Saying goodbye to Vinsaint, Brance quickly made his way to meet up with the group, who were waiting by a dorm room door. Instead of searching around for the best one, Cynrik had simply chosen the first one he found unoccupied and was resting against the wall with his arms crossed.
Approaching swiftly, Brance could already see the smug smile on his brother’s face.
[Shut up, not a fucking word Cyn.]
Seeing Brance angrily stomping in his direction, Cynrik bounced off the wall lightly and chuckled, but other than that, he stayed quiet.
Patting Gabby’s head as he walked up to the door and opened it, Brance was the first to step in.
The dorm was as big as their home, with four bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Although the furniture in the apartment-like dorm was minimalistic, Brance didn’t mind, as they would only spend two days there.
Benny and Cynrik quickly went forward and jumped onto the couches, leaving a fidgety Gabby behind to close the door. Her eyes darted from Brance to Cynrik as she tapped her index fingers against each other nervously, debating on whether or not to comment on what had just transpired outside.
Brance noticed her apprehensively standing by the door and motioned for her to find a place to sit. “What’s on your mind, Gabby?”
Startled by the sudden question and acting like a scared rabbit, Gabby quickly ran over and sat next to Brance on one of the three couches.
“Um…Brancie, why did you and Big Bro Cyn call yourself different names? Should we use nicknames too?” The nervous little girl looked up at Brance expectantly.
Brance got lost in thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer her question, and it was Cynrik who answered.
“It’s simple squirt; we’ve got enemies here, so we shouldn’t be using our real names. Since our Mom and Dad’s families aren’t good people, Brance and I decided that it would be best to use nicknames until we were strong enough. This will save us the trouble of having to constantly deal with dumbasses who want to throw the name of their families or clans around to bully us.” Sitting up and resting his chin on his palm, Cynrik filled the Sanfords in on their background a bit.
They hadn’t been present when Lithlen had attacked them outside the hotel, so he had to explain the events of that night in detail so that they would understand what they were walking into.
Gabby rapidly nodded her head during the story, and Benny sat in silence. Unlike his sister, he wouldn’t question Cynrik’s actions and had readily accepted the use of a nickname.
“You two don’t have to use nicknames like us, but I suggest you get used to calling us Ivar and Björn. It would be pretty bad if we get into a big fight right after joining one of the Academies.”
“Alright, that aside, there are some things we need to go over. Based on what Old man Saylin said, there will be some kind of stat check before we are allowed to go to the Egresses.” Waving his hand, a pair of pens and two sheets of paper appeared in Cynrik’s lap.
“I want both of you to write down everything on your stat profiles. We only have 47 hours until the second phase begins, and I wanna double-check that you two will be ok. Based on the information I’ve gathered, the minimum to pass the Physical Exam should be the requirements for evolution. Which makes sense.”
The Sanford siblings jumped up and obediently jotted down all of their stats and skills as Cynrik had requested, and for the next ten minutes, the only sound in the room was the scratching of pen on paper. It had been a few years since Cynrik had last checked over their Stats because he hadn’t felt the need. But now that they had to face the Physical Exam, it was time to see if the years of training and effort he had spent on the two younger kids had come to bear fruit.
Gabby was the first to complete the task and nervously handed her paper to Cynrik, who was lazily lounging on the couch.
: Status :
: Gabriella Sanford (Gabby):
: Human Female:
: Age-10:
: Level: 10 (P5):
: Essence(XP): 0/150000:
: Distribution: 1 DEX, 1 INT, 1 MIND :
: Mana Codex Tier: 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Mana Cycles: 1100 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Mana Circuit Tier: 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Gravity Resistance: 2g (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Body Tempering: Tier 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: STATS :
: HP 400/400 :
: Mana 325/325 :
: Stamina 200/200 :
: Stat Points- 17 :
: Skill Points- 50 :
: Strength- 40 :
: Dexterity- 65 :
: Agility- 40 :
: Intelligence- 65 :
: Vitality- 40 :
: Mind- 65 :
: Affinity- :
:(SBG) Psychic-Tier 1 (Proficiency= 25.0%):
:Expand:
Prestidigitation – Tier-0 Psychic Skill
Confusion – Tier-0 Psychic Skill
Longstrider – Tier-0 Psychic Skill
Telekinesis – Tier-1 Psychic Skill
Floating Disk – Tier-1 Psychic Skill
Charm – Tier-1 Psychic Skill
-Skills-
-Active-
-Tier-1: Mana Cycling
Passive-
-Tier-0: Basic Bowmanship
-Tier-0: Acrobatics
-Tier-1: Eagle Eye
-Tier-1: Psionic Resistance
Cynrik broke into a wide grin and pulled down his hood. Looking over the paper Gabby handed him, he was pleasantly surprised to see she had been following his guidance to the letter. When he had learned she had a Psychic Affinity, Cynrik racked his brain trying to decide what role to slot her into before eventually settling on her being an Archer. Due to her build and Affinity, Gabby was destined to be a backline fighter. Cynrik had left it up to her to choose between being a Mage or Archer. When she brought it to Brance, he broke down the differences between the two classes, and she had eventually opted to be an Archer.
