual-class is a good thing, such a pity that one of them is the Thief Class.” The second priest interjected.

-" Even so, Scouts are in good demand in the army in those troubling times."  the younger priest said while smiling, "What’s your name and age my child?" he continued.

-" Asahel Couzens, Seventeen years Old, Reverend."

-" Good child, I Myles, of the Silver Council hereby declare Asahel Couzens to have received the everlasting gift of the goddess Mantra and awakened as a Dual-Class individual with the classes of Thief and Scout."