His eyes fell on the lines on the paper indicating her Gravity Resistance and Body Tempering, and he had a momentary flashback to unleashing his Killing Intent on the two siblings until they obtained these stats. He could still fondly remember both children crying and begging to let them go after demanding he trains them. Cynrik had even gone out of his way to warn them about what would happen, but they shrugged it off ignorantly.
Cynrik nodded happily and handed the paper back to Gabby, along with not one but three sourballs, and told her to show Brance. Gabby squealed excitedly and bounced in place, making her pigtails jump around, and after stuffing candy in her mouth, she traded places with Benny and bounced to Brance happily.
Stepping up to Cynrik, Benny handed over the paper with his stats and stepped back nervously. He knew his wasn’t going to be as impressive as his little sisters, but he had followed every word Cynrik had said from day one, and it showed.
: Status :
: Benjamin Sanford (Benny):
: Human Male:
: Age-11:
: Level: 10 (P5):
: Essence(XP): 0/150000:
: Distribution: 1 Str, 1 VIT :
: Mana Codex Tier: 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Mana Cycles: 1100 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Mana Circuit Tier: 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Gravity Resistance: 2g (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: Body Tempering: Tier 1 (Proficiency= 100.0%) :
: STATS :
: HP 650/650 :
: Mana 250/250 :
: Stamina 325/325 :
: Stat Points- 0 :
: Skill Points- 50 :
: Strength- 65 :
: Dexterity- 40 :
: Agility- 40 :
: Intelligence- 40 :
: Vitality- 65 :
: Mind- 40 :
: Affinity- :
:(BG) Water-Tier 1 (Proficiency= 25.0%):
:Expand:
Water Ball – Tier-0 Water Skill
Water Sphere – Tier-0 Water Skill
Wave – Tier-1 Water Skill
Water Spear – Tier-1 Water Skill
-Skills-
Active-
-Tier-1: Mana Cycling
Passive-
-Tier-0: Basic Swordsmanship
-Tier-0: Lightfoot
-Tier-1: Willpower
-Tier-1: Blade handling
Nodding approvingly, Cynrik analyzed Benny’s sheet thoroughly. Although his stats weren’t as impressive, Cynrik had to find other ways to make use of the boy due to the lack of triple stat distribution. The way he came up with, was to mold Benny into a DPS Warrior. His VIT and STR build made him a prime target for the group OT or Off-tank. His job would be to remove the pressure that Brance, the main tank, would be under by drawing the excess attention. If his Water Affinity was added into the equation, he would essentially be a nerfed version of Brance, with slightly better offensive capabilities.
Even though Brance was the main tank, as a Paladin-style Warrior, he would draw the targets aggro and send out heals. This, in effect, made Brance a pseudo-dual class, as he would double as a healer in dire situations. Showing his satisfaction, Cynrik nodded and handed back the sheet.
“I’m glad to see you both followed the predetermined builds; for now, all we can do is wait.”
Cynrik’s words made Gabby’s ears perk up as she tilted her head and looked away from Brance. “Big Bro Cyn…I mean, Big Bro Ivar, what about your Affinity? Mommy told me you and Brancie were cripples now.” Even when spoken with her innocent voice, her words caused both brothers to flinch.
“Hehe, don’t worry, squirt. In 34 hours, you’re in for a treat. Once that time passes, you’ll get to see how the big boys power up. But, for now, I want you and Benny to brush up on low-level Egresses. We don’t know what kind we will be facing, but it’s better to be prepared ahead of time.